《She Who Would Wield the Stars》


 Chapter 1: One doors shut, anothers kicked open

    The worst thing Aster Rose thought could happen to her after waking up late that morning was an early death, but as that had been the status quo for months now she figured she had nothing to lose by going back to sleep for a few more hours.


    After all, no one expected much of a dying girl.


    That was the shittiest part for her. Well, except for the actual dying, but cancer was known for being shitty. She¡¯d never thought her friends would be the same.


    Eight months since the diagnosis, five since she¡¯d stopped showing up to classes, four since chemo and radiation ended, and one since anyone had reached out. Well, anyone of importance.


    Anyone she wanted.


    A few hours later found Aster glaring at the pallid reflection in her mirror. Before the steam from the shower had faded away she could almost convince herself the shape that followed her across the bathroom was a normal, healthy twenty-two year old. Now? Red rimmed, sunken eyes over shallow lips stared daggers back at her. Her curves were all but gone, and her visible ribs rose and fell with every shallow breath.


    This was her routine before going out. She¡¯d let the anger burn, feeling it flush her body with a semblance of energy¡ªenergy she¡¯d use to get through the day, to push past pitying stares and the pain of seeing a familiar face not recognize her.


    She let the fire burn as she pulled on some clothes. The weather was warm and she caught herself reaching for a dress before resigning herself to sweatpants and a pullover. A dark wig sat by a small vanity, collecting dust. Why play pretend? Her hair wasn¡¯t coming back, and she didn¡¯t have the energy to draw on eyebrows.


    Steeling herself, she opened the door, wincing behind her sunglasses at the bright light. Aster took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide, stepping outside her apartment on the edge of campus and into the world.


    It was a brisk, ten minute walk to the Peach Cafe on Lemon Street that took her nearly half an hour. The magnolia trees were in bloom and she could smell sage on the wind. Smell was the only sense of hers left completely untouched by the cancer and treatments, oddly enough, and it was easy to take joy in the familiar smells of home.


    Once there, she seated herself in their outdoor area, ignoring the lunch crowd that always gathered there in the early afternoon. They became background noise as she looked over the menu.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± A too-cheerful voice rang out. ¡°Welcome. Can I get you started with anything to¡­ to drink today?¡± The bustling blond woman around the age Aster¡¯s mother would have been caught herself, her smile faltering only for a moment as she took in Aster¡¯s appearance.


    ¡°Just water, please.¡± Aster smiled at the reaction. ¡°And the¡­¡± She ordered her food, the least-healthy options they had available, plus a to-go bag of their breakfast sandwich and hashbrowns, and sat back to people watch.


    She¡¯d never took the time to people watch before her diagnosis. Hell, it hadn¡¯t been until the doctors had told her the treatment was taking longer than they¡¯d expected to really show any effect that she¡¯d even begun to consider her own mortality. Now, she watched the lives of the people around her.


    The mom bouncing a toddler on one knee while trying to corral an older child, bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. The waitress who whispered to a barista and nodded in her direction. The student in the corner on his laptop, letting his food get cold.


    What would they look like in six months? In six years?


    It was a wild thing to consider, that she wouldn¡¯t be there. That her fire would have burnt out before those kids¡¯ would even have a chance to rage. The entire world was in a race to the horizon and she had but a few steps left to her.


    ¡°Why is your hair gone?¡±


    Aster blinked. The kid had gotten away from his mom and wandered over to her and was now holding on to the edge of the table, just barely managing to get his chin over the edge.


    Aster giggled at the brutal honesty. ¡°Because I¡¯m dying.¡±


    Despite her morbid words, the kid only tilted his head. ¡°My grandma died and her hair didn¡¯t go away.¡±


    It was refreshing to hear someone talk to her this way. Like a person who could have a conversation. She folded her hands and rested her chin on them. ¡°Oh, really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± the boy said. ¡°But she was old. Like old old. So maybe that¡¯s why?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Aster grin faltered and turned more sad, ¡°Maybe that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Twenty two.¡±


    The kid grabbed a straw off the table and started playing with it. ¡°That¡¯s not very old.¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡± Aster¡¯s smile died.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    They looked at each other for a moment before the kid shrugged. ¡°Okay, bye.¡±


    ¡°Bye,¡± she waved at the kid as he weaved through the tables. Well, that was fun, she thought, reaching for her water.


    ¡°Momma!¡± She heard the kid yell. ¡°Mom, that girl¡¯s dying!¡±


    Water flew out of her nose as she choked on her laugh.


    --


    Had she just scarred a mom with a memory that would keep her awake at night for decades for come? Probably. Was this the most she¡¯d laughed in months?


    Absolutely.


    Her grin stayed with her all the way back to her apartment building, where she entered a code and entered the lobby. The security guard waved at her and she dipped her head at him, grimacing at a sudden spike of pain in her neck. It was past time for her pills.


    She hopped in the elevator and got off on the third floor, forcing herself to push through the now dull pain that pulsed in her neck as she reached a specific door and hit a doorbell. Aster sighed after nearly a minute passed and knocked firmly on the door, stopping only when a crotchety old voice sounded from the other side.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming, you little shit!¡±


    Aster sighed and slumped against the doorframe as Mr. Lawrence opened the door, grumbling to himself as he pulled it open and rolled his wheelchair back out of the way. ¡°Good afternoon, Mr. Lawrence,¡± Aster croaked out, squeezing inside and nearly falling onto a little bench to catch her breath. ¡°I brought your favorite.¡±


    Mr. Lawrence had been a professor at Aster¡¯s school until an accident left him with limited use of his legs. He and Aster had bonded a little over the last few months and she made an effort to bring him food when she could. Having something to do was good for her, and having someone to see was good for him.


    ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t want your pity food,¡± the old man said to her as he wheeled himself over from the kitchen, water in hand.


    ¡°Well fuck you then,¡± Aster worked out as she reached for the water. ¡°I¡¯ll eat it myself.¡±


    ¡°Shhh,¡± the old man said as he reached for the to-go bag. ¡°Just give it to me before you drop it. You didn¡¯t forget the hot sauce this time, did you?¡±


    They bantered for a few minutes more before he got serious. ¡°Now how are you holding up? That nurse come by to see you yet?¡±


    Aster scowled. ¡°No, and I asked you not to talk to her about me.¡±


    The old man shrugged and rubbed the bridge of his nose. ¡°Your beef with your father is yours, not mine. And it¡¯s not that nurse¡¯s, either. You aughta be nicer to her.¡±


    She scoffed. ¡°In a year she won¡¯t remember my name. Why should I care?¡±


    Aster almost withered under his glare. Almost. ¡°Because it¡¯s right, and that¡¯s good enough,¡± Mr. Lawrence said.


    ¡°Bullshit southern manners¡­¡± Aster grumbled as she got her stuff together.


    ¡°Just try, hmm?¡± he said as he took her cue and rolled over to open the door for her.


    ¡°Mhmm,¡± she grunted as she stepped through the doorway, instantly regretting the sentiment when she heard a familiar voice.


    ¡°Still alive and kicking, I see.¡± The woman sat in a chair by the elevator, dressed in unassuming jeans and a jacket. An official-looking badge hung from her neck¡ªthe proof of her occupation.


    Aster gritted her teeth. ¡°Yep. Let me grab my steel-toes and prove it to you.¡± Something smacked her from behind and she turned to see Mr. Lawrence wagging a finger at her before he closed his door. She turned back to find the nurse scribbling something in a notebook before tucking both it and a manila folder away in her jacket. Hope she tells him exactly how I look.


    Did she actually hate the nurse? Actually maybe now because of her persistence, but not at first. She merely hated her dad. The dad that shipped her off to boarding school after her mother died. The dad who¡¯d last seen her when he¡¯d asked her to sign an NDA regarding goings on in his company in exchange for a monthly stipend and staying in his will. She¡¯d never thought to talk about what she¡¯d seen in the first place, so the free money was nice, but that had still been over four years ago.


    There wasn¡¯t enough time in the day for her father to swing by and spend time with his dying child, so he¡¯d hired a hospice nurse to care for her.


    That had ended with the nurse, whose name she still hadn¡¯t learned, nearly getting beaten with a baseball bat when she walked into Aster¡¯s apartment, with a key to the place, as though she was a known commodity. There was no way in fuck Aster was going to accept this arrangement and she made no effort in hiding it.


    ¡°This would be easier if you at least let me get some vitals,¡± the nurse said, standing up and walking toward the elevator. ¡°I could draw some blood, get a second opinion from some better doctors¡­¡±


    ¡°Talk to me about second opinions again and I promise you I will draw blood.¡± Aster pushed past the much taller woman and through the opening elevator doors. Her neck no longer ached like it had before dropping off Mr. Lawrence¡¯s lunch, but she was now even longer overdue for her medication.


    She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart rate. That proved effective for all of five seconds when she heard the nurse¡¯s sigh and realized she was in the elevator with her. Aster embraced the awkward silence, willing it to last. Alas, it did not. The elevator jolted and Aster¡¯s eyes shot open to find the nurse had punched the emergency button. ¡°What the fuck? Why would you do that?¡±


    The nurse reeled on her, reminding Aster that she was very much not in a physical state to back up her anger with violence. Not that she wouldn¡¯t try, mind you. She¡¯d go down with a mouth full of nurse if it came down to it.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m on your side,¡± the nurse said, visibly calming herself.


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Aster said. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything to do with him, especially now. And all you are is a reminder of everything he is.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what your relationship is like with your father, but I¡¯m here to help and I think you¡¯ll want to listen to what I have to say.¡±


    ¡°How can I be any more clear?¡± Aster could feel her body failing her as she began to hyperventilate. ¡°I don¡¯t want your help, so fuck back off to¡ª¡±


    The elevator dropped an inch. And then another. And then six. Aster fell on her ass, biting back a groan of pain while the nurse steadied herself with her hands against two of the walls.


    DING!


    The sound echoed through the building, coming from nowhere and everywhere and filling the halls and elevator shaft. The nurse began frantically pushing the emergency button again, trying to open the doors. ¡°No, no, nonononono¡­¡± she murmured. The elevator dropped another foot, finally knocking the nurse to her knees momentarily before she stood back up and tried to pry the doors open.


    Aster, meanwhile, couldn¡¯t stop laughing. A year of agony, of losing friends and facing the yawning maw of eternal darkness, and instead of the cancer killing her she was going to die in a fucking Looney Tunes elevator crash. This day can¡¯t get any better.


    DING!


    The sound reverberated in her heart with a flash of searing, fiery pain as the nurse yelled something to her about helping, which she chose to ignore. It was an easy choice, considering words had just popped up before her eyes; in her mind.


    *Initiation of the 97th Universe confirmed. Introduction and tutorial sequence commencing*

 Chapter 2: Gearing up

    So this is what death is like, Aster thought. A slate-white room and a creepy uncanny valley person sitting across the table from her. Could this be God?


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like God,¡± she said, taking in the¡­ mannequin? What the hell was this thing?


    It stared at her with all-white eyes beneath a bald head. No¡­ ¡®bald¡¯ sounded like it could have had hair at some point. The head was like porcelain.


    ¡°Greetings, human.¡± The mouthless being said in a voice that sounded like an amalgamation of a thousand choirs speaking at once. ¡°I am not a god, but the entity in charge of greeting you and overseeing this introduction. In this introduction I shall explain the circumstances of your new reality.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Aster frowned. She leaned forward, ¡°Is this heaven?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The being did not elaborate, so she pushed, ¡°Hell, then? But wait, who sends cancer kids to hell?¡± A terrifying thought shot through her mind. ¡°Wait, it¡¯s not because I¡¯m¡ª¡±


    ¡°This is not hell,¡± it interrupted her. ¡°This is your new reality, named by the first enlightened races as ¡®The System¡¯.¡±


    She let out a sigh. ¡°Well, that¡¯s something¡­ What is this sys¡ª¡± Before she managed to complete the thought aloud a screen appeared before her eyes:


    Status


    Name: Aster Rose


    Race: [Human (G) ¨C lvl 0]


    Class: N/A


    Profession: N/A


    Health Points (HP): 50/50


    Mana Points (MP): 80/80


    Stamina: 70/70


    Stats


    Strength: 6


    Agility: 8


    Endurance: 7


    Vitality: 5


    Toughness: 10


    Wisdom: 8


    Intelligence: 8


    Perception: 8


    Willpower: 10


    Free points: 0


    Titles


    N/A


    Redacted


    Redacted


    Well, that answers that question, Aster thought, and raises a thousand others. ¡°Why is the afterlife built like a video game?¡± She started looking at the stats, figuring them out. Strength was pretty obvious, as were agility and endurance. Why was vitality so low? Probably because she was sick, right?


    And then she felt it, or rather the lack of it. I don¡¯t have cancer anymore!


    She jumped to her feet with the realization, noticing the stark contrast of being able to breathe. No elevated heart rate, no sore joints, no burning feet¡ªshe was dead, but whole again. Why that came as such a surprise to her she didn¡¯t know. What sort of a ghost has cancer? But holy shit did it feel nice!


    ¡°Is there a mirror?¡± She asked, her voice catching. ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°We do have limited time for the introduction, human.¡±


    ¡°Please!¡± Aster begged. She couldn¡¯t feel any hair on her head, and her body still felt too small and not the right shape, but she had to see herself.


    Suddenly a perfect copy of herself appeared before her, slowly spinning about an inch in the air. She saw that while she was still bald, her face had regained its original color. Her ribs still protruded and her body as a whole looked nearly prepubescent with how little meat she had on her, but it was still different, as if some vacuum that had been sucking the life out of her had been cut off.


    ¡°Can you confirm for me that I¡¯m no longer sick?¡± Her voice was hardly a whisper.


    ¡°Your deduction is correct. While some maladies may transfer over to the tutorial, the one you had was not one of the kinds that would. Please continue with the orientation as we have limited time left.¡±


    Aster sat again as the image of her disappeared. ¡°Is my cancer why my vitality is so low? That¡¯s related to health, right?¡±


    The being sat in silence for a moment. ¡°Many of your stats are related to your life before Integration. But your future is determined by your actions and your class.¡±


    Before she could ask the obvious question, a list of options appeared before her. She swiped with her finger and the options rotated around.


    Warrior (Light) ¨C Basic starting class. A light-class warrior focused on quick attacks, evasion, and finesse. While faster than both the medium and heavy variants, it comes with a decrease in attack power and survivability. Mainly uses weapons such as rapiers, daggers, small hatchets, and throwing weapons. Stat bonuses: +2 Agi, +1 End, +1 Str, +1 Vit, +1 Free point.


    Aster knocked her memory for her understanding of video game classes. She knew of Dungeons & Dragons and had played some games like The Elder Scrolls, so she wasn¡¯t going in entirely blind. Looking at the next two options, however, she got a good idea as to what each of these first classes were meant for.


    Warrior (Medium) - Basic starting class. A medium-class warrior, focused on a balanced approach to combat, finding a compromise between speed and power. While faster than the heavy variant, it is slower than the light-class warriors. While survivability and power are higher than the light-class variant, it is lower than the heavy-class warriors. Able to use a vast array of weapons of both the heavy and light variants. Stat bonuses per level: +1 Agi, +1 End, +1 Vit, +1 Str +1 Tough, +1 Free Point.


    And;


    Warrior (Heavy) ¨C Basic starting class. A heavy-class warrior, focused on power and survivability while sacrificing speed and variance. The heavy warrior is slower, with a less varied approach than both the light and medium class, but in turn, gains great power and survivability. Mainly uses a combo of one-handed weapons and a shield or a two-handed weapon. Generally lacking solid ranged options. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Str, +1 Tough, +1 Vit, +1 End, +1 Free Point.


    So three options for melee builds. Probably your average rogueish class, fighting class, and tanky class¡­ Okay, so maybe she knew a little more about nerdy stuff than she let on. After all, what was a girl to do for months on end of limited outside interaction than play games, read books and listen to podcasts?


    She moved on to the next option, which appeared to be a ranged fighter.


