“Are you sure you want to do this, Brina?” Nathan asked.

Sabrina took a steadying breath. “Yes, I’m sure. Mel wouldn’t leave us behind otherwise. This way, we won’t be holding her back any longer.”

Mel was a true warrior. Somehow, she was built for this sort of life. Thrived on it even. That much was plain.

The rest of them weren’t. They didn’t ask for this.

Playing video games and reading books about magic and powers was a fun break from work. Being taken away from everything you ever knew and thrust into this world of carnage and destruction was too much to handle.

Nobody actually wanted a real life Pyresouls.

There were enough horror stories from the world being stitched back together. Nobody had wanted to live during the events, if even half of what was written about was true…god help them all.

Sabrina looked over at the others. “You know, I used to be able to see the Savior.”

The others looked over at her. Sabrina tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Just an outline, you know. I always thought it was so weird nobody knew who it was. And then…the longer I’ve been here, the more my mind’s eye has started to change that silhouette into–”

Shane nodded. “Mel.”

“Yeah. Is that weird? She couldn’t possibly be the Savior.”

“I don’t think so,” Nathan said, packing up his supplies. They didn’t have magical inventory like Mel, so they had to make do by strapping things onto themselves or in makeshift rucksacks. “She’s been our Savior in more ways than one. That’s why we’re doing this, isn’t it?”

Maddie hadn’t moved a muscle since Mel left more than an hour ago.

“You heard what Mel said,” Sabrina told her. “We could be halfway to our old camp by sunset.”

“It’s not right.”

“Maddie, please, we’ve been over this. Mel would stay with us out of guilt for what she did. She still thinks that she is the one who dragged us into that…that horrible place. It’s not her fault, but you know what she’s like. She’s obstinate and stubborn. She’d argue until we saw it like she did.” Sabrina shook her head, tears falling free from her cheeks. “I don’t want to see her as anything but the hero she is. And more than anything, I do not want to be a burden.”

“She’s destined for greater things,” Shane added, packing up the small collection of knives he used in his poor attempts at whittling. “How far did she come in just a few days? We’ve been here a week, and because of us, she’s not much stronger.”

“It’s still not right,” Maddie insisted. “Doing this behind her back. It feels wrong. We didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye. She deserves that much.”

“And then she’d find a reason to come along with us,” Sabrina countered. They’d been over this a thousand times, slowly working out the best way to lure Mel away so she didn’t feel any guilt about separating from the group. “There would always be another reason. Eventually, she’d become just as disenchanted as us, or come to resent us and leave. Do you want that?”

Maddie shook her head silently.

“It would be wrong,” Bernard said, looking toward the direction Mel went. “Like putting out a Pyre.”

The others nodded somberly.

“Now, are you going to pitch in, or are we going to have to walk through the scary forest at night?” Sabrina asked.

Maddie slumped her shoulders. “You’ve finished the note?”

Shane held up the large plank of wood and propped it against the shelter where Mel would easily find it. “Right here. All that’s missing is carving your names.”

Maddie held out her hand. Shane slapped a small knife into it, and one by one, they all signed their names and added a final, personal farewell.

After that, it was a whirlwind of activity as the group hurried to pack everything up. They left a small supply cache for Mel, looked back at their home for the last week, and headed on the path that Mel outlined to the cave.

With no monsters wandering about thanks to Mel’s excessive hunting, they would make record time.

Maddie kissed her fingertips and touched the board in a final goodbye. “This is the only way, girl. Thank you for all you’ve done. We’ll meet again, I’m sure of it.” She turned and hurried to catch up to the others, who were already discussing when they’d see Mel again.

“I bet she’s going to be some sort of Convocation star,” Sabrina was saying. “We can say we knew her when she wasn’t even a Copper. Maybe she’ll remember us and say hello.”

It was a bittersweet thought.

“I bet she’s going to make the trial her bitch,” Nathan said. “Honey badger was a good spirit animal for her. She’s as fierce as they come.”

Shane chuckled. “It was a good gift. Not as good as Bernard’s but…”

Bernard bumped him with his shoulder. “If she comes back with a purse full of gold coins because I was the one who helped her reach super stardom, I’m not going to complain. It’ll be wild to catch up with her once this is all over.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Maddie hung back and listened to the chatter, smiling to herself. When this was all over, she’d find a little town or village or whatever they had here and settle down. When Mel came to visit, she’d bake her famous apple pie.

With warm thoughts of friends reunited, the five ex-adventurers made their way back home to ride out the competition.

***

Mel put her foot on top of the rhinodon’s dead head like she was a trophy hunter. “You sure looked a lot tougher than you were.”

