《Soul Quest Online》 Chapter 0 Personalities ¡°What is the answer to this question Brenner?¡± (J) ¡®I got 27/5.¡¯ (M) ¡®You forgot to change the addition sign it¡¯s 7/5.¡¯ (B) ¡°The answer is 7/5¡± ¡°Correct, next ¡­¡± (T) ¡®Can¡¯t we leave this class math is so boring and this teacher is getting on my nerves.¡¯ (J) ¡®Unlike some people in here I¡¯m trying to learn this informational teaching this teacher is getting paid to teach us.¡¯ (T) ¡®Not like we¡¯ll ever have to use it when we¡¯re stuck in here.¡¯ (B) ¡®Can you guys stop bickering it¡¯s hard enough trying to pay attention without you guys talking over her.¡¯ (E) ¡®But I¡¯m not a guy I¡¯m a girl.¡¯ (J) ¡®Enough Elizabeth you know he means nothing by it.¡¯ (M) ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s not like there are any good non gender pronoun he can use.¡¯ (E) ¡®Yeah that¡¯s true I just hate how I¡¯m lumped in here with you guys all the time can¡¯t a girl get some privacy.¡¯ (T) ¡®Oh give it a rest. None of us get any privacy not even Brenner and he has to move his body while keeping up with us.¡¯ (E) ¡®At least he gets to eat we don¡¯t even get the taste of the food he eats all we get is pain whenever he gets hurt.¡¯ (B) ¡®Hey Matt how do I do the next problem?¡¯ (M) ¡®This is simple Calculus come on don¡¯t tell me you forgot already.¡¯ (T) ¡®Simple? I haven¡¯t understood a single thing she has said all year I thought we were in Spanish.¡¯ (J) ¡®But, Spanish is in the morning and she is using numbers.¡¯ (T) ¡®So? We use numbers in Spanish as well.¡¯ (B) ¡®Shhh she¡¯s explaining it I can¡¯t hear.¡¯ If you can¡¯t tell I have multiple people in my head. How they all came to be I have no clue and if anyone knew what was going on in my mind I definitely would be put into a mental institution. It all started in first grade when I punched a guy for bullying me. That was when Teage appeared. A culmination of all my bloodlust given sentience in my mind. After getting my butt kicked he helped me form a strategy to take out my bullies but in the end I still got caught by the teacher and suspended for a week. My dad was glad I stood up for myself while my mother was mad and grounded me for the full week. Afterwards no one dared mess with me, but Teage stayed even after I¡¯d stopped the bullying. He just stuck around and would occasionally give me advice in fights and whenever I was building stuff. We became good buds and talked to each a lot (especially about girls). Then whenever I started having trouble with school in about the fifth grade appeared Matt he was smart, but quiet and egotistical. He would help me do my homework and help me study, but would never help me on my tests. As it was a way to test ¡®me¡¯ and not a chance for me to cheat with another person. He and Teage butted heads a lot as Teage didn¡¯t like learning while Matt did and they¡¯d conflict about what I should be doing. Usually it was between working on homework and playing games. John came around in the seventh grade and he was a culmination of masculinity and chivalry. He always reminded me to compliment girls and would always demand I help people whenever they were in trouble unlike Matt and John. His problem was a lack of common sense. He¡¯d always want me to say the most cringiest of compliments and to help girls with every little thing and so I had to talk to him about how some girls could take care of themselves much to his dismay. Teage and John became best of buds when it came to girls though and they¡¯d get a bit rowdy when talking about girls and would have quite heated discussions on who was more beautiful. Matt would occasion interlude but it was very rarely as he seemed to have quite high standards.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Then when I joined the marching band in the ninth grade as a clarinetist it turned out I was the only guy in a section of about thirty girls. So I was toyed around with and teased during sectionals and section events. Even with our combined though power we couldn¡¯t seem to figure out what we were supposed to do around all of them and as a result I secluded myself a bit from the group. They knew how to deal with girls but not when they were in groups. We were at their mercy of what they had planned next. That was when Elizabeth showed up. We were all surprised by our new addition. We slowly changed our language and as a result she yelled at us less. She also gave us the inside view on how girls thought and would help me when us guys became flustered by all the girls ganging up on me. We started getting along with her more and she offered us a female perspective to things which helped shut down some of Matt and Teage¡¯s best girl debates . They showed no sign of leaving, but I had started to grow quite fond of having them around. The only thing that really concerned me was that I didn¡¯t know if it¡¯d ever stop. This worried me as I felt like by the time I got to my fifties I¡¯d have around thirty people in my head and I was having a hard enough time with four. Ding, Ding, Ding, ¡­ Finally done with math I made my way to the door, but before I reached I heard Rachel call out to me. Rachel is my clarinet section leader and has led us quite well. She has a motherly type of compassion that made you feel at ease around her, and a natural charisma that allowed her to command quite effectively. ¡°Hey Brenner wait up I heard you got the new VR setup so I¡¯m guessing you are going to start playing Soul Quest Online.¡± ¡°Yeah I just got in for my birthday yesterday so I was going to go home and create my character. But, I want to spend some time orienting myself to the game before I join up with everyone.¡± ¡°So do you know what you are going to play as?¡± ¡°No I haven''t decided yet and I don¡¯t really have a definite playstyle so I¡¯m going to make it up as I go.¡± ¡°Well if you ever need help contact anyone in the Reed Dancers and tell them you know me. I¡¯ll send you a text later with my username.¡± ¡°Thanks Rachel see you later.¡± Rachel was a guild leader in Soul Quest leading the guild called the Reed Dancers. They were a group consisting of alumni and current clarinetists from our school. It allowed for people to keep in touch of each other if they ever moved away and has been doing quite well from what I¡¯ve heard. They mainly were a small crafting and explorer guild that liked to casually play around in the frontier. Just as I left the classroom I see my friend Blake grab me and haul me off to the side with a stupid grin on his face. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just ask her out already Brenner she clearly likes you.¡± ¡°What? But she is my section leader and I heard she already has a boyfriend.¡± ¡°Just between you and me I¡¯ve been hearing rumors about her boyfriend cheating on her so you may have a chance.¡± ¡°Enough with the hypotheticals for now. What is it you really wanted to talk about.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked. I heard you just got the gear to start playing Soul Quest Online so I was wondering if you would specialize and join us in the Savage Wolves as a healer. We don¡¯t have any as we are a male only group of combat nuts so all we got right now is Leroy who charges the enemy and usually dies first so we really need some help in the healing department.¡± ¡°I told you already I want to go at it for a while by myself and see how it goes before I decide.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ll just tell you this man. The newbie area is rumored to be a bit of a mess right now with lots of scammers and player killers running around.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll manage, you know this isn¡¯t my first rodeo man.¡± ¡°Yeah but it''s your first rodeo in VR so just be careful man.¡± We give each other a fist bump and go our separate and after a quick ride home in my car I finally make it home and immediately go to my room and don the headset. I had no homework this weekend and it was a friday so I was going to use all the time I could to enjoy Soul Quest as much as I could. Soul Quest Online had just came out about two months ago and I¡¯d had to wait two long months to get ahold of my own VR equipment to play the game as it cost a lot of money and I was pegging on getting it for my birthday. The wait had been killer though as there were a lot of people who had gotten it at school and their chats about the game egged me to get ahold of it myself that much quicker. I had the patience to wait though and my birthday had finally came around my parents got me the game. It had just arrived today and I couldn¡¯t wait to power it up. I took the package straight to my room to open it up and turn it on. (J) ¡®Finally let''s see what this game has in store for us this time.¡¯ (T) ¡®Hopefully lots of fighting.¡¯ (M) ¡®I hope we can find some historians and delve into this world''s lore.¡¯ (E) ¡®Or we could take up a craft and make some cute clothes.¡¯ ¡­ (B) ¡®That¡¯s just you Elizabeth¡¯ After opening the box I remove a helmet and plug it into the wall besides my bed. The helmet is weird though in my opinion as it was relatively small for what I thought it was supposed to be, and it had these weird glowing stones around the forehead area. I finally put the helmet on and lie on my bed. Hitting the on switch it does a quick synchronization sequence and the game starts.
Welcome to Soul Quest Online. Detecting five minds...compensating...creating five different characters. Separating unique thought patterns. Welcome Brenner, Teage, Matt, John, and Elizabeth Please enjoy your time in Soul Quest Online.
Chapter 1 Beginnings Silence I can finally hear silence for the first time in years. I smile at this. No voices telling me what to do and I relish in this fact grateful for finally getting a second of peace and quiet to myself. Because of this I fail to notice the character creation AI behind me for several minutes. ¡°Hello Brenner welcome to Soul Quest Online. What race would you like to be?¡± (You can only choose your race in Soul Quest Online everything else is unchangeable in order to provide a more realistic experience.) I thought for a second and with a shrug I said. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go Beastkin with my subrace being Fox-Kin.¡± I then saw a image of me as a Fox-Kin and felt a weird new appendage behind me and saw my new tail swinging back and forth. I had some control over it if I tried but moved instinctively if I didn¡¯t think about it. I also noticed my ears were moved to the top of my head with fur covering them. This body felt weird and would take some getting used to, but interesting and I enjoyed the soft fur that I now had as it felt soft and warm. ¡°What would you like your username to be?¡± ¡°Btwonderkid¡± ¡°Character creation complete teleporting you to tutorial scenario.¡± I then felt a fuzzy feeling before I was teleported to a new room with four people in it, but they all felt eerily familiar. One of them then stretches back and says in relieve. ¡°Finally, having a body is so nice I was getting tired of just being a talking voice in his head.¡± I looked to see a dwarf to my right that stood up to my chest with a ginger beard that stretched a good four inches down his face. He was quite muscularly built with some faint scars across his body. Having a short and stout body like what you¡¯d expect of a dwarf. ¡°What¡¯s nice is that I don¡¯t have to listen to your stupid comments all the time Teage.¡± I see a tall elf that stood a good two meters tall with pointed ears. Having an analytical and calculating face that looked at everything as logical as possible. All he was missing was some glasses to push against his face. Wait? Teage? That has got to be a coincidence right? ¡°Finally glad to be in a woman''s body. I hated being in those guys¡¯ head listening to all those vulgar men all day.¡± I then saw a draconian woman with bright green reptilian eyes start walking around stretching her legs and swishing her tail happily behind her. Her face looked human with long blue hair that stretched halfway down her back. But she had dark green scales that covered her arms and legs. They covered parts of her face as well as for her torso. Well¡­ I couldn¡¯t really tell and I doubt she¡¯d willing show us any time soon. I also realized my own tail was moving around unconsciously. Then with a booming voice a heard a man say. ¡°Finally I have free reign to help all that are in need!¡± He looked like your average adventure hero having short blond hair and blue eyes. Spoering a tall, lean, and fit body while posing with both hands on his waist with a full smile on his face. ¡°Is that you John?¡± ¡°Hello Brenner I see you chose the Beast-Kin. Trying to be quite adventurous are we not.¡± He said with a smile wait this doesn¡¯t make sense there was Teage as a dwarf, John was the man in front of me, then the only girl in the room must be Elizabeth, and the only person left (the elf) had to be Matt. ¡®Welcome btwonderkid to the ¡­.. There must be a connection error why are there five people in one room? Please wait while I contact my supervisor.¡¯ Great I¡¯m guessing my multiple personality problem is out of the bag now. I wonder what''s going to happen though this definitely seems like it shouldn¡¯t have happened. A second later I heard a new voice that sounded human and not like the robotic AI voice from before say. ¡°Well this is the first time I¡¯ve seen five minds in one body. Man what were you dealing with. Anyways as the only other incident of this was when there were only two personalities. I¡¯m not sure how someone could possible have five¡­ unless. Well I guess I¡¯ll allow it but first some debuffs so that you don¡¯t become to outrageous. Can¡¯t go around with five people under the same account without some debuffs or they¡¯ll be calling you a cheater.¡±
Debuffs: You all have linked pain reception, XP gain reduced by ?, linked souls causes stat debuffs if anyone is 5 km away from everyone, you all share the username btwonderkid, and will have a personal name you will be seen as by others, and your friends list and reputations are shared.
¡°What the heck these debuffs are insane! ? XP gain reduction and we have to be within 5 km of each other! What about the pain sharing how the heck does that even work?¡± ¡°Heck if I know. I just thought it would balance how one person has five characters. So I mean what did you expect. Also since you are all different races we can¡¯t spawn you in the regular starter zones as they only have race specific starter areas. Hm¡­ what if we implemented them into the event quest that''s supposed to open that restricted zone we had?¡± ¡®That is possible as they meet all the event requirements, but some rewriting will be necessary to smooth out the story for all the players.¡¯ ¡°Sounds good I¡¯ll take care of all that. Set it up for them then, and let''s get this show on the road. I just hope that they don¡¯t get to mad at me for this. Well I¡¯ve got to go. But I highly doubt that this will be the last time we see each other.¡± Then before any of us could respond we were all teleported away. But, something felt wrong. We were going one way when all of a sudden we felt a tug and pull that forced us to go in another direction. It felt like being the rope in a game of tug of war and this second force was winning. There was a bright light as we got pulled closer and closer. I then opened my eyes to see myself strapped to a stone table with shackles on my wrists and ankles with only a loincloth to cover my privates. I turned my head and saw that my companions were all in the same situation as myself. (B) ¡°Well this is definitely one way to start the game.¡± (M) ¡°Yes it would appear that guy messed up somehow when he sent us off.¡± (T) ¡°If we hear from that guy again I¡¯m going to make him pay for this.¡± ¡°SILENCE. I have captured you all here after I caught your souls in the void and you will obey me as your new Master.¡± We look in front of us and see crazed lunatic in a back robe staring at us with two skeletons behind him. ¡°You will be quiet and do as I say if you want to live I can find a use for you both alive and dead.¡± As he gestured to the skeletons behind him. (T) ¡°Great being to prisoners of a deranged lunatic great.¡± Immediately the robed man produced a staff from his robes and struck Teage across the face with an annoyed look on his face. We all immediately recoiled at this but only Teage actually took damage. But, dang did that hurt I really hope Teage shuts his mouth. ¡°You will be silent that is your last warning. AM I CLEAR!¡± We all nod our heads at this and he turns and walks off to a back room for a while leaving us all on the tables not knowing what to really do as we couldn¡¯t talk or else he¡¯d kill us and we had no way to escape either. We need to get out of here there has got to be some way out. Maybe the restraints have some weakness. I look at the clasps holding us in place and look at the design. All that held our wrist and ankles in place was a bolt. It seemed simple to remove but none of my limbs were able to reach any of the bolts. I then realize that the man had forgotten to secure my tail and try to work it towards the bolt. Elizabeth sees what I¡¯m doing and tries to do the same. After a bit of fiddling Elizabeth frees her hand first and works the other bolts off of her limbs before getting up and helping John. As she finishes freeing John I release the bolt holding my own limbs and stand up as the robed man sees the three of us free from our shackles. ¡°Dang it I forgot about your stupid beast tails, but no matter. Now that you''re free I guess you have submitted yourselfs to your deaths.¡± He smiles he then snaps his finger and eighteen more skeletons appear behind him with swords at the ready. He then points at use and commands them to kill us saying. ¡°Kill them all. I have no use for insubordinate subjects.¡± The skeletons then approach us with their weapons drawn. Elizabeth cowers in fear with her back against the wall. Me and John though know what we have to do. We have to kill this man and get out of here. ¡°Come on guys let me out I want to kill this guy for that smack earlier.¡± We didn¡¯t answer him as we charged at the man throwing our shoulders into the two nearest skeletons and shattering them apart and take the weapons they dropped. ¡°Elizabeth free Teage and Matt we¡¯ll hold them off.¡± I then parry a sword and cut the attacking skeleton in half. Kicking another in the ribcage shattering him as well. John keeps charging into the skeletons trying to reach the man and just as he was about to bring his sword down a blast erupts from the man''s staff and shoves John into the wall behind Elizabeth who had just freed Teage. But, instantly we all felt the pain in our backs and I had to back up in order to keep from being surrounded. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Dang mages and their fancy magic lets see how you like dealing with me.¡± Teage then grabs a sword in each hand and drives into the skeletons breaking a skeleton with each swing of his blade. I then think of a stupid plan. Man I hope that Teage forgives me for this. I get a running start and jump off of Teage¡¯s shoulder leaping straight at the man who looks up too late in surprise as I drive my sword through his throat. He falls over gurgling in his own blood, but before he can do anything else I retrieve my sword and finish off the man with a swift cleaving of his head. The remaining skeletons fall apart as their master¡¯s head lies dead in front of me. It felt off. I don¡¯t know why but it felt almost too real when I cut into the guy¡¯s flesh. I drop the sword in my hand and slowly back away tripping on some bones and fall right on my back. I then hear puking in the corner. Guess Elizabeth couldn¡¯t stomach it either. As I stand up and turn around I feel a hard smack to my jaw as Teage looks at the dead corpse. But, he forgot we have conected pain reception and everyone received a good amount of pain to their jaw as well. (T) ¡°Next time tell me you''re going to do that and that was my kill. But, good job Brenner. Nice bloody end for that lunatic.¡± (B) ¡°You aren¡¯t disgusted about this?¡± (T) ¡°No why should I he was trying to kill us and this is only a game right.¡± (B) ¡°Yeah you''re right it''s just ¡­¡± (T) ¡°Forget about it kid lets see what he¡¯s got hidden around here.¡± (M) ¡°Hey guys I could still use some help here.¡± In the fight we had totally forgotten Matt who was still strapped down. I made my way towards him and quickly unlocked his restraints. (M) ¡°Well that could have gone better, but I guess it worked out in the end. Shall we split up and look for some supplies I¡¯d like to find out where exactly we are.¡± We all agreed to that and went about searching for clues about the place. There were three hallways to choose from. I decided to go down the one the man had come from and see what he was up to before we had arrived. John and Matt went down the other two hallways while Elizabeth and Teague stayed to look around the room for more clues and supplies. As I made my way back I saw more and more blood on the floor as I kept moving down the hallway. It smelled worse and worse with the smell of death growing stronger as I navigated the hall. A door soon appears and resolving my nerves I open the door to see a gruesome sight. There are bodies spread around some dismembered and disfigured from failed experiments I¡¯m guessing. The bodies resembled monsters, but there were some humanoids mixed in with the rest. I turn to see a desk and a pot with a stew that had potatoes, carrots, and some meat (at this point I¡¯m afraid to guess) sitting atop a stand with a flaming stone blazing underneath it. I look at the desk and see a journal of sorts, but I can¡¯t make out the words so I just tuck it into a backpack that was hidden off to the side of the desk. Sadly it was empty but at least I had some storage. Grabbing the stew (with some knitted oven mitts that were placed nearby) I made my way to the main room and looked to see what everyone else had found. Elizabeth had grabbed the man¡¯s robe and was washing out the fresh blood with a look of disgust before putting it on to allow herself some modesty while Teague had gotten all the swords together and was inspecting them looking for the best ones from the pile he had gathered. Looking at each blade and measuring which was the one he wanted to wield. They both turn in my direction as I walk into the room with the stew. (B) ¡°Hey guys I found some stew if you guys want some, but I¡¯d be careful about the meat.¡± They look at the stew and their eyes light up with joy. I was confused for a second and then remembered how they had never actually eaten or tasted food before. They each took sips of the stew with the ladle from the stew and savored each spoonful fighting over the ladle trying to get as much as they could. John then came back with a face full of bread with a couple of loaves in his arms. (J) ¡°Hmh look ah what I found.¡± He then noticed the stew and set his findings to the side and grabbed a full loaf and plunged it into the stew stirring it around. (T) ¡°What are you doing John we¡¯re trying to eat eat here.¡± (J) ¡°I want to see if this stew will go good with this bread I found, and you guys are hogging the spoon anyways.¡± They both went to get a loaf as John retrieved his bread from the stew and proceeded to scald himself scarfing it down his throat. Teage and Elizabeth soon joined them and before I knew it they had consumed half of the stew. I laughed at the sight of them all enjoying a simple meal to this extent. They glared at me, but otherwise just focused on the meal in front of them. (M) ¡°Ahm! I think someone else needs that food you three.¡± We turned to see Matt accompanied by two people with collars around their necks. They were both human woman and were dressed similarly to Elizabeth with simple robes, but looked half dead and starved. One was about as tall as Teage and had silver hair that went down to her shoulder blades looking to be around ten. While the other stood slightly shorter than her with black hair that barely reached her shoulders looking to be around five years old. They looked at us with wild eyes not sure what to make of the scene around them. Their ¡®master¡¯ lied beheaded on the floor surrounded by his disassembled skeleton army, and here we were a mix of races eating a stew with crazed smiles on our faces in the midst of it all. They looked to be relieved, scared, and curios. We¡¯d just killed their ¡®master¡¯ and all his minions, and were all getting along together. They also were confused at their saviours¡¯ choice of clothes wearing minimal clothing. One of them then asked ¡°Who are you all?¡± I answered first ¡°I¡¯m Brenner a fox-kin, the dwarf is Teage, the human over there is John, the draconian is Elizabeth, and the elf who found you guys is Matt.¡± ¡°No who are you guys? How did you kill the necromancer?¡± ¡°You mean that lunatic over there.¡± I pointed at the beheaded corpse. I then briefly told them how we had escaped and swiftly killed the man. ¡°But how? He was a powerful necromancer and and was an adept wind magician.¡± (B) ¡°We surprised him?¡± (M) ¡°No he was just overconfident and to confined.¡± (T) ¡°Yeah that guy was a real egotistical maniac. He had a smug look of superiority the moment I saw him. But, when we were free he panicked and underestimated our strength and Brenner scored a deadly blow from above ending him before he could build up any spells I bet.¡± Teage answered after swallowing the last of his loaf of bread. ¡°So are we free to go then.¡± she asked I looked around and answered ¡°What''s keeping you here? He¡¯s dead so I guess you can just do what you want.¡± One of the girls feel to her knees and cried with joy at being saved while the other ran to the man¡¯s body fishing out a ring of keys. She then tried the keys on her collar and after three tries she heard a click and her collar fell off her now free throat. She rubbed the raw skin as she made her way to her companion and similarly worked through the keys until she heard another click and the other collar fell off her companion¡¯s neck. They then embraced each other in a crying embrace relishing in their new found freedom. Seeing the sight I was filled with happiness as we had just freed them from this crazy man¡¯s evil plans. But Matt broke the silence of their embrace bringing me back to reality. ¡°So did anyone find an exit or some better clothes we could wear.¡± ¡°I think there was an exit where I came from. The hallway kept going but I found this bread first and had to bring us back some to try for the first time, but I see that Brenner found some stew first.¡± I saw Matt facepalm at John¡¯s actions wishing that he had brought some better items then just some bread. He went over to the girl holding the keys and told her. ¡°I need to borrow these.¡± Before taking the keys from her hands and making his way were John had gone. To probably get his hands on some more modest clothing. Elizabeth then asked the girls ¡°So what are your names?¡± The silver haired girl answered first saying her name was Holly. She felt a bit off for some reason. I couldn¡¯t point to a single thing but her eyes had a weird knowing glance in them. The girl next to her was named Lydia. Unlike Holly she looked young and childish for lack of better words. Looking at at with joy and happiness instead of a piercing gaze. ¡°We were captured when we were gathering herbs in the forest by this necromancer¡¯s skeletons. Then he forced us to put on those slave collars and be his assistants. We¡¯ve been stuck under his control for about a week and if you guys didn¡¯t show up I don¡¯t know what he¡¯d have done next.¡± Lydia seemed more hopeful as I looked at them. With Holly giving her some emotional support. With both looking like they were glad to be rid of the at guy. ¡°While this is definitely interesting. I am quite full and I want to see what else this guy had in here.¡± Teage said as he followed after Matt carrying off one of the swords from the pile he had made. John then addressed them with a smile stating. ¡°Don¡¯t worry ladies we will guide you safely to the local authorities and see what we can do about finding your relatives so you both can forget about this whole tragedy.¡± He smiled with as he stood up with stew all over his face. I stifled a laugh as he was practically naked and a mess from eating in such a hurry with food all over his face. (E) ¡°Sit down and clean your face up you''re intimidating them.¡± (J) ¡°Sorry! I¡¯ll get right on that¡± (B) ¡°You guys hungry?¡± They looked over at the food and Lydia asked. ¡°We can eat it?¡± (B) ¡°Yeah I found it in his study and brought it out here. Though I would avoid the meat.¡± I then handed them both a loaf of bread and they eagerly ate the meal they had been offered wholeheartedly. I then saw Matt coming back with some cloaks throwing one at each of us. (M) ¡°There are some clothes back here, but some of them are a little bloody.¡± He then walked back down the hall. Me and John followed him with Elizabeth saying she would watch the girls for us. As we made our way down the hallway I saw the pantry that John had found earlier full of foodstuff. Further up ahead the cave opened up and I saw a pile of loot from his victims strewn across the floor. There were no bodies but you could still see their blood littered across the ill-gotten goods spread across the room. Teage was looking at a pile of weapon eyeing an axe that was quite large due to Teage being smaller as a dwarf. I looked at the clothes and after some quick rummaging I found a set of simple clothes, a leather tunic, and a nice leather trench coat (must have been a player made item). I put them on put my tail kept getting in the way. I grabbed a knife and had to cut a hole in the pants for my tail to fit through. It still didn¡¯t feel comfortable but would have to do for the moment. I then looked at the swords scattered about and finally chose a steel shortsword attaching it to my waist with its harness. Teague couldn¡¯t find any clothes that could fit him so he wore some baggy pants with the legs cut to his ankles and wore a cloak that went down to his ankles. As well as carrying an axe he was eyeing earlier. He didn¡¯t look happy though that he couldn¡¯t find anything in his size. Matt had gone with some simple plain clothes and some leather armor underneath his own cloak that went to his waist. John wore a full set of leather armor, with a chainmail vest and iron helmet with a spear and shield. (J) ¡°Ha-ha can¡¯t find anything Teague.¡± (T) ¡°Shut up you stupid soldier boy it''s just that we are in an area that there aren¡¯t dwarves around. I will find some clothes in town to fit me yet.¡± Teage looked frustrated in his clothes but seemed happy with his weapon. He must like it quality and feel. (M) ¡°Well what is the plan gents. We have no idea where we are or what the heck is going on. I for one wish to formulate a plan before we continue further.¡± (T) ¡°Stop worrying so much Matt we just need to grab some supplies and we¡¯ll walk around until we find something. It''s not like there is anything else we can do at this point.¡± (B) ¡°Holly might know the way back to a nearby town that we can visit. Also you guys go explore outside while we get changed.¡± Elizabeth then came in and ordered us all outside while she got her and the girls in some better clothes. We made our way to the door and opened it to see the sun rising upon a glistening forest beneath the mountain we stood from. There was a river that ran through the woods that led to an open plain and in the far distance I could see what looked to be some kind of settlement. So this was Soul Quest Online in all its glory. I was excited at the prospects that awaited us. Though weirded out how all the voices in my head had now been given ¡®life¡¯ I found it interesting and couldn¡¯t wait to see how it all played out. Chapter 2 The Forest After the girls had gotten dressed in some more decent clothes we were allowed back in. They had changed into some simple clothes with Elizabeth grabbing only a simple dagger. We then went to work packing some of the food we had found in the storeroom in some spare bags. Leaving the place behind as the sun rose further up we walked down the steep mountain trail down into the forest below. The forest didn¡¯t look that special from afar, but as we got closer I felt my gut telling me that this wasn¡¯t a great idea. I had to agree as we kept getting closer as the trees gave a decayed look and most of the trees stood bare even in the midst of the spring time weather and view we had seen earlier. I drew my sword as we got the forest¡¯s edge and rested it on my shoulder. Matt looked similarly uneasy at the way things looked, but remained quiet and collected. Giving no sign of fear, but knowing we were in for a fight. (J) ¡°Well this forest definitely has seen better days.¡± John commented while equipping his shield that was strung across his back. We all knew something was in here, but were unsure what to do. As going around didn¡¯t seem like a good idea because when we looked down earlier the forest looked to cover the entire base of the mountain. So it was going to be infinitely faster to just go through the forest and I for sure didn¡¯t want to spend the night out in the open not knowing what was out there to get us. Especially after having to deal with that lunatic earlier. (B) ¡°Lets just get this over with guys the sooner we get to civilization the better. We don¡¯t know what we are dealing with here so the faster the better.¡± Grabbing our weapons we proceeded into the forest. The forest seemed to grow around us chocking the Sun¡¯s light as it tried to pierce the dense foliage above us. After about twenty minutes of walking we saw signs of old stone structures scattered about. They seemed to be old with foliage growing over them wearing away the stone exterior. Hearing a growl from behind us we turned to see that we had been surrounded by wolves they looked rabid with red glowing eyes with the biggest ¡®Alpha¡¯ standing on top of the rock in front of us growling at us as the rest of his pack continued to circle us. (B) ¡°John grab Lydia and follow behind us. Teague you and me are going to pierce a hole in this line and clear a path for them to follow.¡± I then bolted towards the nearest wolf and tried to stab him, but it nimbly moved out of my blades reach. Teague also charged at another with his axe achieving similar results. Fighting these wolves was going to be tougher than the slow and weak skeletons we had faced earlier. They looked seasoned and were easily able to dodge our novice attempts at killing them, and Teague stumbling in his oversized clothes didn¡¯t help. Our opening attack opened a path though and we hastily seized the opportunity running away from the pack. The leader then howled at us claiming us as their prey to all around. They then proceeded to chase after us. They were going to toy with us and enjoy their hunt by the looks of it. (M) ¡°Well what¡¯s the plan guys we can¡¯t outrun them.¡± As Matt slammed his staff into the skull of a wolf that had lunged at Holly. (B) ¡°Just keep going we need to find somewhere where we could hold up and fight back. We can¡¯t fight these things out in the open.¡± We keep running forward with the wolves hot on our heels with the strange ruins appearing more frequently until we see some type of old temple in front of us. There is an open doorway ahead of us and we release a burst of speed to get inside. The wolves see what we were thinking and try to cut us off but I jump ahead and dissuade them with the swing of my sword. But, I miss that another wolf had gotten behind Elizabeth and proceeded to bite down on her ankle and dragging her back. All of us feel the same pain as she is drug back towards their pack. She starts screaming as she is drug back away from us with more wolves converging on her. (B) ¡°John get them inside quick. Matt and Teage let''s go.¡± (T) ¡°Right behind you.¡± We run to catch up to the wolf with me arriving first and stabbing the wolf dragging Elizabeth in the side. The wolf lets go of Elizabeth and Matt picks her up as more wolves jump towards us. Since they are on the offensive in such numbers we were forced to quickly retreat and watch our backs as we made our way to the entrance. (T) ¡°Haha this is quite a good fight we¡¯ve gotten ourselves into is it not.¡± as Teage slams his axe into a wolf that tried to jump him from the side. While Matt knocked another across the head with his quarterstaff that had gotten to close. They see that we are stronger than they first suspected and back up a bit, but it also seems that they are being repelled by the temple as they all stopped at a certain distance from it. We all entered the temple as a large stone crashes into where the entrance was a moment before. (J) ¡°That should keep us safe for the moment.¡± John jumps down from a ledge that the rock had been on prior. Some light is let through but for the most part his actions had just plunged us into darkness with no light sources and only minimal supplies. A light soon appears and I turn to see Holly with her hand held out with an open flame appearing above it. (M) ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Matt asked he looked amazed at the stunt and wanted to know how she was doing it probably. ¡°You mean this? This is just a simple flame spell. Do you guys not know about magic?¡± This had to sound strange to her when five young adults don¡¯t know their fundamentals. But there was nothing we could do about that as no tutorial seemed to be helping us out here. (B) ¡°You could say we were all kind of new to this.¡± ¡°You mean you¡¯ve never seen magic before?¡± (E) ¡°Guys can I get some help here. I just got bit by a wolf you know. Don¡¯t they have diseases? Does that mean I¡¯ll catch whatever they had?¡± (T) ¡°Calm ms. princess you¡¯ll be fine. Matt your the smart one right so why don¡¯t you go play doctor for a bit.¡± (M) ¡°Personally I¡¯d rather figure out how this magic of Holly¡¯s works it seems infinitely more interesting than some flesh wound.¡± (J) ¡°You gentlemen know no chivalry do you. I¡¯ll fix you up in a gif madam just give me a minute to get a better look at what we got here.¡± (E) ¡°Thanks John unlike some people.¡± She then stuck her tongue out at Matt who didn¡¯t seem to care in the least when something like magic was brought up. Now that Elizabeth''s leg is being taken care of by John let''s get back to our magic lesson. I turn back to Holly to see that her eyes are now glazed over and she looks like she is in a daze. Damn it is this temple haunted or something. Lydia then screams and faints for some reason. ¡°There now it''s just the five of us. Welcome to the soul temple.¡± Soul Temple? What the heck is this thing saying and why is it in Holly¡¯s body. ¡°You all probably have many questions for me, but I must be brief as I can¡¯t hold this form for long. There is a room further into this temple which will show you all the answers to what you seek. For your road will be full of danger and will play an important part in this world more than you all can imagine.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. With that her eyes cleared and she slumped over with me catching her before she hit the ground. (T) ¡°Well this definitely getting weird. What are we going to do with them now.¡± (M) ¡°I would like to investigate these ruins further to investigate if that apparition was telling us the truth.¡± Matt then produced a flame from his hand that flickered barely staying lit in his hand. He looked strained in doing so and it flickered out within a second. (E) ¡°Was that magic just now?¡± (M) ¡°Yeah I felt the energy that Holly was using earlier and tried to replicate it. But I must have done something wrong or she just has better control because that definitely took a lot out of me.¡± He took out an apple from his pack. Sitting down to eat and catch his breath. (T) ¡°What energy I don''t feel anything?¡± (M) ¡°That''s because I think my race is more sensitive to magic. Not that it helps with controlling magic.¡± (J) ¡°Alright all done that should last until we get to an actual healer, but at least it was superficial at best. Those scales sure aren''t just for show.¡± John had finally finished treating her leg having wrapped it in some makeshift bandages from some spare clothes he had in his backpack. (E) ¡°They sure did help though it still hurts getting bit no matter what.¡± (T) ¡°I think we can all agree to that.¡± (B) ¡°Is it okay with you if stay we explore this temple while you watch these two.¡± (E) ¡°Yeah that''s fine I''d rather stay off my leg anyways. You guys just need to figure out what the hell is going on.¡± (T) ¡°There better be some decent loot in here as well. We¡¯ll need whatever we can get our hands on if our luck keeps up¡± I saw a old unlit torch on the wall and pull it off it¡¯s pedestal to inspect it. It looked old but still able to hold a flame so I turn towards Matt. (B) ¡°Hey Matt can you try lighting this torch with your magic so we can see down here. That way you aren¡¯t having to constantly keep your magic going.¡± (M) ¡°Give me a second I¡¯m still winded from using it earlier.¡± (J) ¡°Do you think she is going to be okay?¡± (B) ¡°Who? Holly? I think she¡¯s okay but I¡¯ve never been possessed before so I can¡¯t really say for sure I guess we¡¯ll find out when she wakes up.¡± Matt then lights the torch and we descended into the temple. Our surroundings dimmed as we delved deeper inside. With our only light being the dim light of the old torch flickering and sputtering threatening to go out at any moment. After about a minute of walking we saw a strange blue light ahead coming from a doorway. We all walked through as our torch was just about at its limit as we didn¡¯t want to be plunged into darkness with no idea how to get back. The doorway opened up to a room full of pictures illuminated by blue crystals found throughout the room. There was no loot or monsters just strange pictures and some weird writing at the end of the room. I walked towards the writing leaving the rest to their bickering over not finding any loot to scavenge. As I got closer the words flowed from the wall into my mind and telling me the what was written on the wall.
Five that are one, but five that are their own Lost and alone will find unlikely allies With many trials to test their might and knowledge They will proceed on a path masked in darkness With the light seeking to burn everything away An unholy flame darkens the world The shadows will bring about a new light Merging two worlds to become one
A wave of fatigue soon takes my body and I fall over with everyone else following suit.
Unknown energy surge detected causing sensory overload. Need one hour to purge energy surge from core systems.
Great it¡¯s locked me out for an hour might as well eat dinner I guess. I slowly take off the head mount and set it on my nightstand and slowly get up. Ahg my head hurt but it wasn¡¯t that bad. Wait what? I felt like I had some new memory, but it didn¡¯t feel like a memory. It felt like a vivid picture that I could perfectly recall and it held the words I¡¯d seen earlier. (E) ¡®Wait what happened why are we back?¡¯ (T) ¡®Dang it kid what did you do?¡¯ (M) ¡®It must have been some kind of feedback from whatever magic was on the wall.¡¯ (T) ¡®So we¡¯re stuck like this again?¡¯ (J) ¡®At least until he gets back in the game which will be in an hour.¡¯ (B) ¡®Did you all see those words?¡¯ (M) ¡®Those were some cryptic writings it almost seemed like a prophecy.¡¯ (J) ¡®Maybe it was a special quest or something.¡¯ (M) ¡®That¡¯s the only thing I can think of.¡¯ (B) ¡®Well I guess I¡¯ll start dinner then. Seeing as we can¡¯t do anything right now.¡¯ I start walking to the kitchen looking at the clock on the wall. It showed that it was 6:00. Six? How was it only six when it felt like I¡¯d been playing for over four hours. This is what I get for not reading the user manual. No wonder my friends told stories about day long fights on a school night. I had just thought that the game just had a faster day night cycle. (M) ¡®There is probably a brain accelerator in the helmet.¡¯ (T) ¡®What the hell are you talking about Matt?¡¯ (M) ¡®A brain accelerator or a BA.¡® (B) ¡®That¡¯s a really cruddy acronym.¡¯ (M) ¡®Anyways it speeds up the brain¡¯s thought processors allowing for one minute to feel like two. I remember reading a fiction book that had something like that. That would also help explain the mass appeal of the game.¡¯ (J) ¡®Wouldn¡¯t there be side effects from hyper stimulating the brain though?¡¯ (M) ¡®It does tire out the user quite a bit and can cause massive migraines if used for extended length of time like a full day''s use. But most people quit out from the fatigue before that ever becomes an issue.¡¯ (T) ¡®I don¡¯t care either way as long as we get to move around the science doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯¡¯ (E) ¡®I guess but that really is amazing that it does that.¡¯ I was the head cook of the house as both my parents worked and my older sister was in college. This left me with a lot of free time at home which helped me from accidentally spilling about the voices in my head (Though it might explain how they appeared). She is currently a senior in college studying biomedical engineering. But even in highschool she always had something going on which left all the household chores to me. I prepared a simple meal of spaghetti and meat sauce. Serving it onto three plates I took one for myself and stuck the other two into the warming drawer. I then walked to my room plate in tow to my computer to see what I could find out online about my situation. I had made a vow to play the game blind, but with all the stuff happening in the game so far I decided I was going to need all the help I could get. I opened up the game¡¯s site on my internet browser and made my way to the forums to see if it had a newb guide I could utilize. I was in unknown territory and if I wanted to survive. I wanted to find a map or anything to base our location and how best to get back to a more friendly starter area. I couldn¡¯t figure out where I was though. Looking through all the maps I couldn¡¯t find any mountains near a forest with a river or more accurately a small town that had a mountain that had a forest and a river. The forums talked about how the mountains were dangerous and that the mountains had lots of dangerous creatures. So all town near mountains and a forest had to have at least some kind of wall to defend themselves from the monsters that would come from them. I also checked the game¡¯s lore looking for prophecies like the one I¡¯d read. But to my dismay there weren¡¯t any. Only mentions of some kind of armageddon war that was supposed to happen in the future (I hope these prophecies aren¡¯t correlated to mine that would suck). It didn''t make much sense to me. It just seemed like your average prophecy talking about some evil and something about the five of us. I didn¡¯t really understand it that much. The alarm on my watch then went off signalling our freedom from the energy surge. I bolted from my desk chair and sat back down on my bed grabbing the headset and putting it on starting the boot up sequence. (B) ¡¯Well whatever happens we¡¯ll deal with it. It¡¯s only a game so let''s try our best and see what happens.¡¯ (J) ¡®I always do love a good adventure.¡¯ (M) ¡®I hope we get some help though. Cause at the moment I think we quite need it.¡¯ The system finished booting up and after a second we were back in. But boy was Matt right. We were going to need all the help we could get. Chapter 3 Origins Waking up I found myself on the ground. I stood up groggily pushing myself off the cold stone floor and looked around to see that we were back at the entrance. ¡°They are awake!¡± (B) ¡°Hugh what happened?¡± ¡°We woke up to find Elizabeth passed out on the floor and didn¡¯t see you guys so we went into the temple to look for you. We saw all of you laying on the ground and some weird symbols pulsating on the wall. So we brought Elizabeth down here so we¡¯d all be together.¡± (B) ¡°Sorry about that some inscription on the wall sent some kind of energy surge and we all passed out as a result.¡± ¡°Why would you all pass out from a message written on a wall?¡± (B) ¡°Magic?¡± ¡°That would make the most sense. We¡¯ll have to tell this to the guardian when we get back.¡± (T) ¡°Get your gear together you helpless lot. We got a temple to finish exploring and we need to find a way out to this village of yours.¡± (M) ¡°Give us some time Teage we aren''t in a huge rush.¡± (J) ¡°I¡¯ll go out into the hall to check for a breeze. It should tell us the direction of an exit.¡± (E) ¡°Where am I?¡± (B) ¡°You were drug here after the girls couldn¡¯t wake you up.¡± (E) ¡°So that''s why I feel so stiff and sore.¡± Suddenly a big boom came from the hallway and dirt rained from the ceiling as the ground shook beneath us. (J) ¡°We''ve got trouble! Grab your stuff now the entrance just exploded and I heard the wolves howling just now. We''ve got to move before we become trapped.¡± We all quickly scramble together our gear and rush out the doorway into the corridor. There were four paths we could take. The way to the entrance which should have wolves streaming towards us, the doorway behind us, and two unknown hallways going in opposite directions to our right and left. The right side side had crystal lights that illuminated the hallway while the left was completely dark. (J) ¡°This way I think I felt a breeze coming from the right hallway.¡± We quickly follow after John as he leads us forward into the dimly lit hallway. I could see better though for some reason and the hallway appeared completely illuminated. While everyone else stumbled forwards. I saw what appeared to be something in the distance. I quickly grab John and pulled him back as we approached what looked to be some traps. (B) ¡°Stop! Holly can you lend us some light I think there are some traps in front of us.¡± ¡°Sure!¡± She stretched out her palm and a flame appeared illuminating the dark hallway. Showing us all the tiny strings littering the floor in front of us. ¡°How did you see that?¡± (B) ¡°Instinct?¡± (T) ¡°Well we don¡¯t have time for this. Can we disarm them or something?¡± (M) ¡°I don¡¯t know I¡¯d need some time to look at them.¡± We hear barking coming progressively closer from behind us. Growing louder with each passing second. (B) ¡°Form up against the wall. We¡¯ll use the beasts to disarm the traps. John protect the girls and make sure they stay safe.¡± (J) ¡°Well I guess we''d have to fight them at some point. Just make sure we control this chokepoint and don¡¯t let them overwhelm us.¡± Teage and me were the vanguard with our weapons drawn while Matt stood behind us with his staff at the ready. John had set his spear to the side and had grabbed his sword in his right hand and held his his shield firmly in his left. Three wolves soon come into view and leap towards us. Teage cleaves one cleanly through its neck cutting its vertebrae and severing its spinal cord without chopping off its entire head. I tried stabbing my sword forward instead of slashing and as the wolf jumped me I thrust my sword into the wolf and unable to change his momentum the wolf soon impaled itself on my sword, but his weight still knocked me over pinning the dead wolf on top of me. The third wolf jumped at Matt, but he quickly redirected the wolf using his staff down the trap filled hallway. The wolf rolled across the floor triggering arrows, darts, and a spike pitfall trap that it fell into. To finish it all off a boulder dropped into the spiked pit crushing the wolf and creating a bridge over the pitfall. (J) ¡°Glad that wasn¡¯t us.¡± (B) ¡°Can I get some help here.¡± (T) ¡°Here you go kid.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Teage kicked the wolf off of me and I freed my sword from the dead beast it had killed. Standing up I realized I was soaked in blood and that being a Beast-Kin the blood soaked into my fur. This was going to be a pain to wash out. I look over at the trapped hallway to find that the wolf that Matt had launched had triggered most of the traps and it was safe enough to proceed. (E) ¡°Is that all of them.¡± (J) ¡°Not even close we have to keep moving or more will come. They will probably smell the blood we spilled and converge here so we need to keep moving.¡± We get our stuff together and continue onwards. Pressing down the hallway. Every now or then we would find a puzzle, but since we were going up and not down we breezed through these by simple flipping a switch and disarming them. Some looked complex with either musical levelers, 8 digit locks, and even a DDR style dance room (This was definitely a weird temple). Finally opening the last door I see what the last puzzle is and to my dismay it¡¯s a chess board and there is a burly guy sitting at the table playing by himself. He looked to be a good two meters tall and had two horns coming from his head. He turns to us and as he does the board falls back into the floor. Realizing what happened he got mad and said. ¡°Oh come on I almost had it this time.¡± He looks at us and quickly looks over each of us until he spots Holly and Lydia. ¡°Holly, Lydia, is that you?¡± ¡°Daddy!¡± Lydia runs towards her dad as he picks her up swings her around in his embrace. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much I thought I¡¯d never see you again.¡± Their touching embrace was very sweet to see and he looked genuinely happy to have his daughter back. Turning to us he asked ¡°Wait how did you guys find my daughter?¡± (B) ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but we are glad that she made it back to you safe at least.¡± (J) ¡°It¡¯s the duty of any noble soul to help a young lass in need of assistance. We were glad to help.¡± (T) ¡°Though we could use some supplies and a map to orient ourselves, and some clothes that actually fit a Dwarf.¡± ¡°So wait up who are you all?¡± (B) ¡°I¡¯m Brenner a Fox-Kin.¡± (T) ¡°Teage the Dwarf nice to meet ya.¡± (M) ¡°I¡¯m Matt the elf.¡± (J) ¡°My name is John and I¡¯m a human.¡± (E) ¡°And I¡¯m the Draconian Elizabeth.¡± ¡°My name is Iroh I¡¯m the leader of our village nearby and this is my daughter Lydia, and I see you have also met Holly. We are all half demons.¡± ¡­ (B) ¡°Demons? I thought they were all evil?¡± ¡°Well since we are only half demons we have kept our sanity for the most part. But, I am especially eager to hear of your exploits in getting my daughter back to me, and opening the temple that we¡¯ve spend ages trying to get into.¡± (J) ¡°Really? All we did was flip a switch.¡± Iroh stood there for a second and then burst out laughing. ¡°The answer to this great mystery was just a simple switch. I can¡¯t wait to tell the others when we get back.¡± (M) ¡°About that. I think we still have some unwanted company chasing us so we should probably get moving.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Are there monsters down there that were chasing you?¡± (J) ¡°No it''s some pack of wolves that has been chasing us.¡± ¡°Ha! Wolves those guys are just a bunch of wimps.¡± He strode towards the entrance as the sound of howling wolves echoed out. We all backed away readying our weapons while he kept striding forward with a fierce grin. As the first wolf broke the entrance Iroh greeted it with a punch so strong it made the wolf¡¯s head cave in and shoot back into the temple as a deadly projectile. Probably killing some more wolves on its way back down. Then Iroh roared ferociously with such power and force that we all backed up a good ten meters and barely held our sanity. Holly and Lydia both remained unfazed though with Lydia smiling and cheering him on. ¡°Get them daddy. Show them who''s boss.¡± This man was not to be trifled with and if he wanted he could easily kill any of us without batting an eye. He then turned to us after seeing that the threat was no longer going to be a problem. ¡°Well now that that is taken care of let''s head back home shall we.¡± We followed him out of the forest towards the settlement we had seen earlier. Due to his antics during that ¡®fight¡¯ (more like beatdown) nothing dared to approach us. He carried his daughter on his shoulders and chatted with her as we walked. With Holly following close behind him. We on the other hand were kinda at odds about what we should do next. We don¡¯t know where we were, we could barely defend ourselves, and the first people we meet happen to be half demon half human hybrids. This definitely isn¡¯t your standard tutorial sequence thats for sure. If this was even a tutorial. ¡°So what¡¯s your guys story and how¡¯d you find these two?¡± (B) ¡°We¡¯d been captured by a necromancer and when we busted out we found Holly and Lydia and freed them. Afterwards we gathered some supplies and tried making our way through the forest to your settlement we¡¯d seen from the mountains. But we were chased by some wolves into some ancient ruins where we found some weird writings and when the wolves followed us in we ran down a hallway that led us through a bunch of trap rooms, but since we were going backwards we disarmed all the traps.¡± ¡°Well that''s not what I was expecting. You see we¡¯ve been stuck on that board game for the past ten years.¡± They were stuck in a chess game for ten years? Man I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a good thing or not considering some of the other challenges they¡¯d have to have solved. ¡°But I meant how¡¯d your party come about and what are you doing in the Monster''s Abyss.¡± (T) ¡°Monster¡¯s Abyss? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the valley we are currently in. Home to all the most dangerous creatures of the world and no man''s land that has yet to be conquered by any civilized countries.¡± (J) ¡°So why do you live here?¡± He stopped in his tracks and stared me down. ¡°Answer my question first who are you all and why are you here.¡± (M) ¡°We don¡¯t know why we are here. I believe it was the result of a failed system, and we all arrived here together. As for why we are a group ¡­ let¡¯s just say we all owe Brenner here a favor in some way or form and can¡¯t leave his service until then.¡± Thank god Matt was good at improvising as that should keep this guy off our backs about who we are and why we¡¯re here. ¡°You''re going to have to elaborate your tale over some drinks tonight, but that will suffice for now. As to why we live here that I shall tell you tonight over supper.¡± He continued walking and after a while longer we all arrived at their village. It was a small cluster of building looking to hold roughly one hundred and fifty people. There were children running around playing tag while some people were working in a small field. The biggest building in the town was in its center and looked to be some big hall of some kind.The people of the town all had demonic features such as horns, tails, and strange eyes but all of them looked human at the same time. ¡°Welcome to our humble town of Haven. A last home for darkness in this period of light.¡± Chapter 4 Haven (B) ¡°Isn¡¯t light a good thing though?¡± (M) ¡°And it doesn¡¯t seem like such dark place to begin with.¡± ¡°I was trying to make a joke, but I guess it failed. All will be explained in due time but first I must introduce you to the village. Lydia would you ring the bell at the tea hall.¡± ¡°Sure daddy!¡± she then ran off towards the big hall with a smile on her face. (T) ¡°Why do you guys have tea hall? Shouldn¡¯t it be a mead hall?¡± ¡°Well none of us know how to brew alcohol so we¡¯ve been forced to focus on tea brewing as an alternative, but due to the plant life found in the valley you shouldn¡¯t be disappointed in our brews.¡± He said with a smile on his face. A woman then came towards us with a newborn baby in her arms. She had a host of demonic features that complimented her natural features but to my surprise the child showed no such features and looked perfectly human. As she approached us Iroh walked towards her with a smile on his face telling us. ¡°This is my wife Eleanor, and these are the people who saved Holly and Lydia.¡± Eleanor broke down upon hearing this and gave the baby in her arms to Iroh before coming over and hugging Elizabeth and crying tears of joy. Spouting thank you over and over for a full minute before recomposing herself and asking us. ¡°How did you find them? I went out looking for them after they went missing last week. But, they were nowhere to be found and so I thought the worst had come to pass. But thanks to you all they are both back to us safe and sound. If you need anything from us just ask. We don''t have much but I wish to repay you for helping us.¡± (T) ¡°Then can you make me some clothes that actually fit?¡± (E) ¡°Can I get some new clothes?¡± (M) ¡°Do you have any books I can read about this place?¡± (J) ¡°Is there someone that can decorate my armor?¡± (B) ¡°Do you have a map we can use to tell where we are.¡± ¡°What do you mean you are in our town Haven which is in the Monster¡¯s Abyss.¡± (B) ¡°No I mean do you have a world map? We don¡¯t know where we are in the world.¡± ¡°I think we can rummage up a map for you and meet most of those demands. But first I must introduce you to everyone here as we don¡¯t have many visitors, and they¡¯ll all want to meet you.¡± He gave the baby back to Eleanor and proceed towards the ¡®Tea Hall¡¯ just as a bell rang lightly across the wind alerting everyone to come to the center of town. We let Iroh get ahead of us and talked about what we were going to do. (B) ¡°So what¡¯s the plan guys.¡± (J) ¡°I say we go with it. They seem nice enough.¡± (M) ¡°I¡¯d also like to try out their food and drink it sounds quite delectable.¡± (T) ¡°Also from the looks of those wolves earlier this area seems dangerous. We should stay here and try to get our bearings before trying to go out on our own.¡± (E) ¡°I want to As we got closer to the center of town we saw many different demon variants. Many of them stared at us in awe. We were new and unusual to many of them. The kids were quite curious though asking their parents what and who we were. In the center of town there was a raised platform that Iroh climbed atop to speak from. ¡°For the first time in ten years we have some visitors here to join us.¡± The crowd began to murmur at the news not knowing what to make of it. Some were happy while others looked fearful and scared. ¡°They saved my daughter and Lydia from a nefarious necromancer that had captured them. Saving them from their vile experiments.¡± The crowd eased and rejoiced at the news. ¡°They are a rather particular group. Who have arrived here after an accident, and even when they were in unfamiliar territory unknown to them. They decided to save our people without thinking of the danger they¡¯d have to face. For that I wish for you all to give them a fair chance. Now come up here friends.¡± We all climbed atop the platform, but since Teage was too small me and John had to help him onstage. Iroh then introduced us to everyone and announced that in celebration of our arrival they¡¯d have a feast and celebrate our arrival for the rest of the day. From there we all ended up separated as the townspeople swarmed us. With the men swarming Teage probably to talk with a manly dwarf while Elizabeth was swarmed by the village boys who had become enamored by her charming appearance. Matt had the opposite problem and was swarmed by all the girls to his disapproval. While John was kind of left out with only a handful of people approaching him to his dismay, but to his credit he did keep a convincing smile the entire time. As for me. I was swarmed by all the villages kids as they swarmed all over me grabbing and stroking every spare inch of my body. It was not a very fun experience as they¡¯d sometimes sneak behind me and pull on my tail. I made some rather pathetic whining sounds as a result to my dismay and so I tried to growl and bark at them to make them stop. They only thought it was even more cute and so I was piled upon by more kids for an hour. After a while the kids slowly got off of me and parted as Holly came forward. But what was weird was the way she was looking at me she had a deep penetrating gaze to her eyes. Her eyes had a red glow emanating out towards us that seemed to star directly at my soul. I shivered as what felt like a hand grazing past it that brought me to cold sweat. She then walked off with a frown on her face, but before I could give chase the kids renewed their petting onslaught. But I heard whispers from the kids that were quite ominous and explained why they had freed me earlier when she came by. ¡°She¡¯s so creepy.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s like she¡¯s looking into us.¡± ¡°I heard that she has been seeing the guardian a lot recently.¡± ¡°That would explain why she stopped playing with us.¡± ¡°And why she has been getting so creepy lately.¡± It all sounded ominous and I¡¯ll have to ask Iroh about it later and see what he has to say. Luckily for me John saved me a few moments later. Separating the kids from me and telling them we needed to discuss something real quick. When we were a ways away he asked me in a scared voice. (J) ¡°What the hell was that? It felt like something was staring at my soul. Do you know who did or what did it?¡± (B) ¡°I think it was Holly, but it was weird she had this red gaze in her eyes. She also seemed a lot less friendly like she was suspecting me of something.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. (J) ¡°Well for now let''s get back before they think we¡¯re acting suspicious. Also I think dinner is ready.¡± (B) ¡°Didn¡¯t we just eat though?¡± (J) ¡°You ate earlier but these bodies haven¡¯t eaten since we were in that necromancer''s lair so I could go for a decent meal, some tea, and some fine ladies to faughn over.¡± (B) ¡°Didn¡¯t they ignore you earlier though?¡± (J) ¡°Hey they haven¡¯t gotten a chance to know me yet I still have a chance.¡± (B) ¡°I feel like you are going to overlooked no matter what you do because of our exotics.¡± (J) ¡°Just because I¡¯m human doesn''t mean that they won¡¯t be interested in me.¡± (B) ¡°No I just said that you¡¯re going to have a harder time with the competition.¡± (J) ¡°Teage will ward off all the girls and when they get bored of Matt ignoring them they all come to me.¡± (B) ¡°Sure they will.¡± Dinner was then served which consisted of a hearty meat roast (Don¡¯t know what meat), some mashed potatoes(?), cheese (I don¡¯t want to know), some bread, and other exotics fruits and vegetables. They also served a multitude of desserts from a fruit sauce and pie along with some kind of bone that had a sugary marrow when you chewed into in after being smoked. Iroh also wasn¡¯t kidding when he said they were good at making tea they had an amazing variety of teas to choose from. They had a warmed sweet caffeinated tea, a cold minty tea that made you sleepy, and a hot bitter tea that acted that loosed people up like alcohol but the buzz lasted longer, but one of the side effects was that you immediately pass out after the buzz wears off (apparently it has to stay hot to give you a buzz (I think it''s just to make it to where you can¡¯t chug it.)). As the sun went down the festivities continued to grow and people drank merrily as fires were lit to light up the night. Teage went crazy with the tea and tried mixing the buzz tea with the mint and drank a whole tankard before immediately passing out for the night as a result of the concoction (luckily they said he¡¯d wake up tomorrow better than ever). While Matt was chugging the caffeinated stuff by the gallon and was the life of the party as he broke out in dance for a solid thirty minutes before passing out (He was going have one heck of a headache and some very sore legs). I guess John had a shot after all now that Matt and Teage are both out of commision. Elizabeth was able to distance herself from the boys hitting on her and was enjoying the mint tea with some girls she had warmed up to. Before I could find out if John was successful in his endeavour Iroh came over and lightly slapped me on the pack surprising me which cause me to yelp in surprise. Iroh laughed at my reaction and shook me from side to side in one hand as he held a steaming tankard in the other. ¡°So I hear you soul is broken kid.¡± I froze as he said these words to me. Wait does this have something to do with my companions? What was he planning on doing to me? Were we in danger? ¡°Relax kid. I don¡¯t really care what kind of deal or accident happened that caused it, and luckily for you I don¡¯t work for the Church anymore, or I¡¯d have to kill you where you stood. But that is something we¡¯ve got to talk about later. Either way I need to tell you something before I pass out. Have you heard of the demonic breach.¡± (B) ¡°No. Why?¡± ¡°Well the whole reason we¡¯re out here with the looks we have is because of it. Ten years ago there was a huge swell of mana that exploded tearing a huge rift in the void that caused all humans in its vicinity to gain demonic qualities, be ripped cell by cell by the void, and it even fractured souls. The head priest in the area deemed the only way to protect the people there was to form a warp barrier that would deposit the whole mess in the Monster¡¯s Abyss. It succeed and we are the remains of what was originally around 10,000 people caught in the blast. The thing that doesn''t make sense to me though is why we¡¯ve never seen your group around here before. I can¡¯t think of any other way it could have happened. But here you are, so what are you, and what are you all doing here.¡± (B) ¡°I¡¯m playing a game?¡± (I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on at this point.) ¡°HAHAHAHA an odd answer for an odd person. Well tomorrow I¡¯ll take you to someone that might be able to sort this out. For now though I¡¯m goooing tooo sleeeeep.¡± He then proceeded to start snoring and lean on me with all his weight and I soon fell over as a result of his mass upon my scrawny frame. Great I now had a unconscious heavyweight laying on top of me and everyone else is slowly falling left and right. It looks like some of the women are helping tend to the fallen and it seems John is still standing (much to my surprise). As the moon rose in the sky and the fires dimmed people started going back to their homes. I quickly realized we hadn¡¯t made any housing arrangements with anyone and I¡¯d rather have my body inside when I log back in rather than being at the mercy of nature if it started to rain when we logged back in (Also there might be a buff of some kind!). As I slowly crawled out from underneath Iroh I saw Eleanor approach us with a apologetic smile on her face with Lydia behind her finishing up some pie. ¡°Sorry about Iroh here. He gets a real kick out of his brews. Sometimes a bit more then he should. But, since you all don¡¯t seem to have any plans to spend the night anywhere. Why don¡¯t you come to our house to spend the night. It¡¯s the least we could over you for what you have done for us.¡± Elizabeth quickly answered for me while carrying Teage and Matt over her shoulders. (E) ¡°That would be greatly appreciated as these oafs seem to have already kicked the bucket as well.¡± Matt overheard us and came over to hoist Iroh on his back saying. (J) ¡°I¡¯ll carry Iroh for you madam.¡± ¡°Why thank you John that¡¯s a load off my back.¡± John picked up Iroh and hefted him over his shoulder. But it appeared he was being quite strained under the weight of Iroh¡¯s large frame. Wait! How is Elizabeth holding up Matt and Teage? (B) ¡°Do you need some help there Elizabeth?¡± (E) ¡°No. Why?¡± (B) ¡°Well aren¡¯t they heavy?¡± (E) ¡°I mean I guess they are. But, I guess it¡¯s because of my draconian racial perks.¡± (B) ¡°That would probably explain it.¡± ¡°Perks?¡± (B) ¡°You know bonuses from being a draconian.¡± (E) ¡°Anyways let''s get these lugs home before it gets too late.¡± (J) ¡°Agreed the sooner the better.¡± By the time we got to their home John was bucking under Iroh¡¯s weight and Eleanor had to help him the rest of the way to their bed where they laid the loudly snoring man. John then immediately passed out in the corner. With Elizabeth and me getting some bedding for them so they¡¯d not have as sore muscles from sleeping on the hard ground. Eleanor then noticed that she Holly wasn¡¯t back yet. ¡°Sorry to ask you, but could you go get Holly for me Brenner. I need to get Lydia ready for bed so would you go bring her back for me?¡± (B) ¡°Sure thing Eleanor it¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I left the house and went back towards the festivities, but before I got close I saw a streak of white flash in the forest. There also was a glint of red flashing that almost seemed to beckon me towards them. I couldn¡¯t help but slowly walk towards them and before I knew it I was entering the forest. I was approaching what appeared to be an old ruin of what looked to be a shrine. At the entrance of the shrine was what looked to be a pair of golden eyes along with what looked to be Holly, but she looked less human with long horns, a pair of leathery wings, and dark red eyes that emanated a malicious aura that pierced through you. ¡°So is this the person you were talking about Holly?¡± ¡°Yes milady he is the fractured soul that has appeared within your realm.¡± ¡°He must be at it again with his experiments. But, no matter he should at least have an interesting story to tell.¡± ¡°What do you wish for me to do with him milady?¡± ¡°Put him to sleep I wish to study this soul without being interrupted.¡± ¡°As you wish milady.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what mysteries you hide Brenner.¡± I knew I should be scared, but I felt strangely calm. They didn¡¯t seem to radiate a killing aura but rather an aura of curiosity about what I was and what I could mean to them. I suddenly felt really sleepy though and before I knew what was happening. I was already on the ground and my eyelids were feeling very heavy. Before I fell asleep though I could have sworn I saw nine tails moving around me. I must¡¯ve been going crazy though cause I swore I had only one tail.
