Winter, 630 CA

The wilderness surrounding the City of Etron was covered in a thin layer of snow. In the shadow of a tall oak tree, Haydith Thorn hid with her olive cloak pulled tight over her head in order to conceal her white hair. The cloak caused her to blend in perfectly with the tree’s foliage, and she used the [Lurk] ability to further increase her camouflage.

Haydith’s [Skill] caused her to fade into the background somewhat, though it was not true invisibility. Her ability merely made an already hidden individual become even harder to spot.

A small group of deer stepped into the clearing Haydith had spent the last hour silently watching. The largest of the deer carefully stepped toward the strong-smelling herbivore bait that Haydith had placed in the clearing’s center. Silently, Haydith produced an arrow from the quiver slung horizontally behind her belt.

With a practiced hand and an unwavering eye, Haydith loosed an arrow that flew unerringly into the deer’s heart. The deer cried out in surprise before falling to the ground. It thrashed upon the ground for a mere second before its pain ended.

As the three other deer fled from the clearing, Haydith stood from her place of concealment and approached the deer’s corpse. She flipped her hood back, revealing shoulder-length snow-white hair. In any other part of the world, her hair would be viewed as a novelty. In Etron and the surrounding area, nearly fifty percent of its inhabitants had white or blonde hair.

Haydith let out a low whistle as she pulled her arrow out of the deer’s flank. The arrow itself could not be used again, but she could reuse the arrowhead. She had used an iron-tipped arrow for that kill, and she didn’t want to waste the iron.

As she listened to the bounding gallop of her approaching companion, Haydith looked down at herself. She had just turned sixteen, and her body was finally starting to approach adulthood. While she was happy to finally have the mobility of an adult, she was certainly not a fan of going through puberty again. This new body experienced things very differently than her old one, and it was hard to get used to.

Snapping Haydith out of her daydream, a large dog came bounding into the clearing. Calling it a “large dog” was an understatement. While the creature was superficially similar to an American Foxhound from Earth, it was easily the size of a horse. On Ferrum, this type of creature was called a Caligan Hound, and it was the descendent of direwolves.

The Caligan Hound wore a saddle on its back with four leather saddlebags attached to it. When Haydith found the hound out in the wilderness several years before, she named him Sherlock to give herself some connection to her old world. She had no idea that the hound would grow so large.

With some difficulty, Haydith lifted the deer to her shoulder and transferred it to Sherlock’s back. She took a length of rope out of a saddle bag and used it to fasten the deer in place.

“Sorry about this, buddy,” Haydith said, petting Sherlock on his flank. “I promise that I’ll let you out as soon as we get back.”

Sherlock responded by wagging his tail and licking Haydith’s cheek with a massive tongue. Haydith laughed and rubbed Sherlock’s head before lifting herself into the saddle.

“Let’s go home, Sherlock,” Haydith said, and her Caligan Hound immediately started running back to the City of Etron.

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Etron was a city of walls. It was sectioned off into three parts by tall stone walls in order to make an invasion more difficult. In practice, however, these walls gave rise to a strict class system. Those who lived in the Gate District nearest the city’s gates were by far the poorest. Those who lived in the Merchant District lived comfortably, but they were not rich. Those who lived in the Castle District were either nobility or incredibly wealthy.

Haydith herself lived in the Merchant District with her adoptive parents, but she spent a lot of time in the Gate District. It was a lot easier to act covertly in the poorer areas.

There was a small open-air market by Etron’s south gate, and Haydith walked away from that market forty silver coins richer. It was winter, so people were willing to pay double the price for food.

Just as Haydith started making her way to the Merchant District, she felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. When she turned, she saw a man dressed in gray robes and holding a Mage’s staff looking directly at her. In an attempt to shake the man, Haydith turned Sherlock down a few side roads.

After a few minutes, Haydith felt that she had finally lost the man. Then, just as she exited out an alleyway onto the main road, he was waiting. The man with the gray cloak and black staff stood there, completely motionless, as if he knew exactly where she would go. Then, Haydith saw the man’s blue eyes look at her from deep within his hood, and a line of text appeared at the top of her vision.

Beltane Ostara has targeted you with [Observe, Lvl. 9]

Sherlock’s momentum carried Haydith a few steps past the man in gray, but she grabbed Sherlock’s reins and turned him back toward the man. Haydith turned just in time to see the Mage’s face tighten in annoyance.

“Oh,” the Mage breathed, “she’s got class levels.”

“Who are you?” Haydith demanded as she jumped off her mount. With a finger pointed in anger, she took several angry steps toward the Mage. “Why did you use [Observe] on me?”

The Mage held his free hand up in a show of surrender before saying, “I apologize sincerely. We’re just doing a census on those with noble Talents. We heard that you had [Time Stop], and I just had to confirm the truth.”

“We?” Haydith asked. “Who’s we?”

“We’re just some people working for the Realm of Northwind,” the Mage said, producing a small slip of paper from one of his cloak’s pockets. He showed Haydith the paper. Stamped on the paper was a Salamander, the symbol of House Feldrast.

“Northwind? Isn’t your leader out killing a bunch of orcs in the Lowlands?” Haydith asked, looking closely at the picture.

“That’s Count Feldrast,” the Mage said. “We’re working for a different Feldrast.”

“Fine,” Haydith said, pushing the slip of paper back into the Mage’s hand. “Just ask next time. If you want, I can bring you in to see my brother Tancred. He has the [Time Stop] Talent as well.”

The Mage gave an awkward smile as he said, “That’s very kind of you, but I have no need to see your brother again.”

“Again?” Haydith said, realization dawning. “Oh, you’ve already used [Observe] on him.”

“What can I say?” the Mage shrugged. “It’s not illegal.”

The Mage turned and started to walk away, but Haydith stopped him by saying, “Hey, could you tell me what you saw when you used [Observe] on me? I think you owe me that much.”

“Huh?” Beltane was confused for a moment. “Uh, sure.” The Mage took a piece of paper out of his pocket and scribbled some lines down. “Here.”

Haydith looked down at the piece of paper in her hands. For the first time, she saw her character sheet.

Name: Haydith Thorn

Class: Hunter

Level: 6

HP: 33

MP: 145

Fortitude: 10

Strength: 8

Agility: 14

Intelligence: 13

Willpower: 11

Charisma: 14

Talent: [Time Stop]

Haydith thought about her character sheet and how it was better than she had expected. She had managed to reach level 6 without really training. All of her hunting expeditions must have helped her gain the Experience.

She looked up at the Mage one more time, but he was gone. She had never met a Mage before, so she figured they must all be like this.

“I hope I don’t see that guy again,” Haydith muttered as she put the slip of paper holding her stats in her pocket. Unbeknownst to both her and Beltane, they would meet each other again before the year was out.