Red X Wolf ~ One

Lily Red’s breath created small clouds of quickly evaporating moisture in the crisp forest air—the only sign she left in the forest while making her way through the underbrush of the Wyld. She was comfortable here, perhaps even more than when she was at home. Certainly, she was more at ease here than when she was in the Heart of the Wyld, the only true city her people claimed on the island of Canu Moch.

Slinking softly across the mossy surface of the forest floor, Lily was forced to slow down as the ground became soft, as if the ground was trying to trick her into leaving behind footprints. There was no time for mistakes—not today. If she managed to return home carrying all three of her prizes, not leaving a single trace which could implicate her, Grandmother had promised a special present. 

Today was her eighteenth birthday, not only a significant milestone for any youngster, but a literally magical moment just waiting to happen.

Lily let out a light, slow breath to try and regulate her heartbeat. Deciding it was finally time to take a pause, she quickly inspected the three items she’d acquired, starting with the trophy fish she’d taken this very morning from the lazy people who lived along the coast, only a scant few hours through the forest from her own home. 

“I don't understand why we even bother interacting with the Coastals. They have no respect for… well, anything. Every day, they have a competition to see who can bring home the most impressive fish, but then they handled it so carelessly that they didn’t even notice I had taken it?”

As far as Lily could tell, not a single person who lived in the Coastal city-state worked to develop their skills, to advance their class, or had any ambition at all, beyond simply finding the most pleasurable way to move through life. Rolling her eyes, she amended her thought. “Pshh. More like coast through life. By the system, even their nation's name is lazy. ‘We live on the coast? Let's call ourselves Coastals’.”

Pulling on the line, she brought the fish up and inspected it with slight disgust. “Were they really going to eat this after basically just… just hacking it apart? They ruptured the internal organs, there's scales embedded deeply inside of it, bones were shattered and mixed into the meat… what a waste. Maybe a third of the poor creature will end up being edible. That is, without having to pick something out of my teeth.”

To be fair, even a third of the fish was going to end up being several pounds of meat more than she could eat in a day. It was just that enormous, typical of the creatures along their coastline. Letting go of the line, she pulled a face as the fish flopped and almost pulled her off balance. Even hooked on the upper end of her backpack, the lengthy body still nearly touched the ground as she crept along.

Pursing her lips in annoyance, Red was once again reminded of why she was so very devoted to increasing her current skills and pursuing the class her grandmother had been training her for since she was a child. Standing at four feet and eleven inches tall as an adult, she was at the minimum a foot shorter than the next shortest resident on the island. “That won't matter when I'm officially a Scout. No one’ll give my height a second thought; my skills being top-notch is all anyone will care about.” 

Her lack of vertical growth had been a source of constant annoyance her entire life, earning nicknames she despised, such as Lil’ Red—admittedly not terrible, as she could pretend they were shortening her first name, Lily. ‘Little Red’ was what her Grandmother called her, which was fine coming from her. Lastly, the worst people in the Wyld had come up with the most infuriating–

“Bah!” Physically shaking her thoughts off with a full-body shiver, Lily forcefully pulled her thoughts away. She refused to let herself be sucked into a spiral of annoyance. Not today. Not on her birthday. Still, as her mind was on those living in the city-state of the Wyld, Lily found herself looking at her second trophy: a rare type of rabbit which lived deep in the woods of the Wyld.

It had been difficult to hunt, as they only emerged from their burrows before dawn, and their ears were so sensitive that it was nearly impossible to catch one unaware—especially without a Full Class with corresponding skills. She’d managed to take this one just as it fully surfaced, having sent an arrow up in a long, parabolic arc as soon as the tips of its ears emerged.

Lily had made the arrow herself, specially designed to be as silent as possible during its flight. Knowing this task was coming, she’d prepared five owl-feather fletched projectiles and was delighted she’d only needed one. Inspecting her handiwork with a critical eye, she finally allowed herself a minute smile as she looked over the careful skinning and dressing she had done, before wrapping it in leaves and hanging it from her small Scout’s backpack. Technically, she hadn't earned the right to carry such an item yet—as she didn’t have the corresponding class—but her grandmother being the best trainer on the island afforded her some liberties. 

