"Here we are. Home," Silas exclaimed, stretching his arms towards a lone tent.

"By the gods, I'm so excited," said Cossus, sounding not the least bit excited.

Meera stayed quiet and pretended not to be there. After all, she could very well have walked to her death. Silas' happy-go-lucky attitude had begun to feel fake, or she wanted it to feel fake, but it didn't. It was hard to picture this guy as being anything as cruel as an assassin.

That Identify skill had to be wrong. Meera reassured herself. It did the same for Asterion…and those question marks. No, the system is broken. That is final.

"Come," Silas gestured for her to follow.

Meera gave him an uneasy smile and followed. Cossus deposited the monkey's body to the tent's side and laid a tarp over it.

"We need to move this quickly," Cossus said to no one in particular. "Once the worms dig into the meat, it will be worthless."

"Yeah, I know. Try carving the monkey's skin. After all, that is what everyone cares for." Silas turned to Meera, and she almost flinched. "Let's get our guest something to eat because I don't know about you two, but I'm starving."

The next hour or so passed like a flash of lightning. The brothers worked in such synchronicity that hardly a word needed to be said. They just happened to know the next thing they had to do and got to it without complaint.

As they worked, Meera tried to process the night, how the circlet on her wrist had killed someone, sliced a monkey in two, and she did not see even a drop of blood on the shiny piece of jewelry. Meera could see her reflection in it. Though she had been in this world for less than a handful of hours, she looked haggard. Her hair might as well be a rat's nest, with loose hair falling about her face. She collected them up in a ponytail.

Then she tried to remember the notifications she had gotten after the kill. There was something about free stats and how she gained the new skill or rather stole the skill from the monkey, thanks to her ability. If she had an ability, that meant the others might have them too. She had to figure out how that worked and so many other things. She made a mental list of all things she would ask the two brothers. After all, she was playing an amnesiac, so she might as well squeeze out all the information she can.

Soon, Silas had a fire going and brought a bowl of stew with some floating meat pieces. The smell alone was enough to give way to any inhibitions she might have about its contents or taking food from a stranger, one which was likely an Assassin.

Silas and Cossus found their spots by the fire with their own bowls. By that time, Meera had already finished with her bowl and had almost licked it clean.

Silas laughed lightly. "Hey, if you were that hungry, we could have given you some dried meat."

Meera chuckled. "It's okay. I'm quite full now. Thank you."

"Now then, let's hear your story," Cossus said. "Whatever you can remember. Anything, anything at all. Let's start with how you ended up in the Forest of Rothedon."

Meera gulped. "I woke up in this clearing with a mirror behind me. This pinkish grass was everywhere, and the trees had curvy trunks, almost in the shape of a chair." She almost told them about Asterion but decided to withhold information about him.

"And you remembered nothing?" Silas asked, slurping from his wooden spoon.

Meera shook her head. "No."

Cossus looked to his brother. "She could be meant as a sacrifice?"

Silas tapped the spoon on his lips. "Most definitely. But this is the first time I'm hearing of a sacrifice where they stole their victim's memories and left them whole." He looked at her. "What about your classes? You still have those, right?"

Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I say now? Without meaning to, Meera nodded. "I have a class, but was this mine before? I cannot say."

"What is it?" Cossus asked.

"Umm…Could you explain what a class is?" Meera said.

They both frowned at that.

"Not knowing what a class is like, not knowing how to shit," Cossus said. "And even babies know how to do that."

Stolen story; please report.

"Relax, we don't know what happened to her," his brother came to her rescue. "For all we know, she's the victim of a cult who drained her of everything and left her like that in that place."

So, they do know of the gateway mirror. Meera kept quiet before offering anything more, especially not after Silas had come up with a pretty convincing story on his own.

"Listen, uh…sorry, forgot, you don't remember your name." Silas smiled. "Classes define your abilities, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. They are everything. Everything you are and everything you will be. Everyone can take up to two classes. There have been rare individuals in history who've forced the system to give them a third, or so they say. I'll believe it when I see it. But anyways, let's talk about what is real. For example, Cossus here has a hunter class, which lets him earn skills related to hunting. Classes define your role in the world, and with each class comes a class ability. It's sort of a skill, but it's unique to that class alone, and luckily it doesn't take up a skill spot."

"Everyone has a class, then?" Meera asked.

"That's right. I've never heard of a person not having them."

