“Now? Seriously?”

It was late. I’d done a lot since waking up in the dojo’s infirmary that morning. I’d even died and been resurrected, which doesn’t happen every day. Frankly, I was exhausted. I wanted to get some sleep. I was so tired, I didn’t even want to explore my new powers until the morning. But there was Sigrid in the doorway to my room, fully kitted out in her armor and weapons, including a new spear. With her long, wavy blonde hair, pale skin, and alarmingly blue eyes, she really did look the part of a Valkyrie warrior.

“You can’t go hunting now,” I told Sigrid.

Jane’s shining face popped into view from the side of the doorway. “Why not?” she said. “This is a game, right?”

I narrowed my eyes, wary of a trap. “Ye-e-es,” I said.

Sigrid pushed Jane out of the doorframe. “We agreed I’d handle this,” she whispered to her, then said to me, “I know jack squat about games and stuff. Never played these kinds of things. Hell, I never really hung around with nerds before, and now I’m surrounded by them. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a nerd, of course,” she added quickly.

I smiled and waved it off. I mean, guilty as charged, right?

Jane forced her way back into the door opening, shoving Sigrid out of the way. “You suck at this,” she said. “I’m no expert at this stuff either, in fact, I know even less than her. But Sigrid, um, well, let’s just say she once, um, dated a guy who was one of these gamer nerds and he said something.”

“I am so lost right now,” I said.

Sigrid shoved Jane out of the way again. “And you say I suck at this,” she said. “Doesn’t matter where I heard it, but I heard that in those big video games where everyone plays together that sometimes certain things can only happen at certain times, right?”

“Yeah, they’re called encounters. Some only happen when certain criteria are met,” I said.

Jane poked her head back in, all smiles and sunshine. “So we’ve been thinking about it, and maybe it’s like that here, too. Maybe there are these encounters that only happen under certain conditions. Like only at night. Which it is now.”

“See where we’re going with this?” Sigrid said.

I pondered for a moment, then said, “You’re right.”

“Get used to it,” Jane said.

Sigrid pushed her away, back out of view. “The point is, you need to hurry up. We’re going out to find some action and you’re coming with us.”

“Talk about coercion,” I moaned.

Jane’s head appeared in the doorway again. “You know you want to,” she said, flashing a smile that could power several homes for a month if you harnessed it with solar panels.

“Give me two minutes to get changed.”

Sigrid laughed. “You’re a dude, you only need one.” She pushed Jane back again and slid the door closed.

“I keep saying this but you could be a lot nicer to him, you know,” came Sigrid’s muffled voice from the courtyard outside.

“This is me being nice,” was Jane’s muffled response.

“Speaking of dudes, where’s Andy?” I called through the door.

“He’s, um, too tired,” Sigrid said.

It was hard to pick out tone through the barrier of the door, but it sounded like there was something off in how she said that. Ah well. Too bad, though. I liked Andy, he was fun to be around. It would’ve been nice to have him along. Not that I had a problem being alone with Sigrid and Jane. I liked them too. But most importantly: encounters!

My fatigue was gone. Not only were they probably right about there being encounters that only happened at certain times, but there was also a very strong chance that many encounters might be unique and could only ever be experienced once. I wanted to experience as many of those as I could. I did say that gamers are a jealous and selfish bunch, remember? I didn’t mind sharing it, though; anything that made my teammates stronger was a good thing. Just as long as I got to be involved too.

After switching into my armored nehru jacket and adventuring accouterments, I slid open the door to my room and joined the girls out in the courtyard outside our dorm rooms.

“You’re late,” Sigrid said, but she was smiling.

“How do you know? There aren’t any clocks around here, and you don’t have a cellphone.”

“Oh God, don’t remind me! I keep reaching for it to check my socials.”

“The quest timer is very handy,” Jane said. “It took you over two minutes, by the way, so you’re even late by your own estimate.”

“Oh you shut it,” I said, which made her smile.

I’d already gone East to the forest, so after studying my map Jane suggested we go check out the Black Altar in the highlands to the Northwest.

“You know nothing fun’s going to happen at a place called the Black Altar during the daytime,” she said. “If anything’s going on there, it’s going on at night.”

