The next morning, I took my time getting ready, carefully selecting an outfit that I liked. Full length harem pants that had a pleated slit for my tail, paired with a peasant blouse with a medieval style outer-corset layer. I strapped on the belt I’d originally had to hang my short sword on, and a long jacket which also had a slit hidden by pleats up to the point above my tail. I gave my tail a test swish, confident it was comfortable, and I wouldn’t end up with a wardrobe malfunction while walking down the street.

I re-applied the clay and wrapped my scarf around my neck. I tucked my large book under my arm to return to Lily’s and took a last look in the mirror. I felt like a Halloween mash up of a sexy devil woman and a Christian Girl Autumn Instagram model.

I snorted and headed down the stairs, taking the side door again to avoid talking to Kira. I paused at the corner of the building, realizing I was about to walk past the stable that Bruiser and Bonaparte were staying in, and approached cautiously.

They were in the first stall, a bundle of orange and brown fur. The dire-weasel raised its orange head and hissed at me warningly. Bruiser raised his head to look at me before shifting back into his human form.

I flinched, averting my eyes as he retrieved a pair of pants from a bag nestled in the hay next to him and pulled them on.

“Hey Emma,” he greeted her. “This is Bonaparte. Bonaparte, meet Emma. She’s a friend, not food.”

I gave him a sharp look, trying to judge whether he was serious or not, but his returning laughter didn’t clear things up. The weasel didn’t hiss at me again though, so I guessed that was a good sign.

“How’s your Healing Song, Emma?” Bruiser asked me, pulling on a light blue shirt and leaning back, looking at me with a good-humoured expression. He reminded me for one sharp moment of that painting by van Gogh of the two people resting next to a haystack. I felt myself beginning to salivate, very tempted to have a tumble in the hay with him despite my conscience screaming at me to run in the other direction.

“Pretty average, why?” I asked, forcing myself to look at the dire-weasel instead of him. Then I noticed the red patch on his shoulder. “What happened to him?”

“Love triangle,” Bruiser answered. “He fancies another dire-weasel called Ermine. Ermine fancies a weasel-shifter called Slick, who just happens to be stuck in his weasel form due to a curse from a necromancer. Bonaparte got jealous, went to fight Slick and lost. So, here he is licking his wounds. You want to give him a hand? It’ll go a long way towards him liking you.”

“I can try.” I nibbled my lip, feeling self-conscious. “I don’t know any actual songs. I’ve just been making them up.”

Bruiser gestured to me to get to it, and I approached Bonaparte carefully, keeping an eye on his teeth. I placed the book on the hay next to me, and placed my hands next to the wound, focusing on it.

“La la la, let’s give this a try,

Please don’t bite off my head,

We’ll get you back in good shape,

And you can bite off Slick’s instead…”

The wound knit itself back together and Bonaparte nudged my shoulder with his muzzle. I reached up and patted his head lightly, before pushing his face away from me – his breath stank of fish – and I looked back to Bruiser, who was giving me an odd look.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“You’re the oddest succubus I’ve ever met,” he said, something unrecognizable in his tone.

“I know my lyrics aren’t that great, but I’ve never claimed to be a great songwriter, and it’s not like anyone’s ever taught me anything,” I said defensively, wrapping my coat around me tighter. “It’s harder than you think to just come up with stuff on the spot.”

“It wasn’t a criticism,” he said soothingly. “What’s the book for?”

“I’m returning it to Lily to trade for another,” I said in frustration. “I’ve been trying one or two every day, but they just don’t make any sense to me. I’m hoping to stumble across one I can actually read.”

He picked the book up and flipped through it, then gave me a searching look.

“What’s your intelligence stat?”

I pressed my lips together, not wanting to admit how low it was.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Emma. This might be something I can help you with.”

I was tempted to just storm off to Lily’s, but I had a feeling that no matter what book I picked up, I’d come to the same result.

“Five,” I admitted begrudgingly.

“Oh, that is low,” Bruiser said, his eyes shooting up.

I glared at him.

“Sorry,” he scratched the back of his head, laughing again. “Everyone usually has one stat that’s pretty low, unless they’re more average across the board. My charisma is only three, so I often end up blurting out things I shouldn’t. One of the reasons I think I get along better with animals than people; they’re harder to offend.”

“So, what do I do about it?” I asked through ground teeth. “Is there a way I can… ugh… raise my intelligence?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I hated everything about that sentence. Bruiser grinned at me, though.

“There are several ways. Getting a degree at university gives you a permanent increase – two points per major, one point per minor. It doesn’t even matter what they are, if you complete them, you get the boost for the achievement,” Bruiser explained.

I wondered what Brick’s stats were. He’d completed a degree in Dragon Slaying with a minor in Business, but he’d have to have been above five to begin with if he’d had to read books to complete the course.

“What are the other ways?” I asked. Getting a degree sounded expensive and time consuming, if it was anything like my original world.

“You buy buffers,” Bruiser said. “Potions that give you a temporary boost when you need it, or accessories that gave you a modifier while they’re in use.”

Ugh. Here come the in-app purchases.

“Come on, I’ll take you shopping,” Bruiser said. “We should leave Bonaparte to wallow in his misery for a while, anyway. Or plot his revenge.”

I glanced at Bonaparte, but he just curled his lips back in a feral grin that stunk of fish, so I gladly picked up my book and moved away from him.

Bruiser brushed the stalks of hay out of his hair with his fingers and walked by my side through the grid of streets that led us to the town center. He took my hand and pulled me into the marketplace, which was a maze of different stalls that was almost dizzying.

