Kate felt like a mouse frozen by terror. She huddled in a ball, eyes wide, listening as the rustling grew closer. If I don't move, it won't see me. The childish thought flickered through her mind, and she dismissed it with a wince. What if it was her Guardian? She had to know if it was a threat or not so she knew how to respond.
It took all her willpower, but slowly, knees creaking in protest as if her body was unwilling to obey, she rose up to see over the grass.
Something dark and low to the ground was creeping its way towards her, and her muscles locked up in fear.
As she focused on the thing, words snapped into place just above it. She no longer wanted to see the creature, because the words were enough. Prairie Wolf – Lvl 5
And I'm willing to bet, she thought dazedly, that I am what counts as level 1.
The wolf raised its head over the grass, sensing her stare, and its lips peeled back from vicious looking teeth. It straightened up from its crouched position, and Kate thought for a moment she might pee herself a little. At full height the dark wolf's head almost reached her chest. And it was twenty feet away from her at most.
She stood frozen for another instant, locked in place by fear, but then the wolf let out a low growl that triggered her survival instincts. Spinning, she bolted like a rabbit for the treeline.
Behind her the wolf howled, and from frighteningly close by came a pair of answering howls, lending her a frantic burst of speed. A second later she heard the sound of the wolf crashing through the grass hot on her heels.
She had never run so fast in her life. She felt practically blinded in her panic. Her body seemed to be acting on its own, hurtling her towards the uncertain safety of the trees.
Trees!
She had to climb one-- had to get out of reach.
Even as she burst past the shadowed treeline, her eyes began darting around for a tree that suited her purposes. By some miracle there was one not five feet in, its branches just low enough. She hadn't climbed a tree since childhood, but she didn't hesitate, jumping up as high as she could and seizing the lowest branch. As a teenager with petite cousins all barely over five feet, she'd once lamented her own height: just shy of 5'10”. But those extra inches saved her now. She never would've been able to reach the branch otherwise. And while her arms felt even more like pathetic noodles than usual, fear gave her almost berserker strength as she heaved her dead weight up, kicking up with her legs to hook one ankle over the branch.
She barely made it. The wolf lunged at her a heartbeat later, and she screamed as its teeth raked against the leg still dangling down. She snatched it up, almost losing her balance, but got herself safely just out of reach. Hugging the tree and shaking like a leaf, she chanced a look down. Three Prairie Wolves were just underneath her, snarling and circling. One of them gave an incredible leap, and she screamed again, pressing herself against the tree as its snapping jaws just missed her. The branch wobbled threateningly under her weight.
She had to get higher.
Forcing herself to turn her head away, she reached up for the next branch and began climbing as fast as she could. She scraped her knees, elbows, and knuckles raw against the rough bark, but was only dimly aware of the pain. Her hair tangled in some of the smaller branches and she lost several dark strands yanking it loose.
She climbed until she reached up and seized a branch that snapped under her weight. She could go no further; the branches were too close together and thin to support her. Cowering on her branch, she wrapped her arms around the trunk and caught her breath, chancing a quick peek down. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights, she thought, an insane little giggle threatening to bubble free.
She was far out of reach now. The three wolves circled the tree, leaping up every now and then, but she was impossible to get to. She watched their futile attempts for several minutes as the panic slowly seeped out of her and her heart rate became something closer to normal. The loss of adrenaline made her limbs feel week and she dug her fingers into the bark, afraid of losing her grip. She scowled down at the wolves, feeling anger stir.
“Eat shit, dogbreath!” she shouted.
That only seemed to rile them up more, and they leapt at the tree in a frenzy. But even at the apex of their jumps there was a good ten feet between her branch and their bared teeth. Sticking her tongue out at them in one final show of defiance, she turned her head away so she wouldn't have to look at them anymore, forcing herself to take slow deep breaths instead of frightened gasps. Surely they'd give up eventually. She just had to wait them out.
She settled herself a bit more comfortably and winced. Her many scrapes and bruises were beginning to ache, and she was too afraid to even look at the leg the wolf had gotten to. It hurt the most, but she had no way to tend to it and was afraid to move too much to inspect the damage. She would just have to wait until the wolves got bored and left and then pray her Guardian would be able to find her.
Wait, aren't I supposed to be a support here? That window mentioned a class. Can I literally cast healing magic?
She wasn't even sure how to go about that. Staring at her hand where it was clutching the trunk, she focused on the scrapes on her knuckles, willing them to heal.
Nothing happened, of course. If anything, paying so much attention to them just made them seem to hurt more.
She sighed, adjusting her grip. Think, Kate. Pretend this is a game. That window said something about using a system I would be familiar with. The window itself is like something you'd see in a game, like a message system or a menu.
“Um... window? Menu? Information?” No window helpfully appeared. “Hello? Shiny board? Uhh, Guardian? Screen? Hero? C'mon, help me out here.”
The window popped up so suddenly in front of her face she almost lurched back out of her perch and had to scramble for a better grip.
Now this looked familiar. It looked like a character sheet straight out of an RPG, except it was all about her, complete with a picture of her dressed in her nightshirt. She looked bedraggled and pathetic, about as threatening-looking as a stick, her mousy dark brown hair in bad need of a brush. To the right of the picture was basic information.
KATE – LVL 1
(Support Hero #21)
XP: 0/100
Origin: Earth
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Main Class: Support
Secondary Class: ??
