Herald of Shalia

by Tamryn Tamer

  “Have you unlocked any classes?” Lysandra asked.

  “Unlocked?” Frost gazed at himself and focused but nothing showed up. She mentioned unlocks and as far as he knew there were a few possible systems the world could be using. He just needed to figure out which one. “How do I know that?”

  “Oh no,” Lysandra laughed and walked to grab a chair. “You might want to grab one as well.”

  Lysandra explained the interactions between classes and abilities to Frost as if he were a child. She began by discussing abilities and their very nature. Every ability began at level zero and some had various prerequisites to unlock.

  Once unlocked, he could allocate ability points into the abilities which seemed to be the primary way to gain power. There were two different types of ability points, Restricted and Free.

  Restricted ability points were earned by doing a specific activity and could only be assigned into abilities associated with that activity. A swordsman could earn ability points by practicing with a sword but the ability points earned that way could only be assigned to swordsmanship.

  Free ability points were primarily earned by leveling up but could also be earned in other ways. There were even legendary potions, artifacts, and ruins that were rumored to give free ability points. The points could be assigned in any ability a person desired. So, even if a person never touched a sword in their life, in theory they could become a master swordsman.

  “Understand?” Lysandra asked after finishing the explanation. “Or should we go over it again?”

  “I understand,” Frost nodded while listening. It was similar enough to game mechanics that he didn’t have any trouble comprehending. In fact, much like tutorials in games he was finding himself wishing she could explain it more quickly. “You can keep going.”

  Lysandra continued by explaining that once the prerequisite skills were learned, he’d be able to unlock a class. Most of the classes revolved around standard combat, magic, or crafting. Although there were also classes that didn’t fit neatly into any of those categories.

  She used herself as an example. She began by learning heal, cure poison, cure disease, cloth proficiency, and staff proficiency. Once she unlocked each of those abilities, cleric was unlocked. By assigning her job as cleric, she received additional passive bonuses and was able to learn abilities unique to the class.

  Over time she increased her level in her healing abilities and added several new ones like cure paralysis, dispel curse, dispel fear, and many others. Once she’d acquired the necessary magic, she was capable of becoming a priestess.

  Apparently, there were also other classes available to her such as shrine maiden, exorcist, and scholar. Each of them came with their own respective benefits and pitfalls. Additionally, the rate ability points were earned was normally enhanced for the abilities within that class. This was the primary reason she remained a priestess. She was attempting to become a saint and the prerequisite abilities were all part of the priest class.

  “Okay,” Frost smirked at the simplicity. Apply skill points in abilities to unlock the class, train the class to earn more skill points, eventually evolve to better classes. “I think I get it. Is there a list somewhere of all potential classes and their benefits?”

  “There are lists,” Lysandra nodded. “But don’t assume they are complete since most people try to keep the prerequisites for powerful classes secret. For example, the wolf rider class was discovered around eighty years ago when a soldier retreating from battle happened to jump on a dire wolf. As it turned out, he had all of the necessary abilities to become a wolf rider except wolf riding. Now the Kingdom of Balar in the far north has a powerful army of wolf riders.”

  “I see,” Frost said. “There’s still a basic list, correct?”

  “I’m embarrassed to say that my list isn’t particularly extensive,” Lysandra sighed as she walked to her bookshelf. She handed him the book. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Frost said while taking the book. It may have taken a while, but he was finally starting to get excited about the world he was in. Knowledge made all of the difference and even if he didn’t know the prerequisites, he felt like he might be able to figure them out. “You’ve been amazing.”

  “Amazing?” Lysandra beamed. The white-haired elf’s happy smile made his heart skip a beat. “You can’t possibly mean that.”

  “I do,” Frost said earnestly while looking away before he became distracted again. The gorgeous woman really did look like a goddess. “Now, let’s see what we have here.”

  She wasn’t kidding about her book being basic. Learning basic armor and weapon skills seemed to give the options of soldier, squire, fighter, archer, hunter, and thief. Other classes like cleric, priest, monk, exorcist, shrine maiden, scholar, sage, and saint required more work but not much. She was also surprisingly lacking on offensive magic users although scholar and exorcist seemed to have a few spells listed in the margins.

  “Do you have any combat magic classes?” Frost asked while looking over the available list and their prerequisites. He also assumed they weren’t even all of the basic classes. “And you mentioned there were also crafting ones.”

  “I don’t have any combat magic classes,” Lysandra said as she walked to the bookshelf. “I’ve assembled my records with the help of the elves in the village and they don’t know much offensive magic. But I do have some crafting ones.”

  Chef, blacksmith, carpenter, tailor, leatherworker, jeweler, and various other professions were listed in the book she pulled from the shelf. Once again, the book was rather lackluster in details. In fact, as far as crafting went, his basic knowledge carried over from his world might have been more than theirs.

  “These types of classes work differently in that you can become a blacksmith simply by crafting nails,” Lysandra said. “But that doesn’t mean much in terms of the quality. There are also variations on those classes as well. There’s a holy blacksmith in the Capital City Solara on the main continent who’s capable of crafting weapons and armor available nowhere else.”

