Frostbitten Wayfarer

“That was a perception disruption spell I created a few years ago. It doesn’t do any damage so I didn’t tone it down.” Eliza said.

“You hit her with the full power? The least you could’ve done was give the poor girl a warning.” Daniel said.

“Oh! Yes, I’m sorry. I should’ve done that.” Eliza bowed her head.

Kian laughed.

“It’s fine, I guess. I got the resistance at least. What’s next?” Zoe asked.

“Hmm, anybody have any requests?” Eliza looked around the table.

“Water!” Ash shouted.

“My vote’s for earth,” Daniel offered.

“Space! Crush her!” Kian shouted.

“Ooo, space is a fun one. Are you okay with that?” Eliza asked Zoe.

“What is it going to do?” Zoe asked.

“It’s just going to make you feel like you don’t fit, like you’re being squished into where you are.” Eliza explained.

Zoe nodded her head, and Eliza started muttering some more incantations. The spell gripped her, squeezing her from all directions, like a hole made just a little too small for her. It didn’t hurt, at least not much. But it was noticeable. She checked her health.

Health: 199/200

Health: 200/200

It was flashing back and forth every second. She looked to Daniel and smiled.

“Right! First question then,” Eliza started.

“No, me first,” Kian interjected. “Why are you still level eight anyway? What’s your motivation?”

“I just want a really good start.” Zoe answered.

“Oh come on, there’s gotta be more to it then that. Was it your parents’ dying wish? A promise to a friend? What’s your deal?” Kian pressed.

Zoe thought about her answer for a moment. “I guess I don’t really want to share everything, but I’m technically immortal, I guess. Waiting longer for a good class just seems to make sense.”

Eliza perked up at the mention of immortality. “How did you get immortality at such a young age?!”

“I was attacked by a vampire, but the system didn’t know what to do so I just ended up with the perks of being a vampire without the downsides.” Zoe said.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Space resistance.

“Oh, I’ve got space now.” Zoe said. Eliza stopped the spell right away and Zoe felt the squeeze disappear.

“Water next! Drench her! Come on!” Ash shouted.

“Fine, fine. If you’re alright with that?” Eliza asked.

Zoe nodded, and Eliza cast another spell. A bubble of water formed around Zoe, covering everything but her face. From the inside of the bubble, jets of water spat out and impacted her body from all directions.

“So the system broke for you?" Eliza asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Zoe said.

“Lucky, I’ve met a few people like you. What made it break for you?” Eliza said.

“Wait, this happens regularly?” Zoe asked.

“If somebody like Eliza’s only met a few then I don’t think regularly really applies.” Lila said.

“Hah! Yes, it’s not a regular thing. I think the system is man made and sometimes there’s a specific scenario people didn’t think about that breaks the system.” Eliza started rambling.

The rest of the group sighed and shook their heads. Daniel spoke up, “Not this again Eliza. Nobody ‘made’ the system. It just exists, like ifosa and ryz.”

“Well, those didn’t just exist either. We bred them to be what they are now.” Eliza explained.

“We’re not doing this right now. Daniel’s going to say that you’re saying the system’s entirely artificial, you’re going to say that maybe people did breed the system to be what it is, Ash is going to say you’re both stupid and the system is a parasite that attaches to everybody. No system talk at the table.” Kian said.

“Fine, fine.” Daniel and Eliza both said together.

“At any rate,” Eliza turned back to Zoe. “Sometimes the system breaks. Usually people just don’t get a skill that they earned. I’ve never seen anybody get immortality like that before! What do you think caused it?”

“I’d rather not say, if that’s okay. It’s kind of personal.” Zoe said.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Water resistance.

“I’ve got water now too. Why don’t more people do this? This is really easy.” Zoe said.

“Is earth okay?” Eliza asked.

Zoe nodded her head and Eliza began to mutter another incantation.

“A lot of people do, but they’re a lot harder to get after you choose your first class and most people are happy with just being a simple cook or something anyway.” Daniel said.

Eliza’s spell took effect a moment after. A ball of earth surrounded her and she felt spires of rock ram into her side. It felt almost identical to the water spell she had just suffered through.

“Why is this the same as the water spell?" Zoe asked.

