《Traveler's Guide to being a Swamp Witch!》 Chapter 1 Wilona wiped her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Bright green eyes, a trait inherited from her father, met hers. A silence passed as she examined her face, scanning for any flaws, any imperfections that might have escaped her notice. But there were none. Satisfied, she pushed herself off the sink. The last traces of puberty had finally vanished¡ªan amazing piece of news she couldn''t wait to share with her friends. Leaving the bathroom, she walked toward her room, a towel still wrapped around her head. It could be said that her room was normal for any teenage girl. Soft pinks, warm peaches, and light pastels coated the space, creating an atmosphere of comfort. The window was always open, allowing fresh air to sweep through. Her closet, painted in the rich shades of autumn, stood against the far wall, and her wooden bed was covered in floral-patterned sheets. Decorations followed the same aesthetic¡ªat least, the ones that hadn¡¯t been removed when she or her friends stopped caring about the person or character they once admired. She made her way to the desk beside her bed and turned off the lamp. She had left it on earlier¡ªgood thing her mother hadn¡¯t noticed, or she would have never heard the end of it. God knows how much of a fuss the woman would make over something as small as wasted electricity. Humming a tune, Wilona opened a cabinet and pulled out two hair ties. She unwound the towel from her head and grabbed a blow dryer before closing the cabinet again. Settling into her chair, she pulled the mirror closer and powered on the dryer. One hand directed the hot air through her hair, while the other reached for makeup, brushes, and cotton pads. She held the hair ties between her teeth as she worked, methodically drying her hair. The warm air surrounded her in a soothing cocoon, and for the next few minutes, she focused solely on the task at hand. Once her hair was dry enough to bounce, she gathered the strands together, combed them straight, and secured them in place with the hair ties. Makeup, uniform, knee socks, shoes¡ªone by one, each piece came together. Standing before her mirror, she gave herself one final check. Smoothing the hem of her skirt, she smiled. Perfect. She had always believed that preparation both solved and prevented problems. That little philosophy had served her well so far, and she saw no reason to abandon it now. A well-practiced habit ensured her mornings were never rushed¡ªlike making her lunch the night before, which gave her the luxury of taking her time with her appearance. Wilona stopped scrolling through her phone and pulled a salad burrito from the microwave. A healthy meal for both breakfast and lunch¡ªshe could never go wrong with such a choice. Grabbing her bag from the coat rack by the door, she gave everything one last mental checklist. Homework? Done. Notes? Neatly arranged. Test papers? Carefully stacked in a folder at the back of her bag. The last thing she needed to do now was lock the door, slip the key into her pocket, and leave. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The bus stop was unusually quiet that morning. Almost no one was around. Across the street, two pairs of kids played soccer, their laughter filling the air. Wilona watched them, her phone resting untouched on her lap. None of them seemed particularly skilled, but then again, she¡¯d never been the sporty type. Maybe they were good? ¡­Eh. A sudden crash. Her head snapped toward the sound¡ªa stupid move, really. She should have run. Why? Because a van was barreling straight toward her, moving at a speed that would put Olympic sprinters to shame. She barely managed to rise from her seat before the out-of-control vehicle struck her. --- Darkness. For a moment, Wilona thought she was in a hospital, miraculously alive yet trapped in a state where it was probably better if they just pulled the plug. She didn¡¯t want to live as a vegetable. If her parents had any mercy, they¡¯d let fate take its course. "You are not going to live as a vegetable, don''t worry." A voice. From nowhere. Was it reading her thoughts? At first, she assumed it was a doctor speaking to her, maybe responding to her mumblings. But then the laugh came¡ªan actual, physical sound echoing through the void. That was when she knew. This wasn¡¯t a hospital. "You are correct!" The voice was cheerful, though not in the same peppy way her friends sounded. More like¡­ someone genuinely enjoying themselves. "Well, introductions are unnecessary, seeing as I¡¯m only here to offer you a choice and then deliver you to your new home. So let me start everything with a simple question: do you want to pass into an afterlife, or do you wish to live again?" So she was dead? "Yes. Yes, you are. So what is your answer, little one?" Well, if she had a choice, then obviously, she¡¯d live again. The afterlife sounded like it¡¯d be boring. And how did it even work? Wilona didn¡¯t want to find out. She was more curious about what this "new life" entailed. And why was she being given one? If she could tilt her head, she would have. "Why a new life? It¡¯s simple, really¡ªwe think you¡¯re the perfect candidate for reincarnation. There are few who share your particular set of traits, so the choice is given. Move on and rest until reincarnation¡­ or live again, in a different world." Hmm... But wasn¡¯t the new world dangerous? "Nope. Well, it is," the voice chuckled, the sound vibrating everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "But don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll ensure your new life will be much easier to adjust to. Consider it compensation for what we will ask of you. And if you do well, you may even become powerful enough to live for a few centuries!" A longer lifespan? Now that was an interesting prospect. Wait¡ªwhat about her family? "You cannot go back to your original world, sadly. They are grieving, and only fate will decide how they move forward." Wilona wanted to frown. Seriously? That was kind of stupid. "It¡¯s not like you can help them, dear. Don¡¯t you know that you are already dead? What can you realistically do?" Ah. There it was. That peppiness. Now the voice reminded her of her friends, which was¡­ unnerving. She processed what had happened. She didn¡¯t cry¡ªactually, it felt like she couldn¡¯t cry. But what was the difference? Either way, the reality remained the same: she was dead. And the dead had no agency. Alright