The evening meal went off without a hitch. Hailey ordered dinner and took a seat. A couple of minutes later Tennison joined her at the table and the two of them hit it off well. No hidden agenda, no secret goal of trying to get in one another’s pants, just a good meal between comrades in arms.

  Towards the end of the night Hailey was able to get Mrs. Filch to sit down and explained her mother’s needs. Tennison helped to fill in the details of how long Hailey was to be gone for, and even agreed to act a guarantor in case the money ran out while Hailey was still off. Mrs. Filch was eager to help, and things were soon in place for Hailey’s departure.

  Speaking of money, the sum that was still in Hailey’s purse by the end of the night dwarfed the money she had scrapped together in the last couple of months. It turned out that monster hunting, especially for monsters with materials that were desirable to other trades, was a very lucrative endeavour. One only had to put up with the risk of death to make a profit.

  Tennison explained that the charging boar tusks that they had collected today would be used for alchemy materials. Some pelts, and feathers had use as clothing or armor. Hailey found out that the Owlbeast’s feathers could have been plucked and brought in to serve as writing implements. The quills apparently stayed sharp and usable for a lot longer than average. But the bird had ended up in quite a bad state after Hailey had finished it off, so the corpse was unsalvageable.

  Hailey retired for the night, not wanting to spend her new fortune on drinks and snacks. She grabbed a meal to go for her mom and left the inn for the night. As she turned the corner to the street her house was on, Hailey noticed that there was light coming from there house.

  That’s a positive sign, Hailey thought. It’s good that she was able to get out of bed today. I knew she was putting on a brave face yesterday, and today she was going to pay the price with exhaustion.

  Hailey walked in the door, hung up her leather belt with her now seasoned knives and moved into the kitchen. She nearly dropped the covered plate she was holding when she saw a man, one that she had never seen before in her life, sitting in a kitchen chair talking to her mom.

  “Ah, you’re right on time, Hailey. We’ve been waiting for you,” the man said, a smile betraying his perfectly white teeth.

  Hailey reached back with her free hand and grasped at the small of her back looking for the hunting knife that was no longer there. She stood there weighing her options, but her mom was there too, and she seemed to be… oddly relaxed. The bottle of wine and the half empty glasses that stood on the table made it clear to Hailey that the man was somewhat friendly. At least it seemed her mom knew him enough to invite him in and break out the emergency wine reserves.

  “Oh, right, you didn’t tell her anything about me. Come, come, sit down, we have a lot to talk about. I hope you’ve brought snacks,” the man said eyeing the plate.

  “No?” Hailey said as she sat down, placing the plate down in front of her mother. “I brought a meal for my mom, who I thought would be bedridden today, but you’re not?”

  “Nope,” Sarah said. Her face held a smile that only came out when she had started drinking. “It’s a bit of a long story, but I think it’s best if we start at the very beginning. You see this man in front of you. His name is Norm. He is your father.”

  Hailey turned to examine the man a little more closely as her brain tried to put the casualness of this explosive development together into digestible logic. The man was well groomed, his hair was blond like her own but with some interesting grey streaks beginning to work their way out. But his face looked younger than it should be if he was her father.

  He didn’t look to be too tall, but it was hard to tell with him sitting down. He was well built, his bare arms betrayed the corded muscle that came with someone who had dedicated their life to physical improvement, even with the system providing an assist. And then there were his eyes. His piercing blue eyes, the very same that stared back at Hailey in the mirror.

  Not that my mom is usually one to play jokes, but even I can tell that this man is a strong contender to be my father.

  “Okay, so, how do I know you’re not trying to pull a fast one on me mom?”

  “Have you looked at him? You have his hair and his eyes? And…”

  “And what?”

  “And you inherited his specialization,” Sarah said.

  “I… what?” Hailey said. Her brain was running a million miles a minute, but all it was producing was incoherent thought.

  “Well, maybe this will be the proof you need,” Norm said as he took a sip of his wine. “Your system awakening looked a little different than what you were told to expect. You had a shadowy version of yourself appear. It held out its hands. The first a yellow orb, the second you probably thought was empty. Then the shadow put both hands together and offered you the yellow orb once more. Your only option, which you chose. Correct?”

  Hailey nodded, not sure what else to say.

  “That’s because you inherited a legacy rather than your bog-standard specialization.”

  “What’s the difference? And why a legacy?”

  “It’s not a well-known thing. Its existence is a closely held secret, to say the least. And the information we have on it is also lacking. The rumour mill circulates that it fully comes into effect if the receiver of a legacy lives up to or surpasses the originator of the legacy. Think of it as an over-arching goal for your development. You should go ahead and check your status. With this new information, it should have updated.”

  Status

  Charging Boar slain. Experience rewarded. Bonus experience rewarded for level difference.

  Charging Boar slain. Experience rewarded. Bonus experience rewarded for level difference.