She dropped her hands to her sides, accidentally creating her first audible noise of the day as her knuckles came down on the metal helm she’d taken from one of the roving guards of Bleakrock nearly a week prior. Her fingers trailed lightly over the intricate metal work, and her mood slowly began to lift. While it had been challenging to find a way to take the trophy from someone standing on a wall over forty feet above her, it had been a good kind of challenge. 

Eyes unfocusing slightly, she thought back over the heist.

At one point, the city-state of Bleakrock had been a towering mountain, but the people living there had begun their nation by hollowing out the mountain, then slowly mining the rest of it. Both the residents of the city-states ‘Coastal’ and ‘Wyld’ separately agreed there was likely now an enormous pit behind the unbroken walls surrounding the exact center of Canu Moch, yet there was no way to confirm this rumor. Bleakrock had cleared a wide swath of land around their territory, presumably making it impossible to approach without being noticed, and they never allowed visitors. 

Anyone who entered their walls was never heard from again.

For Red, this had made it all the more satisfying to sneak close to the walls more than fifty miles north of her home, her bright red hair pulled into a tight ponytail, piercing green eyes focused on her target… then going completely unnoticed as she lay still for several hours. She’d remained there until, just after the sun reached the midpoint of the sky, one of the guards had broken their protocol and removed their helmet, setting it on the wall to wipe away sweat accumulating on their brow. 

Going from unmoving to flashing into motion was one of Lily's specialties, and an arrow with a grapnel attached to it had sunk through the eye socket, only to be reeled in to deposit the helmet in her hands. 

The best part? The guard had clearly and vocally assumed a bird had knocked his helmet out of his hands and was furious it had taken it over the wall. Then, even with him peering down trying to find where it had fallen, she had slipped back into the woods without a single person laying eyes on her. It had gone… perfectly.

While she wanted to take all of the credit for such a successful hunt, her Basic and Advanced Class skills had most definitely come into play. Red's left eyebrow twitched upward as the thought ran through her mind, and she allowed a real smile as she softly chuckled at herself. “What am I even thinking? I worked hard for those skills, and I’ve been training to maximize how well I've used them since I was ten. No matter what anyone else says, I shouldn't minimize my successes just because I have fantastic skills.”

Putting the index and middle fingers of her right hand together, she swiped them down her left arm, nearly from the shoulder to the palm. Combined with her intention to do so, the action caused golden words to begin temporarily scrawling across her skin—which she was intimately familiar with at this point, as they’d first appeared on her tenth birthday.

Basic Class: Prodigy Pathfinder 

Basic Skill: Wilderness Whisperer: Level 10/10. 

You have a [Perfect] innate understanding of the environment around you, allowing you to move across most types of landscape with [Perfect] grace and silence, and you can read natural signs and tracks with [Perfect] accuracy. 

Advanced skill: Natural Huntress: Level 10/10. 

Having spent more than 95% of your life in a forest, you have slowly become one with it. In a forest environment, your senses are able to be [Perfectly] enhanced, you may now sense the presence of animals and trespassers with [Perfect] precision, even at great distances or through dense foliage. Your movements become an extension of the forest, allowing you to set up [Perfect] tracking mechanisms and ambushes which are [Perfectly] impossible to detect.

Breakthrough Skill: Permanently locked. You did not unlock this skill before accepting an Advanced Class. 

As she read along, the words vanished, only to be replaced with the next set of information. Her eyes lingered on the Breakthrough Skill, wondering—not for the first nor the last time—what she could’ve unlocked if she’d managed to achieve perfection in her Advanced Skill before she turned fourteen and unlocked her advanced class. She had been assured over and over that it was the correct decision, as she could’ve been trying for nearly a decade to unlock the third skill in her Basic Class. Still… she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

“I already have a Basic Skill with three modifiers and an Advanced Skill with four. I need to stop being greedy.” Her eyes traveled back along her arm, taking in the information on the Advanced Class she’d unlocked at fourteen.

