Book 1. Chapter 42

Book 1. Chapter 42

Brin ended up waking up after all. He sort of expected to be in his room. He wasn't. He was in his bed, and that was his wardrobe with his clothes, but the room was different. Looking down, he was naked under the blanket, unless you counted bandages. If you counted bandages, he was fully clothed. He sneered at them. Who needed bandages when you had scars? They were all completely white without a speck of seepage, and he could feel [Mana Scars] still burning his magic, keeping everything where it was supposed to be. He was surprised he still had mana, honestly. How long had it been?

He checked his status first, and grinned at all the high numbers. How long ago had it been that he was so proud of twenty-six Strength? Now he was at nearly a hundred and fifty.

That should’ve been the best part, but it wasn’t. He had an achievement waiting for him.

Alert! You have upgraded an Achievement. Warbound (Epic) becomes Warbound (Legendary)

Warfare was his birthright, he craved the clash of steel,

He sang a song of bloodshed that the dead could hear and feel,

The terror of the battlefield, a cursed child was found.

Warbound.

+20% Strength, +20% Vitality, +20% Will, +10% Dexterity

becomes

+20% to all attributes.

You have been granted a new Skill:

Battle Sense

You have an innate sense about the position of your allies and enemies in conflict. You have an innate sense of how to direct your allies to greatest effectiveness during conflict.

What he’d done felt legendary. He couldn’t believe his memories, the things he’d done. He’d fought those undead like he was immortal; he’d run right through wounds like he couldn’t feel them. He’d out-zombied the zombies.

His [Scarred] Title was different.

Heavily Scarred You have been scarred. You have upgraded this title twice. Your scars are regenerative.

Healing rate increases based on upgrades and the amount of fully healed scars.

Your wounds heal 60% faster.

Would that one increase after all these injuries were healed? That was a happy thought. Almost as an afterthought, there was one last notification.

Alert! Through training you have increased the following attribute. Magic +5

Apparently his Magic had been working overtime while he slept.

He sat up, moving slowly, and his body exploded with warmth and energy. He knew enough of his Class by now to know that that wasn't a good sign. That was pain, transformed into something more useful. Only, in this scenario it was the opposite of useful because it made him want to jump into action, but what he should be doing right now is holding still so his body could mend.

The movement made something stir at his side. A coil of snake was laying on his lap, all shiny, shimmering colors. Looking at Marksi, Brin felt something like... fond irritation. All his emotions were probably tinged with anger now, a side-effect he'd been expecting after meeting the [Scarred One] in his Class Selection, but it was good to know he wouldn't be overcome with hatred. He still liked Marksi.

He put old-Brin's voice on and said, "Marksi! Good to see you, buddy! I was worried about you!"

Marksi uncoiled and stretched, letting out a big yawn. He crawled into Brin's arms, and it was only then that he noticed.

He was crawling. The four nubs on Marksi's sides had sprouted, and he had arms and legs now. Little arms that ended in three-fingered hands with pads like a gecko. The limbs were too short, but maybe they'd grow? He didn't know. Apparently he didn't know much about his little friend.

He looked up to see Hogg enter the doorway.

"Marksi has legs now? What happened?" asked Brin.

"He's a little young for it, but not surprising, considering that beast core you fed him. He slept through the whole fight, and then two days after that," said Hogg.

"Two days... How long was I asleep?" asked Brin.

"Four days," said Hogg. “It was a close thing for the first couple hours. We had to force feed you mana potions nonstop to keep your body together until your internal scarring Skill could close all the wounds to your innards. You’re allergic to mana potions now, by the way. Happens sometimes. Should clear up in a month or two. Just got the results back.”

"Four days... Then the army--"

"It didn't kill us all, obviously. Haven't really seen a sign of them since we escaped the forest. They're out there, though. Six of our [Hunters] disappeared. The forest isn't safe anymore," said Hogg. "I even had to buy a house in the town! That's where we are now."

“But help is on the way, right? You got a message out?”

“I got some letters out before I had to switch my Skill. Not as much as I'd have liked. But that’s it’s own thing; I can’t do illusions anymore,” said Hogg. Then he brightened. “I’m a [Conjurer of Hard Light] now. And if I ever get the hang of it, [Mage of Hard Light] isn’t too far away.”

“That’s awesome! But that means we’re penned in? Can Gustaff send another message?”

“Gustaff’s range doesn’t even get to the next Bog. But if the letters don’t make it, Lumina will start asking questions when I don’t make it to the next scheduled appointment. I never miss an appointment.”

Brin wanted to ask more, but he was interrupted by a growling stomach.

