Dregrin

Roughly half way through this chapter I realized some world building would be needed to lay the foundation for several details brought up in the first and this chapter.  Hopefully I don't go too overboard with the exposition.

Sil wondered still in a daze, causing his family to take notice of his strange mood

"Must have gotten a bloodline with a harsh trait" someone whispered

"Is it just me, or does Sil seem.. more feminine today?" said a cousin that Sil usually got along with.

For his part, Sil was still staring at his status screen, and at his updated bloodline traits.

[Boon Description: Eternal Beauty]

[User's body is locked in perpetual youth. User's skin will always be young and healthy. User's features will steadily improve until they have reached physical perfection. Growth of this bloodline will greatly increase user's lifespan {Current Lifespan: 500 Years}]

[Trait Description: Ruler of the Frozen Domain]

[User gains immunity to and command of all things cold. User will never suffer ill effects from exposure to a cold environment and will never be hindered by elements related to the cold. Cold climates will strengthen user and restore energy at a rapid rate. All creatures with a cold aligned bloodline will recognize user as an S tier ruler. Trait grants access to cold magic, creation magic{ice}. User has the right of domain]

[Trait Flaw: Heat Repulsion]

[Heat has no place in user's presence. Within user's area of effect all things will be rendered cold. Food will be rendered cold before user can eat it. Magically enforced warm climates will be suppressed within user's aura warm natured bloodlines will have instinctual animosity towards user]

[Trait Description: Soul Freezing Armament]

[User gains the use of weaponry formed of ice from the user's power. At base form power begins as coating the hands to allow for a raking combat style. As talent evolves further weapons formed from user's power will develop. User's attacks leave a lingering cold that will not dissipate without user or a stronger power releasing it. Trait grants access to agility based combat skills and affliction magic{cold}]

[Trait Flaw: Tyranny of Ice]

[User's touch will now be frightening to living creatures. Excessive care will be required to not cause unintentional injury. Exposure to user's touch will leave lingering fear. Growing of this trait will increase control of this flaw.]

[Trait Description: Skin of Frozen Jade]

[User's skin becomes unable to be scarred and highly resistant to being cut or pierced. User's gains resistance to any form of magical harm. User no longer suffers from elemental weaknesses.  User's strength is enhanced. Trait grants access to passive defensive and physical enhancement skills]

[Trait Flaw:  Maidens Allure]

[User's skin will now refract light as though user is dusted in diamond powder. User will find it difficult to move without drawing attention. Even without being seen or while completely covered others within user's radius will be drawn to user. User will be uncomfortable in cloth of low quality and physically rejects materials of metal or hide.]

Sil read the details of his newly upgraded traits and his mind began working properly again. As he looked around, he saw his family gathered at the gathering area of the house. They were all looking at him, some with concern and some with curiosity. 

As bloodline awakenings often came with potentially dangerous side effects it became a tradition that when someone was about to come of age to awaken their bloodline, they and some members of their family would move into a specially prepared house, away from the rest of the town. This was done to prevent accidents or damage to public property. It also caused the village to be wary of unawakened children that were near to sixteen years of age. Sil had been living in an isolated section of the home well away from the rest of his family in the days leading up to his birthday. It was strange being separated from his family, but this was tradition, so he had accepted it. 

Sil looked over to his family and gave them a smile.

"Good Morning everyone. I've only just finished my awakening, so I am still trying to understand everything. I have gotten a cold natured bloodline so the area around me should be very cold right now. Also, it might be dangerous to touch me so please be careful."

Sil's mother nodded in understanding and began corralling the rest of the family members into preparing for the party. She had a close friend with a cold bloodline and knew that being too close could get a little uncomfortable, especially for a hot natured person like her with a salamander bloodline. What she did not expect, or quite understand was an apprehensive feeling she was now getting from her son. Instinct was telling her that he was dangerous and was making her wary. That it should happen now left her slightly confused, she did not possess a noble bloodline, but it was a draconic one. Dragons rarely felt intimidation even from their own bloodlines, a sense of respect or admiration might fill her when meeting a draconic noble but never fear. Whatever it was, it must be rare, she thought. 

