Scrambling on all fours, I slipped under the table and grabbed my sword so that I could see Alissa’s hit points. When my hand grasped the hilt, I dove toward the powerful woman and pulled up the stat page at the same time.

The party screen popped up, and her hit point bar flashed red, signaling its emptiness. I saw her chest rise and fall, but her breathing was strained. She gurgled with each breath and blood spilled out of her mouth.

“Daisy,” I yelled.

Lexi zoomed above her, shining a light on her so I could better see the wounds. There were so many more than I thought. A hundred little cuts bled her orc blood dry.

“Sorry,” Alissa said with a wet cough.

“It’s not your fault. You did great. Hang in there, Daisy’s coming — Daisy!” I yelled again.

My own breaths were coming in ragged heaps, and I was certainly in bad shape, but it could wait...

“Hang in there,” I said.

Daisy gasped from behind me. “Oh no,” she said, kneeling down at Alissa’s head. We were all hurt, in one form or another, but Alissa was dying. Her hit point counter flashed faster and faster.

“Can you heal her?” I asked the cleric.

Daisy bit her lip, glancing up at me, then back to the half-orc. “I—I don’t know. I don’t think I have the power to fully heal her. I’ll try though.

Alissa groaned in pain, attempting to sit up, but she just managed to collapse further. Blood trickled from her mouth. I put a hand on her face to comfort her. I held her gaze with mine.

Daisy began to sing, her hands glowing as she did so. After a moment, she placed them on Alissa, and she shuddered. “Nick, the wounds are to severe. I don’t have the spell required to do this. I’m only delaying...”

“Don’t say that. She’s tough. She can make it...”

My eyes went wide as I realized what I needed to do.

“Alissa?” I leaned in close to the woman who had saved my life on my second day. Pressing my forehead to hers, I looked deep into her bright blue eyes. “Let me bond with you. I can level you and heal you.”

In the game, leveling instantly healed all damage. Maybe that was a game mechanic, but if it were, it made sense that it would be part of the magic Adora gave me.

“Please, Alissa, please. I need you here, beside me. How else are we going to get your tribe back and defeat Kojiman?”

She blinked several times as she stared at me, then the most imperceptible nod letting me know it was okay.

“I hope that’s a yes!”

I pulled up my character sheet and immediately hit No bypass the level so I could get to where I needed. I scrolled past the options to spend points and selected Bond Follower. I hesitated for a moment. If this didn’t work, and I bonded her, and she died... so would I.

It was the only choice, though. She risked her life for me. It was time I returned the favor. I had two levels to distribute. Worse case I could spend one on myself... right?

I triggered the option then selected Alissa when the party screen popped up.

A brilliant light lit up the room for a moment before I realized it was a cone of light, coming from above, lighting up both of us in a circle.

Blue, white bolts of lightning flashed down into me, striking me a hundred times. There was no pain, but it felt like the lightning was intertwining with my nerves, and then it leaped out from me into Alissa. Ensnaring her, twirling around her body, illuminating every inch of her before diving inside and for a moment, I saw her skeleton as the bolts lit her up.

Then it was over.

You have bonded with Princess Alissa Ragnardottr

Followed by:

Warning, bonded companion is near death. Do you wish to bestow level? Y/N

There was no physical keyboard, of course, but I imagined smashing the Y key over and over. Her screen popped up, asking me how I would like to spend her points. I didn’t have time for this, so I just picked the first thing I could on each section. I put two attribute points in body, making her total, 27, and then her two ability points in Go Berserk! Which, so far, had shown its worth.

The last key I had to hit was ACCEPT, and it was done. The light show was over. I slumped back against the table.

Congratulations, you are a level 2 enchanter!

I shook my head, trying to figure out what that meant? Didn’t I just give my level to her? Regardless, I dismissed it and checked on my friend. As one, her wounds closed up, the color returned to her cheeks, and Alissa gasped for breath, coming back to us in a moment. She writhed as power flowed through her and a moan escaped her lips.

“What just happened?” Daisy asked.

“I bonded with her,” I said with a nod toward Alissa. “It was the only way I could level her up.”

Briana stood behind Daisy with her arms folded around her chest, looking anywhere but at the half-orc.

“You healed her completely... how?” Daisy asked again. “Even the most powerful healers of my order couldn’t heal her with such haste.”

“Really?” I asked the cleric, then I looked at Briana. “Elves?”

They both shook their heads. “We are skilled sorcerers and rangers,” Briana said. “But to heal one who was on death's door with such veracity... is unheard of.”

Briana opened her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but closed it and turned away, walking back to the entrance. She had several cuts and scrapes on her as well. She also didn’t have her bow.

