“Sabrina, on your left!” Mel called out.

A screeching bat the size of a black bear dove for the Mage, but Mel’s warning reached her in time. She turned and raised her wand, firing off a wisp of blue light that lit up the surrounding pitch-black dell.

Using her opening salvo as a marker, Bernard let loose [Powershot] at the bat, followed by a larger blue blast from Maddie’s staff.

Mel had been intrigued to find out that the two magical weapons were so different. Maddie’s larger staff was stronger, but took longer to use, while Sabrina’s iconic Mage wand was faster but weaker.

More blasts accompanied the first as the bat’s element of surprise was lost and the creature faltered in its ambush. Mel watched it all with her serpentine gaze.

The colorful gradations of heat made the bat as easy to see as a glowing billboard. In fact, all the monsters that they had taken down so far were easily spotted against the cool background of the nighttime forest.

Mel lunged forward, clipping the bat’s wing with a downward strike. Before the bat could continue its fall to the ground, she reversed and sliced upward, opening the creature’s greasy hide in a spray of hot orange-red blood to her heat-sensitive eyes.

She couldn’t help but watch in amazement as the blood painted a tapestry of color across the trees and leaf mold on the ground.

The others finished the bat off before it could release its stunning screech. Mel was right. They worked well together. Especially for normies who, just a few days ago, were working 9-to-5 jobs. All they needed was somebody to direct them.

You defeat the [Screecher Bat (Copper Rank)].

You gain runes of Mist and Serpent aspect experience.

You gain Battle Points.

Quest Update: Seeking Danger

Objective: Slay 5 different nocturnal monster types (4/5).

Reward: [Dark Ember]

Additional Objective: Deal less than 50% of the total damage (4/5).

Reward: [Umbral Hood]

Mel had no idea what an [Umbral Hood] was, but armor for her head was the last major piece she was missing besides a shirt or vest. Even if it was a simple hood, at least it would keep the rain off her face. That alone was worth it.

Besides, by holding herself back, she was helping the others. If she killed everything for them–which was hard not to do at times–she would be doing them a disservice.

It wasn’t that Mel was overpowered compared to them. Even with [Hidden Mist] illuminating the area for the others and calling out the monsters thanks to [Gaze of the Serpent], they were not used to fighting.

They’re normal people from a normal Earth , she thought to herself. Mel paused and wondered why her thoughts had phrased that sentence so…oddly.

A moment later, whatever was bothering her about it was gone.

She looked at the others high-fiving and celebrating quietly. They had already learned the mistake of being too loud. Without Maddie’s [Sacred Path], Nathan and Bernard would be limping.

While she couldn’t directly recover health, wiping away an injury as if it never existed was the next best thing.

It was a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget. In Mel’s estimation, those were the best kind. Still, there was a dearth of equipment to be found. Most of them wore hoodies and t-shirts with their armor. Sabrina wore a Sailor Moon t-shirt beneath her robes, and Shane wore a Metallica shirt beneath his.

Despite that, each of them had more equipment than Mel did.

Shane reached down and looted the monster. Since they had all participated, thin streams of light arced out from the dead body to each person.

(2) [Bat Fangs] have been stored in your inventory.

Nobody but Mel had a private inventory, so each of them had to hold out their hands to receive their reward. Most monsters dropped fangs, bones, or something that you would find by skinning the monster itself.

“I’m so glad we don’t have to spend hours carving these things up for loot,” Bernard said, holding the [Torn Batwing] away from his face as he stuffed it into a battered leather satchel.

Though nobody else had an inventory, everybody had some sort of storage. Technically, Mel could have used her [Exile Bag] too, but it wasn’t a requirement yet. With some junk cleared from Mel’s [Exile Storage Ring] she now had room for more monster loot.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Mel said, joining them after making sure the coast was clear. “How do you all have so much equipment? You said you didn’t fight anything you could run from, but that doesn’t line up with how outfitted you are.”

Nobody would look her in the eye.

It took her a moment to grasp why. “Oh.”

Sabrina studied her wand intently. “It was bad.”

Maddie wrung her hands on her staff. “We were out shopping…or rather, they were out shopping at the Eastland mall. I was out with some friends–” Her voice cracked and she choked back a sob.

“It’s okay, Maddie,” Sabrina said, wrapping an arm around the older woman. She looked at Mel. “We were all shopping, buying new outfits because Shane got a promotion at work. He was treating us.”

