《Chained Destinies [Isekai] [LitRPG] [Harem]》 Prologue Thick black fog filled the air, stinging my eyeballs. Two armies, armed to the teeth prepared for battle as the fires from the previous battle raged on. My team and I stood by the side and watched as the disaster we started was snowballing into a cataclysm threatening to end the world. No, it is not right for me to drag my team into this. I was the one who was the cause of this. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± my love asked. I tried to maintain an expressionless face, as my eyes were fixed on the burning arena before us. ¡°What have I done?¡± ¡°This is not your fault. This is not any of our fault. It was inevitable,¡± she said. It was true. Tensions between the factions were at an all-time high and all it took was one man to break the dam and give the gods a reason to battle. ¡°No. I can¡¯t use that as an excuse and just stand by and watch,¡± I said. ¡°If you are going in. We are coming with you,¡± she said. ¡°Why?¡± I asked, as if I didn¡¯t already know the answer to that. ¡°We are in this together,¡± she said. I couldn¡¯t help but shed a tear which I wiped away instantly. ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± This was going to be the end of the journey for us. A journey that began decades ago, in another world, a very different world. *** There is no feeling quite like reaching the final boss of a game that you spent the last hundred hours immersed in. My character stepped through the portal, leading him down into the final room of the dungeon. Before him stood the shadow of a legendary warrior, Nitral, who had lost it all when he succumbed to the corruption. Nitral pulled out his sword and his health bar appeared onscreen. 107k. Geez! This thing is a monster. I paused the game and quickly navigated through the menu looking for his stats.
Health Attack Defense This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Speed Special Attack Special Defense SP
107K 35K 47K 25K 32K 43K 87K
Well, he is the final boss after all. I unpaused the game as I wiggled in my place, preparing myself for the fight. The floor of the room was coated black, probably of dried blood from the innumerable corpses littered throughout the room. All of them must have fallen to him and his gargantuan blade. He walked towards me, intimidatingly. Before lifting his sword high up. There was a pause in his action, purposefully done, which gave me time to hit the dodge button. I stepped sideways, away from the arc of the blade, but Nitral continued the swing by spinning around. Like in a dance, the blade began to strike me relentlessly. I was forced to switch to parrying it, something I was uncomfortable with. To escape from this, I was rolled away, trying to gain some distance. In that time, Nitral lunged forward and charged towards me like a knight on a horseback. By the time I recovered from the roll, he struck me and took a good chunk of my health with him. Fuck! This is going to take a while! Dodge, parry, swing, swing, swing, dodge, and dodge. Soon, I found myself the rhythm of the battle. But just as I was getting comfortable, the time gap of each opening began to reduce. Soon, I found myself frantically trying to get back into the rhythm but Nitral merciless beatdown continued. There was still half his health left when he dropped his armor, revealing his fucked-up face underneath the helmet. I knew right away that his speed was only going to increase, but I began to wonder if his defense was lowered. As he charged towards me, I cast a shockwave spell. It did little to hinder his attack but gave me a split-second window to dodge the attack just as it hit me. I was now behind him, I immediately swung my sword at him, creating a sizable dent in his health bar. Alright. New rhythm. I needed to time my stun attacks and for the most part, I managed to do so, however, every time I failed, I found myself inching towards a retry. Slowly but surely, I chipped away at his health bar until I locked into the finishing animation and bringing an end to the battle. Victory! *** My arms were stiff as cardboard and my back ached. I was hunched over, engrossed in the game so much that I had lost track of time completely. The game was finally over. A hundred and twenty-two hours of playtime finally concluded. It left me with great joy on seeing the bastard burn, but also sadness that I was back in reality as well. Speaking of which, what was I doing before this? I was sitting up straight on the mattress I called bed with nothing but a blanket over me. I looked to my left and saw Urvashi, huddled up and deep in sleep. Oh yeah. It was Friday night and Urvashi and I had drowned several bottles of beer before getting it on. Who is Urvashi you ask? Hmm... how do I explain this? She is my... mate? No. Friend? I guess... It is complicated. When she and I first met it was to put it in less vulgar terms, transactional. A forty-three-year-old desperate for money and I had a lot to burn. That was two years ago. A lot has changed since then. And now, it was going to change even more. In a way neither of us expected nor wanted, but something both would welcome with open arms. Chapter 1 - Just the two of us What time is it? I am not sure. The room had been plunged into darkness since forever. I had been so engaged in the game, whose final act was just completed, that I seemed to have completely lost track of time. I put the controller down and began to look for my phone, which seemed to have been lost in the shuffle. ¡°What...?¡± Urvashi said, her voice was gravelly. It seems like my little scuffle had woken her up. ¡°Sorry, dear. I was just looking for my phone,¡± I said. She pushed herself up from the bed and asked, ¡°What time is it?¡± Her eyes were only half open, still trying to adjust to the light from the TV screen. ¡°That is why I am looking for my phone. Where is that darn thing?¡± I said. She grunted dully and fell back onto the bed. Staring into the ceiling fan she said, ¡°Well it is still dark. Must be at least a few hours before you go to work.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Saturday, did you forget?¡± I said with a soft smile. ¡°Saturday?¡± She replied with a surprised look on her face. Her eyes wandered about the room for a while as she thought about something, before continuing, ¡°I came here on Wednesday, right?¡± I nodded. She hadn¡¯t left for three days. ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed, placing her left arm on her forehead. She immediately pulled back the arm and began looking at something beside her in the dark. Seconds later, she pulled out her phone. She pressed the power button, illuminating her face in white light but just a second later, turned off the screen and tossed the phone aside. ¡°No texts?¡± I asked with a pitiful look on my face. She fell silent, curling up into a ball. ¡°I think she found out.¡± The ¡®she¡± I was referring to, was her daughter. ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Maybe my beloved told her... that fuckface.¡± Her usually sharp voice was dull as a butterknife. ¡°We don¡¯t know that¡± I said. I had no idea why I was defending that bastard. She didn¡¯t reply. I tucked myself in beside her, looking into her eyes. ¡°Hi,¡± I said. ¡°Hi,¡± she replied dully. I placed my hand on her side, underneath her arm. The cold touch made her jerk slightly. With a gentle pull, I brought her closer. We were now an inch apart as our eyes met, gazing into one another. I smiled softly and said, ¡°You know what the solution to all your problems is?¡± Her lips twisted into a smile, more like a grin. ¡°My smile?¡± ¡°Of course. All problems vanish when you smile.¡± It was a cheesy as fuck line. But she almost always ate up any line I threw at her. She snorted. ¡°More like it disappears.¡± ¡°Is there a difference?¡± I asked. She sighed, almost as if admitting defeat. Her smile vanished replaced by a slight frown. ¡°I guess not. Detaching yourself from everyone might ultimately be the answer to happiness.¡± ¡°Or making new connections,¡± I said trying to correct her. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. She leaned in, shutting her eyes as she pressed her lips against mine. I felt her hot breath awaken me as if it was I, who had been asleep till now. We parted with a faint click before returning to where we started. ¡°Come on now. Let¡¯s play some games,¡± she said as she pushed herself off the bed. ¡°Now?¡± I asked, doing the same. She began arranging the pillows against the wall. Trying to make herself comfortable. ¡°I just finished the game,¡± I said. ¡°Great! How was it?¡± She asked. ¡°It was great. The ending was spectacular,¡± I replied. ¡°You can tell me all about it later. Let¡¯s play something that doesn¡¯t look like chess.¡± Urvashi wasn¡¯t exactly the patient type or the tactical type. Numbers didn¡¯t exactly excite her. Even when playing a third-person RPG, she prefers to hack away at the enemy slowly than understand the concept of leveling up and using items. As you might guess, she doesn¡¯t really make it that far into a game unless I guide her to do the other stuff. I too made myself comfortable beside her, though at this point I was exhausted to a point where I could barely keep my eyes open. I nevertheless decided to entertain her, even if it was only for a short while. ¡°What kind of game do you want to play then?¡± ¡°Something where I can cut or shoot the enemy down... what do you call it again?¡± ¡°Hack and slash?¡± I asked. ¡°No. The other one. It has only three letters.¡± ¡°RPG?¡± ¡°Yes! Or the other one.¡± ¡°FPS?¡± ¡°I am fine with that too.¡± Urvashi only ever played games for my sake. To be honest, I wonder why she even put in that much effort. She knows well I will do anything she wants at this point. She could just drop the act and reveal her true self. Or maybe she does want to be with me. Nah. I am just being too hopeful. ¡°I am not sure I have one you haven¡¯t already played...¡± I said as I began browsing my library. ¡°Well then, download something new. You are always buying new ones.¡± I snorted. I kept going down, hoping to find something interesting until I reached the dead end of the list. One hundred and forty-five games, not a bad collection, considering I have played them all. ¡°Well, it looks like we need to buy a new one.¡± ¡°Please buy something I would play. You should know my tastes by now,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, darling...¡± I replied. She put her hand around my shoulder and kissed me gently on my cheek. ¡°That¡¯s my boy!¡± Suddenly a new game popped up at the end of the list. It happened so suddenly, even though I was focused on it, I couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Did that last game just pop up?¡± I asked. ¡°I... think... so. Was it not there in your library before?¡± she asked. I leaned, with her still clinging to me, and read the title of the game. ¡°Nova¡­ Fantasia¡­ Never heard of that one before,¡± I said. ¡°Is it a new game?¡± ¡°Even if it was why would it be in my library? I clearly didn¡¯t buy it.¡± She grabbed onto both my shoulders and shook me. ¡°Maybe it is a virus!¡± I looked back at her with a surprised expression. ¡°Want to find out?¡± ¡°Do it!¡± she replied. We do the most random of things for no reason. In real life as well. The selector was already over the game, whose tile had a strange looking ouroboros symbol carved onto a wooden board. I clicked ¡®X¡¯ to select, and the screen went blank. Within mere seconds, the logo once again appeared on the screen before fading away. This was followed by the title of the game. There was no music or any sound. We were then greeted by a wall of text with the title on top saying, ¡°Terms of contract.¡± I immediately began scrolling down to the bottom of it. ¡°It should say something like I own your soul. That would be fun to see,¡± she said with a wide grin. ¡°Haha,¡± I fake laughed. I reached the end of the contract page where there was only one button to accept. Without a second thought, I clicked on it. Looking back now, I perhaps should have thought about it a little more. The screen went blank again. The two of us leaned in, anticipating what was going to happen next. White lines began to draw against a black background, glowing in the darkness of the room. The lines made no sense at first but soon began to take the shape of what looked like a circle. It had strange symbols on its rings, most of which I had never seen in my entire life. Eventually, the drawing stopped, and the middle of the circle began to collapse, making a vortex. The aura of vortex shone bright white, flooding the room and our eyes. ¡°Fuck. It is so bright!¡± She said, covering her eyes with her palm. ¡°I didn¡¯t know my TV could get so bright,¡± I replied. Suddenly, the wind began to flow, inwards, away from us and towards the TV. ¡°What the?¡± I exclaimed. I felt the tug, pulling me in and towards the TV. Urvashi screamed as the blanket that covered her was ripped from her and sucked into the TV. ¡°Karna! What the fuck is going on?¡± I began to slip, sliding towards the TV. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± I shouted. Urvashi began to scream as she was inching towards the TV. ¡°Take my hand!¡± I asked her as I reached for her. She grabbed onto my arm as her leg touched the screen. But it was too late. She was pulled into the TV, right before my eyes, and with her, I too was sucked into the blinding light of the vortex. The eye-piercing white faded to black and that was the last we ever saw of my room or that world. Chapter 2 - A New World Bright rays of sunlight cut through my blurry vision, most of which was obscured by shades of green. My forehead was throbbing, throwing my senses into a loop. I couldn¡¯t hear anything for a brief while. Everything was so confusing. Where was I? I squeezed my eyes trying to clear my vision, focusing on the sunlight that appeared to be penetrating my ceiling. It took a good few seconds for it to clear up. But when it did, I realized that I was staring into a canopy. Where the hell did a canopy come from? The throbbing pain between my eyes cleared up and seconds later, I began to hear birds chirping and rustling of leaves. That is wrong too. I live in the dead center of a bustling city. I don¡¯t remember the last time I heard birds chirping. I finally could feel my body. It was a strange feeling. I felt like myself and at the same time, I felt different. Chills from the cool breeze sent shivers up my spine. I snapped back into what I thought was reality, sitting up straight. Looking around, I found myself surrounded by countless trees in all directions. Seriously. Where the fuck was I? Something moved beside me and when I looked to my left, I saw a woman sleeping on the grass. She was naked too. I recognized this woman. I leaned in and took another look at her face. It was! It was Urvashi. But her body looked very different. Hang on. I proceeded to observe my body and realized that even my body had changed. Quite drastically, might I add. ¡°Urvi! Urvi!¡± I called out to her as I shook her by her shoulder. She groaned. Thank God. She was alive. ¡°Wake up!¡± I said. ¡°What now? Let me sleep...¡± Suddenly her eyes snapped open. She immediately sat upright and began looking around her with wide eyes. ¡°What? Where? Where the fuck are we?¡± She exclaimed. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Why are we in a forest?¡± She asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°How did we get here?¡± She asked again. ¡°I really don¡¯t know!¡± She looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I am as clueless as you are!¡± I replied. She grunted as she stood up. I followed, pushing myself off the ground with great difficulty. She walked around a bit, observing the forest before turning back to me. As soon as she did, she stepped back with a slightly shocked expression on her face. The expression melted into a slight grin as her eyes examined my body. ¡°Well... you are looking...¡± She almost choked on her own words. ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± I replied. She began feeling herself, analyzing with her palms. She looked down at her inflated breasts before looking back at me and asking, ¡°Am I taller?¡± ¡°And a lot leaner... and fitter,¡± I replied. There was a wide smile on her face. ¡°Seriously. What the fuck happened?¡± I shook my head and replied, ¡°I have no clue.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Ahem.¡± Urvi jumped into the air and spun around. Behind was a girl, I think. She was short, about four feet tall, and looked very young. As she stepped forward, Urvi stepped back, until she stood by my side. The stranger had a very serious look on her face. She analyzed us both with her large purple eyes before scribbling down something on the pad she was holding. She wore a pale violet tunic and dark purple pants, with a blackish coat on top. Her ashen hair was tied up and tucked under a cone hat which was, as you guessed, purple. The girl is at least consistent. ¡°I see you managed to pull your mother as well in here. But why are you both naked?¡± she asked. Oh no. I felt my heart swell with embarrassment. Looking at Urvi, I saw her smiling awkwardly with a pink blush lighting up her cheeks. She isn¡¯t afraid to think dirty. ¡°No. No. You got it wrong! She is not my mother,¡± I said. ¡°Hmm...¡± the girl looked curiously. ¡°She is my... she is my...¡± I stammered. ¡°I am his friend. Close friend,¡± Urvi answered. ¡°Hmm...¡± The girl¡¯s face turned serious again. ¡°Very well.¡± She snapped her fingers and out of the blue, I found my hip and legs wrapped in white loincloth. Urvi looked no different, except she also had a band of cloth running around her chest, barely holding her breasts in. ¡°That is all?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°For now.¡± She began scribbling something on the pad again. ¡°My name is Faeren. I am a silver fairy and a devoted servant of Lord Baeton and I am here to help you take your first steps in this world.¡± She had a childlike voice as well. ¡°Speaking of which, where are we exactly?¡± Urvi asked, placing her hands on her hips. ¡°You are in Terra Silva, land of the sacred groove,¡± she said. ¡°What is that? I never heard of it and how did we even get here?¡± Urvi asked again. She looked at us a bit suspiciously, like we were already supposed to know all of this. ¡°You don¡¯t know how you got here? Traveler¡¯s amnesia, I guess.¡± She put down her arms and began, ¡°You are in Nova Fantasia. The illustrious world of magic. There are many ways to get here.¡± She looked at the pad and then back at us. ¡°Since you are from Earth, 2022, I suspect you were bought here by a video game portal.¡± Yes. I remember now. It was that strange game on my console. ¡°That stupid game! Now I remember! What was that thing? It sucked us into the TV. How is that even possible?¡± Urvi exclaimed. ¡°Fantasia is a magic world created by the gods. A realm between worlds where people are invited to exercise their will and live the life of their dreams. A select few, chosen by fate arrive in this world,¡± she explained. ¡°Why? What is the purpose?¡± I asked. ¡°That is something for them to decide. The path you forge will shape destiny and lead you to the land of glory.¡± Her words echoed loudly in my mind, filling my chest with warmth and excitement. ¡°So, where exactly is this land of glory?¡± Urvi asked as she wrapped her arms around her breasts. Oh, for god¡¯s sake. She was just speaking in metap... ¡°It is far, very far up north. You must forge a path through several lands before you reach it,¡± she replied. ¡°Wait. It is an actual place?¡± I asked. I looked back at Urvi with a puzzled look on my face. She shrugged casually. ¡°That is the whole point of this trial,¡± Faeren said. ¡°Wait. Trial?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes... I am sorry. But did you or did you not read the terms of engagement before coming here?¡± she asked. Terms? Of engagement?? I turned to look at Urvi, but she was already looking at me with a terrified expression on her face. I turned back to face Faeren and asked, ¡°Say. How can we get back to our world?¡± ¡°Hmm... you can¡¯t. You accepted to come here and not return,¡± she answered. ¡°What?¡± Urvi and I exclaimed in unison. ¡°This must be a joke! I must go back!¡± Urvi said. I could hear the tremble in her voice. ¡°Why? As far as I have heard Earth is a terrible place,¡± she said. Urvi shut her eyes and bowed her head, trying to hold herself back from exploding. ¡°I just have to...¡± She said, her voice trailed off. I observed her more closely. Drops of tears formed on her eyelashes as she swallowed hard. ¡°Sorry. No one can leave once they arrive here,¡± she replied. ¡°What happens when you reach the land of glory?¡± I asked, turning to her. ¡°It is known by all as the land of the gods, but beyond that only those who have been there can answer your question.¡± ¡°Where are they now?¡± I asked. ¡°Most roam the land for free. You will run into one of them as you venture out,¡± she explained. Urvi shook her head and straightened up. ¡°Forget about it. That life is gone now. Time to start fresh.¡± She had a broken smile on her face. Her cheeks had turned pink and thin streams of tears still rolled down over them. She wiped them away sniffling hard. ¡°Urvi...¡± I said. ¡°Right then. Shall we continue?¡± I asked. ¡°Say,¡± Urvi interrupted. ¡°You look pretty young. Why does your lord hire someone so young?¡± ¡°Oh wait!¡± I said. ¡°I got this. You see. She looks young. But in reality, she is hundreds of years old.¡± I wore a cheeky smile on my face to show that I was up to date with the absurdity we are in right now. ¡°I am seven hundred and eighty-three years old, to be precise,¡± Faeren answered. Chapter 3 - Rules of the game ¡°Seven hundred? What the fuck?¡± Urvi said, still wearing a broken smile. ¡°You don¡¯t have a filter for your mouth, do you?¡± Faeren asked. ¡°She can be a lot nastier. Let¡¯s not get there,¡± I answered. ¡°I digress. Shall we get to the main topic at hand?¡± Faeren asked. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Urvi said. Faeren once again pulled up her pad. She looked at us and asked, ¡°Names?¡± ¡°Urvashi.¡± ¡°Karna.¡± ¡°You want to go with your original names?¡± Faeren asked. Urvi and I looked at each other¡¯s face. ¡°I will keep it,¡± I said. ¡°It is the only name I know.¡± Urvi remained quiet. She seemed to be lost in deep thought, though her face now had returned to normal. ¡°Yes. I will also keep it as Urvashi.¡± she finally said. ¡°If I am going to become a badass bitch, I want everyone to know me by my real name.¡± I smiled involuntarily. ¡°Very well,¡± Faeren said as she began scribbling on her pad. Something in the corner of my right eye caught my attention. I looked down to see that markings appeared on my right forearm. ¡°What is this?¡± I exclaimed. I took a closer look at it. A giant number one appeared to be tattooed on my arm, followed by a black band encircling my forearm. They all were printed in black. ¡°I have that too!¡± Urvi said staring into her arm. ¡°That is your level. Right now, both are at level one. As you explore and interact with the world, you will gain experience. There is a band you cannot see right now. It will tell you how much experience you gained for each task. One full circle around the arm counts as one level, after which the band resets. The band is your life. Each player starts with four lives, once you leave the training grounds. Lose all four lives and you are dead,¡± Faeren explained. She made it sound a lot worse than it actually was. Four lives count for a lot more than you think. But then again, I am sure we are expected to do tasks far more dangerous than I would even try in real life. ¡°But¡± she continued, ¡°You can gain more lives. There is no limit to how many you can stockpile. But lives are also hard to come by. There are other attributes you will gain as you venture out. They too will appear as markings on your body.¡± She held out her arm, both palms facing the sky. Suddenly an object magically manifested on each hand. ¡°Here. Take these.¡± Urvi and I approached her, each taking one of them from either hand. It didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that it was a book. I observed it more closely. It was six inches tall and four inches wide and bound in dark green leather. The etching on it looked purely aesthetical, except for the ouroboros symbol. Suddenly I remembered the TV screen in my room. I immediately shook off the thoughts, trying to focus on the now. There was no use looking back now. I noticed that my name, ¡°Karna,¡± was etched on the book as well. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°This is your guide. Think of it like the menu in your games. It keeps track of everything you need to know in this world. It will stay with you forever. You will never be able to lose it. Others cannot see it unless you lend it to them with your own will.¡± Faeren said. I opened the book to see that a lot of pages were already filled in. ¡°Looks like some important stuff has already been filled in. We will need to take a good look at them,¡± I looked back to see Urvi reading it very intensely. ¡°One last thing,¡± Faeren said. ¡°Your starting weapon.¡± She pulled out a roll-up from inside her cloak before unrolling it. Laying it down on the ground, we saw that it contained six weapons. A claymore, a wooden staff, a massive axe, an equally massive hammer, and finally a pair of knuckle brawlers. All of them had a dull metal shine to them and the handles of each seemed to be covered in worn-out leather. The excitement of seeing new weapons was certainly diminished by the lack of some glamour. ¡°They look... rusty,¡± Urvi said. I agree. ¡°These are your starting weapons. It will also stay with you forever and you cannot part ways with it. You can only exchange it for another weapon of the same grade. I highly suggest you find yourself a new weapon as soon as you begin.¡± Faeren explained. ¡°In that case,¡± I said as picked up the claymore. ¡°No fair! I wanted that!¡± Urvi exclaimed. I looked back at her surprised. Turning to Faeren, I asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you have like a wand or something?¡± ¡°To cast magic? You don¡¯t need one.¡± ¡°Then how do we cast magic?¡± I asked. ¡°Spells can be cast by chanting them. But you will need to build a special aura for that. Right now, it is zero. There are various ways to build up a reserve of aura, you can start by gathering amber shards,¡± Faeren explained. ¡°Don¡¯t worry dear. By the time you are ready, you will be able to create apocalypses!¡± I said. Urvi just huffed under her nose. Clearly, she wanted the sword. ¡°Please don¡¯t cause apocalypses,¡± Faeren said. Urvi snorted as she bent down to pick up a weapon. ¡°It was just a joke. We are the good guys,¡± I said to calm her down, though she didn¡¯t exactly look rattled. ¡°That is good to know,¡± Faeren commented. ¡°I guess I will go for the axe then,¡± Urvi said as she wrapped her fingers around its handle. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go for the staff?¡± I asked. She lifted the axe with all her might. The muscles on her arms bulged under the stress but she didn¡¯t look to be stressing much. ¡°Damn! You are strong!¡± I commented. She had a sharp grin on her face. ¡°You got that right, mofo.¡± Faeren quickly rolled back the weaponry and put it into the void that I was sure was hiding in the cloak. ¡°Right then. Last few instructions. So, listen carefully. You are currently on the training grounds. They stretch close to ten kilometers in radius from this point. Low-level beasts and creatures roam these woods and will come after you with everything they have. They will kill you, but if you lose all your lives and die, you will simply resurrect here. As long as you stay within the training grounds, you are immortal. Use it to train yourself before leaving the woods. My suggestion? Get to at least level ten. There are also chests scattered all around the grounds. Find them, they contain valuable loot. You will be able to find all the basic things you need. Once you are ready, head up north. You will reach a stone gate; you will know when you see it. It is where you can leave this ground. Be certain when you want to leave. Because when you do, there is no coming back. The training grounds disappear and become inaccessible. You will be mortal and all the benefits that come from it. Understood?¡± That was a lot of information at once. ¡°Can I have it in writing? Just so I don¡¯t forget.¡± I said. ¡°You will find it all in your journal,¡± Faeren said as turned around to leave. I quickly pulled out my journal and began to flip through the pages. ¡°Wait,¡± Urvi called out to her. ¡°Will we meet again?¡± Faeren smiled for the first time since we got here. ¡°You can find me in Lord Baeton¡¯s estate. Terra Montes. You can find him with ease once you reach there.¡± Urvi smiled and said, ¡°Then we will meet again.¡± ¡°Good luck on your path,¡± she said and vanished into a bright light. ¡°Seven hundred years. What will you do for seven hundred years?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Honestly? I do not know,¡± I replied. Chapter 4 – Rebirth With Faeren gone, Urvi and I were alone once again. I looked around my surroundings and noticed that we were in a clearing. A line of trees encircled us with just one gigantic oak tree sitting in the middle. Small stone structures littered the grass, giving it a long-forgotten realm vibe to it. ¡°So¡­ A new world, huh?¡± Urvi asked. Her eyes looked sad as she stared into the distance. ¡°Urvi. It is okay. We might be able to return once we complete the¡­¡± I said. ¡°No. It is really okay,¡± she replied. Her eyes, however, told me it was not. There was only one person in this world, she cared about more than anyone. So, when she is told that she can¡¯t see her anymore, I expected more than a ¨C It is okay. ¡°What really happened between you and your daughter?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. Please,¡± she said. I didn¡¯t pry. She would eventually open up, but there was no doubt that the mystery continued to gnaw away at my brain. She held her arms apart. Lifting her head into the sky, with a wide smile on her face, she took a deep breath. Exhale. ¡°I am sad but also happy. I want to cry, but also want to laugh.¡± She then fell quiet. I let her breathe, not interrupt her moment of serenity. ¡°I am reborn.¡± She dropped her arms and turned around. She crossed her legs and swayed her hip to her right. Spreading her arms slightly, she shot a seductive look at me and asked, ¡°How do I look?¡± What can I say? Even before she came here. She was the prettiest woman I had ever met. She stood five foot six inches tall and had what many would describe as a mom¡¯s body. It was not fat but also not exactly lean. It is exactly the kind of shape I like. Her hips were huge, and her d-size bell breasts were what men dream of. Her dark black hair complimented her fair white skin. Her pearly black eyes adorned a chubby round face. She was a picturesque Indian housewife, only a lot prettier. That was of course before we came here. She still had the same face, and her proportions did not change. Only her belly was flat, and her waist was curvy. Her arms and legs remained thick as oatmeal, only now they looked muscular and flexed hard. Her breasts had inflated, just enough to upgrade then to double D¡¯s and black hair now flowed down to her hips. ¡°What can I say? I didn¡¯t believe goddesses existed until I saw you,¡± I said. Her smile widened brimming with confidence. ¡°I am your goddess.¡± *** We took a seat on two short stone pillars. Both of us had our journals out as we tried to make sense of its contents. The very first page had basic details about me.
Name Karna
Age 26
Height 6¡¯4¡±
Weight 84 Kgs
Race Human
Class ??
Level 1
¡°What is class?¡± Urvi asked. It was as though she read my mind. ¡°Class can mean many things, but usually, it refers to your style of combat and such.¡± I flipped over the page which contained the table of contents. They were - Stats, Skills, Map, Journal, and Guide. I immediately jump to the Map section. Like any curious mind, I wanted to know what this world held for us. However, all it had was a circle with a tree in the middle. I sighed in disappointment. But then I noticed something else. There was a house symbol printed on the tree. I turned around and looked at the old oak. ¡°Urvi, can you check your map?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I heard the flipping of the pages. ¡°Empty. Except for a picture of a tree,¡± she said. ¡°Do see the house on the tree?¡± I asked. She took a moment to reply. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± We walked up to the tree, whose trunk was at least twelve feet wide. It was on the shorter side and somewhat looked scalable. But its branches spread tall and wide, like the majestic tree of life whose arms reached all corners of the universe. ¡°Want to climb up?¡± I asked Urvi. The skin of the trunk appeared to be shedding. There were several nooks and crannies littered all around the surface, giving us enough options to cling onto and climb it. As we made it to the top, we were greeted by a small hollow burrow dub into the top of the tree. It wasn¡¯t too deep, just enough to cover itself back up, protecting the inside from rain and elements outside. As we climbed in, the floor and walls were covered by soft moss. There was enough place for more than four people to sneak in and live comfortably. I laid down in the center, the moss tickling my back as I did. Urvi too laid down beside me, all this while having a wide smile on her face. ¡°This is wonderful. We even have a house for ourselves!¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t get comfy. Unless you want to spend eternity in this... paradise?¡± I asked. It seems like I have confused myself. ¡°Relax darling. Isn¡¯t that great? Besides, there is adventure out there.¡± She flipped open the book and continued reading it. *** The stats page of the journal contained five attributes - Attack, defense, speed, special attack, and special defense. Each of them was assigned ten points for me. ¡°How much each stat for you?¡± I asked Urvi. ¡°Ten. Each of them.¡±
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
1 40 10 10 10 10 10
¡°Looks like all start from the same point.¡± ¡°This is good. Unlike that other game of yours. Had an Excel sheet hiding in that menu,¡± she said mockingly. ¡°Hold on. Turn the page.¡± She did as I told her, and her jaw dropped. She was starting at what she fear the most, an Excel sheet. ¡°What is all this?¡± Fifteen stats and each of them had five points allocated.
