What Miles described sounded too much like becoming a drugged-up b rat for Phoenix to accept. So she conjured her magical bck dagger into her hand and plunged it into the man’s back, hoping to make him release her. He did so with a cry of pain followed by a stream of obscenities that she had never heard before and didn’t stop to listen to as she forewent the path back to the other mages. Instead, she dove into the forest brush, hoping to lose the would-be kidnapper in the greenery.

  He wasn’t just stronger than her, though; he was faster, too. She soon found herself smmed against a tree, gasping for air as Miles held her by the throat and gred at her. “Apparently, my lesson in the rules was not thorough enough, and you need a more hands-on demonstration,” he growled, pulling her towards him slightly before smming her back into the tree. The action caused her to cry out from the pain that permeated down her spine, and she worried he might break her literally.

  “I’m not about to let a Wayfarer just walk away from me, especially one that’s an Aurabreaker and can resurrect. You are a priceless treasure and one that now belongs to me. Do you understand, Miss Mundane?”

  Phoenix felt tears prick the corner of her eyes from both the pain and the absolute unfairness of the situation, but she refused to let this man see her cry. Instead, she tried to stab him again, but he easily caught her wrist.

  Miles gave a heavy sigh. “This would be easier if you just accepted your pce and listened to me. Now I have to make you comply, which is just more annoying since you can’t answer my questions with a broken jaw,” he got a thoughtful look on his face and said to himself, “Maybe if I just remove your eyes. I don’t think you’ll need those while we travel and talk, and I can heal them when we get to my home. Yes, that should probably work—”

  His words were cut off as a terrifying flurry of quills, cws, and teeth smmed into the mage from the side, forcing him to release her as Miles started being savaged by what looked to Phoenix like a velociraptor with bristling porcupine quills.

  As Miles’ screams filled the air, she felt a wave of power cover the area, then turned and ran as fast as she could. She never stopped to look back, keeping her little light dismissed and letting the shadows wrap around her, which hopefully gave her a chance to survive her frantic escape.

  Phoenix almost screamed in fright as her book appeared in front of her once more to give her more information.

  New Quest: Escape the Monsters

  You are not strong enough for this area. Retreat to a lower Caste biome.

  Objective: Leave the forest without getting captured.

  Reward: Common shoes.

  She almost screamed again, but in frustration this time.

  No kidding! What do you think I’m trying to do?!

  She suddenly realized that, in her panic, she had completely forgotten that she had magic powers now.

  Focusing on the mental image of the rge tree she had climbed earlier that day before dying, she opened her portal and ran through it. Slumping against the tree in her newfound safety as she dismissed the portal behind her in the hopes that Miles wouldn’t be able to follow her.

  It was becoming darker now, and she hated the idea of being caught without shelter as the mountains became infested with monsters once more. After a few more minutes of catching her breath, calming her terror, and letting her cooldown epse, