[Teleportation complete.]

The air shifted around me once more. I could no longer feel the subtle breeze of the twilight field—I was back in the carriage, but… every single one of my senses were telling me something was wrong. I didn’t need [Danger Sense] to confirm it—the door to the carriage was open, but there was no one visible outside. Everything was completely silent, devoid of the sound of clashing swords, or shouting combatants. There wasn’t even the din of conversation. Worst of all… the scent of the goblin’s blood that was thick in the air back in the twilight field—I could still smell it, just as acutely as before, but I doubted a goblin was the source.

Dread ran thick through my veins as I ran through all the potential explanations. Maybe Father, Derek and the guards had chased the bandits off, and the carriage door was open because… because Mother went to get some air? Or maybe the bandits were dead and Father had gotten help digging graves for them? He was honourable like that.

I came up with any excuse I could think of that would help me avoid the truth. The truth that I knew was waiting for me if I just turned around. I could feel myself shaking even as I stood frozen in denial. My mind was clouded, ignoring the small signs I could see that pointed to what had happened. Blood in the dirt outside. The wood of the carriage was splintered inward where the door had likely been kicked open. The eerie completeness of the silence, absent of even the nervous shuffling of horses.

My hands would no longer obey me, the rusted blade and leather bag shattering the silence as they clattered to the floor. I had to face this.

Turn around, Fable. Look.

My body finally obeyed, and I turned around, my shuffling steps sounding all too loud.

Then I saw her. Tears sprung to my eyes in an instant. I knew what I’d see. I knew, but foolishly I had hoped I was wrong. I took a faltering step towards my mother, falling to my knees at her side. My chest felt hollow as I grasped one of the hands that were folded in her lap, just as they were when I had last seen her. Still warm, like she would take another breath any second—like she would give me one of her kind smiles and ask me why I was crying.

I would never see that smile again. Never hear her voice, nor feel the warmth of her arms around me again. She was gone. There was no life behind those usually caring eyes of hers.

“Mother…” I whispered, then fell silent, because there was nothing I could say that would make this right.

The bandits had slit her throat cleanly. The way her posture was unchanged indicated that she had not fought back. My heart was flooded with feelings of inadequacy. If I had been better—if I had been back sooner—I could have prevented this. If I hadn’t hesitated, if I hadn’t momentarily been more concerned about the life of a single fucking goblin than that of my entire family. Despicable, a sorry excuse for a daughter.

I remained kneeling by her side for what felt like hours, though in reality I knew it was just a few minutes. My tumultuous thoughts had a way of stretching a moment into eternity.

“Rest well, Mama.” I eventually whispered once I had found my voice again, using the childish word for ‘mother’ that I hadn’t called her in years. It felt… right. I would always be her child.

I got to my feet, albeit shakily, and reached a hand out to my mothers face. I carefully closed her blue eyes for the last time, then watched the almost peaceful expression she held for a moment longer. Finally, I headed for the door. My heart still foolishly hoped that Father was alive, while my mind knew that he would give his life before he ever let anything harm Mother. My internal battle between hope and reality raged within me while I stepped out of the carriage. Immediately, I was made aware of two things. Firstly, stepping barefoot onto a path riddled with sharp pebbles was a poor experience. Secondly, I should never hope for anything.

My father was slumped against the front wheel of the carriage, body covered in wounds. He was stabbed from multiple angles, overwhelmed. Bittersweet pride filled my chest—my Father never would have gone down easily, and where he had died—it proved he was protecting the carriage until his final breath. His hands were empty, meaning the bandits must have stolen his sword. It made sense. It was a finely crafted steel blade he had commissioned from a renowned blacksmith in the region. It was one of his prized possessions, and it was never more than a few feet from his person.

“Thank you, Father.” I said, “For trying to protect us.”

