《Augmenting Reality》
Prologue: The Birth of a Legend
AN: There''re a few Gamer-inspired fictions floating around and this is mine. This concept and Xanxia-inspired fiction, Reaching for Immortality, has been teasing me for awhile and I decided to work on both, hopefully allowing me to have something to focus on when I get writers block on the other.
I will try and maintain at least a chapter per week on both, depending on my real-life schedule.
For those reading my other work, I hope to have a new chapter out on that by Wednesday. I hit a snag in how I wanted to progress the story and it wasn''t working out, so I had to scrap what had become 12k words.
Prologue
In a world much like our own, there is a little village secluded in a mountain valley. This little village was home to a girl. A plain girl. A girl that had a special talent, one she cultivated since birth. She was invisible.
The girl so skillfully passed through her life without a glance from others that had her country''s spy-master noticed her, she would have been offered a special scholarship for university and nurtured for government service. The spy-master never did meet this girl, however. Even when he was vacationing with his family next door to the girl''s house. She was truly a master in remaining hidden to the world.
This girl was Jane Blackthorne. She was a truly uninteresting girl. Even her parents thought so. Which is likely because she learned at a very young age of three to be uninteresting.
Normally, when a child decided to done the mantle of uninteresting and unobtrusive behavior their home life is less than ideal. Abusive fathers, mothers, lewd uncles, aunties, etc. are common in such home lives that produce children inclined to hide away from the world in order to not become a target for attention. This was not true with Jane. Because, by all accounts, her parents were wonderful people.
At least, on the surface.
Jane did have one interesting quality. Something she was quite proud of, should anyone happen to notice her long enough to ask. She could remember her birth. All of her childhood, really. One thing she was quite sure of, she did not remember those people present when she emerged from her mother''s womb.
This knowledge led Jane to believe that her parents were suspicious. When you''re a newborn, with no notable self-preservation skills, what is the only thing left? To become uninteresting. Jane did not know why she was with these people, but she decided to not draw attention and observe. Perhaps there is a harmless reason, but if not, she didn''t want to deal with the trouble of that was bound to happen if it was known she knew too much. She grew up with cable, she knew how those kinds of stories played out.
As she grew older, Jane did not participate in sports. Her father did try, but he noticed that she didn''t have the desire to be an athlete. Her mother did try to teach her how to socialize with the neighbors and how to cook, but found she wasn''t talented in either and lost interest. Soon, they left Jane to her own devices and only socialized with her during mealtimes.
Jane was fine with being left alone. Unlike most of the children she saw during school, she did not play computer games or watch television. Perhaps it was due to her deep-seated desire to not do anything that might draw attention should others find a shared interest, but she never considered these past-times to be enjoyable. She did have one favorite activity, reading.
The small village that was Jane''s home had a small library. The village was mainly geared towards a secluded mountain hide-away type of atmosphere for tourists, so there was not much in the way of modern entertainment. Aside from arts and crafts and activities related to experiencing nature, the library was it.
The lady who ran the library knew Jane. Sometimes, they would even socialize as only fellow readers could. Jane had read all the mystery, adventure, and fantasy books by the time she was in middle school. She then moved on to history. While not as interesting, it did have some mystery and adventure appeal if stuck with for a bit. She had exhausted these, however, by the time she was a freshman in high school.
Jane was running out of things to do with her time. She had long-since given up hope of catching those people living with her doing something that would give her information on their motives or the location of her real parents. She was out of interesting books. She was actually ahead on her schoolwork by a month.
So, it was on a rather unnotable Tuesday afternoon of Jane''s 15th year that the world did not see Jane leaving the local comic and game shop with a box under her arm. However, the world did take notice a month later when an unknown girl with a rather unassuming figure began destroying well-established guild holdings in a popular VRMMORG.
~*~
Jane was used to moving around unnoticed. When she purchased the headgear to access the popular VRMMORPG Landless Wonders, she decided to create a character around the same premise. The game was advertised at 85% realism with four years in production. This meant that Jane had spent four years hearing her classmates discuss it. She had no desire to join them, but had often fantasized on what she would do should the day ever come when she was bored enough to play.
Landless Wonders was a game with no set continent or geographical structures. When first launched, there was one continent of roughly 2700 square kilometers. It had default cultures in place that dated back 20,000 years. The company had brought in hundreds of economic, literary arts, and sociology undergrad and graduate students to do their final projects and thesis'' in building this world. This meant that there was years of back-story to explore.
Jane did like the idea of this when she first heard about it. However, she was just fine with finishing up the stories in the local library. After all, it was just a game world that had no real benefit in learning outside the game, while the stories and history she was currently working her way through would provide countless returns later in her life. If nothing more than just to show her patterns in the world that she should not repeat due to common mistakes.
The true reason that people played Landless Wonders, outside the fantasy escapism and other standard RPG elements, was because they could control the game''s progression. There was a 4th generation AI overseeing thousands of 3rd generation ones to manage the back-story and make changes to the world as the players moved through it. As players interacted with the nearly sentient NPCs, they could influence the continent''s development. However, what made the game unique was that it went one step beyond other similar games. If you convinced enough NPCs in the truth of something, you could completely alter the world and elements in it.
Of course, this was very hard to do. There were millions of NPCs that were programed to be just as stubborn as normal people. Each with their own mores and values. Still, players flocked to the game and formed guilds to try various ways of carving out their own kingdoms and eventually continents that would spontaneously appear or disappear as one side lost or gained momentum in the world.
Now, four years later, Jane entered the game. She didn''t want to be recognized, so in the character creation she dropped her age down to an eight-year-old girl and changed her hair and facial features. Still unassuming if you were to look at her, she would blend into the background. This was perfect for her goals.
Jane wasn''t interested in combat, magic, or anything else. She didn''t even look for quests. She went straight for the library. For the next month, she read all the lore in the world.
There was one constant in the world that could not be altered based on accumulated NPC belief. That was player-generated lore. Nearly all people overlook the benefits of taking the time to learn before jumping into a game. Jane was going to exploit this.
Writing player-generated lore needs to meet certain criteria before it will be accepted in the system, however. This is another reason that few people bother with it other than simply talking with NPCs, after all word travels faster than books. The first criteria is that you must write each copy by hand. The second is that the books must only pertain to a single topic. The third is that each book must be over 120,000 words in length.
Jane researched all of this her first week. The game operated at 5x normal, and she had been granted a speed-reading skill after her first full day. This allowed her to read all of the thousands of books in the library. Her second week was planning on how to go about generating mass quantities of lore books.
During her studies, she had come across a reference to a Dwarven invention that was remarkably similar to the printing press. However, its manufacture blueprints and methods of creation were lost. Jane knew how to make one, but lacked money to fund the construction. She also didn''t want to let anyone know her plans. It was fortunate, however, that she was able to link several of the books'' references to where such a machine was.
With this knowledge, she used her meager starting gold and the amounts she had earned helping at around the library to buy up large quantities of paper, ink, glue, string, and leather. Her second full week was spent getting to the location of the machine and sneaking past the monsters. Once there, she got to work cleaning the machine. Thankfully, she didn''t have to change them for each new page she wanted to assemble. All she had to do was put the book materials in their respective slots and type up the book as if she was using a computer. It would generate enough books for the materials she had.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Understanding this, Jane''s timetable for her plans was quickly sped up. Her first plan was to establish a single religion in the world in such a way that it would generate her funds to continue producing books, and not be overwritten later. She also needed a way to gain authority.
The religion became known as The Mother''s Children. Jane decided to model it after historical examples of effective aspects of religions that didn''t cause issues to the people and were commonly accepted. The premise was simple, the Mother created the universe and throughout history appeared as a young child (who looked remarkably like Jane) to interact and aid the world. Spreading her teachings for the betterment of all. There was even a shrine to the Mother inside every village, town, and city surrounded by a park where children can play and families can gather to be watched over by her. Naturally, the religion only allowed violence in the form of self-defense, shunned domestic violence, encouraged neighbors helping one another, and encouraged scholarly pursuits.
This would give Jane authority if she appeared, because the Mother''s name was Celest, her own game name. Since each character''s name was unique, and not even NPCs can have it, it was perfect. She looked like the Mother and was named after her. The book was worded in such a way that strongly discouraged the desire for other religions. She even included a brief mention of donations at her shrine''s altar being sent to the Mother so she could disperse it around in places she traveled. If it worked, she''d have a continuous source of gold in her game balance. If not, she could pop in and pick up coins at any altar she passed.
Taking with her 990 books, she placed them in 10 inventory slots. Each slot would stack the same item in stacks of 99. The following week, she traveled to each village, town, and city''s library, putting in two copies of her lore in different locations for people to find. She also slipped a copy of the book in each church or temple, orphanages, and beggar''s hand she found. She figured that the children would read it out of boredom and the beggar might read it to start praising the Mother to any who could hear in order to get donations for food. The churches and temples may or may not bring in converts, but since the player-generated lore can''t be destroyed, it would find a reader at some point.
Jane then returned to the hidden and secluded cavern where the printing-press-like machine was after distributing all copies of the lore. While she waited for the NPCs to start reading it, she began work on a book describing the world''s geography, maps, and kingdoms. She decided that she should include references to the religion The Mother''s Children as well as reference the book of lore''s title so that it would be harder to overwrite. She doubted anyone would be clever enough to pick up the significance, but she was going to layer her changes and cross-link them all.
For this world, she was going to add a continent for each race, with the current one being the center continent where all races have a branch. Each continent was going to be tied with a flight service where people travel using large eagles, griffins, and wyverns. These services are of course, sponsored by the Mother and overseen by her disciples. This would ensure than any passing person and merchant would know of her doctrine.
Jane spent a full two weeks writing the book. She used references from all stable, matriarchal-focused fantasy should had read. She wanted a stable economy with little potential for corruption. She was not naive enough to think that players wouldn''t try and influence her changes. However, she went into detail and also included references to future lore books she would write discussing proper kingdom management, merchant practices, and economics. There would be a common currency and Mother Temple in each kingdom''s capital where the leaders would come and consult with the priestesses. This would ensure that she could influence the world even further from the top-down and bottom-up of society.
She was quite pleased with the book. She made sure to give each race''s continent their own signature themes and exports for merchants to trade. It listed prices for goods, with short descriptions. This was good for the lesser-known ones that weren''t even created in the world yet. Trade routes were discussed, resources were mentioned and placed. It was quite detailed and she couldn''t wait to see what kind of controversy it would have when everyone''s efforts are overwritten.
It took two real-time weeks for Jane to begin hearing about her religion at school. It started small, just the outer-lying villages converting at first. Which is understandable. However, as people went to other villages and towns to trade, they spread the word. She designed it that way, mentioning how the oldest-known history told of the religion getting started. It was interesting to hear that the AI was following the lore and letting the NPCs spread the word by what they read.
Jane was excited, because this meant that her geography lore she had been working on would be the same. She decided to not have it printed yet and would work on the other books she had referenced. This took up two more months of her time.
While Jane was in seclusion, the entire continent was converted to her religion and her in-game balance of money was getting substantial. Which was good, because she used most of it to buy up more supplies for printing. Since she was at the base stats, her character only had 28 backpack slots. She filled them with even amounts of each new book and set off.
She made sure to hit the libraries with 5 copies of each book. Her next stop was to leave two copies at each merchant guild and temple of the Mother. Jane then made sure to discretely pay off a maid to place a copy of each book into the mayor or noble''s bedroom. This would ensure that they would not suspect her while also thinking that they must have just forgotten they had the books when they went to work at their desk.
It took longer for these books to take hold since the common people weren''t the target audience to spread them. Jane also made sure to include a reference in each of those books at the beginning that copies could commonly be found in libraries and bookstores across the world. That the Scribe''s Guild would use them as practice for their new members, so they were common. This ensured that, should the AI follow the pattern, the books would be self-replicating. While those books my disappear, her original printing would still stick around.
Jane didn''t want to be overzealous and print more of each copy. She felt it best that the word spread organically through the continent. This way no one would link her to the changes, but The Mother would be credited instead. Since she made sure to list Celest as the author who graced the land with her benevolent insights as the author of all those books.
The remaining months of her freshman year were spent wandering the land and watching as it changed around her. The students in her classes at school were fanatical in trying to find out why the game was changing all of a sudden after four years of only minor changes. They wondered at first if it was a new update, but the company put out a press-release that it was not. That the game was adapting to player-driven desires for new continents to explore.
She did find it amusing once she had a bounty on her head after players learned there was a character with the Mother''s name walking around. Those that lost their holdings or placement in governments wanted revenge. Others wanted to be her followers and learn how she did it. She treated all of them as if she was a benevolent goddess and acted like any NPC would. She quickly became a sensation on the Internet in a game of, "Is she a player or not?"
The novelty of all of this wore off, however. After her freshman year''s summer ended, she found herself back studying for new courses. The game world forgotten as she had accomplished her goals. No one would forget Celest.
This year, Jane had decided to approach school differently. She had shocked tens of millions of players through careful use of knowledge and strategy. She wondered if she could do the same in the real world. So, her plan was simple. She would risk drawing attention by taking all advanced courses to quickly graduate and earn university credits. This would be her first step in getting out of her small village. Doing it early would mean more scholarship money because she stood out. She also wouldn''t be beholden to those people who claim to be her parents if they did start taking notice of her.
A month into her Sophomore year, Jane was sleeping at her desk. Head resting over an open chemistry book and drool sliding out from half-opened lips. In her dreams, she was creating new alchemical potions using her chemistry knowledge and shocking the game world again.
However, when she woke up, she''d find that it wasn''t far from the truth.
[table=white]
System Notification:
Congratulations! Through your ingenuity and scheming, you have accomplished what few have ever done: becoming a widely accepted deity. Belief transcends medium and through harnessing the electronic and mental energy of 2.7 billion NPCs and 798 million players in Landless Wonders, you have become a candidate for uplifting.
The Council is curious to see how far you can go, so we have decided to grant your desire of merging the physical and game world concepts. You have been granted modified access to the Universe System with the access role of Player. We look forward to watching you.
Do note, discussion of The Council and Universe System, while not prohibited, will result in your immediate reincarnation as a slug.
[/table]
Chapter 1: Janes Being Played?
AN: I''m planning on a more slice-of-life feel to this story with a slower progression than other The Gamer fan-fictions. There will likely be a time-skip sometime after chapter 10-15 to get her out of high school, but at the start Jane will be spending time in her village plotting her (mis)use of her new ability.
It''s going to be a slower ride, but I think you''ll enjoy it if you stick with it. I just don''t see the point having an outrageous person in a real-world setting to draw attention to themselves prematurely. Jane''s a plotter who likes her anonymity until she is unsurmountable.
Chapter 1: Jane''s Being Played?
Like anyone who''s fallen asleep while reading at a desk, Jane found herself awakening to sharp pains in her neck and paper sticking to her face from drool. "Ugh!" She groaned out as she awkwardly sat up and started to stretch with her eyes still squished shut.
As Jane opened her eyes, she sat still. Puzzled and thinking she was still asleep, blinked once to bring her vision into focus. And again for good measure to make sure what she was seeing wasn''t some trick of eye matter and the light. Nope, still there, she thought.
Roughly a meter in front of her was what looked like a system notification prompt.
[table=white]
System Notification:
Congratulations! Through your ingenuity and scheming, you have accomplished what few have ever done: becoming a widely accepted deity. Belief transcends medium and through harnessing the electronic and mental energy of 2.7 billion NPCs and 798 million players in Landless Wonders, you have become a candidate for uplifting.
The Council is curious to see how far you can go, so we have decided to grant your desire of merging the physical and game world concepts. You have been granted modified access to the Universe System with the access role of Player. We look forward to watching you.
Do note, discussion of The Council and Universe System, while not prohibited, will result in your immediate reincarnation as a slug.
[/table]
Her first thought was, 2.7 billion NPCs? Wow, go away for a couple of months and there''s a massive explosion in birth rates. I guess those new continents finally formed. Her second thought was, Slug? Eww!
It wasn''t until after she shrieked at the thought of being a slug a few times that she finally looked back at the prompt and registered the significance. "Wait a second here, what Universe System--"
Jane''s words were promptly followed by her suddenly experiencing vertigo as the world closed in around her. With a squishing sound and the world darkening, she noticed a new prompt immediately under the first.
[table=white]
System Notification:
For discussion of the Universe System, you have been penalized 1 hour as a slug as a warning. Future occurrences will result in no further warnings.
For now, immerse yourself in an experience that Tibetan Monks could only dream of, the simple life of a slug. To aid in your immersion, the System has randomly selected a playlist of flute and bell music.
[/table]
Really! I was only asking a question you crazy system. Ugh, at least it''s only for an hour. I won''t be late for school. Jane sulked in her head. She spent fifteen minutes getting lost in her own shirt before she found a sleeve to crawl out of. The remaining hour she sat in the middle of her room hoping she wouldn''t topple over once she enlarged.
Nursing a bruised hip as she got off the floor, she muttered to herself. "This has got to be the craziest dream or most interesting turn of events I''ve ever experienced." She looked in front of her and noticed that the original prompt was still present, while the warning was gone.
Looking at the notification of her being uplifted, she reached out to touch it. Her hand met resistance. She leaned further until it held all of her weight. Seems real, she thought. "This could be a problem, though, if I keep getting notifications if I trigger something. After all, if it''s a game emulation then it will happen eventually. And I don''t want to be a slug if someone runs into it."
Bending down, she picked up her discarded clothes and tossed them at the system notification. They passed through and fell back to the floor. "So it only affects me. Good to know." Jane said as she sat down on her bed. "But how to I get information without risking life as a slug?"
She decided to try calling out commands as if she was still playing Landless Wonder. "Help". A new prompt immediately popped up.
[table=white]
Help:
Welcome to System Help. For your modified access to the Universe System, you are allowed access to the following areas:
Help
Inventory (Not accessible)
Knowledge Base (Not accessible)
Player Information
Skills
You may access any of these areas by directing voice or thought to the Universe System. To close these areas, please will them shut by directing a thought to the Universe System. To explore further information, please touch the desired item in a menu and will it to expand.
[/table]
"Oh, that''s handy. At least I won''t need to look like an idiot talking to myself...like now." Jane grimaced. Then she noticed two areas restricted. She wasn''t too concerned with Inventory, but Knowledge Base would be essential.
Tapping on the words, she willed the system to tell her more about it. Even if she can''t access, it''s the help menu. Surely it will tell her something.
[table=white]
System Notification:
The Knowledge Base contains no items. You are the only Player. Would you like to make a request?
[Yes / No]
[/table]
Jane immediately pressed ''Yes''.
On the floor in front of her, Jane saw a glowing light appear and leave piece of paper behind. She leaned forward and picked it up. It looked a standard Customer Satisfaction form a business would leave on a counter. The kind that never got taken seriously.
Jane lowered her head and sighed.
Like all good customers with nowhere else to turn, she filled it out. She doubted she''d get another chance for answers. At least not without drawing attention from The Council, and it''d likely never be a direct conversation.
She thought for several minutes. She finally finished and placed the paper back on the floor. It disappeared the same way it arrived, in a pool of light. She did noticed one thing, however. The ''(Not accessible) text in the Help menu was gone beside Knowledge Base. She closed the menu and opened up the new menu.
The answers to her questions were surprisingly there.
[table=white]
Knowledge Base:
Will there be other Players?
You are a test. In a different dimension, we may have others should suitable candidates appear. However, you are going to be the only one using this to prevent cross-contamination while we gather data.
What is the Universe System?
A tool used to help manage the Universe. Every Administrator has a certain level of access. It helps standardize the management of areas of a world on up to an entire Universe.
How close to a game is this? Do I respawn if I die?
Some modifications to a standard supernatural profile access were made to allow your powers to emulate that of a player in a game. You get prompts and numerical representations of your growth, as well as system assistance. Others must train without this depending on their talents. Since they don''t respawn, neither do you.
What are all the areas of the System that I have access to and why do some that are listed appear restricted?
Those listed are what you have access to. Restricted areas will be unlocked when you meet requirements.
Why a slug? Couldn''t you just prevent me from discussing The Council and the Universe System?
The punishment follows intent. You have free will, so even if you were unable to discuss those items you might find another way to tell others if you desired had the punishment been initiated differently. The common public should never know about the System. It would hinder the management of the Universe and likely result in catastrophic loss of life in the pursuit of learning more about the System.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[/table]
Jane was impressed that her answers were taken seriously. Likely to prevent me from doing what was mentioned in the last question. She thought. Some of the questions Jane got the obvious answers. Others implied a wider scope to the world she thought she knew. So there really are supernatural things in the world. If I have the lowest access, at least lower than a continental world administrator, then that means there are other people walking around with special abilities.
Jane let that thought sink in. "Oh!" She cried out. Other people will be able to tell I''m not normal, too! This thought chilled her. The Knowledge Base implied that aside from Administrators, people of her level of access will not be able to see what she does. And likely Administrators will never encounter her unless something major happened. This means that unless she deliberately did something suspicious she could walk around unnoticed while noticing the other supernaturals.
Which brought up another question, Just why did they allow supernaturals? Why not let everyone on the world have abilities? She figured that some lowly administrator got bored. This was likely the reason for people thinking magic existed in the past.
Without giving it much further thought, Jane checked out her Player Information menu after closing the Knowledge Base. She also willed it to list the detailed information about each item listed so she could understand what she was working with
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 80
MP: 160
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 8
Vitality: 8
Dexterity: 8
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 18
Luck: 12 (+10 System Access Bonus)
[/table]
Detailed Descriptions of Player Information Enclosed in Spoiler to Prevent Spam:
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Class:
A person''s chosen Path in life.
[/table]
[table=white]
Title:
Personal achievement that the person is either proud or ashamed of.
[/table]
[table=white]
Affiliation:
Personal attachment to a supernatural organization.
[/table]
[table=white]
Strength:
Strength defines muscle definition and bulk of the body, and force the body''s muscles can exert in continuous and short bursts.
Note: Strength and Dexterity both determine the body''s physique. The more strength one has, the bulkier the body becomes. Inversely, the more dexterity one has, the more lithe the body becomes.
[/table]
[table=white]
Vitality:
Vitality determines the body''s physical conditioning. While strength plays a role in determining the limits of a muscle''s strength, vitality determines its resilience.
Note: HP is determined at a 1:10 ratio of vitality''s level. Vitality plays a factor in reducing physical damage.
[/table]
[table=white]
Dexterity:
Dexterity determines how coordinated one is with their body''s muscle movements, how efficient and effective they are able to exert the body''s muscle strength, and how well depth perception is applied to the afore-mentioned activities.
Note: Strength and Dexterity both determine the body''s physique. The more strength one has, the bulkier the body becomes. Inversely, the more dexterity one has, the more lithe the body becomes.
[/table]
[table=white]
Intelligence:
Intelligence determines mental capacity for complex thought. As one''s intelligence increases, greater numbers of mental calculations and reasoning can be performed in parallel.
Note: Intelligence determines MP in a 1:10 ratio of Intelligence''s level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Wisdom:
Wisdom allows one to make more effective use of their intelligence and accumulated knowledge. Reasoning and analysis of facts becomes clearer. The greater one''s wisdom is, the more mental resilience they possess.
Note: Wisdom plays a factor in spell damage and resistance.
[/table]
[table=white]
Luck:
Luck is one of the universes great mysteries. It plays a role in everything in life and determines how well one is meshed with the flow of life.
Note: The higher one''s level in luck, the greater one''s synchronization with the universe. Forgotten keys will find their way into your hand, broken pavement will be missed. Stat points can not be placed in Luck.
[/table]
Jane was stunned. She wondered how long she had been under surveillance. This level of detailed explanation can only result from someone researching games and deciding how to apply it to an already existing system. Though, it wasn''t likely all for her. Some administrator somewhere had to enjoy games. She wouldn''t be surprised if there was some comic of someone having their life changed and turned into a game, like she experienced now.
She didn''t notice stamina, which was good. She didn''t want to have to deal with readjusting to paying attention to that depleting on her. It would also likely be very exploitable for her if she did have a stamina bar. She could stay awake indefinitely and then eat something to be fully refreshed.
The title and affiliation aspect of this menu was intriguing. It also hinted that there were underground organizations of supernaturals. It was an obvious logical leap. If there were secret societies of normal people, there were also those for supernaturals. And likely, some normal people were affiliated with supernatural ones as well. Titles and Affiliations would help her weed these people out without her having to interact with them. A person''s class would likely play some role in this as well.
Speaking of this, she thought. Jane got up and went to the mirror. Above her head were three lines of text.
Jane Blackthorne <> <>
<>
<>
"That''s convenient." Jane mused aloud. "If only it showed up information that was there. Since I don''t have a title or affiliation, it could really clutter my vision if that showed for everyone." The two notices next to her name quickly disappeared.
"Wow! Thank you...never mind. You''re not going to trick me again!"
Looking back at her Player Information, she frowned at the 8 points she had in Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity. She knew she had been rather sedentary. Mainly to prevent notice. The lady called her Mother would start paying attention if she became active. There was likely no chance at avoiding her notice now if she were to start working on her stat points.
"She has been trying to get me to go with her on runs and to the gym for years,. I guess she''ll finally win." Jane said gloomily.
Intelligence and Wisdom she decided she could work on by reading through her course material and going to the library to use their self-help section. Anything challenging should work. She would also start looking into those memory games and puzzles. Sudoku and other strategy-based puzzle games had to work those stats.
"Luck..." She muttered. "Luck will work itself out. If it''s a representation of how I am woven into the fabric of the universe, then it''ll raise as I work on my stats and become more efficient." She nodded, satisfied with her reasoning.
[table=white]
Wisdom +1
Luck +1
[/table]
She glared at the notification and flicked it away. "Funny."
Shaking her head, Jane pulled up the last menu, Skills. She didn''t see anything. "Looks like I''m starting with a blank slate."
Noticing the time, Jane decided to focus on this turn of events after school. She had things to do.
Chapter 2: Janes Teacher Really Was a Witch?
Chapter 2: Jane''s Teacher Really Was a Witch
Jane completed her morning like many others before. She dressed in an unassuming pair of black slacks and white blouse. Over the years, Jane had found that this was best for going unnoticed. Probably one of the reasons that restaurants around the world chose the combination. Combined with her simple hair put in a ponytail and her glasses with regular glass lenses, she was set for the part of plain jane with no fashion sense.
She arrived at the breakfast table at 15 minutes after 7. The people claiming to be her parents were just finishing their meal as she had ran late. Above their heads were two interesting sets of information.
Olivia Hillcrest Blackthorne <> <>
<>
<>
John Blackthorne <> <>
<>
<>
Hmm, maybe they are my parents. Their last names wouldn''t be the same as mine if they kidnapped me, right? Or, maybe I was taken before I could be officially named by my real parents. Jane pondered this new information as she scanned the rest of the available listings. It appears that I don''t have the requirements to see anything but their titles. At least I can be sure that they are involved in the supernatural world. Maybe that''s also why I was noticed by The Council.
Sitting down, Jane decided to break tradition and feel out information. Reaching out for the box of cereal and milk, she began pouring into her bowl while starting off. "Mom, Dad, I''m glad I caught you before you left for work!"
Startled, they looked at their usually quiet daughter. "What is it honey? Usually you''re so quiet in the mornings."
Nodding, she decided to get the first question out of the way before her follow up. With luck, her mother would either forget the first question or let something slip for the second. "Two things. I''ve been thinking about my figure. I know I have been pretty adamant about not joining you on your runs or at the gym, Mom. I think I''d like to start."
