“This was…” Arlan began, only that his sentence never finished. His voice simply trailed off, unable to find the right words to describe the emotions he felt.

“Scary? Awe-inspiring? Discombobulating? Intimidating? Incongruous? Unnerving? Take your pick, I think they all fit quite well,” Cassie suggested in response, sounding only partially kidding. There was an undercurrent of seriousness in her voice, one that made one wonder just how unnerved she truly was from the meeting they all were walking away from.

“All of the above, yeah,” Mark agreed, causing Arlan to snort in amusement. All the adjectives fit, and many more would work, too. The women, the beings, they had just met, all three of them were something else. None of them had outwardly acted in any way discourteous but there had been a sensation pressing against all five of them as if they were staring a large predator in the eye. That the sensation primarily came from a woman barely chest-high to the taller of their number and one with a petite physique to go with her diminutive height didn’t help, if anything the disconnect made things only worse. Being intimidated by a dragon, or when standing in front of an elephant, that was natural to them all, but being intimidated by a kitten? Not so much. And yet, they all had felt that the kitten they had talked to had claws that could easily shred them, rend the flesh from their bones and tear them to pieces.

“I’ve seen some of the things she did in the game, when we thought it was a game. That’s what makes it so weird, a part of me knows that people do crazy shit in video games, always have and likely will again if we ever get to have them again,” Cassie sighed, conflicted in her perception of the woman they had just left. “But Road to Purgatory, the world it was set in, it was so real, felt so alive. It was so easy to relax into it, to the point that it didn’t really feel like a game any longer but more like a vacation in a strange and wonderful place. Only, to Morgana, to Samantha or Jade or whatever her name is now, either she kept ‘playing’ the game, like it was a game or…” Cassie’s voice petered off, letting out yet another sigh.

“Or she wasn’t playing, she was living it as if she had gone fully native. And if that was the case, if her actions in game are a reflection of actions she would take in real life in that situation, then I’m incredibly scared of her. Of what she might do.”

For a few moments, silence reigned, until Mark broke it, asking what exactly Samantha had done in the game to make Cassie so scared of her. In response, Cassie began telling a story, speaking of a village raised and turned into Undead as one example. Or one about dissecting a living centaur, at least living until the centaur died from the dissection. All done by the petite woman with inhumanely pale skin.

But it wasn’t just the tales that made Cassie scared. No, just as important, maybe even more so, was her gut feeling, honed by her Intuition and improved by her connection to the divine, an instinct to determine threats to her house and under the protection of her hearth fire. To those instincts, Samantha feels like an overcast sky, a possible storm but no direct threat just yet. Only, the clouds of that overcast sky felt like a pure, inky blackness to her, infinitely threatening and, at the same time, not a threat just yet.

For a while, silence reigned as they walked, a silence only broken when the oldest of them all, Wu Chunhua, the former proprietress of the gym many of their people had found shelter at and de-facto leader of their merry band spoke up.

“She was always a little detached, had trouble relating to people. It’s one of the things that made me train her, the training I gave her hopefully helped give her a framework, though maybe not the best framework for a civilian. But a framework that would help her survive and, to a point, thrive, regardless of the situation. Much of what I told her was about fitting into a situation, into a role,” Mrs Wu rambled on a little, not really explaining what the training entailed, just that it would hopefully help Samantha find her own path and fit in.

“But speaking of training, we’ll have to talk to the people guarding the farm at night,” Mrs Wu changed the topic, shaking off the worries about her troublesome student.

“You think it’s really that bad?” Mark asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Samantha is not one to cry wolf, not unless it’s needed,” Mrs Wu replied, her tone one of finality. “But maybe we should test them ourselves. I know that Samantha was quite skilled when it came to stealth before the change and I have no doubt that she would capitalise on it. It might just be the reason why they solely operate at night. Much easier to hide in the dark, if you can confidently operate in it.”

“How are they doing that anyway? Did she ever hint at some sort of night vision magic?” Wong Chehai asked, sounding a little exasperated. Night vision, like all scouting capabilities, was a serious force amplifier, one that he would love to have at his disposal. Knowing your enemies’ location was the first step to taking that enemy out. Bonus points if you could find them without their knowledge, allowing for a wonderful final surprise. Alas, so far Samantha hadn’t shared that ability with anyone, at least not to his knowledge.

“Likely an innate racial ability,” Cassie admitted, “Arlan, you probably noticed that I’ve lost a bit of height since this shitshow started, right? Gained some weight, too, though far less than I feared.”

“Not going to comment on that,” Arlan quipped, before noticing just how serious Cassie was.

“It is what it is. When the shitshow started, I was given the option to take on the legacy of Cassandra Forgeheart, as I had called my avatar on Mundus, the character I played in Road to Purgatory. At first, I thought I’d get my old level back, so obviously I took it,” pausing, she let out an amused huff. “Yeah, didn’t work, but what I got was my character at level one, including the class I picked. My Cleric Class, it’s the same as the one I’ve had in the game, it’s the reason why I’ve got so those perks that the others don’t have, even after dedicating themselves to the gods.”

“There’s something else, right?” Wu Chenhua asked, when Cassie stopped speaking, gently prodding her to continue.

“My class wasn’t the only thing I got. My race, too,” Cassie admitted and for a few moments, nobody spoke.

“I’m no longer human and I’m quite confident that the same is true for her. Not sure what she turned into, but I’ve turned into a dwarf,” Cassie let out the last few words in a rush as if trying to get them out as quickly as possible.

“Meaning?” Wu Chenhua, immediately asked, knowing that a single word is hardly an explanation.

“Well, I got increased Vitality, Dexterity and a few beneficial perks, alongside a few detrimental ones. And, obviously, I have the physique of one, luckily I never was the tallest, so I didn’t change all that much, just about half a head shorter and a serious upgrade to my booty,” Cassie laughed, obviously trying to make light of it. Not that her deflection worked on the two experienced operators, both Wu Chanhua and Wong Chehai were easily able to see through it. But, both also realised that the deflection wasn’t malicious, so they let it stand. For now.

“And she turned tiny, got super fancy hair, smurfy skin and what else?” Mark laughed, making light of the changes, especially those the woman that scared and fascinated them to equal measure had undergone.

“She didn’t really change physically, not her physique at least. Maybe a little more muscle but that might just come from our circumstances. She’s always been petite,” Wu Chenhua told them, waving the idea away.

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? She won’t be able to pass her race on, at least not to others. What I’m more interested in is how she managed to get Chantalle, or whatever her name is, into the state she is in. And, even more importantly, how are we going to fix the problems she mentioned in regard to our night watch?” Wong Chehai asked, changing the topic away from things that are interesting but ultimately useless.

“I shall test the night watch, see how aware they actually are. Don’t warn them, if you do it’ll render my efforts wasted. We shall address the issue once we know more,” Wu Chenhua decided, ending the discussion on that topic and allowing the focus to go to Chantalle and her status.

Even by the time they reached Apple Gate Farm, their discussion was far from finished. Too many mysteries surrounded the woman known as Samantha, too many to make people comfortable. And yet, nobody dared to try wrestling those mysteries away from her.