"Could you have done anything to her? I mean can i even touch you? No one can see you right, so then that means only I can see and hear you?"
"No, you're right, but Trina could have looked like she was helping!"
I shake my head and sink into the bath. Even in my past life, I didn't have a chance to bathe often. I sunk up to my eyeballs in the water. Most of the bubbles have gone now since all the dirt came off me, and I concentrated on opening the alert star icon.
The pulsating blue screen popped up reading:
WORLD QUEST EVENT COMPLETION
You have completed your first WORLD QUEST EVENT. For helping DUTCHESS GRACE HUNTINGTON with rescuing and returning her bag, you will receive 5 levels of experience. You will also receive 1 NAME CHANGE COUPON from the quest holder and a residence update.
When I confirmed the completion alert, I hear a chime go off in my head five times and see a new icon flashing. This one is a shadowed profile from the shoulders up. This icon must be my stat sheet, so I opened it up.
When the screen for my AVATAR opened, two more screens open over the top, covering my character sheet. The first was for my new class choice for reaching level five.
CHOOSE LEVEL 5 CLASS
When you attain level 5, you get to choose from 5 classes, and every five levels, you will select a new path to progress. Stat will be auto distributed depending on the class chosen. The choices are as follows:
DEFENDER
You are the tank and a leader on the field. Your battle cries will draw the enemies from your allies. Gain TAUNT Skill.
DUELIST
Quick and nimble, as you slide between your foes to strike at vital points. Using your parrying skills to counter the enemy's strikes. Gain RIPOSTE Skill.
MAGE
Controller of the elements, invoke magic to cause ranged destruction. Control of fire is the first step to Magus. Gain FIREBOLT and FLAMESHIELD Magic Spells.
MARKSMEN
The ranger rouge fires from cover while targeting foes from a distance. Traps and gadgets allow the marksman to keep his distance. Gain DECOY TRAP Skill.
CONJURER
Summon the help of an ethereal being to fight by your side. Share some of the strengths and abilities as you fight together. Gain SUMMON EARTH SPRITE Magic Spell.
RANDOM
Receive Random Skills or Magic rewards and bonus Passives when you progress every five levels. You can gain skills from all classes. Gain RANDOM SKILL OR MAGIC and RANDOM PASSIVE SKILL.
Wait... It just said there were only five classes to choose from, but there was a sixth at the bottom. Random, what was that all about, I wondered? I looked through the rest of my classes and pondered through each one.
Well, this was a big choice for me. The first choice I make in this world will lead me down a particular path. Each class had its ups and downs, but the last one drew my eye.
My blessing of Destiny had already gotten me this far. It seemed that this would give the blessing Destiny gave me full control of the course of things for me. The idea of having access to everything with this blessing, how random could random be with my blessing? I brought my head above the water and asked Trina about it.
"Trina thinks you're right, Dave! Destiny is on your side so picking random is like letting Destiny guide you!"
I agreed with her and made the selection. After I confirmed the choice, a new window popped up.
CONGRATULATIONS ON CLASS CHANGE
You have received a new CLASS and SKILLS. Please check your AVATAR for details.
Nice! I wonder what it will be as I close the window to see the last one before my stat sheet. It just a window congratulating me on reaching level six. I confirmed the window, and as it closed, I burst with light!
I slipped down into the water, flailing in surprise but being so small in such a large bathtub, I was having trouble getting above the water. As I kick and struggle, trying to get my head back about the water, I felt my body begin to change. The light fades, and I'm able to get my head above water.
Wiping the water on my face away, I can still see my stat window open, but my eyes are drawn to my hand and the arm attached to it. My hand isn't huge, but it and my arm are bigger now. I slowly stand up, wobbling, and realized that I'm taller now. My legs are longer, and when I look between them, even that got bigger!
Suddenly, as I examine my new grown body, the door bangs open!
"Are you alright! I hear you splashing and i seen light coming fromthe door and..." Came the concerned voice of Lavender as she burst into the room, but she froze when she saw me standing naked.
Our eye's connected, and for a moment, we both froze. Lavender's eyes first were confused. Then they had a look of realization as she looked down between my legs. Both our faces filled with crimson as she turned and ran from the bathroom, slamming the door.
I dropped into the warm water to cool my burning red face.
The door cracked open, and Lavender spoke from the other side.
"W-W-What happened to you? Why are you and it so big now?"
Lavender's voice shook as she spoke through the crack.
"She knows why. I mean, she should know why. Age is determined by your level, but the aging can be stopped using a specific skill. This skill allows you to stop aging as you level, but you get a two-year clock to complete the round. Failing to complete within the time gets you knocked out. Insta-KO," Trina explained.
