Blessing of the Seas

It’d been a week since Cthulhu woke up and met Bennett. After finding out she had nowhere to go, Bennett’s mom had let her stay with them in their nice, albeit crowded, home. In return, she’d helped his mom with the hospital/medic area, instead using a lesser version of Overheal, since the normal one was a bit… overkill (was that a pun?). In that time, she’d met Bennett’s twin sister, who, unironically, looked just like her brother. When she’d met her, the first words out of her mouth were:

“Did you just, like, fish her out of the water?”

Bennett had cringed and the girl sighed. “Of course. What’re you going to fish up next, a girlfriend?”

“Oh, shut it, Yelena. You act like everything I do is completely dumb.”

“It is though,” she’d responded.

“You do weird things as well, dimwit.”

After that, it had devolved into an argument on who did the stupider things while Cthulhu simply watched the siblings. In the end, she’d been welcomed in Bennett and Yelena’s room while the two of them decided to just sleep on an extra mattress, since they found it slightly easier. Their bed was on the floor, but they didn’t seem to mind, as they quite literally slept on top of one another.

In the present time, Cthulhu was watching Bennett and Yelena sleep as the sun slowly rose, the two of them snoring. For a while, she simply laid on the bed that they used to use, watching them until she sighed and hopped off the bed and walked silently to the door and out, as if she had some sort of plan. In reality, she had no clue what she wanted to do. Ever since she began her life with Bennett and his family, she’d felt like there was something missing, like she had some sort of purpose.

She then suddenly got an idea and dashed over to the kitchen area, where she found Bennett’s mother struggling over a recipe that she'd been working on.

“Hm?” she looked over her shoulder and smiled warmly when she saw her. “Oh, it’s you, the strange healer.” She shook her head. “We still don’t know your name, so it’s hard to speak about you.”

Cthulhu, despite herself, cringed slightly. She had been thinking of what to call herself, since she thought that just calling herself by her name seemed wrong. She’d been stuck trying to think of a name for the past week, to no avail.

She sighed in response to her statement and Bennett’s mom, who referred to herself as Dr. Yasmine, shrugged slightly. “Was there something wrong?”

Cthulhu thought for a moment before she looked around and grabbed a book from nearby and pretended to put on glasses. She’d been reduced to communicating with miming, something that Bennett had easily deciphered, to her surprise.

His mom frowned. “Hmm… scholar?”

Cthulhu nodded and pointed to Bennett and Yelena’s room.

“Scholar-Bennett… Oh, are you talking about the academy?”

Another nod.

“Do you want to know why he wants to go to the academy?”

Nod.

His mother sighed. “It’s my fault really. I told him stories about the Academy of Magic way back when he and Yelena were little children. They loved those stories… But it had a pretty big influence on them. They grew the desire to go to the academy, no matter what. They both picked the jobs they’re at when they were twelve and have been working for nearly four years, planning and getting ready. But, they never awakened their Alignments.”

Luna frowned. She’d woken up with an Alignment, but she didn’t really know what it meant. She could infer, however, that an Alignment was some sort of elemental resonance, allowing one to become more intertwined with their element. It was understandable, then, why people would wish for their Alignments to awaken, to make them able to fight on par with those above them… or that was what it was like where she came from.

Ms. Yasmine continued. “I know that their alignments will awaken soon, but I don’t know of their potential. I know that they’ll love their Alignments to the very core of their being, but I don’t know if they’ll be awakened before the entrance exams. I sure hope the Gods look upon them.”

…The Gods? Wait, does that mean that Gods dispense Alignments, giving people a portion of their power? Or is it different? Gods allow their Element to be used, but after blessing people, they have no authority over their growth anymore? This is… useful information.

Cthulhu pointed at herself.

“Do I think that you can make it into the Academy? Well, seeing as you’re a healer, they’ll probably let you in for free. But you do kinda need a name to get in. They’ll also question where you came from and how a healer like you is just roaming around the world unattended. And seeing how effective your healing is, they may put heavy restrictions over you, fining people for receiving your healing.”

