Varewulf Sorry for the sudden absence. I took a bit of a vacation, where I did nothing useful, made poor life decisions, and hopefully got some things out of my system. Barely glanced at a text document.
I hadn't intended for it to last this long. I had at first thought two weeks, but I felt so spent I needed more recovery time. And now I need to remember how to write... I'll use my buffer to at least put up one chapter a week here until I get back into the groove of it, and then I'll go back to matching how often I post on AO3.
And since it's been a while I'll share the skill list again for those who need a refresher.
Sara floated around in the spring while looking at her new information boxes. She was practising going through them with mental commands only. Which was definitely not because she didn't want to move her paws, but because it could be a useful thing to know some day. It went a little slower than usual as a result, but she didn't feel like she was in a rush
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 28 -> 29 (30) ]
[ HP: 198/198 -> 209/209 +17 (202/202 +16) | SP: 205/205 -> 216/216 +20 (206/206 +17) |
MP: 201/201 -> 217/217 +29 (199/199 +21) ]
[ VIT: 82 -> 89 +17 (80 +16) | END: 94 -> 101 +20 (87 +17) ]
[ STR: 88 -> 95 +19 (74 + 14) | DEF: 68 -> 74 +18 (56 +14) ]
[ AGI: 113 -> 121 +24 (108 +21) | DEX: 79 -> 86 +17 (66 +13) ]
[ INT: 115 -> 124 +24 (105 +21) | WIS: 109 -> 118 +29 (109 +21) ]
[ LUK: 173 -> 184 +36 (60 +12) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 12 -> 16 ]
There weren't really any surprises about the level ups any longer. She just checked them out of habit. It was starting to stand out how much she was underselling herself. Mainly due to getting All Attributes Up (Medium). That had really messed up what little math she had bothered to do.
On the one hand she recognised the value of people underestimating her in a fight, because it could gain her an advantage, but since she was becoming somewhat of a public figure (which she ultimately couldn't blame on anyone but herself) her image was also important. It might be time to raise her fake stats. She didn't want to put them above her real stats, but not leave them too far behind either. It would probably help her future Trial challengers if her revealed stats were close to her true ones.
She had the information she needed to predict what her stats were going to be at level 30, and she had three more levels of All Attributes to go. She had no idea what they were going to look like after her evolution, but based on her current information it seemed safe to bump all fake stats up by 15, and still be below estimate. After doing that she'd look over the numbers, and see if any of them needed further adjustment, be it up, or down.
Let's see... Vitality is a bit high compared to my real stat distribution, but it's still going to be overshadowed when I'm at level 30 with max All Attributes. Even if I'm able to evolve that skill, I probably shouldn't since it's one I can't really afford to hide. If I can fake it to still look like Medium, that's a different issue... I can take that up with mother later. That sounds like an issue Wanderers might also run into. Maybe.
I could probably safely up them by 20, but I also worry about overshadowing the other bosses too much. Maybe it would be possible to ask for a power boost for those two as well, but the developers might not like that. I'm sure mother already has a bit of a tightrope to walk.
As for HP, SP, and MP... I think I'll just do +10 for the first two, but actually bump MP up by 20. That reflects my real distribution better.
All... right... that should do it.
She looked at her handiwork. That looked more impressive, at least.
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 29 (30) ]
[ HP: 209/209 +17 (212/212 +19) | SP: 216/216 +20 (216/216 +20) |
MP: 217/217 +29 (219/219 +24) ]
[ VIT: 89 +17 (95 +19) | END: 101 +20 (102 +20) ]
[ STR: 95 +19 (89 + 17) | DEF: 74 +18 (71 +17) ]
[ AGI: 121 +24 (123 +24) | DEX: 86 +17 (81 +16) ]
[ INT: 124 +24 (120 +24) | WIS: 118 +29 (124 +24) ]
[ LUK: 184 +36 (75 +15) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 16 ]
It was something that would probably need more adjustment in the future, but would do for now.
As for her skills, after three deer, and two bears, a bunch of things had gone up. She had tried to mix things up to get a good spread, but had still fallen back on using some more than others. It would be great if she could avoid the splash damage from spells from hurting her wolves. Water Jet not having any splash made it easy to use, and she could work around the small radius from the bolt and arrow spells to still land hits with little risk, but Fireball was out except in special circumstances.
It's fine for stuff like Arcane Blast, Stomp, and even Mass Thorn Bind. Mother explained it being because the system recognises splash damage, and other area effects differently. Self-centred offensive AoEs hitting allies was a big problem in beta, so they changed it for full release, but they deemed splash effects to be fine because they can be aimed, and are disabled in parties anyway. Which doesn't help me since I can't form, or join parties. I get that it's based on old-school game design ideas, which aren't always bad, but some things were phased out for good reason.
Maybe that was another thing she could get Aina to file a ticket about. Surely that had to bother more people than just herself.
Among her various skill up notices, she found two new level max notifications.
[ Water Jet Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Poison Enchant Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Water Jet (Active): You fire a rapid jet with water element property that inflicts piercing damage. Hard to aim. Works well underwater. Damage value: (1.1+(0.04*skill level))*magic power. +60% damage when striking a vital point. Defence piercing: +(10+(1*skill level))%. Cost: 4 MP. Cast time: 2 seconds. Refresh: 3 seconds.
Max level bonus: Penetrates deeper. Projectile length +50%. Effective range +50%. ]
[ Poison Enchant (Active): You enhance a target's physical attacks with nature element property for 10 seconds. Duration increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Base damage: +(5+(1.5*skill level))%. 25% chance per strike to inflict Poison(?) status for 10 seconds. Poison damage: (3+(0.5*skill level)) HP every 2 seconds Cost: 5 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds.
