I woke up to silence. Not the creepy kind from horror movies but a more natural one that is stranger to civilization. I opened my eyes and sat up to see something out of place, a tree. There wasn’t only one tree. There were trees all around. I stood up and looked up curious about the time. It was bright so I put my hand over my eyes and looked down reflexively. Just as I was about to walk, I noticed something and looked at my hand again.

                “What the fuck?! This isn’t my hand!” I put my hand on my eyes to see if its virtual reality but it wasn’t. I sighed. “Okay, Victor. Calm down. This is not the place to freak out. Just find a way to get back home and then everything will be all right.”

                ‘I can’t believe something like this happened to me. And I was so sure I would finally get laid. I was wearing a really cool spider costume this time too.’ “Sigh.”

                I looked around to find a road or the like, but I had no luck. “Okay. There is no road as long as the eye can see. So I have to let fate decide where I will be heading.” I stood straight and started turning around myself. I went as fast as I can without falling down then at the last second, I stopped and pointed straight ahead. “There! Fate picked this way.” I put my hands together and started praying. “Let there be a hot girl, let there be a hot girl.” Without stopping my prayers I continued walking all the while looking around to see if there is a road. There wasn’t, so that left me with no choice but to follow the path fate had for me.

                I walked for so long I had to stop my prayers since my arms got tired. After a while, my legs gave up too, so I had to stop. While resting, I heard a distant scream. It came from my left. I took a deep breath and quickly started running towards the voice. I ran a hundred meters or so when I heard it again. This time much closer.

                In a few minutes, I reached a broken down fort. I quietly hid and started looking to see if there is anybody inside. I was about to get inside when two armed people showed themselves. They seemed to radiate power, like some sort of supervillain. One of them mounted a horse and started telling something to the other. They seemed to be talking in a foreign language, so I didn’t understand what they were saying.

                I got closer to them quietly and looked inside. There wasn’t much. I looked further in and saw a woman bound to a wall. ‘That must be the source of the scream. I need to pass the men and see her status, t-‘

Suddenly, there was a screen in front of me.

Status

Name: Victor

Age: 18

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 10

Vitality: 10

Charm: 20

Class: None x4

                There was more but I didn’t read all of them. I noticed the class clause. “X4 should mean I can get four classes. Okay. It would be good if I knew how to pick a class.

                Then there was another screen.

                Pick a Class.

                Say the name of the class you want to pick.

                ‘Huh, that’s easy. Now, what would help me here? First, I should be able to understand what the duo are talking about. So what class should I pick if I want to learn a language? There was a word, what was it? Yes!’

                I whispered. “Linguist.”

                Linguist

                Linguists are people that made their way of life to learn other languages and how they work. This class will boost your ability to learn new languages and your application of them.

                ‘Sweet. This should work. It doesn’t say how fast I will learn though.’ I shook my head. ‘I don’t have time for doubt.’ I whispered again. “Pick the class.”

                There was another window.

                Linguist Starter Skill: Gift of the Tongue.

                Instantly learn to speak the language of your choosing.

                ‘Yes! This is just what I need!’ I quickly turned to two men that are still talking and used the Skill. I waited for a light show or upload of information to my brain, but there was nothing. Then I noticed one of the men looking around. My heart quickened. ‘Did he notice me?’ He shook his head and turned back to the mounted warrior. Then started talking again.

                “It’s dangerous for me to stay back by myself. The woman is strong, what if she frees herself?”

                The mounted warrior shook his head smiling. “Brad, you are always like this. You know those ropes are strong enough to hold against 200 Strength. I will be only gone for three hours. You will be okay.”

                Brad nodded reluctantly. “Okay. But don’t be late.”

                The mounted warrior smiled lovingly, then leaned towards Brad who got closer to him. Their face got closer and closer just when their lips about to touch I closed my eyes. ‘What the hell?! I am not ready for this!’ I waited like that for a while. I opened my eyes slowly when I heard the horse move.

