Chapter

Nine

“Ok. First off, are you going to kill me or not? Because⁠—”

“Ha! Look at you. You look like you’re going to faint. Well, relax. If I was going to kill you, I’d have done it right away. I just wanted to make sure you were human and you weren’t under the control of anything dangerous. On that note, I think I’d like to hear you say that you’re human.”

Brin wanted to collapse from relief. He thought he had put the Heroes at ease with his “precocious youngster” routine, so when Hogg had revealed that he knew Brin was from Earth, he had just about had a heart attack. He’d low-key thought Hogg wanted to murder him since the conversation this morning, so it was great to hear confirmation that that wasn’t in the cards.

Oh, right. Hogg was still waiting for an answer.

“I’m human,” said Brin. “I’m only human and I’ve never been anything except for human. Wow, saying it over and over just makes it sound like I’m lying, but I’m not. I like human stuff, like sugar and bread and—changing the subject: Can I ask you something? How did you know?”

“I’ve got what may be the most advanced [Inspect] in the kingdom, so you’re an open book. Your Otherworlder tag especially raised some alarm bells in my head. Did you die in your other life or were you experimenting with dimensional magic?”

“I died, I think,” said Brin. “Does this kind of thing happen a lot around here?”

“Not a lot, but it does happen. First piece of advice—don’t tell anyone you’re an Otherworlder. If anyone figures you out, say you’re from the past. Getting frozen by some kind of hibernation spell isn’t exactly common, but it shows up in a lot of stories and it paints you in a good light. Otherworlders are more of a mixed bag. Sometimes Otherworlders are regular people, but sometimes they’re monsters from the void, beasts of emptiness and darkness wearing human skin. Second piece of advice, when you get your System unlocked, no matter what Class, take [Inspect] as your first Skill. But the second one you should take is [Conceal Status].”

Brin scratched his head, thinking about it for a second. “If that does what it sounds like, wouldn’t that make people more suspicious of me, not less?”

“Lots of people take [Conceal Status]. At the higher levels, combat is at least fifty percent about controlling information. Knowing strengths and weaknesses will help you punch above your weight class. Knowing which enemies are a bad matchup for you will keep you alive. Of course, if you’re a [Tinker] or a [Tailor], it’ll turn some heads. But if you get a rare Class no one will think twice.”

“Thanks, that’s… really good to know,” said Brin. “You know, it’s really nice to have this off my chest. I can ask you things I can’t ask anyone else, common knowledge stuff I should already know.”

“Glad to oblige,” said Hogg. He seemed distracted, for someone who was in the middle of this kind of life-or-death conversation. It was only life or death for Brin though. For all he knew, this was just another Tuesday to Hogg.

Or maybe he was distracted because he wasn’t actually even there. Brin hadn’t forgotten that he was talking to an illusion.

Was the real Hogg going to come back? Why had he left in the first place? He decided to broach the subject subtly.

“Sometimes secrets have a habit of taking over. It can be freeing to have someone to talk to, someone that knows the real you,” said Brin.

“Unless the lie is the real you, and the truth is the illusion,” said Hogg.

“Yeah, you would say that, wouldn’t you, Mister [Illusionist].”

Hogg didn’t react right away. In fact, he didn’t react at all. He kept walking with an empty look on his face. When he stepped on a dirt mound, his foot clipped right through it, like a video game avatar going through scenery. Or like an illusionary copy on autopilot because its owner was too stunned to direct it perfectly.

“Damn,” he finally said. “[Know What’s Real]?”

“That’s right,” said Brin.

“It lets you see my status?”

“Nah,” said Brin. “It lets me see through illusions. It wasn’t a difficult deduction after that. You’re using illusions to pretend that you have some kind of teleport ability. You want people to think you’re what? A [Thief]? [Assassin]?”

“[Rogue],” said Hogg.

“Why did you say [Warrior], then?”

“Some people have lie detection Skills. Lots of [Rogues] will say that they’re [Warriors], completely expected. Disguise my big scary lie with a little white lie,” Hogg said numbly.

“Even without all that, though, you were as obvious as the sun.” Brin did his best imitation of Hogg’s scratchy voice. “Remember this day, Brin. This is how [Illusionists] die.”

“The other guys aren’t dunces, they were beginning to suspect, so I threw out an olive branch. Didn’t think you’d pick up on it, though. I even knew you weren’t really a kid, but it’s too easy to forget. That was my mistake. You’re more perceptive than you look. I’ll say that much.”

