Chapter 6: ~Breaking Syd~

Syd morosely slipped into the steaming bath expecting Juliet to slide in next to her. She had not expected the smaller woman to curl up in her lap and lean back. The close contact was very soothing, Syd hated to admit it, but she thrived on physical contact. Women were just so soft, and comfy, and cuddly... what was she supposed to be doing again?

"You were saying?" Jules prompted.

"I don't wanna bore you with all the details, so I'll give you the short version." Syd wrapped her arms around Juliet's waist. "I met a woman the day after our last call. We hit it off, I realized that I really like girls, and I woke up in her bed."

Juliet's mouth was hanging open at that particular admission. "You don't do things by halves, do you?"

Another rueful chuckle escaped Syd's lips. "Not if I can help it. Anyways, I learned to be a masseuse through experience, I loved the way she would hum as I ran my fingers over her body. There's nothing quite like it."

"I take it you two aren't an item?"

"Nope, things ended for the most part... this morning."

Juliet quirked an eyebrow. "Crashed and burned?"

"That's part of it, a tiny not so small part," Syd allowed.

Jules was not someone known for her patience. "Spit it out, what happened to make your world 'crash and burn'."

"My parents probably weren't my real parents, and they just disappeared on me. I'll probably never see them again," she blurted out. "There's also gonna be a ton of... there are people..." Syd really didn't want Jules to have anything to do with the Abyss. It was why she was leaving home at first, to keep people she loved from getting hurt, and Jules was definitely one of those people.

Juliet was having trouble coming to terms with what she'd just heard. Being Syd's best friend for years meant she had really known her parents. To hear something like that all of a sudden wasn't shocking, it was mind blowing. Syd seemed to be holding it together pretty well, all things considered. "Are you gonna be okay, Syd?"

Sydney wanted to say no, but she knew for a fact she would be fine. 'A Gamer's Mind' wouldn't let her fall to pieces, she was sure of that, thrice damned mind altering skill. "I've been hanging on by threads ever since..." Syd paused, she'd almost mentioned her power. "... grasping at straws here Jules, and you're my last straw."

Juliet let her head rest on Syd's chest. "It's not fair if you put it like that."

Syd hadn't realized how incredibly manipulative that sounded till it was already out there. Probably because she had to compensate for almost blurting out something she didn't want Juliet to know about. "I don't care if you want to sleep with me, or be my friend. I just need you Jules."

Juliet spent the better part of a minute fighting down the urge to surrender herself to Syd. "I don't mind sleeping in the same bed like old times, and definitely won't say no to a massage." Syd began to massage Juliet's scalp. "I'll also listen to anything you want to get off your chest... you can stay with me for as long as you want."

Syd let herself fantasize about moving in with Jules for a moment before crushing it, violently. "I have to leave tomorrow morning. There's someone who's supposed to find me, help me get my life set up with my real name and all that."

Juliet deflated, she had actually been looking forward to having Syd around again. "Real name?"

Syd gagged on thin air. "Syndra Shyael," she deadpanned. Once again, Syd absolutely loved what laughing does to women's breasts. "This is torture you know, being centimeters away from such perky breasts, and I can't touch."

Juliet figured that was just Syd's way of trying to get off the topic of her burning world, so she didn't honestly think there was any true desire behind Syd's words. She really didn't know her best friend as well as she used to. "If it'll make you feel better, you can massage those too." Seeing Syd's face light up, she quickly added, "that's it though, we go no further." For some reason, the knowing smile on Syd's face didn't make her feel very confident.

Syd didn't hesitate to put all of her experience to use on Jules, she had won her prize, the world may be burning, but she would have this.

Juliet woke up in her bed feeling a little groggy. She remembered things quickly devolving last night with Syd. Never again would she overestimate her own self control, or maybe she shouldn't underestimate Syd. Regardless, she would do both from now on. In hindsight, if that did count as losing her virginity, then it was well worth it. Syd had been amazing, and it was greater than anything she had ever imagined.

Jules had been a bit of a pervert in their middle school days, she'd even tried to get Syd to understand the greatness of muscle men, like "Bucking Broncos". In the end, her pervy habits had died out upon reaching high school. She got to know real high school and college guys. Girls, for the most part, when they aren't driving a knife between your kidneys, are pleasing company. But men, in her experience so far, had sucked.