"A-Are you listening?" Lavender's nervous voice came through the crack again.
"Yes, sorry," I had to clear my throat, my voice had become a little deeper, and my voice had cracked. "I gained five levels, so I'm twelve now."
The door slammed, and the pattering of footsteps got quieter as Lavender ran away for some unknown reason. I had no real experience with girls in my past life besides the setup, and I don't feel like Cindy counted as an actual experience.
I really wasn't sure why she ran, but I could still see the open window, and I was excited to see my class. I started to look over it all and started to get even more excited. My stats had jumped some, and my card wasn't blank!
LEVEL: 6
HP: 35/35
MANA: 25/25
NAME: Dave Huntington
AGE: 12
CLASS: Hero
STATUS: Very Hungry
WEALTH: Non-existent
HOME: Huntington Manor
STRENGTH: 8
CONSTITUTION: 6 (+30)
COMBAT: 7
SPEED: 9
INTELLIGENCE: 6
MANA: 4 (+20)
???:
???:
ABILITIES
PASSIVE SKILLS
PEIRCE EVIL: People with evil intentions have black auras and are vulnerable to the HERO's LIGHT BLADE Skill.
ACTIVATED SKILLS
LIGHT BLADE: Activate to summon a blade of light. This Spell consumes 5 mana per/minute.
Hero? What kind of class is that? I mean, I am not complaining; I'm built to fight evil by the looks of my skills.
I get out of the tub and dry myself off, thinking excitedly about my AVATAR and the cool new skills. Once get dried off, I put the clothes on that Tilly brought for me. I was pretty surprised to find black jeans and a white t-shirt that somehow fit me after my growth spurt.
"I didn't even hear the maid come back in," I say to myself once I get the clothes on.
"She didn't. These are magical clothes that will grow with you. They should be fire-resistant as well, I think," Trina informed me as she spun around me through the air.
"I have to say this is all turning out pretty good," I say as I open the door to leave the bathroom, but I stop.
Lavender is standing outside the door. She has her hands balled into fists at each side of her, and I looked at her face, making eye contact. Lavender's face was still very red, but this time, she looked angry!
Chapter 8: A Misplaced Hand
Lavender stood in front of me, angry for some unknown reason. I was at a loss as to
what I should do at that point. So I tried the direct and straightforward approach.
"What's wrong?" I ask a bit hesitantly.
"You! How did you complete a quest while in the bathtub? Or did you get it from tricking me into thinking you didn't want a bath when you getting a bath was the real quest!"
"That's not it at all. You act like I know what I'm doing. I got this notification when I got to the house from helping Miss Grace get her purse back. I got experience from the world quest and a name change. I didn't know I would get older and wasn't sure who I could talk to about this quest stuff," I finish with a gasp, hoping I would get it all out before she tried to interrupt me.
Some of the heat seemed to drain from Lavender's expression and I could see the tension start to leave her body. Lavender's hands unclenched, and her face returned to its pretty lightly tanned complexion. She drew her hands behind her back Taking a deep breath in that pressed her small breast out, making nipple dents in the front of her dress, she let it out with a long sigh that made her points disappear.
"It's fine. I'm sorry for barging in on you. So now we are on the same level. What did you pick for a class?" Lavender eyed me as she asked me the question, maybe she caught me looking, but wasn't going to challenge me on it.
"Random."
"Random? That's a choice? There are only five choices. How did you get random?" Lavender was leaning close, and I could almost see...
"Honestly, I think it because of," but then a terrible pain ripped through my body.
I heard Lavender scream as I hit the floor, convulsing, and then darkness.
I woke up to the smell of chicken soup, and I tried to open my eyes. The light came from the sun as it set, and as my eyes adjusted, I noticed Lavender, Tilly, and Miss Grace standing around a bed. The three women looked concerned, and Tilly held the soup on a fancy tv tray of some sort.
I was back in the room Lavender had shown me before dragging me to the tub and then the hallway incident. What made me hurt? I tried to tell Lavender about Destiny, and I guess the system stopped me. I guess NPC's aren't privy to all information.
Tilly sat the tray in front of me and said she would get buttered bread and another bowl of soup for me. When she left the room, I began to eat as Miss Grace talked.
"It seems you were over-hungry, and that should have been our priority, but this is now, and we can only go from here."
Miss Grace's words made sense, and I ate as the two women sat down on the bed. Lavender had changed into a white ruffled top and burnt orange skirt. Miss Grace sat in a causal green dress that was form-fitting in a way that made me feel a a lot different than when my seven-year-old mind had looked at the woman. Once I finished my first bowl, Miss Grace spoke again.
