《Hope beyond the Horizon》 Prologue Virtual Reality. Nearly everyone had a device to log into the most played virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game ''Dream Life''. You would either use one of the helmet devices or the gaming pods. Now the difference between the both is probably unclear so let me explain it a bit. The helmets were the evolved VR glasses, they were pretty uncomfortable if worn for long and had only limited computing power. That meant of course that high-speed actions were unable to be processed in time and it would sometimes seem as if your enemy teleported instead of ran, really unpleasant. Still, the worst thing with the helmets was the security, firstly the helmet only monitored the heart and brain function so it was possible to starve to death if one didn''t disconnect in a timely manner, secondly, they were easily stolen and hacked as the internal security of these things was anything but good, and lastly the helmet didn''t protect the user from being taken advantage off, as the user was completely exposed in the real world. The gaming pod, on the other hand, was monitoring all body-functions and if you filled up the nutrient solution you would be able to stay inside for a whole month while the pod would exercise your muscles, it would also warn you when your nutrient solution was used up and would forcibly disconnect you 12 hours later. It also was way harder to steal, as these pods are huge and heavy, the internal security is also vastly better and one would need 5 biological traits of the user to start it up completely. As for the security of the user, well these pods are closed so there is nearly no way to get to the user while he is still connected, of course, you could blow up the whole gaming pod as they aren''t safe against explosions but that''s way harder than it would be with the helmet. The gaming pods are also equipped with more processing power so you wouldn''t experience lags or unrendered areas like it happens with the helmets sometimes. As the gaming pods automatically kept track of all vital signs they were used in most hospitals, but as this helped the hospital staff it was rather unfavorable for most patients as the costs for the treatment rose. I had luck, as I''m working inside ''Dream Life'' I was able to work overtime while being treated for a rare genetic disorder. Well, probably not that lucky, most people work inside ''Dream Life'' in this day and age, as the economy of reality and Dream Life got linked up a couple years ago. Many business deals were even made in ''Dream Life'' as it was easier to meet in one of the central cities of Dreamscape Earth. It was made up of five continents, Drifting Moon in the north, Faded Acres in the east, Hollow Rift in the south, Mirror Forest in the west and Exalted Havens in the center. I was living and working in Blackmire, a rank 2 city, on Faded Acres. All Cities, towns, and villages were ranked in ''Dream Life'' from the lowest rank 5 to the highest rank 1, but the only rank 1 cities were the capital cities of the five continents.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Now I really go ahead of myself. Where was I again... oh yeah I was talking about the different devices one can use to log into ''Dream Life''. As I already explained, there were only helmets and gaming pods available. But development didn''t stop there. While I was in the hospital to get my treatment scientists worked on an implanted device. Now isn''t that crazy? One day, I was just reading an article about the newest test of these implants, when my doctor came in and told me that my disease would be terminal. I would have only a year if I stay in the hospital full-time. But I already used up most of my savings for the few weeks of treatment that I got till then, and I couldn''t go and ask my parents for help as they had to count every penny already. So I had to decline further treatment to stall my illness and asked to be discharged the next day. But it was the next day that changed my life forever. Right now I''m standing in a small town in the Kingdom of Esharia situated in the continent Tolis on the planet Hell Rift in the Cassiopeia Star System. You might be confused now so let me be a bit simpler, I''m inside the new game, ''Knights of Hope'', that was developed exclusively for the VR-Implant. What I didn''t know was that tests with humans weren''t legal yet nor that ''Knights of Hope'' would never reach any other human soul as the developing studio was shut down less than a week after I started the game. However, let me tell you from the beginning how everything changed... Chapter 1: The Beginning Two weeks earlier. ?Miss Xiang Xinya, I''m truly sorry but I have to inform you that we are unable to cure your genetic disease. Currently, we can only stall it but nothing more" the doctor told the young woman lying in an open gaming pod, she didn''t look shocked but accepting of the information. "Doctor, how long will I have?" she asked, and realizing the hesitation she added,"I know that you can''t predict it with certainty but please give me your estimate". The doctor nodded, "I estimate that in case no major mutations happen, we could stall it for at most a year. That would mean that Miss Xiang Xinya would need to stay under medical surveillance all the time though" he explained. Xiang Xinya shook her head, "I can''t. Please prepare the discharging papers as I want to leave tomorrow" she said carding through her long black hair. The doctor nodded silently and left without trying to change her mind as he knew that only a few could pay a year-long stay and even less would do it for someone who had no chance for survival. Setting the internal alarm to 6:00 am the next morning, she closed the gaming pod and entered ''Dream Life'' again. The next morning, after the alarm rang, she disconnected from the game and stepped out of the pod tentatively. It didn''t take her long to grab all her stuff from the bathroom and the small wardrobe, pushing it all into a small cloth bag. Just when she finished packing up everything, her doctor stepped inside to have a last talk with her before her discharge. He wanted her on some medication, but she had to decline yet again as they are rather expensive and it was not possible for her to pay for them for a whole year. She knew that she should stay, her job could cover the hospital bills if she stays online to work extra long hours. But she decided against it either way. A strained smile appeared on her face as she accepted the discharge papers and the prescription for the medication she should take. In her heart she knew that her death wouldn¡¯t be a nice and painless one, years of medical emergency treatments to safe her life showed her just how her body fights against itself. Years of taking medicine just to extend the time between the treatments by just days, an experience she already accepted as normal. Seeing her parents struggling to earn enough money for the expensive medical care she required a constant pain in her heart. Yet now she was able to choose, to truly use her own will to decide her own fate. Even though it would only be the decision how she would spend her final year. Just as she was leaving the ward, when a suit wearing middle-aged man approached her. ¡°Miss, would you be interested to be part of the development of the first VR-implant?¡± he asked and offered his business card as well as a small booklet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I won¡¯t be able to help you¡± she said hesitating to take the offered items as politeness directs. ¡°Please Miss, take a look at the booklet and think about the offer¡± the man insists as he holds the items still in his outstretched hands. Hesitantly and warily she took the items, taking a short look into the booklet. But when she looked back up the man was gone and she saw her doctor nodding at her encouraging. At least she now knew who told that man about her, even though she still didn¡¯t know why yet. When she was at home and had taken a shower, she picked up the booklet to take a closer look. It was about the testing of the VR-implant prototype. Using all ways one could think of to make it as enticing as possible. Just when she thought that it was sounding good but the risk would be way too high for her to take part, a few folded sheets of paper fell to the ground. It was a contract, the offer to pay her 10 Million US-Dollar for her to test the implant under full medical surveillance and with a duration of a maximum of 2 years. But the contract also stated clearly that the pay would be paid in advance and wouldn¡¯t be reduced if she was unable to proceed with the testing for medical reasons. It was even signed by the other part already. The only missing thing would be for her to sign it. Gazing at the contract in her hand, she thought about her parents. Her mother was always working to pay for the medical bills of her father and her, and her father who always only wanted that his girls could live a happy life, but couldn''t realize that dream because of his own chronical illness. An illness that makes him dependant of highly expensive medicine and could be cured with a special treatment only available in a private clinic overseas costing more than she could earn even if she had a decade time, as it is estimated at 5 Million US-Dollar. It would only need her to sign this paper and she could send her father to get this treatment and to offer her mother a life without the constant work. To realize that dream of hers to make sure that her parents could have a nice life. But that would also mean that she would have no more time to spend with them either, as she would be in the developing and testing facility. She knew that her parents would want her to stay, to ignore the money issue the family was facing. But she couldn''t. She was simply unable to think about her father dying even though he could be cured, could be healthy again. Unable to think of her mother, looking tired from the multiple jobs she did to pay the bills. Unable to think about her friends who helped her family and her whenever she needed them the most, even though they knew that she wouldn''t be able to pay them back. Facing all these feelings she realized that for her the choice was something she wouldn''t regret even if her family and friends would think her behaviour absurd. She signed the contract silently. Three days later, she returned her keys to her former landlord. Everything she had left of her belongings was a small suitcase of clothes, her car and the items she could transfer to Dream Life. The suitcase was in the trunk, a few letters laying on the seat next to her. They were everything she would leave for her family and her friends. Her silent sorry as she would be unable to do this if she would see them. The deed of gift for the car laying in the letter for her best friend together with the bank account she opened for her, a last gift that she could make. She had divided the contract money for them all. Making sure that she forgot nobody that helped them in times of need. She wouldn''t regret she told herself when she drove off to the meeting place where she was told she would be picked up and driven to the facility. Her last text on it''s way to her best friend to tell her to pickup the car, leaving even her phone when she left. The final medical tests and the small operation of implanting the VR-Device took another two days before she was allowed to activate it for the first time. Nervously she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath she thought of playing ''Knights of Hope'' the game that was preinstalled in the implant. Words flashed to life in her brain.
Do you wish to start Knights of Hope for the first time?
and with a simple thought of ''yes'', she found herself in a circular building. "Welcome to Knights of Hope. Please choose your assistant for the character customization" a friendly voice sounded and two holographic images shimmered in her vision all of a sudden, revealing the figures of one male and one female. The male one, a teenage boy, was a real eye candy. While the female was a young women that looked really sexy. Thinking for a moment, Xinya tapped onto the hologram of the guy, Squire Raven, as his name was stated over the image. In the next moment the holographic screens vanished and he was standing in front of me just like he was always there. ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Squire Raven. How may I call you my lady?¡± he greeted me with a knights salute. Smilingly I made a curtsy and answered, ¡°I¡¯m honoured to make your acquaintance squire Raven. My name is Tiantia Xixi, though you may call me Xixi for simplicity¡±. ¡°Then Miss Xixi, would you like to begin your character customization?¡± he asked and signaled for multiple holographic screens to appear. On the screens, the informations of different races where shown, together with a model of me if I were to be of this race. The first one showed me just how I am and listed the details about the race called Human.
Race Human
Behavior Territorial, mostly defensive but sometimes offensive.
Diet Omnivore
Society structures hierarchical
Average Lifespan 80 year
Habitat Hell Rift
There were also nine other races. Tall and lithe Selkies with long,shimmering, silky hair, who can shift into a seal. Celestials with human bodies and huge wings, Fairies with filigran bodies and just as delicate bodies. There were also brutish looking Orcs and colossal Trolls as well as their, by comparison, small green skinned relatives the Goblins. Beastman had half human and half animal bodies while the underwater living Merman had the upper body of a human while their lower body were fishlike with huge fins instead of feet. Probably the most imposing for her were the Mythical Beasts, like phoenixes and dragons. ¡°Could I combine two races?¡± she asked, with a smiling nod Raven waved his hand and the screens changed accordingly, showing every possible combination. ¡°The name of the race is depending on which of the races is the more dominant. A half Orc half Troll would have more characteristics of a Orc than of a Troll just like it would be the other way around¡± Raven explained why each combination was shown twice. Nodding she looked through all possibilities. ¡°I wish to choose the half Selkie half Human¡± she said after a long time and turns to Raven with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Miss Xixi will definitely be one of the most stunning young ladies in the whole Cassiopeia Star System¡± he complimented me.
Race Demi-Selkie Subrace Demi-Human
Behavior Territorial, mostly defensive but sometimes offensive.
Diet Omnivore
Society structures hierarchical
Average Lifespan 80 year
Habitat Hell Rift
The screen enlarged a little and Raven asked me if I was sure in my selection. I confirmed it and the screens disappeared. ¡°Miss Xixi, if you wish to you could change the appearance of your Avatar now as well as some personal data¡± Raven informed me, and with the wave of his hand a gently light enveloped me and when it stoppen a full size mirror materialised in front of me. I had grown at least 5 inches (~13 cm) in height and I looked well more toned than I ever had in real life. My greenish hair flowed in slight curls down to my waist reflecting the light with a slight shimmer. Ocean-blue round eyes glistened in my face complimenting my little button nose and the delicate lips that formed a radiant smile. ¡°This looks absolutely stunning. I even have to remember myself that this is me to stop me from getting yealous¡± Xixi joked. ¡°I agree. So do you wish to continue with the next step or would you rather make adaptions on your current look? Be warned that there is currently no way to change your appearance later in the game¡± Raven cautioned her to make sure that she was truly satisfied with it.. After a few seconds Xixi nodded, ¡°you¡¯re right. Let me change a few things. Firstly I want my hair to be black like my natural hair¡± the black color spreaded from the root of my hairs all the way down to the ends as soon as she voiced her wish, ¡°and I want to change the form of my eyes. I want phoenix eyes, as I find them to be the most beautiful¡± she said and at the same time felt the slight adjustments of her eyes. After the system readjusted her appearance to her wishes she tapped at a few more points in her face, dragged something here and there, to make some slight changes to the details. Nearly half an hour passed till she stopped her tapping, and as her body had already a well-toned slim figure and the typical model-like proportions of the Selkies she turned towards the personal data of her avatar.
