Chrysalis Read online

"Can I reach her in the allotted time?" Jill asks.

  "Yes, unless there are any unforeseen obstacles."

  Jill starts climbing down the mountain, she then trips and falls into a hole. She lands on her back, 18% of her health gone.

  "Ma'am, there are creatures approaching."

  Jill quickly stands up, letting her eyes adjust to the low light. Six huge spider-like things surround her. They have 12 legs, are four-feet tall, and have red fur on their abdomens. Before she can attack, one shoots a needle from its mouth. It strikes her in the neck and causes instant paralysis. Jill can't even scream as they drain her. Then she dies.

  ~

  After going through the creation process again Jill finds herself in a dense forest.

  "That really sucked. Where are we now, and how much time as passed?" Jill asks.

  "We are now 53 miles southeast from your death in the mountains. Six hours have passed."

  Jill screams in frustration. "Can we still make it in time?"

  "It may be close. You will have to travel at top speed."

  "I'm all turned around in these woods, which way do I go?" Jill asks.

  Alfred displays an arrow in her vision as to the correct way to go.

  "Thank you." Jill says, and takes off at a sprint. "Hey, Administrator? I need to rescue Aurelia, can I have my quest again, please?" She yells at the world.

  After a few minutes she receives the quest again. "Thank you." Jill says to the demigod in the sky.

  Twenty minutes later Jill receives the Sprint skill. She stops for a moment to catch her breath and restore some endurance. An arrow hits a tree, a foot away. Jill quickly gets down low behind a boulder.

  "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Jill hears a man say.

  She peeks around the corner and sees a large human man. He is wearing rough leathers, boots, and is holding a bow. Jill uses Analyze.

  Name: Joness Ban

  Title: The Dirty Bandit

  Level: 5

  Synthesis: 33%

  Health: 135

  Mental: 22

  Stamina: 95

  Focus: N/A

  Race: Human

  Skills: ????

  Loot: ????

  Jill silently curses herself. Maybe she should have invested more in luck. His mental stat is pretty low, so he must not be very smart. Jill forms a plan in her head. Well, not really a plan, Jill just hopes he is really stupid. Jill stands up with her hands in the air.

  Joness whistles, "My oh my. What do we have here. Are you a dryad? I've heard stories that they know how to please a man. You are one sexy little thing." He leers at her, taking in her naked body. He licks his dry, cracked lips. It sends a shiver of disgust down Jill's spine.

  "Please, don't hurt me. Yes, I am a dryad. I will give you more sensations than you can imagine." Jill says in her most alluring voice.

  Joness grins and walks closer, he drops his bow and takes off his vest and shirt. He stops in front of her and then his grin turns to a frown. "Hey, what a minute! I just analyzed you, it says you are a Progenitor? What in the Wanderers name is that?"

  Jill grins at him and then knees him in the balls. He doubles over onto the ground, moaning in pain. Jill then grabs his knife off his belt and holds it to his neck. "Are you with a group?" She asks venomously.

  "I will kill you, stupid fantla." He barks at her.

  Jill press the knife into his skin, drawing a bit of blood. "Yeah, I don't know what a fantla is, but I'm guessing it's not very nice. I'm going to ask one more time, are you with a group?"

  He whimpers at the pain, "Yes. Yes, please don't kill me. There are three others at the camp, south of here."

  "Thank you." Jill says, and then slits his throat. He looks at her in shock as he grabs his throat. She drops the knife and leaves his stuff. She does not want to be reliant on anything but the power of her own body. She gained the Interrogation, Knives, and Unarmed Combat skills from that little encounter. Jill smiles, the last one was the one she was looking for. Unarmed Combat gives a bonus to natural body armor. It makes her own skin into armor, plus a damage boost to any hits she does with her body.

