"You did well for your first time." Cier said.

Hiding a smile, I gave him my creepiest gaze and said, "I simply embraced the cold eternity of the void."

He blinked. "Your humor is not appreciated."

"At least one of us needs to have some fun." I remarked. "We'll take shifts for watch, four hours of sleep each."

"Are you sure you can stay awake for that long?" He asked.

"I spent seventy-two hours straight without sleeping all so I could watch a marathon of anime." I replied. "'Now and Then, Here and There' was a particularly tough one to get through, but 'My Neighbor, Totoro' was an excellent one to help heal my battered soul. I actually have that one on my terabyte Micro SD card."

"I... will take your word for it." He said. "I will get the campfire started."

I looked around. I hadn't taken it into account before, but now that I noticed, I realized we were on a forest road.

"Cier, how good are you at climbing trees?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?" He asked.

"It's the middle of summer, the nights don't get particularly cold nor hot, with some rope, we could tie ourselves to a branch and sleep in the trees to stay out of the way of potentially dangerous monsters."

"A fair point, if we had rope." He said. "You are armed with a dagger, and I am armed with my fists, our best chance for survival is a campfire, which will keep away all but the most bold of creatures."

"Fine." I said.

He got the campfire ready while I scrounged for anything resembling food. After a while, I came back with some samples of herbs, berries, and mushrooms, the latter of which I wasn't particularly keen on eating, even if edible.

"Do you not know how dangerous it is to eat plants you do not know of?" He asked.

"In fantasy worlds, while things are different, there is usually enough of an overlap to keep things recognizable. Continuing in this theme, there are a few berries that I recognize, as well as a few herbs."

"That is dangerous." He noted.

"Yeah, but I doubt blackberries are too dangerous." I remarked as I double checked my phone. I took one and chewed it carefully. Same flavor as wild blackberries. "Yup. These at least are the blackberries I remember."

"You are capable of identifying non-poisonous berries?" He asked.

"It takes a lot of careful observation." I said. "Two berries may seem the same, but come from completely different plants." I looked at another sample I'd taken. "This looks like holly, very toxic, but used in magic to ward off evil spirits. I wonder if it has the same properties."

"That is indeed- You took a cutting of the sacred tree?!" He shouted, his expression a livid one.

"Oh, sorry." I said. "I cut off a sick-looking one, I thought it was holly, but I needed to make sure."

"A sick looking one?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. My guess is some sort of parasitic fungus, I was going to burn it so it couldn't spread." I tossed the holly branch in the fire, "By the way, can you use magic to clean my hands?"

He nodded and did so. "You cut the branch because it was sick?" He said.

"Yeah. If it had continued as it was, I'm sure the tree could have eventually died. Since it's sacred, I'm guessing it dying would be a bad thing."

He nodded. "Yes." He said. "You must be given very specific permission by the Temple to cut off or take berries from the sacred tree, but if it was done to preserve the tree..."

"Then shall we pray for the tree's continued growth?" I asked.

He nodded. We said a short prayer for the tree before I resumed identifying berries. Of ten samples, five were identifiable, three were not, and two were outright poisonous.

"Your smart speak is useful." He noted.

"Just call it a 'Phone'." I said, taking care to enunciate.

He nodded. "Your Phone, then." He said.

"In it, I have a lot of information from my world that, without further context, is confusing." I said. "But, I hope that people like Beatrice can figure it out and reverse engineer some of the conveniences I've had all of my life." I looked at the fire. "Speaking of which-" I heard a snap, followed by the squeal of some small, furry creature. "Ah, one of my traps went off."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You set traps." He said. "How can one so useless-looking know so many useful skills?"

"I'll take that as a compliment." I said. "You have no problem with killing things, right?"

"Yes." He said. "But you set the trap, you kill the animal."

I sighed and went to check on my traps. I had caught something resembling a hare, if someone who had only ever heard of them but never saw them described a hare. It had six legs, sharp spines on its back, and sharp fangs. It was hanging upside down by some grass rope I'd woven.

I carefully grabbed it by the back of his neck and, after a few moments of hesitation, I slit its throat. I felt tears cloud my eyes, but to stay fed, we needed meat. I let it bleed out for a while before carrying it back to the campfire. I took a shuddering breath.

"Is this the first time you've killed something?" He asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"And a Razorhare as well." He noted. The word he used wasn't 'hare', but it had the same connotation. He took the knife and showed me how to skin it. He then fashioned a spit and cooked the Razorhare over it.

"All life is sacred." I said.

"A surprising sentiment coming from one who mercilessly killed a Razorhare." He said with a hint of humor in his voice.

"That doesn't mean we cannot kill." I said. "It means we must be the ones to respect and use as much of the body as we can."

He smiled and nodded. "Unsala." He said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"'May it be recognized'." He said. "There is more nuance to it, but it is essentially a prayer to the Gods that something said be recognized."

I nodded, understanding. He cooked the Razorhare and we ate it. When we ate our fill, I cleaned the bones and set the meat out so that nothing would come into our camp to get at it, and so that something else could finish what we couldn't. The bones were cleaned and put in a bag.

"Is Razorhare bone valuable?" I asked.

"It can be added to molten iron to strengthen weapons or armor." He replied. "And their spines are filled with purified iron that they eat and store, they can be a boon to anyone who gathers enough of them."

"A little bit of carbon added would make for very good steel." I remarked.

"Carbon?" He asked.