Name Titania Xixi
Race Demi-Selkie Subrace Demi-Human
Age 26 Social Status Commoner
Title none Occupation none
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°There isn¡¯t much I can change. Though I think it would be alright to make myself to be only 18 years old¡± Xixi murmured and the line that stated her age flickered for a moment before it showed the info of her being 18 years old. That made her grin a little bit, as she remembers that Dream Life never allowed something like that as no one would reveal his or her true age if he could hide it, especially woman. Chuckling Raven gestured towards a gate behind Xixi, ¡°Well Miss Xixi if you would like to start with the mandatory tutorial step through the gate please¡± he said and didn¡¯t even try to stifle his laugh when he saw her incredulous look. ¡°A mandatory tutorial? Who the hell creates a tutorial in this day and age? Did the developer have too much freetime?¡± she snorted but Raven didn¡¯t comment on it simply standing at the side of the gate showing just how amused he is at her reaction. Still disbelieving that someone really took the time to create a tutorial did she follow Ravens directions and stepped through the gate. A pure white light robbed her sight for just a moment, but when she was able to see again she was already at a completely different place. Xixi froze, shocked that it looked like she was standing in the middle of a¡­ classroom. Not knowing whether she should laugh or cry at the prospect of having someone teach her the theory of playing the game. A few moments later, the door opened and Raven stepped inside. He had changed out of his squire uniform into an outfit Xixi would expect of a poor village teacher. ¡°Do I look that bad, miss Xixi?¡± Raven asked grinning broadly at her and she started laughing out loud. ¡°N...no¡­ haha¡­ But really Raven what¡¯s with that get-up?¡± she snickered and raven had to chuckle too. ¡°Well normally my sister and I would change places for the tutorial, so she would have to be here. Yet she is reading one of her beloved stories about people who live in some kind of fantasy world. I mean they have things like small portable cannons that can be picked up even by children and that completely without the use of magic. Can you imagine that?¡± he said incredulously. ¡°Oh you mean guns?¡± Xixi said grinning, she didn¡¯t expect that the world of Knights of Hope would have written stories that take place in the real world. Raven looked at her shocked, ¡°Miss Xixi is reading this stories too?¡± he asked unbelieving. ¡°Mhm, kinda. Don¡¯t you think that they are pretty interesting Raven?¡± she asked and was surprised to see him shaking his head. ¡°These stories aren¡¯t real. How would they even defend against Wyvern without magic? It is simply illogical¡± he said and made Xixi giggle again. ¡°You know Raven¡­ There are simply no Wyvern in the world of these stories so they don¡¯t need to defend against them¡± she explained but Raven simply shook his head muttering that he doesn¡¯t understand the appeal of these fictional stories. Soon enough Raven started explaining to her what was important to know for a citizen of Hell Rift, who she should never anger and how to use the game system. ¡°Can¡¯t we just skip this? I¡¯m sure I will learn everything needed as soon as I start playing¡± Xixi said after she felt herself dozing off countless times. ¡°What? This tutorial is mandatory, of course you can¡¯t skip it. It could save your life to know these things¡± Raven sputtered but he was well aware that Xixi never listened to his explanation. ¡°Sure but you know¡­ I¡¯m sure I can handle it even without all this sleep inducing talk¡± she said, stretching her athletic body. ¡°It is my mission to explain everything to you, so I can¡¯t let you skip it¡± Raven said with determination. Xixi accepted her fate groaning at the sheer amount of information that Raven tried to cram into her head. Knowing that she won¡¯t be able to listen even if she tried, she simply decided to not even try but to take a nap on the desk, using the lecture of Raven as her lullaby. Because of that she knew nothing of the world she will be entering, when Raven woke her up and told her to leave through the next door. ¡°The tutorial is finished. Remember to see your status you will simply need to wish for the information, it¡¯s the same way you use to open up your skill list, your inventory or any other option of the system. You can also wish for you to see map markers in your vision but remember that you won¡¯t see any information about places you never visited or heard of¡± Raven said to her smilingly, while his body started to glister and dissolve. ¡°Do your best to survive and may the gods bless you with a long live¡± his voice sounded out the last time leaving Xixi in the classroom on her own. Her capital was 10 phoenix gold coins instead of the normal 1000 gold coins, she was informed as she entered a small shop, "Welcome to the divine shop. Please choose cautiously what you want to buy as all our products are exclusively available in our divine shop. I will also have to warn you that you will only be able to come back if you are in possession of a shop summoning card or if you have the shop summoning skill. Please call for me if I can help you." a teenage boy greeted her warmly. ¡®I need an item or a skill to go into a shop¡­ weird¡­'' she thought but started to slowly look at the displays. What surprised her was that each of the displays held only cards, while each card had a detailed picture of the item together with a description. Still, none of the displayed items was something she would expect in a shop for newbies. There were more than five cards for different spatial objects, ranging from pouches to accessories. On another stand, she saw summoning cards for companions, some that had a time limit and some that would stay with her for the rest of their lives. The next one held cards showing different skills, from basics like cooking over higher skills like literacy and riding all the way to highly advanced martial arts, weapon skills, and magic. Yet it was the last display, with only 5 cards that caught her attention. Unlike the other cards, these were enclosed by something preventing them from being touched or stolen.
Literacy
Type Skill
The user will gain the Literacy Skill at Advanced Rank Level 11 and be able to speak, read and write all common human languages fluently. The user will know the fundamental basics of all common, non-human, languages.
Price 25,000 gold coins used at contact
Network Connect
Type Spell
The Network Connect can link the user''s Knights of Hope account with the user''s VRC1 Account. After linking the two accounts the user can access every game connected to the user''s VRC Account without disconnecting from the Knights of Hope
Price 50,000 gold coins used at contact
Spatial Rift
Type Spell
The user is able to open a spatial rift. The number of destinations that can be reached through this rift is determined by the ability of the user with a maximum of 10 anchored destinations
Anchored destinations Spatial Field
Price 250,000 gold coins used at contact
Nightflash
Type Companion
Nightflash is a truly loyal companion. With his sharp teeth and hard hooves, he is willing to defend his owner. His stamina, speed, and strength are excellent, making him the best possible companion for travels and battles. Nightflash can be called back into card form if needed.
Price 250,000 gold coins bound to account
Shop Summon
Type Summoning Item
This card can summon the entrance to the divine shop 10 times. Only the user can enter the shop.
Left usages 10
Price 3 phoenix gold coins bound to account
"Mister?" Xiang Xinya turned to look where the shop attendant was, "yes miss?" he asked appearing next to her in a flash. "Could you explain to me the difference between gold coins and phoenix gold coins, please?" she asked politely. Something she regretted only moments later, the young man told her not only the difference in value, 1 phoenix gold coin is shockingly 100,000 gold coins worth, but also the origin of the name, the stamp and every other single detail one could think of needed nearly half an hour to explain it all. ''Taking all five of these cards would leave me with 125,000 gold coins. I would also need the riding skill as well as riding gear to be able to use the companion as a mount. I think I saw both in the front part of the shop. The cooking skill or a hunting skill might be good too. the clerk said that an average family would have at most 6 gold coins and 50 gold pennies2.'' she thought while she went back to the front part of the store. Back at the basic cards, she found quite a few that would be able to help her. "Sir? Am I allowed to take the cards I''m interested in of the displays?" she asked the clerk for permission, he nodded and told her to go ahead to take what got her interest but to only bring to the counter the cards she wanted to buy. ''Alright I have 125,000 gold coins, I should be able to survive if I save 5,000 gold coins. That way I could still spend 120,000 gold coins. The basic skills cost an average of 2,500 gold coins with only a few going as high as 5,000 gold coins. First I will only choose the basic skills I will need to survive, and I need to pick a riding set'' she decided. The first card she picked up was hunting, next was cooking and gathering. shortly after she had picked up a set of 10 basic skills. Then she went to the displays for companion items, there were multiple food items, as well as the riding gear she would need. So she picked up a high-quality riding gear, reasoning that it would be better to pay a bit more now than having to replace it after only a short while, as well as some food for her future companion. When she brought all these cards to the counter the clerk wasn''t surprised at first. Only when he billed it all up, realizing how she picked the cards, a flicker of approval went over his face. "I would also like to buy these five cards," Xiang Xinya said, pointing to the enclosed cards in the back. "Of course. The cases will vanish as soon as you paid for them so you can pick them up" he explained. Only moments later did Xiang Xinya''s capital shrink from 10 phoenix gold coins down to 85.000 gold coins. Seeing that she still had more than enough money to spend she went over to the displays for armors and weapons. She picked up a medium-quality bow card, and a card for a quiver of 1,000 arrows, next was a short sword of medium quality and a full set of medium quality leather armor. She then went and picked the corresponding skill cards, basic archery, and basic swordplay, up. That lowered her budget of another 15,000 gold coins. Her next target was the display with various other gear, like backpacks, tents, and even saddlebags. Knowing she would need to be able to carry her stuff she chose a huge saddlebag and a medium-sized backpack, next were a tent, a few blankets, some iron cutlery, and dishes. Now only 20,000 coins were left. Other than the 5,000 gold coins she wanted to save up she used the rest for food, drinks, and a few medical supplies. When she was finished she was left with 5,100 gold coins. "Thank you for your purchase. To use learn the skills or to receive the items you just need to rip or crush the cards. The only exceptions are automatically learned cards or multi-use cards. To use multi-use cards you need to call them out while holding them" the clerk explained and Xiang Xinya thanked him. Just when she wanted to pick up her cards did she see a spatial necklace card in between them. "Sorry I didn''t buy this card," she said and wanted to place it back when the young man stopped her, "it''s alright. The shop owner ordered me to make sure the first customer today would leave with a spatial item, whether the customer buys it or I would gift it to the customer" he said determined not to take the necklace back. Confronted with such determination she accepted the necklace happily. It wasn''t that she didn''t want any of the spatial objects, but even the cheapest earring with only a space of about 1m3 was priced at 8 phoenix gold coins. The necklace even had one of the biggest space of the accessory spatial items with 25m3. She crushed the card and in the next second, a shimmering silver necklace was in her hand. Carefully, to not drop it by accident, did she hang it around her neck. Next, she crushed the card of the backpack and placed the item cards inside it while ripping the skill cards, before going to the back to pick up the last of her cards. Three of the cards crumbled the moment she touched them, alerts sprang into her vision. The first two informed her about two newly learned skills, while the last was the typical window to connect a new game to one''s VRC account. After completing the connection between the two accounts, her vision was free again and she went to pick up the last two cards. One was the Shop summoning card, she placed it directly into the space of her necklace as she wouldn¡¯t need it at the beginning, and the other was the companion card of Nightflash. Keeping the Companion card in her hand she went to the exit. Just as Xixi opened the door did she stop and turn around. ¡°Sir? If I remember correctly you said that one would be able to enter the Divine Shop using either the Shop Summoning Card or the Shop Summoning Skill. Could you tell me how one can obtain the Shop Summoning Skill? As I didn¡¯t see any card related to it¡± she asked remembering the skill mentioned just now. ¡°You are right Miss. The card for the Shop Summoning Skill is currently not in the shop. That is because this skill is unique and has some requirements. One of them is the price of 1,000 phoenix gold coins while the second is the title of Knight Hero. Yet nobody was able to attain this title since the colonization of Hell Rift. So nobody knows the requirements to gain the title the only thing known is that the title is unique as well so even if the means to attain it were to be known only one would be able to gain it¡± the lad told her and with a slight wave of his hand Xixi was pushed out of the shop. Chapter 2: Wonders of a new world Xixi flashed in a small cave into existence. When she watched her surroundings she realized that there was only stone and water to see. The cave wasn¡¯t big but provided enough space for one or two people to camp in it. The only thing hindering anybody to reach the cave was the fact that the only entrance was through the water, which seemed to be anything but calm. ¡°Well shit¡± she mumbled realizing that she would only be able to leave through the water too. Calming herself with a deep breath she closed her eyes and concentrated on opening her status window.