Wide-eyed, Olivia slowly began to grin. "Really, honey? That''s great. We can go shopping for some cute outfits to wear when working out, and--"
Jane cut her off, "That''s great, Mom. We can discuss that if I stick with it. I have another question, though. I was curious about some names I''ve heard about. What do you guys know about ''Seductive Harlot'' and "Roguish Pirate''? I''ve been meaning to ask, but keep forgetting. I''m out of fantasy books to read and decided to try a different genre. I thought you might have some suggestions when I run by the library."
Olivia sat open-mouthed for a moment before looking at her husband and then back to her daughter. John saved her from the silence by asking, "Sweety, sometimes when two people who love each other--"
"John!" Olivia exclaimed while blushing. "Honey, you shouldn''t listen in when your father and I are talking in private. Pet names aren''t to be repeated."
Blinking, Jane decided to let the issue go. "Right, sorry." Suddenly, she wasn''t that hungry. "I''m going to be late, I''ll see you tonight."
Dumping her breakfast in the trash after draining the milk, she quickly headed for school.
~*~
Jane found her classes much more interesting now that she could see random bits of information about her peers. Suzie, a cheerleader that would often let slip scathing comments about Jane''s lack of style in non-directed ways as she walked past had the title, ''Diet Pill Junkie''.
How many pills and at what consistency does it take to get such a title? She wasn''t sure how she planned to use this information, but she filed it away for later. At the very least, Suzie might find an anonymous note with the information, and pictures if she could manage, left in the head of the school newspaper''s locker. Jane would wear gloves when preparing the note and leaving it, of course. Now that she knows there are supernaturals around, one might have the ability to trace her for bullying based on sweat or skin cells. Best to be careful until she learns more.
In her Chemistry class, Jane became aware of how astute her desire to wear gloves was. Her teacher, whom she always thought had to be a witch based on her choice of shoes and demeanor had a very telling set of information above her head.
Alicia Winters <> <>
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This realization was followed by what Jane was sure a sarcastic sense of humor by the system.
[table=white]
Wisdom +1
Luck +1
[/table]
Still, she wasn''t going to begrudge the system for giving her free stats. Especially in Luck.
Ms. Winters wasn''t your stereotypical witch. However, she had that new-aged feel. She only joked to herself at first that she was a witch because she was always grumpy and looked down her nose at people. Her shoes were also no-heel leather with pointy toes. Which did not match her classy dresses and blouses in vibrant colors.
Jane was quite curious how Ms. Winters obtained her class. Are witches born with magic, or is it something they learn and develop which somehow triggers the system into giving them access to the supernatural profile? Jane wasn''t going to go out of her way to inquire. A Keeper of the Lore title must represent some degree of status with her group. Ms. Winters was only in her mid-thirties. Historically, and in the fantasy she had read, Elders are in charge of traditions and lore for whatever organization they are involved with. Ms. Winters had to be quite knowledgeable. At least in regards to research and memorization, since her level wasn''t that high.
Which raised another question, How is level calculated? Is it based on combat ability or stat percentage in relation to those at base stats at level one? Jane was still level 1 and had higher stats than most her level. This is assuming that everyone has a base 10 for each stat at level 1. Out of 6 stats, you should have 60 points. She had 74, now that she had gotten 4 additional points this morning. That put her at 23% higher than others. Or maybe it''s through combat experience. Jane hadn''t fought anyone. She''ll know as she raises her stats, because she doesn''t plan on fighting anyone just yet.
Jane focused back on the lesson. She still was going through with her plan to graduate early and with ample college or university credit, giving her a foothold for future opportunities. Knowing her stats just gave her another means to gauge progress.
By the end of the class, Jane was quite happy. Not only did she get new questions to study about the system, she gained a level in Dexterity since the class was a lab. Handling the delicate vials and beakers without breaking them seemed to be a form of training. Although, given her measly 8 points at the time, Jane was sure the 24 points in Luck played a part. If this really were a game, she should be clumsy. So, the two extra points earned this morning, plus the 10 stat bonus from having access to the system was basically doubling what she had the day before.
[table=white]
Intelligence +1
[/table]
Frowning, Jane shook her head as she packed up her books. The system was definitely listening to her thoughts and having fun with her. She wasn''t going to scare it off, though. Stat points had to start slowing down in their gains at some point, and she didn''t want to hurry it along. Especially for Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck. Those featured heavily in determining success in any area of life.
Chemistry was Jane''s second class of the day and the one just before her lunch break. It was also Ms. Winter''s start of her free period. Jane didn''t want to let on she was anything but a normal and unassuming person, but she wanted to know if she could get some answers as well. Now, when the room was empty was most likely to be the best time.
Her advanced placement History class was after lunch and they just so happened to be covering medieval times. Jane had previously no intention of writing a paper on witches for her mid-terms, but she had read enough history books to do it if needed. She decided if she was going to peak Ms. Winters interest she would need to use that angle, but in such a way it wouldn''t be the standard and overly-done one. She might even tie it in with the new-age concept that Ms. Winters seemed to play up.
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Walking to her desk, Jane stood and waited for the woman to take notice. Time ticked on and Jane was secretly cursing how effective she hid in plain sight. After five minutes, Jane decided to clear her throat.
Looking up from her papers, Ms. Winters looked startled. "Oh, sorry...I didn''t see you were there. Did you need something?"
Jane caught the slip. She doesn''t even remember my face. Well, this could be good as well. If it goes badly, she might not even remember me on Monday. This is Friday, after all. "Yes, I remembered that you had a free period and was hoping you might have some spare time to discuss, or at least offer some suggestions for me to look into, a project I''m doing for my history class."
Listening to that long-winded answer from a student who was obviously nervous, Ms. Winters nodded along. She was always willing to help a student who did proper research. History wasn''t her area, so this student must have obviously been hunting for facts to support their project. "I could spare a few minutes. What is your project?"
Twisting her fingers in her hand, Jane gave a relieved look and carried on with her plan. "I''m in the AP History class and we''re discussing projects for the medieval period. I''ve read a lot of books on history and nearly all of them cover that aspect the same. So, I decided to take a different angle. With your help, I think I could give it some credibility if I do the proper research. I just need sources to look into."
Scrunching her eyebrows together, Ms. Winters asked, "This does have to do with chemistry, right? Are you looking to recreate some invention?"
"Yes and no. With your background, I thought you might be able to recommend me some sources. I decided to try and put a different spin on the witch hunts. I realize this is going to be controversial, but anything that discusses them is bland. As long as I offer firm facts and sources, I should technically be able to write my paper on anything as long as I meet all the technical requirements. I don''t plan on writing anything outlandish, but I do want to do something interesting for once." Jane said in a pleading tone.
Ms. Winters blinked for a few moments during Jane''s explanation. "With my background...I''m a chemistry teacher. What are you looking for, exactly?" Her tone was firmer with the question.
"Basically anything that could explain how people could think that there was magic. The textbooks all point to superstitions and other people using the hysteria at the time to accuse people they didn''t like for those burnings. I''m sure it was mostly that. However, there had to be some fledgling chemists in whatever form that made those people think something could be magic." Jane stopped to see if her teacher was following before she continued.
"Maybe it was a rustic recipe passed down for generations that cured a cough better than the primitive doctors at the time. Or maybe it was some knowledge of astronomy and soil that helped farmers get better crop yields. If you''re studying chemistry to the graduate level, I was hoping you might have come across something that could point me in the right direction."
Ms. Winters let out a slow breath. Jane was curious just what she had thought she was going to ask. Maybe she isn''t as discreet as I plan to be, Jane thought. I''ll remember this for the future. "I''m not sure about the soil. You''d have to do some digging, no pun intended, into geological records of the area and time. They weren''t too concerned with that back then. I''m sure any local crop tallies for tax purposes would have been discarded by now as well that could even give a hint of yields. As for rustic medicine, I could give you a few titles to look into. They are fairly obscure, however. Might even be out of print, since I went to a university on the other coast. This is a small village, after all."
Jane nodded. She didn''t expect anything dealing with the occult, after all. "I''d appreciate any help. I might be able to find electronically scanned copies. Maybe I could place a request with your university." Ms. Winters nodded at this in agreement. Clearly this wasn''t related to her Lore that she was Keeping.
"Also, and this is going to seem even less credible, I was thinking of doing some comparison with today''s culture."
"How do you mean?" Ms. Winters asked.
"I realize you''re not a physics teacher," Jane paused. "And really, this was only something I''ve been thinking of adding after not really finding anything for my first angle. So this was more to bulk up the paper. So I decided to compare the current new-aged culture with Wicca and Energy Workers and people''s reactions with the past."
Ms. Winters gave a disgusted look. "And you think I can help you with that?"
"Oh, no. You never struck me as the type of person who would be into that sort of stuff. Simply giving me possible avenues to explore in proving the possibility that culture might have some semblance of credibility would be enough. For instance, I have read that thought is a form of energy. Since energy can only be shifted from one form to another, could there really be some type of healing done with energy by laying your hands on someone? If I had some way of proving this with science then I could link it back with medieval times and compare and contrast the people''s reactions." Jane stopped after she said this, she was rather proud of how she pulled all of that together.
Maybe it was the increase in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck that pulled those bits of information from her mind and tied it in with an offhanded comment she remembered from The Council''s introductory notification about how she became a candidate for uplifting. Whatever it was, it left Ms. Winters speechless.
"You''re...interested in this?" She said slowly.
"I think it would certainly provide credible basis for my paper. Even if it proves fruitless, at least I''d have something to argue with over drinks later in life when discussing philosophy." Jane smiled. "We''re a month into the semester, this is why I''m starting early. A week or two looking into this would still give me plenty of time to try something else."
Ms. Winters smiled in chagrin. "I get the feeling that you would. You remind me of a friend I met in university with comments like that. She was always searching for the truth behind religion." Ms. Winters shook her head and sighed.
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Did she find it?"
"No. She decided that God or whatever higher power was a myth." Ms. Winters sighed.
"She discovered this through philosophy or doing scientific experiments on energy?"
"Experiments. She was doing her graduate work on how effective a religious service was based on emotional resonance that was created during key points of a person''s sermon. She set up a bunch of electronic equipment to measure changes in the room in various locations. She''d measure each church over four weeks and move on to another. They''d record all the services held that day to get the reactions based on crowd changes as well."
Jane was intrigued. "What did she find?"
"She never mentioned it in her thesis, but she was hoping to see if some energy changes entered the room based on a certain amount of harmonious resonance with the group. This would likely indicate an entity picking up on their heightened frequencies that the body was giving off as the sermon progressed. This could be God listening. All she cold prove was that there was a certain amount of group-think and how emotional appeal could be calculated based on a set of common words and phrases that all preachers seemed to use." Ms. Winters said sadly.
"Entity?" Jane stated, surprised.
Ms. Winters cringed. "Caught that, did you? It''s one of those new-aged terms when some people are discussing a being that doesn''t have a physical form like us."
"Really? I''ve not heard of this."
"It''s not really been measured or defined with science. As you can tell, and will likely learn later in university, students research all kinds of things." Ms. Winters said, covering previous slip.
"So, do you think I could have access to your friend''s research? It sounds like it might be related to energy healing. It at least statistically showed changes to people''s mood. And maybe...you could point out the literature that your friend was using to base her thesis on?" Jane asked timidly.
Ms. Winters shook her head. "I doubt you''d find anything to help with your project."
Later, Jane walked out with a few numbers to call and book titles to research. None of which dealt with magic, but at least gave her something to look into. Physics and Chemistry had to lead somewhere, right?
[table=white]
New Skill: Acting - Beginner 1
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
"Really?" Jane muttered as she went to get something to for lunch.
Chapter 3: Janes Adventures in Experimentation
Chapter 3: Jane''s Adventures in Experimentation
The remainder of the day proceeded as expected. Bland food for lunch, more exhausting classes. This did give Jane quite a bit of time to think up her after school activities, however.
She came up with a list of things she wanted to check.
The System can remove desired information from above people''s head on command, can it display other information as desired?
Acting was learned by performing the necessary actions, can other skills be learned this way?
By reading a book that discusses a skill, can it be learned without having to perform the actions?
Can skills offer boosts to stats? By direct addition, or augmenting based on percentage.
Can stats be lost? If so, can they be recovered over time without having to re-earn?
Some of these she doubted that she''d find out for awhile. The last item she already suspected was true. She wasn''t a very active person up until this point in her life. She was certain that her muscles had atrophied and resulted in a loss of stats. So, unless she experienced some kind of artificial debuff, lost stats were most likely gone permanently if effort wasn''t put in to getting them back. The same goes with stats which aren''t used regularly.
Jane also wanted to know if her body would heal like a game character. Would a stab wound miraculously close as her health regenerated? She wasn''t in a hurry to check this out. She''d likely find out if she ever got a scratch. Which was likely to happen if she joined her Mom in exercise. If this were true, she''d need to make sure to have a plausible excuse should anyone see her have an accident and then see her healed body later.
Leaving the school, Jane decided to head to the library. She had neglected self-help and education material. Now, however, it suited her purposes perfectly. Before she went there, she was going to spend some time at the park. It was on the way, after all.
After the 15 minute walk, Jane found a bench near a flowerbed surrounding the pond. Looking to the left and right, Jane made sure that no one was going to be listening. Her first experiment was about to take place, and she didn''t want interruptions to ask who she was talking to.
"It would be great if I could view my Health and Mana without having to pull up the Player Information menu," Jane said to the air. She waited. Two minutes passed and nothing happened.
System, please display my Health and Mana so that I can see it as I move. She asked in her head. Nicely, in case it decided to get sarcastic with her. Shortly after the request, a red and blue pair of bars appeared along with their numerical values inside the bars. Handy, thanks! She shouted I her mind.
So, direct requests are needed if I plan on affecting anything related to the system. Unless the system is already paying attention to my actions. Or, perhaps an Administrator was watching me this morning when I made a remark about the information above my head. Jane shook her head and decided not to bother with that train of thought.
Her next request was for a 24-hour clock to be placed under the Health and Mana bars. She didn''t want to bother moving around if she needed to check the time, after all. 15:23 quickly appeared before her eyes in a nice transparent overlay.
Out of curiosity, she asked to see a virtual representation of a computer monitor and keyboard, but that didn''t work. Something for her to experiment with later. The clock had to get data from somewhere to stay current.
The next item on her list was to create a skill. The most obvious and useful one was to obtain Identify. This is why she chose her location. Jane spent the next 10 minutes carefully studying flowers; wondering what information they contained, their height and texture, name and species. Anything she could think of that might show up with an Identify skill.
Nothing.
Jane decided to give it another 20 minutes. It might require a set duration to make the system pay attention to the intention. After five minutes she got her wish.
[table=white]
New Skill: Observation ¨C Beginner 1
By watching the world around you suspiciously, you have learned how to glean information out of the most innocuous of details. With each level, your insights reveal more information about your surroundings.
[/table]
Jane frowned. Not quite what I was hoping for, but I''ll take it. She thought. She knew the system was going to mess with her again. Looking at the flower, she thought, Observe.
[table=white]
Mysterious Plant
Judging by this plant''s location and your observations, this is likely a flower. By all indications, it''s a red flower that has recently been urinated on.
[/table]
Sighing, Jane got up and decided to continue on to the library. She didn''t notice the urine, so at least that''s something she had no knowledge about. She did make sure to watch for dogs, though. At least she hoped it was a dog that came by to mark its territory. After this morning, she couldn''t be sure.
Observe.
Along the way, she casted her new skill on a variety of objects. She even learned that she could activate it with both the word Observe and Identify. She was beginning to think that the system worked more on intent than commands, as a normal game would.
Jane waited for a moment. Huh, after that kind of realization, I was half-expecting an Intelligence or Wisdom stat increase. The system is getting sneaky. Jane thought to herself.
Entering the library a few minutes later, Jane stood for a moment at the entrance. She hadn''t been here in months. Ever since she got involved with Landless Wonders she had no need to come here to spend her time. If she needed a book for school she would just use the library there.
Walking towards the back, she passed by the reception and check-out desk and was greeted by the Librarian. "Oh, if it isn''t Miss Blackthorne. I haven''t seen you in awhile, Jane. You missed several new additions." The elderly woman stated.
Stopping, Jane turned to her and replied after a moment''s shock. "Hello Mrs. Pettigrew. I was busy with school and also decided to give one of those popular games a try that my classmates were raving about for a few years." Jane paused conspiratorially for a moment. "I used all the experiences from the books here to turn their world on its head, then disappeared as suddenly as I arrived. They still don''t even know it was me since I used a different name and appearance."
"Good for you, dear. You know I''m not much for all the new electronics, but I think I''d have joined you if you told me you were going to do something like that. This place is nearly dead except for a few old-timers like myself." Mrs. Pettigrew confided.
"I''ll be by more often, then. I decided I''d try the other sections now." Jane said sympathetically. She truly did like the woman.
"I''ll be looking forward to it, dear. Come talk a little on your way out if you have the time." The woman said as she turned back to her book.
Jane nodded and continued on to the self-help section, shaking her head at what she saw above the woman''s head.
Elanor Pettigrew <> <>
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At least now Jane had some semblance of a plan to get information on the supernatural. The woman knew her for years and knew her habits. Discussing the project had fabricated to her chemistry teacher and the resources she received, while letting her name drop, might turn something up and appear as harmless to the elderly woman. She''d wait a few days, though. She was going to search the Internet as well to make the story more believable.
Still, how did I never notice? Jane wondered as she arrived at the two long shelves in the back of the room.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The local library was not large, but it wasn''t small, either. Jane was starting to suspect it was more of a hide-away for the supernatural than a village. Likely a number of those people wouldn''t want to draw electronic notice by scouring the Internet for their needs if they didn''t have to.
She also saw a few affiliations from classmates, which supported this hypothesis. Not many, but more than 10%. Which was statistically large for a settlement this size in what should be a very rare segment of the population. Especially within three years of her age.
Jane decided to explore that later. For now, she was going to try learning skills from books. At the very least, maybe she''ll pick up a skill that made memory retention from read material better. This would be invaluable in the future.
She saw books on spirituality. She''d explore those further in a few days, but did pick up a book on yoga and another on meditation. These she could do in her home and start the foundation with Mrs. Pettigrew as well as her mother.
The other books, she''d leave here after she was done. Based on her stat descriptions, even if she learned a skill it would likely perform better if she fully understood the mechanics. So fully reading a book and using it as a guide to perform the skill would offer a greater chance of success.
Yoga and meditation were all she wanted for physical activities at the moment with exercise. One would begin slowly raising her Strength and Vitality while mainly raising her Dexterity. The other would probably raise her Intelligence and Wisdom. She''d come back for a Tai Chi and Qi Gong set of books later once her body, mind, and soul were in better shape. She had a feeling she could work all her stats with those as well as probably her Luck.
The self-help section had a lot to choose from. She decided to focus on something tangible. Cooking was the obvious choice. There were dozens of books on it, so she had a better chance of finding a way to activate the learning of a skill, as well as it being of use later in life.
Jane was through her seventh book before she finally received a prompt.
[table=white]
New Skill: Cooking ¨C Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
Wow, thanks for the faith System. Jane shook her head. At least she had three skills now and proved she could gain them by studying books. How many per skill was the question. Most of those she read were recipes, with a couple going over the basics.
Jane also noticed that the skill descriptions seemed to mimic the method she went about to learn the skill. Do they change based on her understanding? She would have to see as she leveled them. If this is the case, than they''d likely evolve as well. Maybe she could still get an Identify skill from Observation.
[table=white]
Intelligence +1
[/table]
Thanks system. I appreciate your confidence. She chagrined in her mind. At least she knew she was on the right track with that little bit of sarcasm from it.
She spent the afternoon reading through more self-help books and didn''t pick up any additional skills. At least from the non-physical section. She didn''t bother with areas like plumbing and carpentry. She wasn''t sure she wanted plumbing as a skill. Carpentry she might just pick up, but for now it''d be suspicious to have people see her carving blocks of wood with a knife if she didn''t set up a proper set of events leading up to it.
Through this, she learned that she''d have to read a variety of books about a topic from multiple perspectives to gain a skill. She could have probably learned some skill related to psychology if she took those self-help books related to weight-loss and motivation and coupled them with some textbook that covered them as well, since the ones she read didn''t delve into the hows and whys at an academic level. This is why she could learn Cooking, it discussed multiple aspects of the skill as a whole.
With this in mind, she decided to pick up the rest of the yoga and meditation books to check out and take home with her. She could probably learn both just from the single book as they were thorough, but she wanted to see if additional perspectives made it any easier to perform.
At check-out, Mrs. Pettigrew merely raised at eyebrow at her choice of books. Jane shrugged her shoulder and bid her a good afternoon.
The walk home was uneventful. Her parents wouldn''t be home for over an hour, so she decided to start with the meditation books. It was a toss-up between her room or the backyard. She finally went with the backyard because it offered the most room when she got up to try yoga.
As expected, the first book did give her the skill for meditation. It was after reading all of the books that she confirmed her suspicions for skill evolution. Well, it wasn''t really an evolution. It did raise her level, though.
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Beginner 5
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
While she was disappointed that meditating didn''t bring definite gains towards her stats, she accepted it as too much to hope for. After all, people in meditation temples spent years doing it regularly. There''d likely be many supernaturals birthed if stat gains were given out like candy from skills. At least it confirmed that stat gains were possible.
She also smiled at the hint in the skill description that she might be able to substitute sleep and food for Meditation. She doubted it''d be that easy, but it was something to work towards. Stat gains for a straight eight hours per day. Eventually she''d max out the skill levels and gain a surplus of stat points in the process.
She next started reading through the Yoga books. It was the same as before, the single book rewarded the skill and the following ones raised the level due to increased understanding. Only, this one actually gave her a percentage of chance for a stat increase while performing the skill. Which was handy.
[table=white]
Yoga ¨C Beginner 3
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
The skill description also offered hints of how it could be evolved. She had a feeling that Meditation would remain a stand-alone skill, but any future skills that incorporated slow movements focused on self-reflection would evolve and merge with Yoga into a new one with better stat percentages. Should she ever reach a level where she can perform Meditation while moving, she''d be able to work all stats at once.
Perhaps this was also why the skill hinted that Meditation could sustain the body. Hunger and physical exertion would be offset if she could do the skills at the same time. Though, she''d probably pay a price once she stopped if she did it for days at a time. Her parents would also stop her before she could test it.
Jane only had a few minutes before her parents got home. So, she''d focus on training stats tomorrow. It was the weekend, after all, and that meant she''d be spending time with her mother exercising.
Chapter 4: Janes Lack of Coordination
Chapter 4: Jane''s Lack of Coordination
During dinner, Jane''s mother spoke excitedly to her about their morning plans. Jane''s mother had always been involved in some form of exercise. Due to it being a village, their surrounding area did not offer much in the way of attraction outside exploration of nature and tourist-related activities. The entirety of the village could be crossed within less than an hour''s walk.
Jane''s mother, Olivia, spent every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning jogging one of the several trails along the outer regions of the two mountains that their village resided between. During her mother''s words, Jane only picked out a few key phrases: "head lamp", "5 A.M.", "bought new shoes and clothes", and what gave her the most trouble, "GPS watch to log your workouts so we can compare your pace and distance from now on."
Jane could only smile and nod as her mother commented on suggestions from her father. The more she listened, she was wondering if she had figured these two all wrong. With what she had suspected in this village being a hide-away for supernaturals, she wondered if these two had changed their physical appearance shortly after her birth. It would be a better explanation than being stolen, or my parents being dead and these two being some close friends who decided to raise me. Jane thought.
She only thought this because she was starting to see a resemblance in her own plotting methods taking root as they discussed her future torture. She had to get it from somewhere.
After dinner, Jane hid away in her room. She was ahead, again, in all of her classes. So, no homework for her. She decided to work on Meditation. The books suggested that it was best done before sleep so that the cleared mental state allowed one to better access the subconscious and retain those insights upon waking. Naturally, those authors stated it was not apparent until done repeatedly over months of practice.
Jane finished her preparations for bed and sat down on her floor with her legs crossed and fingers resting against her knees with the palms up and middle fingers touching her thumbs, her back resting against the bed. With her weak body, she wasn''t able to sit upright in a still posture without toppling over.
After several minutes of imagining her thoughts that intruded into her mental state being tossed into a river''s water that moved away from her, she was finally able to sink into her breathing and enter a tranquil place. This lasted for a couple of minutes before she had an itch.
Jane repeated this entering and exiting her tranquil place for the next few hours before she eventually lasted a full fifteen minutes, to be knocked out of her meditative state by a system prompt.
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Beginner 6
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
Jane wanted to cry. Sulking in her mind, she directed a thought towards the system. Please only show these prompts after I open my eyes and exit a meditative state.
The prompt flashed twice at her before disappearing. She wasn''t sure if the system was laughing or offering an acknowledgement.
It was already near 23:00, and she wanted to try meditating again before her mom interrupted her in the morning. So, Jane went to bed.
~*~
[table=white]
Intelligence +1
Wisdom +1
[/table]
Jane opened her eyes to see the notification of having successfully raised her stats. She didn''t raise another level in Meditation, but did raise her stats. She had spent over 45 minutes in successful meditation, so Jane suspected that after an hour her stats went up by one.
Remembering the percentage rates at a possible stat increase in Yoga, and the similar wording in Meditation''s description, Jane suspected that these gains would decrease in frequency over time as her levels raised. Which is likely why the system is so freely tossing them at her as she deduces its operation.
In any event, at least it seemed to listen and not interrupt her with the advancement. This stat growth also made her grimace for what this morning held. It meant that she probably had to exercise for an hour before gaining any benefits. Still, she couldn''t complain since a normal person would need to exercise for weeks before seeing even a 10% gain.
Jane got ready in a pair of sweatpants and shirt. It was cool this morning and Jane decided to save her ''cute'' workout clothes for the gym tomorrow. She''d freeze in those.
Her mother gave her a banana as she entered the kitchen and wouldn''t let her leave until she had at least 16oz of water. When asked why, she was only told, "Because I''m not stopping if you cramp."
The woman was ruthless.
Leaving the kitchen, the two went into the backyard and started stretching. This was something Jane was familiar with now after having read those Yoga books. When her mother noticed that she was doing a few basic poses in addition to touching her toes and rolling her ankles around she asked, "Jane, are you doing Yoga?"
Jane smiled and replied, "I picked up some books from the library. I thought it might help with getting fit."
This resulted in her mother tearing up like she had met a long-lost workout partner. "That''s great! I could never get your father to go to a class with me. Some of the ladies in the village meet at alternating houses in an hour on the days I go jogging. I was hoping to talk you into it after your muscles start stiffening up, but now I know you''re interested we''ll just run an extra kilometer to Berta''s."
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"An extra kilometer! Mom, I am incredibly out of shape as it is. Aren''t you suppose to start small with jogging and walking and work your way up over a period of weeks before you even do 5km?" Jane cried out in a horrified voice.
"Nonsense. You''re my daughter. You''ll be running marathons in a month, now stop talking and follow me." With this, Olivia took off without waiting for Jane, at a steady 7:30 minutes per mile pace.
~*~
Jane''s hour of pain, as she began to think of it, was spent trailing an ever-distancing silhouette of the woman who was likely a demon and stole her mother''s body. Fifteen minutes into the grueling pace, Jane was rewarded with an increase in Vitality. Which was fortunate, because her lungs were frozen and her chest was collapsing.
The slight increase did not help her physique that much, but it did tell her that the amount of effort she put into developing herself set the frequency of stat advancement. This became more apparent after they reached rockier terrain.
The remainder of her run, because it was hardly a jog now, could be summarized as follows: not see tree root, nearly twist ankle, dodge oncoming branch, trip over hidden rock, hop to maintain balance, slip on moss, be chided by evil woman in front, lose shoe and yelled at to keep the pace, whine as rocks tear her foot, repeat.
