Dassyra walked in front of me. Despite how chatty she had been at the tent, she had turned completely silent as soon as we left the outpost’s boundaries. Alert to any suspicious sound, we walked across unmarked trails and rugged terrain towards the waterfall. The proximity of the mountain didn’t make our journey easier, however, the sparser trees in the area proved to be an advantage. There were few places where a monster could hide.

Monsters weren’t my primary concern anymore.

I waited until we were far enough from the outpost to avoid any unwanted spies. Then, I spoke English for the first time in months. “You can understand what I’m saying, can’t you?”

Dassyra stopped in her tracks, her dark eyes showed a mixture of surprise and fear. I expected her to reply but no sound came from her mouth. The wind ruffled her pitch-black hair. The silence stretched for an eternity before she finally spoke.

“What did you just say?” Her voice carried a strong accent but was, otherwise, remarkably fluent.

“You can understand me!” I said as a smile tugged at my lips. Only then did I notice how much I missed talking in my native tongue. [Master of Languages] smoothed out the experience of speaking Common, however, having a skill wiring and rewiring my brain with each new word wasn’t the same as using my own knowledge.

Suddenly, [Awareness] sent an alarm through my nerves. Dassyra was reaching for her knife. Almost by instinct I reached for the hilt of my sword just to find it empty. I had left it forgotten inside the tent at the outpost. I reached for the ankle knife Elincia had given me just as Dassyra drew her orc-sized machete.

Out of nowhere, our parent-teacher meeting had turned into a standoff.

It wasn’t the first time I had a staring contest with a parent, but it was the first time involving deadly weapons.

Dassyra’s eyes bore into mine, her expression inscrutable. Her hand tightly gripped the hilt of the machete, the glint of the blade catching the sunlight that filtered through the canopy above. As much as I tried, I couldn't pinpoint what had gone wrong.

“Who are you?” Dassyra grunted but the words made little sense to me even if she was speaking fluent English. The wind carried the words away, leaving only the rustle of leaves and the distant rush of the waterfall.

Then something clicked inside my brain.

“I’m not your enemy.” I said. My voice was steady, but my heart raced beneath my calm expression.

The orc woman glared at me with distrust.

I took a cautious step back. [Awareness] fed me with details of the terrain around me and came to the conclusion that trying to outrun the orc woman was a bad idea. Dassyra wasn’t just taller and more athletic than me, she also knew the area and had a camp full of orc warriors at her disposal. I had to defuse whatever the situation was.

“Let’s talk it out. I’m sure this is a misunderstanding.” I said.

Dassyra’s gaze didn’t waver.

My mind raced. There had to be a reason behind her violent reaction. Dassyra knew who Byrne was. Maybe the old man was an enemy of the orc tribe, but that didn’t make sense. If Dassyra knew how to speak fluent English without help from the System, then she had to be exposed to the language over a long period of time.

“There’s no misunderstanding.” Dassyra simply replied, her expression revealed nothing but determination to protect whatever she believed was at stake.

My fingers tightly curled around the knife’s hilt and [Swordsmanship] loaded my brain with fresh information. I had gotten accustomed to the sensation to the point I wasn’t distracted by it anymore. My whole body adopted an alert stance and before I could utter a word, Dassyra jumped forward, shortening the distance between us in a heartbeat.

Despite the fact I felt like a meerkat being charged by a rhinoceros, I stood my ground and ignited my knife. Dassyra towered over me and raised her frighteningly large machete over her head. I noticed her bulging muscles tensing to deliver a mighty blow. She wasn’t holding back.

I jumped back just in time to dodge.

The force of her attack sent a shockwave through the ground. The blade of the machete sent dirt and debris flying around. A shiver ran down my spine, she could totally split me in half. I didn't panic. The succession of battles during the last days had numbed my sense of self-preservation to the point my brain didn’t even think about running away anymore. Instead, I studied the situation.

Adrenaline surged through my veins as I shifted into a defensive stance. Dassyra swiftly recovered from her missing swing and, without skipping a beat, she threw a lateral cut directly at my face.

I once again backstepped. [Awareness] sent information about the ground directly into my brain, preventing me from missteps in the uneven terrain.

“I don’t want to fight, Dassyra!” I said as I tried to create distance between us.

The blood rushing through my ears drowned the sound of my own voice.

Part of my brain thought that seeing such a strong body performing to the fullest of her capacity was a breathtaking show. The other part was too busy trying to not get shredded to even silence the unrequired thoughts. Dassyra lunged again, her machete whistling through the air. I sidestepped and deflected the blow with a quick motion of my mana blade. The clash of metal resonated through the forest as a vague reminder of the imminent danger.

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I continued retreating.

Her movements were swift and powerful, as if the machete weighed no more than a butterknife. I couldn’t match her strength, but I used my footwork and blade to avoid the full power of her blows. With each strike, I felt my mana pool diminishing.

Dassyra swung again, no matter how wide the arcs were, I couldn’t find any opening. I ducked under her blade, narrowly avoiding its deadly arc. With a swift step forward, I locked our blades in place in an attempt to cool down the situation.