  She crouches down and sneaks forward. After a moment she gets the Stealth skill and then her body glows as she advances to level two. Joness must have just died. A part of Jill thinks that she should be horrified by what she just did. She has never killed another human before, only monsters and beasts. But, she feels a coldness in her heart. After what happened at the village and experiencing her own death, twice, something snapped in Jill. She takes a moment and allocates the ten stat points from her level-up. This time she places three points into luck. She pulls up her User Sheet.

  Name: Jill Stone

  Age: 18

  Gender: Female

  Level: 2

  Experience: 22%

  Synthesis: 100%

  Race: Progenitor

  Focus: Undermined

  Fame: 100

  Health: 120

  Mind Energy: 70

  Stamina: 130

  Health Regen/sec: .2

  Mind Regen/sec: .31

  Stamina Regen/sec: .2

  Strength: 13

  Constitution: 14

  Endurance: 15

  Dexterity: 8

  Agility: 14

  Intelligence: 8

  Wisdom: 6

  Luck: 9

  Base Melee Damage: 5-8

  Base Ranged Damage: 0

  Weapon Damage: 0

  Base Mind Power: 7

  Base Armor: 2

  Afflictions Resist Chance: Physical (2%) Mental (1%)

  Critical Hit Chance: 5%

  Critical Hit Damage: 150%

  Traits:

  Progenitor: Immortality

  Skills:

  Sprint: Level 1

  Analyze: Level 1

  Unarmed Combat: Level 1

  Stealth: Level 1

  Knives: Level 1

  Interrogation: Level 1

  Jill hears some talking up ahead. She walks even slower, placing each foot in front of her with great care. It takes her twice as long to move, but she makes almost no noise as she goes. Ten minutes later she is about 15 feet away from three men sitting around a campfire. She got another skill called Silent Step, which is a sub-skill of Stealth. Jill is amazed at the number of skills in this...she almost thought game. But, this is not a game. Analyzing the men, Jill finds out that they are all level four. Did she just kill the leader?

  Jill steps out from the tree and announces herself. "Hi boys. Joness sent me over to take care of you."

  One of the men yelps out from being startled. They all jump up, holding weapons. One man steps forward. "Who are you? Where is Joness?"

  A man in the back laughs, "Joness was always lookin' fo one em dryers. I thinkin' he fones one." He says with barely discernible English.

  The one in front glances at the man in back and then says, "Shut up you idiot. You mean dryad?"

  Jill saunters forward.

  "Stop!" The man in front yells, pointing a rusty sword at her.

  "I mean you no harm. Joness is quite fine. I left him back in the woods, I took care of him very well. Let me do the same to you handsome men." Jill runs her hand up her body, cupping and squeezing her own breast. She then winks at the idiot in the back. "Come on. Who wants to be first?"

  The idiot steps forward, dropping his dagger on the ground. "Wooeee, I'm gunna have some."

  He walks past the two other guys and gets close to Jill. She has to repress the urge to gag from his smell. Even on this planet, millions of miles from Earth, rednecks exist. He places his hand on her ass and squeezes. She looks over her shoulder and sees the other two relax. Then she pushes the man touching her ass gently back. He looks at her with a grin. Jill grins back and using the side of her hand she breaks his windpipe. Jill had spent many years in martial arts training. She could break a brick with the move she just did. The man falls to the ground, trying to breath, making gurgling noises. While she has th
e element of surprise she runs forward and does a flying kick to the man with the sword. He crashes into the other guy and they both get tangled up on the ground.

  Jill circles around and kicks one of them in the face, breaking his nose. The sword man gets up and swings at her.

  "You, fantla!" He spits at her.

  "You guys really need to explain to me what that means...you know what? I don't actually care." Jill kicks dirt into his face, causing him to grab his eyes in pain. She then rushes in and grabs his sword arm. Using her knee, she breaks his arm at the elbow. He screams and then is quiet after she breaks his neck. Pain explodes in her left leg. The guy on the ground stabbed her with a dagger, taking 17% of her health. Jill rips the dagger out of her leg and looks at the man on the ground. He is backing away.