Advanced Class: Flower of the Forest 

Basic Skill: Wyld Rose: Level 10/10. 

Having started your training at four years old, you already have a decade of experience utilizing the weaponry of the Wyld Scouts. Thanks to your voracious learning and constant practice, the system has decided to further enhance your capabilities. You have System-enhanced [Perfect] accuracy with bows and bow-type weapons. You have System-enhanced [Perfect] skill with knives when it comes to killing and butchering creatures you hunt. The use of live traps becomes an innate knowledge, and you may be struck with inspiration when attempting to use them. 

If targeting another person, the System enhancements will be reduced by half, leaving them as [Moderate] modifiers.

Advanced Skill: Roots and Thorns: Level 7/10. 

This is a passive ability which [Proficiently] enhances your awareness of dangers to yourself and those you are attempting to protect. You can [Proficiently] sense impending threats, whether from natural predators, enemy combatants, or environmental hazards. When fighting in rough terrain, your chosen weapons will [Proficiently] act as if they are unimpeded. 

Breakthrough Skill: Locked. Reach level 10 with your advanced skill to unlock!

“Not bad… better than most thirty-year-olds, if Grandma was to be believed. Forty-year-olds if we're talking about a Coasty.” Red shook her head and snorted at the thought. With her three prizes in hand, she once more began roving through the woods, until finally the familiar sight of Grandmother's house appeared through the foliage. 

The structure was made of wood, just as everything else in the Wyld was. Grandmother's house blended seamlessly with the surrounding forest, adding a layer of camouflage, as well as simply being a testament to the skills of the Scouts who came here for training.

Not only was this place important to Lily, it was important to the Wyld as well. Grandmother's house was built around a Class Shrine, necessitating year-round protections. While every person was welcome to access the small structure within the structure and increase their class, it was deadly important to keep out animals. 

The system was extremely level-handed; anyone who touched the shrine could enhance themselves based on their life experience, as well as the age of maturity for their race. This meant even something as simple as an adult squirrel scampering up onto the Class Shrine could end in disaster as the cute creature became a ferocious ascended beast, or a beast became a true monster.

Lily was proud of her grandmother, the only person on Canu Moch who was trusted to guard a Class Shrine on her own. It was a not-so-subtle reminder of how the person who’d trained her since she was a child was one of the most dangerous, fearsome, and deadly combatants on the entire island. She walked to the front door, pushing it open, only for an inviting aroma of fresh-baked bread mingled with the smoke from oak logs to wash over her.

“Welcome back, Lily.” Her grandmother’s voice reached her in the next moment, not a hint of surprise in her tone. “Right on time.”

“Master Scout. As directed, I’ve completed the three tasks assigned to me-”

Lily's words stopped abruptly as her grandmother looked up sharply and waved off the incoming information. “None of that, not today. I can clearly see you have completed your task. From this point forward, at least until tomorrow, I am only a proud grandmother. Happy birthday, my Little Red.”

Though she winced slightly, Lily knew Grandmother wasn’t teasing her. “Thank you. I hope I've reached the standard you've hoped for me.”

“Oh, pshh, you did that years ago.” Walking over with a plate of sliced bread, Grandmother traded Red for the fish and rabbit. “Now, it's almost time for dinner. I'll have the rabbit added to the stew, and the fish fried up as an appetizer in no time flat. While I’m doing that… I don't suppose you would like to unlock your Full Class?” Grandmother coyly stated as she threw open a door leading deeper into the house. A silver light immediately shone through the opening, half-filling the living space as well. “After all, no one has earned it more than you.”

Lily let out a sharp gasp, a single glance confirming this was no joke. With reverent steps, she walked to the center of the domicile, into a small room housing a diminutive plinth. “Heh… just my size.”

Legend stated that each of the Class Shrines appeared exactly the same across the world. The fact that it was impossible to alter, damage, or fully close off a shrine lent some small credence to the idea, though she had never seen one outside of the island and likely never would. 