"Stay right there, I'll get you some soup."

Brin swung his feet to the side and sat up.

"You lay back down right now, or I swear to Nedramus I will put you down. You're being held together with shoe glue and fishing line at this point."

"I'm being held together with magic," grumbled Brin, but he lay back down anyway.

Hogg returned with the soup, and Brin as soon as the smell of it hit his nose, he realized he’d never wanted anything so much in his entire life. He gulped it down and asked for more, then asked if Hogg had anything more solid. Bread, anything.

“Let’s see if you keep that down, first.”

Brin scowled. “Of course I’m going to keep it down.”

But he still waited like a good little boy. To his surprise, he already felt full. Bloated, even, like his body wasn’t used to food. Looking at his forearm, his muscles didn’t seem any smaller, but his skin looked like it was shrink-wrapped to his body.

That made him curious, so he started to untie the bandage around his fingers, the ones that had been cut off. Even that movement made them burst out with energy.

“Don’t,” said Hogg.

Brin scowled at him and removed the bandage. The fingers were scabbed over on the outside, and he immediately felt the overwhelming urge to start picking at them.

He glared at Hogg again and put the bandage back on.

“They aren’t there to hold you together. They’re there to... remove temptation,” said Hogg.

“I get it,” snapped Brin.

“So listen,” Hogg started delicately, which immediately made Brin suspicious. “The Prefit needs to talk to you. It’s sort of urgent.”

“About what?”

“I’m not supposed to say,” said Hogg.

Brin frowned. It was probably to pin some stupid punishment on him. He’d technically broken the rules when he left town to hunt in the forest without an adult. If that was all it was, he would be lucky. No doubt Tawna had used the past few days to whisper treachery into everyone’s ears. At least no one but Hogg knew his Class. He’d taken [Hide Status] as one of his first general Skills.

“Send him in,” said Brin.

Fifteen minutes later, the Prefit arrived, as well-dressed and dignified as ever. If Brin was expecting to see stubble on the chin or rings under the eyes of the Prefit while the town was virtually under siege, he was disappointed. He looked like he never lost a day of sleep in his life.

“You’ll understand if I don’t get up,” Brin said, trying and failing to keep an acerbic tone out of his voice.

“No need,” said the Prefit. Then to his surprise, he found a footstool and sat down by the side of the bed. “How are you feeling, son?”

Brin bit back an insulting response to the over-familiar tone. Instead he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not. True, he’d never been in this much pain before, but the pain felt very nice.

“Good, good. I have a few questions, and then I’ll let you get back to your rest,” said the Prefit.

“Alright.”

“Hogg filled me in on the entirety of the events in the forest that night, but I’d like to confirm some details with you. First, you should know that I know you’re a [Scarred One].”

Brin growled. “Hogg told you? He didn’t have the right!”

“The [Pharmacist] and [Midwife] needed to know in order to render proper treatment. I was told as a matter of course. No one else was informed, although people will no doubt... speculate. That’s what brings me here today. I need to confirm some details with you.”

Brin fidgeted uneasily. Hogg was in the other room, and he’d proven that he could be trusted. There was nothing the Prefit could do, he told himself.

“What do you want to know?”

“First, can you confirm that Tawna told you in person that she intended for you to pick an evil Class?”

“Yeah, she said that.” Brin was a little confused.

“Do you believe her actions that day and in the preceding weeks or months led you towards an evil Class?”

“Yes, they did,” said Brin.

“I see.” There was an expression of sorrow on Elmon’s face, but also determination.

“No way,” said Brin. “Tawna? She’s the one in trouble?”

“That’s for me and the council of elders to decide,” said Elmon. “But driving a child to an evil Class is a terrible crime. It isn’t illegal to be mean to a child or even to say cruel things about them. But if that cruelty drives the child in question to pick an evil Class, then that’s a different matter entirely. This alone would be enough, but she also manipulated you into going into the forest alone, and gave you information designed to put you in even greater danger. And now her actions have borne poisonous fruit. Another question. When I moved System Day up by a week, did that make picking an evil Class more or less likely?”

“More, but only because I needed it to save my life. I was going to pick... something else,” said Brin. “The logic goes in circles. If you hadn’t moved up System Day, I wouldn’t have survived getting stabbed. But would I still have gotten stabbed if we hadn’t been waiting right there?”

“According to Hogg, the only reason the ambush was so sloppy was because you weren’t where they expected you to be. He claims that if you’d kept moving at the previous pace, you both would have died. Tawna... claims the same. She told me that her reading of fate made it certain that if I didn’t do it, both you and Hogg would have died, though she didn’t know the cause at the time.”