    Archer ¨C Basic starting class. A class focused on ranged combat, mainly using bow and arrow, coupled with light options for melee such as shortswords and daggers. The class is fast and flexible, focusing on Agility over Strength. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Per, +1 Agi, +1 End, +1 Str, +1 Free Point.


    Eh, too stereotypical, she dismissed it. Besides, who wanted to fight things from such a distance? When she¡¯d played volleyball in high school and during her undergrad years at college her preferred position had always been middle hitter, right up against the net. Sure it was nice to make a big save or deliver a good serve, but nothing beat being that first line of defense or going up to spike the ball. Her smaller than average stature for the position often made others underestimate her, but then they saw her jump.


    Okay, she thought. Enough reminiscing, let¡¯s see what¡¯s next. What was next was a casting class, confirming beyond a doubt that magic was indeed a thing in this afterlife.


    Caster ¨C Basic starting class. The caster is focused on magical combat, favoring wisdom and knowledge over brawn and speed. The basic class is non-attuned, meaning not yet specialized in any element or type of magic, thus limited in power but wide in scope. Casters wield powerful destructive abilities, though often lack in defensive options. The class mainly uses catalysts such as staves, idols, relics, or wands in order to amplify the power of magic. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Will, +1 Per, +1 Free Point.


    Had she always wanted to cast spells? Sure. Obviously. Who hadn¡¯t read Harry Potter and wished for a letter from Hogwarts? But was that something she wanted to do with the rest of her afterlife? ¡­Maybe, actually. But it didn¡¯t seem like a good starting point. Casters were notoriously fragile in any sort of fiction she¡¯d read of them. What was that descriptor for them? ¡®Glass cannons?¡¯ That didn¡¯t exactly strike confidence in her heart with Vitality being by far her lowest stat.


    Last was a healer class.


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    Healer ¨C Basic starting class. The healer can mend injuries, remove afflictions, and amplify the power of themselves and/or their comrades. The basic class is non-attuned, meaning not yet specialized in any deific powers or types of magic, thus limited in power but wide in scope. The class is weak in solo combat, lacking offensive options, but powerful when surrounded by allies. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Will, +2 Wis, +1 Int, +1 Free Point.


    ¡°Deific powers?¡± She read aloud. ¡°So there are definitely gods then,¡± she baited the entity across from her.


    Despite the being¡¯s uncanny lack of facial expressions, let alone a mouth with which to perform such expressions, she received a distinct feeling the thing was growing impatient.


    ¡°Jesus,¡± muttered Aster as she turned back to her choices. ¡°I¡¯d find more stimulating conversations with a corpse.¡± When the entity neither commented on her use of a god¡¯s name or her completely original wit she continued to her selection. After all, she couldn¡¯t keep the afterlife waiting. Who cared if instead of heaven or hell you got a video game? As far as she was concerned, this was about as good as it could get.


    She took a breath and considered. The caster classes didn¡¯t feel like her, and the archer class definitely wasn¡¯t her, so she went back to the melee classes and read through them. Light warrior seemed more her speed, but she was worried about a lack of defensive capability. This especially considering her lack of health points, which she figured was pulled directly from her Vitality stat at a 10:1 ratio.


    Heavy warrior seemed the safest, but the descriptor of sacrificing speed rubbed her the wrong way. Her speed had always been a strong suit of hers, also likely reflected in her Agility stat compared to her Strength stat.


    That left her with the medium warrior class, which once again caught her eye with its offering of a more balanced style that would help keep her safe until she got stronger, while also letting her play to her strengths of being a more versatile competitor. Not that she knew what she¡¯d be ¡®competing¡¯ against, mind. But the classes were stuff like ¡°warrior¡± and ¡°healer¡±, not ¡°office worker¡±, so she considered it a safe bet that getting into fights and getting hurt would be commonalities in this life.


    ¡°Medium warrior it is,¡± she tapped the icon.


    You have chosen the Warrior (Medium) class. Confirm?


    Aster let a grin cross her face as she made her choice.


    You have obtained the Warrior (Medium) class.


    Before she could finishing processing the words, Aster felt a weight descend upon her mind like a blanket as novel information became known to her. Items appeared on the table in front of her and she received several notifications at once.


    *Gained Skill*: [Basic One-Handed Weapons (Inferior)] ¨C The Warrior¡¯s best friend is the weapon in their hand and the fury in their heart. Unlocks basic proficiency with most one-handed weapons and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a fitting melee weapon.


    *Gained Skill*: [Basic Two-Handed Weapons (Inferior)] - The Warrior keeps their enemies at a distance or in the ground when using two-handed weapons. Unlocks basic proficiency with most two-handed weapons and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a fitting melee weapon.


    *Gained Skill*: [Basic Sword & Shield (Inferior)] - The bread and butter for many Warriors, offering time-tested offense and defense in tandem. Unlocks basic proficiency with most sword & shield combos and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a fitting sword & shield.


    *Gained Skill*: [Basic Throwing Weapons (Inferior)] - Some situations call for an improvised throw of your weapon, while others are better answered with a javelin. Unlocks basic proficiency with most thrown weapons and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when throwing a fitting weapon.


    *Gained Skill*: [Balanced Approach (Inferior)] - A jack of all weapons, master of none. Adds a 5% bonus to stat effects while wielding any weapon you possess proficiency with.


    The five System notifications were easy enough to understand, though some of the wording confused her. 5% bonus to stat effects? Not to stats themselves? There were definitely mechanics here she didn¡¯t know about, but when she asked Mr. Talkative he had nothing to say on the matter.


    On the table in front of her were a collection of items that seemed tied to her class. Inside a satchel were a collection of red bottles. Definitely potions, Aster thought, and then another notification appeared.


    *Gained skill*: [Identify (Inferior)] ¨C Basic identification skill, known by all but the smallest of children of the myriad races. The skill allows you to attempt to identify any object or creature you are focusing on.


    Let¡¯s give it a shot, she thought as she focused on the bottles. After a few seconds she received an answer:


    [Health Potion (Inferior)] ¨C Restores health when consumed.


    Honestly she didn¡¯t know what she¡¯d expected.


    A simple chain jacket that once donned went down to just above her knees, with long, loose sleeves. Leather buckles held it together in the front. A leather belt like the cloth ones on her bathrobes back home¡ª in the living world?¡ªbuckled in front of her and had several little metal loops on it which she used to hold the potion pouch.


    Comfortable leather boots fit over what she would call ¡°hospital socks¡±¡ª nothing more than a tube-shaped cloth. Her shirt and trousers were a comfortable-enough material, with the shirt providing built-in support, for which she was thankful, though she didn¡¯t particularly need it at the moment. Hopefully everything grows back¡­ she thought.


    ¡°There are two minutes remaining until the Tutorial commences.¡± Said the being. ¡°Please choose a starting weapon.¡±


    Where her new armor had been on the table now sat several swords of varying sizes, two choices of shield including a larger, wooden one and a smaller, circular one made of some indeterminate metal, four axes of varying lengths from a double-headed battleaxe to a tomahawk, a halberd longer than she was tall, several hammers that seemed to mirror the axes in size, and several spears.


    ¡°I have to choose just one?¡± Aster walked around the table, perusing her options and trying to get used to the feel of the chain mail.


    ¡°You may choose a one-handed weapon and shield or a two-handed weapon, as well as a throwing weapon.¡±


    Simple enough, thought Aster. She looked at the smaller selection of throwing weapons first and settled on the tomahawk as she could imagine a million uses for the small axe. It fit perfectly into one of the loops on her belt. Now for a big weapon¡­


    ¡°You have thirty seconds until the Tutorial commences.¡±


    Well shit. Aster ruled out the sword & shield combo, the greatsword, axes and hammers simply based on preference. The halberd was interesting but seemed more difficult to get the hang of than the other options. Thinking back on her limited knowledge of warfare history, she recalled that most infantry wielded spears as they were significantly easier to master than swords and offered defense as well as offense.


    In the end she grabbed a simple wooden spear with a leaf-shaped blade at one end and a matching pommel of sorts on the other. Once she had it in her hand she did a last once-over and couldn¡¯t find anything out of place.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she looked up at the being. ¡°So far the afterlife has been pretty okay, save for a distinct lack of decent conversational partners. Is there anything else I should kn¡ª¡±


    The world went white.


    Introduction sequence completed. Transporting to tutorial¡­


    ----


    Maria Castle was just finishing the introduction, and she was not having a good time. Having selected the Warrior (Heavy) class, she had finished putting on her chestplate when the weird robot thing told her she had only a few minutes left before some big ¡°tutorial¡± started.


    It was all complete horseshit. Just a few minutes ago she¡¯d finally been getting through to that Rose girl when she had to go and die in an elevator collapse of all things. Or at least that¡¯s what she thought had happened, but with the weird screen that had appeared right before they fell down the shaft, coupled with the weirdest and nerdiest fucking afterlife apparently being her new reality, she¡¯d nearly believed it when the robot said she hadn¡¯t actually died at all and was instead part of some universe-wide orientation thing.


    ¡°Thirty seconds until the Tutorial commences.¡± The robot said.


    ¡°Yeah, I got you,¡± Castle muttered as she finished with the straps holding her armor on. ¡°Now, where¡¯s my weapon?¡±


    She chose the halberd, because it was the coolest and let her smash things with the hammer side of it, and then sighed. ¡°This is like my nephew¡¯s version of heaven. The dork used to spend more time playing WoW than breathing fresh¡ª¡±


    Introduction sequence completed. Transporting to Tutorial

 Chapter 3 - You again

    Aster opened her eyes to find herself no longer in the white room with the entity. Instead, she was outside. Above her a sun shined, bright in the cloudless blue sky. A breeze tousled her clothes and she rolled her shoulders, marveling at how healthy she felt.


    Before the cancer she¡¯d gotten sick before, like everyone else. Once or twice she¡¯d been laid up in bed for days on end with a fever or the flu, and she vividly remembered how it had taken her months to feel completely like herself again. That had been nothing like having cancer. The tumors had started out in her lymph nodes and metastasized elsewhere before it had been caught. Chemo and radiation poisoned her body, ideally killing her more slowly than it would kill the cancer. Weight loss, exhaustion, and pain had become her reality.


    And now that was all gone, and the relief was incomparable to anything else in life.


    She wiped at the corner of her eye and centered herself, focusing on her situation. It looked like while she was outside she was not on the ground, but rather a platform of sorts. Others floated in the distance, making ten in total. It looked pretty cool, honestly.


    She spun her spear around as she took it all in, then decided to use Identify again.


    [Basic Spear (Inferior)] - A spear granted to new initiates during the Tutorial by the System. Stick them with the pointy end.


    Aster grinned at the last bit of flavor text. Then she started wondering what was supposed to happen next.


    A moment later she got a smattering of System notifications, followed by an incredibly refreshing wave of warmth that emanated from somewhere in her core and spreading throughout her body.


    *Welcome to the Tutorial*


    Title earned: [Forerunner of the New World]


    [Forerunner of the New World] ¨C Complete the introduction and enter the tutorial as a forerunner of the New World. +3 all stats. Grants the skill: [Endless Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)].


    [Endless Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)] - Allows you to communicate with the myriad races throughout the multiverse. A unique skill granted for free to the forerunners of a newly initiated race.


    Whoa. Three free stats felt freaking amazing. Like a jolt of energy and stamina¡ªwhich she guessed it was, in a very literal sense. The skill was also really cool, though she wondered how it would function practically. Would others hear her in their language? If they spoke multiple languages, would they hear more than one from her? Would she hear a foreign language and understand it, or would it be interpreted for her into her own?


    Aster was busy thinking through this and many, many more questions this System had presented her when she heard movement behind her followed by a, ¡°Oh fuck me. It¡¯s you again.¡±


    She turned to see the nurse standing not too far away from her. In the distance, other people started to pop into existence on both her pillar and all the others, though the nurse was the only one close enough to make out. Aster found herself smirking at this. ¡°So you died, too, then?¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure I didn¡¯t die,¡± the nurse said, looking intimidating in her chestplate, her hand tightening on the halberd she carried. ¡°And neither did you, though I don¡¯t care as much on that end. Didn¡¯t you see that notification pop up right before the elevator fell?¡±


    Aster frowned. ¡°Honestly, I thought that was a hallucination. Either way, everything¡¯s changed. I¡¯m healthy, you¡¯re no longer on the hook for me, and we live in a video game now. At least two of those are good things.¡±


    The nurse just shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sticking by you for the moment. Considering we were both handed weapons, I don¡¯t think this is going to be somewhere very safe. Do you recognize any of these people?¡±


    She looked around at the now much more crowded pillars. Dozens had appeared on theirs and hundreds throughout the others. ¡°Maybe?¡± Aster sighed. ¡°I was pretty sure I¡¯d died and this was an afterlife of sorts, but if the whole ¡®universe initiation¡¯ thing is real then I guess¡­ there.¡± Aster pointed at a group a hundred meters away. ¡°I had a lab with that guy. I remember his hair. Could these be students? Faculty?¡±


    ¡°Considering the only thing we have in common is our proximity to each other when the world ended, I¡¯d say it¡¯s a safe bet everyone here was somewhere nearby, too.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Aster didn¡¯t know how she felt about that. She wasn¡¯t on particularly good terms with anyone from school at the moment, considering how they¡¯d all treated her the last few months.


    Before she could consider the situation more, another System notification appeared before her:


    *Tutorial Commencing*


    [Tutorial Panel]


    Duration: 63 days & 23:59:59


    Tutorial Type: Challenge


    Completion Criteria: Complete challenges and survive the duration of the tutorial.


    Tutorial rules: Collect Tutorial Points (TP).


    Tutorial Information: Ten flying islands below are filled with danger and opportunities for the new initiates to experience. Beasts roam the various biomes, hunting for prey¡ªor waiting to be prey themselves. Kill the beasts to acquire TP while gaining strength.


    In 23:59:59 you will receive the rules for your first week-long challenge. The island that performs the worst will fall into the sea below. Moving between islands is allowed once a week, starting after the end of the first challenge.


    Tutorial Point Rules: Gain TP upon killing beasts split amongst the contributors. Upon killing another initiate, half their TP will be split amongst the contributors. Gain TP upon successful completion of a challenge. Final Rewards based on TP and the number of Survivors.


    Total Survivors Remaining: 1200/1200


    TP Collected: 0


    Aster leaned on her spear to steady herself as the platform below her began to descend. She walked toward its edge, vaguely aware of the nurse walking beside her. Once they reached the edge she looked down and saw the island.


    Canyons broke apart the bare red earth below like mudcracks after a desert storm. The whole thing was hexagonal in shape with a large spring oasis of sorts in its center. Streams ran from the pool out to the edges where they flowed off in waterfalls that streamed in a breeze.


    The other islands were all similarly shaped, but with different setups. One was a tundra forest, frozen over with steam rising from a hot spring at its center. Another was covered in a forest of coniferous trees so thick Aster couldn¡¯t see the ground. The others all were various rainforests and mountainous areas, deserts and plains. Flora consisted of everything from cacti to conifers, bamboo and succulents.


    ¡°They almost look like Catan pieces,¡± the nurse commented.


    Aster nodded. ¡°My guess is there¡¯ll be a bit more violence than your average family game night, though.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never met my family.¡± The nurse shrugged and turned to Aster, offering out a hand. ¡°I never got to officially introduce myself, courtesy of you being a bitch. I¡¯m Maria Castle, but I go by Castle."


    After a beat Aster took the offered hand and shook it. ¡°Aster. And I¡¯m not sorry in the slightest.¡± That got a chuckle out of the nurse¡ªno, out of Castle. ¡°I¡¯m thinking we can reset for the moment, considering the rest of the fucking universe just did the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°So why are you taking all of this in stride?¡± Aster folded her arms awkwardly, considering the spear.


