The New City
Suddenly the girl of the group walks forward and leans down "Little girl, Where are your parents?"
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I was shocked 'how is she talking to me.' I was almost positive there would be a language barrier of some sort, but thinking of the chances won't help.
I look up at the face of the girl and notice she is really pretty. Due to the height change for me I have no clue as to how tall anything is, but she had soft pale skin with long blond hair that goes to about waste height tied in a ponytail, Verdant green eyes that radiate a soft glow where faint ferocity can be seen, A symmetric almost unblemished face and a cute, slender, figure with the decently toned muscles. She looked young like she was 13 maybe 14. She looked human but if you looked closely one could spot slightly pointed ears on her hidden by her hair. She was wearing a short white dress that reached just above her knees with light armor on her arms, legs, and midsection that gave protection but didn't hinder movement. She had two swords, one strapped to either side of her waist one was a silver color and the other has more of a reddish hue.
"Little Girl?" she asked, taking me out of my thoughts.
"Who are you?" I respond but she looked like she didn't understand so I tried again "Hello?"
She looks at me for a moment and goes back to the other two and talks once again. This time in a language I don't understand. I stare at her company for a bit, one is on the shorter side and is undeniably a guy. The guy looked tough as nails with a massive brown and black Warhammer on his back. He had dark brown hair with hints of red visible throughout, and onyx eyes that were as intimidating as they were beautiful, otherwise he looked pretty average. The fact he didn't look much older than 14, and he was absolutely jacked also added to his distinctiveness. He was visibility shorter than the other two, yet still taller than me, and had tanner skin that matched well with his set of red heavy looking armor, he fit his weapon and armor well.
The third was more difficult to define, they looked pretty androgynous to me. They had no figure to speak of but a pretty face or from what I could see. They were so pale they looked like they had never seen the sun, had a bow and daggers on their back, and an otherwise converted figure. They wore black gloves that left the fingers exposed and had on an outfit that consisted of black leggings and a skin tight long sleeved shirt with a coat that reached down to around mid calf level with a small slit in the back the coat from about the waist, that helped hide their daggers and a hood that went just barely over their eyes. After a minute of discussion she comes back.
"Can you understand me?" she asked. I nod in response
"Ok, then I will ask some questions and just nod or shake your head to answer." I nod
"Do you know where your parents are?" I shake my head
"Do you know where you are?" I shake my head again
"Do you have a place to go?" I shake my head once more
"Would you like to come with us to the Town?" To this I nod after a second of thought. I have no clue as to where I am or how dangerous the forest is so this is my best chance.
The girl picked me up and I finally realized I had no clothes on. I was incredibly uncomfortable but thinking about how it didn't bother me before I tried to stop myself from reacting. She brought me back to the others eventually forcing the ghost to lend me their coat.
"Now let's go" she said and picked me up again and they began running with me in the girls arms.
We were quiet on the way to the village so I had time to check my status. I open my status and look towards the others and see if they react. They don't so I think they can' t see it.
[STATUS]
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[NAME: Alice
[RACE: Eclipse Black Cat (Unique)
[CLASS: None
[GENDER: Female
[TITLES: [Child of Nature][Child of the Eclipse][Champion of Clover]
[Lv: 7/10 Exp: 18/21
HP: 160/160 MP: 120/120 SP: 100/100 Status: None
[VIT: 9
[STR: 10
[END: 10
[INT: 12
[Wis: 11
[SPEED: 16
[LUCK: 32
[UNUSED STAT POINTS: 57
[SKILLS:
- PASSIVE: [Catlike Reflexes (lv1)][Eye For Treasure][Night Vision]
- ACTIVE: [Basic Mana Manipulation (lv1)][Basic Moonlight magic (lv1)][Basic Sunfire Magic (lv1)][Basic Void Magic(lv1)]
- UTILITY:
[UNUSED SKILL POINTS: 10
[BLESSING/CURSES: [Blessing of the Cat God Clover] [Innate luck]
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I pause for a moment and double back to the top of the page
'Female' I thought with a bit of reluctance, my mood becoming downcast. I figured the awkward feeling in the egg was just the fact I became an actual furry but It would seem it was not the only thing. I never really cared about gender as I always had other things to think of but no longer being a guy came as a shock. 'At least I'm alive.' I thought with a grimace. I saw it earlier but I didn't want to believe it. Damn you Clover.
'Just keep rolling with the Punches' I tell myself, there's not much I can do about it anyways.
Wandering back down the status page, I try to distract myself from the acumulating dread of having to live as a girl that is steadily building in my mind. ' I wonder where [Eye For Treasure] and [Void Magic] Came from?'
[Notice: Every Monster of Rarity: Unique, and any creature made into a champion by the gods are born with a Unique Skill Relevant to their situation]
'!?! You can respond!?!'
[Yes]
'O-ok then ... What does the rarity of a creature do?'
[ Creatures, Under certain conditions, can become [UNIQUE]. When a creature meets certain requirements upon birth, race change may occur and give its owner a [UNIQUE] rarity. This grants its owner a random [UNIQUE] skill in correlation to it's new variant and increase the growth of the individual substantially, but restricts the further race change of monsters under conventional evolution.]
'Scary, I will have to be careful around those ones.'
Suddenly a voice broke me out of my thoughts.
"Let's stop here for today," the shorter man said.
The girl groaned saying she didn't want to miss any more of the festival, but they ignored her pleas.
They set up a camp and I was left to my own devices. I decided to watch them. I had an eventful first day of life so I am going to go to sleep now.