Convinced by her logic, and also not caring either way, we made our way to the western gate, which was closest to the Dragon Clan dojo. The guards there were all clan members, and once they saw we wore the same green armbands they did, they were extremely friendly.

“Are you sure you want to go outside now?” their leader said. “The road to Seaside is dangerous at the best of times. We don’t recommend anyone travel along it without the protection of the Silver Sword, especially at night.”

Chow Li had told me about the bandits along the trade route to the sea, but this Silver Sword was new information.

“What is the Silver Sword?” I said.

“They’re mercenaries hired to protect caravans between here and Seaside.”

“We aren’t going to Seaside,” Jane said. “Can you tell us anything about something called the Black Altar?”

“Not really,” the guard said. “Nobody knows much about it.”

Chow Li had said that too.

“How do we get there?” Sigrid said.

“You’re going there?” The guard’s eyes darted to our armbands, then he shrugged and pointed to the North. “Just go that way and you should run into it. It’s in a bit of a valley, so keep your eyes open.”

“Watch out for monsters along the way,” another guard said. “Goblins have been particularly active in the highlands lately.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Jane said. “We’ll be careful.”

We made to go through the gate when the guard called to us. “Wait! Are you planning to walk?”

“It’s not that far, is it?” I said.

“No, but having something fast to ride will help you avoid trouble.”

Jane grinned at them. “Where’s the fun in that?”

After bidding farewell to the guard at the gate, then went through and turned right immediately to head North. Sigrid hadn’t needed to ask where the Black Altar was, it was marked on my map and we could use that to guide us in the right direction.

It was surprisingly light out, despite being the dead of night. Both moons shone full in the starry sky, casting slippery shadows over the silver-tinged landscape. As we made our way toward the highlands I couldn’t help but notice that Jane was even giddier than usual. She was practically skipping, and kept glancing over at Sigrid with an expectant look.

I turned to Sigrid. “Is there something wrong with Jane?”

She laughed.

“Am I missing something?” I said.

That made Jane laugh too.

I stopped walking. “Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?”

They stopped and turned to look at me. They were both acting dizzy and grinning at me as if I had just told them they’d won the lottery. I think Jane was literally quivering with barely-contained joy.

I felt a sudden shiver and the hairs on my arm stood on end. I had the sudden feeling that something was terribly, horribly, catastrophically wrong.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“What?” I said in my most suspicious tone.

“Oh nothing,” purred Jane, “Mister Smiley.”

Mister Smiley? It took a few moments before I made the connection. “Oh no,” I groaned. That’s what Andy had called me in the bath.

“Oh yes! You think I’m smokin!”

Andy'd said that too.

Sigrid came over and gave me an excessively tight hug. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you too.”

“Give it up, Sigrid,” Jane said, “you don’t stand a chance.” She tossed her red hair over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes. “He’s a ginger man.”

“You heard it all, then,” I said.

“Heck yeah,” Jane said, doing a little happy dance. “Every word.”

“The wall between the baths was pretty thin,” Sigrid said, letting go of me. “Sorry. I know I should’ve said something, but listening to you and Andy was just too damned entertaining. You said some very nice things, though. All except the part about hoping we could become friends.” She released her hug and shoved me. “We already are, dummy Daniel!”

“You’re not getting a hug from me,” Jane said. “Now that I know you think I’m so smokin’ hot I can’t trust you to not grope me.”

“I wasn’t the one who said that!”

“I didn’t hear you disagree, though, did I?”

“That’s because...” I began, but gave up. I knew a losing battle when I saw one. Anything I said would be used against me in the court of Jane. The best thing to do was get it over with. “Oh fine,” I sighed. I gestured ‘bring it on’ with my hand. “Go on, get it out of your system.”

Jane pouted and looked deflated. “Well, that’s no fun.”

“I know how to deal with bullies,” I said.

Sigrid laughed so hard it came out as a giant snort. “She totally is a bully!”

“Meh, whatever,” Jane said, flicking her hand dismissively. "Pervert.”

“Pervert? What the hell?”

“It’s not like I caught you wanking over my picture or anything.” She sidled right up next to me, her shoulder rubbing against mine, her lips so close to my ear her breath tickled. “Pity you don’t have a picture, huh?” she purred. “Pervert.”

