Looking at the stat window, my frown deepened, then I had an idea. I dismissed my stat window and pulled up Lexi’s.

“You’re looking at me like you can see through my skin,” she said.

“Hold still for a second. I’m trying to tell what leveling does,” I explained to the little fae-dragon.

Everything was still the same. The only difference was the sheet showed two unspent attribute points, a spell point, and a skill point.

That sucked. I thought maybe it was just me, but I was glad to know it wasn’t. While I had her window open, I decided to spend her points. I enjoyed having her watch my back, so I put a point in intuition and a point in speed. If I continued to distribute her points like that as we leveled, she would eventually become crazy fast and able to anticipate attacks. Nice. I also increased her dazzle, which increased the blind effect to twelve seconds and reduced the cooldown by half a second. Well, better than nothing. Since she only had the one skill, I decided to wait and hold on to those points.

“What did you do to me?” she asked eagerly.

“I made you a little faster, observant, and I buffed your dazzle spell. Nothing major, but in time it should help. The other guy didn’t do any of this?” I asked.

She shook her little head, sending her black hair flinging around. “Nope. He was too busy leveling to even care. The only time he ever even talked to me was to find out where the nearest town was so he could find some company,” she said that last part with a hint of disgust.

“I take it he wasn’t nice about it?” I asked quietly.

“No, no, not at all. If he couldn’t pay for it, he would just force himself on the helpless farmer's daughters or whoever was unlucky enough to catch his eye. When he hit level fifty, there was no one in the whole western kingdom who could stop him. I thought, at least he would be able to hold back the tide... but no. But you,” she said, brightening. “You’re not like him at all. I feel great, better than I have in ages.” She zipped straight up disappearing into the sun then reappearing a hundred feet away, the sunlight glinting off her beautiful wings as she zoomed around. Her body came to a stop three feet from me and I felt a whoosh of air.

“What about you? What did you get?” she asked.

“Sadly, not much,” I said. I sat down cross-legged and examined my sheet. "Just two points for stats, like you and… well this is interesting."

"What?" she asked excitedly.

Abilities:

Distribute Points Level 1

You may distribute the points of any bonded follower (the number of points up to your current level +1, leveling them as you see fit. Warning: bonding a follower can be dangerous*

*Bond Follower Level 1

When a follower is bonded, they entwine their fate with yours. Their death will result in your death. Your death in theirs. It’s a powerful and intimate bond that, once created, cannot be broken by any means, not even death. Do not use lightly.

“Damn,” I muttered. If I was reading this right, I wasn’t going to become very powerful, but I could make those around me strong. It was a tradeoff. I was regretting my choice already as the dreams of being a giant-sword wielding warrior vanished.

“Lexi?”

“Hmm, yes?” She was busy admiring her wings as she flew through the light

“Have you ever heard of anyone changing class?” I asked.

She shook her head, frowning. “Maybe? There was a legend of a man who did, but it was long ago and far away... are you not happy?” she asked. I could sense her hesitation, maybe even disappointment.

“It’s not that I’m unhappy, I just... I’ve always been the frontline guy, you know? Leading the charge into battle... this... this forces me to rely on other people to keep me alive, and I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Oh,” she said. Her altitude dropped a few feet, and she slumped down. “You can have the level back, if you want?” she whispered. I could tell she was sad about the idea, even while her actions were incredibly generous.

“Back? Oh no, Lexi, I don’t want it back. I’m not even sure I could take it back. It’s yours. But... if there is a chance for me to respec, I’d like to at least look into it, okay?”

Her frown didn’t quite go away, but she perked up a little. “Okay, but I get to keep the level and you’ll keep leveling me until then?” She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“Sure thing, Lexi. You got it.” How could I possibly say no to someone so cute?

“Yippee,” she said as she broke into a series of loop-de-loops and spirals as she celebrated. I turned back to my sheet.