HP: 60/90
MP: 20/20
S: 2
W: 12
Dex: 3
D: 2
C: 5
I: 10
Ch: 6
She stared, uncomprehending. “Great. I have shit health. Sounds about right for a support.” And she'd already lost a chunk of it. But what were the other letters? The numbers were dismal. It was the “W” that finally cleared it up. “Willpower. It's my highest stat, and isn't that what most magic users need? That must mean S is strength, and that's why it's so low. Dex must be dexterity and... I is intelligence. But why is there a C and a Ch? And this other D?” She mulled it over, then gave up with a sigh. Did it really matter right now? She felt weak and light-headed from the earlier adrenaline rush. Ignoring the odd letters, she continued reading.
Skills:
Natural Regeneration I [locked]
Spells:
none – error – must select secondary class
No spells until she selected a secondary class? What a rip-off! But how was she supposed to choose a class? She looked thoughtfully at her skill. Natural regen? Did that mean she'd just heal automatically? Her breath caught as a second smaller window suddenly popped up. Had she done that by focusing on the skill?
Natural Regeneration I
Outside of combat, you will naturally heal 1 HP & 1 MP every ten seconds.
(This skill can be leveled up)
[locked]
“Outside of combat,” she muttered, glancing unwillingly down at the snarling wolves. That probably meant she had to wait for them to leave. And at 1 HP every ten seconds, already down 30 hp, that would take... five minutes. That wasn't too bad. If only the damned wolves would lose interest and leave her alone. Though that “locked” notice made her nervous.
The additional window faded once she stopped focusing on it, and she read the last bits of the hero screen.
Special Achievements:
none
Reputation:
none
“Close hero window,” she said, and it actually worked; the window vanished into thin air. She frowned. Aside from finding out she would be able to heal over time once the wolves were gone, she'd gotten no other valuable information. Her stats were garbage and she had no XP or spells. And no Guardian. And no stupid Beginner's Bag. She let her forehead thump against the tree trunk with a despairing sigh. “This can't be happening,” she muttered. Why the hell had she clicked that stupid button? “I feel the urge to sue somebody.”
But for now all she could do was wait out the wolves.
And so she waited, grimly clinging to the tree and refusing to even look down at the wolves as they circled and snarled and leapt with seemingly endless energy.
Despite her precarious predicament, eventually she felt like she was going to doze off. Was it her imagination, or was the light growing dimmer? It was harder to tell in the woods; the foliage blocked much of the sunlight. But she felt like she'd been squatting in this tree at least an hour. How had the wolves not given up yet?
As time crept onward and the light grew gloomier, she shifted impatiently. She was starting to get uneasy again. How long could she maintain her grip on the tree? What if she nodded off and fell? Was it worth the risk to call for help? What if she just brought more wolves running?
If only she could pick her class. Supports usually had at least some defensive or even weak offensive spells to protect themselves. Or could this be like those games where the only offensive capabilities she'd have as a support would be a weapon? In which case she was screwed. She didn't think she could snap off a branch and bludgeon three giant wolves to death before they dragged her down. Especially with such a pathetic strength stat and the large gap in levels.
“Choose class. Class selection. Class.”
But the only thing to pop up was a small error window.
Error
Must be in a safe area.
Error
Guardian must initiate Class selection process.
“Well where the hell is my Guardian?” she shouted, temper fraying. “And how far am I from a safe area?” Knowing her luck, there was a safe spot twenty feet away hidden behind a tree or something and she had no way to get to it.
There was a long pause, then another window popped up almost reluctantly.
Error
Warning
Distance from safe area far outside normal parameters for Initiate Heroes.
Initiate heroes? Did that mean beginners were supposed to appear right next to or in a safe area? Then what the hell was she doing in the middle of nowhere surrounded by Prairie Wolves four levels over her? Anger and fear in equal measure warred inside her. She banged her head against the trunk and immediately regretted it. Hissing at the pain, she fought the urge to cry. Something had gotten messed up in her abduction and now she was going to die out here, powerless, probably miles away from help.
Stand by
Contacting Guardian assigned to Support Hero #21
Searching.....
She stared at the message, daring to hope. Was the system trying to help? Could it get her Guardian to her? Just the name itself sounded promising. Was she going to be assigned some NPC Paladin or something that would escort her? That would solve all her immediate problems, even if she thought she might thump them upside the head for putting her through all of this. Where were they, anyway? Sleeping in?
Searching.....
Maybe she should risk shouting for help after all. She hadn't seen any signs of civilization, but maybe there were hunters about that would come to her aid. She opened her mouth to yell, but just then the window's message changed.
Guardian contacted
Please stand by
The letters appeared choppily, almost huffily. Was the system or whatever it was as irritated with her absent Guardian as she was?
Hand-off to designated Guardian successful
Good luck, Hero!
The window snapped off, leaving her blinking in confusion. She looked around, even craning her neck to see if someone in shining armor had appeared amidst the wolves. Nothing.
And it was starting to really get dark now.
There was a sudden weak flare of light by her shoulder, then a breathless voice burst into her head, nearly making her lose her grip on the tree again in shock.
Guardian 0034119, designation Io, at your service, Support Hero #21!
“Holy shit!” she yelled, barely maintaining her grip. She jerked her head back to stare in disbelief at the tiny white glowing orb bouncing near her shoulder. “What the hell?”
Support Hero #21, designation Kate, welcome to Giltar! This one will be your guide and--
The voice abruptly stopped, as did the incessant bobbing. The small glowing thing seemed to hesitate, then it floated further from her, circling her slowly as if taking in the surroundings and the threat below. There was a deafening silence. When the voice in her head spoke up again, it sounded more like a whisper.
Oops.
