Chapter 29: City of the Wolfkin

Sprawling was never a word that would be ascribed to Lupaken. Built into the sheer face of a mountain, its architecture climbed up, not out, with caves dug into the stone, connected by stone pathways that had been hewn into the mountain face. There was a waterfall to the far right edge of the cliff, falling into pools of water at different points of the cliff face to gather water, before ending up in a small lake at the bottom of the mountain.

In awe, Crimson surveyed the whole location. Even being miles off, Crimson was forced to tip back his head to get a look at where the cave dwellings ended.

As they approached the actual town, he saw over the top of the low wall that there were some buildings built on the ground, or more accurately, into the ground. While much fewer in number than the caves, they were half sunk into the ground, and were uniformly made of a stone that had a coloring somewhere between red and tan. Adjacent to the dwelling was the aforementioned lake, where they clearly got water.

Passing through a wide opening in the wall, he was surprised. There wasn’t a guard stopping people like they did in Falst, nor was there even a gate to stop anyone from passing through. The wall defenses - which he took as standard after all his time in this new world - only added to his confusion as it seemed like they weren’t designed to keep out monsters, but funnel them into choke points. While few in number, there were at least some guards on the wall, tall wolfkin men and women standing proudly in well polished gear as they surveyed the people entering and leaving Lupaken with lazy eyes.

The town didn’t seem defensible in any way, were they deliberately inviting an attack?

That was the only solution he could think of, as none of it made any sense.

Once they finished passing through the choke point, he was assaulted by the oppressive atmosphere that surrounded the town. All the sounds felt muted as he listened to animals complain and people talk. He looked around, unable to pinpoint the source of the problem, but as he inspected more closely, an idea slowly started forming.

None of the wolfkin walking the streets struck him as noncombatants. There weren’t many foreigners, but the few that were there didn’t seem that strong, but it felt like every single wolfkin there were constantly ready for a fight.

It didn’t seem to matter what their relative strength was, because there were some that Crimson could definitely tell that he’d be able to beat in a fight - few in number as they may be - they all seemed, not just ready, but hungry for a fight.

It all made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He’d read about fighting will - a supernaturally strong determination to fight - as a fantasy trope a lot in his old world, he’d even experienced it from his opponents and felt it himself, but he’d never seen nor felt it in such abundance - it was the cause of the muted noise.

Considering everything he’d learned, he slowly formed a few conclusions about what he’d seen. He might have enough information to run his ideas by Nav.

They passed through the rest of the town at the base of the cliff, Crimson slowly inspected everything he could without gawking, and once they’d reached the base the wagon turned off to the side and line up next to a line of other wagons.

Glancing behind him, he saw that the carriage that Nav was in had turned the opposite direction and was trundling away. Still in motion, the door was kicked open and Nav jumped out of it while making rude hand gestures to the occupant - Ryn - and she threw a bag at him, which he caught handily. Ryn only slammed the door shut after making a few rude hand gestures to Nav.

With a smug expression that he could see even through the tide of passing people, the wolfkin ran to Crimson before saying, “Sorry about that, I’ll show you to where you are staying.”

Crimson nodded before grabbing his bags and hopping off the wagon. He slowly stretched, then followed the beckoning Nav.

“Hey Nav,” he asked, “I’ve got a few questions about this place if you could answer them.”

“Go for it.” Nav said.

“First question: Are only combatants allowed to live on the ground?” He asked.

“‘Combatants’ - what we call Hunters - and a few other rare exceptions. We use a rotation system. These Hunters all have homes in one of the Dens up there,” he gestured to the cliff face, “where their families stay. The stronger ones have their Dens closer to the ground, while the weaker ones stay high up near the peak. Our chief has an impressive mansion right at the base of the cliff, and she’s expected to be ready for combat year round.”

“Because… Lupaken experiences the highest amount of Natural Dungeons in the east, right?” Crimson supplied with some hesitation, not sure if the information was correct.

