The way the elves reacted after I gained the Trait made my jaw drop. The unease they had around went away at once, and they would talk to like I was one of them.
After breakfast, I was allowed out of my room and I got my first glimpse of the elven village. My room was on the forest floor, but a wall of roots surrounded the clearing. Massive, dozens of ters wide trees rose up like skyscrapers. forming a hexagon with seven trees, one in the middle. Bridges were woven from vines crisscrossed from one tree to the next above . Along the trees' trunks, the elves built their houses and workshops.
On the ground, rays of sun filtered down through the forest giants' leaves and traced a calming pattern of light and shadows on the ground. Most of it was moss-covered stone, but patches of dirt allowed bushes and grass to grow. So stone buildings dotted the clearing inside the hexagon, and from a few of the plus of smoke rose up only to be sucked into so kind of building fifty ters or so up the trees.
I spent the first day wandering around the clearing. I saw Elves working copper and bronze into tools, weapons, and ornants. Another one was working a silvery tal into a beautiful sword. On another corner, sculptors worked stone and wood into works of art. I noticed there were no animals around. After I went to the other side I found a lake the approximate size of a handful of Olympic pools put together. I laid on a rock next to the shores closed my eyes, listening to the calm waves rocking the lake.
After a quick nap, I completed my lap around the clearing. So elves were also lazily strolling around as if they had all the ti in the world. In a sense, they did. They looked at and waved. I also noticed two things. One, that very few elves wore blue. And two, there were no elven children. I expected to see a few pointed-eared tykes prancing around.
When I returned to my room, an elf lady was waiting for . She smiled and pointed at the table with a pile of a dozen thick books. She had the air of a school teacher. I sat where she pointed and she pulled the other chair to sit by my side. Taking the first book, she started.
The books had pictures, and carefully drawn glyphs next to them. I recognized it imdiately. It was a picture book for children. She would point at the picture and say a word. Then she would repeat the word, but pointing her long and slender finger at the glyphs one by one. On the third pass, she broke it down into syllables and repeated slowly. Then it was my turn. She would make repeat until my pronunciation was acceptable. Her standards were high.
The day went by, and it was clear to that until I learned the Elvish language, I wouldn't move on to other subjects. But I had a bed, clean clothes, and five als a day. The elves ate light, but they spread their als. There was breakfast at sunrise, then an early lunch before noon, afternoon snack, dinner at nightfall, and supper late at night. The average elf slept only for four to six hours every day. I had no complaints.
Mrs. Bere was my Elvish tutor's na. She was relentless. If I added "perseverance" to the picture book, I would put her portrait next to it. I wasn't dumb and I had two perks to accelerate Skills, but it took a month to learn the first level of their language even with System aid.
You gained the Fulgenian Elvish (language, rare) Skill.
This elven country was called Fulgen. You have one chance to guess the forest's na. The language's rarity was the reason the bar was so high. It was considered rare to because I was not an elf. Compared to the world's population, the frequency of the Skill granted it such status. For the Fulgen elves, it was classified as common. But it wasn't over. She changed her books, to include grammar, derivations, and inflections. The way you spoke was very important. Cadence and tone were part of the language and speaking a phrase fast or slow could change its aning. But two weeks later I acquired the Skill, it was already capped at the dread " ".
"I don't understand. You were making such good progress," Mrs. Bere said with a friendly tone.
Elves didn't speak, they sang. I had a huge handicap. Since I didn't speak much during my first five years, my mouth didn't adjust its shape and the muscles weren't trained. Yes, I knew how to speak English, but the physical exercises a baby naturally did as it grew up and my body required to vocalize was never done. And I couldn't explain to her why. I wasn't supposed to be in the system yet.
"Can we keep trying, Mrs. Bere? I am sure this is so sort of blockage that will pass later," I butchered their language using the words I could.
She gave a concerned gaze. "I find your taphors most interesting, Ms. Lily. I can picture how a clump of leaves and branches barricading a river can relate to your current problem. Very well. You have determination, and that is comndable for soone as young as you."
Elves develop slower than humans. It isn't because they are dumb, it is because their hormones, bodies, and brains don't change as fast as a human. But then again, a human doesn't develop fast as a goblin either. I learned that at two years old, a goblin is already an adult in both body and mind.
My drive to keep studying Fulgenian ca from a hunch I had. My rabbit sign language was also stuck at for months, but I never stopped developing the actual language. Once it was complete, I gained a Trait and the Skill at the level of complete fluency. The sa happened to English. The System recognized my natural proficiency and granted the Skill. Maybe if I did the sa with Fulgenian, I would one day bump the Skill all the way to journeyman 35.
