DAY 13

Anna sat on a bale of hay in a ramshackle warehouse, holding some flowers that she had begun to catalogue. She had managed to get a notebook with very rough pages and no cover, a long way from the very smooth and well-made notebooks in which she had noted her observations for years.

[Florist] was the class she had received. She liked it, yes, but she hoped she could soon advance to something more important.

"Cami, do you think we will ever be able to go home?" She stopped the hand that was writing fast on the pages and paused to look at the flowers with nostalgia. In Melbourne, there were few flowers, but she still missed her home. "Maybe if you get good enough with magic you can do something ...?"

Camilla was looking intently at the palm of her hand, on which she had repeatedly tried to summon [Fireball], one of a wizard's archetypal spells.

"No." The girl gritted her teeth. “In case you haven't noticed, this world works with magic, which I have never used before because - you guess - where we come from they don't teach it as a subject in elementary school. And even in this place they don't have manuals, instructions ... if I could take us home, do you think I'd still be here?!"

Camilla got up and kicked a hay bale. Useless hay bales. There were few animals in the village, too few for all that hay, compressed thanks to the magic of the most experienced [Farmers]. Even peasants had more magical abilities than her. Camilla gritted her teeth again.

“I could ask Maximilian again, what do you think, Cami? We can ask Themistocles to help us persuade him to..."

Anna looked at Camilla hoping for a sign of agreement. Her friend, on the other hand, looked at her grimly and angrily. Anna could not find the words and let what she was saying fade into silence.

“That thief is certainly hiding all the magic tomes he found in the village. Perhaps the Harbingers left some objects that we too could use, but Themistocles and Maximilian took everything for them!"

She thought for a few seconds about what she had just said, and when she spoke again she was even more convinced of her theory. "It makes sense! Why would they have drifted away together soon after they got here, otherwise? They must have consumed some magical item! And I bet Maximilian used some scroll, like in my brother's video games, where you use one of these things and automatically learn to do magic. Then you make it stronger, but only after you learn it!"

“God, Cami, I don't know. Are you sure?"

"Sure!" Camilla said, more and more excited by the image that she had put in her own head. "It makes sense! It makes sense! We show everyone how they really are!"

Anna hesitated. It had already happened, in the past, that Camilla involved her in such dramas; in most cases, however, she had found herself in the wrong. And Anna was happy to support her friend, through thick and thin, but… In this world they could have died! Themistocles was furious with Todd and said he wanted to crucify him.

Crucify him. Anna felt the tears come out of her eyes only when it was too late to hide them.

“Anna! Stop crying, come on!"

Camilla took her by the sleeve, making the flowers that Anna held in her hands fall to the ground. She began to drag her while her friend watched the petals unravel under their feet.

"Let's go!"

As soon as they were about to enter the wooden door of the [Farmers]' warehouse, they were blocked by a statuesque and generous figure. Both girls were quite tall, but the woman in front of them was a giant almost two meters tall, so beautiful it embarrassed them with a simple smile. Anna felt her face flush as Eudokia spoke to her.

"Are you all right, future plant friend?"

"Er, ah."

"What do you want? We are busy, we need to talk to everyone. Move away."

Camilla tried to adopt the best peremptory tone she was capable of. She had been able to get her exam grades changed when she thought she deserved more, and if the professors in the faculty of medicine didn't scare her, how would a stranger...

Eudokia patted her on the shoulder and, in an instant, her whole arm lost strength, releasing Anna and knocking her back.

“What...?!"

Eudokia touched Camilla's lips with a finger and then her chest. Camilla took steps that were first uncertain, then more and more determined. She walked over to the hay bales, went to sit on one of them and put her arms on her knees, composed like a well-bred child. Anna saw the woman set her eyes on her and nod towards the hay bale beside the one Camilla had sat on. She did as she was asked. At another time, perhaps she would refuse to act, but there was something in her veins that told her not to provoke fate.

Her connection with nature and plants prompted her not only to sit down, but also to prostrate herself in front of Eudokia. There was something about that woman, something inexplicable, that made her irresistible.

"Well, my little ones." Eudokia remained standing before them. "You see, little girls, in this world there are much more terrible things than what Maximilian could have done to you."

Anna and Camilla knew what he was capable of. Mummer had not been seen for three days and around the village it was said that it was the Londoner who had sent him into a coma. Not to mention the storm he had unleashed to train the warriors; sure, they all had gotten the [Stormbreaker Warrior] class, but at what cost. So was there anyone capable of doing even worse?

“Nobody is left behind. Not even fools, not even those who do not value their life. Not now. Every wrong decision kills someone. Your enemies are savvy and cruel. They were created by villainy, but they possess some of the great qualities of their old masters."

"Masters?" Anna murmured.

“Knowing is a privilege, young friend of nature. It was debated, when I was still young, whether curiosity was a blessing or a curse. Academics and great scholars have died in droves in the search for the answer. And the answer to this question is simple: the Ahalis were created by dragons on the continent of Forest, they are not a natural race. Nor are they the first race that has ever been artificially created."

Anna's pupils dilated, but Camilla's expression remained blocked in the same contempt assumed before receiving the information.

“The Vanedenis don't give much weight to the story of their enemies. They are not subtle about certain details. Far from saying that they are not refined in their war, for heaven's sake... But I'm going too far, young cubs.”

“What I wanted to tell you is that you, here, are looking for the wrong answers. You are looking for the same answers that turned the best of my ancestors into ashes. You are looking for answers you don't deserve."

Anna looked, now more uncertain, first at Camilla and then Eudokia. Her words made sense, but she only managed to say, “You could treat us even better than that! There is no need to be treated like a jerk just because you have your own club of special people!"

"Special people?" Eudokia frowned, rather confused.

"Yup! You go around bossing around and commanding others, without asking anyone's opinion! You have excluded us so you can do what you want!"

Anna saw Camilla nod slightly, but at the same time look at her angrily.

"Uh..." Camilla was certainly angry about something Anna had said. It always happened like this. Probably, Anna thought, she didn't like to be defended by her… Well, she couldn't do much about it, since she was practically immobilised and couldn't speak. Anna loved Camilla and wanted to show her that she was on her side.

