Chapter 4: Chapter 3

Helena opened the letter with an urgent thought.

Message From: <unknown sender>

Subject: Only read this when you are alone.

We are friends, or at least the closest approximation to friends that people like us can have. We both have a similar outlook on the world and reaction to what life throws at us. I have no idea when or where you currently are but if you are reading this then you have woken lost and alone. I wish I could tell you why or help you more directly but there are rules, unbreakable laws. Writing this message is the best I can do for you.

This is my advice if you want to live.

Above all things - level. Level as if your life depends upon it because it does. You are marked. You will be hunted. For who you are and what you can do.

I know your name but that is a secret I will keep. What is a name to the nameless. If you are no one you can be anyone.

Ignorance is both a curse and a gift. See the world with fresh eyes. Those around you know far less than they think. Look. Listen. Learn.

Live in the grey. To defeat the shadow would mean destroying the light. Do what is right even if that means doing what others will not. Truth can get you killed but so will being caught in a lie.

Whenever possible be underestimated or overlooked. Stay hidden. Reveal nothing. Always keep your secrets. Always. Secrets are power!

Trust your instincts, they will serve you well. If you are ever unsure then kill, only the living can regret. Remember that you only have the one life, run or hide, you must survive. There is more at stake than you can imagine and you are needed.

Good luck my friend and goodbye. I hope one day we will reunite but chances are we will never meet again so know that I am sorry.

At some point, if you endure, you will be contacted about a World Quest. Try not to act too surprised.

Last, and most important of all, think to yourself [System: Status]

---

She read the message several times. There was a lot to take in and try to understand. All the advice was obtuse or without explanation. Whoever wrote this message needed some lessons in clarity and maybe a slap. After some trial and error she discovered that she could dismiss the message and make it reappear at will. Useful.

If the message was to be believed she was also in danger. To her frustration it did not tell her from whom or from what. No, that would have been helpful, so of course the anonymous author never said. The mysterious sender, if they were to be believed, also knew not just her name but the fact she now had no memory. The part about ignorance and learning made that very clear. The sender clearly knew her before.

The other parts of the message were more unclear, and made her extremely wary and suspicious. She should lie? She should kill? What kind of situations did the message writer think she was going to find herself in? What kind of person did they think she was or had been? It all seemed excessively melodramatic. Thinking about it rationally she concluded there were only three possible scenarios:

1) The message was a complete lie and for reasons unknown was trying to make her do things that would cause her or others harm.

2) The message was a mixture of both truth and lies.

3) The message was telling the complete truth which meant the author had her best interests at heart, and that meant she should follow the advice at all times.

If she had to choose, and it seemed like she had to, then the third option was the most likely to her. Maybe she was just a gullible person but her reasoning was simple. Trust your instincts. Even if she had never received this message that is what she would have done. What else could she do? Her instincts were telling her the message was truthful and the message said to trust them. The logic seemed consistent (or idiotic). So she would go along with the message's advice until it conflicted with her current, newly awakened self.

There, decision made. Now what's this about [System: Status]?

She almost jumped off the bed as she was startled by a rectangle with rounded corners made from a transparent material, faintly tinted blue appearing in front of her. Words appeared on the glass-like window.

Initializing System Interface ...

More text appeared as she felt an itching sensation running from her head down to her toes and back up again.

Anomalies Detected ...

Analysing ... ... ... ... ...

Workarounds Enabled ...

Partial System Reintegration Successful ...

All Settings Reset. Opening Default Interface ...

She moved her hand to touch the window but her hand passed through the space without interference. Like the letter it was not real, only a picture in her imagination. The text vanished to be replaced by a set of labelled boxes.

[Status] [Class] [Skills] [Effects] [Log]

After some experimentation she found she could press on one of the imaginary boxes with a movement of her hand or simply activate it with a thought.

---

[Status]

Overview:

Race: Human

Grade: Tin

Level: 1

Primary Class: none

Abilities:

Strength: 8

Constitution: 9

Dexterity: 34

Perception: 48

Intelligence: 63

Lore: 1

Charisma: 42

[Class Skills]

You currently have no available classes or class skills.