Would you like to loot the [Rhinodon (Copper Rank)]?

(10) [Copper Rune Coins] have been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Rhinodon Hide] has been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Rhinodon Horn Fragment] has been stored in your inventory.

Mel grinned to herself and dismissed her twinblade at the same time as the monster’s body vanished into streams of light. She had figured the fight would take a lot more out of her, but she was practically energized by the bout.

Looking around, she saw a lot more of the reddish brown skinned creatures milling about on the grassy hills. The line of light leading her to the next aspect slipped in and out of sight as it went over and around the hills.

Even with her enhanced speed, Mel had sorely misjudged the distance. The grass wasn’t considered difficult terrain, so the boots didn’t grant the enhanced movement speed that they did in the dense forest.

She could force it to be difficult terrain, but that would present a massive drain. Using both [Hidden Mist] and [Gaze of the Serpent] was hard for her to sustain for long.

On the other hand, it made it easier to avoid encounters should she wish to. Maybe the time savings on speed would offset the need to rest more frequently.

“Only one way to know,” Mel said, summoning up the mana to use [Hidden Mist]. At the very least, it would be good practice. The more she pushed the limits of an aspect skill, the stronger it became. And the more she grew.

Icy patches coated the grass blades, weighing them down with thick frost that turned to hardened ice. Mel picked up the pace, using [Gaze of the Serpent] once more.

She was thankful that [Sanguine Coat] didn’t require constant mana to upkeep.

With three of four aspects constantly in use, Mel felt like a superhero. Her infravision allowed her to spot snakes and other creatures that liked to ambush from the knee-high grass in places.

The rhinodons were easy to avoid without her vision turning them into brightly glowing bonfires of light. The only thing concerning was the wolf that howled in the distance. Wherever it was, [Gaze of the Serpent] wasn’t picking it out of the background.

The difference between Grade 1 agility and Grade 3 is crazy! Mel thought as she jogged at a speed that would have made her an Olympic gold medalist. It was a large step up with each Grade.

Her skin was harder to cut or break open, as if it was made of boiled leather, and yet it felt just as soft and supple as she remembered. Her hunger and thirst bothered her less, but they didn’t go away just because she had Grade 2 vigor.

Instead, her body seemed to be significantly more resilient and needed more time in between eating before it affected her. Then again, when she did eat, she ate more than double what anybody else in the group did.

Sense and arcane were a little harder to quantify. At Grade 3, she could hear like a bat and see better than Bernard with his [Owl Sight] class skill. Arcane she was pretty sure–mostly from her memories as a Magi–allowed her to better feel the emanations of mana in the world.

Her memories were coming back slowly but steadily the farther she went on her own. Battle and danger seemed to dredge them up, as if she was realigning herself to who she really was.

Or the added energy from the runes is repairing something wrong with me, Mel thought. Hofler’s Identity theory suggested that the more magically aligned she became with her old self, the more she would become like she was, melding the person she used to be with the person she is.

Not unlike normal people who learn and grow and become (hopefully) better people over time. Mel’s instincts were becoming more finely honed. She no longer wondered why or how she knew something, because she had a memory to explain it.

Still, there was nothing in her life to prepare her for a competition that was as wide and far-reaching as a Shardrune multiverse. She still couldn’t quite believe the breadth and depth of the Convocation.

It made abandoning her dreams of placing in the top 10 all the more painful, but she had a duty to uphold. Besides, based on what the Convocation said, this was just the first trial.

There would be many more.

Once her friends were safely out of the trials, she was going to make the biggest comeback story the Shardrune had ever seen.

Mel had lapsed into her own thoughts and nearly stepped right on a snake that had slithered into her path. She pivoted, not wanting to step on it and yet expecting that the snake was going to bite her anyway.

Instead, the snake raised its head a little and seemed to incline it at her.

I must be seeing things, Mel thought, continuing her steady jog. That snake did not just bow to me.

By the time the sun was starting to set, Mel wasn’t even winded thanks to her Blood aspect enhancing her vigor.

I wonder what would have changed if I picked different stats to bind my aspects to? They don’t directly appear to change any stat. I don’t feel like I have more blood for instance, nor do I feel like I have all the senses of a serpent.

Mel shrugged, wondering if she would ever figure it out. Odds were good that some nerd wrote a book or two on it in this reality. A visit to the library might just be in order once the trial was done.

Eating and drinking while she jogged, Mel didn’t stop for anything except to rest and recover her mana wherever she could find a secluded spot.

Hollows between hills were the best, but a few times she camped out on top of a grassy hill and watched the stars pinwheel overhead in all their glory.

Then she was back up again, eating up the miles with her steady gait.