David has died on Earth, his body pronounced dead when the police arrived at his apartment, but what about Ilos? A lot of things are the same about the position David finds himself in, with a few very glaring differences.

 

Themes apply to all chapters, not this one specifically.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3: The Start of a Journey

Ilos, Day 1

 

I was back in the plaza in front of the Palace, the agony I had felt just a moment ago gone without a trace. I didn’t die, that’s not what death feels like here, but I’m back in the plaza. What is going on? Confused and still shaking, I looked around. The Call to Arms was rung, but the city doesn’t look like it’s under attack.

The ground was made of pitch black stone with a large white Centerstone in the middle, located just in front of me, engraved with something I couldn’t read from where I stood. There were players standing around looking confused and some still appearing in glimmers of light, many with different armors than the starting equipment I still wore. Except for that, everything was exactly as it had bee-

I frowned, cutting myself off. The floor hadn’t been black before, it had been white, and there had been no engraving on the Centerstone. I took a step to go look at the inscription, just a few feet in front of me, but stopped abruptly. Something was wrong, everything felt… weird. I looked down, praying I wouldn't be able to see the black stones through myself like a minute ago outside Ilos.

I was still dressed in the normal beginning 'armor', though it was a light reddish hue now, there was the dull short sword belted at my left hip, and I could feel the throwing daggers I had bought still in their places. The thing that got my attention was the rather prominent bulges under my shirt. I hesitantly moved my still-trembling hands up to touch them, flinching when I felt the pressure from both sources. My hands were… different. The fingers longer, more delicate; my palms soft and lacking the calluses I had had for all my life.

The hell…?

Now that I had noticed, I could feel the pressure against my chest, the softness and smoothness of my skin against the rough cloth of my tunic and pants, the faint tickling on the back of my neck that I was sure was hair, the lack of anything between my legs. It was overwhelming. My hands shook more violently, and my breath caught in my throat for a moment.

I shut my eyes and forced myself to take a deep gulp of air. “Okay.” I whispered to myself and let my breath out slowly, pushing out the sudden onset of emotions and dispelling the shaking from my sudden transport here and subsequent shocks.

Let’s worry about this later, I can always just log out and create a new character. First I need to find out what’s going on and find my friends.

I opened my eyes and looked down again, ignoring the, ah, bulges, in my field of vision, and crouched down to read the odd inscription on the Centerstone at my feet. Of course, the hair I had felt dropped down in front of me, obscuring my view with its silky midnight black strands. Annoyed more than anything, I tucked it behind my ears so I could read the engraving.

 

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel dunisgis antivue.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekresdun.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

De Ci cende gisvas resdun.
De Tu cende cinvas ra’an.
De Etposdun cende issus faskasi.
De Ue’et antiv vassin fasratu.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel kermosres.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekkinan.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

Cusue’et cui gal.
Cusue’et cui setres cusekmos.
Cusue’et cui kintiv antivsus.
Cusue’et cui anlesek.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel iska.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekreslos.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

De lospos cende’ue resdunsus.
De lospos cende’ue kinlessus.
De lospos cende’ue anlessus.
De lospos cende’ue argalsus.

Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.
Fisfriar ansilnel dunisgis antivue.
Fisfriar ansilnel ekresdun.
Fisfriar ansilnel Ilos ekka.

 

I blinked. Those looked like words of power like one would use to cast a spell, but they were longer than any I had ever seen and I didn’t recognize most of them. Ilos was mentioned a number of times, and both light, ci, and shadow, tu, were there as well, but the rest… Another new thing to puzzle over. What was going on here?

I rose slowly back to a standing position, looking around at the other people, and got yet another shock. I was short. Very short. I was a pretty tall guy, both in the real world and in Ilos, and I was used to only ever seeing a few people taller than I was, and then not by much. Now however, it seemed everyone practically towered over me, those I could see anyway.

A few players seemed to be moving, but most were just looking around in confusion as the number of people appearing dwindled, then ceased. Too few. There were not nearly enough people to number a million. The plaza would have to be packed to hold that many, and there was plenty of space around me. What happened to the rest?

A deep rumble shook the plaza, cutting off any other thought as I struggled to keep my balance with this new body, running into several other people before one caught me just short of falling. I looked up, having to crane my neck because I only came up to his chest, peering into a face around my own age, about twenty or so. He had black hair and dark blue-purple eyes that blinked at me, as if surprised. I clutched a double handful of his jacket as the courtyard shook harder, making both of us dance to keep our feet. When I looked up again most of the players were on the ground, and my companion and I were of the few still standing.

“Welcome to Ilos. I am Xynus, the one who has summoned you here.” A deep voice boomed, filling the plaza, seeming to emanate from everywhere at once. “You are the ten thousand of the Silver Key, offered the priceless gift of extra time. Do not waste this time attempting to return to your previous world, you cannot get back of your own power until the remaining champions join you. The clock is your enemy, and the final trial will begin regardless of your wishes when the time you have here expires. This is no longer the illusionary world that you were previously shown, and as it continues its journey it will need to be protected. Even now the wild inhabitants have begun to emerge from their lairs, and will seek to hold Ilos when the final challenge begins. Be wary, for while this city is a great stronghold, the Great Sleep is failing, and your enemies will grow more powerful and may overwhelm you given time.”

At the end of the beta, there had been an attack by goblins on the Capitol. Weak little things, but there were many thousands, and more than that, while the city was being attacked respawns had been disabled. They had been repelled of course, pretty easily, but I had a sudden vision of the city being taken permanently, and then dying, never to return. A chill swept through me, and I looked up at the boy whose jacket I was still gripping, his eyes wide as well.

“Shit.” We both cursed at the same time.

“Death is not the end here while my power still lasts. However, beware; should you remain dead for a significant time, there will not be enough left of what is you to be reconstructed. Let this be very clear: you will all remain here until the end, be that your own end or the end of the final trial. You cannot log out. I have done all I can for you, so go! Grow strong, for the fate of two worlds rests in your hands.”

The rumbling voice faded out, and silence reigned. Nearly everyone I could see simply stood or lay where they had fallen. Then some began shouting, others pleading with this unknown entity to let them go home, but the reaction was much more subdued than I would have guessed, many unable to get over their shock.

I was paralyzed, holding fast to the boy’s tunic as my mind refused to process this new information. There was no retreat, no logging off, and most importantly, no changing characters. Which meant I was stuck as a chick! I had read plenty of fiction dealing with being trapped in a virtual reality, hell, I even had harbored a small hope for this kind of event to happen, but I couldn’t spend the next who-knows-how-long as a girl! Was this world worth that price? The tunic moved, and I gripped it harder reflexively, my feet following of their own accord. Its owner was moving somewhere and was yelling something at me, but the words just didn’t make sense to my brain. What about Nick and Jess? Where were they? This was only the people who had silver Keys, so what happened to those with the regular black Keys? Were they returned to Earth? Or-

A rough shake snapped me out of it and I let out a small noise in surprise. It was definitely not a squeak!

"Let go of me little girl! I can't run with you hanging off of me!"

My eyebrows dropped and I glared up at the guy, confusion erupting suddenly into anger. "I'm not a little girl!"

"Whatever. I don't care. Let go of my shirt I have places to be."

I loosened my grip, but a moment later grabbed his shirt again as an idea struck me, the sudden anger vanishing like morning mist. This guy was in the beta and was probably pretty smart to have drawn the same conclusion I had about the goblin raid on the city, and was now rushing off to get ahead of the rest of the players. I wasn't a fool; I knew that Player Killing, or PKing, was common outside of the city, and if I didn't get ahead I would probably be robbed or killed at some point, especially with what I suspected I looked like now. However, I was having trouble just moving around, and the time I would have to take to get used to fighting again would set me behind. Therefore, I needed a partner or someone I could follow around until it was safe for me to solo again, preferably someone who wanted to get ahead as much as I did and also knew how to fight.

"How-" I hesitated, startled for a moment at how high pitched my voice was now that I was thinking more clearly. "How far up did you get during the beta?"

He rolled his eyes and started dragging me down the street towards the North Gate. "Will you let go if I tell you?"

"...Probably."

"I had just reached the Dread Castle Hamelin when the call went out to defend Ilos from the goblins. Now let go of my shirt."