Status
Name Titania Xixi Social Status Commoner
Race Demi-Selkie Sub-race Demi-Human
Age 18 Level 1
Statistics
HP 24/24 Mana 22
SP 18/18 MP 22/22
Strength 5 Willpower 4
Constitution 1.8 Perception 2%
Agility 3.0 Charisma 60%
Base Attack 2.5 Base Defense 3.6
Skills
Literacy (Advanced) Level 11 - 0% Hunting (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Cooking (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Riding (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Gathering (Basic) Level 1 - 0% First Aid (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Skinning (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Trading (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Fishing (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Toolmaking (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Survival (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Archery (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Swordplay (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Swimming (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Spells
Transformation (Seal) (Basic) Level 1 - 0% Network Connect (Basic) Level 1 - 0%
Spatial Rift (Advanced) Level 11 - 0%
Titles
none
Occupations
none
She was stunned at the long list of Skills, especially by the swimming skill and the transformation spell as she never bought these two. It took a few minutes for her to remember that she was a Demi-Selkie and both would be attributed to her class. ¡°Nice. At least that will help to leave this place¡± she said happily. Taking another look around she made sure that she was in fact alone before undressing and storing everything in her necklace. She then stepped next to the pool of water and entered cautiously, shuddering as the freezing cold water swapped against her bare legs. When the water reached her waist she started to swim, or rather she tried to. She was only able to swim for a pathetically short time before she was out of breath. Remembering her swimming lessons in elementary school, she turned and floated on her back in the water to gather her strength once again. It took her a few minutes before she was able to try it again. This repeated for nearly an hour, while she was constantly able to swim for just a little longer before she stopped and left the water again. ¡°If the time for the seal transformation is just as short I will be unable to leave in a short amount of time¡­¡± she said to the silent cave. But even the knowledge that she would have to stay for more time in this cave wasn¡¯t able to let her despair. She simply used the time to look through her skills again and when she saw the ?Spatial Rift? skill in her list she couldn¡¯t stop the grinning. Concentrating on the effect she wanted to get she said ¡°Spatial Rift¡± but nothing happened. ¡°Gosh¡­ I should have had listened when Raven explained how to use Mana¡­¡± she groaned as she realized that she didn¡¯t even know how to use the spells she had. Xixi lay down, slipping her legs back into the water, as she felt herself relaxing. She closed her eyes and started to control her breathing so relax even further. Her Mother had taught her this way of starting to meditate when she had a pretty bad attack as a child. The sounds around her got even heightened at this point, trying to distract her, but she prevailed and focused on relaxing her body and mind. It took her a few minutes, but then she slipped into her meditation, not noticing the silent ding that sounded. Only when she stopped her meditation a few hours later did she see the messages
New Skill Rank Basic
achieved Rank Advanced
she paused, looking at the messages in front of her in wonder. In the next moment, a window about her newly acquired Skill opened up as if the system was reacting to satiate her curiosity about it.
Meditating Skill
Level 12 Rank Advanced
Meditating allows clearing one¡¯s mind.
Effects
Health regeneration + 0.24% Mana regeneration + 0.24%
SP regeneration + 0.24%
Xixi nodded smiling, even though the effect didn¡¯t seem much and she didn¡¯t even know her base regeneration, it was clear to her that every tiny bit of boost to her regeneration ability is positive. Another thing that made her happy was the knowledge that the system can give her the details of specific skills so she would never be stuck with a skill with unknown effects. After her rest, she went into the water again to continue her swimming practice. ¡°Why can¡¯t they do it like all the other games and simply granting me the ability to swim indefinitely like all the other games¡± she grumbled as she took a rest for the umpteenth time. Though to be fair she had to say that learning and practicing the skills this way was a great change to the magical appearing abilities from reading a book like the other games did. So while she grumbled about the time needed to train the body of her avatar she had to accept that she liked it. When she realized that the light, that the water brought into the cave, was diminishing quickly did she take out her backpack from her necklace after a few tries to access the subspace. Confronted with the many item cards inside and the fast dwindling light she simply placed all the item cards on the ground and put the backpack next to them. It didn¡¯t take long before she found the card she was looking for.
Superior Tent Item Card
A tent with enough room for up to 4 people as well as a basic shelter for Mounts and Companions. It is furnished with four basic sleeping bags, a fireplace, two standing torches. The Companion shelter is fitted with a water bag and a medium sized feeding trough.
Price 1,500 gold coins
It was one of the most expensive items she bought but having a decent quality shelter for herself and her companion, she wasn¡¯t stingy. She went a few steps from the other cards away before she crushed the card, as she was expecting a medium sized tent. But the true size of it made her wonder, the companion shelter was big enough to fit six horses and even had some moveable fencing attached to it. That way one could keep the horses or other mounts inside the pen without being forced to tie them up. The tent itself was even more massive, two standing torches stood next to the entrance like guardians. An entrance big enough to let two people pass through, and the inside was divided like a small hut. In the center, the fireplace was located and four cloth walls with curtains as doors, made space for four individual rooms, each one having a sleeping bag placed inside and still having enough room to allow the user to place down a few more items to store the luggage. ¡°That can still be called a tent?¡± Xixi asked surprised after her short tour through the mostly dark tent. She then went ahead and lighted up the fireplace, or at least she tried. It took her quite some time before her efforts were rewarded with a small, yet fast-growing, flame. By then it was already pitch black around her.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. She took a brightly burning twig from the fireplace and used it as a torch to get the items she had left outside. Sitting back at the fireplace she looked through her cards one more time, crushing most of them one after another. A pile of items appeared one piece after another next to her, four blankets, a full set of basic cooking utensils, four sets of dishes and cutlery. Next were the food items she bought for her companion, containing hay bales and multiple sacks of things she never heard of like eashew or perarrot. A bunch of food items followed most of them were nonperishables like cured or dried food only a few fresh things appeared. Even her drinks were mostly water skins filled up with fresh water and only a few of them contained juices and one even held alcohol. The last things to appear were a load of bandages, ointments, and tinctures. While on her other side a much smaller pile was created containing a bow along with a quiver of arrows, a short sword, a leather armor, riding gear for her and her companion and a huge saddlebag. Leaving her with only one unused card. Following the rumbling of her stomach, Xixi went ahead and started to cook a light dinner for herself using about half of the fresh food. After her meal she took off the removable walls from one side of the tent, leaving her with a big compartment and two smaller ones. She then moved most of her items back into her necklace, leaving some food and water as well as the blankets in the tent, before she made sure that the fire was unable to light up the tent or anything else. Finally, she placed the remaining sleeping bag, she had put the other three into her necklace as well, near the fireplace and lay down to sleep. The next morning, she ate the leftovers from her dinner and left the tent with the last remaining card in her hand. She walked a few meters before she stopped and activated the card ¡°Nightflash¡± she called out and the card disappeared from her hand while a black Horse materialized in front of her. It looked very domineering, having the same shoulder height than Xixi, it was moving its ears to hear around it before it concentrated everything on Xixi. *ding* A message appeared in front of her.
Companion detected. Activating Companion Status window
¡°Hey, buddy¡­ I¡¯m Xixi¡± she said a tad nervous. She had never seen a real horse in her life but she had always dreamed to own one and to ride on it. And now she was here, even though it was only a game in the virtual reality, she owned a horse and her body won¡¯t stop her from riding it as her avatar was healthy without the normal regulations she had to follow to take care of her fragile health. Nightflash was standing there, not moving at all and simply watched her rather warily. Not knowing what to do Xixi didn¡¯t move, thinking about what she should do, when she thought of the Companion Status window. Like she wanted the screen appeared in front of her.
Companions
Nightflash
She tapped on the name hopefully to get a detailed information, relieved when the screen changed.
Nightflash
Race Horse Gender Male
Health 25/25 Strength 8.0
Speed 7.5 Acceleration 3.0
Stamina 5.0 Agility 5.25
Awareness 75% Loyalty 0%
Tack none
Seeing the 0% Loyalty Xixi thought about how to gain Nightflash¡¯s trust. Following her mother¡¯s saying that love goes through the stomach she started with putting down some food for him before she left him alone. She repeated this several times, always leaving a small amount of fodder for him. So when the day was over, and she again lit the fire in the tent, Nightflash started to eat the fodder that she was still holding in her hand. Even though he didn¡¯t want to be touched yet this was a huge step forward. She figured out a schedule to train her swimming, swordsmanship, and archery while getting Nightflash to slowly trust her. Using this schedule, she trained herself for nine days in the cave, because of the time scaling only three days had passed in the real world. Only then did she have enough stamina build up that Xixi wanted to give a try to leave this cave. When she was finished with her breakfast she started to pack up, she recalled Nightflash into his card form and placed everything into her necklace, the sole item she was still wearing at that point. Xixi took a last look to make sure she didn''t forget anything. Opening the map, she checked that she had pinned the cave, as such a hidden place might come in handy in the future. Xixi took a long breath to relax when she stepped into the water. As she reached the deeper part of the water she took a deep breath and dived into the water. Many stones reached into the already narrow passage, making it hard for Xixi to navigate through them safely while releasing her breath in a slow and regulated manner. But she had already explored this part of the passage, so just before she was out of breath she kicked the ground under her and shot to the surface. A deep breath entered her lungs and she took a short break floating on the water, to let her stamina recover. The next part would be the hard one, as the structure of the passage gets more and more complicated undercurrents are created, while the water was always flowing with more speed and power, making this passage work like a meat grinder. When her stamina was topped up again she started diving again. Xixi struggled to move forward, fighting against the powerful current that tried to smash her against one of the many Stone spikes around her. Slowly she inched forward, keeping a stable rhythm in her swimming to stop herself from being tossed around. After a few minutes of struggling she saw the end of the passage. Just as she rejoiced an especially strong current rippled through the water and tossed her back. Panic rose in her as she grabbed onto one of the spikes she missed, stabilizing her body only a short distance of a group of spikes that would greet her as soon as she let go. Xixi held on as hard as she could but the duration of her diving left her starting to feel suffocating and he strong current kept sapping her of her strength fast. It took only a few moments before she felt the grip of her fingers unable to hold on any longer. Her face paled when she saw the spikes coming nearer at a fast pace, she forced her body to keep struggling against the current. Suddenly she felt a warm wave wash over her but she was in no state of mind to take notice of what happened. She was still forcing her body to try to move forward when her speed suddenly spiked and the feeling of suffocation eased up. The exit of the passage came into her sight rapidly as she sped ahead. She finally reached the outside. As her head broke through the water surface she took a few deep breaths and looked around. A few meters ahead of her a boat was swimming and before she could even start to swim towards it she hears one of the people on it cry out, "A Seal! Hurry up! We need to catch it. Their hide can be sold for more than we would make in a month normally!" The voice hadn''t faded jet when a spear was sailing towards Xixi, instinctively she dived into the water again. She swam with her fastest speed away from the hunters. The spears missing their target as she dived until she reached the sea ground. When the spears stopped, Xixi went ahead and kept diving as much as possible. Only when she wasn''t able to see the hunters anymore did she stop her head again above the surface. Finally, she could relax. Xixi stopped for a moment when she remembered what the hunter had said... ''Seal? ¡­ SEAL!?'' she looked at her reflection in the water, but instead of her human face, she was greeted by a seal with wonderful hide, having a slight black shimmer in it. But before she could even think about it she transformed back into her human self. The transformation wasn''t painful at all, it felt like something warm was traveling through her whole body, so it was rather comfortable. The fast change from one body to the other still left her uncoordinated for a moment. Only when she had found her bearings again did Xixi start swimming again, this time the shore was her goal. It took everything from her to reach land, so when she did she collapsed onto the ground. It was already noon when Xixi opened her eyes again. Shivering she took a blanket out of her necklace and dried herself off before she started to put the leather armor on. The armor had many straps and buckles to close up and Xixi had never before tried to wear it. This resulted in her struggling to wear it and more than just one curse could be heard from her. A couple minutes later she finally finished strapping her short sword to her belt. Her quiver was situated over her back. She then called Nightflash out. ¡°Hey there. It¡¯s alright¡­¡± she said calmly to pacify the stallion that radiated nerves and the readiness to fight or to flee if needed. Her voice did calm him a little bit down as he obviously stopped shifting and turning but instead concentrated on her. The saddle, with the already prepacked saddlebag, attached to it, flashed into existence together with a blanket and the bridle. Slowly, just like in her training, she first placed the folded blanket on Nightflash¡¯s back, walking around him once to make sure it was placed correctly so that he won¡¯t get any chafe or pressure marks from the saddle. She then picked the saddle up, and heaved it with a grunt over his back, placing it on top of the blanket. She checked that the saddle rested correctly on both sides and that nothing folded up in the process before she buckled it up. Lastly, she put the bridle on his head, closing all the small buckles after making sure it was placed correctly. Holding the reins loosely as the two started to walk towards their next adventure. Chapter 3: Travel The forest slowly turned dark while Xixi was leading Nightflash through the trees. They had entered it only a few minutes after they started their journey, but now it was already dawn. While they walked Xixi stopped every now and then to add some items to her necklace. Berries, mushrooms and other wild growing foods got slowly added together with dried grass, twigs, branches and other things that would be used for her campfire. At some point of the trek, she had unclipped the bit from Nightflash¡¯s bridle to allow him to snack on the greenery around them. Finding a small clearing, they stopped to rest for the night. The tent materialized in the middle of the space, and Xixi brought Nightflash to the shelter and placed food in his through and water in the water bucket. She then proceeded to take off his tack so that he can rest for the night, setting up the small pen with the movable fence before she took the tack with her into the tent. After she placed it on the ground she stepped to the campfire and lit it with now trained moves. Cooking a small dinner for herself she thought about what she experienced today. When she finished her dinner and rinsed the tableware she laid down to sleep. She woke up when the sun just started to move it¡¯s way into the sky, stretching her body while she stood up. Eating the leftovers from dinner she stepped outside to tend to Nightflash. The stallion was standing silently in the moist morning air, not moving anything except one ear, when Xixi stepped next to him with a brush in her hand. This was the little morning ritual that they started in the cave. Each morning Xixi would come out and brush his fur, clear his mane as well as his hooves. It was obvious how much he liked that, as he visibly relaxed under the long massaging strokes of the brush. Only when Nightflash was completely cleaned up did Xixi stop and go to his through. Filling both the fodder through and the water bucket motivated the stallion to come over for his breakfast. While Nightflash was eating, did Xixi bring his tack outside and folded the fence again, securing it to the tent. Nightflash had also finished his meal when Xixi turned around. With a wave of her hand did the tent disappear as it was stored in her necklace again. She picked up the saddle and placed it back on Nightflash¡¯s back, securing it while paying attention that nothing was placed wrongly or moved around. But when she wanted to start the journey Nightflash didn¡¯t move. Surprised she stopped and turned halfway, just to see him step up to her so that she was at the right position to get on his back. dumbfounded she looked at him, and as she showed no other reaction Nightflash pushed her slightly towards the saddle. ¡°You¡­ You want me to ride you?