Chapter 2
–Status–
I slept deeply for a time, but after a while I started dreaming of my daily life living as a half-demon with just my human mom at a village in the shadow of two large mountains.
With my human mother, I lived on the outskirts of the village in a drafty wood-shingled, wood-plank house. Most of the villagers didn't want to have anything to do with my mother or me, since they thought we'd bring disease or misfortune to them and their families. Even though my mom always worked hard, crafting baskets and foraging food and materials in the nearby forest, she would have to sell her wares to traveling peddlers because the villagers usually wouldn't buy from her.
Though she never said it to me, I knew that I was the reason that she was hated by the other villagers. The other children made sure to tell me so when they bullied me, but I never told my mom about the bullying. I didn't want to worry her, and after everything that she was suffering for my sake, I wanted to be a good boy and help her out even if it was only in some small way. That's why when I got a small knife for my birthday, I was thrilled! With a knife, I could help out gathering in the forest.
I used the knife to make a spear so that I could hunt small animals. Through discreetly watching other hunters work and then trying it out myself, I learned how to hunt and trap in the forest. Hunting was really difficult, and I didn't like hurting the animals, but when I got lucky enough, we were able to have meat for dinner. Mom was also able to make shoes and eventually a hooded cloak for me out of the furs. I was finally able to hide my horns and evil-looking red and black skin.
Growing up in the human village wasn't always bad. I did have one friend who I could play with. She was a spunky red-haired girl. She was a half-breed like me, but her father had been a dwarf, so she wasn't treated as badly by the villagers as my mom and I were. Until one day, when the other children told her that she had to stop playing with me. Being half-dwarf, she was a stubborn sort and hated the way the other kids treated me. When she told them no and called them worse than demon-kin, the children got mad and started throwing stones at her. One of the stones hit her in the head and after going to sleep that night she never woke up. Her mother yelled at me that she died because of me, and I knew that her mom was right. After that, I knew that it was better for me not to have any friends.
Sometime later, another terrible event happened because of me. Even though most of the village believed that anything I touched was cursed and probably wouldn't steal from me, I was always careful to keep my knife hidden. It was a precious gift from my mother, and I didn't want to take any chances. Unfortunately, the danger came from something I didn't expect. Someone must have seen me using the knife when I was foraging in the forest. The villagers were mad that my mother had endangered them all by giving something as dangerous as me a weapon. As punishment for endangering the village, one of the larger men beat my mom until she went unconscious. When she woke up, I helped her back to the house, but she was unable to work for most of a month because of her injuries. After that, I made sure to only do gathering in the forest with the knife when it was dark outside—when everyone was asleep—and to never have the knife with me during the day.
Mom had recovered and was out in the forest gathering when the demons came. I learned then why the villagers had good reason to hate me. I was on my way back from selling pelts and crafts to the peddler when I heard a commotion behind me and looked back to see the villagers slaughtered one after another and their houses set on fire. I tried to run, but a demon-kin riding a large wolf rode past, and as he passed, I felt an impact from behind send me flying into the ground. It hurt, and I felt a wetness on my back. Maybe dying here was for the better. As my consciousness began to fade, I thought about how my being here had caused so many problems. My mother was still out in the forest gathering, so if I die here and mother survives the attack, then she can go live somewhere else and not be hated anymore. I've tried hard enough, and it's fine to just let go this time.
I awoke to a dark, moon-lit room with watery eyes and tear-trails dripping down from my eyes onto the pillow.
Ah poor Raithe, I thought. He never understood that he was the reason that his mother could get up every morning and fight on. Any case, even with my troubled sleep, it seemed that I had slept deeply and had fully recovered.
I sniffled slightly as I sat up and used my night shirt to dry my face. After sleeping that hard, I probably ended up missing dinner.
The soup from before was tasty, so with some anticipation, I checked to see if Reina had left something on the bedside table like last time. I was in luck.
While not the dinner I was expecting, there was a plate with a roll, some cheese, and the same tall wooden cup as before. I took the cup and smelled the liquid contained within and—yup, it was more chicken noodle herb soup.
As I ate my meal, I looked around the room. The room was narrow and slightly cramped. The furniture consisted of the bed and side table, a desk placed by the window, and a wooden footlocker poking into view from by the foot of the bed. In the corner by a door, a faintly glowing red crystal on a dark metal stand seemed to be generating warmth to heat the room.
