Beth found herself once more back home, well back in Leeds at least. She fluctuated on how much like home it felt from day to day. After all she had probably spent as much time living in the trees as she had in Leeds and she certainly didn’t see that as home. She was back outside the church where her mother worked and worshipped. The same spot she had left behind almost three whole months ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. This new world clearly wasn’t one built for sturdy, permanent relationships if you could end up being whisked away for such long periods of time. Unless of course more developed civilisations had found ways around this limitation.

As had become the norm Beth swiped her notifications aside almost immediately, she was extremely eager to see the fruits of her labour but also knew she was in the middle of a public area and it was only a matter of time that the rumour mill get around to her mum that she was back. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her mum, in fact it was one of her highest priorities it just so happened that consolidating her gains was a slightly higher priority. After all without knowing what she’d earned there was no point in the last several months she’d spent away from friends and family.

She walked home quickly, her feet skirting the ground just as lightly as they had while above the trees. There was no real reason for it now but Beth had grown use to it and even enjoyed how bouncy it felt. As she travelled she tried to feel out for her mana but the control she’d had in the cosmic realm clearly had been a product of her sparse surroundings and would present more of a challenge now she was back in the real world. Whatever real world actually meant these days.

Getting to her door she knocked loudly and hearing no reply grabbed the hidden key and let herself in. Locking the door behind her she dropped her bag and flung herself onto a chair. Not just any chair though. A chair with a back, the likes of which Beth had only dreamed of from the canopy, The closest she got out there was sitting next to a really big stone. They didn’t even sit by tree trunks which would have offered some curve to support their backs. However sitting so low would also offer the risk of being eaten by deadly predators so it was a real mixed bag. But here was a chair with a back and with padding. She melted into it, willing herself to become one with the chair. This lasted all of ten seconds before the allure of her possible increases overpowered her desire to relax. IT had become almost addictive the power Beth was being offered. Each piece feeling like a step closer to her being able to travel among the stars.

Skill Evolution:

Walking (common) → Traversal (uncommon)

The first screen was an immediate pleasant surprise. Her walking had become a much more general skill. It made sense though, after all the difference between walking at speed and jogging became negligible when she was travelling at the speeds she was. This way she didn’t have to worry about the technicalities. She imagined all similar skills would reach a similar point, running, jogging, skipping if it existed. It was more a matter of convenience than anything else but still a win.

Traversal (uncommon): Level 5 (25 Trials Credits)

Be it walking running or something in between you do it with understanding and confidence. You are even beginning to feel confident about planning or organising walks rather than just going with the flow.

At this level you are able to travel 25% faster than normal and this takes considerably less energy allowing you to walk for much longer. Further your step is naturally lighter than it should be (this can be switched off at will)

Active: Flooding the base of a foot with mana you can create a small temporary platform to push off. This will not be visible to the untrained eye.

The new ability it came with however, that was a real gift. Clearly her working on being lighter on her feet had paid off and Beth could only imagine how far she could take the ability with training and more power. Could she walk on water, climb a staircase of falling leaves? Balance on the head of a pin? None of these things were all that impressive in of themselves but it would allow her to pad out her abilities in a visible way.

Plus she had access to magic! Real actual magic! Her other abilities were special and clearly were supernatural but this was different. She paused her reading to try it out. It took her maybe ten minutes with her eyes closed to calm down enough to disconnect and to find that mental switch. Once flicked she could feel contact below her left foot. She pushed and it held steady pressing her further into the chair. There was no glowing of purple no visible motes of energy but Beth knew it had worked. It faded shortly, but was there just long enough for her to know it hadn’t been imagined. She had cast a spell and while she still had a lot of experimentation to do with it she was beyond excited.

Some may not have found it all that interesting after all they had heard stories of magic that was a lot more like flight and controlling water with their mind but this was something she could actually do. She did it again just because she could pressing with the opposite foot this time. It came slightly easier to her as she knew what she was looking for. She resolved to try again later, as she still had a couple more screens to view. Not that she knew what to expect, she felt like the obvious screens had been and gone. But she she was excited none the less.

Title Gained: Flawed Honorary Sister (rare)

Title usually common to Hepterel. This is the flawed version of this title, Has the potential to become no longer flawed if appropriate action is taken.

Note: This is a hidden title and can not be displayed.

Let’s you identity other Honorary Sisters and allows them to identify you.

Beth didn’t know what to think about that. On one hand it wouldn’t be a huge change to her day to day, after all the chances of her interacting with others who had completed the ritual were slim to none. On the other hand, it seemed extremely unlikely that she would ever have the opportunity to remove the ‘flawed’ from the title. It felt extremely harsh to have a constant reminder of a failure that Beth didn’t see as her own. A permanent mark that she didn’t feel she deserved. She would have completed the ritual the way they wanted if she could have. She closed the screen not willing to dwell any further. She then pulled up her general status, it had been a while since she had looked at it.

Name

Bethany Oakfenny

Title(s)

Solarslut, Flawed Honorary Sister

Mana Type

Cosmic (rare) 1

Level

5

Trial Credits

110

Skills:

Traversal (uncommon)

5 (25 Trial Credits)

Trial Taking (ultra-rare)

1 (8 Trial Credits)

Half-staff (common)

1 (7 Trial Credits)

Communication (common)

1 (6 Trial Credits)

Bartering (common)

0 (2 Trial Credits)

Busking (common)

0 (1 Trial Credit)

AS her eyes scanned the table they lit up and she did some quick maths. Upgrading the walking skill had had a larger effect than she suspected. She had gotten all the Credits from Traversal as if she had earnt them fresh. That was a windfall of 25 additional credits a win by any stretch. Beth was sure there would be some way to take advantage of that quirk to get rich but she didn’t know how. She had also gained a one next to her mana type, something that was unexplained but Beth could easily connect the dots. It probably showed off how many skills hit level 5. Unless of course hitting higher levels would have further changes. After all she knew you got a title at level 10. That hadn’t exactly been kept secret. Pete had also mentioned that more store options would be unlocked at level 5. She went to open the store and take a look but she paused. The store had always been something they explored together as silly as it sounds. She’d rather do it with him. After all he might had gotten stronger too and have exciting stories of her own. After all she’d not seen him for at least 3 Trial periods. Again she was rocked sightly by that revelation. Three months away. She was still just starting too. If everything lasted that long she didn’t know how she would be able to maintain any friendships. Maybe people didn’t or at least why most focused on Communication as a skill.

No exploring the store could wait till she saw Pete again and that could wait until she’d seen her mother again. Something she decided she wanted to do asap.

Heading back out she couldn’t help but wear a small smug smile. The others who were out and about still had mostly levels of 2 or 3 meanwhile she was sitting on level 5, with a title too. She kept her eyes peeled for Pete or her mum, no point avoiding Pete after all. She didn’t expect to bump into either and made her way towards where she was sure her mum would be, the church.