In Loki's Honor

"Rosie, are you sure you want to do this?" Temus, my father, asked me.

I looked at him. He had an arrow nocked in his bow and was scanning around. My father's class is [Hunter]. [Baker] is his profession and his trade.

After that hormone-fueled teenage daughter versus mother scene, we waited for him to come home and explained our case. He gave me a challenge. I should go with him to the forest and kill a monster alone. He would follow me and help if things got too dire but if he helped me I would've failed. So I not only needed to kill a monster but also make a show of confidence to keep the skittish [Baker] from jumping the gun. Bow. You got it.

But as Fate would have it, there were no monsters in the shallow woods. I moved ahead, making as much noise as I could. Singing a nursery rhyme. making sure to step on every dry twig and leaf. Nothing. We went deeper into the woods. The area my father used to hunt in before he married and his appetite for risk diminished. He was level thirty-five, by the way. The monsters here were all around level twenty. For me, they were ants.

I stopped and put my knuckles on my hips, annoyed. "Where are all the monsters? Are they afraid of me?"

Temus approached. "Don't say such things, daughter."

I got a ping in my {Locate Monster}. Another change in the system was that the Skills "detect X" became perks and all of them had a standard range of 20 x Mind meters. In my case, 420 meters.

"Found them. This way!"

I moved fast but cautiously. The monster had also sensed me as it was coming my way. I prepared my magical energy and poured ten times the base amount with {Overcharge Magic}.

When I got close to the monster, I let loose. "{Lightning Arc}!"

Lightning Arc hits Armored Bear for 16,800 HP (Base 400 x3 Magic x 4 Skill x5 overcharge x 1.4 moons x 0.5 resistance).

Armored Bear's is shocked: speed and reactions are halved.

Armored Bear is stunned: unable to act or move for 5 seconds.

I had no way to know there were moons in the afternoon sky. Armored bear. A bear that was bigger than a van with plates like a rhino.

I kept channeling the arc. the damage notification went up every second as the bear twitched and cooked inside his own armored shell. The bugger was resistant to lightning! Too bad I don't care.

You killed level 41 Armored Bear. You gained 31,266,600 Exp. (base 16,810 x 1960 modifiers [expand])

[expand]: 3.05 exp boost, 7.57 favored enemy, 5 size, 4 rank, 10 perks

You reached Eleon level 18.

You gained 18 Attribute Points.

You gained 6 Dexterity

You gained 3 Endurance

You gained 3 Charisma

You gained 3 Luck

You gained 108 Skill Points

You gained 54 HP, 72 MP, 36 SP

You gained 6 perks.

You reached Jeweller level 15.

You gained 97 Skill Points

You gained 4 HP, 4 MP.

You reached Enchanter level 15.

You gained 105 Skill Points

You gained 15 MP.

Attributes above the cap were redistributed.

You have 69 / 100 withheld Attribute Points.

Holy... That's why I sacrificed my life before the dragons got me. A permanent 10x boost to all Exp gains. That's more than 3 levels of advantage. I adjusted my fake level to eleven because that's the level I'd be without my Exp multipliers.

I grinned and turned around as I said, "There you go, daddy. I killed a monster."

But Temus' voice had not a sliver of pride. It was filled with shock and horror. "Rosie... that's an armored bear."

I try to cheer him up, "I leveled up! I'm level eleven now."

"You... magic... armored bear... " He mumbled.

I took a deep breath and hummed a {Song of Peace}. "take deep breaths, daddy. Not fast. Slow. Inhale... exhale..."

I give him some time and speak softly. "Everything is fine. You don't need to worry."

Temus looked at me and scowled. "Who are you and what did you do to my daughter?"

"It's me, father. Rosewise."

"Rosie is blind. You were walking purposefully in the forest. You knew where the monster was. Who are you?"

I tried to be calming and diplomatic. I used {Social Tact}. "Father, it is I, Rosewise. I've been always me. Look, I was born with more perks than normal. Just that."

