You have gained the skill [Soul Magic] Basic 1
Soul Magic - allows the manipulation of Soul mana
Basic - Don't give up just yet, Sara
I move my body. I can't feel anything. What ha.p.an.. I remember. Phenolp. I look to my side. She is staring at me with one eye, the other a cavity where the arrow that killed her was. I want to cry. My body doesn't respond. I look past the body of my first daughter and both Xena and Alicia are here too. Dead. Why? My soul wants to cry out, but my body doesn't respond. I look down at myself. My clothing is gone. There is a hole in my chest. My usual shudder is not present. I look at my status sheet.
Tier 2 : Sara Maxwell Magdeline Undead lvl 10, 20 - 4 stat point unassigned.
Title:[Voiceless Tier 3 Adventurer] [Voiceless Soul Tender Priestess]
[Strength] - 180 [Constitution] - 172 [Intelligence] - 220
[Agility] - 140 [Presence] - 182 Soul - 0
[Perception] - 200 [Mental Fortitude] - 201
Boosted skills: [Resist Mental Attacks 2] [Strong Lungs] [Permanent Soul Sense][Light Step] [Lesser Stanima] [Health Regen] [Resist Fire] [Attention to Detail]
Languages: [T3:English] Intermediate 9 [Math] Intermediate 8 [T3:Common] Intermediate 9 [T3:Quintarl?ne] Intermediate 9
Converts: [T4:Convert Arcane to Soul Mana] Competent 3 [T3:Convert Arcane to Life Mana] Competent 2 [T3:Convert Arcane to Void Mana] Basic 1 [T3:Convert Arcane to Light Mana] Basic 1 [T2:Convert Arcane to Mental Mana] Competent 9 [T2:Convert Arcane to Fire Mana] Competent 2 [T2:Convert Arcane to Water Mana] Basic 1 [T2:Convert Arcane to Dirt Mana] Basic 1 [T2:Convert Arcane to Lightning Mana] Basic 1
Magic: [T5:Necromancy Magic] Basic 4 [T3:Soul Magic] Basic 1 [T2:Illusion Magic] Competent 5 [T2:Life Magic] Apprentice 8 [Mental Magic] Competent 3 [Fire Magic] Basic 8
Strength Skills: [T2:Strength Training 2] Intermediate 9 [T2:Sword Arm 2] Basic 3 [Yowl] Competent 2 [Strong Grip] Apprentice 4 [Strong Lungs] Intermediate 1 [Throw Knife] Apprentice 1 [Pull] Basic 4 [Throw Rock] Apprentice 7
Agility Skills: [Cooking] Intermediate 8 [Running] Intermediate 4 [Light Step] Competent 4 [Fire Tender] Competent 2 [Sewing] Basic 9 [Craft Textiles] Competent 4 [Dodge] Apprentice 7
Perception Skills: [T5:Attention to Detail] Apprentice 7 [T4:Soul Mana Sight] Competent 1 [T3:Life Mana Sight] Basic 9 [T2:Mental Mana Sight] Competent 9 [T2:Fire Mana Sight] Basic 6 [T2:Wider Vision] Basic 3 [Arcane Mana Sight] Competent 9 [Identify] Competent 1 [Herbalism] Basic 9 [Scent Memory] Competent 9
Constitution Skills: [T3:Resist Crush 2] Intermediate 9 [Resist Blunt Force] Intermediate 7 [Resist Pierce] Competent 6 [Resist Heat] Competent 9 [Tough Skin] Basic 9 [Lesser Stanima] Apprentice 2 [Resist Cold] Basic 3 [Bottomless Stomach] Apprentice 2 [Resist Cut] Basic 3 [Triage] Basic 1
Presence Skills: [T10:Permanent Soul Sense] Apprentice 1 [T2:Acting] Basic 5 [Atlas Noble Etiquette] Intermediate 2 [Tell Lie] Apprentice 4 [Mana Aura] Basic 6 [Aura Sense] Basic 3 [Tiger Intimidation Aura] Basic 2
Mental Fortitude Skills: [T3:Resist Mental Attacks 2] Apprentice 3 [Resist Lightning] Apprentice 3 [Resist Water] Basic 3 [Resist Fire] Apprentice 5 [Resist Curse] Apprentice 1
Intelligence Skills: [T4:Mana Manipulation] Competent 4 [Parallel Mind] Apprentice 6 [Health Regen] Basic 6 [Imbue] Apprentice 8
Soul Skills: [T10:Soul Etching] Competent 3 [T5:Vampire] Apprentice 4 [T2:Mental Mana Core] Intermediate 7 [T2:Permanent Arcane Mana Core] Intermediate 7 [Pariah Aura Manipulation] Competent 1 [Soul Core] Apprentice 3 [T0:Soul Eater] Intermediate
Combo Skills: [T4:Enchanted Embroidery 2 Agi 2 Int] Basic 7 [T2:Status Screen 1 Per 1 Men] Intermediate 1 [T2:Shape Metal Str 1 Con 1] Apprentice 1