¡± Xixi asked still surprised at the unusual behavior of her companion. Another light push from Nightflash acted as a response. Xixi had never even tried to get on his back so she fumbled a few times before she had successfully climbed into the saddle. Nightflash started to slowly walk when she was sitting in a stable position. Surprised by the movement Xixi reached for something to hold onto, while her left hand clamped down on the saddle, did her right intertwined itself with the long black mane in front of her. Though it only took a few moments before she felt her body adapt to the steady pace and she started to relax a little bit. With the long steps of Nightflash, they found their way out of the forest just before noon. A huge sunny grass field was spread out in her view, showing a rather different scene than the always shadowy forest. Xixi spotted a few figures, but even with the distance that stopped her from seeing them clearly, she was pretty sure that these weren¡¯t humans but rather some kind of animal. Nightflash did a few slight jumps, and the moment Xixi held on to him again he started traversing the grassy field in a calm canter. It took only a few moments for Nightflash to move towards them so that Xixi could see clearly what it was. Nearly 20 deer like creatures wandered around. Though compared to the deer Xixi knew from the television shows, in reality, these were huge and seemed much more dangerous. All of them had antlers, though most of them only had a pair of antlers that resembled horns more than antlers. One pair grew straight to the sides before it made a slight curve to the back of the deer, while the other pair grew out in the front and curved inside a bit near the end. The antlers were more than a meter long and fitted the size of the nearly three-meter tall creatures. In the group were also a few that had antlers that looked more like Xixi had seen it before, just bigger and dotted with sharp spikes. Nightflash didn¡¯t go near them but instead moved in a huge arch around them. Soon these creatures vanished from her sight other creatures taking her interest. She had only heard the silence of the trees when she was in the forest, it seemed like no other creature besides Nightflash and her was living in there. But the plains showed her that this world was, in fact, full of life and the sheer amount of different creatures she saw in only a few hours of riding stunned her. Xixi was really hyped to learn more about all these creatures. And whenever Nightflash needed a break to get his stamina back or when he stopped to eat something, did she think about what she had observed and tried to figure out what kind of creature she had seen. Repeating this over and over again, the day passed. Nightflash was sweating but still went on, his steady canter not faltering to his obvious exhaustion. Xixi didn¡¯t know how to stop him as he ignored her completely. Just when the dusk gave way to the darkness of the night did Xixi see lights in the distance. The lights grew and she could see the silhouette of a small village. Nightflash slowed down when they neared the settlement, changing into a steady paced walk the moment they could see two humans standing guard at the entrance. He was breathing heavily, his head hanging low out of fatigue. Seeing him this way Xixi jumped from his back to ease his load. She guided him to the entrance and stepped into the light of some torches only a few moments later. ¡°Who are you?¡± one of the guards asked her, hand on his sword, the moment they saw her. Xixi was startled when she heard him talking in a language she never heard until now, but what shocked her, even more, was her ability to understand him. Hoping that she would be able to be understood in the same way she answered, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Xixi a traveler. Would it be possible to find shelter for the night in this place?¡± she said and was again startled when she heard herself talking in the same unknown language than the guard. ¡°Where are your fellow travelers?¡± the second guard asked her, he seemed wary of her. ¡°It¡¯s just me and my horse¡± she answered with a shake of her head and looked to Nightflash for a moment. Only then did the guards take a good look at the horse, and seeing him exhausted as if he had run for his life they naturally misunderstood what Xixi said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We will pray for your fallen comrades¡± the second guard said, now less wary of the duo. ¡°Come I will show you to our small inn. There you and your horse can take a rest for the night¡± the first guard said and guided Xixi into the village. The inn wasn¡¯t far from the entrance to the village and while the guard said it to be a small one, the building had two floors and seemed rather big. The guard knocked on the first door they reached, and only a moment later it opened. ¡°Little De, are you trying to get out of guard duty again?¡± an older woman said when she saw the guard standing there. ¡°Granny Lin!¡± he exclaimed indignantly. ¡°I¡¯m here because we have a guest¡± he gestured to Xixi, who was standing half a step behind him, ¡°She needs a place to rest for herself and her horse. She just reached here after losing her fellow travelers¡± he explained and the old lady looked abashed for a moment when she looked at Xixi. ¡°You are really too young to travel already. Come I will show you where you can bring your horse for the night and then I make you something nice to eat, you look like you starved for days¡± Granny Lin shoved the Guard, little De, out of her way and took Xixi¡¯s arm to guide her to the stables. ¡°I¡¯m Linette but everybody just calls me Granny Lin. You can bring your horse in there, my husband will come and take care of it¡± Granny lin pointed to a horsebox right next to the gate. ¡°Thank you, Granny Lin. I will take care of him on my own, I owe him that much as he kept me safe on the travel¡± Xixi said and started to take off his tack the moment Nightflash stopped in the stable. ¡°Oh¡­ You are really a good girl. Alright, you can take the food from over there¡± she pointed to a place two boxes over, ¡°and when you finished you can walk through there to come into the tavern. I will make a good meal for you¡± she pointed to a door opposite of the horse food. Then Granny Lin left through the door she just pointed to and Xixi was alone with Nightflash in the stable. ¡°Thanks, buddy,¡± she said while she started to rub his coat with a blanket to get him as dried off as possible. She then placed another blanket on his back to help him keep warm in the chilly night before she stepped out of the box and over to the horse food. She took an arm full of hay and dumped it in front of Nightflash before she also brought two buckets over. In one of the buckets, she filled a couple hands full of the food she had bought earlier while the second one got filled with water. While Nightflash started to eat, Xixi rubbed his neck. She was exhausted from all the surprises she had and from the long hours of sitting in the saddle for the first time. Her whole body was sore from it and she really didn¡¯t want anything more than a bed to sleep in. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Be careful little De. Don¡¯t wake her up¡± a coarse voice drifted into Xixi¡¯s mind when she was startled half awake. ¡°I know gramps. Just tell me which room Granny prepared for her and I will make sure to bring her there¡± the voice sounded younger and she had the feeling to know it. Her still half-asleep mind couldn¡¯t place it though so she simply stopped thinking about it. but when she was already drifting off to sleep again she felt herself being picked up by someone. Shocked she remembered that she was right now in a foreign village in Knights of Honor. She heard steps on the wooden ground and the creaking of a door before the smell of food reached her. Slowly Xixi opened her eyes to see her surroundings. The first thing she saw was a leather jacket that was closed over a broad chest. Turning her head she was able to see the face of the guard, little De, who brought her to the inn. Based on her position she figured that this young guard was carrying her, realizing that she felt shy. No male, except for her father, had ever carried her around. She never had a boyfriend as her illness was a huge problem for her, but of course, she had a crush more than once. It just never worked out for her. So being in such close proximity of a well-trained and fairly good-looking young man did have some effect on her state of mind. Just then, as if he had sensed her gaze, did little De look down at her. Xixi felt his body become rigid under her and he stopped moving. ¡°Uhm¡­ Hey¡­ y-you we-were s-sleeping¡­ in the barn.. so gramps got me to bring you into your room¡± he stammered at first and Xixi couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at seeing him flustered like this. ¡°Thanks. You can let me down now though. I can walk on my own if you show me where it is¡± she said still amused about his reaction and feeling a little shy herself. ¡°Huh? oh¡­ yeah sure¡± Little De was stunned at her reaction. He set her down carefully, and only as she was standing on her own did she see an older male behind the young guard. ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± she said and gave a small bow to the man, obviously surprising him. ¡°No need to thank me. It¡¯s just right that we make sure our guest doesn¡¯t get sick by sleeping in the barn¡± the man said and gestured for them to start moving again. ¡°Please, Miss, little De will show you the way to your room. Would you like to have something to eat before you go to bed?¡± he said and Xixi nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes, please. I¡¯m starving¡± she said and her stomach started rumbling, just like it needed to make sure everyone knew that she was really hungry. Xixi¡¯s face went red and both the guard and the old man tried not to laugh at the situation. ¡°Then Miss please,¡± little De said amused and started to walk to the stairs. The room was rather small and sparsely furnished with only a bed, a small table with two chairs, a small wardrobe, and a middle-sized chest. But it was enough for Xixi as she came from a poor background. So in either way she was never accustomed to a life of luxury. Only a few minutes after the young guard left to return to his partner, Granny Lin did enter with a steaming hot stew and a couple slices of bread. Xixi was happy to eat something and after filling her stomach she went to bed. It took nearly no time for her to fall asleep again. The next morning did greet Xixi with the sunlight shining onto her face from the open window. She changed her clothes and went down to the ground floor. There she was greeted by Granny Lin, who had already the breakfast ready, and the guard little De, who was currently eating. ¡°Miss, I will bring your breakfast in a minute,¡± granny Lin said and Xixi sat down in front of little De. ¡°Thank you for helping me out last night¡± she thanked him again. ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s my duty and I knew that granny Lin and gramps did have some free rooms¡± he said shrugging his shoulders. ¡°Still I¡¯m grateful¡± Xixi replied, and seeing that he wouldn¡¯t accept her she added, ¡°I think I never introduced myself right? I¡¯m Xixi.¡± The guard started grinning, ¡°I¡¯m Dederic, though Granny Lin and gramps call me little De. Oh yeah, Granny Lin is my grandma, she and my gramps are the owner of the inn and the only public stable in the village. So It¡¯s always nice to see traveler that take a rest here¡± Dederic grinned and Xixi couldn¡¯t stop herself from smiling back. ¡°Alright, kids. Now eat you need everything you can get to grow up strong¡± granny Lin said, placing Xixi¡¯s breakfast in front of her. Xixi and Dederic grinned at each other before they placed their attention to the food, only talking a little bit in between bites. After eating up did Xixi go into the stable, Dederic followed her as he had heard from his gramps that the horse is a real handful. ¡°Ohh¡­. I didn¡¯t realize that your horse is that big last night¡± he said surprised at seeing Nightflash. ¡°Hmm? Oh yes¡­¡± Xixi answered, not knowing how a normal horse here looked like was definitely a problem. She once again thought that she should have listened to Raven when he was explaining the world of Knights of Honor. ¡°You think I can let him wander around outside of the village for a bit?¡± she asked as she brushed his fur in, now trained, strokes. ¡°Won¡¯t he run away?¡± Dederic asked bewildered, as he never heard of someone letting his horse wander around on the outside. ¡°Why should he run away? He might take a run but he would return before it turns dark¡± she replied with full confidence. Dederic could only nod as he knew that disagreeing would be rude and probably wrong as he didn¡¯t know the horse but Xixi should know it as she was the owner. As he didn¡¯t object anymore, did Xixi take it as a silent approval and guided Nightflash out of the stable and towards the village gate. There he let him go and Nightflash jogged out for a bit before he turned and looked back at Xixi. ¡°Go ahead. I will come and get you in the evening¡± she said, smiling at his attics, and waving him off. With a snort, he turned and raced off. Only after he saw Nightflash running off did Xixi turn around, ¡°now can you show me where I can buy some stuff for the next part of my travel?¡± she asked half-smiling. Dederic didn¡¯t answer but signaled her to follow him. The village was small with less than 200 people living in it, so they soon reached the general store. ¡°Here you find most of the stuff you need, over there is the tailor and if you follow the road to the edge of the village you will find both the tannery and the smithy,¡± he said and showed her where she could also go. After he made sure that she knew her way around he excused him as he was really tired and needed some sleep. ¡°Have a good rest. I will handle it and thank you for your help¡± she said with a small bow and then both turned to go their respective ways. Chapter 4: Seal of Souls Xixi marveled at the various wares and displays in the general store. So many options to choose from, and the shopkeeper girl rummaged through some horse feed and supplying them in a rack as she went over an explanation of various tools. "This tincture is to help the horses to keep calm in the night. You simply mix it in before you feed them and they won''t panic as much if your group is attacked by monsters." She held up a yellowish liquid vial. Xixi eyed it, taking it from her fingers and watching it bubble and froth. It seemed like the tonics and potions of every variety came in this store. There were at least 20 ways to keep monsters at bay due to these various concoctions, and Xixi hummed to herself as she looked over the bubbling and sizzling liquids in vials and containers. Another twenty minutes later, Xixi bought some food, some rope for multiple purposes and numerous healing potions and medicines. Her next stop was the tailor. Her leather armor and simple cloth outfit fit comfortably around her lithe form, though she wanted something better suited for the travels far ahead of her. Something more durable, she supposed. A middle-aged woman was silently working in the store when Xixi entered the tailor shop. A few mannequins propped in the display window showed off the most regal and decorative clothing with the finest embroidery and lace and sequins that the store currently had to offer. Two were wearing beautiful dresses, one in a light green that reminded Xixi of the first green sprouting in the spring, and the second one was a deep royal blue with silver highlights that shimmered like the reflective surface of the water when the dawn of day broke over the ocean. It was the second dress that stopped Xixi from looking around even more. Delicate, giving it a subtle shimmer whenever it rippled. ¡°It¡¯s like the ocean,¡± Xixi said under her breath. Xixi said under her breath, letting her finger glide over the soft fabric. ¡°Do you like the ocean?¡± a voice asked her, Xixi spotted an old woman in a battered chair in the corner. She assumed that this was the shop tailor, as she held a piece of embroidery on her matronly lap. ¡°I love the ocean,¡± she said with a small smile. ¡°She did too,¡± the tailor said. Seeing Xixis questioning face, she added, ¡°My daughter, she loved the ocean so she wanted to make a dress that looked like she had caught a piece of it to wear. This dress was made by her.¡± Xixi could see her sad smile when she talked about her daughter. Just then a window appeared in front of her.
