On top of that, I was fucking short.
I don’t know why that was the part I was focused on. My memories felt fuzzy, like they were just out of reach, but some would be crystal clear. I’d apparently used to be short, but had done something to increase my height. I don’t remember what, but I got the feeling it wasn’t going to be easy to do that again.
Shaking my head, I winced and started to follow the wall, leaning against it a little as I still felt weak and a little wobbly. I tried to at least pull my mind into the right mode to focus on the now, and worry about the how, what, and why later. And probably the who, specifically I was.
That was the part that bothered me the most. Trying to drag a name, a face, or even a description. I knew I was in the wrong body, that was certain. I was fairly confident I was missing some equipment and had some things added.
I lowered my hand, resisting the urge to touch my boob again. Even as small as it was, it was still there, and I’m sure I’d have time to explore myself when I was somewhere that wasn’t an alley. Nothing good happened in alleys.
I walked along the cobbled stone alley, taking turns as they appeared. Once, I thought I saw a small person look at me, but they vanished before I could get a clear look. Was that a child? It didn’t register as important to my mind, just an idle curiosity.
I finally came to a street lit by lamps hung from metal arches that crossed the street above it. They radiated a soft, yellowed light that repelled the shadows of the night. I looked left and saw more lamps heading towards some lit up buildings. I looked right and saw a towering gate connected to a wall with people patrolling atop.
Take a chance with the gatehouse, or try my luck with the… bars? Taverns? My brain hurt trying to figure it out so I stopped trying.
After a few moments of staring at the gatehouse, I turned left. Nothing good came from trusting authority. At least not authorities you didn't know.
I slowly made my way down the street, and I finally got a good look at my clothes. Or, what remained of them. They barely hid anything as they were, and mostly hung off me like rags. They'd probably been nice before that.
They were also coated in an incredible amount of blood. Enough that it stuck to my skin and weighed my clothes down somewhat. It was especially annoying with the scraps of skirt that were left, though it was probably the least damaged of the bunch.
I look like someone murdered me. Which, considering the smell of that alley, might've been the case. What a way to wake up.
With that thought, I continued until I got to the lit up building. It was near a bunch of other, similar buildings, but they were all mostly dark.
I stumbled against the door and leaned against it, trying to push it open. Only then did I notice the door handle and roll my eyes. How did I forget how doors worked? I turned the handle and stumbled inside.
“Hey, we're closed! Didn't you read the… sign…” The voice trailed off as I stumbled in, likely just getting a good look at me. I looked up to see who I was dealing with.
It was a heavy set man wearing suspenders over a brown shirt. Across the bar from him was a balding man wearing a dark green robe with yellow trim and a man wearing bulky armor with dark, short cut hair.
Suddenly the balding man stood up and walked over, “Greg, boil some water and a clean rag. Severn, get a tankard and some water from behind the bar.”
As the other two moved to follow his orders, he approached and put a gentle hand on my shoulder, guiding me to a nearby table. I didn’t fight it, though I was a little surprised. Maybe I look worse than I thought.
He turned a chair so I could sit facing him and he looked into my eyes. “You look lucid enough, do I have your permission to treat you?”
I started to nod, but he had his hands on either side of my head, holding me steady. It seemed the small movement was enough as his eyes began to glow a soft green color. A moment later, his hands began to glow as well with the same faint green light. I could feel the soreness in my throat fade away.
“No serious wounds. Some abrasions in your throat, from coughing, am I correct?” I said yes and he nodded, “There was also fluid in your lungs that I’m working to get rid of, it seems like blood, and it wouldn’t be good if that stayed in there.”
Not really having anything to input, I just let him work as my eyes took in the rest of the room. The armored man, who I think was Severn, came over with a tankard of water, “What’s your name, girl?” He took a swig from another tankard and the man in front of me gave him an annoyed look.
“Greg’s going to start charging you more if he catches you refilling your own tankard.” Even as he talked, I could feel a pressure slowly fading away in my chest. I hadn’t even realized how bad it had been, more focused on other issues.
“I’ll pay him for it. I don’t feel comfortable when he pours me free drinks anyway.” He set his tankard down and took a seat at the table. Then he pulled out a small notepad from somewhere I didn’t see. “And because this is outside of what I can ignore, we might as well start a report. Judging by the blood I’m seeing, this girl was almost certainly assaulted.”
