AN: Welcome Back… to session three of Maidens & Magic! Now, now, I'm sure some of y'all are saying:
"Violet, Violet! Didn't you say you'd upload Game of Artifice next?!"
And… I have no excuse. My muse has me on a leash. But hey, I have like 70% of the chapter done for Game of Artifice, and hopefully that will be done soon. I'm really sorry about the delay there, but I thought it best. Better to write what comes naturally, and then to force out a chapter that when my mind is elsewhere.
Also, it's hard to figure out how to squeeze a month of time into a chapter without rushing it, and furthermore, If I didn't do that I'd have several chapters of just filler.
Then again, I'll have more time issues here later… but! Hopefully GoA will teach me what I need to know for passing time here.
My apologies.
Either way, I'm enjoying this story quite a lot. Even if keeping track of the various 'invisible' aspects of it is a bit tougher. For instance Cae doesn't know what her modifiers that I roll for checks are, or how they're determined.
Other than that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and like the Familiar I settled on!
Chapter 3 - Journey before Destination
So it turns out maybe my semblance excuse wasn't as great as I had planned. I knew I wasn't infallible, but in hindsight I'm not sure why this didn't occur to me. With whatever Amy's semblance did exactly, we didn't run into Grimm often, and when we did… I wasn't allowed to fight.
Part of me suspected it was because I looked a few years younger than the rest of them, but they also said I should save my aura to use my semblance for a big fight if it was needed. Which meant I couldn't grind up XP and GP, which was extremely frustrating. I think Bianca was starting to think I was a battle junkie with how pouty I had been getting.
The worst part? They actually thought I had Aura and a Semblance, so I couldn't ask for them to unlock mine. Apparently Onyx, may he rest in peace, was the Team's Aura Expert, which was also ironically lucky. He would have been able to sense that I didn't have Aura.
"So after Windpath, where are you three headed?" I asked, making idle conversation as we walked along a dirt trail through the dense Mistrali forests. I had no time to experiment, and no chance to grind, so this was all I could do.
"The capital of course. Windpath is just the closest City as of now." Bianca replied. "It's a stop on the way, where we can report to Professor Lionheart."
"Ah, I'm afraid I won't be heading to the capital, so I guess we'll be parting ways there." I smiled apologetically. I could get a lot done in Windpath before I had to leave.
"Oh! Uhm, you should give us your Scroll Number, so we can keep in touch." Amy interjected with a hopeful smile. I wondered if she was getting attached because of just losing someone else… but I wasn't a psychologist, and I could only read minds if the subject was willing.
I felt my smile stiffen a little as I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great." I reached towards my back pocket and willed the system to purchase a Pre-Registered Scroll. I felt my GP tick down as it appeared in my hands. I would have rathered stealing a scroll once we got to town, but I didn't want to have to spam suggestions while explaining why I didn't have a Scroll.
An annoying waste of GP…
"...I suppose keeping in touch wouldn't hurt." Bianca muttered, letting out a sigh. I really couldn't tell if she liked or hated me.
"I mean I don't see why not." Skye added with a soft shrug. After a quick exchanging of contacts, I hummed with curiosity.
I then sent a mental note to Gold, "How much would it cost to have access to a CCT signal from anywhere?"
"That's what you wish to waste more of your GP on?" They doubted.
It was tempting, if only the fact that it would allow me to figure out where in the canon timeline I am, but not worth it. Especially when we expected to be within the tower's range for Net Access by tomorrow, and in the city within a few days.
"Smart choice." Gold lectured, as if judging me for even considering it.
Instead I cracked a grin. "How much would it cost for a spell or a perk that interacts with tech to achieve that effect on my own?"
I could swear I heard a distant sigh of disappointment, as several Windows popped up. There was a Hextech Feat and a Digital Witch Perk, both of which sounded incredible, but perks were expensive, each coming over a thousand GP.
There was a Spell called Arcane Hacking I could buy, and afford, but it wouldn't give me signal, just manipulate technology with my magic. Which, while useful, wasn't what I was looking for. Any spell that would do it was equally outside of my current price range.
Before I could scan the other windows, a sharp voice interrupted my thoughts. "What are you grinning at?" Bianca glanced at me accusingly.
