Velasteros learned many things from Sarah. Even why telling others your skills could be bad! It turns out knowing your opponent's abilities was an extremely useful tool in a fight. It allowed one to plan and adapt around known variables.
While that kind of logic was obvious for many, and Velasteros had inherently understood to track what abilities the creatures it fought did, still, the explanation added to her knowledge. She learned to analytically look at fights rather than simply through instincts. Previously, Velasteros felt that she had done a good job relying less on her instincts, but in actuality, she was still basing a large number of actions on them.
Throughout their conversations, Sarah repeatedly referred to Velasteros as Valmyst, telling her she needed to get used to the name. Either way, it still felt weird. Velasteros never remembered anyone speaking a name to her to address her as, so it was a strange, weird feeling that she couldn’t quite explain.
Reading is fun… Keke… Velasteros lightly giggled.
Sarah had pulled out a few books, which were used as learning material, but before all that, Velasteros needed to see.
The world is quite amazing when seen through sight.
[Eyes Of Crystal] granted her the ability to see, and in the process, her orange eyes began to sparkle and, in Sarah’s words, ‘appeared to be made of crystals’.
Key point: they weren’t actually crystals; they just mostly appeared as if they were. The skill was set at level one, and it didn’t seem to have any desire to increase. The skill itself even felt different, and there was an instinctive feeling that it wouldn’t be increasing anytime soon.
Outside of granting her the ability to see, the skill didn’t appear to do anything else. There wasn’t even any feeling of what the skill could possibly do. Though Velasteros didn’t mind, being able to see was great! It allowed her to read after all.
Being able to properly see the forest and the flowers was also cool, she guessed. There was a lot more colour to the world now.
It took her a day to get used to her vision. Going from vibration, chemical senses, and poor vision to now human-level eyesight was a big change.
Velasteros didn’t actually know how her original ability to perceive the world around her actually worked. All she knew was that she could feel movement and sound through the air, could taste the world around her, and detect changes in light. However, she was really curious to learn how those original abilities of her race worked.
One of the books was a story book, but had many references to actual skills, which gave Velasteros thought to what her possible future available skills could be.
Skills: 6/6
[Crush] Lv7
[Barrier] Lv2
[Force Pull] Lv13
[Gravity Shift] Lv1
[Eyes Of Crystal] Lv1
[Reinforce] Lv1
[Reinforce] was the last skill she picked. Velasteros needed to add a final one to her list, and it felt to be the easiest option. Required the least thinking about the potential of the skill. [Reinforce] boosted either her own [Endurance] or powered up [Barrier], but out of the two options, she correctly guessed both outcomes, as it did both. [Barrier] had been lacking in levels due to using it less, so [Reinforce] felt to be a nice way to cover that level deficit.
No improvement with [Gravity Shift] made Velasteros think about removing it, but her options were limited, so she discarded such thoughts.
Another day is soon to be over…
Learning with Sarah wasn’t a couple-day affair. Velasteros couldn’t track time well initially, but Sarah explained what a week was and how one passed.
Asking questions about words, grammar rules, and the definition of things was a common event.
With each question answered, Velasteros felt a little smarter, and she didn’t even need to point in [Intelligence] to feel that way! Overall, it had been a great week, and Velasteros even levelled up during that period, and of course, she did the correct action and placed all points into [Intelligence].
Species: [Amethyst Jewelled Scorpion] [21/50]
Stats: [3→0]
[Intelligence] - 76→79
It was safe to say everything was going perfectly, or, as Velasteros recently learned, swimmingly.
“Let’s continue with ‘From Swamp to Sea’. We are most of the way through the book.” Sarah said as the book rested in her lap.
“Okay!” Velasteros scuttled to Sarah’s side so she could read the book. The book told the story of a young boy who wished to see the sea. Having been born in a large swamp, his life changed when a painting of the sea found its way to his home. So far, the main character had traversed many different places, made friends and had been betrayed. It hadn’t been long after that moment when they took their pause on the story.
It took the rest of the day, but once they were finished, Velasteros was clicking her claws and smiling with the happiest a scorpion could look.
