Growth Hero 2

by Brent Tyman

  Aurielle walked over to sit next to me as I proceeded to pull off my armor.

  “I am unsure,” Aurielle said, her brow furrowed in thought as she laid the sword across her knees. “This sword, combined with the return of my stats, makes it possible for me to return to my homeland and continue the fight.”

  “But?” I prompted her when she stopped. “What’s stopping you?”

  “Its… well… I’m not sure how to put it into words,” Aurielle said, sighing. “My duty means everything to me, but the prospect of returning, just to slay monsters until I meet the same fate as the rest of the Chosen… I find myself conflicted on what to do next, as I am only as powerful as my fellow Chosen were, not more.”

  She turned to me and let out a small smile. “What of you Alex? What are your goals?”

  “Goals?” I questioned, tapping a finger to my chin in thought. “Well, now that I’m back in the city, I can finally get back to work on improving my stats.”

  “That is a noble goal,” Aurielle murmured. “Do you spend much of your time improving your stats?”

  “Haha,” I laughed at that. “Some would say I spend way too much time on it, although traveling to Valdura was a welcome break from my usual grind in the dungeon. Right now, my priority is expanding my Clan and I think… Yeah, I think I will look into learning some magic.”

  While I enjoyed working on my Strength and seeing the results of my increased Defense stat—though training it up wasn’t any fun—I figured learning some magic would prove useful in any future fights.

  Plus, flinging spells while swiping with my sword sounded really cool in my head. Maybe it was the RPG gamer in me, demanding I learn some offensive magic since I was living in a fantasy world. It would be a waste, to have magic available and not take advantage of it.

  “Hmm, magic… If you like, I could teach you some of my gravity magic. It is the least I can do to pay you back for lifting my curse.”

  Gravity magic? I could make a monster slam its head into the ground or toss it hundreds of feet in the air? That would be pretty sweet.

  “Yeah, if you can teach me gravity magic, that would be awesome,” I said, smiling at her. “Do you plan on staying in the city for long?”

  “Again, I do not know,” Aurielle said. “It’s been… months since I left my homeland. It could very well be that I have failed my duty already.” She frowned, looking at the floor, “and then I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

  Months? I had thought Aurielle had come from her homeland only a couple of weeks ago. This was news to me.

  “Uhh, Aurielle. This whole succession war thing that has been happening in the south deserts… How long has it been going on?” I asked curiously.

  “Hmm, the war itself started several months ago but monsters have tried to escape from our Dungeon for several years. It was when that started to happen, that my curse took hold.”

  The south desert’s Dungeon had had monsters pouring out of it for years?!

  “Wait, so this succession crisis happened well after the business with the monsters?”

  Aurielle blinked for a moment before taking a deep breath. She nodded. “Years ago, we—and by we, I mean the ruling Clan of my homeland—sent wave upon wave of soldiers into the Dungeon, seeking to prevent them from reaching the surface. They had to settle for posting soldiers on the thirtieth floor and preventing anyone from travelling any deeper. This kept the erratic monster behavior a closely held secret for years.”

  I listened closely to Aurielle's story, which revealed—bit by bit—more of the enigma that was this beauty from the southern desert. She had been stationed in the south desert’s Dungeon years ago with her fellow Chosen. At some point, shortly after her posting, she had been afflicted with that curse of hers and spent a lot of time traveling to neighboring nations during her downtime to find a cure.

  The fact that the Seers let her have any downtime at all was nice, since it must have been rough, living in the Dungeon all the time.

  I certainly knew the feeling, and I had only camped in the Dungeon a few days.

  Every time she came back to her post in the Dungeon, one of her fellow Chosen had perished. The way she described it, it seemed the south desert nation was waging war against the Dungeon itself.

  Things had been turned on their head when she found she was the final Chosen left. This was a few months ago, and the Seers had become suspicious of her decreasing powers. The monsters broke through, and when the nation poured more soldiers into the Dungeon, the succession crisis occurred, splitting the south desert’s already dwindling forces.

  “Perhaps I will search for even more artifacts,” Aurielle reasoned. “It would not do for me to leave for my homeland and still find myself unprepared for the dangers ahead.”

  She quickly lifted her new sword and stroked along the flat of the blade, staring at her own reflection in the bright metal.

  I could plainly see Aurielle was conflicted and needed just a little push on where to go from here.

  “How about this,” I said, drawing her attention. “In return for teaching me some of your magic, I can help you with this duty of yours. Whether that means assisting you to get more artifacts or even having a few companions at your side for a tricky battle, I promise to help.”

  Even now, watching Aurielle’s beautiful face light up with hope never got old.

  “Whaaa… I, well…” she fumbled, looking everywhere but at me. “I couldn’t possibly ask you to risk your life to fulfill my duty.”

  “Haha,” I laughed. “I could tell you my stats if you like, just to prove I can hold my own, as can the rest of my Clan.”

  I really wanted Aurielle on my side. She seemed to be dedicated and loyal to those she cared about, and her goals were noble. She was also devastatingly beautiful and crazy powerful, too.