Shane rubbed the back of his head bashfully, his cheeks heating up to bright spots of orange. Though he was a ginger, in Mel’s serpent vision, his hair was bright green with hints of yellow.

“So you all bought matching handbags or something?” Mel asked, motioning for them to keep moving.

They kept their voices pitched low as Mel and Bernard–the only other person with good sight thanks to Archer’s [Owl Vision]–kept an eye out for threats.

“Whole outfits,” Shane clarified. “It was a bet. First person out of college that got a major promotion buys new wardrobes for everybody. They were trying to bankrupt me.”

“We were not!” Sabrina hissed, slapping him playfully. “We were coming out of Express when…when it happened. Everything changed so fast. Nobody knew what was going on.”

“Then the screaming started,” Nathan added. “Hundreds of people in one location, still with shopping bags in their hands, suddenly transported elsewhere and given weapons and armor from fantasy video games? We thought it was a mass hallucination or something. Then the monsters showed up.”

Shane looked down at his noisy chainmail clinking merrily with every step. “The only reason I didn’t die immediately was because I had heavier armor on than others. Even then, running from monsters is a numbers game–”

Mel nodded, getting a vividly gruesome image of what happened. “You didn’t need to outrun them, just the other people.”

“That’s…a dark way of putting it,” Bernard said.

“But not untrue.”

He tested the draw of his bowstring. “No.”

“We scavenged what we could from…the fallen. There were so many people dead. We took what we could when it was safe,” Sabrina said softly.

Mel shrugged. “They didn’t need it anymore. In a way, they helped you to survive.”

“How can you be so cold about it?” Sabrina asked without any judgment in her voice.

“Pragmatism reigns supreme in times of distress,” Mel explained evenly. “If you let yourself get bogged down with emotion and worry…you’ll die before you make a choice. Fractions of a second matter in a crisis. You have to worry about yourself first before you worry about others. Can’t help anybody if you’re dead.”

They lapsed into silence after that, walking quietly as they could through the underbrush of the forest. They sounded as loud as a stampeding herd of elephants to Mel’s enhanced sense ears, but she had already taught them as much as she could about keeping quiet.

Their noise drew the attention of a pair of Mundane rank monsters. Mel called them out easily. They were bright, glowing beacons of red and orange against the cooler shades of purples, violets, and blues.

It was impressive how detailed her vision was, and it seemed to be getting better each time she used it.

Binding this to sense was a stroke of luck, Mel thought. She could have just as easily received an ability that didn’t rely on sense.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The two badger-like monsters split up and flanked them, keeping low to the ground and under cover. Mel kept the group moving in the same direction without alerting the monsters. It was always best to turn an ambush against the attackers.

Mel thought the monsters were taking a long time to pounce on the group. The moment she called for the group to stop in preparation for the attack, they struck.

Infusing [Hidden Mist] with extra mana illuminated the fog-filled area for her allies, and just to be sure, she called out the location of each monster.

Bernard and Maddie peppered one with arrows and bolts of magical energy. Mel dove onto the nearest one, impaling it to the ground while Sabrina launched stinging blue bolts of magic at it. Nathan and Shane got there at the same time, finishing it off with a deadly combination of sword and hammer.

Runes flowed from the two monster corpses, but they gained no items to speak of. Instead, the bodies simply vanished into the streams of experience runes that flowed to each person.

Mel froze. Something felt wrong.

The moment passed with nothing happening. She swung her head around this way and that, but nothing else jumped out to ambush them. There were no hidden monsters lying in wait.

It was just an ordinary pair of badger-like monsters that they had already faced.

For making such extensive use of [Gaze of the Serpent] and [Hidden Mist], Mel earned some much-needed improvements.

Your [Gaze of the Serpent] Serpent aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 1)].

Your [Sense (Serpent)] attribute advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 1)].

Your [Hidden Mist] Mist aspect skill advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 3)].

Mel could already feel the differences in the aspect skills. The spreading fog of [Hidden Mist] reacted slightly faster to her intent. It was thicker and obscured more. Details resolved quicker with [Gaze of the Serpent]. She could switch between her standard vision and that of her heat vision faster as well.

It seemed so far that when an attribute’s aspect skill first advanced to Grade 1, that improvement carried over to the attribute itself. So long as that attribute was sitting at Grade 0.

Mel shook her head. No, that wasn’t it. Not entirely.

That explanation didn’t account for why [Hidden Mist] was now Grade 3 and her agility was still Grade 2.