I continued my exclusive language training for another month, but not in the room with books. Mrs. Bere would take to hear poets, plays, and bards doing music recitals. I would have to later repeat what I heard, explain their shifts of intonation and what it ant, and so on. It was ntally taxing but that extra mile was what made Elvish so beautiful. Everything had aning. Change the key and a new subtext is added to what you are saying. I could only compare to a guy I saw once, he played the flute but also humd at the sa ti.
Two months later, I went from watching the perforrs to learning with them. Mrs. Bere brought to a poet friend of hers.
"This will help with your diction and pitch control, my dear," She explained to before knocking on the poet's door.
An elf with well-grood features and a colorful vest answered the door. He smiled at Mrs. Bere. "Agatha, how are you? I heard you were tutoring our esteed guest..." He trailed off with a nod from the language teacher. "Oh, how are you, little one."
Damn, the guy was handso and charming. I bowed. "Nice to et you, master. I'm Lily," I introduced myself using the elvish word for the flower.
"Oh, it is a pleasure," the poet gushed. "I'm Reynoyonyn, Call Renyn just like my friends, my dear Lily."
"Renyn," Mrs. Bere cleared her throat, "I wish you to train Lily. She needs to improve her speech, and I need your expertise to help her vocalize better."
Renyn clapped his hands, excited, "Yes, yes! I never had the pleasure of working with a human, and I wonder if their vocal range and physiology can lead to new phones or voice expressions. Maybe we can teach each other as we go, Ms. Lily, what do you think?"
"I would be honored to help, Master Renyn," I replied.
I was very relieved that he took this so well. Because honestly, compared to them, human vocalization was shit. Seriously.
Renyn took by the wrist. "We will start right now then, please co in and make yourselves comfortable. Tell , dear, what is your age?"
"I'm five, master. I'll be six at the start of next winter."
He looked at with a serious. "You surely are very mature for a five-year-old. Especially for one that grew among wolves."
Busted. "I'm sorry, master. I can assure you I am not acting like now. This is , as good as it gets. But there are things I can't talk about."
He caressed my head. "You were chosen by Yznera. Our Goddess and Mother gave us orders to welco you as one of us and treat you as an honored guest. Of course, you have secrets. Now, co. Let's spend one fun day making strange sounds with our mouths."
"I'll leave you to play together," Mrs. Bere said. "Lily, you are to co here to have lessons and assist Renyn in whatever chores he needs doing. Don't worry, he is a far more anable taskmaster than ," She smirked and chuckled. Reminded of wind chis.
I entered Renyn's studio. Not a house. A studio. I could see the elves had a deep knowledge of acoustics, as there were softwood panels at odd angles all around the room. So hardwood armchairs with a very inviting upholstery rested in a rough semicircle around an open area, where the perforr would have a perfect place to make himself clearly heard. Renan took one of the armchairs and pointed to the one next to him.
"Now, Lily. Do you speak Pekothasian?"
I shook my head. "No, sir. I never even heard of this language."
He frowned then chuckled. "You see, that's the language the humans of this region speak. Unless you were born on the other side of the Frostwyrm mountains, that's what you should speak."
"No. I think my birth village was just a week's travel away from here. I was outcast from society as a baby, master. But I might know a few words. Do these words an anything to you?"
I spoke so of the words I rembered from the conversations between Rosalinda and the matrons. Renyn would take so of these words and speak them differently, asking if either mine or his version sounded better. It was a wonder that his voice changed entirely when he spoke "human". I confird that his pronunciation sounded right and he nodded.
"It is amazing that you recall words spoken around you when you were a newborn. Most don't have such a good mory."
I looked away, "Yes, I rember a lot. I don't know if it is a good thing or not." He patted my head. I felt the inside of my nose sting and my eyes moisten.
"Sotis, sharing painful mories can help," He cooed with a whisper that felt like leaves rustling in the wind.
"Rosalinda. That was the na of my mother. She was taken from this world when I was three months old. She was murdered in the cruelest way possible. The whole village was razed at that ti," I said between sobs.
I felt the chair disappear underneath as Renyn scooped in his arms. He held . "Let it out, child. Don't bottle the pain."
I threw my left arm over his neck and buried my face in his tunic. I bawled for who knows how long. When I stopped, my eyes stung. I left a trail of snot on the elf's tunic, but he didn't seem to care.
"Lily, would you tell about Rosalinda. She might be gone, but rembering can make them live within us."
I nodded. He gave a scented handkerchief and I made thorough use of the cloth. But the tears wouldn't stop. I rembered my deaths, of all things. The runaway truck crashing down the 42nd. The mole biting half of off. The barbarian drowning in the mud underneath his body. But that death was less painful than seeing Marion murdered.