Uh, random bullshit, go!
"Ah, just happy that I got the number of a pretty Lady in my Scroll." I replied, swinging my arm around Bianca's shoulder. She was cold to the touch, I guessed it was a passive side effect of her semblance.
I could hear Skye laugh warmly as Bianca brushed my arm off of her. "You're right, Amy is very pretty." She deflected with a roll of her eyes.
"Eh?" The young woman in question flushed a rosey pink hue, blinking in confusion.
I just chuckled in response, eliciting a pout from her. Although I made a mental note to be more careful when handling my powers, as to not garner suspicion.
"Don't tease her too much." Skye added, giving a soft smile. It still seemed… sad, but only distantly so, trying to be happy. I think he appreciated me brightening the mood a little.
"I won't. Just playing around a bit." I replied softly, tossing a wink, to which Bianca scoffed before calming down. She seemed a bit distant all of a sudden.
I think they were all teetering on the edge a little bit, which made sense, they had lost a teammate. I was surprised they weren't doing worse…
Maybe they were bottling it up to not attract Grimm? Or… well that didn't make much sense, I doubted faking calmness would fool the Grimm. It was something to think about.
"Good." He nodded calmly. "Wouldn't want to upset her."
To that I simply nodded in agreement, getting where he was coming from. As much as I wanted to grind, it wouldn't be good to stress out or bother the Grimm deterrent.
As we walked, I turned my attention to Gold. "Hey, a few more questions."
"What is it? I can't be here to talk to you all the time. You may be my only Champion, but I still am busy at times." Gold sighed.
"I'm your only one?" I asked, confused by that detail.
"Irrelevant, what do you want?"
They seemed defensive, but I didn't want to argue with my patron so I moved on. "When do I unlock my subclass?"
"At level ten, you'll upgrade that subclass at every additional ten levels." Gold answered, to which I frowned. That would be a very slow thing to progress. Although, I supposed with a spell every level, and perks every five, I was being given a lot.
"Any other benchmarks I should know about?" I asked calmly.
"When a stat hits fifty, you'll get an option of two perks based on that stat, so don't hold off on spending all of your points. You can find other benchmarks yourself." Gold added with a sigh, to which I let him be. That bit of info made it more tempting to spend my stat points, but I couldn't use that right now, as the others would notice my pain.
Still, it made me think about which Stat I wanted to try and raise to Fifty first. Likely WIS or SOL first, considering they were my primary Stats. It would be slow though, since I received anywhere from three to six points per level.
I needed to find better ways to Increase my stats…
I sighed to myself softly as I watched Bianca take down a straggling beowolf. "I know you all are like, professionals, but can I really not even fight a little?"
Skye shook his head. "We may only be recent graduates, but it would still be irresponsible. Plus, you should save your aura for using your semblnce if we ever wander into a horde."
"Damn." I bit my lip at that, annoyed at that. I really wanted to level up more.
Bianca snorted as the beowolf faded to Ash, white mist dispersing with it. "You're a total battle junkie, huh."
"Eh, maybe." I cared more about the XP and GP from the fight than the battle itself, but I couldn't explain that. "So what if I am?"
"Nothing. Just that an adrenaline chaser is likely to get themselves hurt." Bianca warned, giving me a very cautious and warning stare.
"Awww, she does care." I teased, getting the middle finger in response. Yeah, she definitely was fun to mess with.
"Well, do you… think you'll join the Mistrali Regional Tournament then?" Amy spoke up, tilting her head with a curious glimmer in her amethyst eyes. She was extremely intrigued for whatever reason.
"Hmm, maybe? Could be fun." I hummed softly. The fact that I had no combat training remained though, I relied on brute force of a young tiger's muscles to fight, and even then, my stats were very low for a tiger. I imagine my physical stats were probably lower than all three of them.
"Gold, how much do combat skills cost? Like… swordsmanship for instance."
"Swordsmanship, at its lowest level, is 100⅙ GP."
I could definitely afford it, but the question was if I wanted to. To be honest… I didn't. To waste GP on that skill when I already had decent magic was pointless, in my opinion.