[General Skills]

Greater Pain Tolerance: 3

You have experienced pain that would have overcome those of lesser mental fortitude and survived. You now have an enhanced ability to think clearly when experiencing agony.

Perseverance: 1

Despite complete exhaustion you managed to persevere and carry on. How far can you go on willpower alone?

[Status Effects]

Banes:

Boons:

Other:

[Death of Self]

  Tier: World

  Duration: Unknown

  Effect: Unknown

[Gift of ????????]

  Tier: Unique

  Duration: Permanent

  Effect: Unknown

[Mark of ????????]

  Tier: Unique

  Duration: Permanent

  Effect: Unknown

---

She found the Interface peculiar and beyond strange though she could not deny she was intrigued. Was this really how the world worked?

Congratulations, your Lore has improved: 1 -> 2

---

<Event Log Reset>

You have been struck by the [World Tier] curse [Death of Self]

Duration: Unknown Effects: Unknown

You have received a [Unique Tier] boon [Gift of ???????]

Duration: Permanent Effects: Unknown

You have been struck by the [Unique Tier] spell [Mark of ???????]

Duration: Permanent Effects: Unknown

You have been hit by the [Mythic Tier] spell [???????]

Duration: Variable Effects: Unknown

You are under the status effect [???????]

---

Status effect [???????] has expired.

You are under the status effect [Extreme Heat]

You are under the status effect [Extreme Pain]

You have suffered severe burns to right cheek, right shoulder, right arm, right hip and right leg. You have suffered medium burns to all other exposed areas. You have suffered light burns to throat and lungs.

Warning: You have less than 50% health remaining.

You have suffered severe burns to right hand. You have suffered severe burns to both feet.

You have suffered mild lacerations to both feet and both hands.

You are under the status effect [Mild Bleeding]

Status effect [Extreme Heat] has been removed.

You have gained the [Rare Tier] skill [Greater Pain Tolerance]

Warning: You have less than 50% stamina remaining.

Notice: [Greater Pain Tolerance] is now Level 2

Alert: You have less than 10% stamina remaining.

Alert: You have no stamina remaining.

You have gained the [Common Tier] skill [Perseverance]

You have suffered a critical heavy blow to your head.

Warning: You have less than 25% health remaining.

You are under the status effect [Concussion]

You are under the status effect [Unconscious]

---

Status effect [Unconscious] has expired.

Status effect [Extreme Pain] has changed to [Severe Pain]

Notice: [Greater Pain Tolerance] is now Level 3

Status effect [Concussion] has changed to [Severe Concussion]

Alert: You have less than 10% health remaining.

You are under the status effect [Unconscious]

---

You have been hit by the [Rare Tier] spell [Greater Heal]

Status effect [Mild Bleeding] has been removed.

Status effect [Severe Concussion] has changed to [Concussion]

Status effect [Severe Pain] has changed to [Intense Pain]

You have been hit by the [Rare Tier] spell [Greater Heal]

Status effect [Concussion] has been removed.

You are reading story eXalta at novel35.com

Status effect [Intense Pain] has been removed.

You have been hit by the [Uncommon Tier] spell [Heal]

Notice: Your health has been fully restored.

You have been hit by the [Scarce Tier] spell [Repair Flesh]

You have been hit by the [Scarce Tier] spell [Repair Flesh]

Status effect [Unconscious] has changed to [Sleeping]

Status effect [Sleeping] has expired.

 

---

 

Dismissing the Interface with a thought she contemplated about all she had seen. Well that Event Log is tedious. I don't think I'll be reading that again in a hurry. However the log and the status page showed that something unusual had happened to her. The message had mentioned curses, gifts and being marked, and all three were still shown on her [Status Effects]. The curse [Death of Self] was an ominous sounding name and even if she did not know exactly what it meant it was not hard to guess it was somehow related to her loss of memory. The Gift and the Mark, without their full names or more details, she had no clues about those.