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I cried to exhaustion.
Marion, Grandpa Graybeard, Rosalinda. I felt responsible for those deaths. Living, again and again, might not be the great boon one would believe. Because you get to make new people suffer because of you. And their specters will forever haunt .
I felt sleepy. Renyn was rocking and humming a calming tune. I begged, "Please, master. I don't want to sleep. I fear the ghasts that might visit in my dreams."
He put his hands in my armpits and lifted as if I was a plu. He brought to the center of the open area. "Then don't sleep. Let's make an exercise. Here. I'll make so sounds, and you repeat them." We did a series of vocalization exercises to warm up my vocal cords. When he was satisfied, he gave an order. "Scream. Get your pain, your sorrows, your anger. Scream it all. Shout. Curse. Put it all out. Get angry. Go!"
I was confused. Sohow screaming in a stage was a terrifying proposition, as if I would bare myself more than stripping my body of all clothes.
Renyn noticed my hesitation, and pointed at a chair, "Let go first, then. SIt over there."
The elf poet took his spot and started to scream. It was a shout of anger as if his wrath would blanket a city in hot magma. He was terrifying and my mind painted him with a red aura that threatened to break every bone of my body after he flayed my hide off. Then he shifted to a neutral stance for a brief mont before shouting pure pain. He wailed as if a million swords were disemboweling him. It made reach out with my arm.
But what broke was his cries of sorrow. He wept like Roo when he found the love of his life dead in the coffin. He sniveled and whimpered like a father pleading a marauder for the life of his children. He cried like a soldier that was forced to kill his own brother on the battlefield.
And suddenly, he stopped. Renyn the elven poet returned to a neutral posture, flexed, and bowed.
He broke my heart with his performance and it was exactly that. Just a performance. I was shedding tears from my second tear bank, the one I didn't know I had. Renyn's act was horrifying. And it was beautiful and subli at the sa ti. He put such raw emotion in his performance that I couldn't help but feel the rapport.
He reached out for and gave another handkerchief. I had no idea how many he had.
"I'll try to do it, master," I said after I blew my nose clean.
"Yes, yes. But first, let's find ourselves so refreshnts," He said. I took the hand he offered and went with him.
Completely out-of-hand explosive-growth Status!!!
Na: Lily.
Species: Human.
Gender: Female.
Age: 5 years
Level: 10
Class: Monster Hunter 8.
Professions: Cartographer (rare), Apothecary (rare).
Strength: 11. Dexterity: 11. Endurance: 11 (HP: 559). Mind: 11. Willpower: 11. Charisma: 11. Magic: 0 (MP: 0).
Available Attribute Points: 0.
Skills (unless marked, all of them are stuck at novice 9):
Pseudopod (active, uncommon): You can project microscopic pseudopods up to 2x body length away from you. These pseudopods have all your senses.Phagocitosis (active, uncommon): Your pseudopods can catch microscopic particles and creatures smaller than you. You can digest and process what you capture.Flagellum Movent (active, uncommon): You have microscopic cilia covering your body. Such cilia improve your movent when imrsed in fluids.Chemical Awareness (passive, very rare): You can identify chemicals dissolved in fluids around you, to a range of 1/2 body length.Cyst Hibernation (passive, very rare): If you are in an environnt that can't sustain you or is hostile, your exterior shell hardens and you enter a deep state of hibernation. You gain damage resistance 100 and ti passes 10,000 tis slower for you. You cyst breaks when conditions are favorable once again.Dirt Burrowing (uncommon) : You can move through dirt at a reduced rate and leave a stable tunnel behind if you so wish.Dirt Digestion (uncommon) : You can extract nourishnt from ingested dirt.Tremorsense (rare) : You can sense vibrations across solid matter around you and pinpoint the sources of these vibrations at a distance of Willpower x Rank inches.Leaping (common) : Increae your your jumping distance by Dexterity x Rank x 0.5%.Wild Sense (common) : You can recognize wild animals, herbs, and gauge danger in a natural environnt.Enghish (language, unique) : Journeyman 35. You can read, write, listen, and speak English.Negotiation (uncommon) : You can sway bargains in your favor.Bite (common) : :You are proficient in using your teeth to kill your enemies.Dodge (common) : :You are better at evading enemy attacks.Blind-Fighting (uncommon) : :You can use your other senses to determine enemy locations.Giant-Fighting (rare) : :You have bonuses attacking and defending against creatures at least one size larger than you.Harden Teeth (rare) : :Your teeth are less prone to break and ignore part of the enemy's defenses.Bravery (rare) : :Fear effects on you are Wisdom x Rank x 0.2% less effective.Double Jump (uncommon) : While Jumping, if a horizontal or vertical surface