"Well if you do, I'll cheer you on!" Amy supported, to which I gave a nod of thanks before I retreated back into my thoughts.
"You said I had an affinity for Conjure Tentacle because of you. Are there other spells I would naturally be attuned to? Or maybe… skills that I can get from you?"
"Of course. I'm surprised you hadn't taken your innate attunement to me into account when picking your previous spells. You were so meticulous~" Gold laughed, to which I just sent a mental signal of annoyance.
"Skills are cheaper than spells on average, right? What skills can you sell me for super cheap?" I inquired, biting my lip in thought.
"Attunement towards a skill mostly improves its effectiveness, not its price, much like how Conjure Tentacle is simply more effective for you." Gold said dismissively, almost annoyed in tone. I think I was bothering him, but that's part of the job of being a patron, so I didn't pay it much mind.
"Okay, what's the cheapest skill that I have an attunement or affinity towards?" I rolled my eyes.
"Piano playing. 35 GP."
…
"Nevermind."
I brushed the thought aside with a sigh.
"You alright there, Cae?" Skye spoke up, grabbing my attention.
"Oh! Uh, yeah, just bored." I quickly replied, making up a mostly true excuse. I was pretty bored after all.
"Ah, well… when I'm bored, I tend to think of philosophy." Skye admitted, scratching his cheek with a distant smile. "Kind of nerdy for a big guy like me, I know."
"Nah, that… sounds nice. I might give that a shot, actually." I replied, getting a surprised but genuine smile from Skye. The biggest one I had seen from the man so far. I had meant it, to.
After all, who knows? Maybe I could get a few points this way.
Throughout the long walk I had indeed made some progress. It hadn't been extremely effective, but anything was better than nothing.
WIS has increased by 1 Point
WIS has increased by 1 Point
CON has increased by 1 Point
I had gained two points of Wisdom, and also a point in Constitution? I wasn't entirely sure what triggered that. Maybe it was just from walking nonstop all day, but that felt a bit weird. I still had a lot to learn about how Gold's system functioned, and what triggered stat growths.
I glanced around the clearing, noting the entire party was asleep. I had used Psychic Suggestion just a little bit more to convince them to stop at the right spot, to time it perfectly. It was only so I would be on night shift watch when the timer for my familiar hit zero.
I could only hope whatever it was wouldn't be loud enough to wake Bianca up, since I would wager rabbit ears made you a light sleeper.
I opened up the window for my perk with a soft grin.
00:00:11
It ticked down, second by second, and I felt myself growing excited and eager. Whatever came from this would be my companion throughout Remnant.
If it was something bad, I was going to find a way to stab Gold.
I could swear I could hear them laughing as the timer ticked down. One by one.
Five...
Four...
Three…
Two…
One…
Meow?
I blinked as I looked down at a peculiar creature before me. Well, obviously it was a black kitten, with a single white spot on it's nose. A pretty big kitten, but a kitten nonetheless. However where there should be whiskers, there were thin tendrils that moved about. There were two large squid-like tentacles on its shoulders.
It looked up at me with two sickly yellow eyes that matched my own, an abnormally long tail flicking back and forth as it sat down.
A displacer beast?
I lifted it up in my hands and it immediately purred, likely simply comfortable around me being my familiar. Upon further inspection, it wasn't a Displacer beast entirely at least. It didn't have the extra set of legs, only having four like a normal cat.
It also had tentacles for whiskers, which I didn't recall Displacer beasts having. Its ears had that ribbed marking like that of a bat too. It did have the shoulder tentacles though.
"I guess you need a name, huh…" I mumbled softly, my eyes darting over to Bianca warily. She still seemed asleep. I turned back to the creature, and while I wasn't an expert on eldritch felines, I was fairly certain it was a boy.
"Hmm… bit on the nose but… Chess." I replied after a moment of thought. The white spot on his nose kind of looked vaguely like a pawn shape, he was black and white, and it was one tabletop game from another. Furthermore, it was also similar to Cheshire.
Chess - Familiar of Caerwyn Dior
A floating box appeared above Chess' head when I said that, which made me blink in confusion. I Instinctively poked towards it, and another sheet popped up.
