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Chapter 638 - The System Unlocks I
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 15:00:07 +0000 UTCAN: Next three weeks the chapters are going to be possibly off an hour as daylight's savings desyncs everyone.
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Tomorrow was the big day for Sara. Her System was unlocking!
Iona and I had been blessed to see a thousand different teaching styles of the System to children over our lives. From books in the library to stories told by other students, from our own lived experiences to travels among foreign countries, we’d experienced a thousand different methods and rituals, customs and traditions. The System was one of the grand unifiers that brought us all together, and the day we unlocked was memorable for all.
Iona had been the brains of the operation when we were raising Nina. She was Iona’s [Squire] after all, and it only made sense for the Valkyrie take point on training and education. It wasn’t to say I hadn’t yelled at Nina to do more push-ups or to run more laps, and I’d been there to hold her when her heart was broken for the first time and tucked her in bed. But Iona had decided on the overall design of her education. We discussed it and worked out various strategies and ideas together of course, but Iona had final say.
It wasn’t too surprising that Iona decided on a course that looked suspiciously similar to her own upbringing. Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as I was going to do almost the same thing with Sara.
Except with less sexism, and more opportunities. I didn’t miss that at all.
I had a ‘mental pulse’ on nearly everything in my [Manor]. It was hard to describe, but in order to freely teleport objects inside and out of [Manor] without going in myself through [Portcullis], I needed to have a sense of the object.
My mind went to an object inside my library, tucked away inside the thickest adamantium vault money could buy. Climate-controlling runes coated the inside of the vault, and the vast majority of the space was a brick of arcanite to power them all. Inside a glass case, on a cushion of the finest velvet, protected by everything I could throw at it while inside a personal pocket dimension, was a napkin. The very same one my parents had stitched a prayer into before I’d left on my ill-fated trip to the fae realm.
I swore I could still smell my mother on it.
I sent a little prayer in their direction, knowing they couldn’t hear it, reaching out to the void anyway.
Mom, dad… I miss you. Did you know you’ve got another grandchild?
The diary I’d retrieved made it clear - I was operating under the assumption that it was one of my nieces, and no power on Pallos could change my mind - that my adopted brother had ended up with a large family, and mom and dad had made it clear they were all family. I’d ‘introduced’ Nina to them once upon a time, and I was doing the same with Sara. It felt like the appropriate time. The first year or so we’d been worried that a relative would pop out of the woods or sands and claim Sara, or maybe a close friend. Then it had gotten so close to System day by the time we relaxed that I saw no reason not to wait for the defining day in everyone’s lives.
Her name is Sara, and she’s just the best! Let me tell you all about her…
=========
Part of me wanted to give Sara her privacy, especially when she was down in town playing with the other kids. The rest of me couldn’t help but keep an ear out, juuuust in case there were any problems. Me hovering and swooping in whenever there was a problem wouldn’t help her in the long term, but keeping an eye and pulse on things wasn’t a bad idea.
I was her mom. It was my job to worry. Most of the conversations washed over me, kids playing happily. If nothing else, my sharp ears would prevent a repeat of Lyra. None of Sara’s friends would die to stupid shit, not if I had a say in it.
She’d already lost everyone once.
The upside? I knew plenty about Sara’s friends. A conversation caught my ear, immediately bringing my full attention to it.
“... your mom is pretty cool.” Sextimus Nix said.
“Yeah. I love my moms.” Sara agreed.
I squee’d and sprinted to find Auri and Iona. I’d heard several aborted almost mom’s before, Sara hastily correcting herself, but this was the first real, full one she’s said to someone else.
“Brrrpt!?” Auri protested as I nabbed her out of the kitchen, dough going flying.
“It’s important!” I told her, rolling my eyes at her comedic dough-splatters.
“Brrpt!” Auri agreed, and I tore out of the house to find Iona.
“Iona! Hey Iona! She loves us! She says she loves us!” I was jumping up and down with excitement. “She called us moms! She said she loves us!”
“Brrrpt!!” Auri shouted with excitement, flying around my head. Dangerous-looking blasts of flames went up around me.
I could see the moment it clicked in Iona’s head what I was saying, and she grinned.
