Chapter Five

She opened the chest shaped icon that had appeared in the corner of her screen. A new view appeared; it looked like a gaming inventory. Each item had a designated space. She selected the core, and it appeared in her hand.

The core was green and yellow and had similar markings to the lizard. Light emitted from the core, and there was an atmosphere of power surrounding the orb.

Moira intently examined the core. She’d never held something so powerful in her hands. It hummed softly, vibrating against her palms, her stomach tingled. Cyrus cleared his throat loudly, drawing her attention. Moira gingerly handed him the core. She had to stop herself from yanking it back from him.

Cyrus placed the core in his bag, securing it to his side.

“Careful. Core energy can be overwhelming, a bit addicting. Especially to low levels.”

Her brows furrowed. The core’s presence didn’t overwhelm her. It felt oddly comforting. The core’s song felt familiar. Like the beating of a heart, thrumming softly against its chest.

He was probably lying. Trying to curb her interest in the cores. For now, she would listen to him, but just until she could find a better guide. He’d been willing to leave her stranded here, alone. She couldn’t truly trust him.

He handed her a blue crystal, directing her to close her eyes and focus her energy on it. She did as he said and focused. The crystal attached itself to something inside her, latching on and yanking out a portion of her energy. She lurched forward, surprised by how aggressive it was. But pleasure quickly replaced her shock as the crystal unleashed the blue gas and began meticulously cleaning her skin and clothes.

“That’s better.”

Cyrus stared back at her, a strange look on his face.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Yeah, sorry, you just look different.”

“Well, yeah, I’m sure I look different. I’m not covered in several pounds of monster guts.” She stuck her hand out. “The weapon, please. We had a deal.”

“Tomorrow.”

“What? Why? That wasn’t the deal.”

“Too bad.”

She glared at him. “Why?”

“You don’t need it now. Tomorrow, I’ll train you with it before we leave.”

“Fine.”

At least she was clean. She felt more like herself, more human. Duke settled in next to her, snuggling up to her side. A reminder that she wasn’t completely alone with a stranger. She still had one remnant left of her life before.

They didn’t talk much for the rest of the night. Cyrus made a small fire and grilled some sort of mystery meat. It was tough and tasted like rotten eggs, but she was hungry and wasn’t going to complain.

The two suns dipped below the horizon and night fell. And with them the humid heat of the afternoon. Moira shivered; the forest appeared much more ominous in the darkness. A flash of something appeared off to the right, just visible in the corner of her eye. She turned, searching for whatever she’d seen. There was nothing.

“Must be my imagination,” she whispered.

Duke grumbled beside her, readjusting so that his paws slightly touched her arm.

“It’s definitely nothing if you’re unconcerned,” she said.

The only response she received was snoring. She sighed and stroked Duke’s hair. Cyrus sat on the opposite side of the fire, staring intensely into the flames. His mouth was pressed into a firm line, and his shoulders were slumped forward, his brow furrowed in thought. Moira opened her mouth to say something snarky and stopped, letting her mouth fall shut.

She touched her bracelet, feeling for the familiar engraving. Her fingers traced the markings with utmost care. The glen was clear; whatever she had seen before was a trick of the firelight. Her hands fell to her side. She rolled over, snuggling into Duke, and went to sleep.

#

“Get up.”

A blunt force hit her in the stomach. She squinted up at her attacker. Cyrus. He loomed over her, blocking out the suns.

“Do I need to kick you again?”

She groaned and rolled to her other side in an attempt to ignore him.

“I warned you,” he said, his foot slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her.

She sat up straight and glared up at him. He sneered back at her and crossed his arms. Duke still slept peacefully at her side.

“Thanks for the warning,” she said pointedly to the sleeping dog. He readjusted in his sleep, sighing softly.

Moira shook her head.

“It’s time to train. If you’re going to make it out of this forest with me, you need to know the basics.”

Moira scrambled to her feet. Training, now that was something worth waking up for.

“First, you need to take care of your attribute points. I’m sure you have a stockpile from killing that lizard. Always apply your points before going into a fight. It could save your life.”

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“How do I do that?” she asked.

Cyrus rubbed his hand through his hair. “It’s like teaching a child,” he muttered.

“I heard that.”

“How much do you know about the system?” he asked, ignoring her comment.

“System? You mean all the game stuff?”

“Game stuff? It’s not a game. The system is your livelihood, access to magic, and your very purpose. It’s not a game.”

She placed her hands on her hips defiantly. “It’s not like this where I’m from. In my world, we have games that have similar setups. Levels, classes, skills—but on Earth it’s not real. It’s just fantasy. A way to relieve stress.”

“Well, on Caelum, it’s very real.”

“Okay, so it’s real. That means—what exactly?”

