[Valerianne Yul]

There was something that Aloenna said that was bothering me - “consume the all-mother, wield her for us... without shattering and carry her into the Convent of the Light. Once she is inside, her power will destroy it for us. The Virtuous need only to try to heal you next to their well.”

“I was just a bomb. A bomb designed to destroy the Convent one way or another.” I uttered, trembling. “The Dryads… nature spirits don’t care about us humans one bit! We’re all just little bugs to them!”

“Nox cares about me!” June shook her head.

“You don’t know that! I thought that Aloenna cared for me, but she was just using me to destroy the church of Virtue! Nox is using you to gain power!”

“Everyone uses everyone to gain something. That’s how the world works.” She shrugged.

“That’s not how I work!” I said.

“Yeah, but you’re a very special human. Extra pure.” The foxkin winked. "Who knows? Maybe your overbearing selflessness is rubbing off on Nox?"

I glared at her, looking for clothes. There was only a damn Virtue robe around. I put it on with a resignation.

“And Noxxy isn’t using me.” June insisted. “I think she’s tired of being alone. Being betrayed and imprisoned by her followers for six thousand years might have had something to do with that. She told me we’ll see the Edge mountains together, unprompted. She actually wants to see the place where I was born. Her decision, not mine.”

“Sure,” I muttered, not believing her. I had no reason to believe in the purity or niceness of spirits anymore. I was still suffering from the side effects of the Oggberry wine hangover. I opened the door, deciding to head to the top deck of the ship for some fresh air.

There was a line of Rimmer crewmen in the hallway outside, spearheaded by Tamara.

“Captain Goddess, we’d like to sort out our debt contracts and take these collars off,” she said.

“Step right into our office, please!” June waved at the collared crewmen. She found herself a gray robe somewhere in Captain’s cabin and was already sitting behind the fancy wooden desk, looking extra smug.

I didn’t know what the hell was going on here. As I passed by the crew, I saw that many of them were too afraid to meet my eyes. Some of them looked at me with hate, others yet with terror and some with trepidation. They saw me as Nox. I didn’t have the energy in me to convince them otherwise. I didn't want to deal with people right now. My brain was pulsating with increasingly wild abandon, as if it was attempting to escape out of my skull that it now found ill fitting.

I walked through the ship, struggling to wrap my head around what I was. Did the damn Dryads have more plans for me since I survived? Most likely. The fucks were serious manipulators it seemed. Was I the only human they had created or were there others? I didn't know. What the hell was even the point of revealing their plan to me? Why did Aloenna feed me that seed? Would it not be easier for me to go on as a clueless patsy?

Is this how colossal fucking monsters showed me that they cared for me? Until today I thought that I understood Dryads and knew Aloenna, but I was wrong. So very, very wrong. The hallway ended in a stairwell that led me to the top of the ship.

I came onto the deck. It was morning. A refreshing breeze blew from the river delta. The ship was still docked in Kleinburg.

“Status,” I said.

Valerianne Yul

[Race]: Human

[Level]: [1] Feeble Weakling [Specialization path available]

[Progression to next level]: 13%

Stats:

[Mana] : 89 [Void type]

[HP] : 15

[Affinity] :

[Aura] : 100% White

My mouth dropped. How the hell had Nox managed to get one hundred and twenty three thousand points? Was this the power of Oggberry wine or just her wicked determination? The [progression to next level] number kept changing too, far too rapidly for me to even be able to focus on the number.

I focused on the Specialization path selection.

"Specialization?" I said, hoping that that would trigger the menu to change.

It did! The menu expanded down.

[Light-bringer]:

Light up the dark or vanquish your enemies with a focused beam.

[Knight]:

Defend a cause, work in a team, summon light shield and sword.

[Healer]:

Heal self or others.

[Phantom]:

Become a being made of light.

[Monk]:

Dispense blessings, promote a cause.

[Bard]:

Motivate and inspire others.

[Conjurer]:

Summon beings made of light for assistance.

I pondered the options for a while as I stood on the deck. No matter what June said, I felt that Nox was a force of incredible malice. There was only one option that would keep her in check and also help me with my current horrid migraine predicament. I knew that the Oggberry wine would not leave my system on its own. Soon, the poison would start to clot up my blood, weakening the walls of my arteries. This wasn’t a mere headache that I was feeling. It was the first symptom of an aneurysm. The berries that had blessed Nox with incredible charisma and luck were now slowly killing me, now that the gemstone of healing was no longer in me.

I selected [Healer].

The stats menu made a noise and updated itself.

Valerianne Yul

[Race]: Human

[Level]: [1] Feeble Weakling [Healer]

[Progression to next level]: 16%

Stats:

[Mana] : 89 [Void type]

[HP] : 15

[Affinity] :

[Aura] : 100% White

What was happening with my progression? Why did it keep moving up? I couldn't even focus on the needed points number because it kept flashing and changing constantly.

“Quests,” I said.

Quest [ongoing]: Do something so incredible and earth-shattering that many humans believe in Nox. Reward: 10 points per human who believes in the power of Nox.

Quest: Figure out what’s really up with that mysterious white tower. Reward: 1000 points.

Quest: Hey Yul. Check out what I did. Isn't it awesome? You're level one now! Are you not impressed? We have a ship and a crew now. Ha ha ha. Try not to break it. Xo Xo. Noxxy. Cancel this Quest to confirm that I'm amazing. Reward: 0 points.

Ah. I looked at the mountain that once hosted the Convent. It wasn’t there anymore. What Nox had done was giving her points forever, endlessly as the word of what she had done was spreading. It was wickedly, horribly clever.

She had managed to find a loophole within the rewards system. My mind started to spin with possibilities. I would never stop growing. I would get stronger.

I cancelled her self-praise Quest. She was indeed amazing. Amazing at destruction and murder.

I suddenly felt terribly sad for the people that perished within the Convent. Nox wasn't amazing. She was great and horrible. The hedgewitch of Bree was right, my parents were wrong. I did not end up cultivating mushrooms. I ended up with a Goddess inside of me, who was now cultivating me instead, helping me level up.

I sighed.

I looked at the White Tower that loomed over Kleinberg. I knew exactly what was up with it - the Tower defended us from Skyocean invaders. Even though I knew the answer, for some reason the Quest didn’t get completed. The crystal beacon atop the Tower was dark. The cloud well that was normally spiralling around it was gone. Damn it all!

I tried to cast "Heal" on myself. It didn't work.

I lifted my hand up and tried to make the tiniest heal circle possible. Nothing happened. Crap!

I realized that I had nothing to draw on, no Light mana was available to me from the place where I was used to pulling it from.

I no longer had my Divine gem tied to the Convent well. There was no Convent anymore. What was I supposed to do now? How could I even heal anyone? Some hero of the light I was! Fucking Dryads and their affinity-depriving, human-modification fuckery. I gritted my teeth. I was basically the worst healer in the world, one that couldn't even naturally gather White mana. I didn’t bother using the Void mana to cast the heal circle, because I knew it would explode on me. Basically I was a healer that could only explode things, unless I found a power source.

Just freaking great!