“Oh, I leveled!” Annita gasped, looking at the announcement.

“Well, congratulations, ya belter!” Kat clapped her on the back. “Go on, take a minute tae figure it out. Bren an’ I’ll clean this mess up.”

Nodding, Annita did as instructed and summoned up her Status Screen once again. This time there were a couple of messages overlayed on top of the normal numbers.

Congratulations! Your Path has advanced!

Warrior of Orenous (2)

The following has been modified:

Health cap increased to 160.

Libido cap increased to 105.

Desire pool increased to 40.

Huh, neat! That gives me an extra hour before the cap on Libido is hit. That’ll prevent some awkwardness. Some. Ugh. Still can’t believe this is a thing. Moving on. She flicked the first screen and it dissipated in a shimmer of sparks. The next one was pretty normal.

Please select one of your core stats to increase by +2.

Ah, ok. Simple enough. What to put it in, though? Annita scratched behind one of her ears. Well, I don’t have any way of using my Mind or Faith right now, so I guess… yeah. Strength. Let’s go with that.

As she thought, the window disappeared like the first. What laid below was her newly increased stats.

Name: Annita Kronforst

Age: 23

Race: Lupine (Warped)

Path: Warrior of Orenous (1)

Title: Chosen of Orenous

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Racial Skills:

Cold Resistance: Reduced damage from cold effects. Comfortable in colder climates.

Keen Hearing: Able to hear sounds from greater distances with greater clarity.

Natural Weapons: Claws and teeth are considered weapons for any skills that would affect weapons.

Endurance Hunter: +2 to Strength, +5 to Dexterity, +5 to Stamina

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Unique Passive:

Chosen of Orenous: The Bearer is burdened with a task from the divine. Growth of one’s progression is accelerated by a factor of 1.5 once a Path is chosen. Further benefits will be unlocked upon progression of the Bearer’s Path.

Additionally provides +3 to Faith.

Path Skills

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Passive:

Weapon Proficiency: Light weapons and small firearms.

Armor Proficiency: Medium Armor

Health Points: Stat has been unlocked.

Libido: Stat has been unlocked. Increases by 5/hour. Once full, sexual inhibitions will be greatly reduced until release is achieved.

Desire: Stat has been unlocked. Gained through relations with trusting partners.

Stat Increases: +5 to Faith, +10 to Mind, +2 to Endurance, +2 to Resilience

Compatibility: You’re a large lady, in more ways than one. This will help make sure things go smoothly in your conquests.

———————————————————————————————

Active:

Stoke the Flames: Consume 10 desire points to inflame the target, incensing a heightened emotion of your choice for 1 minute.

Smite of Orenous: Enhance an attack to deal additional Holy damage. Adds 20% of current Faith to the attack. Cost: 10 Mind.

———————————————————————————————

Passive Stat Increases:

+10 Health

+10 Desire

+5 Libido

+2 Strength

“Well, at least Libido increases as I level,” Annita mused. “That buys me an extra hour. So I’m at what,” she paused as she worked through her atrocious math skills, “twenty-one hours? Still less than a day. That’s annoying, but I guess it’s what I can expect from Orenous. Betting that’s gonna have some use later though. Until then, nightly figuring out where to jerk it.”

“Huh, so health doesn’t top off when it increases?” Annita muttered to herself.

“Oh? Aye, bit strange that, but it is how it is.” Kat said, just returning from piling up the bodies of the Twinwolves. “No top up, and the amount ye’ve got when ye level is what ye’ve got until ya rest or heal.”

“One of the little quirks of the Gods’ infinite variety.” Bren sighed, wiping black ooze from his arms and hands. “Well, that concludes the cleanup. It would be easier if we had someone to ignite the corpses with magic, however, we can just leave them like this. They will dissolve eventually and return to the earth.”

“They do? That’s pretty convenient. Do you get to harvest anything from them?” Annita cocked her head with curiosity.

“Oh, no. At least not from creatures as insignificant as these. Encounter and defeat a greater beast and some part of its being may be left behind. The Kingdom pays handsomely for such materials, and craftsmen are eager to work with it as well.”

“Yeah, I bet. Rare materials, good equipment and wares, right?”

“Pretty much, aye. Ready to leg it a bit more?” Kat offered Annita her hand.

“Yeah, let’s get moving,” Annita grunted as she stood, kicking her leg and stretching her arm to see if everything was working right. No pain, no stiffness. Magic is crazy.

After what felt like a good amount of time, Annita broached the subject. “So, Kingdom? What can you tell me about it?”

“Oh, yes. That will be rather relevant in short order, will it not?” Bren stepped over a fallen, snow covered tree and continued. “I will attempt to keep this brief.” Annita caught Kat giving him a sidelong glance at the comment. “It is an old regency. The current royal family, the Farraghers, has ruled for nigh on one thousand years. It has been a good and stable rule for a large majority. There are, of course, border wars with our neighbouring nations from time to time, however, this Kingdom has persevered. There are four main cities occupying our territory. First in the order is Korvas, the mountain city and capital of the realm. Nobility and those with wealth tend to gravitate there, as it is the seat of power. While also being such, it is a city founded on mining. It exports all sorts of ores and metalworks to the rest of the kingdom. Secondly, Indelholm, City of Magic. As you can infer by the name, it is the home of the magical academies of the land. Everything from our Archmages to the newest of Acolytes reside there. Currently, it is led by both Headmaster Mariani and Governor Heyburn. It is a wondrous place, and I highly recommend a visit when you might have the time.”