Not all of them, mind you, but the ones that didn't outright suck so far, a grand total of three, had all been star struck with her. She didn't want a follower, or someone who would kiss her feet, she wanted a partner. Sadly, she had found only one person who fit that bill, and judging by the messed up sheets beside her, that person already left the building.

So Imagine her surprise when a mop of tousled black hair began to slowly kiss its way up her midsection underneath the covers. "I thought you'd already left." Jules groaned happily.

"It's very rude to sleep with someone, then take off without saying goodbye," Syd explained. "You're my anchor now, I wouldn't do that to you."

Jules cocked her head sideways to give Syd full access to her neck. "Anchor?"

Syd continued to plant gentle kisses upon Juliet's creamy skin. "I won't tie you down or anything, you can look for someone. I just wanna take solace in the fact that I'll always be welcome here," she began seriously. "I won't — I can't lie to you. There's a lot more fucked up in my life than just the stuff I told you about. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to visit you, and I'll probably also end up in bed with other women."

"A free spirit," Juliet chirped. "If there's ever anything I can do Syd..."

"I'll let you know," Syd confirmed. "Now let me spoil you for a few hours before I have to go back... home."

It took Syd a while longer than planned to leave. At some point during her stay Juliet had managed to call their mechanic in for a look at the Honda. She hadn't asked for it, but looking a gift horse in the mouth was never a good idea, so Syd let the man do a quick once over. In the end, he had said that her car was boned. It would still run for a little while, but the way she'd bent its sensitive bits would take at least four grand to fix.

So here she was, driving away after convincing Juliet that she didn't need one of their cars. Syd still had her father's truck, even if it was a gas guzzling monster. Taking the back roads home seemed like a good idea since she hadn't seen a random encounter yet. Still, sometimes Syd thought that she must have E rank luck, cause shit just doesn't keep going wrong like this.

LV.32 - Simon Lantear

Yup, that's the dude she just hit with her car. Syd was just driving along, minding her own business when all of a sudden the other cars vanished again. Her first thought was 'random encounter', but the battle music didn't sound off. Sadly, because she was looking around, and not watching where she was going, this dude got ran over.

First, there was a very unmanly scream of terror. Second, Syd's head snapped forward just in time to see the funniest expression of sheer terror she had ever seen. Third, she missed the brake pedal. Fourth, she may have slammed the gas pedal during her panic. Fifth, how the hell is that human pancake standing back up?

"Are you okay!?" she shouted out her window.

Simon cursed under his breath and glanced towards her car. "I just got ran over by a car. Of course I'm okay!" he snarked.

Syd nodded happily, rolled up her window, and hit the gas. "Gotta go, bye!"

"Wait just a minute!" he shouted as she started to leave.

Syd did the bullet point thing in her mind again. One, she just hit a person, it would be rude to hit and run. Two, he was fine... mostly. Three, something weird happened again, and she really wanted to know what it was so she could stop running things over. Four, it would suck to run over a cute girl, so she'd better figure this shit out now.

With cute girls in mind, Syd pulled over and got out of her car. Less than a minute later, she was helping Simon to get back on his feet. Rapidly, different ways this could go flashed through her head. In the end, playing dumb sounded like the best option to get the most information.

"Why did all of the other cars disappear, and why were you sitting in the middle of the road?" Yes, pass the blame, that always helps.

Simon sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. The motion caused Syd to realize that her observation skills or something must be getting better, because he totally has stats now, and the man is a vitality beast.

"I was practicing my meditation techniques, but that's not the problem." He cut off her snarky comment about meditating in the road. "You somehow just drove right into my illusion barrier, that shouldn't be possible."

Syd considered her options again, a new plan formulated in her mind. "Does this have to do with that whole, 'Power users and the Abyss', thing?"

Simon gave her a strange look, then nodded. "Sort of."

"I'm Syndra." She held out her hand in greeting. "Just learned that I can use gravity magic like two days ago."

A look of understanding washed over his face as he took her hand. "Simon, adept of the crescent clan. Normally it's a pleasure to meet natural ability users, but..."

Syd chuckled ruefully. "You should see the last guy I ran over."

Simon choked down the urge to smack this crazy girl. "Why did you run someone over?"

"He was trying to kill me with a big ass scythe," she explained sagely. "My car still has the battle scars to show for it."

Simon, being the middle-aged, and thereby older party here, motioned for a nearby bench. "Let us sit and rest so that I may attempt to educate you about the Gaia theory." He would ignore the absurdness of her comments for now.

