"System. What the fuck did you just say?"
[It's in your head. You know.]
"I know. Let me- okay. Whatever." Sylas sat on the horse, her undergarments brushed against the glistening hair of the horse as she swayed her body. Her eyes were glowing.
"System. How much EXP do I need to level up?"
[Approximately 97]
Sylas cocked her head, "You actually answered me?"
[You never asked me about it.]
"Yes I did. I asked how do I get E.X.P!"
[Yes, that is true.]
Sylas smacked herself in the face. "I never asked about the specifics of the leveling system. How did I miss that?"
[Would you like to know how leveling works? E.X.P and etc.]
"Yes."
[Loading Guide…]
Guy walked out of the barn with a softer look on his face. He pulled an apple out of his pocket and fed it to the horse. He petted the horse, and brushed its hair with a brush that he got out of his pocket. He did it with a smile, as though the horse was a beautiful diamond that he was cleaning up and shining. When he got to Sylas, he frowned. He patted the horse on the butt.
NEIGH!
Afterwards he got on the horse. Grabbed the reins, then kicked the horse. He grunted. The horse started galloping away from the farm. Sylas held onto Guy. His body felt cold. As they traveled to wherever they were headed to, Sylas was bombarded with information.
[Balance]
["There is no great gain without first a great loss. Look towards Odysseus he lost everything, and we gained a great book based off of his experience." - Trevor Jordan a hero from a world parallel to Dracaelfia]
"Makes sense that there will be other worlds."
[Now onto how experience or EXP or E.X.P works.]
[The greater you suffer in Quests or performing Sacrifices the more EXP you will gain.]
[Many Quests will not give you EXP. They will give you {REDACTED}]
"How did I hear that redaction?"
[Sacrifices are the number 1 recommended tip for leveling. Approved by 9/10 heroes in parallel worlds.]
"What about the other 1/10?"
[They never made it past level 0. If they did, they managed it purely through rare quests alone.]
"System, so when you say I have to suffer to get more EXP, does that mean the creature or person I'm fighting has to be a difficult battle?"
[Not necessarily.]
"What do you mean?"
[You know.]
Sylas unwrapped one of her arms and placed her hand to her chin. She closed her eyes and thought, "Moodin was already dying, the battle itself wasn't difficult as I had to just stab it in its head. I didn't want to kill it, but he's just a cow. I'm sure the family can get more. Then again the dragonborn collected their money, I wonder if they have any left. Anyway, I shouldn't think about that too much. It'll just make me more upset. I gained 3 EXP because it was hard emotionally. As a man I should be stronger than that." Sylas opened her eyes. She wrapped her arm around Guy again.
She looked around her surroundings. They were riding through the forest. She smiled as she saw all the critters and local flora. Her long ears perked up at the sound of the chattering and scampering of the animals. The lush green of the forest with a hint of frost building up on the leaves. She hadn't visited the forest at all over the past 2 months. She had gotten so comfortable within the family's farm that the thought to explore the area around her never occurred. They gave her food, water, shelter, and a job to do. They treated her right, she thought, she never got hurt. She heard a whistle and looked in its direction.
SCHLINK!
Sylas crashed into a tree to the left of the horse. As she watched herself getting farther away from Guy, her grip on him loosened. She yanked him back accidentally as the force proved much greater than her hold on Guy. The horse tried to slow down. However, Guy pulled the reins to the side suddenly, most likely due to his surprise. He wasn't sure.
Sylas felt splinters puncture through the back of her dress. She felt a sharp warm pain in her right shoulder. Her heart was racing as the horse began freaking out. Guy could not calm her down, neither could he get off. He wrestled to stay on the horse as manic screeches echoed throughout the forest. The critters went silent. She could only hear her heavy breathing. Her eyes darted towards the source of her pain.
She had been impaled by a sword. It had a blue grip, a brown crossguard, the blade itself was a shining gray. "I've seen this before." She muttered. Her blood dripped onto the tip of the blade. Heavy footsteps approached her. She looked up. A pale hand grabbed the handle of the sword.
The hand belonged to a pale man with red eyes. His face had murky green paint covering it. His hair was slicked back, but he was balding. Sylas could count the individual hair strands. Despite that his face was slim like Guy's, but had a child-like grin like Mario and Luigi.