Brin snorted. “Everybody thinks I must not understand people very well since I work behind a desk all day. The truth is, I understand people fine, I’m just not all that interested in them. On that note, where are you right now?”

“Leading away some undead. About two miles southwest of you,” said Hogg.

“Wait, there are more of them out here?”

“Yep. I didn’t want to scare you or anything, but now that you know, maybe pick up the pace a bit?”

Brin started running. Then he let it settle into a quick jog, a pace that he thought he’d be able to maintain for a while.

He could see quite a way through the forest, probably a quarter mile, with no sign of danger, or of Hogg, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. The tree trunks this far down were bare, and with no underbrush, it made the forest seem cold and empty. Hogg’s double jogged alongside him, looking solid as ever, but when Brin reached out to touch him, his fingers went right through his shoulder and felt only air.

“Tell me what’s going on,” said Brin. “How many undead? When did you see them?”

“The Phasmid was doing a decent job of keeping the whole army hidden, but now that it’s dead, I’m able to keep tabs on them with my abilities. The main army is still engaged with the others, but they noticed we left. Now thousands of lesser soldiers, the kind we found in your village, are swarming the forest.”

“Couldn’t you hide us with illusions?” asked Brin.

“To a point, but undead can see heat as well. It’s sort of the opposite problem that we had with the Phasmid. Lurilan could track it, but even when we knew it was nearby we still couldn’t see it, so we had to lure it in. Well, the undead don’t have a good way to track us, but if they happen to stumble close enough they’ll be able to see us. If a bunch of them suddenly die, I think the master will know and he’ll send the whole swarm in our direction. That’s why I’m leading these ones away with blinking lights and soft sounds, instead of taking them out.”

“Then why⁠—”

“Shut up for a second.”

Brin dutifully kept his mouth shut and focused on running. Hogg’s double veered abruptly to the right, and Brin followed him.

They ran for a half hour, which was longer and further than Brin had ever run in his entire previous life. He was reaching his limit. He opened his mouth to ask Hogg if it was safe to take a break, when he said, “Dammit! They got to the pass before us. Well, shoot, our cover will be blown, but I still think our best bet is to break through. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Hogg’s double disappeared, and sure enough, the real Hogg appeared from the trees only a few short minutes later.

Without a word, he tossed Brin over his shoulder and kept running. Again, they were flying through the trees at a breakneck pace. This time, the ride was a lot less comfortable. He was panting heavily, which was difficult with Hogg’s shoulder digging into his stomach. That combined with his head upside down made him nauseous, but if anything, Brin was simply thankful for the break.

Still way better than running.

The break was short-lived. Not long after, Hogg set him down and said, “Follow after. When you get to the pass, ignore everything and run straight through. Oh, and don’t look down.”

“Why shouldn’t I look—” Brin looked down, and he was gone. His arms, legs, and everything else were completely invisible. He tripped, falling face-first into the ground.

“I made you invisible. It can be disorienting if you’re not used to it. Don’t look at yourself and you’ll be fine,” said Hogg.

“I thought you said this wouldn’t work,” said Brin. “They can still see my body heat.”

“Better than nothing. Now remember what I said. Just run straight through.”

With that, Hogg ran ahead and didn’t so much as leave an illusion of himself behind. Brin took off after him.

He ran, careful not to look at his pumping arms or legs, and was able to keep his balance this time. Despite being invisible, he felt terribly exposed. His loud breathing probably carried for miles, and his heart sounded like drum beats.

Soon he arrived at the area Hogg was calling a pass.

A huge wall of stone interrupted the forest. It looked natural, like an abrupt cliff face, except for how improbable it was. From the gap he could see that it was only about three hundred feet thick or so. It rose up abruptly, was probably flat on the top for a bit, and looked like it dropped off just as abruptly on the other side.

It stretched for miles in either direction; there was no getting around it. He saw the remains of a tunnel, a decorated stone archway set into the cliff face, but it was caved in. There was no getting through there.

Instead, there was a natural gap in front of him, with a slope leading up a ways and then back down the other side.

The slope was guarded by a group of fifty undead soldiers lined up across it. Their line was breaking though, because a giant ten-ton bear was charging out of the forest at them.

