《A chance》 Prolog meet Fos! ¡±Son, don¡ät you dare to forget us!¡± My dad was uncharacteristically frightened this day and I have no idea why. ¡°No dad! Why!?¡± ¡°Son, whatever happens to mom an me, please remember that we love you!¡± Dad was distressed and it¡¯s starting to frighten me. ¡°My sweet sweet child! My loved little son, please don¡ät in any way, blame yourself!¡± Mother was beginning to confuse me even more and I started to become a little bit scared. ¡°Don¡ät worry Tremo I will take care of the boy. You do know the rules but I¡äll do my utmost in spite of them.¡± The elderly and scary looking man came and put his hands on my shoulders and began to drag me away from them. ¡°Mom! Dad! Please explain! What¡¯s happening!? Why are you crying mom?!¡± But despite my screams all they did was to turn away from me. What did I do? What?! Why was this happening? Where are they going? I want my mom and dad! The scary looking man took me by the shoulders and dragged me away from the house. After some time I couldn¡¯t see my house any more. And the scary man started to talk. ¡°The rules¡­.kid¡­ the rules states that you never had a family and if you want to live you better remember that¡­ From now on you don¡ät have a last name, you don¡ät have relatives and no one can speak to you until you get them to recognize you. You are a pop-up-child with no background. You hear?¡± What?! ¡­What?! ¡°pup-up¡­ what¡äs that?¡± ¡°Kid¡­your folks are by now long gone and there is no¡­.. kid, there is nothing we can do¡­ The¡­ there isn¡¯t even a house left of the people that used to live in that part of the forest. And from now on you better forget them all together. There wasn¡¯t ever a house there.¡± The words just flew straight over my head and I couldn¡¯t understand him. It seemed that whatever he said it hurt him more than he could say. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.There was no house? But? What?! ¡°Kid, just forget and start anew¡­¡± With a snap he woke up. What a lovely day! The sun is shining and the grass just smells fresh with the dew from the night. It¡¯s been a while since he had a nightmare last, but the bliss of being him is that he¡¯s quick to forget. But some things is harder than others. Like that in a couple of weeks, the world will change.. In a couple of weeks the players will arrive and the colonization of my world will start. The pain! No one knew why they were coming but they were. And the authorities made up rules for as they called it ¡°respectable conduct worthy of the NPC¡±. But at least they informed everyone beforehand. So here he is in the middle of nowhere trying to build a settlement. The rules where that you can act however you like as long as you can point to a culture in your settlement that condone the act. So all over the world people like him started to build hostile settlements to guard at least that spot of the world. This particular spot of forasty-hell is a nasty one. The monsters are frightening, the weather appalling, and the closest player-friendly town is at least half or even up to a month away. Safe away from the bastards. He spent as long as he could remember trying to prepare for the change. Going to different schools and dojos trying to get a scholarship in the adventures guild and since 2 years he became an honorary member and will probably be one of the only npc''s in the guild as it is reserved for players. The last 2 years he helped build walls and destroying roads leading up to one settlement or another. Everything he could to make it harder for the coming players. This will probably be the last settlement he helps before he goes back in to a ¡°beginner town¡±. Chapter 1 The announcement of the upcoming VR game was playing on the walls as she was trying to get on the subway. It is an infuriating loop! ¡°Emily! Have you heard about the upcoming Gaia game? It is said to be the biggest game in the Gaia canon!¡± The worst thing about taking the subway¡­ these personalized adds that keeps on looping till you pass by. Nothing you can do but keep on trying to be sane. Well the sub is free so there¡¯s that¡­ ¡°Emily! Have you¡­¡± And the worst thing is that you can¡¯t fool them with headsets as the adds just starts to play right in your head instead. As she was making her way towards the sub she noticed the guy to her far left. They are getting sloppy. Anyone would notice. There had always been someone following her since she could remember. Always far in the background but always there. Sometimes she had to look really carefully but she could always find them after a thorough search. This guy was bad. ¡°Emily! Have you heard about¡­¡± Honestly! This loop is driving me nuts! She got on the sub and as soon as she saw her little tail jump on the cart further down she left again. Let¡¯s see if he¡¯s fired when I¡¯m home. She couldn¡¯t care less about the amateurs and was frankly a bit pissed every time she got one on her tail. As the train started to leave the station she locked her eyes with the unemployed-to-be. She gave him a little wave and a smirk and began her regular route home instead. It took longer but she wasn¡¯t so thrilled about her home anyway. ¡°Emily! Have¡­¡± No¡­. I have heard too much so please just stop it! I¡¯ve had it¡­ just let me be for a moment¡­ After a couple of unproductive hours later she arrived at her home. The first one to greet her was a slap across the face by her dad. ¡°You! How dare you!? How dare you once again leave the guard!?