  “Interesting,” Frost said while memorizing a few pages for easy access. Much like the cooking recipe from before, he could see the formula but that didn’t mean he had the ability to make it. “So, I don’t see where or how I can allocate ability points.”

  “Oh,” Lysandra said. “You can only allocate ability points if you’ve discovered an ability. Remember when I told you about the wolf rider? He only had access to wolf riding when he attempted it. Similarly, if you wish to have the option to put points in swordsmanship, you need to pick up a sword and swing it.”

  “Got it,” Frost smiled at the simplicity of it. But he wondered if the system was truly that simple or her knowledge of it was only elementary. It didn’t seem that the elves had an academy of some sort and it was likely they were simply ignorant of the more complex aspects of the system. He stared at himself while mentally cataloging what he’d learned. “Do I need to do it in front of a mirror every time?”

  “Well,” Lysandra smiled politely. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but this is just how we teach small children to do it. After a while, you’ll be able to visualize yourself and do it naturally.”

  “Ah,” Frost nodded somewhat embarrassed. “I don’t suppose you have a weapon of some sort I could hold onto for a moment?”

  “I do,” Lysandra walked toward her nightstand and pulled a dagger from a drawer. She walked it over and handed it to him. “This should unlock daggers for you.”

  As soon as Frost touched the dagger the option lit up in his scan interface. It was currently level zero and one ability point was needed to bring the ability to level one. But he definitely didn’t want to waste any ability points on a weapon skill yet.

  “Now you should lunge it at me,” Lysandra said. “Gently please.”

  “Lunge it at you?” Frost asked. “Why?”

  “Just trust me,” Lysandra smiled.

  “Okay,” Frost nodded and gently lunge
d the dagger at her which she narrowly managed to avoid. He had no idea why he went so fast, he was positive he was being gentle. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s fine,” Lysandra said nervously. She clearly hadn’t expected it either. “I should have been more aware of your physical power. Now, prepare to defend yourself.”

  “What?” Frost asked as Lysandra unleashed a flurry of quick punches at him. He managed to block one of the attacks but the rest of them connected. Although, it was like getting pawed at by a kitten. “What was that about?”

  “Look at your abilities,” Lysandra pointed to the mirror.

  “Oh!” Frost walked up to the mirror and dozens of abilities were unlocked. Simply holding a dagger unlocked the dagger ability but various other combat abilities required him to attempt them. Parry, dodge, block, unarmed, cloth armor proficiency, and several others popped up. He grinned excitedly. “I get it!”

  “Are you happy?” Lysandra beamed.

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” Frost said while sorting through the abilities. “You’ve been really wonderful.”

  “Really?” Lysandra blushed. “I’m happy to hear that! Does that mean you think you’ll stay with us?”

  “Well, at the very least I’m in no hurry to leave,” Frost smirked. “But just for my own peace of mind, elves don’t go around murdering children, plotting to destroy the world, or anything weird like that, right?”

  “The followers of Shalia don’t,” Lysandra said with a nervous grin.

  “So, you’re saying there are elves that do things like that,” Frost nodded. It made sense. Just like not all humans are evil, not all elves could be good.

  “But we don’t,” Lysandra said cheerfully. “I promise.”

  “Okay,” Frost grinned. “Lysandra, do you really want me to stay?”

  “Yes,” the white-haired elf said reassuringly. The way she stared at him suggested she had something in mind. “I’ll do anything you ask if it means you’ll stay.”

  “Lysandra,” Frost chuckled at the beautiful white-haired elf. Her thin white gown left little to the imagination but obstructed his view just enough to make him desperate to see her without it. “You’re driving me a little crazy here. Do you really want to sleep with me or is this a game?”

  “Are you asking me right now?” Lysandra’s face turned pink and she looked at the ground. “If you insist, I’ll…”

  “No,” Frost said defensively. “I’m not insisting on anything. I’m asking what you want. If I wanted to jump in that bed right now, would you want to join me?”

  “Yes,” Lysandra said timidly as she blushed. She looked around like she wanted to escape. “But also no.”

  “Then no is fine,” Frost said reassuringly. “Listen, I’m not going to…”

  “No!” Lysandra interrupted as her entire body turned pink. “I mean, yes, I want to. If it must be now, then we can do it now. Goddess, I want to do it now. It’s just, I’m not entirely prepared, physically.”

  “Physically?” Frost asked.

  “Yes,” Lysandra pointed to her downstairs. “I really wasn’t expecting this and…do I really have to explain? I’d just need thirty minutes to get ready. Can you just wait here?”

  “I’ll wait as long as you want,” Frost laughed as he realized why the gorgeous elf was so nervous. “Or are you under the assumption I have somewhere else to be?”

  “Good, stay here,” Lysandra rushed to a dresser and pulled out several colorful garments before hiding them from his view. She smiled excitedly at him and rushed out of the room. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes but if I’m not, just keep waiting.”

  Frost laughed as she ran out of the room. He was a little concerned about whether or not he was taking advantage of the beautiful priestess. She obviously thought he was a herald of her goddess. But, in fairness, he did warn her that he would be and awful herald. And technically he hadn’t agreed to it yet.