So what now, she asked herself. Despite being warned about being in danger, and hunted, she wasn't feeling scared or afraid; it was too ephemeral of a warning at the moment. The message had done much to allay her fears - she might be lost and alone with no memories but someone was aware and had given her help - however she definitely needed some kind of plan. Ignorance is both a curse and a gift. Step one, she needed information.

Walking over to the door she pulled firmly on the cord twice then returned to the bed and waited. After a few minutes there was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

The young girl from earlier entered, her bright yellow ponytail swinging behind her. "Hello miss. Did you need some help with your clothing?" she asked, eyeing the untouched pile on the bed.

"Perfect. Maybe later," she replied. "You're exactly the person I was after. Your name is Kiara right? I wanted to ask some questions if that's okay?".

"Yes miss, by all means. I'm here to help if I can."

"Thank you Kiara. Sit, take a rest," she said, patting the soft bed next to her. "So, do you know anything about something called the System Interface?"

Kiara sat on the bed covers and answered confidently, now that she was this close she could see the young girl had flawless, cornflower blue eyes. "Of course. Everyone knows about the System, the magic that controls the universe, and the Interface, our link to it. Apart from creating the world and giving us life, our Interface is the greatest gift the Gods give to every person. So it is true then? You really have lost all your memories?"

"Yes it is true. Obviously I remember how to speak and I know what many things are: bed, door, walls." She smiled at the girl as if she had made a joke. "But big things, important things. Me, my past, this city, people, the entire world, and of course the Interface. Those I do not remember."

"That sounds dreadful," said Kiara with dismay. "There has been so much death and grief. You don't even know if you should be mourning friends or family. That's such a sad thought. I hope [Healer] Horrace can fix you. He has helped so many other people since we arrived."

"Maybe he can, we shall see," she replied noncommittally. "The Interface, my Status Log has some lines that show as unknown or have question marks. What does that mean?"

"That's easy to answer and very common for low level people like us. It means you lack the necessary requirements to understand. Usually it just means your level is too low. However it could be you lack a certain class, a piece of knowledge, an ability such as intelligence is too low or a certain skill is not high enough, or it could even be you need to complete a quest or have a specific item. The requirement could be one or a combination of those things. There is rarely just one way to reveal information. For example if it's a known spell you can ask someone like Miss Eruwen who may already have the knowledge and your Interface will automatically update."

She raised her brow in surprise. "You really know a lot about the Interface. That was an extremely detailed answer."

Kiara gave a cute little embarrassed laugh. "Every child is taught about the System and our Interface. It's one of the first things you learn about in school along with letters and numbers."

Ouch.

"Also I have learnt a lot working for the guild. Madam Jillian's Status may show as [Cook] but that is only because her primary class level is so high. She has many other classes that help her run the guildhouse. She could even manage the household for some aristocrat or high nobility if she so wished. I am learning so much from her and the others."

"I'm pleased for you. They seem like nice people and they did save my life after all. So if I wanted to learn about abilities, skills, spells, ranks and classes could I ask you?"

Kiara frowned, even that looked cute on her young face. "That's a great deal of information to cover. A great deal. If you want to know more about your ability scores then you should ask one of the guild's adventurers. They know a lot more about such things than I do. Miss Eruwen seems to like you so I'm sure she would help but she and the rest of the guild are really busy at the moment because of the disaster. Now that the army is here we will be leaving soon to return home but then they'll be on escort duty and patrols."

Then Kiara smiled wide and started to bounce energetically on the bed. "Oh! Oh! I just had a great idea! You should come with us back to Feymarr and the guildhouse."

"Why?"

"Well you have to go somewhere and back home there's the guild's library. It has everything you could ever want to know about the Interface and all the other things you can't remember."

Look. Listen. Learn. "That sounds like an excellent suggestion Kiara. I'm definitely going to think hard about doing that. Thank you."

"You're welcome miss. Strictly speaking only guild members can use the library but I don't think that'll be a problem." Kiara was so caught up in her idea she quickly skipped over that obstacle. She on the other hand was a bit more concerned about the restriction but decided to ask Eruwen later to see what she would say to the idea.