then. Wilona accepted the offer. "Great!" The voice rang out, bright and eager. "You will be transferred shortly. Good luck!" --- Wilona blinked. She gasped and reached for her chest, fingers grasping fabric¡ªbut instead of the smoothness of her uniform, she felt¡­ cotton? Looking down, she took in the simple cotton shirt. Not exactly high quality, but at least it was clean. For now. Who knew how long that would last? She wasn¡¯t even sure if that dream¡ªor whatever it was¡ªhad been real. Well, obviously, it was. "Get your head together," she muttered, slapping her cheeks. "You died¡­ And¡­" She shut her eyes. It was kind of hard to accept, now that she was here. Swallowing her emotions, she forced herself to say it out loud. "...And got given a second chance." And what a second chance this was. She was in a swamp. Dry land, thankfully. She still had a backpack¡ªwell, more like a satchel. It was made of leather, bigger than her usual knapsack, and filled with useful things. She dug inside and pulled out a weapon. Her mind wanted to call it a knife, but "knife" meant something from a kitchen, right? Flat back, slanted body. That kind of knife. This was more of a dagger. Besides that, she had extra clothes¡ªsimilar to what she was wearing now¡ªsome food, water, and a small leather bag containing soap, a bone-like toothbrush, and charcoal dust. Oh, and a towel. Well. That was nice, at least. Chapter 2 Wilona was at a complete loss. For one, she had just suddenly found herself stranded on a tiny island surrounded by murky swamp water. And two, why was she even here? Was there a reason? A grand purpose? Should she have just, oh, taken the afterlife instead? "I really wish I knew what I was doing right now," she muttered, frowning. Her expression quickly shifted into confusion as a transparent blue box popped up in front of her. The words weren''t in English, yet she understood them perfectly. [New Quest! - Figure Things Out.] [Quest Type: Encouragement] [Reward: Recipe Book] ["Ok no! You''re in a new world and now you don''t know what to do! Start by opening your status screen and you should be able to figure things out from there! Good luck!"] Wilona blinked. Was¡ªwas this a reply to her complaint just now? Was someone listening? She tilted her head back to stare at the sky. "Uh, I''d like to go back to that place, actually? I really don''t want this. Maybe you can transfer me to the afterlife instead?" Silence. Wilona sighed, her shoulders slumping. Well, that was disappointing. She clicked her tongue and cursed her past self for whatever cosmic mistake had led to this moment. "Guess I''m stuck here." With nothing else to do, she decided to test something. The blue box had appeared when she spoke, so maybe... "Status screen?" [Charges:] Soul (1) Mind (1) Instinct (1) [Professions] N/A [Pending Quests] Figure Things Out! (Completed!) Before she could even process what any of that meant, a book materialized out of nowhere and nearly brained her. Wilona let out an undignified yelp and barely dodged in time. The book thudded onto the damp ground, looking all too smug about its near-murder attempt. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. She eyed the malicious object warily before cautiously reaching out. The moment her fingers brushed the leather cover, she jerked her hand back. "So this is all real?.." Her grip tightened around the book as she pulled it toward her. "What the hell?" Sure, the whole "being teleported" thing should have been proof enough. And the floating blue boxes? Also weird. But her brain had been happy to write it all off as some kind of hallucination. Now, though? Hallucinations didn''t drop solid, physical books into your lap. "Ugh." Wilona groaned, rubbing her face. "Fine. Guess this is all real." With a resigned sigh, she turned back to the status screen. The [Charges] section had words with numbers beside them¡ªprobably something she could "charge," whatever that meant. But what did it actually do? Was it safe? Would she, like, explode if she charged her soul too much? The [Professions] section was blank, which felt vaguely insulting. Wilona frowned. The word "profession" usually meant a job, right? Did this thing just expect her to pick one? Or did it mean something else? Maybe it was more about being an "expert" at something? As if in response to her thoughts, another blue box appeared. [New Quest! - Professions? I Don''t Even Know Er!] [Quest Type: Encouragement] [Reward: Lesser Magic Item] ["Well, it looks like you discovered yet another part of the system! If you wish to earn a very special reward, you should find out what this is!"] Wilona''s brain screeched to a halt. Special reward?.. Lesser magic item?.. Magic?? She inhaled sharply, excitement sparking in her eyes. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!" The fact that magic existed here hadn''t fully hit her until now. She really should have figured it out sooner¡ªshe got revived, teleported, and handed a book from thin air! But, well, better late than never. Alright, focus. Magic later. Right now, she needed to figure out what "profession" meant in the system. Professional... professional what? Engineer? Assassin? All of those were jobs, which meant people had to be skilled at them... Did professional survivalists exist? They totally did, right? She¡¯d seen them on TikTok! And sure, short-form content might have been brain rot, but it was trustworthy brain rot. Okay, so, how does one become a professional survivalist? "...By making a spear?" she guessed, with the confidence of a turtle challenging a hawk. "Maybe?" It was the best idea she had, so Wilona went with it. The swamp had plenty of resources¡ªlong stalks of reed, fallen branches within reach, and a lot of other vaguely plant-y things she didn¡¯t know the names of. She started with the reeds, picking the toughest ones and slicing them with her dagger. The branch was trickier. She grabbed hold and tugged, but it was too strong to snap. That didn''t stop her from shaking it around wildly until she heard a crack¡ª And promptly fell on her ass when it came loose. But hey! A branch! Grinning, she retrieved her bag and got to work. Her dagger was surprisingly sharp, peeling away the wood with ease. It didn¡¯t take long before she was holding something resembling a primitive spear. She checked her status. Nothing. Frowning, she tried improving it. She grabbed the reeds, tied them around the shaft¡ªstill nothing. Wilona groaned, glaring at her