I blinked a few times and looked down at myself, agreeing with his assessment. “That’s what I thought too. Especially if all the blood I woke up surrounded by was mine…”
Severn scribbled something down. “So you were unconscious and woke up in this state? Do you remember anything from before you lost consciousness?”
I tried to think, frowning as I couldn’t think of anything. Everything was sort of jumbled together. I didn’t even know where I was and said as much.
“Nothing? Have you tried bringing up your status recently? It might have some clues to what happened.” He scribbled more onto his notepad.
“My what?” I asked, confused.
The man in front of me frowned, “Your status. It should at least display your name and class as well as traits you might have. Try focusing on bringing it up.”
I did as I was told and jerked back as my vision filled with a transparent screen full of numbers and other things. “Uh… it says my name is… Danielle Rosecrest.”
Severn wrote it down, “Age and class?”
I read them off, “Seventeen, and Noble Level 1” I didn’t know what any of it meant.
Severn paused in his writing and the man in front of me looked over at him with a furrowed brow. The armored man gave me a stern look, “Now’s not the time to lie. What’s your actual level?”
Shrugging my shoulders, “I’m just saying what’s there. I’ve got a few traits too, though I don’t know what any of them mean.”
Sighing, the man in front of me let go of my head and stood up, his magic fading soon after. “Focus on the one you want information for and a description should pop up. Also, I fixed some issues that might have come up later, though if your memory is as bad as it seems I might want to have Greg’s wife explain it to you.”
I didn’t get what he meant, but did as he said. The last one on the list looked the most interesting.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Second Chance
Congratulations! You died. However, unlike others, you got better. Since you defied death once, you should be able to do it again, right? Once per month, you can be fully healed from death at the greater cost of 1 Class level or the total amount of banked experience available. Try not to make it a habit.
“Uh… according to the Second Chance trait, I did die.” That message had seemed far too cheery for something so grim.
The man who had healed me looked hard at Severn, “And that is my sign to leave. If she’s back from the dead, that’s the work of the divine, and I wasn’t alerted so it wasn’t Melrose.” He looked at me, “If you need any further healing, you can make an appointment at the church, though I’d keep that trait to yourself.”
Without another word, he left in a hurry, leaving a frowning Severn and a baffled Greg just coming out of the kitchen, followed by a short and stocky woman who looked almost as wide as she was tall wearing a simple green dress covered by a white apron and holding a bundle of clothes.
“What the hell was that about? I’ve never seen him move that fast.” Greg said, coming over with the bucket and a rag.
“Don’t worry about it.” Severn said, closing the notepad. “Martha, if you could give us another couple minutes, I’d like to ask a few more questions of Danielle here.”
“Sure, I can get her something to eat, I think we at least have some rolls left from dinner.” She headed back through the door she’d come from, dragging Greg by his belt before he started walking with.
Once they were out of sight, Severn lowered his voice. “Pearson was right. Don’t let anyone know about that trait. They’ll put more importance on it than it likely deserves.”
Nodding, I asked, “I take it coming back from the dead isn’t looked at positively?”
Severn snorted, “Usually the opposite, though some people will claim it’s against the natural order of things.” He reopened the notepad, “Can you tell me approximately where you woke up? If you’re up to it, I’d like you to show me as well, but that can wait until Martha cleans you up a bit.”
“Um, I came out just down the street. I looked both ways and saw the gate with all the guards and this place and thought this would be better.” Which apparently it had been. The guards probably wouldn’t have had someone who could fix what Pearson had.
“Why not?” Severn asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t really know. It felt right, I guess?” I was not going to tell what was obviously someone with the guard, or maybe military, that I didn’t want to trust authority. At least until I figure a few more things out.
“Uh huh.” Severn said, “And how far down the alley were you?”
Does he not believe me?
Skill Gained: Assessment Tier 0, Rank 1
I flinched and read the alert. I concentrated on the skill.
Assessment
Tier 0: You have a vague idea of what people are thinking, though only the most obvious of things will get through that thick skull of yours. It is now easier to parse a person’s emotional state and validity of their statements by a minor amount.
Severn looked at me with concern, “Something wrong?”