"Excluded? All the other Earthlings are doing their best: Neri is working hard at the forge, Lucas, Andrew and Anthony have been training with the sword nonstop for days, Valeria is improving visibly. And instead you, little friend, if my memory serves me right, you asked Maximilian to be trained and, when he started to do his job, you ran away. Where would the exclusion be, when the tyrannical command you speak of would have been put in place?"

Anna was about to answer, but Eudokia took her chin in her fingers and shook her head. The girl felt her face flush.

“You don't have much to talk about. You haven't done anything with your life, but you want to decide instead of people who swam in blood, danced with death in every battle. Todd told me that you, in your home world, were studying to become [Doctors]. Do you know that Maximilian, in your world, was one of the greatest in your category? And I guess you know who Themistocles is, don't you?"

Anna nodded. She had taken ancient history in high school. and remembered very well the endless hours of lessons on the Persian wars.

On the contrary, Camilla was confused. Maybe she had heard of him, but she hadn't the faintest idea who he was. She tried hard to argue, fighting the pressure that kept her mouth tight. In vain, of course.

“The village is organized according to the skills of those who are stronger than you. The same people have offered to make you stronger, despite your lack of respect."

The air turned icy.

“I have reigned over creatures who could break your life and soul with two fingers. And when I talked and tried to explain to them what sense was, they were silent. "

Anna began to feel the tears gather behind her eyelids.

“Don't cry, because there will be a lot to suffer later, but not now. Now is not the time to stop, nor to retract the claws. It's time to sharpen the blades, to harden the bodies. It's time to see yourself for who you are - weak and arrogant.”

“I can help you. And remember [The Future is Yours. The Choice is Yours]."

Anna felt the pressure enveloping her getting lighter, but first she saw the last words the woman had spoken as she continued to smile in his direction. A wave of heat went through the vessels of the heart and up her neck to her eyes, giving her the ability to see. She saw what was in front of them: a future, a choice. In that instant, Anna had a vision - a very rare event for anyone, even people of very high level. Behind her eyes, once closed, she saw an Anna wearing clothes no longer made of cotton, but of the same substance of trees and leaves, with a cloak of a thousand animal skins.

She had an elm staff with a burnt point, woven around itself, and she entrusted it with the task of supporting her.

She felt the connection with nature as a warm embrace and the love of the animals around her as a shield against the coldest nights. She felt the blood wet her bare feet, the blood of someone she had to fight.

She looked around, seeing for a moment through the eyes of that woman she hardly recognized as herself; only an ancestral blood bond united them. And when her pupils imprinted on the world around her, she noticed the most peculiar thing: Camilla was not close to her. Wherever she turned her spirit, she could not find her friend. Her own soul perceived the lack of the girl as a liberation, a feeling that terrified her to death.

She looked at her hands, calloused and dirty. She felt she had responsibilities, she felt that many people would try to harm plants and animals, and that she would remain there, a bulwark against their destruction.

It was a rebirth, a leap into the future, a gift so heavy and terrible that it could bend rulers and leaders, heroes and necromancers.

For every second that passed within the vision, he felt something inside himself align with the figure wearing leaves and bark and ...

"Anna. Let's go!"

Anna fell off the hay bale and found herself on the ground, while Camilla pulled her arm, trying to get them both away from Eudokia who, in response, wore a pleased grin.

“Cami! Cami! Wait!"

Camilla began to shake her and did not want to hear reason, dragging her as far as she could. Anna was still in a stupor as she thought about the person she had seen.

“Incredible, that lunatic tried to drug us. For a moment I started hallucinating. Fortunately, I recovered immediately."

She didn’t really know what to say. Hallucination?

Yes, sure, it had been a vision. But Anna knew it was not an evil vision. She wouldn't have believed it for a moment. Eudokia had clearly used a skill on them - and that might have its own ethical-moral discussion, in another moment - but it was undeniable that the woman had only shown them one possibility. The girl touched her chest as she started to walk alone, no longer dragged. She felt a lump in her throat. She recognised that Camilla had been unfair, that he had just taken something away from her.

“Cami, I think Eudokia is right. They cannot protect us throughout the battle. Ten days have passed and we have not taken half a step forward. This vision she gave us allowed us to take a look at our future. It was an opportunity to ... "

“Anna! What are you saying?! She tried to stun us to make us slaves to this bunch of idiots. Do you really want to listen to these people and follow them like a little lamb? Maybe it's time to think for yourself.”

Anna did not stop, but slowed her pace and looked away from her friend. The nature of the village thrived around her. Unlike Earth, plants, trees and animals were one with the city. And Anna loved this thing. She felt the same interest she had felt before starting to study medicine, when she was still deeply convinced that she wanted to study natural sciences. And with a single glance, she realised that the connection with nature that the vision had shown her, became every second stronger and more solid, as if a part of the person she had seen earlier had remained inside her.

She twisted her mouth, but continued to follow Camilla.

"Cami, you saw what the soldiers did."

"Yes I saw it, Maximilian made them fight for three days under a storm."

"True, but after that they acquired a new class, and their level went up to 20. Tukker said he became a level 32 [Stormbreaker Captain]. Now none of them are afraid of having to fight anymore."

In the previous days, Anna had listened to the comments of the villagers, but she had considered from the beginning those methods of training terribly atrocious. She had been too blind to see the benefits, too addicted to Camilla's words. Now she clearly understood why women and children went to Maximilian to ask for advice, and also why the wife of a soldier, who had gained ten levels thanks to him, had offered to give the Londoner their only pig.

Had it not been for Eudokia, the man would have gladly accepted. Anna moved a black lock from her forehead and adjusted the glasses on her nose. She was worried about her life, Camilla's and their future. They were clearly falling behind, but her friend didn't seem to notice anything.

"Let's go, Anna, I want to train for a while."

Turning to her friend, Anna felt a surge of pride. Had Camilla finally understood the importance of surviving in such a hostile world?

They moved away from the village far enough for Camilla to practice setting fire to trees without causing any harm. But Anna felt that there was something wrong with that action. And it wasn't about the fact that Camilla could barely conjure up a spark. No, it was something more. Every time Camilla's spark tried to take root in the trees, it was as if someone threw a punch in her belly.