handiwork. What was she missing? Maybe a real spear needed a proper spearhead? Like a stone tip? Right. How did people even make those? She scoured her brain for an answer and¡ªaha! Stone knapping! Cavemen used to bash rocks together until they got sharp fragments. Could she do that? Only one way to find out. Wilona started looking for rocks but got distracted by... were those eyes in the water? A fish lunged at her. She leaped back with a yelp, barely dodging its snapping jaws. It had the head of an alligator¡ªoh, a gar! Brain rot saved her again. If she remembered correctly, these things had scales tough enough to deflect bullets. Which gave her an idea. What if she made it bite a rock? If its jaws were strong enough to ignore gunshots, surely they could crack a stone, right? She tested the theory. The gar chomped down, and the rock split apart in a single bite. Wilona gleefully scooped up the sharp fragments. "Thanks," she told the fish, before grabbing its tail. "You can go back to the water now." After dragging the gar back to safety, she returned to her project. She removed the old reed bindings, cut fresh ones, and carefully tied a sharp stone to the end of her stick. The moment she held it up to inspect her work¡ª A new prompt appeared. [Professions] Survivalist [Novice] Crafting Wilona barely paid attention to the rest of her status before checking the quest. It was now marked completed, and her reward was... [Lesser Ring of Resistance] This time, she was ready. As the ring dropped from the sky, she caught it smoothly. Who knew where it would¡¯ve ended up if she¡¯d missed? Chapter 3 Wilona slipped the ring onto her finger and felt... nothing. Well, that was a letdown. Whatever magic this thing held, it must be some kind of passive effect that didn¡¯t make itself immediately obvious. She could try to figure it out, but honestly? She¡¯d rather let it sit there and kick in when it mattered. She glanced down at her clothes¡ªcoated in mud, soaked through, and clinging to her like a second, much filthier skin. Should she laugh or cry? A bar of soap was buried somewhere in her bag, but then again, so was a pouch of charcoal dust. Why the hell did she even have that? The only thing that came to mind was... toothpaste? That didn¡¯t make sense. Did it? Shaking away the thought, she slung her bag over her shoulder and eyed the murky water. No sign of fish. No sign of movement. The gar from earlier had probably left, which meant it was safe. Probably. Leeches, bacteria, parasites¡ªall still very much a thing, though. Not exactly safe. But maybe that¡¯s what the [Ring of Resistance] was for? The name sure sounded like it had some built-in immunity to the grossest parts of swamp life. Wading through waist-high water sucked. Wilona had never realized just how exhausting moving through a swamp could be. At least her satchel stayed dry. Silver linings. No sign of leeches yet, which was also a win, but she wasn¡¯t about to get too hopeful. Then came the rocks. After the second time she nearly ate shit, she decided to stick to the walls. Now, every time she tripped, she grabbed an exposed tree root, steadied herself, and kept going. The water was still, no currents to fight against, which helped, but it was murky as hell. And probably teeming with disease. Something moved. Wilona¡¯s grip on her spear tightened. Whatever was in there, she wouldn¡¯t last long against it in the water. And in a fantasy world? Who even knew what kind of swamp horrors could exist? Not sticking around to find out. She hurled her satchel over the ledge, hoping it landed on solid ground, then grabbed the nearest root and hauled herself up. It was an effort and a half, but with adrenaline fueling her muscles and panic snapping at her heels, she scrambled onto dry land. A sharp sting shot through her palm. She hissed in pain, flipping her hand over to inspect the damage¡ªa tiny drop of red against the brown mud coating her skin. Great. Just great. Infection was a death sentence out here. But the [Ring of Resistance] had to help, right? ¡°It has to be that,¡± she muttered, needing to believe it. ¡°Why else would it be given to me after I got the survivalist profession?¡± A single infection could be fatal out here. ¡°Yeah. It makes sense. A magical ring that prevents that kinda thing. Totally logical. Yep.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. She also had a swamp-themed recipe book from earlier, which seemed oddly specific. Everything she was getting pointed to survival in this godforsaken place. Wilona trudged forward through the drier parts of the swamp, cursing herself for not taking this route from the start. Sure, the plants were annoying, mosquitoes were everywhere, and sometimes the ground turned into a slippery mess of loose soil, but at least there weren¡¯t water monsters trying to kill her. Naturally, she jinxed herself. Because of course she did. She froze. A massive snake slithered through the mud. Slithered? Crawled? Whatever. It was big. Too big. She couldn¡¯t see its full length, but if she had to guess, it was at least twice as long as she was tall. Its head was an unsettling, malformed circle, and its jagged scales looked more like armor than skin. A forked tongue flickered out, trembling before vanishing behind lipless jaws. Wilona¡¯s grip tightened on her spear. She¡¯d seen videos of people grabbing snakes by the neck in the Everglades. She¡¯d also seen videos of those same snakes thrashing violently, fangs bared. And looking at this one¡¯s scales? Yeah. No. Detour it was. She backed away, keeping her eyes on the snake, praying it had no interest in her. Hopefully. Still, paranoia gnawed at her. Every few steps, she glanced back, half-expecting it to be silently stalking her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Nothing. Somehow, that was worse. The land split ahead, forcing her to cross another stretch of water. Great. Just great. No choice. Swallowing her fear, she stepped in, wading as fast as she could. Every ripple sent her heart hammering. Her mind spun with images of unseen creatures lunging from the depths, coiling around her legs, dragging her under. Nothing happened. Still, she stuck her tongue out at the water before moving on. Take that. Then she stopped. ¡°¡­Why am I even walking?¡± She¡¯d started moving to get away from the spot she woke up in, but now? ¡°¡­Shelter. I should find shelter.