“Oh, aye, the fancy-pants magic city’s fine and all if ya like flashy lights an’ expensive shite,” Kat cut off what Annita could tell was going to be a long description of the city. “There’re the other cities too, just to remind ya. Graven Keep and Thalten. Thalten’s pretty simple in a lot o’ ways. It’s the agricultural center o’ the kingdom. Lots o’ good folk out there workin’ fields in better climates, hunting in the woods, ye get the idea. It’s all spread out too, not like the towering e’rythin that’s Indelholm. Been there a good few times. Great chats to be had in its taverns. Then there’s where we’re headin’ right now. Graven Keep. Icy as the name makes ‘er sound. Lots o’ stone, dark woods, big walls. Gates close at nights, but the bars and fightin’ rings don’t go quiet until early mornin’. Whaddya say to visitin’ a couple while we’re in town?” Kat elbowed Ann, who had fallen into a quiet pace, absorbing the new information.

“Hey, sounds like fun. What sorts of people live there? It’s a fort, so I imagine a lot of soldiers?”

“Aye, that, fighters, warriors, mercenaries all. Ye get the more adventurous magic types too, like ol’ Bren here. It’s a relic of the olden days. Back when the Warped were more o’ a problem than they are now. Had to have big ol’ walls to keep ‘em out.”

“How long ago were ‘olden days’? They sound pretty ancient if the current kingdom was mostly peaceful,” Annita mused. “And the, uh, Warped were a bigger threat before?”

“Yes, very much so. Though our lovely Kat’s sense of time is a bit distorted due to her lineage, it was before the time of the Farraher house. A thousand and some five hundred odd years. Possibly longer. It was when the Seeds became dangerous to enter. Monstrosities suddenly began to pour from them. Our kingdom and the neighboring regions banded together to push the hordes back. A dark time filled with blood and terror. I might recommend a few tomes containing the histories of such if you are so inclined,” Bren said as he walked.

Annita decided to push a question she’d been holding back out of fear of being rude. “So, Kat. Please don’t take offense, but what exactly are you? You’ve got the long ears, so are you an elf?”

Kat stopped for a moment, seemingly surprised by the question. “Er, no? Our people are normally known as Alfindurn. Though I guess Alf and Elf are pretty similar, no? Somethin’ knockin’ ‘round in that knoggin o’ yers?”

“Maybe,” Annita shrugged. “Just trying to get my bearings on who is what and who. Ya know?” She paused as Kat helped her traverse a treacherous slope. Loose rocks and gravel dug grooves in the snow as they clambered down. “So, I know I’m at least some variation of Lupine, people with wolf features. I’m guessing you’re full human, Bren?” He simply nodded, confirming the question. “So what’s different about the Alfindurn?”

“Oh, just a couple things really,” Kat said, wiping the back of her neck clean of the sweat that gathered under her warm clothing. “We’ve got the long ears ye’ve noticed, but we do live longer than most. There’re a couple other peoples that live as long or longer, but aye, we’re pretty up there. Fer reference I’m fourty three winters. To us, just a bit past age o’ majority. Really just startin’ tae get meself out there and work on figurin’ out me.”

“Dang, you’re way older than I am,” Annita gasped. “I think I’m around my mid to late twenties? That feels right.”

“Well, then we’re not too different, are we?” Kat laughed. “Age and maturity aren’t near the same thing. Me ma would still call me a wee babe, so don’ let it bother ya none.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your family like?” Annita asked as she trudged through a deeper drift of snow. The sun was beginning to set.

“Oh, they’re all right. Got me, ma and pa, two sister an’ brothers. I’m the middle child if ye can believe it. We hail from Korvas, at least me whole life so far. They’re a loud, lively lot. Lots ‘a competition, lotsa petty arguments, all in good nature though. We’re family first. Other shit can come after.”

“They sound great,” Annita huffed as she stumbled over yet another tree buried in the snow. The uncertain blanketed terrain was starting to get on her nerves. “And you Bren?”

“I have a fairly normal family, too. Mother and father both originally hailed from Indelholm, however, they moved to Korvas after they made names for themselves in the magical community. I was their firstborn and have a sister who is six years of age this past summer. Angelica is quite the curious little one. My parents are hard pressed to keep her busy, so she isn’t getting into trouble and places she has no business being.”

“Man, it must be nice to have families. Can’t even remember mine. Had to have a mom and dad. Maybe? Ugh, I hate that I can’t remember them,” Annita grumbled.

The group fell into a silence as they continued their march.

Eventually, the sun hit a point that Kat decided was enough to call camp for the night.

Bren and Kat went around their preparations, clearing an area of snow and setting up a tent with a T shaped hole cut from it. Apparently, that’s what Kat had used for Annita’s top. Annita helped as much as she could, clearing the space, gathering what dry sticks she could find, and sat with the pair as they shared their food with her.

Eventually their fire burned low and on a whim, Annita checked her stats, specifically one.

Libido: 60/105

Hm, so it’s been twelve hours since I got my Path? Wow, the sun stays up a lot longer here. Guess we’re either really far north or south. Means it should be summer, but so much snow still. Guess we’re somewhat polar. Ugh, and I’m going to need to handle this if we’re going to have another long day. She had dreaded the maintenance the stat implied, but it was a reality she had now, and according to the stat’s description, she couldn’t ignore it.

Making an excuse of using the bathroom, she wandered as far away from the camp as she felt comfortable, still able to hear Kat and Bren idly chatting with her enhanced hearing. Once she thought she had enough privacy, she undid her belt, lowered her makeshift skirt, and contemplated her problem.

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