Chapter 16: Return
The pressure of the barrier subsided, and the three adventurers heaved a deep sigh.
“Wow, it feels good to be back in the cold!” Annita gasped as the familiar chill of the woods sank into her skin and fur. She hadn’t noticed how warm she’d gotten in the Seed, but being in the cold again brought it to the forefront that she was meant for this type of weather. Stretching her long, lithe limbs, she took in their surroundings.
Unsurprising to anyone, they were in more forest land. The same black trunks they’d travelled through on the way here, surrounding them once more. Bren was already studying the skies, probably figuring out exactly where they were, while Kat was looking off into space.
“Hey, you all right, Kat?” Annita asked as she moved over to the fighter.
“Oh, aye, just lookin’ at me stats. Levelled up after the Guardian Tree thing. Figures. Thing was a damn sight tougher than I expected.”
“What was that big flash I felt, by the way? Seemed to just cut the thing in half from what I could tell before I passed out.” Ann asked, pacing slowly in the snow.
“That, my dear, was what you were stallin’ fer. A last resort skill o’ mine. Have tae channel all my grit an’ sacrifice a big chunk o’ me defences for the next two days tae use it. Puts all tha’ into a single strike. Does massive damage, but it can miss. It’s an all or nothin’.”
“Gotcha. Well, I’m glad it killed it. I was in no space to keep fighting that thing. Oh, right, I levelled too. Seems like it was more than once again. Let me check.”
Congratulations! Your Path has advanced!
Warrior of Orenous (6)
Please select a core stat to increase by +2.
Congratulations! Your Path has advanced!
Warrior of Orenous (7)
Please select one skill from the following:
Rogues Do It From Behind
+0.1 of your Dexterity to enemies when attacking from their flanks.
Distracting Shot
Spend 20 Mind to give your allies an opening to strike! Draws attention to yourself, use with caution! Allies better able to exploit weaknesses if visible.
Congratulations! Your Path has advanced!
Warrior of Orenous (8)
Please select a core stat to increase by +2.
“Ok, those are pretty reasonable,” Annita mused as she looked over her options. “I think it’s decided that I’m going to be a rogue. Or something close, at least. Two options: Rogues Do It From Behind,” a snort from Kat cut Annita off, earning the Alfhindur an eye roll, “and Distracting Shot. The first is a small damage boost to flanking attacks, while the other is more of a support thing. Gives others a better chance at hitting important stuff.”
“Well, I can’t really confirm whether rogues do as the skill says,” Kat said through a huge grin, “but it seems like the most versatile of the skills. The second could be fantastic, but depends on whatever it is you’re fighting, even having a weak spot. Not everything does.”
“Yeah, fair. Oh, hey Bren! How do you boost your Mind stat by the way? I don’t see anything in my levels that says how.” Ann turned to Bren, who had made his way over to them.
“Ah, yes, simply assign a level’s stats to the Mind stat. It is one point to 10 points of Mind. A strange conversion, however, it is how the system works. I believe I know where we are when you are ready,” Bren explained as he sat on a nearby rock.
“Oh, strange. Thanks.” Annita returned to her sheet, assigning two points to her Mind, setting the reserve to 40, and then the other two points to Endurance. It seemed like she was taking a beating in a lot of these fights, so being a bit hardier felt like the right call. Looking over her skills, it seemed like Distracting Shot was already somewhat covered by her Predatory Sensuality. Making the decision dissipated the silver window as the passive was added to her sheet. At the top left of her vision, the smoky black box of the Warped skill still hovered, waiting for her to make a decision.
Name: Annita Kronforst
Age: 23
Race: Lupine (Warped)
Path: Warrior of Orenous (8)
Title: Chosen of Orenous
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Racial Skills:
Cold Resistance: Reduced damage from cold effects. Comfortable in colder climates.
Keen Hearing: Able to hear sounds from greater distances with greater clarity.
