After breakfast, Sam left the house with Annabelle and headed towards the barn. She wore a farmer’s overall whilst he still wore a t-shirt and shorts. He wondered if wearing an overall made more sense especially if he was going to help around the farm. He didn’t want the clothes he was wearing to get dirty, it didn’t seem that they had many pairs of them.

When they arrived at the barn Sam noticed that there were a few cows in small enclosures. Each cow was lying down and separated from each other and some looked more docile than others. However, they all became more energetic when they saw Annabelle arrive.

"Sam, do you know which Masteries Jerald, Jeremy and I have?" She asked whilst looking at the cows with a small smile.

"I know both Jerald and Jeremy have the Labour and Farmer Masteries. I’m guessing you have some animal Masteries? This is an animal farm after all and those cows looked quite happy to see you."

Annabelle nodded.

"Yes, that is correct. My Masteries are focused on animals and all my skills and abilities rely on Nature. Before we can discuss my Masteries, there is a lot of general Masteries knowledge you much know first. What I will tell you is common knowledge but I’m not sure how much you remember so stop me if necessary.”

She made eye contact with him. He nodded in acknowledgement before giving her a smile which she returned.

“Masteries are a blessing in our lives and should be treated as such. There are many different Masteries throughout the many lands. I have heard stories of travellers from far away who have Masteries no one has ever heard of before.”

She paused for a moment before continuing.

“Masteries are important for surviving and thriving in these lands. People use the Masteries to carry out different jobs in order to feed themselves and their families. Not being able to use the Mastery system correctly will make life very difficult. From what I have heard from Jerald, you don’t know much about the different lists and statuses that are available. Let me show you the Status screen. It is important because people may ask to see yours in the future. Now watch. Status Share!"

A notification appeared in Sam's mind.

Status:

Name: Annabelle Georgina Underwood

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Age: 42

Primary Mastery: Beast Mastery Tier 3 (Transitioning)

Sam willed the message away and tried to share his in return.

"Status Share."

Nothing happened and Annabelle chuckled.

"You got to think about your status, let it fill your mind. The words don't mean anything. Think of your Status first and then try pushing it to me."

Sam did as she instructed and looked at his status.

Status:

Name: Samuel Jeffrey Underwood

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Age: 16

Primary Mastery: Knowledge Mastery Tier 1

He then tried to push it to her. On his third attempt he watched the notification leave his mind and travel towards Annabelle.

She didn't seem to look at the notification for very long before speaking.

"Thank you for sharing your status with me. Regarding a person’s status, you shouldn't judge by a person by what you see in their status. Let’s use the Primary Mastery as an example. It provides three pieces of information. Firstly, the name of the Mastery that the person has the most Mastery points in. Masteries can be very different with most not being combat focussed. Due to this, if a person has put into 1000 Mastery points into a single Mastery, it doesn’t mean that they can defend themselves. Points also don’t compare well either, if two people had 1000 Mastery points each and spent them on the same Mastery. One may be very powerful and be able to destroy a small town easily whilst the other may be defenceless. Are you following? I know this is a lot to take in.”

Sam nodded eagerly. He didn’t know Annabelle would be such a gold mine of knowledge. The example with 1000 Mastery points made him feel incredibly weak in comparison, did people really have that many points?

Annabelle walked over to a cow that was lying on some hay. She rubbed the animal’s side and continued.

“Secondly, there is the Tier level of the Mastery. This can give quite a lot of information away but at the same time, it is not very reliable. As you saw, my Primary Mastery is Beast Mastery Tier 3 (Transitioning); this means that the Beast Mastery Tier 3 has the most Mastery points invested in it. Finally, the third piece is the word ‘Transitioning’. It is optional and is only shown when it is applies. It means that I have skills above Tier 3 which is very open ended. Myself for example, I have a few Tier 5 skills but this information is not available by only seeing my status. The Primary Mastery Tier level from the status screen is often an underestimation of a person’s true Tier level."

Sam watched as a green glow appeared around her hand. She touched the side of the cow and the green glow disappeared into the cow’s body. The cow mooed softly.

She looked into Sam’s eyes and her eyes shone a bright green colour. When she spoke, her voice was more neutral like she was restraining herself.

"Now that you have learnt about the Status screen, let us do some work. These are the sick cows that need some rest and treatment. We will need to clean out these stables and put in fresh hay and feed. There is a broom behind you, grab one whilst I get this cow out of this stable.”

Sam followed to her instructions and as soon as the cow was out, he began sweeping. Once the sweeping was done, they put in new hay and some feed into the stable. Annabelle and Sam repeated it for all the stables. The cows mooed in disagreement whenever they were removed but quietened down when they were put back with fresh hay and feed.

At around lunch time, they sat together in the barn and ate some dried beef that Annabelle had brought along. Sam had noticed her voice become more strained as the morning had progressed; it was especially bad after she healed the cows. She also looked visibly tired like she hadn't slept in a few days. He guessed it was related to her Mastery and the abilities she was using.

They had been eating in silence for a while when Annabelle suddenly started talking.