"Okay, one last question Kiara. What's the quickest way to level?"

"Hmm. That's complicated. For as long as people and the System have existed they have argued about the best ways to level. How to level different classes correctly and efficiently. But quick, quick always means dangerous. Is that really what you want to know?"

She nodded. "Yes. Call me curious."

"Explore the wilds. Fight high level monsters. Clear dungeons. Complete Gods-given quests. Affect the world. In other words, do what adventurers are generally known for."

"So adventurers level quickly?"

"If someone wanted to gain levels in haste I can think of no occupation faster or more perilous," Kiara confirmed. "The Gods reward risk."

"Interesting. Thank you Kiara. You have been even more helpful than I could have hoped for." She was not just being polite. Everything the young girl had told her has been incredibly useful.

"You're welcome." Then with a hint of a smile she said, "But no [Teacher] class earned for me yet."

"How disappointing for you. Maybe I'll have to ask you more questions in the future and see if we can change that," she replied with her own small smile.

"Heh. I'd like that. So did you need any help with those clothes or was it just to ask your questions?"

"Since you're here, why not."

It turned out she needed a lot of help, specifically with binding her chest. She couldn't describe it as ample but it definitely needed support. Kiara was shocked she was not able to put on the wrapping by herself but put it down to her lost memory. It took several attempts before she was confident she could manage it alone.

Kiara had brought a mixed collection of outfit choices. There was a combination of trousers, skirts, and dresses along with various blouses, shirts, and waistcoats. She quickly discarded all those that clearly would never fit her height or figure.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear these?" Kiara asked, holding up a fine, dark blue silk top with red accents that would pinch her waist, and a flowing yellow skirt. They were similar to what Kiara was wearing though of different colours. "They would look so pretty on you and the size looks perfect."

"They are very pretty but I think I need something more practical for now."

Kiara seemed disappointed but accepted her decision. It was obvious Kiara was more than a little surprised at her final choice but kept her opinions respectfully to herself.

She had picked a pair of black trousers made of some incredibly soft and supple leather. They were a little tight but the material stretched to comfortably hug her once she managed to pull them on with a bit of help from Kiara. To go with the trousers she found a pair of sturdy, ankle high, black boots with a flat, thick sole and which were polished to a bright shine. For her top she found a slightly too large, gleaming white shirt of fine cotton that had small ruffles along the button line. The V of the neckline plunged deep while the too-long sleeves went past her hands, so she folded up the cuffs until she was left with part of her forearms bare.

She sincerely thanked Kiara again. "If there's anything I can do for you let me know. You have my favour."

"Thank you miss. Should I remove the rest?"

"Yes please but leave the pretty outfit you liked. I may find myself wearing it at some point." She was not actually sure if she ever would but it made Kiara happy to suggest that.

"Yes miss," a much more cheerful Kiara replied. "We still need to find you a jacket or coat and some more shirts. I'll talk to Madam Jillian."

Because of the young girl she was feeling much more confident. She now had some goals.

---

She left her room and found herself towards the end of a long corridor. The stairs Eruwen had mentioned were clearly visible at the other end. Walking down several floors she found herself in a wide open barroom taking up all of the ground floor. Ahead there was a pair of double doors leading out onto a cobbled street. There was a long counter across the wall to her left with a ruddy faced barman behind it. The rest of the area was full of a collection of square and round tables of various sizes, all were empty except that seated around a large circular table of dark wood near the centre of the room sat Eruwen, Horrace and close to a dozen other people, mostly dressed in martial equipment of some kind. They all had mugs in front of them and they were chatting vocally to each other.

As she approached the table Eruwen noticed and whistled. "Damn girl. You be lookin fiiine. You're really going all out for that tomboy vibe aren't you. Is my haircut to blame?"

As usual she barely understood half the words Eruwen spoke so she simply shrugged in response. "It felt like the right choice."

"It was. It totally works for you hon."

A broad shouldered man in full chain mail that covered him from his shoulders down to his knees was sitting next to Eruwen. He was tall, even taller than the leather armoured woman he was currently shaking his head at in dismay.

