“Pretty!” I muttered. “Now how do we turn it on?”
Leah was not looking at the Shrine, but rather who was in front of us. Across the crater-pocked floor stood a larger goblin. To make it worse, a silver crown hovered above its head like a hologram— a Plus Menu special effect just to rub it in.
Its little green cronies, that were busy stabbing someone on the floor, stopped to look at us. The singing of her blade being drawn was enough for me to understand. That large brute must be the reason we couldn’t proceed.
———————————————
Goblin Warrior [Elite], Level 6
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The light from Leah’s Fortress Ground warmed me up. We really were going to do this, huh? I was still rather useless, but strangely, I was now level 5 with 80 Status points. Did healing that Giselle Hunter give me points? I suppressed a sigh since I knew the answer, scrambling for a solution that could assist in this fight.
Thinking about how unpredictable my magic could go, I figured healing was out of the question. Perhaps more defense? How would that protect Leah? The status window glared at me, but I could hear the malevolent sniveling of the goblins approaching us.
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Kathleen Ravenclast [+80]
Human Healer, level 5
Attack Power: 100 (F)+
Magical Power: 135 (F)+
Constitution: 74 (F)+
Wisdom: 15 (F)+
Movement Speed: 40 (F)+
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We were outnumbered, two versus four green men. I saw the Goblin Scavengers surrounding the big guy also had silver crowns floating above their heads. A pack of Elites. Screw it! If I can’t be useful and defend myself or her, then I might as well go on the attack and smash things on my way out! 180 attack later, I stepped up next to Leah. She looked at me like I’d grown a third eyeball, and shoved me back.
“I’ll handle it!”
Well, so much for my heroism, I stumbled back. The Goblin Warrior let out a stinky screech, and the trio of Scavengers rushed us. Without hesitation, I swung my staff, connecting with the lunging stupid creature closest to the Fortress Ground’s area. The barrier held against its slash like a force field and my swing flattened its head. Goo sprayed on my uniform, but it was a beautiful murder!
The headless body slammed against the golden-tinged ground with a thud, the impacted area flashing an aura of tiny rays. Leah was swift, her [Ravenclast Strike] true as ever. These creatures had no tactics, only forward, and were easily caught within her shimmering blade’s righteous stab.
The Warrior, seeing his lackeys fall, became enraged. He started towards Leah, taking a few mighty stomps while recklessly swinging his massive club at her. It slammed into the Fortress Ground’s barrier, shattering it like glass.
I shoved Leah aside without thinking. “Get out of the way!”
My Movement Speed was quick enough to dodge the swing, but the creature was already swinging again. At least the bird was saved.
“Kathleen! You—“
A vice grip seized my neck, letting me taste blood as the air was slowly getting crushed. No, not here! I scrolled to my Plus Menu. I didn’t know the exact numbers, my vision was fading. After seeing the points I’d gained from killing those Elite Scavengers, I poured them all into Constitution out of sheer desperation. A heavy force smashed into my gut.
I couldn’t scream as I crashed into the wall of the Shrine room, nor could I hear anything except ringing and a faint muffled scream. It probably was my own. Was this it? Was I meant to die here so quickly? My vision was black and red, but the infuriating plus symbol still remained in the corner of my eye.
I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to. I was still conscious, violently aware of the strings of my life slowly being cut. All because of this strange ability. I might as well give it a quick look. It couldn’t be helped, I wondered if it would scold me, this Host, for recklessly taking such a massive hit to the stomach.
———————————————
> Status [+100 available]
> Notifications [+9]
> Item Box [Locked] [Level 10 Required]
> Unknown [Level 20 Required]
> Skill Points [0]
> Exit
———————————————
100? What a pleasant number. A shame I couldn’t use them. Wait, I still could. The world was dark around me, but I realized I still could move windows around. I was alive, but I was not in control of my body. Let's see what happened to me since I was down and had nothing better to do. I had a lot to sift through, though most of them were encounters and kills.
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Notifications
> Host has assisted a party member in slaying 2 [Elite] Goblin Scavengers, level 3.
> Host had slain 1 [Elite] Goblin Scavenger.
> Host has gained 150 status points!
> You have added 150 status points into Constitution. You now have 224 Constitution (F).
> Endured a near lethal blow and survived.
> Host had gained 5 status points!
