“Polaris, what the hell?” Liliana frantically whispered to the red fox sitting next to her. The fox looked at her with more than a little bit of mischief in his gaze. He poked her with his muzzle before pointing back at the clearing.

“Yes I’m aware of what you’ve brought me to, it doesn’t make it any more terrifying! Are you trying to get me killed?” Liliana hissed back at the fox as her hand tightened its grip on her naginata. Her heart had been pounding ever since [Identify] had come back with the information for the creature before her.

“You wouldn’t even be able to fully eat that, Polaris,” Liliana muttered and the fox had the gall to snort, giving Liliana a pause.

She’d been using Polaris as a guide for the past couple of days and it had been a highly beneficial relationship for the both of them. Polaris found creatures and groups far faster than Liliana could. Meaning Liliana could keep a fast pace with her leveling, and increase her monetary gains from this endeavor. The little fox also got to feast regularly.

However, it seemed that the bond was also impacting his intelligence. He seemed to understand more and more of what she said and he had even taken to some very human-like behaviors. It gave Liliana a lot of information on how Bonds affected creatures, even relatively weak creatures.

The fox in question yipped softly and pointed his nose once more into the clearing and Liliana grumbled. She wasn’t even sure if she could fight the creature before them but Polaris seemed to have a bit too much faith in her. She used [Identify] once more in hope that it would magically be something different.

Zephryn

Great Horned Hare

Level 38

A Great Horned Hare that has absorbed enough Mana to generate a Name. It has a strong affinity for Wind and can summon gales and tornados with a flick of its horned head. A young master of Wind its movements rivals the very element for speed. It has forgone the very earthly tethers of gravity and can jump through the air as easily as the ground. Its horns are reinforced with wind magic and will easily shear through skin and muscle.

Rank: 8

“Need to talk to Silas about what constitutes as ‘not too strong’ because this thing is insane, it isn’t even in the original game,” Liliana grumbled, Polaris scraped a paw against the ground obviously getting impatient with her.

“That thing is 9 levels over me! And it has a name! It’s a fucking boss creature Polaris!” Liliana once again tried to reason with the fox to no avail. He seemed dead set on her taking on Zephryn and Liliana groaned quietly.

She could leave, she knew that, but she’d become a bit attached to the little fox and didn’t want to disappoint him. There was also a part of her that did very much want to fight the giant Horned Hare and see if she could come out victorious.

“Fine,” Liliana decided and with a thought, she started a new spell she’d discovered the day before.

[Will-O-Wisp] it was a spell made from her [Shine] spell, this one summoned ten floating lights. They didn’t do much other than move around lazily but she’d found out that they distracted creatures and drew their attention from her. If combined with [Tempo] it hastened their confusion and would usually cause the creatures to wildly attack the lights while Liliana cut them to shreds.

Liliana directed the lights into the clearing and almost immediately Zephryn focused on the lights, shooting off blades of wind longer than Liliana was tall. The wind did nothing to the floating lights, it simply made them dance more chaotically through the air.

Liliana let the familiar rush of adrenaline that accompanied the start of a fight fill her as she simultaneously activated [Tempo] and [Dance of The Daystar]. She felt the magic rush through her, filling her with energy even as her Mana and Stamina were drained.

As Zephryn attacked the lights again Liliana stepped out of her cover and onto the battlefield. Her increased speed brought her to the creature’s side in a flash and her naginata cut through the air, a glittering silver blur. As the blade cut through the pure white coat it left behind a thin cut leaking drops of ruby blood on the once pristine fur. Zephryn let out a roar that did not sound bunny-like in the least and jumped away from her, into the air.

Liliana adjusted to the expected evasion and as the creature sent blades of wind chasing after her Liliana moved with all the grace and speed her Dexterity and boosted Speed would allow. Following the ghost drums of [Tempo], Liliana wove a dance on the battlefield. The lights of [Will-O-Wisp] followed her like fairies accompanying her ballet, their light flashing off the blade of her naginata and throwing dizzying arrays of flashing brilliance through the clearing.

As she moved Liliana summoned [Light Burst] to follow her letting [Persistent Casting] take over the work of manually generating them. It was only when she went over her natural Mana regen that she stopped the process. She had four [Light Burst]s circling her like a deadly halo.