[table=white]
Dexterity +1
[/table]
By the time they reached the woman name Berta''s house she had gained 3 points, for a total of 12 Dexterity. She thought the System was feeling sorry for her after she lost her shoe, because the gains got slightly more frequent.
While Jane was picking out slivers of rock and splinters of tree bark, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. "Well, look what we have here! Olivia, is this your daughter? She''d have to be to be crazy enough to exercise with you!"
Jane got a feeling she was going to like this woman.
Her mother smiled at the figure behind Jane and yelled back, "She had me guessing for years, Bert, but her first time out and she didn''t even stop once. And she only lost one shoe!"
Really, Mom! Jane screamed in her mind as she massaged her foot and took off the other shoe to reveal a bruised ankle that she was sure was going to swell. As the shoe came off, Berta walked around and squatted in front of her.
"I know just the thing to help you, girl." Berta said earnestly, rubbing Jane''s ankle and looking into her eyes.
"Really? I suppose some ice would be nice." Jane said.
"Psh! It''s Saturday, girl. And you''re in Berta''s house. Ice is for pansies. You''re going to join our group for a special two hour Yoga session!" Berta stood up as she spoke and thrust her fist in to the air.
Jane could only groan and be dragged into the woman''s large living room where some other women were gathered. Olivia followed along, almost skipping in anticipation. I''ve been kidnapped by masochists, Jane thought as she suffered in silence.
As Berta left to start the session, Jane took a moment to notice something odd about everyone. They all had unreadable pieces of information above their heads like her parents. Just what is this? She wondered. Everyone here had to be well-above her own level. Even Mrs. Pettigrew was visible. So they must be at least above level 25.
~*~
Jane didn''t get much time to focus on her new questions. She spent two hours contorting her body in ways she was sure defied physics. This wasn''t any Yoga she read about in books. Lying in a now-cold bath at home, Jane could only shake her head and shudder at what she experienced this morning.
"Still," she muttered to herself, "I did get some good stat increases and three level ups for my Yoga skill."
She opened up her Player Information window and smiled.
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 110/110
MP: 190/190
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 10
Vitality: 11
Dexterity: 14
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 21
Luck: 19 (+10 System Access Bonus)
[/table]
The only stat she was questioning was Luck. She felt the increase of 5 points odd, and each increase seemed to happen as she was about to snap her spine. Maybe it was the System taking pity on me and trying to keep me functional to not end the fun of watching me suffer so soon. She mused in a macabre humor.
"Well, at least now all my stats are in double digits." Jane confirmed to herself. She was now at least average in all stats for her level, which was still 1. "Still not enough to tell about how people''s total level works, since I''m only 57% better than someone with all stats at 10. Yoga is going to be slow in raising Vitality and Strength, but the Gym should help that some tomorrow morning."
Jane could only look forward to what insights the gym workout will bring in how stats are raised with a smile. Which immediately faltered when she realized she was going with her mother.
Chapter 5: Janes Failed Training Plan
Chapter 5: Jane''s Failed Training Plan
Sunday morning saw Jane stretching after another Meditation session, confirming her suspicion that Stat gains did indeed become harder as they rose. After an hour the previous night and another this morning, she gained 2 Intelligence, 1 Wisdom, and surprisingly 1 Luck. If this trend continued, she''d be spending 2-3 hours per Stat increase after level 21.
She made sure to think of this in a purely analytical fashion. She didn''t want to risk any Administrator or Council member who may be watching to think she was ungrateful. She didn''t want risk them changing some calculation and forcing her to spend a day per gain. At least not before her stats were above 50.
Though, hopefully they''d stay hourly increases and not exponential ones. It''d be nice to only need to spend 5-6 hours to gain a stat after 50. Because at that level, she was likely to be 5x stronger than the average person. Which would mean if someone at base of 10 Strength could lift 50lbs. with one arm, she could do 250lbs.
Jane grinned at the thought of her lifting up a jock by the back of his shirt and moving him out of her way in the hall at school with ease.
~*~
Entering the Gym was a unique experience for Jane. She had carefully avoided any form of exercise all of her life, so finding out that their village had one that was open 24 hours a day was a surprise. Granted, the Gym wasn''t too large, but did have multiple sets of exercise equipment of all types. Enough for five people each on the stationary bikes, ellipticals, and treadmills alone. Altogether, Jane calculated that the building could hold nearly 50 people exercising continuously if people rotated around the weight benches, machines, and free-weights.
At this time of morning and day-of-the-week, only the dedicated seemed to be present. Jane counted those without a supernatural affiliation to be in the minority. Normal people would likely funnel in later in the day. Jane made a note to not venture out during the night or early morning, because between the ladies yesterday and seeing those here today she suspected that supernaturals worked outside the light of day.
Granted, her village was likely safe if she didn''t draw attention. Everyone seemed to be friendly with her mother, after all. But she kept it in mind for when she left for university.
"Mom, this isn''t going to be like yesterday, right?" Jane asked, concerned. "I was near death during that run, and I am quite certain that wasn''t Yoga."
"Honey, ladies don''t whine. I told you, you''re my daughter. Look at you, first run and you kept up just fine. I''m sure we can start you out small, 20lb. Dumbbells."
"I was wrong, you''re not a masochist. You''re a sadist." Jane muttered as she followed her mother to an open bench near the free-weights.
"What''s that, honey? Ladies don''t mumble." Olivia said as she picked out two matching dumbbells from the rack.
"I was saying that I''d like to start out with something smaller. The girls at school always talked about using low-weight and high-rep to work out with. So they don''t get bulky muscles." Jane sighed, taking the weights.
"Do I look bulky to you?" Olivia said, eying her daughter carefully.
"No."
"That''s right. No woman in my family gets bulky muscles. Well, except your Aunt Maurine. But she ate like a pig." Olivia replied.
"I have an Aunt?" Jane jumped at this piece of information.
"Of course not, sweetie. Have you ever met one?" Her mother said, avoiding the question.
"But you just said--"
"I said no woman in my family gets bulky muscles."
"And then you mentioned an Aunt Maurine."
"Don''t stall, you''re going to use these." With this said as an end to the discussion, Jane could only comply. She would get answers, but decided to do it in a place that wouldn''t require her to suffer from passive-aggression in the form of additional weight.
Her mother directed her through a series of exercises with the dumbbells that mimicked stretching her arms and body in various poses and holding them for a minute before moving fluidly to the next. Jane watched as her mother did the same with a 50lb. set. After the end of the series, Jane decided that it was using the weights as she moved her body in the stretches that prevented bulky muscles.
"Mom, wouldn''t this be more effective if we had weighted clothing? Like pants and shirts with little pockets to add tiny weights all around the limbs, chest, and back so that it gets distributed evenly?" Jane asked.
"That''s a great idea, honey. A 20lb. top and bottom would go great with the dumbbells. I''ll talk to the owner of the gym and have him order several sizes. I''m sure the other members will thank you." Her mother enthused. "We should have bonded like this ages ago! You have great ideas."
Jane cried inside. "Don''t forget gloves and boots, then." Jane muttered.
"That''s the spirit!"
Jane could only hope that Berta didn''t hear of the idea. Of course, Jane couldn''t be so lucky.
~*~
The entire morning was spent moving from one series of exercises to another. Occasionally, Jane would be greeted with a prompt for Strength or Vitality. After using a heavy medicine ball, Jane was greeted by an unexpected prompt.
[table=white]
Dexterity +1
[/table]
With all of the weighted stretches and having to hold her body''s balance, Jane had expected to see it before now. When it didn''t show, she just assumed that the exercises were ineffective for raising it. I guess it only appeared now because it was higher leveled than my Strength and Vitality, Jane surmised to herself.
So far, the trip to the Gym had netted Jane 2 Strength, 1 Vitality, and 1 Dexterity. This was good, because despite what her mother assured her, Jane did not want to have higher Strength than Dexterity. Her Stat descriptions clearly stated that there was an inverse ration between the two that governed her body''s proportions.
By 11, Jane had been at the Gym for six hours. She had not gotten any further stat increases and was completely exhausted. "Mom, I''m done."
Olivia looked up from her crunches with a large rubber ball at her daughter, "Are you sure, sweetie? If you stick around until lunch, your father''s going to bring use some pork sandwiches."
"That doesn''t sound healthy."
"Protein is important to maintaining and building muscle." Her mother instructed. "I only come to the gym a single time per week, but I work everything heavily. Then, the rest of the week is spent refining those worked muscles by running and Yoga. This, together, gave me this body and makes sure your father doesn''t have wondering eyes for someone like that hussie at the deli."
Jane coughed. "So, where is he getting our lunch?"
~*~
Back in another bath to ease her tormented body, Jane stared at her stats again to plan.
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 120/120
MP: 210/210
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 12
Vitality: 12
Dexterity: 15
Intelligence: 21
Wisdom: 22
Luck: 20 (+10 System Access Bonus)
[/table]
With the way her gains were progressing, and the various ages and body types she had seen among the supernaturals at the gym, she was starting to suspect that her stats did not reflect her level. Currently her stats were 70% greater than someone with all of them at the base of 10. She didn''t really feel stronger now with 4 additional levels since yesterday, but she suspected it would take her time to get use to the increases.
Still, thinking back it would be impractical for her Player level to increase if she averaged all stats to 20. Early on, this would be fine. However, that would mean her Chemistry teacher would average her stats at 120. She didn''t give off the aura of someone 12x stronger than her.
Also, Jane didn''t have the ability to Inspect and see people''s stats to check, but she had a feeling that they wouldn''t be higher than 99. While they are called supernatural, the physical body most likely couldn''t support someone lifting 1,000 lbs. with one arm. At least not and be human. Though she wouldn''t know for certain until she reached that level. She was modeled after a game character, so maybe her body could transcend those limits.
For now, she was going to conclude that a person''s level represented their combat prowess. Her mother seemed to favor physical attributes, so her level likely indicated physical combat and her skills were probably high in those areas. She only did 30lbs. more for the dumbbells, so her stats shouldn''t be too much more than hers. Her overall level must take into account the dedication she had in increasing her skills.
The same is likely true for her teacher. A witch would primarily favor Intelligence and Wisdom. A normal genius is unlikely to have their Intelligence exceed 20-30. So for her teacher to be 12 then she would have to have focused on perfecting her magical techniques.
This is all assuming that they didn''t dumb down their efforts in public, however.
[table=white]
Wisdom +1
[/table]
Really? Couldn''t you have given me the increase earlier in the analysis so I know if my mom did or didn''t hide her strength at the gym? Jane argued in her head.
Jane, frustrated, decided that she''d plan around her Player level being determined by skill proficiency. Mainly for her own peace of mind until she had more information. So, for now she would focus on working only her stats and keeping combat potential skills out of her training plan. This way, supernaturals would be less likely to pick up on her becoming a threat. After all, someone who trains to fight is suppose to give off an aura that is sensed by others.
By keeping her level low and raising her stats, she would grow stronger first. Then, once her stats are above 30 or 40, she will start. They should start to slow down noticeably by then anyway.
~*~
One month later, Jane was lamenting in her room after the weekly trip to the gym. Her mother ruined it all.
While going through the usual weighted stretches, Jane was reflecting on how the poses she was doing and the Yoga that she did with her mother''s friends seemed to be more related to martial arts than the Yoga stretches in the book. As soon as she made that realization, she was greeted with a new prompt.
[table=white]
New Skill: Unarmed Combat ¨C Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
Stunned, she had stared at it and was suddenly greeted by a new prompt.
[table=white]
Level Up!
Congratulations! Through your diligent training, your knowledge of combat has made you more effective at survival.
You are now level 5 and have 20 stat points to spend.
[/table]
Immediately following this, the supernaturals in the gym turned to look in her direction and her mother smiled. This is not good, she thought at the time.
It wasn''t. Her mother led her through the workout like normal and everyone went on with their own. Jane made sure to not cause a scene, because with luck people would just assume it was her mother that they sensed. It was after they got home that her mother confirmed her worries.
Sitting her down in the kitchen while being served a glass of water, her mother said with a smile, "My baby finally awakened her potential. I''m so proud."
"What do you mean?" Jane asked, still trying to downplay the situation.
"Don''t deflect, honey. Everyone sensed a change. Sure, most might have thought it was me but a few are astute enough to sense it was you. Besides, all those exercises we''ve been doing and knowing you''re my daughter, it wasn''t hard to guess the goal behind it." Olivia stated.
"I still doing get what you''re talking about. What potential? All I did was compare the exercises that we''ve been doing at the gym and the Yoga with the ladies against the listed Yoga poses in the books I got from the library and realized that they weren''t really meant for stretching and were more like martial arts." Jane said.
"Exactly! And when you realized it, you gave off an aura. It told others that you were a threat."
"How does realizing some movements can be used for something make me a threat?" Jane asked. Still hoping that she can cover this up.
"It has to do with how you were born." Her mother said, slowly. "You were born special."
"All parents think that about their kids." Jane joked.
"I''m serious." Olivia said firmly. She held up a finger and a blue glow suddenly appeared at the tip.
"What is that!" Jane cried.
"This is me manipulating the energy in world. It could be called Qi or Mana, it''s all the same. Just applied differently." She replied.
"Magic! You''re talking about magic." Jane clarified. She knew where this was going, but she hadn''t expected her mother to come right out and do something. "Does that mean there are wizards and spells?"
"This isn''t like Harry Potter, dear. It''s all based on rigorous training and focusing your will on a clear intent. There''s not magical words. Besides, I''m more of a weapon''s master and use the energy around my immediate body than over long distances. I couldn''t throw a fireball if I tried."
"Wow. So what does this have to do with the gym?" Jane said, trying to get her mother back on track. No one picked up on her being special until she gained a combat level. So she was sure her mother did something to encourage that. I should have never agreed to join my mother to exercise and went off on my own, instead! She screamed in her mind.
"Right, you awakened your potential. We have a rule in the world. Those with the ability to transcend human limits do not involve those who haven''t awakened their potential. It''s hard to enforce, but it does largely keep the world in the dark about our existence. There are much more normal people, and disgruntled and afraid people are dangerous." Her mother clarified. "Those with the genes, after meeting certain criteria, will gain the ability to transcend limits and be able to work with the world''s energy to do interesting things."
"And this relates to the exercises?" Jane asked for what she was sure was the fourth time. She suspected her mother had been waiting for this day for awhile due to her complete disregard of answering the question directly.
"Pay attention, dear. You are special. You can work with the world''s energy. Someone with your genes understanding how certain movements could be used in combat without ever being told that was what you were learning, how is that not a threat? When you realized this, your awakening pulled in energy to modify your position in the world. Others awakened can sense this. To some extent, non-awakened people can as well but they just sense that you are intimidating." Olivia clarified. "Also, by being able to access energy, you will have the ability to use them to strengthen anything you do. Martial arts are done by are more effective than normal people''s.
Jane nodded, realizing that it was likely the percentage increase in her skill''s description. At 10 levels per tier, her Intermediate 4 would put her attacks at 14% more effective than a normal person''s. This likely meant that to be level 5, she gained a combat level for every 3.5 levels in a combat-related skill. This might changed as she learned others, as they might contribute more to her overall effectiveness. Unarmed Combat was an all-encompassing skill, after all.
"I see. So this means that there are other awakened people in the village." Jane mused.
"A good portion of the village is what we call supernatural. It''s a haven for our kind. Those of us who don''t want to get involved with politics." Her mother confirmed. "We don''t advertise, though. A good rule of thumb is to act oblivious. If you start discussing supernatural-related topics with someone who you know is supernatural in public, then you''re bound to be overheard by someone who shouldn''t know. Even if this village has plenty of normal people in-the-know due to growing up around family who let the truth slip out or by stumbling into a situation where it was exposed and not being killed to keep quiet."
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"What? Why would they be killed to keep quiet if this place is a safe-haven?" Jane asked. She had hoped this village was safe to train in.
"This village largely is. However, there are some people here who are escaping from various lifestyles or situations that lean more towards being better-dead so someone can''t let their secret out."
"Is that why you and dad are here?" Jane decided to finally ask her suspicions, since her mother was discussing all of this. "I always wondered if you and dad were kidnappers that took me away from my real parents, friends of my parents who sent me away to be safe, or had disguised yourselves. Because I remember being born and you don''t look like my mother then."
Olivia blinked a few times. "How long have you thought this?" She whispered.
"Always. I''d always suspected something was strange, but you two never did anything out of the ordinary."
"Huh, I guess that''s why you always pulled away. It made it hard to see if you could be awakened so we could have this discussion. Thankfully, you joined me for exercise to see if I could push you." She thought aloud. "There was no nefarious plot, John and I really are your parents. We did have a witch alter our appearance, though. And yes, we were escaping politics as well. I won''t get into that now. Maybe when you graduate and leave the village."
My parents really don''t overreact to anything. They''re fine with me ignoring them and fine with me thinking that I thought they''d kidnapped me from my real parents. Jane morned silently in her head.
"So what now? More exercise? Am I going to be like a superhero that can jump buildings?" Jane said sarcastically.
"Ladies don''t sass, Jane. You''re supernatural, not superhuman. Even the strongest can''t jump a building. If you dedicated your life to infusing the world''s energy into your muscles and training in gymnastic techniques then you could probably jump to the roof of a 2-3 floor building after a few decades. Around 10-12 meters straight up."
Jane was shocked. "That''s not superhuman?"
"No, there''s a difference. You can augment and exceed human limits by interacting with energy of the world. However, you still are limited by your physical body. You can use Mana to perform feats that would make you appear superhuman, however. Such as using it to direct air currents to help you fly over a building." Olivia said sagely.
Jane wasn''t so sure now that she had actually leveled up. From what her mother was saying, they didn''t get stat increases for each level. They had to grind their strengths and would likely only reach a stat cap of 60-99 after decades of work by integrating the world''s Mana with their body.
She, on the other hand would get stat points for each level in addition to what she''d gain grinding. She wondered if those 5 stat points per level represented Mana modifying their body as they trained. Someone focused on physical combat skills would have those points distribute to Strength, Vitality, or Dexterity based on their chosen skills while someone like her teacher would have them spent in Intelligence, Wisdom, or Luck.
If this is the case, then she didn''t have a limit and would already be stronger than someone her level. Even if she was slightly off in her calculations and someone could increase stats in addition to benefit of 5 points per level, those increases through hard work to their body was limited and slower than hers.
[table=white]
Intelligence +1
Wisdom +1
[/table]
Thank you System. She thought. It''d been awhile since it responded to her mental musings. At least she knew she was on the right track.
Her mother carried on while she was thinking. "As I said, we try and keep our existence away from normal people. History books give hints of what happens when the public is scared of the supernatural. Witch hunts are one example." Jane sighed when she thought about Ms. Winters. "So, we''ve developed special areas to train and develop ourselves away from their view."
"Like underground rooms?" Jane asked.
"In some cases. In others, we use the world''s energy to create separate spaces. In that game you wasted time on a couple of months ago, I think you might consider them a dungeon or an instance." Jane raised and eyebrow in question. "Don''t look at me like that, your father was looking through the book that came with the headset."
Jane decided not to press. She wouldn''t be surprised now if they all got together with their friends in the village and had gaming sessions of their own. After all, she didn''t really see her parents at home outside the mornings and evenings.
"In these places, only another person who can direct Mana and will access can enter an Instance. This lets us have certain areas of cities where we can do business. Some of these areas do take on a life of their own, and this is where politics enter. Factions and groups of people form to control the resources gained in these mutated places." Olivia finished.
"What kinds of resources?" Jane asked.
"Mythical creatures, I guess you could say. They''re really just creatures from alternate dimensions and worlds from different galaxies that have found an unstable Instance to pass through or be pulled through against their will. Alchemists use their bodies for various things, and there''s sometimes technology that shows up." She answered.
"Interesting. Do we have a place like that here?" Jane inquired, interested.
"No. That''s why this is a safe haven. It''s a stable area where the world''s energy remains undisturbed and can''t create these unstable instances that''d bring things in. The mountains keep it that way. We do have the ability to create our own Instances, however. So if you do want to learn various skills we can go to one." Olivia stated.
"You aren''t going to force me into training like you''ve done this past month? From how excited you were when I awakened, you made me feel like that''s what you were going to do." Jane said in disbelief.
"Right now, you''re only barely noticeable to other supernaturals. You could even conceal that with some effort and live a normal life. We push our kids to awaken and those that do learn what you have so that they can make an informed decision." Her mother said seriously. "If you start training in skills and using the world''s energy, that aura gets stronger and is much harder to conceal."
"Will I be hunted?" Jane asked. She wasn''t under any illusions that power draws attention. Landless Wonders was the perfect example. Once she was known and people saw her achievements, they wanted to use or destroy her when she wasn''t interested. History was also a good example from all the books she''s read.
Olivia thought for a moment. "It depends. Most people don''t care about other supernaturals as long as they aren''t bothered by their actions. Most people live peaceful lives this way, and some even live in areas with very little activity. However, there are others who will see your potential and try to draw you in. Those as well may shrug off your denial and move on to others. Not all, though. Those will remove you as a potential threat for accepting an offer with their rivals, even if you have no desire to."
She looked at Jane and continued. "It''s like the Mob. It was created for protecting the people from corruption and became corrupted itself so that you''re forced to join in order to not be pressured by others. Any area you choose to live or activity that you perform that has some kind of value to supernaturals will run the risk of exposing you to this element."
Jane thought about this and decided that she was going to continue with her plan. "I''ve always been good at going unnoticed. So I think I''ll first learn how to conceal my aura and then train from there based on how well I can conceal it."
Olivia looked at her daughter in disbelief. "It''s quite hard to do that, but if you''re going to learn concealment first, then at least you can do that without having to train in an Instance. This would keep people thinking you''re normal or choosing to remain detached from the supernatural world. Though once you start learning combat skills you''ll be revealing yourself."
Jane smiled. "So I guess that means I''ll have to start working out by myself from now on since those exercises were no Yoga at all and continuing would only increase my aura until I can conceal it."
Her mother glared. "You''re not giving up our runs. You''re already doing Yoga in the backyard during the week, so keeping that up is fine. As for the gym, I guess you can start doing normal exercises with the weights like you wanted to initially."
~*~
This was how Jane ended up mourning the loss of her plans in her room. For a whole month she had been leveling up her stats gradually. The returns got slower as the level increased. Especially over 21 with her physical stats. She did a good bit better with Intelligence and Wisdom because she could do those for two hours a day for the first two weeks and eventually succeeded in partially maintaining it in place of sleep before actually sleeping.
So, over the course of the month she had raised her Strength to 26, Vitality to 28, Dexterity to 32, Intelligence to 38, Wisdom to 41, and Luck to 26. All without anyone picking up that she wasn''t a normal level 1.
Jane had a feeling that The Council decided she had sandbagged enough and wanted to push her into the supernatural world, since she was likely equivalent to someone at level 25 or higher.
Lamenting enough, Jane looked at the book in her hand. After hunting around for a couple of hours, her Mother found a book that discussed how to manipulate a person''s aura. Jane found it quite useful to her plans if she could completely suppress it or even have it imitate someone else''s.
[table=white]
New Skill: Aura Manipulation ¨C Beginner 1
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
This skill was different than others in that it hinted at the ability of reaching 100%. From what she gleaned, as the skills seemed to be ranked similar to Landless Wonders, there were 5 tiers. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, and Grandmaster. Each had 10 levels, for a total of 50 levels.
Aura Manipulation''s description also hinted that aura leaks were influenced by emotional fluctuations and personal will. So, if she strongly desired to remain unnoticed and kept to emotional stoicism she was fine. The skill was basically a safety net. Since Jane was always good at going unnoticed, she was confident in leveling this skill. Besides, it was likely that her aura was only picked up by the shock of Unarmed Combat appearing and her leveling up coupled with the physical exertion.
She''d only confirm this when she went back to school tomorrow, though.
For now, she decided that she had to place those 20 free stat points. The physical stats would likely increase quickly if she took her mother up on her offer. The other two have slowed down recently and have been coming in at a rate of one per every other day for the past week.
Later in life, I''ll likely be fighting at a distance, so Intelligence and Wisdom would be important to maintain control and exert my will. She thought to herself while considering her options. She decided to place the bulk in Intelligence since Wisdom seemed to benefit at a slightly higher rate in Meditation and random boosts from the System. It''d catch up quicker.
The result was 50 in Intelligence and 49 in Wisdom.
[table=white]
Wisdom +1
[/table]
Glad you agree. She said in her mind in reply to the System''s action.
Sighing, Jane got into bed and went to sleep. She didn''t even care to meditate for the first time in a month.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 280/280
MP: 500/500
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 26
Vitality: 28
Dexterity: 32
Intelligence: 50
Wisdom: 50
Luck: 26 (+10 System Access Bonus)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Beginner 5
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation ¨C Beginner 1
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking ¨C Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Intermediate 2
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation ¨C Beginner 1
By watching the world around you suspiciously, you have learned how to glean information out of the most innocuous of details. With each level, your insights reveal more information about your surroundings.
[/table]
[table=white]
Unarmed Combat ¨C Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
[table=white]
Yoga ¨C Beginner 8
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
Chapter 6: Janes Awakening
Chapter 6: Jane''s Awakening
Over the past month, Jane had gotten used to exercise. It was hard not to be a bit proud of being able to run 7-minute miles without running out of breath compared to her previous sloth-like state. She was never overweight, but she was quite nonathletic.
So, she had taken to running to school each morning a couple of weeks prior once her physical stats had broken 15 for each. The first few mornings she did arrive sweaty. However, once she neared 20 she didn''t even need to start in her workout clothes to change after arriving. It would take at least 3 miles before she broke a sweat.
Jane had also not found herself to be noticeably stronger as her strength soared. At least without carefully focusing on being such. She had re-read the Dexterity stat description several times before deciding that it was subconsciously distributing her force through multiple muscle groups to make sure she wasn''t applying too strong a grip to anything she interacted with without her having to focus on it. The weighted stretches and martial arts poses that her mother and her friends tricked her into also likely played a part in training her body to carefully manage its strength and balance.
The same was true for her Intelligence and Wisdom. She didn''t notice herself having better mental acuity. After nearly quadrupling her stats compared to when she was first uplifted by The Council, she wasn''t quite expecting to be dreaming of the world in more than five or six dimensions and running off with the desire to solve unsolvable mathematic proofs, but she did hope to notice some change.
Well, there was a change, but it was only a better use of her already well-adapted retention of information that she heard or read. So she didn''t count it.
This was all that she reflected on as she arrived at school the day after she unwittingly raised her Player''s level. She was careful to dress and act as she always had. No one seemed to be paying attention to her and she relaxed.
Her plan was to maintain a neutral state and not make the rookie mistake of thinking people will notice anything strange about her, which would be the quickest way to ensuring that they would. It''d also ensure that she would lose the perfect chance to test out her hypothesis of how the Aura Manipulation skill worked.
This plan went perfectly. Right up until she ran into ran into the first person over level 10 of her day: Ms. Winters.
~*~
In her second class of the day, Jane was feeling quite smug at feeling proven right that she could get by without being noticed by the other supernatural kids. So entering her Chemistry class, she was probably feeling a little eager to see if Ms. Winters would pay attention to her or not.
When she reflected back on this moment at a later time, she''d acknowledge that this was likely where she made her mistake.
Class proceeded as normal, with Ms. Winters setting up a lab to have the students follow the instructions on the board and them writing down observations. The last half of the class would be her actually covering the reasons why the chemical reactions occurred and the background of those chemicals they worked with. She assured the class it wasn''t her being mean, and that she found students learned and respected information better by experience first.