Looking down, the floor was made up of polished wood planks and there was an animal pelt in the center upon which a boy who could be about my age was sleeping with a pillow and blanket.
Ah, that's probably… Jake… guess that means I'm using his bed. Ah, sorry about that. Hmm… I should be careful not to wake him.
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Continuing to let my eyes explore the room, I noticed a wooden ladder behind me led up to a storage loft with an additional window from which most of the moonlight lighting the room was streaming in. It was hard to tell from where I was sitting, but I could make out a large chest, a children-sized bookshelf, and what was probably a small play area up on the loft.
After finishing eating, I carefully placed the dishes back on the side table while trying to make as little noise as possible.
Something I saw in the dreams earlier was bothering me, and that same thing was present in Raithe's memories too—in particular, the memories of when Raithe's mother was teaching him to read and write. Instead of using paper or such, there was a transparent floating window with uniformly displayed characters. Raithe's mother would have him draw the characters in the dirt and then teach him the corresponding sounds, and when Raithe would write out the words from the floating window his mother would teach him the meaning of the words.
"Open [Status Screen]."
With a growing sense of unease, I focused on the desire to see my current status and quietly said the command phrase, just as how Raithe was taught by his mother when he learned to open it for the first time.
A floating display screen with mechanically uniform characters appeared before me. The screen was clearly lit but didn't cast any light on the surroundings.
From deep in my mind where the common sense of my previous existence resided came a strong sense of recognition and an equally strong sense that such a display marked this world as undoubtedly an illusion created by others—other humans. While I still had no idea why I felt the way I did, in the depths of my being I was certain, and just as with magic, there was an unmistakable feeling that: if this was the real world, this should not be here.
It was a truly strange feeling.
How can someone feel so familiar with a thing that should not exist? And why would its presence mean that this world is an illusion? In my prior world, could illusionary worlds be created even without magic? Strange.
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
In any case, whether this world is an illusion or not, I am here. And while this world goes against my innate common sense, it certainly doesn't feel like an illusion, so it's probably best not to risk treating it as such.
Regardless of my opinion on the matter, the glowing window was still there open before me. The characters were probably not the same as the ones in my former world, since other than through Raithe's memories, there was no sense of familiarity at all. The underlying language and the layout of the characters, however, did seem familiar. The current language was likely the same as in my previous world. That hopefully meant that once I got used to using the new and unfamiliar characters, I would be able to read the screen’s contents.
A supposition that seemed confirmed when, with a bit of work, I was able to read my current status:
| Name: Raithe Race: Unknown (Male) Job: Hunter HP: 87/ 87 MP: 39/ 130 (100↑) SP: 60/ 60 Stress: 1 Weight: 64 stones Height: 4.4 slats Blessings: Queen of the Fae's Blessing Titles: Apprentice Hunter Apprentice Mage Acolyte of Death Apprentice Scout |
Status: Normal Strength 3 Intelligence 5 (3↑) Wisdom 3 (1↑) Agility 3 Constitution 3 Charisma 3 (2↑) Luck 3 (2↑) Apprentice Woodworker Apprentice Tailor Reborn One |
I was surprised that my race was listed as unknown, since it seemed fairly obvious that Raithe was half-demon—he and the villagers thought so as well.
HP, MP, SP?
Ah, in Raithe's memories those were Health Points, Mana Points, and Stamina Points.
Ugh… an hour of meditation and a full sleep and I haven't even gotten a third of my mana back. Looks like Mana Points aren't as easy to recover by resting as Stamina points.
Uwah, what's with that title, [Acolyte of Death]?! And [Reborn One], too… hmm.
From Raithe's memories, it looked like tapping on things would bring up additional information. So, I tapped on [Acolyte of Death], and from the description window that popped up, it seemed that it was the ‘Rank 1’ title for the [Assassin] job. The title gave a bonus to [Critical Strike] and lowered the training difficulty for Assassin skills.
There were no memories of Raithe training under an assassin, or ever wanting to kill people or anything, so he must've picked up rank 1 in the job incidentally.
Clicking on [Apprentice Hunter], showed it was the rank 1 title for the [Hunter] Job, likewise for the other apprentice titles.
