Alice Angel of Mercy

Our return trip was not as smooth as the one here. Bandits made the disastrous choice of trying to rob us. More than likely they were after any rewards we may have gotten from the dungeon. But who were Bill and James? Guards and companions of a prince were no joke. The local bandits were so underwhelming in comparison that Bill suggested a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to see who was going to fight them while they had us surrounded. I got images of a man stabbing me from behind and another one selling me to a whore house while Bill and James were bantering back and forth. In the end, Bill just got bored and said he won before they even played and beat the thieves until, those that still could, ran for it. I, for my part, made sure that the one man that I had visions of selling, me got an arrow in his backside.

After they ran, we were left with those that didn’t get away. Short of killing them, there was not much we could do. We were a week out from the city so bringing them back to face justice was impossible. We lacked the resources, such as food, and who wanted to guard them for five to seven days? I was going to suggest it but, looking over the damage Bill had done to them ,changed my mind. He had made it so, unless they got magical healing, they would be crippled enough that any form of combat would be impossible. The wounds had to be on purpose. They were too perfectly placed to be anything else.

The rest of the trip was fairly relaxed. Small animals, like birds and chipmunks, would talk with me from time to time. Telling me about their day or asking for food. I felt like a Disney princess and all that was lacking was a catchy tune. It took us five days to get back to the capital and I spent my time looking over my character sheet trying to figure it out.

I had eight new talents. All of them were blank but, as I figured them out or had a good guess, they auto-filled in that information. Proximity was the first one and probably the easiest since I got a message telling me I gained one DP due to enemies within my area. What I could do with that DP was still a mystery but it probably had something to do with a certain crystal that was rotating in my private area. ‘Transpiration’ I knew from science class, had something to do with the way plants absorbed and got rid of water but that was all I could remember. Still it took me most of the trip taking wild guesses until it filled in some information. I didn’t know if there was more to any of my talents. This world really needed a user’s guide.

I didn’t get to the others. I saw ‘As Fertile as a Field’ and was shocked. It was like this world was trying to knock me up. I swear to god, I would cry if I somehow got pregnant by a plant monster. I just counted my blessings that it didn’t auto fill in the information when I guessed my plant monster theory or that it made me extra, extra fertile. That was enough for me and since I didn’t have time to figure out ‘Dark Thoughts’, ‘Mistress of Anguish’, or ‘Conversion’ I just took some ineffective guesses. None of them seemed to fit with anything that I would like or want to do.

Although, I will admit that my mind wandered a tiny bit when I read ‘Mistress of Anguish’. A little fantasy of me with a toy whip disciplining a bunch of lovely ladies while they playfully begged me to be punished because they were bad. Which then led to me cursing the lack of privacy in this world and being sexually frustrated. Not that it was anything new to me. It was just new in this world. At any rate, I now knew my body was working properly. Well mostly, I haven’t tested “Everything” yet. I had begun to wonder if this body was broken with my lack of sexual desire.

Out of all the changes to my character sheet, since I went into the dungeon, the most vexing one was the seven question marks next to my ‘Race’. Nothing I guessed would change it. I tried off and on until we arrived at the city.

After checking in with the gate guards we were free to enter. It felt good to be back. I wanted a bath and to scrub off the dirt. Wiping down by a stream could only remove so much after all. I gave my thanks to Bill and James for their “observation”. Bill refused to say he helped me, so all I could thank him for was that. I gave them both a quick hug before running off to the academy.

***

I sat in my room wrapped in a couple of towels talking to Amy about my adventures. I saw her walking back from the showers and invited her back to see what was going on here and to tell her my story. Hearing her gasp in shock or ‘oh’ in wonder as I told my story made me smile. It was good to have friends. Retelling her about how I used up all my potions in one shot still made my heart ache at the loss of all that gold. It only paid off in the long run because I made them. The cost was a fraction of what it would be if I had to pay for them in a shop. I made three hundred gold after the school and dungeon guards took their portions but that was mostly luck.

I only ended up with more than I should since my team ran for their lives and did not get a cut of anything after the graveyards. Bill and James didn’t fess-up to attacking anything and Frigus and Phantom Blade left before getting their shares. Then there was a green orb by the crystals that was the ‘Heart’ of a lich that was mixed in with the crystals. James must have killed it but was being humble and didn’t claim it. All-in-all, I benefited from everybody’s hard work and lack of party. I would have lost at least forty gold if I only got a fifth of that .