is nearby, you can jump again.Long Jump (uncommon) : You increase the distance you jump by Dexterity x Rank x 0.5�ckflip (uncommon) : You can rotate up to 360º when jumping.Staunch (uncommon) : Reduce the duration of Bleeding effects on creatures under your care by Endurance x Rank x 0.2%Vitality (rare) : Increase the recovery rate of creatures under your care by Endurance x Rank x 0.5%Health UP (rare) : Increase your HP by Endurance x Rank x 0.5%Tactics (uncommon): Increase fighting effectiveness when leading a small group.Guerrilla Warfare (rare): Reduced chance of detection when performing a surprise attack or setting traps against larger groups of enemies.Stealth (uncommon): Reduce chance of detection when attempting to hideBackstab (rare): You deal extra damage when attacking enemies unaware of your presence.Kicking (common): Increase accuracy and damage when attacking with your posterior limbs.First Aid (uncommon): Reduce severity of wounds when paradical care is applied within one hour.Sign Language [rabbit] (rare) Journeyman 35: A sign language using paw, nose, and head movents, made especially to be used with a lagomorph's body.Long Term Care (rare): Increase long-term recovery rate of up to Willpower patients.Prophylaxis (rare): Patients under your care have reduced incidence of infection and contamination.Auvani Language (common): Language spoken by the humans in the Auvani Tribes.Mi (uncommon): You can communicate concepts through gestures and body movents.Acting (uncommon): Improve transmission of feelings with one's body language and believeability when impersonating a character.Tumbling (uncommon): Improve distance and precision of acrobatic maneuversDeception (uncommon): Improve beliveablity of one's falsehoods.Storytelling (rare): Improve transmission of feelings and interest of a captive audience when retelling a chronicle.Weaving (common): Improve quality and crafting speed.Horseback Riding (common) : Improve control and rapport when mounting equines.Survival [Temperate] (common): Increase odds of avoiding hazards and finding ans of subsistence in [temperate] climate bios.Improved Stamina (uncommon): Reduce rate of fatigue when submitted to long-term exertion.Reduced Sleep (rare): Reduce the amount of sleep required by Rank X Willpower x 0.08%Hold Breath (uncommon): Increase the length of ti before breathing reflexes kick in by Willpower x Rank x 0.5%Identify (common): You can obtain the classification and nature of objects up to uncommon quality.Efficient tabolism (very rare): Reduce physiological necessities by Rank x Endurance x 0.08%Herbalism (uncommon): Improve growth rate of small plants under one's care and efficiency of harvested small herbs.Cold Resistance (uncommon): Reduce cold damage received by Endurance x Rank x 0.075%. You consider cold temperature as Endurance x Rank x 0.04 nearer your comfort zone.Camouflage (rare): Reduce chance of being detected by sight when using a specially prepared disguise.Hiking (common): Reduce rate of fatigue and movent speed when moving through own ans for a long ti.Drafting (uncommon): Increase precision and accuracy of one's drawings.Triangulation (rare): If you can move at least 1% of the distance to a landmark sideways, you can estimate the distance with a certain margin of error. A bigger lateral movent and asuring instrunts reduces this error.Height Sense (rare): You can sense general height related to the sea level.Mineral Survey (uncommon): After carefully examination of the terrain around a large area, you can determine the presence of minerals underneath the ground.Geomancy (rare): You can infuse the terrain with MP to generate controlled magical effects. The effects available are dependent on rank and terrain type.Sense Depth (uncommon): When underground, sense the general distance to the surface.Hide Tracks (uncommon): If you move slowly, you can reduce the chance of others discovering evidence of your passing.Reduce Threat [Forest] (rare): When in forested or jungle terrain, reduce chance of drawing the ire of natural denizens and non-sentient monsters.Direction Sense (uncommon): You can determine the north direction. Increased accuracy related to Rank and Mindpounding (rare): You are able to mix dicinal components to create pharmaceuticals tailored to a specific need.Leatherworking (uncommon): Increase quality and precision of one's work with creature hides.Tanning (uncommon): Increase quality and durability of creature hides.Cleaning (common): Increase hygiene and cleanliness of objects cleaned.Butchering (common): Increase quality and amount recovered when processing creature carcasses.Fire Building (common): You can make fire with the appropriate tools.Sewing (common): Increase quality and precision of one's stitches.Short Spear (common): Increase accuracy and damage when wielding daggers.Baton (common): Increase accuracy and damage when wielding daggers.Dagger (common): Increase accuracy and damage when wielding daggers.Fulgenian Elvish (language, rare): The launguage of the Fulgen elves.
