image [https://imgur.com/3G3UkJW.png]

Nina held her sweet and slightly silly face a moment longer, and let it gently shift into a complacent smile as she followed. It amazed her that this “Greeter” thought she would give her true name. She could feel that Luka had already dismissed her as a naive and helpless child, as she wanted him to.

But still, he was powerful, and experienced, and if she slipped up for even a moment he would spot the truth of her intentions. Yes, she had found an ancient book. And yes, it had promised that she could become a “hero” in this world. But more importantly, it promised a level of POWER that she could never have attained otherwise.

Perhaps it was true that she had a “pure heart”. As far back as she could remember, she had despised everyone she had met. Her family, her friends, her teachers. She had no real enemies, because she did not allow herself to have them. Her mind was the only place she had been true to herself.

You could think anything in the safety of your mind, show only the sweetest and softest exterior as you did so. And the more people took you for granted, the greater that false reality would seem to them. Everyone else seemed to have trouble with this concept. Perhaps it was that “pure heart” that allowed her to so absolutely control her actions.

She did not want power to bring about great good, and she did not want power to enact great evil. She wanted power because nobody else should be ALLOWED to have power greater than her. Why should they? Even the concept of “gods” had troubled her endlessly when she was very small. She had no real belief that they existed in her own world, but in this one? She felt certain that they existed. If they existed then she could understand them. Overcome them. This had been her plan ever since she had first read the book.

If this path had not worked out she would have resigned herself to making vast amounts of money and pulling political strings. She grimaced inwardly at the thought. Where would that lead? Perhaps she would live to be a shriveled raisin of a woman, orchestrating world events. Fighting for what? More money most likely. And then she would die. And that was the absolute best case scenario.

Here, in this world, she was certain there was no such ceiling. She saw the path she could take. Luck and Charisma were the obvious first stats to increase. It was… unfortunate… that this world seemed so stingy with the stats it doled out. But that changed nothing, Magic and the like would be a final step to achieve immortality, omnipotence, and possibly omniscience. She understood very clearly that this mentality would make any psychologist diagnose her with delusions of grandeur. But they couldn’t see into her mind anymore than anyone else could, so what did their opinions matter?

But before that she would need to survive, make allies, gather resources, and have some truly fortunate situations occur. She could not let herself die to some random blade or beast. She would have others make that sacrifice. And so she followed Luka to the inn.

Luka had a gruff exterior. He clearly thought that he knew the world. That he knew “Samantha”. His guard would be up. But already it was falling. She pointed at things she knew he would want to tell her about. She understood that this was the kind of man that was weak to playing a “Fatherly” role. There would be nothing underhanded about it, he would simply feel a desire to protect those that were weaker, vulnerable. So she preyed on that. She would be the soft, sweet, child. And she watched. And she waited.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Luka, I haven’t had many beers, but um, would you like to have one with me?” She laughed as he looked at her sternly. “What! I’m old enough! Wait, do you even have a drinking age here?”

Luka shook his head slowly. “I don’t normally socialize on that level with new Chosen, I’m sorry-” Nina reached out and gripped a gauntleted hand. “Please Luka! I- this is all a lot to take in. I would love to be able to relax a bit, and I don’t really feel safe doing it alone…”

Luka let out a slow sigh, withdrawing his hand. “Well, okay. Just one drink, and then I’ll check in with you in the morning.”

Nina smiled widely at him. “Yay!”

Twelve drinks later Luka was still talking about a battle he had fought against some kind of demonic knight. Nina had been nursing a single drink, and her mind was clear. “Wow! Was this helmet the one that deflected the arrow of the demon knight?” She laid her fingers gently on the helmet that had been set aside on the table. The helmet felt warm to the touch, perhaps a sign of its magic?

The Inn they were at was quiet and quaint. So picturesque that Nina was certain that this whole town was designed to put her at ease. Even the other patrons felt like decorations to her as they came up and greeted her or waved to Luka. She smiled inwardly. This world was trying to deceive her, even as she tried to deceive it.

Luka nodded slowly, his face a bit pink. As Nina had thought, this was a man who was solitary, probably at ease with his loneliness. But lonely all the same. To have someone who wanted him to talk, to brag, was potent bait.

“Yes… it still has the scratch, right there.” He pointed to a faint line.

Nina “ooooh’d”. “Luka… can I ask a BIIIIG favor?” Luka looked at her, and then laughed. “You can’t have my helmet.” She giggled. “No no… can I just put it on? It’s magical right? I want to see what that feels like! I know it’ll be a long long time before I can have something like this myself…”

Before he could say no, as he was clearly about to do, she plucked the helmet up off the table, and slid it onto her head. She felt it shift, and it was instantly comfortable.

Luka frowned. “Hey! That’s….”

She winked at him. “Does it suit me?”

Luka’s face was calm but stern. “Return it, Samantha.”

She plucked the helmet free and handed it to him, and she could feel him relax. “Wow, it was so comfortable! Is that because it’s magical?”

Luka nodded. “Yes, magical items are capable of adapting to their user. They are supposed to be multi-generational, so flexibility in who will wear them is extremely important.”

Nina kept smiling, appraising. She could kill Luka tonight, most likely. He had revealed more than enough weaknesses. But that would be shortsighted. He was immensely helpful, and as long as that remained true he was an asset not to be disposed of.

She let out a laugh, one of the first true laughs of the day. “Luka I’m SO happy I met you!”

Luka’s eyes widened and… did he blush a little bit? Amazing how soft the hardest people could be, inside.

She stretched and smiled as she stood up. “I’m going to bed Luka, thank you so much for being a gentleman and helping me. I promise I’ll make you proud. I promise that I will do so much good for this world.” She held his eyes with hers. “I promise to always remember what a friend you have been to me.” She saw his shoulders ease and he nodded. She left him, smiling around at the others around her. She could NOT let him develop sexual or romantic feelings for her. Although that could give her leverage, it would in turn make him unpredictable and dangerous, and severely limit how she could interact with others.

As Nina trailed her hand over the warm polished wood of the staircase she could feel the potential of this world. “Good” versus “Evil”. “Heroes” and “villains”. She could feel herself salivating.