I shook my head, “Just something popped up, don’t think it’s important. I took two turns, I think. I was still trying to pull myself together.”
Nodding, the man flipped the notepad closed, “I think that’s enough for now. I’ll head to the guardhouse and get a couple of guards to investigate the scene. If it’s as bad as you say, it’ll be the fifth one this year. The rest of the Nobles are not going to be happy about that.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, concerned, “This has happened before?”
“Well, none of the others came back to life, but yes. I’d recommend staying away from this part of the city when we figure out how to get you home. It’s not safe.” He stood up and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. If his hand hadn’t engulfed my entire shoulder and then some, it might have been more comforting.
Severn headed for the door and then said over his shoulder, “I’ll be back within the hour, let Greg and Martha know for me.”
And then he was gone. Greg and Martha must have been listening at the door, because they were out in the dining area soon after he left. Martha looked me over and seemed to go pale. “Oh, gem, you’ve been through something harsh.” She set the basket of rolls on the table and grabbed the rag in the bucket of hot water. She then started scrubbing at my face and neck, “I’ll get you cleaned up.” The stocky woman turned to Greg, “I’ll take care of this. Make sure the door is locked and see about getting her something besides bread rolls, dear.”
Greg nodded, “Of course. I think there’s still some potatoes that should cook up quick.” He locked the door and went to the back, leaving me alone with Martha.
“Alright dear, out of those. It’s just us girls now and there’s no point getting changed while covered in blood.” She had gone back to scrubbing my neck, and I could see the rag was already stained a dark red.
“Thanks… I think I can take care of cleaning myself.” I said, standing up and peeling the remnants of my shirt off. It came off easily and I looked around for somewhere to put it.
“Just drop it on the ground, I’ll clean it all up later. Or make Greg do it.” She snorted at what I assumed was a joke.
Assessment has ranked up
Assessment: Tier 0, Rank 2
I blinked the notification away and sighed before pulling off the skirt. If I’d had any underwear, it was definitely missing. If Martha noticed, she didn’t comment, and I did my best to scrub off the worst of the blood and grim. Meanwhile, she was holding up dresses to try and see if any would fit.
She finally settled on one that was dark green and laid it out on the table, “Think this is the best I got. It’ll be loose in the shoulders, and probably a bit short in the hem.”
Considering the woman was shorter than I was, I wasn’t surprised. “Thank you. Sorry about making a mess of the..”
“None of that, gem. Something terrible happened to you and anyone without stone in their heart would do their best to help.” She patted my bare shoulder, which felt more comforting than Severn’s, despite also covering most of my shoulder as well. What’s with everyone having huge hands?
Once I was cleaned up the best I could, with Martha’s help in places I couldn’t reach, I threw the dress on over my head. She’d been right about the shoulders being loose. If I sneezed wrong, they’d fall down my arms. The hem also came up to my knees, which wasn’t too bad. It wouldn’t be hard to walk in, at least. It’s a lot better than what I was wearing.
“Hm, you wear that pretty well. Knew I made a good choice.” She looked at the pile on the floor. “And I’d suggest burning those. They’re beyond saving.”
I nodded, but my mouth was too full from a bread roll I’d grabbed and started eating. It was a little dry, but I was hungry. Like I hadn’t eaten in days. Probably a side effect of coming back to life.
With that, she went to the back, to talk with Greg I assumed. Meanwhile, I turned my attention to something that had been blinking in my vision the entire time. There were two little icons blinking in the bottom right of my vision. I hadn’t been paying attention to them because of everything, but they looked similar enough to the screens, so I assumed it was more of that kind of thing.
I focused on the one that looked like a rectangle with an upside down triangle in the center of it. A new screen appeared that said
Name: Danielle Rosecrest
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Noble 1
Class EXP: 14/100
Experience Bank: 0/1000
Statistics
Physical
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 12
Agility: 12
Endurance: 10
Constitution: 8
Mental
Intelligence: 12
Insight: 8
Charisma: 10
Perception: 10
Magic
Mana: 1
Mana Control: 1
Mana Power: 1
Skills
Assessment: Tier 0, Rank 2
Traits
Noble Birth
Experience Conversion
Experience Absorption
Moderator’s Veil
Second Chance
Spells
Healing: Tier 0 Rank 1
Scan: Tier 0 Rank 1