A heavy silence hung in the air. After she finished relating her story, Nina had fallen quiet as if to let what she’d just said sink in. For a moment, Jack didn’t say anything either, contemplating what he’d just heard from Nina. There had initially been four people in her group. Two of them had been killed, and Kirk, who still lay on the bed with his eyes closed, was slowly but gradually turning into stone. It was the doing of some evil witch who had also destroyed their home, burning their camp to the ground. What had happened to her group was terrible. He couldn’t even imagine how Nina must be feeling right now.

“I need your help,” she said, bringing him back from his reverie.

Jack looked at the pretty girl who was staring at him intently.

“I’d love to,” Jack replied, gesturing toward Kirk lying on the bed, “but I have no idea how to heal him.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you to help me with,” Nina said. “At least, not exactly. I actually know a way to get rid of the debuff that’s affecting him.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

“Yes.” Nina made a dramatic pause. “There’s only one way to get rid of it.”

A realization hit him. “You mean you want to kill that what’s-her-name witch?”

“Her name is Melinda. She’s a sorceress. And yes, I want to kill her. That’s the only way to heal Kirk.” Nina took a step closer to Jack. “That’s what I need your help with.”

Jack looked away. That sorceress sounded really dangerous. Nina and her friends had fought her a couple of times but failed to defeat her. Would he be much of a help to Nina if he decided to aid her in fighting Melinda? It was anybody’s guess. This world was governed by video game rules. The sorceress must have surpassed them by many levels. If that was the case, there was no way they could defeat her.

Nina must have realized what he was thinking because she said, “I’m well aware that I barely know you and that you don’t owe me anything. You’ve already saved our lives when you suddenly showed up and helped us escape from those blind monsters.”

Jack knew that he was actually the reason Nina and Kirk got almost killed by the mutants in the first place. He felt like it was his fault they had gotten surrounded by those blind creatures and had felt the obligation to save Nina and Kirk. Yet he decided not to mention any of that yet. Nina wasn’t finished and he didn’t want to interrupt her.

“Normally, I wouldn’t dare to ask you to help me kill the sorceress, as it’s a considerable favor to ask. But I have no choice. I’m not sure if I can deal with her on my own. So could you please help me? Kirk broke her enslaving staff, and then the men she’d controlled turned on her. Unfortunately, she killed all of them, but now she’s all alone and won’t be able to enslave anybody else.”

Nina paused as if to see if Jack had something to say. He kept quiet, though.

“I’ve seen how you cut through those mutants to reach us,” Nina continued. “You sure are a skillful swordsman and a pretty good spellcaster to boot. The fireballs you launched at the mutants while we retreated to your treehouse were pretty powerful too. I’m myself a pure mage. I know a few powerful offensive and defensive spells. Between you and me, I have a feeling we have good chances of defeating Melinda.”

Jack was still silent. He tried not to look into Nina’s intense eyes. Fighting the sorceresses seemed like a lost cause to him. Unlike Nina, he wasn’t sure if the two of them had any real chances of defeating her. Besides, it was not his fight. Like Nina had said, he didn’t owe her or Kirk anything. Sure, he’d come to their aid when they needed help, but he’d done it mostly on the spur of the moment. He felt guilty they’d gotten attacked by the blind mutants because they existed only because of the curse he had on him. Also, he knew what to expect from those blind mutants and how to fight them. But dealing with the sorceress was an altogether different matter. She appeared to be an extremely powerful mage, who sure had lots of tricks up her sleeve. Why should he get into a fight with such a powerful opponent, putting his life on the line for Nina and Kirk, the two people whom he barely knew? He sure had no reason to.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel bad for them. They seemed like good people. He really wanted to help them even though it seemed like a very bad idea to him. While it was a game-like world, as far as he knew, death was permanent here. Sticking his neck out for the two strangers would be a really bad idea.

It’s not your fight, Jack told himself another time, trying to persuade himself to do the smart thing instead of the stupid thing. Not your fight.

Nina must have realized what he was thinking. Her pretty face scrunched into a scowl.

“Fine,” she said with determination in her voice that surprised him. “If you don’t want to help me, I’ll fight Melinda on my own.”

She made to leave the room, but an arm shot out toward her. It was Kirk. He suddenly opened his eyes as he grabbed Nina by her wrist, stopping her. Jack had thought him to be unconscious, but he must’ve been awake all along, listening to their conversation.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Nina, don’t go,” Kirk said. “There’s no reason for you to fight Melinda.”

“What are you talking about? Killing her is the only way to heal you!”

Kirk shook his head weakly. “It doesn’t matter. I’m done for, Nina. If you try to fight Melinda, she’ll kill you, and we’ll both be dead.”

“I'm not going to sit on my ass and watch you die, Kirk. I gotta try to save you.”