As Ms. Winters walked around, Jane focused her attention on her general area as she followed the board''s instructions. Jane hadn''t spoken to the woman since that day after class and assumed she had not realized it was Jane she was talking with or had given up on her fake project.
Just as Ms. Winters nodded in approval of Jane''s progress and was about to walk off, she turned back and looked closer at the girl in front of her. Jane made a conscious effort to keep focusing on her work and controlling her breathing. With her heightened mental perception, she could tell that none of the other students hadn''t picked up anything strange, so she calmed down.
It was too late. Ms. Winters leaned closer and tapped the tiled surface of Jane''s preparation area and asked to see her after class.
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation ¨C Beginner 2
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
Jane cursed herself silently for the rest of the class, because she just realized her fallacious reasoning. The skill gains experience in situations with perceptive people and emotionally charged situations.
~*~
After the other students had left, Jane was standing in an empty classroom before Ms. Winters'' desk as she studied her. Jane wondered if she was going to take the obvious approach to see if her suspicions were correct or ask leading questions. It should be the latter due to her Class of Witch, but Jane was learning that life didn''t always follow fantasy stereotypes.
"When you were here a month ago, you asked me for help on a project. How is that working out for you?" Ms. Winters asked carefully.
"I had to drop it. I didn''t have the time to fully explore the material, so I went with a more standard premise." Jane quickly answered. If Ms. Winters wanted to be vague, Jane would oblige. Especially since she was still curious if she was found out or not. After all, it is as her mother said that in this valley people knew she was the child of a supernatural. Any change in her presence could be suspected of being awakened, but not of her having knowledge of that aspect of the world.
Jane mentally rolled her eyes at her thoughts. I''m over thinking this entire process. She doesn''t want to break their rule of secrecy, but probably wants the chance to educate a kid. I''m just making this complicated because I like being in the shadows and suddenly being noticed because of an aura is annoying. Jane corrected herself.
Ms. Winters frowned. "That''s a shame. I was curious to see how you''d do with it. It might have even gotten some of the other students interested in science, showing them it didn''t have to be so stuffy."
Jane nodded. "It''s just as well. I wasn''t finding much evidence for other areas, so with just your friend''s research I''d have needed to recreate the results and that''d require expensive equipment." Jane sighed. "That''s just too much effort for a small part of a paper. Even if it is for potential university credit."
The conversation drifted off from there, leaving Jane fairly certain that she didn''t allay Ms. Winters'' suspicions but the woman not finding an easy segue into confirming them.
~*~
A week passed.
Jane didn''t come across many higher-leveled supernaturals like Ms. Winters, the people at the gym, or her mother''s friends during her normal routine. After the skill level up for Aura Manipulation, Jane changed her approach and tricked her mind into accepting that she was already caught and everyone knew her secret. There''s a certain ease that comes after a secret is out, so this helped her not have as much subconscious anxiety so that she could better remain unnoticed.
It seemed to work, Ms. Winters still occasionally watched her but she had leveled up her skill two more times to level 4 as well as gaining a level in Acting. This told her she was on the right track.
During the past week, she also seemed to have hit a wall in raising her Intelligence and Wisdom. Yoga was also giving very minimal returns after a week compared to the passed. As in nothing happened.
Jane would be worried, but she had already progressed so quickly in training that even supernaturals would be shocked with her results if she confided in any of them to ask for advice. A normal person would likely take a couple of years to reach her fitness level doing the same exercises.
Jane, instead, decided to focus on her other abilities until she was happy with her level of Aura Manipulation. Observation was the best place to start since she truly was uninformed.
Leaving school, she headed towards the park. Jane reminisced at the last time she came this way after school; she had gone to return the books she borrowed from the library five weeks ago. She had already broken her promise to Ms. Pettigrew of visiting more often due to the excitement of training her body.
Actually, she had neglected quite a bit in the past month. She didn''t even try leveling up Observation or Cooking. Jane resolved to correct this to avoid falling into the trap of obsession with gaining power at the expense of everything else.
Finding the familiar bench at the pond, Jane sat in silence. She let the sun''s warm glow caress her skin as she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of birds calling one another merge with the lake''s rippling waters as the wind blew across.
"Yes", Jane said to herself, "I need to slow down and reevaluate my plans."
This was how Jane began her habit of spending at least 15 minutes a day sitting quietly outside in nature.
~*~
Jane thought quite a bit about how to increase her Observation skill in such a way that it would increase its usefulness. Her first thought was to spend time studying people, but quickly decided that it would defeat the entire purpose of remaining away from the supernatural community if her focus on them suddenly released her aura. So, she broke her thoughts down into a list of what she needed to help decide how to go about achieving them.
Target''s stats
Target''s skills
Potential threat level if above can''t be achieved.
At least color code the target''s name for generalized threat level in relation to my own Player level.
Information about location''s name.
Information about item: name, components, present use, potential use, value.
The present skill seems to rely on her own personal knowledge. However, the only time she used it it did pick up the plant having been urinated on. This indicates that the System is willing to supply unknown information directly related to the observed target.
Jane thought about the steps she would need to take.
To asses a person she would need to study up on what makes a person a threat and those warning signs. That comes from knowledge of the psyche to determine potential motive, body language to see outward warnings, knowledge of any training to deduce their skill level, and possibly knowledge of weapons and protective items. Some of this information she''d get after training combat-related skills and others she would have to study books on a wide-variety of topics.
The same could be said for being able to identify and analyze items and locations. She''d need to study many more books than she already had to recognize things. Perhaps knowing them would trigger the System into giving her additional information outside what she knows based on commonalities. Sort of a heuristic analysis.
Value would come once she got involved in the supernatural world. She could probably get some indication while she read antique guides to be able to recognize items. She''d probably also have to spend some time reading more about economics than just textbook theories. Commodities markets would be needed. Then, she could find similar outlets for the supernatural world.
If she got all of this information, she could most likely have the System change a target''s name''s color based on their known level and analyzed items'' strength in relation to her own. It already shows level based on their combat prowess, so adding in their equipment shouldn''t be too much to ask.
With this in mind, Jane stood and walked to the library.
~*~
Entering the library, Jane smiled at the ever-present Mrs. Pettigrew and walked over to greet her. "Hey, Mrs. Pettigrew. How are you?"
"Jane, where have you been? You promised to visit and it''s already been over a month! Don''t you know it''s not nice to take advantage of the elderly''s feelings? I might die of a broken heart." The woman sulked playfully.
"I was busy!" Jane insisted.
"Too busy to spend a few minutes on your way home from school visiting?" Mrs. Pettigrew held up a hand to stop Jane''s next comment. "Come more often, dear. Besides, I was mainly wanting to show you something I had in the back. I didn''t expect it to be so long before you returned."
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Oh, you didn''t have to do anything special for me." Jane replied.
"Of course not. But it''s there all the same. Would you like to see it?" Mrs. Pettigrew asked, then added. "That is if you feel you still deserve to."
Sighing, Jane nodded. "I promise to be more regular now that I''ve got the time."
"Time''s one thing we''re all short of, dear." The woman replied as she turned and walked through a door behind the counter that led into her office. "Some more than others."
Jane shook her head as she followed. They stopped inside the office and Jane was asked to close the door behind her.
After a minute of awkward silence, Jane asked, "What am I to be looking at?"
"Look down."
Jane did. "It''s a nice rug."
"It is, but that''s not it. Move it aside." Doing so, an outline of a recessed hatch nestled just off to the side of the closed door that was covered by the rug was revealed. "Open the hatch and go down. I keep it in the cellar since it''s valuable. Knowing you for so long, I thought you might enjoy it."
Climbing down the ladder, Jane was greeted with a dark room and fumbled along the wall for some kind of switch to turn on the lights. Mrs. Pettigrew followed. "Just keep walking to the end, dear. It''s a straight passage. There''s no light here to make it harder for thieves who happen to discover it. At the end is another door. There''s a light just inside."
"I''ve never heard of thieves in the village." Jane remarked cautiously. She trusted the woman, but knowing that she was related to Ms. Winters and the odd turn of events was throwing off warning bells in Jane''s mind.
"This was built years before my time. Food and valuables were kept underground for safety. If the building burnt, you''d at least have something left. There''s cellars all over the village." Mrs. Pettigrew replied in a bored tone as she urged Jane forward.
They eventually shuffled their way in the dark to a locked door. "It''s locked." Jane said.
"Shouldn''t be, just turn and twist the handle. There''s no key." The woman said.
Hearing this, Jane was starting to feel better. If something sinister were to happen, there would be a locked room. So she twisted the handle to the side with difficulty. It was stuck. Likely from disuse, she reasoned. She pushed down on the handle with more determination and eventually the door opened inward to reveal a brightly lit room with nothing in it.
"Well done." Mrs. Pettigrew said, pushing Jane into the room since she was staring without moving.
"Is this what you wanted to show me? Because there''s nothing here." Jane said finally.
"I wanted you to see the door." The woman said, amused.
"The door." Jane echoed, monotone.
"Correct. I had my suspicions a month ago when you had a sudden interest in meditation and Yoga, Alicia did as well last week when she thought she picked up your change in aura. You just confirmed them." She said.
Jane suddenly realized where she was. "This is an Instance! You can only get in by Will and control of the world''s energy."
"Correct again. I wasn''t sure you knew about this at first, but I met your mother the other day and she let me know you awakened last week. Alicia came to me and said she suspected, but were playing coy. So, I decided to bring you here and force the issue." Mrs. Pettigrew said sinisterly.
Seeing Jane''s head drop, Mrs. Pettigrew laughed. "Don''t feel bad. I''ve watched you since you were little. I know you don''t like others paying attention to your business. Not giving into Alicia''s questions and staying away from other supernaturals is smart, even if nearly all in this village are harmless to you."
She went on. "Which is another reason I decided to bring you here. Your mother mentioned you were going to keep a low profile before you can hide your aura enough to start learning skills to defend yourself. That''s a good mindset to have. This Instance is for my coven''s use only, so only a few people are aware of it. In here, you can train to suppress your aura without having to expose yourself to others."
"How do I do that?" Jane asked, curious. "Mom just tossed me a book discussing a skill to manipulate my aura and sent me on my way."
"Most supernaturals don''t even bother training to control their aura. It''s all about time management, really. There''s tools that have been created to detect a supernatural''s aura fairly well, some of the more expensive ones even detect minute fluctuations. So, they decide to focus on other techniques." Mrs. Pettigrew gave Jane a conspiratorial smile. "But smart Witches learned early on that being undetected and passing as a human was our best defense. So we have mastered the art."
Seeing where this was going, Jane took her cue. "You''re a witch?"
"You could call me that. We give each other classifications depending on how they want to focus on manipulating Mana. Your mother''s focused on enhancing her physical abilities such as speed and strength. She''d probably be closer to an assassin if you were comparing her to one of your fantasy books that you read when younger. Your father is good with pushing his control of Mana into external objects and excels in the sword. So he''d be a swordsman." Mrs. Pettigrew informed Jane.
Continuing, she discussed those classes that focused on directing the world''s energy into spells. "Witches are similar to how you''d read in stories. We use Mana externally and direct it at others with our intent and Will. This is more subtle than Wizards. They prefer more flashy effects. Flashy effects take a lot of time and practice to pull off, which is how they spend most of their time. Witches also devote time to studying the effects of herbs'' magical properties and chemistry to make medicine. Wizards don''t see the point. They could inject you with Mana to heal you. So can we, but it''s better use of resources to use a potion or you''ll find yourself out of Mana when you need it most."
"As you can see from those few examples, nearly all classes share some commonalities. So it''s never good to rely on them except in a broad sense. People also can choose to branch out and learn skills for anything given enough time. Personal preference blurs distinctions even more. So I say I''m a Witch and run a coven that focuses on my specializations, but even then the few members I oversee have different paths." The woman summarized.
"So you''ve got a way to help me train my control of aura?" Jane asked, getting the woman back on track.
"I do. It''s simple, really. One of my ancestors learned how to make the tools to detect aura. The process has been refined over the years by a number of people, especially when my great-grandmother married someone from a major organization that trained elite assassins. She took some of the detection concepts and some of the enchantment knowledge that was collected and came up with what we use now." Mrs. Pettigrew said walking to a far-corner of the room.
Pressing her hand onto the stone wall, it opened up to reveal a panel that resembled a computer interface. Jane asked, "Is that a computer?"
The woman laughed. "No. Computers operate on the premise of directing electricity in predefined patterns and each piece works towards doing something with all of that electricity and displaying meaningful information. This is an Instance where Will defines how Mana operates. There''s electricity here which is a form of energy, and Mana is also energy, but it''s more limited than Mana. Mana can take some shortcuts if you have a clear-enough intent and strong enough Will."
Pressing a few areas on the screen, Mrs. Pettigrew continued. "If you wanted to compare enchanted items like this to a computer, think of it as gathering a set of instructions, envisioning how they will be executed, and then providing enough resources to make it happen. Then, compress all of it into a program and put it into a stream of Mana that will send it off to an operating system in the form of a primed item that can keep that Mana from dispersing. This allows you to interact with all of that."
"So what are you doing, then?" Jane asked.
"I''m setting up this room to emulate a person who has basic aura sensing abilities. When you can get by undetected at this level, we''ll step up the difficulty in increments until you can stay undetected from someone who has mastered detecting even the most minute traces of aura fluctuations." Mrs. Pettigrew explained.
"Wow, that''s convenient." Jane enthused.
"It is. Then we''ll emulate a person sensitive to detecting auras and a tool that checks other aspects that can hint at someone being a supernatural." The older woman said, smirking. "Now, go stand in the center of the room."
Jane did. "How will I know if I''m being detected?"
"You''ll know." Jane heard before her world was plunged into darkness.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 280/280
MP: 500/500
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 26
Vitality: 28
Dexterity: 32
Intelligence: 50
Wisdom: 50
Luck: 26 (+10 System Access Bonus)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Beginner 6
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation ¨C Beginner 4
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking ¨C Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Intermediate 2
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation ¨C Beginner 1
By watching the world around you suspiciously, you have learned how to glean information out of the most innocuous of details. With each level, your insights reveal more information about your surroundings.
[/table]
[table=white]
Unarmed Combat ¨C Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
[table=white]
Yoga ¨C Beginner 8
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
Chapter 7: Janes Winter Preparations
Chapter 7: Jane''s Winter Preparations
Darkness greeted Jane. The kind crept slowly inside bones and sucked all the warmth from the body and deprived the senses of all sensation. A thick, lifeless darkness.
To Jane, there was nothing. No sight. No sound. If she didn''t know she was standing, she wouldn''t even know there was a ground.
Jane quickly looked in the direction of Mrs. Pettigrew. The information displayed above her head was gone. Did I get transported somewhere? She wondered.
Faint clicking could be heard to the left of Jane. As the sound drew louder, Jane realized it was similar to heels walking on a hard surface. As she looked in the direction of the footsteps, she began to make out a glimmer that became brighter along with the approaching footsteps.
Minutes passed and Jane began to make out a figure of a woman. The woman''s clothes slowly became recognizable, followed by the facial features. She could be the picture of any stylish middle-aged upper-middle class woman. The only recognition that Jane could see that distinguished her from another woman was that her face and light-brown hair was an aged version of her own.
As Jane''s heart beat faster, the woman drew closer. Her forehead began to show wrinkles and her lips pursed as if thinking of something unpleasant that had to be said. She stopped three meters away, as if she couldn''t be bothered to come any closer.
Jane remained silent. She couldn''t form words even if she wanted to, for fear of what she might be seeing. Fear that it might be real, and fear that it might not.
"Jane," the woman spat out in contempt. Jane''s eyes grew wide in surprise and then lessened in heartache. She had a familiar feeling of realization now that she heard the voice, but couldn''t stop listening even if she wanted to. She knew what was going to be said next.
The woman clicked her tongue as she looked Jane up and down. "I was right to give you to that woman. Look at you. I carried you for nine months and all you can do when you see your mother is stand with your mouth open."
Disgusted, the woman huffed and started walking away. "No daughter of mine would be so weak."
Jane could only slump to the floor as the woman''s words rang in her ears as they had many nights over the years. They weren''t always the same, but they always were of unworthiness. Unworthiness for her to stay.
~*~
With a familiar brightness, the room below the library came back into view. This time, there was a red screen on the wall in front of her with the words, "Failed: 0/10".
Mrs. Pettigrew walked slowly over to a still limp-legged Jane and took her in her arms. "The first time is always the hardest." She consoled.
Sniffling, Jane replied. "I knew once I heard the voice that it wasn''t real, but it still hurts."
Patting Jane''s head, the elderly woman soothed. "Even if that woman was real, that wouldn''t be what she looked like. You take more after your father."
Jane''s head jerked in response as she said frantically, "You saw?"
"Of course. How else would I know if someone being tested was in danger? Even if whatever you experience is an illusion, mental magic can do some nasty things. Especially that which we allow ourselves." Mrs. Pettigrew said.
"I always wondered what happened to them, you know. I remembered seeing my parents after I was born and then the people who claim to be them looked completely different." Jane shook her head and laughed dishearteningly. "I never made an effort to get to know them. They were always under suspicion of possibly kidnapping me or something else. I confessed this to my mom last week and she didn''t even act like it affected her."
Jane shook her head again. "A mother should have some kind of reaction. Especially after being so happy just before after I awoke. All she did was confirm one of my theories that I entertained that my parents were really in disguise and hide away in this village from something. Still, I guess I haven''t believed it yet or else that illusion wouldn''t have hurt so much."
They sat in silence for several minutes. Jane hadn''t ever been comforted like this growing up. It was nice.
Finally, Jane asked, "How do you know how my parents looked like? She had mentioned having a Witch disguise them. Was that you?"
Nodding, Mrs. Pettigrew confirmed it. "I did. It took some of my more craftier enchantments and potions as well to completely mold the body and aura that each gave off. Otherwise your parents would never be able to leave the village and find work for fear of bounty hunters. Still, it''s best that they don''t tempt it. As I said, mental magic can be tricky to deal with. Never fully rely on a disguise, especially if it''s an illusion."
After a brief silence, Jane let the words'' meaning take root. "They don''t leave the village. If it''s a safe-haven then why would they need to fear bounty hunters seeing through a disguise?"
Laughing, Mrs. Pettigrew stood up and ruffled Jane''s hair. "You don''t actually think this village has enough work to support everyone who lives here, do you dear? Most living here don''t even need to work, neither do your parents. They just work in the local shops to not be restless. Others commute. That''s what your parents do."
"I always wondered how your library could afford all the new books. I thought it was just supplemented by taxes gained from tourism revenue, there isn''t much else to spend it on with the little maintenance that the village seems to need." Jane mused as she got up and tidied her clothes and hair.
"When you go out into the world, you''ll find that the supernatural world is quite an alarming place. No one''s developed their magic or enchanting skills to the point that teleportation is possible, yet advanced technology obtained through Instances still shows up on the market that allows for it. It''s incredibly expensive, that''s how I know your parents can afford not to work." Mrs. Pettigrew huffed. "Oh the devices aren''t rare, mind you. Just uncommon and expensive. A few of the locals in the village use this transportation to gather information about the state of the world or find work."
Jane was amazed. "Mom mentioned mutated Instances opening rifts for things to find their way into or be pulled into our world. She said it was why organizations fight for control of them. When she said advanced technology, I just thought it was like something similar to quantum computers or laser pistols. I wasn''t expecting teleporters!"
Seeing that Jane''s mind was off her experience with the illusion, the woman smiled and decided to continue the lesson. "We''ll discuss this more in the future. You don''t have to worry about that now. I need to get back to the library before I''m missed."
Realizing the time, Jane agreed. "Right, the training."
"The text on the far wall there is used to mark your success. The numbers represent how many minutes out of however long the illusion is set for that you managed to conceal your aura." Mrs. Pettigrew lectured. "Using this knowledge, you can practice that technique your mother gave you. With zero minutes successful, you can understand that from the start you became unnerved and your body started interacting with the world''s energy."
Realization dawned. "So the enchantment is designed to access my mind and find something that unnerves me. That''s disturbing and effective." Jane stated.
Mrs. Pettigrew nodded. "Mental magic can be very deadly. Illusions as well. This enchantment works with both. One to affect your mind and the other to affect your sight and that of those monitoring within the room. This enchantment uses mental magic to not only read your fears and hopes, but the reactions to them. It takes away your senses and feeds your mind new images based on your memories and those hopes and fears using illusion magic. Then, it monitors your aura."
Mrs. Pettigrew stopped Jane from asking more questions. "Now you see why I haven''t told anyone outside the coven about what this place offers. It''s not just an effective way of training our members to hide their auras to pass off as normal humans. A lot of organizations have similar training. It helps people resist two of the more subtle and cunning forms of magic."
Jane thought for a moment on the implications. "So you''re saying that if people learned that you have a way of breaking or resisting illusions and keeping people out of your mind that this Instance would be in constant use."
Snorting, Mrs. Pettigrew chided. "That too. No, I''m saying that to the degree this enchantment in the Instance can provide such training goes well beyond the norm. Someone with enough mental fortitude could be immune. Organizations have killed for much less. It''s hard to keep this kind of secret from getting out, and this hideaway in the mountains have plants from some of them. Do you really think that if someone let it be known just what is here that one of them wouldn''t start chaos to claim this village just for control of it?"
Jane hastily assured that she wouldn''t. "Out of curiosity, why wouldn''t you just remove the enchantment and relocate to another area? My mom said that people can create Instances, and this enchantment obviously was placed inside it initially. So it should be able to be moved, right?"
"A good question. It''s for the same reason that you don''t see anything other than mats on the floor. Anything placed her becomes a part of the Instance. Initially, you''re right. It was just a separate space. However, due to how the enchantment worked, it began to fill the space here with mental energy and Mana emitted due to the emotions and auras of the people who came to train. It resulted in a minor mutated Instance." Mrs. Pettigrew said sadly.
Clapping her hands, the woman said. "It shouldn''t be possible in this valley, but it happened. That''s enough for today. Let''s head out."
Following, Jane left the Instance with Mrs. Pettigrew. She had much to consider.
~*~
Back in the main room of the library, the two looked around and saw it was still mostly empty. Only a few regulars were there in their usual chairs in various corners of the room, reading to pass the time.
Looking at the time in her vision, Jane noticed that she had spent close to 40 minutes down below. She wondered at just how long she spent rattled from the illusion. The test and conversation couldn''t have taken that long, she thought.
Whispering, Jane asked Mrs. Pettigrew when she should come back to start training privately in the cellar. Instead of an answer, she was offered a job.
Jane looked again around the room. "Do you really need help? All I could offer is maybe two hours per day during the week after school." Secretly, Jane didn''t think the place required a full-time librarian, much less help.
In a low voice, Mrs. Pettigrew replied. "Of course not, dear. If we''re going to have you sneaking around under everyone''s nose, it''d be the perfect cover. Don''t you think? Shuffle some books, reorganize the signs and displays a little, then go fill out some forms in my office and you can slip on down even if the place was full of people."
"I thought it was something like that, but I just wanted to be sure. Well, I was already planning on coming in for a couple of hours after school anyway. Would you mind if I used your office to work on school work and my research when I''m not using the ''facilities''?" Jane asked cryptically.
With a straight face, the elderly woman deadpanned. "Only if you clean up afterwards. Though you really shouldn''t spend too much time in there. It''d be hard for me to check regularly."
"Sounds like a plan." Jane paused for a moment then asked with a smile. "Do I get paid as well?"
Swatting Jane away, Mrs. Pettigrew ended the discussion. "Only with love, dear."
~*~
The following day saw Jane back at the library. She had chided herself on the way home for not even checking out some of the books she was going to read in an effort to develop her Observation skill. This time around, she''d pull some of them first before she did anything.
Mrs. Pettigrew was true to her word with the job offer. As she walked in, Jane received a paper thrust in her direction instead of the customary greeting.
"And a good afternoon to you too, Mrs. Pettigrew." Jane said as she looked over the list of things to do around the library.
The list wasn''t much, basically a more detailed accounting of what was discussed the previous day. Jane did stop at one item, however. "Do you really want me to do that? There''s no way I can finish today and still have time work on other things."
"Consider it an ongoing project." The elderly woman replied before turning back to the book she was reading. Jane did note the title, Effective Management Best Practices, before moping to the door at the far side of the room that would lead to the stock room.
Opening the door, Jane was greeted with a cloud of dust. "How is this so dusty if she''s keeping all the books current in front?" She coughed out after an unsuccessful to close her mouth from the shock before the dust cloud greeted her.
After her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Jane saw four rows of large boxes stretched twenty long and five high in the room. Mrs. Pettigrew wanted Jane to inventory them by making a database of what was in the boxes so that she could have something to pass to used book dealers before selling them off. Before all of that, though, she was going to have to get them ready for conversion to an ebook to go on a website that Jane was suppose to setup. Mrs. Pettigrew seemed to have a sudden industrious side to her.
Jane wondered who was really going to be benefiting from this arrangement, her or Mrs. Pettigrew.
With a resigned look, Jane decided to look on the bright side: here she was, all alone with many books to work on her Observation development with without anyone to bug her. It didn''t matter if it was reading in Mrs. Pettigrew''s office or back here. It wasn''t even like she had a deadline.
The boxes were, thankfully, coded by section and looked just to be organized into segments of the same shelf that they had inhabited in the main room. This made finding her topics much easier. Tomorrow she''d bring a laptop to start compiling the inventory, but today she''d read.
~*~
Jane''s first course of action was to pick up books on gardening, anatomy, botany, chemistry, and anything else that was plant or medicinal related.
She wanted to be able to get a decent description of useful plants to start with. At the very least, this would aid her in picking out edible food from the poisoned if she ever had to resort to a wild survival situation. Jane hoped for more, though.
Being able to tell at a glance if a powder or pill is medicine or poison and what it does would be very useful. As would knowing if a plant had medicinal properties. This was just the start. She might even be able to pick up insights into if someone was ill or injured at a glance and why.
After hunting and gathering, Jane ended up with several dozen books in front of her. With a sheepish smile, she picked up one to start reading.
Minutes passed as Jane immersed herself into her reading. She began to scan and flip through each page faster and faster. Scan and flip, scan and flip.
After nearly two hours, Jane reached out a hand for the next book only to realize she was done. Then she noticed a prompt from the System.
[table=white]
New Skill: Advanced Mind - Max
Through your ever expanding cognitive abilities, you have noticed the benefits of and nurtured amassing information and knowledge. You have surpassed the abilities of an eidetic memory to store, sort, and manipulate information quickly and efficiently. Your mind has truly become a machine.
Effect 1: 50+ Intelligence and Wisdom, all information obtained through the senses is perfectly remembered and can be recalled instantly without conscious effort.
Effect 2: 75+ Intelligence and Wisdom, your thoughts are unnoticed by others. Theirs, however, are communicated to you within a 10m radius.
[/table]
"Wow," Jane gasped aloud. She had known that she was able to better retain information and was developing what could be called an eidetic memory as her mental stats increased. However, she didn''t expect to get a skill out of it.
Thank you System, she thought. "I guess I really was able to get something after advancing a stat to 50. It just needed a trigger." She muttered.
Dismissing the prompt, she saw a series of notices that was previously covered up. Confused, she began reading.
[table=white]
Gardening merged into Herbology.
[/table]
[table=white]
Anatomy merged with Herbology, forming Medical Science.
[/table]
[table=white]
Chemistry merged into Medical Science.
[/table]
Dismissing each one, she wondered how those mergers were governed. The best she could tell, since it didn''t show the Skill prompt for each merger, was that insights had a weight. Likely based on research. Gardening was a very low-ordered form of Herbology so it was assimilated.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The next merger was telling. Historically, Herbology was the precursor to primitive doctors. It wasn''t until one started cutting up bodies and examining what made them tick that Medical Science took off. Chemistry is just a division within Medical Science, so it''s easy to see why it was assimilated.