The Zephryn hadn’t been idle while sending off the flurry of wind blades, though as Liliana’s dance of dodges had continued its shots had become erratic, aimed equally at her and the floating [Will-o-Wisp]s. Wind kicked up around the clearing slowly growing in strength and Liliana grit her teeth. The creature was summoning a tornado, and AOE attack that would hit her and the [Will-O-Wisp]s equally, negating the benefit of disorientating the creature.

Pumping Mana into the [Light Burst]s she felt her Mana dip concerningly low. It would still be enough to handle her [Tempo] and [Dance of The Daystar] but she’d need to wait before she could pull off a move like this again. When the [Light Burst]s were as full of Mana as they could get she shot the four of them off in a tight cluster. Surrounding them like a guard were all of her [Will-O-Wisp]s, twisting in dizzying movements to distract Zephryn from the deadly attack speeding towards its chest.

Zephryn roared as the wind in the clearing reached its peak, blowing dust and debris into the air. Liliana squinted, trying to see as she kept her movements going, struggling against the force of the wind even as rocks and branches shot out of the tornado to drag against her clothes and skin. Lines of burning pain erupted against her skin, illustrated with warm blood trickling down her form. The blood was ripped away as fast as it flowed, drawn into the maelstrom of deadly wind that was building in intensity around her.

A bright burst of light like a star exploding flashed through the clearing and the tornado petered off suddenly as the sound of a large body hitting the ground reached her. Around her dirt, rocks and branches fell like rain as their support was removed. Ignoring the many stinging wounds covering her body from the damage she’d taken in the tornado Liliana shot towards where she’d heard Zephryn fall.

As she moved her blade brightened until it looked like she was wielding a blade-shaped Sun at the end of her naginata. She dodged falling debris as she closed upon the monstrous Horned Hare that was struggling to stand. Its once unmarred snow-white coat was painted scarlet with its lifeblood, the shrapnel effect of her empower [Light Burst] had torn great gouges out of its body.

Yet even as she watched its wounds were healing, the blood fading away to white as the creature activated some form of healing ability. Liliana swung her blade, unwilling to let the creature regain enough health to try another AOE attack like before. At the last moment, she activated [Enhancement], just enough to empower her final swing as the blade pierced its eye. The blade sunk deep, Zephryn letting out a piercing wail that sent spikes of pure agony shooting into Liliana’s brain.

Her grip loosened on her naginata as her hands instinctively went to her ears. The creature began to climb back to its feet, the antlers on its head gathering deadly wind bullets across all twenty points. Seconds before it let its attack off light leaked through cracks appearing on its head, its scream died off as its head exploded in a mix of brilliant light and bloody viscera. Thick white essence, far more than she’d ever gotten from a kill, flooded from the creature’s body and into Liliana making her feel like she was about to burst until it settled.

Liliana’s naginata dropped to the ground, mostly coated red as she dropped next to it, the headless body of the Zephryn falling before her with a loud thud that rocked the ground.

Pulling her hands from her ears Liliana winced when they came back bloody. She canceled all of her skills and spells, slumping further when [Enhancement] took its final tithe of Stamina. She winced when a sharp stabbing pain erupted from her side and she looked down to see a piece of wood thick as her forearm had impaled her.

Adrenaline numbing some of the pain that [Pain Resistance] hadn’t dealt with Liliana grabbed the piece of wood and ripped it from her side, blood gushing from the wound. Only a few inches had punctured her but she could almost feel her health draining with her blood.

What does it say about me that it’s so easy to rip that out? Perhaps that I’m a masochist? Liliana wondered, a slight sense of shock and hysteria tinting her thoughts.

Digging into her bag she grabbed a Mana and Health tincture at the same time and downed the potions. The sweet strawberry and elderberry flavored tinctures hit her tongue and she sighed as she felt some of the wounds on her body healing. The most noticeable was the one in her side, where the blood was already slowing. She checked her Health and felt the blood drain from her face. Even after the tincture, she was just barely over 20% of her health. She’d taken more damage than she’d realized, and the knowledge that she’d been flirting with death during that fight sent a wave of cold through her veins.