    ¡°Hmph. Why are you?¡±


    Aster raised an eyebrow¡ªa hairless eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s a stupid question. Dying, remember? Now?¡± She motioned around them, ¡°Now I¡¯m in a video game. Basically. I couldn¡¯t give two shits about a single living soul, save for maybe Mr. Lawrence, and the only reason I was fighting so hard was out of spite. There is literally no downside to this for me. But you were a nurse. You were working and making a ton of money from my dad, right?¡±


    Castle was silent as they neared the ground, and Aster didn¡¯t push. She just enjoyed the heat that grew in intensity as they neared the desert below. It seemed like all the platforms above their island were places roughly halfway between the edge and the center oasis, in a circle around its circumference. The island grew tremendously in size as Aster realized she had definitely been wrong about how large it was.


    From end to end the longest way, it was probably a hundred kilometers, maybe more. The oasis in the center must be a fifth that size, and she shuddered at the thought of what amazing aquatic life must exist in a place like this.


    ¡°I hate your father,¡± Castle finally said.


    Aster studied her before nodding. ¡°So you¡¯ve met him, then.¡±


    ¡°Only once, and it was enough.¡± She seemed to brace herself before turning back to Aster. ¡°One of his companies made a drug, Clemendol.¡±


    Aster felt a chill crawl up her spine, like the specter of her past looming behind her. The wooden haft of her spear groaned under her grip. ¡°Oh, God. Did you live¡ª¡±


    ¡°My family did,¡± Castle cut her off. ¡°Byproducts of the manufacturing process made its way into the groundwater and sentenced thousands to death, not just them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Castle didn¡¯t say anything else for a while as their descent neared its end. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault. You were barely a teenager at the time, I think, and I was in the States, starting school.¡±


    Aster let the quiet permeate the now dry air as they made the final leg of their descent. It kindled and burned in her core, like fire in her veins. Everything that man had ever done or had a hand in had turned to shit. ¡°If he¡¯s alive,¡± her voice crackled like embers, ¡°and if I ever see him again, I¡¯m going to kill him.¡±


    Castle blinked in surprise at the heated fury in her gaze. Then she bared her teeth in a grin. ¡°Looks like the rose has thorns.¡±


    The platform disappeared into the ground beneath their feet, leaving them due east of the oasis, if the sun was anything to judge by. Aster looked from her new comrade to the sun and finally to the end of her spear. ¡°This Rose does,¡± she said, and took her first step into the new world.

 Chapter 4: Life, uh, finds a way...

    ¡°How are you not dying right now?¡± Castle panted. ¡°It¡¯s got to be close to a hundred degrees out here.¡±


    Aster shrugged and smiled, ¡°Heat never really bothered me. Not that the cold does, either. But I''ve always liked the heat.¡±


    They had been walking for about half an hour at this point, the dusty red earth staining their boots and kicking up around them. A tailwind made the walk easier, softly blowing the flowers in the foliage around them.


    Aster had already annoyed Castle twice by stopping to inspect the plants.


    [Desert Sage (Inferior)] - A plant common across deserts throughout the multiverse. Leaves and stems possess various uses.


    [Bellbottom Cactus (Inferior)] - A spiny plant common across deserts throughout the multiverse. Meat and sap possess various uses.


    Her Identify skill only served to confirm what she¡¯d already figured out, but that still raised questions for her. How had these plants evolved? Had they evolved? If they had, how had that happened multiple times across multiple planets and universes?


    Convergent evolution was her best guess¡ª with environmental pressures being similar whether in one desert or another, plants and animals had to adapt to those same pressures, and there were only so many ways to adapt to passively counter droughts, intense heat, light and solar radiation exposure. Plants adapted to hold liquid for long periods of time, often coupled with spines or other deterrents to grazing animals. Animals did similar things, such as limiting the size they grew to, primarily living underground or becoming nocturnal, etc. Frogs found in the desert in one part of the world often shared traits with desert amphibians in another.


    None of this was interesting to Maria, unfortunately. The only thing she seemed interested in was getting down into one of the canyons they had seen on their descent to find some shade and a path toward the oasis.


    The desert around them wasn¡¯t exactly flat, though they could still see pretty far. There was a slight incline in their path toward the center of the island also lending to visibility issues, but they were heading up a particularly large hill to scout out the area ahead of them.


    Aster let Castle lead the way while she stopped to poke a cactus with her spear. Using Identify on the syrupy liquid that came out she was pleasantly surprised.


    [Bellbottom Cactus Sap (Inferior)] - Sap from the Bellbottom Cactus. Can be consumed to restore a small amount of HP at the expense of some Stamina.


    Gonna need some specimen vials or something¡­ she thought, with no clue how to accomplish that goal.


    ¡°Tsss!¡±


    Aster looked up to see Castle waving her up. The rock felt like sandstone under her palms as she climbed up to where the other woman was crouched. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She whispered.


    Castle nodded over toward the other side of the rise. ¡°Looks like some cool alien shit. Take a look.¡±


    Aster¡¯s heart sped up and she slowly raised herself up to see what Castle had seen, and she was not disappointed.


    The hill descended down to a small, rocky plain with a few trees and three scaled bipedal lizards, each about three or four feet in height. They were a pale green, and a fringe of feathers ran from between their eyes all the way down to their tails. The theropods were stocky, with short, three-fingered hands and feet, all ending in claws. Their leg were heavily muscled.


    Beyond the animals was a clear path down into a canyon. Aster used Identify on the animals:


    [??? - lvl 2]


    [??? - lvl 3]


    [??? - lvl 4]


    That¡¯s weird, Aster thought. ¡°I can see their levels, but not what species they are.¡±


    ¡°Those are totally dinosaurs,¡± Castle said.


    ¡°Those are definitely dinosaurs,¡± Aster agreed, barely holding in her excitement. ¡°Holy shit! Look at the way they interact with each other, like birds scavenging. Did you notice how their eyes¡ª¡±


    ¡°I already said they¡¯re dinosaurs, you nerd,¡± Castle rolled her eyes. ¡°Now what do we do about them?¡±


    ¡°I spent the last five years studying for a doctorate in biology. Sue me,¡± Aster said. ¡°I think we¡¯d be able to skirt around them if we want, but not if we want to get down into the canyon.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re¡­ nice dinosaurs?¡± Castle asked.


    Aster shrugged. ¡°Maybe, but probably not. Everything about their appearance implies they have a carnivorous diet and likely actively hunt their prey. Like I was saying about their eyes, you can tell¡ª¡±


    ¡°Okay, so mean dinosaurs. Got it,¡± Castle said with a straight face as Aster glared at her. ¡°We¡¯ve got armor and weapons, yeah? Probably not just for show. How about we get some experience and some practice swinging these things around?¡±


    Aster considered and nodded. ¡°How do you want to do it?¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°How do you think they¡¯ll react?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to interrupt me again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Aster sighed and considered what she knew about birds and how these animals might react to a threat. ¡°Let¡¯s do this¡­¡±


    --


    Castle crouched behind a boulder, waiting the requested few minutes. Once she was sure Aster was in position she double checked to make sure the dinosaurs were on the other side of the clearing before making her entrance, some twenty meters away.


    She walked around the boulder, acting as if she had just stumbled upon the little plain. Within a few steps something broke beneath her boot with a snap, and she was startled by how quickly the dinosaurs zeroed in on her.


    The one furthest to the right, Righty, cocked its head.


    ¡°Nice dinosaurs,¡± Castle said, taking a crouching position. ¡°Let¡¯s be nice dinosaurs, yeah?¡±


    They were, in fact, not nice dinosaurs. With a look at the other two, Righty made a motion like a cough, emitting a loud chirp, and then they moved.


    Lefty bounded across the plain at an angle, while Righty quickly made to cut off any retreat. Their powerful legs propelled them forward in hyper-quick jumps, though they stayed low to the ground. Castle knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to outrun them if she tried. Hope you¡¯re ready, Rose, she thought as she readied her halberd.


    As Righty got into position, Lefty let out a sound between a squawk and a hiss and stood tall before making large steps in Castle¡¯s direction. This, of course, served as a wonderful distraction from Center dinosaur, which had crouched low in the grass and waited for this signal before beelining it for the armored warrior.


    It raced across the twenty meter gap in five steps, making no noise and without a sign of its movement save for shifting grass, before suddenly erupting from the vegetation at an incredible speed. Its jaws opened wide and its sturdy neck locked up like a battering ram as it attacked like an arrow shot from a bow.


    But like an arrow, once it got moving it kept moving.


    The grass in front of her rustled before a figure rose into a crouch just as the dinosaur passed the halfway point to Castle, and a moment later a glint of metal reflected the sun as Aster raised her spear, its butt braced against the ground.


    The dinosaur had no means to stop, no way to change direction, and nothing to protect itself with as it launched itself into the spear that had risen from nowhere.


    ¡ª


    Aster slid back a few feet before the limp body of the dinosaur traversed the length of her spear and knocked into her, sending her sprawling and dazed.


    *You have slain [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - lvl 3] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 4 TP Earned.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 1 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    The notifications flashed before her eyes as she blinked to clear them. She was halfway to her feet when a hand gripped her collar and hauled her the rest of the way.


    ¡°My turn,¡± Castle said, stepping forward with her halberd gripped tightly in both hands. ¡°Like we planned.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± Aster went to retrieve her spear from the fallen dinosaur, Springclaw Raptor, and barely yanked it free of the corpse before she had to run to stand side to side with Castle, the boulder at their backs. ¡°Righty¡¯s on the move.¡±


    This raptor didn¡¯t sprint like the center one had, but instead approached more carefully. It looked back and forth between her and Lefty, who was also approaching. Righty hissed as it closed in.


    ¡°We have to keep them at a distance,¡± Aster panted out.


    ¡°My armor¡¯ll hold up better than yours,¡± Castle said. ¡°First one that comes, I¡¯ll try and hold their attention while you finish them off.¡±


    Aster didn¡¯t have time to even nod as Lefty charged, only to slide to a halt just out of Castle¡¯s reach. No! Don¡¯t overextend! But Castle had already brought her halberd down in a hammer swing, having to turn away from Righty to do so. Aster kept her spear held tight against her body, the tip following Righty as it ran past her and lunged for Castle, hitting her in the back like a wrecking ball.


    Aster ran to help as Castle landed on her knees, halberd still gripped in one hand but only barely. Afraid of accidentally stabbing her new adventuring partner, Aster instead reversed her spear and whipped it in an arc. The weighted butt of the spear thunked into Righty¡¯s hip, dislodging it from Castle¡¯s back and leaving it limping as it stood back up.


    Thinking fast, Aster moved her spear into her left hand and tucked it under her arm, again tracking the sharp end to Righty¡¯s movements. Her right hand she kept free.


    In the meantime, Lefty wasn¡¯t waiting around. It leapt for Castle¡¯s head, mouth open and saliva dripping down its jaws and neck. Castle had to drop her halberd entirely to catch the raptor before it rearranged her face like someone smashing a cake. She yelled out in pain as its jaws clamped down on her forearm, not quite able to pierce the solid metal armor but definitely able to put enough pressure on her arm to threaten a broken bone.


    She¡¯ll be fine, Aster thought to herself as she focused on her own raptor, who had just tried to get past her to reinforce its kin. ¡°No you don¡¯t,¡± Aster snarled, her blood burning. ¡°You¡¯re mine.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t felt this alive since getting sick¡ªand honestly probably not even before that. As a volleyball player and an athlete in general, she had learned how to sense the flow of a game. There was a time when your opponent got desperate, and you had to be careful. Desperate opponents would break pattern, try trick plays, or straight up cheat, and the sign of a true champion was when even none of that could take them down.


    Which is why when Righty tried to bowl her over like it had done to Castle, Aster was ready for the feint. It approached her as quickly as its injured leg would allow, dodging past the spear tip and trying to escape, but Aster had expected this. What the raptor hadn¡¯t expected was the tomahawk she¡¯d planted in its chest as she¡¯d stepped out of the way of its charge.


    The beast crumbled to the ground, the tomahawk still buried in its chest as it took its last breaths. She finished it off with her spear, quickly stabbing where she thought its heart should be.


    *You have slain [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - lvl 4] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 6 TP Earned.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 2 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 1 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    Upon seeing the confirmation of her kill, Aster turned back to help Castle, only to find the heavily armored woman had rolled on top of her raptor, stabbing Lefty in the side repeatedly with a knife.


    *You have slain [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - lvl 2] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 3 TP Earned.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 3 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Aster cheered, pumping her spear in the air.


    Castle returned her smile with a pained one of her own, prying her dented armor out of the raptor¡¯s teeth and offering a thumbs up.


    They had won their first fight together.

 Chapter 5: The ore you know

    Aster walked over and helped Castle to her feet, grimacing at the damage to her arm. ¡°You gonna be okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Castle said, fumbling with the strap on her bracer and removing it. It was dented where the raptor had bitten, but she was able to pop it mostly back into place with a couple of hits from butt end of her knife.


    While Castle did that, Aster looked over herself and frowned. Her once shiny chainmail was coated with layers of red blood and dust from getting thrown into the ground. She also found that the haft of her spear was more slippery than she¡¯d prefer, having gotten coated in dino juice after traveling entirely through the first raptor she¡¯d killed, so she rolled it around in the dusty earth to dry it off and coat it in something with more grip.


    After that, Aster went and inspected one of the raptors, prodding it first with her spear. Not because she doubted its death, but because there were plenty of examples of reptiles and birds with the ability to react to stimulation after death, like snakes and chickens. But the springclaw raptor remained still.


    ¡°Look at these teeth,¡± Aster commented. They were unique, with cutting teeth like a shark in the front of their mouth and rounded, molar-like teeth in the back. Were they omnivorous? Unlikely, considering the teamwork they¡¯d presented. Maybe there¡¯s something they hunt that has a thick shell?


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to,¡± Castle replied, holding up her arm with the roughly repaired bracer on it. She tugged at the leather strap with her teeth, tightening it. ¡°I got a pretty close look just a few moments ago.¡±


    ¡°You get any levels?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, three class levels, but only one race level.¡±


    Aster nodded. ¡°I think it¡¯s a two-to-one ratio. My race leveled up once my class hit level two.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. I also think it¡¯s good to note that we both got the same amount of experience, even if I actually only technically killed one.¡±


    ¡°For sure.¡± Aster left the raptor and went to look at the first one she¡¯d killed. ¡°That¡¯s bound to help in the future.¡± This raptor was perhaps in the ¡®best¡¯ condition of the three. Inspecting the plumage running down its back, she got an idea.


    It took a few tries to find some feathers suitable for her plans, but in the end she¡¯d gathered fifteen that she thought could work. She also collected a tooth she¡¯d found by where the last raptor had latched on to Castle, as well as a bushel of grass she thought might be helpful for starting a fire later that night.


    ¡°Done yet?¡±


    Aster sighed. She wished she had a notebook or something to take notes with, but as she didn¡¯t she tried her best to commit the raptors¡¯ anatomy to memory. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡±


    She tucked her trophies into the pouch at her side with the potions in it and followed behind Castle as they headed down the slope that headed into the canyon below. A thought struck her. ¡°What are you going to do with your free points?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t thought about it yet,¡± Castle said. ¡°That was easier than I thought it was going to be, but it still could have gone worse in a dozen ways. Maybe I¡¯ll shore up my defenses a bit? Throw them into Toughness and Vitality?¡±


    Aster agreed and after a moment, put two points into Vitality and two into Agility. Then she pulled up her Status.


    Status


    Name: Aster Rose


    Race: [Human (G) ¨C lvl 1]


    Class: Warrior (Medium) ¡ª lvl 3


    Profession: N/A


    Health Points (HP): 140/140


    Mana Points (MP): 150/150


    Stamina: 140/140


    Stats


    Strength: 13


    Agility: 17


    Endurance: 14


    Vitality: 14


    Toughness: 17


    Wisdom: 12


    Intelligence: 12


    Perception: 12


    Willpower: 14


    Free points: 0


    TP: 13


    Titles


    [Forerunner of the New World]


    Class Skills


    Basic One-Handed Weapons (Inferior), Basic Two-Handed Weapons (Inferior), Basic Sword & Shield (Inferior), Basic Throwing Weapons (Inferior), Balanced Approach (Inferior)


    Race Skills


    Endless Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)


    A hundred and forty health was a fantastic change, considering her starting health had been just fifty points. Toughness and agility were now her strongest stats, which made her happy. That had always been the case, in her opinion. Nothing felt better than outlasting an opponent when they started to tire and get sloppy. And she¡¯d always been quick, but now she felt like she could break speed records on her feet.