Laying on my back I look up at the sky in thought. As I look, I see a marvelous sight, the sky is dark but faint shades of blue and purple seem to be woven into the black night sky littered with white speckles. At the center of it all is a circle of light in the sky, the 'moon' it reminded me of a rainbow and an eye at the same time beautiful but unsettling. It started with light blue at the outer ring of the moon and began to darken to a dark purple by the third ring, starkly contrasting the fourth red ring. A thin ring of bright pink could be seen on the fifth, and the sixth, a yellow ring, was darkened by the seventh, the center, a dark black circle similar yet very different to the surrounding sky it was darker, more lifeless, yet it felt more serene, it was a surreal sight.
'Beautiful' was all I could think
The moon looked unusual but I felt a sense of peace and comfort under it, and slowly drifted into a light slumber. For the first time in years a pleasant dream awaited me.
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After waking up early the following day we began moving again I believe around two hours passed and the girl got excited.
"We're here" The girl exclaimed as we exited the forest.
I see we are now standing on the outskirts of a large field. In the distance I could see a wall which I assume is the town we are headed to. As we approach our destination, I notice a line of horse drawn carts extending from the large front gates back a ways into the expansive countryside from which we're approaching. Getting even closer, I notice smaller entrances on both sides of the main gate. one is approximately half the size in height and width and is just enough for a cart to be pulled through and the other is smaller than the size of a large door. The two bigger entry ways were constructed with dark metallic portcullis that radiate unyielding stability and put to rest any and all hope of forced entry. The wall stood much the same, like an experienced guard, ready to stop any and all external forces from entering. It seemed the girl saw my amazement and knew what I was thinking, as she spoke to me breaking me out of my thoughts.
"The walls and gate are enchanted to prevent the destruction of the city in the event of a Monster Raid. They are fascinating aren't they." I could only nod my head in dumbfoundedness.
As we approach the wall, we set course to go towards the open arch, the third and smallest of the entrances. As we enter we are met by a small reception window in the side of the wall similar to an admissions booth at an amusement park. The window is open and allows for easy interaction with the clerk. In the room is a soldier clad in silver armor with no helmet revealing his black straight hair, bored eyes, and the scar spanning the diagonal length of his face.
"Identification." The man drones in a monotone voice further exemplifying his excitement in being there
The girl and other members of the party gave the guard something that looked awfully similar to dog tags one was black the other was of varying color the girls was a black, and the two others were a tan color. The man took the tags and ran each of the black tags over a small diamond shaped blue stone that would then glow green and he would continue to the next.
"What about the little girl" He asked in the same tone as before.
"We found her in the forest without anyone or anything on her." The girl informed the guard
To this the guard sighed, stood and left the booth and came around to the front with us and asked the girl to set me on the counter then took out a white gem in his hand. He looked my in the eyes and spoke
"As protocol states I must ask you a series of questions and you must answer or I cannot grant you access to the city. Do you have any plans to harm the citizens or peace in the City of Elysium?"
I shake my head no, to this he get slightly frustrated and said "you are required to speak"
" No" I say, but the orb doesn't react. The man continues to look expectantly towards me as if I was the problem.
I gaze forward with a deadpan expression as I scream in my head 'How am I supposed to speak with you!'
[Notice: Using [Basic Mana Manipulation] and vocal cords User can converse thoughts and emotions as words all sentient creatures can understand]
'Well that's cool ... wait ... WHERE WAS THAT LAST TIME I NEEDED TO TALK TO SOMEONE!'
[User never asked]
At this I swatted at the notification and hmph in indignation. My cheeks puffed unconsciously and my attempt at showing displeasure was inadvertently the most adorable thing I had done in my life.
The room stopped what they were doing and stared at me. Their eyes screamed adorable but I chose to ignore it. An awkward silence followed as I had everyone's eyes on me. To stop the silence I try to speak and in a high pitched voice an inaudible sound came out.
It was weird trying to speak while using Mana, there was a warm feeling in my throat but saying words became immensely harder. Using Mana felt like reflex and I just knew how to do it, granted not very well but the process was there. As I continued to channel Mana to my voice again and again I try to speak but to no avail. Everyone saw I was doing something but we're confused as to what. Finally as I am about to run out of Mana from overloading my vocal cords Something came out. I squeak "I ... No ... Harm", then heard a ding.
[Notice: Through the use of Mana to convey thoughts through voice [Universal Language (lv 1)] has been granted]
Everyone in the room was shocked to hear me speak. I was bad at it but I cannot be picky now since it is better than nothing.
The guard almost missed the Crystal in his hand turn green, but luckily didn't and went back in his room. He wrote some stuff on the paper and handed it to the girl telling them that they need to get me a new STATUS card, then go to the guardhouse to help find my parents. I hop off the counter and we then depart from the wall and are met by a bustling T - intersection street full of carts, shops and people.
"Alright" The girl proclaimed "We need to go to the guild to turn in our assignment, the church to get the card , then the guardhouse to find her parents"
I tugged on the hem of the girls dress and she looked at me, I then struggle to say ,
"... A-lice" I say and stick my hand out to her.
" Alice? Oh!" She was embarrassed she forgot something so trivial and told her name.
"My name is Jacklyn, His na.." Jacklyn was cut off by the shorter man she was trying to introduce.
"My name is Grant" he said with a smile while ruffling my hair. Finally I turn to the last one as I extend my small arm toward them. After a moment a small smile appeared on their face and they said "Blake".