Liliana let the warm sunlight soak into her as she took a deep breath. It had been a week since the bandit attack, and since then, she’d ignored all of her notifications. She’d been told that humans gave the same amount of experience as monsters. The information hadn’t been welcome and had caused more tangled thoughts in her mind. Yet she had recovered.

She knew not for sure why she had been able to overcome the despair that filled her so quickly. She could say it had been Lelantos, the bond affecting her as much as it did him. His mentality had soothed her after a while. The way he simply saw anyone who would try to harm him or her as enemies to be killed. Not to be mourned. Perhaps it had been Silas coming to see her and talking to her about his first fight, his first kill. Knowing she wasn’t alone, just one of many who had suffered these feelings.

At the end of the day, it had been them or her. And she had chosen herself, her own life. The lives of her bond, of those she knew, over the lives of the bandits who had tried to steal them.

According to what Silas had told her, killing other humans was not a foreign concept in this world. In fact, it was almost commonplace, expected in some way or another that most would have some close experience with it. She knew that from the game, but experiencing it in real life was another matter. Bandits, brigands, pirates, slavers, opposing nobles and other countries, all these things made for a distinctly more dangerous life than the one she had left. She hadn’t been told as much; she assumed, to preserve her emotional state, but the unsaid reality was this wouldn’t be the last time she took another human’s life.

Something had been bothering her, though. Bandits shouldn’t have been so close to the manor, not with the guard patrols and how active the road was. Even if it was an event in the game, it made little sense in the real world. It just didn’t add up. Liliana hadn’t been quiet about where she was going. She had to tell the guards as a precaution. So it wasn’t impossible for someone to know where she would be. Yet why send such low levels when the guards with her would be far higher?

Was the game more a foretelling than a game? The Bandit encounter had been in the game after all, though the area was a little off. The problem nagged at her, festering in her mind.

It couldn’t have been my stepmother, could it? Liliana wondered. It sounded outrageous. Yet the woman had tried to kill her already. Had she thought Liliana would head off on her own? Otherwise, it made little sense, as she’d have her guards with her. Had… Had she sent Alistair to specifically dismiss the guards and ensure Liliana was alone? She didn’t think Alistair was at the level of cruel and malicious such a thing would require, but his mother may have been using him as a pawn in her twisted game.

It could’ve been a warning. Meant to scare me off leveling, Liliana considered, and the words rang with a bit too much possibility. As Liliana became stronger, she would be an undeniable threat to the Duchess. As she gained her father’s favor, she could very well become the heir, though the possibility was slim. Which would knock Alistair out of being an heir, and she did not know how the succession went for the Thornebell side of his family. But if she was strong enough, gained enough recognition, it could happen. Liliana doubted it would, but she could see how the mere threat of it could drive the woman to attack her again.

A tail flicked her in the face, drawing her from her thoughts. Liliana pushed the limb out of her face and shot a glare at a supposedly sleeping Lelantos. He’d wanted her to check her notifications for a while, he didn’t understand her turning down power. With a sigh, Liliana focused back on the notifications, finally letting them stream into her vision.

You killed a level 39 Bandit Archer. You killed a level 40 Bandit. You Killed a level 41 Bandit. You killed a level 43 Bandit. You Killed a level 45 Bandit.

+84,500 Experience

+42,250 Experience from Boon

More experience awarded for killing a creature 5 or more levels higher than you!

+5625 Experience

+2812 Experience From Boon

You assisted in killing a level 46 Bandit.

+8,050 Experience

+4,025 Experience from Boon

Less experience was awarded for getting assistance with kill.

More experience awarded for killing a creature over 5 levels higher than you!

+2012 Experience

+1006 Experience From Boon

[Polearms Mastery] reached level 44

[Enhancement] reached level 30

[Regeneration] reached level 23

[Dodge] reached level 30

[Persistent Casting] reached level 22

[Dance Of the Daystar] reached level 23

[Dance of The Windsong] reached Level 15

[Leap] reached level 5

[Light Barrage] reached level 6

[Tempo] reached level 20

[Light Burst] reached level 32

[Barrier] reached level 9

[Riding] reached level 6

[Pain Resistance] reached level 25

You have met the requirements for the Skill [Dance of The Vanishing Blade], would you like to learn this skill?