    ¡°What¡¯s your highest stat now?¡± Aster asked.


    ¡°Strength,¡± Castle said. ¡°It¡¯s at twenty after those free points.¡±


    Aster scowled, ¡°You said you were putting them into Vitality and Toughness.¡±


    Castle shrugged. ¡°I said ¡®maybe¡¯, and being stronger will help with defenses, too. Besides, it feels good to get stronger with just a few points. Definitely better than hitting the gym.¡±


    ¡°Really trying to live up to the name, huh,¡± Aster mumbled.


    ¡°Why? Got a stat you want to brag about?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Aster said. ¡°I¡¯m completely content. Everything¡¯s good. I¡¯m good.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    She was not good, and wanted desperately to get more levels soon.


    --


    A few hours of walking later found Aster and Castle making camp next to a stream they¡¯d found, Castle clearing the area of brush while Aster worked on building a fire.


    It wasn¡¯t easy, and Aster thanked her foresight at bringing dry grass down into the canyon with her. She tried to remember anything she could from the handful of survival shows she¡¯d seen, but very little had stuck. She knew she¡¯d need kindling, tinder and fuel for the fire. The dried grass would be kindling, in this case. Aster took her tomahawk to one of the sagebrushes and stripped it down to a loose pile of dried sticks for tinder.


    Now to make heat. She needed friction, or maybe¡­


    ¡°Does this look like limestone to you?¡± Aster asked Castle, pointing up at the canyon wall.


    ¡°Uh¡­ maybe?¡± Castle looked up. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a particular rock that you can find around places like this, around sedimentary rocks. It¡¯s gray and breaks into sharp pieces.¡±


    The sudden silence that followed made Aster turn to Castle. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Can we go rock collecting later? After the fire¡¯s made?¡±


    Aster felt a flare of anger burn up¡ªactually burn, in this case, as she¡¯d noticed a warmth following these emotions throughout the day. But she squashed it down with a deep breath and a determination to prove herself right.


    It took only a minute or two to find what she was looking for: a bulbous looking white rock. It sat unassuming in a rock pile where the wall met the canyon floor and was far lighter than she¡¯d expected it to be, but maybe that was just because she now had the strength stats of an Olympic bodybuilder?


    ¡°Come on, Rose,¡± Castle groaned. ¡°It¡¯s getting cold. Can¡¯t this wait til¡ª what the fuck?!¡±


    Aster had thrown the pillow-sized rock against the wall near Castle, sending it shattering into little shards and chalky dust. Before Castle could bitch at her again, Aster picked up a piece of slate-gray  rock and smiled. ¡°This is flint,¡± she said, not overly concerned that she could have taken Castle¡¯s head off with the throw.


    Castle was busy coughing at the dust in the air and glaring at Aster, who calmly walked over to her pile of kindling and sat down with her speartip in hand. ¡°And when you hit flint with steel,¡± she struck the cold steel against the flint, sending a spray of sparks into the kindling, ¡°you get fire.¡± A few more strikes had the kindle smoking and a small flame burning away.


    ¡°You could have told me that before instead of trying to take my head off,¡± Castle said, still miffed but not quite so angry after seeing the fire start to burn.


    ¡°You could have trusted me,¡± Aster responded, not looking up as she tended the fire with tinder and then finally some thicker branches from the sagebrush. An off-white smoke blew up from the flames, rising against the canyon wall. Hopefully the wall can reflect some extra heat our way, she thought.


    While the day had been sweltering, Aster knew that nights in the desert had a habit of dipping into freezing temperatures. With such little foliage and humidity to hold in the heat from the day, nights in the desert could easily be more dangerous than the days. Even with her naturally hot metabolism, she didn¡¯t know how well she¡¯d do spending a night outside in those kinds of temperatures.


    ¡°We should set up a watch system tonight,¡± Aster suggested once Castle had sat down to warm up. ¡°I¡¯d take first watch if you wanted to get some rest. There¡¯s something I wanted to try now that we¡¯ve got fire.¡±


    Castle sighed and nodded. ¡°Sure, that sounds fine. And what you said earlier is fair. I need to try and remember that you¡¯re not the bitch I knew you as.¡±


    ¡°Nothing like a uniquely literal second chance at life to melt an ice queen¡¯s heart,¡± Aster offered a smile, though it didn¡¯t last long. ¡°I¡¯ve always kind of burnt my bridges,¡± she shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just who I am. I wasn¡¯t interested in trying to keep a relationship with my family. My father¡­ I¡¯d rather that bridge go up in flames than risk him trying to cross it. My friends, well¡­ you were around often enough to see how often they visited. You can imagine my relationship with authority in general.


    ¡°So to say that I was in a bad place when you came around is like calling the sun warm,¡± Aster folded her arms over her chest despite the warmth and stared into the fire. ¡°I never talked about this before. I knew I was dying, and the only thing I wanted was to see the world burn with me.¡±


    ¡°Not an uncommon feeling,¡± Castle said, her voice matching Aster¡¯s whispering tones. ¡°I¡¯ve met far too many dying people, and while plenty want to plan for their families, or fight until the last breath, or simply want things to end, I¡¯ve met my fair share of people who want to go down swinging.¡±


    Aster didn¡¯t respond, just tucked her knees in tighter. Castle couldn¡¯t understand¡ªshe doubted anyone could.


    All her life, Aster had fought to quench that burning feeling. She¡¯d meditated, found outlets in competition of all sorts, and cut herself off from anything that would fuel the flames. But when she¡¯d gotten sick, and she couldn¡¯t compete, couldn¡¯t attend class, couldn¡¯t keep her eyes open long enough to finish reading a single fucking sentence, the fire had only grown stronger. She had sat for hours receiving chemo and radiation, with nothing to do but fume. She¡¯d stare at the ceiling, too achy to sleep and too tired to move, as the inferno raged.


    She hadn¡¯t wanted to go down swinging. She¡¯d wanted to burn all of existence down to ashes.


    ¡°I do trust you,¡± Castle said, breaking the silence. ¡°At least enough to fight some dinosaurs with you,¡± a little smile forming on her lips ¡°So I should be more honest with you, as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah? You gonna share your deep, dark secrets with me?¡± Aster didn¡¯t look up from the fire.


    ¡°One of them.¡± There was a beat as they watched the fire together. ¡°I was approached by the FDA to become a plant in your father¡¯s pharmaceutical company.¡±


    Now Aster looked up. ¡°What?¡±


    Castle spoke softly and slowly, as if reciting a rehearsed speech. She described how a friend of a friend had approached her about wanting to get coffee one day. Once she¡¯d arrived, she found the acquaintance with a stranger who happened to work for the FDA. They¡¯d gotten a chance to place a mole inside the same pharmaceutical company responsible for the environmental disaster that had killed Maria¡¯s family.


    It turned out that the CEO¡¯s estranged daughter was sick, and their contact inside the company was made responsible for hiring someone to care for her.


    ¡°There¡¯s more to the details than that,¡± Castle said, ¡°but overall my goal was¡ª aside from providing care¡ª to get you to make a statement before you died. They knew you¡¯d signed some legal documents that prohibited you from talking about your father in public, but their lawyers had apparently found a way to make your testimony count. It might have had to wait until after you were dead, but that was going to happen anyway at that point¡ª¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Aster shook her head. ¡°Scratch that, I get why you wouldn¡¯t come forward with that right off the bat.¡±


    ¡°I was about to tell you in the elevator,¡± Castle said. ¡°And then the world ended.¡±


    ¡°Very fair. And I would have helped in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡±


    It was dark now, the fire crackling away as the two women spoke in soft sentences, completely unaware of the creature that would find their scent by morning.


    After all, the raptors they had killed had been called ¡®Hatchling Springclaw Raptor¡¯ for a reason.

 Chapter 6: Fireside

    Aster took a curved piece of Castle¡¯s armor and filled it with water and set it on the fire to boil. She¡¯d already done this a few times to get some drinking water for them, but this time was different. She had a plan.


    Castle was snoring gently, propped up against the warm wall with a makeshift cushion of brush wrapped in the fabric of a torn off sleeve. Now that she was asleep and Aster wasn¡¯t subject to her judging eyes, she took out the feathers she had retrieved from the raptors.


    [Springclaw Raptor Feather (Inferior)] - A feather from a Springclaw Raptor. Has limited uses.


    She chose one that was about ten inches in length and let it soak in the boiling water for a quarter hour before picking it out and testing its flexibility. Perfect.


    Aster didn¡¯t know what she was doing, to be fair. She¡¯d never made a pen before, let alone ink, though that would be a problem for tomorrow Aster.


    She took Castle¡¯s knife and worked at the feather¡¯s tip, realizing too late that it was now too flexible, and it split in her hands like she¡¯d tried to whittle an al dente noodle.


    Grabbing a second feather of the same length, she found that she could scrape off the feathery parts toward the base of the quill without ripping the damn thing in half. Then she scraped away the skin-like layer at the bottom of the quill.


    After a bit of testing she found the way it felt best to hold and made her first cut, forming a simple nib. Inside the feather was the quick, which she removed.


    At this point, finding the nib difficult to work with, she let it boil in the water for a few minutes, testing it regularly until she felt confident she could make adjustments without risking splitting the whole thing in two.


    The process was easy enough to repeat in bulk with her remaining feathers, but she found only the longest ones felt like they¡¯d hold up.


    She tested the quills with water as the ink, writing on the limestone above the fire with a universally understood symbol.


    --


    They swapped shifts halfway through the night, granting both of them a bit of well-earned sleep. In the morning they packed up and had to decide what to do.


    ¡°Everyone else is going to be making their way toward the center,¡± Castle said.


    ¡°Most likely, yeah,¡± Aster agreed. ¡°But I was thinking last night. What do you think this challenge is going to be?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue. Why? Got a feeling about it?¡±


    Aster shook her head. ¡°Not a feeling, no. But as much fun as we¡¯re having, I think the point of this tutorial isn¡¯t just going to be getting us used to this ¡®System¡¯, but to whittle us down.¡±


    Castle nodded. ¡°Considering an island full of people is going to die at the end of the week, I can¡¯t help but agree.¡±


    ¡°And every week after, I¡¯m guessing. The sixty four days or whatever is enough for nine islands to fall.¡±


    They discussed more for a while before settling on a plan. They¡¯d continue following the stream, but stop before they got too close to the oasis. If it turned out they¡¯d have to Hunger Games their way through the first week, they¡¯d retreat and figure things out. And if it turned out the challenge was something they¡¯d need the whole island for, they could just finish hiking their way in.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    In the meantime? They had one priority they knew would help, regardless of the nature of the challenge.


    Getting stronger.


    --


    Aster learned a lot that morning about how the System worked. Specifically, she learned about the class skills she had gotten.


    [Basic Two-Handed Weapons (Inferior)] - The Warrior keeps their enemies at a distance or in the ground when using two-handed weapons. Unlocks basic proficiency with most two-handed weapons and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a fitting melee weapon.


    Before they left the campsite, Aster asked if they could get a warm up in. The previous day excluded, neither of them had ever wielded a handheld weapon before in their lives. Even in the fight with the springclaw raptors, Aster had barely done anything with the spear besides raise it at one charging dinosaur and stab with it at another downed one.


    She knew there had to be more to the use of a spear than simply poking with it, and sparring with Castle proved that to be the case.


    It turned out that ¡°basic proficiency¡± translated to being able to actually fight with a spear to a limited degree. She felt an innate comfort with her chosen weapon, the same way she¡¯d felt with a volleyball in her hands or as she readied up to dive into a pool. The main difference was that she had trained for years at those sports, and wielding a spear was an entirely new venture.


    Castle agreed with her assessment, saying that her muscle memory knew how to react to certain movements of Aster¡¯s, though she¡¯d never fought either with a halberd or against a spear before. And more than just muscle memory, she felt like she could demonstrate techniques, like where to hold the halberd along its haft while fighting offensively versus defensively, at longer or shorter ranges, or how to control the weapon in her grip to spin it to land a blow with the axe instead of the hammer.


    Aster felt the exact same about how she handled her spear. They sparred for the better part of two hours, changing the distances of their fights, the angles, with one of them climbing atop something in a King of the Hill-type scenario.


    Throughout their practice it was clear that Castle had much better defensive stats and stamina, but that mattered little when she was unable to land a hit.


    ¡°Is your Agility really that high?¡± Castle panted out.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Aster grinned. ¡°But your Strength is scary as hell. I¡¯m pretty sure I couldn¡¯t take more than a single hit without some serious internal damage. And chain mail isn¡¯t the best armor for defense.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to cause you any trouble,¡± Castle grumbled before they continued their spar.


    It was closing in on noon when they wrapped up, and they were running out of shade to practice in. They took turns keeping watch while the other washed off in the stream. While Aster cleaned off the sweat and dust, she reflected on their practice; the way the spear felt as she moved, how she planted her feet and powered through from her base. She considered how it worked like a quarterstaff, letting her close in against Castle¡¯s halberd as she deflected it and giving her options to strike with either the sharp or blunt end. Once, she had driven Castle back and kept herself from being cornered by swinging her spear in a circle around her, letting it slip through her hand until she caught it by the base, effectively trading off control for distance as Castle had to watch out for the blade striking out at her.


    The practice and reflection paid off immensely for Aster.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 4 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 2 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    ¡°Oh hell yeah¡­¡± Aster smiled as she got the notifications and felt the warmth roll through her as her stats all increased. She was about to tell Castle about her new level ups but stopped when she saw the look on her face. Worried about danger, Aster ran to her clothes and started getting dressed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Look at the Tutorial Status screen,¡± Castle said.


    Aster frowned and pulled it up. ¡°It¡¯s too early for the challenge announcement, though. What are you¡­ oh shit.¡±


    It was at the bottom. A number had changed.


    Total Survivors Remaining: 986/1200


    Not a day had passed yet and more than two hundred were already dead.


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± Aster asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Castle said. ¡°I didn¡¯t check it last night. Did you?¡±


    Aster shook her head. ¡°No. Do you think it was the cold?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue. But I think we should keep focusing on getting stronger. Whether it was the weather or something more dangerous like those raptors, being stronger will help us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Aster agreed. ¡°About getting stronger¡­¡± She told Castle about how she¡¯d been able to gain another class level by meditating on their sparring match and focusing on how to improve as a warrior. When Aster asked if she wanted to meditate some, Castle shook her head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find something to fight. I¡¯m itching to get moving.¡±


    Aster couldn¡¯t agree more.


    ¡°And by the way, did you draw a dick on the wall last night?¡±

 Chapter 7: Naming chapters is hard, but fighting dinosaurs is harder

    As they walked, Aster considered where to place her two free points. Would it be better to shore up her weaknesses or put them into Agility and Toughness and reinforce her strengths?


    She didn¡¯t feel like Wisdom or Intelligence would help her at the moment at all, considering she had no magic. Vitality was never a bad option, but it was growing steadily and she didn¡¯t want to have a build based on having more health than other people. Aster preferred surviving by avoiding hits, as opposed to surviving in spite of taking them.


    Then she considered Perception. What exactly did that do? When she tried to use her Identify skill on her Status she got nothing, so she tried to logic her way through it.


    What effect would having more Perception have in a practical sense? A person with more would notice more, but did that extend beyond sight? You could ¡°perceive¡± with your ears, with your senses of touch and smell. And what other kinds of senses existed now?


    The more she thought about it the more convinced Aster became. Boosting her Perception was likely to improve her sensory input and overall comprehension of her surroundings. That sounded like an excellent way to improve her dodging capabilities. Without hesitation, she put her two free points into Perception.


    The results were¡­ minor. Her eyesight cleared, though it had never been bad enough for her to require glasses. Did things smell stronger? Maybe¡­ She definitely thought she could hear better.


    As far as results in competition¡ª no, in combat¡ª would go, she would to be able to test it very soon.