Max level bonus: Poison upgraded to Strong Poison. Poison damage doubled. Poison duration +4 seconds. ]
Sara had a strong impression that they were positioning the Water Jet line of spells as some sort of sniper ability. There were probably other elements that got equivalent spells if it suited them. Ice was a likely candidate.
Effective range on spells worked mainly in two different ways. Regular projectile spells like the bolt, and arrow types could go beyond their effective range, but they started to lose potency at that point, until eventually they fell apart completely. Explosion type spells like fireball didn't lose potency, but their trajectory started to drop once they went beyond a certain range, and would just crash into the ground. If your aim was good you could angle them to make them drop where you wanted, but not a lot of people invested time in learning how to do that. There were some special cases, for instance regarding spells that launched physical projectiles, or that just inflicted an effect instead of damage. Spells that were not projectile based had a fixed max range you could target within.
She had sort of expected there to be another evolution to Water Jet, but maybe she needed to reach a higher level first.
That Poison Enchant's upgrade focused entirely on the poisoning, and not strengthening the actual buff didn't entirely surprise her. Maybe it was the 25% proc that let them get away with such a big boost to the poison potency.
No new skills unlocked from any of that. There would probably be something at level 30, unless she had already snagged it via Skill Gain. A new Form sounded plausible. Beyond that she had zero guesses.
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl Max (Max) | Rend Lvl Max (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 7 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 7 -> 8 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 7 (Max) |
Water Jet Lvl 8 -> Max (Max) | Arcane Blast Lvl 9 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl Max (Max) |
Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) |
Mass Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) | Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Tree Form Lvl Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl Max |
Death From Above Lvl 9 | Solid Kick Lvl 3 | Back Attack Lvl 4 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 |
Pounce Lvl 5 | Shred Lvl 5 | Crush Lvl 1 | Smack Lvl 2 | Rock Shot Lvl 7 -> 9 | Lightning Arrow Lvl 1 -> 3 |
Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 2 | Thorn Barricade Lvl 1 | Poison Enchant Lvl 8 -> Max |
Water Bubble Lvl 1 | Water Film Lvl 1 -> 3 | Earth Wall Lvl 1 -> 2 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 |
Taunt Lvl 1 | Vanish Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 13 -> 17 | Extrasensory Perception | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl Max (Max) |
Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) | Enhanced Movement | Insulation Lvl Max (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl Max (Max) |
Leadership Lvl Max (Max) | Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 4 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Lvl Max |
Spider Silk Lvl Max | Thread Manipulation Lvl 5 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 -> 7 |
Dive Lvl 1 | Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 | Ranged Attacks Up Lvl 1 | Copy Cast Lvl Max |
Fire Element Up Lvl 9 | Water Element Up Lvl 5 -> 7 | Poison Immunity | Heavy Immunity (New) |
Fire Resistance Lvl 6 | Dark Resistance Lvl 1 -> Max | All Regen (Medium) Lvl 1 -> 3 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl Max (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Beastkin, Goblin, Elf, Human, Troll |
Life Magic Lvl 9 | Decryption Lvl 1 | Double Skill Experience (Hidden) | Skill Gain (Hidden)]
[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]
[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking |
Power Shot | Glide | Disarm Trap | Skewer | Spear Expertise | Cooking | Slash | Blacksmithing | Sweep |
Medium Armour Expertise | Snipe | Fire | Tailoring | Sword Expertise | Lockpick | Alchemy ]
[ Skill points: 16 -> 18 ]
No drastic changes to speak of. She had tested out a couple of her new skills that she hadn't been able to use in the raid. Water Film didn't make a ton of difference in melee focused fights, but it hadn't done any harm to use it either. Earth Wall had been funny, but not of much use in those kinds of engagements. It seemed more helpful in blocking a large attack, or in scenarios where crowd control was important.
Lightning Arrow was very satisfying, but in the end it was just another spell. She was sure it was going to be useful in some situations to have access to another element, but most of the time it felt more useful to inflict Poison, and Slow than to spend time trying to work in more status effects. Still, she tried to use her spells fairly evenly just to level all of them if it was a reasonable option. She didn't have to always focus on what was most effective. Having fun was also important.
She drifted around in the spring for quite a while, losing track of time, and after she got out she made one more round of the forest to check on the state of things before going to bed. She was told that the road workers had gone back for the day, with no major incidents occurring. Depending on how far they got the next day, it was possible they wouldn't run into much trouble then either. Though maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give the Adventurers something to do.
* * *
The next morning it was raining, though she could tell it was going to end around sunrise. That probably meant the air was going to get a bit muggy throughout the morning, and maybe into the afternoon, but that wasn't exactly unusual for summer weather.
Regardless she had one small goal to achieve before the sun rose. Max out Death From Above, and Arcane Blast. It shouldn't take more than a couple of dives for the former, and a few blasts for the latter. As usual it was easiest to go after the deer if she actually wanted experience, but their levels didn't really matter that much when all she was after was skill experience. Of course she still needed character experience, but she wasn't going to go out of her way to look for higher level deer.
After taking out one at level 22, and another at level 24, the task was fulfilled. Since the fights hadn't been particularly stressful (they weren't even Noble Deer) she had focused on melee, and played around with skills she hadn't gotten to use much. For instance trying out Vanish, which had really confused her opponent, and seeing what it was like to use Poison Cloud at point blank range since she was immune to it. It worked pretty much as she had imagined, but also made it a little harder to see. She had even tested out Taunt, though in a one on one it didn't really make a difference. The deer had looked a little more annoyed, and that was it.
Just in general she thought it was important to be familiar with what she had in her arsenal, and she had finally tried out Crush. Though she had been careful about where she aimed it. It was basically just a stronger bite attack, but even if she wasn't interested in breaking bones, she could see the extra force being helpful with breaking through thick skins, scales, or armour. Trying to crush a rock with her teeth was probably a little too ambitious, and a bad idea.