“Yeah,” Nav said, bobbing his head in agreement, “we don’t really get the luxury of Godmade dungeons around here, the nearest ones are a few days travel away. We deal with roughly fifty Natural Dungeons a year, most ranging from Lv.15 to Lv.65, with the odd Lv.70 every few years.” Nav scratched his head uncomfortably, “You’d be amazed what a difference just five levels make.”

Crimson slowly nodded in response, “You and Alois got to clear some?”

Nav said grimly, “I told you, right? Seven - we don’t even count the lower level ones, too many to count. It all happened during a period we call the Sifting Years, a period where dungeons that appear are all on the upper end of the range I gave you. They aren’t constant, but they can happen every twenty years at the earliest, and the longest lull we’ve recorded was fifty years.”

“When was the last one?” He asked curiously.

“Sixteen years ago, the last one ended, and it had lasted for three years. During that time, there were a total of nine Lv.70 Natural Dungeons. The second one, was bad enough that it wiped out almost all of our high level parties - the ones that could take on Natural Dungeons of that high level. Even the party that cleared it was left crippled and unable to continue. Their sacrifice left us, the [Mountain Wolves], just barely enough time to prepare and level up to the point where we could even attempt the next one - even if it took spending all of our waking hours grinding.”

Nav stopped his story for a moment as they waited at the foot of the mountain, before a waiting wolfkin waved them forward. After walking out of earshot, he allowed a bittersweet smile to cross his face, then continued, “We challenged the first one of the remaining seven when we were Lv.68 - it almost killed us. Fortunately, Alois - our dear, fearless leader - was stubborn and good at raising morale, so we somehow pushed through. By the Blessings of the God of War, neither that one, nor any of the following Natural Dungeons during those Sifting Years were as bad as the one that about ensured our extinction.”

Crimson tilted his head, “What made that one so bad?”

Nav stopped with a far off look in his eye as he spoke, “I didn’t get to experience it, but apparently it was set in a series of canyons that would experience flash floods. In moments, the entire area would be flooded, and while the mage was desperately trying to cast [Water Breathing] on everyone, they would be attacked by fish type monsters - the size of my palm - that could eat an entire wolfkin alive in a minute.

“Once the flood waters receded, the surviving wolfkin would be assaulted from above by unidentified monsters that lived on top of the canyon walls, and from below, by snake type monsters.”

Nav shuddered, “Even the Abyss would be a kinder place than that. It was designed to wear you down in every possible way. The Chief at the time was in the party that cleared it - even he came back missing a leg, with half his party dead. They never told us about the Boss of the dungeon, even to their dying days.”

Crimson and Nav walked silently for a few minutes as he processed what he’d been told. They were slowly making their way higher and higher up the mountain face, passing switchback after switchback as Crimson swiftly began to be grateful that he wasn’t afraid of heights.

Once he felt that enough time had passed, Crimson asked, “For my second question: why are the walls so poorly designed? Third Question: why were there no guards keeping people out of the city?”

Nav shook his head with a disgusted expression, “Ahh, yeah, that’s because everyone down there are Hunters. Their job is to always be ready to fight. The issue is that there are enough weak people - both wolfkin and not - who pass through that they die way too often, pretty much every dungeon break. The answer to both of your question comes down to empty arrogance and tradition. ‘If anything happens, we’re strong enough to stop it’ ‘our ancestors always did it this way, we must keep the tradition alive.’”

Nav let out a low growl with a disgusted expression, “I used to think like that too, but having spent time with those weaker than I, I realized what empty arrogance it is. We’re risking and losing lives for no reason at all, yet we willingly accept and embrace it? Better that everyone is well protected!”

Listening to Nav, Crimson couldn’t help but think of the whimpering mess a single Natural Dungeon made of the Falst Adventurers. While he agreed that people needed to be protected, he was more familiar with the opposite extreme from Nav, where everyone was so over protected and coddled that they were unable to take action when needed.

After a long moment, Nav spoke “To the credit of my people, we’re not completely unaware - even if we are unwilling to change. All the foreigners we invite to Lupaken will need to be able to fight in some measure.” He glanced at Crimson, “That’s a big part of the reason you were chosen, there aren’t many scribes out there with fighting ability. I was able to convince that werewolf to take you because you were the cheapest of our options.”

