[SD:M/H] I'm Evil, Not Pointlessly Cruel - Chapter 4

Gem appears about a half inch off the ground, the slight drop almost causing them to stumble into a pile of trash. A quick look around reveals their location to be some kind of back alley. And boy howdy, did it stink!

They skedaddled out of there right quick. Though not just because of the smell. Rather, given the warning, they figure they have a limited time before they’re found and so wanted to be somewhere more crowded and witness filled.

That isn’t hard to find as just a few streets over was a market. There is also a handful of silver in their pocket, which hadn’t been there before they put on the cargo shorts. They had heard about this online, but for a person’s inventory to be accessible only through clothing and equipment was an interesting quirk.

Gem nods, first thing’s first, they need an inn so they can check their status in peace. Because another “interesting” quirk of SoulDive was that system screens are viewable by anyone close by. About the only limit is that you can’t use an outside assist to view it from a long distance. So no spying with a spyglass.

One inn room for the night, rented later and they are ready to see how random had panned out for them.

{

Name: Gem Paroxysm

Species: ChaosKin (Chaos)

Level: 1

Stats

Body: B

Mana: S+

Stamina: C

Resistances

Air: S

}

Gem can’t help but laugh. “So that’s what the lack of chains was about!”

They had lucked out and received an alignment locked species right from the start. And their stats aren’t too bad either, with Mana at the cap for their level. Though it is the top rank air resistance that really puts the cherry on top!

Sure, this is only at a top rank resistance for a level one character, but when most people don’t get any resistances until level ten and then, only from fear? Gem wasn’t going to scoff, no way, no how! Just having it gave enough advantages as it was.

Now they only had to deal with the next bottleneck. Not in advancement or play, but as in the more traditional traffic bottleneck. They are going to have to get their starter kit.

Gem glanced out the window of their inn room and hissed, their fur standing up on end, tail out straight. They had found them. It was inevitable, but the multiple guild recruiters standing out in the open could only mean there were ten times more hidden in the shadows.

And they noticed them. How could they not? Gem might have had an innate resistance at level 1, but they didn’t have a single skill yet. That would come with the starting gear. How to avoid this?

Well, Gem couldn’t avoid it, at least not forever, but put off the confrontation until they had gotten on their road to power. Gem double checked their room, but there was nothing. That is to be expected, so they went down to the common room.

There are a couple of recruiters arguing with each other. Because of course there was. And the fact they are the only visible recruiters in the common room meant these aren’t people Gem could mess with. Good thing those idiots seemed to be in charge because they’re important instead of skilled.

Unnoticed, Gem ducks back into the hallway. In theory, it should be safe as only those with a room are allowed in the back. However, only a fool would assume any free rooms are no longer free.

Gem looks around, a bit more panicked this time. They don’t honestly care about those idiots and they do understand why it is happening. Anyone that starts with an alignment locked in has become special for some reason or another. That is, if they kept playing that character.

Gem’s lips curl back as the hair down their spine bristles, they were cornered! And maybe it was their imagination, but it felt like their fangs had extended by a little. Then again, they had also imagined that sort of thing as a kid. For a while, they had even believed that their incisors were unnaturally sharp.

The incisors were, in fact, not extra sharp. Well, not beyond being relatively new teeth, not having been worn down with time. Still, it was a fun little way to think they were different as a kid. You know, instead of having been different in more medical terms.

Gem crouched down and looked for a way out. It isn’t like this inn is watertight. Wait!

Over there, a door, but a room wouldn’t fit behind said door. Did the door lead to the basement? Gem slinked over and gave the handle a turn. The door opened without a sound to reveal stairs going down.

It wasn’t a basement though, likely serving as a way to get goods in without leading directly to the store room. Gem frowned, not going to stay at this inn again. Thieves must love the place, getting a shortcut to the guest rooms.

Gem walked down the stairs and yes, there is a cellar door that would lead outside going by the light through the cracks. An eye to one of the bigger cracks showed the door led to an alley similar to the one they had appeared in. However, this door was locked. From this side though, so Gem is able to easily get out and being kind they relocked it behind them. Not like Gem was going back in that way.

The alley wasn’t completely clear of people, but the doors let out behind a prodigious trash pile. Yeah, definitely not going to stay at this inn again. Gem took stock of the area, there is an alley that led into this one at a right angle only a few paces away.

If they dashed, this certainly would have attracted attention. Gem crouched down in the shadows and this time it isn’t their imagination. Their fur darkened and became dappled, breaking up the humanoid shape.

Gem slunk between the trash piles, making it to the alley. From there, they managed to navigate through the alleys until finding an outlet near where Gem wanted to go. The training hall. Even better, they couldn’t see any obvious spotters.

Now it is time to burst into the scene. Both tradition and law protected the training hall from these sorts of people. Gem took three deep breaths, their fur returning to normal, and with a burst of speed they’re out into the street.