I glanced around, trying to take everything in and get my bearings. I’d only tried to walk through here once, but I’d gotten so hopelessly lost that I hadn’t braved it again since. One shop seemed to sell only books, another bracelets and bangles, another second-hand armour, and another swords.

I kept a tight hold of Bruiser’s hand as he weaved through the crowd and pulled me into a covered gazebo that held hats, glasses and accessories. I noticed another scarf identical to the one I was wearing on a mannequin and subtly tied to get a look at the price tag, but Bruiser drew my attention to a rack of glasses.

“Here,” he said, handing me a pair. “Try these on.”

I looked at the tag and read: Librarian Glasses +1 Intelligence.

“You’re freaking kidding me,” I said, staring at the offending object with disgust.

“Go on, try them on,” he insisted. I hesitantly slid them over my face and hooked them behind my ears. They made absolutely no difference to my eyesight at all.

“I don’t feel any different,” I said, looking to Bruiser in disbelief.

“Try read your book again,” he instructed, and I flicked the book open to a random page and tried to read a passage.

It was like I’d been suddenly cured of dyslexia. All the words looked orderly and coherent, although I still didn’t understand their meaning. But that might just be because I didn’t really know what ‘mana’ was in this world. Every game I’d ever played in my youth just had it as a blue bar, and maybe a blue potion – like the one I’d had in my bag. But they didn’t ever bother explaining how a mage turned mana into a spell.

I could tell this book did, but it appeared that was as far as 6/20 intelligence would take me. It looked like I was going to have to look like a pre-pubescent boy’s wet dream and chug buffer potions just to learn a spell.

I tore the glasses off my face.

“I hate this world,” I said heatedly.

“Like I said before,” Bruiser said, taking the glasses off me before I snapped them in two. “Sometimes I think if there’s a creator, he’s a total jerk.”

That made me laugh, and I felt my fondness for Bruiser grow. Not as an object of attraction, but as a friend. He was the only one I could really vent about James to, even if it was indirectly. He seemed more self-aware of the absurdities of this world than anyone else I’d met here – even Brick.

“What’s your intelligence stat?” I asked Bruiser curiously.

“Fifteen,” he shrugged, then lifted the Librarian Glasses to his face and put them on. “Now I’m sixteen.”

That made me laugh. He looked utterly ridiculous.

“I can’t take you seriously when you wear those,” I snorted, grinning up at him.

“Maybe I should buy them,” he said, giving me a sidelong look. “I can put them on whenever the tension between us gets too heavy.”

At the very mention of it, I realized how close we were again, and I felt that same pull of attraction towards him. I felt less bothered by it this time, though. My admission last night that it was there, and the subsequent decision I’d made not to act on it gave me a sense of security, even though I still felt the draw of lust between us.

“I don’t think it would make a difference, really,” I said softly. “How do I… You said when I’m a higher level I should be able to control it more. How do I level up faster?”

The first level had been easy. Each level seemed to be getting consecutively harder, and it was driving me crazy. I got a few points every time I sang a Healing Song or flirted with anyone, but it was taking me forever with these increasingly higher goals.

“Have you been doing any quests on the jobs board?” Bruiser asked me, but I shook my head.

“I’ve got no intention of going dungeon diving. I suck at fighting, I only have like 5/20 Strength, and I’ve only managed to kill like, one dire-rat. I’m not going anywhere without Brick.”

“Not all the jobs are for dungeon quests, you know,” Bruiser said, flicking my hair out of my eyes affectionately. “There are some where people ask you to fetch something from across town for them or do odd jobs. They still give you experience points. I can’t remember what level you need to be to control your pores, but Lily might know. But the fastest way to level up is by doing quests.”

I pressed my lips together in a frustrated pout. It might be better than trying to level up by winking at bar patrons in Kira’s tavern.

“I’ll come with you,” Bruiser offered. “I’m a Warrior class, so I can keep you safe. Warriors and Healers make really good teams. You’ll complete some quests in no time.”

I thought about how the last quest I’d been on had ended, and what I’d resorted to doing to keep Brick alive and blushed bright red. There was no way I was going into a dungeon with Bruiser.

But some easy quests where I didn’t have to even leave town might be alright.

“I’ll think about it,” I said finally. “And… thanks for offering.”

I turned back to the rack of glasses in front of me and examined what was on offer. Most of them looked ridiculously out of place in an otherwise medieval town. There were aviator glasses that gave a +1 Charisma buff and what looked like ski-goggles that had no additional perks at all. Vanity wear. The thing every kid wasted their money on in an online game for the pure novelty.

I spotted a pair of huge square-framed black glasses that looked like they belonged in one of those 80s movies where the leading geeky girl’s make-over consisted of taking a pair of these off and brushing her hair to suddenly make her attractive and desirable. I flicked the tag over. Adorkable Glasses: +2 Intelligence, -1 Charisma.

“Such a predictable cliché,” I muttered, putting them on and opening my book again. It made a little more sense, and I recognized it was instructions to cast a sleep spell. I could probably use the hit to my charisma as well, since that was a whopping 18/20. “How much are these?”

Bruiser stepped in and bought them for me before I could see the price, then removed the tag and placed them back on my face, pausing for a moment with his hands placed either side of my face.

“You really are beautiful,” he said, then sighed and dropped his hands. “Come on, let’s get something to eat and go sit on the edge of town while we talk. I start feeling claustrophobic in towns after a while.”

I let him take my hand again, clutched my book close to my chest, and followed him through the crowd.