In actuality, more than three days passed before the fateful ‘duel’ took place. Over those three days, Alice and Blanche traveled through the forest, falling into a routine.

When dusk fell, they would set up camp. While Alice prepped up logs and leaves, along with tarps and ropes that were stuffed in the backpacks, Blanche ventured into the forest alone. He was quickly snatched up by the darkness, leaving Alice with only the comfort of the crackling fire and the chirping of the frequent birds. Eventually, he would emerge from the shadows carrying their meal, animals that he had already killed.

Alice tended to the fire, poking it with a metal stick to keep it going while Blanche skillfully skinned the animal and they toasted it. Once it was done and the fragrant scents had made Alice drool for an hour, they tore into the meat with a feverish hunger. As ironic as it was, Alice tended to eat better while traveling than she had ever done back in the village.

When dawn encroached and the birds picked up their calls, that was the signal for the duo to set off. Alice packed up the tarps and ropes while Blanche hunted down some light meals. Once they were full, the two of them continued their travels, only stepping every once in a while to rest.

During all three of those days, Alice kept a close eye on Blanche, waiting for him to drop the duel on her. The first day was the hardest, with every action she took being tense and rigid. The second day went along slightly better, but Alice still jumped at every sudden movement Blanche made. The third day was hard for a different reason; Alice found herself lowering her guard, and constantly had to remind herself of Blanche’s promises.

The fourth day had just begun, and Alice was watching Blanche from a ways back. She was certain he was tired of this by now, how Alice refused to walk side by side. Alice felt a small sense of vindictive satisfaction at that, seeing how it was Blanche proclaiming they were going to have a duel that made her so wary. Sweet, sweet karma.

“This is counterintuitive and petty. Stop being so childish,” Blanche broke the silence after two hours of this.

Alice feigned ignorance. “Hmm? I am a child, after all.” Alice was having the time of her life, but the dark leer on Blanche’s face was a sign for her to back off the pedal. “Sorry.”

Blanche sighed. “This is because of the duel, right? Don’t worry, I’m not going to attack you all of a sudden. And it’s not even a duel; a duel would indicate two opponents of equal power, or least of similar strength. What we’re going to do is a lesson.”

Alice ignored the biting remarks hidden within his statement, and asked, “So when are we going to do it? It’s been three days!”

“I thought you’d be apprehensive of fighting me.” Blanche commented, arching an eyebrow.

“I’d rather get it over with than be anxious waiting!” In truth, Alice’s stomach was twisted into knots. Despite her inexplicable black fire, Alice had a gut feeling that Blanche was far stronger than he let on. He also didn’t seem like the type of person to hold back on her simply because she was inexperienced, which made for a terrifying combination.

“Is that so?” Blanche said calmly. “Then after we eat lunch, how about we do it? We’ll set up the rules once we get there.” He glanced back her way, daring her to deny.

“Sure!” She tried to inject false bravado into her voice. The sly grin on Blanche’s face she was able to spot before he turned away told Alice she’d failed. The young girl slumped, an aura of glumness swarming around her. She was about to get beat up, wasn’t she?

Far faster than Alice would have wanted, the sun reached the peak of its trajectory and hovered in the sky over them, bearing down on the duo with its unbearable heat waves. As Alice crumpled to the ground, finding shade under a large leaf and flapped her hand meagerly to generate cool air, Blanche didn’t waste a second.

Setting down his backpack, he reached into its depths and retrieved a sheathed dagger. Latching it onto his belt, he flipped the backpack’s cover over the opening again and turned to leave. Before he went, he issued a warning to Alice.

“Keep an eye out for the backpacks. Make sure no small animals get to it.” Blanche maintained a firm gaze on Alice to impart the importance of the task.

“Alright, I got it! You don’t have to worry, go hunt!” she exclaimed, a ball of uneasiness forming in her chest.

The ball grew bigger when right before her eyes, Blanche seemed to melt into the darkness. Alice opened her eyes as wide as they could go, and the only thing she got for her efforts were sore eyes. As she rubbed them, she had to admit that Blanche was freakishly good at disappearing.

“Not fair,” Alice mumbled as she got up from her resting place and walked over to Blanche’s backpack, laying out in the open. “He’s already super strong, he doesn’t need to be a ninja–super sneaky as well!” Alice looked around guilty, checking to make sure Blanche wasn’t lurking around. She was pretty sure ninjas didn’t exist here. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before Blanche could piece it all together, as preposterous as the idea of her possessing memories from a different world sounded.

Alice took hold of the backpack strap and heaved it up, beginning to make her way back to the beautiful shade that beckoned her forth. “Then again, in a world of magic and dwarves, alternate worlds might not be so weird...” Alice whispered under her breath.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The leaves rustled behind her and a branch snapped. Twisting her head, Alice caught a glimpse of a brown blur before something barreled into her. Alice toppled backwards, crashing into the tree which she’d rested under only seconds earlier. The pack she was wearing absorbed most of the impact, but Alice was still stunned, feeling like a hammer hit her back.