He started to walk backward. I followed him. I soon hit my forehead on a tree branch and fell back.

"You are blind," He affirmed. "I'll trust you. You could've killed me to hide your secret--"

"NO!" I shouted and stood up, using the same low branch I hit as support. It broke my heart to see him suspect me that way, "Please shoot your arrow in my eye if you don't believe me. Daddy, I love you. There's no trickery, I swear."

"But there's a secret," he stated again.

I nodded. "I trust you with my secret, daddy. It is a heavy burden. One that can bring trouble to you and mommy."

"I want to hear it."

I canceled my status forgery. Then I set my title, {Hero}.

"Are you blessed by the Gods?" I nodded. "Which ones?"

I shook the tree branch. "This."

"Yznera? Makes sense. Your meeting with the druid was very strange, to say the least. Any other?"

I nodded. Crouching, I drew on the dirt a few mathematical formulas. Addition, subtraction.

"You didn't learn the numbers. Wyxnos?" I nodded. I made a gesture with my palms up as if I was a scale, measuring weights. "Queltphion too?" I nodded.

"There's one more thing. I swear there's also truth in it." Out of context, I spoke. Let him catch up.

Temus let out a nervous chuckle, "Galbarar too?" I nodded.

"Four gods? A {Hero}, like that girl of legends that killed the Demon Lords at the Scorched Continent?"

Not like that girl but yes. "It is what it is, father."

I hide my title and set my status to level 11 classless again.

He pulls me a few steps back? I think. I smell roasted bear. His resistances and the armored plates prevented the meat underneath from burning. But we didn't drain the blood so it is not safe to eat.

"What level was this armored bear?" He asked.

"Thirty-seven."

"You are faking your level, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm eighteen now. I have some multipliers."

He spluttered, "Some, she says. Come, blessed daughter. Let's go back home. You lead."

"I can't," I shake my head. "I'm blind and pretty lost, to boot."

We leave the armored bear carcass to feed the other predators. Back home, Temus announces to Eirana that I'm going to the capital on next week's wagon.

In my room, I spent my Skill points on professional Skills, opening them to train later. I looked at the list of perks for my race. There were several but they mostly orbited around getting advantage of our natural Dexterity, our luck, and traveling. I had six and decided to embrace my new heritage.

Sure-footed (uncommon) - You almost never trip on debris or uneven ground.

Crowd Surfer (rare) - When moving through a crowded area, you do not lose speed. You are also less likely to be attacked and it is easier to shake a tail.

Harmless-Looking (uncommon) - People are one step less suspicious and hostile to you, up to an above-average reaction.

Lucky Wanderer (very rare) - when you are unsure of where is your destination, you have a good chance (modified by Luck) of finding yourself where you were meant to be after spending double the time wandering around.

Blessed Luck (very rare) - Curses are harder to land on you and much easier to remove.

Hard Worker (uncommon) - Professional Skills are 15% easier to train.

Yup. Nothing overpowered.

With papers from the village chief to prove my identity, I rode the wagon to the capital. It was a wagon that did the rounds around the villages, taking passengers. A medieval bus, if you want to think like that. We weren't attacked by bandits and made it inside the capital walls after going past the gatehouse checkpoint where our papers were verified.

I had a recommendation for an inn next to the adventurer's guild. This city had a Dungeon, a real magical place where monsters were born out of pure magic and people risked their lives for glory and power.

I left the wagon station and started to walk around. I knew where were the people around me, and knew which one of them was human but that was all. I had no idea how to find the adventurer's guild or the inn. Asking around and not moving as I belonged was begging to be mugged.

Not a bad idea, now that I think about it.

Who would care about a few missing lowlifes? Get some Exp and trustworthy ghost guides at the same time.

I started to ask for directions. A few people noticed I was blind but I was quick on my feet to avoid the awkward questions. I kept track of the people around me, noticing those that stayed constant as I zigzagged through the crowded streets.

When I had my marks, well, marked with an {Assassin's Contract}, I wandered into an alley, using a cane to sense for obstacles.