"Don't embarrass the poor, unfortunate, native girl," he said to Eruwen in the other-tongue she had come to recognise. "You're not back home. Some of us actually enjoy the whole RP element of RPG. There is a thing called propriety here. You should try it sometime."

"Pfft. I'm just trying to get a rise or any kind of response from her. She's been unnaturally calm since she woke up."

"As I said earlier," the elderly Horrace interjected, "she is almost certainly still in shock. Those burns were appalling. The pain must have been unimaginable. It's no surprise she slept for so long given the burns and the rest of the wounds I healed. And then to wake with no memories ... as you might say 'cut her some slack'."

The table laughed at that and Eruwen looked suitably chastised.

"You'll get used to it." A quiet male voice at her side said to her as she stood there feigning ignorance while listening to the discussion at the round table. Looking to her right she found a middle-aged man of plain looks, not much taller than herself. He had dark brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail, and he wore the same kind of reddish leather armour as Eruwen. All-in-all a fairly unremarkable face except for the fact he had small, light green scales instead of skin and black vertical pupils within intelligent amber eyes. The more she looked at his face she noticed his mouth and jaw were slightly more pronounced than that of a human and when he smiled at her his teeth ended in slight points.

"Honestly I expected more of a reaction. I must be the first of my race you have ever seen, or should I say the first Komo you remember seeing."

She shrugged again. "I don't know what I don't know. I expect to see many things I do not expect. If I act surprised by everything new I will have little time for anything else."

The scaled man gave a short, sharp laugh. "That's very true. Such an enlightened attitude for someone so young." With a slight bow he announced, "My name is Kellin Si'Fah." He made a slight hiss as he pronounced his surname. "Just call me Kellin. Don't feel like you have any obligation to give me yours in return."

She politely smiled back at the feeble but well meaning joke. "So Kellin, what will I get used to?" she asked him.

Kellin nodded over to the table where Eruwen and the others sat talking. "It is part of the curse the mistwalkers must suffer. When they speak amongst themselves, or talk of their homeland, the rest of us will never understand. They rarely mean to be rude or to exclude others. The harsh fact is the Gods forbid it."

"Mistwalkers?" She asked with eager curiosity. She knew those at the table were different somehow and she wanted to know why.

"That is a long discussion for another time. Let me just answer for now by saying certain souls have been touched by the Gods and they have received gifts and curses the rest of us have not."

She was disappointed by his answer but Kellin's response did raise new questions, ones that could explain things about her Interface. "Can only the Gods give someone a gift or a curse?"

"Certainly not. There are countless spells, items, even places that can cause such effects and even more we have yet to discover. However only the God's can affect the System and an entire race."

She sighed internally. She was still no closer to any answers.

"Kell!" Eruwen called loudly to the green scaled man. "Good to see you my friend. Where's the rest of the team?"

"They'll be here shortly. We finished the handover and they wanted to clean themselves up first. It was dirty work."

"Fair enough. So how much did you scare her?"

Kellin chuckled wryly. "Not at all. I quote 'I expect to see many things I do not expect'. You found a clever one."

"Bah!"

"This is our Sleeping Beauty then?" asked a thin, wiry man with a tiny beard on his chin, and wavy black hair that he kept having to push away from covering his eyes.

"That's a completely different princess to Snow White you bonehead," replied Eruwen.

"It is? I always thought they were the same. Whatever. She's only an NPC. Not like I actually care."

"Oh I think you will care shortly," said the giant of a man sitting next to Eruwen.

"Ah, here they are," said Kellin.

Eruwen waved to a group of people, each kitted-out similarly to those at the table, that had just walked in from outside. They were all human except for a very attractive woman a few years younger than Eruwen. The difference was clear with her orange hair down to her chin, cat-like yellow eyes and cupped furry black ears. An orange and black striped tail lolled behind her.

"Perfect timing. Pull up a table everyone," said the huge man.