But, what a naming sense for the Assassin rank 1 title… sheesh.
Now for [Reborn One]…
Unknown. That's what it says. Just the one word, "Unknown." Not helpful. And certainly not mysterious at all. Nope.
I wasn't going to get anywhere with that, so I proceeded onto each of the other things on the screen and learned about the different stats:
HP (‘Health Points’) were a measure of the physical durability of the body, and they decrease with damage and when body function was impaired. According to a supplemental note in the description window, when HP reached zero, the body would be in a terminal condition and death would likely occur.
MP (‘Mana Points’) were the measure of mana stored within the body, and I had already experienced what happens when that value became low.
SP (‘Stamina Points’) were a measure of physical energy within the body, and the description said that I would fall unconscious if the value got to zero.
‘Stress’ was a measurement of my mental stress and was on something like a 10-point scale, where higher values would add increasing penalties and exceeding 10 points of stress would lead to a deteriorating physical condition and psychological problems. Being able to evaluate my mental state so readily was probably a good thing.
I was unsure about the (100↑) next to my max mana, but clicking on it brought up a description window, revealing the number to be the amount my max mana had changed by since the last time the [Status Screen] was opened. Which meant I could probably assume that the change was the result of my having taken over Raithe's body. The change seemed rather large—maybe becoming part-magical-being helped increase the amount of mana that Raithe's body could store?
The units of stones and slats were apparently standardized and had officially recognized values. The ‘slats’ unit was derived from a measuring tool two hand-lengths long when measured from the base of the palm to the tip of the index finger. The measuring tool’s width was 1/10th the length and was used for measuring in decimal sub-units.
As to the values for my height and weight, the description windows for height and weight gave the average value for my age, which indicated that I was normal height and weight… well to be honest, I was slightly on the short side for my age. Slightly.
The area after the word, Status, apparently would inform me if I became afflicted with poison, disease, fatigue, or some such.
Below that was my base attribute values, and those also seemed to be on a 1 to 10 scale. Interestingly, when I looked carefully there was a green bar behind the text that the description said showed my progress to the next level in that attribute.
‘Strength’ was a measure of my physical strength, with a value of 2 being the average for a human of my age. So even though Raithe was initially under nourished, it looked like, maybe due to his mixed heritage and his physical lifestyle, he was able to slightly exceed the norm for humans once he obtained an adequate supply of meat.
‘Intelligence’ was a measure of my mental quickness, ability to retain information, and base magic aptitude—here, my value was exceptionally high when compared to the average for my age. Unlike with Strength, there was a (3↑) after the attribute value and when I tapped on it, just like for the change indicator next to MP, the description pop-up said that it was the change in value since the last time the [Status Screen] was opened.
I wondered if the difference in intelligence was solely because my mental age was different from that of a nine-year-old boy or if there was more to it. I wondered if the change in Intelligence might have also been part of why there was such a substantial increase in maximum mana? Maybe that was something to keep an eye on for later.
The ‘Wisdom’ score was a measurement of foresight and understanding. It also showed that there had been some change. I was disappointed that I was only 1 rank wiser than a nine-year-old…
What's with that? Is that all my life experience is worth? Not that I can remember any of it though.
‘Agility’ was a measure of my overall physical speed, coordination, and accuracy. The description said that the value would affect my ability to land an attack on a target and to dodge attacks made upon me. It was also important for skills involving precise or delicate movements.
‘Constitution’ was a measure of overall physical toughness and resistance to damage. Higher constitution meant more health points and increased resistances to sickness and poison. Both Agility and Constitution were above average for my age.
‘Charisma’ and ‘Luck’ had both increased by 2. Charisma was described as a combination of appearance and natural charm, representing my innate ability to influence others. Luck was described as a measure of one's capacity to bend fate toward beneficial or desired outcomes.
Apparently, Raithe really did have extraordinarily bad luck and the results of his interactions with other people certainly tended to be poor. I wondered if the change in that attribute was from my having been a Fae being?
Speaking of Fae, somehow that powerful spirit I encountered really was the Queen of the Fae (or maybe her name was showing up as I decided to refer to it), and she really did give me a blessing.
