Val woke up disoriented for only a moment. She was in a game! Yesterday had been full of adventure and new people with a rustic farmhouse to come home to. While some people had been cranky and suspicious, she still preferred them over the customers at her cashier’s job. Her earthly life could stay away. She didn’t have to deal with noisy cars or beeping machines. Fantastic.


    Val nodded, sat up, and glared at the Guardian mirror as she swung her legs out of bed. She patted her face and hair, which was in a smooth ponytail. Her hands showed no traced of yesterday’s smudges. Her overalls and green shirt were clean and untorn.


    Airaba really does refresh me. Val glanced at the mirror and wondered if Airaba’s aether ocean still swirled on the other side. The thought reassured her instead of alarmed her.


    There was nothing to do in the shack-like farmhouse. Calling it cute spoke to Val’s cheerfulness, not reality. Val stepped outside, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders.


    Cattail Farm.


    What do I do first?


    Fen’s dry advice from yesterday came back. If you’re a farmer, maybe you should plant seeds.


    Val would be the best farmer possible. The first thing to do was prepare the soil.


    The farmland was just a little patch before the forest took over, a square acre with half of it overgrown. Should she put up a fence? The firs and hemlocks were beautiful, of course, but she wouldn’t allow them to encroach. She also needed to work on the multitude of weeds.


    Val retrieved the scythe from her backpack, stepped into the field, approached the green thistle-soft waist-high weed, and hacked away. With her lack of skill plus her lack of coordination, the work took more time than expected, but her energy meter didn’t go down since she wasn’t building any skill. Thank you, Airaba, for the little things.


    Moving on, she weeded and hoed a five-by-five space. The quiet, repetitive work soothed her. The chronic stress of her job, which she had surely lost by now, unwinded.


    The space already held the five seeds she’d planted yesterday. With the weeds disposed of, more sunlight poured onto the crops. The ignisbulb, bloodstone radish, and peridot peas were little sprouts, which made Val smile with success. The charo-cabbage and asparagustine were still seeds.


    “Farmer, farmer, farmerrr. I’m a farmer,” Val sang as she watered each spot. When she reached the last one and tipped the watering can, nothing came out. Empty! “I should have realized that would happen eventually. Silly can.”


    Val looked up and around for a water source, stretching her arms back. First thing she noticed was her energy level. “Oops. Too low to work. Time to move to the next task.”


    Seeds.


    Next stop: Olive’s general store. Val checked her pocket. She still had the handful of coins from Airaba. Looking closer, she had four large bright silver coins that had “100 abundos” printed on them. A small dull silver coin had “50 abundos” printed on it. A small copper coin had “20 abundos” printed on it. 470 abundos total. Was 100 abundos considered wealthy or more like 100 pennies?


    Yesterday, Charon had left at the northern entrance, but there was a western entrance, too. Was that another way to town? Val wanted to try.


    As she walked on the forest path towards town, she reflected on her morning. Weeding, hoeing, and watering had taken up most of the morning. Game mechanics, the way Airaba had explained them, were holding up with her body in stasis. While it would be nice to have more energy, for today her energy running low just meant moving on to doing another fun activity.


    As Val walked around a bend in the path, the surrounding air turned stifling hot, much warmer than a regular spring day would suggest. Her walking momentum propelled her forward, and the air turned back to normal. Val looked back; the warm spot she had walked through shimmered with heat. The ground below this heat glowed. Translucent flames were shooting into the air, but nothing caught fire. Some smaller plants nearby, perhaps herbs, glowed with an ember red color. Was the red glow a signal that she ought to harvest them, maybe for her foraging skill? For now, Val put that idea to the side. She kept walking to town, noticing a few similar spots.


    As Val arrived at Cascadance’s colorful town square, one of the closest doors opened.


    A curvy young woman with mahogany colored skin and a crown of black braids propped open the aqua-blue shop door. She wore a dress of deeper blue with a cream apron. Bakery smells of dough and cinnamon wafted out. The soft sunlight, town square, and pretty woman created a perfect, idyllic scene.


    “Hi, I’m Val. I’m new to town.” Val slowed down, not wanting to jog right up to the stranger’s face but definitely wanting to check out this exciting fresh development of baked goods.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    “Hello. I’m Isabelle. Welcome. This is my bakery.” The young woman gave a polite little bow and then disappeared into the shop. Val followed her right in.


    The warm shop was delightful with cinnamon and nutmeg smells and a display of baked goods, including sweet scones, savory breads, and ram-shaped cookies. The prices were fifty abundos. If seeds were as expensive as the cookies, she didn’t have much money.


    “Wow,” Val said, her heart aching with happiness at the wholesomeness. “This is one of the most wonderful things I’ve seen since I’ve arrived!”


    Isabelle nodded absently while arranging buns on a tray.


    “Do you have anything for five abundos?” Val asked, jiggling her pocket coins. She had to weigh having a treat against affording seeds.


    “Five abundos could get you a cheap piece of candy at the general store. Since you’re new, I won’t take it as an insult,” Isabelle said coolly. “My castoff goods are free. Today it’s croissants. They aren’t pretty enough to sell.”


    “I’ll take it. Thank you!” Problem solved. Hopefully, the town would solve all her problems like that. The ruined shrine popped into Val’s head. That was indeed the real problem that the town hadn’t been able to solve. Val would take the easy wins, like free food, whenever possible.