She felt everything spin. Her hands seemed to detach from her body as a retch made its way into her mouth. Anna began to throw up the meagre lunch she had eaten. Camilla turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Looking at her friend's face, the [Florist] had the impression for a moment that Camilla had taken on mephistophelic features, as if the image of the biggest evil had been superimposed on her. She felt her bile rise and retched again as her body tried to clean up a malignant disease that had already infiltrated her system.

"Anna, did you eat something strange? Did you go pick up toxic berries again?"

Anna felt something stronger this time. Her gaze was snatched away from Camilla and went to the tree immediately behind her. Anna turned pale. Camilla followed her friend's gaze to the plant and her eyes filled with joy. She couldn't have hoped for anything better! An ecstatic shiver filled her flesh.

"Look! Look! It has finally caught fire!"

Anna looked. And she didn't like it at all. No.

It was worse than that, much worse: Anna hated everything that was happening. Part of the young woman had begun to reject her own constitution, as if there was something wrong, something rotten. Once again, Anna's vision was distorted. This time, however, she was no longer looking through her own eyes. The point of view changed and faced Camilla's face instead of her anorexic back.

Anna was looking through the tree. She saw Camilla laugh heartily, jumping on the spot, invigorated by the new success.

"Finally! I will definitely learn a new skill now! Maybe [Fireball]!” Camilla had not magically acquired any skills, but somehow the tree was now burning. The young woman's repeated attempts had made part of a branch, the object of her harassment, drier than normal. And a cowardly flame had the courage to attack it. Todd's words echoed in her head.

“What are you saying!? Maximilian has developed at least three or four incredibly powerful new abilities just out of boredom! And you, after two sparks, would you like to say that now you are also able to do better?!"

Yes, useless cockroach, soon I'll be able to do better than that imbecile.

The small orange flames reflected on Anna's square glasses as she felt a primal anger build up in her body. She looked down at her hand and saw her red, burnt skin, as if she were on fire, not the tree.

For a moment, she had lived the tree's pain.

"This tree might as well hurry up and burn, huh, Anna?"

Camilla had forgotten that her friend had just thrown up her lunch. She was so excited about her own success after so much suffering. She too would level up, finally.

"Stop it! Camilla, put it off! Stop the flame! Put it off! "

Anna stood up as if possessed and flung herself against the tree, trying to put out the fire.

Without even thinking about it, Camilla grabbed her by the hair, screaming in her ear: “Anna, you're crazy! Nothing will happen, there are no other trees around this. The grass around here is too green to burn!"

Camilla thought that Anna was worried, like a good coward, for their safety.

Anna felt an anxious fury build up in her stomach.

"Put it off! I said put it off!"

She tried to free herself, but Camilla held her by the hair with a smirk on her face. Submitting her like that, whether he denied it or not, was giving her perverse pleasure.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Now it was more of a growl. The most senseless thing was Camilla's behavior. Another person, faced with such inhuman screams, not only would have been frightened, but would have immediately understood that something was wrong: he would have let her go and would have apologized. Camilla, on the other hand, continued to hold her tightly, without moving a wrinkle of her face.

She felt her scalp almost give way in the face of the enemy's malice. How her friend could behave like this was beyond Anna's understanding; and her behaviour began to crack something inside her. She didn't know if it was patience, love for her friend, her own insecurity, but something was reaching breaking point. It was like a pressure cooker ready to explode, and she thought about how much she was screaming and the fact that Camilla didn't let go of her hair, but rather strengthened her grip. Two more pains were added to the physical one: the fact that the tree was in pain and that she could feel that pain as if the bark was her own skin - this awareness was driving her crazy.

Literally, Anna felt a piece of her psyche break with every second a piece of wood became embers.

The tree was whispering her of its pain, it was confessing to her how much it hated the flames, how much it hated Camilla.

But the most devastating thing was another: the sensation coming from the tree was indeed terrible, but still recent. Instead, the hand that was tearing off the curly hair she loved so much had always been there, first on her neck to choke her, then on her mouth to silence her, now on her hair to dominate her. Anna had known Camilla for a long time. Sometimes she believed that if she hadn't studied Medicine with her, Camilla would have pretended not to know her.

Anna had entered university with a stellar score, but her friend had parasitised her study sessions and received a score just high enough to enrol.

If Camilla arrived late for class, she could always count on the free place Anna had kept for her. The opposite, however, had never happened. The few times that Anna had arrived late, for far more serious reasons than her friend's evening outings, the other seemed to have completely forgotten about her. More than once she had had to sit on the classroom floor because Camilla had never returned the favour.

And it didn't matter how she treated her, how she belittled her, and how much she insulted her. Once, Camilla had been better, this was enough to love her. Being in her company gave Anna a sense of security. She had had the ability to make her feel better about herself, to put her at ease around other people. Hell, in the past she had even defended bravely against boys who were bullying her.

But now, faced with the cruelty of her reaction ...

Anna would have been much less angry if Camilla had screamed, if he had even punched her in the face, during a real fight. But no, her friend held her hair from behind and lowered her head towards the ground, to make her fall forward and push her face to the ground.

As much as Anna strained her neck muscles, there seemed to be nothing to be done. Back and head remained bent and the grass seemed to come closer and closer, like a sentence.

Could Camilla really intend to make her eat dirt and keep her there until the tree was completely consumed by the flames?

Anna tried to use all the muscles at her disposal in an effort that was beyond her physical capacity. She had always been much more consistent than Camilla in going to the gym. One of the things that had created resentment in her friend, until she had decided to devote less time to her body so as not to alienate her.

"This tree might as well hurry up and burn, huh, Anna?"

Every word, Camilla spat it with venom and sardonic pleasure in the helplessness of her friend.

Anna ignored the pain and began to get up with all her strength. She felt something enter into her bloodstream, like a dose of pure adrenaline. She felt Camilla's arm begin to tremble as she raised her face inch by inch. She had bloodshot eyes. After several seconds that seemed like an eternity to both of them, while Camilla's arms were trembling with exertion and her forehead beaded with cold sweat, Anna's gaze fixed on her face.

Camilla still hadn't left her hair and the expression on her face was still full of madness. There was an overwhelming anger in Anna's body. She had no idea how much was hers and how much was from the tree, nature, plants and animals. She felt a new force run through her veins, regrowing the hair she had just lost and giving her even more energy. Her mind was half frozen and half incandescent. Every move that followed was part of a process of rationalization and raw fury.