The bear was fake, obviously. Or maybe it was only obvious to Brin; the undead seemed quite alarmed by the monster.

Hogg’s bear illusion had greenish-brown fur, marred here and there with wounds, fresh wounds that oozed brackish blood with every step. Spittle frothed in its mouth, and its eyes were yellow. The beast looked insane. Rabid.

The bear approached its first victim, reached out with a claw, and sliced the undead soldier into pieces.

Brin’s jaw dropped. He’d expected the illusory paw to be ineffective. Hogg must be inside the bear, mimicking the effect of the claws with his shortswords.

The bear roared so loudly that Brin could feel the vibrations in the earth. That was enough for the rest of the undead. They scattered in every direction.

Brin ran. He ran towards the bear, straight through the fleeing undead. A few turned to look at him. One took a step towards him, but the bear roared and pounced, landing on the undead soldier and swallowing him whole, to all appearances. Clever. Hogg might not have even done anything to it; he could just render the undead invisible and all its buddies would assume it’d been eaten.

Brin kept running.

The slope was so steep that it took all his effort to keep his legs moving. His run turned to a walk. His walk slowed and slowed until it was more like a crawl, and he had to use his hands to pull himself up the steep slope.

This was too much. He’d done enough. He’d been running too long, and now he was done. His legs couldn’t take any more. He must be near the top, right? He looked up and saw that he was barely halfway there. There was no way he could do that.

He looked behind him. The undead soldiers were rallying. They were forming a circle around the bear and starting to press in. In no time, they’d realize that the bear was an illusion, and when that happened Brin needed to be away from here. He needed to get over the hill.

Fear made a powerful motivator. His legs found whatever it was they needed and carried him to the top of the slope.

He scrambled to the top, over the crest. He wanted to fall over and pass out, but he was still too close to the sounds of Hogg and the undead fighting, so he kept moving, going down the other side.

It was a nice relief to be going downhill, for about five seconds. Then he was moving so fast that it was all he could do to keep his legs underneath him. He couldn’t stop himself, he couldn’t slow. His legs didn’t have enough energy left to even try. The slope down was made of gravel and sharp rocks. If he tripped and rolled down there was no way he’d get to the bottom without breaking anything.

Thankfully, he got to the bottom without dying, and let the momentum carry him across the prairie to a patch of grass tall enough to cover him. Once he had slowed down enough to do so without hurting himself, he collapsed into the tall grass.

He lay there, breathing in and out, almost hyperventilating. There didn’t seem to be enough air in the world for him to breathe.

The rest was glorious. His legs practically sang now that the abuse was over. The sudden lack of pain was better than pleasure.

“Get up, kid,” said Hogg. The voice was hushed, right next to Brin’s ear, completely disembodied.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Brin.

“Get up. There’s one near you, and I won’t get there in time. You have to get up.”

Brin rolled to his feet, and sure enough, an undead soldier stood in his path. Looking down at his hands, Brin saw that he was still invisible, but Hogg had confirmed that that wouldn’t be enough.

There was something of a dirt road leading from the slope to the forest beyond, and the undead stood right in the middle. It was strange, seeing one of these things in the daytime. Its sword was black, its skin like ash, and its clothes were tight against its mummified flesh.

Flickering lights surrounded the ghoul, and it followed them with its gaze, trying to watch them all at once. It swung its heavy black broadsword at them, hitting only air.

“How are you doing that?” asked Brin. “I thought you said they saw heat.”

“They do. You can make heat with light, that’s what those little sparks are. I can’t make enough heat to fight with, but for this it’s perfect.”

“So it can’t see me?”

“It can. It just cares about the brighter heat more,” said Hogg. “Now listen. You’re going to fight that thing.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Brin hissed. “Let’s just sneak past it.”

“That won’t work forever, and this isn’t the only one. You can do this,” said Hogg. “I’ll guide you every step of the way.”

Apparently, he meant that literally, because golden footprints of light stretched out in front of Brin, indicating exactly where he should step.

“No way,” said Brin.

“Believe it. Before I showed you how [Illusionists] die, right? Now I’ll show you how they live.”

Brin followed the footprints, stepping on the footprints exactly. He had to run to get his stride long enough. They led to a stone on the ground, flashing yellow. A white circle surrounded the stone, and it started shrinking. A timer. He half expected Hogg to say something like “Press F to pick it up.”

