I

Eva moved past the throngs of people milling around the market, through the entrance to the village, and into the forest. Once she was clear of civilization, she started jogging quickly towards her destination. Though it had taken a couple of hours on the third day to get from the stream to the village, it had been with a group of people moving fairly slowly. At her jogging pace, it took only thirty minutes to arrive at the stream.

The stream was as she remembered. The pool below the waterfall was just large enough that she could fully submerge in it. She took the time to walk around the area to ensure there were no monsters or other things lurking nearby. This was the Tutorial, after all. Satisfied, she returned to the pool.

Eva undressed and dipped her foot in. The water was wonderfully cool and not nearly as cold as she had feared. She slowly stepped into the crystal clear water until she was covered to her neck while crouching near the center of the pool.

She scrubbed her body without the soap to start, loosening the dirt and grime that clung to her. Once she was satisfied that she’d gotten as much of the water soluble contamination off her body, she went over it with the soap. Eva used her clothes as washcloths, cleaning both herself and them at the same time. She dunked her head beneath the surface and let her hair get saturated with water before lathering some soap and getting down to the roots to clean as much as she could.

She rinsed out her clothes and placed them on the shore. With a final splash of water on her face, Eva rose from the water. She took the time to squeeze as much water out as she could, but her clothing was still damp. She checked the time and realized it was later than she thought. In a rush, she put her backpack on and chose to carry her armor rather than wear it to save some time.

II

The distance between the stream and the dungeon was less than if she had to go back to the village first before heading to the dungeon. The only issue with going directly there was that she’d have to get the direction correct to begin with since the dungeon area was not a large target and it was a couple miles away. Thankfully, Mapmaking▲ helped with the task. It wasn’t very precise, but it was good enough that Eva could err slightly on the village side and run into the path that would take her to the dungeon with little trouble. She set off at a steady jog in that direction.

Eva vaulted over fallen trees and jumped small gaps as she jogged. The forest was calm, and she slipped into a meditative state while she followed the direction Mapmaking▲ indicated. The warm air pulled moisture from her damp clothing, cooling her down as she went. Smells of fallen leaves, sap, and bark filled her nostrils. Her thoughts gradually mellowed as she enjoyed the jog.

It was twenty minutes into her trip, as she came upon a small depression in between two hills, when something stuck her in her right shoulder. The impact made her stumble and grasp the injury. She’d been shot with an arrow!

Glancing around to assess the situation, she painfully yanked the arrow out. As soon as she did, she heard the twang of a bow to her left. Eva dove towards a nearby tree, and the arrow skidded away through the underbrush. She looked back to where she’d had to drop her armor and sword in order to avoid the second arrow. She might be able to get the shortsword, but it’d be difficult. The armor was not an option for the fight, however.

Eva steadied her breathing and looked around for movement. She heard one of the enemies circling from near where the arrow had come from. She also heard the creak of the bow being pulled back by the archer. There were at least two of them.

Time slowed as adrenaline pumped through her. Near her feet she saw a couple of rocks. She had Throwing▲ as an option. Worse came to worst, she also had Unarmed▲ as well. Both were horribly low level, but they were better than no Skill at all. Plus—with good stats—a hit from either would do some serious damage. She grabbed two fist-sized rocks and then turned sideways to avoid another incoming arrow.

She took a quick peek as soon as the arrow had passed, seeing two of her enemies amongst the trees. These two did not include the archer, who was hiding in between shots. She Observed✦ both of them.

???, Lv 9 Human

???, Lv 10 Landwalker

Humans and landwalkers working together? That was going to be a problem. The landwalkers were clearly hostile, and to have humans working with them was bad news. Alexandra had been right. It meant more enemies and the potential for infiltration. She’d have to pass on the news later when she was out of this mess.

The two melee enemies were a swordsman and a spearman. Both had shields and armor. The spearman had some poor quality monster skin armor, while the swordsman had heavier armor that would be much more difficult for Eva to deal with using rocks or her fists. That they were levels 9 and 10 meant they were probably near the top of wherever they came from. It also meant they likely had some skill, unlike the few landwalkers she’d fought in the past. It was going to be more of a challenge.

Eva thought about her Skills to see if she had any other options. Pierce✦ wouldn’t work without a sword. Shields★, Swords★, and Polearms▲ likewise wouldn’t work without the requisite tools. Dodge★ and Charge★ would still work, and both had important bonuses as well. Infuse Weapon★ wouldn’t work without a weapon. Unless…

Eva Infused★ the two rocks she was holding with earth. It worked! Apparently intending to use something as a weapon would make it count as a weapon. If it worked with a rock, would it work with a stick? Would the earth augment still stay after she Threw▲ the stones? With only one way to find out, Eva stepped from behind the tree. She rocked back and Threw▲ the first stone at the human with the spear.

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She was a lot stronger than when she’d last Thrown▲ something. It surprised her to see the force behind the rock. Even more surprising was that the magic stayed on the rock until impact. The human raised his shield, but the magically enhanced stone broke right through and shattered. The human dropped to the ground, screaming in pain. The fragments found new homes in her enemy’s body. Though crippling, it was not immediately fatal.

Eva had to duck behind the tree to avoid an arrow that shot through where her head had been moments before. She decided to Infuse★ the second rock with air instead of earth before Throwing▲ it at the landwalker. The landwalker was closer to her than the human had been and didn’t have time to raise its shield in defense. Its armor did its job. It cracked under the pressure of the strike—the air magic pushing through into its body—but the majority of the impact was dispersed. The landwalker roared and Charged her.