                The mounted warrior stood straight with a satisfied smile on his face and said “I wish I could stay back. These kinds of opportunities are hard to get.”

                Brad nodded. He seemed sad and excited at the same time. “Why don’t you stay for a few minutes? I am sure they can wait.” The mounted warrior just shook his head and turned around to go.

                After looking after the mounted warrior for a few minutes, Brad sighed and touched his groin. He took a look at the bound woman and went inside a tent. ‘He was afraid the woman would run. Why did he get inside? He touched- Oh no! Don’t think, don’t think!’

                I shook my head and slowly made my way to the bound woman. She moved aggressively when she saw me, but I didn’t mind. ‘Probably thinks I am here to harm her.’ I looked around to find something to cut her ropes and found two big swords in a crate. I quietly held one and started sawing through her rope. After a few seconds of sawing the rope snapped and the woman freed herself. She looked at me and said something I didn’t understand. ‘Great, another language.’ I shook my head. “Do you know this language?”

                She nodded. “Are you one of them?”

                I shook my head again. “Of course not. I am here to free you.”

                She looked thoughtful. “Where are the guards?”

                “There is only one. He is probably doing…” I close my eyes trying to push the image of the man away. I sighed and continued “…his business.”

                She raised an eyebrow. ”What business?” I made a gesture towards my groin. She raised her other eyebrow too and asked. “By himself?” ‘Why did it make her surprised? Oh!’

                “He likes men.” She seemed relieved for some reason.

                She took the other blade and said “I will deal with him. You go free my friend.”

                “Your friend?” I looked around. “Where are they?”

                She pointed to a wall. I got closer and noticed there was a door there. I turned to the woman and nodded. She nodded back and made her way to the tent. I came before the door and pushed it, dreading it would be locked. It wasn’t. Inside was another woman. She was as beautiful as her friend but for some reason, her skin was glowing. ‘Damn that’s something.’ I wanted to appreciate her beauty but I just shook my head and started sawing the rope with the sword in my hand.

                After I was done, I got closer to the woman and said “Hey. Are you awake? I am a friend, you don’t need to act like you are unconscious.” I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t. I reached her, waiting for her to attack me with a knife but she didn’t. “I guess you really are out of it. Okay.” I took her in a bridal carry, making sure she doesn’t come into contact with the sword in my hand, and headed towards the tent to see if the other woman managed to deal with Brad.

                Then I saw something I wouldn’t want to see. There was the man from before, fighting against the woman. I noticed he got cut on his arms but he seemed to be still going strong. Even though his pants were down. Accidently I looked down and saw his dangling bits. I closed my eyes first, then forcefully opened them back and looked at the fight.

                ‘She seemed to have managed to cut him a few times but they are all shallow. It looks like the fight can go either way.’ I shook my head. ‘I can’t let him win.’ I looked around and saw a tent. I went inside and put the woman in my arms on one of the bedrolls. Then I brandished my sword and closed my eyes. After psyching myself up, I quietly started walking towards the fight, towards Brad’s back. The woman must have understood my intention since she started attacking with more fervor to get the man’s attention.

                I stood behind the man, almost expecting him to turn back and behead me in one quick motion but it didn’t happen. I looked at his back and thought of stabbing the sword to his spine, paralyzing him. But I couldn’t make myself do it, so I looked at his ankle. I raised my sword and with all my power swung it towards there. I missed but still hit his Achilles tendon. He fell on his knee and looked behind quickly. He tried to take a stance in a way to see both of us at the same time but I didn’t let him. I always positioned myself on his blind side.

                He could have turned to me and tried to end me. I am sure he knew my power level then. But he didn’t dare. Since he could stand only on one foot, he wasn’t fast enough to both attack me and defend himself against the woman.

                Like that, we dealt with him in a few minutes and I didn’t even have to attack him a second time. The possibility of an attack from behind was too much for him to hold against the woman. After the end of the fight, the woman came to me, smiling. “Well done. Where is my friend? We don’t have much time, we should go.”