    --


    Castle had been unsure about Aster. The woman was confusing, to say the least. One second she¡¯d be engrossed with some indiscriminate plant, or lost in her own head and trip on a rock, oblivious to the world, and the next she¡¯d say or do something to show Castle that same competency she¡¯d displayed the prior night.


    Sure, Castle knew about flint and steel, but not how to identify it in the wild; let alone on a magical, floating island with dinosaurs and other impossibilities on it. She¡¯d been impressed with Aster¡¯s makeshift pens, though without paper and ink, she wasn¡¯t sure how she planned to make use of them.


    And then there was their sparring. Castle hadn¡¯t been completely honest with Aster. She¡¯d enjoyed taking the edge off her long, stressful days by training in a martial arts gym near her apartment and had used a quarterstaff before. It was useful for learning how to move her body as a whole, and for learning to pay attention to her surroundings better. The act of swinging a bigass stick around sometimes had the nasty effect of hitting something with it that she didn¡¯t want to hit, and she¡¯d seen what sort of damage could be done by the far end of a staff swinging at full speed.


    So yeah, she¡¯d sparred with something akin to her halberd before. She¡¯d wanted to surprise Aster after her stunt with the flintrock last night, but she¡¯d been unable to. Castle had been unable to leave so much as a scratch or take even a foot of ground against Aster¡¯s spearmanship.


    It had been like simultaneously trying to push rope and pull on a fishhook. Everything she tried either had no effect or served to put herself in a worse position. Swing her halberd horizontally? Easy block. Hold it closer to her, dropping her stance and playing defensively? Aster had outmaneuvered her, drawing her into overextending and disarming her by catching the axe on her halberd with her spear.


    When Castle had started to lose her patience and let her higher Strength stat carry the fight, she¡¯d done better. She¡¯d kept hold of her weapon, thrown Aster back a few times, and overall made the fight much more even¡ªand yet she still felt like it had been a fight she wouldn¡¯t have won. Aster had simply moved¡­ differently. Like it was a dance she¡¯d rehearsed instead of an improvisation.


    She watched as Aster crouched by a bush with red leaves, took a few and rubbed them between her hands, leaving a dark stain. Nodding, Aster then broke off a couple of small branches from the plant and tucked them in her satchel.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Castle shook her head. Probably thinking about how to make ink, she thought. Maria had had plenty of experience with the sciences. She¡¯d learned plenty going through nursing school, but that had been because she wanted a stable job. Aster just seemed like a distractable nerd.


    A distractable nerd who fights like a devil.


    ¡°How do you know that isn¡¯t poisonous?¡± Castle risked asking as she passed by Aster. ¡®Risked¡¯, because she was afraid of a lengthy answer.


    ¡°Poisonous?¡± Aster looked up, then back at her hands and muttered, ¡°ah, shit. Well, it¡¯s not burning yet, so I¡¯m hoping I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Castle rolled her eyes, looking up at the sun. It was past noon now, and they only had a little bit of time before the Challenge notification went out. They¡¯d been walking through this canyon for too long without seeing anything, and she¡¯d begun to wonder whether they were heading the wrong way if they wanted to find something to fight.


    And then she saw something move above them, on the ridge of the cliff. Something big.


    Something that stepped off the cliff and landed behind Aster more quietly than anything that size had a right to.


    It was huge¡ª easily nine feet tall, and early twice as tall as either of them. A frill of feathers behind its head shook loose and spread out as the brown and orange striped, scaled monster lowered its head and prepared to pounce.


    [Springclaw Raptor - Level 12]


    ¡°Aster!¡± Castle raised her halberd. ¡°Move!¡±


    --


    Dinosaurs had a special place in Aster¡¯s heart. Metaphorically speaking, of course, and she¡¯d prefer to keep it that way. The massive theropod that had appeared behind her out of nowhere, however, seemed to want to dig her heart out of her chest and pop it like a breath mint.


    Stop anthropomorphizing and fucking move.


    Castle¡¯s call had absolutely saved her life, as the springclaw raptor had both the advantages of surprise and being an absolute monster. Its tail ended in a club that went rigid as it prepared to pounce. The feathers running down its back laid flat, though she had no doubt they could be raised in a threat display of some sort. Its arms were still short and its legs stubby, but she could see the rippling muscle beneath the orange-and-brown-striped scales. The scales along its chest were wider, like those of a snake¡¯s underbelly, though it did have visible earholes like lizards and birds. However, it was the teeth that told her the biggest difference between this beast and the hatchlings she¡¯d encountered before.


    They weren¡¯t for crushing shells, like she¡¯d theorized about the hatchlings¡¯ molars. Nor were they sharp for shearing off bites. The closest approximation she could fathom in the moment was a crocodile¡¯s jaws, meant to grip unbelievably tight before ripping bits away, and it was terrifyingly easy to imagine this dinosaur holding her down with its massively strong legs and gripping on to one of her limbs and pulling.


    Aster took all this in and made her conclusions in the time it took for the springclaw to lower its haunches, lock up its tail and wiggle its hips like a cat about to pounce. But as fast as she and her improved perception were, the dinosaur was faster.


    It moved so fast, clearing twice its body length in space before Aster could so much as stand¡ª so she didn¡¯t. Instead, she threw herself backwards, trying to raise her spear up to catch it on its underside like she¡¯d done to the hatchling, but she didn¡¯t have the coordination she needed to get a good angle in time.


    It collided with her like a truck, sending her flying back a couple dozen feet. She gripped her spear with all her might, holding it close as she rolled to a stop. The taste of copper filled her mouth and she spat out a wad of blood, feeling at the tear in her lip where she¡¯d bit through. It stung, but she was able to disregard the pain easily. The last year of her life had been spent in constant pain, after all.


    Castle had gotten the raptor¡¯s attention, buying time for Aster to scramble to her feet. She took in their surroundings again, noting the three-way intersection they were at. The stream they¡¯d been following ran in from the east, running south the way they came, with the other path coming in from the north.


    This is bad, Aster thought. There was no safe way to close in on the theropod, with its clubbed tail on one end and all the pointy shit on the other. If they could wear it down somehow, maybe one of them could land a killing blow...


    Either way, Castle was in a bad spot and needed help immediately.


    Aster tried to rise to her feet but found her ankle didn¡¯t agree with her. Mainly due to the face that it was facing the wrong way. Surprisingly enough, the pain hadn¡¯t hit her yet¡ª


    Ooooh fuck! There¡¯s the pain.


    ¡°Castle!¡± Aster called out. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a second!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a second!¡± She yelled back.


    Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast, Aster thought as she struggled for an answer. Something clinked next to her and she realized the answer was right there with her.


    The leather on her satchel was worn, despite it only being handed to her days ago. A quill slipped out as she reached in and pulled out a small vial of red liquid.


    It tasted like water, but the thrill that ran through her as her ankle felt like it was doing backflips? That thrill was next to none. If she¡¯d had something like this available to her in her underclassman years? In high school?


    In chemo?


    This world was giving her more than a second chance; it was giving her cheat codes. And as she looked up at the freaking dinosaur threatening her and her traveling companion, she felt like fucking winning.

 Chapter 8: Teamwork makes the dream work

    Castle lost her balance and then her breath as she slammed into the rock wall, grateful beyond words for her armor. Beyond words as without it she¡¯d be dead, and also because the whiplash had concussed the ability to speak out of her.


    Don¡¯t stop moving, she thought as she slumped to the ground, head pounding and ears ringing. Don¡¯t stop moving!


    It was easier thought than done as her body felt stuck like swimming in molasses. Castle grit her teeth so hard she heard one of them crack, and the pain cleared the fog from her mind like a whirlwind.


    The dinosaur was approaching her again, but more carefully this time. Thick blood spilled down its jaw and dripped to the dusty ground from where she¡¯d managed to cut a deep groove along its cheek. Its steps careful now, but not slow by any means. She rose to her feet to meet it once more, rolling her shoulders at the stiffness settling in from the sudden impact.


    ¡°Come on, you son of a bitch,¡± Castle spit out through a mouthful of blood. ¡°There¡¯s a reason you¡¯re extinct.¡± She raised her halberd, knowing it was longer than its arms and she could be defensive long enough for Aster to hopefully rejoin the fight. One thing she and Aster had figured out quickly while sparring was that if you were being defensive, you needed to defend a ¡°line¡±, so to speak; basically, a spear was strongest when it was moving along the same line as its haft. Trying to break a spear or a halberd head on would be like trying to break a needle by pressing straight down on it.


    So she secured her footing, bracing the halberd at her side, careful to keep the dinosaur from flanking her. Is this what prehistoric humans had felt like when they were hunted by giant bears and wolves? It was terrifying¡ª it was also exhilarating.


    A flash of movement to the side told her Aster was ready to reengage, so Castle feinted a lunge forward, earning her one hundred percent of the dinosaur¡¯s attention for a moment. It was enough.


    Thwack!!!


    A deafening roar tore from the throat of the beast as Aster¡¯s tomahawk sunk deep into the thick muscles of its thigh. A thin line of blood ran down the leg, turning into a stream as the dinosaur pulled the weapon out with its jaws.


    Castle took advantage of its distraction, leaping forward and piercing its underside, though the head of her weapon only allowed it to sink so far. She grinned as the dinosaur began to turn, thinking she¡¯d caused a retreat.


    She was wrong, and had forgotten about the club on its tail. It collided with her, sinking the side of her chestplate deep into her ribs, cracking several as she flew through the air and into the running water.


    It was frigid cold, which did nothing to dull the roaring ache in her side. She couldn¡¯t breathe, and she knew with all the certainty of a medical professional, that she was fucked.


    What air she managed to get down quickly came back up with blood. She couldn¡¯t breathe, and as she tried to find purchase in the stream she found herself weighed down by her armor. Panic overtook her, every movement a desperate, frantic hope.


    Above her and around her was movement. Orange flashed, the shine of metal dulling to red, and inhuman shrieks bled through the water to her ears.


    And then all went black.


    ----


    As soon as Aster¡¯s tomahawk left her hand, she exploded into motion. Her ankle was healed, and even the bruises on her body seemed to fade away as she sprinted forward. She was in peak condition, and that was the worst thing the theropod could have hoped for.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Before she could close entirely, however, Castle had stepped in and stabbed at its underside, which was good, but then she had gotten sloppy, which was bad, and now she looked more like a crumpled soda can than a human being. That, for the record, was very bad.


    Aster debated grabbing her from the water first but stopped that train of thought when she saw how fast the raptor had turned back toward her. It spat her tomahawk onto the ground and stepped on it, the wood cracking beneath its weight.


    Something flared up within her, filling her with a fire that intensified her senses like tunnel vision, and suddenly nothing else existed besides her opponent. And nothing beat her¡ª not even a fucking dinosaur.


    With a yell she closed the gap, sliding on her knees beneath its tail as it tried the move again. The problem with attacks that required you to turn your back on your enemy was that you couldn¡¯t respond quickly when they evaded your blow and countered it. Thus, the springclaw raptor was surprised when Aster shoved her spear up its gut.


    Though she¡¯d just delivered a brutal hit, Aster knew she was still in mortal danger. The taloned feet on either side of her began stomping down as the raptor screeched and steaming hot blood spilled down around her. The moment slowed again as she felt the rhythm of the animal¡¯s movements, granting her the timing to both retrieve her spear from its belly and disengage from the dinosaur.


    A quick survey told her it wasn¡¯t fit to run, so she prioritized helping her teammate. Castle was unconscious, and while she wasn¡¯t breathing Aster didn¡¯t think she lacked a pulse. The cork popped off the vial of a health potion and she was careful not to waste a drop as she poured it into Castle¡¯s open mouth. Before the vial had even been emptied, Castle had started to cough up water. Interestingly enough, Aster noted there was no health potion in the liquid. Did it absorb that quickly?


    Time for that later.


    Aster turned to check on the raptor and saw that not only had it not fled, it had nearly stopped bleeding and was turning their way. Good, she thought, hoisting her spear. I was just getting the hang of you.


    The fight that followed felt to her like every other competition she¡¯d ever faced. Her opponent stepped, she countered. It was stronger? She used its momentum against it. They¡¯re too defensive? Bait them out. Too offensive? Make them overreach and get sloppy. Can¡¯t find a clear opening? Find a trade-off and make one.


    The raptor landed a blow with its tail, but she¡¯d braced the shaft of her spear against her side and took the hit in stride, skidding to a stop. Then she sprinted forward, trying to copy the theropod¡¯s tactic of launching itself too fast to counter. This resulted in Aster¡¯s spear digging into its neck, over the collarbone and past something hard that gave under the tip of her spear.


    What she hadn¡¯t expected was for it to clamp its jaws down on the haft of her spear and pull. Her legs lifted from the ground as she fought to keep her hold, thanking her dumb luck that the dinosaur had short arms and couldn¡¯t get her.


    For a moment she met its eyes. There was pain there, and fury, and not a little intelligence. She knew she¡¯d feel conflicted about that later, but not right now. Right now, she had to keep it distracted, so she crossed ¡®kicking a dinosaur in the face¡¯ off her bucket list.


    ¡°Come on, you prehistoric piece of shit,¡± she said, dangling from the spear, trying her best to wrench it away. While she couldn¡¯t, she did succeed in making move around inside the wound.


    The raptor¡¯s lips pulled back in a snarl as a growl like a persistent clap of thunder tore from its throat.


    ¡°You know why you¡¯re extinct and we¡¯re not?¡± Aster said, holding eyecontact. ¡°Teamwork.¡±


    And then the hammer side of Castle¡¯s halberd slammed into the springclaw raptor¡¯s head with an audible crack, and Aster saw its eyes glaze as its jaw loosened, dropping her to the ground with her spear.


    ¡°Push it over!¡± she yelled to Castle, who ran and slammed herself against the dinosaur¡¯s wounded leg, sending it stumbling until it crashed into a wall and fell to its side.


    Wasting no time, Aster ran forward and, catching the dinosaur¡¯s eye as it gained a modicum of awareness back, ran her spear through it.


    *You have slain [Springclaw Raptor - lvl 13] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 3072 TP Earned.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 5 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 6 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 3 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 7 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 8 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 4 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    A flood of warmth flooded through her body as the levels came, and then another notification:


    *Warrior (Medium) class skills available*


    Now that¡¯s interesting¡­

 Chapter 9: To Survive or to Win; That is the Question

    Aster put the notifications to the side and went to Castle. ¡°You doing okay?¡±


    Castle was out of breath, her armor roughly bent back into shape, though Aster doubted it could hold up to much anymore. She gave a thumbs up as she approached. ¡°Physically? Fine, yeah. Those potions are¡­ something else.¡±


    Aster could only nod in agreement. ¡°This fight would have gone very, very differently if we hadn¡¯t had them. I¡¯ve got a feeling they¡¯re going to be important going forward.¡±


    ¡°Magical shots that bring you back from the dead?¡± Castle joked. ¡°Yeah, probably. How about you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Aster looked up from the satchel of potions. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine.¡± And she was. Mostly. ¡°We almost died,¡± she said.


    Castle took a seat on the ground. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Aster sat on a rock that faced both Castle and the corpse of the raptor. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± She felt her blood heating.


    ¡°I don¡¯t either,¡± Castle sighed, ¡°but it could have been¡ª¡±


    ¡°No buts.¡± Aster interrupted her. ¡°That was absolutely unacceptable. We were fucking strapped over a barrel and the only reason we got out of it was because of those stupid potions.¡± She shook her head. ¡°First moment I can, I¡¯m getting rid of the damned things.¡±


    Castle seemed like she wanted to argue, but shook her head instead. ¡°You do you, Rose. But I¡¯ll keep the magical one-ups for a rainy day.¡±


    Aster stood, gritting her teeth. ¡°You would be dead without them.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason to keep them. What if¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Aster saw the shock on Castle¡¯s face at her abrupt shout, but she didn¡¯t let up. ¡°They¡¯re a crutch, Maria,¡± she used Castle¡¯s first name. ¡°Winners who get lucky aren¡¯t remembered for their victory. They¡¯re remembered because they got lucky. Because they stole a victory. And normally I don¡¯t care¡ª a win is a win¡ª but in this new world?¡± She swung her spear, motioning toward the corpse and the surrounding walls of stone. ¡°Here, you don¡¯t get lucky more than once. And we can¡¯t rely on chance, because that¡¯ll get us killed.¡±


    Castle only stared at her, mouth agape.