By the end of my story, Amy was amazed by it all. That was when I mentioned that I recorded it and got hit by a pillow. Honestly, it wasn’t my fault. It was just a tiny red bead that clicked onto my armor and I forgot about until our trip back. Even I hadn’t seen what was on it yet and hoped it captured more than dungeon walls, no matter how pretty. I planned on buying a more advanced video reader so that I could edit them before showing my friends. I didn’t want any adult scenes in them. I still remember the late night encounter and the need to fix my linking display because of it. I told Amy about it and while she laughed at my discomfort, she wasn’t shocked at all. She just patted my shoulder like I was a child and asked me “Why do you think Janet got a higher percent than the men? It wasn’t just Jack that she was servicing from what you told me” making me feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

The one thing I didn’t tell her was about my changes or tattoo. I made sure that my towels covered all that area. I didn’t worry about my breasts being covered as much. They still were but the dorm wasn’t exactly modest about how girls showered. The shower head were set along the wall and there were no dividers for modesty. I have seen most of my friends naked at one point or another because of that. In the beginning, I did my best to shower late at night so I could shower alone. But I have gotten used to being around girls and my body since then. I was also just too tired to care during hell training to wait up that late to shower. The tattoos were going to be hard to hide if I continued to shower with them so I was probably going to tell them. I just wanted to try and figure out what they meant before I did, just in case.

We finished talking after making plans to go shopping tomorrow and I began yawning. It’d been a long couple of days.

***

“Your Highness, Alice has left the school and entered the market with her friends.” A non-descript girl with ragged breathing had just finished her report. Her brown hair was cut short enough that it didn’t hide the sweat that was running down her forehead.

“Very Good, since she is in the market proceed with plans three and four. Let’s see if she is as worthy as the rumors say. Also send some people to distract my brothers for a while. We can’t have them running to her rescue now can we. Also, remind everybody not to use magic to communicate. My annoying fifth brother is here and will be able to intercept it.” Prince Reynard finished while swirling his half full cup of wine.

“As you wish,” the girl smiled cruelly before she turned and ran back the way she came.

***

I spent most of my morning in the library. I was trying to find out about all the changes to my body with mixed results. I was researching dungeon cores and tattoos and while there was plenty of information about both, none pertained to what was going on with me. I sighed, stretched and went to meet my friend. They had classes while I still had off, due to my dungeon excursion, until next week.

We were going to do the cliché girl shopping trip. I needed to restock my supplies and the girls wanted to hear my story. Our first stop was ‘Crazy Henrietta's video crystals’. It was a shop known for its lower costs but it was further away from the main road and further into the ring of commerce. I noticed that there were more traders from other nations as we walked there.

The people of Udros were selling mostly items from the sea, like fish, shells and water based beast parts or cores. They, similar to the capital, wore thin clothes. Although, theirs seemed more practical and were thin more for comfort and not to find a mate. They were mostly male beastmen. It was the first time I had seen fish beastmen but it made sense since their nation was the ‘Dragon’s tail’ of the map. The land was long and thin, with water on both sides. Still, the multi-colored scales, gills, fins or webbed fingers, had me fascinated and I wanted to see what their women looked like but found that they rarely left their carts and when they did they made sure to use the men as cover.

The only other nation I saw was from Ickrana. Their nation was the biggest but also the toughest to live in. Their people tended to wander to search for food and resources because of that. Their men were big, broad shouldered and covered in scars while their women, while smaller than their men, definitely had more muscles than our women did. Their scars showed two things; men and women fought alongside each other and that they lacked magical healing at the time of injuries. They sold mostly furs and monster parts. Unlike the people of Udros, their women did not hide. Instead they stood tall and proud as if challenging anybody willing to cause trouble to come at them. Their stature was usually enough for people not to bother them but for those that didn’t think women could beat them, their mounts were enough to scare off most others. A giant wolf stood beside every woman. They had a wild bloodthirsty look and a vicious gaze. So no matter how exotic or pretty they were very few men would bother them.

It was easy to see that this area was not as nice as the main boulevard. The road, while still wide, was narrower, paint on the buildings wasn’t as fresh, and people weren’t dressed as fancy. Amy and Lilly walked closer to Bella and me even though there were more guards around. Other than it being a bit more crowded the trip to ‘Crazy Henrietta's video crystals’ was uneventful. I ended up spending a bit more than I wanted to but the Crystal player had an easy to use editing system that would save me time later on.