Strength Stamina Dexterity Recovery In-grain
5 5 5 5 5
Intelligence Perception Charisma Confidence Resilience
5 5 5 5 5
Empathy Faith Valor Adoration Compassion
5 5 5 5 5
¡°Your worst nightmare,¡± I said. ¡°We really have to fill every single one of these?¡± She asked. ¡°Let me see...¡± I flipped over to the guide and took a quick glance at the stats section. ¡°Your normal stats, such as attack and defense, increase with your level. But you get 5 stat points for special stats every time you level up. But it also auto gains points when you use that stat in real world.¡± She looked at the stats once more before commenting, ¡°This is going to be a pain in my ass.¡± I flipped another page and found myself looking at the skills page. It was a table with six columns and five rows, with a sketch of me on the other page. On the top of the page was the number ¡°2¡± printed. Must be the number of skill points I have. ¡°Look at that¡­ Mini-me,¡± she said with a wide grin. ¡°Interesting observation...¡± I replied. ¡°What does each of these skills do? And why are some of them greyed out?¡± The last two rows were greyed out. ¡°I think we must unlock a specific number of skills before the others open up. And what does each of these do? Each has a description in the guide.¡± ¡°Great¡­ More reading¡­¡± She grunted. ¡°So, which one do we pick?¡± She asked. ¡°Let¡¯s give it some more thought. I want to see what we might be good at before picking one.¡± ¡°I thought you already picked them. You were going to be the paladin and I was going to be a sorceress,¡± She said. ¡°Still¡­¡± I am extremely careful when it comes to assigning points to my skills. ¡°We don¡¯t know if we can reset it.¡± ¡°You mean to say we are stuck with what we choose?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°In that case, yeah. Let¡¯s take our time.¡± *** Daylight was fading. It was going to be dusk soon and we hadn¡¯t even left the starting area. So engrossed we were in preparations that we didn¡¯t even bother getting out of the hollow till we realized that it was going to be night soon. ¡°Damn. Feels like we just arrived, and it is already evening,¡± she said. With the waning light, venturing out was pointless. We planned to start weapon practice in the evening. That was obviously a bad idea. So, we postponed the plan to early morning. Practice first and do homework later. I laid back against the slanting floor that melded into the wall. Urvi lay on top of me, resting her back against my chest. The night was warm, and the cool breeze made us drowsy. ¡°We don¡¯t even know when we arrived. For all we know it has been just a few hours,¡± I said. Urvi didn¡¯t say anything for a while. ¡°It feels so weird living like this. Like a nomad.¡± ¡°It does. I hope you are liking it as much as I am,¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t say for sure. I just hope I don¡¯t wake up tomorrow morning wanting to go back home.¡± Okay, that thought never crossed my head. Maybe it is just the excitement, covering up the laziness and depression I had been experiencing every day for the past three years. ¡°God! I hope not.¡± Chapter 5 - The warmup It was the break of dawn. The chirping of birds filled the air and streams of sunlight cut through the canopy of leaves. The night felt short, as usual, but the laziness and exhaustion that bore itself into my bones in the other world seemed to have vanished. Urvi and I jumped down from our nest and onto the ground, whose grass still carried the fresh morning dew. The air was filled with the scent of spring. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever got up this early in the morning,¡± I commented as I began to do some basic stretches. ¡°Yes, of course. Clearly, you were a pampered baby,¡± Urvi replied as she walked over to me carrying a weapon in each of her hands. The weight of both weapons was not a joke. The claymore weighed almost five kilos while the axe was almost seven. Yet, she carried them around like it was nobody¡¯s business. ¡°You know that is not true,¡± I said. I wore a faint frown as I took the claymore from her. ¡°I am sorry,¡± she said. She knew well how bad my life had been with my family. Ever since my mother died, no one ever stood by my side. Not even my own father. She walked back a few feet and said, ¡°How about we get started then?¡± She held onto her axe with both her arms and extended it forward. She spread her legs getting into a base stance. I quietly watched her as she swung the axe in a semi-circle with a loud grunt. As she twisted around, she tried to stop the swing but was carried forward by the momentum of the axe, causing her to lose her footing. ¡°Fuck,¡± she cursed under her breath. She got back into her previous stance and tried again. This time she fared a little better. The force of the swings rattled her. She let go of the axe and rolled her arms, clearly the swing took a toll on her shoulders. She picked the axe back up and returned to the stance once again. This time, she lifted the axe into the air and brought it down onto the ground with all her might, pretending to strike an invisible object in front of her. This seemed to work, somewhat, but even she knew there was something wrong. I, however, understood what she was doing wrong. ¡°Two things,¡± I began. ¡°First of all, it is an axe. You are treating it as a sword. Secondly, that is a one-handed axe, you need to use only one of your hands to handle it.¡± She looked back at the axe in amazement. She realized how short the handle was, with the massive head taking up most of the space. She dropped her left hand and tried to steady her right-hand grip on the axe. I could tell from the way she was holding it, that this felt a lot better. ¡°Don¡¯t use your wrist. Rely more on your arm and biceps to put the power into your swing,¡± I added. ¡°Okay...¡± she tried again. She went back to her previous stance, however, with a one-handed weapon, she felt uncomfortable with how she stood. Her mind instinctually adjusted her stance to better fit the new weapon. The space between her legs was reduced and her torso was now less twisted. She put her right leg forward and swung the axe up with less power but more control. She followed up the upward swing by turning around, letting the axe guide her. She then proceeded to swing it above her, before bringing it down onto the ground with a generous amount of power. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. By the time she was done, she had a big smile on her face. ¡°Did you see that!¡± she asked as she stood up. ¡°That felt amazing!¡± I nodded my head in approval. ¡°You work great with an axe.¡± She looked at the axe and said, ¡°This feels good!¡± She got back into practicing the axe, trying to get used to it as much as possible before we ventured out into the forest. I, myself, decided to do the same. I had my right hand on the handle, trying to get a feel for it. Even though I had never used one, I expected to get accustomed to it. But for some reason, I didn¡¯t find the same connection Urvi found with her axe and this made me a little nervous. I started with some basic swings and slashes. They looked to be on point and should get the job done, but something felt off. *** Urvi dropped the axe, panting with a big smile on her face. Sweat poured down every inch of her skin, soaking her bare minimum clothes. She turned to see me still swinging the sword like an amateur. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked. I put the claymore down, resting on my leg. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something doesn¡¯t feel right,¡± I said. Urvi looked confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I am just not finding the connection with the sword.¡± ¡°Maybe the sword isn¡¯t for you,¡± she said. ¡°That can¡¯t be. I love the sword. I always did.¡± Urvi fell quiet. I sighed dully before dropping the claymore to the ground. ¡°Say. Didn¡¯t you say something about class being about our fight style?¡± Urvi said. ¡°Oh yeah. But the class was undetermined.¡± ¡°Maybe we need to pick one.¡± I had read about it in the guide. ¡°We can¡¯t pick right now. We need to wait till we reach level 10.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Urvi rubbed her chin and replied, ¡°and the fairy said we level up to 10 before leaving.¡± She did. ¡°I guess we choose our class after fighting and figuring out what works for us, huh?¡± I said. ¡°Sounds reasonable to me.¡± ¡°In that case, how about we finally go out and venture into the forest?¡± ¡°Oh, most delightfully!¡± She replied with a nasty smile. She turned around and grabbed onto her axe, swinging it around just one more time. ¡°Let¡¯s fucking go!¡± ¡°But where exactly do we go?¡± She asked. ¡°Faeren said the training ground was ten kilometers from this point. I guess we are free to go in any direction we want.¡± ¡°Okay... Then which direction do we start?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± I looked around us and all directions looked the same. The map was not helpful either. Any place we hadn¡¯t explored didn¡¯t appear on it. I am guessing we have to find pieces of it scattered all around us. ¡°Since the exit to this place is up north, how about we head in the opposite direction? Down south.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. But which way is south?¡± ¡°Oh yeah...¡± I pulled out the journal that was tucked in on the side, hoping that the guide had an answer to this simple question. After flipping through a bunch of pages and navigating through paragraphs of texts, I reached the line that read - ¡°find north on the back of the book.¡± Is that it? I flipped the book around to see a pretty design etched into the leather. But I didn¡¯t understand how it was going to help me. That was until I began moving the book and I realized the design was an artistic representation of a starry sky. One symbol in the design is particularly interesting. It moved very differently than the other artwork. It was the North Star! I stretched my arm out and moved the journal in that direction until the symbol reached the top of the book. That was north. ¡°That¡¯s fucking cool!¡± Urvi said peeping over my shoulder. ¡°This way is north. So, we go in the opposite direction,¡± I replied. ¡°Lead the way, master!¡± She said, still grinning. She swung the axe over her shoulder while I held onto the claymore uneasily. The two of us proceeded to walk into what I could only describe as a thick dense forest. Chapter 6 - First trail There was no path, no clearing, no marking, not a hint of direction. Trees constantly blocked our path, with thick foliage filling the space between them. I used my claymore to cut them down as we slowly progressed further. Suddenly, Urvi placed her hand on my shoulder, making me stop mid-motion. "What happened?" I asked her. She pointed her finger ahead of me. In the distance we saw a beautiful golden deer, chewing on the leaves of a plant next to it. It looked young, with its antlers barely jetting out of its skull. Urvi pushed me aside before taking a step forward. She had a look of awe on her face, her eyes shimmering at the sight of the deer. She got down low and slowly stepped forward. The deer peacefully chewed on the leaves, unaware that two humans were approaching it, that is until a loud whiplash crackled in the air. The deer didn¡¯t even bother looking around to see where the sound came from. It leaped ahead and vanished into the thicket of the forest. ¡°No... no!¡± Urvi exclaimed. She got on her feet and stomped the ground furiously. ¡°Where the fuck did that come from?¡± she asked as she looked around. I too was caught off guard by the sound. I looked around, observing very closely to see from where the sound came, but all I could see were just more trees. Suddenly, my blood went cold. Maybe it was because the rush had died out or the realization this was not someone¡¯s backyard, but all of a sudden, I felt deep fear instilled in my heart. ¡°You know. I think we have been taking things a bit too for granted,¡± I said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She had an annoyed look on her face. ¡°Like, we aren¡¯t exactly in a safe space. This is the jungle. Anything and everything can kill us.¡± ¡°Fuck? Don¡¯t scare me like that.¡± Her annoyed expression was melting away, revealing a more cautious look in her eyes. ¡°All I am saying is...¡± Suddenly the creaking of the wood filled the air around us. All the crickets had suddenly gone quiet. From the corner of my left eye, I spotted something moving. Turning towards it, I lay witness to a tree seemingly breaking apart. ¡°Karna, what is that?¡± Urvi asked. I felt the tremble in her voice. ¡°My guess. Our first enemy.¡± I tightened my grip on the sword, bowing low and ready to face off. ¡°Get ready to fight.¡± ¡°Uhh... Karna. It isn¡¯t alone.¡± I turned around and saw that we were surrounded, in all directions. They looked the same. Life forms made out of the wood from living trees, twisted and mutated into unrecognizable shapes. The only familiar feature was that they had what appeared to be four legs, also made out of tree trunks. I remembered seeing something like this in a game. ¡°Karna, what the fuck are these?¡± ¡°Treants. Walking trees,¡± I replied. ¡°Will they hurt us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Then how do we kill them?¡± ¡°Got to try and figure out.¡± I lunged forward, at the treant that stood before me, pulling my sword back to deliver a swift slash. The treant countered by shooting one of its arms toward me. The arm traveled so fast that before I could even see it, it had pierced through my right shoulder. Blinding pain radiated from the point of impact, almost making me drop my sword. But I held on. I could still feel the arm and fortunately, still move it. In quick motion, I swung the sword in a circular motion letting the weight of the sword carry forward and slice the treant¡¯s arm off. Without slowing down, I swung the sword upwards, just as the creature tried to use its other arm to defend itself, but my blade cut through it and what looked like the head. The treant crumbled and fell apart. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Blood oozed down my arm and the pain made me slightly dizzy. I used the sword to balance myself as I caught my breath again. ¡°Be careful. They are weak but move incredibly fast,¡± I tried warning Urvi. ¡°No shit!¡± I turned back to see her taking on three of them at once. Bleeding cuts covered her body as she mindlessly swung the sword, trying to hit it. ¡°Urvi!¡± I shouted before charging in to save her. My right had lost a lot of its power, it was barely able to lift a sword, forcing me to drag it along the ground. I came to a dead stop before the treants, whose focus was on Urvi. Grabbing hold of the handle with both arms, I slashed one of the creatures with an uppercut, decimating it. Urvi, not having to protect her back anymore, turned around and swung the axe down onto another one, turning it dust. The last remaining treant shot its arm towards Urvi who was still recovering from the previous swing. The arm pierced through her left breast. ¡°Urvi!¡± I shouted. Her eyes widened as blood squirted from the wound. I immediately charged towards the treant and cut it down with yet another two-handed uppercut, finishing it off. Urvi fell on her knee and bent over, puking out blood for a few good seconds. I limped over to her before kneeling to aid her. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked as I placed my hand on her back. ¡°I am fine. I am fine. Just a little pain,¡± Urvi replied. She held onto my knee with her right hand, showing the band on her wrist. It was about thirty percent shorter. Urvi breathed in slowly as she got back up. She looked me in the eye and smiled, blood still dripping over her lower lip. ¡°Rough learning, huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t stop myself from smiling. ¡°Nothing like a good round of beating to give us a reality check.¡± I stood back up before helping her get up on her feet. I checked my own band. It too had shortened, but not by much. It was manageable. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°We move forward.¡± ¡°Did that girl say we will find treasure chests around here? We walked for quite a while and not one has shown up.¡± ¡°Treasure chests are rarely in the open. We need to dig a little deeper,¡± I said. She placed her hand on her right hip and said, ¡°But I am guessing they are hidden. Check the map now. Maybe it will show us something.¡± Not a bad idea! I pulled out the journal and opened up the map. It now showed us the path we had forged. An almost straight line traveling down south. However, further down south there is a small ¡°X¡± mark drawn on the map. ¡°This is interesting!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°There is something more in that direction,¡± I said pointing ahead. ¡°Any idea what it is?¡± ¡°It just shows an "x", so not sure. Come on.¡± ¡°I hope it isn¡¯t another nasty surprise.¡± We slowly forged ahead, toward the mark. The thicket didn¡¯t clear up, forcing us once again to use our weapons to clear the way. However, using heavy weapons constantly quickly became exhausting. Thankfully, we reached the spot. ¡°There is nothing here,¡± Urvi said as she scanned the ground around us. ¡°Is it under the ground?¡± I looked up, just in case, and saw something hanging from a tree branch. ¡°Or above us.¡± She looked up and the booty instantly cheered her up. She began taking steps backward before asking me, ¡°Stand back.¡± I did as I was told. Once she got far enough, she gripped the handle with both her hands and lifted it over her head, ready to throw. ¡°That won¡¯t cut the rope. Unless your plan is to smash the chest,¡± I said. She realized I was right and brought the axe back down. However, before I could say anything else, she had already changed her stance. Now, she pulled the axe back with just one arm, twisting her body back. ¡°Better?¡± She asked. I simply nodded. She let out a loud grunt as she swung the axe, eyeballing the rope. The axe spun like a saw blade as it sliced through the thick vine before flying off into the thick canopy. The booty plummeted to the ground, landing with a loud thud. Urvi, meanwhile, continued looking for the axe. ¡°I can¡¯t lose that thing, right?¡± She asked. I shook my head smiling. ¡°Come on. We will look for it once we check out the chest.¡± We gathered above the chest, which sat half buried in the ground. It was made of dark brown wood, appearing to be rotting in places and covered in moss and leaves. Thick vines coiled it but didn¡¯t appear to be holding it tight. I knelt and used my sword to cut through them, freeing the chest. The lid of the chest broke free with ease, revealing the content inside. There were a bunch of things inside, however, one particular item caught my eye. It was the size of my hand and shaped like a diamond, glowing a dull green shade. I picked it up and held it in the air as both Urvi and I marveled at it. ¡°What is that?¡± She asked. ¡°It must be the magic shard Faeren told us about.¡± ¡°Well. How do we use it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. But the guide should tell us.¡± Suddenly the ground beneath us shook as a loud thud echoed through the woods. Fear gripped my heart as we stared into each other¡¯s eyes. We heard the sound of something wailing and as I turned around to see what it was, a flock of birds scurried past, forcing us to the ground. I looked back up to see what it was but nothing, but the forest lay in front of us. However, it didn¡¯t take me long to realize that it was the forest itself that was moving. ¡°Mother of treants!¡± Urvi said. Before she could even complete the sentence, something shot past us. When I turned toward her, I found a bloody geyser in place of her head, spraying blood all over me before her body slumped to the floor. ¡°Urvi?¡± I mumbled as I choked on my own words. I stared at her corpse as the creature reached me. I looked back up to see a giant tree trunk come down upon me as I stood still like a light pole and then everything went blank. Chapter 7 - The wall Bright rays of sunlight cut through my blurry vision, most of which was obscured by shades of green... Hang on. I snapped open my eyes before sitting upright. I looked to my left and saw that Urvi was already awake, still sitting on the ground with her legs crossed and with an irritated look on her face. ¡°You still remember everything?¡± She asked. ¡°I think so...¡± I said. ¡°Details are a little blurry.¡± ¡°Then I guess you don¡¯t know what killed us.¡± I shut my eyes, squeezing them as I tried to remember what had happened. The last thing I remembered was... the last thing was... I remember the ground shaking and something moving. But what was moving? I think. I think it was the forest itself... I remember now! ¡°Mother of the treants!¡± I said aloud as I opened my eyes again. ¡°She was huge!¡± ¡°What the fuck Karna! She took us out in one shot! Unless I missed you fighting that thing.¡± I had an awkward smile on my face. ¡°No. Don¡¯t worry. I pretty much died seconds later when it stomped on me.¡± She grunted hard, looking down at the ground, almost like she was going to throw up. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked. We seemed to have resurrected back in the center, next to the great oak. The clothes we were given were still on, so I guess this is going to be our base armour. I looked around us and saw the weapons leaning against the oak tree as well. All is good, I guess. Though, the shard was nowhere to be seen. ¡°I am fine,¡± she said, pressing her palm against her forehead. ¡°Just... I never felt death.¡± She looked at me, a little puzzled. ¡°You don¡¯t seem fazed at all!¡± ¡°My head is a little dizzy, but I didn¡¯t feel any pain when I got crushed. So, it just felt like I blanked out,¡± I said. Suddenly I felt a calming tone, like the keys of a piano whisper in the air. I looked around me, to see where they were coming from. But I didn¡¯t know from where. ¡°Did you hear a piano tune?¡± Urvi crossed her legs and sat silently. ¡°No...¡± Suddenly her eyes lit up too. ¡°Wait! I did too!¡± She said looking at me. ¡°What was that?¡± Piano tune... both heard but separately... could it be? If it was, where do I see it? I looked at my arm and saw the experience band had increased. ¡°Check your arm.¡± She did as she was told when a huge smile appeared on her face. She looked back at me and said, ¡°I got experience!¡± Pointing at her arm. ¡°We progressed!¡± I replied, raising my arms in the air. ¡°You know what would be better?¡± Her expression changed to that of anger. ¡°If we didn¡¯t die to get it!¡± ¡°Baby steps Urvi. Baby steps.¡± She pushed herself off the ground with a grunt. Looking around, her eyes caught the location of the axe, and she immediately began to pace towards it. ¡°I am going to fucking kill that thing.¡± ¡°Whoa there babe!¡± I said as I got up myself. ¡°We need a plan.¡± ¡°A plan? For what?¡± ¡°To deal with it. Trying to take it head on, will not end well.¡± She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me with a tired expression. ¡°Okay. Go ahead. What do you entail us to do?¡± This is probably where the super smart gamer brain should have started working and in a way it did. But the problem was that none of my plans really worked. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Plan A - Get to the chest without provoking the treants. The mother must have clearly been pissed off that we killed the treants. So, this time we decided to not kill any and find the chest. We found the chest exactly where we had left it, half buried in the ground. No treants approached us and the shard was in the chest. All looked good until the loud thundering began. The forest moved and this time Urvi sprinted towards the thing swinging her axe like a madwoman. Only this time, the thing wacked her into the atmosphere while I was once again crushed to death by it. Plan B - Stealth our way to the chest and stealth our way out. Once again, no treants. The chest was where it was supposed to be. We stuck close to the ground, staying below the shrubs. I picked up the shard when suddenly Urvi disappeared from beside me with a loud scream. ¡°Oh no...¡± I felt something sharp pierce me and before I knew it, I was back near the oak. Plan C - Take a different route. This time we will go up north. It only took five steps outside the circle for the ground to start shaking again. ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Urvi cursed. ¡°Is the forest full of these fucking things?¡± ¡°That sounds plausible,¡± I replied. The tree moved and two crushing blows later, we were back in the circle. Plan D - I wonder what is towards the east. Same fucking thing. Plan E - West looks normal. Nope. Same disaster was walking. Plan F, G, H, I, J, K, L, I, lost track - Charge at that thing with everything we got. Even if it is not working. *** ¡°What are we missing?¡± I said aloud. We sat beneath the great oak. Contemplating what to do next. ¡°I will tell you what we are missing, actual skill. Two fucking losers came to a new world with big hopes and dreams and look at us! Pathetic pieces of shit!¡± Urvi looked to be on the verge of tears. ¡°Ouch. You didn¡¯t have to be so harsh...¡± ¡°What is wrong with us? What is wrong with me? Why am I such a waste of breath!?¡± She shouted. ¡°Urvi... what is going on?¡± I asked, looking concerned. She remained silent. ¡°Sorry. I got emotional there.¡± The two of us sat quietly. I wished to solve her problem, but she will not open up. But not opening up is looking to cause a lot more problems than we would want right now. ¡°Urvi... Please tell me what happened between you and your daughter,¡± I asked politely. She remained silent. Looking into the distance mournfully. I didn¡¯t ask her again, instead chose to remain silent as well. ¡°We fought. Badly,¡± She finally said. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. ¡°She must have found out about my whoring. Though I do not know how or what exactly she knew. She appeared to be very frustrated with me. Angry. I tried to pry her open and she exploded.¡± She bowed her head down. I pushed myself closer to her, before placing my right arm around her shoulders. ¡°What did she say?¡± ¡°Things a mother wouldn¡¯t want to hear. Called me unfaithful, selfish, and ugly on the inside.¡± So, just short of calling her own mother a whore. That is just plain bad. ¡°She just doesn¡¯t know that you did it for her.¡± ¡°That shouldn¡¯t matter. So, what if I did sleep with other men? I never preached to her. Always trusted her, never judged her. Even when her father forbade her from marrying her boyfriend, it was I who stood beside her. Why... why would anyone do that to someone who has been so supportive?¡± She swallowed hard. Small drops of tears formed on her eyelashes while her pink lips trembled. ¡°No. It is me. I always thought I was doing this for her. But I can¡¯t deny it anymore. I enjoyed it way more than I was allowed to.¡± Oh, Urvi. Still bogged down by social norms. Tears streamed down her cheeks which she wiped away immediately. ¡°I am sorry Karna.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For using you. After my daughter was married. I felt so lonely. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from getting back into it. I will admit, my first thought was other men. I spent a month, every other night with one or the other. But by the end of it, that hollowness was never filled. That is when I finally walked back to your apartment.¡± My heart shrunk a little. I cannot deny that. I never had any luck with women. Even then, it hurts every time you hear such things. This was two months ago. I worked from home and so I was couped up in that apartment room all day. It felt safe, away from the world, but it also felt lonely. But after that day, I began to feel less lonely. ¡°Found something in your room that I didn¡¯t find anywhere else.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Comfort.¡± However, she never really stopped. I was aware of this, but if there was one thing, we both shared, it was an insatiable lust. Every night should be walk out but would be back by dawn. ¡°And I used it. I never stopped; you know?¡± She asked. ¡°I know. But you are just like me. So, I understand.¡± She snorted as she shook her head. ¡°No. Even now you are just defending me.¡± ¡°It is true. You know deep down I am even worse. I just never had the looks.¡± ¡°Even if you did, you wouldn¡¯t do it. You are just too humble,¡± She interrupted. ¡°So are you. Look, I am a degenerate with no wants or needs for marriage. But, if there was anyone in this world I would ask to marry, it is you,¡± I declared. Her eyes widened; and her jaw dropped slightly. My heart began to swell as I stared back at her with an awkward smile. Suddenly there was this piano tune again, only this time, it was accompanied by a soothing voice which said, ¡°destinies linked.¡± Chapter 8 - First strike What was that? Where did that voice come from? Was it only me who heard it? I shifted my focus back to Urvi¡¯s eyes, which looked at me with wonder and full of emotion. My heart swelled instantly; my skin burnt red hot. I began to feel all fuzzy like I was embarrassed and euphoric at the same time. Wait. Is this what love feels like? ¡°I mean... I meant...¡± I stammered. The forest up north rocked, and its echoes reached us. We looked in its direction to see the trees and the ground shake violently. ¡°Give me a moment,¡± she said as she stood up. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked. She didn¡¯t answer me, instead picked up both the weapons that sat behind us. She gripped the axe in her left hand and the claymore in her right, before walking off toward the disaster. I didn¡¯t say anything, instead watched her pick up pace with an open jaw. Her speed had increased drastically. In mere seconds, she was blitzing toward the mammoth at lightning speed. As soon as she crossed the circle, multiple tree vines shot towards us with speed that beat my eyes. But Urvi was faster, she dodged them like they were nothing before leaping off the ground and onto one of them. The beast began to take shape. I could see the bark of trees and leaves smashing into one another as a gigantic maw formed in front of Urvi. Urvi didn¡¯t stop and headed straight for the gaping mouth. A loud roar thundered through the forest, trembling my heart. As she reached the jaw, a log of wood smashed into her, sending her flying to the ground. However, on impact, she rolled, reducing her fall damage, and was up on her feet in seconds. She looked around and saw pieces of the forest flying towards her at full speed and in all directions. She loosened her grip on the weapons and began to spin them around in her wrist. She was fast, creating a shield that knocked out most of the debris. Quite a few of them passed through the fan, leaving behind shallow cuts and gashes. Urvi focused on saving the more vital parts of her body and in turn, traded in a few superficial injuries. Her eyes closed on the tree trunk coming down her. Her knees bent as she leaned forward, escaping the crushing foot of the treant. She now faced a bigger problem. The treant¡¯s head was almost fifteen feet in the air and it had retracted all the vines connecting to it. As the treant began to lift its leg, ready to bring it down once more on the woman below it, Urvi squatted down and held her arms in like a spinning top. The air around her began to crackle and then explode as she leaped into the air, straight as an arrow. She cut through the base of the leg, sending the log crashing into the ground beneath while she continued upwards and reached about the beast. The face of the treant looked up and sent the rest of the vines barreling towards her. My heart stopped looking at her trapped in the middle of what felt like a death trap. Urvi curled up like a fetus, the blades sticking out and upwards. She began to fall downwards, spinning like a blade, towards the mouth of the beast. As she fell, she began to spin faster and faster. She entered its jaws and into the dark void of the beast¡¯s mouth when I screamed out her name in panic. The jaw shattered in half and the beast screamed in pain as Urvi smashed through the beast¡¯s head. She landed on the forest ground, squatting down to prevent damage. She wore a wide grin as she looked up and saw the beast fall apart and onto the ground around as soft debris. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I ran towards her as she stood up and looked at me with a proud smile on her face. ¡°That was awesome!¡± I said. She looked at the weapons in her hand and said, ¡°Oh yeah. I like this!¡± *** Urvi was panting hard; her chest rose up and down as she breathed through her mouth. The experience band around her hand began to grow. Filling up once, clearing up, filling up again, clearing up again, filling up for the third time, before clearing up, and finally stopping at like thirty percent. The number on her arm changed to four. ¡°I leveled up...¡± She said. ¡°You were crazy. Where... how?¡± I asked in excitement. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was just... full of anger and sadness and joy and what the fuck not. I couldn¡¯t think straight and then suddenly my body told me to move and I did. Then this happened.¡± I took a moment to introspect when an idea popped into my head. ¡°Give me your journal,¡± I asked. She pulled it up and handed it to me. I flipped through the pages. As expected, the base stats were raised. But more importantly, one of the skills was already selected. ¡°Urvi. When did you pick this?¡± I asked pointing at it. She leaned in and took a good look at it. ¡°I actually don¡¯t remember¡­ I opened it so many times to read through the guide for some help. I must have accidentally picked it.¡± I rubbed my chin and said, ¡°You picked dual-wielding. The ability to use both your weapons, if they are melee, at once. It gave you a small boost in attack and speed. Nice!¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± she said, holding up the two weapons. She looked at them with glazed eyes and an open jaw. Behind her, something shiny caught my eye. I pointed at it and said, ¡°I think the beast dropped something.¡± She looked behind before walking over to it. Bending over, she examined the curious thing before picking it up. It was shaped like a glass orb with some kind of glowing light inside it. ¡°What is this thing?¡± She asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°What do we do with it? Ack! I know the answer to that as well.¡± I smiled softly. I really didn¡¯t know. ¡°Well. The only way to find out,¡± she said and crushed the orb with just her right hand. The light from the orb flew up into the air and began to take shape before falling to the ground as various assortments of items. ¡°Loot!¡± I exclaimed. A wonderful joyous expression appeared on her face as she jumped up in the air. She squatted down and picked them up as I hurried over to her. ¡°These are so fucking cool! But... what are these?¡± She held a total of three items. One looked like a delivery packet, wrapped in a cloth. Another was a glass bottle with a strange green liquid inside and a cork sealing it. Last was a tiny knife, or at least what looked like a knife. I held on to the bottle and the knife as Urvi began to tear open the packet. The content of the packet fell apart as she tore it open. However, instead of falling onto the ground, they wrapped themselves around her, forging into new armor. Urvi found herself wearing a thick steel breastplate accompanied by metallic shoulder pads and a steel ribboned skirt to protect her thighs. A silver belt buckle held up a leather strap that went around her waist. Her hands were covered in thick leather gloves with metallic knuckle bracers and her feet now wore tall steel warrior boots. ¡°I look badass!¡± She cried out in excitement. I nodded in equal excitement and said, ¡°That is because you are!¡± ¡°Okay, okay. What is next?¡± she asked as she looked at the two remaining items in my hand. She picked up the blade and examined it. ¡°Is this a pocketknife?¡± It looked horribly designed for a pocket knife. The blade covered most of it and was shaped like a Sabre while the handle was far too small to handle. Hold on. ¡°Hold the handle once,¡± I instructed. ¡°It is too small,¡± she said but nevertheless tried to. The blade grew in size rapidly, forcing me to move out of the way. We watched in awe as the tiny blade now became an appropriately sized saber with a shining blade and red cloth-draped handle. Urvi had tears of joy in the corner of her eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t even...¡± I examined the bottle in my hand and saw that green liquid shimmered under sunlight. If my video game knowledge is right, then this must be a potion. Most likely a health portion. I looked back at Urvi who was examining the sword in awe. The cuts and gashes on her arms and legs had disappeared and all four life bands looked full. I guess we will save this for later. She finally put the sword down and looked at me with a sly grin. ¡°Do I look like one of your video game girls now?¡± I cocked a smile and replied, ¡°You indeed do.¡± Chapter 9 - Level up We retreated into the safety of the circle, not wanting to awaken another beast. Urvi set her sword down on the soft grass before flopping onto the ground beside it. She had a broad smile on her face. ¡°Doing good?¡± I asked with a wide grin on my face. ¡°Still trying to process what happened... what just happened?¡± she asked again. ¡°You took out the mother of all treants.¡± ¡°I took down a mountain! Well, maybe not a mountain. A hill?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not ruin the moment with specifics.¡± I had so many questions, but my dumb brain took ages to process the idea that I had a fucking guide with me all along. What an idiot. I looked around trying to find my journal but couldn¡¯t find it. Wait. Where did it go? ¡°Urvi, did you see my journal?¡± ¡°Your journal? Oh. Just hold out your hand and think about it,¡± she said. ¡°Seriously?¡± I did as she told me, and the journal manifested itself in my hand. ¡°What the! How did you know?¡± ¡°I was desperate dying so many times, so once between deaths I just thought about it and it appeared in my hand,¡± she replied. ¡°I see¡­ we can summon our default items whenever we want!¡± I quickly opened the stats section and saw my stats hadn¡¯t budged at all. It stung my heart a little. I died so many times and my experience had barely increased, I hoped to see at least an increase in maybe a point or two. But alas. I moved forward, into the next section, skills. No change here either. Up next was the journal. This was where things got interesting. I had several lines printed on it. . Exited foundation for the first time. . Killed three treants. 30 XP gained. . Found a chest. 5 XP gained. Lastly and most importantly. . Destinies linked. The first link in the chain created. What does that mean? I quickly flipped more pages and began to scan the guide. The guide covered some basics. Stats, gaining XP, weapons, and chests. But beyond that, everything else was just more explanation about the five topics. Dammit. I also realized that there was no explanation for the magic system as well. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Urvi said. I looked to my left and saw her peeping over my shoulder. ¡°Did you hear someone say something when I said... I would marry you?¡± I asked, trying hard not to blush. Her eyes pointed to the canopy as she went into deep thought. ¡°Hang on. I think I did. But I was so out of my head, I don¡¯t remember what it said.¡± ¡°It said, destinies linked.¡± I pointed to my journal page. She got off my back and pulled out her journal as well. Flipping it open, her eyes suddenly went wide. She held the book up and pointed to the stats. ¡°They increased!¡±
