Imperious, Chapter 010 - Lay of the Land (Patreon)

Anna felt her fingers tremble, her breath coming a bit faster than it had been before. A bead of sweat went down her brow as she stared in awe at the simple manifestation of magic. She reached out and tried to touch it. Her hand ran down the smooth surface. It didn’t move from the spot where it had been created, only hanging there for a few seconds before it began to dissolve, the energy dispersing into the air. There was a very faint odor, somewhere between ozone and burned sugar. She wrinkled her nose and looked down at her trembling hand, “That was… a lot.”

She pulled up her resources.

Resources:
HP: 65/65 | SP: 65/65 | MT: 5/65

The spell hit her mana tolerance for five points, it wasn’t nearly as impactful as she thought it would have been. Even so, she felt the odd kernels of heat inside her body. 

“It will pass,” Pixel said.

“What was that rush?” She asked, looking up at it, “Will I feel that every time?”

“No,” The little ball of light said, bobbing up and down, “It will fade as you get used to it.”

She nodded absently, looking down at her hands again and flexing her fingers. “I’d hate to have that kind of rush in a fight, adrenaline going…” She pursed her lips, “...might do something stupid.”

Pixel said nothing, but that spoke volumes on its own. She looked down at the spellbook in her lap and considered it a bit more objectively. Arcane magic struck her as an academic pursuit, something you studied for a long time. She could only imagine some kid going to school, filled with hormones and energy casting a spell for the first time and losing it a little bit. The idea was frankly a little terrifying. She shuddered and shook her head before focusing on the text again. I’ve gotta understand what I’m dealing with here. What does the circle mean? The symbols in the circle? There were a bunch of weird shapes. She tried to picture them without concentrating on the spell itself and the mental image was a bit fuzzy, she couldn’t quite get it.

She kept trying until she felt a headache come on and reclined against the couch, setting the book aside and starting to eat again. “Too much for one night,” She said and glanced at her resources again. Her mana tolerance hadn’t gone down. “How long does it take for my mana tolerance to go down? Can I get potions or medicine?”

Pixel hesitated and flickered which meant that the information wasn’t entirely common knowledge and something it had to check to see if she was privy to, she was figuring out it’s little tells, “Mana tolerance can be restored with rest and self care. There are no potions that can clear mana from your body as potions are made with a process using mana,” Pixel explained, “You can’t get rid of mana with mana. It would only add more mana.”

Anna nodded, “So I need to be careful with how much I use.”

“Quite so!” Pixel chirped.

She sighed, “Alright, I’m starting to figure this stuff out,” She said as she set her empty bowl aside. She flopped onto the couch and rolled onto her back, “I’m gonna sleep, pixel can you wake me if anyone or anything comes near?”

Pixel hesitated, “That… would be difficult, Miss Anna. I’m your proctor not your assistant,” The little ball of light said, its volume dropping a little.

Anna frowned, that was a fair point. Pixel had probably already helped her more than proctors helped people in other tutorials. She should consider herself lucky, especially given her circumstances. She nodded slowly, “Got it, I’ll head upstairs and board up,” She said and grabbed her gear, heading upstairs to her room and throwing a blanket over the busted doorway to at least give her some ultimately pointless level of security. Still, it would help. After that she just threw herself on top of her bed, face first in the pillow before rolling onto her side. At least I still have my bed.

Pixel drifted in a few moments later, its light a bit dimmed. Did it feel bad? She smiled consolingly at the little ball of light and closed her eyes. All things considered, it was nice to have someone or something to talk to. She wasn’t a fan of social interaction, and maybe it was because pixel didn’t look like a person that she had an easier time of it. She couldn’t really tell. All she knew was that she never would have been able to figure out half of this nonsense with out the little glowy glob. Once her tutorial was over, maybe they could keep hanging out. That would be nice… She thought sleepily as darkness took her.

A bright light burned against her eyes after what felt like only moments. She winced, squinting and holding her hands up over her face. “Ugh! What the hell?” She groaned, sitting up and squinting against the blinding illumination. She whipped her head around, looking for the source only to see Pixel floating in a corner of the room, blasting brightness everywhere. “Pixel? Too bright!” She nearly shouted before she heard another sound.

