And then Rick opened his eyes.
He was laying on the field, yet again, but this time it wasn't in the middle of an open field but in a forest. His body was still numb, he didn't feel his legs, result of the heavy running. He immediately felt a little pain in his left arm, it was a bite.
[Is this the bite I felt before I fainted? It can't be… It's almost healed… What happened?] Rick asked while touching the wound, to his surprise, it didn't hurt too much.
The situation was shocking for Rick as he thought he would just have died, but there he was, alive, or at least he thought. But to comfort him from those scary thoughts Rick, still laying there, was looking at the sky above him, one habit he had from his past life, which weirdly enough he was doing right now, perhaps instinctively. In his sight were the stars, the clouds, and some trees that were blocking his view, it was a pretty view, something he felt he had never seen before, it was a weird feeling to describe, but for that moment in time, he felt just like contemplating that view.
And then that thing appeared yet again, blocking the beautiful view of the stars with its transparent shape. And as it appeared everything around Rick began to slow down.
[So you finally woke up, huh? You really like to sleep, don't you?] Chumina, the little boy who had talked with Rick a while ago, appeared one more time in front of him.
[You again…]
[My name is Chumina, and you should make it a priority to memorize it, you will see me plenty of times if you are lucky that is…]
[Ok, Chumina, whatever… What's up? Why are you here now?]
[You haven't noticed the level up?]
[Level up? What level up?], It was only then that Rick noticed a small sign with a small "lvl up" icon that had appeared in the upper right part of his field of vision. [So you mean this?] Rick extended his arm and clicked the icon with the tip of his finger, a window appeared, as it had done previously when Rick interacted with these screens.
Congrats, Rick!
Although you didn't really do a whole lot in the battle against that Mauloo, your little contributions made you earn 22 experience points! Hurray! That's enough for you to…
+12 Exp. points
12/10
Level up!
RICK
Level 2
HP: 25>28
STR: 3>5
MGC: 0>3
DEF: 3>5
SPD: 2>3
LCK: 9>9
DEX: 7>7
STA: 4>5
CHA: 5>6
New ability:
Nope, you really think you would have gotten a new ability at level 2? And after getting to lvl 2 by doing almost nothing? Don't make me laugh.
[So I didn't get any new abilities? I guess I need to actually do stuff to get new abilities, right?] Rick gave Chumina a mean look, [Also, who is in charge of righting this whole level up stuff!? Is it you, Chumina?! Are you trying to mock me!]
[Who knows! I think they are quite funny!] Chumina said jokingly, [Also, just in case you haven't noticed, you already have quite a few abilities only available to you! Or do you think that mauloo you "fought" -if you can call that a fight- early, could see your stats?]
[I… Guess not…] Rick thought for a second, [And I guess that's an ability I had since arriving here, right… Since I was level 1?]
[Yes, those are some of your inherent abilities. Don't worry, when the time comes I will inform you if you get any new ones! But for now, I bid you farewell!]
And just as Chumina disappeared the time slow effect wore, everything returned to its normal pace.
A few seconds had passed after his wakening, his first instinct had been to look for any damage his body had taken, the second one was to calm his nerves by focusing on something, in this case, the beautiful sky in front of him, and after he had secured his health and controlled his nerves, he noticed the smell of something, a smell he had never smelled before.
[What is this smell?] Rick tried to stand up, it took a little bit of effort but after a couple of tries, he succeeded.
Just some steps away from him was the source of that strange smell, it was a huge piece of meat that was being roasted on a fire pit made of logs of wood. At first, the aroma had caught his sense of smell, Rick's stomach growled, but as he got closer the scent got more and more fetid.
"You have never roasted mauloo before?", A girl carrying some logs of wood appeared behind Rick, "You should not be so close to the meat, especially while it's roasting… Its odor is poisonous, it takes a while for the fire to kill the toxic stuff inside of it…"
[This girl… This is the girl I saw before I fainted! I thought it had been an angel from the afterlife or something], Rick couldn't believe his eyes, the girl really looked like an angel, she had beautiful pale skin and red hair, although her clothing choices were a bit questionable, at least for Rick's tastes.
"Umm… Is everything fine?" The girl asked, worried that the man in front of her had been gazing at her for what seemed like an eternity, "Don't tell me you will faint again? I used my healing magic, so you should be fine, right?"
Rick was a bit surprised he could understand what the girl was saying. Clearly, this wasn't his world, he didn't have memories from where he had lived before, but he just felt this wasn't it, and yet he was able to understand whatever tongue this girl was speaking.
"N-No! Everything is fine! Did you save me from that thing?"
"You could say I did… At first I came to your location because I saw a huge light appearing out of nowhere close to where you were, and when I got there I felt your presence, and saw you were being attacked by that mauloo using one of my vision spells. Though I was pretty far away I made it just in the nick of time to save you from being devoured by that mauloo! And I'm glad I did, it wouldn't have been a pleasant sight to behold!"
"Thank you so much!" Rick said as he grabbed her shoulders, causing the girl to blush and move aside fast. "My name is Rick… And you are…"
"M-My name is Shila," The girl said with a timid smile, "And you are welcome, it was nothing!"
"Nice to meet you, Shila!"
Both of them had thought that the other's name sounded strange, there was no sound for some seconds, the kind of awkward silence you would like to avoid in any first meeting, and Rick broke the ice.
"H-How can you say it was nothing! Of course it was not nothing! That beast was super strong, or at least it looked that way to me! So tell me, how did you kill it!?"
"I, well, ummm… I'm a mage, and I used my spells, of course! Or did you think I was one of those warriors that can kill beasts with their bare hands or proficiency with weapons?"
Rick looked at her, as Shila herself had pointed out, she didn't look physically strong, at least not enough to had pulled that deed with her strength alone. Rick also noticed that he was unable to see the same numbers he had seen above the critters he had seen before, she must be too strong, he thought, then he gazed at her again, "Now that you mention it… Nope, you look kinda weak!" He said without thinking.
"K-Kinda weak! I'll let you know I'm a mage in a pilgrimage to achieve Maratrustra!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I shouldn't be saying that my savior looks weak! But… Maratrustra… What's that? I have never heard of that word…"
Before Shila was able to reply she noticed something, an unknown presence. She swiftly took a stone out of her purse with one hand, while making a hand gesture with the other and yelled, "Whoever it is lurking in those bushes get out there now!"