Bringing up the description window, I saw that it gave two effects:
[Skill Collector](Reduces the threshold for learning new skills, decreases the experience needed to rank up for all skills.)While the first one sounded really useful, the second blessing sounded ridiculous and like it was going to be a complete pain.
[Naturally Charismatic](Surrounded by a sense of grand destiny that increases the likelihood of allies and friends becoming loyal companions, but also increases the risk of drawing the unwanted attention of people in positions of power.)
Do I even like dealing with people? I get the sense that I don’t.
On the side of the [Status Screen]’s window was a menu for "Skills", "Equipment", and "Lore". Once I knew that I could view a visual accounting of my current skills, I started to get excited about what I would see. I took a deep breath and then tapped to see the [Skills Screen].
Skills
| Job Skills: | ||
| Alchemist (15/50) Foraging 15 Assassin (59/100 Rank 1) Ambush 11 Erase Presence 16 Critical Strike 12 Night Vision 20 Civil Officer (11/50) Planning 11 Commoner (59/100 Rank 1) Common Sense 10 Frugality 12 Prudence 14 Humility 12 Wickerwork 11 Diplomat (25/50) Empathy 11 Composure 14 Faerie Mage (41/50) Faerie Language 10(NEW) Faerie Magic 10(NEW) Regeneration 21(NEW) Farmer (13/50) Butchering 13 Guide (22/50) Hiking 12 Weather 10 Guard (12/50) Patrol 12 Racial Skills: Elf Nature Affinity 20(NEW) Illusion Res. 10(NEW) General Skills: Athletics (68/100 Rank 1) Fitness 12 Running 11 Balance 10 Climbing 10 Jumping 10 Throwing 15 |
Hunter (96/100 Rank 1)(*) Knife 15 Spear 12 Tracking 11 Trapping 11 Hunting 13 Detect Scent 10 Animal Calls 10 Wilderness Movement 14 Scout (57/100 Rank 1) Alertness 10 Hide 11 Sneak 12 Move Silently 13 Detect Noise 11 Mage (79/100 Rank 1) Meditation 10(NEW) Concentration 17(1↑) Mana Sense 23(NEW) Arcane Power 27(NEW) Mana Control 02(NEW) Merchant (11/50) Bartering 11 Physician (23/50) Animal Anatomy 11 Dispassion 12 Priest (34/50) Character 10 Willpower 11 Dedication 13 Demon Shadow Affinity 25 Combat (135/150 Rank 2) Attack 25 Defense 20 Counter 25 Blocking 15 Dodging 25 Ranged Accuracy 25 |
Scholar (31/50) General Knowledge 10 Reading/Writing 11 Mathematics 10 Seafarer (11/50) Swimming 11 Servant (11/50) Housekeeping 11 Spy (22/50) Infiltration 10 Observation 12 Tradesman (45/50) Materials Knowledge 11 Woodworking 13 Tailoring 11 Item Repair 10 Warrior (28/50) Body-Building 10 Endurance 18 Human Common Language 70 |
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Whoa… there's a crap-ton of skills. Looks like they're mainly sorted by job. Raithe sure was working hard to have acquired this many skills on his own.
Ah, and that explains the Assassin thing.
Looking back through Raithe’s memories, he didn't like to see the animals suffer, so instead of the normal method of wounding the animal and stalking it until it gave up or died, he tried to ambush and critical strike them. He was trying to make sure they would die right away.
The [Night Vision] skill was probably from him hunting and foraging at night after the knife incident.
Oh, there's new skills too.
It certainly seems likely that I brought with me the [Mage] and [Faerie Mage] related skills that Raithe didn't have, including my [Regeneration] ability, and probably in the process of learning [Meditation] from Reina, I increased [Concentration] and learned [Mana Control]. Not bad for an hour's work.
…but, under 'Racial Skills', what's with the [Elf] section?
I understood the likely reason for the Human and Demon sections… but Elf? It said 'new' though, so the most likely reason was that I must've brought those along when I took over Raithe’s body as well. The description for the Elf race was that they were distant relatives of the ‘Faeries of the Mist’ who gave up their immortality to gain physical form.
Hmm… that sounds kind of familiar. Well, whatever.
I started looking over the descriptions for the new [Elf] and [Faerie Mage] skills. [Nature Affinity] and [Illusion Resistance] seemed rather straight forward—my faerie background probably gave me a bonus to using Nature element, and being from the Mist, a world where illusion is reality, would likely help me to see though illusions.