“I’m feeling much better, Nicholas,” Alissa said, pushing herself to a sit, then standing up. She flexed her hands and arms like she didn’t expect them to work. She was covered in blood, both her own and others, but no more wounds, internal or external.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“For what it’s worth,” I said to her as I stood by, using the bench to push myself up. “I’m sorry I had to bond with you to make it happen. I know that wasn’t what you wanted."

She shrugged. “It’s done. Besides, it seems death was the only alternative, and you are better than death,” Alissa said. She walked over to retrieve her sword. I admired her form as she moved. Her graced and sheer physicality was a thing of beauty… even covered in blood.

“Ahem,” Daisy said with a fake cough. I looked to her then back at Alissa, and realized the orc had bent over at the waist, revealing much more of her toned ass for me to look at.

My face heated instantly, and I looked away. I had starred unintentionally, my mind wandering, but there was no way to explain that to Daisy.

“Her ass is nice too,” Daisy said, jabbing me in the ribs. She meant it teasingly, but pain ripped through me, and I nearly collapsed on the bench right there. “Oh T’suni, I didn’t realize you were so hurt!” She rolled me over slightly and I heard her suck in a breath. “Nick, your armor’s ruined and you have a severe gash in your back. Can you do the level thing for yourself? I’m not sure we could get you back to town before you... die.”

Funny enough, I didn’t feel that hurt, but it could just be the shock. I pulled up my own character sheet and hit Y when prompted to level. Sure enough, I was level two... somehow and yet I still had another level in reserve, to either level myself, or grant someone else.

I put my two ability points in charisma, hoping that would help me negotiate with people. Other than my ability scores, I had no other options. Were the even levels, the dead levels in the game? Is that why there were no new abilities for Alissa? I supposed, if the option was spending years training and learning or having someone wave their hands and grant you the abilities, then every other level wasn’t so bad.

All of a sudden, the idea of being able to grant them a level started to make sense as to why it was so powerful. It was a shortcut; one our enemy wouldn’t have. But was it worth it? Worth me being a sitting duck in every fight?

I confirmed the changes and felt the healing wave pass through me, closing my wounds and refreshing my body and mind as it touched every inch of me.

“Huh,” Daisy said cocking her head to the side. “That’s different.”

I looked down at my clothes, looking for something off, but I was just as covered in dirt and blood as the rest of them.

“What?” I asked, curious as to what she saw.

Her cheeks darkened and she sucked in her bottom lip, like she did when she was nervous. “N—nothing. I’m going to go check on Briana. I’m glad you’re okay,” she said. She ran her hand through my short hair as she stood before leaving to check on the elf.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re okay too!” Lexi said as she hovered around me. The little faerie-dragon had hardly left my side since I met her. It was extremely comforting to have her nearby.

“Hey Lexi, mind if I try something out on you?”

“Do I get a level?” she asked with as much enthusiasm as a kid asking for ice cream.

“Yep, here you go.”

I did the same thing for her, selecting bestow level, then her, then accept. Just like before, she lit up like a little blue Christmas tree. A moan of pleasure escaped her tiny lips, and she twirled in the air, leaving sparkling energy wherever she flew. After a few seconds it disappeared, and I had the chance to examine her new sheet.

Level seven flashed at the top and I had the option to raise her stats. I put another point in intuition and speed. Those seemed to be the most useful for her. The last thing I wanted was for her to get hit. I don’t think she could survive a strong slap, let alone a weapon.

For her spells I had two options. Upgrade Dazzle one more level or select a new spell. I checked out what the upgraded Dazzle would do and ended up whistling. It was good. Not only would it stun longer, have a decreased cooldown, but it would also add damage to it. Not a lot, enough though to make a difference.

Her new spell option was called—

Suppressing Fire

Lexi channels her dazzle ability into an automatic fire effect. As long as she sustains it, she can blast away at one target, or many, blinding each for two seconds. Once the sustain is ended Suppressing Fire goes into cooldown and cannot be used again for ten minutes.

Dang, they were both awesome. I took a moment and told Lexi about them, ultimately letting her choose since it was her body I was messing with.

“They both sound good... how about we upgrade dazzle for now, give me some real stingers! And then take suppressing fire next time?”

“Done!” I waved my hand, and she learned the new ability. Her eyes went wide as the information fed directly into her brain.

“Oh, wow...how... wow!” She zipped up, flew right at the wall, and let loose with a dazzle. The spell fired off like a Independence Day firework before exploding against the wall and leaving a dark burn mark. “Woohoo!” she said as she flew around the room lighting up other random targets.