Eva Dodged★ the incoming strike rather easily. Though the landwalker had a couple levels on her, she had better Stats and better Skills. With the small amount of time she had enhanced stats, she struck back with a kick against the landwalker’s legs. It attempted to jump over her attack, but she was faster. Her leg crunched into the armor protecting its legs, denting it and causing the landwalker to flip in the air before impacting the ground. While the landwalker was dazed, Eva pulled the sword from its grasp and Pierced✦ its head through the opening in its helmet.

As she bent to pull the sword from its skull, an arrow struck her in her side. She grunted at being impaled by an arrow yet again, but she was also glad that the arrow hadn’t struck anything vital. She turned to where the archer was and Charged★. As soon as she got close to where the archer had shot from, she caught a glimpse of its form rushing away from her faster than she could chase! It had to be using some sort of Skill, though what it was she had no idea.

Eva turned back to the depression where the still groaning human was. She walked to where he was and Pierced✦ his heart. As soon as she saw the experience notification, she knew the cleanup was done.

Human Lv 9 killed, 9 Experience awarded

Landwalker Swordsman Lv 10 killed, 20 Experience awarded

Eva winced when she pulled the arrow from her side. She then pulled a health potion from her discarded gear and drank it. It tasted bitter, unlike the pleasant taste she enjoyed in the Training. Thankfully, the person making the potions thought to use plastic water bottles as containers. They were unlikely to rupture even under fairly harsh treatment. The healing liquid settled in her stomach and closed the two punctures in her body.

When she looked back at the experience notifications, she frowned. The landwalker had been a swordsman, true, but the human had been a spearman. Why had it shown on one and not the other? That raised several questions, none of which she was equipped to answer. Maybe Hideki would know.

Eva checked what the dead had been carrying and packed away the armor and sword from the landalker. The human’s spear was too bulky to take with her—and he had nothing else besides the awful armor—so she left him where he lay. She donned her armor despite knowing her still damp clothing would chafe under her armor. She was not going to make the mistake of being unarmored again.

Eva used Mapmaking▲ to find the correct direction again and jogged in that direction. The going was slower now that she had the extra gear with her, but she was fairly close to the dungeon now. A few extra minutes wouldn’t matter.

III

The trees rushed past as she ran, the uncomfortably damp clothing rubbing her skin away. Finally, she came to an opening in the underbrush where the path between the village and dungeon ran. She turned onto it and away from the village. She looked at the clock and saw that it was around half an hour later than she’d told Hideki she’d meet him. A pang of guilt ripped through her stomach. She didn’t like to be late, and she didn’t like to let people down.

Soon enough, the path opened up to the fairly populated dungeon area. In the last day, it looked like a couple of people had set up stalls to sell various dungeon goods, food, and other necessities. Maybe the area around the dungeon would end up being a separate village if enough time passed. With the market, Eva considered sleeping by the dungeon instead of traveling back and forth every day. There was food, and monsters to kill. All she’d need was a place to rest her head. Eva shook her head. That was something to decide in the future.

She looked around at the one hundred or so people milling about. It took her a minute to find Hideki in the crowd. He was sitting to the side of the entrance to the cave talking to a couple people. Eva made her way to him. The two he was talking to were a man and a woman wearing the typical monster skin armor. Each had a spear and a repurposed goblin sword. All in all, they looked like average frontliners.

“Hey, Hideki,” she said.

He nodded at her, and the other two glanced her way.

“Sorry I’m late,” she continued. “The bath took a little longer than anticipated, and I ran into some aliens on the way over. Lots of fun.”

“You look ok,” he said. “You’re ok, right?”

“Yeah. Took a couple arrows, but otherwise not too bad. There were three of the bastards, but I only got two of ‘em. Fuckers have humans working with ‘em, too.”

“That’s… not good.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” she blew a raspberry at him before turning her attention to the other two. “So, who are the new faces?”

“Liz,” said the woman. On closer inspection, she was older than Eva—perhaps mid-forties—with short brown hair and a pale, rounded face.

“Javier,” said the man. He was tanned with very short dark hair. With acne all over his face and gangly limbs, he looked like he hadn’t even graduated high school yet.

“I’m Eva,” she finished. “So, what’s the plan, Hideki?”

“Delving the dungeon. These two seem interested in joining us. They finished the Basic▲ version, so hopefully we'll be able to go after Novice✦ and then Journeyman★. Maybe get another person or two to round out the group. I got us a slot in about half an hour for Novice✦.”

“So our date is now a double date,” Eva teased. “Good work getting an opening for us. I’m going to talk to the person who handles the slots about what happened on my way over. I’ll meet you by the entrance after. Maybe some more interested people will show up by then?”

“Alright.”

Eva walked towards the dungeon entrance and located the woman handling the delving slots that afternoon. There was a short line of people attempting to get their teams on the list or to ask some questions. She waited at the back behind a group of eight. The line moved quickly enough, so after only ten minutes, she was finally able to speak with the woman. She was on the short side and older, with gray hair and plenty of wrinkles.

“How can I help you?” the frazzled woman asked.

“You’re here from the council or at least working for them, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Ok, so when you go back later—or if someone can go back to the council for you—please tell them what I found out on my way over here.”

“What happened?” the woman asked. Her face had a ‘what now’ look about it.

“I’ve fought landwalkers before, which is annoying in and of itself. However, what stuck out to me is that—when ambushed this time—there was a human working with them. I would hope it’s a one-off, but I wouldn’t stake my life on that.”

“Ok,” the woman said, scribbling a note into the margin of the paper schedule. “Is that all?”

Eva nodded.

“I’ll not keep you any longer.”