"So I see you gained a lot of experience and you have reached the same level as Lavender, this is wonderful! We have a private tutor that you will join Lavender in studying. Since you are the same age, what did you take for a class? Yes, I know you got random, and I can hardly believe it, but I'm curious to know what class you got?"
I waited before speaking and looked at both of them, each in turn, and looked away.
"Hero," I quietly say away from them.
"Hero? That one I've never heard at the basic level. Let me take a look. Hold out your right hand with your small finger out only, palm up," Miss Grace showed me how to do it, and then she put her left hand over mine.
My AVATAR card popped up above her hand, and she began to examine it. Lavender even crawled across my legs to get closer to see. She almost pushed her hand into my crouch, but notice at the last second and moved her hand, but then she slipped. I awkwardly tried to help Lavender with one arm pull her face from between my legs, but Miss Grace paid us no mind. Instead, she hummed at what she saw, and before finally pulling away.
"That is interesting, and this also confirms what I said about Destiny," Miss Grace said with a confident tone. "Tomorrow, you will train and learn with Lavender with Professor MTK."
Lavender had got up before her mother looked up and she was now trying to straighten her hair and dress. Lavender's cheek were burning as she looked away from me, but she didn't move or get off the bed. Instead Lavender looked at me and then down at the place her face had been and her cheeks turned a violent red.
Quickly, Lavender reached over and grabbed my soup tray and after almost spilling it on me, forced it onto my lap. I felt the pressure on the tray push down on my lap and realized why she was blushing. My face started to heat up, so I tried to respond to Miss Grace to distract myself.
"Who?"
"MTK is a Galaxsor Techknowledge. He has a weird name, but MTK is just a super smart bugman in a humanoid Exosuit," Lavender laughed nervously as she explained while looking away like this was the most normal thing in the world, and maybe it was.
Both of them got up and left me to finish the last bowl that Tilly had brought in, but Lavender stood in the doorway for a bit looking at me before turning and leaving. I was exhausted, and my STATUS bar was finally getting filled to Satisfied. When I finished eating the rest of my food, it was dark, and I didn't even remember falling asleep.
Chapter 9: The Pull And Push Of A Heart
I woke up to the sound of Trina's voice.
"Trina thinks you should wake up now, Dave," Came the cheerful voice as I opened my eyes.
"What time is it?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Time to go explore those rooms before everyone else! Trina bets some good things are hiding behind one of those doors. Let's go!"
"Alright, let me get dressed first."
It was still early morning, and the sun was just coming up on the other side of the manor. I got my clothes on, and Trina and I quietly opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. The door filled corridor was silent as I crept down it.
"What door do we choose? They all look the same, but room seventeen was the bathroom, so what do I pick?"
"Trina thinks you should just pick a door! Destiny will pick a good one!"
"Well, let try this one then," I say, standing across from my room at door number eleven.
The door looked the same as the rest, and the smell of torches greet me as I open the door. Two torches lit a small empty room with a door at the end. Trina flew in ahead of me and looked around the room, the walls were made of dirt, and the room seemed underground.
"Trina thinks this room is safe; let's go farther!" Trina persisted as I walked into the room.
The atmosphere changed when I walked into the room, and I left the door open behind me. The feeling of being far below the surface pushed down on me as I got closer to the next door. By the time I was at the door, I could smell and feel the dampness coming from behind the door, and all feeling of being above ground left me, replaced by a creeping sense of claustrophobia.
I am gripping the door hand because I've come this far and can't turn back now. I turn the nob, and the door opens up to a room with an island in the middle. Torches ringed the room, and the flickering lights danced across the dark water reflected on the ceiling.
Trina flew around the dome as I walked forward. There was a narrow path across the water to the island that looked safe. At the other end on the isle, a golden looking chest sat unlocked but unopened. I walked to the island and headed to the chest, but the sound of moving water makes me stop and turn around.
The fifteen-foot bridge I had just walked across had disappeared into the water, leaving me stranded on the island. I sigh, turning back to the chest and approach it. The trunk is golden, and it has only the embossed image of a strange-looking gauntlet. Trina comes over to hover behind me as I open the chest.
Inside the chest lay a rose gold colored small metal gauntlet. It looked nice but not overly special, but I noticed a star flashing in my HUD's top left. Before touching the metal glove, I decided to check the alert first, and I open it up.
WARNING!!! CHALLENGE ROOM!
This room is rated above your current level. Once you en
ter the island, the CHALLENGE will activate, and the bridge will drop. Pick up the item in the chest to begin.
"Uh, Trina, this alert says this is a challenge room, and it's above my level."
"Hmm? But you can't leave, so what are you gonna do?"
Trina had a point, so I reached in a picked up the gauntlet. Immediately the atmosphere changed, and the water started to move around us. The auras of evil could be felt rising as the water roiled and frothed.
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