Good, Hamelin was just two islands below where I had gotten to; this guy obviously knew what he was doing. Granted, I didn't get very high compared to the number of islands above Ilos, but I had certainly gotten higher than anyone else. There were hundreds of floating islands above mainland Ilos, and the higher you went the harder the monsters and the better the loot became.

"Well then I'm going with you."

He stopped and looked down at me again. "What?"

"I'm going with you. You're going out to Riskmarl to the north right? I need someone to go with, so I'm going with you."

"No you're not; I can't have a little girl slowing me down. Let go of my shirt." He said, trying to pry my hands off of him.

I smiled, maintaining my death grip on the fabric. "If I can beat you to the North Gate, will you let me come with you?"

"Yeah, fine, just let go of me."

"Alright! See ya there!" I shouted over my shoulder as I dropped his shirt dashed off towards the North Gate.

Getting out of sight was easy, getting up to the rooftops like I had planned? Not so much. I knew my body well because of my freerunning, but in this case that was a bad thing. Trying to run up an alley wall to the roof was a disaster; I took two steps up and pushed off of the wall, but instead of clearing the roof I slammed into the house on the other side.

“Owwww. Why'd that...?” I had a moment of clarity. “Oh.”

I picked myself up off the ground, then crouching, jumped straight up. My head cleared the roof, and I felt a smile grow on my face as I landed softly. "Ohhh, this is going to be fun!"

I took a few steps back and restarted. Three steps up, jump and twist, land on the rooftop, keep running. Everything was stiff and awkward for the first minute or two until I managed to force myself relax and just go with the flow.

Running was so much different in this body, things I should have been able to reach easily I now had to lunge for, and gaps that would have been a long step before were now half-jumps because of my significantly reduced stature. On the other hand, gender and body type didn't translate to strength in Ilos, it was based solely on the amount of experience you had. Therefore I was just as strong as the 6'1" 200 lb rather muscled adventurer Cariss I had been before, but now only about half the weight.

The movement of my body itself was also much different. The way my hips moved from side to side much more than I was used to, the way my long black hair tugged at my scalp as it streamed behind me, the way my skin felt the wind more than ever, the way everything seemed so much bigger now that I was smaller.

The way your chest shifts and bounces under your shirt as you run.

I tripped, almost missing the next jump between rooftops. Shut up brain! You're supposed to be running!

I spotted the boy from the plaza below and a little behind me and did a flip over the street, a seemingly impossible jump, giggling as I saw him below me following the fastest ground route to the North Gate, a zig-zagging affair. He probably thought he’d beat me by a lot.

How could I do jumps and flips already even though I was in a completely new body different in practically every way when I was having trouble just walking earlier? The system assist present in Ilos. All you had to do is decide what you wanted to do, and the assist would guide you through the action if you didn't know how yourself. Well, provided you trusted the system and followed the small pressures it used to guide you anyway, like I did almost automatically now. The assist was the greatest tool ever; it’s just that most people didn't think of using it for anything but attacks.

Ten or so minutes later I leapt off the edge of the last rooftop, landing lightly before strolling over to lean against the wall of the nearby gatehouse. A smile tugged at my lips and there was a glow of pleasure flushing my face the way exertion in this world could not.

"Damn! I knew you champions were crazy, but that takes the prize!"

I looked over to the left, seeing a large guard staring at me and shaking his head in disbelief.

"What? It wasn't that hard."

"Xynus! 'Not hard' she says! What is your name little thing? I am Gudrun. He reached out his hand.

"I'm Car-" I frowned, "No, I can't use that name anymore can I? I'm... Aria. Nice to meet you." I replied as I shook his hand, going with the first name that popped into my head. "But if you ever call me 'little' again I'm going to hurt you."

"Oh? And how do you plan on doing that little cutie?"

I scowled at him, planning exactly what I would do here. I flourished my right hand, making a dagger appear in it and lunged. With the reaction speed I expected of a guardsman, his hand swept across and pushed my arm off course, but it distracted him from the blade I was using with my left hand. I twisted with his push against my arm, using his own strength to drive my left hand dagger faster, cutting right through the straps that held his leg armor up. While that side sagged, I reversed the direction of my right hand, cutting the straps on his left side as well. With the support gone, the weight of the armor pulled it to the ground, revealing his underclothes.

Finishing my step, I spun the daggers in my hands before making them vanish again with a flourish. "I never said what I'd hurt, in this case, your pride seems appropriate." I smiled brightly up at him as he tried to pull his pants back up to the laughter of his friends standing in the door of the gatehouse.

To my surprise, he started laughing, a great booming sound. "I deserved that! Well played Aria! Come by again, when you get back!" And then he waddled back into the gatehouse, still trying to get his pants back up.

"That is what flirting with champions gets you Gudrun!"

"Stick to the barmaids big guy!"

"Hey just cause none a' you have the guts-" Gudrun's voice cut off as the door slammed closed.

I blinked a few times. People, not NPCs. Right, gotta remember that.

My face flamed suddenly. Wait, he was flirting with me?

Just then the guy from the plaza ran up, sparing me an annoyed glance as I fell into step with him when he went past me, and saving me from my embarrassment. I matched his speed, though I could probably run faster with my lighter body. As we ran down the road leading north of Ilos, I looked him over fully for the first time, considering he obviously didn’t want a conversation with me.

Athletically built and handsome like practically all of the male players in Ilos, he looked just ‘normal’ enough that you wouldn’t be able to really tell if he was a player or NPC. His footsteps were light and only slightly louder than my almost silent ones, and that probably only due to the difference in weight. His short black hair was just long enough to rustle in the wind, and he had a slightly tanned skin tone, probably a shade or two darker than my own. Comparing him against the other players in the Plaza I’d seen, I guessed he was a few inches above the average height of 6 ft.

Damn, and I only come up to his chest? Am I even five feet tall?

The thing that set him apart from the players I had seen was his grace and ease of movement. Most players were a little stiff when moving with weapons attached to their waist, back, hands, etc., but this guy seemed completely at ease with the pair of swords strapped to his hips. That alone was incredibly impressive, dual wielding was very difficult to do effectively with anything bigger than long knives, I had yet to see anyone do it right. However, the familiarity with the burdens as he ran at his top speed meant he was at the very least practiced with them. I kept watching him, pleased at my decision to follow this guy from what I saw so far, until we entered the forest just outside of Ilos.

 

-----

 

A bit after we entered the forest, I noticed we were heading towards a small wolf cave directly in line with our path. The wolves, unlike most enemies in the area, would attack once you entered their small territory and were significantly stronger as well. They wouldn’t be a big problem unless we allowed ourselves to be surrounded, but it would slow us down a bit if the goal was to reach Riskmarl quickly.

“Um, you know there’s a hostile wolf den that we’re headed straight towards, right? It’d be much faster if we went around it.” I said, looking up at my so far silent companion.

He glanced down at me before turning his purple-blue eyes forwards again, but continued to run straight towards the den. “Hmm, I wonder…” My ears caught.

Before I could voice my doubts again, two grey wolves leapt from the foliage. Without thought, I drew my short sword and slashed, catching the wolf in midair across the throat. However, because of my lack of ‘experience’, my blade only left a shallow cut instead of beheading the thing.

I shook my black hair out of my face.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed my companion engaging the other enemy with both of his swords, but couldn’t really watch considering there was a snarling slobbering wolf trying to bring me down.

Being a starting area, the wolves didn’t have complicated attack patterns, so I concentrated on learning how to fight in this body. Dodge the bites, parry the claw strikes, slash at the throat whenever possible.

Avoid getting hair in face.

I did manage to watch my partner fight a little bit after I settled into a pattern, and felt a small bit of pleasure knowing I had totally been right about him. He not only knew to dodge the bites that could lock up a weapon if parried and leave you open to the claws, but also wielded both of his blades to great effect, doing much more damage and killing his wolf well before mine. Then he looked over at me, turned, and walked off into the trees.

I scowled, the previous pleasure evaporating, and laid into the wolf in front of me. I beat him fair and square to the North Gate! Is he trying to ditch me? I mean I guess I did kind of force him into it, but he could have just told me to go away instead of aggroing wolves as a distraction so he could leave me!

