Chapter 17

  A Foolish Little Girl Searching For Sticks

  Pain.

  My mind awoke to the experience of pain. Worse, I could feel my Mana Extraction Skill fully engaged. As a paralytic type magic was being introduced into my body. Magic that almost certainly had to be related to both the outside pain, and the fact that I couldn’t move.

  At that moment I felt truly helpless. I could almost imagine my predicament now. My mind was awaking, as more and more of my senses began to awaken. I was no longer on the forest floor, but apparently on a hard operating table of some kind. My body had been in this position for a bit, as I could feel a long dull ache filling my body.

  My left shoulder still hurt, but it was nowhere near as much pain as the rest of my body was now experiencing.

  Mentally, I ran through how I got here. Then my mind went back to the most likely answer, that stalking assassin came back to finish the job. No doubt wondering why I hadn’t been burned alive. Even though I still couldn’t move, as my eyes and the rest of my body were not under my full control yet, I could almost imagine that sickly thin monster standing over me. A monster who still wore that dark mask that hid their face. The only thing I could see were intense nearly dark purple eyes.

  Scrape, cut.

  I could feel my freshly scabbed wounds being apart. In what had to be an exquisite form of torture. Further proving that this was a Necrotin. Everything seemed to align, as the Necotic Fireballs, the torture, it all fit into the known motus operandi of the Necrotin family. These features are now considered to be mostly stories of boogeymen, stories that parents tell their kids to avoid going out at night, lest the Necrotin catches you.

  At that thought, I realize that I did just that.

  Tingle.

  My skin begins to tingle as yet more energy is being applied to my skin. As the magic applies, I feel a sickening sliver as my skin begins to move on its own. Again, I am reminded of the corpse fiends, monsters controlled by the Necrotins.

  Monsters made of flesh fused together of multiple dead adversaries, the ultimate double threat to most soldier. For many families would go battle, only to find that they now had to fight against the faces and bodies of their loved ones and relatives. Feeling this exact sensation, I knew that this was the fate that was now in store for me.

  No one knew how these abominations were formed, only a few preserved samples in formaldehyde exist in museums. Proof to how depraved people can get, and forever reminding the world that the horrors conducted by the Necrotins are real.

  Now it seemed that I would be the next subject. But I won’t give up without a fight.

  Tremble.

  I still don’t have control over my body, but I don’t need full control as I have mind and that mind has access to Skills. Focusing on the spot where the new Necrotin spell just landed, the one that literally made my flesh crawl, I focus and being using Trash to remove its aspects.

  A bit of the energy still managed to seep into my body, which my Mana Extraction quickly takes care of. It is a lot easier to use Mana Extraction now that my Mana pool is no longer completely full, a testament to how long I have been out and under this wicked executioner’s glance.

  “Hmm?” My abductor makes a quizzical sound. This is bad, as they are likely seeing that their spells are no longer effective.

  “Are you awake?” A vaguely familiar voice asks. Softer, and sweeter than my mother, or even the attacker I mistook for my mother earlier.

  Quiver.

  Once again, I try to move, but my body still refuses to act, but this time I am close. And now that I am awake, I can resist the next dose of the paralyzing agent.

  “Oh right, you are under Anesthesia, one second,” the female voice speaks.

  Snap.

  Then they snap their fingers, a loud crips sound that echoes throughout the chamber. I can tell by the sound and acoustics that the room we are in is mostly empty, and roughly ten feet long by ten feet wide, give or take, and that the platform I am on is dead center of one of the walls. These are details that I normally wouldn’t have been able to have identified.

  For a moment I wonder why my mind is able to pick up these additional details, only to realize it is likely a side effect of my recently evolved Music Resonance Skill. At that I pause, wondering just how many additional bonuses stronger or more advanced Skills can offer? The fact that I can do minor echolocation thanks to improving my Music Skill one Tier means that higher Tiers might offer even more passive effects that I would have to focus on to truly understand.

  Blink.

  Just as my mind is going through the increased information that my mind is now able to process thanks to my Skills, the paralyzing hold over my body releases.

  Bright light.

  Instantly, I am hit with an intensely focused lit candelabra that has multiple mirrors bending and refracting light back into my face. The light is so bright that for a moment I can only make out a vague outline of my abductor.

  “Take a minute, and try to stay still,” the now unmistakable sound of Madame Bloom resonates within the room. Then as if realized as an afterthought, she continues, “also, this is kind of taxing, so can you please try not removing my Cure Major Wound Skill?”

  Cure Major Wound? I think to myself as I open my eyes and focus on the intense burst of green light that comes from Madame Bloom’s outstretched and elegant hand.

  Tingle.

  Once again, I feel the same tingling sensation hitting my leg that caused my skin to squirm uncontrollably, but this time it is different. This time though, I am able to see the process. I can feel the way the altered mana interacts with my body. I can also feel how my body is absorbing part of my Mana Extraction Skill.

  Deep breaths.

  Madame Bloom is breathing heavily, I’m assuming this is due to both how long she has been working on healing my body already. Only now that I have a chance to focus do I realize that my dirt infested wound from my back was on of the first parts that were healed up. From there, she went to work on my arms, and now my shins.

