We were well on our way back to Bloomsora. Sarah and I were walking side-by-side as we discussed how to use her general abilities as well as her class abilities.

“I think Alex is going to like you,” I said to Sarah. “I mean a Bloodfire Berserker? What the hell even is that? Whatever it is sounds terrifying.”

Sarah wore a grin on her face for at least the past twenty minutes. “I don’t know but I like it too. I only have the one active ability for it though called Crimson Frenzy. It says it’s all about a state of controlled rage. Sounds fun.”

“I wish I could review your abilities myself,” I said. “Wait—I have an idea. Stand still.”

Stopping our walk, I focused on Sarah. A storm of text surged through my mind.

[Sarah King]

Classification: Bloodfire Berserker

Rank: Opal 0

I frowned. “Hm. That didn’t give much info at all. What if we partied up? Maybe that’ll let me review more.”

“Party? I like parties! Let’s do it,” said an excited Sarah.

I said, “I mean like a party of people. A group.”

“Oh, I know,” said Sarah. “Hurry up and let’s party up.”

Focusing on Sarah, I thought of the Party ability. As I did, a message appeared.

Would you like to request Sarah King to join your party?

Yes.

I waited for a reaction from Sarah as the request to join a party was sent to her mind. She blinked as she stared on.

You have joined a party. You are the party leader.

Party members:

- Asher Loveless

- Sarah King

“Yay! We are a party now. This is going to be great,” Sarah said with her big grin.

“Right. Remember, it’s just temporary until we figure out what to do with you,” I said.

She nodded her head in understanding. “I know… I know. When we get into town blah blah. I get it.”

I laughed. “Alright. Let’s see if I can review your abilities.”

Focusing on her again, I brought up her info box.

[Sarah King]

Classification: Bloodfire Berserker

Rank: Opal 0

**General Info**

Players Killed: 0

Bosses Killed: 0

**Attributes**

Strength: 2

Agility: 2

Dexterity: 2

Intellect: 3

Perception: 2

Constitution: 1

Charisma: 4

**General Passive Abilities**

Unranked:

- [Stats]

- [Inventory]

- [Party]

- [Chat]

**General Active Abilities**

Unranked:

- [Heal Self]

**Class Passive Abilities**

Opal Rank:

- [Raging Resilience]

- [Bloodthirst]

**Class Active Abilities**

Opal Rank:

- [Crimson Frenzy]

I reviewed her information, noticing her Agility and Charisma levels. Was I really that unathletic that a 12-year-old girl was at the same level as me? And no wonder why she was so intimidating; her Charisma was at a level four while mine was at a one.

Continuing down the list found what I was looking for. I reviewed all of her abilities in quick succession.

[Raging Resilience]

Passive

The more wounded you become the more your Strength and Constitution increase. As your health diminishes, your damage output and damage resistances are augmented, making them more dangerous.

[Bloodthirst]

Passive

Gain Strength and Constitution from the spilled blood of enemies. Each successful strike fuels your bloodlust, increasing your damage output as well as healing yourself for a portion of the inflicted damage.

[Crimson Frenzy]

Active

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Enter a state of controlled rage, unleashing a flurry of frenzied attacks for 30 seconds. During this time, your attack speed and damage are greatly increased at the cost of lowering your Constitution by half.

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

“Holy shit! Your class is terrifying!” I exclaimed. “I think you’ll need to increase your Strength when you level up.”

“You shouldn’t swear, you know. It makes you sound uneducated,” said Sarah.

“Oh, my bad,” I said. “Anyway, I think you should have a bunch of loot boxes to open. Did you check your achievements at all? I think you should get a weapon that will work with your class. I don’t know what that is for…” I gestured broadly before continuing, “…this but it’s probably better than nothing. We probably should wait until we get to Alex’s library but we still have at least another 40 to 50 minutes of walking. I think so, anyway.” I looked at Sarah, seeing what she wanted to do.

She hopped up and down and yelled, “Let’s open my loot!”

“Alright. Let’s do it then.”

I walked her through reviewing her achievements and how to open her loot boxes. Unfortunately, she had only one achievement which was the one everyone probably received when completing the second test. That didn’t seem to sour her excitement.

An opal chest appeared in front of Sarah with fell with a sudden crash.

“Oh shi—,” I stopped myself before continuing, “—shoot. I forgot about the treants. Just wait before you open it because it’s very loud and—”

The chest started to float in the air, preceded by the burst of light and the jingles. I scanned our surroundings, hoping that a treant wasn’t pissed off at the jarring noise. Sarah had her palms flattened together while she tapped her lips with her fingers, eagerly waiting for her prize to materialize.