You have met the requirements for the Spell [Shadows Sonata], would you like to learn this skill?

You’ve reached level 40!

+5 Stat points

+2 Stat points from Boon.

+5 Stat Points to Speed from Class

+4 Stat points to Endurance from Class

+4 Stat Points to Dexterity from Class

+3 Stat Points to Charisma from Class

Liliana stared at the notification for several long moments. Her eyes stuck on ‘killed’. The reality of what she had done once again hit her, though less hard than before. Gentle chuffs from Lelantos calmed her aching heart and as she looked over her notifications, she reached out a hand to the tiger, taking solace in his warm fur. His gentle chuffs drowned out the ghostly echoes of screams she still heard from time to time as her mind remembered that day.

She focused on the new skills, dismissing the rest of the notifications. She didn’t think she could look at them any longer.

Dance of The Vanishing Blade (Illusion)

Learning the art of illusion from an adept in the art, you have discovered how to implement it in your battle-style. Confuse and bewilder your opponents with this deadly illusory dance. Create an after image of your weapon that follows your strikes. As if a ghost of vengeance past this disappearing vestige will strike at your enemies moments after you. Damage equal to 25% of your Magic Power.

Active for 5 minutes

Cost:

250 Stamina

300 Mana

Shadows Sonata (Soul)

Instill fear into your opponent’s very souls. This spell will have your opponents feeling like darkness itself calls them to Hell. Drive them to terror and madness before your blade ends their suffering. Can effect 2 opponents. Effect lasts 1 minute 30 seconds. Damage equal to 15% Of your Magical Power. Effect increased with Charisma, 1% added every 10 points in Charisma. Current effect: 21%

Cost: 200 Mana

Liliana rubbed her eyes at the new abilities. She could guess that the skill had been gained because of Lelantos, being Illusion as it was. Shadows Sonata sounded like a Dark skill, yet it was Soul based, which just went to prove names of skills or spells didn’t have to mean much as to what they did. She wasn’t sure what had sparked it, unless it had been gained from fighting the wolves and the System had kept it back until she’d reached a necessary level. The description didn’t sit too well with her, considering recent events, yet she swallowed her unease and accepted the skill. It was an intimidation skill based on Charisma, perfect for her. And it was Soul aligned, which would hopefully mean she would gain more Soul skills and spells.

Status Sheet

Name

Liliana Rosengarde

Age

14

Level

40

Class

Battle Dancer

Race

Human

Rank

8

Health

660

H-Regen

+6.5/1.1sec

Mana

700

M-Regen

+6.5/1.1sec

Stamina

940

S-Regen

+9.4/1.1sec

Magic Power

790

Magic Control

810

Experience: 7,720/168,100

Vitality

66

Endurance

94

Strength

70

Dexterity

81 (88)

Wisdom

70(3)

Intelligence

65(2)

Speed

119 (129)

Charisma

98(2)

Unallocated Stat Points: 0 (7)

Her new allocation would help her Mana and Mana Regen keep up with her spells and skills. Endurance and subsequently Stamina were high enough on their own thanks to the bonuses from her Class. Her Vitality was her lowest stat, but for now she left it be. It may be the wrong choice, but she’d noticed in her last battles the only time she got hit was by surprise attacks, or when she flung herself at blade wielding maniacs. Being able to keep her skills and spells up longer would do more for her in battle, and every level upped her Speed, making her ever harder to hit.

Liliana closed out her status page and stretched out, enjoying the way Lelantos’ fur tickled the back of her arms and neck. The tiger had been wanting to go back out to level. He was getting antsy cooped up in the manor. Yet Liliana didn’t feel entirely ready to go back out. What if there were more bandits? She wasn’t scared of them killing her; she was scared she’d kill them. Some had run from the fight, though she hadn’t noticed at the time she’d faintly heard it in the debrief Jason gave when they arrived back at the manor.

Even if the guards had combed the area throughly, had even found the Bandits’ camp, with the remaining Bandits, and demolished it, and reassured the entire manor that there were none left. Liliana still worried that more would appear, drawn by her antagonist bad luck. What if more bandits had fled then, too? What if they were lurking in the forest still, just waiting to jump out and add more names to her tally of sins?

