Free Bird
Requirements: Complete the [Remain free] objective.
You are significantly more capable of escaping restraints.
You have gained 3 stat points.
Due to Enhanced Blood Affinity and your actions, you may select 1 Bronze-tier skill to gain from the following list:
Lessened Bleed
Venomous Blood
Blood Surge
Vampirism
Due to Enhanced Blood Affinity and your actions, you may select 2 Bronze-tier skills to gain from the following list:
Lessened Bleed
Venomous Blood
Blood Surge
Vampirism
Phantom Limb
Disguise Self
Blood Detonation
Jarreth got on two cars away, and there’s a ton of distance between him and me. Still, I start thinking as fast as I can. Now that I’ve leveled up, I should be able to hide, right? I check my hand, and sure enough, it’s there, my skin smooth and unscarred like it’s never left. I didn’t even notice it come in.
I squeeze myself left, making myself small against the frame of the window, and I consider my options.
I need to pick up the remaining skill from my level 3 level-up. I think it’s safe to say by now that the pool of skills I can choose from doesn’t increase—whatever is given during a level-up is all I’ve got.
I looked at Blood Surge earlier, but I take a quick look at Vampirism as well.
Vampirism (Uncommon)
Tier: Bronze
Level: 1
Consume the strength of others. By consuming enough of another’s blood, you may gain up to 10% of your overall health back.
This looks actually useful… kind of. I already have a regeneration trait, and I highly doubt my opponents are going to give me time during combat to drink their blood. That means that this would be mostly helpful outside of combat, which Demonic Heritage covers.
Also, I don’t think this fits with the type of skill I have. Currently, my stats and skills are lopsided towards favoring stealth and speed, and I think I like it this way. If I try to build more towards a well-rounded build now, focusing on things like durability and such, I’ll lower my specialized ability.
In the long run, it might be better to try to have an even profile with a bit of a specialization, but right now, what I’m primarily focused on is avoiding Jarreth and whoever he might be working with. I’m not so naive as to believe that he’s here alone. He knows I’m on this train, and if he has any communication with his squad, they’ll probably join as well.
And the wall is large. There is every possibility that he calls in more people now that he presumably has proof that I’ve killed one of them. I continue looking out the window as I think, looking for any more familiar faces. There were a fair few others that boarded the train with me—the car I’m in can probably hold a hundred people, and it’s a little under half-full, though the majority of the guests were on here already. How many of those are Jarreth’s accomplices?
The seat next to me is still empty. Hopefully it stays that way.
As time passes, I find myself itching for the train to move, but it stays obstinately still as the minutes tick by.
I return to looking at my skills.
Lessened Bleed is still nearly entirely useless, since I can use Shape Blood to do something similar. I think of taking Blood Surge, but I’m still not quite comfortable with using a skill that consumes the primary source of strength I have. It’s looking like it’s down to that or Venomous Blood.
Venomous Blood (Common)
Tier: Bronze
Level: 1
Your blood is a weak venom. When outside of your body, it will remain venomous for 1 minute.
Okay, that’s worse than I thought it would be. If it had something actually useful that I could use in conjunction with Shape Blood, I would have a reason to take it. As it is, though, I discard it. That requires me to actually penetrate my victims’ skin with my blood-spears, and I haven’t been consistently able to do.
Alright. Blood Surge it is. It’s a bit of an uncomfortable skill, but I don’t actually need to use it. I can just let it sit there for the time being. There’s a couple skills like Woundshape that I haven’t remembered to use yet—this can go with them.
New skill unlocked: Blood Surge
Draw on your internal strength. For five minutes per hour, you may boost your speed and strength by 50%. Consumes your blood as well as your mana.
Blood Affinity advanced to stage 2!
The second message catches me off guard. I check my stats and sure enough, the “Blood” tag under Magic Affinities has increased to two. The message refuses to tell me what this actually does, and I don’t feel any different, so I put it aside for now.
I have another skill to take.
Looks like it’s between Phantom Limb, Disguise Self, and Blood Detonation.
I… think the system decided I was eligible for the first one because I was missing a hand.
Okay, the first skill I pick isn’t even up to question.
New skill unlocked: Disguise Self
You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until dismissed. You may use this skill up to once per day.