Prerequisite met for ¡°Game Sleep¡±. Will remain logged in if user falls asleep inside of game. Will still sleep in original time parameters. Sleep will not be affected by the world¡¯s time dilation.¡¯
(This happened after he fell asleep so he doesn¡¯t know of this new ability of his.) Chapter 5 Awakening (Teage) Ah! Where am I? Last thing I remember was jugging that concoction that I made. Maybe I should have listened when they said not to mix those drinks together. It looks like I¡¯m in some house lying in some kind of bedding between Matt and John. They both look exhausted, but the real problem is¡­ They are snoring too damned loud. I slowly got up and looked around. I saw Holly and Lydia sharing a bed in the room we¡¯re in. I got up and looked in the other room to see Elizabeth on some similar bedding to us next to Iroh and Eleanor¡¯s bed. But, I couldn¡¯t see where Brenner was. Also why were we still logged in? Brenner should have logged out when we all went to bed. Well I mean when he was going to bed I had already passed out at the very beginning to much my dismay. But, still, he should be here so where is he? I exit the house to see if he went outside to relieve himself. He should be around here. If he wasn¡¯t we¡¯d probably receive some sort of penalty if when was outside of the 5 km radius from us like that guy said at the beginning. Taking a look around outdoors in the morning twilight gave me no sign of him, but I did see the townspeople getting to work with some wielding some ridiculous weapons and forming up into some kind of hunting party. ¡®Growl¡¯ Ah I guess I should get something to eat myself I didn''t have that long last night to eat. It was quite the shame to I swear I could have eaten another two plates of food at the least. I start walking around looking for food as I didn¡¯t want to wake up our hosts just yet and found a small clearing on the outskirts of the town that held what looked to be a forge. Next to the forge a young man was tending to a small flame that burned under a steaming pot. He must be making something to eat while his forge warms up. Don¡¯t mind if I join in! I made my way down to the boy and gave him a warm hello. (T) ¡°Hey boy warming up the forge for a hard day''s work?¡± ¡°Ahhh, ah yes sir!¡± (T) ¡°Calm down boy I just came by to see what was cooking around here. When I saw you cooking next to your forge I decided to join and see what you were making. I¡¯ve never seen an actual forge before, but I¡¯ve always wanted to use one to forge my own armaments.¡± ¡°Wait? A dwarf like you has never been around a forge before?¡± (T) ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve always been stuck in an academic setting. They weren¡¯t real into weapon and armor manufacturing.¡± ¡°Sounds like your home was really peaceful. I envy you.¡± (T) ¡°Don¡¯t kid it just leads to backstabbing and pent up frustrations that got me into trouble. Anyways what you cooking?¡± ¡°Just a simple porridge I make in the morning while the forge heats up. You wish to join me when it heats up to forge some orders I have?¡± (T) ¡°Sure not like I got anything else to do this morning.¡± ¡°Great it¡¯ll be a pleasure to work with you. My name is Jerome nice to meet you.¡± (T) ¡°Name¡¯s Teage and it¡¯ll be a pleasure to work besides you.¡± After the meal warmed up and eaten (which was quite delicious). He went inside the forge and added some more fuel to his hearth and then proceed to pump the bellows for a few minutes before adding some ingots to the fire before proceeding to pump the bellows a bit more before turning to me and asking. ¡°Could you pump the bellows for me while I get my tools ready.¡± (T) ¡°Sure thing.¡± I pumped the bellows up and down and before I knew it I fell into a rhythmic pattern that felt natural. Which felt weird but oddly satisfying since this was my first time using a forge that I could remember. Jerome had gotten his hammer and tongs after putting on some heavy leather gloves. Using the tongs he retrieved a ingot from the hearth and proceeded to hammer it into the shape he wanted. Using strong heavy movements he hammered it until it cooled off too much for him to work with and proceeded to put it back in the hearth to heat back up. He repeated this process with the other ingots he had set in the hearth. Before I knew it we had fallen into a rhythmic pattern of hammering, and reheating that was only interrupted by the occasional need to add more fuel to the flames. When he was finally happy with what we had gotten done so far he stopped and said we were going to take a break. We went outside and to my amazement the sun was already halfway up in the sky. With everyone about doing their work. Jerome poured two cups of water from a barrel that stood just outside the forge and offered me a drink. I accepted his generosity gladly parching my throat after working under the heat of the forge greedily drinking another cup after guzzling down the first in quick succession. ¡°You were a great help Teage usually it takes me about two days to do that much work.¡± (T) ¡°Why are you the only blacksmith? Surely there is enough work around here to require more than one.¡± ¡°Nah most of the warriors use their fists or bodily features instead of weapons. I mostly just make knives and farming implements. Occasionally I¡¯ll make the odd jewelry on request, but for the most part I don¡¯t really make weapons and armor. The monsters here have stronger hides than what I can forge with the metal I use. They usually break or shatter and it¡¯ll take me a couple of days to fix and when there became more weapon repairs then I could keep up with and people became stronger then the weapons I could make. I got relegated to simple tool making and the odd sharpening. We¡¯ve managed to find some magical weapons that have held up so far and I¡¯ll occasionally be asked to sharpen and maintain them.¡± (T) ¡°You can¡¯t make strong enough weapons and armor?¡± ¡°No. No one here has enough knowledge in metallurgy or mining to make anything better. Most of the metal I¡¯m working with came from an old treasure trove. There were tons of rusted weapons stashed there and I smelted the old decrepit weapons into the iron ore that we use.¡± (T) ¡°So you haven¡¯t actually mined for any ore?¡± ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t know where to begin to look for ore and we don¡¯t have the facilities to utilize better ores. Also I¡¯m usually kept busy enough that I haven¡¯t had much free time to even explore for ore.¡± (T) ¡°I see. That¡¯s a real shame. A good weapon and set of armor are more than worth their weight in gold if done right.¡± (T) ¡°Yeah it¡¯s just that I never did finish my apprenticeship and so I¡¯ve just been improvising all these years.¡± ¡°Do you somehow know any secret techniques or process and knowledge of metallurgy?¡± (T)¡°It¡¯s weird I feel like I have some knowledge but I can¡¯t remember where I learned or what I know.¡± ¡°So kind of like reflexive muscle memory?¡± (T) ¡°I guess but I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Want to try forging something then.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. (T) ¡°I¡¯d be willing to try. Maybe it will trigger some kind of memory relapse.¡± ¡°First let''s go get some lunch I¡¯m starving then while I sharpen and polish the blades you can try making your own weapon and we¡¯ll see how you do and go from there.¡± As we made our way towards town to get some stuff for lunch I saw John come towards us carrying a basket of food. He waved to us and approached us with his large smile like he usually approached things. I wondered what he has been up to to receive all that food he now has. What was weird was how Jerome suddenly tensed up upon seeing him. He just went a little stiff like he¡¯d seen a ghost before instantly correcting himself and returning back to his usual pace and posture. I¡¯ll ask him about it later but first let''s see what John has for us to eat. (J) ¡°Hello Teage what a wonderful day today is it not! I was wandering about town and decided to help out these fine people with their household aliments to the best of my abilities and after helping reroof someone''s home they rewarded me with this most divine lunch to feast upon. Would you care to join me in enjoying this fine meal she prepared for me.¡± Of course he helped out a woman in need he¡¯d always stop whatever he was doing to help out someone in need (especially women). Luckily for me they appeared to have at least rewarded him for his efforts instead of leaving him without even thanking him. That was a vast improvement I¡¯d have to say. Maybe it¡¯s just because he¡¯s a new face around here and they wanted to hit on him though. (T) ¡°Sure if you can spare enough for a third¡± I pointed to Jerome who was besides me. (J) ¡°The more the merrier nice to meet you my name is John.¡± ¡°Jerome. Nice to meet you.¡± He did it again to my surprise. Wincing as he shook hands with John after exchanging names. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I forgot that I needed to deliver an order real quick. I¡¯ll be back right after though and we can work on that weapon afterwards. But I¡¯ll have to miss your lunch sorry John.¡± (J) ¡°It''s perfectly okay. It''s important to keep your priorities straight so I guess I''ll See you around Jerome.¡± Jerome then made his way back to the forge while I was left with John and some lunch to keep me company. We made our way to the edge of the forest looking for some shade to escape from the sun as it rose high into the sky. (T) ¡°That was weird why did he act like that when you came by?¡± (J) ¡°I don¡¯t know. A bunch of people have been like that to me. The only ones who haven¡¯t been weird around me are the stern older people and the younger kids around here. It''s weird but not that big of a deal. Anyways have you seen Brenner. He wasn¡¯t with us when we woke up. I was coming by the forge to see if you were following the stereotype and trying to make some dwarven armaments. Since we didn¡¯t know were you were.¡± (T) ¡°No I haven¡¯t seen the kid he wasn¡¯t there when I woke up either. He should be around here though so I guess we''ll see him around eventually.¡± (J) ¡°Yeah I guess you¡¯re right. So how was the forge?¡± (T) ¡°It was a good experience. What was weird was how natural all the movements came and how it felt like I¡¯d done the movements many times before. I can¡¯t remember ever have stepping in a forge or even Brenner stepping into one. The only time he has even seen a forge was that one time at a trappers rendezvous.¡± (J) ¡°That is strange ¡­ did you make anything?¡± (T) ¡°No I just worked the bellows while he made some knives. I¡¯m going to be the one forging this afternoon. So I hope his errand doesn¡¯t take to long.So what are Matt and Elizabeth up to?¡± (J) ¡°Elizabeth went with Eleanor to help babysit some kids while Matt went with Holly to go see their resident mage who teaches the older kids magic and basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.¡± (T) ¡°Sounds like they''re having fun.¡± (J) ¡°Huh why do say that? It sounds quite boring and tedious to me.¡± (T) ¡°Elizabeth likes taking care of kids, and Matt always liked learning new things so he should be occupied for a while. So what do you plan on doing next?¡± (J) ¡°I don¡¯t know maybe I¡¯ll practice using those weapons we found yesterday so that when you make some good weapons I¡¯ll be able to wield them properly. We¡¯ll need to talk to Brenner though tonight and figure out what''s going on. Because we should have been automatically logged out once the user falls asleep.¡± (T) ¡°So you think he pulled an all nighter.¡± (J) ¡°I don¡¯t know that¡¯s why we need to have a talk with him and figure out what''s going on.¡± (T) ¡°I guess I¡¯ll see you later then. Thanks for the lunch by the way. If you see Brenner around get someone to come by and let me know. (J) ¡°Alright see you later.¡± This is disconcerting. What could have happened to Brenner? I know he¡¯s fine and nearby but not where or why. He hasn¡¯t been seen around and from what we know we shouldn¡¯t be in the game still. All players are logged out if they fall asleep in the game, and he¡¯s not one to stay up all night long. I don¡¯t like this and what the implications could be, but until he¡¯s found there isn¡¯t much we can do. I guess I¡¯ll go back and see if Jerome is back yet. As I make my way back I hear a sweet song flowing across the wind that felt reinvigorating. I couldn¡¯t make out the words, but the song seemed to flow over me and I felt entranced by its beauty. Unconsciously I made my way to its source and to my surprise I found myself looking at Elizabeth. Who was singing to a kid who had fallen over and hurt himself near the edge of the forest. The weird thing was the kid¡¯s skin was slowly growing back and after a minute the wound was just gone. The kid had fallen asleep as a result of her singing and was resting against her blissfully asleep. Elizabeth then looked up to me and seemed quite embarrassed that she had been overheard. Not like I cared. If she had that nice of a voice she should have song for us. I¡¯m actually a tad bit irritated that this kid got to hear her sing first. (T) ¡°Nice voice you got there Elizabeth.¡± (E) ¡°Thanks.¡± (T) ¡°So you can use magic?¡± (E) ¡°No! Why do you say that?¡± (T) ¡°Well that kid¡¯s wound is already gone.¡± (E) ¡°What!¡± She then looked at the kid¡¯s body and saw that his wound was gone without so much as a scar. She seemed surprised at this fact more than anything. I guess when she started singing she unconsciously weaved magic into her voice creating a healing aura. I didn¡¯t know much about magic to guess the details, but I could bet that this is a very rare thing and very good for us. Having a healing bard who can sing well is an awesome improvement now whenever we get hurt we¡¯ll get to hear her sweet voice. SCORE!!! (E) ¡°Anyways. What are you doing right now?¡± (T) ¡°Me I¡¯m currently helping the blacksmith make tools for the village.¡± (E) ¡°So what are doing over here.¡± (T) ¡°I was taking a lunch break as he had to deliver an order. I¡¯m headed back to the forge now to try my hand at making weapons.¡± (E) ¡°Why would we need weapons.¡± (T) ¡°What do you mean Elizabeth you saw what''s out there we need to prepare ourselves for them.¡± (E) ¡°Why though why must we kill things inside this game. I finally have my own body now and I don¡¯t want to risk it fighting monsters. I wish I could take this body out of the game and have fun in the real world!¡± (T) ¡°You know that''s not possible Elizabeth we don¡¯t exist outside Brenner¡¯s head and as such we should help him however we can. Whether it be fighting or otherwise.¡± (E) ¡°Why though? Why are we stuck inside of his head.¡± (T) ¡°Already questioning your life?¡± (E) ¡°Yes. I just want to know why are we there and how did we all come about. We are all so different yet share the same body and if the game is right we also share the same soul. I ¡­ I don¡¯t know what to think of this.¡± (T) ¡°Then don''t think about it just enjoy yourself. That''s what I plan on doing. I¡¯m going forge the best weapons and armor and drink good alcohol around people I enjoy being around. I''m not going to worry about the small things and enjoy live as it comes by. So get that kid back to the others and make sure you don''t waste another second worrying about that stuff we''ll deal with it as it comes together.¡± She stays silent and slowly nods as she gets up holding the kid in her arms. Making her way back towards the other kids I smile. She''s a good lass but she needs to learn to relax a bit more. This is a new experience for all of us and for better or worse it has many implications for the future. I just hope they aren¡¯t to big. As I make my way back to the forge I see Jerome making his way there as well. Having finished his delivery he seemed deep in thought of what I couldn¡¯t tell, but I¡¯m guessing it has something to do with John. (T) ¡°Ready to get to work Jerome.¡± ¡°Yeah just give me a second to get some water.¡± Now it¡¯s time to see if I can make anything decent from this forge I can¡¯t wait to get to work. ¡®Enter super awesome forging montage here¡¯ Chapter 6 The World and Magic (Matt) ¡°Sit down kids class is starting.¡± This is annoying most of these kids are between five to ten years old. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m going to be able to get much out of this, but I want to find out more about magic and this guy is the only one who¡¯ll teach that isn¡¯t already busy. The classroom is also quite different being outdoors. I wonder if it being outside has to do with magic, the temperature, or space. ¡°Today we¡¯ll be brushing up on our world geography as we have a guest today from outside the Monster¡¯s Abyss. From what I¡¯ve been told it wasn¡¯t their intentional destination, but we still welcome them with open arms and it is a good way to mingle and learn more about outside cultures. For most of you here you haven¡¯t seen or met anyone outside of this town in your entire life.¡± Now that I think about it most of the kids are staring at me rather curiously. I guess they are wondering why I look differently from them. They all look roughly the same and to my closer inspection they all appear just like human children I wonder if the demonic features are hereditary or if they grow during puberty or something. ¡°Matt here is an elf and the elf live in Myrkvior which lies just northeast of the Monster¡¯s Abyss where we live. They usually live by themselves and remain quite secluded. But, occasionally people will leave on pilgrimages to study or adventure for a few decades before returning to share their collected knowledge with everyone back home. Elves also live the longest lives out of the humanoid species living up to a thousand years. Their downside however is that they rarely have kids which is why wars and disasters can be disastrous for them as a race.¡± ¡°So Matt you''re from Myrkvior?¡± ¡°Are all elves as tall as you?¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± I was barraged with questions and I tried my best to answer them as best I could. (M) ¡°I¡¯m not from Myrkvior and I don¡¯t know. I lost my memory about seven years ago, and I haven¡¯t seen or remembered ever seeing an elf other than myself.¡± ¡°You should go check with our update shrine then. It can tell you your age and it might help you with your memory it has happened. ¡± (M) ¡°An update shrine?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard of them before?¡± (M) ¡°I¡¯m not from around here and where I come from we don¡¯t have them.¡± ¡°Hm, then I should take you to see the guardian after class then. She will surely help you with your predicament. But for know how much do you know about magic?¡± (M) ¡°I don¡¯t know much but I¡¯ve been practicing and can create some flame.¡± I then produced a small flame in the palm of my hand. It was little more than a tiny candle but a flame nonetheless. ¡°Is that all you can do?¡± (M) ¡°Yes I just started using magic yesterday when Holly showed me.¡± ¡°Just yesterday? So you¡¯ve never used magic before?¡± (M) ¡°No where I was from there isn¡¯t such a thing as magic so I¡¯ve never tried.¡± ¡°Well I guess we''ll go over the fundamentals of magic today. Johnny what are the main elements of magic that we know of.¡± ¡°There is fire, water, earth, wind, holy, dark, and void magic.¡± ¡°Good now those are just the basic elements. There are also other advanced forms of magic like lighting, ice, metal, vacuum, soul, nature, conjuration, and alteration.They are more powerful forms of magic that combine or refine those basic elements. There might even be other forms, but these are all the forms I know of.¡± (M) ¡°So how does magic work exactly?¡± ¡°Class would you like to answer his question? Billy how about you?¡± ¡°Magic is the manipulation of mana inside and outside our bodies to achieve a set goal which is a spell. Not using a spell verbally or mentally will use a lot more mana and is harder to control. If you don¡¯t have the ability or power to cast a spell correctly it can rebound and harm the user.¡± ¡°Yeah just like how Nino got sent flying into the river he tried using rexcalibur.¡± ¡°Hey it was your guys fault for interrupting me when I was casting the spell. I was lucky I landed in the river or I¡¯d have broken some bones at best. I should show our guest here my magic on you just to show you how much I¡¯ve gotten better since then.¡± ¡°ENOUGH! Nino what Harrison did was unacceptable and he has already been punished for his actions, and Harrison if I hear another word about that prank your going to help me dust my book collection after school today.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± (M) ¡°So using magic is dangerous?¡± ¡°Well it all depends on how it¡¯s used. The more powerful the spell the worse the potential rebound will be. That is why it is especially important to know your limits and if your are experimenting with new spells to have safeties in place to protect you in case of a rebound.¡± (M) ¡°So what exactly causes a rebound?¡± ¡°Interruption of a spell or lacking mana for a spell will cause a rebound. This is important to take into consideration during a fight. Casting a spell takes great concentration and unless you have special training should be done while standing still to better focus your mana. If you are interrupted you will usually be incapacitated as a result. Some spells have fast casting times to make up for this fact, but even with these spells there is still a chance for an opponent to interrupt you and cause a rebound.¡± ¡°What about Myrkvior Merrick?¡± ¡°Myrkvior? Ah yes sorry about that I went on a tangent there didn¡¯t I. Anyways Myrkvior is a heavily forested area full of magic, monsters, and fey. Most who enter the forest without a guide meet a horrible fate due to these reasons and this is why people only go into the forest in strong groups or with an elven guide. This is why much about elven society and culture is a mystery to many. Occasionally some will leave to seek out new knowledge to bring back to their people. Some of these people never return and are usually the elves you will hear about in adventuring parties. Bordering Myrkvior is Fenokee Marsh to the south, the Sacean Plains to the west, and The Desert of Arrakis to the North.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°I heard that the demons live in Arrakis is that true?¡± ¡°Yes most demons live around Arrakis and it has been the center of many demon kings and lords through the years. Today we believe this is because of a special spice found in the desert that is said to promote growth for demons. Also Arrakis is said to have many ley lines running underneath the sand that helps to develop the birth of powerful demons. The Sacean Plains is home to nomads and powerful beasts. The reason for the inhabitants nomadic behavior is due to these powerful beasts. They are slow but destructive and so many choose to adapt to a nomadic life style. The three most dangerous beasts found in the area are the wyverns, rhyhorn, and herba-reptilia.¡± ¡°Herba-reptilia? What the heck is that?¡± ¡°Have I not told you guys about them? I swore I have at some point of well I guess it slipped my mind. Well herba-reptilia are these long monsters that crawl below the tall grass of the plains. They are extremely stealthy and are hard to detect omnivores that eat most anything in their path. Averaging at about fifty meters long and three meters wide. The only reason they aren¡¯t that big a threat is because of how slow they normally are averaging at the pace of a snail. But don¡¯t take them lightly as they can easily catch a horse at full speed if angered. Their bodies are also heavily resilient and as a result-¡± ¡°Can I go to the bathroom?¡± ¡°Yes you may. Now where was I? Ah yes Fenokee Marsh is a dangerous marsh full of many dangers and rewards as it is a hotbed for poisons and medicines used throughout the world. But due to constant rainfall, stealthy monsters, and constant fog it is a dangerous area to traverse. Many reptilian beastmen live in the swamp and harvest its exotic plants for merchants, but for the most part due to natural hazards in the area it is mainly uninhabited.¡± ¡°Can we go there there one day? I heard that there is a group of witches studying nature magic there.¡± ¡°Ah the witches of crookback bog are indeed famous, but they are said to be very reclusive and dangerous so I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. AH! I forgot to take that off the stove. I¡¯ll be right back give me a second class.¡± Merrick then sped off towards his home in the distance without another word leaving us to ourselves. He seems to be a bit scatterbrained but quite knowledgeable. I can now understand why he¡¯s teaching kids instead of hunting with the other villagers. Though knowledgeable I¡¯m not sure I would want him backing me up in a fight if he forgot something at a crucial point in time. I¡¯ll have to ask him about getting my hands on some spells and tomes to learn some basic magic later. ¡°Guess it''s time to go home now.¡± Wait what? I thought he said he¡¯d be right back. (M) ¡°Isn¡¯t he coming back?¡± ¡°He said he was, but the second he steps into his lab you have to send someone to go drag him out. So usually we all go home when he runs off.¡± ¡°Want to come have lunch with us Matt?¡± (M) ¡°Sure I don¡¯t have any plans right now I guess I¡¯ll have to come back later to get my hands on some spells and tomes though.¡± ¡°I can teach you some basic spells after lunch if you want. My parents are out hunting right now so I have plenty of time to teach you what I know.¡± (M) ¡°That would be greatly appreciated Nino. Thank you.¡± ¡°Why have Nino teach you when I can teach you much better. I have twice the mana potential as her and can cast a multitude of spells with ease.¡± I could already tell I wasn¡¯t going to like this guy. From his superior attitude and disrespect for his fellow classmates I can already tell he¡¯s just an egotistical brat. (M) ¡°Sorry Harrison I¡¯d like to learn from Nino first maybe later I¡¯ll swing by and you can teach me a few tricks then.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to teach Matt anything right now though, do you Nino?¡± ¡°I do and I will now leave me alone. You might have more mana but your control is pitiful and you can only cast large destructive spells. So how about you learn some control before you lecture me on magic.¡± ¡°Very well Nino. I guess I¡¯ll see you around then.¡± He then walked off towards some other boys who he struck up a conversation as he left. That kid is definitely going to cause us trouble at some point. The real question though is how much power he has and how rash he is with his magic. The last thing that needs to happen is getting caught in the middle of a fireball and being roasted alive by a child¡¯s egotistical antics. What am I talking about he¡¯ll probably just get a posse together and try to beat her up later. I really need to realize that these are kids and not trying to kill us. ¡°Sorry about that Matt. Harrison just needs to learn how he isn¡¯t the center of the universe all the time. Let¡¯s go to the river and practice some elementary water magic. But first I need to go get my grimoire real quick. I''ll be right back.¡± She then ran off towards her own house to get her grimoire leaving me alone as everyone walked away to do various things. I went towards the river nearby to give it a try before she came back. I wanted to see how well I could manipulate the water without a proper spell. I had some success with fire but that was without a fire to begin with. So maybe I could control the already existing water more easily as a result. As I got closer to the river side I slowed my breathing and tried to concentrate on the mana around me. I could feel all the mana surrounding me and how it flowed with the wind across the water. I tried to reach out towards the river to manipulate it but before I could even start Nino came out of nowhere and summoned a gust of wind that knocked me over into the river. I climbed out soaking wet yelling at her. (M) ¡°WHAT WAS THAT FOR!!!¡± ¡°To stop you from overexerting yourself on a moving body of water. Did you even think of how much energy it takes to control a moving body of water as a beginning mage?¡± ¡°Sorry about that I didn¡¯t think about it.¡± Goodness if she hadn¡¯t stopped me I¡¯d have probably had a rebound due to the amount of energy it would have taken me to manipulate the moving water. I should¡¯ve thought about how much energy it would have taken to do that and without a spell no less. (M) ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have been so rash and careless. Thank you for stopping me.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t make me use my magic in a hurry it takes me a while to recover so give me a minute. Here is my grimoire you can look through it while I catch my breath.¡± She looked a little tired like she ran a full hundred meter sprint. I guess rushing magic requires a lot more internal mana. As I flip throughout the grimoire I see what looks to be a hand copied map. (M) ¡°Did you copy this from something Merrick made?¡± ¡°Yeah, I hand copied a world map he had. But, I didn¡¯t draw the topography for fear of messing up and wasting parchment. One day I want to explore the world outside of the Abyss. But everyone says it¡¯s not possible and that we¡¯d be hunted. I¡¯m happy here but I don''t want to be trapped here.¡± (M) ¡°Yeah that sounds good.¡± ¡°One day I¡¯ll cross those mountains and see those lands for myself. Eating all kinds of different food while learning about magic across the world.¡± (M) ¡°Okay, anyways what language is this?¡± ¡°Were you even paying attention?!¡± (M) ¡°No, I was looking through your grimoire.¡± She looked at me disappointed at my lack of attention to her goals in life. ¡°It¡¯s basic why can you not read?¡± (M) ¡°Not in this writing format. I was taught a different way of writing so could you tell me what it says?¡± ¡°Sure, but you should get someone to teach you to read and write if you seriously wish to pursue magic.¡± She is definitely right there I guess this means I¡¯ll be the only one to wield magic. Those guys don¡¯t take spanish seriously so I doubt that they¡¯ll be able to pick it up. Maybe Elizabeth will be able to though she is more intelligent than them. Anyways I guess I¡¯ll learn what I can from Nino for now. Hopefully I can understand it quickly I don¡¯t want to be caught ignorant to this world¡¯s rules if I get caught against a mage again. Alright let¡¯s see what we can learn. Chapter 7 Children (Elizabeth) I wish they had some coffee here, but I guess that¡¯s asking a little much. Luckily they have a tea that¡¯s supposed to have the same effect the only difference is that it¡¯s sweet instead of bitter, which is a shame. I¡¯d been hoping to try some as soon as I got this body. Guess I¡¯ll have to wait till we reach a trade center. There has to be coffee though right? RIGHT? Anyways since Brenner is MIA, Matt is off learning, John disappeared to pursue ¡®Justice¡¯, and I heard Teage went off to blacksmith. So not knowing what to do I decided to help Eleanor with day care. Most of the adults were out hunting around the village. So most of the mothers with kids two and under took care of them together. So me, Eleanor, and Selina were in charge of taking care of all the kids for the day. I was in charge of the older kids while they took care of the younger ones¡¯ needs. For the most part they entertained themselves. They were just there to take care of the little ones and make sure they don''t get into to much trouble. The girls flocked to me and I entertained them by styling their hair, or trying I should say. I''ve seen plenty of different hairstyles but I''ve never had a body to try it myself. So I¡¯m being given a crash course on hair styling while being styled myself. It¡¯s quite fun and they seem quite entertained. The boys are playing a game of tag or something and are entertaining themselves quite well for the most part. I don¡¯t know why but this whole scene feels so peaceful. Seeing these happy children living so carefree. I wish I had a body like theirs. But I¡¯m just some fabrication of this game and will disappear as soon as Brenner leaves the game. While everyone seems a little worried about Brenner being missing. I honestly don¡¯t want to ever leave the game and as soon as we find him we¡¯ll be forced to leave for the ¡®real world¡¯. That world for all intents and purposes is real to him but for me it feels like a dream I have to share with them and this world is the only ¡®real¡¯ world I need. Having your own mind to privately occupied. A body that moves at my command and not some bystander of someone else¡¯s actions. Having an actual female body and not having the feeling of that thing between my legs. I can¡¯t stand it. I know that I¡¯m a woman and having to live like that is degrading for me. How else am I supposed to think of the situation. Being the only female in the head of his doesn¡¯t help either. Why do they instinctively look in such indect areas when they see women, and why does it make that thing go erect. Honestly I¡¯m amazed I haven¡¯t gone insane yet with everything they think and say. The only thing keeping it somewhat bearable is the girls in his band section as they like to talk about actual interesting stuff like clothes and fashion. Those buffoons don¡¯t know anything about style and grab the quickest thing available before bolting out the door. ¡°Elizabeth?¡± (E) ¡°Huh what?¡± ¡°Are you okay you look like you were lost in thought. (E) ¡°I guess I was. I was just thinking how peaceful everything is here.¡± ¡°You call it peaceful but that¡¯s inside the village. Outside there are lots of dangerous monsters that the hunters have to constantly push back . My husband Joffrey is out there almost every day patrolling the illusion barrier to make sure it stays that way.¡± (E) ¡°Illusion barrier? I thought that the town was safe because the area was safe.¡± ¡°This place isn¡¯t known as the Monster¡¯s Abyss for nothing you know. The reason the name stuck was because of the multitude of adventures that would disappear never to return whenever they entered the abyss. The only reason we are even here right now is because of the guardian that set up the illusion barrier.¡± (E) ¡°You guys have a guardian here? Why haven¡¯t I seen it before?¡± ¡°She secludes herself in the forest diligently maintaining the barrier protecting the village. She only appears to us at the start of each season to join in holiday feasts. She also likes to mess with the children playing pranks on them from time to time.¡± (E) ¡°What kind of guardian is she? Cause she seems a bit odd for being your protector.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a Fey a Kitsune to be exact.¡± ¡°YEAH she¡¯s so fun to play with.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll let you pet her tails.¡± ¡°And she even does these cool magic tricks.¡± ¡°One year she made a boar appear out of a hat!!!¡± ¡°And one year she did this cool act with her tails making them disappear and reappear in a cool dance.¡± (E) ¡°So how¡¯d you some across her and why does she live here?¡± ¡°Well for the most part she found us and we don¡¯t know why she is here or even why she helps us. But, we are grateful to her and owe her our lives here.¡± (E) ¡°So when could I meet her?¡± She sounds interesting and if she is as good at magic as they are saying she might know what¡¯s going on with this whole soul business. ¡°Well since you guys are new here you should go to the update shrine and introduce yourselves to her.¡± (E) ¡°When could we do that?¡± ¡°You could do it right now if you wanted, but I¡¯d wait until all of your companions are done with whatever they are doing. It¡¯s best to all go at once so she can meet you all together.¡± (E) ¡°I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°nyways best we get started on some lunch before everyone starts pestering us to much.¡± We then start preparing a soup for lunch for the kids who don¡¯t have all their teeth developed yet. I was in charge of preparing and cutting the ingredients into tiny bits. I did a less than stellar job though almost cutting my fingers several times and the vegetables were very crudely cut. The only reason my fingers are okay is due to my scales preventing the knife from cutting me. They didn¡¯t help with my knife handling though. ¡°Well you tried at least.¡± Don¡¯t patronize me woman I know I failed miserably. You don¡¯t have to beat around the bush about it. (E) ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t exactly cook often.¡± ¡°Then who cooks out of the five of you?¡± (E) ¡°Brenner, he¡¯s quite decent at cooking up something, but he isn¡¯t a master chef at any rate.¡± ¡°Well you can¡¯t learn if you don¡¯t make mistakes. I¡¯m just glad you didn¡¯t cut yourself the way you handled that knife.¡± Yeah the only reason I didn¡¯t cut myself was because of my scales sadley. ¡°Lunch is ready kids come and get it.¡± ¡°YEAH, LUNCH TIME!!!¡± The kids swarmed us as we served them wooden bowls of soup. They eagerly swept upon us like locus and before we knew it we were almost out. When the older kids came from ¡®school¡¯ I¡¯d been afraid that we¡¯d run out of food. Luckily Selina had prepared for this and and had planned accordingly. After the line died down she gave me two bowls and told me to give them to a girl named Nino and Matt. She said that she usually was off studying alone and sometimes would forget to eat lunch from time to time. She was trying to be a mage and was diligently practicing most of the time. She also said if I saw a boy named Harrison harassing her that I should tell her about it and not take him to seriously he is just an egotistical brat that hasn¡¯t learned humility yet. I make my way towards the river were she said Nino liked to practice her magic. As I make my way there I hear the sound of chanting and look to see Matt with his hand pointed out. ¡®Nino¡¯ is watching him with an interested gaze. Then he slumps over slightly like he exhausted himself. I walked over and give them both a bowl of soup with Nino and Matt thanking me before inhaling the soup given to them before Nino starts lecturing Matt about magic or something. I don¡¯t get all of what she¡¯s saying but I let her finish before interjecting. (E) ¡°So how¡¯s magic training going four eyes.¡± (M) ¡°Four eyes? I don¡¯t even wear glasses.¡± (E) ¡°Well you''re the know it all wise guy so what else am I supposed to call you.¡± (M) ¡°How about by my name. Matt!¡± (E) ¡°Fine, anyways how is it going?¡± ¡°He¡¯s doing quite well to be honest.¡± (E) ¡°But nothing happened.¡± (M) ¡°I was practicing wind magic just now I¡¯m trying to create a gently wind right now. It¡¯s supposed to help me learn how to better control my magic. So that I don¡¯t exhaust all my mana at once on a spell that doesn¡¯t require much mana.¡± (E) ¡°So it¡¯s going well?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s proceeding smoothly enough I guess. I feel like I¡¯m gaining progress but at the same time that progress is slow and will probably take more than a day to master.¡± ¡°His progress is quite solid and if he studies diligently he should have it down in about a year.¡± (E) ¡°A year?¡± ¡°Well to master his control of magic it;ll take that long. But he¡¯ll be able to cast spells before then, but it¡¯s a good exercise to always come back to.¡± (E) ¡°Well I was going to tell you as well that we should go see their guardian and introduce ourselves. So we¡¯ll all be going together tonight so don¡¯t exhaust yourself completely alright.¡± (M) ¡°Fine. Anyways thanks for the food. Is it okay if we keep the bowls I wanted to try using water magic and I want to use the bowls to hold the water in.¡± (E) ¡°Sure just make sure to give them back to Selina later.¡± ¡°Tell her I said thanks will ya.¡± (E) ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to tell her. Anyways have fun you two.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I then head back towards Selina but halfway back I see a boy are running near the edge of the woods. I¡¯ll go check what he¡¯s doing I¡¯m not sure how this whole illusion barrier works but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s supposed to be near the forest alone. I make my way towards him as he runs to a hollow tree. He then retrieves a wooden sword and proceeds to ¡®train¡¯ with it. Swinging it around and hitting the trees around him from time to time. But, he doesn¡¯t seem well trained and it looks like someone swing around a stick and not actual sword techniques or strikes. What the heck was I expecting from this kid. Some secret technique passed down from generation to generation. I still wonder why he¡¯s alone and is doing this in some secrecy so I guess I¡¯ll go ask him. I step out in front of him and before I can even say a word he trips over a tree root and hits his knee of a rock. (E) ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine. OUCH!!!¡± I poked at his wound to make sure he wasn¡¯t lying and no surprise he was hurt quite a bit. He was starting to cry but held it in as I was in front of him and didn¡¯t want to lose face in front of me. (E) ¡°You don¡¯t look fine are you going to be alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine you don¡¯t have to worry about it!¡± He cradled his knee with both his hands while forcing back tears of pain. (E) ¡°How about I sing you a song to make it all feel better?¡± I don¡¯t know what else to do I don¡¯t have any spare cloth to make bandages and no water to clean the wound. Best to just keep him happy probably until he gets back to the village. ¡°Cheer up now big boys don¡¯t cry Stand up tall and cry no more Let the pain flow away and bring with it a happy more For wounds will heal and time waits for none So stand tall and show them who won¡± Yeah I¡¯m a bad improvising. That definitely could have been better. At the end of my song I look up to see Teage in front of me staring down at me and the kid in my arms. Well this is embarrassing I didn¡¯t think Teage would find me. God this is embarrassing I didn¡¯t sound bad did I. Aw I shouldn¡¯t have done that!!! (T) ¡°Nice voice you got there Elizabeth.¡± (E) ¡°Thanks.¡± Well at least he thought I sounded good that¡¯s a relief. I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t sing tone deaf. (T) ¡°So you can use magic?¡± (E) ¡°No! Why do you say that?¡± (T) ¡°Well that kid¡¯s wound is already gone.¡± (E) ¡°What!¡± I look at the kid to realize his wound had already healed. Did I just do that? How? I¡¯ll worry about that later. But before that what is he doing? (E) ¡°Anyways. What are you doing right now?¡± (T) ¡°Me I¡¯m currently helping the blacksmith make tools for the village.¡± (E) ¡°So what are doing over here.¡± (T) ¡°I was taking a lunch break as he had to deliver an order. I¡¯m headed back to the forge now to try my hand at making weapons.¡± (E) ¡°Why would we need weapons.¡± (T) ¡°What do you mean Elizabeth you saw what''s out there we need to prepare ourselves for them.¡± (E) ¡°Why though why must we kill things inside this game. I finally have my own body now and I don¡¯t want to risk it fighting monsters. I wish I could take this body out of the game and have fun in the real world!¡± (T) ¡°You know that''s not possible Elizabeth we don¡¯t exist outside Brenner¡¯s head and as such we should help him however we can. Whether it be fighting or otherwise.¡± (E) ¡°Why though? Why are we stuck inside of his head.¡± (T) ¡°Already questioning your life?¡± (E) ¡°Yes. I just want to know why are we there and how did we all come about. We are all so different yet share the same body and if the game is right we also share the same soul. I ¡­ I don¡¯t know what to think of this.¡± (T) ¡°Then don''t think about it just enjoy yourself. That''s what I plan on doing. I¡¯m going forge the best weapons and armor and drink good alcohol around people I enjoy being around. I''m not going to worry about the small things and enjoy live as it comes by. So get that kid back to the others and make sure you don''t waste another second worrying about that stuff we''ll deal with it as it comes together.¡± He then walked off leaving me with the kid asleep in my arms. Ah shoot! I forgot to tell him we are going to see the guardian together tonight. Guess I¡¯ll tell him later at dinner or something. I slowly get up carrying the kid in my arms as I make my way back towards Selina. Magic! Did I really use it? I don¡¯t know I was just singing and his wound naturally closed. I guess I felt a little tired afterwards but for the most part I feel like it was to easy. Doesn¡¯t magic take a lot of practice and fancy words? Maybe I¡¯m just overthinking it. But that would be cool if I can really heal with my voice. I wonder if I have to sing a certain way or something? Anyways for now I guess I¡¯ll go see what John is up to after this. I finally get back to Selina who is cleaning up lunch. Some of the kids are helping her, but for the most part they are either back to playing or napping. I set the kid in my arms under the shade of a tree and walk over to Selina. (E) ¡°Nino and Matt were thankful for the food Selina. They are going to return the bowls later though cause they wanted to use them for some magic practice or something.¡± ¡°Sounds like Nino I just hope she doesn¡¯t break the bowls. I swear I¡¯ve had to get four replacements this week alone. What happened with Arthur though?¡± (E) ¡°Ah. He fell asleep at the edge of the woods, and I brought him over here so we could keep a better eye on him.¡± ¡°Ah. No need to do that though the barrier goes a good ways past those woods so you don¡¯t have to worry about that. Hope it wasn¡¯t that big of a pain for you to go out of your way to bring him here though.¡± (E) ¡°It wasn¡¯t that big of a deal. I¡¯ll got to talk to John about something first though. I need to tell him that we should meet with the guardian tonight.¡± ¡°Alright. Just make sure to come back quick the girls seem to enjoy your company a lot.¡± (E) ¡°I will it shouldn¡¯t take that long. Then you girls can braid my hair till dinner.¡± ¡°Come back quick!¡± ¡°I will.¡± I then went off to see where John had ended up. Teage said he just had lunch with him earlier so he shouldn¡¯t have gotten far. Maybe he went around the edge of the forest to get wood or something. Surprisingly John was sleeping under the shade of a tree in some grass. He looked quite peaceful and content with his belly and feet exposed while drool excreted from his mouth. I didn¡¯t know what to do when I looked at him. I wanted to prank him or mess with him in some way but I couldn¡¯t decide how I¡¯d do it. After a minute I finally got an idea. I took his discarded shoes and tie them together before chucking them over a tree branch. I then lightly clapped his ears and he bolts awake. (J) ¡°Wh- wait, wha- why are- wha- give me back my leprechaun!¡± (E) ¡°Wake up sleepy head.¡± (J) ¡°Eh! Ah it¡¯s just you Elizabeth. Next time wake me up normally would you. I was having a nice dream. I was a knight patrolling a town with a sword at my side. People were smiling at me at every turn, and I was just about to stop the villain with a slash of my sword before you woke me up.¡± (E) ¡°Sounds like I saved his life.¡± (J) ¡°But he was an evildoer and must be struck down in the name of JUSTICE!¡± (E) ¡°That¡¯s nice. Anyways tonight we are going to go see this village¡¯s guardian so get your act together and make sure not to get lost.¡± (J) ¡°I take great offence to that. I have a great sense of direction.¡± (E) ¡°Oh, also your shoes are up there.¡± I pointed up the tree to his dangling shoes much to his dismay. The look was precious and worth all the heat I¡¯d be getting later from him. He looked dismayed and appalled at me for having done so. (J) ¡°Why would you do that I can¡¯t even reach that high.¡± (E) ¡°Guess you¡¯ll have to climb up and get them.¡± (J) ¡°But I can¡¯t even reach the lowest branch!¡± (E) ¡°Well anyways see you tonight.¡± (J) ¡°Wait! Get back here!¡± I turn and leave him behind while he still stares slack jawed for a minute. He then sighs and walks away probably to get (or make) a ladder to reach them. I feel a little bad for doing it, but it was to funny to resist. I make my way back to girls for some more hair styling to kill time before dinner tonight. We tried many different styles, but I still couldn¡¯t wrap my head around most of them. I can now do a french braid though! It¡¯s a start at the very least. I spend the rest of the afternoon with the girls having fun talking and playing with them. Though at times they try to pull on my tail which I found very annoying. I¡¯d occasionally see John running back and forth trying to do something, but I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what he was doing. Eleanor came by later and asked if I wanted to help make dinner with her. Not having anything else to do (other than play with the girls) I decided to go help her. What I didn¡¯t expect from her asking for help was if I could help her butcher this huge board that the hunter had gotten. It was about the size of a car and looked to be two tons. How¡¯d they even get it here? (E) ¡°You want my help with preparing this?¡± ¡°Is it too much? It¡¯s been so long so I forget that animals this size are uncommon aren¡¯t they.¡± (E) ¡°Yeah that could be an understatement.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s too much you can help help Selina with the vegetable prep.¡± ¡°That might be more up my alley. I¡¯ll see what she needs help with.¡± (T) ¡°OH! This looks like it¡¯ll be some good eatin. Do you need some help lass?¡± Teage was standing in the doorway with holding a shiny new sword in his hand laying across his shoulder. He looked at the giant boar with a look of delight. I couldn¡¯t blame him it looked delicious I¡¯m just not sure I should be the one to prepare it. (T) ¡°If you need some help I¡¯d like to test out this new blade I made. Do you mind if I give her a go cutting up some of this fine meat here?¡± ¡°Not at all! I¡¯d be delighted to see the work from a dwarf like yourself in practice. Go ahead and give it a try.¡± (T) ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do!¡± I left soon after to help Selina prepare the vegetables I wasn¡¯t going to be much help there I could tell. I walked over to a table where I saw John giving Selina some vegetables. Ah shoot he¡¯s going to chew me out know isn¡¯t he. ¡°Ah hey Elizabeth come to help me prepare supper?¡± (T) ¡°I wasn''t going to be much help in butchering up that boar.¡± ¡°Yeah, that might be out of your skill range. I could see that. Well thanks for getting these to me John.¡± (J) ¡°You''re welcome miss Selina it was my pleasure.¡± Looking down I saw that he¡¯d retrieved his shoes somehow. That¡¯s good at least he was able to get his shoes back after the prank I pulled. He then left without even looking my way. I hope he isn¡¯t still mad about that. I then proceeded to help Selina with dinner and after a big boar roast. We dug in wholeheartedly to the prepared food eating our fill happily. I saw Matt and Nino getting scolded by Selina for breaking her bowels before being give some dinner. They then escaped to talk some more about magic while scarfing down their dinner. ¡°Elizabeth.¡± (E) ¡°Huh? Oh it¡¯s just you Holly. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be taking you guys to go see the guardian tonight. So get your companions together and meet me at the edge of the forest I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± (E) ¡°Okay I¡¯ll go corral everyone up.¡± Getting everyone together was easy enough. Though John was still a little upset and gave me a hard time (no surprise there). Apparently Teage¡¯s sword had done well and he was cleaning it after having carved up the boar. He said the edge was still sharp and was proud of his work (he wouldn¡¯t shut up about it). Matt was interested but was lost in thought from his earlier teaching probably. As we went to the edge of the woods Holly reappeared. ¡°You''re all here I see.¡± (J) ¡°No we aren¡¯t. Have you guys seen Brenner?¡± ¡°He is already with her right now. She has now asked me to bring the rest of you to discuss further matters. But, first off no weapons so you''re going to have to hand it over dwarf.¡± (T) ¡°Fine just don''t scratch it up lass.¡± ¡°Alright follow me I will now take you to her.¡± We followed her into the forest and after a while we came across a Japanese styled house (this was definitely quite odd). The door then opened to reveal a beautiful lady with nine tails and fox ears like Brenner had. Next to her was a small girl who also had fox ears but only had one tail. Upon seeing her Holly bowed saying. ¡°I have brought his companions as requested milady.¡± ¡°Good. Thank you Holly. Now you all are probably wondering where Brenner is right now. Well good news I have him right here with me.¡± She then proceeded to pick up the little girl and squeezed her tightly in front of us. She can¡¯t be serious that¡¯s not Brenner is it? Chapter 8 The Guardian (Brenner) Ah that was weird I walked into the forest after Holly, and she was talking to someone? Where am I? Wait why does the room seem so big? Why am I not in my room? Didn¡¯t the game automatically log you out if you fell asleep? To many questions I need to get up and investigate or I won¡¯t figure out anything. I get up from the ground and look around. It appears I¡¯m in a Japanese themed room and I¡¯m lying on a futon. As I walk towards the door I stumble for a bit. It¡¯s weird I feel off balance for some reason. I guess I just slept badly last night probably from sleeping in game. That can¡¯t be a healthy thing can it. As I open the door I see a woman in an apron cooking over a stove. When she notices me standing in the doorway she sets her utensils to the side and turns to face me with a warm smile. ¡°Good morning dear how did you sleep last night. You were out for quite a long time.¡± I was unsure what to make of this whole situation why was she calling out to me like her child and what am I doing here. (B) ¡°Who are you ¡­ WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!!!¡± My voice sounded higher and as I looked down at myself I noticed I¡¯d slimmed down quite a bit. This isn¡¯t my body or even my character''s body. What is going on here? ¡°Ah I hoped to have nice late breakfast with my daughter what¡¯s wrong with that.¡± Daughter no this woman must be crazy I¡¯m a guy why is she saying ¡­ NO! Why is that missing and what is she talking about? ¡°I see you aren¡¯t fouled by my acting. So I guess you would like some answers about what¡¯s going on.¡± (B) ¡°Yes that would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea who you are and yet you''re throwing words like daughter around, and I¡¯ve never even met you before.¡± ¡°Well you are my daughter or were.¡± (B) ¡°What? That¡¯s not possible this is all a game. How could you be my mother?¡± ¡°Is that how you are here? You are hooked into some kind of system that allows the soul to appear here. So he really did do it.¡± (B) ¡°Who? What? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°This going to sound strange.¡± (B) ¡°Any stranger than what''s happening right now?¡± ¡°Well I ¡­ was your mother.¡± (B) ¡°Was my mother? That doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.¡± ¡°When you were born I was working on a project with a famous magician. He had a thesis that he could create a link between a new world, and was trying to create a stable portal to travel between this world and ours. Lets just say that his first attempts were less than stellar. His first attempt caused the first void breach. This breach caused an unstable rift and destroyed the place we were staying, and everyone working on the project was separated. It seems that man survived the void breach like me, but you were lost in the ensuing madness. You were taking a nap in our room, and when I finally managed to return to our room. It was all gone. The whole room just lost to the void. You were nowhere to be seen and I thought I¡¯d never see you again. But, here you are right in front of me, and we can finally go back to the way things used to be.¡± (B) ¡°Wait hold up. How am I your daughter.¡± ¡°You have the same soul as her. There is now way you aren¡¯t her.¡± (B) ¡°But, I¡¯m not. My name is Brenner, I live on Earth, and this is only a game.¡± ¡°Have you ever wondered why you have those companions of yours.¡± (B) ¡°Of course I have. why do you ask?¡± ¡°Well that''s a special trait of our race.¡± (B) ¡°You mean it¡¯s a trait of being a Fox-Kin?¡± ¡°No a Kitsune.¡± (B) ¡°You''re saying that I¡¯m a kitsune. I¡¯m a magical creature of myth and legend.¡± ¡°Well, here you are, but outside of this ¡®game¡¯ you have the soul of one.¡± (B) ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense, and how does being a kitsune have anything to do with them.¡± ¡°Well kitsune are considered to be fey and all fey have to ability to interact with souls. Kitsune are high fey that have the ability to probe, manipulate, and contract with souls. Your companions are souls lost to the void that have stumbled upon you and formed contracts with you without you realizing it. In your world there in no way for souls of our world to pass on. So they are trapped looking for a way back home. But, they can still sense your soul from their world and form a contract with you as a Familiar. Due to your lack of knowledge though all they are right now are just voices in your head. Due to this ¡®game¡¯ they have been given a physical humanoid form.¡± (B) ¡°So you''re saying that they are my familiars and that they aren¡¯t just voices in my head.¡± ¡°Correct¡± (B) ¡°Well that¡¯s a relief I guess. At least I¡¯m not crazy.¡± ¡°I do believe you are quite sane for the most part. Why would you be crazy for having familiars.¡± (B) ¡°It''s not normal to hear other voices in your head in the other world. At least I know they are my familiars and that I¡¯m not talking to myself. But wait how do I have a soul from this world, but I have a body from my world.¡± ¡°That I can only speculate, but to the best of my knowledge the only way would be if your soul found an empty vessel.¡± (B) ¡°An empty vessel?¡± ¡°I believe that would have to mean your soul found a soulless newborn and you were able to inhabit its body with your own soul.¡± ¡°So I was just really lucky?¡± ¡°No it''s a benefit of being a fey we have an easier time navigating our souls. So that might explain how you were able to easily transfer to your new body.¡± (B) ¡°This is a lot to take in so let me get this clear. You¡¯re saying that I¡¯m the soul of a fey from this world called a Kitsune, and John, Matt, Elizabeth, and Teage are all my familiars.¡± ¡°Correct and as a result of being a Kitsune you are now my sweet little daughter now.¡± She then jumped towards me. Hugging me in her embrace with her tails dancing around me wrapping me in a further furry mess. (B) ¡°Wait! Kitsune are all girls!¡± ¡°Yeah I thought you knew. Isn¡¯t it common knowledge?¡± (B) ¡°No! What does this mean for my body outside?¡± Messing with my ¡®soul¡¯ in here isn¡¯t going to mess with my real body is it? ¡°It¡¯s the same as it was though you might feel a little weird and fatigued.¡± (B) ¡°No tails or fur though right?¡± ¡°No your soul is the only thing that I¡¯ve changed. Not your body though that is still the same old human body that you''re used to.¡± (B) ¡°That¡¯s a relieve this is already weird enough.¡± I lean back against her tails taking in the fact that it¡¯s only in here that anyone will ever know that I¡¯m a ¡®Kitsune¡¯. Man I hope I don¡¯t have to tell anyone about this. That would be a nightmare to even begin to explain to any of my friends. I bet Blake would get a real kick out it though. But, from the sound of things this whole other world might not be so much fiction as everyone thinks it is. That¡¯s a little scary to think about to be honest. But, it¡¯s not like I can prove any of this to anyone. So I guess I can¡¯t worry about it too much. (B) ¡°So would that make you my second mother then?¡± ¡°No I¡¯m your first mother. Your body¡¯s mother is your second mother. I was the one that bore your soul and she was the one to bear your body. However weird this is I¡¯ll always think of you as my daughter and she¡¯ll always think of you as her son.¡± God this is a complete mess. She¡¯s saying that I¡¯m her daughter and that I was born here before being reborn in my world to my current mother due to some accident. How the hell does any of this make sense, and how the hell will I even begin to explain this to anyone. Hello I¡¯m a reincarnated person from another world born into your world and I came from Soul Quest Online. God I hope this isn¡¯t really happening. Because if this is I¡¯m in way over my head I thought this was supposed to be a fun full dive game not an alternate world. ¡°Now we mustn¡¯t keep our guests waiting now should we.¡± (B) ¡°Guests?¡± ¡°Yes your familiar''s have come by with my shrine maiden to say hello.¡± (B) ¡°Shrine maiden? Do you mean Holly?¡± ¡°Yes. I blessed her with some of my power to be a voice for me in her village. Right now though she is still in training, and as such is still not ready to be my voice. She helps me out from time to time solving simple tasks for me. Oh thank you by the way for saving her from that necromancer. She underestimated him and was captured when he used Lydia as a hostage. That saved me the trouble of bailing her out. I have a hard enough time keeping out the monsters in the area with my illusion barrier.¡± (B) ¡°You''re still not off the hook yet I still want some more answers on what is going on here and what¡¯s going on with this prophecy stuff.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that I¡¯ll get to that later. But it¡¯s just small details that we don¡¯t need to worry about right now.¡± She then opened the front door to reveal everyone walking towards us. Upon seeing her Holly bowed saying ¡°I have brought his companions as requested milady.¡± ¡°Good. Thank you Holly now you all are probably wondering where Brenner is right now. Well good news I have him right here with me.¡± She picked me up and squeezed me tightly in front of them. I was left struggling in the air, as I was humiliated in front of my familiars. No companions sounds better. They may be my familiars, but I still think of them as companions more than anything. (E) ¡°Is that you Brenner?¡± (B) ¡°Yes! Now help me before she crushes me!¡± ¡°Oh you know I¡¯d never hurt you Briana.¡± (B) ¡°My name is Brenner not Briana.¡± ¡°No that¡¯s your second name your first name was Briana so your name here is Briana.¡±
Name has been changed from Brenner to Briana.
(B) ¡°What! You never told me this!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I? Well I guess you know now. So surprise!¡± The guys couldn¡¯t keep it in any longer and burst out laughing at the scene in front of them while Elizabeth tried to join in my snuggling herself. Way to help you guys get me out of here already! ¡°Milady they all need to see their status at the shrine as they have just arrived.¡± ¡°Oh yes I almost forgot about that.¡± She sets me down only to grab my hand and drag me along. ¡°The shrine is in here just follow me.¡± Will anybody help me get away from this woman already! Wait what even was her name? AH!!! How the heck did I forget to even ask her name during that entire conversation? I¡¯m such an idiot! (B) ¡°Ah what is your name by the way?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mother as I¡¯m your mother. What else would it be? You can all address me as such since you are all his familiars.¡± (T) ¡°Familiars?¡± ¡°I forgot to tell you guys about that didn¡¯t I. Oh well Briana can tell you about it later.¡± (B) ¡°My name is Brenner!¡± ¡°Ah you''re so cute when you¡¯re mad. Anyways here we are, the update shrine. It¡¯s the best I could do with the materials I had on hand. It only shows basic information and five of your main abilities. I couldn¡¯t do any better in this remote joint. So don¡¯t pester me if you wanted more.¡± (M) ¡°Before we do anything else can you give us your actual name, explain why Brenner is Briana now, and why you called us familiars.¡± ¡°Fine my name is Velouria, she is my daughter, and because you are. Now hurry up and lets see your status already it¡¯ll explain some of the details.¡± They all looked confused at the answers, but Matt had had enough and placed his hand on the shrine in frustration. There was a flash of light soon after followed by a blue hollow screen with his information on it.
Status Window
Name: Matt Class: None
Age: 177 Sub-Class: Scholar
Species: Elf Gender: Male
Abilities
Mana Manipulation: Rank: Beginner 7
Ability to control mana and manipulate it to your will.
Ancient Knowledge:The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Rank: Intermediate 4
Knowledge of Ancient things and how they work and function.
Linguistics: Rank: Master 1
Language. What else did you expect?
Enhanced Memory: Rank: N/A
You can remember things better than most.
?????: Rank: ?????
¡°Hm¡­ that¡¯s quite interesting. It would seem that your past experiences have carried over.¡± (M) ¡°You still haven¡¯t explained the familiar thing you were talking about Velouria.¡± ¡°But you see it for yourself don¡¯t you? You are clearly shown to be¡­ 177. Hm you¡¯re quite younger than I thought you were. Anyways you clearly don¡¯t remember those 177 years now do you. Even with your enhanced memory you still can¡¯t remember a thing, can you.¡± (M) ¡°No¡­ but that still doesn¡¯t explain it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite simple you all died and were lost in the void and happened upon Briana here who became your host. Though she herself was lost to the void so she forgot as well. So unlucky for all of you. All of you are all dead. Except for Briana here she is still living and breathing.¡± ¡°WAIT WHAT?¡± They all said in unison. It was actually kind of funny how they all said it at the same time. ¡°You heard me didn¡¯t you. You are all dead and reside as souls tied to Briana¡¯s, and as a result are her familiars.¡± (J) ¡°So why haven¡¯t we gone to the afterlife or whatever then?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you reside with Briana¡¯s soul didn¡¯t I tell you already? Keep up you guys aren¡¯t that dumb are you?¡± They stood there shock all over their faces not sure what to make of all this. (B) ¡°Shut up Velouria!!! The reason you guys didn¡¯t go to the afterlife is because your souls can¡¯t pass on in my ¡­ our world.¡± (T) ¡°What do you mean lass.¡± Great no even Teage is addressing me as a girl now. (B) ¡°I mean that since you guys aren¡¯t originally from our world. Your souls can¡¯t pass on cause they aren¡¯t registered in our world or something. Am I getting this right Velouria?¡± ¡°Yeah close enough. The important part is that your Briana¡¯s familiars and if any of you hurt her I¡¯ll destroy your souls from existence.¡± (B) ¡°Shut it Velouria I won¡¯t let you do that.¡± ¡°Call me mommy already baby you know you want to.¡± (B) ¡°No I don¡¯t and don¡¯t threaten my companions like that. I know them a hell of a lot more than I do you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a nice thing to say Briana and it¡¯s not like you have a choice or not. I am, a lot more powerful than you, you know.¡± (M) ¡°So what would happen, hypothetically, if Brenner was to die?¡± ¡°Hm I never thought about that. But I think you¡¯d all be lost to the void and remain lost for all eternity.¡± (E) ¡°You¡¯re not serious right?¡± ¡°Of course I am. What reason would I have to lie to you?¡± (M) ¡°But we¡¯re here right now so why would that happen?¡± ¡°True you are here. But more as soul projections. Your originate from your world and send only a part of your souls here.¡± (E) ¡°So what does that mean?¡± ¡°Exactly as I said girl if Brenner dies you¡¯ll be stuck in limbo in your world¡¯s afterlife.¡± (T) ¡°So how do we get back?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s possible. Especially since you''re here now. But I don¡¯t know exactly know. You¡¯d have to create a stable portal on both ends, and the reason we failed so much in the beginning was because we had no connection to any worlds. The only way I can think of is to cross the void and stumble upon this world, or ¡­¡± (M) ¡°Or what, spit it out already.¡± ¡°Or you¡¯ll have to find whoever set up the device that allows you to come here in the first place and ask him for both coordinate planes and open a portal on both ends and cross it. But even then there are lots of theoretical problems like what happens to your new body. I not sure what exactly would happen to it if your were to succeed. If that is even possible.¡± (J) ¡°But it¡¯s possible right?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I just know that theoretically ... it is possible.¡± (J) ¡°Well I guess I¡¯m next then.¡±
Status Window
Name: John Class: Knight
Age: 17 Sub-Class: None
Species: Human Gender: Male
Abilities
?????: Rank: ?????
Extreme Luck: Rank: Master 10
Anything can happen for you whether that be good or bad.
Cleaning: Rank: Master 2
It¡¯s a very useful skill that allows you to eliminate germs, repair stuff, and dissipate dust.
?????: Rank: ?????
?????: Rank: ?????
(E) ¡°... well I was definitely expecting just a bit more from you John.¡± (J) ¡°Shut your mouth Elizabeth I still have three hidden abilities maybe one of them is a hammer of justice or something.¡± (E) ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s quite unlikely. Especially because of that luck you got. You probably got something like underwater breathing or magma resistance.¡± (M) ¡°I think that''s a bit of a stretch especially for the human body.¡± (J) ¡°Well at least I can clean like at the rank of a master!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even sure what could have led to that.¡± (J) ¡°Huh...what do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean in order to get a ability to master rank it usually takes a ridiculous amount of skill and time to earn it. How did you become a master cleaner as a knight?¡± (J) ¡°I can¡¯t remember but that definitely sounds like a first and sounds super cool. John the knight cleaner. Knight by day and cleaner by knight I keep civilization clean of both villains and germs.¡± (E) ¡°That sounds quite dumb.¡± (T) ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve got to agree with her on that. It sounds quite stupid to me. Anyways guess it¡¯s my turn.¡±
Status Window
Name: Teage Class: None
Age: 45 Sub-Class: Blacksmith
Species: Dwarf Gender: Male
Abilities
Metallurgy: Rank: Master 3
Knowledge of metals and how to use them.
Geology: Rank: Intermediate 6
Knowledge of rocks and how to use them.
Berserker: Rank: Beginner 8
Enter a mad rage that blinds your judgement. Also increases pain tolerance.
?????: Rank: ?????
?????: Rank: ?????
(T) ¡°Guess they all make sense at least.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± (T) ¡°Well I was trying my hand at blacksmithing earlier and the sword I made is the one Holly is holding.¡± ¡°It is true milady. Here is the blade this one has made.¡± Velouria then set me down and took the blade. Inspecting it from top to bottom before returning it to Holly. ¡°As expected of a dwarfs craftsmanship. So I guess my original hypothesis was correct.¡± (M) ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean that you all subconsciously remember parts of your lives here. Meaning that all that you learned in the past is there and that you must unlock your innate abilities that rest inside you.¡± (E) ¡°How?¡± ¡°How should I know. You guys are a first for me. The only ones who could possibly know that I know of is the church and they¡¯d kill you on sight for having familiars.¡± (B) ¡°Why would they want to kill us for that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because any magic or beings that prevent souls from proceeding to the afterlife are deemed enemies of the church. Therefore since you house four said souls. They won¡¯t like you that much and deem you an enemy of the church.¡± (T) ¡°And it¡¯s not like they¡¯ll buy the story that our souls are stuck in another world.¡± (E) ¡°So does that mean we¡¯re going to hunted by the church the whole time?¡± (J) ¡°This sucks they are bound to be a big organization and we¡¯ll probably have to deal with them a lot from here on out.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t that big a deal. They only have a small presence outside of the American Kingdoms where they originate from. But, their influence is small and are more missionary in nature. They spread their word to those that would listen and mostly keep to themselves. Just don¡¯t try to piss them off and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± (B) ¡°But don¡¯t they provide most healing services in this world?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ but you¡¯ve herbalists and general practitioners that aren¡¯t affiliated to the church available. Though they might cost a bit more. Well nothing you can do about that though.¡± (B) ¡°I guess you¡¯re right about that.¡± (E) ¡°Unless my voice can do that for us.¡±
Status Window
Name: Elizabeth Class: None
Age: 81 Sub-Class: Bard
Species: Dragon Gender: Female
Abilities
Healing Song: Rank: Intermediate 3
Ability to heal others with your voice.