Her feet were planted on the ground like the roots of a tree, while Camilla could no longer move her even an inch.

Camilla looked at Anna, framed by the tongues of fire that came from the tree behind her. However, the flames now looked subdued and weak as something began to shine in her friend's eyes from behind thick glasses.

If Camilla had a maniacal smile on her face, Anna had the contemptuous expression of an emperor who sees a pathetic spectacle in the Colosseum. With the corners of her mouth bent down and all her new strength, she waved her arm like a club, her fist clenched and its back ready to strike her friend.

Anna felt something bend after she sank the blow and Camilla fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Not only that, two whitish teeth also fell out of her mouth half a second later. Anna was tempted to kick and punish her. Punish her for the harm she had done to that tree. And to her.

But there was something calling her urgently. She tore off Camilla's shirt with her bare hands, as if it were made of paper-mache, leaving her with a bra that was all too superfluous, considering the two dried plums the girl had on her chest. She used the shirt to smother the fire, holding tightly to the branch on which the spark had taken root. She stroked the trunk of the tree and nodded, in the middle of an invisible conversation.

Then, she went back to her friend's body.

She felt Camilla's fingers shatter under her boots. She did not flinch by half an inch. Something had broken inside her. Anna was not stupid; she was perfectly aware of the enormous change she had undergone in barely a couple of minutes. She could never go back, especially now that she had burned the bridge between them so violently.

Who knows what her parents would have said if ...

She heard a snap behind her and saw the branch of the tree separate from the rest, as if it had never been attached to it before. It was slightly burned at the tip, but it seemed to grow on the ground and twist around itself, becoming much larger than a few seconds ago.

Anna took a closer look at the tree.

How had she not realised before that it was ...

"...an elm.” As in her vision. The branch had now become a staff, identical to the one he had seen in the hand of the future Anna. She picked it up from the ground and felt a new connection establish, larger than herself, greater than anything she had ever lived or imagined.

It wasn't a feeling she could ever explain to anyone. By now she didn't want to know anything about Camilla. She passed by her and left her there on the ground. Her goal now was to find Eudokia and show her what she had found. She would not take this conflict lightly.

[Requirements Met!]

[Class Evolution: Florist → Druid]

[Class removed: Florist]

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

[Class acquired: Druid!]

[Druid Level 3!]

[Skill - Force of Nature obtained]

[Skill - Communion with Nature obtained]

…

Todd had an arm full of wounds. Maximilian had told him that he would not magically heal him for two reasons: the first was that there are skills accessible only after having endured a certain threshold of pain, the second that one of the girls was trying to acquire a class capable of healing many people. For the time being, however, she was a mere [Healer].

“AH! Valeria!"

Todd withdrew his arm after the woman had tried to stitch one of the more conspicuous wounds. He wasn't allowed to reveal to the others what strategy Maximilian was training him with, but it was pretty obvious that he was traumatized by their training sessions. In comparison, Mummer was a fluffy teddy bear.

He looked at the angry woman, tempted to run away and then stab her in her sleep. Todd shook his head violently as he tried to eliminate those thoughts.

“Todd! Don't be rude to me, huh! And don't you raise your voice, how dare you!?"

Todd found himself in the midst of a storm of screams and a Southern accent.

"But you're..."

“Todd, don't raise your voice, I told you! I am a woman and you must be a gentleman to me! I'm here to do you a service so as not to leave you bleeding and you treat me so badly?"

"You tried to put some stitches on me without..."

The man was appalled by the woman's unreasonableness. Valeria was probably the most sensitive person in the whole group, and also the sweetest. However, as she had explained to him in one of their medication sessions, she had a very hot-blooded character.

On the one hand, Todd was much more at ease in the face of how direct Valeria was. Although it tended to wear him out with her gossip, it was a breath of fresh air in the midst of all that madness.

Camilla and Anna had typical traits of the people from abroad: they were cold, distant and made decisions behind his back, only to communicate their contempt only at a later time.

"Todd, what are you saying?!" Valeria grabbed his wrist, where there was more than one cut. But before Todd could pull back, she squeezed hard. The man was already about to get agitated when he realized the strangeness of what was happening. He felt no pain. Or rather, there was a slightly discomforting sensation of pressure, but nothing more. Considering the state of his injuries, he would have expected to scream in pain.

[Minor Anaesthesia]

It was a skill from Valeria's class.

How many things that woman could do was unknown to Todd, who now remained silent, regretting having underestimated her again. He had to admit that, since she was a woman, she trusted Valeria less than Maximilian for his health, and that was something. But he had no doubts about one thing: neither of them would let him die.

Maximilian himself led his training; occasionally even Mummer gave some advice.

And even the most cowardly part of Todd had to admit that he would have gladly slaughtered that Londoner pig. No. No. Maximilian had done an incredible job with him. Todd had gained so many levels that it still seemed impossible to him. He had technically died a couple of times - in the sense that, if he had been on Earth, he would have been declared legally dead - but Maximilian had treated even the most critical wounds without batting an eye.

"How did the training go?" Valeria asked him.

Todd was dark in the face and, as usual, did not want to talk. Valeria had acquired her class after a few days to mend the first wounds of the warriors. Maximilian had helped her to distil alcohol and had explained to her how to make gauze and how to sterilize them. Without potions, these were the means they had.

Seeing that the man did not respond, the young woman pressed the gauze firmly on his leg. This time, her ability was on cooldown and there was nothing that could make the pain any milder.

“AHHH! Valeria!” Before he could shower her with insults, he remembered that Themistocles was looking forward to making some mistakes to punish him. He was forced to behave if he didn't want to be whipped. Indeed, Maximilian had already told him that Themistocles would be his minor problem, in case something similar to the accident with Matthew happened again.

“I levelled up, again. If they don't kill me with training ... "

“And you see, then, Todd! You’ll become the strongest of all so you’ll protect me when the monsters come."

"Bah, monsters ..."

Todd had seen the drawings that Maximilian had brought from the reconnaissance. Other than those he had made to play the idiot, he had to admit that they were beasts. Monkeys.

He didn't even want to think about how the Londoner had defined them.

“These rabbitmonkey are really scary, Todd. You have to protect me when they arrive, do you understand? I have a little girl at home, when we get back she has to see her mom again. Todd, can you hear me? Do you understand?"

“Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"Oh good. How are you, anyway?" Valeria's blue eyes lit up with happiness, convinced that she had touched the heart of the boy in front of her.

"As the farmer said to the bishop, Valeria."

"Meaning?"

"Like shit."

The girl was dumbfounded for a moment, before bursting into coarse laughter.

“Oh my God, Todd, I've never heard this joke before! No, great! But where does it come from? Is this saying from Texas? "

Todd shrugged. “There was this handicapped farmer who went to mass one day when the bishop was there. At the end of the mass, the bishop asked hi, how are you? And he replied I'm like shit. This story was told to me by my mother, who was there."

"Oh my God, no, too funny!"

Todd shrugged again, but this time with a wry smile on his face.

“I don't think the bishop was very happy with the answer,” he told her.

"Absolutely not! Ahah! "

They continued for a while to make some small talk, but above all about what they had left on Earth. Valeria came from Florida and Todd from Texas, but being both from the south of the US, they felt a certain solidarity for each other.

“I miss my daughter a lot. Her father, that pig, is in prison and I got him disavowed by the court. I hope my parents take care of her. She loves being with her grandparents, but without her mother she can neither do her hair nor paint her nails. You know, she is nine years old, but you could see how tall she is already! She always wants to try to apply the nail polish herself but she always makes a mess! "

They were waiting for Valeria's abilities to become available again, and filling the gap seemed to have just gotten more difficult. The Earthlings had all formed small groups, but Valeria didn't seem to have gotten particularly close to anyone. The only thing Todd knew for sure was that Maximilian was keeping an eye on her. For some reason, the [Necromancer] seemed to have a soft spot for the girl.

But not in the romantic sense of the word, he just seemed intent on helping her make room in the midst of this terrible world.

"What's her name?"

"Marina, mom's love."

"Well, do you miss her?"

"Todd, what questions do you ask, of course I miss her..."

Valeria put her hands on her knees and made a face. "Maximilian said he doesn't know what our chances of returning are," the woman said as her eyes filled with tears. They had left an entire life behind. Neither he nor she seemed interested in being the heroes of this story. Valeria had said she was a nursing student.

She often left her daughter with her grandparents when she worked shifts and then found somewhere to sleep. She laughed one day, thinking about when she was forced to sleep in the car because of an early morning shift. From what Todd had understood, it had happened several times. He looked at the sky. Without pollution and lights, the sky was very blue, even more blue than in the most beautiful areas of Texas.

In the distance they could see the Curtain, a kind of grey-white barrier that annihilated all colours, but when he looked up there was nothing but the sky. He and Karen had travelled all over Texas and several times, in the innermost areas, they had stopped to watch such views . Todd imagined that his wife was spending a lot of her time on the balcony of their house, or at the police station yelling at the cops. Karen was like that, good at home, too good, but incredible when someone she loved was involved.

Who knows if when she looked out the window she looked in the same direction Todd was looking at. Who knows if their gazes would ever meet in the ether of the universe, perhaps after billions of years, entire eons of traveling in the light, to finally re-join in the darkest depths of space. There was a void in his stomach that he could not easily explain to others.

“My wife is always careful and on the look-up there are no criminals around our house. She always has her phone, in case she sees something suspect. Some bad stuff happened to us. The policemen call her by name, like an old friend.”

Todd made a painful pause, but then immediately started talking.

“I'm happy to live in my town, because… it's not a very big city and everyone knows what we've been through. So, at least, no one is surprised if they see my wife enter the police station. Every now and then she would show up there, to… to ask them about things. She brought, or perhaps brings, who knows, some donuts and coffee. They love her, they told me. There are some things that cannot be solved with work, Valeria, but only with humanity. Who knows how she is, my Karen. Anyway, her name is Karen, my wife."

The woman understood that Todd was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't quite understand why his wife was going to the police station. She remained silent, waiting.

“One day she forgot to prepare lunch and I asked her if everything was okay. She replied that she was sorry, but she had the feeling that that day the cops would bring her news that would shed some light ... "

Todd stopped. The man had many defects. Many. And one of them was the difficulty in communicating with people, in socializing in the correct way. Even when he had something to say, he wasn't sure whether to say it or not, and when he opened his mouth it was always too direct. But now he hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to finish speaking.

“Karen has this thing that there are two napkins at the table, one hot and wet to clean your hands before and after, the other for your mouth. I've always told her I think it's a waste, but she never listened to me. At least she always uses the washing machine in the evening. I bought a washing machine, you have no idea how much it cost me, just to save on napkins to wash and because the other one made so much noise that at night I couldn't hear the guests of the shows I watch — that I watched.”

“When our bad luck started, she always kept smiling at me, preparing lunch and doing everything she did before. Even with the cops she was always kind and helpful, she never raised her voice too much, she was never unreasonable. However…"

Todd's voice seemed to get wetter and heavier. He took a deep breath and exhaled, repeating the cycle a couple of times before continuing to speak.

“However, since that day she has stopped using two napkins. She only put one on the table and told me You're right Todd, we spend too much if I use them both; I am a fool. She kept doing everything she did before, bending over backwards to make frequent visits to the police station or write letters to television shows. The only thing that changed was the napkin thing… And when that thing changed there, I've never in my life regretted something I said so much."

After that, Todd was silent for a while. Valeria didn't know what to say. She was taken aback by the words of the man, who was usually so gruff as not to reveal the existence of good feelings. Valeria was still thoughtful when Todd said: "Anyway, I have a daughter too."

"Oh really?! How old is he? I bet she looks exactly like her mother! "

Valeria, after all, was very happy that Todd was opening up to her. Maybe asking him a few questions could distract him from his nostalgia.

“She died."

…

Matthew was biting his hard sandwich - the lack of yeast had been a terrible discovery - but at least it was stuffed with something that looked a lot like ham. Hams existed. Bread as well. If only he could have some cheese. The Californian almost choked on his sandwich at the exact moment he had the greatest stroke of genius he had ever had in his life: he could have kneaded the wraps himself!

“Matthew, if my mother saw you, she'd beat you. Eat like a human being."

"Bro, since this world has a New York accent, everything seems a lot less fantastic."

"I'll beat your ass then."

