Prologue
F.E.A.R. has two meanings: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours to make, or so they say. In my old world, I had no such choice. My life was decided by the people around me, and the only thing I had true control over was my mind. I couldn’t rise; I couldn’t run. All I could do was imagine and envy the freedom of others to make the choices I could not.
I’ve given it some thought. What was the reason that I would be picked above all others to come to a new world? It was then I realized. What was the one thing I had that no one else did?
The first guy to come over? He was called Caldwell the Diligent, and it sounded like that was the deciding factor of his life. Diligence was one of the seven virtues. Maybe when the gods they speak of were planning things, they wanted to call over people who were amazingly virtuous, and it worked the first time. But what happened after diligence came? Wrath and pride. Maybe somewhere the system got twisted, and it called over those who were filled with an emotion so intense, it ruled their personality? In any case, it sounds like it worked out in the end for the people here.
But what about me? I wasn’t particularly virtuous, and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it was my sin that drew me here. My ability was the embodiment of envy. Jade, the green-eyed monster of envy; it even had a certain ring to it.
Still, I find that I can’t just forget everything and everyone else around me. I can’t just run from the problems they’re facing. They’ve quickly become my friends, even if they’re still keeping secrets. Then again, so am I. So I guess it’s time to face the music and rise. Maybe it’ll work out this time, too.
Chapter One – Virtue and Sin
Day Six
The light shining on her face signaled the start of the new day, and she opened her eyes, the silence of her room comforting her. No beeping monitors, no doctors or nurses to disturb her. It had just been a very realistic nightmare. She held her hand up, happy to be able to do so without resistance. She laughed softly to herself. She was fine, which could probably be considered something of a miracle, given her stupidity last night. Granted, it wasn’t complete stupidity. She’d stayed up for an hour on the roof, staring at the stars in introspection, all while nomming down a massive amount of food until she almost felt ill. All of this was in preparation for the real stupidity: mass siphoning the guards she’d touched.
Jade had been hoping her new ability would negate some of the massive drawbacks from siphoning so many people, since it had helped so much with the counts earlier. She’d literally felt almost nothing from skimming the top off of two very high leveled people. Perhaps that and her realization that she was here because of envy had led her to try and bite off another huge batch. Sneezing a few times, she glanced around, trying to see if she’d breathed in dust or something. Not seeing anything, she shrugged it off and went back to her happy perusal.
Still, as she stood up and stared in the mirror, she grinned, because she was okay. She was more than okay! She was practically glowing, and she sang softly to herself, “Oh, what a delightful moooorning. Oh, what a marvelous day!” Laughing, she pranced around the room, gathering her clothes and heading to the washroom. The inn was oddly quiet, but she ignored that in favor of taking a nice relaxing bath while she checked her profile.
Admiring the fact that her skin felt softer and smoother, that her hair seemed stronger and shinier, that her bust had gone up in size again, and that overall, she now had visibly defined muscles when she flexed, she giggled giddily and finally pulled up her floating blue screens.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 12.21
Dexterity: 13.11
Constitution: 12.19
Intelligence: 18.31
Magic: 13.76
Charisma: 12.44
Luck: 15.19
Special Abilities: Adaptable, Siphon
Skills: Accessorycraft, Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Compulsion Magic, Danger Sense, Dark Magic, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Earth Magic, Eating, Engineering, Fire Magic, Glasscraft, Haggle, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Herbology, Illusion Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Life Magic, Light Armor, Light Magic, Lightning Magic, Mana Sense, Mathematics, Mental Fortitude, Metal Magic, Modeling, Nature Magic, Navigation, Pain Tolerance, Perception, Perseverance, Persuasion, Running, Sense Motive, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Speed Reading, Stealth, Tailoring, Tracking, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Water Magic, Wind Magic, Writing
Accessorycraft
Beginner 4
33%
Acrobatics
Beginner 9
56%
Appraisal
Intermediate 5
14%
Archery
Beginner 8
24%
Athletics
Intermediate 4
92%
Blood Magic
Intermediate 3
3%
Bluff
Intermediate 4
52%
Compulsion Magic
Beginner 6
92%
Danger Sense
Beginner 5
6%
Dark Magic
Beginner 3
93%
Deception
Intermediate 4
2%
Diplomacy
Intermediate 6
73%
Dodge
Beginner 9
96%
Earth Magic
Beginner 10
6%
Eating
Intermediate 3
27%
Engineering
Beginner 5
92%
Fire Magic
Beginner 8
21%
Glasscraft
Beginner 4
70%
Haggle
Intermediate 2
81%
Healing Magic
Intermediate 5
25%
Heat Resistance
Beginner 5
52%
Herbology
Beginner 10
79%
Illusion Magic
Beginner 4
10%
Information Gathering
Intermediate 9
20%
Insight
Intermediate 6
47%
Intimidate
Beginner 10
83%
Life Magic
Beginner 8
23%
Light Armor
Beginner 7
83%
Light Magic
Intermediate 7
10%
Lightning Magic
Beginner 6
15%
Mana Sense
Beginner 9
87%
Mathematics
Beginner 7
4%
Mental Fortitude
Intermediate 6
14%
Metal Magic
Intermediate 1
88%
Modeling
Beginner 6
92%
Nature Magic
Beginner 4
83%
Navigation
Intermediate 2
39%
Pain Tolerance
Beginner 7
40%
Perception
Intermediate 7
9%