Scale Defense: Rank: Beginner 6
Dragon perk that allows user to strengthen scaled areas of their body.
?????: Rank: ?????
?????: Rank: ?????
?????: Rank: ?????
(J) ¡°OH, that will definitely will come in handy.¡± ¡°Though it is a bit vague on how much it will heal.¡± (M) ¡°I¡¯m guessing that it¡¯s not going to heal a severed arm.¡± (T) ¡°Want to test it out?¡± ¡°NO!!!!!¡± was the general conscious without a heartbeat of hesitation. (T) ¡°Oh right the shared pain thing forgot about that.¡± (E) ¡°Even without that no one would willing test that.¡± (T) ¡°You never know there could a masochist among us.¡± (M) ¡°Just shut it already Teage.¡± (E) ¡°Anyways guess the only person left is Br¡± ¡°iana you¡¯re right Elizabeth.Let¡¯s see your status now shall we.¡±
Status Window
Name: Briana Class: None
Age: 17? Sub-Class: None
Species: Kitsune Gender: Female
Abilities
Transformation: Rank: Beginner 1
Ability to transform into a beast.
Illusion: Rank: Beginner 1
Ability to bend others senses however you want.
Soul Manipulation: Rank: Intermediate 4
Ability to manipulate souls both living and dead.
Stealth: Rank: Beginner 7
Ability to hide from others.
????? Rank: ?????
Dang it the game really does recognize me as Briana now. Well now I¡¯ll definitely have mask my identity now. Wait! Everyone knows each other in this game by my username so they¡¯re bound to find out eventually. God the headaches are only going to get worse I feel. ¡°How does your world¡¯s time dilation work anyways I forgot to ask.¡± (B) ¡°Huh?... OH CRAP!!!¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong Briana? (B) ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back. My parents are going to kill me. How do I log out already?¡± (E) ¡°WAIT! Stop him.¡± (M) ¡°Isn¡¯t it her now.¡± (J) ¡°I give up this is to confusing.¡±
Would you like to log out?
Yes No
(B) ¡°Yes!¡± (E) ¡°Noooooooo!¡± Elizabeth dove at me but before she could there was a flash of light and I was back on my bed in my room. The clock shows it¡¯s only 10:00 AM. Good at least they didn¡¯t lie about the time dilation. Time to get up I guess. (B) ¡°I hope that was all just a dream.¡± (T) ¡®You know it wan¡¯t not lass.¡¯ (J) ¡®Yeah get done with this realm already and let''s go back to adventure!¡¯ (E) ¡®How could you do this it was just getting good.¡¯ Nope it definitely was not getting good. I hope I can avoid talk about Soul Quest Online at school or I¡¯m going to be humiliated. Cause I¡¯m a lost soul stuck in this realm. God I sound so stupid right now. Character Updates Brenner Frazier: The beast kin are all supposed to be humanoid, but have fur all over thier bodies and sporting more animalistic qualities. This is what Brenner looks like in chapter 1. I thought it was a good picture and based my character off this image. Teage: I wanted Teage to be a stereotypical dwarf. Having good blacksmithing skills, being no nonsense, and hotheaded. I couldn''t think of a good name for him so I used my middle name Teage and yes it''s actually spelled like that it''s not a typo. Not Teague but Teage. Matt: I wanted a intelligent logical mind to make up for my other characters hotheadedness and sense of justice. Being a smart and inteligent elf he will be the main spell user in the group. I have a friend that I based off this character using the same name. I dought he''ll ever find this though. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. John: Armstrong is the person I based John off of. I wanted a human with a strong sense of justice with the highest chance to grow. I also did the cleaning skill because I wanted to make fun of Levi and a clean space is a space of JUSTICE! The luck was based off of Arthur from fire emblem fates cause I find the unpredictability that it can bring for the story. Elizabeth: This was the best picture that I could find that I liked. Elizabeth is supposed to be a scaled human with reptilian eyes. These scales protect her like any natural armor and cover most of her body. Being draconian she is physically quite strong, but I wanted to make her a weaker support character that doesn''t wish to fight unlike her gung ho companions. Briana (Brenner after the transformation): Kitsune in my story differ from beast kin in that they have more humanoid features only having ears and tails of a fox. Their tails also correspond to their age. With each tail increasing their bodily maturity. I mainly changed Brenner to Briana for comedic effect and as such there will be no sexual themes in this story. I hope to create some hilarious scenes due to the gender change and how his real life friends respond to this. Chapter 9 Back to Reality (oops there goes gravity) ¡°Look who finally decided to get out of bed this morning.¡± (B) ¡°Hey Dad. I see you guys finally decided to take a weekend off.¡± ¡°We always take the weekend off what are talking about.¡± (B) ¡°Well sometimes (most of the time) you guys are behind on some deadline or something. So you guys are usually gone.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s true we¡¯ve been gone a lot lately, but anyways enough about work how was the game!¡± (B) ¡°It¡¯s good! I¡¯m enjoying it a lot and the time dilation feature is definitely a cool feature.¡± ¡°So did you go on a quest or something with your friends late last night.¡± (B) ¡°Nah I decided to go solo for a bit to get a feel for the game. I¡¯m planning on meeting up with them sometime next weekend.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense don¡¯t want to look the fool in front of your friends now do we.¡± My dad jokes about my band friends as most of them are girls. He thinks I¡¯m living it up being a part of all their gatherings and get togethers. It¡¯s not all sunshine and rainbows though as he sees it. Most of the time I¡¯m the one that gets yanked around and toyed by them. Being the brunt of all their jokes gets a little old after a while. Especially if they make you wear a uniform dress for our sections marching competition. Yeah I made sure to erase all evidence of that from my parents. They don¡¯t need to know about that. For the most part though it isn¡¯t to bad, and I have my bros outside of band to hang out with like Blake. ¡°Mom made pancakes if you want some.¡± (B) ¡°Wait mom made breakfast! What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Nothing she just wanted to make some homemade pancakes.¡± (B) ¡°She should have at least waited for me to get up and make them. Whenever she decides to cook she trashes the kitchen and it takes forever to clean up. I don¡¯t understand how you can work with her when she does that.¡± ¡°She¡¯s the genius I just make sure to clean up her messes and double check her results.¡± ¡°How many pancakes do you want Brenner?¡± (B) ¡°I¡¯ll have two mom.¡± ¡°So when are you going to get back on?¡± (B) ¡°This afternoon the user guide says you should wait at least eight hours after a play session before logging back in. Something about it being to strenuous on the mind and body, and I definitely don¡¯t want to hurling my guts out right now.¡± (M) ¡®Didn¡¯t that user guide also say that the game would log you out if you fell asleep?¡¯ (J) ¡®Maybe it has something to do with the whole soul business.¡± (T) ¡®That would make the most sense.¡¯ (B) ¡®I still don¡¯t want to push it either way. Some of those side effects didn¡¯t sound very fun.¡¯ (J) ¡®Yeah extreme nausea, and narcolepsy don¡¯t sound like very fun symptomes.¡¯ (E) ¡®How is it even legal to use?¡¯ (M) ¡®The side effects are minimal and non permanent so they deemed it safe enough to use.¡¯ ¡°You okay there Brenner?¡± (B) ¡°Yeah I was just planning where I was going to explore next in the game.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a big game so you probably have a long journey ahead of you don¡¯t you¡± (B) ¡°Yeah you could say that.¡± ¡°Brenner your pancakes are ready come and get them while they¡¯re hot.¡± I ate my pancakes, which to my surprise, turned out to be quite good. The only problem was the humongous mess that mom had made in the process. That was going to be fun to clean up. ¡®RING, RING¡­ RING, RI-¡¯ (B) ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hey Brenner, I forgot to tell you we¡¯re having a sectional today to work on a part that Mr. Broom wanted us to work on. We¡¯re all meeting at my house this afternoon and I was wondering if you could make it.¡± (B) ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve got no plans today other than playing some more SQO.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me about how it went when you get here. I have to call everyone else first so talk to you later Brenner.¡± ¡®BEEP¡¯ ¡°Who was that?¡± (B) ¡°It was just Rachel. We¡¯ve got sectional practice this weekend so I¡¯ve got to get ready to go.¡± ¡°Alright have fun. Just don¡¯t stay out too late tonight we¡¯re going to church tomorrow.¡± (B) Church huh... not sure what I should think of that at the moment. I believe in God, but I guess that won¡¯t save my soul no matter how much I believe. After getting dressed and getting my musical equipment in order I helped clean up the mess that was breakfast. While delicious I wish she could have been at least a bit cleaner when she was working. I then surfed the web for any conspiracies that could explain what is happening in the game. Most of the stuff I found just commented about the dynamic interactions with the NPC AI. How lifelike the game was and how sensual experiences felt lifelike. There were some vague conspiracies saying it could be a different world, but there was no proof to back these claims and so most were just laughed off. (B) ¡®It has to be real how else do we even begin to explain our situation in any other way.¡¯ (J) ¡®But the ramifications for this are huge and we don¡¯t know what exactly this could all mean for both this world and that world.¡¯ (M) ¡®How about trying some of your powers Brenner.¡¯ (B) ¡®What do you mean this is the real world there is no such thing as magic. (M) ¡®But it could solidify the theory even further if it does work.¡¯ (B) ¡®So what do I do. I don¡¯t understand magic enough to cast it.¡¯ (T) ¡®What about your ability soul manipulation. You could use it on your parents to see their souls. If it doesn''t work then it was just a wacky quest or something.¡¯ (B) ¡®Fine it¡¯s worth a shot anyways.¡¯ I walked up behind my dad who was reading a book. Calming my breathing before setting my hand on his shoulder. Trying to send a surge of energy to see his soul. I felt a weird sensation like I could see deep inside of him, but before I could began to read or understand what I was seeing he jumped at my touch recoiling immediately. He looked scared, but instantly relaxed when he saw me behind him. ¡°Oh¡­ son what is it.¡± (B) ¡°I just wanted to ask what book you were reading. Why¡¯d you jump like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know. It felt like something was¡­ going through me¡­ Maybe I shouldn¡¯t be reading this horror. I never was one for these kind of books.¡± (B) ¡°Why were you reading it then.¡± ¡°Your mom recommended it after a friend of hers recommended it to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to read it then. I just wanted to tell you I''m going to be heading out soon for a band sectional.¡± ¡°Alright have fun, I¡¯m going to watch some comedy before I go stir crazy reading this.¡± (M) ¡®So did it work?¡¯ (B) ¡®I think so, but I can¡¯t tell he recoiled immediately when I tried to do it.¡¯ (E) ¡®I¡¯m not sure we should be doing this. If his reaction shows anything it shows that it¡¯s quite invasive. So we shouldn¡¯t be trying it on anyone before we know it¡¯s full effects.¡¯ (M) ¡®You¡¯ll probably have to ask Velouria when we dive back in. She might teach you a less invasive way of going about it.¡¯ I then drove over to Rachel¡¯s house for the sectional. It looked like I was one of the first here. I got my musical equipment and rang the doorbell. Rachel immediately answered with dog trying to jump on me as she opened the door. (B) ¡°Hi Sam it¡¯s good to see you to. Where is everyone else?¡± ¡°They all stayed up to late in SQO. They were trying to complete a raid, but got trapped and it took them till four A.M. to get out.¡± (B) ¡°How are you fine then?¡± ¡°I had a family thing last night so I didn¡¯t get on. They should be here in a minute, but I¡¯m not sure how proactive we¡¯re going to be today.¡± (B) ¡°Sounds rough, glad I wasn¡¯t a part of that mess.¡± ¡°So how are you enjoying it? You played last night didn¡¯t you.¡± (B) ¡°Yeah, about that, I¡¯d like to keep my situation secret until next weekend.¡± ¡°Why what happened?¡± (B) ¡°It¡¯s a surprise I¡¯ll tell you next week.¡± ¡°You still use the username btwonderkid right? I¡¯ll send you a friend request so we can keep in touch.¡± (B) ¡®SHIT! What do we do? She¡¯ll find out that my name changed the second we accept the friend request!¡¯ (T) ¡®Well you could always stall some more.¡¯ (M) ¡®But there is no reason to stall a friend request.¡¯ (E) ¡®Just tell her already I bet she¡¯d find it hilarious. I sure do.¡¯ (J) ¡®Can¡¯t we just tell her it¡¯s a rare quest curse or something.¡¯ (B) ¡®That could work but I¡¯ll tell her in game rather than right now. I¡¯d rather not get teased by everyone about turning into girl.¡¯Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. (B) ¡°Yep same as ever. I¡¯ll accept it next time I get on.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to message everyone so they can send you friend requests as well.¡± (T) ¡®Guess the cat''s going to be out of the bag.¡¯ (M) Should we tell her now. We could try to convince her to keep it a secret for awhile at least.¡¯ (B) ¡®No! I want to keep it a secret if only for a bit.¡¯ (E) ¡®Why?¡¯ (B) ¡®Because I might be able to surprise her and make a joke out of it. (E) ¡®You know that it¡¯s just going to backfire right.¡¯ (B) ¡®How?¡¯ (E) ¡®The second they find out and you¡¯re nearby they are probably going to sentence you to cuddle torture before making you dress up in costumes they¡¯ll make.¡¯ (B) ¡®¡­ yeah let¡¯s just tell her now. Maybe I can hope to avoid that if at all possible.¡¯ (B) ¡°Actually there is one thing I wanted to say -¡± ¡°Hey! What¡¯s up sorry we¡¯re late. I had to carpool some of the freshmen with me.¡± It looks like Celina got here with some of the other clarinets finally. ¡°No problem come on inside. How about you tell me about it later Brenner.¡± ¡°Tell you what?¡± ¡°Something with his character in SQO. He¡¯s off soloing right now.¡± ¡°Really! We could have used you as pack mule. You should have told us.¡± (B) ¡°That¡¯s kind of the thing I was trying to avoid.¡± ¡°Ah it would have been a good experience you¡¯d have leveled up a lot and could¡¯ve raised your agility dodging projectiles from those bugs.¡± (B) ¡°Yeah I¡¯d rather not thank you very much.¡± ¡°Oh really? You would have had a great view in the back if you know what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Stop teasing him Celina, and it was you that got us into that mess. You lost the labyrinth map when we were fighting the boss and it took us all night to get out of that place because of you.¡± Claire had come in behind her and came inside. ¡°Hey I didn¡¯t know the boss¡¯s minions would have the ability to steal, and they should¡¯ve dropped it when they were killed.¡± ¡°They would have if you hadn¡¯t hurled a fireball at the minion burning both the map and target.¡± ¡°At least we got out okay at least.¡± ¡°After using over three fourths of our consumable stocks. It¡¯ll take at least two weeks before we can even begin to think about another attempt now.¡± (B) ¡°Sounds like things went quiet south.¡± ¡°Yeah that wasn¡¯t even the worst bit. Some of us fell asleep during the raid, and we had to carry them out while defending them from the mobs.¡± ¡°YAWN, hey it wasn¡¯t my fault I¡¯d stayed up the previous night finishing up a project for history.¡± Alice was the last one from their car to come inside. ¡°I told you to finish that last week so you¡¯d be able to get enough sleep before the raid Sophia.¡± ¡°So what race did you choose Brenner?¡± (B) ¡°Well originally I choose a beast-kin with a fox subrace.¡± ¡°Should have known you¡¯d go for a physical build.¡± I do have a tall build so I guess they would guess that. ¡°Wait! What do you mean originally?¡± As observant as ever Claire nothing gets past you. (B) ¡°I accidentally stumbled across a rare event that changed my race to a Kitsune.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that practically the same thing?¡± (B) ¡°Well yes and no. I kept my ears and tails, but I look more human now, and ¡­ it changed my gender in game to female.¡± ¡°Haha good one you know it¡¯s not possible right!? WAIT! You aren¡¯t joking are you?¡± (B) ¡°No, sadly I¡¯m not. Kitsune are an all female race so I was forcefully changed into one, and it also made me younger as well.¡± ¡°Wait so how young are we talking about?¡± (B) ¡°I now look to be around five or eight I¡¯m not sure. Though I don¡¯t really know specifically why.¡± They all suddenly grinned both on the inside and out. I was afraid of this. ¡°Oh this is going to be fun now you going to have to tell us where you are. I want to see this for myself.¡± (B) ¡°Well that¡¯s another issue. Right now I¡¯m stuck in some kind of special dungeon or something that doesn¡¯t allow me to accept friend requests right now.¡± ¡°Well that sucks. So how are you fairing right now?¡± (B) ¡°I made friends with the local NPCs and we¡¯re planning to get out soon.¡± ¡°Well as soon as you get out give us a heads up. I¡¯ll bet everyone will be happy to see you, and it¡¯ll smooth out your registration to the Reed Dancers.¡± (B) ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Well we technically we are an all girls guild as everyone up until you has always been a girl.¡± Your joking. Right? How come I''m the only guy that¡¯s played the clarinet in this school. How the heck is that statistically possible? ¡°So at least now we can avoid needless rumors about a man joining our guild. Wait, is your name still Brenner in game. I wonder if we can pass it off as a girl¡¯s name.¡± (B) ¡°No it got changed to Briana when I got cursed as well.¡± ¡°So fitting! I can¡¯t wait to see it all in person.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to work on my tailoring before we pick you up.¡± (J) ¡®I¡¯m not sure how to gauge this situation. Do you think you¡¯ll be okay?¡¯ (B) ¡®Wait I totally forgot about you guys how am I supposed to explain you all to them.¡¯ (T) ¡®Simple we¡¯re just NPC mercenaries.¡¯ (B) ¡°Oh yeah. I forgot to ask but where are you guys based around?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve currently set up shop in the Sacean Plains. We¡¯re operating a joint caravan operation with some other crafting guilds in the area.¡± ¡°Oh look everyone else just got here let¡¯s set up before everyone gets inside.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve got to tell them about Brenner¡¯s curse they¡¯ll find it hilarious.¡± ¡°You can tell them during dinner my dad is grilling some burgers right now so when we finish we can eat an early dinner.¡± Practice went¡­ less than stellar to say the least. Everyone kept falling asleep on us if they weren¡¯t doing everyone. What was weird was I kept feeling like I was brushing up against things the entire time. It was weird they were like fragments. It almost felt like I was brushing up against my band members consciousnesses. I wonder if I was actually peaking at their unguarded souls that they were unintentionally releasing in their sleep. It had to be the reason cause some of these fragments were¡­ quite interesting to say the least. Dinner was as good as expected of Rachel¡¯s master chef father grilled us up some burgers. I bet he was just glad to get some use out of his grill in his backyard for once. When everyone found out about my ¡®curse¡¯ they started giving me a hard time. What else did I expect to be honest. They were going to laugh it up for quite a while. I had a feeling it wasn¡¯t going to be ending anytime soon and I¡¯d best prepare myself for what lay ahead. After helping clean up and addressing what we needed to go over next time we all went home. To be perfectly honest that went way better than expected. I guess being on good terms beforehand helped quite a lot. After getting home and putting my musical equipment away I told my parents I¡¯d already eaten dinner and that I¡¯d be playing SQO for the rest of the night. They then told me to enjoy myself as they were going on a date night to go try some new restaurant and watch some new movie together. They rarely had the time to enjoy each others Saying goodbye I booted up my VR, or ¡­ what should I even call this thing? (M) ¡®Just call it VR gear and get us in already.¡¯ (T) ¡®You heard the man I¡¯m tired of waiting. Just power it on already.¡¯ I laid out on my bed before initiating the synchronization process and linking back into SQO. What awaited me was a fuming fox with all her tails angrily darting to and fro. Oh yeah I did leave quite suddenly without telling her when I¡¯d be back didn¡¯t I. ¡°Where have you been and why did you leave so quickly without even saying goodbye.¡± (B) ¡°Sorry I had to get off before my parents found me with my headset on. They don¡¯t like it when I stay up all night.¡± ¡°Anyways out with all of you except Briana so out with you all.¡± Then like a flash they were gone. They just disappeared like they were never there in the first place. (B) ¡°Are they okay?¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m just making them wait outside while we talk. I need to go over some things we didn¡¯t have time for last time. I didn¡¯t realize you have a time restraint on how long you can be here. So I¡¯ll have to speed up your training.¡± (B) ¡°Are you going to be teaching me something?¡± ¡°Yes as you might have realized when I awakened your soul you were able to use some of your abilities like soul manipulation right.¡± (B) ¡°Yeah, I was able to hear some random thoughts here and there from those around me I guess.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to immediately work on this or else you might be in trouble.¡± (B) ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°You see the reason I¡¯m out here in the middle of nowhere is for a certain reason you will now have to deal with. Due to being able to interact with people''s souls. You can cause problems for yourself. Most people don¡¯t actively defend or seal their souls so naturally it leaks out from time to time like you¡¯ve noticed. It¡¯s also how you gained you companions without knowing. We need to do a quick crash course in soul manipulation so it doesn¡¯t get out of control.¡± (B) ¡°What do you mean out of control?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll unintentionally form soul bonds with too many people and slowly go crazy from all the feedback you receive from them. Imagine sharing your current predicament with everyone you know. Does that sound at all pleasant?¡± (B) ¡°No I can see what you mean.¡± ¡°So I need to teach you to control your soul in what little time we have so this doesn¡¯t become an issue in the future. Usually this ability is dampened until your five then in my case. I was taken to a secluded location by my mother until I learned to control it. Even then I still had some trouble and now you have this happening. I shouldn¡¯t have been so impulsive when I did your soul awakening.¡± (B) ¡°So how hard is it to control?¡± ¡°Not to hard once you get used to it. It¡¯s just that it takes getting used to and it drains you faster than you think the more people there are around you. It¡¯s why I don¡¯t go out often I have to use most of my energy to maintain the barrier.¡± (B) ¡°So how am I supposed to train this?¡± ¡°Holly come in here it¡¯s time for some soul training.¡± Holly opened a door to our right after a few seconds. Wait was she listening in on us? ¡°I¡¯m always ready for some more training milady. I believe I¡¯ll be able to hold out this time for sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to be your opponent she is.¡± ¡°Wait! Why! I thought you needed me for training.¡± ¡°Yes I need your help to train her in soul manipulation so that she doesn¡¯t go out of control.¡± ¡°Fine I just hope she makes a decent effort at least.¡± (B) ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to meet your expectations Holly.¡± We then sat down right in front of each facing one another holding hands. Velouria said something about how it makes the soul connection easier to manipulate. ¡°Now you are going to want to try to feel her soul and at the same time she is going to be defending against your probing. Are you ready?¡± (B) ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Then begin!¡± I tried releasing a surge like I¡¯d done earlier with my dad, but to my surprise it was coming much easier than it was before. I then directed it towards Holly imagining it going from my hands to hers directing it as fluidly as possible. Holly grimaced at my assault, but it was weird I couldn¡¯t feel anything from my initial try. She must have some very solid defenses, but I can¡¯t really tell since the only other time I tried this was in an unmagical world with a defenseless person who had no idea about any of this. ¡°Milady is it alright if I fight back I wish to see how she handles herself it feels like she is leaving herself very vulnerable.¡± ¡°Yes, I want her to have a sparring fight though so don¡¯t do anything to much alright.¡± I then felt another energy entwining my own seeping into me. I felt like someone was directly looking through me and looking at every orifice of my being. I felt violated like something wasn¡¯t right and I felt like I was starting to panic. In response I tried releasing more energy to purge it from me. I let out a slight scream from it before suddenly it vanished. I opened my eyes to see Holly panting to the side while Velouria had pushed us apart and was tending to Holly. ¡°Okay that wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting, but I should have guessed since you have four familiars that you¡¯d be quite strong. I just didn¡¯t expect you to go so crazy when she tried going on the offencive.¡± I trembled remembering the feeling of her gazing into me she¡¯d done it before but this time I tried fighting back but in a haze of fear I guess I overdid it. (B) ¡°Is she okay?¡± ¡°Yes she¡¯s just a bit tired. It takes most people a lot of energy to do this. Only fey have the natural ability to passively use it, and those that do usually hide from others as a result.¡± (B) ¡°So how did I do?¡± ¡°You did quite well on the first try on attacking. While defending though you were like a defenseless damsel just asking to be rescued.¡± I can¡¯t tell if she¡¯s insulting me or coddling me. (B) ¡°So I need to work on the defense of my soul?¡± ¡°Yes, but with me. Holly you can take a breath to get your bearings.¡± ¡°Have you always been holding back on me milady?¡± ¡°Yes there was no way you¡¯d be able to hold out against my full power it¡¯ll take you at least five more years to be even close at least.¡± Holly looked distraught at this news. She probably thought she was a doing quite well. She left and closed the door back before Velouria turned back to me. ¡°Okay that didn¡¯t work as well as I¡¯d expected. For now I¡¯m just going to gentle poke at your soul. I want you to focus on constructing defenses to prevent me from invading your soul.¡± (B) ¡°Will this help with my familiars?.¡± ¡°Why do you ask?¡± (B) ¡°Because I think that my pain link with my allies is a result of poor soul defense.¡± ¡°Wait! You have a shared sense of pain with your familiars! Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier. I¡¯ll make this training extra tough to correct this issue immediately. Great tougher training this is going to be great fun I can already tell. Well if it helps get rid of our shared pain I¡¯ll welcome it. Though grudgingly, I never did like training very hard. We then get into the same position as last time. Facing each other while holding our hands together. ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready Briana.¡± This is going to be some torturous training I can already tell. Well no pain no gain I guess. Chapter Update I wanted to get a chapter out for a week now and so far I haven''t been happy with what I had. So I''m re editing the chapter, but I don''t have time to do that because of finals and school parties that I had to attend so I''m sorry to say but my next chapter will not be published on the site till saturday. Also I would really appreciate people to leave comments on how I can improve my stories or parts that you felt were boring or weak. So I''ve started a dicord channel that you can leave a comment on if you don''t want to comment here.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Another thing. If anyone would like to be my proofreader/editor just hit me up with a PM and we''ll see what we can arrange together. Lastly since I finsh school this friday I plan on bring my old fiction back from the waiting grave. So I hope to have a new chapter of that out as well. I also want to publish some other side stories that might go parellel to this story in the future as I want to work on my writing a lot this summer. My only concern is that for about six weeks I''m going to be working as staff for a summer camp so I''m not sure how uploads will work when I''m working this summer. But I hope to still be able to release a good amount of content for you guys. Chapter 10 Departure Okay, that was not fun at all. Velouria was tortuous in her teachings. I expected as much, but it was still a torturous experience nonetheless. She was finally satisfied when I was able to constantly guard against her at 1% of her true power. It took us a good four hours and a bathroom break (I¡¯d rather not elaborate). But she seemed satisfied that I was able to master the basics in such a short time. She decided I had learned enough that I wouldn¡¯t be overwhelmed by excess soul energy from any strangers I¡¯d meet. So she suggested we take a break so I¡¯d be ready for something she wanted to do tonight. ¡°So what are we doing tonight then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to set up a transport spell to get you out of the Abyss. You and your familiars need to find some way to cross between our worlds, and you aren¡¯t going to find it here. Also, you aren¡¯t ready to be fighting against anything you¡¯ll find here. I suggest you go exploring the world on leads of old ruins and experimental void magic while leveling your abilities and improving your fighting prowess. You are going to be doing that a lot in the future if I had to guess. Before you go though Holly will give you all some supplies I requisitioned from the villagers, and all of your personal requests were picked up as well.¡± ¡°Can you set it up to go to the Sacean Plains? I have some friends there I was hoping to meet up with.¡± ¡°Hm, that might work. I know someone that should be around there investigating a void breach so it should be possible. So, for now, how about you see what your familiars are up to.¡± ¡°Sure but why are does it feel like you''re kicking me out all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Because your presence is not going to remain a secret for long and it¡¯s tough keeping you hidden here and protecting these people at the same time. You also need to figure out how to connect your world with ours if you don¡¯t want to be stuck in limbo for all eternity when you die. So I¡¯m going to send you to an old colleague who might be able to help you start out, but let¡¯s just say that my ¡®friend¡¯ that I¡¯m calling this favor in is a bit of an oddball.¡± ¡°How weird? I get called weird from time to time so how bad could he be.¡± ¡°He has a thing for beast kin. He¡¯s was a prominent void expert back in the day and I worked with him for a while on a project at one point. Every time I looked away from him though he¡¯d try to pet my tails and ears. He held no malice in his actions, but it was quite a nuisance and he didn¡¯t make many beast kin friends as a result.¡± ¡°So I better make sure to hide my tails and ears when I meet him. Got it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure that¡¯s going to cut it. I¡¯m going to have to tell him you''re my daughter because I can¡¯t think of any story he¡¯d buy. He¡¯ll see through anything I make up so it¡¯s best just to tell the truth. So ...¡± ¡°So I¡¯m probably going to be given some forced cuddling no matter what I do.¡± ¡°Yeah ¡­ sorry about that, but he¡¯s the only void magician I still keep in touch with. The rest have either died or I just lost touch with them. The only reason I¡¯m still in contact with him is because he keeps wanting me to be his assistant. It¡¯s a nice offer but I like it here and I¡¯ve got people depending on me. So it¡¯s not a very realistic option for me. He¡¯s just can¡¯t accept a no though. So he just keeps calling me from time to time.¡± ¡°At least he isn¡¯t some loli pervert. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be able to handle that.¡± ¡°No! Far from it. He¡¯s a harmless guy who just has a fondness for furry things. He won¡¯t hurt anyone if he can help it, and he¡¯s a good fighter to boot. So you go out and have some fun for a minute while I set everything up.¡± I then left her shrine/house and went to see what everyone was up to. As I exited the woods I saw Elizabeth playing with the kids. She looked to be enjoying herself a lot. Next to her was Holly who was standing next to the supplies Velouria was talking about. She looked up as I approached taking her attention away from the supplies. ¡°So you¡¯re finally finished with your training for now Briana?¡± ¡°Yeah it was a lot tougher than I expected, but I¡¯m getting better at it.¡± ¡°Well, for now, would you like to put on some clothes. Eleanor just finished weaving you some clothes to fit your smaller frame.¡± ¡°Wait? What do you mean I¡¯m not wearing clothes.¡± I was wearing a white linen gown that I¡¯d found on me when I woke up. ¡°Those aren¡¯t really clothes they are just an illusion created by milady. She is a master illusionist and didn¡¯t have any clothes for you to wear. So she created some illusionary garbs for you, but they will disappear the second you leave her barrier so here you go.¡± She then handed me some kind of dress. I accepted it greatly and looked for a place to change in privacy. Holly escorted me into the woods a bit and I changed while she watched out for others. I¡¯m just glad she told me about it before we left. I feel like Velouria forgets things too easily and Holly is the only person who keeps her in check. After I finish changing and came out of the woods I saw Elizabeth coming towards me with the kids not far behind her. She then picks me up and swings me around. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re so cute Briana. Now we can spend some quality girl time from now on.¡± I didn¡¯t think Elizabeth would react this way, to be honest. It¡¯s nice, but I really don¡¯t want to embrace being a girl in here too much. It might leak out in real life and that¡¯s the last thing I need. ¡°Put me down Elizabeth and I still want you to call me Brenner. It¡¯s my name after all.¡± ¡°You¡¯re no fun, Briana. Come on role play a bit. It¡¯ll be fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not willing to change my name Elizabeth it just feels wrong. Anyways where is everyone else?¡± ¡°Matt is getting a grimoire from Merrick, and John and Matt are at the forge making weapons. I still don¡¯t understand why they are so eager to throw themselves at danger.¡± ¡°They just have an adventurous spirit and want to be ready for anything they find. Can¡¯t blame for that I want to go adventuring as well. Do you not want to?¡± ¡°Not really I just don¡¯t want to fear for my life every day. I¡¯d rather just enjoy the company of those around me and make them happy through something I do. Not fight others and make money off their corpses.¡± ¡°Adventures do things other than killing people you know. They protect caravans and others from the harm and collect materials that save lives. It¡¯s not just about killing you know and I want to be a part of it as well.¡± ¡°HAHA yeah right. Look at yourself you¡¯re so tiny and weak you wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in a fight.¡± ¡°I ¡­ I could ¡­ I¡¯m not sure actually how, but I still want to be one. We have to explore this world if we don¡¯t want to stuck in limbo for all eternity.¡± ¡°I know but there are other ways of traveling and investigating other than fighting everything in our path. For now, let¡¯s just get everything ready to go. I¡¯ll go check on Matt and you can check on Teage and John. Maybe you could get them to make you a dagger or something. You could always go for their ankles or something.¡± She then walked off probably towards this Merrick guy¡¯s place. I forgot to ask her where the forge is though. ¡°Hey, Holly do you know where the forge is?¡± ¡°Right this way Briana.¡± After a short walk, we came to the forge with Teage and John both hard at work. ¡°John can you pump the bellows a bit more for me. The fire¡¯s dying down and cooling my metal.¡± ¡°Sure thing I just got done sweeping, sharpening, and polishing here. Give me a minute to clean up real quick.¡± ¡°Well hurry it up we don¡¯t get all day. I want all of us armed before we have to fight again, and I want it to be forged by my own hands. So we can trust the quality absolutely. Oh, looks like the little lass is up and about now.¡± ¡°Hey, Briana! Did you finish your talk with Velouria.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Brenner, you guys. Get it right!¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t that update shrine call you Briana? Don¡¯t we have to call you that now?¡± ¡°NO! My name is Brenner and that¡¯s what you''re going to call me.¡± ¡°Sorry, no can do lass. Every time I¡¯ve tried talking about you it always comes out as Briana. So you''ll just have to get used to it lass.¡± DAMN YOU VELOURIA!!! Not only did you change my gender but also my name! You can change my gender, but you can¡¯t just take away my name!!! I thought it wouldn¡¯t have an actual effect on what people had to call me. I guess since they¡¯re soul bound to me they have to address me by that name now. ¡°So what kind of weapon do you want Briana? I¡¯m making one for each of us before we go.¡± ¡°I was planning on using some kind of sword, but I think I¡¯ll go with a dagger due to my small frame now.¡± ¡°Makes sense, I¡¯ll make it a little big though so you can grow into it.¡± ¡°Should you even fight though?¡± ¡°What do you mean John. I¡¯m going to have to fight at some point. This world isn¡¯t going to handhold us the entire time. So I¡¯ve got to do my best to prepare for anything that comes our way.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true. It¡¯s just that it feels wrong to have someone like you fighting.¡± ¡°What do you mean John you know full well how old I am. Even if I¡¯m this small doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t fight.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. So what¡¯s the plan and what did Velouria want to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Velouria is setting up some kind of transport spell with someone right now and when it¡¯s ready we¡¯ll be out of here. So finish up soon. We need to be ready to move out when she¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Do we have to leave though. I wish we had a bit more time to enjoy ourselves here. Their company is great entertainment and we could learn more before we leave.¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t recommend it. This area is extremely dangerous. We were lucky to have only run into those wolves. Most creatures here are monsters and are extremely dangerous. We can come back, but only after some major training. If we want to come back in one piece we need to be a lot stronger than we currently are.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yeah, I guess that makes sense especially since our combat skills are amateurish and need some vast improvement.¡± ¡°Also there is Elizabeth who abhors combat, and I¡¯m not sure if Matt¡¯s magic is combat ready right now.¡± ¡°Have you tried using any of your abilities?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Are you talking about those skills that were shown at the update shrine?¡± ¡°Yeah, we both have passive abilities so we were wondering how an active ability worked. It said you had access to illusion and transformation abilities and I was wondering how they both worked.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try and see why don¡¯t we. Give me a minute I¡¯m not sure how this works exactly.¡± I sit down to try to focus on trying to activate my transformation ability. After about a minute something clicks and I feel fur growing all over my body. My face elongating into a snout, and my limbs transform and change into that of a fox. But ¡­ IT HURT LIKE HELL!!! I screamed out in pain as my body transitioned into my new form. As it finished the pain diminished and I was now a young fox. I looked up to see both John and Teage looking like they¡¯d both suffered from a massive migraine. ¡°Well that sure as hell hurt a lot more than I expected, but at least the pain feels like it is less than before.¡± ¡°Not by much! I still felt like I was having my bones crunched and changed. It might have hurt less. But it still hurt a lot more than I¡¯m comfortable with.¡± ¡°Arf.¡± Wait! I can¡¯t talk in this form! This is so stupid, how is this useful in any way! ¡°Can you not talk Briana?¡± ¡°Arf!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite inconvenient. At least your dress or whatever transitioned with your transformation. No need to worry about your clothes when you do that at least.¡± This all felt very strange. I felt like my senses were heightened. I could smell Matt and Elizabeth coming towards us from ways off. I looked around the forge to see Matt¡¯s head inside of a book as they walked towards us. ¡°Arf! Arf!¡± Shoot I forgot I still can¡¯t talk in this form. ¡°What did they do this time. I hope they¡¯re okay at least.¡± ¡°They¡¯re fine.¡± ¡°What makes you think that. We both just felt that a second ago and that was not some paper cut. Wait! Hey, look! It''s a cute little fox, come here girl.¡± Elizabeth picked me up and hugged me again much to my dismay. I protested her hug, but it¡¯s kind of hard to get your message across when they can¡¯t understand you. ¡°Arf! Arf!¡± ¡°Come on stop squirming. I just want to pet you. You cute little thing¡± ¡°I¡¯d set it down before it bites you, Elizabeth.¡± I didn¡¯t think about that let¡¯s give it a try. I nipple on one of her fingers and she recoils in pain letting me go. I immediately undergo the transformation so she will not try to pick me up again. But, DAMN! The pain is still as present as ever. After it finished I stand back up to see them both recovering from the pain. Recovering from the pain Matt got back up first. ¡°Hey Briana, don¡¯t ever, use that, again.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was just trying it out and didn¡¯t realize how it would work. Sorry about that.¡± ¡°At least the pain link is lessening from what I can tell. It¡¯s a real annoying feature of this familiar thing.¡± ¡°Hey, guys how¡¯d it go. Did you get what you wanted Matt?¡± ¡°Yes, Merrick provided me with a grimoire that should help me with basic spell casting.¡± ¡°Teage¡¯s finishing off some weapons he¡¯s working on, so we should be able to head out tonight.¡± Elizabeth finally perked back up asking. ¡°Can we come back? I¡¯d hate to never see this place again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯ll have to ask Velouria later.¡± We then go to our supplies and divide it up into five piles. The smallest pile is mine, followed by Matt, Teage, and John with the heaviest pile being Elizabeth¡¯s pile. ¡°Why do I have to carry the most stuff?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t want to fight, and you are the strongest of us so there is no reason to make your load lighter.¡± ¡°Fine, I guess it makes sense.¡± Teage then brought us our weapons when we finished. Matt, Teage, and John got swords, and I and Elizabeth got daggers. They were all excellently crafted and were very well made. The sheaths were a bit crude but at least the weapons were well made. We then loaded our rucksacks up before going back into the forest. The kids came by to say goodbye and we said our farewells. I had a harder time leaving cause they kept trying to pull me back and tell me to play with them. Eleanor and Selina shooed them off before waving us off themselves. We said our goodbyes telling them we¡¯d come back to visit before leaving them behind. After a quick hike through the woods again we arrive at the shrine. Holly stands there waiting for us before opening the door and letting us inside. ¡°They are back milady.¡± ¡°Good I just finished talking to Lennie. He is just about ready on his end. While he¡¯s setting it up I have some gifts for you Briana.¡± She pulled out a wrapped package and handed it to me. ¡°I made you a recorder. It has a host of magical properties and will help you with mastering your illusion magic.¡± I take up the recorder and look it over. The wood is well maintained and it feels nice and smooth in my hands. I don¡¯t feel any magic coming from it though. ¡°Here is a hearthstone as well. It¡¯s a two-way communication device so you can call me whenever you want. It also has the coordinates for this place built into so you can come back here as well. When you have a better grasp on magic.¡± The hearthstone fit in the palm of my hand and had a glowing rune and a non glowing rune on the other side. I¡¯d have to guess the glowing one is the communication and the other is the coordinates. ¡°Lastly I want you to have this journal of mine. It might help you find a start for your investigation and help you in the future as well.¡± It was a leather-bound journal that had a few glowing runes on the side. ¡°Those are to protect the book and its contents. So it will survive if you accidentally drop it in a lake or it gets shot up. I lost a few journals over the years before I invested in those protective runes.¡± ¡°Thank you, but, isn¡¯t this too much? I feel like these are worth a lot are you sure you¡¯re okay with giving these to me?¡± ¡°Of course sweetie. Besides, they¡¯ll only gather dust here. I also want to make sure you have the highest chance of success as possible. I don¡¯t want you dying on me a second time now do I.¡± This whole mother little daughter thing is still quite weird in my opinion but she had a point. ¡°Then I¡¯ll gladly take them. To make sure I¡¯ll come back in one piece.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry milady I will protect your sweet daughter with my life.¡± ¡°John I¡¯m not a little girl so don¡¯t address me like that!¡± ¡°But I¡¯m just acting the part princess. Come, won¡¯t you humor us?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t want you acting like this in front of my friends you got that.¡± ¡°As you wish ¡­ princess.¡± ¡°Get over here John! I¡¯ll beat you up for that.¡± ¡°What with your tiny weak limbs. I¡¯ll bet you won¡¯t even make a dent in him lass.¡± I growled in irritation at the realization he was probably right. ¡°Anyways Lennie agreed to help you out. He¡¯ll be opening a portal to his location after he preps an exit portal. Follow me this way to the entrance portal I made and we¡¯ll get ready for him to finish.¡± She then led us to a circular magic circle and told us to get inside of it and spread out. ¡°This should go well but make sure to stay apart no matter what. We¡¯ve had a few¡­ accidents with mergings before.¡± ¡°Wait a second how dangerous is this exactly?¡± ¡°Oh about a 1/10 chance of death when we started out. But we got it down to be around 1/1000 lately. Just relax and don¡¯t fight it. You¡¯ll be fine don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Wait! We can die doing this?¡± Matt didn¡¯t look fazed at all at this saying. ¡°What did you expect. Magic always has a cost and danger to it. How are you able to do this spell at all in the first place though wouldn¡¯t this take a lot of mana?¡± ¡°You compress everything together then you slingshot the package through portal decompress on the other side. It takes a lot but Lennie refined the process over the years and the hard part it the exit portal to make sure everything goes smoothly. That¡¯s why it¡¯s taking him so long.¡± Velouria then picked me up and hugged me before setting me back down and backing away. ¡°Be safe dear and make sure to call from time to time.¡± I didn¡¯t know why but leaving felt like a worse idea than before. I felt a weird desire to stay with her and not leave. I choked back some mysterious tears as I answered. ¡°I''ll be back before you know it mom¡± Then the circle lit up around us and we were shoved through the portal. It hurt a lot in short. We were crunched and felt like we were going mach ten before hitting a brick wall, and returning out of the portal. When I opened my eyes I saw night sky full of stars and two moons shining on a sea of grass as far as I could see. Then I immediately threw up all the contents of my stomach and fell over exhausted. ¡°Success! It went exactly as planned. Well, except the whole projectile chain vomiting and extreme fatigue. Guess it¡¯s just an effect of the distance being so far. I¡¯ll have to record that for later experiments. Rachel would you help our new guests. They seem to require some assistance.¡± ¡°Is that you Brenner?¡± ¡°What? Do you know these people Rachel?¡± ¡°I know the fox girl, but I don¡¯t know of any of her compatriots.¡± ¡°Well, I guess lady luck shined upon you today. Let¡¯s get them inside so I can clean this up and cover our tracks. The church will no doubt have noticed our incantation. We need to get them to safety before any of their teams get here.¡± ¡°Rachel? Is that you?¡± ¡°Are you okay Brenner? Here has some water to wash out the bile.¡± I took her water skin and tried my best to drink the water but it felt like every cell of my body was exhausted. Like running five marathons in a row exhausted. ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Well, you made it to Sacean Plains. I¡¯ll call the girls and tell them you arrived. But first, we need to move before the church starts investigating.¡± ¡°Get them onto the wagon Rachel. I¡¯ll set our friends up a nice gift for when they get here.¡± I felt myself being carried and set on a simple wooden wagon. My senses were gradually growing weaker and I felt like passing out, but I had to know if everyone was okay. I shakily sit up and see Teage hobbling over while John was dry heaving in a pile of his own puke. Elizabeth was being helped by Rachel as Lennie was spreading something where we¡¯d just been. ¡°How are you holding up Briana?¡± Matt climbed in next to me and laid down with the same look of exhaustion I felt. ¡°Before we ever do that again, I¡¯m going to find some better way of making that less¡­ I don¡¯t know just better than that.¡± Rachel came back and dropped off Elizabeth before making her way to John. Teage followed quickly behind and got in soon after. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on but I definitely could use a drink about now.¡± Matt slowly sat back up and looked out of the wagon. ¡°What is that? Do you see it Teage?¡± ¡°What do you want me to see cause right now everything is spinning.¡± ¡°Those lights in the distance. It looks like they are coming closer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the church. Damn, I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d have anyone nearby for a couple miles at least. Here help me get this lug inside.¡± Teage helped pull John into the cart as Rachel grabbed a bag before going back to join Lennie. ¡°Hey boy, pull yourself together now. I thought you¡¯d do better in front of the lass.¡± ¡°Not now Teage I feel like I did one hundred backflips while spinning in a circle at mach ten. Can I catch my breath first.¡± ¡°No time by the looks of it. The church seems to already be on our tale.¡± ¡°Great just what we need a bounty before we even get the chance to say hello.¡± I groggily tried to close my eyes and go to sleep. Sleep yeah that¡¯d be nice. ¡°Hey wake up Brenner.¡± I looked up to see Rachel above me. ¡°What is it I¡¯m trying to get some sleep here Rachel.¡± BOOM!!!!! A big explosion rocketed across the air and shook me awake. Resulting in a painful headbutt with Rachel. ¡°Rachel, how many did we get?¡± She gripped her forehead in pain as he looked out. ¡°Looks like we got four of them. They took the bait all right. But we still got three on our tail.¡± An arrow whizzed past her face as she said that and she ducks down as another follows. ¡°Hey, Brenner got any tricks you could use? Cause I can¡¯t think of anything.¡± ¡°Hey, Rachel what is this thing?¡± Elizabeth was holding a round object and took out some kind of pin while messing with it. ¡°GIVE IT HERE NOW!¡± After a quick toss to Rachel, she chucked it out before another boom rang out. I looked out and saw there was only one left. How annoying I¡¯m trying to sleep here can¡¯t you tell. I lunged out with all the soul force I could muster and attacked the poor guy. I felt pure panic for a second as I realized I was inside of his mind. The user panic from my attack caused him to jerk and fall off his horse before the connection snapped, and I fell asleep. Chapter 10.5 Hidden Developments Unknown Location: Earth ¡°So is this information accurate?¡± ¡°Yes sir. I saw it myself. I have recorded the person but I can¡¯t find any reports of this person circulating among the player base. He hasn¡¯t been spotted and none of our scouts have heard anything either.¡± ¡°This is most unfortunate. If only there was some way to trace the players back to a location it would make our lives a lot earlier.¡± ¡°What I want to know is how did this go unnoticed. His presence should have tripped some magical sensor we have set up right?¡± ¡°Well, my guess is that the person is human. The only explanation I can think of is they accidentally stumbled across a void event and kept silent about it.¡± ¡°We must find this person. They might create an imbalance or leak the reality of our ¡®game¡¯.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe we have to worry about that boss from our short conversation they seemed unaware and oblivious as everyone else. The only way they¡¯ll find out is if someone slips up and everyone that knows has swore an oath of secrecy.¡± ¡°You understand the implications though of a person like that existing in their dimension right? It could lead to a destabilization of our current gate and more things could come through from both sides and we might be forced to abort the operation. This can not be allowed to happen. Use whatever connections you have to find this person and bring them to me. I will rectify this situation and stabilize the gate. We can¡¯t allow this to spread or both our heads are on the line, and it will collapse the world order of their world and make our resource acquisitions that much more difficult. We are treading a very fine line, and no matter how much power you have. If what we are doing ever leaks the whole world will be after our heads.¡± ¡°Understood sir there is no need to worry my men will find him before long it will be impossible to progress far without your association¡¯s aid. He will have to come by one of your facilities and we¡¯ll spot him and bag him just you see.¡± ¡°You better! I¡¯m not entirely sure what effects he could bring, but they aren¡¯t good I can tell you that. Just let me know when you have found him.¡± He then ended the conversation and cleaned up the magical residue of the communication. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry old man. He shouldn¡¯t prove to be anything more than an annoyance at best and will be found in a week easy. Plus it¡¯ll give me something to do other then monitor all these new ¡®players¡¯ that keep registering.¡± ¡°Hey SIS get me on the line with George I¡¯ve got just the job for him.¡± After a minute George was finally able to pick up and answered. ¡°What¡¯s the target this time boss?¡± ¡°There is a fey that has managed to get past our magical sensors. I¡¯ll need him tracked down and bagged and tagged. The old man wants to purge him and make sure that none of our activities are leaking across worlds. He fears that he might find out the truth about the whole ¡®game¡¯.¡± ¡°Alright I¡¯ll need a description and then I¡¯ll send out my people.¡± ¡°He is playing as a fox-kin and has an entourage that is soul bound to him consisting of an elf, dwarf, dragonkin, and human. I¡¯ve hampered his movements and progress so he should come to some of our associates at some point for help. But I¡¯m limited in my ability to track him so it was all that I could do to try to make him easier to find. I¡¯ll need your men to hunt him and his buddies down on the ground. I¡¯ll send you an email with specifics later.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get my men in and about hitting up all the information brokers we know. I¡¯ll also have a small squad hitting up the forums and chat rooms trying to beg anyone that we believe might have a connection to him.¡± ¡°Good let me know what you find as soon as you do. This should be a breeze but if you require extra assistance let me know immediately.¡± ¡°Understood sir. Don¡¯t worry a hair about this sir. It will be taken care of immediately.¡± He then ended the call and sighed. It might be an easy job but it would interrupt his weekly routine he had going. His actions involving mana were quite limited due to trying not to spread its existence around destabilizing the gate, but he wanted this job done faster rather than later. He quickly made eight little birds that seeked out ambient mana. This kid had to be subcousiosly leaking mana if his soul really was that of a fey. These birds would seek it out and hopefully find it. The problem was that mana did originally exist here and they could get lost in some ancient mana location or something so he made eight to be extra sure that he would be found. ¡°I just hope I get this done before the new movie showing I bought tickets for.¡± Unknown Location: Fey Anima ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re going the right way old man, and what makes you so sure it¡¯s out here in the plains?¡± ¡°It¡¯s in the stars my boy. God has shown me that this is the way to the prophet who will stop the coming light.¡± ¡°I also never understood that part. Why are we trying to stop this light? Aren¡¯t we working for the church who works for the light?¡± ¡°They may work for the light, but their belief in the one true God has slackened. As a result, there are those that seek to tempt the powers of the light to do evil deeds for their own gain.¡± ¡°But why out here and what does this prophet even look like?¡± ¡°I have no idea myself the stars only point an arrow to ¡­ it moved.¡± ¡°What moved? Don¡¯t tell me it was in the opposite direction.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°No, it is closer now hurry this way we might be able to catch up to them by tomorrow if we¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°We better find this prophet soon. I agreed to this request because the pay was good, but we¡¯ve seen nothing for months! I¡¯m going to lose my edge at this rate. I haven¡¯t had a decent fight in a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry my boy the world will soon be enveloped in war soon enough. Enjoy this peace while it lasts.¡± ¡°Look I know you''re rich and everything uncle, but why don¡¯t we leave this the church and not pursue it without their help. They would have the resources to find this ¡®prophet¡¯ way better than us two.¡± ¡°Because the enemy has already infected the church. Our only choice is to rely on ourselves and those I can trust which isn¡¯t many.¡± ¡°But why are you blowing your fortune from your successful paper on sanitation that the church rewarded you on this? Surely you would have pursued you lust for knowledge and done more scientific research?¡± ¡°It was a vision, my boy. I was shown a vision by God that a prophet was coming the sign are written in the stars and in the nature around us. I couldn¡¯t pursue my research knowing that it would all be for naught if this prophet doesn¡¯t succeed in its mission.¡± ¡°What makes you so sure about this uncle. I¡¯ve looked into your ramblings myself, but all my contacts keep telling me is that it¡¯s unusual, but not out of the ordinary and nothing more.¡± ¡°You shall see my boy within the week we will find this prophet and all will be clear.¡± ¡°Can we at least stop for the night? The moon is full but I¡¯m drained let¡¯s sleep now and head out in the morning with new energy.¡± ¡°I hate to agree with you, but you are right. We must not allow our appearances to falter in front of the prophet. I would be ashamed to be before God¡¯s prophet in tatter I will have to change to my nicest clothes.¡± ¡®That¡¯s not the point! ¡­ Whatever at least we¡¯re stopping at least.¡± The Monster¡¯s Abyss: Velouria She was alive! She¡¯s alive! I thought I had lost her for sure when she was taken away from me. It definitely was strange when Holly had brought me that boy at first, but when I examined his soul there was no doubt. My baby girl had come back to me! I wished I could have spent more time with her, to be honest, but I knew that she needed to leave. If I had kept her here she never would have the opportunity to learn what she needed. I had to stay here and just offer my support from a distance though. The world needed me to remain dead. If not the beast-kin would have declared war against the humans for having me ¡®killed¡¯. Before the void event that stranded these souls here. I was researching void technology and magic with many other, but when we failed and caused the void event that sent these people here. I had to make it all seem like an event I had caused myself. It would shift everyone''s blame to me and not my fellow researchers. In all actuality, I had hoped to travel the void and find my long lost daughter, but when we reappeared in the Monster¡¯s Abyss I thought that God was toying with me. The only reason I had come through unscathed was that of some enchantments that I had that protected my soul, and since I was a fey my mana body wasn¡¯t able to be mutated by the void. In repentance for the lives lost as a result of the experiment. I gathered the remaining survivors that had become half demons due to the void event. I created this community and had prepared to live out my days in atonement for my actions. Never did I think I would find my long lost daughter. In a new body no less. She must have found her way back to our world in here new body. I shed her of that weak illusion magic. It cleansed him of that imaginary form and released her true form. Just seeing my daughter again brought tears to my eyes. I gently brushed her hair and fur before cleaning her from her adventure. I took in her every feature and tried to burn them to my memory. It really was my little girl! Though he was probably not used to it. In time she would come to terms of her old form. The only thing I could not explain was the time she disappeared when she woke up that afternoon. She said ¡®logout¡¯. What could that have meant and why did it make her disappear? I feel like I need to have more information, but my options are limited from here. I¡¯ll have to ask Briana about that later. Wait! I forgot about her father! This isn¡¯t good he¡¯ll soon find out what happened! I couldn¡¯t face him after I lost her just weeks after giving birth to her. I hid from him in shame and poured all my efforts to try to get her back. They proved unfruitful though and here I am. I hope he isn¡¯t too angry about that. His soul bond to her due to his part of her birth should still be strong so he will definitely chase her down. I hope he doesn¡¯t get too crazy though. I should tell her about him as well. Oh well I guess it won¡¯t matter he should be in the forests of the Kalmarian Union. So it will take him a while to charter passage to the main continent. ¡°My lady I brought you your breakfast.¡± I turned to see Holly in the doorway holding some breakfast for me. Strange? Did I stay up all night thinking without realizing it? Must be because of seeing Briana. It has to be seeing her after so many years must have really struck home for me. ¡°Sorry I¡¯ve been thinking could you set it on the table.¡± ¡°Are you alright my lady? You have been acting quite unusual since your daughter Briana came by. Are you sure sending her away was for the best? She could have learned a lot from you.¡± ¡°I sent her with that journal. But the main reason is I¡¯d try to protect her too much, and I have a feeling she¡¯ll need to learn how to fend for herself in the future and judging from her companions she should be fine. It was just ¡­ hard ¡­ letting her go after seeing her after so many years.¡± I felt streams of warm tears fall down my face. I couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer. I wept openly in front of Holly. I should have kept a strong face, but I just couldn¡¯t. Just knowing she was alive warmed my heart and I felt so much joy and sadness I couldn¡¯t take it. I missed seeing her grow up, I missed teaching her about the world and what it held, and I failed in my duty of protecting her in the first place. I was trying to hide it put I felt real relief taking in her exquisite eyes that I¡¯d only had a glimpse of before they were whisked away from me. I bailed and fell to the ground in tears crying. ¡°Are you okay my lady? Do you need me to get you something.¡± ¡°I missed her so much! I missed so much of her life! I¡¯m such a failure of a parent! I don¡¯t deserve this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay my lady.¡± Holly came over and started to stroke the fur on my tails helping soothe my soul. ¡°I don¡¯t understand everything, but I can see your deep love for Briana. In my eyes, that love is proof enough that you didn¡¯t fail as a parent. She¡¯ll come back as she said and when she does you can pick up where thing left off right?¡± ¡°But she has new parents now. They raised her since she was a baby. She doesn¡¯t remember anything about me!¡± ¡°There is always time to build new bonds, my lady. She¡¯s still alive! So you can always build on that. It might take time, but I believe in the end she¡¯ll accept you and you can finally be the family you want again.¡± I sniffled and blew my nose on my sleeve before trying my tears and saying from the bottom of my heart. ¡°Thank you Holly. This means so much. Just, thank you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no trouble my lady ¡­ , but is it too much to ask for some training today?¡± ¡°Hahaha, no ¡­ no, it isn¡¯t. I just need a minute then we can begin today¡¯s training.¡± I knew she was right. Briana was alive! I was just happy to have her back ¡­ maybe some skinship would help deepen our bond? (ACHOO ¡°Go away you snuggle monster!¡± ZZZZZ) Chapter 11 Playing god That was definitely a lot more of a mess than I expected. Who would have thought that the church already would be after us. Just another thing to add to my shit list I guess. At least Rachel helped get us out of there. I don¡¯t know how we¡¯d have handled ourselves after that adventurous teleport. I¡¯d rather not do that anytime soon to be quite honest. How¡¯d the church find us though I thought we wouldn¡¯t be spotted until we were checked or something by a local missionary or wandering templar. If they can locate us even from a distance this is just going to keep getting better and better. Where am I though? I looked around and I seemed to be in the middle of a dark forest with trees that seemed to swallow the small amount of light around me. Well this is definitely odd I thought I was in a wagon, and why am I alone? They didn¡¯t move me, did they? ¡°Rachel? Matt? Elizabeth? Teage? John? Lennie???¡± Well, this is definitely becoming odder by the second. No one is here except me from the sound of things. Wait! What was that? Is that a pair of eyes? Where should I go? What do I have to defend myself? After a quick pat down I fail to find the knife Teage made or anything that I could make use of. ¡°Great lost and alone with nothing to defend myself with. Things can only get better from here right?¡± Nope, I¡¯m never that lucky. ¡®HOWL¡¯ Great so more wolves, why is it always wolves. I then heard a rustling behind me. Turning around I faced pairs of red eyes that grew ever closer to me. Okay, guess it¡¯s time to RUN! I then bolted away from the wolves diving straight into the woods. The trees were tightly net together and impeded my run from the wolves immensely. The Wolves on the other hand nimbly threaded their way towards me encircling me with ease. I then tripped on a root and face planted into the ground cementing my fate. I was now surrounded by wolves with no weapon and had no escape. This was probably not going to end pretty. ¡°Haha, nice try young pup. But you ain¡¯t getting away from me that easy kid.¡± I turned to see a wolfman with a weird smile on his face. Knowing I was at his mercy I was a quite scared. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Do you really not know? Of course, you wouldn¡¯t sorry about this. My name is Jacob the pack leader of my group. And you?¡± ¡°My name is Brenner. Where am I and what do you want with me.¡± He kneeled down to me and looked me directly in the eyes. He looked me over like he was trying to take me all in. I tried to suppress my fear but I was totally at his mercy. ¡°Well young pup I¡¯m your dad, and I¡¯ve been looking for you for quite a while now.¡± ¡°So your Velouria¡¯s husband ¡­ and my dad?¡± ¡°She was my mate, we never married. She was a blast to be around but left immediately upon realizing she was pregnant with you. I knew she must have had her reasons so I tried to find her and get her to explain. Her illusions made it hard to find her though. One day though you vanished and lost her trail. I¡¯m just glad to know that you''re alright after all these years I thought you were dead. Sorry, we had to meet here I couldn¡¯t wait to see you so I tried setting up a soul dream. Didn¡¯t expect it to work, to be honest, but Samuel owed me a favor and helped me set it up and here we are!¡± ¡°Where are we though, and aren¡¯t you here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only a dream pup and our time is up. Until next time kid. Try to find me in the Union if you get the chance.¡± He then turned to leave leaving me on the ground alone. ¡°WAIT!¡± I woke up screaming aloud panicked this was all too much to take in just two days. ¡°Calm down Briana you were just having a nightmare it¡¯s okay.¡± I opened my eyes and looked around in confusion. I was now in some kind of nomadic hut with Elizabeth. ¡°What happened? Where are we?¡± ¡°We managed to shake off the church¡¯s pursuit for now and are now in hiding out in a nomadic village. Rachel had to leave and asked me to look after you.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s good at least we¡¯re in the clear for now.¡± My stomach then rumbled in hunger at being forgotten after having ejected all of its contents the night before. ¡°Got anything to eat?¡± ¡°No. But they should be having a feast right now. Let¡¯s go outside and get some before it all gets eaten.¡± She lifted me up to her shoulders and walked out of the tent before I could voice a word of protest. Leaving me at her mercy for better or worse. ¡°The divine fox princess has awoken! Go tell everyone and let us feast to her health!¡± Divine Fox? Am I now some kind of local deity due to being a kitsune? Argh, I forgot to set my soul defense before I walked out. I need to take a moment and fix that. Let me close my eyes for a bit and focus ¡­ focus ¡­ focus ¡­ there, that should do it. I open my eyes and see myself in front of a large crowd of beast men that have congregated around me. They all stare at me with eyes of admiration and wonder. There was a wide variety of beast men from wolves to horses, rabbits, and even what looked to be Buffalo. The variety was definitely noticeable. I thought there would be separate tribes for each, but they must live together for protection. From the looks of things someone played on the locals religion or something and made me some kind of deity. I¡¯m going to guess it was Matt or Teage. That probably meant John was still asleep or puking his guts out. Cause he wouldn¡¯t stand for this willingly. Their elder (from what I can tell) then walked towards me before bowing to me followed by the entire crowd. ¡°Welcome, Princess. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. When we heard you were being pursued by the church we gladly took you in. They have been pressuring us for years to convert and have only brought lies and trouble to us. Any enemy of them is a friend to us.¡± Great so I now have two choices play the part and hope I don¡¯t mess up or come clean and tell them the truth. Telling the truth though probably won¡¯t work either though cause they¡¯ll just twist my words and hoist me into the spotlight regardless because of just being their divine fox.Guess we¡¯ll play along and see how it goes. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality elder I greatly appreciate it immensely.¡± ¡°Your praise is too great princess. It has been ages since one of your kind has graced our tribe. I don¡¯t know how to react to this. I¡¯ve never really been the center of attention before.¡± ¡°Can you set me down Elizabeth I¡¯d like to say something to them all.¡± ¡°Our honored guest wishes to speak my friends. Let us hear her words of wisdom.