Non-Resident Alien: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Leveling Up

• 1 level up (Skills and Abilities Unlocked)

• 1 level up

• 1 level up

Over the past hour, Dani had killed about two dozen monsters and was close to leveling up for the fourth time. There was no EXP bar on her status screen or anything like that. It was just something she knew. There was this feeling of fullness she got whenever she was getting close to her next level. It was different from the feeling of eating too much. She felt like something within her was expanding, becoming more tangible, but she had no clue what that could be. It was an uncomfortable feeling. 

“One more… maybe two,” Dani commented aloud. 

Sol dutifully collected another eyelet, but the strain of the act was starting to show. It was taking her just a little bit longer to capture them each time. Some of the beasts even managed to slip away before Sol could to trap them and she would be forced to change her target. 

“We’ll have to move on after this one.” Sol said and tilted her head in the direction of a nearby building. “I need a break.”

Dani couldn’t agree more. Sol was relentless as a drill instructor when it came to teaching her how to use her daggers. So far her performance had been… a little underwhelming. Dani’s aim was good, but she still hit with the hilt or side of the blade at least half the time. She was getting better, but making progress was slow and exhausting work. The only thing that noticeably improved was her speed, but that was simply because leveling increased her agility stat. A break sounded nice.

An ear piercing screech brought Dani back to the present moment. Sol had released the eyelet and just like all the ones that came before it, the monster blindly charged at Dani’s face. 

They love to go for the face.

The beast was too close for an accurate throw, so she set her stance and adjusted her grip on her weapons. Once the monster was within reach, Dani slashed upward into the space the creature occupied. The motion was smooth and she struck with brutal efficiency, nearly bisecting the winged creature. It helped that eyelets seemed to always attack in the same predictable manner. Sol had shown her how to take advantage of that predictably. She had also cautioned against relying on such things too heavily with some grave warning about overconfidence getting people killed. Dani understood the sentiment, but she could worry about that sort of thing later. Right now she felt like pretty much anything could be lethal and she didn’t feel like adding more worries to her already very long list.

• 1 level up

The mangled body of the beast landed at her feet with a wet slap. Droplets of blood splattered against her shoes and the hem of her jeans. She was pretty much covered in the stuff at this point. A few more drops didn’t make much of a difference, but it still grossed her out. She felt sticky and didn’t even want to think about how bad she must smell. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Sol said, interrupting Dani just as she was considering taking a discreet sniff. The other woman was standing with her back to Dani, facing the wall of the icy dome. Their fight had attracted more and more of the winged monsters as time went on. There was a veritable swarm on the other side of the ice.

“There must be hundreds of them.” Dani stated in something akin to awe and moved to stand next to Sol. “How the hell are we going to get out of here?”

The Suva rolled her shoulders and gestured for Dani to step back. She did so without hesitation, not wanting to get in the other woman’s way.

“Stay as close as you can and run when I tell you to run,” Sol’s tone was serious as she looked back to meet Dani’s eyes. 

The woman’s blue orbs were imploring and, for the first time, there appeared to be a hint of worry in them. A lump formed in Dani’s throat making it difficult to speak. She could only bob her head up and down in muted agreement. Sol sighed and turned away. As she did so the dome of ice shattered and broken shards flew out in every direction decimating the swarm of monsters that had surrounded the barrier. 

“Run! Now!” Sol shouted and moved to cover Dani as they both ran for the closest building.

Unfortunately, a number of the winged beasts managed to escape Sol’s initial onslaught and were now giving chase. The Suva did her best to hold them back with another barrage of ice shards, but there were too many. She couldn’t create ice fast enough to hit every single one. When one of the beasts inevitably managed to close the distance and reach the two women, Sol used her superior aura to pressure the lower ranked eyelet to the ground. 

Dani didn’t notice any of this. In fact, she was so focused on running for her life that she only realized she had reached her destination when her body physically collided with the metal door of the building.

“Ouch,” Dani yelped, rubbing at her sore nose as she tugged on the door handle. It didn’t budge. “Shit! It’s locked!”

