Splinter angel book 1, p.15
Splinter Angel: Book 1, page 15
“You’re forgiven,” Ana said bluntly, then softened her tone a little. “Don't worry about it. Really. But without involving what may or may not have happened in my past, what do I do? Come on,” she added more cheerfully. “I want to Level, here!”
“You just do it,” Kaira mumbled. “Like everything else, really. Just focus on which Crystals you want to eat, and how many.” She looked up from her feet and met Ana’s eyes. “Really, we’re good? Nobody should be ashamed if they’ve been trapped in one of those places, but—”
“We’re good,” Ana confirmed, softening her voice so Kaira would know that she meant it. Then she focused. She needed 250 Experience. That meant three Lesser Crystals, so she willed the System to consume just that. And it did!
Growth Crystal (Lesser) (3) consumed. You have been awarded 300 Experience Points.
Congratulations! You have reached Guardian Angel, Level 4. 4 Advancement Points awarded.
Ana gasped as the effect of all her Attributes increasing at once hit her like a shot of liquid power right into her veins. She hadn’t been prepared. She’d known, but she hadn’t known. It hadn’t been like that the first night, when she’d been riding an adrenaline high after killing three men.
There was no gradual increase. Instead, every sensation was suddenly sharper. She felt stronger, steadier, sturdier, each effect minor on its own but together… Ana felt the sudden urge to giggle, but managed to bargain it down to a grin. What a rush! And there might be more!
She quickly brought up her numbers.
INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY
Name: Anastasia Cole
Race: Outsider, Summoned (Human aspect)
Age: 26
Classes: Guardian Angel (4) (Hidden, shown as Companion (4))
Experience: 110/1250
Storage: 1 Shard, 1 Growth Crystal (Lesser)
Attributes: Base Multiplier Effective
Strength 15 1 15
Endurance 17 1 17
Vitality 16 1 16
Agility 19 1 19
Dexterity 16 1 16
Perception 14 1.3 18
Acuity 14 1 14
Willpower 16 1 16
Charisma 19 1 19
Connection 14 1 14
Advancement Points: 4
Abilities:
Hidden Class (Guardian Angel) (Guardian Angel 1)
Guardian Angel (Guardian Angel 1)
Devotion (Guardian Angel 1)
Danger Sense (Special) (Guardian Angel 3)
Skills:
Acting 3
Charm 1
Command 2
Crossbows 1
Defense 1
Inspect 1
Intimidation 4
Long Blades 1
Sense Motive 2
Shields 1
Short Blades 3
Unarmed Combat 4
… And the world stopped.
You have 4 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
She’d forgotten that part, but it wasn’t a big deal. It gave her a moment to think. To her annoyance, though, thinking about anything except how to spend the points was hard! It was like her mind slid around any subject not directly related to how she could best use them.
After an indefinable length of time she gave up on trying to defy the system and just went with it. Fine, she thought. How should I do this?
She could increase her Perception again, she could get a ten percent increase to each of four Attributes, or she could get twenty percent to one and ten to another. The effective increase only used the whole part of the bonus, so the third option felt best to her. It meant that she could get a 3 Point boost to her Strength, which was… considerable. And when she was fighting, it would increase by even more!
Too good to pass up, was her conclusion. She put 3 points into her Strength Multiplier, and the last one into Vitality, on the basis that being less likely to die was a good thing. This gave her a new Effective Strength of 18, and an Effective Vitality of 17, which was, if she understood things correctly, pretty badass.
When the world started moving again, Ana was, somewhere in a corner of her mind, disappointed that she hadn’t received a new Ability. But that almost completely vanished in a second surge of power.
Ana giggled. She was a twenty-six year-old woman who took herself pretty seriously, but this time she couldn’t help herself. She felt so light, and in a very real, if relative, way, she was. In a few seconds she had gone from 14 to 18 Strength, and if everything was linear that made her… somewhere between a third and a quarter stronger. Two sevenths. On an impulse she took a standing jump, straight up, and found her feet level with Tor’s chest — and he was a fairly tall guy!
She came back down, landing lightly, knees bent, and came back to her senses. A last, rogue giggle escaped her before she schooled her face, leaving only the faintest smile on her lips. The others, she saw, were looking at each other with knowing grins.
“So…” Kaira drew out the vowel knowingly, every trace of her previous mortification gone. “Increased your Strength Mult, did you?”
“I feel like I could wrestle an elk,” Ana said, still riding the high, even if she wasn’t showing it anymore. She finally understood, really understood, what Nic had loved about his games.
The numbers went up, and it felt good.
Chapter sixteen
The next morning was… difficult. The others had insisted on celebrating Ana’s new Level, and while there had been a lot of drinks, she had not been allowed to pay for any of them. It felt as though having a 16 in Willpower should have made her harder to convince, but she’d been in an excellent mood and might have gone somewhat overboard.
On the bright side, that morning she’d made the connection between having a high Vitality and recovering quickly from hangovers. It seemed obvious in hind-sight, really, and after a work-out and another massive breakfast of everything-porridge, she was as good as new.