From the looks of it, this was going to be all about gaining followers and convincing people to join my army... well, I’d only ever played a charisma-based character once and it ended badly. The DM decided that every time I wanted to convince an NPC of something; we had to rely only on role-playing. Not dice. It didn’t end well for me.

However, here? That may not be a problem. What the hell. I put both points in charisma. I expected a change, but nothing happened. Maybe when I hit 30 like Lexi, I’d feel different. Thinking of her, I glanced to see what she was doing. Her speed wasn’t noticeably different, but I knew it would be, eventually. She was having a blast, flying through the sunlight like a butterfly.

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

“Okay, Lexi,” I said to her with a wave to follow as I hoisted myself up. I held the sword admiringly, giving it a few practice swipes. I sighed. It was just going to be for looks, really, maybe a last-ditch weapon to save myself. At least until I found someone to teach me how to use it. We started walking down the path toward Griffondale and I quickly realized I had no place to put it. As comfortable as the hilt was, after a few minutes of holding it my hand was sweaty and cramping.

In the game, it only took a few minutes to go from the Haunted Halls to Griffondale, but again, that was a compressed area. This was real, and it was taking a very long time. My stomach started growling and my throat was as parched as the Sahara.

I dug out the salted pork and cheese. It wasn’t much.

“Lexi, you hungry?” I asked her.

She flashed by. I saw a big smile on her face. “Starving,” she said. I held out my sword arm, and she landed delicately on my forearm. I held the cheese out to her, and she turned up her nose in disgust.

“Do I look like a mouse?” she said, placing her fists on her hips indignantly. “I’m a predator. My cousins eat whole cows in a single swallow!” She tilted her head back and pushed her breasts out so far, they almost popped out of her dress, and made a swallowing motion like a gulp. It certainly didn’t have the effect on me she thought it would. How could someone so small be so hot?

“Nick, are you okay? You’re all beat red,” she said, fluttering up to look at my face. “Are your ears normally that color?”

“I’m fine,” I muttered, trying to regain control of my reaction. It was unnerving how she had that effect on me. Despite her pint-sized appearance, she was absolutely sexy. I wondered, for a moment, if her insanely high charisma had to do with that?

“How about the pork?” I asked after a second.

“Now that is more like it!” she tore into the single piece of salted pork. It really wasn’t more than a serving, but she was so small I would hardly miss it. I chomped down the cheese while she took her piece of pork and flew to my shoulder to sit with her slender legs draped over my collarbone.

I flipped the sword around so that the blade was behind me and it made it considerably easier to wield. We ate while we walked, keeping mostly silent. The day was passing quickly. The sun was on its way down when a chill wind began to blow.

“Uh oh,” Lexi said.

“What’s that?”

She pointed toward the west. “The wind changed direction. It may be summer, but there are still storms. We might want to seek shelter for now. I think Griffondale is still a few hours away,” she said.

Shelter? I took a step toward the forest that was on either side of us. I could do shelter... but... I knew from my time in the game that it wasn’t a safe forest. Wolves, bears, not to mention goblins and other menacing creatures, maybe kobolds? I couldn’t recall. It had been a few years since I was a starting player.

“You okay?” she asked as she looked to the west. The wind was picking up and I could smell the rain coming.

“Yeah, just keep a sharp eye out,” I said.

She nodded, holding my collar tight and looking behind me.

The first thing I needed was a good spot. A couple of fallen trees, the hollow of a log, even a rock barrier. I found the second easily enough. The forest was old, older probably than any on earth. It wasn’t hard to find a fallen down tree that had collapsed before I was born. The trunk was petrified into a half-moon shape and if I pushed myself all the way back, no water would hit. But it would do nothing for the wind or if the rain was horizontal. I left my sword on the ‘floor’ of the tree while I built the rest of the shelter.