“That’s great! If we weren’t already throwing a party tonight and tomorrow, we should do it. Auri, any ideas on how to make it bigger and better?”
The gleam in Auri’s eye was all the answer I needed.
====================
I sat Sara down that afternoon, amused at how the circle of life had come back around, even more privately amused at some of my decisions. We were inside my [Manor], the door open to let people freely come in and out if they wanted to.
We wanted to minimize our disruption once we moved over to the School, and keeping our ‘home’ the same would go a long way to helping ease the transition. Sara had already been traumatized by Ithil. No matter how good the School could be for her, I didn’t want to wreck her mental health in the process.
Same room, same bed, same smell, same people? Same home, just the door outside went to a slightly different place. There were a large number of elements that would suck either way, but we’d do our best.
At the same time, in many ways, this was the end of childhood, and my heart was heavy for Sara. Phenomenal powers were fantastic, but there was a small part of me that longed to go back in time to when I was seven, carefree and playing on the streets with my friend, knowing my loving parents were back at home.
Time was merciless, and lost innocence couldn’t be recovered.
“Alright Sara, what can you tell me about the System?” I asked her. A quill and a stack of blank parchment was waiting for her, ready to take as many notes as she needed.
It wasn’t the temple, and I didn’t have a thousand stands set up. I had one desk set up - and the supplies to [Teleport] virtually everything in.
“We have stats, skills, and elements!” Sara happily explained everything she knew. Most of it was right, some of it was horrifyingly wrong, and I was happy to explain what I knew, and correct any misunderstandings.
“... and finally, you get skills by doing things related to them in the first place. Do you want to get the [Knots] skill? Tie some knots, and get it offered!” I pointed to the station in the back, where I’d smoothly [Teleported] over a line of rope to practice with. “Want to get [Painting]? Paint!” I swapped the supplies over again. “Anything and everything you want to try, let me know. Do you have any questions before we begin?”
Sara looked away and started to chew on her fingers. I recognized the look, and I gave her a minute to work it through herself.
“Sara, you know you can ask me anything, right? I won’t judge.” I said.
She slipped out of her chair, walked over to where I was, and made a grabby motion. I lifted her up into my lap, and she curled up, head in my chest. I detected the moment the first tear rolled down her cheek.
“Sara, love, what’s wrong?” I asked the girl. She sniffled.
“I don’t want to get cursed.” She mumbled into my shirt, staining it with her tears. “I don’t want to get proud, arrogant, and aloof. I like you mom. I don’t want that to change.”
I hugged her tightly, the waterworks fully on. Only hers, of course, not me, I wasn’t crying at all.
“It’s alright.” I told the little elf, the hand rubbing her head going over the small nubs that would one day turn into horns.
She fiercely shook her head and continued crying into my arms, occasionally punching the arms of the chair, practically having a full on controlled meltdown.
“I don’t want to get cursed.” She sobbed. “I never asked to be born an elf. I never asked to be born Immortal. Everyone hates us. I don’t want to meet White Dove. My mind isn’t going to be my own anymore!”
She sniffed.
“What if I don’t love you anymore? What if I’m so mean, you don’t love me anymore?” She asked.
I hugged her tightly, mentally whipping up some hot chocolate. Getting the powder in was easy enough, stirring was practically impossible with my skills. I could use a spell, but not from across the house, not subtly. I [Teleported] it off to Iona, who rolled her eyes, blew a kiss in the direction of [Portcullis], and she started stirring.
“I’ll always love you, no matter what.” I reassured the girl, hugging her tightly.
It took a few hours to reassure Sara, and to talk over curses and her feelings on them. I’d read some books on the topic, but there was only so much books could do. I could share their advice, and hope.
“One piece of advice I’ve found for elves and their curse.” I told Sara when she’d calmed down a bit. “Decide what you want to be arrogant about. Decide what aspect will drive you. It’ll go too far, it’ll be difficult, but you’ll have control over it.”
She sniffed.
“Like what?” Sara asked.
“Like being the best at listening to other people.” I gave one of the examples from the book. “Or being the best student, on your way to being the best healer. It’s not arrogance if you end up having the skills to back it up.” I said.