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Special Attack Special Defense
4 64 16 12 15 13 11
Hot damn! That¡¯s my girl! ¡°Congratulations babe!¡± She was jumping up and down in excitement. ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡± She stopped her jumping and flipped her page. ¡°Karna! I got more stats!¡± ¡°Show me.¡± She did and I saw that five more had opened up. Strength, stamina, dexterity, recovery, and lastly charge multiplier. I wonder when these open up. ¡°Your looks a lot different than mine.¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± She took back her book and flipped more pages before saying. ¡°There are entries in my journal. . Exited foundation for the first time. . Killed two treants. 20 XP gained. . On target aim. 5XP gained. . Found a chest. 5 XP gained. . Destinies... linked. The first link in the chain created... Karna. What is this?¡± ¡°Keep going.¡± She turned back to her book and continued. . Killed mother treant. 500 XP gained. . Iron guard armour gained. First strike Sabre gained. Healing potion gained. She shut the book and looked at me, wearing a concerned expression. ¡°There is no explanation about the destiny thing in the book yet,¡± I said. ¡°There seems to be a lot more mysteries in this world,¡± She replied. ¡°Indeed. And I think it makes it all the more interesting, don¡¯t you agree?¡± I asked. She grinned with caution and said, ¡°I guess so. What now?¡± ¡°Time to start unlocking the mysteries of this world.¡± I said before pointing south. ¡°Beginning with the chest we still yet to loot.¡± *** The journey to the chest was smooth. No creature ambushed us, no treants brought their wrath on us, and the forest remained a little too calm for our liking. The chest sat buried in the ground, with all its contents still intact. Urvi squatted down and began to pick up the contents of the chest one by one. First up, was the mysterious shard. ¡°Here you go,¡± She said as she passed the shard up to me. I held onto it, admiring its dull green shimmer. She continued digging and found a hunting knife sheathed in black leather. As soon as she picked it up, the piano tune played once again. A voice said, ¡®survival attribute activated. Hunger and thirst unlocked.¡± What the hell? I felt a strange sensation in my stomach, something familiar but also new. ¡°Did you feel that?¡± Urvi gasped. ¡°Is that hunger?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± These voices. They sound like notifications. But not all of the notifications seem to be triggering them. I wondered what the condition for triggering the piano and voices was. She continued to pick more items from the chest. Three more bottles, one with green liquid, one with red, and another with silver liquid. Beneath them was yet another package, covered in a tan shade cloth. No wait. Two packages. The other was wrapped in green cloth. She put them down beside the chest and reached down into the chest. A second later, she pulled out a large bag of kind of thing. It had a leather strap with a very small opening. The content inside sloshed around. ¡°Water!¡± we said in unison. ¡°Hold it,¡± she said as she handed it over to me before returning to the chest. ¡°I think this is the last one,¡± she said as she pulled out, what appeared at first glance to be a book. It was a book. A tome, to be more precise. ¡°What is this?¡± she asked as she began examining the inscriptions and symbols on it. ¡°I think it is a book,¡± I answered. ¡°Oh... Here,¡± she said and shoved into my torso, making me gasp. She proceeded to pick up the two packages and stood up. ¡°Think they are armor?¡± She asked, holding each in either hand. ¡°Give them to me. Let me open them this time,¡± I said. ¡°Hey! Why so?¡± She said. She looked a bit annoyed at the idea. ¡°When you opened the armor, it seemed to morph to fit you. Considering I need one, maybe be a bit generous?¡± I asked. She snorted and said, ¡°Go ahead. Which one?¡± ¡°Give me the tan-coloured one.¡± She lent me the package which I proceeded to rip open immediately. Just like before, the content of the packet fell apart, making me panic for a second. But immediately after that they wrapped around me and transformed into... clothing? I took a proper look at what I was wearing. Dark green trousers, black leather boots, a tan shaded loosely stitched T-shirt, and no gloves. I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. ¡°Damn! You are looking sharp my boy!¡± Urvi commented. ¡°This is...¡± ¡°Disappointing? Yeah. You look like you just walked out of a fashion boutique. But I can¡¯t deny that you still look sexy as fuck.¡± It cheered me up a bit. Maybe it was my level. Sometimes the armor is tied to the level of the player. Perhaps I should have waited until I leveled up a little more. Urvi managed to level up to four in just her innerwear. ¡°Let¡¯s see what is in this,¡± she said and proceeded to tear through the green package. This wasn¡¯t cloth like I initially thought. It looked a lot more organic. ¡°It¡¯s... soft.¡± She opened it a bit more carefully. What we found inside were three blocks, each was of a different color. Could it be? ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°I think it is rations,¡± I said. ¡°Food?¡± She pressed on it, and it sprung up like a sponge. ¡°Huh. I think it is bread.¡± ¡°Well, I guess that is something.¡± Urvi, however, looked a bit disappointed. ¡°Well, what are going to do now?¡± I looked at the tomb in my hand, whose runes and letters allured me. ¡°Do some reading I guess.¡± ¡°You do that. I am going to go swing my sword around.¡± Chapter 10 - A place by the fire Daylight was fading once again as darkness slowly crept. We sat under the tree, I had the tome in my hand, not having read even one page yet, while Urvi embellished the sword with great admiration and a small piece of cloth. She lifted the sword into the air and looked at it, trying to get it to shine off the sunlight. However, the light was too low. She put the sword down and cursed in irritation. ¡°It is dusk already and I am still wide awake.¡± ¡°Yeah. So am I,¡± I said closing the tome. She looked around her and said, ¡°We need to start a fire. I always wanted to go camping! That will be one wish completed!¡± Oh yeah! That never crossed my mind! ¡°Oh yes. We can even cook stuff on it!¡± ¡°Great! But do you know how to start a fire?¡± She asked. ¡°I think so... Let¡¯s give it a try. Collect some dry wood.¡± Urvi ran around the place within the circle collecting small twigs and sticks. I, meanwhile, looked for stones using which I could start a fire. I tested many, unsure of what kind of stones could even produce a spark, before ultimately managing to produce a spark with a pair, which I would later learn to be flint. Urvi built a conical structure out of the twigs, very carefully. I bought a few more stones and set them in a circle around the cone. After she had placed all the twigs she had collected, I proceeded to try and light a fire. It took several attempts, but eventually, I was able to get a spark, which kickstarted a fiery chain reaction, creating our first-ever campfire. Urvi almost jumped in joy. The warmth of the fire slowly heated our bodies. The nights were not exactly cold, but the heat from a campfire was never going to be a bad thing. I sat down before the fire, the tome sitting beside me. Meanwhile, Urvi, who was on the other side, began to strip, taking off her heavy armor. Each piece of armor fell onto the floor with a hard dull thud, confirming their heft. By the time she was done, she was back into her loincloth and band bra. She began to stretch and ease herself. ¡°Fuck those things are heavy!¡± ¡°They look to be heavy. But you are moving around like they are not even there,¡± I said. She flexed both her arms and said, ¡°It feels fucking fantastic to be this strong!¡± She sat down on the ground, crossing her legs and shutting her eyes. She had a dreamy smile on her face, almost like a trance. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°You look like you are in a different world right now,¡± I said. ¡°I feel like I am high right now,¡± She said as she fell back onto the ground. ¡°I am happy, and giddy, and my whole body is radiating energy.¡± ¡°Is that how being high feels?¡± I asked, looking back. Her smile had mellowed out. ¡°Yeah. One of my clients made me have one.¡± ¡°One of your clients?¡± I tried correcting it. ¡°Okay, a fucking lot of them.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t seem to be missing them. Unless you have been smoking it in my bathroom.¡± ¡°Fuck you! It is not that addicting.¡± I fell quiet, smiling to myself. I feel like I missed out on a lot in life. A lot of adventure. Yeah, I know it ain¡¯t good for life and shit. But living my life as a recluse in a room wasn¡¯t exactly a healthy life either. And now, here we are. In another world, and I already feel left behind. ¡°Believe me. That life ain¡¯t that great,¡± Urvi said. ¡°Easy to say when you have experienced and done with it.¡± ¡°Maybe. But it feels empty. Looking back at it now, I feel hollow. Like, they aren¡¯t good memories.¡± ¡°Why so?¡± I asked. ¡°You tell me. Do you regret ever having sex with me?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± But my heart was in my throat. Was she going to say she did? How would I even take such a comment? ¡°Me neither.¡± Oh, thank God! ¡°But¡± She continued. ¡°I do regret doing with the others. Somewhat.¡± I stretched myself out, laying down on the grass with my back. The warmth of the fire made me somewhat drowsy. I put my hands behind my head and asked, ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Addiction is crazy fucking stupid, isn¡¯t it? You can¡¯t stop yourself from doing it, but once you are done, you can¡¯t stop yourself from regretting it. Then promise yourself you won¡¯t do it again. But as time passes, you start reminiscing about it and suddenly you are back in that cycle.¡± She was right. I like to pretend like Urvi is the slut and I am not. But before Urvi, there were other girls. However, once Urvi came into my life, I couldn¡¯t go back. I had made a connection that couldn¡¯t be cut off. Perhaps that is why it hurts to see her leave for another man¡¯s house. I don¡¯t think she feels the same way about me. ¡°But you are different. I keep saying I am with you because I feel comfortable... but... it is more than that,¡± She said. Her eyes were fixed on the ground in front of her. There was a soft smile on her face. ¡°More? How so?¡± I asked. She got back up on her feet and walked around the campfire towards me. As she approached me, I rose from the ground, resting on my elbows. Walking over me, she knelt down on the ground, her beautiful ass planted on my pelvis. She looked into my eyes and with a beautiful smile. ¡°Let me put it this way. If I could marry anyone in this world, it would be you.¡± I couldn¡¯t even put into words how I felt. It felt like I was hit by a truck and the whole world began to spin. But the eyes, who stared at Urvi¡¯s beautiful face, couldn¡¯t move. She placed her hands on either of my cheeks before moving and kissing me on my lips. My heart almost burst, unable to handle the emotions at the moment. All my life, I always thought I wasn¡¯t good enough for any girl or anyone. For the first time in my sad life, I am feeling the warmth of an honest and genuine kiss, and I can¡¯t help myself shedding a tear for it. Interlude I: The warmth of fire and body (Explicit) We parted with a click as we continued to stare into each other¡¯s eyes. Her smile had melted into an aroused expression, her jaw dropped, her eyes glazed, and her cheeks had turned rosy red. It made my heart skip a beat. She got back on her feet before holding on to the bottom of her bra cross-handed. ¡°It has been a while, hasn¡¯t it?¡± She said before pulling up the bra and letting her beautiful breasts fall free. Urvi was already a proud owner of a pair of huge tits, but now she got herself an upgrade. I stared at them in awe, remembering how fortunate I was to just see those beauties. She tossed the bra aside and grabbed onto each of her tits and squeezed them gently, letting out a dull moan. The ends of the lips curled up into a sly smile. Her hands then reached down to the loincloth which came loose and soon found itself on the ground. Her towering figure stood over me, looking down upon me with a confident smile and lustful eyes. I have a weird taste in women. I love older women, exclusively so. Younger women don¡¯t interest me. Thin, model-like figures don¡¯t evoke my senses the same way thick, curvy women do. There is something enchanting about mature women like their bodies have transformed and reached the final stage of beauty. She sat back down on my pelvis, setting her knees on the grass below. Pushing me down to the ground, she lay atop me as our lips met again. Her hands gently caressed my hair while I quietly wrapped my hands around her in a warm embrace. It was just three days ago, but it felt like it had been forever since we last made love. Her soft lips seemed to melt as I pushed my tongue in. She accepted it, sucking on it as I felt her warm breath evoke my senses. My right hand caressed her back, making her moan dully before I reached for her shoulder. I tightened my embrace before rolling over gently putting her down underneath me. Urvi, nonetheless, looked at me with wide eyes. I parted her lips with a click before getting off her. Her legs, which were wrapped around me, loosened. She put her hands above her and watched me as I proceeded to take off my shirt. Tossing it to a side, I dived back in, pushing my chest against her breasts as I cupped her face with my hands. I felt the warmth of her embrace as her hands ran over my back. Our lips met again, dancing about each other as we lost ourselves to the moment. Urvi shut her eyes, submitting herself to the emotion of her body. I pulled myself out partly before proceeding to kiss her on her cheek. Continuing around to her ear where I kissed her once more, then down her neck, leaving behind a trail of pecks, exciting her senses. I reached for her breasts, something I was dying to lay my hands on. I grabbed her left breast and looked her in the eyes. Her teeth shined in a sly grin as she was waiting for me to fondle with them. I pressed it softly, evoking a soft moan before wrapping my lips around her pink nipples. Urvi began to breathe hard as I sucked on them. I slurped hard, letting the sound reach her ears as I tickled the nipple with my tongue. She giggled as she continued to caress my hair. I let go of her left breast and moved on to the other. Looking at her as I fondled her breast, Urvi appeared to be slipping into an ecstasy. I slid my right hand underneath her leg, placing it on her left ass cheek before delivering a swift slap to it. Urvi jerked awake, looking at my cheeky smile she let out a hearty giggle. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You motherfucker!¡± She said as she slapped me in the face softly. I got back up on my feet before starting to untie the lace that held the trousers in place. As I slowly pulled down my pants, my flaccid cock slumped, hunched over. I was never really proud of my cock in my old life. It was barely five and a half inches long when erect. But my new cock was already bigger even though it wasn¡¯t fully excited. I kicked my trousers aside and knelt back down. Urvi spread her legs, which I placed on either side of my hip. I hunched over her as she gently placed her hands on my cheeks. She looked into my eyes with wide eyes. I could almost look into her soul. Her breasts squeezed between us, and the contact of our skin aroused me more. We could feel the breath of each other reach us. ¡°Urvi. Do you love me?¡± I asked. She took a second and answered, ¡°I do.¡± I moved in and kissed her gently on her lips before parting. ¡°Karna. Do you love me?¡± She asked. ¡°I do.¡± I kissed her once again on her lips before parting. Beads of tears formed in the corner of her eyes. ¡°Karna. Promise me. Promise me you will never leave me alone.¡± ¡°Urvi. You are my everything,¡± I proclaimed. Her embrace tightened, as our lips met once again. This time with all the fiery passion of true love. My cock pulsated, pushing its way between us. Urvi loosened her embrace and we parted with a click. She flopped back onto the ground, relaxed. Her legs widened, spreading her pussy, inviting me to make myself home. I grabbed onto my cock, gently stroking it until it became semi-erect. As I placed the tip on her clit, I could feel the juices filling up her pussy. I rubbed the tip on her clit before pushing it in slowly and gently. It was tight and refused to let me in. Urvi jerked a little as my cock pushed its way in. I could feel her pussy stretch as Urvi began to gasp. My body was flooded with euphoria as the cock was now completely inside her. Urvi looked at me seductively, her eyes cool as the night but her breath warm as the fireside. I arched over her as I began to pull out, her pussy trying to hold me in as I tried. As my cock was halfway out, I gently pushed back in. Her eyes closed, her lips parted, her breathing got heavier, and I could feel her heart beating against her chest. I used my hips to thrust my penis in and out. Her breasts bounced accordingly. Her lips twisted into a smile while her hands shivered at every thrust. Shivers traveled across my skin as I began to kiss down her neck. Urvi wrapped her arms around me before proceeding to kiss me on my neck as well. ¡°Oh Karna,¡± she said. Her voice trembled feverishly. I continued to gently thrust, but as the heat within began to increase, I began to pick up pace. Soon I was pounding my hard cock into her pussy, the loud clapping echoed through the empty forest. Urvi let out a loud moan as her eyes rolled in. I didn¡¯t stop. Her face turned pink as blood rushed through her red-hot skin. I too felt myself reaching a climax. I lifted her off the floor and sat up straight. I continued clapping her cheeks, but my pace slowed down. Each time letting my cock rest inside her. Her face relaxed, she opened and gazed at me. I could not control myself anymore and shot out streams of cum into her. The sense in my whole body went haywire. Emotions rushed through my chest while my arms shivered in excitement. I hadn¡¯t felt an orgasm like this in quite a while. Urvi let out another dull moan. She wore a beautiful smile on her face. She moved in and kissed me on my lips one last time. I fell back onto the ground, and the grass underneath me crunched under our weight. Our lips parted; our bodies relaxed. Urvi moved down and rested her head on my shoulder. I silently patted her on her back. My eyelids became heavy, and I struggled to keep them open. Before I knew it, I had slipped into a deep slumber. Chapter 11 - Magic Theory
By the time I woke up, the sun was already high up in the sky. Urvi laid atop me, resting her head on my chest. Man, sex in this body had one hell of a kick to it. I wondered if I should wake her up when she woke up on her own. Pushing herself off my chest, she looked around through her half-open eyes. Her massive cantaloupe breasts sat right in my view, making my penis pulsate in excitement. She stretched her hands into the air while taking out a satisfying yawn. Bringing her hands back down onto my chest, she looked down at me with a bright smile. ¡°Good morning darling.¡± There was nothing better than having my eyes blessed by those beautiful tits and a wonderful smile first thing in the morning. *** Urvi proudly wore her new armor as she practiced swinging her new Sabre around. I, meanwhile, quietly sat on the side and adored her. Quite some time had passed by since we woke up. After finishing what little bread we had and taking a good gulp of water, Urvi got down to doing a little practice. I had dove headfirst into the tome of magical secrets. Back in the real world, I had completely lost my ability to digest words unless it was spoon-fed to me. I don¡¯t even remember the last time I read a book. This is also why I hate reading in video games, preferring to learn from practice rather than tutorials. However, now I feel like my whole body has reset. My brain seems to be functioning like a normal human brain should. However, my ability to use a melee weapon looks shoddy. Swinging the claymore feels more like swinging a stick, and I don¡¯t feel the urge to hold another weapon. ¡°Why are you just sitting there and staring at me?¡± Urvi asked. It seems like I had spaced out for a moment there. I gathered my senses again and looked back at her, to see her leaning against the Sabre whose tip was dug into the soil. Her chest rose heavily while sweat constantly dripped from her body. ¡°Oh. Nothing,¡± I replied. ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed to be reading that thing?¡± I looked down at it, noticing that I had already covered quite a good chunk of it. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Learnt anything interesting?¡± She dropped the sword and walked up to me before plopping down with her legs crossed beside me. ¡°A good bit actually!¡± ¡°Great! Why don¡¯t you give me the summary notes of it?¡± She asked with a wide, and slightly creepy, smile. ¡°Sure.¡± Reading is a skill. I learnt this the hard way when Urvi and I spent an entire day trying to digest the content of personal guides. I still remember how many important things we just glanced over and had to come back and learn them. I picked up the tome and laid it on my lap before opening it. Urvi leaned over, resting her head on my shoulder as she peeped into the book. The paper in the book was thick and had a pleasant texture to it. They were a dull brown colour and felt like I was holding a thick cloth. Most of the words appeared to be handwritten in ink, though I doubt that is the case. It is a magical world after all. The content itself was all in English, thankfully, and fortunately, there were even diagrams accompanying a few. ¡°Magic exists all around us, however, the ability to use it is not innate to everyone. This is because there exist two kinds of magic. One is called intrinsic magic; this exists in all natural beings and powers the magic system with an unlimited flow of mana. The other is called inherent magic, as the name suggests, this type gathers the magical power from intrinsic magic and funnels it to be used as the user desires. Intrinsic magic is vast and the study of it is important to maintaining the balance of the world, however, as a player you rather focus on inherent magic.¡± I summarized. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Got all of that?¡± I asked. ¡°I guess...¡± She said biting her lower lip. ¡°Think of it like this. Intrinsic is like the ocean, vast and seemingly infinite, but undrinkable. While Inherent is like the lakes and rivers, gets its water from the ocean, but is drinkable,¡± I said. ¡°Oh! Now it does! Now it does!¡± She said, excited. ¡°Coming to the intrinsic magic system, a user can achieve four levels. Standard, apprentice, virtuoso, and master. Each level relates to the amount of mana a player possesses and how powerful the spells they cast can be. The types of magic itself are innumerable and the possibilities within each type are endless. However, every type needs to be learnt and focused to master it.¡± ¡°All that sounds cool and all. But how do we start?¡± She asked. ¡°To begin using inherent magic, one must build up a pool or reserve of mana within themselves. Only magical beings possess this ability by default. You as a player, must begin the process by collecting an Aura Crystal. They are shaped like a diamond and have a dull glow to them. They come in various colors and these colors do not affect the properties of the mana itself, but instead provide a status boost as a bonus for using one.¡± I pulled out the shard which was sitting in one of my pockets. It looked exactly like the book described it. ¡°How do we use it?¡± She asked, looking at the crystal. ¡°I think we must consume it,¡± I said. ¡°Okay then. Give it to me and say Awww...¡± I slapped her hand away and replied, ¡°Not like that!¡± She had a cheeky grin on her face. ¡°The mana reserves sit at the heart of one¡¯s soul. To access it, one must look inward and should be able to feel the core of the reserve. Any magical object the user is in contact with should be accessible when tapping into the mana core.¡± I held the shard in both hands, right in front of my chest. Shutting my eyes, I began to slow my breathing, concentrating on my chest. Heavy emotions can be felt within one¡¯s chest and perhaps that is where the heart of one¡¯s soul lies. I began to calm down and focus my thoughts on my chest, trying to act as though I was searching for something. And it worked! I could feel an emptiness sitting right in the center of my chest, a well that needed filling up. Cold air began swirling around me and I could hear the trees and their branches suddenly getting excited. I, nonetheless, kept quiet and continued to focus on the well. Like pouring a jar of water into it, the well slowly filled up with a special power. Something I have never felt before. The wind subsided as my heart felt elevated. I slowly opened my eyes to see that the crystal had disappeared. ¡°You did it! It is gone!¡± Urvi exclaimed in excitement. I smiled stupidly as Urvi hugged me from behind. ¡°I did it!¡± ¡°You did! You did!¡± She pumped me up. She finally let go and asked, ¡°Now then. Show me what you got.¡± ¡°But wait. What bonus did I get?¡± I asked out loud. Since the crystal was green, could it have been a stat buff? The bands on my arms were full and didn¡¯t really display any numbers. However, I noticed that a new bar appeared on my arm, just above the life bands. It was about ten percent filled. I just unlocked Mana! I pulled out the journal and looked into it. Surprise! Surprise! My health was up by 5 points! ¡°My health got a boost! It is 45 points now!¡± ¡°Great! Now show me what you can do already!¡± She replied. As usual, Urvi wanted to focus on action. ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and returned to the book. ¡°Using the mana to cast spells requires the activation of skills. Spells can also be unlocked by learning the runes associated with the spell. You can cast a basic expulsion spell by concentrating your mana energy at a focal point before discharging it.¡± Alright... not too complicated. Let¡¯s do this. I got up on my feet and headed north, just a few feet away from the edge of the circle. I put my right foot forward, to gain some stability, before pointing my finger in front of me. I closed my eyes and exhaled. Focusing on the well, I felt it rise up. It rose and rose until it seemed to overflow at which point my whole body felt like it was radiating heat. I focused this heat at the tip of my finger and as soon as I opened my eyes, a small but powerful spherical ball of energy shot out from my finger. It cut through the tree line before smashing into an enormous old tree and exploding. ¡°Motherfucker! That looks powerful!¡± Urvi exclaimed. My breathing became normal again and I smiled enthusiastically. I looked at my mana band and saw that it had reduced slightly. I turned around to see her looking at me in awe. ¡°Yeah. I can do magic,¡± I said. Chapter 12 – Practice Makes Perfect ¡°That was awesome!¡± Urvi exclaimed. There was a big smile on my face as a rush of emotions filled my chest. The mana band shrunk, though not by a lot. ¡°It felt awesome too,¡± I said putting down my arm. ¡°You did that with ease. Is it really that simple?¡± She asked. ¡°I am not sure¡­ You swing the axe and sword like it is just another part of your arm. You make it look so easy.¡± Urvi¡¯s face looked in awe. ¡°I guess you were the sorcerer all along.¡± ¡°And you were paladin,¡± I added with a smile. She smiled back. ¡°Will I not be able to do magic then?¡± ¡°Not at all. We need to find you an amber shard first. Also, can I have my sword back?¡± I asked kindly. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± she said as she began looking around. ¡°But where is it?¡± Now that I think about it, we each were carrying a weapon, so it made sense that it was present physically. Does that mean we need to carry all the weapons we collect? ¡°Oh! There is it,¡± she said pointing at it. It was back under the tree, leaning against the trunk. ¡°I see. If we lose them by any chance, they end up here,¡± I commented. ¡°But why here?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°That is where our home is, right?¡± I said as I walked to it. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± She followed. I picked it up and held it with a steady grip, but it still didn¡¯t feel right. ¡°Hey. You still have to pick a skill. Maybe that would help,¡± Urvi said. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± I sheathed the weapon and pulled out my journal. Flipping through the pages, I landed in the skills section. I had eighteen choices in total. When there is a lot to choose, you end up choosing nothing. This appears to be the case with me. I stared at the book for a few good seconds, trying to decide what to choose. Urvi, meanwhile, tried her best to wait patiently, but that didn¡¯t last long. ¡°Okay, why don¡¯t we do some more exploring while you think about it?¡± I sighed dully. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°Come on. Say it with more energy!¡± she said, trying to encourage me. I looked up to see her wearing a cheerful smile. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from smiling after that. ¡°That is the spirit!¡± Urvi said. *** We set out north, walking through the hole I had left. ¡°That is some massive damage,¡± Urvi commented. ¡°It is¡­ But I wonder how it fares against actual enemies.¡± I pulled out the map, wondering if it would show anything interesting. However, much of it was still a blank page. ¡°If this thing is going to show us what we have already seen, it is pretty useless. Don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°I guess¡­ But what else can we do?¡± Suddenly Urvi stopped in the middle of her tracks. She looked ahead as her face turned cautious. I looked ahead and spotted a strange creature in our way. It was yet another treant. However, this one was shorter and bulkier. It stood up straight and seemed to mimic a human. It seemed to slowly lung forward with great effort as the wood on its limb creaked. I let out a soft breath and whispered, ¡°Okay. My turn.¡± Urvi quietly stepped back as I positioned myself in front of her. The treant stopped and slowly turned towards me. It spotted us, but I was not afraid this time. I tried to remember how I did it before, but this time I was going to control the power of it. I had used up a lot of mana earlier and if I continued in the same path, I would exhaust my mana with just three to four shots. The treant stepped forward, its leg landed with a fierce thud. It looked strong, but I had the advantage of speed. Or so, I thought. I pointed my finger in its direction, ready to charge up when the treant rushed towards me at a blazing speed. Within a mere second, it had covered almost one-third of the distance and its speed only increased. ¡°Oh, crap! It is fast!¡± I exclaimed and jumped out of its way. The treant rushed past me and towards Urvi. Urvi, however, had a big smile on her face. ¡°My turn!¡± she said gripping the Saber, but the treant had already reached her. She watched in shock as it smashed into her sending her tumbling into the forest ground. ¡°Urvi!¡± I shouted. She recovered fast, resting on her left knee as her eyes gazed at the treant with fury. ¡°Try that again you bastard,¡± she said. The treant seemed to have heard her as it walked up to her, before delivering a mean left hook. Urvi dodged it with ease, swinging her Saber into its swing before slicing its arm off. The treant stepped back, seemingly in recoil. Small roots began to protrude from where the arm was sliced off. ¡°Urvi! It is healing!¡± I said. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°I don¡¯t think so!¡± she shouted, pulling her Saber into the air before bringing it down onto its head. The treant blocked it with its left arm before smashing her with its regrown right arm. She gritted her teeth as she retrieved the Saber. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t get stuck in the arm of the creature. The treant rushed in, trying to headbutt her, but Urvi took advantage of this. She thrust the Saber into the beast¡¯s head, using the moment of the beast against it. As the Saber popped out from the back of its head, the treant slumped forward before collapsing into a pile of forest debris. Urvi panted hard as she stepped back. ¡°Fuck! What happened to me?¡± I dusted my clothes and asked, ¡°What do you mean? That was awesome!¡± ¡°No. I was a fucking snail! What happened to my speed?¡± She asked. Oh. I knew what happened. ¡°You are wearing heavy armor. It affects your speed.¡± ¡°Seriously? Then I am better off without it.¡± She was still struggling to breathe easy. ¡°Look at your health,¡± I said. She saw that the band had barely budged. ¡°You sacrificed speed for defense.¡± Urvi didn¡¯t look convinced. ¡°I don¡¯t like this. I want my speed.¡± ¡°We will find you new armor. Speaking of which.¡± I bent down and picked up the orb from the pile of rubble. Tossing it to her, I said, ¡°Go ahead.¡± She struck it with the hilt of her Saber. It burst into streams of light before dropping onto the ground as loot. A few more bottles of strange liquids and another green-colored package. Food and more potions. Not bad. Not exciting, but not bad. I pulled up my map again, in hopes of finding something in and around us. Unfortunately, it was still empty. ¡°Karna, fuck the map. You are relying too much on that map. Let¡¯s just explore on our own and see what we find,¡± Urvi suggested politely. She was right. I always needed a map to get by in video games. But it is pretty useless at the moment. ¡°You are right.¡± I put the journal away. ¡°Which direction do we go?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Urvi looked around before pointing to our left. ¡°North is where the gate is. Let¡¯s try going left. This place is fucking enormous.¡± ¡°It is. Let¡¯s see what more this place has to offer,¡± I added. Turning off the navigator and using only our senses was somewhat cathartic. It felt like we were back in the stone ages, in a way we were. Sure, our rations are being managed by divine intervention, and we are safer than we were in that shack I called home. But the wonder of exploring and becoming one with nature was a feeling I never imagined that I needed. We pushed our way through the busy forest floor, looking for any signs of loot we could. Every now and then we ran into treants. However, most of them turned out to be docile but a few did attack us. The forest was teeming with them, and they came in all shapes and sizes. It seemed as though all the aggressive lifeforms were replaced by these treants. They mimicked the beasts and packed a punch, but they lacked the brutality and aggressive nature of real creatures. Since we were meant to die as much as possible, each death feeling like hell can be taxing. So, it made sense why they, whoever they were, chose to put them here. Plus, they are made of trees themselves. They are almost limitless. Urvi hacked and slashed her way through most of them, the various kinds of treants put her through a variety of situations. Some used speed, others had enormous health, and still others tried to swarm. While she appeared to struggle, they really couldn¡¯t put a dent in her health bar. She was raking up experience like crazy, in no time, she was already at level six. Meanwhile, I blasted my finger gun anytime I saw a big enough treant, taking down a good chunk of the forest with it. Other times, I used my claymore to cut down smaller ones. It was slow, very slow. I finally reached level three. It is not for a lack of trying but the disconnect I felt towards the combat. My body refuses to adapt to a weapon, each one feeling like a pain to use. Perhaps there was some innate ability locked in when I arrived here.
