In Loki's Honor

We ate some pastry that looked dreadfully like scones - sans raisins. They did add some fruit pieces but I couldn't identify it. But someone that eats dirt has no right to complain. We would cut the pastries in half and spread generous amounts of a delicious magenta berry jam. I ate and made a mess. A child's brain loves sugar. It even wiped out some of my grief.

"It is good to see you behave like a child for once," Renyn commented.

He was looking at me with some amused look and I backed off. Damn. The guy was so handsome he might make me swoon. But it is too soon. My five-year-old body had not enough hormone to make me even a bit horny. I frowned and bit a huge chunk of my not-scone. "How are these called?"

"Peko bread," He answered with a velvety voice. I got goosebumps.

"Stop doing that," I complained.

"What's wrong?"

I stared at him with a pout, "Stop using your charm perks on me."

"You're too young to know about that!" He said with a "Caught you!" expression. "But I'll stop. You still owe me your screams of rage and sorrow."

"Yeah, I'll scream and wail for you," I said with what I believed was a sultry face, narrowed slits, and a fake smile with my face completely drenched in jam.

"Gracious Mother Yznera, clean your face!" He shrieked in an effeminate way. "And you are a hundred years too young for that, girl."

I just raised an eyebrow as I gave him a long glare.

"You are older than you look. Don't answer. Let me explain. You spent five years living with feral wolves. But you adjusted into our society in what? Three months? There's no way a human would've learned enough Fulgenian to hold a conversation at your age without System intervention. You suffered an Emergency Activation, didn't you?"

"I did," I replied, amazed my curses allowed me to say so. "I'm a [Monster Hunter]. Was today a trap?" I delivered my question seriously.

"No. By our Mother's decree, you are one of us. We wouldn't set a trap for one of us. But you are not a child even though you wear the body of one. I'm curious. Who is Lily?"

"Lily is a girl with a terrible fate. Born without a living father. Raised with pity charity from the town trollops and gossips. WItnessed her village's destruction before her very eyes. Witnessed her mother's murder in cold blood before her very eyes. Went to live with feral wolves for five years. Had her adoptive pack slaughtered by adventurers seeking a meager amount of coin from selling the pelts? Rooted out of her own den and forced to flee naked from a criminal fire. Forced to fight a Fishman with her bare hands. Hand. Captured by rangers. She finally found shelter in Fulgen and the rest you know."

Renyn spent several minutes thinking and I engorged myself with the not-scones and tea. I cleaned myself using my hand and tongue, and when he wasn't looking, pseudopods. He started when he saw my clean face and finally spoke.

"Who is the person behind the facade? Who is the one living in Lily's skin?" He asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"I'm sorry, master Renyn. What I can tell you is that I am Lily, and there was not a moment since her birth in which Lily wasn't I. I can only speak of things I can speak about. All the rest shall be gibberish."

"Not of free will, I assume?"

I just looked at him and blinked. I'd finally hit the boundary of what my curses allowed me to speak of. If I tried to push further, it would become gibberish.

"I understand. I won't pry further. I know you are telling the truth."

"Thank you, master."

We returned to the studio. Some elves occupied the armchairs.

"Would you tell us your tale for us, Lily?" Mrs. Bemere approached.

I did. I told them the story since my latest birth. I glossed over the divine council and the reason for my mother's death. But I could tell them my village was destroyed. I was a wreck when I ended.

Renyn came to give me support. One of the elves, a woman as youthful as a human in her twenties, stood and spoke.

"Well met, Lily. I'm archmagister Sariandi. Do you know the tale of the Witch of Tambrillia?" She asked me.

"No, milady archmagister. I do not."

"Five years ago, the King's men found a village, destroyed and burned. Not a single stone was left, only ashes and charred ground," Sariandi started the tale.

I felt the blood leave my extremities and my head as she continued.

"The only thing still standing was a statue. A woman, kneeling and pleading, her arms extended as if she was making an offering. The wooden floorboards in a circle underneath her undamaged. The statue proved to be indestructible and was brought to the King's castle. The arcanists tried to unravel the nature of the statue but all they found out was that it was divine magic. They sought guidance from the gods, and Bundeus, God of the Sun, and War told them the statue was a woman, a witch that birthed a great evil."

I crouched and screamed, "SLANDER! My mother was an honest widow."