Sol was there in an instant. She placed her hand on the handle just above where Dani’s rested and wrenched the door open with superhuman strength. The locks broke and bits of metal clattered to the concrete floor. Sol roughly shoved Dani through the opening and slammed it shut behind them. They stared at each other for a moment. They were both panting heavily and Sol was still holding the handle of the broken door to keep it closed. Dani could hear the monsters on the other side screeching and slamming into the building with their bodies. It was horrifying. Swallowing her fear, she took the opportunity to look around. 

They were standing at the bottom of an empty stairwell. There was a door leading to what Dani assumed was the ground floor of the building as well as stairs leading up. A mop and bucket sat in the corner under the stairs. Seeing the mop gave Dani an idea. She quickly grabbed it and walked back over to Sol.

“Do you think this would hold them?” Dani asked, gesturing first to the shaft of the mop and then to the handle of the door. It was a bar handle and the door opened outward. Shoving the shaft of the mop through the handle would prevent the door from opening, but Dani had no clue if a wooden mop was enough to keep monsters out. 

“Good enough,” Sol replied with a shrug before taking the offered mop and sliding it through the handle of the door. 

Her flippant words didn’t instill Dani with much confidence, but the door remained shut despite the incessant knocking of the beasts outside. Sol stepped back and they waited for a moment to see if the mop would continue to hold. When no monsters broke through they exited the stairwell and entered a pristine hallway with polished marble floors. Doors of a deep mahogany lined both sides of the wide hall. They were evenly spaced and each had their own individual numbers cast from metal and set into the wall beside them. Several groups of people crowded the space, engrossed in their own conversations. Some were sitting on the floor while others leaned against the walls. Dani and Sol’s presence initially went unnoticed, but the slam of the stairwell door behind them quickly drew the gazes of those nearby. 

“Jesus, are you okay?” 

Dani turned to see a young man around her age, early twenties, get up from where he’d been sitting with a group against the wall. His sandy blond hair fell into his eyes as he did so and he shook his head to clear his vision.

“You’re covered in blood. Are you injured?” He asked as he approached, leaning in close to Dani and thoroughly looking her over. 

His deep brown eyes held only compassion and concern, but Dani still took a step back. She liked her personal space. Sol stepped forward and positioned herself between Dani and the young man. 

“She’s fine. It’s monster blood,” Sol stated very matter of factly.

“Oh?” The man’s gaze moved past Sol and down to a cut on Dani’s thigh made clearly visible by her torn up jeans. “It looks like one got a little payback,” he said with a sympathetic wince. “There’s a bathroom down the hall or maybe my group has something that could help get you cleaned up. Don’t want that to get infected.” 

He gestured to a nearby spot close to the wall where three people sat watching. They had clearly been playing a game of cards judging by the deck and discarded hands that lay between them. Dani appreciated the offer, but as soon as she heard the word bathroom her bladder had enthusiastically reminded her of exactly how long it had been since she’d last relieved herself.  

“I actually really do need to go to the bathroom,” she acknowledged and Sol looked back at her with an unsettled frown. Dani stepped up beside the other woman and took her hand. The two daggers she carried made doing so a bit challenging, but Dani was able to adjust by hooking a finger through the circular ring in the hilt of the weapons and carrying them both in the other hand. “Let’s go!” 

She didn’t want to let Sol out of her sight. Not even for the brief time it took to use the restroom. She had this feeling that Sol would disappear on her and she would never see the woman again. 

“Great, I’ll walk you.” The man’s enthusiastic voice cut in to remind Dani of his presence. “This way,” he said with a wave and took off down the hall. 

Dani shrugged and followed his lead with Sol trailing slightly behind. Her grip on the woman’s hand was possibly the only thing that ensured they stayed together. 

“I’m Jack by the way,” their impromptu guide stated and turned to smile at Dani, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. 

“Dani,” she replied. “And this is Sol,” She added, holding up the other woman’s hand for emphasis.

“Sol? That’s an interesting name.” Jack turned his attention to the silver haired woman. When she only stared back in response his eyes quickly returned to Dani. “Your friend doesn’t talk much, does she.”

“I talk enough,” came a nonchalant response from Sol.

“Riiight…” Jack said, drawing out the word. “Well here’s the bathroom.”

They had stopped at the end of the hall where two marked doors sat on either side. One was labeled men and the other was labeled women. It was clear the bathrooms would have been very easy to find even without Jack’s help and Dani briefly wondered why he had felt the need to lead them. 

