Tina had to wait for some time before the patron deity of Hestia Familia, the namesake goddess Hestia, arrived at the dilapidated church. And when she did, the first thing she did was hug Bell protectively while glaring daggers at Tina. "Who are you!? Why do you give off such a menacing aura!?"
Tina decided to answer as truthfully as she could, arms crossed and a nonchalant stance taken before the Goddess. She HAD to answer truthfully because Gods could detect lies and deceit. "I am Tina, and I would like to join your Familia."
Hestia eyed the black-clad armored woman for an extended silence before she sighed out somewhat and nodded. "I guess that's fine... But Bell, where did she come from!?"
"How should I know, Goddess? She was already here when I arrived!" He responded with before wiggling himself out of her hold, much to her dismay. Finally freed, Bell decided to turn his full attention back to Tina. "Well... it is nice to get to know you, Tina"
Tina then turned her head towards Hestia before she let loose a sigh herself. "Goddess Hestia. Before we begin, there is something you must know about me" She started and reached for her helmet, taking it off slowly and revealing her blood red skin and her unnatural facial features to the duo, who stared in a mix of wonder and confusion. "I am what is known as a Sith, and I am... the last of my kind on this world. Once I die, my people will be no more."
Bell looked at her with raw sympathy and sadness, hearing about her fate as the last of her kind. Hestia looked more sceptical, but sympathised as well due to the lack of any lies in the statement. And from a technical point, there really were no Lies. Tina was the first, last and only Sith ever in this world, so claiming to be the Last was by all means an accurate statement. And technically correct is the best kind of correct, after all.
"Now that you know this secret, I need to know you won't senselessly spread it around" She spoke and began to strip the upper part of her armor, exposing an undersuit that was skin tight around her body. She then fell to her knees, turned around so her back faced Hestia, and pulled down the undersuit enough for her bare back to be exposed. "I am ready to receive my Falna, my Divine Blessing from you, Hestia."
The Goddess of the Hearth, as Hestia was known for, gulped slightly and nodded her head with vigor. "You can count on us! We won't spread the secret of your species unless we really have no other choice!" She assured her before she stepped forth, closing the gap between herself and Tina, who was still as a rock in the meantime.
Hestia pricked her finger by biting on it hard enough, drawing some droplets of blood before she started to trace runes in the ancient language of the Gods on Tina's back, thus creating and engraving the Falna onto her being.
Tina could feel it deep within her due to her Force-enhanced powers, how her full potential was being unlocked, how new possibilities had opened up within her.
Hestia meanwhile was freaking out bad from the things she read on the girl's back. The Falna was, after all, a two-way street, and the things the Goddess read on her back were absurd to say the least. Never before had she ever beheld a Status this ridiculous...
---
Name: Tina McGee
Age: 28
Race: Sith Pureblood
Level: 1
Stats:
- Strength STR: I000
- Agility AGI: I000
- Endurance END: I000
- Dexterity DEX: I000
- Magic MAG: I000
Developmental Abilities:
- N/A
Magic:
- The Force: Each use consumes small amounts of Mind. Enables various abilities based on the Users aptitude and alignment. The User is in tune with all creation.
Skills:
- The Emperor's Wrath: Capable of exuding an aura of pure malice and terror around itself to intimidate and frighten all beings. User experiences exponentially increased growth rate and can influence the growth of others so long as others regard user with loyalty through reverence and/or fear.
- Sith Pureblood: Adept at sensing abnormalities. Can detect mind power within a large radius and decipher all spells at first glance.
---
Hestia was gobsmacked, and once she copied the Status onto a sheet of paper for Bell to read, so was he. This was frightening. Bell's growth was already abnormal, but with her as his tutor, he could grow EVEN FASTER? Ridiculous, utterly insane, was what Hestia was thinking.
"W-who are you!? What the hell is this status? Sure, you started off at 0 like everyone else, but what the hell are those skills and magic!?" She spoke with an ever increasing volume, incapable of computing the full scope of what she just unearthed.
Bell however had a different trail of thoughts. Reverence. He was awed by her sheer strength displayed on her status. He had no idea just how powerful she was in a fight, but based on her status sheet she was a beast. He felt a tingle run down his neck, a very rare feeling he almost never has... he wants to fight her.
"If that is all..." Tina spoke and got dressed again and fully covered up. As soon as she turned around and saw the light in Bell's eyes, she stiffened slightly before slowly nodding her head. "Wanna spar?"
Bell looked at her for an extended period before slowly nodding his head. "I would be glad to!" He said with enthusiasm before he lead the way outside the church.
The two gathered outside the church under the dimm moonlight, weapons drawn and both taking a stance. Tina opted for a simple stance, taking on the beginning form of Shii-cho, the first form of Lightsaber combat styles.
Bell and Tina stared at one another for an extended period, measuring each others up before the first move was made, by Bell, who dashed forward with the Hestia Knife, brandishing it in a reverse grip.
The first strike was, true to its purpose, a measurement only, having no real weight behind it, just precision, and Tina, much to her own surprise, blocked it effortlessly.
Sure, having the theoretical knowledge and muscle memory was fine and all, but there were two things she still lacked: Actual experience and instinct. Such became clear when Bell made follow-up attacks, which she did manage to block effortlessly at first glance, but underneath her helmet, a different story was spoken.