¡± Okay, time to improvise. I got to say something wise and ¡­ helpful? Okay, let¡¯s just see how it goes and if I just end up embarrassing myself. ¡°I wish to say again to you all. That I am thankful for the shelter and food that you have provided me. It is much more than I deserve and I want you all to know that. I wish I could have come under better circumstances. But as you know the church is after me for reason I do not know why. I am on a quest right now seeking ancient ruins. At these ruins, we seek knowledge of a coming storm that approaches us. For I have read a great prophecy that speaks of a light that will burn this world. I do not what it is or when but it is coming and I seek to stop it. So I hope to gain your help in my adventure and to bring this threat to a close before it can begin.¡± ¡°Wait so the omens were true?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be by the gods is it really coming to pass?¡± ¡°No this can¡¯t be happening!¡± Apparently, I was missing something cause everyone''s¡¯ smiles and beaming faces turned to fear. Something had to be up. ¡°Am I missing something?¡± ¡°Yes princess, we have seen omens in the heavens and from our spirit walker. They both prophecies of this coming light. It just saddens us that their omens have been confirmed by someone such as yourself. We¡¯ll gladly share what information we have with you. If it is as dangerous as the omens say then we must deal with it with the utmost urgency. You have our support without a doubt though you have my word.¡± So that prophecy wasn¡¯t just some old relic that didn¡¯t mean anything. It was an actual prophecy that talked about a deadly flame that would spread across the world. GREAT! Just what I needed after coming to terms with what is happening to me. Just great! Let¡¯s turn this back around. I came to get food. Not to talk about doomsday prophecies. ¡°But for now let us eat and enjoy each other''s¡¯ company. We¡¯ll save that talk for a later time.¡± ¡°You are right princess. LET US FEAST!¡± Well, that went better than I hoped. I just hope no one else was around to see that silly display. ¡°Nice speech Brenner I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d pull it off that well.¡± I jumped in surprise and turn around to see Alice in some ranger cloak hiding in the shadow of a tent. ¡°Sorry to scare you I just came online to take care of some business. I got the rundown from Rachel texting me earlier. I just finished my afternoon nap and before you know it it¡¯s four in the morning and you slept for twelve hours on accident.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were there Alice you scared me. Who came up with the idea?¡± ¡°I think it was Celica¡¯s idea, to be honest. Rachel had to get off as soon as she got back so she kind of dumped you on her and she decided to play around with the locals religion and see if it worked. I bet she¡¯ll be thrilled to know it did though. She invested quite a bit of money in these small kitsune plushies. I¡¯d stay away from her or you might get stuck in one of her marketing schemes.¡± Of course, she¡¯d do that. Though I doubt these nomads have the money to buy her plushies or the want to for that matter. ¡°Hey, nice work kid.¡± I turned to see Teage and Matt come over with mugs in their hands drinking merrily. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t know how that would go, but you did a good job.¡± ¡°They even provided me with some nice materials to examine since I¡¯m a companion of yours. They have a ton of good resources we could use to find some ruins nearby.¡± ¡°Who are these people Brenner?¡± ¡°They are my bodyguards. I did a few quests and they became my traveling companions after I gained their trust.¡± ¡°Really! That¡¯s quite nice. I thank you all for looking after him in his travels.¡± ¡°I believe it¡¯s her, lady. She¡¯s clearly a girl.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot you got a girl character didn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°More like I was forced to become one. But, nothing I can do about it now. Anyways where is John, you guys?¡± Elizabeth turned to the side and wouldn¡¯t look at me. ¡°He¡¯s ¡­ asleep, yeah that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°You guys tied him up, didn¡¯t you. He wouldn¡¯t go along with your religious manipulation would he.¡± ¡°Well yes and no lass. He didn¡¯t like the idea, yes, but he¡¯s not here because he¡¯s ¡­ well still quite sick.¡± Matt looked disgusted when Teage said this and added. ¡°He hasn¡¯t been able to do anything but dry heave for the past eight hours.¡± ¡°We gave him some food and water, but everything we give him just comes back up a second later.¡± ¡°Has Elizabeth not tried using her healing voice or whatever?¡± ¡°NO! Why would I go near him when he¡¯s puking like that! I¡¯ll get covered in his gross bile and I don¡¯t want to have to clean that from my scales.¡± ¡°Oh course you¡¯d say that you miss princess.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the princess here, Briana is, and you don¡¯t have scales. So you don¡¯t even know what it¡¯s like to clean them.¡± That reminded me of something. I was filthy. I hadn¡¯t had time to clean myself and guessing from what I saw that wasn¡¯t out of the norm. But it just felt wrong to be this dirty. Maybe it was some girly thing or whatever but I wanted to get clean. ¡°Is there anywhere to take a bath or something?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think there is a river nearby with a few trees why?¡± ¡°I want to take a bath I feel so ¡­ dirty and my fur definitely doesn¡¯t help with that.¡± ¡°Ah! I see what the matter is. Follow me we¡¯ve been using an area that we¡¯re renting from the inhabitants over here to clean. I don¡¯t understand the games need for all this detail though. It seems quite a bit excessive.¡± ¡°The more realistic the better I guess?¡± ¡°Can I join you to Briana?¡± ¡°Sure Elizabeth, I don¡¯t mind, just don¡¯t do anything weird.¡± ¡°Why is she calling you Briana?¡± ¡°Long story I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± ¡°Guess me and Matt will have to go enjoy the festivities a bit more than while we wait for you. Don¡¯t enjoy yourself too much ladies.¡± Matt and Teage then went back to the feast and grabbed some more food trying to try out all of the new foods before them. That¡¯s right I forgot to eat anything after my speech didn¡¯t I. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back I¡¯m going to go grab something to eat real quick I¡¯m starving.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten yet? You know the hunger debuffs aren¡¯t something to laugh about go get something to eat and then come straight back.¡± I run back towards the food and try to grab a few pieces of bread before turning back around and heading back. Before I made it back though two men were being dragged through the camp by the camp¡¯s guards. ¡°What is the meaning of this! Unhand us at once! We mean you all no harm. I just need to find God¡¯s prophet. The world depends on it I tell you. You¡¯ve seen the signs haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Uncle just shut up. They won¡¯t listen to a follower of the church.They¡¯ve been hurt too much by them in the past to take any chances.¡± ¡°They still don''t have to arrest us for just having our holy texts on us.¡± ¡°They see that as us just being spies you know. Which isn¡¯t going to help us. Just let me do the talking will you.¡± ¡°Quiet prisoners! The elder will be here soon to decide your fates.¡± I pushed my way to get a look at the two men. One looked to be around forty or so and the other looked to be around my real age. They had rope binding their hands behind their backs and were surrounded by four tribesmen with spears. The elder then came before them with a stern look on his face. ¡°Why have you two come here and what do you want with us. Tell me men of the church.¡± He didn¡¯t look happy at all to see them. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should intervene or not. They didn¡¯t look hostile, but I couldn¡¯t be sure. ¡°We were just on a journey through the plains researching the local flora and fauna. You can check our bags. There are sketches and samples inside of them. We just came to see if we could trade for some supplies. We went through our salt stores a lot faster than we thought and wanted to see if we could get some here.¡± ¡°I very much doubt that humans. We were attacked just yesterday by your so called peaceful church. How can I be sure you aren¡¯t one of them.¡± ¡°You can check my guild badge that¡¯s in my bag it is from Blazing Eagles. I am his escort during his travels through the area. I didn¡¯t realize he had his holy texts on him, dear elder. We will leave now and be gone from your site immediately if our presence troubles you so.¡± ¡°Then leave our site at once we do not wish for your presence to remain here during our festivities. If you come back I will have our guards ordered to kill you on site.¡± The older man looked annoyed but kept his mouth shut during the exchange. But when he said they had to leave he finally broke his silence. ¡°But the Lord¡¯s prophet is here they arrived here last night did they not. I must see them immediately. There is information I must tell them at once.¡± The elder look turned sour and his face hardened. ¡°How do you know that she is here.¡± ¡°I must tell them -¡± (Whack) The elder smacked the man across the face. Before ordering his guards. ¡°Kill them immediately! They must not be allowed to find her and take her. We promised to protect her with our lives did we not.¡± Okay, this is going a bit far I stepped out from the crowd. ¡°What is going on here elder?¡± ¡°Princess! I did not see you.¡± He kneeled with the guards following suit soon after. ¡°We were just taking care of some of the church¡¯s spies. These men would have altered the church to your presence.¡± ¡°These men did not pursue us, and I wish to speak with this man.¡± I pointed to the man who had gotten smacked by the elder whose face was swelling from the impact. ¡°I wish for these men to be treated as fellow guests. This will not help you pursue peace with the church, and will only give them an excuse to send more men. Will it not?¡± ¡°You are right princess! I am sorry for my rash actions.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay elder, but before I deal with them. I wish to eat and clean myself so I will be back later.¡± ¡°Of course princess! You have my promise.¡± ¡°Then if you''ll excuse me.¡± I turned to where I had left Alice and took a bite of my bread without looking back. I was sweating up a storm. That was bad those people had almost been killed because of me. I¡¯m not too sure what to think about it, to be honest. I knew these people were devout. But enough to kill for me? I feel like I¡¯m digging myself deeper into trouble with every new person I meet. ¡°What took you so long Brenner. Thought we¡¯d lost you for a minute there.¡± ¡°I had to stop them from killing these two men who had entered the camp. They thought that they were going to alert the church to my location.¡± ¡°What did you do to piss off the church?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. Anyways where do we go for these baths?¡± ¡°This way you two. I¡¯ll show you guys our caravan real quick.¡± She led us through the maze of tents before coming across an area that had tents embroidered with what looked to be dancing reeds. They had four tents and three carts are strewn about. The camp was empty though as it was probably the middle of the night in IRL. ¡°I¡¯d have you greet everyone, but they''re all offline at the moment. So I guess that means we¡¯ll have the bath to ourselves.¡± ¡°Wait you mean there''s only one bath?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. How will we decide who gets to go in first?¡± ¡°I call dibs first I don¡¯t have a lot of time and I still have to talk to those two guys that they captured. I just gave them diplomatic immunity. I still have to figure out what it is that they wanted.¡± Elizabeth then smiled and came up with a with a ¡®brilliant¡¯ solution to our problem. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just all have a bath at the same time?.¡± ¡°NO WAY!!! I am not sharing a bath with the both of you. It¡¯s immodest and I¡¯m a guy. So forget that this second. I don¡¯t take that long to bath anyways. Can¡¯t you just wait.¡± ¡°No! You are going to take your sweet time exploring every part of your body are you not?¡± ¡°This body is that of an eight-year-old. How the heck am I supposed to get off to that and also getting off on myself is weird as all hell, to begin with.¡± ¡°Fine, just hurry it up. I want to get my EXP bonus from washing up before logging out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a thing?¡± ¡°Look up the guide book when you log out. I know you wanted to go in blind but you still need to know the basics at least.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll look it up today when I get the chance.¡± I then walked into one of the huts and washed up after figuring out how to use all the magic appliances that were inside. It took longer then I thought to dry off though. Having fur made it harder to dry off than I thought. I then put my dress back on and went outside to see Alice dejected to the side while Elizabeth was grinning happily. ¡°What did you guys do?¡± Alice looked at me in depression before answering. ¡°We made a bet on whether or not you¡¯d do anything weird while you were bathing. I bet you would and Elizabeth here bet otherwise. So I snuck in with my sneak ability and checked up on you -¡± ¡°YOU DID WHAT?¡± ¡°Ah¡­nevermind. Here¡¯s your prize Elizabeth.¡± She tossed Elizabeth a comb as her ¡®prize¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m going to get back at you one of these days for this Alice. Mark my words!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I won¡¯t do it again I promise. Come on Elizabeth it¡¯s our turn now.¡± ¡°Thanks for the comb Alice and you want me to do your hair before I go Briana?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in a hurry maybe later.¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s quite a mess. It¡¯s a lot longer than your usual hair. It won¡¯t take but a minute.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you brush my hair real quick.¡± I stood up as she brought a stool and started brushing my hair. It felt nice and was important thinking about it. I couldn¡¯t go around with unkempt hair being their ¡®god¡¯ after all. ¡°There all done! You can go run off now.¡± ¡°Why do I feel like you''re treating me like a child.¡± ¡°Because I am.¡± ¡°Well, at least you''re honest. See you later Alice.¡± I then ran off back to the festivities and my two ¡®guests¡¯. I found them being escorted by two guards. They were enjoying the food while under the intense scrutiny of their security. ¡°Hello, gentlemen I am back. Let¡¯s get down to business, shall we. Guards can you take us somewhere private so I may speak to these gentlemen in privacy. ¡°Right away princess.follow me.¡± The guard then lead us to a tent and opened it up and went inside. I followed him in and saw what looked to be his home. ¡°You may use my home princess just let us know if you need help we¡¯ll remain on standby should the need arise.¡± ¡°Thank you, sire you are go kind letting us stay here.¡± He then bowed and left the tent leaving me with the two gentlemen. Time to see what they want from me now I guess. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve properly introduced ourselves so I will go first. My name is Brenner what is yours?¡± The older gentlemen spoke first to no surprise. ¡°My name is Remus and this is my nephew Raven. I wish to help you prophet in your quest.¡± Prophet? Quest? What the hell is he talking about. ¡°So you know what my quest is. What is it then?¡± ¡°To stop the coming threat is it, not your soul fits with the prophecy of the coming light. I only know a little myself but from what I¡¯ve gathered you are an important part in stopping this coming light. The church has lost sight of what it once stood for and I believe something is doing something in the shadows and I was given a message by God to support you and your quest in bringing a stop to this.¡± Okay¡­ This guy might just be a nut case. ¡°Look I don¡¯t know exactly what this vision you had was. But I don¡¯t know anything about this coming light of yours. I¡¯m on a personal quest to find a way back home (in a sense). I¡¯d appreciate your help, but I have no idea what I¡¯m doing to be quite honest.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is your ¡®prophet¡¯ uncle. She may be a kitsune. But she has only one tail. Aren¡¯t they supposed to have nine or something?¡± ¡°She is the one. The prophecy might not be fulfilled soon but it is coming that I can guaranty you. Brenner, I wish to join you and your party in your journey. I can provide you healing and wisdom you won¡¯t find anywhere else, and I can help you deal with the church as well. God has pointed me on this path and as such I must do my utmost to fulfill his mission for me.¡± ¡°Are you absolutely sure uncle? I promised to guard you to find this prophet but I did not promise to join some doomsday quest. I expect to be paid the entire time I¡¯m following you for this and I want a danger bonus if things get too hairy you hear. I don¡¯t want to get killed over this. I could just as easily take some caravan guard details.¡± ¡°I will pay for your services nephew don¡¯t worry about that. All I ask is that you give this one month and after that then you may decide whether or not you wish to go back.¡± He sighed loudly before agreeing to his uncle''s conditions. The extra help will be nice it¡¯s just going to be weird having to deal with them since I won¡¯t be online every day. ¡°I will gladly accept your help then. For now, though I must go again to take care of some things. I will be back sometime tomorrow and we can leave then how does that sound?¡± ¡°Excellent I feel I will learn a great deal under you great prophet. I won¡¯t let you down.¡± He bowed and smiled from ear to ear at the news. I just hope this doesn¡¯t come to bite me in the ass. Chapter 12 A QUEST!!! After checking both of their souls to the best of my ability. The best I could tell was they weren''t lying to me and so I told them I would be back soon and that I''d planned to leave to find some ruins nearby. I then left them and told the guards that they could be trusted and allowed to stay here while I was gone I told them I''d be back and that I needed to visit someone and that I''d be back soon. I then hid behind a tent and said ¡®log out¡¯. I was then logged out and returned to my body and bed. Much to the displeasure of my companions. ¡®Come on we were just about to break into the good stuff, Briana.¡¯ ¡®Well thank God that is over. I''m actually glad I don''t have a stomach right now. Why the hell did you guys just leave me alone unattended in that tent? I needed help, you guys.¡¯ ¡®You were fine John. We just didn''t want to clean up after you and didn''t want to catch it if it was contagious.¡¯ ¡®That still doesn''t mean you leave me unattended! I was dying there!¡¯ ¡®Lennie said it was just mana deficiency from the teleport. He said you''d be better in a day. So we were letting you rest.¡¯ ¡®Resting my ass! You try resting near your own bile when you can barely move. That sure ain''t resting I''ll tell you that.¡¯ ¡®Well, at least it let us get away with making Briana a ¡®god¡¯ securing us some sweet grub and shelter.¡¯ ¡®That''s blasphemous! Why would you lie to those people like that? Religion isn''t something you go around and mess with for some benefits. It''s an important part of a people''s history and their beliefs.¡¯ ¡®And their beliefs are that kitsune are ¡®gods¡¯ to them. So since Briana is one we weren''t lying to anyone. We were just using her ¡®god¡¯ status to gain some perks while we were visiting them.¡¯ ¡®It''s he right now Elizabeth. Anyways what time is it?¡¯ I looked at my wall clock and saw it was six. Earlier than I usually got up but I don''t feel like sleeping right now. I felt rested enough that I should make it to noon the. I can take a quick nap before logging back in. I sit up and stretch for a minute before feeling faint soul presences around me. Reminding me that I needed to set up my soul defense for the day. It wasn''t going to help that the church that my family goes to on Sunday is on the bigger side hosting around 1000+ people in it every weekend. I am probably going to be grinding my soul defense during church just so that I don''t get overwhelmed by the number of people. Thinking about it, learning about my heritage and my circumstances. This ¡®game¡¯ was having a drastic impact on my life. I learned that my soul and voices were all alien to this world and that I''d inhabited this body by inhabiting the soulless shell of a new born baby. This all didn''t make sense, but the effects were definitely real. I felt others souls yesterday and it didn''t feel fake or made up, and I still felt them today. I felt that I needed more information than I had. Cause right now it feels like something is amiss. This ¡®game¡¯ must be being used for something, but for what? I get up and get changed into my church clothes before making my way to the kitchen to make breakfast. ¡®Ding¡¯ I stop and check my phone to see that my sister just texted me. ¡®Are you busy next weekend?¡¯ ¡®No¡¯ I made it to the kitchen and got out a frying pan on the stove. ¡®Would you mind coming up and being a test subject for my new experiment?¡¯ I wish my sister didn''t text me just to see if I''d be her guinea pig. The only reason she did was because my parents actively encouraged it and it was less of a hassle than getting an uncooperative subject. ¡®What is it this time¡¯ I then got some ham and eggs was starting to fry them when her reply came. ¡®I''m working on this new research project my professor is having me work on it''s a new medical scanner we''ve been developing. It''s top secret though so I can''t tell you the details. We just need willing test subjects to be in our setup for 24 hours¡¯ Heck no! Why would I spend my whole weekend to be her test subject? ¡®No way! I''d rather play SQO. I just got it this Friday for my birthday!¡¯ I stirred the eggs as the ham sizzled on the stove. ¡®What if I told you that you could play SQO while doing our tests¡¯ It would get her off my back and allow me to dive for a full twenty four hours. That would definitely be nice. ¡®Fine I''ll do it, but I better be getting paid for this¡¯ ¡®Your payment was me helping you pass chemistry¡¯ I really wish she''d stop using that card, but she really was the reason that I even did decently in that class. It just never clicked with me for some reason. ¡®Fine when do you want me there¡¯ The eggs were cooked and the ham warmed so I served them up and put the pan in the sink. ¡®8:00 pm Friday. You can spend Saturday night at my place and then you can drive back Sunday¡¯ ¡®Do mom and dad know?¡¯ They probably did but I wanted to make sure. It wasn''t unlike her to pull something like this. ¡®Yep they said I just had to get your permission¡¯ ¡®Alright then. See you then¡¯ I then sat down and started to eat my breakfast. My parents both walked in a minute later and turned on the coffee maker before realizing I was eating breakfast. ¡°You¡¯re up early today.¡± ¡°I went to bed early last night. No one was on last night.¡± ¡°But weren¡¯t you by yourself?¡± ¡°I had a quest that passed by them so we hung out for a bit. We had planned on doing something last night but they were busy so I just went to bed cause I was tired.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to early church with us right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I just have to clean my dishes and get dressed.¡± ¡°You made breakfast and didn¡¯t make enough for all of us!¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± To make things short I made more breakfast before getting dressed and going to church. My dad drove and I sat shotgun with mom in the backseat. We then pulled out of the driveway and made our way to church when it suddenly hit me. ¡®J-jpjasd¡¯ ¡®adsnaw¡¯ ¡®aswjd-n¡¯ ¡®asdnq0¡¯ ¡®qdmppmq¡¯ Crap this isn¡¯t good. I had only thought about the people at the church and not the amount of people I¡¯d pass on the way there. I tried to compensate by meditating and reinforcing my soul¡¯s defenses. It was definitely unpleasant, to say the least. I wondered why it wasn¡¯t this bad yesterday on my way to Rachel¡¯s house. The only reason I could think of is if my powers were naturally growing after awakening. In which case I had no idea how sensitive I would become to this. One thing was definitely sure though I was definitely improving this ability pronto. I didn¡¯t realize we were there until my dad shook me. I opened my eyes and tried to calm down and looked at him. ¡°Hey, you okay buddy you don¡¯t look alright. Did you make yourself sick this morning? Do we need to be worried?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine just feeling car sick for some reason today.¡± ¡°Want me to drive you home?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. ¡°You don¡¯t look fine Brenner are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, I just need to sit down and catch my breath.¡± ¡°Okay just don¡¯t push yourself too much you don¡¯t look good.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be better in a minute just you watch.¡± We made our way to our usual seats and waited for service to start. I tried to get my soul defenses squared away while I waited. But I just felt like something was wrong. My body felt way weaker than earlier, but my soul defenses were fine I double checked and couldn¡¯t find anything wrong there. But as time passed I felt weaker and weaker. ¡°Are you okay son? You''re looking worse and worse by the second.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe I just need to use the restroom.¡± I stood up but my legs started to tremble. My dad caught me as I fell. ¡°Here I¡¯ll take you to the bathroom and you can take care of your business, but then we¡¯re going home you hear.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds, good.¡± After making my way to the bathroom I puked into the toilet before a sudden thought occurred. Weren¡¯t these the same symptoms as John¡¯s after the teleport? Had I used too much mana trying to shore up my soul defenses? Actually, why couldn¡¯t I hear them? What was going on! I stood up and walked over to my dad before passing out. I woke up on my bed and looked over at my clock. It was currently four in the afternoon. I bolted upright and looked around. A sudden wave of fatigue hit me and I fell back on my bed. I grabbed my phone which was still in my pocket and called my mom. She picked up right away. ¡°Are you awake sweety.¡± ¡°Yeah just feeling weak still. Are you guys home?¡± ¡°Yes, we were in the living room watching a show while you were asleep. Would you like me to bring you some food?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be up in a minute then with some soup.¡± I hang up my phone and lay back down. What the hell happened. ¡®Hello, Earth to Briana can you hear us?¡¯ ¡®Is that you John?¡¯ ¡®Of course, it is. What the hell happened?¡¯The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡®I don¡¯t know I think I passed out from mana exhaustion for some reason.¡¯ ¡®No I mean why couldn¡¯t we contact you this morning?¡¯ ¡®What do you mean.¡± ¡®After you set up your soul defense you couldn¡¯t hear us for some reason.¡¯ ¡®It was starting to worry us lass. I know you ignore us a lot but you didn¡¯t even react to anything we did.¡¯ ¡®And they did a lot of stuff I¡¯d rather forget trying to get your attention.¡¯ ¡®Come on Elizabeth I know you don¡¯t like it but usually, it gets his attention so we had to.¡± ¡®You didn¡¯t have to think that vulgarly you dumb oaf.¡¯ ¡®What else was I supposed to do to get his attention. Yelling louder didn¡¯t help.¡¯ ¡®I get the point you guys I¡¯ll look into it and make sure it doesn¡¯t happen again. I think it might have to do with my innate magic awakening and growing faster than I know how to control it.¡¯ ¡®The best plan then should be to play SQO and learn to control it there. That way we have twice the time.¡¯ ¡®I think I¡¯m going to need a few more hours Matt. I don¡¯t quite feel up for that just yet.¡¯ I wonder how else my body or abilities is changing out here. I just hope Velouria wasn¡¯t kidding about me not growing a tail or anything. Cause I have no idea how I¡¯d explain that to anyone. Wait! Brainstorm! If I had magic deficiency just now. Does that mean that I could use magic outside of SQO! Wait, if people knew I could use magic that would be bad right? Argh, there are too many new variables to think about. I didn¡¯t know what I could and there always seemed to be some new event in front of me. Didn¡¯t Velouria give me her journal? Maybe I could find something useful in there. Problem was ¡­ I couldn¡¯t read it unless I was in SQO. Just then the door opened and my mom opened the door with a tray of soup and saltines in hand. ¡°Feeling better?¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know what came over me. But I think I¡¯ll be better by tomorrow.¡± ¡°You sure it wasn¡¯t because you stayed up all night playing SQO?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I went to bed last night.¡± If you count sleeping in the game as sleeping then sure. It definitely felt like I was. ¡°I got you a doctors appointment for tomorrow morning so just take it easy and go to the appointment. You don¡¯t have to go to school till after you get the okay from the doctor.¡± Sweet! No school tomorrow! Oh crap, I forgot that I had a test in physics tomorrow, and I haven¡¯t studied at all this weekend. Maybe I could try cheating with magic on the test. ¡®Magic isn¡¯t going to help you take a test and are you even sure you can handle being in school nevertheless a test?¡¯ ¡®Want to help me study Matt?¡¯ ¡®Not like I got anything else going on, and you have to keep your grades up to keep playing SQO¡¯ ¡®So you¡¯ll tell me the answers during the test?¡¯ ¡®No, you still need to learn the material yourself.¡¯ ¡°You okay Brenner?¡± ¡°Yeah, I just zoned out for a bit. Thanks for the food!¡± ¡°Call me if you need anything else we¡¯ll be downstairs in the living room.¡± She then left closing the door behind her. I then ate all the food she brought and spent some time studying for my physics test. After finishing my review I felt much better. Not mentally, but magically and physically I felt much better. I looked at the clock to see it was just about six. Good only about a day has passed. We¡¯ll gather information and supplies before heading to those ruins we heard about. Then we can see if they hold some secret that could help us out. I donned my SQO helmet and laid back before logging back in. I appeared back where I had logged out behind a tent. I looked around, but it looked like I had logged back in alone. I made my way through the camp back to where the festivities had been. On my way there I stumbled upon two of the villagers who pointed me to the Elder. I thanked them and made my way to his tent. When I arrived I saw him looking at a map talking to someone. ¡°Lucius has gone missing sir! He left a note saying that he had to visit the ancient burial grounds. Something about something desecrating the ancestors¡¯ graves. I told him we¡¯d send a team after we¡¯d secured more provisions from a hunt. But he said it couldn¡¯t wait and left on his own. There is also the matter of the two humans the princess left here I don¡¯t trust them. We should kill them or kick them out before they bring more trouble.¡± Great sounds like they¡¯ve got a job for me today. Also, I¡¯ll have to take those two guys with me before these guys get too twitchy around them. ¡°I¡¯ll take them both with me to go find Lucius. He¡¯s your spirit walker right?¡± ¡°Ah, yes princess. I¡¯d heard that you had to leave and we didn¡¯t expect you to be back so soon.¡± ¡°I finished what I needed to do earlier then expected. So I will gladly help you with this matter.¡± ¡°Are you sure princess? The ancient burial grounds are not a safe place there are many dangers there.¡± ¡°I am aware of this my companions which arrived with me will help protect me as well as those two men from yesterday.¡± ¡°Is that wise princess. I don¡¯t trust them they could be working for the church which is after your head.¡± ¡°I personally checked their souls for any ill will. I did not find any so I believe they can be trusted. Also, I do not wish to further diminish the security of your village. I must repay your kindness with my assistance. It is the least I can offer after your hospitality.¡± ¡°You are too kind princess we shall gladly accept your help then.¡± ¡°The location of the burial grounds is due north from here. You will see a ring of stones with a set of stairs in the middle of them. I wish you a safe journey during your travels princess.¡± ¡°I will gather my companions and supplies and will head out then.¡± ¡°May the winds grant you fast and safe passage across the plains princess.¡± I made my way out of the tent and made my way to where the Reed Dancers had set up camp. I couldn¡¯t find anyone and thought I might be able to find Elizabeth at the very least. Things just kept getting more interesting didn¡¯t they. I barely logged back in and there is already something to do. I bet the guys are going to be excited. Elizabeth not so much maybe I could get some of the Reed Dancers to help us. Deep in thought, I accidentally walked into someone and fell backward into the ground. ¡°Ah sorry about that Briana didn¡¯t see you there.¡± ¡°Glad to see your doing better John.¡± ¡°Glad to be better. That was definitely was something I¡¯d rather not repeat.¡± He reached down to help me up and I grabbed hold as he lifted me back up. We then made our way to their camp and found Elizabeth organizing our packs. Why was she getting our packs ready? ¡°Hey, Elizabeth how¡¯d you know that we had a job to do?¡± ¡°Lucky guess? I mean what else was your plan going to be. You hate sitting around and we need to find some clues about what is going around and we aren¡¯t going to find them here.¡± ¡°We have a Quest!¡± ¡°Yeah, I forgot to tell you didn¡¯t I. Apparently the village¡¯s spirit walker is headed towards an ancient burial ground our job is to go find out what is going on there.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s a Quest!¡± ¡°Yes John, it¡¯s a ¡®quest¡¯.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go get Matt and Teage then I¡¯ll be back real quick.¡± John then sped off to go get them just as Rachel came up to us. ¡°So you got a quest?¡± ¡°Yep, we¡¯re about to head out if you want to join us.¡± ¡°In that case, we can take one of the wagons. We¡¯ll have an easier time getting there and collecting loot.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t going to rob the graves Rachel.¡± ¡°Why not? Isn¡¯t that basic adventuring 101.¡± ¡°All that will do is lower our reputation with the people who live on the plains.¡± ¡°True, I guess I¡¯ll have to suffice with whatever crafting materials we gather along the way.¡± ¡°THE PROPHET HAS RETURNED!¡± That¡¯s weird how did he know I was back already? ¡°I felt your presence return to us and made my way to you. We are ready to help you in whatever way we can.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why you''re so excited to see her uncle. She may be a prophet but she¡¯s so young. I¡¯m not sure she can be this prophet of yours.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you even know I was back?¡± ¡°The Lord told me of your return. I then picked up your trail and made my way to you.¡± Okay, that¡¯s not creepy at all. Note to self. Figure out how to make some kind of concealment spell. ¡°Who are these two Brenner?¡± ¡°Remus and Raven. They seem to think I¡¯m some kind of prophet from God or whatever.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I just think my uncle is crazy.¡± ¡°Then why are you here?¡± ¡°Because he pays me to protect him.¡± She seemed perplexed by this but gave it no more thought as John came back with Matt and Teage in tow. ¡°Looks like the whole gang is here lass ready to head out?¡± ¡°I¡¯m interested in what we may find in these ruins they may have some clues to our search.¡± ¡°Quite the crew you¡¯ve gathered Brenner. I¡¯ll have the wagon ready in a minute in the meantime get your gear ready. Apparently, there have been some rampaging beasts in the area. You¡¯ve to always be ready for trouble when you¡¯re traveling out here.¡± She then left me with them and it finally dawned on me. We had no armor to speak of. ¡°You think we¡¯ll be fine without armor?¡± ¡°Should be fine if we get hurt we can just have Elizabeth sing for us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing it for every scratch you get. So we need to make sure to get some later.¡± ¡°There is no need for armor as God shall protect us all.¡± ¡°Sure he will uncle, but you''re not the one usually fighting, are you. So if you could ask God to give ¡®us¡¯ some we¡¯d greatly appreciate it.¡± ¡°Nephew we must trust in the Lord and he will provide us with all the armor we need.¡± ¡°Sorry old man but I¡¯ve to agree with the lad here. God might protect us, but I¡¯ll feel a lot safer in some good metal armor. Never know when you¡¯ll fall out of his favor and let the blade find you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you little one.¡± Before I could react I was hoisted into the air by a big man. He then proceeded to pet my tail and ears while he held me in his arms. It felt nice but it also felt weird at the same time. I squirmed trying to get away from him, but his strength greatly exceeded mine. So I was left helplessly in his arms. ¡®Kick¡¯ ¡°Unhand her you beast. Who are you and what do you want?¡± John rescued me in his arms before putting some distance between us. ¡°John, you do realize that this is the who performed our teleport right?¡± ¡°He is? I thought he some random idiot that was assaulting Briana.¡± ¡°Well he was, but he did help us so you could have just asked him to have stopped.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s quite alright I shouldn¡¯t have done that. I never seem to learn any self control. Beast-kin fur is just so irresistibly soft I just can¡¯t help myself.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d appreciate it if you could refrain from that if at all possible.¡± ¡°Very well I will do my best, but I must ask for your help first. My friend Lucius felt a disturbance at the nearby burial grounds. He believes someone or something is disturbing the resting spirits. We must quickly go meet up with Lucius to find out what it is and assist him if necessary. ¡°Rachel is getting the cart right now. As soon as it is ready we¡¯re heading out.¡± ¡°Perfect! So is this everyone? It¡¯s quite the crew you¡¯ve gathered. With these numbers, we should finish this real quick.¡± Rachel pulled up next to us driving a wagon with some supplies. ¡°Load up all the stuff you don¡¯t want to carry. You¡¯re going to have to all walk or else it¡¯ll be too heavy.¡± We loaded our gear and supplies and set out. Rachel saved a seat for me though saying that I was too small to walk fast enough so I sat shotgun next to her. We set off north to the burial grounds slowly letting the village disappear behind us. ¡°Quite the crew you¡¯ve gathered. I¡¯ve never had this many NPCs with me. The only NPC I travel with is Lennie. He is very knowledgeable about magic but he is a little ¡­ eccentric.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kind of found that out firsthand.¡± ¡°So how are you holding up? You didn¡¯t look good yesterday are you okay?¡± ¡°I just had a stomach bug today so that was probably why.¡± ¡°No, I mean with your avatar and everything.¡± ¡°Fine I guess, the height thing will take some getting used to.¡± ¡°No, I mean the gender bender deal. I mean, how real does it feel?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about it too much to be honest. I mean look at me. I¡¯m a dang child. So not really that much femininity to really notice yet. So I kind of just ignore it for the most part.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. No need to senselessly dwell of things you can¡¯t change and it worked out either way so I guess we can¡¯t complain.¡± I look up into the sky seeing the sun make its way across the sky soaking into my skin and arms. It felt as real as real life but I wonder if it is just me. ¡°So how real does this feel to you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it felt clunky at first, but it grew on me. If I had to say it matches about 50% realism.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The food tastes just a bit off sense wise, and sometimes in a fight, I¡¯ll feel like I¡¯m lagging in my movements. But most of all it feels artificial for a lack of a better word. I can definitely see they tried to be realistic with the game, but it just lacks a certain amount of information that the real world doesn¡¯t I guess.¡± Maybe that means that my soul being from this world affects how I perceive it. So could that be the medium for how we come here? Projecting our souls using the headset to come here. That sounded very dangerous to me but so far there haven¡¯t been any reports of anything harmful so I can only guess that there are numeral fail-safes put into place. What could their goal be though? Someone has to be pulling strings from behind the scenes. Cause all of this just didn''t add up. ¡°So are you having fun playing? Even with the ¡­ changes.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s a blast and it¡¯s interesting having a tail and the lore is definitely amazing I can¡¯t wait to learn more.¡± It was true I was having fun playing, but I knew things they could never understand and I didn''t know how far these changes would affect me. I could just hope I would be able to enjoy it and worry about the future later. Oh yeah, Velouria left me that journal of her¡¯s didn¡¯t she I turn around and retrieve it from my pack. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°A journal I was given by a kind lady. She said it might explain what happened to me.¡± Hard to really explain that it was given to me by my first mother. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d believe me. ¡°Have you learned anything yet?¡± ¡°Nope, I haven¡¯t had time to read it yet.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have plenty of time to read it on this trip. Should take us a day or more to get there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite far I¡¯m amazed more people don¡¯t complain about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s scenic and usually there are events that happen along the way so it¡¯s never completely boring.¡± I open up the journal and start to read. Hopefully, it could explain some things to me about being a kitsune. Chapter 13 The Journey to Inner Peace Velouria¡¯s Journal Entry 1 So what is this now? My eighth or is it my seventh? Anyways I made sure to pay an enchanter to reinforce my journal this time. Hopefully, it lasts longer as a result. Not sure what to do at the moment. Maybe I¡¯ll pay my respects at the burial grounds. God knows their wisdom has helped me out of a bind more than once. Not sure they¡¯d take to kindly to that trail of thought though. I¡¯ve pissed off too many people lately maybe I should keep my head low. Playing that trick on that king¡¯s children might have been a bit too much. At least they were fine though that fight with that wolf was a bit unexpected I didn¡¯t think it would track me down for five years just to avenge its mother who attacked me for taking its prey. That it had failed to mark. Maybe I should go see BT he was quite an interesting character. Though he is quite hard to find himself. Being a robotic soul ain¡¯t easy. So he must be looking for demon beasts to power himself. Guess I¡¯ll end it here until something more interesting decides to happen. Though hopefully not too interesting. I¡¯ve had enough deadly fights to last a year I can at least use a break for a bit. Briana So far nothing has attacked us and I was able to get some reading in. Though it was less helpful than I¡¯d hoped. Most of it was just Velouria making commentary about her travels. Entertaining to be sure but not really what I was looking for. The sun dips across the sky as day turns to dusk turning the grasslands to fields of amber grass and grain. ¡°Alright let''s stop here for the night and set up camp. It¡¯ll be dark soon so more monster will be out and tonights going to be a new moon so it¡¯ll be to dark too push on.¡± ¡°Sounds good I¡¯ll get the tents set up.¡± Lennie starts taking out some canvas and poles from the wagon. ¡°You brought tents?¡± ¡°Always have to be prepared for anything. Don¡¯t worry I brought enough for everyone to share.¡± ¡°I guess I was so excited I forgot to think about that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay I did it a lot when I first started playing. I¡¯d forget to bring a canteen and get lost in a dungeon or not bring shelter as a huge storm passed over me. All my mistakes taught me to be more prepared next time. Luckily I¡¯m here with you so you don¡¯t have to suffer all the same mistakes I made.¡± She nudged me with her arm as she jumped down to help Lennie set up camp. ¡°Hello princess, how was your ride?¡± ¡°I told you not to call me that John. If you have to call me anything it¡¯s Briana/ ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like that either?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but it¡¯s the only name you guys can call me apparently.¡± ¡°At least you didn¡¯t have to walk the whole trip. I might have strong muscles but that doesn¡¯t really apply to height or cardio.¡± ¡°What are you talking about it wasn¡¯t even that far. Only about six-hours of walking.¡± ¡°More like a six hour jog dragon legs.¡± ¡°Oh, you aren¡¯t that short Teage. I bet even Briana could have kept that pace easily.¡± ¡°I highly doubt that she¡¯s shorter than me and look at her. There isn¡¯t even that much muscle on her. I¡¯d say she¡¯d collapse after about four hours out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that weak Teage and I can always turn into a fox and use four legs.¡± ¡°Not until you learn to control our pain link. Otherwise, I¡¯d rather you ride in the cart while I jog.¡± ¡°So how about you use some of your valuable time right now to practice so that you don¡¯t faint when you go to school tomorrow.¡± ¡°Then I guess you¡¯ll be my training partner joy kill.¡± ¡°Good I can make sure you don¡¯t slack off.¡± ¡°Oh come on I¡¯m not that lazy Matt you know that.¡± ¡°Only when it comes to things you enjoy. I have to constantly remind you to do your homework.¡± ¡°Okay fine whatever let¡¯s get started then. Let¡¯s go away from the camp before we start though just to be safe.¡± ¡°Safe from what it¡¯s just a simple soul defense deal right?¡± ¡°My ability allows me to project and receive information to and from souls.¡± ¡°Ah, I see yeah then that¡¯s a good idea. You three help set up camp while we¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Fine whatever just don¡¯t stay out too late you two.¡± We walked away from camp a bit before sitting down in front of each other. ¡°Alright let¡¯s begin I¡¯m going to probe your soul so don¡¯t be surprised if you feel something.¡± ¡°Go ahead I¡¯m ready.¡± I close my eyes and take a deep breath before releasing a surge of energy towards Matt trying to get a feel for his soul while trying to focus on keeping my soul defended at the same time. Matt wouldn¡¯t retaliate but I needed to both see and defend myself from being seen. That way I can observe my surroundings without leaving myself completely vulnerable defensively. I observe Matt''s soul trying not to intrude yet and just observe from afar before moving in closer. It looks almost like a sphere to me. Like a sun it gives off this energy of life with vibrant colors being released from time to time. I move in closer to it to see what I can find inside of it sticking an (imaginary) hand into it. I am then flooded with information and I retreat behind my soul defenses as a plethora of information attacks me. It¡¯s almost like I opened the floodgates of a dam. Matt leans over screaming in pain. I don¡¯t know what it was exactly that I did but it doesn¡¯t seem good. I can¡¯t tell how to help him and it¡¯s hard enough maintaining my defense as information assaults my defenses. This isn¡¯t good I need to plug the flow somehow. I can¡¯t get close enough though as there is still plenty of information attacking me. I need to make a shield and plug up the hole with some kind of barrier. I stand up and form a soul barrier around me and walk towards him (figuratively this is all happening in soul space). I hold my hands out projecting my barrier to protect myself. As I get closer the harder it becomes to maintain this barrier and I start to falter as my legs start shaking. I don¡¯t have much time guess I¡¯ll bet everything on this. I release all the energy I had towards the hole while surging my barrier out in a pulse. The pulse briefly repeals all the information and my ¡®bandage¡¯ blocks the hole. But it doesn''t fix all my problem as suddenly I¡¯m barraged with information. Not as much as before but still a constant stream. The best way I could put it was it was the difference between being shot with a gun vs. being shot with water from a hose. Getting me wet with information rather than bleeding out from the pain of too much too fast (okay bad analogy but I can¡¯t think of another way of putting it). I see memories, Matt¡¯s I presume, of a kid in a large forest. His life in that forest and how he grew up. His two loving parents and how he decided to become a scholar spending countless years in a library absorbing any and all information he could. After a few decades, he left the forest to find and bring back new more relevant information while experiencing the outside world for himself. Sadly he didn¡¯t make it far before a dark energy grew in front of him and he was sucked in as he had gotten too close to it out of curiosity. Then it turned all black. An endless black void everywhere. BLACK, DARK, ALONE, HELPLESS, DARK, DARK, DARK!!!!! HELP!!!!! I then fainted as my mind was overtaken in darkness crying only to not be alone in the dark. I wake up inside of a canvas tent with a massive headache. As I sit up I look outside and see that it is still night. Thank goodness! At least I didn¡¯t pass out for the whole night. But that is the THIRD TIME THIS WEEK I¡¯ve passed out. I mean seriously! I¡¯ve got to do something about this. It¡¯s definitely not healthy that¡¯s for sure. I sit up and look around. I¡¯m in a tent with Elizabeth who is sleeping beside me. There is also an empty bedroll which I guess is Rachel¡¯s. I get up and carefully work my way outside to see Raven tending a fire with Matt staring absently at the fire. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re up. What exactly happened to you two? We can¡¯t get Matt talk at all he¡¯s just been staring at the fire absently.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure, to be honest I¡¯m not used to my powers myself. So I have no idea. How are you doing Matt?¡± I walk up to him and set my hand on his shoulder. He jerks in surprise before calming back down. He looked wild and uncertain. I didn¡¯t want to do this again but I probe his soul. I take extra care to stay a good distance away observing what I can. His soul seems to be burning brighter and more sporadically. I see the spot that I¡¯d broken it¡¯s repaired but it looked weak. And stuck out like a sore thumb. I felt a pang inside of me seeing the injury I had accidentally given him testing my abilities. In guilt, I brush up against the ¡®scar¡¯ feeling it¡¯s weak surface. I feed it some energy trying to promote some healing and see the ¡®scar¡¯ slowly fade as it becomes stronger and less transparent. His soul then slows down and shines at a more steady and vibrant rate. I feel weak but knowing it seemed to help I relax and lay down in the dirt next to the fire. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°And he speaks! What did you do Briana we couldn¡¯t get him to talk at all.¡± ¡°Just fixing a mistake I made I think it helped.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that Briana. What happened was I felt overwhelmed by some old memories that resurfaced when you were practicing.¡± ¡°I felt like I was living a whole life and had to remember all the memories of it. I felt overwhelmed and I couldn¡¯t stop remembering. When you fixed your accident just now it helped calm my mind and helped me ground myself back in reality.¡± ¡°So what you were tripping down memory lane or something? Cause from the sound of things it sounds like you were tripping balls man. You got any left?¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°Drugs girl, how else do you trip that hard?¡± ¡°It was a result of my soul abilities I accidentally opened his soul I think. I don¡¯t know the exact details of it though.¡± ¡°Trust me you don¡¯t want her to do it to you. It wasn¡¯t pleasant, to say the least.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t dig anymore.¡± He yawned and stretched before sitting up. ¡°You mind taking over the next shift seeing as you''re up Briana. I¡¯m going to hit the sack. I need my shut eye for tomorrow and as you''re up already so why not right?¡± ¡°Sure I can take the next watch. Good night Raven.¡± ¡°Thanks, kid I¡¯ll see you in the morning then.¡± After he left it was just me and Matt sitting around the fire in awkward silence. ¡°I believe that Velouria¡¯s hypothesis had more truth than we realized. When you opened my soul I felt, memories. I believe they are from when I still had a body. I can¡¯t remember everything, but I remember bits and pieces.¡± ¡°So you forgive me then?¡± ¡°Why would you need my forgiveness I said I¡¯d be your training subject. I might not have expected what happened as a result. But, I can¡¯t blame you for a mistake out of ignorance. I know you are experiencing an excruciating amount of inner turmoil. We all see it even when you try to hide it. None of us asked for this situation, but we¡¯re just along for the ride. You though, you have a body and family that you¡¯ve spent years growing with. Then all of a sudden your origins are explained to be vastly different than you believed. Not only is your soul from a different world but your race and even gender are different. We have no idea the implications these revelations could hold for us but for you. It¡¯s almost like being told you¡¯re whole life has been a lie.¡± ¡°Then there is that whole prophecy that we received as well.¡± We stared at the fire some more while the crickets chirped under the moonlit sky. ¡°You¡¯re right Matt. Oh so right. I have no idea what any of this means and even then the only people who can explain my origins barely know what is happening either. Having never been to Earth or knowing what I¡¯m going through. So all they can do is offer me vague help and ideas to help me.¡± I stared up at the moon in the sky as it shined brightly above. Matt then sat next to me and rubbed my head. ¡°But you¡¯ll always have us to help. Not like we can go anywhere right. But I have a feeling if anything else that no matter what at the very least it¡¯ll be an interesting ride.¡± ¡°At the very least! I¡¯m expecting a world ending event at the least if we¡¯re lucky.¡± He then pulled on my tail much to my dismay causing me to bolt upright. ¡°What was that for Matt!¡± ¡°Just laughing at your face Briana. You think too far ahead you know. Sometimes the best way to approach a big project is to just take it one step at a time. Then before you know it you have reached your goal.¡± He rubbed my head scratching between my ears. It felt great and before I knew it I had curled up next him before falling asleep. I wake up again in the tent with Elizabeth shaking me awake. I turn to see Rachel is gone which ¡­ crap I need to logout I spent another night in the game again. ¡®Would you like to log out?¡¯ ¡®Yes no¡¯ ¡°Yes, logout!¡± I then felt my consciousness being pulled back to reality. I wake up in my bed and look at my clock to see that it¡¯s only 4:12 AM. Looks like I just overly panicked. ¡®Hey, kid what was that for I was just about to eat some breakfast!¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t have to panic when I wake you up, Briana.¡¯ ¡®I always panic if you wake me up in the morning. I¡¯m just a bit jumpy you should know this.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I thought you¡¯d just jump out of bed not out of the game.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why I told you to just let the lass sleep.¡¯ ¡®Princess¡¯s do need their beauty sleep.¡¯ ¡®I told you to drop that John.¡¯ I set the helmet down on my nightstand before resting my head back on my pillow. My body feels strange on my bed with my limbs length and muscles feeling different than what I was growing used to. I need to spend less time in the game. I¡¯m already having an identity crisis don¡¯t need a body crisis on top of it. But maybe I can finally fix my soul problem due to my experiment with Matt. I¡¯ve always looked at it as an outside problem I must defend against. Maybe I can do what I did to Matt and strengthen my own soul. I turn my focus deep inside of myself and see a similar sphere to Matt¡¯s. It¡¯s a bright orange shining like a miniature star. With what looked to be constant solar flares spewing the orange flames in every direction with no real control absorbing and emitting energy everywhere like an uncontrollable wildfire. I somehow needed to quell this madness in front of me. I start by trying to direct the energy already within the sphere into expanding and strengthening the sphere slowly. The flames slowing stop spewing and the flames that were already out finally rejoin the sphere. I feel the flames die down but with them, my strength also seems to fade. But with it, I feel at least some sense of control. After I strengthen my sphere I slowly release my grasp of it. The sphere then goes back to its usual bright orange.The solar flares still exist but are more contained like the actual sun. In the gravity of the sphere instead of like an untamed arm that¡¯s grasping at anything, it can reach. Not a perfect job but enough that I should be able to function with a small level of discomfort. I¡¯m not sure how long it will take to get the sphere under my complete control. It doesn¡¯t feel like something that I¡¯d master in a day. So I guess that only leaves constant practice as my choice. After that, I feel like it¡¯s time to get some actual sleep for once. So I stretch out on my bed before closing my eyes to get some real sleep. ¡°RING,RING,RING,RI-¡± I slam my hand down on my clock and get out of bed. I complete my morning routine and head to the doctor. After answering some BS medical surveys. I manage to pass my check-up with flying colors. Afterwards, I go straight back to school just in time for lunch so I pick up some chicken in the drive through. I then join Blake for lunch back at school handing him a box combo. ¡°Hey man! Haven¡¯t heard a word out of you this weekend. You enjoying SQO! Where are you based right now!¡± He then ate a mouth full of chicken hurrying to eat it all so he could ask more questions. ¡°Easy man! Don¡¯t choke yourself. I¡¯m based somewhere in the plains of Sacae I¡¯m not exactly sure where though. I joined up with the Reed Dancers after I started some big quest. I happened upon them and so they decided to help me.¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve asked us for help man I could have sent you an escort to meet up with us.¡± ¡°You know I could never ask you to waste so many resources on me.¡± ¡°Waste! Man, you''re one of my friends and multiple people in our guild know your skill. You were one of our best guys during our monthly paintball games. They know your leadership and skill under fire man. It might take some time to get used to melee combat but we have trainers and with your natural physical prowess you¡¯d train quick.¡± ¡°I told you, man, I was trying to go at it on my own. Circumstances just led to me meeting with them. I still want another week or two to explore before I think about joining up with you.¡± ¡°I see you¡¯re going a quest with them to get on Rachel¡¯s good side aren¡¯t you.¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s the one with me on the quest I¡¯m on right now.¡± Blake choked on his chicken when he heard that before washing it down with some milk. ¡°Man! Now I¡¯m sure she¡¯s trying to hook up with you now.¡± ¡°I told you man that was just a rumor so don¡¯t go bringing that up okay.¡± ¡°Alright fine but I¡¯ve got hundred bucks on you guys hooking up before the school year ends. Randy bet a hundred you guys won¡¯t and he¡¯s being real smug about it.¡± ¡°Alright now I¡¯m definitely not going to hook up with her.¡± ¡°Argh come on man don¡¯t be like that if it happens it happens.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you around man I¡¯ve got to study for my physics test with Mr. Hull.¡± ¡°Man that was a tough one just make sure you go over the review and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Thanks, Blake see you around.¡± After a quick review with Matt, I took the test. I felt like I did great, but until I see the results I¡¯ll be skeptical. I just hope I did well for our sake. I can¡¯t slack and have my parents take away SQO it¡¯s my only lifeline during this mess and it¡¯s too risky to lose access over a simple test. As I leave the class I see Rachel pass by and she waves me down. ¡°Hey, Brenner why weren¡¯t you at practice this morning?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t feeling well yesterday so I had to go to the doctor turned out to be a stomach bug.¡± ¡°Well, anyway we¡¯ll get to the burial grounds this afternoon so we can explore the place if it doesn¡¯t get to late.¡± She had gleaming eyes that glowed at the prospect of finding treasure. I really don¡¯t think she has any ideas of hooking up with me much to Blake¡¯s displeasure. ¡°Yep, I¡¯ll be on after school when are you getting on.¡± ¡°Same time so let¡¯s get there as soon as we can.¡± She then walked on with a hop in her step. I finish my day after going to all the classes I missed during study hall and getting a lot of homework. I¡¯m not going to get much sleep tonight am I. ¡®Well, it¡¯s for you own good to learn the material. Even if it does impede on our investigation. You need to learn what they are teaching.¡¯ ¡®Experience is better than textbooks the lass knows it.¡¯ ¡®No he¡¯s right Teage I need to learn this not only form my parents but also for myself.¡¯ I pull into my driveway and set my backpack on my bed before donning the headset. Let¡¯s see what we can gather from these burial grounds maybe it will hold some clues. ¡°So these are the Sacean burial grounds. Not what I thought it¡¯d be. I expected it to be less ¡­¡± ¡°Plain I think it fits their simple lifestyle quite well.¡± ¡°Of course you¡¯d say that uncle. You always had a thing for this kind of ancient places.¡± ¡°Because they reveal so much history which we must preserve so that we don¡¯t repeat the mistakes of the past. They also contain ancient magical knowledge that has been forgotten. Many people pay a lot of money to get their hands on that kind of information.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go no sense of wasting time it¡¯s money after all.¡± ¡°Rachel don¡¯t run ahead like that. We need to look for Lucius.¡± ¡°Who was he again?¡± ¡°The shaman of the village we were in. He came here because there was a disturbance of their burial grounds. We came to help him not loot the place.¡± ¡°We can do both at the same time right?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather you not disturb our ancestors further.¡± ¡°Ah, Lucius it¡¯s been too long!¡± ¡°Lennie I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be here I thought you were out researching void magic?¡± Lucius gave Lennie a brotherly hug. He looked to be an androgynous raven with long black hair that reached to his shoulders and a bird like face. With dark wings that seemed to blend into the shadows around him. ¡°We must go inside of the burial grounds and neutralize the invaders. They are unearthing my ancestors looking for something. I arrived just an hour ago and was doing a preliminary search around the grounds. We must go inside and neutralize them.¡± ¡°Are they human?¡± ¡°What does that matter Elizabeth. Don¡¯t tell me you''re going soft lass.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t like killing Teage, unlike you.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t. From what I can tell they are some kind of demons. What they are seeking I do not know.¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s form groups. It¡¯ll help us clear the ruins faster and more efficiently.¡± ¡°So how do you want to divide us up, John. Want to go on a hero¡¯s quest?¡± ¡°Fine then how should we divide ourselves up, Matt.¡± ¡°Can you heal Lucius?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a shaman. Why?¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have two groups. Under our healers Lucius and Elizabeth.¡± ¡°You know I can heal as well right?¡± ¡°I only want two teams. Anything less than five people is too dangerous.¡± After a lengthy group discussion, we were able to come to a consensus. Team 1: Elizabeth, Briana, Rachel, Raven, Remus Team 2: Lucius, Lennie, Teage, John, Matt ¡°Why am I in charge of protecting these girls, especially this little runt.¡± ¡°That is no way to speak to God¡¯s prophet Raven. It¡¯s a great honor for us to protect her.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t even defend themselves though.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got daggers. We can fight.¡± ¡°Have you ever used it in an actual fight. Ever trained in using it as a weapon?¡± ¡°Well no but I¡¯ve got my natural scales to defend me.¡± ¡°Uncle are you sure about this?¡± ¡°Have some faith nephew. God will lead us upon the right path.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still going to be the one defending you all, and what can you do Rachel.¡± ¡°I can use a staff and focus on wind and earth magic.¡± ¡°So where is your spell book?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trained in not using one it¡¯s too clumsy in combat to fiddle with.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t get a rebound the last thing we need is to drag you out due to a rebound.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a novice you know.¡± ¡°I always treat everyone as one until I see otherwise.¡± ¡°Fine guess I¡¯ll just have to prove you wrong.¡± ¡°Guess our team will go first. I¡¯ll need to check the traps and tell you the paths. That way you can safely navigate the burial grounds. Just be careful I don¡¯t know what we should expect and so we should play it safe.¡± ¡°You worry too much Lucius. With the weapons, I¡¯ve made, we¡¯ll be able to defend you just fine.¡± ¡°If all else fails you got me backing you up Lucius, and you know my track record.¡± ¡°Alright then let¡¯s go.¡± With Lucius leading the way we entered the burial ground by spiral stairs that led into the earth. Opening large stone doors we entered a ritual cleaning room with a large table in the center. There were spices and torches around. The torches were freshly lit and the containers were thrown about in what looked to be a search. In the next room, there were passages in all four cardinal directions. But the room was filled with monsters. Skeletal humanoids with smoke spewing from every exposed surface of their bodies. Their eyes shown an eerie undead blue. ¡°Already everybody we¡¯ve got company. Looks like the invaders agitated the roaming draugrs. We¡¯ll need to defeat them in order to search the area get ready to fight everyone!¡± Side Story: Lyon The sun shone brightly in the sky as he and his men crossed the last hill before the capital of the Sycan plains came into view. The nomadic city was as busy as ever with traders coming from all directions to do business in the city. With guards patrolling the city inspecting stall and keeping some semblance of order. Near the center of the city lay their destination the local church chapter of the region. He had to report to his superiors that he failed to apprehend the void mage. It was a humiliating failure on their end to be sure. Falling for such a simple trick four of his men had been injured by that explosion. Then when he and two others followed in pursuit there had been a big flash of light that took out another two his men. Leaving only him in pursuit. Then a young girl with fox ears appeared from the wagon and stared at him with some unworldly power from what he felt. Her stare scared him to his soul unlike anything he¡¯d encountered before and as a result, he fell off his horse and knocking himself unconscious from the fall. Which left just their medic in action. Who was already tending to the men caught in the man¡¯s trap. So their target was able to make a clean getaway and they had to give up the chase as they¡¯d probably taken shelter with some locals that already bore resentment to the church for past misdeeds and failures. So after patching everyone up, they had ridden back empty handed. ¡°Sir Lyon you¡¯re back! How was your mission?¡± ¡°We failed. The void wizard gave us the slip, and we were unable to pursue him.¡± ¡°Oh, well at least everyone made it back at least.¡± ¡°Yes, I am grateful for that at least. Has anything happened while we were gone?¡± ¡°Orders from headquarters sir. It appears there is some high priority bounty they want them apprehended ASAP. I don¡¯t know the exact reason though the bounty was quite vague.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask the bishop for details when I meet him. Alright men, resupply and get your equipment repaired. Afterwards, you have the night off so enjoy it boys. Just remember don''t get too crazy.¡± ¡°So we¡¯ll see you later tonight lieutenant.¡± ¡°Sorry but I think I¡¯m going to get chewed out quite a bit for this but don¡¯t let that stop you guys from having funtonight sergeant.¡± They left with smiles at the thought of a night on the town while Johnny looked at me with worry. ¡°Did it go that bad Lyon? Everyone made it back didn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Yes. but it still doesn¡¯t excuse me for failing to not only lose the target but failing to interrupt his magic jeopardizing the area and its inhabitants.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure Alfan won¡¯t punish you too much for it.¡± ¡°Then you haven¡¯t heard I¡¯m guessing.¡± ¡°Heard what Lyon?¡± ¡°Apparently our men are being harassed around the whole region. They tolerate our presence here but we still have not done enough to gain their hearts and minds.¡± ¡°Why? They should be grateful we come and spread the true word of God to all.¡± ¡°You''re too naive Johnny.¡± I ruffle his hair as I laugh. ¡°Change never comes quietly and it goes against their entire culture for generations. It might be barbaric but we must give them time to accept God¡¯s word and not force it upon them only then will we achieve the results that will bring about true salvation.¡± ¡°Thank you for your wisdom, Lyon. I wish you the best.¡± ¡°Thanks, kid!¡± I wave back as I proceed inside the church. The light dimly illuminates the space. The windows in disrepair from the lack of funds coming from both the tithe and from the outside. The congregation is deep in prayer as Alfan leads them in worship. The bishop looks worn through his trials here but he never lets it show giving off a warm vibe of comfort to his congregation. I take a seat in the back and let him finish his message as I meditate in the back. I closed my eyes in prayer as I give thanks to the Lord for bringing my men and me back safely. His will works in mysterious ways and I know he shows me the way to bring about his salvation.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As everyone leaves for the night as dusk approaches I approach Alfan and salute to him in a show of respect. ¡°I have returned from my mission, sir.¡± ¡°Good! What news do you bring?¡± ¡°I believe we should discuss this within the confines of your office, sir.¡± Normally I would be taking orders from a knight templar, but due to circumstances he perished and Alfan had to take over due to both low manpower and being the only other official of high enough rank or qualifications to perform the responsibilities. There was news of a replacement coming but it would take months for him to reach us after hearing the news. The stress of responsibility came to his face as he closed the door to his office. ¡°Let me guess. You failed to apprehend the mage?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir we were too late in apprehending them and they were able to successfully complete their magic luckily everyone returned safely with only minor injuries.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of this! It¡¯s almost like they¡¯ve doomed us here! That messenger came today with this!¡± Throwing down the bounty in front of me. ¡°But no word of support or supplies. Just saying that this was an immediate emergency that must be taken care of immediately.¡± ¡°I took a look at the bounty and read the description under the picture of a foxbeast-man.¡± ¡®Dangerous Spirit Wielder!!! Spirit magician has been spotted attacking the church. May fake innocence to receive support from you church. Arrest on site! High priority target! Take alive!!! He can not be killed as he uses his spirits to revive. Traveling with an elf, human, dwarf, and draconian. If apprehend them as well dead or alive.¡¯ The bounty listed a price of about 1000 times a commoner''s yearly salary making it a sizable reward. ¡°Now we have to be on the lookout for this person as well. I¡¯m glad your alright but this is a pressing issue. I haven¡¯t had contact with squads 2, 5, and 6 for about a month. Teams 4 and 3 also had to merge due to losses. You¡¯re the only one I can ask to do this. But hear this well! I can¡¯t have you come back until you find something on this. This is the third time this has happened with your squad. You many have the least casualties out of all our squads but you failures compared to your peers is overstretching your survivability to much. As a result I¡¯m having your sergent take over your squad while you search for this person.