Conversation.

She froze as Pixel’s light dimmed back down and she looked up at it. “Good morning Miss Anna!” It said cheerily at a volume just barely high enough to be audible.

You precious little cheat, she thought and smiled at it, hurrying to throw her gear on. Suited up she took a deep breath and concentrated on that feeling of being invisible. She felt something draw in and press itself against her skin that she assumed was her presence. It’s easier now, she thought before she crept over to the door and pulled the blanket aside. She craned her head to try to listen. There were voices coming from downstairs but she couldn’t understand a word they were saying. There was a deep voice and a pair of lighter voices, she frowned and was about to creep over the wardrobe before a window appeared. Nearly startling her.

Translating from Vaygese

Immediately afterward another window appeared immediately after one of the lighter voices spoke. She glanced at Pixel who flickered but said nothing.

<“So what do you think?”>

The deeper voice responded; <”The tutorial is active, couldn’t be a local, but this foodstuff is strange and not something that the other factions would use.”>

The other light voice laughed; <”Chainmaster, a local wouldn’t even have gained a level by now. That was a Champion of the Legion out there.>

The first voice seemed to agree; <”A third party then, lets have some of the livestock wander about and see what they run into.”>

The ‘Chainmaster’ spoke after a pause; <”Good idea, we need to get a better idea of what other factions have teams in this area anyway, who have we confirmed already?”>

The second light voice responded next, <”All but one now that we know the undead were here. There should have been seven, with the Undead Legion gone, there are six. We know of the Sunwind Clan, Triumvirate, Idle’s Rose Sect, and the Luminous Hand.”>

The Huntmaster grunted, <”Merchants, Knife-Ears, Prostitutes, and Zealots, wonderful…> He said sardonically. <It seems this territory will be easy to claim, our only issue being the Luminous Hand.”>

The first voice chimed in, <”Should we keep looking for this mysterious scavenger? They might be part of the last unknown group.”>

The second voice laughed, <”Why should we Vaygaren concern ourselves with someone who lives like… this? I say leave it and prioritize actual threats.”>

<”Agreed.”> The Chainmaster grunted.

Anna frowned as the sound of heavy boots departed the house, she slipped out through the door of her bedroom and started to creep down the stairs, her cudgel at the ready. Do they think I’m some kind of hobo? She grumbled and glanced at the haphazard pile of cans, the cooking pot, and portable stove strewn about the living room. She frowned, Right. Still, no need to be rude, she thought irritably as she crept towards the door, keeping low as she tried to get a good look at the people who were leaving.

As she expected there were three of them, each about a head and a half taller than the average human. They had ruddy reddish skin, horns, and were those tails? She couldn’t make out exactly what they were wearing or carrying when it came to weapons but she assumed the big guy at the front used chains based on what the two females with him called him. She used identify.

Vaygar Devil, Level 10 (50)

Vaygar Devil, Level 9 (45)

Vaygar Devil, Level 8 (42) 

Well that was a fight she had no intention of picking. Fucking devils? Like, actual devils? Uh, no thank you. They were way higher in level. What did those numbers in parentheses mean? Regardless of the meaning, the skeletons and champion had been grueling and they hadn’t been able to see her because of her heritage. These guys had actual eyes in their heads. She needed to find another way to level up and fast because she got the feeling that taking on the various factions that were present wasn’t going to be an option until she was a bit stronger.

She watched the trio until they were well out of eyeshot before letting out a breath and releasing her reduced presence. She glanced over at Pixel and gave him a thumbs up in thanks for the save and the subtitles.

“Okay, so I got some information out of that at least,” She said, walking over to her pile of food and frowning at it, “I need to hide this stuff too,” She mumbled, scratching her neck. An idea struck her and she hurried towards one of the downstairs rooms, throwing it open and finding her mom’s office. Neat and tidy as always. A single desk with a computer, two bookshelves, a cabinet for office supplies, and a white board. She made for the white board and grabbed a marker.

“So the Sunwind Clan must be the merchants,” She said and wrote the name down. “Triumvirate, uhh… sounded like a slur for elves. I'm gonna guess elves. Elves are a thing, right Pixel?”