A wolfkin woman passing by gave Nav a disgusted look, and he apologized to her for his vulgar language. He was only forgiven after she cuffed him over the head, then walked off, wincing and holding her wrist from the backlash of the hit.

Crimson watched in amusement then spoke once she was out of earshot, “I don’t think you have it as bad here as you think. It’s certainly not perfect, but it feels like you only need to make some simple changes to fix the problem.”

He nodded at Crimson, “You’re not completely wrong, a lot of my irritation comes from the fact that I’ll never be in a position to enact change, I’ve sided too strongly against our traditions.”

Nav walked quietly for a long moment, then chuckled, “I feel like you took the conversation in a bit of a different direction from what I was expecting, but it doesn’t seem like anything will be changing soon, thanks for offering some comfort though.”

Crimson tried to say something, but Nav waved a hand dismissively, “Enough of that. Let me answer your third question: we do have guards, we passed them on our way here, but they were made up of every single wolfkin you passed.

“No matter which wolfkin you pick a fight with on the Hunting Grounds, you will either fight fairly, or you will be destroyed from all sides by furious wolfkin. The only noncombatants down there are just passing through as uninvited guests, or there as [Healers] - neither of which you should dare lay a finger on.”

Crimson nodded slowly, and they made the long, slow, arduous trek all the way to the very top of the mountain face. Far up the cliff from the others, almost tucked away, was a Den dug into the mountain. Aside from its relative seclusion, there was nothing about it to set it apart from any other Den.

There were strips of cloth hung across the entrance, and after pushing their way into the space, he was very impressed by the interior.

Unlike the external impression, the interior was well made and lined with a mix of cloth and pelts hung on every wall, the rare gaps allowed him to see bricks instead of raw stone. It used glowing magic crystals for lighting and a large fireplace was set on the right wall. There was a small dining table in the center of the room, and he could see lit corridors leading to other sections of the Den, all aspects of the den were well lit, and well made.

Aside from the lack of windows, he could firmly state that it wouldn’t lose out to any home in Falst.

As an aside, he also noticed that there was a wooden door for the entrance as well, it had been removed and placed to the side, but was designed to be re-placed easily.

Nav moved forward and called into one of the corridors, “Alois, I’m back! Would you be willing to host some company here?”

After a minute, Crimson heard the soft sound of steps on stone, and a massive wolfkin emerged from the corridor. Easily the tallest wolfkin he’d seen, the man had to have been at least as tall as Mars, if not a little taller, with broad shoulders, a thick shadow of freckles and noble features.

Unfortunately, his entire appearance was marred with emaciation, he was thin to the point that Crimson could clearly see the bones of his wrists and ankles, as well as his ribs from what peeked through the low collar of the man’s shirt.

Under the excellent lighting provided by the magic crystals, Crimson could see that his skin was a sickly grey, and his freckles only made the difference more stark. Even the fur of his tail and ears seemed limp and lifeless - seeming on the verge of falling out.

When he made eye contact with Alois, he immediately formed a high opinion of the wolfkin, independent of Nav’s praises. Seeing the will in this wolfkin’s eyes, he couldn’t sum it up in an emotion, but he could ascribe an ideal to it: nobility. The will within this shadow of a wolfkin was noble and unyielding, but tired. Crimson could only think it was unfortunate that someone of this caliber had fallen so low as to look like he belonged on his deathbed.

After a heavy moment, Alois spoke with a deep voice that Crimson could feel vibrating the air, “Why ought I provide space for this…human?” He glanced at Nav, “He is human, right?”

Nav blinked a few times then turned to Crimson, “Uhhh…”

“I’m a Half, one of my parents is High Human.” Crimson supplied helpfully.

Alois nodded slowly, seeming to take great effort to do so, “Why ought I provide room and board for this Half?”

Crimson, with his high perception, was able to hear Nav gulp beside him as he swiftly pulled a scroll out of his [Inventory] - it was the prayer that he’d written for Rhea.