  Frost laid back on the soft king-sized bed and focused. A phantom version of himself appeared in front of him and he began sifting through the skills again. He was surprised with how easy things were once he figured out the basics of them.

  “Right,” Frost said. “I forgot to look for my ability points.” He focused on the ability menus and as soon as he wondered how many points he had available a box popped up showing six hundred. “Okay…”

  CHAPTER 4

  There was a brief knock on the door to warn Frost before it slowly opened. Lysandra quickly came inside and turned to shut and lock the door. She was wearing a shimmering white bathrobe with a violet floral print and her skin was slightly shinier than before.

  “I don’t want the others to barge in,” Lysandra said as if to justify the locks. “It’s not to keep you locked up.”

  “I wasn’t thinking that at all,” Frost grinned. “But now I kind of am. Not that I’d mind.”

  “Now,” Lysandra walked toward him seductively. Her robe swayed back and forth with the deliberate motion of her hips. Frost’s heart throbbed so hard he started to worry that something was wrong with him. “Is this something you really want to do?”

  “Yes,” Frost was surer of that decision than anything else in his life. Lysandra smiled at his response and stared to untie her belt as an invasive thought popped into his head that could destroy everything. “Wait.”

  “What?” Lysandra said with a disappointed look. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “No,” Frost assured her. “Um, I keep forgetting I’m in a new world and there might be some cultural ramifications for this.”

  “Like living a life of mockery for having slept with an elf,” Lysandra sighed while starting to tie her belt back up. “It’s understandable. You’d be looked at no differently than a man who sleeps with livestock.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Frost waved his hand as if he were brushing the words aside. As long as he could have sex with beautiful women, he didn’t really care what people called him. “Other men can say what they want.”

  “Then what do you mean by ramifications?” Lysandra gave him a puzzled look.

  “Things like,” Frost paused to think of how best to phrase it without offending her. “Will I be expected to marry you?”

  “Um,” Lysandra covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “Would you like to marry me?”

  “No,” Frost answered quickly. Probably too quickly. “Well, not no. I don’t really know you. It’s just you seem to be checking in with me a lot on whether or not I want to sleep with you and it made me think there might be some greater commitments involved.”

  “Oh,” Lysandra said as if she finally understood. “I’m sorry for giving you that impression. I was just worried that I was taking advantage of you.”

  “That you’re taking advantage of me?” Frost tried not laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement. “Okay, how? How in the world do you think you’re taking advantage of me?”

  “You’re completely ignorant of the world,” Lysandra blushed. “You don’t realize how people will look at you for sleeping with an elf. They will mock you for your entire life.”

  “Will elves mock me and laugh at me?” Frost asked.

  “No!” Lysandra was obviously appalled at the suggestion. “Some might look down on you for laying with me in particular but never for laying with elves in general.”

  “Why you in particular?” Frost asked wanting to get to the bottom of the beautiful woman’s insecurity. “You’re smart, kind, and beautiful beyond words.”

  “And you say things like that,” Lysandra sighed while shaking her head. “Which if you knew the world, you’d know isn’t true.”

  “Lysandra,” Frost smiled. “If humans are going to mock me for sleeping with elves, then I’ll just live around elves. If elves are going to mock me for sleeping with you, then they’re not worth associating with. You’re not taking advantage of me, if anything I’m taking advantage of you.”

  “How so?” Lysandra said almo
st defensively.

  “Your world operates on a ridiculous premise,” Frost said. “That you’re not good enough. You are. If you understood how beautiful you are to me, you’d understand how lucky I feel right now. I can’t believe how lucky I am. I feel like I must be doing something wrong to be so lucky.”

  Lysandra’s eyes went wide and her mouth opened slightly as she stared at him. She slowly loosened the belt around her robe revealing a set of lacy violet lingerie. Her bustier was transparent on the waist portions while the bra portion lifted her ample breasts. Her violet thong matched her bustier perfectly and was transparent in the front showcasing her extremely short white bush.

  Frost found himself unable to speak as the ivory-haired woman walked toward the bed and climbed in. She stared at him as if she was trying to make sense of some strange object she never knew existed and after several seconds of observation, she placed a hand on his chest.

  “Do you really think that?” Lysandra asked while moving toward his face. Her pink glossy lips enticed him to move forward as well. “Do you really think you’re lucky to be with me?”

  “Yeah,” Frost answered. “I’d need to be insane to think otherwise.”

  Lysandra climbed on top and shoved him down onto the bed before practically mauling him. Her lips were sweet like sugar coated strawberries and her hands were softer than silk as they explored his chest. She ran her tongue across his lips and slipped it into his mouth. He was in heaven as she expertly massaged his tongue with hers.

  Frost found his hands moving on their own to her soft delectable thighs. The moment he touched them he was in love with them. The unbelievable smoothness and perfect thickness had him yearning to burying his face between them. Instead, he had to settle for running his hands up and down them as they continued to kiss.

  Lysandra started slowly grinding her hips against Frost’s waist as his cock gradually grew. The perfect fit of the pants they’d given him quickly became imperfect as his thick cock pressed against them desperate to escape.