When Sylas Peters was 15 he became a consumer of the macabre. Many men he wanted dead happened to date or be married to his favorite people of all time. On top of that, his embarrassing display of weakness in front of May, a stranger, made him too ashamed to talk to anyone about his problems. He felt the stares of people as he walked through school the following day. That might have been a delusion. However, the look of pity in May's eyes when she looked at him wasn't. At the time he felt as though that was his punishment for being weak in the moment and crying in front of her. To be looked at like a dying dog.
He decided to steel himself for the rest of his life. To avoid ever being weak he turned to mostly online relationships and friendships. He always kept his relationships separate from his friendships. To ensure that no one would hurt him again, he always kept a distance between people. He played horror games mostly around this time. He distanced himself so much that when his e-girlfriend April got into a car accident and she described the harrowing tale of almost dying, he was thinking about strategies to beat a boss.
Had he done her wrong? He thought of it later.
Now, once day had arrived for the world of Dracaelfia, the miner and Sylas took in the new light. Sylas was gently brought to the ground. It was warmer. The first thing Sylas noticed was the pitch black rocks that rested on the path in front of them. She stretched her legs, then began running over to the rocks. She had been curious about them, but with the amazing display of transitioning between night and day, she felt like these rocks might be of equal amazement. The miner yelled out as she started running. The thought of punishment crossed her mind, her calves throbbed, she chose to keep going. She heard the heavy footsteps of the miner behind her. She was faster than him. By the time he would reach her she would have already seen the black rocks up close.
They were humans. Charred humans in fetal positions holding onto a sword. Both charred bodies had no clothes or hair. Coal, she thought. They looked like at some point they had melted together, evidenced by their chests literally fusing together to make a sheath for the sword that was not charred. It had a blue grip, a brown crossguard, the blade itself was a shining gray. It seemed to beckon Sylas to release it from the grasp of the deceased. She reached her hand towards the grip. Sparks of lightning appeared between her hand and the grip. She felt a blistering freeze in her palms as her fingertips touched the sword. Still she continued as she heard the bubbling of boiling water. Upon fully grabbing the sword, an image flashed in her mind.
SMACK!
The miner had slapped the sword away from Sylas's hand. He grabbed her hand then dragged her away from the charred humans. Sylas was out of it. She stared at the ground in a daze. "What was that? That's not real." Sweat built up on her forehead and her hands. Her breathing became heavy as she heard the miner's rhyming gargled noises and felt the press of the miner's hands on her shoulders. The miner shook her. Snapping out of it, Sylas grabbed her chest. She took deep breaths as the miner scolded her.
"I'm sorry. I won't do that again." She whispered as she nodded.
The miner grunted, then let go. She looked at him. He was still covered in dirt, but under the sunlight she could notice his slim face. His beard made it even harder to see. He handed her another slab of meat. She hesitated, then took it, eating it in one gulp. The man began walking again. He headed towards the forest that Sylas had seen earlier. Sylas followed behind him.
As they walked Sylas pondered on her plans. Through much deliberation, self doubt, delusion, and logical conclusions Sylas came up with this. First, she was going to follow the man. By the way he has been acting she deduced that he wouldn't hurt her. She was a woman now, and probably will be treated lesser in this world than her previous life. She assumed that was the type of world she had been reincarnated into. Second, she would have to level up at some point. Quests for now seem to be out of the question. Sacrifices are the only thing she can really do. She assumed she would just have to kill something to gain EXP like in video games. However that would mean that she would have to go the genocide route just to amass power. She would much rather go the pacifist route.
Who knows what the death of one person will bring her? She doesn't know how the justice system works in this world, or if there even is a court system. She doesn't even know what country she's in. There must be an established language if there is a translation, plus the miner had advanced tools and metal. Where would that land them comparative to Earth's history? Not to mention the sword from earlier. She had already forgotten the image that appeared in her mind. Perhaps killing forest animals and bugs will net her some EXP. She would have to experiment whenever they got their first break from walking in the densely populated forest.
Third, she needed to learn how to fight. She's going to be hunted down by heroes and eventually ruin the world. She thought about the possibility of Mark being reincarnated instead of herself. With the knowledge of karate would he fare much better than him? Assuming her body was similar to that of a human body, she decided to also add in workouts for her to do whenever she could. She might as well be prepared from an early age. Will she have enough protein?
After finishing her plans for now, she smiled, "Okay. In this life I'm going to be a real winner. Those Rune-Marked women in my dreams are gonna swallow their words when they see me. I'll get rich. I'll have real friends. I won't die to some hero, I'll beat them all. I'll get a girlfriend along the way. Then lose my-" She frowned. "Do I have to have some guy be inside me in this life? System!"
[Yes.]
"Would it be g-"
[No.]
"I didn't even finish asking my question."
[You already knew the answer.]
"But it's weird isn't it. I was a man in my previous life. Now I have to be on the receiving end. The thought scares me."
[It is your body now.]
[Besides, you were never on the end that gave.]
"Why am I getting flamed?"
The miner stopped at a clearing in the forest. Sylas was out of breath, her legs were completely ready to collapse. The forest was bursting with life, small critters that resemble squirrels and birds rested on the low branches of the oak-ish trees around them. That was the best way Sylas could describe them. They all had roots that were bursting out of the ground as though reaching for the sun above. Meanwhile their branches pointed down, while the green leaves were swimming up and away. A light breeze ran through the forest. In the clearing was a moss covered stump. The miner sat on it.
The stump sat along the edges of the clearing. Sylas followed, then collapsed on the ground next to him. She sat up and looked up at the miner as she caught her breath. He was leaning against his right hand as his elbow rested on his right thigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, with his other hand, as heavy puffs of air came out of nostrils. His left leg tapped the ground quickly. After a few minutes of doing this, he sprung up and pointed at the bushes in front of them. Sylas followed his finger and got up.
She walked to the bushes and saw the dense green leaves of the bush. "I wonder why he was stressing out about showing me a bush?" She said as she felt herself get lifted in the air. He adjusted her cape to cover her head. He then walked through the bush. The rustling of leaves and the attempted removal of the cape by Sylas warranted a disapproving grunt from the miner. He pulled the cape to cover her face slightly too. He then cradled her like a baby in one arm.
From the distance Sylas saw a small wooden house, to the right of it was a shed and what seemed to be an outback toilet. "Oh no we don't have proper plumbing in this world do we?" Sylas said as she looked to the left of the house, a farm, and barn. In front of the house was a brown horse. "He owns all of this land?" The farmhouse was a nice open green field. From where Sylas was she couldn't even make out if there was a handle on the front door. Out of the front door, which bursted open, came screams and delighted giggles. Two tanned small boys started running out, the biggest of the smaller boys was jumping for joy.
"Oh, he's a father. And… he's bringing back a little girl to his wife." She paused. She watched as a dark-skinned lady came out of the house. She waved and called out to the miner with a soft rhyming gargle, but the waving stopped as the miner got closer. "Oh."