Huh? Why do I know that?
The memories of my time in the Mist were… there… but felt almost like a dream. I vaguely remembered impressions of some of the other beings—faeries?—surrounding themselves with realities of their own creation.
Was that really the first time I had awakened in the Mists?
While pondering that, I tapped on the description for [Faerie Magic] which seemed like it would be something fun, but the description was surprisingly scary:
[Fairy Magic](Charisma) Reality defining magic with the capability to create other-worldly spaces where fate and reality are warped to the whims of the caster. Fairy blessings, which involve bestowing a fragment of one's being to another, can be very powerful and permanent.From the description, apparently, bestowing a blessing was no simple matter… I would have to thank the Queen of the Fae next time I saw her.
I did have some skill in [Faerie Magic], but with as powerful and dangerous as it sounded, and the fact that I didn’t seem to know any actual spells yet, I decided that [Faerie Magic] as a usable skill was a moot issue for now.
The [Faerie Language] skill on the other hand… I didn't notice it when I was conversing with the Queen of the Fae when in the Mist, but once I had obtained Raithe's body, the sound of the Queen's voice had a magical and musical quality to it—like the distant sounds of tinkling bells, flowing water, rumblings of the deep earth, and whispering trees.
Can I really make sounds like that with a physical mouth?
I considered it for a few moments and wondered if I drew upon the memory of how the Queen’s words sounded and tried repeating something she said, whether the skill might make it happen for me.
Let's see… she said,
{What you choose to do with these gifts is up to you.}
As I voiced the phrase, I felt mana being drawn from my body to give shape to the words.
Woah, speaking in Faerie is a bit dangerous—
"Ya know, you're some kind'a pretty-boy—singing while looking at yourself in the [Equipment Screen], heh."
Gah, I got too preoccupied with exploring the [Status Screen] and forgot about Jake.
Somehow, I got the feeling that something rather rude was just said, but it was probably best to let it pass. So, I responded with, "Not singing, it's the faerie's language. Sorry about waking you up… and for using your bed."
"Nah, not a problem, faerie language, huh…" He said while getting into a cross-legged sitting position. "Guess that makes sense."
Huh? Why would it? Besides that, I think there was something important said just a moment ago.
"…Wait, you said you can see yourself in the [Equipment Screen]?”
I turned to look at Jake who was dressed in a long nightshirt similar to the one I was wearing. Though a bit hard to tell in the moonlight, his shortish shock of hair looked to be a slightly sun-bleached, but otherwise rather ordinary brown, and his skin was a healthy bronze, likely from time spent playing or working outside. His facial features were a bit generic, and though he did seem like a smart-aleck, the overall impression was that of someone reliable.
"Huh? You've never used the [Dressing Room] in the [Equipment Screen]? The girls are always making trips to the general store to play dress-up. Normally, all you have to do is touch the clothing or have it in a bag or something and it'll show up in the list of items that the small 'you' in the [Dressing Room] window can put on. But, stores are special—when you're in a store, anything on display will automatically show up in the list."
"Really? I never noticed. I've never been in a store before either, but that sure sounds really useful. I'll check it out now. What you said about the girls is pretty funny, too. Somehow, I think I can picture that. Ah… by the way, how'd you know I was using the [Status Screen]?"
I switched to the [Equipment Screen] while I was replying. It took me a little while to find the button that said Dressing Room, but once I found it, I tapped on it, and a new window popped up alongside the [Equipment Screen] window.
"Well, your girly lavender glowing eyes were staring at something in front of you and you were tapping the air with your hands. What else would you be doing?"
So, it's not that he could see the [Status Screen], that's a relief. Right. Let's go with that.
"I guess it would be like that, huh. I was looking over the skills your mom taught me during the day and was thinking about what I want to work on going forward." Not exactly a lie, but not entirely the truth either.
Wait. Again, wasn't there something wrong with what he said. Weren't Raithe's eyes red?
I looked at the new window that had popped up, and immediately I realized something was wrong. The me in the [Dressing Room] window was nothing like the Raithe from before.
"Haha, that look on your face. You really have never used it before. By the way, if you use your fingers to pinch or spread the window, you can zoom in and out."
