Elodie found herself blinking her eyes open, kneeling on the hard stone floor of the cathedral once again. ‘Goodbye?’ That’s all she got after all that buildup? It’s a good thing that now that she had Awakened she could actually access The System finally. She could always feel it at the edge of her consciousness before. Now she’d get to actually interact with it.

  [Status] she thought.

  ***

  Race: Human

  Css: Padin of Lust – Lvl 1 – 0%

  Skills:

  [Harvest of Lust-Maxed] – Extract lustful energy from lewd acts. Energy can be expended through [Empower] and [Progress].

  [Empower-1] – Use lustful energy to increase the power of attacks (1.5x) for one minute. Can target yourself or an ally.

  [Progress-Maxed] – Advance the progression of a skill using lustful energy.

  [Lustful Aura-1] – An aura that increases your attractiveness and persuasiveness. Can only effect those that are already attracted to you.

  [Arms of Kanaloa-1] – (1) eldritch tentacle that can help you in combat.

  ***

  Well, that was not what she was expecting. She reread over her skills. She could see where the Architect had been coming from. A skill that advanced other skills or could be used to strengthen attacks by her or her party members. That was almost cheating it felt like.

  Yes, two of her starting skills were already maxed out, meaning they wouldn’t become more efficient or powerful was a bit limiting, but being able to cheat cheating must have been a step too far for her benefactor.

  Who even was the god or goddess that had taken an interest in her? There were no actual gods of lust specifically. At least that she was aware of. She’d be the first to admit that her grasp of the holy was limited at best. She’d never been all that interested in the gods before. She might need to change that.

  Elodie shook off her confusion and apprehension about her new css. It was time for her family and friends to celebrate her Awakening. She couldn’t keep them waiting. The others were already beginning to head toward the doors of the cathedral. No one needed to know the specifics of what css she had. Just that she was a padin should be enough for most of them.

  Elodie rocked up onto her feet. Wow, she could already feel some of the difference between an awakened and unawakened person. Her movements, were already very fluid and smooth from her years of martial training. Now it was like being on an entirely different level. She was graceful and banced in a way that went beyond what was natural. She was like a panther prowling the jungle.

  She made her way through the open doors of the church. Outside was a crowd of people. She easily picked out her father. He stood almost head and shoulders above everyone else. She got her own height from him considering her mother barely came up to his chest, and Elodie was over a head taller than her as well.

  He was also the only person that she’d ever met with dark mauve hair. Some kind of encounter in the dungeon had left him with permanently changed hair. He’d also unknowingly passed it on to Elodie, though hers was lighter, more of a lic. It made them both stand out and gathered attention and odd looks her whole life.

  Elodie quickly made her way down the steps and was crushed into a hug by her father. He picked her up and spun her around in his excitement. It was fun, he was the only person she knew that could still do that with her.

  “Oh, my beautiful girl, what did you get?” He asked excitedly.

  “Give her a moment to breathe you big oaf,” her mom elbowed him in the side. She turned her attention on Elodie, “How did it go, dear?”

  “It went fine,” Elodie answered. “I of course got a fighter css. Well, sort of. Maybe more of a tank css depending on how I use it.” Her dad was nodding eagerly. “I got padin.”

  “That’s great, honey. I mean that’s also more of a mixed fighter-caster css, and you’ve never been that fond of casting. Why’d you pick that?” He asked

  “You can’t ask her that!” Her mom elbowed him in the gut this time. It knocked the breath out of him. Her elbows were wickedly, unnaturally sharp when she used them as a weapon.

  “I…I just…”

  “No, it’s fucking rude you lump head.” She gred at Elodie’s dad until her seemed to hunch into himself. She turned back to Elodie, “Padin is an amazing css, honey. I know you’ll be wonderful at it.” She went in for a hug with Elodie. A much gentler hug than Elodie’s father’s.

  As a unit they headed back to the outskirts of Havensfeld. The rest of the people, including all her friends, would be camped out there waiting for her return. They passed quickly through the gates and marched around the wall of Havensfeld until they came across their camp. A party was already in swing by the time they got there. Elodie spent some time dancing and drinking with everyone, celebrating her Awakening and new css.

  There were a few confused stares when they found out she was a padin. Everyone knew of her disdain for casting. She could do it as well as the average unawakened person, but she’d purposefully stayed away from it when training for her css. She’d only admit to herself in the darkest nights with no one around that part of the problem stemmed from her ex-girlfriend who had been training exclusively to be a caster.