Most importantly she got her two targeted skills to max.
[ Death From Above Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill unlocked: Arcane Missile. 2 skill points gained. ]
[ Death From Above (Active): You perform an attack from above, pouncing on a target for increased damage. Base value: (1.2+(0.05*skill level))*attack power. Damage further increases based on height, and your mass. Increased critical hit chance if undetected. Effect increases with skill level. Cost: 3 SP. Refresh: 10 seconds.
Max level bonus: You receive less recoil damage when successfully hitting a target, and inflict Stun(?) status for at least 3 seconds. Duration increases with heavier impacts. ]
[ Arcane Blast (Active): You push surrounding enemies away from yourself, and deal light damage to them. No element property. Damage value: (0.1+(0.01*skill level))*magic power. Radius: 2 metres. Radius, and push force increase with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Cost: 5 MP. Refresh: 10 seconds.
Max level bonus: Push force +25%. You are able to deflect projectiles if you time it correctly. ]
The max bonus for DFA was neat, but considering how little she used the skill normally it probably wouldn't make a big difference. Then again, she had used it during the raid, so maybe she would find more opportunities.
Arcane Blast seemed like a very good upgrade. It should certainly cause even more havoc when she fought groups. And she had unlocked a new spell.
[ Arcane Missile (Active): You fire a magic missile with no element property that homes in on a target. Very hard to dodge. Damage value: (0.7+(0.01*skill level))*magic power. Projectile manoeuvrability, and homing ability increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Cost: 2 MP. Cast time: 2 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 2 skill points. ]
Another staple RPG spell. Cheap, quick to cast, and the homing meant you didn't have to worry much about aiming, but in exchange it was not very powerful. Still, if she Copy Cast this with the max amount of copies it would probably look very impressive. It would be relatively fast to charge, and not cost a ton of MP either.
She had seen some of the raiders use it during their fight, but she hadn't been sure what it was at the time. It was probably a pretty common caster spell. She wasn't certain how much use she'd find for it, since she'd gotten pretty good at aiming, but it was probably better to have it. While there was an amount of auto-aim provided by the system, projectiles would typically fly straight in the direction you launched them, and could be dodged.
[ Skill Purchased: Arcane Missile. ]
It was possible she'd come up against someone or something so fast that they were hard to keep track of. Even if it hit for less damage than other spells, not hitting at all did zero damage. And the more she thought about it, the more enamoured she became with the idea of launching a bunch of these into the sky, and letting them rain down on her opponents.
There were probably more efficient ways to spend her time and MP, but she imagined it had to be an impressive sight. Like a meteor shower, maybe. A mass of purplish bolts falling from the sky.
* * *
The rain indeed ended around the time the sun came over the horizon, which cast a rainbow over the forest. It was very impressive, but unless someone could climb into the treetops like Sara, they probably wouldn't get a very good look at it.
About an hour past sunrise a raven showed up to tell her that she had a visitor. It was Mirielle again, and Sara rushed over to meet her.
"Good morning, Sara," Mirielle said.
"Good morning, Mirielle," Sara wrote in response after she was in place in Tree Form. She quickly used Identify to check whether Mirielle had evolved, or rather classed up now that she was level 30, but she was still listed as a Priest. Perhaps there were some special requirements to meet, or a quest to complete.
"I hope you are well," Mirielle said, which was a little odd since it was less than a day since they'd seen each other.
"Yes, thank you. And you?" Sara still decided to return the courtesy.
"I'm fine. I'm good. Yes... I... uh..." Mirielle was obviously stalling, but wasn't able to go for long before she caved. "I come bearing news."
"About the trial?" Sara guessed.
"Yes. They have more or less agreed to your terms, but..." Mirielle hesitated, then sighed. "There is a condition."
"What condition?"
"I don't think you'll like it."
"You should still tell me, so I can judge for myself," Sara insisted.
"You're right..." Mirielle looked at her feet for a moment, before looking up at Sara. "They want you to come to Komeron to write the document. In public."
She was right. Sara didn't like it.
"Can't they just have witnesses come outside of the city?" she wrote.
"They told me that's unacceptable. Anyone important enough to serve as a witness to this would not come all the way out to this glade," Mirielle said with an apologetic tone.
"What about having it out in Ethuun?" Sara wrote.
"I suggested the same, but was told it has to be in the city, or they won't agree to it," Mirielle replied.
"I don't want to," Sara wrote. Sure, she had fantasised about visiting the city, but that fantasy included her going there in the guise of a Resident. Not being put on public display like this. "I'm not some zoo animal they can parade around as they like."
"Zoo?" Mirielle looked puzzled. "Uh, I guess that's not important right now. I understand how you feel, and Bishop Luneria surmised much as you have that they want to show you off. Her theory is that because most of the city don't yet recognise you, and there are many rumours abound, the people up top want to show that you're real, and that you are on our side by willingly walking into the elven capital without hostile intent."
Sara wasn't sure if her grimace was visible on a wooden face.
"I think she's probably right," Mirielle continued. "And I think it's also possible that some of those higher ups, like the Archbishop, and the First Princess want to get a look at you themselves, since they can't simply leave the city to meet you."
Sara wasn't convinced this was necessary. "I really don't want to," she wrote, even though she was aware it probably sounded childish. "I'm nervous about the very idea of this, Mirielle," she admitted. Especially if royalty were going to be watching. "What if I screw up?"
"I would be too..." Mirielle smiled. "But for what it's worth, I'm willing to be by your side, if you want me to. I think you can ask for that much, at least. And they will probably want a Druid on hand for quick communication, so I can request that they assign Laroni. I don't think they're cruel enough to not let you have those you already know close to you."