“It’s one of my favourite spells!” Eliza said. “I’ve got a basic incantation that controls the shape, effect and power and then I can just switch in whichever element I need for the situation.”

“So your incantations are completely free in what you can do with them then?” Zoe asked.

Eliza thought on it for a moment. “Not completely, there is a downside. I’m extremely weak for my level. I make up for it in being able to adapt to the situation but that requires a lot of forethought and research to be ready for any situation. Plus, it’s really convenient and fun!" Eliza smiled.

“Right, that makes sense. Jack of all, master of none. I had a class kinda like that when I checked last.” Zoe said.

“Ooo! What class options have you had so far? Can you check what you have available right now?” Eliza pressed.

“I don’t want to check until I’ve got all my feats that I’m working on. But the classes I have had so far were a few apprentice classes, and then jack and gatherer.” Zoe said and shuddered a moment later.

“I have a couple others that I don’t want to share too, I guess. I didn’t think that would count as a lie, to be honest.” Zoe said.

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it. I hoped you had some really cool classes though, like some kind of vampire lord or frozen warlord or something cool. Too bad. Come get me when you do look though!” Eliza said.

“Maybe,” Zoe said.

“What feats do you have so far anyway?" Lila asked.

“RIght now I have Winter’s Master and then another that I’d rather not share the details of if that’s okay. I don’t think any of you will ever be able to get it though.” Zoe said.

Eliza cringed, “That’s too bad. Even if I couldn’t get it, learning how the definitely very artificial system works is always nice.”

Kian slammed his fist on the table. “No. System. Talk.”

Eliza rolled her eyes.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Earth resistance.

“Earth’s done.” Zoe said, and the ground surrounding her crumbled and vanished.

“Gravity! Crush her! Crush her!” Ash chanted.

Kian laughed. “I second gravity.”

“Are you okay with that?” Eliza asked.

“What would it do?” Zoe asked.

“Make you feel very heavy. I’d suggest lying down on the ground for this one.” Eliza said.

Zoe nodded and did as she said. Eliza muttered an incantation and then Zoe felt the earth pull her down with way more force than she was used to. She had always imagined gravity magic to be more of a weight on her back but it was so much more than that. Her arms themselves felt heavier, her eyelids strained with each blink.

There was a big difference between carrying something heavy and just being heavier, she realized. She tried to speak but her mouth struggled to move and her tongue couldn’t form words even if her mouth could open.

She laid on the ground for a few minutes under the immense pressure, feeling a little pathetic the whole time. Just waiting for the notification that would save her from the rather humiliating experience.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Gravity resistance.

Zoe tried to wiggle her fingers and look at Eliza. She seemed to get the hint and the spell disappeared. Zoe stood up and shook herself off then sat back down in her chair.

“Well that one sucked.” Zoe said.

The group laughed.

“Yeah, that one’s awful. Feels so silly just lying on the ground like that.” Ash said.

“How about Ice next?" Eliza asked.

Zoe nodded her head, and Eliza cast her favourite spell again. A ball of ice formed around Zoe and began punching into her with blunted icicles.

“So where are you from anyway? We asked around a bit and nobody knew of you before last year. Feel like a level eight would have been memorable for people.” Lila asked.

“Um, it’s a bit complicated and I don’t want to share it all. But long story short, sometime last year I got teleported just outside of Flester somehow. I don’t really know how it happened and I’d rather not talk about it more than that.” Zoe explained.

“Oh you poor thing, that must have been terrifying. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Lila said.

“It’s fine, now. I’ve accepted it, and Flester’s a nice place. What do the three of you do for a living anyway?” Zoe asked Ash and Lila’s friends.

“Well I’m a researcher if you haven’t already guessed.” Eliza said.

“I’m a healer. It’s an easy job and pretty lucrative.” Daniel said.

“I punch things. Sometimes hard, sometimes soft. Usually hard.” Kian said.

“Like a bodyguard?” Zoe asked.

“Sometimes. Sometimes I deal with problematic monsters.” Kian answered.

“I heard something about a dungeon nearby a while ago, have any of you heard about that?” Zoe asked.

“Moaning Point?” Ash asked.

“I guess? I never got a name. Just remember people mentioning it before. I don’t even know what a dungeon is anyway, to be completely honest.” Zoe said.