¡± As if in response, a quest notification popped up. [New Quest! - Finding Shelter] [Quest Type: Encouragement] [Rewards: Cub Scout Survival Book] ["Your journey into this new world begins here! And unless you''re a nomad who prefers to move from spot to spot, you''re gonna need a place you can call home. Find something¡ªa nook, a flat piece of land, or the hollow stump of a tree¡ªand turn it into your house!"] ¡°¡­Cub Scout Survival Book,¡± she muttered. It was giving her books from Earth? ¡°Can I choose which books I get?¡± she asked the sky. ¡­No answer. Well, that was an answer in itself. If she could pick, she would¡¯ve been offered a choice back in her first quest. Sucked, but what could she do? She kept moving. The sun kept moving, too. Noon came, turning the air stifling, the humidity thick and oppressive. Birds sang. Frogs croaked. Time blurred. Afternoon rolled in, and Wilona was ready to scream. Just how big was this damn swamp? It felt like she¡¯d been walking forever, and her legs ached with every step. As evening fell, panic settled in. She was losing sunlight. Still no shelter. Under the canopy of a massive tree, she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back frustrated tears. ¡°No, no. Everything is fine,¡± she whispered. ¡°I just need to¡­ use magic? But how do I do that?¡± She inhaled deeply. Magic¡ªwhat was it? On TV, it had systems, rules, but at its core¡­ it just happened. A caster willed the elements to obey. Wilona opened her palm, picturing a sphere of light floating above it. Pain shot through her hand. She winced¡ªoh. Right. The wound. With a sigh, she opened her status screen to check. She blinked. Tried again. This time, with open eyes. A tiny orb of light flickered to life above her palm. Holy shit. With that, she pressed forward through the night. Eventually, she found a hollow tree stump, wasted no time diving in, and ignored her quest bar. Rewards could wait. She summoned her light again to check her surroundings. A skeleton sat beside her. She screamed. Chapter 4 Wilona stopped screaming and pushed herself off of the skeleton. She crawled in panic, putting distance between her and the undead... Oh, it''s not actually alive. Wilona stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, that''s that," she murmured. Good thing no one saw what just happened. "Okay, so a skeleton." She didn''t want to use a tone that felt like she was used to seeing a long-dead body every day, but she thought she had to for sanity''s sake. Whoever this was, they had died long before she came to this world. They had been here for years, or at least long enough that they had no more flesh. Insects must have eaten it, now that Wilona thought about it, and that made some small amount of sense to her since the skeleton had a decent-looking cloak on it. Bravely, Wilona got close to the cadaver and opened up its cloak. She saw a leather chest piece without a single sign of damage. Well, there were chunks bitten out of it, but still, it might as well be pristine when one thinks about the history of its wearer and how it could have potentially gotten here. And how did the guy die? Girl? Whatever. Regardless of its name, purpose, or memory of when it was alive, the skeleton still died here. Probably quivering in fear as the mortal wound that was slowly killing them leeched away their health. The thought reminded Wilona of her own death, one that she didn''t even have time to process, and she wondered what was worse¡ªa death that is instant or one that''s slow? Gods should exist here, right? And people believe in them no matter the technological state. This person must have had time to pray for their own health. Before Wilona knew it, she had carried the corpse out of the hollow tree. She placed it on the ground gently and moved to grab her spear. The sharpened tip struck the earth. Or maybe repent for their sins. However brutal they may have been in life, they must have begun to regret it as their mortality drew near. Wilona wasn''t the kind of person to support criminals, but there''s a chance this person must have been just an adventurer, and maybe their sins only consisted of something simple, like killing monsters. The earth broke apart with every strike it met. Wilona kept going. It was still quite shallow. She''d been in multiple funerals in the past, some of whom were for the parents or relatives of friends she parted with after reaching high school. The grave needed to be deep. Or maybe reflect on their actions. Whatever they may have meant to the corpse or those the actions reflected, they were still something. Maybe some even made an impact. Wilona didn''t know this. She only knew of the disrespect such a death gave to the corpse. She dug, this time using her much stronger dagger to break apart the loamy earth. She was close now. Just one more layer, and she could make a proper grave. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. They must have relived memories. Lots of them. If this person was an adult, they must have made multiple connections over the course of their life, and that''s not counting the family that must have been disappointed that they never got to go home. This particular thought broke Wilona''s heart even more. Wilona went back up. The soil must have loosened under her grip several times during her attempts at escaping the grave she dug, but she eventually succeeded at getting out through repeated tries alone. Wilona eyed the corpse. It hadn''t moved still. She felt scared at first. When the grave got deep enough that she couldn''t just escape it easily, she thought that it was her who was going to get buried, but that didn''t happen, thankfully, and the skeleton was just a normal dead body. Shuddering, Wilona picked up the skeleton in a princess carry and gently lowered it into the grave. She hopped down on it for the second time, but she thought the risk was worth it for the sake of the person whom she was burying before they were alive. Soil soon piled up into the grave, filling it bit by bit. Wilona wondered how much mana her little light spell produced and whether or not it had an unlimited timer as she continued on with the burial. When it was finished, she created a cross-shaped marker by tying branches together using vines. With everything now done, Wilona fell down to the ground and curled into a horizontal ball. Her legs got pulled to her chest, and her forehead rested on top of her knees. What is going on back on Earth right now? She hoped that her parents were still safe, her siblings too. Wilona got up and wiped her eyes. "Drivers," she