That did make sense to Sara, and it would be a relief to have those two close, but she still didn't like this whole setup.
"Are we at least doing it inside somewhere?" Sara asked.
"They want to do it at the foot of Manarsil. That's the large tree at the centre of the city. It's our most revered spirit tree, and what the capital was founded around. I think they want to show that your presence is blessed by the spirits," Mirielle explained. "And you need ground you can set root in, right?"
Sara couldn't really argue that last point. "What if the spirits don't like me?" While she was looking for reasons to get out of this, it was still a valid concern to her. As far as she knew she had never met one, so it was entirely possible they hated her.
"I highly doubt that," Mirielle said with much more confidence than Sara could muster. "Even if you were not sent by the Moon Goddess, it was still a kind god who gave you life in this world. I would be shocked if the spirits looked down on someone like that."
Sara couldn't remember describing Norax as 'kind', but it probably wasn't wrong. Even if she assumed their stated motives weren't the whole truth, they had still given her a second chance.
"What if someone attacks me?" Sara wrote next. She was going to be weaker outside of Nyolund, and all on her own it probably wouldn't be a fun fight if a bunch of people decided to pile onto her.
"You will be given bodyguards from the Palace Guard itself. It would be hard for anyone to manage to hurt you," Mirielle replied.
Sara's posture sagged a little. "I never asked for this," she wrote after a while.
"I sympathise," Mirielle said. "But you kinda did. You're the one who wanted to officially declare this trial, right?"
"Yes," Sara had to admit, even though she didn't like it. "But I didn't think it would turn out this way. When do they want this to happen?"
Mirielle looked away, then muttered. "Today. At noon."
[ Event Quest ]
[ Announce The Trial Of The Guardian Beast ]
[ The Hanoleav Kingdom has invited you to enter Komeron in order to announce, write, and sign your terms for the proposed Trial of the Guardian Beast in full view of the public.
Successful completion reward: The establishment of the Trial of the Guardian Beast. Increased renown.
Penalty for failing or declining: The proposal for the Trial will be rejected. ]
[ Accept ] [ Decline ]
Sara ignored the popup for now, since her hearing had easily picked up on Mirielle's words no matter how quiet they were. "So soon? No. Ask them to postpone it. I need more time to prepare," she wrote. Both mentally, and to think of what exactly she should write. Or maybe they had a pre-written document for her that she just had to sign. But she needed to prepare just in case!
"I could..." Mirielle hesitated. "But you want to help those Adventurers, right? At least that's what Bishop Luneria told me. And they won't be pardoned until you do this. It even felt like she was hinting they might not do it at all if you refused to show up today, but I don't think they would really be so bad as to essentially hold those people hostage. I don't want to believe so, at least."
But it's a possibility, huh? Sara thought as she sighed internally. Regardless I do feel bad that they were punished because of me, and I'd like to clear things up as quickly as possible. So I am technically getting what I want, it's just... there's an old saying about a monkey paw, if I recall correctly. Getting your wish, but in a way you don't want it.
Sara tapped her fingers against her trunk as she thought it over. Most of what Mirielle had said was probably close to the truth. Her higher Intuition level might give her an advantage there. Sara still felt that it was within her rights to ask for them to postpone this... ceremony. It was hard for her to accept their motives at face value. Even if it would leave the Wanderers out in the cold for another day or two.
The elves honestly seemed more invested in this alliance than Sara, who mainly thought it was a neat thing to do. If she dug her heels in, and threatened them with saying it could hurt their cooperation, they would need to at least negotiate their terms. It might be a little bratty, but she didn't feel that it was entirely unreasonable.
Whether it was worth it to act like that was a different matter. It would cause friction between them, and honestly she felt a little rubbed the wrong way already, but if she agreed to do this it would most certainly be seen as a great act of trust. Maybe she could even get them to agree they owe her a favour for this. Regardless it might be better to get it out of the was as early as possible.
She hit accept on the quest prompt before writing: "All right. Tell them I'll be there. Do I just walk up to the gates of the city?"
"Oh, no," Mirielle shook her head. "Your escorts will be waiting at the Hunting Post, and they will guide you into the city."
"The guards will escort me into the city? Why does that sound more like escorting a prisoner, than a VIP guest?" Sara wrote while grumbling internally.
"It's not like that! Honest!" Mirielle insisted. "Though I can understand why you would feel that way... while I don't think it's the intent from the Archbishop, or the First Princess, I'm sure some will see it as a demonstration that you can be controlled."
Sara had been thinking something similar, but it wasn't like she could change those people's minds by merely wishing for it. Whether or not the ceremony would change their thoughts was entirely up to them. All she could do was make the best, and most of it.
Mirielle suddenly hugged Sara's tree trunk. "It will be fine. I'll have your back, and the others who know you will also be present. You won't be alone," she said softly.
Sara couldn't really feel much physically from this hug, though the gesture was appreciated. She was also a little confused. She had thought Mirielle had just hugged her the day before in the heat of the moment, but was this now a barrier that had been lowered between them?
"Thank you, Mirielle," she wrote. "I have some preparations to do before this whole thing starts."
"Of course," Mirielle said with a smile. "Don't forget to show up at the Hunting Post ahead of time. They want to start at Manarsil at noon, so you'll need time to move all the way there."
"How long does it take to walk from there, to the city?" Sara asked.
"Hm..." Mirielle thought for a moment. "Since you have to get all the way to the tree, I would say about an hour, maybe a little more. I know you can run it in much less, but you'll have to match your escorts, and there will probably be a crowd in the city. None of us will have ever seen anything like this before, after all." She smiled.
Sara was starting to feel some regrets already, but she just had to bury them. "Okay. See you later, Mirielle," she wrote.
"Yes. Good luck, Sara," Mirielle said in an encouraging tone.