As she was finishing up, Tor came by to take her to the Exchange. Kaira had offered to do it, but had quickly been convinced to leave it to Tor, due to her tendency to get heated when she felt that she wasn’t getting a good deal.
“Oh, right, yeah,” was her response to that accusation. “I really don’t need to be banned from there again.”
“Banned?” Ana said curiously. “Again?”
“They were trying to screw me!” Kaira said, her lower lip jutting out angrily.
“They were trying to turn a profit,” Tor said, firm but gentle.
“Yeah, well…”
And so it was Tor who came and said hello to Omda as Ana finished her meal, and then brought her to the square.
The Exchange occupied a large portion of the southern side of the square, a nicely constructed building of stone and wood, rather than the sturdier, all-stone guardhouse and Administration. The reception of the building reminded Ana a little of Touanne’s front room; for a store, there was very little on display.
Despite the early hour, there were already other customers — clients? — inside, two women leaning on the counter and talking in hushed voices with a middle-aged man who seemed completely engrossed in whatever conversation the three were having. That left a younger man to greet Ana and Tor.
“Torden Barlo!” the man said, greeting Tor like a long-lost friend. “And you’ve brought us the newcomer! Welcome, Miss! My name is Yildim. How can I help you this fine morning?”
Ana glanced at Tor, who waved her forward with an encouraging smile. “Anastasia. I have some things I’d like to sell,” Ana said to Yildim, “and I might want to buy something, depending on what you have.”
“Love to hear it!” Yildim said. “Put it on the counter, then, and let’s have a look.”
Ana put down the suit of leather armor on the counter, and the sword, still in its scabbard. Yildim snorted as he looked over the suit. “Pretty sure I sold this once already,” he said in a low tone, giving Ana an appraising look. Ana looked back flatly. “But I’ve heard that you talked to the captain, and you’re here instead of in the cells, so I won’t ask. I can give you one gold and eight for it.”
“Two gold,” Ana countered, hoping that she wasn’t underestimating how much Yildim was trying to “screw her,” as Kaira had so eloquently put it. “Or I can trade it in full or in part for something that fits me better. I need to keep it if I can’t replace it, anyway.”
Yildim hemmed and hawed, sucking his teeth as he made a show of looking over the armor, then nodded. “I can give you two gold in value on a trade,” he said. “I’m firm on one and eight in coin, though.”
“Deal,” Ana said. They shook on it quickly, and Ana took the armor down, resting it against her side of the counter. “Then there’s this.” She lifted the scabbard and pulled the blade one third out, handing it to Yildim who again started with his theatrics.
“Well, it’s a decent enough blade,” he said. “But the Engraving… I can give you five gold, and that’s being generous. This is mostly ornamental, see?” he said, tracing his finger to point out what Ana already knew. “And the quality of what’s there is—”
“Excellent,” Ana said, unfolding the note that Tor had brought with the sword and sliding it across the counter. “According to the Barlos, who I understand are the resident experts on these things.”
Yildim looked at the note as though it might bite him, then put the sword down and picked up the paper instead, reading it carefully.
“Tor,” he said mournfully, turning his eyes on the other man. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”
“The note comes with the blade,” Tor said cheerfully. “And you should know better, Yil. Really?”
“A man’s got to make a living,” Yildim said with a shrug, then turned back to Ana. “So—”
“Twelve gold,” Ana said firmly. “I know what it’s worth.”
“You can’t be serious. We’ve got to make a profit here, you know? Ten.”
“Eleven and eight. Wait for the right person to come along and you’ll make plenty of profit, you know that as well as I do.”
“That could take weeks, and storage is not infinite. Ten and six.”
“Eleven gold,” Ana said, locking eyes with Yildim and reaching out to put her hand on the scabbard, though not quite grabbing it. “And two silver for trying to screw me.”
“I am but a man,” Yildim muttered. Then he stretched out his hand. “Deal. Eleven gold and two silver for the Engraved sword.”
Ana was barely surprised when a notification popped up.
Skills partially calibrated, based on use.
A quick check showed that she now had the Skill Negotiation at Level 2. It was a little bittersweet, though, now that she knew how many hundreds of Experience Points she was missing out on by not gaining the Skills the “normal” way. Sure, haggling saved her more than a few bucks — and quid, and euros, lira, rupiah… — over the years, and it had probably made her a couple of silver just now, but if she hadn’t had it in the background, she would have been that much closer to Level 5 now.
“You were interested in buying, too, weren’t you?” Yildim asked after coins had changed hands and the sword was stashed away somewhere.
“I am,” Ana said, feeling confident now. “I need armor that fits me better than what I have, and a…”
She looked at Tor, who said, “A buckler. A sturdy one.”
“Armor that fits you better…” Yildim mused, looking Ana over a little longer than strictly necessary. “Hardened leather?”
“Or leather scale,” Tor suggested. “More flexible,” he explained in an aside to Ana.
“Right… Right… Miss Anastasia, if I may be so rude…” He waved for Ana to lean in, and she did, hearing him whisper, “Is your Strength above 12?”