What. The. Hell, Cthulhu cursed. What type of corrupt government restricts healing?

Ms. Yasmine noticed Cthulhu’s dark expression and flinched slightly. “I take it that where you come from, healing isn’t taxed?”

She nodded, trying to wipe her expression clean. Then she realized what Ms. Yasmine had just said.

She could be let in for free. With Bennett… I guess that’s okay. I know him well enough.

However, relief spread throughout her and she deflated. She couldn’t tell if she was starting to get too attached to Bennett. Before she could think on this any more (she felt that this was starting to become a troupe) Bennett walked into the kitchen, yawning.

“Morning, Ben,” His mother told him. “How’d you sleep this time?”

How the hell did he untangle himself from Yelena? Cthulhu thought, baffled.

Bennett looked up at his mom. “Good enough, I guess. ‘Lena’s still asleep, though I’m sure she’ll wake up soon.”

Bennett looked at Cthulhu and tilted his head slightly. “What’s wrong… darn, I really don’t know what to call you.” He rubbed the back of his head.

Ms. Yasmine looked at her expression and shook her head. “She’s probably wondering how you untangled yourself from Yelena. I wonder that sometimes as well…”

Bennett shrugged. “It’s not difficult, it just looks like we’re tied up like a knot. Once you get used to it, it’s really easy to separate from her. It’s not really uncomfortable either; it’s actually really comfortable-”

His mom sighed. “I forget you two stick together like magnets-” she somehow pulled a pair of magnets out of her apron, which Cthulhu had just noticed she was wearing, and let them stick together. “-it’s impossible to separate you two. By the way, the entrance exams for the Academy are in two days.”

Bennett seemed surprised. “Really? It’s already spring?” He seemed to get a bit more serious. “Hmm… if we both work an hour overtime today, we should barely have enough to pay for the exams… but, there’s still expenses for making sure my daggers are well maintained, since I haven’t sharpened them in a while-”

“BEEEEEN! Where’s my extra shirt for work!?” Yelena’s voice echoed.

He looked back and called, “Did you check in the second drawer next to the bed?!”

There was about ten seconds of silence before: “Thanks!”

Bennett sighed before looking back at Cthulhu. “Anyways, what were you two talking about? I heard something about the Academy and Healing?”

“She’s thinking about attending the Academy, since she has the ability to be an amazing Healer. I’m not sure what her Alignment is, but it's clearly something that has a great Resonance with Healing.”

Bennett looked surprised. “Really? The Academy?”

Cthulhu nodded, a bit embarrassed. She was suddenly wondering if he was going to judge her for doing the same thing as him. She-

“That’s great! I thought you were already in the Academy with your skills!” Bennett said. “You aren’t?”

Cthulhu stared at him for a few seconds. Had he seriously thought she was in the Academy? How did that thought even occur to him? This boy was certainly something else, if that was the conclusion he came to. Then again, he didn’t even know her name, so it was only like someone his age to assume things.

Don’t I assume things as well? Does that mean this body is altering my thoughts? Am I really a young girl?

She had a moment of panic, but shook her head. No, this body’s age is around Bennett’s, which… I actually don’t know.

After a moment of recollection… Right, sixteen. I’m okay with that. I don’t even remember my teen years after all. Right? Ung, damn erosion. It’ll take me a while to recall any memories.

“Yeah, I know you’re not now, but I did think so when I first saw you Healing… I wondered why you weren’t restricted,” he said. “But, do you even have the money to apply for the exams?”

She was confused for a few moments before realizing that he’d probably responded to her shaking her head a few seconds earlier. Cthulhu looked up at Ms. Yasmine and the woman sighed.

“With her special Healing, I’m sure that she should be able to apply to the exams for completely free. But, I’m not necessarily sure what they’re going to do with her. She could be locked, or forced to be on the front lines as a Healer in the War. I can’t be sure.”

The War, huh?