It took me another minute to finally do enough damage to the wolf to kill it, and by that time the boy was long gone. “You jerk.” I muttered as I skirted around the wolf den and picked up the pace. “I bet you think I’ll just be dead weight. As soon as I get my quarterstaff I’ll kill things just as fast as you can.”

 

-----

 

I caught up to the boy just as he was entering Riskmarl and stomped up to him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him around to face me. “You’re deliberately trying ditch me aren’t you! I beat you to the North Gate; you’re supposed to take me along with you!” I glared up at him, brushing my black hair out of my face again and poking him with a finger for emphasis.

He stared down at me as if he was looking at an annoying little bug. "I have hardly the patience to drag along some inexperienced little girl. If you wish to follow you will have to keep up on your own. Sad that looks and youth aren’t always enough to keep yourself alive, isn't it?"

“I- You- I know exactly what I’m doing you jerk! And- and looks and youth?! I took on that wolf just as well as you did!” I poked him again for emphasis, hard. “And I’m NOT A LITTLE GIRL!”

My shouting had drawn the attention of a couple of villagers that were near the outskirts of Riskmarl, and I felt my face flush red when I saw them staring. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep calming breath. “Look, I’m Aria. You help me do ‘The Lazy Shepherd’ and get my quarterstaff, and I’ll be able to kill things just as fast as or faster than you can. Then I’ll be able to help you do all of the quests here a lot faster than if you did them on your-“

“I’m not interested in a partner.” He cut in, then turned and walked off.

“Rrggg.” I stomped the ground, glaring at his back hard enough to put holes in it. There was no way I could do ‘The Lazy Shepherd’ on my own just yet without a quarterstaff, and I didn’t have the money to purchase one. “Stupid jerk.”

I stomped the ground again for good measure, then stalked off after him, “Can you at least tell me your name?”

"Names are a valued commodity in this world where everyone has tossed aside their former selves. I would tell you mine as soon as I'd part with all the coin my coffers could ever stash, and if that is unacceptable to you feel free to name me as you wish. My name, my true name, is nothing you shall ever know."

I frowned; surprised that he would refuse to even give his name as well as from his oddly formal speech patterns. "Well I can't just keep calling you 'boy' and it'd be rude to name you 'jerkface'..." I trailed off. “Why am I questing with this guy again?” I muttered under my breath.

We headed to the inn, and I purchased the cheapest food and drink they had using most of the rest of my money: some bread and water. You still got hungry and thirsty in Ilos just like you did in the real world, though you didn’t have to go to the bathroom and you couldn’t ever die from dehydration or hunger. Despite it being unnecessary, trying to fight while you felt like you were starving was immensely difficult, so everyone ate and drank at regular intervals.

We ate in silence, him also just having bread and water, and then I followed him out to do some of the quests around town.

‘Quests’ are usually just things that NPCs need done that they either can’t, won’t, or don’t feel like doing themselves, so they hire out players, or ‘champions’ as they’re known in Ilos, to do these tasks for them. Each village has plenty of NPCs that need things done for them, and in return for completing these tasks, champions are rewarded with some combination of items, equipment, and coin, as well as the most important thing right now: experience.

As expected, all the quests we did were easy for a pair of experienced players, though I felt a bit useless without my quarterstaff. I simply didn’t have the skill needed to use the sword I had effectively, and it grated that it took so much longer for me to kill things. The feeling of uselessness was mitigated slightly by how much faster I could do ‘gathering’ quests with my increased agility, but still...

I still didn’t get why we couldn’t just do ‘The Lazy Shepherd’ first so I could contribute in quests where we weren’t just gathering items, and since there was no answer forthcoming from the silent guy I was following, I ended up just muttering implications under my breath.

Of course I ran out of things to say to myself after about an hour, so I settled into a dignified silence (I was not pouting), broken by occasionally asking my partner for his name. He seemed to be tolerating my presence, but only because he couldn't find a way to be immediately rid of me.

Finally we came to the NPC that gave out 'The Lazy Shepherd', the owner of a clearing in which he kept livestock. The quest involved protecting said livestock from waves of monsters because the shepherd boy who the owner had hired had fallen asleep and didn't put out the special scent bags that kept the predators away.

My companion turned to look at me before we approached. "Did you know that the musical aria is performed by a soloist? Your name suits you as much as those monsters suit the sheep. You'll have your quarterstaff, girl, but Masso is a more fitting name for someone so stubborn."

I scowled. "Hey! I can take care of myself perfectly fine! Just... Not yet..." I felt my face flush, and I lowered my head, unable to meet his eyes. I'm probably slowing him down, but I can't do this on my own in this body! At least not yet. "I can't believe he called me a rock..." I muttered. Hurray for Italian classes so I can understand when someone insults me.

Suddenly I was angry rather than embarrassed. I had gotten higher in the beta than he had! I had more knowledge, more practice, and more experience than he did! I didn't have to take this! I looked back up, glaring into his purple eyes. "I'll take that stubborn crack as a compliment. I poked him in the chest with my finger, and not lightly. "And if you're so knowledgeable about names, how about you pick one for yourself so I don't have to start calling you something like... Stulte."

Not even deigning to respond, he simply turned and began walking towards the owner of the clearing to talk to him about taking on the monsters. I growled to myself, but followed, putting on a good face for the NPC and trying to be polite.

The quest wasn't really that hard, it just required the player to protect both the shepherd boy who was trying to place the scent bags to keep the monsters away and also keep the livestock from getting killed, a task not easily done solo. Waves of monsters came to attack, but this early on the Ilos mainland, they only had one, sometimes two kinds of attacks, and were easy to deal with. I still felt like I was slowing my companion down and not contributing my share, but that would change right after we finished this.

After we successfully protected the shepherd boy, we went to talk to the owner of the clearing again, and he gave us each a few coins and a well-used quarterstaff. It was of decent quality but old, polished smooth by hands and long use. It had a faint shine, was the same moderately dark wood of the trees surrounding the village, slightly taller than I was, and thin enough that even my small hands could use it.

A feeling of relief came over me and I hugged the thing to my chest. Having a quarterstaff just made me feel so much safer and more confident with the knowledge that I could easily protect myself with it. Of course, that feeling only lasted a moment until I realized that my companion was walking away and I hurried to follow.

Now that I had my weapon of choice I didn't need to rely on the boy, but questing was faster and more efficient with two and I wanted to repay him for allowing me to tag along. I knew I had been slowing him down, essentially stealing money and experience from him in order to advance myself more quickly.

After thinking about it for a few more quests, I finally took my starter sword out of my inventory and stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Hey, do you… want this?" I asked, my face heating and turning down in embarrassment as he turned to look at me. "I mean, there's no sword upgrades worth it in this area, and this one is better than your second sword..."

"I have no need for your sword Masso. Our relationship is nothing but temporary and I will see it end soon." He replied, shaking his head slightly.

My head snapped up and my eyes widened a bit. "You... Don't want it?" I asked as I lowered the proffered weapon. He doesn't want a free equipment upgrade? "You have to be the weirdest gamer I've ever met."

He turned and started walking away before I recovered. "And my name is Aria, not Masso!"

 

-----

 

As the sun began to set the first few other players began to trickle into the village. Most had a confident look about them, as if they were repeating actions they had done before, but none had the presence of the companion I was already traveling with. I could tell that they were much less skilled by the way they walked and handled their weapons and movements.

He still wouldn't tell me his name, which was somewhat annoying, but he had stopped exuding that overly patient air like he was dealing with a complete annoyance and was more or less just ignoring me at this point. Though to be honest, I actually preferred the silence to the reactions I knew I would, and was starting to, get from the other players. I mean, I looked like a kid! And a cute female one to boot! I knew if they saw me they would probably think I was a burden, an object of pity, or worse, attractive to them.

Unfortunately, I had caught more than a few looks at myself in the reflections in the glass around the village, and could easily see the image in my mind’s eye. I now had the appearance of a cutely pretty girl with long black hair and golden eyes with a rather slight build. If I stood higher than 4’10” or weighed more than 105 lb I’d be surprised. Even though I was actually 21, I looked in my older teens, possibly even as young as 16 if you looked at my face from the right angle. My long midnight-black hair reached down to my lower back, and kept getting in my face until I got the trick of tucking it behind my ears just right. The darkness of that hair set off the yellow-gold eyes I had now, making them seem even brighter and more striking.

