As it turned out, the lizard person camp was less than ten minutes away on foot through a swamp. This revelation was further evidence that the lizards had already found her. While it was disturbing that they had been observing her for who knew how long, she knew the fact that they had not brought her harm was a good sign.

The camp itself was primitive. Stick frames covered in leaves or untanned, scaly hides provide the bare minimum of shelter, little more than shaded overhangs. Lizard people lay around, on the floor, in trees, or standing, though most got up to inspect her as she entered. They gave her a comfortable bubble of personal space, though that might have been more due to apprehension than respect.

An especially large specimen stood tall and inflated two sacks on its neck, before letting out a thunderous croaking noise. The other lizards gave it space immediately, and it stepped close to Victoria. Its’ nostrils flared, and Victoria did her best to be very still and not look it in the eyes. The two that had escorted her here clicked and hissed at the large one, heads bowed and tails tucked. The conversation went on for what felt like hours, though was probably closer to a couple minutes.

Finally, the leader strode off back to its perch, laying back down with one eye open to watch Victoria. Following the larger lizard’s lead, the others also began to relax and observe.

Which made it rather awkward, as she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. Was she to sit with them? Did they want her to do a trick?

Whatever the case, they certainly weren’t hostile, so she opened the system to select her sponsor. She looked over once more at the sponsorship offer of The Keeper of Secrets. These boons would serve her well, and they complimented her already existing skill set. With no hesitation, she went to accept the offer.

It disappeared in front of her. A blinking system message read [The Keeper of Secrets has retracted their offer!]

It took barely two seconds for Victoria to process what that meant. It would seem this investor had been scared away, either for her holding out or another reason unknown to her. Unfortunate that the benefits had slipped through her fingers, but skittish patrons made for poor reliability. They would not trust her to accomplish anything if results were not shown immediately.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Instead, she accepted the sponsorship of Fluctuating Chaos.

Immediately she felt a change in herself. Knowledge flooded into her mind, new and unfamiliar. She felt her muscles shift beneath her skin, tiny adjustments unnoticeable right after they finished.

As a glowing light appeared in her hands, a transparent wheel manifested in front of her and began spinning, before abruptly stopping. A small, arrow shaped indicator landed on “Fighter (Common)” just as the light solidified into a basic red box with a large white plus sign on it.

All this happened in the span of less than a second, and the surrounding lizards immediately were on guard. Spears and daggers were drawn, pointed at Victoria, and hisses erupted from all sides.

In hindsight, she should have seen this coming.

She did her best not to make sudden movements, and thankfully none of the lizards stabbed her. Though not a single one relaxed.

In front of her, another system message popped up.

[You have reached level 1 and obtained the Skill: Improvised Weapon Proficiency (Common)]

Another surge of information and muscle tweaking. She was more prepared for it this time, and better able to parse what was happening. Technical knowledge was grafted onto her mind, distinct from every scrap of information stored there. Its presence felt alien in an indescribable way. As for her muscles, she could feel in real time as muscle memory was added to them. Tiny, tiny adjustments all over her body, and the very idea of swinging a weapon felt more comfortable instantly.

The big lizard bellowed at its fellows again, and again they backed down. Slowly, the tension drained away, though never left completely. They were wary of her, now.

With little better to do, she sat down herself. She considered sitting next to one of the lizards, though right then they were uncomfortable and might react negatively. So she would just get them used to her presence. They seemed more curious of her than anything else, which she suspected had something to do with how every living animal here that she had seen so far has had scales.

Once they got used to her, and comfortable, she would try getting closer. For now, she had somewhere to sleep that she wasn’t in danger of being attacked by a passing animal. She would still try and stay on guard, however. She couldn’t predict what the tribe may do.

They hadn’t killed her in her sleep when she was by herself, so she doubted they would try now. So she placed the medkit next to her and sat down. Mimicking their behaviors wouldn’t hurt their relations, so she just waited there. And waited. And waited.

She would be waiting a while.