When Erika awoke, the first thing she felt was relief.

‘So, it was a nightmare. Thank God. I was so scared.’

A slight smile appeared on her face. Everything that happened in her dream was over now, and she never had to think of it again.

She giggled as she thought about telling Claire and Alexandra about the nightmare.

‘I bet they’ll make fun of me. Claire will tease me for being so scared. She’ll tell me I should’ve known it was a dream because if it were real, then she wouldn’t have let anyone get hurt… Alex will probably just tell me to grow up.’

Erika pushed herself up and looked around the room. It was almost empty except for two beds, a large dresser, and bucket with a strange red liquid in it. Her clothes were gone, and all that was left was her underwear.

‘Huh? Where am I? This isn’t my dorm room?’

Creeeaaaak…

The door opened and Erika turned to see Claire walk in. She was wearing weird looking linen clothes and carrying a bucket of water. Erika thought she looked funny.

‘Jeez. It’s not Halloween, Claire.’

Erika swung her legs over the edge of the bed and jumped to her feet, rushing towards Claire, excited.

“Claire!”

“So, your awake…”

Claire gave a monotone response while closing the door.

There was an apathetic look on her face, but Erika didn’t notice. She jumped onto Claire and wrapped her arms around her, giving her a big hug. Claire nearly spilled the bucket she was carrying.

“Hey, watch it!”

Claire scolded Erika, as a small, sorrowful smile appeared on her face.

“It’s good that you’re finally awake and I know that you must be having a-”

“Claire! Claire! Guess what you’ll never believe the crazy nightmare I had! I bet you’ll probably laugh when you hear how scared I was.”

Claire’s expression immediately darkened, but Erika was too busy squeezing Claire to notice that.

“Erika… what was your dream about…”

Claire already had an idea what Erika’s ‘dream’ was about.

“Eh, you want to know, don’t you? Well, you’ll have to wait until Alex is here. I’ll tell you both at the same time… Anyway, what’s with your clothes Claire, you look funny. Also, where is this place? And what’s that red stuff in the bucket over there?”

Claire bit her quivering lower lip. She knew this wouldn’t be easy the moment Erika fell into a state of shock after Alexandra’s death. Yesterday, Erika was nothing more than a broken doll, unable even to undress or wash the blood off her skin. Claire had been prepared for Erika’s recovery to be long and difficult, not this.

“Claire, are you listening to me??”

Hearing Erika’s unusually energetic voice, Claire felt her chest tighten. What would happen when Erika learned the truth? Would she be able to continue living after having her world shattered, not once, but twice, or would despair crush her spirit? Claire didn’t want Erika to revert to her previous state, but at the same time, she couldn’t hide the truth.

“Claire?”

Erika tilted her head as Claire forcefully separated herself, shaking off Erika’s clingy embrace.

“What’s wrong, Claire? You’re acting kinda weird.”

“Erika...”

There was a somber tone to Claire’s voice.

“…Alex is dead.”

“W-What are you talking about? That was just a dream. It’s not – wait, huh…?”

Erika suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and her voice became shaky.

“C-Claire, how do you know about my dream?”

“Because it wasn’t a dream, everything was real. We were brought to another world, almost froze to death, fought mutant dogs, ran away from a monster, and Alex died protecting…”

“No! No! No! No! It was a dream! Just a dream!”

Claire's chest tightened again as she watched Erika shake her head, desperately trying to deny everything.

“Erika… I know it’s hard, but denying it isn’t going to help.”

“No! Stop lying! I don’t-!”

Slap!

Claire’s open hand struck Erika’s left cheek, leaving a dark red mark behind.

“W-Why?”

Erika held her cheek with both hands, looking a Claire in a daze. It was the first time Claire had ever hit her – it hurt.

“Erika, stop.”

Claire’s stern voice instantly shattered the last of Erika’s attempts to escape reality. This wasn’t another dream; there was never a dream in the first place. Denying it and wishing for everything to be a lie, wouldn’t work, Erika knew that.

“But… but… I…”

Erika dropped to the ground. As legs splayed into a ‘W’ shape and her arms lost strength, hanging lifelessly at her sides, tears began rolling down her cheeks.