To avoid the other players, I needed to stay with the guy I was currently following even if we didn’t exactly get along. Despite calling me ‘girl’ all the time, he didn’t actually treat me all that much like the diminutive girl I looked like. He ignored me for the most part, but he also didn’t look at me in that weird way the other male players and even the villagers did. I got the feeling that he probably wouldn’t have treated me much different had I been Cariss instead of Aria.

I reached out and put a hand on his arm, giving it enough pressure to get his attention and then quickly removing it. “We should do the night quests together; these guys aren’t exactly up for it I don’t think.” He didn’t reply though he seemed to be thinking, so I tried to come up with something that would make him agree. “I have some potions I haven’t used and I can do some basic healing magic to deal with the area of effect attacks of some of the monsters around here.”

He finally nodded, "We will do what quests we can tonight but I plan to be in the next village by morning. If the lack of sleep is a problem you are free to stay behind."

I shook my head, my black hair flowing disconcertingly with my movements. "Not a chance, you're stuck with me for a while yet. Just by looking at the others I can tell you're the most skilled player here, and a little tiredness isn't going to stop me from staying with someone so good. Besides, you helped me get my quarterstaff; I at least owe it to you to get an equipment upgrade of your own."

There was a little bit of time before the sun fully set, so we stopped by the inn again to get some more bread and water. Unfortunately there were more than a few players here now, and it seemed like all of them turned to look at me as I walked in the door. Of course, looking at a newcomer was natural and I was used to it, having dealt with it for all my life in school classrooms. What I wasn’t used to was the way their gazes lingered as I went to go purchase my food, and seemed continuously drawn back to me as I ate with my companion at a table. I hated the attention, even if I knew exactly why I was receiving it.

Female players were relatively rare in Ilos because most people kept true to their real world gender and there were simply more guys that played video games than girls. However, among those who had silver Keys, that ratio was much more severely skewed. With the prices the Keys went for on the open market, anyone who didn’t really love this place just up and sold their Key, and while I was sure there were still female players in Ilos, most likely had their heads on straight and went for the money over the game. In most games there would be a significant number of female avatars, regardless of the player’s true gender, but very few could handle the massive changes of a gender switch in Ilos and stuck to their own. All the attention I got was because I looked like a girl, and a young and pretty one to boot.

I wondered briefly if there was anyone else who had got their appearance switched around. It would be nice to know I wasn’t alone in all of this mess, but I really wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Everything was wrong with this. I shouldn’t be being stared at, I shouldn’t be short, and I certainly shouldn’t be looked down on like everyone was doing.

Twice it happened that a player started to approach me, concern written on his face, and I had to glare with those yellow-gold eyes of mine until he backed down. I didn’t want their concern, I didn’t want their help, and I didn’t want their pity.

Suffice it to say it was an… uncomfortable… meal, and I was glad to leave.

As we went to go accept the night quests from the various NPCs, I forced my face to form a pleasant smile and was as polite as possible, just like I had been doing all day when dealing with people that weren’t players. It paid to be polite, and I wasn’t going to take it out on the Ilosians just because I didn’t like my lot.

I finally felt like I was a significant benefit when we started with the quests involving gathering materials as I seemed to have much better night vision than my companion did. It was easy to spot the small stacks of wood the forester had left out that day, and the herbs the village Wisdom needed to cure a fever weren’t difficult to see either. I was also able to pull my weight a lot better now that I had my quarterstaff and lagged only slightly behind when killing monsters, unable to deal the damage my partner’s edged weapons could despite my skill with the weapon.

We completed the quests we had picked up in very good time and headed back to the village to find more. After going to the forest and back three or four times, the village Elder, introducing himself as Catre, approached us and asked for our help with a matter the village as a whole was having trouble with.

It seemed a large bear - the Grizzled Grizzly - had been killing livestock, destroying equipment and property, and generally causing a major drain on the people. I struggled to keep a straight face when he mentioned the miniboss despite the seriousness. I mean, who names these things? He explained that the hunters had been attempting to find and kill the beast, but because it only came out at night they had been unable to as they couldn't venture far from the village for fear of being attacked by the dangerous monsters that inhabited the forest. As we accepted the quest, he also told us that there was another way to kill the Grizzly without having to fight it directly. If we could find and kill a Sickly Boar we could use its blood to poison the bear's den and Catre would count the quest as complete.

From my experience in the beta, I knew the Grizzly itself wasn’t all that difficult to defeat, but when attacked it could roar, drawing in any surrounding enemies to attack the player as well, which is the only reason it was considered miniboss status and usually taken on in groups of four or more.

We turned in the other quests we completed and then headed back into the forest. My companion had not spoken another word since we started the night quests and while he seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the quests around here, I wanted to make sure he had all the specifics with this one.

"I'm not sure how much you know about this quest, but you get different rewards depending on how you kill the Grizzly. If you use the poison the Elder gives you a Tiny Quick Gem, otherwise we will get a pair of Comfortable Traveling Boots each. The poison would be easier, but having the Boots would significantly reduce our travel time. Besides, while Quick Gems are always useful to have, I could really go for some boots that fit better than these things do.” I kicked the heel of one shoe with the toe of the other.

Being able to access a small item from a gem without going through the inventory screen would be handy, but if we end up doing the amount of traveling I think we are going to, the run speed boost the Comfortable Traveling Boots give us is going to be a huge boon.

He considered for a moment longer, then replied. “We clear the mobs around the Grizzly quick as we can before aggroing the beast. Keeping ahead of the crowd is more important for now.”

We avoided the aggressive monsters in the areas much as we could, searching the forest for the Grizzled Grizzly, but we couldn’t hide from all of them. After a few fights, I reflected that this was probably a good thing. I was significantly out of practice with my quarterstaff, and with the new body I had I needed to adjust some of the forms to make them usable again. Most of those changes involved creating extra room so I wouldn’t brush the protrusions on my chest or my comparatively larger hips. It took a bit, but with each adjustment I relaxed a little bit more, and my strikes began to flow again rather than jerk.

It really was nice to fight with a quarterstaff again. I slipped into the Stillness each encounter now, dancing as much as fighting, the feeling of unease with my new form unfelt just like every other emotion. I would have said I felt happy, but even that emotion was muted to the point where it was unnoticeable while in the Stillness.

The only trouble with this forest at night was that there were slimes that would explode when killed, damaging everything nearby. The pair of us were quick enough that we could get away from most of the effect, but not all of it. I began to use kasi to keep the damage down, periodically healing us, but we had to use a few potions while we searched as well.

After around an hour of looking, we finally found our quarry. It was a huge thing, taller than I was when it was down on four paws, and had numerous scars and places where the fur no longer grew in evenly. Avoiding it for now, we quickly began clearing the area around it of any monsters we could find. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them, and as we started attacking the last, the first ones we killed began respawning. We simply didn’t have enough damage, due to lack of exp, to kill all of the creatures in the area off quickly enough to only have to fight the bear.

I glanced at my partner, meeting his eyes, and in silent agreement we finished off the enemies we were currently fighting and moved to attack the Grizzly. I slipped into the Stillness, my mind able to process what information I had without the stress of battle playing in. The bear had four different attacks, double that of any other monster in the area. When it was on four paws, it would bite, which needed to be dodged, or slash with one of its paws, which could be either dodged or deflected. After taking some damage it would stand on its hind legs and roar, aggroing all nearby monsters and giving off an imposing presence that most players would react to with fear, but it would also expose the most vulnerable areas of its body: the belly and neck. After roaring, it would slash down with both paws, which due to the power would cause significant damage even if parried and therefore must be dodged.

As expected, the Grizzly slashed at us as soon as we entered its range, its paw only a blur as it drew a path where our midsections should have been. I was already above the attack, and my partner had slid under it, cutting with his blades as I brought down my quarterstaff with the weight of my fall on its head.

Our counter-strikes together were enough to create a Stun effect, and we began attacking as fast as we could. I was slightly to the right of the monster’s head, and began striking at its eyes and ears, both sensitive points, while my black haired companion attacked its left side.