Earned Titles: [Voiceless] [Junior Attendant] [Apprentice Blacksmith] [Voiceless Tier 3 Adventurer] [Basic Mage] [Voiceless Soul Tender Priestess]
So I died but now I'm undead. My life core is gone. Strong lungs is greyed out…I'm not breathing. So is bottomless stomach, I should be hungry but … nothing. My soul is at zero. But my soul core is full. Am I in my soul core … my immortal soul core? Is Phenolp … I haven't seen her memories. But I haven't slept yet either. Can I even sleep? Footsteps are coming. I hide behind where the door will swing out. A man comes into the room. He is wearing brown robes.
31 Human Monk, Apprentice Mage
“Where did the heavy one go?”
He turns and sees me. He grows pale, his eyes widen.
“You will answer my questions, quietly.”
You have gained [Mental Magic] Competent 4
Gain 0 exp
He stiffens but the compel sinks in.
“Why did you kill me?”
“I did not kill you.” He answers monotone.
Right, that was a bad assumption.
“Why was I killed?”
“The head bishop received a prophecy from our god. It said a new race had arisen and that we must purge it before they gain system recognition. We found the beginning of the new race in Yetna and moved to eliminate it.”
The fuck, I have a god gunning for me now.
“But why the need to eliminate a new race?”
Another monotone answer, “A new race's highest tier individual is usually on the path to become a new god when the system recognizes their race. We were most fortunate that we were able to stop the rising of a new god.”
So my daughters died because I was competition. I want to tear this place apart. Tear this man apart. No, need to think.
“Why were our bodies brought here?”
“If the new race were like elves, we could use their tapestry to find others.”
My soul quivers at the thought. Do they have tapestries?
“Where am I?”
“The morgue of the monastery."
I roll my eyes and sigh.
“And where is the monastery?”
“In the woods near Maknor.”
The capital. I wasn't planning on returning so soon. I need a distraction.
“Give me your robes.”
He does not. It wasn't a question.
“Give me your robes.”
He undresses and hands them to me. They are way too large but better than nothing. I need more information.
“Whats the fastest way out of this building.”
“There is a courtyard out the door to the left of this door.”
“Is there a scroll room or library in this monastery?"
“Yes.”
“Where is it in the monastery?”
“It is on the second floor.”
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That could work.
“What does my Identify say about me?”
“Undead Priestess, Tier 3 Adventurer.”
“You do not hear a level?”
“No.”
“What time is it?”
“It nears midnight.”
One more question.
“What is the name of your god?”
“Gadvak.”
I don't know the name. I really need to learn more about religions. That's about as much as I can bother with this man.
“Set as many fires as you can in the library of this cathedral, stay hidden in the library as long as you can.”
You have gained [Mental Magic] Competent 5
Gain 0 exp
He leaves me alone with my daughters. I wait with my ears, ready to hear if he is discovered. My nose picks up the smell of smoke. He succeeds. May he burn.
I turn to Phenolp, Alicia and Xena. I do not have time, my body won't form tears. I place a hand on Phenolp, she never forgave herself.
You have gained [Fire Magic] Basic 9
Gain 0 exp
The fire magic incinerates her body. I place a hand on Alicia, who always had a name ready for me.
You have gained [Fire Magic] Apprentice 1
Apprentice - your control of magic flame strengthens
Gain 0 exp
I incinerate her body as well. My hand is charred by the time I lay my hand on Xena. She never got more than a day to be true to herself.
You have gained [Fire Magic] Apprentice 2
Gain 0 exp
My blackened skeletal hand pulls back after incinerating her body. There is fire spreading here now too. I want to stay with their ashes.
