She looked at my face, seeing the lack of joy that was on hers. “I know you don’t know now, but it will make all the difference to your skill.
“I feel so excited for you. It's like having multiple birthdays and anniversaries all at once. Did I mention that mine’s coming up in a few days?” she asked playfully.
“Several times already,” I muttered. “So how do I do this?”
“Simple - just go to your book of life and select it in the skills page,” she said.
I went in and selected the bonuses for each of the skills and then looked at my Skill Table:
Skill Table
Name
Major
Level
XP to the next level
XP
Comment
Bonuses
Unarmed Combat
Strength/Agility
31
3200
90
Any fighting without weapons
Movement flash, +5 to Agility
Blunt Weapon Use
Strength/Agility
25
2600
567
Use of a blunt weapon in combat
Crush attack, + 4 to Strength
Trading
Charisma
5
600
45
Buying and selling items
Resist charm
Romantic
Charisma
20
2100
300
-
+ 4 to Charisma
Running
Strength/Agility
38
3900
1237
-
Sure footing, Unending endurance, Extended stride, + 5 to Agility
Gambling
Charisma
18
1900
34
Luck strike, + 3 to Charisma
Shield Magic
Intelligence
35
3600
30
Any type of shield magic
Shield shape manipulation advanced
Domestic Magic
Intelligence
10
1100
34
Useful for all type of work around the house
Clothing endurances
Fire Magic
Intelligence
42
4300
3423
Any heat energy magic
Mastery of flame manipulation
Blade Weapon Use
Strength/Agility
30
3100
432
Use of a blunt weapon in combat
+ 6 to Agility
Healing
Intelligence
5
600
34
Magical Healing
Natural Magic
Intelligence
2
300
45
Natural Magic
Clambering
Agility
5
600
232
Agility based skill for climbing
Keen eye
A new column had appeared that indicated what my bonus selection had been.
“Check your stats table,” said Salihn excitedly, bubbling with excitement.
Name:
Chrix
Top Skill
Fire magic
Character Total Level
40
Major
Strength
Fortitude
Agility
Number
15
11
27
Major
Intelligence
Charisma
Knowledge
Number
245
23
10
Minor
Shield
Magical Power
Stamina
Carry Limit
Number
N/A
1235
145
40
Regen Sec
N/A
50
3.7
N/A
I did so and saw a vast increase in my agility, which had been one of my main problems in the forest. Now as I clambered around, I could increase the surety of my footing with greater speed.
“All done. It’s just as you said it would be,” I said to Salihn. She jumped up and gave me a hug, then ran for the door. Just as she was about to shut it I asked her, “Where are you going?”
“To get my armor on. We need to go outside and see what you can do,” she said as the door was just about to close behind her.
“Do you need some help?” I shouted jokingly.
That stopped her dead as she was just about to shut the door. She came back out and said, “Well, I won’t mind. It’s hard to put it on by myself.”
As I got up to help, she said, “It's a bit of a mess in my room at the moment as I’ve not put things away for a while.”
I could see what she meant when I entered the room. The room was significantly larger than mine with a very big bed. On it were piles of dresses, gowns and other clothing that looked as though she had been sorting through them.
I smiled at the piles of clothing and said, “Are you sure you have enough clothing? It looks like you have something to wear for every occasion.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, her usual mock-angry expression, and said, “Well, that’s my life - all dressed up with nowhere to go.”
“We’re going out now,” I said defensively, “and you’re the one who wants to stay here.”
“Still,” she said. “Anyway, I thought you were going to help me get my armor on.”
She went over to a cupboard and opened it, and I saw that one side was chockfull of clothes. The other side had her armor and weapons, and the underpadding to wear beneath the armor.
“More clothes,” I said with a smile.
“Not enough,” she said. “My wardrobe was significantly bigger before...”
“Before what?” I asked.
She looked pensive for a second, then turned and pulled out her armor. “I’ll tell you later when we know each other better. Anyway, turn around as I need to change quickly.”
Before I could turn she was already getting out of the dress that she had been wearing around the house. I quickly turned and flushed red with embarrassment while I heard her moving around for a few minutes.
“OK, all clear. Just help with the fastenings on the back, would you?”
I turned back around and she had her back to me. I walked up and helped with the straps along the back and the sides.
“There we are,” she said with a smile as I followed her out of the extremely cluttered room. “Don’t worry,” she added as she saw me cast one last look around, “I’ll tidy up later.”