Raising an aspect skill’s grade clearly impacted the overall aspect and attribute it was bound to. That much was obvious. However, if it was a simple one to one, she would have expected to have agility at Grade 3 now.

Which meant she was either relying too much on her skills, or she needed to have more aspect skills to raise the attribute higher. The first was easily fixed by focusing on training and improving her agility instead of just using [Hidden Mist] over and over, expecting her agility to go up like this was some sort of game.

Whichever it ended up being, more aspect skills would help her to grow faster. Two Mist skills would not only allow her to be a more effective fighter, they would (in theory) allow her to raise her Mist aspected agility faster.

I’m going to need a lot more aspect skills to grow stronger, aren’t I? That, or a lot of monster fighting, and training.

[Mel Harper]

Race: Human

Standing: [#N/A] Exile (G-League) [1st Echelon]

Class: Mystic

Rank: Mundane

Next Rank: Copper (50%)

[==Attributes==]

Strength [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

Agility [Mist Aspect]: Copper (Grade 2)

Vigor [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

Sense [Serpent Aspect]: Copper (Grade 1)

Arcane [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

[==Aspects==]

[Mist Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 2)

• [Hidden Mist] (Grade 3)

[Serpent Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 1)

• [Gaze of the Serpent] (Grade 1)

[==Knowledge & Traits==]

Class: [Light Armor Knowledge], [Basic Weapon Knowledge], [Novice Ritual Magic Knowledge], [Mana Hardening]

Combat Arts: [Quickstep]

[==Titles & Blessings==]

Titles: [Boss Rash (Legendary)], [Bloodseeker (Legendary)]

Blessings: [Wound Recovery (Common)]

[==Aspect Skills==]

(Mist/Agility)

[Hidden Mist]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Spell)

(Grade 3 [1%])

Cost: Modest Mana

Cooldown: Moderate

Shroud an area in mist, obscuring the vision of your enemies and making them easy prey.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Create a layer of obfuscating fog that you and any allies you designate can see through. Area affected by fog is considered difficult terrain. Mana cost increases as the area of fog increases. Additional mana may be expended to illuminate the fog from within.

(Serpent/Sense)

[Gaze of the Serpent]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Ability)

(Grade 1 [9%])

Cost: Low Mana

Cooldown: None

Borrow the eyes of a serpent, allowing you to view the world in gradations of colorful heat.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Grants infravision, replacing your normal eyesight with gradations of color based on the heat of surrounding objects. There is a brief delay when switching from one mode of perception to the other.

[==Racial Abilities==]

[Shardscript System]

[Shardrune Quests]

[Wayward Traveler]

[Adaptability]

Halfway to Copper, Mel thought to herself. Not bad with only two aspects.

“Man,” Shane said, dismissing his war hammer in a swirl of brown ash. “I really am too slow. Nathan was twice the distance away from me and he got there at the same time.” He pointed at Mel. “And you were all the way in the back and got there before either of us.”

“Find some aspects,” Mel advised. “It’s night and day.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Shane said.

Nathan kicked a rock with his leather boot, inexpertly twirled his sword, and vanished it in a swirl of pale green ash before it fell out of his hands. “Nobody saw that.”

“We all saw it,” Maddie said with a shake of her head.

Mel watched as, one by one, everybody dismissed their weapons, each with a different color. It had been hard for the group to learn how to do, but walking with a weapon out only made their trek more taxing.

It didn’t seem like much, but carrying a few extra pounds over the course of a day could make all the difference.

What was more curious to Mel was that even with her heat vision, she could see their colored ash. Her own ash was still silver, a color that she hadn’t seen yet in her heat vision.

“Maybe there’s an aspect under here,” Bernard said, hefting a large rock and turning it over. It thumped heavily to the ground, shaking the forest floor oddly.

Nathan wrinkled his nose. “Man, did you rip one?”

Bernard glared at him. “I did not.”

“Well, it smells like you did!”

Mel’s danger sense spiked again. She looked around, wondering what the noise of their argument attracted.

A distant voice spoke to her from the past, “Nobody ever looks up.”

Mel did, but she should have been paying better attention to the ground instead. The rocky ground trembled again, drawing her gaze away from the treetops.

In her heat vision, the ground had gone from a stable green-blue to hot orange.

Her shout of warning was swallowed by the cracking of stone as the ground gave way beneath their feet and plunged the group into darkness.