Liliana tapped a finger against her thigh as she waited in her tent. Despite having snuck out for the past week since Emyr had informed her of the guard switch, she still felt nervous as the time ticked ever closer. Time keeping was odd in this world, when traveling tracking the bells that dictated the hours was far harder. However she’d been informed several guards had some variation of a timekeeping skill. Which let them keep their watch shifts fairly consistent.

Lelantos was laying outside her tent, and through their bond she could feel his excitement that mirrored her own. He was forced to pretend to be sleeping, much as she was. She could feel his need to hunt though, the levels he’d gained over the past several nights reigniting his desire to grow stronger and further fueling her own. She shifted in her bedroll, nearly jumping out of her skin, when she heard the midnight call out. It was quiet, to prevent waking anyone who wasn’t on shift and sleeping, but it rang out loudly to Liliana’s ears that had been straining to hear it.

Carefully, Liliana extracted herself from her bedroll and crept to the door of her tent. She couldn’t sneak out any other way as if she cut through the fabric of the tent one of the guards who set it up would notice. However, as her tent faced the fire, it made all of this even more treacherous. Liliana looked through the small sliver between the two edges of her tent and saw a few guards chatting by the fire, the shift switch Pulling back, Liliana activated [Borrow] and immediately afterwards she activated [Vanish]. Looking over her body, she marveled at how her skin seemed to disappear. Small stripes that mimicked the ones on Lelantos’ coat decorated her skin that wasn’t fully invisible. The stripes were dark green and gray, naturally camouflaged to match the surrounding forest.

She was dressed in as little clothes as she could manage, a dark cloak thrown over it all. [Vanish] didn’t work on her clothing, simply on her skin. She hadn’t thought to get a set of clothes that could channel the skill like Lelantos’ saddle did; the saddle had cost three times its normal rate with that small bit of enchantment added on and she wasn’t sure what they'd charge for a whole set of leathers like it.

It meant she was left sneaking around in ripped under clothes that would see her disowned by her father if anyone ever found out, but it got her out of camp and that was what Liliana cared about. Liliana ducked out of her tent, [Stealth] active to help hide the sounds of her passing, and further hide the image of her cloak floating in the darkness. She kept her steps slow, resisting the urge to bolt out of the camp. Every step, even muffled by her skill, sounded like thunder in the quiet night and she was certain a guard would hear the pounding of her heart over the subtle sounds of a forest at night. Yet as she slid past tents and sleeping guards, no one called out.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Liliana slid into the cover of the trees and her pace picked up. She held out a hand as Lelantos joined her, still mostly invisible himself, and she pulled herself into his saddle. Their speed picked up, as Lelantos could move faster under [Stealth] than Liliana could comfortably. Once the soft voices of the guards were gone and the light of the campfire disappeared, Liliana pulled Lelantos to a stop. She pulled out her clothes and, with the tiger acting sentry, she quickly dressed herself to proper standards. Dismissing [Vanish] and its drain on her Mana, Liliana drew herself back onto Lelantos and instructed him to find Emyr.

There was no way to guarantee a meeting point as they camped somewhere different every day, and in inns wherever possible, so instead, when they did this, Lelantos just tracked Emyr down wherever he’d snuck off to. Liliana grinned as she felt the cold night air rushing past her. In the dark of the night, she felt a freedom that was hard to match any other time. It felt like in the dark hours of the morning, when most of the world was asleep, that anything could happen. It was a magical time, with the darkness caressing her and the wind singing a soft lullaby that promised wonders.

Liliana felt the moment Lelantos had Emyr in his sights, even if she herself couldn’t find him in the gloom of the forest. She felt his plan to pounce on the boy and instead of reprimanding the tiger, she leaned down, gripping his fur as the tiger readied a pounce. She could feel the strength in the body under hers, the muscles that could so easily rip her to shreds carefully controlled as Lelantos crouched down. So much power, so much strength. And it was all power she could call to her aid, to her wishes. It was intoxicating, the reminder that Lelantos wasn’t simply a pet but a truly deadly creature that had chosen to bond his soul to hers for life.

Then they were sailing silently through the air and Liliana had to resist the urge to yell in excitement as, for a few moments, they hung in the dark air, cradled by the wind. Then they were landing, the jostle passing through her easily as Lelantos pinned Emyr between his paws, the boy not able to dodge this time.

“Why must he do t-“ Emyr was cut off as Lelantos licked his face. The noble boy struggled to shove the giant cat’s head away as Lelantos chuffed and tried to resume grooming the prey he had just caught. Liliana couldn’t help the quiet giggles that spilled from her lips, Lelantos mentally comparing Emyr to a kitten not helping her calm herself.

