Vinny

Location: Hallow Abode, 1249 Kenton Avenue, Kenton, Floor One

Date: July 17th, 304 PS (Post System)

Time: 8:46 AM

I reached into my right pocket; my hands shook from fear. Two gems sat in my pocket - Rexaroach, and Impogon. I turned both in my fingers, and one of them pulsed with warmth. The warming pulse calmed my fear. With renewed confidence, I pulled the Bonded Monster Crystal from my pocket and smashed it to the ground of the living room. A turquoise light burst from the jewel, and a winged Imp emerged from it.

Impogon has gained 21 Happiness Experience!

Congratulations! Your Impogon's Happiness has reached level one!

Impogon's Happiness: Content

Great, I raised his happiness pretty quickly. I thought to myself.

"Impogon, use Spirit Cannon on Abslimrich!" I commanded. Impogon lunged his trident toward the fire slime.

A silver light dashed toward Abslimrich and hit it straight on. The slime hit the wall with enough force to leave a hole in the wall.

"Let my parents go," I told the Scarlet Guild member. He chuckled with a deep growl and pointed at Impogon.

"Abslimrich, use Wisp o' Slime!" Billy commanded his creature. The slime leaped into the air and performed a front flip; when it flipped over, Abslimrich sent a burst of flames at Impogon.

"Dodge it!" I yelled at my monster summon, except when the winged imp attempted to flap its wings and jump into the air, it slammed its horned head into the ceiling. Impogon crashed to the floor and crushed the wooden coffee table in front of my parents. "Cut them loose!" I commanded, my voice cracking. Impogon used its clawed hands to slice the ropes that bind my father.

"Get out of here!" My father shrieked at me. He pulled out a metal etching rod with a diamond attached to its tip and began carving symbols into the air. The glowing air carvings turned into daggers; the knives darted toward Billy.

"Abslimrich, jump in the way," Billy said calmly, his eyes bulging, a psychotic grin sat plastered on the Scarlet Guild member's face. The daggers planted themselves into the slime. The Abslimrich glowed red and turned into a red gem and floated toward Billy's extended right hand. "Rance, you can't hope to defeat me." Billy chuckled and put the defeated monster's crystal away. He then brought out a jet black crystal and crushed it on the ground. The entire room went dark, and I couldn't see but five feet in front of me.

"Noirm, let's show these plebians how weak they are!" Billy shouted.

"Vinny," My father's voice was next to me. "Command Impogon to use his Whirlwind skill." I followed the direction of my father. A gust of wind thrust me against the wall, and after five seconds, the wind subsided, and the darkness faded. Billy stood in front of my father, who was next to me, his head cut clean off his shoulders. Billy pushed the headless corpse to the ground.

"No!" I screamed with tears welling up in my eyes. I unsheathed my daggers and lunged toward the murderous man in my living room. Four walls erected around Billy, and I couldn't get to him.

"Back up, young adventurer!" A woman's voice said from behind me. Diane Cain, one of the Scarlet Guild leaders, was holding a blue orb, a containment orb. "Billy Lucin, you are under arrest for murder in the second degree, arson in the second degree, and suspended from the Scarlet Guild for disobeying direct orders. You had no claim to that Rexaroach; you should have just let it go. Did you think you'd get away with burning down Old Dale's Pub, much less tracking down an innocent teenager?" I dropped to my knees and leaned over my father's headless body. I tried to call out for my mother, but all that came out was a wail and a stream of tears from my eyes. "Billy, I will be lowering the barrier. Do not attack." Diane raised her arms, and the walls around Billy lowered. The murderer sat on the ground with his arms on his head.

"It wasn't just the Rexaroach," Billy mumbled. "This miscreant has the stolen Book of Monster Seals." I lowered my head - he wasn't technically wrong.

"Is this true?" She asked me. I nodded solemnly.

"I bought it off of Garth Thomas yesterday. I didn't know what it was at first. I will admit, I used one of the seals. We haven't sold any." I didn't look her in the face. Diane gave me a look of disappointment.

"I will forgive you using one. As a way to repay your family for Billy's injustice, the Scarlet Guild will buy the book off of you. We will determine that price once you bring it to our headquarters." She turned her head toward Billy, but he wasn't where he had previously sat. Billy now stood behind my mother, who was tied up, a dagger against her neck.

"Good luck finding me!" He shouted. Noirm wrapped itself around the pair, and they disappeared.