“It means that things are life and death—and your level, your class, and your skills are the things preventing you from dying a horrible death.”

She winced, not expecting his bluntness.

“Don’t just stare at me like an idiot. Place your points. I recommend adding some to strength, constitution, and dexterity. You’ll need those the most if you’re going to get out of here in one piece.”

Moira rolled her eyes. “I’ll decide for myself, thank you.”

She opened the screen and her character sheet popped up. It looked different from before, next to each attribute was another number in parentheses. She recalled the notifications from the fight, the beast slayer title. The system had said there would be a 5% increase. That must be it. But she had 25 attribute points—she could test it out, but where to add the points? She looked through the rest of her attributes. As much as she hated to admit it, Cyrus was right.

Moira mentally added 5 points to dexterity

Dexterity:11 (12)

Moira felt a surge of energy run through her body. She looked at her hand and moved her fingers. They moved more gracefully than before. She looked back at the stat and did some mental math. The parenthetical number had to represent the increase from the title, but it rounded up to a whole number.

She still had 20 attribute points left. While Cyrus was right about increasing her strength, constitution, and dexterity, she couldn’t look past the benefits of intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. She’d always leaned toward playing mage builds in Realm of Legends, and one shouldn’t underestimate the power of intelligence. Plus, maybe with the added charisma, maybe she could get Cyrus on her side.

Moira mentally added 5 points to charisma, constitution, strength, and intelligence.

Name: Moira Thompson

Race: Unavailable

Racial Abilities: Looting, Inventory

Class: N/A

Level: 5

Health: 66/66

Stamina: 33/33

Mana: 39/39

Core Traits

Strength:15 (16)

Constitution:13 (14)

Dexterity:11 (12)

Intelligence:17 (18)

Wisdom:10 (11)

Charisma:10 (11)

Skills

Tripping lvl 1, Weapon Making lvl 1, Dodging lvl 1, Spear Basics lvl 1, Analyze lvl 1

Titles

Beast Slayer-5% increase to all core stats.

Companion

Name: Duke Thompson

Race: Dog

Level: 2

Attribute Points: 0

Moira felt another surge of energy run through her body. This time, it was much stronger. She could feel her muscles strengthening and her skin toughening with the additional points. Her mind felt clearer than it had in years. She grinned. She could certainly get used to this.

Her overall health, stamina, and mana had all increased with the added stats. She would have to experiment more to confirm, but it seemed like constitution affected health, intelligence affected mana, and strength or dexterity increased stamina.

“Are you finished? Or are you just going to keep standing there, wasting time?”

“Give me a minute, I’m just enjoying the new attribute points,” she said.

“Then train. You’ll really get a chance to see what you can do.”

She considered him; he had a point. She’d like to see what kind of damage she could do with her new strength. The whole points system felt like cheating. She didn’t have to lift weights or work out for months to increase her strength. All she needed was to level up.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Cyrus grinned broadly. “Let’s go,” he said, throwing her a practice sword.

Before she could ask where it came from, he was flying towards her, another wooden sword in hand.

She raised the sword to block; it was heavier than she expected, and she was too slow. His sword slammed into her, knocking her to the ground.

“Well, that was just pathetic.”

“You cheated. You can’t just charge at me like that.”

“Do you think every enemy or monster is going to wait until you’re ready to attack?”

She sighed; he had a point—again.

“So, get back up, and let’s start again,” he said.

He held out his hand, reaching out to her. She grasped it. Their eyes met as he pulled her to her feet. His hand was firm and callused.

“Now, keep your legs shoulder-length apart, and hold the sword up at your waist. Your goal, for now, is to block me. Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s try this again.”

He swung the sword at her, slower this time, and she lifted the sword and braced her legs, waiting for impact. The wooden sword slammed into hers, pushing her back. Cyrus pushed her sword down easily, slapping it away.

“Again.”

Duke sat by, watching the two of them train, his head moving back and forth as he examined every move.

Throughout the morning, they practiced. Sweat dripped down her face and she panted with the effort. After an hour, she received a notification.

Ding!

New Skill: Sword Basics lvl 1

The sword felt more natural in her hand. Every movement was smoother, like the sword was an extension of her arm instead of a weapon to be wielded. Cyrus wasn’t impressed. He critiqued her stance, movements, and slashes; without a single word of encouragement. His manner was gruff, and he didn’t hold back when attacking. By the end of the day, Moira was exhausted and covered in bruises.

“That’s enough for today. Tomorrow we’ll move on.”

Moira collapsed onto the ground, shaking from exertion. She’d never worked so hard in her entire life. Duke laid down next to her and licked the sweat off her face. She scratched his ears, her heart pounded against her chest.

Moira fell asleep, lulled by the quiet crackling of the fire.