Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

We stayed about an hour longer in the restaurant after I… well, extorted Martha. She didn’t show any signs of displeasure after my nasty move and that’s the scariest thing she could’ve done, hiding the grudge and letting it fester. Her vengeance will be backhanded and swift and I’ll take it without a complaint because I deserve it. I got my funding though.

Still, I got the rest of the day off and probably some extra free time for the days to come to simply be with my family. It’s such a simple thing yet it means so much more than any level up.

We’re just walking down the streets like a normal family would, chatting, and doing nothing in particular. It’s a nice change I have to say. “So… anything interesting on your end?” I ask. “I’m out of my best stories and the rest aren’t that interesting.”

“Just like when you almost killed yourself with your own mana?” Mom raises an eyebrow. “Or when that locust was-”

“Okay, okay,” I raise my hands defensively. “sheesh, you would’ve done the same in my stead.”

“And I would’ve gotten an earful from my father you can’t even imagine, be grateful!” She huffs although I can tell she’s just messing with me, it's a family pastime activity. “You remember when I promised I’d retire from the adventuring life?”

“No, nothing like that happened.” I most definitely remember but I’d be disappointed if they just sat on their thumb while I worked my ass off. “So… did you rob tombs or massacre werewolves or slay giants or… clean the sewers of massive mutant rats?”

“Those were weirdly specific, did you read more of those nonsense Tales of the Great Adventure? You know it’s almost completely made up, right?” I swear my father can be so stupid sometimes…

“Dad, you don’t need to take everything seriously, out with the tales!” I spell things out with a flat look. Men…

“I went back- no, we started accepting jobs a few weeks after… that night.” Mom begins to talk and I’m already bored.

Oh don’t be so dramatic, we’re all alive and the world didn’t end. It sucks and I was sad about it for months if not years but we’re now back together and I didn’t hate every moment of my last three years.

“And together with your father,” Mom grabs her husband’s hand. “we accepted every job we could find, the more dangerous the better. We weren’t reckless just to take our mind off of what happened, no, we wanted to protect you, to be strong enough to protect our family.” Mom strokes my hair with a warm smile. “I reached 350 and your father is 332, those shadow-covered bastards will stand no chance. ”

Awww, I love them so much that I don’t have the heart to tell them how little they know. The kidnappers back in Meliorport were indeed around their current level however the ones we met after the ribcage inn… They gave Bennett a hard time so the sum of your progress sounds more appropriate. Still, great job Mom and Dad, I’m proud.

“Wow, that’s quite a lot, how many times did you almost die?” I ask with a fiendish smile. Revenge.

With that said their progress really is quite something. I outpace them but things get more and more difficult the further you are along the path.

“That’s impressive. Can I still show off?” I ask. I’ve been really looking forward to demonstrating the results of my work to them.

“I thought you’d never ask. We can’t really throw magic around inside the city so let's grab some light snacks and head to the forest, shall we?” Mom dictates and leads the way.

We quickly find some roasted lamb, caramelized apples and anything I desire, really. They spoil me with whatever I ask for, be it expensive cuts of meat or some sweet stuff I've never even heard about before, likely to compensate for the lost time. I abuse that generosity till I’m about to burst apart and maybe do feel a bit bad for it, a teeny-tiny bit.

They missed buying me stuff and I missed getting goodies so it was a win-win.

***

Finding food is easy, food stalls in Granhall are like mosquitoes in the summer, and leaving the city is also much, much, much easier than getting back in. Yeah, we ate again but it was just some snack, a little extra for the journey, an exception from our family tradition.

The entire way to the forest my parents fascinated me with stories of their travels to the south of the continent. The fights they had, the random encounters, the loot… everything was way less epic than any of the stories and yet I felt my being buzzing with excitement.

It’s the real thing, no nasty details omitted, no random ultra luck, or saving a country just the truth. I kept asking myself what I would’ve done in their place, how much my experience amounts to and that’s what made it exciting.

We had to postpone the rest of our storytime when we arrived at the edge of the forest I’m way too familiar with at this point. How many beasts did I kill here? I must’ve slaughtered thousands.

Stupid Martha refused to take us deeper into the woods coming up with lame excuses like erratic beast behavior and damaging the forest. Disturbing the hunters’ work and endangering the forest I can understand, although it’s just four kids we’re talking about, the old hag was probably just too lazy. In the end, we had to kill the weakling beasts in the hundreds just to earn a single level and the fun outings turned into boring grinds. Not that we never ‘accidentally’ walked into danger zones.

