Level Two

Mallory removed her upper body clothing then lay on the bed exposing her bare back. "You may begin."

The experience of an update to her status gave Mallory a weird feeling each time because she could feel her goddess's heated gaze on her body.

If it was a doctor who acted professionally then she did not mind doing as instructed but when the other person doing the checkups gave her a bad vibe, she would request for another doctor in her previous life.

The perverted gaze of goddess Seshat made her uncomfortable but she also knew that the actions of Seshat were just her own way of showing love to her even if it was a little perverted.

She felt lucky that her goddess was not Loki who would try to touch her familia's bodies, Freya who used her charms on everyone around her or Ishtar who abused her familia of they made a mistake or went against her wishes.

Being squashed by the big chest of Hestia was also something which she wished to avoid and there were many other gods or goddesses which each had terrible personalities or ways of running their familia.

Goddess Seshat was always accepting to allow her familia to pursue their own path and mainly only pulled them together when there were big things to be done while most of the time she was busy making calculations and reading so Mallory could live a carefree life reading books if she wanted to and if there was no danger coming to the city.

The blood dropped onto her bare back and the light shone in the room which was followed by a surprised scream. "What the!"

Her status was shown to Seshat who had been able to collect herself after taking a short breath. "Ahem.. your status is updated and you have levelled up so congratulations. Now for the important parts.. you have several choices to choose from when using your higher grade Excelia. To be honest.. it is rare for someone to gain one upon levelling up to level two but you can choose among several."

Mallory raised an eyebrow to what she was told but then she realised that she had been very busy learning different kinds of things and training them. "Okay so what are my choices?"

Development abilities were updated upon levelling up and they appeared once certain conditions were met.

While some were a set grade depending on their usability and usefulness, others started out at the bottom and could be upgraded through further mastery to allow them to go from I to A grade.

Seshat began to read them out one at a time. "Spearman is the type to grow as you improve your mastery of the spear. Acrobat is the type to grow as you improve your mastery. Abnormal resistance is the same and comes from being exposed to a strong poison. Mystery is the same but it is quite unusual of a skill while being suited to item creation. You also have blacksmithing on here too, it seems that you have been working hard learning everything on your visits there.. Each of them are at I grade for now. You can choose two among them which could leave some higher Excelia for your next level up or you could gain an extra one now."

Mallory pondered over her decisions then a look of determination flashed in her eyes. 'Mystery is a must have for me because it activates miracles and helps with creating magic items.. Abnormal resistance is out for now since I have talismans to protect me from any negative effects. Spearman is an obvious choice for me. Blacksmithing may be useful too since it allows me to add abilities to weapons or armour. Acrobat will be useful for jumping, climbing and other things that suit my leopard innate instincts.'

Mallory raised her head and asked. "Is it possible for the abilities to be kept for the next level up?"

There were some which were rewarded at level two and she did not know if they would still be there if she did not take them right away.

Seshat responded calmly. "So long as the conditions are still met, you can take them later. They should not disappear so long as you do not forget your knowledge and experiences."

There had been cases where someone had gotten amnesia or something had happened to let them no longer qualify for the skill like an injury which caused them to no longer be able to perform the actions needed for the skill.

For example a swordsman could no longer be called a swordsman if he had injured or lost both of his hands or arms.

The same was true for a blacksmith and others but there would be some that would remain because they did not rely on certain conditions to be used.

Mallory then spoke up as her decision had been made. "Mystery and Spearman…if I can afford it then get Acrobat too."

Mystery was very rare and there were less than ten people who had the same development ability but it was the type which suited Mallory very well.

Her Apotropaic skill worked very well with Mystery, Spearman helped her with her combat and Acrobat suited her racial attributes.

Mallory very interested in the Acrobat ability since it helped improve balance, flexibility and jumping which was suited to the role of an acrobat, gymnast, ninja or free-runner with a long list of other roles but it seemed to fit well with her leopard innate talents so she looked forward to improving that skill to aid her in combat.

Each one was suited to a different area and helped to provide a decent balance of abilities.

The light disappeared then a piece of paper was pressed down onto her back while Seshat got off the bed..

Seshat showed a smile and passed over the paper. "You will be very surprised once you see this. I made sure to update your stats after your level up a little too."

