As the party continued down the path they had previously disregarded, they encountered a sight that brought back the horror of their situation.

Their first indication that something was wrong came in the form of vultures circling something in the distance. Wyatt had estimated them to be at least a mile ahead of them but realized his mistake as the birds proved much larger than they were back on Earth, each being about the size of a full-grown human.

As the party got closer to the birds, they picked up their pace, until eventually Chuck and Angela outpaced the party, running ahead.

It didn’t take long for the rest to catch up. Chuck was walking towards them, warning the others that they were about to see something truly gruesome. They steeled themselves and continued forward, even Isaac and Cecilia, having already witnessed far too much of what this world had to offer.

The archer was right; the scene was a massacre. Humans, hundreds of them, lay dead across the canyon. Wyatt had to turn away, joining some of the others in losing his breakfast. Having already lost the contents of his stomach, Wyatt went back to the scene. He looked closer, picking up every detail of what was in front of him.

Several of the bodies had arrows sticking out of them. Looking more closely at the others, he could see that they had been killed by bladed weapons. This wasn’t the result of monsters or animals.

“I think this was a battle between humans,” he said to Angela as she stood next to him. He pointed out the apparent cause of death of the bodies in his immediate vicinity.

“This was recent, too,” said Chuck as he and Brad joined them, “The campfires are still warm. I believe this happened last night.” The archer looked at Wyatt, a look of fear in his eyes as they realized how close they were to being a part of this battle.

“Were they fighting each other?” asked Wyatt, looking around for any clues to the contrary. He found none.

“The only thing out of place I see are the foot prints.” Chuck pointed towards a set of large birdlike prints in the ground. “Given the vultures in the area, however, I think we can safely guess what caused those.”

“What do we do?” asked Angela.

“There’s nothing we can do,” replied Brad, grip hard on the handle of his axe, “We have to move on.”

The four returned to the others who stood back from the carnage. Marlene looked at them questioningly as she held Isaac. Cecilia looked angry.

“What did this?” she shouted, “was it those birds?”

“We don’t know what caused this,” Brad replied, not wanting to tell her that it may have been other humans.

Cecilia, in an attempt to ignore her own rising fear, picked up a rock and threw it at the closest vultures, yelling at them as she did.

The birds did not appreciate the attack.

They scattered at first, most of them disappearing over the cliff edge. Three of them, however, turned back and dove at the girl, who brought up her fists to meet the attack.

They met an invisible wall, as Isaac’s shield stopped them. The lead vulture fell to the ground, wing bent unnaturally, and the young brawler pounced on the much larger bird, using her skill and pent-up anger to deliver a blow to the creature that sent it sliding across the hard ground.

Wyatt prepared his Daze spell, targeting the second bird, while Marlene and Chuck sent arrows at the third; one solid, and another of light. They struck the vulture, causing it to flap wildly as it tried to regain control of its flight.

Wyatt unleashed his ability, and the second bird fell from the sky, unable to move. The hard landing caused the spell to wear off immediately – a disappointing but expected result – and Brad ended the creature with one swing of his giant axe.

Meanwhile, Angela, showing just how incredible the post integration human can be, ran several steps up the cliff face. At the height of her run, she turned and used Critical Thrust to launch off of the cliff at the last vulture, plunging her rapier into the creature’s side just as it had righted itself. She let go of her sword and fell, landing gracefully as she rolled to her feet. Wyatt, who’s contribution in the fight was minimal, was awestruck at her show of acrobatics, and could only stare as she silently pulled her rapier out of the dead vulture.

Combat Report

Your party has slain:

Giant Vulture x3

Rewards:

Experience earned

The party regrouped, Marlene scolding her daughter for starting fights.

“I’m not so sure that was a bad idea,” Wyatt interjected, earning a glare from the mother, “We need to get stronger, and the only way to level up, that we know of, is by fighting. We haven’t come across many animals, so we have to fight them when the opportunity presents itself.” The mage looked down at the vindicated girl, “We do need to be smarter about it,” he said, making her lose some of her bravado, “We could get hurt if we rush to fight like that.”

“And we could have taken out more if we prepared properly,” added Chuck, agreeing with Wyatt, “That would mean more experience, and more levels.”

“Still,” added Marlene, “You need to be smarter than that.”

Cecilia, arms folded, said nothing. The anger was still clear on her face but had lessened after letting off some steam. Wyatt noted that when she looked away from the stern adults, it had been in the direction they came from.

Away from the bodies.

She is still just a child.

