Holding her mouth closed with both of my hands I watch her struggle and cringe as stomach acid and half digested food fills her mouth.

“Good girls swallow.” I laugh angrily at my own joke.

She keeps struggling so I squeeze her face as hard as I can and she begins to whimper and choke at the same time. Some stomach contents escape from her nose and she spasms.

I let go of her face and she hurls all over herself and sprays some on me as she coughs and gasps for air.

-This is wrong…- mumbles logic in the back of my mind.

“Bad girl!” I slap her again, harder than the first time.

-But oh so fun!- declares anger.

“Look at the mess you made…”

-Something's wrong here!- insists logic.

“Apologize!” I grab her by the jaw and twist her face so she has to look at me.

She tries to speak but it turns into another coughing fit.

I slap her with the back of my hand this time.

-She didn’t deserve that one!- logic is now screaming in my head but it does nothing to calm my anger.

-New world new rules so who cares?- vetoes anger.

I insert my fingers into her gaping mouth and cause another round of hurling which I quickly stop by closing her lips shut with my hand.

-I do. I never act like this…- wonders rationality.

-I do it all the time! This isn’t even the worst I’ve done.- reasons anger.

“Will you be a good girl now? Or do you want to get punished again?”

-Not like this…- continues my rational side.

-Not without a safe word.- states logic.

-Exactly! That’s what's weird! I never set up a safe word. I would never go this far without one!-

-This isn’t playtime though this is payback.- my lower brain makes me smile as I feel Elsa start to shake under my grasp.

-Unproportional anger. No safe word. Undeserved punishment.- tellys rationality.

-New world new rules can go to hell. I’m not acting like myself!-

-The trickster?!- remembers logic.

-The system! Somethings affecting my mind?- reasons rationality.

-Her!- roars anger and I smash her head into the hard ground making her lose consciousness.

-Not her! I still want to kill her.- my anger rises.

Sitting on top of her I look around but see nothing special. My fists clenched and my body tense, the anger in me is redirected at whatever is controlling me.

-No… noone messes with my mind… you want to make me angry? Well, congratulations!- I think to myself as rationality and anger combine into cold fury.

My heart rate skyrockets and I start sweating and panting as adrenaline begins to spread through me. Stronger than I’ve ever felt before the rush of emotions makes me unable to concentrate on anything and I hear myself start to growl.

My body tries to kill Elsa and I resist it with all my will. It starts to shake once it realizes I’m not letting it do what it wants.

Mental Defence branch unlocked

Willpower +2

Rational Reasoning twig unlocked

Wisdom +1

Self-Defence tree sprouted its first bud.

Constitution +1

Self-Awareness skill Acquired (Passive)

Helps maintain sense of self.

The shaking stops as suddenly as it began and as my heartbeat starts to slowly return to normal my eyes fall on Elsa’s blood and bolus covered face.

I check for pulse and breathing and feel relief as I find both.

After which I pick up Elsa’s sword, lift her into a fireman’s carry and bounce her up a few times so she sits more comfortably on my shoulder.

-Shit… shouldn’t have done this here. No witnesses.- I pace quickly back to the arena, Elsa’s shield, still strapped to her arm, dangles and hits my hip with each step.

-That’s what I get for trying to mask hurting her as a sparing accident.- fear appears as I move closer to the rest of the group.

-I hope they’ll heal her or I’ll have a hard time explaining this...-

-Or not.- jumps up hope -New world new rules after all.-

-Good point. Maybe I should check her for signs of life again? Do a more thorough physical examination.- wonders my lower brain.

-Not after what I just went through… and it’s too late now. They noticed us.- rationality concludes.

The group is gathered around Val as he kneels over one of the spearman. His sparring partner leans on his spear and is talking to their trainer and Tabika.

As I approach a white glow radiates from Val and seems to seep into the earthling on the ground. Slowly his eye socket begins to reform leaving an empty hole in which the eye inflates, gradually filling the hole and returning to normal as the last of the white light turned mist enters the unconscious man.

A moment later he opens his eyes and gasps for air.