    Aster shook her head and turned away. ¡°I need to clean up.¡±


    And so she did. She found a stone in the water and sat down, leaning on it and letting the current draw the blood away as she tamed her breathing and went through the System messages.


    *Warrior (Medium) class skill selection available*


    She took a few moments more to calm down. Aster knew she¡¯d have to apologize for blowing up on Castle again, but all she could think about was how close she¡¯d come to dying again. As far as she was concerned, she¡¯d run out of second chances the second the System Initiation hit. Then to get lucky again, just a few days later? Whatever reservoir of luck existed, hers had to be bone dry.


    Aster shook her head and tried focusing on the prompt, which allowed a number of options to appear before her. There were a surprising amount of weapon skills available. [Basic Shield Technique (Inferior)], [Basic Unarmed (Inferior)], [Basic Archery (Inferior)], and others in the same vein. There were options for magic, such as [Basic Mana Tool Proficiency (Inferior)], [Mana Bolt (Inferior)], and [Mana Barrier (Inferior)]. She decided these would be what she¡¯d choose from¡ªuntil she saw the last three.


    [Basic Stealth (Inferior)] - The deadliest predator is the one not seen coming. Unlocks basic proficiency in the art of stealth, allowing you to remain undetected more easily and blend into the environment. Adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Perception when successfully remaining undetected.


    [Basic Lunge (Inferior)] - The strike that hits doesn¡¯t always come from the shadows¡ª sometimes it comes head-on. Propel yourself forward, striking before your opponent can react. Adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength while Lunging.


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    [Basic Reflexes (Inferior)] - There is a method to the madness of combat. Some can feel it, and some can¡¯t¡ª you can. Allows you to better anticipate the movements of others. Adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Perception while anticipating others.


    Stealth wasn¡¯t her thing, but the presence of the two final choices raised a suspicion in her. The other options presented seemed to be either the skills available to other starting classes or general needs, such as the Stealth skill, but had the System presented her with an option to choose a Lunge skill because of how she¡¯d approached the fight with the raptor? Because of how she¡¯d copied its technique?


    And if that were the case, perhaps the skill that improved her reflexes was an option due to her general fighting style¡­ She had always operated on muscle memory, after all. She¡¯d find the rhythm in a battle and adapt to it¡ª or subvert it with her own.


    Aster considered her choices and wondered if there wasn¡¯t a right way to go about these sorts of decisions. Could her skills evolve? After all, they had a rarity tag associated with them, and even with all her new levels she hadn¡¯t seen one change yet at all. But maybe that¡¯s because she hadn¡¯t spent much time really practicing with them? She¡¯d used them, sure, but she didn¡¯t think she¡¯d consider her use practice yet.


    So if she could do that, what might an attack skill like Lunge turn in to? Would it evolve to let her adjust her momentum or direction at all? Or simply become stronger? If that were the case, and if the System had indeed responded to her actions when it offered her the skill, then she wondered if she wouldn¡¯t get a better option in the future by practicing what she already knew about the move in the meantime.


    A skill that enhanced her reflexes, on the other hand, seemed like it had the potential to get overpowered really fast. She had thoughts of Spider-Man¡¯s spider sense and grinned. Her attacks and reflexes would naturally get better as she leveled up, but she could train her attacks more easily than she could her reflexes.


    In the end, she settled on the Basic Reflexes skill, and set her mind on figuring out how to upgrade her existing skills.


    Now for what to do with my extra points¡­ She had six of them, and was tempted to put them all into Agility. She wondered whether it would be smarter to shore up her weaknesses or add to her strengths. The Basic Reflexes skill scales with Perception, too, right? Por que no los dos?


    She put four points into Perception, bringing it to 21. The last two she split between Strength and Agility. Now done with all her progress management, she turned to see if Castle was ready to get moving.


    Instead, she found her companion standing at the water¡¯s edge, glaring at her.


    ¡°What?¡± Aster asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± She rose to her feet.


    ¡°You¡¯re a fucking idiot, Aster.¡± Castle towered over her, her already greater height emphasized by her standing atop the bank.


    Heat rose in Aster core and she fought down the urge to bare her teeth. How dare she? ¡°I saved your ass not ten minutes ago, you sack of¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut it!¡± Castle cut her off. ¡°Listen to me, Aster. You¡¯re competent, but you¡¯re going to get us killed.¡±


    Aster stopped, mouth agape. Castle took advantage of her startled state.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a game, dude. The point isn¡¯t to be remembered. The point here is to survive. This System doesn¡¯t give a shit about scores or what you earn¡ª it erased hundreds of thousands of years of human history, seemingly on a whim. Everything anyone has ever accomplished now means jack shit. You¡¯re on the bottom of the food chain, along with the rest of us, and we need every advantage we can get. So no, we¡¯re not getting rid of our health potions. Have you even looked at the Tutorial page since yesterday? No? Nearly another sixty people died since last night.¡±


    Aster pulled it up. Damn.


    Total Survivors Remaining: 928/1200


    ¡°Those numbers aren¡¯t sustainable,¡± she said to herself. Castle heard.


    ¡°Exactly, Aster. We can¡¯t focus on being remembered when there¡¯s not going to be anyone left to remember us. We need to survive.¡±


    Aster didn¡¯t like it. She didn¡¯t agree with it, either. At least not entirely. This didn¡¯t seem to be the kind of existence where you survived by flying under the radar. Her instincts told her this was the kind of situation where if you wanted to survive, you had to be at the top. She said as much, then said, ¡°Fine, we can keep the potions. But I don¡¯t think my mindset is wrong. If people are dropping like flies, we need to evolve. Get ahead of the curve. Whatever it is they¡¯re doing, we can¡¯t afford to do the same. We have to be better. Maybe this isn¡¯t a game, but there are clear winners here. And I intend to be among them.¡±


    They stayed there a while longer, their tempers cooling as they tried to figure out their approach. Not too long after, they received a System notification.


    [Tutorial Panel] Duration: 62 days & 23:59:99


    Congratulations on your continued survival. The alloted time has passed and the details of your first challenge are now available to you.


    Challenge One: Gaining Levels


    In 6 days & 23:59:59 the island with the fewest total levels gained will be eliminated. The two islands with the most levels gained will be rewarded, and the island with the most amount of levels gained will receive an advantage in the next challenge.


    Levels will not be detracted from your score in the event of a death.


    Current Standings:


    Your Island: 982 Collective Levels Gained


    Place: 4th

 Chapter 10: The Breaking of the Fellowship

    Their breakthrough in understanding the tutorial led to a disagreement. Castle wanted to go and find the others on their island, to warn them and try and help prepare everyone for what they expected. Aster, on the other hand, very much did not.


    ¡°We survive by becoming stronger, right? We shouldn¡¯t waste time. If the others are going to survive, they¡¯ll survive, and if they need your help, they¡¯re gonna weigh you down.¡± Aster thought of various teammates she¡¯d had over the years.


    There had been plenty of talented teammates, and plenty more normal ones. Regardless of talent, the ones who did well were always the ones who worked hardest. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn¡¯t work hard. When you had a teammate who didn¡¯t want to work hard, however? Who needed extra motivation to do what they had already signed up for? Those were the people who rode the bench at the end of the season.


    The more she thought about it, the more certain Aster was that those were the people who¡¯d get others killed in the coming weeks¡ª the ones who¡¯d require effort from others to survive. Effort they should be putting into themselves.


    And while that was true to Aster, it wasn¡¯t the real reason she didn¡¯t want to go.


    While they¡¯d waited on top of the pillar for the tutorial to start, she¡¯d seen people. People that she knew. People that, so far as she knew, had abandoned her weeks ago. She wasn¡¯t ready to see¡­ them¡­ again. Not any time soon, at least.


    Aster debated with Castle on their next course of action for a long time. Over their conversation, Aster collected more feathers from the raptor and debated on how to best go about gathering meat off of it. They ended up using Castle¡¯s knife to shear off strips of muscle that they put into a makeshift wrap for Castle to carry. They¡¯d cook them later, and hopefully they¡¯d be decent.


    Castle wanted to go and find the others on their island. She had a feeling they¡¯d need to coordinate in order to save lives and guarantee enough levels earned by the end of the week. Aster, on the other hand, just wanted to go and start training more.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the levels myself if I have to,¡± she argued. ¡°We can¡¯t waste any more time on this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to outlevel a hundred people,¡± Castle was getting pissed at this point. ¡°We need to focus on keeping everyone alive. If they live, they can get levels. Simple as that.¡±


    Aster shook her head, fighting the all-too familiar flame inside her. She knew what she wanted to say, but didn¡¯t know if she could say it. Even if we manage to keep everyone on this island alive, it won¡¯t matter if they¡¯re not strong enough to go all the way.


    Castle was focused on the week-long trial, not the whole tutorial. But what was she supposed to say? ¡°Most everyone here is meant to be fodder for the ones who make it to the end,¡± didn¡¯t sound very kind. And what if they did survive the week without a single loss? All they were doing was farming levels off of them to save their own skins. Which was worse, in that case?


    Abandoning them to die is the worse option, Aster knew. So, instead of facing their reality, Aster decided to do what she could: remove herself from the situation.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go deeper in,¡± she said, turning. ¡°You should go help the others.¡±


    ¡°And leave you alone out here?¡± Castle scoffed.


    Aster narrowed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not your responsibility.¡±


    ¡°No, but we¡¯ve worked well together, and I could use your help.¡±


    Aster¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t as strong as she wanted it to be when she replied, ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be any help to them.¡±


    Castle, thankfully, understood. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon, then, Aster. Don¡¯t die before that happens, okay?¡±


    She turned toward her companion and offered her hand. ¡°Promise.¡±


    They shook, and went their separate ways; Castle, in search of people to save, and Aster, in search of strength.


    She¡¯d need it.


    ----


    The closer Aster came to the center of the island, the further she¡¯d be from addressing the major issues she was avoiding. Namely, Hazel, and the small group of friends they¡¯d shared.


    Hazel¡­ the thought of the dark skinned woman she¡¯d fallen in love with sent a flush over her skin. She¡¯d resigned herself, never thinking for all the world she¡¯d have the chance to see her again. And now that they were trapped on the same death trap of an island together, she didn¡¯t know what to do, or how to feel.


    So she climbed. She found the tallest hill she could see nearby, and started working her way towards the top of it. Maybe she¡¯d find something to fight. Yeah, that¡¯ll make me feel better. Perhaps after getting some energy out, she¡¯d feel better and stop thinking about how horrible it would be to be granted a second chance at life just to lose her again.


    Toward the top, she stopped to look at a curious plant she¡¯d almost walked into. It was a succulent of some sort, camouflaged fantastically into the beige backdrop and half-buried under a rock, with a budding flower at the center of overlapping leaves with matte black, curved-upward spikes at their ends. Divots lined the scry leaves, filled with drops of a bright red syrup, and as she inspected it, she was taken aback.


    [Blooddew Steptrap - Level 4]


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    Aster first rose an eyebrow, then her spear. She lowered the tip toward the flower, but when it entered within a foot or so of it the leaves sprang into motion. With a snap!, they curled in and stabbed at the spear, the agave-like spikes at the end of its leaves curling in, leaving grooves in the wooden haft of her spear.


    Without thinking, Aster put her weight onto the weapon, hearing a gushy pop sound as the spearhead found a home within the central flower of the plant.


    *You have slain [Blooddew Steptrap - Level 4] - Experience earned. TP Earned.


    That was close. She imagined what might have happened had she stepped on the damn thing. Removing her spear, she was surprised to see a cloudy gray trail of smoke coming from the center of the plant. Then she noticed the black goo on the spearhead. I¡¯m not touching that.


    The spearhead proved a useful tool for her to spread the leaves apart and see what had happened. The flower bud, it turned out, was not a flower bud at all. Instead, it had been a reservoir for the tar-like substance that had coated her spear. Considering this, Aster had a good idea how the damn thing worked.


    It¡¯s like a flytrap, but strong enough to hold a person in place while this nasty shit dissolves their foot. At least the thing was kind enough not to just kill a person. On a whim, she used Identify again and was surprised to find new information.


    [Blooddew Steptrap - Deceased] - A common enough enemy hidden among desert rocks, the Blooddew Steptrap utilizes both camouflage and a mana-dense sap exuded by its leaves to ensnare its prey. Many a careless traveler has found themselves amputating a limb to free themselves from the caustic syrup it releases to dissolve its prey.


    Did it provide more information now because she¡¯d figured some of it out herself? That kind of made sense, but she still felt like that wasn¡¯t all of it. Aster made a note to think more about this later. Right now, she had a couple hundred meters left before the summit.


    Aster pushed herself, finishing climbing up the hill in only a few minutes, stopping only to kill another Steptrap she found. At the top she found herself breathing easier than she ever had in the pre-System world. Turns out that the stat points that had gone into her Endurance had made her into an olympic-level athlete. Speaking of stat points¡­ she still had some to sort out.


    She found a rock to sit down on and think. She didn¡¯t particularly mind that she was alone in the middle of nowhere, in fact it was kind of preferable.


    The landscape before her was a beautiful collage of colors, filled with every warm color imaginable. A canyon lay before her that stretched into the horizon, with outlets deviating every which way. Cacti stretched above, taller than any cactus on earth would have been capable of reaching. A massive, honeycombing structure of rock stood above the rim at the entrance of the canyon, teeming with greenery.


    At the bottom of the hill below her stood a pair of those smaller dinosaurs.


    [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - Level 7]


    [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - Level 9]


    They were stronger than the ones they¡¯d fought the day before, but nowhere near as strong as the adult that had almost killed them earlier that morning. She eyed them with a smile. First step in getting stronger? Killing some dinosaurs.


    Well, the first step would be to figure out where to put her free stat points. She brought up her Status menu.


    Status


    Name: Aster Rose


    Race: [Human (G) ¨C lvl 4]


    Class: Warrior (Medium) ¡ª lvl 8


    Profession: N/A


    Health Points (HP): 220/220


    Mana Points (MP): 160/160


    Stamina: 220/220


    Stats


    Strength: 21


    Agility: 25


    Endurance: 22


    Vitality: 22


    Toughness: 25


    Wisdom: 16


    Intelligence: 16


    Perception:  18


    Willpower: 18


    Free points: 6


    TP: 3085


    Six free points equaled more than the value of her starting Vitality, and she was certain she¡¯d feel a massive bump in her capabilities after putting them to use.


    The first thing she considered was whether to bolster her weaker stats. Intelligence and Wisdom were tied for the weakest at 16, but they didn¡¯t contribute to anything she used, so far as she could tell. Willpower, likewise, didn¡¯t seem to impact anything she did. Maybe if she got more skills soon?


    In the meantime, she went to her defensive stats. Toughness was tied for her highest stat, and Vitality had taken a big jump since her first day in the System. Strength was the lowest of her offensive stats, and she could imagine it becoming much more useful now that she was solo-traveling.


    Perception, as well, would benefit her solo-leveling. She did not want to leave it as one of her lower stats¡­ but she also really liked the idea of breaking the 30-point threshold in one of her stronger stats.


    In the end, she put a single point into Perception and five points into Agility, and then checked her stats again.


    Stats


    Strength: 21


    Agility: 30


    Endurance: 22


    Vitality: 22


    Toughness: 25


    Wisdom: 16


    Intelligence: 16


    Perception:  19


    Willpower: 18


    Free points: 0


    The twenty-percent boost to her Agility felt like a zap of electricity up her spine. Her pupils dilated for a second and she felt energized like never before.


    Nearly shaking with anticipation, she took her spear and practiced with it for a few moments. She jumped from rock to rock, enthralled in the speed and superiority of her body, swinging her spear at imaginary foes. The spear nearly became an extension of her, and she could swear it was speaking to her. So she closed her eyes, and listened as she danced.