A yip to her right drew Liliana’s attention from her dark thoughts and she saw Polaris eagerly nudging the body of Zephryn, giving her a very pointed look. She shot the fox a glare as she grabbed her naginata and opened her cleaning bag. She winced when the movement elicited a sharp twinge of pain from the healing wound in her side.

“I’ll skin it when I’m healed and this is cleaned,” She informed the fox and with a huff Polaris flopped onto the ground, his tail flicking in annoyance behind him. Liliana rolled her eyes as she downed another two tinctures and activated [Regeneration], beginning the task of cleaning her weapon.

When her naginata was back to a respectable state Liliana took stock of herself. Her clothes had been shredded in several spots. Her pants were rags from the shin down, with several wide gashes on the thigh. Her top was a bit better but there were slashes all through it, thankfully her modesty was preserved by some miracle.

[Regeneration] was slowly closing the remaining wounds on her body but it did little for the blood that had dried across her skin and clothes. Liliana patted the braid crown of hair on her head and sighed in relief that none of it had been cut off.

“Astrid is going to be so upset that my clothes got ruined,” Liliana pouted as she mourned the loss of her first adventurer’s outfit. It hadn’t given her any stat boosts, but it had been hers. Made by someone who cared deeply for her. She glared at the corpse of Zephryn, if the creature hadn’t already been dead she’d have killed him just for ruining her clothes.

“I’m going to make you into a fur coat,” Liliana promised the body, however before she did that she could feel several notifications asking for her attention, and with a thought, she brought them into her sight.

You’ve killed Zephryn Great Horned Hare.

Additional experience awarded for defeating a named monster!

+152,000 Experience

+76,000 Experience from Boon

Additional experience awarded for defeating a foe 5+ levels above you!

+38,000 experience

+19,000 Experience from Boon.

Liliana almost choked at the amount of experience she’d just been given. She’d expected a lot from killing what was essentially a field boss but 285,000 was quite a lot. Since she’d grown in levels her experience gain had decreased, as expected. It was easy to get a lot of experience at very low levels but as you pushed past that the returns lessened, meaning as you get stronger you either had to fight higher-leveled creatures or kill a large number of creatures at the same level as you. It was why in most games people did Quests or Dungeons, they gave much better experience compared to grinding mobs.

Liliana wasn’t sure if this world had actual Quests though, as she hadn’t seen any. She did know Dungeons existed as Silas had told her it’s where they’d take the recruits once they hit level 80 as the experience gained in dungeons was typically boosted. The boosted amount depended on the dungeon but apparently, there were even rare dungeons that doubled the experience gain. Liliana waved the thoughts away, she wouldn’t be visiting a dungeon any time soon, and focused back on her notifications.

You’ve reached level 32.

+15 Stat Points

+6 Stat points from Boon.

+9 Stat Points to Speed from Class

+6 Stat points to Endurance from Class

+6 Stat Points to Dexterity from Class

+6 Stat Points to Charisma from Class

[Light Burst] reached Level 26

[Will-O-Wisp] Reached Level 8

[Tempo] Reached Level 9

[Dance Of The Daystar] Reached Level 10

[Light Burst Coat] reached Level 21

[Enhancement] Reached Level 22

[Regeneration] Reached Level 17

[Polearms Mastery] Reached Level 38

[Dancing] Reached Level 26

You’ve gained 2 points in Vitality

Liliana rubbed her head as she absorbed all the new information. Her fight had minorly power leveled a few of her skills, jumping some of them two or three levels. Fighting something named and almost ten levels stronger than you boosted skills and spells. Which she knew, but it was one thing to know that information from playing the game versus living the experience. In a way, it felt like not enough gain since she’d nearly died in that fight.

The system even seemed to agree, giving her two points in Vitality. As if as a consolation prize, ‘Hey I know you almost died so here’s some more health, be safe!’. It was nice since she hadn’t gotten a single stat point outside of combat, lending credence to what she’d read about the curve for difficulty gaining them increasing. Even all her hiking around the forest for the past several days hadn’t generated even a single measly Endurance stat. Typically she’d have gotten two points for so much exercise. She’d only seen stats given in combat now, where they came far easier than training ever had gifted her.

