I gradually woke up to agony. Nails in my head. A deep, throbbing pain from the rest of my body. It was like feeling it through layers of gauze, through a deep haze. I tried to say something. All that happened was an unintelligible raspy groan came out from my lips. So dry. A cool wooden cup was pressed to my lips, water gently flowing into my mouth. Water. I tried to swallow, throat was too dry and smoky for it to go down. Painful expansion of my throat as it went down, an...
2020-09-28 19:43:17 +0000 UTC
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Plan in mind, I quietly got up and strained my ears. It hadn’t been that long since we went to bed, and mom and dad might still be awake. If they got up and found me gone, I’d be in a world of trouble and hurt. Mom’s skills with her spoon had only grown with age, and there was no way dad would let me see Artemis after I got caught sneaking out.
I carefully sneaked across the room, dodging the table, putting each foot down carefully. Bless the [Stea...
2020-09-28 19:42:38 +0000 UTC
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A scene of happy chaos ensued as we all welcomed Artemis back in our own way. She was out of her armor, in a tunic, but still had the Ranger’s eagle pinned on her. Artemis laughed at us, giving us all a great big group hug. Ouch, something metal was pressing into my side. Dad, Artemis? Something of mom’s? Whatever, it didn’t matter. We were all back together again, family. Artemis’s family hadn’t made it out of whatever happened at Cow’s Crossing, and family was...
2020-09-28 19:41:13 +0000 UTC
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I went to the market to shop, the riot of colors and magical displays almost exactly like the summer. The only difference was that since it was getting colder, a large number of people had broken out colorful scarves, perfect since they could be constantly worn and re-worn. The blur of teal, green, and orange of summer were moving into more crimsons and blues, with the occasional flash of purple. More could be invested into a scarf than a tunic, since there was less materia...
2020-09-28 19:40:11 +0000 UTC
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Feelings were clearly mixed about the lightning, but I didn’t care as I sprinted towards the south gate. The spot at the river was relatively close, although the baths were even closer to the south gate. I could run with all I had, and try to meet Artemis at the gate, or I could play it a bit safer, and go directly to the baths where I knew Artemis would spend the next few days trying to drown herself.
Screw it. It probably took her a moment to get through the guard...
2020-09-28 19:38:50 +0000 UTC
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Time went by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was 14 with fall fast approaching. It was just about time to transition from bamboo tunics to woolen ones, and I grabbed my dyed bamboo shirt, and a plain woolen one, to get the green trims carefully moved over. I said bye to mom, and started to walk down to the river to do the sewing.
I still missed Lyra, every day. She had been gone for as long as I had known her, and the raw, burning pain of her loss had dulled ...
2020-09-28 19:37:24 +0000 UTC
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It had been the bandages. The damn bandages that I thought were fine. The ones I knew hadn’t been boiled, but knowledge of boiling wasn’t present here, wouldn’t be known. I had been flippant. I had been selfish. I had chosen to protect myself and my secrets, over the health, and in the end, life, of my best friend.
The house hadn’t been smelly because of the mold. It was the smell of Lyra’s legs rotting away under those bandages. She hadn’t been keeping th...
2020-09-28 17:48:15 +0000 UTC
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[*Ding!* Congratulations! You’ve upgraded your first class – [Apprentice Control Healer] - Light]
[[Apprentice Control Healer] – Healing calls to you, and you have answered. Now go forth, and learn how to heal]
[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 9! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Reg...
2020-09-28 17:47:00 +0000 UTC
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Author's Note: This chapter is better read on Royal Road, which properly supports all of the colors. They're not critical, but they're solid hints.
“You’re just about ready to class up now! Congratulations!” Artemis threw her hands up in the air. “You only have one real decision left to make. Do you allocate your last few stat points into Strength, Dexterity, or Speed to get them up to level 10, or not?” Artemis paused and thought for a moment. “I suppose y...