“Thanks,” was all Dani said and she quickly pulled Sol into the woman’s bathroom, leaving Jack behind. 

She hadn’t really liked the way he’d talked about Sol, but Dani had to admit the woman had been a bit standoffish, possibly even downright rude. It was easy to forget she was actually from another planet. Who knew what kind of social customs Sol was used to. Dani made a mental note to ask her about her home world if the opportunity ever presented itself. However, at the moment she really had to pee. 

The bathroom they had entered was relatively large and had the same polished stone floors as the hallway outside. There were two stalls and thankfully they both appeared to be unoccupied.

“Be right back!” Dani called as she let go of Sol’s hand and rushed into the larger of the two stalls. 

“Take your time,” came a bemused reply.

Once she was finished with her business Dani was happy to find Sol waiting for her by the sinks. 

“Don’t you have to go?” She asked. 

Sol shook her head. Dani opened her mouth to ask more, but thoughts of Sol’s bathroom habits came to a screeching halt when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Jack hadn’t been lying when he’d said she was covered in blood. 

“Damn, it’s fucking everywhere,” she complained as she ran her fingers through her sticky locks. She caught Sol’s eyes on her in the mirror and gave the woman a self-deprecating smile. “You’d almost think I was a redhead,” she joked. 

Sol returned her smile and shook her head. “You’re exaggerating.”

Dani shrugged, she knew Sol was right so she didn’t argue the point. Regardless, she was barely able to recognize the person staring back at her in the mirror. Her forest green eyes stood out starkly against the red/brown color of the drying blood on her face. It had splattered across the bridge of her nose in such a way that it resembled some sort of war paint. She honestly looked pretty badass, but definitely needed to get cleaned up. Dani placed her stuff on the counter and pulled off her hoodie to reveal a black, short-sleeve, crop top that fit loosely around her chest. She’d always been long and skinny with a distinctive lack of curves. 

It was something she'd been insecure about in high school, but had since learned to love. Her tall frame made it easy to look good in almost anything, but she tended to lean towards a more alternative style with her tattoos and piercings. Dani sighed as she glanced at the abstract tattoo peeking out from under the left sleeve of her shirt. It ran from her elbow up to her shoulder blade. The same shoulder blade that had gotten slashed by the boar. Sol had healed the wound, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be a scar. She turned so she could see her back in the mirror and lifted up the left side of her shirt. 

The tattoo was of a hummingbird drinking from a bright blue flower. The hummingbird was black and composed of what resembled stylized streaks of paint splatter with swooping lines flowing into the stem of the flower. The flower itself was the only splash of color in the piece. It was a beautiful work of art that Dani had designed herself and now there was a scar running across the hummingbird's wings. It was only a thin white line, but it was still sad. Who knew if it was even possible to get a touch up with the way things were going, or how many more scars she’ll receive in the future. It was just sad. She let out another sigh, then quickly pulled her shirt back down as she remembered she wasn’t alone. Sol was leaning against the sink beside her and studying her face like one would a difficult puzzle. Dani blushed at the attention and cast her eyes down to the bowl of the sink in front of her.

“Sorry I was just checking something,” she said with a hint of embarrassment and turned on the water.

“I didn’t mean to stare,” Sol said with a smirk, “With all the sighing, it sounded like you might need some help.”

Dani’s blush intensified. The words were very reminiscent of something she’d said to the other woman shortly after they’d met. Sol was clearly messing with her. She dunked her head under the faucet in an attempt to cool her burning cheeks and avoid Sol’s gaze. The water turned pink as it flowed down the drain and she was momentarily thankful for the filth that covered her because it provided an excuse to hide. Dani leaned farther into the sink and scrubbed away at herself until the water that ran off turned completely clear. 

“How does this work without enchantments?” Sol asked, breaking the silence.

She was playing with the hot and cold settings of the faucet in front of her. She appeared completely enthralled with the knobs that turned the water off and on. Dani straightened as she watched Sol test various settings, but was forced to look away when water drizzled down from her very wet hair and into her eyes. She winced and brushed the shoulder length locks out of her face. When Dani opened her eyes she was once again greeted by Sol’s intense gaze. The other woman had likely been waiting for a response.

