Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Legend Acquired

Consciousness returned to me in hazy bursts of half-lucid thought. I could remember one of the knights asking if he could carry me, but not whether or not I replied. I must have given permission however, because the next time I woke I was in Thomas’s arms. 

At first I wondered why Dova wasn’t carrying me. Despite her petite appearance she’d been the first one to hold me in her arms. Perhaps it was simply because she functioned better as a scout than as a packmule. It was just more practical to have a meathead knight drag around the dead weight. 

“Looks like Rika is awake,” Elrich noted as I sleepily opened my eyes, gazing languidly at the forest passing by.  

“How are you feeling lass?” 

“Like shit,” I mumbled. “Feels like I lost a fist fight with a giant.”

“Feel free to rest as much as you need. I’ll carry you for as long as you desire.” 

“Thanks.” 

Closing my eyes I allowed my thoughts to swirl inattentively until I remembered the near-dozen messages i’d recieved after the Hunt Spirit died. Curious, I opened my status to check up on what had changed. 

Rikara Greystone
Spirit (Human-Bound) 
Level 5 

Strength: 2
Spirit: 17 (+8 Spirit, +6 Dark Mage)
Endurance: 4
Faith: 3
Luck: 6 (+4 Spirit)

Legend: Godslayer
• Overchannel [Minor]

Class: Dark Mage
• Weaken Vitality [Minor]
• Summon Abyssal Spirit (Imp) [Minor]
• Rot [Skilled]
• Speak With Dead [Minor]
• Dissolve Spell [Minor] 

Skills 
• Analyze [Minor]
• Transmute Blood to Mana [Minor]

Gazing over my status made one thing clear, this world and the game I came from weren’t exactly playing by the same rules. In the game, there was no such thing as a ‘legend’, nor did a skill to trade health for mana exist. There was a consumable item to sacrifice health for mana, but nothing as useful as an ever present skill. 

Curiously, the ability granted to me by my new legend, [Overchannel], was a key ability for the sorcerer class. Overchannel allowed sorcerers to supercharge their attacks, allowing them to dole out the highest damage of any class in the game. As a side effect they lost out on a lot of the most useful area-of-effect spells, but many players saw that as a sacrifice worth making. 

With [Overchannel], [Transmute Blood to Mana], and [Rot], I now had a ridiculously broken attack that’d probably strike down enemies twice my level easily. It would hurt, I never wanted to sacrifice my health for magic ever again, but it was possible. I finally had what I wanted most, an ace in my backpocket I could pull out when shit was hitting the fan. 

“Rika, are you okay?” Dova asked, falling into step beside Thomas. Her adorable lisp a bit worse than it was before the Hunt Spirit attacked. 

“I’m doing fine. I should be back on my feet soon.” 

“There is no need to rush your recovery,” Thomas chided me. “We are nearly out of the forest now. Two days from now you’ll be on a ship bound for Ostabrun.”

“Thought you and Elrich would be happy to have me back on my feet. So I can’t brainwash you.”

“Forgive me for my childishness, Lass. I know better than to doubt you now. You’ve been unconsious for a week, and yet Dova is still quite attached to you. That is more than proof enough that you did not ensnare her in a spell.” 

“A week?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been taking care of cleaning you myself.” Dova added, causing a wave of embarassment to cascade over me. Even if all her years combined made her older than I was, I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d allowed a younger woman to clean me, and it horrified me. 

“Sir, I’ve found a road!” Elrich called, drawing my attention away from the self-loathing that threatened to swallow me whole. 

“We must be getting close to Slofia. Dova, lass you should pull your hood up. As for you Rika, I only ask that you remain silent and allow us to handle things. No matter what, do not use your magic unless I tell you to, okay?” 

“Is magic illegal in Slofia?” 

“No,” Thomas’s expression hardened. “But if the Empire knows you can use magic, they’ll be on the lookout for a young redheaded witch. News of your escape should have already reached Slofia, we can only hope it hasn’t been disseminated among everyone.” 

