Big Game Sniper

Eleisa waited with bated breath for Jared to reappear.

What if my actions invalidated any goodwill he had for me? What if he tells me to leave and never return? Did I lose my path to power before even stepping onto it? But if he considers a mimic his friend, he has to be more open-minded about other races, right?

Shoving her thoughts to the side, she spent the rest of the time until Jared reappeared coming up with a plan for remaining in his good graces, or at least undoing some of the damage she had done.

As Jared walked out onto the street, Eleisa bowed at the waist, starting into her prepared speech.

“I apologize for any offense I caused through my actions. I will offer any restitution you see fit. If-”

She was cut off by a sigh from Jared, followed by a handwave.

“Don’t worry about it. I know you were just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it. Now, how can I help you?”

Eleisa was confused. She hadn’t offended him? But she had attacked one he considered a friend, unprovoked. Why did he not demand compensation?

“I do not understand. Why are you not angry with me? I threatened the life of your friend, and therefore must atone for my actions.”

The man sighed again.

“No, you don’t. You acted in a perfectly logical manner. If anything, I am at fault for not explaining the situation up front. Now I do have other things that I want to do today, so I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you want from me.”

Eleisa straightened, still confused, but decided to do as he requested.

“I approached you to inquire if I might join your party. You are copper ranked, and can take jobs worth a lot more than I can, as I am still only Iron. My Skills are better suited to a supporting role, so I struggle even with the jobs of my rank. I believe it would be mutually beneficial for us to travel together.”

Jared frowned, his brow crumpling. “Isn’t your class some sort of soldier mage? I can’t imagine that being entirely support-focused.”

Eleisa shook her head, a slight smile gracing her lips. “No, you have misunderstood what the GEAS identifies me as. I am of the Kyrien race, Soldier caste. My class is just Mage, since I haven’t reached level 10 and Ascended to Improved yet.”

He still seemed confused. “But you’re still a Soldier, and that has to count for something, right? And I’m sure as a Mage, you would have at least some basic combat skills.”

Eleisa frowned. She had not intended on revealing this much information, but she had told him she would answer all of his questions, and if it increased her chances of joining his party, it would be worth it. Even if only by building a little trust.

“Can we retire to a more secluded location? I would prefer not to disclose details about myself in the middle of the street.”

Jared slapped his forehead. “Right, this is probably considered fairly private information. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if you do, we can go back to one of our rooms in the Hunters’ Guild. Is that ok?”

She nodded. “That would be acceptable.”

They walked back across the plaza to the Hunters’ Guild, and Eleisa took the lead, heading to her room. They entered, and she gestured at the chair next to the desk, taking a seat on her bed.

When Jared sat, Eleisa took a deep, steadying breath, and began speaking.

“It is slightly misleading for my caste to be called Soldiers. Being one just means that I have access to combat classes and Skills, rather than ones focused on production or creation. But usually you would be correct; I am a special case. For a reason known only to the GEAS, when I made my first kill and unlocked my profile, I had 0 Projection. For this reason, I cannot use Skills or spells that affect anything but myself. Additionally, the Skill I was given when I first obtained my class is a mild buff to my mind, increasing my mental Alacrity by an amount equal to my magical Physique, and my physical Alacrity by half that amount. Nearly every other Skill I have gained since is equally useless in combat.”

Jared’s expression shifted from confused to contemplative.

“Okay, that does seem frustrating. But before we go further, why did you pronounce the name of the system like that? The girl in the Delver’s Guild did too. I know it’s not really relevant, but it seems weird to me.”

Why was he asking about something that was common knowledge? Had he never been around other people before? Jared was very strange, even for a human. Her Queen had said he would be from another land, but could it have been so different that he lacked even basic knowledge that was known even to children?

“I do not know why, but I am certain my pronunciation is correct. Though Evandrian Common is not my native tongue, I have mastered it sufficiently for this much.”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t doubting your grasp of the language. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you aren’t a native speaker. If anything, I think you have a better grasp of it than I do, and I am a native speaker. I was just curious.”

He frowned, and his expression shifted to one that Eleisa couldn’t read. Then he shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Back to your situation, sure it seems like you’ve been dealt a crap hand in some respects, but honestly, I can see a lot of potential for you becoming a real monster, given some time, practice, and a few levels.”

She breathed in sharply, anger and frustration bubbling up in her mind.

I thought this one was different. It turns out all humans are indeed the same.

“I will always be Kyrien. We do not have the ability to evolve into monsters, despite what some think.”

Jared looked at her blankly for a moment, then erupted into a deep belly laugh.

“No, that’s not what I meant, sorry. I didn’t know that’s a sore spot for you. I was saying that I think you have the potential to become really powerful.”

“Oh.” She looked down sheepishly as she realized that she had yet again erred. Then she frowned, raising her gaze back up to meet his. “Can you elaborate? I do not see how.”

He rubbed his chin absently as he considered. “Okay, let’s take the skill you mentioned. I can think of several ways it would be directly applicable in combat, aside from the frankly great utility of increasing your reaction time. And as you level it up and ascend it, I’m sure you’ll soon have a Skill that anybody in any sort of military leadership position would kill for. Think about it. If you leaned heavily into the mental speed side of the enhancement, you’d have a skill perfectly suited to rapidly processing information, allowing you to make good decisions in combat much faster. You could learn to read the ebb and flow of battle, to see which places need reinforcement or where troops are bunching up. Or you could use it to feel out a monster, learn its abilities and patterns so you can either put it down yourself or help someone else kill it much easier.”

