I followed the smoke trail into a humid ravine covered in moss. The steep stone walls were five or six paces apart, forming a narrow path that went down to the valley. Without a second thought, I slid down the slope, hoping to be fast enough to meet whomever was camping in the Farlands.

The canopy blocked the sun, darkening the ravine and casting shadows over the stone walls. I just hoped the shadows were enough to hide me because the ravine was the perfect ambush spot for any Black Wolf wanting to feed on me.

As I advanced through the narrow path, the metallic smell of blood and decay suddenly filled my nostrils. Quickly, I hid behind a rock, glancing at the path ahead but a great boulder prevented me from seeing any further. I tried to catch any sound that gave up the presence of a predator but the forest remained silent.

Gathering all the bravery I could muster, I decided to advance. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet other people so I grabbed my shotgun and walked slowly, trying to not make any sounds. I pressed my back against the rock and peeked over the corner.

In the middle of the path there was the mangled corpse of a Black Wolf. There was a pool of dry blood around the corpse, however, the wounds on the body were still fresh. The body shouldn’t have more than a day or two and there was no sign of the attacker so I cautiously approached.

The wolf’s skin was covered in deep cuts. Whatever the attacker was, it was bigger than a Black Wolf. Regrettably, [Identify] didn’t show me much more information.

I swallowed hard and squeezed my shotgun as if it was a lucky charm. I had two options; turn around, find an alternative route, and probably miss the window to find the owners of the campfire, or take the risk and continue forward. Nothing assured me that the alternative route was safer.

“Come on, Rob. You chose this.” I forced myself to take the next step forward

The second corpse was a few hundred meters ahead.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. The body was split in two, each half separated by several paces. I kneeled by the corpse and examined it. More of the same. Fresh, claw marks, heavily mutilated but no organs or pieces missing. Whatever monster killed this wolf, wasn’t hunting to eat. And it was likely bigger and more dangerous than I initially assumed.

A sudden System prompt popped in front of my eyes, startling me.

It seemed I was never going to get accustomed to the jumpscares.

Conditions fulfilled.

You have obtained a new skill.

Common skill [Awareness] acquired.

I felt as if someone had opened my skull and proceeded to knead my gray matter like dough. Before I could get a grasp of the experience, the sensation faded leaving me slightly dizzy. At first I didn’t notice any change. Then, my brain went into overdrive.

A wave of information crashed into me.

The sound of the birds was weaker to the southwest. My brain raced through a sea of possibilities to find an explanation for the birds suddenly fleeing. People could scare the birds away. The dead bodies could’ve drawn unwanted scavengers. Who was responsible for the killings? It was unlikely a human would’ve done that considering the methods of the carnage. But I was no longer in the Appalachians anymore. In a world of magic things could be different. Some humans may be strong enough to rip apart a Black Wolf’s spine. And powerful people might be dangerous…

“Stop!” I pulled the reins on [Awareness].

As much as I enjoyed detective novels, I wasn’t ready to become a Dupin wannabe yet. I was grateful for my newfound mental clarity but that amount of information pouring into my conscious brain was exhausting. I’d only been using [Awareness] for a few seconds and I was already starting to feel dizzy.

This B-class horror movie crumb trail wasn’t what I expected from a magical world. Even a noisy and annoying fairy would be a better guide. But alas, it seemed my wishes weren’t going to be fulfilled anytime soon because as I advanced through the ravine, a third dead Black Wolf appeared in front of me.

The third corpse was even more gruesome than the previous two. It was hard to consider it a body anymore but various bits of gore and viscera smeared over the trail and the stone walls of the ravine. The ravine was blocked ahead by a rockslide two or three times taller than me, but what worried me the most was the claw marks also carved deep into the rock.

I was focused on the markings when I heard a woman’s angry scream echoing from the other side of the blockade. The scream was followed by a white flash of light and the whimpering sound of a wounded wolf. My [Awareness] went overdrive. Someone was fighting a Black Wolf. The person responsible for the previous corpses? Maybe. The flash meant someone was using magic. Magic could explain the gruesome deaths. What was the possibility of a person attacking me? I wasn’t a monster. Should I show myself?