We spent time buying from the stalls on our way back to the main market area. I was buying ingredients for potions and enchantments. I saw Lilly buying rare cooking materials when I heard a lady scream. I shifted my gaze only to see a kid falling into the pathway of a cart being pulled by a couple of those giant lizard beasts. Another brown haired kid looked on indifferently as the beasts clawed feet landed on the little kid that had fallen. From the brown haired kids pose, it looked like he had tripped the other but he ran off too fast to be sure. The cart driver reacted quickly, just not swiftly enough. I rushed over. The child’s screen dimmed and a three minute timer appeared that began to tick down. I couldn’t move close enough to cast anything before she died. It just happened too hastily.

By the time I got there people were starting to gather around. They formed a ring around the cart but left a couple of feet between them and it. The kid’s mother was weeping off to the side. She was struggling in a man’s arms as she tried to get to her kid. The lizards were getting antsy as people began to crowd around them and their feet moved around nervously causing more damage to her dead body. I still moved to help. She was a kid, how could I not?

I was small enough still to shimmy my way through the crowd. I was not sure how long that was going to last since I grew another inch higher during my trip. I slowly approached the lizards when I got pass the crowd. The one seemed to be having a mental break down as it kept going on about not getting food because it was bad. The other was simply watching the crowd as if they were dangerous beasts that wanted its life. I began to say soothing words without stopping. Things like “Don’t worry”, “You’re not in trouble” and “I’ll get you food later”. It worked well enough that I was able to get to the kid without them panicking even more. There were scratches all over her body but that wasn’t what killed the girl. Her head had been crushed. I didn’t have time to think too much about it. There was less than thirty seconds on the timer by the time I got by the lizards.

I quickly promised the giant Lizards food if they would lay down around me and the girl. I didn’t wait to see if they did it or not. I was hoping to use them as cover so people didn’t notice that the little girl was dead. Either way, I did not have time. I felt the wind pick up but other than that I was too focused to notice the miniature sun that was slowly forming above the crowded market. A beam of golden light descended and enveloped the area around the cart. I flipped the hood of my cloak up to cover my head as soon as I finished the spell. I probably should have done it prior but I was too focused on saving her.

I tossed a silver coin at the cart driver. With a “Please make sure you get something your basilisks like to eat” I turned and picked up the child. His mounts had used their bodies as shields around me and I wanted to fulfil my end of the bargain. The silver was more than enough that the driver would have some left over for himself. I felt the little girl squirm a little as I picked her up. She was alive! I made my way to the mother. I left my ‘Comforting Aura’ out and mother was soon reduced to sniffles. After I handed her kid over and listened to her thank me for saving her child, I walked down the road. I was giving subtle waves for my friend to follow after me. A few of the people had begun muttering about how the girl died. Others were saying that they were crazy. Those people weren’t as quiet and the arguments were getting louder. Either way I wanted to get out of here before they decided to bring me into their squabbles. I could already see guards coming to see what was going on. I cast 'Blinding Flash' before rushing off.

I reunited with my friends two blocks down and we ducked into an eatery to hide out for a while and get dinner. This place didn’t have private rooms but we managed to get a table in a far corner. We were far enough from others that if we talked low most people wouldn’t be able to hear us.

“Ok, what happened back there?” Amy and Bella asked together.

“And what was that beam? Were you the one that attacked the medical center?!” Lilly asked right after. Her voice raising a little at the end. It got loud enough that I had to shush her. The last thing I needed was the reputation of attacking injured people; much less on a massive level.

I began to talk in a voice so low that they had to lean in to hear me, “It wasn’t an attack but yes that beam that everybody said was an attack was because me. All those injuries were from the people rushing to get out after somebody said that the building was under attack.” I looked nervously between them all and continued, “You have to promise to not tell anybody about this.” I waited until they all gave a nod before continuing. “I am not sure what you saw but that little girl fell into the pathway of the cart and the basilisk ended up crushing her skull. She died before I could do anything.”

“What? No I saw her. She was alive when you gave her to her mother.” Lilly’s brain was refusing to make the connection.

Amy on the other hand was much quicker on the uptake and simply said in a low voice, “that’s impossible.”

I continued as if they didn’t say anything, “that beam is an ability that can bring back a person who has died. It also cures them of every ailment. Well, so far anyway. You guys have to keep this a secret. I am afraid the royalty will have me carted off to figure out how I do it or simply keep me locked up until they need it.” My guess was that the princes already knew or suspected I could do this so I wanted help trying to keep it from them but it was a risk.