Oria's Stats

"Nyuhuhuhu... I guess I poured too much magic to the fire."

The tentacle wizard had extinguished the fire with a splash of water magic. The remains are nothing but scorches and a burnt fish. The wizard takes the fish and seemingly inserts it underneath the tentacles that serves as a beard. Shortly, a sound of a crispy food being munched to bits is heard.

"Uhh... as expected, it is terribly bitter."

"Thou know you're not that of a cook, don't you?"

The wizard laughs, "Nyuhuhu, of course. I'm still learning, after all, he-he-he."

"Haha... *grooowl*..." Oria let out a faint laugh. The child's stomach is still empty, however. This caught their attention.

"Oh, right... you are a human, yeah. Humans do require food to survive. In that case, here, have some of my fruits," the wizard offered.

"Y-You're really giving it to me...?"

"Hehe, think of it as a compensation for patiently waiting. Though I admit now I'm a terrible chef, nyuhuhuhu~"

"T-Thank you..."

When smelling the fresh and sweet smell of the fruit, Oria comes to realize that a dragon like Faruk and a strange creature like the wizard in front of her isn't expending any odorous smell.

"(Despite their scary looks... they're not stinky... or maybe it was me who defeated their smell...?)"

After a short chat, the wizard asks the dragon, "Oh, right, Faruk... what is her name again?"

"Ah... Oria, would you introduce yourself?" the dragon asked.

"Oh, *gulp* right. Um... thank you for the food, um... my name is Oria. Oria Argentora."

"Ho-hoh... Oria, huh? Nyuhuhu, just as I thought!" the wizard replied, surprisingly excited.

"Y-You know it already?" Oria asked reluctantly.

"No, no. It's just as I thought that your name MUSTN'T be just 'Ah'. I'll be growing ever desperate should that be really your name, heehee."

"I... I see. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

"Gee, the polite one, are we? Well, I won't blame you for causing a misunderstanding. After all, it's not like you can witness a grim-looking creature like me every day. I see... so, you're Oria, huh?

Allow me to introduce myself, too, in that regard.

Ahem-ahem. HUWAAAHEEM! Uh..."

Oria flinched unintentionally in her surprise when hearing the wizard clearing his throat intensely. The wizard, ever casually, introduces himself.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm known as Sqidral Dux. Though, you may call me Dux for short, te-he."

The wizard offers his tentacle, willing to shake hands with her. Oria, being used to be a slave, didn't know that particular etiquette. She just simply tilts her head in a slightly confused state.

"...???"

But the squid-like wizard misinterprets it once again.

"Oh, well. Guess my tentacles are too scary to look at, let alone touching it, nyuhuhuhu. At any rate, nice to see you, Oria."

The little girl simply nods.

When the wizard turns his attention to the dragon again, Oria continues to savor her meal of fruits.

"Say, Faruk... have you performed [Appraisal] to her? I'm growing ever curious on how you got out from that impregnable barrier."

Sqidral Dux looks around himself a few times.

"In fact, the barrier is gone already! It's like POOF and WHOOSH, gone forever! And then you just merrily walk scot-free out of your imprisonment."

Faruk can only sigh. He does realize that he's yet to do an appraisal on her.

"Now that you've said it... I've yet to perform [Appraisal] though... she's been low on energy ever since she came here. Though, I believe you must be wondering about her total MP, right?"

"Pff, obviously." Dux then proceeds to use a funny voice that somehow poorly resembles a wise sage. "... 'The barrier won't be shattered unless a human who exceeds your MP agrees to form a [Soul Contract] with you!' ...that's what we've been led to know."

Responding the Dux's funny impression of those conditions, Faruk discloses his idea.

"I do have my doubts when I was freed, Dux. But I've decided to believe her. Why don't you do the honors and appraise her status?"

"Nyuhuhu, well if you say so."

After eating five apples, Oria is called by the two creatures.

"Oria, come here for a moment," Faruk commanded.

"R-Right. I'm coming."

She hurries to them, asking them what it is they need from her.

"Is there something I can do for you?" she asked politely.

Unlike before, her voice is much clearer this time, untainted by the fear that was once holding her back. Somehow, Faruk senses a strange feeling when hearing her like that.

"Well, I don't really need you to do anything, though..." Dux said. "But I do need you to stay still for a moment."

"Okay...?"

The wizard spins his cane in an exaggerated motion, then points it at her face. It startles her, but the little girl tries her best to not be scared.

"Now, then... Appraisal!"

A glimmering glow of white flows around her. Just a moment later, a display screen appears in front of Dux, showing the statistics of the little girl.

<ORIA ARGENTORA>

Race : Human

Class : -

Level : 1

HP : 404/404

MP : 7.556/10.000

Cond : None

Dux cackles while doing the appraisal, knowing how low her stats are. But then, Dux's eyes are locked on to one point of her status points.

"Nyuhuhu... Oria Argentora, huh... huh? Huh?! HUHHH?! WHAT IS THIS!?"

Oria reflectively closes her ears in the wake of that loud shriek of the wizard.