“Let’s carry on with your learning. In order to improve a skill or ability, you either have to earn the improvement or paid for it with Mastery points. Each skill or ability will almost always reach maximum at level 10.”

Annabelle closed her eyes and spoke quietly.

“You can earn Mastery points from ‘Earning Masteries’, some examples of these are the Body, Weapon and Knowledge Masteries. You cannot use any Mastery points on any of those Masteries. They have to be earned through effort and practice. The ‘Earning Masteries’ will reward you with extra Mastery points which can be very useful."

Annabelle walked over to a small calf which was bellowing repetitively. She sat down next to it and began using abilities whilst rubbing it gently. It soon calmed down.

"Those who have any Earned Masteries as their Primary should not be underestimated. This is because they have to gain everything very slowly through hard work and effort. What was your Primary Mastery again?”

She asked the question with a frown as if she was surprised she had forgotten. Sam walked closer to her and shared his status again.

She stared at the screen for much longer now and spoke without looking at him.

“How many points do you have in the Knowledge Mastery?”

Sam hadn’t even looked at the Knowledge Mastery yet so he quickly focussed on it with his mind. He counted up the number of points in the three skills he had and the total was 11.

He told her the number.

Several different emotions appeared on Annabelle’s face and she began to speak, more to herself than anyone else.

“12 points? How is that possible? Without even knowing how the Mastery System works…”

A long minute passed before her face suddenly contorted with anger. She didn’t seem like the same person anymore. She looked at with an intense stare and spoke.

“How? What Knowledge do you have? Who are you? What do you want with this family?!”

Her voice turned into a snarl as she finished asking the last question. Sam took a step back in fear. His step was noticed and didn’t seem to help the situation.

Annabelle took a step towards him and grinned evilly. He noticed long canines that definitely were not normal. Sam was sure he would have noticed such teeth before.

He started sweating. Had he made a mistake? Was having 12 points in the Knowledge Mastery too much? Had she worked out that he wasn’t from this world? He knew it was bound to happen eventually. Worry filled his mind like a fog.

Suddenly, Annabelle’s body froze and her features relaxed. Her face took on one of worry. She looked around the barn in confusion until she saw him.

“Are you ok Sam?”

He nodded and was about to speak when Annabelle lifted up her hands. They were shaking violently. Fear appeared on Annabelle’s face. She spoke quickly, her voice was filled with worry.

“Sam! I am going to shift. Don’t run! No matter what you do, don’t run! Jerald should come to help you. Just don’t run.”

Annabelle didn’t wait for a response but instead began shouting Jerald’s name, over and over again. The name slowly began less understandably as time passed until all Sam heard was growls.

Her body began to change. As soon as he saw the grey and brown fur growing from her body, realisation hit him. He had seen enough television to know what was about to appear in front of him.

A werewolf.

He was in a magic world. Of course there were werewolves; at least that’s what he thought she was changing into.

Sam watched carefully as Annabelle’s body dropped to the ground. The transformation had started slowly but quickly sped up to completion. An abnormally large wolf stood next to the calf. The calf had become still and didn’t make a sound. Sam didn’t blame it, he did the same.

The wolf had light brown fur with a line of grey fur along its back. Its green eyes locked onto Sam and with a snarl, it began quickly moving towards him.

Everything in his body told him to run. His mind was even screaming it. Fear gripped him like a vice. He fought his instincts and didn’t move.

The wolf had crossed the room in a blur. When the wolf got close to him, its body began shifting again and Sam could only watch in morbid fascination. The wolf changed into a human wolf hybrid which had no other name than werewolf.

Its muscles competed with Jerald’s in size and its height alone made Sam feel tiny. Sam thought back in his mind of all the shows and movies he had watched about werewolves. If there was anything he could use to help him escape. He looked around and saw nothing that was useful for stabbing. He also doubted the barn had anything made of silver.

A huge powerful claw grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him off his feet. Despite being lifted up, the werewolf still looked down on him. Sweat drenched Sam’s t-shirt and he felt like he was a moment away from peeing himself.

The werewolf snapped its jaws threatening and growled at him. All Sam managed to do was let out a fearful whimper. He closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do. His utter inability to protect himself brought shame to the forefront of his mind.

“Hey! Sam! Annabelle! Anyone there?”

Jerald’s shouting was followed by the arrival of man himself. His eyes quickly took in the situation and he immediately began mumbling words under his breath. His body began to increase in power and size. The air in the room suddenly became oppressively heavy, Sam battled to breathe.

With a growl, Sam was thrown aside like a ragdoll. He hit the barn wall with a thud and fell to the ground. The werewolf rushed towards its new target, Jerald.

The powerful man seemed calm despite the imminent danger. When the werewolf got close, he punched it with one rapid strike. The werewolf yelped and flew across the barn.

Much to Sam’s surprise, Jerald then turned around and ran away. Each step made the ground shudder. Sam watched the powerful man disappear and selfishly hoped the werewolf would run after Jerald.

There was a howl that made Sam begin hyperventilating in fear. The werewolf ignored Sam as it quickly ran passed him, out of the barn and after Jerald.

Sam’s shoulders slumped in relief, he was alive.