My muscles burned as I fought to keep Dassyra from pushing my blade away. I tried to speak but my jaw was firmly clenched in place. My whole body was fighting against the orc’s strength, and I was losing.

Even with the injuries from the fight against the Ice Wrath, Dassyra didn’t relent. I stepped back and Dassyra took advantage of the situation to throw a quick blow. I blocked it with my mana blade, but the impact jarred my entire arm.

I had to end the fight quickly, but I didn’t want to harm Dassyra. I might be able to defeat Dassyra using all my skills, but orphaning Wolf just to stay alive wasn’t on my list of ideal outcomes. I just needed to push some sense inside her thick skull.

Taking advantage of the distance between us, I activated my [Intimidate] skill.

Mana wrapped around my body, this time not as a flame, but as crackling arches of pure light. Dassyra’s mighty presence shrunk against the display of magical power. For an instant she hesitated, and I knew that was going to be my only chance to be heard.

“I know the man who taught you to speak like me.” I said over the sound of my roaring mana.

The standoff continued for what felt like an eternity. The forest seemed to hold its breath and even the sound of the birds had quieted down. Finally, after an eternity, Dassyra’s grip on the machete relaxed just slightly. Her eyes were still fixed on me, but I sensed a hint of curiosity behind her distrustful expression.

“Talk.”

“His name is Samuel Byr–”

I couldn't finish my sentence because a fat vulture fell from the sky swiftly like an arrow and bounced against Dassyra’s face.

“It's going to get us killed!” The brown feathered vulture yelled as it fluttered against the confused woman’s face.

Dassyra swung her strong arms, but the Vulture Changeling bounced back and fell to the ground. There it transformed into a perfect copy of my mother’s dog and quickly ran to hide behind me.

“Damn beast!” The Changeling added from the safety in between my legs.

“Byrne!” I yelled as Dassyra tightened the grip of her machete. “The man who taught you how to speak my language was named Samuel Byrne. I knew him. I was searching for him and ended up here.”

Dassyra’s furrowed brow seemed to relax even slightly. The tension in the air hasn’t totally dissipated but a fragile truce was better than nothing. Meanwhile, my mind continued processing the events unfolding around me. Byrne. His existence had been a catalyst for the most unpredictable events in my life, and it seemed the trend was going to continue.

“You know Byrne-Samuel.” She muttered to herself.

Dassyra’s grip around the machete finally slackened. Her expression was a mix of emotions. Confusion, surprise, curiosity, sorrow. Any clue of Byrne’s relationship with the orc tribe was too diffuse to make up my mind.

Dassyra seemed to force the words, so they came out of her mouth. “Is Byrne-Samuel alive?”

The question left me perplexed as I was trying to figure out the same thing when I was sent to his cabin.

“I don’t know. Last time I saw him was five years ago.” I replied, lowering my blade. “As I told you before, I was searching for him and ended up here near Farcrest. I swear I don’t have any ill intent towards you or your people.”

“It’s going to get us killed!” The Changeling said and I had to put my hand around its snout to make it shut up. It had been a sweet gesture to come down to help me but now I needed to control the conversation.

Dassyra let out a long sigh and put her machete back in its sheath.

“You seem like a good man and the Caretaker likes you. I’ll trust my gut this time, but you’ll have to answer my questions.” Dassyra said. “Let’s go where nobody can hear us.”

For the next ten minutes none of us uttered a word. Dassyra guided me down a slope with sparsely scattered trees and a whole sea of ferns. As we advanced, the air became more humid, and the murmur of the waterfall intensified until we left the tree line behind and found a small blue lake fed by a high cascade.

During the whole journey, the Changeling had made sure to stand between me and the orc woman, always on guard.

“This should be far enough.” Dassyra said with a pained expression as she sat on a rock and put her hand on her wound. “I’m sorry for attacking you. Byrne told me the people from his country were dangerous and should be dealt with before they find their way back. He said this world has to be kept a secret.”

I nodded in silence. I could understand Byrne’s concern, the clash of two worlds was always difficult for the less technologically advanced. If someone returned to Earth with proof of a magical land, there would be a line of governments fighting for the control of the new land.

Oh.

“What do you mean with this world?” I asked.

Maybe it was a translation mistake, but Dassyra shouldn’t know that Byrne and I came from a completely different world. The System warned me against telling the locals and it was only logical to assume Byrne had received the same warning. Unless Byrne hadn’t become a subject of the System.

“Byrne told me about the Earth, about America, about your world’s wars and struggles.” Dassyra said with a melancholic voice. “He told me our worlds had to remain separated.”

I nodded.

“I’m not planning on going back.” I said. “And I don’t plan to rat out a whole world.”

Dassyra massaged her temples with such intensity I thought she was going to rip her skin. Then, she looked at the sky and let out a loud groan.

“Alright, I believe you. It’s the least I can do after everything you have done for Wolfie and I. Byrne would kill me, but I believe you.” Dassyra finally said.

“It’s okay. You are not the first woman who tried to kill me during our first meeting.” I replied, taking a seat in front of her. The whole fight had left me exhausted. “I have a question, though. What was your relationship with Mr. Byrne?”

Dassyra gave me a confused expression.

“Byrne-Samuel was my partner. He is Wolfie’s father.”