Did the empire know I could use magic? There was so much I didn’t know, critically, I had no idea why my body’s original owner had been imprisoned. I fell into quiet contemplation as Elrich and Thomas stepped out onto the road, making their way toward the city. For her part, Dova seemed to vanish, presumably following us through the treeline. 

“Why is Dova not following us?” 

“The Felryin are treated poorly in the Empire. Their holy scripture states that it is humanity’s destiny to tame the wilds. The Imperials have taken this to mean that half-beasts like the Felryin are meant to be tamned to serve humanity.”

“That’s terrible… and what did your people believe about the Felryin before the Empire invaded?”

“We… were not kind to them, though we did not enslave them. I’d like to believe we were better because of that, but perhaps someday you’ll come to your own opinion. Were they treated differently in your kingdom, lass?” 

“I… cannot really say. I have no prejudice against Dova, or non-humans in general. But, I can’t recall what my people believed.” 

“Perhaps that is why the elves love you so,” Thomas’s gaze turned to the treeline. 

“Elves?” 

“I cannot say why, but since I was a lad I’ve been able to feel the presence of forest spirits. Since the day you exhausted your magic, I’ve felt the spirits watching you. I’ve worried they might even try to take you from us, but so far they’ve done nothing more than observe.” 

“Soon we’ll be at sea, and they won’t be able to do even that.” 

“Do not doubt the power of the spirits. If they want you, it will be hard for you to avoid them. For now we should consider their interest a blessing.” 

“I’ll try not to let it keep me up at night.” For me, the word ‘elf’ invoked images of the classic tolkin race prevelant in most high fantasy. They weren’t really spirits though, not in most fiction, so Thomas referring to them as such had me intrigued. What exactly was an elf in this world? I wanted to know, but not enough to derail our plans. 

“Bannermen!” Elrich shouted, stepping to the side of the road. Thomas followed his lead as several calverymen began to ride past the lead riders carrying black flags with a depiction of white and blue swords crossing one another. 

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“Halt!” a man in guilded armor shouted, causing a younger knight riding near him to blow a horn. Turning to Thomas and Elrich, the man removed his helmet, revealing tanned skin and thinning grey hairs. “You there, where did you find that woman?” 

Tobias, Human, Knight Level 25
Threat: Deadly

“She is my niece, I’ve been at her side since we left her mother’s home.” 

“Is that so?” Tobias’s lip curled into a terrifying grin. “Spare the girl, kill the men.”

The men under Tobias remained motionless for only a second before they brought their weapons to bear. With a half-muttered apology Thomas tossed me to the ground and drew his sword, Elrich mimicing the act. Still, despite their power, I knew my knight companions were destined to die here. They were up against a force of twenty, and though their oponents had a wide range of levels, they were close enough to make it no contest.

Without waiting for the calverymen to move, Thomas charged his sword with martial power and swung. His blade slicing the tip off the knight’s spear, and half-decapitating his horse. From there a melee broke out and I quickly lost sight of both Thomas and Elrich. 

From the trees a small dagger flew, imbedding itself in the neck of a knight.As a shout rang out among the calverymen a second dagger likewise found its mark. Dova was making her move, and I’d done nothing.

Biting my lower lip, I activated [overchannel] feeling my body heat up as I did so, then I activated [Rot], targeting one of the younger knights. The two abilities, combined with my ridiculously high spirit attribute caused the knight’s body to rot away into a skeleton right before my eyes. 

[Human Knight Level 9 Defeated, +150xp]

“The girl’s a witch!” 

“Kill her!” 

“Shit,” I stumbled backward as I attempted to activated another overchanneled [rot]. I hit one of the senior knight’s causing his flesh to bubble and fester. Sadly he didn’t die. A spear came for my side as a sword swung for my throat. I didn’t have the martial talents to dodge, bringing me face to face with certain death.

A flying dagger deflected the spear, right as a shadow momentarily blocked out the sun. Dova’s heel struck the sword-wielding knight’s helmet causing him to yelp in pain and nearly fall from his horse. With her other foot, Dova kicked the knight from the saddle before backflipping to the ground in front of me. 