¡± another slap across the right ear this time which started to ring. Her dad was a man few people messed with. Maybe not because of his size, cuz at 169 cm the man was probably shorter than the one being intimidated. Not for his appearance either. The man was in his whole person made to blend in. No, the most frightening was his eyes and the aura of death when mad. He was a blond man with green eyes. With the hair cut short and with the broad shoulders he had the appearance of a veteran. ¡°You dare show up with that smirk on your face after that stupid stunt!¡± a third slap. ¡°You dare come home after all this time wandering?!¡± a forth and now her left ear started to ring. Luckily she came prepared with her earrings off. With a fist in her midriff he pointed with his hand. ¡°Your mother wants a word.¡± She had expected this. Her father always finds a reason to slap her. Be it for the guards failed attempts in guarding her or in dropping the fork while eating, the outcome was still she same. Slaps till she bleeds. While her father was physical her mother was more focused on emotional and mental abuse. ¡°Mother? I¡¯m home.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s there? Ahh, if it isn¡¯t my dear Em! Come give your mother a hug!¡± Her mother was a beauty. With a great love of fashion she always dressed impeccable. With a stunning red dress and matching jewellery she gave her a breathtaking smile. ¡°Hi, mother.¡± Emily knew that you don¡¯t trade words with her mother. ¡°Dear, Em! Mark and I was so worried when mr. Smith came back alone!¡± Why is it always Smith? ¡°The poor man quit after a short discussion with Mark. Your father told me that he didn¡¯t even have time to wait for you.¡± So the groundwork for the guilt-trip has been laid, now to the finisher. ¡°Poor mr Smith¡­ you know that he has a daughter your age? He told me about it when we first met and we gave him the assignment. We joked about you being friends but the poor girl got sick so we postponed. Never quite understood the sickness thou¡­ Klara, Klara Smith I think¡­ Do you know her? I think she attended the same school as you¡­¡± The groundwork¡­ still¡­ why the big setup this time? What is she scheming? ¡°The poor man. He even begged us not to blame you for his shortcomings. A brave man indeed, talking with your father and all. Not for his own sake but all for you. Maybe he saw Klara in you and the protective instinct took over. As we would hurt our sweetest Em! But he made some sense anyway.¡± Now for the finish at last. ¡°You are going to live with your grandpa.¡± ¡­ What!? That¡­ What?! ¡°What do you mean mother? I thought that you and father deemed grandfather and grandmothers house to lack the required security for us to visit. That¡¯s why we missed the latest holidays¡± To finally visit them and being told I¡¯m moving there! The only decent relatives I have! It¡¯s like a dream came true! A¡­. dream coming true¡­ no! Something is wrong! The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.¡°No, not there. That¡¯s just a kidnapping in the making. You¡¯re going to Tom.¡± Once again that beautiful smile and the aura of success. ¡°He applied for a university for you but since the semester is off-sync you have to start next year.¡± A small flame of hope started to take hold in her heart but by now she knew to never trust hope. Tinas words opened up for her to stay the remaining time here but her mother probably meant for her to go right away. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go pack my things. I can spend the remaining time learning proper Swedish. It¡¯ll be fun! Don¡¯t know how long it have been since I met grandpa Tom.¡± Every word a lie but it irked Tina and you take what you can. Sure enough, the smile got a little strained. ¡°Lovely! Your plane leaves in the afternoon tomorrow. Now you better pack your things because what you can¡¯t pack you can¡¯t have and I don¡¯t think Tom will bother shopping for you.¡± A dismissing if she ever heard one. Just the hug and the parting cheek-kiss and I¡¯m out of here. Just a way to give her a win¡­ ¡°Is there any way to stay here instead of going right away? Tom has probably his hands full anyway..¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m afraid we didn¡¯t reserve the option of by-back. First class is expensive so you have to go now.¡± The sad smirk and a hug. Dysfunctional as always. ¡°Em dear? Before you go. Have you heard about Gaias latest game?¡± Back in the subway? No, still in Tinas library. But please! I hate these silly games and you know it! ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard a thing or two. I¡¯m actually quite interested in games like this. Why?¡± ¡°Well then. I¡¯ll talk to your grandfather to see what I can do.