“Quite so Miss Anna!” Pixel said, finally out of his ‘I can't help you directly’ silence.

“Okay, Rose Sect are… prostitutes? Little weird, any clarification there Pixel?” She asked.

“I'm afraid not,” Pixel said.

“Can't ask for direct information on a faction, got it,” Anna said and kept going, “Luminous Hand are zealots, some holy light group probably. Gross.”

She wrinkled her nose, “Undead Legion who I took out,” she added, drawing a line through it. “And those guys, Vaygar devils.”

She stepped back, “Yeah that's six, number seven is still a mystery, but if we're all stuck here we'll cross paths eventually. Good to get a lay of the land at least.”

She tapped her chin with the marker, “Now I just need to figure out how to level up.”

“There is a forest adjacent to this local area. There will undoubtedly be ample prey there,” Pixel pointed out.

Anna nodded, “I’ve done all the prep I can anyway, I’m just stalling at this point,” She said with a sigh and turned to Pixel, “I’ll clean up the living room and then we’ll be off.

It only took about ten minutes to conceal her precious cans of food in one of the cabinets near the sink. She packed a selection from her first aid kit, a pair of cans of food that wouldn’t taste awful cold, about a dozen bottles of water, and the remaining ammunition for her gun. She’d have to find more, hopefully there’d be some in that safe she found but she’d have to figure out how to open it first.

Finally prepared, Anna turned to Pixel, “Lead the way.”

Pixel led her through the kitchen and out the back of her house, there she found herself in what once was a modest fenced-in backyard. Instead, she saw only a lengthy stretch of grassland dotted with the occasional tree leading out to a thick forest in the distance. She stared for a few seconds, “Wasn’t there… another house here?” She said aloud.

“During the initial integration, Earth was expanded, reorganized, and shuffled. We are likely nowhere near any landmark you are familiar with, Miss Anna,” Pixel said simply, floating alongside her as she made her way across the grass.

“Expanded? How big?” She asked, glancing around. She felt a little exposed like this.

“Approximately the size of the planet Jupiter as it was before the integration of your universe,” Pixel explained.

Anna raised her eyebrows, the gravity didn’t feel any different. Was Earth really that huge now? It was an unsettling prospect but it didn’t affect her in the short term so she set it aside and kept following Pixel until they reached the edge of the trees. Besides the trees scattered across the mile or so of grassland, the forest itself looked like it had been cropped into the area, the edge of the forest making a clear if a bit wobbly line.

She was about to step in when Pixel flickered.

Quest Alert!

Culling the Forest

A large number of pre-system creatures and newly introduced beasts reside in this forest, their bodies slowly going through an evolution of their own as they adapt to the changed world. Cull the population to reduce the threat they pose to a future settlement.

Slay 100 Creatures (0/100)

Rewards: 250 Iron Credits, Common Equipment Token, Experience based on Performance

Anna raised her eyebrows, “Alright, now we’re talking,” She said and tightened her grip on her weapon. She glanced over at Pixel who didn’t move and felt like she met its gaze. It wasn’t coming with her. She nodded to it and turned towards the trees again. “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting at home, Miss Anna,” It said and darted away across the grass.

She took a deep breath again. Alright, I can do this, I got armor, a weapon, a shield spell, and a gun, I can do this, I can do this, She practically chanted to herself as she made her way into the trees. Even with how prepared she was, she felt her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn’t like fighting off the skeletons, she was looking for a fight this time. She’d barely made it fifty feet in when she heard a sound, rustling. She whipped her head towards the source. The bush shook once more before going very still. Her eyes darted left and right, Where the fuck is it?

One second Anna was standing, the next she was being thrown onto her side as something tackled her from the right. She rolled onto her back and threw her arm up and out just in time to feel something clamp down on the metal of her gauntlet beneath her robes. Claws scraped against her breastplate and dragged tiny furrows into her upper arms. She gasped in pain and jerked her arm to the right to get its mouth away from her head and get a good look at it. It was some kind of humongous cat!

Lesser Bobcat Hunter, Level 3

She met its yellowed gaze and glowered, her blood beginning to boil. Fucker thinks I’m prey!