Hogg said something close. “Pick it up.”

Brin grabbed the stone as he ran past. “Good,” said Hogg.

The footprints led to the ghoul, and the undead’s offhand arm started flashing yellow.

“I’m in a quicktime event. I can’t believe this,” said Brin.

“I don’t know what that is. Stay focused, kid,” said Hogg.

A white circle appeared around the ghoul’s arm. Another timer, and this one was shrinking fast.

Brin charged the ghoul, who was still distracted by the drifting sparks, and slammed his stone exactly where the light indicated. He felt the ghoul’s arm break.

It spun and fell to the ground, then dropped the sword to frantically swat at the sparks of light with its still-working hand. The ghoul’s head started flashing yellow.

Brin put all of his body weight into bringing his stone down onto the ghoul’s head. He smashed it in the forehead and felt a satisfying crunch. The skull cracked and the ghoul went limp, but the yellow light kept flashing, so Brin brought the stone down three more times, until the flashing yellow light went dim.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [28]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

Your System is currently locked. Experience confiscated.

For your feat of valor, you have been awarded the following.

Strength +1

Mental Control +1

Will +1

Brin smiled. He’d done it. He’d actually done it. And the System had rewarded him, too. Maybe he couldn’t get levels, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t improve.

“Good,” said Hogg. “Now pick up the sword.”

Brin’s smile fled. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I told you, that’s not the only one. Now pick it up,” said Hogg.

“How are you talking to me right now?” said Brin.

“What, do you expect me to spill all my secrets? I’m an Illusionist. That means light and sound. I can—hold on!”

Brin stood next to the dead ghoul for about thirty seconds, blinking at it dumbly, before Hogg’s disembodied voice returned. “Ok. I have a few seconds. Now⁠—”

“What was that? What happened?” asked Brin.

“I’m still fighting an entire warband by myself, you realize that, right? So maybe save your stupid questions for later.”

Hogg made the black sword start blinking yellow, so Brin dutifully stepped over and lifted it. Despite it being a one-handed sword, it took both hands for him to lift it at all, and even then just barely.

“Hm. Ok. Do this,” said Hogg.

A copy of Brin rose up from the ground, complete with a big black sword that he could barely lift. The copy of Brin raised the sword above his head, then brought it down hard in a heavy chop. It was slow, like the skeletons in Dark Souls. So pretty fast for a video game, but compared to the bullet-quick speeds these undead soldiers could move at, it was slow like a turtle.

Still, Brin gave it a go. It took a couple tries before Hogg was satisfied with it. “Good. Now, when I say ‘Chop,’ do that,” said Hogg. “Now try this.”

Brin’s copy swung the sword to the side. He swung the sword all the way around in a circle, building speed so that by the time he got forwards again he was actually swinging pretty fast.

It took Brin five tries before Hogg was satisfied. “Ok. That one’s called ‘Spin.’ You’re ready, let’s go.”

Brin did not feel ready, but Hogg was the expert here, so when the footprints appeared again, he followed them. The sword was so heavy that he let the point drag in the dirt behind him, but Hogg didn’t say anything about it.

It was crazy. Hogg had basically just set his “A” and “B” attacks, right? Brin had evolved from an NPC—now he was the Avatar. And Hogg was the Player.

Brin would have been offended, but honestly, after all the madness he’d seen today, it felt nice to offer up his agency to someone who knew what they were doing.

Two more ghouls appeared on the road, both of them swatting at flitting sparks in the air.

“Wait,” said Hogg.

The sparks drew one of them close. It swung wildly, leaving itself completely exposed.

The glowing footsteps urged Brin forward. “Chop,” said Hogg.

Brin chopped with his sword, slow and heavy just like he’d practiced. He sliced straight through the ghoul’s sword arm.

“Spin,” said Hogg.

Brin went through the spin move. The ghoul’s body was in the way, and his sword didn’t even cut through the thin fabric of the ghoul’s clothes on the first pass, but he spun all the way around, gaining momentum, and on the second pass cut deep into the ghoul’s middle. It slumped to the ground a moment later, dead. These weren’t the convenient undead of video games. They bled dark, brackish blood. They took wounds. And when the wounds were bad enough, they died. Brin smiled.

“Now the next one,” said Hogg.

This ghoul waved frantically, chopping his black sword at the empty air. It knew its companion had died, but didn’t know what to do about it.

