"Sampson! Funny seeing you here!" I say as I walk up to the wooden gate. The town is surrounded by a short wooden palisade with four gates, one in each cardinal direction.
"I'm on guard duty today, you know that, Nick." He says as he covers his face with his hand.
"Don't do that, people will think you're embarrassed to know me."
"I am." He sighs.
"Real funny. Anyway, this is Josh." I slide to the left which exposes the stout boy behind me.
"Ah, the mason's kid. How ya doing?"
"Okay." Josh says as he looks down at the ground.
"He says 'okay' a lot." I reply in his defense. Sampson looks a little put off but maintains his composure nonetheless.
"Right, well, I apologize in advance if my friend here causes you any trouble." He says as he glaces my direction. I throw my hands up in the air and put on the most innocent face I can muster, which isn't very convincing based on Sampson's reaction.
"Okay." Josh says.
"He does say 'okay' a lot, doesn't he?"
"What'd I tell you? Anyway, we're going to go for a run."
"You're really committed to that, aren't ya? What goods it gonna do you in a fight against a monster?" Sampson says as he shakes his head.
"I'd like to be able to escape from a monster that's too strong for me to beat."
"I see what you mean but I don't know how much running a few laps will help. You're better off raising your stats by fighting some weak monsters at the treeline." Sampson says as he motions toward the Argon Forest looming high in the distance.
"From what I've read, it's easier to raise your stats by exercising when you're just starting out than when you get stronger."
Sampson shrugs, clearly unimpressed by my theory.
"I guess you kids have plenty of time on your hands so it can't hurt."
"I'm glad we're on the same page." I say in an attempt to wrap up the conversation.
"Careful out there," Sampson says as we begin our first lap, "there's been some weird movement in the forest ever since that Elemental showed up."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!" I shout over my shoulder.
The wind blowing through my hair brings me back to the moment. After running some laps around the town the last few days I can already feel my body getting stronger, or rather Nick's body. My body? I feel kind of bad since I basically usurped control of this kids body from him but he doesn't seem too upset about it.
I know you didn't do it on purpose. And I've been having fun since you showed up instead of just staying inside reading or watching over the library.
I wasn't speaking to the kid but he can hear my thoughts same as i can hear his so it's not like I can keep any secrets.
I concentrate on the my breathing and the uneven ground. Even after half a lap I'm still not breathing too hard. Just a few days ago I could barely make it this far without passing out and now I'm doing it no problem. This system really is something. It's like super steroids or something; just thinking about how strong I can get starts making me excited and I pick up the pace, but the sound of ragged breathing brings me back to a trot.
Right, I can't forget about Josh. The whole reason I brought him with me is because he said he wanted to get stronger.
I slow my speed until I'm next to him.
"How you holding up there, Josh?"
"Okay." He gasps.
"Yeah, I should've figured. I'm going to finish the first lap real quick and do some stretches. Just take your time and go at your own pace. The only thing that matters is that you finish." I wait for him to respond but he's apparently too tired to even say his signature phrase.
I lean forward and open up my stride. The sound of the wind blows loudly in my ear. I take a deep breath of the cool fall air. It's gorgeous outside. why did I never notice it in my old world? I went past parks and hiked some trails through the woods but I never felt anything like this. I even went running around my neighborhood but it always felt like such a bother. Maybe it was something else.
You really like this world don't you?
"Yeah, that's it. I just like this world more than the last one."
The North gate where we started is coming into view which makes for a nice change of topic.
What topic?
I see Sampson's blond curly hair and wave to him. He's waving back with both arms so I do the same. I chuckle at the impromptu bit he started until I notice him shouting something.
"What?!" I cry.
"There's a monster! Get back in the gate!"
A pulse of adrenaline rises up my chest and I turn to see a dust cloud charging this way from the forest.
"Josh!" I whip my head around and see the brown-haired boy staggering forward only three or four meters behind me. He must have given everything he had to try and keep up with me. I stop and run back to him. "Josh, we've got to run! There's a monster coming right at us."
"No, leave me. Go." He stammers out between gasping breaths.
"Not one of the options." I grab Josh by the hand and pull. We're too far from the West gate so our only choice is to beat the monster to the North gate. Josh drags harder behind me as he reaches his limit. "What was that Bullshit about getting stronger? Are you just giving up?"
'Bleugh!'
I keep running even as vomit pours down Josh's chest.
"I bet that made you feel better. We're almost there!" Wordlessly Josh keeps running. I know his life is in danger but not everyone has the gumption to keep going when pushed to their limit like this.
We turn and dive into town just as the guards start pushing the gate closed behind us.
"We made it!"
'Bleeuugh!'
Josh responds with another round of puke so I lightly pat him on the back.
"RRAAWWEERRR!"
A vicious head pokes out from a gap between the two doors of the wooden gate only a couple feet from us. It looks like they didn't manage to completely shut the gate before the monster got here.
"Close the gate!"
"Push!"
Chaos ensues as the guards press the gap together but despite the weight of several people pushing against it, the monster appears to be widening the gap.
I get a good look at it as it roars in anger. The beast is almost five feet tall despite standing on all fours. Its huge upper body bulges with muscle as it claws at the dirt to drag itself forward. A forest of fangs fills the monstrous mouth of the beast. Just looking at it fills me with a sense of dread, as if it might eat everything around it.
A griffith.
The kid says exactly what I was thinking. Truly a horrifying monster. As if to mock my fear, a intricate magic circle begins to form in front of the Griffith's mouth.
"Everyone run! It's going to use its fire breath!" One of the guards shouts.
'Covering and area of up to fifty square meters, the Griffith's fire can...'
A line from a book I read about monsters pops up in my head. Panic. Fear. The impending sense of doom reaches down into my bones. All I want to do is lash out, to push myself away from the the incarnation of death before me. My hand bumps into something hard as I scramble backwards. A spear. Heat burns my face as the magic circle in front of the Griffith's mouth fills with mana. I do the only thing I can do, I grab the spear and shove it down the monsters throat while screaming my guts out.
The weapon moves through the intangible magic circle and slides down Griffith's throat until it strikes something hard. I don't even have time to think about what I hit as I'm thrown backwards through the air.
'BANG!'