Non-Resident Alien: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Status

The void had finally released her from its suffocating darkness. Sol couldn’t be sure how long she’d been trapped in there. It could have been days or it could have been years. She’d lost all sense of time and the heavy impact of her landing hadn’t helped her to regain her bearings. Sol was grateful to be free, but it was clear that the world she’d been dumped on was not her home. The mana of this new environment was so thin that she found it uncomfortable.

Frowning, Sol spit out a mouthful of dirt and crawled from the crater her impact had created. Her tongue was still coated in grime, but there wasn’t much she could do about that at the moment. Her body and mana both felt sluggish. Whatever artifact Markus had used, weakened her more thoroughly than she’d initially realized. Sol circulated her mana through her pathways to assess the damage and couldn’t help but wince. 

Damn, that bad huh? She thought.

The strength of her core had been reduced to the level of a Copper Ranked Cultivator. She had lost years of progress and more than three full ranks of her power. On Kellarus the strength of a Cultivator’s core is determined by rank. The lowest rank was Copper, then Iron, then Silver, and finally, the highest rank was Gold. At least, it was before Sol had her breakthrough. Breaking through the fourth and final rank was a feat thought to be impossible. That fact was so established that there wasn’t even an official name for the rank above Gold. There never needed to be because no one ever broke through. However, among the common people, or Zeroes as the coreless were often called, a name for the rank above Gold did circulate. It was often mentioned and had reached Sol’s ears from time to time. The commoners of Kellarus told many stories of a legendary Emerald Rank Cultivator. 

“Emerald Rank,” Sol ground out the words through clenched teeth. Images of strangling that bastard Marcus occupied her thoughts. She would find a way back to Kellarus, and she would kill the man herself. Sol didn’t care how long it took. She would do it.

A woman’s shout and the squeal of a pig shook Sol from her dark thoughts. There was a boar charging right at her. A low copper ranked beast. It was only a dozen feet away and she’d just now noticed. The weak creature didn’t pose a threat to Sol, but what if it had been something more dangerous? With a wave of her hand, Sol directed her mana, and a spear of ice shot from the earth and stabbed the boar through its skull. The beast's body was lifted into the air by the upward force of the ice before coming to a stop five feet above the ground. 

Sol clenched her fists. That attack was entirely too weak. The boar should be a ruined pile of blood and guts, but the creature's body was mostly intact. Sol’s fists shook from how tightly they were clenched. In her frustration, she let go of her aura pushing it out in every direction. Normally, her aura could span miles and freeze everything within, but what would it look like now? 

A yelp of pain dragged Sol back to reality, and she turned to see a woman lying on the ground. Her body was shaking violently from the cold and a layer of frost covered her. Sol frowned. 

Where did she come from? 

Just then, Sol remembered she had heard a woman’s voice shortly after her rough landing. At the time Sol had tuned the voice out because she was too focused on the beast and her own weakness. She should have paid more attention.

Sol retracted her aura and moved through the ice that covered the ground. She appeared to vanish for a moment before reappearing crouched beside the woman a moment later. She placed her hand on the shivering Zero, who was already showing signs of hypothermia, and absorbed the cold back into herself. Both the woman and the environment warmed and Sol let out a small sigh of relief. That had been a close call. If her aura had been just a bit stronger, this girl would be dead right now. Why hadn’t she checked before blasting her aura like that? Sol was always extremely careful when it came to using her power around commoners, but she’d been completely out of it since she arrived on this damned planet.    

Perhaps she’d been out of it for longer than that. All the torture and endless darkness couldn’t have been good for her mental health. Sol turned her attention to the corner of her vision where a transparent, blue box appeared. Now she was even seeing things! Had she lost it? Sol sighed and did her best to ignore the visual anomaly.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings.” Sol apologized. It was a weak apology, but the other woman appeared to at least understand her words as she tilted her head in acknowledgement. Sol was worried there would be a language barrier, but that didn’t appear to be the case. 