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
3 62 14 12 13 11 11
But it was not all dull and gloom for me. What compensated for the lack of combat was an abundance of loot. There were so many hidden chests scattered throughout the forest, that it became a mini-game trying to find them all. The loot we found could be divided up into rations, potions, weapons, and armor. It was quite funny to see how much loot we ended up with after just exploring what I can presume is less than a quarter of the total area. The quantity of rations made sense, since there were no animals to hunt and most of the trees were sentient, gathering food and water must not have seemed like a sensible option. However, I wonder how hard it would become once we stepped out into the open world. We carried all the loot in two handmade sacks, each weighing at least thirty kilos. It was a bit frustrating at times and we wished we had a magic coat like Faeren did. As the daylight seemed to be fading, we looped back and began to make our way to the center. At that moment, the forest seemed to clear up and eventually, we found ourselves staring at a stone arch, sitting plum at the center of the clearing. ¡°So, that is the gate, huh?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Looks like it.¡± ¡°What do you think lies outside?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I can¡¯t say I am not curious to know.¡± ¡°Think we will ever be ready to go outside?¡± She asked. I was taken aback by that question. All this time it was Urvi who seemed confident enough to conquer the world. ¡°Why do you ask that?¡± ¡°Just... The world outside looks a little frightening,¡± she said. She looked at the arch with a somber look. I smiled softly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Whatever the world throws at us, we will conquer it.¡± Her lips curled into a wavering smile. I dropped my sack onto the floor and pulled out the journal. I flipped through the pages and stopped in the skills section. I had four skill points, two of which I began with and two more I earned as I leveled up. ¡°It is a bit frustrating that I never got to choose what I wanted to be. But I have no other choice but to play with what I am given,¡± I said. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°I always preferred to swing a sword over casting a spell. Even in RPGs, I would always pick a swordsman over a mage. But now, my body is rejecting the sword and we have got no bow and arrow to speak off. That leaves me as the sorcerer.¡± Urvi remained quiet for a few seconds before she asked, ¡°Do you think we have a role to play in what is happening in the outside world?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Maybe we were brought to this world for a purpose.¡± I never thought of it that way. If that was the case, why did Faeren make it sound like we had a choice in all of this? ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. But we must play our part from here on out, I guess.¡± As I stared at the table, I was eyeing two particular skills. Namely: Fortitude and Balance. Both of whom gave me bonus stat increase in Special Attack and Special Defense. I rolled my luck and picked Fortitude, but it was partly inspired by Urvi¡¯s pick. Fortitude: User¡¯s casts take up ten percent less mana and cause five percent more damage. Chapter 13 - The Merchant ¡°How much of this forest have we covered?¡± Urvi asked. I pulled out the map and took a quick glance at it. Judging by how much we walked and the fact that we reached the northern gate, I expected to have covered at least a quarter or more of the area. So, you can imagine my surprise when I realized how much we had actually covered. ¡°Barely ten to fifteen percent!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Are you fucking with me?¡± Urvi asked. I glanced at her and replied with a deadpan expression, ¡°right now? No.¡± She threw her fist into my shoulder tipping me off balance, before snatching the map from me. Taking a good look at the map, she said, ¡°We can be here for days!¡± I moved in close and wrapped my arms around her waist. ¡°Fine by me. I can spend an eternity here.¡± I kissed her on her cheek, and she reciprocated with a soft giggle. ¡°Yes, Romeo. I would love to spend eternity with you too.¡± She spun around to face me before giving me a soft kiss on the lips. The sun had set by the time we returned to the center. We set out to make a camp for the night before taking a well deserve moment of respite for the night. *** I awoke by the time the first rays of sunlight reached the forest floor. Despite a comfy-looking nest in the great tree, Urvi and I found it far more comfortable to just sleep on the soft grass in the clearing. Urvi continued to sleep beside me. I looked at her beautiful naked body shimmering under the morning sun before picking up the tome to get some more reading done by the time she woke up. I learnt a little more about standard spells. Along with decimation, I needed to practice five more spells. Fortify, a defense spell that casts a temporary shield around a subject. Recover, a simple spell that regenerates small amounts of health. Rupture, a status spell that causes bleeding to a subject. Tranquil, a status spell that calms a subject. Agitate, a status spell that can heighten the emotional state of a subject. I looked at the mana bar and saw that it had been replenished. Turns out a good night¡¯s rest is what is needed to get to restore the mana. However, another option is also to meditate. Neither sounded efficient when in the middle of battle. So, it looks like the management of mana is key to being a good sorcerer. The size of the mana pool increases as I level up. However, amber crystals can be used to increase the pool, though not by a substantial amount. Instead, I must focus on leveling up and mastering spell-casting. With practice and stat increase, my spells can become more powerful and take up less mana. I heard the sound of the rustling of grass next to me when I noticed that Urvi was finally awake. She pushed herself off the ground and greeted me with a big smile. Her mood had improved a lot since we came here. Actually, both of ours did. ¡°Good morning baby,¡± she said. ¡°Good morning darling.¡± ¡°So, what is the plan for today?¡± ¡°Well. There is more of the world to see. But how about we start with some magic lessons?¡± *** ¡°Like this?¡± Urvi asked. After a light breakfast, we began the day trying to get Urvi her own mana pool. I explained to her how the whole process worked and what it would feel like. But beyond that, it would be up to her to channel the magic force and create a pool. We sat down on the floor, facing each other with our legs folded. I placed one of the few crystals we picked up yesterday in her hands. She grasped it with both her hands and held it up against her face. For a moment she looked like she was praying to it. Maybe she was. She shut her eyes and went quiet. I too sat quietly before her, patiently waiting to see what would happen. Her body remained steady as a rock, her eyes remained shut, and the crystal remained as it was. I waited, patiently, for I believed she could do it. However, each passing second felt like an eternity. Nothing changed, her body still didn¡¯t move, her face remained calm as a cloudless night, and the crystal remained as a crystal. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Why is it taking so long for her? I managed to do it in just a few seconds. Did I really take this long? Is Urvi equipped to do this? So many questions began eating away at my brain that I finally caved in. ¡°Ur..¡± However, before I could finish, the crystal burst into streams of light and vanished into her chest. I jumped on my feet in joy and said, ¡°You did it.¡± She opened her eyes slowly and looked at her empty palm. She had a serene look on her face as she felt about her chest. ¡°I feel weird. Like some kind of liquid is circling in my chest,¡± she said. ¡°Congratulations. You can do magic now.¡± *** Urvi cast her first decimation spell and it was just as powerful as mine. I told her about the five other spells in our arsenal and she was just as fascinated by them as I was. ¡°A total of six, huh? But is that all?¡± She asked. We walked through the thick forest towards the east. Along the way, we ran into a few more treants, none of whom posed any danger. ¡°Those are the standard spells. Anyone with a Mana pool can cast them. Beyond these spells is where we begin specializing. We need to pick a branch of magic and focus on it, master it,¡± I explained. ¡°What all branches are there?¡± She asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have a clear picture. Though if I have to guess, way more than that tome can cover.¡± ¡°Reall...¡± Suddenly, Urvi stopped dead in her tracks and looked ahead. ¡°Do you see a man? Or is it my imagination?¡± I danced through the busy forest floor to catch up to her before looking in the direction she was staring at. There was a giant tree, not-so-different from the great tree in the center. There was a human, a man, sitting underneath it, waving at us. ¡°Hello there!¡± He shouted. Urvi immediately armed herself with the Saber. ¡°No!¡± He said shaking both his arms. ¡°I am not an enemy!¡± We approached him cautiously. He was tall and well-built. Dressed in a brown tunic and black trousers, he looked rather sharp for a forest dweller with a neatly trimmed beard and neatly combed hair. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. We stood about twenty paces from him. ¡°My name is Darin. I am a player. Just like you,¡± he replied. ¡°Another one? Didn¡¯t expect to see one so fast,¡± I said. ¡°Actually, I came here way before you did,¡± he explained. ¡°Really? How long back?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly. Perhaps two hundred years ago,¡± he replied. ¡°Two hundred!¡± We cried out in unison. ¡°You mean to say we are the first ones here in two hundred years?¡± I asked. ¡°No. No. Plenty more came before you and plenty will come after you. I... well. I just never left the place,¡± he said. Darin turned out to be a very interesting individual, despite him looking like a buff NPC. We sat down with him and told him all that happened since we arrived, except for the nighttime shenanigans. ¡°Yeah. That mother is one big bastard. The problem is it clings on to you when you first meet it. Considering it is a high-level beast, you are going to struggle with it unless you are properly leveled up,¡± Darin explained. Sounded like a glitch. It looked like no one bothered to patch it up. ¡°So, Darin... where are you from?¡± I asked. ¡°I am from Centurion.¡± What the hell was that? ¡°Centurion? Where is that? I don¡¯t recall any place like that on Earth,¡± I said. ¡°Oh. You guys are from Earth?¡± He asked. ¡°Wait. You are not?¡± Urvi said. ¡°No. Like I said I am from Centurion.¡± ¡°Wait! They¡±re more like us in outer space!¡± Urvi exclaimed. I looked at her dumbfounded. ¡°We are in a fantasy land but you are struggling to accept there is life in space?¡± She turned to me and said, ¡°Yeah. That is true.¡± ¡°You say you are from another world, yet you speak English?¡± I asked. ¡°Is that what you are speaking? See, to me I am hearing you speak in my own language.¡± Oh wow! That would solve so many problems in our own world. ¡°That¡¯s crazy!¡± Urvi exclaimed. ¡°You see a lot of players?¡± I asked. ¡°I do and from various worlds too. Quite fascinating to see humans coming from very different worlds.¡± ¡°But Darin. You never left the training grounds, right? There is no way you came back here after leaving,¡± Urvi asked. Though it was a possibility, Faeren was able to, something told us that was not the case with this one. Darin sighed, looking off into the distance. ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t leave.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I am afraid... of dying. Every time I walk up to the gate, I get cold feet wondering if I would just die in one hit. So, I never left.¡± I never quite thought of it that way. The comfort of knowing that I will just resurrect here once I die made me make decisions I would never have otherwise. ¡°But living here. Alone. It must have gotten to your head,¡± Urvi asked. ¡°It did. At first. Faeren let me stay after when I refused to leave. Then new players started popping up. Over time, even the place also started to change. New chests, new beasts, it was a slow life, but I got used to it,¡± Darin said. He had a somber look on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about me. I will be fine,¡± he said wearing a fake smile. ¡°Sorry, but it is all a little too difficult for me to comprehend. I mean, what do you do to pass the time here?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Now you are asking the right questions. You see, I was supposed to be a player, but I decided to become a merchant. I can provide you with things that are a necessity, hard to find, and even impossible to find.¡± Durin explained. Now we are talking about. But wait. ¡°Impossible to find?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. Two hundred years and like I said, a lot has changed.¡± I see. He must be talking about discontinued items. These would effectively be antiques. ¡°So, what do you need first?¡± He asked. ¡°Okay. Do you have something that we can carry stuff with?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, please! We have so much... stuff just sitting beneath the tree,¡± Urvi added. ¡°Oh! Is that so? Well, feast your eyes on this,¡± He said. He turned away from us and towards his back. From behind him, he pulled out a small pouch and laid it in front of us. It was small. Small enough to fit on one of our belts. ¡°Is that it?¡± I asked. Urvi and I stared at the sorry thing. ¡°It¡¯s an inventory. A magical inventory of course. You can dump as much stuff as you want into this, and it will carry it for you. Granted you can fit the stuff through its mouth.¡± ¡°Wait. Anything?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. Anything! When you want to retrieve it, just think of it, and put your hand into it. All its contents will appear in your journal.¡± ¡°That is so cool!¡± Urvi exclaimed. Her eyes teeming with excitement. ¡°We will take it!¡± I said. ¡°Great. Is there anything more you would like?¡± He asked. ¡°Oh. I have a request,¡± Urvi said. Her lips curled into a sly grin. ¡°Get me the sexiest armor you have with you.¡± Chapter 14 – Armoring up Urvi laid down nine packages in a row, rubbing her hands together and grinning like a greedy businesswoman. It was kind of Durin to provide us with options. All in exchange for rations and sets of items we weren¡¯t interested in anyway. We made it back to the center before daylight faded, wanting to make sure to try out the armor sets before dusk. ¡°Which do I begin with?¡± Urvi wondered out loud. ¡°Start from left,¡± I said as I sat back leaning against the tree. She looked at the leftmost package and said, ¡°Left, huh?¡± One by one, she picked up each and tried them out like we were in a shopping mall. The first one had a similar design to her previous except the heavy breastplate armor was swapped out with an essentially metal bra. She looked at it disappointedly before popping out the journal and looking at the inventory. ¡°Hope the stats are at least good.¡± They weren¡¯t. With the magical inventory, we were finally able to see the stats of each armor and weapon we had. Armor two, three, four, and five turned out to be a no seller as well. At least to Urvi. I, meanwhile, was feasting with my eyes. All the armors up until now showed off, no, accentuated Urvi¡¯s curves. However, none would match the sixth armor she tried. ¡°Oh, my fucking lord!¡± She exclaimed looking at it. It was a two-piece armor. The top was essentially a fantasy version of a push-up bra, in a beautiful black color and golden lining. The skirt consisted of two long black loincloths, one in front and another at the back, held together by black underwear. All of them had a golden lining. ¡°I look fucking sexy.¡± I watched her in complete awe, unaware that my mouth was even open. ¡°You might want to close your mouth before a fly goes in,¡± Urvi said. I shook my head and said, ¡°You look fucking amazing! But that is essentially bikini armor.¡± ¡°I know and so what? I want to look hot when I am fighting too.¡± I couldn¡¯t stop myself from smiling like an idiot. She checked the journal for stats. ¡°I am down on defense, but my speed is 21! And my special attack is up to 18! I am keeping this!¡±
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
6 77 19 13 21 18 12
I gave her a thumbs-up as a sign of approval. She proceeded to tie her hair into a classic Indian-style braid. Suddenly, I realized I was looking at what I always wanted to see. A sexy-ass desi milf. Okay, I think I achieved my life¡¯s goal. Now I can rest in peace. Durin had just three options for me. I asked for one with a cape, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have any. In the end, I compromised for a set with high speed. I quickly tried on all three, all of which looked the same to me. But Urvi saw things differently. ¡°Hmm¡­ The red and black of the first one looks pretty fucking cool. But third one¡¯s slim design makes you look like one of those people who kill while hiding,¡± she said. ¡°You mean an assassin?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember the name.¡± Fair enough. It was the hood that gave off an assassin vibe. It was all black with very little padding. ¡°But what about the second one?¡± ¡°Hate it. He said it had good speed, but it makes you look like you have a pot belly,¡± she said. Hmm¡­ I checked the stats and found the first one boosted my defense as well, the second one boosted my attack, while the last one was pure speed. ¡°I think I will go with the first one. I am liking the boost in defense as well.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Putting it on, I checked my stats again.
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
6 82 17 15 19 20 16
¡°Looking sexy!¡± She winked while giving me a thumbs-up. ¡°But I wanted to ask you. What about all those potions? We have so many, maybe we could have traded it for some more items?¡± ¡°We will be needing those. Within the training grounds, we have no need for them. But once we get out, I am sure we will be burning through them.¡± We were hoarding quite a collection of them. The potions came in a rainbow of colors. The green bottles helped recover health. The red bottles gave a tiny and temporary attack boost. The blue bottles boosted defense. The purple bottles helped gain speed. The silver bottles cured any poison. Finally, a small health kit to staunch bleeding. ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay. Sounds reasonable,¡± Urvi replied. *** With the shopping out of the way, we got down to practicing some magic. But before we could start casting spells, we needed to learn to control the flow of mana. The well of mana needs to rise and overflow, for the body to become charged with magical potential. The rising of this well takes energy and to keep the flow, it takes more energy. So, the first step was to try and keep the overflow of magic constant. We practiced this by meditating. By meditating, we were replenishing our mana reserves. This also gave us ample time to practice keeping the mana flowing. Urvi grunted hard as she broke her trance. ¡°This is exhausting!¡± She fell back onto the grass. ¡°Why is this exhausting?¡± I slowly opened my eyes and saw that it was already dusk. ¡°Urvi, we have been meditating for hours.¡± Urvi snapped back up. ¡°Oh yeah! But seriously. How are we supposed to keep this up during battle? I am certain I will break my concentration.¡± I clasped my hands and relaxed, ¡®this is where the hard part comes in. It seems like magic has a barrier to entry.¡± ¡°Do I really need magic? I am great with the sword and axe,¡± she asked. ¡°At least learn to use standard spells. I am certain other players would have mastered it. We will get annihilated if we face off against them,¡± I argued. She sighed. ¡°When you put it that way. You want to continue?¡± ¡°Let us,¡± I replied. I could hear the chirping of birds when I realized how much time had passed. My eyes snapped open and were greeted by bright sunshine. Urvi sat before me, in the same meditating posture. Her face looked calm but expressionless. Either she was sleeping or really meditating. ¡°Urvi?¡± I called softly. Her eyes opened slowly. She exhaled softly as she seemed to return to reality. ¡°Wow. It is morning already?¡± she asked calmly. Her peaceful demeanor frightened me. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°So, this is the power of meditation.¡± She lifted her hands and looked at them. ¡°I feel so refreshed now.¡± Once our brain learnt to control the flow of mana, it automates the process within our subconscious. It felt like our bodies were circulating with mana very much like our blood. ¡°Incredible, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked. Decimation was powerful but also cost a lot of mana. We began by trying to control the flow of mana and used the power of decimation as a gauge. When the body is charged with magic, controlling the output proved to be far more difficult than we imagined. A purple-colored circular ball formed on the tip of her finger before shooting into the trees ahead of her. It was bigger than what we were planning to do. She relaxed from the stance and looked at her arm. ¡°Fuck. I couldn¡¯t contain the mana one bit.¡± Even I struggled with this. We had been wasting a lot of mana since morning in an attempt to learn to control. ¡°Karna,¡± Urvi said. ¡°I think the magic in my body is gone too.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± I exclaimed. I figured we had mastered it. ¡°My mana is less than half. Perhaps that is why?¡± She said. ¡°And... I am really exhausted. I am going to take a quick nap.¡± It had been less than two hours since we woke up. Only twenty minutes since we started practicing. ¡°I think maintaining this state of magic is taking a toll on our body and mind,¡± I replied. However, Urvi was lying on the ground, eyes shut, and seemingly deep asleep. This is going to take some time. *** ¡°If it is going to consume energy to keep it in flowing, is it really worth it keeping it that way? Especially when we are not even using it,¡± Urvi asked. She had a point. It made sense for a mage or someone who uses magic to keep it flowing constantly. But otherwise, it is simply a drain on resources. We decided to see what was west of the center and for quite a while, it seemed like more of the same. That is until we heard something that instantly brightened our mood. ¡°Is that... is that water?¡± Urvi asked. The sound of crashing water penetrated the thicket before us, tempting us to come and take a look at it. We pushed forward and as we cut and slashed our way through, we found ourselves standing before a small pond with a ten-foot-tall waterfall on the other side. ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Urvi exclaimed as she stripped down to nothing in seconds before jumping into the pond headfirst. The pond was pretty large, about half the size of a football field. You could see the flora and fauna of the pond through the crystal-clear water. This also meant we could see that there was no danger hidden in the water as well. I took off my boots and sat on the bank, dipping my legs into the water. Urvi, meanwhile, enjoyed herself in the water, splashing and thrashing about as she swam. ¡°What the fuck are doing there?¡± She asked as she reached me. ¡°Me? Just chilling.¡± ¡°Take off your clothes and come join me.¡± I was hesitant to get wet. It looked like too much trouble. She held her breasts up, pushing them just above the surface of the water. Her cheeks turned rosy red as she glanced at me seductively. ¡°They are asking for your company.¡± I swallowed hard, trying to pretend like I was still hesitating. But in reality, I had already made up my mind. Quickly stripping down till there was nothing, I leapt into the cool water, sending a splash of water Urvi¡¯s way. I rose back to the surface, wiping excess water off my face, only to find Urvi nowhere in sight. I can¡¯t deny I panicked for a moment before something grabbed me by my leg and dragged me underwater. Soft palms grabbed me by the hips before her breasts gently pressed against my chest. My eyes met hers, accompanied by my dreamy smile. I wrapped my arms around her before swimming back to the surface. We burst through the surface, gasping for air. Then, things slowed down as we looked into each other¡¯s eyes passionately. She let out a naughty giggle before moving in, squeezing her breasts between us as our lips met. Suddenly the whole world was quiet, even if it was for just that moment. Chapter 15 - Life goes on ¡°If you are not going to keep it running, you must master to get into the flow as soon as you can,¡± I said Urvi. ¡°Sounds reasonable to me. Right now, I think I take like ten seconds to get into the flow,¡± Urvi replied. ¡°Which is fine if we can see the enemy coming...¡± ¡°But not good any other time,¡± Urvi finished the sentence. ¡°So, how am I going to reduce this time?¡± ¡°Practice. I can¡¯t see any skill related to it. My guess is we need to master it ourselves.¡± ¡°I wish I knew what exactly to do.¡± ¡°You have experienced flow state, right? Try to picture how it feels and see if your body adapts accordingly,¡± I said. ¡°You are telling me to make that process automatic as well?¡± She asked. ¡°Yes. I am thinking as your reflexes improve...¡± ¡°The speed also might improve! That is clever!¡± Urvi exclaimed. As the days went by, we got ourselves into a routine. We began the day with light physical exercises, then practiced some magic, first learning to control mana, and then to cast the standard spells. After that, we would venture into the forest where we would be greeted by a new version of treant which we would put under the ground. We reached level 8 pretty fast. Urvi had almost mastered dual wielding, being able to handle the axe and Saber with one hand each, with ease. However, the XP we got from each fight had dried up to a trickle. When we visited Darin, he explained that the only way to gain a substantial amount of XP in a short enough time would be to battle the mother treant. Unfortunately, it only spawns once every few days and only in the south. When we faced off the motherfucker for the second time, we thought we were ready. However, things turned out to be very different. ¡°Damn it! Why is this fucker so much tougher?¡± Urvi asked, kneeling after getting a solid hit to the stomach. ¡°The first one must have been lower level,¡± I theorized. ¡°Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do now?¡± ¡°Grind away my lady!¡± I suggested. ¡°Fuck you!¡± She cursed and got back to hacking and slashing the beast until it was nothing but a pile of forest dust on the floor. She fell back onto the ground, her arms and feet wide apart, panting for air. She looked at her experience band and saw it grow but stopped just shy of level 9. ¡°How much was that? A good 60%?¡± Urvi said. ¡°That is almost three days¡± worth of cutting down the smaller ones,¡± I said walking up to her. She pushed herself up saying, ¡°worth it.¡± As she picked up her weapons from the forest floor, she asked, ¡°Think you can take on that beast now?¡± ¡°I have to or else I will get left behind,¡± I replied. ¡°Your spells are way more powerful than mine, especially with the condensing skill you picked. Think you can just blast one to oblivion?¡± ¡°You saw how powerful they had become. I don¡¯t think one blast would do it.¡± ¡°Then what will you do?¡± ¡°I need to learn to dance with magic like the way you do with your sword,¡± I replied. *** I took a look at all the skills available in my journal, hoping that maybe one of them would help me increase the efficiency of my mana flow. But none of them seem to fit the criteria. Urvi began putting more effort into understanding the flow so that she could switch to what we called the activated mode. Both of us realized that the amount of energy it took to raise the well of mana was quite high. This made us wonder if just increasing the mana was the only solution. It became very clear to me that the only way to achieve magical excellence was through practice and resolve. And so, I created a new routine for myself, focusing heavily on trying to gain as much mana control as possible. The day began with an hour-long meditation, trying to channel the mana and feel it coursing through every vein in my body. Following that, I would spend another two hours practicing my spells. Right now, I was still focused on the standard set, hoping to get proficient enough to move into the more advanced spells. I also made sure to help Urvi practice her spell casting as well. Then, we ventured into the forest, gaining more experience and items. We would return to the center just before dusk, spend a night of passion every other day, or spend another hour meditating before calling it a day. *** Slowly but steadily, my casting got better and better, eventually, I was ready to face off against the mother. Its roar cut through the forest like a blunt axe thrashing a tree stump. Urvi stood back and watched me curiously. This was my first time facing the beast head-on since Urvi took down the first one and I cannot deny that I was nervous. The mana was coursing through my veins, and I could feel it sparking on my fingertips. It gave me a little confidence as I got into a battle stance, ready to throw down the beast. A burst of debris shot in my direction which I easily stopped by casting protection. Just as the shield burst, I sprinted forward, trying to get underneath it as it was the best position for me to strike. But the beast was clever enough to avoid it. It lunged forward, swapping places with me instead and forcing me to spin around. I cast a condensed decimation spell at one of its vines, that seemed to be holding it in place. It knocked the beast off balance and to compensate for it, a large tree trunk slammed into the ground just before me. ¡°Climb it!¡± Urvi instructed. Dammit Urvi! I am not as agile as you. I instead cast another decimation spell, destroying the trunk, but by then it had created new veins to hold it in place. The beast spun in the air like a helicopter blade, shooting debris in all directions. Urvi ducked behind a tree for cover while I cast another protection spell to shield myself from the attack. This was useless. The beast was somehow faster than I was. It also seems to be keeping its distance from me. One decimation should annihilate it. But with it swinging around like this, I can¡¯t aim properly. I needed to come up with something fast. Two more tree trunks shot up into the air and headed in my direction. I ran towards it, dodging the slow-falling trunks with ease. But just as I got underneath it, it circled around using its vines to smack me away. I slipped underneath the vine just in time and as I laid there facing the belly of the beast up into the air, I took my shot at another decimation spell. The spell struck it hard, throwing it off balance. ¡°Finish it!¡± Urvi exclaimed. I pushed myself off the ground, getting back up on my feet. I pointed my finger at the beast that was struggling to recover and let off another decimation spell, this time adding a little more oomph to it. The blast cut through the beast, whose roar echoed through the woods before it came crashing to the ground. Beast defeated. Levelled up to nine. Urvi cheered me on while I observed that I used up more than seventy percent of my mana in just this battle. Not very efficient. But it will do. *** By the time we finally leveled up to ten, well over two weeks had passed since our arrival. While we got accustomed to this place, we were slowly feeling the repetitiveness and boredom set in. So, we ultimately decided that it was time for us to move on. Before dusk, we decided to spend sometime allocating skill points and stat points. We had not allocated any skill points, except the one in the beginning, or stat points. Each of us had ten skill points and forty-five stat points. ¡°I can see that the first five stats have increased slightly,¡± Urvi commented. They had. ¡°It is from all the training we have been doing.¡± Urvi rested her on her left palm and sighed dully. ¡°This looks exhausting¡­¡± she said. ¡°We should have been more proactive in allocating points,¡± I replied. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. After an hour of thinking and debating, our stats ended up like this. Karna
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
10 123 25 22 30 31 27
Strength Stamina Dexterity Recovery In-grain
10 9 8 9 10
Intelligence Perception Charisma Confidence Resilience
9 8 8 8 8
Empathy Faith Valor Adoration Compassion
8 8 8 8 8
Skills
Fortitude (x2) Condense (x2) Resolve (x1) Balance (x2) Coordination (x2)
Reinforcement (x1) Sharpen (x1)
Urvashi
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
10 133 31 21 33 22 22
Strength Stamina Dexterity Recovery In-grain
11 10 9 9 10
Intelligence Perception Charisma Confidence Resilience
8 8 9 9 8
Empathy Faith Valor Adoration Compassion
8 8 8 8 8
Skills
Reinforcement (x2) Adrenaline (x2) Fleet Footed (x1) Coordination (x2) Dual Wielding (x2)
Balance (x1) Sharpen (x1)