“I bet you will.”
Just a few minutes later we were heading along the tree pathway away from her hideout. As usual the world was fully dark out here, the baying of monsters not far enough away for my liking. I was staying close to Salihn as I was worried about her in this dangerous place.
Yes, I thought to myself, intellectually I know that she has lived here a long time without my protection, but unlike me she could be killed by the creatures in the dark levels of this forest.
She stopped on a branch close to some vines going down the side of a thick tree trunk.
“It looks to be clear of any monsters,” she said as she looked around with her red light held up. “Do you want to try field manipulation first?”
“OK. Here it goes.”
I moved the magical power smoothly through my pathway. Salihn nodded, as I was improving with all the practice that she had made me do. To start with, I slowly used my hand movements to form a shield in front of me. At first it had a light blue glow, and a perfect sphere hovered a few meters from where we were crouchin
g on the interconnecting branches of the tree. Slowly at first, I started to change its shape with the manipulation skill. Unlike when I’d had to learn something from a magical book, this information was mostly instinctual.
At first, all I could do was put several dents in the glowing blue sphere with the manipulation skill. Then as I worked at it, I started to make a shape that was like a spinning helix.
“Not bad for starters,” said Salihn beside me.
She waited patiently as I played around with my new skill for the next hour. With each shape I created, it was as if knowledge was being restored to my brain. By now I was moving the shield around in several segments that were acting independently of each other.
I moved all the glowing blue shield elements back together, then formed a disc two meters in diameter.
Smiling at Salihn, I said, “Well - here goes nothing.”
She gasped as I jumped into the air and landed on the disc, as solid as any ground that I had ever stood on. I stood up straight and then with an exaggerated motion, jumped up and down on the glowing shield.
“Come on, then!” I said to Salihn who was looking at me with awe. “Jump on!”
Without any hesitation, she nimbly jumped across the distance between us and landed on the shield. To make sure that she didn’t fall off, I grabbed hold of her and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”
“I wasn't worried,” she said. I noticed that she didn’t move out of my arms.
“Shall we go for a ride, then?” I asked as the shield moved up around us to form a protective bubble.
Before she could say anything, I started to fly off. I went slowly at first, but then at greater speed as I gained confidence.
“Some of us aren't immortal,” said Salihn as we shot up, weaving in and out of branches.
As I held her I could feel her body tremble slightly, so I slowed down. This seemed to calm her enough to relax a bit. Soon we were starting to break through into the levels that had light from veins of quartz crystals running through the tree trunks. Now I got my first look at the biodomes up close, and was amazed by their beauty. The forest was full of subtle greens and browns that were offset by the splendor of the colors of the flowers. I could even see creatures moving around the platforms as we flew through; they seemed more normal than the monstrosities in the darker levels below.
I thought, Strange what you get used to. Not long ago I would have thought they looked like monsters but now they are just familiar. Still, I saw some trolls throwing rocks at us so I knew that they would still kill me given half the chance.
“Why do you live in the dark forest below,” I asked the woman beside me, “when there is all this beauty up here?”
I thought she was not going to answer and it was a few seconds before she spoke. “It’s easier to hide below.”
“What are you hiding from?” I asked.
“Maybe I’ll tell you later, but it’s good to have a little mystery in your life. Let's head back, as you still have to practice your fire manipulation,” she said.
I started to descend back into the forest depths, wondering what she was hiding from.
Chapter Seven A Birthday Gift
When I saw her door open and Salihn walk out, I started to sing very badly, “Happy birthday to you...”
I sang with gusto while she looked at me questioningly. At the end she gave a brief clap and said, “I’ve never heard that before. Is it a custom where you come from?”
“It is sung on everybody’s birthday,” I said.
She looked curious and asked, “Where is it that you come from, anyway?”
I smiled. “You're not the only one with secrets. Anyway, I would like to give you a gift for your birthday.”
This brought a shy smile to her face and she blushed that I had thought of her. Then she looked around and asked, “Where is it, then?”
It was my turn to turn a bit red and I said, “Well, it will take a bit of effort on your part as I wanted to get you a dress, but it’s not like I know anywhere to buy anything. So, I guess that we’ll need to go on a shopping trip.”
She looked excited at the prospect, but then frowned and said, “We’ll have to do some work disguising you.”
“With magic?” I asked excitedly. It would be good to understand how that worked.
