Faye had not given much thought to long distance journeys in her new world. A part of her had assumed that it would be by horse.

What fantasy world doesn’t use horses? she thought.

She grimaced as the hard wooden bed of the cart she was currently sitting in jostled her once more.

This one, apparently.

The Adventurer’s Guild did not own horses in Lóthaven — apparently, they were far too expensive to keep in such a remote location. They did own a few pairs of sturdy oxen that were capable of pulling frankly enormous carts. The bed of the cart was barely free of any space except where the somewhat comfortable sleeping spot they had prepared for the farmhand lay.

Faye was perched on the very end of the cart. The others had insisted that she get some rest. They had higher attributes and were used to the travel. Her feet had started aching after an hour and were hurting by the third.

“I kind of miss modern shoes,” Faye said.

Ailith was walking nearby, her giant maul resting on the cart next to Faye but close enough that the big woman could grab it at any time. She grinned and gestured to her own footwear; leather boots covered in the metallic sabatons and greaves of her armour.

“You think that learning to walk in these is fun?” She let out a big laugh. “Not at all, little one. But stats help massively.”

“Do stats take over like that in all aspects of life?” Faye asked. She hadn’t given it too much thought, but the attributes the system had given her might end up changing her in ways she was not ready for. “Will I get as tall and buff as you if I keep increasing my strength?”

Ailith grinned but shook her head. “No, you probably won’t. It still takes a lot of work to change your body like that. Take Mich here as an example,” she said, pointing to one of the crafters that the team were accompanying to the steading. The man in question looked over and grinned, a tattoo around his right eye socket standing out with his shaved head.

“That’s right, ladies, take Mich. He’s ready for the taking.”

Ailith rolled her eyes. “So, as you can tell, his mental attributes are all really bloody low, like so low you’re probably higher than him.”

Mich pantomimed an arrow stabbing him in the chest, groaning out loud.

“Oh, the pain, straight to the heart!”

“And, when you look at him, he looks like one of them weedy little fellas that can’t hold up a twig.”

“Gods, woman! You really know how to kick a man when he’s down, don’t ya?”

Faye grinned. Ailith was clearly enjoying herself. But she was also right… the man looked more like a hipster artist than a body builder.

She narrowed her eyes and looked closer at him. There was something about the way he held himself as he walked, though. It wasn’t a bounce in his step that marked him as a fighter, nor the heavy footfall that Ailith tended toward… no, there was a solidity to him. Each step placed precisely and securely.

“Has she seen it?” Mich asked Ailith. Faye looked up at his face, where she expected to see a smug smile, but it was a simple, friendly grin.

“Aye, I dare say she has,” Ailith replied. “Mich’s strength attribute is probably higher than mine.”

Faye nodded, slowly. His carefully, precisely placed footsteps were solid because he had a lot of strength behind them. It made sense.

“So, the attributes don’t reflect our bodies?” she asked.

“They do,” Ailith said, “when you’re a lower level. Your body generally works up to its full strength. You barely notice it.”

She spent a while contemplating what that meant for her. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. If she did want to carry on training strength, or agility, or whatever she would focus on when it came time to do so, she did not necessarily need to change her whole physique to do so it seemed like.

Of course, it’s not like I ever put that much muscle on when training anyway.

She had always had a lean physique, much closer to that of the crafter than the Guardian in front of her.

Putting the thought aside, she closed her eyes and drifted away on a cushion of meditative bliss.

The Bánn Steading, Faye thought, looked like a fortress. They were still an hour’s journey from the steading, having walked and rode the cart in turns all yesterday. It was now nearing midday on the second day of their journey. They had stopped late in the night, for a few hours, to ensure that the march did not tire them completely.

Faye was shocked.

If this forced march had been back on Earth, she was certain she would have dropped dead. As it was, they had travelled for approximately ten hours non-stop. Her legs ached, but nothing near the pain she had expected.

They did let me ride the bumpy cart, though.

Even Ailith had taken a spell in the cart to rest.

Now, as the road stretched away from them in a shallow bend along the valley wall down into the fertile fields of the valley floor. Faye was reminded of the first place she had seen after running out of the forest her very first day in this strange world.

She shook her head. Things had changed rapidly since then.

Sitting at a bend in the river, forming a natural moat around three sides of the fortified building, lay the Bánn Steading. From their vantage point, the building seemed low and squat, but at this distance Faye knew that looks could be deceiving.

The walls and roof were a dark grey rock, and it looked immovable, peaceful in its little valley. The cultured and tilled fields that surrounded the steading were mostly barren, the remnants of a snow shower still piled up along field boundaries at the extreme edges of the steading’s land.

There was a curious warmth that rose as they descended into the valley.