I zoomed in on the head area. No, I couldn’t say that I looked nothing like Raithe, since there was a slight resemblance to his broader and more powerful facial features, but it had been refined into a boyishly elfin shape with somewhat noble and proud eyes and forehead.
It was a dramatic and striking change, but even more dramatic was the change in skin tones and hair color. Skin that was previously a terrifying black-tinged red had become a warm lavender tone, with black-tinged, purplish-red lips and black-lined eyes with deep smoky eyeshadow. My ears had smoky colored tips and had become long and elfin, following out from my jaw-line.
Jake was right about my eyes. They were lavender, I guess. Or maybe the color Jake saw was influenced by the pale bluish moonlight. In the display, my eyes were a warmer tone that my skin, almost pink really, and there was a faint glow. My round pupils weren't black either, but also faintly glowing and reflective like the back of a cat's eye.
That wasn't all of the changes either! Somehow, I didn't notice my hands were different when I was tapping on the screen. I guess I'd just assumed my skin color appeared lighter because of the moonlight, but now that I was actually looking, my skin was clearly not just lighter. Even in the moonlight—or maybe because of the moonlight—I could see that my skin had a faint glittery iridescence in places. My fingernails were also way different from Raithe's, starting out black under the cuticle and changing to ivory color toward the sharp tips…
Gah, they've gotten a bit long. I'll definitely need to file them down first chance I get.
Raithe's horns had undergone a radical transformation as well, from swept-back, black demon horns to swept-back ivory-toned eldritch stag-like antlers with only the roots still black. Interestingly, the black still extended out in branching veins along the ridges as it faded into ivory.
The small horns still smoothly transitioned from the temple of either side of my head and curved slightly back to just past my ears, but instead of each being shaped as a single horn, they now branched into a long lower horn and short upper horn. The lower horn branched again once, near the end, and the upper horn branched a small nub about mid-way along its short length. The two sides were symmetrical, from what I could tell.
My hair… what do I say… it was pink! Well, a tad more lavender than pink… and it had grown out to a few inches past my shoulders. The roots were still black like Raithe's original hair-color, giving a dramatic smoky look, and the ends faded from the pinkish-lavender to a glittery champagne tone near the tips. So, it was not as girly as completely pink would be, but I could get what Jake was saying about ‘girly’ and ‘pretty boy’... ugh.
I make a sardonic half-smile just thinking about it, and immediately regretted it.
Uwah, sinister.
The mini-me mimicked my expression, and the dark-lined lips of my elfin face made the creepiest sneer I've ever seen. Something along the lines of: I'm going to suck out your soul now, and it's going to be delicious.
"Oy, if you smile like that, little kids are going to run away in terror, you know."
"Ha hah, you're right. I had no idea it looked like that when I smile. I was just thinking that I have no comeback to your pretty-boy jabs, but I wonder if I should embrace it and play the cool expressionless aloof guy..."
"Heh. You're funny, dude. But hey, seriously did you really not have any idea what you look like?" Jake lightly snorted, then looked at me with a disbelieving expression as he asked his question.
"Well, my family was very poor, and the only times I saw what I looked like was when I saw my blurry reflection in a stream or a bucket of water. Also, I think, because of my non-human side, that I've changed a fair amount since the last time I looked,” I replied. It wasn’t completely a lie. I wove elements of the truth in as well.
"So, what race are you anyway? I've never seen anyone who looks like you before."
Jake wasn't asking in a malicious way, but I couldn’t help thinking that asking about someone’s race was something that should normally be treated with more sensitivity.
Oh well. Let's see... how should I answer this?
"Well… I'm part faerie, and part human. My mother was human. Really strange, isn't it?" Since this body doesn't really look like a demon-kin anymore, I decided to omit that part—probably nothing good would come of admitting that I was part demon and I didn't want to mess up this chance at a fresh start.
"Ah. That would explain it… I think. Since you look like an elf with horns and a weird skin and hair color. But really, that's so cool. I've never heard of anyone being half-faerie before!" Jake was pretty psyched up.
As to why my body transformed the way it did, when I thought about the stag-like changes to Raithe's horns and remembered my difficulty forming hands when I was in the Mist, I wondered if I was a stag-like creature then?
