As the sun rose outside, TJ gently poked Sam and Mimi. They didn't stir immediately, but it wasn't long before they woke, and each looked at the other in excitement as they realized just what they'd finally done. Before either could excitedly say anything that'd wake the baby, TJ wrapped them up in the wind.
"I'm glad we have the opportunity to talk about this. Gimme a second."
Walking out of the room, TJ raised his hands. "Alright. Shoot."
Mimi looked at Sam, and he didn't seem to need any further encouragement.
"My Class is Zealot Knight and my Occupation is Divine Smith!"
TJ nodded appreciatively. "And what do those do or provide? Attributes? Anything like that? And what Race did you take?"
"Just Human Warrior." Sam shrugged. "Didn't get anything else offered to me that would help me in the long run and even though they offered me good perks, I didn't want to become something that wasn't entirely human."
"What was offered?" TJ wondered.
"Set-Blessed Jackal." Sam shook his head. "Two different varieties. Don't want either of those, especially since the System specified that Set wasn't a jackal but a higher Race. Something about being more susceptible to influence by those of a higher evolutionary level than me?"
"Gotcha. And the rest of the Class and Occupation?"
"Zealot Knight merged and upgraded my Holy Vestments and Sacred Weapon Skills. Now, they're Silver tier and are, instead, Knight's Uniform."
As soon as he said it, the boy activated the Skill. With a flash of scarlet light, he wore a full set of armor with a jackal motifs on it, especially the helmet. Even with the ominous colors and appearance of the Skill itself, the armor was heroic in design, and Sam was obviously immensely pleased with it.
"Yeah, and it gives me… 99 Attributes every level. Then there's the Occupation, which is interesting, cause it says 'Divine Smith (Copper)'. I think that means that the Occupation just can keep upgrading? But it gives 95 per level."
"What'd the System say?" Mimi asked, barely holding back her own excitement to share her own changes.
"Um… it says that my idea was right."
"You didn't ask." Mimi sighed.
"I was busy!"
"Whatever. You make stuff? Focused on Divinity or Fixation?"
Sam started to sulk a little at that. Even so, he answered honestly, "Yeah."
"No need to rain on his parade," TJ laughed as he tousled Mimi's hair. Then, he rapped appreciatively on Sam's helmet, "this'll keep you nice and safe. I'm glad you've got it. Plus, you'll be able to keep getting Attainments, so they'll get better and better. I'd imagine that the Attribute bonuses are a lot higher than before?"
"Oh, so much higher! It's impossible to compare!"
"Great." TJ said. "Now, I'm sure your sister would love to share as well."
"Yeah, sorry Mimi." Sam ducked his head, his armor disappearing from around him.
"S'okay." She shrugged. "Anyways. I got Battlefront Disciple and Amazonian."
"Ok." TJ answered. "I've gotta say, I'll need a lot more information than that. I'd bet it's all good, since you got your options and you're so happy, but…" He almost didn't need to trail off, because Mimi jumped in.
"So, ok. Battlefront Disciple gives more focus on survivability than just Intelligence, Wisdom, and Fixation. From what I know, the Attribute spread is a lot like a Neophyte's, just with more of a skew towards the casting Attributes. Then, it upgraded my Cure Wounds, while also giving me another Copper Skill called Bedside Manner. Helps me in focusing healing on particular parts of the body while giving a bonus to how much is healed by the MP used when focused on individual parts."
"Great for getting someone back into battle." TJ nodded appreciatively. "And the Amazon thing?"
"Well, do you know who the Amazons were?"
"That's Wonder Woman, right?" TJ grinned as he said it, getting the reaction he'd expected.
"No! They're the warrior women from Greek myth!"
"Hmm." Sam jumped in. "So… a lot like the women from Wonder Woman?"
"NO!" Mimi punched Sam in the belly, and, to his surprise, knocked him from his feet. He smashed into the drywall and left an indent there. As her elder brother half laughed and half gasped in pain, Mimi continued, "I was saying that they were warriors respected by everyone who knew who they were. Like, super strong. And it's an Occupation that'll directly influence my Racial evolutions. Oh, wait. It already did."
As much as TJ enjoyed the siblings having it out like regular teens, he also wasn't about to destroy the building.
"Ok, ok. Mimi, let's calm down. We were teasing you, and if you wanna, you can get a lick in on me instead of your brother."
