And (N)one Shall Remain

“There! Go get ‘em, chico!” said Esperanza as she pointed out with one pseudo-hand – she still had a hard time forming the fingers properly as they kept trying to form into a three-taloned claw rather than a five-fingered hand instead – towards a small flock of rabbit-like creatures, just ones with vicious claws on their feet and a horn on their forehead rather than normal rabbits.

 

A quick look with her [Gaze] informed her that they were monsters called [Horned Hopper] with their levels ranging from 14 to 21, rather high for the outskirt region of the forest they were in. That said, Esperanza was not particularly worried about sending her companions to take on the beasts. Her [Shepherd of the Lost] skill had reached level 2 the day before which boosted the level of her animal companions straight to 20.

 

It was apparently unusual, according to Oldies. Normally skills that grant companions like hers would have those companions start off at level 1, with them growing slowly and the skill leveling up each time those companions passed a level threshold. Her companions had been at level 10 right when she summoned them, and when the skill leveled up, their level also jumped straight to 20 on the spot.

 

Perhaps it was due to the unusual nature of her companions, Oldies had theorized. In a way, the canine guise they had were mostly a receptacle for their true power and self, which Esperanza has gotten a glimpse of during their summoning process. As such, they were already very powerful by this world’s standards, merely limited to what their receptacles were capable of channeling.

 

When her skill had leveled, Esperanza also saw a notice that her companions would be limited in level until she herself became a higher level of existence. She noticed it when both her companions leveled to 21 within the same day after the skilled leveled to level 2, but was stuck there since. Experience points and levels at the current stage were supposedly easy to get, so they were likely stuck at 21 because she herself was still 21, and could not level up until she herself did.

 

After all, their existence in this world was anchored and bound to her soul.

 

Dali shot off like an arrow launched from a bow at Esperanza’s command, and pounced upon the flock of [Horned Hopper]. The monsters were individually larger, if stouter than the greyhound-like form Dali had, even though he had grown up some compared to when he was freshly summoned. Right now he looked more like a slightly older puppy rather than a newborn one.

 

Despite their greater size and their vaunted speed – the [Horned Hopper] was every bit as agile as their rabbit-like appearance suggested – Dali was even faster. He directly toyed with the flock of larger prey, something that reminded Esperanza of documentaries she had seen before. Documentaries of killer whales preying on much larger whales.

 

The sleek form of the greyhound darted around and between the larger monsters, the smallest of which were at least twice its mass. It was slippery and moved faster than what the monsters could react to. Clawed rear legs kicked out only to meet empty air. Horn-first charges found nothing but the space where Dali had been mere moments ago.

 

In turn, his jaws took small nips and bites at the larger beasts. Every little nip taken at a place where it would do far more damage than what its size would have indicated. Tendons and nerve bundles were torn apart, depositing the surprised monsters on the ground when their limbs suddenly stopped working properly. Eyes were ruined in others, rendering them half-blinded or fully blind.

 

Only when his prey had been pacified and were unable to resist meaningfully did Dali move in for the kill. He never slowed down, and took his little nip as he flashed past the prone form of the monsters he targeted. This time his jaws tore up large blood vessels along the side of the creatures’ spines, something that would probably be equivalent to the carotid or femoral artery in humans.

 

The creatures bled to death rapidly from those wounds.

 

All the while, Esperanza welcomed the flood of notifications that came as one beast after another breathed their last. Dali and Gordita were considered an extension of her being, and as such she gained part of the experience from whatever they killed, just as they gained the same from her kills. It was a symbiotic relationship between them, one of mutual benefits.

 

Your Companion Dali have defeated [Horned Hopper Lvl 17]!

Your Companion Dali have defeated [Horned Hopper Lvl 21]!

Your Companion Dali have defeated [Horned Hopper Lvl 18]!

…

…

…

Your Companion Dali have defeated [Horned Hopper Lvl 14]!

You have leveled to level 2! +2 Free Major stat points gained! +1 Constitution Gained, +3 Wisdom Gained, -2 Sanity Gained!

Your Companion [Dali] has leveled to level 22!
Your Companion [Gordita] has leveled to level 22!

 

Esperanza nodded with satisfaction at the level gain. Leveling had been slow for her in the past few days. At first it was for the obvious reason, since she mostly sought out creatures in the low single-digit range to sic Dali or Gordita at. Those creatures gave her practically no experience due to their much lower levels. In fact, anything a tier below her gave practically no experience these days.

 

The fact that she was also moving in the direction Oldies gave her, the location of one of the few remaining places that still worshiped them, also played into the equation, as it took her out from the central region of the forest where the stronger beasts are. After a couple days of moving and mostly avoiding fights out of worry for her still-weak companions back then, she had reached the outskirts of the forest, and monsters that are equivalent to the second tier started to become rare.

 

If anything, that one level 21 [Horned Hopper] likely contributed more to the level she just got compared to the rest of its flock.

 

She had also learned over these few days that she had been overly cautious. Her companions were strong for their level, as they showed by regularly hunting down creatures many times their size that are higher in level than they were. They seemed to enjoy hunting as well, so she had far less qualms in siccing them at whatever came across their path these days.