Without further hesitation, she slapped her hand onto the plinth in the center of the room, and her mind was filled with the voice of the system.

Assessing… 

Age verification: 18 years. 0 months, 0 days. Conditions for Full Class advancement met.

Assessing skill use and level. Combined skill levels: 37. Determination: 96th percentile. 

Scanning brain waves to account for knowledge and desires in Full Class selection process. Requirements met for: 12 Full Classes. 

Comparing skill use and desires… 96th percentile of skills shows a subconscious desire to continue progressing. Waking brain is in alignment with subconscious. Determination made.

Full Class Unlocked!

Full Class: System's Scout

Basic Skill: System’s Whisper: 

Level 1/10. 

Requirement to advance to level 2: Travel across the entirety of Canu Moch—or a similar sized landmass—from coast to coast, without being seen by a single predator or human. You are not allowed to bring food or water. 

This is a composite skill which [Minimally] enhances your trained skills of navigation, stealth, camouflage, survivalism, archery, and environmental awareness. As you have already honed these personal abilities to an exceptional degree, system guidance will come into effect whenever you are outdoors. The guidance will manifest as a subtle glow [Minimally] highlighting any of the actions you are attempting, as well as flashing a warning when the actions are failing or when your attention needs to be drawn to a specific area.

“Wow.” She breathed out in awe as she looked over her new class and skill, wincing only slightly as she saw the difficulty and specificity of her advancement requirement. “That's… awesome.”

After sharing her class and skill with her grandmother, the Scout trainer’s eyes went distant and hard for a long moment. “I'm excited for you. This is a powerful, likely very rare skill which has been granted to you. It's absolutely a testament to your training and dedication that the system itself will be aiding you in your tasks. If it had noticed a glaring flaw in your abilities, you would likely have instead gained a skill which would have covered those weaknesses.”

The older lady went silent as she stirred chunks of rabbit meat into her stew, thinking through a few things. Red decided against interrupting her train of thought, as this was a fairly common occurrence. Eventually, Grandmother looked up and met her eyes. “You are going to have to use every single one of your enhancements to get through even the first skill upgrade, and you won't even know if you succeeded or failed until you reach the coast on the opposite side of the island. This will test your stealth and camouflage mastery to the limit.” 

The elderly woman paused and stirred, contemplating the stew. “No food or water allowed means you will need to practice your survivalist skills even harder… perhaps slaying a predator from a hidden vantage would count as you not being seen by them? Ha, just like that, you have a plan for getting protein on your journey!”

As excited as Lily was to begin improving herself once more, she forced herself to calm down and set the table. “We can start a new training regimen. Tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to spend my birthday with my grandmother.”

The hard eyes softened, and the pursed lips twisted into a doting smile. “For you, anything. Oh! I nearly forgot! A reward for completing your tasks, a gift from me.”

Placing a package on the table, the elderly Scout waved for Lily to tear it open. She did so, revealing a bright crimson hooded cloak, which would cover her from head to toe when worn and fully closed. Trailing her fingers over the material, Lily blinked in shock as she realized it was the softest material she had ever felt. A gentle tug revealed that the fabric was surprisingly resilient. Looking up in slight confusion, she met the smile of her protector and mentor with her personal confusion. 

“It’s enchanted,” Grandmother casually mentioned, earning a gasp from the new System's Scout. “No matter how filthy it gets, it will be easy to clean. It will never tear, and if it does get damaged, it will heal itself over time. As for the color…”

“Red?” Lily had been wondering about that. “In the forest?”

“Well, the fact of the matter is…” There was a victorious smile on the elder’s face now. “Out of all of the people I’ve trained, there's only one I have enough faith in to say ‘she can wear bright red in a forest and still be hidden better than anyone else’. That's you, my darling, in case you were wondering.”

Reaching out and caressing Lily's face to wipe away a single tear of joy, Grandmother warmly stated, “Happy birthday, my Little Red.”