Fearfully convinced that a devilish surprise awaited her in the other two she took a bet on the middle present. This guess wasn't completely uneducated as something fire related was either the best or worst choice. High risk high reward baby!

[The middle gift, please.]

The "please" of the request being especially venom laced.

[Ah! What a spectacularly chaotic choice! I applaud your bravery as usual.]

[Get on with it.]

[Where, oh where is the fun in that my girl? Instead aren't you dying to know what you missed out on?]

The evil god turned a wicked smile before finishing as if to exclaim "you have no choice in the matter of course."

She nodded with a divinely grumpy demeanor spiting him for a half dozen reasons.

[So in the first we have your very own-- my mistake, what would have been your very own familiar! A baby dragon! A neutral element one at that, almost as rare as it is deadly. For your foes that is.]

She internally screamed at seeing what she could have gotten. It was so cute and could have helped her get revenge on the bird someday. Damnit!

It's ok Dita, maybe all of these items are great! It is from a godlike being, even if it's that godlike being.

[Moving on, the smallest box is a very peculiar one indeed. A gem affix which would allow you to specialize in gem magic! The most beautiful and lustrous magic in existence! Oh what a loss.]

Bastard!! You enjoy watching me suffer don't you!

[If you know I can hear your thoughts why do you persist on thinking it? Just say it. And yes, yes I do. Can you really blame me? Your dismayed expression may be one in a hundred billion! Trust me, I'm somewhat of an expert.]

[Shut up! Just tell me what I picked.]

Despite her best attempts to stand her ground she could only really think of a direct confrontation of the truth at this point.

[Ah you've picked something special. Near and dear to my heart.]

[Sounds sickening already.]

[Do you want to know or not? I could just as well take it back and leave you without it. If that's what you prefer. Simply answer yes or no, curiosity or the lack there of.]

She contemplated, for a moment, if it was worth the risk.

I probably should leave it, but can I really knowing the other two things could have helped me this much? But that's probably what he wants me to think! Am I thinking too hard about this. Ah! This is too much!

She nodded giving into her own curiosity. She knew if she didn't choose it he would show her and rub it in her face and she couldn't handle that potential reality.

[Brave as always. I simply can't get bored of your company can I? A round of applause for the little plant that could. Anyways, enough fumbling with banter, why don't you have the honor of opening it?]

The words were clearly loaded, it's just she couldn't decipher precisely with what.

Her little leaf arms quivered around the slight pain she felt at the touch. It was a brutal kind of heat, starkly contrasting the silky smooth exterior of the exaggerated Christmas present aesthetic. Undoing the ribbon caused the suspense to crescendo as licks of flames sometimes escaped. Her heart was equal parts drawn in and fearful, leaving her in a long drawn out moment of suspense. Her hands finally worked through the pain and fear to remove the lid in one fell swoop.

A fire danced into the air, it was a deep shade of purple, her favorite color. Though the intense, supernova like eruption condensed itself into a single flame no bigger than a human fingertip.

[What is it?]

Her awestruck words came out lacking spite or really any discernible emotion.

[Ah, it's something completely ironic to what you are. A paradox of interest. A curse or a blessing depending on how you face it. ]

The feeling of dread in her stomach, or at least where it should have been, dropped like boulders on a daisy.

[It's called Fenfire, and it's a bit complicated in it's function. In truth it's going to be a lot of trouble for you in the long run.]

[What? What do you mean?]

The dread of her instincts was well placed, the fire was bound to be difficult at best.

[It attaches to the very core of its host and burns an eternal flame that may very closely resemble a soul. For you this is incredibly unfortunate as it will mean you'll have to combat a constant and periodic damage over time. Slow but still present. Sorry about that.]

[No it's fine I don't want anything you can just take it back can't you?]

The expression of the devil before her almost reminded her of the dying fos from before. Pity.

[No I'm afraid not even I can interfere to such an extent. I can give gifts but never take. It is a blessing and a curse. A tale of boredom and infinite games of chess. Though I don't expect it to make perfect sense to someone looking from the outside in.]

[So I'm going to slowly burn to death?]

This time her eyes met the palm of his hand and her pitiful root feet. His finger forcing her chin back up in a surprisingly gentle motion, for him at least.