Chess - Familiar of Caerwyn Dior
Health: 10/10
Mana: 20/20
STR: 6
DEX: 13
CON: 9
INT: 14
WIS: 15
SOL: 10
Hide/Summon?
There were no levels or stat points it seemed, but I could view Chess' stat sheet like I could my own.
"A smart little cat, huh…" I muttered softly, patting the cat. It had an intelligence almost high as mine, and it had just been born.
Or did that mean I was stupid?
Hm, best not to think about that.
I reached out to the screen once again, and tapped the little word 'Hide' in the corner of Chess' status screen, and suddenly the cat-like creature burst into motes of golden light, vanishing into thin air.
I could still feel Chess in a sense, like a distant connection, similar to what I felt with Gold, just… smaller.
I tugged on that feeling, and suddenly the creature was back in front of me, it cost a few points of mana in the process. It seemed hiding it cost no mana, but recalling Chess did cost mana, ten points specifically.
SOL has increased by 1 Point
"Damn..." I mumbled, glancing over as Bianca shuffled in her sleep. I was confused by my first ever natural increase of Soul, but I didn't want to wake Bianca up by panicking over it. I quickly hit the button to hide Chess once again, just in case she woke up.
In any case, I should focus on keeping an eye out for Grimm while it was still my shift. It was one of the only chances I had to gain even a little XP.
I didn't have a lot of time on the night watch shift before I would be heading to sleep after all.
The next day came quickly, and we were back to walking towards the city of Windpath.
The moments of awkward silence gave me a lot of time to think about my plans for the long term. Obviously I wanted to get stronger, and didn't want to waste this chance, but until I knew I could handle any threats that came my way, I should definitely lay relatively low… right?
Chess was still too young to help defend me, and while I had magic it wasn't all powerful yet. So I couldn't get into trouble just yet…
Or maybe not.
While getting stronger was great, doing so without grabbing any attention would be difficult. Furthermore, while being subtle would be useful, it would be hard to gain influence or money if I was hiding until I became strong.
"Then why not shake the world to it's core~? Make big changes~" Gold whispered into the back of my mind, encouraging my thought process.
It was tempting, it really was, but I'd have to consider it further. I definitely didn't want to reveal my hand just yet… maybe some other way I could gain influence?
I could join the tournament like Amy had suggested, but that felt too big. After all, Ozpin or Salem would surely turn their attention if someone using strange abilities entered the tournament. There was no way I could fool all of Remnant about my abilities after all.
If not the tournament then maybe…
"Hey Gold? Buy the Piano Skill for me." I asked mentally, my expression still very much pensive as I felt my GP trickle down away, and knowledge of the Piano wormed its way into my brain.
"Something on your mind?" Amy asked softly, smiling weakly as she slowed down to walk alongside me. She gave off a very comforting aura, that nearly distracted me from the headache that came with my new knowledge.
"Eh, just stuff. I kinda get my head in the clouds a lot." I assured her, dismissing my wandering thoughts to focus on the conversation. "Just… thinking about the future."
She chuckled a bit at that. "Yeah, that's fair… you just looked a bit upset..."
"Really?" I blinked in confusion at that, I hadn't felt upset at all. I had good even, optimistic of my plans, no matter how barebone they were.
"Yeah, just a little." Amy bit her lip and nodded. "I just got worried because… you know… Grimm."
"Doesn't your semblance scare them away?" I raised a brow and crossed my arms, a bit confused.
"Well uh, kind of…? It's not that simple… nor is it flawless…" Amy seemed a bit awkward and nervous now, but then again she usually seemed that way. Still, I was quite curious about her semblance.
"It's like a pulse. But it gets weaker traveling through objects, and… we're surrounded by trees. That's a lot of objects to go through." Bianca interjected once again, simply giving me a strange look.
"Y-Yeah, that." Amy quickly nodded in agreement, smiling weakly.
"Ah…" I bit my lip and just nodded, brushing the thoughts aside. "Sounds convenient."
"Well you can turn into a flaming tiger." Bianca pointed out with a roll of her eyes, puffing her cheeks up a bit. I just snorted in response to that.
"Yeah and you have super speed and freezing mists." I shot back with a grin, wiggling my eyebrows. "Wanna trade?"
