Winter Time
Skarlet sat up, her head pounding, she was laying in her bed in the kobold camp.
"Good morning Sleepyhead." a voice spoke up, Skarlet glanced at the familiar face, he was dressed in a loose shirt covered in flowers and shorts made of a slick material. He also wore glasses with black lenses, she couldn't see his eyes.
"Hello Griax, I've killed Aries as you asked." She spoke up and he nodded excitedly.
"Yes you did, it was a spectacular battle indeed, I can't wait to see how you beat the others." He excitedly explained, "Also, before I just scratched a bunch of abilities onto a piece of paper, if you twist the pommel and handle together you'll receive the learnable skills list.
"Why do you purposefully make things difficult?" She asked as she drew her sword and did as instructed, a sheet of paper slid out, and glowing words were etched into it:
Danger Detection [LVL: 1-10]
Appraisal [LVL: 1-10]
Appraisal blocking [LVL: 1-10]
Lie perception
Spatial magic
Fire Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Water Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Earth Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Air Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Poison Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Paralysis Resistance [LVL: 1-10]
Mental attack Resistance [LVL:1-10]
"There is less here than what you wrote down," Skarlet noted as she read.
"I just did a bit of guesswork, that's all," he explained as she then twisted the pommel and her current status sheet came out. Oh, I got a lot of skill points from that, I should put two into Sword Arts. Wait, Spatial magic? Did I learn Spatial magic from Aries? She wondered as she allotted the points, I think I'll do Appraisal, and put four into that.
Name: Skarlet
Rank: D
Skill points: 0
Mana: 1800(+1000)
Agility: 85/100
Reflexes: 56/100
Strength: 68/100
Titles :
̶̗͙̦̫̿͒Շ̶̪̞́̈́͘̕ђ̸̧̝͋͂͠ﻮ̵̳̔เ̶̢̛̟̞̈́́̕ภ̶̨̻̻̝͋̏̓ͅк̵̙̪̪͓͗ ̴̢̗͚̩̽̑̇̀̔ќ̴̰͉̜͓͂ѓ̸̰̟̀ค̸̘̟͖̑̈́๔
God-Beast killer
Spatial Magician
Racial Abilities:
Seventh Sense
Predator
Cat Ears
Skills:
Appraisal [LVL: 4/10
Sword Arts [LVL: 5/10]
Presence Detection [LVL: 1/5]
Mana Manipulation [LVL: 5/10]
Chant Shortening [LVL: 5/10]
Special Skills:
Language Deciphering
Spatial Magic [Rank 1/10]
A Secondary segment was created for Special Skills, and Spatial magic was added to it. Wait, titles? She examined the titles, they mostly seemed alright except for one, it seemed a little messed up. What does that say? Oh, whatever it's probably not important, what about what it does: ๔є̸ɭ̴ɭ̴เк̴ ̶г̵є̶รย ̸є̸ђ̷Շ Շєﻮ ๔ภค ̸,̸г̸є̵ﻮภค๔ ฬคг๔,єภยՇ�̸̵ͩŦ̶รเ๓ єรย�̵̝͎̠̎̈ͩ̓ς �ͩՇ єςภ�̵̝͎̠̎̈ͩ̓ђς ɭɭค๓ร �̵̝͎̠̎̈ͩ̓ รคђ รรєภк̵г̷�̶̴̶̶̵̵̷̴̵̵̝͎̠̎̈ͩ̓๔ ̷Ŧ̴�̸̵ͩ ̶๔г๏ฬร єђՇ Ŧ̵�̴̴ͩ ̵г̵є̶๔ɭєเฬ ̶є̴ђ̵Շ, Skarlet frowned as her brain tried to make sense of the information that was fed to it. Guess I just won't worry about it. The God-Beast killer title gave her a magic boost and gave her the Spatial Magician title, the Spatial Magician title simply gave her the ability to use Spatial Magic.
Skarlet twisted the pommel back and then twisted the pommel and handle back into its original position and both pages were sucked back into the sword.
"Ooh shiny new toys, well anyway, there's gonna be another Beast attacking the capital of Gulress." He told her, "You should start heading there."
"When will it attack?"
"Who knows, just try and stay in the city till it does." He replied aloofly, "Seriously Skarlet, I'm not omnipotent."
"I wouldn't put it past you." She replied as she felt Amber pull on her shirt, she turned to pat Amber on the head and when she turned back, Griax was gone.
Cody wasn't in the tent as she got up, she could hear breathing outside, she stepped into the moonlight and saw him gazing at the stars. His breath filled out in front of him, white and frosty.