“I… I don’t… want it… to be…”

Without speaking, Claire crouched down and hugged Erika, squeezing her tightly. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. What could she say to alleviate Erika’s pain? Did such words even exist? If so, she didn’t know them.

Erika cried, burying her head into Claire’s shoulder, each of her cries strengthened a thought that had formed in Claire’s mind – she hated herself. If she hadn’t been so emotional and rushed into battle, abandoning Erika and Alexandra, then Alexandra might still be alive. It was her fault that Alexandra was dead, and her fault that Erika was in this state. So, why? Why wasn’t she crying? Why wasn’t she grieving Alexandra’s death? Why was she only thinking about how to survive in this world? Why was she happy when the Association recruited her as one of their Elites? Why, was she alive?

Cling!

Erika’s sword clattered as it hit the ground.

“Owwww…”

There were tears in Erika’s eyes as she looked at the blisters on her hands. Another one had burst, leaving behind a tender flap of skin as fluids dripped out.

“Pick it back up, Erika. There’s no time for breaks.”

Hearing Claire’s cold voice, Erika turned, watching as Claire stuck the wooden training post again without even glancing in her direction. It was already their fifth day at the Association training facility, and likely one of their last; the funds they had started with were running out, and they still needed to purchase equipment.

“But, Claire…” Erika whined.

“No but’s, Erika.”

Claire’s sharp voice cut Erika off; there wasn’t a hint of friendliness in it, unbefitting a tone between friends, especially ones as close as they were.

Erika bent over and picked up the sword, wincing in pain as the rough handle touched her raw skin. She didn’t want to train anymore; it was hard, and she was tired. All she wanted was to go home, back to Earth, back to her everyday life.

Whoosh!

Before Erika could return to training, her attention was caught by the sound of an arrow cutting through the air. She looked at the archer; it was someone she knew from the tutorial – Liam.

Whoosh!

Erika watched Liam shoot another arrow, this time he hit the target. Compared to a few days ago, the difference in skill was like night and day. On the first day, he couldn’t even reach the target, but now, he hit at least seven out of ten times. Every day from dawn till dusk, he was either shooting arrows or exercising in some way. It was to a point Erika wondered if he ever slept. It was impressive. Even the instructor seemed to pay special attention to him.

Erika began to feel depressed when she started comparing her progress to Liam’s.

‘I wish I was talented…’

Claire had told Erika about the invitation to join the Association Elites. Joining them meant a better, easier life in Orbis. They would provide specialized assistance to talented Earthlings and raise them to be proper warriors. However, that offer only applied to Claire and didn’t include Erika, who wasn’t up to their standards, so Claire had declined the offer. Still, they gave her a medallion, with the symbol of the Association engraved, and told her to bring it to them if she changed her mind.

Erika looked at her status.

[Status Window]

[General]

Name: Erika Lawrence

Age: 19

Class: Warrior (Rank 1)

Sub-Class: None

[Skills]

None

[Stats]

Strength: E

Stamina: E

Agility: C+

Endurance: C+

Magic Power: B

[Personal Traits]

Timid – Shy, has difficulty interacting with strangers.

Reliant – Over reliant on friends and colleagues.

Anxiety – Panic’s easily. Unable to maintain calm in stressful situations.

Average – Average at everything.

Erika didn’t have talent, especially for a Warrior. Her agility and endurance were on the high side, but her strength and stamina were low. The only stat that was significantly above average was Magic Power, which didn’t matter for a Warrior.

“Erika!”

Erika jumped, startled by Claire’s voice, and quickly began practicing with her sword again.

Ever since Alexandra’s death, Claire had changed. Her angry outbursts were far less frequent, and when they did happen, there was no flare, passion, or raw emotion; instead, it was a chilling, silent kind of anger. Erika used to look forward to the day Claire outgrew her short temper, but now that it had happened, she found herself missing the old hotheaded Claire. Even so, Claire was Claire, that would never change. Claire was probably grieving Alexandra’s death in her own way, and in time she would return to her old self, Erika looked forward to that day.