"...I'll decline." Bianca huffed softly, turning away from me. She was icy cold, but definitely fun to mess with.
I just chuckled a bit and kept walking. We had a long way to go after all. Yet Gold's words lingered in my head just a little, and I thought back over my journey so far, no matter how brief it had been.
I wonder…
—
"You all set up tents. I'm gonna look for firewood." I volunteered, looking up at the sky as it began turning dark. I didn't really care for finding firewood, no, this was an opportunity. It was one of the few chances I would have to do some training on my own.
"You sure you're alright doing that alone?" Skye raised a brow, frowning just a little. "One of us can come along, you know."
"Ah, well I'd invite dear Bianca but I don't think she'd enjoy alone time with me." I flashed a joking smile, to which Skye snorted in amusement.
"Fair, fair. I can come along though?" He offered.
My expression shifted to serious, and I shook my head. "You should be with your teammates, I can give you three some alone time while I look for firewood. If any Grimm I can't handle shows up, I'll run back in tiger form."
"Ah… so that's what it's about. Okay, I appreciate it, but you're not a stranger who has to leave all the time, if that's the impression you have." Skye assured, flashing a comforting smile. "Bianca's like that with everyone."
"I'll keep that in mind." I nodded back, smiling warmly. "But still, you lost a teammate, you all deserve some more alone time. I can handle getting firewood."
"Alright. I appreciate it." He gave one last nod as I began to head off.
I waited until I was far enough into the forest to summon Chess, the small cat-like creature letting out a happy mewl at the sight of me. I wasn't sure how, I could just tell it was glad to be summoned.
"Hey little guy, we're gonna hunt some Grimm, and find some firewood, okay?" I kneeled down to give him a few pats, to which he purred.
I had only had Chess for a day, but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone and then myself.
For now, it was hunting time though. I could use Conjure Tentacle to collect wood as we walked.
It was surprising how fast I had started running into Grimm once I had left the others. Amy's semblance was more effective than I had given it credit for, it seemed. I was kind of pissed off about it actually. I had already killed a few, and still was running into more of them.
I could have gained so many more levels without that semblance active all the time!
I sighed and poured magic into Eldritch Flare and Warp Elements, conjuring a purple fireball and detonating it between a pair of Beowolves, as Chess brushed against my leg to comfort me.
+46 XP!
+6 GP!
One seemed to have evaded, getting away only singed as it lunged towards me. I poured several more Mana points into Warp Elements and raised a spike of earth, causing it to impale itself.
+51 XP!
+6 GP!
Beowolves really were the canon fodder from what it seemed, especially young weak ones. At least Alpha Beowolves made sure I had to worry about evading them, and they knew how to dodge attacks well. These were just easy levels. Although I imagine leveling would get tedious at higher levels.
For now? An increase of only a hundred for each level was generous.
My ears twitched at a snap behind me, and that was the only warning I had before I felt my Mage Armor shatter. I was suddenly flung forward, groaning in pain from the impact as I rolled back up onto my feet.
A large Bear like Grimm, I had no Observe like ability so I wasn't sure which kind, but it looked too big to be an Ursa Minor. Either a normal Ursa or an Ursa Major. It let out a mighty roar as it turned to face me with glowing red eyes.
Chess hissed at the bear, and immediately my eyes widened in a panic. Before any harm could come the cat's way, I dumped several points into Conjure Tentacle. A lot of points actually.
The tendril practically erupted from the ground, flinging the Ursa back into a Tree with as much force as the tentacle could muster. I dashed over and got close enough to open Chess' sheet, tapping the hide button.
I wasn't going to let my familiar die so quickly. I had already grown attached, and I wasn't losing Chess any time soon.
I was down to roughly twenty points of Mana from taking care of various Grimm, as I had gotten careless and forgot to conserve my mana.
I watched the beast get back up as I shifted into the tiger form for the stat boost it gave me and lunged forward before it could recover. I put five more points into Mage Armor as I bit down onto it's arm.
It was, frankly, revolting. The taste was bad, really bad. I had bitten a spider before, and that only gave me a headache, but this was sickening.