"What is it, Dux? What did you find?" Faruk asked. Seeing Dux's overreaction, the Silver Dragon is even eager to know.

"Her mana is freaking TEN THOUSAND points!? What farce is this!?"

Faruk steps backwards unintentionally in his shock, "...*GASP*... Ten... ten thousand, you say!? A-Are you sure you are not mistaken, Dux?"

"Well, her current MP shows that she has 7.556 amount of MP left, which can only mean that it just depleted 2.500 from releasing you from that barrier!"

"Impossible! Humans are limited only to a number of nine hundred ninety-nine for Magical Points! How on earth she has around over ten times the amount of that? What level is she at!?"

Dux feels like the most perplexed creature in the world now.

"Guh—She's still at level 1. This is getting absurd. No. THIS IS overly absurd!"

Faruk is none the wiser.

"A level one human child houses a mana as far as ten thousand... That's ridiculous. Even you don't have that much MP, not to mention you're already over level 100!"

"Y-Yeah... but probably, no, it can't be possible to beat the system—but looking at this now—NYUH! Calm yourself—yeah, it's gotta be fake... wait, no, it's not... Dammit, I'm getting nowhere! Faruk, what do you think!?"

"How am I supposed to know anything!?"

"You're an ancient, aren't you!? You should at least know something 'bout this!"

"W-Well..."

Dux and Faruk argues against each other, trying to solve the mystery behind the total amount of MP Oria has within her body. Unbelievable as it may seem to them, the display does not show fake numbers. ...Or signs that the numbers being faked. Dux can tell them apart almost instantly.

But for Oria, those numbers are truthful. It led Dux and Faruk to a blank conclusion, but they keep on arguing. The little girl can't understand what they are talking about, though. So, she just simply stands still, waiting patiently for them to finish their rabble. While so, she takes her chance to eat more apple.

Eventually, Faruk and Dux decides to end their ramblings, leaving it there to discuss another day.

"Well... this sure is an interesting thing to begin with... but without proper research and understanding, we cannot hope to find out what it means..." Faruk stated in a wise tone.

"Nyuhuhu, you're right, Faruk. It's been a while since we argue over something like this."

"Anyway... Oria," the dragon called.

"Hm, yes?" the child responded after wiping her mouth.

"It appears you have some... unusual traits within your statistics. I dare not make conclusions of who you are exactly but judging by how you respond to our 'discussion' earlier... it doesn't seem like you understand what we're talking about anyway."

"I'm sorry, Mas—Ah, I mean, Faruk. I don't think I've heard any of those kind of things..." she said, disappointed to herself.

"Despite having MP about 10.000 points, you don't know that at all?" the dragon asked again.

"No... I don't even know what MP is..."

"Good Altria... she's dumber than I thought," Dux responded harshly. Its tentacle clapped its wizard hat, disbelieving that she didn't know those things.

"Oi, Dux... don't be so rude to her. She was a slave before she got here."

"What in Altria name... i-is that true?"

"Mm," Oria nodded lightly.

"I see... so, you were a slave, huh..."

An immediate sense of depression began to strangle her again. Just hearing the term 'slave' reminded her days in the slavery, making her mind go haywire. She breathes heavily, and cold sweat begins to run down over her forehead. She eventually falls to her knees, unable to stand as a strange sense of vertigo struck her by surprise.

"Ooyah! A-Are you okay?" Dux approached, shocked by her reaction.

"I... I'm sorry... I'm just feeling a bit... dizzy..." she said. Her voice became trembling all of sudden.

"...Hmm... It appears we should exercise caution when talking about that topic," said Faruk referring to the 'slave' word.

"...Gah... What have they done to you back then... how old are you again?"

Oria gestures her fingers. Counting all of them, Dux finds out she's only an eight-year-old. It drives him surprised, angry, and saddened.

"Eight-year-old...? (What tragedy... who would dare enslave a child!? Even Goddess Altria would hardly forgive this scum act of theirs...) Ahem, w-well... I will heal you right away."

The squid-like wizard casts a healing magic instantly. It's different from the ones belonging to Faruk, however. The ones Dux uses is a healing magic that can tone down level of stress and unstable emotions. Oria then is able to stand up again, thanking the tentacled wizard afterwards.

"T-Thank you."

"Nyuhuhuhu... think nothing of it."

"Well, being knowledgeless as she is right now... it would be careless for me to just let her venture out to the outside world. Dux... may I ask your assistance with this?"

Dux smugly looks at his dragon friend in the eye.

"...Need you ask? If she doesn't know the basic knowledge of this world, then let us teach her. At least, till she knows how to survive on her own."

"Heh. You're right. After all, she is my protege, the one that bears the name Argentora. Well, Oria? Are you willing to study about the laws of this world?"

Oria, assured and reset her emotions, nods. She clenches her hands afterwards. She remembers that promise she made that night with the woman she cared for. The amulet she wore around her neck now... that woman wishes her to bring it with her to the outside world.

"Please... if it means for me to witness the outside world... I... I will do whatever it takes to reach that point."

"You heard her right, Faruk."

"Heheh. I like that answer, Oria."