  After a while Elodie found herself slipping away from the bonfire and ducking into her tent. Her best friend, Lex was already bedded down inside. She was probably one of the least social people that Elodie knew. They were complete opposites of each other. Where Elodie was tall and broad, muscles flexing and bulging with every movement, Lex was short, plump, and very curvy. Where Elodie had trained basically her entire life to become a delver, Lex’s greatest ambition had been answered when she received a baker css from her Awakening. But somehow they just fit together. They’d been best friends since they were little.

  “Ok, so tell me what happened? Because I know you wouldn’t normally pick something like padin,” Lex asked as soon as Elodie id down on her bedroll.

  Elodie let out a deep sigh. Lex was possibly the only person she had that she could actually share this with and she wouldn’t be judged or beled. The kind hearted Lex wasn’t like that with anyone, but especially not with her. She really did want to share this with someone, it felt like an anchor holding her down, keeping her from fully enjoying the celebration around her.

  So, Elodie told her what happened. She told her about the three choices she’d received, about feeling like something was missing, about the Architect’s surprise fourth choice. Lex was quiet throughout the entire thing. She let Elodie unburden herself and didn’t interrupt or make accusations. When Elodie got to the point of telling her about her css and some of her skills though, Lex burst out ughing.

  “Of course you’d receive a pervy css. You act like a thirteen year old boy anytime there’s a pretty girl around,” Lex teased.

  Elodie sputtered. “I…I do not.” She felt her face turning red. Lex just raised her brow. “Look, I just appreciate a beautiful woman. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “What about—”

  “Nope!” Elodie reached over and covered Lex’s mouth. It didn’t matter what example she pulled out, Elodie knew that Lex was right. She didn’t have to rub it in though. Lex just giggled under her palm. “Fine. Maybe I’m a little…enthusiastic in my appreciation of beautiful women. That doesn’t mean I deserve some weird, pervy css.”

  “It does sound like it could be pretty powerful though. At least in the short term. There’s still an upper limit to everything though. It’s not like you can just keep growing stronger forever.” Lexi y back down, her head resting on her arm as she watched Elodie.

  “True, but not everyone ever reaches their upper limit. Most non-delvers never make it past like level three skills. And plenty of delvers never make it past level five with their skills. Especially as they level up and start gaining more skills, unless they specialize in one niche thing.” Elodie argued.

  “Have you decided which dungeon guild you’re going to start at?” Lex changed the topic.

  “Yeah, I’m going to go to the dungeon in Demonia. It’s small and low-level enough that I should be ok to start with. And I’ve heard good things about the guild there.” Elodie looked away, unable to meet Lex’s eyes.

  “And it has nothing to do with the fact that Ashley headed there st month?” Lex asked, that brow once again raised. A smirk pyed across her lips.

  “What? N-no.” Elodie sputtered. “I mean, she’d going there too huh? I didn’t know that.”

  “Cut the crap, El. You’ve had a crush on that girl since, like forever. You never even managed to speak to her when she was living in the vilge and was like the only other queer girl around.” Elodie’s head hung at Lex’s berating. “What makes you think you’ll be able to string together two words in front of her suddenly now?”

  Elodie flopped over on her back. “I know.” A deep sigh. “I don’t know why, but I feel like this is my chance. Maybe I can join her party or something.”

  Lex reached across the gap between their bedrolls to y a hand on Elodie’s shoulder. “Girl. Ashley isn’t going to have an opening on her party. She’s probably been able to pick and choose who she delves the dungeon with. She’s always been an amazing caster, and her css will only make her stronger. Make more people want to work with her.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be my friend. Why are you being so mean to me?” Elodie whined.

  “Oh, sorry. I mean, of course she’ll want to delve with you. She’s probably waiting for you right now.” Lex paused a moment, “And then she’ll throw herself at your feet and pledge her undying love.” Lex cackled as she rolled away from Elodie’s halfhearted swat.

  “Asshole. I hate you.” Elodie pretended to pout.

  They talked for a while, Lex teasing Elodie mercilessly. Eventually the te hour caught up to them though and they turned over to get some sleep.

  “I’m going to miss you, you dumb muscle head.” Lex said with a yawn.

  “I know. I’m going to miss you too. Promise to write?”

  “Of course. And I’m invited to your and Ashley’s wedding right?” Lex couldn’t help but get one more dig in.

  Elodie flipped her off, “Ha ha. Goodnight. Love you…asshole.”

  “Love you too, meathead.”

  Elodie listened to Lex’s breathing even out. So much was about to change for her, and she was almost too excited to fall asleep. Almost.