Alf hitched Blix higher onto his shoulders. They had just reached the steep, two-and-a-half-mile trail that wound its way down the Berkeley hills. Two days ago, the trail had been a well-maintained road, but now there wasn’t a trace of asphalt to be seen anywhere. No road signs, no power lines, no Lawrence Hall of Science… Even the litter had disappeared.

Blix clung to his back, right arm clasped around his neck and partial left arm hooked over his shoulder. She was as light as an empty bookbag. He hardly knew she was there—at least he hardly noticed her weight. After the conversation they’d had that morning, it was impossible for him to ignore… everything else.

“You don’t seem as tired as yesterday.” Her lips brushed against his ear, sending electric chills up and down his spine.

She was doing it on purpose, he reminded himself, not because she was flirting with him but because she was Blix. It didn’t mean anything—except maybe that she liked to torture him. “I’m not,” he said. “I could do this all day. Those three points of strength made a huge difference.”

“You even look stronger. I can see it in your face and muscle tone.”

Alf scrunched his face, working his jaw from side to side. He didn’t mind the dust enhancing his muscles, but messing with his face was just wrong. “Maybe we should put the attribute points into my dexterity? Just to balance me out?”

“Maybe later. Right now it’s best to keep our options open. If we get attacked, you may need an emergency hit point infusion. What’s your health right now?”

He brought up his stats and checked. “60 out of 225.”

“At this rate you’ll never get back up to full health. Have you tried healing yourself?”

Warmth blossomed on Alf’s cheeks. He was supposed to be the smart one. Why did Blix always have to make him feel so dumb? “I was more worried about you.”

“If you’re worried about me, then worry about yourself. If you die, who’s going to carry me around and cater to my every whim?”

Alf tried directing Minor Heal at himself, and a warm, tingly feeling flooded his entire being. For a stupid long time. After what must have been thirty seconds, his health finally went up to 102. “I just did it,” he announced. “It went up forty-two points, but it took a really long time. About half a minute.”

“That’s… almost a fifth of your total health. It seems almost broken. Try it again.”

Alf cast another healing spell, counting out the seconds in his head, but this time it took fifty-eight seconds for the spell to complete. “Another forty-two points, but this time it took a full minute.”

“Try it again.”

He did as she asked. “This time it took almost two minutes.”

“Okay, that makes more sense,” Blix said. “You might be able to do as many heals as you want, but the time delays increase exponentially.”

Alf tried it again, and this time it took around four minutes. “You were right. The last one took four minutes. I can’t do it again, because my health is already full.”

“That’s still really good,” she said. “As in OP good. But I guess that makes sense. If average IQ is ten, and both mana and healing spells are based on IQ, then your IQ of twenty-eight is pretty much a game breaker. What did you say your effective skill for Minor Healing was?”

“Fourteen.”

“Right. That’s twenty-eight divided by ten times five. Presumably a person with an IQ of ten would only heal fifteen points at a time. Which is perfectly reasonable. If we put two more points into IQ, the amount you would heal would only go up to 45 points. It’s sort of the law of diminishing returns.”

“Okay…” Alf hadn’t bothered trying to follow the math. He just wanted to know where to put his points.

Blix was still geeking out about the game mechanics when they reached an overlook. Normally, the flatlands surrounding the bay would have been a huge white-and-gray patchwork of buildings all the way to the bay, but the area was almost entirely green. Even the iconic San Francisco skyline had been erased.

“How is this even possible?” Alf breathed. “That was like billions of tons of concrete and steel. How could it all just disappear?”

“Is that a castle?” Blix pointed with her stump to the spot the campus used to occupy. Sure enough, a dark gray structure stood partially concealed by the trees. A haze of bluish smoke hung in the air to the left of the massive structure. There seemed to be a some kind of settlement there. He hadn’t noticed the buildings at first, because everything seemed to be made of rough, unpainted lumber.

They walked in silence for a good mile before the slope finally started to level out. “How are we going to buy stuff without money?” He kept his voice to a whisper. The further they went, the more he felt like they were being watched.

“I was just thinking about that.” Her whisper tickled his ear. “Maybe someone will need a doctor? Although, I’m hardly a good advertisement for your healing skills. It’s way past an hour. You should try healing my face before we get to the town.”

“Don’t you think…” Alf cringed at the wheedling tone of his voice and cleared his throat. “You’re already too hot as it is. We don’t want to cause a riot.”

“Hey, that was pretty good,” she said with a chuckle. “And everyone says mules are too stubborn to learn new tricks.”

“I can bray and poop in a bag. I’m multi-talented.”

“You should…” Blix’s words were cut off by the clip-clop of approaching hooves. They sounded like they were coming from just around the bend.

Alf darted behind a cluster of trees growing beside the trail. He hadn’t gone more than ten yards before he came to a fifty-foot drop-off. Blix slid off his back and the two of them flattened themselves behind a mound of dried grass as a team of horses plodded into view. The horses were flanked by eight heavily armed soldiers, and they were pulling a flatbed wagon loaded with about a dozen passengers, a mix of humans, elves, and possibly even dwarves.

And they were all chained to the wagon with massive leg and neck irons.

One of the guards broke away from the group and headed straight towards their hiding place. “You, there!” he called out. “All able-bodied warriors have been conscripted into the king’s army. By order of King Alexander, the Almighty Unconquerable himself.”

* * *

Name: Jane

Level: 5

Class: Paladin

Health: 225/225

Stamina: 189/195

Mana: 784/784

Exp: 15/2800

Attr Points: 3

Skill Points: 0

ST: 13

DX: 11

CN: 15

IQ: 28

CH: 16

Combat Skills:

Faire du Canne 7: (Effective Skill: 9.8, Basis: ST+DX, Enhancement: 29.4%)

Grappling 1: (Effective Skill: 1.23, Basis: 2ST+DX, Enhancement: 3.7%)

Crafting Skills:

Woodcrafting 1: (Effective Level: 1.95, Basis: DX+IQ, Enhancement: 5.85%)

Spells: (Basis IQ)

Minor Healing 5: (EL: 14, Cost: 25, Freq: unlimited, Effect: 42 points)

Major Healing 2: (EL: 5.6, Cost: 35, Freq: 1/hr, Effect: 200cc tissue regen)