Varewulf Sorry for the sudden absence. I took a bit of a vacation, where I did nothing useful, made poor life decisions, and hopefully got some things out of my system. Barely glanced at a text document.
I hadn't intended for it to last this long. I had at first thought two weeks, but I felt so spent I needed more recovery time. And now I need to remember how to write... I'll use my buffer to at least put up one chapter a week here until I get back into the groove of it, and then I'll go back to matching how often I post on AO3.
And since it's been a while I'll share the skill list again for those who need a refresher.
Sara floated around in the spring while looking at her new information boxes. She was practising going through them with mental commands only. Which was definitely not because she didn't want to move her paws, but because it could be a useful thing to know some day. It went a little slower than usual as a result, but she didn't feel like she was in a rush
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 28 -> 29 (30) ]
[ HP: 198/198 -> 209/209 +17 (202/202 +16) | SP: 205/205 -> 216/216 +20 (206/206 +17) |
MP: 201/201 -> 217/217 +29 (199/199 +21) ]
[ VIT: 82 -> 89 +17 (80 +16) | END: 94 -> 101 +20 (87 +17) ]
[ STR: 88 -> 95 +19 (74 + 14) | DEF: 68 -> 74 +18 (56 +14) ]
[ AGI: 113 -> 121 +24 (108 +21) | DEX: 79 -> 86 +17 (66 +13) ]
[ INT: 115 -> 124 +24 (105 +21) | WIS: 109 -> 118 +29 (109 +21) ]
[ LUK: 173 -> 184 +36 (60 +12) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 12 -> 16 ]
There weren't really any surprises about the level ups any longer. She just checked them out of habit. It was starting to stand out how much she was underselling herself. Mainly due to getting All Attributes Up (Medium). That had really messed up what little math she had bothered to do.
On the one hand she recognised the value of people underestimating her in a fight, because it could gain her an advantage, but since she was becoming somewhat of a public figure (which she ultimately couldn't blame on anyone but herself) her image was also important. It might be time to raise her fake stats. She didn't want to put them above her real stats, but not leave them too far behind either. It would probably help her future Trial challengers if her revealed stats were close to her true ones.
She had the information she needed to predict what her stats were going to be at level 30, and she had three more levels of All Attributes to go. She had no idea what they were going to look like after her evolution, but based on her current information it seemed safe to bump all fake stats up by 15, and still be below estimate. After doing that she'd look over the numbers, and see if any of them needed further adjustment, be it up, or down.
Let's see... Vitality is a bit high compared to my real stat distribution, but it's still going to be overshadowed when I'm at level 30 with max All Attributes. Even if I'm able to evolve that skill, I probably shouldn't since it's one I can't really afford to hide. If I can fake it to still look like Medium, that's a different issue... I can take that up with mother later. That sounds like an issue Wanderers might also run into. Maybe.
I could probably safely up them by 20, but I also worry about overshadowing the other bosses too much. Maybe it would be possible to ask for a power boost for those two as well, but the developers might not like that. I'm sure mother already has a bit of a tightrope to walk.
As for HP, SP, and MP... I think I'll just do +10 for the first two, but actually bump MP up by 20. That reflects my real distribution better.
All... right... that should do it.
She looked at her handiwork. That looked more impressive, at least.
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 29 (30) ]
[ HP: 209/209 +17 (212/212 +19) | SP: 216/216 +20 (216/216 +20) |
MP: 217/217 +29 (219/219 +24) ]
[ VIT: 89 +17 (95 +19) | END: 101 +20 (102 +20) ]
[ STR: 95 +19 (89 + 17) | DEF: 74 +18 (71 +17) ]
[ AGI: 121 +24 (123 +24) | DEX: 86 +17 (81 +16) ]
[ INT: 124 +24 (120 +24) | WIS: 118 +29 (124 +24) ]
[ LUK: 184 +36 (75 +15) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 16 ]
It was something that would probably need more adjustment in the future, but would do for now.
As for her skills, after three deer, and two bears, a bunch of things had gone up. She had tried to mix things up to get a good spread, but had still fallen back on using some more than others. It would be great if she could avoid the splash damage from spells from hurting her wolves. Water Jet not having any splash made it easy to use, and she could work around the small radius from the bolt and arrow spells to still land hits with little risk, but Fireball was out except in special circumstances.
It's fine for stuff like Arcane Blast, Stomp, and even Mass Thorn Bind. Mother explained it being because the system recognises splash damage, and other area effects differently. Self-centred offensive AoEs hitting allies was a big problem in beta, so they changed it for full release, but they deemed splash effects to be fine because they can be aimed, and are disabled in parties anyway. Which doesn't help me since I can't form, or join parties. I get that it's based on old-school game design ideas, which aren't always bad, but some things were phased out for good reason.
Maybe that was another thing she could get Aina to file a ticket about. Surely that had to bother more people than just herself.
Among her various skill up notices, she found two new level max notifications.
[ Water Jet Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Poison Enchant Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Water Jet (Active): You fire a rapid jet with water element property that inflicts piercing damage. Hard to aim. Works well underwater. Damage value: (1.1+(0.04*skill level))*magic power. +60% damage when striking a vital point. Defence piercing: +(10+(1*skill level))%. Cost: 4 MP. Cast time: 2 seconds. Refresh: 3 seconds.
Max level bonus: Penetrates deeper. Projectile length +50%. Effective range +50%. ]
[ Poison Enchant (Active): You enhance a target's physical attacks with nature element property for 10 seconds. Duration increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Base damage: +(5+(1.5*skill level))%. 25% chance per strike to inflict Poison(?) status for 10 seconds. Poison damage: (3+(0.5*skill level)) HP every 2 seconds Cost: 5 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds.