spat. "How the hell do they have a license if they don''t know how to drive?" A part of her, just a tiny part, was happy that there was an even bigger chance that the moron who killed her was also now dead. Serves him right. They both could have lived, but he had to act like a dumbass. Wilona went back to the tree. She didn''t feel like resting at the moment. Her mind was too preoccupied with what happened to her back on Earth. She''d only get insomnia if she forced herself to sleep like this. Naturally, she checked her system. She''d been creating a ball of light on top of her palms now. Magic was something she''d never done before, but apparently, she was a natural at it. She didn''t know if it was because she had a system to help her or what, but she could cast spells. Charges: Soul [1] Mind [1] Instinct [1] Professions: Survivalist [Novice] Primitive Crafting Exploring Warlockdom [Novice] Orb of Light Pending Quests: Bury the Dead! (Completed!) Finding Shelter. (Completed!) A book fell onto Wilona''s lap when she opened her status screen. "It actually is a Cub Scout''s survival book, huh?" Wilona lifted the guidebook to eye level. "Weird. Now where''s the other reward?" Wilona didn''t see it anywhere near her, so she checked her system and opened the quest. [Completed - Bury the Dead!] [Quest Type: Ingredient] [Rewards: 2x Charge] ["You have found a dead body! One which has been killed unjustly while staving off the evils of the world, it is up to you to bury them and give them a peaceful slumber."] Now, what did charges mean? Wilona still hadn''t figured that thing out, but she at least recognized it. She backtracked and found the relevant part of her status screen staring at her. "Charges..." She tapped her cheek, coloring it with mud from her fingers. "What are you?" She could obviously place the charges in the three categories available to her. But between Soul, Mind, and Instinct, which one was her best bet? She honestly wasn''t sure, so she placed one charge on [Instinct] and another on [Soul] to see what they would do. Instinct should be much more physical, right? Or maybe it isn''t? She hated this lack of information, honestly. Why didn''t she get an explanation for how all of this worked? A wave of tiredness washed over Wilona, and her eyes began to droop. Her body slumped and slowly slid downward. When her shoulder met the ground, her consciousness disappeared, and she was suddenly in a new world. Bright light struck her vision, but she couldn''t move her arms to cover her eyes. ... Where? There was a being in front of her¡ªwell, someone. They looked human, but green and with horns? Ram horns? Maybe? Her vision was too hazy to see them clearly. They said something, a lot of things. The only word that Wilona understood was "congratulations." Wilona woke up, and everything that happened in her sleep disappeared like freezing mist under the morning sun. Chapter 5 Wilona rubbed her eyes. She expected to have some kind of sleep problem last night, but apparently, putting charges into her stats made her feel drowsy. Actually, no¡ªit skipped past drowsiness and just put her unconscious. She got up and forced her protesting body to accept the fact that she had fallen asleep in the dirt. One hand reached out for her unkempt hair, and she decided then that her living situation needed to be improved if she was going to continue living around here. She checked her system and confirmed that, yep, she had an extra thing below her Survivalist profession. Charges: Soul [2] Mind [1] Instinct [2] Professions: Survivalist [Novice] *Primitive Crafting *Exploring Warlockdom [Novice] *Orb of Light The word "crafting" only really had one meaning in her eyes, and that was to make something using materials. The "primitive" behind this one implied that she could only use materials found in the wild, but you know what? Wilona thought that was fine¡ªshe didn¡¯t mind. The other thing was Warlockdom? What did that mean? She wasn¡¯t familiar with any magic mumbo jumbo, so the meaning behind the damn thing was completely lost to her. But hey, it was magic, so who was she to complain? "Orb of Light" made sense to her, too¡ªshe had used it last night, even. "Eh," Wilona shrugged and closed her system. Magic wasn¡¯t all that complicated now that she had used it. It required more imagination than she expected, but that wasn¡¯t an issue¡ªshe¡¯d always been quite creative. She even drew occasionally. Alright, where was she?¡ªMaking improvements to her home, right. There wasn¡¯t much she could realistically do at the moment, but she could try to figure something out. A bed would be a good start, and maybe some doors? A place to take a shower and take care of her hair? A comb? Yeah, a comb sounded nice. Two new quests greeted her when she stepped out of her humble home. [New Quest! - A Good Home!] [Quest Type: Encouragement] [Rewards: Wilderness Survival Kit] ["It is now your second day, and it seems like you have found yourself a place to stay in! How about you make it more comfortable for yourself? It looks like it has the potential to be a good house if you just treat it well; make a bed, cover the entrance, and dig a fire pit!"] [New Quest! - Magic is Quite Versatile!] If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. [Quest Type: Ingredient] [Rewards: Magical Seeds] ["So you¡¯re finally digging into the more esoteric aspects of the world you have found yourself in? Do you find it fascinating? It is quite interesting. Discover more aspects of it and cast a new spell!"] The two quests gave pretty good rewards in Wilona''s opinion. The first one gave her a wilderness survival kit, and the other gave her magical seeds. Both rewards didn¡¯t really explain what they were just from their names alone, but they were also self-explanatory. A survival kit and a bunch of seeds that had magic. And in exchange for them, she needed to cast another spell and make some improvements to her house. The second one was hard but doable. Making a bed was easy enough¡ªshe had spare clothes she could probably fill with leaves, and that would be the end of it. Covering the entrance of the tree stump, too¡ªthat was just piling a bunch of leaves on top of some branches. And the fire pit? Well, she had already dug a grave last night, so how hard could a fire pit really be? First things first, though¡ªshe wanted to use another spell and see what these "magic seeds" were. Wilona was also just generally curious about what she could do with magic now that