The merchants salvaged what they could from the broken and burnt down wagons, and used spare parts to fix up one of the wagons. After the salvaged goods were redistributed, everyone packed up their campsites and headed for a new rest stop.

Exhausted, Lilly was nodding off in the wagon while the caravan slowly trudged along for an hour, when they finally settled again. John prepared a meager supper of soup, and afterward, Lilly’s party bedded down for the night. Amy volunteered to take the first watch and Lilly took the last.

***

Eli shook Lilly awake at the end of his watch.

“Thanks,” she said and got up groggily. He nodded and trudged off to his tent, taking the last few hours of sleep that he could.

Lilly looked around, the darkness of the night greeted her. The ashes of the campfire sat a few meters to her left, cold and burnt out. A cold breeze swept over her as she stretched her arms wide and performed a few exercises, clearing up her sleepy mind.

A few other adventurers were up and about, starting their watches. She wondered if this was all adventuring was really about. Day in and day out of being on edge, fighting monsters or humans, living from paycheck to paycheck. That last part is pretty similar to Earth. She mused.

It was an odd transition for her, to go from being a college student that has never seen an ounce of true combat in her life, to killing being requisite for living. Sure, there were wars and gang fights on Earth too, but that had felt separate from her as if it was on a different planet rather than something that was happening a few blocks from her home. For some reason, she hadn’t really taken the change too badly, adapting rather fast to the new lifestyle. Was it the system that was affecting how she took it or was it because she had not taken the time to digest it, and when she did, she’d start having major breakdowns about it all?

Lilly sighed and packed up her things, preparing for the rest of the trip to the nearest city. Yesterday, there was talk of the caravan dissolving when it reached Sentres, instead of heading all the way to the capital of Proana and back. That meant the adventurers would have to find another way to get back to Fressia. Luckily, they could still get paid for the escort job at any guild branch, so at least they aren’t losing out on money.

She pulled a stool from her [Inventory] and sat down on it, facing away from the caravan. In a couple of hours, she would have to start the fire again to cook breakfast, but for now, she had some time to think. Vast and empty fields of grass stretched out in front of Lilly as she sat comfortably under a sky filled with bright constellations she didn’t recognize. She realized that, even after sleeping outside for many nights, she hadn’t seen a moon in the sky. She wondered if there was one.

Wait, how do people keep track of time without a moon? The thought hit her like a truck. She hadn’t bothered to do any research on Azalea’s calendar, nor did she know what the seasons were. The entirety of her life here had encompassed spring-like weather, and she hadn’t seen any signs of snow when she first arrived. Anything from the Arkon’s library would most likely be extremely outdated, all things considered.

“Fuck me, this is going to be awkward to ask about,” she muttered to herself. There would be no plausible reason for her not to know what year or month it was. She didn’t even know if time was kept in years. When Lilly seriously thought about it, so far she’s only heard the terms days, weeks and months, but never their relation with each other. She resolved to bring it up in conversation with Amy at some point, seeing as she’d probably be the easiest to ask without looking too strange. She hoped. Her thoughts drifted to other topics, one of which was her stats.

Maybe I should invest those stat points now. She’s been sitting on her points these past days, not knowing what to do with them since she felt she was already in a good spot as it is.

Name: Lilly Nightingale – Level 24

Race: Human

Mana: 300/300

Class: Arkonian Legacy

Active Skills:

Meditation (Uncommon) - 7

Identify (Common) - 5

Inventory (Special) - 1

Afterimage (Class) - 13

Arkonion Cloak (Class) - 7

Perception (Class) - 5

Passive Skills:

Arkonion Combat (Class) - 13

Eye of Arkon (Class) - 12

Stealth (Common) - 6

Cooking (Common) - 2

Brewing (Rare) - 3

Forgery (Rare) – 2

Leatherworking (Uncommon) - 1

Stats (15 points remaining):

Vitality – 35 (+)

Strength – 60 (+)

Intellect – 13 (+)

Wisdom – 30 (+)

Dexterity – 40 (+)

Perception – 25 (+)

It wasn’t like she had an urgent need for anything. However, she did remember that the bandit had felt overwhelmingly strong despite her deflecting his attack. Perhaps putting another ten points into strength wasn’t such a bad idea. After a moment of deliberation, she did exactly that, pouring the rest into Vitality, since being a little more sturdy never hurt anyone. She certainly didn’t have any designs for becoming a glass cannon.