Sarah let out a cheer as it appeared. Before it vanished, I examined what it was.

[Thorn Whipblade]

A flexible whip-like blade with serrated edges, resembling thorns. It can be wielded as a whip or a sword, giving versatility in combat.

Sarah exclaimed, “I got two of them!”

Within a few moments, Sarah was showcasing her new weapons in each hand. They consisted of a long, flexible blade made of a shimmering metal alloy. Embedded along the edges of the blades were rows of jagged thorns while the grips of the whipblades were wrapped in textured leather.

“Those look vicious,” I remarked. “I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that. Speaking of that, make sure I'm not in the way before you decide to swing that around.”

“I’m not an idiot, Asher. I know,” said Sarah as she rolled her eyes. “These feel great in my hands. Really great.”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s how my bow felt too. Cleo said our classes were hand-tailored. Personalized for our desires, strengths, and weaknesses. So far it all seems to be strength.”

We stood for several minutes as Sarah toyed with her new weapons. She swung one of her whipblades at the air in front of her. A resounding crack filled the forest. She smiled at the sound and did it again. Crack. “I wonder how I turn it into—oh that’s how,” muttered Sarah.

Her long flexible blade became short and rigid while keeping its jagged thorns. She turned the sword over in her hand and gave it a test swing. “I think I like the whip better. But I guess it’s good I have this too.”

“Alright. Let’s get moving, I don’t want to piss off any treants with your whip cracking,” I said. “Also, keep those handy, in case we do end up running into anything.”

As we continued our return to Bloomsora, Sarah would occasionally crack a whip into the air. “My gosh, I love it so much.”

Each time I would bite my lip knowing that each crack could mean danger. Not wanting to lecture or scold the girl, I just let it go. Plus she was terrifying and I didn’t want to be on her bad side, considering her new weapons.

We heard our first possible treant about a half hour into our walk. The movement came from quite a distance away from us. Expecting to hear the familiar sounds of roots snapping and the thunderous roar of the treant, we were met with a different yet still horrifying battle cry of an unknown monster.

A shriek rang out in a high-pitched noise, forcing Sarah and me to shield our ears.

My bow was notched with a fire arrow, ready for whatever jumped out.

“That isn’t a treant,” I said to Sarah. “I don’t know what it is. I only know treants. But be ready. Use your weapons if you need to. I’ll try to shoot it first.”

Sarah didn’t respond. Instead, she adorned an unwavering expression. The knuckles on each hand turned white as she gripped both of her whips. A fire flickered in her eyes. She wasn’t grinning but I thought I had seen the corners of her mouth curl up just enough as if she was itching to fight. Hoping for it. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her but it terrified me more.

The unknown source of the shriek made itself known as it bounced out from the foliage. It was an animal. But an animal unlike I’d ever seen before. It appeared to be an ugly cross between a dog and a rabbit. The long ears of a rabbit sat on the head while it stared with its piercing red eyes. The snout and mouth mimicked a dog as long vicious teeth peeked out from under its lips. A thin and muscular form of body that morphed into short stocky legs. And to top it all off, a little white puffy tail sat on its behind. If it weren’t for the face of a ruthless killer, this awkward creature could have been adorable.

Learning from my past mistakes of gawking before acting, I fired my arrow at it. The arrow flew and pierced the body of the ugly creature as the smell of burning flesh began to waft into the air. Shit. I had forgotten to examine it for its rank.

[Harehound]

Opal

A creature that is part rabbit and part dog. It is not your ordinary cute bunny rabbit. The Harehound will rip your face off and spill your guts if you get too close. Its nose is strong on scents while its feet contain wicked claws.

Phew. I wasn’t going to keep being fortunate with the ranks, I would need to work on it and make it a habit to examine before engaging. “It’s a Harehound. It’s Opal rank, so we can engage.”

The harehound produced another ear-piercing screech as it lifted its head high into the air. I notched a few more arrows and let them fly striking the target in the throat, cutting the screech short. It began to gurgle as blood spewed from its mouth and spilled to the ground. The harehound collapsed as the rush of euphoria found itself surging through me once again.

However, I didn’t have the time to bask in the sensation as three more harehounds jumped out. The first harehound was met with a bombardment of the common arrow produced by the chargebow, as it was a bit faster to conjure and let loose instead of waiting just a hair longer for the element arrow to pop in. The second and third dashed their way toward me; half hopping, half running, closing me in within moments.

