The beast roared behind them as they ran for their lives. Wichita had not felt fear like this before. [Dragon Fear] had to be objectively more powerful, but this was personal. The beast’s heavy footsteps followed them, and for some reason the distance to the cobblestones seemed longer.

The four of them had not even left the plain the creature inhabited yet, and she was starting to think they couldn’t. The forest had already bared their path back. A death trap did not allow one to escape after all.

The air turned colder as they walked, and she could practically feel the creature gather power. The footsteps stopped as she tried to speed herself up.

“The thing’s going for a breath attack!” she yelled as she caught up to Jace. The boy was gasping for breath, but had not paused.

“What’s the range? Can we escape it?” Rose answered between gasps of breath, slowing down to look at her.

“Don’t slow down!” she ordered, though she wondered how much of a difference they could make. “I have no idea how large it is, but it is big.”

A sheet of snow formed around them even as they ran, Rose’s movements becoming lethargic as snow began crawling up her body. Jace’s pants showed similar issues, but the boy was resisting it. The enchantment she had made on his shirt, coupled with his own magic, gave him a slight resistance. Tully was likely pulling through based on her higher stats.

Wichita herself was the least expected. The Heart of Ambition burnt through her body, driving away any hint of the magic. At least for now. The Heart was a powerful thing, but this creature was Tier 6. This wasn’t an attack, this was just its presence that was freezing them. The attack would come later.

“Rose!” Tully yelled rushing to her sister as the older girl fell down onto the snow, shivering at the cold. Jace was not far behind, his pace slowing down as he clutched his chest, trying to keep going. The sounds coming from his mouth did not inspire confidence.

Wichita ground to a stop as she looked at the entrance to the maze. The entrance that had not gotten any closer. As much as she wished otherwise, it was gone. The maze might as well have been an illusion.

“I caan—thrrr—still -” Rose tried to lift herself up, but could not. Tully lifted her up into her arms, only for Jace to fall right behind her.

“There is no need.” she said, her voice dangerously calm, as she turned towards the beast. Or perhaps it was just defeat that was laced in her voice. The Heart burnt through her body, trying to convince her not to give up.

But what could she do? The beast, its face looking like that of a large cat, looked at her. Or just in their general direction. As if an avalanche had hit their location, her companions froze, snow crawling up their bodies as they helplessly shivered on the ground. An orb of ice still grew within its throat, the icy breath that would soon be the end of them.

Wichita could feel it, even as she remained the only one standing. The cold was gathering in it, trying to freeze time itself as it gathered. Trying being the important word. A Tier 9 could not have frozen time, let alone a mere Tier 6.

For some reason, the fact that the beast’s grand ambitions would go unrealized filled her with confidence.

“This was a farce, wasn’t it?” she asked, to no one in particular. The cold must be making her delirious. Now she was talking to herself.

The beast let out a sound, something that sounded eerily like a laugh. Then it closed its mouth, lowering its head as if to look at them. As if it had stopped gathering its little ball. Wichita was not so easily fooled. Opening its mouth was purely for show, it did not matter one bit. The attack was still gathering at the same leisurely pace it had before.

“I do not know what you mean.” the beast spoke, its voice echoing throughout the plain. A useless show of force.

“The forest was never going to be fair was it?” she spat. “This was just it having fun at our expense.”

Wichita had expected the beast to laugh at her, to mock her for even believing that the forest would be fair.

“Do you really think so?” The beast spoke, its voice thundering into her ears. The three transmigrators on the ground yelped in pain, blood pouring from their ears as they woke up from whatever the ice had done to them.

Wichita crouched, adding healing enchantments to their clothes. This would use up all the transformation mana she had saved, but it was what she had saved it for. There might still be a chance.

The beast had actually sounded angry when she had accused the forest. As if she was wrong.

“Yes.” she yelled back, unsure if she was doing the right thing. The beast was talking, and it might be possible to negotiate. A rather large part of her wanted to act supplicant, to please and favor the beast with words until it agreed to let her go.

But another part of her doubted it had any intention of doing that. The beast was simply whiling away time until it could finish them off with its big attack. The one it was still gathering. Wichita rather doubted it would matter in the end. If there was one thing she had learned living among the Arcana, it was that the powerful did not listen to the weak. And she doubted the beast cared one bit about her, or praise, certainly not enough to let her go.

Or maybe she was just trying to justify the impulsive decision she had made and trying not to panic. The beast was still staring at her, seemingly having decided that it would be killing her. And her subjects of course.

Well technically the magma ants would escape the beast’s wrath.

A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth as she thought about a race of fire ants coming to avenge her against this massive beast. Wichita had no idea if her Skill would end if she died.

Then she decided to argue with the beast. If she was going to die, she would die fighting. Hitting it physically was basically assisted suicide, so she would fight with words.

“What? Do you have no answer? Tell me, how is it fair that we -” she gestured towards her group, most of which seemed to be dying right now. “ - are supposed to fight you?”

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The beast growled. “And how would you make it fair then?”

Wichita blinked. Not because the beast had answered, because it had just stopped gathering mana. The thing was actually listening to her?

“Perhaps you would like to hit me as I lie down? Try to pierce my hide while I do not defend myself?” the beast growled out, its anger returning.

Wichita had no idea why it was angry this time, but it did not seem directed at her.

“What? No.” she shook her head. “That would be foolish and ridiculous.”

Just the beast's presence was enough to freeze them. How exactly was she going to pierce its hide with Tully freezing to death?

