To those who had possessed their system for years and understood everything, or even most of it, something as simple as using a skill was not hard.
But to someone who had never understood what a single letter meant, it was the difference between night and day.
So while everyone else slept after the quest where Beatris learned language, she read over her system.
Again.
And again.
Beatris
Age:
18
Race:
Fullblood Fox
Class:
Warlock - Lv. 10
XP:
13,303 / 19,000
HP:
33 / 33
Mana:
69 / 69
Stats:
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 30
Soul Skill:
Contractor (D)
Passive
Your soul is reinforced to handle the strain of holding contracts from beings of the other planes.
As such, you are able to hold an additional contract beyond the normal limitations.
Skills:
Pact Writer (E)
50 Mana
The Warlock can make a pact with an outerplanar being.
The strength of the being is based on the rank of this skill, and the Warlock can establish one binding tenet that grants them a unique power or ability.
Only one pact may be active at a time.
Current Contracts:
Seraphella, the Angel of Primroses
Cost:
You must be nice to someone once per day.
Malthorin, the Angel of Luck on a Bad Day
Cost:
Your luck is worse.
Blood Sacrifice (E)
10 Mana
The Warlock sacrifices 10 HP to form a magic circle that strengthens the demonic energy from their pact, enhancing its effect or extending its duration.
This skill allows for temporary boosts to demonic abilities or summoning powers.
Hexing Curse (E)
15 Mana
The Warlock places a curse on a target, making them easier to hit as their reactions become sluggish and increasing the damage they take.
This enhances the Warlock's ability to weaken enemies in combat.
Demonic Research (E)
Passive
The Warlock gains the ability to speak with and understand demons, enabling them to communicate more effectively and negotiate with demonic entities, as well as gather information from demonic sources.
Basic Understanding (E)
Passive
You have gained the ability to understand, read, write, and speak the Common language.
Contracts:
Thornbloom Sanctuary (E)
You summon a field of spectral primroses and thorned vines centered on yourself.
Allies inside are:
Harder to hit.
Partially warded against psychic and decaying attacks.
Freed from one of the following conditions:
Charmed
Scared
Paralyzed
Enemies inside:
Are attacked by vines that smother them, preventing them from speaking.
Have difficulty moving through the vines.
You can spend an additional 25 Mana to make the vines enter a state called Last Bloom.
Choose one creature in the sanctuary.
They are rapidly healed and spectral flower petals follow them, protecting them from harm.
After using this ability, the roses fade away.
A Bad Day Can Only Get Better
Any time you or an ally miss with a critical fail, you gain one charge of this ability.
Once you have a charge, you can change a hit into a critical hit.
If you use all three charges in one combat, you may activate the following ability once per day:
Karmic Collapse
You target one creature.
Their luck drops into the negatives for a moment, causing them to stumble and become open to attacks.
If this causes them to drop to 0 HP, you and one ally regain 50% energy or recover 50% of your MP.
Beatris must have read the entire thing over and over, because before she knew it, the others were waking up around her.
They had stayed at the quest location because the vehicle was out of fuel, which made them the odd ones out.
Mr. Nulgen had allowed them to remain there.
Beatris had tools now.
She had words.
Skills.
A system she could finally use instead of suffer beneath.
But having tools and knowing how to use them were different things.
And she still needed to use them.
She thought Jax had tricked the others.
He had done something with Aiden, and Aiden seemed to vouch for him now. But Beatris knew Jax had not told him the truth.
Otherwise, Aiden would not be so buddy-buddy with him.
Worse, she thought Selene had lied too and was working with Jax.
That meant Beatris could go to either Aiden, Thalia, Liora, or Victor.
Of them, Victor smelled far too strongly of blood for her to assume he would not just start helping them.
Thalia was logical, but lacked any efficient means of handling Selene or Victor if they became aggressive during the confrontation.
Liora could handle it better, but she would be unable to stop Jax or Selene if either of them got into melee range.
That left Aiden.
Aiden was the co-leader.
He was also the last of the three melee fighters, and he might be able to help.
Especially since he, Liora, and Thalia had made it back from the crab fight, which had apparently been against a massive creature.
So Beatris's plan was simple.
Tell Aiden what really happened.
Then, if she could, recruit Liora and Thalia to help stop Jax and Selene.
The problem was that everyone stayed grouped together for almost everything.
And once they reached the city, Jax and Selene would be able to kill even more children.
So they needed to be stopped today.
The big question was how to do it without Jax noticing.
Selene had taken off earlier with the mechanical horse to get more fuel.
Beatris was currently hiding her new skill so Jax would not try to stop her now that she could fully talk in common.
So her current plan was simple.
Aiden and the others did what they called morning training.
Sometimes they sparred.
Keeping up appearances, Beatris walked over to Liora, who was watching as Aiden and Jax sparred.
Aiden's spear swung in a blur of motion while Jax jumped, ducked, and darted around like a dragonfly.
The two clashed, but they seemed to be avoiding injury.
Their mouths moved as if they were talking, but Beatris could not hear them from where she stood.
She tapped Liora's leg and drew a question mark in the dirt.
Then she looked from the mark to Jax and Aiden.
Liora glanced down.
"Oh, you're asking what they're doing?"
Beatris took a moment, pretending to search for the right words, before nodding.
"That's called sparring," Liora explained, crossing her arms as she turned back to the fight. "It's not a full fight. It's one where they fight to get better, not to injure each other."
Beatris nodded, feigning ignorance, and sat, waiting for their spar to end.
It did not take long.
Jax got a direct hit that sent Aiden sprawling.
He immediately ran over to help him up.
The two began walking toward them as Aiden rubbed his chest.
"You could have held back a bit on that last one, dude," Aiden wheezed, one hand pressed against his ribs. "I think you cracked something."
Jax gave an apologetic shrug as they walked over.
Beatris waited.
Then she pointed a paw at Aiden and said, "Spar?"
She added too much lilt to the question, making it seem like she was still figuring out that part of language.
Aiden blinked at her for a moment.
Maybe bewildered.
To her horror, Jax stepped forward.
"Aiden's in bad shape," Jax said. "I can spar with you if you want. Fullblood to fullblood."
Beatris did her best to hide the shiver that passed down her back.
She tried to think of something that would get her out of this.
Nothing came.
"Too big," Beatris said, using the broken common to keep everything above table so Jax couldn't say anything the others wouldn't understand in natural. "Aiden hurt, he not so big."
Jax, however, simply sat down.
A strange expression crossed his face.
"I know what you saw two days ago has you worried," he said. "And I want to explain myself while helping you."
He had come out and said it.
As if what he had done could be fixed with an explanation.
Part of Beatris wanted to snap at him.
The more logical part spoke instead.
"That is not something you can just explain away," Beatris said, switching to natural to match Jax's switch. "So I would like Aiden as my sparring partner."
Jax's expression hurt.
"There are parts of it that you don't fully know about," he said. "That's why I want to explain. So you can make your opinion when you know everything."
Beatris held herself back.
Then she shook her head.
"No. I don't trust you."
Jax went still.
"So will you let me spar with Aiden," Beatris asked, "or will you try to stop me?"
Jax looked at her for a moment.
Beatris waited for him to argue further.
Instead, he nodded.
Then he walked away with his tail tucked between his legs.
Beatris walked past Aiden.
Aiden followed, glancing back at Jax occasionally.
Beatris refused to look back.
Jax had killed eight kids.
He did not get to be sorry.