The farmhand was leading the team of oxen down the path, urging them on faster.

“Come on, keep it moving you oafs!”

But his curses and whacks to their rears did nothing to move the oxen quicker. They were obstinately moving at the pace they wanted to set.

“Faye!” Arran called out. He and the others were walking at the front of their caravan, so she jogged down the road to reach them.

“Sorry, I got caught up in the view.”

“Looks even better just before the harvest. Wheat growing as far as the eye can see, basically. Looks like a sea of golden grass.”

Arran nodded. “Aye, that may be so, but I want to go over our plan once more before we arrive.”

The team nodded, and Faye stepped into place beside them as they walked. She was more than happy to take the team’s lead on tactics.

“The beast corpse is still further north,” Arran began. He had questioned the boy the moment he had woken from his rejuvenating sleep — which the Administrator had ordered administered because the boy had spent an entire day running to Lóthaven. “Our information should be solid, the boy’s lived here his entire life. The only thing we can’t be certain of is the monster situation. From what the records say, there is a strong likelihood of a monster presence.”

“Charred forests beasts are powerful, a corpse will have attracted many,” Gavan said.

“Just so,” Arran replied. “Of course, we need as much of the remains as intact as we can.”

“Aye, we’re not doing this just for a contract,” Ailith put in, looking to Faye. “This one came straight from the Guild itself. Not often we’re working directly for ourselves.”

“Ailith will be our focal point. She will draw the attention of any monster by the beast corpse. Gavan, priority targets are those close to the corpse.” Arran turned to Faye, he grinned. “And Faye, you’re with me and the crafters. Anything that looks like it might come for one of the crafters needs to be pointed out, taken down, or successfully driven off. Clear?”

“Yes, clear,” she said, nodding. She grinned. The same sense of excitement that usually buoyed her up in fights and competitions was growing.

“Excellent. I’ll be close by, Faye, but it would be better for you to stick as close to the crafters as possible. I’ll be the one ranging out to deal with monsters that are mid-distance, Gavan has the long-distance. Ailith will be nearby, drawing them in, and Gavan and I will deal with the ones she draws when appropriate.”

“It’s a good plan,” Ailith said. “‘Course, something will fuck it up.”

Arran grimaced. “You always say that.”

“That’s ‘cause it’s true!”

As they drew close to the steading, Faye spied a figure on the top of the walls. She had not realised from the top of the valley, but each corner of the steading was effectively a watch tower. The figure waved, causing their farmhand guide to return the greeting with gusto.

“That’s ma brother,” he said. “Good kid.”

Faye looked at the boy, little older than thirteen, himself. “He’s a good kid?”

“Yup, he don’t hardly ever get hisself into trouble,” he replied. “Except when Ma makes her sweet pie. He’ll do just about owt to get his hands on it.”

She grinned. “What’s his name?”

“Maccan,” the boy replied, “and I’m Dáithí. Haven’t seen you before. You new?”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding slowly. “You might say that.”

“Well,” Dáithí said, drawing out the word, “you look alright, at least you’ve got a sword. Swords are great. I keep asking me Da for one, but he says I ain’t old enough, which is stupid really ‘cause I go off on me own to the north pass for the bloody goats, don’t I?”

She let the boy natter on. It was pleasant. A life out here, away from the strange rules of the town, must be peaceful. Then one day the world decides that you need a giant beast corpse on your doorstep and ruins your plans. She shook her head. Life had an odd way of rewarding people.

The boy’s father came out to greet them. Faye realised that the man was probably as strong, if not stronger, than Arran or Ailith if she were just comparing pure strength — if what Ailith said was true, then to get a physique the size of Steader Bánn he must be able to bench hundreds at a time.

At least.

“Alright, then, adventurers? What were th’road like?” His voice was deep, and came out in a slow, rolling lilt.

“Quiet and peaceful, Steader Bánn, thank you. We heard you have yourself a bit of a disposal problem.”

“Aye, that we do, young Arran, that we do. Trust th’boy told yer where yer going?”

“Near the north pass, leave the road to the western side before we hit the border marker.”

Steader Bánn nodded, one hand removing the cap he wore and scratching his wiry hair.

“Aye, that’s th’one. Best get gone now, young Arran. Don’t let them buggers get into my fields, ye hear?”

Arran nodded and held out his hand. The Steader grabbed Arran’s arm in a bear-like grip and nodded before putting an arm around his son and pulling him toward the steading.

“He looks like he can take down a giant on his own,” Faye said.

“Hah, yeah,” Ailith said. “Remember what we were talking about? That man is the very opposite of Mich.”

“Let’s move it. Mich, ready for the quick dash?”

“Yes, it’s been out there long enough.”