    Isabelle, Val’s new favorite person, wrapped three croissants in paper and handed them to Val, who unwrapped one and crunched down on it. Overly sweet chocolate mousse filled the croissant.


    “Wow! This is delicious!” Val said after swallowing the first bite. “As soon as I can afford it, I’ll be a daily customer.”


    Isabelle gave her a small smile, still busy. “Thank you.”


    “Oh look!” Val pointed above her own head. “My energy meter improved! I’ll be able to water that last spot!”


    Isabelle looked up sharply. “I know some people are comfortable talking about such things, but I find it so embarrassing. It’s like talking about underwear or something. I can’t see it anyway.”


    “Oh, sorry,” Val said. “I’ll be more discreet. Charon helped me out the best he could yesterday, but I’m still learning.” She stuffed the other two croissants into her backpack. While the croissant she ate improved her energy meter, she didn’t feel any physical improvements, which must be part of the body stasis.


    Isabelle shrugged. “I need to focus on my work.” Was Isabelle just a baker meant to assist Val with energy-rich food? Val could respect that.


    Isabelle made a shooing motion to Val, focusing behind her.


    A young man stood right behind Val’s shoulder.


    “Oh, another town resident!” Val said, turning. “I’m Val and new to town.”


    “I’m Nate,” said a ruddy-faced, freckled young man. “I heard what you said about your energy meter. You should just hide it, so you’re not always thinking of it.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “Your interface.”


    Val shook her head.


    “So if you blink twice, nothing happens?” Nate asked. “Is it broken?”


    “No. Sorry. Airaba processed me into the System just yesterday. She didn’t mention any interface.”


    “Airaba!” Isabelle said, leaning forward. “You were outside the System and she helped you? Did she give you anything? She’s not my Guardian, but I like to know which ones are interfering in Cascadance.”


    “Airaba didn’t come into Cascadance. She just sent me. All she gave me were some seeds and money.”


    “Seeds! So you’re at the farm,” Isabelle deduced.


    “No tablet?” Nate asked.


    “No, if your tablets are like what I’m used to.” Val patted at all her pockets to make sure nothing had slipped past her notice. “Maybe I should re-check the storage at the farm.”


    “There isn’t anything in the farm storage,” Nate said. “My brother and I checked recently.” When Val looked at him in surprise, he added defensively, “We didn’t take anything. We couldn’t even break the seals open. We just scanned to see what was inside them.”


    “Here,” Isabelle said. “I’ll give you my old one.” She waved a finger. Blue concentric circles appeared out of the air.


    “Is that magic?” Val asked.


    Isabelle and Nate stared at Val.


    “I don’t know where Airaba found you,” Isabelle said. “But every person I’ve ever met from anywhere has had some kind of magic.”


    Before Val answered—she wanted to ask about the odd translucent flames and heat from her walk—Isabelle’s attention was pulled to something in the air that Val couldn’t see. A small, thin object appeared in Isabelle’s hand, which she held out to Val.


    “Isabelle, we just met! Are you sure?” Val asked. She was happy to receive free stuff, but this was a surprise.


    Isabelle and Nate gave her a look.


    “I don’t know where you’re from, but if someone needs something, you give it to them,” Nate said officiously. “Airaba processed you into the Guardian System, but didn’t give you an interface. Can you ask her?”


    “No,” Val said. She didn’t want to go through the Guardian mirror in case she wouldn’t be allowed back.


    “Besides,” Isabelle said, “I was saving it as a backup for my sister and she doesn’t need it. I’m serious.”


    When Isabelle held the object out again, Val took it.


    Isabelle showed Val a metallic surface. “Place your thumb there.”


    Val placed her thumb. The object unfolded to twice the size of her palm. A tablet, the first piece of modern technology she’d seen in Cascadance.


    “Kids use these,” Nate smirked. “Once you’re more established, you might get a regular System interface.” He gestured to his eyes.


    “Thank you, Isabelle!” Val said. “Is this running on your magic? Do you have electricity?”


    The two friends stared at Val again.


    “What a weird word,” Nate said. “The tablet runs on regular air magic.”


    “I don’t need to recharge it?” Val asked, tapping her fingernails against the screen. It felt like any regular tablet.


    “It needs to be renewed under the Aquarian full moon, which I did,” Isabelle said. “You’re good for the year.”


    “I have a lot to learn about magic in Cascadance.” Val tapped at the screen. All her stats scrolled by. The right tab and toggle turned off her energy meter. She left it on. She was going to play the game her way. The energy level screen gave her exact numbers. The croissant she’d eaten had raised her energy meter by twenty points out of one hundred points. The tablet was a good multi-use player interface, just like any game.


    “Izzy,” Nate said. “I told Harry I’d have you to him in ten minutes. It’s about some Aries magic at the rhody tree. We need to hurry.” Now that he was focused on his friend, he had a smile that lit up his face. Isabelle smiled in return. She was more than just a baker. Cascadance was fun.


    “Val, we’ll have to talk another time. I’m closing up,” Isabelle said, removing her apron.


    “Nice to meet you,” Val said faintly, clutching the tablet in one hand and waving goodbye with the other as she left. Time to buy seeds and then do her farming thing with the fresh energy.