“I owe him, and this is a request from me. He authored Rhea’s coming of age prayer.” Nav said nervously.

After staring at him for a second, Crimson realized from his abrupt change in behavior that it was the same Nav - the same version of Nav - he’d met in the Temple.

Alois reached out for the scroll and took it. After a long moment staring at the seal that been placed on it, he glanced at Crimson before slowly trudging down another one of the corridors.

He and Nav waited in silence as several minutes rolled by, neither daring to step further into the Den, and waiting for Alois’ return.

Slowly, and with empty hands, Alois stepped back into the room and made his way over to Crimson. He was forced to tilt his head way back so that he could still maintain eye contact as the wolfkin stopped in front of him.

“Let me be clear,” Alois said calmly, “If you dare to walk down that corridor during your time as my guest, I will throw you off the mountain.”

Crimson nodded firmly, Alois’ daughter was probably down there, and he wouldn’t dare mess with her.

After glancing down the corridor Alois came from, he couldn’t restrain his curiosity and asked, “Did she like the prayer?”

Alois let the silence stretch for a long moment, then nodded, “I did not read it, but it seemed to be something that she needed to read. As repayment, you are free to stay here without paying room or board.” He paused, breathing laboriously for a moment, then continued, “I can’t say that I’m too pleased with your presence here, if it weren’t for Nav’s recommendation, I’d not allow you to stay here. Your mere presence here means that you’ve been hired for Tsiva’s coming of age ceremony.”

Crimson nodded simply, “Yes, I have, but I hold no loyalty to her or to you. My services last as long as the contract does.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nav wince and start to sweat, but Alois seemed content with the response, “Good, I would find it difficult to be indebted to anyone who has sided with Tsiva, who only shows open hostility to my Rhea.”

Those words explained a lot to Crimson, Alois didn’t strike him as someone who wanted his daughter to be important, just happy. It made his hatred of Tsiva make sense - as she hated Rhea.

Alois extended his hand for Crimson to shake, and he did so, with his hand being completely enveloped by the wolfkin’s, but as they made contact, Crimson jumped and Alois winced and they jerked their hands away.

At that moment, Crimson remembered what Nav had said ‘Yeah, it’s a bit of an open secret. She has a high [Affinity] for [Void], and an [Antithesis] for [Mana].’ He’d also mentioned that her condition came from her father.

Alois spoke, “By the gods, what was that? It felt like you casted an [Electric Hand] spell.”

Crimson responded cautiously, “I have an extremely high affinity for [Mana].”

Alois considered, then nodded slowly, “That would explain it. I have a high affinity to [Void], and a high antithesis to [Mana]. It is the cause of my weakness.”

Crimson nodded along, unsure whether to pretend that it was his first time hearing about this, but the issue was resolved with Alois’ next words.

“I see that you aren’t surprised,” he said, “Nav probably told you already.”

Nav immediately stepped in to apologize, but was ignored by Alois, who said to Crimson, “No matter. Have Nav cook something for you, I shall retire.”

With those words, he slowly made his way back down the first tunnel, and Crimson looked uncomfortably at Nav, who seemed equally troubled.

Nav said, “Uhh, let’s see what there is to eat.”

After an awkward dinner, Crimson lay on top of a bunch of pelts with a blanket thrown over the top. His bed for the evening, despite initial appearances, was actually significantly more comfortable than the bed he was used to in his old inn, and was standard among wolfkin.

As he settled in, he was about to consider Alois’ problem, when his thoughts were derailed by a notice from his [Blessing]:

—————

-Interaction with [Void] detected!

-Remaining requisite data has been collected.

-Compiling…

-Infrastructure has finished compiling.

-Rank 9 [Mana] Affinity has been fully implemented.

-Administrators have begun creating infrastructure for Rank 10 [Mana] Affinity.

-3 of the 15 limiters on the User’s mana capabilities have been lifted.

-Saving changes…

-Changes saved.

-Administrator has elected to store the released data.

-User’s [Blessing] will experience no changes.

-Administrators have requested the User to collect more data for Rank 10 [Mana] Affinity.