Need to be more careful with what I fight. And probably get some better gear that can block attacks, Liliana picked at her ruined leathers with a resigned sigh. She had no idea how she’d get the necessary equipment, even bringing back to cores, antlers, and pelts she was still poor.

Oh, she might have fifty dresses made of expensive fabric and more jewelry than she knew what to do with but she couldn’t sell it. The city close to the manor was large, yes, but a good amount of the staff at the manor had family there and it was too high a chance someone would recognize something she tried to pawn and it would get back to her step-mother. Besides the issue of getting to the city, which was nearly a week's walk away.

Liliana pushed the issue of gear to the side momentarily. She could talk to Silas and Astrid about it and come up with a plan. For now, she focused on allocating her points, her recent experience pushing her to dump more points than normal into Vitality.

Status Sheet

Name

Liliana Rosengarde

Age

14

Level

32

Class

Dancer

Race

Human

Rank

9

Health

345/540

H-Regen

+5.4/1.1sec

Mana

428/530

M-Regen

+5.3/1.1sec

Stamina

504/680

S-Regen

+6.8/1.1sec

Magic Power

555

Magic Control

605

Experience: 22,000/108,900

Vitality

54(7)

Endurance

68

Strength

62(4)

Dexterity

56

Wisdom

53(2)

Intelligence

53(2)

Speed

80(3)

Charisma

60(3)

Unallocated Stat Points: 0(21)

Double-checking the stats she finalized the changes, letting the warmth from the essence fill her. Her skin almost seemed to steam as sweat coated her from the change until slowly the heat faded and Liliana was left with residual warmth and a sweat-coated body. Wiping off the sweat Liliana directed her gaze towards Zephryn’s body and an expectant Polaris whose tail was wagging with excitement when he saw her attention finally move to where he wanted it.

Liliana stood and set her naginata aside to grab her skinning knife. She looked at the giant body, the creature was almost as big as Star, then down at her skinning knife and let out another groan. This was going to take forever.

Polaris jumped up and circled the body with bouncing steps, yipping excitedly as he saw Liliana approaching with her knife.

“Yea, yea, I know you’re excited you, damn mooch,” Liliana snarked at the fox, who paused his dancing to shoot her a haughty look. Shadows danced around his feet as he activated a skill before one snaked out and smacked Liliana on her side, right over the freshly healed wound.

“Hey! I’m about to give you a whole feast!” Liliana yelled at the fox, brandishing her skinning knife. The fox turned away from her and sat down and Liliana rolled her eyes.

“Getting bossed around by a fox, oh how the mighty do fall,“ Liliana muttered as she shook her head, turning to the body of Zephryn.

“Well better start I guess,” she murmured with a long sigh.

“Uh...Lady Liliana?” Silas asked as Liliana emerged in the clearing carrying a rolled-up pelt as tall as her naginata, which was on her other side. Behind her, a set of broken antlers was tied to her back with a length of rope. On her hip hung a bulging gathering pack.

Perhaps he was referring to the ragged state of her clothing, barely hidden beneath her cloak she’d pulled around herself to try to preserve as much of her modesty as she could. It could also be because of the red fox twining between her legs and dancing circles around her regularly. Polaris had never come out to meet Silas and Astrid before, he had always left before she got within earshot of the two.

“Yea,” Liliana sighed as she nudged Polaris away with a foot. Ever since he’d gorged himself with the meat from Zephryn he’d kept close to her. She had felt their bond increase a bit and she assumed they’d reached a new level of...friendship she’d call it.

“I’ve had a day,” Liliana explained as she dropped the rolled-up pelt on the ground of the clearing, dropping down next to it dramatically. Carrying the pelt hadn’t been any difficulty with her strength but she’d nearly died today, she could be a little theatrical.

Polaris flopped next to her, rolling onto his back and flopping his tail in her lap. Liliana immediately followed the fox’s unspoken command for belly rubs and carded her fingers through the plush fur of his stomach.

“Lady Liliana! What happened to you?!” Astrid recovered from her shock first and rushed to the girl, dropping to her knees next to her to check over her. She was crusted with dried blood, an annoying amount of it her own. She’d tried to clean up in a creek with middling success. The multitude of gashes and cuts in her clothes betrayed the many wounds she’d taken, despite the unmarred skin left behind after [Regeneration] and the health tinctures had healed her.

