After getting herself together to a point where she could continue her journey, Faith stood up and looked up ahead. Still standing in between the two ends of the horseshoe rock structure, she looked onward towards the path she felt the need to follow. A yellow sand pathway split apart from the grassland filled to the brim with slime monsters and other small creatures, like tiny mushroom people and trolls. After a sigh, Faith began to walk aimlessly on the clear path.
It was a bright summer day, or at least it felt like that. The suns were blazing and the sky was nothing but an empty blue abyss. To her surprise, the heat wasn't getting to her. She expected to see a sudden pop-up alongside the status effects listed under the 'Warning!' label that conveniently moved to the right side of her peripherals. Apart from the dragon that was soaring above her a few hours ago, nothing really happened.
She continued walking on the bland and empty yellow sand pathway for another couple of minutes. The status effects on her screen permanently changed to the red color that they were previously flashing with, and caused Faith to collapse. Her stomach growled as she stared at the sky.
Faith with a groan: [This world is sooooooo booooooorinnngggg!!]
She threw her hands around as she complained.
Faith: [You'd expect a world with dragons and magic to always be doing something! But, nooooooo! It's as boring as the last one!]
Another warning sign popped up in the center of her vision then quickly moved over to the right with the others. This one read:
Urinate
and reading it alone left Faith speechless. Because the warning was new and not flashing like the others, she didn't take it very seriously but remained on the ground; facing towards the sky with a blank expression.
Faith: [I was not expecting to have to use the bathroom... What am I supposed to do?]
She raised her head and peeked down her skirt and pants. Her expression suddenly shifted to a disgusted glare as she released her skirt and laid her head back down.
Faith: [It's gone.]
She stood up and slowly walked toward the forest nearby. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to use her new body in the bathroom and found herself in a predicament. She looked around to see if anyone was coming by, and the clear empty path remained clear and empty.
Faith pulled down her skirt and squatted in front of a tree, facing towards the light bark waiting for her body to act on its own. She tried to push from her bladder like she would in the past, but had no luck.
Faith frustrated: [God–]
She stood up and immediately felt a stream of hot liquid coming from her bottom half.
Faith: [You've gotta be kidding me!]
As soon as it came to an end, she stomped back to her laying spot.
She began to feel the ground shake and heard the rustling of a horse's hooves. At first, she thought it was a passing traveler. Several have passed her already, each one giving her a glare full of confusion until they disappeared from sight. She didn't ask any of them for food or money due to her social awkwardness and nervousness about being called out, but she had no other option this time around.
She didn't get up until she heard the horse neigh right behind her. The hooves suddenly came to a stop but more rustling continued to play.
Faith got up to see who was rudely parking their horse behind her. After dusting off her skirt, she turned and was suddenly greeted by the enormous nose of a dark brown horse. With a small sense of shock, she jumped back and threw her hands in the air. She knew there was going to be a horse behind her, but not that close. After calming down, she looked a bit higher to see the owner of the creature and saw a man with sharp black hair and eyes as dark as the night sky. His baggy yellow clothes were foreign even for the creatures living in Leviere, and his horse was elegantly taken care of. He was most definitely wealthy and successful.
Faith: [Woah.]
James: [Princess?]
The guy hopped off of his horse and stared at Faith with a concerned smile.
James: [What brings you out here all on your own?]
Faith blankly stared at him for a moment before remembering that she closely resembled the princess of Leviere. As soon as that came to mind, Faith cleared her throat and let out a soothing smile.
Faith: [I was on a stroll. My legs got tired so I sat down.]
The man's concerned smile quickly turned into a genuine one.
Faith: [Was I causing you any trouble?]
Because she was no longer in the kingdom of Leviere, Faith found it strange that someone called her out by royalty. Even though her lie was terrible, it somehow managed to get by the man's head.
James: [Oh, no!]
He chuckled awkwardly.
James: [Not at all, I was just shocked.]
The man got on one knee and bowed.
James: [I was on my way to the kingdom of Penn to investigate for Paladin Zack. Do you wish to come along?]
His sudden request made Faith blush nervously.