It scratched at my armor with big meaty paws, and I sent purple flames all over it with Eldritch Flare. It roared in pain, flinging me away and sending me skidding across the forest floor, knocking a chunk of my Mage Armor off.
I poured a few points into a growing mass in my paw, more than the required amount. A crackling bolt of black and purple energy burst forth, ripping through the Grimm causing it to stagger back as a simmering and scorched hole was left on its chest.
It collapsed onto the ground with a large thud, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. I watched carefully as it began to fade away to ash.
+137 XP!
+11 GP!
There was no denying I was sloppy in that fight. It turns out gaining magic doesn't suddenly give you the experience of a combat veteran. Maybe I could save up for a battle instinct skill… or would that be a perk? Definitely not worth it if it was a perk. Those were expensive.
I chuffed softly, laying down to rest for a moment. I would leave my training here for now, and return with the firewood. I didn't level up, but I got pretty quick. Two or three more normal Beowolves and I would be good.
I was getting low on mana though, and wasn't going to seek it out. If I ran onto one on the way back… then maybe. But I would play it safe.
I willed my status sheet to open, the familiar black and gold system appearing before me.
Name: Caerwyn Dior
Race: White Bengal Tiger
Player Lvl: 5 (396/500)
Class: Warlock
Subclass: (Locked)
Health: 21/23
Mana: 9/52
STR: 14
DEX: 20
CON: 13
INT: 16
WIS: 22
SOL: 21
SP: 6
GP: 117
Lien: 0
It was hard to not use those points, but I knew in the long run it would be better to have them in case of an emergency. I had more than broken even on the Scroll Purchase at least, which was nice.
I flicked open my Proficiencies menu next. I had to keep tabs on it because I didn't get notified when they increased, which was kind of annoying. I received notifications when I developed a proficiency or skill, but not when they improved.
Eldritch Comprehension - 2: Your ability to comprehend things greater than you without going insane.
Mental Fortitude - 7: Your ability to ward off mental invaders and maintain your sanity.
Mana Proficiency - 4: Your current skill proficiency in controlling Mana.
Pain Resistance - 4: Your tolerance to pain. This does not block damage
Piano Proficiency - 1: Your ability to play a Piano, you are a prodigy in this skill.
I tilted my head in confusion at the skill sheet. I could understand most of these. Although I'm surprised my Piano Proficiency described me as a Prodigy even at level 1, I guess that's Gold's effect? Which Eldritch God was associated with the color Gold and Pianos?
I didn't know Lovecraft well enough to say, I didn't even know if Gold was a part of Lovecraft's Pantheon.
However, more than that, I wasn't entirely sure why Mental Fortitude was increasing so much. It was already at a value of seven, I didn't know the maximum, but it was higher than my other skills. Maybe because of Gold? Did simply communing with my Patron increase that?
My gut said no.
Which raised the question of why it was suddenly my highest skill, when arguably that should either be Pain Resistance or Mana Proficiency?
I wasn't sure honestly, and Gold wasn't replying to any pokes I gave them, so I couldn't demand answers until they returned.
That was going to bug me for a while, but I had to get back to camp with firewood in hand, otherwise they might worry.
Bianca finished hammering in the last peg in the tent with a sigh, glancing over at Amethyst and Skye. The two were discussing Onyx in private, but… well with her rabbit ears she could still hear them.
She found herself thinking over recent events as she took a seat, cupping her own cheek in her palm.
Caerwyn Dior, who are you?
A strange young woman with an even stranger semblance, a battle junkie with two traits, and an abysmally small aura for such a powerful semblance. She was very bad at sensing such things, unlike Onyx, but she barely registered anything at all from Caerwyn.
She looked somewhat Mistrali, but her name sounded Mantelian. She had no weapon or survival skills for someone who supposedly was trained by a Hunter, and survived on her own for days.
None of it added up, and yet… it was hard to be suspicious of her. She radiated this… presence that made Bianca's hairs stand on end, like there's something… wrong. Yet she had this way of speaking that sounded so sincere, you had to just agree. She didn't like it. Not one bit.
Even if Caerwyn meant well, which Bianca didn't rule out as a possibility, she was definitely hiding something.
Bianca just didn't know what… but, she supposed, everyone had their secrets.