Until then, she and Claire had to survive. Without Claire, Erika would be lost. If she lost Claire as well as Alexandra, then what reason was there for her to live? To make sure that never happened, she needed to be stronger. If that meant training, then so be it. Erika’s expression hardened as her grip tightened around the sword handle.

Thud!

The dull blade collided with the wooden post as Erika swung down with the sword and all her strength.

Erika stared at the creature trying to crawl away at her feet, it looked similar to a rabbit, but only with a quick glance. On its head was a long sharp horn and in its mouth were two deadly fangs, being pierced by either of these proved to be fatal; therefore, its fluffy appearance was misleading.

“Erika, kill it.”

Hearing Claire’s instructions, Erika’s hands trembled as they held the sword.

“Claire, it’s…”

“Kiiiiiiiiiii!!”

Erika jumped back, frightened by the monster’s deadly screech as it desperately tried to escape, but it’s attempts proved futile. Claire had already severed both its hind legs. The only reason it was still alive was so Erika could kill it.

Claire kicked the monster, sending it rolling across the ground, landing at Erika’s feet.

“Do it.”

Erika closed her eyes tightly and thrust her sword into the monster’s tiny body, but the dull blade didn’t piece the monster’s thick fur.

“Push harder.”

Erika put all her weight into it and pushed the blade into the monster’s body, blood seeped out, staining its white fur. It made one final cry, and its body twitched before falling limp.

Erika fell back, landing on her butt. The warm rays of sun peeked through the forest’s thick tree cover overhead, illuminating her and the various corpses littered around. In the background, the various cries of Earthlings and monsters could be heard.

It had been almost two weeks since they arrived in Orbis. A few days ago, they had stopped training, and Claire had dragged Erika out of town and into the forest to kill monsters with other Earthlings. That was when she realized the savagery of this world.

The gore and screams surrounding her as Earthlings slaughtered the weak monsters, made her want to curl up and hide. But Claire wouldn’t let her off that easy, on her first visit to the forest she had forced Erika to take the life of a small harmless monster. She still wasn’t used to it, and since then, it has only escalated, now reaching the point where she had to skin the monsters and dismantle their bodies for material. In a single word, it was horrifying.

“Erika, you know what to do.”

Claire handed Erika a small, sharp knife. Unlike their swords, it could easily cut the monster's skin, the reason they didn’t each have one was simple – it was expensive. Buying their swords, spare clothes, and a knife had left them penniless.

“Claire, I don’t want to. Can’t we stop for today? I’ve already…”

“Erika.”

At Claire’s sharp tone, Erika quieted, lowering her head in dejection, she took the knife. Erika looked at the monster’s face, frozen in fear. It was weak enough that even new Earthlings could kill it, so long as they weren’t outnumbered or carless.

Gulp.

Erika swallowed and crouched next to the dead monster and began to skin it and remove its horn, which could be sold in town.

She hated this; she really, really hated this world.

‘I miss home.’

Erika looked at Claire who was calmly, dismembering the other corpses, and wondered if she felt the same.

“Hey, are you guys done yet?”

A teenage boy named Flynn shouted at them from behind a tree. Claire and Erika had met he and his two friends, George and Abigail, during the Association’s Earthling training, and they had since teamed up to complete missions. Initially, Claire was against working with others, especially when Erika mentioned Aaron or Liam, but that had changed after their first trip into the forest, where they quickly realized how dangerous it was to work alone and had formed the team with Flynn.

Claire called out, “We’re almost done!”

“Alright! When you’re done, come over here! We got some more!”

With a wave, Flynn ducked back behind the tree and returned to his dismantling.

Erika looked at her red hands.

‘Blood.’

She had seen a lot of blood since arriving in this world and no longer gagged at the sight of it. She was slowly becoming desensitized. Would her life ever return to normal, or was this the new normal? She often wondered.

Later that evening, after returning they headed to the Association Earthling Branch to collect their pay and have a drink.

“Damn! That hits the spot!”

Flynn’s mug hit the table with a loud thud.

From across the table, Abigail reproached Flynn.

