An Unbound Soul

Finally, the day of my birthday came around. Dad really had turned up for it, arriving the night before. The conversation between him and Mum was a bit strained, but they seemed to have forgiven each other, so that was good. They shouldn't be arguing.

Peter's family turned up early in the morning, so I gave them all good morning hugs. I still needed to hold my breath around Peter, and things hadn't got any better for a long while now, but Mum had promised that after today I wouldn't need to worry about it anymore. I hoped so; I had a lot of catching up to do.

Anyway, why did Peter smell so strongly when David didn't? He had the pongy [Xenophilia] trait too. He did smell a little, but it wasn't overbearing. I gave him a big sniff to check while I was hugging him good morning, but nothing happened other than him looking at me funny.

More and more people turned up, all of my friends coming to wish me a happy birthday. Or at least, all the ones who could come. My friends in the Emerald Nest had sent a big letter, signed by everyone. I even had one from Tirrani in the Sapphire Peaks, and the twins had scribbled in it too! So cute!

Hmm... Would they be annoyed if I called them cute? They're like Peter, in that even if they're babies, they're actually very old. Well, whatever. They're cute, so I'll call them cute.

With all the people turning up, I spent all my time running around. It was fun! And then there were lots of presents. I don't normally get presents for my birthday, but this one was special. There were clothes, which would be useful, but maybe I had a few too many. There were games, even though I was an adult now. And then Lucy gave me yet another parcel of clothes. I thanked her politely and gave her a big hug, because I was still thankful even if I had too many, but then she leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Everything in there is enchanted with silence and mana veil. It'll help you hide better. Durability and comfort too, so they won't wear out."

I beamed an enormous smile and hugged her as tight as I could. Maybe a little too tight, given how strong I am now. But Lucy is quite strong too, so I'm sure she was fine, despite the way her bones were creaking.

Peter gave me new daggers, with pinkish embellishments. Did he think I liked pink? I mean, it's okay, but it's hardly my favourite colour. Surely he knows that? But when I commented on it, he said it was a special material that made enchantments better, and it only came in that one colour. Silly me—I should have recognised it. It was the same colour as my rings!

Dad gave me a new bow, along with a quiver and bundle of arrows. They didn't make my [Stealth] better, they weren't enchanted, nor were they made from any special pink materials, but I didn't care. Dad had given me a weapon. There was no better acceptance and approval that I could hope for.

By the time Mum came to give me her gift, I already thought my smile couldn't get any wider. It was an earring, which was strange. Not only did I not have my ears pierced, but no-one in our family wore jewellery at all. I had my rings, but that was because they were enchanted, not because they were jewellery. Wait... That earring was the same colour. Don't tell me! My smile grew even broader and my anticipation grew as Mum leaned in.

"As promised, with that, you won't have to worry about your sensitive nose. It will also stop anyone else from smelling you, including monsters, so it'll improve your stealth."

I kinda hoped Mum would stop there, because my mouth was hurting from smiling so hard, but she kept on going.

"It'll also block people from appraising you, make you even harder to detect when using [Stealth], and cut down on the amount of mana [Stealth] uses. Other skills too, but I imagine that's the one you care about."

I grabbed the earring and Lucy's parcel before running into our house, giving Mum only the most cursory thank-you hug on the way. As soon as I was out of sight, I pulled off my clothes and put on the blue dress that was at the top of Lucy's pile. Despite looking slightly too large for me, it resized itself perfectly once worn. Comfort enchantments on regular clothing! That was amazing even before the extra effects.

I left my old clothes in a messy heap, instead of putting them away properly like a good girl, but this was important! I could tidy up later! And then the earring... But my ear wasn't pierced! What a blunder! How was I supposed to get it in? Could I just force it through? Probably, but what if I did it in the wrong place?

I heard the click of our front door behind me and spun around to find Adele had walked in.

"Your mum said you were in too much of a rush, and would need my help," she said, smiling.

Yay, Adele to the rescue! Giving her a thank-you squeeze, I explained my problem, and she pulled a pin out of her pocket.

"Where do you want it?" she asked. "The top of your ear, the base, or somewhere between?"