Faith: [Uh... sure.]
Considering her condition, she had no reason to turn down his request.
Faith: [If you don't mind]
The man turned to his horse and silently groaned.
James: [I realized there won't be enough space for the both of us...]
He stood silently for a moment.
James: [I'll walk!]
He cleared a couple of the items in the horse's saddle pocket.
James: [You ride the horse, I will walk right beside you. Is that alright?]
Faith watched as he made space for her to sit and contemplated whether or not she knew how to ride a horse. She didn't have much outdoor experience back in the real world, so she never really fiddled around with horseback riding or riding anything with more than two legs.
Faith hesitantly: [Uhm... are you sure?]
James: [Man, we haven't spoken to one another since Paladin Zachary's orientation!]
The man had such a nervous smile on his face that Faith had no idea what she was supposed to do.
James: [Let's catch up on the way there, okay?]
With guilt, she let the man help her on the horse and agreed to his second request. As Faith settled on the calm horse, the man started to tutor her on the basics of horseback riding. A pop-up suddenly appeared notifying her that she had learned the skill and raising her knowledge on it was now possible. She smiled at the sight.
Animals that look like ones from the real world seemed to behave exactly the same. The horse that James let Faith ride on was practically the exact same breed as a Mustang... that is unless the horse suddenly grows out wings and soars through the clouds.
During the trip, the man and Faith did just as they said they would. The man would begin a conversation regarding the past year and Faith would have to come up with some random, bogus answer that somewhat correlated with something a princess would do. It was pretty obvious to tell that she had no idea what she was talking about, but the man seemed too clouded with nostalgia to notice.
Along the way, they came across several vendors that sold them potions, drinks, and food that helped Faith lose her debuffs. They walked through several mini-cities connected with the kingdom of Leviere, which surprised Faith with the range that the kingdom reaches.
She learned the man went by the name James by listening to the praise he would get along the road, and the conversations he made with other NPCs. She was confused with the way James acted. Similar to the princess, he acted like a regular person. There were no set dialogue options, nor any pop-ups when he would ask a question. Faith began to wonder if James was an NPC or summoned like her.
Once they left the entirety of the kingdom itself, a small bar opened up at the very top of Faith's peripherals.
Now Leaving: Leviere
As soon as they left, Faith could feel a long rope that had suddenly appeared behind her snap and let her free. She couldn't really explain the feeling, but it had been vaguely with her since she left Zack's home.
Faith: [S-sir Zhang!]
James instinctively turned his head towards the false princess.
Faith: [How much longer until we reach the next kingdom?]
He smiled and then turned back to the road ahead of him. The suns were beginning to set.
James: [Please, skip the honorifics. Just call me James.]
Faith quickly apologized.
James: [The kingdom of Penn isn't very far from here. We should be there a few hours before sunrise.]
Faith groaned and laid her head on the horse's soft, black mane.
James: [I warned you before you used the restroom, but you insisted.]
Faith: [You're the one that gave me all that water and food. I may be royalty, but I'm still human.]
James laughed to himself.
Faith: [Besides, I still don't know how to pee without it.]
She let out a soft sigh.
They continued onward for several hours, continuing their small talk and complaining about the future. Faith learned several things about James and his business.
As the Northeastern Alliance's Messenger, he hasn't had a day off in months. Moving back and forth between kingdoms, learning the shortcuts and rules of the places he's been to around the Northeastern part of the world more than forty times over, he described his work as grueling, and Faith did nothing but agree.
He was born and raised in Leviere, living with a twin brother and two loving parents. They owned a restaurant for adventurers to come in and enjoy a fresh meal after a long day of work, but James was never interested in that part of his life. Ever since he was little, traveling the world had been a passion of his. He would read pamphlets and adventure guides that others would leave in the restaurant during his free time. Learning about the world outside of the bland kingdom got him excited, and with support from his family, he managed to get a job that allowed him to do just that.
It took him a while to get into the groove of his new work as a messenger for Leviere, but sooner than later he managed to overcome the best and reach the highest position. It only took him a year of non-stop grinding, and luck with the sudden creation of the Northeastern Alliance, for him to become the person he is today.