They did too, after all.
"Everything alright?" Amy immediately greeted me with a worried expression as I returned, a bunch of sticks and pieces of wood wrapped under my arm.
"Yeah, yeah. Ran into some Grimm, but I'm fine. Bruised at worst, if even that." I assured, giving a nod.
"Ah, that's why you were gone awhile." Bianca hummed, giving me a strange stare. "Well let's finish getting set up before it gets too dark."
"Mm." I simply nodded and began setting up a campfire, while glancing around. "Anything happen while I was away?"
"Nope." Skye shook his head, simply giving me an odd look. I took it that meant they had talked something out, but what it was I had no clue. I definitely needed an information gathering spell of some sort, I could invest in that when I finally leveled up again.
"Ah, well what's our estimate? Tomorrow? Two days?" I asked curiously, tilting my head with a soft smile.
"Two days probably." Skye answered with a hum. "Maybe three even if stuff comes up. Maybe one if we move quickly. It's hard to give an accurate prediction."
"Fair." I didn't object, just going along with it before I winced. "You all don't happen to have anything for headaches, do you?"
"Eh? Uhm, n-no, sorry…" Amy squeaked out, shaking her head vigorously. A shame, I was just hit by a serious headache.
"Eh, it's okay. A headache won't kill me." I reassured the meek and timid girl, to which she only nodded awkwardly. It was weird, for a reason I couldn't put my finger on.
"Ah, fire's up." My thoughts were interrupted by a spark, which slowly grew into a flame.
"Good. Now we can eat." Bianca replied with a huff, immediately heading over to the campfire.
"Is it necessary when all you three packed was trail mix, granola, jerky, and stuff like that? We don't cook." I chuckled warmly, grabbing my share of the rations. Or well, what would have been Onyx's share.
"Hey, it's nice to just sit around a fire and talk while we eat." Skye defended, with a warm smile of his own.
I just nodded, rubbing my temple to soothe my head's aching. "Fair, fair."
"Besides, y-you haven't told us much about you." Amy inquired curiously, taking a seat across from me.
Hmm… where to start with that. Maybe my life before all of this…?
Skill Developed: Mind Control Resistance - 1
"Took you long enough."
I froze in my seat, the relaxed and mellow sensation I had been feeling all this time fading away in a moment as Gold's annoyed voice echoed in my head.
"What…?"
AN: Well, well, well. Guess Cae wasn't the only one messing with minds, eh? I think I foreshadowed that pretty well. Or at least I hope I did. Cae only developed the skill so quickly because Mental Fortitude helped pave the way for that skill to develop.
How do you all think Cae should handle that? Or rather, how will she handle that?
As for Chess… A whopping ten reviews on the first chapter, and only one person had a suggestion for a Familiar. What a major difference. Not that I mind. As I said, I had a familiar in mind anyways. Speaking of, how do you all like him? A Variant Displacer Beast I cooked up for this.
And… I know I'm focusing on this fic more than my other one. Mentioned it various times but hot damn have I been inspired lately!
She has over a year of time and I've already started planning ahead until canon hits! Granted it's moving pretty darn fast in that time, but normally I'd never plan that many chapters ahead in such fine detail! Normally I want to incorporate suggestions, ideas, and feedback. Heck, you all can even suggest your own spells in reviews, and if I think they're balanced I might incorporate them. (With credit of course)
But mm, I'm so excited for some of the stuff I have planned. Gold told Cae not to worry about shaking this world, so she wants to make an impact. Or well, as big of an impact as one can make in such a short time.
I hope you all will stick around to see what she has in store.
As for reviews
Guest: Sorry Mini-Tarrasque didn't come to fruition, but hopefully Chess is to your liking
SelfishGecko: Ah, a very good point, and the answer is simple Hex Mark: Blood Bond will not work on Grimm. They're monsters of negativity. They have no blood/lifeforce to work with. It's like how some life spells won't affect elementals or golems depending on the game you're in. This will be clarified upon later when she tries to experiment on them. However even if it did, it wouldn't one shot a beowolf even. It doesn't sap a lot of health.
FrenzyInbound: Didn't expect to hear that phrase on FFN but thank you!