“Why? Why does he do this every time?” Emyr finally managed to get out as she wriggled out from under the big cat, glaring at the tiger who grinned in response. A normally reassuring gesture that looked far more terrifying when it revealed rows and rows of large, deadly fangs.

“He likes you,” Liliana responded, when her giggles had died out. Her voice was soft. She wanted to avoid making any more noise than they already had.

“Likes me the way I like cherry tarts, or likes me the way you like shiny objects?” Emyr asked as he edged away from the tiger who was standing and sniffing the air, already distracted by the other new scents of the forest.

“Yes,” Liliana responded.

“Wh-What?” Emyr asked, but Liliana titled her head, looking past him.

“Theres something weird around here. Lelantos says it smells like Light and Wind,” Liliana said, and Emyr immediately straightened up.

“What would that be?” Emyr asked, following easily as Lelantos began to move towards the scent.

“In this area? I’m not sure. Theres a few things that could have that description. Even an evolved Horned Hare,” Liliana explained, and Emyr gave her a droll look.

“I’m not some kind of monster encyclopedia!” Liliana huffed, looking away from Emyr’s raised brow.

“In this area it would be evolved Horned Hares, Spectral Wisps, Luxdaria, maybe as it’s a bit far north for them to migrate, or Lumelocera,” Liliana finally answered in a defeated tone. She had, of course, read up on the different types of beasts and monsters they may encounter on their trip. Some she had seen fought in the game, some she had only seen as background pieces or heard of in the game lore and others she’d never heard of entirely.

She wasn’t too surprised that she hadn’t heard of some of them. The game hadn’t been open world, and it tracked time based on when you finished certain story quests. So you could realistically get through the before Academy, and even the Academy itself, fairly quickly if you just ignored the side quests entirely. So it likely hadn’t been a good idea to include the vast amount of creatures she now knew inhabited this world in the game, if the game designers even knew they existed. At this point, Vita could tell her that the goddess herself had designed the game and Liliana would believe it. She couldn’t really think of any other way for it to match this world so well.

“Well, if they’re all Light based it should be fairly simple,“ Emyr shrugged and Liliana nodded. Emyr would have advantage over them and her and Lelantos wouldn’t be weak to any Light based attacks.

“It’s just the Wind affinity that’s a concern, or if they’ve developed Illusion, Sound or Spatial,” Liliana said, biting her lip as she considered the prospect. Illusion could be tricky in the shadows. Lelantos’ shifting form that was hard to track even for her was proof of that. Sound magic could be dangerous, as it was harder to defend against. [Barrier] should keep her safe, but if it was an overly strong level of Sound magic, it could be truly dangerous for them.

Spatial magic was more iffy, as its combat prowess wasn’t strictly offensive or defensive. Simply put, it was a distortion of space, as Miss Beckett had explained it. Or as Liliana had commonly seen it, used for teleportation. Of course, it was also used to make spatial objects, and large-scale teleportation had to utilize Spatial, Gravity and Astral magics to be effective. However, a regular Spatial user could do short range teleportations on themselves or items easily enough. If they were dealing with something like that, it would be a challenging battle, but not entirely impossible.

Liliana kept herself alert as Lelantos stalked the shadows. Emyr had slipped into the shadows as well and Liliana couldn’t see him, but she knew he was there. He was always there. Her eyes caught on a strange glow in the underbrush and, directing Lelantos to it, she slid off of him, kneeling down to examine the glowing moss.

“Liliana, this isn’t th-“ Emyr started and Liliana held up a hand to forestall him.

“This plant doesn’t grow here naturally,” Liliana murmured as she pulled gloves from her storage and picked up the moss.

It shone a light green in the light, an almost calming color that didn’t give fair enough warning of its caustic nature. Shimmer Moss, or more commonly known as Flesh Eating Moss. It was used in a number of poisons, the more brutal kinds. The ones meant to hurt, not to kill. It was also used in a few higher leveled healing potions, which Liliana was finding to be a common occurrence. Many plants and other ingredients that could be toxic or poisonous in certain dosages were used for healing purposes at lower dosages.

“Where does it normally grow?” Emyr asked, his voice still holding a bit of exasperation at this stop.

“South, typically we have to import this moss as it doesn’t really grow here,” Liliana explained as she placed the moss in a bag and put it in her storage with her gloves.

“And this matters why?” Emyr asked and Liliana turned to him, raising a brow.

“Something brought it here, the only creatures that migrate here from areas that grow that naturally are the Luxdaria. They probably collected the spores in their winds when they were traveling,” Liliana explained slowly. Emyr’s face washed with understanding and he looked at the spot that had once held the glowing moss.

“You got all of that from moss?” He asked and Liliana nodded, jumping back onto her saddle.