-----
I watch the monastery burn from the woods. There are people running around in panic. I journey further into the woods, spreading my aura out.
I found a tree that looks good. The first branch snaps. Right, seven hundred pounds. I sit at the base of the tree. Leaning my back into it. I look at my skeletal hand. Was this a product of soul eating a skeleton? I flare my soul eye on. My soul is in fact in my core. My body is seeped in soul mana, there seems to be more soul mana flowing out of my core. It's different from when I saw the skeleton. My arcane core is near empty. My mental core is almost as empty. I don't feel like I have reserves.
You have gained [Health Regen] Basic 7
Gain 0 exp
What. The body is dead. What is there to mend? I make some life magic, my arcane core straining, and stare at my body. My whole body is a glow with life mana. Is my health regen attempting to fix my body? I look down at my chest. The hole looks smaller. Life magic follows the soul memory of the body. So now it's restoring my body to my soul image. I just want to sleep but it doesn't come. I don't feel like my cores are filling.
You have gained [Necromancy Magic] Basic 5
Gain 0 exp
So which is it, system. Am I alive or dead? Guess I now know why my cores aren't filling. Soul magic converts still suck. I dare not try to redirect its flows. The night is long as I sit under this tree and wait.
-----
You have gained [Health Regen] Basic 8
Gain 0 exp
You have gained [Necromancy Magic] Basic 6
Gain 0 exp
This is a daily reminder: You have 4 unallocated stat points
You have gained [Health Regen] Basic 9
Gain 0 exp
You have gained [Necromancy Magic] Basic 7
Gain 0 exp
You have gained [Health Regen] Apprentice 1
Apprentice - you can attach your health regen to another inside your mana aura
Gain 0 exp
Right, all the good that will do me. My mana aura doesn't extend a foot out from me. Phenolp still would have died. I look at my own wound. It's sealed up. My wrist is inching upwards, recovering my skeletal hand. It's already midday. Both my cores are at a quarter. So at least they are filling. My life eye flares again. I check my body.
You have gained [Life Mana Sight] Basic 9
Gain 0 exp
The organs are pristine but inactive. Do I need my soul to be out of my core. If I do that, it's best if there is something to eat. I take in the smells. Not quite sure how. I pull my aura into myself and I start tracking.
3 Horned Rabbit
Not big enough. But a start. I walk up to the rabbit and drive my skeletal fist into its skull. The iron easily kills the rabbit, no exp again. I fling the blood into the air. At the trees, everywhere that isn't me. I'm tempted to channel water magic but my cores just aren't in any shape for experimenting. I move downwind and wait for something bigger.
25 Maknor Bear
That's bigger. I approach the bear. It notices me and rears up. The roar is loud…I think. Every sense has been a fog. O it's almost to me.
“Stop.”
My mental core strains, it is down to dribbles. The bear stops. My skeletal hand heats up, my life eye flares on finding the bears heart. The hand soon finds it as well. The bear is dead, no exp again. I push my aura back out, no need for interruptions. I bend down to its neck. I bite down but I don't drink yet. There is no thirst.
I close my eyes. I can't pull my soul out piecemeal. I need it all. It's my soul. And you are my soul core. My haven. But I need to return, and so I do so.
You have gained [Soul Magic] Basic 2
Gain 3 exp
I take a shuddering breath, my mouth full of the death of this bear smells. My thirst roars at me and I satiate it. It tastes of blood. Just like the rabbits did before. But my hearts beats as new blood is made. I have my fill. I look up, everything is back to being really blurry. Bleeding perception debt.
The pressure on my mental core eases. No longer am I engaging my necromantic magic. I can tell because my left hand has fallen apart. The pain is excruciating. I barely notice it. My tears finally can flow again and they do. I wish I could focus on the pain at my wrist but the loss of family consumes me.
-----
It's night time again before I start moving again. I dare not go to sleep. I'll be her, I can't, not yet. My arcane core is empty, my left hand yet to be restored. It must be feeding my soul core. It feels half full. I sigh, at least I can feel my reserves again, they are starting to fill. My status screen lists me as Chimera again. Mother told me I might need to raise the undead to survive. I just didn't expect it to be me I was raising. It makes me melancholy.
I reach into the bear that has been my crying couch and pull out a rib. I grip it with mental constructs as I use one of my knuckle bones to sharpen the damn thing with my right hand. It takes a bit but I have a crude bone knife now. Not as good as a flaming skeletal hand but it will do. I leave the corpse of the bear to find more.
