Imperious 009 - Finally

Anna woke to the insufferable buzz of notifications hounding the back of her mind. Her senses returned to her sluggishly at first. She licked her lips and cringed at the acrid mix of battery acid and blood. She clutched at her head, her entire body felt hot on the inside. Another fever. She blinked a few times and slowly turned her head. Her muscles hurt like hell. There were four sheer walls cramped tightly around her. She squinted and then looked up to see the lip of the pit she’d fallen into barely within arms reach if she was standing.

What happened?

She coughed and felt something hot dribble onto her chin. Internal bleeding? That ain’t good, she thought numbly before dragging herself to her feet. Her knees buckled under her own weight and she nearly fell again but managed to hold herself upright. She wiped her nose and looked down at her hand. Her bloody skin was cracked and burned in places but it looked like it was already healing here and there. She reached up for the lip of the pit and grabbed hold. It’s just a pull-up, Anna, she tried to reassure herself as she put her back into it.

She was face down in the passage five minutes later, panting and coughing. 

I officially hate pull-ups, she grumbled and forced herself back up again. The fever made her sway and for a second she forgot where she was. She screwed up her face in concentration and tried to remember which direction she’d come from. Two rights, she thought, So two lefts to go back.

She put one foot in front of the other as she slowly made her way back to the entrance of the maze in silence, her head swaying and vision bending in and out, in and out. She blinked and shook her head when she finally hit the door, scrambling to grab hold of the handle and pull. Steam and humidity never felt so good as she stumbled into the room and dropped to her knees, retching onto the floor. She nearly fell into her own sick before stabilizing herself and crawling over to the nearest wall.

“I… fucking hate this place,” she wheezed and rested her head against the wall, “Fuck that asshole for chasing me in here, fuck that old bastard for screwing me over in the first place,” she mumbled as her head swayed again and her vision darkened, “Oh come on,” she groaned.

She woke again covered in sweat when her stomach let out a terrible growl. She shook her head and spat out a glob of something foul before taking stock. Her head felt clearer and her muscles didn’t hurt anymore. Honestly, besides the cavernous hunger I feel great. Where’s my… she looked around and spotted her backpack and canteen. She hopped up and snatched both of them from the ground before returning to her spot and digging through her backpack.

She pulled the open box of food pills out and popped one into her mouth, cringing at the taste but was happy that she had them. She grabbed her canteen next and chugged down the entire thing before she felt truly better.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh and let herself relax a little, kicking back and pulling up her notifications. Hopefully she could get some sense of what happened to her.

WARNING: You are currently absorbing a large amount of raw mana from your immediate surroundings. 

Duh, she grumbled. 

WARNING: Your current accrued Mana Taint has exceeded your Mana Tolerance. You are now suffering from Mana Sickness.

At least I learned what MT actually stands for; Mana Tolerance, she tilted her head and thought about how her MT went up when she encountered mana and used magical things on herself like the food pill she just ate. Seems obvious now that I think about it.

WARNING: [ERROR] Refinement at 15%

WARNING: [ERROR] Refinement at 55%

WARNING: CAUTION! CAUTION! CAUTION! Proceeding with this form of Mana Refinement is inadvisable. Survival unlikely. Refinement at 85%

REFINEMENT COMPLETE 

SYSTEM ALERT: Assessing. Categorizing. Anomaly Detected. Recategorizing. Assessing. Escalating. ERROR. Bypassing Restriction. Escalation Complete. Beginning Determination. ETA: Null. 

SYSTEM ALERT: It has been determined that you are not the direct cause of the anomalous nature of your current circumstances and that no violations on your part have been made. No penalties will be issued. Please continue to grow and compete, overcome your perilous situation and take advantage of your survival. You are being observed. 

A chill spider walked up her spine as a nervous laugh bounded out of her chest. She glanced around uneasily as if whatever was watching her would suddenly be right there, visible to the naked eye. Is the system observing me? Something else? I don’t feel like-

As her attention drifted she felt it. That feeling of insignificance. That feeling of being an ant before a boot. A presence so huge and all encompassing that it took her breath away. It was only there for a second before it passed and she let out a gasp as her body reacted before her mind. Her blood boiled like the sensation had been a trigger, anger teasing its way into her thoughts. Irritation. Outrage. Defiance. In that moment all she could feel was affront.