“Well, only to change the shape of your ears slightly but for the rest, I’ve got a dye to make your hair black, just like mine. Then you can look like a very tall dark elf. It would be good if we could get some armor, but I guess that’s not really possible at short notice. Oh well.”
Within a few minutes I was looking into a mirror over the sink in my bathroom while Salihn washed her hands. She had just finished with my hair and it was now as dark as hers.
“Well, that should do,” she said as she finished rinsing her hands. “It's a pity that we can’t do anything about your height.”
I looked at my ears that currently looked like Salihn’s. She had only used the slightest amount of magic to change their shape, and had explained that it was best not to use too much magic as people would notice.
“Maybe I should stoop so as not to appear so tall,” I said,
She shook her head. “That will draw too much attention, and you look good standing tall.”
I nodded. “Well, where are we going?”
“There’s a large city about three hours’ fast travel from here. Its reaches right the way through the depths of the forest so if we stay in the lower levels, we’ll be fine,” she said excitedly.
As she left my bathroom and passed through my bedroom, she saw how clean and tidy it was.
“We should get something for you to wear, as you seem not to want to wear anything from the cupboard,” she said.
“That would be good, as I seem to get through clothing quite quickly. Well, shall we head off?”
--
When the nimble Salihn had said three hours of fast travel it was not an exaggeration. As we moved through the maze of branches and roots that made up the forest depths, jumping from branch to branch lit only by a small red light had made it a perilous three hours for me.
That morning she was both excited and determined to see that I’d improved, so she was moving as fast as she could and showing no mercy for me having to keep up with her. The several times that I did fall, she stopped and waited for me to climb out of the mud but then just carried on once I was back among the branches.
During the journey I had suggested several times that we could travel by shield. All Salihn did in answer was to move off, shouting behind her that I needed the practice. I couldn’t deny what she was saying - but did she have to move so fast? This was all too embarrassing for me, who had been able to outrun most people in this world. I was sure that if it came to a straight race on dry ground, I would best her. I just had to find a straight and dry bit of forest for such a race.
Thankfully, after what seemed an eternity of moving through the network of branches we came to a large branch pathway, the first sign of elven civilization that I had seen in the dark depths of the forest.
Not out of breath but embarrassed by my lack of dexterity, I climbed onto the rough bark path. Salihn was grinning, having enjoyed the contest. She was already sitting cross-legged and waiting for me as if she had gotten there an age ago.
She smiled at me and said, “Well, you're at least getting better. Just try not to be too clumsy in the city as it will get you noticed.”
“How far is it?” I asked.
She pointed to the distant right. I looked in the direction she was pointing, not sure what I would see. As I slowly focused, through the twisted roots and trees I could make out thousands of pools of light shining in the dark forest. The yellow and white pools of light were all clustered around a large area. As I followed the columns of light upward, I could see that the lights of what I guessed was the city extended out of my sight.
“The city reaches all the way to the top of the canopy and then into t
he sky. The higher levels are where the high elves live,” she said. When she talked about the higher elves she had a note of longing in her voice.
“Race you to the city entrance!” she shouted playfully as she ran off across the wide branched roadway.
With a cheery smile at her infectiously good mood, I set off after her, confident that if it came to a run I would win. Putting all my power into my footsteps, I moved quickly and was soon sprinting. I caught her up despite her head start. Increasing my pace, I managed to just get past her. Unfortunately at that point, the pathway decided to start twisting and turning and I had to slow down so as not to run off the path into the forest below.
At that point I nearly cursed as I saw her bounding past me. She was skipping between several branches with her amazing acrobatics. Now that she was ahead of me, I heard her laughing at my meager efforts - until we hit a straight bit of the pathway again. On the straight section I gained on her again and just got past her until we hit more twists and she overtook me with her greater agility.
A few minutes later, I could see the amused expressions of the elves standing guard at the gate as we approached. One of guards spoke to the other and pointed to the couple bearing down on them. The roadway had just straightened out for the past few hundred meters and I was gaining on Salihn. She seemed to be putting all her energy into the run. Luckily for her I had to dodge around a few people who were carrying goods into the city. This kept me a step behind her until we hit the city’s outer edges.
Before barreling into the guards, we stopped and she turned around with a grin on her face and threw her hands in the air. “I won!”
Her face was red and she was gasping for breath as she had pushed herself, while I was not even breathing deeply due to my regenerative abilities.
Dirty Rotten Seizure Page 9