Jane was curious, though. She wanted to be able to recognize potential magical potions. She had never seen one, but from how Mrs. Pettigrew talked about alchemists and historical texts that discussed them, they were the precursor the chemists. Except that they dealt with compounds that were suppose to break the laws of physics. Which at the time was essentially magic.
That''s when she realized, physics. She needed to get all the books related to mathematics. She''d already read a lot of them prior to being uplifted, but her new Advanced Mind skill hadn''t been there then. So it likely didn''t pull in her current knowledge. Who am I kidding, Jane thought to herself, I didn''t study anything that advanced anyway.
Since Mana was another name for the world''s energy and Physics was all about modeling how energy worked, this information should evolve her new skill into Alchemy. She wouldn''t know any recipes to do anything with it, but at least she''d have the option.
Jane put the current books away and went hunting books relating to Mathematics. She pulled all the Economics and Statistics-related books as well. On a whim, she decided to pull all the books related to Business. Alchemists converted lead to gold and Business was all about converting currency.
This time around, since only had to briefly see text to remember it, she held each book with its spine perpendicular to her stomach and angled it so she could easily flip through the pages by applying pressure with her fingers to the edge of the pages. It took her about three seconds to finish each book.
In less than five minutes she had finished the books. Jane waited for the System''s prompt.
"Huh, I was sure that would work." She muttered to herself as she stood up to re-file all the books. "I didn''t even get a notice about a Physics skill." Jane could only conclude it wasn''t tangible enough to be recognized as a skill since it was mainly theories and information.
~*~
Jane was too absorbed in her reading to Tuesday to visit the Instance below the library. However, she did make time on Wednesday. She made sure to only spend an hour in the storage room cataloging the books into her laptop.
Jane caught Mrs. Winters on a void of patrons in the library to get her to escort her down into the cellar. She was still nervous about what happened Monday, and having her there would be reassuring. Jane also wanted to ask about Alchemy.
Walking through the dark, Jane asked her. "Mrs. Pettigrew, Monday you had mentioned that Witches create medicines with a herb''s magical properties and Chemistry. This is Alchemy, right?"
"A rudimentary form of it. It''s really just amplified pharmaceuticals. A true alchemical potion is more than herblore and knowledge of Chemistry. An alchemist has to understand how Mana operates. Both freely in the world and when it come in contact with living and non-living organisms. As I explained with the enchantment and computer example before, Mana does follow the laws of physics similar to electricity but it also can break with under the right conditions. An alchemist must learn those or they''ll never use materials to their full potential." Mrs. Pettigrew lectured.
Jane understood now. "So if I wanted to learn Alchemy and enchantment I''d need to find some books on Magic Theory?"
Nodding, the woman replied. "Among other things. But for Alchemy, a solid background in Botany and Chemistry are essential in addition to that. I suppose understanding Physics would help as well, but most people who actively practice magic aren''t scholars. Even Alchemists rarely invest the time in mathematics unless they have an interest."
"Could I take a look at some of those books on Magic Theory?" Jane asked. "Reading the ideas behind Mana would be neat."
"Best not to for now. You might unexpectedly gain some insight and make your aura even more unwieldy. After you can successfully remain undetected from a master''s senses, I''ll let you read some books on magic." The woman said while laughing.
Jane pouted as she complained in her head. I guess my Alchemy skill evolution will have to wait. For the best, though. I don''t want any further Player level increases until I Max out Aura Manipulation.
~*~
Inside the Instance, Jane was facing off against the not-mother again. This was her third try for the day and she hadn''t made any headway into managing her aura. The emotions were just too deeply rooted, making it easy for the enchantment to detect.
As the woman berated her, Jane was making every effort to tune the words out while she reasoned through possible solutions. Her Advanced Mind skill was ensuring she understood everything that was said, however. No matter if she was focusing on listening or not.
At least she wasn''t crying at the end of the test, now.
There''s a solution here, I''m just not seeing it. She complained in her mind as frustration with this situation gripped her tighter.
"This illusion is just too annoying." She muttered. "It''s nearly impossible to tune her out. Even if I could, the enchantment is bound to pick up a few fluctuations as the words make it into my subconscious."
After saying those words, she paused to rethink them. Illusion. The woman is Mental magic projecting an Illusion into my mind. She thought. "I have to resist the intrusion before I could ever hope of concealing my aura from the enchantment''s detection!" She said with sudden insight.
"But...how do I do that?" Jane wondered. "Will. Mrs. Pettigrew and my mother made multiple references to Will and Intent when discussing manipulating Mana. So I have to desire strongly, with directed purpose, not to be influenced by outside forces."
[table=white]
New Skill: Mental Fortitude - Beginner 1
Through sheer resolve and determination, your mind resists being affected by outside influences. True Masters of Mental Fortitude push through even the strongest opposing perspective.
Each level increases Mental and Illusion magic resistance by 2%.
[/table]
"Huh, that was easy." She sighed.
~*~
With her new insight, the training for Aura Manipulation started to make headway. It took another week before she had leveled Mental Fortitude enough to make daily increases. By the end of the semester Jane finally mastered Aura Manipulation, Mental Fortitude was tougher to level and seemed to be the key to getting past the more advanced levels of the Instance training.
It was with great excitement that Jane could finally read about Magic Theory. She was mentally rubbing her hands together when Mrs. Pettigrew handed her two books on the topic. One she had obviously bought and another that seemed to be handwritten notes and observations.
"Be careful with these. The printed book is a standard entry-level discussion of Mana, but it is still fairly expensive. The other is a set of notes that my mother compiled to reference when she was learning Alchemy. There''s no recipes, but there is some helpful insights. It should make the textbook easier to follow." Mrs. Pettigrew warned Jane before she would let go of the books.
Jane excitedly thanked her and turned to head towards the office and read them only to be stopped. "Where do you think you''re going? Those books stay in this Instance. My office is probably safe to read those in, but you never know if a normal person my just wander in looking for you or me."
Apologizing, Jane slowed down enough to look like she was slowly absorbing each word on the page as the elderly woman watched. Like this, she slowly made her way through each book. She also took time to stop and ask questions.
Even if the questions weren''t necessary for fully understanding the books, asking would prevent questions and she did actually gain other insights in the process.
[table=white]
New Skill: Mana Control - Beginner 1
Through looking beyond the commonly accepted reasonings for how the Universe works, you realize that Mana behaves in a more unique way. True Masters of Mana use the energy of creation with ease, treating it as an extension of themselves.
Effect 1: Each level reduces Mana consumption by 1%.
Effect 2: MP is boosted by 2% per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mana Control merged with Medical Science, forming Alchemy.
[/table]
Seeing that notice, Jane became alarmed. Control? That''s important! You better have not removed that skill like the others when you merged, System! She cried frantically while pulling up the Skill menu to check.
She let out a sigh of relief when she found it still there, then opening up to read about her new skill.
[table=white]
Alchemy - Beginner 6
You have learned to see that all Sciences share a common root. Alchemy is the heart of Science and can unlock the potential in all things. True Masters of Alchemy can take the mundane and transform it into the Divine.
Each level increases the probability of a successful potion by 1%, regardless of preparation.
[/table]
Jane mentally did a happy dance when she read that. Now her Observation skill was complete.
Over the past two months, Jane had used her increased reading speed to finish up all the general information books that were in storage as she cataloged them. She also downloaded and studied the commodities market, compilations of weapons and armor, and various psychological assessments on her laptop at night.
Alchemy was the last piece. She had gained a few levels with each new pool of knowledge for it to draw from. It''s description even modified.
[table=white]
Observation ¨C Advanced 2
Through careful study of the world and those that live within it, you have gained insight into being able to assess your surroundings and not be taken by surprise. True Masters of Observation glean hidden insights without prior knowledge.
Each level increases the probability of additional helpful insights by 1%, regardless of prior knowledge or Player level in relation to the target''s difficulty.
[/table]
In lieu of the relatively poor physical stat gains, not to mention the non-existent mental stat gains over the past two months, Jane felt that her gains from the library more than made up for it. She was looking forward to the coming weeks without school.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 310/310
MP: 510/510
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 29
Vitality: 31
Dexterity: 34
Intelligence: 50
Wisdom: 50
Luck: 27 (+10)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Intermediate 1
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Advanced Mind - Max
Through your ever expanding cognitive abilities, you have noticed the benefits of and nurtured amassing information and knowledge. You have surpassed the abilities of an eidetic memory to store, sort, and manipulate information quickly and efficiently. Your mind has truly become a machine.
Effect 1: 50+ Intelligence and Wisdom, all information obtained through the senses is perfectly remembered and can be recalled instantly without conscious effort.
Effect 2: 75+ Intelligence and Wisdom, your thoughts are unnoticed by others. Theirs, however, are communicated to you within a 10m radius.
[/table]
[table=white]
Alchemy - Beginner 6
You have learned to see that all Sciences share a common root. Alchemy is the heart of Science and can unlock the potential in all things. True Masters of Alchemy can take the mundane and transform it into the Divine.
Each level increases the probability of a successful potion by 1%, regardless of preparation.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation ¨C Max
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking ¨C Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mana Control - Beginner 1
Through looking beyond the commonly accepted reasonings for how the Universe works, you realize that Mana behaves in a more unique way. True Masters of Mana use the energy of creation with ease, treating it as an extension of themselves.
Effect 1: Each level reduces Mana consumption by 1%.
Effect 2: MP is boosted by 2% per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Intermediate 8
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mental Fortitude ¨C Advanced 3
Through sheer resolve and determination, your mind resists being affected by outside influences. True Masters of Mental Fortitude push through even the strongest opposing perspective.
Each level increases Mental and Illusion magic resistance by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation ¨C Advanced 2
Through careful study of the world and those that live within it, you have gained insight into being able to assess your surroundings and not be taken by surprise. True Masters of Observation glean hidden insights without prior knowledge.
Each level increases the probability of additional helpful insights by 1%, regardless of prior knowledge or Player level in relation to the target''s difficulty.
[/table]
[table=white]
Unarmed Combat ¨C Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
[table=white]
Yoga ¨C Intermediate 7
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
Chapter 8: Janes First Quest
Chapter 8: Jane''s First Quest
After being uplifted for nearly four months, Jane had finally reached her goal of being able to remain anonymous while also having the ability to gather information and plot. The Advanced Mind and Mental Fortitude skills were just icing on Jane''s Cake of Possibilities.
Jane wasn''t what she wanted to do next. She had three weeks before the next semester of school started. It was so little time.
Walking home from the library, she was debating the merits of exploring just how far she could exploit the Advance Mind''s information absorption ability with potential passive learning when she noticed that her neighbors were back.
Before Jane learned the truth about their village, she thought that most of the empty houses were simply vacation homes or rentals for tourists. Now, she wasn''t so sure. She suspected that while some tourism was encouraged, it was most likely half-heartedly done and those that came were mostly due to an open secret in the supernatural community. Organizations within likely sent their minions to monitor the hiding people under the guise of a vacation.
An endless stream of expendable and rotating faces would fit the cover of tourists perfectly, Jane mused to herself.
Jane hadn''t given the middle-aged couple that would pop in on Summer and Winter holidays much thought before. Sometimes when she''d read in the backyard she''d hear the husband talking on his phone in a foreign language while going over a set of documents, but she''d heard her parents casually commenting about him being an overworked business man. It''d be natural for one of them to argue about foreign markets.
Now, she was quite intrigued at the business he was involved in as she watched him and his wife unload his SUV.
Phillip Browning (Daniel Evers) <> <>
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Patricia Browning <>
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Oddly enough, his wife was normal and shared the Browning name. The most logical reason for what Jane witnessed was that Daniel Evers was the man''s real name and Browning was an alias he used. She wondered if he deliberately sought out such an unaware person to marry out of convenience or whatever organization he was with found her for him.
~*~
Jane still nurtured some animosity towards her mother for her reaction months before. She joined her mother for their runs and to join her at the Gym on Sunday, even if she wasn''t going to continue those exercises that she did before. This eased the tension with her mother somewhat, if only enough to engage in small talk.
This was only on the surface, though. Mainly to see if she could get a rise out of her mother, as well as to have a reason to keep some distance when she wanted to be alone to train in the future when her mother learned that she was able to fully suppress her aura.
Jane''s training in the library''s Instance was very effective therapy for dealing with her psyche. As it progressed, Jane noticed a pattern in how the enchantment displayed Illusions.
When Mrs. Pettigrew said that the first time was always the hardest, it wasn''t a comment meant to placate Jane due to her unprepared mind. At least not the main reason. It seemed that to someone without any resistance to Mental or Illusion magic, the enchantment was able to dig and recover the most tightly kept and buried psychological issues. The things first struggled with growing up or those nurtured for many years.
As Jane gained some semblance of resistance, she was able to respond and manage this fear. This not only gained her experience in the Mental Fortitude skill, it limited the enchantment''s access to her mind and progressed her to other less rooted issues. It was the ultimate immersion therapy.
These experiences also made Jane realize that keeping people at arm''s length solely for the reason of anonymity and not being hassled was really just her not dealing with abandonment issues. She could still interact with people and maintain privacy. Even more-so now that she had her new skills.
Today she was going to start interacting more with her parents.
~*~
Her mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Jane watched and realized she had been thoroughly neglecting her Cooking skill. She decided that now was as good a time as any.
"Do you want help?" Jane asked.
"No, honey. I''m almost done."
"Okay. Well, how about some conversation? We haven''t really talked since I awoke and learned about the supernatural world." Jane tried again.
"Alright," Her mother said distractedly. "What do you want to know?"
"You know I''ve been seeing Mrs. Pettigrew at the library. She told me you had mentioned I awoke to her, which led to a lot of other discussions. In one of those, I had told her you said organizations fight for power and control of resources. This led to us eventually discussing this village and its safe-haven status and that those organizations and governments likely send people here to watch us." Jane said awkwardly.
"What''s your point?" Her mother asked while chopping up some carrots.
"I just thought it was interesting at the time. Then we had a conversation and you and dad needing disguises good enough to fool bounty hunters. I remembered you had said that people tend to come here to run away from politics." Jane continued.
"Are you worried about that, Jane?" Olivia turned, looking at her daughter.
Jane shrugged. "Not really. At least not when she told me that you have a teleporter and that you and dad commute with it for work instead of having jobs in the village."
Olivia winced. "We really haven''t had a proper discussion, have we?"
Jane smiled. "Nope, but we can do that at another time. I was just saying all of that to let you know that I know that and have been thinking about the implications. Especially when Mrs. Pettigrew discussed that most people in the village don''t even need to work. And if that''s the case, what else had I been wrong about for this village? Do we even need tourists? If this place is a safe-haven, a refuge for supernaturals and their families who don''t even know about that part of the world, along with organizations keeping watch on us...then are the tourists even tourists?"
Jane''s mother laughed. "Most likely not. I''m surprised you''re taking this so well."
"As you said while subjecting me to your torture months ago, I am your daughter." Jane chided.
"Too true."
"Anyway, I wanted to discuss our neighbors." Jane said, changing the subject.
"Why''s that?" Her mother asked, turning back to dinner preparations.
"I think they''re spies. At least the husband." Jane informed.
"Oh, them." Olivia said. "They''re harmless."
Jane was confused. "How? I remember you saying that he''s a business man, but if he''s really a spy then having him next to us is a risk to you and dad. Right?"
"It''s like I told you after you had awakened. This place is a safe-haven. And the people who come here are largely escaping from power struggles. There natural environment keeps those organizations who hunger for resources of mutated Instances and the resources and power they bring from taking much notice. And if those supernaturals who come to live here are here, they aren''t a threat to those people concerned about power. Any spies are likely just watching to see if those people will leave to return for a play at threatening their power." Her mother reasoned.
"But any information out could still bring someone here over a more personal grudge to cause issues." Jane pressed.
"Your father and I got a good deal from Elanor when she did our disguises. As long as we don''t share our pasts with people here, which is already an unspoken rule for everyone, then we are fine. Most people don''t look too closely unless they have a reason, and in this Village there''s no enchanted tool or spell that can look deep enough to see past what Elanor did to us." She consoled Jane.
"If you''re sure, mom." Jane said. She was hoping for something more than indifference. Her mother really didn''t get worked up about anything.
"I am. Besides, I said that the couple next door were harmless. He''s with one of the government''s intelligence agencies and just here to vacation under the guise of being an ambassador and fishing for potential leads to supernatural organizations. This place is an open secret to those who know about supernaturals and dig enough. They all know we''re here to hide away from the power struggles. Any real intelligence gathering isn''t done here." Her mother finalized.
Jane frowned and left the kitchen to let her mother finish dinner. How boring, Jane thought.
~*~
Jane was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling as she planned her Winter vacation. "If there''s no Big Brother conspiracy to thwart from the shadows, and I don''t want to broadcast to my mother that I''m done with aura suppression until next Sunday at the gym, I guess I can only continue on with my earlier plan to see how far I can use Advanced Mind."
Smiling at the thought, Jane decided to make a list to see just what she should try.
Learning a new language.
Listening to audio books and lectures while sleeping or meditating.
See if Braille isn''t the only way to learn information from touch.
There were a lot of off-shoots that she considered trying, such as building a catalog of tastes and smells. Being forewarned of potential poisons without having to consciously check everything with Observation would be handy. However she wasn''t sure how she could get a ready sample to train with.
Also, understanding what something says by touching would be useful if she had her eyes damaged. So learning Braille would be useful. It''d also be good training if she ever ran across some information carved into stone or wood, such as hieroglyphics. Enchantments were also sometimes done through engravings. This would help there, but also something which she couldn''t test without drawing suspicion at this time.
That left anything she could learn visually or through sound with her computer or phone.
Jane got up and went to her computer to search for some self-learning free web resources. It took awhile, but she finally found one that listed Arabic alongside English. She felt that starting with a language that used an entirely different style, but was also heavily documented was the best way to test out her skill.
This website had an alphabet comparison, the phonetic pronunciation, and even a sound clip for each letter. Jane went through these slowly, then moved on to listening and reading words. When she had exhausted all of the materials the website offered, she could understand the basics. Yet it was far from being what even the lowest level of language learning programs would offer.
By this time, it was time for bed. Jane decided to just hunt an audio program and meditate for the night. She had heard some of the kids at her school mentioning a web service that allowed people to offer up any of their music and other audio resources for a group share to create a streaming playlist, so she found that and signed up.
After searching for a few minutes she had moved a beginner, advanced, and master level course set for Arabic into a playlist. Each level had around 12-15 tracks that played for 15 minutes each. By morning she should be finished.
~*~
Seven in the morning saw Jane opening her eyes from meditation to be greeted with a new System prompt. Jane read through the information with a smile before dismissing it.
[table=white]
New Skill: Language Comprehension - Beginner 1
Through your careful study of the parts of text and speech that form to allow beings to communicate, you have learned Language Comprehension. True Masters of language are able to quickly communicate with anyone, regardless of knowledge of the other''s language.
Each level, spoken and written communication become 1% more effective, regardless of knowledge and fluency of the language.
Current Languages:
Arabic (Written: 6%, Spoken: 78%)
English (Written, Spoken)
[/table]
Stretching after arising from the floor, Jane made a note to try and find some middle-eastern music to listen to to hopefully finish off the spoken portion of Arabic. Trudging her way through a few ebooks in the language would also take care of the written portion now that she has the basics. The percentage shown would help her modify her plans.
Regardless, Jane was satisfied. If she followed this path, she''d finish off one of her mini-goals of learning all the major languages by the end of the year. She might even pick up a few of the ancient ones as well if she could find enough resources.
It was at this time that Jane noticed that the blinking light in her eye wasn''t just from the morning glare shining through her window. Focusing more closely on it, she realized that it looked similar to a message icon.
What could this be? She thought. Do I have mail?
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.She was hesitant to click on it and see. If it was a message, then it might be something innocuous like a follow-up to the Knowledge Base questions now that she''s had a few months to acclimate and think of more to ask. At the same time, it could be something designed for the people''s entertainment that were watching her due to her becoming boring.
Jane really didn''t know. At the same time, she had ample free time for a few weeks and not clicking on it would likely result in random pieces of paper spawning around her until she did. She didn''t want to think about what else could pop up in front of her besides paper.
Jane click it, revealing a new System prompt.
[table=white]
Message from: American Administrator
Greetings Jane,
As you might have expected, we do keep an eye on your progress since the Player profile of the Universe System was designed for entertainment. So there is no need for me to state that I hope you are acclimating well after having time to get use to your uplift.
Being your country''s Administrator, The Council has tasked me to be an intermediary on future contacts where direct communication like this is required. I think you''ll find that we''ll work well together.
Now to business.
Inspired by your conversation yesterday with your mother, The Council has decided to allow you early access to a Quest and Rewards set of features in line with your Player class. Rewards will be determined by how well you do previously in performing tasks set forth by the System, difficulty of the task, and how the task was generated (personal request or System generated).
Due to your inquisitive and paranoid nature, please be assured that Quests are not mandatory. If you feel one is against your interests, ignore. If we do issue a personal request in the form of a Quest that we''d like you to handle for us, however, ignoring will be highly ill advised.
Enjoy your day.
[/table]
"That''s not foreboding in the least," Jane exhaled. "Still, the message was rather upfront about it all, and it seemed like they were going to give me access to these features in the future anyway. We''ll see how it goes."
After closing the message, Jane saw a new addition to the HUD, as she thought of it, below her Health and Mana in her vision. "Available Quests" and "Active Quests" text were displayed with a drop-down list for each. There was only one quest available and Jane pulled it up.
Suspicious characters have infiltrated your village. Despite the local villagers shrugging off their presence as nothing to worry about, is it really? Gather intelligence on their purpose to ensure your village''s safety.
[table=white]
Quest: Monitoring Big Brother Part 1
Quest Type: Series
Time Limit: N/A
Quest Objectives:
Gather intelligence on Phillip Browning.
Gain access to his resources to aid your mission of monitoring the other spies in the village.
Remain undiscovered as a supernatural.
Quest Rewards:
Skill: Singularity (Upon Acceptance)
Access to Player Inventory (Upon Completion)
Accept:
[Yes / No]
[/table]
"This is..." Jane was speechless.
She had only toyed with the idea of there being something sinister with spies in the village. They had likely been there since the beginning and the villagers hadn''t been adversely affected. This meant that either it was harmless and her watchers wanted to see how she''d sneak around for their own amusement, it was an intro-mission designed to acclimate her to the world of supernaturals, or there was something amiss and she needed be aware of an actual threat.
The truth could be any variation of those, of course. Most likely the Council thought it''d be a good opportunity for her to learn of organizations and their reach, teaching her who to be wary of with low risk.
What really caught Jane''s eye was the skill she''d receive. If she was to get it upon accepting the quest, it had to be important in completing her objectives. The name of the skill was what had her hesitating, because she was certainly fine with the snooping and Player Inventory reward.
Before Jane decided to become involved with Landless Wonders, her only interest in electronics was limited to using computers to complete projects for school or gather information about a subject that tickled her fancy from one of the books she was reading. However, how could she not learn what the term Singularity represented when she began researching about a game that made so much use of artificial intelligence?
The entire concept of a self-improving AI had fascinated her at the time and was the basis for her plan of placing her mark on the game.
In this situation, however, a Singularity seemed redundant. She was a human, even if she was a supernatural one. Her mind was the equivalent of an organic neural network that was already capable of all the functions that a Singularity implied. So the skill shouldn''t be able that.
No, Jane suspected it was a feature that the issuer of the quest was having fun at her expense with. At the same time, she couldn''t discount the possibility of them turning her more into a computer program. She was a Player in the video game that is her life, after all.
Jane sighed, resigned, and clicked the acceptance of the quest. She was already going to do it, so she might as well take a tool that could help her achieve her goal.
Her HUD updated with the updated quest parameters below her Health and a new prompt with the skill information popped up.
[table=white]
New Skill: Singularity - Max
Through the use of your Aura, the ability to interface with technology in your immediate area becomes available. The System''s visual interface can be used to display and interact with the data received.
[/table]
"Oh, now that''s handy. That answers my question of if I could use my computer since I can see a clock." Jane smiled, then paused. "If they''re giving me this, then the information I''m sniffing around for is likely to be stored in a safe or some restricted area. Encrypted, too."
The skill just described being able to access technology. Her aura was essentially a network cable. Since she was the computer, she''d need a way of deciphering the information given. It looks like she was going to have to find a lot of books on Cryptography, computer programming, and anything else that would aid her in accessing computer systems and restricted areas that use them.
Jane used her new ability to listen to one of her favorite songs while she thought of how to go about this new quest of hers. It was a brave new world she had just stepped into: a world without headphones.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 310/310
MP: 510/510
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 29
Vitality: 31
Dexterity: 34
Intelligence: 50
Wisdom: 50
Luck: 27 (+10)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Intermediate 1
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Advanced Mind - Max
Through your ever expanding cognitive abilities, you have noticed the benefits of and nurtured amassing information and knowledge. You have surpassed the abilities of an eidetic memory to store, sort, and manipulate information quickly and efficiently. Your mind has truly become a machine.
Effect 1: 50+ Intelligence and Wisdom, all information obtained through the senses is perfectly remembered and can be recalled instantly without conscious effort.
Effect 2: 75+ Intelligence and Wisdom, your thoughts are unnoticed by others. Theirs, however, are communicated to you within a 10m radius.
[/table]
[table=white]
Alchemy - Beginner 6
You have learned to see that all Sciences share a common root. Alchemy is the heart of Science and can unlock the potential in all things. True Masters of Alchemy can take the mundane and transform it into the Divine.
Each level increases the probability of a successful potion by 1%, regardless of preparation.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation ¨C Max
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking ¨C Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Language Comprehension - Beginner 1
Through your careful study of the parts of text and speech that form to allow beings to communicate, you have learned Language Comprehension. True Masters of language are able to quickly communicate with anyone, regardless of knowledge of the other''s language.
Each level, spoken and written communication become 1% more effective, regardless of knowledge and fluency of the language.
Current Languages:
Arabic (Written: 6%, Spoken: 78%)
English (Written, Spoken)
[/table]
[table=white]
Mana Control - Beginner 1
Through looking beyond the commonly accepted reasonings for how the Universe works, you realize that Mana behaves in a more unique way. True Masters of Mana use the energy of creation with ease, treating it as an extension of themselves.
Effect 1: Each level reduces Mana consumption by 1%.
Effect 2: MP is boosted by 2% per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation ¨C Intermediate 8
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mental Fortitude ¨C Advanced 3
Through sheer resolve and determination, your mind resists being affected by outside influences. True Masters of Mental Fortitude push through even the strongest opposing perspective.
Each level increases Mental and Illusion magic resistance by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation ¨C Advanced 2
Through careful study of the world and those that live within it, you have gained insight into being able to assess your surroundings and not be taken by surprise. True Masters of Observation glean hidden insights without prior knowledge.
Each level increases the probability of additional helpful insights by 1%, regardless of prior knowledge or Player level in relation to the target''s difficulty.
[/table]
[table=white]
Singularity - Max
Through the use of your Aura, the ability to interface with technology in your immediate area becomes available. The System''s visual interface can be used to display and interact with the data received.
[/table]
[table=white]
Unarmed Combat ¨C Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
[table=white]
Yoga ¨C Intermediate 7
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
Chapter 9: Janes a Girlfriend?
Chapter 9: Jane''s a Girlfriend?
"What do you think about this one, Jane?" A soft voice asked while holding out a wreathe of interwoven, fleshly picked, winter flowers for inspection.
