Chapter 3: Best laid plans against mice and men

It was probably approaching the evening as the sun began to drift downwards ever so slowly. This wouldn’t be ideal but Elizabeth had a plan so she wouldn’t worry too much about that as she planned to spend more time outside the walls from now on which meant she’d need to get used to this thing sooner or later.In fact, it wasn't like she would get a warm place to sleep and something to eat if she stayed in here anyway.<I’ll probably reach 7 by the end of the year but I’ve already attracted enough attention as is with my outburst. I should really stop acting so childish… Well regardless they say you get the most in dangerous situations and so I’ll grow out in the wild where I’ll have to rely on such skills. Not to mention I’m a dragon anyway! Even if I can’t figure out how to start a fire I could just eat the meat raw and it’ll be harder for me to get sick! Would’ve been better if they just threw me out the city from the start...>

She understood most of that was just an excuse, regardless there was nothing too disadvantageous when it came to running away from her problems! I mean the city!

She had only been out in the city for a day and it didn’t seem much better than the orphanage - at least in the orphanage she only needed to worry about one crooked adult… Here there were thousands! The dwarf seemed okay though - ½ for the dwarven race wasn’t too bad.Walking up upon the portcullis there would be two guards standing at attention - one would be a bland human that you could see anywhere. That was except this one was wearing the full set of leather armour that was commonly used for city guards - he held a spear in his right hand as it rested off his shoulder. <Spear eh? Well I guess it’s easy enough to use - what do you do except poke at things - truly the commoners best friend though doubt it could bring down a grown up dragon~>Chuckling to herself as she crossed her arms over her chest,a smug smile on her face, renewed by a sense of false superiority. Especially so since she couldn’t even use her own traits as a High Dragon properly never mind an additional weaponMeanwhile, his right index finger would be rotating around inside his nose as he paid little attention other than a glance at the girl, flicking it towards her which caused her to dodge to the right with a childish shriek. Getting a soft chuckle from the lazy human and a cackle from the other. This other man would have two round ears upon the top of his head that would be pushed through slits on the helmet - a mouse? Would seem so with the matching tail. “Oy, brat, this ain’t a place for kids to be playing at. Go find a brothel for some men to play with instead~!” <Mouse Guard>

Pouting with a twitching brow as the guard continued to cackle upon seeing her reaction… She was not happy. But, at the same time, she wasn’t so sure of herself to start problems with the guards… As shitty as he was as a hum- Beast-Person. Maybe that’s why she was asked ‘What is a human’? Beyond her little brain, she just sighed and shook her head of loose thoughts at a rapid pace - letting her hair fling from side to side at a rapid pace.“I want to leave the city so I’ll be on my wa-” <Elizabeth>She began to walk past the mouse man and he suddenly pushed the spear in front of her, pressing it against her stomach and pushing it back causing her to be surprised and grab it softly.“No you don’t~ afraid not, even grown women aren’t allowed to leave the city by themselves unless they have a guild card let alone a brat like you. Rules from the count, tired of dumb kids like you running away from the city to avoid having to work - may as well make use of yourselves after all~.” <Mouse Guard>“W-wait what?! How can he just do that?! Don’t I get a say in what I do with my life, what does it matter if I run out!” <Elizabeth>She found herself yelling at the man to the point her face grew red and her shoulders moved up and down as her breath grew ragged. She wasn’t out of breath, just angry that she acted this way. Like how you say ‘ow’ when you hit something even when it doesn’t hurt… She does that a lot.The guard however just looked down on her with a smirk.“Of course you don’t; up to us adults to decide what happens to children and bastard elves like you born from a brothel are best going back to the brothel. Like a son of a smith will inherit his father’s smithy - the daughter of a no good whore will inherit my nuts! Oh but I guess maybe you could be the kid of some adventurer who died but either way you look like you’d grow up cute so guess I have something to look forward to too don’t I~?”