As the Stun effect expired, the beast lunged at me, attempting to close its jaws on me, but I had already moved, and it caught only air. My role was to attract the Grizzly’s attention, keeping its focus on me while my partner dealt the real damage to its flank. By striking at the eyes and ears, the monster identified me as the most damaging target and continued to attack me. Because of my smaller stature and greater agility, I could easily avoid any damage it tried to do to me.

After a short time, the Grizzly reared up on its back paws and drew in a breath to roar. In unison, both of us attacked at its exposed weak points, him at the belly and I at the neck as the windpipe was more vulnerable to blunt damage than the guts were. Despite the attacks to its throat, the bear still let out a loud roar and began to slash down on us, making us roll out of the way.

The ground seemed to shake with the force, and the bear’s paws made deep imprints in the ground where they hit. Rustles sounded all around us as the monsters of the forest responded to the Grizzly’s roar, rushing towards us. There were two, six, nine of them that appeared, and I swore under my breath. There must have been more respawns.

We broke from our engagement with the bear and attacked the adds, performing the same roles as before.

“Ci!” I shouted to give my partner some warning, closing my eyes and throwing up a hand with my palm open, creating a bright ball of light. My eyelids turned red to my vision, almost as if I were facing the sun itself. The orb only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to draw the attention of all the monsters in the area as well as severely damaging the night vision of any who looked at it directly.

As the person with the lesser damage output, it was my job to keep the attention of the enemies so my companion could focus on taking them down one by one without worrying about being attacked from behind. However fast and agile I was now, I was still inhabiting a body I hadn’t even had for a full day yet, and the small mistakes in movement I was making started to add up with the number of attacks coming my way.

Despite the Stillness, I could still feel the fear of a heated and dangerous battle. With the large disadvantage in exp I was working with, it was sure that if I took a single solid hit I would be thrown off balance enough that I would be almost instantly killed. So I danced around the clearing like a madman, dodging what I could, parrying the heavy attacks I knew I couldn’t, and taking what damage I had to from the glancing attacks. I used everything I could to keep out of reach; I kicked off of trees, jumped over heavy foliage, slid through leaves to kick them up in the air, and used the monster’s bodies to block their allies. I felt like I was in the air more than I was on the ground.

Even glancing attacks caused a significant amount of damage over enough time, and by the time there were only two monsters other than the Grizzly left, my vision was starting to grow hazy, a sure sign that if I took many more hits I would start to lose consciousness. I was bleeding from numerous cuts and hadn’t had time to grab a potion from my belt, my health deteriorating without having to be directly hit now.

However, all of that was distant in the Stillness, just knowledge, what mattered was that I continue to hold the monsters attention until my partner could take them out. If it were any of the other players I had seen back at the village that were with me I would have been killed already, but the skill and sheer damage output of my partner was keeping us alive.

He killed off the last two adds, and we could finally turn our attention back to the Grizzly. I hid behind a tree to gain enough time to drink one of the health potions I had in my belt, then began attacking again. If I was hit, even slightly, the potion’s healing effects would cancel, but I knew the bear’s attack patterns well enough that I wasn’t worried. A crawling sensation moved across my skin as the cuts I had accumulated began to knit together and disappear. I still struck at the monster’s face as often as possible, continuing to hold its attention.

I had little attention to spare, but what I did have I used to watch my partner. He was a dervish, his two blades blurring with speed as he cut deeper and deeper into the Grizzly’s flank. The bear did one last hind leg stand, drawing in breath to roar again, but between my quarterstaff hitting its neck and my partner’s blades cutting into its belly, the monster only gave out a small groaning sound before falling to the ground with a massive thud.

Strength coursed through my body as the experience we gained from the fight was applied to us. That feeling was the only way to judge what kind of experience was gained, and by the rush I was feeling, it was quite a bit.

I twirled my quarterstaff before holstering it on my back, then stretched with my arms over my head. “Good job! That was a tough fight.” I smiled at my partner as he was wiping his blades off on the Grizzly’s corpse.

As I was starting to realize was normal for my mysterious companion, he said nothing, only glancing at me without expression before turning back to looting the Grizzly and the other monsters we killed.

We headed directly back to the village using the compass to guide us. The compass was a holographic-type screen just like the inventory, appearing when a player put their index fingers and thumbs of both hands together to form a rough circle. A normal compass would then appear in the empty space and could be modified by simple mental focus to show the direction of any place you had already been to.

I cast kasi again as soon as I had enough mana, and drank another health potion to heal the rest of my injuries from the battle. Traveling back to the village was uneventful as we were successful in moving quietly by any monsters we encountered along the way. We could have just run through the forest, but unlike most games, enemies didn’t stop following you unless you killed them or they lost sight of you for a significant time. Most monsters were also faster than players were, and would destroy buildings and kill NPCs if led to them, breaking quests and possibly permanently removing an entire village from Ilos.

When we arrived back at the village of Riskmarl, we were greeted by Catre, the village Elder who had given us the quest.

I bowed my head in greeting and smiled at him, still buoyant from the recent victory. “We’ve killed the beast Elder Catre, your village will no longer be bothered by it.”

He smiled, “Thank you champions. Please, take these for your troubles. I know they’re not much, but we have little else to offer.”

In each hand he held out a pair of Comfortable Traveling Boots, which I gratefully accepted, swapping out my rather badly fitting starting shoes immediately and placing them in my inventory to sell later. I sighed happily, wiggling my toes in the soft interior of the boots that reached up almost to my knees, fitting snugly, then bowed to Catre. “Thank you very much Elder, these will help us greatly.”

I glanced up at my companion, who had already swapped his boots as well, meeting his eyes, and in silent agreement we turned to go.

“Aria, a moment more of your time.”

I stopped in my tracks, turning back to Catre. He called me by name?

He walked the few steps separating us, then bowing, he spoke. “Aria, you’ve been so kind to us. Please, take this with you as well; we have no use for it here.”

I looked to see what he was giving me and couldn’t stop a gasp. Proffered in his outstretched hand was a small sky-blue gem, something I recognized immediately, but had never expected to see on the Ilos mainland. The Tiny Spell Gem glinted softly in the torchlight illuminating us, a rare treasure indeed.

Like a Quick Gem but for magic, a Spell Gem could be used to store a certain amount of mana in the form of a spell. In a world where magic was by and large the strongest force to be reckoned with, a Spell Gem was among the most sought after treasures.

I reached out and gently took it from his open palm, clutching it in my hand as I bowed deeply in the most respectful Ilosian way: one leg crossed in front of the other, bent at the waist with both arms held out straight to the sides. “Thank you for this amazing gift Elder Catre, I’m honored you would give me such a thing.”

He shook his head, smiling down at me. “The honor is all mine, thank you for helping us and being so kind, too many champions simply ignore us, or treat us as if we are merely objects. Now it is late, and weariness weighs heavily on these old bones. A good night to you Aria, and your companion as well.”

I watched as he walked off, a smile on my face, then turned to join my partner as we walked out into the forest, the few villagers still awake waving at us as we went. I held off casting kasi on the Spell Gem, wanting to use the maximum mana I could hold for the spell charge, and placed it in my inventory for the time being.

We broke into a run when the lights from the village were no longer visible, and as expected, the boots we had just received significantly boosted our traveling speed. At this rate of speed I could probably win the Olympic games in any running event over a mile long. The wind was exhilarating as it blew through my hair.

I thought about the villagers in Riskmarl for a good while after we left and how they had been so grateful for what we had done for them. That was one of the two main draws for me in Ilos. More than the fighting, more than the feeling of accomplishing something difficult, more than acquiring new equipment; I loved knowing I had made a difference, that I personally had greatly affected the lives of a group of people for the better. That was something that was almost impossible to do on Earth.

Just thinking about the good we had done kept a smile on my face and a bounce in my step for the first hour or two of travel. I wish I could stay in Ilos forever, to live here rather than Earth for the rest of my days.

I caught sight of my hands as they swung with my steps, my small, soft, smooth hands. I brought them up in front of me and looked at them, turning them back and forth. They were so much smaller, the fingers longer when compared to the palm, the nails more rounded, and the skin hairless and smooth. The palms were missing the calluses I’d had for all my life and were almost uniform in color rather than splotchy. Not my hands, yet I had already begun to grow used to them like I had with the rest of me.

