After leaving Ryan, I tacted Lucas, a just outside the vilge. I couldn’t help but picture him trying to hunt those ridiculous wolves as he came crashing through the bushes. So ineffit, s.

  “Charlie, so what now? Let’s live it up—I’ve only got a week until I’m out of here.”

  “Fruit, everything’s going to be fine,” I greeted him with a pyful niame, but he just stared at me bnkly. Darn, that wasn’t it—no fruit. What did that girl call Ian…? Ah! “Pumpkin, I know a det leveling spot. Leave the wolves to the amateurs.”

  I grabbed his hand and pulled him along with a spring in my step. We had some time to grind while Lisa was gathering things to ent for the evening.

  We passed our old Frexie spot and headed into the pins. The sun bzed overhead as we moved past fields crawling with stupid venom monsters, but they weren’t our target. I had something eveer in mind, though it would take at least two hours of walking to reach.

  Eventually, we sneaked past a flock of onsters and reached a charming meadow stretg over a mile long. On ht, impassable mountains rose, their peaks disappearing into the horizon, while on the left, a river sliced through the ndscape he distant edge.

  We waded through waist-high, emerald-green grass, listening to the soft babbling of a nearby stream. It flowed alongside us, eventually merging into a wider river further down. When I noticed Lucas panting heavily, I called for a quick break, and he gratefully gulped down the crisp, cool water.

  Keeping low to avoid dete, I guided him around the more dangerous areas. Soon, the only sounds were our soft breaths and the faint rustling of grass. A sweet, floral st hung in the air, mixed with the earthy aroma of the meadow. We crouched behind a bush, trying to stay quiet as we tinued sneaking through.

  At the far end of the meadow, a ten-foot cliff stood tall—our target. Lucas blinked a few times, then looked at me with a smirk. “This is what you wao show me? Romantic spot, I guess.” He plucked stray bdes of grass from his hair and tried to wash a dirty sleeve iream. While he fussed with that, I sed the cliff’s edge for something specific. After a moment, I found it: a stoh rough edges, carved with a rune I didn’t reize.

  “Romantic? Sure,” I replied, grinning. “But check out the enemies down there. And the best part? It’s a fortified position.” I sat he cliff’s edge, feeling the damp air rising as I peered down at the creatures lurking below.

  [ie Lv.10]Type: 2-unon | HP: 165/165As the name suggested, they were s—but nearly two feet tall. The monsters buzzed around, hunting for flowers to pluheir long stingers and narrow waists giving them a menag look. Watg them, I pressed down on the rune carved into the stone.

  [gratutions! You fou Fortification. Do you want to occupy it?]Not yet, System. I turo Lucas. “How’s the staff? Gimme!”

  My dear mage, finally done fussing with his ing, g an invisible menu before nodding. “Sure, but you ’t actually use it.”

  “That’s fine. I used to be a warrior, so I just need something to fil around with.” He shrugged and ha over without further ent. Whoa, I thought, eyeing the staff. I’d known a Boss drop would be det, but this good?

  [Staff of Fme]Quality: 4-exceptionalATK:3-4Durability:85/85Restri:Level 7Effects:+5 INT, +2 damage to fme spells“Okay, Lucas, when you hit level seven, it’s yours! For the main menu…”

  ‘Now, system. Please send them to attack me.’

  [Occupying in progress… First round.]“Charlie, are you sure we hahis?” Lucas gripped his staff tightly, eyeing the charging s with a grim expression.

  “You’re my friend, you’re my mage—you will not let them kill me. Right?” I shot him an evil grin, stood up, and started f the runes for Ice Dance… which, of course, failed. The hum of the s grew louder as they swarmed in the air, straining to climb the cliff. A few got disced—thanks, unknown zy programmer—but five kept ing, and two reached Lucas just as I finally fihe runes. Yes, only on the fifth try!

  The st step was to shout the activation word—but my train of thought was cut short when I saw Lucas standing and doing nothing. “Stop standing there like an idiot and cast a spell!” I yelled, dodging aside as one of the s swung its sti me.

  “Roger that, madam!” With a flick of his wrist, he created a spark rune in the air, and the burst into fmes. Well, “singed” might be more accurate—it just seemed annoyed.

  As I leaped back, I finally muttered the activation word, “Ice Dance!” Instantly, the air turned frigid, every exhale creating a puff of vapor, and frost spread across the field, stretg out like a winter’s breath. The s didn’t take kindly to it, their movements slowing—a small victory, or we’d be headed to the graveyard soohan pnned. I swung the staff, bashing their small frames as they focused on Lucas.

  [Target lost 4HP (1 normal + 3 ICE damage)][Target lost 4HP (1 normal + 3 ICE damage)][Target lost 5HP (1 normal + 4 ICE damage)]For some reason, they didn’t like that and turheir attention to me. I dodged a few stingers ing my way, thanks to the slow effect, but eventually, my luck ran out—a stinger shot forward and struck my exposed thigh with arming speed.

  [You lost 9 HP.][You are poisoned! You will lose 10HP over 10 seds!]Oh, that stung! These things really packed a punch. Time for a rategy—I gripped my staff like a two-handed sword and swung with all my might, aiming for their stingers.

  The fidence boost from finally fighting in my beautiful shoes must’ve helped because my evasion game improved. Now, the loud, irritating hum was the worst of it, and it only took two hits to snap a stinger off. I cheered as oo the ground. “Take that, you little bzzt bzzt!” One down, six to go!