—————

Crimson was unsure whether he felt happy or sad at the alert. Rank 10 [Mana Affinity] was unknown territory, both for him and for the gods. Rank 5 acted as a ‘neutral’ [Affinity], as the Rank increased, the user gained [Affinity] up to a max of 10, but as the Rank decreased, the user gained an [Antithesis] down to a Rank of 1. The further away from Rank 5 an [Affinity] became, the more exponentially rare it became - for good and for ill.

To his knowledge, the knowledge Raften had given him, no one had ever reached Rank 10 of any of the [Dynamic Affinities], so there was really no way to know what would happen, but he’d made some guesses based on what happened when an [Elemental Affinity] reached Rank 10.

When an [Elemental Affinity] was Rank 10, the user would no longer take damage from the affinity type. To use [Fire] as an example: they would absorb any fire spells cast at them, filling both their HP and MP. Any spells or [Skills] - collectively ‘abilities’ - that used the [Affinity] would experience a massive reduction in cost, and the power of the ability would see a similarly massive boost.

The cost of that was the removal of every other [Elemental Affinity] - which would immediately be set to Rank 5 - and an extreme weakness to the paired [Affinity], which was immediately set to Rank 1. So in the example with [Fire], the [Water Affinity] would be set to Rank 1, and the user wouldn’t be able to have [Skills] of any other [Affinity]. He didn’t know all the details, but it had something to do with data allocation.

It was difficult to imagine the exact same positive benefits happening to a [Dynamic Affinity], but it was likely that the demerits would be either the same or similar. Well, as likely as a blind guess could be.

With a sigh, Crimson pinched the bridge of his nose.

It was because of this looming problem that he’d been dragging his feet when it came to learning magic. Compared to his time before Raften gave him the message of impending doom, he’d only learned one spell: [Heal].

Considering Raften’s personality, Crimson wouldn’t have gotten any magic related [Skills] if Rank 10 [Mana] would completely cut him off from magic - the Weeb God was at least reliable enough for that.

In all likelihood, a [Mage] or more traditional [Magic Class] would never be properly open to him, so he needed to start looking for alternatives - his innate talent and personal fascination with [Mana] ensured that he’d never be able to completely leave it be. On the other hand, he could be completely wrong and everything could be fine.

Besides, even if the system prevented him from learning spells, he could still learn them on his own. There would probably reach a point where they became too difficult to understand on his own, but he would probably be able to overcome those hurdles.

He took a quick look at his [Blessing] to ensure that everything was in order:

—————

Name: Crimson

Race: Half (High Human, ???) -Age: 16

Affiliation: [Adventurer’s Guild: Brass]

Active Title: [ Linguist ] [ Blessings of Trans'Du'Niir ] [ Rean ]

Titles: Lucky, Linguist, Mentor, Holy Interpreter

Health (HP): 100/100 Regen/s: 2.0

Magic (MP): 450/450 Regen/s: 4.9

Fatigue (FP): 0

Condition:

-Class: [Empty]

-Sub-Class: [Locked]

-Sub-Class: [Locked]

Status:

Strength (STR): 18 Agility (AGI): 18

Constitution (CON): 15 Vitality (VIT): 20

Intelligence (INT): 45 Wisdom (WIS): 49

Charisma (CHA): 7 Willpower (WIL): 22

Perception (PER): 45 Luck (LUC): 90

—————

Closing his eyes, Crimson decided to sleep. There wasn’t anything he could do at the moment, so he decided to sleep to be ready for the next day.

————

Verity stared at the page of the spell book in front of her with bloodshot eyes. After a moment she started celebrating in a combination of jubilation and relief. She’d finally mastered [Lesser Healing: Life]!

After just a second of celebrating, she slammed her head down on the desk and breathed out an exhausted sigh. While [Lesser Healing: Life] was the first spell she mastered, it was one of three she’d spent studying in the days since Crimson left.

Right before he left, she had asked, “When will I be ready to get a [Healer Class]?”