A quick examination of the skill itself shows that it’s a Rare one. No wonder. That’s a really powerful effect.
I use it immediately. I don’t want to stand out, and there’s every possibility that Alder, helpful bastard that he is, provided the description of the new face I’m wearing. Even though I have both hands back, there’s a non-zero chance he or someoen else recognizes my face.
Speaking of someone else…
As I look around in the train car discretely, trying to find inspiration for unassuming features that I can mimic, I catch a glimpse of more people wearing uniforms stepping onto the platform. Not the fare-collector uniform, not exactly, but it’s pretty similar. There’s seven of them, all told, and they have a brief chat with some of the train staff before entering.
Two of them enter my car. I intentionally took a seat far from the entrance, but I can’t help it but tense when I see them in the reflection of the window.
Alright. I drop Temporary Shape Self, and for a moment, I stare into my own red eyes before I activate Disguise Self. I wince as I feel the telltale sensation of magic power being expended by the bucketful as I turn it on, but it subsides soon after. The initial loss hits me harder than even Bloodstep, but afterwards it costs me less to maintain than Temporary Shape Self. Still, I’m going to need some time to recover from it.
Before the Temporary Shape Self fully fades away, I replace parts of it with Disguise Self. I change the shade of my hair just a bit, tinging it lighter—not enough for anyone who might be looking to notice, but perhaps enough to throw off perception of me.
Disguise Self does give me a few more options than my other skill does—presumably, Temporary Shape Self is something I can use in combat while this is the actual disguise skill. I change my eyes from their burning red to a mellow shade of brown, soften certain features in my face, and bring my skin tone from the nearly-porcelain white I copied from Marie Jade to a more reasonable peach tone.
Crucially, it also affects my clothes. The green shift and coat I’ve got on are pretty distinctive, and changing them to seem more of a plain, lifeless grey is something well within the purview of my new skill.
The two uniforms in my car haven’t been idle. With Disguise Self now in place, sapping my magic power, I watch them slowly approach, asking questions to every person they pass. It’ll be my turn soon.
I can’t actually understand what they’re saying. Are they speaking in a language that’s not Common, or is that a skill? It could be either, honestly.
I take a deep breath, then rest my chin on one hand, using Acting to assist me in wistfully looking out the window.
Before long, it’s my turn.
The first thing the man says to me isn’t in Common. His voice comes out harshly, the syllables grating over each other.
“Pardon?” I ask, turning away from the window. “Are you sitting here?”
“Apologies,” he says. “Adcol is rather common around these parts.”
What
I meet his eyes, scanning him surreptitiously as I do.
The uniform’s different. Whereas Jarreth was wearing the same uniform as the fare collectors, these two—a man and a woman—have a special patch above their chests, marking them as official staff of the… damn it, I can’t read the symbols written on them. Given that there’s been no commotion, I assume it’s the proper uniform of the train company.
Actually, it’s possible that it’s not different from Jarreth’s. I assumed he was just wearing the fare collector clothes, but I was mostly focused on his face, not his dress.
“We’re looking for a girl,” the man says. “Her name is Evelyn, but it’s possible she’s giving a false one. Around this tall, missing a hand, wearing a green dress? Her mother’s been worried sick, looking for her.”
I crease my brow in sympathy, silently ecstatic that my disguise is working. “I’m sorry. I haven’t heard of an Evelyn. Nobody by that description, either. Did she get on here? I came on a couple stops ago.”
These people haven’t heard my voice, so I don’t need to bother changing it by much. I do make an effort to lower it just a little, just in case.
I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but the man seems to stare at me for longer than is necessary.
Note to self: maybe I should try pushing the limits of Disguise Self to see if I can put on a male body. Even the thought of spending time as a male feels a little off to me, but it would help me be more certain whether people’s gazes linger because they like looking at me or if they’re suspicious.
Eventually, the woman nudges the still-staring man.
“Sorry to bother you, miss,” she says, and they walk on.
That was easier than expected.
I don’t press my luck. I highly doubt they went to all the trouble of getting uniforms just to ask a couple of questions and leave.
Sure enough, when the train jostles me as it starts to chug away from the platform, the two uniformed personnel that I know are guards from the wall continue patrolling the train car. I’m not sure what they’re looking for, but it looks like I’m not going to be able to drop Disguise Self at any point.
