Thea’s battle cry echoed through the woods.

Although compared to those screams in the middle of a battlefield, the sound became more of a cute cheer. Like a teenage girl rooting for her boyfriend, who is about to jump from a three-meter springboard. Or an idol fan on a concert with some grasp of reality left.

In short, it was a rather adorable sight.

However, the result of her actions stood in stark contrast to her sounds.

Another bloody hare lost its life.

Following her last outburst, Thea had switched from a club to a wooden spear and used quick stabs and dance-like steps to kill the hares. At least when she managed to hit her targets.

It seemed like she would raise her agility first.

Thanks to all the inconsistencies, I still wasn’t sure whether this world was an exact copy of the game, but I had decided to treat it like that. Experience points, level ups, and skills. Everything but the story concerning Rhoslyn had been the same. Hence, it would be negligent to ignore all my knowledge in fear of future problems.

A few years ago, the developers had started with a simple idea in mind. The first fully immersive virtual reality game. One where the players would explore the lands instead of looking at attribute tables, only to allocate a handful of skill points. A game system with minimal user inputs outside the game world.

The players wouldn’t pick a skill from a list of options but learned one through in-game actions. Like reading books, listening to teachers, eating food, or taking potions. No need for additional menus as long as the players combined the right action with an available skill point.

And the same principle dominated the character development, leading to automatic level ups with no breaks in the experience.

Each level up would generate a certain number of points which were used to raise the individual attributes of the character. Enough added points to an attribute and its level would rise by one. So far, so normal. But the game’s system would hide these points and distribute them based on the character additions during this level.

A strength-based fighter would invest most points into strength, a willpower-based magician would raise their attributes accordingly. It was a concept based on cause and effect, where the player’s action would form the future. A big hit on launch, fueled by the game journalists. One that became hated two days after launch, when players realized that perfect character builds needed a one-sided play style.

If this world followed the same rules, then my level ups should have raised my strength the most, followed by constitution, and endurance. On the other hand, Thea’s more dynamic fighting style should reward her with a growth of agility, endurance, and dexterity.

Without an interface, I did not know how more niche attributes like bravery, charisma, or intuition would behave, but I followed the original tag line. Every action would cause the rise of its related attribute.

“Look. I got another one!” Thea’s childish delight brought a smile to my face.

In the end, I should concentrate on the here and now.

Another hour of hunting later, Torphin, Thea, and I left the forest with eleven hares in tow. All of them killed by Thea.

Weak monsters would reward a diminishing amount of experience points based on the level gap to the player. Hence, both Torphin and I should have no more room to grow within a realistic number of hares. Therefore, Thea would kill them under the guise of getting used to blood. She might get another level out of it.

Drew’s voice reached my ears from the distance.

He commanded a group of forty recruits and attacked an earth wall, defended by a second group with wooden spears. A more refined version of the training we had used in the village.

Our small garrison comprised over 150 men, with 100 focusing on fighting. A rather small force to stop an invasion, but also way too many to power level with hares. My first level up needed 20 hares, with increasing requirements for each additional advance.

I doubted whether the surrounding woods contained the 65,000 or more hares to raise their levels to five. The first bigger break that rewarded an open skill point and matched the weaker leprechauns’ strength. Overcoming this hurdle allowed for open-field battles and more aggressive strategies, but it was completely out of reach.

Therefore, besides a few elites, all other recruits were trained with the usual ‘mass against individual strength’ approach. Hide behind the wall and prick them a hundred times.

“You are training?” Thea’s usual question ended our hunting expedition.

I nodded.

“Um… okay. Then… I’m off.”

She nodded, stacked her hares into Torphin’s arms, and ran towards Drew.

Torphin copied her behavior, nodded, and made his way towards the river to gut the hares.

Drew, now substituted by Thea, and I spent the hours after noon training with the mercenaries. With Torphin spending his time with the scouts, there were no others who were strong enough to bear the drill. In fact, I could always force the other recruits to suffer through the one-on-one training, but my experiences in the barracks had shown me the futility.

It was better to concentrate the effort on a handful of qualified recruits for now.

Drew learned to wield a wooden tower shield, its height larger than mine. He disliked complex motion-sequences and fell in love with the simple task of standing still and enduring. Not the most graceful fighting style, but he showed exceptional talent when he defended against two mercenaries at the same time.

Our little group of elite fighters now had a damage dealer, a long-distance fighter, and a tank. Not much for now, but Rhoslyn’s addition would add another layer of tactics.

I also added a small round shield to my equipment. Until now, I used an ax and a sword like in the game, but this was a dance along the abyss without proper armor. With no defense, prolonged battles would push me to my limit fast.

In addition, I still had my fortress skill but its unknown cooldown prevented any deliberate usage. In the game, fortress would grant five seconds of invincibility followed by an hour long cooldown. Based on my unconscious groaning, its effect in this world lasted five to ten minutes.

Consequently, the cooldown in this world might be five days or even longer. A lot of uncertainties with my life on the line.

Hence, I learned to defend myself with shield and ax in hand.

In the game, any weapon could be trained through usage with no cap or detriments. But each weapon type used a unique mix of attributes to determine hit chance, critical hit chance, and damage. Therefore, the best way forward would be to save as much time as possible and concentrate on one or two weapons.

After some sparring matches, I left the training area and made my way towards the earth walls.

With no computer, TV, or other forms of entertainment, I spent the last few hours before sunset digging. Not to impress the other recruits or set a good example. It just calmed me down. The mindless work, combined with the exhaustion, let me forget all the minor problems, questions, and doubts in my mind. It was just one shovel full of earth after another.

Today, Thea interrupted my work.

An apologetic smile as greeting, a bottle of water for me, and she sat on the wall, observing my silent movements.

“Some of the men are unhappy.” Thea broke the silence. “They talk behind your back.”

“Hmm?” Not that surprising. In fact, I had expected it earlier. And a lot worse.

“The builder group wants to fight, too.” She shifted her sitting position multiple times. “They complain that they are left out.”

“They always complain.” I sighed. “Are there some in the defender group who dislike the training? Then we could switch them around.”

Too many changes would weaken the defender’s teamwork, but discontent recruits might topple the entire house of cards.

“There are some who aren’t happy, but it’s -”

“Back then in the barracks, we had the same stuff happen.” All those weak and lazy good-for-nothings who could only boast and dream of the sword maiden. A handful of them returned with the villagers. Could they be the source of unrest? “Let’s just ignore those who dislike the training. Focus on those who can keep up with the training.”

“It’s not like that.” Thea’s hands gestured towards the ditch. “They question why they have to do all of this.”

“Because they can’t fight without it.”

“No, what I mean is -”

“Ah! Wait a moment.” I spotted a caravan making its way towards the camp. A group of mercenaries led the succession, and my eyes focused on their leader. My lips formed a wide smile. “You wanted to see Rhoslyn, didn’t you? I guess I can introduce you now.”