V had little time to ponder why J believed that it was not necessary to tell them about about this "Tlix." He quickly took the T from his name and turned around to face the Champion of Time.

┌——————┐
Added to Item Storage "T"
└——————┘

The beast’s body that The Champion of Time was fighting, well it was more accurate to say he was evading, had gone limp. If Time attacked them now, they would certainly be in trouble. He quickly glanced at L, Eika was looking at her wounds and panicking, he would have to do something soon or L was almost certainly going to bleed out. He did not know the exact effects of the Regeneration skill, but at level four he doubted it could save her from her current wounds without any help. The Champion of Time examined the limp body of his previous opponent a second before speaking. "Well, I suppose I will take this and we will call it even. You drew out this monster, I saved you from its initial attack, you took the kill, I’ll take this body over here. We are even." The Champion of Time struggled for a moment but eventually managed to sling the huge humanoid version of the beast over his shoulders and saunter off. In other circumstances V would have probably questioned him on several points, but could little afford to in this situation.

"Eika, try to stop as much of the bleeding as you can, I’m going to try and get something to help." V quickly cut off as much of the head of the monster as he could carry without slowing himself down, switching his class to Divine Weapon Master and his agility to S as he bolted down the road. The head parts he was carrying were positively disgusting, but that would probably work in his favor. They had already established that the church could do little for L's wounds, she was resistant to their brand of healing.

A short time later, he burst into the smog filled alchemists store and slapped the monster head on the counter. "What’s.... .... that? I’ve never seen anything quite like whatever that is. Look at the insides of it, is that more eyes?" V nodded and spoke quickly "Ya its terrible, you will love dissecting it. I'll trade it to you in exchange for something to help my companion, she is bleeding out and her leg is all but severed from her body, mostly held together with bone and sinew by the look of it." The small women moved slower then V would have liked, but he doubted there was a way to speed her up. She rummaged around a back room, V heard something break and a new smell assaulted his nose and mouth. After a short time, she returned with two bottles. One was a small glass vial with a thick off reddish color, it reminded him of unwashed radishes, the other was a larger container filled with murky purple liquid. "Feed your friend the red one; it will, mostly, stop her from bleeding. The purple one will... .... help her leg if you pour it on it, but you probably will want to get someone to heal it if you want them to walk again. Also don't get these... .... confused or your friend will definitely die." V nodded and ran out of the shop, the women called from behind him "If you do get them confused, I would love to hear what happens! It should be very interesting!"

V ran back to where L had fallen, if he was only working with a A or B in agility, he was sure he would not have made it in time, he did not feel as fast as he thought he would be with an S rank agility, but he did not really have time to think much on the matter. Eika was panicking, and had not accomplished much while he was gone. "Is L going to die?!" Eika yelled as V returned. The fox girl was standing with Eika, and answered "She might! Hey, what do you think happens when you die normally?" everyone ignored her, which did not seem to bother her. V removed the wax seal on the redish looking substance and did his best to pour it into L's mouth, careful to make sure it was not going to just pool in her throat and asphyxiate her. After a few moments of struggling with L's mouth V was fairly certain most of the substance had been swallowed by L. As he examined her mangled leg, trying to figure out what part he was supposed to pour the purple stuff on, the effects of the redish substance became apparent. L's bleeding slowed, many of her minor wounds stopped bleeding all-together, most of her life signs became minimal. V was no medical doctor, not by a long shot, however he had seen a few medical dramas back in his old world. If he had to guess, the redish substance had placed L in some sort of magical coma like state. After a few more moments of deliberation V decided to pour the purple container over as much of her exposed bone and tissue as possible. When it contacted her body, it near instantly turned into a thick, almost slime like substance that covered the wounded area. As far as V could tell, it stopped the remaining bleeding of her leg, but as it was now covered in purple slime, he had no idea if it was helping it heal at all. Based on the alchemist’s words, even if it was healing it, it was not in a way that would result in L being able to use her leg. V hoped her regeneration would be able to deal with it.

"Is L going to survive?! Eika should have stabbed more eyes. It’s all Eika's fault!" Eika was crying and blubbering incoherently and the fox girl reached up and patted her on the head. "There there." V knew they had to get back to their, or rather T's old, hideout. Two champions in a deserted street, one basically dead and the other battered. If any Champion who wished to kill them came along they would be easy prey. V figured it was riskier to set out here then it was to move L. Picking her up as carefully as could he spoke to Eika "Keep an eye on the girl, I am concentrating on keeping my footing while holding L. Also bring her sword." Eika sniffed and wiped her eyes, nodding. Bending down she tried to grab L's sword but recoiled "Wha!? It burned Eika's hand!" Eika was shaking her hand and examining it. "V! I can’t pick it up!" V grunted "Maybe if you wrap your hand in something first?" Eika started to look around for something, but the fox girl spoke up "I want to help too!" She gasped the hilt of the sword and lifted it, she was unable to effectively hold the long katana, but she was able to drag it along with them. Eika looked at her and sniffed again "Is L's sword angry at Eika because I did not save L?!" V shook his head "Eika, L's condition is not your fault. You tried to protect her remember? Look we can talk about this later just watch the girl please." Eika nodded as they headed off. V wondered if he was going to keep calling the Champion of Innocence "girl." He was certainly not going call her "E," his experiences with the first "E" made the idea of calling an innocent girl like that by the name unpleasant.