She considered the question. They really took secrecy seriously here when it came to that stuff. But she assumed that it was to get her appropriate gear, and Yildim was being very considerate about it.
“Little higher, yeah,” she whispered back, and Yildim nodded.
“I might have just what you need,” he said, vanishing into the back again.
After Yildim had been gone for about a minute, Tor leaned in close to Ana’s ear. “Sorry, Ana, but I can’t resist asking. I know you boosted your Strength yesterday, but… did you increase your Charisma, too?”
“It might be a point higher than yesterday,” Ana confirmed.
“I thought so,” Tor murmured. “Worked out well, too. Yildim’s good at what he does, but he’s always been a sucker for a girl who knows what she wants. And I’m assuming you’ve got some decent socials to go with it, so boosting those before doing this was a good plan.”
Ana hadn’t thought of that at all. She’d never even considered increasing her Charisma deliberately, since she had far more important things to improve, and between the initial value she’d been assigned and the increases from her Level, she was quite satisfied as it was. Still, it was supposed to increase her force of personality, and her Charisma was higher than her Strength. She might as well start putting it to deliberate use.
“Mister Barlo, are you saying that I’m charming?” she said, giving Tor a doe-eyed smile and putting all the innocent charm that she could into it. Tor blushed, then smiled back when he saw what she was doing.
“Social Classes,” he said with mock ruefulness. “Us poor combat types are defenseless against you.”
“So does Charisma directly improve Negotiation?” Ana asked.
“And Willpower and Acuity and Perception… even Connection, I think. Lots of things go into a good haggle right? But it could be the other way around, too. It’s not exactly clear, as far as I know. What we do know is that Skills and Attributes work together in ways beyond each being important. A single point increase in an Attribute has more impact with a higher Skill, right? That’s firmly established. So there must be some connection.”
So… some kind of multiplicative effect, maybe? Ana wondered. She was sure that her Acuity was helping her see patterns. It was now 40% higher than it had been back in London, and that had to count for something. Still, math was a skill, if not a Skill, and it just wasn’t something she’d ever focused on. If she could get some kind of academic Skill, would she automatically get better at it as she gained Levels?
Further musing was interrupted as Yildim came out holding two items. One was a buckler the size of a large dinner plate, covered in what looked like gray leather and with a bulging brass boss in the center. The other…
“I noticed this in the back a few days ago,” Yildim said. “I guess it hasn’t sold for a while, because it was way back there. Looks like it should fit you well, though!”
Ana basically shut her face down. There was no expression she could make at that moment that wouldn't make it clear to Yildim how much she loved the suit of cream leather armor he was holding. She couldn't say why. She knew nothing about what made any piece of armor good beyond “keeps you alive.” But the suit called to her, and she wanted it.
It wasn't scale, like Tor had suggested, but Ana could see how easily she would be able to move in it. In design, it was quite similar to what she’d had, with a few extra parts; beside the solid front and back pieces and the skirt, the suit had a rising neck guard and some short pieces covering the shoulders and upper arms.
“What do you think?” she asked Tor, keeping her voice carefully neutral.
“The shield looks good, depending on the price. I still think you should get something more flexible for the suit, but it’s worth trying it on. Looks like it won’t be too big, at least.”
“Is that alright?” Ana asked Yildim, who handed the suit over with a smile.
“Do you need any help?” he asked hopefully. “I notice that you’re not a combat Class.”
“I’m sure that Tor can help with the straps,” Ana said drily.
The suit had barely settled on her shoulders when Ana made her mind up. She had to have it. Price didn’t matter; she could make more money. It sat on her like a second skin, comfortably warm and surprisingly flexible, and when Tor tightened the straps… there was a notification.
Ana froze.
“Is there something wrong?” Yildim asked curiously, leaning forward over the counter.
“Not sure,” Ana said, and brought up the notification.
I’m sorry, Anastasia. You shouldn’t be here. I‘ll try to make it up to you.
What the everliving fuck?
Ana's mind raced. What was going on? That was… firstly, it was a lot more personal than anything Ana had seen from the System. It was directed to her by name. And it had come when she put the armor on. Who could make that happen? Who could make that happen that cared about her?
Why would someone like that be interested in her? Was this a trap? Should she get as far away from this armor as she could?
“Is it uncomfortable?” Yildim asked. “I think there’s—”
“No, it’s fine!” Ana said hastily. “I’ll take it!”
“Oh, great! Eight gold for the shield and the armor.”
That got at least some of Ana’s attention. “Are you mad?” she asked. “You just said that you can’t get rid of it. I’m basically freeing up space for you! Five gold for both.”
Behind her Tor subtly choked. Too low?
“Oh, I know that’s not a serious offer,” Yildim said. “It drips quality. Just look at the dye! Eight was generous. Come on, what’s your real counter?”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying, right?” Ana said, trying to get her head back in the game. The notification with her name on it still hung there in front of her, but despite her misgivings, she wanted it. “Four gold, six silver, plus my old armor.”
“Six plus the armor.”
Ana rolled her eyes. “That’s the same as your first offer. Four and ten.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying?” Yildim said with a grin, as he looked her up and down. “Five and ten.”
