Faye was racing along the streets of Lóthaven, angling towards the scream and sounds of fighting she had heard. A part of her was anxious at leaving Taveon’s house alone, but that small army of briars outside precluded most courses of action for Faye.

Saving someone who was fighting for their lives in the streets, though? That was something Faye knew she could help with.

She rounded a corner at a run and came almost immediately face to face with an Awakened Briar. Its hulking form was facing away from her, so she had a moment’s advantage.

Drawing her wooden sword, Faye launched forward into a thrust. As she lunged forward into the stretch, she grabbed hold of her internal mana, pulling it out and threading it into the core of the blade.

The Awakened Briar, quite rightfully, ignored the thrust of the wooden blade.

Shit.

But the thread of mana that she had used to wrap around the core of the blade reacted to the hostile presence and it flared with flames.

That got a reaction from the monster.

It turned, one of its arms swinging out like a thresher, the thorns and vines whistling as air pumped through it.

The Awakened did not make much sound normally, but it was currently keening a high-pitched creak that made Faye shiver. The Awakened were the only ones she had seen so far that had something resembling facial features. They were formed from larger pieces of wood that were still covered in bark, the mouths opening in an almost-silent screech that showed the crimson internal glow.

What did emerge along with the barely audible keening was the rotten stench of compost. Faye tried not to gag as she held her left hand up and let a Fire Dart loose in its open maw.

The awful decay stench seemed to combust, because the force of the spell hitting was greater than usual.

Trying to feel out her mana reserves, Faye was dissatisfied with her spells. Without a reliable way to hurt the briar monsters that did not use mana, she was entirely reliant on a resource that was scarce.

Something impacted the Awakened Briar from behind, and it turned to swat something.

Gritting her teeth, Faye sheathed the sword.

Trying to connect with the monster in that ephemeral way she had before was not easy, when the huge thing might turn and make her into a paste at any moment. This one was obviously stronger than the ones she had fought only a day or two ago, but she could not tell how much stronger.

With the amount of mana that Scorched Lance used, she was not comfortable using the spell when she knew there was more to come.

The sounds of this fight were already loud enough that she was worriedly activating [Swordfighter’s Sense] at random intervals when she could to ensure there was nothing sneaking up behind her. What using the skill did tell her was that there were a small mob of four lesser briars, or something similar, on the other side of this Awakened one.

There was nothing for it.

Holding up her hands, Faye readied a Fire Dart in each one. Holding them back, and letting more mana bleed into the darts, she released when they felt ‘fatter’ than normal.

The spells were less dart like and more an orb as they drifted forward at a brisk walking pace. Each one hit the Awakened in the back, and the orbs of flame exploded with more force than the darts would.

She had used double the mana for each spell but with the chunks of burnt wood and smouldering embers that flew off the briar’s body showed that it had been worth it.

The Awakened turned back toward Faye in a burst of speed, its arm flicking out with inhuman accuracy to swat Faye aside.

Knowing it would hit her regardless, she tried to lessen the blow by diving to the left and going with the blow. It still hit hard enough to drive the air from her lungs, and she smacked into the building on that side of the street with a dull thud.

As she lay still for a moment, stunned, Faye marvelled once again at the way the system and magic of this world changed the human body.

Being hit that hard on Earth would have crippled her. Smashing into the building like that would have broken a few bones at the very least. She was surprised that she was seeing straight.

Her Sense pulsed in her mind, forcing her to get to her feet.

The Awakened had not finished with her. Its bulk belied its agility, as it used its large thorny vine appendages to thrust itself forward.

Faye ran to the right, moving away from the fight and whoever was struggling with the lesser briars. The Awakened landed on top of where Faye had been laid, its vines whipping out to try and ensnare her.

She leapt over the sweeping thorns with a cry of effort. In the small space after that movement, she turned and threw her hand out at the briar. Once again letting out two Fire Darts in rapid succession. These two ordinary, fast, and inaccurate darts streaked away from Faye in arcing paths that still hit the huge bulk of the monster.

One of them glanced off the thing’s shoulder, breaking some of the woody vines off with the force of the blast. The other managed to hit it centre mass, the blast leaving behind a smouldering ember in the briar’s chest.

This time, it’s keening became a true screech.

The crimson glow of its being tried to expand outward and it charged toward Faye with murder in its semi-intelligent eyes.

Another spell from whoever Faye had come to assist hit the Awakened in the side, which made it shift its headlong charge a step, but it was the four additional Fire Darts that Faye unleashed, one after the other from each outstretched hand that really put an end to its attack.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level 11 [Awakened Briar].

Experience awarded.

Her mana reserves were nearing a fifth, she needed to be much more careful with the spells she used. Looking past the Awakened’s corpse, she realised that only two of the lesser briars were still active.

She drew her sword and stepped over one of the large arms of the downed briar, only to stumble when she realised just who it was, she was coming to ‘rescue’.

Maggie’s face had been smudged with dirt and blood from a cut on the side of her face had dried across one side, her hair had escaped half of its usual braid, and her armour was covered in gashes. She held a sword in her main hand and was wielding a shield in the other. It had been painted in a pattern that reminded Faye of a Celtic knot.

Breaking out of the momentary stupor at seeing her friend, Faye launched herself forward. The corpses of three other lesser briars already dotted the ground, and these final two probably would not last much longer. Faye stepped up behind one of them and thrust downward, penetrating the tangle of vines and thorns to its core.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level 6 [Lesser Briar].

Experience awarded.

The other briar jumped for Maggie, and the woman stepped back, swinging out with the shield to knock the briar off course. When the briar hit the ground, she lunged for it. The tip of the blade was not aligned well with the monster’s core, so it hit a rough piece of thorny wood and slipped aside.