Perks & Traits:
Perks:
Fast-Learner (very rare): Your Exp gains are multiplied by 10,000.Very Fast (rare): Your base movent rate is double your racial average.Disease Immunity (rare): You are completely immune to disease and parasites.Poison Immunity (rare): You are completely immune to poison and venom.Vorpal Teeth (very rare) :your critical hits using Bite can sever limbs or necks.Improved Critical [Bite] (rare) :The critical strike range of your bite attacks is doubled.Favored Enemy: Humans (uncommon): Treat all your combat Skills as one rank above when fighting against humans.Improved Natural Attack [Bite] (uncommon): You gain a bonus to hit and damage with bite attacks.Natural Attack Specialization [Bite] (rare): Your bite attacks deal half as much damage and increase the critical range by 1.Close Quarters Fighting (uncommon): If an enemy is within your reach and its attack range is longer than yours, you gain a bonus to all defenses.Climb Giants (rare): While riding an enemy larger than you, you gain a bonus to attack and defense against that creature.Drop from the Saddle (rare): You gain bonus evasion while riding a creature. Attacks that miss you hit your mount.Unwilling Ride (rare): Hostile creatures you ride have a penalty to attack or dislodge you.Linguist [Sign Language] (rare): You learn sign languages 20% faster.Ho Ground Defense (rare): Halve all damage received when defending your ho. Your defensive Skills are considered a rank above when fighting to defend your ho.Indomitable (rare). You only die when you reach 2*Endurance negative Hitpoints.Exp Boost (ultra rare): You gain a 25% Experience bonus.Magic Resistance (rare): Magical attacks deal 25% less damage to you. Undesirable Magical effects are 25% easier to resist.Alertness (uncommon): Add your Mind and Wisdom Attributes to detect threats.Detect Monster (rare) :you sense the presence of monsters at a range of Mind ters.Improved Critical [monster] (rare): Your base critical threat range when attacking monsters increase by 1.Unerring Strike [Monster] (uncommon): Your attacks against monsters are harder to avoid or defend.Great Longevity (blessing, ultra-rare): Increase your natural lifespan and reduce rate of aging past your race's age of maturity by a factor of ten.Elder Elven Kinship (blessing, ultra-rare): Regardless of your race, all Elves consider you a mber of their race and kin to their elders.
Situational:
One-Ard (disability, rare): You are born without the right arm.
Unique:
Divinity Absorption (blessing): Any use of divine power targeted at you or the area you occupy is nullified.Reincarnation (blessing): Upon final death, you are randomly returned to the world as a newborn of another species.Past Life mory (blessing): Never lose sense of self. You carry mories, Attributes, Skills and non-situational Traits to the next life.Pioneer: You are the first of your species to be inducted to the System. Skill growth increased by 10%.Absolute Clinging: You can cling to any surface without damaging it, including force constructs.Clay Transmutation: You can spend MP to transmute matter into clay.Prodigy: You are the youngest of your species ever inducted in the System. Skill growth increased by 10%.
Curses:
Blocked Status (very rare): Your status can only be viewed with divine magic.Feminization (uncommon): Your gender is female, if possible.Greater Decrepitude (ultra rare): Your maximum physical Attributes are your racial average minus one.Greater Feeblemind (very rare): Your maximum ntal Attributes are your racial average minus one.Magicless (ultra rare): Your base magic Attribute is zero.Greater Magic Deficiency (very rare): you cannot increase your Magic Attribute or gain MP.Random speciation (rare): Your birth race is determined at random.Random disability (ultra rare): Upon birth, you gain a random disability. This disability is removed upon death.Divine Siphon (unique): divine energy that targets you or enters in contact with you is drained and the power is sent to [REDACTED].Sterile (rare): You cannot generate offspring.Forgotten Identity(rare): You cannot rember your identity from your life in another world.Technogibberish (very rare): You cannot transmit scientific or technological knowledge through any ans. All attempts will be interpreted as gibberish by others.Unskilled IV (very rare): You cannot raise Skills above Novice rank.Unspeakable Na of God (ultra rare): You cannot utter the na or transmit the knowledge of gods by any ans. All attempts will be interpreted as gibberish by others.Slow Learner IV (ultra rare): Your Experience gains are divided by 10,000.Dumpstat X (ultra-rare): Your starting Attributes have a -100 penalty.Unspeakable Curses (uncommon): You cannot speak about your curses through any ans. All attempts will be interpreted as gibberish by others.
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