  It is not a perfect heal, the skin is still raw and tender, but it is healed. Only now do I realize that most of what I was feeling before were phantom pains, or phantom sensations as my nerve endings were slowly coming back to life.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I see the effects of magic, and realize how it is speeding up my body’s natural rejuvenation process. For a moment I almost thought the intense cutting sensation was a misconception of my stimulated mind coming to life. But the metal bowl with the disgusting and bloody flecks of freshly removed scabs point to a different answer.

  Being this close to an expert in the craft of healing magics, I make sure to focus on everything. Just seeing her work with a Magical Skill is invaluable. But I am able to cheat in the way my body can sort of taste the flavor of her mana as it enters my body, thanks to Mana Extraction. All of this helps me focus away from the pain, and ultimately try to learn more about this world.

  Of course, no idle deed ever goes unpunished, which is exactly why this moment is the worst.

  Seeing the Skill, I was momentarily floored by the idea of being able to Analyze the world around me. What was a staple of game worlds from where I was from was now freely available. Given its uncommon rating, I assume it is widely available to most people. Well, most people of significance, as I am certain that my mother and of course Madame Bloom both had variations of this Skill. This version would not be like the one used to measure my magical abilities that the Arbiter had, instead this would likely be a more watered down first version that could then be evolved.

  Twinge-tingle.

  I am distracted enough that I miss the moment when Madame Bloom begins casting her Skill again. Realizing that she is clearly do a lot for me right now, and that the Analyze Skill seems to be just Uncommon, I dismiss it as an option. Instead, I focus on trying to just understand the energy being used.

  Even after over a decade of living in this world, magic is still amazing to me. Just the concept of magic makes most of this world truly worthwhile, despite how terrible and backstabbing the people of this world are, magic at it’s core is amazing.

  Being this close, and feeling the magic deep within my body, I can’t help but begin to try to understand how this particular magic works. Especially as I already have one spell that filled up a Life Magic slot, which was filled up by my Mana Extraction Skill. Given that both are part of Life Magic, I would assume that using one to help Analyze the other would be relatively simple. Just as I could gain the Analyze Skill by focusing, couldn’t I get this Cure Major Wounds Skill, if I just focused?

  And that’s what I do.

  Using every instinct I have, using my past life knowledge about anatomy, something that I apparently had a propensity towards studying. Maybe I was a doctor or a nurse? The noun nurse seems odd, as there isn’t a definition or class of person with that designation in this world. At most it would be a Physicians Assistant for a non-magically gifted person to try and become a Doctor. Yet, for some reason the term nurse seems to be fitting.

  Focusing with my past life knowledge, I can see the way Life magic either stimulates the cells, to regrow the way people theorized stem cells could work in my old world. I don’t really recall what stem cells are, nor what cells truly are for that matter, other than being a small building block for parts of the human anatomy. Then stem cells were something that maybe could turn into any cells? That or this world’s magic made it so my thoughts of what stem cells should be are a reality? Mana creating perfect cells capable of changing and adapting to meet a body’s particular need?

  Forgotten memories flood and jumble into my brain, as I try to figure out how I could at the very least describe this effect.

  Then it hits me, fragments of broken knowledge from my past life, fuse with my current understanding of magic, and how this particular type of magic makes me feel. I sense all of these different effects and am hit with another system prompt.

  Gasp.

  A Unique Skill?

  I pause, tensing up at the sight of the Skill. I know I need to keep my Skill slot open so that Madame Bloom can teach me the first of her two Mana rejuvenation Skills. But this, this is something different. Maybe I can get rid of one of my other Skills? It will cause a penalty, but that will be worth it for this Unique Skill.

  “What is it?” Madame Bloom pauses, hearing my sudden burst of confusion. Looking at her, I can see beads of sweat on her forehead, a testament to how hard she has been working. A look at that face, lets me realize I should cancel this prompt. That or maybe rework our contract so I can get this Skill.

  Glowing blue eyes.

  Seeing that I am stationary, Madame Bloom scans me with her Analyze Skill. I can almost feel a direct tingle over my body as her gaze roams forcefully up my body, as if her gaze now has a weight and power behind its movement.

  Only once her eyes flicker up near my head do I see her exhausted expression change. One second she is there, mouth partially open as she takes in deep but steady gulps of air. Then finally, she sparks to life as she jumps up and stands over top of me, excitement barely contained in her trembling body.

  “You-you learned a Unique Skill just by watching me?” She asks, as she begins moving in closer to look at me from different directions.

  “Yes,” I answer hesitantly as she looks more and more animated. I don’t quite want to tell her that part of why I got this was from jumbling memories from my past life, with what I just saw and apparently getting the two so confused that I came to a different result. That’s when I hesitantly continue, “is it okay if I accept it, I know it will…” I am about to explain that I will get rid of another Skill or remove one of her Skill obligations to me. But before I can continue, she hits me with the absolute last response I ever expected.

  “You had better take that Skill!” Her voice a commandment more than a reply.