A knock at her bedroom door drew her attention as Astrid entered. The woman had been distraught, unable to improve Liliana’s mood, and forced to watch her trapped in her own depression. The last week was evidenced in her haggard face and the dark circles under her eyes, drawing guilt into Liliana’s chest.

“My Lady, Lord Bealstal has come to visit you,” Astrid informed her and Liliana sighed loudly.

“Could we tell him I died?” Liliana hazarded a dark joke. Astrid looked utterly appalled as she grasped her chest.

“Lady Liliana!” She admonished, and Liliana sighed again as she stood up, dusting off her dress.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go tell him hello,” Liliana relented as she passed her maid. She tried to give her a small smile, but her lips wouldn’t move. She passed Astrid silently, feeling the guilt build.

Gods, I’m pathetic. I can’t even put on a pleasant face, Liliana berated herself as she opened the door to her sitting room. Emyr was standing by one of the bookshelves, it was sparsely filled as she hadn’t been in her new room long enough to build up a respectable personal library yet. As she watched, he picked up a small core. One of the first she’d successfully brought home and worth pretty much nothing. Astrid had insisted she keep a momento of her first few outings, and Liliana had agreed. She enjoyed keeping objects that had sentimental value, a trait carried over from her time on earth.

“Lord Bealstal,” Liliana greeted and Emyr set the core down, turning to her. Liliana noticed in his other hand he held a package and her interested perked up.

“Lady Liliana, I see you have recovered some from the ordeal,” Emyr greeted as he moved forward. Liliana nodded her head at a seat as she took her own.

Her feelings towards both Emyr and Alistair had been as tangled as her thoughts. She’d nearly died to save Emyr. Why? Why had she done that? She couldn’t find a reason. She’d moved without thinking. Then there had been the fear and panic in his eyes, guilt too over the fact she’d almost died to save his life. Emotions she couldn’t entirely fool herself into thinking meant nothing. No matter how she tried.

Her brother used a high tier healing potion on her as well. He hadn’t needed to do that. Hadn’t needed to do anything at all. He could’ve said she died to the Bandits and been done with her entirely, yet he’d saved her. Perhaps it was that heroic spirit, buried deep, deep, down under his ego and selfish nature. Buried under the cruelty his mother had trained into him.

“I’m as well as can be expected,” Liliana brushed off the comment, and the curiosity in his gaze. She knew she looked like shit. If Astrid didn’t drag her into the bath each evening and into a new dress every morning, she’d still be in her bed, probably smelling awful and looking just as bad.

She knew her eyes sported their own dark circles, a present left by her nightmares. She had barely been eating and had noticed her dresses fitting a hair looser than before. Yet anything she tried to eat made her stomach roil and protest. It was almost nostalgic, similar to how she’d felt when the chemotherapy had ravaged her stomach and nearly forced hr into a feeding tube.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Emyr agreed, his own eyes sporting shadows. Liliana wondered if perhaps his dreams were haunted by specters of the damned, coming to wreak revenge on their killer.

“Here, I saw you were interested in this when we were shopping. Consider it a thank you for saving my life,” Emyr shoved the package at her, looking away as if embarrassed by his own gesture. Liliana raised an eyebrow as she took the package.

Delicately, she untied the wrappings, revealing a book on basic alchemy. She already had a book on herbology, well notated for when she went out. She had considered getting into Alchemy as well, to diversify her skills. Give her a craft that could bring in money, not beholden to her father. She’d decided against it, as the book had been too expensive alongside the rest of the items she wanted. She had enjoyed Alchemy in the game and had played with the idea of trying it for real and had been saddened that she hadn’t been able to take up the craft again in the real world.

“Thank you,” Liliana murmured as she opened the book, her voice carrying a hint of the emotion in her chest. She was touched, truly, by the gesture. Flipping through the pages, she saw the recipes for the Health and Mana tinctures she used so often. As well as the pain relief tincture, bruise balm and wound poultice. All were made with plants and materials she could easily gather herself.

“I don’t suppose you bought me a full Alchemy kit too?” Liliana jested, looking up from the book. Emyr’s eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, he looked crestfallen.

“Ah, no, I did not think…” He trailed off, looking down at his hands. For a moment, he looked every bit the fourteen-year-old child he was.

“It’s no matter. I’m sure I can get what I need, or Astrid can have it brought to me.” Liliana waved it off easily. The way Emyr’s shoulders slumped in relief brought the ghost of a smile to her lips.