“Hey, don’t drink too much again, Flynn! George had to carry you back to the inn last time, and I’m not gonna let him do it again!”

She grabbed George’s arm and pulled him close as if someone might try and take him away.

Flynn groaned, “Just shut up and get off my back for once, Abigail… What’s so bad about cutting loose after a hard day’s work? Maybe if you gave it a try, then you wouldn’t be so uptight all the time.”

“I don’t have a problem with you, 'cutting loose'... I have a problem with you going overboard! And for your information, no, I’m not uptight. It’s called maturity, but I guess you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

“Whatever, I don’t care. Just leave me alone and let me drink in peace, please…”

George quietly sipped his beer while Abigail and Flynn bickered like an old married couple. On one side was his girlfriend and the other was his good friend, taking either side would result in a loss, so he stayed silent.

Claire ignored the ruckus at the table and continued meticulously separating today's earnings for distribution among the team members. Money was tight, extremely tight. After splitting up the reward from the beginner subjugation missions, they barely enough to cover their daily living costs, and what was left was put towards purchasing new equipment and weapons, which they desperately needed. All they had now were dull swords and single bow for Flynn, their Ranger. Since everyone else was a Warrior, they couldn’t be careless and get injured – they needed armor. Finding a Cleric was impossible; there were far too few of them, so they tended to be recruited quickly.

Claire had finished separating the money, putting aside a portion to go towards their equipment fund.

Flynn called out to Claire; his face was slightly flushed.

“Claire, how’d we do today? Is there extra this time? I’m tired of eating the same thing every day! I wanna change it up!”

“I bet you just want more beer!!”

Abigail yelled at Flynn but seeing that he didn’t pay any attention to her, she turned to Claire.

“Claire, whatever you do, don’t give this idiot anything! He’ll waste it all! Split his share up between everyone else, or better yet, put it in the fund for equipment! Just don’t let him have a dime!”

Claire looked up at both of them; they had jumped out of their seats and were now leaning towards her.

“There’s no extra, but we will have enough for some new equipment soon.”

Flynn whined, “How much do we have? We’ve been saving for a week. It’s gotta be a lot by now.”

“A little under 60 nickel, and if we pooled together all of our savings, then maybe it’s close to 100 nickel.”

“That’s it???”

“Yes… We need to keep saving. At best, we can buy slightly better weapons than we have now. If we want anything decent, then we should save more, especially since we need to buy the chain mail for George.”

George was the vanguard of the team, and because of that, they all agreed to get him armor first; for a full set, it was a few hundred nickel, so they only planned to get a chest guard, which was still eighty nickel.

Flynn threw his arms up in the air.

“This is why I said we need to do harder missions! There are plenty of other teams doing them! If we wait, by the time we save enough, we’ll be too far behind, and we’ll never catch up!”

Claire shook her head.

“The answer is no. There’s no need to rush. This isn’t a race. The teams that are doing those all have Clerics, and we don’t.”

“So, what? Is it that big a deal that we don’t have a Cleric? None of us have gotten hurt yet, and I don’t think that’ll change just because the monsters are a little bit bigger. Their size doesn’t change the fact that they’re stupid.”

“The answer is still no.”

Flynn plopped back down in his seat, lazily laying his upper body on the table.

“Ugghhh, come on! Why are you so cautious!?”

Abigail folded her arms across her chest.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Flynn on this.”

George nodded his head and then spoke.

“I feel the same. If this was a few days ago, I might not agree, but after today’s performance, I think we are more than ready to take the next step.”

Seeing the intensity in everyone’s eyes as they stared at Claire, Erika stepped in; she didn’t want a rift to form in their group now, not after all the effort they had put into improving their teamwork.

“Claire… I think we should listen to them… it’s not like we’ve been careless…”

“Erika, I…”

Claire hesitated for a moment and looked around the table, seeing three pairs of determine eyes and one pair with a hint of worry, she held up her index finger.

“One week. Starting at the end of this week, we can take harder missions. Until then, we save up as much as we can to get some leather armor and sharper weapons, deal?”

Flynn grinned and hoisted his mug into the air, letting out a loud cheer.

“Wooooohooo!!”