she was capable of it. And even though she was very excited for all the possibilities magic could bring, the one thing she ended up doing was testing if she could clean the waters of the swamp. Why? Because she didn¡¯t want to use some stupid survival method¡ªthat the Cub Scouts'' guidebook undoubtedly had¡ªto manually clean the water when she could just do it using magic. Hell, maybe she could even light her campfire with some fireball spell or something? That¡¯d be cool. For now, Wilona went ahead with her first plan and got close to the deeper parts of the swamp. She bent down once she could reach the surface and dipped her hands in it. She tried to repeat what had happened last night and imagined the water becoming clean. Something tingled in her hand, it went out her palms, and it warmed the water around her skin. A bit of clarity came and cleared the murk. Everything underneath all the debris became visible, and Wilona saw grass, rocks, and a pair of eyes. She jumped back and started crawling¡ª"You again!" Wilona screamed at the alligator gar as it flopped its way across the wetland. She kicked its head but stopped when the fish made attempts at trying to bite it. "Why do you keep chasing me?!" Wilona pushed herself off the ground and used her newfound stability to walk away from the damn thing! Stupid fish¡ªshe was sure it was the same one that had attacked her the first time. "I¡¯m not gonna drag you back into the water, you know?!" The fish stopped flopping and let out a... sigh? Before turning around and, with its best attempt at slithering like a snake, headed back for the water. It disappeared from Wilona''s view moments later. Wilona couldn¡¯t help but blink in the aftermath. She wasn¡¯t going insane, was she? Did the fish understand what she was saying just now? She put the strange encounter at the back of her mind and headed out. So what if the fish could understand languages? That wasn¡¯t the strangest thing she¡¯d seen after coming here. She could do magic now too, so a talking fish was kind of part of the norm now?.. Convincing herself that it was normal to see a (potentially) talking fish existing aside, Wilona wanted to see what the magical seeds were now that she had finished her quest. When she went back to her tree trunk, she completed the quest and looked at the tiny pouch that fell from above. It was full of tiny little crystals in the shape of an oval. Wilona had no idea what any of them were. She closed the pouch and placed it next to her bag. She clapped her hands. "Well then! A bed!" Made of leaves. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable thing Wilona had ever slept in, but it was good enough for her. She also had to use an extra shirt just to make it, but eh, it was a pretty good investment. Oh, and she discovered that her new spell, "Purify," could actually work on things that weren¡¯t water. A pile of leaves could be cleaned by the spell just as easily as a murky swamp lake. For covering the entrance, Wilona settled on destroying a pair of pants. They did the job pretty well, oddly enough, and she also got to confirm that ripping them wasn¡¯t a waste because she completed her quest after digging the fire pit. The survival kit that the quest rewarded her wasn¡¯t modernized like she had thought it would be. Instead, it was some kind of bag full of jars, a book about herbs, another knife, a canteen of water, and a bit of jerky. The jerky was dry and unappetizing. She didn¡¯t like it. The survival kit was left next to her satchel¡ªit wasn¡¯t as useful as Wilona had thought it would be. But... the jars could be used, definitely. "Now what do I do next?" Wilona asked herself, waiting for a quest to pop up. The one that appeared was pretty shocking. It definitely beat the time she sat next to a skeleton, that¡¯s for damn sure. [New Quest! - Shrine of Rebirth] [Quest Type: Prophetic] [Rewards: Lesser Emissary of the Goddess of Fertility and Rebirth] ["A Goddess has taken notice of you after you buried the corpse of the person you found! Now she wishes to aid you in your journey. If you accept her book, make a shrine around your home. A dirt mound surrounded by rocks should be fine¡ªjust plant one of the magical seeds given to you, and she will do the rest!"] Chapter 6 Wilona stared at the quest. A shrine? How does she make something like that? She read it again and frowned. Is a mound of dirt even gonna get accepted by a Goddess? That feels like the biggest disrespect she can give to a deity, honestly. What the hell is her system thinking? She decided to trust what the quest was saying anyway. Like, it isn''t going to hurt her or anything. She knows that. But maybe a bit of distrust is needed for the damn thing. Seriously, a mound of dirt? Wilona can read between the lines and find the implication that the seed she''ll plant will magically sprout or whatever, but seriously! Why does she have to work with dirt?! Wilona took a deep breath. "It''s fine, you''ve been swimming through mud anyway," she said while squaring her shoulders. "Okay¡ªokay. It''s just dirt under my nails, even though I don''t have a damn nail cutter or a cuticle pusher." Wilona gritted her teeth. "It''s fine! Really!" Wait, maybe using Purify on them would work? Huh. Wilona placed her hand on top of her other one and used the spell. Sure enough, she felt the accumulated dust on her skin wash away under some unseen pressure. Glad that she didn''t actually have to spend a lot of time cleaning her nails after the task¡ªbut then again, a pedicure would be nice¡ªWilona left her tree stump to make a dirt mound somewhere around her home. She picked a place that had way too much sun and made a dirt mound there. It was around two feet tall or something. She''s not good at eyeing these kinds of things, honestly. Instead of planting the seed right away, Wilona decided to add a bit of flair to the would-be shrine because goddamn it, she couldn''t stand looking at a dirt mound every single morning! She grabbed some branches and gave the mound some horns. The smaller ones became a crown around the head. A pile of wet leaves she gathered became a carpet around the mound as well as a dress for it. In the end, it looked more like some weird horned blob with a crown made of sticks and a leafy dress, which went past its feet and touched the ground. To finish it all off, Wilona brought one of the magical seeds over to the mound and planted it on its head, right at the center of the crown. Dirt moved on its own to bury the seed, which got buried deeper into the shrine''s head. Vine-like roots emerged from the spot where the seed was planted and started to crawl along the mound. They coiled around the horns, infested the crown, and grew over the leaves. After reaching the earth surrounding the mound, the roots began to grow leaves of their own. A form-fitting dress grew over the one Wilona made, and thorns populated the crown she had placed, but it strangely did not take over the entire thing. Two glowing fruits emerged from where the face of the mound would be, as well as the horns, which now sported fruits hanging from twirling vines growing along the surface of the wood. