Now what am I supposed to do?

The stench of the creatures overwhelmed her senses and scratching and screeches were already dotting the distance. She could just leave Adriel here and wait to play until his death timer was over, but that felt needlessly cruel after he went through so much to save her. Right now she was Ava the adventurer, and Ava the adventurer wouldn't leave her party member and savior behind.

His arm was still hot to the touch as she slung his body into a fireman's carry. Her new form surprised her, struggling but succeeding to depart from the scene of the conflict. It didn't take long to find an opening in the mountainside. A musk distinctly similar to the huge bear she saw prior wafted from the cave entrance. There wasn't enough time to scout for the creature's potential mate. She could only hope that her luck had drastically improved in the last few minutes or else her travels were about to be cut short.

Each resolved step was only met with faint dripping and the echoing impacts of her feet. Eventually the scent led her into the pitch darkness to what must have been the creature's den. Its bedding of fur and sticks felt far better than the cold stone floor. After gently laying Adriel down, she tested the nearby water. It was surprisingly potable. An unpolluted mountain spring. Would be hard to find that outside of games anymore.

She was reminded of her recent resurrection as she drifted off to sleep beside Adriel. Within those flames, she had seen beneath his shabby exterior. Why would he choose to shroud himself in such an appearance? He isn’t someone famous from the gaming scene. Is he embarrassed for desiring such attractive features? Or maybe it'll be part of his backstory with a big reveal. I better not ruin it for him. A gentle smirk creased her lips at such a thought.

**

After an extensive rest, they found themselves sitting in a dim light, eating what could only generously be described as oatmeal out of a stone pestle.

“You can make light. Summon food. Revive the dead! Just how much of a headstart did you get in this life?”

Adriel grimaced at her question.

“A ‘headstart’ is one way to put it. This life took what little I had and thrust me into the wilds. It would have taken my life as well had I not developed such abilities. Now I simply try to help people who deserve a better fate than they're given.”

Ouch. I guess that’s his subtle way of telling me I didn’t deserve his help when we met.

“How do I develop skills of my own? Is there a process to it?”

Her question seemed to stun Adriel for a moment before the man managed to utter a confused response.

“It is evident that you have trained for this journey, but did you not study as well?”

“Where's the fun if I'm just told how to do everything before playing? Hey, what's up with that face?”

Ava turned away from his bewilderment and began distracting herself with rinsing out the pestle in the spring. He must think she's an idiot for not using her family's influence to gain an advantage. They made him join her after all.

A hand enveloped hers, forcing them to stop. A glow washed over the pestle, stripping the remaining water and food from the surface.

“It was not my intention to mock you. Your bravery and intelligence speak for themselves. And though it is irrelevant, your beauty does as well. Let's return to our seats. This will take awhile.”

Noticing no hidden motives, Ava obliged and sat on the comfortable bedding once more. Adriel settled down across from her.

“The topic of souls has been debated since the dawn of history. It is believed that the ancient species guided the first short lived ones in its expanse. This manifests itself in countless different ways, such as my magic.. Our will guides its development and our struggles grow it. A lack of either limits the growth of the soul. That is why it is so common for powerful families such as yours to send their heirs on grand adventures.”

Adriel brought the summoned light between them and proceeded to brighten and dim it.

“This magic is the manifestation of my will bending the world's rules using my soul as the fuel. Your will must project a clear picture of your desired outcome or else it fails. The knowledge of most abilities are closely guarded and only taught to those bound to each other, such as guilds, religious sects, or ancient families. A more difficult path is the path of the unknown. There is no guarantee of success and no protection from being forced to divulge your secrets. Every tidbit of learning is earned through grueling study and practice.”

“From the way you're speaking, it sounds like you are taking the latter path. Why not join one of the established ways? You are clearly talented.”

“Because using my abilities as I deem fit would be forbidden. What use is a power I cannot use? I would be no better than those fanatics that turn away the poor. How great would it be to grow strong enough that not even they could stop me from freely spreading my knowledge to the world.”

He must be speaking from personal experience. It isn't uncommon for people to be denied treatments if they can't afford them. He must want to make this world better than our own. I still want to do a few of the classic quests, but this sounds like the perfect goal for our first campaign.

