Venture Outside! Or not?

„Mhm, that's right. It's me, Mommy Amelia, hehe."

„I missed you a lot, my small baby. You wouldn't believe me, but I died in our previous world and then got into a strange place where a mere moment felt like a decade. I was surrounded by utter darkness, and I felt so lonely throughout the whole time."

As if responding to her, Freya tilted her head as if saying „I get the gist of it, yea."

Then she sprang onto her again and licked her for another round, making Amelia laugh out loudly.

„Meow Meoww (Now I'm here again)," she meowed in return.

Amelia looked at Freya with a smile. „You've always been a smart cat, huh. You're unordinary, Freya. Smarter and so on."

„Even smarter than before," she finished in her thought.

Amelia smiled, her voice filled with affection. „I know I look different now, but it's indeed me. Lets do our best, okay?"

While sharing a glance, both approached the door to finally venture outside.

When suddenly, another sound of the system rings in her mind.

Ding*

She turned her attention to the ethereal white screen and read the message.

[You have unlocked a unique skill: Companion's Gift]

She then clicked onto the [Character Panel] and once again scrolled down, only to see that a new skill appeared in the skill column.

———

[Character Panel]

Character Name: [Amelia]

Race: [Human]

Class: [None]

Magic Affinity:

[Common Water Elemental]

Level: [Level 1]

Level 1 Attributes:

• Strength: 6

• Agility/ Dexterity: 7

• Constitution/ Endurance: 6

• Intelligence: 8

• Wisdom: 8

• Charisma: 9

• Perception: 7

• Vitality: 9

Health Points (HP): [30]

Mana Points (MP): [40]

Skills/Abilities:

•[Unique Skill: Companion's Gift]

Inventory:

[Iron Clawger, Catkin Tunika, Mysterious Cat Charm, 2x Vitality Potion, Purr-spective Pawprint]

Background: [Born in Clearwater Village, Frostgard Kingdom]

Alignment: [Chaotic Good: Individual Freedom, rebellious, benevolent]

Companion: [Freya (Felis Catus)]

XP (Experience Points): [0/100]

———

When she clicked on the unique skill [Companion's Gift], a description appeared.

[Companion's Gift]: Allows the user to use the abilities, traits and knowledge of her Companions.

———

As she read the skill description, her eyes widened in astonishment.

„Here comes another cheat. The possibilities of this skill are crazy. I can use your abilities and knowledge, growing stronger while doing nothing at all. See the world through your perspective,"

„And now that I see the updated character panel, there seems to be a change in my Magic Affinity. Hehe, I now have an affinity towards the water element, even though it's still common."

„But what does that mean? Before, I had common talent, but without an element? Does that mean magic isn't only about elements? Guess it's just like that. Heh, thank you though, Freya. Hehe, now I can use water spells. Wait what, spells?"

„Freya, can you use some water related spells?" Amelia asks while glancing at the cat beside her, only to see her respond with a shake or her head.

„Hmm… so how do we learn magic? Do we need to learn it with some magic tomes or scrolls? How can we even get the opportunity to learn in this village? The only way to is to finally inspect our new home, huh," she concluded finally.

„Alright, it's time to leave the house," she said while unlocking the door and going outside. Beside her, a small black cat strolling right behind her.

The house stood at the edge of a small pathway, lined by tulips of different colors. The outside was rather chilly, with an occasional breeze going by.

The houses in the vicinity were few and far between, indicating that they lived in the outskirts of the Clearwater Village.

With curiosity, they decided to walk up the path to enter the Village. The pathway stretched out before them, winding through the countryside filled with hills and fields where different crops and wildflowers sprouted.

As they further walked up the path, they encountered a woman going by with a carriage filled with freshly harvested vegetables and few fruits.

„Lucy! Lucy!? Hey, do you hear me??" she called out, only for Amelia to look around her, just to realize that there was no girl in the near surroundings.

„Lucy, dear, don't you hear me? Can you help your auntie with carrying those crops to my home?" she asked while waving towards Amelia.