Max level bonus: Poison upgraded to Strong Poison. Poison damage doubled. Poison duration +4 seconds. ]
Sara had a strong impression that they were positioning the Water Jet line of spells as some sort of sniper ability. There were probably other elements that got equivalent spells if it suited them. Ice was a likely candidate.
Effective range on spells worked mainly in two different ways. Regular projectile spells like the bolt, and arrow types could go beyond their effective range, but they started to lose potency at that point, until eventually they fell apart completely. Explosion type spells like fireball didn't lose potency, but their trajectory started to drop once they went beyond a certain range, and would just crash into the ground. If your aim was good you could angle them to make them drop where you wanted, but not a lot of people invested time in learning how to do that. There were some special cases, for instance regarding spells that launched physical projectiles, or that just inflicted an effect instead of damage. Spells that were not projectile based had a fixed max range you could target within.
She had sort of expected there to be another evolution to Water Jet, but maybe she needed to reach a higher level first.
That Poison Enchant's upgrade focused entirely on the poisoning, and not strengthening the actual buff didn't entirely surprise her. Maybe it was the 25% proc that let them get away with such a big boost to the poison potency.
No new skills unlocked from any of that. There would probably be something at level 30, unless she had already snagged it via Skill Gain. A new Form sounded plausible. Beyond that she had zero guesses.
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl Max (Max) | Rend Lvl Max (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 7 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 7 -> 8 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 7 (Max) |
Water Jet Lvl 8 -> Max (Max) | Arcane Blast Lvl 9 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl Max (Max) |
Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 7 -> 9 (Max) | Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) |
Mass Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) | Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Tree Form Lvl Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl Max |
Death From Above Lvl 9 | Solid Kick Lvl 3 | Back Attack Lvl 4 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 |
Pounce Lvl 5 | Shred Lvl 5 | Crush Lvl 1 | Smack Lvl 2 | Rock Shot Lvl 7 -> 9 | Lightning Arrow Lvl 1 -> 3 |
Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 2 | Thorn Barricade Lvl 1 | Poison Enchant Lvl 8 -> Max |
Water Bubble Lvl 1 | Water Film Lvl 1 -> 3 | Earth Wall Lvl 1 -> 2 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 |
Taunt Lvl 1 | Vanish Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 13 -> 17 | Extrasensory Perception | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl Max (Max) |
Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) | Enhanced Movement | Insulation Lvl Max (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl Max (Max) |
Leadership Lvl Max (Max) | Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 4 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Lvl Max |
Spider Silk Lvl Max | Thread Manipulation Lvl 5 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 -> 7 |
Dive Lvl 1 | Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 | Ranged Attacks Up Lvl 1 | Copy Cast Lvl Max |
Fire Element Up Lvl 9 | Water Element Up Lvl 5 -> 7 | Poison Immunity | Heavy Immunity (New) |
Fire Resistance Lvl 6 | Dark Resistance Lvl 1 -> Max | All Regen (Medium) Lvl 1 -> 3 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl Max (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Beastkin, Goblin, Elf, Human, Troll |
Life Magic Lvl 9 | Decryption Lvl 1 | Double Skill Experience (Hidden) | Skill Gain (Hidden)]
[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]
[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking |
Power Shot | Glide | Disarm Trap | Skewer | Spear Expertise | Cooking | Slash | Blacksmithing | Sweep |
Medium Armour Expertise | Snipe | Fire | Tailoring | Sword Expertise | Lockpick | Alchemy ]
[ Skill points: 16 -> 18 ]
No drastic changes to speak of. She had tested out a couple of her new skills that she hadn't been able to use in the raid. Water Film didn't make a ton of difference in melee focused fights, but it hadn't done any harm to use it either. Earth Wall had been funny, but not of much use in those kinds of engagements. It seemed more helpful in blocking a large attack, or in scenarios where crowd control was important.
Lightning Arrow was very satisfying, but in the end it was just another spell. She was sure it was going to be useful in some situations to have access to another element, but most of the time it felt more useful to inflict Poison, and Slow than to spend time trying to work in more status effects. Still, she tried to use her spells fairly evenly just to level all of them if it was a reasonable option. She didn't have to always focus on what was most effective. Having fun was also important.
She drifted around in the spring for quite a while, losing track of time, and after she got out she made one more round of the forest to check on the state of things before going to bed. She was told that the road workers had gone back for the day, with no major incidents occurring. Depending on how far they got the next day, it was possible they wouldn't run into much trouble then either. Though maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give the Adventurers something to do.
* * *
The next morning it was raining, though she could tell it was going to end around sunrise. That probably meant the air was going to get a bit muggy throughout the morning, and maybe into the afternoon, but that wasn't exactly unusual for summer weather.
Regardless she had one small goal to achieve before the sun rose. Max out Death From Above, and Arcane Blast. It shouldn't take more than a couple of dives for the former, and a few blasts for the latter. As usual it was easiest to go after the deer if she actually wanted experience, but their levels didn't really matter that much when all she was after was skill experience. Of course she still needed character experience, but she wasn't going to go out of her way to look for higher level deer.
After taking out one at level 22, and another at level 24, the task was fulfilled. Since the fights hadn't been particularly stressful (they weren't even Noble Deer) she had focused on melee, and played around with skills she hadn't gotten to use much. For instance trying out Vanish, which had really confused her opponent, and seeing what it was like to use Poison Cloud at point blank range since she was immune to it. It worked pretty much as she had imagined, but also made it a little harder to see. She had even tested out Taunt, though in a one on one it didn't really make a difference. The deer had looked a little more annoyed, and that was it.
Just in general she thought it was important to be familiar with what she had in her arsenal, and she had finally tried out Crush. Though she had been careful about where she aimed it. It was basically just a stronger bite attack, but even if she wasn't interested in breaking bones, she could see the extra force being helpful with breaking through thick skins, scales, or armour. Trying to crush a rock with her teeth was probably a little too ambitious, and a bad idea.