Sara sniffed.
“You sure?” She asked. I squeezed here again.
“I’m sure. Did you know that I’m also cursed by White Dove?” I asked her. I’d held it back while reassuring her - it hadn’t been the right time.
“Really?” She asked me with wide, hazel eyes.
“Really.” I confirmed, closing [Portcullis]. I was not risking someone being able to listen in. “Apples are my bane.”
She snorted, going from crying to laughing with the speed only a kid could manage.
“Apples?” Sara said with clear disbelief. “Apples cause you problems?”
“Oh yeah.” I confirmed. “Hey, if you’d like, we can have everyone here with you when White Dove visits. Would you like that?”
She clutched me and curled up a little tighter. I reopened the door, and brought in the hot chocolate, resting it on her table.
“Yes please.” She said.
“Okay! You’ve got what, another 13 hours before the blasted bird pokes her head around?” Sara nodded. “Right then. What do you say we try and figure out a few more skills before she arrives? How about sewing?”
Sara gave me a flat look. Much better!
“You’re just trying to get me to have the skills needed to fix all the clothes, aren’t you?” She asked suspiciously.
“Being able to sew wounds shut is an important skill.” I said blandly.
“Uh huh.” Sara still didn’t believe me! Great kid.
“It’s better to have options than not. Now shoo! Get over there and tell me what you want.”
Sara’s eyes lit up with an idea. She slid off my lap and ran over to the station.
“Can I try cutting down a tree?” She asked with unnatural enthusiasm. I sensed Iona approach, then peek around the corner. I shot her a thumb’s up.
“Sure!” I said, teleporting in a log and an axe. Hey, it was System Day. Iona strode in.
“Hey Sara! Let me show you the right way to hold that, okay?” The Valkyrie said.
“Okay!” Sara said, and we were off.
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 651 -> 652]
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All of us sat together on a grassy hill, overlooking the sparkling sea as Sara’s timer counted down. Auri was on her head, Fenrir was curled up behind her, and Iona and I both had our hands on her shoulders. Nina, Artemis, Amber, Skye, Varuna, and a number of other friends and family were around, all of us intent on throwing a party for Sara. Much in the same way we threw small celebrations for other kids who finally unlocked.
We decided to make it a happy moment, not a sad one.
“Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” We counted down in unison, Auri and Fenrir writing out the numbers in Fire and Ice. “Happy System Unlock!” We shouted, making as much fuss and noise as we could.
We almost managed to drown out the single white feather that floated down in front of Sara.
================
“What skills did you get?” I asked Sara. She eyed me suspiciously.
“Are you going to tell me what to take?” She asked. I sighed, knowing this conversation was going to happen, flashing back over a hundred years.
“I’m going to strongly recommend a set of skills to take, yes.” I said. Sara pouted.
“Look, the initial skills you take influence your starting class’s power. You want to be the best [Healer] you can be, right?”
“I will be the best [Healer] ever.” Sara proudly said. I eyed the top of her head, wondering if it was worth a bop.
“You’ll become the best [Healer] ever by listening to the current best.” I pointed out. She bobbed her head.
“Oh yeah! Right! Okay, well, here’s my list. [Elven Essence]. [Elven Empathy]. [Elven Experience]. [Elven Enchantment]. [Elven Excellency]. [Elven Evolution]. [Elven Elegance]. [Observe]. [Walking]. [Breathing]. [Talking]. [Running]. [Reading]...”
Sara continued to list off her skills, some of them normal, some of them absurd, some of them deeply suspicious. Like [Sneaking] - I couldn’t blame Sara, I’d gotten the skill myself - [Eye of the Phoenix], and [Mango Snacking]. She had literally hundreds of skills offered. I’d only gotten a few dozen!
Why was [Mango Snacking] a skill, and why did Sara have it offered and I hadn’t seen hair nor hide of it.
[ding! You’ve unlocked the General Skill [Mango Snacking]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]
Yes, yes, thank you System. I was asking why you hadn’t given me one earlier.
At the same time, I tried to figure out the set of skills that would get Sara the best start to life. Several of the elven skills were good initially, but would they help with an initial [Medical Student] class? Or were there better skills to take?