Looking back at my face one last time before closing the display, I thought that regardless of what I was before taking over this body, now that it had undergone such tremendous change—and even if it was unfair—I was most likely going to have an easier time interacting with others while in this body than Raithe did. Though, the slightly impish and condescending features of this body's new face seemed to portend a different kind of trouble to come.
Even so, I had to admit that my new body and face looked really cool. Of course, the look when taken all together was way over-the-top, and if a person tried to create this look with make-up, I would want to laugh at them for trying too hard to be cool.
But, since it's how I am now, I'll just have to roll with it.
I felt bad for Raithe who had such a difficult start in life, especially, when I had been given so many advantages, some even due to his hard work and perseverance. It was unfortunate that things couldn't have turned out better for him in the end.
While thinking such melancholic and conflicted thoughts, a pressing matter came to my attention.
Hmm... I probably haven't gone since before the village was destroyed… well, with the blood loss, dehydration, and not really eating much, maybe it wasn't a problem? Whatever the situation was before, it’s a problem now. And, it's not like I don't want to change the subject anyway.
"What's up?" Noticing my change in mood, Jake asked about it.
"Umm… I think I gotta go…"
"Go where? Ah! You mean you need to take a piss! Mom said that would probably happen and that I was to show you how to use our toilet room, so guess I've gotta help my new lil' bro."
This kid! Well, whatever.
I pushed off the blanket and carefully got up from the bed, then motioned for him to show the way once I was sure I could move properly.
"A room in the house is used? Isn't that a bit unusual?" Raithe's house didn't have any kind of toilet. He'd usually dig a hole in the woods with his knife for doing his business.
"This way, Raithe, was it? I'm Jake, by the way. And, yup, it's in the house. Mom's a mage, and she makes all kinds of magical devices for people to use." Jake led me out of the room and into the common area of the house. The wood flooring felt surprisingly clean and well cared for against my bare feet as I followed behind Jake.
In the moonlight coming through the glass-paned windows, I could see that the common area had an open layout with log-cabin-style walls. I took a moment to look around taking in the details of the surroundings.
Just outside the bedroom door was a spacious living area. It had a seating area with two wooden rocking chairs, each with a matching side-table. Against the wall was a writing desk with a chair. Toward the far side of the room was a hand-carved, 6-seat table-and-chairs set most likely used for meals. Nearby was a ladder leading up to a balconied loft area above.
To the right, along the wall, was one of the clear glass windows, and near where the table sat, there was a small foyer area with a sturdy-looking door that probably led outside. In the foyer area I could see a large chest and a coat rack holding some cloaks. A folded up white parasol graced a tallish decorative vase that also contained other less interesting umbrellas.
At the far side of the house was an apparently added-on room. Past hanging pots and bunches of herbs, I thought I saw a woodstove and cooking area with a large cauldron. It seemed like there was another window and probably more around the corner, but I couldn't see that from where I was.
To the left, was a bumped-out library room, lined with bookshelves full of books, and the glow of moonlight on a reading table and chairs in the center of the library room indicated there was probably a window just out of sight. A small pile of books was still sitting on the table.
"The middle door here is the toilet. The next door is Alisha's room and the door on the other wall is the bath. Up top, past the loft, is mom and dad's room."
Jake turned the latch handle on the middle door which had a plaque designating occupancy hanging from a hook affixed to the door. As he stepped into the narrow toilet room, I moved closer to see through the doorway.
Inside the toilet room along the left wall, I was surprised to see a polished stone sink on an ornately-carved, four-posted, wood stand. Above the sink was a conveniently-sized metal and glass wall-mirror and a metal fixture that supported a finger-sized metal-shrouded blue crystal. The sink seemed excessively fancy for a log-cabin style house, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it clashed. Though, the sink looked expensive enough to make me wonder, why this family wasn’t living in a house made of stone or brick if they had money for such things.
Next to the sink was a cylindrical stone with a small purple crystal embedded in the side and a metal-hinged lid—the toilet, apparently. Mounted to the wall above the cylindrical toilet was an ornately-carved wood cabinet and some shelving that was being used for storage. An L-shaped metal pipe connected the base of the stone washbasin to the toilet's stone cylinder.