My good mood faded as I stared at them and thought over the day. I would never have cursed like I did at nameless guy had I been Cariss, but I just felt so angry. It’s like I’m feeling more than I used to. I’m already changing, adapting to conform to this new body. Am I even me any longer? Would Jess and Nick believe me if I told them who I was looking and acting like this?

If this was the price I had to pay in order to forsake Earth and live in Ilos, would I accept it?

I didn’t know. I certainly didn’t want to be a girl, but the inability to log out and the possibility that I would be a permanent resident of Ilos filled me with hope. I wanted to stay here, I wanted it more than anything I had ever desired, but would this price be worth it?

There was a part of me that screamed no, a part that couldn’t deal with changing genders and appearance and having that strip away all that I had ever held dear, possibly including my friends and family. Yet I felt like I belonged here in Ilos in a way I never had on Earth, like there was this gaping hole in me that was filled by being here.

Why me though? I wondered. Was I turned into a girl because I was so close to Jess when it all happened? Did this Xynus guy just decide he wanted to screw with a couple people in addition to trapping them here? Or is it some other reason or just a fluke?

I sighed, feeling my eyes begin to grow heavy now that I wasn’t in combat or even real happy. I’m too tired to think about all this right now. How long have I been awake? Time started over from morning when the silver Key players were singled out, and I spent most of the day with Jess and Nick beforehand, so… 38 hours? 42? Whatever, none of this matters right now, I just need to keep going, keep gaining experience and strength until the rest of the players reappear.

I looked over at the as yet nameless boy I was traveling with. I’m just glad I’m not alone right now, even if he is cold and kind of a jerk, he doesn’t look down on me for looking like I do like everyone else seems to.

 

 

Ilos, Day 2

 

As the beginnings of dawn began to light the sky we entered the outskirts of the village of Neatar, slowing to a stop as we stood at the edge. I stretched my arms above my head and yawned, then blinked blearily and looked up at my companion. “So what now?”

He looked down at me. “We'll rest for a time but I won’t let my lead be wasted. If you are not awake when I depart you have only yourself to blame. We are in separate rooms.”

I nodded tiredly. “I don’t want anyone catching us either. I think I’ll be good after three or four hours, just don’t leave me okay? I really don’t want to be alone.”

He sighed. “I will not wake you as I prefer to play alone, but I will accept that you have yet to slow me down. I will wake in four hours, Masso, and begin with ‘An Errand for the Cobbler’. I will complete some of the more valuable quests in this village before moving on. As persistent as you are, even if you oversleep I have no doubt you will find me before I depart.”

Relief washed over me, much more than I expected, and I smiled slightly. “Thanks.”

Without further comment, he turned and walked off towards the inn, quickly and silently vanishing from sight. I took out the long squarish light blue Spell Gem from a pouch and fingered it absently, wondering if he would actually do what he said and not try to ditch me. Well, he needed to sleep sometime, and I had a few things to do before I could do so as well.

I stopped one of the villagers, a young man, and asked where the shops were, attempting to ignore how much I had to look up and the way his eyes flickered between my golden eyes and my chest. My attempt failed, and my voice snapped much more than I wanted it to when I thanked him, sending him scurrying away with wide eyes when I stalked off.

Thankfully the shopkeeper was a woman, and I was able to be much more polite while haggling with her. At least she only stared at my eyes. After selling all my extra equipment, I came away with a simple silver necklace and an attachment I could mount my Spell Gem to as well as twenty copper marks and six copper pars. I honestly thought I’d never work her up to that much, but from her smile as I walked off, she never expected to pay so little for what she got.

That was the best way to do things, with both sides thinking they’d got the better deal. I took it to the jeweler in the village, or at least the guy who did all the small fine work for everyone. He was much less experienced in bartering, and I managed to get him down to accepting four copper pars to attach my Spell Gem to the necklace. Normally I wouldn’t drive someone so hard when dickering, but he was staring at my chest the entire time. I don’t even think he noticed I had a weird eye color. It was quick work, and about twenty minutes after entering the village of Neatar, I was heading towards the inn with an emptied inventory and an easy way to carry my Spell Gem.

I bought some bread and water for a copper mark and rented one of the four rooms for another two, paying the innkeeper five copper pars to send someone to wake me after three and a half hours. Taking the food up to my room, I set my quarterstaff within reach of the bed then sat down in the single creaky wooden chair to eat my food. With a bed within a few feet of me, I barely managed to finish my meal before I fell onto the thin mattress, still fully clothed, and was out as soon as my head hit what passed for a pillow.

 

-----

 

Thump.

I woke up on the floor next to the bed, scared completely out of my wits and my eyes blurry with tears. There was no feeling of threat, which would have made me reach for my quarterstaff, just a sense of fear, as if I had been trapped somehow and was unable to escape. I gathered myself and stood up, brushing back my hair and wiping my face and eyes to clear them. The panicky feeling slowly faded away as I took a few deep breaths and tried to convince my subconscious that there was nothing to be afraid of. Whatever that dream had been, or nightmare really, it must have been a doozy for me to fall out of bed.

I glanced at the bed, considering going back to sleep, but the sleep I did get must have done some good because there was only a small wisp of the exhaustion I had felt earlier remaining. And I really did not want to wake up that way again.

My quarterstaff, leaning against the wall by the bed, caught my eye. I should really work through some of the forms if I have the time right now.

I grabbed the weapon, my only possession in the room I wasn’t wearing, and walked towards the door. I caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of my eye as I neared the door, and spun to confront them. How the hell did someone get into my room? The system is supposed to prevent that!

I snapped my quarterstaff up into a ready position and started to demand the identity of the intruder. Then I realized that I was glaring through the mirror over the washstand… at myself.

Letting my quarterstaff drop, I felt my cheeks heat, and I was suddenly glad I was the only one who was there to see me ready to fight a reflection in a mirror. I absently brushed back the fan of hair that liked to drop over my left eye when I moved so suddenly, and smiled slightly. I was so glad Ilos didn’t include hair tangles after the tossing and turning I suspected I did while I was asleep. Thankfully my long midnight black hair fell as straight and soft as ever down to my lower back, the tresses containing a slight wave even when I stood still. At least that’s one thing I don’t have to deal with.

Recalling my introspection the previous night, the smile faded from the girl’s face. I concentrated, dropping into the Stillness so I could consider things without my annoyingly stronger emotions getting in the way. The sense of oddness in this body faded as I relaxed, the unease, the loneliness, the fear and frustration and anger fading until they were unnoticeable, leaving me in a bubble of calm, of Stillness. The question is ‘can I do anything about this being a girl thing?’ Would it help to tell someone, that guy I’m traveling with maybe, what happened to me? Is there anything more practical I could be doing than what I’m doing right now?

I had certainly overreacted to many of the minor things that had happened to me yesterday. Most of the small insults from my traveling companion, the way the Ilosians looked at me, the flirtatious guard at the North Gate, all of those things would have just slid off me when I was Cariss. However, aside from that, I had done very well in gaining an advantage over most of the player populace in Ilos. By reaching one of the four main starting areas around the City and running through the quests there first, I not only got to complete the best quests in terms of efficiency and rewards, but also made sure any other players would be long in following.

Most quests could be completed again and again for a reducing reward by one player or for the same reward by many different players as long as the NPC in question needed something done, but not all quests followed this rule. Running errands, killing non-unique monsters, and many of the gathering quests were this way, the Ilosians seeming to leave things unfinished just so the players could have quests, though maybe they were just really lazy. ‘The Lazy Shepherd’ was an example of a quest that could only be completed once a day, as once the shepherd boy had placed the bags of scent, they would last the rest of the day and there would be no need for the owner of the livestock to hire another champion or group to protect his animals. Quests that involved killing a unique monster, like the Grizzled Grizzly, were very difficult and could only be completed once in a long period of time. The Grizzly would inevitably be succeeded by another bear or wolf or other animal, and then the quest would need to be completed again, but that could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Finally, some quests that involved unique events or circumstances would only be completed once, the bulk of these involving the bosses that guarded the path upwards into the islands above Ilos.