"It's the fourth element in the Periodic Table of Elements." I said. "Specifically, it has four electrons, if I recall correctly. It also happens to be one of the most common elements, and is essential for the foundation of life. Chances are, if it exists, carbon makes up a large part of it. Also, coal is carbon, usually from long-dead animals, while diamonds are a form of carbon created by immense pressure."

He nodded. "Yes, I see. Coal is indeed used for crafting steel." He said. "And Razorhares are the best source of pure iron. It is not uncommon for farmers to raise Razorhares for this explicit purpose, though they tend to be former Adventurers to mitigate the threat." He yawned.

"Get some sleep." I said. "If I start feeling tired, I'll wake you." I set an alarm on my phone for four hours and tested the volume on the alarm, which was a song called 'Stone Throne' by Iain Armour.

"That song is soothing." He remarked.

"I use it as an alarm to wake me up." I said. He gave me an incredulous look. "I don't like being jarred awake, so having it wake me up gently helps." I set an alarm for five minutes after, this time using the primary battle theme from Final Fantasy XV. "This is in case we're both asleep and not willing to wake up."

The alarms set, Cier laid down with a blanket between himself and the ground. I covered him with mine and watched the fire, taking a moment every now and again to pay attention to my surroundings. I then decided to use the time to meditate. I meditated on nature, and allowed the sounds of nature to guide me. There was a point during my meditation that I felt a surge of energy that took my breath away. I checked the time. Two hours had passed. Deciding to test something, I held the holy sigil out and said, "Bahamut, Cleansing Flame, please protect us as we rest."

I felt the same surge of energy that came when I blasted the Fiend with fire. 'So, I guess Bahamut granted me a spell slot.' I thought to myself. "Thank you, Bahamut." I said sincerely. I then returned to my meditation, this time I focused my thoughts toward the deity I'd slowly grown a feeling of respect for...

"The Fiend of Avarice..." I muttered as I stared at the crystal. It was a translucent orange or gold, and merely holding it caused me to want to keep it, to hold it close, to protect it. I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to put it on my chest. I looked at Cier. I wanted to be strong like he was, and I knew I was lazy enough to want to take an easy way out. Strength wasn't worth losing myself over.

"Oh, but you do not have to forfeit yourself to me." I looked toward to see the Avarice Fiend sitting across from me, on the other side of the fire.

"I'm asleep." I reasoned. "And you're communicating to me in my dreams." Cier was no longer there, yeah, I'd woken him up and went to sleep.

"That is the case." The Fiend stated. "What you saw before was an abuse of the strength I can grant. A man who could never be strong took me into his heart, and at first, he only used me to fight monsters, a noble goal, and I could only happily oblige. But, as the days turned, he grew resentful of those who pitied his weakness, as his reliance on me had weakened him. One day, he took me into his heart and killed everyone whom he considered to have looked down upon him. He never let me go, and I never took control away from him. To be strong, that was his greatest desire."

"You are a Fiend." I said.

"You may offer your body to keep me, you may offer to display me for all to see for the right to kill, you may offer me your love to study me. To have me, you must offer a price."

"And if I do not want you?" I asked.

"Why then do you carry me?" He asked. "Do you not long to stroke me, to cherish me? Do you not long for power, to know all?"

"I do." I said. "And that is why I will earn it."

I put my hand to my chest, and I felt the smooth texture of the crystal embedded in my chest. I looked down, and I was already covered, my hands covering the crystal. I kept running my hands across it, I used the larger arm to reach for it, but my arms pushed away at it.

"You have not even taken me into your heart, and you already cling to my visage." The Avarice Fiend stated.

I grabbed the helmet on my head and pulled, but it was a part of me. I focused and felt the stone again with my own hands. I took a deep breath and pulled it away and reverted to my normal self. I shuddered.

"You enjoyed it." The Fiend stated.

"Yeah." I admitted. "But I won't do it for real."

"A Contract is all, a price for power." The Fiend stated. "I leave the details up to you."

It stood up and walked around the fire and gently touched my face. I found myself pressing my head into its hand, its skin was soft and silky. It picked me up and held me closely. "I see." It said. "What you desire most, what you yearn for, someone who can hold you, to comfort you. Someone whom you can vent your hopes and fears. Someone who will not judge you, who will accept you, body and soul."

The Fiend held me close.

"I want... a friend..." I said.

"I can be your friend." It stated. "I would never let you be lonely."

"I want... someone to help me." I said.

"I can always help you." It held me close to its chest, the smaller hands ran through my hair in the soft, gentle way Mom used to when I was a kid.

"I want... to go home." I said.

"I can help you seek your way back."

"And what do you want from me?" I asked. "Nothing is cheap."

"Everything." It said. "All that you are."

"That is too much." I said, but I didn't struggle.

"Then what can you give?" It asked.

"Nothing permanent." I replied. "All things must end."

"Must they?" I rubbed my cheek against its chest, against the crystal. "No matter how many of these they take, I always return.

I was silent, held by the Fiend who promised me everything I had ever wanted.

"What have you wanted most?" I asked.

"A body." It said. "But for every vessel I have been given, for every vessel that was given to me through a just trade, I have been slain. I want to live."

"Then consider this." I said. "For you to have a body that will remain, would it not be wise to dedicate yourself to a deity? Could you not find pity from them, and have what you've always desired?" I touched the crystal. "The ability to live."

"I want to be free."

I grabbed the crystal and yanked, the Fiend dissipated and I fell. I threw the crystal into the forest. "Then fuck off!" I shouted.

Everything darkened...