Quest detected. The last wish of the tailor¡¯s daughter
¡°Where is she now?¡± Xixi asked, turning fully toward the tailor. The tailor shook her head. Tears brimmed from the corner of her eyes, softening her features almost into a baby like a doe face. ¡°She died last year after she finished the whole set. Leaving me only with this set of clothes and the last wish¡± the tailor said and a moment later she added, ¡°Tonja¡¯s last wish was for me to find someone who loved the ocean just as much as her to give this set to.¡± Xixi thought about it for a bit, ¡°I would like to help you fulfill her last wish, but how can I show you that I love the ocean just as much as Tonja did?¡± she asked, wanting to know what the quest would be. ¡°My daughter told me about Rainbow shells. These shells can only be found in a few locations. Only people who really love the ocean would go there though as these areas are dangerous to be in. So if you can show me a Rainbow Shell you would help me fulfill the last wish of my daughter¡± the tailor explained. Xixi saw a picture of the rainbow shell in her peripheral vision. It took her breath away. It glimmered in multiple hues and shades that had the profundity of the ocean itself, deep reds and violets and oranges and blues and greens. To her surprise she was able to recognize the shell from the picture, it was a shell that she had found in the cave while she was training her swimming skill. The shell was rather bland and didn¡¯t look really great if it is dry but it was a completely different story if the shell was wet or even underwater. Xixi couldn¡¯t explain why it happened but the normally greyish surface of the shell would start to shimmer in the colors of a rainbow when it was underwater, creating a beautiful light show in a prismatic display like the aurora borealis, shimmering veils of light that rippled and wavered in otherworldly beauty. This was also why Xixi picked up all the rainbow shells she could find in the cave, causing her to have nearly a hundred of them stored in her necklace. ¡°Aunty¡­ I think I will be able to help you with this request. It should take only a little bit of time for me to get the shell to show you. Could I leave you with an order till I come back?¡± Xixi said smiling lightly. A surprise burst upon the tailor¡¯s weathered face, then it broke into a smile that warmed her face like sunshine. The tailor asked her for her order, and Xixi ordered a padded blanket to use as a saddle pad as well as a few spare outfits she would need for the appropriate occasion if her leather armor wouldn¡¯t suffice as appropriate clothing, as well as another two leather armors. Happy to have such a grand order and the possibility of fulfilling the last wish of her daughter, the tailor accepted. She measured Xixi before she started to get the needed clothes and leathers to make the ordered items. Xixi felt her own face warming in response to the tailor¡¯s elated expression. Her heart felt as warm as the woman¡¯s brilliant smile. If she could fulfill the tailor¡¯s daughter¡¯s last wish, that was all she needed. Perhaps, she thought, the matronly woman could¡¯ve been her own grandmother in another lifetime. Xixi then went to the tanner, mostly to see what he offered. She left the shop with two premade riding cloaks, both of them able to shield her from the rain while one was made of leather for warmer times, and the second one was made of pelt to keep her warm if she needed to travel in colder times. Her last shop was the blacksmith. She didn¡¯t have much of a need for it, as she didn¡¯t use her sword and arrows, but she was curious and hoped she¡¯d learn more about the game world. The shop was rather practical with the bare necessities needed though despite it¡¯s Sparta-esque d¨¦cor a few weapon racks mounted on the walls glimmered with silver, steel, and gold weapons and leather covered counters displayed the small selection of weapons while a huge mahogany cupboard was placed on the other side of the room, filled with metal and daily necessaries. Xixi watched in fascination as the blacksmith bent and folded and shaped a gleaming hot blade red with embers smoking from the vat, shaped into what appeared to be what would be a dagger. ¡°Young lady, can I help you?¡± the smith said, looking at Xixi, as he held the dagger into a bucket of water to cool it down. ¡°Huh¡­. oh, umm sorry I didn¡¯t want to stare,¡± she said as the voice shook her out of her mind. But the smith just started to laugh, his bear-like body shaking as it filled the shop with the warm baritone sound of it. ¡°No worries. I take it as a compliment that you seemed to be dazed by watching me work¡± he said and Xixi nodded with a red face. ¡°So, what did you come into my shop for?¡± the blacksmith said and placed his tools away, as he fished the newly made dagger from the water bucket. He then walked over to the counter and placed it on top, catching a cloth and some leather from under the counter to finish his work. ¡°Uhm¡­ I¡¯m wasn¡¯t really looking for anything specific. Just taking a look to see if I find something that I might need for my travel¡­¡± she explained as she watched him wrapping the handle of the dagger in dark leather. ¡°Well if you tell me what you need I could probably make it if it¡¯s nothing too complicated. In the end, I¡¯m only a tier 3 blacksmith so I won¡¯t be able to craft any masterpieces¡± he said, finishing the handle and placing the dagger down again. ¡°Tier 3?¡± Xixi asked confused about the term. ¡°You aren¡¯t from Bellaria are you?¡± the blacksmith asked her in return and Xixi simply shook her head. ¡°Oh well. Jobs are classified in tiers. An apprentice would be tier 0 after that are tier 1 to 3 who are simple craftsman like me, I can only call myself a blacksmith as I¡¯m tier 3 currently. From tier 4 up to tier 6, one can call themselves a master in their craft, followed by the grandmasters in tier 7 to 9. The highest tier 10 are the supreme grandmasters but they are really rare and hard to come by¡± he explained her calmly. In situations like this Xixi remembered that this whole world was a game, and all the people she interacted with are only NPC¡¯s. Otherwise, it would probably not be this easy to get information from the people. ¡°That sounds like a great system,¡± Xixi said, storing away the knowledge she got from the blacksmith. ¡°That dagger looks really nice with the black leather around its handle,¡± she complimented. ¡°Thanks. It¡¯s not yet finished though¡± he replied smiling as he placed some delicate looking tools on the counter next. ¡°It¡¯s not finished? How so?¡± Xixi wondered but the blacksmith didn¡¯t explain it but only told her to watch if she wants to know. Pulling a stool from somewhere the blacksmith sat down to draw in the blade. ¡°Normally I would do that in the back but it wouldn¡¯t be good if you went there and something happened¡± he grumbled as he was working on the blade. It took not long for him to finish his drawing, though the lines didn¡¯t make much sense for Xixi. The curiosity was evident on her face but she stayed silent, not wanting to break the concentration of the smith. Sweat dribbled down his chin and his face was sleek and shiny from a day¡¯s work of exertion. The finishing touches were made with a delicacy that seemed to belie his bearlike stance and body. Seemingly satisfied with the design, he took a small hammer and a chisel and started chipping away metal from the blade. At this point, Xixi realized that he was in the process of engraving the dagger and watched on surprised. He restricted the dagger with his arm, immobilizing the handle with it, as he worked the lines out. Slowly Xixi saw him engrave lines of different depth and width with graceful flourishes that a prince or someone of nobility could¡¯ve engraved on their fleur de lis designs. The capital letter engravings slowly formed the text ¡°HONOR ALL LIFE¡± on one side of the blade after some silent minutes of working. While the other side was adorned by an intricate Rose design with silvery leaves and thorns. Awed her gaze lingered on the dagger. ¡°Miss I hope you are my lucky charm,¡± he said grinning widely and confused her with it. ¡°Huh?¡± she couldn¡¯t even articulate her question still stunned at the sudden euphory of the Smith and the beautifully made dagger. He wiped the blade down the last time, ¡°I will name it [Honor of a Master]¡± He said then and the dagger glowed in a strong yellow for a moment, hovering over the counter, before it fell back and looked like a normal dagger again. ¡°Only Items made by a Tier 4 Master or higher can be given a name by their creator. Named Items gain a random perk from the gods. I tried to name all the Items I made over the last years but none of them reacted. I was just really happy that I finished it after I broke the last two daggers at the engraving. All Items are ranked in the same manner from Tier 0 to Tier 10, though there are subranks. You can see the Tier of the item by the light it emits when called by its name. This dagger, for example, glowed in a dark shade of yellow so it would be ranked as a high ranked Tier 4 Item. So you really are my lucky charm, as my first Item I made after reaching Tier 4 just now is even high ranked¡± he explained Xixi as he saw her puzzled look. ¡°Congratulations!¡± she exclaimed as she heard that the blacksmith was able to reach a higher rank in his occupation. ¡°Would you mind if I take a closer look at it?¡± she asked, as she really wanted to see the engravings from up close. ¡°Sure thing go ahead¡± the Smith replied, still happy from his breakthrough. Xixi picked up the dagger with caution and inspected the engravings to her heart''s content.
*New Skill Rank Basic*
A message sprung up in her vision getting her to smile. She had hoped that this skill would exist after she didn¡¯t see it in the Divine Shop and didn¡¯t get it added with her first spawn.
Inspect Skill (Passive)
Level 1 Rank Basic
Shows the basic information about Items.
Interested she used the skill at the dagger in her hands
Honor of a Master Item
Dagger Tier 4
A dagger that could be concealed. The crafter hopes it will only be used in an honorable way and not for senseless murder.