[Reading] and [Medicine] were both on the list, and…
I let the four thought processes play the great skill puzzle. Hundreds of skills made it tricky, and there was always the option of having Sara train various additional things to see what we could make happen.
A shame there was no [Barter] tradition in Orthus. She’d already gotten [Haggling], and I suspected that was due to all the times she’d negotiated for dessert or another bedtime story. Great!
Equally important to the calculation was Sara’s stats, and they could weigh in. Already, she was moving much faster than I expected, and I suspected she’d taken [Quick] to play around with it while we decided on her initial skills. Iona had done it, and I wasn’t going to call her out for having fun, especially since her skill slots would rapidly stop being fun, except for maybe one or two.
“What are your stats?” I asked.
“1351 strength, 1353 dexterity, 1351 speed, 1350 vitality, 1345 mana, 1345 mana regeneration, 1345 magic power, 1345 magic control.” Sara promptly rattled off.
My jaw dropped.
Elves were such bullshit, that was incredible. Like, I’d known they had a significant head start due to how many had ascended over the millennia, but that was unfairly absurd. She’d be starting at an orange class at least, and it wouldn’t take too much to push her into yellow, and that was before Sara was hanging out with all of us.
Ciriel, this is all your fault. I complained.
What did I do now? The goddess’s question had an amused undertone.
You’re partly responsible for Sara having such bullshit stats to start off with. I complained.
I’m doing my part! Ciriel’s tone was positively gleeful. How else are we supposed to lord it over everyone else? She teased.
Ugh. I knew when I was beaten. Just you wait, when I get up there…
Eeeeee! I can’t WAIT for you to get here! Ciriel exclaimed. It’s going to be the BEST DAY EVER!
I chuckled at her raw enthusiasm.
Yes it will.
[Luminary Mind] had finally worked out a solution.
“Alright Sara. Take the following skills. You want [Medicine], [Learning], [First Aid], [Studying], [Elven Essence], [Elven Enchantment], [Memorization], and let’s try to get you [Bedside Manner] as an initial social skill.”
“I want the [Healer’s Oath] as well.” Sara crossed her arms and stared at me, daring me to contradict her.
It was why I’d put [Learning], [Studying], and [Memorization] all in there. They’d all help for the [Medical Student] or [Elaine’s Apprentice] class she was aiming for, but [Studying] was easy enough to drop when she inevitably wanted to take my [Oath].
“Only if you take the [Oath] exactly as written.” I warned her. Sara narrowed her eyes at me. I refrained from sighing.
“Sara, you’re brand new to your curse. Being the best [Healer] is exactly what you want to be. Right now, it’s your cursed pride whispering in your ear that you can do it better. If you want to add or modify it, talk to me. Don’t go haring off on your own, you will fuck yourself for life. Please listen to me.”
I could see the internal struggle, before Sara nodded.
“Okay.” She reluctantly agreed. I smiled sadly.
“I’ll tell you a secret about it, one that you might want to know.” I said. The little elf perked right up, and I could feel tears forming in my eyes.
“Yes?” With the amount of eagerness in her voice, I was surprised she wasn’t jumping on me.
“There’s another line to the [Oath], one you might want to add yourself. One I didn’t write down.”
Sara looked like I’d just told her how to get two more skill slots.
“What is it?” She demanded.
“I will always remember you.” I whispered.
An arrow through the gut would’ve hurt her less than those words, and her own eyes brimmed with tears, with fresh memories of her dead family.
“I will always remember you.” She whispered.
The words became a promise, the promise became an oath, and the [Oath] became a skill.
====================
There was power in symmetry, in repetition.
There was power in letting experienced people repeat what they were good at.
Artemis was a certified badass, and a second, novel take on Sara’s skills, along with a nice little training session, was exactly what the [Healer] ordered.
“Hey Artemis!” I called out to the Ranger.
“Elaine! What can I do for you?” She asked. I grinned at her.
“Want to help Sara train her general skills to level 8?”
Artemis looked like yule had come early, her grin going from ear to ear.
“Little Sara? Do I ever!”
Comments
Harry Hirsch
The onion cutting ninjas are around again today.