Neri seemed offended and resumed studying a kind of rock set with metal nuggets. He had received a personal forge from Maximilian and several tools made of bone, practically indestructible - at least, so he had told him.

"So, this ewmar?"

Matthew imitated his companion's accent to make fun of him.

The rock hit him in the forehead causing the sandwich to fall to the floor full of rock dust and minerals.

"Hsss, fuck!"

Matthew put his hand to his forehead and saw blood staining his fingers but, looking at the now ruined sandwich on the ground, he immediately re-established priorities.

"But no! No! The sandwich!"

"Blow on it and it's fine," laughed Neri, trying to speak without an accent, as far as it was possible.

In the days preceding the two of them, either for one thing or another, had spent a lot of time together; in a sense, they had become friends. If Neri had hit him with that stone, it was only because he knew he would not receive any real damage, unless he put a lot of strength into it.

“Goddamn”, Matthew continued, this time keeping an eye on the New Yorker. Neri was not exactly a mister delicacy; as proof of this, a bump was beginning to rise at the exact point where the Californian had been hit.

"Listen but ... this battle?"

Matthew threw the sandwich away, magically pulling another one out of his pocket. Maximilian had put him on a diet. A cool diet, to gain muscle, otherwise they’ll mistake you for a skeleton, idiot.

"Have you seen how big the enemies are?"

Matthew nodded.

The Ahali men were on average a meter and eighty..

"We are definitely at a disadvantage."

Neri looked at the pieces of Matthew's armour that were ready, wondering how they would stop beasts with the strength of a medium-sized gorilla.

“We're fucked, Matthew. Totally fucked."

Matthew clenched his hands hard and thought about his level.

[Paladin - Level 16]

“You have seen how the Vanedeni soldiers move. They are less strong, but lethal. Less strong, then, compared to huge gorillas armed to the teeth. Then, it's like a video game, Neri, the stronger the enemies the more experience you get. Tukker and Mummer are now on another level, in every sense”, said the Californian.

“Ahhh Matthew, but women of their race can run twice as fast as Bolt and are magical killer ninjas. Men can charge with such force that they are comparable to a car at forty kilometres an hour."

Matthew looked at the sword at his side, an artifact given to him by Eudokia. Unfortunately, the woman had not brought any armour with her. She only had a few weapons, while the rest of the equipment she had left at her house. Besides, Maximilian had suggested that if they used too many artifacts, it would be more difficult to level up. Only Strith, apparently, for reasons related to her secret class, had received a real relic. The Vanedenis were human, but forged in the blood of heroes.

The Ahalis feared them more than the Earthlings could imagine. One of the main reasons why the war of extermination had never really been completed was the terror that a real [Hero] would emerge among them.

"Maximilian said that if it gets bad, he'll slaughter them." Knowing this reassured Matthew, most of the Earthlings and also many of the Vanedenis.

Neri nodded slowly. The only real reason no one had lost their minds yet was the man's guarantee. He might be a clown and a jester, but no one would ever doubt, not even for a moment, that he could do whatever he promised. The only ones who complained about it were idiots.

"Do you sometimes think about your friends, or your family?" Matthew asked.

Neri turned his back and began to put several rocks inside a furnace.

"No, not much. My parents died within a short distance of each other. They left me the family shop and that's it. I have no close relatives with whom I have a good relationship. Working a lot, I don't even have many friends around."

Matthew sat on one of the two chairs inside the forge, while Neri began to pump the bellows. “I have a girlfriend at home, sorry, not at home. We do not live together”, Matthew immediately felt guilty for the haste in underlining this detail, “but I don't miss her too much. Here we are in a magical world.”

“All of this reminds me of an anime. There is this anime where a programmer, while sleeping, is transported into a world that works like a video game and immediately becomes super mega strong. Maybe something like that happened with Maximilian."

Matthew stopped for a moment, noticing that Neri had hinted a little laugh.

“I used to work in a pizza place in San Francisco. Now, I have a sword, I almost have armour (if you can finish it in time for battle) and soon a shield too! Neri, how can you not be happy? We live together with one of the greatest Greek leaders and politicians!"

"Good God, how boring is that Themistocles", laughed Neri, as he grabbed a glowing stone with pincers. "Stand back, idiot."

Matthew moved his chair near one of the two windows.

"Bro, look, Maximilian is all crazy, but Themistocles I haven't seen him smile even once."

"Maximilian is the only reason why I haven't completely lost my shit yet."

The atmosphere inside the room became serious again. Neri, as was right, was afraid of dying. Matthew did not understand very well this terror and the need to remind himself of Maximilian's existence every two minutes.

"Bro, rest assured that if something should happen, as soon as one of us dies, Maximilian immediately brings us back to life as skeletons."

Neri didn't take his eyes off the glowing piece of metal in front of him. He began to hammer away all the mineral impurities, but shook his head slowly, almost to the rhythm of the blows.

"You're a real asshole," Neri said without laughing, throwing the piece of metal back into the forge and pulling out another one. Matthew seemed to hesitate. The friend was grumpy and not always easy to deal with.

"In this anime, the protagonist meets a bunch of girls and girls, a couple of which are very ... gifted." Matthew cupped his hands in front of his chest, as if to weigh two large breasts. "Well, you understand. For us, however, it went quite badly. Or rather, for me for sure”, Matthew fixed his gaze on Neri and gave more than one cough to get noticed.

“If Maximilian makes a joke about black people, you go crazy but then you act like a paedophile? My Mom, poor woman, I hope she is not looking at us. What would you tell me now that I spend time with a degenerate."

"What?! But - but! It is absolutely not the same! I'm talking about anime!"

"Cartoon paedophile."

"Anime. And they are just drawings on pieces of paper. Then, the question of age limits is very clear. In the USA, the law establishes that at sixteen one is mature enough to give consent."

"You are very knowledgeable on the subject, I see."

Neri was about to laugh, turning his back on Matthew's protests, which became only a background to his thoughts.

He was in a forge beating metal, but he couldn't help but think about his past life. A grimace of self-loathing struck him.

He looked at the crooked swords he had placed on the wall, armour with plates of different thickness and too fragile in places. He felt his left hand burn from the ruptured blisters. They had advised him to avoid being healed; he needed calluses if he wanted to work as a blacksmith.

“Neri! Neriii! Bro, are you sleeping?!"