I hushed [Awareness] and climbed the rock as quickly as my cubicle-worker physique would allow. I thanked the System for giving me [Improved Stamina], even if it did just to annoy me.

Reaching the top of the landslide, I spied the other side of the blockade. A woman dressed in adventurer’s gear pointed her longbow at a wounded Black Wolf a few meters away. She had a cloak pulled over her head so I couldn’t have a clear sight of her face but I noticed strands of silvery hair stuck out of her hood.

The woman jumped over a rock with feline agility to get away from the beast just as the Black Wolf pounced over her. Then, still mid air, she pulled the bowstring back and aimed for the kill. Just before releasing her shot, her leg faltered on impact with the ground and her arrow grazed the wolf’s head, missing its mark by millimeters.

[Awareness] sent me the notice that her leg was wounded just as the wolf readied itself to lunge again. Without even thinking, I raised over the landslide, grabbed a stone the size of my hand and threw it to the wolf, missing by one or two paces.

“It’s over, you furry fuck, I have the high ground!” I yelled, catching the attention of the monster.

The Black Wolf recoiled and turned its head to me. The creature recognized I was easy prey because it lost interest in the woman and jumped its way up the rocky blockade with an agility impossible for its size.

“Crap.” I muttered as my hands fumbled over the shotgun’s butt.

The Black Wolf was about to reach me when suddenly, a flash of light crossed my vision and the monster fell to the ground with its skull perforated from side to side by an arrow.

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Black Wolf (corrupted) slain.

[Awareness] was still working in the background of my mind and pointed out something about sharing experience and helping in combat. I ignored it and slid down the blockade to meet my savior.

The woman was tall and thin, with straight platinum hair falling like a cascade of silver down her shoulders. Her sharp features and frowning brow gave her a stark appearance only intensified by her piercing emerald eyes. Under her cloak, she wore tight leather armor, leather boots just above her knees, and even tighter riding breeches that accentuated the contours of her well toned legs.

The woman’s face, even though stained with dirt and sweat, was too beautiful to put into words. I had to blink repeatedly to ensure it wasn’t an illusion created by the shadows of the ravine. She had the kind of beauty that could silence entire rooms upon her arrival and turn even the most stoic men around to watch her go.

When I reached the bottom of the ravine I found the woman pointing her bow directly at me. Instinctively, I raised my hands over my head hoping the gesture was recognized universally as a sign of capitulation.

“Eiqe nus? Trem ie!” The woman yelled in a stark tone.

I was so infatuated by the beautiful woman in front of me that I almost overlooked the fact that she was speaking in a foreign language. Foreign for me at least, I was sure other adventurers didn’t have difficulties understanding her.

“Trem ie!” She yelled angrily at me.

Mind reading was unnecessary, she was demanding answers. The only issue was that I didn’t know what the question was.

“Okay, this is awkward. I assumed everyone spoke English here, you know, since the System is in English.” I replied apologetically while still holding my hands in the air.

The woman stumbled and fell to her knees, revealing a deep gash on her leg. Without a second thought, I threw my backpack to the ground, damned be the Hermit Gold fruit inside, and rushed to help her.

“Are you okay?”

The woman dropped her bow and quickly reached for her boot to draw the hunting knife strapped to her calf. I stopped in my tracks just before entering the knife’s range.

“Tirena!” She yelled with a sharp and pained voice.

My first aid training was kicking in. A belt wasn’t optimal for a tourniquet so I untied my scarf and threw it to her. The woman grabbed the scarf mid flight and tied a makeshift tourniquet around her thigh.

The woman put away her knife.

“I know you can’t understand me but I’m not going to harm you, okay?” I said, raising my arms.

The white haired woman pointed at me and then gestured insistently towards the ravine. Given the efficiency with which she had tended to her wound, I knew she was familiar with life in the Farlands. Whatever she was pointing to must be important so I nodded and ran down the path as fast as I could. Maybe there were other wounded adventurers nearby.

The walls of the ravine quickly shrunk and the path widened until I was in the open forest again. I didn’t have to go far to find her camp, or what was left of it. The embers of the campfire had been scattered across the campsite and her backpack was reduced to a collection of dirty rags. The contents were also scattered all around. The Black Wolf must’ve discovered the camp when she was away.

