Poor Man Reborn

The Relationship With Parties

"Stay behind me!" I yell as the Fishman behemoth emerges from the water.

"How can I get any experience then?" Fire filled Lavender's palm and eyes as the little girl in a pink dress stepped up beside me.

"Let me distract the big one, and you take out these small ones, then we will finish him together."

"That sounds better. You look like you already got some experience," a glimmer of shyness almost peaked through, but Lavender swallowed it and focused on the fight.

As I ran forward, I could see bolts of fire burn into the remaining Fishmen and prepared myself for my fight, letting my blade go. Even with my levels, I only had 10 MANA left. So, I decided to try and use the glove.

Running, I point my hand to a large rock and pull it to me. It ends up coming faster then I anticipated, and I'm just barely able to push it away in time. I think the monster was laughing at me, so I tried again. This time the rock narrowly missed the monster, and it stopped laughing.

With an ear-splitting roar, the behemoth charged me, but it stopped. Its hands flew up to its face as a rain of firebolts peppered it. Lavender caught up with me and ran to the side, She didn't look different, but that just meant she hadn't opened her level alerts.

"Let's go together. Pump firebolts though my sword as we run at it," I yell to Lavender as we run.

Lavender gets closer and puts a hand on mine. I activate the LIGHT BLADE, and Firebolts shoot from the tip. Both of us plunged into the monster, but at the last second, I let go. Lavender fills the beast with fire, and I can see the sweat pouring from her, but then she emits three bursts of light.

Lavender's body begins to change. She begins to get taller, her hips grew, and her body started to fill out more. As she pumped all her magic into the beast, it fell, but as she turned and smiled, I could see a vacant look in her eyes.

I ran to catch her in my arms as she passed out on her feet. I cradled her body to the ground and was aware of the more developed body in my arms. I blushed, but then remembered where I was and what was going on.

Looking around, I could see no more monsters, and I heard a gurgle of water. I picked up Lavender as I stood. She was still light, and I wasn't that tired. The leveling seemed to help with that. Turning, I can see that the stone bridge path has come back up, so I walk back up to the house.

Once finally back in the hall, I walked back to my room with Lavender. I laid her down in my bed, and as I did, she started to stir. Lavender's eye's slowly opened as I laid her down gently. The problem was, I still had to get into the bed so I wouldn't just leave her on the edge.

As our eyes connected, I felt my entire body warm-up. The moment only lasted for a second, before Lavender kicked me off her. I had the wind knocked out of me as I hit the ground hard. The sound of Trina laughing filled my ears as I gasped for breath.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Lavender screamed at me as she rolled in my blanket to cover her fully clothed body.

"Don't you remember?" I ask, still catching my breath.

"We were in the cave, how did that turn into you trying to kiss me?" Lavender accused, pointing at me.

"I wasn't trying to kiss you. I brought you in here because you passed out. I wasn't just gonna leave you there or wait in a damp cave for you to wake up. So I brought you here because I have no clue what the other rooms are."

"But why were you over top of me so close?"

I just shrugged this time.

"I didn't want you to fall out if you slept a long time while I went to find Miss Grace or Tilly."

"Weren't you worried? That my mom might get mad?"

"Maybe, but I was more worried about your safety," I told her, standing up.

"I guess so. Sorry and thank you," Lavender pulled the blanket her face and turned her head as she spoke.

"So, It looks like we are still the same level."

"How did that happen? You must have killed a lot more than me. How are we the same level still?"

"Trina saw it! Dave, let go and let you have all the experience from the big bad guy!" I was confused with how Trina spoke there, but the scream that followed confirmed my suspicions.

"What is that adorable thing!" Lavender bounced on my bed excitedly, completely forgetting about our last conversation.

"If you can see her, then this is Trina, my guide."

"A guide? I have never heard of something like that unless you pay someone to guide you."

"Trina is Special, and I am not to be sold, traded, or bought. I guide Dave into trouble, I mean, well I guess that's what I really meant,"

I nod knowingly. Why can Lavender see Trina now? What changed?

"Trina, why can she see you?" I ask my small faery.

"She is in your party now, Trina thinks you really need to get on top of your alerts!"

She wasn't wrong. The icon in the top corner was flashing a different icon each time it blinked. I decided to try and sit on my bed. I move warily to sit down, but Lavender makes no move to attack me.

I opened my alerts to see I have new screens popping up, and I read them in order.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS UPDATE!

Your actions in helping LAVENDER have caused your relationship level to increase by 15. You are now, Friends!

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: 20/100

Interesting, so helping people succeed will maybe give me some kind of bonuses. At least this was a clear indication for me how a person feels about me. I close the window and open the next.

PARTY UPDATE

Due to the RELATIONSHIP STATUS UPDATE, LAVENDER is now a part of your party. Increase your RELATIONSHIP STATUS to gain more benefits!