The cold suddenly lessened. As if someone had draped a blanket over her body, she felt her Heart relax.

“Why are you listening to me?” she asked before she could stop herself. Why did her mouth decide to run itself now? The Heart probably had something to do with it. Or maybe the beast’s presence. Fae magic was weird and none of their Stories were powerful enough to counteract the beast’s. Wasn’t ice supposed to represent purity? Was that why she kept foolishly spouting whatever came into her mind?

“For you are the first to call me unfair and truly believe it.” he said. “For you are the first to do so that also wields a Blade of Justice.” The beast sniffed at Tully, who lay beside her sister. And even from a distance, its breath was warm. So warm that it thawed the three of them, shooing the ice away. Then it stood up.

“For you are the first Arcana I have seen that did not abandon its kin at the first opportunity.” The beast’s voice echoed throughout the plain, and though it did not thunder into her ears, she shook anyway.

The beast knowing she was Arcana should not have mattered, but she was scared anyway. What had her ancestors done? Had they killed its children? Slaughtered his entire species? Wichita would not put any of that out of the range of possibilities.

“Ten minutes.” the beast announced. Wichita looked up. “I will give you ten minutes to escape my territory. If you still remain here after that, then I shall end your pitiful life, descendant of my masters.”

Wichita just stared at it, her mind trying to figure out what to process first. The fact that this beast was apparently one of the things the Arcana had raised, or the fact that it had told her to escape the forest in ten minutes.

The problem with the time limit won out. The bastard must be joking with her. How was she supposed to escape the forest, the same forest she had been trying to escape for days, in just ten minutes?

“What happened?” Rose coughed out, looking around with puzzlement.

“The beast gave us ten minutes to escape the forest.” she said bluntly. “I suppose we have enough time to say our goodbyes.”

“Ten minutes?” Rose looked at her, the confusion slowly being replaced with panic. “How the fuck are we supposed to do that?”

“I reached Tier 2.” Tully interrupted. “Will that help?”

Wichita shook her head. “Not unless you got any Space Magic Skills. And even then, I doubt you have any at Tier 2 that can escape this forest.”

There really was too little hope. What could even save them? The forest wouldn’t help, none of them had any Skills that would help, the forest’s beasts—Wichita’s eyes bulged as she came to a realization.

“The cat!” she spoke at almost the same time as Jace and Rose. Tully looked shocked, as if she had seen a monster.

“Yes, the cat. I suppose it is quite nice to be remembered.” a rumbling voice said from the top of her head.

Wichita turned up, trying to get a look at what it was. The fact that it was on its head did not make it easy.

“I did wonder about what I should do.” the cat said, still on her head.

“Get off my head?” Wichita opined.

“I suppose I could.” the cat said. “A possibility. But really, why should I?”

The furry thing turned downward, its snout touching her forehead. The ‘cat’ was more of a kitten, really. Wichita wondered why she was only just noticing that. Did it have stealth powers?

The kitten jumped off her head and floated midair, performing what she presumed was the version of a bow. A bit like the horse’s version, where it bent both its front knees and lowered its head.

“This one is the Random Cat. A pleasure to meet you.” it said.

“Can you take us out?” Rose asked, not wasting any time.

“Yes, but I shall require a price.” the kitten said, smiling. Wichita did not like the look of that smile. The kitten may look like a cute little thing, but she had a feeling that was just a disguise.

“What?” she asked. “What is your price?”

“Just a little thing, really.” The cat said, still smiling in that strange manner. “I require your permission to write a book about you. A novel really, detailing your adventures. I am sure they will be…interesting.”

Wichita’s eyes narrowed, and she wanted to refuse on instinct. But she didn’t. Rose was looking at her pleadingly, and well, they were still on that icy plain.

“And what exactly will this entail?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing on your part.” the cat said, and then paused. “Well, nothing important anyway.”

Wichita did not like the sound of that. Not at all. But she also had little choice. The four of them needed to get out of here in ten minutes, and this cat was looking like the only way to do it.

“Change my class.” she blurted out.

“What?” the cat actually sounded irritated at that.

“I know that you are very knowledgeable about the System.” she said. The incident with the magma ants denoted that at least.

“I suppose that is true.” the cat agreed. “But I do not see any need to help you in the matter. Or do you not realize that you do not have a choice?”

“Well, it is a matter of fairness.” she said, feeling strangely guilty. This was selfish of her, she knew. But chances like this…they did not come often. The cat had knowledge she would need if she were to change her class.

The cat scoffed. “Oh my dear, fairness is, well, a more complex topic than you know at the moment. But if you want my advice, then here it is. Keep your current class. Yes, it will not give you a direct boost to power, but you will be hard-pressed to find one better suited to you.”

Wichita opened her mouth to protest, but it died in her mouth. The cat lifted a paw and a portal appeared beside her, one she could not see the destination of. More than that, though, she felt the power it had used. The same power that had left her floating just a few hours ago.

This was a very dangerous creature.

“Walk through the portal child.” the cat said. “I will not offer you a better deal.”

Wichita wasn’t sure if she should. The deal just felt, well, it seemed too skewed in her favor. The cat was barely asking for anything in return for saving her life.

Rose took the decision from her, walking into the portal. Jace looked at her, as if asking for permission. Still reluctant, she nodded. And then stepped through the portal herself.

Perhaps now that the forest was dealt with, she could finally go ahead with the plan.