“Would you like to see how Lelantos is doing?” Liliana offered when the silence fell on them. Emyr perked up, though he looked fearful at the thought of seeing the large cat again.

“He still won’t eat me, right?” Emyr asked as Liliana stood up.

“Are you going to attack me?” Liliana asked him in return, and the pure shock on his face eased her own nerves.

“Of course not, Lady Liliana!” He assured her, though a bit of mischief entered his gaze as he continued, “unless you attack first,” he finished and Liliana shook her head.

“Not today, unless you’re up for a duel,” Liliana answered as she opened the doors to the garden. Thankfully, there were two sets, so she didn’t need to lead someone through her bedroom.

Lelantos was currently chasing his enchanted ball around, trying his hardest to break its enchantment. He paused his antics when Liliana mentally called him and wandered to the pair. Rubbing against Liliana, he stopped before Emyr. The noble stood stock still as the large predator sniffed him, before chuffing and butting his head into him so hard it nearly sent Emyr sprawling.

“He likes you,” Liliana told the unbalanced noble as she ran a hand through the tiger’s fur, marveling at the way the light danced across it. Looking around, she spotted the feathered staff and moved to grab it, handing it off the Emyr.

“Play with him,” she instructed as she sat down in the sun, opening her book. The noble boy looked first at the staff in his hands, then at her, then at the eagerly waiting giant cat.

“I’m going to die,” she heard him mutter before the staff grew as the enchantment on it activated, growing to at least ten feet, long fluffy feathers at the end.

Emyr started to awkwardly swing it around, prompting Lelantos to chase it eagerly. Liliana pretended to read her book as she watched the pair out of her peripherals. She really wasn’t too good with people. She had precious little experience with social interactions, but she figured if she could just throw Lelantos at them, it would be beneficial. Either they’d run screaming and leave her alone or the tiger would get a playmate.

She fully looked up when a surprised laugh burst from the boy. Lelantos has tried to pounce on the feathers and missed, falling and flipping around rather ungracefully. Truly, his low Dexterity made him one of the clumsiest cats she’d ever met. The tiger seemed rather embarrassed at the movement and had sat up, turning his back to the humans to clean his paws.

Liliana rolled her eyes affectionately and summoned [Shine]. She had been using the spell for Magic Control and Power practice, as if she accidentally fed it too much power, she wasn’t at risk of blowing herself up. Now she could shift the color to red and as she did, she sent the little light zipping towards Lelantos, immediately grabbing his attention.

Emyr set down the staff. It shrank as soon as the enchantment was canceled and walked towards Liliana. He dropped to sit next to her as she directed the light around, Lelantos chasing after it like a kitten. At first she kept it easy, letting him catch the light and destroy it. Slowly she built up its speed and erratic movements as she continued, spurred on by the light chuckles of her audience. She could feel the strain of making the light to move faster than it should, but she forced it to obey.

Beside her she could see Emyr focusing on his own hands, shadows gathering until they formed a fist sized ball of darkness. He set the ball after her own, his moving far slower and clumsier. Lelantos seemed confused at first by the additional prey until he noticed the shadow ball was easier prey. Soon Emyr was groaning in defeat as every one of his balls fell to the tiger’s claws. Liliana’s ball danced across the garden as if it was laughing at the pair.

The afternoon faded to evening and close to time for family dinner. The two teens too distracted by their games with the tiger to notice. Liliana not even realizing when a smile fit itself on her face. Their games ended when Astrid stepped in and informed them it was time to prepare for dinner. On time, another maid followed after her, carrying a large platter of meats and cores piled atop it for Lelantos.

“Thanks for checking on me. And for the present,” Liliana curtsies to Emyr, who looked away as his skin flushed a bit in embarrassment.

“It’s nothing, thanks for making sure Lelantos didn’t eat me,” Emyr waved off her thanks and Liliana huffed as she looked at the tired cat. All the play had exhausted him, but she could feel how content he was over the bond as he dug into his meal of meat and cores.

“I told you, he likes you, he probably won’t eat you,” Liliana assured him and Emyr gave a relieved smile before he turned to leave.

“Wait, probably?” He asked but Liliana was already closing her bedroom door, the phantom of a laugh all the remained.