A catkin whips around at the noise and their eyes show clear signs of recognition. Gem can’t help it! “Muahahaha!” Gem’s face looks like an almost rictus grin, except it was just how wide their mouth is. Now this was exciting!

Of course, since they are trying to recruit them, there aren’t any attempts to grapple them. However, at least a few people attempt to get between Gem and the hall. Gem even has to vault over someone so as to not need to slow down to avoid them.

Then they’re into the hall, and they quickly ditch the speed. Not that they had been in danger, but now they are safe. Gem looked around for the type of trainer they wanted.

Over there, a human lady leaned up against a wall with a flame playing over her shoulders. Like the others in this hall, she is clearly showing off in an understated manner to try and pull in people. This isn’t a volunteer gig after all, the more people they trained, the more they made.

The lady raises an eyebrow as Gem approaches, “Didn’t expect to see you coming my way. You do realize I’m one of those Evil types? What’s a girl like you doing in my neck of the woods?!”

Gem snarls, “Good thing I’m not a girl, then. They/Them if you will.”

The lady shrugs, “I’m evil, not pointlessly cruel. If you want that, go to one of the Lawful sorts. They still tend to be sticks in the mud about that.”

Gem barks out a laugh, “Not going to work out whatever way you roll it. Now teach me! I’m not Good, I’m Chaotic and nothing says I have to learn from someone on that alignment axis.”

The lady holds up her hands, “Hey now! I’m not just Evil. I’m also Neutral, don’t cha know?”

Gem uses their thumb to point at themselves, “Pure Chaos, baby! I’m the They/Them causing May/Hem! Now will you teach me? And what’s your name?”

The lady laughs and glares around the room, causing all the other trainers to look away. “Sure, I’ll give you some lessons on having fun with magic. Are you looking for some fire in your life, or wanting another element? I’m qualified for everything, but water.

“As for my name? Call me Crystal. And yes, I know your name here is Gem.”

Gem rolls their eyes, “At least you aren’t trying to hide it. And while some fire in my life would be interesting, I’m looking for a breath of life.”

Crystal nods, “Of course you are. Starting with pure Chaos locked practically makes it essential to learn some air magic. Now let’s hit up the training room, there should only be two to three groups in the room right now.”

The two of them head over to an open archway that leads out onto a sand covered open air field. There are in fact four groups, but three of them are one-on-one affairs and the other group only has four people. Crystal leads Gem over to the quieter side.

Then she pulls the flame off of her shoulders and makes it dance. “The most basic magic skill is control. Not to conjure or summon, but to pull the pre-existing element from one place and make it dance to your will. Lucky you, air is somewhat common!

“Now we get to the fun part. I assume you don’t want to sit around and meditate for multiple days until you manage to feel the magic in everything?”

Gem rolls their eyes, “Like I could get back here easily after today.”

Crystal smiled, “This is going to hurt! Last chance to back down.”

Gem locks eyes with Crystal, “Bring it.”

Crystal shrugs and puts the fire back on her shoulders. “Then I will. Now prepare for it to get a bit windy! The best way to feel the magic is I saturate your surroundings in the stuff.”

With that, Crystal pulls at the surrounding air, forming a whirlwind around Gem. This goes on for a minute before Crystal frowns. A frown that deepens when Gem is able to open their eyes and see said frown.

Crystal, “Guess I need to kick it up a notch!”

And the whirlwind shifts from yellow brown to green as the dust and dirt falls out. Now small nicks begin to appear on Gem’s body, though they don’t bleed. Rather, a sparkly sand seems to fall off of the wounds, completely ignoring the wind as it drops downward. Though it never reaches the ground, dissipating instead.

Around this point Gem begins to feel something. There is no analog to the feeling. Not even previous partial immersion VR games had something like this. Magic.

Ding

And the system speaks to Gem directly in their mind, ‘Sense Mana skill acquired’.

This isn’t a strange feeling. The second it was possible, games loved using telepathy in all of its forms.

Off to the side, Crystal nods, “Good, that should be some sort of sense skill. Well, the skill you got should be Sense Mana, because being a special race doesn’t mean you get to skip the basics. Anyway, we can get a bit more direct since you will feel it.”

And before Gem can say anything, the whirlwind of green sparking energy collapses on them. The air attuned Mana, because Gem can now tell that is what the green is, sinks into their body. This hurts, it hurts a lot. Gem grits their teeth, accidentally cutting their tongue, not used to the sharpness they now possess.

Crystal, “Now I’m going to keep stuffing you with air Mana until you manage to push the Mana out. Grab it, wrestle it, tie it in a knot; I don’t care how you manage. As long as you take the Mana and move the Mana out of your body.”

Gem isn’t exactly paying the most attention to what she is saying. Good thing their instincts are to do exactly what she just said. To push the air Mana out of their body before it really begins to hurt.

Crystal nods, “Keep up the good work. Oh, and did I mention that at this step the pain keeps escalating? I’d probably try and make sure you push the Mana out before the pain is too great to even try.”

Toe Beans! - Chapter 3

Learning A Spell - Chapter 5