  “I witnessed your intellect and power in the Dungeon,” Aurielle said, smiling. “But I had heard rumblings that you defeated a Glower Serpent, which did pique my curiosity. If you would allow me, I would be honored to view your stats.”

  At first, I wasn’t sure what she meant, but when she reached out to put an armored hand on my shoulder, a pop up appeared before me.

  Aurielle Tres Luxsuma has requested access to view your stats.

  Accept/Deny?

  This was a completely new option I’d not seen before. I didn’t know it was possible to view someone else’s stats just by touching them and asking. The background of the request was in the classic blue, so it seemed this was a universal function and not just related to the Clan Management screen, which normally had a red background.

  My first thought was to ask Juliana if I could view her stats, but as Aurielle patiently waited, my mind snapped back to the present. I mentally accepted her request and waited for her to view them. Since I hadn’t checked my owns stats for a while, I figured now would be a good time.

  I quickly brought up my stats, the information appearing in blue before me.

  Stats

  Strength: 146

  Speed: 3

  Defense: 97

  Magical Power: 1

  Magical Capacity: 1

  Luck: 1

  Nice! My Strength had increased a little, though nowhere near the growth I had gotten from defeating the Titan. While that Glower Serpent had been tough, it didn’t hold a candle to the Titan, in terms of stat increases.

  I wasn’t even sure if the battle with the Malophas had given me any experience, since I wasn’t sure what the heck it really was. My Defense went up by one, though, which probably came from that battle. I must have been at the threshold for the next stat increase before that fight anyway.

  It had gripped onto my shoulder tightly, which was the only damage I had taken these past few days. The Wolves I didn’t expect to give me much of an increase, as they were far too weak and spaced out for my liking. I hadn’t been able to grind my usual amount on that floor.

  I wondered if I would be able to see Aurielle’s stat
s. It would be interesting to see how I compared.

  Request sent to Aurielle Tres Luxsuma for stat access.

  Waiting…

  I could feel my eyes widen at that. Well, I supposed that answered that question, but the system had given me no indication that it was about to send her a request. The least it could have done was prompt me first...

  Another blue window appeared only a moment later.

  Aurielle Tres Luxsuma has accepted your request.

  An interface similar to the one I used to view my own stats appeared. I was able to view her stats from here.

  Name: Aurielle Tres Luxsuma

  Race: Human

  Stats

  Strength: 162

  Speed: 119

  Defense: 189

  Magical Power: 123

  Magical Capacity: 114

  Luck: 4

  Jeez…

  In terms of raw power, Aurielle was a real force to be reckoned with. That Defense of hers just about doubled my own! It made me realize that I still had quite a long way to go.

  At least I wasn’t too far off her Strength stat, but she had me beat at pretty much everything else by quite a lot.

  “Your stats are incredible,” Aurielle murmured. “And this Growth skill of yours, would you please explain it?”

  I chuckled to myself. It seemed that everyone who looked at my stats was far more interested in my Growth skill. I didn’t blame them though, judging from everyone’s reactions, it seemed to be something that hadn’t been seen in this world.

  Maybe that was why the Goddess had backpedaled on giving it to me in the first place.

  “Sure. I can apply it to a specific stat, and it boosts my growth for that stat,” I said. “Would you believe me if I told you that after fighting the Ogres that attacked the Beastkin and the Titan, my Strength stat increased by seventy?”

  It was clear that Aurielle had a hard time believing me.

  Her eyes widened in shock. “Seventy? Truly?” she questioned, and I nodded.

  “Yep. Pretty crazy, right? I think most of it came from the Titan, in all honesty, but either way, it was a massive increase. The rest of my Clan received a similar growth, while Juliana and her retinue received about half that increase, just from being in our party.”

  Of all the people I had revealed my Growth skill to, Aurielle’s reaction intrigued me the most. Her eyes went from surprised to calculating in an instant, and then to the same type of pleading look I usually only got from Clarissa—though the blonde usually accompanied the look with batting her eyelashes.

  “If this Growth skill can be applied to your Clan, then would you please allow me to join?” Aurielle asked.

  “Huh?” I said, not quite understanding what I was hearing. “You want to join my Clan? What about your duty and getting back to your homeland, eventually?”

  “Those are both very important to me, and the primary reason I ask this of you,” Aurielle said. She proceeded to remove her steel gauntlet and gently squeezed my arm earnestly. “If I can achieve the growth you claim, then perhaps I can truly return to my homeland and save it from its plight.”

  “Yeah, but aren’t you already incredibly powerful?” I asked. “That Malophas didn’t stand a chance against your magic.”

  “There are things far more dangerous than those creatures,” Aurielle said cryptically. “And while this artifact will surely aid me…” She patted the hilt of her sword. “I cannot help but feel that I will need to increase my stats even higher than they currently stand.”

  Hadn’t she seen the massive amount of raw Strength and Defense she had already? The fact that she had been hunting the Titan and Troglodread with reduced stats made me admire her courage even more, now that I knew her true power. What else could she do?

  I scrolled down to her skills to see what was there.