Brin followed the footsteps forward, then chopped on command. The ghoul made a lucky block, knocking his sword away and flinging it out of his hands.

Encouraged, the ghoul kept swinging, faster and faster. Brin barely ducked in time, and scrambled on all fours to get out of its range.

The sword hit the dirt and immediately started flashing yellow. Brin scrambled over to it and picked it up. He waited, until the ghoul calmed down again. It stopped moving at all, just looked at the flitting sparks. Brin stepped forward and, on Hogg’s command, chopped again. This time he split the ghoul’s skull on the first swing.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [25]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [23]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

Your System is currently locked. Experience confiscated.

Brin felt satisfied at seeing the notifications, but also worried. Even with all of Hogg’s help, that had been close. Even blinded and confused, that last ghoul had still nearly killed him.

“Ok, that was good, but before we continue, I want to try something else. Let’s see if you can roll,” said Hogg.

He showed Brin an illusion of himself jumping forward, doing a somersault, and then coming up to his feet. It looked simple enough.

He gave it a try, without the sword at first, and was surprised at how easy it was. The twelve-year-old body was perfect for this type of thing. He didn’t get dizzy, and he didn’t have stores of fat to weigh him down.

After a couple tries, he was able to do it smoothly, even carrying the sword.

“Ok, I’ll show you an arrow like this. That means you should roll in that direction,” said Hogg.

Brin chuckled. “You’re invincible while you’re rolling. I can kill dragons now.”

“That is not true. That is definitely not true. How ya doing there, kid? I mean man. Actually, maybe I should have you sneak past the next ones after all.”

“No,” said Brin. “I’m good. Let’s keep going.”

“Are you sure? I’m doing pretty well on my side. I can probably finish up here in—damn. There’s more on the way. I’ve got to take care of this.”

Hogg’s voice didn’t speak again for five whole minutes. Brin kept walking, needing to move to keep his adrenaline up.

“Tell you what, you should do it if you think you can do it,” said Hogg. “There’s three left on your side of the pass. If you can take them out, you’ll be safe until I can catch up with you.”

“Got it,” said Brin.

“Then give me a second to catch up on my end. They’re really… oof, they’re really… these ones are really something.”

An undead soldier came tearing down the road at full tilt, chasing fluttering sparks. It ran straight towards Brin.

“Fine then, I guess we’re doing this now. Get ready,” said Hogg, “And… spin!”

Brin spun, and caught the undead with his sword as it ran past him. Unfortunately, the sword didn’t cut far enough to kill it, and got caught in the undead’s middle. An arrow appeared in Brin’s vision, along with a swiftly shrinking timer.

He rolled out of the way, feeling the whoosh of air as the ghoul’s sword passed straight through where his head had been. As soon as he was finished, another arrow appeared, so he rolled again, then again, narrowly missing attacks each time.

The ghoul raised its sword again, then dropped it. It stumbled, then fell to the ground dead. It’s thick, dark blood slowly oozed out into a pool around it

“Why does it bleed? It seems weird to me that they can die from blood loss,” said Brin.

“Undead take wounds, just like us,” said Hogg. “In the stories, if you cut off an undead’s finger, it’ll stay alive and inch around like a worm and then climb into your mouth in the middle of the night, but that ain’t how it works in real life.”

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [26]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

Your System is currently locked. Experience confiscated.

The ghoul’s sword started flashing, so Brin picked it up.

“Ok, I’m going to have you spin again, but this time just keep going. Go as fast as you can, really give it some muscle,” said Hogg.

Brin swung the sword around, and around, and around. He went fast, so fast that the world outside became a blur. The weight of the sword kept him going, pulling him along, until it was all he could do to keep hold of the heavy weapon. Somewhere in the blur, he could see ghouls approaching, but he was spinning too fast to make it out. He was moving sickeningly fast.

Suddenly his spin ended. He felt his sword hit something, and he was stopped. The sword wasn’t in his hands.

“Roll!” said Hogg.

Brin couldn’t make out the direction, but he tried anyway. His roll turned to the side, so far to the side it was more of a cartwheel that ended with him slamming his back against the ground.

The world was still spinning. He tried to stand, but flopped over again instead.

“It’s ok. Good enough. You’re done,” said Hogg. “Take a breather.”

Brin lay on his back, stomach heaving, world spinning. When he felt like he could see well enough, he slowly sat up.