“We should get going,” said Brad, turning the attention away from the girl.

“Should we look to see if they have anything useful?” asked Wyatt.

“I would rather not,” replied Chuck, looking at the battlefield with disgust, “besides, there doesn’t look like there is much. It’s possible,” he paused, lowering his voice as he eyed the kids, “someone else took anything of value.”

With no other option available, they picked up their bags and continued onward, each of them wanting to put the grisly sight behind them.

The party made good progress through the canyon, spurred on by the thought that other humans might prove more dangerous than any monsters. When they stopped at midday, none of them had an appetite, and they had rested only long enough to regain stamina and rest their sore feet.

Finally, closer to the end of the day, they came to the end of the canyon. The ground had steadily risen for hours, until they could finally see a sharp rise ahead, becoming level with the cliffs. They picked up the pace, wanting to leave the canyon as soon as they could.

“Finally!” exclaimed Angela as they crested the rise. She was standing at the start of a clear flat field of knee-high grass. Her eyes were closed, and her head was facing upwards as she enjoyed the freedom without the oppressive and ever-present walls of the canyon.

Wyatt looked out at the field, trying to determine what direction they were facing. The sun was directly in front of them, just starting to set past a line of trees that stretched in both directions. If this planet behaved anything like Earth, then the sun would set in the east. Distantly to the south, he could see mountains.

Wyatt brought his attention back to the present and saw everyone else had shared Angela’s jubilance at the change in scenery, some even commenting at the distant forest. Trees meant animals and resources, which meant experience and levels.

“We should rest here a bit,” said Wyatt, “those trees look about a half day’s walk, so we won’t be making it there tonight.”

“Agreed,” said Chuck, “We can stop for lunch tomorrow just outside the tree line, and investigate a little before going in.”

The party backtracked a little way to keep a cliff at their backs, setting out their bedrolls and gathering what wood they could find for a fire. They had spent the majority of the day’s walk in silence, but the mood of the camp as they went about their tasks was surprisingly upbeat.

Chuck and Wyatt spent some time at the top of the rise they had stood at to get a better view of their surroundings. They could see far in every direction, including back down the canyon path they had traveled. They saw the occasional small animal here and there, but nothing that stood above the tall grass.

With their minds at ease, they returned to the others. They knew they had to maintain a level of security, but the sound of their conversations and the fire they were building shouldn’t attract anything dangerous for now.

They had unanimously decided to forego any skill training for the evening, instead spending the time planning for what would happen when they got to the trees and, perhaps more so, joking at each other’s expense.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

That night, as everyone had begun to settle down to sleep, Angela had decided she would join Wyatt on watch for the second shift. She gave the mage a wry smile as she said as much to the others, and he couldn’t help but blush at what he assumed was flirting.

It took Wyatt some minutes to fall asleep that night, but the nightmares that had plagued his dreams the previous week were blessedly absent.

Brad was right about nightmares, however. They never did seem to go away for good.

Wyatt awoke to the sounds of yelling. He was on his feet in moments, staff at the ready, and immediately saw the source of the commotion.

Chuck and Brad were battling something a short distance away; yelling to wake others. Whatever they were fighting seemed to blend with the shadows around it, and Wyatt couldn’t make out what it was. It was low to the ground but seemed to glide across the rocks when it moved.

The snake!

Wyatt ran towards the fighting, only now realizing the size of the creature. It was huge and would easily be able to swallow a man whole.

Chuck was swinging his short sword wildly, having spent a majority of his time training with the bow, and had little effect on the snake. Brad’s axe, however, seemed to get its attention. He swung hard, infusing his axe with the strength of his rage, and it bit deep into the side of the creature.

With the snake’s attention diverted, Chuck was able to retreat and draw his bow, preparing his Charged Shot. As he channeled, Angela joined the barbarian in keeping the snake’s attention. The two of them fought together in an impressive display of skill.

Marlene and Isaac joined Wyatt as he shot off two quick uses of Rock Spike, missing the slippery creature with one, but hitting with the other. Isaac joined in with a third spike, and Marlene shot a bolt of light. Cecilia leapt into the battle, catching the creature with a downward fist just before it struck Angela, the effect of her ability apparent as the snake’s head crashed into the ground.

“Cecilia, no!” shouted her mother, but Wyatt grabbed her arm, stopping her from running after her daughter.

“Keep your head in the game,” he told her, “This is how we stay alive; we fight.” His words seemed to have the desired effect, as she stopped pulling at his grip.