 

A quick glance at her stat screen and a quick distribution of the free stats followed the hunt. Esperanza had once debated whether it would not be a good idea to keep some free stats just in case she might need a boost in one stat or another one day, but eventually Oldies convinced her that it would likely be a poor choice. The situation she would be able to escape by allocating those free stats were likely ones she would never have gotten into in the first place had she already distributed them.

 

Name : Esperanza Marisol de Gonzalez Cabrera

Race : Human (?)

Age : 18

Class : [Spark of Hope Lvl20]/[Emissary of the Forgotten Lvl1]/???/???/???

 

Stats :

Free Major Stat Points: 0

 

• Body : 37.33

    - Strength : 38

    - Dexterity : 37

    - Constitution : 37

• Mind : 35.66

    - Intelligence : 36

    - Perception : 35

    - Wisdom : 36

• Soul : 62.33

    - Willpower : 39

    - Intuition : 38

    - Sanity : -110

 

Skills:

 

Class 1: [Spark of Hope]

• Far Down the Deep End :EX

• Fleshweaving: Lvl 6

• Shifting Guise: Lvl 8

• Consume: Lvl 4

• Gauze of Oblivion: Lvl 2

Class 2: [Emissary of the Forgotten]

• Shepherd of the Lost: Lvl 2

• ???

• ???

• ???

• ???

 

General Skills:

• Respawn: EX

• A Glimpse of Understanding: Lvl 1

• Language Understanding: Lvl 1

• Gaze Unto the Abyss: EX

• Aura Control: Lvl 6

• Tracking: Lvl 3

• ???

• ???

• ???

• ???

 

The relative lack of experience gains for the past few days had not meant that she did not grow stronger either. She made sure to practice her skills, and saw an increase in some of them. [Gauze of Oblivion] in particular had leveled up when she made heavy use of it to sneak out from the central forest with the then level 10 Dali and Gordita in tow.

 

As for the rest, she just practiced them as much as she could during her free time. Her gain of levels in skills slowed down the higher they get, though supposedly they could evolve if she manages to get them into their maximum level. At least Oldies said so. Skills supposedly had their own tiers, and could evolve further. That said, only skills that had been evolved during a class evolution would eventually be able to reach the highest tier.

 

That was something she appreciated, as she recalled the last time she talked with Oldies about that subject.

 

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It is quite interesting that it was that skill in particular which evolved during the class change. We had not expected that. Then again, usually this sort of connection is partly formed by the individual’s own mindset and beliefs, which the system just amplified further. As such, it is probably some part of your mind that equated the position of an emissary with the skill, Esperanza.

 

“Kinda makes some sense, I guess. I mean, I can’t exactly do any emmisarying if people run away in fear and panic or go crazy when they see me, now can I?” said Esperanza in turn. “Being able to assume a less… eldritch-y guise would be a very useful thing when I need to talk to others, you know.”

 

It is perhaps also linked to your desire to regain a simile of your previous form, which the system had interpreted and incorporated into the class and the skill. Either way, you seem pretty pleased with the result, we noticed.

 

“I mean, I do want to help you out more and this class definitely looks like it’d help me to do that, and I do have some attachment to my old body and would like some way to sort of get it back if I can, y’know?” said Esperanza with a metaphorical shrug of her shoulders. “This way, I kinda get both of those at once, and as my teacher used to tell me, por que no los dos?”

 

That is one way to view things, we suppose.

 

******************************

 

“Who’s a good boi? You are! Yes you are!” said Esperanza as she gently rubbed the short, sleek fur on Dali’s head with one arm-like appendage. For his own part, Dali seemed to enjoy the caress and rubbed his head against her hand just as vigorously. Even while she did that, Esperanza formed a maw in her other “hand” and swallowed the beasts Dali hunted down whole after Gordita dragged them over, one after another, leaving a couple for her companions to feast on.

 

She trained her [Consume] skill that way, with most everything she killed. At its current level the skill had increased in duration and amount of stat gained, but it was still a couple points to each stat for a few minutes. Not exactly practical to use unless she happened to be accosted by a horde of weaker enemies and could use it during the fight.

 

Gordita was nestled by her “thigh” and chomped down on the large monster it had dragged over to feast on. She was a larger and far bulkier dog than Dali was, and while far stronger and durable, was nowhere as fast. It was one reason Esperanza only sicced Dali at the monsters during the hunt earlier, as they were the sort of prey Gordita was poorly equipped for dealing with.

 

At the moment, Esperanza mostly had two goals in mind for the life ahead of her. She would try to help Oldies out as much as she could, partly as thanks for the help they had given her so far. Other than that, she would also try to live this second life of hers to the fullest, now that she had a proper chance to do so. The two goals might seem paradoxical, since Oldies had long stated that he wished for her to destroy this world, but nobody said she couldn’t enjoy life to the fullest first while doing that.

 

As her old teacher had told her before, Por que no los dos? Why not both?