“Dungeons are natural mana anomalies.” Daniel said.

“Artificial mana anomalies. Created by the artificial system.” Eliza said.

Kian slammed his hand on the table again. “No. System. Talk. Remember?”

Eliza raised her hands in a defensive gesture. “Fine, fine. I’ll stop.” She said and then mouthed “artificial” to Zoe and nodded her head.

Kian shook his head.

“Anyway,” Daniel started. “Dungeons are mana anomalies which exist for some reason or another. They can really be anything, though.”

“I once found a whole town that was part of a dungeon. The wild mana was integrated completely with the town’s infrastructure. Apparently the dungeon created the town and people just moved in.” Eliza said.

“Most of the time when people are talking about dungeons they’re talking about the dangerous ones, though.” Lila said.

“People usually add a descriptor for the other ones. There’s a dungeon spring a few weeks west from Flester which is a great place to relax if you ever find yourself over that way.” Ash said.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Ice resistance.

“Ice is done,” Zoe said.

“Well all I’ve got left for you now is Lightning and Wind. I’d suggest wind first.” Eliza said.

“Then wind it is, I guess.” Zoe said.

Eliza started muttering another incantation.

“Moaning Point is an undead dungeon not too far south from Flester. It’s a mountain type, with the monsters getting stronger as you climb up. If you get a really good first class you should be able to tackle the lower areas probably.” Kian said.

A sphere of barely visible air formed around Zoe and blades of wind started blasting into her.

“What kind of class are you trying to get anyway?” Eliza asked.

“At first I thought that I wanted lots of magic. A little intelligence and then lots of wisdom to keep playing around with magic because it looked really fun.

“But then I saw a lot of the other skills that warriors had and they also look really cool. So I’m not really sure what I’m going for, if I’m being honest. Whatever looks best to me next winter I’m probably just going to take, unless there’s no good options. But I doubt that.” Zoe said.

“If you don’t have any good options available after however long you’ve been working on it then I don’t even wanna know what you’d think about my first class.” Daniel shook his head.

*Ding* You have unlocked the Wind resistance.

“Wind’s done,” Zoe said.

“Last is lightning then. I’m not able to control it very well so it will probably burn your dress, are you okay with that?” Eliza asked.

“How bad?" Zoe asked.

“Pretty bad.” Eliza said.

“You’ll basically be naked after,” Ash laughed.

“Well I’m a little uncomfortable with that then, to be honest.” Zoe said.

“If it makes you more comfortable you can take off your dress and everybody else can look away. I’ll have to still watch you though to make sure I keep the lightning from hitting anything it shouldn’t. Or you could just skip lightning and be happy with fourteen. That’s already four more than you were planning on!” Eliza said.

“If everybody else looks away, I think I’m okay with that then.” Zoe said.

Everybody turned in their seats and stared out over the fields surrounding them. Zoe took off her dress, and put it to the side. She looked at her underwear and decided to keep it on. If it got damaged so be it, but Eliza would probably be able to avoid at least that.

Eliza muttered her incantation and then a blast of golden lightning rushed out of her fingertips towards Zoe. Her muscles spasmed when it hit her and she fell to the ground in a clump. The lightning jumped around her body, each muscle it hit contracting and relaxing with the impacts.

She expected it to hurt a lot more than it did, but it was mostly just disabling. Minutes passed with her convulsing on the ground as lightning bounced around her before she got the notification.

*Ding* You have unlocked the lightning resistance.

“D-d-d-oo-n-n-e.” Zoe stuttered out. The lightning vanished a moment later and Zoe put her dress back on.

“Right, well I don’t have any more resistances I can give you and it’s getting late anyway. I’m gonna head into town if you’d like to come along with me?” Eliza asked.

Zoe felt the magic that had settled into her wash away, and the red sphere of healing shattered. Shards of red glass scattered on the ground and then vanished.

“Well I’m gonna go grab some dinner personally. It was nice meeting you, Zoe.” Daniel said.

Kian stood up. “I’ll join you. See you later Zoe.”

“Yeah, it was nice meeting you all too. Thanks so much for today. I’ll absolutely take you up on that offer, Eliza.” Zoe said.

Eliza stood up and the two started walking back west towards Flester.