On the right wall was mounted a wood ring holding a towel likely for hand-drying, and in the far corner, just like in the bedroom, was a narrow, waist-high, dark-metal stand with a red crystal mounted to the top.
The far wall had a wood-framed glass window, curtained with a sheer fabric edged with lace. The moonlight filtered softly though the curtains, which had been drawn closed for privacy.
"The blue crystal above the sink is used to create water for washing your hands and face. If you provide a small amount of mana to the crystal the water will flow out for a while. It's a bit tricky getting the amount just right, but my mom sees this as part of our magic training. If you're good enough at manipulating mana, you can also draw the remaining mana back out of the crystal to turn it off. The red crystal provides heat. Over here is the toilet.”
Jake opens the stone cylinder's metal-hinged covering, revealing a polished wood seat with a generous enough hole in the middle. Embedded in the underside of the lid was a blue crystal similar to the one above the sink, but oval shaped with a multi-faceted cut.
"Do your business in here. The purple crystal on the side is for washing afterward. Then close the lid and activate the blue crystal. It all goes down to the composter in the basement, but you can worry about that later. Any questions?"
I shook my head. "Nope. I think I'll be fine." The situation was beginning to get more urgent, but Jake seemed to pick up on that and came out of the room, motioning for me to go ahead.
"Try not to take too long. I'll wait out here for you. Just come get me if you have any problems." He said and yawned a bit.
I went inside and closed the door. After taking care of what I needed to do, I practiced with using the sink crystal to wash my hands before providing mana to the toilet crystals.
Apparently, supplying mana would create a fixed flow of water with the amount of mana determining the duration. I found it interesting that the purple crystal differed from the blue crystal in the warmth of the water created. I checked my status before and after using the crystals and noted that they used about 1 to 2 points of mana each.
When I opened the door to exit the room, Jake was sitting at the table looking sleepy and bored.
"So, you're done, huh? Any problems?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"Great. Well then, I'm going to go back to bed. You should as well, I have to do chores first thing in the morning, and mom has probably got something in mind for you as well."
"Okay." I agreed and followed him back to his room.
Well, guess it's my room now, too.
"Ah, about the bed?" It would probably be rude of me to just assume that I should get the bed now that I had recovered. But Jake surprised me with his answer.
"Nah, that's your bed now. Dad's making me a new one. G'night." Jake mumbled as he got back into his blankets and pulled them over his head.
After getting back into the bed, I pulled up the [Status Screen] again and got to work looking over my ability list. There were quite a lot.
From the list of abilities that I could actively use were:
| Knife (Throw, Cut) Spear (Stab) Sneak Attack Critical Strike Night Vision (Active) Identify Tracks Place Snare Materials Gathering (Wickerwork) Dismantle Patrol Hide |
Sneak Move Silently Meditate Concentrate Swim Infiltrate Observe Repair Item Twine Whittle |
My passive (always in effect) abilities were:
| Basic Knife Handling Basic Spear Handling Surprise! (Ambush) Please Don't Notice Me (Erase Presence) Poke 'Em Where It Hurts (Critical Strike) Night Vision (Passive) Basic Planning My mama says… (Common Sense) Be polite to your betters and elders. (Humility) Do I really need that? (Frugality) I guess I shouldn't… (Prudence) Is that so? (Composure) Are you okay? (Empathy) Basic Creature Knowledge Basic Trapping Knowledge Basic Scent Detection Basic Animal Mimicry Basic Trail Finding Basic Butchering Basic Hiking Keep your eyes peeled (Patrol) Somethings not right (Alertness) |
Watch out for that twig! (Move Silently) I thought I heard something… (Detect Noise) Improved Concentration I Basic Housekeeping Basic Knowledge Basic Reading/Writing Basic Mathematics Basic Swimming Guts! (Endurance) Basic Infiltration Hey, you wore that yesterday (Observation) Basic Materials Knowledge Basic Strength Training Basic Item Repair Apprentice Tailor Thread Making Rope Making Apprentice Woodworker Whittling Reed Making Faerie Singer Basic Regeneration |
Most of the passive abilities just increased the chance of success for the corresponding ability, but a few of the weird named ones did interesting things, like Ambush's [Surprise!], which increased the likelihood of noticing a good location for launching surprise attacks from, for example.
With that done, I checked out the [Lore Screen] before getting some more sleep.
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