Wyatt turned his attention back at the fight in time to see Chuck release his charged arrow. It struck the creature in its side with a loud boom, leaving behind a bloody hole in its scales.

“Isaac, focus on using your Shield spell. Try to time it for right when the snake attacks to save mana. Marlene, save your mana for healing, and watch for any injuries the other’s might sustain.”

The two agreed, halting their attack spells before they were cast. Wyatt tried to come up with a strategy to kill this creature. He had no idea how strong it was compared to them, but it was clear they were hurting it, so there had to be a way to win.

He looked to his mana bar. It was at 105, and he realized he could hear Margie singing, her voice adding a buff to the party. Good, we’re going to need all the help we can get.

“Angela!” he called out, “Get ready for Haste!”

The skirmisher backed out of the fight briefly, as the air around her swirled with a faint blue light. As soon as the effect was in place, she charged back in with her Critical Thrust skill. Her increased speed gave her more momentum in the strike, which seemed to increase the damage she caused from her skill and her sword penetrated deep into the scaled serpent.

With a flick of its tail, the snake knocked her and Cecilia to the ground and lunged for Brad. He brought up his axe frantically in an attempt to block but the snake bounced harmlessly off of an invisible shield from Isaac. Marlene healed the other two as they regained their footing, and Wyatt used Rock Spike, again. This time however, he changed the spell.

He pumped in mana, increasing the range and size of the initial spike. When he thrust out his hand, a large spike erupted from the ground just below the snake, impaling it right in the middle of its long body.

“Isaac, make a shield directly above its head,” Wyatt said, and the boy complied without hesitation.

The snake’s head was now immobile, trapped under pressure of a defensive spell turned offensive. Now held down in more than one location, the others struck wildly.

Unfortunately, the constant pressure on the Shield spell drained Isaac’s mana fast, and the spell failed just as the creature broke the spike holding it in place. It flailed, pushed everyone away, then sprung forward.

Directly at Chuck.

Wyatt acted on instinct, summoning forth his enchantment magic. Unfortunately, his Daze spell had a two second cast time, and he knew he didn’t have time for that. These past days, however, taught him that the magic didn’t require a spell to be used, and he sent a burst of enchantment magic directly into the mind of his target, focusing on a single simple suggestion which caused the snake to strike just wide of the archer.

The snake crashed into the wall with immense force, causing a shower of rocks to pelt Chuck as he scrambled to get away. A cloud of dust filled the area around the snake, and everyone held their breath for an instant.

Wyatt, now channeling air magic, blew the cloud of dust away, revealing the bloodied remains of the now dead snake. The creature had smashed its head against the hard wall, causing enough damage to finish what the humans had started.

Chuck looked at Wyatt, eyes wide. “Was that you?” he asked. The mage nodded, unable to speak as the adrenaline began to slowly leave his body. “You saved my life,” continued the archer.

“It… It was a team effort,” the mage finally stammered out.

“Damn straight it was,” exclaimed Angela. She had sheathed her rapier and was jumping up in down in excitement. The fact that she even still had the energy to do so surprised Wyatt, and he blamed the woman’s high endurance stat.

Her joy was infectious, as the others joined in on the celebration, their laughter echoing in the stillness of the canyon.

They had won.

Wyatt looked at his notifications.

Your skill has leveled up:

Enchantment Magic – Level 5

You have gained a new spell:

Subtle Manipulation

He had gained a new spell. No, he had created a new spell, and he was about to open his stat page to read about it, when he realized something was amiss.

He hadn’t received a combat report notification.

So far, we always received those in battle, even when we escaped the troll. It always happened… after battle was finished!

“It’s not over!” he shouted to the others, assuming a defensive posture.

Almost as soon as he shouted, he heard the slightest noise behind him. He turned in time to see another giant snake burst forward, intent on biting Isaac. It was met with a mace, as the boy’s mother smashed her weapon into it. Isaac was left with only a scratch from the creature’s fang as most of its momentum was diverted.

Wyatt summoned a large earthen spike and tried to pin it in place, as he had the last creature. The monstrous snake moved quickly, and his attack hit only air as it slithered around. Wyatt summoned more mana and cast Rock Spike a second time, just as it seemed to coil in preparation for another strike. This time, however, Wyatt put much more mana into his spell, and changed it to be larger than before. He pushed his fist forward, finishing the spell, and a large pillar of rock shot out from under the snake, launching it through the air.

That’s when he heard a yell.

Spinning around, he saw a third snake had latched onto Chuck. The massive snake coiled itself around the archer in front of Wyatt's eyes, and he saw pain flash across his friend’s face as the creature squeezed.