Bennett seemed a bit worried, however, he didn’t say anything as Yelena wandered into the kitchen, clearly tired. She yawned and reached over her brother to the pan that was on top of the stove and picked off a round pastry with some sort of sugary frosting, popping it into her mouth.

“Hm… You’re getting better, Mom,” she muttered, still chewing. “Cinnamon rolls, huh? A bit undercooked though.”

Bennett hit her over the head with the side of his hand. “No need to be rude about it. Also, don’t talk while eating, weirdo.”

“Be quiet, Ben. Don’t you have to go to work?” Yelena shot back.

Bennett sighed. “Sure, sure. The exams are in two days, though. So, unless we magically Resonate with our alignments at the exam area, we’re gonna have to work an hour overtime today.”

Yelena let out a groan. “Damn it all. I haven’t even sharpened Dad’s old sword…”

This time, Ms. Yasmine hit Yelena over the head. “Language, Yelena. And you better fix up that sword to tip-top shape when you get back, or I’ll-”

Yelena yelped and grabbed Bennett by the wrist. He lunged for a cinnamon roll right before his sister began to drag him out of the house.

“Bye mom: We’re working overtime today!” The sister called, dragging her brother after her.

Cthulhu, on a whim, grabbed a roll too, and went after Bennett, wanting to go with him to his job, as she’d been planning to do for the past week, but he’d always left before she woke up, so she resigned herself to help out Ms. Yasmine with the patients.