He said something, but the message was lost. He pulled the sword out of Sylas. "YEOWCH!" Sylas yelled as she fell to the ground. Blood gushed out of her wound. She held her shoulder. Her breath staggered as the man started laughing hysterically. She looked up. He stuck his tongue out and wagged it. Behind her was the trunk of the oak tree. By her sides, the roots of the trees which almost like a mother's embrace, kept her surrounded. In front of her was the man who had just licked Sylas's blood off of his blade.
"I make the absolute worst decisions. I should have picked up that damn sword. Now it's in his hands instead of mine. Is this my punishment? Am I going to be killed by this guy? What of Guy?" Sylas thought.
Guy had calmed down the horse and jumped off of it. He rushed up to the man as he reveled in the taste of Sylas's blood. Guy had taken out the knife that he gave Sylas earlier. The man had screamed something while squirming in place. The message was lost to Sylas, but Guy stopped for a moment. He looked at Sylas, his eyes slowly widening. The man swung at Guy.
Guy raised his arms and stepped back. He used the knife to block the blade. He was launched back.
CRASH!
Branches snapped as Guy's body suddenly was launched upwards after stepping back. He fell, breaking more branches. "No way." Half of Guy's knife landed on the ground by the man's foot. Drops of blood ran from the spot Guy was launched from, all the way up to the base of the tree his body laid at. "There's no way." Sylas bit her lower lip. Her snaggletooth pierced into it.
"I really am going to die. Something is wrong with that sword." Sylas trembled. "I don't know what that sword does. I should run away." Her calves throbbed. "Where would I run away to? Back to the family's home? Leave Guy left to die? What will the boys say or his wife? Besides, this guy would still be out and about. He could come across our home and kill us all. Can I run with Guy? Maybe take the horse. I can't carry him. Especially in front of this guy. He can toss the sword pretty hard. I-" Sylas deduced she could not escape.
The man laughed again as he swung his sword back. He grabbed it with both hands.
"I am inadequate?"
The man's eyes sharpened as he swung his sword at Sylas.
She took a deep breath and smirked. "That's how losers think!"
She squatted down as the blade almost beheaded her. The man stumbled, too much force. She rolled underneath him, and grabbed the broken off half of the knife. By the time the man had recovered from his own swing, Sylas already began sprinting around him. The man couldn't keep up with her speed by sight alone. He heard the rustling of the leaves, and breaking of sticks as she stepped on them and pushed past bushes scattered around the area.
Sylas, with her heightened senses, listened for the man's heavy footsteps. She ran with the broken half of the knife in her non-injured arm. She let her injured arm flow with the wind as she repeated to herself.
"Ignore the pain. Ignore the pain. Sylas, man up and ignore the pain!"
She heard a heavy footstep from the man. She ran out of a bush, past the horse, and in view of him. She threw the broken half of the knife as hard as she could at the man. Aiming towards his forehead. However, a sharp pain radiated throughout her body. The broken half of the knife only managed to cut a bit of his hand and stick itself in his cheek.
The man let go of his sword as he grabbed his face. Sylas watched the sword fall. She dashed for it. "Grab it. Grab it. Grab it!" The shining gray of the blade reflected off her eyes. Sparks of lightning zipped between her and the handle. The man yelped, Guy was awoken by it. The man continued to backpedal away from his sword as he ripped the knife out of his face. Blood rushed out of his face. The man continued to scream.
Sylas grabbed the handle. She continued to run as she felt a blistering freeze in the palm of her hand. She did not run a few paces before finding herself in a void.
There were no trees anywhere. The man, Guy, and the horse had disappeared.
A woman stood before her. She floated slightly above the ground. The ground itself seemed to be made out of transparent glass. Sylas could not move, but she felt her grip on the sword was getting weaker. Pink bubbles collected around the two of them. It was like a soapy bathtub.
The woman had silver gray long hair, and she had leathery wings that were covered in scales that shared the same texture as Sylas's scales on her joints. Sylas could not look at her eyes. She felt as though something commanded her to not look. She wore a black long dress. Her large breasts protruded out alongside her wide hips.
"Ah." The woman said. "I finally found you."