The Californian had come close enough to have to watch out for sparks from the hammer on the metal.

"I was thinking about the battle."

“Again, Neri? Bro, you have to stay calm."

"Are you calm?" Neri asked, sincerely this time.

“Super calm. I passed so many years between working in the pizza place and skipping exams that, boh, it makes no sense for me to continue pretending to be something that I am not. I started working because I wanted to have some money ... And in my free time I built a great gaming computer."

Neri was really confused by the boy's random complaints.

“I've always been afraid to quit my job and go to college, and then I've been afraid to leave college and go to work. I was always like that, on the fence. Neither meat nor fish."

“I don't think there are many job prospects in a pizza place,” Neri said.

“Don't tell me. But money is useful."

Neri nodded and said nothing else.

"Wait, when were you born?"

"In '93, you?" Neri answered.

Matthew looked at him surprised.

"In '97. So you were twenty-eight when you were made into a young man again. Interesting."

"Again? Matthew, damn, I was twenty-eight, not fifty."

“Potayto, potahto”, answered Matthew. He'd heard that saying in more than one TV series and started using it, even though few people understood what it meant.

"Speak simply", said Neri.

“Anyway, Neri, we practically ended up in a video game. There are certainly many more bruises and diarrhoea episodes, but we are still in a video game! Do you realize!? We have skills! Think about what we can do, who we can be. You could forge legendary swords and become the greatest blacksmith in the world!"

Neri thought of one of the best abilities he had - or rather, what he considered his best ability:

[Minor Fire Resistance]

He had always wanted to work with steel, ever since he was a child. Although he didn't watch cartoons like Matthews, he had always had a soft spot for swords, knives and armour.

But no one had ever told him how hot a forge was and how it sucked to live in a world without air conditioners.

"Aren't you saying anything?" Matthew begged.

"Yes, yes. It's not that bad. I'm afraid of being impaled by a huge gorilla, but having skills and magic is certainly very cool."

“There are absolutely no problems! We take them and we slaughter them! We level up and we all become heroes!" Matthew said laughing.

"Matthew, seriously, aren't you the least bit worried about getting impaled?"

“Bro, yeah, fuck, yeah I'm worried. But I have a sword that I can shine, and some cool skills. I have also gained weight since becoming a [Paladin]. For sure I can't go back to cooking stuff, look."

Neri grunted in agreement. Between being miserable on Earth and risking your life here to do something meaningful there didn't seem to be much doubt as to what was best.

…

Maximilian had gone to visit Themistocles in the house he had built for him. He had stretched out on the man's bed, while the other sat at the table, studying for the umpteenth time the illustrations of the enemies, some information on their levels and classes. The Londoner observed the roof of solid, unpainted stone, smooth enough to give a very refined look to the house.

"How did Strith's training go?" Themistocles asked him.

"Bollocks, that little girl scares me."

"Girl?"

Maximilian saw Themistocles stiffen his back muscles. He must have been very tempted to scold him for such an imperfect use of language. Was it as if he could hear her words, Girl? She's fifteen, by Apollo! She's a woman!

Not just a woman, Maximilian thought. She was also a [Hero]. Eudokia had given her a sword, the name of which Maximilian completely ignored. He could have reached into his own memory without problems, but he really didn't want to. Whenever he made a journey in his head, he always ended up reviewing things he wasn't fond of; in the worst case, he would also see again ... Maximilian closed his eyes.

What happens when you have a perfect memory?

As he pulled himself into the dark of the lids where many found refuge and comfort, he inhaled deeply.

Every memory seems alive. Seems the present.

"Max, do you have to work today?"

“Bollocks, work? What are you saying? Today I'll take you to the presentation of your new project! "

"Are you sure?"

“Sure as death or taxes! Or as your mother when she thinks I'll pay her for the cruise she insisted on taking with us!"

He saw two almond-coloured eyes penetrate his gaze - a big smile stretching over both Maximilians, that of the past and that of the present.

“If Mom wants to come, let her come. She can stay with Penelope. I'm sure she won't bother you too much."

"Every time I see your mother, she asks me to lift her lips, breast and then, finally, also give her an injection of Botox."

"And how about you do that for real?" the woman laughed.

Maximilian had great control over all of his muscles. Great not only in relation to other people. Maximilian had excellent control of his muscles.

But how could he not smile? How could he look at that woman and feel like a God had blessed him?

At some point in his life, he believed he had been condemned by some deity to be forever miserable, to be and to suffer at the same time. But how could he suffer when she was there in front of him?

“I'm an orthopaedist, I don't fill out plastic dolls! And even if I knew how to do everything your mother asks of me, we are talking about thirty thousand euros jobs that she wants for free! You tell her, to Patty, that if she wants my services, she has to pay money!"

"Max, don't call her Patty, you know she takes offense."

“She doesn't have cameras in our house, bollocks. Anyway that's okay, okay. I can talk to her and recommend a very good friend, if she really wants."

He felt two arms encircle him and transmit all the love that had prevented him from going mad. Sometimes he felt like a thief, because he could never make her feel the way she made him feel. But she was lucky enough to possess everything Maximilian had, from his heart to his mind, but never to have been defiled by his soul. Unattainable to any other man or woman, it hid atrocities that would have been impossible to talk about in this world.

“Hurry up, then. I want to arrive well in advance."

Maximilian looked at the room in their apartment. An attic. Huge. He looked around and recognized all the small details that had characterized his existence. From the small trinkets on the bedside table to the horrible lamp that Paola had wanted to put in the room, a wedding gift from her mother.

And as he stared at that evil contraption, which could have gobbled up the soul of a designer, he heard her speak to him.

"What are you doing, aren't you coming?” Time stood still, holding his wife in a stasis. He was terrified of losing all memory of her.

It was an irrational thought, but each time he looked at her as if it could all disappear in a snap of fingers.

He had spent centuries like this.

He had quenched the thirst of his soul by observing her smiles, her kindness when addressing someone, who promptly fell silent in front of her and looked away in embarrassment.

It had always been a gift from heaven to earth, impossible to grasp for anyone who was not in her presence.

Maximilian glanced at her one last time so as not to forget her and lay down on their bed, closing his eyes. He sighed and answered.

"Not this time, unfortunately."

Maximilian opened his eyes and found Themistocles standing beside him staring at him.