"Calm down, child. We are on your side and never believed that story. Let me continue," The archmagister lady said, unfazed by my outburst. "King Rudolph III lent his ear to Bundeus's whispers. Bundeus told his followers to seek a girl with a missing right arm. She was a demon sent to devour the land, he said. When the adventurers reported you and the deathberries you ate, Lily, the church of Bundeus made their mission to make sure you died. They failed."

On my knees, I looked around. The elves wore sympathetic faces. "They can't learn I'm here," I said.

"I'm afraid Bundeus already told them," the elder priest, the same that brought me the letter told me. "Already King Rudolph assembles his armies to march upon the forest."

"No," I gasped and didn't hold back the tears. "I'm not evil."

Renyn knelt behind me and squeezed my shoulders. "We know, dear Lily. You are one of us."

I saw the elves' faces. I remembered Grampa "Graybeard" Mythras. Marion. These were the faces of those determined to fight.

"No. You can't fight because of me. Please! Cast me away, kill me, surrender me to them," I whimpered. Turning my gaze up, I implored, "Please, not again."

Mrs. Bemere crossed the room and hugged me. "You are one of us, girl. We won't abandon you."

"Besides," The lady continued, "King Rudolph is only using you as a pretext to invade. Long he coveted the treasures of the forest and the art of our People. War is inevitable."

No. I wouldn't let it happen again. Rudolph, the man that slandered the memory of Rosalinda would not conquer the elves. I would murder him with my own... teeth. I stood up and wiped my tears. I didn't know Rudolph, but Pzutynaar's face would do.

"I died fighting a King for my people once," I told them. "I shall do it again, over and over, until no Kings remain upon the land if necessary. Please. I beseech you. Grant me the power to fight Rudolph, and I'll swear his army shall not march upon the forest. No matter the price."

The elder priest gasped. "The prophecy of the Old Soul!" That statement drew the attention of all elves in the room. "Yznera said, 'In a time of need, the Old Soul, the traveler from the beyond shall arise. An elf at heart they shall cast away their flesh and bleed for the love of the people."

Yeah. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

"Yes, that's me. I'll do it. And when I'm done, I'll come back," I told the priest. "It might take a few lifetimes, but I'll come back. When I do... I'll write the same phrase like the one in Yznera's letter. That way you'll know it is me. And I can't fight in the body of a little girl. Does anyone have an idea on how I can 'cast away my flesh'?"

"The Rite of the Moonbound," another elder elf answered.

I sat and quietly listened while they explained it to me. I didn't change my mind. I would "cast away my flesh" and die in a blaze of glory if it meant keeping the elves safe. I knew I was playing to Yznera's tune, but I'd do that for the longevity boon alone. To have the friendship of the elves through all my lives? Priceless. And I might gain brownie points with the gods and convince the pantheon to get out of my neck. I doubted it would happen but I had to try.

The Rite of the Moonbound was a curse placed on a volunteer with the power to take on the skin of the moon's children. After the elves explained to me what it entailed, I only smiled.

"Yes, let's do it. With that, I'll stop the army by killing King Rudolph."

"Too young," Mrs. Bemere lamented.

"No. I'm an old soul, as foretold. I do that on my free will. Out of love for what the People gave me. I'll be back, Agatha."

She was surprised by my use of her first name. "You surely will, child."

The moon-bound were, for a lack fo a better term, were-creatures. A fusion between an animal and a person, they were cursed to take on a hybrid form when the moons shone in the sky.

I hadn't addressed that subject yet in my chronicle, so this is a place as good as any. This world, which the elves called Yznarian - or Yznera's gift in Fulgenian - had three moons. Ayla, Vester, and Sylvis. The different time of the seasons was caused by tidal forces between the moons and the planet. The ritual could only be performed when the three moons were high up in the sky. The next opportunity would be in four months, during the winter solstice.

I had until them to level up and grow stronger. Moar perks, moar crappy-leveled Skills. They gave me armor and a short spear. I went out with the Hunters to fight monsters. They didn't let me risk my life but I learned a lot about hunting and stalking prey. I would need that.

You gained the Tracking (uncommon) Skill.

You gained the Hide Presence (rare) Skill.

I put my heart and soul into the hunt. My small size meant less energy spent moving around and I often took weeks out hunting. When the time for the ritual came, I had reached level fifteen as both human and Monster Hunter.