                I shook my head. “We have time. One of the men said they would be out for three hours. That should be enough for us to loot this place and get out. Your friend might wake up at that time too, which should increase our speed.

                She nodded thoughtfully and looked at me. She raised an eyebrow and said, “You talk like you are one of us.”

                I shrugged. “Am I not?”

                She touched my chest with her finger. “You are a stranger.”

                I smirked. “I am your savior. I saved your life and most likely, your chastity. That should worth something.”

                She seemed suspicious. “What do you want?”

                “I want you to let me join your group.”

                She thought about it for a few seconds and nodded to herself. “Okay, but if you drag us down, you are out. No ifs and buts.”

                I smiled, she seemed taken aback. “Okay. Now for saving your friend's life…”

                She gestured for me to stop. “No, no. I will let you join the group for saving our lives. No more.”

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                I shook my head. “How can you say that? Does your friend’s life worth so little?” I said with mock shock.

                She ground her teeth and squeezed her fists. “Fine. What else do you want? If you say something like-“

                This time I stopped her. “No, nothing like that.” I chuckled. She looked at me quizzically. “Though that would be great, I have other priorities.” She gestured for me to go on. “I want you to teach me.”

                She frowned and looked at me questioningly. “Teach you what?”

                “Common sense.”

                She looked at me oddly. After taking for a while to think, she opened her mouth but before she said something, I heard a different voice.

                “We accept.”

                We turned to look at the source of the voice. It was the sleeping beauty. She was tall. Not as tall as me or Felicia but tall for a woman. She had golden hair and dark blue eyes on a thin face. She was a sight to behold. I pushed the part that wanted me to just look at her and smiled “Did you sleep well?”

                She chuckled and approached me. She gave me a once over and said “What is your name?”

                “Victor. What is yours?”

                Her smile reached her eyes. “Elizabeth, call me Eli.” She turned to her friend and added “And this is Felicia.”

                I was shocked to hear her name. “Felicia?” ’Yes! This has to be fate indeed!’ I started to vibrate from excitement. I looked at Felicia again. She had dark hair and green eyes. She had a muscled but lean body. I couldn’t hold myself any longer. I dropped my head back and started laughing. After a few seconds, I felt a hand on my mouth. I looked at the owner. It was Felicia.

                She looked at me angrily and said “Shut up.” I nodded then she started taking her hand away but before she did that, I licked it. She quickly took her hand away. She seemed a little bit disgusted. “What was that?”

                I looked at her sadly. “Sorry, reflex.”

                She quickly got closer and forcefully held my collar. She seemed angry. ‘Oh, fuck’ I looked at Felicia with trepidation. She held my collar firmer. “No, it wasn’t. You licked my hand.” She turned to Eli. “Are you sure it’s okay to let him join the team?”

                Eli smiled and nodded. “Yes. Calm down, we don’t have time to fight amongst ourselves. Let’s loot the place and go.”

                We both nodded and without talking, moved opposite directions. I started looking inside tents. There wasn’t much inside, few coin pouches which most were either empty or near empty. I found four books. After looking through three tents, I dropped books and pouches to the ground at the center of the fort and made my way to the biggest tent. There were a double bed and a full bookshelf. I found a note that, for some reason, looked important. I took it and made my way to Eli. She was looking through crates when she noticed me.

                She smiled. “Did you find anything?” I nodded and gave her the note. She read it through with a thoughtful face and looked at me. “Where did you find this?” I pointed to the large tent and she started walking.

                I followed her inside the tent. She started skimming through the books, all the while holding the note. I couldn’t help but get curious. “What did you find?”

                She put the book she was skimming back and turned to me. She raised the note and said “It’s says they are experimenting on people somewhere close here, a cave inside the forest. The bandits give them the people they catch and those people give bandits money.”

                I nodded. “Do you have other people that can help with this?”