Giving the project that they''d been working on for the past hour a careful inspection, Jane nodded in satisfaction. "I think it all looks even now. Who knew it was so hard making a wreathe and getting it to stay together?"
Receiving a playful shove on to her shoulder in response, Jane was teased. "I told you we could do it. This was so much fun! I haven''t had time to do things like this lately with all the traveling. Sometimes, you really need to just get out and do something with your hands to force yourself to slow down and relax." Looking at Jane for a moment, the woman smiled. "Thanks for coming with me, it means a lot."
Jane returned the smile. "Anytime, Mrs. Browning. It''s not like I had anything pressing during the school break. It''s good for me to do something outside the house, too."
"Please!" The woman winced. "By now, you should know that you can call me Trish. Joining me for a day frolicking in flowers while listening to me bitch and moan, we''re proper girlfriends now. We can''t have proper conversation if you''re going to be all stiff and proper."
"Well, Trish, we probably should get back. We can''t finish setting the mood for dinner if we stay out all afternoon. Besides, you promised to teach me that recipe you mentioned." Jane said while offering her hand to pull Patricia up with her off the ground.
"Too true. Not knowing how to cook, pfft. I''ll make a proper lady out of you yet!"
~*~
A few days prior, Jane sat on the ground leaning up against a thick tree in the yard behind her house. To anyone watching, they''d see a young woman whiling away the day with a classic book. Probably for an assigned list to read during winter break at school.
They''d be right.
Jane had decided that if she was going to infiltrate the Browning''s home to look for information, she''d have to start with the basics. In all good mystery and detective novels, researching the target is essential. Either person or location, both required the person doing the snooping to know the habits of all those involved.
In this case, Jane wanted to know if the couple spent all their time together. If so, them leaving would be the perfect opportunity to slip into the house. If he left and she stayed behind then Jane might be able to see how much truth was in Mrs. Browning''s Blissfully Ignorant title.
Jane also had to keep up appearances of a boring neighbor girl, like she had every year. So, she picked her standard place in the backyard. Only this year, Jane was multi-tasking: keeping up her slow pace with the book, using her peripheral vision to monitor the Browning''s house, and making use of the phone''s Internet in her pocket to read up on computer science and cryptography, as well as stream an audio lesson on more foreign languages.
With this quest to do, Jane had made sure to inform Mrs. Pettigrew that she was going to take some time off from the library with an excuse of needing a break. The elderly woman didn''t seem to mind, especially since Jane had finished the library''s online ebook selection and inventory of 0old used books to be sent for sale to the used book distributors.
After two days, Jane was starting to wonder if the two were ever going to leave. Aren''t couples on vacation suppose to go out and actually do stuff? She wondered while watching Mr. Browning sitting outside in a chair talking on the phone to someone about a missed requisition form. Mrs. Browning was sitting in another with a bored look on her face while completing, what Jane suspected, was a crossword puzzle.
"And if they stay home during vacation, shouldn''t it be done in the bedroom? This is just sad." Jane muttered under her breath. "Some spy he is."
~*~
Jane finally caught a break the following day. Mr. Browning left early in the morning to a complaining wife. Jane overheard something about needing to meet someone at a restaurant to discuss some things.
This is it! She thought.
Shortly after, Mrs. Browning came back outside and sulked while looking up at the sky. Jane watched her for a few minutes, enough for the woman to be thoroughly immersed in her melancholy, before she threw her back off the tree it was resting against and twisted her body so it lay against the ground. Jane stretched out and held the book up above her to read while lying down.
After a few minutes, and a few exaggerated movements of her arm in the air while seemingly trying to get the perfect position of her book to read with, she had successfully caught the attention of a bored woman with nothing better to do.
Shortly, a pair of white sandaled feet with sky-blue painted toenails entered Jane''s field of vision. She allowed her gaze to travel up the attached legs all the way to an amused heart-shaped face with smirking lips and crinkled eyes.
"Yes?" Jane asked, disinterestedly, and turned back to the book she was not reading.
"Shouldn''t you be at school?" The woman asked.
"We''re on break."
"Then why are you still at home? I always had the best time out with friends during breaks." Giving Jane a perplexed sound in her reply.
"I have a lot of assigned reading to get through. Besides, there''s no one at school interesting enough to waste my time on outside of class." Jane said with a little scoff at the idea. She had decided emulate one of those kids who can''t be bothered to associate with anyone else because no one can possibly be as sophisticated enough to carry on a conversation at their level, but secretly do want friends. Only, they''ve been too amazing in their head so long, everyone has decided to not waste the effort on them anymore.
Jane received a snort in response. "Right." The woman turned to walk back to her house. "Come over if you get bored. I''ve got a lot of crosswords."
And Jane did. Though, she waited a satisfactory amount of time to let her neighbor know it was with plenty of sufferance.
~*~
Jane learned that Patricia was not all that ignorant at all, though she did seem to be content enough to immerse herself in the moment and take her husband''s schedule in stride in such a way that only a military officer or politician''s wife could appreciate. She hadn''t made up her mind yet if this was just her or a trait Patricia had adopted to deal with the tedium and boredom.
From Patricia, Jane learned that Mr. Browning was a business consultant that did a lot of special work for the government. His job entailed a lot of travel, which Patricia insisted she be dragged along for or else she''d suspect that her husband was cheating on her as he was rarely not traveling. This was because the special work he did was in communicating with small communities and finding a way to incorporate their offerings with larger businesses that wanted to expand without having to invest the resources. Sort of like licensing.
According to Patricia, the reason that they vacationed here twice a year was because it was close enough for some of those business representatives in surrounding cities to drive in to meet without much effort. This allowed some semblance of time off without her husband having to schedule a vacation. Plus, it was done during tourist seasons so that the local politicians can better alter any deals they had going.
Jane wasn''t too sure that this sounded like a legitimate profession, but for a cover it did give Patricia''s husband plenty of wiggle room to be out of sight and do whatever spies do. And according to Jane''s mother, since Mr. Browning''s true role for the government was an ambassador with supernaturals, it''d hold up if Patricia ever fact checked his story.
All of this Jane learned after making a single statement, "For someone getting on my case for spending my winter break at home, you don''t seem to be doing much outside of yours either." Patricia''s floodgates of built up discontentment surged forth after this.
Jane wondered if Patricia''s husband knew just what kind of fire he was playing with should she ever actually come across sensitive information. She''d probably write a tell-all novel if he ignored her long enough.
During the diatribe, Jane was invited inside by Patricia and was shown a tour of the house during scathing remarks against her husband and his lack of romance. Jane particularly liked one comment where Patricia claimed to be more of a mistress that her husband only talks to when his phone is giving him the silent treatment.
Sensing that Patricia was winding down, Jane decided to change the topic. "So, what do you do when you want to keep him away from the cell phone?"
Patricia smirked. "You don''t think I haven''t tried? He''s too involved in some major deal this month. He doesn''t even notice me when I''m naked."
Jane nodded. At this moment, Jane decided to help reconnect the couple and give them some romance.
Besides, she''d brushed up against all the walls, closets, drawers, basically any place you could hide sensitive possessions and found nothing. If something was to be found, it''d be Mr. Brownings cell phone or something he took with him to meetings. He''d have to separate him from them.
Jane smiled and told Mrs. Browning her plan.
~*~
Now, after having left Patricia to get ready for a date with her husband, Jane went back home to make preparations of her own.
Jane''s plan was simple. If Patricia''s husband was always paying attention to the phone when he received notifications, she''d have to get him away from it. Since he wouldn''t do it willingly, it''d need to be disabled. But in such a way that it wouldn''t kill the mood.
For this, Jane had suggested a cell phone jammer. This way the phone would still work, but it''d prevent incoming and outgoing notifications and calls. He''d likely think that whomever he was talking to was busy. By the time he got suspicious, Patricia should already have his undivided attention.
Jane had also suggested that when her husband arrived, Patricia would greet him in lingerie and an empty box. He''d place all his business things in the box and leave it in the kitchen. If he objected, she''d just say that he could still hear it from the dining room. This way he''d better focus on the meal and conversation, and hopefully lead upstairs to the bedroom.
This strategy made Jane''s mission simple.
~*~
Tip-toeing down the stairs and slipping quietly out of her house, Jane sighed. She sighed again as she sneaked into the kitchen of the Browning''s house. She had prepared a lot of lock-picking and sneaking videos for this night and she didn''t even need to use them. Maybe on a future sub-quest, she thought.
Jane had waited to implement her infiltration until an hour and a half after she was sure the couple had went upstairs. She listened carefully and didn''t hear any movements, so she made an effort to be even quieter. If they were still moving around in bed, she''d have an easier time of it if she made noise because they probably wouldn''t have noticed.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Looking around, Jane finally spotted the box resting catty-cornered along the sink. She padded over to peer inside. The moonlight filtering through the window let her see that only a set of keys, a wallet, and a phone were inside.
Jane carefully placed her hand over the phone, and slowly eased out her aura. Through tests, she had realized that if she carelessly used the Singularity skill then her Aura Manipulation''s suppression effect would suffer. That happening now would risk detection by the man upstairs. So she kept her hand close to the phone, reducing the area the aura had to extend and the potential for leaks.
Nothing stood out with the phone. There was a simple numerical password required to unlock the contents, but she cracked that. Once unlocked, Jane transferred all the contents of the memory card and phone''s memory to herself before she risked probing further. This way, if she tripped something there wouldn''t be a record on the phone itself.
Jane squatted down in the kitchen and sifted through the data. His contact list was just like any other. He had helpfully inputted physical addresses as well as mailing and E-mail information for each contact. She made a note to only check this if she could use a secure and untraceable computer to search through them in the future. However, at a glance, nothing stood out that made these names scream spy or supernatural. They were all innocuous.
He didn''t even have games or embarrassing applications on his phone. The few pictures were just of him and his wife or a random place and location. Jane checked the meta-data of all of them and didn''t turn up any results. There was no hidden information injected into the images, either, that you''d read about in mystery novels.
Jane silently cursed herself for thinking that this mission was going too easy.
Standing slowly, Jane made another pass at the contents of the box. If the phone was a bust, there should be something else that held confidential data that would let him interact with his superiors and others in the supernatural world to plan these meetings.
The set of keys looked like any other. There didn''t appear to be a flash drive masquerading as something else. She carefully opened the wallet and went through its contents. A license, bank card, credit card, a few memberships and rewards cards, insurance, all the normal stuff you''d expect. Jane felt around the lining of the wallet and checked to see if anything was slipped in a fold or behind other cards.
Yes! She screamed in her mind. When she more closely inspected the gym membership card she picked up a feint pulse of data against her hand. It turned out that the card had an RFID chip feature. While not suspicious at first glance, since it could be used to admit him access if it was one of the 24/7 places, it seemed to be a key for a pair of devices to grant access.
Jane went back over all the contents of the wallet, then the key chain after copying the details of the card and placing it back into the wallet. She didn''t find anything else, so the other half of the pair must must be near Mr. Browning.
Taking a large breathe of air and steeling her resolve, Jane crept quietly through the house and checking carefully for any discarded clothes. There were socks tossed on furniture, an undergarment hanging on a lamp. The area around an abandoned dinner looked like a warzone. She didn''t find any pants, though.
She followed along the set of stairs that led up to where the master suite was, careful to not fall into the creaking floorboard trap. That was one benefit of the weighted training her mother forced her into, excellent weight distribution. At the top of the stairs, Jane carefully looked around the corners of the hall and proceeded towards the room where the couple were hopefully soundly asleep.
Luck was with her, their faces were carefully visible so she wouldn''t have to guess on how to approach. Unluckily, they were spooning against one another with their faces directed right towards the door.
Jane decided not to focus on the couple. She didn''t want to fall into the same trap she had with Ms. Winters just after she had awakened. Even if her control over her aura was excellent, a subconscious mind is hard to predict. She looked around the room to the other pieces of clothing.
Creeping further into the room, Jane carefully searched the garments for anything that could hide another RFID chip. Even Mr. Harrison''s pants were clean, at least of a chip. Then Jane realized where it was likely to be: his watch.
He was still wearing it.
Keeping her attention focused on the far wall, Jane considered how to approach this. She still couldn''t discern his level. This means that he is likely above level 30, using the common 25 level difference in games to hide levels. If he''s a spy then he has to have excellent dexterity, a fair amount of strength, and probably some intelligence and wisdom. If 5 stat points as distributed per level, then he shouldn''t have less than 150 total stat points. This means that any one stat is unlikely to be above 40.
Jane knew that stats didn''t play as large a role in determining someone''s threat level as skills did. However, it seemed that at level 50, if a person met the right conditions, one or more stats at level 50 would grant the person access to a merging or enhancing of attributes they had focused on. This was critical right now, because Jane was going to have to send out her aura near Mr. Browning''s arm. If his dexterity is honed enough and he had finely honed detection skills and senses, which was likely, then she would be caught.
She had to risk it, though. She could probably bump into him during the day and send out her aura, but he would be more likely to notice she was a supernatural. Tonight he might awake to find her and cause even more issues, but he was also likely to be too content after having sex to be that high on alert.
Jane still kept her attention focused away from the couple and used her peripheral vision to guide her to the bed. She extended a finger slowly towards the arm with the watch that was cupping his wife. Closer and closer she reached towards the wrist. He moved.
Jane froze and made sure her breathing hadn''t become irregular. She held still as man repositioned in his sleep and waited for him to settle down and let out a content sound before she checked her surroundings again.
His wrist with the watch was now resting under the covers and between his wife''s legs. Jane looked up at the ceiling and bit her lip while shaking her head. Why! She wanted to scream.
Jane chose to focus on the positive. At least now any bump against his wrist could suggest to his subconscious that his wife was moving against him. The only problem was that she couldn''t be sure where the watch was, exactly, and she didn''t want to risk moving the covers back to check.
Still keeping her feet where they were, Jane leaned further towards the bed and moved her finger towards an approximation of where the watch was. She''d just have to let the bit of aura feel around until it found metal. It was cooler than the body, so she''d use that as a beacon.
Minutes passed, and a few close calls happened, but Jane finally extracted the RFID chip''s information. Following the same path that she entered, Jane made her way back downstairs.
In the kitchen, Jane ran through the data again, only this time with the two RFID chip''s paired as a key. Still nothing turned up in what she had pulled from the phone. Frustrated, Jane decided to run the key against the actual phone.
Success!
It seemed that there was a hidden partition on the phone that only revealed itself when the card and watch was near it. Jane made a mental note to brush up further on her computer science studies so she wouldn''t be caught unaware of these hidden partitions in the future. Because after she was aware, she looked back over the first collected data and saw an 8-bit reference to such a location in the phone''s BIOS that she had overlooked. No more bedroom creeps for her in the future if she could help it.
While some of the contacts she had initially seen were people related to the supernatural, they were intermediaries of intermediaries. The hidden information wasn''t much, but it did help show a connection. It seemed that Mr. Browning would set up meetings with these people and relay messages to the actual contacts. They''d carry a phone similar to his and by the two phones confirming an encrypted passcode, the actual meeting would take place over the resulting encrypted call.
Because of this precaution, someone who wasn''t physically present wouldn''t know the contents of the meeting. Jane was at a loss here. The only useful bit of information Jane learned was that the people that Mr. Browning met in her village and the surrounding towns were very low-level in whatever organization they were involved with.
The one good thing that did occur from unlocking this hidden partition was that Jane gained the information needed to clone Mr. Browning''s phone data. This was essential, because it seemed that the government had modified his Internet app to work through a secure connection to access secret areas if the hidden partition was activated. By finding a network connection, Jane could spoof using his phone to access their servers.
The only potential drawback is that she''d be coming in from a location that he was sure to not be in the future. While she might get by while he was vacationing in the village, when he left it would be sure to toss up red-flags to the network administrators and question him about it. She decided to use his phone''s GPS tracking. She couldn''t spoof the cell-towers the phone was near, but she could use the same GPS checks that the find-my-phone apps would use. She''d check where he was and use the same location whenever she was going to browse through their servers.
This process would increase her likelihood of going undetected. The only drawback would be lack of passwords for his accounts. They weren''t in the phone, and weren''t the same as the RFID key pair. So she wouldn''t have access to his e-mail or restricted areas. All she''d see would be general information on the supernatural community. Which was still more than she had before, so she was fine with it. Especially since checking every so often would alert her to any major shifts in power.
Satisfied, Jane made her way back home and into her room. She was greeted with a system prompt informing her of quest completion.
[table=white]
Quest: Monitoring Big Brother Part 1 (Complete)
Quest Type: Series
Time Limit: N/A
Quest Objectives:
Gather intelligence on Phillip Browning. (Complete)
Gain access to his resources to aid your mission of monitoring the other spies in the village. (Complete)
Remain undiscovered as a supernatural. (Complete)
Quest Rewards:
Skill: Singularity (Upon Acceptance)
Access to Player Inventory (Upon Completion)
[/table]
Chapter 10: Janes Peeping Holiday
Chapter 10: Jane''s Peeping Holiday
"I wouldn''t say I have a problem, per se. It''s perfectly normal to be watching this and not looking away." Jane assured herself while lifting up a sandwich to her lips, unable to take her eyes away from the sight before her.
Jane was crouched behind a cluster of bushes, munching on her lunch. Seven meters away from her was a mountain stream that happened to be a favorite fishing spot of one of the people she was stalking who was in the contact list of Phillip Browning. The man would be the last of the local contacts, and Jane was having a hard time getting access to his secure phone. So, she was going to wait until he removed it to prevent it getting wet.
It was a great plan, a foolproof plan, she had told herself while waiting. She''d followed him the past two weekends and seen his habit. He''d put his supplies on the bank and wade into the center of the stream. He never deviated or turned to check on the supplies until he had caught a fish. So, all Jane had to do was be in the bushes and carefully extend her aura in a thin rope and have it crawl along the ground to the phone and she''d be set. Ten meters was her limit, and she had been practicing on preventing leaks.
The plan was going great, until she arrived and saw that it wasn''t Old Man Carrow at the fishing spot. The man wasn''t even fishing. He was skinny dipping.
Jane wasn''t one to have racy thoughts of the opposite sex. She blamed it on her lunches with Trish. The woman had been having hot sex since the night Jane broke into her house and often mentioned some of their exploits. At first, Jane just smiled and nodded. After the first week, though, Jane was wondering what it would be like to feel that passionate about something.
Something to look into in the future, because she hadn''t felt any strong desire to explore those thoughts with the people in her school. Male or female.
That is, until she saw the man swimming in the stream before her.
She hadn''t seen this brawny man around the village before, so he was likely a tourist. Or maybe a new resident that decided to hide away from the world. However, a quick check of his information revealed otherwise.
Jake Morris
<>
No Titles, Affiliations, or Class meant he was the normal of the normal. She watched him while eating and even tossed an Observation request at him while he backstroked to reveal his rippling torso to her. The only helpful information she got was that he was 18 and likely a jock. Well played, System. She mocked herself in her head.
Jane was fascinated at what this young man meant to her morning plans. She idly monitored the time while observing Jake and smiled. She mentally counted down 5...4...3...2...1...Now.
"What the bloody hell do you think you''re doing, boy?" An old voice croaked in both surprise and indignation as its owner trudged through the brush to the water''s edge.
Old Man Carrow stood before her, mostly blocking her view of the naked form in front getting out of the water. His fishing rod was pressed firmly into the soil along the bank and the basket of supplies was resting at his feet.
"What does it look like?" The male youth smiled up at the man who was clearly decades his senior. "I''m relaxing in the water. You should try it. I hear it''s great for your health."
"Boy, get out of the water right now! It''s still early, so if the waters still I may be able to salvage my morning with whatever fish your bare ass hasn''t ran off." Old Man Carrow spat out while lifting up the rod and swinging it towards Jake''s head.
Dodging a loose hook, the young man scuttled on his hands out of the water. Jane could hide and laugh at the scene before her. Definitely worth the two weeks following this old man. She snickered to herself.
After Jake had made it to shore and went to grab his clothes on some nearby rocks, Jane use the distraction to send her aura into the elderly man''s basket. He didn''t seem to notice while he was busy glaring a few meters away after having chased him off with his rod.
~*~
An hour later, Jane joined her mother for their normal Saturday run and ''yoga'' session with the ladies. Since the beginning of her winter break, aside from the first week, she had started up her physical training again. Much to her mother''s delight.
The training was like before, since her mother wanted to get her back into shape before teaching her any skill. Jane was fine with this, because it allowed her to monitor a suspicion she was developing for why her stats had taken a leave of absence in welcoming new points to join them. She still gained new stat points, sure, but only in physical stats and only rarely.
For the past week, the physical stats had seemed to stop on 34 for all three. She was beginning to think that this was her limit in pure physical improvement without adding in the world''s energy to her training. This was because any additional gains had happened only after she went back to using weighted clothing. Before, she had reached a near stand-still using Yoga and her gym sessions. She might get to 35, but it''d be a ceiling just like with her Intelligence and Wisdom stats.
She was partly right.
After the following day''s gym session, she received two system prompts on her way home.
[table=white]
Strength +1
Vitality +1
Dexterity +1
[/table]
Convenient, she thought as she dismissed the prompt to see another.
[table=white]
System Notification:
Congratulations on reaching the peak fitness level for your age and body type. Through a sound body comes a sound mind. Mental stat increase is again possible to level 55.
Future enhancement in stats will be halted without a catalyst to push your body beyond normal limits.
[/table]
"So it''s like that," Jane muttered. "Normally, no one would ever notice the ceiling the System places on people and they''d only focus on a few attributes anyway when training. With my profile as a Player, I don''t have those bottlenecks until I reach an artificial limit."
Jane considered her options. She had held off on reading the Qi Gong and Tai Chi books until now. That''d probably meet the requirements of acting as a catalyst due to its use of Qi, which is the same as Mana. Her mother and Mrs. Pettigrew would likely give her advice in using the world''s energy to enhance her body, mind, and soul. She''d have to see what all of those offered before making a decision. She might even merge them.
~*~
"Are you sure, Mom? This seems more like a game than training." Jane said for the sixth time, looking at one of the Instances reached from the Gym''s basement. Before Jane lay a field with hundreds of holes. Holes large enough to fit a grown man.
"Of course, dear. Being able to sense danger and know your surroundings is the basis for any combat training. Those who primarily focus on magic would do it differently, likely in a place that they could sip a latte, but the same principles apply." Her mother said while patting her on the shoulder.
"It''s simple. You run forward, hop into a hole. In each hole is a tunnel that connects it to the other holes surrounding it." Olivia said, pointing from one hole to another over Jane''s shoulder. "The training comes in multiple stages. The first will be just you crawling around and peeping out of a hole where you don''t think I''m going to be shooting you with a paint ball gun. You do this by extending your perception, not to be confused by your aura, and seeing if my focus is above that hole you''re coming out of. If you don''t feel my focus, poke your head out and get a lay of the land and move on to the next hole."
The woman laughed at the expression on her daughter''s face. "Of course, if you''re too slow, I might just see and hit you anyway before you can duck back into the hole. The next stage, once you get good at this, is to let some of the other kids come in to train with you. Each of you will be given a paint ball gun and you''ll be focusing on them as well as making sure not to be hit when you''re peeping out of the hole."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Lovely." Jane said, clearly not amused.
"It''s good fun and trains you in spatial memory of where danger may come as well as perceiving intent. If you get good at this, you''ll be much less likely to be running away from danger only to find yourself turning down the wrong alley and find yourself face-to-barrel of a man holding a gun."
Grumbling, Jane dove into a hole and started this madness. Adding one additional training item to the remaining week of Jane''s winter break.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Player Information:
Name: Jane Blackthorne
Class: Player
HP: 350/350
MP: 510/510
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 35
Vitality: 35
Dexterity: 35
Intelligence: 50
Wisdom: 50
Luck: 27 (+10)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Intermediate 1
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Advanced Mind - Max
Through your ever expanding cognitive abilities, you have noticed the benefits of and nurtured amassing information and knowledge. You have surpassed the abilities of an eidetic memory to store, sort, and manipulate information quickly and efficiently. Your mind has truly become a machine.
Effect 1: 50+ Intelligence and Wisdom, all information obtained through the senses is perfectly remembered and can be recalled instantly without conscious effort.
Effect 2: 75+ Intelligence and Wisdom, your thoughts are unnoticed by others. Theirs, however, are communicated to you within a 10m radius.
[/table]
[table=white]
Alchemy - Beginner 6
You have learned to see that all Sciences share a common root. Alchemy is the heart of Science and can unlock the potential in all things. True Masters of Alchemy can take the mundane and transform it into the Divine.
Each level increases the probability of a successful potion by 1%, regardless of preparation.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation - Max
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking - Beginner 1
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Language Comprehension - Intermediate 1
Through your careful study of the parts of text and speech that form to allow beings to communicate, you have learned Language Comprehension. True Masters of language are able to quickly communicate with anyone, regardless of knowledge of the other''s language.
Each level, spoken and written communication become 1% more effective, regardless of knowledge and fluency of the language.
Current Languages:
Arabic (Written, Spoken)
English (Written, Spoken)
French (Written, Spoken)
German (Written, Spoken)
Italian (Written, Spoken)
Japanese (Written, Spoken)
Mandarin (Written, Spoken)
Spanish (Written, Spoken)
[/table]
[table=white]
Mana Control - Beginner 1
Through looking beyond the commonly accepted reasonings for how the Universe works, you realize that Mana behaves in a more unique way. True Masters of Mana use the energy of creation with ease, treating it as an extension of themselves.
Effect 1: Each level reduces Mana consumption by 1%.
Effect 2: MP is boosted by 2% per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation - Intermediate 8
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mental Fortitude - Advanced 3
Through sheer resolve and determination, your mind resists being affected by outside influences. True Masters of Mental Fortitude push through even the strongest opposing perspective.
Each level increases Mental and Illusion magic resistance by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation - Advanced 2
Through careful study of the world and those that live within it, you have gained insight into being able to assess your surroundings and not be taken by surprise. True Masters of Observation glean hidden insights without prior knowledge.
Each level increases the probability of additional helpful insights by 1%, regardless of prior knowledge or Player level in relation to the target''s difficulty.
[/table]
[table=white]
Singularity - Max
Through the use of your Aura, the ability to interface with technology in your immediate area becomes available. The System''s visual interface can be used to display and interact with the data received.
[/table]
[table=white]
Unarmed Combat - Intermediate 4
By incorporating your knowledge of the body''s movements and its weight distribution through a variety of poses and exercises, you can see how it would be used to effectively be used in combat.
Each level, physical attacks given and damage negated is 1% more effective.
[/table]
[table=white]
Yoga - Intermediate 7
By understanding that the body is an extension of the soul, you have found that through Yoga you can strengthen the body. True masters of Yoga have gained spiritual awakening and insights as they incorporate Meditation in their practice.
Each level increase in Yoga brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while performing the skill.
Gains towards Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while performing Yoga at rates of 0.3%, 0.3%, 0.8%, and 0.1% respectively.
[/table]
Chapter 11: Janes a Shaolin Master?
Chapter 11: Jane''s a Shaolin Master?
The rest of Jane''s sophomore year was spent much like the first half, training.
That''s not to say she neglected school, however. In fact, she quickly stood out as the most gifted student in her class. Something that left her teachers baffled, because they don''t remember ever noticing this Jane person in class before. Yet there her tests were; scoring above her usual 92 points on average and answering all the questions correctly, even the AP bonus questions that few ever got right, to receive all possible points.
Jane considered homeschooling herself and taking the GED exam to directly graduate two years early when she noticed how easy school had become. She quickly decided against this. On one hand, it''d look great if she could enter college two years sooner, then test out of all the undergrad basic classes. This would allow her to finish her undergraduate degree by the time she was 18.
