"You know, leaving me to carry all our bathing supplies is rather cruel, Cless..." Venaris went into the bedroom holding a basin with said bathing supplies when she stumbled into Cless' derriére. "What the?"

The gnome went around and saw the other girl standing still, her face a bit lost. "Is something wrong? Hello, Cless?"

The human girl shook her head. "No. Everything is fine. I just got scolded by Karen."

"What did she do?"

"She made the room bigger and with 'better insulation'. She chided us for being too loud."

"Were we?" Venaris placed the basin on her dresser and turned to face Cless. Both were worried.

"I have no idea. After Vic started to squeeze me and tug my spine I just blanked out."

"Where are they, by the way?" Venaris asked noticing the lack of moving fur, feather, or scales in the room.

"Backyard, I guess. They need space and sunlight. Or so I was told."

She went to the double bed and jumped on it. "Are you going to stand by the door all day?"

Cless' body moved as if it was rusted. She moved away from the door and closed it. "We should start working. Time's a-wastin'!" After she psyched herself up, Cless skipped to the desk with the pile of parchment set aside. There was a tall chair, like those you use for sitting children at the table. "Come here, Venaris."

After the gnome was set, Cless explained. "I want you to design clothes for us and the boys. I have a lot of spellbooks to study. If you get tired I'm taking over the designs while you start making our clothes. We can swap as we go."

"I have no... Are you going to share Banli's Skill with me? She made the best clothes."

Cless sifted through her memories from the gnomes. "That's correct. Not only hers though."

She had several Skills from the gnomes related to production. [Crafter], [Seamstress' Talent], and [Weavertouch]. She also added [Courtier's Charm] for a refined, high-society sense of fashion. Venaris nodded and after the initial confusion of that much knowledge infusing her being, she took to work without mercy for the parchment. Cless took her spellbooks from the shelf and sat on the other desk to learn her spells.

She started with the Priest book. She needed to get these out of the way so she could move on to the third tier and maybe swap Priestess with another class. Now that she knew the next tier would compound the proficiencies, she wondered how powerful was the magic of those in the higher tiers that never removed the base classes.

Would her stats hold up that gap? Honestly, getting Exp with any proficiency topped that by far. She was going to make a flower garden by the windowsill and level up. There should be some constraint to how class proficiency Experience was calculated, because trivial tasks don't give Exp, at least not to her. Or maybe not anymore.

Nice. Priestess Spells. She flipped the book, there were only eight prayers in the book. The final three were the kind you had to choose one. It seems the Priestess got one spell at level one and another for every five levels.

Level one. Censure. Places a heavy debuff on the target's mobility and abilities, perhaps even immobilizing or incapacitating it. The debuff is broken if the target is attacked. Sounds like nice crowd control. And it has a fast-cast and slow-cast versions. The duration of the censure and its severity are heightened in the slow-cast one.

Level five. Bulwark of Faith, or just Bulwark. The tougher little sister to Hallow. It creates a very small area, the size of a small room, where the Priestess and her allies are almost invulnerable. Once again, if the ones protected attack, the protection breaks. If someone leaves the area the spell ends for them. Also as it absorbs hits, the protection weakens.

Level ten. Mass Mending. Heals up to five targets at once. Costs thirty-six power, six times more than Mending but saves time. And maybe the need for a revivify.

Level fifteen. Sacred Dance of the Faithful, or Sacred Dance. The priestess executes a dance in homage to her patron deity to enhance the effects of a spell over a large area or audience. The dance takes ten minutes at least and drains a lot of power. Not for combat. But Cless could imagine herself healing an entire village of a plague.

Level twenty. Searing Light of Judgement, or just Judgement. Requires Light spells in place. Consumes the Light spell to summon a pillar of light, a beam that burns and consumes the wicked. If it only works on the wicked or not stands to be seen. Has a long casting time and there is a hint at it being able to break through some barriers.

So far Cless was loving the spells. Her mind raced on how it would be useful in several situations. Like blasting the Orc-Chimera-King with Judgement. Or keeping the boys fighting for longer with Mass Mending. Speaking of which, they should have left town by now, right? To retrieve those weapon caches. Would they find these? Would they meet many orcs? She couldn't help but feel worried for them and a bit nostalgic too.

Back to the three level twenty-five spells. She had to pick one of the three. Last Champion. Revives one dead creature, buffs, and heals it. The Priestess must concentrate on the spell but otherwise function normally. How would one lose concentration? Cless didn't know. Unless the Champion's body is entirely destroyed or mangled to a level it can't function anymore, the creature won't die or give up. After the Priestess stops concentrating the creature passes away forever regardless of physical condition. Wow, that was grim. Cless shuddered as she wondered when and how she would use that spell. She shuddered at the thought of using it on any of her allies. The pang of despair she felt made her scream. It was too sad.