He had raised an eyebrow, “You can get one at any time, you know [Lesser Healing], so that should clear the minimum requirement, but if you’re trying to do what I’m doing, and get a High-Ranked [Class] - or higher - then master every version of [Lesser Healing] and at least one spell from each of the three [Affinities]. You should also get your [Mana Affinity Skill] up to at least Lv.5.”

She had responded confidently at the time, but looking back on it, she’d had no idea what she signed herself up for.

Her brain just wasn’t built for magic the way Crimson’s was!

After a long moment, Verity gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. So what? What did it matter if Crimson was better than her? He wasn’t going to be the party’s [Healer], it was her! She’d master these god’s cursed spells and show off her shiny new [Class] to Crimson - she’d even beat him to it!

She nodded to herself a few times, it was going to be easy to beat Crimson to getting a [Class], she just had to master six spells, something that was clearly not impossible, but he wanted to master [Sword Mastery]! If it was anyone else, she’d laugh at them and say it was impossible, but considering the fact that it was Crimson, she was certain he’d do it, it would just be a slower and harder process than learning six spells.

She stretched, then decided to take a break to move her body. While her new aspirations led her more toward magic, she couldn’t forget her roots as a [Martial Artist] and still felt the strong need to move her body and exercise to work off stress.

Verity also hadn’t forgotten everything Crimson taught about leveling up [Skills], so her [Martial Mastery] had been leveling up at a rate she wouldn’t have believed before. She’d forced herself to learn a completely new style of fighting, and she’d been lent some books from the Astral Library to help her learn… but it wasn’t going like Crimson had expected when he’d helped her borrow them. She’d never been good at learning from a book, but looking at the books and getting an idea of what they were trying to do at least gave her ideas.

One big thing she’d been doing recently was practicing kicking. Crimson had pointed out months ago how she never really utilized her feet in combat, always leaning more towards punching, which she had slowly realized over time as she’d dealt with him.

There were two ways to beat Crimson, overwhelming power like she’d used in the past, or overwhelming him. Anything in between wouldn’t cut it, so by only using her fists, she’d limited her options and made it very easy for him to deal with her. If she could use her feet as well, she had a few more options and could potentially throw him off.

Normally it probably wouldn’t be enough, but he’d gotten used to her fighting just one way at this point, if she suddenly changed it up on him, she might have a chance to beat him in one sparring match before being forced to come up with a new strategy. That was why her specific training was a secret from him, even if she’d told him that she wanted to keep training her [Martial Mastery].

To her surprise, he’d encouraged the training. She’d expected him to either dissuade her, or be indifferent to it, not happy about it. Upon asking him, he’d explained that she needed a way to defend herself. Most [Healers] were viewed as an easy to kill supporting pillar of the party. If the [Healer] was killed, then the odds of the rest of the party dying skyrocketed, so he viewed her desire to train her body as a good thing, and provided her materials to help her improve.

She couldn’t be more grateful about who’s party she’d joined.

With a quick glance at her [Blessing] before she got started, she was happy to be reminded that she was about to reach Lv.50 of [Martial Mastery]. A big grin on her face, she started stretching, then looked around for a victim.

There weren’t a lot of adventurers in the yard, the [Brass] class was there, but she wasn’t interested in bullying kids, so she was happy when she spotted a Lv.3 adventurer who seemed perfect for beating up. She didn’t really remember his name, but he was one of Crimson’s old students.

Sidling up to him, she threw an arm over his shoulder and said, “Hey! How do you feel about sparring with this sister, huh?”

Even though he towered over Verity, the discomfort on his face was strong, and he seemed like he’d try to get out of it, so she cut off what he was about to say before he could get more than a syllable out, “Great! I was bored, and needed some company.”

She dragged him over to the sand pit and stood across from the kid, ready for a fight.

He finally got a word in, “I’m a [mage]!”

She started shadow boxing, “Sure, I’ll give you a few seconds head start to cast a spell. Ready, go!”

After a yelp, the kid started chanting while holding out his hands. Despite what she’d said, she was willing to wait until he’d finished the spell, she wasn’t interested in crushing him, she needed to spar.

