NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Familiar Face
Rasera leaves the guild hall, walks on the outskirts of town, talks off his glove, and whispers "Reaver" into the mark on his left hand.
Reaver: I'm here.
Rasera: Good morning, master.
Rasera: Where shall we go today?
Reaver: Where do you think we're going?
Rasera: I would assume back to where we met, but won't Victor be there?
Rasera: Otherwise, I don't know. The forest seems quite vast.
Rasera: I can't read your mind. Wait can I? Is that a vampire thing I haven't heard of too?
Reaver: You can't yet.
Reaver: Being a vampire is great. It allows you to learn skills and spells not in your class.
Reaver: How else did you learn "Phoenix Dive", a skill from the warrior class.
Rasera: Good point. So can a vampire learn just about anything then?
Reaver: Yes.
Rasera: Well that's certainly a gift.
Rasera starts following Reaver to their destination.
Rasera: So I bought a pair of gloves I can wear for outdoor, and some medical gauze and a wrist wrap that can cover up the marking while indoors.
Rasera: I just didn't want to use them without asking for your permission first.
Reaver: Why do you need to cover it that much?
Rasera: You said it was very noticeable right? And people would know what it means?
Rasera: I just ... didn't want to get caught and be a bother to my master, if it was somehow traceable back to you.
Reaver: You mean the little puppy that I found last night?
Rasera: Little puppy?
Reaver: I believe his name was ... Conn.
Rasera: You ... found him? He part of the party I signed up with.
Rasera: I saw him heading to the training grounds late last night, but I didn't think anything of it and went to bed.
Rasera: Wait, do we still need sleep? I kinda forgot to ask that too.
Reaver: Yes. We need sleep to control our mana otherwise we'd explode from mana exertion.
Rasera: Exploding doesn't sound fun. But uhh, anyways, what happened with Conn? Where did you run into him?
Reaver: In the forest where you killed the squirrel.
Rasera: And did anything happen? You don't sound terribly impressed right now.
Reaver: We have to leave now.
Reaver: I hope you said good bye to your party members.
Rasera
: I only ever interacted with Conn, so it's not a big deal I guess.Rasera: I guess he's an enemy now then? I won't pry for details if you don't want to tell me, master, but I need to know at least that much.
Reaver: You will have to kill him soon.
Rasera: And was your hair always that purple? I was kinda caught up in everything yesterday, what with the whole almost dying and becoming a vampire thing.
Reaver: Yes. Do you like it?
Rasera: I do. I'm quite fond of loner hair. Always fun to play with in the downtime, but I've never been comfortable growing out my own hair.
Rasera: So uhh, I'm gonna have to kill Conn, huh?
Reaver: He is an otherworlder and knows about me when you should be the only one.
Reaver: If I recall correctly, otherworlders have a respawn time of ten days.
Rasera: If we are concerned about that, there was another I ran into. I suppose I should disclose that as well.
Rasera: He calls himself, Zen.
Reaver: Oh Zen.
Reaver: I don't think you should mess with him.
Rasera: He is a strange man.
Reaver: He has the whole underground world under his thumb. I still don't know how he did it.
Rasera: I have no interest in messing with him, but he appears to have an interest in me. I'm not sure how best to go about it. I tried to maintain neutrality last night.
Reaver: You're going to have to fight him soon.
Reaver: I hope you're prepared to do so.
Rasera: Hey Master. Just what is going on in this world?
Rasera: One man with the whole world under his thumb, calling the kingdom corrupt. Are we not supposed to be striving for harmony amongst our people?
Reaver: Underground world.
Reaver: There aren't many good people here. Most are greedy and prideful.
Rasera: I guess it was just childhood innocence then, thinking we should try to find world peace.
Reaver: Yes. Give up on that dream please.
Rasera: Understood, master.
Rasera: If I must fight, then I will fight for you.
Rasera: Conn won't go down easily, and I need to get stronger to fight Zen.
Reaver: Before you even think about Zen, you need to be able to dominate over Conn.
Reaver: So I got you a sword.
Reaver hands Rasera a sharp sword.
Rasera: A-a sword? Well umm, okay.
Reaver: Give me a swing.
Rasera: This is just ... so different.
Rasera earns the swordsmanship ability.
Reaver: Do you know what abilities are?
Rasera: As far as I knew, abilities are things that are just always active.
Reaver: Very well. Abilities are passive buffs that help your skills and spells become more powerful.
Reaver: There are also talents and titles.
Rasera: I see.
Rasera: So this new ability then? I'm guessing it makes me better with the sword? And If I learn a sword skill, then it'll be easier to use?
Reaver: Yes.
Rasera: Well alright. If I need to take life by the sword, then so shall it be done.
Rasera: Do you have a weapon, master?
Reaver: I always have a weapon.
Rasera: May I see it?
Reaver pulls out a legendary scimitar named "The Dawn Bringer" and shows it to Rasera. It shines brightly orange. Rasera's level is too low to read the description of the Dawn Bringer.
Rasera: That is ... wow ... okay.
Rasera: It's so powerful that I can't even read the description of the weapon.
Rasera: I was going to ask to spar with you, but I think I will die from that weapon if I get touched by it.
Reaver: I actually found a sparring partner for you.
Reaver: You already know her.
Yonny: Hey, Rasera.
Rasera: Oh, hello. You're to be my sparring partner?
Yonny: I won't go easy on you.
Reaver: Yonny's level fifteen. I'd be careful of her.
Rasera: I believe that. Are you okay with this, master? You had given me warnings about her previously.
Reaver: She's a bit different now. I thought she was just playing into Zen's hands.
Yonny: It's because of Conn. He's too nice to me.
Yonny: I'm also leaving the town, so why not join my former friend, Reaver.
Rasera: I see. I hope I didn't come off as too cold last night then, Yonny. Hopefully you understand, all things in consideration.
Reaver: Ugh. I can't believe you just called me your friend.
Yonny: Don't be like that, Reaver. I remember when we both slayed the green dragon together.
Rasera: So you'll be teaching me how to use this then, Yonny?
Yonny: Yes.
Rasera (Vampire)
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Class: Healer
Level: 1
Skills:
First Heal
Phoenix Dive
Inventory:
500 Plasma (Blood) Packs
+ small bag of coins