"Why did you tell me to lick you?" Mimi's eyebrows climbed higher and higher, and TJ couldn't hold back the laughter.
"No, it just means hits."
"Then why'd you say lick?" She demanded.
"Just something my grandpa used to say. My bad, I'm sorry." He waved her off. "Anyways. You got a good Race."
"Yes. Amazon. It's both my Occupation and my Race. Makes me stronger. Get some weapon Skills." She drifted off, maybe embarrassed or some other way secretive about something else. TJ picked up on it and had the good grace not to say anything. Her brother also picked up on it.
"What's that last bit?"
"Nothing."
"Tell!"
"It's nothing!"
TJ shook his head and spoke up. "Listen. I'm not dealing with this right now. If you wanna fight, go somewhere else. I can hear Luz waking up."
Mimi flounced and turned back towards the room while Sam raised his hands. His eyes plead for fairer treatment from TJ, but he just shrugged as he sent his voice through the wind in a way that Mimi couldn't hear, "I won't come between you in a fight now. I just don't wanna deal with it. If you need a judge, I'll be that."
Sam sighed and nodded before saying, "I'll go get breakfast stuff. Be right back."
TJ nodded his thanks and went inside the room. There, as he tended to Luz, he decided on what else needed to be done through the day.
***
Sarah
She hefted her shield and hammer. There were more and more Copper tiered monsters every day, and though her level continued climbing like crazy, it was just getting to be… a bit too much. She couldn't find anywhere to rest, and she was just kinda aimlessly searching for someone from her Tutorial. After all, they were the only ones she could think of that were strong enough to actually work together, and were trustworthy to boot!
It'd been almost a week since the Tutorial ended, and she'd find a couple people who needed help every day. They were trying to band together, to protect themselves, but as the threats got bigger and badder, there was only so much they could do from one day to the next. People hoped to find somewhere to hide, to get some rest, and maybe even evolve, but there were precious few opportunities to do so. Instead of being able to get stronger and find opportunities to survive, they were instead relegated to brief, sporadic rests where they could find it.
Sarah couldn't bring herself to ask them to leave her alone. The now 32 people who followed her were constantly asking about if she'd promise to protect them long term. She just didn't feel worthy of it.
"We've already lost three people," she explained for the seventh time, "and there's always going to be more. I wish I could say that I'd protect you all, but I can't and I don't think I ever will be able to. It's better that you find somewhere that, somehow, is safe, or focus more on getting levels. I don't know what else to tell you. Maybe the world will become a calmer, safer place later, but it isn't going to any time soon, as far as I can tell. So, instead of just wallowing in a hope that I'll bail you out of a shitty situation that I'm in too, you should get your damn ducks in a row."
Then, for the fifth time, Sarah turned and stalked away, ignoring the pleas for more help. Every time she had to tell someone this, her fuse got shorter and her emotions higher. How could they not feel a desire to be able to protect themselves? It didn't make a damn lick of sense, and she wanted to beat them with sticks or something. Just… so frustrating. She couldn't in good conscience leave them to be torn apart by monsters, though. So… what to do?
Something approached, pulling her from her musing. She turned her head, seeing a pair of Lightning Dogs. Made her think of Molly. She hoped that the girl was still doing good, but the monsters needed to be dealt with and Molly wasn't anywhere nearby to help. The axe in her hand gleamed as she Appraised the monsters, saw they were only level 23, and leapt forward to deal death. Just as her blade nearly reached them, though, a pair of spears flew out, piercing through one and into the other.
Her first thought was pukwudgies, and Sarah leapt to deal with the goblin fuckers. When she got to the place, she instead found a happy sight.
"Farid! How've you been?? How great to see you! Damn…" Sarah trailed off. Farid, though relatively healthy, as far as she could tell, wasn't well. His eyes were sunken, and his clothing was dirty.
"Hello Sarah." He said in his gentle way. "How are you?"
"I'm doing better than you, it looks like. You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really." Farid answered. "Can I come with?"
"Of course." Sarah said. "I'll see what we can do about meeting up with the rest of the people from our Tutorial, how about that?"
He shrugged, and then fell in step behind her. Sarah fought to keep from sighing or at all emoting. He'd tell her at some point, she was sure. For now… she'd just have to hope she found TJ soon.