“Rika’s with me, retreat!” Dova shouted, lifting me into her arms. Before our enemies could react she broke out in a wild sprint, zig zagging through the trees to outmaneuver their horses.

Dova ran until it felt as if hours had passed since I’d heard the last hoofbeat. Stumbling to a stop she laid me down next to a small brook, and then collapsed at the water’s edge, desperately scooping water into her mouth with her hands. 

“Thanks, for saving me.” 

“Now we’re even,” Dova choked out. 

“Didn’t know you were the kind of girl who needed to return every good deed in kind.” I crouched down beside Dova, placing my hand on her back. Her shirt dampening my fingers with sweat. “You’ll catch a cold if you don’t change.” 

Gazing at me incredulously, Dova grinned. “Is the male part of your brain aching, to see a naked cat?”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help you! My thoughts are as pure as a priest’s!” 

“I’m just kidding,” Dova replied, slowly peeling away her clothes. “You’re my friend, I don’t care if you see me naked.” 

 I smiled sardonically, turning my gaze as the sound of Dova’s clothing falling to the ground echoed in my ears. The fabric was heavy, but not heavy enough it should’ve made such a memorable sound. Perhaps I really was just aching to see a naked catgirl, not that I’d admit to such a thing. 

Laying her chin on my shoulder, Dova wrapped her arms around me. The warmth of her chasing away any hint of cold I’d felt. “You know, I have some spare clothes in my bag, I don’t have to, stay naked. So you should, look while I’m giving you the chance.” 

“Dova… Not that I don’t want to, because, honestly I do. But, is now really the best time? We don’t even know if Elrich or Thomas are still alive, and how are we going to get to Ostabrun now? Plus though knights didn’t look like the type to give up so easily.” 

“You don’t get it,” Dova whined. “You’re more important than a pair of NPCs! You’re real Rika! You’re really real, and you’re mine! I can protect you, you just need to love me!” 

“Listen Dova, it’s been a stressful day. People do things they don’t mean when they’re at their wits end. Let’s camp tonight, take it easy, and when you wake up tomorrow feeling well rested if you still want to pursue something with me, we’ll talk about it, okay?” 

“I unlocked [Love’s Fetter]!” 

“Eh?” Turning in Dova’s grasp I saw her face, bright red from embarassment. [Love’s Fetter] wasn’t a class ability, rather it was an item ability which granted two players who were wed inside the game, the ability to take damage in each other’s place. It was extremely broken, though given how the wedding ring item needed was locked behind one of the most hellish dungeons ever created, the game made you work for it. 

Dova was trying to entice me so that she could use [Love’s Fetter] to take damage in my place. She was willingly offering up her own life, as if it had less value than mine. She was already putting herself in danger just staying with me. She didn’t need to be here at all, there were no dark lords, nothing threatening to end the world. If anything, the end of this world was to come at my hands, without me it would theoretically continue on forever. Dova could have a full happy life, and yet, here she was, surrendering it to me. 

“I’m still coming to terms with a lot of things,” I said, speaking slowly as my mind raced to put words to feelings. “But I value you a lot, Dova. Enough that I don’t want you sacrificing your health for mine. I hate to say an ability you fought hard to obtain is worthless, but I have my own methods of keeping myself alive. I can promise you now, I’m not letting this second life of mine end as quickly as the first.” 

“Were you really a boy on Earth?” 

“Am I not acting masculine enough for you? Come on, get dressed before you steal what little willpower I have. I’ve been a girl for what… two weeks now? And I was unconcious for half that. Let me savor my newfound maidenhood before you go ravaging it.”

Pulling a spare set of clothes from her bag, Dova began to dress as a light breeze began to blow through the trees. “Did you hear that?” I asked, turning my ear to the wind.”

“Hear what?” 

“Laughter.”

“I can’t hear it.” 

Clutching my hands into fists I looked out through the forest, as Thomas’s words echoed through my mind. He said the elves had taken interest in me, and I had a hunch they were about to do something about it.