n

n

nWhy are we still on Day 12 (in-game)

nKarukorm Town, The Southwestern Lowlands

nStatus: getting ready for the now regular Saturday lunch-visit with Aunt Amila

n*

nKrow was about to log out, but paused.

nGiving Amela's Hopegiver to the town merast brought to mind the other things Krow had taken from the Bloodcrow camp.

nSitting on the bed in the room the town had granted him for the night, he took them out. Six money pouches, a broken stone tablet, and a jewelry box.

nThe money pouches, he just poured into his Inventory. The haul totaled 52 drax, 174 serpens, and six uncommon rubies mixed in with the coins.

nThat was a massive reward for a player under Lvl 20.

nWith him buying stuff in bulk all over the place though, it was a pittance.

nHe looked over the stone tablet, flipping it this way and that. The symbols were faint, the writing indecipherable.

nWhat reason did the bandit captain keep it in with his treasures?

nOr maybe it was just something he'd tossed into a junk drawer. Krow returned it to his Inventory, shaking his head.

nThe jewelry box was more interesting.

nKrow opened it.

nBrought it closer, tilting it to look suspiciously at the black lumpy stone inside.

nIt didn't even shine like a gem.

nThat bandit captain, did he have a weird definition of the word 'treasure'?

nCurious, he picked it up.

nYou've activated a bloodstone of Kandradka! Do you want to continue?

nHis brows shot up, intrigued.

nBloodstone?

nSounded vaguely familiar. Where had he heard it though?

nHe tilted his head, looking for the memory.

nNothing.

nHe studied the lump of red-tinged coal in his hand. It didn't give him vibes that he needed to avoid it though.

nThe bloodstone felt rough under his fingers, slightly crumbly.

nIt was old.

nIf there was one thing he knew about old things in Zushkenar, it was 'caveat emptor'.

nHe tapped his free fingers on a knee.

nOn the other hand though, this was still a gameworld. What would he win, if he did not dare?

nThere was only one answer to the question.

n

"Yes.

"

nThe bloodstone crumbled into a cloud of dust, the particles sucked into his hand before he could react.

nKrow fell off the bed, pain coursing through him.

nThe suddenness of the attack choked him, not even giving him the leeway to scream.

nMinor Poison, flashed in his peripheral. Not a fraction of a second later changing, to Major Poison.

nHe scrambled for his inventory, pushing himself through the pain.

nFatal Poison.

nShkav!

nHe downed the first Fool's Antidote.

n25% sheered off his HP in the blink of an eye, in addition to the 50% the poison already took.

nThe amount of HP taken from the patient was greater, the more fatal the poison, a distant part of his mind that was not scrambled in pain noted.

nHe grabbed for a crate of Low Revitalit, propped himself up against the wall.

nVials from both potions fell to the floor like rain as he desperately tried to prevent his HP from dropping to zero.

nHe had known many pains, he reminded himself. And this was not the worst.

nIt was not even the top ten.

n3% HP left. 2%, then slowly, it started ticking up. 5%, then 4% again.

nHe didn't know how long the percentages rose and fell before the notification sounded.

n25% HP.

nYou have successfully proven the strength of your ancestry, gaining the bloodline of the Skaldevin of Kandradka!

nKrow ignored it, muscles trembling, as he took out a cask of water and started scooping up cupfuls.

nHe leaned his head back against the wall. That was a bit more intense than expected, considering the diminished pain sensation of the virtual system.

nHe breathed deeply.

nIt definitely wasn't something he wanted to experience in real life.

nHis eyes opened.

nBloodvial.

nThat was what sounded familiar.

nThe Attendant at the character creation area had offered him bloodvials of racial traits, to make a hybrid character.

nHe frowned.

nWhat traits did that bloodstone give him, if it was like a bloodvial?

nWhat kind of bloodline?

nHe glared at the unhelpful notification.

nWhat was a skaldevin? A kandradka?

nThe races of Zushkenar had languages of their own, and those were integrated into the transmigrators' abilities depending on the chosen avatar race, along with the common trade language.

nGojo, for all that him-as-Scare learned plenty about the highlands from the draculkar, had rarely spoken his native language.

nHe'd definitely never taught it.

nKrow stood slowly, the after-effects of activating the bloodstone fading fairly fast.

nHe frowned at his right hand, the hand the bloodstone had dispersed into. He opened and closed his fist.

nNothing was different.

nHe didn't feel any different either.

nVirtual world, he reminded himself, with a slightly embarrassed huff.

nPhysical checks wouldn't tell him anything.

nKrow paused, hearing a sound outside his room.

nHe opened the door, startling a bleary-eyed clerk seemingly on his way to bed. The workers of the administrative tower were allotted living space within it.

n

"If I said 'skaldevin',

" Krow stated briskly,

"you would say?

