When the last of the members of the cobluchin troop were defeated or fled, I found myself panting. Even with the increased stats granted from leveling up, it was a hard battle. Even with my monsters now stronger, faster, and more in tune with me than we had been even after hours of me mundanely playing with them and training them, I felt weaker than I had since arriving here.

Exhaustion affects anyone, and as such with the monkey-like monsters fleeing I took a moment to sit on the ground and try to steady myself; breathing. As I looked at Bagheera and Baloo, who hopped around excitedly and even batted at one another, I was thinking of somewhere and something else.

On a day years before, I found myself sitting on a bench with Melody and my eldest children. Alec was too young at the time to have done anything, but Osbert and Gwendolyn both excitedly chattered at me, happy to have had me push them and play with them on the playground. With their excitement, I had been tricked out of my exhaustion as I stared into the distance. While the day of herding Osbert and Gwen away from massive mischief, and pushing Alec’s stroller had been draining it had also filled me with excitement, confidence, and hope for the next day.

As I stared into the distance beside my frolicking starter monster partners and took in the prompts that had lurked in front of me for a few minutes? I felt similar. Excitement and enthusiasm had flooded into my body to fight the exhaustion I felt; did I like battles?

I was sure I did. What did that mean for me?

Thunk. I felt pain across the side of my skull and it took me a second before I computed the pain and Moriah’s fist being right beside my skull meant she had socked me in the head.

“Get your head in the game, Wade. Just because we won the fight doesn’t mean anything, we still have to find the others!”

I grimaced and unconsciously rubbed the spot where I had just been given a knuckle wrap on the back of my head. There was no time for philosophizing, Moriah was right. Eris was still in danger.

“Calvin, Alec, and the Baker boys are both back the way I came. They’re safe, Calvin was building a palisade with his partner.” I said it without much energy and without giving so much as a look in her direction. My eyes were on the prompts that had hovered in front of me.

[[ You have successfully defeated a swarm of level five Cobluchins! You have gained 20 experience points! ]]

[[ You have successfully unlocked the trait The Riddle of Steel for purchase. The Riddle of Steel - You have begun to learn the secrets of stone through the whispers of your partner’s insights. You may not follow in their footsteps yet, but you can at least see the places where the greatest of warriors have stepped. One-twentieth of your wisdom and intelligence will add to your dexterity and strength when it comes to melee battle. This trait may be upgraded. Initial Cost: Twenty experience. ]]

[[ You have successfully unlocked the trait Hunter’s Instincts for purchase. Hunter’s Instinct - You have begun to learn the secrets of the forest and cave through the whispers of your partner’s insights. It increases your sight, smell, and hearing at times. One-twentieth of your strength, constitution, and dexterity are added to your wisdom and intelligence when it comes to tracking, investigations, or trap construction. This trait may be upgraded. Initial Cost: Twenty experience. ]]

“So they’re safe, but Eris isn’t. She was with me before we got swamped, we’ve got to go after her; because she led the Cobgoblins that led the cobluchin troop away from me.”

This is where my adult mind warred with the child’s body I was stuck in. While I obviously wanted to rush and save Eris, and I could see the two possible solutions, I couldn’t find the answer. Running back to the palisade and getting the others to provide us backup would definitely help. However, it might take too long. If there were some sort of larger cobluchin after her, they’d be stronger, and even with the guard class, she might not be able to hold out until we got to her.

I heard myself panting as I felt the stress of trying to find out, and I had to force myself to take control. Melody had told me to be confident when we were younger and first dating. Further, I may be lacking the emotional control I had back on Earth, but I was still an adult and I had experience to draw upon.

I had just gotten at least twenty experience, and I had stats to distribute from before. Riddle of Steel would further increase my stats in melee. As quickly as I could, I ran through the prompts and I threw two points into my constitution, and one into both strength and dexterity from the physical stats. I threw two into wisdom and one into intelligence from my mental stats. Charisma I didn’t have any option to increase; and I had three additional points to freely spend - throwing them one into intelligence and two more into constitution.

With that done I then ran through the prompts necessary to purchase the Riddle of Steel trait. Then I checked my character sheet once again.

[[ Name: Wade Calhoun

Age: Eight Years (8)

Class: Stranger

Level: 002

Other Classes: (Orphan Level 8)

Experience: 003

Traits:

Inquisitive (Rank 1) - You have a keen curiosity and the braveness to feed that curiosity with knowledge. You receive a permanent boost of ten percent to XP and one point to your Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence stats. Additionally, you gain one point of intelligence and wisdom for every ten experience points you gain from activities classified by the system as primarily mentally or academically focused. You gain one point of luck and constitution for every twenty experience points you gain from activities classified by the system as primarily mentally or academically focused. This trait is upgradable.

Elemental Alignment (Earth) – Locked. You may unlock this gained trait after having two earth elemental primary aligned monsters as partners, or by successfully defeating ten opponent monsters with your monsters’ earth elemental-based attacks, or by reaching skill rating 10 in three earth element governed skills, or by successfully completing a secret feat.

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Elemental Alignment (Nature) – Locked. You may unlock this gained trait after having two nature elemental primary aligned monsters as partners, or by successfully defeating ten opponent monsters with your monsters’ nature elemental-based attacks, or by reaching skill rating 10 in three nature element governed skills, or by successfully completing a secret feat.