Natural Weapons: Claws and teeth are considered weapons for any skills that would affect weapons.
Endurance Hunter: +2 to Strength, +5 to Dexterity, +5 to Stamina
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Unique Passive:
Chosen of Orenous: The Bearer is burdened with a task from the divine. Growth of one’s progression is accelerated by a factor of 1.5 once a Path is chosen. For each lover in the current party, increase the multiplier by 0.2. This bonus will apply to all party members of the same or lower levels as the owner. Further benefits will be unlocked upon progression of the Bearer’s Path.
Additionally provides +5 to Faith.
Health Points: 180/230
Strength: 14
Intellect: 10
Dexterity: 24
Faith: 20
Stamina: 15
Mind: 0/40
Endurance: 14
Resilience: 12
Libido: 5/140
Desire: 20/110
Path Skills
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Passive:
Weapon Proficiency: Light weapons and small firearms.
Armor Proficiency: Medium Armor
Health Points: Stat has been unlocked.
Libido: Stat has been unlocked. Increases by 5/hour. Once full, sexual inhibitions will be greatly reduced until release is achieved.
Desire: Stat has been unlocked. Gained through relations with trusting partners.
Stat Increases: +5 to Faith, +10 to Mind, +2 to Endurance, +2 to Resilience
Compatibility: You’re a large lady, in more ways than one. This will help make sure things go smoothly in your conquests.
Deft Hands: Increase dexterity by +5. Any complicated manipulation of your digits becomes moderately easier.
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Active:
Stoke the Flames: Consume 10 desire points to inflame the target, incensing a heightened emotion of your choice for 1 minute.
Smite of Orenous: Enhance an attack to deal additional Holy damage. Adds 20% of current Faith to the attack. Cost: 10 Mind.
Predatory Sensuality: Cost: +40 Libido. Requires a display of sensuality to activate. Your force of will and pure sensuality make you irresistible, lowering your opponent’s guard. For a single strike, lower the target’s Endurance by 5 points.
Rogues Do It From Behind: +0.1 of your Dexterity to enemies when attacking from their flanks.
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Passive Stat Increases:
+80 Health
+80 Desire
+40 Libido
+2 Strength
+9 Dexterity
+20 Mind
+2 Endurance
“All right. Should be good to go,” said Annita as she stretched again.
“Very well. We are about three days east of Graven Peak. It appears that the Seed covered a fairly sizeable area and provided us a shortcut. We have saved several days of travel,” Bren stood, pointing to the west.
“Well, ain’t tha’ nice. We’ve still got a couple hours before night. Let’s get what we can here, an’ camp. Hopefully, it’ll be a quiet rest of the trip. Maybe a pack o’ Twinwolves, nothin’ we can’t handle.” Kat hiked her pack up on her shoulder, shield strapped to the back.
They set off into the forest. It was about four hours, as best Annita could count, before night began to fall. They found a natural overhang under a few fallen trees, the skeletal branches woven to form a spider web above their heads. It was oddly cosy, but didn’t allow for a fire, much to Kat’s complaining.
“So what should we be doing once we get to the Keep?” Ann asked as she sprawled near the opening of the shelter. “I know you two probably have to check in with whoever you answer to, but I’m totally new.”
“Well, that is going to be a question about what you wish to do,” Bren offered. “Your Path and quest are pushing you into a fairly frequent combat. I would advise signing up as an Affiliated Mercenary. Generally, the responsibilities entailed are minimal. You are expected to check in with any towns or city branches. They, similarly, report to the headquarters located in each major city. All of this, in turn, is reported up to the Royal Military. They will need to collect information on you, which may be an issue now that I think about it.”
“Aye, I think I should be able to talk wit’ a few contacts o’ mine. Royalty’s got its perks, don’ get me wrong. Ugh, yeah, that’ll be a talk wit’ Gen’ral Polaris. Ol’ bastard’ll probably let ye register privately.” Kat huffed as she leaned forward, tracing patterns in the dirt.