Syd resisted the urge to rub her hands on Simon's bald head and wish for luck. If the guy was gonna give her free information, then she'd best restrain her urges. Riley had plainly told her that there was tons of stuff she just didn't know, so this could pan out nicely.

"Gaia is largely believed to be the reason behind natural ability users, but that's not what's important here." His features hardened, taking on a very serious sensei look. "The law of interference. If a power is used to effect the world on a large scale, Gaia eliminates the source of that power."

Syd's eyes darkened, she wasn't convinced Gaia was behind her abilities, but she'd at least consider it.

"That brings us to illusion barriers, a space created for power users to do combat." He took a moment to sheepishly rub his head. "Although, many of us use illusion barriers for other mundane purposes."

"Anybody can make these?"

"No, we can use them, and prompt them to be made, but it is not our power. Gaia is the one who creates illusion barriers." Simon got up at that point and began to push Syd's car. Syd simply watched him with a raised eyebrow. "Okay," he continued once her car was off the road. "Raise your hand high, focus your power into it, then just send your will to Gaia. Try to destroy the illusion barrier around us."

*Ding!*

The Goddess of Gravity: Normal is Overrated.The Greek goddess of gravity and mischief herself has been watching you for fun, entertain her and reap the rewards. Show Gaia that she isn't the only one who can shift the fabric of reality.

- Create custom I.D. skills.

Completion award:

-Exp 5000

-Intellect + 10

Completion failure:

-Exp 50

-Write a letter of apology to Gaia.

ConfirmDecline

Syd chuckled a bit before tapping 'Confirm'.

With a jovial smile she began by entering a meditation pose and centering herself. Simon was surprised to see her use meditation so effectively, but kept his gob shut. Then, just as she did with the blood magic, Syd sent some mana towards her hand. Once it was all set she imposed her will upon the world.

As soon as she had done it, Syd could literally feel something fighting back against her. The brief thought that this must be what using real magecraft feels like did cross her mind, but it quickly vanished.

As she continued to strain herself, another thought occurred, she was probably having a battle of the wills with Gaia. Those thoughts quickly turned into some signature Syd thoughts, at first she was miffed, then she was slightly excited. After all, how often do you get to have a mental spar with the sexiest milf in the multiverse?

As soon as she imagined Gaia 'that way' there was a brief moment of what she could only describe as Gaia having a brain fart. In a single explosive second, the illusion barrier shattered, violently.

*Ding!*

A new Active Skill has been generated: I.D. Escape!

I.D. Escape (Active) Lv.1 ~ 0.38%Used to escape instant dungeons.

"That was interesting," Simon commented. "Never seen a barrier literally explode."

Syd ignored Simon and began to immediately focus again, she was hoping to take advantage of Gaia's shock. Unfortunately, the goddess had recovered with a vengeance. Before, it had felt like a playful tug of war between them. Now, the goddess was out for blood. Syd could literally feel a pressure being exerted on her entire being. Thank god she had trained in grav rings for a long time.

Once again, Syd was a sore loser, and she wasn't about to be denied her prize. So when a strategy works once, it should work twice. She carefully cleared her mind, not letting any of her thoughts seep through the bond she could feel with Gaia. Then, in a single glorious moment, she imagined herself 'slaying' Gaia with Riley's 'excalibur'. The effect was instantaneous, all of a sudden she was free from the pressure. Without wasting her time Syd quickly went back to imposing her will upon reality.

*Ding!*

A new Active Skill has been generated: I.D. Create!

I.D. Create (Active) Lv.1 ~ 0.38%Used to create instant dungeons. Stronger dungeons may be created according to level.Currently available I.D. list:

1. Empty I.D. - Monsters : None

2. Goblin I.D. - Monsters : Goblins

3. D.Rider I.D. - Monsters : D.Rider

You've received the title 'Goddess Slayer'.

Goddess Slayer-Obtained by defeating Gaia in a battle of the wills.

-You have a special talent and interest in slaying goddesses.- All personal experience gains inside of instant dungeons, + 10%.

Quest Complete!

Level up!

Intellect + 10

Lithriel, the goddess of gravity, or in this case mischief, is most pleased with you. Bonus Reward: Spell Scroll: "Reinforcement." Obtained.

At some point while Syd was reading her rewards, she received the mental equivalent of an almighty slap, which only served to amuse her further. Another thing she'd been doing is ignoring Simon while he talked all about illusion barriers.

