"Uh, how is this related to food?" I asked, stunned.

Shidy and I bulged our eyes as Little Red pulled out a pretty hefty cleaver from her basket. Definitely not for cutting pies, more like for a boar... or people.

"Don't get the wrong idea!" she blushed. "In the remote parts of our forest, it's very dangerous, sometimes scary entities wander into our territory. So we all learn self-defense from childhood, and my mom works as a butcher, so..."

Cool, no doubt. Now I understand why she was so brave with that creature.

"A very useful skill, good job," Shidy smiled nervously. Yeah, for me too, with every second Enchantia gets cooler and cooler, compared to its image on the internet.

The quest itself was hanging in the party's task list, our avatars with Shidy were outlined in its red color. A very convenient system, upon completion we'll each get half of the total experience and no one will get an extra unit.

And there's an addition to the party—now under Shidy is Little Red's avatar. This happened without any pop-up windows. Due to the specifics of the quest, this is normal, but internally I was glad that, even if temporarily, I brought the party up to three peop... members.

Little Red... Damn, it's kind of stupid to keep calling her that. I'm sounding like some boomer spinning yarns to the grandkids. She must have a name.

"Little Red, that's not your real name, more like a nickname, right?"

"Y-yes," she somehow got embarrassed, "how did you know?"

"People usually have different names," I barely held back from shouting "MAGIC!".

"Ah... yes. I was nicknamed that when I was 7, because of my love for these kinds of cloaks. At first I didn't like it, but after a couple of years I got used to it, and then thought it was cool and started calling myself that. It's been 13 years that I'm Little Red, although relatives don't accept it and continue to call me by my name."

"If you like it, then it's fine... Wait, so you're 20?"

"Yes, my birthday was two months ago. I know, I look a bit younger and my height isn't that tall."

Damn, even a year older than I assumed. Of course, her life experience is just programmed code, but still.

"You're older than me!" Shidy giggled. "It's you who fits the role of an older sister for me, not me for you, as you said."

Now that's interesting. Maybe Shidy is also 18 and we're exactly the same age. This increases the chance... Wait, I wanted to find out her name.

"In our native lands, culture obliges us to call a person by name, otherwise it's impolite," I said in a serious tone. "Can we call you by your name?"

"Well, if it's so important... My name is Julianna, you can just call me Julia. And what are your names?"

Cool name, fits her appearance. But I didn't foresee that the AI would ask for our names. She's damn well programmed, because of such subtle moments she's indistinguishable from a human. Just teach her some slang and she'll be more "alive" than some players.

"Zara," Shidy suddenly shouted out. "Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise, you have a beautiful name."

Wow, she said it so easily? With Julia it's okay, she's an AI, but giving your real name to little-known players, which I actually am, is not common due to the threat of data theft.

What if she made it up?

I notice that they're both staring at me expectantly. Very awkward, and what to do? If "Zara" made up a name, then I'll be at a disadvantage. Although how will she know that I didn't make it up?

"Dean," I sigh, deciding to take the risk. I just don't believe that Zara is a scammer.

"Much easier than calling you Unknown," Zara smirked. "And not so strange from the side."

"Can't argue with that..."

"Maybe we should add each other as close friends then? We're in one party and know each other's names anyway."

I was just about to suggest that myself.

"Let's do it! I'll send it now."

Your request to add to "Close Friends" has been sent.

User Shiny_Candy has accepted your request to add to "Close Friends".

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

I immediately open the list and look at her name—Zara Jensen. There's a great relief in my soul, but I don't know what it's more because of: that she didn't lie, or that she's not a trap... Although having a trap in the party as a scout would be good.

"So, now we're properly acquainted," I summed up. "But if we meet other players, we'll go back to nicknames."

"I know, my friend told me about basic security."

Guess she really trusts me. Then again, after catching her staff so many times...

"Alright, before we move out, we need to hammer out our emergency tactics and line up accordingly," I announced. "Let me think for a second."

We can't be sure that this creature will wait in grandma's house according to canon and that we won't run into someone hostile. It used to be easy—me in front, Zara behind. But where to squeeze Julia in?

What can she do anyway?

I go back to the party window and check out her avatar. Out of curiosity, I click on it... and it's actually clickable. Among the drop-down options, there's a "View statistics".

The presence of such a function is awesome, but I'm a bit amazed. I feel this isn't the last surprise regarding party mechanics, because I know almost nothing about them.

Name: Little Red/Julianna Maeve.

Level: 10.

Race: Human.

Class: None.

XP: 0/1,823.

HP: 3,162/3,162.

MP: 0/0.

STR: 4.

AGI: 15.

INT: 9.

VIT: 5.

CHA: 13.