  “Okay,” I reply back, feeling kind of awkward from the almost violent response.

  Hearing my hesitation, Madame Bloom takes a breath and visibly tries to calm herself. Only after taking a full three count does she exhale and responds. “Sorry, I might have been a bit too forceful with that response. But the answer for as long as you are a Bloom and truly wish to learn, is that you will always be able to take any Unique Healing Skill. Even if you are no longer part of the Bloom house. Know that we will pay you for your Skill research and knowledge you can provide for any information on a Healing Related Skill.”

  As she speaks, I can see a bit of her tension slowly leave her body, but it is clear that Healing arts are something that she truly appreciates.

  “So, I could get paid for providing my details on Unique Skills?” I ask, wondering if people would also be interested in understanding my Trash Skill as well. For a moment, I wonder how it got the arbitrary name of Trash, but then realize I might have had some influence over that name, as I had been wanting a form of Trash removal at around the time I first gained the Skill. Then with this one, I was thinking of Rejuvenation and Healing and somehow got a Skill with both. The fact that I got two Unique Skills and both happened to be named around what I was thinking of at the time did not escape my notice. What is it they say, once is a data point, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern?

  “Knowledge is power, and as is common with all power, you can wield it for financial gain, profit from it, or invest that power into your self-interests.” Madame Bloom remarked.

  Hearing her comment, I nodded and then before the prompt went away or I inadvertently dismissed the opportunity, I accepted the fifth and final Skill option. Filling in the last of my fife Free Skill Slots.

  With that Skill chosen, I felt a slight burn on my chest, that I instantly grab for, wincing in pain.

  “Why does it burn so much?” I ask, realizing that this is likely related to my second Skill involving Life Magic, but I don’t remember the first one burning nearly as much. Maybe I was distracted by the amount of spirit needles that were piercing my body at the time to have paid attention, but I am pretty sure it was not this bad back then.

  “Yes, that is the strain of you Soul becoming unbalanced in Magic based skills. This is both a good and bad thing. If you continue down this path and forego other Magic Skills that you are adept at, then you will likely receive a bonus to your Skills utilizing life Magic.” Madame Bloom instructs, trying to help me calm down and slowly accept the changes.

  “Wait, does this mean I can only learn seven Magical Skills?” I respond, remembering the number and counter for my Spells. A counter that now sits at 2 of 7, all for Skills focused in Life Magic.

  “Theoretically no, but can people actually break free and become masters of multiple affinities? Most likely not. You see, generally there are what are considered experts, that is people who have the ability to learn seven Skills all linked to one affinity. Or jacks of all trades, people who have learned multiple different Skills relating to different schools of magic, but they end up being mediocre at best in them all.”

  “Why’s that?” I ask.

  “Because, any bonuses that they would get as a specialized magic user are lost when they begin learning multiple magical Skill types.”

  Hearing that, I almost feel like Madame Bloom orchestrated this all from the start. Granted I only had a few affinities available to me, but I feel like I was sort of denied the chance to learn Holy, or Nature magics.

  Still, being able to Heal myself when I want is a major boon and not something that I would have passed up, even if forced to. No better to take a Skill extraction penalty, than lose a chance in a lifetime like this.

  “I will say, that there is a way you can get a Skill magic mastery bonus, despite having two main focuses of Magic, but it will cost you.”

  “Really how?” I respond, wondering if I can somehow turn this around and become a dual affinity master. Or at least allow myself a chance at such mastery.

  “First, before I tell you this knowledge and effectively lose all of its power. Why don’t you tell me what exactly you were doing in that section of woods anyways? A section of woods that was far away from the spirit portal and most trash?”

  Hearing her question I grimace as I realize it likely looked like I was doing something foolish. Especially as looking back on what lead to that whole event, I realize it was entirely avoidable had I not been so deadest on finding the perfect branch.

  “I was looking for a stick to use and imbue with energy so I could more easily fight the spirits.” I reply honestly.

  Pause.

  Madame Bloom just stares at me for a moment, and then rephrases. “A foolish girl goes into the woods looking for a stick?”

  I just bow my head, realizing how absurd it all sounds.

  “Well, I guess there are worse things to be caught doing in the woods, though most are markedly more rewarding than finding a stick. I assume this was for your Improvised Weapons Skill?”

  I nod, still not able to verbally respond. Two lifetimes and I still got caught doing dumb things.

  “Well, there are worse things to get caught doing in the woods by a Necrotic Assassin. Most of the others might be more rewarding, but they are still ultimately worse.” Madame Bloom offers as a condolence.

  Hearing her, I perk up as I realize she noticed the signs of a Necrotin Assassin, no wait, she just referred to them as a generic Necrotic Assassin. But still, that does beg the question.

  “Wait, can I ask why I was attacked by a Necrotic Assassin to begin with?” I ask.

  At that Madame Bloom pauses, and then after a moment responds. “Well, I can answer both your question about the Assassin, with getting your dual Skill magic mastery bonuses.”

  I can almost feel my anticipation building, before I finally break down and ask.

  “How?”

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