If she was mad before, she was now comparable to a volcanic explosion. <Why is this so bullshit! And, what do nuts have anything to do with this!>Her eyes roared up as a golden aura exploded forth from them - pointed towards the man. What did she even do to him for him to not just insult her but her mother and her very right to have an opinion… No he thought she didn’t deserve the right and thought the very fact of her wanting such was a joke… That she, a future hero maybe, but an urchin just trying to better her life was a joke…“You rat BASTARD!” <Mouse Guard>The man's eyes suddenly sprouted with surprise and shock, turning on his left heel to bring his left side to face her while the middle of the shaft of the spear came to sit in his hand pointing directly at her torso. She meanwhile seemed much more calm if one ignored the blood pooling out from her clenched knuckles - her own ‘claws’ working against her here - as she turned towards him and began to walk towards him… Menacingly!…Well if you ignore the fact that, even though this mouse was shorter than a human at 5’3, he still towered over her 3’11 frame… At least one person seemed to feel the pressure from her though. “S-shut up, I’m just telling you the truth!” <Mouse guard>Yells and screams came rising from the crowd that had gathered from the yelling match between a purple haired elf girl and a previously cocky guard. Some adventurers who felt for the girl even tried rushing to her rescue but no one expected what happened next.The guard thrust his spear forth - sending it directly to pierce through her sternum and through her little heart… Or at least he tried. Moving her hands up from her side she would approach the guard, planning on- “Gwargh!” <Elizabeth>A blunt pain found its way into her solar plexus… Why is it always the solar plexus? This would push her backwards enough to only be nicked by the blade of the spear on her forearm - a wound that soon closed - however the shaft continued to apply force to have her fall onto her ass.As it pulled away she would rest her hands on her stomach and look towards the one who was interrupting her. <Oh right... Guards come in pairs…> She thought to herself as she saw the butt of the humans spear flying forward to connect between her brown - sending her head backwards against the hard pavement as she felt her brain shake - impacting the very skull that was meant to protect it. Even a dragon can get a concussion.Her mind a daze as she felt everything blacking out as all she heard was the lazy, uncaring words from the human guard. “Chill dude and just drag her back in the city and throw her in an alley or something - not our job to take care of these dumb kids.” <Human>She felt strength leaving her body but not before she could do one last thing to ensure her saf-“You fucker…” <Elizabeth>The human guard turned to her again and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the approaching wooden butt. ***When she finally opened her eyes again it would be welcomed with a thin slot of the starry sky between two eaves overseeing stone two story walls.“Well at least they didn’t throw me in the slums…” <Elizabeth>She knew this because she felt stone on her back instead similar to what was on the roads around the adventurers guild. Feeling something around her nose and upper lip she would move her left palm up to rub under her nose.<Sore…>She grimaced, she likely received a few kicks in the face after being knocked out it would seem. She was fine but as her left palm showed - when it pulled away - her nose should’ve also been broken based on the dried blood. A sharp pain shot through her head as she pushed herself up with her left, causing her to cradle her forehead with her right hand as she groaned gently. “This has got to be the second worst day of my life - only beaten by my birth I suppose~” <Elizabeth>She smiled but… It was quite obvious to anyone it was stained and tired. One day of ‘freedom’ and she had figured out how unfree she truly was. Even without Phik making herself known (mostly from creaking floor boards and screaming) it felt like there was a shadow looming over her in this city; trying their very best to make her day go as badly as possible. “I heard that hero’s always ran into problems in every city they went to but this is a fucking joke… What do I do from here…” <Elizabeth>As she sat there the realization dawned on her… What else could she do? At worse she had over half a year to survive until she could finally gain access to her {Class} to become the world's {Hero}... But…“How the fuck am I meant to make it…” <Elizabeth>Tears began to build up in the corners of her eyes as she would begin to drag her legs towards her chest, resting her face into her knees while her arms hugged around her shins. Sobbing not to silently as the stress of the busy day suddenly caught up to her. Even if she didn’t need shelter due to her dragon high {Con} she needed water. Even if she could manage by relying on the rain she needed food. And, she had no idea how to do that.Even if she did manage to do that she would be barely alive - how could she fight for that!