¡± That phsyco! Don¡¯t make me do this! Don¡¯t! 32h later It was a quiet flight and probably one of the best she had in a long time. Tom wasn¡¯t there to pick her up but she doubted that from the start. He was a busy man after all. But the ride he hired was nice. The Swedish Smiths seemed nicer too but never trust a suit. She arrived at the house a couple of hours ago but Tom had not greeted her as of yet, so all she could do was to wander the halls. The guard sounded strange with the different language, the entertainment also was in this other language. Learn it as fast as possible but where to start? Suits are nice and all but not very talkative. Suddenly the door at the far end bangs open. ¡°If it isn¡¯t Em! Your mother told me that you would be due tomorrow! But suddenly someone had rebooked my bookings!¡± A smiling man in his 70¡¯s walked over towards her with arms wide open. ¡°Em! Do you know that it¡¯s been 15 years since we met? You had just started to walk and your father was the happiest man in the world!¡± ¡°Tom. I didn¡¯t start to walk when I was 6¡­ And if you want to you can call me Emily. Please..¡± She was sure it was him but she had never met Tom in her memory. This made her a bit uncertain. Family wasn¡¯t her favourite out of all social gatherings and to make it survivable you had to know how to tackle them. This happy face didn¡¯t leave mush to read. He can¡¯t be happy¡­ he¡¯s a relative, that makes it impossible! ¡°Ahh.. Yeah, Tina said that Em is a nickname all your friends use so I thought it would make you feel at home. Hmmm yeah, you were but a year old but your 16 right? No?! I missed your 18:th birthday? Well to make it up I spent the last couple of days preparing the left wing of the mansion just for you and if you are still not happy I¡¯ll take you shopping tomorrow.¡± This man is insane, I can¡¯t read him! But birthdays¡­ haven¡¯t celebrated them in a while. And shopping¡­ is he a perv? ¡°The last little golden nugget I have is that I¡¯ve made you a beta tester!¡± What a stupid grin! Wipe it of you dumb ass! ¡°Your mother told me all about your love for the company¡¯s different games and the last one especially. She told me to make sure you play, so I fiddled a little to make sure you could learn Swedish in game. You will be a beta tester so make sure to keep me posted. The testing period is 2 months and I¡¯ve made sure to fiddle with the pod so you don¡¯t have to be around me too much if you don¡¯t want to.¡± He gave her a, what looked like a warm smile but all she could feel was her mother¡¯s spite. ¡°Tom, if I can I¡¯d like to get to know my neighbourhood as fast as I possibly could. A habit of mine. And as you said earlier, it has been 18 years so¡­ let¡¯s get to know one another.¡± ¡°Emily¡­ I¡¯m sorry about¡­. When your grandmother¡­ I didn¡¯t know how to act.¡± The smiling face turned in to a facial expression she was all too familiar with. ¡°yah¡­ things are what they are. Don¡¯t worry Tom!¡± Not: Hope you find it as entertaining reading, as I when writing! If you have some thoughts pleas feel free to comment! Chapter 2 ¡°Emily¡­ I¡¯m sorry about¡­. When your grandmother¡­ I didn¡¯t know how to act.¡± The smiling face turned in to a facial expression she was all too familiar with. ¡°yah¡­ things are what they are, don¡¯t worry Tom!¡± So he knows hu? Well let us get this over with¡­ Emily Nelson was 21 year old girl with a Swedish heritage. Her dad moved to New York as fast as he could so he left Sweden and his father¡¯s company to build his own life abroad. Emily had only been in Sweden 1 time in her entire life and didn¡¯t understand the language one bit. But since her family, well sucked, she got dumped in a foreign country with an old man that supposed to be her grandfather. She is also a widow. She and Lucas, her high school sweetheart married out of love even if it was planned by their parents. They met when they were 10 and got married at 18. But her high school sweetheart Lucas is missing. It¡¯s not the gotta-go-buy-me-some-smokes-with-my bags-packed kind of missing. No, when the human race finally made it to a different star system there where things waiting and he was a soldier on the third ship sent¡­ none of them have reported back. It leaves you with a kind of emptiness that is hard to put into words. Everyone she knows have pushed her to mourn but she can¡¯t abandon him like that, no better to wait a while longer, it been only a year. She can¡¯t mourn at an empty coffin, she can¡¯t make herself believe that it¡¯s final if she don¡¯t see it. She just can¡¯t mourn. ¡°Emily, what do you say about playing the game, hu? I know there is nothing I can say that will make you feel better on the inside. Nothing I can do to make it all right. Nothing no one can do, but let me tell you that I can understand you. Not the ¡®yeah yeah I hear you¡¯ but the ¡®I¡¯ve been there¡¯¡­ So let¡¯s play!¡± Maybe not so bad this¡­ ¡°Just let me settle first and I¡¯m sure you have more important stuff than me right now Tom¡± Once back in her room she glared at the white pod in the corner. Might as well pull the band aid¡­ ¡±Welcome my brave explorer! This is the world, discovered by Gaia but explored by you! In this world you will gain a new chance for a life. Explore the darkness and save the world!