New level

Monster slaying skill has reached level 2 of 10

You can now identify monsters up to lv. 3

You can now see the stats of level 1 monsters

Select a stat to receive a bonus in

Astrid couldn’t take her eyes off the notification. This was amazing. Her second skill had reached level two, so now she stood a far better chance against the monsters around here.

However, the last line made her pause. The first time she leveled up, the bonus had automatically been applied to her stamina. Back when she was little, her parents had told her that if a skill weren’t directly tied to a stat or if you had already received a bonus for it, she got to decide where the bonus would be added.

The thought of her lost family made her heart ache, so she pushed them away, bringing her thoughts back to the message. She had to select a stat now, but none of the ones she had were anywhere near maxed out yet. Applying the bonus to her mana was out of the question, and stamina had already received one and couldn’t get another before a skill reached level three. That left health, focus, and spirit.

After a moment of thinking, she decided to apply it to health. It didn’t matter that it was still in the twenties, as it wasn’t something she planned on deliberately training. It was simply too dangerous to do so. There had already been way too many close calls for her liking. Taking a deep breath, she mentally selected her health before taking a look at her updated stats.

Health: 48/48

Stamina: 37/50

Mana: 22/68

Focus: 35/46

Spirit: 34/38

She was glad to see she was getting stronger. Even after fighting several monsters, she still had the ability to go on.

Now that the bonus had been applied, she hurried back to the other team members, reaching them just in time to see them deliver the killing blow to the monster.

“Are you okay?” Walter said as she approached.

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“Nothing Kelan can’t fix. However, I think we have had enough for the day.”

“Agreed,” Astrid said and rejoined the formation with the others.

The trip back to the city was uneventful to everyone’s relief. They went to their headquarters to debrief. Astrid was beginning to feel tired from the long day and knew that even after the meeting it would be several hours before she could go to bed. Still, she did her best to focus as Walter went on about how they would adjust their fighting strategy in the future. Astrid also informed the others of her new level-up.

It was completely dark outside when the meeting finally ended.

“I think that’s all for today. See you all for training tomorrow.”

Once Astrid got home, she wanted to go straight to bed, but she still had dinner to make and schoolwork to do. She forced herself to spend an hour making dinner, eating, and cleaning up the kitchen again. Then she got on with some reading for tomorrow's classes.

*

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The next days passed in a blur as she adjusted to her new routine. Despite the busy schedule, she felt happier than she had in a long time. She had a home, friends, and a steady income. She was receiving recognition from all the citizens for her work with the team to keep the city safe, and in school she finally progressed from basic blast and shield to all the other level one spells. She could totally imagine spending the rest of her life doing this even if it meant living a double life.

The only worry was the quest she had received from the god of deception. He wanted her to travel to the capital, but Astrid had chosen to ignore it him. Every day the timer went down, and she couldn’t help worrying about what would happen when it hit zero. Deception hadn’t shown up in a while, so she hadn’t even been able to talk to him about it. No way was she going to be the one praying to him. Still, this was the longest time she hadn’t seen him since she became a follower, which should have made her relieved, but instead it was unsettling. However, she didn’t allow herself to linger on those thoughts for too long, and her hectic routine helped distract her.

The day for the timer reaching zero came and went, and as nothing happened, she began to relax. The god of deception had properly decided she was no longer interesting enough to bother.

Every day the temperature dropped as winter got closer. It rained almost every day, and the wind howled continuously. Astrid had started lighting her fireplaces to keep her home warm and bought herself a set of winter clothes. Sure, her cloak would keep her warm, but she only used it when she had to disguise herself as a grown-up.

Filip had recommended a shop that sold battle-friendly winter gear. It would keep the user warm without hindering movements and without getting them drenched in sweat during physical activities.

Filip had begun to hang out with her, Villads, and Brigitta after school every day, joining them in their training. It was one of Astrid’s highlights of her day when she got to hang out with her friends. They were the same age as her, so she got to mostly be herself and relax.

Spending time with Walter’s team was different. She liked all the people there well enough but found it difficult to connect with them. Whenever they talked about things not related to training and monster fighting, it became clear to her how big the age gap actually was, and Astrid put a lot of energy into not letting it show. Often, they would go out for drinks after meetings and invite Astrid to come along. Astrid thought it was a bad idea for her to go with them as she had heard of the effect alcohol could have on people. She couldn’t risk spilling all her secrets in a drunken stupor. She usually excused herself, saying she had to get home to her little sister, but she didn’t know how much longer that would work.

“Can’t your sister be home alone for one evening?” Jerrik asked. “How old is she again? Fifteen?”

“Fourteen,” Astrid mumbled. She didn’t know the exact date of her birth, but she would be fifteen early this winter. She didn’t tell the others that.

“Your sister isn’t a little kid and can look after herself a bit from time to time.” Ina said. “You need to start living your own life. Maybe find someone to marry.”

“I’m far too young to get married,” Astrid blurted out.

“If you wait too long, all the good options will be taken,” Jerrik said.

“Are you guys married then?” Astrid asked to take the others attention away from her before they made it their mission to set her up with someone.

“I am,” Kelan said. “Have been for years now. I also have a son and a daughter.”

Kelan was the oldest of them, so it made sense for him to have a family. The others weren’t quite there yet but were all either engaged or looking for someone to settle down with.

*

On the first day of winter, the news they had all dreaded came. Walter relayed it during a team meeting.

“The messenger we sent to the capital has returned. He brings bad news.” Astrid already had a pretty good idea where this was going. It was after all a situation that they had prepared for even though they had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.

“The king will not send a team to clear the dungeon here or to deal with our monster problem. We’ll have to do it on our own. We’ll leave at sunrise tomorrow.”

The others nodded in agreement, but Astrid felt her blood run cold.

“We’re not ready to deal with the dungeon ourselves,” she protested. The thought of going back terrified her. Still, she wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t think they were ready. If they went now, it was likely they would all end up dead.

“We have to be. We’re out of time. Every day the monster population increases, pushing them closer to our walls. We must act now.”

There had been no monster breaches since the harvest festival, but only because Astrid and the others had slayed those who tried to scale the wall before they succeeded.

“We could spend some more time training.”

All but Astrid were at level three in their preferred weapon, but their monster-slaying skill was still at one. Astrid had maxed out her mana a few days prior but still hadn’t leveled up her combat magic skills. She was the only one who had reached level two in monster slaying.

Astrid tried to explain how big a difference leveling up that skill made. How she could now tell the stats of the monsters weaker than her and how she instinctively knew their strengths and weaknesses, but it seemed like Walter had made up his mind.

“The monsters will get more aggressive as the winter progresses. We’ll be overrun. The only way to protect the city is to clear the dungeon.

“If we go now, we’ll all be killed!”

“Then we die knowing we did everything we could.”

“And who’ll protect the city then?”

“The city will find a way to manage. Maybe then the capital will see reason.”

“This is ridiculous. Do you even have a plan?”

“We’ll enter the dungeon, and then we’ll kill every single monster we find in there. Now are you going with us or not?”

Everyone looked at Astrid, waiting for her response. They all seemed determined to go through with this. Well, if they were so eager to throw their lives away, they could do so without her.

“I’m not going with you.” Astrid said. She got up and left the room.