  *Ding* Assassin reaches level 3. Stats increased. 2 Free Points awarded.

  *Ding* [Masking] has reached level 2.

  *Ding* Legacy Identified: Legacy of the Kingslayer

  *Ding* New title awarded: Legacy Hopeful. +1 to all stats.

  “Legacy of the Kingslayer. That’s, uhm, quite the legacy to have inherited,” Hailey said.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it causing too much of a ruckus down here on this world. While I was born and raised here, not all of my adventures have remained bound to this world. I’ve spent a lot of time in the, what is it you all call it? The out there? Yes. I’ve been out there, quite a bit. Including a particular deployment where I earned that particular title. I’m almost a little miffed that that’s the achievement that was passed down.”

  “What else have you done?” Hailey asked. She was a little uncertain if she truly wanted to hear the answer.

  “I’ll have to save that for another time, I think. Your own personal world is not ready to deal with that reality yet. You have a lot of distance to grow and make up before you get there. Now, the real question of the evening. What class did you get today?”

  “Shadow fighter,” Hailey answered.

  “Not your mask. Your actual class,” Norm said.

  Hailey sighed. I guess I have nothing to hide if what Norm has said is true. Well, wait. What he said is true, otherwise the system would not have acknowledged it so with the legacy bit, Hailey thought.

  “Assassin,” Hailey said.

  “Told you so,” Norm said as he grabbed the wine bottle and poured himself another glass.

  “I figured that would end up being the case, but I thought maybe she’d end up a little more mage-like and be a shadowmancer or something. You know, have something to show for being my daughter too,” Sarah said as she drained the glass.

  “I did get some high initial intelligence and perception thanks to you, I think? They were very helpful today,” Hailey said.

  “By the end of the week I expect the bonus you got from me will be overtaken by your own hard work. It doesn’t take long to get those first couple of levels, and with it, those new stat points,” Sarah said.

  “Still, I think I wouldn’t have been as successful today without them,” Hailey said. “So Norm. Or I guess Dad, what class did you start off with?”

  “Same as you, kiddo, that seems to be a core component of a legacy. Same specialization, same class, at least to start with. What you do with your class evolutions I will leave up to you. I could tell you my exact path I took, but everything that happens going forward is based off of your own achievements. You could be just a monster slaying assassin and get a not-banned class for your next evolution. Also, can I just say how limiting the whole banned class thing is? I think the world governor needs a firm realignment to reality,” Norm said

  “What do you mean by that. Why does a banned list not make sense,” Hailey asked.

  “Well, you can ask yourself that question when you eventually reach the out there. Here, you’ve only experienced planetside life, which for this world, is pretty idyllic, even with all of the developments that have happened since I was here last,” Norm said. “Now to address the other topic in the room. Your mother’s health. She had a mana poisoning syndrome, which, seems very foreign to the people of this world, since they can’t develop it.”

  “I am not from this world, so the ambient mana, and even the mana the circulates through me was poisoning me slowly overtime. Very slowly. The fact that it has taken the better part of 19 years to get to this point is kind of astounding, really,” Sarah said. “Your dad brought with him an antidote. It’s not a fix to the problem, but it more or less reset the illness’s progress.”

  “It’s sad that its not readily available here, but then again this is kind of a backwater of a planet in the empire. One where very few people immigrate to. If I had to guess where you could get some, I would think it would have to be in somewhere the world capital,” Norm said.

  “Why did you wait so long to bring mom the antidote then?” Hailey asked.

  “With a bit of luck, it turned out that I had some in my storage item. I had no idea she was suffering like this, otherwise I would have been here earlier. The reason I’m here now is because I got a system notification that one of my progeny had inherited my legacy. Thanks for the title, by the way. I’ll make sure to put that +1 stat gain to good use.” Norm laughed. “I’m mostly kidding. I think the title is progressive, so as you work your way up to achieving the legacy I’m sure it’ll get better for both of us.”

  “You mean all three of us,” Sarah said. “I got it too, by the way. A small reward for all the hard work I put in to giving birth to you and raising you for,” Sarah said.

  “What are your plans now, Sarah. It would seem that our little seed here has grown into a thriving sprout,” Norm asked.

  “I’m going to stay here for the upcoming growing season and help the farmers of this land out one last time. They’ve been really good to me, even in my time of inaction, so I need to reward them appropriately. Once my karma has balanced out, I will need to push to level 200 properly, if I don’t manage to reach it though my service. I could use those aging benefits,” Sarah said.

  “Then what are you planning to do?” Hailey asked. She already had an idea of where this was going. She could tell in the past couple of years that her mom had be urning for a change of scenery, and that maybe somewhere else in the world was not sufficient. It was like she wanted to really go elsewhere.