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
SwitchBlaze
Interesting Chappie. Thank you.
coolblue
So does she level 2600% faster? Because if she does these early levels are going to go by quickly.
Bougainville
maybe is a traduction issue the oath is in creation but she probably told it to Sara in Elvish
Kennyevilmonkey
I remember reading a DnD story where a player got a rock that heals people. So, he became a healer that would bludgeon the ever living shit out of his teammates with a rock to keep them alive.
Kennyevilmonkey
Sara, you get out of your room and do the dishes right this instant! Don't you dare throw that apple at m- OH, YOU ARE SO GROUNDED!
Thomas Heaton
First ,do no harm …
FaMa_Tarapax
its going to be black, dont forget that the lower classes dont need quite as many achievments as the higher classes. also dont forget to consider her own achievments like surviving an immortal war and taking an oath. the oath is going to have a heavy impact on her class.
elijah pickett
🥹that line man, every time🥲
C Gillan
Just got a mental image of a teenage sara eating apples or smearing juice on her door to try to keep her mother out of her room during the rebellious phrase.
Jason Hardman
Doubt it's a memory issue for a couple of reasons. She has the oath right there in the system to refer to, and her original memory skill was all about recovering pre-skill memories. It's interesting to think she deliberately changed the wording up for her daughter's benefit.
TroubleFait
Elaine didn't have her memory skill yet at the time iirc. She might be misremembering the exact words. The sentiment is the same.
Roombot
Or Selkie just forgot the exact wording and it still means the same thing😅
Roombot
That would be interesting. Although it wouldn’t have to be Elaine, any oathbound healer would be compelled to assist
Khal Lee
LoL forgot about that... mm need to go back! But hey! Ancient Remus Healing class - can be only obtained by training with Elaine, mother of modern medicine only! (Obsolete class) lol... prolly just as effective as the old formorian fighter classes.
Josh Smith
Either this is a misremember or it's on purpose so that sara understands the sentiment but doesn't have the actual words, as the more personal the oath I'm assuming the stronger it will be and it being a direct copy of elains takes away from that.
Ronny Cook
A false humility can be its own very special brand of arrogance (and can screw you over in any number of ways.)
Silverwolf
I weird thought appear after reading but related to little Sara. Elaine get a vister who needs a healer but the is no ordinary vister it is ( holds up a really really old scroll) Lun'kat the Stygian Deceive. Not sure if she or her mate needs the healing.
Dalth
That’s absolutely fair. I was just thinking how irresponsible an 8 year old would be. It’s less about fear, or paranoia, and more about children often have zero filter or impulse control.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Dalth
Funny tie around, there was that guy in one of the first books who tried to kidnap Elaine back from the Ranger team. Mud healing is not hygienic!
Jason Hardman
Nice spot, although I'm pretty sure the page number will vary depending on the device you read on.
Daniel B
Could an elf channel their arrogance into being the humblest of elves?
Roombot
I know it’s probably too much to ask for, but I REALLY want her to get a black class titled [Daughter of Medicine] at level 8. That would be so awesome
Roombot
Watching Sara grow up will be so fun and cute 🥰
Khal Lee
Yes, Artemis training... lightning healer or earth healer... get healed by being zapped with tiny electric needles or get healed with a mud bath? Get healed with electro-shock therapy or clobbered with blunt force trauma? Choices choiced... you can do it Sara! Oh and heal daylight savings into an early grave please. Thanks.
tr13ze
Thanks for the chapter 😁
Kennyevilmonkey
She is very quickly going to become the most powerful 8-year-old in the world. Also, so excited for Sara to learn just how famous her mom is. It will be funny, I'm sure.
Hauke Sattler
The last line of her oath was NOT: “I will always remember you.” It was: "I will not forget you." [Myth, Selkie. Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: Oathbound Healer (English Edition) (Page 139). Selkie Myth. Kindle-Version.]
heh
See above comment about biomancy. I’m pretty sure biomancy would cancel out the age restriction since that one guy back in Remus retained his intelligence even though he was deaged into a child
Phsteven
it wouldn't work because her skill is a true immortality skill now. It turns back the hourglass then shatters it. The recipient will no longer age.