In the end, we just allocated three points to each stat. Perhaps we were being a little too cautious, but it felt like it was right move. The very thing we needed to do now was pick a class. Looking at the very first page of our journal, the class was still undetermined. For a moment, I was slightly confused as to how we would pick one. But just by tapping on it, the words on the page vanished and in its place, we found a list of classes available to us. ¡°Interesting. My list is different from yours,¡± I said. ¡°What options have you got?¡± She asked. ¡°Mage, Sage, Wizard, Monk, and Cleric.¡± Urvi looked at me with a stupid look on her face. ¡°What the hell do any of those mean?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I was about to begin explaining when she suddenly interrupted me. ¡°Wait. Explain mine first. I got Paladin, Berserker, Hunter, Knight, and Barbarian.¡± All her options were melee-focused with each class helping her specialize in specific stats. Paladin was balanced. Berserker ramped up her Attack and Speed. Hunter had Speed and Special Attack. Knight focused on Attack and Defense. Lastly, Barbarian focused on Attack and Special Attack. They also fine-tuned her buffing in special stats as well. ¡°I am thinking Berserk. What do you say?¡± She asked. ¡°Go for Paladin instead. It is a more balanced build and will make it easy to spend your stat points in the future.¡± It seemed like I made some sense as she picked it without much debate. As for me, I saw that Wizard made Intelligence and Perception a priority. Plus, I always liked the idea of being a Wizard. Urvashi ¨C Class Paladin. Karna ¨C Class Wizard. The fire was still burning bright. I laid back against the tree trunk while Urvi comfortably rested upon me, with her back resting on my chest and taking in the warmth of my embrace. We both stared into the canopy above, each of us lost in our thoughts. ¡°How do you think the world outside would be?¡± She asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡± I replied. Urvi snickered. ¡°You know how many times you have said that since I got here?¡± ¡°... I... don¡¯t know?¡± I replied sarcastically. ¡°Oh god! How did I ever fall in love with you?¡± She asked, laughing. I kissed her on her forehead before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the world has in store for us. But let us continue doing what we have been doing. Making the most of what we got.¡± ¡°It is a promise,¡± Urvi replied. *** The next day, we trekked to Durin for a final goodbye. ¡°Durin. We... we are leaving,¡± Urvi said, with great effort. ¡°Finally decided to take the first step, huh? Well, good luck on your path,¡± Durin said. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to come? I am sure we would make a great team,¡± I asked. He looked away, thinking quietly for a few seconds. I could see his usually cheerful expression soften. ¡°Every time somebody comes here, they ask me the same question. But I can¡¯t seem to change my answer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Urvi replied. ¡°You do what you feel like doing. It¡¯s you who decides what to do with your life.¡± His lips curled into a shy smile. ¡°Thanks. And as one last thank you...¡± He reached into his inventory and pulled out an object. ¡°Urvi told me how much you were struggling with the claymore and that you liked swords. So, I thought this might help.¡± He held the object up for me before I picked it up with great caution. It was a dagger sheathed in soft fabric. It was about eleven inches long with a gold-plated hilt that had a brilliant shine under the sunlight. The cover itself was made of a soft yellow fabric with small gems woven into the fabric itself. I held onto the cover and unsheathed it, revealing a shining yet dull silver-colored blade hiding inside. Urvi and I marveled at its beauty. ¡°I... I can¡¯t take this!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°You must. It is a parting gift from me,¡± Durin replied with a smile. I quietly contemplated for a while, looking at its majestic beauty with wide eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to repay you,¡± I replied. ¡°You already did. By being nice to me. You will be surprised how rare that is,¡± Durin said. ¡°In that case,¡± Urvi bent down and kissed him gently on his cheek. ¡°Just another thank you,¡± she said with a smile. Durin¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Hope we cross paths again.¡± Urvi got back up and walked past me. ¡°We will, once you are ready to leave,¡± I said. Just as I turned around to leave, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to ask. ¡°Durin! One more thing! Do you happen to know anything about this¡­ I don¡¯t know how to describe it. We just heard this voice say, destinies linked¡­¡± Durin looked at me puzzled. ¡°No¡­¡± His eyes began to wonder. ¡°No. I don¡¯t know anything about it.¡± ¡°You sure? You never came across anything like that?¡± I asked again. ¡°Perhaps it is a late-game event. I never experienced it myself. You know what might have triggered it?¡± I suddenly felt my heart swell. ¡°Well¡­ well¡­¡± I stammered like an idiot. ¡°We heard it when my darling proposed to me,¡± Urvi said. I turned around to see her eyeing me with a wide grin. ¡°Oh. In that case, I have no clue. None of the female players proposed to me,¡± Durin replied. ¡°Don¡¯t worry dear. You will find your darling soon!¡± Urvi replied. Durin¡¯s cheeks turned rosy red. *** Our journey to the north gate was surprisingly uneventful. We anticipated facing some tough resistance as a final test, but the whole ordeal was pleasant. Treants walked past us peacefully and the chirping of birds seemed to be returning as well. It felt like the forest was humbly waving us goodbye. The stone arch stood before us, inviting us to come closer. We stood at the edge of the clearing, trying to take one last breath. Suddenly I felt something gnawing on my jacket. I turned back in a snap to find a frightened deer staggering back while staring back at me. ¡°Oh my god!!¡± Urvi exclaimed. This time the deer did not run away. She reached out to the deer with her right arms and the deer reciprocated by stretching its neck, sniffing her palm. She touched its black snot before gently caressing its head, all the while having a bright smile on her face. Suddenly, the deer leapt forward, startling us for a moment, before dashing off through the arc and into the forest beyond. We watched it leave in surprise. However, I got a feeling that it was asking us to leave with it. ¡°Want to go catch it?¡± I asked. ¡°After you,¡± she replied. With that, we took a bold step forward as we crossed the arch into the unknown world beyond it. Chapter 16 - NPC The forest around the gate was much denser with trees and foliage than anywhere within the training grounds. Navigating through them was becoming painfully slow. Every now and then, we looked down at our map to see how far we had progressed. The giant circle that once represented the Training grounds had now become a mere dot. Several times throughout our journey, we wondered if we should turn back and check if the training ground had really disappeared, but it felt unnecessary as it had now become a place in memories for us. We followed north as Faeren had instructed us. Having started on sunrise, by the time the sun began to set, we had progressed about thirty or so kilometers. Despite the forest looking the same as before, we could feel the change in the atmosphere. The lack of treants, the constant buzzing of bugs, and there was a feeling of eyes watching us all the time. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can make it any further,¡± Urvi said. She dropped her Saber and bent over, grabbing her knees as she panted hard. We had been hacking and slashing our way through the impenetrable foliage all day, exhaustion was bound to set in. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s try to make camp here,¡± I replied. She straightened up and looked around with her hands on her hips. ¡°Here?¡± We were surrounded by, well¡­ more trees and plants. I pulled out my claymore and hacked through the greenery, clearing the ground just enough for a small camp. Urvi got about stomping the ground, making it as flat as she could. By the time we set up the camp, we were ready to flop onto the ground and close for the day. The warmth of the fire felt good after a hard day''s work. I opened up the journal, taking a look at the inventory when Urvi bought up something very interesting. ¡°Did you notice? We didn¡¯t even run into one chest today.¡± ¡°Yes. It was something that was on my mind too,¡± I replied. ¡°Do you think they were only for training? Or will we find any more?¡± ¡°If this is like a video game, then there must be more scattered around. Maybe they are just harder to come by,¡± I said. I took a quick look at the rations, it will last us a few more days but I wasn¡¯t sure if we would find more. ¡°I think we should start hunting for food.¡± ¡°Huh? Why is that?¡± ¡°Judging by how much food we have been eating and how we haven¡¯t run into a single chest in an entire day, chances are we might start running out of food soon,¡± I explained. ¡°Fine by me. This whole experience felt incomplete to me without any hunting. Don¡¯t you agree?¡± She glanced at me with a cheeky grin. ¡°Always up for a challenge, huh?¡± I commented. ¡°Always.¡± *** Beasts of all kinds roamed the forest, but which ones would you describe as edible? This thought ate away at my brain as we continued on our journey. ¡°You know, this whole new fantasy world thing has become a bit boring, don¡¯t you agree?¡± Urvi asked. We have been doing nothing but dredging through thick forest for one and a half days. ¡°Well in games, they say one kilometer becomes ten meters. In the real world...¡± ¡°Places aren¡¯t really that close to each other,¡± Urvi finished the statement, ending with a dull sigh. I fell quiet once again, lost in my own thoughts when Urvi suddenly burst through my trance again. ¡°You seem dull, is everything alright?¡± ¡°Huh? Yes. Just that I haven¡¯t eaten meat before and...¡± I tried to explain. ¡°Oh yeah! Well, looks like it is just fruits and leaves for you,¡± Urvi said. Her sarcasm was accompanied by an evil grin that infuriated me. ¡°To be fair, I have no clue what we ate in those rations. I must also adapt. Back in our world, I had that luxury. But here... well I have to eat to survive.¡± She scoffed softly, though I think I made more sense she would like to admit. ¡°So, what do we hunt?¡± ¡°As far as I know,¡± I said as my eyes scanned the surroundings, ¡°any herbivore would make a good meal.¡± As we trudged through the forest, we finally came up on our first hunt. However, this all felt like deja vu. It was another fawn, small without any antlers, probably young. It was about fifty feet away from us and was chewing the leaves off a plant, blissfully unaware of us eyeing it for food. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me we are hunting that,¡± she whispered. ¡°It is our best option right now.¡± She grunted. ¡°So, how do we do this?¡± ¡°I got an idea.¡± I extended my arm with my palm facing the beast. I summoned the core and as the mana swelled, I shaped it into an image of thoughts and cast it towards the deer. Wisps of white mist flowed from the palm and struck the deer in a span of two seconds. Tranquilize. The deer lifted its head into the air, its jaw dropped, and its gaze lost towards something distant. ¡°Now. Hit it!¡± I instructed Urvi, Urvi pulled out her axe and lifted it up, ready to throw. But suddenly the deer broke away from my trance and leapt into the air. ¡°Crap!¡± I exclaimed, but Urvi threw the axe with all her might. The axe sliced through the air and any foliage that stood in the path. It narrowly missed the leg of the deer as it dashed into the air. ¡°After it!¡± she exclaimed. We threw ourselves after it, but it was a losing battle. The deer was almost out of sight and there was no way we were catching up with it. At that moment, I could only think of one other option. I stopped, dead in my tracks, while Urvi ran ahead. I once again pointed my hand in the direction of the deer before letting out a small ball of decimation spell in its direction. The energy ball ate through the forest before crashing into the deer, sending it flying and then crashing into the ground. We quickly ran over to see the charred corpse of the deer fighting to stay alive. My stomach was in knots seeing the poor creature struggle. ¡°What the hell...¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Urvi said. She brought the axe down onto the beast¡¯s head, ending its misery. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. *** Though the deer was scorched pretty badly, it provided enough meat for the next few days. Plus, we managed to secure some skin as well, which I was hoping to sell for some coin. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Urvi asked. The path seemed to have cleared up. There was more space between the trees and the foliage had minimized enough for us to travel without hacking. ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I didn¡¯t realize at that moment that it was the first living creature I had ever killed, except for bugs and pests, of course. ¡°Maybe we should try to get some other food items...¡± Urvi began. ¡°Relax...¡± I interrupted, ¡°It is the way of life now. I will get used to it.¡± I turned to her with a sly grin and Urvi replied by shining her teeth. It was still early day and we had covered quite a distance. Yet we hadn¡¯t interacted with anything or anyone. This made us a bit concerned. Were we doing something wrong? Turned out, it was all about time. The world is enormous after all. About half an hour later, we came up with our first interaction in the most video game way possible. ¡°Help!¡± a shrill voice echoed through the forest. Urvi and I stopped dead in our tracks as we tried to figure out where the voice came from. ¡°Help! Please!¡± the voice called out again. I scanned my surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound. ¡°Help!¡± they cried out again. ¡°That way!¡± Urvi said and dashed off to her left. I followed her without another thought. The cries for help continued and they only got louder. At a distance, we could see a figure wiggling on the forest floor. ¡°There!¡± she said. It was a man, who appeared to be pinned down by a fallen tree trunk. ¡°Help!¡± he cried again. However, this time his voice wasn¡¯t as loud. ¡°Don¡¯t worry sir, we will get you out,¡± Urvi said as she squatted down and grabbed onto one end of the trunk. Without even asking for help, she raised the end with a loud grunt, flexing her thick arms and thighs. I was lost for a second admiring, and lusting a little, her looks. ¡°Karna...¡± she whispered, snapping me out of my trance. ¡°Right!¡± I bowed down and dragged poor man from underneath the trunk before Urvi dropped it to the ground. A loud thud echoed through the forest, sending birds fleeing into the open sky above. The man, a scrawny elder in nothing but a black loincloth, rolled over and tried to push himself off the ground, but his left leg was in no shape to move. It appeared squished, bent unnaturally. ¡°That¡¯s not good...¡± I said. ¡°No... it isn¡¯t...¡± Urvi had a grim expression. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Nothing new. But good folk, I need your help,¡± the old man said. ¡°Please tell us,¡± I said kindly. ¡°I was on my way to trade goods in the next town when I was attacked by an orc. The orc took my horse and cart while leaving me under the tree. Please... retrieve my horse and cart, so I can make my way back to safety,¡± he said. A jolt of excitement surged through my body. We finally got our first quest and a familiar feeling swelled inside me. ¡°Certainly. Can you tell us which way it went?¡± I asked. He pointed straight towards a small opening between two trees. Looking closer, we could make out that there was a path carved in that direction. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long. If you hurry now, you might find it.¡± ¡°We are on our way.¡± I turned to Urvi and asked, ¡°Urvi, shall we?¡± ¡°Fuck yes!¡± she said, thrusting her fist into the air in excitement. We dashed off in the said direction, running between the two trees that were unnaturally bent to resemble an arch. As we continued on the path, the canopy thickened, and it became darker and darker. About half a kilometer in, we came upon a clearing. We stopped just before entering it, taking a few steps back. ¡°You can feel it?¡± I asked panting. ¡°Yeah,¡± she replied, her chest rising up and down as she spoke. It was an unnatural feeling, call it basic instinct, that told us something terrible was ahead of us. We tiptoed off the path and towards the clearing. Hiding behind the bushes, we peeped into the clearing and saw the monster. He was huge, almost ten feet tall, and built like a tank. His skin was dark green and looked thick and impenetrable. His face was just a big rectangular block, bald on top, while housing sharp teeth, two of which protruded through his lower lip. He wore brown rugged pants and aged black leather boots while his torso was protected by an armored shoulder pad on his left shoulder, held in place by a big belt wrapping around his chest. ¡°That is one mean motherfucker!¡± I whispered. ¡°He is. How the fuck do we take him down?¡± He turned around before lifting a broken tree stump off the ground and carrying it over to the other side of the clearing. There was the horse, lying on the ground, immobile, and to its left was the cart. Both appeared to look fine, and I hoped the horse was breathing fine too. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know we are here, we can start with an ambush,¡± I said. ¡°And then?¡± ¡°We improvise.¡± Urvi rolled her eyes. ¡°Why are we going up against giant monsters on our first try?¡± ¡°Bad luck I guess.¡± ¡°Well. Say your prayers now.¡± Urvi stood up and tiptoed into the clearing. I followed her. The orc drove the stump into the ground, giving Urvi the window to sprint towards it. However, the orc noticed immediately, turning around to see Urvi approaching. He let out a thundering roar, ready to face off. But I had other plans. I pointed my index finger in his direction and cast a decimation spell, sending an energy ball flying towards him. He instinctively blocked the spell with his armored left arm, seemingly causing zero damage. But it created a window for Urvi, who jumped up into the air before bringing down the axe onto his left arm. The orc pushed back, using his right arm to grab hold of her. But Urvi used her body weight to swing away and pulled the axe out of the armor, ripping it off his arm. Just as she landed on the ground, the orc jetted its right arm toward her. However, I sneaked in from behind her and quickly cast a protect in front of her. The shield shattered on impact with the orc¡¯s arm, but the force pushed him back and off balance. Urvi charged in, slashing his two legs with her Saber. The orc let out a loud cry as it fell to the floor. Urvi hopped onto its knees, which were folded like a mountain, before flying into the air. She held onto the Saber with both arms as she tried to bring it down onto the Orc. The Orc, however, proved to be faster than expected. It rolled away, in the nick of time, causing her to slam into the ground beneath. She cursed out loud. The orc struggled to get back up on its feet. Red blood was oozing from both its legs. It stumbled for a moment as it backed away from Urvi. I used this opening to cast another decimation spell, this time packing some power to it. The spell smashed into the beast, tipping it off balance. Urvi ran towards him screaming before logging the axe into his stomach. He cried out in pain but once again tried to grab hold of Urvi, but Urvi completed the job slicing the monster¡¯s stomach open before his arms could reach her. The orc fell to his knees before slamming into the ground with a dull thud. ¡°That was fucking awesome!¡± Urvi declared, jetting the axe into the air. ¡°Must have been a good chunk of XP!¡± We looked at our arm, only to see the band expand by ten percent. ¡°What the fuck?¡± Urvi cursed. I pulled out the journal and looked at the events page. ¡°Dear, we just took down a level eleven Orc,¡± I said. ¡°Wait. That thing was barely a level more than us?¡± she said, looking at him. Suddenly a white orb floated up from his body. Urvi grabbed hold of it quickly, looking at it in awe. ¡°Sweet! Reward!¡± I looked behind to see something just as interesting hiding behind a makeshift bed. ¡°Not just that. We got ourselves a chest too,¡± I said. *** The horse was knocked out cold causing a bit of anxiety and nervousness within us. However, when he awoke, he was jumping and cantering about like nothing had happened. Urvi and I breathed a sigh of relief before returning to the quest giver. ¡°Thank you very much...¡± the old man said, clasping his hands together and bowing down. ¡°No. No. It was our pleasure,¡± Urvi replied with a smile. ¡°You are too kind. Here. For your troubles.¡± He held both his hands out and inside them was a pile of coins, specifically copper coins. Regardless, Urvi and I looked at it with wide eyes. Our first interaction with the currency of this world. We helped the man get back on his cart and sent him on his way. We debated whether to go along with him, but learning that he was headed east, we decided to part ways with him. By the end, we got 12 copper, a health potion, an antidote potion, and a rusty orc armor. ¡°What are we going to do with the orc armor? It is too damn big for either of us,¡± Urvi asked. We slowly walked north without much of a plan. ¡°I am guessing it is junk. Meant to be sold off to a merchant for copper.¡± ¡°Wait. Wasn¡¯t he a merchant?¡± Urvi asked. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at her with a stupid expression. ¡°Fuck!¡± Just as I finished cursing, a shrill scream cut through the forest like a razor. The scream sent a chill running up my spine. I felt something dreadful was taking place. ¡°Seriously. Is every quest going to start with someone screaming?¡± Urvi said sarcastically. ¡°Urvi. This way,¡± I said and jetted off in the direction of the scream. My pace picked up, running unusually fast. ¡°Karna, what happened?¡± Urvi asked. I didn¡¯t answer. The screaming did not stop, getting louder and louder. I stopped a few steps from where I thought the scream came. Looking around, we saw a small shallow burrow and inside it, two men pinning a young girl down to the ground. ¡°Get the fuck off her you monsters!¡± Urvi screamed before charging towards them. Chapter 17 - Lost girl Urvi charged at the two screaming at the top of her voice. The two men dropped the little girl and looked at Urvi stunned. Before they could even react, Urvi was on top of them, ready to bring her axe down when one of the men thrust their hand towards her, blasting her into the air. She came crashing down to the ground just before me. ¡°Urvi!¡± I exclaimed as I helped her up. Her teeth were clenched, and her face was squeezed. I could feel the rage she harbored at the moment. The men walked out of the borrow, their features were clearer now. Both were somewhat scrawny and on the shorter side. Their brown skin was as dark as mine. Each wore a black mask with white accents around the eyes. It covered half their face, exposing their mouths. Each had only a black skirt, cut in strips, covering their nether regions while small ornaments covered their bodies. They looked at each other¡¯s faces before turning back to us. The man on our left thrust his palm towards us. Suddenly a stream of forest debris flew in our direction. I reacted quickly casting a protect before us. The debris smashed into the shield and bounced off harmlessly. ¡°Karna, cover me,¡± she said and dashed towards them. I cast a weak decimate spell towards them and as expected they dodged it. However, Urvi had reached them before they could recover. She immediately turned towards the man to her left and swung her axe in his direction. He tried to get underneath the swing but couldn¡¯t fold completely. The axe cut into his shoulder, sending him tumbling down. The other man, behind her, cast a spell at her. I countered by casting yet another protect, saving her. ¡°Take care of him, I will deal with this guy,¡± I shouted. Urvi charged towards her target who was struggling to get off the ground, while I charged towards mine. My enemy turned his attention towards me. He readied himself, holding his hands out with the palms facing me. Whoever these people were, they seemed to be proficient in magic. I stopped a few paces before him, trying to anticipate what his next move was. However, my limited knowledge of magic made this move a useless one. Circles began to form around his hands, glowing bright red, with odd symbols floating around them. Just looking at the creepy red glow made my heart shiver. The symbols began to collect at the center before a red bean shot out from the circle. As the beam approached me, I felt like death was approaching me. Instinctively, I cast a protect. The beam slammed into it and bounced off it harmlessly. It took me a second to process. But¡­ ¡°You are fucking weak!¡± I cried out. I saw his eyes widen with fear. ¡°Let¡¯s make this short.¡± I cast a tranquil his way, stunning him for a brief moment. Now that he was incapacitated, I sent a decimation ball, packed with a serious punch, his way. His burnt body flew into the air and crashed into the forest floor. My thoughts immediately turned to Urvi. She stood a few paces away from where I was. Her axe was slick with blood and the corpse, with his chest open, laid on the ground before her. She spat on him and said, ¡°Piece of shit.¡± *** The girl shivered in fear, her eyes were wide, and her lips trembled. She was thin and looked pretty weak. Her brownish skin was accompanied by shabby dull black hair. The navy-blue cloth that was wrapped around was torn in places and red marks littered her body. I could only imagine the fear that was eating away at her heart. Urvi bent over and with a soft smile she said, ¡°hey there little girl. Are you okay?¡± The girl didn¡¯t answer, her body continued to shiver. I knelt down on my right knee and extended my arm, ¡°it is alright. We won¡¯t hurt you.¡± She took a step back and for a second, I was afraid she was going to gun it. Instead, her body froze in fear. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Urvi said as she extended her hand as well, ¡°we will take you home.¡± We waited patiently. The little girl took her time, slowly taking a step forward before grabbing onto Urvi¡¯s hand. Urvi tugged her in, and the girl let her. She grabbed her underneath her armpits and lifted her into the air, before placing her on her hip. The girl instantly wrapped herself around Urvi tightly as Urvi gently brushed her hair. ¡°What is your name?¡± I asked as I got back on my feet. The girl didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He is your friend too,¡± Urvi said. The girl still didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Let¡¯s give it some time. Poor thing is shaken to her core,¡± Urvi said. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Yes. We will just rest for now,¡± I said. ¡°Good idea. And let us get out of this place,¡± Urvi said. ¡°It reeks of blood.¡± *** We gained a good distance from the burrow and settled down at the base of an old tree. The roots of the tree erupted from the ground, forming waves running across the ground. Urvi sat on one that blended into the tree trunk seamlessly. Her back pressed against the trunk while her legs stretched along the root. The girl rested on her Urvi¡¯s torso and appeared to have slipped into a deep slumber. Urvi too remained silent as she embraced the child. Her eyes were shut but her right hand gently brushed the girl. I sat much further down diving deep into the tome. I figured I would get some more reading done while the daylight was still out. *** By the time the girl woke up, it was pitch dark. She found herself on Urvi¡¯s folded legs, while we sat before a warm campfire. ¡°Look who is finally up?¡± I said. The girl rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust to the light. She then curiously observed my face before turning to Urvi¡¯s and then just fell quiet. ¡°What¡¯s wrong dear?¡± Urvi asked. The girl shook her head. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked, making my voice as soft as I could. ¡°Si... Sierra...¡± the girl said. ¡°Hi, Sierra! My name is Urvashi!¡± she said in a playful tone. ¡°And that is Karna. We are your friends.¡± She looked at us helplessly, unsure of what to say. ¡°Are you hungry?¡± I asked. The girl nodded. I dug into the inventory and pulled out some rations. I figured it would be easier for the child than meat, though I am sure even that would not have been a problem. As I extended my hand to pass it over, the girl hesitated to take it. ¡°Go on. It is yummy!¡± Urvi said. The girl took it, with great caution. She observed the block very carefully before taking a bite of it. Minutes later, the little devil devoured the entire thing. ¡°Was it good?¡± Urvi asked. The girl nodded. Her lips formed a faint smile. ¡°Where are your parents?¡± I asked. The girl took a second to answer but it was really short. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Where were you when the mean-looking men took you?¡± I asked. The girl fell silent. We weren¡¯t sure if she was trying to think or if she was afraid to talk about it. ¡°We don¡¯t need to talk about it. You sleep dear, okay?¡± Urvi said. She laid down again, placing her head on Urvi¡¯s lap before curling into a ball. ¡°Any luck with the map?¡± Urvi asked. I had been trying to see if the map showed any villages nearby, but alas that was not to be. ¡°No. Nothing at all.¡± ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°We go east. The tracks left by the merchant must be still fresh,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s brilliant. He said the village was not far off too.¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s start first thing in the morning.¡± *** The journey to the nearest village next day was much better than we anticipated. Sierra appeared to be much brighter and more trusting. She wore a thin smile on her face when I offered her to ride on my back. ¡°Are you enjoying the piggyback ride, Sierra?¡± Urvi asked as she walked behind us. I tried to look back, hoping to catch a glimpse of her expression. But Sierra didn¡¯t say anything, instead tightening her embrace around my shoulders. ¡°Think so. Still a little too shy to talk,¡± I said. ¡°No worries, we will wear those walls down slowly,¡± Urvi replied. ¡°If we manage to find someone who can help us in the village, she won¡¯t be hanging around us for long,¡± I said. ¡°No...¡± Urvi replied, sulking. We walked from dawn to afternoon. No monsters or animals or any men with masks crossed our paths. The route we followed also appeared to have been treaded multiple times. I guessed most dangers stay off the main path here. As we drew closer to the village, we could see more and more people on our path. Small huts littered the periphery of the village, with people dressed in black clothing. Men wore black loincloth and were mostly bare chest or had a black cloth wrapped around while some women wore black tribal skirts and a black band around their breasts. The village was surrounded by a wall of thick wooden logs, with a gate, wide enough for a large cart, cutting into the wall. Two men guarded the gate on each side, with a spear in their hands. ¡°Stop!¡± the guard told us. We did as instructed. ¡°State your business.¡± Very formal. I must be just hearing live translation. ¡°We are travelers. Just passing through the village,¡± I said. ¡°They must be players,¡± said the other guard. I see. It looks like everyone is aware of people like us. ¡°In that case, you can pass. But you must follow the rules. No harassing, no stealing, stay away from any building in the center, and do not cause any ruckus. The market is on the other side of the village. The local healer is to the east. You cannot meet the officials unless you have a document. If you wish to speak to any, you must visit the magistrate who stays near the market. Do I make myself clear?¡± the guard explained. ¡°Absolutely yes,¡± I said. ¡°You may enter.¡± We walked in, cautiously. I have never been used to such strict rules and it was a bit nervous. Looking back, I could see the discomfort on Urvi¡¯s face too. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will go to the magistrate''s office and see what they will say,¡± I explained. ¡°Right...¡± Urvi replied, nervously. The path cut through the small village, reaching the other side where the Magistrate was supposed to be. The village was made up of small and medium-sized huts, whose walls were made of brick and mortar and covered on top by thatched roof. The roads were paved with gravel mud. You can practically smell the countryside here. We reached the supposed office, yet another small circular hut with maroon clay walls and a conical thatched roof. There was no door to knock at, so we just peeked in. Inside was an elderly man, sitting on the floor with his legs folded up. In front of him was a wooden desk, that was raised a foot or so above the ground. He appeared busy scribbling something onto parchment. ¡°Excuse me, sir,¡± I said. The old man looked up, revealing his wrinkled face and long greying hair. The bits and pieces of jewelry that adorned his body shone under the sunlight coming through the doorway. His eyes blinked hard before he asked, ¡°Yes? Who is it?¡± I took a step in and said, ¡°We are travelers.¡± I was still not accustomed to calling ourselves players. ¡°On our path, we managed to save a little girl. She seems lost. Would you kindly help her reach home?¡± ¡°Oh. Is that so?¡± the officer replied. Sierra squeezed me. ¡°Come here. Let me see.¡± I cautiously walked up to him and set the girl down beside the table. Sierra appeared to be a little reluctant. She was once again shivering. The officer closely observed her before turning to us. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I heard a father was looking for his lost daughter this morning. We will make sure she reaches him.¡± He had a big smile on his face. Urvi and I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That is good to hear.¡± ¡°Hear that? You will be going home, Sierra,¡± Urvi said. ¡°No...¡± Sierra said, her voice trembling. ¡°Please don¡¯t go.¡± Urvi squatted down and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry dear. The officer here will take you home.¡± ¡°No, he won¡¯t. He will kill me,¡± Sierra said. Chapter 18 – Breathe Easy A cold shiver shook my heart on hearing what Sierra said. ¡°No Sierra! This man isn¡¯t going to hurt you. He is here to help you,¡± Urvi said, trying to calm little Sierra down. ¡°No... he will kill me,¡± Sierra replied. Beads of tears formed at the corners of her eyes. ¡°Maybe we should take her for the moment,¡± I said. ¡°What?¡± the officer replied. His voice got aggressive, and his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Are you trying to steal the child from us!¡± ¡°Just to calm the child,¡± I said, trying to clarify. ¡°There is no need! We will take care of her.¡± His grip around her arm tightened. My blood boiled on seeing that. He reached down and grabbed a few copper coins before tossing them at Urvi. Her lips twisted into a frown. ¡°Let her go... sir,¡± she said, her voice was ice cold. ¡°The child is scared of you. She is scared of you more than us... strangers,¡± I said. ¡°Guards!¡± the officer shouted. I immediately put my hand up, casting a tranquil at the officer. He suddenly spaced out and his grip weakened. ¡°Sierra come!¡± Urvi said. Sierra broke free from his grip and ran into Urvi¡¯s embrace. Urvi stood up with Sierra safely in her arms. We immediately turned around and walked out. To our left, two men, with spears in their hands were approaching. Luckily the shortest exit was to our right. As soon as we turned, one of them shouted, ¡®Stop right there!¡± We didn¡¯t, instead picked up the pace and jetted into the market. The lanes of the market crisscrossed, creating a maze. ¡°Urvi, don¡¯t lose sight of me,¡± I said as I tried to guide her through the convoluted market place. The villagers looked at us in confusion, but no one stopped us, instead clearing the way for us. I tried to make sense of where we were going, trying to gauge where the damned exit was. But I knew I had to ask someone here. I came to a sudden halt and Urvi did the same. Turning to a man sitting on a raised wooden platform, I asked, ¡°Good sir. Could you tell me where the east gate is?¡± ¡°Turn left over there,¡± he said, pointing ahead of us. ¡°Then a right. Keep going straight and you will find another right that will take you to the exit.¡± ¡°Thank you very much!¡± I said and we ran. Following the man¡¯s instruction, we made it to the gate. Two more guards stood at the gate on the other side. We slowed down our pace as we walked past the guards. My heart trembled in fear, but neither I nor Urvi looked back as we vanished into the forest ahead. *** I lost track of how far we walked. The only thing I could think of was getting away from the village as fast as we could. By the time we slowed down and looked back, we were on the brink of exhaustion. ¡°Why don¡¯t we rest for a while?¡± I asked panting. ¡°Gladly,¡± Urvi replied, setting Sierra down before flopping onto the forest floor. I took a seat beside Sierra, who appeared a little shaken, though seemed much calmer than before. ¡°Why did you think the old man was going to kill you, Sierra?¡± I asked. ¡°Because he had the mark of a bear,¡± she said. Mark of a bear? ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. She twisted her right arm, revealing a tattoo on the inside of her forearm. On closer inspection, it looked like a bird. ¡°Is that your mark?¡± I asked. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°The mark of a sparrow,¡± she said nodding. Urvi popped back up and looked at the tattoo. ¡°What do the tattoos mean?¡± ¡°Probably tribes,¡± I said. ¡°Is he from a different tribe?¡± I asked Sierra. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mom told me that anyone with Mark of Bear will try and kill me.¡± There was sadness in her eyes. ¡°Damn. Well, we stay away from anyone having a bear tattoo and find a village with a bird tattoo,¡± Urvi concluded. *** With daylight fading, we decided to set up camp a little further east. There was an underlying fear of getting caught by the villagers, even though we were confident we could overpower them. ¡°You eat meat?¡± Urvi asked Sierra. Sierra nodded. We sighed in relief as we had run out of rations and our only source of food was the deer meat. She immediately began to tear away the cooked meat, feasting with the hunger of a wild cat. ¡°We need to do some more hunting tomorrow. Otherwise, we won¡¯t last for another two days,¡± Urvi said. If we hadn¡¯t had to flee the village, the market would have been a great place to see what our coppers could have bought us. ¡°Agreed. Let¡¯s do that first thing in the morning.¡± ¡°You okay with it?¡± she asked. ¡°Like I said. We need to adapt.¡± *** ¡°Fuck! That bastard is fast!¡± Urvi grunted as she ran behind the deer. The deer was hopping around in circles, appearing as though it was mocking her for lack of speed. But it was probably just confused. ¡°You know you can cast spells, right?¡± I said. I stood by the side watching over Sierra, who was watching Urvi with wide eyes. ¡°I know...¡± Urvi grunted once again. She stopped and prepared to cast a decimation spell. But by the time she could, the deer seemed to have vanished into the bushes. ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Urvi! We have a child!¡± I exclaimed with a tinge of playfulness. ¡°Sorry,¡± she replied panting. She put down the axe and wiped the sweat off her mouth. ¡°We need to look for another one I guess.¡± Suddenly the shriek of the deer echoed through the air as it flew out of the bushes and crashed into the ground before us. The deer was dead on arrival, its limbs crushed and twisted. I instinctively covered Sierra¡¯s eyes, protecting her eyes from the gore. Thundering steps shook the ground beneath us as a mighty green Orc appeared through the bushes, this time armed with a heavy wooden mace. It looked exactly like the one from before, just a little bigger. ¡°Whoa! Urvi...¡± I began as I tried to formulate a plot. However, she interrupted me. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind. I want to take this one on myself.¡± She seemed pissed off and wanted to blow off some steam. ¡°Go for it,¡± I replied. As I prepared herself with the axe and Saber, the Orc approached her calmly. It didn¡¯t roar nor did it make any aggressive gestures, which made it all the more menacing. ¡°This thing looks mean. You sure you going to be, okay?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she replied. The Orc drew first. It held onto the mace with both hands and swung it towards Urvi. Urvi, however, disappeared in a flash. ¡°Where did she go?¡± Sierra asked. ¡°Look up,¡± I said. Urvi had launched herself into the air, gaining the higher ground. The Orc looked around for the woman before looking up and seeing her coming down onto him. He blocked the stab with his armored left arm, the blade barely made a dent. Urvi bounced off his hand and landed on the ground on one knee. ¡°Get rid of its armor,¡± I said. ¡°Got it.