I pulled my screen up, and sure enough, I had a level to spend. Not that it really looked like it helped me other than giving me two ability points to spend. I dumped them both in charisma, bringing my total to twenty. I had no new abilities to learn, no way to increase the ones I had, nothing. I let out a long sigh. Well, at least I could talk people into things with a high charisma. Maybe the battle had confused me, but it seemed liked I gained levels from both XP and from leveling bonded followers.

Feeling immensely better, I hopped off the table, sheathed the sword, and walked over to where Alissa leaned against her giant sword. Letting go of my blade caused all the character information to vanish. I didn’t know how I felt about the things I had learned about Alissa. The fact that she was a princess felt like something she should have told me. I decided, as I walked over, to let her tell me when she was ready.

“You, okay?” I asked.

Knowing how powerful she was, how incredibly, stupidly strong the woman was, it was weird being taller than her. She wasn’t much shorter than me at five-eleven. But when she turned around to face me, she had to look up, and I gazed deep into those bright blue eyes.

“Very much, thanks to you,” she said in her low alto. “I’m not sure I believed you before this, but now, there’s no doubt.” She leaned in and slipped her arms under mind and rested her head against my chest. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I kind of froze until she gave me a squeeze that I interpreted as it ‘it’s okay to hug me back’ so I did.

She shivered, as if she were crying, but I didn’t draw attention to it. I imagine almost dying and coming back had to weigh heavy on a soul. Well, I didn’t really have to imagine it.

“It’s okay, Alissa. I’m here for you, just like you are for me,” I whispered into the top of her head. She squeezed me even harder, and I was suddenly having trouble breathing.

She froze and let go, quickly wiping her face before looking up at me with a grin. “Sorry, I forget how fragile you are,” she said.

“Fragile. Fine, see if I save your bacon again,” I retorted with a laugh. She smiled at me, probably the first genuine smile I’d seen on her since we met.

“I don’t mind fighting the fade,” Lexi said from behind me. “But they don’t leave any of their stuff behind. No weapons, armor, money. I haven’t even found any fade root!” she exclaimed, kicking an old helmet that had more rust than metal.

“That’s because all the loot is in the chest under the throne,” I said.

I was still smiling at Alissa and not really paying attention to the other two girls. When I heard a scuffle, I turned and saw both Briana and Daisy charging across the room, followed by Lexi as they ran for the throne.

“As well as you know this place, you could charge to be a guide,” Alissa said.

“Ha. With any luck, this is the last time I’m ever going to be here. I hate this place.”

I wondered over to the throne as Daisy squealed. Briana had figured out how the thrones tilted back, revealing the hidden chest that opened with the throne.

“It’s not that I’m greedy or anything, but a little reward for all the hard work is nice,” Daisy explained as she reached into the chest.

She came out with a bag of coins and Briana pulled out a black bladed sword that was slightly longer than the two she carried. It was Razer’s sword with its saw teeth on the top near the cross guard. She swished it around a few times, her eyes going wide as she did.

“This is a magic sword,” she muttered.

“So?” Lexi asked.

“They aren’t common,” she replied.

I gave her a raised eyebrow. “Really? The ones you carry now, aren't?”

She shook her head. “No. They are made by the finest Elven smiths, but not magic. I... I can’t take this. Alissa?” she turned to the orc. “Please, take it.”

Alissa cocked her head to the side and folded her arms across her chest. “No. I like my sword."

Briana turned to Daisy and offered her the sword.

“Are you kidding? I am passable at best with a blade. You keep it,” she said.

Briana shook her head again. “No, not after the way... I can’t.”

I started to see what was going on. “Briana, really it’s okay,” I said as I walked over. “It all worked out, we all made it, and now we have some good loot to show for it. Keep the sword,” I said putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t believe you, and I let my pride put us all at risk. But now...” she shrugged and gestured toward Ali, “I’ve seen your power. You are telling the truth.”

That’s what this was about, okay I could deal with that. I ignored the rest of the loot in the chest. Turning around, I climbed up and sat on the table itself and put my feet on the seat.

“It’s okay Briana. It’s not like I really know what I’m doing. Where I come from, this is all fantasy. There are no elves, orcs, or clerics,” I said, nodding to each of them. “Or faerie-dragons,” I added with a smile. “I’m new to all this... it’s baffling. If I went home and told people about it, they would lock me up... I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re having some trouble believing me, that’s okay. I would too.”

She sat down next to me on the bench, looking up at me with her amethyst-colored eyes that were larger than human eyes. Her beautiful golden hair was tied in a ponytail and her tan skin was covered in dust and dirt like the rest of us.

“You didn’t endanger everyone, though. I did that,” Briana whispered. “It was... selfish of me. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Now, let’s move on. You said you were here for the cells. Let’s get down there and then out of here. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve had it with the fade.”