By the time we made it back, Sierra was deep asleep in Visenna’s lap. Visenna herself hadn’t moved an inch. She looked at us, expressionless, as we sat down beside her. Looking back at the fire, she asked, “I hope you saw the kind of trouble that is brewing in this place.”

Urvi and I were speechless. Fear had penetrated every bone in our body. We quietly stared at the fire, unsure what to say.

“You can find the settlement of the sparrow clan west of here. It is about two days journey. You can get dear Sierra to safety there and please do let them know of what you saw,” Visenna asked kindly.

“Could you help us make sense of what we saw?” I asked. “Who were those people?”

“Several centuries ago, there lived a god amongst these people. Well... God to them. From what I have heard, they say she was a monster. Cruel, cunning, and a deep hatred festered in her heart. She commanded the folks of the forest, making them do inhumane things. This was until a brave group of warriors put an end to her, just a few years before I reached here. Her religion slowly died out and she faded from the memories of the people. But she still lives on as a god in the minds of these cultists. I do not know why. As of late, I see more and more of them and their heinous rituals.”

“Can’t you stop them?” Urvi asked.

“I could. But my methods would be ineffective. It would be easy to slaughter the cultists but that is exactly what their god wants. If we want to put her to sleep permanently, we must change the way of the people.”

“Easier said than done,” I said.

“True. But we must try.” She turned to her left and put her hand into a pouch. Out of it, she pulled a roll of parchment which she handed over to me. “Here. A small reward for helping me.”

“But I didn’t do anything,” I said, holding my hands up.

She smiled softly and said, “Don’t worry. It will help you in your quest as well.”

It was a bit unfair but since she insisted, I took it. It was a roll of rusty-looking parchment tied up by a thin brown twine. Urvi popped her head as she watched me untie the knot before unrolling it.

The parchment had just one symbol etched onto it. As I tried to observe it closer, it suddenly disappeared. “What the hell?”

“Look at the back of your right hand,” Visenna said without looking.

I turned my hand over and saw the same symbol tattooed on the back. “What is this?” I asked.

“It is a rune. More specifically a fire rune. With it, you can cast fire spells,” she replied.

“That is badass!!” Urvi replied.

I looked at the symbol as I felt my mana core heating up. My breathing got heavier, and I began to sweat.

“I suggest you sleep now. It takes some time for your body to adjust,” Visenna said.

***

The night was intense. I felt like I was sleeping in a furnace, my whole body was uncomfortably hot, my skin burnt hot, and sweat poured like I was running a marathon. By the time it was dawn, my body had seemingly cooled down.

“How do you feel?” Urvi asked. She sat next to me with her legs folded up. Behind her, Sierra was still asleep.

I rolled towards her before pushing myself off the ground. “Doing alright. I don’t feel like I am in a furnace anymore.”

Bright shafts of light penetrated the canopy and lit the surroundings. I heard the rustling of grass accompanied by footsteps. Looking up, I saw Visenna towering over me, holding something in her hands. She squatted down and extended her hands. One towards me and another towards Urvi. “Eat this. You will feel better,” she said.

I took the object from her hand. On closer inspection, it was just a fruit, but a fruit I didn’t recognize. “Which fruit is this?” I asked.

“The people here call it Sabbon. It is magical in nature. It will help you soothe your body,” she explained.

Urvi and I exchanged glances before taking a bite out of our fruit. The sour taste shook any sleep that was left in my body. Urvi too squeezed her face as she struggled to swallow a piece of it.

“I think it has gone sour,” Urvi said looking at the fruit in disgust.

Visenna had a soft smile on her face, “it is terribly sour. But don’t worry, these haven’t gone bad.”

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“Save it for later,” Urvi said before tossing it to me.

An hour had passed, Urvi, Sierra, and I prepared to leave. Visenna looked calm and composed as always. Birds swarmed her as feed them grains while two deers and a cunning fox feasted on the fruits tossed out by her.

“We are leaving,” I said as I approached her.

She looked back and threw a soft smile at me. “Good luck on your path.”

“Before I go, there are a few things I wish to ask.”

“Go ahead,” she said and returned to feeding the animals.

“What is in the land of glory?”

“It is exactly as you imagine it to be. A place for the greatest of warriors, or players, to battle and take the place of gods.”

“All I am imagining is a palace with gladiator matches, to be honest.”

“Well, you are not far off.”

“What happens after that? If we win or lose.”

“A loss usually sees you sent back to the world to explore more, if you do not die that is. But winning grants you a place in the pantheon.”

“Whoa! Really?”

“Indeed. But to be honest, it is just another cult if you ask me.”

“Whoa, really?”

“You will see when you reach there. Take your time. There is no hurry.”

“If we will, can we return to our home world?”

Visenna stopped and turned back to face me. “Why would you want to go back?”

“There is someone Urvi left behind. So... yeah.”