She can't earn money. She can’t live outside the city. This was it… This was how she died. She’s a disappointed Mr/Mrs Voice, disgraced the world that had faith in her and most importantly - the one thing she wanted to hear most in this moment.“I’m sorry mommy, you died giving birth to a useless girl!” <Elizabeth>And so, she continued crying. Thoughts that started on her journey about her not crying totally feld her mind as she sat all alone in an alleyway…Or she was supposed to be.*Tap, tap, tap*Over her sobs she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, she may have been sad but she had the experience of an urchin. That experience was telling her that in all likelihood nobody good would try to silently approach a lonely kid in the dead of night…What met her eyes were a pair of men coming from the main road - one of them would be hooded in what seemed like the typical ‘thief’ hooded shawl and leather equipment. Though she had to admit that it did it’s job as she couldn’t see his face in the dark even with her enhanced vision.The other was a bald man with a black tattoo that seemed rather like someone just took the tool and drew random lines on the left side of his face. He was missing in left  ear so maybe it was caused by a wound instead of dumb astetic sense? He too wore leather armour but his was heavier and, while the first would have throwing daggers hanging from belts across his right shoulders to his sides and two larger short swords, this man would just have a long sword hanging from his left hip.“Ay girl, lookin’ real sad there. We know a place where you can feel real good and you even get to taste plenty of meat~!” <Bald Guy>The thief would let out a faint, muffled chuckle as it seems like today was full of jokes she didn’t understand… She was starting to get sick of it because each and every one ended with the same punchline.Her being forced to work at a brothel.Slowly rising to her feet as she moved the back of her left hand to rub away rouge tears as she sniffed. She didn’t know what was going to happen if she lost and got sold to a brothel but it would at least be better for her regrets than going down without a fight.Not like she could outrun a thief anyway. So she would turn to face them, shaking her hand softly as she would back away softly to at least keep some distance. If she was lucky only the may be only slower than the thief so could keep the two separated, as such she did the most heroic thing she could think of.Turned on her heel and fucking gunned it!“Shit, the brat is running! Get her!” <Bald Man>The thief merely nodded and reached his chest to draw a dagger and threw it towards the back of the girls legs. They pierced her thighs and caused her to lose movement in her legs for a second and her muscles locked up - flying for a second before skidding across the floor. Stopping all movements while feeling her grazed body sting against the cold midnight air. But this was good. The thief would approach her silently with a soft chuckle as he moved down to pull out his knives however as he did that she would whip around her body to land on her back, her hands forming a claw as she aimed for his neck.Her golden eyes meeting his own shocked ones before a moment later a volcane of crimson burst forth as she shredded his neck, pouring over her face that soon grew to one of surprise as well. Holding his neck with both hands in shock as he stumbled back in his crouch. Landing on his ass as he jerked around till finally landing on his back after a slow descent. Strength leaving his arms as the blood just pooled under him.<I killed him…> She blinked at how easy it was, to such an extent she forgot about the knives stuck in her thighs.Rookie mistake.“You bitch!” <Bald Man>The man had seen enough death to not be two drawn in by it and so recoved before the little girl and so rushed towards her side - past his ex-ally. Running up he would shift his weight to his right heel to swing his left foot around, colliding with Elizabeth's side to send her tumbling across the floor before her back slammed against the stone wall causing her to puke retch.

For the first time today, from all the sides she coughed up, she coughed up blood. Seeing the blood in front of her and feeling the pain on her waist brought her back as she weakly looked up to the man. “If you weren’t gonna make such a good whore I’d cut those hands off! You couldn’t just behave like the rest of the brats could you!” <Bald Man>So... She wasn’t the first lone child these men approached. How many girls were just like her? All alone in the dark of night with no mother or father to turn to. Running away from their ‘guardians’ - terrified by the prospect of being bought and sold like a commodity, no control over their own lives - only to find out that no matter which route they went all were closed by a man who didn’t even know her name…Silently her hands pushed against the floor, the daggers pressing into her wounds as she sat herself against the wall, back against the wall. She felt her wounds throbbing - the cold metal pressed against the inner walls of her muscles - reminding her that this was in fact her reality. Her eyes turned upwards to the moon - shining down on her in return as she blocked out the man bragging about something or another. A soft smile fell onto her lips as she let out a sigh, turning her head down to look at the man with her eyes no longer glowing with intimidation… Yet they settled on a rich golden colour nonetheless. Resting her left hand onto the stone wall behind her as she slowly dragged herself up the wall. Her right hand reached behind to pull the metal from her right thigh, wound closing up sharply enough but not without a bit of blood pouring out onto the wall behind..“You don’t know when to give up brat but don’t you worry, I’mma know you out read quick.” <Bald man>After saying such, his right gripped his sword's handle while the left unfastened the sheath to draw it forth as a blunt weapon. He wouldn’t hold a proper stance, walking towards her with a swagger, but he would have the sword raised towards her showing that he certainly didn’t forget his partner. And certainly, this was getting weird. She just smiled as he raised his weapon to his left shoulder, ready to slam it down on her head, however she felt like a warm touch pushed back. A voice filled with courage and gravel echoed in her ears, it was heavy but made her feel safe like nothing could hurt her, saying a single line. ‘Stay strong’ Closing her eyes and letting it guide her, she reached out, falling forward before kicking off the floor with her single good leg to send her hurtling towards the man's chest.Shocked at the sudden physical force the girl displayed - right hand which she dived forward with straight like the head of a spear. The man would back away and bring his sword down but his improper footing caused him to stumble - his blow went through but so did her own.He thought he would take the gash to his chest and continue on - after all with all her strength before it’s not like she managed to tear off the thief's head. His armour was heavier after all..But that was before the moon signaled the changing of the days…With momentum that should’ve been impossible from a little girl moving at the speed she was her hand went through his armour, his eyes obviously open wide as her hand slipped through his ribs and somehow pierced into his heart. If he wasn’t off balance already he certainly was now as her body continued on, slamming into his torso to send him down to the floor. She rode him down as he landed with a thud - dead before he even hit the floor - as she would try to extract her right hand only to find it wedged in.