Apparently, bringing a man who was stronger than an adventurer along wasn’t purely by chance. The oxen were unhitched and left by the side of the road with a pair of handlers. The other three crafters, Mich, another man called Wahrn and a woman called Teánn, each picked up a handle on the cart that Faye had not even noticed.

Then they started jogging down the road with it.

“Oh, my, God. How strong are they? And why didn’t they do that all the way here?”

“They get tired quicker than an ox. Let’s go. We need to get there before they do, but they take some time to build up speed.”

It was easy enough to overtake the crafters as they pulled the huge cart, but Faye realised that their ability to move quickly was not to be underestimated soon enough.

The road further north was just as well maintained as the one into the valley, fortunately, so they were able to quickly get to the edge of the Steader’s lands. Arran pointed out the marker and they slowed to make sure the cart transferred onto the grass of the valley here without issue.

“Monsters ahead,” Gavan called out.

“How many are we looking at?” Arran queried.

“At least twenty.”

“What?” Ailith called.

Arran didn’t say anything for a few moments, but they were still moving forward at a steady jog. Faye was holding the scabbard of the heavier steel duellist’s blade with her right hand, allowing the lighter wooden blade to bounce a little as she moved. She was concentrating more on not tripping over the unusual ground than she was thinking about what Gavan had said.

“Let’s hope they’re only first tier, then,” Arran finally said. “Crafters! Keep close to Faye and me. Ailith, head forward. Draw their attention, try and funnel them into an area Gavan can use.”

“Aye, let’s do this.”

The valley here rose up a gentle incline, the valley wall extending clearly into hills ahead of them, rising up out of the ground like giants. Beyond them, the dark grey of the mountains were also visible peeking over the tops of the foothills.

Faye’s heart jumped when she saw them, another sudden jolt of remembrance ripping through her.

She shook her head. She would deal with that later.

As they crested the rise, Faye saw the corpse of the beast for the first time.

It was at least fifty feet long, its huge bulk was scaled, the side facing them a dark grey, black. Its body was thick, but Faye could tell that it was lizard-like. Its tail was curled around its body, small spiney growths along the top making it look like a giant, wingless dragon.

“Is that a dragon?” she asked.

“No, dragons are much bigger.”

She almost choked. “Dragons are real?”

“Focus!” Arran called. “Let’s do this right. Ailith, move in — now. Get their attention!”

Faye drew her gaze back from the corpse of the huge creature and tried to focus on the actual threats around them.

There were quite a lot of them crawling over the beast’s fallen body. Some of the monsters looked like giant bats, but they turned to face them, and their faces were much more monstrous than bats, with elongated snouts like a hyena. Their leathery, black skin was mostly hairless and stretched taut across bony knuckles and limbs.

Along the edges of the corpse were other scavengers that slunk about on six paws. The front pair of limbs were sometimes used to propel the creatures as they swarmed over one another to try and get a piece of meat from the beast’s body, but they would also stop, pausing a moment with their head, chest, and front two limbs held up like meerkats. Their faces and bodies were covered in fur, mostly a dark brown, black that bled into white across their faces.

“Faye,” Arran said, and she turned to look. “Try to focus on one creature as they draw close. You should be able to feel something from them.”

“Focus on them and feel something,” she repeated. “Super helpful, Arran, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, with a grin. Then Ailith lumbered forward, holding her maul in both hands. Faye suddenly felt guilty for thinking of the Guardian as lumbering. In truth, Ailith was a hulking giant in her armour. At that moment, Faye had no doubt that Ailith would bowl through the monsters like skittles.

The bat-hyena scavengers took wing, screeching as they did. There were only half a dozen of them, but with their limbs flailing as they took to the skies they appeared much larger and more threatening than when they were awkwardly scrambling across the beast’s body.

“Watch the skies but ignore them for now. Gavan, ready.”

“Readying.”

Ailith had reached the halfway point between the monsters and the rest of the adventurers. She slid to a stop and let out a roar of anger that whipped every monster’s head in her direction. Then, surprisingly, she turned and ran back towards the group.

“Now!” Arran called.

Gavan thrust his hands into the sky, muttered something under his breath, and then pulled downward.

Big, thick, vicious-looking shards of ice formed from thin air above the field. Faye stared at them in awe, the light of the sun shining through them in multifaceted glory, throwing rainbow colours across the ground.

They hung in the air like a baby’s mobile, for a couple of heartbeats.

The meerkat-like monsters screeched and swarmed forward, the mob running almost directly for Ailith.

A second later, the deadly shards of ice rained down. Each one slammed to the earth hard enough to partially shatter, the concussion force blasting outward and damaging the monsters around it. The earth shook from the assault.

“Oh my God, he’s supposed to be a healer!” Faye shouted.