Most importantly she got her two targeted skills to max.
[ Death From Above Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill unlocked: Arcane Missile. 2 skill points gained. ]
[ Death From Above (Active): You perform an attack from above, pouncing on a target for increased damage. Base value: (1.2+(0.05*skill level))*attack power. Damage further increases based on height, and your mass. Increased critical hit chance if undetected. Effect increases with skill level. Cost: 3 SP. Refresh: 10 seconds.
Max level bonus: You receive less recoil damage when successfully hitting a target, and inflict Stun(?) status for at least 3 seconds. Duration increases with heavier impacts. ]
[ Arcane Blast (Active): You push surrounding enemies away from yourself, and deal light damage to them. No element property. Damage value: (0.1+(0.01*skill level))*magic power. Radius: 2 metres. Radius, and push force increase with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Cost: 5 MP. Refresh: 10 seconds.
Max level bonus: Push force +25%. You are able to deflect projectiles if you time it correctly. ]
The max bonus for DFA was neat, but considering how little she used the skill normally it probably wouldn't make a big difference. Then again, she had used it during the raid, so maybe she would find more opportunities.
Arcane Blast seemed like a very good upgrade. It should certainly cause even more havoc when she fought groups. And she had unlocked a new spell.
[ Arcane Missile (Active): You fire a magic missile with no element property that homes in on a target. Very hard to dodge. Damage value: (0.7+(0.01*skill level))*magic power. Projectile manoeuvrability, and homing ability increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Cost: 2 MP. Cast time: 2 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 2 skill points. ]
Another staple RPG spell. Cheap, quick to cast, and the homing meant you didn't have to worry much about aiming, but in exchange it was not very powerful. Still, if she Copy Cast this with the max amount of copies it would probably look very impressive. It would be relatively fast to charge, and not cost a ton of MP either.
She had seen some of the raiders use it during their fight, but she hadn't been sure what it was at the time. It was probably a pretty common caster spell. She wasn't certain how much use she'd find for it, since she'd gotten pretty good at aiming, but it was probably better to have it. While there was an amount of auto-aim provided by the system, projectiles would typically fly straight in the direction you launched them, and could be dodged.
[ Skill Purchased: Arcane Missile. ]
It was possible she'd come up against someone or something so fast that they were hard to keep track of. Even if it hit for less damage than other spells, not hitting at all did zero damage. And the more she thought about it, the more enamoured she became with the idea of launching a bunch of these into the sky, and letting them rain down on her opponents.
There were probably more efficient ways to spend her time and MP, but she imagined it had to be an impressive sight. Like a meteor shower, maybe. A mass of purplish bolts falling from the sky.
* * *
The rain indeed ended around the time the sun came over the horizon, which cast a rainbow over the forest. It was very impressive, but unless someone could climb into the treetops like Sara, they probably wouldn't get a very good look at it.
About an hour past sunrise a raven showed up to tell her that she had a visitor. It was Mirielle again, and Sara rushed over to meet her.
"Good morning, Sara," Mirielle said.
"Good morning, Mirielle," Sara wrote in response after she was in place in Tree Form. She quickly used Identify to check whether Mirielle had evolved, or rather classed up now that she was level 30, but she was still listed as a Priest. Perhaps there were some special requirements to meet, or a quest to complete.
"I hope you are well," Mirielle said, which was a little odd since it was less than a day since they'd seen each other.
"Yes, thank you. And you?" Sara still decided to return the courtesy.
"I'm fine. I'm good. Yes... I... uh..." Mirielle was obviously stalling, but wasn't able to go for long before she caved. "I come bearing news."
"About the trial?" Sara guessed.
"Yes. They have more or less agreed to your terms, but..." Mirielle hesitated, then sighed. "There is a condition."
"What condition?"
"I don't think you'll like it."
"You should still tell me, so I can judge for myself," Sara insisted.
"You're right..." Mirielle looked at her feet for a moment, before looking up at Sara. "They want you to come to Komeron to write the document. In public."
She was right. Sara didn't like it.
"Can't they just have witnesses come outside of the city?" she wrote.
"They told me that's unacceptable. Anyone important enough to serve as a witness to this would not come all the way out to this glade," Mirielle said with an apologetic tone.
"What about having it out in Ethuun?" Sara wrote.
"I suggested the same, but was told it has to be in the city, or they won't agree to it," Mirielle replied.
"I don't want to," Sara wrote. Sure, she had fantasised about visiting the city, but that fantasy included her going there in the guise of a Resident. Not being put on public display like this. "I'm not some zoo animal they can parade around as they like."
"Zoo?" Mirielle looked puzzled. "Uh, I guess that's not important right now. I understand how you feel, and Bishop Luneria surmised much as you have that they want to show you off. Her theory is that because most of the city don't yet recognise you, and there are many rumours abound, the people up top want to show that you're real, and that you are on our side by willingly walking into the elven capital without hostile intent."
Sara wasn't sure if her grimace was visible on a wooden face.
"I think she's probably right," Mirielle continued. "And I think it's also possible that some of those higher ups, like the Archbishop, and the First Princess want to get a look at you themselves, since they can't simply leave the city to meet you."
Sara wasn't convinced this was necessary. "I really don't want to," she wrote, even though she was aware it probably sounded childish. "I'm nervous about the very idea of this, Mirielle," she admitted. Especially if royalty were going to be watching. "What if I screw up?"
"I would be too..." Mirielle smiled. "But for what it's worth, I'm willing to be by your side, if you want me to. I think you can ask for that much, at least. And they will probably want a Druid on hand for quick communication, so I can request that they assign Laroni. I don't think they're cruel enough to not let you have those you already know close to you."