Nait02
Not telling her out of fear and Paranoia sounds like the start of a greek tragedy
Kurosov
Their curse is more insidious than it first appears and is actually hard to manage because OF COURSE they can manage it, they're Elves. We were shown that their curse often leads them to getting into situations that get them killed and they don't have the right frame of mind to realise it. It's going to be even worse for Sara than many other Elves because she's 'the only Elf in the village'. Her mothers wile not Elves are the highest levelled people who are very important. All her friends are going to have to deal with a very different response when they tell her “... your mom is pretty cool.” There's a high likelihood she will end up driving away her friends and in her mind it'll be because she's just too good for them. The oath likely does Elven healers a lot of good in managing how their curse affects their moral outlook in a professional setting but other social interactions and decisions may compensate for it and be even more affected.
TheBotler
Right in the feels with the "I will always remember you." It's been sooo long since that very first book.
Dalth
Is it really wise to tell an 8 year old cursed with Pride and Arrogance the one substance that can absolutely kill you, though?
heh
Oh true! Also, even if Elaine’s skill made Sara permanently a child, she could just pay Marcelle to biomance her every year to give her a bigger body until she reaches adulthood
Til Weisheit
Not sure if that would work. But since Elaine could have biomanced herself into an Elf at the School (instead of going the chimera route she ultimately chose), there might have been a way to change Sara into a human or other mortal race before she got her system.
UltraLuigi
"daylight's savings" is probably the worst misspelling of daylight saving time ever, and I love it Anyway, thanks for the chapter
Katrex
But the most important point was Sara didn’t want it, so Elaine could have given it as an option
CringeWorthyStudios
Light purple is my bet. Maybe dark blue but I doubt it’d be any lighter. Elaine has *a lot* of weight and not only does she not take many apprentices but Sara is her first daughter too.
Ant1h3ld
I mean, there is a reason why Elaine always complains that Elves are super unfair. It's also called elvenoid instead of humanoid. The gods of btdem love their elves more than any other race and it shows. Even their curse, if properly managed, is pretty much a joke. In summary: I agree with everybody that says "Better arrogance than random chance."
Minato
I guess you can use skills on systemless kids, so i dont see why it wouldn't work. But the curse you know is better than the curse you don't now, so i can see why they didn’t do it. The elfs curse is one of the better ones, i guess. Imagine she gets something like 'you can never heal someone' or something like that.
heh
Eh the purpose of the curses is to punish those who cheat death, so while killing Sarah would be a punishment for Elaine it wouldn’t be that much of one for Sarah (who would be the one gaining immortality in this scenario)
Mad Dessert
Thanks!
Arkeus
There is still a low odds of a curse that immediately kills Sarah or close to it. Sometimes white dove just screws over people, and elf curse is manageable
John
Yeah but her immortals skill no long just sets back time it. It also keeps you at that age forever. Unless she can make it not do that. I'm not sure.
Brian Glazier
I'm pretty sure its lower limit was like 16 or something. Maybe 12. I think Sarah's to young
Spencer
Oof i was not prepared for her to reveal "I will remember you" like that
Markus
Thanks for the chapter
heh
True, but if she got something like Elaine’s apple thing it would be no different than an allergy. By that I mean when you get cursed so young it just becomes a fact of life, not that much of a curse because you will have been too young to remember life without it years later. Furthermore, White Dove has always been somewhat fair with curses and usually inserts some irony. So it would probably be a curse of too much empathy and humility or something since they were trying to counteract the Elf curse
Katrex
Part of me is annoyed her stats are so good as I wanted to see what Elaine system weight was on a level 8 human class unlock. Still it would be nice to see what ciriel thinks of her starting class colour as a reference
joss sim
And so the wheel turns. I've been reading the first few volumes once again and this feels familiar.
Eric
The elven isn’t bad per se since you can account that behavior and work toward a solution instead something random
Anonymous
Wait I thought the last line was I will not forget you
Kadi
Could've named it "System Day V" xD
heh
Hmm I wonder if Sara would get a different curse if Elaine used her immortality skill before Elven Immortality set in and aged her back like a day or something. White Dove would probably fuck her over somehow, but it’s worth thinking about