“Run,” Chuck gasped out. Moments later, Wyatt heard a loud crunch, and the archer’s face went slack.

“Run!” echoed a shocked Wyatt, wasting no time getting the rest of the party out of danger. The others followed, Brad practically carrying a distraught Angela as she reached for Chuck.

They exited the canyon in a full sprint towards the distant trees, now only a shadow in the moonlit night. Wyatt spent the last of his mana casting Haste on Margie, hoping the old lady could keep up with them with the added speed. Fortunately, she had leveled with the rest of them, and with it came new strength.

The group was already exhausted from their fight with the first snake, and the frantic run drained the last of their stamina quickly. It wasn’t long before Brad had to pick up Isaac to continue moving at speed. Soon after, the others became too tired to keep it up, and they were forced to stop.

Looking back toward the canyon, Wyatt couldn’t tell if they were being followed. With the obvious ability for the snakes to move unnoticed, every shadow drew the mage’s attention. He wasn’t alone in the paranoia, either. Marlene and Brad were both standing erect, looking for the threat to rear its head. Their only hope was the distraction their dead comrade posed.

Angela was on her knees, crying at the loss. Cecilia was checking in on her brother, who was still trying to catch his breath. Margie, ever the bard, was humming a mana infused tune. The melody was quiet, and somehow seemed sad.

With the danger now temporarily gone, came a sense of relief, and with it, emotion.

Wyatt’s stomach tightened as he thought back on Chuck. In his last moments, he had not asked for help but saw the futility of the situation and gave his last thought to saving his friends. Wyatt tried catching his breath, a task made infinitely more difficult from the rising pain of loss.

He blamed himself for what had happened. He knew he shouldn’t have, logically. They had no way of knowing that there were multiple snakes in the area, especially with their ability to move unnoticed, but the guilt was still there, building alongside the sorrow.

He looked to the others for strength and found none. They were defeated. It wasn’t just the lost battle, but they were defeated by the system itself. Brad was angry, muttering to himself in a tone inaudible to the others. Angela was on her hands and knees, tears falling from her eyes.

Even Margie felt the depression in the party, holding Cecilia’s hand as the young girl cried at the loss of another.

Marlene was tending to Isaac, who seemed more tired than the rest. He just realized that the mother had managed to take one of the backpacks from their camp as they fled. Wyatt looked at the kid, who was laying on the ground, sweating profusely. The younger mage had used up all of his mana during that fight, but Wyatt still found it odd that he was so tired.

Then it hit him. Poison!

“Marlene,” he whispered, “is Isaac OK?”

“Yes,” she responded, “he’s just tired.”

“Can I see him? I want to check on him.”

Marlene moved over, giving Wyatt room to kneel beside her. Peeling back his sleeve, Wyatt revealed the wound the snake had inflicted on him.

The gash was large, but not life threatening. The dark veins that stemmed from the injury, however, were another story. Isaac was breathing heavily, and his mother gasped audibly before trying to cast Heal on him. The wound closed, and the boy looked marginally better, but it was obvious the spell did nothing to remove the venom.

“Do we suck it out,” Marlene asked frantically, looking around at the others, hoping someone would tell her what to do to save her son. The sudden commotion brought the attention of the rest of the party, who looked at her and her son confused. “What do we do?” It didn’t take long for everyone to realize the situation, as the dark veins in his arms were easily seen against his pale skin, even in the limited light of the moon.

No one had an answer for her. If the healer of the group didn’t have an ability to remove poison, then no one else had anything that could help.

As the group looked at each other in dismay, they began to hear a noise. It grew louder, shaking the ground as whatever was making the noise approached.

Out of the woods came a large group of people riding horses. They came directly towards the survivors, two groups separating from the main pack in an effort to surround them.

As they approached, Wyatt got a better look at them. They wore ornate and shining metal armor decorated with blue trim, and each wore helmets that hid their features. Even the horses were armored, though “horses” was not necessarily what they were. The basic shape was the same, but their heads were more akin to birds, beak and all.

The lead rider held aloft a pole with a large blue banner at its top, flapping in the wind. On it, in all white, was the image of a gauntleted fist, with a golden dragon forming a circle behind it.

The leader spoke in a language completely foreign to the party. His voice was higher than Wyatt had anticipated and held the faintest hint of a melody as he spoke.

“We can’t understand you,” said Wyatt, pointing at his ears and shaking his head to convey his point. The man removed his helmet, and Wyatt gasped audibly.

It was an elf!