"What sort of classes are there?"

"Anything and everything you can think of. Most adventurers take up a class geared towards fighting, like a warrior or mage class. Some take support classes, such as scouts or healers. Cossus here could serve as a scout in a group of adventurers."

Cossus grumbled something under his breath that Meera couldn't catch.

Silas continued. "Most kids take up a class when they are young and begin to cultivate stat points and make themselves stronger whether they be warriors or farmers."

"Sorry, stat points?" Meera asked. She had gotten three for killing the monkey. She needed to know what to do with them and how.

"Stat points are like the result of experience gained when you accomplish a certain task. You saw us kill all those monkeys, right?"

Meera nodded.

"Well, we earned experience from those kills. You gain experience for specific skills as well as for your class, and once you've gained enough experience, you level up and gain two stat points per level up."

"Two? Not three?" Meera asked with a frown.

Cossus scoffed. "Did the monkeys take a bite out of your brain? It's always been two. Everyone gets two stat points per level."

"Okay, thanks," Meera squeaked. Then why did I get three? All this sounds a lot like those RPG games Neel is so fond of playing. She never got into gaming, let alone those types of games. Now, she wished she had, but who could have guessed they would become important one day?

Silas glared at his brother. "Would it kill you to be nice? She is going through a lot as it is."

"Yes, it would."

Silas glared at him some more. Meera was about to ask how to use them when he answered without even asking. "As I was saying, you get stat points when you level up, which you can put into your attributes. Let's go over them. Tell me what they are."

Meera tried her best to remember her attributes, but she couldn't. She frowned deeply and tried to remember what they were, but she was not paying attention then, as she was busy getting overwhelmed by the influx of all this new information.

"Attributes!" she said out loud.

Cossus laughed while Silas threw his spoon at him.

"You don't have to say it out loud to bring them up," Silas explained. "All the notifications and your stats, skills, everything is controlled mentally. You can bring them up at any time."

Meera felt heat in her cheeks. "Okay."

So I don't have to keep yelling STOP like an idiot. Meera was sure she was turning red like a tomato. To curb the embarrassment. She pulled up her attributes.

Stats

[Health: 120]

[Stamina: 90]

[Mana: 110]

Attributes (3 Free Points)

[Constitution: 12]

[Power: 9]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Endurance: 9]

[Focus: 11]

[Agility: 10]

[Perception: 11]

She verbally told each point to Silas, who listened intently and nodded along as if taking mental notes. Once she was done, he rubbed his chin and eventually looked to his brother, who also looked to be in thought. They must've arrived at the same conclusion as they both nodded simultaneously.

"What is it? Is it something bad?" Meera asked as if she had some disease and was asking the doctor for a diagnosis.

Silas sighed. "Well, I do not want to be the bearer of bad news, but—"

"—Did you never level up in your life?" Cossus interrupted. "All of your stats and attributes suggest you're at level 1. How the hell did you grow up and never gain any levels? Even if you were a basket weaver, you would still gain levels, albeit slowly compared to an adventurer but still something. What are you playing at?"

Meera flinched at his gaze. "Nothing. I'm being serious. Those are my attributes. I promise."

"They must have stolen her experience as well, somehow," Silas mused.

"Is that possible?" Meera asked, playing the concerned yet dumb role.

"There are all sorts of things possible with witchcraft."

"And they call themselves sorceresses." Cossus spat on the ground.

"But can you explain the attributes, please?" Meera asked to stay on topic. There was enough going on at the moment to add a fear of witches on top of it.

Silas smiled. "They're simple. Constitution governs your health stat. Each point you put in there increases your health by ten points. Power governs strength and physical damage dealt to your enemies. Dexterity, as its name suggests, is the nimbleness of your movements. Endurance is your stamina and how much punishment you can take. Focus is the playfield of mages. This stat governs your mana and spell damage. Agility is your speed, simple as that, and Perception, as its name suggests, is the awareness of your surroundings."

"Which in your case is pretty shit, despite the stat." Again, Cossus, with his helpful insight.

Silas sighed. "You really were dropped as a baby, which is why you never learned the ability not to offend every time you use your voice." He turned to Meera. "I know, it's a lot to take in, seeing as how you're learning this stuff for the first time again. You better rest up. You can have the tent, and tomorrow, we'll pick a name out for you and can talk some more."

Meera gave him a slight smile. "Okay, thanks."