¡± Urvi got back up and stood in a star pose. As the Orc approached her, she stood still. I wondered for a moment what she was doing but it didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that she was raising her mana well. Casting with both hands armed can seem impractical. But one of the perks of dual-wielding skill is that it allows the user to channel the mana through weapons as they are essentially an extension of her hands. This meant that Urvi could now cast with her blades. She dashed towards the Orc, who replied by bringing the mace onto her. Urvi dodged the mace by jumping to her right, but he followed it up by sweeping the mace in a circle. She encircled the Orc, trying to get behind him, but failed to do so. The Orc made sure to not expose his back to her. This forced her to hop back and out of the range of the sweep. While he was still recovering from the sweep, Urvi cast a weak decimation spell through her Saber, right at his head. The Orc was caught off-guard and stumbled backward. She used this window to slide underneath his legs and get behind him. With one quick slice, she cut off the belt holding the armor in place. The Orc countered by trying to smack her with his free hand, but she blocked it with her hands, throwing her off. By the time she gained her footing, the Orc was charging towards her. His armor was loose and rattling as he ran. Urvi grinned as she quickly casted another decimation spell and as planned he blocked it with his armored arm. The armor came loose and flew into the air, landing on the ground a few feet away. Urvi charged towards him before engaging in a series of slashes. The orc countered with solid blows from his mace, some of which she blocked but a few others she couldn¡¯t. The Orc was now bleeding all over with deep cuts from Urvi¡¯s blades. It stumbled back as it panted. It tried to regain the strength to lift the mace back up, but Urvi found her opening as she used her remaining strength to slice the belly of the beast open. Blood and guts splattered out of his wound before it fell to the floor with a dull thud. Urvi wiped the sweat and blood off her lips with a smile. Meanwhile, Sierra watched the whole battle with stunned eyes and a dropped jaw. Chapter 19 - Something Wicked We had to eventually come to terms with the fact that we were a bit lost. We continued to travel east, hoping to run into another village or some people. The one¡¯s we did, bore the mark of the bear, forcing us to stealth our way around them. Just to be sure, we travelled a little further east until we ran into a nest of large spiders. ¡°Ah! Fuck this shit!¡± Urvi screamed as she ran as fast as she could with Sierra in her arms. Well, I guess it¡¯s my turn then. These buggers were big, each was at least six wide and five feet tall. They were also bloody fast. They scurried towards me and seeing those giant eight legs move so fast turned my chest cold. As one of them reached me, I stared into those multiple eyes and massive pincers. They looked disgusting. As those pincers came down upon me, I cast a protection spell, this time using a good chunk of my mana. The shield didn¡¯t break, giving me plenty of time to prepare a nasty decimation. I took one step back as the spider continued to slam its pincers into my shield. It took a good beating before the first crack showed up. Just as the spider broke through it, I let the ball go, turning the insect into broken body parts. The ball continued to fly, cutting through several of them before dissipating. The other spiders seemed to take this as a cue and began to swarm me. I protected myself using protect, casting a shield around me. As the number grew, the strength in each strike reduced, allowing my shield to last just a bit longer. This gave me the perfect opportunity to use the next level of my decimation spell, dome of annihilation. An area of effect attack that delivered a massive punch. I concentrated on my well, condensing the mana within me till it formed a boiling core. Just as I heard the shield crack and shatter, I unleashed the core, letting out a powerful burst of energy. I felt my body heat up, to a degree I never felt before. Just as I began to worry, coldness flooded in, making me feel as though I was freezing for a moment. I slowly opened my eyes to see burnt corpses of spiders lying around me. Most of them were motionless but a few seemed to shiver for a second but eventually, their motion died out too. I looked around me with a bright grin on my face, my mana was almost completely drained, but it was worth it. I hope. Just as I began to celebrate, something moved. The corpses of the spiders rose up and rolled over, revealing one bastard taunting me with his pincers. He scurried towards me, eager to get a kill, but I had other plans. I unsheathed the dagger from my belt, gripping in a downward strike. Putting my left foot forward, I prepared for the spider to attack. As its pincers came down onto me, I lifted my arm and struck the insect right between his eyes. One of its pincers cut through my bicep but I pushed past it. It began to use its legs to push me back, dragging my feet on the ground. I felt my hand go numb, probably from the poison, but my grip didn¡¯t give in. The spider finally began to stagger and retreated, giving me a chance to retrieve the dagger before striking it again in the right eye. I proceeded to deliver a few more stabs before it finally collapsed to the floor, lifeless. I could feel my heart rate increase, my body felt like it was struck by fever. I was not sure if it was because of the exhausted mana, or the poison and I was too tired to check my health. ¡°Wow... You are crazy!¡± I heard Urvi exclaim. I tried to turn towards her, but all I could see was a blob. ¡°Would you be a dear and get me the antidote? I think I have been poisoned.¡± ¡°Oh god, Karna!¡± Urvi shouted as she rushed to my aid. *** ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The shot of the antidote did the trick. I am fine now.¡± Even the cut from the pincer was gone. It was dark, but the silver light from the full moon penetrated the thin canopy, illuminating the forest floor in a dreamy glow. We decided to take in the calm and meditative atmosphere as we journeyed a few miles north before turning west. ¡°You are crazy to take on the whole nest like that,¡± Urvi said as she adjusted the sleeping Sierra on her hip. ¡°Speaking of which, bold of you to just abandon me like that,¡± I replied with a sly grin. ¡°I did not. I was watching over you the whole time. I was even about to jump in when you were getting swarmed.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Because you told me about that blast spell, and I didn¡¯t want to get caught up in it.¡± Oh yeah. I did tell her about it. ¡°Besides. That straight-up emptied your mana, doesn¡¯t really look very effective,¡± she added. ¡°It¡¯s basically a nuke. You have to give it some credit for its power.¡± She rolled her eyes and said, ¡°fine...¡± Suddenly, the white moonlight seemed to turn orange. We stopped dead in our tracks and looked ahead to see a small campfire beside a big stone. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°More players?¡± She asked. What we thought was a stone, suddenly stood up, revealing its giant antlers. We watched them in awe as they moved about. ¡°Who is that?!¡± Urvi exclaimed. We tiptoed closer to take a look. It was a human or something that resembled a human. They were draped in an enormous grey cloak that had leaves and vines growing on it. As they spread their hands into the air, we noticed that they were covered in bands from the wrist to the biceps. Their long flowing black hair blended into the foliage on their clock and out of it, two gigantic antlers stuck out, symmetrical in design and grand in beauty. As they put their hand down, a female voice spoke. ¡°Come on. Don¡¯t worry.¡± She turned towards us revealing her elderly face, covered in more tattoos. ¡°I am a player too.¡± We approached her cautiously, her jet-black eyes shined like a diamond against the campfire. She wore a thin smile, perhaps not to look creepy. ¡°So, how many days has it been since you arrived?¡± she asked, turning back to the campfire. Her voice was husky and had the maturity that came with age. ¡°Less than a month ago,¡± Urvi answered. When she looked back at us, her smile was replaced by a look of surprise. ¡°Who is the child?¡± We sat down beside the campfire alongside the woman, after formally introducing ourselves. Sierra had woken up, probably by all the commotion. She sat down between Urvi and me, observing the woman cautiously. The woman herself was dressed in a brown gown. It was adorned with small trinkets made up of twigs, nails, and even teeth. ¡°My name is Andrie. Player name, Visenna.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, how old are you?¡± I asked curiously. Urvi jabbed at me with her elbow. ¡°It is fine,¡± Visenna said, still looking at the fire. ¡°Age has a different connotation here. Before I answer that. What year was it on earth when you arrived here?¡± ¡°How did you know we were from Earth?¡± Urvi asked. She was equally surprised as me. ¡°I just so happen to have read the mythological epics from where your names come from,¡± she said. She was referring to the Mahabharata. ¡°So, you are from Earth too?¡± Urvi exclaimed. ¡°Indeed. I left Earth in 1857. I was in London at that time.¡± Of all the crazy things that has happened so far, meeting someone from a place I have lived in, still managed to shock me. ¡°Oh my god! You have been here for almost 170 years?¡± I asked. She chuckled softly. ¡°Time runs very differently here. I am well over 1200 years old.¡± Okay, no. This is even crazier. ¡°That is long... very long... So, time runs here very slowly?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. I have met players who are supposedly from the future. 2300. I wish I understood how all of this worked... but alas,¡± she explained. This little tidbit left us dumbstruck for a good moment. However, Urvi had a question to ask that was nagging in the back of her head all this while. ¡°What is it like living for so long?¡± Visenna took a good while to answer it. ¡°It is hard to describe it in simple terms. But I can try. When things are happening, the world around you is changing, you don¡¯t feel the difference. Every day is a new day. But once things begin to slow down, boredom sets in and how you deal with it, changes from person to person. I, for one, lost myself in this dream. Days blended together and became unrecognizable and inconsiderate. Eventually, I began to lose my mind. Which is why I came here. If there was anything that found harmony with age, it was the trees. I sort of live like them. Find harmony with just living.¡± ¡°Did that work out for you?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Well... the last 500 years have been a peaceful existence... Though something in this forest wants to threaten that.¡± It seems like trouble is brewing in this seemingly peaceful forest. Though we might have already run into it. ¡°Yes. There seems to be some tension between the forest dwellers.¡± We then proceeded to narrate the events of the past two days to her. ¡°Yes, the enmity of the mark of the bear and mark of the sparrow has been a contentious issue for a while now. It is unfortunate you decided to head east. There are hardly any folk from the sparrow clan in this region,¡± Visenna said. Urvi sighed and said, ¡®traveled millions of kilometers, still facing the dumb shit.¡± Visenna smiled. ¡°I have a favor to ask of you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°There is a path that opens just north of here, about fifty paces from here. Follow it. There is something I want you to see. All I want you to do is see what that is and return,¡± Visenna said. ¡°Is that the trouble you are talking about?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. Remain vigilant and do not get caught,¡± she replied. Urvi shot a nervous glance at me. I couldn¡¯t deny that even I was a little shook. ¡°Alright. We will do as you say.¡± ¡°I will take care of little Sierra till your return,¡± she said. *** It was odd to place trust in a stranger we just met. Then again, what else would you do when you run into a quest giver in a video game? Sierra was awfully calm around Visenna, not unlike how she was with us. So, we felt it was safer for her to be at the campsite. We found the path Visenna was talking about. The forest had gotten darker as the canopy got thicker. But seeing in the dark wasn¡¯t really a problem for either of us. ¡°Let¡¯s stay sharp,¡± I said as we began following the path. ¡°Agreed,¡± Urvi replied. Nothing felt out of the ordinary for most of the journey. The crickets chirped, the breeze gently swayed the branches, and every now and then we could hear an owl hoot. However, everything came to a stop as the forest suddenly turned red. We could see hot red flames crackling at a distance. This was no campfire. ¡°I think we found what we came looking for,¡± I said. I could hear Urvi gulp before we began to slowly walk towards the fire. We could feel the heat of the flames as we approached it. Soon shadows began to form around it, seeming to dance around it. We stopped at the edge of what felt like a small opening. Hiding behind a thick tree trunk, we peeped around to see what the trouble looked like. The bright bonfire sat enclosed in a circular pit, whose flames spewed out of the pit. Embers from it shot into the night air in all directions before falling onto the bare ground below. Surrounding the fire were humans, dressed as the two men who tried to assault Sierra, except for one. A woman, thin and naked with long hair, stood before the flames covered in blood from head to toe. Her back was turned against us, but I assumed she too wore a mask like the others. They all appeared to be chanting, words that made no sense to me. ¡°Can you understand what they are saying?¡± I whispered. ¡°No. Sounds like nonsense to me,¡± Urvi replied, in an equally hush tone. One of the men danced towards the woman before kneeling down. Another presented a dagger to her, which she graciously accepted. The man before her bowed down as she lifted the dagger into the air. She then hunched over and proceeded to slit the man¡¯s throat. Blood sprayed out of his throat as he grunted before falling over to the ground, his body shaking violently. Once it stopped, she kicked the body into the fire and the flames roared along with the others around it. The woman lifted the dagger into the air once again as the others rejoiced. She slowly brought the knife down when she suddenly snapped back and stared right at us with her red eyes. Urvi and I vanished into the darkness of the forest before those eyes could see ours. Chapter 20 - The Mysteries of the World By the time we made it back, Sierra was deep asleep in Visenna¡¯s lap. Visenna herself hadn¡¯t moved an inch. She looked at us, expressionless, as we sat down beside her. Looking back at the fire, she asked, ¡°I hope you saw the kind of trouble that is brewing in this place.¡± Urvi and I were speechless. Fear had penetrated every bone in our body. We quietly stared at the fire, unsure what to say. ¡°You can find the settlement of the sparrow clan west of here. It is about two days journey. You can get dear Sierra to safety there and please do let them know of what you saw,¡± Visenna asked kindly. ¡°Could you help us make sense of what we saw?¡± I asked. ¡°Who were those people?¡± ¡°Several centuries ago, there lived a god amongst these people. Well... God to them. From what I have heard, they say she was a monster. Cruel, cunning, and a deep hatred festered in her heart. She commanded the folks of the forest, making them do inhumane things. This was until a brave group of warriors put an end to her, just a few years before I reached here. Her religion slowly died out and she faded from the memories of the people. But she still lives on as a god in the minds of these cultists. I do not know why. As of late, I see more and more of them and their heinous rituals.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you stop them?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°I could. But my methods would be ineffective. It would be easy to slaughter the cultists but that is exactly what their god wants. If we want to put her to sleep permanently, we must change the way of the people.¡± ¡°Easier said than done,¡± I said. ¡°True. But we must try.¡± She turned to her left and put her hand into a pouch. Out of it, she pulled a roll of parchment which she handed over to me. ¡°Here. A small reward for helping me.¡± ¡°But I didn¡¯t do anything,¡± I said, holding my hands up. She smiled softly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It will help you in your quest as well.¡± It was a bit unfair but since she insisted, I took it. It was a roll of rusty-looking parchment tied up by a thin brown twine. Urvi popped her head as she watched me untie the knot before unrolling it. The parchment had just one symbol etched onto it. As I tried to observe it closer, it suddenly disappeared. ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°Look at the back of your right hand,¡± Visenna said without looking. I turned my hand over and saw the same symbol tattooed on the back. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked. ¡°It is a rune. More specifically a fire rune. With it, you can cast fire spells,¡± she replied. ¡°That is badass!!¡± Urvi replied. I looked at the symbol as I felt my mana core heating up. My breathing got heavier, and I began to sweat. ¡°I suggest you sleep now. It takes some time for your body to adjust,¡± Visenna said. *** The night was intense. I felt like I was sleeping in a furnace, my whole body was uncomfortably hot, my skin burnt hot, and sweat poured like I was running a marathon. By the time it was dawn, my body had seemingly cooled down. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Urvi asked. She sat next to me with her legs folded up. Behind her, Sierra was still asleep. I rolled towards her before pushing myself off the ground. ¡°Doing alright. I don¡¯t feel like I am in a furnace anymore.¡± Bright shafts of light penetrated the canopy and lit the surroundings. I heard the rustling of grass accompanied by footsteps. Looking up, I saw Visenna towering over me, holding something in her hands. She squatted down and extended her hands. One towards me and another towards Urvi. ¡°Eat this. You will feel better,¡± she said. I took the object from her hand. On closer inspection, it was just a fruit, but a fruit I didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°Which fruit is this?¡± I asked. ¡°The people here call it Sabbon. It is magical in nature. It will help you soothe your body,¡± she explained. Urvi and I exchanged glances before taking a bite out of our fruit. The sour taste shook any sleep that was left in my body. Urvi too squeezed her face as she struggled to swallow a piece of it. ¡°I think it has gone sour,¡± Urvi said looking at the fruit in disgust. Visenna had a soft smile on her face, ¡°it is terribly sour. But don¡¯t worry, these haven¡¯t gone bad.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Save it for later,¡± Urvi said before tossing it to me. An hour had passed, Urvi, Sierra, and I prepared to leave. Visenna looked calm and composed as always. Birds swarmed her as feed them grains while two deers and a cunning fox feasted on the fruits tossed out by her. ¡°We are leaving,¡± I said as I approached her. She looked back and threw a soft smile at me. ¡°Good luck on your path.¡± ¡°Before I go, there are a few things I wish to ask.¡± ¡°Go ahead,¡± she said and returned to feeding the animals. ¡°What is in the land of glory?¡± ¡°It is exactly as you imagine it to be. A place for the greatest of warriors, or players, to battle and take the place of gods.¡± ¡°All I am imagining is a palace with gladiator matches, to be honest.¡± ¡°Well, you are not far off.¡± ¡°What happens after that? If we win or lose.¡± ¡°A loss usually sees you sent back to the world to explore more, if you do not die that is. But winning grants you a place in the pantheon.¡± ¡°Whoa! Really?¡± ¡°Indeed. But to be honest, it is just another cult if you ask me.¡± ¡°Whoa, really?¡± ¡°You will see when you reach there. Take your time. There is no hurry.¡± ¡°If we will, can we return to our home world?¡± Visenna stopped and turned back to face me. ¡°Why would you want to go back?¡± ¡°There is someone Urvi left behind. So... yeah.¡± ¡°The system specifically chooses people who are done with their world. I have never run into anyone who just wanted to go back.¡± ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t. And Urvi claims she doesn¡¯t either. But I wanted to know if we had an option.¡± ¡°I am sorry. But I do not know. Perhaps some other player might be able to help. Though it would be strange for anyone to return to our world having experienced this.¡± I nodded quietly before asking, ¡°One last question. There was a... moment between Urvi and me. At that time, we triggered an event, destinies linked. Do you happen to know anything about that?¡± Visenna looked at me curiously. I pulled out my journal and showed her the log. Upon seeing it, she looked stumped. ¡°You have a lot of mysteries around you young man,¡± she said. That is not what I was expecting. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Firstly, there has never been a case of two people entering this world. The contract you sign before entering is designed just for one. Yet, you managed to come here with your loved one.¡± My cheeks flushed red on hearing the term ¡®loved one¡¯. ¡°Secondly, you say you want to go back. And now an event completely mysterious to me. I always assumed in my lifetime I have understood how this world works, but you seem to have broken that belief.¡± I did not know how to answer that. ¡°I... am... sorry?¡± She chuckled delightfully. ¡°Don¡¯t be. I always like to know that there is more to learn. If I learn anything new. I will be sure to let you know. I promise.¡± With that, our two days journey towards west began. *** Day one of the journey felt very normal. The journey was long, and the forest was indeed fraught with danger. We ran into a couple of Orc which were dispatched with relative ease. Luckily there were no spiders, but instead, we found ourselves fighting a pack of hungry wolves. Those bastards proved to be vicious, especially in a close encounter. But their speed could not keep up with Urvi¡¯s who dispatched them with relative ease. However, no matter how far we traveled, we could not shake off the fear that someone from the cultist was following us. I kept telling myself that we were strong enough to take them all on, but my heart wouldn¡¯t listen. Soon the daylight was fading, and we decided to set up camp a little early. We found ourselves in a quiet spot under an aging tree. ¡°I will be back. I need to use the bushes. Sierra, do you want to?¡± Urvi asked. Sierra simply shook her head and with that, Urvi vanished into the thicket. I sat down on the ground skimming through the tome while Sierra was quietly playing with the wooden toy Visenna had made for her. As I flipped through the pages, I found myself staring at a new page in the tome. It had the symbol of the rune at the top of the page, followed by a series of information about the rune itself. Just as I got down to reading something interesting, my attention was taken away by a bush violently shaking at the corner of my right eye. I slowly turned towards it, in hopes of catching whatever was sneaking up on us. Suddenly two gigantic tusks popped out of them. Sierra, who had been humming all this while, went quiet. I felt her grab onto me, and I instinctively pulled her in closer. A loud snort emanated from the bushes following which, the nose of the beast appeared. It was followed up by the beast''s head, at which point I knew what I was looking at. It was a boar, a wild boar. The beast was huge. Big enough for even the likes of Urvi to ride on. It had thick, black, hairy skin and gigantic yellowed tusks. The beast''s eyes stared at me as it stood still halfway through the bushes. I felt no threat coming from the beast as it appeared to be peaceful. It walked out of the bush, wagging its tail. I looked at it in awe. I have always loved animals. Thought of them to be God''s greatest creations. It was wonderful seeing them up close and a little heartbreaking to have to kill them for survival. I reached into the inventory and pulled out a fruit. Holding it up, I tried to lure the creature in. The boar sniffed the fruit from a distance before taking a step forward. As it approached me, Sierra¡¯s grip tightened. I could tell she was terrified of it. It stopped right before my hand, sniffing the fruit one more time before taking a bite out of it. ¡°See Sierra. It won¡¯t harm us,¡± I said. As the beast ate peacefully, a giant shadow was cast upon us. I looked up to see Urvi holding her axe high up in the air, ready to bring it down on the poor thing. ¡°Urvi no!¡± I shouted in panic. The boar jumped into the air in a blind panic. It began to jump about violently. ¡°What the fuck are you doing!¡± Urvi shouted angrily as she prepared to fight the beast. ¡°It is just a boar. Don¡¯t hurt it,¡± I replied. ¡°No. It is food!¡± Urvi replied as she ran towards the beast. The beast turned left and sprinted, gaining some distance between it and her. ¡°Oh, come on! We don¡¯t have to eat everything in this forest!¡± I said. ¡°Are you fucking serious? A pig of all creatures?¡± Urvi cursed. ¡°Really?¡± The boar let out a loud snort before charging towards Urvi. ¡°It looks like this mofo wants it. Why don¡¯t I give it to him?¡± Urvi said as she prepared to battle. Just as the boar was about to reach her, I cast a tranquil in the nick of time. The boar slowed down to trot before coming to a stop at her feet. Urvi looked at it disappointed. ¡°Pussy.¡± It butted its head against her feet, knocking her off balance before climbing onto her. As Urvi tried to push it away, it simply snorted and sniffed at her before licking her like a dog. Urvi looked disgusted but soon it melted away. ¡°Fine. We can keep the snorting bastard,¡± she said. Chapter 21 - The Butcher ¡°Go on Sierra. It won¡¯t do anything,¡± Urvi said, trying to encourage her. Sierra took one baby step at a time, with her arm extended and the palm facing the beast. She was nervous, her arm shaking visibly. Meanwhile, the boar stood still staring at Sierra with its tail wagging. After five minutes of slow progress, Sierra¡¯s palm finally touched the boar¡¯s forehead and the boar, seemingly, celebrated by snorting. It bobbed its head, rubbing against Sierra. Her face, which was painted with a grimace slowly faded into a cheerful smile. Urvi, who was squatted down beside the boar, clapped with a big smile. ¡°There you go!¡± Sierra continued to fondle with the boar wearing a big smile on her face. *** As the fire in the camp faded, we got down to getting cozy for the night. Urvi and I cuddled with Sierra sandwiched in between us. The boar was flat on the ground behind me. I thought I heard it snore. ¡°Feeling comfortable, Sierra?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Yes.¡± It was a lot colder today, so much so, Urvi and I decided to snuggle for some warmth. ¡°Do you think winter is coming?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡± Urvi said. ¡°Sierra, does it snow here?¡± ¡°What is snow?¡± She asked. ¡°It is the white powdery stuff that falls from the sky,¡± I explained. ¡°White powder? No. I have not seen it. How does it taste?¡± Sierra asked. ¡°Well... it tastes like water,¡± Urvi said. ¡°Then isn¡¯t it rain?¡± Perceptive girl. ¡°Well, if it gets cold enough, rain turns to ice and falls from the sky. Do you know what ice is, Sierra?¡± I asked. ¡°No... the world outside is big, right?¡± Sierra asked. ¡°It is. Big and beautiful,¡± Urvi said. ¡°And scary. Mother said outside is dangerous. I didn¡¯t think so. But then those scary men tried to beat me...¡± Poor girl. Didn¡¯t even know what the men were trying to do. ¡°It is okay, Sierra. We will protect you,¡± Urvi said interrupting. ¡°Yes. Urvi is brave and so is Karna. They make me feel less scared,¡± she said. I was sure Urvi¡¯s heart must have been jumping with joy like mine. Urvi tightened the embrace. ¡°We sure will. We will chase away anything that will scare you.¡± *** The next morning, we continued on our path to the closest sparrow village. According to what Visenna said, we should have been one day away from it. The boar joined us on our journey, volunteering to be Sierra¡¯s mount. Sierra rode the beast with joy as her face was lit up by a big smile. ¡°Say, maybe we should give our newest member a nickname,¡± I said to Urvi. ¡°Hmm... how about Boris!¡± Urvi said. ¡°Boris? Like the prime minister?¡± ¡°Prime Minister? Of which country?¡± ¡°Boris Johnson. Of England.¡± ¡°I had no idea. I thought Boar - Boris. You get it, right?¡± Urvi replied. She didn¡¯t look too concerned that she might have offended someone, though we were in an entirely different world now. ¡°Yes. Yes. I do. How about Porkers?¡± Urvi¡¯s face changed to that of disgust. ¡°No. How about tuskers?¡± I looked back at it and observed its giant tusks once more. ¡°Fitting name, I guess... Alright. Why not?¡± I stopped and turned to the beast, who too came to a stop before us. Squatting down, I pulled out yet another fruit from my inventory which I held before it. ¡°You like this boy? You want it?¡± The boar snorted obediently. ¡°Great. From here on out, you will be known as Tuskers. You like that name boy?¡± It snorted again, though I had no clue what it meant. ¡°Good boy,¡± I said and fed it the fruit. ¡°Tuskers...¡± Sierra repeated. Faint sounds of rustling grass graced my ears. When I looked up, I saw that Urvi was already scanning the surroundings. ¡°You hear it?¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Yeah... wolves...¡± she said. We could hear the growling seconds before one, two... no. Five wolves appeared. Seemingly surrounding us. ¡°Why can¡¯t they be nice like Tuskers?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Well. Do you want to go? Or I go?¡± ¡°You take the front. I take the back.¡± ¡°Works for me.¡± In a flash, Urvi was armed with an axe and sprinting towards the three wolves ahead of us, who pounced at her. Meanwhile, I turned back to see the other two ready to get engaged. I prepared my core for what would be the easiest battle we had so far. *** The daylight had faded once again, and we were still unsure how much further we had to travel. ¡°Do we just continue?¡± Urvi asked. We sat on the forest floor, resting for a moment as we decided how to proceed further. It was pitch dark, barely any light outside. The moon hid behind thick clouds, leaving us to fend for ourselves for the night. We could continue with a fire on a stick, but... ¡°we have no clue how far we are from the village. Sierra, do you recognize this place?¡± Sierra, who was resting on Urvi¡¯s lap looked around her and appeared to be just as confused as us. ¡°No... I can¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Yeah. In that case, better rest up and continue our journey tomorrow,¡± Urvi said. We quickly set up a small camp, roasting the last deer meat over the fire while warming our bodies from it. Just as things seemed to be going along fine, fate threw a stone just to shake things up. Heavy footsteps filled the night air, alerting our senses. Tuskers perked up, lifting his head before turning towards the source of the sound. Urvi and I followed it and saw a huge shadowy figure approaching us. We immediately jumped on our feet, preparing for the worst. Out of the shadows walked a gigantic bald man. He was more than seven feet tall, making even me look like a dwarf. He had a massive build with shining white skin. His rectangle face was adored by thick eyebrows and a white grin. He wore deep blue tracker pants and heavy boots while leaving his well-contoured torso exposed. He held onto a long handle axe which he used to tap the ground, sending shivers up my spine. ¡°I am guessing you are the players causing problems around here,¡± said the stranger in a deep echoing voice. ¡°Depends on who we are causing the trouble to,¡± I replied. Did the people of the village send him? He didn¡¯t look like someone from around here, nor did he wear clothing like theirs. I scanned both his arms, and they were devoid of any tattoos or markings. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°They call me the butcher and I am here for the girl. Hand her over and we can part ways peacefully,¡± he said. ¡°No way asshole. Over our dead bodies,¡± Urvi replied. She had the axe and sword ready for battle. ¡°Well. I tried to ask nicely. Hope you are better than the last players I met. They barely put up a fight,¡± the butcher said. ¡°Tuskers! Take Sierra and run!¡± I commanded. He lifted Sierra off the ground with his tusks, tossing her on to his back before vanishing into the dark. ¡°Damn pig! Now I have to chase that thing too.¡± He began to spin his axe as Urvi charged at him shouting. She began with a series of slashes from each of her blades which he blocked with the long handle. He countered her by trying to strike her with the handle, but Urvi dodged it with ease. He followed it up by swinging the axe head, but Urvi leapt over it and out of the swing radius. As she landed on the ground, she squatted down before launching towards him, but the Butcher dodged it with relative ease. They appeared to be matched in speed, however, I had an uneasy feeling that he wasn¡¯t even getting started. The two traded strikes, dodging and parrying with neither gaining the upper hand. That is until he decided to up his game. His axe swings came much faster, making Urvi look a lot more uncomfortable as she tried to parry them. The flurry was fast, leaving her no time to attack and his speed was only increasing. However, with the butcher facing away from me, I had the perfect opening to cast a spell. I didn¡¯t waste a moment, casting a simple tranquil spell at him. This seemingly made him stagger, only for a moment, but it was enough time for Urvi to strike him in the arm with her axe, sending him crashing into the ground. We did it! With his arm cut open, we should have the advantage. However, when I looked closer, there was no cut on his arm. ¡°Urvi! Get out of there!¡± I shouted. Just as I said, he erupted from the ground and tried to strike Urvi right in her chest, but Urvi instinctively blocked it by crossing her blades. She was sent flying back before crashing onto the ground. The butcher chased after her and I sprinted as fast as I could to reach her. But his axe came down on Urvi in a flash, striking her in the head. Urvi rolled away before staggering back to her feet. She stood before me, her limbs trembling. ¡°Karna...¡± she stammered. ¡°I lost a life...¡± The last time I saw Urvi this shaken was when we faced off against the mother treant. But back then death had no meaning. Now. Now it is different. The butcher came charging towards us. I immediately cast a protect as his axe was about to touch us. The collision between the axe and the shield created a powerful burst of energy throwing us back a couple of feet. As I came to a stop and looked up, the butcher appeared to barely flinch. I turned to my left to see Urvi still lying on the ground with a horrid look on her face. I pounced back onto my feet. I felt it was on me to deal with the situation. I could not deny that I was shivering on the inside, every neuron in my brain was short-circuiting. But I had to do it. The butcher threw a grin at me, his surprising white teeth shone in the dark. ¡°Brave man makes a stand. Let¡¯s see if you have the gaul for it,¡± he said as he casually walked towards me. I felt a strange sense of anger within me. Without thinking, I cast a decimate spell towards him, forming it in mere seconds. However, just as the ball met his blade, it bounced off it and flew into the darkness of the forest before exploding with a dull light. He parried it. Can that even be done? I couldn¡¯t contemplate on it anymore as he was almost on me. He swung his axe down onto me, but I cast another protect to stop it. However, this time the shield shattered immediately on impact. I jumped to my right, evading the axe, or so I thought. Before I could even stand on my two feet. I felt a sharp pain strike me in the back before being thrown off balance and onto the ground. I let out a scream in response as the pain radiated through my body. I felt my back with my left hand only to be greeted by something moist and sticky. Blood. I felt my throat close up and my chest tighten. Rolling back, I saw the butcher standing above me with the axe raised above his head. As the image of death stared into my eyes, I felt my mana core turn red hot. It began to fire up, sparking embers that I felt in my soul. Instinctively, I thrust my palm towards him, and the blurry image of the butcher caught fire. A loud roar rocked my eardrums but before I could even process what happened, the axe came down on me. Everything went blank for a second before I regained consciousness. But by the time I did, the axe was coming down on me again. I didn¡¯t even react before everything went blank again. ¡°Karna!¡± Urvi screamed at the top of her voice. As my blurry vision cleared up, the flaming butcher still stood over me ready to bring down his axe on me. I cast a protect just as the axe came down, but it shattered without putting up a fight. This time I felt the blade cut into my chest. ¡°Karna! Karna!¡± And then, everything went blank. Chapter 22 - The Village I always wondered what happens after death. Do I go to hell or heaven? Or do I return to earth as a newborn? How do those rules apply to Fantasia? Right now, I see myself staring into the darkness. Faeren told us that death means game over. I guess I ain¡¯t coming back to Fantasia. Will I be thrown back onto Earth? Unlikely. Whatever happens, I hope it happens fast. Cause I am bored of staring into emptiness for... I don¡¯t know how long. Sharp pain radiated from my forehead, and I was suddenly pulled out of the darkness. Blinding light filled my vision and my whole body radiated immense pain making me grunt. I fell back onto whatever was underneath me, panting. The blinding light was not blinding anymore. I found myself staring at a thatched roof. Where am I? I rolled my head to my right and took a quick look at my surroundings. It looked like a small hut from one of the villages. Cladded walls surrounded me on all four sides as I laid down on the floor. The leaves underneath me crunched as I moved about, trying to get up. It felt like a daunting task just to sit up straight. Every muscle in my body struggled to move, as though they had forgotten how to. But at last, I was able to push myself off the floor and sit up straight. I was still in my black trousers, but my torso had been bandaged up. Small cuts and gashes on my arms were covered in some dried-up ointment. I felt my face about it and found it to be patched up with bandages as well. I survived. But how though? Did Urvi save me? Wait. Urvi. Where is she? I immediately got up on my feet, fighting through the pain. On my right was a small wooden door. Stumbling forward, I reached and grabbed onto a small piece of wood jetting out of it. I tried to pull it and the door swung open, revealing the outside world. Two women sat a few steps away from the door, grinding something on a huge mortar and pestle. The one who was bent down, turning the pestle was none other than Urvi herself. I sighed in relief, knowing that she was safe. I didn¡¯t recognize the other woman. I slowly stepped forward, letting out a soft grunt. It appeared like my little grunt had caught the attention of the women, who turned towards me. Urvi snapped upright and looked at me with a grim expression. Her eyes turned moist, and her cheeks turned red. It looked like she was about to burst into tears any second. She ran towards me before giving me a tight hug, squeezing the life out of me. ¡°I am sorry. I am so sorry!