He was different from my mother. While she wanted me to remain her child forever, he would have wanted to see his daughter grow into a woman—would have wanted to be proud of me. He wouldn’t have wanted to be called ‘Papa’. I reached forward and closed his eyes as well, letting him have the rest he deserved. Silently, I asked the goddess of death to see their souls safely to the afterlife. I wasn’t a very pious person normally, but… suddenly such things seemed unimportant. Asking cost me nothing and the peace of mind it gave me wasn’t insignificant.

I continued walking around the carriage, observing the aftermath of the slaughter—and that's what it was. A one-sided massacre of my family. Not a single bandit body lay among them, which for some reason struck me as wrong. How could someone like Father not take one of them down with him?

The feeling of wrongness remained, even as I felt numb to everything else. Both guards lay dead at the front of the carriage, one face down in the dirt and the other on their side. They both still had their weapons—spears longer than I was tall. All of their armour also remained. The bandits hadn’t taken any of it… why?

I continued around the back of the carriage, and finally found the last member of my little family. Derek lay face down, an arrow protruding from the back of his head. I crouched down beside him, almost at a loss for words. Almost.

“Why’d you have to go and die, idiot?” I asked with a sigh. I rolled him over and frowned. My brother had been the type to flaunt his wealth, and took pride in his status. He always decorated himself in expensive clothing and ostentatious jewellery. Not a single piece had been taken. Rings worth more than a farmer made in a lifetime, and they remained untouched.

My hands balled into fists—it was at that point I understood. They weren't bandits. Their goal wasn’t our wealth. Their objective—their purpose—had been to kill us from the start. Mercenaries. That’s why they had been able to kill Father without a single casualty, why they didn’t take anything… except Father’s sword.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Why only the sword? Proof of a job complete, perhaps? But that left the question of ‘who?’. Who wanted my family dead? Mercenaries of this calibre wouldn’t have been cheap, right? Was the culprit another noble?

Count en Mawynhest? He had invited us to his gathering. He knew that we'd have to take this road through the forest, and approximately when we'd have to pass through to make it on time. It might not be him, I didn’t have any evidence, but it was a good starting point.

This hadn't been an accident. It wasn't some random attack we had happened to get caught in. It was intentional. We were a target. Suddenly, I wondered if my presence would have changed anything. I could barely beat a goblin. Would I have made a difference, or would I have just died as well? At least if I had died, there would have been some honour in that—and maybe I wouldn’t be feeling as utterly alone as I do right now.

I closed Derek’s eyes as well, willing him to take care of Mother and Father, all the while I tried to sort out all these chaotic feelings warring within me.

“Farewell, Brother.”

It was probably the kindest thing I could have said, acknowledging the connection between us. I still hated him for how he treated me, and he hated me for… well, I never actually found out the reason—and now I never would. None of it mattered anymore, anyway. He was gone, just like the rest.

I walked around to the carriage and sat down in the doorway—what a sight I must have been. My dress was almost in tatters at this point. My feet were sore, I was covered in blood and my cheek was probably going to get infected. I had no one to turn to and nowhere to go. I’d considered what to do with my life once I accepted the System, but those ideas had since burned to cinders. I reached down beside me and grabbed the rusted blade from where it had fallen, tracing a nail along the flat of the blade as I thought.

There was no one left to miss me. Who could ever blame me if I wanted to join my family in the afterlife? For choosing death willingly here by my own hand rather than dying of thirst, starvation, infection or magical beast? The nearest town was days away on foot.

I lifted the blade to my neck, the edge of it pressing against my skin, caressing it. What would I even do with my life? Remain here until someone finds me? Try and make my way back and live in my family’s home alone? Become a hermit? Desperately chase after the mercenaries to—?

I froze. A smile curled my lips and I lowered the dagger from my neck. Revenge. That was something that actually sounded appealing. The mercenaries had left only minutes before I returned from the Tutorial Area. Sure, they probably had horses, but they would also likely camp for the night. I could do it. I could catch them.