                Eli shook her head. “Yes, but they wouldn’t. This is too dangerous.”

                I nodded again. “Can you two take the bandits by yourselves?” She shook her head again. Then I took the note from her grasp and put it at the table the way I found it. “Then let’s leave this tent alone. We wouldn’t want those people to think they have been found out, right?”

                Eli looked at me oddly then she understood my meaning. She smiled and said “Good. You joined our group only a few minutes ago but you are already useful.” She then punched my shoulder playfully and headed out. I looked around and saw an oddly placed carpet. It looked like there was something under. So I raised it and saw a bulging coin pouch inside a shallow hole. I smiled and with some reluctance, took it.

                When I was out, I saw the girls putting the loot on a horse. Eli turned to me and noticed the coin pouch on my hand. She reached towards it, so I gave it to her. She looked inside and said “Well. It seems the new member came with the money.”

                Hearing Eli, Felicia looked inside too and I saw her eyes visibly bulging. She looked back at me and said “Do you know how much inside?”

                I shook my head, smiling. “No idea.”

                Felicia raised an eyebrow. “And you gave it to Eli, who you have met a few minutes ago.”

                I nodded, still smiling.

                Felicia sighed and shook her head. “You have so much to learn…” She stopped and sighed again. She looked like she had a headache. She stopped herself before putting her hand to her forehead and said “Come on. Help me load these to the horse.”

                I nodded. “Show me what to do.”

***

                After we departed from the fort, we headed towards the city Eli and Felicia was living. After hearing about my stats, they told me to mount the horse, so I did. It seemed harder to stay on the horse without falling than walking. I said as much to the girls but they insisted I stay on it. So I shrugged and continued to try and learn horse riding.

                We moved for a few hours like that when Eli told us to stop to make camp. I jumped down from the horse and bound it to a close tree. Then I started collecting dry wood. Felicia saw what I am doing and came to me. She stood before me and said, “What are you doing?”

                I cocked my head. “I am collecting wood, for fire.”

                Felicia sighed and rubbed her head. “Leave them. We don’t want bandits to follow us. So we will make do without fire.”

                I nodded and threw woods away, in a way that would make them fly in different directions. Felicia raised her brow to me which I answered by shrugging. Then I smiled and said, “Hey, Felicia.”

                “Hm?”

                I smiled wider which made her suspicious. “Since there is no fire, how are we going to get warm? Will we cuddle each other?” I started trembling from excitement again. “I can’t wait to cuddle with you. Ehehe.”

                I turned to look at Felicia, who was smiling viciously, which made my own smile drop. She smiled even wider and said, “I will cuddle with Eli.” She chuckled and pointed to the horse. “You can cuddle with the horse.” She then started walking towards Eli, all the while swinging her hips exaggeratedly.

                I gave myself some time to watch her shapely ass that looked divine even through armor then I started trembling again. Without noticing I whispered. “Oh, Felicia, you are awesome.”

                She heard me and I saw her look at me quizzically. After a second her face took an unpleasant hue and she stopped swinging her hips. Just walking normally. She sat beside Eli and looked at me angrily. I couldn’t take my eyes from her all the while. She then made a fist which started a chain reaction that ended with me running towards the horse. Poor animal misunderstood my intention and panicked. It kept screaming until Eli started stroking its fur. It calmed down after that and I managed to get the bedrolls from it.

                I made my way to Felicia and put the bedrolls on the ground, close to her. She looked at the bedrolls then Eli, who was still trying to calm down the poor animal, and whispered. “Take them away, now.”

                I looked at her, confused. “Why?”

                She looked at Eli again. “Just don’t let Eli see them.”

                I looked back at Eli. “Why? Are you afraid Eli won’t let you cuddle with her then?” She looked at me like she was ready to pounce at me any second. I smirked and continued. “Don’t worry. You can always cuddle with me.”

                Felicia was about to say something when we heard Eli say “Ah, you got bedrolls too. I was afraid we will have to cuddle each other to stay warm.”