No point in practicing skills on the train, either, since that’ll give me away too easily. Instead, I watch the landscape creep by under the light of the twin moons. We’re moving at a pretty decent clip, and soon enough the heavily wooded area gives way to sparser vegetation over fields.
Ten minutes pass, then twenty. A number of people are chatting quietly, and I prick my ears to listen in, but nothing of import is being discussed. The two guards don’t say much more after they fail to find me on their initial sweep.
“Now arriving at Outpost 16,” a voice drones through an electronic speaker. The train slows.
Not many people get off at Outpost 16, which apparently is a town even smaller than 17 built atop a grassy knoll that looks like it leads into a few caves further down the road, and even fewer get on.
The hours pass by, and slowly, I begin to relax. Disguise Self is still sapping my magic power away, but I’m fully healed and I’m not going to run out of magic anytime soon.
I don’t sleep. That would provide an opportunity for my skill to end on its own. Instead, I watch as grassy fields turn to arid desert, humid jungle, red rocky canyons, and a dozen other biomes as we pass by more and more Outposts. From 16, we go to 15, then 14, then 13. We skip 12, for some reason, then stop once more at 11.
Outpost 10 is the first stop where more people get on than get off. The pink edges of the sun are slowly creeping out over the horizon as we slow to a stop, and I take in the mountainous ranges that we’ve stopped in the middle.
Over a dozen people spill onto my car alone, splashes of color and bits of conversation blending into one another as they tromp on.
The guards are especially alert during these stops, I notice. They must be watching to see if they can spot me jumping off.
I suppose I could. I could try to make my way out through the distraction of the crowd, make a life for myself at one of these outposts, but I have bigger aspirations.
As such, I choose to instead affect a vague interest in those around me before going back to staring out the window. So far, it’s been a surefire way of making me look boring enough to be left alone.
Except this time, I hear the telltale rustling of clothes against cushioned wood and the ever-so-slight change in temperature as another human slides onto the seat next to me.
I do my new partner the courtesy of turning to look at them—at her, apparently.
Half-elf.
The word crosses my mind before I can even fully process her features, but as my conscious mind catches up to my instincts, I see the telltale marks of it. Her two vestigial fangs where a true elf would have four and a human would have zero, the difference in her facial structure, the faint ethereal glow her long white hair seems to emit where the sun bounces off it.
I study her briefly. Her eyes are a bright, piercing blue, her skin a shade or two darker than mine. She wears impractical clothing—most of the others that entered the train are clad in armor or practical cloaks, but she wears a light yellow sundress with pink accents. Not clothes I’d expect someone in a small town like the outposts to have, let alone use for a train ride.
The half-elf woman stares back at me, not hiding the naked interest in her expression.
I commit her body to memory. I like the idea of looking like her, at least for a time. If I need to pull Disguise Self again at some point, I want to borrow some of her beauty.
“Sapphire,” she says simply, indicating herself with long slender fingers. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“And you,” I say, not bothering to fake a name of my own.
“It’s a shame,” Sapphire muses, still staring at me. I’m growing a touch uncomfortable now, and the sensation increases as she leans in towards me. “I do wish I could see your true face.”
A jolt of adrenaline runs through my veins, but a quick check of the car around us reveals that nobody’s heard her—and if they have, nobody cares. The guards are too busy checking every single person that’s getting off here. Outpost 10 must be a busy one.
“What?” I ask, feigning confusion with Acting. “Repeat that?”
“You don’t need to hide,” she says, a too-wide grin spreading across her face. She leans in a little further. “Nobody else can hear me.”
Is she using a skill? She could just be lying to me.
Either way, I prepare my options. If she’s got hostile intentions, I might need to run, revealing myself in front of all these guards.
Still, there’s a chance I can get out of this without her on my back.
“Excuse me,” I say, beginning to stand. “I’d rather not be harassed on my journey, thank you.”
Her hand catches me as I start to rise, surprising strength forcing me back into my seat. I let her push me down—I could probably break through her grip with my strength, but I don’t want to cause a commotion and draw attention to myself.
“Sit down, Evelyn,” she says, her unnervingly beautiful smile growing even wider. “I can smell the demon in you.”