Sil began testing his passive cold aura within the wider area. Based on the frost forming on the windows he guessed that its range was about fifteen feet. He didn't know quite how cold it was, but he knew anyone not resistant to the cold wouldn't want to come anywhere near him now. On the one hand that meant his friends might avoid him till they awaken. On the other, the bullies might be less inclined to bother him if they would catch a cold from being around him for too long. 

As he tested, he began to realize that his cotton clothing did not meet the requirements of his armor trait's flaw. Every fiber of the cotton felt itchy and it was steadily getting worse. Sil knew he didn't have any clothes that would meet his needs, so he decided to look into his skill menu. 

[Skills]

[Points Available: 3]

[Magic}

+[Cold]

+[Creation (ice)]

+[Affliction(ice)]

[Combat]

+[Agility Style]

[Passive]

+[Defense]

+[Physical Enhancement]

[Misc]

Looking through his options each sub-option had hundreds of different choices. Luckily, the first item under creation magic was garment creation. Sil invested a single point into that as he walked back into his room. Stripping out of his cotton cloths he could not help but sigh as he saw the slight shimmer of light playing off his own skin.

Magic is not the chanting of archaic words or strange gestures, nor is it simply selecting an effect from within the system. Magic is the use of ones will to cause the power of ones soul to manifest in a desired way. Activating the creation magic slowly filled his mind with the knowledge of how to manipulate the magic within him to bring about the spells result. It slowly guided him in his initial practice and as he grew more used to the flow, he felt the push to complete the spell. When he looked at himself in the mirror again, the blood drained from his face and he nearly passed out again.

The basic form of the spell had manifested as a very feminine white robe with blue snowflake patterns throughout. The clothes were comfortable to him and upon examining them it appeared they were made of a strange flexible form of ice. Something told him that someone without a cold aura would have this melting off of them solely from their body heat. Sil decided that his very first stop upon going into town would be to find a tailor to have a new outfit made for him.

Going to the hall to meet his family proved to be interesting. when he finally came within his radius of them, they visibly shivered. It was the middle of the summer season, so no one was dressed for the sudden cold weather.

"Sil hun, is this cold aura something you’re going to be able to turn off?" his mother asked when he came over to greet her.

"I might gain some control over it later, but I don't think it’s ever going away."

Some bloodlines did have permanent aura powers associated with them. Most were beneficial but some, like Sil's were often more trouble than they were worth.

"Where did you get that robe? It’s very pretty but makes you look like a girl" said his aunt.

"The robe came from creation magic, and I am wearing it because of a trait flaw that makes clothing below a certain quality extremely uncomfortable." Sil responded in a flat, emotionless voice.

That earned some mixed looks of pity and envy from people. Trait flaws were very common, and it was known that the worse a flaw was the more powerful the trait. It was also seen as very rude to ask for the specifics of someone’s traits outside of what might be dangerous.

"So boy, what have we got to worry about?" Sil’s father finally spoke up in serious tone.

"It’s going to be very cold around me, judging by what I can see my range seems to be fifteen feet. More importantly physical contact is going to be an issue. I will need to practice but it seems I can cause harm to people with a touch, whether I intend to or not." Sil responded.

"Well you've never been much for physical interaction. I hate to say this son, but it looks like whatever your bloodline is, it didn't help the way you wanted it to." Sil's father said with a slight smile

"Based on my traits, it looks like it'll be moms path for me"

Sil had been born to a mixed parentage. His father had a bloodline that lent itself to woodwork and gardening. He had long been a pillar of the local economy. His mother had been a mercenary who made her fortune traveling from one battlefield to another. During a dry spell she had found herself doing bodyguard work for Sil's father and from there things progressed to the more permanent situation they had now.

