Inside-Outside-In

Cara

On the ground, five trainee mercenaries were out on their first ever mission. Unknown to the group, Cara was keeping an eye on them from up in the sky.

With her plant and wind magic Skills combined, she could fly with a hang glider made of vines, leaves and wood. It cost much more mana than someone who could use natural wings, but she wasn’t concerned about conserving her mana for a fight against a monster nine times weaker than herself, if she even needed to intervene at all.

The newly-formed team had been progressing slowly, making sure they were working together properly and being vigilant.

Their slow progress was actually a good sign, as it meant they were taking this seriously. As they completed more missions and gained experience, their pace would increase.

It seems I have good students this time. So many of them are cocky dumbasses.

It was common for new mercenaries to be people with no actual experience. They assumed it was a job anyone could do and had only taken down one or two weak monsters in the past, inflating their egos.

The Center actually preferred people who went through the training program. The only reason they even kept the system of letting people gain full immediate membership with just some chifs¹Currency. was because the number of people out there fighting monsters would decrease otherwise. People with both money and smarts would pay the fee upfront and still take the training.

Shay, in particular, she was especially hopeful for. The woman had come from a world with no magic or monsters, and would have a different understanding and appreciation of them than most. Either that or she would break.

Shay had explained that the only monster she had killed was just a rabbit. The injuries Cara had seen her with the day she joined the Center had been from that very monster, in fact.

It’s a good sign that she could get injuries and still come back for another fight. But that thing had only been what, level 5? 10? This badger is beyond her.

I think her real test will be when she eventually has to kill a person. The way she described her old life, it had been very safe.

Cara had wondered why the woman had such strength when she didn’t have to fight seriously in the past, but she dodged the question.

It’s not really my business anyway.

The group suddenly became more alert than they had been up until now. From their stances and behavior, she guessed that it wasn’t a random monster they had found, but the badger itself.

Finally.

Cara watched from above, warping the air in front of her face to create a lens to see them better. They carefully crept up to where Zena sensed it.

Once they were close enough to attack it, they spread out slightly, forming a line facing it. They were still close enough to each other to help out if needed.

The monster was just laying there, munching on a sheep it had pilfered.

With hand signals, Konial indicated to attack in five seconds. Once those seconds had passed, they attacked in unison.

Melo pushed down from above with telekinesis. Konial and Tria used lightning and light spells. Shay blew a little dirt into its face with a wind spell, and Zena could only stand there with her spear at the ready.

The monster was injured, sneezed once from the dust in its nostrils, then growled as it charged them. It cast an earth magic spell to make holes beneath them as a trap, but the progress was too slow, so it resorted to using its body.

Cara paid close attention to all of them, with just a little extra attention on Shay. Everyone else had dealt with greater threats than a single mere rabbit in the past, but she wasn’t backing down from this or hesitating.

Cara smiled. Good. One less thing to worry about.

Rather than just blasting magic at it until it hopefully dropped dead, the five readied their weapons. Tria had gotten by so far with just her magic, so she also had a spear, which was easier to learn that something else.

Shay only had her body, but she was good with it. Once her level caught up and her magic reached an actually-usable level, she had the potential to be downright nasty in a fight.

The two women besides Shay kept it at bay with their spears, and Melo did the same by telekinetically controlling two knives, constantly aiming for its eyes. When it managed to get close, Konial had his lightning-charged sword. The muscles would spasm wherever it cut.

It abruptly darted sideways and came after Shay, who was the weakest and didn’t have a weapon. She twisted her body, and a well-time kick landed right into its left eye.

It was still charging at her, and she jumped out of the way.

Zena took the opportunity to stab its other eye, and Shay, who was still close to it, used that moment to stomp on its neck.

Her stomp hadn’t been enough to break anything, but it still did some damage. With it severely weakened, Konial finished it off with an attempted beheading. He failed to cut through all the way, but it’s certainly dead now.

Was he trying to show off? He could’ve stabbed into its brain from its eye socket. That would’ve been a more efficient and safer way to attack.

Overall, Cara was satisfied with their performance. It was clear that they were taking this seriously, though there was still much to improve.

Just because the fight was over didn’t mean Cara was done observing, though. People often became careless at this point. The mission wasn’t completed until they had safely returned with their kill.

Cara continued flying above in lazy circles, watching as Melo dismantled the monster, with Shay helping. The others kept watch.

Once they had loaded the carcass into separate bags to make it easier to carry, they began returning home, remaining vigilant along the way.

Satisfied, Cara headed back to the Center to await the written report from Melo. Written reports aren’t required for every mission unless specifically stated, but it was good practice for them to do it while they were still in training.

 

———

 

Shay

Stepping out of the shower, Shay returned to his dorm and collapsed onto his bed, finally relaxing.

His dorm in the Mercenary Center was just a tiny room with a bed, a desk, a shelf, and a small closet. The shower area was communal, but had separate stalls, thankfully. The bathroom and kitchen were also communal. When not being used to train specific teams, the training rooms were communal as well.