Free Bird
Requirements: Complete the [Remain free] objective.
You are significantly more capable of escaping restraints.
You have gained 3 stat points.
Due to Enhanced Blood Affinity and your actions, you may select 1 Bronze-tier skill to gain from the following list:
Lessened Bleed
Venomous Blood
Blood Surge
Vampirism
Due to Enhanced Blood Affinity and your actions, you may select 2 Bronze-tier skills to gain from the following list:
Lessened Bleed
Venomous Blood
Blood Surge
Vampirism
Phantom Limb
Disguise Self
Blood Detonation
Jarreth got on two cars away, and there’s a ton of distance between him and me. Still, I start thinking as fast as I can. Now that I’ve leveled up, I should be able to hide, right? I check my hand, and sure enough, it’s there, my skin smooth and unscarred like it’s never left. I didn’t even notice it come in.
I squeeze myself left, making myself small against the frame of the window, and I consider my options.
I need to pick up the remaining skill from my level 3 level-up. I think it’s safe to say by now that the pool of skills I can choose from doesn’t increase—whatever is given during a level-up is all I’ve got.
I looked at Blood Surge earlier, but I take a quick look at Vampirism as well.
Vampirism (Uncommon)
Tier: Bronze
Level: 1
Consume the strength of others. By consuming enough of another’s blood, you may gain up to 10% of your overall health back.
This looks actually useful… kind of. I already have a regeneration trait, and I highly doubt my opponents are going to give me time during combat to drink their blood. That means that this would be mostly helpful outside of combat, which Demonic Heritage covers.
Also, I don’t think this fits with the type of skill I have. Currently, my stats and skills are lopsided towards favoring stealth and speed, and I think I like it this way. If I try to build more towards a well-rounded build now, focusing on things like durability and such, I’ll lower my specialized ability.
In the long run, it might be better to try to have an even profile with a bit of a specialization, but right now, what I’m primarily focused on is avoiding Jarreth and whoever he might be working with. I’m not so naive as to believe that he’s here alone. He knows I’m on this train, and if he has any communication with his squad, they’ll probably join as well.
And the wall is large. There is every possibility that he calls in more people now that he presumably has proof that I’ve killed one of them. I continue looking out the window as I think, looking for any more familiar faces. There were a fair few others that boarded the train with me—the car I’m in can probably hold a hundred people, and it’s a little under half-full, though the majority of the guests were on here already. How many of those are Jarreth’s accomplices?
The seat next to me is still empty. Hopefully it stays that way.
As time passes, I find myself itching for the train to move, but it stays obstinately still as the minutes tick by.
I return to looking at my skills.
Lessened Bleed is still nearly entirely useless, since I can use Shape Blood to do something similar. I think of taking Blood Surge, but I’m still not quite comfortable with using a skill that consumes the primary source of strength I have. It’s looking like it’s down to that or Venomous Blood.
Venomous Blood (Common)
Tier: Bronze
Level: 1
Your blood is a weak venom. When outside of your body, it will remain venomous for 1 minute.
Okay, that’s worse than I thought it would be. If it had something actually useful that I could use in conjunction with Shape Blood, I would have a reason to take it. As it is, though, I discard it. That requires me to actually penetrate my victims’ skin with my blood-spears, and I haven’t been consistently able to do.
Alright. Blood Surge it is. It’s a bit of an uncomfortable skill, but I don’t actually need to use it. I can just let it sit there for the time being. There’s a couple skills like Woundshape that I haven’t remembered to use yet—this can go with them.
New skill unlocked: Blood Surge
Draw on your internal strength. For five minutes per hour, you may boost your speed and strength by 50%. Consumes your blood as well as your mana.
Blood Affinity advanced to stage 2!
The second message catches me off guard. I check my stats and sure enough, the “Blood” tag under Magic Affinities has increased to two. The message refuses to tell me what this actually does, and I don’t feel any different, so I put it aside for now.
I have another skill to take.
Looks like it’s between Phantom Limb, Disguise Self, and Blood Detonation.
I… think the system decided I was eligible for the first one because I was missing a hand.
Okay, the first skill I pick isn’t even up to question.
New skill unlocked: Disguise Self
You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until dismissed. You may use this skill up to once per day.