Just as I thought, the better relationships I have with my party, the stronger we will become. I guess this also means I should be trying to gather more party members. There were two more windows left to look at, and I closed the last and was surprised by the next message.

NEW SKILLS/MAGIC UNLOCKED!

New Skills and/or Magic have been unlocked. Check your AVATAR for more details.

Ok, let's go! I close the window, excited to see what my stats look like now. In the last window, my AVATAR screen appears.

LEVEL: 9

HP: 62/90

MANA: 5/55

NAME: Dave Huntington

AGE: 15

CLASS: Hero

STATUS: Hungry

WEALTH: Average

HOME: Huntington Manor

STRENGTH: 12

CONSTITUTION: 9 (+45)

COMBAT: 11

SPEED: 15

INTELLIGENCE: 9

MANA: 10 (+50)

???:

???:

ABILITIES

PASSIVE SKILLS

JUSTICE'S BLOODTHIRST: When killing evil, gain 2 HP per/Kill. When killing an innocent, lose 50 HP per/Kill.

PEIRCE EVIL: People with evil intentions have black auras and are vulnerable to the HERO's LIGHT BLADE Skill.

ACTIVATED SKILLS

LIGHT BLADE+: Activate to summon a blade of light. This Spell consumes 4 mana per/minute.

MAGICAL SPELLS

FIREBOLT+: Release a medium fiery projectile at a target within 35 feet of you. This Spell consumes 10 MANA per/use.

"Woah! I'm not poor anymore!" I say out loud.

Lavender looks at me strangely, but the look fades to something of understanding at my excitement. I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but it was hard to contain my excitement, even with everything else that had changed, not to mention being able to use magic now. My LIGHT BLADE+ was getting more comfortable to use, and now I could use it more freely, but JUSTICE'S BLOODTHRIST drew my attention.

I would gain life for each evil kill, but if I accidentally kill two innocents right know, I would die. Not that I had planned on doing something like that, but the way I handle things in a public place would have to be done carefully. My speed was my highest stat; I would have to remember that and make use of it.

"Are you done gawking at your AVATAR? Don't you want to see mine?" Lavender persisted, leaning closer, this girl was getting more confident...

"Ya, if you want to show me! I'm excited to see how you improved!"

"Well... We are friends now, and in a party so I can show you," Lavender pulled back and turned away from me, showing her shyness right after confidence.

With her arm extended, Lavender closed her right hand and then stuck out her pinky. I put my hand over the top of hers like I had seen Miss Grace do. Lavender pulled away for a split second when our hands touched, but then relaxed and Her AVATAR popped up. The interaction made my ears burn as I looked at her new stats.

LEVEL: 9

HP: 70/80

MANA: 1/220

NAME: Lavender

AGE: 15

CLASS: Mage

STATUS: Hungry

WEALTH: Incredibly Rich

HOME: Huntington Manor

STRENGTH: 4

CONSTITUTION: 7 (+35)

COMBAT: 12

SPEED: 7

INTELLIGENCE: 14

MANA: 35 (+175)

???:

???:

ABILITIES

PASSIVE SKILLS

FLAMESHIELD+: A burning aura surrounds you, giving offense and defense. HOSTILE CREATURES within 15 feet take 1 FIRE DAMAGE per/5 seconds. Reduce all incoming physical damage by 1.

MAGICAL SPELLS

FIREBOLT+: Release a medium fiery projectile at a target within 35 feet of you. This Spell consumes 10 MANA per/use.

"Wow, you have so much mana, no wonder you kept firing at the monster, but seeing your mana is at one means you passed out due to some kind of mana exhaustion."

"Your right! You can't use it all up, or you will go night night, and you don't want that in a fight," Trina chimed in.

"Yes, I pushed too hard, but now we are both stronger. Do you know how long it takes me to level normally? It was almost a year of small quests to get two levels. But with you, we both got three in one go."

Lavender paused there and leaned forward. Before I knew what happened, she kissed me. It wasn't long or quick, but our lips connected and all the things of my past life left me. The short connection caused sparks to light my nerves in a way that made me understand what caring felt like.

Lavender pulled away and turned her head. A blushed burned her cheeks, but it wasn't like before. There was a long pause before she spoke. Somehow I knew it was better to wait for her to speak.

"I just wanted to thank you somehow, you have helped me, and I keep being mean and unreasonable with you. So, I hope we can start over again as friends, and I would like to stay in your party. I want to get stronger and grow older, and I hope we can help each other."

I was speechless; words failed me as all my thoughts became ineffable. I tried even to make a sound, but I was so lost in Lavender's eyes and the kiss we had just shared. Suddenly, my hackles rose with the feeling of being watched very closely came over me.

The sounds of a very feminine throat clear came from the direction of the door. As I turned my head, I could see Miss Grace standing in the doorway. Her brow pinched, and her arms crossed, she didn't look happy.

"What do you think you're doing with my daughter?!"