PER: 7.

Abilities: [Fast Walk (Passive)].

Traits: [Trusting], [Skilled Cook], [Glutton].

Now I know that these AIs are modeled after real players. Her stats are all over the place: theoretically an agility type, but would hardly be able to perform any tasks. Low on survivability, but high on charisma. Her HP matches her level, which is worrying, considering they specifically emphasized keeping her alive. That means any deadly damage I'm supposed to tank could easily pass through to her instead.

Also didn't expect to see an ability, however...

[Fast Walk. Passive effect: +10% to walking speed.]

And that's it, not even a level. It might create difficulty keeping up with her.

The traits also have nothing useful. Except maybe the reason why she's eating the seventh pie without remorse is clear. Not many options.

"Julia, you'll stand behind me, you'll point out the landmarks of the road, Zara will be at the rear. In a critical situation, I take the hit, Zara attacks from a distance, and you hide," I commanded. I really wanted to put her in front, and stand next to Zara myself, to talk, but such frivolity could cost dearly.

They nodded and we lined up. Of the known obstacles, only an unlikely glitch failure. Well, and especially for me, finding landmarks, because with logic and quick thinking I have... problems.

"Julia, what are the landmarks there?"

****

It was just incredibly tedious, including due to my predicted logical stupors. And quite uncomfortable, as due to the passive ability Julia regularly stepped on my feet, but still better than if she had gone far ahead and we'd be looking for her. However, it wasn't better for her either—she often caught Zara's staff with her head.

There were four landmarks in total: a dried bush, an unusually low tree, a small spring, and a large boulder. Failure happened on the very first one due to my fault, because I considered the neighboring bush more dried than the needed one. To be honest—I didn't understand at all how it should look.

Zara pointed to the right one, the final voice remained with Julia... who for some reason supported me. We turned wrong and after about twenty minutes came out to a clearing similar to the previous one. We had to admit the mistake and look for the way back, but already by our own landmarks, which even Zara poorly remembered.

Thus, we wasted about forty minutes on these wanderings and returning to the initial point. From that moment, Zara took over the leadership in orientation and we relatively quickly reached the boulder, which was on the path leading directly to the village. I'd prefer to forget that we went aside a couple more times due to my wrong guesses...

The path along the trail became more relaxing, and we began to ask Julia about her grandmother's village. It turned out that on its main square there was a magical obelisk through which people could "travel". Hearing this, I was incredibly excited and quickened my pace—this was nothing other than a fast travel point. If everything worked normally, I'd be able to zip to Novalux, buy a scroll, and return back, which sounded incredibly cool.

We walked for another fifteen minutes before trees with bright red leaves and new herbaceous plants, predominantly in yellow and burgundy shades, began to appear. This marked the very border where the Glade transitioned into the Underwood.

"Be careful, let's hold on to each other," Julia said. "If the forest spells affect one of us, the other two won't let them get lost."

"And if all three at once?" I asked.

"Then... Um... we'll try not to separate and not go far," she hesitated.

"I think everything will go well," Zara noted, she had a positive attitude.

We firmly hold hands and carefully continue on our way. In this regard, I'm the most unprotected, because with her strength Julia is unlikely to hold me back and I can easily go forward.

I hope nothing happens.

Barring any paranoia from potential hallucinations, the journey is going smoothly, and we're engaging in small talk. Zara inquires about Julia's everyday life, and she responds by talking about helping her mother with housework and her aspirations to attend the capital's college, despite its expensive tuition.

I jump into the conversation and suggest taking a loan from the Novalux bank. I even have a contact who can help! Alas, Julia has already tried, but the operator never called her back after pre-approving the loan.

Zara is very indignant about this, because Julia shouldn't be wasting the rest of her life in a place without prospects due to the negligence of a bank employee. We three decide to call them right now and demand they process Julia's loan application.

But whose phone is better to call from? Due to lack of money, I've had a limited tariff for the second year with only 2 free gigabytes and 100 minutes. The conversation might drag on, so that's not an option.

Zara's family is better off, so she can afford a full unlimited premium with a beautiful number with three sevens. But fuck—her battery died, and she forgot her power bank at home.

We ask Julia about her tariff, she has two whole SIM cards, although one was recently stolen by her house poltergeist. In the territory of Luminara, there's a government decree on free unlimited calls to the afterlife even from an unpaid account.

But she still has a second SIM card! And there...

...

...

...

What?! Where did an AI in Enchantia get a cell phone?

I abruptly stop and look around—there's no one behind. I realize that my vision has long narrowed, and an unnaturally bright light is hitting my eyes, the source of which is unknown.

They say you go crazy without noticing.

And around—dead silence, even the music had disappeared.