A quick examination of the skill itself shows that it’s a Rare one. No wonder. That’s a really powerful effect.
I use it immediately. I don’t want to stand out, and there’s every possibility that Alder, helpful bastard that he is, provided the description of the new face I’m wearing. Even though I have both hands back, there’s a non-zero chance he or someoen else recognizes my face.
Speaking of someone else…
As I look around in the train car discretely, trying to find inspiration for unassuming features that I can mimic, I catch a glimpse of more people wearing uniforms stepping onto the platform. Not the fare-collector uniform, not exactly, but it’s pretty similar. There’s seven of them, all told, and they have a brief chat with some of the train staff before entering.
Two of them enter my car. I intentionally took a seat far from the entrance, but I can’t help it but tense when I see them in the reflection of the window.
Alright. I drop Temporary Shape Self, and for a moment, I stare into my own red eyes before I activate Disguise Self. I wince as I feel the telltale sensation of magic power being expended by the bucketful as I turn it on, but it subsides soon after. The initial loss hits me harder than even Bloodstep, but afterwards it costs me less to maintain than Temporary Shape Self. Still, I’m going to need some time to recover from it.
Before the Temporary Shape Self fully fades away, I replace parts of it with Disguise Self. I change the shade of my hair just a bit, tinging it lighter—not enough for anyone who might be looking to notice, but perhaps enough to throw off perception of me.
Disguise Self does give me a few more options than my other skill does—presumably, Temporary Shape Self is something I can use in combat while this is the actual disguise skill. I change my eyes from their burning red to a mellow shade of brown, soften certain features in my face, and bring my skin tone from the nearly-porcelain white I copied from Marie Jade to a more reasonable peach tone.
Crucially, it also affects my clothes. The green shift and coat I’ve got on are pretty distinctive, and changing them to seem more of a plain, lifeless grey is something well within the purview of my new skill.
The two uniforms in my car haven’t been idle. With Disguise Self now in place, sapping my magic power, I watch them slowly approach, asking questions to every person they pass. It’ll be my turn soon.
I can’t actually understand what they’re saying. Are they speaking in a language that’s not Common, or is that a skill? It could be either, honestly.
I take a deep breath, then rest my chin on one hand, using Acting to assist me in wistfully looking out the window.
Before long, it’s my turn.
The first thing the man says to me isn’t in Common. His voice comes out harshly, the syllables grating over each other.
“Pardon?” I ask, turning away from the window. “Are you sitting here?”
“Apologies,” he says. “Adcol is rather common around these parts.”
What
I meet his eyes, scanning him surreptitiously as I do.
The uniform’s different. Whereas Jarreth was wearing the same uniform as the fare collectors, these two—a man and a woman—have a special patch above their chests, marking them as official staff of the… damn it, I can’t read the symbols written on them. Given that there’s been no commotion, I assume it’s the proper uniform of the train company.
Actually, it’s possible that it’s not different from Jarreth’s. I assumed he was just wearing the fare collector clothes, but I was mostly focused on his face, not his dress.
“We’re looking for a girl,” the man says. “Her name is Evelyn, but it’s possible she’s giving a false one. Around this tall, missing a hand, wearing a green dress? Her mother’s been worried sick, looking for her.”
I crease my brow in sympathy, silently ecstatic that my disguise is working. “I’m sorry. I haven’t heard of an Evelyn. Nobody by that description, either. Did she get on here? I came on a couple stops ago.”
These people haven’t heard my voice, so I don’t need to bother changing it by much. I do make an effort to lower it just a little, just in case.
I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but the man seems to stare at me for longer than is necessary.
Note to self: maybe I should try pushing the limits of Disguise Self to see if I can put on a male body. Even the thought of spending time as a male feels a little off to me, but it would help me be more certain whether people’s gazes linger because they like looking at me or if they’re suspicious.
Eventually, the woman nudges the still-staring man.
“Sorry to bother you, miss,” she says, and they walk on.
That was easier than expected.
I don’t press my luck. I highly doubt they went to all the trouble of getting uniforms just to ask a couple of questions and leave.
Sure enough, when the train jostles me as it starts to chug away from the platform, the two uniformed personnel that I know are guards from the wall continue patrolling the train car. I’m not sure what they’re looking for, but it looks like I’m not going to be able to drop Disguise Self at any point.