    ¡°Listening to her spear¡± might sound romanticized, but it was the best way she could articulate what she was trying to do. She could feel in her bones that there was a right way to move, but something was missing. What was different now?


    She felt the grain under her palms, the weight of the head as she spun her spear, and the way she could move, reaching with the spear¡ª


    No! That was it! She didn¡¯t need to reach with the spear, she just needed to reach. In that moment, she felt something register in her very soul and her weapon became a part of her¡ª an extension of her will.


    *Ding!*


    *Skill Evolution*: [Basic Two-Handed Weapons (Inferior)] - The Warrior keeps their enemies at a distance or in the ground when using two-handed weapons. Unlocks basic proficiency with most two-handed weapons and adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a fitting melee weapon.


    ¡ª>


    [Basic Spearmanship - (Common)] ¡ª The spearmaiden keeps their enemies at a distance, until they¡¯re ready to close in. Unlocks more specified proficiency with spears and similarly-used weapons. Emphasizes your chosen Path and offers a minor bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a spear or similar weapon. Increases synergy with [Balanced Approach (Inferior)] a minor amount while wielding a spear or a similar weapon.


    Oh, fuck yeah!


    It was her second Common rarity skill, but her first time evolving one of her skills. Aster imagined what sorts of evolutions might come in the future. Could I get a spidey-sense from my reflex skill?


    If she wanted that, she¡¯d probably have to practice with it, so without further ado, she began to make her way down the hill.

 Chapter 11: Nerding out

    As Aster made her way down the hill she considered her next course of action. She could try and surprise them again like she had the day before, but that didn¡¯t feel right. Maybe she could bait them into coming to her? Then, at least, she¡¯d have the high ground.


    A small, dried up creek bed ran down the hill about twenty meters to her left, and she saw where it had dug deeper into the hillside at a bend. If I can position myself there, maybe I can get them to come at me without trying to flank me.


    Her plan was easy enough to set up, and within a minute she¡¯d gotten the dinosaur¡¯s attention. They were busy kicking over rocks and sniffing around under them. One of them had managed to find a lizard and was greedily chomping it down when Aster tossed a rock down the hill.


    The one with the lizard looked up, and the other took that opportune moment to snatch half of the lizard away from the other¡¯s jaws. They tussled, screeching angrily at each other until a second rock came down the hill, catching their attention again.


    Aster had her spear in her right hand and was holding two fingers up with her left, setting the dinosaurs at the V between her fingers. She caught the sun with her spearhead and reflected it at the back of her hand. It was an old trick she¡¯d read of for flagging down search parties from a distance, and judging by the way the dinosaurs locked onto her position, it was useful for baiting prey as well. A breath later, and they were making their way up the hill towards her.


    Aster shrugged her shoulders, fighting between the instinct to run and the thrill of an incoming challenge. She wasn¡¯t particularly afraid of these raptors, as she had proven herself capable against them already, but pre-game jitters were real, and these stakes were naturally higher than any in her pre-cancer life.


    As she¡¯d predicted, the two dinosaurs tried to split and flank her, but the easiest way up for them was the narrow, dry creek. It helped to funnel them together, though the one that had briefly left it to try and flank her had fallen behind a bit. Fine by me, thought Aster as she strengthened her grip on her spear.


    When the first raptor was ten meters away, she struck. Her toes dug into the hard dirt, granting her exactly the brace she needed to start running¡ª and run, she did.


    Never in her life had she moved at that speed. Not when she¡¯d broken her clavicle snowboarding, or even when she¡¯d nearly lost control of her dirtbike going down a steep slope. The wind whipped against her skin, her sleeves flapping loudly as they rode up.


    Her post-System Strength and Agility helped her blaze a trail as she shot toward the surprised dinosaur. It stopped in its tracks, looking like it was second-guessing itself. She took the opportunity to step first to one side and then the other, feinting before colliding with the raptor spear-first.


    Wood creaked in her hands as the spear sunk deep into its chest. It might have gone deeper, but Aster remembered vividly how difficult it had been to get her spear out of the first raptor she¡¯d killed the day before and adjusted her grip to stop it. She was close enough to see the whites of its eyes, and when she didn¡¯t immediately get a kill notification she twisted the spear in deeper, causing a gurgling cry to erupt from the dying dinosaur.


    *You have slain [Hatchling Springclaw Raptor - lvl 7] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. 48 TP Earned.


    That was way too easy, Aster thought before twisting to the side to avoid the second raptor. This one was faster, though still not as quick as she had been just moments before.


    She yanked her spear free and leapt back, flailing her arms wildly as she vastly underestimated the strength of her legs and found herself falling to the ground almost twenty feet away. Her head snapped back into the red dirt hard enough to give her a concussion pre-System, but now she¡¯d barely even registered it before rolling back and getting to her feet.


    Her HP had dropped a few points from her own maneuver, but she considered herself lucky that that had been the only damage she¡¯d taken. If I¡¯d been a hair slower I¡¯d be in that thing¡¯s jaws. Though the grown up version from earlier had been much, much stronger, it hadn¡¯t been able to propel itself quite so fast as these ones could.


    On instinct, Aster braced the butt of her spear against the ground, readying herself to repeat her feat the day before of skewering a mid-air dinosaur, but the raptor hadn¡¯t leapt at her again.


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    Instead, it was approaching slowly, circling more carefully, which was fine by Aster. It gave her enough time to find a better defensive position as she put her back to a boulder. ¡°Come and get it,¡± she said.


    The raptor did just that. After closing in, it attempted a feint of its own, but she didn¡¯t fall for it. Instead, Aster deftly hopped out of the way, careful not to throw herself too far this time.


    At close range, the raptor was far from capable of taking her one-on-one. In fact, she concluded that, at least at this stage of their growth, the dinosaurs were forced to hunt together simply due to their incapability of handling prey alone. Up close, it was as awkward as a baby chick. A baby chick that could jump crazy distances and that had teeth and claws the size of Aster¡¯s thumb, but a chick nonetheless.


    Putting her Agility to the test, Aster let the raptor take a few snaps at her, seeing how close she could get and still be able to dodge. She flipped her spear around, wielding it with the blunt end forward.


    The raptor sprung at her, but more controlled than before. Aster sidestepped it without thinking, feeling a thrill at the way she could anticipate the flow of the fight. She smacked it with the butt of her spear as it passed¡ª a hit that, had she used the spearhead, would have hamstrung the beast.


    It turned, its eyes wide with anger and frustration. The raptor hopped at her, its jaws shutting down on air with loud, repeating snaps! Aster stepped back with each lunge the raptor made, again using her spear to smack it repeatedly. It hopped at her, so she sidestepped and stabbed at its stomach hard enough to bruise. It jumped again, so she hit its muzzle and drew blood. It lunged, trying to tackle her, so she caught its momentum and tossed it like she was back in Judo.


    It turned out that with her Basic Reflexes and godlike Agility stat, she hadn¡¯t needed to set up for this battle in the first place.


    The dinosaur seemed to realize at the same time as her that it was utterly outmatched. It began to turn, bracing itself to leap away with one of its overpowered jumps, when metal flashed in the sun and a spear pierced its thigh.


    Aster narrowed her eyes and decided playtime was over. Prolonging this further would just be cruel, she thought. The moment slowed for her in the way it did when she saw a bump and a set, knowing even before it happens where the ball was going to be for her to get there. There was enough for her brain to pick up on to know exactly how this was going to end.


    It was inevitable.


    A moment later and the dinosaur was dead. A pair of deep gashes marked both legs, and another ran nearly the entire length of its side. Finally, she¡¯d ended the crippled beast with a thrust through its heart.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 9 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    She wiped her spear off in the dirt and smiled. Another point for Agility, I think.


    ----


    Without someone looking over her shoulder and asking why she was taking so long, Aster was able to spend as much time as she wanted to study the hatchling springclaw raptors.


    The first thing she did was bring both of the specimens closer together, laying them on their sides. She cursed the System for not providing her with paper on which to take notes, and briefly considered writing on the backs of her hands or something¡ª being ambidextrous was useful like that. However, it wasn¡¯t like she was going to be finding paper elsewhere in this desert, so she resolved to just speak her observations aloud and do her best to commit them to memory, like she would do if she¡¯d had a recorder and was taking field notes.


    ¡°Both specimens are approximately the same size, about one-point-five meters tall. Their heads appear oversized for their bodies, consistent with the System¡¯s description of them being ¡®hatchlings.¡¯ Their tails are short and stubby, making up only a third of their length. The most notable features of the specimens are their legs and hindquarters. This springclaw raptor species has displayed coordinated hunting behavior, flanking and distracting their attempted prey before surprising them by lunging at them with great speed. I¡¯ve observed them doing this several times now, and they open their jaws wide, greater than ninety degrees, as they fling themselves at you.¡±


    Aster took a break to check out her surroundings and make sure she wasn¡¯t being snuck up on by anything. As she wasn¡¯t in any danger, she continued.


    ¡°Their skin is¡­ pebbly? Perhaps more like a monitor lizard, though thicker and with larger dermal ridges.¡± Honestly, she¡¯d put good money on some craftsman being able to make cool-ass armor out of the stuff.


    ¡°Teeth are large, ranging from one to two inches in length. Arms are stubby. The claws on their feet, which are also proportionally large, are triangular, with only a slight curve to them¡­¡±


    This continued for half an hour, with Aster comparing sexual dimorphism amongst the two after discovering external sexual organs and characteristics, such as a small, bony protrusion on the snout of the male. Then she took note of their colorations, eyes, nostrils, and everything else that wouldn¡¯t be fun to read about. Needless to say, she was thorough. Something that did need to be said, however, was that she felt something from the System. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure what it was, but as there hadn¡¯t been any notification, she took note and moved on.


    When she was finished, she considered what to do with the bodies. There wasn¡¯t time to bury them, and she didn¡¯t want to spend even more time to start a fire. In the end, she took several strips of meat with her and left the bodies where they were.


    Stepping down to the bottom of the hill, she considered where to go next. The canyon? Or the beehive? One of those definitely felt like a spot she¡¯d be looking out for in a video game. The kind of spot that could hold some cool shit.


    With a smile, she headed toward the structure.

 Chapter 12: Facing Fears and Flickering Spears

    Along the way to the beehive column, she encountered a handful of steptraps, though thankfully she didn¡¯t step in any of them. They offered experience, but no levelups. As she considered experience and combat in the System, she had a thought.


    The difference in strength between the levels 2 and 9 springclaw raptors wasn¡¯t negligible, but neither was it all that much. The difference between the level 9 hatchling and the level 13 adult, however? That had been orders of magnitude greater. There were fewer levels between the two of them, but something had changed during its growth. Not only had it physically changed, but it had to have passed some sort of threshold in power. Experience with gaming told her that it had to happen at level 10, which was especially exciting for her as she was at level 9 in her class. Something had to happen at that point, and she was just itching to find out what.


    As she approached the foot of the beehive, she noticed some movement down in the canyon. It wasn¡¯t very far away, so she decided to skirt around the rim to get a better look. When Aster laid her eyes on it, a flash of cold sweat ran over her skin.


    [Springclaw Raptor - Level 12]


    She was torn. On one hand, she really, really wanted to see what would happen to her class at level 10, but on the other¡­ she was apprehensive about facing one of those monsters again, even if it was weaker than the one she¡¯d already killed.


    Aster refused to consider that. She shook her head, throwing away the fear. This is not cancer. This is not the world from before. These are among the weakest foes I am likely to face for the rest of my life. She grit her teeth and looked for a spot that would allow her to drop down onto it. Let¡¯s fucking go.


    ----


    The springclaw raptor came from a world within the 97th universe much like the one it now found itself in, though with far less gravity. Deep canyons riddled the surface of its home, where it hunted with its mate and used their strength and coordination to take down prey larger than themselves. Since finding itself in this new world, much of that had changed.


    Its mate had disappeared, with no trace of her scent. The water they lived next to had been replaced with something that tasted¡­ more. Like water, but flavored with extra water. He liked it.


    The worst part was the lack of food. The short, long animals that traveled amongst the canyons of their world were nowhere to be found. They weren¡¯t easy to take down, with their armored backs and clubbed tails, but at least they were there. The most he¡¯d found was a strange, two-legged creature wandering in a group outside the canyon. It had been¡­ fine¡­ but the raptor missed its usual food.


    If there was one thing it liked about this new place, it was the lack of traps in the canyon¡¯s floors and walls. They came from a world with much, much higher gravity than this one, and most of the trouble it ran into was from hidden crab-like creatures and the like.


    This was why it had no immediate recourse when a very angry woman with a very sharp spear fell on it like an extinction event from the heavens.


    ----


    The raptor loosed a screech of pain as Aster¡¯s spear pierced the tough hide on its back, granting her a convenient handhold to grip onto. She needed it, as the dinosaur bucked, nearly throwing her off in its fury.


    Her high toughness stat had made it so the five-meter fall hadn¡¯t so much as bruised her, while her agility had allowed her the accuracy she¡¯d needed to land the first blow. What she¡¯d learned so far from this particular hunt was that she was going to need to put some stat points into her mental stats, as it was getting too difficult for her to keep up with her movements mentally.


    But that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t run on base instinct, which she did in this case as she was forced to jump off the raptor¡¯s back as it tried to scrape her along the rough wall of the box canyon. She kept her hold on the spear, however, and a moment later she planted her feet on its hide and yanked, pulling the spear free and sending her flipping backward in the air.


    When she told this story later, she¡¯d say that she landed in a cool-ass superhero pose. The truth was that her proprioceptive capabilities were lacking behind her strength and she actually fell into the ground¡ª hard.


    Not giving her time to think, the springclaw lived up to its name, lunging at her. However, this was the first time she¡¯d seen one of this species do this without attacking with a wide-open maw. Instead, she learned what happened to the bony protrusion on the male hatchling¡¯s snout when it grew up.


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    Barely leaping away in time, Aster¡¯s eyes went wide as the beast smashed into the wall behind where she¡¯d been only breaths before, send a cascade of debris tumbling down onto it. This created an opening, as she saw the dinosaur attempt to clear its eyes as it turned, looking for her.


    Her spear flashed as she ran, stabbing from a distance at its left hamstring, and the moment seemed to slow.


    It would turn, hobbling on its left leg. She¡¯d already dove into a roll, knowing where its right leg would be before she even swung her spear around. A disconcertingly wet snap sounded out as her spearhead found the raptor¡¯s Achilles and stuck into it. Before its tail could slam onto her, she¡¯d twisted her spear free and dove again, this time coming to a crouch that let her plant her heel and push with everything she had, propelling her into the side of the staggered, wounded raptor with enough force to knock the unsteady beast onto its side. It didn¡¯t help the dinosaur¡¯s case that she¡¯d landed spear-first, and her aim had been true.


    Aster Rose forced herself to keep her eyes on its own as the notifications came.


    *You have slain [Springclaw Raptor - Level 12] - Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. TP Earned.*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Medium)] has reached Level 10 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 5 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *Warrior (Medium) class skill available*


    ----


    Aster caught her breath and made sure she was safe before resting beside the corpse. It was frustrating that the big qualitative leap she¡¯d been hoping for hadn¡¯t happened, but there was still plenty she didn¡¯t yet know about this System. Upon letting the puzzle mull over for a while, she realized a few things.


    First, her leveling was not the same as the dinosaurs¡¯. She had her class and her race to level, bringing her to a cumulative level of 15 compared to the raptor¡¯s apparent 12. It was unlikely the raptor had a class, probably only having its race, and if the 2:1 ratio of class to race levels was at least consistent, it would put the raptor at an equivalent strength of something like 36 total levels.


    Of course, levels and abilities didn¡¯t seem to scale linearly. Though she hadn¡¯t experienced it when she¡¯d hit level 10 in her class, Aster was certain there was something that would happen at a certain point. Most likely, it¡¯d happen when she got her race level to 10. If it didn¡¯t, then she¡¯d have to majorly reconsider what she knew about this place.