> Host has assisted a party member in slaying a Shrine Guardian!
> Host has gained 95 status points!
> The Host has leveled up!
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Well, the 224 points in Constitution must have contributed to my survival right now. It was still ranked F, but I was certain I was alive because of the last-minute adjustment. A part of me wondered: If I added the rest into Constitution, would it speed up my recovery?
After all, it appeared that Leah managed to kill the Goblin Warrior. I hoped that optimistic fanatic was still alive, and that she wasn’t furious with me for being trash at my class. Forget about everything. I opened my Status window and added the crisp 100 points into Constitution. Here goes, Plus Menu. I needed to heal quickly, and this was my only chance.
Stolen novel; please report.
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Kathleen Ravenclast
Human Healer, level 6
Attack Power: 180 (F)
Magical Power: 135 (F)
Constitution: 324 (F)
Wisdom: 15 (F)
Movement Speed: 40 (F)
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Heh, not bad. The numbers weren’t looking terrible, but I still didn’t have any reference on how anything worked. Ugh. I only had to blindly trust my gut whenever I had points to use. And that gut had taken a huge hit moments ago, so things were not going as well as I had hoped.
The Item Box tab was still locked, and there was a new mysterious option after I hit level 20. There was no doubt that this Plus Menu was expecting me to reach those heights. But that was an entirely different matter to wait for. Right now, I focused on waking up. I remembered when I pricked my finger that the wound healed after I invested points. Surely, I’d recover after the massive amount of points I just put in, right?
As if on cue, a voice started hammering my head as if it was a siren wailing towards me in a tunnel. It wasn’t calling me, nor were the snippets of its tone recognizable. It was grating, snarling at something. Could it be that Leah had lost? The cold and cruel alien air pressed against my skin.
I instinctively tried to cough, but found that I was embedded directly in a cracked wall. I probably crashed into it when the Goblin Warrior smacked me. My vision returned, and I saw two figures standing under the glow of a huge rock. Right. We were fighting for that stupid Shrine. I wriggled my foot, bumping it into a cracked brick, but froze when I recognized one of the figures.
It was Kieron. His back was turned to me and he seemed to be talking down to the other figure. It was Leah. She appeared to be wounded. I didn’t need to hear what he was saying to know he was planning on offing her.
That bastard, I gritted my teeth. The plan we had was still on, and I intended to see it through. I dragged my shaking hand to my hip. A pleasant surprise. The dagger hadn’t betrayed me and stabbed my leg or something in the middle of my impromptu flight.
That revelation made my hand tremble more violently. Not because I was scared, but because of what I had to do with it. I was going to do this or else Leah would be finished. I drew it and scooted up as quietly as I could. Each step towards him felt like I was personally walking straight to hell.
“You think that I need Kevin to do the job? Ha!” He laughed evilly. “I don’t need help to finish a weak bitch off like you!”
He failed to notice Leah’s eyes flicker towards me, but she remained remarkably composed. He drew his daggers. Pure white scars beamed on his chest in a diagonal slash. My magic could detect that he hadn’t had a smooth time here. And— it could also detect the thin red strands of life pumping inside of his neck. Strings that I would cut.
“I will be the sole survivor of the batch to ascend the Cadet family!” He roared. “Not—“
However, he didn’t have the time to swing. I had moved. I plunged the ritual dagger into his neck without hesitation, feeling a bit squeamish over the slick sound of a blade poking flesh. Blood immediately sprayed out of the wound, staining me. I let him fall, his eyes wide and full of disbelief. Of course, he had probably witnessed me getting sent into a wall, not getting up.
“Too bad for you,” I scoffed. “You chose the wrong girl to look down on.”
A ding chimed in my head, but it didn’t stop my head from spinning or my vision from darkening. A window appeared without me summoning it. On it, bold red letters greeted me.
———————————————
— Temporary Party Member “Kieron Ravenclast, level 3” has been slain.
———————————————
I was shaken out of it and my eyes stung. I felt someone tugging me by the shoulders. Something warm was leaking out my eyes. Why…? Why was I crying over this? I killed someone. So what? I was in another world, entirely unreasonable compared to my old life, and he would have attacked me next after killing my friend without hesitation. The lifeless man at my feet deserved death! So why was I, Kathleen, crying? Oh, how I loathe this weak nature of mine!
