AnimaNova.exe (Arc1:Chp3)

Arc 1

Chapter 3 - A Buff Cleric

“She speaks!” Armin responded dryly. “I agree. You’re weak and currently useless to me.”

She reached again for the instruction, and Armin allowed her to take it. She could feel him watching her curiously as she turned the book in her hands. It most definitely was a Cleric’s Divine Tome – parchment paper bound in a white leather cover with gold trim.  The ornate symbol of a sun cross, Arda’s sun cross, etched into the cover shimmered with the golden hue of radiant magic.

She opened the tome to the first page and golden script emerged before her very eyes, glimmering in the sparse light.

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺_____________________________________________________________༻𓆪 ⎠꧂

Outworlder Identification

Name: Arinya Feline Clawsome

Sex: Female

*

Race: Silvestra

Variant: Felis

Description: Wily and playful, these are hybrid

humans with fox, cat, wolf or rabbit-like features,

such as their tails, ears and parts of their arms

or legs.

Felis has the keenest eyesight and hearing, but

it comes second in terms of leaping and speed.

*

Class: Healer

Description: Healers are the bridge between life and

death. They can either usher opponents closer to death

or pull allies closer to life. This relationship gives them

a unique perspective from both the Mortal and the

Spirit Realms. They call upon spirits from the beyond

to support and mend allies or harm enemies. They

have the highest health recovery speed of all the

classes.

Specialisation: Cleric

Description: Clerics are masters of radiant damage

and healing. They harness the purity of the spirits

around them to combat corruption in all forms while

increasing the survivability of both themselves and

their allies.

꧁⎠ 𓆩༺_____________________________________________________________༻𓆪 ⎝꧂

She turned the page to a very short, glimmering section about her spells. Her brows creased in alarm.

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺_____________________________________________________________༻𓆪 ⎠꧂

Acquired Abilities

Feline Polymorph

Description: Morph into your cat form.

Status: Cognitive Block

---

Acquired Spells

Spirit Fire

Invocation: Ignis Animi

Description:  Shoot balls of spirit magic from

your weapon and deal a small amount of rapid,

radiant damage. Any allies it passes through

may be healed.

Status: Magical Block

꧁⎠ 𓆩༺_____________________________________________________________༻𓆪 ⎝꧂

The rest of the tome was empty – no HP or XP bars, no stats, no maps, and no journal entries. No options. No settings. No Log Out and Exit! Nothing, beyond the book itself, indicated that this was the actual Novus Animus game.

Most of the information was correct. She created Arinya Feline Clawsome as Silvestra – a popular racial choice among the community. More interesting than being plain human, different from an elf but a safer choice than going full anthropomorph.

Polymorph was a racial ability unique to Silvestra. The animal your character morphed into depended on the variant choice of the race. That it was unavailable to use right off the bat was unusual, though. In the game, it was common to see a polymorphed Silvestra player racing about in the tutorial to get through it faster.

‘Was it because of the collar?’ she wondered.

The only information that wasn’t accurate was her class, class specialisation and its corresponding spell. Arinya was not just her main character; she was her first one. The one Sophia could play the Novus Animus game with, solo. She had picked a class that was easy enough to play with. One that had the best survivability for a story-focused playthrough. Healer for a first-time solo run wasn’t ideal for that playstyle.

In terms of healing power, it was unmatched, but it had poor DPS and the least survivability of all the classes. Great to have in a team with a meat shield but an unnecessary aggravation to play alone.

What’s more, the class spell was wrong for a level one starter spell. The default for all healers was Spirit Flame, a weaker version. It only upgraded to Spirit Fire at level four when the player chose Cleric as their class specialisation.

‘Was I currently level four?’ No, she’d at least have four other spells listed if that were the case. ‘Were there even levels here?’ she wondered. The game wasn’t following its own mechanics.

‘Why on earth would I have transmigrated into a game as a class I’ve never played? If this even is a game,’ she thought, realising she was going to be on the struggle bus until she figured out what was going on. Unless she lucked out again and found a party that knew what in the world was going on.

“Are you done? It’s only a Divine Tome with your information and spells. It’s not going to give you the answers to our universe,” Armin sighed impatiently.

‘What did that mean?’ she thought before asking him aloud, “What do you want?”

“Healing, obviously,” he bit out impatiently. “But it seems I’ll have to wait until you’ve acquired better spells.”

He took her upper arm and she stiffened, digging her heels in as she glared at him suspiciously. Familiar game character or not, he was still a stranger. There was no way she was allowing him to drag her off somewhere without a fight.

“Gen’varel is a healer. He can help you. Leave me alone,” she argued as she tried to twist his hand off her arm.

The High Priest brightened at the suggestion and the look he gave Armin held such a puppy-dog level of hope.

Armin, on the other hand, shivered in disgust.

“You’re jesting, right? The only twisted healing a Necromancer is capable of is mending corpses, and I don’t plan on becoming one anytime soon. Quit fighting me!” Armin gritted out in annoyance. Then he paused and straightened. His face and tone became a bit softer. “I need you alive and well. You will not be harmed unless you do something foolish.”

‘How much trust should I put in the word of a fictional character in a game? Especially one that is barely holding to what’s left of his honour and has suspect connections?’ Sophia squinted at him.

There was something else bothering her. Not only were the game mechanics wonky, but the story’s narrative had also gone off the rails. Armin never greeted the player at the start of the game. Gen’varel and his cult did. Sure, he was around, having hushed discussions with the Order that the player could eavesdrop on, but he was indifferent to the player’s existence. And he certainly never needed a healer.

Although if the game decided to follow its narrative path, and this tutorial inevitably ended, it would probably be best to get her bearings and prepare for it, instead of trying to hide in her corner. She would need her adventurous spirit far more now than she did in real life.

Sophia relaxed her body, no longer resisting his tug. He nodded to Gen’varel, who filed out first with his cultists. The further the necromancer moved away, the more Sophia realised how much energy her body used to remain standing under the effect of his aura. She groaned as her legs buckled dangerously from both relief and weakness.

Armin's grip tightened painfully on her arm, not from any ill intent but in an effort to keep her standing. He dug into a small satchel at his side with his free hand, pulling out a dry ration and shoving it impatiently into her hands.

“Eat it. It will help. Your day will not get any easier without it.”

The pasty-looking bar didn’t look particularly appetising, but as she drew it closer to her face to inspect it, she smelled the faint scent of oats and honey. Her stomach grumbled in response, in total disagreement with her initial assessment.

She practically inhaled the bar. So ravenous was she that she barely remembered biting and chewing at all. It was tastier than she thought it would be. The honey was so sweet that it was almost a painful sting in the back of her mouth. But it had the desired effect. The blood in her veins pumped with newfound vigour, and strength returned to her legs. The sluggish drag on her body and fog in her mind disappeared. She felt refreshed, renewed, rooted – completely in tune with her body.

‘Yup, food buffs are a thing.’

...

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