No point in practicing skills on the train, either, since that’ll give me away too easily. Instead, I watch the landscape creep by under the light of the twin moons. We’re moving at a pretty decent clip, and soon enough the heavily wooded area gives way to sparser vegetation over fields.
Ten minutes pass, then twenty. A number of people are chatting quietly, and I prick my ears to listen in, but nothing of import is being discussed. The two guards don’t say much more after they fail to find me on their initial sweep.
“Now arriving at Outpost 16,” a voice drones through an electronic speaker. The train slows.
Not many people get off at Outpost 16, which apparently is a town even smaller than 17 built atop a grassy knoll that looks like it leads into a few caves further down the road, and even fewer get on.
The hours pass by, and slowly, I begin to relax. Disguise Self is still sapping my magic power away, but I’m fully healed and I’m not going to run out of magic anytime soon.
I don’t sleep. That would provide an opportunity for my skill to end on its own. Instead, I watch as grassy fields turn to arid desert, humid jungle, red rocky canyons, and a dozen other biomes as we pass by more and more Outposts. From 16, we go to 15, then 14, then 13. We skip 12, for some reason, then stop once more at 11.
Outpost 10 is the first stop where more people get on than get off. The pink edges of the sun are slowly creeping out over the horizon as we slow to a stop, and I take in the mountainous ranges that we’ve stopped in the middle.
Over a dozen people spill onto my car alone, splashes of color and bits of conversation blending into one another as they tromp on.
The guards are especially alert during these stops, I notice. They must be watching to see if they can spot me jumping off.
I suppose I could. I could try to make my way out through the distraction of the crowd, make a life for myself at one of these outposts, but I have bigger aspirations.
As such, I choose to instead affect a vague interest in those around me before going back to staring out the window. So far, it’s been a surefire way of making me look boring enough to be left alone.
Except this time, I hear the telltale rustling of clothes against cushioned wood and the ever-so-slight change in temperature as another human slides onto the seat next to me.
I do my new partner the courtesy of turning to look at them—at her, apparently.
Half-elf.
The word crosses my mind before I can even fully process her features, but as my conscious mind catches up to my instincts, I see the telltale marks of it. Her two vestigial fangs where a true elf would have four and a human would have zero, the difference in her facial structure, the faint ethereal glow her long white hair seems to emit where the sun bounces off it.
I study her briefly. Her eyes are a bright, piercing blue, her skin a shade or two darker than mine. She wears impractical clothing—most of the others that entered the train are clad in armor or practical cloaks, but she wears a light yellow sundress with pink accents. Not clothes I’d expect someone in a small town like the outposts to have, let alone use for a train ride.
The half-elf woman stares back at me, not hiding the naked interest in her expression.
I commit her body to memory. I like the idea of looking like her, at least for a time. If I need to pull Disguise Self again at some point, I want to borrow some of her beauty.
“Sapphire,” she says simply, indicating herself with long slender fingers. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“And you,” I say, not bothering to fake a name of my own.
“It’s a shame,” Sapphire muses, still staring at me. I’m growing a touch uncomfortable now, and the sensation increases as she leans in towards me. “I do wish I could see your true face.”
A jolt of adrenaline runs through my veins, but a quick check of the car around us reveals that nobody’s heard her—and if they have, nobody cares. The guards are too busy checking every single person that’s getting off here. Outpost 10 must be a busy one.
“What?” I ask, feigning confusion with Acting. “Repeat that?”
“You don’t need to hide,” she says, a too-wide grin spreading across her face. She leans in a little further. “Nobody else can hear me.”
Is she using a skill? She could just be lying to me.
Either way, I prepare my options. If she’s got hostile intentions, I might need to run, revealing myself in front of all these guards.
Still, there’s a chance I can get out of this without her on my back.
“Excuse me,” I say, beginning to stand. “I’d rather not be harassed on my journey, thank you.”
Her hand catches me as I start to rise, surprising strength forcing me back into my seat. I let her push me down—I could probably break through her grip with my strength, but I don’t want to cause a commotion and draw attention to myself.
“Sit down, Evelyn,” she says, her unnervingly beautiful smile growing even wider. “I can smell the demon in you.”