The woman was silent and the two just stared at one another for a moment. Sol couldn’t be sure if the Zero was a Suva like her or something else. Physically, she looked like a Suva, but her skin and hair lacked the slight iridescence that was a signature of the race. Sol studied her. Everything about the woman was foreign to Sol, from her brown hair that she kept tied back in a messy bun to her oversized cloak and multiple ear piercings. Sol found it all fascinating. 

“Why are you naked?” The woman asked, and the abruptness of the question surprised her.

“I don’t see how that’s your business.” Sol replied, just as abruptly. 

Her skin crawled as her lack of clothing suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She subtly moved to cover herself with her arms. It had been a very long time since she last had clothes. Her captors hadn’t been nice enough to provide her with new ones after her initial set had been ruined, and she could only speculate on how much time she’d spent naked in the void. To her credit, the other woman looked completely appalled by her own lack of decorum and even covered her mouth with her hands as if to stop herself from saying more. Then, she appeared to have come to some sort of decision and began to rummage through the bag on her shoulder. Sol noted the look of pain on the woman’s face as well as the bloodstains that marred the arms of her loose hooded shirt. Sol could heal those wounds as long as they weren’t anything too serious, but she decided to wait and see what the Zero had planned. 

The woman pulled an outfit from her bag and held the clothes out to Sol without saying a word. Sol looked at the offered clothing for a long moment. She could tell that the woman holding them was getting more nervous by the second, but she hadn’t pulled away. It was pretty brave considering the circumstances. Sol was a little unsure how to react. She had been transported to a new world. She had to be careful here. Even weakened as she was, Sol could still kill the girl in front of her by breathing wrong, but was everyone on this planet so weak? Sol supposed she would find out soon enough and she did need clothes.

She couldn’t sense any enchantments on the material, they appeared mundane in every way. That lack of power was what had initially given Sol pause. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen garments without a single enchantment. Initially she had assumed the enchantments were hidden and that made her a little suspicious. However, given the low mana levels of this planet, it was far more likely that the clothes were just as simple as they appeared. 

“Thank you,” Sol said, finally relieving the poor girl of her burden and taking the clothes.

They were softer than she anticipated, but getting them on was proving to be a challenge. The pants were simple enough. The top proved harder and Sol had to be careful not to rip the thing to pieces. Eventually, she figured out which holes were for what. There were quite a few more holes than necessary for both the pants and the top. It was a frustrating design. 

A snort of laughter drew Sol’s attention. The other woman was looking her way and covering her mouth to stifle her laughter. When their eyes met, the woman’s pale skin turned a little paler.

“S…Sorry, I didn’t mean to look,” she stammered. Then her cheeks went from pale to red as she realized the implications of her words. “I mean… It sounded like you might need some help. I wasn’t being creepy or anything!” She continued, clearly mortified.

“Calm down. It’s not that serious.” Sol replied with a smirk. The girl looked like she might faint and Sol didn’t feel like dealing with that right now. It was better to put the girl at ease. 

Sol held out her arms, “ So, am I wearing this right?”

The woman nodded her head a few times more than necessary before holding out her hand to Sol.

“It looks good on you! I’m Dani by the way,” She said, and winced as the motion pulled at her injured shoulder. 

Sol wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the offered hand so she just did what she wanted and grabbed the girl's arm to get a better look at her injured shoulder.

“I’m Sol,” she replied.

“What are you doing?” Dani questioned and attempted to pull her arm away. Sol didn’t let go and turned the Zero around until she was able to see the wound. It was just a deep scratch. Nothing she couldn’t fix. Sol let her mana flow into the broken skin of Dani’s shoulder. She was no healer, but she could use her mana to speed up the body's natural healing process. 

“That stings! What is that?” Dani protested and struggled with more purpose. Sol frowned, this was taking longer than she expected. 