“Bye, you three! Be careful!”

~~~

“So… you wanted to see how I worked?” Bennett asked, getting a nod from Cthulhu, who chomped down on her cinnamon roll with vigor. “Well, it’s nothing really special. But, are you sure you want to be here until seven? You won’t get dinner ‘till then.”

She suddenly had second thoughts, but she still nodded.

“M`kay then. Let’s go check in then.”

She grabbed Bennett’s hand and he looked down at her. She looked up at him back and he shrugged, leading her through the semi-familiar crowds. She looked around, noticing the many Familiars, as the strange animals were called, following their owners around, whether in their arms, flying above, or on the ground. If she squinted up at the sky, she could even see a Dragon and/or Wyrms flying above. She found it interesting that things like Dragons willingly co-existed with Humans and other humanoid species. Back where she came from, they refused to acknowledge humanoids and the ones that did either kill them or were frowned upon by other Draconics.

“We’re here,” Bennett said, knocking Cthulhu out of her thoughts. “I’ll go check in, you wait here.”

He let go of Cthulhu’s hand before she could object and she stood in place as he disappeared behind a door to the building in front of her. After a few moments, she began to look around the docks, since, before, she hadn’t gotten a good look at it.

Looking at it now, she could make out more than she’d gotten from her earlier panic. There were many different levels of the dock, ranging from simple, small fishing boats, to military-esque war vessels that were similar to the vessels of her home world… or one of them, she wasn’t entirely sure. She then laid her eyes on the sea, which frothed and slammed into the side of the docks at random intervals, at least to anyone who wasn’t her. She could sense when there would be a big wave, or when there would be no wave. However, the people who were on the docks were able to react to large waves and would go to positions that were able to keep them from getting thrown off the dock.

After a while of watching, the door to the building Bennett had entered opened and he came out, looking a bit proud of himself.

She gave the pendant he held a questioning look. He shrugged.

“Your visitor’s pass. Also, I got a bonus for saving you from the ocean! It’s enough to close the gap for paying for the exam and a bit more! And from today and tomorrow-” He bent down in front of her and put the shiny pendant around her neck. “-I’ll have enough to finish covering ‘Lena's as well!”

He straightened and held out his hand for Cthulhu’s, though he didn’t need to, since the docks were less crowded. It didn’t stop her from instinctively grabbing it, feeling far more safe holding his hand than not. She hadn’t noticed it before, but his hand was covered in calluses, probably from working with rope. She resisted the urge to immediately heal the calluses, instead looking around as he led her through the docks.

Nothing she hadn’t seen yet.

After a few minutes, Bennett had brought her to the dock he’d fished her up from and sighed.

“Well, I need to finish fixing that net-” he pointed to the edge of the wooden dock, where there was a large net with a hole in it. “-then go and return it to my boss, so he can give me something else to do. You’ll be here for a while, just watching me rush around and put things together. Are you sure you want to stay?”

In response, she let go of his hand and hopped over to the nearby chair, sitting down and looking over at him. He shrugged and began his fixing of the rope net.

***

After about another hour, Bennett looked over to the girl he’d fished out of the water and rolled his eyes as her head lolled over to the side, her dead asleep.

I told her it’d be boring. She chose to come here, he thought, shaking his head. Well, I should put her somewhere so her neck isn’t sore later on.

He lifted the small girl out of the chair after securing the net. He walked over to a larger, reclining chair and set her down in the chair, reclining it back so she was more comfortable. She turned over with a small sound and continued to quietly snore. Bennett smiled and walked back to the net, lifting it up with a grunt.

“Time to take this to Boss. Ung, I don’t wanna do this.”

He slowly hauled the net across the docks and, seeing his struggle, some of the others who knew him helped him bring it to Boss’s boat. Once they’d set it down and Bennett thanked them, Bennett used Exhaust to launch himself up the boat’s side and onto the deck.

“Damn… I really need more MP…” Bennett grumbled, making his way towards where he knew his boss was. “Boss! The net’s fixed!”

After a few moments Bennett heard Boss’s voice echo up: “Took you long enough! Go to… whoever that girl is next to you for your next job! She needs help with the sail and what-not!”

Bennett groaned. “Is there anyone other than Rebecca?!”

“Just go!”

He sighed. “Damn it. She’s not gonna get anything done other than annoying the hell out of me.”

Bennett hopped down the side again and used Exhaust again to break his fall, slowing himself down considerably before he hit the ground. He then jogged over to his part of the dock to check up on the still sleeping girl. He pulled a blanket over her, since she was at a high enough elevation that she wouldn’t get wet even if there was a large wave and wrote a note explaining where he was going, knowing that she could at least read. Afterwards, he checked his MP before launching himself across the water and onto Rebecca’s dock. Immediately, she poked her head out from her now hanging boat and her face lit up.

“Benny!” She exclaimed.

“Don’t call me that,” he muttered.

She ignored him. “Are you here to help me, Benny?” she asked, hopping out of the boat. “Really?”

Bennett sighed. “Yeah, yeah, It was something to do with the ‘sail and what-not’?”

Rebecca frowned, blowing her hair out of her face. “Well, yeah, but do you really have to do that now? I think of a few other things we can-”

“Let’s just do the work we’re paid to do, okay?”

She huffed and spun around. “What is it with you? Why do you hate me so much?”

He shrugged. “I just do this because I need the money. It’s the highest paying job I can get, with decent enough working conditions.”

Rebecca’s frown deepened. “That has nothing to do with me.”

Bennett wagged his finger. “Exactly my point.”

“Hmph. Fine. I’ll get you to notice me eventually, then. Anyways, I need some help with this damned sail. The boat refuses to stay in one spot, so I need you to keep it in place.”

Bennett blanched. “Then put it into the water first. I’ve seen you do this dozens of times. There’s no way you can’t do this alone.”

“There’s still holes in the hull,” she said, as if that justified hanging it from the crane on her dock. “They’d be a hassle to patch.”

Bennett felt a vein in his forehead bulge. Why is she so infuriating- oh, wait.

He sighed as she nervously looked away. “This is just some convoluted way of you asking me to patch the holes in the hull cause you don’t know how to, isn’t it?”

She didn’t respond, instead crossing her arms and looking into the distance. He smiled slightly and shook his head. “Fine, I’ll patch the damned holes.”

Rebecca looked back at him with a smile on her face. “Yay!”

She threw herself at him, but he sidestepped and she skidded across the wood. He gave her a bored look as she jumped up with a defeated expression. “You better learn how to do this stuff on your own though.”