To my surprise, a couple of notifications appeared.

[Generating bounty for user Belladonna.]

[Killer Killer]

[Turnabout is fair play.]

[Bounty Objectives:]

[□ Kill Mercenaries 0/5]

[Bounty Rewards:]

[1 × Mystery Box (Common)]

[10 × Experience]

[15 × Spire Coin]

[Bonus Objectives:]

[□ HIDDEN]

[Bonus Rewards:]

[Storage Artifact (Lesser)]

I let out a long, exhausted breath as a twisted sense of purpose returned to me. Well, that was that. I had a goal. I couldn’t give up—I couldn’t waste this life Father had tried to protect. Even if I inevitably ended up dying whilst trying to avenge his death, it would be better than throwing what little I had left away.

I looked through the bounty notification, and while it was mostly reminiscent of the Tutorial quest—even down to the rewards being similar—there were a few differences. The bonus objective simply said ‘hidden’, which was… quite unhelpful. There was also the fact it told me exactly how many mercenaries there were, which again showcased how the Spire System knew a suspicious amount of information. Or perhaps there were at least five, and I only had to kill five to complete the bounty? That was something to consider. I didn’t want to underestimate their numbers.

I set the blade down for now and grabbed the small leather bag. I had completely ignored the rewards from the Tutorial, including levelling up, but now was probably time to make sure I was as prepared as I could be for the bounty I was about to undertake.

I opened the bag and poured out the contents into my lap. Ten coins fell out, as well as a thin white rod. The coins were mostly black, with silver writing and a picture embossed on the coin. The words said ‘Spire Coin’ and the picture was of a tower rising up from an island in the middle of an ocean. I gingerly picked one up, examining it. I had absolutely no idea what these would be for, and I had never seen this kind of coin before—though presumably other Awakened possessed them.

Helpfully, as I held a coin, a notification appeared.

[Would you like to transfer this Spire Coin to your balance? Y/N]

After thinking about it for just a moment, I opted for ‘yes’. The coin immediately vanished from my hand and a new window appeared.

[Spire Coin Balance: 1]

Well… that was certainly more convenient than carrying them around. Curiously, I tried to open an explanation for Spire Coins now that I had something that referenced them. An explanation notification appeared.

Wait—fuck. I definitely should have tried to check when it was listed in the rewards for the Tutorial, but since the list of rewards had appeared before I figured out how to manipulate windows, it had slipped my mind under the pressure of a time limit. Idiot. Well, just one more mistake to add to the list. I focused on the explanation.

[Spire Coin]

[Currency used by the Spire System. Can be freely deposited. Daily spending and withdrawal limit is equivalent to the user's level. Gain access to the Social Store at Lv. 5. Gain access to the Item Store at Lv. 20.]

So… the important take-away was that it wasn’t something that I needed to worry about yet, though the concept of a ‘social store’ was an intriguing one. What could it possibly sell? I suppose I’d find out if I survived long enough—for now, I just deposited the rest of the coins.

[Spire Coin Balance: 10]

I nodded with satisfaction at that, and then turned my attention to the remaining object in my lap. The thin white rod. It felt like it was made of some kind of chalky rock.

The only thing unaccounted for from my previous rewards was the mystery box, so that must be what this was, but how did it work? I looked toward my current quest rewards and opened an explanation window.

[Mystery Box (Common)]

[Mystery Boxes come in one of one of seven colours, representing their rarity. This one is of the lowest rarity, Common, denoted by its white colour. To use a Mystery Box, simply snap it in half and a random piece of equipment suitable for your build will appear before you. The drop chances of the Mystery Box (Common) are as follows: 80% Common, 15% Uncommon, 4% Rare, 1% Very Rare.]

“Oh? Pure luck. How fun.” I said with a roll of my eyes, before looking back at the object in my hand. I adjusted it so that I was holding it with an end in each hand.

Then I promptly snapped it in half.