“Makin’ me feel like a top secret weapon here,” Annita chuckled.
“Not sure what tha’ means, but aye. Yer definitely a secret fer now. A Goddess showin’ interest in the world enough tae send a sponsored champion? Shit moves nations. It’ll be up wit’ me Ma ‘fore we even get back to Korvas, if we go as the crow. Personally, don’ feel like doin’ tha’, but we can get into tha’ later.”
“Yes. That would handle most issues we would be running into with registration. From there, we will be reporting the incursion to the Seed, receiving a reward based on our accomplishments, and then setting about securing lodging.”
“Right, ok. How much should we earn for the whole guardian thing?” Annita asked, intrigued.
“It was thirty copper for the Twinwolves on the way to the outpost. For the vine Warped, they will likely be a silver a piece. The Tree Guardian will probably be several gold. Guardians of Seeds pay very well. The larger the Seed, the greater the reward. Generally, once a Guardian has been defeated, expedition teams are sent in to gather resources while the threat of the Warped is diminished.” Bren shifted in his spot, pulling out a book and leafing through it casually. “Ah, here it is. After defeating a Guardian, the Seed is considered complacent for one week. The time frame varies, however, to ensure the safety of the workers dispatched, collection is limited to one week.” With a snap, he shut the book and returned it to his bag.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Annita hadn’t really considered why they knew so much about the seeds, or rewarded people for taking down the Warped. She thought it was just for keeping people safe, but now that there was an economic gain from the Seeds, of course, other people would be going into these things looking to make money. “So, for something like we just went through, I guess they’d send in a team of lumberjacks to get wood?”
“Among plants an’ other things that’ll be found there,” Kat explained. “Each seed varies. Get a big ol’ mountain an’ ye’ll have a lot o’ ore an’ stone tae collect. With a forest, ye’ve got plants, smaller beasties, trees, saps, herbs, Hells, sometimes the water is different. Imagine findin’ a mountain God’s domain in the middle o’ a desert an’ it’s got ice in it. Best believe anyone with a combat Path is gonna be gunnin’ fer the Guardian.”
“So hunting in these Seeds is more common than I thought it was? I figured they’d be avoided with how you two talked about them.” Annita rolled over onto her back and stared at the cluster moon, with its weird, bulbous shape.
“For most, that is correct. Remember that we had significant trouble with a minor Seed’s Guardian. We almost lost you if Kat had not been able to make her preparations in time. Only those with significant confidence in their skills, as well as any companions they might have, dare to challenge Guardians. Most will perform minor expeditions into the outskirts of the area, gathering intelligence as best they can, and any resources they deem worth the trouble.”
“I guess we should mention that most people don’t get their levels as quickly as ye do, Ann,” Kat said as she lay down on her bedroll. “What ye’ve been gettin’ can take several years. Bren an’ I are lucky tae have the resources we did tae advance ourselves, but we’ve still got years on ye. Probably best not tae tell anyone how green ye are.”
“Got it,” Annita confirmed. They fell into a brief silence as she digested the information. “I’ll definitely be signing up for the mercenary permit, then. It’s the best option for what I’ve got to do. God, what my parents would think about me telling them that? ‘Hey, mom and dad! I decided I’m going to be a mercenary and go fight monsters! No, I don’t really know how to fight, and I’m making it all up as I go. It’ll be fiiiiine.’” Annita laughed.
“They would not approve?” Bren asked, brown eyes showing concern.
“Hell no, they wouldn’t,” Ann laughed as she rolled back over to face the other two. “Mercenaries in my time were all soldiers for hire. They’d go and help armies for money, and maybe do things those armies couldn’t be caught doing. Not to mention, monsters were all made up. The stuff we’ve been fighting was relegated to books, video games, movies and all that. Wow, you’d find my time boring. I guess it had its interesting things, but compared to this?” She gestured to the wild expanse around them. “Nothing like it. They’d kick my ass for putting myself in so much danger, but would also be proud of trying to go after a goal, making friends and all that. They’d freak the fuck out about my body, though. I look nothing like their daughter anymore. More like one of my old drawings I did to make some extra cash.”