Outworlder – You receive a permanent boost of three points to your charisma, wisdom, intelligence, and luck stats. You receive a bonus of two points for strength, dexterity, and constitution. After you have reached 16 points of wisdom you may meditate on your previous life to potentially (re)gain skills and reunlock traits. This trait is not upgradable.

Beginner’s Luck – Four times per day, you may activate this trait to provide a bonus to yourself and all allies. This bonus is your total effective orphan (or Orphan plus Orphan prestige class) level. Any luck increases you gain from effects also apply to friendly humans and monsters in your vicinity.

Beginner’s Eyes – A portion (20%) of your analysis skill rating is added to your weapon skill ratings for purposes of attack. In addition, you may now up to two times per day increase (to 50%) the percent of your analysis skill added to weapon skill ratings.

Porter & Pelikvern’s Pal – While in the Tidewarren and Highwater regions, you may utilize a special whistle to summon Gerald the Pelikvern to provide messenger and delivery services from yourself to others.

Tipsy Tauracean Tavern Cheer – You are now a favored customer of Tipsy Tauracean Tavern and receive a discount and other services and aid from the Tipsy Tauracean Tavern and its subsidiaries.

Strange Ways- Dungeons may generate special treasures for you and allow you access to areas that you may otherwise not be able to access within dungeons. Depending on your wisdom, and luck stats, you may receive additional guidance prompts from the system. While in battle or dungeons, you generate an additional twenty percent experience points for yourself and ten percent experience points for your compatriots. This bonus is retroactive within twenty-four hours. This trait does not evolve to allow for use outside of the Stranger Class until level 16 in the Stranger Class

The Riddle of Steel - You have begun to learn the secrets of stone through the whispers of your partner’s insights. You may not follow in their footsteps yet, but you can at least see the places where the greatest of warriors have stepped. One-twentieth of your wisdom and intelligence will add to your dexterity and strength when it comes to melee battle. This trait may be upgraded.

Stats:

Default Stranger Class Eight-Year-Old Stats

Strength – 008

Dexterity – 008

Constitution – 008

Charisma – 008

Wisdom – 008

Intelligence – 008

Luck — 008

Actual Current Stats

Strength – 025

Dexterity – 023

Constitution – 029

Charisma – 019

Wisdom — 021

Intelligence – 021

Luck – 031

Skills:

Analysis – 7 points | Elemental Association Artifice, Primal, and [Unknown] elemental associated |

Carpentry – 5 points | Nature, Earth, and [Unknown] elemental associated skill |

Throwing – 5 points | Wind, Earth, and [Unknown] elemental associated Skill |

Short Blades – 5 Points | Nature, Wind, and [Unknown] elemental associated skill |

Cooking – 3 Points | Artifice, Fire, and [Unknown] elemental associated skill |

Gardening – 1 Point | Nature, Earth, and [Unknown] elemental associated skill |

Monster Partners:

Baloo the Cerbearus – Level 6 – Moves: Bear-rel Roll, Salmon Leap

Bagheera the Ossicarn – Level 6 – Moves: Pounce, Rolling Stone

Beelebian – Level 1 – Moves: Breezecall, Hivewall ]]

After checking it; I began to take decisive action. “Moriah, we’re going to get her. But every twenty paces or so, we’re going to stop and you and your Cindnutum should fire a burst of fire into the air. It’ll stop us from getting any chance of sneaking up on them, but it might catch the rest of the party’s attention.”

She looked at me for a minute, as if I was crazy. “You’ve never heard of a smoke signal? I know we’re in a cave, but it’s also somehow a forest. You don’t have to worry about burning us up. ” I tried to defend my instructions.

“Right. Well, it might work I guess. Anyways, she led them this way.”

I followed her and then overtook her after the third attempt at our quasi-smoke signal.

***

Our journey did not take long.

The scenery of the dungeon transformed from that of a forest-covered landscape into that of the stereotype that I expected when I heard dungeon. High-walled bricks of cold stones, with some covered in algae-like growths. Where the varied scents of a forest dominated the olfactory dimension before it was now the mixture of the smoke and ash of hardwood fires, the pungent flavor of the crawling green plant matter across the stones, and here and there? The copper tang of blood.

I saw bloody footprints leading towards the stone, and that made me rush. Even as I saw the heavy wooden door demarking the forested area of the dungeon and this new one, I did not slow, slamming myself into the door.

Magical strength increases or not, physics still exists in this world. I was still in the body of my eight or nine-year-old self, and as such I thudded off the door with a grunt.

Moriah caught up to me a moment after, with her cindnutum on her shoulders. With a smirk and a raised eyebrow, she grabbed the ring handle of the door and yanked. It swung open with a creak, and then she rushed forward.

I sighed and I don’t have shame about that. It may be immature to act like that to tease, but I was after all physically immature once again. As I followed her, I let the anger my embarrassment could’ve birthed instead turn into emotional fuel. If this dungeon hadn’t acted so weird and I was not rushing to save everyone, I would not have run into a wall trying to reenact a 1980s action-style barbarian fantasy film. So as I strode after Moriah, with Bagheera the ossicarn and Baloo the cerbearus in front of me and behind me, and beelebian perched on my shoulder.

I gripped my training sword as we stalked down the corridors of this actual dungeon, dreading what we would see at the end of the trail dominated by bloody footprints.