If there was a big enough group of players working together, it would be possible for them to catch us with their lower level of exp, but that kind of group seemed unlikely. I very much doubted that the other players were still frozen in fear in the city. Some might be, but I suspected that there were many who would consider this the best thing that ever happened to them, and because all of them were in the beta, they knew most of Ilos’ rules and many of the quests in the starting areas. Some might gather together, but they would need to be very good in order to catch us now, especially with the boots we had just received.

So to answer my own question, this is the most practical thing I could be doing right now. I’ve done what I could with what I have and gained as much of a lead as possible.

Abandoning the Stillness and the cute young girl in the mirror, I headed down to the common room, stopping to ask the innkeeper if there was a clear space nearby I could practice with my quarterstaff.

He gestured towards the back of the inn with his head, his hands busy polishing a bowl. “There’s a clear spot out back for hitching wagons, you’re welcome to use it unless there’s someone else there.”

I inclined my head for a moment. “Thank you.”

There was indeed a place behind the inn where a few spots of grass grew, but was mostly open dirt in front of a stable. I checked around, making sure there was indeed no one there, then unlimbered my quarterstaff and spun it between my hands and started working through the basic forms at a moderate speed. No problems, but that was expected after all the fighting I’d done yesterday. I sped up to full speed, the ends of the wood in my hands blurring out of sight and producing a low whirring sound.

It took a few minutes to run through all the basics, and when I stopped I saw a few of the village children peeking around a corner at me, probably come to investigate the noise. I smiled and waved them over. “Come on then. If you want to watch, I don’t mind as long as you stay clear.”

They ran over to a grassy spot and sat down, talking amongst themselves excitedly as they stared at me with wonder on their faces. They gasped and the soft babble increased as they noticed my oddly colored eyes. My smile widened slightly, and I spun up my quarterstaff again, flowing into the forms I hadn’t tried yet.

Unfortunately, most of those needed slight corrections to work with my new body, or rather to avoid hitting my chest or comparatively wider hips. It was slow and annoying progress, but getting things in order was necessary.

After a little while I gave up on fixing my technique and just moved. Each form was designed for transition into others, and you could chain them together with a little practice. I slipped into the flow and closed my eyes, a tension I didn’t know I’d had leaving my body as I spun the wood in my hands and danced to an unheard melody.

The sound of my quarterstaff cutting through the air grew louder until it was a constant rich thrumming, moving through every possible space a weapon or attacker could use. I slipped into the Stillness again, relaxing in the peace that was so absent in the past day. As always when I was in that state, the… presences, for lack of a better word… around me became clearer. I wasn’t sure if it was a product of the rules in Ilos, or something specific to the Stillness, but I could tell the general direction and strength of anything near me, even with my eyes closed and my ears filled with the thrum of my weapon. The children were still there, and a strong presence approached, then after watching for a moment, left.

That must have been my companion. I really need to come up with a name for him, or get him to tell me his. I thought, but for some reason I knew I would wait until he gave me his name to call him anything.

Letting my quarterstaff gradually slow, I let go of the Stillness, sighing as I felt the full force of all the emotions in this foreign body hit me. That was one of the only drawbacks about the peace I could find with my weapon and the Stillness, everything else just seemed so much more when that calm vanished.

Rather than dwell on what would inevitably end with me getting angry or depressed, I walked off towards where ‘An Errand for the Cobbler’ started to join my mysterious traveling partner.

We made good progress, moving through quests quickly, though I did end up taking some of my anger and other emotions out on nameless guy. It was like I couldn’t bring myself to be polite to him, though I did manage to hold any cutting remarks from the villagers that treated me like a little girl. Those always seemed to think that the guy traveling with me had some authority over me, or that he spoke for both of us, and would only talk to him, sometimes even ignoring me completely. It was annoying, and I took it out on him rather than be rude to the NPCs.

Regardless, we still got a good hour to nap after we finished the quests available in the daytime before the night quests unlocked.

 

-----

 

Night quests certainly weren’t easy, but between the pair of us we had little enough trouble with them. The real trouble came about an hour later.

The pair of us were talking to the mayor, one Briar Brisbane, who was a guardsman in his youth. He was born and raised in Neatar, and after seeing us help out his people he decided we might be able take on something that was plaguing the whole village.

As he was about to explain what he needed from us, there was a noise from beyond the door. Torchlight shone from outside, and I moved to look out the window. Seven men stood just outside the village border holding torches and a mixed assortment of ill-maintained swords.

“Damn, they are here already. Please, get rid of these men. I will give you my old sword as a reward, but please just drive them off.” At my questioning look he continued to explain, gesturing towards the window with a long face. “They used to be people who lived in this very village, but when times got hard they decided that robbery was the best way to go about things. We do not have the men to repel them anymore because of all the monster attacks, and we no longer have the money to pay them off. I do not know what they will do. I just wish they would come back to us.”

My companion took my place at the window, examining the men who were beginning to approach the house.

I scowled. Bandits were the one thing in Ilos I hated most. They were cowardly, mean, and a blight on everything and everyone around them. Ilos was my home now, and bandits defaced the beauty that it had and was. “I hate bandits.” I muttered, “Can we kill them?”

Turning from the window, my partner addressed Mayor Briar. “Mayor I can promise only one thing, as I am a loner and have no more charisma than a wolf, if I am to take this task all those men out there will die. I will make it as clean and quiet as can be in return for that sword but if you wish them a different fate I am not the one to ask.”

The mayor bowed his head, sighing heavily as if giving up, but nodded. “Very well. If they do not leave we will all die.”

A small smile began to grow on my face, but vanished as the unnamed man turned and looked down to speak to me. “Masso you will let me handle this and you will let me handle it alone. I will not tolerate an argument otherwise lest you believe yourself a match for my swords. You may watch and kill what ones slip me by but I will be doing this my way and you are not suited for such methods.”

What? Does he still think I can’t fight?! “But I-“ I started to argue, indignant, but caught the look in his purple eyes. He was entirely serious about doing this alone, and I was suddenly sure that if I tried to interfere or help he would turn on me. The anger faded from my face, and I nodded sharply. The bandits would still die, and being able to travel with someone so skilled was worth the price of not killing them with my own hands. “Show no mercy.”

Without further word, he walked out the rear door of house with me following, and both of us vanished into the shadows. I stayed back in the darkness of the house, holding one eye shut against the torchlight, and watched my companion as he moved forwards, silent as mist.

Abruptly, the three torches the bandits had between them went dark. Rather than go out suddenly, this was something different. Three small orbs of darkness had replaced the ends of the torches, an effect I recognized as the Shadow elemental magic spell tu. I opened my closed eye, and the world brightened from the pitch blackness that had suffused it for a moment. My companion was among them, his swords slicing necks and piercing chests. Four of them died before any of them realized something was wrong, the fifth before any of them saw him, and the sixth as he flinched back in fear. The last bandit dropped his crude sword in his panic and stumbled backwards. He opened his mouth to scream, but a sword appeared in his throat before he could make the slightest noise.

“Damn that was quick.” I muttered, walking towards my companion, who was busy snuffing out the torches before dismissing the Shadow spell. Without a word, we searched the bodies for any valuables, finding a small amount of money and a few of their weapons that were worth selling.

Standing, he looked at the corpses and blood, and they began to quickly waste away, dissolving into motes in a couple minutes rather than the hours they would take otherwise.

“A trick such as that won’t work on those who expect it or those who are better trained than mere bandits.”

I nodded, agreeing. “That was tu right? I should start working on my Shadow magic.” I motioned towards what little was left of the bandits with a hand. “Is that a Death magic spell? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one.”

“Hope that you don’t see many more. Death magic is a dangerous spell type as is anything that so readily strikes against the living, and its users are seldom the kind you want to accompany.”

We waited until the last vestiges of the dead men dissolved away, then headed back inside the mayor’s house.

He greeted my partner, bowing low. "Thank you. I wish they could have come back to us, but this was the next best way. Most of the village is asleep, and this way I can say the bandits left and never came back. You've saved my people a lot of grief tonight sir."

He turned and walked back into the house, coming back with the sword. "Here is the sword as promised, and this is something I was given to pass on to someone whom I deemed fit." Along with the sword, he also handed him a White Carnation. It was beautiful, pure as newfallen snow, and drew my eyes like a moth to flame.

He checked the item description, a window appearing over the object low enough that I could read it. It read: ‘A Flower whose meaning lies in remembrance. It has an unknown effect, but may hold a special meaning to a certain someone.’

