154 chapter 6

***Alex's POV***

I looked over the character I had created. The results were exactly what I had expected.

Name: Hylia

Race: Beastkin- Elemental cat (fire)

Talent: Overwhelming Charisma.

Archtype: Super model +2 charisma +1 dex per level

Affinity: Fire

hp: 50 mp: 50

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 5

Charisma: 5

Abilities:

Fireball

Beastkin: elmental cat (fire)

An elemental bloodline for beastkin. Those with an elemental bloodline are uncommon, but not unheard of. Player gains [Affinity:fire]. player gains +1 dex +1 charisma per level up.

Overwhelming Charisma: Player uses Charisma score in place of intelligence and wisdom scores.

Fire Affinity: Spells or abilities you cast/use deal 20% additional damage and cost 50% less mana

Fireball: Does 2x intelligence damage in a 5 meter radius.

The results did not surprise her, as she had made her character before the game had launched. She was already familiar with the information provided. Her talent was like a cheat code. Her charisma was the only stat that she truly needed to worry about.

Of course her dexterity would rise with each level as well. This was only good news for her, as dexterity was related to both accuracy and speed. She smiled as she thought about the damage she could inflict with her fire. The though excited her, and she knew if she were to touch her nether reasons right now the excitement would be easily seen.

Unknown to anyone, even her best friend, She was secretly a pyro. She had a deep obsession with flames, and had inadvertently caused many fires growing up. In college she had studied to be a fire Marshall. First she had to college to become a firefighter. While this was not necessarily a must have, she thought it would make the process easier.

After that she got her degree in fire sciences. It was basically a continuation of her fire fighting schooling. Her knowledge of fire was not any lower than Britney's knowledge of guns. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your view, this had not resulted in a talent. There was only a single explanation for this, and while it may seem vain to admit, It was because I was simply to charismatic.

I knew this was a real possibility. No, I knew this was the truth. I had managed to talk my way out of trouble many times, but more convincingly the game would not have given me a charisma talent if this was not the case.

Not that it really mattered. The talent I obtained was useful, and the knowledge I had of fires could only help me at this point. But I paused before I selected character creation. I hated the idea that my looks were the only thing I really had. Everyone only ever looked at me for my beauty, not acknowledging anything other than that.

The only one who was different was Britney. It was obvious that the girl was in love with me. It had been obvious for a long time. Surprisingly this thought did not disgust me. When she looked at me she saw more than my looks... though I do have to admit she definitely saw that.

She was with me through all of my childhood. She was with me when I had been poor, and my parents had struggled to make ends meet. She had been there when my parents had spent the entire night fighting over bills, and helped rub cream on my arms the time I had gotten burned.

She had been there for every step of my life, until I went to college. When I left I knew that the chances of us meeting again would be low. We would be living two completely different lives.

We kept in contact through those four years. She had gone on to become a staff sergeant in the army. She spent all of her time overseas, and never once came back to visit. She would still video chat me on her days off, though as time passed those seemed to get further and further apart.

Until one day she stopped calling. I waited by my phone for the longest time, hoping she would call. I counted the days, weeks, hours and minutes. Over 6 months had passed and I had not heard a word from her.

And then it happened. My parents had went on a skiing trip in the alps, but had gotten caught in an avalanche. I had noone to turn to. Noone to hold me while I cried. So I called. The number had been disconnected, but I knew where she was stationed. I pulled some strings and finally managed to get in contact with someone. They relayed the message.

Not even an hour later she had called. She looked tired, and there was a line of blood pouring from a cut on her forehead. She was covered in dirt and sweat, and it did not look like she had showered in over a week.

Despite all of this I could only admire how beautiful she looked. She did not have the classical beauty one would expect, and if someone were to compare her to me she could not even stand in my shadow. But at that moment, no, at all times she was the most beautiful creature under the sun.

Unfortunately my grief got the better of me, and I was unable to hold back my tears. The entirety of what had happened came pouring out of my mouth. When I was finally able to look at the camera again I saw a deep sadness in her eyes. The sadness was not for the loss of my parents. No she was sad because of the pain I felt.

A warmth started to build in my heart as I looked at her. She spoke for a while, but the words seemed to go over my head. The only thing I understood is that she would come home. She would but unable to attend the funeral, but she should be here in a month. I gave her a sad smile, and the call ended after that.

As I though about all of this I could only stare angrily at my talent and archtype. Most girls would love to have a high charisma. To have looks so great that guys and girls could not keep their eyes off of her. But for me those gazes were dirty. They were filthy. I only wanted one set of eyes on me, and those were hers.

I would become strong enough in this world that I could protect the girl I had fallen for. And then maybe I would build up the courage to act. Maybe then I could do what neither of us could do even after all these years.