Chapter 13: A sudden Request

“Never thought I would meet a real descendent of one of the elder frontiers in a place like this.” Teo gushed, looking quite excited while doing so.

The Elder Frontiers enjoyed a deity status in the hearts of the humans who survived the cataclysm— for rightful reasons too. As the first ones to receive an acknowledgment from the [Akashic Records], they stood in the front lines, braving the wrath of all the supernatural threats the world threw at them. It was through their sacrifices that humanity persisted until now.

They were the gods among men— which wasn’t that much of a stretch given their extraordinary powers and abilities.

Teo had always been a fan of them. He would never miss a single episode of Weekend History on the radio, which narrated their exploits in the past. It was such a shame that he wasn’t allowed in the theaters— he would have been a regular customer otherwise.

“How is lady Stephany at home? Is it as the rumor says— strict and inflexible? Does she look as young as she had been in her early twenties? Is it really true that she can bring back the dead?” Teo fired questions in rapid succession. His eyes were shining like rubies as he fangirled over her.

Stephany Smith was quite an iconic character. She was already in her late sixties when the cataclysm happened. A year later, just a day following her stepping onto the seventies milestone, she awakened as a [Healer]. Realizing her responsibility, instead of staying back in the protective umbrellas of underground bunkers, she joined other [Players] in the front lines to push back against the monster invasion.

It was this self-less action that earned her the hearts of countless people.

Her area-wide heals and the plethora of support skills made her an absolute juggernaut of a support on the battlefield. As long as she was standing on her feet, the [Players] would forget worrying about their lives and fight to their heart’s content. Her presence single-handedly changed the war in humanity’s favor.

She was a legend.

Teo couldn’t contain his excitement to meet a descendant who carried her blood in their veins.

“Wait— wait a damn second! What with the rain of questions?” Gloria pushed her remaining hand out and leveled an impatient gaze at Teo, bringing an end to his excited chattering. “Those questions are way too personal, ya know?” She said in an even tone.

“Ah! Oh, sorry. I was just too excited and forgot my manners.” Teo was not an unreasonable person. He recognized his mistake right away and didn’t shy from apologizing. “Please forgive me.” He atoned in a polite tone. Damn my loose mouth.

The descendant of an elder frontier was the last person he wanted to disappoint. Besides, Gloria was so nice to him even though she was practically a royalty. She even went out of her way to save his life when she could have ignored him.

“Fine. I’ll forgive you this once.” Gloria sighed as the creases on her forehead evened out. It was not like she didn’t understand Teo’s feelings; her great-grandmother was just that amazing. Besides, Teo was all around polite to her. Still, it didn’t make it any less annoying. She was getting tired of people asking personal questions without taking her feelings into account.

A peaceful and somewhat uncomfortable silence hung in the air as both parties busied themselves with their own things to escape the sudden awkwardness.

Gloria focussed on her rifle as she fiddled with its various contraptions. Her fingers danced elegantly on the weapon in a hypnotic manner as she punched the keys on it. Teo had never used a plasma rifle in his life, so he was unable to explain her actions.

Oh yeah, my system notifications.

He finally addressed the series of system messages waiting for his attention. Rectangular boxes poured out one after another the moment he called for his system, overwhelming Teo with their sheer numbers.

Filtering all the zombie-killing notifications and other miscellaneous ones, he finally found the three relevant ones.

Warning!

Your muscles have taken serious damage due to a sudden boost in stats which your body wasn’t ready for. Your motor functions will disconnect from your brain while it heals.

Duration: 00:14:27

So that’s why I couldn’t move my body at all. Teo sighed in relief to know it was not a permanent condition. Though he didn’t have any doubts in the first place, there were still some lingering fears. Most of all, he was relieved to know the reason for his sudden paralysis.

After dismissing it, he brought his attention to the next box.

**Congratulations**

You have awakened a [Unique] skill.

[Mind over Body]

Rank: Unique

Level: 1

Proficiency: 15%

You’ll have a great control over your own body through the use of overwhelming willpower. All your mistakes can be corrected if you put your mind to them. There’s nothing stopping you anymore.

Consumes WIL.

Teo wasn’t sure how to feel about this one. The description of the skill was vague at best. However, he already had an inkling of how it works. He had already used it twice.

Wait? It consumes WIL! Is WIL even a consumable stat?

Apparently, it was. Teo confirmed it by opening his personal statistics page. His WIL attribute, which was supposed to be 65, was displaying 52. I consumed thirteen points of WIL! Are you serious?

The cost was too heavy to bear. WIL was an attribute he needed to survive the [Fear] induced by the howlings of the wraiths. What would happen if it gets lowered? He still wasn’t sure if it will regenerate on its own or if those points were gone for good. I must be careful with this skill.

Teo had to admit that from what little he discovered about the ability— it had a great many usages. At least he could now run away if a wraith screams in the middle of a heated battle. Suddenly, Teo felt like his near-death experience was worth it.

Didn’t I get a reward for completing the quest?

“Hey, I was wondering, would you like to form a team with me?” Teo’s musings were cut short by Gloria’s out-of-blue request.

“What?” He responded, stunned. Showing a perfect example of a fish out of the water, he tried to make sense of her request. “You want to form a team with me? Me?”

Gloria firmly nodded, tracing a finger along the barrel of the rifle. Her eyes looked determined as she spoke in a solemn tone, “Lyria’s Cemetery is unlike other tutorial dungeons where you can solo. It’s a place filled with dangerous traps, horrifying monsters, and mind-breaking puzzles. What’s more, these are not the only dangers lurking in the darkness of this place.”

She chewed her words as a red hue decorated her slightly tanned cheeks. “So, well, are you willing? I will understand if you don’t. It is hard to trust strangers, after all.”

Teo couldn’t believe his ears. Here, a literal royalty was asking him to form a team with her. He of all people— a street urchin and lowest grade free citizen. Am I hallucinating? It can’t be real. She is a frontier elder’s descendant.

Teo went into a mild panic and denial.