One star, two stars, three stars. There would always be the same stars at this time of the year. They’d be close to the moon, shining brightly, two brighter than the others. Astor probably knew their names. Cayn’s eyes would shine a vibrant green while he’d looked at them. What did Bel look like right now? Could they read her mind?
Astor had made three spacious tents for each of them. And he did that fast, with earth magic. He then sprouted some seeds to make combustible for a nice fire. It sparkled. Too fiercely.
“Chill out,” Bel told him.
He tempered it down. She couldn’t see his face under this ever-present hood of his. Must be nice to never worry about your facial expressions. What did she look like right now?
Cayn brought some food, he was away to buy them while both Astor and Bel prepped up the camp. “Bel, did you slack off?” Pinpoint. How’d he know?
She half-lied, “I was stargazing for one second and Astor was already done!” Will he buy it? It was the truth, though.
“Whatever, let us enjoy some cooking…” Cayn said. “Who is cooking?”
That’s right, they were all bad cooks. Like usual, they played rock-paper-scissors to decide whose bad cooking it would be.
“Rock-paper-scissors,” they said in unison.
Rock. Rock. Scissors. Bel lost.
“Don’t complain if y'all get food poisoning, kay’ ?”
The boys agreed and she prepped the best meal she could with what Cayn bought. A good piece of meat with a messed up sauce made out of vegetables.
“What is that?” Cayn said.
“Your dinner, be thankful.”
Astor took the first bite. She could tell the taste by the way his body recoiled.
She spoke, “That bad?”
He held his belly and gulped one more then gave a thumb up. How nice of him.
Cayn followed. Surprisingly, he was fine and ate like normal.
Bel continued. One bite. Awful.
“Yo green-eyes, do you have fucked up taste buds?”
“Excuse you, I was trying to be nice,” Cayn replied. “I can make a distressed face if you prefer?!”
“Nah that’s fine, you’re ugly enough.”
Cayn gasped. “Just eat.”
They finished the whole meal, with a lot of effort. Cayn, early bird that he is, went to sleep first. Astor and Bel stayed to stargaze some more. She’d listen to him naming and explaining what every star was. This brain of his was something. They’d go through many constellations until Bel yawned.
“Eeping time,” she said.
“Good night.” Astor would probably stay for a long time. A true night owl. He’d also keep guard while at it, and read some books too, knowing him.
Bel laid down. Eyes closed, rethinking about her day. About the group of Pinks. About the trouble they brought. If only they didn’t recognize her, it’d make things easier. She knew she had to tell her friends about her status, but she wasn’t ready yet.
***
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
She dreamt about the past. When she was younger and innocent. Her father picked her up from school and they went to buy some sweets. Candies, her favorite. They took a walk, like always. Admiring the view from atop the tallest tree they found. It was tranquil, nothing could change her train of life, she thought. Until she turned seven.
Starting that age, every Pink tribe member could see an [Appraiser] to check their status. Indeed, the characteristic that separated the Pink tribe from others was the Early Access they got from the System. So instead of gaining access at the age of fifteen, they earned it at seven.
[Appraisers] were mostly travelers, the class being rare as it is. Every opportunity was good to take.
The queue was long. They persisted by distracting themselves, talking about their days and playing some games here and then. She remembered her father’s hand on her shoulder; he was shaky. He was stressed out but she wasn’t. If her stats were naturally low, she’d have her whole life to improve, no biggie.
Her turn came. “[Identify],” the [Appraiser] said.
Bel
Level: 0
Skills mastered: 0
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 7
Mana: 100/100
“That can’t be right,” her father said, panicked. “System, title check.”
Title:
He made the [Appraiser] double-check both his title and Bel’s. She still had none. In this little shop where only the father, the daughter and the [Appraiser] were, the secret was kept.
At the time, she hadn’t known yet that it was worse than missing an arm or a leg, or even being blind or deaf. For the Pink tribe, it was their utmost pride. The very distinction that made them better than most, to be loved by the System was to have a title. So for one to not be born with one was unacceptable. She would be seen as an ill omen.
***
The morning came without issues and Cayn was already awake, cooking a nice breakfast. Just some scrambled eggs.
“Mornin’,” she greeted.
“Take a seat,” he invited her, serving a plate. “Careful, it’s hot.”
They ate in silence while Astor still slept. She was glad neither of them asked anything about her, but it instilled some awkwardness. She couldn’t bear it anymore. “I’m gonna go hunt a bit.”
“Do you need assistance?” Cayn asked.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Take care of Astor for me.”
“It goes without saying, have a good hunt.”
She put her plate down and entered the mountain. Following the path made by the crystals lighting the caves, she encountered a pack of moles. All with a visible mana core the size of her palm. That was some serious mana corruption, it shouldn’t be that big. The average was the size of a thumb. Not that it matter much right now, she just wanted to let off some steam.
One mole charged at her in a blind fury. She catched it and tried to rip out the mana core by herself, to no avail. Too big. Another mole attacked her, she dodged, releasing the other from her grasp. Perfect time to practice class switching.
“[Switch: Mage],” she activated. Focusing on one mole, she imagined a hand made out of earth to catch it. “[Element].” It failed; the hand fell apart at the first movement. Astor made it look easy, it’s not.
She continued to dodge the moles’ attacks with no problem. Like a walk in a park. She tried again, this time not a hand but a simple rope. It was easy to control and she could even move while doing so. She caught one, then two and a third! They agitated against their binds, cracking them. She reinforced them and hurried. “Whoops, gotta go fast.”
Taking a
“Take care.”
3 animals helped.
30 experience points obtained.
Level up.
1 stat auto-attributed.
“System, level check.”
Level: 21
Well, that was a fructuous fight. Three big mana cores and a level up. Still, it was strange that their cores were so big. Did someone forget to clean up the mana in this area? Maybe. Anyways, it was time to go back to the camp. Astor should be up by now.
As she approached the camp, she heard voices resounding in the nearby cave she was in. She pried the conversation.
“I’m telling you, that girl is a problem. She will bring misfortune to you guys,” the woman with pink hair of yesterday said.
“It is none of my concern to know what her past is,” Cayn said.
The woman continued, “It’s not her past, it’s well alive and present.” She looked at Astor, he was giving her the silent treatment.
“Could you please leave?” Cayn asked her. “We are trying to clean up the camp and leave.”
“Fine, but don’t come to me and cry when shit goes down. I am warning you out of pure kindness.” She left.
Bel didn’t know what to do, so she sat there, waiting, as her heartbeat calmed down with every passing second. When will it end? What did she do to deserve all of that? Can’t they leave her alone for once? It’s not like she asked to be born that way… She was just a “happy accident” in the first place.