  “It’s got nothing to do with you. I love you very much, Hailey, but you will need to stand on your own two feet. Not that you aren’t already, but growth, and leveling for the most part, is a solitary adventure. You don’t need me sitting at home waiting for you to come back for dinner every night. Well, maybe for a bit longer, but soon you’ll be out and about, running all over the continent for jobs and quests, and I won’t be there to help.”

  “It’s about time that I got back to my own adventures. And I know that with my abilities now, I can do lots out there. I’d like to visit my own homeworld and see how things have changed there, then set out for whatever comes my way next,” Sarah said.

  “I love you too mom. If that’s what your heart desires, then I’m all for it. Can you do me a favour? Tomorrow, can you go tell Mrs. Filch that you won’t be needing all of the care I just arranged for you. You can keep the refunded money and use that to get started” Hailey said. “Besides, I’ll have to get out there soon myself. I’m sure I’ll get to see you again.”

  “Okay, now with that all out of the way, I need to get going before the detector pylon sweeps through the area once again,” Norm said.

  “You’re leaving already?” Hailey asked, the confusion clear in her voice.

  “Yep, I can’t stay planetside for too long, otherwise it’ll cause a fuss, and some unnecessary issues for you. Now, if you ever need to talk to me, you’ll have to come find me, but that’s a good long while away from now. It’s best that I let you organically develop. I don’t think the system will enjoy me interfering in your trajectory after being absent for so long,” Norm said.

  Hailey blinked, and the man was gone. There was no sound, or movement, or any other sign of a spell being used. He was there one moment, then gone like he had never been there at all. Sarah sighed.

  “Yep, that’s the man that I know and love,” Sarah said. “He never sticks around for long. He’s quite a busy individual. You’ll understand more when you get out there and find out for yourself who your dad is. Now,” Sarah said as she stood up.

  She crossed the room then pulled the chair Norm had been sitting on out from under the table. Hailey’s eyes widened as she saw that the man had left behind a well constructed wooden chest, complete with a red bow wrapped around it. The colour of red was one that Hailey had never seen before. But it was magnificent in her eyes.

  Sarah picked up the chest and put it in front of Hailey. “Here you go. I know it’s a day late, but I think you’ll understand. It’s a present, from your father and I.”

  Hailey reached out and tentatively pulled at the ribbon. The fabric was smooth and fine, finer than any fabric Hailey had felt up until this point. It was clear that this was an otherworldly fabric. There was nothing on this world that could match the needed craftmanship to weave such delicate fibers. The bow itself was a treasure, and Hailey gingerly plucked the fabric off of the chest, making sure not to pull it against the rougher wooden exterior.

  Clicking the latch open, the chest opened on it own, and a green light was seen emanating from the inside. When Hailey stood up to peer inside, there was nothing other than the mysterious green light.

  “Hailey, dear, this is a chest that has been enchanted to serve the same as a system rewarded loot box. Completely man made, but useful to transporting items that are, well, just put your hand inside and pull it out.”

  “Here goes nothing,” Hailey said. She stuck her hand into the weird green glowing box. She wiggled it around, and bumped into something hard, and leathery. She grasped the object and pulled it out from the void. Her hand had wrapped around a leather wrapped hilt, which was followed by a sturdy looking guard with a crossbar, then a long thin blade that waited until the final inch to tapered into a single sharp point.

  Hailey turned the sword over in her hands, feeling the lightness of the weapon. It was a three-and-a-half-foot long rapier. The sword was as bare bones as it could get. The guard was a circular piece of metal that cupped towards the crossbar, allowing Hailey to wrap her index finger and thumb around the crossbar. The sword felt like an extension of her arm. She gave it a couple swings through the air, and it felt oddly natural to her.

  Sarah stared at the blade for a moment. “Ah, yes, the [Reinforced Beginner’s Rapier (uncommon)]. That will make for quite a good starting weapon for your, mask, was it?”

  “Looks like it. I’m, for all intents and purposes a shadow fighter. I would have needed a proper sword at some point. You used an identify ability just now. Is there anyway to teach that to me? It seems like it would come in handy,” Hailey said.

  “We will work on it, but we don’t have time right now. It’ll be easier if you get something more spell-like as an ability from the leveling up. Then we won’t have to start from scratch in terms of figuring out how to manipulate your mana,” Sarah said.

  “I have [Shadowstep], doesn’t that count?” Hailey asked.

  “No, that’s, well, kind of sort of, but not by its nature. Since its instant, you don’t get a chance to experience the flow of your mana and how it makes it happen. Improving your mana control will improve your [Shadowstep] but not the other way around,” Sarah said.

  “This is a lot to take in. My head is swimming with everything that’s happened today. I think I’m going to turn in early before my brain beings to literally melt,” Hailey said.

  “An excellent choice,” Sarah said. She moved in and hugged Hailey, deftly maneuvering away from the pointed end of the rapier. “Thanks for the food, and the thought that went into preparing me for your trip. It’s appreciated. I love you, now go get some rest. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”