Next I went about finding fallen branches, the big kind, and stacked them against the tree to create a very minimal lean to. I stacked them vertically. Then I weaved another bunch through the branches horizontally until I had a rudimentary thatched wall. It wouldn’t stop a boulder, but it would do the job. I shook it a few times to make sure it would hold, then I placed it against the opening.

While I worked on the shelter, I had Lexi off gathering as much tinder as she could, bits of dry moss and leaves. It was a mostly evergreen forest, but there were some deciduous trees lining the path. I gave her the go ahead, and she zoomed off, skimming the ground while picking up leaves and twigs.

A half hour later, as the sky darkened, and the rain began to fall, we were huddled in our little shelter with the trunk of the tree on one side, sitting in the hollowed out part, with the constructed wall blocking out most of the wind and a tiny fire shedding some much needed warmth.

I hadn’t really eaten since I left for work that morning... if it was that morning and I was starting to feel it. The little bit of salted pork and cheese was already gone, and my stomach growled.

With the rain falling, I used a rudimentary funnel to divert some of it into the hollow. When I was thirsty, all I had to do was unfold a large leaf, shape it like a taco and attach it to another leaf and the water came pouring in.

Which was good, because I could go a few days without food, I couldn’t without water. Lexi was small enough that a few drops of water filled her right up.

“Tell me of your home world, Nick?” she asked as the rain beat down on the tree. I’d used a couple of big rocks to brace the branches and then a pair of crooked sticks with large rocks on top of them to hold the shelter in place. It wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t have time to come up with lashing and also... I was running near the edge of my Army training. It wasn’t like I spent my weekends in the woods with a pocket knife and a roll of string and built a mansion.

“Earth?” I asked happy for the distraction. The fire was keeping me warm enough, and I hadn’t heard any animals, and with Lexi there I could afford to relax a little. Still... it was a little unnerving how my hypervigilance kicked back in from my time in the sandbox.

“Mhmm.”

“All in all, it’s a pretty cool place. We don’t have magic, or fae-dragons—”

“It sounds boring...” she said. I was sitting cross-legged, leaning against the hollow part of the log and absently playing with a stick in the fire. Lexi was sprawled out on my lap, lying on her stomach as her wings beat slowly to dry off in the warmth of the fire. It struck me, watching her, how effortlessly sensual her movements were. I doubt she meant it that way, but when she stretched, it tightened her little ass and I was instantly awake. Despite her size, she was all woman.

It really had been a while since I’d had someone to talk to who I was also attracted to. Just my luck she was the size of a GI Joe action figure.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. We make movies and TV shows about the fantastical, novels and comics, not to mention there is plenty of wonder in life without magic,” I said.

“I don't know what the first thing you said is. What is the wonder in life?” she asked.

“Love, laughter, girls who don’t want to change you but want to help you be the best man you can, that kind of thing,” I said.

“Girls? Do you not have anyone special you left behind?”

I laughed, a short bark, really. She raised an eyebrow at that.

“No, no one special. April... I mean, Adora, when I met her, I thought maybe she could be someone special, but I’m guesses she was just awkward and flirty to convince me to come here.”

As I said that out loud, I realized it was probably true, not that I blamed her at all. She was doing what she needed to save her world. I’d do the same. And, it’s not like she forced me here with some promise of relationship. I smiled silently. She didn’t have to. I was the kind of guy who, given the opportunity would help, regardless.

I sighed. I just wish I could level as a warrior instead of a weak-ass enchanter. We barely got fifty feet into the Haunted Hall's exterior, and we had to run away. Which reminded me. I checked on my wound. It hurt to pull the tunic away, but it wasn’t red or inflamed.

Maybe I could find someone in Griffondale to fix it... My eyes grew heavy and a sudden wave of fatigue rolled over me. Lexi let out the cutest yawn, then she rolled over and used an arm for a pillow.

Despite the danger in the surrounding forest, I couldn’t stay awake another second.

Please don’t let me wake up to wolves gnawing on me...