The Journey Guide is proof of my hard work and genius,

Elyssia

Age: 12

Celestial Elf

Mana: 3900/3900

Free Points: 12

+426/hour

Might: 7

Intelligence: 444

Mana: 406

Speed: 97

Focus: 502(+78)

Willpower: 442

Endurance: 76

Dexterity: 30

Fortitude: 76

General Skills:

Savant lvl 53

Identify lvl 59

The Art of Movement lvl 55

Dodging lvl 53

Pain Tolerance lvl 24

Premonition lvl 61

Survival lvl 36

Maintained Magic lvl 44

Serne Spellcrafting lvl 49

I. Class: Mystical Daredevil - Arcane lvl 70

Arcane Mastery lvl 67

Armory of the Arcane lvl 63

Mana Perception lvl 65

Elemental Burst lvl 55

Arcane Focus lvl 59

Chaotic Touch lvl 42

II. Class: *Locked*

III. Class: *Locked*

Only a few levels from my next Class-up. And a bunch of Skill levels. It’s not a necessary requirement or anything but why would I settle for less if a little work is all it takes? Okay, a fuck ton of work but I want the best I can get.

According to Martha the minimum requirements one needs to enter the Academy is the age of twelve and a level of at least 60. Pretty damn simple. And a bunch of influence and a buttload of money. Since they, the Fist, want me to kick some ass they pushed me a bit past that lower limit but I doubt the elite of the Empire would send their children any less prepared.

The only thing left is to find a suitable opponent, something more than the average level 20 Wolf to demonstrate the fruits of my work. Dad could solve that issue in minutes as a Hunter but finding prey is also a key competence for any self-respecting fighter.

Or just simply walk where the more dangerous beasts reside, deeper in the forest. Just the way I like it.

My parents have gone silent for almost a minute now and if I had to guess judging by their reaction, we’re not alone. They can hear and see better and let’s not even mention the sensory Skill the both of them likely have. I know they’re intent on letting me do this on my own but trying to act normal is sometimes more suspicious than anything.

It takes another minute for me to notice the shadow lurking at the edge of my vision. Not that kind of shadow just a simple patch of darkness slightly darker than the rest and moving randomly… Okay, maybe not a simple shadow but not the kidnapper type.

I purposely hasten my steps and get quite a few paces in front of my parents with my guard completely down. If the creature stuck around despite being outnumbered then it must be hungry and desperate, waiting only for the opportunity to present itself, so I’ll act as bait. Beasts can’t use Identify so it’s either this or the beast is really dumb.

It can’t be that strong in the first place otherwise it’d already be on the tip of Mom’s spear or we’d be fleeing head over heels.

Just as expected the patch of darkness begins to close the distance ever so slowly, crawling up the side of a tree and setting up ambush.

Watching a predator acting all sneaky and treating me as the prey with Mana Perception really doesn’t help me take this seriously. I almost start humming as I walk towards where I’d lie in wait and where quickly eliminating a single opponent before making a run for it would be the most optimal, I got used to this a bit too much.

As expected the creature emerges, its sleek yet muscular body, black fur that seems to gobble up all the light, and dark orange eyes like the light of Solaire right as he dives below the horizon. It’s majestic.

[Panther lvl 75]

Finally, a worthy opponent, our battle will be swift and merciless.

I made my move even before the big kitty decided to pounce, separating the charges and building up a big zap just for this moment. The beast can’t recognize my smile as a source of danger as I giggle into its face and raise my arm, sending the electricity in the shape of a spear right into its chest.

My stats have improved a little compared to the first time I used lightning magic so it no longer sounds like a meek zap and has some of that thundering to it. The black thing flies back as if something punched it in the chest yet right when I’m about to follow up with the finishing touch it merges with its shadow again.

Damn dark magic, I failed to get any wiser about it during my three years here. Similar to light and life no matter how many times August and Kayla showed me. Light is the bane of dark and vice versa, either the brilliance banishing the darkness or the black mass gobbling up the light depending on which magic is stronger.

I still have fire which has plenty of radiance and I’m no longer averse to using it on creatures. It can’t be that much worse than a claw tearing across you and after a weird badger gave me a taste of that I’m all in on hurting things. It’s eat or be eaten.

It’s just a guess but making its shadow too weak, or too shallow for it to stay hidden should do the trick.

Showering the shadow in flames makes the panther emerge as expected, although I try to restrict myself both to conserve the forest and let this fight go on a little longer. I’m here to show off not murder poor beasties.