If this was a typical computer or tabletop role-playing game, they would need to cover the important roles. The classic setup would be a cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard. Adriel already had his beginner role more than filled. She trained into a nimble style instead of a tank, so finding a fighter and wizard would be best.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“And then there is the impossible way. It defies all logic of this world. If the usual method bends the rules, this method breaks them. There is no reasoned process or meticulous execution. It is the sheer infliction of a soul’s desire far beyond that of a conscious will. My first time experiencing this method was when I brought you back to life. And what a soul has felt once, it can more easily feel once more. Given time, I should be able to reproduce such results, but in the meantime, I ask that you forgo any more suicidal actions.”

“Yeah, like you've never gotten yourself killed in a game.”

“Never… And you shouldn't be playing ‘games’ that do.”

“But it's okay if you do?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

The two of them stared in confusion. There was clearly a misunderstanding between them. Ava was the first to break the silence.

“Sorry, that was childish. Thanks for the explanation. Shall we get this adventure underway?”

Reaching a hand out, Ava pulled Adriel up and shook his hand.

“Let's form a party until you achieve your goal. You can just tell your superiors that I insisted. Let's make this a better world together.”

Adriel became contemplative at her words. He appeared ready to decline when Ava's voice came from just behind his ear.

“Are you afraid of falling for adorable little me?”

Adriel lunged forward and light burst into the form of a greatsword in his hands. The radiant construct was for anything but show. It moved with terrifying ease in his hands as he lowered it to his side, staring at her wide eyed.

“I surrender. You've got me beat.”

Ava jokingly raised her hands in defeat, but Adriel had yet to truly relax.

“You already figured out how to work on your first skill…”

He suddenly picked up the walking stick he had dropped, stowed away his meager belongings and began walking away. Ava felt a sinking loneliness begin to seep into her heart. She had spent many hours playing games in her life but this was the first time she had ever connected to another person since Valerie, her personal maid. Had it been anyone else, she would have easily brushed it off, but it had been so long since someone had simply looked at her as a person rather than one of her titles. For a wonderful moment, it felt like she had truly belonged somewhere in this universe.

The moment she summoned the thought activated disconnect, his voice echoed down the corridors of the cave.

“Are you coming or not? We’ve gotta get moving if we want to make it off this mountain before nightfall.”

“Coming!”

**

“Boo!”

A shriek of terror erupted as yet another victim frantically scrambled away.

In the hours since they began their journey from the cave, she had taken to terrorizing the local wildlife. The first time was for laughs. The next couple were to make Adriel smile. She only persisted because practicing her skill creation on living beings was far more effective than just maintaining it.

It was only once they had come upon a small rabbit with reddish eyes that Adriel placed an arm in front of her.

“I wouldn’t scare that one if I was you.”

“Now I want to do it even more!. Be ready to save me!”

Ava crept up to the little bunny and began to gently pet the creature. It went rigid in her hand and simply sat there until a moment later it started letting out a chirping call. A brief look at Adriel delivered her with an anticipatory smile that spoke of a coming consequence. After a suspenseful handful of seconds, the little thing’s cries were met by a much more guttural response. A much bigger rabbit with razors for teeth flew out of the underbrush and began sniffing the air. Its eyes quickly locked onto Ava’s position.

Smell. They track by smell…

“I’ll be needing that saving!”

“I only kill for survival or when something is needlessly hostile to travelers. I suggest we run until it tires of chasing us.”

The scramble down the mountain was interspersed with the occasional quake skill slowing down the mother rabbit.

When the creature felt that it was slowly losing them, its speed increased in a burst. Ava hadn’t considered it capable of utilizing skills as well.

A deep rumbling got louder and louder until she noticed a land ending in a cliff ahead.

“Did you mean to lead us to a deadend? Jumping off waterfalls is a lot more dangerous than it seems!”

“Hang on tight and trust me.”

He sent his walking stick arcing into the distance before grabbing her hand and pulling her into an embrace.

A powerful leap sent them plummeting with all the sinking feeling of a roller coaster. A sense of panic began to permeate her being as she braced for the sudden impact.