  "Please. Was she your sister? I told Joness is was a bad idea." He says, starting to cry.

  Jill stops. "What are you talking about? Did you hurt someone?"

  "I...we...I mean, no. We didn't do nothin'." He stammers.

  "Tell me." Jill says clenching her teeth.

  "Okay. Okay. There was a girl, maybe 16. She was walking all by herself. Real pretty. We just wanted..." He tells Jill.

  "Stop." Jill says, rage filling her very being. She walks up to him and grabs his hair and screams in his face, then ends his life.

  Jill glows with intense light, she just reached level four. She collapses on the ground and cries. "No." Jill says. She will not be weak. She cannot sit here and cry, she must save the girl. She stands up and takes the dagger. Then she cuts a long piece of fabric from one of their shirts and ties it around her breasts. She cuts one of their pants into shorts. She takes their Cores, a backpack, and any food and water she can find.

  She allocates her 20 stat points and looks over her notifications.

  Congratulations! You have leveled up the Skill:

  Unarmed Combat (Novice, Lvl 2)

  You are training your body to become a weapon. Unarmed Combat now does 6% more damage. Natural armor increases by 1 per level of this skill. Every 5 levels of this skill you gain 1% damage reduction protection. Special bonuses are gained every ten levels.

  Stamina Cost: 5 per attack

  Experience awarded: 30

  Congratulations! You have gained the Skill:

  Seduction (Novice, Lvl 2)

  When you use your body and wits you have a chance to Charm. While under the effects people will be more willing to do what you ask. 10% chance to seduce. You gain 1 point in wisdom every level of this skill.

  Mental Cost: N/A

  Experience awarded: 30

  Congratulations! You have leveled up the Skill:

  Interrogation (Novice, Lvl 2)

  You use fear, pain, and strength to gain information. 6% increased chance to gain useful information. You have gained the Aura of Fear perk.

  Mental Cost: N/A

  Experience awarded: 30

  Congratulations! You have gained the Perk:

  Aura of Fear

  Enemies will now need to pass a mental resistance check. If they fail, there is a 10% chance they will be afflicted with Fear. This is an active perk and is tied to Interrogation. Aura of Fear will improve when you level up Interrogation.

  Radius: 15 feet

  Experience awarded: 30

  Congratulations! You have gained the Sub-Skill:

  Martial Arts (Novice, Lvl 1)

  This is a sub-skill of Unarmed Combat. While on Earth you studied the Kyokushin style of karate. This is a full-contact style that disregards the well-being of the attacker. Use of this skill comes natural to you. You gain 5% damage to Unarmed Combat. Every level of this skill adds 1 to agility and movement speed.

  Stamina Cost: 5 per attack

  Experience awarded: 30

  Bonus: You are the first to use this skill on this planet!

  Rewards: Plus 5 to agility, Stealth, Meditation, and strength. 100 points to fame.

  Jill takes one of the Cores from the dead bandits and holds it in her hand. She closes her eyes and wills the energy from the Core into her body. It feels like ice water floods her veins. She moves the energy to her legs, arms, cycling her whole body. She opens her eyes, her body has a slight glow, she moves more energy to her right fist. Her hand glows brighter. Jill walks up to a tree and hits it as hard as she can. The tree explodes in a shower of wood chips and then falls to the ground with a loud thud.

  Congratulations! You have gained the Skill:

  Energy Infusion (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You have learned the restricted skill Energy Infusion. This skill is only usable by the Progenitor race. Using the Cores of other living-beings you can infuse your body with energy. You may guide the energy anywhere in your body, boosting strength, speed, and toughness. The amount of the boost and how long the boost lasts depends on the type of Core and level of the skill.

  Mental Cost: N/A

  Experience awarded: 100

  Jill looks at her menu and sees a small clock with two hours remaining for the Energy Infusion boost. She cycles the energy to her legs and feet and the takes off like lighting. The world zooms past her. She leaps ten feet in the air over a log. Suddenly, she is on a well worn dirt road. It seems Jill's luck is getting better. The road leads in the exact direction she needs to go. She takes off again, not wanting to waste the power from the Core.