¡± ¡°With all due respect sir sergeant Forge is a good soldier but he is still to inexperienced I beg you to reconsider.¡± ¡°Silence! I know of his you but no one else is capable of this and your punishment is needed to keep discipline among the troops. As a result I have no other choice. Gather your belongings and depart at dawn.¡± ¡°Deus Vult!¡± I slam my fist to my chest before departing catching the unsure scowling face of Alfen as I leave. I try to keep a straight face but it¡¯s hard to maintain a straight face after that. Losing my squad due to recent failures is fair punishment. But, I didn¡¯t want to risk my squad and as a result we¡¯d accidentally let our targets slip away. The other squads achieved their results but at the lives of their men. ¡°A calculated risk¡± they¡¯d say. I couldn¡¯t stand it. I wouldn¡¯t sacrifice my men to bag a target. We didn¡¯t know when relief was coming so we should be making ever conscious effort we can to conserve everything at our disposal including our men. I also had a hard time believing in some of our most recent missions as well. He was asking us to take out any and all parties that dared interfere in the Lord¡¯s work. Telling us to take them out with extreme force. I¡¯ve been telling him that it is a losing strategy to implement, but he doesn¡¯t seem to care. In the capitol the locals tolerate our presence because of the threat of another crusade if they dared openly attacked us. Some even had family that believed. So they mostly left the church alone. Outside the capitol was a different story. There were a couple of mission outposts but for the most part we were openly hated and if they were bold hostile towards us. Our influence was small and diminishing with lack of both communication and supplies. My guess was we were operating at a bare enough threshold that we¡¯d be fine without support for a while longer. The upper echelons were known to be greedy and without any contact or major news it was hard to tell if it was a communication issue or a change of plans by the higher ups. I made my way outside and grabbed my only personal item from my chest. A letter from my sister wishing me safety while I was deployed. It was worn from my time here but I kept it as a sort of good luck charm. I didn¡¯t care to own anything else other than what I carried. I was devoted to God and not material items. I left a letter of Forge¡¯s bunk about his promotion and my new orders before I left. Johnny saw me leaving as he was coming inside for the night. ¡°How¡¯d it go Lyon?¡± ¡°New orders ready me a horse I¡¯m setting out tonight.¡± ¡°What about you squad?¡± ¡°Forge is in command after my recent failures. Orders from Alfen himself no matter how much I disagree with him. It is the standard operating procedures. But he fails to take account of the circumstances we are in. He¡¯s now having me track down the bounty by myself and I can¡¯t return until I find them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too harsh! We can¡¯t have you leave it¡¯ll hurt the morale of your men.¡± ¡°He can¡¯t send anyone else out to do this so it¡¯s only fitting really. Besides it shouldn¡¯t take to long so cheer up Johnny. I¡¯ll be back before you know it.¡± I then left under the cover of darkness as the sun died under the plains. The moon my only light as I navigated the darkness in search of this bounty. I set out towards where that mage had performed his void spell. Maybe if I could try to search the area I could ask the locals if they had heard anything about them. I wouldn¡¯t pick up his trail but it was the only clue I could think of. Wait wasn''t that girl that attacked me during our raid a fox? But didn¡¯t she have prominently human features? She also wasn¡¯t a male either. But her companions looked to fit the description. If I came across her I¡¯d have to ask her. Though if she attacks me like last time. I won¡¯t hesitate to defend myself. Chapter 14 Challenges of the West Hall I jump onto the back of one of the draugrs driving my dagger deep inside of its skull. The draugr tries to grab me with its free hand as it tries to defend himself against Raven. But failed as Raven separates his waist from his torso with a clean strike. I fall backward and crawl out from under it before retrieving my dagger. ¡°You have to destroy the head or body. Don¡¯t just stab the head.¡± He deflects the blade of another as Remus punched another with his fist impaling it as the draugr glowed with holy light. ¡°Just leave this to us Briana there is no need for you to fight these abominations.¡± ¡°Got to give her credit though uncle she¡¯s doing better than the cry baby over there.¡± He then cut down his opponent after parrying its sword. ¡°STAY AWAY FROM ME!¡± Elizabeth was panicking as she fought with a weakened draugr that lost one of its arms. She was beating it over and over with raw force until its skull was ground bone. ¡°She is a lot stronger than I gave her credit for.¡± ¡°Look out!¡± I duck as Rachel uses her staff to channel a stream of hyper condensed air to cut a draugr head in half. She then jumps over me and kicks another with a stone covered leg. Blasting it into a wall before finishing it with her staff breaking its skull into multiple pieces. Damn it! I hate being this weak. I haven¡¯t got a kill since we got in here. I¡¯m not skilled enough and I¡¯m too weak. Even the scaredy lizard Elizabeth got one. Though that was due to her crazy natural strength. ¡°Looks like that was the last of them. You okay Briana?¡± ¡°Yeah, only losing my pride at the moment.¡± ¡°It''s okay that¡¯s expected for most beginners. Especially since you''re so small. You just need to train some more in magic and you¡¯ll be able to take one on. Though that was a good move earlier going for the backstab. If it hadn¡¯t been an undead you¡¯d have gotten it for sure.¡± ¡°At least you know how to navigate a fight, unlike Elizabeth over here.¡± Raven pointed at Elizabeth who just stood still over the draugr body in front of her. Looking at her shaking hands. Yeah, she definitely was going to need some work for sure. At least she wasn¡¯t frail. So we didn¡¯t have to worry about her too much. But it was still annoying having her overreact to everything. I looked down the hall to see how much further we had left to go. The hallway stretched for what felt like miles. It apparently was some sort of magical illusion trial you had to pass to reach the west hall. Something to do with the facing of great trials or something. The invaders trapped the illusion though with these draugrs. So we had to face them down along with making the arduous journey. We were on day seven of the trial. So it was Thursday evening right now (2:1 time dilation). Raven and Remus had Elizabeth carry us when we were logged out. For some weird reason, a part of ours souls couldn¡¯t escape the burial grounds so we just left comatose bodies when we logged out. Also, none of my familiars could leave and so for once I actually was by myself for the week. Which was definitely eye opening. You don¡¯t realize how much you rely on your study buddy until he wasn¡¯t there (shout out to you Matt). So we¡¯ve been trying to finish this as fast as possible so we could regroup with the others. Luckily, Lucius had us go back and get our packs after finding out that the invaders had gone deep into the depths of the burial ground. He wanted us to be prepared for anything we might come across. So we were using our resources sparingly while fighting down the hallway. ¡°Finally! I see something!¡± I run ahead into what appeared to be a great cave with many branching paths to different tombs. I look around trying to spot anything out of the ordinary but all I see is the dim rock being illuminated by a crystal installed on the ceiling. ¡°Great, how many tombs are there here?¡± ¡°I think Lucius said it was around 87 I believe.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s call it a night then. We¡¯ll set up camp at the tunnel entrance so they will not be able to get past without us noticing.¡± ¡°Guess that means I get first watch again.¡± ¡°We could try having Elisabeth start the first watch.¡± ¡°Why she¡¯ll just fall asleep and I ain¡¯t dying because of her incompetence.¡± ¡°She is the best screamer though.¡± ¡°I guess you have a point. Though could you scout the area and make sure someone isn¡¯t watching us.¡± ¡°Sure I¡¯ll do that before I hit the sack.¡± I make my way down into the cave using the shadows to try and mask my presence. I see strange writing on the walls of the tombs probably the names of past heroes. I check each doorway making sure nothing is watching us. As I come across the last entrance I feel something inside. I debate whether I should investigate by myself as I¡¯m not a great fighter. But, I¡¯ll be real quick so I won¡¯t be in any real danger. I make my way inside and see a mural of some human plainswoman. She is leading a group of people against a dragon wielding some sword. The sword seems to emit some bright light. I keep moving on until I see another mural with the same person wielding a different sword. It emitted what looks to be a calmer light against some bandits. In the following room, I see the two swords lying on opposite sides of the room with a sarcophagus in the middle. I try to make out the name on it but I can¡¯t read it. I then try to leave the room but it''s gone? The doorway that I entered from was closed. Now I can¡¯t leave and I¡¯m stuck in here. I need to log out soon but I don¡¯t want to leave without returning to the others. Not like I have much choice though. I wasn¡¯t breaking through so I headed back and looked around. I couldn¡¯t find anything though. So I lied down next to the sarcophagus and logout. I set the helmet on my nightstand and look at the clock. It was almost midnight and I still had to drive to my sister¡¯s lab tomorrow. So, unfortunately, I had to put off getting out of that hole until then. I needed some good sleep or else I¡¯d fall asleep at the wheel. It¡¯s hard enough to stave off narcolepsy with only caffeine a good night''s sleep is needed as well. ¡°I love you, BABY!!!¡± Man, I hate driving. I need to find something other than loud music to keep these road trips entertaining. I pull into the lab¡¯s parking lot and walk up to the entrance where my sister is standing there with a bright smile on her face. She hugs me as soon as I enter the door hugging me for a good minute before letting me go. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s so good to see you! How was your drive?¡± ¡°Boring as always. They really need to finish those self-driving cars so I can sleep while it drives.¡± ¡°So it was good that¡¯s great! Ready to hook in and start the test?¡± ¡°Sure let¡¯s get this over with.¡± She led me down some halls until we got to her lab. She used her access key to open the door and we entered the room. There was a chair with a bunch of instruments near it. Along with a desk that had a bunch of monitors to monitor the test subject. ME! ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with sis.¡± ¡°Alright sit in the chair and I¡¯ll hook you up. I¡¯ll monitor you for 24 hours as you play SQO so just have fun and I¡¯ll take care of any issues that might arise.¡± ¡°So what exactly are you recording sis?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a secret, I told you. So don¡¯t worry about it and just have fun little bro.¡± ¡°Alright fine.¡± She then hooks me up and after a minute I¡¯m hooked in. ¡°Alright on my mark log onto SQO.¡± I set the SQO helmet that was on the table on my head and she counts down. ¡°3, 2, 1¡± I flip the switch but I can¡¯t help saying something before I finish. ¡°Link Start!!!¡± ¡°That show --¡° I wake up in the same room and I quickly realized. I just signed up to spend 48 hours in this room didn¡¯t I. At least I¡¯ve got 48 hours to figure a way out. I look at the two swords again and realize they might be a way out. I look at the two swords and pick the one that resembles the light of the moon. As I grasp the handle of the sword I feel a tingle down my spine as something foreign seems to exam me. I blink and see a green haired woman in front of me. I back away and hit the wall behind me. I was sure no one else was in here with me. So was this person from the sword? I look at the sword still in my hand that I dragged along the floor in my panic in wonder. ¡°Hello, young one. Where are your parents and how¡¯d you get in here?¡± I didn¡¯t know how to respond I must¡¯ve appeared as a child to her so I guess I had a lot to explain. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. But, I guess we don¡¯t really have anything else going on now do we.¡± ¡°I guess so considering I¡¯m just a soul copy of the dead person in the sarcophagus.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re, her?¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°A copy of her soul when she was alive, yes.¡± I then explained as best I could the events that had unfolded to me arriving at her grave. ¡°So you are still a child right?¡± ¡°No, yes, it¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Sounds like it. Though I have no ideas how you became trapped in here as only the spirits have complete control of the burial grounds. Your intruders must have done something to have angered them. ¡± ¡°So I¡¯m stuck here until then?¡± ¡°Or until you can appeal to the spirits¡­ Actually, I think I might have an idea that could get you out of here.¡± ¡°What is it? Not like I got any good ideas.¡± ¡°Draw the sword.¡± ¡­ ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°It is a sword that won¡¯t let anyone who the spirits haven¡¯t deemed worthy wield. So if you are able to draw the sword the spirits would have to deem you worth and it might unseal the way out.¡± I look at the sword in my hands. Guess I don¡¯t have anything to lose do I? If it all goes well I also get a cool new sword! That¡¯ll show Teage I¡¯m not worthy of one. So what if I¡¯m too small. I agreed to wield a dagger due to our lack of time but having a sword is infinitely cooler! I try to draw the sword and feel a stiff resistance against my pull, but the resistance decreases over time. Slowly but steadily revealing the sword in all of its glory. I¡¯m mesmerized by its beauty and stare at it half drawn. ¡°What are you waiting for? You have to unsheathe it entirely not halfway.¡± I give it a final pull freeing the blade from its scabbard. I¡¯m then engulfed in a swirl of spirits that surround me in a light. I can¡¯t see in front of me and claw for anything as I¡¯m blinded. After a minute a wake up in a field full of fauna grazing peacefully around me. ¡°Hello, young one.¡± I turn to the sound and see a humanoid with a body made completely out of grass and grains. How many ethereal beings am I going to have to meet to get out of this place! ¡°Ah, hello, grass spirit?¡± ¡°We¡¯re technically a collection of plains spirits. But that¡¯s close enough.¡± ¡°So you are a we are Legion: for we are many kind of entity. Am I right?¡± The spirit looked confused but seemed happy with the analogy. ¡°You are the first to so easily accept this fact. Usually many are perplexed by what we are. Many being one isn¡¯t exactly an easy concept for many to understand.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I¡¯ve come across a fictional take on it. Never seen one in person.¡± The spirit chuckled at this. ¡°We seem to have underestimated the imagination of you humanoids. It continues to amaze us. But, back to the topic at hand.¡± The face straightened and stared straight through me. I was really getting tired of being looked at like this. ¡°We must ask for a favor from you fox-spirit. As you already know the burial grounds is under assault. We ask you to take up ownership of the sword you found and drive them from the grounds. They seek to use the energy gathered here to open a portal to unleash upon us an unknown force.¡± ¡°What kind of force all I know about these intruders is very vague. Could you please elaborate?¡± ¡°Unfortunately there is no time to explain further.¡± Gee how utterly convenient for them. ¡°But, we shall gift you with the power to expel them and discover the truth yourself.¡± The grains making up the body then disperse around me circling me as I feel a weird energy congregating around the base of my tail. I try to get a good look at it but then I feel a sharp pain protruding and I wriggle on the ground in pain. I then feel my entire body growing as well. Stretching both my muscles and bones. It feels somewhat like when I tried to transform with my entire body changing shape. I don¡¯t know how long I laid there in pain before it receded. I laid panting on the grass and felt an odd sensation. I look behind me to see I now had twin tails swishing behind me. My hair had also grown longer and I felt like I had grown taller. I try to stand up and I only shakily manage to. Two down seven more to go! I look around and feel as if the whole world is spinning. I fall over in dizziness and realize I¡¯m back in the tomb and promptly begin to dry heave. ¡°I¡¯m guessing it went well. It also appears you¡¯ve grown a bit.¡± I realize the sword is still in my hand and promptly sheath it. It¡¯s already caused enough excitement for now. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll go back to sleep call to me if you need guidance.¡± The green haired lady then disappeared without another word. So with no one else around I use the sword as a crutch (sorry sword) and make my way out of the tomb. I see a curious scene await me with Remus defending Elizabeth as she sings a sad melody. Failing to see either Rachel or Raven I¡¯m guessing they are injured seeing as Elizabeth is singing. The music invigorates my muscles and I¡¯m able to stand more steadily. I also feel a buildup of soul energy expanding from my soul sphere which gives me a boost of adrenaline. I burst straight ahead and unleash the sword using a quick draw technique cleaving one of them in half. I then turn on the remaining enemies and charge ahead using my speed to quickly butcher them down with a speed I was unaware I had. With bloodlust seeping into my sight I cut down the last figure and search for more. Ready to bathe in their blood and cut them down. My vision is cloudy and I see a figure in front of me so I charge them. It jumps back in fear of me, but before I can connect I feel a sharp pain at the back of my neck and everything goes black. Blood! Blood! Blood! I bolt upright but I can¡¯t get up. I struggle helplessly against someone. I scream and shake in vain against their strength. I hear a soft melody and I slowly calm down the blood in my vision dies down. I see Elizabeth above me pinning me down. ¡°You back to us girl.¡± I look around as everyone stares at me scared. Raven seems to have a bandage around his chest and leg. Rachel is unconscious with multiple cuts and bruises but is still breathing. Remus has his head bandaged and looks at me in utter panic. ¡°What, happened?¡± ¡°You, ah. You went berserk. We were attacked during the night when you failed to come back. We held them back as best we could, but we were soon surrounded and outnumbered. Then you showed up with this sword and a second tail.¡± ¡°Long story I¡¯ll explain later.¡± ¡°You then butchered all of them and almost attacked us. Right as you were about to attack Remus I hit you in the back of the head and knocked you unconscious. So what happened?¡± ¡°I saw you all surrounded and when I failed to see Rachel or Raven I feared the worst. So I charged them and soon there was some kind of red fog in my vision. It clouded my vision and judgment and at some point I let it take over.¡± ¡°Well we¡¯re okay a bit beat up but alive. Thanks to you no less.¡± She then hugged me petting my hair and ears. ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re alright. I didn¡¯t know what to think. Don¡¯t do that again.¡± Remus took a cautious step forward to look at me. ¡°I heard that beast-kin could enter a bloodrage, but I¡¯d never seen one under its effects. It is said to only happen after great emotional distress mixed with the blood of their enemies. I suggest we rest some more before continuing. I¡¯ve heard that it wreaks havoc to their mental states for some time.¡± ¡°Can we do it somewhere else at least. We still haven¡¯t disposed of the bodies properly if we don¡¯t do something soon we¡¯ll have trouble soon.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll begin the preparations to purify their remains so they may pass on. We¡¯ll have to burn the corpses as well.¡± How bad of a carnage did I unleash? ¡°Can I see them?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a better idea for you to get some rest kid.¡± ¡°No Raven. She needs to see the result of her actions. No matter what influences you are under your actions still need to be seen through. Come I will show.¡± I shakily get back to my feet and try to move forward. But I can¡¯t as Elizabeth holds my hand tightly refusing to let go or look me in the eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t do this. You¡¯ll only regret it. Let them take care of it.¡± ¡°No, I need to see it just like Remus said.¡± She slowly relaxed her grip in defeat but remained where she was. I walked to the edge of the encampment and looked at the cave floor in front of me. There strewn across the floor was the bodies of countless soldiers. Their bodies cut into many pieces with blood caked across the entire floor. The fear on their faces immortalized on their cold unmoving faces. They looked to be both old and young with ruthlessly severed bodies strewn all around. I looked in horror at what I had done. I knelt on the floor not sure what to make of the scene before trying to dry heave as the smell assaulted me. Raven stand next to me looking at the corpses with cold eyes. ¡°This is the true horror of war they leave out of all those stories. It never gets easy looking upon these scenes but you did what you thought you needed to do to defend us. So don¡¯t beat yourself over this too much. They wouldn¡¯t have cared about running you through one bit. So accept what you¡¯ve done and move on. It doesn¡¯t get any better no matter how much you try to forget.¡± Being a mercenary he must have had to have witnessed scenes like this before. Me, I¡¯d only killed that one necromancer and even then I didn¡¯t know the truth until later. I¡¯d wanted to avoid needlessly butchering people like that and hoped to avoid this. But due to my impulsiveness, they were all ruthlessly killed by my hands. Elizabeth got up and came over to me as I began to cry for the dead in front of me. She then lifted me princess style taking me away from the scene. Laying me out on a blanket. She then handed me some bread and a waterskin to wash the dry bread down. I accepted it with shaking hands and slowly ate the food taking sips of water between. But the stream of tears from my eyes failed to stop making a mess of myself as I ate. After I finished Elizabeth lays me down her lap petting me gently while humming softly. Bringing a calm peaceful atmosphere to the depressing atmosphere around me. Though I appreciated it as I helped me go to sleep and calm my emotional distraught mind. POV Elizabeth After Briana went to sleep I carefully set her back on the blanket. I then got up and checked on Rachel. She had been injured in the fight badly and had passed out from lack of blood. Luckily my singing was able to stabilize her before we lost her, but right now it was up to her strength of will. Luckily for her, this was just a project. So she was likely fine and asleep in the real world after losing consciousness and being ejected from the game. I changed her bandages while singing a soft melody. My singing promoted healing but this healing true power from both my strength and from the body of the recipient. We were relying on traditional medicine for now as we didn¡¯t want to strain her body any further than needed. This much won¡¯t do much but I did it to calm myself as I treated her. Remus then came over to me as I finished redressing the last of her injuries. ¡°I hate to ask you to do this but could you help us move the bodies. Time is of the essence to prevent further danger. Also, I need to tell you something about these people.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I looked at their uniforms and saw that they were men of the church.¡± ¡°What! Why are they down here?¡± ¡°They might have been here to address the threat as well. In the commander''s rash thinking, he must have thought of us as bandits or thieves. Maybe even the threat we are searching for.¡± ¡°So it was a misunderstanding?¡± ¡°Unfortunately it appears so. But, I wish for you to not tell this to Briana.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Like I said she is emotionally unstable. That rapid growth, the bloodrage, and her shock at this scene. She needs time to take all this in. If you can I¡¯d like you to take extra care that her mental state remains stable over the next few days.¡± ¡°HEY, old man. Get over here. I ain¡¯t moving these corpses by myself. I ain¡¯t getting paid enough to do this myself.¡± ¡°Guess that¡¯s our cue to help him.¡± ¡°I guess so ¡­¡± I then helped them pile the bodies in a corner of the room. Moving all their equipment to the side and letting Remus first purify the bodies. ¡°Oh Lord on high! Hear my plea! Let these men in your service find peace in your grace. Let them know the peace that they could not find on earth in you loving arms.¡± He then released some bright energy towards the pile and after a minute some small lights left the pile disappearing within seconds after they escaped. ¡°Time to burn em now. Got any fire breath for us dragon lady?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t sorry ¡­¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go get the fire starter and try to light it the usual way then.¡± He made his way to camp and I followed laying to rest next to Briana. Raven left soon after with his starter. I¡¯d leave the rest to him and Remus. I curled up and gently hugged her closer to me absorbing her warmth and reverberating it back putting me to sleep in her warmth. POV Raven ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re going to survive this uncle. Cause this girl seems like quite the handful.¡± ¡°God works in mysterious ways Raven you know this. We will follow his sign and support this girl as best we can.¡± ¡°You know that¡¯s suicide old man. Also, I don¡¯t like this. Seeing these bodies makes me sick. What magical purpose did these deaths serve?¡± ¡°I do not know. All I know is we should honor their lives and send them off with God¡¯s grace at their side as they make the journey to the other side.¡± I finally manage to light some of their cloth after dosing it in some alcohol I had stashed. The fire slowly engulfs the bodies and the revolting smell is unleashed upon us. ¡°Well, uncle I promise to defend you until the next city. After that, I¡¯m taking my pay and going home. I¡¯ll hook you up with some good mercs, but me, I¡¯m out. I just don¡¯t like my odds hanging out with this ¡®prophet¡¯ of yours.¡± ¡°Very well I won¡¯t hold it against you. I thank you for staying with me this long at least. Though not easy I enjoyed this time we shared. I hope it has been as enriching for you as it has for me.¡± ¡°Whatever old man. I¡¯m going to bed. You¡¯ve got first watch tonight.¡± ¡°Alright, sleep well nephew we¡¯ll need whatever strength we can muster for what lies ahead.¡± ¡°Just stop with the foreshadowing uncle. It¡¯ll shave years off both our lives.¡± ¡°Good night nephew.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± I lay on my blanket and catch a look at Elizabeth who is treating Briana as a doll. I just hope she isn¡¯t smothering her. I close my eyes to try and regain the strength I¡¯d used during the fight. I just really hoped I lived long enough to use the pay I¡¯d earn from this job. Chapter 15 (John) Cleaning House While Briana and Co went west. We have had a jolly good time exploring the east hall. Though the traps we¡¯re facing are quite trivial. There were some logic puzzles, construction puzzles, and the occasional draugr. With our collection of skills though we made short work of them over the course of four days. The east hall was supposed to be filled with great leaders that led the plains people to new highs during their lives. Lucius gave us a tour of the place naming all the dead and explaining their accomplishments. Though I lost interest and stopped paying attention after the fiftieth tomb. We were surprised when we weren¡¯t logged out by Briana so we were able to explore without worry. The next four days we spent checking the south hall which was full of great inventors and artists with tapestries and jars strewn across the rooms we passed. Teage enjoyed looking over their achievements and their technology. Showing a lot more interest than I thought he would give. Though this area also turned out to be a dud as well. So we then explored the North hall the next day. Full of many wise men who expanded the use of magic, law, and philosophy. But, this hall had something off about it. Lennie led the way disabling the many magical traps set testing our arcane knowledge. That wasn¡¯t what was off though. There were a lot of unusual non arcanian traps about with tripwires strewn about. ¡°I think we¡¯ve found your intruders Lucius.¡± ¡°Yes, it appears so. It only worries me more about what we will find ahead.¡± We made quick progress and were able to get to the end of the hall after only half a day of nerve wracking trap avoidance. One hour was dedicated to unfreezing Teage who got frozen after triggering an ice ruin Lennie missed. Lucius was able to unfreeze him luckily and even better for us it wasn¡¯t considered painful so his trouble wasn¡¯t ours. Though that issue feels like it''s going away recently (thank God). As we reached the end of the hall Lucius stopped us. He said he felt something up ahead. So he cloaked us in some shadow that hid our presence. We then emerged to see the cave full of unknown people. But what was worse was what we saw. Guns! Lots and lots of GUNS! How the hell did they have guns here! Not even muskets but fully automatic AKs from the looks of it. ¡°How the hell did they get their hands on those things!¡± Teage looked shocked as we all were. ¡°What even are those things?¡± Lucius and Lennie still had no idea the threat those things held though. ¡°Shhh keep it down follow me and I¡¯ll explain.¡± Lucius led us to a tomb before facing the door and saying a chant an earth wall formed sealing us in. ¡°Alright now you can explain what were those things?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about the people but the weapons are AKs which shot metal at ten times the speed of an arrow. It¡¯s bad news to get shot by them.¡± ¡°What is weird is how they got their hands on them.¡± Teage was stroking his beard. Pondering how they could have possibly gotten them. ¡°The only place they could have gotten them was from Earth, or do you guys have some secret weapons program.¡± ¡°What is this earth you speak of?¡± Shoot why¡¯d he let that slip! Lennie caught it and now we had bluff ourselves out of another problem. ¡°It¡¯s just a secret weapons merchant we know of. We ran into them before a while back. It wasn¡¯t a good encounter I can tell you that.¡± Lucius didn¡¯t seem convinced. ¡°But what are they doing here then? If their weapons merchants then they¡¯d have nothing to gain here.¡± ¡°They also have a mercenary branch which they supply with their tech. Though a job like this is indeed unusual for them.¡± ¡°Stop talking out of your arse John. We just kill them like we killed the draugr. It¡¯ll be a piece a cake.¡± ¡°You do remember they have guns Teage. If we used the same plan we¡¯d all be riddled with bullets.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t we sneakily take them out and use their weapons against them?¡± It did make sense but I think Matt was giving us more credit than we were worth. ¡°There are way too many though, and none of us are very experienced in stealth. Best we¡¯d do is get caught before we were even 50 meters out.¡± ¡°Might I interject?¡± Maybe Lennie has a good plan we could use. ¡°Sure not like we got any reasonable plans.¡± ¡°What if I plunged the camp into darkness and then we take them by surprise.¡± I take that back he didn¡¯t have a good plan. ¡°None of us have night vision so we¡¯d be bumbling about the same as them.¡± ¡°We could cause a distraction calling over some of them. We silently take out the guards in the narrow corridors of the tombs. Surprising them and taking their guns!¡± At least Matt always comes up with consistently good plans. ¡°Why don¡¯t we interrogate the guys we subdue as well. Maybe they can explain what is going on here. No need to kill them over a misunderstanding if possible.¡± ¡°Good idea let me prepare a light spell to attract their attention.¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯ll use gravity manipulation to capture them.¡± Lucius then undid the earth wall. Before he and Lennie prepped their light and gravity magic respectively we hid behind a wall in complete silence. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s get this started.¡± Lucius let out a bright light from the palm of his hand that shone so brightly we had to look away or we¡¯d have been blinded by it. Lennie held a book in his left hand while slowly chanting his own spell. After a minute we finally heard something approach us. But, it was drone, not a combatant. ¡°Take that out! It¡¯ll give away our position and the whole camp will be on us.¡± ¡°Lennie used his spell and the drone dropped to the ground. If we were lucky they wouldn¡¯t have seen us and would presume it was an error on the drones part. Maybe we could still salvage this. ¡°I told you to charge the drone before the mission Cutler. Why¡¯d it run out of juice?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know it just suddenly couldn¡¯t produce enough thrust to fly. Maybe the battery indicator isn¡¯t working.¡± ¡°Well, eyes up let¡¯s see what¡¯s going on in here.¡± They slowly approached our position until they got to the drone. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the battery indicator says it¡¯s fully charged. Maybe it lost connection in the tunnels. It would make more sense than battery failure. Let¡¯s clear the area and take it back for maintenance.¡± They got closer and closer to us and we dared not breathe for fear they¡¯d see us. When they were right at the doorway we jumped them. Lucius and I dove for the back one and knocked the gun out of his hands. While Matt and Teage took the gun of the one in front. I grabbed the stray gun and pointed it at him. ¡°Surrender and you won¡¯t be harmed. If you resist I won¡¯t hesitate to kill you here and now.¡± Please buy the bluff please buy it! I pull back the action ejecting a shell before telling them. ¡°I know how to operate this thing so don¡¯t even think I won¡¯t do it.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He hesitated before raising his hands in surrender. With his partner following suit shortly after. We escorted them deeper inside the tomb tying their hands together with some zip ties they had. Teage grabbed the other weapon and was inspecting it from top to bottom in glee. Time to get some answers from these guys. ¡°So what are you doing here?¡± ¡°We had a job and we¡¯re doing it.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°To defend our employer¡¯s man and his equipment while fulfilling our mission.¡± ¡°How many of you are there and what is your mission?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t told I¡¯m just a lowly grunt.¡± This isn¡¯t going to work he¡¯s just dodging the questions. I need to speed this up before the others notice that they¡¯ve gone missing. ¡°So let me ask you then. Why shouldn¡¯t I kill you and everyone else in there? Because if you don¡¯t give me the answers I want. I¡¯ll do just that. We can piece it all together from your corpses. If you¡¯d like.¡± He hesitated for a second before giving up with a sigh. ¡°Then kill me! You¡¯ll die before you can even step a foot out there!¡± Guess this mission is highly secretive. We¡¯re going to have to go either loud much to my displeasure or retreat and think of some other approach. I beat his head with the butt of the rifle and he slumps over unconscious. The other shuts his mouth and backs up to the wall in fear. Lucius says a few words before he falls unconscious as well. ¡°Lucius can you do your spell shadow spell again to conceal me.¡± ¡°Yes but why? Aren¡¯t we going to take them out in a frontal assault?¡± ¡°No, that guy let something slip that we can use. They were sent here to guard someone. If we can find and capture them we might have a shot at negotiating with them.¡± ¡°With a hostage?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯ll negotiate with the VIP. The soldiers won¡¯t negotiate with us. They¡¯re here just for security purposes.¡± ¡°Alright give me a minute and we can go.¡± ¡°Why just the two of you though? Aren¡¯t you going to need some help if things go south?¡± ¡°Too much risk. The less the better. You guys try to secure us an exit. When we finish we might need to book it out of here.¡± Lucius and I then left the tomb sticking to the shadows to get close to the camp. While the others made their way to another tomb to escape from the next patrol which had come to check up on the last one. We used the gap in security to make our way into the camp sneaking into the nearest tent we could find. Luckily we were in a supply tent. There seemed to be a manifest laid out on a table with a cup of steaming coffee on it. I quickly grabbed it and skimmed over it. It listed all of the supplies and equipment of the camp. It was labeled OPERATION GATE and at the bottom, it listed a name, Dr. Zephiel. ¡°Alright, this is enough. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± ¡°But I thought we were going to stop them?¡± ¡°Not possible, it''s too risky. If he isn¡¯t here he¡¯s further in the camp with higher security. With this, we can hopefully find out what they were planning. Now let¡¯s get out of here. We¡¯re already pushing our luck as it is.¡± We were luckily able to escape undetected as the camp scrambled to alert and made our way to the hallway we took in. Where everyone else was ready to escape with Matt and Teage covering our retreat with the AKs we ¡®borrowed¡¯ from the soldiers. Lennie led the way taking us safely through all the traps. Looking at them carefully I could see Earth traps on our route out. It now made sense why there were so many traps. They were probably trying to keep anything and everyone out until they finished their objective. Whatever that was. After a day we finally made it out and finally had what felt like some room to breathe. We didn¡¯t want to make to much noise as we made our escape because we didn¡¯t know the extent of their tech. ¡°How the hell are we supposed to deal with them! I thought we would be fighting evil vampires, rampaging orcs, or some rogue demon general. Not a Spec Ops Unit. How the hell did they get here!¡± ¡°What¡¯s a Spec Ops Unit? Is it like a capital guard?¡± Argh, this is going to be annoying to explain all this technology and terminology. ¡°Also how did you communicate with them so easily? They weren¡¯t speaking common.¡± Guess that means there is some kind of translator built into the helmets as well. ¡°Like we¡¯ve said. We¡¯ve encountered them before and had some dealings with them. We never met their merc unit though. That was a surprise for sure. So what¡¯s the plan, Lucius? We don¡¯t stand a chance if we decide to fight them. If we try some of us are going to die. If we are lucky, at worst we all would die.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we communicate with them?¡± ¡°No, they are a very secretive organization. My bet is they¡¯d kill us on site.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to ask the nearby tribes to help us take back the northern hall.¡± ¡°Did you not hear me? You¡¯d be slaughtered by them. We don¡¯t have the technology or men to stand a chance!¡± ¡°Even so, it is the duty of us shamans to defend our ancestors and heal our people. If we ask for support we should find ample bodies to help us achieve victory.¡± ¡°NO!¡± I wrenched the AK from Matt and shot a three shot burst across the room. ¡°This fires at a rate of 600+ rounds a minute and this isn¡¯t even their best tech. If we fight them, they¡¯ll mow us down. Give it up!¡± He looked shocked by my outburst but kept his stance firm. ¡°I appreciate your advice and I understand your concern, but I can¡¯t do that. They are desecrating my ancestors resting place with their presence and I will drive them out no matter the cost. It tarnishes the memory of this place and I can¡¯t allow it.¡± ¡°Fine but first we need to regroup with Briana and the others. Maybe they can help us find a way to deal with them.¡± Since they went down the west hall I¡¯m not sure when we shall see them. They should be back within a few days so he agrees to wait until then. For now, he said he will communicate with the spirits and see if they can help us. He then took the stairs up to meditate outside. Leaving us down in the hall. Lennie looked conflicted I believe he understood the gravity of the problem, but still wanted to help Lucius fulfill his mission. ¡°Is there any way we can beat them? There has to be some way.¡± ¡°Not with our supplies. Maybe Briana has something up her sleeve but us. We¡¯re more frontline fighters than tactical geniuses. Well maybe except for Matt here. You got any ideas?¡± ¡°I believe we should wait for Briana then we can pool our resources together. We might have some better option then.¡± ¡°I could try making a bomb from the gunpowder in the bullets. Blow them right out of the cave.¡± ¡°NO! Teage we can¡¯t use explosives underground. It could cave us in and it would damage the burial grounds which would piss Lucius off.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s decided. We wait for Briana and pool our resources to take them out. I¡¯ll set up some traps of my own and we¡¯ll defend this place until they get back.¡± Lennie then started working on some magical traps to defend the hallway. ¡°We should have 56 bullets left so if we use single fire and conserve our shots we can hold them for a couple minutes.¡± ¡°How optimistic. But, I guess we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Matt looked worried but he couldn¡¯t think of any other course of action. So we then created the best defense we could make which turned out to be about a half dozen trip wires (just to trip not explode) and a couple of Lennie¡¯s magic traps. We also set up a couple rock barricades to fight behind. It was meager at best and wouldn¡¯t hold out in an extended firefight, but not like we had the supplies or knowledge to make anything better. The next day we saw Briana and the others come out of the west hall. Though their condition wasn¡¯t very good. Guess they weren¡¯t as lucky as us. Elizabeth was carrying Rachel and Briana also grew a considerable amount for some reason. She was also carrying a moonlit sword. I wonder where she found it. ¡°What happened? Are you guys okay?¡± ¡°What do you think smartmouth. You think we¡¯re okay?¡± Raven was limping but was okay for the most part. His mouth wasn¡¯t hampered though. As his quick retort proofed. ¡°I¡¯ll go get Lucius he might be able to help.¡± Matt went up the stairs leaving his AK near his barricade. Briana looked at it before backing up in fear. ¡°Where did you get guns. They aren¡¯t supposed to exist here. Why?! WHY!¡± ¡°Calm down, it''s okay we¡¯re safe.¡± Elizabeth approached her and rubbed Briana¡¯s head. It calmed her down but she went to a corner and laid down hugging her tails in her arms. I wasn¡¯t sure how mentally fine she was. ¡°Hey, Elizabeth what happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in a minute. We need to deal with Rachel first. She isn''t doing good.¡± ¡°Fine but we also need to talk we discovered something in the north hall and it isn¡¯t good.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s where you got those guns!¡± ¡°It was and they aren¡¯t completely dealt with either. So we¡¯re going to need to prepare before we assault their position.¡± ¡°Why! Shouldn¡¯t we run as fast as possible away from here!¡± ¡°I found a manifest with all their equipment and supplies. If what I¡¯m reading is right. They plan on opening a portal from here to Earth.¡± ¡°Why in a burial ground?¡± ¡°Fewer people and something about ambient energy I guess. Maybe it has something to do with spirits or something.¡± ¡°Spirits? What about them?¡± Briana perked up and looked at me with deadly focused eyes. I forgot her senses are better due to her animalistic traits. ¡°I don¡¯t know just a hunch and something about a ¡®Spirit Energy Detector¡¯. I¡¯m not sure what it is. All we know is they have one.¡± ¡°Let me see the list.¡± She grabbed it from my hands before I could react and quickly scanned its contents. Though she didn¡¯t seem to understand it any better than us. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Go where?¡± ¡°Fight them! They need to be stopped right? Let¡¯s stop them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insane! They have better manpower and weapons. Based on the manifest there have to be at least a dozen armed men. Going in a frontal assault against them is suicide!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. I accidentally killed too many people because of them. I want to fulfill their mission and end this.¡± ¡°What are you talking about Briana? What happened? Talk to us!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have time. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± She then pushed past me and ran towards the northern hall. ¡°Briana! Wait! Teage grab your gear we¡¯re following her.¡± ¡°Into a battle full of certain death no doubt. I can¡¯t wait!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do this Briana. Think about this. We don¡¯t have to resort to such extremes.¡± Elizabeth called out to her. She stopped hearing her cry and turned around. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but there is no other choice.¡± She then ran straight through all the traps nimbly dodging them with ease. I made chase but due to her speed and my clumsiness I fell behind quickly and after a minute she was out of sight. ¡°Goodness sake lass. Now is not the time to go crazy. Though I¡¯m amazed she hasn¡¯t gone crazy yet in all honesty.¡± I had to agree, but this was going to become a bloodbath if what she said was true. Though for what side I did not know. All I knew was that we needed to help her before she broke too far. Chapter 16 On a Mission I raced through the hallway nimbly dodging all the traps in front of me. As what I guessed was the spirits lit them up and allowed for me to focus on the path ahead without having to stop and check for traps every few feet. I gripped my sword tightly in anger. I was going to make these people pay! If they weren¡¯t here I wouldn¡¯t have run across those men and they wouldn¡¯t have had to die. If only these people ceased to exist their goal would be accomplished and they could finally rest in peace knowing their mission was complete. We could go back as heroes and forget all of this behind us. But these imbeciles shouldn¡¯t have dared defiled these burial grounds. I could feel the spirits urging me to purge there defiling presence from the area. They were messing with their turf and needed to be punished for failing to respect the plains and the dead people who called it their home. They kept urging my bloodlust with energy and I felt boundless power swell within my body beating a rhythmic roar. In no longer than ten minutes I broke from the hallway into their encampment. I quickly hid behind a rock and tried to calm my emotions. They were out of whack and if I let them take over again or I¡¯d do something I¡¯d regret. I had plenty of stealth abilities I can use to take control of the situation without turning it into a bloodbath. I needed a way into the camp first. If I approached as I am right now I had no idea how they¡¯d respond. I first needed to learn their rules of engagement. Time to finally try and use my illusion ability. I hadn¡¯t needed it so far but this would be a good time as ever to try it. I imagined myself standing in front of me and tried channeling my mana into this image. I felt a small amount leave me and when I opened my eyes I saw myself standing in front of me. I tried making it move as I wanted and it did just that, but it was only an image so I couldn¡¯t attack them with this. Time to see what will happen. Go my illusion self! My illusion walked towards the guards slowly. Within seconds it was spotted by the guards and BANG! Well, I had hoped they weren¡¯t so trigger happy that they¡¯d try to kill me but I guess I was mistaken. The guards look confused as all hell though that my illusion was still standing. BANG! BANG! BANG! They shot three more rounds to no effect as I made it walk closer to them. ¡°Charles! Activate your thermal scanner I think it¡¯s some kind of illusion.¡± ¡°You''re right it¡¯s not appearing on thermals and I¡¯m not detecting much of a signal from it so it shouldn¡¯t be a threat. Must be one of those spirits the scientist mentioned.¡± ¡°All I know is that it¡¯s creeping me the heck out and it¡¯s blocking my view.¡± He tried swatting at it as it jumped in front of him distracting him. Luckily this Charles didn¡¯t see me with the thermals so I now had to sneak past them while they were still distracted. ¡°Are you sure we can¡¯t do anything about this? There should be some way of dispersing it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know I focus on tech not the paranormal.¡± I snuck past them sticking to the shadows managing to make it inside of one of the tents undetected. I then dispersed the illusion as I no longer needed it. ¡°See it¡¯s gone now. Stay alert, we don¡¯t know if those guys are going to be back.¡± Looks like I¡¯m good. Time for step two. This is going to hurt. ¡®Transform¡¯ I tried to make the process as slow as possible to give my body time to adjust more, but it was still painful as hell. I stifle my scream as I slowly turned into a fox. When I finished I realized I was bigger than last time and had two tails. I poked my head out of the tent and looked around. Looks like the coast is clear. I need to find this scientist guy. He had to be near the back of the camp. There the security should be a lot tighter since they have their backs to the wall. I stayed in shadows making my way to the back of the cave. Slipping past the occasional patrolling guard. The camp security was tight with pairs of guards around the camp. At last, I finally made it to the back of the cave which had a tent lying against it. Making my way inside I saw a massive generator of sorts. THere a man was tinkering with while another was tapping away at a laptop. ¡°Are you sure this is going to work doc?¡± ¡°I¡¯m positive though I¡¯ve been encountering some slight disturbances they are within parameters. I should be able to open the portal within the day. It¡¯ll take me an hour or so to finish calibrations, but after that, all we¡¯ll have to do is wait for the battery to charge.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good if we¡¯re lucky we¡¯ll get out of here before those natives come back. We made sure to double our security, but we¡¯re still lacking when it comes to countering their magic.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll have to focus our research on this magic after we finish this portal. Once we tear a hole we¡¯ll be able to come back here from the other side more easily. Though I would have liked to set this up near a more populated area the energy here should make this a breeze.¡± What the hell were they talking about? I made my way closer inside to see if I could get a better look at the device when the entrance behind me opened. I was then picked up by the man who walked in.¡± ¡°Look who we found here. It looks so cute!¡± ¡°Jerry, what are you doing in here with a, fox? Why does it have two tails?¡± ¡°An interesting specimen to be sure. I¡¯m saddened that we can¡¯t take it back with us, but what did you come in here for Jerry?¡± ¡°One of the guards reported seeing some kind of little girl after engaging the found it to be a ghost of sorts. We wanted to check to see if maybe our sensor are malfunctioning. We didn¡¯t pick up anything on those scanners you gave us.¡± ¡°That means it wasn¡¯t a ghost. There must be some kind of spellcaster in the area. Stay vigilant there must be some magic caster in the cave toying with us. Also, take that beast out of here.¡± ¡°Yes sir. Let¡¯s go get you something to eat little fella.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feed the wildlife Jerry.¡± ¡°Stop worrying so much Johnson. I¡¯ll make sure to throw it out of camp.¡± He then took me to another tent where there was a box of rations and some collapsible tables. Keeping me in one arm as he tried to feed me a ration. I tried biting his finger, but he kept nibbling avoiding me. Toying with me while he had a smile on his face. Maybe I could try to check his soul while I¡¯m like this can¡¯t do anything else. I explored his soul to find a mess of black and white energy circling around. From what I could gather from this surrounding energy was how he was a very contradicting man. Showing kindness and care for people while also able to ruthlessly kill and butcher people with scary efficiency. I was taken aback after realizing his dual nature. Due to it I had a hard time discerning his true motives or goals. Which left me at square one. ¡°Hey, Jerry your breaks over go and relief Kerry.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°What the hell is that thing?¡± ¡°I found it near the scientist¡¯s tent. I think it¡¯s some kind of fox.¡± ¡°Get rid of it. We¡¯re a military crew, not the pound. Now get back to work.¡± After walking to Kerry¡¯s post and relieving him he let me go. ¡°Bye foxy! Try to stay out of trouble.¡± I hurried behind a rock after this to get out of his line of sight. It appears like they were planning to open some kind of rift. I didn¡¯t understand all of it, but it sounded like they were about to leave. The one worry I had was this tear the scientist mentioned. I didn¡¯t understand what it would mean. But it didn¡¯t sound good. The problem was I couldn¡¯t negotiate with them due to their trigger happy nature. I didn¡¯t wish to butcher them but I felt that I needed to stop them. This tear sounded bad but I didn''t know why. Something subconscious maybe it had to do with the spirits. ¡®Kill them!¡¯ ¡®Stop them!¡¯ ¡®Eradicate them!¡¯ I leaned against the rock I hid behind in pain. The voices grew louder trying to convince me that slaughter was the right choice. I made my way back to my sword transforming back to my original form. I held it in my hand while trying to think rationally on how to act. I couldn¡¯t think of another solution though. All that came to mind was to either let it happen or leave these men stranded to die here. I didn¡¯t know how they got here but that device seemed to be their only ticket out. To destroy it meant they would forever be residents of this world. There had to be a way to allow a portal out of here and prevent this tear. I sat there in thought for a while. Drawing the sword from the scabbard I stared at the blade that shined dimly. Seeking answers that were not there. ¡®So don¡¯t know what to do. Do we?¡¯ I forgot about the green haired lady that resided in the blade. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any brilliant ideas.¡± ¡®I do actually. I¡¯ve felt your power within you. If you can control it properly. You can help create this portal without having to create this tear you speak of. With your power and knowledge of their world, you could focus a portal.¡¯ ¡°So I just have to create this portal instead of the machine? How do I do that?¡± ¡®I¡¯m sorry but I do not know. I only gave you an idea. I don¡¯t know how you should implement them.¡¯ ¡°Guess that means I need to sneak back in then.¡± ¡®You can use the power of flash step that is imbued in this sword to get inside. You used the power instinctually in your first fight. I will help you control it.¡¯ This sounded weird but I¡¯d take it over turning back into a fox. It got uncomfortable after a while and I couldn¡¯t use my powers very well.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get started then.¡± Hiding in the shadows I approached the camp again. I saw a shadow just beyond the guards I channeled my energy into the blade and could feel my body speed up and reach the spot I imagined. I fell shakily to the ground afterward. ¡°You see anything, Jerry?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s just a draft you''re imagining things.¡± I sheathed the sword and sat in the shadow calming my breathing. That took more energy than I thought it would. ¡®You did it! Good job! That was a bit further than I would have liked but you got it down.¡¯ ¡°We still have a ways to go.¡± I slowly flash stepped to the generator. Sticking to the shadows it didn¡¯t take long. I went inside the tent again (After making sure the area was clear.). Staying hidden I set my back against the generator. The two people inside were quietly finishing their work. So I set my hand against the generator and sent some of my energy into it. I felt it flow through the circuits and concentrate around a big pool of energy. I could feel it filling with energy. Condensing into some kind of crystal inside. ¡°Hey Zephiel, I¡¯m picking up some kind of energy spike.¡± ¡°It¡¯s within parameters ignore it for now. What is the charge at.¡± ¡°72% sir. Estimates indicate it should be charged in thirty minutes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I ignored them and continued my probes. I could feel the energy being channeled to a specific location. I could feel the energy connection between the two sides. I could feel how the energy was being condensed as much as possible to create this tear he mentioned. I had to be careful though they could already tell I was in their systems. If I tried to change anything too much they¡¯d notice. I¡¯d just have to complete the change right as it was about to activate. I hid behind the generator and waited while keeping my energy connection with the machine. After a few minutes I heard, what I wanted. ¡°Alright, here we go it¡¯s fully charged. Initiating the tear in 3, 2, 1.¡± I then forced the focused energy out in a steady stream canceling the tear and creating the portal. ¡°That¡¯s strange the portal is forming, but it seemed the portal failed to create the tear we wished.¡± ¡°Call for the retreat order. We got the data we need. I¡¯ll deal with the boss later. Right now we need to leave before the natives get to rowdy. The portal will stay open for an hour get the camp torn down in ten.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± The man then left the tent and I trailed behind him as my job was done. After exiting the tent I flash stepped out of the camp and leaned my back against the rock. I watched the camp pack up and the gear being sent through the portal. The men slowly went through the portal and after thirty minutes everyone but Zephiel and Johnson were left. ¡°Come out spell caster. I know you''re there.¡± There was only two of them. If they tried anything I was sure i could take them. So I left my hiding place with my blade drawn. ¡°A two tailed fox girl? You were that fox from earlier!¡± ¡°The one and only.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you have this victory, for now, girl, but know this!¡± ¡°Shut it with the foreshadowing. I already have enough on my plate. I won¡¯t stop you and you¡¯ll come back with more people. Now leave already or I¡¯ll gut you where you stand.¡± ¡°Alright then girl. I¡¯ll leave you for now, but I shall return for some samples later. Maybe you may be one of them.¡± ¡°Not likely now get lost.¡± They walked throughout the portal with their generator and Zeliph turned towards me with a wicked smile. They had plans, but to what extent I didn¡¯t care. I had enough issues on my mind already. ¡°Time to leave I guess.¡± I sent a shockwave of energy at the portal and it collapsed on itself. The hole closed and the spirits filled the room again. ¡®Well done young kitsune. You have done well. We would have liked you to have disposed of them quicker, but you have fulfilled our request. May the wind be ever at you back young one.¡¯ ¡°Next time ask for my help instead of forcing me to you old geezers.¡± ¡®Well, that went well! Now let¡¯s leave this place. No need to linger any longer right?¡¯ ¡°Yeah let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I made my way back into the trap filled hallway. I simply went through them until I saw John, Elizabeth, and Teage halfway through stuck in some kind of net trap. ¡°How¡¯s it hanging?¡± ¡°Cut us down already lass. We came to help your sorry ass.¡± ¡°Some help you were.¡± I cut the rope suspending them up and they fell to the floor. ¡°They¡¯ve been dealt with let¡¯s leave.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you do it?¡± John looked up after standing back up. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later first I want to get outside.¡± We made our way back and after everyone vacated the burial grounds. I layed down on the grass and stared at the rising sun. ¡°The spirits have told me what you have done. I thank you for your help Briana. I¡¯m sorry I was not of more use.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Lucius just make sure to stay vigilant. They may return so just be careful.¡± ¡°What did you do to them Briana?¡± ¡°I merely sent them home. They were attempting to tear a hole between our realities. I made it into a one way portal instead.¡± ¡°This is a frightening revelation. It appears someone is trying to open a portal between worlds. Though I¡¯m not sure why.¡± ¡°Stop thinking about it too much Matt. I just want to get some sleep.¡± ¡°First you need some food you didn¡¯t eat much and you¡¯ve been pushing yourself you can sleep AFTER you eat.¡± ¡°Fine MOM.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your mother Briana! Now hurry up Rachel made some breakfast so thank her for making it. ¡°Alright Elizabeth I¡¯ll make sure to thank her.¡± I made my way to Rachel who was serving some scrambled eggs with some fried salted meat. I accepted a plate and started eating straight away. ¡°Not even going to thank me?¡± ¡°Thanks Rachel.¡± I immediately went back to my plate wolfing it all down. Matt, Teage, Lennie, Raven, and Remus were eating as well. Everyone looked tired from their adventures. Rachel was frying up some more food for everyone. She looked better, but she was pretty beat up. She had bandages wrapped around parts of her body. She looked good though all things considered. ¡°I came to see how you were doing Briana. I¡¯ve got to get to bed soon so I just wanted to fix us some breakfast before I logged out.¡± ¡°Thanks Rachel it¡¯s some good food.¡± ¡°That sure was crazy though. I heard you took out those guys by yourself from what I heard.¡± ¡°Yeah though it didn¡¯t feel very good.¡± ¡°The realism does take some getting used to. I didn¡¯t like combat myself for a while, but when I saw the smiling faces of the people I saved I knew it was worth it. So you have my smile at least. Thanks for saving me.¡± She smiled at me as she served her fresh batch to the guys. ¡°You give me too much credit Rachel.¡± ¡°No, you saved my life and a lot of my progress. It¡¯s been awhile since I fought a group that strong. The experience was really good and we also got those guns! I didn¡¯t think they had them in this game!¡± ¡°Yeah me neither.¡± This was getting awkward. I knew that she had killed real people but I couldn¡¯t tell her the truth. I felt that it would wrong. Like popping a kid¡¯s balloon or telling them santa wasn¡¯t real. ¡°You don¡¯t look so good. Is my cooking bad?¡± ¡°NO!!!¡± Was said in unison by everyone gathered as they continued to eat. ¡°Sorry Rachel, I just haven¡¯t been feeling well.¡± She looked worried but didn¡¯t ask further on the subject. ¡°Well goodnight Brenn sorry Briana. Hope you get to feeling better¡± ¡°Call me Brenner Rachel. I prefer it to Briana.¡± ¡°Alright Brenner, goodnight!¡± She then disappeared in a burst of light. I could feel her soul disappear in the wind as she logged out. ¡°She left? I was just about to ask for another plate.¡± ¡°Stop being so greedy Raven. You¡¯ve already eaten three plates.¡± ¡°So? I want another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get some sleep.¡± ¡°You get some sleep lass. We¡¯ll be here.¡± I made my way to my bedroll and took it down to the burial ground. I saw John look worriedly at me, but he didn¡¯t follow and went back to his food. I laid my bedroll on the floor before curling myself up with my two tails. It didn¡¯t take long for me to go to sleep from exhaustion but it wasn¡¯t long before I fell into the world of dreams. I was riding a horse on the plains with a bow in hand shooting at dragons. I was charging towards them on my horse shooting arrow after arrow at them. They fired back upon us with fire that scorched the plains. It tore through my men and I barely avoided it myself. As I drew closer I drew my sword from its scabbard. It shone like the sun and as a dragon dove in the eat me whole I cut upwards splitting the beast in two. I rode in the hellscape that was the battlefield. With burning corpse and the screams of my fellow plains men all around me. I got distracted as a dragon created a wall in front of me that I missed a diving dragon that killed my horse out from under me spilling me across the burning grass. As he turned for another pass I cleaved him in two with my sword. I then grabbed my bow that had landed a few feet away before launching arrow after arrow at what seemed to be an endless horde of dragons. I stood my ground amidst the madness as I saw man after man fall to the large beasts. After a while, my mind cleared and I stood exhausted in the middle of appeared to be hell itself. My quiver having run out of arrows made my bow useless so I cast it aside in favor of my sword. I stood looking around for ally to help or foe to slay, but all I could see was the burning plains surround me. Then a great shout filled the sky and I saw the biggest dragon I¡¯d ever seen in my life. I soared high overhead circling around me before landing next to me. ¡°It appears we are the last two left human. Are you ready to die?¡± ¡°Never!¡± I charged him aiming for his heart. He nimbly dodged my sword and chomped down on my arm as I tried to dodge. The heat from his mouth seared the wound and I tumbled to the side before taking my sword in my last good arm. ¡°Tenacious aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Die!¡± I charged again and used my most famous move flash step. I then appeared in multiple directions slashing down in fury in every direction. I could feel my muscles bursting from the exertion. Tearing with every slash I made on the creature. Until I collapsed as my legs could no longer move. ¡°How? How could I have been defeated by a mere human. A weak female no less?¡± It then collapsed as the shock of it¡¯s injuring kicked in. Falling to his last breath after realizing he had been cut to pieces by my sword. ¡°Haha! Beat you ...¡± It was all I could muster as I felt my blood seep out of me into the planes and into the scabbards of my swords. I didn''t regret this fight, but I had wished to see them again. Guess I wasn¡¯t coming home for supper tonight. I took my last breath on those plains lying in the burning madness of the battlefield. We¡¯d succeeded in pushing the dragon''s back, but at the cost of every man involved in the battle. I then fell into the void that surrounded me in death. I bolted awake to Elizabeth shaking me awake. ¡°Are you okay Briana? Are you having a nightmare?¡± ¡°No. It felt like a vision or memory.¡± I looked at the sword at my side lying in its scabbard on the floor. If I had to guess that must have been the memories of that woman in the sword. Why was she fighting dragons though? ¡°You okay Briana and I mean are you really okay. You haven¡¯t seemed okay since we took out those people from earlier.¡± I remembered that scene of piled dismembered bodies. It paled in comparison to the madness I had just witnessed, but unlike that memory, I had slain those men. ¡°No. I wanted to fight monsters, not people. Helping others not hurting them.¡± ¡°You did help us. If you hadn¡¯t shown up we¡¯d have all died. You saved us! I know this is a lot to take in and that you have been dealing with a lot. But I just wanted to make sure you know how thankful I am you saved us.¡± She hugged me from behind as she tried her best to cheer me up. ¡°It¡¯s midday and the others want to get a little traveling done today. Rachel is also back I don¡¯t know how she is up though. She must have gotten only three hours of sleep!¡± ¡°Thanks Elizabeth, it means a lot. I just need some time to self actualize on everything that¡¯s happened.¡± ¡°Of course now let¡¯s get going we¡¯re heading to the capital!¡± ¡°Wait we aren¡¯t going back to the camp?¡± ¡°Nope, Lucius left already to report back to them and Rachel really wants to sell those guns you brought back. Though the guys are thinking we should keep it for ourselves.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll sell them they¡¯re of no use to us when they run out of ammo and we need some basic equipment. They¡¯ll sell well so it¡¯ll definitely help us.¡± I stood up and made my way up the stairs with Elizabeth right behind me. She seemed happy but sad at the same time for some reason. I didn¡¯t understand why though. All I knew was that we needed to prepare before any other foreshadowing took us off guard again. Chapter 17 New Threads, Sights, and Mysteries ¡°Are we there yet!¡± ¡°No! Shut your trap longlegs. It¡¯s hard enough for me to keep up as it is.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve been walking for hours and I¡¯m still tired from yesterday!¡± ¡°You think we had it easy! We all were busy and we¡¯re all walking.¡± ¡°Briana and Rachel aren¡¯t¡± ¡°Like I¡¯ve said, Briana¡¯s legs are shorter than mine and it¡¯s Rachel¡¯s wagon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not fair!¡± Elizabeth and Teage were arguing as they walked in front of us through Teage was having to jog to keep up. I looked behind us to see Matt and Remus talking about something while Lennie, John, and Raven kept watch while joking behind us. So far we had been lucky and hadn¡¯t encountered any bandits. There was an odd man wandering alone on the plains though. He said he was a traveling adventure heading to a nearby town. We wished him luck and we continued walking. He felt off though. I couldn¡¯t tell what though. It was about time to make camp for the night. I was exhausted from everything that had happened. I awakened to some new power from the spirits in that tomb, I had killed all those people who had simply been in the wrong place. Plus there was the, for lack of a better term, earthlings hiding out in the burial grounds as well. It was a lot to take in. Surprisingly I wanted to escape back to reality of all things now. ¡°Brenner, have you logged out lately? You were on when I logged out and in.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m doing an experiment with my sister she has me hooked up to some scanners and wanted me to play for 24 hours.¡± ¡°That sounds tiring. How are you even still awake? You must be exhausted from all this! Especially after what just went down.¡± I closed my eyes for a minute and rested, but I¡¯m used to it I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°How did you grow another tail? I was in a hurry so I didn¡¯t ask earlier.¡± ¡°Some kind of power I received from the spirits in the burial grounds. They also gave me this nifty sword.¡± I tugged at the sword that I had strapped to my back. It was too long to go around my waist and sometimes dragged along the ground. So Teage made a strap for me. ¡°Though this curse still confuses me. I¡¯ve tried to keep myself busy so I really haven¡¯t had much time to really investigate it. I¡¯m still being surprised.¡± My tails moved absentmindedly behind me as a sat quietly. Rachel seemed mesmerized by my tails. ¡°So how does it work? The two tails. I¡¯ve seen others with tails but never someone with two. Is it like having two extra arms?¡± ¡°I guess so. It¡¯s more like finding a missing limb. It feels like I¡¯ve missed it all my life and finally found it. Kind of like a missing phantom limb I never knew of.¡± I tried controlling them and they swirled on command. Spinning them in a circle behind me. ¡°I¡¯m kind of envious. It seems quite interesting.I choose to choose to play as a human because I didn¡¯t want to worry about anything weird like choosing another race. Guess I played it too safe choosing to be human.¡± ¡°Better than dealing with all the other things another race brings.¡± ¡°Like extra tails?¡± ¡°Among other things. There are pros and cons to every choice.¡± ¡°So what are your cons? You make it sound like you are having some.¡± ¡°Growing an extra tail definitely isn¡¯t pleasant for one. Another jarring thing is having ears on your head. It makes locating sound easier but it¡¯s weird having ears that move more.¡± ¡°Like this?¡± Rachel then scratched my ears to my unexpected enjoyment. ¡°It seems like it also changes other things as well.¡± I quickly brush her hands away and shy away in embarrassment. ¡°AW! SO CUTE!¡± She then hugged up on me rubbing herself against my fur. I struggled against her assault and failed to struggle myself away. ¡°Rachel get off me!