Instead, she felt a sudden upward pull, causing her to open her tightly shut eyes. Beautiful feathered wings of gold spread from Adriel's back. It only took a handful of seconds to glide to the ground, but the experience was ingrained into her memory with a single goal. She needs to learn how to fly. Or make Adriel learn and carry her.

The adrenaline high had yet to fade when a slim man burst out of the nearby trees and rapidly approached Adriel. He pulled a book and a quill from a leather bag on his hip like a reporter finding a scoop. His robes screamed ‘apprentice wizard’ in the most stereotypical way possible, complete with a fashionable headband.

“Good afternoon, my Lord and Lady. I am a collector of the arcane arts and I can’t help but be awed by your incredible skill. I have never seen such a beautiful yet functional spell before. Though it is impolite, I would be overjoyed should you feel compelled to divulge knowledge of that ability.”

Adriel yanked his walking stick out of the ground and sternly eyed the strange man.

Why is he so wary of this guy? He seems harmless to me.

“I see. Perhaps a demonstration of my own is necessary.”

He began speaking in a foreign tongue, a lightning spell forming at his fingertip. Fortunately, the weak spell failed to cast when a muscular woman backhanded it out of existence. Her hands were wrapped and she wore loose clothes that enabled easy movement. It would seem she was the monk type.

“Stop screwing around. If we don't find your target, you're definitely gonna get fired and I already passed up getting a second job to help you pursue this dream. I'm not letting you give up this time.”

“Loosen up. The leakers say we need to strengthen our souls first. For all we know she has already been killed.”

It would seem they had walked into a comedy act.

“Sounds like we'll have to use your grimdark army fund for rent afterall.”

“Actually I'm feeling really good about this job. We’ll stumble across her any minute now, I’m sure of it.”

The woman shook her head in exasperation before turning to Ava and Adriel.

“Please pardon my brother’s strange behavior. Ever since he found that he was a bit talented at this soul stuff, he’s gotten a big head. I’ll make sure to keep him more in check in the future. I’m Laura and this idiot is Leon. We’re still quite new to the area and would appreciate any knowledge you may have on this individual. We’ve only completed a single quest, but you may have the earnings if you can point us in the right direction. She was supposed to be on that mountain you just came from.”

“She may look a bit different than the poster but her essence should be the same.”

Ava turned to look at the sketch and it was undoubtedly a likeness of her real life self. Except she was told to expect a single individual and Adriel fit that bill far more than these two. A chill spread down her spine as she thought of another possibility.. Player-killers. Her maid had warned her of guilds that were planning on ruthlessly killing players at the start to get ahead. But how could they have gotten that information? Would her siblings go so far as to target her? The image of a certain brother came to mind.

Laura and Adriel noticed her reaction and launched into action. The greatsword of energy appeared once more, but this time it was wreathed in flames that roared as it consumed the air around it. Adriel moved far quicker than a human should have been capable of as his body blurred in its assault.

“Gosh I hate this magic garbage.”

Metallic clangs rang out each time Laura’s fists smashed into the sword causing the flames to diminish around them. Every time she tried to close the distance, it almost seemed as if the sword pushed Adriel out of reach. This was all but confirmed when he decided it was necessary to show another card. Pivoting midair, using the greatsword as a rebound point, he surprised Laura by latching onto her body and holding her in place as the sword flew to impale her. It was clear that, in terms of brute strength, she was far outmatched.

Finally unfreezing, Leon flipped his book to a new page and began incanting once more with his strange words. Making her choice, Ava activated her visual deception and sprinted behind him. She swiftly withdrew her dagger and plunged it into his throat. Or at least it should have hit home until a blue sheen deflected it to the side, instead scraping against his clavicle and lodging itself above his shoulder.

“Oh God. You stabbed me!”

His exclamation made the two melee combatants disengage and turn to them. Laura seemed most confused of all.

“Language! Wait… isn’t this man holding you hostage?”

“Aren’t you player killers?

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that she just stabbed me?!”

Laura ignored her brother’s pleas and bowed to Ava.

“It would seem that we have made a mess of things. Ava Maribel Welter, my brother and by extension myself have been tasked by Fate with assisting you. Please let us know how we may make up for this blunder to you and your companion.”

If they’re supposed to be my escorts, then what does that make Adriel?