Before the monster took advantage of the mistake, Faye stepped close and thrust down with her blade.

Congratulations! You have defeated a level 7 [Lesser Briar].

Experience awarded.

Both women paused for a moment to catch their breath. Maggie spoke first.

“You experience thief.”

Faye blinked, then burst out laughing. “What?”

“You come along at the last second and steal my kills,” Maggie said, gesturing with her sword at the briar. “That’s experience thieving.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll just go back in time and ignore your girlish cries for help, then.”

“They were very womanly cries of anger and righteous fury, actually.”

Faye grinned and flung her arms around Maggie’s neck.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Maggie chuckled and returned the hug with her shield arm.

“Me too, thank you for coming.”

Faye stepped back, nodding. “Of course. I came to find Taveon though…”

Maggie nodded, a frown marring her dirty face. “That’s what I was supposed to be doing. By the time I got here, there was some kind of commotion, I heard him shouting something. Unfortunately, the briars found me and herded me in here.”

“Where was he when you heard him?” Faye asked.

“A few streets over, heading west,” Maggie replied, pointing with her sword. It was back the way Faye had come.

Faye shook her head. “No good, there’s a small army besieging his house. I take it he has the kids somewhere safe?”

Maggie shrugged, that look of concern growing deeper. “I have no idea. All I know is that I heard him moving that way, shouting at something.”

“All right, we need to loop around and find him, then. We should keep going south a little before we try to cross the main street, though. I’m worried the briars will see us otherwise. There were too many for us to fight, especially if the Awakened are as high levelled as that one was.”

Maggie nodded. “I was doing barely anything to it, chipping away at its defences really. It had only shown up a few moments before you did, otherwise I would not have survived against it. My spells practically bounced off.”

“My sword did bounce off,” Faye said, ruefully.

“Well, a training sword tends to do that against wooden opponents,” Maggie said. “You do realise that, right?”

Faye rolled her eyes, ignoring her friend’s smirk.

“So, now that I’m here, do you think we can finish the job you were sent to do, eh?” she replied, with a single eyebrow raised.

“Oof, low blow! Come on, then, let’s go. Maybe we can find you a nice plank of wood to use as a shield?”

Faye chuckled and pushed Maggie’s shoulder. The woman stumbled a few steps.

“Oh, wow, okay you have gotten stronger.”

“I don’t just sit around talking to people all day, you see,” Faye replied, with a wicked grin. “I train hard and, you know, kill the monsters.”

“Keep it up, Faye,” Maggie said, “you’re only a few levels from cresting. At this rate, the system will offer you Jester and you’ll have found your true calling!”

“Har har, let’s go, slacker.”

Maggie took hold of Faye’s arm. “Actually, wait, you take the sword. Let me use yours.”

Faye shook her head. “This one is too long to use with the shield, it’s not balanced to be a hand-and-a-half sword.”

“Really? It’s just a regular training sword, isn’t it?”

Faye held it up. It was modelled after the training sword she had inadvertently brought with her to this world, a Federschwert. Whilst the blade was only a few centimetres longer than a hand-and-a-half sword, the Feder typically sported a longer handle and was used with both hands.

“It’s modelled after a sword typically used in two hands.”

“Let me try,” Maggie insisted. She sheathed the arming sword she was using and held out her hand for the wooden blade.

Faye shrugged and gave it to her, handle first. It wouldn’t hurt to spend a few minutes showing Maggie the different blade style.

She took the sword in one hand, stepped backward a couple of paces whilst swinging it. She adjusted her grip a couple of times, then slipped down into a guard. The shield was on the smaller side for a medieval round shield, but it seemed to fit on the shorter Maggie better than a full round shield, some of which reached 90 centimetres in diameter. Either way, paired with the longer blade, Maggie was able to use the edge of the shield to support the longer blade length a little.

Moving with a grace that Faye frankly had not expected, Maggie performed a kata with the sword held in a single hand. There were a few times that it seemed a little awkward, but nothing that would suggest she could not use the sword that way.

“I take it back,” Faye said. “You can clearly hold the sword in one hand. Extra strength compared to folks back home means you have no real trouble with the weight.”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t like the handle much, but I agree, it works enough that I will let you use the more deadly sword, miss Swordfighter.”

Faye smiled and nodded as Maggie held the wooden sword under her left armpit and undid the belt holding the scabbard.

“Here, now hurry up, we are wasting time.”

Heeding Faye’s warning of the small swarm stationed on Taveon’s house, Maggie led Faye southwards a little before suggesting they cross the main road.

This road was one that led to the wall, rather than a gate, so they hoped that there would be less monster traffic here. Faye hoped that none of the Primalists had decided to look for townsfolk on this road, for the very same logic they had just used.

By using an alley between two rows of houses instead of a side street, they were able to get right to the edge of the main road without seeing or hearing enemies. Faye had not felt any hostile presences either, with her active skill.

Looking up and down the road, Faye smiled.

“It bends, they can’t see us.”

“I had hoped it put us out of line of sight,” Maggie said, “but I wasn’t sure it would.”

Activating [Swordfighter’s Sense] again before they stepped out, Faye cast her senses around and felt nothing.

“Okay, quickly over to that alleyway,” she said, pointing.

“I’m following you.”

Faye stepped out into the road, looking up and down once more before fixing her sight on the alley’s entrance and rushing toward it. Maggie’s footsteps were close behind.

Halfway down the alley, when nothing had happened, Faye sighed and turned to Maggie. “Okay, that was anticlimactic.”

“Don’t question the system, Faye, keep moving.”

Nodding, Faye carried on at a steady jog. Maggie had not been able to see Taveon when she had arrived at his house, and wherever he had been he would be somewhere else yet.

Hold on, old man, I’m coming.