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The shrine was now finished, and Wilona waited for something to talk to her, but... nothing came? Wilona frowned. She thought she was more special than to get ghosted by one of this world''s goddesses. Damn. Instead of sulking on it¡ªwhy does she care about some random goddess anyway?¡ªWilona opened her status screen and waited for the reward of the quest to pop up. Lesser Emissary of the Goddess of Fertility and Rebirth is what it said. Well, if she can''t talk to the goddess directly, then maybe an emissary can? Something fell from the skies; a clump of... something fuzzy. Wilona thought it was some kind of dog at first, but then she saw long tendrils pop out of the fur. The worms? started to penetrate the ground, and the soil quickly loosened from their efforts. The ball of fuzz fell into a miniature sinkhole and got consumed by mud moments later. What? What just happened? Wilona rubbed her arms. She could still feel the goosebumps growing on her skin at the sight of the damn thing. What was it anyway? Some kind of creature? "Hello?" Wilona placed her hand behind her back in a nervous habit. She looked around with apprehension, searching for the emissary. Maybe she didn''t want to talk to this thing''s boss after all. Wilona''s first impression of the goddess was a bit... creepy. She got the ick from it, honestly. Whatever that ball was. "Hello!" Wilona flinched and instinctively formed a ball of light on top of her hand. She was ready to throw this thing if it came down to it! "Where are you?!" "Well, I''m everywhere, or at least I''d prefer that to be the case." Did the voice sound girly, or were Wilona''s ears tricking her right now? "I''m a mushroom, see, and I''m setting up my mycelium. Uhm, I''m a Myceloid, nice to meet you." "That''s your name?" Wilona thought it was ugly. "Really?" "I''m a Myceloid," the mushroom? She guessed? Emphasized. A huff came out of nowhere, and Wilona wondered how the thing could have done it. "As for names... Hm, my goddess is about to give me one, so if you just wait a little while longer, I''ll introduce myself to you." "How about Fuzz?" Wilona blurted out. She heard a girlish giggle come out of the sky. "Yes... Fuzz, that''s my name now, I guess." The Myceloid said with another mysterious sigh. Seriously, how is it doing that? "Nice to meet you?..." "Wilona," replied the girl. She reached a hand out but quickly pulled it back. Wilona let out a breath of relief. "I''m glad to finally have someone to talk to, you know? So what do you do?" "I''m here to help," answered Fuzz. "However you need me, I''m here. And no, just because I don''t have arms doesn''t mean I can''t help you. Uh... Just wait until I set up my shrooms, yeah? I''ll be able to go around and do things..." "How long will that take?" Wilona asked, genuinely curious how this alien would do things biologically. Like, this is an alien though, right? That''s kinda tight. "You''re kinda tight." "What?" "It means you''re cool." Wilona nodded. She was willing to teach her new friend new words, honestly. "Do you need me to, like, put some leaves around you or something? That''s what mushrooms eat, right? Rotting stuff?" "Yes...? But I don''t see how you can possibly help me out right now," Fuzz answered. "I am still spreading my mycelium, and I cannot realistically produce spores which will help in digesting the stuff you will give me. You need to wait for me to start growing along the surface of the earth; otherwise, I won''t be able to reach the things you''ll give me." "Eh, fair enough," Wilona shrugged. "Wanna talk about things while I wait for another quest? I''m sure we both have something interesting to tell each other, right? I''m kinda interested in knowing what heaven''s like. I''ll tell you about Earth in exchange!" "Okay." "Great!" Wilona grinned. "So what''s it like up there? Is it cool? Is it hot? Maybe something in between? I''m guessing you''re probably not some kind of demon since you seem kinda chill, so, like, the place you came from isn''t so bad, right? Everyone''s in a good mood?" "You''re asking this because you''re curious if you made the wrong choice by coming here," Fuzz said with a deadpan tone. "Spot on!" Wilona shamelessly replied with a snap of her fingers. "So, what''s it like?" Fuzz sighed. Chapter 7 A quest popped up just as Wilona finished talking. It was another one of those encouragement types, and this time, it was telling her to start making some things out of leaves and grass¡ªsticks to make racks, tougher rope by drying out some leaves and knotting them together, and then weaving fibers to make baskets or whatever else she thought she needed. [New Quest! - A Comfortable Home] [Quest Type: Encouragement] [Rewards: Cooking Pot, Frying Pan, Bowls] "Looks like you have finally managed to set up the foundations of a proper home! Now it is up to you to ensure that your time there is as comfortable as it can reasonably get! Start crafting some useful furniture!" "Right," Wilona sighed and stood up. "What''s up with this system thing anyway?" she asked Fuzz. "I feel like it''s listening to me all the time to give me quests." "It is," Fuzz confirmed. "But it is not really alive in the same way we are. It''s rudimentary at best, and at worst, it''s some basic mind that understands your feelings to give you appropriate encouragement to do things." "Mmmmm..." Wilona hummed. That made sense. "Does it also know what needs to be done whenever I''m doing something?" "Yes, it does," Fuzz answered. "That''s what makes it so useful¡ªbeyond the easy access to power the system gives its users, of course." "Ah, got it. I''m gonna go now, by the way. I, uh, need to do something. Start weaving, maybe?" Wilona thought that her survivalist profession would be useful for that in particular. "The