“The system specifically chooses people who are done with their world. I have never run into anyone who just wanted to go back.”

“Frankly, I don’t. And Urvi claims she doesn’t either. But I wanted to know if we had an option.”

“I am sorry. But I do not know. Perhaps some other player might be able to help. Though it would be strange for anyone to return to our world having experienced this.”

I nodded quietly before asking, “One last question. There was a... moment between Urvi and me. At that time, we triggered an event, destinies linked. Do you happen to know anything about that?”

Visenna looked at me curiously. I pulled out my journal and showed her the log. Upon seeing it, she looked stumped. “You have a lot of mysteries around you young man,” she said.

That is not what I was expecting. “What do you mean?”

“Firstly, there has never been a case of two people entering this world. The contract you sign before entering is designed just for one. Yet, you managed to come here with your loved one.” My cheeks flushed red on hearing the term ‘loved one’. “Secondly, you say you want to go back. And now an event completely mysterious to me. I always assumed in my lifetime I have understood how this world works, but you seem to have broken that belief.”

I did not know how to answer that. “I... am... sorry?”

She chuckled delightfully. “Don’t be. I always like to know that there is more to learn. If I learn anything new. I will be sure to let you know. I promise.”

With that, our two days journey towards west began.

***

Day one of the journey felt very normal. The journey was long, and the forest was indeed fraught with danger. We ran into a couple of Orc which were dispatched with relative ease. Luckily there were no spiders, but instead, we found ourselves fighting a pack of hungry wolves. Those bastards proved to be vicious, especially in a close encounter. But their speed could not keep up with Urvi’s who dispatched them with relative ease.

However, no matter how far we traveled, we could not shake off the fear that someone from the cultist was following us. I kept telling myself that we were strong enough to take them all on, but my heart wouldn’t listen.

Soon the daylight was fading, and we decided to set up camp a little early. We found ourselves in a quiet spot under an aging tree.

“I will be back. I need to use the bushes. Sierra, do you want to?” Urvi asked.

Sierra simply shook her head and with that, Urvi vanished into the thicket. I sat down on the ground skimming through the tome while Sierra was quietly playing with the wooden toy Visenna had made for her.

As I flipped through the pages, I found myself staring at a new page in the tome. It had the symbol of the rune at the top of the page, followed by a series of information about the rune itself.

Just as I got down to reading something interesting, my attention was taken away by a bush violently shaking at the corner of my right eye. I slowly turned towards it, in hopes of catching whatever was sneaking up on us. Suddenly two gigantic tusks popped out of them. Sierra, who had been humming all this while, went quiet. I felt her grab onto me, and I instinctively pulled her in closer.

A loud snort emanated from the bushes following which, the nose of the beast appeared. It was followed up by the beast's head, at which point I knew what I was looking at. It was a boar, a wild boar.

The beast was huge. Big enough for even the likes of Urvi to ride on. It had thick, black, hairy skin and gigantic yellowed tusks. The beast's eyes stared at me as it stood still halfway through the bushes. I felt no threat coming from the beast as it appeared to be peaceful. It walked out of the bush, wagging its tail.

I looked at it in awe. I have always loved animals. Thought of them to be God's greatest creations. It was wonderful seeing them up close and a little heartbreaking to have to kill them for survival.

I reached into the inventory and pulled out a fruit. Holding it up, I tried to lure the creature in. The boar sniffed the fruit from a distance before taking a step forward. As it approached me, Sierra’s grip tightened. I could tell she was terrified of it.

It stopped right before my hand, sniffing the fruit one more time before taking a bite out of it. “See Sierra. It won’t harm us,” I said.

As the beast ate peacefully, a giant shadow was cast upon us. I looked up to see Urvi holding her axe high up in the air, ready to bring it down on the poor thing.

“Urvi no!” I shouted in panic.

The boar jumped into the air in a blind panic. It began to jump about violently.

“What the fuck are you doing!” Urvi shouted angrily as she prepared to fight the beast.

“It is just a boar. Don’t hurt it,” I replied.

“No. It is food!” Urvi replied as she ran towards the beast. The beast turned left and sprinted, gaining some distance between it and her.

“Oh, come on! We don’t have to eat everything in this forest!” I said.

“Are you fucking serious? A pig of all creatures?” Urvi cursed.

“Really?”

The boar let out a loud snort before charging towards Urvi. “It looks like this mofo wants it. Why don’t I give it to him?” Urvi said as she prepared to battle.

Just as the boar was about to reach her, I cast a tranquil in the nick of time. The boar slowed down to trot before coming to a stop at her feet. Urvi looked at it disappointed. “Pussy.”

It butted its head against her feet, knocking her off balance before climbing onto her. As Urvi tried to push it away, it simply snorted and sniffed at her before licking her like a dog. Urvi looked disgusted but soon it melted away. “Fine. We can keep the snorting bastard,” she said.