A new undead soldier, this one with a scythe, lay dead on the ground not four feet from him. Another one wandered nearby, still with his sword stuck in its chest. Its steps were uneven and confused. It wandered awkwardly in circles before finally grinding to a halt. It fell over, dead.

Brin laughed, delirious. He was shaking, part elation, part horror at how dangerous that had been.

He’d done it. He’d actually killed them. Not with pitfall traps, but in actual combat. True, Hogg had done most of the work, but he’d held the sword. He’d had the courage to face down monsters that could’ve killed him easily in different circumstances, and that had to count for something.

“Heads up, kid. There’s one more. Pick up your sword!” said Hogg.

One more ghoul walked across the forest floor, pine needles crunching under heavy steps. He carried a practical black war-ax, and he was a bit taller than the rest. His tight black clothing was a bit neater.

Dozens of bright sparks of light flitted about him, and while they clearly confused him, they didn’t stop him from his path. He was walking straight towards Brin.

Brin pulled his sword out of the corpse and dragged it away, to the side. The ghoul adjusted his course, still coming towards Brin.

“Please. I’m too tired. I can’t do any more. Just distract him so I can run away,” said Brin.

“I’m… trying! Damn. This one is too smart. Or something is controlling it directly. You’re going to have to take it out, kid. Come on. Just like the others. Just like we practiced.”

The sparks flared, and the ghoul paused. Glowing footsteps appeared on the ground, circling around the ghoul to his flank.

Brin followed them as quickly as he could move his heavy sword.

“Chop,” said Hogg.

Just then, the ghoul’s head snapped around, twisting unnaturally. His eyes were rotten and gray. Clouded, surely blind. Which was why it was such a surprise when they met Brin’s own eyes.

The ghoul kicked, then followed up with a wild chop of his ax that barely missed. A mirror of Brin’s own chop, except that it was as quick as the flap of a hummingbird’s wing.

The kick had probably been meant as a feint, but it saved Brin’s life by pushing him out of the way of the chop.

He flew back. Landing hard on the ground made his head swim with stars. He tried to pull in a breath, but that’s when the pain hit. He couldn’t breathe. His chest hurt. Too much.

“Get up. Slow your breathing. Nothing is broken. You can breathe, just try slowly, and get up. GET UP!” shouted Hogg.

Brin struggled to his feet, just in time to see the arrow of light, showing where he should roll.

He rolled, causing another spasm of pain in his chest. He forced himself to pull in a lungful of air, and it came, but the pain nearly knocked him off his feet again.

The ghoul had lodged his ax in a tree, right above where Brin had been standing. It gave Brin time to get his breathing under control while he backed away.

“No. No, move forward,” said Hogg.

Golden footprints appeared on the ground, leading towards the undead soldier.

“He can see me,” said Brin.

“I’ll give him something else to look at. One more try. Just trust me,” said Hogg.

Brin found himself stepping forward. Hadn’t he just been patting himself on the back for being brave two minutes ago? It was time to put up or shut up.

His sword on the ground between him and the ghoul started flashing yellow. He picked it up. It was getting heavier every time.

He started edging around the ghoul again, planning on attacking from behind.

“No. Straight on. Trust me,” said Hogg.

When Brin got close, Hogg said, “Chop.”

Brin’s arms burned, but he managed to lift the sword one last time.

As he did, a line of bright light appeared on the ground behind the ghoul. It lit the pine needles on fire, sending up a screen of gray smoke. It was filled with little sparks, in the outline of a man.

The ghoul twisted again and slashed his sword into the smoke.

Brin brought his sword down on its head.

A flurry of notifications burst into his vision, and Brin dismissed them, wary, looking for the next threat. Nothing came, but it had to be out there. There was always one more.

His sword fell from sweat-slicked fingers. He didn’t think he could pick it up again. Could he find a smaller weapon?

“It’s done,” said Hogg. “You did it. Take a break.”

What did that mean? Brin blinked around stupidly before it finally registered. Oh. It was over. He had survived. He slumped to the ground and started to close his eyes.

“Whoa! You gotta move!” said Hogg.

“What?” He knew it. He knew it wasn’t over.

“Those pine needles are still on fire,” said Hogg.

He was right. There was still a small fire on the ground, spreading slowly through the pine needles. They were starting to catch on the edge of his sleeve.