Att: 3.5 Attack Speed 8.0
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!She was happy at the function of the skill, placing the dagger back onto the counter and taking a look around she was surprised that each item that she looked at had the name shown automatically. All the item names were shown in simple white letters, only when she looked back at the dagger did she see that its name was displayed in deep yellow letters. A smile bloomed on her face as she realized that she would be able to see the rank of the items even just by the name display. ¡°Hey!¡± De entered the shop waving a greeting to the smith as he looked at Xixi, ¡°I was searching for you, granny told me to get you for lunch¡± he said grinning. ¡°Oh, alright I will be there in a moment, but I need to take something to the tailor lady first,¡± Xixi said and waved goodbye to the smith as she left. Xixi walked back to the tailor''s shop, placing one of the rainbow shells from her necklace into a pocket of her armor. ¡°Oh, you are back?¡± the tailor greeted her when she stepped back into the shop ¡°I only came to bring you the rainbow shell you asked for¡± Xixi explained with an open smile. Surprise colored the face of the tailor, ¡°You really have a rainbow shell?¡± she asked and Xixi didn¡¯t respond but instead pulled the shell out of her pocket. ¡°This one should be what you were looking for, right?¡± she said as she handed it over. The tailor lady was unable to speak as she nodded her head furiously while tears streamed down her face. ¡°How about you keep the shell? I¡¯m sure your daughter would have loved it.¡± Xixi said the message for the completed quest popped into her vision when she saw that the tailor wanted to give the shell back to her. Her lips quivered, and words of gratitude spilled from her lips as she pressed the rainbow shell back into Xixi¡¯s delicate hands. Xixi¡¯s cheeks warmed. It really was no big deal, was it? She simply thought they were little trinkets she found in the little seaside cove who were simple and easy to pick up, surely they weren¡¯t something that valuable, were they? But seeing the shopkeeper¡¯s reaction, Xixi knew that the tailor regarded those shells as something far greater than any treasure a kingdom¡¯s vault could hold. ¡°I couldn¡¯t take it. I only wanted to see one for my daughter. But these shells are really too precious¡± she said shocked. But Xixi refused to take it back, ¡°I simply picked it up because it looked really nice, but hearing that your daughter loved the ocean so much¡­ I would have loved to give it to her. So why don¡¯t you take it in her stead?¡± she said, coaxing the tailor to keep the shell. ¡° After some sweet talking, Xixi got her will, and the shell switched owners and just as Xixi wanted to leave again the tailor stopped her. ¡°Miss, wait please,¡± she said smiling as she went to the blue dress. ¡°Please take this dress. My daughter always refused to sell it, saying that only someone who loves the ocean would be someone worthy of it. So please take it, I¡¯m sure she would be happy if you wear it¡± she said and Xixi smiled as she accepted it, ¡°I will do my best to do it justice¡± she replied and went out to return into the inn. After a good meal filled with laughter and conversation did Xixi go back to the smithy. Belly sated, hunger pangs ceased and Xixi could think clearer and admire the handiwork of the blacksmith. The dagger she had watched being engraved was still swirling in her mind, and she thought it wouldn¡¯t be bad to have a smaller weapon than her short sword, though the thought of fighting someone with it made her feel uneasy. She was always someone who thought it would be better to be prepared for things and not have them occur. ¡°Back already?¡± the smith asked her from the back of the shop as she entered. ¡°Um¡­ yeah¡± she said after some hesitation. ¡°Don¡¯t be shy Miss?¡± he said, walking to the front counter as he saw that she moved around a bit. ¡°Well¡­ I was thinking about getting a dagger. A small one that can be hidden. I have a sword and a bow already but I¡¯m still missing something that I can hide away, while I travel¡± Xixi explained her thoughts. ¡°Well it¡¯s not stupid to have a concealed weapon,¡± the smith said thoughtfully. ¡°How will you travel? Depending on that different weapons could be better¡± he asked her after a few seconds of silence. ¡°By horse¡± she answered immediately, the smith nodded. ¡°You could conceal a dagger in your boots, or in your chest armor if you wear any. That way you could keep it there even if you walk for some time. Though it might get a little uncomfortable if you wear a tightly fitted armor¡± he said slowly. ¡°I will be wearing leather armor, tightly fitted for better movement. Wouldn¡¯t a dagger be seen then?¡± Xixi asked him surprised. ¡°Well if it¡¯s a leather armor that makes it really a bit harder¡­Well, I could try to fit a dagger somewhere in your tack. but there it might be either hard to reach or easy to spot¡± the Smith said slowly. Xixi nodded and thought about it for a moment before she nodded again and held her arms in front of her. The Smith was surprised when a saddle suddenly appeared in the slim arms of the girl in front of him. ¡°That¡¯s my saddle. do you think you can fit a dagger to it?¡± she asked and, as the Smith gestured her, laid the saddle on the now empty counter. ¡°That¡¯s a really well-made saddle you have. It will be hard to fit something on it. But here you see the saddle horn?¡± he pointed to the named part, ¡°it¡¯s a relatively big one, well made to keep the weight in good balance for the horse. I might be able to fit a dagger in there. This was it would be well hidden and easy to reach as long as you are in the saddle. it¡¯s just that only relatively smaller dagger will fit in there. Though you should be using a smaller dagger, either way, a larger dagger would be more of a short sword for you are you have a rather slim figure and small hands¡± the Smith explained her and fished a dagger from below the counter. He held it to the saddle, it nearly seemed to Xixi like she could see him thinking how to work it out. A few moments later did he nod. ¡°This one will fit in there, and I won¡¯t need to redo the whole saddlehorn so this won¡¯t reduce its stability. If you want me I can do it for you till tomorrow morning¡± the Smith gave his final verdict on the possibility. ¡°Great. Thank you¡± Xixi beamed at him, ¡°I will pick it up before I depart then¡± with that she left the store with a happy smile on her face. She then went to the general store again. This time she greeted the store clerk and told her that she wanted to look around and would call for help if she needed it. Slowly she looked at each item in the store, always using her new skill to slowly level it up while reading through all the item descriptions. Halfway through the store, in a shelf to the very end that holds a few things that were obviously of lower worth did she find something that stopped her dead in her tracks.
Seal of Souls Item
The Seal of Souls is an item that is divided into two parts. One part of it is worn on the person that wants to use it, and the second part of the seal is placed in the location where the user wants to resurrect. Thus creating a resurrection point outside of the churches.
Price 3 Gold coins
¡°Miss?¡± Xixi called out to the clerk, who walked over with haste. ¡°How can I help Miss?¡± the clerk asked and Xixi pointed to the two violet stone parts. ¡°Could you tell me what kind of stone this is?¡± Xixi asked but to her surprise, the clerk could only look at her with regret. ¡°I¡¯m sorry miss. These two stones were sold to us by a group of adventurers, we don¡¯t know from where they are. They look really beautiful but when we gave them to a jeweler he said that they aren¡¯t gems and polishing them would cost more than they are worth¡± the clerk said with regret, her eyes held a longing that Xixi could sympathize with as the stones had a really beautiful color and most girls would like to wear jewelry made out of them. ¡°How much do they cost then?¡± Xixi asked and the clerk girl took a second look at her, ¡°Miss I know I said they aren¡¯t worth much but we still need to sell them with a price that covers our costs¡­¡± the girl said hesitantly. ¡°I understand,¡± Xixi said and the clerk nodded before she named the price at 3 gold coins. ¡°Alright, I will take them,¡± Xixi said and the clerk looked at her with shock, only believing her when Xixi put three sparkling gold coins into her hands. Xixi finished her stroll through the shop, but nothing else got her interest so she soon left the general store, still holding the two broken parts of stone in her hands. ¡°I should probably test it out before I start my travel¡± she mused and walked to the village gate. Xixi only realized that she didn¡¯t know how to call Nightflash back when she was standing outside of the village. The sound of rapidly nearing hoofbeats ripped her out of her thoughts when she saw Nightflash suddenly stopping just a few paces from her. Frozen from the shock of the sudden arrival of her companion Xixi didn¡¯t react, only as he pushed her really softly did she come back and patted him. Xixi then walked a distance away from the village, while Nightflash walked by her side before she stopped again. She took a thread out of her necklace and wrapped one stone piece into it before she hung it around Nightflash¡¯s neck. Thankfully the two pieces had the symbols for ¡°depart¡± and ¡°return¡± on them so she knew which stone she would have to keep herself and which one she would need to store away to respawn next to it. She then placed everything expects her clothes and the second piece of the stone into her necklace before she took it off and added it to the makeshift necklace of her companion. ¡°Alright, Nightflash. I need you to wait here okay. I will be back real soon I hope¡± she said, albeit a little insecure. Sure that Nightflash would wait for her and that the only things she could possibly lose with this were her clothes, did she turn around and walk into the forest to search for something that could get her killed. It didn¡¯t take long for her to see a huge beast, it looked like a twisted crossbreed between a boar and a snake. The body looked like that of a boar at first glance, but if one looked at it a little bit more they would see scales on the whole body, together with a pair of poisonous fangs and slitted eyes. ¡°God, what is that?¡± Xixi said under her breath, but obviously, the beast already noticed her as it turned and rushed at her. Frozen by shock and her fear of the beast she wasn¡¯t even able to move before the beast tackled her to the ground and everything went black. Xixi didn¡¯t know how long it took before she regained her consciousness, standing upright next to Nightflash. As she looked around she saw that the sun was already starting to set in the distance. So it seemed like she was out for some time before she was respawned. ¡°Alright let¡¯s go back into the village¡± Xixi said while she took her necklace back and stuffed both pieces of stone into it. Thankfully her clothes weren¡¯t torn completely, though they had multiple holes in them and were obviously nothing she could wear again without fixing it first. Soon Human and horse entered the village together. Xixi first brought Nightflash into his stable and placed some food into his through before she took his drinking bucket and went out. She left the bucket at the well to walk over to the tannery. The tanner was still engrossed in his work, and happy when Xixi handed him the bridle of her horse as well as two stones, one to be embedded into the bridle and the second one to be made into a leather necklace. She then got the water from the well and brought it back to the stable. Only when she was sure that Nightflash was taken care of for the night and she had given him a good brushing did she go into the inn for the dinner. Soon after the dinner, she went up into her room to sleep, intending to prepare tomorrow so that she could leave the village the day after. When she opened her eyes again she wasn¡¯t greeted by the hearty browns of the inn though but by the clear-cut white of her hospital room. A nurse was in the room when she woke up. ¡°Miss Xiang Xinya¡± the nurse greeted her, ¡°please relax, I will tell the doctor in a moment that you have woken up. You were disconnected due to the need to upload a system update to the servers as well as the integration of a game update. This should take roughly a day but you will be informed the moment you can log into the game again¡± she said with the typically trained smile all nurses had. ¡°Thank you¡± Xixi replied as she slowly moved her body around to sit up a little bit. This day would be again a day of prodding and testing from the doctors, and might even be more prodding and testing from the doctors and technicians from the implant developer. With a deep sigh did Xixi accept her fate for the day. It was just as bad as she had anticipated, and Xixi was more than happy when she was allowed back into Knights of Honor. Chapter 5: Travel again It was the second morning she was in the village. She told Granny Li that she would leave for the city. When Granny Li heard this she was saddened and tried luring her into staying, but Xixi knew that she wouldn¡¯t get to leave at all if she waited for the granny to be fine with it. Having learned of her previous try with the resurrection system, Xixi prepared herself for anything that could possibly happen on her journey. She placed everything of value into her necklace, pushing only two stuffed pillows into her saddlebags before she put on her travel gear. She was happy that she got a traveling outfit, it was just a simple leather outfit with belts and fixings across its seams that offered a basic armor, that wasn¡¯t that expensive. After a good breakfast with granny Li, little De and his grams dod Xixi go over to the tannery and the blacksmith to pick up her new necklace, wearing it directly, and the modified tack. Having all of that sorted out she went into the stable to get Nightflash ready for the trek. She first brushed him and then she placed the saddle pad and the saddle on his back. Lastly, she put on his bridle that she just got back. The purple stone shimmered in the sun, she had it fitted into the bridle right between his eyes in the middle of the cross that spanned from his ears to a few fingers over his nose. Now she was ready to get on her way. Nightflash willingly followed her out into the open and let her use a barrel to ease herself into the saddle. Picking up the reins, she signaled him to start walking. Little De, granny Li, and that nice old grams waited at the iron grate gates for her and wished her a safe journey. Only after telling them that she will do her best to stay safe did they allow her to leave. Nightflash started cantering away as soon as he was past the small group. He seemed eager to flex his legs and stretch so Xixi simply let him choose the pace. Little De told her already that the next city was four to five days of riding away from the village so Xixi relaxed while she observed her surroundings. Apart from seeing a few new animals and finding new plants, she already started to horde them in her necklace as she thought many of them could have a usage. Some curious gecko-like creatures with red eyes and chameleonic textured skin that changed colors and features, such as growing feathers or fur, for example, like a chameleon changes colors, and some bright insects whose eyes gleamed like baubles. Some other creatures included small ocelot creatures with twin tails and a feathered tip and long whiskers that spanned almost the length of its agile body. She wanted to find someone to teach her about making low leveled healing items for traveling, nothing major happened in the first two days. Nightflash went with his own pace, resting when he wanted to rest for a bit or running if he felt like it. But on the third day, the two were surprised. Nightflash stopped as he saw a group of carriages blocking the road ahead of him, Xixi grabbed the saddle horn to stabilize herself and to be ready to defend herself. They still had a few meters to the carriages and Xixi was just thinking about whether she should ride up to them or try to get around them through the wilderness. But a group of men that stepped out of the bushes behind her left her with no real chance as they targeted her with bows and crossbows from behind, while the ones nearest to her pulled their swords and daggers. They looked an unsavory bunch, and their breath reeked of alcohol and their teeth were damaged like tumbling tombstones. Xixi¡¯s eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat. She tried to eye an opening, though the bandits hemmed her in and crept closer, so close that she could see the pores in their faces. They were uncomfortably close, and she wondered if these men had...lewd thoughts about her, as she could see some of them grinning lustfully at her neckline and eyeing the curve of her ass in her form-fitting leather breeches. Nightflash tried to get out of it through the sides but they too were now packed with people holding weapons. ¡°We won¡¯t hurt you miss,¡± one of the men said and Xixi only scoffed at him. ¡°As long as you simply follow us back to the base of our organization nothing will happen to you, I promise,¡± he said with a smile that made Xixi want to puke. The glint in his eye told her that he intended something far worse than death, and Xixi wondered how many innocent women suffered at the hands of these bandits. She only delved into this game recently, without much time to prepare, and life threw her a curveball like this. What should she do? She couldn¡¯t call for help, she didn¡¯t want to involve others, but the reality of the situation was sinking in and the bandits'' intentions were made evident on their eager and twisted faces. One of them even licked their lips in a suggestive manner that made Xixi¡¯s stomach churn. Did these people have no decency or sense of morals? She supposed not. ¡°I don¡¯t think I know of your organization¡± Xixi replied, irritated that she didn¡¯t find a safe way out of it but she wasn¡¯t willing to risk Nightflash or herself. ¡°You never heard of The Crimson Desperados, Bellaria''s most vicious bandit organization?