Simone drifted for a while in the void, her mind spreading out amongst the vastness of it all. Pale clouds boiled around her and a blue sky hid behind them. Flashes of lightning rippled across the white fluff, ripples of energy that carried this way and that as she settled into the place of her soul. Eventually, she found herself standing, the universe beneath her somehow feeling solid. She turned around and took it all in. It looked different from when she’d first arrived in Orum. That other place was dark and the thunder so much louder than it was here. A prompt appeared in her vision and she read it over.

You have 6 attribute points to spend. Please spend them now and complete leveling up to Level 2.

Simone pulled up her stats and took a look. She’d read over enough of the manual to have a pretty good idea where to start. Her Willpower and Endurance were extremely important right now. Willpower buffing her MP and Endurance buffing her HP. She needed more mana if she was going to fire more shots consecutively but she also needed to be able to take a hit. She wasn’t sure where these powers of hers were going to take her and keeping her options open was the best possible direction to go for now. She put three points into each and checked her stats again.

NAME: UNKNOWN

PLAYERID: SIMONEB

RACE: AZAR

SEX: FEMALE

AGE: 26

[LOCKED]

CURRENT LEVEL: 2 (825/1200 EXP / Growth: 100%)

HP: 76/76 | MP: 76/76 | SP: 74/74

REPUTATION: N/A

ALIGNMENT: NEUTRAL

Physique:

12 (0%) [Upstart]

Endurance:

13 (0%)

Willpower:

13 (0%) [Soul]

Influence:

12 (0%)

Agility:

10 (0%)

Skill:

10 (0%)

RESISTANCES

Physical:

Capable

Nullifies a small amount of physical damage.

TRAITS

[DEMONSKIN]

[TOOLS OF THE WANDERER]

[SPARK OF THE OUTSIDER]

ACHIEVEMENTS

[LOCKED]

She frowned at the “unknown” next to her name. The more she thought about it the more she realized that she didn’t want to leave everything behind back on earth. There was a part of her that still wanted to be ‘Simone’ just as much as she wanted to create a new identity for herself. Was it wrong for the Simone of Orum to be different from the Simone of Earth? Did it matter? She selected the word and a blank textbox appeared with a flashing line asking her to enter a name. She wondered for a moment why it felt like she could think so much more clearly in this place. It had been so hard to think in the waking world. Was that just because of exhaustion or was this place different in its own way?

“You’re not far off on the mark,” A playful voice called out behind her.

Simone whipped around and found Ianna sitting in the air a few feet away, her chin in her hands and that wry smile on her face. Her eyes glittered, “Surprised to see me?”

“Well, yeah, I thought you were just the welcoming committee,” Simone said.

“Normally, yes,” Ianna said with a shrug, “But something you said caught my interest and I wanted to check up on you. I will probably not be here next time.”

“Who are you, really? What did I say?” Simone asked.

“Right to the questions, I like it,” Ianna said, “I’m an extension of a being called Journey who manages how the system works for folk like you,” She paused and tilted her head, “As for what I said, I wonder what it was exactly,” She teased.

“So you can just show up wherever you want?” Simone pressed.

“Well… honestly Journey is in a really good mood for some reason today so I felt like it was worth the risk,” Ianna said, “It’s a bit complicated, we’re connected but we’re not the same person.”

“You’re a lot more forthcoming,” Simone pointed out.

“We’re not being watched,” Ianna chuckled.

Simone hesitated, “So you’re just going to answer whatever question I ask?”

“No spoilers,” Ianna said, holding up a finger, “You know better than to ask the question you’re about to ask. Come on now, where’s the fun in that?”

“This world isn’t exactly what I’d call fun,” Simone growled, “I barely survived. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m going to wake up alive.”

“Do yourself a favor, Simone, give the people you’ve already gathered around you a chance. You won’t regret having an open mind, especially going forward,” Ianna said, “I’m rooting for you.”

“To do what exactly?” Simone asked.

“See you later, spoilsport,” Ianna laughed and began to vanish, the clouds grew darker and Simone began to feel herself rising.