“I am a Mage,” Gavan said, a smile gracing his face. “I heal because it is necessary.”

Faye had tried to focus on the monsters, but nothing was close enough for her to feel anything, let alone whatever it is Arran was asking her to feel.

Regardless, she was in awe that Gavan was able to do that. She thought of her own spell and its comparatively weak blast of force and fire.

I have to get me some better spells.

Suddenly, there was no time to think. The ice shard assault was over, the ice vanishing back into thin air and leaving behind the broken and shattered bodies of a handful of monsters.

“Five dead,” Gavan called out.

Arran nodded, and Ailith spun back around, bringing her maul up to bear.

Faye turned to the crafters. “Alright, looks like they’re going to have their attention for a while. Let’s skirt around to the right and get the body to our backs.”

Mich looked where Faye had pointed out and shrugged. “Looks better than running through the thick of things, aye. Let’s do it.”

“Arran, we’re heading in from the right!”

“Good idea!”

Faye set off at a jog, this time with her borrowed duellist sabre in one hand. She kept the wooden blade secure in its belt loop. Her head was on a swivel. She kept as many of the monsters in view as she could.

A strange sensation on the side of her face made her turn her head to the right as they neared the beast’s corpse. There, hiding in some tall grass, was another of the meerkat-like monsters.

It screeched when it saw Faye was looking at it and launched itself forward.

It used its six limbs effectively, wiggling side to side as it came, like a lizard.

“Ah, contact!” she cried, but she pre-emptively slashed in front of her with the sabre. The monster reared up on its back four legs rather than charging into her blade. It was just out of reach, so Faye narrowed her eyes, threw her hand forward and flicked the mental switch for her one and only spell.

Mana coalesced into a dart in her mind’s eye, floating in front of her palm. A split second later, she released the mana and it ignited and seared its way into the monster barely six feet in front of her.

It was impossible to miss at that distance, so when the Fire Dart blasted the thing in the face and it ducked away from the pain, she followed up with a quick dash forward and a downward thrust.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level five [Grómigé].

Experience points earned.

As much as she would have liked to take the opportunity to look further into her system, now that she was getting experience, she knew that being distracted in the middle of the monsters was a stupid thing to do. Instead, she made sure the crafters got the cart close to the creature and that any of the grómigés that came close got a face full of sword and fire.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level four [Grómigé].

Experience points earned.

It was when a new notification popped up that Faye realised things weren’t quite the same in a traditional adventurer’s encounter than what she had already experienced.

Congratulations! Your skill [Swordfighter’s Sense] has been initialised.

Do you wish to activate [Swordfighter’s Sense]?

Uhh, what?

~ Skill Info ~

[Swordfighter’s Sense]

[Passive], [Aura], [Class], [Active]

~ Description ~

A passive aura that detects hostile presences. Highly effective against lower tier presences. Moderate effect against same-tier presences. Effects highly reduced against higher tier presences.

Skill may be activated to increase effectiveness temporarily.

“Finally!” Faye shouted, but at that moment she saw something in front of her.

Activate Swordfighter’s Sense!

[Swordfighter’s Sense] has been activated.

Please note, additional mental strain may occur with continuous use of this skill.

It was as if Faye had been wearing a pair of sunglasses whilst indoors and had suddenly jumped out into the sun without them. An odd awareness of everything around her jumped into startling clarity.

The movement in front of her was from two grómigés, there were more on the other side of the corpse that were ignoring their adventuring group — for now — and if she concentrated, she could sense the spaces that her allies were standing in, too.

It was also like getting access to a limb she had never known she had. It was strange and it flailed about a little too much, giving her information she neither needed nor could process.

But it did mean she could warn the crafters about the other monsters and then point a hand at the sneaking monsters and blast them with fire.

That’s kind of awesome.

For the next few minutes, Faye was amazed at what she could sense. The world that magic was giving her was truly wonderful, it opened up so many possibilities that she—

ARGH!

A spike of pain lanced through her head, starting behind her eye and ending somewhere at the base of her skull.

Turn it off, turn it off!

[Swordfighter’s Sense] has been deactivated.

Eyes watering from relief, Faye didn’t see the grómigé that had gotten close enough to jump on her back. Fortunately its lower four sets of claws only found minimal purchase on her armour, and the top pair only scratched her face before Mich grabbed it around the midriff and slammed it against the ground.

He slammed a booted foot against its neck, and she clearly heard a snap.

“Gods, I about shit myself.”

“Thanks, Mich. Me too.” Faye pushed back the hair that had escaped her braid, looking around at the ongoing fight. Taking a shaky breath, she vowed to leave the skill experiments to when she wasn’t fighting for her or other people’s lives.