"Umm... Somewhere that's not too obvious. The base?"

"Yup, that would be right if you want it to be inconspicuous. If I put it right at the base, you can hide it under your hair. Now, hold still. This is going to hurt a little, so I need you to try very hard to hold your ears still, okay?"

"Yup. I'm an adult now!"

Adele smiled and poked my ear with the pin. I tried very hard to hold my ear still, but I felt it flick a little anyway. It wasn't my fault; they do that on their own!

"Did I mess it up?" I asked, worrying.

"No, it's fine, I got it."

Adele helped me put in the earring, and I activated [Stealth]. It... didn't feel different. But if everything was working, not only would I be invisible, but also silent and odourless, and undetectable to mana detection skills. On top of that, the invisibility should be harder to see through, although I'd long since lost the telltale shimmers the skill displayed at low levels, so I wasn't sure what effect that would have. It should use less mana too, and watching my status, I saw that the time it took me to lose a single point of mana had almost doubled!

I went running outside to distribute hugs to everyone I owed them to. Mum and Lucy first, for the amazingly wonderful gifts. Then Peter, because I owed him so many and could finally repay them.

He dodged.

Despite me being invisible, silent, odourless and veiled from his mana detection, he dodged!

He is so unfair!

At least that settled what my next class was going to be. Only two more class levels to go, then I'd need to take [Apprentice Mage]. I was going to win this if it was the last thing I did!

Darren helped out and nullified whatever Peter did to see me, letting me catch him completely by surprise on my second attempt, and I proceeded to repay all the hugs that I owed, breathing deeply, and feeling absolute bliss at the lack of people-smells messing up my nose.

With the main players hugged, I moved on to the rest of the party. No, wait, I'd missed one. Grover, the maker of these amazing enchantments! And of my armour! He wasn't here! I asked Adele where he was, and she pointed me at the institute. Vargalas worked there too, didn't he? Was he going back after the party? Maybe he could point me at Grover.

I went to ask, and with a big nasty frown, he asked me why. So I told him. I watched with amusement as, over the period of ten seconds or so, the frown gradually turned upside down. Vargalas then gave a single 'ha'—the oddest laugh I'd ever heard—before offering to take me immediately on condition that he was allowed to watch. Of course I agreed; there was nothing secret about hugs!

Me and the elf quietly snuck off. The institute wasn't far away, and we should be back before anyone noticed we were gone. Particularly me—how would anyone tell the difference between me being there but invisible, and not being there at all? Vargalas led me into the building and down a few corridors, before I needed to grab him by the back of his tunic and give it a yoink.

"Oi, what do you think you're..."

His complaint was interrupted by the spray of white liquid that squirted out of the wall, showering the patch of corridor where he had previously been standing.

"... What?" he asked. From his face, I assumed that the corridors here in the institute didn't normally do that. I poked a bit of the stuff with my finger, and it was all sticky. I was lucky that [Trap Perception] picked it up, or else Vargalas would have got stuck.

Vargalas poked at the white stuff too. "Glue?" he muttered. "Ah. I see how it is. So that's why he asked me to mix all that up for him. That fool knew full well what sort of terror he was unleashing upon the world, and set up defences."

I nodded in polite incomprehension. There was some sort of terror coming for Grover, so he'd set up traps? Then how was I supposed to get to him to give him his hugs? Thank goodness I had [Trap Perception].

"How did you know?" Vargalas asked me.

"[Trap Perception]," I answered.

Vargalas grinned again. He had a really funny grin. I don't think he smiled very often, so his face wasn't used to it. "You'll have to go on alone from here, sorry. Turn right at the end of this corridor, then the second left, and it's the third door on your right. Good luck, and make sure you don't let the traps stop you!"

"I won't. No challenge will ever stop me from delivering deserved hugs. But what's this terror you mentioned? Do I need to worry about it?"

"No. No, you do not. I can state with absolute certainty that it will never come after you."

That's a relief. It would be bad enough needing to deal with the traps without having to worry about some sort of monster.

