“Um… this way.” Matt starts walking. Sophie, lacking a better plan, walks with him, her nervous eyes scanning the hazy surroundings.
The spindly trees creak and groan in the wind and long, their barren branches blending in with the white, cloudy sky. Large, pale, fern-like plants rustle in the wind and softly brush against their legs with each step.
“How did you do that?” Sophie suddenly inquires. “This?” Matt glances at his feet, feigning confusion. “Oh, it’s called walking. You put one foot in front of the other, and voilà—you move forward.”
Sophie doesn’t even dignify that with a response, her annoyed glare doing all the talking. Matt sighs and shifts to a more serious tone. “Okay okay, you mean the icicles right? I don’t know really. I didn’t know how to help you. It said I had an ice affinity so I just winged it. Like in those novels, you know, imagining mana flowing through your body, coalescing at your fingertip, and launching it at something.”
“Huh,” she replies flatly, still emotional from the encounter with the wolf. Curious, she raises her arm in front of her and concentrates. She focuses harder. Nothing. She intensifies her focus. Nada. She closes her eyes. Then she throws her arm down in exasperation. “It isn’t working!” she groans in frustration. I guess I don’t have affinity for it?
Matt tries to lift her spirits. “Hey, you have a sword mastery skill, that’s cool! You can like… stab things!” Then, with a hopeful expression, he says “Hey! Can you hear that? I think I hear running water! Follow me!” before walking perpendicular to their original path.
Sophie becomes painfully aware of how dry her mouth is, she licks her parched lips and cups a hand to her ear. “Oh, I can hear it too, finally some good news! I’m thirsty!” she declares before hurrying after Matt.
As they near the water, they notice their surroundings becoming more vibrant and alive. Dull ferns give way to bushes. The lifeless trees begin to grow leaves. Crickets can be heard chirping. Matt pushes a low-hanging branch aside, and a large, fast-flowing river thunders across the forest, dividing it in two. The clear water foams and froths as it crashes against jagged rocks. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the dense veil of fog hanging over the area, obscuring even the far side of the river.
They both pause, taking in the scene. “Well, this is a step up from those nearly-dead trees,” Sophie comments, her gaze sweeping across the lively clearing. Slowly, she edges toward the water, her steps cautious. She scans the surface for threats before kneeling and cupping her hands to take a sip.
The cold water refreshes her parched throat, but when she glances down, her reflection catches her off guard. Staring back is a disheveled girl with blood dripping from a scratch she didn’t even know she had. Her usually silky, well-kept hair is tangled and frayed. Her snowy white skin is marred with blood and mud.
She turned to glance at Matt, who looks just as battered. His bedraggled black hair partially obscures a gentle face etched with fatigue. Her eyes are drawn to his chestnut brown tunic which is sullied by a dark stain of blood across the abdomen. “How are you holding up?” She asks compassionately, her voice carrying a hint of concern. “You took quite a nasty blow back there.”
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He places a hand on his stomach before looking up. “Actually, I’m doing okay. It stings, but it has stopped bleeding already, which is good. I do think we should take the opportunity to clean ourselves up though.”
The two spend the next few minutes by the water’s edge, rinsing off the blood and dirt. The cold water stings their wounds but feels refreshing after the chaos of the day.
Sophie catches another glace of her reflection she frowns. “We look like we’ve been through a war,” she mutters, smoothing out a strand of knotted hair.
Matt chuckles dryly. “Feels like it too. But hey, we’re alive.”
As silence settles, Sophie suddenly looks thoughtful. “Hey, didn’t we level up back then? It slipped my mind with everything going on, but we should probably check if anything’s changed in our status.”
She closes her eyes and recites status in her mind and once again her brain is flooded with alien symbols.
SophieHuman) | LVL:(31 / 50 EXP)
HP:80/110 | MP:114/114 | STM:49/115
STR:AGI:VIT:END:INT:(Unallocated: 8)
Skills:
Oh, we get points that we can distribute among our stats? That’s convenient. She mutters, scanning the options. After a moment of consideration, she thinks, I guess I should prepare for close combat. Let’s go with 5 points to strength and 3 to agility.
As soon as she makes the choice, a strange sensation washes over her body. Her muscles tense and shift—not painfully, but noticeably. She instinctively feels faster and stronger than before.
“Sophie!” Matt’s urgent shout snaps her back to reality. “Look out!”
Before she can fully process what’s happening, an olive-skinned humanoid creature no taller than a child darts towards her. Clutching a dull dagger in its hand, the monster lets out a high-pitched cackle.
Her first instinct is to turn and run, but something deep within her takes over. As the goblin lunges, she pivots sharply and drives her elbow into its face with bone-jarring force. Blood explodes from the goblin’s nose, as it stumbles back, shrieking in agony.
Sensing an opportunity, Sophie makes a swipe for the knife, but it pulls away at the last second. Its gaze flicks from Sophie to Matt and back as it wipes its face, smearing blood along its cheek.
Matt raises his hand, summoning an icicle from his palm that gracefully flies towards the goblin. It dives out of the way, narrowly avoiding the projectile, before colliding with Sophie instead.
Fortunately it is no match for Sophie’s enhanced strength as she quickly takes control of the weapon and drives it into the creature’s back before she pulls away. The monster thrashes on the ground for a few seconds before going limp.
Sophie (LVL 5) and Matt (LVL 5) have slain Goblin (LVL 6).
Matt has gained 27 EXP.
Sophie has gained 79 EXP.
Breathing heavily, Sophie wipes her hands on her tunic and looks at Matt, who is staring at her with wide eyes. She raises an eyebrow. “What?”
“That was amazing!” Matt exclaims, his words tumbling out in excitement. “You were so fast! And that elbow strike? It was brutal. Since when could you do that?”
Sophie shrugs, brushing off his awe. “I assigned some of my stat points to strength and agility. Guess they make a big difference.” She pauses, scratching her head. “You might be able to boost your magic if you put points into intelligence or strength.”
Matt blinks, the realization dawning on him. “That’s... actually a great idea. Okay, I’ll try that. Four points to intelligence, four to strength,” he announces, his tone filled with anticipation.
He prepares to conjure another projectile, before thinking better of it. “I’m low on mana, it probably isn’t a good idea to waste it on a test…” he says with a disappointed tone. He flexes his biceps. “I do feel stronger though!”
Which character do you like more?