“Knowing the flora of an area is incredibly important, even if you’re not an alchemist. Knowing what is supposed to grow in an area, and why, can tell you a lot. And knowing when something doesn’t belong can tell you even more,” Liliana informed him, sitting straight in her saddle, proud she finally knew something even Emyr didn’t. She always felt like she was chasing after him and her brother, struggling to catch up, let alone stand on an even playing field. Being able to know something, something useful, finally made her feel like she wasn’t the worthless girl she had been not so long ago.

“Lelantos says they're close,” Liliana told him as they started off again. Emyr nodded silently and slipped back into the shadows, and Liliana summoned her naginata. Lelantos was getting antsy. She could tell the scent he was following was fresh through their bond, and the blood lust was taking him, infecting her with it, building the blood in her own veins and leaking adrenaline into her system.

As they crept through the forest, Liliana’s eyes caught on more light between the trees and leaves, this time not attached to a plant. Lelantos slowed further as they came closer, and Liliana got a good look at their quarry. Floating before them between the trees was a creature she’d only ever seen on Earth in an aquarium, its bioluminescent body floating delicately. Shaded in glowing pink, its tendrils trailing like a lady’s skirts, she was dumbstruck at the beauty of it. Better known on Earth as a jellyfish, the ones Liliana saw resembled the ones shed seen on Earth closely in design. But where the ones on Earth had been small things, these stood more than six feet tall and their trailing tendrils were as thick as her wrist.

Pink Lady

Level 87

Pink Ladies are part of the Luxdaria family. They use their proficiency in Sound and Illusion magic to be-spell and enchant their prey. Often they are not seen until it’s too late for their prey to escape their clutches. They use their tendrils to cocoon their prey and suck the Mana and energy from them. While they are not physically strong creatures, they drain Mana and Stamina incredibly quickly, leaving their prey unable to move seconds after being wrapped in their clutches.

Rank 6

The beauty of the creatures left her spellbound, and she almost regretted the need to fight them. Not just for levels, but also because of what these creatures would mean for the ecosystems and humans living in the area. Luxdaria were highly aggressive to everything. They could single-handedly ruin an entire ecosystem if left unchecked. They didn’t have stomachs, so they didn’t eat their prey, instead they wrapped them in their tendrils and absorbed the creatures Mana then when they were drained dry, they’d kill them for their essence and continue on. Luxdaria used their Illusion and Sound magic to disorientate their prey, leaving them open to being captured.

They also couldn’t reproduce naturally. They were solely Mana generated. Most commonly seen in dungeons because they were often culled anywhere they appeared. Liliana wasn’t sure why the guards hadn’t cleared them out, unless the Luxdaria had been out of the hunting parties range during the day and had moved back at night. Luckily for the three of them, while the Luxdaria were dangerous creatures, they were essentially glass cannons.

Liliana slid off of Lelantos. She’d need her Speed here and their reach was enough that being astride Lelantos would be more dangerous to her than being on her feet. Emyr stepped out of the shadows to her left and looked at the creatures floating through the trees ahead of them.

“So what’s the plan? Those are a bit high leveled for us, don’t you think?” He asked and Liliana cast [Solar Samba], [Dancer’s Domain], [Dance of the Windsong] and [Dance of The Vanishing Blade]. Her Mana and Stamina plummeted, but she could feel the power flooding her blood as everything around her seemed to slow. Emyr benefited from the skills and spells as well, and she could see his eyes widening at the rush.

“No, we can handle it if we play this smartly. Me and Lelantos will distract them. You’ll be the one doing the most damage, so stay out of their sight and take them down,” Liliana instructed.

“Thats it? That’s your whole plan? I think this is too dangerous for us alone,” Emyr stated nervously, and Liliana shot him a grin before she took off, ignoring his calls for her to come back. Lelantos was behind her, his Speed not enough to match hers even with the shared buffs.

Her weapon flashed through the air as she approached the first Luxdaria. It was already turning, as it did a humming came from it. Liliana winced as the humming reached a peak that burned her ears, but it didn’t stop her blade from slicing through the tendril that was snaking out to grab her. The glowing appendage spun through the air as a mouthless scream filled the air, almost forcing Liliana to her feet in pain. She darted away from the lashing tentacles as the Luxdaria sought to grab and rend what had injured it.

Already other Luxdaria were appearing, coming to the air of their hurt brethren. Lights flashed as they pulsed, and a haunting melody hung in the air. Liliana could feel a headache building behind her eyes as her vision swam. Before the Luxdaria could finish weaving their confusion spell, a roar broke their concentration and sent them bobbing wildly in the air. Lelantos crashed through the trees, claws bathed in light as he pounced on one of the Luxdaria. More piercing shrieks filled the air as the tiger dug his laws into the weak body of the Luxdaria, but at Liliana’s warning Lelantos jumped back, right before another of the floating creatures could wrap its tendrils around the tiger.