“Are you alright?” Leah’s voice shook me out of it. I snapped out of my internal screaming and inspected her. Her face was bloodstained, and there was a bright red gash in her shoulder. God, she looked more miserable than me!
“I’m alright,” I tried to keep my voice from quivering too much, and knelt to check if there was anything useful I could get to heal Leah. Kieron’s a bastard and a Rogue, so I gave him a good kick and searched his corpse first.
My intuition was proven right, because I found several potions on him. I tossed them to Leah quietly. I didn’t need to tell her to take care of herself. I heard a popped cork and the sound of swallowing above me as I continued to loot him. His daggers will do nicely, too. I strapped one to my hip, feeling the weight dragging me down slowly.
I glanced up at Leah. Her cheeks were restored, and the wounds that my magic revealed were gone. Then I held up the knife to her. A hint of reluctance showed on her face, but she took it. I suddenly felt bad. No doubt carrying the blade that was a direct testimony of her traitorous brother’s intention had to be heavy for her. And I was the fool giving her a giant reminder about this whole sordid affair. If only I was level 10 and had that item box, then I could keep both secretly.
Like the ritual dagger, these Ravenclast Daggers were indeed usable by me because of my attributes. I still couldn’t use Skills, the tag attached to them informed me that my class was incompatible with Skills associated with daggers. Besides the dinky things, I found a scroll in his inside pocket. It was the map, but it was too damaged to read anymore.
After looting I took a furtive glance at Leah.
“Are you… Are you alright?” I asked, extending as much warmth as I awkwardly could. Leah threw herself in my arms, crying. Ah, the innocent bird was back. I allowed myself a small fraction of feeling, and patted her on the back.
“He— He wasn’t always like this,” she wailed in my shoulder. “Growing up, in the Batch Courts— He’d protect me. In his own way.”
This was beyond my pay grade, so I remained still, holding her. My own feelings were mixed, floating in my stomach in sickening bubbles. I didn’t feel guilty for extinguishing his life, but all of this violence was stinging my eyes again. Something inside of me shattered for good, because even when someone was finally showing something that resembled humanity to me all I could do was stay silent.
Maybe, this is how I’m supposed to act. Being present in the weakness, in environments both terrifyingly hostile and the quiet breaks in between. Only a crying girl and a humming Shrine sounded in this dark, reeking Rift.
After a moment, someone coughed violently, then burst into a wheezing laugh. A man’s voice. Leah instantly released me from her embrace and whirled around. It was alarming how she was able to flip her emotions around like that, but she instantly locked onto the source. I squinted, and found that one of the bodies in this room was still alive.
It was Regis, the Fighter. He had somehow hung onto life this entire time. The poor bastard had a lot more holes in him than fight in him, choking as he lay in a pool of blood. I realized that he was the one those Scavengers were stabbing when we first entered.
“Trash like you,” he laughed manically. “You’ll never receive the Bearer’s Blessings. What… Is… the point of carrying on?”
I walked up to him, kneeling down above him. He couldn’t move, let alone even look me in the eyes. I had to get used to the feeling sooner or later, right? He summoned all his strength, lifting his head while still laughing.
“Go on, do it,” Regis spat out more blood than spit. “You knew we plotted against you, didn’t you? You think you’re so smart? Well, you aren’t! Not even close! You don’t know a damn thing! Show me how two useless pieces of trash like you, can prove this world wrong!”
His laughter died out when he saw my cold face. It probably was placid, or devoid of any emotion, but the reality was more crushing. I was fighting my instinct. I was a law-abiding citizen once. Sure, my grandpa had to take me out of school multiple times, but I never had the guts to actually do something wrong. He was the only good thing in my old life, but this? This war within was cold and lonely. And I couldn’t afford to lose. Soon, his manic energy transformed into sheer horror and pleading when I turned my gaze to him.
“What are you even talking about?”
I pushed the blade forward; my hand instantly became stained with blood. The knife slid into his ugly neck too easily, and went out quickly. I stepped back and turned back to Leah, who also eyed me with a hint of unease. What was on my face that unnerved both the bird and the Rogue? Then that blood-red window appeared once more.
———————————————
— Temporary Party Member “Regis Ravenclast, level 2,” has been slain.
———————————————