The mayor cleared his throat. “Sir, what name may I call you? I must have something I can tell the Elders at the meeting I must call tomorrow morning. You and Aria have helped us greatly this day."

Do I finally get to find out this guy’s name?

"I have no name good sir, and I would ask it as a favor if you would make no mention of me. Tell your Elders it was the doing of this young girl, and if your tongue cannot lie lest it be cut, only mention me as a man in her company. I would appreciate it so."

I sighed slightly. Of course not.

"I see. Well please, my son runs the inn, I'm sure he would let you stay free tonight and give you quite the feast. We all owe you a debt for your actions tonight and it is the least we can do to show our gratitude.”

A free bed would be nice, but… I shook my head. "Thank you for the offer, but I believe that we are traveling to Gladen tonight.

I glanced up at my partner, who gave a tiny nod. “It is so.”

Bidding the mayor a good night, we headed out of the village.

 

-----

 

As the dim light faded to shadow along the path under the canopy of the forest, I looked up at the black haired guy I was traveling with. "That was really impressive with the bandits, but you should let me help next time. As much as I don't advertise it, I'm good with more than just a quarterstaff." I slipped out the throwing daggers hidden in my sleeves and twirled them, then made them vanish back to their places with a flourish. "Maybe you can teach me some of that Shadow magic of yours and I can help out, I only know a few spells of that element."

He held my eyes for a moment longer, expressionless as usual, then turned to look back forwards.

I frowned, then shrugged “I… guess not.”

Putting it out of my mind, I opened my senses and made sure my footsteps were silent as we ran. I occasionally glanced at the nameless man I was matching my pace to, noticing he was also keeping alert despite traveling down a safe path as well as keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible.

A comfortable silence settled as we traveled, neither of us feeling the need to speak. Despite his annoying tendency to get on my nerves, I was glad that I had found someone so skilled and had the same views on socializing that I did, namely that it wasn’t always needed.

After a two or three hours of traveling, I heard movement up ahead of us as well as the sound of leaves rustling against each other. There was no wind and therefore the source of the noise must be some nearby Plantea. As could be assumed from their name, Plantea were essentially semi-sentient vegetation, along the same intelligence of most wild animals. They were territorial, and used ambushes as a means of attacking their enemies when in forested areas.

Up ahead, the path suddenly narrowed with large bushes lining each side, or rather Foliage Plantea, the weakest of all Plantea. Around three feet tall, I knew they attacked with whipping vines and roots that tried to entangle the legs of their prey. Unfortunately, Plantea were pretty resistant to blunt attacks, like those of a quarterstaff, so I drew a pair of throwing daggers as we approached the ambush site.

Rather than try to avoid the monsters, we simply attacked them. My partner’s swords cut them down easily, and while I wasn’t used to fighting with just daggers, I was still able to do much more damage that I would have with a quarterstaff. Parrying the vines with a sharp weapon generally severed them, eliciting a cry of pain from the Plantea, and I was too light on my feet to be entangled with the roots. The nameless man didn’t even bother dodging, but was perceptive enough to simply cut the roots apart just as they started to creep towards his feet.

After the failed ambush, we simply continued on our way.

 

 

Ilos, Day 3-7

 

For the next few days we just continued the pattern that we had started with the previous villages. We’d arrive at dawn, Nameless would tell me how long he would sleep, then we would eat bread and water, rent rooms, and rest. The mild panic that would wake me from my slumber faded after a day or two, allowing me to rest for almost the full time I had available, though I still took at least fifteen minutes to train with my quarterstaff after I awoke.

After a short while my traveling companion would come out of the inn, ending my practice, and we would do quests and kill things until we’d completed all of the valuable activities in the area. Generally by then it was dusk, or close to it, and we would take a break to eat and visit the shops, selling what items we didn’t need and restocking on potions if we had used any.

That comfortable silence reigned whenever we weren’t talking to the NPCs, or the Ilosians as I had begun calling them, or in battle. We gradually started to work together rather than simply fighting solo with someone else there, and the experience we gained began to increase as a result.

As soon as night truly set, we started the night quests, which always culminated in some big event or quest with appropriate rewards, and then continued on to the next village to repeat the cycle.

Between the quest rewards and the extra gifts the Ilosians gave us, we ended up with a good amount of decent equipment.

I still had the same quarterstaff, but I picked up a pair of long knives I kept sheathed at the small of my back to help deal with any Plantea we came across. I also replaced the light red (it was not pink) starting armor with a green and brown colored Hunter’s Garb and now had a small hair clip in the shape of a wolf's head that not only kept my hair out of my face, but also slightly increased my senses.

I still had mixed feelings about that clip, mainly because it was the only overtly feminine thing I owned, but in all practicality I couldn’t dismiss the benefits of not only keeping my hair out of the way, but also that enchantment on the clip. I also liked the wolf design on it. The necklace that had my Spell Gem attached to it didn’t count as feminine, as that’s the way I would have worn it anyway.

Nameless guy had managed to replace both of his starting swords with much better versions, and was wearing a matching Hunter’s Garb, albeit in darker colors. He was also wearing a ring in the shape of a boar’s head that slightly increased the strength of his blows.

It was startling how reliant I had grown on his company. Along with when I was training with my quarterstaff or in the Stillness, questing alone with the guy was the only time I could truly relax. Unlike the Ilosians, he treated me just the same as he would anyone else with my skill level, completely disregarding my appearance. The NPCs, on the other hand, seemed to think we were related as brother and sister or even father and daughter, or failing that, lovers. They also seemed to think I was completely helpless and needed to be protected. I suspected that if I hadn’t been traveling with my much older looking partner I wouldn’t even have been able to do some of the quests. With all of this, dealing with the Ilosians in a polite manner was… grating.

Regardless, I persevered, and generally by the time dusk fell the villagers understood I wasn’t anything like they had assumed me to be. The children, unlike their elders, didn’t seem to notice how young or small I looked, and followed us whenever we were in the village borders. To them we weren’t people that could cause trouble, or lovers, or related, or too young, or whatever, we were champions. We went and did awesome things and used real weapons and killed real monsters, and that was just the coolest thing to them.

I loved them for it, and would often entertain them with flourishes and juggling with my throwing daggers, or when I practiced with my quarterstaff.

After we finished the last village's quests, we were faced with a dilemma. This was the village at the northernmost edge of the forest and it would take two days of travel to get to the next town.

I followed my companion to the inn, where he rented a room and told me to be ready at dawn rather than in a few hours like normal. We ate together, bread and water again, and then went to our rooms to sleep.

 

-----

 

The man with no name closed the door to his rented room at the inn, but made no move to make ready for sleep. Sitting down on the bed, he opened his inventory and took stock of all that he had, adjusted his equipment, reviewed the words of power he knew, and thought through his plan to make sure there were no holes.

He needed to rent a room at the inn, being sure to have a separate room from Aria, which had already been accomplished. After a brief wait, just long enough for Aria to have fallen asleep, he would sneak away from the inn and set out for the next village, spending the night traveling. At first light he would leave the road and sleep for several hours in the tall grass that covered most of the land just outside the forest, fending off what weaker daytime monsters came.

At that point he would continue traveling at a leisurely speed to the next village, predicting that Aria would have certainly passed him while he was sleeping, but before reaching the town he would take a loop around the settlement’s borders and continue straight on to the next rather than stop there like he normally would. After observing her for the past week, he was confident that if Aria didn’t find him in the next town she would give up on searching for him.

When the nameless man sensed that about half of an hour had passed, he rose and silently opened the window, slipping out onto the roof and closing the hinged glass behind him. It was child’s play for him to avoid the small number of villagers still awake at this time of night, and before a minute had elapsed he was out of the village and traveling towards the next town.

When dawn broke, he continued traveling for another hour or so before leaving the dirt road. The area around was hilly but had the type of terrain used in plains, and was largely covered in long emerald green grass. After a small stint of searching, he found a small flattened patch of grass that was invisible from the road, and settled down to sleep there.

The girl will surely be fine on her own. Best sever ties with her before I become attached. I am a loner, and she'll be better off not following the path I've set for myself. If we ever meet again I hope it won’t be at the end of my blade.