You reached level 15.

You gained 5 Attribute Points.

You gained 20 Skill Points.

You gained 2 perks.

You reached Monster Hunter level 15.

You gained 7 Attribute Points.

You gained 21 Skill Points.

You gained 3 perks.

Humans fished for Skills and Perks. Unless you knew what you wanted, you could just state your intent. When I gained Geomancy, I wanted to "harness the power of the land". But given this would be my suicide run, I wanted a good base to start my next life. So I bought ten new Skills.

With the wish to "know people's levels", I gained Appraise (rare). Regrow lost limbs? Nothing happened. Find gold? Might come in handy. I gained Mining (uncommon). That one was a miss. I remembered what Wyxnos told me. I purchased Pekothian (language, common). Something to raise my Attribute cap, nothing. Remove curses actually yielded a Skill.

You gained the Remove Curse (very rare) Skill: You can dispel curses. The MP cost is based on the comparison of Magic Attributes between the caster and the bestower of the curse and the rarity of the curse.

Awesome. Now I just need to remove the curses that blocked me from using magic to remove the curses. Can I sacrifice HP for MP? When the answer came, I cursed as I'd wasted both a perk and a Skill.

You gained the Blood Magic (very rare) Skill. You can cast spells that affect the blood of creatures.

You gained the Ritualist [Blood] (very rare) Skill. You can design and perform rituals that drain a helpless or willing victim's blood to empower magic.

You unlocked the Ritualist profession.

With the Blood Ritualist perk also came the knowledge for the rituals. Guess? All of them require MP to jumpstart. The other five Skills I could purchase were invested in allowing me to better fight the King's bodyguards.

You gained the Harried Dodge (rare) Skill: When facing 3 or more opponents in melee, attacks that you dodge have a risk of striking one of your enemies.

You gained the Feint (uncommon) Skill: You can feign an attack to gain an advantage.

You gained the Locate Favored Enemy [Human] (rare) Skill: You can sense your favored enemies at a distance of Rank x Mind meters.

You gained the Infiltration (rare) Skill: You gain a bonus when attempting to enter a guarded location without raising suspicion.

I had human perks to buy. From my last fights and what was coming, I knew what I needed.

You gained the Reinforced Veins (very rare) Perk. Reduce bleeding effects and duration by 50%.

You gained the Tranquil Mind (rare) Perk: You are immune to Rage effects.

The former would quarter the amount of HP I would lose from bleeding. The rangers explained to me. Cutting and Piercing attacks that strike an unarmored body part always caused bleeding. If I wanted to avoid bleeding altogether, I would need armor. And the latter would allow me to bypass that annoying proclivity were-creatures had to become raving lunatics and go berserk. I was sure that perk was barred from them otherwise. I could even lose that perk with my transformation but I had to try.

The monster hunter Skill points were spent on the Skills I purchased as a human automatically after two hours, along with my Attribute points that vanished. The System swore they were "Allocated" but I saw no change anywhere.

I had three [Monster Hunter] perks to select. Those were restricted to a Class list. At least I could see the description before buying them. With the human ability to pick anything, they had to do it blindly.

You gained the Bleeding Strike (rare) Perk: Your Cutting and Piercing attacks ignore part of the target's armor to check for bleeding wounds.

You gained the Hemorrhage Strike (very rare) Perk: Bleeding wounds you inflict deal triple damage and last 50% longer.

You gained the Stunning Bleed (rare) perk: Victims of your bleeding wounds must pass an Endurance check or suffer a 50% penalty to their combat skills while the bleed lasts.

And there it was. I would bet on {Vorpal Bite} once more, but if I didn't dismember, I would at least put the victim out of combat with a gigantic bleed effect.

The day of the rite came. Winter was upon us and I became 6 years old in the System. We gathered on a cliff away from the hexagon clearing, the elven mages dressed in their ceremonial robes, and the three moons shining, their disks fully illuminated. I was prepared, with ritual clothes and the animal that would bond with me sedated in a cage. I was moments from abandoning my humanity. They had a concoction brewing in a cauldron that the animal and I would have to drink. A pint of blood from each of us was gathered during the previous week and added to the cauldron before me.

Archmagister Sariandi approached me. "Are you sure of this, child?"

I winked at her and proclaimed, "My life for Aiur!"

Sariandi didn't get it.