How dare it look down on me like that? It was an arrogant, hostile, exhilarating thought that made her skin tingle with delight. Okay, enough, she snarled and bit her lip, pushing the feeling down. It was like fighting against a natural urge, a base instinct of a primitive part of her mind. That roaring lion in her blood demanded she retaliate and she bit her lip harder, her heart pounding in her ears. I said enough! It’s like my own body doesn’t want to listen to me. Quit it!

The feeling passed but the heat beneath her skin remained. There were still notifications but she needed a moment. If I keep going through shit like this, what’s going to happen to me? She thought wearily and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She lowered her hand and stared at the lobby. What’s the point of this place anyway? Just to hide some treasure? It's weird. She clicked her tongue when the buzzing grew more incessant. Alright! Alright! Fuckin’ thing.

She opened up the next wave of notifications with a twinge of irritation that quickly evaporated into excitement.

Level Up!
You have refined your body to Level 1. 

You gain a base +5 Attribute points for this level. 

You gain the traits of your Race: Terran-Human.
You gain: The Human Spirit (Uncommon-Base), Adaptable (Uncommon-Base). 

You may now select a class. Class selection has been generated based on your pre-refinement actions and achievements. 

She whistled, “Look at that,” she said appreciatively, “Finally.”

She dismissed the notification and moved on to the next, which turned out to be an explanation of her new racial traits.

The Human Spirit (Mortal-Uncommon)
The Human Spirit burns brightly within the hearts of all Terrans. Increases stats by 5% when fighting a creature of a higher level than yourself.

Adaptable (Mortal-Uncommon)
Terrans adapt to whatever life throws at them, quick to learn, quick to adjust, and quick to overcome. Gain a small bonus to proficiency growth while practicing. Gain a very small amount of bonus essence on occasion.

She raised her eyebrows, “So I get a buff when fighting tougher enemies, not a whole lot but it could be the difference between dying and not,” she mumbled as she rubbed her chin. She tilted her head at the next one. Bonus to proficiency growth while practicing? You can practice your proficiency? I mean, I guess that makes sense but I think it means something else. I should try it out once I’m done here.

She flipped to the next one and her eyes went wide.

Alert: As a result of your actions and the circumstances of your initial refinement, your trait: Adaptable, has been consumed to create a new trait: Mana Touched.

Mana Touched (Mortal-Rare)
Your body underwent a baptism by mana during your refinement and awakening to the first tier. Instead of dying, you adapted and became something more as a result. Mana Taint taken on during refinement is halved. The cost of spells and abilities that consume mana is reduced slightly. Mundane items that would introduce mana taint into your body no longer do so.

Anna frowned, So I lost growth options but gained other things. This also brings up a good point, I’m pretty sure that refinement isn’t supposed to go the way it went for me. Given that the Prowler did it right after a meal, I guess I’m supposed to do it occasionally since it takes on mana taint and then let it cool off. She smirked, With this I can do more in each sitting. Nice.

She didn’t want to think too hard about how she’d nearly drowned and died from the inside out for this particular benefit, nor did she ever plan to do it again. But it was nice to finally get something out of all of her suffering. She moved onto the next one.

Dormant Heritage: Born in the Gray
You possess a dormant bloodline heritage that craves domination and resents authority. In order to access its abilities it must be awakened. Its instincts will guide you towards the next stage.

Effects: [Sealed]

Attributes Per Level: +3 Pre, +1 Ins, +1 Awa

She let out a breath, “So it is my heritage that’s making me so pissed off all the time,” she said and reached up to touch her torn lip. Her thoughts drifted to Hale’s face and she clenched her teeth, I guess it suits me pretty well, she thought bitterly. But I think it’s going to have to learn who’s boss around here next time it starts thrashing about, can’t have it doing what it did a minute ago. This is my body and it’s my blood.