                I was horrified by the understanding. “You mean, you would cuddle with me?”

                Eli looked at me oddly. “Yes. Why not?”

                All it took was three words to break my world. I put my hands to my head. ‘She would cuddle me. She, she…’ What broke me out of it was Felicia. She jumped on me and started strangling me. I didn’t have any air, so my body started panicking but by using enough willpower to surprise even myself, I stopped my body from going nuts and instead hugged Felicia.

                I looked at her face, she looked horrified. “Stop hugging me you creep! Just die! Die!” I was about to, if not for Eli.

Eli took Felicia away and looked at me worriedly. She came close to my face and asked “Are you okay? Don’t mind Felicia, she easily gets angry. Otherwise, she is a great girl.”

‘Wow. Eli really is a good woman. I shouldn’t take advantage of it, I shouldn’t… Oh, what am I saying?’ I looked away and after a few seconds started crying. “Eli, I thought I was about to die.” I put my hands to my face and continued. “I thought I-I was going to die without even hugging a woman.” I started crying aloud.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Eli smiling at me like an angel. Of course, I noticed her beauty before but I wasn’t really affected by it until then. Seeing her smiling face, my heart skipped a beat. After a few seconds of smiling kindly at me, she said “Don’t worry. You won’t die without hugging a woman.” She then hugged me. That really warmed my heart. You see, I was really afraid of something like that, but not as innocent as a hug.

I shook my head slightly and said “Thank you. This means a lot to me.” Then I looked up and saw Felicia looking at us and grinding her teeth. I couldn’t help but smile evilly then. I made a show of smelling Eli. Felicia squeezed her fists. Then I took out my tongue and acted like I was licking Eli, without touching her of course. I looked at big-eyed Felicia and gave her a big grin. That broke her. She took shocked Eli away and raised her fist. I quickly protected my face and said “Oh no! Eli! She will kill me! Please stop her!”

Felicia stopped. I saw her face loudly saying ‘Oh, shit’ and waited. Felicia looked at Eli and said, “Of course I won’t harm him. What do you think I am?” She smiled innocently.

I looked at her dubiously. “Really? Then why did you take Eli away?”

Felicia looked at innocent Eli and gulped. Then she said “I was just going to…” She thought a second then she said “Oh. I was going to hug him too.”

Eli gave her an angelic smile. “That’s great! Go on. Don’t let me keep you.”

Felicia looked at me, took a deep breath, and hugged me. It felt wonderful. I hugged her back and whispered, “You are great.” She flinched minutely then after a second, broke the hug. I didn’t try to keep her from doing it. I just watched her beautiful face. She looked back, I guessed to look at Eli. She turned back and grinned at me. My heart skipped another beat.

 Then she punched me. I felt my breath and ability to breathe leave me.

While I was trying to breathe, Felicia came close to my ear and said “Don’t fuck with me. There is more where this comes from.” She then smiled beautifully enough to make me forget breathing and went away. After she was gone, I noticed I could breathe again. I stood up, dusted myself, and approached the duo.

Eli looked up from the book she was reading when she noticed me and said “How are you now?”

I beamed. “I am great! Thank you.” Then I turned to Felicia and gave her my thanks too. She lost her smile and looked at me oddly. I shook my head. “Anyway. I need your help.”

Eli raised an eyebrow. “Common sense?” I nodded. She closed her book slowly and said “What do you want to know?”

I sighed and collected my thoughts. “I want to know about Status and Classes.”

Felicia gasped. We turned to her and she asked “You don’t know?” I shook my head. “Don’t you have a class though? What is it, Thief?”

I shook my head. “It’s Linguist. I took it to understand the warriors.”

She looked at me oddly. “You took a class just to understand bandits?”

I nodded. “In my defense, I wouldn’t know I could free you otherwise.” She accepted my reasoning, albeit grudgingly.

Eli cleared her throat then, so we turned to her. “What do you know?”