I activated [Stealth] and crept down the corridor, keeping alert for any responses to [Trap Perception]. Some of the traps were very cunningly laid, and I needed to dodge another shower of glue, then a rope net that almost fell on my head. There was even a pitfall I almost fell into, somehow dug into the corridor floor. I managed to avoid them all though, following Vargalas' directions and reaching the second left. There was a big sign hanging from the ceiling, claiming the corridor was closed. I blinked in confusion. This was certainly the way that Vargalas had told me to come!

Should I go back and ask Vargalas for another route? No, this must be another trap! If the terror got here, it would read the sign, then go away! In that case, it was meant to keep the terror out, and not me, so I ducked under it and continued down the corridor, counting the doors. One... Two... Three!

The door had no handle.

I peered at the door. Did it have some other way of opening? I gave it an experimental push, but it didn't budge. This was confusing. With all these efforts to keep the terror out, how was I supposed to get in?!

I looked around, and there was a hatch a little further down the wall. Did that lead into the same room? I pushed it open, but it seemed to lead to a dark tunnel. Climbing in, it was all horribly dusty, but the odour suppression enchantment on my earring cleared all the dust out of the air before I could breathe it. It was even more useful than I thought it was!

The tunnel sloped downwards and came out above a trough full of coal. That explained all the dust, at least. I hopped off the top, the silence enchantment completely masking my footfalls, and looked around. There was a dwarf sitting on a chair, reading a book, but all around him the floor was covered in little spikes. I paused as my [Hunting] skill stirred, and informed me they were called caltrops. Not that knowing what they were called would make any difference; I couldn't tread on them, and if I tried to move them, he would see.

[Inspection] confirmed that the dwarf was Grover, so I was in the right place! Looking around, I noted the contraption hanging from the ceiling that held several light crystals. It looked rather sturdy. I bet it could take my weight without shifting. And if I swung from there... I examined the chair for safe landing spaces and hugging positions, and I saw no reason why I couldn't do this. It would take all my acrobatic ability, and if it went wrong, I would land on some very painful-looking spikes, but such are the risks I must take to achieve the ultimate surprise hug!

I leapt to the ceiling and swung, landing perfectly in Grover's lap, and gave him the biggest hug I could manage.

Grover screamed.

ding

For performing a class related feat, you gain 1 soul point

"Don't worry; it's not whatever terror you built all those traps to keep out," I said to reassure him, ignoring the message because hugs were more important. "It's just me! I wanted to say thanks for the awesome items!"

I was happy that my surprise hug had been executed so well, but perhaps I had scared him just a little too much there. After all, if he's sitting here in fear of some unknown terror sneaking up on him, it was rather mean of me to sneak up on him!

ding

Trait [Hugger] evolved to [Invisible Terror]

Wait, what? No! The System has it all wrong. I'm not the terror! It's not me he's afraid of! I was just being nice! In a panic, I brought up the trait description.

[Invisible Terror] - You are the phantom hugger of Dawnhold, born to dispense hugs to all, without regard to position, wealth or personal boundaries. None can see you coming. No traps or locks will bar your way. No-one is safe. Any may be hugged, at any place and any time. Mana costs of all stealth skills reduced by 80%. Charisma increased by 5. You may bestow a small buff effect via hugs. (Rank 4)

Wait... I am the terror? I burst out laughing. The haunted look on Grover's face grew progressively worse, but I just couldn't help myself. That trait was amazing, and I just had to give Grover an even bigger hug to thank him for it.

"What have I done..." muttered Grover, in a hollow voice. He sounded ill, so I gave him some get-better-soon hugs on top of the thank-you hugs, using my new trait to apply the buff effect in the hopes of helping him get better quicker, before leaping off and doing a neat backflip over all of his caltrops. If he was ill, I should leave him in peace instead of bothering him.

"Thanks again for the awesomest enchantments in the world!" I exclaimed, "but it looks like you want to be left in peace, and I need to get back to the party before I'm missed."

Luckily, the door on this side did have a handle, so I let myself out, making sure to close it again to keep out whatever he was afraid of. I made my way back out through the traps, where Vargalas insisted that I give him a detailed account of my mini adventure. For someone who looked so unused to smiling, he was certainly grinning a lot.