rewards this time are actually pretty good. Some cooking pots? I want those. Well, goodbye now." "I''ll see you around," Fuzz replied from somewhere beneath the earth. Wilona gathered all the things she needed for this task. Branches were collected from beneath trees¡ªthere were a lot of them, honestly. It was kind of shocking. Reeds were cut, some plants turned bald thanks to her knife, and she also cut the ones with longer leaves so she could start weaving them. The shorter plants would be left to dry since she''d tie them together anyway. Once everything was collected, Wilona sat around the pile she had made, which was, expectedly, near the area where Fuzz had spawned. She wanted someone to talk to while making things. The rack was weirdly easy to make, but weaving wasn''t. Not because she couldn''t do it, but because it would take a while to finish. So she might as well have someone to talk to. "Earth is actually pretty interesting," Wilona said, seemingly to herself. "We didn''t have racks there, as far as I''m aware. Actually, the three racks I made were the first time I even saw something like that before." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Is Earth that advanced?" Fuzz rhetorically asked. "I knew that the world you came from had more developed technology compared to other places, especially in terms of communication, entertainment, and weaponry, but you guys also had plenty of comfort?" "Yep." Wilona went into silent focus as she passed the head of a leaf under several crisscrossing pieces. "We basically had technology to do the work for us. It could clean for us, cook for us, start a fire for us, prepare a bath for us... or just do a lot of things, honestly." "Humans still manned them?" "Eh, sometimes. Well, always, since A.I. isn''t really that good in my world at the moment. But yeah, it only takes a little bit of human effort to do things. The rest is done by a washing machine or something. Maybe a coffee maker?" Wilona shrugged. There were plenty of examples, and those were just the ones that popped into her head. "That sounds convenient," Fuzz pointed out. "And too good to be true." "Oh, it definitely is¡ªon both things." Wilona''s grin had a painful edge to it that the myceloid could not quite place. "Uh, people still work, but thanks to factories, it kinda got harder to find jobs. Construction work also now only requires very few people, and since my world is more focused on earning income, only a small part of the population has money." "That last part¡ªthat is the most common way a human society develops. Nobles at the top, or some other special title, and peasants at the bottom," Fuzz argued. "Though I believe that everything else you said has a point, I think you''re also over-exaggerating the depravity of the ones leading you." "They make bad decisions, you know?" Wilona raised her eyebrow. What was Fuzz even talking about? Like she would downplay that sort of thing. "And kingdoms fall because a king goes mad for love, or revenge, or some other reason." Fuzz''s rebuttal caused Wilona to fall silent. "It is common, like I said." "I mean..." Wilona raised a finger and opened her mouth, then closed it again. No words came out. "Hm... Yeah, you''re right. It''s weird how I''m so hung up on that." "It''s because you were living in it." Fuzz''s tone was nonchalant, weirdly enough. "From the eyes of an outsider, however, they would think that it''s the same story over and over again. It gets quite boring." "History repeats itself, huh?.." Wilona muttered to herself. She hated to admit it, but the mushroom was making sense. And that was kind of insane, wasn''t it? She just lost an argument to a mushroom. Their topics became a lot tamer after that. They just talked about favorite foods, colors, opinions on certain things¡ªsame old, same old. Wilona would have found the entire thing boring if she hadn''t been talking to a mushroom, honestly. She had heard it all several times before¡ªher friends liked to rant, and they were very mouthy once they got going. Wilona finished making a basket eventually, but she didn''t stop there. She also decided to weave a pillowcase she could stuff with leaves. She purified it so she wouldn''t wake up with an itch and then made another one. And another. She decided that three pillows weren''t enough and made a mattress stuffed with leaves too. From morning to noon, she did nothing but weave. She also found out that the food in her satchel wasn''t to Fuzz''s liking. She was apparently a vegan who preferred rotting leaves instead of salted meat. Wilona didn¡¯t hate her for it. In fact, she was thankful to have more food to herself. She learned to make some clothes too, all with weaving. The shirt she made using leaves was a bit stiff, but Wilona thought it was pretty good if she just wore it on top of her regular clothes. Lastly, she decided to finish her quest by tying some dried leaves together to make rope. When she got her pot, frying pan, and bowls, Wilona thought she wanted to make something special for the occasion. She now had a mattress and a few pillows, after all! Oh, and a door too. She weaved a large-ish wall to cover the entrance because a torn pair of pants wouldn''t cut it. Pun intended. "Hey, Fuzz?" The mushroom answered with a rumbling hum. "Do you know any plants with good roots under them? Non-poisonous ones?" "You have a book about that, don''t you?" Fuzz replied with a quizzical tone of her own. "Oh yeah..." Wilona snapped her fingers and left for her tree stump. She had completely forgotten about the survival kit, honestly. She also had jars in there too, didn''t she? Those could be used to store food in. Neat. Now armed with her survival kit¡ªknife and all¡ªWilona left the vicinity of the tree to collect some roots. As it turned out, though, she didn''t have to go far because she found some pretty edible plants moments after leaving. She collected tiny leaves, roots, even a few bitter and spicy fruits. The latter were the size of her fingers and didn''t have much flesh to them, and Wilona remembered then that the fruits she enjoyed back on Earth? All of them were selectively bred for generations. Would she have to repeat that here? She hoped not. After going back to camp, Wilona sat down by Fuzz''s spot and asked her something. "Do you think I can fish something delicious from the swamp?" "You can try," the mushroom answered. "Are you sure about this, though?" "Yep," Wilona was already standing up. "I wanna eat fish!"