As Faith expected, his position rewarded him with unbelievable wealth and fame.
Faith impressed: [Who would've known being a mailman could get you this far.]
James confused: [Mailman? What's that?]
Faith: [A person that delivers letters and packages to civilians.]
She smirked and looked ahead.
James: [Oh, yeah! Who would've thought!]
Off in the distance, Faith noticed a stone-brick gate illuminated by a bright torchlight in the dark night. Faith's eyes widened in relief as she saw a kingdom finally appear in sight. The message:
Now Entering: Penn
Appeared in her peripherals, and managed to make her giggle. Her sudden excitement caught James' attention and made him curious. He looked ahead and also noticed the gate, but he felt something off about it.
As they came closer to the gates, they began to notice the smell of blood clotting the air and making it hard to breathe. The closer they got, the more it reeked. James notified Faith that Penn didn't always smell like this and that it surprised him as well. He had a raising suspicion that the rumors surrounding the kingdom had actually been true and that Hydra had already made their mark. With that, he ran towards the gates and pulled the horse's leash along.
Faith disgusted: [The smell is almost too bad to handle. I think we should stop here.]
They made it to the gates that separated the kingdom from the outside world. She covered her nose and hopped off of the horse's back. Once back on her feet, she looked at the gates and noticed their enormous height, standing at an outstanding 300 feet tall, there was only one way in.
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James: [I have a job to do, so I'm not turning around until it's done.]
He released the clipping that was holding his bag on his shoulders and placed it on the saddle. Faith watched him with admiration.
James: [If you wish to join me, stay by my side.]
Faith: [Fine, I'll follow you.]
With a scuff, James looked around at the gate entrance and saw two men in silver armor hanging on the gate with long knives poking out their heads. James walked up to them and placed a finger on the dark stream of blood flowing down from where the swords laid. Faith watched in disgust as James searched the two dead bodies.
James: [This is definitely a few days old.]
He turned back to Faith and requested she comes closer. Plugging her nose, she followed his request.
James: [I have a bad feeling that behind these walls is something unpleasant.]
Faith with a snotty voice: [Maybe the rumors were true.]
James chuckled and placed one of his palms on the large gate doors. A feeling of uneasiness made him hesitant. He took a large gulp of saliva and pushed the door open ever so slightly. A sudden burst of a nauseating smell flew through the small creek and worsened the stench by over twenty times.
Without hesitating, James covered his nose and shut the door tight. The smell quickly reached Faith and made her vomit without a second thought. She couldn't hold it in and ended up puking on the city's gates. James immediately apologized with his nose clogged, and Faith accepted the apology once she caught her breath.
James disgusted: [It smells like rotting flesh over there!]
Faith: [That is the worst smell I've ever come across.]
She plugged her nostrils and looked James' way. Giving him a simple nod seemed to have signified that he could continue. James placed his right palm on the gate and pushed the door open all the way. The further that James pushed the door, the more the smell of rotting flesh corrupted the air outside.
What was waiting for the two of them on the other side left them terrified and disgusted. Their eyes widened in fear at the sight of bodies of civilians lying on the streets and the sidewalks, roofs, and wagons. Transport animals lying beside vehicles with their legs cut off from them and dead. It was evident that the civilians of the city tried escaping, as hundreds of bodies laid on the other side of the gate in piles. Each one was shriveled up and decayed, with nothing but bone and skin remaining.
The smell of rotting flesh now made sense to James, but he was left dumbfounded to come to this discovery. Faith gagged the very moment she came to notice what was in front of her. The both of them shivered and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
James silently: [What the fuck?]
James opened his inventory and coincidentally pulled out two face masks. He handed one to Faith and watched her put it on before equipping his. The masks prevented any foreign smells from making it into their system, so they could walk around the city with two free hands.
After putting on her face mask, Faith looked at Jamison and his petrified state. She had never seen someone so scared outside of television, but even those didn't look as genuine.
Faith: [Who could've done this?]