    One thing was certain, however, and that was that at every 5 levels she¡¯d get to pick a new class skill. This was a good consolation for her not meeting that threshold she¡¯d been anticipating.


    *Warrior (Medium) class skills available*


    All of the previous skills that had been offered before were still there, with a few additions. These new skills only reinforced her hypothesis that the System would offer skills based around what you¡¯d done.


    [Lunging Strike (Common)] - You¡¯ve begun the journey of mastering your fighting style, utilizing your Agility to surprise your opponents not with stealth¡ª but with speed. Lunge at your opponent even faster now as your Stamina flows through you and strengthens your attack. Adds a minor boost to the effect of Agility and Endurance while using Lunging Strike.


    This one looked like a logical addition to her repertoire, adding a System-assisted boost to her style. She could imagine dashing through the air, propelled even faster by the skill. It was pretty badass, but she wanted to see what else was on offer. She was not disappointed.


    [Surging Momentum (Uncommon)] - The relentless fighter leaves no room for error, and less room for defeat. While activated, receive a additive bonus to your damage output for each consecutive strike you land upon your opponent, though receive added damage in return when hit. Surging Momentum cannot be deactivated while still in combat. Adds a small boost to the effects of Agility and Endurance to Surging Momentum.


    Wow. An uncommon-rarity skill, this one offering an even more effective method of taking advantage of her agile fighting style. However, she wasn¡¯t sure how badly the extra damage she¡¯d take would effect her. If it only helped her to take care of opponents of an equal or lower level, then it would probably leave her at a disadvantage against foes with a higher combat prowess.


    Which all led her to the final skill offered: Flicker Spear.


    [Flicker Spear (Uncommon)] - As a fighter who strikes too fast for your foe to follow, you rely not necessarily upon technique, but the sheer violence and unpredictability of the fight. Summon an illusory copy of your spear that strikes as you might, radiating your mana signature and appearing indiscernible from your actual weapon. Flicker Spear moves not as you do, but as a possible attack you didn¡¯t make, creating illusory spears that hide your true attack beneath. Costs a small amount of Stamina and Mana each time the skill is activated. Adds a small boost to the effects of Agility and Willpower on Flicker Spear.


    This was the first skill she¡¯d been offered that wasn¡¯t just an enhanced version of something she could already do. Sure, there had been plenty of times in the past day and a half when she¡¯d witnessed the impossible, but this was the first real piece of magic. On top of that, it seemed to be a perfect fit for her.


    She selected the skill, Flicker Spear, and as the System interface disappeared she instantly knew how to perform it.


    Aster stood up, gripping her spear and closing her eyes briefly. In her mind¡¯s eye, she imagined another raptor, and then her eyes snapped open wide. It lunged at her and she sidestepped, swinging her spear in an upward arc to cut at its legs¡ª except she didn¡¯t. Instead, she¡¯d dived below its lunge and caught its softer underside with her weapon.


    To her eyes, her spear had split in two, an afterimage of herself fading quickly from existence as the mimicked spear stepped off to the side and was swept upward in the arc she¡¯d imagined. An excited grin stretched over her features.


    ¡°This is going to be fucking great.¡±


    Then, without further ado, she made her way to the bottom of the honeycomb structure and began to climb.

 Chapter 13: Spacial Shenanigans

    Castle made her way back to where they¡¯d started the day before, hoping to find others nearby the starting area. She was still more than a little pissed about how Aster had been, but could respect that the woman wanted to go off by herself. Honestly, it should be less of a headache this way. Aster seemed to be adapting to this world faster than anyone had a right to, and Castle figured she¡¯d find a better pace with the other people on the island.


    Aster was an enigma to her. For a long time, the girl had held on to life well past others would have. Though Aster hadn''t let her actually care for her as her nurse, Maria was still able to get information about her and her health, and as far as she could tell in the days before the integration Aster had been held together by sheer will and anger. Maria had known people like that before, but never to the extent Aster had taken it to. And now? The bitch was fighting off dinosaurs like she''d grown up in the cretaceous, min/maxing System mechanics like it was second nature to her, and abandoning everybody and everything else around her in order to get stronger-- in what was honestly a matter of hours.


    Castle was adapting to this world, but Aster seemed like she''d finally woken up in it. She shook her head and continued onward, knowing that regardless of the cocktail of stupidity and excellence that was Aster, there were going to be far more people around who weren''t the same and who were going to need help.


    Speaking of adapting to this world, she had a couple of important System notifications to go over.


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Heavy)] has reached Level 5 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Class [Warrior (Heavy)] has reached Level 6 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *¡¯DING!¡¯ Race Human - G has reached Level 3 - Stat points allocated, +1 free point*


    *Warrior (Medium) class skill selection available*


    Before even thinking about that second prompt, she pulled up her status menu and familiarized herself with it.


    Status


    Name: Maria Castle


    Race: [Human (G) ¨C lvl 3]


    Class: Warrior (Heavy) - lvl 6


    Profession: N/A


    Health Points (HP): 160/160


    Mana Points (MP): 120/120


    Stamina: 150/150


    Stats


    Strength: 28


    Agility: 15


    Endurance: 20


    Vitality: 23


    Toughness: 19


    Wisdom: 14


    Intelligence: 13


    Perception: 13


    Willpower: 13


    Free points: 4


    TP: 3085


    She had a number of stat points she wanted to distribute before making her skill selection. Aster had mentioned what she¡¯d gotten before they split, and Castle wanted her stats at max before making a selection.


    Besides, she already knew where she¡¯d put them. With a grin, she put two into Strength and two into Vitality. As Aster had said, she had a name to live up to.


    Now, on to skill selections. They were, for the most part, nothing to be particularly excited about, although she did receive more options than Aster had mentioned getting.


    [Basic Aggro (Inferior)] - Passively garner attention from foes, making them more likely to focus on you instead of your comrades. Adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Strength and Willpower when using the skill.


    [Basic Lunge (Inferior)] - The strike that hits doesn¡¯t always come from the shadows¡ª sometimes it comes head-on. Propel yourself forward, striking before your opponent can react. Adds a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength while Lunging.


    [Basic Vault (Inferior)] - Move quicker than before, allowing yourself to be where you need to be in battle. Adds a miniscule bonus to the effect of Strength and Perception during combat.


    [Shield Priority - (Inferior)] - Raise a shield or your weapon, to a lesser effect, and draw your enemy¡¯s attack to it instead. Directly competes your Willpower against your opponent¡¯s. Adds a minor bonus to the effect of Willpower and Strength during combat.


    Alright, Castle thought. No common-quality skills, but still¡­ She considered her choices and what it was that she wanted to get out of this all. She¡¯d already put her free points into Strength, and had a decent amount of vitality.


    Basically, there were two options for her: either offense or defense. Either she could choose Lunge or Vault, which honestly sounded way too similar, or she could go for a more protective measure.


    Castle hadn¡¯t fought with a shield in the day or so she¡¯d been in the tutorial, but with everything going on she hadn¡¯t really had enough time to consider it. Sure, she¡¯d used her halberd to deflect or block attacks, but¡­


    Being able to ¡°gather aggro¡± and make enemies focus on her would be fantastic¡ª if she were to pair up with another fighter like Aster again. Holding monsters¡¯ attention while they got picked off by someone else seemed like the way to go if she had someone else who could deal damage.


    But is that what I¡¯ll find? Castle¡¯s face wrinkled as she thought. If she chose the Basic Aggro skill, she¡¯d be more limited to fighting with others, right? But then again, I¡¯ll be more capable when defending others¡­


    After a few more moments of thinking, Castle ended up deciding on the Shield Priority skill. With it, she¡¯d be able to help keep herself alive longer to help defend others should she find herself in that situation, while at the same time keeping herself safer in general. No nurse gets far in medicine without taking care of themselves first, she recalled the words of a past mentor she¡¯d once looked up to.


    Closing out the System menu, Castle looked around, deciding where to go. She shut her eyes and tried to visualize all the different pillars with people on them that she¡¯d seen yesterday¡ª where they might be in relation to her and Aster¡¯s starting spot. That gave her a decent idea and set her heading opposite the direction Aster had headed, out toward the rim of the island.


    --


    Aster had little problem scaling the honeycomb structure, although she did feel a little acrophobic. Heights had never been her thing, and even when she¡¯d been into diving she¡¯d do her best to drown out the heights and just focus on the thrill of performing the stunt as best she could. Knowing she''d beaten the competition would lift any apprehension, after all.


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    As she stood currently, she was maybe a third of the way up the structure and was easily ten meters high¡ª a bit higher up than the peak of the hill she¡¯d climbed earlier. Without a rope to secure herself with, she did the most logical thing with her two available free stat points and put them into Toughness. Hopefully, she¡¯d be able to survive a fall at terminal velocity. She doubted it heavily, but figured she¡¯d just have to not fall. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.


    The view from this height was spectacular, and she took a moment to take it all in, now that she could see the island better.


    The desert island was more like a caldera, with a depression growing deeper towards the center. Dense forest seemed to be thriving there, and a mist clouded the area. She spotted movement within the canyons again, and couldn¡¯t help but grin when she thought about the fights that lay ahead of her.


    With that in mind, she began climbing again. The honeycomb makeup of the structure provided her with plenty of hand and footholds, along with spots to sit and rest should she feel like it. It was easy.


    Twenty minutes of climbing later, she figured she must be near the top, which she¡¯d estimated to be forty meters tall, and stopped to take a look back out over the island. Absorbing the view, she frowned.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Aster murmured.


    She was maybe, maybe ten feet higher than when she¡¯d last stopped. Looking up, she couldn¡¯t see the top of the structure as it was kind of cone shaped, but she still felt like she should be a lot closer to the top than she was. Am I going crazy?


    That couldn¡¯t be it. Aster narrowed her eyes. There has to be some kind of bullshit going on.


    To test this, Aster climbed for another ten minutes, then checked again. Again, how much she¡¯d climbed was not correlated to how much ground she had gained. Determined to figure what the fuck was going on, Aster set her spear carefully against the wall of the structure, tip down and the butt of the spear braced against the wall. And then, she began to climb.


    First, she climbed up to just the next honeycomb. When she reached for her spear, it was still within reach. This was expected, as she had only climbed a few feet. This would be easier if I had rope or something to test with¡­


    Things only began to get weird at the time she got to the third honeycomb up. When she reached down for her spear, she still found it easily within reach. That definitely shouldn¡¯t be the case, she thought.


    Four honeycombs later, about twelve or so feet by eyeballing it, and she could still reach her spear, albeit with a bit of difficulty and a touch of a headache coming on. Convinced by now that there was some sort of spacial fuckery about the whole structure, she decided to pull her spear up before continuing.


    It barely budged.


    Aster cursed under her breath as she braced herself against the walls around her and heaved. The spear came toward her, inch by grueling inch, but it did not move the way it should have. She felt the strain in her System-supported muscles as she brought the glorified stick up to the same height as her. When she had it within her grasp, the last few moments of pulling on it becoming easier and easier, she fell back and gulped down air.


    That was weird as hell, she thought, which proffered the obvious followup question: what was she going to do, now?


    She¡¯d already discovered that it was easier to go down than it was to go up, with the sense of space-dilation decreasing back to near-normal upon descent, and she was reminded of an old Super Mario game she used to play with her mother as a child.


    In Mario 64, you couldn¡¯t ascend the stairs to the endgame without retrieving so many stars, naturally collected by completing levels of the game. If you tried, you¡¯d find yourself climbing into infinity, with only a handful of stairs behind you when you finally gave up and turned around.


    However, this was not the same as that. She was making progress... albeit slower than a limbless sloth.


    This raised yet another question: what was hidden at the top of the honeycomb structure? If her progress was slowed only and not hampered entirely, this wasn¡¯t an impossible task. Just a damn hard one, she thought, squinting up at the sky surrounding her and the tower.


    In the end, she did what she figured anybody would do, and continued to climb.


    ----


    Castle had walked for long enough that she¡¯d almost given up on wearing her heavy plate armor. Even with her increased stats, her armor was uncomfortable after so long in the sun. Sweat ran down her neck and between her breasts, irritating her skin in its wake.


    She had stopped for a dip in the stream she was following when she heard them¡ª voices. A spike of adrenaline started to ease as she realized it wasn¡¯t another monster, but her unease continued to grow at the prospect of seeing other people again. Other people who were normal, at least, and not Aster.


    As the voices seemed to be coming closer, Castle propped herself up against a wall of the box canyon, leaning her halberd against the rocky side as well. It was within reach, as she wasn¡¯t an idiot, but far enough that she could hopefully not come across as a threat when the male voices she heard rounded the corner.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, the old man is wrong,¡± said a deep voice. ¡°This isn¡¯t temporary or any kind of mass hysteria or anything like that. This is reality now.¡±


    A less-deep sigh answered, followed by a new voice. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. People are all gonna do what they want. The only reason we¡¯re all grouped up is for saf¡ª whoa!¡±


    Castle looked over to where she knew the two men would round a bend and see her, finding a pair of college-aged youths carrying makeshift buckets made of chopped up leather armor. The one who had been talking, a well-groomed kid around twenty, with blond hair and a full head¡¯s worth of height on his friend, stopped. The other, a buff black guy with glasses, took a little longer to see her standing there. Once he did, however, Castle couldn¡¯t help but notice how he stepped between her and the other kid.


    ¡°Hello there,¡± Castle said, a grin on her face. ¡°Nice to see some faces that aren¡¯t all scary and scaly.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The man with glasses said, his hand going to a mace attached to his belt. The taller man behind him tried to sidestep his protector, but the shorter man cut him off with a slice of his hand through the air.


    ¡°Easy,¡± Castle frowned. ¡°I¡¯m Maria. I go by ¡®Castle¡¯. I¡¯m not here to cause any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Castle?¡± Asked the blond.


    She shrugged. ¡°On account of my name.¡±


    ¡°Maria?¡±


    Castle turned her attention toward the man closer to her. ¡°He hasn¡¯t invested many points into Intelligence, has he?¡±


    Though he kept his ground, the brawny fellow seemed to relax a bit. ¡°No, he hasn¡¯t. But you didn¡¯t answer my question.¡±


    Castle raised an eyebrow. ¡°I told you my name. Maria Castello, hence ''Castle''.¡±


    The blond chimed in, seemingly haven taken offense to the quip about his intelligence. ¡°But we don¡¯t know you.¡±


    ¡°And you know every lady in armor on the island?¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Matt,¡± said the other before he turned back to her. ¡°Probably not, but we haven¡¯t seen you around before.¡±


    ¡°And how is that strange?¡± Castle folded her arms.


    ¡°Because everyone we¡¯ve met so far is from our school,¡± he replied. ¡°We¡¯re from a large school, yeah, but still. I think we¡¯d remember a face like yours.¡±


    Castle laughed. ¡°Stop it, you¡¯ll make me blush.¡± When neither of the boys seemed to appreciate her joke she continued. ¡°I¡¯m a nurse. A private nurse, hired to care for a classmate of yours. She and I entered the Tutorial together, but we parted ways earlier today.¡±


    The blond, Matt, finally rounded his buddy, standing at the other¡¯s side. ¡°Who?¡±


    Maria Castle angled her head, wondering if it was okay to share. However, no problem came to mind, so she spoke. ¡°Aster. Aster Rose.¡±


    They were silent.


    ¡°She¡¯s a¡­ rather, she was a doctorate student.¡±


    Matt spoke first, turning to his friend. ¡°Derrick, she can¡¯t mean¡ª¡±


    ¡°Aster?¡± Asked Derrick, cutting him off.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Castle said. She searched the two of them as they shared a look between themselves. ¡°Why? Do you know her?¡±


    After a moment, it was Matt that answered. ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s dead, though.¡±


    A cold spike of fear ran down Castle¡¯s spine. ¡°What?!¡± It¡¯s only been a few hours! ¡°What do you mean? How do you know that?¡±


    Once again, Derrick put himself between her and Matt, ¡°Because she died almost a month ago.¡±


    That¡­ wasn¡¯t what Castle had expected to hear.