Kellin and the new group dragged a large rectangular table over after first paying for their own full mugs from the long bar. Eruwen beckoned to her and made those at the table shuffle over to make room for her to sit between Eruwen and the hulking giant. He introduced himself as Tamhas before standing up.

"First the good news," announced the giant Tamhas to the two attentive tables in a deep voice with a lilting accent. "We have now fully ceded over control of the recovery operation to the Jospur Army. Also the last of the survivors we found has finally recovered. In total we have saved close to a thousand people. Sadly we had to remove many times more bodies than that. Excellent work everyone especially under such difficult and harrowing conditions. You should all be proud." With that Tamhas raised his mug and said solemnly, "To those that were lost."

Everyone raised their mugs, even Eruwen. "To those that were lost."

"We have a quest to escort a convoy of refugees to Feymarr but it won't set out for two or three days. So for now you have some free time before we return to Guild Headquarters. Take the opportunity to drink, relax, and drink some more." Tamhas received cheers and more raised mugs from the tables at that.

Putting a huge hand on her shoulder he then said, "For those that are unaware this poor girl has suffered some loss of memory, including her name. She has no idea who she is or where she is from. To make it worse one of the first people she met was Eruwen." Both tables laughed. Eruwen held up her middle fingers to the crowd.

Looking at her he said, "We have to call you something lass. You can't remain the girl with no name forever. So with that in mind I came prepared." Tamhas pulled out several sheets of course paper and a crude bowl containing several pencils from under his chair and placed them on the table.

"Everyone tear off a scrap and write a good name on it for our foundling, then place it in the bowl. The person who comes up with the name she picks doesn't have to serve watch on the trip back home. Also free drinks until we depart." With that announcement there was a mad scramble for the paper and pencils. The wiry man and his small tuft of a beard being first to react.

Eruwen covered her scrap of paper with a hand and looked at her with a slight smirk.

"You're going to write something weird aren't you?" she guessed.

"You know me so well already," Eruwen replied, her smirk getting even more noticeable. "I forgot to ask. Do you remember how to read?"

She couldn't tell Eruwen about the message so instead she answered, "Kiara told me about the Interface. I could read that."

"Great, that defaults to Common. You'll be fine then," Eruwen explained as she folded up her piece of paper and put it in the bowl. Once everyone was done Tamhas handed her the bowl. He was the only one who had not submitted a name.

She went through the names and quickly discarded most of them. What kind of names were Gamora or Khaleesi? She was left with five she liked but after looking at them again there was one clear winner in her opinion, she liked how it sounded in her head, almost as if it was familiar.

"This one," she said to Tamhas as she handed him the scrap.

He looked at it and nodded in approval. "Good choice. That's a strong name." Looking up at his audience waiting in anticipation he said, "I don't need to ask who wrote this. None of the rest of you savages have such nice handwriting. Well done Sami."

The woman with the cat ears beamed while those next to her gave her slaps on the back in congratulations. Tamhas held his mug up towards her. "Everyone, a toast to Helena. Her new life starts here."

If you are no one you can be anyone.

~~~

"Did it work?" they asked with hope tinged with fear.

She lives. The curses held.

The intense wave of relief that flooded their body almost made them faint. If the spells had failed the repercussions would have been ... apocalyptic. Failure was still possible, likely even, this was only the beginning, but now there was a chance.

However there was a severe complication due to an unexpected interaction.

"Oh for fucks sake. Not again. And people think you're oh so clever."

And you have never performed an action that resulted in unforeseen consequences or deaths?

"Wow! I know I deserved that, but, just ... wow. Tou-fucking-ché. Respect."

Taking a deep breath, they held it for several seconds before slowly releasing the air from their lungs, along with some of their stress.

Feeling more calm they said, "Okay, tell me." They winced as they listened to the explanation of the problem. After some thought they eventually asked, "I struggle to think how things could be worse and yet you don't seem worried?"

Her nature is unchanged. She is still as singular as ever.

They laughed until tears streaked their face. "I should feel insulted but how can I deny the truth. So what now? Oh no, the message, it's wrong!"

Your message had to be sent as written. Now she will have to get creative.

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