Her mind raced, trying to locate the source of the attack. Just as quickly as it’d come, it had vanished, leaving the clearing exactly as it’s been. Alice’s chest heaved up and down as she caught her breath, eyes darting wildly. A lone leaf drifted from the sky, landing gently on the ground. Alice followed its path, lowering her guard for a split second.

The blur appeared in her peripheral vision but Alice was ready.

[Anarchy Flare]

The black fire came to her easier this time. Swinging her left arm wildly, an arc of fire shot toward the blur. Alice smirked, certain the enemy would have to either dodge or get hit; either way, it gave her breathing room.

Much to her surprise, the blur didn’t hesitate before vaulting over the fire, clearing it with ease. Alice’s eyes widened when she realized now it was aiming a kick for her head.

Alice dropped herself to the ground, briefly getting crushed under the weight of backpack. She roughly shoved off the ground, her palm crunching leaves. Rolling to the side, Alice slunk her arms out of the backpack straps, dropping it to the ground.

Free of her burden, Alice’s mobility was significantly increased. Turning around, she generated a fireball of [Anarchy Flare] at the tip of her finger-gun and aimed at the tree. The only thing she found was a scattering of leaves and a huge dent in the trunk.

Losing her arm, Alice heard a swish and something in her yelled to get down. Alice complied, dropping to a crouch and she felt something sweep over her head, generating wind with its power. A chill ran through her; if she hadn't dodged, her head would probably be off her neck right now.

Alice turned on her heels and found herself eye level with the attacker’s knee. Seeing it clench and bend down, Alice jabbed her flaming fingers into the knee before the attacker could vault away again.

The knee turned at a sickening angle with a snap, and corrosive black flames ignited against the black fabric of the attacker. The attacker leaped away, landing on their other leg and batted at the flames. However, for their efforts, the flame spread at a faster rate than they could snuff out and their glove ignited as well.

Alice sighed, slinking into an upright position, believing the fight to be done. Her attacker was half laying on the ground, desperately rubbing their flaming leg against the ground.

“Come on, stop doing that. You’ll set the leaves on fire—“ Alice started to say before the attacker cried out, “[Earth Dome!]”

Right away, Alice could tell this wasn’t a regular spell incoming. The words reverberated inside her very soul, her bones shaking from the power contained in that short phase. Her stomach went up and down, swirling in a nauseating fashion.

No mistake about it. This was one of the fabled Skills. It was the first time Alice encountered somebody else using a Skill. She backed away hastily, lifting her flaming hand in defense, preparing for any possibility of a further offense.

Instead, a half-spherical dome of rock sprouted from the ground, and within seconds, completely enveloped the attacker. Alice shifted her stance, contemplating on her next course of action. She could try breaking through the barrier, but it seemed tough, cracks appearing where boulders had been roughly mashed together. Alice could also try escaping, but carrying both backpacks was too much weight. They needed those supplies.

Alice grit her teeth. And besides, this was her clearing. She intensified the heat of her fire, a miniature bonfire wrapping around her left arm. The heat started getting to her, curling her hair and causing prinkles against her skin.

“TAKE THIS!” Alice envisioned a huge fireball—the biggest she’d made so far—and her magic complied, a giant orb of black fire streaming from her hands. The moment it was clear from her arm, Alice dove to the ground and covered her head.

A resounding crash filled the air and Alice cringed as chunks of the barrier slammed into the ground around her, kicking up a swirl of leaves. Miraculously, none of them landed on her, although a few got close. The moment the hail of stones stopped raining, Alice scrambled up and brushed the leaves out of her way, searching for the attacker.

The stone barrier had been breached, a hole prorupted in the center. Smoke trailed from the interior, masking Alice’s vision of the inside. She squinted, trying her best to peer through the smoke haze. She could just barely make out a silhouette. . .

An orange spark glowed through the gray cloud and a ripple of heat cascaded over her. Generating a fireball of her own, Alice shot it towards the incoming ball of fire. Alice covered her face, expecting another collision explosion.

Instead, through the cracks between her fingers, Alice saw the enemy’s fireball swerve out of the path of her black fires. Making a hard turn, it went around the black fire and continued making a beeline for Alice.

[Anarchy Flare]!

Alice summoned a wall of black fire and pushed it outward. As she expected, the fireball moved to go around the wall but Alice expanded it at the last second. The fireball fizzled against her black flames and Alice watched as the wall impacted the earth dome, filling the inside with fire.

Alice’s mouth hung open as she realized she may have just killed that person. There wasn't any screaming of agony she could hear but that didn’t mean much over the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears and the crackling of the flames. She clenched her jaw.

“Damn it!” Alice exclaimed, whirling around in hopes of locating the backpacks. She’ll run for now in case her attacker had allies, and regroup with Blanche later.

Alice was halfway through the motion of turning around before something sharp and thin gently tapped her shoulder. Freezing mid-spin, Alice’s eyes lowered to the tip of the blade resting against her shoulder. Slowly looking up, Alice stared at Blanche, whose face was marred with ash and soot.

“The lesson begins now,” he said.