“I only know how to pick a class.”

Eli nodded. “Then let’s start with attributes. You read them?” I nodded. “Let’s go with the normal order. Strength is how strong you are.”

“Dexterity is how coordinated you are and how detailed your vision is.”

“Agility is how fast you are.”

“Vitality is how durable you are.”

“Charm is how attractive or inspiring you are. Which one depends on how other people see you.”

“Do you have any questions?”

I nodded. “Does vitality increase your lifespan?” Eli shook her head. “Okay. Then is there any way to improve how far you can see or how good your sense of smell and such?”

Eli nodded. “How far you can see is dependent on both your dexterity and agility. As for other senses, there is no way to improve them as much as I know.”

I nodded again. “Then, is there any way to get smarter?”

Felicia chuckled. I looked at her quizzically. She said “You can’t get smarter with attributes. You can only get smarter through Skills. You should have gotten a Skill when you picked Linguist.” She frowned. “What was it anyway?”

“It was Gift of the Tongue. It lets you learn a language instantly. Though it doesn’t seem to cover reading, only talking.”

Felicia nodded. “So that’s why you only know Kantega.”

I nodded. “The bandits were already talking so I had no other language to pick really.”

Eli said, “What do you know about classes?”

I sighed. “As I said, I only know how to pick a class. Though I don’t know what class is there to take.”

Eli nodded. “About classes. You can pick two classes.”

I stopped her. “Are you sure? My Status says I can pick three more.”

Eli and Felicia looked at each other oddly. Then Eli said “Don’t let anyone else know about it. Somebody might take an interest.”

“I got it. So, you were talking about classes.”

Eli sighed while nodding. “Adventurers like us generally pick one mental class to get smarter, and one body class to fight better. When you take a class first, you can pick how many quarters you want that class to be, from one quarter to four. How many quarters did you pick for Linguist?”

I shook my head. “None. I am guessing if you pick four quarters you stay with a single class.” Eli nodded. “So what is the difference between one quarter and two quarters?”

“The experience you get when you are doing something relevant to your class depends on how many quarters it has. Two quarters get double the experience of one quarter.”

I nodded. “I understand. What about Skills? Does how many quarters you have effects the quality of Skills?” Eli shook her head. “Okay. You talked about experience. What happens if you slay a monster or” I turned to Felicia and continued “Or a human?”

This time the one to answer was Felicia. “You get normal experience. More, if you have empty quarters but mostly Monster Slayers does that.”

I nodded. “Then if I gain experience and level up, how do my Classes are affected?”

Eli looked up momentarily. “Your Classes shares experience gained equally no matter how you gain them. So they always level together.”

“So if I have a single Class… say, Warrior. Then experience doesn’t get split so it should improve much faster.”

Eli shook her head. “Yes, but the resulting advantage is only better first thirty levels or so. After that, the power of Skills trumps the extra experience you get.”

“You get a starter Skill for every Class you pick.” Girls nodded. “Do you get any Skills after that?”

Eli nodded “Yes. Every ten levels you get a Skill for every Class. But they are rarely more powerful than your starter Skill.” It was odd, I looked at her quizzically. She just shrugged. “Do you have any other questions?”

I nodded. “How do you improve your Attributes?”

“You get attribute points every time your class levels up. How many are dependent on your class. Generally, a Mental Class gives around 1-3 AP and Body Class gives around 3-10.” Eli finished frowning softly.

“Ten?”

Eli shook her head. “I only know one class like that, and it only gives that much AP if it’s your sole class.”

I sighed. “I was afraid my build would suck.”

Eli raised a brow. “You are thinking of getting four Mental Classes.” I nodded. “That doesn’t seem very smart. You can be very powerful if you get four Body Classes you know.”

I shrugged. “I find being smart better than being strong.”

Eli smiled. “Are you now? Okay. Do you have any other questions?”

I shook my head and that ended the conversation. Eli continued reading her book while Felicia sat on her bedroll.