“Lay the girl on the ground.” Val pats the area next to where he is crouching.

I do as I’m asked with Tabika glaring at me the whole time.

Val seems to hesitate for a moment once he sees Elsa’s wounds but dutifully continues without saying anything.

-No questions? Really?-

The two spearmen left with their trainer but Tabika stood by my side, moving her head from Elsa to me. Glaring all the time, stopping once she saw the flesh of Elsa’s face begin to reform and stitch itself together, only to continue glaring when she heard me sigh in relief.

-I can feel her hands tightening into fists… her leather gloves sound like they’re about to burst.- Gracefully I start edging away from her, relieved to see her notice but not follow.

Elsa’s eyes open suddenly. Blood and half digested food stuck to her face and hair but otherwise fine. She looks at Val who’s leaning over her then at Tabika and me and starts to cry.

Tabika turns to me ready to swing but I expected it and start jumping back while bending my head backwards.

My knees buckle under my weight as her punch connects with my chin.

-Inhuman… will I also become like that?- I use my hands to break my fall and kneel on the ground as I wait for control over my legs to come back to me.

-All I saw was a blur.- I smile at the ground while my vision spins.

Tabika’s boots come into my field of vision but I still can’t look up. From her shadow I see her raise her fist to finish what she started.

“Don’t! It’s my fault!” Elsa yells out. “He didn’t do anything…” she goes back to crying.

I see Tabika’s shadow lower its fist and hesitate whether to help me up or not, but I decide for her and grab her arm to help myself stand up.

-New world new rules my ass…-

Standing up I wobble towards Elsa and drop down next to her.

-New world one rule.-

-And in a way it's the only rule there ever was… survival of the fittest.- rationality adds.

-So how do I exploit this system?- creativity demands.

-And what does she mean I did nothing?- logic wonders.

Val walks back to the group of soldiers that are still sitting around.

-Are they here as security? For us or against us?- I wonder.

Tabika tries a few times to question Elsa, but not getting any answers she helps Elsa clean up using one of the water skins and joins Val and the rest of the soldiers. Elsa seems dead set on crying for now and just lay down away from the puddle once left alone.

-Can’t be against us… Tabika alone is most likely enough to take us all out before we could do anything... -

I lie next to Elsa and put my shield under my head as a pillow while opening the front part of my leather cuirass. After putting my arm under Elsa’s head for her to use as a pillow I put her hand over my torso.

“Bend your knees.” I say softly.

She turns on her side and bends her knees slightly so that I can put my leg over them. We both wiggle until we find a position that is the least uncomfortable for both of us and enjoy the cuddle so that she can continue crying for however long she needs.

-So who are they protecting us from exactly? Or is the war so bad they are afraid of another enemy in their homebase, or maybe someone from the inside? An opposing faction?-

I play with Elsa’s hair as I wait for her to stop crying.

-War can make some people very rich and powerful. And they’ll do anything to keep the war going. I need to get my hands on a history book or something… god I’m going to miss google…-

My equipment is slowly starting to bite into my skin as we continue to cuddle in silence. I try to ignore it and instead focus on the sounds around me.

I can hear the two spearmen sparring. Their trainer still shouts out advice and critique from time to time but at a much lower frequency than an hour ago.

-They sound much better… like they are actually sparring properly and not just trying to show off. The sound of hits is constant and fluid. Sounds more like practicing technique than fighting.-

I lift my head slightly to look at them and indeed they are moving with much more confidence.

The two other earthlings chosen to be warriors are sitting with their backs to the arena wall chatting with their trainer. Not far away from them I can see the black woman standing at the shooting range.

-Is she using my bow?-

The russian man is nowhere to be seen so I go back to looking at the sky and enjoying the late afternoon sun...

-Beautiful clouds. I could almost forget I wasn’t back on earth if not for the metal shield hard against the back of my head…-

I close my eyes and slow my breath.

-I really am very tired… I wonder how long the day night cycle is here?-

Slowly my breath becomes more regular and I doze off while Elsa cries silently.