Gain 3 exp from Horned Rabbit
I drain it dry. I didn't bother trying to steal its stats. I didn't want the emotional whiplash that would come with feeling the bliss, only to return to this. I look at my left arm. The regen has reached my wrist but has stopped. I think I need to consume more to replace the bone. It will need to wait. After my soul core is filled again. Then I can focus on fixing it. I start to practice my illusion magic. Staving off sleep. When my mental core gets low I start to form soul constructs with my reserves.
You have gained [Soul Magic] Basic 3
Gain 3 exp
-----
This is a daily reminder: You have 4 unallocated stat points
You have gained [Illusion Magic] Intermediate 1
Intermediate - your illusion can produce sounds
Gain 16 exp
You have gained [Soul Magic] Apprentice 1
Apprentice - who needs a false soul ring, you don't
Gain 6 exp
You have gained the skill [False Soul] Basic 1
False Soul - present a different you, uses soul mana
Basic - change what your titles show without changing your titles and levels too
Gain 3 exp
My soul core is finally filled. I only took the death of three rabbits till it happened. I still haven't slept. I found a new tree to lay against. I think about what I need to do. There is a church who is probably hunting any cat girls out there. They likely know Scratches the adventurer and that she was attached to [Countess] Magdeline.
So start over then? The adventurer guild is making a fortune minting me new cards. My illusion was made to hide my hair, now I need to hide my ears and tail. A hat and robes then. I start crafting the illusion. At the moment it will need to be full body. Blood stain robes won't do. I need two small silvers as well. Before I start gathering more clover, I need to do one last thing. If I'm starting over, my current adventure title may interfere with joining.
You are severing your Tier 3 Adventurer title from Voiceless, Tier 3 Adventurer will be lost
Do you accept?
You already hurt, Sara.
I allow myself to scream. In some ways it's cathartic, in other ways, my soul is on fire.
-----
13 Dwarf Receptionist
The receptionist looks young and bored, their soul a tad bit smaller than what I am projecting my own to be. Good.
“Here to open a request or turn one in.”
“Here to join the guild.”
The girl sighs. She pulls out a stone and activates a cover trinket for privacy. An illusionary hand taps the stone. Xena voice begins to speak through my illusion over the stone. I do my best not to cry. If my emotions are real, they can't see the lie. I hope.
“Tier 1 : Chimera lvl 15, title: Basic Mage…”
It gives a generic run down of what I hope is plausible for a level fifteen mage. I let illusion be my magic. If only because it will be obvious that I am using it for a while. I had already swapped my intelligence boosted skill to it.
“Name?”
“Jam.” A different illusion answers.
“Age?”
“Eleven.” If I look it, may as well be it. The illusion lies again.
“Place of birth.”
“Sacrifice.” It's my truth.
She looks up at me on that, shrugs and writes it down.
“Any idea what you want your adventurer name to be? If it's taken I'll just figure something out.”
“She who Mourns.” And remembers.
She takes a moment to look at something.
“Alright Mourns, that will be two small silver.”
I placed two bundles of clover in front of her.
“Sorry, but I can't give you a guild rate until you are part of the guild.”
I nod and place another.
“Alright, your change is one large copper. Wait over there while I make your card.”
You have acquired the title [Tier 2 Adventurer]
Tier 2 Adventurer - You are part of an international organization, and you can read contracts. Complete requests and hunts to grow in fame and glory. Two additional presence level when leveling up.
You gained the title Voiceless Tier 2 Adventurer
Voiceless Tier 2 Adventurer - Gives off an aura of worthlessness. You are part of an international organization, and can read contracts. Complete requests and hunts to grow in fame and glory. Two additional presence and Three additional soul when leveling up.
After a bit, she comes over and gives me my new card and a new handbook. I divest the rest of my herbs. I ended up with three small silver, seven large copper. With two contribution.
“Other than contribution, is there another requirement for tiering up at this hall?”
“Eh, oh, no, just contribution. This hall doesn't give a shit if you are prepared for higher requests or not. If you want a hall to baby ya, go to Yetna or something.”
I leave the hall, and then the capital. I go back to the woods. My aura spreads out, and I lay against a tree. I haven't slept in three days. I don't want to give in…