Then she slunk away, her musical laugh tinkling in her wake.

“I have been victimized,” I said. “And not just me. Do you plan on telling Andy about overhearing him through the thin walls in the bath?”

“Nuh uh. No way,” Jane said. “After all, we wouldn’t want to embarrass him.”

“I hate you,” I said.

“Like hell you do. Pervert.”

Maybe Sigrid took pity on me and decided to change the subject, or maybe she felt me in danger of ignoring her warning and falling for Jane, or maybe she’d just been waiting for Jane to get all the teasing out of her system first, but before I knew it she’d ambushed me with the demand that I teach her Affinity Control. Jane’s quick agreement led me to conclude she too had been wanting to learn the skill on our walk.

“Oh, now I see why you wanted me along,” I said.

“Yes,” Sigrid said, “but not only for that.”

I had no idea how to teach them something I myself had learned only because my ability made it easy for me to do so, but I tried describing how it felt to channel energy through Affinity Control as I demonstrated with the various elements I had developed an affinity with so far. They both tried, but nothing happened.

“I don’t get it,” Jane said, tossing her hands up in frustration.

I tried thinking about it some more.

I knew that affinities weren’t real. I mean, they were, but they weren’t. They were just Stratos’ nanobots making things happen. But still, the nanobots had to take orders from me. So how was I giving these orders?

Wait a second, that wasn’t the right question to ask.

Why was I able to produce an affinity effect? Because I knew about the nanobots and believed they could do it.

It came down to my belief. I believed in science, so nanobots made sense to me. The idea of them, anyway.

So how could I make the girls believe? Let’s start with what they already believe in.

“Do you guys believe in magic?”

“Not really, no,” Jane said.

“Same,” Sigrid said.

“Well pretend you did. How would it work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. Picture all the depictions of magic you’ve ever seen. What makes the most sense to you, what feels the most real? Do you need a wand? Do you have to chant a spell? Do you need to use hand gestures?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said. “Magic isn’t real.”

“Okay, so maybe magic won’t work for you. Do you guys like martial arts flicks? What about superhero movies?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sigrid said. “They’re okay, I guess.”

“Are you religious? Do you believe in miracles? Or do you trust in science?

“This isn’t helping, Daniel,” Jane said. “What are you trying to get at?”

“I’m trying to figure out what would make you guys believe you could do it. What do you believe in?”

“I don’t know, what do you believe in?”

“I believe in science.”

“How does that help you make magical fire then?”

“Because I don’t believe this fire is magical. I think it’s caused by the existence of countless microscopic nanobots making what I see in my imagination become real.”

“Seriously? That's so random.”

I shrugged. “Works for me. So what would work for you?”

Jane's brow furrowed, then her eyes widened. “I think I get it. If I was religious, I could believe that God was giving me the power to make it happen. Like a miracle.”

“So are you religious?”

“Fuck no.”

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be as strong as belief. Maybe it just has to be what would be the most fun for you.”

“Fun? Well, being a superhero would be fun.”

“Great, so go with that. Imagine you’re a superhero, and for whatever reason you have the innate power to make stuff happen.”

Jane lifted her chin and pushed her chest out in a classic superhero pose. “Flame on,” she said, thrusting her hand in front of her. A jet of flame licked out. She gave out a whoop and pointed to the air in front of her, at the System dialog windows only she could see. “Hells yeah! I just got affinity with fire and learned the Affinity Control skill!”

“That’s awesome, Jane!” Sigrid said.

“What about you, Sigrid,” I said. “Jane’s a superhero. What works for you?”

She chewed her lip as she thought. “I guess, maybe, there’s something built into this Player body that makes it happen.”

“Like Daniel’s little robo-thingies?” Jane said.

“That makes my head hurt trying to picture all these little machines. I’m happy with something more vague, like that this body is powerful enough to affect the world around me.”

“Great,” I said. “So give it a try.”

“Give what a try?”

“Your affinity is Air, so try to do this.” I swept my hand in a broad arc, and a blast of air stirred up the dirt on the ground in front of me.

She copied my gesture, waving her arm, but nothing happened.