She flinched, closed her eyes, twitched backwards against her muscle memory's movements, typical beginner behaviour. This did not go entirely unnoticed by Bell, who made a few more well measured attacks that were aimed to provoke those beginner mistakes out before he took a retreat suddenly.
"Uhm, Tina..." He started with a nervous tone of voice. "Could it be that you... never really fought before?"
Tina, underneath her helmet, gulped slightly. No tough act could save her from this predicament, besides with Hestia present, lying was out of the question anyway so she might as well just admit to her circumstance.
"Yes..." Tina confessed before relaxing her stance. "I may be strong, but I never truly had any proper combat training before. I have the knowledge, but not the training..."
"Then you just need to collect experience!" Hestia chimed in with an upbeat voice, clapping her hands together. "Spar with my Bell some more to get used to fighting!"
"If you will have me, of course!" Bell added, ever the polite, pure soul.
Tina saw no reason to reject and nodded her head simplistically without any verbal cues before taking her Shii-cho stance once again, and the two clashed once more.
A simple sparring exchange turned into mutual training, with Bell practicing against an opponent who was, purely statistically, stronger than himself, while Tina was experiencing proper combat for the first time against a much more experienced foe who knows what he is doing. There was no real principle behind their clash, no technique to be taught, just two opponents going at each others.
Hestia tuned them out after a while and went to bed to sleep, as she had the early shift for her food stand the next day, and by the time the Goddess of the Hearth awoke, the two were STILL fighting with each others. However, there were clear differences.
Bell became more adept at parrying and deflecting attacks that had more brute force than he could handle.
Tina lost her fright and her involuntary defensive twitches, her movements fully aligning with her muscle memory and her eyes no longer closing or blinking at incoming attacks.
Within a single night, the two completed exchanging their complete set of experiences and repertoires with one another and were able to adapt accordingly. Both of them possessed innate combat talent that was beyond anything logic could answer.
"Thank you for your instructions, Captain" Tina thanked Bell with a formal choice of words, sheating her weapons and bowing lightly in respect.
Bell mimicked the response and bowed as well. "I should thank you, this night has been truly insightful!"
"In that case, consider us both warmed up" Tina added before turning towards the morning sun. "Wanna go dungeon diving?"
"Actually, before that, there's something we need to do..." Bell spoke first before he sheated the Hestia Knife. "Since you just joined, you might not be aware but I have a party with whom I go dungeon diving. I want to introduce you to them before we join together!"
Tina found this a completely reasonable thing and nodded along with his explanation. "Then let us go" She answered and trailed behind Bell, who began to walk towards the central plaza in front of Babel, where he gathers with Liliruca Arde and Welf Crozzo for their usual dives.
It took little more than 20 minutes of leisure walking, but the duo eventually arrived, and as per usual, Welf and Lili were already waiting for them and having a friendly bickering match with each others.
That quickly found its end however when they laid eyes on the newcomer Tina.
"Welf, Lili!" Bell greeted them with fully enthusiastic voice, waving at them and jogging towards the pair to close the distance. "We have a new member to the Hestia Familia!" He cheerfully exclaimed afterwards.
"Ooo, a new member? Sounds great for you, buddy!" Welf cheered, clapping his hands together.
Lili however was much more sceptical. Due to her distrusting nature for adventurers, she did not easily integrate with others, and Tina was not going to be an exception. "And who is that, Master Bell?"
"This is Tina!" Bell introduced her while showcasing her like a prize with both hands waving in her direction. "She joined last night with Goddess' approval! And she is really strong! We sparred all night and while she isn't experienced with fighting, she is crazy powerful. Each one of her hits felt like she might snap my bones!"
Overwhelmed by all the praise Bell gave her, Tina could not help herself but faintly blush underneath her helmet. "You flatter me too much, Captain" She spoke before bowing respectfully towards the new duo. "I am Tina McGee, pleasure to make the aquaintance."
"Likewise! If Bell speaks so highly of you, then there has to be merit to it!" Welf cheered before crossing his arms over his chest, a toothy grin on his expression.
"Master Bell may trust you, but I do not" Lili bluntly exclaimed, earning a curious look from the two men.
"Understandable" Tina answered. "I am a new face and you do not know me. I would fault you if you were not at least a little wary with me. A healthy dose of mistrust has never harmed anything other than feelings"
"Damn" Welf commented. "That sounds bleak. Well, Lil'Lili has her reasons, just don't take it to heart"
Lili pouted with an audible 'Hmpf' at Welf's comment. "Name's Welf, nice to meet you!"
"Likewise, Welf" Tina responded and reached her arm out for his to offer a handshake, which Welf accepted. As the two shook hands, they both gave a testing squeeze to the other, gouging the respective opposite out. "You got a good handshake"
"You too. Hell, I can feel an ache coming my way" Welf complimented in return with a proud grin on his expression. "Welcome to the troupe"
"Then..." Bell spoke after having let them get friendly with each others. "Unless we have something we need to get prepared, we should go to the dungeon for today!"
"We are all stocked up on potions and rations, Master Bell" Lili commented.
"Equipment is also in top shape" Welf seconded.
"And I am itching to gain some more experiences" Tina added as the third.
"Then" Bell voiced, resolute and confident. "Lets go!"