“Hey! Hey, I’m not done! Hey!” She shouted, the last word coming out as she shot up into a sitting position. She rubbed her face, shaking the sudden surge of vertigo as the sensation of bedsheets registered in her brain. She shook her head, blinking a few times until she realized she was being watched. She turned and spotted Roe sitting in a chair with a blanket over her lap, her arms crossed and her eyes on Simone. “Finally awake?”

Simone glanced to the foot of the bed and spotted Kik curled up into a ball, the tiny creature twitching in its sleep. She spotted Steward leaning against the door opposite her, its eyes dark. They were the only two awake. She took in the room, small, about the size of a college dorm room. A single bed tucked into the corner accompanying a desk and a single set of drawers. She rubbed her face again and looked back to Roe. “Yeah, I’m awake.”

“We need to talk,” Roe said.

“I figured that was coming,” Simone said with a sigh.

“Besides giving you my father’s aspect, I have no personal connection to you. If I don’t like your answers, I will take Steward with me and we will find our own way in this strange new world. My magic is strong enough to get me by until I unseal my aspects,” Roe said flatly, “So I want clear answers,” She paused and made a face, “In exchange, I will give you some of my own.”

Simone turned and crossed her legs, “Alright, I think that’s fair.”

“I was listening during your conversations, I heard words I did not understand but I could infer quite a bit. The explanations I was given were a good start but,” She let out a breath, “Are you truly from another world?”

“I am. It’s called earth.”

“Your world is named ‘dirt’?” Roe asked and shook her head, “Nevermind. Do you know what brought you here?”

“Something called the Cycle, someone called Journey is part of it as well,” Simone said.

Roe frowned but nodded, “Okay,” She let out a breath, “Teyva Akura.”

“The Demon Lord, yeah, she shares your mother’s given name,” Simone said, “I noticed that too.”

“I want to meet her,” Roe said, “I want answers and I have a feeling that she has them. Just hearing her name gave me a goal to achieve. So what about you, what are you going to do?”

Simone licked her lips and looked at the door, “I don’t trust Talis but I’m willing to give Haggart a chance. He told me about the privacy setting on the Journal,” Simone said, “The Guild has resources and I’m not going to be able to do anything if I don’t build up from where I’m at now. At this point Steward could kill me with a sneeze.”

Roe snorted, “At least you’re honest with yourself.”

The two of them went quiet, Kik snoring loudly to the left. They glanced at the tiny creature and smiled before turning to one another. Simone scratched her nose and took a deep breath, “Roe.”

“Yes?”

“Stick around. I want answers as much as you do and I agree with you, the only way to get those answers is to meet the Demon Lord. The Adventurer’s guild is going to try to fight her one day. If we make a name for ourselves here, wouldn’t it be possible for us to go with them when that happens and get a chance to see her?”

Roe looked away, considering it, “When we meet the Demon Lord and if I get answers from her, depending on those answers I may very well choose to side with her. I do not like these humans. They reek of bigotry that reminds me of my mother. What will you do if I make that choice?”

Simone made a face and rubbed her hands together, “Guess that depends on where we’re at when we get there. Like you said, I don’t have any personal connection to the adventurers besides being from the same world and some of them are clearly not so great. But they must be doing some good for the people to like them this much.”

Roe nodded slowly, “I can agree to that. Then an alliance of convenience for the time being. If you’re my ally then I need you to be strong. I’ll be teaching you magic among other things.”

“Sounds good to me,” Simone nodded. “Anything helps. Thanks, Roe.”

Roe looked her up and down once before tilting her head, “Have you thought of a name for yourself in this world?”

“I was thinking of sticking with Simone but maybe changing my surname,” Simone said, “I didn’t live the best life back where I’m from, but it was my life. I don’t want to lose it.”

“Ayaman, then,” Roe said.

“And that means?”

“Roughly, one who does right by others without their knowledge,” Roe said with a wry smile, “Thank you. For what you did with your journal down there.”

Simone chuckled and looked away, a bit of warmth rising to her face. She was glad it was dark, “Well, that’s one hell of a name to live up to. Simone Ayaman huh?”

“Then live up to it,” Roe said, pulling her blanket up and wrapping it around herself. “Now get some rest, it seems we have much to do in the morning.”

“Right.”