"No!" I exclaimed. "How did you let him out of your sight so easily?" I asked the Scarlet Guild leader, her look of astonishment plastered on her face.

"I-I don't know what happened," She stammered. "I never sensed him move. It must have been his Noirm masking his movement. I should have never given him that creature of darkness." The Scarlet Guild will pay for any funeral costs. When you bring that book to us, talk to Lindsey, my secretary, and she will let you in to see me. I have other things to discuss with you. Now, this is where I must depart." Diane put a hand on my shoulder. "I am deeply sorry for your loss; we will have a coroner here soon." Her face had a look of genuine sorrow as she turned around and left the house.

*****

Vinny

Location: Hallow Abode, 1249 Kenton Avenue, Kenton, Floor One

Date: July 23rd, 304 PS (Post System)

Time: 7:00 AM

An alarm blared in my mind, and I woke with a start - time for my training. I changed into my training gear and made my way to my destroyed living room. Since my dad was beheaded and my mother's kidnapping, I turned the living quarters into a training room. The dummies around the room lay in disarray - a show of my refined dagger skills. Upon leaving the house, the practice models outside look the same - a demonstration of my newfound etching skills. With my weapons equipped, I took off at a steady pace.

My morning run lasted longer than it usually does. Old Dale stopped me to ask if I could help him later tonight to assist him in sifting through the remaining rubble where his pub formerly stood. I told him I could not since I am climbing to Floor Two later this afternoon. Impogon has grown since I first bonded with it. His happiness jumped to level two - he now respects me. I haven't raised his level at all, but sparing with him every day has aided me in my weapons training. I have used Rexaroach enough for its happiness to reach level one - he is content with me. My morning jog led me to the woods outside of Kenton. Winded, I made my way far into the woods, and I pulled up my status screen to glance at my stat sheet.

Name: Vincenzo (Vinny) Hallow

Class: Aura/Rune Scratcher

Level: 1

Unallocated Stat Points: 0

HP: 300/300

SP: 100/100

XP: 43/200

Strength: 6

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 11

Constitution: 11

Agility: 12

Charisma: 12

Blessings:

Monka's Blessing - You have an increased chance of successfully enchanting an item.

Skills:

Rune Scratcher's Elements(Passive): You can imbue objects with any mana type you wish, except one cannot use those mana types for skills that aren't Rune Scratcher related.

Rune Scratcher Etching(TBD): You can scratch runes into the air to create spells. The complexity of those spells will determine how much SP is required.

Telekinesis(1 SP)[Spectral]: You can lift objects with your mind.

Astral Jump(250 SP)[Spectral]: You can leave your body and travel in the astral plane. You cannot take damage in your astral form, and if your body dies while in your astral form, you cannot leave the astral form.

I added stat points into my Wisdom, Constitution, and Charisma then used four points to purchase two Aura skills I thought would be cool to have. I lack strength, except I don't mind it since my skills are better with long distances. I trained with my daggers just in case I need to fight upfront.

I finally caught my breath, but when I did, I heard a scream. I darted to where the cry came from - a girl no older than six cowered on the forest floor, a Gobslice standing over her. Gobslice are goblin-like monsters with insane levels of Agility. Most Gobslice carry daggers, but this one wielded a Warhammer. The creature swung the weapon up and prepared to swing it down onto the girl, but I used my Telekinesis to stop the hammer in midair. I lifted it in the air and dropped it onto the monster. The Gobslice dropped to its knees, and I pulled out my etching rod. I flooded the rod with mana and drew a circle with a vertical, squiggly line through the middle.

You cast Fireball!

A puff of fire soared through the air and hit the goblin in the face. The green monster disappeared into thousands of blue lights.

You slew a level 0 Gobslice!

You acquire a Nightmare Warhammer!

You acquire 3 XP!

"Are you okay?" I asked the girl, helping her up off the ground. She nodded and let out a sniffle.

"I came out here to play, but that scary thing started attacking me." She told me.

"Did you provoke it at all? Monsters like that shouldn't be on the floors; they are supposed to only be in the dungeons." I gave the girl a worried look.

"Young Adventurer, you helped a stranger in the woods. Thank you!" The girl's voice changed, and her body shrunk into a golden ball of light. "You have gained my blessing. Continue on the path of helping others who are unfortunate, and you may just be able to become my acolyte." The ball floated away, and a notification popped into my vision.

You gain Alondra's Blessing!

You gain access to Alondra's secret tunnels in the dungeons.

"Alondra?" I asked aloud. "She isn't one of the gods. Who is she?"