The Luxdaria circled around the pair, lights flashing and dancing across their bodies as they tried to weave a spell that would ensnare them even as the injured Luxdaria backed away. Liliana didn’t give the Luxdaria the time they needed to complete their spells, darting after yet another, her blade humming through the air as it sliced into yet another soft body. She could feel Lelantos charging and slashing behind her, the screeches of the monsters telling her every time he struck true.

Liliana slashed at another beast, only for her blade to cut air as the illusion dispersed. Spinning, she looked for the next, only to fall to her knees as a full choir of screams cut through the air. Looking up through blurring eyes, she could see shadows retreating from the Luxdaria Lelantos had injured, dropping its corpse. Already more shadows were grabbing another injured Luxdaria, pulling it down much as its own tentacles would grasp at prey, ripping it to shreds.

A mental order and Lelantos roared again, breaking the Luxdaria’s painful chorus and enabling Liliana to regain her feet. Casting [Barrier] with the bit of Mana she still had, she darted off after the next. The forest soon became a macabre ballet, backed by the music of piercing screams. Every time a Luxdaria would die, the remaining creatures would screech, breaking Liliana’s [Barrier], yet every time it took longer as their numbers dwindled. And every time Lelantos’ roar would cut short their mourning. Liliana danced around their grasping arms easily, their Speed too slow to hope to keep up with her. Her blade sang through the air, leaving gashes and shortened tendrils in its wake. Following in her footsteps came shadows that grabbed and rent the faltering beasts apart.

Soon the last of the floating creatures fell, its dying screams weak and exhausted in comparison to the soul shattering chorus it had once been. Liliana sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow as she dropped her skills and spells, slumping every so slightly as the power left her body. Looking over herself, she smiled tiredly when she saw she didn’t have anything more serious than bruises to mark her battle.

Fighting things well above my level and coming away none the worse for wear. I know with my boon my stats are on par with someone level 90 or above, but it’s still nice to see the progress I made. At one time I’d never get out of a battle without some concerning wound or another, Liliana thought proudly. She was becoming a better fighter, not just because of her stats. She knew stats alone didn’t determine skill. That could be easily seen with how often she had been injured when she first started leveling. Even up to the dungeon, she’d still get injured in the hunts she did with Alistair and Emyr, often coming away with more holes than she’d started the day with. Now she was finally learning how to use her Speed, how to predict where an enemy would strike, and how to not be there.

“Could you maybe give a warning before you charge headfirst into a fight, Lili?” Emyr asked, panting as he emerged from the shadows. He looked uninjured as well, but then again, he hadn’t been in the thick of the fighting either. Him getting hurt would’ve meant she or Lelantos hadn’t been doing their jobs properly.

“That was dangerous! They were twenty levels above you!” Emyr continued and Liliana tilted her head, not really paying attention to what he’d said, mind caught on something else.

“Really! If you keep this up, maybe I will tell the g-“ he continued, arms raised as he paced.

“Lili?” Liliana asked, cutting him off and stopping his pacing short. Emyr turned to her, eyes wide.

“I-Ah. Sorry it slipped out,” Emyr said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“I’m sorry, it was improper for m-“ Emyr continued, not looking at her and his shoulders drooping.

“N-No! It’s fine!” Liliana hastened to explain. “I’ve just. No one’s given me a nickname before,” Liliana continued, voice subdued. Not in this life, and in her last life she couldn’t even remember her name let alone any nicknames the few short-lived friends she’d had might’ve bestowed upon her. Nothing except the term Valkyrie, which her mother had called her.

“Well, that’s what friends do. Don’t they?” Emyr asked, looking up at her.

“Yes, it is,” Liliana agreed, a smile painting her face, “Em.” When he smiled back at her, relieved, she felt her chest warm. A feeling of belonging settled over her. It was odd for all their awful start. From the way he’d followed her brother like a mindless puppy and partaken in the cruel games Alistair had once been partial to, to the way she herself had mistreated him. Gifting him cruel words, mistrust, and dislike. Now they were friends. At one time, Liliana would never have thought such a thing possible, had even hated the very thought of it.

Now, as they both set to skinning the Luxdaria and removing anything of value from them, Liliana couldn’t think of anyone in this life or her last, she could call more of a friend than him. Someone who had risked his life time and again with her, who had protected her back in fight after fight.

Maybe the family she’d gotten in this new life didn’t hold a candle to the one she’d had in her last, but no one had said she couldn’t make herself a better one.