¡± ¡°Come on Brenner. Let me enjoy this. It isn¡¯t every day I get to pet such soft fur.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have your own dog?¡± ¡°But he isn¡¯t as cute as you Brenner, and his fur has a different texture. You know how it is.¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t give you the right to cuddle assault me.¡± Lennie caught up with the cart as we were drifting due to Rachel¡¯s negligence. ¡°Rachel! Get off Briana and keep the cart straight. You can mess around later, but I want to get to the city by lunch if possible.¡± ¡°Fine I¡¯ll keep my hands to myself till then.¡± She retracted her hands off me and back to the reigns. I sat back in my seat relieved I¡¯d escaped another cuddling. Thanks Lennie, I owe you one. Though he was probably just jealous thinking back on what happened before we started this trip. This body was more trouble than it was worth. Time passed quickly as we settled into a nice pace. I found myself mesmerized by the flowing grass that moved lively in the wind. Watching the chaotic dance as the sun flew overhead kept me quite entertained. As the sun dipped overhead we crossed over another hill to reveal a large city in front of us. It was still alive with activity with people busily making their way about. ¡°We made it! Let¡¯s try to find a nice inn. We¡¯ll sell our findings tomorrow. I¡¯ll contact some of the girls and see if they can find us a buyer.¡± ¡°Not sure how well they¡¯ll sell to be honest they sure are cool, but there isn¡¯t a way to create more bullets.¡± ¡°That can be fixed with some magic I bet. That won¡¯t matter though. People will pay a premium for a gun in here even if only for intimidation. Most people will believe they will be loaded and that¡¯s what will matter in a fight.¡± ¡°Not sure how I feel about this arms deal. You sure these won¡¯t be used by the wrong people?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t matter. There aren¡¯t any arms regulations and people will pay a lot of money for them. It¡¯s also a limited quantity so it¡¯s not like we can arm a whole army. So don¡¯t worry about it so much. Just think about what you¡¯re going to spend the gold on. I¡¯m going to buy myself a new staff. I¡¯ll get the best wood on the market and enchant the heck out of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯ll be expensive though. Make sure you save at least some money for other things.¡± ¡°Stop worrying so much Brenner. Have a little fun and let go. This isn¡¯t the real world and you can do whatever you want. So let¡¯s have a huge party tonight. No rules against alcohol in here either so we¡¯ll be able to drink the night away!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll sell alcohol to a minor Rachel.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t a minor just a small girl. Don''t worry so much.¡± After being inspected by the city guards we wandered the streets before settling in a nice hotel Lennie recommended. It wasn¡¯t really a hotel. It was more of a fancy tent area with better amenities. After parking our cart we went to the attendant to rent out our tents. I grabbed my bag and jumped down to stretch my sore limbs as we approached the attendant. The attendant looked us over before widening her eyes in surprise. She walked out from behind her table and stood in front of us before bowing her head. ¡°Hello divine one! This establishment is blessed by your presence. How may this humble servant serve you today.¡± Right the whole god thing. I was going to be the center of attention no matter what I did here. ¡°Could we rent enough space for the nine of us. We are exhausted from our travels.¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯ll get your rooms ready just give me a minute.¡± She then went off to prepare our rooms. John then walked up to me with a smug look on his face. ¡°Oh divine one, what luxuries will you offer to your most loyal servants.¡± I hit him in the gut and he hunches over in pain. ¡°I¡¯m not a divine you idiot. We¡¯ll go along with it, but don¡¯t encourage it.¡± ¡°Why not Brenner? We can use this to our advantage. Why not enjoy your influence some.¡± Rachel had a scheming smile to her face. I bet she was going to take me on a shopping tour later. ¡°We should go shopping and see what we can find for you. Your dress is getting a little small isn¡¯t it?¡± I looked at myself and realized Elizabeth was right. The dress was a little tighter and smaller on me due to my growth from my second tail. I should get another bigger dress for when I grow my third tail. Also having more than one set of clothes is a good idea. The woman came back with another person behind her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the wait divine. Follow me, I¡¯ll show you to your tents. My assistant here will help carry your bags for you.¡± The assistant grabbed my bag from me before I could protest and they led us to a collection of three tents. ¡°The tents house three people per tent and should accommodate your needs divine. If you require anything else let me know.¡± After they left we looked inside the tents to find three cots lined with fur in all three tents. I jumped on one and rubbed myself against the furs. They were so soft I felt myself being absorbed by them as I lay in bliss. I felt someone pick me up and looked to see Matt with a stern look on his face. ¡°At least clean yourself first. Your filthy Briana it¡¯s ruining the furs.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll stop, anyways do you know why she was calling me divine? In the last place, they called me princess.¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°My guess is that it has to do with your second tale. Maybe it¡¯s seen as a sign of maturity to them.¡± ¡°There are too many things I still don¡¯t understand!¡± I flop back on the bed and roll around some more before Matt picks me up and throws me off the bed. Elizabeth then enters the tent to see the scene. Picking me up off the ground before chewing Matt out. ¡°Why are you throwing Briana around Matt! What did she do?¡± ¡°She was getting the beds dirty. She needs to get clean first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a reason to go throwing her around come on Briana let''s get out of her we¡¯re going to go on a shopping spree tonight! Rachel gave us some money to buy some new clothes.¡± Elizabeth then dragged me out before I could answer her. Rachel was waiting for us as we exited the tent. ¡°Let¡¯s go clothes shopping! This¡¯ll be fun to see what we can find for you.¡± We left the hotel after storing away our weapons. We wouldn¡¯t need them in the city and I didn¡¯t want to lug around that heavy sword all day. This was going to be a long enough day as it is. ¡°But first let¡¯s get some lunch. I told Lennie we¡¯d meet him for dinner at a place he recommended So that means we have the afternoon to ourselves ladies.¡± Why was she so accepting of this. ¡°You do realize I¡¯m a guy Rachel?¡± ¡°Not in here and since you look so cute! I¡¯ve got to help you look your best.¡± Elizabeth seemed on board as well as she looked at me. ¡°Come on it¡¯ll be a fun new experience for you. Besides she¡¯s paying so why not?¡± ¡°Because I feel like I¡¯m going to pay in some fashion at the end of this.¡± ¡°Stop worrying so much Brenner. Come on, I¡¯ll buy you some lunch before we start shopping.¡± We then made our way to the market square where people had stalls scattered about. The smell of food and spices permeated the air as we browsed at all the market had to offer. We ended up buying some meat skewers that made you salivate from just seeing them. Rachel paid the owner after we begged her to buy them for us. The owner gave us an extra on the house after seeing me thanking us for our patronage and blessing. I felt it was unwarranted but everywhere I looked I saw people staring at us like a rare find. With people approaching us asking for my blessing from time to time. My soul defenses were straining as I felt all their voices seem to gravitate towards me. I was having to spend more and more effort to protect myself. Elizabeth seemed to notice and picked me putting me on her shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go to somewhere less crowded Rachel. I don¡¯t think Briana is doing well.¡± ¡°It is hard to find what I want to with all these people. I didn¡¯t think Briana would attract this much attention.¡± We then left the square following Rachel. We cut through some side alleys losing the crowd behind us. I didn¡¯t pay much attention though as I calmed and fixed my soul defenses. It was still was going to take some time before I could walk in front of a crowd that big again. Elizabeth looked at me concerned as I finally fixed it. ¡°You feeling better Briana?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was just more than I was used to.¡± ¡°You have a problem with crowds? I don¡¯t remember you having a problem before.¡± ¡°New condition. It has something to do with the curse as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s annoying. Well, for now, let¡¯s go to this tailor I know of. She might have something that will help you avoid attention.¡± We then walked around till we were on the outskirts there we made our way into a tent with the sign of a bolt of thread laying by the entrance. We made our way inside where a woman was knitting on a stool. There were bolts of fabric laying around her. But I couldn''t see her face well as she wore a veil. ¡°Hello Fir, how are you doing?¡± The woman looked up looking us over. It I could swear I felt multiple eyes sweep over me. But was was weird was she never stopped knitting. ¡°Business is slow as usual. So why have you brought a draconian and a divine? You do know I¡¯m not cheap.¡± ¡°My friends Brenner and Elizabeth needs some new clothes and I happen to have found a good haul. So we¡¯re celebrating with some new clothes. I couldn¡¯t think of anyone else who could get an order ready fast enough. Also with the people she attracts your clothes could do her some good.¡± ¡°Then close the flap and wait outside. I¡¯ll tell you when I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°You guys have fun now! I¡¯ll be outside if you need me.¡± Something felt off about this. This woman had something to her that naturally made me nervous around her. ¡°Hey Rachel, who is she?¡± ¡°Oh Fir? She is a tailor. Though she¡¯s expensive, her clothes are the best around.¡± Elizabeth had a concerned look on her face. I don¡¯t think either of us felt sure about this woman. She seemed to give off this weird vibe. ¡°Now have fun you two I¡¯ll be outside.¡± She then left and closed the tent behind her before we could say anything else. ¡°Now that she has left. Let us begin.¡± Fir stopped knitting and stood up. Then eight spider like appendages sprang out from her back and she removed her veil to reveal her eight eyes. Neither Elizabeth nor I knew what to do or say. I was surprised more than anything else. ¡°Alright let¡¯s get rid of these cheap rags.¡± Before we could do anything she had cut all our clothes and removed them with her appendages. Piling the cut remaining into a corner. I then felt a small prick across the back of my neck and I froze up. I couldn¡¯t move or speak as she quickly measured us while cutting and sewing fabric all at the same time with her appendages each working almost independently from the other. Before I knew it I was clothed again and I felt another prick on the back of my neck. I slowly regained control of my limbs. I looked at myself to find I was wearing a shirt and skirt that went to my knees. I also had a brown poncho that had a hood that would conceal me from the crowds. ¡°What the hell!¡± I turned to see Elizabeth who was wearing a shirt as well and some short shorts. She didn¡¯t seem very happy. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Are the clothes not to your taste?¡± ¡°What the hell did you do to us!¡± ¡°I made your clothes, you¡¯re wearing them.¡± ¡°I meant why couldn¡¯t we move and why did you strip us!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see the problem we¡¯re all women right? Your clothes were in the way and I wanted to start with a blank canvas.¡± The tent flap opened and Rachel stepped in ignoring Elizabeth who fumed in anger. ¡°So do you like your new clothes girls?¡± Elizabeth turned to Rachel she seemed conflicted. ¡°I like the clothes, but her! She¡¯s a pervert!¡± She was taking this too far. True I would have liked some forewarning, but it wasn¡¯t that bad. ¡°Give her a break Elizabeth. Do you like the clothes? That¡¯s what we came for.¡± ¡°I do, but she took things way too far!¡± Rachel had a sly grin on her face. She was getting a kick out of this. ¡°Sorry I didn¡¯t tell you. But she is the best seamstress around. She just prefers to keep to herself. Her species isn¡¯t really popular around here.¡± Fir didn¡¯t seem to care and took for what it was. She sat back down and returned to her knitting. ¡°Can¡¯t change their opinion. But it does allow me to have a more selective clientele. The jobs and people are also interesting so I¡¯m never bored.¡± ¡°Her clothes are the best around. Though her approach is surprising at first. It caught me off guard as well. Though the quality is definitely worth it. So how much?¡± ¡°The usual rate. Though I¡¯ll give you a small discount due to you bringing a divine. So I¡¯ll make it only nine gold coins.¡± ¡°You drive a hard bargain.¡± She took out nine gold coins and deposited them in a small jar at the entrance. We then made our way outside as Fir continued her knitting. We then made our back to the hotel. With my new poncho, I didn¡¯t draw any more attention and we were able to window shop at the stalls we crossed on our way back. Elizabeth liked her new clothes as well. Prancing about with a skip in her step. I think she failed to recognize the attention she was garnering though. Rachel was laughing at Elizabeth as we walked together down the street. ¡°Thanks for getting us these clothes Rachel. You didn¡¯t have to go that far. Especially since I¡¯m probably going to outgrow these pretty quick.¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t have you going around in those old drags. Besides it''s always a worthy investment to look your best. It¡¯s a good little secret between us girls you should take to heart.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess you''re right.¡± I felt a ¡®killing intent¡¯ towards me. I hated saying that but I didn¡¯t know how else to describe it. I looked around but didn¡¯t see anything. ¡°Is something wrong Brenner?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know maybe it¡¯s just ¡®THUNK¡¯¡° I feel something piece my chest and look down to see an arrow embedded in my abdomen. I then cough up blood as my brain finally caught up with what just happened. I then fall down as the pain grows with each passing second. ¡°BRENNER!¡± I felt the killing intent disappear. But that still didn¡¯t help me since I had an arrow through my chest. Elizabeth was clutching her chest as well. The shared pain being too much as she fell to the ground. Rachel held me in her arms as she cut the shaft off the arrow with wind magic before she shoved the arrow out my back. I groaned in pain at her action and squirmed in pain. My shirt then contracted and applied pressure to the wound. I look down to the shirt and poncho mending themselves. I was probably suffering from internal bleeding and who knows what else. But it would do for now. Now I just had to get Elizabeth to help me, but before I could call out. ¡®Force logout has been initiated.¡¯ Guess that means time is up. I was blinded by light as I felt my body disappear. Next thing I knew was I was back in my seat in my sister¡¯s lab. But the pain still didn¡¯t go away and I was struck with a phantom injury. I knew my mind must have been tricking me but I couldn¡¯t think past that. I groaned in pain as my sister ran towards me. ¡°Sorry about that, you already passed the twenty-four hour mark. So I pulled you out, but are you okay? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She looked me over trying to see what was wrong. ¡°I¡¯m fine you just pulled me out at a bad time.¡± ¡°What happened was it a battle or where you dungeon crawling?¡± ¡°I was shot on the street by an assassin I think. All I know was it wasn¡¯t pleasant.¡± ¡°Well, it should wear off in a minute. Right now we need to take care of your bodily needs. I¡¯ll be right back with a pizza. Meat supreme you favorite.¡± She then left the room opening her wallet. I stood up and hobbled to the computer she was using. Taking a seat I looked at all the charts and graphs of all the data she had collected. I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of what I was seeing. Though they did seem abnormal at times so it must have been detecting something. What though I couldn¡¯t tell. ¡®So who wanted you killed lass?¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we¡¯ll worry about that later. Right now we need to see what she gathered while we were out. You understand any of this Matt?¡± ¡®No, I can¡¯t make heads or tails of it. Though she didn¡¯t act like anything was out of the ordinary.¡¯ ¡®Weren¡¯t we the first one though? If that¡¯s the case we¡¯ll definitely stand out from the other test subjects.¡¯ ¡®Stop worrying John we can¡¯t do anything about it. Besides, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the only one here who believes we are on a time limit. It was only a matter of time.¡¯ ¡°She¡¯s right as much as I hate to admit it. There are probably people looking for us. Especially if there were people from this side exploring that side.¡± ¡®Your right lass, but what do you intend to do? You¡¯re having a hard enough time just dealing with your own changes. If we get caught right now I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll stand a chance,¡¯ ¡°We¡¯ll just have to keep playing the game.¡± I hopple back to my chair and sit back down the pain slowly fades and my body slowly relaxes. ¡°We learn what we can there and then I use that knowledge here.¡± I try to create an illusion of a sphere in the palm of my hand. But the second I try my body cramps up and I fall off my chair and start seizing. My body feels like it¡¯s tearing itself apart and I have to concentrate on gathering all back into my soul. I dry heave on the floor as I regain control. My sister walks in seeing me like this and puts the pizza down before walking towards me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did the pain come back or something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine Sophia just give me a minute I was just moving around too much. I should have taken it easier.¡± She sets me back in the chair before handing me some pizza. ¡°You¡¯ve got to take it easy. Playing a full day straight playing regular games is bad enough. Full dive stuff still hasn¡¯t been fully studied yet. There are the safety warnings that the company released, but they haven¡¯t released their studies. So I decided to do my own tests.¡± She then poured me a cup of water as I wolfed down the pizza in front of me. ¡°Make sure to chew that. You don¡¯t have to swallow it whole.¡± ¡°Stop worrying so much, I¡¯m fine. So what did your data show?¡± ¡°It looked promising. Though since you were my first subject I don¡¯t really have anything to base it off of. Though there were some weird reading and a few mental spikes.¡± ¡°That bad?¡± ¡°No, it was all within standard parameters.¡± ¡°What parameters?¡± She hands me the cup of water and sits down at her computer to start some note taking I guessed. ¡°Standard REM stuff. I don¡¯t really have much to base this on yet so it was the only thing I could think of.¡± I gulp down the water and continue to eat the pizza. But what worried me was my try at magic. It failed, but it did start. Why though? Maybe Matt knows. ¡®Matt do you know what happened just now.¡¯ ¡®Could it be that your body can¡¯t handle mana?¡¯ ¡®But the lass used it before right? It¡¯s how she is protecting her soul.¡¯ ¡®He Teage it¡¯s he. I¡¯m a guy right now.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t care lass. I can¡¯t keep up with your pronoun crap.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s right though. Maybe your body here can only handle soul magic and not mana.¡¯ Is there even a difference? I didn¡¯t feel it when I was using it earlier. ¡°Let¡¯s just calm down for now guys. We have time. We might have limited time, but we do have time to explore it. Right now let¡¯s just relax for a bit. Work and rest are needed equally.¡± ¡®That¡¯s true Elizabeth but we don¡¯t know how much time we have. Only that we have limited time.¡¯ ¡®Well Matt we might not know how much time we have but all I know is that I really do want to get some actual sleep for once.¡¯ I finish the last slice of pizza and lean back in my chair and before I knew it I was already out. Chapter 18 Prelude to the Hunt I woke up to the purr of an engine vibrating my seat. I opened my eyes to see I was in the backseat of my sister¡¯s car. The rain poured down hard against the windshield. As the wipers tried in vain to keep up. I slowly straightened up taking a deep breath trying to wake up. I stared out the window looking at the cars passing us by. The clouds were alight with the occasional lightning strike. ¡®You okay Briana?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m fine Elizabeth. Just tired from playing for so long. I might have gotten some mental rest when I slept but I was physically more tired then I realized.¡¯ I stared back outside paying more attention to the souls that flowed by. All having wants, desires, and emotions, but I was the only one who could see inside of them all. Though I wouldn¡¯t say I had perfected my soul defenses. I could say that I had a solid grasp to the point where I could function like I did before my revelation. As long as I stayed out of the center of attention. I stared at my left hand using my right to survey my left hand. It was rough and somewhat calloused from messing around, but for some reason, it felt wrong. I didn¡¯t know why but I had felt more comfortable as my kitsune counterpart. The smaller soft delicate hands felt more natural than my own. What did this all mean? It almost reminded me of the phrase ¡®if you stare into the abyss it stares back¡¯. I had stared into something I had no prior knowledge of, and as a result, that knowledge had changed my very life. I felt my soul pulse with energy looking for a way to escape. I could control it inside but whenever I had tried to use it outside here, it had failed. Compared to in SQO where it flowed out like a natural part of myself. ¡°Hey sleepy head. Nice nap?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought.¡± ¡°You were definitely out of it. I had to get a wheelchair to roll you into the parking garage. Luckily a friend was nearby and they helped me get you in.¡± ¡°Sorry about that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, you couldn¡¯t help it. We¡¯ll be there soon and you can go to sleep.¡± We slowed down and turned into a suburb and after a minute she pulled into her garage and turned off the car. I then got out and followed her inside. Her small house was nice and tidy. With no dishes in the sink and a kettle on the stove. ¡°Want me to make you some tea?¡± ¡°I need some sleep, but thanks for asking.¡± ¡°Then you can sleep on the couch. Give me a minute a set it up.¡± When she had set it up she went into the bedroom to go to sleep. I fell onto the makeshift bed and fell into a deep sleep. My thoughts wandered as my mind refused to rest. I saw memories, but they were all over the place. A castle, a forge, a barracks, a library, and a lush green field. It was similar to the Sacean plains but different. In the distance, I could see snow capped mountains and hills. Before I could see more it all went dark and I found myself face to face with my kitsune self. We both stared at each other as an unknown breeze moved our hair gently from side to side. I felt something lodge in my throat preventing me from speaking. When I tried opening my mouth to speak her¡¯s did as well. Our movements perfectly mimicked each other. I held out my right hand and we grabbed each other¡¯s hands. I could feel our connection. The shift in view as my vision kept switching between us. I could feel our minds trying to merge, but our bodies repelled each other. Our mind was the same but our bodies weren¡¯t. It was like trying to attach to magnets of the opposite pole. They were both magnets but they would never come together. I didn¡¯t even know this other side of me. The side of me that always existed. The reason for my connection to Matt, John, Teage, and Elizabeth. So we just stood there staring at each other confirming that we were both me. We stood there is silence as the darkness consumed us and my dream was over. My sister drove me back to my car the next day and I drove back home. I decided to talk to my companions on the drive back. We talked to each other sharing more details about our experiences in SQO. I tried to start treating them as people. Not as delusions, but as people. We were all stuck in my body. All lost in some way form or fashion. When I got back home I made my way to my room and laid out on my bed. I then focused my soul and started channeling my soul. After concentrating it, I tried focusing it towards my right arm letting only a tiny amount of energy out. I could feel the energy flow through my blood. But when I tried to move it through my arm. I felt a resistance like I was hitting a brick wall. Maybe it was just clogged, a good little push should do it. I shoved the energy against the wall and I felt my reject the energy sending it back to me. I recoiled in pain, but I felt progress and so I sent more energy in a constant stream. I slowly opened a hole in this wall as I tried to control the pain that ravaged my body. When I couldn¡¯t take it any longer I stopped and withered in agony. After it finally stopped I calmed my breath and tried again. This time I could feel it flow through a small pinhole. I made an illusionary dot form in the center of my hand. The flow was steady but all I could do was this. I then looked at my arm and saw more hair then there was previously. It was an orange color similar to Briana¡¯s hair. I couldn¡¯t be sure but I think I understood what this meant. If I was going to use magic in this world. That would mean giving up my current self. Revoking this body and making Briana¡¯s body my own. This body isn¡¯t meant to house my soul. It¡¯s just a vessel. An accidental vessel that didn¡¯t know any better. Born to unknowing parents as their child. Not knowing a secret they themselves didn¡¯t even know. This can¡¯t be real. All of this was a giant lie. It had to be. SQO was just messing with my already screwed up mind. It had to be. I curled up on my bed afraid of what I had just learned. I didn¡¯t have much time now. If there were people looking for me I had to be ready. Because they would come. I was an anomaly and given enough time they would probably trace my energy back to me. I looked outside to see a bluebird. It stared at me and after a minute I could see that it was releasing a faint energy similar to my own energy. I shot up from my bed and backed away. It then flapped its wings and flew away before I could react further. Looks like my time table¡¯s been moved up. They now knew where I was. Now it was up to them when they would come after me. I didn¡¯t have a weapon other than a pocket knife and my dot. They¡¯d probably have guns and buff security officers that¡¯d jump me with black suits. Carrying me off without a word. No contact with anyone ever again. I lay there trying to think of some advantage I could gain, but I could not think of one. Thinking of nothing better to do I put on my SQO helmet and lay on my bed. Flipping the switch I dive back in to see what awaits. Pain ripped through my stomach as I remembered I hadn¡¯t left in exactly the best of shape. Elizabeth runs over to me and picks me up singing a song to comfort me and my wound. ¡°Let''s get you back to the hotel. Maybe the others can help you. The wound was closing but I could feel my internal organs were still pretty torn up. Elizabeth''s magic was stabilizing my wound but I needed some specialized help. ¡°Elizabeth, I don¡¯t think your magic alone can fix this.¡± She seemed to panic at this but kept on singing while running with me in her arms. ¡°BRIANA! WHERE ARE YOU!¡± I turned to see John running towards us. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Shouldn¡¯t Elizabeth''s magic be working?¡± ¡°It is, but the arrow got me good. It¡¯ll take awhile for it to heal.¡± ¡°Maybe Remus can help. Follow me this way.¡± John led us through the streets back to the hotel. The streets were crowded with activity and they had to push their way through. People would generally part when they saw us coming. I checked where the wound was. The shirt was still compressing the area but I could feel the skin stitching itself together as she chanted some nursery rhyme. Though blood loss was minimal I must have lost maybe half a liter or so. Who was that person that shot me?Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Hurry in here!¡± Remus was standing outside his tent with the flap open. Matt was getting some stuff together in the corner. Elizabeth rushed in and set me on an empty cot in the middle of the room. Matt must have finished his reparations as he walks over to me. ¡°Where is the wound?¡± ¡°It hit me in the chest.¡± ¡°Elizabeth take off her shirt. Remus prepare your healing magic.¡± ¡°Why would I do that. She can¡¯t take off her shirt here.¡± ¡°Help me take off my shirt Elizabeth. I¡¯ve been shot we can worry about modesty later.¡± Elizabeth took off my shirt as Remus started chanting with a book in his hand. ¡°Elizabeth¡¯s magic seems to have taken care of most of the injury.¡± He rolls me over to see the exit wound. Before setting me back down. ¡°Elizabeth keep singing while Remus prepares his spell. John, you stand watch.¡± Matt took charge as he starting cleaning the area around the wound with a damp cloth. ¡°Ready!¡± Remus then held his hand over the wound while concentrating his magical energy. ¡° ¡®Purify¡¯, ¡®Detect¡¯, ¡®Recovery¡¯ ¡± When the spell dispelled he stepped back looking tired. ¡°There doesn¡¯t appear to be any shrapnel, but there was some poison that I got rid of.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, Elizabeth, keep doing your thing for a couple of minutes then you can stop.¡± ¡°Thanks guys, sorry about that.¡± I lay there as the pain subsided. I had to admit magic was very useful when it came to healing. The only cost was the person¡¯s stamina. Which left me horribly tired. ¡°No problem Briana but next time pay more attention I thought you remembered that people don¡¯t like fractured souls. Did you piss off the church?¡± ¡°No, we were just walking around when someone shot her.¡± ¡°They must have been some kind of assassin or hitman. I can¡¯t think of anything else.¡± ¡°Maybe it has something to do with this.¡± Remus held up a wanted poster of my original avatar. What was weird was it said to take me alive. I took the poster and looked it over. They were calling me a spirit magician and that I was extremely dangerous. ¡°Why¡¯d he shoot me though? If what this says is right they want me alive.¡± ¡°Just because they want you alive doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t harm you. The arrow was also poisoned so they might have thought you would seek help from the church and he¡¯d grab you there.¡± ¡°Maybe, wait, where is Teage?¡± ¡°What does that matter?¡± ¡°They might be after him as well. We need to tell him we¡¯re being hunted.¡± I try to sit up but pain racks my chest and I lay back down. ¡°Easy there Brina, he¡¯s fine. He¡¯s by himself so they won¡¯t be suspicious of him.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s a dwarf in the middle of Sacea. Dwarfs like mountains, not flat land.¡± Matt seemed to think it over before grabbing his sword from his cot and making his way to the doorway. ¡°John, come on, let¡¯s go find that idiot.¡± What was that idiot doing? POV: Teage ¡°ANOTHER ROUND SIR!¡± ¡°Go easy man, I know dwarfs have a high tolerance, but even you must have your limits.¡± ¡°No such thing my good sir now how about that other round.¡± ¡°Coming right up.¡± ¡°Now, who wants to challenge me next!¡± I had to hand it to them, this makeshift bar was better than I expected. It was just a walled off area with some tables but the service and beer were exceptional. That tea was great and all but I prefer a good buzz. It also helped that all the people in here were too stupid to realize that they couldn¡¯t beat me at arm wrestling. It was helping me fund my drinking excellently. Raven was sitting next to also drinking though he was taking his time with his drink. ¡°I think that¡¯s all the challengers in the room Tegae. I think you¡¯ve flushed everyone stupid enough to try.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not stupid to challenge me it¡¯s futile.¡± ¡°Here is your drink sir. This is the last one until I start seeing some cash.¡± I grab a gold coin from my pile and flick it to the barkeep who catches it in his hand. ¡°I think that will be more than enough to cover my drinks now can I get some more of these nuts?¡± I shake an empty bowl which is snatched by a passing barmaid. ¡°It¡¯ll only take a second sir.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t take any longer? I¡¯m enjoying the view.¡± She ignored my comment as she went behind the bar to refill the bowl. The girls weren¡¯t stunning but it was nice to finally let out what I wanted to say. The others were much to civil in my opinion. Though I hope we find some dwarfs in the future. The women here are too tall for my taste. ¡°One house brew please.¡± I turned to see a tall guy wearing a dark black cloak with a bow strung across his back. Maybe he¡¯d challenge me to an arm wrestling match. ¡°Hey tall guy, want to try your luck arm wrestling a dwarf?¡± ¡°Only if the winner pays.¡± ¡°What other condition would I ask. Got to keep the drinks flowing.¡± He looked me in the eye with a grin on his face placing a gold coin on the table. ¡°Can you match? If not you can pay with some information.¡± ¡°No need, I can pay.¡± I grab another coin from my pile and put it next to his coin. ¡°Though what kind of information are you wanting?¡± ¡°Just looking for an elusive fox seen one?¡± ¡°Nope now let¡¯s go. Raven count it down.¡± ¡°You sure you want to do this big guy? This guy hasn¡¯t lost a single match yet. You''re only throwing away your gold.¡± ¡°I think I can beat a measly dwarf¡¯s strength. I¡¯m no pushover like everyone else here.¡± ¡°Oh really? Then let''s get started.¡± We grab hands getting ready to go when I feel something wrong. ¡°3, 2, 1, ¡®CRASH¡¯¡± His grip loosens allowing me to free my hand to scoop my winnings into a bag before I bolt for the day. I don¡¯t know who this guy is but he¡¯s like Briana. He knew what I was and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had no intention of letting me leave, and I had no way to beat that guy. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going dwarf?¡± I felt something grab me by the collar of my shirt lifting me up as he turned me to face him. ¡°That was a waste of a perfectly good drink.¡± The drink dripped from his cloak while blood dripped from his face. This was going to hurt I thought before I felt his punch to my face knocking me out. POV: John This isn¡¯t good. Someone is hunting us down and Teage is nowhere to be found. Where could he be? Matt had split up to cover more ground, but this place was too big. I had no idea where to even start. Somebody pumps passed me and I turn to see a good amount of people walking in some direction. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s all the commotion is about. Maybe it was Teage though that was unlikely. I follow the crowd to a large square where people are buzzing. I see somebody on top of a large stand holding a gun. It had to be the auction that Rachel was holding. I couldn¡¯t hear her but she looked swamped. She was probably going to make a lot of money off the auction. But I doubt that Teage would be around here. Let¡¯s think about this. Where would Teage go in a city on his own? Wait, hasn¡¯t he always been a pervy guy. Maybe he went to a brothel. No, it¡¯s too early for that, plus he doesn¡¯t have any money. He had to be at some bar making bets until he made enough. Plus he is a dwarf and dwarves love alcohol a lot. So it was a good place to start. I look around the square and start checking the restaurants/bars for Teage. After about half an hour I feel like I haven¡¯t gotten anywhere. I¡¯m now on the outskirts hitting up one of the last bars in the area. I¡¯d been asking the locals about bars but so far they¡¯d all turned up dry. As I approach the last bar I hear a crash. Then a bustle of commotion that sounded like a bar fight. I run to the entrance to see a black cloaked man holding an unconscious Teage. Raven is sitting at the bar with a hand on his sword looking scared. The man looks at me we meet eyes. They seem to peer deep inside of me and I don¡¯t like it. He drops Teage and turns to face me. ¡°So I seem to have found another. What miraculous timing.it saves me a lot of trouble. Did he send you?¡± ¡°He? Who are you talking about and why did you knock Teage unconscious?¡± ¡°For the same reason, you will be coming with me. You are under the control of a soul wielder and that is an illegal practice. As such you are both under arrest.¡± Well crap, guess I¡¯ve been outed now too. I draw my sword to face him and everyone stands up and puts their hands on where their weapons are. ¡°Why should I go with you.¡± ¡°Because you are far too weak to resist.¡± He jumps forward aiming at my face with his fist. I barely dodge it and before I have time to counterattack his foot strikes at me. I brace against it but I am thrown ten feet due to the impact. ¡°Nice try but I will end you abomination.¡± As he rushed to knock me out I barely roll out of the way and stand up to face him. But before I can do anything else someone smashes the glass on my head knocking me to the floor. ¡°I got him! There you go sir, I got him for you.¡± I try to stand up but my limbs are unresponsive. My head faces the cloaked man and I can see a frown on his face. Guess he wanted to take me himself. ¡°Thank you citizen, here, for your troubles.¡± I hear a clink on the table as he picks me up to face him. ¡°Sorry it had to end that way but I must capture your master.¡± ¡°Good luck, but I doubt you¡¯ll succeed.¡± I¡¯m not sure my reply came through. My head feels fuzzy and I bet I¡¯m bleeding. Probably a concussion from the glass that I got hit from. ¡°Maybe but you two should definitely help me with that.¡± He takes a pouch off of Teage and tosses it to somebody. ¡°Sorry for the damages, but I believe this man¡¯s winnings will cover it.¡± Everyone seems to calm down as general talk commences as he picks both me and Teage up. He then carries us both away and I¡¯m unable to do anything about it. POV: Matt Well looks like both John and Teage were captured. Running towards danger will do that to you. No matter how good willed you are. As soon as the cloaked man leaves I approach Raven who is drowning himself in another glass of alcohol. ¡°Hey Raven, do you know who that guy was or what he wanted?¡± ¡°No, all I know was that he is a part of the church and someone high up in it. They are the only ones who talk that way and are trained in soul perception.¡± He then drained the last of his glass before standing up shaking. ¡°He also was someone very strong, and all I want to do is forget about all this.¡± ¡°Will you help us take the back?¡± ¡°Hell no! You can¡¯t pay me enough gold to fight that guy.¡± He then shakily walked out of the bar probably towards the hotel. Leaving a silver coin next to his empty glass. I sat there pondering what to do next. We weren¡¯t ready to fight this guy and he had captured two of us. Why had he captured them and why hadn¡¯t he captured Briana before. If I had to bet it was because of these guys attacked first. Their hot blooded nature gave him every right to capture them. In all honesty, I wanted to get a drink of my own but I needed to get back Briana and tell her what happened. God, I wish I could get a drink. Chapter 19 Rescue Mission! I had fallen asleep on my cot soon after John and Matt had left. Elizabeth was asleep right next to me on the other cot. I stood up shakily and looked outside it appeared to be twilight which meant it had to be around 9:00 or 10:00 in the real world. I put on my shirt as I checked the guy¡¯s tents to see if the others had gotten back yet. The tent was empty though so I was confused. They should be back by now or at least have woken me up. I go back to my room and grab my cloak and sword before making my way into town. I had to know where they were. Something felt wrong and I had to find out what. I could have woken Elizabeth up, but I thought she deserved some rest. Heading into the center of town I concentrated on my soul trying to find the others using my connection to them. Elizabeth wasn''t hard to find as she wasn¡¯t far behind me, but the others were far in front of me. I started running in their direction diving in between people as I made my way forward. My tails swung from side to side as I used them to balance myself as I twisted and turned through the crowd. As I got closer I could start to feel the guys better and realized something was wrong. Two of them were pretty hurt. They must have gotten into some kind of fight. The third was okay and nearby so maybe they were fine, but my gut said otherwise and I increased my speed. As the night darken my pace didn¡¯t slow as my eyes could still see perfectly well even as my surroundings darkened. My cloak blending me into the shadows allowing me to disappear into the crowd. When I got to their location I found myself at a church. Two of them were inside of it. The last one was in a building across the street. I made my way to them to find Matt sitting at a table compounding something. I took a seat across from him and set my sword on the table. He looked up from his work to see me and set his stuff to the side as he ran his hands through his hair. This couldn¡¯t be good. ¡°What happened Matt?¡± ¡°Teage and John got caught by some church guy at the bar. They both engaged him so they had the right to arrest them and they did. I couldn¡¯t do anything so I¡¯ve been working on making some tools that might help us break them out.¡± ¡°Then are you ready? They¡¯re just across the street let¡¯s go get them.¡± ¡°Wait, they are?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°No, I just asked somebody for the location of a herbalist. This was the closest place.¡± ¡°Herbalist? What are you making?¡± ¡°Potions, after our training accident memories keep coming back. One of those memories was about herbalism. So I¡¯ve been working to make some sleep and paralysis potions to help us break them out. If you channel magic into a connection I can increase the effects so I¡¯ve only had to buy cheap ingredients.¡± ¡°Where did you get the money for it?¡± ¡°Rachel she finished her auction the guns sold for 1000 gold each. She gave us a share of 600 gold.¡± He pulled out a small chest of gold and set it on the table. ¡°Only 600? Why did you let her get a 70/30 cut? Because I was in a hurry and I couldn¡¯t convince her otherwise. Said something about interest for her services.¡± That sounded about right. I didn¡¯t like how much she took, but we had dragged her through a lot so I did owe her quite a bit. But not a 70/30 cut! She deserved no more than a 60/40. ¡°Take the money back to the hotel and come back here. I¡¯m going to do some reconnaissance and when you get back we¡¯ll get them out.¡± ¡°What about Elizabeth? Should I get her to come help us?¡± ¡°No, we can get them out ourselves. No need to bring her. Besides, we need to be quiet and I don¡¯t see Elizabeth helping us with that.¡± ¡°True, I¡¯ll be back in a minute then. Just, don¡¯t go in. This guy isn¡¯t someone to take lightly.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Matt stop worrying.¡± ¡°He did shot you just earlier this week. Just be careful okay.¡± ¡°Alright dad, I promise not to go near the big mean guy.¡± He didn¡¯t look convinced but he left and made his way to the hotel with the chest and I sat there and waited for him to disappear before I made a move. As soon as he left my field of vision I grabbed my sword and made my way to the church. I hide behind a tent and focused my magic on making my tails and ears disappear. It was painful as my body changed but it dwarfed my earlier pain and I gritted through it. Once complete I hid my sword underneath my poncho and walked into the church. I then used illusionary magic to make myself look dirty to look like an orphan. I collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room. ¡°Help, me!¡± I groaned weakly on the floor as I heard footsteps walk towards me. ¡°Are you okay? Where are your parents?¡± I look up to see a nun in front of me. I grab onto her clothes and try to pull myself up. ¡°Please help me, my parents ¡­¡± I try my best to fake my tears as I look into her soul. She is a bright light but underneath I could see signs of a dark core. She would help me for now but I needed to get away from her before she lost her patience. ¡°Here let¡¯s get you something to eat.¡± She helps carry me towards a table. She then drops me off and disappears into the kitchen. I then sit down and wait for her to return in the meantime I try to pinpoint the guy¡¯s position and focus on them. They appear to be underneath the church, but I don¡¯t know how to get there. Was there a hatch or some stairs? I feel a hand on my shoulder and jolt in surprise. My hood falls down and reveals my disguise. He seems confused at my appearance but sits down next to me not letting it faze him. ¡°Have I met you before? I swear I¡¯ve seen you before.¡± I need to keep acting. That lady bought it so it should work with him. ¡°No, I just got into town I ran here after my parents died. I I I didn¡¯t know what else to do. I could hear my parents screaming behind me but I never stopped. My dad told me to just keep running.¡± I then tried my best to bawl and hide in his chest. Normally I wouldn¡¯t do this, but I feel this instinct I couldn¡¯t figure out what it was. He didn¡¯t seem to know what to do and just started petting my hair. The woman then came out and looked mad at me. ¡°What are you doing you little scamp get off of him this instant!¡± The man held up his hand and she slowly calmed down before setting the bowl down and leaving the room huffing and puffing. He then slowly pushed me away and made me look him in the eyes. ¡°Have you ever heard voices before?¡± ¡°Voices? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Spirits ghosts, voices from people that weren¡¯t there.¡± Maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt to play along. Maybe he¡¯d take me to see John and Teage. ¡°Yes, though no one ever believed me. Do you hear them?¡± ¡°Yes, I am a spirit mage. My name is Lyon and I work for the church. You have a special gift. Not many people can hear them nevertheless sense them.¡± Oh crap, I think I played my cards to well. ¡°I know losing your parents might be hard but I am willing to take you in and train yo. I can promise you a roof over your head and three meals a day. It¡¯s not much but it¡¯s better than going to the orphanage.¡± I sniffle and nod my head. I don¡¯t know what else to do. My acting got me too far. I couldn¡¯t back down now. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back then. I have to talk to the minister. Make sure to eat up you need your strength.¡± He then walked off leaving me with my steaming bowl in front of me. I eat the bowl while my mind worked in overdrive. Did he know what I was? Was he messing with me, or did he really think I was some orphan? As I reached the bottom of my bowl Lyon comes back and sits down next to me. ¡°The minister said that I could accept you as my apprentice, but I have some work to do so come with me. I¡¯ll teach you the number threat we have to watch for.¡± He then takes my hand and leads me to a door. Taking a key from his pocket he unlocks the door and leads us underground. I take this chance to look at his soul as he leads me down the stairs. His soul radiates a white aura. But it radiates brightly like a sun. It burned with such conviction that he must believe that everything he does is just and good. No matter what the cost. I wasn¡¯t sure what to think. I was probably safe as long as I had my disguise, but the second it went away he probably wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill me. He led me to where John and Matt were tied back to back in some chairs. Their faces were lit by a dim candle that illuminated their bloody faces. ¡°These are who we are looking to stop. Lost souls given physical form. They have been brought back to life and have not been allowed to pass on. Normally I would have purified their souls and cut the connection, but I¡¯ve been waiting for their master to come for looking for them. Bait you could say.¡± He then walked over to a side of the wall and picked up a sword. Looking down the blade checking if it was sharp. I felt something was wrong and unconsciously backed away. But it seems I was wrong as he set the blade back and walked over to the two of them. ¡°I noticed you yourself have similar servants under your control as your soul is fractured. I had done the same myself until I learned the danger of such use and cut their connection. We will do the same for you as part of your training, but for now, we are looking for this man.¡± He picked up a paper from a nearby table and brought it over to me. It was one of the wanted posters for my old body.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°This man has over four servants at his disposal and as such he must be detained. The problem is he is an adventurer. So we can¡¯t kill him. We can only capture him. I tried to capture him the other day. He was hiding his face with a poncho and was walking with a draconian woman. It was why I was suspicious of you at first. When I walked by them I realized one was a spirit user and the other was a lost soul. So I shot them with a poisoned arrow that only someone trained in the holy arts could cleanse. I was hoping to route him out when he came for healing. But he must have some kind of healer with him that cured him of it. For now, let''s try to gather some information from them.¡± ¡°What do you mean Lyon?¡± ¡°We will be torturing them. Don¡¯t worry they aren¡¯t alive. Their pain is only an illusion to gain sympathy. It will also draw their master as they will feel a similar pain. For now, I want you to keep watch upstairs if you see someone with a fractured soul come back down and alert me.¡± ¡°Yes sir! I¡¯ll go be on lookout.¡± I bounded up the stairs as sweat beaded down my neck. My head and rear were itching from my transformation and I barely made it outside before it canceled and my features returned to normal. I panted in exhaustion from the pain it had caused for a minute before I stood up and made my way to where Matt was waiting. He was tapping his foot nervously while wearing a satchel by his side that must contain his potions. ¡°There you are I thought they caught you!¡± ¡°Nope but I came close to being captured. I found the guy that captured Teage and John and had him lead me to him.¡± He looked flabbergasted at this. ¡°How is that possible he should have tried to capture you the second you walked in.¡± ¡°He did but I used my transformation technique to hide my kitsune features and used some illusion to look like a dirty orphan.¡± ¡°That was still dangerous! What was I supposed to do if you got captured?¡± I shrug my shoulders indifferent to his concerns I got out so it was fine. ¡°Stop worrying so much Matt we¡¯ll be fine. Can I have a couple paralyze potions?¡± He handed me two potions and I smiled at him in thanks. He rolled his eyes and I could see he didn¡¯t have much hope we¡¯d succeed. ¡°Come on Matt let¡¯s go get those guys and get some nice dinner tonight. I bet they¡¯re starving.¡± He then followed me as we made our way into the church. I led him to where they were being held and took a step down the stairs when I felt I large rush of pain run down my leg causing me to lose my step and fall down the stairs. My head was dizzy from the fall but I could see Lyon standing above John looking perplexed at my sudden appearance. ¡°So you have arrived, kitsune?¡± He looked confused as he picked up the wanted poster again and started comparing our faces. Matt stood frozen at the top of the stairs scared to make a move, and John was whimpering from what I guess was a freshly broken leg. I used this chance to throw one of Matts potions which he easily dodged causing it to break harmlessly against the wall. ¡°You don¡¯t look like the picture but the description matches guess you''re it. He then cracked his knuckles as he walked towards me. I pulled out my sword and drew it in order to use flash step. As his fist was about to smash into my face I appeared behind him and Matt threw a potion that smashed against his face. He fell over and was soon snoring. Man Matt was a good alchemist. ¡°Did I get him?¡± ¡°Yes, you got him. Now come down here and help me get these guys out of here. I unsheath the rest of my blade and cut the bindings off John and Teage. Matt comes down the stairs and picks up John. It takes me a minute to slap Teage awake but he quickly came to. ¡°Lass? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°No time let¡¯s go!¡± We all then make our way out of the church luckily missing all the staff and making a clean getaway. We then try to act more casually and walk the rest of the way after we are outside and manage to make our escape. After a couple of minutes, we make it back and collapse in relief in front of our tents. Elizabeth then comes out of here tent rubbing her eyes and yawning. She sees us all laying there and sees John¡¯s broken leg and bleeding head. ¡°What happened? Are you okay John?¡± ¡°Never better Elizabeth, why do you ask?¡± I rolled my eyes at his bravado and slap his knee which causes him to wince in pain. ¡°He¡¯s got a broken leg and an injured head if you call that fine.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind some healing Elizabeth.¡± Teage sat up and pointed at his broken nose. ¡°I got a broken nose that could use some healing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fine you big oaf. John needs more medical attention right now.¡± She then helped John into a tent and I soon heard singing. I lay down and look up at the stars above us. We got them out but they had seen most of us. We had to leave this place and put some distance from this place. I curl up and grab my tales stroking them to calm myself down. I had thought I had only needed to worry about kidnappers in the real world. Now I¡¯m wanted in both. ¡°Cheer up lass, we¡¯re all okay.¡± I feel Teage start petting my head and I quickly move away from him before facing him with a scowl. ¡°I¡¯m not down Teage and don¡¯t pet me I¡¯m not a pet.¡± ¡°You''re only, part animal.¡± I scowled at his grinning face. He was enjoying himself too much. Wasn¡¯t he worried about that guy coming after us? ¡°Why are you so cheerful Teage? That guy captured both of you. How are you so carefree with us being wanted?¡± ¡°Lass you need to chill some. If you worry about this too much you¡¯re only hurting yourself. I might have gotten my nose broke, but I¡¯m alive. With that, I can improve and make sure that won¡¯t happen again. Next time we meet him he¡¯ll be the one with the broken nose.¡± Matt then burst out laughing behind Teage. Teage then turned around with a mad face. ¡°What are you laughing about long ears?¡± ¡°Nothing, it''s just I can¡¯t imagine you reaching his nose and it made me laugh.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to be tall to break his nose. All I got to do is bring him down to my level first.¡± They then went quiet and sat down for a minute. Enjoying the fact we¡¯d managed to escape. I then stretched some before standing up. ¡°Well I¡¯ve got a busy day tomorrow so let¡¯s call it a night so I can log out.¡± ¡°Alright lass, guess we¡¯ll call it a night. Before that, though I got to use the restroom real quick. Be right back.¡± He then walked off leaving Matt with me. He looked deep in thought staring up into the sky seeming to have missed my words. ¡°Matt? You there?¡± I waved my hand in front of his face and he came to. ¡°Sorry about that just, thinking.¡± ¡°About what?¡± He was silent for a second before taking a deep breath. ¡°Is it okay if I suggest we make our way somewhere?¡± ¡°Sure, we need to get out of here anyway so why not?¡± ¡°Can we make our way towards Myrkvior?¡± ¡°Myrkvior? Where is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s to the northwest of the plains. The great forest of the elves and the unknown. The memories that keep resurfacing keep originating there. I just want to see if what I remember is what is still there.¡± ¡°Is there anything in particular that you remember?¡± He gripped his hands together before taking another deep breath. ¡°I remember a family. I remember a village. I don¡¯t know why though. Maybe they could explain what happened to me. I just have this gut feeling that maybe they could have some answers.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± He looked up at me puzzled trying to see if I was joking. ¡°Really we can go there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. It might also help us escape from the church¡¯s radar. So we¡¯ll gather supplies tomorrow and head out there. Maybe they can help us as well.¡± ¡°Thanks Briana. I thought that you would have brushed my idea away. I mean it¡¯s a bit out there.¡± ¡°Hey, Do you think that bothers me. I mean look at me. If anything that sounds more reasonable than my predicament.¡± He chuckled at this as he stared up at the sky. ¡°You''re right about that. I don¡¯t envy you that¡¯s for sure.¡± Teage then came back just as Elizabeth walked out of the tent with sweat dripping from her brow. ¡°Lass you all right there? What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing I just feel a little tired.¡± She took a step forward and fell over. I jumped forward trying to catch her, but I only am crushed by her bigger frame. Matt and Teage come and help me lift her up. I feel somewhat panicked at her collapse. ¡°Elizabeth are you okay whats wrong?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, just tired.¡± I don¡¯t believe her but I get the guys to help me take her to her cot. She had passed out as we carried her and when we placed her on her cot she was fast asleep. They then bid us goodnight before leaving for her own. Once they had left though I walked over to where Elizabeth lay and rested my hands on her chest. I then examined her soul to find it was blinking weakly. Unlike mine that roared her¡¯s was a dim flickering flame. I immediately panicked upon seeing this. It felt like she was dying her soul growing weaker with each passing second. I immediately poured energy from my soul to hers to try to fix this. It helped and soon it was back to ¡®regular¡¯ blaze. It was hard to gauge as I was still pretty novice in this regard. But her breathing calmed and she seemed to be resting easier. I laid out on the floor tired from more use of my strange soul energy. I saw my pack at the end of my cot and had an idea. I opened it up and took the stone that my ¡®mother¡¯ had given to me. Maybe Velouria would have some idea of what was wrong. I looked over the hearthstone looking at the glowing rune. I put my palm on the glowing rune and feel a light suction of my energy. I stay still for a minute while it continued to slowly use my energy and for a minute I thought she wouldn¡¯t pick up. But I soon hear a voice and it appears we¡¯re connected. ¡®So, you finally decided to call me. Why haven¡¯t you picked up my calls these past few day?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ve been calling me?¡¯ ¡®Yes! Did you bury it in the bottom of your bag or something?¡± I looked over too my backpack and realized I had done just that. ¡®No¡­ okay, I might have.¡¯ ¡®This thing doesn¡¯t make noise all it does is light up when you call. Make sure you keep it on you so you can catch my calls. But more importantly what is wrong?¡¯ ¡®How did you know something was wrong?¡¯ ¡®Why else would you call me. I¡¯m guessing it''s not for a friendly chat. However much I wish that was the case.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just that Elizabeth suddenly collapsed today and when I checked her soul it was almost completely drained!¡¯ ¡®Has she been using magic excessively this past week?¡¯ ¡®Yes, she¡¯s been healing our wounds with her voice.¡¯ ¡®And have you been supplying mana when she is done?¡¯ ¡®No, why? Should I be?¡¯ ¡®YES! You only subconsciously give enough mana to your familiars to grant them their forms. Any magic they then use comes from their own stores, but since they don¡¯t have physical forms they can¡¯t gain any of that used energy back. So you have to supply them with the mana to use magic. Have you given her some of your mana?¡¯ ¡®Yeah it seemed to work and her soul went back to normal.¡¯ ¡®Then she¡¯s fine. You just need to realize that they only exist because of you. Just like how you only exist because of me. Oh, how I wish I could be with you now.¡¯ Thinking about it there was that dream where that guy called me my dad. ¡®So if you¡¯re my ¡®mom¡¯ who was my dad.¡¯ ¡®Your dad? Ah, why do you ask?¡¯ She seemed to want to evade the question what was going on? ¡®He contacted me in my dreams somehow. There were wolves in some kind of forest.¡¯ She was silent for a second before she finally responded. ¡®Your father, he is a demi-wolf that I met during my travels. It sort of just, happened. I always felt bad about it, but he was needed there and I didn¡¯t want to make him look weak to the others. I tricked his tribe while I was there. Posing as a demi-wolf from another tribe using my illusion magic. When he found out he didn¡¯t care but I knew the others would. So when I realized I was pregnant with you I left to make sure that they never found out. He tried to follow me, but I eluded him. I know he was devastated, but I couldn¡¯t make him choose me over his tribe. It felt too selfish of me to force him to do that.¡¯ ¡®So you seduced the leader and ran when you realized you were pregnant?¡¯ ¡®It wasn¡¯t like that! I feel in love with him and we soon gained feeling for each other and it just kinda happened?¡¯ So I was effectively a bastard child here that was an interesting thing to learn. ¡®I won¡¯t question you any further tonight. I have to get off for tonight.¡¯ I took my hand off the hearthstone and the stone dimmed as my mana stopped feeding into it. I put the stone in my backpack before resting on my bed and staring up at the ceiling of the tent. ¡®Log out¡¯ I woke up on my bed and sat up taking off the helmet and setting it on my nightstand. Looking at the clock I saw it was 11:34. I stretched as I got and made my way to the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth I looked in the mirror. I saw my face staring back but I also felt like I could see an image of it that held my other body. Would I slowly lose myself? Would I stop being me? I just didn¡¯t know and it was killing me. I suddenly got an idea though as I looked into my eyes. I had transformed my body in the game, but could I possibly change my eye color? As I focused my energy towards my eyes I felt a tiny trickle reach it and I watched as my eyes slowly changed from blue to a green. When I stopped they stayed like that for a minute before going back to a blue. Maybe I was going about magic wrong. I didn¡¯t need to create something from nothing. What I needed to do was manipulate what was already there. Though even then I couldn¡¯t think of anything else I could do at the moment. I walked out of the bathroom and jumped back onto my bed sighing. If I was attacked at least I knew I could change my eye color. Best power ever! Now all I wanted to do was enjoy a normal day of school funny enough. With all the crazy things going on it actually seemed relaxing. I pulled my covers up as I hated myself for ever acknowledging that I enjoyed school before going to sleep. Chapter 20 On the Run I dragged myself to my band locker and put away my clarinet as I tried to wake up unsuccessfully. I just felt like I didn¡¯t get enough sleep even though I got a good seven hours. I had groggily been able to survive marching today but I doubted I¡¯d last the day at this rate. (T) ¡®Stop being such a wuz lass. Perc up, the day is just starting.¡¯ (B) ¡®Easy for you to say when you don¡¯t have a body.¡¯ I then hear a locker close to my right and I see Rachel who looks at me with concern. ¡°You feeling okay? You didn¡¯t look very good this morning. Everything alright?¡± ¡°Other then you taking a large share of the auction yesterday I¡¯m fine. I just didn¡¯t get enough sleep last night.¡± ¡°Hey, I set up the whole auction so it¡¯s only fair that I take more to cover all the expenses of hosting one.¡± ¡°Sure, you keep saying that.¡± ¡°Something wrong over here? You guys have a bad date week.¡± I looked behind me to see Alice standing behind Rachel with her hands on Rachel¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a date Alice, it was a quest I was doing. Rachel decided to cut herself a 70/30 reward split when we finished the quest though.¡± ¡°I told you it¡¯s just the fees the setting up the sale!¡± ¡°See Rachel, this is why you can¡¯t get a boyfriend. You just try to take all the money they have.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true I''m just being economical.¡± ¡°You keep deluding yourself Rachel I won¡¯t stop you.¡± ¡°Get back here Alice!¡± Rachel then chased after Alice as they left to go to their second period. I took my backpack out of my locker and was about to do the same when the intercom in the bandroom went off. ¡°Mr. Scott, can you send Brenner to the office.¡± Great what did I do this time? As I make my way to the office I puzzled over why they would have called for me. I don¡¯t remember pissing off any teachers recently, and I had stopped running to all my classes, all the time. Why would they call me? I opened the door to see a tall man dressed in a full suit with a bright blue tie. He had nicely cut hair and was wearing a pair of glasses that seemed to give him an air of intelligence. He wasn¡¯t part of the office staff I would have known with the number of times I¡¯ve been sent here. (T) ¡®I don¡¯t like this.¡® ¡°Ah, you must be Brenner it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± He offered his hand and I accepted the gestured confused as to why this man would know my name. ¡°My name is Ryan and I have come to offer you a personal invitation to our prestigious school. We took a look at your academic and extracurricular record and have found that you fit our criteria perfectly.¡± (M) ¡®What kind of criteria allows for such mediocre academics.¡¯ (B) ¡®Hey, my grades aren¡¯t that bad.¡¯ ¡°I have more information in the conference room you can look over and if you have any questions feel free to ask. I already got an okay from your principal for your transfer and you may take all day to decide on what you think of my offer.¡± Something was wrong here. There is no way you can get all that done so quickly. This guy is either lying or using some kind of magic because there is no way you can streamline school bureaucracy that quickly. Not wanting to draw suspicion I follow him to the conference room where there is a stack of pamphlets with information about some school. I skimmed through it all trying my best to understand why they choose me. Unless, could this guy be connected with that bird from yesterday? I look up from the documents and look the man in the eyes. I should have done a soul check when we shook hands, but the thought had slipped my mind. Maybe it was for the best though, he might have had some kind of detection method. I turned to make sure the door was closed before I took a deep breath and asked him a question. ¡°Who sent you?¡± ¡°Whatever do you mean, I told you already. I am a representative of this school and we¡¯d love for you to come and join us.¡± ¡°Why me though? I get decent grades but nothing exemplary and I certainly haven¡¯t done anything to warrant your attention.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure, we don¡¯t look for such superficial things. The reason we choose you was because of what¡¯s inside you.¡± (J) ¡®Like our heart and spirit!¡¯ (M) ¡®Shut it you dump oaf.¡¯ I didn¡¯t like this he had to know what has been happening to me, but how? ¡°Care to elaborate?¡± Ryan set a briefcase on the table and punched in a combination before opening it up and taking out a stack of papers. He then set them on the table before sliding them towards me. But the air conditioner picked up the papers and spread them across the room. (J & T) ¡®HAHAHA!¡¯ (E) ¡®Be quit you two this is serious!¡¯ ¡°Oh come on!¡± He quickly stood up and gathered the papers that had scattered across the room while I stifled a laugh. He might be a threat but I had to admit that was hilarious. He then set the stack of paper in front of me before sitting back down. ¡°You are a kitsune. That is why we are interested in you.¡± (B) ¡®He knows, he knows! What do I do?¡¯ (M) ¡®Remember just act casually I bet he doesn¡¯t have any hard evidence.¡± I tried to hide my emotions the best I could and flipped through the documents. They showed some pictures of me and my recent doctor¡¯s visit. I looked through it all but I couldn¡¯t find anything incriminating. I thought I would be able to blow this off as a joke until I saw my sister¡¯s test results at the bottom of the stack of papers. They had a chart of various comparative results showing a list of fey creatures. (M) ¡®Okay, maybe he does have evidence.¡¯ ¡°As you can see I know that your soul isn¡¯t human. So stop with the act and let¡¯s get real here.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you mean and none of this makes sense. How can I be a kitsune? They are a female race, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°They are, but how would you know that?¡± Crap I said too much. ¡°Unless you met your mother and she unlocked your potential.¡± He took out a picture and when I looked at it I couldn¡¯t hide my shock at what it held. It was a picture of Velouria, but how is that possible? (J) ¡®How does he know all of this?¡¯ (B) ¡®I don¡¯t know I barely understand this myself.¡¯ ¡°You see Brenner, I represent an organization that handles matters between our worlds. Usually for people like yourself, your nature manifests itself over time. But in your case, it seems your nature was heavily repressed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I understand what you¡¯re talking about. What nature?¡± ¡°Your soul isn¡¯t human. It¡¯s rare but not impossible I¡¯ve only heard of four such cases before which makes you the fifth. Usually, crossings between our worlds only lead to people coming over, not souls. It¡¯s the reason for many of our myths and legends here on Earth.¡± I didn¡¯t like this. He might know information that I could need, but I didn¡¯t trust this, it felt off. ¡°But how can my soul not be human? I¡¯ve never met you before.and how can I trust some test?¡± I toss my sister¡¯s test results back at him trying to convey my disbelief in his evidence, while on the inside I believed every word. He looked displeased but not surprised by my reaction. ¡°Look I know this is a lot to take in and that we have just met, but I must assure you that I am telling you the truth.¡± (B) ¡®What do you guys think? I¡¯m still iffy about all this.¡¯ (T) ¡®Just go with it. He might have some answers you need lass.¡¯ (M) ¡®I¡¯m still not sure.¡¯ (E) ¡®Me neither how do we even know if he¡¯s being authentic.¡¯ I tried to keep a straight face as I faced him. I wanted to trust him, but I still didn¡¯t know his intentions. ¡°As an act of trust how about this. Aurora, say hello to the young man.¡± A rush of wind converged behind the man revealing a woman leaning against the wall. ¡°Hello.¡± (M) ¡®Okay, he can use magic as well. I say we go with him.¡¯ (T) ¡®I agree!¡¯ (E) ¡®Is it because of the woman next to him?¡¯ (T) ¡®No, not at all.¡¯ (J) ¡®I don¡¯t think you¡¯re telling the truth.¡¯ (T) ¡®Oh, shut it John, no one asked you.¡¯ She had just appeared out of nowhere. How¡¯d she do that? ¡°Sir they have men all around the school looks to be about half a dozen men.¡± Half a dozen men? What the hell is happening? Are my worst fears coming to fruition? The man sighed as if it was a nuisance but no threat. ¡°Well looks like they found you about the same time as we did. They must have set something on that tracker that alerted them when we destroyed it.¡± ¡°Destroyed what? Who¡¯s outside waiting for me and who are you!¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Like I said earlier I¡¯m here to help you and those men outside want you dead and if want to live I suggest you come with us.¡± ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± (T) ¡®Just go with him lass!¡¯ (M) ¡®I agree with the dwarf on this one.¡¯ ¡°If you want to live, no. For now, follow me we need to get out of here before they realize you¡¯re here. You can contact your parents when I take you somewhere safe.¡± As he said this he stood up and took the papers back locking them in the briefcase before opening the door holding it open. ¡°You coming?¡± I still wasn¡¯t sure about this but everyone else seemed to be okay with this. Getting up I follow them out of the conference room. He then stops as we are about to leave before taking out a piece of paper. ¡°Before we leave I need you to sign here. School policy before I can take you out, you know how it is.