Mallory looked at the paper and her eyes widened as she looked at her status after being updated. "This.."

———

Name: Mallory

Familia: Seshat

Level: 2

Strength: SSS (1399) | I (50)

Endurance: SSS (1399) | I (50)

Dexterity: SSS (1399) | H (150)

Agility: SSS (1399) | H (150)

Magic: SSS (1399) | F (300)

—

Development Abilities: [Mystery: I][Spearman: I][Acrobat: I]

-

Skill: [Apotropaic] [Ω Α] [None]

Magic: [None] [None] [None]

Curses: [None] [None] [None]

——

[Ω Α (Omega Alpha) - A beta pushed out by the pack becomes an omega but can still become an alpha. A true alpha can choose their own pack.]

——

Seshat explained as Mallory was reading. "The cost for your Excelia to upgrade your stats will increase upon each level up so for every stat you wish to upgrade, you will need four Excelia. I have used your excessive amount of Excelia that you have gained during this time so that you do not upgrade too fast. This should be acceptable for now. Now for me to ask you.. what has happened lately which has caused this sudden change?"

Upon asking the question, she raised her voice slightly because she was shocked upon seeing the additional skill which had been gained.

The skill was very vague in description so the use was unknown even to her but it seemed like a commanding or group ability.

Mallory tilted her head in confusion. "Omega Alpha.. hmm.. ah, I know what may have triggered this."

Seshat asked. "What is it?"

Mallory replied calmly. "I killed my father?"

Seshat showed shock but also a little annoyance. "Please explain so I can fully understand the situation."

Mallory nodded. "From what I know about the name and description.. my guess is related to my upbringing and the current events leading to me killing my father. Most animals are either pack or solitary hunters, my tribe with the leopard traits seemed to work together and there was a tribe leader among them who was my father.

I was the runt of the pack and was discarded so I was technically an omega at the time while my father was the alpha. My place was determined earlier but upon being taken away and them not searching for me meant I was completely cut off from them and completely became an omega."

Seshat nodded showing interest. "Yes I can guess that much from what I already knew but you did not mention much about your tribe. Go on."

Mallory continued. "From the information I gained from my father, the tribe was attacked and everyone was killed leaving him to become an experimental subject. He wanted to die so I ended his suffering which made me still remain as an omega since I was never accepted back as a member of the tribe but I did kill an alpha. By killing him I may have become an omega alpha?"

Seshat thought over what she had been told then gave her hypothesis. "So you were pushed out by the pack and overthrew the alpha later but there was no tribe to rule over so you are still a lone alpha.

Then you can make your own pack right? An alpha can still choose or create their own pack or family, they do not need the pack to approve of them or take the power from the previous alpha. It makes sense! However the skill usage is still a mystery so you will have to try things out to discover its secrets."

Mallory looked over her updated status and smiled happily showing her sharp teeth while a hand reached over to stroke her head while aiming towards her ears. "Nyaaa! Stop it!"

With the increase of her level and her higher magic stats, there would be many things to adjust to and test so she ran out of her room to make some more talismans and other items to see if the effects had increased.

Many things needed to be tested so she could not just sit around doing nothing.

She did not realise at first but her perception and speed had increased by a lot once she levelled up so Mallory almost ran into others on her way outside. "So this is what was meant by having to adjust after a level up. I need to be more careful… wait.. if my upper limit for bad luck has increased too then wouldn't leaving the familia building be a bad idea? Damn! Oars! Oars! Where is Oars!? Fight me!"

Mallory wanted to be able to adjust to her changes quickly before she could go outside so she went around the familia looking to fight with Oars who would still be a challenge to fight in her current state.

Meanwhile, Goddess Seshat was contemplating over how she should deal with Mallory's level up and her alias which she should gain once she had levelled up.

It was the gods duty to assign an alias but in a place where less gods would be gathered, it was difficult to gather them for to decide for an alias for a familia member.

The guild had less jurisdiction outside of Orario so they could not punish a familia for withholding the level of each person in the familia when a familia like Seshat's was out of their range of control.

It was still a needed thing to spread Mallory's name and help her gain more Excelia related to her alias and adventures so Seshat sat contemplating over her alias which would be temporarily used and spread in the city. "Kitty? Guardian Cat? Cutest kitty ever? Ah.. I cannot decide."