However, she''d be 16 in a university! She couldn''t even enter most places her peers would meet up at, even if she didn''t want to buy alcohol.
So Jane had a talk with her mother and told her that she was getting bored with school and felt like she could use a challenge. Her mother was fond of the ''c'' word, so she was all for it. Together, they roped Ms. Winters in to act as a sponsor in talking with the school counselor and devised a joint enrollment with a university that offered online classes. Jane would continue her AP classes and also take two classes a semester online. This would earn her roughly the same amount of credits toward her basic undergrad classes by the time she graduated high school.
Another benefit would be that she''d still be able to train in the village and monitor those people from the organizations. Their respective quests didn''t generate much in the way of rewards, just an additional inventory space. Then again, the information she got off their encrypted phones was basically the same as she had gotten off Phillip Browning.
~*~
Jane felt a little let down when she talked with Mrs. Pettigrew about training to world with the world''s energy and infuse it into her body so that she could exceed the normal human limits. Her reply was, "Meditate, girl. You can already sense the Mana, just work with it."
She had hoped for something more, but after Observing the elderly woman, she couldn''t deny that she had to be doing something right when she saw her stats.
[table=white]
Elanor Pettigrew
Level: 23
Class: Witch
HP: 210/210
MP: 734/734 (44% Buff)
Title: Grand Matriarch
Affiliation: Sisters of the Moon
Stats:
Strength: 12
Vitality: 21
Dexterity: 24
Intelligence: 51
Wisdom: 55
Luck: 12 (+10)
[/table]
The skill didn''t list her skills, but it did suggest she must have an Advanced rank in Mana Control. When asked, Mrs. Pettigrew informed Jane that if she worked diligently in understanding how Mana flowed while she meditated that she''d be able to do more with it when she started trying to cast a spell and for longer periods.
This confirmed Jane''s suspicion that a person couldn''t normally tell their progress without some tool. A follow-up question about her memory improving after she had been meditating also informed her that she wasn''t alone in having an eidetic memory. Mrs. Pettigrew said she hadn''t heard of a skill that let one have complete access to the information their senses provided, but did tell her that with training someone could quickly memorize and read a book with a glance after infusing their mind with Mana.
Jane made sure not to take her skills for granted. Someone likely had one or more of her same talents, just under a different name.
~*~
Over brunch on a Saturday in February, Jane had gotten Mrs. Pettigrew, Ms. Winters, her Mom, and her mother''s friends together. They all knew of one another, if not knew each other well. They all knew Jane had awakened so she didn''t feel awkward in her request for advice.
"Ladies, I''ve been pretty secretive about my training up till now. I''m sure my mother has kept you all informed that I haven''t really taken to working with weapons. And without joining Mrs. Pettigrew''s coven she won''t share their knowledge of magic outside the basics." Jane started, only to receive chuckles from those around her.
"Maybe I''m impatient, or na?ve." Jane said, only to receive more laughs at her expense. "But I think there has to be a better way to train all areas. Body, mind, and soul. To work all three and do it efficiently."
Her mother interrupted. "It''s the way it is, dear. You meditate to develop your sense of Mana and your mind. You exercise to develop your body. Specialized skills just tie those together."
"Right, and I don''t mind exercise or meditating. I''m just saying that there has to be a way to incorporate all those benefits together so that I can raise my physique while meditating. Surely someone''s done this. Otherwise a person focused on magic could quickly be killed off in a fight with someone who has an arrow or dagger." Jane explained.
"That''s usually how it is. Most aren''t like you and want to be proficient in all areas. Your training speed will suffer, girly. Jack-of-all trades, master of none." Berta said next to Jane''s mother.
"But what about incorporating moving meditations while using weights? I get that your Yoga, Berta, is suppose to be this. However, what about doing it while after entering a meditative state?" The women looked at Jane, confused.
"Yoga works the body''s strength, vitality, and dexterity. Meditation is suppose to work the mind and spirit. Incorporating the two better would strengthen weak magic users and increase the degree of Mana that could be used for the warriors." Jane summed up.
"That would be nice." They all agreed together.
"So I need your help. At the library, I had an idea several months ago that Yoga and Meditation, when incorporated some of the books there would meet all these goals. Tai Chi is a form of moving meditation that incorporates the ideals of Yoga and meditation. Qi Gong is an umbrella term for a lot of different things which incorporate the spirit. Tai Chi is derived from this." Jane stated.
Mrs. Pettigrew smiled. "Indeed, but I haven''t had much success with either in strengthening my body that some of the things the coven has in its lore doesn''t do better."
Jane looked at the woman who was holding out on her and gave a withering smile. "I''m sure you do. But all the stories if Shaolin monks performing amazing feats because they worked with Qi and developed Qi Gong can''t be unfounded. Maybe some were supernaturals, but a lot of normal people reach peak fitness and probably even surpass it to a degree when they dedicate their lives to it."
Jane continued after a pause to see if they were listening. "I did some research and there are many forms of Qi Gong. Some use energy to heal things that traditional medicine can''t, such as reversing eye damage or even pushing cancer into remission. Other forms can work with the mind to give the user access to psychic abilities and divination. Others are more of a martial art, but all of them strengthen and enhance the body, mind, and soul in some way."
"So you are telling us all of this to get us to hunt for resources on this Qi Gong?" Jane''s mother questioned.
Jane nodded. "You have contacts I don''t. And I want to gather the resources without it being traced back to me, if possible." Jane looked at her mother. "I know you said our neighbor that the spies the supernatural organizations have here are harmless, but I still don''t want them to know I''ve awakened just yet. Especially not when I start working on this."
Mrs. Pettigrew put a hand on Olivia''s shoulder to stop her comment. "I think that''s a good goal, dear. The longer you stay off their radar the better. Even if the chances of them getting involved in your affairs is low."
Jane leaned forward. "It is imperative. I did some digging during winter break, and combined with some random bits of information from how the plants the organizations have here communicate in conjunction with some things I found in the government''s classified information on supernaturals I think they''re monitoring everyone in safe-havens more closely than they let on. So much so that I think they''re concerned with our activities not being what we let on."
Jane paused, "And people do stupid things out of ignorance and fear. Their attention has taken a noticeable up-tick over the past decade based on my findings. So I wouldn''t be surprised if one or all of them try and pull those hiding out in safe-havens back into the power plays they originally tried to escape from."
"Yes, I know. How did I find this out? It''s the same way I started standing out at school and plan to implement my plan with Qi Gong: when I awakened, my already good memory got even better through Meditation and Yoga. I went and learned a lot of interesting ways to access encrypted communications and got their discussions. Not all, mind you, but enough to see patterns." Jane said to stupefied and concerned faces.
"Anyway, that''s not important. I just said it to let you all know to not take your safety here for granted. Also, to not casually discuss what I''m asking you to be involved in. I plan on finding a way to use Qi Gong to enhance our training, as well as to be a better form of martial arts and increase our potency with magic." Jane explained to the group of women. "And eventually, if our safe-havens are no longer safe, you all will be better prepared."
A few minutes of silence ensued while everyone digested this. "So you''re going to come up with a new skill and teach it to us?" Berta questioned.
"That''s the plan. It won''t be immediately. It''d take several months until I''ve gotten the experience needed to incorporate all the information and work it into an art. One that could be trained with and also provide a lot of different benefits. I''d also want to write up the instruction material in a way that could be taught to others when I''m not around." Jane waved her hand to emphasize her points.
Jane''s mother smiled in chagrin at her daughter. "Honey, I''m proud of your enthusiasm, but I think you''re overestimating the work involved. But we''ll get you your materials, you can at least find some way to practice that would suit you better than what I''m trying to teach."
"Thanks." Jane said. "And maybe some materials on enchantment as well. Also in how to set up an Instance."
Jane was met with wide-eyed stares. So she elaborated. "If I''m going to do this, I don''t want to be watched. Also, when done, we could hardly keep it a secret and train others if we were passing around written manuals. I also don''t want people outside this group who are invited to learn after I''m gone to be put off if they learned it was developed by a girl my age."
The women smiled as if humoring a kid and just agreed to all of Jane''s requests for books on a variety of things.
~*~
It took Jane the rest of her Sophomore and Junior years to develop her own skill and incorporate Aura and Mana manipulation and control into it. She didn''t lose those skills, but their concepts were merged along with Unarmed Combat and Yoga. Those later two did get removed from her Skills list as they were obviously redundant. Meditation was merged, but not removed.
In addition to the concepts of those skills, she also added Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Those two were entire skills by themselves and took her several months to read thousands of books and watch thousands of videos for her to learn. Jane wasn''t sure how, but her mother also brought in a few experts to share their insights in those areas to Jane.
It seemed that every branch of these two arts led to other branches. During this time, Jane also studied books and videos on other martial arts, grappling, boxing, parkour, etc. Basically anything that could be related to the human body and movement.
With all of the knowledge Jane had of these areas, in addition to some books she received regarding Mana Control and use, she began to see similarities and ways to apply it with other disciplines. Jane even used her Medical Science knowledge to make better use of movement, moving Mana, and other things that went into Qi Gong.
She finally succeeded. After sixteen months, Jane had merged and integrated all of the skills that had developed, all of the knowledge and insights she gleamed. These became Advanced Qi Gong.
[table=white]
New Skill: Advanced Qi Gong - Beginner 1
Qi Gong is Life. For truly understanding this concept and its applications in all areas of your life and applying it to your knowledge, you see how it could better work with the world''s energy, Mana. You''ve truly mastered the goal of Qi Gong and gone a step beyond. You are now able to use Mana instead of the body''s energy to better aid your training and instruct others.
True masters of this art have a chance of exceeding humanity''s limits and approaching the purity of the gods.
Effects:
Unarmed and Weapon combat is 1% more effective in offense and defense per level.
Health and Mana regeneration occurs 2% quicker out of combat and 1% in.
Your Mana can be used to heal minor illnesses. Major illnesses can be healed at a chance of 2% per level.
Senses are 3% more effective per level.
While Meditating, has a 1% chance of Divination per level.
[/table]
"Yes!" Jane exclaimed inside her bare Instance dungeon she had hidden behind a waterfall she found in one of the mountains. Jane danced around for several minutes while she read that System prompt. She didn''t even care if the System started it at 1 unlike the other merged and integrated skills. She had it!
"I had never thought developing a skill with desired traits would be so hard!" She sighed.
Jane had, of course, had multiple variations of this prompt over her months of learning. All of them couldn''t compare to this one, however. This skill replaced her others and brought in added benefits in such a way that they could grow, possibly even past the Grandmaster level. The last line in the description hinted at this, and it wasn''t in any of the other prompts while she was reading up on more and more disciplines.
Looking around, Jane decided that she''d keep her success private for now. Jane wanted to use her Enchantment skill to develop this Instance into something she could use while training, eventually adding in education resources to train the other ladies.
These past months had increased Jane''s knowledge of combat quite extensively, even though she didn''t use Mana to enhance her body. This left Jane at a Player level of 24 with 95 unassigned stat points. Jane decided to hold off on assigning them until she had better understanding of the new skill, then would put them into areas where it wouldn''t quickly enhance.
~*~
Another several months passed. Jane was finished with her high school senior year and was now 18. She had trained in private and added to her Instance behind the waterfall as she came up with new ideas she wanted to experiment with. Each trail and error helped her fine-tune her Enchantment and Mana Control skills, increasing them to Advanced 6 and Master 1 respectively.
Jane was quite happy with the Advanced Qi Gong skill. Since Qi Gong incorporated a wide-variety of activities and infusing those with Mana while doing them could ease or increase resistance of the body, the training possibilities were nearly endless. This is what inspired Jane''s construction in the Instance.
Looking over her progress, Jane smiled. "I''m ready to show the others, now."
Stopping as if she forgot something, Jane said to herself. "I better assign those stat points now." She was now at a Player level of 32 after her understanding of the new skill increased to an Advanced level of 6. This left her with 135 unassigned points.
She pulled up her Player Information menu and looked at her progress.
[table=white]
Jane Blackthorne
Level: 32
Class: Player
HP: 440/440
MP: 992/992 (60% Buff)
Title: None
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 41
Vitality: 44
Dexterity: 48
Intelligence: 62
Wisdom: 64
Luck: 32 (+10)
[/table]
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Her stat points didn''t increase as much as she had hoped during the past several months. Granted, it was decent, but not at the speed of the first few months after she was uplifted. Jane didn''t mind, she knew that gains would only slow as she trained. She was lucky the System was giving her 5 points per level.
Even the level, Jane had realized, would slow as she understood combat concepts and trained in the use of Mana. The only reason Jane had gained some levels after forming the Advanced Qi Gong skill was because she gained insights into applications outside of the knowledge she''d learned from the books, videos, and consultations. Her last level, Advanced 6, in the skill had taken her two months to get. She was sure 7 would take her much longer.
Looking at the stats, Jane admitted that she''d be okay with the physical improvements. Her main focus was on how she''d train when she went to University. She wouldn''t have access to this Instance unless she came across a teleportation tool. Her mother insisted she''d have to find her own.
So during the semesters, she''d be stuck to a normal gym at school. She''d be able to do most of her movements on the grass outside in the mornings. Her room would be too small. She could meditate in her room, so she could still work on her mental stats that way. However those rely on her also having a strong body or they''ll stall.
Plus, Jane wanted to reach 75 in both to ensure her thoughts weren''t picked up by anyone she ran across at University. Who knows what devious characters and plots she''d run into. So the added bonus of hearing thoughts within 10m of her would also be a bonus.
Jane added points to Intelligence and Wisdom to top her stats out at 75. This left Jane with 111 points. She was tempted to just dump more into those stats, but decided to bring up her other physical stats to 65 first so that she could still train her mental stats. She didn''t want to be stuck with no progress, even if it''d all end up the same anyway.
This left Jane with 49 points. She was looking at her menu and stats wide-eyed. She started laughing. "People watching, I know you are going to likely put me up against some really powerful people, but right now I am thanking you for making me a cheat character. Please don''t patch this."
Jane put 30 more into bringing all her stats aside from Luck to 75. She was down to 19 undistributed points. Since all her mental stats would likely take forever to level up now, she decided to bring her physical stats up to 80 and put the rest in Dexterity. The mental ones would increase eventually and she really wanted to be able to run away if she had to, then strike from the shadows.
~*~
In the early-morning hours of the Saturday following Jane''s graduation, she invited the women on a natural walk. This wasn''t out of the norm, because all of them had been going on runs since their meeting to initially discuss Qi Gong resources. So, to anyone watching, it was perfectly normal.
Jane did scout the area before the women met up, and with her new telepathy-like ability, she would have picked up on anyone hiding. Jane''s control over her aura and Mana since practicing her Qi Gong also enhanced her awareness, which was much further and subtler than her telepathy.
Leading the women onto her trail to the waterfall, Jane refused to discuss this surprise. All of them knew she had a secret Instance, she had mentioned it during her Sophomore year after all. But none knew where it was. So they were shocked to be led behind the roaring waters and discover a damp area where all the women could fit, but barely.
Jane smiled. "Watch carefully ladies. Look at this wall." Jane said as she gestured to the one farthest, and to the left-most corner. Jane didn''t want to put it directly facing the waterfall, everyone would expect that. So she put it on the nearest wall and at the back, to annoy anyone looking.
The women peered over shoulders to see, clearly knowing something was there but not seeing it.
"Watch, activating this panel requires you to extend your thumb and ring-finger. Either hand is fine. Your other fingers are extended upwards, forming a sort of ''E'' shape. This will prevent the panel showing if someone is just feeling around." Jane demonstrated, showing the panel after she did the steps.
"Next, the combination requires a voice phrase and a series of 8 numbers." Jane told them and she led them into a white room, with the entrance closing behind them.
"You''re all wondering why the secrecy. Well, after you look around and start learning from the materials I''ve provided here, you will understand. Even after you learn and understand, I ask that you not bring people carelessly here to learn. And when you showcase some of the skills that you learn to the outside world, I ask that you conceal them as others. I think you''ll understand what people will do if they know that such a skill and resources here exist." Jane said gravely.
The women all looked at her with perplexed expressions. They were all standing around in a featureless white room. They clearly knew that enchantments in an Instance were hidden and Jane had obviously done a few, but what could she have done and what progress could she have made in an entire art in two years? People spent entire lifetimes perfecting those.
Jane saw their expressions and smiled. "We''ll start off with some of those benefits I mentioned." Jane then spent the next several minutes showing some skills: healing, Divination (she had only been able to look a day into the future so far, so she prepared before she invited them over and saw what each had ate for breakfast), Mana controlled combat, manipulation, etc.
After seeing just these and listening to Jane''s casual admittance to some of her discoveries and the benefits in training, they were all fairly eager. Even if it was a small increase in efficiency, they would happily learn the methods Jane''s provided. Especially since those focused on physical combat had sub-par regenerative abilities.
Jane then smiled and walked over to a far wall and started walking them through her babies, her enchantments.
"This next showcase is something that you all should not even discuss in private outside the Instance. From this panel you can control the training and teaching materials. The access instructions to get into the Instance is for standard use. I have another that I use to make changes. I won''t tell you that, so just know that if you want additions, I''ll take requests whenever I''m back in the village from school." She then started up the show.
Jane showed them her waterfall. The waters were fed by a person''s Mana and doubled the force exerted back onto the person sitting beneath. It could be fed by someone standing to train their Mana manipulation to a greater effect on the person sitting, or the person sitting to the standard effect. The person sitting would train their body and control of Mana to resist the waters.
She showed them a meditation area that helped assist subconsciously the people sitting in the circle of mats so that they better understand Mana flow and correct their technique. She showed them a tidal pool that people would compete against one another with in Mana control by swimming against one another''s flows. The changing rock wall that would train agility, perception, grip while using Mana to make contact with the wall, but not too much or you''d fall off.
For the next hour Jane walked them through these and other innovations. The Instance seemed endless with training materials. Finally, she showed them the room that had guided instruction with an Illusion-based instructor for specific Qi Gong exercises and techniques. There were dozens of these rooms, and each were numbered to tell the person what order they should learn and master them.
Jane''s mother was clinging to her arm as she showed them these. "Honey! These are amazing. You are truly my daughter. I doubt your father''s genes could have made a tenth of this."
Jane just shook her head and laughed.
Berta came up and slapped Jane on the back. "Girly, when you were talking about all this stuff, well, we just thought it was idle fancy. That Shaolin-Buddist-Mumbo-Jumbo is fine for the Asians, but we never saw any use. This, though, this is amazing. If you make Berta stronger, I don''t mind following your teachings. So you can be my master, Shaolin girl."
[table=white]
A new title of Shaolin Master has been awarded. Monks throughout the world will revere you.
[/table]
I thought we were getting on so well, System? Jane grumbled.
Updated list of Stats and Skills in Spoiler
Spoiler :
[table=white]
Jane Blackthorne
Level: 32
Class: Player
HP: 800/800
MP: 1200/1200 (60% Buff)
Title: Shaolin Master
Affiliation: None
Stats:
Strength: 80
Vitality: 80
Dexterity: 84
Intelligence: 75
Wisdom: 75
Luck: 32 (+10)
[/table]
[table=white]
Acting - Advanced 8
Through the use of emotional manipulation, body language, and tone of voice you have shown you have what it takes to sway hearts and minds. With each level increase your lies become 1% more believable, even if they are poorly constructed.
[/table]
[table=white]
Advanced Mind - Max
Through your ever expanding cognitive abilities, you have noticed the benefits of and nurtured amassing information and knowledge. You have surpassed the abilities of an eidetic memory to store, sort, and manipulate information quickly and efficiently. Your mind has truly become a machine.
Effect 1: 50+ Intelligence and Wisdom, all information obtained through the senses is perfectly remembered and can be recalled instantly without conscious effort.
Effect 2: 75+ Intelligence and Wisdom, your thoughts are unnoticed by others. Theirs, however, are communicated to you within a 10m radius.
[/table]
[table=white]
Advanced Qi Gong - Advanced 6
Qi Gong is Life. For truly understanding this concept and its applications in all areas of your life and applying it to your knowledge, you see how it could better work with the world''s energy, Mana. You''ve truly mastered the goal of Qi Gong and gone a step beyond. You are now able to use Mana instead of the body''s energy to better aid your training and instruct others.
True masters of this art have a chance of exceeding humanity''s limits and approaching the purity of the gods.
Effects:
Unarmed and Weapon combat is 1% more effective in offense and defense per level.
Health and Mana regeneration occurs 2% quicker out of combat and 1% in.
Your Mana can be used to heal minor illnesses. Major illnesses can be healed at a chance of 2% per level.
Senses are 3% more effective per level.
While Meditating, has a 1% chance of Divination per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Alchemy - Intermediate 5
You have learned to see that all Sciences share a common root. Alchemy is the heart of Science and can unlock the potential in all things. True Masters of Alchemy can take the mundane and transform it into the Divine.
Each level increases the probability of a successful potion by 1%, regardless of preparation.
[/table]
[table=white]
Aura Manipulation - Max
By acknowledging how your emotions and will affect the world around you, you gain the ability to control your Aura. True Masters who are at peace with their actions and memories and accept their place in the world can maintain a tranquil state and pass through life without affecting the lives of others.
Each level reduces the chance of unintentional leaks of personal aura by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Cooking - Advanced 4
You have decided to join the lovers of domesticity and gastronomy in this age-old art. True masters of Cooking understand that food is as much an art as it is a science splashed with a dab of magic and love. Meals you prepare have a 1% chance of being edible per level, regardless of your effort.
[/table]
[table=white]
Enchantment - Advanced 6
True crafters have long suggested that the creater of a masterpiece is able to imbue a part of themselves for others to discover. You, an enchanter, understand this and use it to convey your desires to the rest of the world. True Enchanters are able to work with Alchemy to reshape reality.
Each level reduces the chance of a failed enchantment and loss of material by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Language Comprehension - Intermediate 1
Through your careful study of the parts of text and speech that form to allow beings to communicate, you have learned Language Comprehension. True Masters of language are able to quickly communicate with anyone, regardless of knowledge of the other''s language.
Each level, spoken and written communication become 1% more effective, regardless of knowledge and fluency of the language.
Current Languages:
Arabic (Written, Spoken)
English (Written, Spoken)
French (Written, Spoken)
German (Written, Spoken)
Italian (Written, Spoken)
Japanese (Written, Spoken)
Mandarin (Written, Spoken)
Spanish (Written, Spoken)
[/table]
[table=white]
Mana Control - Master 1
Through looking beyond the commonly accepted reasonings for how the Universe works, you realize that Mana behaves in a more unique way. True Masters of Mana use the energy of creation with ease, treating it as an extension of themselves.
Effect 1: Each level reduces Mana consumption by 1%.
Effect 2: MP is boosted by 2% per level.
[/table]
[table=white]
Meditation - Master 6
Through calming your mind and centering yourself, you''ve found the benefits of self-reflection and introspection. Stillness brings oneness with the Universe and all life within it. True masters of Meditation can sustain themselves solely on the energy of the Universe.
Each level increase in Meditation brings a 1% quicker recovery rate of Mana per minute while meditating.
Gains towards Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck have a chance to slightly increase while meditating.
[/table]
[table=white]
Mental Fortitude - Master 7
Through sheer resolve and determination, your mind resists being affected by outside influences. True Masters of Mental Fortitude push through even the strongest opposing perspective.
Each level increases Mental and Illusion magic resistance by 2%.
[/table]
[table=white]
Observation - Master 2
Through careful study of the world and those that live within it, you have gained insight into being able to assess your surroundings and not be taken by surprise. True Masters of Observation glean hidden insights without prior knowledge.
Each level increases the probability of additional helpful insights by 1%, regardless of prior knowledge or Player level in relation to the target''s difficulty.
[/table]
[table=white]
Singularity - Max
Through the use of your Aura, the ability to interface with technology in your immediate area becomes available. The System''s visual interface can be used to display and interact with the data received.
[/table]
Chapter 12: Janes University Preparations
Chapter 12: Jane''s University Preparations
"Princess, why won''t you pick somewhere closer to home? Daddy wants to come check up on you." The wiry man dressed like a lumberjack due to his abuse of flannel shirts pleaded.
"Dad, I''m lucky to see you at dinner. When will you check up on me?" Jane asked her father in disbelief.
"That''s true, dear. You should show more of an interest in your daughter''s life." Olivia grilled her husband. "At least I do mother-daughter workouts. How else would I know what''s going on in her life? Do you even know about her new boyfriend?"
Jane''s father''s eye began to twitch. "Boyfriend? It''s not that Jackson running around is it? I knew he looked like a playboy. Running around half-naked. Could it kill him to put on a shirt?"
"His name''s Jake, Dad." Jane informed.
"I don''t care what his name is. How long have you been together? Why hasn''t he asked my permission?" Her father yelled. He started looking around the room.
"What is it, John?" Her mother looked around.
"Where''d I put my gun collection? I thought it was in the living room." He asked, lifting up a couch cushion.
"It''s not there. You wanted me to put it in the bedroom closet, since you haven''t used them lately." Jane''s mother said, pulling his arm to get him to sit back down.
"Jane, remind me to get the case out so I can polish them when you bring him around for the next date." John said firmly.
"Will do, Dad. Whenever I get a boyfriend, you''ll be the first to grill him." She teased.
"Whenever you get...you aren''t dating this James character?" He asked.
"Nope. Jake and I aren''t on speaking terms since he wanted to see me with my top off while I was cooling off after a run through the mountains." Jane casually mentioned.
John''s eye spasmed again. "Olivia, what do you do on these Mother-daughter runs?"
"Running." She deadpanned.
"Moving on," Jane said. "I want to go to Oxford. I can stay there straight through my PhD. Plus, I''d be in a decent position to visit other areas of Europe using train."
"It''s just so far. If it''s about money, I''ll pay for Harvard." He continued to plead.
"I got a scholarship offer from them, too. But no, I''m set on Europe. Besides, the degree''s name doesn''t matter. I''m all about location on this decision." She stood firm. "It''s not like you couldn''t teleport there if you wanted to visit, Dad."
"Honey, you keep saying that. I don''t'' think you understand the devices limitations." He said in a pained voice.
"What do you mean? Whenever someone talks about it in the same sentence as, ''Taking work all over,'' it sounds like it can cross a continent." Jane asked, a little confused.
"I''m sure a rare few could. Most, though, are limited by range and power consumption of the device. Plus, you''d have to have a location''s elevation, GPS coordinates, and other information stored in the device to begin with. That requires prior visits. Your mother''s device and my own is limited to 50 stored locations and a range of 500km. They''re one of the higher-end models."
"So you couldn''t hop to the far East-coast and then hop over to England?" Jane asked. Jane stopped and waved her hand. "Right, the distance between the continents is over 5,000km. Still, you could fly over on a plane every so often and visit during a weekend."
"Fine, honey. If you insist on this, we''ll support you. You should be careful, though. Europe has a much deeper supernatural world than America. The place is old and has a lot of hidden corners you could find yourself in. Your mother and I also have a lot of enemies there. So best not to let anyone get your DNA if you could help it." He said while Jane''s mother looked on concerned.
"Huh, don''t I have to get shots on record?" Jane wondered aloud. "I''m fine with healing myself, so I''d be fine there as long as I don''t lose consciousness."
"Jane, I''m talking about if you are attacked in a random Instance or someone slashes you with a weapon and runs off. It wouldn''t be out of the norm for someone to use that to get information on you and then cast a tracking spell or put the sample of blood into a device that''d do the same thing." He said.
"Devious." She said, nodding.
"You wouldn''t believe. They''ve had millennia to refine their methods." Her mother said.