It was a normal thing for children to choose their life path at sixteen. Awakening the bloodline told you what you were capable of. Targin's ogre awakening meant that he would probably stay in town and use his strength to help the community. Sil's abilities were definitely more aligned towards fighting. Following his mother’s path meant that at eighteen he would be joining her old mercenary company and going through their training camp. In the next two years he would need to learn to use his abilities as best he could. 

Sil's birthday celebration ended early. Most people left soon after they were exposed to his cold aura. The family wished him well, but it was difficult to attend a birthday party when you couldn't get within fifteen feet of the guest of honor. No one in his local family had a cold based bloodline either so no one could help him learn about his abilities. They would have to rely on an outsider.

Sil returned to his section of the house and began reviewing his abilities. Someone was going to be sent over by the village to try to help him with his cold aura at the very least, but he would have to decide on his skills all on his own. 

The skill system was not the instantaneous gaining of knowledge or power. Selecting a skill was like choosing what talent you wanted to be especially good at. When selecting a skill that was related to knowledge, such as a spell type or combat art, the system would guide you in the most basic fundamentals of that, and you would have to use your newly acquired talent, and any outside help you could get, to refine that ability.

Sil first started looking through his physical enhancement passives. It didn't take him long to find what he wanted but to his dismay it would not help with his girlish appearance problem.

[Skill: Physical Enhancement: Strength Growth 0/5]

[Skill increases the rate at which user's physical body grows strong. Each skill point invested causes a 100% increase in rate of muscle growth.]

[Bloodline Modification: Skill will not cause any physical alteration in user's appearance. Strength will grow at 300% increased rate per point with no changes to outside physical form.]

Sil continued looking through his skill choices, deciding that since his bloodline would keep him looking girly, he should get something that would help him to fight back.

[Skill: Agility Style: Unarmed Fighting 0/5]

[Grants user understanding of how to move when fighting unarmed. Additionally grants user understanding of movement when traveling, allowing for unconventional traversal of terrain.]

[Bloodline Modification: Incorporates understanding of how to use ice claws in combat and mastery of cold for travel.]

“This should work” Sil thought to himself. Later he would learn other combat styles but for now he had claws and needed to know how to use them. 

Not seeing anything else that appealed to him Sil started looking through the Misc. skill tree. These were skills that anyone and everyone had access to and were mostly general-purpose skills that could grant a very minor benefit or unlock extra system functions. many of them were seen as useless but things like the map function or unlocking the inventory were amazingly useful if expensive uses of skill points.

[Skill Misc.: Inventory 0/10 Points required: 10]

[Grants and expands access to system inventory function. More points grants additional features and storage space]

Sil couldn't afford it and 10 points really was too much to waste on the first unlock of inventory. After several minutes of looking Sil found himself staring at a skill that looked worthless.

[Skill Misc.: Skill Growth Enhancement]

[Grants user a minor passive increase in rate of skill growth. Skill has additional bonuses if taken early. 00:02:57]

Sil only had a small window of time to decide if he wanted this skill it seemed. The seconds ticked down as he debated internally if it was worth the skill point. Sil ultimately decided that growing his skills faster was worth it as he wanted to improve his ability to make clothes as soon as possible.

[Hidden Skill Discovered]

Sil was about to look into his system to find out about his hidden skill but his new teacher had arrived. This new woman was staring at Sil in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. 

Fanella was a woman with a stern look and a cold demeanor. Everything about her exhibited authority and it was known that she possessed a noble bloodline. From across the room she had been watching her new cold natured sibling and as she approached intended to scare the poor kid a little. Fanella possessed a Noble Ice Fairy Bloodline. This came with authority and an icy demeanor, but much like her ancestor, Fanella enjoyed pranks and tricking people. Just as she was about to start in on her student, she came within Sil's 15-foot radius and stopped. Fanella had never experienced it before, but she was fighting a sudden unexpected urge to kneel. Before she realized it she blurted out to Sil, "Majesty?"