“It’s called indoor plumbing,” she said, stumbling nervously over her words. Sol had a habit of making her nervous. “Don’t ask me how it works. I’m not a plumber,” Dani laughed. 

Sol nodded, turned the water off, and leaned against the counter. Despite the woman’s relatively small stature her toned physique and icy gaze cut quite the intimidating figure.

“It’s probably about time I took care of that for you.” Sol said, her expression serious.

Dani frowned for a moment in confusion before she followed the silver haired woman’s eyes to the cut on her thigh. When Sol crouched down to get a better look, Dani couldn’t stop herself from protesting. It probably would get infected if left untreated. Still, it was a little embarrassing to see Sol kneeling on the floor in front of her.

“Just a moment,” she said, stopping the other woman long enough to allow Dani to hop up onto the countertop. “Okay.”

Sol just shook her head and stepped closer, placing a warm hand on Dani’s thigh. It was always surprising to her how warm Sol was considering the woman’s power was ice, but she couldn’t dwell on that mystery for long as an intense itching sensation began to radiate from her injury. The discomfort became so strong that Dani struggled not to squirm away from Sol’s healing touch. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Eventually the unbearable itch faded, but Sol didn’t immediately move away. Dani was about to make some dumb joke when the moment was broken by a loud knock at the door. 

“You two okay in there?” called Jack, his voice a bit muffled. 

Sol frowned and stepped back. “We need a few more minutes,” she replied, not bothering to hide her irritation.

“O… okay,” Jack said before adding a barely audible, “Jeez.”

As the man’s footsteps faded down the hall Sol turned her attention back to Dani, “I don’t like him.” Was all she said.

“Yeah I could tell,” Dani replied with a laugh. “What’s that about, anyway?”

“He just… there’s something off about his aura,” 

Dani’s eyes widened at that. She assumed the woman wasn’t referring to some made up nonsense like the auras those crazy, crystal ladies talked about. Dani wanted to ask what it was she was sensing. 

What even is an aura? She wondered.

“Have you gotten the chance to check your status?” Sol asked, changing the subject before Dani could voice her thoughts.

She shook her head. She’d almost forgotten. 

“Do it.” Sol said, her eyes had that same excited gleam they’d possessed during their earlier eyelet grind session.

Dani couldn’t help but laugh at such a direct request and she dutifully pulled up her status.

Name: Danielle Coleman (Dani)

Race: Human

Affiliation: Earth

Abilities: None (+ New Abilities Unlocked)

Class: Ranger (Tier 0, Lvl 4)

Stats:

Vitality: 12

Endurance: 10

Strength: 7

Agility: 11 > 15

Intelligence: 9

Spirit: 12

Perception: 10

Class Skill(s): None (+ New Skills Unlocked)

General Skill(s): None (+ New Skills Unlocked)

Free Stat Point(s): 8

Dani immediately placed three of her free points into Strength and one into intelligence to bring her lowest stats up to ten. Then she frowned at the realization that intelligence had been one of her lowest stats. 

Whatever, I'm sure nine isn’t too bad. I was doing pretty well in my classes.

With her self confidence restored, she dumped the remaining four points into agility because that particular stat seemed to be the most relevant to her continued survival. If she could avoid getting hit, then she wouldn’t have to worry about more scars or worse, dying. Once her selections were made, Dani hit the apply button at the bottom of the screen. A slight tingling sensation traveled the length of her body as the stat increase took effect. She watched her reflection in the mirror and was surprised to see an actual physical change to her body. It was a subtle difference. Her muscles appeared just the slightest bit more toned, and felt just the slightest bit denser. Unfortunately, she couldn’t really tell if her mind had improved in any way. She supposed one point probably wasn’t enough to make an immediate, noticeable difference. Maybe she should dump a few more points into intelligence next time to test it out. 

Who wouldn’t wanna be smarter.

With some effort Dani pushed thoughts of turning herself into a super genius aside and pulled up her ability screen. There were only five abilities to choose from and they all appeared useful even if the descriptions were a little lacking. 

Inventory:

• The user may now access the Inventory feature on their status screen. The size and amount of items that can be stored are determined by the user’s Endurance Stat.

Party: 

• The user may now access the Party feature on their status screen. The max number of people that can be added to a Party is determined by the user’s Perception Stat.