He rolled over, twice, which smothered the flame on his sleeve, but didn’t do anything for the pine needles on the ground. He could get up and stomp the fire out, but actually no, he couldn’t. He was too tired.

The flame spread a little further, then fizzled out on its own. A passing breeze made some of the small embers glow, but none of them lit again. After a few minutes, another breeze revealed that even the little embers were dead.

Brin closed his eyes.

And opened them again. His nap must not have been long, because the sun hadn’t moved very far. He pressed his ribs to see if any were broken. They hurt when he touched them, but they didn’t feel broken. Then again, would he even be able to tell?

He sat up, and felt awful. His head hurt, his whole body was sore, and it still hurt to breathe. He also felt alive. More alive than he’d ever been before.

The clearing was still empty, except for the patch of burnt pine needles and the defeated undead. Had he really been the one to kill those things? It didn’t seem possible. Well, Hogg deserved most of the credit, but he had swung the sword.

He wished he hadn’t been so quick to dismiss the notifications. Was there some way to look at them again? Oh, there they were.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [27]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [28]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout [25]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

You have defeated:

Undead Soldier Scout Captain [35]

Due to level disparity extra experience will be rewarded.

Alert!

Your System is currently locked. Experience confiscated.

Congratulations!

You have gained an achievement.

Warbound (Epic)

You defeated 10 enemy soldiers before unlocking your System. You are truly born for war!

+10% Strength. +10% Vitality. +10% Will. +50% experience from melee combat.

“Whoa. Wow! You won’t believe the notification I just got,” said Brin.

“You know, I’m still in the thick of it over here. Talking to you means I have that much less focus for keeping myself alive. So, you know, shut the hell up already,” said Hogg.

“Oh, or maybe you did know about this achievement. Is that why you had me kill these undead soldiers myself?” asked Brin.

“Nope. It was the best choice for keeping you alive. Bad things happen to people who try to mess around with children and the System,” said Hogg. “And… Ow! Dammit! Stop distracting me! We can talk about this later.”

Brin left Hogg alone and opened up his status screen.

Information

Name: Brin isu Yambul

Age: 12

Class: Child of Travin’s Bog

Level: 1

Attributes

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 12

Vitality: 10

Magic: 9

Mental Control: 13

Will: 11

Titles

Traveler: Locked

Otherworlder: Locked

Quests

Survivor of Travin’s Bog

You are the Quest’s beneficiary. You receive no rewards for completion and no action is needed on your part.

Achievements

Warbound (Epic)

You are born for war. You defeated at least 10 enemy soldiers before unlocking your System.

+10% Strength. +10% Vitality. +10% Will. +50% experience from melee combat.

His stats had gone up. He’d thought that he’d have to wait two full years before he started to see any changes, but he’d already gone up by two or three points in almost every attribute. And if his gamer lore told him anything, it was that even though the experience modifier didn’t boost any stats right now, it was definitely the most valuable thing he’d gained. He’d done something important here.

Granted, he’d been fighting in absolute perfect conditions, against high-level enemies that Hogg had basically spoon-fed to him. And the System had confiscated most of his rewards, but still, it was something.

Just this much from the System was starting to put a fire in his belly. It felt like he was waking up a bit. For the first time, he started to think that he could not just survive, but actually be something in this world.

He wanted to be something. He wanted to prove to himself that there was some good in what had happened to him. He wanted to prove to Galan, Lumina, Lurilan, and even Hogg, that he was worth saving. And now, he was starting to believe he could.

Maybe Hogg could be convinced to lure some more enemies for him to fight? He doubted it. The way Hogg had phrased it made it sound like sending children to fight monsters was something you should only do if you had no other choice. Obviously, that was common sense, but it was nice to know that people in this world thought so too, even if it was annoying for Brin in the moment.

The achievement also gave him hope for a good Class. If tailors always became [Tailors] and butchers always got offered [Butcher], then someone with a Warbound achievement should certainly get offered [Warrior]. And thinking about it, if he could follow the path of any of the Heroes, the one he admired most was Galan.

He’d gone with an intelligence build in his last life, so to speak. When you’re growing up in the “Information Age” it’s kind of hard to not see the writing on the wall and go into the information industry, so he’d always known he was going to be a programmer. But he’d always thought that in another life, it would be nice to have a more active, physical job. Something outdoors, where his job exercised his body, instead of forcing it to waste away idle under fluorescent lights.