Soon a group of four individuals surrounded me. One of them, probably the leader, spoke, "What do we have here? A little girl lost? Do you want daddy here to help you?"

I rolled my eyes. I raised a wind barrier to keep the sound from escaping the alley and checked. Nobody else seemed to be paying attention to us. Two of them were human, the other two... I had no idea.

"{Royal Geas}. Stand still, don't move or make a noise."

They moved. And made noises. At 16,500 HP of damage per second and a net cost of around three thousand SP per second, these lowlifes perished in the blink of an eye. Clean deaths, too. I touched the bodies and stored them, then took reins of the ghosts.

You killed level 27 thug. You gained 25,482,924 Exp. (base 7,290 x 3,495.6 modifiers [expand])

You killed level 25 mugger. You gained 2,886,250 Exp. (base 6,250 x 461.8 modifiers [expand])

You killed level 29 thug. You gained 3,883,738 Exp. (base 8,410 x 461.8 modifiers [expand])

You killed level 25 mugger. You gained 21,847,500 Exp. (base 6,250 x 3,495.6 modifiers [expand])

They were worth one level. I became level nineteen. One more level for my racial rank up. I bought more professional Skills. I ordered the ghosts,

With the ghosts whispering the way in my ear, I made it to the guild easily. I wasn't too far.

The area around the dungeon is high-risk. In case monsters escaped from the underground everything around risked destruction. Therefore, there was a well-guarded street a few blocks removed from the Dungeon and the guild in the middle. The rest was a cheap and poorly policed region.

I entered the guild among the bustle of armed and armored adventurers coming and going. It was late in the morning so the ones here should be those that didn't have anything better other than loitering and get drunk.

Dreading the stereotype encounter where the first visit to the guild always ends in trouble, I entered doing my best to be nondescript. I followed a line and waited for my turn at the booth, hearing the conversations.

"Welcome to the adventurer's guild. I'm Helmellita, how may I help you?"

My turn arrived. I climbed the chair and stood face-to-face with the receptionist.

"I want to become a member."

She said with a bit of amusement, "A halfling, eh? What is your Class?"

I kept my face down as if I was ashamed, to avoid weird eye contact.

"I would like to keep it a secret, if possible."

"Level eleven? How is this... you don't have a Class, do you?"

"No, ma'am. I'm still on the fence."

She slammed the counter. "You have no business being in the guild, girl. Go hunt some al'miraj to get some Exp."

As if I of all people would go murder horned rabbits.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Helmellita, is it?. Is there a requirement for joining the guild? I think I can pay the fee."

"That's not the point! You're going to die!"

"I'm grateful for your concern. I'm willing to take the risk," I said as I used {Social Tact} and {Divine Negotiator}. "There are hard-working people on the line, ma'am. Please process my registration and let me pay the fee."

She sighed. "Yes, it is your death, kid. Follow me, this way."

The ghosts whispered to me. I was going to be tested, then they would make my identification plate. Very similar to dog tags, these metal plates had some personal data. With their guidance, I managed to avoid stumbling around and went down a corridor.

"I asked your class because there are several tests. You need to pass one to be accepted. What can you do?"

"I can wield a dagger."

"A halfling [Rogue]. How stereotypical!" She chortled.

"If it works," I shrugged.

She led me into an open room. With {Partial Shift} I replaced my inner ears and throat with a bat's.

"Attack the dummy in the middle. You must score ten hits. You can take a wooden dagger in the weapon rack."

I sent a pulse and found the objects. Then the ghosts led me to the rack and I picked a dagger after waving my hand over the weapons mumbling some sort of fake prayer. I walked to where the dummy was but a ghost warned me.

I turned to face Helmellita and bowed. Then I spun until I was facing the dummy and started to slash and stab. I picked up speed and hacked away at the dummy. Then I heard straw splatter.

"Stop!" Helmellita shouted. "You destroyed the dummy!"

"I'm sorry. I'll pay for it."

"Don't worry. It's just straw. Come, I'm convinced. You'll get your card."