Shay was thankful that at least his dorm was private. There were options for shared ones, but he wasn’t sure he could handle that yet. He didn’t want anyone to see how miserable he was in private.

He laid back with his arm resting over his eyes.

I can’t believe I did that. That was a real fight. If I hadn’t jumped out of the way, I probably would’ve broken something and got clawed up again.

He noticed his heart was racing again as he introspected.

I liked that. I always sought a greater challenge on Earth, and this is that same feeling. That was genuinely fun.

The others enjoyed it to some degree, too. I guess it takes a certain type of person to want to kill monsters for a living. Have I found my people?

After replaying the short fight in his mind several times, he finally checked his Status. The little sensation in the back of his mind of a level-up had been nagging at him.

It wasn’t actually pushing him to check it, it was just something he wanted to do, but had put off until he made it home.

He was shocked to see that he had earned 5 level-ups from that fight alone, but lower levels tended to rise faster.

He put two of his five new points into Body, and three into Dexterity. His magic was still weak, and as much as he needed it, he still needed to prioritize his current strengths.

His first spells back in the village hadn’t had any noticeable effect, and now he could kick up a small cloud of dust or light a fire. Though he was aware he was improving, it was still frustrating for him to only be capable of that much.

Despite his frustration, he did still like his Skill overall. He just had to work hard, and he would eventually have a lot of tools at his disposal.

Sure, the magic was only a quarter as powerful as the same spell as a true mage from that element could cast—his main-sub-skill was half as powerful rather than quarter—but the versatility excited him.

—

With great effort, you have increased your base Flow stat by 1, raising it up to 6.

 

Shay Bryant Williams

Level: 35

 

Points: 0

Body: 55
Dexterity: 53
Flow: 60

Health: 163 / 163
Stamina: 134 / 161
Mana: 98 / 174

 

Skills:
[Adaptation]

 

[Adaptation] Sub-skills:
[Earth]: 1%
[Fire]: 3.6%
[Healing]: 31.5%
[Light]: 12.5%
[Lightning]: 7.2%
[Mental]: 67.9% (Main, change available.)
[Pain]: 38.1%
[Plant]: 12.2%
[Poison]: 1.1%
[Psychic]: 4.3%
[Space]: 6.8%
[Water]: 4.5%
[Wind]: 7.7%

—

His [Mental] sub-skill has passed the two-thirds point, and he was feeling it. Or not feeling it, to be specific. His body still made him uncomfortable, but it was feeling more like just a disappointment now, rather than a full-blown curse.

He had already accepted that he would soon be what Victoria had referred to as “agender”, and still hadn’t bothered to correct people’s pronouns when referring to him.

You know what? Fine. Fuck it. I’ll cheat a little. From now on, my name will be Shae with an E rather than Shay with a Y.

It makes literally exactly 0 difference to anybody. Even writing my name out won’t be different because the Tiirve spelling would remain as it was; it’s only the English one that would change.

He had been debating about whether he should correct people’s pronouns for him or not. As the days went by, he gradually cared less and less about it.

I suppose I won’t mention it. I’ll even try out referring to myself as a woman, I guess? Might make the percentage rise faster.

Damn, if only I could talk to Vicky about this stuff.

She closed her hand around her necklace.

Bringing her attention back to her Status, there was a change.

—

Shae Bryant Williams

—

Wait, just like that? It’s just changed now? Okay, then. Hmm, I’ve always disliked my middle name, but because it was hardly ever used, it was just sort of there as a thing that annoyed me sometimes whenever it came up.

So, toss that out. As for Williams… I don’t want to be associated with my parents anymore, but I’ll leave it for now. Vicky might want to keep it.

—

Shae Williams

—

Heh. Do I even have their DNA anymore? Anyway…

Looking at everything else, she realized that Flow’s base stat wouldn’t increase as easily from now on. Her Dexterity base stat had been sitting at 8 since that very first day, after all. And her Body base stat would probably never increase

It amazed her that she hadn’t gotten injured in the fight at all, but knew she wouldn’t be so lucky next time. Even just the spars in the training room frequently injured her, hence why her [Healing] sub-skill had increased as much as it did.

The biggest change she had experienced in combat so far was her active [Mental] ability, which allowed her to basically increase her thinking speed.

During that fight with the badger, she had kept it up the entire time, improving her reaction speed just that little bit extra.

It’s a good ability to have. Once its percentage is maxed out, I’ll switch my main sub-skill to space, meaning the little improvement I get will be halved.

I hope whatever happens after maxing it out is good.

Shae decided to eat something, so she got up from her bed. She was about to leave, but passed as she passed the mirror.

For the first time in four and a half months, she took a good look at her body.

Tall. Gorgeous face. Dark hair that was cut short and equally dark eyes. Tan skin. Muscles, but not like a bodybuilder kind of appearance. There was a softness and smoothness to it all.

Shae had to admit, she found herself incredibly attractive.

She began to cry.