She closed the screen and breathed in the grassy air drifting around her. Her eyes scanned the unfamiliar sky and watched over the field. A few times, she would catch sight of some fauna traversing through the grass, but nothing that she didn’t recognize.

This world still felt so surreal, especially with all its similarities to Earth; this world of monsters, filled with swords and magic, and this strange system that gave skills and knowledge directly to her mind; this world where there was a majestic azure sun in the sky and no moon to gaze upon at night. She thought about what it would be like, to go back to Earth after all this. Here, she had a whole world to explore, compared to Earth, where humanity had conquered nearly every inch of the planet and turned it into their playground to do as they pleased. Did she want to go back to that?

The sky slowly brightened up, turning into a soft shade of purplish-blue. It was almost time to get a move on again, so Lilly got up and grabbed some wood to start the fire again. She placed some kindling in the ashes and tried to restart the embers of the campfire. When that didn’t work, she sighed and thought about how she was never one for camping in the past world. While she had been athletic and kept up with her personal health, she spent the rest of her time buried in her studies and work. Her hobbies consisted of devouring sweets and watching Netflix.

Just as she considered kicking the fire in frustration, Amy exited from her tent, rubbing her eyes when she looked around. Her bedraggled hair sprawled out over her shoulders, and she wore a set of cotton clothing with none of her usual armor. She yawned loudly, and Lilly suppressed a yawn herself.

“G’ mornin Lilly,” she said sleepily.

“Good morning, Amy. Sleep well?”

“Like a log. Need some help there.” Amy looked at her pitiful attempt at starting a fire with amusement.

Lilly gave Amy her best puppy eyes. “Please, before I break something.”

Amy laughed at that, a melodic sound that was easy on the ears and hinted at a warm personality. She conjured a small flame and floated it into the kindling. With some coddling and coaxing, a lively fire came to life. A kind warmth washed over them as Lilly stacked more firewood into the flames. Amy created some water for the pot that Lilly hung over the flames, and then left to get properly dressed.

She brought out some of the wolf meat that she had prepared back at the hideout, and with an assortment of onions, garlic, tomatoes, and other vegetables, she soon had a decent soup boiling in the pot. Nothing too extravagant, but certainly a huge step up from the abominations she created when she first tried making herself food. Her life of instant noodles and frozen dinners certainly spoiled her to no end. Who could ever resist the charms of a good bowl of chicken ramen? She was no connoisseur, but she felt that she understood the hearts of college students everywhere when it came to her food choices.

Amy came back shortly and sniffed the fragrance that scented the air around the pot. “Mmm, that smells delish. Got any for mwah?”

Lilly smiled. “Anything for my favorite sorceress.”

“This is why you’re my favorite sword-wielding shadow monster.” Amy giggled when Lilly laughed and waved her soup spoon threateningly. Shortly afterward, John and Eli got out of their respective tents, and they started eating their breakfast around the fire. They recapped the previous evening’s events, each sharing their own perspectives of the fighting. Eventually, their conversation drifted to other topics like the dissolving of the caravan and their destination, Sentres, one of the border cities of Proana.

“So, have you considered our offer?” John asked, serving himself another bowl.

Lilly looked at him pensively. This past fight, she didn't play a big role in pushing back the bandits. Sure, she saved Amy once, but on her own, Lilly seriously doubted she could’ve taken down any of the bandits in a head-on fight like that. Some of them seemed to even have perception skills constantly active, taking away her strongest advantage of teleporting in for easy kills. Once, she could’ve died if Amy hadn’t warned her to back off. It would be in her best interest to learn from John and company for the time being. Besides, she liked this party of sensible adventurers, well, as sensible as you could call the explosion happy sorceress.

“Sure, I’d love to accompany you guys for a while.” She said.

After solidifying their party, they packed up their tents and cleared any evidence of their campsite. Once finished, they were back in the wagon, on their way toward the nation of Proana.

It was a quiet trip. Similar to her approach towards Fressia, the road got more crowded with other travelers as paths and roads converged. After a few hours, Amy spoke up loudly.

“Look! It’s the city of Sentres!” She pointed excitedly at the looming city in the distance.