“Try again,” I said. “This time really picture your hand pushing the air in front of it.”

She nodded and pursed her lips. She waved her hand again, this time much harder and faster, and whoosh, the dirt in front of her went flying. Her mouth dropped open.

“How’d that feel?” I said.

“A-mazing,” she said.

Pretty soon, Jane was tossing around little balls of fire, water, and earth while Sigrid was able to create swirling eddies of air that kicked up dust from the hills we traversed.

“Whoah, I am really tired all of a sudden,” Jane said.

“Using your affinity like that drains a lot of mana,” I said.

“What’s mana?”

“Just think of it as the energy inside you that fuels your powers. You’ll get tired like this when you use it up. Same as when you used your teleport power a lot during the fight.”

“How do I get it back?”

“Time, rest, or here, eat this.” I took off my backpack and rummaged inside for a bit, pulling out a bag of nuts and dried fruit. Jane and Sigrid munched on it while we continued walking. I could almost see their energy returning.

The flattish area where the city had been built had given way to the first rolling mounds of the highlands when we spotted a little cave-like rift in the ground at the base of the hill. In it, whether for lack of sunlight or nutrients, some weeds had struggled but failed to make headway in the cracked earth. Jane held her hand above the dry, brown leaves and suddenly they turned green and shot upwards, sprouting more sets of leaves as the stem grew.

“I did it!,” Jane squealed. “I got Life!”

She and Sigrid performed a little happy dance together that was so well choreographed I had the feeling this was not the first time they’d done it.

Sigrid called over her shoulder a while later as we ascended yet another hill. “What are you doing back there?”

At first, I’d let them get a bit ahead of me. Jane had been using her newfound Affinity Control to unlock her affinity with other elements and use them in ways I hadn’t been able to yet, including my original affinity with Life. I sought out a little privacy by holding back so I could secretly find a struggling plant and try to boost it. It took a few efforts, but I eventually managed to turn the unfortunate little weed stunted in the shade of a shrub a vibrant green color. A moment later, the stem shot up, new pairs of leaves sprouted, and its top blossomed in a smattering of tiny but vibrant yellow flowers.

System: You have developed an affinity with Nature

I’d been expecting Life, but found Nature instead. I supposed the plant Jane had revived had been in worse shape and needed Life to revive it. Regardless, I can’t tell you how good it felt to see that little plant blossom.

During this, the girls had put a good thirty feet between us, and the gap widened with every step we took.

“Come on, slowpoke, keep up,” Sigrid called to me.

“You go too fast,” I said. “Don’t you ever get tired?”

Sigrid stopped and looked back. The city was still visible far behind us. “Yes, but we’ve only come maybe two or three klicks. What, are you out of breath already?”

“It’s not easy to keep pace with you. It’s like chasing gazelles.”

They waited for me to catch up, then continued at a slower pace for my benefit.

“As of tomorrow, we are totally going to start working on that wiggly string bean you call a body,” Sigrid said. “Give me a month and I’ll have you buff as hell.”

“Why do you hate me?” I muttered between ragged gasps.

“Come ooooon,” she crooned. “Don’t you wanna look good naked?”

“Am I really that bad?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Well...”

“Let’s put it this way,” said Jane in a tone that told me I was about to be the brunt of another joke. “If this here was the yellow brick road, you would absolutely without question be the scarecrow.” She pantomimed the scarecrow’s clumsy dance from the movie, or maybe she was imitating one of those inflatable tube men you see outside car dealers. It was hard to tell, but either way, it was not particularly flattering to me.

“Oh, oh, can I be Dorothy?” Sigrid said.

“Nope, that’d have to be me,” Jane said. “You’re the lion.”

Sigrid bristled. “Who are you calling a coward?”

“Shouldn’t you be the tin man, Jane?” I said, patting my chest. “You are pretty heartless.”

“If that’s the case,” Jane said, “then that’s another reason you’re the scarecrow. After all, we all know what the scarecrow needed, right?” She tapped the side of her head.

I cursed quietly.

Sigrid laughed. “That backfired, didn’t it?”

Jane crested the top of a hill. “Finally!” she said. When we caught up a few steps later, we saw it too. The Black Altar.