¡± the bandit said, seemingly repulsed by her question. ¡°No, never heard of it. It doesn¡¯t seem like you guys are as feared as you believe¡± she mocked the men, to calm herself down a bit. The bandit leader¡¯s eye twitched as a snarl formed on his mustachioed face, but it was one of the men to her left that suddenly threw a dagger at her. Nightflash was fast to move and got his rider out of danger, but he seemed to get more nervous by the minute. Xixi was still gripping the saddle horn with force when she petted him with her other hand, trying to calm him down. ¡°You need to run, no matter what happens to me. Simply run away, you hear?¡± she muttered to him. She was sure that they wouldn¡¯t be able to simply escape, but as long as Nightflash was wearing his bridle she would simply revive next to him again. So it was important for her that he would run away from the bandits as fast as he can, no matter where they would be afterward. Feeling Nightflash shift under her she knew that he would do what she asked him to do. She then pulled a sturdy branch out of her necklace to use it as a club. ¡°Oh¡­ Little girl you should not try something stupid¡± the leader of the gang said calmly, obviously not taking her seriously. Xixi pressed her legs into Nightflash¡¯s flanks and he suddenly jumped forward starting a mad sprint to escape. ¡°Stop her!¡± the leader screamed and tens of daggers, arrows, and bolts were hurled at Xixi. Thinking only about escaping she ignored them and threw her makeshift club to create a hole for Nightflash to run through. The bandit that was hit by her club fell to his knees and with a powerful jump, Nightflash went over him. But just before he jumped off, multiple blades embed themselves in Xixi, and with the movement of the jump she lost her last hold on the saddle and fell to the ground. She could just see Nightflash landing behind the bandits and running off as if a monster hunted him. The pain registered when she was sure that her companion was safe, at least a dozen of the weapons had found their target. Groaning she tried to move, but her body was like paralyzed and she could already feel her consciousness slipping. One last thought to show herself her status showed her what she already thought was happening, as her HP was falling as the blood that pooled around her became more and more. ¡°Huh?¡± Xixi was stunned when she found herself in the Character creation area again. Before she recovered, she heard steps behind her. Turning around she saw Raven smiling at her as he walked over. ¡°What a wonderful day this is, allowing me to see Miss Xixi again,¡± he said, amusement and mischief sparkling in his eyes. ¡°This day should be a day of celebration as it has me seeing squire Raven again¡± Xixi replied in the same way, giggling away. ¡°So Raven¡­ why am I here again?¡± she said after she stopped giggling. ¡°Well Miss Xixi, this is about the Update that was installed. It allows for more customization of the character. So as you went through the process of respawning, the system checked for these new attributes, and as you don¡¯t have these attributes you were sent back here to add them. You can, in fact, change your whole character again if you wish so. No skills or items will be lost and no NPC will realize the changes¡± Raven explained and brought up the holographic screen that showed her current character.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. 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Lineage : << Please choose a lineage>> Life Goal : << Please choose a life goal>> Role : << Please choose a Role>> Honor: 0 Dishonor: 0 Wealth: N/A
Six new attributes showed up. Honor and dishonor were really easy to understand for her but she still asked Raven for an explanation of all new Attributes. He nodded to her request before he let two comfy looking couches appear and gestured for Xixi to take a seat. Only after they were seated did he start. ¡°Let me start with Honor and Dishonor. Right now both stats are at zero which means both are in fact nonexistent as you haven¡¯t gained honor or dishonor yet. The moment you do something dishonoring your dishonor attribute will grow and if you do something that gains you honor the honor attribute will grow. But both of these are linked, as you can only have honor if there is no dishonor and vice versa. So if you have honor of 20 and do something that gains you 5 dishonor you will lose these 5 honor, bringing your honor down to 15 while your dishonor will grow to 5. As long as your honor is higher than your dishonor you won¡¯t be openly called out on your dishonor, but the higher your dishonor is, the more likely are dishonorably deeds of your subordinates and the less likely will someone with high honor and low dishonor accept you as a friend. But all these won¡¯t be relevant anymore if you step over a certain amount of dishonor. The moment you gain too much dishonor you will be openly despised even if your honor is higher. So it is highly recommended to try to gain as little dishonor as possible¡± Raven started his explanation. Seeing that this round of explanation will take its time, Xixi changed from her seating position to a lounging, laying on her side while watching Raven. ¡°The Wealth attribute shows the full wealth you have, including assets that you might not access every moment. You can choose the display to your liking. Have bound and unbound assets shown together as one, or displaying it as two attributes is possible. Bound assets are items or deeds, while unbound assets will only show the amount of money in your possession, it will automatically exclude the amount of money that you are having at your person. Any amount of money that you have in your home, shops or even in your bank account will be shown as an unbound asset. The Lineage will decide your social status as well as the area you are from. Your chosen parents can also influence your honor and dishonor attributes as well as your wealth and your possession. An example would be a thief as a father, he would influence your dishonor so you would start off with a higher dishonor attribute. Also if he is a thief that is good at was he does it is highly probable that your family is well off so your wealth would rise, though you might not be able to access it whenever you want. On the other hand, having an honorable knight as a father will let you gain honor to start with as well as the possibility to start off with some possessions your father gifts you like a horse or a sword. Gaining some possession through the lineage will only be possible through gifts that are made because of the lineage as well as through the untimely death of one or both of your parents. Depending on the lineage one or both ways are possible, but neither is free to choose from. The life goal is the goal you set for yourself to reach. It will influence your status points to help you reach it in the beginning. There won¡¯t be any repercussions if you choose to give up on it though. But you can only choose a life goal once¡± Raven said and made sure that Xixi got the importance of choosing the life goal most fitting for her. Only after he was pleased with her reaction, showing the needed seriousness for his liking, did he explain the last point. ¡°Lastly the role. The roles you can choose from are influenced by your life goal and your lineage. It will influence the growth of your stats to help you reach your life goal. Though your role won¡¯t stop you from learning anything, so if you want to change your way of living later in the game you can. But you might need to work harder to reach the same skill levels as others.¡± ended Raven his explanation. Xixi thought about it for a moment, the usage of a role in Knights of Honor was definitely different than any other game she had played till now. A few moments later she nodded again and stood up, ¡°alright Raven. Let¡¯s see what I can choose from¡± she said grinning. The two went through all the options together and Xixi really had a hard time to choose, but in the end, she was really happy about her choices.
Lineage Baron of Faeglade and Baroness of Coral, House of Baron of Faeglade, low ranked noble
Lifegoal Honor of Knightship
Role Paladin
Honor 0
Dishonor 0
Wealth [bound] N/A
Wealth [unbound] N/A
Raven also explained her that her wealth, honor and dishonor attributes would only update when she returns in the game. Though she already chose to have her wealth be shown as two attributes instead of one. After she accepted the changes and did confirm that this was really her wish did she wave Raven goodbye. She then walked through the door that will let her respawn next to Nightflash. Just when she stepped through the door a message popped up in front of her
Name changed to Titania Xixi of Faeglade
accept decline
She pressed accept and let herself be engulfed in the colorful streaks that comes with resurrection. Chapter 6: Movie of Memories This time though she didn¡¯t wake up next to Nightflash, instead she found herself floating in a white space when she heard the now already familiar ¡®ding¡¯ of the system. [Lineage detected...Loading Lineage please wait¡­] It took only a few moments before another system message arrived. [Transferring player¡­ Welcome Titania Xixi of Faeglade. Please enjoy your new life] After she read the message the space around her rippled and she found herself in a room full of maids, bustling around a woman who was very obviously in the middle of giving birth. An all encompassing pain grabbed her body, making her cringe and screaming out, but nobody in the room took notice of her. She felt like her body was ripped apart while her lungs stopped working. Her sight blurred and her consciousness got weak for a moment. Then everything suddenly vanished, leaving her painless and without any problems. She looked up, surprised by the sudden change, only to catch the first breath of the newborn girl that was followed by her first cry shortly later. ¡®ding¡¯ [Please be advised that resurrection is no longer possible] Another shock hit her reading this message. ¡°Congratulations mylady to your healthy daughter¡± one of the maids said as she placed the baby into some sheets before handing it over to her mother. multiple congratulations rang out from the other maids. A flurry of movement later the room was cleaned up again and the maids left to take care of the bloodied clothes and stained water buckets. When the last maid left the room a man entered instead. Walking over to the bed with long steps worry still etched into his face. ¡°Are you alright honey?¡± he asked and gently stroked her head. ¡°Just a little exhausted but holding our daughter in my arms is reward enough to make it worth¡± the woman answered showing off her newborn. ¡°She is beautiful just like her mother¡± the man said tenderly brushing a single finger over the cheek of the baby. ¡°So what name did the Baron think of for his first born daughter?¡± the mother said, exhaustion straining her voice already. ¡°She is our daughter so of course she needs a strong name. But she is also as beautiful as a little fairy so it shouldn¡¯t be something borish. How about Titania?¡± the father answered, voice raspy with emotions. ¡°Titania¡­ that sounds good it¡¯s a beautiful and strong name. Our daughter Titania Xixi of Faeglade¡± the woman said when she drifted off to sleep. ¡°Xixi?¡± he whispered surprised by the sudden addition to the name of his daughter. But with a shrug he took his child silently bringing her out of the room to let his wife rest. The next few days passed by in a rather calm manner, the servants tended to the Baroness and the newborn while the Baron worked hard to keep all the other nobles and affluent families away, giving his two loved ones some time before they need to attend social events. A whole month went by in this manner, by then the Baron had already made sophisticated preparations for the grand banquet to celebrate the birth of his daughter. Xixi was still watching the whole time in this rather discomfortable ghost-like form. At the beginning she tried to look around the whole place, but she soon realized that after the birth of the young Titania Xixi she was only able to see and hear parts of what happened around her, as well as that she was unable to leave the side of the baby at all. ¡®It looks like this is me when I am a baby¡­ just growing up¡­ I wonder if it will be a blessing or a curse not to be stuck as a baby¡¯ Xixi thought to herself as she watched the banquet that happened in front of her. Other then being able to observe the nobles shen wasn¡¯t able to do much. But a few things that she heard people talk about did worry her a little. Like this one noble, or at least she thought it must be a noble from the way he was dressed, who talked with the Baron. Even though she couldn¡¯t hear much, especially as the Baroness started to talk with her daughter, what she could hear was about preparations for war and something about eradicating the Selkies. Her mother excused herself when the noble started talking about the need to kill all Selkies as the monsters they are, so Xixi couldn¡¯t even try to follow the discussion anymore, but the glance she could get from the face of the Baron was very obvious of how little he thought of the topic. She was even wondering if the noble would even be able to reach his home alive today with the way the Baron looked at him and the bloodthirst she was pretty sure she felt from both him and the Baroness. ¡®I¡¯m a demi-Selkie¡­. wouldn¡¯t that mean that either both my parents are demi-Selkies or one of them is a full blooded Selkie while the other is a human?¡¯ Xixi thought about it startled. The baroness took her daughter back into her private chambers, returning to the banquet alone. The next few months seemed to fly by, Xixi realized that the time seemed to accelerate and decelerate depending on what happened. As long as the days didn¡¯t really change and nothing of importance to the young Titania happened the time flew by while it slowed down for her to really grasp what was happening when it was of importance to the slowly growing girl. The next time, after the banquet, when the time seemed to slow down again it was when the baby was just 6 months old. The Baron was on some journey for the last few weeks, so when the Baroness heard that her husband had returned she picked up her daughter and went to the stables to welcome the head of the house. Even before they reached the stable they could hear some loud voices and horse whining. It seemed like multiple stable boys where trying to place a horse into the stable, while the horse was clearly unwilling. ¡°My¡­ why did you bring such a horse with you?¡± the baroness chided her husband as she reached him, without even really giving the horse a glance. The Baron kissed her cheek and smilingly picked his daughter out of her arms to greet her too before he said, ¡°Well it¡¯s a nice and strong horse. I thought to train it up to use as a war horse¡± only then did the Baroness take a look at the pitch black stallion that was rearing in front of the stable. What both of them didn¡¯t realize yet was how their daughter looked at the horse. Only a split second later the stallion broke free from his restrains, turned around and rushed in the direction of the gate. In horror the stable boys scrambled after the horse, the servants screamed for their masters. Because the only obstacle that could stop the free horse were the Baron, who still held his daughter, and the Baroness. The Baron hold tightly onto his daughter, trying to shield her from the loose horse. A nearby soldier grabbed the Baroness and pulled her to the side just in time for the stallion to pass by. Everybody was silent, only the running horse could be heard as he tried to find a way to escape back into freedom. A small and velvet voice broke the silence, ¡°Na-ty!