Map:

• The user may now access the Map and MiniMap features on their status screen. (No Stat Requirements)

Fast Travel:

• The user may now access the Fast Travel feature of the Map ability. The max distance and cool down time of a Fast Travel are determined by the user’s Spirit Stat. (Requires Map Ability)

Loot: 

• Monsters killed by the user or members of the user’s Party now have a chance of dropping valuable Loot. Item value and drop chance are determined by the user’s/party’s Perception Stat.

Dani honestly didn’t know what to choose. Inventory looked extremely useful but the Party and Loot abilities had such good synergy. Fast Travel sounded awesome as well but she would have to pick Map first if she wanted to use it so that one had to wait. 

Dani decided to check with Sol, “Have you chosen an ability yet?” She asked.

“I chose the Party ability. I know of a few similar alternatives to Inventory and the others seemed a little less useful for my current needs,” Sol replied with a casual shrug. 

Dani’s eyes widened. Sol chose the only ability that seemed to be more beneficial to the people around her than it would be to her and the description was so lacking. It was honestly hard to tell what the ability even did, but she’d chosen it anyway. Didn’t that mean she had Dani in mind? There wasn’t anyone else around.

“Then, I’ll choose Loot!” She proudly proclaimed, making her selection. 

Map or Inventory likely would’ve been smart choices, but if they formed a party, then Sol could benefit from the Loot ability as well. Who knew what kind of drops they would get. Maybe something life saving. Dollar signs started to go off behind Dani’s eyes, but she reeled herself back in. She still had a skill to choose after all. 

She was honestly excited to see what kinds of skills she’d unlocked. With a thought Dani pulled up the skill tab on her status screen. The list of available skills was much longer than she’d originally anticipated. It only took a few moments of perusing the different options for Dani to start feeling overwhelmed. The list was so long that it would likely take her the rest of the day to read through all the skills listed. Most of them wouldn’t be of any use in combat such as self cleaning skills or skills for properly preparing meat. It was a confusing mess. Thankfully, there was a search function because Dani didn’t feel like spending all day sifting through options that wouldn’t serve her. She experimented with some keywords and after a few minutes of searching she found four skills that she felt could work.

Phantom Blade: (Tier 0)

• The user summons a Phantom Blade to attack a target.

• Duration: 5 Seconds 

• Cooldown: 2 Minutes 

• Range: 5 Meters 

Blink Step: (Tier 0)

• The user moves a limited distance in the direction of their choosing near instantaneously.

• Duration: 1 Second

• Cooldown: 1 Minute

• Range: 3 Meters

Recall Weapon: (Tier 0)

• The user may summon any weapon bound by this skill back to their hand. 

• Binding Limit: 1 

• Cooldown: None

• Range: 5 Meters

Twin Impact: (Tier 0)

• The user’s ranged attack duplicates mid air to inflict additional damage to single or multiple targets.

• Activation Chance: 10%

• Additional Impacts: 1

Dani read over the skills multiple times. They were all useful, but it was the cooldowns and random chance that scared her. For at least her first skill she wanted something she could rely on and Recall Weapon seemed to really fit. The only thing that worried her a bit was the range. Five meters wasn’t anywhere near as far as she could throw, but it was definitely workable. Dani selected Recall Weapon as her first skill and made a mental note to keep the limited range in mind while she fought. 

“I’m beginning to wonder what device you’re keeping in that bag,” Sol said with a gesture to the backpack Dani had left on the counter. “The constant buzzing is a bit grating.”

Dani frowned at her backpack in confusion. “I don’t hear any...” she began, but trailed off when the faint vibrate of her phone reached her ears. “Oh shit! My phone!”

She scrambled to the counter as quickly as her newly increased agility would allow and unzipped her backpack in a rush. Dani’s fingers wrapped around the cold glass and metal of her smartphone. It was still vibrating and her mother’s contact was briefly displayed on the screen before the phone went still. She’d missed the call. Dani sighed as she scrolled past 19 other missed call notifications and over 40 worried text messages of increasing severity.

“I need to call my mom,” Dani said more to herself than to Sol. She tapped her mother’s number with her thumb. The ringing only lasted for a few seconds before she heard the click of the call connect.

“Oh thank God, Dani! We thought you were dead!”