Syd was still a bit sullen, she had no way to see an illusion barrier coming, which meant potentially running over cute girls. That wouldn't do at all. It would be nice if she had some of the more recent rpg features to turn off random...

OptionsCurrently available options list:

- I.D. Auto-pass - [On] / Off

- Random Encounters - [On] / Off

- Battle Music - [On] / Off

- Field Music - On / [Off]

- Menu Color - [Classic] / Gray / Red / White

- Auto-looting - On / [Off]

- Mini-map - On / [Off]

- Compass - On / [Off]

- Enemy Health Bars (Red) - On / [Off]

- Ally Health Bars (Yellow) - On / [Off]

- Party Member Health Bars (Green) [On] / Off

Syd wanted to cry — really, really cry. But that just wouldn't do right now, it would seem suspicious. Syd quickly flicked off battle music, random encounters, and I.D. Auto-pass.

"I really should get going," Syd interrupted Simon's lecture. "The abyss rep will be visiting me soon."

Simon's body tensed for a second, if she hadn't been watching him so closely, she'd have missed it. "We could contact the abyss for you back at the clan compound, why don't you come with me?"

Riley's warnings about naturals getting snagged by clans was ringing in her ears at the moment. "I've already had someone tell them where to find me, it really isn't that urgent."

Simon's smile shifted just a bit, it wasn't much, but it was still enough to set off more alarms for Syd. "I could introduce you to my clan, the abyss can be a dangerous place for an inexperienced person."

On a hunch, Syd opened her options menu with a thought and flicked enemy and ally health bars on. Right then, Simon's name went red, her gamer skills were already registering him as an enemy, that was not good news. "Then I'll take you up on your offer." She passed him her keys. "You drive."

Syd rolled her eyes when his name changed to yellow. She patiently let Simon walk towards her car then, when his back was turned, whipped out her gravity hammer. For a brief moment she realized that her mind just chose murder as an acceptable solution to this problem, it chose murder fast.

That moment lasted all of half a second as her mighty brute hammer swung down upon the man's bald head and cracked it like an egg. With contact came the signature mega pulse of gravity, making Syd cringe as she watched his cranium turn into little more than a pile of mush. Simon may have had a strong body, but his head still split like a melon.

It didn't even make her feel sick, she was just really calm, scary calm. Syd knew what she had to do here, she quickly took her keys, stuffed him in the trunk, and got in her car. Instead of driving the last half hour home, she headed in the opposite direction. Less than half a mile away she saw the illusion barrier burst, which was a bit of a relief. Nobody should have seen her car anywhere near him.

'Who said high school chem was useless?'' Syd thought as she watched the assassin once named Simon slowly dissolve in a plastic tub of chemicals. Chemistry had taught her how to do it, get rid of a body, leave no bits behind — other than what looked like roadkill that is.

'Instant dungeons sure are handy,' she mentally scoffed. Nobody will have seen her in here, her own little personal world, an empty world.

Beneath Syd, in the junkyard, was a recently cleaned and compacted Honda. All that remained of her mother's totaled car was a scrapped junk cube. It made a rather uncomfortable seat, but she really didn't mind right now. If Syd had to put a word on the feeling she was having, it would be numb, just numb.

Not even the picturesque scene of a setting sun across the horizon could shake her into action. It wasn't until the cool breeze of night set in that Syd began to walk home. She'd just fucking killed someone, and it barely bothered her. 'Great,' she thought, 'turned into a psycho at some point and didn't even notice it.'

As Syd's profile faded into the darkness of night, a single memory passed through her mind. An old guild master that she'd run lots of dungeons with once upon a time. Words of wisdom that she'd once taken to heart. Words that had become a new goal, a way of life for her. 'Gamer rule #3: Find a strong player or guild, and leech off them.'

Syd's intellect stat wasn't over one hundred for nothing, she knew she'd gotten stupid lucky with that idiot assassin, he could've very well killed her earlier today. No more depending on luck to survive, she was gonna sit down, shut up, and work her pretty little ass off. It's goblin slaying time.

Name: Syndra Shyael

Class: The Gamer

Title: Goddess Slayer

Level: 18Health 340/340

Mana 2574/2574Strength: 29

Vitality: 34

Dexterity: 24

Intellect: 117

Wisdom: 56

Luck: 16Points: 39

Money: $11,202

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