"

nThe clerk stared at him, owl-eyed, before blinking.

"Ah…we're a free town and have nothing much to do with disputes of the nobility?

"

nHah.

n

"And kandradka is?

"

nThe clerk opened his mouth, shut it, squinted as if searching his brain, then finally shook his head.

n

"Thank you.

" Krow closed the door, stood there staring at the wood pattern.

nWell.

nThat was easy.

nIt was a noble bloodline of some sort. A noble bloodline of whatever Kandradka was – a place, a creed, a vegetable?

nAll that, and it was just a noble bloodline?!

nKrow turned away calmly from the door, lifted his clenched fist to the ceiling, bared his fangs.

nNorge!!!

nHis technique of 'silent roar promising vengeance' done, he walked to the bed and toppled into the pillows.

nThe beds in the real world, he noted idly while laying there with his face flat on the bed, were better than the beds in the game.

nHe thumped his fist on the mattress under him.

nThump again.

nThump!

nTsk.

nThere was something about the texture and bounce that was just a bit off.

nWell, both were better than the beds of Zushkenar. At least there was little chance of lice or bedbugs on Earth or in Redlands.

nHe flopped over onto his back.

nNoble bloodline. It would be useful later on, as nobles had broader land ownership limits than anyone non-noble. But he also remembered that every player was given a chance to gain a noble bloodline during the hometown registration.

nIt definitely, absolutely, didn't need the experience of a bloodstone!!

nKrow calmed himself down.

nThis was good, he told himself – a definite bloodline instead of just a chance for one was good.

nPeople did say that a fish on the line was worth more than one in the river.

nWas it worth the pain?

nIt was one more solid step toward safeguarding his future, that's certain. He could plan some of his formerly vague ideas more specifically now.

nHe nodded, lay back on the bed, and logged out.

n*

n12:45 p.m. Saturday

n12 November, 2095

nEli's visit with his aunt had been relaxing, quiet and slow. They'd sat on the patio talking about nothing very important, then took a walk around the gardens of the subdivision.

n

"It's good you have a job again,

" she hummed as she inspected a large beetle on a leaf.

"Some way to support yourself.

"

nOh no.

n

"Perhaps even more than yourself?

"

nHe knew it.

n

"I don't see anyone I like that way, aunt.

"

n

"Tsh! That's because you coop yourself up in your house and don't meet the good ones!

" She shook her head.

"No matter. You know it's fine if you don't get married or have children, don't you?

"

nEli blinked. That wasn't something she'd said before.

"Aunt?

"

nShe waved his confusion away irritably.

"I had a talk with someone. He said I shouldn't force archaic notions on young people.

"

nBut she looked away.

nEli took his aunt's hand.

"And the changing world shouldn't force their avant garde notions on the elder generation who only want to live their lives in peace.

" He frowned.

"Maybe you shouldn't listen too much to that someone.

"

nShe turned toward him, patted his cheek fondly but with an amused smile.

"Do you think we old people have never shook the world in our own time? Don't make me sound like a dusty pillar best left to some museum. And is a young sapling like you telling this leathery old bird not to listen to bad influences? Hah!

"

nHe smiled, but he knew where her heart lay. He looked into her eyes.

"Aunt, I promise you. I won't be the last person with the name Crewan. And I'll be happy, I promise.

"

nShe teared up, looked away again.

n

"Alright,

" she said, then smiled at him, content.

"Alright then.

"

nIt's not like he didn't know why she was telling him this.

nHe swallowed the ache in his heart and tried to lighten the rest of the visit with his impressions of Redlands as a game and asking more about the new people she was meeting in the VR tourist world.

nShe gleefully started telling him that she and her friends spent yesterday drinking coffee and racing dromonds through the warm sun-filled beaches of Ancient Greece with a few other tourist families.

nHe listened carefully.

nShe really was happy.

nHe was relieved. In his last life, she was surely this happy during the same time, right?

nHe hoped.

n