There was a joy to reading that Velasteros could never have anticipated before actually experiencing it. Her mind, picturing the worlds on the pages, understanding the imagery and words, could only happen with a truly intelligent mind. The non-fiction books were equally great, as she stockpiled knowledge. Velasteros felt herself becoming brighter with each page, perhaps soon she could even surpass Sarah.
That might be a reach.
Her emotional high was quickly smashed down as slothful, lethargic emotions grabbed a hammer to break the tower that joy, excitement, and pride had been building.
“Sarah… Thank you for teaching me how to read.” It was strange. There were many words she was able to read instinctually, but their meaning was completely lost on her without Sarah’s teachings.
Sarah closed her eyes. “Well, I said you would need to do something for me as well.”
“...What about moving the pages of the books?” Velasteros asked. Perhaps it was silly to ask that at this instance, but it was part of the arrangement of their deal.
“Yes. I will help you solve that as well.” Sarah chuckled. "Be careful of human trickery in the future.”
The scorpion paused. “Pardon…?”
“You need to be careful. Humans, even without skills, can manipulate others to do their bidding, and in our case, you are locked into a contract to fulfil my end, and you don’t even know what I desire.”
Velasteros looked towards the book. “Just like Alex in the story…”
“Yes, just like that poor boy who never got the chance to see the sea.”
“Will I not be able to read a book by myself in the end?”
“Well, perhaps after much practice you could finally turn pages with your pincers, but let’s try a faster method.” Sarah pointed at Velasteros, then at herself. “Why don’t you just become a human?”
“...Is that possible?” Even Velasteros… The previous attempt with [Bipedalism Form] ended in disaster, and she hadn’t gained any new skills in her available skill list that would change that.
“Of course it is. It will require you to have a free skill slot if you don’t have one available, but it is plenty possible.” The dark smile on her face told Velasteros that there was a but to this situation.
“...What will it cost?” The scorpion worried if it was going to require a skill slot, lifespan, or status forbid her [Intelligence].
Sarah cheerfully smiled. “My life.”
Velasteros took a moment to process the words she heard.
“Can’t you leave?”
“No, I am going to die. Sooner or later.” Sarah lamented with a smile. “I’ve tried to hold out for so long, and trust me, I could keep living for another ten years.” Her white eyes contained no light. “But I still wouldn’t be able to move from this spot.”
Sarah said with a cold, mocking tone. “I can live, but I wouldn’t be alive. I am not a tree that is fine living like that. I am a human.”
…
“What did you want me to do?”
“Outside of the contract, maybe dragging this pathetic body of mine up a hill or mountain, I would like to see the proper sunrise again.”
“Why didn’t you ask that tree to help you with that?” Velasteros felt the tree would all be too happy to move Sarah away from its main body.
“I don’t trust trees. Always a shifty bunch.”
Come on, Velasteros… Ask about the contract already!
For some reason, the little shadow of fear was walking around her mind. It wasn’t doing anything, but everywhere it moved, its presence was known.
“What did you want me to do for the contract?”
“Just kill some people, nothing too hard,” Sarah replied. “It will take a number of years for you to reach the strength required, but I’m sure you can manage. You’ve got an important name to live up to.”
… Killing people didn’t sound hard. She would need to become stronger, but murdering a few humans was something she had done before in her past life.
Sarah noticed the scorpion silently agreeing and sighed. “You need to ask what people. Who. You can’t go into this stuff blind.”
Sarah began explaining the individuals she wanted the scorpion to kill. “Apricot Lilly, fancy mage chick from Eboney. Navas John, from nowhere. Henry Morrow from Chaselvall. They were in a group called HapsNDance. Use that as a tracker so you aren’t just attacking someone because they share the name.”
The moment Sarah finished with the names, the scorpions felt as if something had tied itself around her heart before the feeling vanished.
Sarah groaned as she pushed herself up. “Also, here is my warning. Your human form may look a little bit like me. Honestly, it's kind of up in the air on the resemblance front, but if you do look similar to me, just say you don’t know me.”
“I understand… I will look into those people and proceed with caution.”
“Good.” The white eyes blinked with relief. She never thought she would be the type of person to give up, but the idea of revenge held a greater weight than merely surviving unmoving for years.
“When… Did you want this to happen? A few months from now?” Velasteros asked, not understanding why she picked a time that far away.
“No, the sooner the better,” Sarah smirked. “We can even do it today.”