„I don't know what's going on but I will just play along," Amelia thought while already walking in the direction of the woman.

„Here, can you take this for me?" Auntie Piper asked while gesturing towards a sack filled to the brim with some vegetables.

„If it's to heavy, then Auntie Piper will take care of it herself, alright? Just say so, Little Lucy," she said while already unpacking the things in the carriage and carrying them towards a house of similar size of her own.

After ten minutes, they finally finished unloading all the things inside the carriage, when finally Piper asked.

„And how is the harvest going on in your place, dear? Have you taking care of the task your parents gave you? Or is it too much? My little Tom can help you if you want to. He would be happy to spend some time with you again," she said while throwing her a smile.

„Uhh…" Amelia, no, from now on Lucy, hesitated. „I don't even know a fuck what's going on here," she thought. „Who's this woman, who's little Tom, what assigned task of my parents? I thought they abandoned this place…"

„But maybe I should accept her help, I mean, I don't really know what task it is. But from what she said with harvest, it's probably about hard work. And I don't really have experience of farming and the likes."

„Don't be hesitant, little Lucy. Little Tom surely wants to help you out too," she said while patting her head.

„Oh, and who is this small companion strolling behind you? Have you found someone to spend time with while your family is away? Oh poor little Lucy, don't feel lonely. They will be back in no time. It's just that they had to leave to get your sister some help from some healer."

„Little Tom would surely be a great addition to your group, hehe," Auntie Piper said. „I will go for him, okay? He needs some extra work, to let out all his energy," she finished while telling Lucy to wait for a few minutes.

„What is happening?" was the only thing remaining in her head.

Ding*

[First Quest]

[Harvest crops in your Garden (0/100)]

[Reward: 10 XP]

———

„Whoaa, so there are quests? This is something new. Ehem, yea, everything is."

„And I can gain XP through quests, so I don't need to kill beasts. Perfect, lemme grind some XP with doing quests, and then become stronger as the time passes. I wonder what I will get when I reach level 2? I need this kind of quest ten times to reach the next level, so in maybe ten days? I can live with that, hehe,"

„Meow (I also got this quest)," Freya meowed, as if sharing the same mind.

„So you also… wait, so you can level up too!? Whoa, and we even have the same quests, so double the XP. This is such a cheat, hahaha," she laughed out loud, only to stop abruptly when she heard an excited shout of a boy.

„Here comes the funny part of this life, reliving the life of a young kid. This is gonna be tough," she thought. „Wait, maybe not. This is a fantasy world, not some spoiled rotten world like the modern earth. It may be doable, I mean he's going to help me with the farm job. I take back what I said, god bless him."

„Lucyyy!!!" little Tom shouted excitedly while running in full sprint to her. „Long time no see!! Will you play with me again someday?? It's been so long. Today I'm here to help you with farming, okay? Lemme do the hard work for you,"

„What a gentleman. Indeed different than modern civilization," she mused.

„Mhmm, shall we go back then? It's already midday, and we need to farm around 100 crops today," she said while he instantly nodded in affirmation.

„Yes, you're right. Lets hurry up, okay. You want me to princess carry you?" he asked.

„Uhm, no need," she rejected firmly, leaving no place for insisting.

„And by the way, where did you found that cat? Mom said they are pretty rare here in our village," he asked while looking at Freya that tried to hide away from his looks, almost annoyed.

„Oh, this is Freya. I found her not long ago in our garden. How about you befrien-," before she could finish her sentence, Tom directly pounced in Freyas direction and grabbed her entirely, taking her into a firm hug.

„Hello Freya!! Oh, how soft your fur is, it's so comfortable and soft."

„Meoww meo- (Help m-) Freya tried to meow for help when he suddenly put more force into his hug, leaving her with no breath.

After playing and hugging for a while, he settles with putting her into his arms, leaving no room for resistance. Then they walked back to Lucy's new home.

They walked while enduring Toms never ending chattering, sometimes nodding, sometimes responding in small sentences, and sometimes meowing in annoyance.

Till they reached the home of the Paddington's.

…