“I’m healing you, so quit struggling,” she muttered, not really caring one way or another. Dani could struggle all she liked, but to Sol it made no difference. 

“Well you could have just said that! You didn’t have to scare the shit out of me! Christ!” Dani replied with an exasperated look at Sol. 

Sol had the decency to look chagrined. It probably should've been obvious Dani might think she was trying to hurt her, but Sol wasn’t exactly feeling much like herself at the moment. Common sense had been repeatedly eluding her since she first stepped foot on this planet. Sol wasn’t even sure why she was bothering to heal her in the first place. 

It might be because this is the only decent interaction I’ve had in months, Sol concluded. 

Sol sighed, as she finished healing Dani’s shoulder and moved her attention to her forearm. The process was slow, a lot slower than Sol was used to. At this rate, her healing wouldn’t be much use in active combat. It took too long. Sol assumed her self-healing ability still worked instantaneously, but her ability to heal others was now proving to be very limited. When she was  finished with Dani’s forearm a blue box of text appeared in her vision. Sol couldn’t stop herself from frowning as she read the words.

New Skill Unlocked: Minor Heal (Tier 0)

Description: Mend minor injuries at an accelerated rate.

Channeling: Continuous Mana Drain

Cooldown: None

Range: Touch

No Class Skill slots available. Minor Heal was slotted in General Skills.

“This is amazing!” Dani preened as she rolled her now uninjured shoulder. “So you’re really strong, huh?” Dani commented. Sol ignored the question and continued to stare at the message that hovered in her vision. “And you like… fell from the sky?…” Dani bit her lip nervously, “You don’t have anything to do with the monsters attacking the city? Do you?” 

Sol was taken aback by the question and as she turned to face Dani the notification disappeared. It was concerning but it appeared there were more pressing matters to consider. There were monsters attacking a city? Sol looked around. They were surrounded by trees, but there did appear to be buildings in the distance. Sol noted how different the buildings of this world looked when compared to the ones she was used to seeing back home. They were taller for one and a lot more plain. Then Sol spotted them, winged creatures flitting between the tops of the massive structures. She instantly recognized the beasts from her planet.

“Those are Eyelets,” Sol said before turning back to Dani. “Is everyone in that city as weak as you?” 

“Hey! I may not be some freak of nature like you, but I’m not weak.” Dani replied, indignantly and crossed her arms for added effect.

Sol’s eyes widened in horror. If Dani didn’t consider herself weak, then the people of that city were even worse off than she realized. Eyelets were only a low Copper Rank beast, but to a Zero like Dani even one could be dangerous. What made the situation worse was that they rarely attacked alone.

“We need to go,” Sol declared, before walking over to the downed boar she’d killed earlier. This was a beast that Sol didn’t recognize. It looked similar to a common animal from her planet, but there were several distinct differences. For some reason Sol was thankful for that fact. She wouldn’t know what to think if all the monsters on this planet were being transported here from Kellarus somehow. Sol tried not to worry and just focus on the task at hand. 

She formed a dagger out of ice and cut open the belly of the boar. It only took her a moment to find what she was looking for.

“Did you choose a class? Is that why you’re so strong?” Dani asked. The girl looked disgusted and more than a little confused by Sol’s actions but she didn’t shrink away from the gory scene.

“Class? What’s that?” Sol asked as she tossed the bloody core of the beast to Dani. The woman paled, but she caught the object. Sol didn’t wait for Dani’s reply and started walking towards the city. 

“You know, that blue announcement thingy.” Dani spluttered and she struggled to keep up with Sol's pace. “Choose a class or die?”

Sol paused, then she glanced at the corner of her vision where a transparent, blue box blinked incessantly at her. Maybe she should look into this. As soon as the thought crossed her mind the box enlarged to hover in the air in front of her. Sol read the message quickly and the threatening nature of it was strange to her. Was the announcement trying to help people or was this some sort of messed up game? There wasn’t enough information.  