¡± I take the secretary''s pen and scribble down my name. He then hands the paper to the secretary as we leave the office. ¡°Bye Brenner!¡± As we leave he has a grin on his face. ¡°So the office knows your name do they?¡± ¡°I visit them a lot so what?¡± ¡°Nothing I just find it funny. It fits with your mischievous nature.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be focusing on getting out of here?¡± ¡°Aurora is taking care of that problem all we have to do is get to my car.¡± As we near the front entrance two men start walking towards us in suits. When they spot us they start running towards us. ¡°I think they found us.¡± (J) ¡®That lady really wasn¡¯t lying about there being more of them.¡¯ (B) ¡®I can see that perfectly well John.¡¯ ¡°Damn it! I didn¡¯t expect them to already be inside.¡± He then digs a gem out of his coat pocket and throws it at them releasing a cloud of gas. ¡°Hurry up! We got to move.¡± I follow him out of the building and start running after him as he opens up an AMW to get inside. I open the passenger side and get inside as well. Once inside, he guns the engine in reverse before shifting into 1st gear and driving towards the front entrance. I look behind us to see two humvees driving behind us. ¡°I thought you had a plan to get us out of here!¡± ¡°I do, it¡¯s up ahead.¡± He switches into second gear as he pulls onto the road and speeds up way past the speed limit as we shoot down the road. ¡°What the hell are you doing? You¡¯re going to get us killed!¡± ¡°Buckle up kid we¡¯ll be fine. Aurora almost has our escape ready.¡± I strap in as I look in the mirror to see the humvees approaching behind us. But what surprised me was that clouds seemed to be forming above us as we drove. With distant thundering on the horizon. What the hell was Aurora doing? Pulling into the leftmost lane he then did an insane drift into the opposite lane passing the humvees as they tried their best to follow. I was gripping my seat hoping we wouldn¡¯t crash. (E) ¡®Are you sure this was a good idea!¡¯ (B) ¡®No, I don¡¯t.¡¯ (T) ¡®Stop worrying lass, it¡¯s only a car chase besides the guy looks to be pretty competent.¡¯ (B) ¡®That¡¯s not the point!¡¯ Ahead of us, the clouds were now converged and a fog was starting to form on the road lowering our view distance with each second. But instead of slowing down he throttled the engine and speed up into the fog. I could only sit and pray I hadn¡¯t chosen poorly as he continued to duck and weave in traffic. After a couple minutes we were somehow back to my house, but I was still stuck in my seat with my body refusing to let go out of fear. ¡°Alright kid go inside and pack up anything you want to bring with you. I say we have, about twenty minutes before they start to swarm the place.¡± ¡°Who and what¡¯s going on!¡± ¡°Like I said you were found out. We¡¯re not the only group after you. Now hurry up if you want to get anything.¡± As I manage to stand up and walk inside I hear a ringing in my pocket. Taking out my phone I see that it¡¯s Blake. Why was he calling? ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°DUDE! What the hell is going on? We were driving back to school when all of sudden we saw you in some sports car getting chased by humvees!¡± ¡°You saw that! Wait, why were you driving back to school?¡± ¡°We were picking up some doughnuts for health class. But enough about that. What is going on?¡± ¡°Hell if I know to be honest. Some guy offered a full ride to some school. Then a couple minutes later some other people showed up after me for some reason. Then we got into a car chase like you saw.¡± ¡°Are you being serious man, that all sounds like something from a TV show.¡± If only that was the end of my problems. ¡°Well if you don¡¯t hear from me for a while you know what happened at least.¡± ¡°Wait, Brenner don¡¯t -¡° (J) ¡®That was rude of you.¡¯ (B) ¡®It¡¯s our problem, not his.¡¯ I hung up the phone before silencing it and putting it in my pocket. I didn¡¯t want anyone else to get involved. This was my burden to bear and I didn¡¯t want anyone else getting caught up in all this. It might be selfish of me, but the people after me seemed dangerous and I wouldn''t forgive myself if any of them came to any harm. This was my problem and I¡¯d deal with my own problems. Going to my room I pack a set of clothes, some toiletries, as well as a framed picture of my family. I also wear the SQO helmet since it doesn¡¯t fit in my bag. I look stupid as hell but I need the system. It¡¯s my only connection to my alter self. As I am about to walk out I stop and turn around to take in my room one last time. ¡°What lies in store for us?¡± (T) ¡®Don¡¯t know lass all we can do is take it one step at a time.¡± (E) ¡®Do we really have to go I mean -¡¯ (M) ¡®We have to go Elizabeth. We all knew this was going to happen eventually.¡¯ (J) ¡®That may be true but I honestly expected that they wouldn¡¯t find us for at least a month. But we only had about a week and a half.¡¯ ¡°The world doesn¡¯t wait for anyone I guess.¡± I didn''t know how to feel about all this. I knew this was coming, but I didn¡¯t know how to react. All I knew was I couldn¡¯t stay here any longer. I close the door to my house for the last time and get into the passenger seat. Ryan is silent as he guns it out of the neighborhood. After a couple minutes, we are cruising along a highway to who knows where. I can only hope I put my cards in the right basket. ¡°You¡¯re a lot quieter than I thought you¡¯d be. No questions?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll understand more when we arrive at this school.¡± ¡°True they¡¯ll probably do a better job of explaining it all.¡± He then goes silent as we cruise down the highway. ¡°So what exactly are you?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Are you human?¡± ¡°Yeah, why do you ask? Do I not look human?¡± ¡°No it¡¯s just, I¡¯m not sure how you fit into magic and the other world.¡± ¡°Just a family deal, the gig also pays quite well. The only cons are the occasional run-in with other organizations and an angered fey those jobs aren¡¯t fun.¡± ¡°So how do you feel about me not being entirely human?¡± ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t care. I deal with enough stuff it doesn¡¯t matter to me. But, I can tell you now that I¡¯m not in the majority.¡± He then pulls off the highway onto some side roads I don¡¯t know why. Maybe he¡¯s trying to shake pursuers. ¡°So why¡¯d you bring the helmet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s how I found out about my lineage funnily enough.¡± ¡°That is a worrying development then.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because it means I¡¯m going to busy soon. If what you''re saying is true then others could be affected later. We had heard rumors but you¡¯re my first case after its release. I thought Velouria had done something across worlds not that you met her personally.¡± ¡°How do you know her exactly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, but she has messed around with our organization before so we know about her.¡± ¡°So who else is at this school?¡± ¡°You mean the kids? Well, we¡¯ve got a couple half-elves. A harpy, a cyclops, some satyrs, a spriggan, a changeling to name a few. There are too many for me to keep track of. Never had a kitsune around though. Can you use any magic yet?¡± ¡°Not really, but I can glimpse into people.¡± ¡°Like an empath?¡± ¡°I guess but not really, it¡¯s more of a reading of who a person is, but I have to have physical contact with them.¡± ¡°You looked at me yet?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t think to and I didn¡¯t know if you had any countermeasures.¡± ¡°Want to check then?¡± He held out his right arm as he drove with his left. I take him right and look into his soul. When I do I find myself staring at a desolate desert with markers all around with rumbling stormclouds overhead. It¡¯s weird, it feels more depressed then dangerous here. ¡°What did you see?¡± ¡°A desert, I can¡¯t make complete sense of it all, but it feels like your conflicted about something. But it seems directed at yourself and not others. Like your mad at yourself.¡± ¡°Damn kid, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be this good.¡± He then pulls back onto the highway and puts both hands on the wheel as he gets up to speed. I sat in silence pondering what I¡¯d just seen. He looked saddened by something but what I couldn¡¯t tell. I could feel no hostility towards me though which made me a little more comfortable with my decision. I leaned back in my chair as the rocking of the car on the road rocked me to sleep. I closed my eyes as my exhaustion took hold. Waking up I found that we were in at a gas station. The man had his hand on his shoulder shaking me awake. ¡°Hey, you want some lunch?¡± ¡°Sure just give me a minute.¡± I get out of the car and stretch my legs as we go inside and get some fast food. We ended up ordering the same thing and sitting down in a booth cause he didn¡¯t want to dirty his car. As he digs into his burger I can¡¯t help but wonder where Aurora is. ¡°Did you leave Aurora behind? I thought we¡¯d be picking her up or something.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a wind spirit. She¡¯s been following us this whole time, haven¡¯t you.¡± I¡¯m confused at first until I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see her behind me. ¡°I have but you ruined my little surprise. Anyways they¡¯ve stopped following us thanks to me of course.¡± ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got nothing to worry about than.¡± We then finish our meal before we get back in the car and before I know it I¡¯ve fallen asleep again. I wake up to him shaking me awake again as we pull into a gated area. The gate opens to reveal a large stretch of land with farm animals about. ¡°Farm animals? What is this a ranch?¡± ¡°Yes, but we don¡¯t really export any of them we usually go through most of them ourselves.¡± ¡°What are you doing with this many animals?¡± ¡°Eating them, there are a lot of people here and some of them have large appetites.¡± As he drives along the road I see some trees and what looks to be some deer on the outskirts. What exactly was this place? I thought it was a school. But it looks like a nature preserve. I look up to see some birds up in the sky. Or at least I think they are. I¡¯m not sure what exactly what I¡¯m going to find here. As we pull into the driveway of a large manor style house surrounded by dormitory housing I¡¯m surprised to find nothing unusual in sight. As I get out Ryan motions for me to follow him into the house.Walking up the steps he opens the door and I¡¯m struck by the souls I detect inside. I stop in my tracks as the shock wears off. Walking inside I set my helmet and backpack on a nearby table.The room is filled with wooden chairs and skins on the floor. Giving the atmosphere of a hunting cabin. ¡°Hey cousin!¡± I¡¯m startled as I feel a weight on my back knocking me to the floor.Throwing the weight off my back I see a young boy probably around 13 with a wolf tail and ears. I¡¯m shocked for a second as I¡¯m not sure how to respond. ¡°Where are your tail and ears?¡± He then begins to search my hair before I push him away. ¡°Get off me! Why the hell did you jump on me?¡± ¡°Leave him alone Jack, why aren¡¯t you with the others eating dinner?¡± ¡°I waiting for you to get back. I couldn¡¯t wait to meet the new kid!¡± He stands up and offers his hand as he smiles with a huge grin on his face. ¡°Name¡¯s Jack, nice to meet you cousin.¡± He seems to be quite energetic but why is he calling me cousin. (T) ¡®He looks just like you doesn¡¯t he lass.¡¯ (B) ¡®Shut it Teage.¡¯ ¡°Brenner, nice to meet you. Why are you calling me cousin? I¡¯m pretty sure we aren¡¯t related.¡± ¡°But both our species are canines right?¡± ¡°What are you exactly?¡± ¡°He¡¯s an Okami, a wolf spirit. Though they usually get lumped together with werewolves so they aren¡¯t that well known.¡± Ryan was standing off to the side with a wide grin on his face. ¡°I still don¡¯t feel comfortable calling you my cousin. I already have enough family issues at the moment.¡± ¡°So are you staying with us?¡± ¡°For the moment, it looks like I am.¡¯ ¡°Then I¡¯ve got to give you the tour of the place. First we can -¡± ¡°Easy Jack, we¡¯ve got to see the old man first. Is he with the others in the dining room?¡± ¡°Yeah, but can I at least show him around afterward?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll have you show me around the place when we are done.¡± Unconsciously I rub his head before quickly retracting my hand. No wonder people around me had a hard time resisting me as Briana. I felt bad for doing it but could see the appeal. As I go to get my stuff Ryan stops me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, the brownies will take care of it.¡± I decided to not question it. From what I could remember I believe they were household fairies or something. We then made our way deeper into the building were a whole host of mythology was laid out in front of me. With food and laughter being spread throughout the room. I saw a couple heads turn but for the most part, they were all focused on their food. Ryan made his way down to the end of one of the tables where an old white-haired man sat laughing with some adults. When he saw us he excused himself before leading us somewhere. It was to loud to hear anything so all I could assume was he was taking us somewhere quieter. Taking us off into a side room we found ourselves in an office where a large desk took up the center of the space. ¡°So I bet you have many questions for me.¡± The old man took his seat behind the desk and we took our seat in the two seats in front of his desk. ¡°Do I ever, but what I want to know is who are you. Since you clearly know more about me than I do you.¡± The man chuckled as he opened a drawer taking out a stack of papers which was probably a file that had gathered on me. Setting it to the side as he turned to me. ¡°That we do and I am more than willing to oblige. My name is Dr. Mason and I welcome you to my school.¡± Chapter 21 A New Life ¡°So what is this school exactly and how did you find me?¡± He handed me a pamphlet like the one I had gotten from Ryan and I toss it to the side unimpressed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to read some over embellished pamphlet. Tell me exactly what this place is.¡± (M) ¡®You didn¡¯t need to do that it could have held something important.¡¯ (B) ¡®I want to hear it from him. Not read some pre-planned pamphlet.¡¯ ¡°I highly suggest you read it. You¡¯ll find it contains much more details than the one Ryan gave you.¡± (J) ¡®Come on Briana he doesn¡¯t look like a bad guy.¡¯ Grudgingly I pick it back up and open it to see he was right. With detailed accounts of the many facilities and personnel who inhabited the school. ¡°We are a ¡®school¡¯ on paper. What we really are is a haven for those that are lost or endangered. Harboring many mythological creatures and legends safe from prosecution and extinction.¡± (E) ¡®Look! There¡¯s Jack!¡¯ (M) ¡®Quiet Elizabeth I¡¯m trying to read this.¡¯ ¡°What does this have to do with me then. I¡¯m human not some mythological wonder.¡± ¡°Physically you are human yes, but we both know that¡¯s not the entire truth young fox.¡± He pulled out my sister¡¯s research notes and laid them out in front of me. ¡°Many people hold special entities and powers within them. Whether that person ever becomes aware of those innate characteristics is not guaranteed. Usually, we find these people after an accident or some kind of freak event. We¡¯ve also tried looking for these people, but our efforts have been minimal at best.¡± Ryan speaks up from behind me reaffirming his point. ¡°It¡¯s like trying to find a needle in a haystack without a magnet.¡± ¡°Which is where your sister¡¯s scanner comes into play. We¡¯ve been investing in a new scanning technology that could detect these people at an earlier age, and using a backdoor access we could find these people first before anyone else.¡± ¡°So using my sister¡¯s test you found me.¡± ¡°Yes we did, it was quite a surprise actually. I didn¡¯t think it would have such good results in its initial testing. Looking at your readings we were able to come to the conclusion that you were a kitsune.¡± (T) ¡®Well, there goes your little secret.¡¯ (B) ¡®I¡¯m not buying it just yet. This was its initial testing wasn¡¯t it.¡¯ ¡°Not to be rude but that seems like quite an assumption.¡± ¡°It was a big assumption on my part, but we did know you had innate magic in you so. I just felt that it would give you a sense of comfort to know that you are not alone here.¡± (M) ¡®That was one hell of a guess. I mean he wasn¡¯t wrong but I thought they would have had more concrete evidence than that kind of guesswork.¡® No real reason to hide it anymore I guess. Might as well embrace the fact. ¡°Well, you were right. I have the soul of kitsune. What do you want with me.¡± ¡°We wish to help nurture your power and protect you from those who wish to use your power for their own desires.¡± ¡°Like those guys that came after you this morning. Aurora took care of their detection spell but they must have had an alert signal or something built in. On its destruction it still gave away our location.¡± Ryan was leaning against the back wall with a scowl on his face. I didn¡¯t know what exactly it was but I think he had some beef with those guys. ¡°But I don¡¯t have any power. I might have the soul of a kitsune, but I¡¯m human.¡± ¡°That might not actually be the case.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯ve been human my whole life.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a hypothesis I¡¯m working on, but we can talk about that later. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to explore that later. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve had a long day and would like to get some dinner so how about this. Spend the night and talk to everyone here. Get a feel for the place and see for yourself how you enjoy it. Hearing it from them will be a lot more entertaining than me just giving you a long lecture.¡± (M) ¡®Is it just me or does this guy know more than he¡¯s letting on.¡¯ (T) ¡®It just goes with the territory of these guys but he doesn¡¯t seem that bad.¡¯ (E) ¡®That¡¯s a standing ovation from you. Why do you say that.¡¯ (T) ¡®It''s just a gut feeling and the way he looks. Can¡¯t really explain it more.¡¯ (B) ¡®Even if he¡¯s trustworthy I need to tell my parents I¡¯m okay.¡¯ ¡°What about my parents? Did you let them know where I am?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already sent them an email with all the information about this place and your willingness to come here. They sent me a confirmation email on how grateful they are for us accepting you.¡± I''m not exactly sure what those two are thinking about this, but they are way too accepting of this. ¡°Can I call them?¡± ¡°That can be arranged. We have a landline that we use to communicate. Also, we have fiber optic cable internet. You wouldn¡¯t believe the download speeds we get out here. We try not to use wireless devices here since some of our residents are quite sensitive to it.¡± ¡°Here, follow me it¡¯s just down the hall.¡± Ryan opened the door showing the way to the phone. I followed him as Mason waved us goodbye. ¡°It was nice to finally meet you Brenner. See you tomorrow.¡± Ryan led me down the hall to a wired phone which I used to call my parents. It took a while but my dad finally picked up on the last ring. ¡°Hey kid, what¡¯s up? How is the place?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice but what I¡¯m amazed about is the fact that you were so accepting of this.¡± ¡°Well, we thought you¡¯d enjoy it. You did sign up to go yourself didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, but you weren¡¯t surprised at how sudden it was?¡± ¡°I mean we were a little, but they said we could come visit you this weekend, and they told us you wanted to get there as soon as possible.¡± I mean they weren¡¯t exactly wrong I hadn¡¯t planned on coming here but it was definitely better than what those other guys probably had in store for me. ¡°Anyways I just wanted to call and tell you I got here safe and sound.¡± ¡°Alright, you make sure to make some new friends. Don¡¯t just avoid everyone.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t dad. Talk to you later.¡± ¡°Have a good time son. We both love you and hope you have a great time there.¡± ¡°Thanks, love you too.¡± I hung up the phone glad at least that my parents weren¡¯t too worried about this. I had expected that I would have needed to do a lot more convincing to calm them down. Though since they weren¡¯t home that much I wonder if they were happy for me to be living with others. Instead of living alone at home. ¡°Your parents good?¡± ¡°Yeah, they took it a lot better than I had thought they would.¡± ¡°Makes our work easier at least. Most of the time we have to deal with either angry officials or parents. Anyways you go and get some dinner. I have some paperwork I have to take care of.¡± With that Ryan made his way down the hall. Following his advice, I went downstairs and reentered the dining hall. I wasn¡¯t sure how they handled food so I stood stupidly looking for food when that kid from earlier tackled my waist. ¡°Did you finish your meeting? I saved you a plate when I went through the line.¡± ¡°Yeah, it wasn¡¯t that bad. Now, where is this food you saved me.¡± Jack led me to a nearby table where a couple of kids were sitting at. From what I could guess though I doubted they were young. ¡°Guys! This is my cousin Brenner. I told you he was coming today.¡± ¡°Are you sure you two are related? He doesn¡¯t look like a wolf?¡± One of the girls who had two twitching wings on her back said as she squirmed in her seat. What was she an angel? (J) ¡°She definitely is no angel. I¡¯m sure of that.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s complicated but I¡¯m definitely not his cousin.¡± ¡°Why are you so interested in calling him your cousin Jack. You¡¯ve never even met this man before.¡± I turn to see a boy who seems to radiate a holy aura from his skin. His hair also a shining silver which I¡¯m guessing isn¡¯t human. He also is wearing a glove on one of his hands which is weird. ¡°That¡¯s no reason to not accept him. Besides we canines have to stick together.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not part of that group am I?¡± A girl with pale skin starred at Jack who quickly rebutted. ¡°No, canines, like the anime species.¡± I wonder what she meant by that but don¡¯t press the question. ¡°I think Canidae would be a better grouping. That way homophones don¡¯t confuse us.¡± I turn to see another girl from the looks of things is, human? No, her ears are pointed. An elf? (M) ¡®She¡¯s a half-elf her ears are too short.¡¯ Man Ryan wasn¡¯t kidding when he said this place was diverse. Made a diversity meeting look homogeneous in comparison. ¡°Anyways Brenner this is -.¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Morayil, nice to meet you.¡± I shook her hand as I took a seat next to Jack. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see it was the boy thing again. ¡°I¡¯m Robin, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± I had no idea what he was. His aura felt comforting, but his eyes were so radiate I had a hard time looking him in the eye. The angel girl stood up and reached her arm over the table with a large smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m Evelyn a Flugel. What are you? You look human to me.¡± ¡°Well, technically I am. It¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s a little complicated.¡± Jack pushes her away as she tries to get a closer inspection of me.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Leave him alone Evelyn. He just got here.¡± ¡°You just want to hog him for yourself don¡¯t you Jack.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t!¡± His tail wagged quickly behind him giving away his true feelings. Honestly, I wondered if my emotions were this visible from my tails. I turn to the pale girl who sat there quietly eating her meal. ¡°So what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Azalea.¡± She then returned to her meal ignoring my attempt at conversation. The atmosphere was kinda weird since I felt out of place at the table, but it wasn¡¯t that bad. Everyone chatted about, but I had a hard time keeping track of the conversations and focused on eating my meal. Which was surprisingly quite good. When we finished our meal Jack led me outside as he bid his friends goodbye. He then gave me a tour of part of the school quickly pointing out the school, the dorms, barn, gym, and other miscellaneous buildings running towards each building with extreme vigor trying to show them. Unfortunately, the sun went down before he could finish and has to lead me to his dorm. Opening the door I followed him inside. To see a normal kids room. There were toys and a couple of hides littering the floor with a bookshelf holding a couple of books. With The Call of the Wild and White Fang prominently on display. (J) ¡®This guy definitely has good taste in literature.¡¯ ¡°Nice room.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it Jack?¡± ¡°Where are your ears and tail?¡± ¡°You mean why am I not a fox?¡± ¡°I hear you were a fox but there was some other word they used. It started with a k I think.¡± ¡°Kitsune. They are a type of mythological fox.¡± ¡°So why aren¡¯t you a fox?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not too sure myself. All I know is that I have the soul of a fox but I¡¯m not a fox. It¡¯s complicated.¡± (E) ¡®We really need to spend some time to come up with a better answer than that.¡¯ (B) ¡®Later Elizabeth, it has been a long day.¡¯ ¡°So you are not a fox?¡± ¡°Like I said it¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Which is why you came here isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Yeah, it seems like somebody wanted to capture me and Ryan came by before and I went with him.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d you come here?¡± He wouldn¡¯t look me in the eyes as he sat on his bed. ¡°I was revered as a spirit in my village in Japan. My parents gave me to the local priests who hide me away in the mountains. It wasn¡¯t bad they brought me food and took care of all my needs. All they asked me to do was perform an ancient ceremony to bless the people''s harvest. One day though some men came and tried to capture me. One of the priests knew an associate of Mason¡¯s who recommended that I come here. It took me a while but I think my English has gotten pretty good.¡± ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Oh around thirteen years.¡± ¡°Thirteen years? How old are you?¡± ¡°Forty-three, I just had my birthday last week.¡± ¡°Forty-three? How is that possible?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, aren''t you, I don¡¯t know, a little young?¡± ¡°No, I mean Azalea is fifty-four and Evelyn is a one hundred and ninety-eight.¡± Okay, age is kinda weird around here. This seems like it¡¯ll be a pain to understand. (M) ¡®Evelyn¡¯s older than me? That¡¯s surprising.¡¯ (J) ¡®Do we technically have an age?¡¯ ¡°So how old are you Brenner?¡± ¡°I just turned seventeen.¡± ¡°That means I¡¯m older than you!¡± ¡°Yes, it does.¡± I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m okay with this. ¡°You mind if I try something? It might help you understand my body¡¯s situation.¡± I held out both my hands. ¡°What do you want me to do.¡± ¡°Hold my hands.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± He grabbed my hands and I propped his soul. When I did though something weird happened though. I found myself on a grassy plain and when I looked at myself I found that I was Briana now. ¡°You¡¯re a girl?¡± I turned to see Jack looking at me with a confused face. ¡°Your Brenner, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated. My birth name is Brenner, but my fox name is Briana.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re a girl?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even get me started on that. Like I said it¡¯s complicated.¡± He looks puzzled before lowering himself and asking me. ¡°You want to play tag?¡± Not like we were doing anything. Why not. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s see what you can do!¡± ¡°Just so you know I¡¯m not going to go easy on you.¡± I tag him and create a half dozen copies of myself as I turn around to taunt him. ¡°Then catch me if you can Jack!¡± He grins and jumps so fast I have trouble keeping up and disperses one of my illusions. ¡°Then I just have to find the real you. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard to do.¡± He then jumps and disperses three more of my illusions before I start running away. But at this rate, he¡¯ll catch me. Guess that leaves me with only that option. ¡®Transform!¡¯ I feel my body change into a fox and disappear into the tall grass. I run along trying to get away but I can hear him coming behind me. I then feel something bite the scruff of my neck lifting me up. I turn to see a wolf with a big grin on his face. He then transforms back into a boy holding me in his hand. ¡°You¡¯re it!¡± I scowl in his direction. As I change back into a girl. ¡°How¡¯d you find me? You shouldn¡¯t have been able to see me.¡± ¡°I can still smell you.¡± Oh right, he¡¯s part wolf. I forgot to account for the fact that he¡¯s not human as well. I lay down in the tall grass in defeat as the wind whips through my hair giving me a sense of calm. The wind picks up though soon after and I¡¯m thrown back into reality and find myself back in Jack¡¯s room with a very angry woman looking down on me. ¡°Who might you be?¡± Jack stand up quickly and addresses her. ¡°Ms. Oak! This is Brenner, he just got here today.¡± She eyes me up and down confused. ¡°How¡¯d you do that? Usually humans can¡¯t cast that kind of magic.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not human Ms. Oak. He¡¯s a kitsune. We were just playing together.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated Ms. Oak, I¡¯m sorry for any disturbance I might have caused you. I¡¯m still trying to understand it myself.¡± She sighs before walking over to me and putting her palm to my forehead before making a small chant. A symbol then appears in front of me before sealing itself on my forehead. I only stare in confusion before I feel my entire body seize and I fall to the ground. My vision blackens as I lose control. ¡°Brenner!? What¡¯s wrong! What did you do Ms. Oak!¡± ¡°I, I just put a simple mana inhibitor on him so he couldn¡¯t use magic.¡± ¡°Well take it off your hurting him!¡± I soon feel the pain fade away but my vision is still blurry and I can¡¯t feel my limbs and I fall in and out of consciousness. I feel my body being carried while people keeping hovering over me. I think I see Mason at one point but I¡¯m not sure. Waking up I bolt upright in a panic finding myself in a hospital bed. It reminds me of the ones they have at the infirmary at school. I turn to see Jack spoked awake at my sudden awakening. He must¡¯ve fallen asleep next to me last night. But something seems off, wasn¡¯t he smaller before. Oh no, I look down at my hand and see that it¡¯s my kitsu-, no my hands. I can only stare at my hand as the realization of what just happened hits me. Jack can only stare at me wondering what happened as well. (T) ¡®Well, this is definitely an interesting development.¡¯ ¡°So you really were a kitsune.¡± Before I have time to answer the curtain opens. Mason appears with a tired look on his face and stares at me in confusion before recomposing himself. ¡°I, see your awake Brenner. I¡¯ll have Holly bring you some more appropriate clothing. How about we let our friend here have some time to herself Jack.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He follows Mason closing the curtain leaving me alone. I sit there not sure what to do honestly. I then get out of bed and stand up to find my two tails to greet me. My oversized pants fall down and I realize why Mason told Jack to leave. A young woman the enters the room and smiles to me as she sets the clothes on the bed. ¡°How about we get you into some more appropriate clothes.¡± I then get dressed in some simple drawstring pants and a t-shirt. Which Elizabeth found tp be quite distasteful, but I didn¡¯t want her fashion advice at the moment and ignored her. I then followed Holly out of the room where Jack was sitting in an empty chair next to Mason. Mason gestures for me to come over and leads us back to his office. With Jack following behind me with eyes full of curiosity. When we arrive he sits down at his desk gesturing for me and Jack to take a seat. ¡°I am sorry for last night Brenner. Ms. Oak¡¯s, actions, were not meant to cause you any harm. I want to make that absolutely clear, and we¡¯ll do everything we can to help you adjust to your, new circumstances.¡± ¡°So these are real!¡± I feel Jack tug on my ears and I quickly swat away his hand away. ¡°Of course they are real! What else did you expect!¡± He cowers back in his chair with his hands in the air as I rub my ears turning to face Mason. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just, I didn¡¯t think they were real.¡± ¡°Well they are real, and I¡¯d appreciate it if you wouldn¡¯t do that. My ears are sensitive as you can guess.¡± Mason still looks confused trying to piece my situation together. ¡°So is this a permanent thing Brenner?¡± ¡°I hope not, but right now I just need some time. Also, it¡¯s Briana, or that¡¯s what Veloria named me.¡± Mason stared at me with interest. Not entirely sure what to think and nods. ¡°Very well Briana, if that will make you more comfortable.¡± ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m sorry for the trouble.¡± ¡°Not at all Briana, we¡¯re here to help you through this whole process.¡± ¡°Then would you mind not telling my parents. I don¡¯t want them to freak out.¡± ¡°Hopefully we can both find a way to solve this issue before that becomes a problem. Is there anything we can do to help?¡± I ponder what could have been the cause of this. Kitsune are shapeshifter and illusionists so maybe something was broken when she cut off my mana. But, what exactly was it? ¡®Growl!¡¯ I might need to solve my stomach¡¯s needs before I worry about that though. I¡¯m surprisingly quite hungry. ¡°I think my stomach requires some food first.¡± He chuckles a bit before recomposing himself. ¡°It does appear that is the case.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go eat breakfast Briana! I¡¯m starving as well and we have to show the others I was right as well!¡± Jack quickly gets up and tries to drag me to the door with surprising success. I try to shake him off to no avail. (T) ¡®What are we some prize to the kid?¡¯ (E) ¡®No, he¡¯s just excited.¡¯ (M) ¡®You would think he would be more mature considering his age.¡¯ (T) ¡®He might be old but I doubt he sees it that way.¡¯ ¡°Let go Jack! I can walk on my own!¡± ¡°But if we don¡¯t get there fast enough Tyson will eat all the bacon.¡± ¡°You two go enjoy breakfast. Just know if you need anything Briana, my doors are always open.¡± ¡°Thank you I¡¯ll make sure to remember that.¡± ¡°Come on Briana! We need to get going!¡± He waves us goodbye as Jack drags me out the door. I give up as he clearly is to focused to hear me. I can only follow along and see what breakfast awaits us. When we arrive at the dining hall I see the people I was with yesterday look at me in surprise as Jack pulls me along towards them. ¡°Hey guys, I told you she was a kitsune. I told you didn¡¯t I!¡± Azalea looked very confused as she looked at both of us. ¡°She¡¯s Brenner? I thought he was a guy, and a human no less.¡± She looked at Jack in suspicion. ¡°You aren¡¯t using any magic are you?¡± ¡°No, he isn¡¯t unfortunately.¡± They look confused and honestly, I can¡¯t blame them. Jack tries to lighten the mood as he turns around. ¡°How about you take a seat and join them Briana. I¡¯ll go get us some breakfast real quick.¡± ¡°He then dashed off leaving me alone with them.¡± Azalea waits until Jack¡¯s out of earshot before she asks me. ¡°Briana?¡± ¡°My fox name. It just makes things easier for me. I¡¯m sorry for the trouble.¡± ¡°Are you always this full of mysteries?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d believe me if you said I wasn¡¯t always this way.¡± (J) ¡®Stop lying to them Briana. We¡¯ve always been mysterious. (B) ¡®I can at least imagine that it wasn¡¯t always this way.¡¯ Morayil chuckles as she takes a bite of her breakfast. ¡°Well, it definitely provides for more interesting conversation. It¡¯s been getting a little stale recently.¡± Robin nudges her as he frowns at her. ¡°Don¡¯t eat and talk, you¡¯re spiting your breakfast all over the place. ¡°Sorry Robin, my bad.¡± I smile at their banter and lean back when I feel a tug on my tails and turn to see Evelyn pulling my tails in curiosity. I try to slap her wrists but she nimbly jumps back using her wings to stabilize herself as she stands back up. ¡°Her tails are definitely soft and cuddly that¡¯s for sure.¡± I have a flashback to my initial days in this form and try to back away as she slowly prowls towards me preparing to jump. Jack comes back in the nick of time and pushes her to the side as he sets a plate of food before me. ¡°Here you go! I made sure to save you some bacon as well.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Evelyn frowns as she makes her way to an empty seat as I slowly eat my food. It¡¯s quite good and soon I¡¯m devouring it all. Just because I don¡¯t know what¡¯s next doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t enjoy this meal! Though, it does seem to be quieter than last night. I look around seeing that they are looking at me and Jack trying to hide their smiles. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Robin smiles as he gestures towards Jack. ¡°Oh nothing, it¡¯s just Jack is acting like a total fool.¡± I turn to see him blushing while his tail is swinging rapidly behind him. ¡°No, I¡¯m not, you¡¯re just seeing things.¡± Morayil isn¡¯t buying it and presses Jack as a sly smile forms on her face. ¡°Is he? Cause from where I¡¯m sitting you have a crush on her don¡¯t you Jack.¡± He blushes even more with his tail speeding up to accompany his racing expression. Wait, no it can¡¯t be. Does he really have a crush on me? (J) ¡®Someone has a crush on you!¡¯ (T) ¡®Our little lass is growing up so fast isn¡¯t she.¡¯ (B) ¡®Quit it you two. Stop assuming things. We just met!¡¯ ¡°No, you¡¯re just imagining things Morayil. I mean I just met her and she was a guy yesterday. But, her fur is very pretty, it¡¯s just pretty to look at, that¡¯s all.¡± (B) ¡®Oh god he does have a crush on me doesn¡¯t he.¡¯ (T) ¡®HAHA, this should be interesting. Go get¡¯em lass.¡¯ I¡¯m not sure what to think about this. I already had enough to deal with at the moment. I try to ignore him and finish my breakfast as they snicker at us. When I finish my plate he grabs my hand. ¡°Come on, I never did get to finish our tour yesterday. How about I show you around!¡± Before he can drag me along to far though Evelyn jumps up and stops him. Pulling us apart and hugging me tightly against her. I feel quite uncomfortable but I doubt I can break away from her strong grip. ¡°No way Jack, she¡¯s coming with us today. You got to have your fun yesterday. Now it¡¯s time for her to have some girl time with us today.¡± I feel like I¡¯m now stuck between two great evils. I hope this isn¡¯t a permanent thing I¡¯m going to have to deal with because this might slowly become a nightmare. Chapter 22 Coming to Terms ¡°Try this on next!¡± ¡°Evelyn, that won¡¯t fit on her. Maybe we should go with this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have some clothes that would fit her better Azalea?¡± ¡°No! She can¡¯t wear those Morayil. Those are formal wear. If you want me to make something casual I can, but she isn¡¯t wearing those.¡± ¡°Touchy, I just thought you¡¯d want to show off your designs.¡± ¡°Evelyn, do you think this looks good on her?¡± ¡°Yes, look at the color it matches with her tail perfectly!¡± You might be wondering what is going on. Well, after we left Evelyn whisked me off to her room saying. ¡°You can¡¯t go around wearing those colorless clothes. Come on, I might have something that¡¯ll fit you in my room.¡± Morayil soon found us and joined Evelyn in picking clothes for me to try. They had some trouble though with the clothes not fitting well due to my tails. So Evelyn dragged Azalea to join them and had her do the alterations. She seemed annoyed but agreed to help after Evelyn promised her something. I didn¡¯t hear what it was though. So now I¡¯m here playing dress up. I have been trying to escape for the past couple hours, but my strength isn¡¯t enough to succeed as Evelyn and Morayil keep dragging me back. (E) ¡®Come on Briana aren¡¯t you having fun!¡¯ (B) ¡®I want to find out what happened and I can¡¯t do that when I¡¯m their plaything.¡± (M) ¡®I¡¯ve been thinking about it while you¡¯ve been busy, but I¡¯m not sure exactly what the problem is. Why would that magic seal cause you to become Briana?¡¯ (T) ¡®You¡¯re thinking about this too hard. If it¡¯s anything like smithing I believe I might have an idea. What if Briana¡¯s magic was holding her shape as Brenner.¡¯ (M) ¡®Why do you say that Teage?¡¯ (T) ¡®Well, it hurt to use magic before right? Try doing something kid.¡¯ (B) ¡®What do you mean.¡¯ (T) ¡®Use your magic, if I''m right it should be easier now.¡¯ The girls turn away and I try to use my illusion magic to change the color of my shirt. To my surprise, it comes quite easily and the grey shirt turns to a dark blue. I hold out the shirt in surprise as they continue to debate which pair of clothes looks better. (T) ¡®Well kid?¡¯ (B) ¡®It was easy. Just like when I¡¯m in SQO.¡¯ (M) ¡®I think I understand now. It was using all of her mana before to maintain her form as Brenner. So when she couldn¡¯t use her mana that form disappeared since he couldn¡¯t keep it manifested.¡¯ (T) ¡®Exactly!¡¯ (B) ¡®So that means all I need to do its transform back into Brenner?¡¯ (E) ¡®No! Don¡¯t do that! Don¡¯t you want to enjoy yourself!¡¯ At that minute Evelyn holds up a dress to my right while Morayil is holding a blouse and skirt to my left. Yeah, this really wasn¡¯t that enjoyable for me. ¡°Don¡¯t you like this dress over Morayil¡¯s skirt. It¡¯ll look great on you!¡± I really want to get out of this by transforming back, but then I think back to my baggy clothes from before and realize that isn¡¯t really a choice right now. Guess it¡¯s time to pick my poison then. ¡°The skirt, I choose the skirt.¡± ¡°See Evelyn I told you she¡¯d like the skirt.¡± Azalea buffs out her cheeks as she puts the dress back. Morayil passes the outfit to Azalea who after taking some measurements of my tails makes a small incision for my tails to comfortable fit through. When she finishes she hands it to me and I stand there not sure what to do. ¡°Come on Briana this way. You can change in the bathroom.¡± She then takes me to the bathroom and I change into the new clothes. I take a look in the mirror and I hear an annoying squeal. (E) ¡®You look so cute Briana!¡¯ (B) ¡®Not the words I want to hear right now.¡¯ I open the door and I¡¯m immediately assaulted with the same sequels of approval from Evelyn and Morayil. I then see Ms. Oak coming up behind them picking them up from the scruffs of their necks. I look around and realize that Azalea is nowhere to be seen. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you two starting your lessons!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ms. Oak we were just helping Briana find some better clothes.¡± ¡°Briana?¡± She then turns to me and looks confused before realization hits her face. ¡°Brenner?¡± ¡°Hello Ms. Oak.¡± ¡°It appears Jack really wasn¡¯t lying after all. But that still doesn¡¯t excuse you two from today¡¯s lessons. Now come along, I¡¯ll help you get started after I take these two to their lessons.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary Ms. Oak.¡± I turn to see Mr. Mason and another man walking to meet us. ¡°I would like Briana to meet with Dr. Clef first.¡± Morayil waves back at me as she follows after Ms. Oak with Evelyn ¡°Come see us when you¡¯re done Briana.¡± I wave them goodbye as they walk down the hall. Before turning to face this doctor. (M) ¡®I wonder what kind of doctor he is.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you Briana. It¡¯s an extreme honor to meet such a revered ¡®reality bender¡¯ such as yourself.¡± I shake his hand and jump back as a sudden wave of malicious images assault me. I feel sweat stream down my neck and my ears lie flat on my head as I hit the wall behind me. I fall to the floor and can¡¯t stop shaking as the images assault me with constant fear. (T) ¡®Doesn¡¯t seem like a sane one if I had to guess.¡¯ ¡°Briana! Are you okay.¡± My vision slowly returns to me and I see Mason crouched before me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Briana? Talk to me.¡± ¡°Who is that man?¡± I point to Dr. Clef who stands there confused. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve ever done anything to scare you Briana. Is there anything I can do to-¡± ¡°Stay away from me!¡± ¡°Easy Briana calm down. I asked him to come here today because he a leading researcher in illusions, and I thought he could help you learn some things.¡± ¡°I prefer the term ¡®reality bender¡¯ but illusions fall into that as well.¡± ¡°He¡¯s, scary, I saw, images, and ¡­ I¡¯m not sure what I saw.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be with you the whole time. Dr. Clef has worked under me for a long time. He might be a little crazy but you can trust him.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry if you saw something that scared you. I¡¯ve had to deal with a lot of bad people so you must have seen some scary things. I should¡¯ve realized this might happen.¡± I calm down before standing back up and following Mason into a side room that looks like a small study room. They then check the room for people before they ask for me to sit in a chair in front of Dr. Clef. I try to calm my nerves as sit in front of him. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I see Mr. Mason give a nod of reassurance before I face Dr. Clef again. ¡°By my classifications of reality benders, you kitsune are quite dangerous. But due to your playfulness and light levels mischievousness, you never do anything on a large scale. Focusing on mainly single targets you stay pretty hidden. Today I¡¯m going to show you a sample of what a reality bender like yourself can do. Now, look at the door.¡± I look for the door and realize it¡¯s gone. ¡°Now tell me how many chairs you see in this room.¡± I count the chairs in the room and answer him. ¡°15¡± ¡°That¡¯s not quite right, try again.¡± I count the chairs again and count. ¡°4?¡± ¡°Are you sure I¡¯m sure I counted a hundred.¡± I look around and sure enough there are a hundred chairs surrounding around us. ¡°Now the chairs are coming to KILL YOU!¡± I look around and see all the chairs transforming into chair people with razor sharp teeth converging on me. ¡°STOP THIS!¡± I close my eyes raise my hands and release a flow of mana. When I open my eyes I see Matt, Elizabeth, John, and Teage fully clothed in personal armor with Elizabeth now spouting a pair of wings. Looking down at myself I see I¡¯m taller as well and find nine tails behind me. Mason is nowhere to be seen and so I draw my sword and a figure of Lyn appears with an identical sword as well. The chairs back up as we all stand back to back facing the horde of chairs. I ready my sword ready to fight when suddenly the whole scene breaks apart. I wake up in my chair and feel Mason¡¯s hand on my shoulder. I look to see Dr. Clef has fallen from his chair and is in a cold sweat. ¡°What, just happened?¡± ¡°Dr. Clef here was having to much fun, and you reacted in self-defense. I thought I told you to take it easier on her Dr. Clef.¡± ¡°My bad Mr. Mason. I was just trying to make a point. I just never expected her to be such a strong reality bender.¡± ¡°So, what just happened?¡± ¡°Dr. Clef here started messing with your sense of reality, but when he did you responded with your own illusions overpowering his and causing a feedback loop. That crashed the reality bend and he bore the brunt of the resulting discharge.¡± ¡°You basically overpowered my reality bend.¡± He rubbed his head as I sat there taking a deep breath. What was he saying about my powers? ¡°So I have the ability to do what he just did?¡± ¡°Yes, which is why I wanted you to understand your abilities and help you understand how dangerous they can be. Though I will admit Dr. Clef did more than we had agreed to.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°So how did he do that?¡± ¡°I just used some hypnosis and hallucinogens.¡± He goes to a nearby table and picks up a canister showing it to me. ¡°It¡¯s amazing what Dr. Clef can do. For a normal human, he can pull off quite some fancy tricks.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the ordeal, but I¡¯ve found and had to deal with others like you. They do not usually end well unfortunately. But that was all I wanted to do today.¡± I don¡¯t know what¡¯s think and sit there. Mason looks concerned as he looks at me. ¡°You okay Briana?¡± I nod as the realization of what he said hits me. I felt so helpless and he¡¯s telling me I have the power to do that to others. I don¡¯t know what to think. ¡°Yeah, I just, don¡¯t know what to think. I had this power?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯re here to teach you how to control your powers. Now Dr. Clef if you would follow me. I think you¡¯ve done enough for one day.¡± ¡°I told you I was sorry Mr. Mason.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough now, come on.¡± Mason then leads Dr. Clef away as I slowly stand up. (J) ¡®What was that? We were fighting, chairs?¡¯ (E) ¡®And why did I have wings?¡¯ (T) ¡®Who was that other woman as well?¡¯ (B) ¡®ENOUGH! Can I just go through the day without any more surprises.¡¯ I walked over to the door and walked through making my way to an exit to get outside. When I did I sat down in the grass leaning against the building watching the grass blow in the wind as the sun moved overhead. I don¡¯t know how long I sat there but I enjoyed the peace and serenity that has been absent from my life as I looked around. But like all good things it had to end. I feel myself being tackled to the ground and turned to see Jack standing over me. I kick him off me and he rolls back to his feet. ¡°Where have you been? It¡¯s almost time for lunch.¡± ¡°Resting, I just wanted some time to think. I¡¯ve been so busy these last three weeks that I just wanted some rest.¡± He sits down next to me giving me some space as I lean back against the wall. ¡°Your outfit looks pretty. Did Morayil pick it out? It matches quite well with your fur.¡± ¡°Can you please stop Jack. I¡¯m flattered, but I don¡¯t want to deal with this right now.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± He looks disappointed and I wonder what he¡¯ll say next. He doesn¡¯t seem like the kind to give up and so I doubt it¡¯ll end here. ¡°I, I¡¯m just so excited to meet you. I thought I was alone, but then when I heard of you I just had to meet you!¡± ¡°But don¡¯t you have your friends?¡± ¡°I do, but ¡­ I can¡¯t explain it. You just fascinate me so much.¡± ¡°Then can you just give me some time.¡± ¡°But we have so much to talk about. Why?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know anything about this side of myself until three, no two weeks ago and after changing gender your trying to hit on me. I¡¯m sorry but I just need some time.¡± SQO was messing up my sense of time. Has it really only been less than two weeks? ¡°But-¡° ¡®CHOP¡¯ Azalea hit Jack over the head and he holds his head and turns to Azalea. ¡°What was that for!¡± ¡°Stop bothering her Jack. You¡¯re just acting creepy now.¡± ¡°But I wasn¡¯t-¡° ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if that was your intent was. You¡¯re coming off as a creep. Now give her some space. We¡¯ll meet you at lunch alright.¡± ¡°Fine, see you then Briana!¡± Jack runs off and I have to thank Azalea for her help. ¡°Thanks Azalea. He was getting a little hard to deal with.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry he¡¯s always like that in some way or form.¡± She sits down next to me and I take a good look at her. She usually keeps to herself so I¡¯m kinda curious about her. Her pale skin makes her stand out against the brick wall behind her. With eyes that seem to be a bright yet cold crimson. Almost like she¡¯s dead, but that can¡¯t be the case. ¡°So what exactly are you?¡± ¡°I guess I haven¡¯t told you have I.¡± She smiles at me and points at her canines which are elongated. (T) ¡®I don¡¯t get it why is she showing her teeth?¡¯ (M) ¡®Elongated canines, pale skin, crimson eyes. I¡¯d say she was a vampire but it doesn¡¯t feel right.¡¯ (B) ¡®Might as well just ask her.¡¯ ¡°So, are you a vampire?¡± ¡°Close enough, I¡¯m actually a dhampir. Which is a half-vampire.¡± I back away slowly feeling a little concern as she raises her hand. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry though, I don¡¯t bite. I just wanted to see how you were doing. The others keep giving you a hard time and I just wanted to talk.¡± ¡°Well, not really much to talk about. I just need some time to myself.¡± ¡°To much to take in?¡± ¡°You have no idea.¡± ¡°I bet I have an idea. But I bet that¡¯s not what you want to hear.¡± ¡°I just want to understand. Who I am, what I am, I just feel so lost.¡± ¡°Well, we definitely have the time to figure that out don¡¯t we. Much longer than most at least.¡± ¡°So is your human parent still alive?¡± ¡°No, she died a couple years ago to a stroke. I then got a letter from my dad to come here.¡± ¡°Letter? So you didn¡¯t live with him?¡± ¡°No, I barely saw him growing up. We lived in the countryside and my mom taught and raised me for the most part. I never knew I was different growing up. I mean I thought it was strange how I aged slower than my mom, but I never asked why. I just thought it was normal.¡± ¡°So you thought you were human?¡± ¡°Yes, though I had my doubts at times. My dad always asked weird questions whenever he came by about how I was doing. He also always looked the same as well, but I didn¡¯t question it.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t until Ryan came to my funeral handing me a letter from my dad did I realize my heritage. At first, I was confused, but with time I¡¯ve come to grasp my powers and what it means to be a dhampir. Luckily for me, this place exists so I can live in peace.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m guessing your studying to be a fashion designer.¡± ¡°How did-, I guess it was obvious early wasn¡¯t it. Yes, my goal is to become a fashion designer and right now I¡¯m working on a line of clothes. Once it¡¯s finished Mason said he¡¯d arrange for a presentation.¡± ¡°Was it hard? You know, coming here?¡± ¡°Of course it was, but with time you get used to it. Mostly, I just miss my mom though.¡± ¡°Well, I have a great story to tell mine.¡± ¡°Your parents don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I only learned about this myself two weeks ago. Even then I never understood what was happening. So I just kept quiet about it.¡± ¡°Well that definitely is an interesting story you have to tell them, but hopefully Mason can find a way to turn you back to normal.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s just it, this is normal.¡± ¡°My previous body and practically my whole life is a fabricated lie.¡± (E) ¡®Don¡¯t go saying that! Your family loved you and you loved them didn¡¯t you!¡¯¡¯ (B) ¡®Is still doesn¡¯t change the fact that it feels like I lied to them.¡¯ As I thought to myself she was silent for a moment not sure how to respond. ¡°I will admit that is a lot more than what I had to go through, but there is no reason to be in a hurry. We¡¯re all here to help you and trust me we¡¯ll keep Jack in line. He¡¯s just overexcited is all. Anyways how about we get some lunch. Got to take things one step at a time after all.¡± ¡°Do you harbor any resentment towards your dad?¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯m not sure. Maybe he has his reasons. I just want to understand those reasons more than anything. Now we better hurry up or there won¡¯t be anything left.¡± I follow her inside pondering what she just said. I felt some resentment in her words, but she still seemed to care about him. I kinda understand some of her sentiment with my ¡®mom¡¯ Velouria. I¡¯m then assaulted from the air and feel my flying through the air. I freeze up as I realize Evelyn has abducted me and is now carrying me through the air. Not wanting to fall I try not to move and hope she doesn¡¯t drop me. ¡°Evelyn, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Saving you from Azalea. You looked so depressed I had no choice but to free you from her.¡± ¡°Then would you mind setting me down. I¡¯m in more distress now than I was earlier.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t enjoy flying?¡± ¡°Not when it¡¯s a surprise flight.¡± She then sets me down before my stomach decided to hurl and I bumble around trying to find my balance as she laughs at me. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have very good sky legs do you Briana.¡± Morayil catches me before I fall over and helps balance me as I regain my footing. ¡°No one would the way you fly around.¡± ¡°Oh come on I was taking it easy.¡± ¡°Enough you two let¡¯s go get something to eat.¡± I follow Robin inside trying to escape their energetic exchange but I¡¯m soon caught by Jack. ¡°Briana, come join me! I already got you a plate!¡± ¡°Jack, leave the poor girl alone. She has enough to deal with without your constant hounding.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying to be nice Robin. What¡¯s wrong?¡± Azalea looks pissed as she stares Jack down. ¡°Just give her some space Jack. I told you before didn¡¯t I.¡± ¡°Fine, but if you ever change your mind-¡° ¡°If she changes her mind she¡¯ll let you know Jack.¡± (J) ¡®He sure is persistent I¡¯ll give him that.¡¯ (B) ¡®I don¡¯t want to hear it John. I¡¯m not going to go encouraging him.¡¯ He dejectedly walks off with his tail and ears low. I feel sorry for the kid, but I just don¡¯t want to deal with him right now. ¡°Hey Briana, if you want to go someplace quieter I know just the place. Care to join us Robin?¡± ¡°Sure, I wanted to get to know our new friend and I think it¡¯ll also be a good excuse to get away from their boundless energy.¡± ¡°Then come on Briana let¡¯s go.¡± I allow her to lead the way and we are soon outside and walking towards the big oak tree in the middle of the yard. Wait a second. ¡°Is that Ms. Oak¡¯s tree?¡± ¡°Best spot on a nice day like today. She doesn¡¯t mind as long as we clean up after ourselves.¡± ¡°It also gives me a chance to apologize to you.¡± I turn to see Ms. Oak behind me carrying a basket in her arms. She puts her hand inside and pulls out a cookie. ¡°I know this doesn¡¯t make up for all the trouble I¡¯ve caused you, but I just wanted to let you know it was never my intent to cause you any harm.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay Ms. Oak, I didn¡¯t even know that would happen myself you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯ve put you through so much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine you didn¡¯t need to go through the trouble to make me cookies.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not going to eat them then I will.¡± Robin quickly took the exposed cookie and quickly devours it. ¡°Her cookies are the best!¡± ¡°Hey! Those were for Briana!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Ms. Oak. There is plenty for everyone right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just I made these for you. If you wanted me to make cookies Robin you should¡¯ve just asked.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always so busy though. I didn¡¯t want to bother you.¡± ¡°And who says you¡¯re a bother me. It¡¯s my job to take care of you kids and it''s not like I can really go anywhere can I?¡± ¡°Now how about you three start eating or else you¡¯re going to be having a cold lunch.¡± We then began to eat in the shade of Ms. Oak (her tree). It was nice and peaceful and quite enjoyable. ¡°So Briana, why are you so calm about this?¡± I turn to Robin confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, this is the first time this has happened right? You were always human before today right?¡± ¡°I was, but I had figured out about my true heritage before than.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right I forgot to ask how did you find out about that?¡± ¡°I was playing a game and happened to stumble across my ¡®mom¡¯.¡± I took a bite out of my meal and they just stared at me in confusion. With Robin being the first to speak up first. ¡°You met your mom, playing a game?¡± ¡°Truthfully I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a game, but she said she was my biological mother and since I look just like her, I can¡¯t really say she was wrong.¡± ¡°But that still doesn¡¯t explain why you are so calm about your change.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because this is what I look like in the game.¡± Azalea doesn¡¯t seem to be keeping up as she speaks up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry can you repeat all of that, you¡¯re confusing me.¡± ¡°If you think that confuses you just imagine what I went through and still am going through.¡± Azalea turns her attention to her meal not sure how to retort. But then turns to me with an inquisitive look on his face. ¡°What game was this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called Soul Quest Online. You ever heard of it?¡± ¡°No, but I didn¡¯t really grow up with technology.¡± ¡°Have you ever heard of it Robin?¡± ¡°Nope, not a fan of video games either.¡± I take the last bite of my meal not sure what else to really say. My story was a bit crazy. To be honest, if I wasn¡¯t here I would think I was crazy myself. ¡°Either way, we¡¯re glad to have you here with us.¡± Ms. Oak¡¯s smile warmed the area and I couldn¡¯t hold a grudge as I savor her deliciously sweet cookies. She reminded me so much of my mom when I was younger. Always trying to make sure I was okay when I was sick. ¡°Thank you Ms. Oak.¡± She smiled as she seems to finally remember something and grabs my hand. ¡°I forgot to show you to your room. So how about I show you. Can you two take his plate back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no problem Ms. Oak don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Thank you Robin, now come on. Let me show you your room.¡± I¡¯m then dragged off as I see Azalea waving me goodbye with a smile on her face. She seemed like a nice person and I definitely enjoyed her more mild company to Jack¡¯s constant advances. She leads me into the dorms and shows me to a room with a sign on the door that looked to have been hastily written saying ¡®Briana¡¯. Opening it up it¡¯s a nice and cozy room with a bed, desk, and chair with a closet built into the wall. A little bland but it¡¯d do. My stuff was lying on the desk and I could see the helmet lying in wait ready for my return. ¡°I know it isn¡¯t much, but we can fix that quite easily. I know! How about we have a decorating party on Saturday!¡± The thought of such a thing terrified me as I imagined the chaos it would undoubtedly create. ¡°I think I¡¯m good. This is plenty for now.¡± ¡°Alright, holler if you need anything. I¡¯m always just outside.¡± ¡°Thanks Ms. Oak.¡± She then closes the door leaving me alone in my new room. Checking the closet I find it is barren and quickly fix it by hanging up the few clothes I had brought with me. I then set out an outfit before taking off my clothes to check something. ¡®Transform¡¯ I imagined myself looking like my usual self and slowly but surely I could feel the painful changes as I changed to my human form. When I was done I could feel the steady drain it was taking to keep this form, but I didn¡¯t care. I still felt better knowing that I could go back to this and quickly changed into the outfit I had laid out before jumping on the bed. (E) ¡®Why did you do that? You were so cute!¡¯ (B) ¡®I¡¯m just making sure I can turn back. I¡¯m going to change back to test something in a minute.¡¯ I might not be originally human, but it would still take me some time before I became more comfortable using my actual form instead of this one. Maybe it was embarrassment or not understanding how I should act. But, I wasn¡¯t quite ready to fully embrace Briana in the real world yet. I get up and strip again after a couple minutes and sigh as I change back into Briana one more time. As I put on the skirt and blouse I realize the change was easier to do this time. It still hurt to do though so I was not training that purposely. But maybe the pain was linked. Like oiling in an old rusted door. The reason I had done this was to test a theory I had and so I put the SQO helmet on my head before realizing I¡¯d need to do some adjusting. After said adjustment, I plugged in the helmet before lying on the bed and reconnecting to SQO. Chapter 23 Traveling to Myrkvior Waking up I find myself on the fur bedding of the tent and realize it¡¯s still pitch black. Thinking about it, it was around 1:00 PM when I logged in, so that means it¡¯s currently 2:00 AM here. I get up and see Elizabeth stretching out on her bed snuggling against the furs. Ignoring her I make my way to Rachel¡¯s bed and see a note on her bed. ¡®I got you a ride out of town prepared. Remus told me you all had apparently caused some kind of ruckus with the church. As a small convenience fee though I did take 100 coins. Stay safe and if you ever want to meet up you know my number. Lennie and I have a place we want to explore further east. Stay safe!¡¯ As I finish reading the note I feel something grabbing me and soon I¡¯m in Elizabeth¡¯s arms as she rolls around with me on her bed. I try to resist but I¡¯m too weak compared to her so I can only groan as I¡¯m at her mercy. ¡°You¡¯re so soft Briana. It¡¯s so nice to be able to pet you!¡± The flap to our tent opens and the guys stare at us in confusion. ¡°What are you doing lass, we need to get out of here don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Teage, help me, Elizabeth won¡¯t let me go.¡± ¡°You two go get Remus I¡¯ll take care of the lass.¡± They nod and walk off as Teage easily pries me away from Elizabeth. She protests my removal, but Teage somehow staves her off and sets me off got the side. ¡°Come on princess, we gotta get moving.¡± ¡°But we just got back!¡± I pay her no mind as I make my way to the wagon. Checking it over it¡¯s packed full of supplies and looks ready to go. John and Matt carry over their things and pack them in as Teage is dragging Elizabeth out of her tent. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to leave yet!¡± ¡°Quiet down Elizabeth. We need to leave and we¡¯re going to Myrkvior.¡± ¡°Myrkvior? Where is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a large forest to the north. Matt says he thinks he remembers something about that place.¡± ¡°Remember? What do you mean why hasn¡¯t he told us?¡± ¡°It happened when I did my test with Matt a couple days ago. Though we still do not know if they memories have any meaning. That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to go check them out.¡± Elizabeth lights up thinking of the possibility of what this means. ¡°Does that mean you could try it on us?¡± ¡°No Elizabeth, it¡¯s tasking on both me and the person involved. I don¡¯t want to risk it until we verify it better.¡± ¡°But, we could all have some memories though, right? Maybe it could help explain how we all came to be!¡± Teage pushes her forward as he walks towards the cart. ¡°Stop bothering the lass princess. We can debate this when we are on the road.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t you want to know how we all came to be? This could be the answer!¡± ¡°No, I honestly don¡¯t. Knowing how we all came to be doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯re bound to Briana and we can¡¯t do anything about it.¡± She looks conflicted but doesn¡¯t press it further and goes back to gather our things as Remus walks over to me. He looks tired but ready to go as he addresses me. ¡°Welcome back, I¡¯m guessing we¡¯re going to be leaving?¡± ¡°Sorry Remus, I didn¡¯t expect to be gone for so long. Certain matters have been keeping me busier than I expected.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, but I hope you have a plan at least. You are a wanted person you know. Staying here isn¡¯t an option now. The people here would gladly harbor you, but I fear for their safety should we do so.¡± ¡°We¡¯re headed towards Myrkvior. Matt wants to investigate something there and I¡¯m guessing the church doesn¡¯t have much influence there.¡± ¡°That is true but there is a good reason why though. That place is full of dangerous monsters and the few people that do live there aren¡¯t really known for their hospitality.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a risk we''ll have to take. Anywhere safe is going to have more people looking for us. The good news is that I think I have a plan to help us when we are traveling.¡± ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll let the owner of this place know of our plans to depart. She said she wanted to offer you something as a token of goodwill.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t say. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Elizabeth comes out with our few belongings. I help her load them into the cart as I see a woman walking towards us. She is a wolf dressed in a beautiful robe and she is carrying a bundle in her arms as she approached me. ¡°Hello divine one my name is Lupa, and t was an honor to have you stay with us. As a gift to keep you safe on your journey I would like to offer you this.¡± She then unwraps the bundle to reveal a bow. But, when I study it better I see that it looks almost exactly like the bow from Lyn¡¯s memories. ¡°Its name is Mulagir, and it is an ancient bow that helped defend these lands. I would like you to have it to defend yourself during your travels. May it help guide you on your journey.¡± ¡°Thank you, I don¡¯t know what to say.¡± As I grab the bow my hand brushes against hers and I see a young girl looking up to a tall man during a large festival. Snow is lightly falling around them all while laughter is heard all around. I can¡¯t name the place but the people and the leader remind me of Jacob. Did she know I was part wolf or was it because I was a divine? I look up at her and swear I see a look of pride on her face as I take the bow. ¡°Stay safe young pup, there are many dangers yet to come on the coming road ahead.¡± She then turns and leaves as I try to grasp what had just been exchanged. John stands next to me looking at the bow. ¡°That sure was nice of her. This bow looks really well made. You ready to go?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was just surprised that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°She definitely was a beautiful woman. We¡¯ll have to properly thank her the next time we come back here.¡± We then all get in the wagon as Remus guides the cart out of town. I test my illusion powers to mask our cart as it leaves to garner less attention. Feeling that I have an extraordinary larger amount of mana than I did previously. With it taking almost no effort to fully cloak the whole cart in a subtle illusion. When we exit the town though Remus asks us a question. ¡°Do any of you have good night vision?¡± Teage sits up at that looking at Remus. ¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡± ¡°You mind taking the reins then. I can teach you as we go, but I¡¯d feel better if someone could both see the road ahead and drive.¡± I¡¯m confused as he says this as I didn¡¯t know he had good night vision. But I guess it¡¯s a racial trait of dwarfs or something. Watching the hills go by I see some animals wandering the dark plains as the wind flows across the plains like a wave. I feel a sense of calm as we make our way north. As things are calm and quiet. Well, I say quiet, but the others are still messing around in the dark. ¡°Briana, come here I want to hold you!¡± ¡°Let me go Elizabeth!¡± ¡°But you¡¯re so soft! Can¡¯t I use your tail as a pillow?¡± ¡°NO my body is not a pillow!¡± ¡°Quiet down you two. You¡¯re both distracting me up here.¡± Matt chops Elizabeth lightly on the head and she grumbles before finally leaving me alone. John is sharpening his sword as the moonlight reflects off his blade. He sheaths it after he is happy with his job and turns to Matt. ¡°So this Myrkvior. What is this place like Matt?¡± ¡°It''s a home to both elves and ancient creatures. The nature mist of the forest and the dangerous creatures that live within it deter outsiders. Within this place, the elves have made a home high in the trees. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I think I studied with the elders in magic and was sent off to explore the world and gain new knowledge for our kind. It is considered an honor as few are ever chosen, but when I left I was soon caught in something and all I remember after that is being chained to Briana.¡± ¡°So not much.¡± ¡°Unfortunately yes, all I know is some vague ideas of what awaits us and I hope that with time maybe more will come to me.¡± Teage looks disappointed but doesn¡¯t press him further. He turns to the side and picks up the bow I was given before we left inspecting it. ¡°I wonder why that woman wanted you to have this bow?¡± ¡°I think it has something to do with my lineage.¡± ¡°Lineage? What, were you related to her in some way?¡± ¡°Possibly.¡± Elizabeth looked as confused as Teage turning to me. ¡°How is that possible?