"I-It's getting c-colder." She broke the silence causing him to glance at her, he nodded as he rubbed his hands together.
"You're gonna need to get some warmer gear." Skarlet glanced at her clothes and nodded.
"I wonder if Yofen is still in Otalos?" Cody spoke absentmindedly, "Wanna head by and see tomorrow or just forget it?"
"Y-yeah, let's go s-see." She stuttered, he nodded.
"Let's go once the sun rises." Cody decided, he sighed and wrapped his cloak tighter around himself. "It's bout to be Christmas." He muttered.
"Krist-mos?" Skarlet asked, glancing at him in confusion.
"Umh, it's a holiday celebrated in my home town. . ." He blurted out, "you decorate a tree and give presents to each other."
"That's weird." She chuckled, watching the white air escape her lips. "But it sounds cozy."
"Why don't we do it together?" He offered, but she took a step back and shook her head.
"I-I don't know, I'm not too good with people. . ." She deflected.
"You're talking with me just fine." He pointed out causing her to frown.
"We'll S-see what h-happens." She replied, but he only laughed. "W-what?"
"The second I mentioned it you started stuttering again, just don't think about it and you won't get so anxious."
"T-That's easier s-said than done." She stuttered, he continued to chuckle as she blushed before glancing at the sky, it was almost light.
"L-let's go ahead t-to town right now." She decided and started walking, Cody started after her.
"Alright, let's go," Cody replied as he followed her into the forest, Skarlet paused in front of him and turned back. Cody glanced over his shoulder as well and saw that someone was following them.
"Amber, come here." Skarlet sighed as she called and the girl scampered over to Skarlet's side, she held onto the hem of Skarlet's shirt, her eyes as emotionless as ever. Cody noticed that her tail was wagging slowly as Skarlet started walking again; she had just wanted to come along.
They arrived at the city gate and headed inside, Cody decided that they should go to the guild and ask about Yofen. Skarlet agreed and they headed there first.
"Ah looks like you found your friend, good for you." The red-haired receptionist announced to Cody as he and Skarlet walked in. He winked at Cody, but Cody shook his head and frowned.
"Hey, do you know if a dwarf named Yofen is still in town?" He asked, causing the receptionist to pause and think for a moment.
"Actually yes, Yofen was planning to leave yesterday but saw it was getting colder and decided to stay a bit to make some winter gear before heading to Blushai, it's too warm there," Zealsus explained, then he pointed to the left. "He's actually sharing a blacksmith shop with Zexceed, they seem to have made good friends."
"Thanks, oh, we'll be leaving soon," Cody told him as he waved bye, Skarlet just followed Cody meekly as they left.
"We make a great team." He said suddenly with a chuckle.
"W-what do you m-mean?" Skarlet asked.
"You're no good at people, so I do the talking, you're the one with the plan. . . so I'll follow your lead." He leaned forward with his hands crossed behind his back and flashed her a smile.
"U-hm, yeah," Skarlet replied, not sure how to respond as she scratched at her cheek. "I-I think t-this is it." Skarlet led the way into a blacksmith's shop, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoldering coal and sweat, salty sweat.
"Hoho, if it isn' my friends Skarlet and Cody, howr' ya two doin'?" A familiar voice called out, Skarlet turned to see Yofen.
"H-hey, it's getting colder. . . w-we were thinking about w-winter gear." Skarlet conveyed and Yofen lit up.
"I was hopin' you'd say that!" He exclaimed as he turned and disappeared for a bit. When he came back he was carrying two bags. "I made ya these in case I saw ya again before I left." He handed them both their bags.
Skarlet took hers and opened it, inside was a black-furred cloak, one that would reach all the way to her ankles and could button in the front. There was also a long-sleeved woolen black shirt and a knee-length skirt with a white fur trim. To top off the outfit there were white fur boots and black tights, along with some thicker fingerless gloves and a new collar with a white fur trim. "It's s-similar to the outfit I c-currently use."
"Oh yes, I tried to make it similar, if it gets real' cold, that cloak will keep ya warm." He replied, Cody opened his own bag.
"This is a matching set to the fur cloak you gave me when we first arrived," Cody noted, Yofen nodded. "Thank you for this." Cody thanked him readily.
"Y-yes, also, we-we'll be leaving Otalos soon and heading for Gulress," Skarlet told him.
"Ah, yes, I will also be leavin' soon, though I will be headin' to Blushai." Yofen told them, he held his hand out to Skarlet, she shook it "I'll see ya around brave one." She nodded, Cody stepped up but Yofen shook his head.
"We said our goodbyes already. I'll make you some better armor next time we meet." He promised them before kicking them out of the shop.