~~~

Bennett finally headed back to his deck, exhausted and unwilling to make the jump over, instead walking over.

“Man, she talks way too much,” Bennett muttered, stretching. “Let’s go see if… she’s awake.”

As he walked over to his dock, he saw that the girl was no longer in the chair and the blanket was folded on the seat. He let out a questioning hum and looked around, trying to guess where she could’ve gone. He originally thought that she may have gotten up to look for him, but he was proved wrong when he heard the voices coming from his dock.

“-think you can just wander around onto people’s property and not expect repercussions?” a voice growled. “The hell do you think you are?”

A moment later there was the sound of someone being slammed against a wall.

The girl.

Bennett used Exhaust to launch himself forward, anger flooding his mind.

***

Cthulhu was in quite the predicament, if she’d say so herself. For one, she could barely breathe. She tried to pull the large man’s arm off of her neck as she struggled, flailing above the ground, but her physical body was far too weak for that.

She’d tested earlier that her physical body was horribly weak, whilst her tentacles, which she could only have eight of, were probably insanely powerful, surprising herself as she had lifted up an entire container that had to have been many times her body weight with ease. Her tentacles could stretch out up to twice her height in length and were able to easily lift her off the ground, which didn’t hurt at all. They must have been the brunt of whatever her Stats were, as she couldn’t damage them, though, to be fair, she was pretty physically weak when she wasn’t using her tentacles.

That must have been what it meant by my Primal Form being restricted.

However, she probably couldn’t afford to think about that, as her vision was slowly getting darker and, checking her status, she could see her HP slowly trickling down…

HP : 98%...

96%...

94%...

90%...

86%...

____

Damn it! I don’t think they could survive being hit by my tentacles and if Bennett were to find out… how would he react to me deceiving him?

Why the hell am I worried about him finding out I’m not Human?! My life is more important than that!

Cthulhu debated whether she should shoot a stream of boiling water at the mens’ faces or cut off their fingers with high pressure water-

Warning! HP below 50%!

WHAT? It’s been like 10 seconds! I need to-

“HEY! THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TO HER?!” A familiar voice yelled, filled with rage.

Cthulhu stopped struggling and looked towards Bennett, whose face was filled with fury. The man who wasn’t holding her snorted.

“Who the hell are you? And what do you have to do with this girl sneaking around?” he inquired.

Bennett seemed to barely stop himself from jumping at the men. “If you weren’t so obviously blind, you’d see the pass around her neck, identifying her as a visitor. Now if you would kindly let her go-”

The man holding her dropped Cthulhu onto the ground and she could suddenly breathe again. She then realized that the charm that had been around her neck was gone. She looked up to see the man dangling it in front of his face.

“This little thing?” he proceeded to toss it into the ocean nearby and she could faintly hear it plop into the water. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

Cthulhu felt a sense of dread right before the man kicked her across the dock and she could faintly hear Bennett yell, but most of her vision was taken up by the very insistent prompt.

Warning! You are below 10% HP!

Huh… I must have some pretty low stat that dictates HP, huh? Wait, would I be dead without that 75% damage reduction? Damn it all. This System really wants to kill me, if I’m dying this easily. I’ll just use Overheal…

The moment she used Overheal, however, her HP shot up to 190% and she gasped, suddenly sitting up. Heh? What the-

Before she could continue this train of thought, she could feel her hair standing on end and some strange crackling coming from Bennett’s direction. She whipped her head over, but immediately ducked as one of the men flew over her head looking very charred and his body crackling with… electricity?

Her eyes widened as a presence descended upon her. A God’s presence. She immediately pulled in her own presence as to hide from the God. She watched as Bennett’s skin crackled with lightning before he threw the man who’d assaulted her with unnatural strength. The lightning soon fizzled out of existence as Bennett dashed over to her, lifting her off the ground and holding her up.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a panic. “I don’t know what just happened… I was just really angry and-”

Cthulhu, happy that he was there, hugged him and he blinked before hugging her back. She only realized she was hugging him when a strange heat began to fill her face. However, she didn’t let go. She felt safe… and it was pretty nice as well. She guessed that that was one upside to spending time with Bennett. Free hugs.