I smiled as the moment I had been waiting for came to be, and I triggered my defensive ability for the first time. Shadow Veil triggered and a translucent shroud covered my body in an instant. Taking a step backward, I vanished from the harehounds’ sights. The ability allowed me to become invulnerable for 10 seconds as well as blend into any shadows. As the forest was covered in scattered shadows, it was easy to vanish.

This left Sarah out in the open by herself as she remained frozen in place. The now confused harehounds turned their attention to her and bounded their way to her. The first harehound reached her. Using its strong back legs, it launched itself high into the air. Vicious razor-like claws appeared on its back feet, and in an instant, swiped at Sarah.

Thanks to Sarah’s shortness, the harehound miscalculated and managed to slash her back, tearing through her denim jacket and flesh. The pain caused her first reaction since the beginning of the battle as blood began to stain the back of her clothing. The first harehound landed hard behind her, off-balanced from its miscalculated swipe. Meanwhile, the second harehound had begun to launch itself high into the air to make another swipe at Sarah.

As that unfolded, I remained invisible, hopping from shadow to shadow. Using my chargebow, I notched an ice arrow for the first time. A cool blue glow emitted from the arrow as I fired it. The arrow struck the harehound with a resounding impact. In an instant, a frosty rime spread from the point of impact, encasing the creature in a delicate sheen of ice crystals.

The harehound let out a startled yelp as the creature soared over Sarah’s head, its movements slowed by the chilling effect of the arrow. It landed with a crunch behind Sarah as the ice continued to encroach upon the harehound further.

By the time the second one had landed, the first had recovered ready to strike again. This time Sarah made the first move. With a swift flick of her wrist, she unleashed her thorned whipblade, sending it lashing through the air with a menacing whistle.

The jagged thorns found their mark, embedding themselves in the harehound’s fur and flesh. A pained yelp squeaked out of it as the sharp points sank deep, releasing a spray of red droplets. Sarah yanked the whip back with a grunt. Bits of fur and torn flesh flew about as the whip released its grip. It was just in time for another whistling lash to crack against the harehound. Over and over, Sarah lashed at it, each time spewing meaty bits about with a pitiful whimper for the harehound.

After at least a dozen angry lashes, the harehound finally perished.

As Sarah finished up her kill, I put a few more arrows into the sluggish iced harehound. It died quickly.

The battle had ended. Four harehounds were slaughtered. Sarah was breathing heavily as the whips hung by her sides. Speckles of blood painted her face and the front of her clothing, ruining her white shirt. The back was saturated in blood from her slash wound. Through gasps of air, Sarah managed to say, “I leveled up.”

I walked and stood beside her, examining the slash mark given to her by the harehound. “You aren’t bleeding any more. Does your back hurt at all?”

She reached around and felt around the area where she received the slash. “Huh. No, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Phew. I think your Bloodthirst ability worked as intended then. You whipped that thing to shreds. I think each time you landed a hit, your ability healed you. Otherwise, you would have needed to use your Heal Self ability.” I smiled, relieved that she was alright.

I had thought I was going to witness her death. I had left her there, by herself, to save my own skin. I was such a moron. I kept making mistake after mistake. But somehow it kept turning out fine. One of these times it wouldn't and that would be that. There was a lot I needed to work on. I had to improve. “You did better than I thought you would. I mean, I don’t even know what I am doing but you sure as hell can put up a fight.”

Sarah wiped her hand over her face and flipped her hair back over her shoulders. “Thank you. I take fencing lessons. I don’t know if that helps me with whips, though. Hey…I think I got an achievement!”

I laughed. “That’s great. I think we should wait until we are back in town first.”

Nodding her head, she responded, “OK. I think that is probably a good idea.”

“Oh and before I forget, we should loot these things. Also, when you finished off that harehound, did you… feel anything? Like a surging sensation?”

“Um, no. I don’t think so. My arms were just tired” she responded.

“I see, never mind then,” I said. “Let’s loot these bastards.”

Sarah glared at me with squinted eyes.

“Er—I mean these monsters?”

She smiled. “Better.”

We looted each harehound after I gave her a rundown on how to do it.

We received a Harehound Pelt from each corpse; a crafting material to be used for god knows what. She took two and I took the other two.

Tiredness washed over me in an instant. A yawn was forced out of me. I clapped my hands together as we finished up. “Alright. Let’s get headed back. We’ll talk about how to assign your attributes along the way. Also, I wonder where we can sleep. I bet Alex knows.”

We began our walk again.

“Who’s Alex again?” asked Sarah.

I huffed a laugh. “That’s right. I don’t think I ever explained who is is. He’s a guide in town. You’ll see when we get there. I think you’ll like him.”