“Ye said ye liked art. Didn’t know ye were an artisan before yer incident.” Kat said, propping herself up on an elbow.
“Oh yeah. Art was really common in my time. Everyone had access to paper and something to write with, so doodling, er, sketching was something everyone did at some point when they were bored. I took it a step further and studied it, got really good at it too. There was a subset of art with characters that look a lot like I do right now, including genitals. The people who were into it were really wealthy for some reason, and if you could establish yourself in that niche, you’d make a ton of money from commissions. I never really got that into it, but enough to make some money.”
“People paid for illustrations?” Bren seemed intrigued by this, taking out his notebook again. “We have artists that are hired to paint murals, and some have noble patrons who sponsor them, but the large majority are usually working on things like maps, some books, decorations on buildings and the like.”
“Oh yeah. There was a whole thing about it. Writing, drawing, animating…”
“Animating?” Bren cut her off.
“Yeah, it’s what we called making moving drawings, I guess. If I can get my hands on a blank book or notes of some kind, I can show you. Basically, you’d draw a picture, draw it again on a different page, but slightly moved, then repeat that hundreds or thousands of times. Once you have it all drawn, you’d show the pages really quickly in sequence, and it would give the illusion of motion.” Annita sighed as she looked up at the tangle of branches above them. “There was a LOT of porn made with that. Lots of stuff that wasn’t real could be with the drawings.”
“Heh, guess people’re horny no matter the age.” Kat nodded sagely.
“You have no idea,” Ann shuddered at the memory. “People got weird with their drawings. I made some money off all that, so I can’t really judge much.”
“So ye were a pervert even before Orenous, huh?” Kat grinned toothily at Ann.
“Kinda, yeah. Didn’t have much outlet for it, to be honest.” Another sigh. “I was busy earning enough money to stay alive. Had a couple girlfriends over my school days, though that always ended poorly. Being gay wasn’t really seen in a great light by a lot of people. Lots of hate. Lots of judgment. The college girlfriend was fun, though. We did a lot with each other, but eventually grew apart. I didn’t have anyone after that with work taking over my life until, well, I ended up here.”
“It sounds like a complicated life,” Bren said as he closed his book. He relaxed, lying down on his bedroll as well.
“It was. There were things I had to do that wouldn’t make much sense to you, given how technology is here. It was also kind of simple? I had a job. I did the job. I got money. I used that money for a place to live, food, bills, taxes, and then other stuff I wanted. It was alright. Nothing really exciting.” Annita curled up a little, her knees shifting to her chest as she lay there, her ears drooping and her tail curled up as well. “There was a comfort in the routine, though. Knowing what I’d be doing the next day, what to expect. All of that is out the window now. I’m lucky as hell to have met you two, and no, I won’t stop saying it.” She cast a glare at Kat, who just smiled back. “Nothing in my old life prepared me for this. Well, maybe some brief martial arts, but that’s it. Getting used to what I need to do here is going to be so much easier with your help.”
“Yes, I imagine it would.” Bren smiled at her as well. “It is likely why Orenous put you where she did.”
“Yeah, well, probably not the only reason.” Ann glanced sheepishly at Kat, whose grin only widened. “Regardless, probably a large part of it.” A yawn stretched her lips, sharp teeth glistening in the moonlight. “Ugh, I’m exhausted. Even getting knocked out a couple of times didn’t help.”
“Aye, time fer rest. Let’s all get some sleep. Long day of hiking through snow again tomorrow.” Kat said, sliding into her roll. “G’night, everyone.” Within a couple of minutes, she was snoring.
“Night,” Ann replied sleepily as she lay down, still on top of her roll. The cold was nice. It relaxed her, and she quickly drifted off to sleep.