***

Bennett stared at his Status in awe as the small girl sat next to him, giving him a confused look as he simply stared.

I… really Resonated with an element. I can’t believe it.

_____

Congratulations! You have resonated with the Element of Lightning, earning the favor of the Goddess of the skies!

One of your Skills has Evolved!

Gained two new Skills!

Exhaust - Level 3 –> Flicker - Level 1

NEW! Lightning Strike - Level 1

NEW! Rapid Reconstruction - Level 1

Flicker (Movement/Damage)

(Movement)

Temporarily turn incorporeal, and dash up to (Skill Level * 5) yards in any direction, with full control. Deals minor Lighting damage to any within 1 yard of you every 0.2 sec in Skil, using minor MP. Cannot take Physical damage while using Skill. Max duration of 2 Seconds. Damaging opponents in this way decreases their Lightning Resistance by (Skill Level*0.7)%, stacking up to 6 times, lasting a minute.

Cooldown - 4 seconds. Independent of (Damage)

(Damage)

Place an anchor of Lightning anywhere in (Skill Level * 2) + 2 yards of your current location. Lasts ten seconds and uses no MP. When using Skill again, teleport to anchor and deal moderate Lightning (And Weapon, assuming weapon is equipped) damage in a range of 2 (1 for Weapon) yards around you while using moderate MP. Afterwards, your attacks deal an additional instance of Lightning Damage, equal to (Skill Level * 10)% of original Damage for 20 seconds.

Cooldown - 13 seconds (Starts when anchor is placed). Independent of (Movement).

Lightning Strike (Damage)

Summon a bolt of lightning that you’re able to hold and throw. By channeling more MP into the bolt, you can increase the damage and speed. However, you also increase the cooldown by doing this. While holding a bolt of lightning, you gain (Skill Level * 2)% Damage reduction. Has moderate base Lightning damage while using base minor MP. When damaging opponents with this Skill, you gain (Skill Level * 3)% Lightning Damage bonus for (Cooldown * 2) seconds.

Cooldown - Minimum : 1.5 seconds. Maximum : 25 seconds.

Rapid Reconstruction (Passive/Active)

(Passive)

Using Lightning to speed up your body, you can rapidly repair damage, however, it comes at the cost of increased nutrient use. You also gain (Skill Level * 5)% Lightning Damage reduction.

(Active)

If you use MP, the reconstruction will happen far quicker, but, depending on the severity of the wound being healed, Rapid Reconstruction will have reduced effect for a time depending on severity. MP use varies. After actively using Rapid Reconstruction, you gain (Skill Level * 4)% damage reduction for (Skill Level * 5) Seconds.

Cooldown - Varies

*Note: Skill Levels by repairing wounds over time.

You are now eligible to gain a Class at Level 10!

_____

Bennett looked at the girl, who swung her legs slowly, looking at her feet. She noticed Bennett looking at her and tilted her head.

“You sure you’re okay?” He asked.

She nodded before looking at the bruise on Bennett’s cheek. He touched it and shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal, don’t worry ‘bout it-”

She reached up to touch it and he was about to sigh until his Status suddenly updated.

_____

HP : 240%

Buffs : Overhealed (24 Hours Remaining)

_____

He blinked in confusion as his mind ran on a blank.

Overheal? Isn’t that…

He looked at her for a few moments, for the first time looking in her eyes directly, which reflected the moon back at him.

The moon…

Suddenly, he had an idea.

“Hey, I have an idea for a name for you,” Bennett said to her with a smile. “What do you think of ‘Luna’? After the moon?”

Her… no, Luna’s eyes sparkled as she thought about it. Then she nodded and Bennett let out a breath.

“Okay then… I’m Bennett. It’s nice to meet you, Luna.”