2020-09-28 17:46:01 +0000 UTC
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Artemis vanished before we all went to sleep, and reappeared the next morning, doing her absolute best to eat us out of house and home. Given that we generally didn’t store a ton of food, it was a very serious risk. Artemis and I left the house, and took a walk to the park.
“Alright, now that we’re alone, we can start.” I looked at her puzzled. Artemis snorted at me. “I grew up with Julia. I know exactly how she thinks, and what she did with her skills. I ca...
2020-09-28 17:44:19 +0000 UTC
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I lifted my knife one last time, and dropped it, clattering to the floor. I collapsed crying as well. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t end his life. Artemis picked me up, held me as I cried, comforted me. It was humiliating to be crying in front of Artemis. Why was that? I don’t know; I was too upset.
“I’m sorry Artemis!” I blubbered “You’re right, I can’t do it! I can’t kill him in cold blood!”
“Shh, shh, it’s ok” she rocked me. Sh...
2020-09-28 16:11:12 +0000 UTC
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We wandered back as Artemis and Dad caught up.
“So, how’d you end up here? I thought you’d live in Cow’s Crossing with Julia until the day you two died.”
“Well, it all started when Dodranus came back from the woods, yelling about…”
Artemis and dad were going at a good clip down the main roads, while I was struggling with the grey zone obstacle course. I was tempted to put a few points into speed and dexterity to give me a ...
2020-09-28 16:10:31 +0000 UTC
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With much muttering and grumbling, the guards left us again. Artemis somehow found herself a chair, swiveled it around, and sat on it backwards, looking at me.
“You must desperately want to be a mage. Most kids get scared off after that demonstration.” Artemis started. She paused a moment or two, collecting her thoughts.
“Fine. Magic breakdown time. First off, I don’t know much about healing, you’ll have to ask him” she jerked her thumb a...
2020-09-28 16:07:52 +0000 UTC
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About an hour later, a middle-aged man came comfortably jogging up, with a woman hot on his heels. The man was in standard guard leathers, but the woman was in well-used laminar scale armor, a sword on her side and at least a few daggers I could see. She moved with thunder and fury, power and grace. Her nose stood proudly on her strong face, a pale white contrasting with the rest of her weather-beaten face, scars crossing artistically. Pixie-cut blonde hair framed her face,...
2020-09-28 16:07:01 +0000 UTC
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We called dad back, and filled him in on some of the skills I picked up.
“So, does that mean you don’t want to come and get more skills with me?” Dad asked.
Shoot, the promise! He was going to take me around and help me pick up skills! There were useful things I could get! Better yet, it would get me out of chores for a day or maybe even two! Also, who knew, maybe I would find a skill that I wanted, and could replace another skill with it. All in all...
2020-09-28 16:05:45 +0000 UTC
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Mom smiled at me, a warm, happy smile. “Elaine. You’re now old enough to know some girl secrets.” Oh no. Was I about to get the birds and the bees talk? Please no. Please spare me.
“I have no chore-related skills. Most women don’t have chore-related skills, although something like a [Tailor] class is pretty common. We spend all day doing chores – Aster knows I’d love your dad to pitch in more – we don’t need any skills to help ...
2020-09-28 16:04:58 +0000 UTC
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I yawned, tried to stretch, was caught in a massive blanked for some reason, and tumbled off the recliner. My head turned into a sharp star of pain as it decided to land first – ouch. Why was I wrapped up in a blanket? Why was I sleeping on the recliner? Why – my system was unlocked! A massive slew of notifications demanded my attention, and I greedily read them all.
[*Ding!* Congratulations! You’ve sur...
2020-09-28 15:58:58 +0000 UTC
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I bounced out of bed the next morning with the wild ferocity of an over-sugared 8-year-old. BIRTHDAY! At last!
The system lock did a great job at remining me that while yes, it was my birthday, I still had 19 hours, 11 minutes, and 40 seconds left to go until the actual 8-year-anniversary-to-the-minute of my birth. Bah humbug. It was my birthday already! Unlock! Unlockkkk! I’d grab and shake the system if only I could get a grip on it. Getting up carefully to ...