  With each broken stihe s gred furiously, but that was all they did. No attack. Everyone khat if you broke the thing a motacked with, it would stop—or switch to atack method, like a spare hand. But these s? Easy targets. I wasn’t pining.

  I healed myself and braced for the round. “Hurry—more s ining! We o break as many stingers as we . Ice Danly sts ten minutes!”

  When the Ice Dance effect faded, a swarm of s hovered around us, aimlessly buzzing. Sweat dripped down pces I didn’t care to mention, and my muscles ached like hell; it had been tough just holding their attention. My stamina had already dropped to zero—figures, riests shouldn’t be doing this.

  “Now for the sweet dessert—let’s break them!” The onsught on the defenseless s began. Together, we took them down one by one as they buzzed around us, waiting their turn to bee our XP.

  [ie has beeed x20. +160XP (320/2).][gratutions! You are now level 4! XP to level: 122/800]“Charlie! Each ie gave us 16 XP! Insane!” Lucas was beaming as he rummaged through the fallen s. “But… no loot. Nothing at all.”

  Out of mana, stamina, and any shred of mental energy, I colpsed to the ground. His excited chatter barely registered. How much wine would it take to make this pain disappear? Would I still be in fighting shape? Those damn ies! The stings hurt like crazy, but I had to push through.

  I could lower the Reality Limit, but of course, the system had given me a skill that depended on it.

  “Charlie, are you okay? You look… different.”

  “It hurts like hell! But I ha. I o. As a warrior, I had it set to fifty pert, so half of what I have now. I’ll be fine,” I gritted out, hoping my voice sounded more fident than I felt.

  [Occupying in progress… Sed round.]With a ringing sound, the system reminded me it wasn’t over yet. I drank otle a in!

  [ie has beeed x95. +760XP (1520/2).][gratutions! You are now level 5! XP to level: 82/1250][You o visit the city to further your Priest studies.][gratutions! You ow Fortification. You develop it up to fortified position, for further development you o get nobility rank.]The mind-numbing grind was something no sane person would willingly ehen again, nobody except us stupid gamers would even try. We fought for hours, and by now, the sun had already set.

  Plus, who enjoys getting jabbed by filthy stingers?

  Those annoying ies were smart enough to nd a few hits on me during the lures. We even had a few close calls when I couldn’t cast the healing rune fast enough, and my hit points dropped dangerously low. Whatever.

  [Lisa] My Hero? Are you free?[Princess] Call me Princess, or Charlie. Please. Yes.[Lisa] Alrighty, cute Princess, came to the tavern. Sed floor, one of my guildmates will escort you inside.“Lucas, that was fun, wasn’t it? But I’ve gotta run. Someone’s got to make the money you owe.” I held up a part—well, a scroll—with a recall spell already prepared. Thanks, Irwen, for not ruining this… yet.

  “Do whatever you o, Charlie. I… like you, even if you don’t mao get me the money.”

  [You named pyer Lucas as a keeper of East Fortification]“Please, take care of our fortress. And for your information, you’re silly—it’s already in your at. Now I have to keep my promise ao a tavern bed with some ugly guy.” I winked and began ting the recall scroll.

  “Fortress? In my at?! Ten thousand, really? Wait, what guy? No! Don’t tell me—” he shouted, but before he could finish, the beautiful meadow vanished, repced by the wooden Elven buildings arouhe dim light from the surrounding houses cast a magical glow across the street.

  [Lucas] We will talk about this![Princess] We will. Later tonight at the bar?[Lucas] Roger. Logging off.The inn was right he vilge ter where I’d recalled, so it wasn’t a long walk. The vilge seemed calmer at night, though the distant sounds of musid ughter told a different story. Ihe warm atmosphere of drinking and chatter hit me like a wave.

  Patrick had once asked if I hated crowds since I always went quiet around new people. Not at all. I loved people; I just couldn’t talk to them easily, that’s all.

  Silly Patrick, I thought, feeling a bit seal. He’d always been like a grandpa to me, and the guy behind the bar was handing out drinks just like Patrick used to. I found myself staring, almost hypnotized, uo look away from the liquor. No, John. You have work to do. I resisted the lure of sweet drinks and headed up the stairs. On the sed floor, an elven warrior waited near a pin wooden door.

  “Hey, girly. I’m Rob. What’s your business here?” e on, John. Tell him about your enting skills. But Rob’s stare drifted to my cleavage, and once again, my body betrayed me—I stood there as silent as ay bottle of whiskey. Should’ve had a drink downstairs.

  With a sigh, I gave him a weak smile and nodded. He shrugged, opening the door to let me in. Thanks, stranger. No words necessary, right?

  “Charlie, there ya are!” As soon as I stepped in, Lisa greeted me with open arms and a kiss aimed at my cheek.

  I executed an intricate footwork maneuver I’d learned from the Imperial family’s martial arts, almost esg her hug, but between the seventh step and a goose-like jump, I remembered her big… brain. So I let her get close. Yep, John, this is how you get a girl—good job. She rubbed her cheek against mine before leadihrough a few rooms to a back area that looked like a makeshift warehouse.

  “We set everything up for you. Ent all the armor sets, please!” The room was equipped with a nearly broken wooden chair and a small, hole-riddled table. Truly, a workspace fit for a queen. Though I couldn’t say anything, I gave her my best insulted look, which she promptly ignored, pullio a warm hug and patting my cheeks.

  “That’s great! I’m gd you like it. Just text me when you’re done, sweetheart.”

  Apparently, my silence had firmed her idea of how wonderful the room was, and with yet another kiss, she dashed off. What the hell have I signed up for?