James continued to walk forward, and Faith followed suit. He walked over the bodies of the deceased and headed straight for the castle as if there were still a sidewalk. Faith didn't want to do the same, but she had no other option. Stepping on one of the bodies, she felt and heard a 'phhhei' which made her stomach turn.
The buildings in the kingdom were either torn down to wood pricks or engulfed in flames that didn't shine as bright as they should've. The atmosphere felt dead and sick like a purple mist clouded the air and smelled like rotting flesh. Felix's teacher back in the normal world had taught him that stepping out of his comfort zone would help him grow as a person, but this was definitely not what she meant.
On a flagpole not too far from where Faith stood, was a massive red flag with three strokes made with a sword. Two parallel from one another like tally marks, and one in between, forming an 'H'.
James made his way towards Faith and looked at the waving flag above them.
James: [This was Hydra's doing.]
Faith turned to him. Hearing the name immediately reminded Faith of the mythical Greek legend that would soar the sky with three heads. She didn't understand how a dragon could kill people with knives, but she let it pass as an afterthought. She watched as James clenched his fist.
Faith: [I think we've seen enough.]
James: [I need to investigate the castle.]
Faith: [It's not gonna be any different from out here.]
James: [I'm not leaving until the job's done.]
Faith stood still as James walked over the bodies. She looked up at the Hydra flag and watched it flop around. The red flag that stood above all else didn't look like it was made by a dragon and sure didn't look like a flag that a kingdom would commission either. None of the pieces she put together made any sense, but then she got an idea.
Faith: [Wait!]
James stopped and turned around. Curious of what she had to say, he waited for her to come running towards him. Faith made a fist and built up her courage.
Faith: [I'll come with you.]
The Messenger smiled softly after he saw Faith trying her best to keep up.
James: [You're scared of being alone, aren't you?]
Faith narrowed her eyes as James laughed and continued.
James: [Don't lag behind.]
Walking to the castle gates, James and Faith were greeted by the bodies of decaying corpses wearing rusty silver armor. Unlike those outside, the bodies in here didn't look like they'd been around for several days, nor did they smell that way. Walking up to one of them and inspecting their bodies didn't give James the same nauseating feeling he got from the ones outside. James put his hand over his mouth as he stood back up and looked at Faith. James gave Faith a deep stare before nodding and walking through the gate.
James: [I'm gonna check out the throne room. I'm pretty sure that's where the king would be.]
James walked away.
While he was gone, Faith looked around at the bodies of the guards to figure out why they weren't as bad as the ones outside. Could it have been the exposure to clean oxygen, or maybe these guards were killed in a less brutal way? James had already done his inspection, so it was probably safe to do her own. She lifted the helmet off of the guard and stared at its pale white eyes. The guard looked as if his soul had been sucked out of him. Faith continued to look around the guard then noticed a marking on his neck. Two holes gouged into its throat and trails of blood poured out into his armor.
Faith silently: [Teeth marks? That doesn't make much sense...]
She continued to investigate the corpse until she heard the sound of sobbing coming from the door that led to the long corridor. James had entered the door to the other side of the castle, so where the sound was coming from was unexplored.
She stared at it for a moment as she felt a shiver run down her spine.
Faith silently: [Nope.]
She decided to get up and look for James. Heading toward the direction she saw James go, she was greeted by even more corpses blocking a single door. There had been signs of someone pulling the door already, so Faith assumed it was the Messenger and went in. As she closed the door behind her, she immediately bumped into James and fell backward.
The throne room was unlike the one in Leviere – it was really empty. There were empty plates of armor lying around, standing tall, and leaning over. A large area of ash was in the center of the red throne room, and beside it was James. It was like there had been some sort of explosion or a spread of flames, further confusing Faith about what Hydra is. She had assumed that Hydra was the name of an organization like the one in her favorite television series, Naruto Shippuden, but now she was back to the dragon estimate.
The atmosphere in the throne room was worse than the rest of the kingdom. It felt like some sort of negotiation went wrong, and lives were lost because of it. Not as many dead bodies were in the throne room compared to the others, though skeletal remains of two separate bodies could be seen sitting on individual thrones, while the third and largest throne had a gold crown sitting right on it. There were no skeletal remains on that throne, no marks of fire magic, nothing but a gold crown lying amidst all of the chaos.