By some miracle they managed to get to the hideout without any trouble. The fox girl was panting heavily "Swords are so heavy... I never knew that... Why do... people use them if they are so heavy...?" The girl clearly had more questions, but decided to concentrate on pulling the sword down the steps of the hideout's entrance. Eika's tears had mostly stopped, but she still sniffled here and there. V placed L on one of the beds. He was unsure what to do for her at this point. The church's healing was ineffective on L, but maybe it was better than nothing? Then again, he did not actually know what deity the people here mostly worshiped. It would be a real special sort of situation if he carried L to the closest church only to find out they primarily worship the God of Dishonor or something. He supposed he could try to find more healing potions or magic, but that could be dangerous, L's race was not one of the "standard" races and it was a minor miracle in V's mind that the red potion worked as it was supposed to. He did not wish to pour something in her mouth that was supposed to heal her, but oops! It caused her to burst into flames for no good reason instead. Perhaps he had done all he could, the rest of the battle was hers to fight. At-least this way he could get a good approximation on how powerful her Regeneration skill was, now that it had been increased to level four.

Eika had grabbed the package of clothing that had been dropped when L kicked V out of the way of the beasts first strike and brought it with them. She grabbed the fox girl and took her to the far end of the hideout. "Can you change your own clothes?" Eika asked the girl. She wanted to try and distract herself from L's condition, wrangling the fox girl seemed like a good way for her to do so. The fox girl nodded "I just take this off and put a new one on. It can’t be that hard!" Eika looked at her with suspicion, but unwrapped the clothing and handed them to her. She walked over to V "Don’t look that way! A lady is changing clothes." Eika stood between V, who had sat down by this point, and the fox girl’s location. V responded "Right." he was clearly thinking of other things, only barely registering Eika's words. After a few minutes a distressed voice called from behind Eika. "Uh... I need help! I can’t move!" Eika turned around "What...how?" Eika stood there, words failing her. V reflexively looked, Eika's loss for words was so rare that it automatically drew his attention. The girl had managed to get the undergarments he bought her on, but the traveling tunic he had bought her... she had somehow gotten her head and arms stuck and the tunic wrapped around her head. Eika quickly jumped in-front of V's line of vision "Hey!" V turned away as Eika walked over to help the hapless girl.

L's situation was not only dangerous for her immediate health, but for whatever upcoming disaster the Champion of Violence was about to wreak. They had today, and tomorrow. Even if L survived, would she be able to help with whatever was coming? A little under two days to repair a nearly severed leg and severe blood loss. V shrugged, there was little he could think of to do, he would have to simply hope. As for him, he had acquired the two letters J wished him to use. E and then T. As long as he was not removing them from his inventory, he figured it was safe to use them even while L was incapacitated. He hoped that it, perhaps, would give him enough strength to protect L, Eika, and the girl on his own, in-case L did not recover in time. As the thought crossed his mind, again a strange feeling triggered somewhere within him, almost like a switch had been flipped. It was not the first time, so he simply brushed it off, there was no way to investigate the strange feeling anyway. V focused on the E for a few moments before committing to the idea. He immediately fell out of his chair as his muscles seized up. L had told him that the first letter she used wracked her with pain she could not describe properly, but he was not ready for this. It was as if his body was being torn apart, but the pain was somehow worse than just a physical sensation.

┌——————┐
Expanding Name.
....
....
Congratulations! Your name has been expanded!
Skill Gained:

Your level in "Divine Champion" has increased!
6 => 7
Acquired Skill:
Quick Swap Lv 5
└——————┘

Gasping from the pain, V pulled himself back up into his chair. He took a moment to steady himself and reassure Eika, who had begun to run over to him. He checked his new skill gained from leveling, hoping its description would be helpful.

┌——————┐
Skill: Quick Swap
Aids in the process of managing the user’s status.
└——————┘

Ohh. That actually could come in really handy. Saving the few seconds wasted when swapping between classes and his rank increases on abilities might be crucial. He tested it out, swapping classes and ranks a few times. Although the skill did not make it instant, it cut the time down by about half. V wondered if that meant that a level 10 version of this skill would make it instant. If he could swap attribute ranks instantly, he might be able to do something like use agility to close the distance between him and a foe, then swap to strength the moment he tried to land a blow. Currently, with the skill at level five, it was still too slow and required too much concentration to do that, but he should be able to swap quickly enough not to lose much time in a fight.