  Skills

  Seer Born - Start life with a base of three in all Stats plus an additional two in Magical Power.

  Chosen - Unlocks access to Ethereal magic and boosts Magical Power and Capacity by one hundred.

  The Seer Born skill had me a tad curious about her origins, as it seemed to give her a slight inclination to magic. That Chosen skill was almost broken in terms of power, though. A full hundred stat boost for her magic?

  I was sure either Clarissa or Juliana would faint at the amount of power Aurielle had received just for being chosen to be… well, a Chosen.

  Clarissa had reminded me that I could view magical skills as well, and I turned to Aurielle.

  “Is it alright if I view your magic?” I asked, and she nodded.

  “Please do,” she said. “I would be happy to demonstrate any spell for you here, if you so wish.”

  I doubted the inn would appreciate their decor suddenly floating in the air or one of Aurielle’s spears getting stuck in the walls, but there was no harm in looking up what they did. I sifted through this screen until I found that section for spells and opened it up.

  A small list appeared before my eyes.

  Magic Spells

  Gravity Cascade - Exponentially increase the force of gravity on a target.

  Gravity Suppress - Weaken the target’s hold on gravity.

  Ethereal Spear - Summon a spear made from the Almighty’s scattered light. Can be cast multiple times in succession.

  Ethereal Blink - Teleport short distances based on the range of your Magical Capacity.

  “You can teleport?” I blurted out. “That’s amazing!”

  It seemed Aurielle clearly thought I would comment first on something else, like her Ethereal Spear spell, but there was just something about teleportation that got my blood flowing. Maybe it was because some RPG games had some kind of instant travel that was sorely lacking in this fantasy world.

  The fact that this was a living, breathing world with magic made it all the more impressive for me.

  “Yes,” Aurielle said, a little surprised at my excitement. “I was able to leave Valdura and travel into the tunnels with this spell. Its range is short, though, and I may only travel to places I have already been.”

  She explained to me that she wouldn’t be able to teach me any of her Ethereal spells, as they required the Chosen skill which only the Seers could grant. That was fine by me, since the Gravity magic seemed pretty cool and useful to boot.

  Aurielle did seem to lack offensive skills that I could make use of, other than the Gravity magic, so it looked like I’d still require help from Juliana or Karl for some of the more standard fantasy spells, like Fireball or Lightning.

  Either way, Aurielle would be an amazing addition to my party.

  Actually…

  “Aurielle,” I said. “Would you consider yourself a tank, you know, being on the party’s front line to hold monsters’ attention and keep them away from your party’s casters?”

  “Of course,” Aurielle said, nodding her head. “That was my role with the Chosen, the others were much more suited to dispatching monsters than I.”

  I supposed her stats really were in another league compared to anyone else I’d met, which made me initially think she’d been a damage dealer.

  Heck, with that Ethereal Spear spell, she technically was a DPS, in addition to being a Tank. I wondered who this Almighty was that her spells mentioned; it was the first time I had heard about this being.

  “I’ll gladly accept you into my Clan,” I said. “You’ll fit in nicely.”

  “Huh?” She sputtered. “Truly? Do you not wish more of me?”

  “More of you? Nope,” I asked, then shook my head. “You helped us out with that Malophas and with the Wolves after that. The fact that you’ve agreed to teach me your magic demonstrates that I can trust you. I’ve been looking for a Tank for my Clan and I would be a fool to turn you away.”

  The woman looked lost for words at this and let out a weighty breath that hitched with a bit of a sob. “Thank you… You… You do not know what this means for me. If I can get stronger… then… my homeland…”


  “Oh yeah, about that,” I said, grinning. “Since you will be in our Clan, you can expect the rest of us to help you out with that, as well. Your troubles will be our troubles and you won’t have to go it alone anymore. If, one day, you return to the south deserts to save your homeland, don’t think you will be returning by yourself.”

  Clearly, that made Aurielle look ready to faint, as the blood rushed out of her face. It was amusing, to see such a powerful woman look ready to swoon at my words.

  “I… well…” she sputtered before her cheeks went from white to a very deep shade of red. “Ah… thank you Alex. It would be shameful for me to reject your help. Know that I will never be able to repay you, not in this lifetime, but I will find a way.”

  We both ended up smiling to each other for a long moment before I realized we should probably get some sleep. This soft mattress hadn’t come cheap, after all.

  “Let’s turn in for the night. I think we both deserve a little rest in this amazing bed. It’s pretty comfy,” I said, pushing a hand down into the plush mattress. While my hand sank down pretty far into the down mattress, I was just glad it was an actual bed and not another a cold floor in the Dungeon.

  “Of course,” Aurielle said. “I will get changed and will accompany you formally on your travels tomorrow.”

  I wanted to say that she didn’t have to be so formal, but she’d already stood up and made her way to the bathroom.

  With a shrug of my shoulders, I removed the rest of my armor and got myself comfortable on the plush bed. The bed was enormous; I had no doubt that each of us would have plenty of space and then some.

  When I laid back against the pillow, my eyes turned heavy all of a sudden. Just as I was about to close them, another message appeared on my interface.