“If Hogg said that then it’s true,” said Brin. “But she should still be punished for what she did.”

“Yes.” The Prefit nodded solemnly. "And if her punishment were up to you, what would you choose?”

Looking back at it, the fact that he hadn’t gotten Magic to the first threshold before System Day was the thing that bothered him the most. He’d been so close. He wasn’t even sure if it was totally her fault, but... who was he kidding? It was completely her fault.

Brin had no end of imagining horrible things for Tawna, but he kept himself to choosing the best thing he thought he could get Elmon to agree to. He wanted her to be embarrassed, for everyone in town to see her being punished, see that she was the one at fault. “Pillory. For at least a day. Do what she tried to do to me.”

Survivor of Travin's Bog

You survived the massacre at Travin’s Bog that ended your family.

+50% resistance to heat, cold and poison.

Traveler

You have journeyed to a strange and foreign land where you now live.

+30% movement speed when out of combat

You have a largely increased ability to learn languages.

Otherworlder

You have traversed the stars and arrived at an entirely new world.

+50% experience while your Class is below level 30. Strengthened immune system. Strengthened magic resistance.

Heavily Scarred (3)

You have been scarred. You have upgraded this title twice. Your scars are regenerative.

Healing rate increases based on upgrades and the amount of fully healed scars.

Your wounds heal 60% faster.

Achievements

Warbound (Legendary)

Warfare was his birthright, he craved the clash of steel,

He sang a song of bloodshed that the dead could hear and feel,

The terror of the battlefield, a cursed child was found.

Warbound.

+20% to all attributes. +100% experience from melee combat. Battle Fury and Battle Sense skills added.

Monster Hunter II (Common)

You have defeated more than 13 monsters.

+10% attribute growth rate for all attributes.

Filial Piety (Epic)

You performed a noble act of service to your father at great risk to yourself, freeing his captive soul from those who bound him in servitude.

Extra resistance against mental manipulation, soul manipulation, and Mana pool manipulation.

+100% Magic attribute growth.

Blessing of the Hidden Guardian (Rare)

You have been seen and accepted by the one who lays beneath.

Strong IV (Common)

You have reached 104 Strength.

+40% speed with Strength-intensive activities. +40% Strength attribute growth.

Dextrous III (Common)

You have reached 65 Dexterity.

+10% Dexterity (Transferred from Thief). +30% speed with Dexterity-intensive activities. +30% Dexterity attribute growth.

Lively IV (Common)

You have reached 104 Vitality.

+40% recovery from wounds. +40% stamina. +40% Vitality attribute growth.

Magical II (Common)

You have reached 39 Magic.

+20% spell power. +20% mana regeneration. +20% Magic attribute growth

Controlled II (Common)

You have reached 39 Mental Control.

+20% focus and concentration +20% Mental Control attribute growth

Disciplined II (Common)

You have reached 39 Will

+20% spell power. +20% skill power. +20% Will attribute growth.

Workhorse (Rare)

You work like a horse. You have earned many attribute achievements before unlocking your System.

+2 Strength per level, +1 Dexterity per level, +2 Vitality per level, +1 Will per level, +1 Mental Control per level

General Skills

Know What’s Real

You have the ability to understand when something you experience or remember is real, and when it is an illusion or dream. Hearing increased. Vision in darkness increased. You can now approximate the value of things.

Monster Sense

You have a moderate ability to sense monsters in the area. You can sense the difference between monsters and natural animals.

Inspect (3)

Active Skill - Receive information on the target.

Upgradeable.

Hide Status

Your Class and other System details are hidden from Inspect and other observation skills. Note: Your information may still be vulnerable due to high level disparities and powerful inspection skills.

Upgradeable.

Battle Fury (Epic)

Skill unlocked: Battle Fury (Epic)

Your fury in battle lends you greater power.

+5% increase to the effects of your Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality with each wound you take and with each wound you give. +50% increase with each enemy you slay.

These increases are capped at +100%

These increases expire thirty minutes after you leave combat.

Battle Sense

You have an innate sense about the position of your allies and enemies in conflict. You have an innate sense of how to direct your allies to greatest effectiveness during conflict.

Class Skills

Ugly on the Inside

Enhanced ability to form healing scars on internal organs. Nearly any injury can heal naturally, given time.

Pain Resistance

Feel pain as information, with a boost to energy and focus.

Mana Scars

Your body is held together by mana when wounded. Consumes mana.

Bloody Vengeance

Increased power and speed proportional to the amount of wounds received.

Oaths

Oath of the Quest Survivor

You have sworn never to speak of how you became the beneficiary of a Quest