2020-09-28 15:43:18 +0000 UTC
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Not all skill learning was made equal. I had always thought mom was a harsh taskmistress. No. She had been air and sunshine up until now. I cooked. I baked. I sew some clothes, fixed a sandal, washed a single shirt in a water bucket, repaired dad’s armor, swept the floor, cleaned out the oven, repaired a window slate (I swear it hadn’t been broken yesterday…), stuffed a pillow, changed the straw, bought more food at market, hauled water from the river, scrubb...
2020-09-28 15:42:20 +0000 UTC
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I woke up in the evening feeling drained and exhausted, but no longer nearly so actively upset. I reflexively checked my timer – 55 hours to go – before remembering that it seemed like skills and magic weren’t going to be for me. What was the point. I flipped over in bed, stuck my head under the pillow, and moped some more.
I was clearly not going to earn myself the [Stealth] skill anytime soon since dad heard me and entered the room. ...
2020-09-28 15:40:03 +0000 UTC
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“Ok! Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about elements!” Elements? Ooooh, more cool things! I wanted a fire element! Fireballs!
“Each Class has an associated Element with it. For the most part, any element can go with any class, but most classes benefit from having particular elements. For example, you could have [Courier] be an Earth class, but he’d most likely benefit from having a Wind class instead.”
“Something li...
2020-09-28 15:35:03 +0000 UTC
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We entered the temple together, and I looked around in awe. There were marble pillars, and in the middle of the entryway, a large diamond-shaped symbol, with a gemstone on each corner and one in the middle. Painted frescos lined the wall: What was probably Etalix, wrapped in mist. Herculix fighting some sort of large dinosaur. White Dove and Black Crow, the grim reapers from above. Army legions victorious over large insects. The famous run of Fulguris. The sentinel Gideon, ...
2020-09-28 02:25:40 +0000 UTC
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Dad came home, had dinner, wished me luck on System Day, got out of his armor, and went directly to sleep. In that order. The last two items had occasionally been mixed up.
Time was funny without clocks. Things weren’t done at a particular time, just “Around noon” “Before dark” “Right after sunrise”. After so long of not needing to deal with being exactly on time to things, it was easy to slide right into the new way of handling time. It did make startin...
2020-09-28 02:11:37 +0000 UTC
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Finally! Only 66 hours, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds left to go until the lock was gone! 3,933 minutes!
We all shared one giant bed, which would have taken some getting used to if I hadn’t started there as a baby, and just never left. It was somewhat terrifying at first, not wanting mom or dad to roll over in the night and squash me like a bug, but somehow, I survived. I took a deep breath in, smelling the wonderful sea breeze. I leapt out of bed, distu...
2020-09-28 01:21:59 +0000 UTC
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A table of contents for all of the material that's not posted for free readers. All in one spot, in chronological order, for easy reading.
Chapters here can become free content if people want!
Additional Chapters:
Chapter 1.5 - Being a baby: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42092863
Bonus Chapter: Julia and Elainus react to Elaine running away: 2020-09-28 00:52:00 +0000 UTC
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Everyone idealizes being a child. Free, able to do what you want, no responsibilities – it’s great! Or so everyone remembers with rose-tinted glasses.
I’m not sure how good being a child is, but I know there is a reason nobody idealizes being a baby. I’m unable to really do anything except flail about and eat, and even then, I’m terrible at both. My flailing is just as likely to hit myself as it’s to do anything – and there is nothing I ca...
2020-09-28 00:27:40 +0000 UTC
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A raw, primal scream was being wrenched from my throat, my mind and body wracked by pain, the pain of loss, the pain of death. *Snap* An old pair of fingers started the snap; a young pair of fingers ended the snap. I felt a strange force invade my mind, grab something, twist, and rip. I cried out in pain, a sense of loss washing over me. My mouth closed, and every breath sent flames of torment through me as it came in my sore throat.
“I do really h...
2020-09-27 23:19:35 +0000 UTC
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A table of contents to keep things organized, s
2020-09-09 23:18:22 +0000 UTC
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