¡± Nothing of it made any sense for Emily as she didn¡¯t understand anything. It was after all entirely in Swedish. A very melodic language I give them that but this will suck big time! What was more annoying was that the guiding avatar for the AI was made in her ¡°beloved¡± mother¡¯s image. It seemed like the ultimate humiliation seeing her mom speak the language she craved to learn but that kept eluding her. Suddenly all sorts of avatars with different appearance appeared. This is probably the race and character selection. Probably can¡¯t read the perks¡­ She selected at random and turned it as much she could to look like a human as she figured that once the beta-test was done she didn¡¯t have to play or could read at least some of it. But she was proud about the avatar standing in front of her. It was a proud warrior like character with long red hair much like she had. With golden eyes and a round face and a sharp nose, she looked a lot like her, well maybe not the golden eyes but it seemed like she couldn¡¯t change eye-colure with this race selected. But who cares? Suddenly a blue box appeared in front of her: Yada yada yada namn yada yada karakt?r. So put frankly: name the most awesome character in all of existence? I can do that! Scotia! Emily often called herself Scotia when anyone bothered to ask HER about her name. It meant darkness of a shadow in ancient Greek. And a big plus was that it reminded her about Scotland witch was the last holyday the family went to that didn¡¯t result in a power struggle. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.So give me the startup. Let me do this and get it done. A map appeared without marked starting-points, so with an annoyed flick of the finger she selected a spot on the map. Let¡¯s get this hell started. As she thought that, a bright light blinded her and she felt as if falling backwards and an intense pain in the back of her head knocked her out. She woke up in the middle of a ditch with dirty water covering her left side. Thanks for the gracious start! Hopefully the rest of this is as good as this! Can¡¯t wait¡­ Emily is a very pessimistic figure with a lot of trust issues. She have her reasons ¡°So what did I get as starting gear? A knife some one? Is there no knife? No pointy stick? No nothing? I¡¯m in the middle of nowhere with nothing but my clothes? My dirty clothes at that?! Thanks!¡± The ironic, whiny Emily took hold of her for a second while she started to kick at some leafs. Suddenly she heard a noise! Fos POV. Just a couple of month left before we no longer count¡­ When he was wandering in the middle of nowhere he always thought about how much time remained before the big siege. He still had 3 months 3 weeks and 2 days before it all broke loose. 20 years ago a strange devise appeared, with it the sky turned dark and strange voices could be heard. A year later the powerful and greedy sold their souls to the occupying devils for promises about money, power, and fame. The result is the hell for the living. Deep in thought he almost didn¡¯t notice that he was about to walk right in to a clearing. Habit took over and he stopped. The monsters where in the heaps at this place. Felt like you found a new one behind every bush and tree like a sick child toy. Bogy says the bogyman! With a slight chuckle he found that nothing was amiss and entered the clearing. What a beautiful day to be alive! A bag of blood by the hip, fresh meat in the wagon, and some healthplants in the backpack. Fos was a master of optimism and the day he had was one of the better ones in weeks! First he found the plants and while propping the bag a big fat ugly jumped him. He made quick minced meat of it with the sword. On top of it all, the sun was shining! The sun had been missing for the last weeks and nobody knew why. Maybe the devils where at it again but it was there today so now was a great day to be alive! A twig snapped at his right but he kept on walking. One of the biggest tricks is to lure them in, not dropping your focus nor alert them you knew. Just lure them in for the kill. Displaying the fresh meat and acting weak is the trick to bring in the money! Let the weaklings die and sacrifice what you have for the strong is the trick of survival in this part of the world. Let us see if the devils will survive a minute in the real world! As he walked on he saw a big cat in the tree line, stalking his every move. Feline has to high agility for the open space¡­ better take it down in the trees. So he began walking to the trees slowly. Suddenly it stopped. Did it notice? Drawing his sword he decided to kill it no matter what. Note: Soooo, it is a slow start I know but it is my first story anyone get to read. Can say you are my beta testers! Next chap will be a bit more actiony! Feel free to comment and give insight! chapter 3 He put down the cart and slowly drew his sword. Fos had always liked swords that where a little longer but that you could still use whit one hand, that way he could make some use of his longer reach. With his 185 cm you could say he was