Did You Even Read the Tutorial?

"Here's the thing, Elves are literally better with any other magic, but Fire. And if I'm assuming a low-level firebolt like yours was considered the strongest spell, then that explains why skeletons got you." I explain to her. Vaniti's ears twitch—she's listening.

"Here, I know that other eye might hurt, but it'll be a big step into being just a tad bit stronger." She slowly nods, not reluctant to do anything I told her at all.

She takes off the bandage, and her other eye, a bright green emerald, glistening. The other eyelid is shut…and there's no apparent scar.

 Maybe something genetic?

Her other eyelids blink, and in sync, both of her eyelids part. Awaken.

And there, I saw it.

The other eye in all of it's glory. Glassy, but matched the color of a pearl. White, almost. It wasn't like seeing her entire eyeball, no, no. Different.

Wait, is this…is this what I think she is…?

A damn Spirit Elf?!

And they had her using fucking Fire Magic?

Who sabotoged her damn build?!

No wonder why her magic felt so…so hollow. They just didn't abandon her, they broke her before she even started.

Her eyes widened, not out of shock. Then, squinted.

"R-Ryuuzen…? Are you there?" She outstretches her arms. I should've known, but I even doubted if the game mechanics are still present here.

Of course they are.

Spirit Elves are different from Elves—of course. Special eye, at the cost of their own damn eyesight. Which makes sense as to why Vaniti covered that eye, to at least gain some sight partially.

"I…I don't really know the reason behind this…but I trust you." She states. It felt practiced, repeated almost. How many times has she said this only to be backstabbed or worse?

Sounds like someone I know really well back in the day.

With my tail, it cuts deep into my cloak, and rips out a strand. The tearing sound alerted her, but since she's as blind as a bat, it won't do her much good.

"Here, have this." I offer. I walk behind her, not that she could tell other than a big black blur. I tied the cloth around her eyes gently.

Then waited.

Vaniti's hands reached for the cloth, rubbing it, and then looked around.

Before directly looking at me.

"W-woah…" Is all that leaves her mouth.

"Yeah, you can see better now, right?" I ask.

"So, on second thought. Let me try this again."

I raise my hand and wave, smiling greatly.

"I'm Ryuuzen. The dragon who saved you from skeletons, and maybe just gave you your eyesight back."

It's…weird, ironic and opposing. Spirit Elves only see more the less than they can see. Pitch black and almost need to be blind. There was a whole lot of lore reasons as to what happened and as to why they did those things.

She looks down at her hands, her clothes, as if it's the first time she's seen it in great detail. I don't blame her. I let her take it in. A moment like this might be scary, frightening, or both.

But, wow! An entire Spirit Elf! And they were making Vaniti use Fire Magic!

Argh! Vaniti, I have plenty…and I mean plenty, of build options for you. Hybrid Support, Glass Cannon DPS, Balanced Tank—there's a whole lot of archetypes for you out there! You will have to go and explore it yourself—

Wait.

Hold on. 

Wait.

What…what if…

What if I did it myself?

That would be cool, wouldn't it? Raising my own party member to be strong as hell! Thank the devs for adding more races in Ultimate, because in the base game, all we had were dragons. It wasn't until that version came out that we had access to more races, bringing in more player bases from other popular MMO's.

And since the entire damn netcode is crammed into my head at this point…I could…craft my own NPC!

No, she's more than an NPC. I think she's…living, breathing too.

Let me offer the idea first before I get ahead of myself.

"So, Vaniti. I see that people have wronged you, set you up for failure at every opportunity. That can all change with me. With me, I'll make you the strongest—no, the greatest elf to ever live. Think about it," I ask.

My tails sneaks in front of me, the tip of it, honed-out and edged with a silver blade-like material on both ends. A stand in for my hand because my arms feel really comfy underneath this cloak.

Vaniti doesn't look like she's the type of person to think much, because she easily understood, and shook my tail.

I could only feel a smile grow greater on my face.

"I…I accept." She says hastily.

"Very well then. Underneath my tutelage…you shall now be known as…"

Uh…

Damn…didn't think I would get this far.

Think! Fast!

"Erm…Consort!" I declare boldly!

Vaniti slowly nods, taking in the title.

"Consort Vaniti!" My voice deepens to give the title a bigger impact and meaning. But I don't think it did much. She continues to shake my hand as it felt more like a cutscene.

She's now my apprentice. My protege. My Consort. Whatever it meant—I just remembered some boss in a really difficult game had that title. He was cool. Strong. So yeah, it fits.

Wait—what if Vaniti could be that? With me?!

I couldn't hold in my excitement anymore. My tail aggressively started to shake Vaniti's hand.

"Perfect! Perfect! We'll start right away. Grab you the best setup, restart from the foundations, teach you all of the magic gimmicks and whatnot. You'll be the strongest Spirit Elf since Promised Spirit Lethian!"

Vaniti tilts her head in confusion. "Sp-spirit elf…?"

"Yeah! Let me start from the beginning, it all started when—ow, ow, ow, ow!"

She started gripping on my tail too tightly, and she looked like she didn't even realize by the time it happened. Holding on the blade-like tip wasn't the best thing to do. Blood leaked from her hand, and I expected her to wince, do anything.

But…no.

She stared at it. 

Then back to me.

As if this was something completely normal.

I don't think pain registered in her body, and if it did, she completely ignored it. It wasn't the blindfold—I can say that much.

Hopefully she doens't think this is a blood pact—

"Blood Pact." She says.

Oh, dear Dev.

Great.