“Polaris wanted a named monster for lunch,” Liliana explained, shooting the fox a glare. The little shit didn’t even have the courtesy of looking ashamed, he just lolled his tongue out and wiggled on the ground as Liliana’s fingers found a particularly good area for a scritch.

“You bonded him?” Silas asked and Liliana waved her head side to side, shrugging her shoulders.

“Sort of? It’s a minor Bond. He leads me to monsters and guides me around the forest, I give him the bodies after I kill the monsters and skin them,” Liliana explained and Silas nodded.

“We have a few Ranger classes with Bonds like that. It’s a fairly typical first Bond,” Silas nodded as he approached and nudged the pelt. It was huge, Liliana could make a dress out of it and have enough left over for a half cloak.

“What named monster was it?” he asked conversationally as Astrid continued to fret over Liliana’s destroyed clothing and wounds. Both were used to the way the woman would mother hen over Liliana anytime she came back with damage to her clothing, obvious signs of previous injuries.

“Zephryn, level 38 Great Horned Hare,” Liliana answered and Silas paused, shooting her an impressed look that warmed her. Pride thrummed in her blood and she felt herself straightening, head held high. Silas was rarely impressed, he wasn’t frugal with encouragements or deserved compliments but impressing the man was far rarer a gift.

“That explains the state of your clothes, named monsters are stronger than their unnamed counterparts by several orders of magnitude. Most wouldn’t be able to come back after fighting one almost ten levels over them,” Silas praised her and Liliana beamed.

She had a few cheats that aided her in being able to walk away from that fight. Having 10 extra stat points for each stat to start with had been a welcome boost. Then the extra 2 stat points per level had put her far closer to the creature’s power than someone of the same level as her.

“Speaking of clothes, think we could make this into something for me?” Liliana asked, directing the question equally at Astrid and Silas. She knew she could make a good chunk of change selling the pelt, but she needed better gear. She was getting to the level where she’d be fighting more dangerous creatures, and she’d need gear that could protect her. She used [Identify] on the pelt once more, double-checking the information it gave.

Zephryn’s Pelt

A pelt from the named beast Zephryn, carved by someone with some skill in Skinning. The pelt is plush to the touch, reminiscent of clouds on a summer’s day. It holds the power of the wind in its folds. A journeyman or higher tanner and leather-worker will be able to draw out the hidden facets of this pelt to make something truly worthy of its namesake.

Additional bonuses applied for being skinned by someone with a Skinning skill over level 15.

Either her [Identify] wasn’t high enough of a level or because she didn’t have a skill like [Tanning] or [Leatherworking] but she couldn’t see what bonuses the pelt would give. Though the text alluded to something pretty nice. It even had a requirement of needing someone of a Journeyman or higher rank to work it, which was a good sign. The regular Horned Hare pelts didn’t have a required rank and didn’t allude to having any bonuses available.

“I know someone who could work this into a new set of gear for you,” Astrid said as she reached out and fingered the pelt, her hands lingering on the soft fur.

“We can sell the antlers and the core to help pay for it if necessary,” Liliana said as she pulled the antlers off her back and opened her gathering bag to display the fist-sized core in it, surrounded by other smaller orbs from regular Horned Hares that she’d killed before tackling Zephryn.

“If you can see if you can get the Core worked into the gear made with the pelt, it’ll give a better bonus,” Silas added on and Astrid nodded thoughtfully.

“Until then uh, do we have something else I can wear to go out?” Liliana asked hesitantly, ducking her head. She did feel awful that Astrid's clothes had been ruined. The woman huffed and Liliana shrunk a little under the woman’s gaze.

“I made a spare set,” Astrid finally spoke after several uncomfortable minutes. Liliana let out a loud sigh of relief as her shoulders sagged. Of course, Astrid had another set ready.

“No more attacking named monsters until you have better gear though!” Astrid ordered and Liliana meekly nodded her head.

“Yes ma’am,” Liliana answered, shooting Silas a glare when the man guffawed at her. Her glare switched targets when Polaris started yipping with his own foxy laughter. Liliana gave up and covered her face when Astrid’s giggles joined the chorus.

“Ughhh,” Liliana groaned as the chorus grew in strength at her obvious embarrassment.