[Nonsense! You didn't allow me to finish. If you manage to build up enough fire resistance you'll no longer take any damage from it. What's more, you'll get a reward. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you can make it that far.]

His smile was a bit different this time, almost like he was earnest for once. Heck she would take anything she could get right now.

[So you're telling me to not give up?]

[Take it however you want to. You're pretty smart, maybe you'll find a path even I never thought of.]

She looked up at him determined to see his response clearly.

[Why me?]

He hesitated at her earnesty fading to a surprisingly childish expression.

[Because you're the most fun.]

Her consciousness slowly came to as she felt pulled from the godlike place back into the reality of slime and fire. But at the last second she was sure she saw him mouth some words, she just couldn't figure out what.

[The Traveller is waking!]

[Go prepare some water! Yes, very fast!]

She could hear the strange bouncing sound of slimes scurrying which she couldn't help but remark in the back of her mind as comical.

[Her fever isn't breaking! This is bad! Where is the slime doctor?]

[Water! Here!]

The feeling of cool water met her root foot as she heard a sizzling sound.

Was that because the fenfire? I guess the slimes are trying to save me. I don't even know if I can move properly. Should I try?

She shimmied her body to the side flipping one foot out of the water which almost reached a rolling boil.

[Careful! She needs room!]

She raised up to a sitting position feeling dizziness rush over her senses.

[Did you evolve into a fire slime while you slept? You're far too hot! We'll run out of water before you're cool again!]

It was the voice of the leader slime. His high pitched but slightly gruffer voice seemed to turn serious at her struggles. His color was a deep blue contrasting the bright green globules of the rest of the slime villagers.

Unable to talk and lacking a stick, she decided to check her full status with a high level of apprehension forcing her eyes shut the moment it opened.

Please not one health! Even two is ok!

{Name: Dita}

{Lvl 2. Nightgloom}

HP: 06/34

MP:20/20

SP: 1/1

AP: 16/16

{Attributes}

Current status points: 5

Strength: 2. Agility 0

Speed: 0. Dexterity: 0

Constitution: 0. Movement: 0

Magic: 1 Intelligence: -2

Luck: 6. Defense: 1

Resistance: 0 Mind: 2

Power: 1 Charisma: 7

Fire: -20 Water: 5. {Allignment}

Ice: 2 Wind: 5. -4

Earth: 25 Light: 19

Dark: 42 Lightning: -10

{Affixes}

Decrypt lvl. 1. {Titles}

Blessing of Ancor lvl. 1. Acolyte of Prejudice

Lucky lvl. 1

Nocturnal lvl. 1. Bloodroot

Fenfire lvl. 1

I leveled??

The shock of this fact eclipsed all the other things in an expression of pure confusion. She dipped her feet into the water passively being greeted by an unexpectant message.

What? But why? What did I do?

It had to have something to do with the water. Maybe she had gained it for drinking? Is it really that easy?

Looking again to her status she noticed a rather concerning change.

{Name: Dita}

{Lvl 2. Nightgloom}

HP: 05/34

MP:20/20

SP: 1/1

AP: 16/16

I took a point of damage? Damn, only 5 left… this is dangerous. But on the bright side! Skill points! I love those things! Wait before that…

{Fenfire lvl 1:}

A flame which burns from the cairn of lost hope. A harbinger of fervent change, it's intensity only matches by it's mystery.

?????

?????

?????

?????

Prerequisites

Fire element +10

Just as she expected she would need to dump quite a lot of points into it for it to become anything but s hindrance. Worse yet the description didn't hold enough information to specify if that would even cease the periodic damage.

Something about his look, I think this is really bad. I need to think of what's more important at this point. Rushing the fire element or maybe resistance? Ah! Damnit! This is too complicated! What's with all the zeros! I'm still way too weak!

She pondered for a long moment ignoring the discomfort of the searing fire at her core.

Well at least if I survive this, I won't have to worry about getting burned right? Maybe I can currently burn enemies? No way that sounds way too dangerous!

Would it be best to put all the points in the fire element affinity? Or resistance? Or maybe both?

Whatever the case she could tell it was going to have a very big impact on the future…