James walked up to the thrones and inspected every skeletal body to the smallest detail. With thin, invisible gloves on, he caressed the rib cage and jaw of the skeletons, then turned to Faith with a serious glare. The James she was looking at now was nothing like the one that was smiling with the villager's townsman. He almost looked like a different person.
James: [They took the princess.]
He walked over to Faith and unequipped his gloves.
James: [The other family members died in their seats, and their muscles were ripped right out of them. Absolutely disgusting.]
Faith: [Wait, isn't that the king's throne though?]
James gave Faith another glare then turned around. He faced the centered throne, the one with no skeleton on it and let out some breath.
James: [Penn gives the throne to the last one once they reach a certain age — not any younger than you. You should know that so why bother asking?]
Faith flinched in embarrassment and guilt. Without giving her any time to respond, James continued.
James: [Hydra's motives are unknown. There has been no pattern in their attacks, and this is their first large-scale raid.]
After a moment of silence, James turned around and started walking out of the throne room.
Faith following: [Where are you going?]
James: [Back to Leviere.]
He was moving at a pace that was hard for Faith to keep up with.
James: [I got the info I came for. I was hoping to ask the princess, but since she's gone I have to tell Paladin Zack what I saw.]
Faith: [What if the princess was the person making the sobbing sound earlier?]
She shook her head and slapped herself. Faith chased after James while nearly tripping on the bodies. She decided not to mention the sobbing she heard and get out of this kingdom as soon as possible.
Walking back outside the kingdom gates, Faith took a big inhale of the otherworldly; non-polluted and fresh air after taking off her face mask. It was nothing like the air back in the U.S. and made Faith smile in relief. Being able to look around and not see a dead corpse was refreshing, seeing as that was the only thing they'd seen since they arrived in the evening.
The suns were beginning to set and the sky was turning a bright orange color. They had only been in there for a couple of hours, but it felt much longer. Faith turned to James and noticed him glaring at her. He seemed suspicious of something, but what? It's possible that he figured out that Faith wasn't the princess of Leviere, but she never gave away any real clues.
Faith: [Are you heading back to the castle?]
After snapping back into reality, James nodded. He made a slim smile as he walked towards the horse.
James: [Are you coming with?]
Nearly forgetting she was banished, she stopped herself from nodding.
Faith: [I– I'll be heading towards one of the other kingdoms.]
Why is she still lying to James? Maybe she was scared of his reaction after all this time. James' smile shifted to a concerned frown in a matter of seconds.
James: [Are you running away from home or something?]
Faith turned her head, which caused James to laugh once more.
James: [I won't tell Sir Zack about our encounter, but you owe me.]
He hopped onto his horse while holding onto his left pocket. After Faith gave the horse a gentle head rub, the horse rode off into the horizon with James on its back.
Faith: [Alone again.]
She let out a sigh and continued walking westward. Again with no destination or idea of where she was going, she followed the clear path until midnight.
Several hours had passed as she made her way through the enemy-infested woods. Though there were monsters roaming about, none of them seemed to pay any attention to Faith. Some even seemed scared. Having noticed this an hour in, her fear disappeared and curiosity began to flood her thoughts.
Faith: [Why are they not attacking?]
She looked around her interface for anything that could possibly explain the monsters' behavior.
Faith: [Do I have some status effect? How do I check?]
She ignored the parts of the interface that she was familiar with and checked out several of the options she hadn't opened or paid any attention to. First, she looked at where she saw her debuffs before meeting with James. Though that area was empty, she thought that staring at it would somehow help.
Nothing happened.
She turned towards the top right of her peripherals and focused in on the shining gold LV: 12. Doing so opened an interface she had never seen before. A 3D photo of herself smiling towards the actual her appeared within a box in the interface. Besides the box of herself laid all sorts of skills, from fishing to alchemy. She was awed at this but paid little attention to it. On top of the skills were all sorts of information about her, listing her age, weight, gender, level, and name. She saw the last name given to her by the game; Himari, and only now understood where Zack got that from.