His eyes widened as a new idea seemed to strike him and he grinned. “Hell, you would make for an unparalleled spotter.”

Eleisa furrowed her brow in confusion. “What? What does that-”

She was interrupted by a notification.

[Human{Spelljamming Offensive Powerhouse} Marksman](lvl 10) invited you to his party. Do you accept?

She stared at the words, hardly willing to believe they were real. She shifted her gaze back to Jared’s eyes, searching for any sign of duplicity. He just smiled genially, gesturing at her.

“Well? What are you waiting for? This is what you wanted, right?”

She nodded dumbly and accepted, two nameplates appearing in the top left corner of her vision.

Naomi: [Equipment Mimic](lvl 10)

Jared Moore:[Big Game Sniper](lvl 10)/[Ammunition Maker{Magical}](lvl 1)

Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she bowed to Jared.

“You honor me greatly. I will endeavor to live up to your expectations. But what is a spotter? I have not heard this word before.”

“A spotter is a sniper’s best friend. As a sniper, I am trained to perform reconnaissance and execute precision strikes from a great distance. Now, I basically kill monsters from as far away as possible. Or, at least, I will. Haven’t exactly gotten to test out this new class yet. There are a lot of complications that arise from trying to shoot over such long distances. Bullet drop, wind, target movement, intervening obstructions; these all contribute to making my job very difficult. That’s where the spotter comes in. The spotter evaluates all these and performs the necessary calculations to make sure the sniper can focus on dialing in on the target and making the shot. Without a good spotter, a sniper is much more likely to miss shots longer than about 200 meters, and is much more vulnerable. Like I said, the spotter is the sniper’s best friend.”

Eleisa nodded, possibilities unfolding in her mind at everything he had said. And he didn’t even have all the information about her. “I see. I take it you are not familiar with Kyrien physiology?”

He shook his head. “Not a bit. Why?”

This time, it was her turn to grin. “Because it proves that my Queen was correct. You are my path to power.”

Jared quirked his head, his eyes narrowing. “What? What does that even mean? And how did your queen know about me? And how much does she know?”

Eleisa shook her head. “She does not know about you specifically. While using Conditional Future Sight, she told me to find the one from another land, one who culls the dungeon. I became certain you are he when I saw the name of your quest in the Delver’s Guild.”

Jared stood and began pacing.

“Okay, I’m gonna need more information about that future sight thingy, but that can come later. By those criteria, the person you are looking for could be practically anybody. What makes you so certain it’s me?”

Eleisa’s grin remained, her elation refusing to be dampened.

“Among other factors, the fact that without knowing anything more about me than my physical appearance and one of my Skills, you almost immediately suggested a role that, if I understand your description correctly, perfectly fits my abilities. In general, Kyriens of my phenotype are naturally predisposed to mental magic, which is another reason we are often mistrusted among the other races. Additionally, our nature as creatures of flight gives us a slight connection to the wind. Not enough to be considered a Skill by the GEAS, but enough to read the patterns and flow of the wind around us.”

Jared paused, eyes sparking with excitement meeting her own luminous orbs. “You wanna go test it out?”

It didn’t take long for them to select a suitable job from the board: A shellback prowler. The description provided on the job request told of a large feline, with shell or carapace covering its back, and that it was preying on livestock nearby. After taking some time to procure some basic supplies for the hunt, they set off for the farm it had been last spotted near.

It was about a thirty minute walk, so Eleisa took the time to try to get to know Jared a little more, seeing as they were near-complete strangers.

“I am curious where you come from. You use words I am unfamiliar with, and lack knowledge that even children have.”

Jared chuckled. “I’m from really, really far away. So far away that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Things are different there, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the way everything is done here.”

Eleisa nodded. “I too am a stranger in this land. My homeland is far to the southwest, and I have yet to learn much from the people here. They fear and mistrust me. None will even talk to me, aside from hateful comments as I pass. Even the people in the Hunters’ Guild, which is supposedly ‘welcoming to all’ only interact with me because it is necessary to do business.”

“Yeah, well, It’s human nature to fear or hate what we don’t understand, and you are more than a little out of the ordinary. Honestly, I was pretty intimidated when you first called out to me outside the Hunters’ Guild.”

Eleisa frowned. “If that is the case, why did you stop to converse with me?”

Jared smiled over at her. “While you outwardly seemed very different from me, to me, so is everything and everyone here. It was a small thing to just talk with someone who made the effort to reach out to a stranger. From what you’ve told me, that must have taken a lot of courage.”

Eleisa’s cheeks warmed slightly. “Not as such. I didn’t recognize you, so I knew you weren’t from this town. I hoped that someone from elsewhere might be willing to talk, and I was right.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, walking along the road side by side. It wasn’t too long after that, that they found the first sign of their prey: screams coming from up ahead.

Eleisa looked at Jared sharply, finding him doing the same, and they both took off towards the sounds.