¡± she cried out. ¡°Urvi... you are squeezing the crap out of me...¡± I said, pretending to choke. She let me go. ¡°Sorry...¡± she looked down, seemingly afraid to look me in the eyes. ¡°How are you? Did you get hurt?¡± I asked. ¡°I should be asking you that,¡± Urvi said. The other woman, thin and brown with beautiful brown eyes, said, ¡°I will inform the elders.¡± Urvi turned back and nodded. She walked away as Urvi grabbed onto my arm and led me back into the hut. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. ¡°I will tell. But you shouldn¡¯t be moving now.¡± We walked into the hut whereupon Urvi made me lie down on the cot again. She sat down beside me with her legs folded up. I observed that she was wearing a maroon tunic that stretched from her shoulders down to her calves. There were no visible wounds or scars on her. ¡°What do you last remember?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°Hmm... I remember the axe of the butcher coming down on me. I think he cut my chest open,¡± I said. ¡°He did. But I do not know if you remember that you set him on fire.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I did remember that. Rather vividly. It looked like it had no impact on him. ¡°I do. But did it do anything?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I saw your blood sprayed out of your chest, my blood went cold. I thought you were dead. He came down to strike you again and that is when he was struck by an arrow. A woman, who wore the mark of the sparrow, jumped out of the darkness and fought the butcher with her bow and arrows. She was screaming at me to get up and take you to safety but... but...¡± Urvi began to choke. ¡°It is alright,¡± I said, trying to calm her down. ¡°It was not alright. I could not move. I was so scared; my body wouldn¡¯t listen to me.¡± Tears rolled down her cheeks which I affectionately wiped away. She grabbed onto my hand and began to feel it. She sniffled softly and continued, ¡°But just then tuskers popped out as well. He ran over to your side and began snorting using his tusks to lift you up. I don¡¯t know why but seeing him again calmed my heart and I was able to get up on my feet. I helped put you back onto the beast who carried you away from that monster.¡± ¡°What happened to the woman? What had happened to Sierra?¡± I asked. ¡°Tuskers took us to where Sierra was hiding and soon the woman joined too. She led us here, to the village, where the elders helped us get you some medical aid. We were just minutes away from this place thankfully.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t the butcher follow you? Did she kill him?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°She told me she couldn¡¯t kill him. But the butcher didn¡¯t show his face till now. I guess the small pack of warriors from the village is too much for him.¡± I exhaled, just trying to imagine what had happened. Urvi must have been terrified, even I was. ¡°Karna...¡± Urvi began, ¡°Please forgive me.¡± ¡°Wait. Why?¡± I asked. ¡°You put your life in front of me, but I just stood by watching you... get hurt...¡± Her lips trembled as her eyes turned moist. ¡°I am sorry!¡± ¡°Hey! Come on! I am fine now. Even I would have freaked out if I was in your place,¡± I said, trying to console her. It took a good few minutes to get Urvi to stop sobbing. Poor girl. ¡°What is important is that we survived. We get stronger and beat that bald head to a pulp.¡± Urvi¡¯s eyes suddenly grew fierce. ¡°Next time I run into the butcher, I will teach him how it is really done.¡± I couldn''t stop myself from letting out a chuckle. ¡°We sure will.¡± Sleep began to overwhelm me. I decided to shut my eyes just for a few seconds. However, things went dark almost immediately until I could hear Urvi calling out to me. ¡°What is it, Urvi?¡± I whispered. ¡°Get up. You have slept enough,¡± she said. ¡°It was just a few minutes. I need more sleep.¡± ¡°Few minutes? Darling, you have been sleeping for two days.¡± My eyes snapped open on hearing that. ¡°What the fuck?¡± I cursed. ¡°The healer has been waiting for you for two days. Lucky for you, she seems like the patient type,¡± she said. I let out a dull sigh and said, ¡°fine... let¡¯s go.¡± *** Urvi helped me get up and walked with me to the healer. As we exited the hut, I finally got to take a good look at the supposed village. It looked a lot smaller than I expected. The small huts surrounded us with thin mud roads cutting between them. Most of the huts were made of cladded walls and thatched roofs with a clay chimney on every other roof. Men and women of all ages walked past us, all of them dressed in maroon clothing. Each one shot a smile at us as they passed, and Urvi returned the smile back. ¡°People seem nice here,¡± I said. ¡°To us at the very least. We saved their child after all,¡± Urvi explained. ¡°Oh yeah! Where is Sierra?¡± ¡°Back with her family. She was here an hour ago. We will see her sometime later.¡± ¡°So, her family lives here?¡± ¡°In a village south of here. You cannot believe the amount of love they showed you and me,¡± Urvi explained. That is good to know. We walked past a cattle pen where I saw a herd of cows lying around lazily. Children and their pets littered the street playing and wreaking havoc. Every now and then, one of them would look at us curiously. She led me along a path that took us out of the village and deeper into the forest. I noticed more and more animals in the area. ¡°Lots of animals here,¡± I said. ¡°Yes. The healer is an animal lover. You guys will get along just great,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, one more thing. I keep calling her the healer because that is what she asked me to call her in private. When we are around other people, call her mother.¡± ¡°Mother?¡± I replied. ¡°Yes. It is because to them she is God.¡± ¡°A god? How so?¡± ¡°They call her mother of the forest, though she tells me otherwise. I didn¡¯t get to talk with her much. Anyways, just call her respectfully and you should do fine.¡± I quietly nodded as we continued our journey. Animals of various sizes and shapes moved about minding their own business. There were your usual farm animals, cows, bulls, goats, or rams? But also, quite a few wild animals. A herd of deer and their cousins grazed at a distance, while I could spot an elephant walking in the distance. There were no signs of any carnivores, say for a fox that scurried away as soon as it saw us. We walked down a narrow path, through an arch made of vines decorated with pink flowers. Their fragrance flooded the air and seemed to calm me down. Inside was a small clearing where there seemed to be small patches of herbs being grown. Men and women went about tending to these small farms. ¡°Medicine?¡± I asked. ¡°Medicine,¡± she replied. We walked past them and under a giant banyan tree beneath which sat a lonely woman, writing something down on a giant tome. She looked young, very young, her skin fair as Urvi¡¯s. However, she had long green hair that flowed down to the ground. Unlike the villagers, she was dressed in a beautiful green gown, slit on the side. Upon hearing us walk towards her, she raised her head and looked at us curiously through her sparkling green eyes. Her lips curled into a smile, and she said, ¡°Welcome Karna. My name is Xanthia.¡± Chapter 23 - Daughter of the Forest ¡°Nice... to meet you... mother...¡± I stammered. I felt the words choke up my throat as they tried to get past my thumping heart. Having Urvi around all this while, I had forgotten how nervous I would get around other women. Especially around those I am attracted to. Xanthia looked at me surprised before her expression melted into a warm smile. She put her tome aside and said, ¡°How are you feeling? I see you are able to walk now.¡± I took in a deep breath and said, ¡°Yes, I am doing well.¡± Urvi tapped on my back, and I could see her shake her head from the corner of my eyes. Xanthia rose and stood before us. She reached to my chest and looked up to talk to me. She quickly examined the wounds on my chest and said, ¡®The wounds have healed, though you must be in a lot of pain.¡± I scratched the back of my head and said, ¡°Well... not that much.¡± ¡°No pain is better than any pain, right? Come to the spring. It will soothe your pain and should help you regain health.¡± She held on to my left arm. ¡°I will return to the hut. I am guessing you know how to get back there?¡± Urvi asked. ¡°I think I should be able to,¡± I replied. She looked back at me with a sly grin as she walked away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry take your time...¡± Hmm... ¡°Come on. This way.¡± We walked through the garden as the people from the village quietly continued to work. Away from the direction of the village, the forest got thicker and thicker, for a moment making me believe she was going to sacrifice me to the forest gods. Of course that was not true, because I managed to run into an old friend. On the side of the narrow path, Tuskers was lying down on the soft grass lazily. ¡°Tuskers!¡± I called out. The big, beautiful boar popped his head up and immediately started snorting on seeing my face. It rolled over and got on all four feet before charging towards me. For a moment I thought it was going to tackle me down, but it came to a screeching halt right before us. I squatted down before rubbing it under, what I assumed was its chin. ¡°You have got a very smart companion with you,¡± Xanthia said. ¡°I know right? Pigs from my world aren¡¯t even half as smart as he is.¡± I didn¡¯t mean to sound rude to the pigs and boars of our world, but Tuskers was on a different level. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Say. Is it magical by any chance? Maybe it is a human transfigured into a beast!¡± Xanthia chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I can tell when a beast is born of nature. But it is special. I think it belonged to someone before it met you.¡± I looked at the bugger in awe. It never crossed my mind that it might already have had an owner. ¡°Is that so big fella?¡± I turned to Xanthia who stood just behind me with her hands clasped. ¡°Could it have been another player?¡± ¡°Perhaps. But I couldn¡¯t tell if that was the case.¡± ¡°I guess we just wait until they come looking for him.¡± Tuskers returned to doing nothing while Xanthia and I continued deeper into the forest. As we approached the stream, I could hear the sound of water trickling over pebbles. In an instant, the thicket disappeared, and I found myself standing on the bank of a small spring. Clear water flowed over the forest floor, cutting through the thicket. The bed was made up of small pebbles and coarse sand with moss covering the rocks in patches. It was a small spring, whose bank was at an eyeshot¡¯s distance. In the middle was an enormous hole, big enough for a human, like me, to sit in. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Please. This way,¡± she said. Her voice was soft as silk and every time she spoke, it felt like someone was pouring honey into my ears. She led me to the hole whereupon she instructed me to remove my pants before getting in. My cheeks burned red as I shivered nervously. ¡°Yeah... is it okay if I get in with my pants on?¡± I asked. She wore a soft smile and said, ¡°No need to be shy. No one will walk in here unless I allow them to.¡± Easy to say, hard to do. I unzipped and dropped my pants into the water underneath me. I picked up the damp pants and placed them on a stone that was jetting above the flowing water. All this while Her eyes were transfixed on me, while still wearing the same smile. I am sure she was just being considerate, but the situation was awkward enough for me to just jump and drown in the spring. I got down into the hole, whose water reached up to my thighs. The moment I stepped in, my anxiety just vanished. All of a sudden, I let a flood of calmness sink into my soul. I quietly sat in the cool water, my eyes shut, my mind empty as a void, lost in a trance. I did not know how long it took for me to return to the real world. But by the time I did, I found myself exactly where I had left off. The shadows seemed to have shifted but there was still plenty of sunlight. Water splashed abnormally to my left, making me turn and see that Xanthia was sitting on the edge of the hole, with her legs dipped in the water. She playfully kicked the water forward but stopped immediately when she realized I had woken up. ¡°Sorry. Didn¡¯t mean to wake you up,¡± she said. ¡°No. It¡¯s alright. I didn¡¯t expect to fall asleep so fast... again.¡± I rubbed my eyes, trying to adjust to the light. ¡°You have been low on energy for quite some time, so your body craves sleep. Other than that, how are you feeling now?¡± ¡°Better. Way better. It doesn¡¯t hurt to move anymore,¡± I said. I lifted my right arm up and saw that the health bar was about eighty percent full. ¡°But I think I will stay until my health has filled up.¡± ¡°Feel free to stay as long as you need. But you may want to put something into your stomach for it to fill up completely.¡± ¡°Really? That is interesting. You seemed to have a good amount of knowledge about players and how we work. Is it like inherent knowledge?¡± I asked as I turned to face her. ¡°Inherent? No. Everyone understands who and what players are. But the rules that players work with, it is only understood by those who interact with them.¡± ¡°Oh. In that case, you must have interacted with a lot of them.¡± ¡°Quite a few. For the past two hundred years, we have seen close to a hundred and thirty-seven of them.¡± ¡°That is it?¡± I was shocked by how small a number that is. I expected one to pop up every few weeks. ¡°Well, unlike with you and your partner, only one appears at a time. The gap between each varies. Sometimes it is just a few months, other times it can be years. But I believe this is not the only place from where players begin their journey.¡± We did land up in Terra Silva. There could be other training grounds in other domains. ¡°Well... thanks for healing us. We don¡¯t know what we would have done without you.¡± A bright smile appeared on her face. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to mention it. I see it as my duty to serve the living.¡± That was an odd way of putting it. Speaking of which. I wished to ask her something more personal, but I was afraid I would be crossing the line. Urvi said to be careful when the villagers were around, but we were alone now. ¡°I wished to ask you something. But I am not sure you would like to talk about it...¡± ¡°You want to ask me if I am really a god, right?¡± She interrupted. ¡°You are a forest nymph, aren¡¯t you?¡± I asked. A nature spirit born from one of the five elements. When Urvi first mentioned "God", my mind immediately thought of an elder woman. But when I saw the fairy-like appearance with clear white skin and green hair, I was confident that it was a nymph. ¡°Yes, I am. Although I like to call myself the daughter of the Forest.¡± ¡°Daughter of the Forest. How did you end up becoming the god of these people?¡± I asked. Her serene face melted, replaced by melancholy. ¡°It was a time when fear ruled these lands. The tribes of the forest were in a war against each other. People were constantly at each other¡¯s throats. This was how the forest was when I was born. I do not remember how long I spent my early life, isolated from the world outside. But when I stepped out, as a mere child, all I could see was blood.¡± ¡°Must have made you want to return to living alone,¡± I added. ¡°It did. But that is when I ran into one of the tribesmen. A healer. In a time where everyone was on the edge, someone foreign like me wasn¡¯t exactly safe among them. But the healer stood by me. In order to protect me, he made up a lie. Easier to tell people I am God and that my wrath can destroy them than that I am a nymph with special powers who can be abused.¡± ¡°And nobody questioned it after that?¡± I asked. ¡°At times. By then I had matured enough to understand how to get out of such... tricky situations.¡± We fell quiet as I retreated to try and process. After all that Urvi and I had witnessed, this ain¡¯t some gamer paradise I wished it was. Chapter 24 - A New Mission ¡°My health has almost recovered completely. But...¡± I said. ¡°You have only one life left,¡± Xanthia interrupted. ¡°From what I have heard, lives are pretty hard to come by. At least in this forest.¡± ¡°We opened a lot of chests. But none presented any extra lives to us,¡± I explained. ¡°I am not sure about chests providing any, but there is one place you can get an extra life. It is in the form of a flower. It is called Moonlit Flower. Blooms only on a full moon night.¡± ¡°Every full moon night? Doesn¡¯t sound that rare.¡± ¡°I guess it is meant to act like an item to a player. Because once it is picked, the plant withers and doesn¡¯t bear another flower again,¡± Xanthia explained. ¡°Oh. I see now. Know where I can find one?¡± ¡°Your best bet would be the Riven Labyrinth. It is home to some very unique flora. But you must be careful. It is home to a colony of Goblins.¡± ¡°Goblins, huh?¡± Sounds rather irritating. Goblins are sneaky, attack in packs, and fight dirty. At least the ones I know of. ¡°I guess Urvi and I can give it a shot.¡± *** ¡°Goblins? Sounds fun,¡± Urvi said. Xanthia was kind enough to escort me out of the gardens and back outside where Urvi was waiting for me. She even provided me with some new armor, which essentially boiled down to Black Tribal Loincloth and a circular cloth with a center cutout through which my head would fit. ¡°But you might want to wait. The chief has asked me to hunt down an Orc that is troubling a village nearby,¡± Urvi said. ¡°That sounds fun too. I will join,¡± I replied. ¡°Hmm...¡± Xanthia interrupted. I turned back to see her looking slightly concerned. ¡°Sorry, but I suggest you,¡± she pointed at me, ¡®stay away from that Orc. It is a big mean beast. I am sure the Chief has appointed a few of his hunters to assist her.¡± ¡°Oh yes. He has. Just wait this one out. It will be short,¡± Urvi replied. I sighed dully. Again, missing the action. Despite the near-death experience, I was itching to get back into action. Get stronger and kick that asshole¡¯s butt. ¡°Maybe you should split up. Why don¡¯t you ask Kaya to help you get to Riven?¡± Xanthia suggested. ¡°Kaya? The one who saved us?¡± I asked. ¡°Indeed. She must be stationed at the North gate. Tell her I sent you and she should help you out,¡± Xanthia said. ¡°Okay. I can give it a try. Thank you so much!¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure.¡± Xanthia bowed before turning around and walking back into the garden. I felt a sharp prick on my left abdomen, sending me jumping into the air. I turned back to see Urvi looking at me with a wide grin. ¡°So...? How was she?¡± She asked. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked. ¡°You got some alone time with her, didn¡¯t you? Must have got to know her really... good.¡± I knew where this was going. It looks like she is hornier than I am. Though I think she is always horny. ¡°Well yeah. Can you believe she is two hundred years old?¡± ¡°Two hundred, huh? Sounds like the right age for you,¡± she said cheekily. ¡°Are you calling yourself a hag?¡± I retorted. Her cheeks puffed up and her eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Fuck you! I am guessing you didn¡¯t make a move on her... yet?¡± I looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression. ¡°She is their god!¡± ¡°Oh please. I have seen you play enough video games to know every pair of tits is a dating opportunity.¡± Stolen story; please report. I rolled my eyes. ¡°You really need a filter.¡± ¡°We will see about that later. Because you got yourself another great opportunity,¡± she said. ¡°And how is that?¡± ¡°Kaya is hot and single, or at least that is what I heard.¡± Yeah sure. Warriors, especially females, are allergic to romance. ¡°And she is really good with a bow. She will put an arrow through my heart before I even try.¡± ¡°Come on man. You will never know what she wants until you ask and find out,¡± Urvi said. I sighed once again. ¡°We will see. I would like to have an extra life before attempting such endeavors. But before that. Can we get something to eat? I am starving!¡± *** When they said north gate, I was expecting some kind of a structure, acting as a gate with an outpost. Instead, here I was trudging through thick foliage and surrounded by enormous trees on all sides. I had lost track of time walking through the untamed jungle and began to wonder if I had taken a wrong turn or veered off the path. However, the map told me I was on the right track. Xanthia was gracious enough to mark the gate for me. Turned out, if you want to use the map, somebody from the world needed to mark points of interest on it for us, you know, like how video game maps should work. I took a look at mine and Urvi¡¯s levels just before I left. Karna
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
11 135 27 25 33 35 31
Urvashi
Level Health Attack Defense Speed Special Attack Special Defense
12 151 38 25 39 27 27
I was just shy of level 12 while Urvi was a few points in. Progress seems to have slowed down to a crawl but then again we weren¡¯t exactly doing things that got us XP. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be resting?¡± a voice spoke. I jumped on hearing the voice, frantically looking around to see where it came from. ¡°Up here,¡± she said again. I looked up and around to see a woman sitting high up on a tree branch. Her bare leg was hanging down, swinging back and forth. I focused in on her face, a mature tribal woman, with a thin face and sharp cheekbones. She had a black ponytail and two thick hair tendrils hanging on each side of her face. Her skin was a deep shade of brown, much like all the humans of her community, and her arms and legs were thick and strong. ¡°I am guessing you are Kaya?¡± I asked. ¡°I am indeed. You must be Karna.¡± Her voice was raspy and had a depth that came with age. ¡°I am. Thank you for saving me.¡± She smiled softly and said, ¡°You came all the way here to say that?¡± ¡°I did,¡± I said proudly. ¡°But also, I need your help.¡± ¡°Is that so? Well... Sorry, but I can¡¯t help you,¡± she replied. ¡°Huh? Why so?¡± I was a bit taken aback by it. I guess I was expecting her to act as an NPC and just accept without asking questions. ¡°I am guarding the north gate, and I don¡¯t take requests from strangers.¡± That is fair, but... ¡°I was sent by Mother Xanthia.¡± Kaya vanished from atop the tree, landing before me with a dull thud. I looked down to see her getting back up from the squat that softened her landing. I finally got a good look at her well-cut body and what I saw made my cheeks flush red. Her black armor was little more than a miniskirt, barely covering her waist, and a somewhat thick bra holding her massive breasts together. Her forearms were protected by thick black armored bracelets while her legs remained bare and unprotected. Yup. My hormones were making my heart thump against my chest hard. ¡°Mother sent you? Well then. It must be an important mission then,¡± Kaya said. *** She put on some heavy armored boots before swinging a bow and a quill of arrows over her shoulder. ¡°I am ready.¡± I simply nodded and Kaya took the lead as we began our journey towards Riven Labyrinth. ¡°Mother Xantia is a very kind woman,¡± Kaya said. ¡°She is indeed.¡± ¡°She tries to make sure everyone is safe and happy...¡± and so, Kaya began talking about Xanthia for the next... I am not sure. I had lost track of time by then. It appeared as though I was getting my first experience of how the people of the forest saw her. Their god. They praised her, unabashedly, and rightfully so. She had done nothing but good for the people. But it soon dawned on me how much faith they had in her, almost to an unhealthy degree. Had Xanthia been even a little selfish, she would be living like a queen. ¡°It is very strange to me. In my world, gods don¡¯t live among humans,¡± I said. She looked back at me shocked. ¡°Really? Then where do they live?¡± ¡°We actually don¡¯t know. We just believe they exist.¡± ¡°How is that possible? How can you believe in something that doesn¡¯t exist?¡± she asked. I really didn¡¯t have an answer for that. ¡°I know. It is strange now that I hear it out loud.¡± ¡°Thankfully our god chose to stay with us. Without her, we would be lost...¡± and she went on to praise Xanthia for another... I lost track of time again. Kaya¡¯s unrelenting devotion was charming, but I couldn¡¯t help but think how sweet Xanthia was handling such madness. Chapter 25 - Clearing the rust ¡°How far are we from the labyrinth?¡± I asked. Daylight was fading and we have been walking since afternoon. ¡°Hmm... I would say another two days,¡± she said. Two days! ¡°Two days!?¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Yes. Unless we run into trouble. As we get closer, we will run into more and more monsters, beasts, and whatnot.¡± How did I forget? Everything here takes days. I bent over and rested my palms on my knees before exhaling. ¡°Tired already?¡± She said. I could sense a tinge of mockery. ¡°Yeah. My stamina hasn¡¯t been the same since the injury.¡± ¡°Right. Sorry.¡± Good to know she isn¡¯t afraid to correct herself. ¡°Let¡¯s camp for the night then?¡± I stood back up and looked around. There was thick foliage all around us and as far as my eyes could see. ¡°Here? We might need to clear a spot.¡± ¡°No need,¡± she said. She looked up at the trees and began to wander around. She stopped before one and said, ¡°Here.¡± I walked up to it and looked up. It was a really tall tree, appearing to touch the sky. But its branches spread out wide and in all directions. ¡°This one?¡± ¡°I hope you are a good climber,¡± she said with a sly smile. She immediately pounced onto the tree, grabbing onto its sides before scurrying up the tree trunk like a squirrel. I watched her reach the top in a flash. Okay... my turn. The trunk looked bare, with no visible nooks to grab hold of. How the hell did she climb up? Suddenly, an idea flashed in my mind. I reached into my inventory and pulled out the dagger. I hope this works, if not, I am sleeping on the ground. *** It was nearly dark by the time I managed to climb up the tree. I grabbed hold of a branch before pulling the dagger out from the trunk. With both my hands firmly on the branch, I hoisted myself up and onto it. A few paces away, Kaya laid on another branch, her left leg swinging freely off it. She turned towards me and said, ¡°Not bad for a first time... I assume it is your first time?¡± I settled in on my branch, which appeared to be thick and steady. ¡°You could have helped me climb.¡± ¡°Sorry. Didn¡¯t bring any rope.¡± I sighed. ¡°Point for using the dagger. Though the blade would have been ruined by now,¡± she said. I looked at the blade, its edge looked unfazed and just as sharp as when Darin gifted it to me. ¡°No... looks fine to me,¡± I replied. She looked at it in awe. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± ¡°It was a gift. From a merchant. Why? What is so special about it?¡± I asked. ¡°Its blade shines like moonlight. Only one metal is known to do that, Tharnium.¡± Tharnium? Never heard of that before. ¡°I am guessing it is rare?¡± ¡°Incredibly rare. Blades made of it from a thousand years ago, cut like they were made yesterday.¡± I held it up and looked at the glow in awe. ¡°That is truly incredible!¡± I struggled a little as I tried to get comfortable on a tree branch. Kaya, meanwhile, was wide awake. Her iris had a silver glow to them, like a predator in the dark. They stared into the distance, seemingly lost in deep thought. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten anything since morning, have you?¡± I asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten anything since yesterday.¡± Oh wow! ¡°How are you not fainting already?¡± I asked. ¡°I have gone days without eating anything. So, I can last a good while before I need to eat.¡± ¡°Well, there is no need for it,¡± I said. I reached into my inventory and picked out some rations. Urvi gave them to me just before I left. She was gifted these by Sierra¡¯s mother. I held one out for Kaya, who looked at it stunned. ¡°You said there was going to be a lot of danger, didn¡¯t you? You will need to keep your strength then.¡± ¡°Huh... Thanks...¡± She humbly took it before feasting on it slowly. She didn¡¯t show a lot of emotions, but she was a simple person. I liked that about her. *** The tremors of the earthquake shook me awake. I snapped my eyes open to see Kaya squatting down on the branch, looking down at the forest floor. Her eyes looked focused and there was a seriousness in her face, while her hand was ready for action with the bow. I squeezed my eyes to adjust to the morning sunlight as I tried to push myself up, without rolling over to my death. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Kaya placed her index finger on her lips before pointing down at the surface. I looked down to see a gigantic green Orc walking past us. ¡°That¡¯s it? Another Orc?¡± I asked. ¡°This is an old one...¡± Kaya whispered. I observed the Orc closer. It was slow and it seemed to have a limp in its walk. ¡°Perhaps too old. I feel like it is struggling to walk,¡± I said. Kaya quietly observed for a few seconds. ¡°Hmm... I guess you are right. It seems like I worried for no reason.¡± ¡°What do we do? We just let it pass?¡± I asked. ¡°We could wait for it to pass...¡± For a minute I had forgotten that I was supposed to kill these things. An old Orc must not be worth a lot of XP, but it just might be what I need to get myself moving again. ¡°Hold on. This is perfect. I can use this to get back into the groove.¡± I stood up, trying to balance myself on the branch. ¡°Are you sure? He may be old, but he looks tough,¡± Kaya said. ¡°We will find out.¡± I pulled out my dagger and prepared myself with a deep inhale. ¡°I had an idea for an attack, but never got an opportunity to use it. This looks like the perfect spot to try it out.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Kaya asked. ¡°You will see it in a second.¡± My eyes locked on my target below. I felt the well fill up and overflow, flooding my body with mana. I redirected the flow onto the blade, concentrating on the tip. A double decimation blow. I grabbed the dagger with both my hands and leapt into the air. Falling through the air, I tried to maintain my direction, straight as an arrow. The decimation ball on the tip of the blade continued to balloon. And just as I reached the Orc, I brought down the blade onto it, slamming the ball onto its shoulder blade. A huge explosion rocked the forest, throwing me into the air and away from the Orc. I crashed into the forest floor; my fall softened by the thick foliage. Debris and smoke filled the air, blocking my vision and burning my nostrils. I coughed out the smoke that reached my throat as I patiently waited for the smoke to clear. Kaya watched from above with bated breath but then suddenly screamed, ¡°Karna! He is not dead!¡± The cloud of smoke broke as a giant tree trunk came hurling towards me. I immediately leapt to my right, barely missing the trunk by inches. A loud roar rocked the forest, sending flocks of birds fleeing into the orange-lit sky. I could feel the Orc approach me as the ground shook with each step. I got back on my feet, ready to face the monster who stood before me with a giant wooden club sitting on its now exposed shoulder. I quickly examined it, looking for signs of damage. But it looked like the armor that once covered half its body, had taken most of the damage. Fuck. It put its right leg forward before bringing down its club onto me. I dodged it with ease by rolling to my right. I expected it to sweep next and try to hit me, but the narrow space between the trees prevented it from making any area-of-effect attacks. Instead, it dragged the club in my direction like a baseball strike. The club smashed into the trees before me, sending one of them crashing into the ground. I pondered for a moment if I should use my fire spell, but the fear of setting the forest ablaze overwhelmed me. As it pulled the club back, preparing to strike again, I hit it with my tranquil spell. The old orc stopped mid-motion, dropping its hand and the club down. It swayed back and forth while its eyes wandered aimlessly. I ran back into the opening it had created and quickly began to prepare a decimation spell. The Orc shook its head, freeing itself from my spell. Its face looked a lot more ferocious after that spell as it began to charge towards me. I fired the ball right at its face, forcing it to stop and try to move out of the spell¡¯s path. The ball grazed its head, causing it to lose its balance. It leaned right, trying to stay on its feet before falling against a tree that didn¡¯t buckle under its weight. By the time the orc could recover, I had prepared my second decimation spell ready. It pushed itself off the tree and got back on its two feet, only to be met by another ball of blazing fury. The ball struck the monster right in the chest, exploding with a bright flash. Just as my eyes recovered from the blinding light, I saw the Orc lean back and fall to the ground like a brick. It was perhaps the most satisfying thud I had heard in my life. The body faded into light before the light gathered itself into an orb. Kaya leapt off the tree and landed just next to the floating orb. She looked at it in awe as she held onto it. ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all.¡± She tossed the orb over to me. ¡°It was old. My spells don¡¯t have oomph like before.¡± I checked my XP band and saw that I finally leveled up to 12. The band continued to grow by about twenty percent. Finally some progress. Chapter 26 - Learning to burn The thick foliage of the forest began to wane, clearing the ground and exposing the forest floor which was now covered with soft grass and short herbs. Trees with thick stumps were replaced by leaner ones and more sunlight penetrated through the canopy. For a moment, I began to believe we traveled to a different continent. ''Strange. The forest seemed to change entirely,'' I commented. Kaya, who walked ahead of me said, ''Ah! I see you have noticed. This part of the forest was destroyed by wildfire many centuries ago, it is still healing.'' ''Really? Any idea what caused the fire?'' I asked. ''There used to be a small settlement around here. A common place for players to visit. Rumor is two players broke into a fight, one had the ability to spit out fire and another could control the flow of air...'' ''Oh no...'' I interrupted unintentionally. ''Exactly. Well, it is a rumor because only a handful survived the fire. The rest perished, along with a giant swath of forest.'' I looked at the back of my hand, at the mark of the fire rune. Fire is a dangerous element to deal with, especially in a forest. I wish I could learn to control it, but how am I supposed to do that in the middle of a forest? I feel like I am stuck in a catch-22 situation. ''Is everything alright?'' Kaya asked. I looked up to see Kaya had stopped and turned around. ''Yes. Yes. Just...'' ''Oh yes. You too can control fire, can''t you?'' she asked. ''You knew?'' ''I arrived when the Butcher was still burning. Then the woman you were with said you set him on fire. At first, I thought you used a bomb, but then I saw the rune on your hand...'' I rubbed the tattoo uncomfortably. ''Can you control it?'' She asked. ''I don''t know. The only time I used it, I set a man on fire.'' ''Seriously?'' She had a sharp grin on her face, ''you used in a near-death situation, and you managed to not bring down the forest? I would say that is impressive.'' A sense of relief washed over me, and I smiled without thinking. ''Thanks. But I guess I am stuck with just that. I don''t know if I can control it and if I want to learn, I must practice. Only God knows how I am going to do that in the middle of a jungle.'' ''Hmm...'' Kaya slipped into deep thought for a moment. ''Actually, there might be a place where you can practice without fear. It is a slight detour from our path, but we should be able to reach it in a few hours.'' ''Are you okay with that? It will cut precious time into your day,'' I said. I don''t know why I am so nice. I could have just told her we could go, but now I made her think. ''How generous of you,'' She said placing her hands on her hips and smiling cheekily. ''Don''t worry. I will think of ways you can repay me.'' *** Kaya said it was off course, but I had no clue if that was the case. We arced east and walked for another half day through the new forest. Soon the terrain began to grow thick with trees but at the same time, we came upon a large stream. It appeared deep enough to reach my waist. "There. Now we just walk upstream," she said. As we followed the stream against its current, the roar of the water flowing became louder and louder. I began to get an idea of what Kaya was thinking. Soon, we found ourselves at the foot of a small waterfall. What made this place special was that the flow of the water had cut the stone down, creating a gigantic cavity. We were surrounded by wet stone on all three sides with mist from the waterfall filling the air inside. "This place is beautiful!" I commented. "Not the comment I expected," Kaya replied. "But here you should be able to test your fire spells without affecting the forest around." "You are right. It''s exactly what I needed." "To be honest. Even I am a bit excited. I have heard of people who controlled the elements of mother nature. But never saw them do with my own eyes. So... show me some of your spells." There was a tinge of spark in Kaya''s eyes as she tried very hard to not show any excitement. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ''Right!'' I lifted my hand up, looking at the Rune. I stared at it for a good few seconds when I realized, "I have no fucking clue how to do this..." "You what!?" Kaya looked stumped. For a moment I thought she was going to thrash me silly. "Sorry but the rune didn''t come with instructions," I explained. "Then how did you set the butcher on fire?" She asked. "It just happened at that moment. I was about to die, and my instincts just kicked in." "Well... do you remember what happened in that moment?" Kaya asked. I rubbed my chin with my right hand, trying to remember what exactly happened. The details were shady, and I just remembered his axe breaking through the shield I had cast. However, I remembered how my mana core got hot. Really hot. "Okay. Step back. Let me give this a try," I said. She immediately jogged out of the cavity and stood a good distance from where I was. Seeing this, I shut my eyes and concentrated on my mana well. The cool mist sent shivers up my spine but also helped me calm my mind. The Mana in the well began to rise and soon began to overflow. Mana began to flow through my body and soon I was in a state of flow. But... I had no idea what to do after this. My Mana had turned red hot, but this happened on its own. I tried to picture it once again. The image of my Mana turning hot. Much of how magic worked up until now was manipulating the Mana. If the Rune is nothing more than a key to unlock a new aspect of Mana manipulation, I must at the very least be able to perform the basic manipulation. It was faint, like an ember in the infinity of darkness. But it was just enough. I felt the well heat up, flooding with energy. The temperature began to grow and grow. Sparks erupted from the well and when I opened my eyes, I saw the hand in front of me, wrapped in fire. My eyes widened as the fire began to climb my arm and soon, I was covered in fire. But I didn''t feel pain. I have felt the sensation of burning. Although I felt hot, like on a midsummer day afternoon, there was no burning, no pain. I turned around to face the waterfall before stretching out my arm once again and trying to channel this heat through the arm. A stream of fire shot out from my hand and struck the waterfalls halfway down. A burst of steam erupted from the point of impact, disturbing the flow only for a moment, before it returned to normal. I let go of the well and the Mana retreated. My body began to cool rapidly and soon I was covered in a thick layer of sweat and water. I breathed heavily as I tried to recover from the excitement. "Well well. That was impressive," Kaya said. I turned around to see her walking back into the cavity. "I know! And I didn''t burn my pants off!" I said. Kaya scoffed. "Yes. That is impressive too. It is truly amazing what you players are capable of doing." Though she was smiling, I could sense a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Oh, come on. It wasn''t that impressive, right?" I said. "For a beginner. Do you wish to spend more time here? To practice?" "Can you stay longer?" I asked. "Mother said to assist you, didn''t she? So, I must oblige." "In that case. Yes. I would like to stay a little longer then." "Alright. We will continue our journey tomorrow morning," Kaya said. *** Hours had passed. The sun had set, and fatigue began to set in. However, I felt like I had barely scratched the surface with regard to what I could do with this power. I tried various ways of casting fire, shooting a jet of fire, covering myself in fire, and setting off a fiery explosion. All looked impressive but did very little damage compared to the amount of Mana they ate up. "You need to condense the power of the spell," Kaya said. I turned around, away from the waterfall to see her leaning against the rock edge of the cavity. "Yes, I do have a condense skill. But it is not working," I replied. "Skill? I am not familiar with how the players fight. But your casting is far too wide. If you could concentrate the energy to a smaller range, you might get more out of your casts." The condense skill allows me to strengthen a spell by channeling more Mana in a shorter amount of time. Was I not using it correctly till now? "Anyways, it is getting late. Why don''t we call it a day? We must return to our journey," Kaya said. I was exhausted from all the spellcasting. "Yeah. I think I am done for the day too." *** We set up a small camp on the banks of the stream. One good thing about the fire rune? Starting a fire was a piece of cake. After feasting on some roasted meat, we quietly sat around the fire camp. Kaya looked relaxed. Her eyes stared into the darkness of the forest while her face didn''t give her thoughts away. So, I had to ask them myself. "What''s on your mind?" Kaya turned to me and asked, "What do you mean?" "You seemed to be lost in thought. So, I asked what you were thinking. You need not share if you don''t want to!" "Oh. I was just observing the forest for any danger. I think we are safe for now," She explained. "Wait. The whole place is pitch dark. How far were you able to see?" I asked. "Far enough to know that we are safe. You will get used to the darkness when you live in it long enough." "How long have you been guarding the village?" "Ever since I could shoot an arrow." "And how old were you when you shot your first arrow?" I asked. "About six monsoons." Six monsoons? "Six years? Damn. You must be really good with the bow then." Kaya smiled softly. "They do say I rival the best." "You practice every day?" "You don''t?" I scratched the back of my head as I said, "Not really." "One does not become a master in a day. But you players are a different breed." Her smile had vanished, replaced by a slight frown. "How so?" I asked. "It was a long time ago. I wasn''t as good as I am now. But I was still very proud of how good I was. That was until a girl showed up at one of our villages. She said she had been a player for just a few weeks. So, when she challenged me to a contest, I couldn''t say no. Even though she had learnt to use the bow just a few weeks ago, she bested me... no. She humiliated me. I was no match for speed, range, or accuracy. I still remember her smirk, her mocking words." I know I shouldn''t but, "What did she say?" She took a moment to answer. "Drop the bow. You aren''t worthy of it." Oh, man. That has got to hurt. We players are indeed a special breed of people. The world appears to be designed for our needs. But to be this condescending, I guess people aren''t that different. "I am sorry. She shouldn''t have been so condescending." "It''s fine. I wish I could run into her once again. Just so that I can return her words," Kaya said, her eyes filled with fierce determination. Chapter 27 - The hunt begins Another long day of journey was coming to an end. Not much had changed in the environment, which made me wonder how big this place was. Kaya, who was in the front leading the way, came to a stop. She looked around before turning to me and said, "I think we will stop here for today." "Why? There is still light out. I think we can cover some more ground," I said. By the looks of it, I guess it was late evening, maybe six in the evening? "Yes. We are close to the Labyrinth too, but beyond this point, we will be facing a lot of danger. Our best move would be to start the journey down to the Labyrinth early morning," Kaya said. That is not a bad idea at all. "Alright then. You are the expert." *** We cleared the ground and set up camp. As the darkness of the night grew, I felt the temperature drop. It felt good to embrace the warmth of the fire. The forest, however, was quiet, unusually so. There was no chirping of crickets, or hooting of owls, or the cackling of a fox. The surrounding darkness felt even more haunting. "There are no usual sounds of the forest," I commented. "Yes. With monsters prowling through these woods, your usual beasts don''t like to make much noise. But if you are afraid, there is no need. I have scouted our surroundings, nothing will attack us for the night," Kaya said. "Thanks. But I must ask. What is the story of the Labyrinth?" "Story?" "You know. Where did it come from? Who made it?" Kaya looked at the fire as she thought for a good few seconds. "I don''t know. I don''t think anyone knows. It has been here forever. It just exists." "Have Goblins always lived in it?" "I guess. They are the only monsters, I know, to share territory with other monsters," Kaya said. "They seem to be devilishly intelligent." Kaya seemed to have found that amusing for some reason. "They are. Not unlike us humans... or you players..." "Hey, I am a human too," I said reassuringly. "Well... That is good to know." She turned back to the fire and fell silent. There was a part of me that wondered if she hated me, just because I was a player. "Kaya. I have a question if you don''t mind." She looked at me curiously. "Go ahead." "Do you hate us... players?" "No. Nothing like that... But I can''t deny that I am jealous... of your skills," she said, with a faint frown on her face. "I am just... upset that no matter how hard I try, I will never match to you." It is quite odd hearing somebody say that. Usually, the player character is a part of the world. The occupants of the world never acknowledge that the playable character is different. But here, things are different. We have our own rules. This world feels like it was made to serve us. She looked at the scar on the back of her hand and continued, "I am over forty monsoons old. I have trained every day of my life. Yet, a player who arrived just a few weeks ago can outclass me. I do not know if others feel this way. Maybe it is something that I need to come to terms with." If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It is unfair how powerful we can get with our abilities, items, skills, and whatnot. "I get that. Privilege is something everyone envies. Back in my world, privilege came in the form of money. Everything and anything needs money. Everyone wants it, everyone needs it. But only a few can afford it. Others have to work their asses off to keep up with it." "Sounds like a terrible place to be in," Kaya replied. "It can be. From what I know, those who came here were done with their old lives. So, here they find themselves to be at the top, and well... when you have power arrogance follows. Most of the time." "We are all the same, huh?" Kaya said. Her face was expressionless. ¡°Pretty much,¡± I replied. I hoped my little story would bring a new perspective, but it didn¡¯t seem to have had any effect. Maybe I am not cut out for these kind of motivational stuff. *** We were up before the first rays of the sun struck the forest. Dense cold air flooded our surroundings, making me shudder every once in a while. "You ready?" Kaya asked as she pulled the string of the bow back as far as she could before releasing it. I exhaled and replied, "Yes." Suddenly a powerful gust of wind blew past us. We looked up to the stars in the sky that had disappeared. "Rain clouds? When did they come?" "The weather around the Labyrinth can be a little freaky. Don''t pay much attention to it. Come on. Let''s go." Kaya proceeded deeper into the forest, and I followed. She was light on her feet and weaved through the dense foliage pretty quickly. I struggled to keep pace with her, falling behind every now and then. When I did, Kaya too slowed down, giving me enough time to catch up to her. She held her bow in her left arm with a steady grip, while using her right arm to clear the way forward if something stood in the way. Her fingers twitched constantly as if they had a strong urge to reach for an arrow and shoot. I, meanwhile, focused on keeping myself calm and tried to clear my head of any thoughts. My stamina appeared to have improved quite a bit, though my speed and balance could get a little boost. "How far are we from the Labyrinth?" I asked. "Close. In a little distance, we will come up on a rocky descent. Once we get down and cross a small ruin, we will be at the entrance to the Labyrinth." Kaya came to a sudden stop and quickly took aim at a bush in front of her. Out of it, several glowing eyes appeared followed by subtle growling. Wolves. I placed my hand on her shoulder and said, "If you don''t mind, could I take them on? I could use the XP." She lowered her bow and turned back. "You sure?" I simply nodded and she stepped aside. One... two... four... no. Five wolves appeared in the darkness of the undergrowth. I guess that is a full pack. The wind picked up and trees swayed to the tune of the gust. The pack approached me carefully, their fierce eyes locked on to me. I pulled out my dagger ready to battle the beasts. The last time I fought them, Urvi was by my side. Her speed and strength outclassed the beasts. Though I knew Kaya wouldn''t let even one lay their claws on me, I was still a little nervous taking them on my own. I tightened my grip on the hilt as the first of the pack pounced on me. At that moment, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Its jaws opened wide, and its sharp claws spread out and ready to strike. I dodged to my left while rolling away from the beast. As it landed before me, I quickly drove the dagger into the side of its neck before dragging it up and through. The wolf howled in pain as it flew to its left and crashed onto the ground. This made way for the rest four beasts to gang up on me. They were fast, but at the moment, it looked like I was faster. One after the other, they ran and leapt into the air, trying to bring down their teeth and claws onto me. I dodged their attacks with relative ease, waiting for the window where they tried to recover before landing a jab in their critical spots. Two of them proved to be clever, avoiding my jab by either ducking lower when landing or breaking away from their attack just before landing them. My jabs also proved to be weaker than expected as it took multiple hits to put them down. As I was caught up in the heat of the battle, I felt my Mana well grow hot. It filled my chest with energy which I redirected to my arms. Streams of the Mana extended through my arm and down to the blade. The blade then began to turn hot and glow red. Three more of them, wounded from my previous jabs began to get desperate. They pounced on me and tried to bite me frantically. But this time, they went down with just one strike from a burning hot blade. As the five wolves lay around me motionless, I fell onto my knees, breathing heavily. I exhaled when suddenly an arrow whizzed past me. I turned around to see a sixth wolf lying down on the ground soaking in blood. "You missed one," Kaya said. I nodded in response. "Time to move on." Chapter 28 - The Path to the Labyrinth It was daytime, the sun must have risen by now. Yet, the whole forest was drenched in darkness. The thick clouds curdled above us, and the wind battered us and the trees relentlessly. "This weather is crazy!" I commented. Kaya and I ran through the forest at a brisk pace and without a break. She lifted her bow and shot an arrow into the distance. A loud howl broke through the forest as a wolf, who evaded my sight, fell to the floor dead. "Sorry, but we need to move on," She said. "It''s alright. They are not worth much XP anyways." More wolves jumped out of the undergrowth, but each one went down with a single arrow and a howl. "Hungry wolves feast on those unfortunate enough to cross their paths," Kaya said. Droplets of rain began to fall from the sky. Something I would have usually hated, but now I am glad to have happened. A pack of wolves appeared behind us, trying to chase us down. When Kaya caught sight of them, she immediately paused and spun around saying, "Get back!" "No wait!" I replied. I cast a simple fire spell, setting the forest before me in an arc of short but powerful burst of flames. The wolves were thrown back, some of them burnt enough to fall to the ground dead, while others retreated into the bushes. The rain grew heavy, smothering the flames before they could grow out of control. "Clever," Kaya commented. We continued on the path, reaching an old tree, standing at the top of a cliff. Looking over the edge, there were just more trees. However, about half a kilometer or so, we spotted the ruin, a square stone mess cutting through the sea of trees. "There. I can see it!" I said. "We are close. Let''s get moving," Kaya replied. Just as we were about to leap off the edge, the root underneath us tore off the ground. "What the hell!" I exclaimed, trying to maintain balance. The tree shifted, beginning to twist and turn as it roared like a beast. "Treant!" Kaya said. "Jump!" And we did, off the cliff and seemingly to our death. That was until I felt something wrap around my waist, before pulling me back up and throwing me back onto the cliff. Kaya landed a few paces away from me. She got on her feet quickly, preparing to strike. I breathed a sigh of relief before looking at the giant tree walking towards me, its vines beginning to creep out. I slowly got up on my feet just as one of the vines lashed out at me, forcing me to duck back onto the ground to avoid it. However, the vine proceeded to thrash relentlessly as I tried to evade it. It didn''t hit hard, barely making a dent in my health. But they definitely stung like a bitch. Kaya too was forced to jump and parry the veins to avoid them. I quickly pulled out my dagger and turned the blade red-hot. With one quick swipe, I cut through the vine. The Treant retreated in response, appearing to scream as it did. It then used the same vine to send broken rocks and tree bark my way. I quickly cast a protect and stopped the debris from causing any damage. Three arrows struck the Treant, right in the center of the trunk. But they barely made a dent. Kaya grunted hard, looking pretty annoyed. So, that is where its heart is. The Treant reacted to our attacks by lashing out with its roots this time. I cast another protect to block the root, but it shattered on the first impact. Fuck. My Mana well began to grow hot. I thrust my palm forward, discharging a powerful fire stream towards it. The stream crashed into the tree trunk, throwing it off balance but the wetness from the rain prevented it from catching fire. I had to act quickly. I followed up the fire spell with a simple decimation spell aimed at the heart. The Treant tried to wack the ball away with one of its roots but the decimation ball simply chewed through it. A huge gaping hole appeared on the trunk, exposing the glowing heart. "Kaya! Now!" I shouted. Without any delay, Kaya fired an arrow through the heart, shattering it. The Treant slammed down onto the ground before tipping over. Its branches hung over the cliff edge, lifeless. "Nice shot!" I exclaimed. Kaya had a wide grin on her face. "Thanks. Shall we proceed?" We walked over to the edge and saw that the dead Treant had let down a vine that reached the forest below. Nice. "After you," Kaya said. I hopped onto it and slid down into the thicket below. Streams of water flowed down the walls of the cliff, soaking the forest beneath with a layer of rainwater. The rain fell steadily, neither too heavy nor too light. Just enough to keep us wet. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. We paused for a moment, to take a breath. Kaya stood beside me, her bow leaning against her legs, as she wiped the excess water off her body. For a moment, I was lost. I always thought of Kaya as a beautiful woman but didn''t try too hard to think past that. However, the more we talked, the closer I felt to her. Uncomfortably close. She looked back at me with a puzzled expression. "What happened?" It was at that moment, I realized I was staring at her with a gaping mouth. I immediately shut it and shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing. Shall we continue?" She frowned faintly before turning towards the path in front of her. "Gladly." It seems like I managed to get on her bad side. Yikes. We continued forward but I noticed something strange about the forest. "Say. This appears to be a path to the ruins." The forest appeared to be bisected, creating a twelve-foot wide path covered in soft grass. The canopy above also had less cover. Kaya came to a sudden stop. "You are right." She picked an arrow out of her quiver and shot it to the ground a few feet ahead of us. A hand protruded from the ground with fingers sharp as knives. Before long, a humanoid figure dug itself out of the ground, followed by a few more. They were thin and without skin or hair. Their bodies were mutilated and were red as dried blood. "Ghouls," Kaya said. "Zombies?" I asked. "I¡­ don''t know what are those..." "Dead humans brought back to life." "Not sure. But they will certainly put you down if you aren''t careful," Kaya said. They didn''t charge toward us, instead roared and screamed while patiently waiting for us to attack them. "Hold on. Let me give this a shot," I said. Kaya stepped aside. I stretched my hand out and tapped into my Mana well. As it swelled, a decimation ball formed before my fingers. Just before releasing it, I tried a new trick. Letting my well heat up, the decimation ball began to grow red hot. Suddenly the ball caught fire, with sparks flying off it. Kaya stepped back, looking at it in awe. The Ghouls, however, were not roaring anymore. I sent the ball flying in a straight path, cutting through the crowd of Ghouls before exploding in glorious orange flames and blinding us momentarily. When our sight returned, all that was left of the Ghouls were torn limbs and burnt corpses. I turned to Kaya looking at the battlefield, there was a faint smile on her face and a spark in her eyes. "What happened?" I asked. "You impress me every time you fight," She said bluntly, her smile widening. My heart swelled in happiness as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. "Let''s keep moving," She said before dashing off towards the ruin. Just as we were about to reach the ruins, the ground beneath us shook violently, forcing us to come to a sudden stop. "What is that?" I asked. Kaya didn''t answer, instead, she pushed me off the path and into the bushes on the side. I fell quiet and closely observed the ruins that sat a few feet away from us. Two giant stone legs appeared out of the blue, whose steps created mini earthquakes. I looked up to see a giant, at least twenty feet tall, made entirely of stone, walking towards the center of the ruin where it took a seat on a tipped-over pillar. It looked like a child''s drawing, with a rectangular body, arms, and hands, made entirely of stone. It had two large spherical eyes on the top of its body, whose dead eyes sent chills down my spine. "It is a troll," Kaya said. "A troll, huh? Looks mean. Is its body entirely made of stone?" "It is. But that is not our problem. It is its eyes." "They do look scary. But what do they do?" "One look from those things and you turn to stone," Kaya explained. "Are you serious?" "Why would I be joking now?" She asked. "Great. How do we deal with this thing?" "I don''t know... I am sorry but I didn''t expect one to find here." This reminded me of the old myth of Medusa. We could force it to look at itself, let it turn itself into stone. But, for that, we need a mirror... and it also appears to be made of stone, so I am not sure how effective that would be. "Why don''t you strike it in its eyes?" I asked. "Those eyes are impenetrable. They can''t be damaged by any weapon." "Not even magic?" I asked. "As far as I have heard, no." We could give it a try, but that means giving our position away and if it didn''t work, we might be screwed. "Why don''t we try to distract it and sneak away?" I asked. "Possible. Let me try." Kaya pulled out another arrow and aimed it to her right, ready to shoot. "Hold on," I whispered before grabbing the metal tip of the arrow. I set it on fire and Kaya immediately fired it into the sky. The trolls seemed to have noticed it. However, its eyes didn''t follow the arrow, instead turned towards us, forcing us to hide. "What the fuck? It looked right at us!" I whispered. My heart was in my throat. "Must be one of its many quirks," Kaya replied. The ground didn''t shake, which meant it wasn''t moving. Okay, time for plan B. "Why don''t we wrap ourselves in some cloth? Maybe that would block its vision from affecting us," I suggested. "We can risk it, but I got a better idea." She reached into her quiver and pulled out a small spherical object. A bomb? "It''s glue. Used to hold an arrow together. But it is also highly flammable." She explained as she proceeded to tie it to the arrowhead. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the string back, ready to fire. "Set it on fire?" I asked. "Do it." I touched the pouch with my palm and set off a spark. The ball caught fire instantly and Kaya immediately shot it, sending it straight into the troll''s eyes. The arrowhead exploded on impact, but the troll barely budged. Kaya and I quickly scuffled through the bushes, changing our position. The troll got up on its feet, rubbing its face with its right arm. As the dust cleared, I noticed its eyes were covered in a thick black liquid. "Run!" I said. Kaya didn''t protest and we immediately leapt out of the bushes and ran towards the troll. It continued to rub or scratch the sticky liquid off its face. It appeared to be getting desperate as that big boulder was swaying side to side, each step creating a mini earthquake. We ran past the giant and looked close to our goal when I decided to do something that sounded stupid but would have been worth the XP if it worked. "Hold on!" I stopped and turned around to see that the giant''s back was facing us. I thrust my arm forward and cast a powerful decimation on the back of the giant''s head. As expected, it barely put a dent, but it was enough to throw the beast off balance. The giant came down onto the earth with a thunderous thud and smashed into pieces. "Nice shot!" Kaya exclaimed. I looked at the XP band and saw it reach about 40%. "Thanks! Now then. Shall we?" "We are here," she turned around and pointed to a fleet of stairs. The stairs went way down into a deep rift in the ground. The whole place was covered with overgrown flora, which gave off a strange aura. "Whoa! This place looks weird." "Yes. For some reason, this place is a treasure trove of plants that can''t be found anywhere else," Kaya said. Unique setting with no proper background? Yup. That is a dungeon down there. "Well then. Let''s go kick some Goblin ass." Chapter 29 - Into the Depths of Riven Labyrinth The cool blue mist thickened as we descended the stairs. Kaya took the lead, her bow and arrow ready for any surprise, while I cautiously walked down behind her. My skin felt the chill of the fog and my eyes could barely see past few feet. "How far can you see?" I asked. "Not much. Keep all your senses wide awake." "Understood." We reached the bottom of the rift, landing on soft grass. Small herbs and shurbs littered the floor while an array of arthropods were scattered about. "I don''t see any Goblins. You would think there would be a few guarding the..." Suddenly harsh growling filled the air. Sharp teeth penetrated the fog followed by it''s rabid eyes, a wolf withe torn fur and skinny legs walked through the fog. It looked like it was pulled out a grave. It began to charge towards us but didn''t make far as Kaya arrow cut into its neck and heart. We could hear more footsteps approaching us rapidly. "Let me," I said and pushed forward. I cast a weak fire spell, setting the surrounding on fire. The wolves came to a sudden halt, some caught in the fire, while others leapt back and avoided it. Several arrows shot past me and into the fleeing wolves, dropping them onto the ground like dead flies. The damp mist prevented the fire from spreading. In the end, we stood before a graveyard of wolves. I looked at their sorry state and couldn''t help but feel sorry for them. "Don''t worry. We did the right thing by killing them," Kaya said. "They looked to be dying. Why would anyone let their guard dogs reach such a state?" I asked. "To put simply, Goblins don''t tame. They control. Cruelty is all they know." I felt bile rising up my chest. "Right. Let''s see what more they got." The thick fog made it a little difficult to see where exactly we were going. Wolves, mange ridden dogs, and ghouls peppered the path before us. They were put down with relative ease making the journey so far pretty easy. The tall walls of the rift appeared to be closing on us and soon, we found ourselves at the foot of a twenty stories tall doorway. Looking into the opening between the giant stone doors was complete darkness. Before the door was a wooden cart, quite small. It had two wooden spoke wheels, held together by an axel with a wooden base sitting on top of the axel. "A cart? Do these creatures actually use tools?" I asked. "Tools, weapons, I heard they can craft items as well," Kaya explained. Damn. That is crazy. "Shall we?" Kaya asked with a cheeky smile. "Always ready," I replied. Walking into the valley of shadows, we were greeted by sky high walls covered in fern and moss. There were straight as an arrow, appearing to meet somewhere in the sky. Looking ahead, the walls seem to run on forever. Strange looking plants covered the ground that crunched softly with every step. "Say. Do you know if any of these can be used by us?" I asked. "I have no clue. Mother might have know about it though." "Right." A valley covered in mysterious plant life but no clue which of these are worth picking. Should have took a list from Xanthia. Loud cackling echoed through the air, making us pause for moment. Kaya and I looked at each other before walking with great caution. I could not deny that I felt a bit afraid of these creatures. I hadn''t faced them till now and considering that they were supposed to be devilishly smart, I could only imagine what they were capable off. Kaya came to a sudden stop and held out her right arm, stopping me from advancing. "Stop." "What happened?" I asked. "Look down." A foot or so before us was a thin wire well hidden in the moss on the ground. "A trap!" Great we had to deal with these now? "We are going to need to be careful..." "Or..." I interrupted. "How about we try this?"Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! *** "Are you sure about this?" Kaya asked as she pulled the cart through the doorway. "Only one way to find out." We loaded it up with bodies of the dead wolves and pushed it all the way upto where we found first trip wire. "Get way back!" I instructed Kaya. Kaya immediately jogged back to the entrance. Seeing her at a safe distance, I took in a deep breath and prepared an explosive decimation. I had one shot to make it right. It should be strong enough to push the cart but not so strong as to destroy it. I took in a deep breath and sent a firey decimation ball flying before sprinting back to the entrance. The ball smashed into the back of the cart and exploded, setting the cart on fire. But it also managed to give the cart the push it needed. The burning cart rolled through the labyrinth, triggering a flurry of traps. Sharp arrows shot into the air and through the walls, small bombs exploded, destroying the cart, however, this set off a chain reaction setting the path forward in an orgy of colorful chaos. By the time the dust settled, we were staring into the charred corridor, covered in burning corpses and plants. Pieces of the chart scattered all over the place. "Well. I think that covers the entrance," Kaya said. Loud shuffling noises echoed through the valley. "I guess we pissed off the enemy," I commented. We walked through the charred remains of the path where upon we were greeted by our first choice. The path split at sharp right angles towards the right and left. With walls as tall as the rift itself, an aerial view was nigh impossible now. "Do you know the way?" I asked. "No. We will have to chance it," She replied. "In that case. Let''s go left," I said. I walked up to the wall infront of us and shifted slightly to the left. Placing my hand on the moss covered wall, I ignited the moss, burning it just enough to leave a black mark. "Mark our path? That''s a good idea," Kaya remarked. "Right then. Let''s go." Thick fog made the path ahead uncertain. "Trip wire!" Kaya said. In sync, we leapt over the wire and continued forward. I began to wonder how many more of these traps we will face. The entrance was brimming with them, but with so many traps, how do the goblins move around? I suspected we would see less and less of them as we got closer to the heart of the maze. We zig-zagged our way through the sharp turns, choosing which direction to go on a whim. But with us leaving a mark at every turn, we were confident we wouldn''t get lost. Suddenly, two tower, built of wood appeared out of the fog. Tiny figures shuffled about them before something flew high into the air and landed a few feet before us. It was silver and round, a bomb! More of them landed before us and exploded into a cloud of dust. Kaya and I instinctively covered out mouth, however, the danger was in what hid in the dust. A gigantic wolf leapt out of the cloud barring it''s sharp teeth.We jumped out of it''s path whereupon it landed on the grass on its all fours, ready to attack again. More bombs landed all around us, this time exploding with a little more noise. Small pieces pf debris flew out in all direction, making Kaya screech. "Kaya!" I called out to her. However, the wolf got to me before her. It was much bigger than the others, but equally frail and mange. I brought down it''s sharp teeth onto me, but I was ready with the dagger in my hand. I drove it up through the wolf''s lower jaw, but the beast fought back. It tried to push forward while shaking violently to free itself from the dagger. My core began to heat up, and the blade grew red hot. I pulled the dagger out from it''s jaw before changing my grip and driving the blade back into the beast''s side, just behind it''s leg. The wolf howled in pain, still trying to bite down on me, but eventually, it lost the battle and fell to the ground with a dull thud. I pushed the beast aside and saw Kaya shooting her arrows at tower. "Hit the base with your spell!" Kaya said. "Right!" I quickly cast decimation at the base of one of the towers. The tower toppled to the left and smashed into the other tower, before crashing to the ground and releasing a giant dust cloud. Loud cackling eminated from the dust cloud before shadows of a dozen or more halflings appeared running towards us. "Get ready," Kaya said preparing her bow. Out of the cloud, appeared four foot humanoids. They had green skin, large pointy ears, and bald heads. Their teeth appeared to sharp as the wolf''s and yellow eyes with brown iris. They were all dressed in shabby clothing, made of rags perhaps. They held weapons, mainly wooden clubs, spears, and spiked ball on a chain. "For smart creatures it feels stupid that they attck us head on," I commented as I prepared to send a ball of decimation fury their way. "Well, when their brains stop functioning," she pulled the string back and in a quick succession fired three arrows right into three goblins heads. The last one, who held a wooden club in his hand came to a sudden stop before turning around and disappearing into the dust cloud from which they came. She calmly lowered her bow, remaining silent. "Are you going to finish?" I asked. "Huh? Oh. I thought I had something clever to say... but didn''t," she turned her face away and I thought her cheeks flushed red. I broke a grin in response which only deepened the red of her cheeks. "I wanted to ask. If you don''t mind. That woman who you were with. Who is she to you?" Wow. That was pretty straight forward. "She... huh... she is my partner." "You mean like travel partner or life partner?" I scratched the back of my head as I felt a flush of embarrassment sting at my heart. But wait, why am I feeling embarrassed to tell. "Life partner... I guess." "Oh. I see," she said and proceeded to walk past. Oh god! Did I just blow my chance with her? "Why do you ask?" I just blurted it out as though it was a physical response. "Nothing really," she didn''t even turn back. "Come on now. There must have been some reason for asking." She stopped, maintaining the painful silence for a good few seconds before slowly turning back. Her expression had changed to that of embarrassment. "Don''t take this the wrong way... but I thought... I thought she was your mother." Oh... I let out a pitiful laughter. "Well. You are not the first one." She broke into a soft smile. "Usually men prefer the younger ones." "Well... They just don''t know that they only get better with time," I said and winked at her. Her eyes widened, lips parting in shock, and her cheeks burnt red, before her lips curl into a cheeky smile. I continued past her with a cheerful smile, but on the inside my heart was racing like never before. Chapter 30 - Shaman King You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.