¡± the young Titania squealed as loud as she could, trying to reach with her small arms the horse that was already tens of meters away from her. Even more surprising than the girl calling out was the reaction of the black stallion as he suddenly stopped and looked at the girl, completely still. ¡°Naty Naty¡± Titania babbled on, squirming in her fathers hold to reach the horse. Xixi watched in wonder how the girl called out to the horse, a horse she had recognized almost immediately as her companion Nightflash. And it seemed like not only she knew exactly who he was as the young Titania was, pretty obviously, calling out to him. But Nightflash still seemed uncertain what to do, as he only turned demiway to her, still not wanting to give up on his way into freedom. ¡°Bad Naty tay!¡± Titania cried out as her eyes started to fill with tears. And it seemed that did it for the stallion as he finally turned around and rushed back, though he stopped a little before he reached the Baron and Titania. Slowly he took the last two steps and pushed her lightly, just as if he wanted to wish her tears away for her. Giggling Titania pushed at his nose ¡°Naty Naty¡± she giggled and Nightflash just snorted at her, acting just like a tame horse in front of her. A stable boy stepped up to him, wanting to fix a new halter on him to bring him in the stable. But Nightflash was obviously not liking that idea, snapping at the hands of the stable boy showed it very obviously. Unsure how to handle the horse the stable boys looked at the Baron. ¡°Go and place down a paddock in the back of the garden, add a shed to it and make sure it has some access to one of the fields in the back area¡± the Baron ordered the servants as he still observed his daughter. ¡°A paddock in the garden? Do you really think it would be good to keep such a dangerous horse near our daughter?¡± the Baroness was obviously not that fond of the idea of having the imposing stallion anywhere near her daughter. ¡°Honey, you can see it for yourself. Our daughter could tame him instantly. I don¡¯t think he would even do anything to harm her¡± the baron tried to console her starting to usher her to move along the way back into the small palace they called their home. Nightflash followed them, seemingly content with staying near Titania without being touched by anybody else. Slowly the time seemed to accelerate again while Xixi watched Titania when she would go to visit her horse each day in the paddock in her garden. The next time Titania was already three years old. Xixi had started to feel her emotions at some point though she couldn¡¯t really pinpoint when it started. But the shock that now surged through her rattled her up, out of her daze, and made her concentrate on Titania. For the first time since she arrived in her ghost like body Xixi didn¡¯t look at the scene from above but rather through the, currently pitch black, eyes of Titania. Seeing the reason of the shocked child as she was greeting by the vision of a sleek body covered in grayish black pelt. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ Xixi soon realized that Titania must have triggered the seal transformation somehow. Something the girl seemed to take a moment longer to realize, as her shock only went a couple minutes later to settle at surprised calmness. But when Titania tried to get up another slight problem arose. The girl was always sleeping on her back, nothing problematic when she was human, but she couldn¡¯t sit up as a seal so she tried to roll around in the attempt to regain her mobility. With a dull ¡®thump¡¯ the small seal fell from the bed, tightly tangled into the bedsheets and slightly dazed from the new perspective. The sound of the opening door rang out behind them and a maid entered into the chambers. Titania could only see her after she kneeled in front of her, recognizing her as the personal maid of the Baroness. ¡°Young Miss, let me help you¡± she said after a second of looking at Titania. Without any hesitation the maid picked up the bundled up seal and sat on the bed, lowering Titania on her lap. ¡°Let me first help you out of your sheets Miss, before I find something more suitable to wear for you¡± she explained what she wanted to do calmly, Titania always liked the calm way this maid worked. After the bedsheets were loosened and tossed to the side her nightgown followed as it was nothing comfortable to wear in her current form. ¡°Let me go and fetch something to wear for you¡± the maid said as she placed Titania next to her on the bed, this time on her belly so that she would be able to move around. The maid stood up and went to the door, Titania already started to worry of her leaving as she didn¡¯t know what she should do if she was left alone like this, but the maid never left the room. ¡°Go and inform the Madame that the young Miss asks for her¡± the maid ordered whoever was outside of the room, before she turned back and rummaged through a cupboard for only a moment. Titania soon realized just what the maid had picked for her to ¡®wear¡¯ as she was soon bundled up again into a albeit smaller sheet of fabric then the bedsheet, but this time it had a hood too that covered her head fully. Now she could nearly hide herself completely from sight is she was carried by someone. But at the same time her front was only covered partly allowing her to still rob around rather comfortably if she was placed on the ground.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It took nearly 10 minutes before the Baroness entered, closely followed by the Baron. ¡°Mistress, Baron¡± the maid greeted them both, though it was already obvious that while everyone saw the Baron to be the Family Head this maid would only follow the command of the Baroness. ¡°Lucia what happened?¡± the Baroness asked, irritated as she couldn¡¯t see her daughter yet. Instead of replying the maid stepped aside allowing the parents to see their daughter in her seal form. ¡°Oh¡­¡± the Baron was unable to say something as he saw the little seal on the bed, slightly quivering as it looked at them with it¡¯s little black orbs. ¡°I told you that was a possibility¡± the Baroness snapped at him as she went and picked up her daughter. ¡°It¡¯s alright my lovely girl. There is nothing to fear as long as your mommy and your daddy are here with you. How about Lucia prepares a nice water tub for you to really move in this body for a little and then we see about getting you to get back your legs¡± she cooed her daughter, calming her down as she stroked her pelt slightly. The maid already working on getting the large tub in the chambers of the Baroness filled with water for the seal to take her first dive. ¡°I know you told me¡­¡± the Baron grumbled as he stepped up to his beloved girls, placing one hand around the Baroness¡¯ waist while he petted the furry head of his daughter gingerly. ¡°She will need to learn to control her form¡± he started, the Baroness agreed and added ¡°and she will need to be able to be in both forms for some time, comfortably.¡± ¡°I know. She won¡¯t be able to go off to swim in a lake or the sea like you do for some time. I will call for some workers and the gardeners to revamp the garden. Adding a pond to it¡± he said. But the Baroness shook her head, ¡°a small pond won¡¯t be enough. She will need a small lake, it needs to be deep and if possible have the size of your private training ground¡± she explained and her husband simply nodded. ¡°I will order it to be done and to add a hedge around it to keep the eyes of others out of it¡± he said and only left to order the servants as his wife told him that this would help their daughter. The swimming in the tub helped Titania to get more comfortable in this new body of hers, but the tub didn¡¯t offer much space for her to really move around so she mostly got comfortable with the feeling of the water on her pelt and how to move her fins. The Baroness then tried to teach her how to change back into her human form for multiple hours before she, more or less accidentally, changed her form, landing in a heap of legs and arms. ¡°Mommy what was that?¡± she asked slightly disoriented and distraught at the happenings of the morning. Sighing the Baroness looked at her before she picked up her daughter again, setting her on her lap. ¡°Don¡¯t worry my little baby. It¡¯s your mommy¡¯s fault¡± The Baroness said hugging her. ¡°Many different kinds of people are living in this world. Humans like your daddy, and Selkies like your mommy, and many many more. The difference between your daddy and your mommy is that your mommy can transform into a seal, just like you did earlier. As long as we stay in human form nobody can tell the difference between a Selkie and a human but because we can transform into seals some humans think we are monsters. That is why you can¡¯t ever tell someone that you are able to do that. Whenever someone asks you you need to say you are a normal human. Sometimes a Selkie has the urge to dive into the water, which was probably what triggered your transformation earlier, this is normal and you need to follow that feeling as you might transform forcefully when you don¡¯t allow yourself the time to be a seal. It is really important that you can control when you want to transform. Your daddy went to get the garden redone. So that we will have a space to swim around for a bit without having to leave home. I will also try to get a personal maid for you¡­ maybe I can pick a little girl to accompany you when I meet your uncle in a couple months¡± the Baroness explained Titania what the girl needed to know for now, all the while still hugging and caressing her. It took nearly two months before the artificial lake in the garden was finished, filled with water and some plants as well as a couple fish. Since then Titania and her mother spend a full afternoon in the water each week. Just a month after the lake was finished the Baroness went on a journey, accompanied by two teams of soldiers from the private army of the Baron. Titania only knew that her mother was visiting her uncle, she asked if she could go with her mother as she really wanted to meet this uncle of hers that she only ever heard from, but she was told that she needed to grow a little older before she could travel. After the Baroness left Titania jumped into the lake in the garden, not wanting to leave for the whole time. But she already climbed out of the water when her father sat on the chair next to it with lunch. Still she was obviously angry at having to stay home. It took slightly over a week before the Baroness returned. But when Titania ran out to greet her mother only to see her, holding the hand of another girl she stopped. When the Baroness looked up and saw the utterly devastated look on her daughter she called out. But Titania didn¡¯t want to listen, instead she went to the only place she felt safe and she knew her mother would never follow her. She was already huffing when she reached the fence around Nightflash¡¯s paddock ¡°Nighty!¡± she called out hearing the stallion whine in the distance. She climbed on the fence, already seeing her companion rush to her side and before he even could fully stop next to her she already jumped on his back telling him to run. Always willing to comply with this order he darted off, leaving the Baroness and the girl watching as he carried his little rider into the distance. Titania held his mane in a death grip while her tears fell into his coat. She hear voices first in the distance but getting louder and clearer but she didn¡¯t want to listen, didn¡¯t want to see them either so she closed her eyes and buried her head in the long mane of her horse. She felt him getting slower but she didn¡¯t think any of it as he was still moving forward, still bringing her away from the place she didn¡¯t want to be. A few minutes later the slowed down even more till he finally stopped, Titania looked up again, hoping to not see anyone around. But instead of being alone she saw another horse standing next to her own, her father looked at her lovingly but he didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Go away¡± she sulked but he didn¡¯t even attempt to move, and Nightflash seemed content with having her on his back while he was calmly eating some grass. ¡°Go and care for your new daughter!¡± Titania screamed at her father, startling him, but he still didn¡¯t leave. Instead he jumped from his horse and took her from Nightflash¡¯s back, sitting down with her in the middle of the pasture. ¡°Why would I want another daughter when I have you?¡± he asked, totally confused by the accusation of having another daughter. ¡°Mommy brought her home¡± Titania sulked, getting even angrier when her father started laughing at her. ¡°Baby, whoever your mommy brought with her I don¡¯t even know. But I know one thing and that is that you are my only daughter, my only child¡± the baron said hugging her. When he felt Titania sagging into the hug crying he simply caressed her head without saying anything. It took nearly an hour till Titania calmed down and was willing to get on the horse with her father to return home again. On their way back they rode on one horse, Titania safely nestled in between her fathers arms while Nightflash simply walked next to them. The Baroness waited for them at the stables already, the new girl wasn¡¯t seen anywhere. Happy to see her daughter healthy and in the safe embrace of her husband the Baroness could finally stop worrying. ¡°So I heard you came home with a new daughter?¡± the Baron asked her cheekily and Titania pouted in his arms as she saw her mother blanch. ¡°No.. oh honey I¡¯m sorry but I only have one daughter and that is you my little baby¡± the Baroness said and hugged her daughter, picking her up from her father''s arms in the process. ¡°So who is that girl I still haven¡¯t seen?¡± the Baron asked, and the Baroness explained him and Titania who the new girl was. ¡°My brother brought her with him to be the personal maid for our little Xixi here. She is still young, only 5 years, so she will still need to learn many things but I¡¯m sure she is a good choice as a maid. Her mother died shortly after her birth and her father¡­ well he wasn¡¯t there so she was all alone. So when my brother heard that his lovely niece still needed a personal maid he brought her with him¡± The trio walked back to the house as the Baroness explained. And after giving Titania another round of loving hugs and promises that they loved her they entered the small, private dining hall where the young girl was standing, listening to the instructions of Lucia. ¡°Xixi¡­¡± the Baroness called out and waited till Titania looked at her, ¡°you know because her mother died already and she didn¡¯t have any family left she never got a real name. So what name do you think would fit her?¡± she asked. Titania looked in wonder to the girl, two years older than her that still was nameless. At the same time the girl looked at the three year old that she was told was the new mistress she would need to serve, hopefully to finally gain a name of her own. As soon as Titania saw the silvery eyes looking at her she opened her mouth ¡°Luna¡­ cause her eyes are like the silver moon¡± she said and Lucia, Luna and the Baroness looked at her in wonder, shocked by the name she chose for her maid. ¡°Honey?¡± the baron called out, not understanding why the women all looked at his daughter in such wonder. ¡°The name of the moon is one of the most revered names for Selkies. Normally only members of royalty get the honor of using their names as their own. Sometimes when a member of Royalty wants to appoint a personal servant and confidant for life would the servant be granted the name of one of the moons¡± the Baroness explained her husband lowly, surprising him with the explanation. ¡°Luna¡­¡± the young maid mouthed over and over again, not believing that she would really not only get a name but one of such honor. Just like this Luna took up her job as the personal maid of Titania, asking Lucia, or if possible another maid, whenever she needed help. Another year flew by, and Titania was nearly five when her parents decided that it would be time for her to get a tutor to teach her the many things she would need to know as a noble young miss. Titania liked to learn, but she didn¡¯t like her tutor, as he never taught her to really do stuff but mostly what she should not do. The only things she was allowed to do in the lessons was to sit straight, to talk properly and to dance. She wasn¡¯t allowed to run or to talk like she wanted. She disliked her lessons, and she voiced it too, more than once. Every time Titania was again whining about her boring lessons at the dinner, something she learned in her lessons about what should not be done, again it was hard for Luna not to laugh. As she was the one who knew the best just how bad Titania behaved when her tutor was there and just how much she read through books and discussed with her the moment they were alone in Titania''s chambers. This continued until Titania was seven and her parents finally allowed her to accompany her mother to meet with her uncle.