She pulled the note from her father out again and stared at it, Guess it’s yours too. Asshole, she grumbled and held it up to crumple. She hesitated, frowned and looked at it again. Do well? Why did you write shit like that, making it sound like you had high hopes, and then- she rested her head against it. Mom, what the fuck? You better survive the tutorial cuz I have so many questions you’re gonna answer.

She put the letter back in her pocket and finally flicked to the last prompt.

Your class list has been generated. Please select one. This class will form the foundation of your future. Choose wisely. Please note that you have one reroll available for your class selection. If you choose to use it, you will lose access to the classes already offered.

The window vanished quickly and another appeared with a menu selection of several items.

Warrior (Mortal-Common)
A fundamental class. Warriors focus on the use of melee weapons in combat, be it skirmishing with light weapons and armor or standing in the front of a battle in a suit of heavy armor, fending off attacks.

Caster (Mortal-Common)
A fundamental class. Casters focus on the use of magic in combat through practicing any of the five circles of magic. Using magic to deal damage, heal wounds, control the battlefield, inspire allies or weaken foes. 

Cleric (Mortal-Uncommon)
A specialized magic class. Clerics have a greater command of divine magic than a humble caster and possess a clearer connection to their chosen deity. 

Skirmisher (Mortal-Uncommon) 
A specialized melee class. Skirmishers possess unique skills that allow them to control fights and take advantage of their environment and stealth to engage in blitz attacks.

Warmage (Mortal-Uncommon)
A hybrid magic and melee class. Warmages lack the output of specialists but gain versatility. They also learn skills and abilities that allow them to take control of battles.

Blood Warrior (Mortal-Rare)
A melee class unique to groups that possess powerful heritages and bloodlines. Blood Warriors acquire powers that allow them to utilize their innate bloodline traits more efficiently. Stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before and wield their power as your own. 

Anna puffed out her cheeks and let out a breath, “Woah, I wasn’t expecting this many options,” she said aloud, scratching at her chin. The Warrior Class didn’t interest her at all, she had a feeling she was going to be bashing things but she really didn’t want it to be her whole shtick. Caster really got her excited, the idea of being able to use magic was thrilling. Given that talking skeletons existed it went without saying that magic was a thing which only left the how.

That said, she had more than two options. Cleric perturbed her, she wasn’t exactly familiar with any gods that she gave a shit about. She was pretty sure anyone who saw this class in the tutorial was going to have some uncomfortable feelings. Still, it was an Uncommon rarity class as opposed to the Common rarity Caster which meant it was objectively better. She moved on. Skirmisher was cool and it was clear why the system had suggested it. She’d been sneaking around and lashing out at things in surprise attacks but her stealth wasn’t exactly top tier and she was wearing heavy armor. 

Not my thing, though, she thought. Then there was Warmage. A hybrid class which seemed to have magic and martial traits to it. The problem with it was that where it had versatility it lacked a lot of the stopping power that the others classes possessed. It did seem to have some neat additional options though which put it higher up on her list. 

Finally there was one Rare rarity class, which clearly meant it was the ‘best’ for whatever reason. She frowned, Bloodline Warrior was a class that sounded great on paper. It also seemed like a shortcut to get her worryingly temperamental heritage under control. Still, she had no idea what her bloodline really did besides make her pissed off and she suspected it had something to do with her ability to hide her presence and scare that skeletal hound. Her reasoning was that the main stat bump she got each level from it was presence. 

It also feels like the system is patronizing me by offering it, she thought with a scowl. Do I absolutely have to pick the Rare class, just because? I feel like I’d be locking myself into something that I don’t know very much about.

She thought about it harder, What do I pick?

Then, of all things, she remembered the words from the Dungeon Quest prompt: 

‘Never forget: No one power is perfect. No one tool is enough to rise above others.’

Her lips thinned. I may hate you, but I’ll take your advice old man, she thought and made her decision.

You have selected: Warmage (Mortal-Uncommon)