"What is wrong, Cless." Venaris stopped her doodling to ask.

"No. Nothing. I just went too deep in some dark thoughts. I'm fine." Disturbed, but fine.

She wouldn't pick that one. Onto the next spell, Song of the Accord. Turns Hallow into a song and while the Priestess is able to keep singing, no other creature can cause another harm inside the area, physical or otherwise. The spell also slows down hostiles' movement and shields the Priestess with an ever-renewing Protection spell. Everyone becomes aware they are free to attack the Priestess. Hallow modifiers still apply.

Self-sacrifice much? That was Cless' impression. She had to pick one and she wouldn't pick the sad one. What was the third choice? Cless looked at the spell and forgot about the self-sacrifice potential aspects of the previous spell. If one wanted to sacrifice oneself, that's the way to go.

Martyrdom. Targets one creature or body. Restores the target to life, if necessary, with perfect health, removing any conditions. The Priestess suffers all those conditions in their stead, delayed for one minute under the same conditions as the original target. The priestess can use any spells on her to alleviate those conditions before the minute is over. Once it is over, she will suffer them in full, dying if that's the case.

What was the point of taking in someone's wounds or death... This thing has no time limit on how long the target was dead.

If she found her body, Cless could even...

Resurrect... her... mother...

"Mother."

She closed her eyes and tried to remember the face. She could see the dress she was wearing, but not the face. Or hear the voice.

It was all blurred, muddled.

Cruel fate.

Cless wept.

"Mother?"

What were their crimes, to deserve such a punishment?

To spur angry mobs even in faraway places to attack potential targets?

The tears flowed freely on the girl's face. She only had that image to remember her mother by. Not her embrace, not her kind soothing words. An entire life as an orphan. A deformed orphan, shunned by the world.

Halcyon days that will never come back.

"Mother!"

She couldn't stop crying. The pain was too much. In her mind's eye, she could see hundreds of pairs of eyes decorated by sneering frowns, disgusted at her very existence. She hid from them beneath a veneer of obliviousness but it hurt her. Every single time.

Maybe if she flayed her skin and healed it again. She couldn't inflict such self-harm. She knew it would send her down the path of madness.

The world around her vanished. She was trapped, in a dark place of her own creation, a macabre gallery of refusal, rejection. There were faces, those disgusted frowns spoke words to her.

"Wretched abomination" – "You are hideous." – "I've never fucked a monster girl." – "Don't touch me, I don't want to get what you have." – "Plaguebearer." – "Poor thing!"

And the mocking laughter. Too far away, a beautiful faceless woman waved at her. It was the only place in that dark abyss that had some light.

"Mother..."

Cless screamed. She wanted to run away, to get out of there, to vanish. Escape reality. Forget the slivers of truth she gathered so far. Evade her pain. Something bound her and she struggled. She screamed and kicked and tried to break free. She wept and bawled. The world was dark. Anywhere she looked, the dark faces gloated and ridiculed her. Scorn, derision.

She felt weak. Powerless to stop the gears of time and fate from grinding her life away and consuming her soul. She was immobile. Still, she screamed. Her body bound, feet, legs, arms. Something went into her mouth sideways and she bit it. Felt like cloth but with something stiff and round, like the piece of wood you give someone to bite before performing chirurgery.

Even her voice was taken away. She struggled but soon her strength was gone.

Exhausted, Cless couldn't even summon the energy to care about anything. She just wanted to fade away. Disappear. End it. She would pick the third spell and resurrect her mother if she wasn't sure her mother wouldn't want her to do that sacrifice.

Trading her life for her mother's, even if she had her body, would only pass the burden of the sadness to another person.

Cless passed away into unconsciousness.

She had a dreamless sleep.

Cless opened her eyes and saw a lot of faces and one silver snout around her. Startled, she hadn't even the strength to scream. Her eyes focused and she saw. Karen, Josefine, Venaris, Vic, Kurt, and Silverfang.

"Cless, what happened?" Karen asked.

"What happened to me?" The Priestess asked. She wasn't sure. And she didn't want to recall those dark thoughts. The terror.

"You started to cry and call for your mother," Venaris started to explain. "Then you screamed a lot and started to trash around. Vic had to wrap you and hold you from hurting yourself. You bit your tongue and you were bleeding a lot."

Cless felt her tongue. It wasn't hurt. Puzzled, she met Karen's eyes. "I healed it." Her aunt explained. "You should try to sleep. Rest and recover from what happened. We can talk tomorrow."

Tomorrow... she had an appointment, didn't she? "The merchant! Did he come?"

"Yes. I took the freedom of negotiating the ransom for you. There are eight crowns on your desk. I took the liberty of taking my share of the deal," Karen winked. Never bite the hand...

"That's too much. He lost a wagon."