“The blind mutants are still outside,” Jack said before the two of them could continue to argue. “There are lots of them out there. It’d be incredibly hard for you to break through them.”

Nina just stared at him for a moment. Then she seemed to concede.

“What are they anyway?” she asked. “I’ve never seen such monsters before.”

“Me neither,” Kirk said.

Jack told them about how he’d been cursed many days ago and how those blind mutants now materialized all around him during the nighttime.

“You don’t know how to break the curse?” Nina asked in a tone like it was an easy task.

“If I knew, I would’ve undone it a long time ago,” he grumbled.

“You must’ve never found a Shrine of Talindra.”

“What’s that?”

“Talindra must be some kind of deity in this world. A shrine dedicated to Talindra can lift any curses as well as heal any wounds you may have.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Jack had never stumbled across such a useful thing. He’d explored many parts of the alien forest, but there were still plenty of places where he’d never been before.

“So this shrine can lift the curse I got on me?” he asked.

“Yes. The very first use of the Shrine of Talindra is free of charge. After that, you will have to bring something to the shrine in order to receive its blessings.”

“Can you tell me where I can find that shrine of yours?”

A sly smile tugged at the corners of Nina’s lips. “Looks like we both need something from each other now.”

“Wait a second, can’t this shrine get rid of Kirk’s debuff?” Jack asked.

“If it could, I wouldn’t be asking for your help in killing Melinda,” Nina said. “A Shrine of Talindra can heal all your wounds and lift any curses that were put on you by monsters, but it can’t undo negative effects that were put on you by other people.”

Jack nodded. “Okay.”

Nina stepped closer to him.

“Help me kill Melinda,” she said. “Then I’ll lead you to the Shrine of Talindra.”

Jack felt relieved. It wasn’t because of the shrine Nina had just told him about, though. At least, not entirely because of it. If he let Nina die in the fight against the sorceress without lifting a finger to help her out, his consciousness would gnaw on him forever. He was going to accept her offer because now he had a legitimate reason to help her. At least, that was how he tried to justify his decision to help Nina. The voice at the back of his mind kept telling him to turn her offer down, but now it failed to persuade him.

“Deal,” Jack said.

Nina looked at him in disbelief at first, then her face was brightened by a happy smile.

“Thank you so much!” she exclaimed.

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Alright, let’s go then!”

She was about to dart out of the room, but Jack stopped her.

“Hold your horses. First of all, those blind mutants are still out there. While it’s still night, they’ll be materializing all around me no matter where I go. We have to wait until morning.”

Nina was going to object, but Jack continued to talk before she could speak up. “And second, you look really tired. You should rest for the rest of the night. If that sorceress of yours is half as powerful as your story claims she is, we must make sure we are well-rested to confront her at our strongest.”

“He’s right, Nina,” Kirk said. “If the two of you are gonna fight Melinda, you have to be at your best. Though I still don’t approve of your decision to get into a fight with her.”

“I’m going to go fight her whether you like it or not.”

“That’s exactly what concerns me. Since I can’t stop you from going, then at least allow me to convince you to grab some winks.”

Jack sensed Kirk’s relief upon learning that he would assist Nina in battling Melinda. It looked like the two of them thought too highly of his combat prowess. He wondered why. Had he really looked that good when he cut through the horde of the blind mutants and then helped Nina and Kirk to safely get to his secure treehouse? Perhaps it was time for him to acknowledge his experience and give himself more credit for his combat and survival skills.

The girl turned out to be incredibly stubborn, though. “I’m not gonna sleep, Kirk.” She turned her head to look at Jack. “When you led us through your house to this room, I noticed your alchemy laboratory.”

“Me too,” Kirk said. “It looked pretty impressive, bro.”

“It seems that you also have a wide array of ingredients,” Nina said. “May I use some of them to concoct a stamina potion? It’ll give me peak strength and maintain it for the next twenty-four hours.”

“Be my guest,” Jack said. “And by the way, that’s what I was going to do as well. Once I committed to assisting you, I planned to spend the remainder of the night brewing some potent potions to aid us in fighting Melinda.”

“It’s a good idea,” Nina said. “I can also enchant your weapons to make them more powerful and give them magical properties.”

“She’s really good at it,” Kirk said to Jack with a wink.

While Jack was good at alchemy, he himself lacked enchanting skills. The idea of giving his weapons powerful enchantments excited him a great deal. “Let’s go then.”

Jack began to walk toward the door that led out of the room, but the girl hesitated. She looked at Kirk, who lay on the bed. Since his legs had turned into stone, he couldn’t follow his friends.

“Don’t worry about me, Nina,” he said to her. “I’ll be fine here. Go brew some potions and enchant weapons. The two of you gotta prepare well for the upcoming fight with Melinda.”

Nina nodded and hurried after Jack.