She was confused at how that blow had worked but had more important things to do - things that may shed some light onto things. Reaching back with her only free hand, she would pull the dagger from her left thigh before chuckling it back across the floor. Landing with a *clang* before skidding to the other bloodied blade by the bloodied wall. Positioning herself till she was stood in a crouch, she would use her legs and her left hand to press against the corpse to pull her right hand out. Blood sprayed out all over her to ensure she was fully caked in the man's blood - however (other than covering her eyes with her left hand) she wouldn’t close her eyes. After all, this was her first act.

<| Congratulations on 7 years - you have unlocked the ability to use {Status} |>

And so, she thought to herself one word.<{Status}><--------------------------------------------------Status-------------------------------------------------->

Name: Elizabeth <No Surname>

Age: 7

Sex: Female

Race: High Dragon (Dragon + High Elf)

Title: <No Titles>

Job: Abandoned Illegitimate Bastard (Father: Count Kalakunana Shanta | Dragon), Urchin

Class: Hero

Health (Vit x 10): 250/250

Mana (Int x 10): 50/50

Defense (Con x 10): 300

Mana Per Second (Wis / 100 = ш/s): 0.1

|Regeneration (Con x Regen = Health/s): 30 x 5 = 150

Level: 1

Exp: 00/10

AP: 0

Attributes:

Vit: 25

Str: 5

Con: 30

Agi: 5

Dex: 21

Int: 5

Wis: 10

(Total: 101)

Skills:

Unique;

Momentum Manipulation (Hero): Lvl 1

Racial;

Breath (High Dragon): Lvl 1

Claws (High Dragon): Lvl 1

Enhanced Senses (All+Eyesight & Hearing): Lvl 5

Fangs (High Dragon): Lvl 1

Flight (High Dragon): Lvl 1

Humanization (High Dragon): Lvl 5

Intimidation (High Dragon): Lvl 7

Regeneration: Lvl 5

Scales (High Dragon): Lvl 1

Generals;

Appraisal Control (Hero): Lvl -

Common Language (Orrid Kingdom): Lvl 3

Spirit Communication: Lvl -

Blessings;

God of The Circle:

You were chosen for an important job so retained some knowledge about your duties.

{+{Hero}}

H̶̭̟͉̟̀̔͗̇̽̓̀͜͝e̷͎̗̟̓̀̍͝ ̴͈̙͇̺̿W̵̧̃͛h̴̩̝̾̾ö̸̩̼́̓͋̏̚͘͘ ̴̹̠̩̖̓̈́̋͜͝W̵̺̲̼̤͛̆͛͌̍͛͗̂ͅa̵̢͚͂̀͝t̷͕͂̽̋ĉ̵̨͎͍̀̉͐̿̅͘̕h̵̼̜͔̯̾̎e̶͙̣̗̣̰̭͆͂͋͂͜s̷͕̯̘̩͐̓̓̿̉̔̌͠ͅ ̴̣͊T̷̞̗̙̠̑́̀̍͑̐͠h̸̢̡̻̱͚̝̀e̶̖̥͗͑̀͒̒͠ ̵̖̻̗̀͆͌͆̈W̴̞̰̯̞̜̣͗̍̽͘͜ą̷̢͈͇̳͖̲̆̕ͅt̸̻̰̺̠͈̯̋̈́̊͘͝c̸͎̹͍̙̗͌̃̈́̽̕͝ḣ̴͍̘̰̌͝e̸̝̮̤̰̘̘̙͝r̸̛̞̣̝͊̊͝͝s̴̳̲̼͗̄̓̅̔̎͝͝:

H̵̯̼͖̜͇̲̊͝ḭ̵̩͑̓̌͜s̸̨̠͒̒͠ ̶̳͎̣̬̗͕͇̓n̸̮̜̜͔͚̓́́͗̽̈́̄͘ͅa̵͍̳̪̬͎̬̘̓̔͂͆͐͠͝m̷͚̰͕̠̥̍̚͝e̴̹̟̔̒́ ̵̡̧̡͈̭̝̃͆̾̏̃͊̽̚w̴̮̖͑͂̾̋͋́a̶̪͖͙̰̗͆̅s̴͉̥̭͒̈́̚ ̷̦͙̼̾̿̈́̆̉̕͝m̶̰͙̮̥̣̫̉͊̆̎̇͘e̶̢͈͈͓̒̊͗͜n̷͍̰̰̺̽͛̊̽͂t̴̬̘̠̣̠̞͎̹̃̿̄̌̄̈́͠͝i̴̱͐͐̊͛̇́͝o̶̥̝̱̞̫͛͑͊̈́̎͋͘n̵̨̺̘͇͔͇̏̌̒̾́̕e̷̡̧̜̩͚͈̦̗͗̍̊͋͗d̷̢͈̭͉͉̥̈̃̄̏ͅͅ ̵̬̱͆ä̴͎̣͚ͅñ̴̲͕͈̃͌͜d̵̩͙̻̪̹̦͝ ̵͉̝̘̼̿w̴͓̲̪̠̠̹͛̉̒͠h̷̨͍͕̒̓̋̿̃̿̐͘i̷̖͉̝͌͗̋́͐͂̂l̶̢̛̳̭̀̔͗͗̀̾͝e̷̡̛̼̼͋̎̋̏͝ ̸̞̏h̴͎̰͚́̀̇͜͜e̴̪̿̈̔ ̶̨̛̟̣͍͖̲̿̀̓̈́͗̎ͅw̵͇̦͍̤͑̄͂̋͑̆̆͆i̴̮̗̖̋̓͆͘̚ͅs̷̨̡͖͍̠̼̹̏͌͘͝h̴͉̪̣̥̳̠͇̊̀̀̕͝͝ė̵̜͐͌̑͝͝s̸̙̍͗̓͂͆̀̚͝ ̴͍͍͑̊͗̈́͜ͅt̷͚̭́̑̋̃͗̅ǒ̶̼͎̠̠͚̓̆͌́ ̶̺͇̝̉̚f̶̨̖̿͑̌͆̿o̷̳̟̤̯̠͓̻͋̍͝ȑ̴̘̥̮͕͐̅͛͒̇̈͂͜g̸̛͔͕͔͉̃̿̀́͐̿e̴̝̫͠t̶̠̺̬͇̤͔̔̈́ ̸̡̨͙͓̫͖̜̓̆͗h̷̡̪͍̯̞̺̻̿̋̀͝͠ȩ̸̛̬̗̰̳̳̞̯̐̋́̈́̓͊͘ ̵̨͎͎̼͖̾̂̾̔̓͊̂ẅ̴͉͉́̈́͘ä̸̧́̊͊̈́̀̏̓ṇ̴̱̺̠̜͍̑t̵̢̛̺̩͚͕͔̝̏̄̎̒̓͋̃͜š̵̝̯̳͓ ̴͈̫̞̣̺̠͈͎̅ṫ̵͕͖̭̘̹̪̫̒͑̃̀̚̕̚ͅǫ̷̲͚́̇͜͝ ̷̧̧̗̻͉͈͝ͅṇ̸̢̡̹̙̘̞̻̄̉̀̀̄͠ö̶̢̡̜͕͖̈́͆̀͜͜t̷̡̛̙͔̜̱̊͆̓̍ ̴̰̤̩̮̜͖̬̿̋̽̓͘͜b̴̨͕̯̲́̓̈́͒̐̈́̄̕ḝ̵̪͕͚͇͘ͅ ̷̢͈͙͎͆̂̾͒̏̄ḟ̷̧̥̲̺͈̼̰̅͘ͅò̵̳̉͒̒̍͝r̴̭̭̜̝͑̌̽̎̊͂̿̚ͅg̵̙̓͊͗o̷̱͛̈́͒͗ṯ̷͎̓̍ţ̸̦̬̍̋͆͒̽̅̀͝é̷̮̺͈̫n̸̨̯̲̥̞͔̯͑͌̀.̵͈̬̅̀̈́

{+Bonus To Memory}

<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

A golden light rained down on the newly born hero...

"Well hope that doesn't cause any problems..." <Elizabeth>