“How do I choose a class?” Sol asked, and once again a blue transparent box appeared in the air.

Name: Solana Vail (Sol)

Race: Suva

Affiliation: Kellarus

Abilities: Earthen Tongue 

Class: None (Select Class + )

Core: Copper (Rank 3)

Stats:

Vitality: N/A

Endurance: 41

Strength: 38

Agility: 58

Intelligence: 141

Spirit: 139

Perception: 60

Class Skill(s): None

General Skill(s): Minor Heal

Free Stat Point(s): 0

Sol stared at the page in disbelief. Somehow this so-called status knew the details of her cultivation and could quantify her power. Sol tapped the air with a finger where the transparent screen listed an ability she had no idea she’d possessed. She was only guessing at how it worked, but a new page appeared just as she’d anticipated. 

Earthen Tongue: (Mastery - Low) Challenger exclusive ability allows the user to speak and understand the most common languages of Earth.

Sol read the ability description several times over. This explained why she was able to communicate with Dani but the words also left her with new questions.

What’s a challenger? She wondered.

Sol shook her head. There were no other clues in the ability description. She could only drop it for now and continue exploring the rest of her status.  

Core: Copper (Rank 3)

Core Trait: Ice

Integrated Beast Soul(s): White Tiger

Integrated Beast Trait(s): Immortal Body, Ice Manipulation, White Tiger Morph

Sol cursed under her breath when she saw the state of her core. She had integrated with five Beast Souls, not one, but only her first was listed. It was the same for her Beast Traits. Only the traits associated with the White Tiger had remained. Sol wasn’t sure if this meant she’d lost them completely or if they would return one by one as she ranked up her core. She sincerely hoped it was the latter. Each Beast Soul had been carefully selected and Sol doubted she could find better replacements in this mana starved environment. 

She glanced at Dani, the Zero was watching her with wide, doe eyes and was nervously biting her lip. Sol frowned and shifted her gaze to the swarm of Eyelets in the distance. She could clearly hear faint cries and calls for help from the city. Images of bloodied bodies and broken buildings came unbidden. She’d seen it all before. The aftermath of a monster attack on an under defended city was the stuff of nightmares. She would do what she could to help, but first she needed as much information about her status as she could get. 

“Any luck?” Dani asked.

“There’s a lot to unpack here. I haven't checked the classes yet. So, give me a minute.” Sol replied.

She didn’t wait for Dani to respond before returning to her status and tapping the plus sign next to the select class option.

Select Class

Warrior (Tier 0)

• Starter combat class for those who wish to fight up close and personal. +1 Strength per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level 

Ranger (Tier 0)

• Starter combat class for those who wish to fight from a distance. +1 Agility per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level

Tank (Tier 0)

• Starter combat class for those who wish to stand their ground. +1 Vitality per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level

Rogue (Tier 0)

• Starter combat class for those who wish to fight from the shadows. +1 Agility per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level

Mage (Tier 0)

• Starter combat class for those who wish to cast spells. +1 Intelligence per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level

Healer (Tier 0)

• Starter support class for those who wish to cast spells. +1 Spirit per level, +2 Free Stat Points per level

Generalist (Tier 0)

• Starter class for those who wish to mix and match. +3 Free Stat Points per level

Sol wasn’t sure what to think. Would choosing one of these classes affect the growth of her core? What would she even choose? Her fighting style incorporated several of these concepts already and the benefits honestly seemed pretty minimal. Sol decided to just take the risk and selected Generalist. This option suited her for now and judging by the class descriptions there would be opportunities to advance or specialize later. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any conflict with her core.

Class: Generalist (Tier 0, Lvl 0)

Sol shrugged at the change. She didn’t feel any different, but that was probably a good thing. It likely meant there were no compatibility issues between her new class and her core. Sol was satisfied, and with that decision out of the way, she could focus her attention on culling some monsters. There were thousands of the things but they were Coppers. How hard could it be?