  One hour later she stops. There is a group of people up ahead. They look scared when they notice Jill. She walks up to them. It seems to be a family, there is an older man and woman and a small boy. They are wearing dirty clothes and look tired.

  "Please. Have you seen a young woman? Brown hair and eyes, 16 years old? She is my daughter." The woman asks Jill.

  Dammit. This is probably the family of the girl the bandits killed. "I'm sorry. She is gone." Jill says, trying not to cry.

  The woman falls to the ground, sobbing.

  "Where is she? What did you do to her?" The man steps forward, holding a rusty knife.

  Jill backs away. "She was set upon by bandits. I never saw her, but I killed the ones responsible for her death.”

  The man, unable to stay strong, drops to his knees.

  Jill takes half of her food and water out and places it on the ground. "You must be strong. The Caste is around. They killed everyone in a village I was at. Please, find a place to hide." Then Jill leaps over them and runs as fast as she can go.

  The countryside zooms by, "Hey, Alfred? I'm still confused. I thought immortality was broken? How am I able to be reborn with my memories?" Jill asks.

  "I am a Progenitor Relic Gauntlet. I am able to store two weeks’ worth of memories, starting from rebirth. Imagine if you were to live for a hundred years before dying. All of that time will be forgotten, except for two weeks in the beginning." Alfred tells her.

  "Huh, yeah I guess that would really suck. What if I had a family, children? I would forget them all." Jill says.

  "Plus, I am unable to protect you from immortality disorder. If you die enough times your mind will begin to break. I believe Jax is suffering mild effects of the disorder already." Alfred tells her.

  Jill runs until Energy Infusion runs out and then she uses another Core to rebuff herself and runs some more. Her feet are bloody, her legs are on fire, and she is close to collapsing from exhaustion. She is completely unaware of how long she has been running. There is a small lake to the side, Jill stops for a moment. She almost screams when she places her feet into the cold water.

  "We are close ma'am. Three miles northeast." Alfred tells her.

  Jill dunks her head under the water and then takes a long drink. Water drips from her face as she looks off into the distance. "This world better hope to god that my friends are okay."

  Chapter Nine: Aftermath

  ~

  Kala and Vua lean against the cold wall of the unknown building they now sit in. Vua is in bad shape, even after Kala used Heal on her a few times. Vua's head is propped up against a corner, her breathing shallow, her eye
s closed.

  It has been many hours since the events back at the Progenitor ruins under the village. Kala has cried so much that she is beginning to dehydrate. She had never seen Jax like that before, it was like he was a monster. He almost killed Vua and Kala in his rage. He attacked everyone, with skills Kala had never seen him use before. If it wasn't for Doc dragging Kala and Vua to the Fast Travel pad and sending them away, they probably would have died. Kala doesn't know what to think, she knows it was an absolutely horrible situation. Jax watched his sister murdered and learned about everyone in the village being killed. But, when Jax went into his rage he was a different person. He didn't recognize Kala, he just had a look of pure hatred on his face. It scared Kala to her core, part of her fell out of love with him in that moment.

  Kala stands up and stretches, her body sore, her behind numb from sitting on the ground. They are in a long room, glowing crystals hang from the ceiling. At the far end of the room Kala can see sunlight filtering through an overgrowth of plants. Kala turns to Vua and casts Heal again. She stirs and opens her eyes.

  "The water warms in the suns embrace." She sings to Kala.

  "Um, I take it from your tone you are thanking me?" Kala asks, smiling weakly.

  Vua nods yes. Kala reaches down and helps Vua stand up. Both of their outfits have seen better days. Part of Kala's new Archer set is ruined, its durability gone from Jax attacking her.

  "Well, now that you are all healed up, I guess we should see where we are." Kala pulls up her Character Sheet. "Damn, I'm so close to level ten."