He felt tears roll down his cheeks and his mouth still folded into a smile.

“Sometimes Morpheus is not the placid companion you want to meet”, the Athenian merely said, giving Maximilian time to get up.

"How long have I slept?"

The Athenian looked at the magical hourglass that the other had built to keep track of the passage of time.

"Six rounds of an hourglass."

Maximilian was dumbfounded and ran a hand through his hair. "Three hours..."

It wasn't like him to get lost in memories like this without having complete self-awareness. But now that he thought about it, he had relived that scene more than once.

Being with Paola did something to him that he could not describe, it was a primordial need that filled his soul with everything necessary to live.

Now, however, he took a couple of deep breaths, and began to return Maximilian.

"Oi, cunt, there's still like fifteen days to this battle, what are our plans?"

Themistocles nodded and replied as if nothing in particular had just happened: “The point of the situation: we don't have a frontal force capable of dealing with the charge of the enemies. Their most mobile units are capable of putting holes anywhere in us. We don't have enough wizards and very few have practice with a bow. If we fight in the open”, concluded the Athenian, “we will have no chance. They have size, levels and skills on their side."

"Bollocks, what have we got, a golden fanny?"

Themistocles grimaced in disappointment and continued.

“Our units are heavy infantry. We have no horses, but soldiers armed to the teeth who individually could stand up to enemies without problems, provided that the enemies do not have too much open field; otherwise, their charge will be far more devastating than that of a bunch of knights. We are talking about beasts with frightening speed. Fighting them head-on is out of the question."

Themistocles looked out the window and added, “We have no counterintelligence units, as you call them. No assassins, thieves, spies. We cannot defend ourselves from sudden attacks, when time runs out."

Maximilian flashed a dazzling smile.

"We have Todd!"

"At what level is that waste of grain and water?” Themistocles was very upset that that man was still breathing. And, above all, that he still breathed in his presence. The Londoner said nothing, but took a piece of paper out of his pocket and wrote something on it. He hesitated on every single line, traced the curves with maddening slowness. When he finished, Themistocles nearly tore the piece of paper from his hands.

Maximilian saw a change in his friend's face. He could have sworn that, for an instant, he had almost made it. On the paper was drawn a penis with very realistic veins. Maximilian got out of bed and, as he went towards the door, placed on his shoulders the enormous black cloak, which had now become a fundamental part of his clothing.

"His level will be high enough to kill all the people who could endanger the lives of other soldiers if he doesn't want to die."

…

Themistocles sat in the perfectly geometric chair that Maximilian had created for him. He admired the orderly structure, in contrast to the chaotic spirit of the other man. The conversation they had just had left him unsettled.

It was hard to admit, but he was fighting far stronger warriors than should have been humanly possible. Maximilian and Eudokia were taking care of some of the Vanedenis ... but—

What happens when the natural inclination is not tamed by education? My master Mnesifilon has warned these old bones more than once, when they could still hold a bronze shield without filling the joints with serum. When we were created from Prometheus's clay, what did the cruel gods give us? A magnificent nature with a divine spirit and a hidden fire. The titan stole for us intelligence and memory, the qualities for which I was accused of being a severed-tail fox. These were gifts too dangerous, costing the life of the titan friend of humanity. And maybe that's not why we're here? Because the gods are unreasonable creatures, because there are tyrants to overthrow.

When Pandora condemned us to old age and weakness, the gifts of Athena Nike were not forgotten. We live a divine existence among all the creatures of the world, only to be destroyed by our weak flesh. Is this pain in my chest, this fear, yours, Pandora? Is it perhaps the terrible gift that was to bring man's head to the earth, always lowered towards the gods? Or is there Pan, in the midst of these woods, screaming at my soul to be terrified by fear?

My tutors and my enemies hated my nature, considering it an affront, the highest form of hubris. They thought it right to lower my head to the ground, thus doing the dirty work of Zeus. And here, now, where ambition can reach the stars and divinities are not in the way, why do I feel this renewed restlessness in my soul? We have the tools of the gods, we sit at their banquet of nectar and ambrosia...

I am still a man.

I am the same man that Prometheus created, small and defective. My mortal remains bleed and nestle pain very easily. And, as a man, I now live around the great Heroes we have always dreamed of. Not even the Polis respected Heroism as much as the Vanedenis do. These men, whom I have had the audacity to consider barbarians, are ready to throw themselves into the arms of the enemy and take their last breath to tear their marrow from their bones.

Yet the most divine nature does not belong to any of them. The most divine nature belongs to Maximilian, a new titan of multiform ingenuity, who seems to have been bathed in the waters of the Styx; this time, however, without letting a heel out - even if sometimes it is his mind that is prey to the follies of Dionysus.

Themistocles laughed.

O Prometheus, friend of the man of sharp genius, when we win this battle we will throw a feast in your honor, carrying the sacred torches through the streets of the city and chasing some peplos after getting intoxicated. As we have done so many times on the streets of beautiful Athens.

But my spirit and my nature remain in the dark, because your flames have been hidden from me.

I'm just a man of many enemies. I will make sacrifices to Phobos before going into battle, as the Spartans used to do.

Why, o Titan, do I hear the voices of those who hated me, why their doubts creep under my eyes and tinge everything with fear? How terrible are the diseases of the mind released by Pandora?

The entire city loved me and listened to me. I took it to the top of everything and everyone, and we could continue, go beyond the limits, protected by the Gorgons.

Why, then, can't I hear the voices of the Athenians celebrating our victories? Why are all I hear are the insults devoid of courage and ambition, which cover everything with rottenness?

When I look to the sky, o Titan, I reach out to touch Olympus, but my heart is chained by Vulcan to be eaten every day by an ugly humanity.

Where is the strength not to be victims of fear? When you deceived the gods to bring us your gifts, were you not afraid? Didn't your terror ever cripple you as your skilled hands shaped our race? What responsibilities have ever been too much? And how did you deal with them?

When your own family betrayed you, when they stopped believing in whatever you did, where did you get the strength to enter Olympus to plunder it and give your life to plain mud? When you were among the gods, what miracle gave you the strength to fight not only the lightning bolt of Zeus, but also the terrible doubts that everyone insinuated in your steps?

Answer me, oh god, and I'll be more confident.

Themistocles listened, but no one answered.