"I guess it''s good, then, that I can suppress my aura to appear like a normal person. I''m make sure to wear a scentless suit and cover all areas of skin and hair and wear goggles if I decide to explore an Instance or sneak around. That way no one will recognize me." Jane replied while nodding.
"You''d do best to just keep a low profile and not let anyone suspect what you do. Even the best disguise would be useless if someone started looking into you for anything suspicious. Then they''d just have people or devices watching you for a few months to see if you do anything related to the supernatural. You''re going to a place that has more cameras than New York." John said gravely.
Jane''s mother smiled. "Still, do have fun. Worst-case scenario, we have to change your appearance like your dad and I. You''d lose all the work you''ve put into developing your education history, but you can always start over." Her mother leaned in and whispered. "I''ll get you a mask with hair to wear over your face to look like an older woman before you leave. You should still wear gloves, fingerprints."
"Thanks." Jane whispered back.
"Don''t encourage her!" Jane''s father cried out.
~*~
It was already the end of May and Jane had sent off her confirmation letter to Oxford. What Jane didn''t say to her father was that her country''s Administrator had suggested she attend somewhere in Europe in a message she received last year. She didn''t mind, because she was already considering somewhere overseas.
Jane didn''t know what The Council had planned for her, but it was likely more than simple amusement. There''s a lot of countries squished together in Western Europe, so they likely wanted her there to run a bunch of errands in secret to further their own interests. Jane didn''t know if there were factions among the Administrators, but she wouldn''t put it past them to at least have their own pawns and hands in the local politics. So having an outsider to further their position in random Quests would be ideal for anyone. After all, what Player doesn''t do anything for Quest rewards?
Not Jane, that''s for sure. So those Administrators better work together, because she isn''t going to be caught between factions.
Weeks passed and Jane spent much of June finishing up her online classes and talking with different academic organizations to ensure that all her course credits would give her the most opt-outs at Oxford. She was sure they would, but bureaucracy between two countries and three schools would give too many variables for something to slip through for Jane''s liking. It was enough luck that Jane''s GRE and SAT scores helped her get a full scholarship.
Jane did suspect that the Administrators helped her along, however. She didn''t have near the activity and volunteer requirements that most applicants had these days.
~*~
When Jane decided to stand out and get accepted to a premier University, get a degree where she could excel, and start networking to create her own organization with enough power to start a very large game of chess with various political powers; she had thought to get an MBA and dual major with something like Chemistry. The pharmaceutical companies always seemed to go unnoticed, yet hold a ton of political clout. Advanced Mind and Singularity changed Jane''s plan.
Sure, those degrees would ensure her choice job offers in existing companies to start working her way up from. She might even come up with some miraculous cure, but she wouldn''t own the patent. No, she had a better idea.
Her current identity, Jane Blackthorne, was to remain pristine. Innocuous and completely unassuming. She would be someone that no one would think "Supernatural" about because she''d be doing something that no Power would be monitoring. She''d be a Literary and Arts major.
Jane was sure that if you got into the business-side of things that there would be some supernatural organization interested in some way with literature or art. Books could be a big business and art was often used to smuggle blackmarket goods through money laundering or shipping.
Jane was going to be a writer and artist, though. Aside from drugs, what illegal stuff do they get into? The real beauty of the plan was she''d be invited to all the major gatherings and could be a headline name on the invite list and still blend into the background.
The second part of the plan was to have alternate identities. Being overseas was perfect for setting them up. People disappeared all the time, so Jane was going to find two other girls her age and of similar features and assume their identities after they''d gone missing.
Harsh and on the far-end of the morally gray area, yes. But effective. She wouldn''t cause the disappearances and would save whatever na?ve party-girl she could from potential abductions, but those that happened she would act on. Then, she''d get their identity information and start electronically living their lives while she lived her own.
By the time she graduated with two PhDs in the Arts, she''d have one identity with an MBA and Chemistry graduate degrees and another with Computer Science and Engineering. She might add others if she had time, but she doubted it. She''d only do these because they could stop before the post-graduate level and still work well in a corporate environment while being done without face-to-face meetings online.
Her Singularity skill would be essential for these. She could easily gain access to the school''s servers and find out the personal details and start back-dating and altering records as needed. She''d even have them be in some school organizations and edit their faces into the relevant school publications prior to their printing.
No one would question it because they wouldn''t to admit to not knowing who that person was. So long as the functions were crowded enough, she could pull it off. Oxford was also linked to other schools, so she''d make sure at least one of the identities were from an alternate institution.
~*~
Jane had already started on her plan last year. As soon as she was 17 she had spent a small part of her weeks submitting to legitimate and obscure literary group competitions. Poetry, Short Stories, Fan Fiction forums, etc. She didn''t have much in the way of graphic design talent, so she didn''t enter those competitions. She''d nurture that when she started University. Oddly enough, she couldn''t create a skill for that. It didn''t matter much, anyway, since her depth perception and muscle control was quite good.
What Jane was really proud of was her financial independence.
After several months, someone on a fan fiction forum had suggested that she look into short story compilations and turning them into an ebook to sell on the major marketplace that also will give her 70% of the selling price. She had been using the pseudonym Celest for her fan fiction. Oddly enough, no one had linked her to Landless Wonders.
Her real name was in her description, so repackaging them wouldn''t raise any complaints. She went with it.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The short stories on the fan fiction forum weren''t really based on any fan fiction. It was just related to that genre the Anime was in. She had always enjoyed Fantasy, so Jane wrote about it.
The first book compilation was titled, Tales From Celest: A New World. It included all tales related to people finding themselves transported or reborn into a new world and how they made a difference. It didn''t get much traction, but her fans on the forum helped advertise a little.
A month later, Jane decided to release another. The first book was a compilation of five short stories, roughly 20,000 words apiece. This next one contained three stories at 35,000 words apiece. More of a novella bundle. It was titled, Tales From Celest: The Hero''s Messenger.
The second compilation followed the first''s theme of a new world, but added the angle of having a common character that interacted with each of those five people. It was a different point-of-view and told the messenger''s tale between some of those meetings. Her fans enjoyed it and world slowly began to spread.
It wasn''t until April of Jane''s Senior year that Jane started gaining notice. She released her latest book. Not a compilation, but an actual 90,000 word novel. Tales From Celest: The Mother''s Call. By this time, her fans were picking up a theme. Jane had been working backwards to create a Landless Wonders tie-in and no one had noticed, even with the Celest name.
The third book, as expected, discussed that messenger and the mission that they were brought to perform by The Mother. Her fans loved it, because up until now no one had written any decent fan fiction about the goddess. Those that had had received major pressure from the company overseeing the game to take them down.
Her fans wondered how long it would be before Jane was forced to do the same. Time carried on and a month went by. Jane''s books were still for sale at the online marketplace. It created a major controversy on the fan fiction forums, which moved to in-game discussion, which was eventually picked up by the gaming news podcasts and other minor news sites.
By the time Jane had received a contact request by the company overseeing Landless Wonders, VirtuaTech, it was May and Jane had already sold a total of 3.5 million copies of her books. She had only priced them at $3.99, out of curiosity of if they''d sell and also at a price low-enough to entice most pirates to buy instead of waiting for an upload.
Jane wasn''t sure if it was the sudden potential at a lost profit that brought about the letter she received from the company, but it was clear that they smelled blood in the metaphorical waters. Jane was requested to enter a licensing agreement with them. They wanted to sell her stories to the players through the game and online store. Legally, they couldn''t touch her first two books as they didn''t reference the game at all. The third book as safe as well because it was discussing player-generated content and was content that was created by her.
She doubted that the company could legally remove her works even if she didn''t meet those requirements, it''s just that most players remove those fictions so that they don''t have to pay the legal fees to fight them. Jane had made a good bit of money, so she wouldn''t have backed down anyway.
Jane spent June in a back-and-forth talk between a lawyer her parents recommended and VirtuaTech. It was a welcome distraction while she was dealing with her school documents. The end result was that Jane retained full ownership and royalties of her books outside the game, as well as rights to all merchandising and franchise opportunities. Including movies and TV deals. If the offers were brokered by VirtuaTech, she was entitled to 10% of all profit, first-cut, after expenses and before the company received its share. If she had found these opportunities outside the company, VirtuaTech didn''t have claim on these profits, unless they wanted to use the material at which time they''d resume the current deal after getting licensing rights.
This was a simplified version of the agreement, but Jane was happy with it. It took several versions to get to this point, but after Jane had started citing other agreements the company had with other organizations and individuals, she talked them into it. Her lawyer was quite happy with his easy fee.
This let Jane''s books be distributed inside the game by the AI. The books would be player-objects and referenced to her account, but not influence the development of the game. They went under a new class of items that had hit the game after she stopped playing: media.
Media was the company''s way of bringing outside materials into the game without influencing it. Any media could be read, but not copied. Even if someone typed up the text word-for-word or paraphrase, a new Player-Object wouldn''t be generated as the AI would detect the origin and intent of that player trying to create the item.
Jane was happy. Outside the piracy angle, she wouldn''t have to risk Celest''s game alterations becoming skewed. She had casually monitored the game over the years by game news websites and online videos. So far, her changes with the Lore she created were all sticking and evolving the way she had hoped. Few player changes had influenced them more than a minor degree.
She was also quite happy with the AI taking her Lore and keeping up the role of The Mother. An Instance of Celest''s character would sometimes appear and interact with players and NPCs, doing little acts of kindness, offering advice, giving hints at treasure locations or new technologies that might appear in the future, as well as performing small miracles that would aid crops and the general well-being of the populace.
~*~
All of this, the financial independence that Jane had now and the multi-identities with separate histories that she''d cultivate in the future, let Jane feel secured in her current plan for her life. With June finished, Jane had made all the preparations she could before she left for University in Europe.
Jane chose to spend her remaining month helping the ladies with their use of the Instance behind the waterfall and pumping them for information on decently reputable contacts in the supernatural world to interact with if she needed something. She also made sure to get a list of every known Instance location and who controlled them, especially those that she could earn interesting items and materials from without having to lose too much money.
The ladies were nice to Jane. She got good advice and a couple of the women slipped her items known as multi-dimensional storage tools. One was in the shape of a ring, the other was in the form of a bracelet. It seems that while comparatively expensive, they were low-end in the supernatural world and could hold a roughly 3 cubic meter amount of items each. They''d be worth about $1.7 million a piece if she had to pay with dollars on the open market.
They never got to the open market, though, since conventional science can''t make them. They''re received from the mutated Instances. It seems that the supernatural world had adopted a standard currency system that revolved around crystals formed from Mana.
The crystals could not be produced, even if you were to condense your own Mana. They appeared in mutated Instances from monster drops or popped out through rifts. Each crystal was used to recharge the advanced technology that found its way through. So some civilization had found a way to harness them safely. Our own society has been unable to power our technology with them, when tried explosions occur.
Since the advanced technology was useful and rare, the crystals as well, it made a decent currency as the could not be replicated. The crystals came in six forms, from lowest Mana quantity to the highest: clear, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and black. Each crystal was roughly equivalent to 100 of the previous.
As a good indication of how much it''d take to exchange one USD for a crystal, that low-end storage tool would be 7 yellow crystals, 700 clear, or $1.7 million dollars. This means that a clear crystal could be exchanged for nearly $2,500. However, what decent supernatural business would do that? Some charge anywhere from 20-60% to convert crystals for mundane currency depending on which organization controls the business and where the transaction is taking place. Which means you''re going to be taken if you need a crystal quickly in a dangerous Instance and have to do an exchange.
All of this advice Jane was quite appreciative to learn. She''d have walked into Europe and lost all of her new fortune.
Jane also made sure to do some experiments with her Inventory before she left. When she completed the first quest, she had unlocked the Inventory menu. This let her have a 3x3 virtual backpack. So she could place things into 9 separate areas.
This operated just like Landless Wonders. She could stack up to 99 of a similar set of items. Conveniently, however, she could put any item she wanted in a container and stack 99 of those same container types into one of the spots. This exceeded the functionality of the game.
With each of the sub-quests she completely, Jane gained access to an additional row or column. So she went from 3x3 to 4x3, until she finally reached 5x5. She felt the Administrators were being lazy on the rewards, because she could hardly use all that space if she really put her mind to consolidating.
Another thing she found out was that all storage items seemed to go just fine in an Inventory slot. The ring and bracelet wouldn''t fit together as it was classed as different item types due to the shapes, but she could put them in a bag to store in a single slot. So, Jane tagged each storage item with a paper label to give a general idea of what each item would be used to contain. As she found more storage items, this would save her a lot of time. Her last backpack slot would contain all her grouped storage items.
For the other item slots, Jane was going to use the bottom row to store all the alchemy and enchanting equipment she would need. Some wouldn''t fit in a bag, so they''d need their own slots. The bag-able items, along with her storage item slot would use 3 slots. That left two item slots open for any large items. She didn''t have any yet, but it''d be there.
Her fourth row would be used to store books and other resources. She didn''t really need this with her memory, but it''d be good to have some to refer back to or pass on to someone if she had the need. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not. So, before Jane left she had been working on making copies of the books she had had access to over the years, as well as a series of guides for her Advanced Qi Gong.
She left the third and second rows empty. The first included A dagger, a sword, a gun, ammunition, and a series of bags with other weapons and ammunition.
She didn''t need to store anything else as she was going to keep the pretense of being a normal person. A normal person would travel to Europe with many kinds of luggage. Even when she got there, she wouldn''t store the empty containers. However, she would be keeping her disguises, potions, and some changes of regular clothes handy in storage. Especially money.
By the end of July, Jane had done all she could and was ready to leave her village for the first time in her life.
Chapter 13: Janes Move to Europe
AN: Whew, Jane''s finally moving out of the village, eh? I do want to apologize in advance and state that I don''t live in Europe and have no idea about Oxford other than random tidbits my Internet mates have tossed out over the years. They mainly lived around Cambridge or Manchester, so you can be sure it wasn''t much.
I did Google a good bit and watched Youtube tours, but even then I know I''m going to annoy people. So do bear with me, I promise to try and keep the University life generic so I don''t mangle whatever fond memories you have.
I could have picked another University, but it seemed more believable that she''d attend there. Plus, it had more videos to watch where it was featured. For those in-the-know, toss me some suggestions for scenes with place-names and descriptions and I''ll fit it in to make the school life more believable. It''d be much appreciated.
Chapter 13: Jane''s Move to Europe
When August rolled around, Jane found herself dragging her many checked bags into the airport. Her first term at Oxford wouldn''t begin until October, so she would have to find housing accommodations and get rid of her luggage. During this time while she waited for the first term to start, she''d go exploring.
The logistics of moving all her luggage to the airport was something Jane hadn''t counted on when she was making her preparations. In her mind she knew that she''d need a van, to arrive a few hours early, and maneuver all the bags around the crowd of people before she could sit off to the side and await her plane. Doing all of this in reality was a different matter altogether.
Berta had come by to help Jane''s mother and father see her off. As she watched Jane carry down several bags from her room, she was just nodding to herself. As the count of luggage started climbing beyond three to five to seven, Berta put her foot down. "Girly, what are you doing? You''re not moving a room over there onto a plane."
Jane looked puzzled. "But I''m a normal girl moving to Europe to go to school. Normal girls have a lot of stuff."
"Normal girls ship their stuff in the mail so they don''t have to check the bags, pay the additional cab fares, deal with porters, and drag a train of stuff around behind them while they hunt for a place to stay on arrival." Berta pointed out.
"Where would I ship them to? I don''t have an address and Oxford is spread out all over the place." Jane puzzled.
"Studying abroad for first-time students isn''t a new thing. I''m sure they have a shipping, pick-up, and storage service over there if you look. It''s too late for that now, though. Put all this luggage into that storage ring I gave you and pull it back out when you get to the airport and find a trolley." She suggested to Jane. "We''ll roll it near a bathroom and block the view of anyone and the cameras. Anyone watching the tapes later will just think they were sitting around a corner or something."
"That would speed things up." Jane was all for it. "What about when I get there, though? Hmm, I suppose I should just have a taxi drop me off at a hotel while I hunt for a place."
And this was how Jane was first exposed to the annoyances of travel.
~*~
They made the trip to the airport into a little road trip. Jane was amazed. It was one thing to read or see the world in a video, but driving across the continent put things into perspective for her. They''d stop at interesting tourist attractions, try a few local dinging specialties, take a few photos, and move on to the next state. Within a week they had arrived at the airport.
Jane was sad to see them go, but she knew they''d see one another again eventually.
So far, Jane had been paying with cash for everything. She knew it was silly, especially in this day and age. However, she didn''t want to pay using her bank account electronically until she was in Europe to reduce the chance of someone being able to piece together her steps of moving across the country from her village.
She wasn''t aware of this until she started applying to Universities, but Jane''s parents had been listing her as living in the state capital, not their village. Even the village''s school had its records being listed as another school in that city. When she questioned this, she was only told that it made it easier for the children who weren''t able to awaken to assimilate into normal society without pressure.
This was why Jane, until now, had nothing that would be showing up on the government or another organization''s radar. Sure, one of their spies might have mentioned her name, but she had maintained careful secrecy in ensuring she wasn''t noticed or only appeared like a normal girl who happened to like games and books.
This was why Jane was so pained to find herself sticking out after she arrived in the UK.
When she arrived, she followed her plan to be driven to a hotel. She paid the taxi and hotel in cash. Then she started walking around the city. Everything she had read stated that housing was constructed around the center buildings of the University. New additions to the school was organically build around it as well. So, housing could be considered in several zones.
During her flight, Jane had pulled up some listings for rentals not provided by the University. She only found a couple of rooms, a single flat, and a studio that was available. She could have found more, but the University required all undergraduate students to be within six miles of Carfax Tower.
None of those listings were a match for her goals. Either they were too cramped, worse than advertised, or taken. She had thought that arriving during break would have left her with more options to choose from, but that was not the case. So, she started walking around the narrow streets and soaking up the atmosphere.
The following day, she started exploring what the city had to offer. She passed little shops that catered to the bright-eyed freshman and transfer student. She had coffee and listened to postgraduate students bemoan their thesis. Jane smiled and felt that she was going to like it here.
Her only blemish in the situation was the lack of housing. She had made a stop to pick up a copy of the University Gazette to see what private housing was available. Nothing caught her eye.
It was later that afternoon that Jane had a wild idea. She was sitting along the sports field in East Oxford and watching some students kick a ball around while having a bit of ice cream. While enjoying the cool taste, she overheard some women discussing a new property along Iffley Road that had went up for lease or purchase. Evidently the property was a period-house with four bedrooms and a private small garden. The women were discussing ways to pull together funds to purchase it outright because they could live there while doing their postgraduate work and rent it out afterwards.
Jane smiled. She quite liked that idea. Especially if it was within walking distance to where most of her classes were.
Jane spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the location. It was a lovely yellow-bricked property with red trim and kept-up landscaping. Looking from the outside, she could tell that the rooms were built a bit narrower than she was use to, but that was to be expected. That day she placed a call in to the broker.
It took Jane awhile to convince them she was serious and solvent enough to afford a nearly $1.2 million dollar property. This was where Jane was annoyed at having to stick out after arriving in the UK. She had to provide a copy of her recent financial histories and prove she could purchase the property. She was sure that a young girl with little-to-no history was going to be raising red-flags.
After another week in her hotel, she was the proud owner of a house. After moving all her bags into the place and registering for utilities, Jane hunted down those two women.
~*~
The two new boarders of Jane''s were Melanie and Diane. Both normal women, and both were Economic majors. It seemed that while they were upset at missing out on the opportunity of owning the house, they were perfectly happy with paying a reduced rent compared to the surrounding places. Jane only charged them $700 per month each providing they share full coverage of utilities and food. To this, they quickly agreed.
Jane took the largest room and turned it into a little studio for herself on the ground floor. She had an upstairs room for her bedroom. She didn''t want to be below the two women if they were moving around or had company. The studio would overlook the garden and give Jane a place to have a desk and work on her art.
Since Jane didn''t want to have to deal with moving furniture each semester, she talked the women into allowing her to buy all of it, leaving them to provide the bedding and linens that they would use. This way any future boarders could carry a few boxes to move in and out, plus whatever else they accumulated. She did bring the women shopping to help her pick out furnishings, however. Jane wasn''t a good decorator.
The women had decided on furnishings that would stand-up to a few careless spills if they had company over. Jane wasn''t one for large gatherings and the other women didn''t seem to be as well. But they did want the option if they brought people over to study. The couch and chairs would be leather in the common room, the rest would be wood furniture.
Each place where people would sit would have a rug, protecting the floor from wear. There wasn''t carpet in the house, so Jane was safe from having to replace that if something should happen. It did mean that each room had a large rug, which was harder to shop for than one would think.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The three women couldn''t agree on how to decorate the walls. Diane defied expectations in her tastes and favored nature scenes, going against the sleek blue dress and heels she was wearing that proudly stated she was a no-nonsense kind of girl. It was also something she had said four times that day when asked to test out reclining chairs while performing various poses, with Melanie filming with her phone.
Melanie preferred abstract and freer works, like a fractal face or sunburst pattern. Jane had pointed out that it''d be weird watching television in the living room with a giant face that you couldn''t tell where it was looking being in-front of you. Diane just didn''t see the appeal.
In the end, Jane decided to just use her own art to fill the walls. She told the girls she''d make one or two fractal patterned nature scenes later in the semester and let them look through her portfolio for something she would have printed off for the other rooms.
Overall, she was happy with the result. The house looked fairly mature, since the women were in their mid-twenties. She wouldn''t feel bad keeping the homey-yet-modern d¨¦cor for several years.
Jane ended up being the only person who could cook. Which she found funny, as she only had cooked previously to avoid starving during long training sessions. The three decided that she''d make extra when she was going to cook for herself to start with and see how their schedules worked out. If they ended up being in the house regularly, she''d expand the meal outside of leaving left-overs in the fridge.
With this, the three had worked out a simple living arrangement.
~*~
Jane was right to be concerned when purchasing that property. A couple of weeks after she had settled, Jane started noticing people creeping around. Melanie and Diane also noticed and commented on it. It wasn''t until the end of August that Jane learned what was going on.
She had just come home from a trip to a local coffee shop for a latte when she was assaulted by a man with a camera. "Miss Blackthorne, are you here on research for your next book? What does The Mother have planned for Oxford? How will The Church feel about this?"
Snap, snap, question, question. The man clicked his camera and followed her down the street as she pointedly ignored him and considered buying a cappuccino machine for the kitchen.
Later, the picture and details of her now attending the University of Oxford began to appear on the game and fan sites where she was a lesser-known celebrity. The local gamers of Landless Wonders started popping by to see if they could catch her at home or around her part of the city.
Jane was not amused.
So, she decided to do a VoIP interview to be featured in a podcast on one of the gaming news sites to hopefully alleviate some of the pressure and politely request to be left in peace.
~*~
The person Jane was to be interviewing with appeared before her. She was in her studio and had her laptop''s webcam running. Jane was watching the broadcaster''s feed on the screen and within her head in case she missed any details.
The interviewer was a moderately scruffy man in his late twenties. He gave off the appearance of a hipster that fell asleep in yesterday''s clothes trying to clean up a bit, but not succeeding. He wore a t-shirt with a Landless Wonders in-joke that she didn''t get, "If a Dryad falls in the woods, does she make a sound?"
Jane was starting to wonder if she should have chosen someone else to interview with, but this guy''s website seemed to have the most local target audience for her message and tended to be the most vocal online. Shortly, the man started off the discussion.
"Today we have with us someone who has been the source of much speculation in the Landless Wonders community over the past few months, Jane Blackthorne. Jane is the author of three books centering around fan fiction of the game''s goddess Celest." He paused. "Jane, before we get further in, I wanted to ask something that I''ve been curious about."
Jane smiled and gave him encouragement. "What''s that Roger?"
"Anyone who followed your first books can see that you started out writing fan fiction on one of the more popular communities under the name Celest. After your third book, when it became noticeable that the world and characters could be linked to Landless Wonders, people speculated that you were giving hints that you might be the player by the same name. Especially after VirtuTech licensed your books in the game." Roger smiled. "Any thoughts?"
Jane held out her hands so the viewers could see. "That''s certainly one way to view it. Maybe I''m just a fan of the Goddess and her story."
"You''re not going to tell us, are you? Viewers are gong to be annoyed with you, you know?" Roger teased.
"I think they would like a little mystery left in their lives. Besides, I''d feel bad if I took away people''s claims that they are Celest." Jane laughed. "There''s a lot of good videos online with gamers proving their claims. The stunts they put together to defend their statements has almost become a sub-culture in and of itself." Jane winked and added, "You wouldn''t want to risk losing a segment of your podcast if those videos stopped, would you?"
Roger shifted in his seat and looked over a list, probably his talking points while he replied. "No I wouldn''t, it''s one of the higher rated parts of the show." Looking back up after he found his next point, he continued. "You know, you''re a hard lady to get a hold of. This would be your first interview. Does this mean you plan to do more?"
Jane shook her head. "Maybe. I am just a girl who decided to self-publish some fan fiction when people seemed interested. At the time I thought I could save a little to go towards a university degree. After the second book I got a bit alarmed at how much attention I was getting on those forums."
Jane looked up into the web camera with a wry smile. "Some of the comments were typical Internet troll, but others were a bit more explicit and vulgar. So I wanted to maintain my privacy for as long as possible. After this week when people found out where I was and even managed to get my picture, can you blame me?"
Roger nodded with a sad look. "So that would be no to any marriage proposals this LIVE feed is getting in the comments? How about with the show host?"
Jane gave a hollow laugh. "Roger, aren''t you currently in a relationship with your mirror? I don''t like to be in competition with inanimate objects."
He gave a wounded heart gesture with a hand on his chest. "Ouch!"
Jane laughed and looked into the camera and addressed those watching. "For all of you out there watching, I''m going to have to say I''m flattered but decline. I''m not looking for anything and want to focus on my schooling. I hope you''ll all understand." Jane gave a forlorn expression, quickly followed by a smile and wink. "Besides, it''d just mean I''d have less time to write. Would you want to be the one to tell everyone else watching that you were the cause the fourth book was delayed""
Roger took that as his queue to get to the reason Jane had agreed to be interviewed. "I certainly wouldn''t. Enraged fans are nothing to joke about!" Roger shuffled his papers and continued. "That is a good lead into the reason Jane is joining us tonight. To discuss her stalker issue." He paused for effect and added, "You guys."
Jane laughed. "Right. I wouldn''t put it like that, but I am feeling a bit claustrophobic. My roommates are also complaining and threatening to kick me out of my own house. I appreciate the attention, and can sympathize with where you are all coming from, but I need you all to respect my privacy."
After this, the interview flowed into a Q&A segment where Roger asked Jane the main questions she was being bombarded with by her fans, ending the interview.
~*~
Her boarders didn''t play Landless Wonders or have knowledge of her books, which made Jane quite happy. It''d have been weird if she had to deal with them as well. Thankfully, after an explanation as to why there was suddenly all the attention, they were mollified and let Jane handle it.
The interview didn''t stop all of the overzealous fans showing up, but it did lessen them. Jane had considered placing a few discreet aversion enchantments around the property to prevent loitering. This idea was discarded, as she didn''t want to have those supernaturals who happened to walk by suddenly taking an interest if they noticed them. Even if she was in the Advanced stage, she was still mostly a novice compared to a master and only at the highest levels would she be able to hide their presence for all but the most acute detection abilities.
This meant that Jane had to follow the tried-and-true method of informing the police and requesting some help. It wasn''t much, but it did leave a record on file for dealing with anyone who overstepped themselves. That and time would let Jane''s life get back to normal.
It took two weeks, but eventually most people got it out of their system. By the end of September, Jane could finally walk around freely. Just in time for the new semester.