a bit taller than average and the ¡°a bit taller¡± was something he put childish pride in. The big cat hadn¡¯t moved since he stopped with suited Fos just the same as he could prepare and plan how he wanted the battle to go. It was a majestic animal that with its black fur blended with the shadows in a way that made it impossible to make out the specific race. It actually didn¡¯t matter ether way but you don¡¯t want a wind-cat or a thunder-cat out in the open fields. The last thing he did before the battle was to take of the left glove. How many times had he incinerated a glove out of laziness or because he forgot? It was a thing to laugh about really, how can you forget a thing like that? By stretching and at the same time put on the little leather hat he was done. Hopefully the cat was oblivious. Suddenly he rushed against the cat with long strides and as soon as the cat realized that the cover was blown it went on the offence. Such speed! It won¡¯t stop accelerate! It was many failed attempts before he had learnt the trick with aiming with the left hand while running and holding the sword in the right. But many teeth later (that he had to purchase a regrow pill that had cost a fortune. Sad prices really!) and a lot of patience later he had succeeded. Slow! Totally surprised that its inability to run the way it wanted the monster toppled forward and for a short while it was totally defenseless. But it was an experienced beast and was soon up on its feats. With more caution it change to target the ground behind Fos more than the man himself. Seeing this Fos started to run in a diagonal to hinder the beast from getting to the plains. Fos wanted to battle in the forest where the beast lost its agility and the cat aimed at the plains for the same reasons. Suddenly the cat stopped and swiped with its paw sending a strong gust of wind that nocked Fos of his feets and as Fos tried to find his footing the monster change direction. Another wind attack sent him falling and he had to save his fall with a roll. Ahhh! A wind-cat! But it is totally black!? It was a fact that had eluded him since it came out from the woods. It is a fact that magical creatures have a way that the magic have transformed its look. It was supposed to be visible at the black fur but¡­ nothing? Back from his thought Fos once again focused on the battle. Bind! He hadn¡¯t practiced his magic the last years and the attacks wasn¡¯t what they used to be. But, it was enough to bind a leg and that was good enough. With a roll forward they met and the melee began 10 meters out in the field. Knowing his ¡®bind¡¯ had ended he ducked the incoming paw and tried to cut in the artery in the armpit. But he missed and could only land a superficial one. Fos failed to take the wind attack in to account and was once again lifted up in the air and was sent flying. And as they both found their footings a brief ceasefire erupted. Totally focused on each other time stood still and at the same time they began circling. The beast wanted to get the back against the field to open up the battle, Fos wanted to hinder it. Neither Fos nor the cat seamed to want the initiative. What a beautiful beast! The fur is at least worth a weeks living! Not to count in the blood or meat and everything else I can salvage! It is a bit sad to kill it but¡­ money is king! Suddenly the ceasefire ended and another wind came crushing at Fot, but this time he were prepared. Rush! By using ¡®Rush¡¯ Fos came up by the side of the beast an swiped at the tendons of the back-foot. This time he, although missing the tendons, found enough muscles to cripple it. Realizing he had the upper hand Fos kept the heat on with furious attack. But the beast managed to dodge all the incoming attacks and from time to time give one back and one of them landed on Fos head. The attack lost power drastically as it slipped in the little leather hat but enough power remained to knock Fos of his feets. Once again it became a waiting-game before the cat started to glow green. Excited about what would come next, Fos prepared his strongest defensive spell. But he soon realized that the attack he waited for weren¡¯t about to come as all the cuts and bruises he had accomplished where being healed. Ahhh, come on Fos! Rookie-mistake! Get your head in the game! You are rusty as can be! But before he could react he saw the cat sending another wind attack. While Fos was occupied with dodging he could see the cat making its way to the forest. ¡±AAAAHHHHHH!¡± Furious at himself, he yanked of his hat and threw it at the ground. ¡°How could you let it go? Have you grown so old? Become strong or become a liability!¡± If it had been a year ago the cat would be dead within seconds but he couldn¡¯t kill it at all and even let it slip through his fingers! It shouldn¡¯t have lasted more than the first contact but not at all? But since he had putt so mush of his focus to help preparing, his battle capability had sunken like a rock. The knowledge was still there but the body couldn¡¯t keep up. Nor could his magic. Training is a given, and hunting like crazy! More skirmishes and more training the remaining time. But what was that animal? Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.Emily/Skotia pov Just a bird? Since she woke up in this world or game or whatever (What do you call it? It¡¯s a game but so nicely programmed!) all she heard was this mysterious noises and she was now convinced at least 10 bloodthirsty monsters had their eyes on her. If it had been a year ago she would have been scared to death in a situation like this but as the year had passed she had developed a kind of apathy that scared the one close to her. Will probably just wake up in my room if I die so what does it help so be scared about it? But even if her parents abandoned her, she had a feeling Tom wanted her there more for her sake. She didn¡¯t like to disappoint people that trusted her. So let¡¯s not die this day! The forest and the nature felt so incredible natural in some way and she was in no way a novice. She and Lucas used to play this kind of games together, big part of the family buisness after all as one of the big 12. But none of them had seemed as real as this. Suddenly she heard a something a little further in the forest. Hopefully something different than a bird this time. The forest became awfully quiet witch made Skotia move a bit stealthier than the other times. Wonder if you could learn skills in this game? Feels like all I¡¯ve done in-game is trying to stalk birds. When she came to a place she thought was appropriate to get a good peek she craned her neck and tried to get a grip on the situation. A couple of meters away a big black cat was about to lay itself down, it seemed exhausted and good for her. That big cat could probably have killed her of with a swipe of its paw and here it looked like it had run a marathon while carrying big bags of sand. It laid its head down to rest and under the minute it looked like it was asleep. After 5 more minutes Skotia made the decision that it was sound asleep. What to do? It is just a game so why not kill it to see if it gets me some benefits? But how? She looked around to find a way to kill it, the best would a quiet and quick death. The cat had its back against a wall that led to a small cliff as a way to take shelter from the wind, maybe she could take advantage of that? It would take a stealthy climb a little further down the way she came but it looked like it was her only way. So she had to sneak her way back and at the same time keep an eye on the cat because if it attacked her she was toast! After a quite boring climb she laid down to catch her breath. So let us find a big stone and go smash some skulls! She found a stone that, with the right accuracy, could bring the beast down. It was heavy, almost too heavy for Skotias petite built but she managed to lift it and take it with her to the ledge. Perfekt! Let¡¯s see if the game give me some perks! The stone dropped and landed with a thud and rolled to the side showing a smashed skull. Did it! A blue box appeared in front of her which she once again couldn¡¯t read. But it felt good that the system worked! Nice to see some progress coming her way! Once she was down by the cat¡¯s side she got stunned of its size! What a monster! If it wasn¡¯t so winded it would probably kill me with a swipe of the paw! And as she stood there mesmerized by the big animal a new sound could be heard only meters away. Fos Pov Have chased this stupid cat for what? Hours? And now someone kills it before me? Not even a dropp of blood on her! How did she do it? Fos had no idea what went down. What he came to in the clearing was a young woman, totally without a weapon who looked at the big, really dead monster in front of her with a kind of curiosity. The animal, even when it lying down was terribly intimidating, but she just stood there without fear and it looked like she was investigating it. That the animal was dead was a fact proven by the amount of blood still dripping from the crushed skull but the question was how? The woman in front of the animal was a petit, unarmed and what he could see unstained. So the logic said that she was a powerful magician. But she was poorly dressed! She even had dirty clothes on! Maybe it wasn¡¯t such a easy win after all? All this made Fos a little scared to get closer to them but he could all butt hear the coins dripping away in the same pace as the blood. So he gathered all the courage he could and went in to the clearing. ¡°Hi! Can¡¯t but congratulate you for killing such a beast! But I¡¯m happy to my service in the skinning, draining the blood and such! It may sound brutal but it is a quick way to make some coin.¡± In front of Fos there was a big warrior. He had decided that it was due to misfortune that she was stained with dirty water. She wasn¡¯t winded and had probably taken out a animal that escaped him, with one blow. All that without getting any blood on her! Who wouldn¡¯t be dirty in the wilderness? It¡¯s part of the experience! As he received a nod in response he drew his knife and pulled out a sack for the blood. Note: in the future I''ll have to start using the nice blue box. :) But since I don''t know how I need help. If you know how, please contact me ::) happy reading!