"Not your problem," Venaris retorted. "And we got rid of those bandits so he will be safe on the way back."

"Sleep, Cless." Karen insisted.

"I can't. There's something I have to do. Venaris, I'll need my loaned Skills back."

The gnome nodded. Cless Skill took the production ones back. She went and picked the spool of lace. The ribbons. the bolts of fabric. She undressed completely and touched the fabric. In a trance, she let her will flow through her Skill. [Weavertouch] was much more than just repair. Because what was repair if not a transformation of state? As long as it touched her skin, she could manipulate it. The threads freed themselves from the fabric and Cless shuddered at the mental strain. Anyone with fewer Stats or a weaker will maybe even a less clear picture wouldn't be able to do it. But she needed to do it.

She had to bring it back to life, usher it into reality. The only fragment she had. The fabric unraveled at her command. The lace moved and crawled over her skin. Ribbons tied themselves and ducked in and out of the fabric that opened up to let it pass. Minutes passed, maybe even an hour or two.

She finished. It was alive once more. Cless didn't need a mirror to know. She was now fully clothed. One last touch. Cless used [Silk Hair] and changed her own locks. They were threads as well. She wove and braided her hair in the way she envisioned.

After she was done, it felt like she was coming back to the ground after floating. Cless opened her eyes and looked around. She met the astonished eyes of her friends.

"You look like a princess, Cless!" Josefine cooed.

"That's a very pretty dress!" Venaris bobbed her head to agree with Josefine. "I can't believe how you made it. It was like the fabric was alive!"

"Girl, those aren't feathers but my, oh my. That's something!" Kurt praised her.

"I'm forced to agree with you, my friend," Vic hooted. "That was like a goddess molting in reverse."

"Woof!" Silverfang wagged.

The only person that wasn't happy with Cless indumentary was Karen. The innkeeper was covering her mouth and tears came out of her eyes.

"Cless. That dress, that's..." Karen stopped talking. She just stared at Cless, with ragged breath, tears flowing.

Name: Cless (no surname)

Race: Human.

Level: 50 ( 1,224,681 / 1,275,000 Exp )

Class: — Dabbler 11 (56,542 / 66,000 Exp ) — Priestess 25 (975,000 Exp / ** )

Profession — Veteran Warmaster 18 (158,689 / 171,000 Exp) — Crafter 16 (Skill) — Farmer 16 (Skill)

Base Stats — Strength: 63 — Agility: 85 [136] — Health: 85 — Intellect: 96 — Wisdom: 33 — Charisma: 46 — Magic: 135

Available Status Points: 66

Skills:

S-rank: [ Absolute Contract ]

B-rank: [ Succubus’ Kiss ]

C-rank: [ Crafter ], [ Dangersense ], [ Illusionist ], [ Elven Longevity ], [ Eat Anything ], [ Earth Magic ]

D-Rank: [ Trick Shot ], [ Nimble Step ], [ Tinker ], [ Grounding ], [ Dancer’s Grace ], [ Great Leap ],

— [ Tremorsense ], [ Gemsense ], [ Ore sense ], [ Brownie Magic ], [ Courtier’s Charm ],

— [ Singers’ Talent ], [ Spellslinger ], [ Poison Resistance ], [ Merchant sense ], [ Master Miner ],

— [ Heavy Handed ], [ Farmer ], [ Druidwalk ], [ Twin Strike ], [ Curmudgeon crafter ]

E-Rank: [ Gravebreath ], [ Architectural Ingenuity ], [ Coin Sense ], [ Weavertouch ], [ Silk Hair ], [ Wanderlust ],

— [ Giant's Stamina ], [ Hearth’s warmth ], [ Seamstress Talent ], [ Lady’s Countenance ]

F-rank: [ Gardener’s touch ], [ Florist’s Wonder ]

Unkonwn: [ ???? ] x 18

Proficiencies (values under 10 hidden):

Appraisal: Status: 22

Magic

Cleric: — Mending: 50 — Detoxify: 36 — Light: 44 — Turn Undead: 34 — Blessing: 46 — Holy Bolt: 50 — Purify: 47 (+3) — Protection: 50

— — — Hallow: 50 (+2) — Flametongue: 30 — Cure: 30 — Uncurse: 30 — Banish: 30 — Heal: 50 — Warding: 30 — Revivify: 30

Priestess: Censure: 1 — Bulwark: 1 — Mass Mending: 1 — Sacred Dance: 1 — Judgement: 1

General: Prayer: 48 — Reading: 16 (+4) — Skinning: 11

Social: Negotiation: 31 (+10) — Persuasion: 16 (+4) — Bluff: 17 (+4)

Social, martial — Leadership: 38 (+4) — Intimidation: 44 (+4) — Tactics: 34 (+4)

Weapon — Long Blades: 27 — Unarmed: 27 — Archery: 34 — Maces: 32