The panther makes a run for it with embers still eating away at its fur ‘escaping’ behind the trees, or at least trying to fake it. Right as it’s out of sight the beast dives into the shadows again and circles back around which is actually really smart for such a simple creature. It would also work if only I wasn’t keeping track of it with Mana Perception the entire time.

I allow it, let it come close and get a jump on me… all my Skills need some work after all. As the creature is close enough for me to feel its breath I unleash a lightning-charged Elemental Burst I’ve been holding since it disappeared. It’s like holding your breath, except the pressure, aka the amount of mana, increases over time. Like a shockwave, it washes over everything around me including the big cat and once again it’s about to retreat after a foiled attack, except this time I’m done playing.

The combination of a light fire shower and teeth of stone ripping out of the ground trap the panther with nowhere to run.

Except it has a second Class… A furious torrent of wind blasts the flames away, allowing the panther to slip into the shadows again and drag the fight out even more… Fighting slippery opponents is so fucking annoying.

I can’t really complain about the beast using a second element with like seven in my arsenal but when Kayla whips out her nature magic after buffing her pets with life mana I can’t help but get a little jealous. Although, she was an idiot and Classed up randomly one night with a number of her Skills still far from their peak.

The panther doesn’t try to escape anymore, probably realizing I won't let it, and instead stands face to face, hissing at me and bearing its teeth. I gotta give it to the thing, it fought pretty well. The kitty owes its survival not only to its fast and sneaky build but also to its wits and experience… but I’ve had enough, time to end this.

Instead of letting my opponent lick its wounds, I send a blast of electricity into its side to stun so I can comfortably deliver my finishing move. But then another roar very much like the panther’s comes from the treeline just outside our clearing.

I prepare myself to welcome the new opponents, I’ve grown used to fighting outnumbered. Besides, if you make a ruckus in the forest then it’s foolish not to expect guests to join the party.

Except these are not bloodthirsty beasts of murder, they’re kittens. Tiny black things with fur and eyes just like… just like their mother.

Why can’t things be simple? A life or death fight is all I asked for, something simple to demonstrate my… hmm, do I need to kill it? The panther is likely just hungry and wants to feed its children, that’s it so if I killed it… Damn, I can’t do that that would be more than following the rule of the wilds, it’d be straight-up cruel.

I lower my arms but keep my guard up in case the predator still hasn’t given up on this meal yet. If it pounces again I won't show mercy.

After some hesitation and further growling it tends to its younglings before carefully walking into the underbrush and throwing one last glance at me.

“That’s right, you owe me one.” I mutter and keep track of the creatures as they disappear in the shadows.

I’m not here to hunt or create orphans, I wanted to show my skills and that’s exactly what I just did. Speaking of… where are Mom and Dad, ever since the panther first punched they seem to have just disappeared into thin air.

A hand lands on my shoulder and when I look over I see Dad’s smiling face behind me.

He has to teach me how he did that.

“Did I do well?” I ask with a smile lacking any pride or cockiness. I kinda failed at doing my job to be fair, I let a dangerous beast go.

“You did way more than that.” He hugs me tightly. “You can’t believe how proud I am.”

“Yeah, you fought like a real veteran, fierce like your mother.” Mom appears on my other side and gives a shameless compliment. “You not only showed us today what your Class allows you to do but also let us see who you’ve become while growing into the you we see today.”

“And we’re extremely satisfied with it. You did the right thing and more importantly, you showed compassion above cold killing instinct. We haven’t said this out loud but we were scared you were just pretending, that you were a different person after the years spent with the Fist…” He releases a huge sigh as if the weight of a thousand mountains just disappeared from his shoulder. “I’m so happy you’re still our Eli and we’re proud of you.” Dad ruffles my hair.

I can’t wipe the smile off my face as my eyes get a little wet and my chest fills with pride. I did the right thing.

Also, I really missed this. The best part about receiving honest compliments from my parents isn't the satisfaction I feel but the fact that I made them proud. That I showed them something to make their eyes sparkle. I love it.

We make our way back to the city to continue the happy family moments in a bit cleaner and safer environment and maybe with some food to brighten the mood.

[Your Class [Mystical Daredevil - Arcane] has reached lvl 71, +3 Free Points, +2 Speed, +2 Endurance, +8 Mana, +8 Willpower, +10 Intelligence, +10 Focus, +2 Fortitude.]

[Your Class Skill [Arcane Mastery ] has reached lvl 68.]

[Your Class Skill [Mana Perception ] has reached lvl 66.]

[The general Skill [Dodging] has reached lvl 54.]

[The general Skill [Premonition] has reached lvl 62.]

Praise be to the Gods, the System values effort above outcome.