That did make sense to Sara, and it would be a relief to have those two close, but she still didn't like this whole setup.
"Are we at least doing it inside somewhere?" Sara asked.
"They want to do it at the foot of Manarsil. That's the large tree at the centre of the city. It's our most revered spirit tree, and what the capital was founded around. I think they want to show that your presence is blessed by the spirits," Mirielle explained. "And you need ground you can set root in, right?"
Sara couldn't really argue that last point. "What if the spirits don't like me?" While she was looking for reasons to get out of this, it was still a valid concern to her. As far as she knew she had never met one, so it was entirely possible they hated her.
"I highly doubt that," Mirielle said with much more confidence than Sara could muster. "Even if you were not sent by the Moon Goddess, it was still a kind god who gave you life in this world. I would be shocked if the spirits looked down on someone like that."
Sara couldn't remember describing Norax as 'kind', but it probably wasn't wrong. Even if she assumed their stated motives weren't the whole truth, they had still given her a second chance.
"What if someone attacks me?" Sara wrote next. She was going to be weaker outside of Nyolund, and all on her own it probably wouldn't be a fun fight if a bunch of people decided to pile onto her.
"You will be given bodyguards from the Palace Guard itself. It would be hard for anyone to manage to hurt you," Mirielle replied.
Sara's posture sagged a little. "I never asked for this," she wrote after a while.
"I sympathise," Mirielle said. "But you kinda did. You're the one who wanted to officially declare this trial, right?"
"Yes," Sara had to admit, even though she didn't like it. "But I didn't think it would turn out this way. When do they want this to happen?"
Mirielle looked away, then muttered. "Today. At noon."
[ Event Quest ]
[ Announce The Trial Of The Guardian Beast ]
[ The Hanoleav Kingdom has invited you to enter Komeron in order to announce, write, and sign your terms for the proposed Trial of the Guardian Beast in full view of the public.
Successful completion reward: The establishment of the Trial of the Guardian Beast. Increased renown.
Penalty for failing or declining: The proposal for the Trial will be rejected. ]
[ Accept ] [ Decline ]
Sara ignored the popup for now, since her hearing had easily picked up on Mirielle's words no matter how quiet they were. "So soon? No. Ask them to postpone it. I need more time to prepare," she wrote. Both mentally, and to think of what exactly she should write. Or maybe they had a pre-written document for her that she just had to sign. But she needed to prepare just in case!
"I could..." Mirielle hesitated. "But you want to help those Adventurers, right? At least that's what Bishop Luneria told me. And they won't be pardoned until you do this. It even felt like she was hinting they might not do it at all if you refused to show up today, but I don't think they would really be so bad as to essentially hold those people hostage. I don't want to believe so, at least."
But it's a possibility, huh? Sara thought as she sighed internally. Regardless I do feel bad that they were punished because of me, and I'd like to clear things up as quickly as possible. So I am technically getting what I want, it's just... there's an old saying about a monkey paw, if I recall correctly. Getting your wish, but in a way you don't want it.
Sara tapped her fingers against her trunk as she thought it over. Most of what Mirielle had said was probably close to the truth. Her higher Intuition level might give her an advantage there. Sara still felt that it was within her rights to ask for them to postpone this... ceremony. It was hard for her to accept their motives at face value. Even if it would leave the Wanderers out in the cold for another day or two.
The elves honestly seemed more invested in this alliance than Sara, who mainly thought it was a neat thing to do. If she dug her heels in, and threatened them with saying it could hurt their cooperation, they would need to at least negotiate their terms. It might be a little bratty, but she didn't feel that it was entirely unreasonable.
Whether it was worth it to act like that was a different matter. It would cause friction between them, and honestly she felt a little rubbed the wrong way already, but if she agreed to do this it would most certainly be seen as a great act of trust. Maybe she could even get them to agree they owe her a favour for this. Regardless it might be better to get it out of the was as early as possible.
She hit accept on the quest prompt before writing: "All right. Tell them I'll be there. Do I just walk up to the gates of the city?"
"Oh, no," Mirielle shook her head. "Your escorts will be waiting at the Hunting Post, and they will guide you into the city."
"The guards will escort me into the city? Why does that sound more like escorting a prisoner, than a VIP guest?" Sara wrote while grumbling internally.
"It's not like that! Honest!" Mirielle insisted. "Though I can understand why you would feel that way... while I don't think it's the intent from the Archbishop, or the First Princess, I'm sure some will see it as a demonstration that you can be controlled."
Sara had been thinking something similar, but it wasn't like she could change those people's minds by merely wishing for it. Whether or not the ceremony would change their thoughts was entirely up to them. All she could do was make the best, and most of it.
Mirielle suddenly hugged Sara's tree trunk. "It will be fine. I'll have your back, and the others who know you will also be present. You won't be alone," she said softly.
Sara couldn't really feel much physically from this hug, though the gesture was appreciated. She was also a little confused. She had thought Mirielle had just hugged her the day before in the heat of the moment, but was this now a barrier that had been lowered between them?
"Thank you, Mirielle," she wrote. "I have some preparations to do before this whole thing starts."
"Of course," Mirielle said with a smile. "Don't forget to show up at the Hunting Post ahead of time. They want to start at Manarsil at noon, so you'll need time to move all the way there."
"How long does it take to walk from there, to the city?" Sara asked.
"Hm..." Mirielle thought for a moment. "Since you have to get all the way to the tree, I would say about an hour, maybe a little more. I know you can run it in much less, but you'll have to match your escorts, and there will probably be a crowd in the city. None of us will have ever seen anything like this before, after all." She smiled.
Sara was starting to feel some regrets already, but she just had to bury them. "Okay. See you later, Mirielle," she wrote.
"Yes. Good luck, Sara," Mirielle said in an encouraging tone.