This was a restart, a second chance, and there was absolutely no reason he couldn’t be a [Knight].

Lumina was his second choice. He wouldn’t complain if he got [Mage], oh no. The sheer power she commanded was hard to argue with, and it did suit his natural talents. He was good at learning.

Between Hogg and Lurilan? Well, he’d underestimated Hogg for sure. There was a lot to be said about [Illusionist], but it seemed like a lot more work for much less reward than the other classes. It was a support Class, frankly, and he wanted to be the front man. Also, there was something romantic about the life of a [Hunter]. Tracking exotic beasts, always on the move, seeing new places—his biggest regret about his last life was that he never got to travel. Yes, out of the two of them, he’d pick [Hunter].

If he even got lucky enough to be offered any of them.

Hogg caught up to him not long after. Brin expected Hogg to be covered with scratches, to bear wounds from the awful fight, but he looked the same as he always did. His black leathers were unmarred, and he had a grumpy but unworried frown on his slightly wrinkled face.

“We’re past the worst of it,” said Hogg. “Here, drink this.”

Brin drank it. It tasted sweet, like Gatorade. “Is this a healing potion?”

“A healing potion? For what? I can literally see through you; you’re fine. Just going to be sore for a while. It’ll help with the pain,” said Hogg.

“The other Heroes… Are they…”

“Alive. The army turned out to be more than they could handle alone, but they managed to disengage. They’re in a fighting retreat, and I expect it’ll go along like that for some time.”

“That sounds bad,” said Brin. “Are they going to make it?”

“I can show you,” said Hogg.

He waved his hand in a circle, and a picture appeared in the air. It was the peak of a forested mountain, covered with the ruins of an ancient stone castle.

He saw little figures moving across it and realized it wasn’t a picture at all. It was a video.

He was watching the Heroes.

A giant undead roared at them, charging from behind a wall. It was too far away and too armored to see what kind of creature it had been, but it was humanoid and muscular.

Lumina shot him down with a beam of golden fire, tracing it back and forth across his body until he fell. The effort seemed to exhaust her, and she wavered in place until caught by Galan, who grabbed her around the shoulders while deflecting a wave of arrows with the shield in his other hand.

A raider group of ax-carrying soldiers erupted from the forest. Lumina weakly raised her hand to Lurilan. The [Hunter’s] arrow started to glow white. When he let the arrow fly, his bow shot a streak of lightning that destroyed the entire band of raiders in a single shot, though he had to wave away a flame that caught on his leather gloves.

Another group of undead emerged from a wide entrance in the castle ruins, and immediately fell to their deaths, as the catwalk they ran onto turned out to not actually exist.

Brin noticed that there were actually four Heroes. “You’re there, too?”

“I’ve been there the entire time,” said Hogg. “You were there too, until I realized the undead weren’t fooled. The mirror image I left with them can’t do much except lure an occasional arrow, but it helps them to have someone to talk to. When you’re just an invisible eye and voice in the wind, people start to forget they can depend on you.”

“Or maybe if they’re used to seeing your illusionary double, they’ll start to think you can’t hear them when it’s not around,” said Brin.

“That’s paranoid. And devious. You’d make a good [Illusionist],” said Hogg. “Anyways, as you can see they’re totally fine.”

Hogg cut the feed.

The sight of them fighting for their lives didn’t actually make Brin feel better, believe it or not. To him, they seemed exhausted, cornered, and at the end of their ropes.

“I never asked them to do that for me, Hogg. I’m not worth it. Seriously,” said Brin.

“Huh? Nah. If this was all about you, we’d have all run away together. They’re fighting that army because it’s more important than the life of one kid, no matter how good the rewards for a System Quest are.”

“Oh,” said Brin.

“No offense,” said Hogg.

“No, that actually makes me feel a lot better,” said Brin.

“You good to keep going or do you want a break? No use burning daylight.”

Brin was sitting, his back against a tree. He didn’t know exactly when he had walked over and sat down, but the thought of getting up was… impossible. Looking at the sky, it wasn’t even sunset yet. Had all of this happened in one day? He felt like he’d lived more today than in the entirety of his previous life. But Hogg was right, there were at least two more hours until sundown. They could cover a lot of ground in that time.

“Maybe a short break. Five minutes,” said Brin.

He was asleep in seconds.