When they returned back to the small house, Callie's mother woke her to feed her once, before settling her back in her bassinet. But Callie found sleep was the furthest thing from her mind as she lay in the darkness, her eyes wide open.
The encounter in that terrible hall was engraved in Callie's brain. She felt sure that night would stick with her for years to come.
Shaking herself from her revelry, Callie decided to make good use of her time once more. The encounter with the purple-eyed man had hardened Callie's fascination with the system into a desperate need for power. She never wanted to feel as vulnerable as she had felt laying in that man's arms again for as long as she lived this life.
Callie decided to open her status panel. When she did, she was startled by several pop-ups.
--New Ability Acquired: Pain Resistance Lv. 1--
--Pain Resistance has Leveled Up!--
--Fear Resistance has Leveled Up!--
--Pain Resistance has Leveled Up!--
--Mental Resistance has Leveled Up!--
--New Skill Acquired: Necromancy Lv. 1--
--New Spell Acquired: Raise Zombie Lv. 1--
--New Spell Acquired: Spectral Vision Lv. 1--
--New Trait Acquired: Fear of the Undead--
Callie blinked, startled. Where in the world could she have learned Necromancy from? And what is this trait about?
She quickly closed the pop-ups and studied her status screen with renewed interest.
--------Stats--------
Name: Caliope (Callie) Griever
Level: 0
Exp: 0/10
Race: Human
Life Stage: Newborn
Cultivation Level: 0 (Locked)
Magic Level: 0 (Locked)
Health: 230/230
Mana: 0/0
Recovery: 1050
Stamina: 10
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 35 (+5)
Wisdom: 20 (+5)
Willpower: 20
Endurance: 30 (+10)
Control: 20 (+10)
Charisma: 40
Perception: 15 (+5)
Luck: 100
Faith: 5
Skills: Reading Lv. 1 (See Details); Analysis Lv. 1 (See Details); Necromancy Lv. 1(See Details)
Abilities: Fear Resistance Lv. 2 (See Details); Sleep Resistance Lv. 1 (See Details); Mental Resistance Lv. 2 (See Details); Pain Resistance Lv. 3 (See Details)
Traits: UNKNOWN ERROR DETECTED; Curiosity; Necromantic Legacy; Fear of the Undead (See Details)
Professions: N/A
Blessings: UNKNOWN (Error Detected); UNKNOWN ERROR DETECTED; Goddess of Sacrifice; Goddess of Luck; God of Power; Gray the Lich (See Details)
Curses: God of Cruelty
Titles: N/A (Locked)
Stat Points: 9,950
Skill Points: 52,156
System Points: 0
Mission Points: 0
Building Points: 0
Gold: 0
Karma Points: 2,415,866
Divinity Points: 148,528
Universal Points: 2
Ally System (Locked)
Past Life Reward System: 10 Past Lives Rewarded
Not understanding the final message, Callie decided to deal with it last. Instead, she decided to understand what exactly all these new things did.
'See Details, please!'
A pop-up message appeared with a long list of short descriptions.
--Reading Lv. 1--
The Host has acquired the reading skill from her steadfast study of the Help Articles. Learn more languages to use this skill to its fullest potential! +5% reading speed.
--Analysis Lv. 1--
The Host has acquired the analysis skill from her time analyzing her situation! Use this skill frequently to increase features! Spell: Analysis acquired! When used, this skill will display a small status window about an object the Host is touching. +5% information displayed when analyzed.
--Necromancy Lv. 1--
The Host has acquired the necromancy skill from a skill book given by the Host's father. A mana core is needed to use this skill. Spell: Raise Zombie Lv.1 acquired. Spell: Spectral Vision Lv. 1 acquired. +5% magic power when around the undead.
--Fear Resistance Lv. 2--
The Host has acquired the fear resistance skill while struggling to contain her fear against a superior member of the undead! The more fear the Host experiences, the better this skill will become! +10% resistance to fear-related emotions.
--Sleep Resistance Lv. 1--
The Host has acquired the sleep resistance skill while struggling to stay awake while in a dangerous situation! The more the Host fights to stay awake, the better this skill will become! +5% resistance to sleep.
--Mental Resistance Lv. 2--
The Host has acquired the mental resistance skill while fighting to control her emotions during a dangerous encounter! The more the Host fights to control her emotions, the better this skill will become! +10% resistance to mental exhaustion, breakdown, and attacks.
--Pain Resistance Lv. 3--
The Host has acquired the pain resistance skill while enduring great pain to survive! The more pain the Host endures, the better this skill will become! +20% resistance to pain.
--Fear of the Undead--
The Host has had a traumatic experience with the undead and has now developed a phobic trait! -25% movement speed when around the undead. -50% intelligence when around the undead. Effect: Fear (See Details) activated whenever in the presence of the undead.
--Blessing of Gray the Lich--
Gray the Lich, as your father, has bestowed his blessing upon you in the hopes you'll continue his legacy! +25% skill increase when around or becoming the undead! +10% skill increase when learning Necromancy!
Callie looked at her screen, slightly shocked. She had acquired necromancy from a skill book...so that was what the purple-eyed man had been doing...
But father? Callie reached with her little fists to rub her eyes, sure she misread. There's no way that that purple-eyed monstrosity was her father! He had been too...well, just too much of everything! Too scary! Too powerful! Too not-human!
Although, it definitely explained that Necromantic Legacy trait...
Now, on top of that bomb, she had that phobic trait, which sounded really awful. 50% less intelligence was sure to hurt her, especially now that she had necromancy skills. Now she could summon a zombie, but it'd make her about as smart as one when the zombie was around! What use would that be?
'Is there some way to get rid of traits, System?'
--Read Help Article on Traits? Y/N--
Callie almost laughed. Of course, she had to read that article anyway, but this system never seemed to have any simple, straight-forward answers. She was starting to think this was all just some kind of cosmic joke.
'Yes.'
A long article popped up above her stat window, detailing all about traits. Callie read the words carefully, afraid to miss some important detail.
When she finished, Callie let out a long, relieved sigh. Yes, traits could be unlearned. Not only could you unlearn traits the natural way, by changing your behavior long-term, but you also could trade gold or system points to erase problematic traits.
There was also some item that could be found, bought, or earned that could easily erase traits the user didn't like. Not for the first time, Callie dearly wished she could browse through the System Store. It sounded like it had really neat stuff!
Traits also had a few other quirks that interested Callie. For instance, a given trait's effect can change with the Host's life stage and race. So, if one day Callie ever managed to evolve into something other than human, her Necromantic Legacy may have completely different effects than it had now.
Swept up in her desire to understand the system more, Callie switched towards the Help Article tab so that she could read more about the status screen and the uses there-in. Today's experience had shown her she didn't want any more unpleasant surprises.