On the other hand. There was nothing under his gained skill for expanding his name. Predictable, if not frustrating. V had gotten used to the fact that he started with nothing, and most of what he had gained had been of questionable use. It was still frustrating to get absolutely nothing but what could he do? Stomp his feet and yell? It’s not like that would change his fate. He prepared to use the next letter, he hoped J was not trolling him for a good laugh, and these letters would in-fact not help him at all.

┌——————┐
Expanding Name.
....
....
Congratulations! Your name has been expanded!
Skill Gained:

Your blessing has grown!
Blessing of the Mother Goddess has evolved into Blessing of the First Mother.
└——————┘

Matching L's experience, the pain was less than the first letter he used. At the very least he could be thankful for that. However, once again he had gained absolutely nothing. No skill and apparently, unlike L, he did not get a choice in his blessing’s evolution. Although this did all but confirm that the third letter gained by someone evolves their blessing. "Did you get anything really cool?! L got a new blessing, right? Did you get one?" Eika ran up to V, having finished sorting out the clothing fiasco. As he turned and looked at Eika, his blessing activated, an explosive pain erupted in his head as a status message popped up.

┌——————┐
Deciphering Curse...
...
...
Curse Deciphered.
└——————┘

Eika's status popped up in V's mind with no prompting on his part. At first he noticed no difference. After a second, the status window "flickered" and new information crawled across the window. Almost as if it was being dragged out of its hiding place. The new information was displayed in a slightly different text, similarly to how the hidden information on L's sword looked when using the Weapon Lore skill.

┌——————┐
Name: Eika
Age: 16
Race: Rabbitkin | Other
Titles: "Friend of the Elgorian Fairies"
"First Among Rabbitkin"
Occupation: Slave (Dredge) 
Class: Tracker Lv 7 (Basic class, no prerequisites, unlock requirements: Variable)
Skills: "Tracking Lv 4" "Hearing Lv 5" "Smell Lv 5" "ForestCraft Lv 4"
*&%*@)
Curses: Curse of the Rabbitkin (Degraded)
└——————┘

Before V could even absorb this new information, his blessing activated again. This time it carried no pain, only a mild sense of disorientation.

┌——————┐
Requirements for family formation have been met.
Family unit has been formed.
Titles had been granted to the following family members.
Vet: Godfather
Lil:  Consigliere
Eika: Associate
└——————┘

V's mind reeled as information assaulted him. He was now preeminently aware of his ability to command family members. It was a strange feeling, he willed Eika to jump up and down, testing this feeling. Eika gasped "Hey! EIKA CAN READ YOUR MIND!" Her eyes expanded as she started ranting. "Eika just knew you want Eika to jump all over the place! I don't know why your new blessing lets me read your mind but Eika has mind reading powers and who would have thought that? I mean sure maybe if I was a Divine Class, they get all sorts...." As Eika continued talking V considered, it did not seem like "commands" in the same way as one commands a slave, instead Eika simply understood what V desired? He told Eika to stay where she was, and then he left the hideout, walking a few yards away. He then willed Eika to move the chairs in the hideout around. He then returned to the hideout, where Eika was almost screaming about how cool it was that she could read V's mind even when he was not in the room and how she should have moved the chairs but she was too excited and did he really want her to move the chairs? Ignoring her rambling V nodded, he felt no distance limitations or requirements. He wagered that Eika and L would be able to sense his "commands" at any distance. While that was helpful, the wildly more helpful part of this ability is the fact that communication of intention can be achieved with no signals or words.

At the moment, nothing else seemed to be drastically different in terms of V's blessing. He looked at the "Vase of Motherhood" again, in the hopes that some new information presented itself, but it was as unhelpful as ever. He would have to try and determine if L and Eika's titles had any effect on them. Which brought up the other situation. Eika held a title "First Among Rabbitkin." V tried to look closer at the title, but the status window had no addition information.

┌——————┐
Title: First Among Rabbitkin
└——————┘

V decided that it would be best to keep this information from Eika. At best it made her more confident, at worst it made her worried that there were parts of her status window she could not see, and it made her constantly anxious. He checked her new title "Associate."

┌——————┐
Title: Associate
A title given to associates of Vet's family
Allows the user to participate in family events.
└——————┘

Somewhat predictably, checking the title only provided V with more questions than answers. He checked the curse as well, but it had no additional information. V assumed that all of the Rabbitkin were cursed in the same manner, but what was interesting is that somehow Eika's curse had been degraded? He was unsure if that was normal or not, but he had no current way to gain that information. Additionally, Eika's racial status also now displayed "Other." The only place V had ever seen or heard of that was in the statuses of champions. He supposed it was possible to happen "normally" if you are a half breed or some other situation, but again, at the moment he had no way to determine if that was true or not. For posterity, he figured he would check L's new title as well.

┌——————┐
Title: Consigliere
A title given the Consigliere of Vet's family
Allows the user to participate in family events.
Allows the user to locate family members.
Allows the user to provide counsel to the Godfather.
└——————┘

Well, V would be unable to determine what the last two things were about while L was still down. As he looked at her damaged body, a new status message appeared.

┌——————┐
Mother's Care has activated!
└——————┘