¡± ¡°My father is apparently the leader of a tribe of wolves in the north. I¡¯m his bastard daughter after Velouria seduced him apparently.¡± John laughs as I say it out loud. ¡°So, your not part dragon also are you?¡± ¡°I sure hope not, I¡¯m having a hard enough time keeping up with this.¡± ¡°Well, you sense anything from this bow?¡± Teage hands me the bow and I hold it inspecting the craftsmanship. It seems to have an intrinsic design carved into it. For what purpose I¡¯m not sure. I pull the handle of my sword out a bit and soon Lyn appears next to me. ¡°Know anything about this bow Lyn?¡± Matt looks confused as I say this. ¡°Who are you talking to. No one here is named Lyn.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a spirit that lives in my sword.¡± This reminds me of my daily life and talking to these guys. People thought I was going crazy before I realized it. Luckily they believed it was just a phase with imaginary friends. ¡°Is there any way to make it to where they can see you Lyn.¡± ¡°If you add some mana into the blade I think I¡¯d have enough energy to properly manifest I believe.¡± Got plenty of that. I add some mana to the sword and Lyn appears sitting next to me. ¡°See here she is.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all.¡± ¡°The pleasure is all mine Lyn.¡± Ignoring John I show Lyn the bow and she slowly inspects it running her hands over the engravings. ¡°It¡¯s Mulagir! How did you find it! I thought this was lost in the battle. To think it survived all these years!¡± ¡°So what exactly is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a special bow that enchants arrows with the speed and power to pierce dragons. I was entrusted with it by the elders as the chosen leader of our people to lead our people against the invading dragons. When I ran out of arrows I had no choice but to discard it and pick up my Sol Katti.¡± John looks interested and points at the sword I have behind me. ¡°Sol Katti is that the sword Briana is using right now?¡± ¡°No, that is the Mani Katti it is a sister sword to the Sol Katti. Though a strong a sharp blade it isn¡¯t made for slaying dragons like its counterpart.¡± ¡°That reminds me, do any of us even have arrows to use the bow?¡± I turn to Matt and realize he was right we didn¡¯t have any which just made this bow a fancy piece of wood. ¡°Either way it should come in handy in the future when we find some arrows.¡± ¡°Well, now that we have some time to ourselves how about we get to know each other Lyn. Your company would be an oasis in the desert that is my heart.¡± Why did he have to act so cringy? He did realize she is dead right. ¡°I¡¯m flatter but you do realize I¡¯m dead right?¡± ¡°We both are my love, lost souls cast into the wind finding each other by the luck of God himself.¡± My heart sunk as he said this. I never really thought about it but are they actually dead? Having no body except for when we came here they really were no different were they. Elizabeth, on the other hand, smacked him over the head and he holds it while she starts yelling at him. ¡°We aren¡¯t dead you dolt. One day we¡¯ll have our own bodies I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°But he does bring up a good point, doesn¡¯t he? I mean are we dead or in some kind of limbo.¡± Matt had a point we hadn¡¯t really thought about it that much but does this mean?¡± ¡°Does that make me a necromancer?¡± Elizabeth comes over to pet me. Trying to reassure me everything is fine. ¡°Of course not! These idiots just want to stir things up when they shouldn¡¯t.¡± I try not to think about it and watch the countryside pass by. The rolling plains are decorated with the occasional animals and people traveling across the rolling grass. The rising sun being blocked by the occasional cloud sparing us from the sun¡¯s harsh gaze. John keeps trying to hit on Lyn but she just ignores him as she stares out at the plains. I swear I saw a smile on her lips as she looked out. Probably happy that her efforts to preserve this land succeeded in protecting its beauty and people. Matt thankfully tried to divide John¡¯s attention but was only mildly successful. Elizabeth kept rubbing up against me to the point that I decided to play a trick on her and use an illusion on her to think she was petting me a good distance from me. The others gave her weird looks but I think they understood what was happening and I was glad to not have her all over me. Teage looked to have also gotten better at driving the wagon but we still had Remus take over once the sun had risen high enough for him to see. On the whole, the ride was enjoyable and by afternoon we had risen to the top of a small hill and I swore I could see large trees in the distance. ¡°Well how about we give the horses a break and have some lunch.¡± I was about to agree with him when all of a sudden I felt something hit my chest but looking around I couldn¡¯t see anything. I then felt something repeatedly rubbing my shoulder and a message appeared. ¡®Body is being messed with. Logout it highly suggested.¡¯ ¡°Sorry Remus got to go I promise we¡¯ll be back by tonight. ¡®Logout¡¯ Everything fades away and I see Jack on top of me shaking me. I shove him off and he lands on the floor. I take off my helmet and set it to the side before turning to him. ¡°What the heck is wrong with you Jack!¡± His ears lie flat as he looks at me. ¡°But you weren¡¯t waking up. What is that thing anyway.¡± He points at my helmet but I ignore his hand and stand up making my way to the door. ¡°If you want to wake me up you can gently shake me awake instead of trying to ride me like a horse!¡± Opening the door I see Evelyn with a mischievous grin on her face. I quickly spawn a body double before diving out of the way just in time to see my double being carried off into the sky. Jack is running straight after her and tackles Evelyn as she goes out an open window and they bow tumble to the ground. Sure glad that wasn¡¯t the real me. I then see Azalea down the hall with a concerned look on her face at what I guess is her seeing me falling with them. ¡°Azalea I¡¯m fine that wasn¡¯t me.¡± She turns to see me on the floor and comes over quickly to help me up. ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re okay. But how are you here? I saw you go out the window with Evelyn.¡± ¡°Kitsune are illusionists. I just played a little trick on them.¡± Looking outside I saw the ¡®three¡¯ of them being separating by rising roots from the ground and Ms. Oak appearing in front of them. I then cancel my illusion before turning to Azalea. ¡°Let me guess it¡¯s time for dinner? Let¡¯s go before they come looking for me.¡± ¡°I think they have a lecture to sit through first so you don¡¯t have to worry. Her lectures are quite long.¡± Azalea starts to walk ahead and I catch up with her. ¡±That¡¯s comforting to know at least. I¡¯ll have to make sure to lock my door next time so that they can¡¯t get in.¡± As I walk with her to the cafeteria I see her looking me up and down. I¡¯m kinda confused and off put by it. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that Azalea? Is something wrong?¡± ¡°Oh, no, it¡¯s just, you don¡¯t have any other clothes to wear right. So I was just thinking if any of my old clothes might fit you, and any possible alterations I¡¯ll need to make due to your physiology.¡± ¡°My what?¡± ¡°Your body, though, I might have to make you some from scratch. I don¡¯t think our proportions are close enough.¡± ¡°But, we¡¯re roughly the same size though.¡± ¡°I also think that the colors I wore won¡¯t match well with your colors. Besides, it¡¯ll give me more practice so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t need something custom fit. I just need some basics. I found a way to change back so I was planning on going back to being Brenner tomorrow.¡± She stopped and turned around looking at me confused. ¡°Wait! You can turn back!¡± I stop in surprise before nodding. ¡°Yeah, it takes a lot of magic to maintain, but -¡° ¡°No!¡± I¡¯m taken aback by the sudden outburst as she continues to talk. ¡°I mean, this is your true form isn¡¯t it? Why do want to change back so soon.¡± She was right, why did I want to go back to that form. I mean this is my true form. But, when I think of my family and I look at my current form it feels wrong. ¡°I feel like it¡¯s unfair to my parents.¡± She seems confused for a second not sure what I mean before she realizes what I mean. ¡°That¡¯s right, your parents don¡¯t know about this do they.¡± ¡°No, and I¡¯m conflicted about what to do. I have two lives and I want to live both of them but I know I can¡¯t.¡± She doesn¡¯t know what to say for a second before she responds. ¡°You could at least try to get used to your true form. I mean you lived your whole life as someone else so why not enjoy being you. I mean nothing says you have to stay like this when you see your family.¡± I nod as I understand she is right. I guess it¡¯ll take some time to come to terms with it though. ¡°Besides, I can¡¯t lose my muse now can I.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I have some ideas I¡¯ve wanted to try out and I think they¡¯ll look great on you!¡± Oh, that¡¯s what she meant. Am I really that great of a muse though? We then made our way to the cafeteria and had dinner. When we had finished I saw Evelyn and Jack finally come in looking at the floor tired from their lecture. I gladly slipped away before they could notice. Azalea then asked for some measurements so she could begin making my clothes. She also handed me a few simple dresses after quickly altering them so I¡¯d have something to wear for tonight and tomorrow. I thanked her before making my way to my room and adding the dresses to my wardrobe. It felt wrong looking at them in contrast to my bigger clothes. I changed clothes before jumping on my bed turning to my helmet. As I reached for it I heard a knock on the door and I bolt up running to the door to see who it is. I open the door a peak to see Ms. Oak standing there with a basket in her hands. ¡°Hello Briana, all settled in? I got you this since it looked like you had packed in a hurry.¡± I opened the door all the way as I accepted the basket to find it full of toiletries. There were towels, soap, and an assortment of other goods, and by the looks of it, it is all handmade. ¡°The girls¡¯ bathroom is on the left and the guys¡¯ bathroom is on the right. Also, you don¡¯t have to worry about Evelyn. I¡¯ll make sure she stays out of the bathroom while you¡¯re bathing.¡± ¡°Thank you, it will be nice to know I won¡¯t have to watch my back.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a handful I¡¯ll give you that, but she¡¯s a good kid. That goes for Jack too, they just need to learn to calm down. Have a goodnight Briana.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Taking the basket I made my way to the bathroom and found it to be situated like a dorm bathroom with individual showers. After taking a shower, and figuring out how to wear a towel correctly as a girl. I laid out on my bed refreshed. Now let¡¯s go see what exactly Myrkvior has inside its deep forests. Maybe it¡¯ll help explain my ¡®companions¡¯ situation better. Chapter 24 Bandits, Mutants, and Anarchists OH MY! ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± John looked perplexed on how we should proceed and I couldn¡¯t blame him. ¡°I don¡¯t know, we need to go inside but ¡­¡± Even Matt who had told us to come here didn¡¯t have an answer. ¡°Maybe we could go around?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how large this place is Elizabeth. Also, I doubt it will be different elsewhere. Are there even any towns inside Myrkvior Remus?¡± ¡°Not that I know of. I¡¯ve never visited this place before though.¡± I look back at the large forest in front of us not sure what to do. The trees stood a good 100 meters tall and the ground was filled with thick undergrowth that prevented our cart from proceeding. So we were now trying to think of what to do next as we needed to enter the forest but there didn¡¯t seem to be a way for our cart to do so. ¡°Maybe we should ditch the cart?¡± ¡°Are you a dolt John! There is no way we can leave our gold behind!¡± I had to agree with Teage. I didn¡¯t want to leave our money but when considering how we¡¯d carry it. I couldn¡¯t think of a way that didn¡¯t involve breaking our backs carrying it. I have an idea but I doubt it¡¯ll work. ¡°Hey Matt, why don¡¯t you try talking to the trees.¡± ¡°Talk to the trees? I can¡¯t talk to trees you know this Briana.¡± ¡°Well, at least put your hand against one of them. Maybe it will trigger a memory or something.¡± Matt shakes his head as he walks up to one of the trees and puts his hand against it. He holds up his hand to the tree for a while to no avail. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything, I told you this stupid.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you elves supposed to be one with nature or something? Maybe they rejected you because they thought you were too much of a hardass.¡± Elizabeth looks annoyed by Teage remark before giving her own advice. ¡°Maybe you could release some of your mana into the tree. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to try would it?¡± Matt turns back to the tree and after a minute I swear I see the trees sway with a sense of purpose that wasn¡¯t there before. ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°I can sense the forest. It keeps saying ¡®welcome back¡¯. I don¡¯t understand what it means but ¡­ there is something else. I think it¡¯s ¡­¡± He scrunches his face trying to do something before he turns to us in terror. ¡°Run! We need to get out of here!¡± He runs to the wagon while we stand there confused. Teage stands firmly in place as he watches Matt run by. ¡°Why are you running. Are the trees calling you names?¡± ¡°THERE IS A HORDE OF MONSTERS COMING! WE NEED TO RUN!¡± As the words escape his mouth the ground starts to shake and it takes us a minute to fully take in what is happening as we all bolt for the wagon. But before we can reach it I turn to see a wave of large monsters crash through the trees. Looking at them they look like a mix between hammerhead and triceratops. Crashing through the smaller undergrowth with no effort. Looking at the horde of monsters though I see a man on top of one of the beasts wielding a large sword. ¡°Come on kid stop staring and get in!¡± I feel something pull me up by cloak and I land in the cart as we pull away from the fight as fast as possible. We are to slow as one of them notices us and breaks off to target us. ¡°Guys we might have a problem.¡± ¡°What is it kid!¡± Teage is driving the cart as Remus starts chanting something which I can only guess is some kind of defensive spell. ¡°We have one following us. Anyone got any ideas on how to kill this thing?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just create an illusion for it to follow?¡± I turn to John and it takes me a second to realize he actually was giving a good idea. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best but I ain¡¯t promising anything.¡± I then do my best to try to create carts around us breaking off to lure the beast away. The monster doesn¡¯t follow them with its eyes dead set on us. Elizabeth looks scared as it quickly is gaining on us. ¡°Why is it still following us!¡± ¡°I¡¯m still not that good at this, and it is already focused on us so it¡¯s making it harder.¡± I pull my sword out as I try to steady my frayed nerves. ¡°You think this sword can cut that thing Lyn.¡± ¡°It should be able to penetrate its armor, but I doubt -¡± Teage interrupts looking at me with concern. ¡°What are you planning on doing lass. It better not be something stupid!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have anything else up our sleeves, do we. Wish me luck!¡± ¡°Briana don¡¯t!¡± I jump off the back of the cart tossing my cloak off as I feel it being torn off by Elizabeth. I soar through the air as time feels like it begins to slow around me. ¡®Flash step¡¯ I grasp Mani Katti tightly as I move through the air to soar over its head and try to thrust my sword deep into it¡¯s back. The sword penetrates but only up to a third enters its body as I get dragged back by the force. My arms scream from the impact as I try to steady myself, but before I can I feel myself being tossed from side to the side. I guess this guy really doesn¡¯t want me on his back. I create an illusion of me falling off it¡¯s back and it calms down for a second before crushing the clone with enough force to cause a small crater to appear. I better not screw up or I¡¯m definitely dead. I use the time I created to balance myself and get a good grip on my blade. As it snorts in triumph I pull the sword out before plunging it back in till it¡¯s three-fourths of the way in. It screams in pain as it tosses me from side to side. Blood gushes from the wound all over me as I keep hold of my blade for dear life. It would be a battle of stamina attrition and I had no idea which of us held the advantage. I forced my body to endure the pain as my whole body felt it was on fire. It was also becoming hard to properly breath causing my already overworked body to scream for more oxygen I failed to gather. As body feels like it¡¯s about to falter I feel a fast projectile pierce the creature and suddenly it stops trying to shake me off before slumping down to the ground, presumably dead. I pull the sword out freeing the blade before tumbling off the side of the monster in sheer exhaustion. I lie in the cool grass as I laboriously take in deep breaths. I struggle to get to my feet having to use my blade as a crutch. Turning to where the projectile had been shot I see a man holding a bow pointed in my direction with a scowl on his face. ¡°What¡¯s a kitsune like you doing around here!¡± I can only raise one hand in surrender as I use the other to keep myself up. ¡°Thank you for the help, but look I don¡¯t know what I did wrong here. Why are you aiming that thing at me?¡± ¡°Cause your kind always causes trouble wherever they go!¡± Great my reputation already precedes me due to my ancestors, great. ¡°Drop the weapon long ears!¡± I turn to see everyone armed facing the man. With Teage up front yelling at the man. ¡°What are you doing so far from the mountains dwarf. You lost?¡± ¡°Enough you two, put down your weapon. We don¡¯t mean you any harm, but if you continue to target our companion we won¡¯t hesitate to retaliate in kind.¡± The man ignores Matt¡¯s words but stares him down almost as if trying to place him. ¡°Words aren¡¯t going to convince this guy Matt he-¡± ¡°MATT!¡± He instantly disarms his bow and throws it to the ground and rushes towards Matt to all of our confusion. Embracing him in a large hug that surprises all of us. ¡°Brother! Where have you been all this time? We hadn¡¯t heard anything from you for so long. We thought you were dead.¡± Brother? No, it can¡¯t be, can it? ¡°You know Matt?¡± ¡°Of course, how could I forget my older brother!¡± Matt looks stunned, not sure how to respond to this person who he knows nothing about. It reminds me of when I met Velouria for the first time. ¡°Is there something wrong Matt?¡± ¡°I ¡­ I ¡­¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us you had a younger brother earlier Matt? He could have helped us find a safe way inside Myrkvior.¡± I facepalmed my head at her idiocy. ¡°He doesn¡¯t remember everything remember Elizabeth.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± ¡°Wait, you lost your memory Matt?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on over here prince Innes?¡± ¡°Ah, Blake, did you finish taking care of those monsters?¡± ¡°Sure did, the crew is dismantling them for parts now. Luckily there were no casualties so we will be able to move out soon.¡± Blake stood tall above me carrying a large sword still cover in splotches of blood from his fight. But, it couldn¡¯t be that Blake could it? ¡°Blake? The leader of the Savage Wolves!¡± ¡°Yeah, who¡¯s asking? I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve never met you before.¡± As I am about to open my mouth I slowly start to realize that maybe it¡¯d be better if I don¡¯t tell him my name. My companions can¡¯t say my name that he remembers me by so I should be able to deceive him. ¡°His appearance is a bit different but you don¡¯t recognize your best friend?¡± Well, there goes that idea thanks to Elizabeth. Even if they can¡¯t say my other name they can still insinuate that I¡¯m that person. ¡°Is that really you Brenner? Is this why you didn¡¯t want to hook up, or did those girls turn you into this or something.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®curse¡¯ that I got. Please, just, don¡¯t ask me about it.¡± ¡°But why not? I bet it¡¯s one heck of a story.¡± ¡°It is, but I think you¡¯re still on the clock big guy.¡± I gesture to Innes who went back to hugging Matt. They were both talking to each other but Matt just looked totally lost on how to react. ¡°I think he has other things on his mind right now. Didn¡¯t know he had a brother though. How¡¯d you even find that guy.¡± ¡±We just, sorta met.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve really kept yourself busy, haven¡¯t you. Is this what you¡¯ve been doing at this new school of yours? I¡¯ve tried calling you but you haven¡¯t been picking up. I was worried when you suddenly hung up on me yesterday.¡± Yesterday? It¡¯s felt like months have passed. ¡°No, it¡¯s just free time so I just got on earlier. I got to the place yesterday just fine. Turns out those hummers were just chasing the wrong person.¡± He looked at me with doubt in his eyes and all I could do was look away in shame. ¡°Look I¡¯ll tell you everything later. I just, can¡¯t right now.¡± ¡°Fine, but you will tell me, and don¡¯t skimp on the details.¡± A little fibbing between the lines will probably work to satisfy him. ¡°But what I want to know is who is this beautiful young lady behind you?¡± ¡°Who Elizabeth?¡± I gestured towards her as she turned away from Blake slightly blushing. ¡°Is she a demi-lizard or something? I haven¡¯t seen anyone like her before!¡± ¡°She¡¯s supposed to be a dragon, but I have my doubts. She doesn¡¯t really act like one.¡± Elizabeth looks offended by my comment as she turns to me. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not a nice thing to say!¡± ¡°Well, you aren¡¯t really the spitting image of what I¡¯d call a dragon.¡± ¡°Just because I can¡¯t spew fire doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t spew a beautiful healing ballad for all to enjoy!¡± ¡°Yeah, not really the first thing you think of when you hear the word dragon is she. Well if she really can heal with her voice would it be to much to ask if she could help my men. There were a few minor injuries and like I said we are a little short on healers who can properly treat them.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be my pleasure sir Blake! Come on John we have an audience to meet.¡± ¡°Why do you need me to come with you?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s going to escort a fair maiden such as myself when everyone is so busy.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re anything but a ¡®fair maiden¡¯ lass.¡± Elizabeth stomps on Teage¡¯s foot and he stumbled back cursing as John offers her his arm. ¡°Well, I would be honored to escort such a pretty lady such as yourself.¡± They then went off to help the wounded while Teage nursed his swelling foot. Blake gave a short chuckle before turning back to me. ¡°She sure has a temper of a dragon though I¡¯ll give her that. Almost like someone else I know.¡± ¡°Haha, very funny. But what are you even doing here though.¡± ¡°The Royal Family,¡± He gestures towards Innes. ¡°They¡¯re asking for people to help them clear out ¡®Bandit, mutants, and anarchists¡¯ from the Myrkvior Exclusion Zone.¡± ¡°Exclusion Zone? What is that?¡± ¡°Something about some kind of temporal anomaly or some crap. It¡¯s been messing with the area causing everything to become more hostile or something. We¡¯re getting paid to help clear the surrounding areas. We just didn¡¯t expect to run into those things.¡± He gestures to the weird hybrid behind us. ¡°Didn¡¯t think we¡¯d been herded this far out of the forest though.¡± ¡°Blake we are going to have to cut our excursion short. I must deliver the news that our brother has returned to my sister ASAP.¡± Innes is back to looking serious again as he addresses Blake. ¡°Sure thing boss we¡¯ll be ready to leave within the hour.¡± He saluted Innes as he walked off before turning back to me. ¡°We could use your help if you would care to join us.¡± Innes hears this and quickly turns back around. ¡°We are not bringing this trickster back with us. You can¡¯t trust these conniving foxes. They¡¯ll take you for everything you¡¯ve got!¡± Matt quickly moves between the two of us and faces Innes down. ¡°Prince Innes, I¡¯m afraid we are a package. If she can¡¯t come I won¡¯t come.¡± Teage stands by his side with a stupid grin on his face. I have a feeling he doesn¡¯t like this guy as much as I do. ¡°You heard the lad prince. It¡¯s all of us or none of us.¡± He grimaces in disgust before turning away and going back to his duties. ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t expect our sister to show the same kind of compassion as I¡¯m willing to give.¡± As he walks away Blake looks confused at why Innes was acting the way he was. ¡°What did you do to piss him off. I haven¡¯t seen him get that angry for no apparent reason.¡± ¡°My race just has a bad reputation for being tricksters and pranksters. I don¡¯t think he has anything against me specifically.¡± ¡°Well anyways, glad to be working with you as a provisional member of the Savage Wolves.¡± ¡°I guess that makes us provisional members as well lad. We are a package after all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor to work with you then. Name¡¯s Blake, thank you for looking after this little rascal for me.¡± He offered his hand to Teage and they shook with a crazy grin of on their faces. ¡°Aye she is one vibrant rascal alright, but she¡¯s a good lass.¡± I wasn¡¯t that much of a pain to deal with guys come on. ¡°Just because I¡¯m smaller now doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t beat you down to size.¡± ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to take you up on your offer of a duel. We¡¯ve got work to do provisional members. Get ready to move out, once we get back to the base camp we can share a round of drinks and you,¡± He points at me. ¡°Are going to tell me this story you keep trying to hide from me.¡± ¡°Alright, I get the point. You better be paying at the very least.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep the drinks coming until you tell me everything don¡¯t you worry. Now, come on enough chatter for now.¡± We were walking over when we noticed everyone was congregating near Elizabeth who singing seemed to have mesmerized the whole group. Innes looked scared though for some reason. ¡°What are you louts doing over here. I thought I told you to get to work. We¡¯re on the clock people.¡± Everyone seemed to snap out of it except for the injured and Blake went over to Innes who still stood there scared. ¡°What¡¯s wrong boss, it looks like you¡¯ve seen a ghost.¡± ¡°I have she¡¯s the second one today. Now we¡¯ve really got to get back to Base Camp. Tell everyone we¡¯re moving out as soon as the injured are ready. Don¡¯t worry about the materials. I¡¯ll compensate you for it all when we get back. Just make sure this woman makes it back no matter what. She has higher priority than even me, is that clear Blake?¡± ¡°Yes sir? But, what¡¯s the matter, why is she so important boss?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, just make sure she makes it back to my sister, is that clear!¡± ¡°Yeah, crystal clear boss.¡± Blake looked unsure what to make of the orders but went about establishing a bodyguard unit for Elizabeth. We were tasked with defending her and were slowly making our way back. After collecting our supplies from our wagon. Blake lent us a bag of holding to borrow until we got back to base camp. He said it wasn¡¯t a problem to use it rather than leaving it empty on the trip back. Thus we made our way into the forest with one of Blake¡¯s men carrying a flashing lantern ahead of us. It would change color whenever we encountered an anomaly. Blake said they were agitated spirits that had gone mad. He didn¡¯t know how much of it was true though as this was only what he¡¯d been hearing from others. There was also the occasional mutant attacks but they were just these mangy looking dogs that offered little resistance to Blake¡¯s men. ¡°How much farther is it?¡± ¡°Stop asking every ten minutes Elizabeth. We might get there faster if you do. Why do you even keep asking so much? You weren¡¯t this annoying on the cart.¡± ¡°But we weren¡¯t in some dangerous forest where danger is around every corner.¡± ¡°FREEZE BUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR FOX!¡± I looked up to find that we were surrounded by elven arches and I annoyingly raised my hands in surrender. ¡°Great timing Elizabeth, where was your foresight earlier.¡± ¡°QUIET FOX!¡± I was worried one of them might have an itching trigger hand but Innes stepped out to address the guards. ¡°Let the fox through, I¡¯m making a special exception for this one. Runner, let the camp know that Prince Matt has returned and that I need an audience with my sister immediately.¡± They all looked confused before realization finally hit them and smiles spread across their faces. They then all saluted us after sending a runner ahead. ¡°Welcome back prince Matt! We¡¯re glad you made it back safe. We were beginning to fear for the worst.¡± ¡°Well, I made it back. Keep up the good work men.¡± Matt still looked unsure about how e was supposed to act, but the guards didn¡¯t seem to notice. ¡°Yes sir!¡± A few minutes later we found ourselves on the outskirts of a large military encampment. With large groups of people shuffling supplies and materials around. Blake excused most of his men as we made our way towards the center of the camp. ¡°Things look quite busy here. What''s going on?¡± ¡°They just advanced their FOB (Forward Operations Base) a few days ago. It¡¯s why we came out here in the first place. Right now things are going smoothly but that could change at a moment''s notice with all the things that live within this place.¡± As we made it to the center of the camp I was a small guard surrounding a large tent. When they noticed Innes they parted for us allowing us inside. Right outside the entrance Innes turned to us. ¡°All I need are Matt and Elizabeth. The rest of you are free to go, and I better not hear anything about you causing us any trouble fox or I¡¯ll be the first one to put you down.¡± ¡°Brother, I ask that you allow Briana to join us. It will make certain things easier to explain.¡± Innes looked conflicted but waved me inside as well after a few seconds. ¡°Fine but I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be happy about this.¡± Blake waved us off as we entered the tent. ¡°Meet me at the 100 Rads Bar when you three finish. You aren¡¯t getting out of our story time. Got it Brenner?¡± ¡°Yeah I get it, we¡¯ll meet you there.¡± We then walked past the guards into the tent. But I had to keep myself calm as I felt the guards¡¯ eyes bore deeply into me in suspicion. What the heck had my species done to these people? Inside the tent, a woman was yelling at some men while standing around a table which I guessed had a map of the area on top of it. I couldn¡¯t see what was on it as I was to short. The men around her looked scared and exhausted as they talked with who I had to guess was Innes older sister. ¡°Have Yurik investigate this area for anomalies. We¡¯ll need this sector secured if we want to push further in.¡± ¡°But that area is crawling with bandits. They have that area trapped from top to bottom.¡± ¡°Fine then have Seriy¡¯s ranger group join them as forward recon.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t be ready for another op for at least four hours. They¡¯re exhausted and only just got back a couple hours ago.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, if we don¡¯t clear out this area quickly they¡¯ll reinforce their positions and cause us more trouble. Tell them they have an hour to get ready for the op.¡± Innes then spoke up with a nervous look on his face. Even he was scared of his own sister. I¡¯m not looking forward to this at all now. ¡°Queen Tana, there is something that requires our immediate attention.¡± ¡°Innes? Oh, your back, if it¡¯s about Matt I heard about that from the runner. I will meet you in my quarters in a minute.¡± She waved us off with her left arm while keeping her face directed at the map clearly enveloped on whatever was in front of her. ¡°This is urgent, and is not just about our brother.¡± ¡°Fine what is it? Make it quick I¡¯m busy here.¡± She turned to face us and I was shocked at what I saw. Her right arm was missing with a cloak covering up the missing appendage. While the right side of her face looked to have been boiled off. Covered only by an eyepatch that did little to hide the extent of the damage. Not exactly the first thing I expected to see when he called her a Queen. ¡°A FOX! WHY DID YOU BRING THIS THING HERE!¡± ¡°I will explain sister but I must recommend we talk about this in your quarters.¡± She looked pissed but waved off the people behind her. ¡°That¡¯ll be all for now. Come back here at the end of the evening meal is that understood.¡± ¡°Yes your highness.¡± They then all left and she led the way deeper into the tent to what I had to guess where her quarters. It was a simple accommodation with a bed in the corner while a smaller table with more maps and reports laid on top took up the center of the room. ¡°So what is this matter that requires my ¡®IMMEDIATE¡¯ attention!¡± ¡°I believe we found the dragon¡¯s missing princess Tana.¡± At this, she looked Elizabeth in greater scrutiny. ¡°Bullshit! She died years ago. How the hell is she that bastard¡¯s daughter!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know myself but her powers are the real thing I can assure you of that.¡± ¡°Fine, then how about we test these powers of hers then. You, sing.¡± She pointed at Elizabeth who stood there shocked for a moment. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Cat got your scaly tongue dragon?¡± ¡°No, I was just unprepared is all.¡± ¡°Well hurry up then. I don¡¯t got all day.¡± Elizabeth then took a deep breath and began to sing filling the small room with her beautiful voice. Tana though snarled in pain as she grabbed at her face. Innes looks panicked and Elizabeth stops singing as he rushed towards Tana. But, she barks out at him as she speaks through the pain. ¡°I¡¯m fine! Her powers, they are definitely the real deal.¡± She removed her hand and I could see parts that looked better than before. ¡°We¡¯ll need to contact the dragon¡¯s representative. Make sure they know we weren¡¯t hiding anything. We¡¯ll let her go with them as soon as they send a delegation.¡± That¡¯s not good we might be in big trouble. ¡°That might be a problem.¡± She stares me down with her one good eye and I instantly regret saying that. ¡°What did you do kitsune? If you¡¯ve done something to this woman we¡¯re all dead!¡± She lunges towards me and lifts me up by my neck. ¡°Tana stop! ¡®cough cough¡¯ She can explain!¡± She drops me to the floor and I take deep breaths as I feel a kick to my side. ¡°Speak up then! OUT WITH IT!¡± Elizabeth rushs to my side clutching her side pleading with Tana. ¡°Stop it! She¡¯s keeping us alive! If you hurt her, you hurt us all!¡± ¡°WHAT!¡± ¡°She¡¯s telling the truth Tana.¡± Matt speaks up and comes to my side as well. ¡°We¡¯re only here because of her!¡± ¡°How can you trust this fox! Especially after what happened to our parents! I thought that you of all people would be the most opposed to working with her.¡± ¡°That, is also something I need to tell you. I lost my memory as well.¡± ¡°YOU WHAT! Then does that mean your whole mission was for naught!¡± ¡°What mission?¡± ¡°Nevermind, I should¡¯ve realized that you had forgotten it just now. But,¡± She hugs Matt with her one good arm as he slowly returns the gesture. ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re safe. It was hard enough losing our parents. I¡¯m just glad at the very least we didn¡¯t lose you.¡± She embraced him for quite some time. It looked like she was getting younger with each passing second as the stress seemed to roll off of her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Matt, I should have come looking for you.¡± She brushed her hands through his hair as she leaned against him. ¡°Now, how about you start from the beginning. Innes, you are in charge of planning our ops for now. You keep saying I need to take a break so I¡¯m taking it.¡± ¡°I did, but -¡° ¡°No buts Innes, now get to work! And tell someone to fetch us some refreshments. I won¡¯t have those dragons know I didn¡¯t treat their princess with the greatest hospitality at our disposal you hear?¡± ¡°Right away, but next time. Give me more of a warning next time!¡± Innes then left as she turned towards me with her eye trained directly on me. ¡°So, how did it all begin fox?¡± Chapter 25 A Meeting with Queen Tana John I brush down my horse as Remus takes off the horses equipment. It was calming to do. Remus and I had ridden them when we abandoned the wagon. They were good horses and I hoped we¡¯d have a use for them in the future. I was annoyed though. When Briana jumped at the beast, I was useless. I could only stare as Briana was tossed around like a doll. We were all worthless. I started to space out as I pondered what I could do. She was so burdened and it never felt like there was a place for me to help her. ¡°Something wrong John?¡± ¡°Its nothing, I just wish I wasn¡¯t so worthless.¡± ¡°What makes you say that John. I bet none of your friends think you¡¯re worthless.¡± I finish grooming the horse and set my brush to the side. ¡°I just wish I could help alleviate some of Briana¡¯s problems. She seems so troubled and I can¡¯t figure out how to help her.¡± Remus sets the horses equipment to the side and walks over to me. ¡°Look, John, I won¡¯t lie to you. The tasks and people you are going to encounter will not be easy. Hell, even I¡¯m not sure what awaits you all. But, what you do have is each other. You are all bound to her and to her to you.¡± ¡°But will that always be the case?¡± He pets the horse in front of me and smiles. ¡°Nothing is guaranteed John, but my guess is she won¡¯t ever leave you behind.So, just make sure you don¡¯t leave her and you should be fine.¡± He walks away and I¡¯m left there contemplating his words. I wish we had more answers, but he was right. I just hoped I wouldn¡¯t let her down. Teage ¡°Flush!¡± ¡°Full House! Sorry bud, that pot¡¯s mine!¡± I grab the large pile of gold lying in the middle of the table and sweep my earnings into the bag of holding. ¡°You leaving? Scared you¡¯ll lose the next game!¡± ¡°No, I just don¡¯t want to see you naked.¡± ¡°Hey! I still got more left!¡± ¡°Sorry kid, not interested.¡± The man picked up his cards and threw them in disgust as he picked up and drained his glass before stumbling off. I made my way to the bar to pick up another drink. Hopefully something a bit stronger now that I was done playing. ¡°Barkeep, I¡¯ll take a bottle of your best stuff and something to eat!¡± ¡°All we got is cheap vodka and some handmade smoked sausage. It¡¯s hard enough just keeping this place stocked.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t say that barkeep. Don¡¯t pretend that you don¡¯t like robbing us with your high prices.¡± Blake was drinking a glass at the bar. He looked sad though and his bottle looked to be almost empty. Briana still hadn¡¯t come back with the others yet, but it appears there at least weren¡¯t any further hostilities. I rubbed the spot where the phantom pain had appeared as Barkeep handed me a glass and bottle. ¡°That¡¯ll be one gold.¡± I grunt as I flick him the coin and join Blake at the bar. ¡°You worried about the lass boy?¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m just, I guess I¡¯m a little worried but I know he¡¯s good. I just wish he¡¯d trust his friends a bit more.¡± I pour myself a glass and take a large sig. Barkeep¡¯s stuff might be expensive but it was strong at least. ¡°The lass is just worried about you. She¡¯ll open up with a few drinks of this stuff don¡¯t you worry.¡± ¡°Is it really okay for her to drink though?¡± I turn to see John behind me and turn to Barkeep. ¡°Another glass please!¡± He rolls his eyes before throwing me a glass across the bar. Catching it I fill both of the glasses passing one to John. ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry about it. The lass is old enough.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s only a child!¡± ¡°A little alcohol never hurt anyone John. Now take the glass and stop worrying.¡± John takes the glass and takes a large gulp before spitting it out. ¡°That isn¡¯t water!¡± ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t! You thought I would be drinking water at a bar? Hahaha, you¡¯re more stupid than I thought.¡± He brushed off the insult as he relaxed in his chair. Blake looked at us in curiosity. ¡°So you¡¯re both players right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± John was about to say something but I kick him and he gets the message as he turns away to look at the few girls that populated the bar. ¡°How¡¯d you guys meet Brenner then.¡± ¡°We met the lass when we were traveling the plains. It¡¯s a simple as that. We haven¡¯t been traveling together for long so if you want to hear more you¡¯ll have to wait to hear it from the lass herself.¡± He looked disappointed but didn¡¯t look he expected to hear much else from us. I felt sorry for living to the kid, but that for the lass to talk to him about, not us. Two guards then walked in. Everyone quieted down for a second before returning to their drinks and business. They looked around before making an announcement in the center of the room. ¡°Excuse me, but are the adventures Teage and John present here?¡± I guess something went wrong with the lass. What did she do this time? If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Taking the last swig of my drink I see John approach the men and realize I probably was going to be dragged into this no matter what I did. ¡°Yes sir, my name is John and the dwarf over there is my companion Teage. Is something the matter?¡± ¡°The Queen has requested that both of you are to meet with her immediately.¡± Time to see how big of a mess we¡¯re in now I guess I pocket the Vodka and make my way to the men as I hope the lass is okay. Briana ¡°That¡¯s all I know Queen Tana. I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t explain anything more.¡± She stared me down as she pushed a glass of wine closer to me. I ignore it as I tried to remain calm under her tense gaze. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me. You have no idea how you came to find Matt or Elizabeth here and that they just magically appeared in your head one day. That you are a kitsune from another dimension who is also an adventurer while you were born on this world? Honestly, it feels like you''re just wasting my time here fox.¡± She looks like she doesn¡¯t believe a word I told her. I can¡¯t really blame her, but I at least need her to believe me. If I don¡¯t get her to do that at the very least I might end up in prison or dead. Either is not really a good option at the moment. Come on, save me guys! ¡°It¡¯s true Tana, all of it. We came here because I remembered this place. We were hoping I would be able to remember more, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s still a little hazy.¡± Tana looked at her brother in concern but still turned back to me with her tense gaze. ¡°You sure I can¡¯t just kill her?¡± I¡¯m turned to the side as Elizabeth shields me in her arms. ¡°Of course you can¡¯t! We won¡¯t let you!¡± Although her protection was nice I still felt cramped as she held me tightly in her arms. ¡°Queen Tana the two others you requested us to find are here.¡± ¡°Let them in. I want to see them for myself.¡± Teage and John entered the room with mixed feelings. Teage seated himself in a corner pulling out a bottle of water? While Teage bowed to the Queen. ¡°It is an honor to meet you, your highness. My name is John and I am at your service.¡± ¡°The do me a favor and sit down and shut up.¡± He looked dejected as he sat down next to Matt not sure what to do or say after that. ¡°So Briana, do you know what is in the center of this forest?¡± ¡°No, I do not, we came here to help Matt. We really didn¡¯t know much else other than the fact that he once lived in this forest.¡± Tana took a drink of wine before she started her story. ¡°Our parents were friends with a kitsune. I believe her name was Velouria or something. She had come to visit my parents and they went together with Matt somewhere in the forest. I never found out where though because all I knew was that my parents had somehow died in the forest. Something had appeared and turned the forest into what we know of it today. ¡°Matt and a few guards survived, but they were all heavily injured with Matt being the only one surviving his injuries. I was devastated and never left his side so much so that I neglected the duties that had fallen on me with both of my parents passing. By that time I had acted I was to late.¡± She took another long drink as Matt grabbed his head as if remembering something. ¡°I led a large force deep into the forest to find my parents a month later. But what waited for us was pure hell. The geography and wildlife were distorted beyond recognition and we soon became lost slowly being culled off by this twisted place. I should have tried to contain the situation better.¡± She gestured to her arm as her face grew more and colder. ¡°We were constantly attacked and one day during a battle something ate my arm clean off and threw me backward. A flame then appeared and cooked the wounds stanching the blood loss. But the pain consumed me as I writhed on the ground in pain. I don¡¯t remember much else after that. Someone carried me back to the capital and when I woke up Matt had disappeared.¡± She turned to Matt but failed to look him in the eyes. Out of shame or sadness, I could not tell. ¡°You had left me a note about going to find help, but the years dragged on and I had slowly started to lose hope. But to find out that you were still alive.¡± She wrapped her arm around Matt pulling him closer to her. ¡°I¡¯m just glad to know I didn¡¯t lose you too.¡± Her face loosened as Matt seemed to naturally calm her down. Hopefully, she stayed calm but she did look a bit tipsy. Matt, on the other hand, seemed unsure how to reciprocate the feeling as she was still a stranger to him. ¡°So what the hell does this have to do with us?¡± Of course, Teage here can¡¯t seem to read the mood. Tana grabs a knife resting on the table and inspects it before throwing it into Teage¡¯s shoulder. ¡°YOU BITCH!¡± I jump at Teage ignoring the pain as he rips the knife from his shoulder and charges towards Tana. Two guards appear with bows drawn and John joins me in trying to stop Teage. ¡°Why did you do that he didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± Elizabeth looked appalled at Tana¡¯s attack, but Tana didn¡¯t seem fazed as she continued to drink her wine. ¡°He pissed me off. Besides, you can heal him can¡¯t you.¡± Teage gritted his teeth as he slowly came back to his senses. ¡°LIKE HELL I¡¯M STAYING HERE WITH THIS BITCH I¡¯M LEAVING!¡± Making his way to the doorway Tana makes a motion with her hand and one of the guards hits him on the back of the head knocking him out. I reel in pain and I walk over to him. This woman is crazy! How insane is she! She points at me and they bow aim their bows at me. I freeze in a panic unsure how to respond with John jumping in front to protect me. ¡°You have one month fox. If you can¡¯t figure out what happened in this forest I¡¯ll pry both Matt and Elizabeth out of you no matter what it takes.¡± I really hope that¡¯s just the alcohol talking. If it isn¡¯t then we really will have our hands full. But if this forest has something to do with Matt¡¯s disappearance then maybe we can learn something to shed some light on our situation. ¡°Guards, take them away! Once the dragon has healed the dwarf give them two personal quarters with. One for the women and one for the trash. Matt will be staying in my quarters.¡± They then knock John out before he can react and they begin to drag the two boys out of the room. ¡°I do hope you¡¯ll cooperate with them girls. It would be a shame if you didn¡¯t.¡± She slyly smiles as she twirls another knife in her hand. I look at Matt to look of horror on his face. I felt sorry for him but there was no way I was staying in the same room as this yandere. Sorry Matt, you¡¯re on your own. Elizabeth rushes after Teage and I join her as we escape the room. After she heals Teage they drag them away and we are escorted to an empty tent. Once inside the guards stand sentry outside the tent leaving us alone unsure what the hell we¡¯d gotten ourselves into. ¡®LOG OUT¡¯ I wake up back in bed unsure what my next plans would be. (M) ¡®So apparently I¡¯m the first prince and my sister the Queen is insane and missing an arm!¡¯ (T) ¡®And an eye. She could really use the other to help see her insanity.¡¯ (J) ¡®OH! SICK BURN!¡¯ (E) ¡®Will you guys please take this more seriously! She just tried to kill Teage!¡¯ (M) ¡®I also have a feeling she¡¯ll be pissed about our sudden departure. (B) ¡®Look I can¡¯t deal with this all right now. Just make sure to not piss her off next time Teage.¡¯ (T) ¡®I can¡¯t help it if she can¡¯t take an insult. She needs to learn to grow up.¡¯ (M) ¡®Honestly, I think she has grown up more than you. Just not in the right way.¡¯ I roll out of bed and take out my Brenner clothes. (B) ¡®Guess I¡¯ll need to make a phone call to Blake and apologize for missing our meeting.¡¯ (E) ¡®You mean your date.¡¯ (B) ¡®Look I don¡¯t need that right now okay.¡¯ I transform back into Brenner and put on my clothes. (This sounds so weird) I then open the door to my room and make my way to the phone I had used earlier. The moon lit the way dimly but it still provided enough for me to see the way. Making my way I soon see Ms. Oak along the way. ¡°I see you figured out how to transform back, but you do know you¡¯re breaking curfew right.¡± ¡°I just need to make a phone call. I¡¯ll head back to my room after I¡¯m done.¡± She simply nods and shadows me all the way to the phone. Once I reach it I tap in his cell number and wait for him to pick up. But he must still be in SQO as it sends me to voicemail. ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t make it back to explain everything. Tomorrow at 8 I¡¯ll explain things at 100 rads.¡± I end the call and make my way back to my room but I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Ms. Oak behind me with a menacing look on her face. ¡°Where are you going tomorrow? I don¡¯t know off a place called 100 rads.¡± ¡°It¡¯s in a game a brought with me. He¡¯s a friend of mine.¡± She eased her grip as she patted me on the shoulder. ¡°Just some advice Briana, but some things are better left in the shadows.¡± She then disappears and I continue back to my room. Once inside I change back into Briana and lay in bed hugging my tails thinking about what to do. What was waiting for me in that forest? Answers or just more questions. Chapter 26 Combat Training ¡°Faster kid! Hurry it up, we got three more laps.¡± I regret joining this immensely. ¡°Come on Briana I just lapped you. Pick up the pace or I¡¯ll do it again.¡± Jack laps me with a smile on his face. Taunting me as he showed no fatigue in his stride. I, on the other hand, was winded. The only running I had done in this body was in short bursts. Trying to learn how to run long distance with two tails and shorter legs was a mess. ¡°You look like a dying fish! I¡¯ve seen fawns run better than you!¡± Kill me! I laid sprawled out on the ground sweating as I tried to cool down and catch my breath. ¡°Get up kid. You aren¡¯t going to get any better laying on the ground lass.¡± (B) ¡®This guy feels like Teage as a drill sergeant.¡¯ (T) ¡®I¡¯d expect nothing less from a dwarf lass.¡¯ My ¡®trainer¡¯ was a dwarf named Arcanor. He was the fitness and combat trainer of the place and offered combat training to people that wanted it. Jack had even told me a rumor that he had beat a giant with his bare hands. I¡¯m not sure how much I believe that, but I don¡¯t doubt he could beat me to the ground. ¡°Come on, get up, we¡¯re about to do combat training.¡± Jack who was looking ready to go was standing nearby with a smile on his face. ¡°Ready to go Briana? I won¡¯t go easy on you.¡± I heaved a sigh as I heaved myself up. ¡°Give me a minute, I¡¯m still not used to this body.¡± ¡°The enemy ain¡¯t gonna care lass. Now, prepare yourself!¡± He tosses me a wooden sword and I barely catch it as Jack tenses up ready to jump. ¡°3¡± I jump up to my feet and start casting an illusion spell as he counts down. ¡°2, 1, go!¡± As he jumps at me I cast three illusions that spread out to surround him. It still doesn¡¯t faze him though as he sniffs me out. I have to slide underneath him barely missing his grasp. He spins around as I charge at him with my clones in a straight line. It sounded stupid as they don¡¯t have any force to them, but that isn¡¯t the point. The first one swings and misses but it runs through him causing him to be unprepared for the second swing which still passes through him. He then swings at the third with a smile on his face. ¡°GOT YOU!¡± His hand passes through the mirage and I strike him in the stomach throwing him back. He prepares to jump at me in response but a whistle blows through the air. ¡°First point, Briana. You let your guard down Jack. Just because they aren¡¯t all real doesn¡¯t mean you can let your guard down.¡± ¡°But her smell was on the third one!¡± ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t, she used that one a couple inches in front of her to get you to miss and strike you while you recovered. Just because she is new doesn¡¯t mean you let your guard down or trust your senses. Especially against someone who uses illusions. Now do 100 push-ups and think about what you did.¡± That means I get a break right? ¡°But don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting off easy Briana. That strike was pathetic. I want you to do 100 sword swings.¡± ¡°But I hit him!¡± ¡°Yeah, and you were about to get tackled to the ground if I hadn¡¯t stepped in. Next time I want him wheezing on the ground. Am I understood¡± I sighed as I began my sword swings. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°What was that lass?¡± ¡°YES SIR¡± ¡°Round 2, begin!¡± I charge at him again as he stands his ground. But I don¡¯t change my approach and strike at him with a clone approaching from every angle. He jumps over me and kicks me in the back of the head throwing me to the ground. ¡°First point, Jack. That was pathetic Briana. Follow through with your strike. You left yourself exposed and he used that window to counterattack. 100 sword strikes again Briana. Now, Jack good moves, but I want you to stick on the ground. If she had counterattacked you your options would have been limited. Now 25 up downs Jack hurry it up. ¡°Now for this round, I want you to not use those illusions of yours Briana. You are an illusionist, that means you shouldn¡¯t limit yourself in the way you use your powers. So show me something else.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your problem, not mine lass.¡± Another illusion I could use? I look at the sword in my hand when an idea hits. Let¡¯s just hope this works. I only wish I had the Matti Kati with me. Flash step would be nice to have right about now. ¡°Now, Round 3, begin!¡± Jack charges at me and I charge in as well. I need to finish this fast or he¡¯s just going to overwhelm me with his endurance and strength. I dodge his first punch and use my sword to block a kick that follows shortly after. It pushes me back as I reel from the impact. But I grit my teeth as I swing my sword imbuing it with an illusion. He easily dodges my strike, but he then immediately keeps moving in a random manner. It looked like he was shadow boxing and I smiled as my illusion worked. I continue to push him back. His speed is still making it hard for me to reach him though. He starts to notice that I was making illusionary strikes after a while though. he calms down his attacks and punches at me from time to time as he continues to sniff the air. Realizing that most of my attacks are fake he tanks the few weak hits I make while countering with fast precise strikes. My assault slows though as fatigue starts to eat at my movements. Before I realized it I felt his hand grasp my arm and I¡¯m thrown into the air before hitting the ground on my back. ¡°Second point, Jack. You okay there lass?¡± I lean up as I try to catch my breath. I¡¯m still too weak for what I no doubt will be facing very soon. ¡°Yeah, just catching my breath.¡± Jack offers me his hand and I take it as he helps me up to my feet. ¡°You had me going for a bit there. You just need to gain a little more muscle so your attacks stop feeling like a massage.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if he was complimenting me or insulting me. ¡°Or I could just use a sharper blade.¡± ¡°Enough you two. Good fight, both of you. But you both have a lot more room to improve. For now, go get some lunch you two. Also, Briana, I think Ms. Oak wanted to see you after lunch she didn¡¯t tell me why though.¡± What did she want to see me for? Was this about last night? ¡°That can wait till ¡®after¡¯ lunch now come on Briana. We got to hurry or we¡¯ll be waiting in line!¡± Jack pulls me as I wheeze. ¡°Give, me, a second, to catch, my, breath, Jack.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, do you need a minute?¡± ¡°Just, go on ahead. I¡¯ll, catch up, in a minute.¡± ¡°She sure will. We need to do some introductions after all.¡± I feel Evelyn grab me from behind and tense up as I expect her to jump up into the sky. ¡°Ease up Briana, I¡¯m not going to hurt you or anything. I just wanted to see if your tails were as soft as I remember them being.¡± I feel her grab my tails and yelp in response. ¡°Stop that!¡± ¡°Oh, sensitive are we?¡± ¡°Quit that already!¡± Jack sees Evelyn and tenses up ready to jump. But, Evelyn is using me as a shield and keeps me between him. ¡°Cut it out Evelyn!¡± ¡°Oh, and are you going to make me lover boy?¡± ¡°Will you two knock it off! Or do you two want to have another chat today you two.¡± ¡°NO MAM!¡± They both hurried off as Ms. Oak appears in front of me. ¡°I swear those two really need to learn some manners. But right now we have some training to do. Here, I made you lunch.¡± She hands me a lunch box and I accept it. Opening it up though it¡¯s empty. ¡°Why¡¯d you hand me an empty lunch box?¡± I look up at her but she simply gestures at the lunch box. ¡°Look again.¡± Looking inside I see the lunch and looking back up I see her sitting down in a chair drinking some tea. ¡°Eat up, it¡¯s real.¡± I look down at the lunch and back up and now she¡¯s reading a book. As I stare in confusion I feel a tap on my shoulder. ¡°Illusions can take many forms Briana. Now, I won¡¯t ask what you are doing in your free time, but you¡¯ve been using a lot of mana, haven¡¯t you. That ¡®game¡¯ you¡¯ve been playing. I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s not just some simulation is it, and since it is using mana to function. It must have been where you found out about your origins, right?¡± ¡°Did Mason tell you?¡± ¡°Yes, he was the one who told me about your situation. After, our little incident.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me of that. It wasn¡¯t very pleasant.¡± ¡°Would you like to talk about what goes inside this ¡®game¡¯ of yours.¡± ¡°Not really, but I wouldn¡¯t mind some training.¡± She looks disappointed but understanding. ¡°Mason said not to press you about it, but it might help me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯d rather not.¡± ¡°Very well, but I can guess at the very least it isn¡¯t very peaceful over there.¡± ¡°True.¡± ¡°Then let''s get to work, shall we. First off there are three types of illusions. One, personal illusions, these are where you manipulation an individual''s perception of reality. Second, reality illusions, these illusions change the way the world sees something. Then finally, reality marbles.¡± She touches my forehead and I see myself on a flat field. ¡°A very powerful illusion that shuts down someone¡¯s ability to perceive reality itself. A very powerful, but very taxing illusion you should use sparingly.¡± She snaps her fingers and we¡¯re back to reality. ¡°But it requires you to touch that person to activate it.¡± ¡°There is also another version called a reality marble that pulls everyone around the user into a similar shared illusion, but I¡¯ve never been able to accomplish this. My illusion powers aren¡¯t that strong.¡± ¡°So is that what happened when I was in Jack''s room?¡± ¡°I would guess so. But right now we need to work on your basic illusions. Make me an apple.¡± I stare at her hand and imagine an apple in her hand. An apple appears but when she goes to pick it up with her other hand it passes through. ¡°So you''re only able to create an image at the moment. No wonder you were having such a hard time with Jack earlier. This is how you create an apple.¡± An apple then appears in the lunch box an I pick it up to look at it. How did she make this? It was solid, but not only that the skin felt real too. It also smells real as well. ¡°Take a bite. It won¡¯t be filling but it will show you what a true illusionist is capable of.¡± I take a bite hearing the crunch from the bite as I chew. I expected it to taste like an apple but it tastes like chocolate with the texture of steak. I spit it out and see the rest of the apple is gone. ¡°True illusions are perceived by all five senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Reality is perceived by all five of these senses and you need to learn to make someone believe they are experiencing all five of them. So far you¡¯ve gotten by through subconscious thought and your have backed projected images. But if you want the upper hand you need to utilize a complete illusion. ¡°Next on the agenda though is your classes. Even if you aren¡¯t exactly human. Doesn¡¯t mean you should be skipping out on your education. Tomorrow you¡¯ll be joining me for some tutoring and mythology lessons. With the actual information on how to defeat each monster. Though some myths got it right other were horribly off.¡± Not school, I don¡¯t want to study math right now! ¡°Now how about we get to work and see how good you are at this.¡± I gulped in tread as I was in for some intense boot camp training. Chapter 27 Quite the Story Ms. Oak looks down at the thing in her hand. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°A box.¡± She tosses the box from hand to hand as I sweat in concentration. ¡°Nice weight, and you¡¯re able to keep it solid even when it¡¯s in motion, nice.¡± She then throws it at me and I throw up my arms in panic and get knocked down from the impact. ¡°Haha!¡± ¡°What was that for?¡± ¡°Well it was to see how you¡¯d react and I honestly I didn¡¯t expect you to get scared of your own illusion.¡± I grit my teeth as I realize she was right. I stand back up and dust myself off. ¡°That will be enough training for today though. Good work Briana, but there is something I want to talk to you about first before you run off.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°How do you plan to tell your family here about your situation?¡± I fidget trying to avoid her eyes. ¡°I ... don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You know it would probably be better if they believed you died, and I mean with your illusion powers it would be easy enough to pull off.¡± ¡°NO! Why would I do that to them?¡± ¡°Why would you hide the fact that you aren¡¯t even their son?¡± I started to form a fist as anger starts to swell. ¡°I am their son! They raised me, took care of me, and treated me as their family. Even with everything that has happened, that hasn¡¯t changed.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re just going to watch as they and your sister die of old age. While you continue to live watching each succeeding generation die due to your longevity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about any of that! I don¡¯t know how long they¡¯ll live. I don¡¯t even know how long I¡¯ll live. That is why I¡¯ll continue to cherish every minute of time I have with them. We might not get along perfectly, but we still care about each other and I won¡¯t sever that connection with them just because it¡¯s the easy thing to do.¡± I stare deep into her eyes showing the conviction of my words. Her face showed no expression as she gauged my words. She then walks away and I stand there not sure how to respond. ¡°You may come to regret that decision, but it¡¯s yours to make.¡± She then disappears leaving only a gust of leaves in her place leaving me alone to contemplate our exchange. I rub my ears in frustration trying to think about what to do next. But, my stomach answers that question for me. ¡®Growl¡¯ Guess I should get something to eat first. Walking into the cafeteria I pick up a tray and walk over to an empty table. I poke at the food taking my time eating my meal. I wish there was an easy way to fix my whole mess, but I just needed to take things one step at a time. The first step in that lay in that forest. I just hope that the queen was more friendly in our future meetings. ¡®SIGH¡¯ ¡°What did you do to my dress?¡± I turn to see Azalea standing next to me with a scowl on her face. ¡°What do you mean ¡­.¡± I then look at myself and realize what she meant. I had been so focused on training that I¡¯d forgotten to take care of the loaner clothes I¡¯d been borrowing from Azalea. I turn my head to the side failing to meet her eyes. ¡°I should¡¯ve expected you to get it dirty. I¡¯ll just have to make sure my future designs can withstand a bit more punishment.¡± ¡°Thank you Azalea.¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m letting you off the hook.¡± She then grabs my tail causing me to squirm. I do my best to suppress my reactions as everyone is eating around us. ¡°Can you please not do that here.¡± ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t think I¡¯m done yet.¡± She lets go and I try to calm myself as she takes her hands off. I really hate how everyone keeps messing with my tails. ¡°Look I¡¯m sorry about the clothes. Was there anything else you needed?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Not really, I just wanted to know what you did today.¡± ¡°Just lots of training. I lost to Jack in some spars and then I did some illusion training with Ms. Oak. It just makes me realize how weak and inexperienced I am.¡± ¡°Well, I mean, you¡¯ve only been training for one day what else did you expect?¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right, but I need to be stronger.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that? You¡¯re perfectly safe here.¡± ¡°You see, there is something I have to do, but right now I¡¯m having doubts on if it¡¯ll work out.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s very vague.¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just hard to properly explain.¡± ¡°Fine, just make sure you save some time to meet with me tomorrow. I want to make sure all the outfits will fit properly. Anyways, you free tonight?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to come by tomorrow, but sorry I¡¯m busy tonight. I made a promise to somebody I¡¯d talk with them tonight.¡± ¡°Alright, have fun then.¡± She waves me goodbye as I head for my room. Once inside I look at the clock and see that it¡¯s only 7:00. So I still had some time before we were going to meet. I guess I can use this time to take a shower and get changed. Ah, much better! I combed my tails fur enjoying some time to do some personal grooming. It was definitely a new experience having to deal with this much hair and fur. I¡¯d never had long hair before as my mom always made me get it cut saying I looked too much like a bum. It is definitely not easy to take care of it all as I notice a spot I missed showering still full of suds. Taking my towel I rub it out before brushing over it. Looking at the clock I see it¡¯s 7:45 and decide to head in to see Blake. (T) ¡®So what is the plan lass?¡¯ (B) ¡®What do you mean. I sneak out to meet with Blake then we go investigate the forest.¡¯ (M) ¡®Did you forget that we got separated? I second I reappear she is bound to fetch you.¡¯ Oh yeah, I did forget about that physco. (B) ¡®I¡¯ll just wing it don¡¯t worry about it.¡¯ (M) ¡®That¡¯s the worst thing we could do! You saw how she gets when she¡¯s mad!¡¯ (B) ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯ll figure something out.¡¯ (E) ¡®Is it me or are you acting like a fox right now.¡¯ (B) ¡®Well I am one so it makes sense.¡¯ I put on the helmet and lie on the bed as I take a deep breath as I log back in. I find myself back in the tent we were ¡®escorted¡¯ to when I had left. Elizabeth stood there pouting at me. ¡°What?¡± I raise my hands not sure what I did wrong. As soon as I speak though two guards enter the tent. ¡°The Queen requests your presence.¡± I guess I should have come up with a better plan than just winging it. After they ¡®escort¡¯ us to another room I find myself in the same room we were in yesterday. Matt is seated uncomfortably next to Tana while Teage and Matt are both bound and gagged on the floor to the side. Elizabeth seemed appalled again by the queen¡¯s actions. ¡°Why did you do that to them?¡± ¡°Shut it dragon I need to talk to the fox right now.¡± ¡°No! I want to-¡° ¡°Do you want to shut up or should I make the guards make you.¡± I¡¯ve had enough let''s just get this over with. ¡°What do you want Tana.¡± I feel a kick to the back of my knee and I fall to the floor. ¡°That¡¯s queen Tana you brat.¡± ¡°My apologies, why are we graced with your majesty¡¯s fine presence today. Surely you don¡¯t want to meet with filth such as us.¡± I feel a smack to my head and topple to the floor in pain. Guess they don¡¯t like sarcasm. ¡°Enough!¡± Calling off the guards she strides over to me and pulls my face up to look me in the eyes. ¡°Next time you¡¯re about to disappear like that. I want to know. You so rudely interrupted my conversation with my brother the other day, and I DON¡¯T want you to repeat the same mistake again. Am I clear?¡± She stares down at me with her one good eye and I wisely decide to not make another joke. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± She continues to stare me down to cement her authority before letting me go and taking her spot again. ¡°Now, you four run off now. Once I¡¯m done, your merry band may frolic through the woods. That¡¯s it for now though. Guards, escort them out.¡± I feel myself being picked up and soon we are all thrown out except for Elizabeth who was treated with a more respect. As soon as we¡¯re out I take Elizabeth¡¯s dagger and cut Teage and John free from their bindings before handing Elizabeth back her knife. ¡°I¡¯ve got a friend to meet. So you guys stay out of trouble and get ready to investigate this forest.¡± Teage looks like he isn¡¯t having any of it and grunts as he rubs his wrists. ¡°And why should we explore this forest for that Bitch.¡± ¡°Because it might just explain our situation.¡± He still doesn¡¯t look pleased and I roll my eyes. I don¡¯t have time for this. ¡°Look if it makes you feel any better I¡¯m telling you guys we¡¯re investigating this forest. We¡¯re just going to steal anything we can from these guys while they¡¯re offering it. Now I¡¯ve got to go, so stay out of trouble!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about lass. You¡¯re the one who has been creating trouble for us.¡± I don¡¯t respond as I make my way to the bar to meet with Blake. Once there I look around, but it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s made it here yet so I take a seat at a table in the corner and wait. A waiter comes over and asks what I want to drink. I then realize I have no money and decide to tell him I¡¯ll order when my friend arrives. He grunts as he moves on to another table. It isn¡¯t long before Blake enters the bar and I wave him over to my table. He walks over as the others laugh at us. I try to ignore it as Blake sits down. ¡°I got to say, I know certain people like to play as different races, but you¡¯re the first to play as both a different gender and a different age. So, I guess you¡¯re a legal loli now?¡± ¡°Neither of us are of age. So I¡¯m still not legal either way. But that¡¯s not what I wanted to talk about.¡± A waiter walked over to us as I gathered my thoughts. ¡°Anything I can get for you two lovebirds?¡± ¡°Dude, don¡¯t even joke about that crap. Just get us a bottle and leave us alone man.¡± ¡°One bottle coming right up for you boss.¡± He walks away as we continue to sit in silence. I wish there was some easy way to tell it, but there isn¡¯t. ¡°What¡¯s wrong man? This clearly isn¡¯t easy for you whatever it is, but I can¡¯t help if you don¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s one hell of a story. One I¡¯m still not sure of. I¡¯ve met with people I never thought were real. I still don¡¯t know what to think, but I guess we can start at the beginning. Just know that everything I¡¯m about to say is 100% true. No matter how strange it sounds.¡± The waiter hands Blake an open bottle and two glasses. ¡°Then let¡¯s hear it. If anything else I bet it¡¯s going to be one hell of a story.¡± Taking them he pours us two glasses of the stuff. ¡°And that¡¯s the perfect thing to go with this swill.¡± ¡°Then boy oh boy do I have a story for you.¡±