After he finished chanting, three spaces in front of him started glowing, then formed into weapons. A sword, a spear, and a hammer, all floated in the air in front of him. She could see the sweat on his forehead as he grabbed the spear, then launched the hammer at her head.

With lithe foot work, Verity allowed the hammer to pass by her easily, then she swiftly approached. She elected to be a bit more cautious than usual as she hadn’t seen this kind of magic before, but she could tell the kid completely lacked battle sense.

How could she tell? Aside from a complete lack of confidence, he was making it way too obvious that he was trying to hit her on the back of the head with the floating hammer he’d sent at her earlier.

Even with it in her blindspot, Verity knew exactly where it was floating from where the kid’s eyes were, so the second he launched it at her, she sidestepped once more, then stomped on it once it became lodged in the ground, breaking it easily.

With a bit of a grin, she ducked low and stepped back. The sword flew over her head, and the spear he’d jabbed at her couldn’t reach her anymore. The kid had a bit more talent than she’d given him credit for, but it wasn’t difficult to step forward as he retracted the spear, stomp on one of his feet to keep him from fixing his stance, then land an uppercut that immediately knocked him off his feet, cancelling the spell he’d cast.

With a grin, she reached down and offered him a hand, “You’re pretty good, what’s your name?”

He sulkily ignored her hand and forced himself to his feet before he responded, “Mortimer, and don’t think you’ve won just because you’ve hit me once.”

“Oho” Verity said cheekily, “can your MP still keep up?”

He winced at that, “Give me a five minute break.”

—————

Verity ended up spending a fair chunk of the afternoon sparring with Mortimer, the kid was growing on her. The fact that he also helped her pass the Lv.50 mark with [Martial Mastery] might have helped her positive opinion.

With a glance at her [Blessing], she considered her answer to the questions:

—————

The Gods ask the First Question: What is your body?

—————

The question felt stupid. It had been stupid the first time, and it remained stupid this time. If Crimson hadn’t explained the process to her, her answer the first time would have been ‘me.’ Instead, the stupid Gods weren’t asking literally, but ‘philosophically’ which was just a headache.

Before, she’d answered that her body was her ‘might’ everything strong about her came from the body she’d tempered in battle over the course of years.

This time…what was her body to her? In a way, it was no longer her own, but that wasn’t how she wanted to respond…wait, what had Crimson told her about healers?

—————

Received Answer: A Supporting Pillar

The Gods consider your response.

They pose you this question: What will you gain from fighting this way?

—————

The answer this time was easy.

—————

Received Answer: Revenge.

The Gods consider your response.

They pose you this question: What kind of strength do you want to gain?

—————

In Common, the word Revenge had a slightly different meaning than in Elfen. It meant to ‘repay in kind’ to inflict pain equal to the pain received, but in Elfen, it meant to regain peace and joy. The Elfen meaning could apply to inflicting pain, but it could also apply to forgiving, or leaving, or anything that will bring back the joy that had been once lost.

That’s why she wanted Revenge, she wanted to be completely and fully happy once more. That was why she was walking her current path.

—————

Received Answer: The strength to never fail my friends again.

The Gods consider your response.

They decide to supply you with one last question: You wish to be a [Healer], do you not?

—————

Verity was surprised, she’d never seen a fourth question, nor had Crimson mentioned anything about one. Had the Gods noticed her, personally? That was…touching and shocking.

—————

Received Answer: yes. I never want my friends to die in front of me again.

The Gods consider your answers.

—————

Verity sat there in confusion, wondering if the Gods had fallen asleep as she’d been waiting in eager anticipation for fifteen minutes before a change finally occurred.

—————

The Gods have granted you the [Skill: Wise Evasion]

[Wise Evasion] 1/10

Description: Assists in the evasion of attacks, and provides a boost to defense while evading. Note: The Defense boost scales with WIS. Distance evaded increases with Level. Uses increase with Level. Note: Does not scale on the [AGI] stat.

Charges: 5/5

Mana cost: 50

Recharge time: 20 seconds

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Verity cocked her head in confusion. Why would they give her this [Skill]?