Faith: [Not exactly what I was looking for, but this is interesting.]
She continued to look around the interface. It was a single page that filled her entire field of vision and had so much information that left her in awe. All of her skills were on level zero, with the exception of her hunting skill, which was level one.
She looked underneath the basic information and skills and came across all sorts of details about herself. The amount of mana and health were showcased in the form of long bars and matched the ones at the bottom center of her peripherals. Beneath those was more info on the amount of damage she could inflict, kill count, speed, luck, stamina, and so much more. She could barely keep up with the information being dumped on her and closed the interface immediately after she had enough.
She fell back and laid on the ground after a sigh.
Faith: [There's so much to learn.]
She thought back to what Zack had told her before he kicked her out,
Flashback
Zack: [Felix, I suggest that you get to know this world a little more while you're gone. - I'll send you a friend request, so if you ever want to ask any questions, don't hesitate to DM me.]
End
Faith: [Is it right to ask him for something right after leaving?]
She focused on the chat interface on the bottom left of her peripherals and opened up her empty chatroom with Zack. She silently stared at it as she contemplated whether or not she should ask him for help.
Faith: [Nah!]
She closed the tab and stood back up.
Faith: [I've gotta figure things out myself! First things first, Magic.]
She walked off of the path she had been on for hours and onto the grass packed to the brim with monsters. Her heart began racing as soon as the monsters that were once ignoring her suddenly turned and faced her with growls and death glares. Large cheetah-like beasts coated in black and white with large fangs suddenly had their eyes on Faith.
Though she was shaking from head to toe, she managed to keep her posture and glare back at the black cheetah beasts with the same glare.
Faith: [I know I can teleport, but it drains almost all of my mana.]
She heard a cheetah beast take a step forward and immediately turned to it.
Faith: [There has to be an ability I have that can take them out without taking me out too.]
The cheetah beasts outside of her frame of view began moving in, and Faith turned to them as they toyed with her head. The groups of cheetah beasts began moving in slowly, growling louder with every step.
Faith began to panic as she knew she was outnumbered and couldn't really fight back. Left defenseless and outnumbered, she couldn't connect her thoughts and stepped back in fear.
That was until a boy, a little bit shorter than her, walked in blindfolded and stood in between her and the cheetah-like beasts. He looked like he was around her age, but his height gave her mixed emotions.
Boy: [These Ultras scaring you?]
Faith didn't know how to react or what to do. The boy hadn't even looked at her while asking the question. All of his attention was on the cheetahs in front of him. His black spiky hair and red blindfold really stood out in the dead of night, but his white apparel was something to note as well. He was wearing a long white robe over a loose bandage shirt and pants. His bare feet rested on the cold green grass and seemed to have been badly scuffed.
Faith gave him no initial response and kept him standing there until one of the cheetah beasts jumped at him. As if he could see through his blindfold, he let his arm out at the perfect time and grabbed the beast's snout with a bare hand. He squeezed the animal's snout until the beast whimpered. He then raised it with a single arm and chucked the beast towards a smaller group on the sidelines.
Faith: [WHAT THE–]
The boy immediately turned towards one of the cheetah beasts on the opposite side of the others. For a moment he glared, then immediately disappeared. A gentle breeze blew on Faith the moment her eyes lost sight of the blindfolded boy, but then another whimper played where one of the cheetahs was cowering. Faith quickly turned toward the whimper and noticed the cheetah beast laying on the ground beside the boy.
Boy: [Ultras won't bother you unless you step on their land.]
He began talking while Faith was dumbfounded.
Boy: [Stay on the path, and you should make it to Jime on foot within a matter of days.]
He turned around and started walking toward the direction Faith was heading before getting sidetracked.
Boy: [Stay safe and don't get yourself killed.]
Faith walked back onto the clear path and watched the boy walk away in awe. Watching him fight was like watching a cartoon television show back in the normal world.
Faith: [I'll get to his level one day! For now,]
She looked up at the four moons floating in the sky.
Faith: [I gotta figure out how the heck this world works.]
She let out a groan and continued her journey, following the boy's advice.