The camp was empty but I let [Awareness] do its thing. Considering the remains, it seemed the woman traveled alone. If she hadn’t sent me to help somebody, she sent me to retrieve something. But what?

It had to be something so obvious that I wouldn’t miss it even with the barrier of language in between. Problem was I wasn’t native to this world. A magic wand? A healing ring?

Searching around the remains of the shredded backpack, I found a rusted shovel, dirty bandages, a thorn blanket and a herb pouch. I grabbed all of it, except the rusted shovel, and ran back to the ravine. I just hoped there weren’t more Black Wolves.

Luck was on my side because when I returned, the woman was still there, sitting on the rock. I presented my findings to the woman and she instantly snatched the herb pouch from my hands.

She retrieved a vial of reddish liquid and poured it on her wound. A chilling sizzle reached my ears as the liquid seemingly cauterized the wound. The woman clenched her jaw and let out a small moan of pain as the flesh healed. I was hoping the magic potion would be more ‘magical’, but the wound only looked marginally better than before. At least the bleeding had stopped.

Now we were back to square one.

The woman growled as she got up and limped down the ravine, ignoring me.

I followed at a safe distance.

“Arduna sula!” The woman yelled as we reached the remains of the camp. “Arduna bekará sula!”

That was obviously a curse. The woman punched a tree and yelled another string of harsh sounding words before dropping to a small rock and covering her face with both hands. Whatever she had lost during the Wolf’s raid, it seemed important.

I let her alone for a moment and gathered the scattered embers. After a minute or two I had a healthy campfire. I poured the water from my canteen into my pot and waited. As the water began to boil, I dropped the bandages inside.

Every time I glanced at the woman, I found her looking back at me with a cautious expression. Nevertheless, she didn’t interrupt me. At least she wasn’t trying to stab me anymore, which was an improvement.

I pulled the bandages out of the boiling water with the point of my Swiss Army knife and the woman bandaged the wound with a skillful hand, as if she was already used to patching herself. Then she drank another of the potions from the pouch. The way she wrinkled her face was priceless but my cellphone was already dead, so I couldn’t capture the moment.

The grumpy woman was my ticket out of the Farlands so I had to think about how to gain her trust. Suddenly, an idea appeared in my brain. If I learnt something from my abuelita, offering food had to be the quintessential gesture of goodwill. The aftertaste of the potions must’ve been foul so I reached into my backpack and pulled out a bunch of sweet Hermit’s Gold fruits.

I offered her the biggest fruit but instead of taking it, she slapped my hand sending the ripe fruit against the last rocky remnants of the ravine. I recoiled in surprise.

“That was uncalled for, you ungrateful NPC.” I rubbed my hand knowing she wasn’t going to understand my complaints. Maybe it was my imagination but I thought I saw a spark of regret in her eyes.

I grabbed a fruit from my backpack and took a bite, releasing the juices trapped inside the tender skin. It tasted a bit more sour than I expected. The first contact with the locals wasn’t going as I expected. Sure we had killed a Black Wolf together but that didn’t seem to be enough to gain her trust. Nor giving her a tourniquet. Not retrieving her backpack. Nor preparing clean bandages.

I really wanted to hate her but she somewhat reminded me of an abused dog I saw once when I visited the local kennel with my students. Scared, distrustful. And she was my ticket to civilization.

“Eina elve nus, na? Eiqe nus?” The woman asked after a moment of silence.

If anything, she didn’t sound as aggressive as before.

“Eiqe nus?” She asked the same question again.

Eique nus? If I recall correctly that was the same question she had asked the first time we met. It didn’t take a genius to understand what she was asking.

I pointed at my chest with both hands and replied. “Rob. My name is Rob.”

The woman pointed at me. “Rob.” Then she pointed at her own chest and said. “Elincia. Ienu Elincia.”

I nodded with a cheerful smile, this was getting better.

“Ienu Rob. I am Rob.” I said, copying her words. If I wanted to be part of this world, the first thing I had to do was figure out a way of communicating.

A System prompt appeared in front of me.

New word learned!

Words learned: 1

Rank: Babbling Baby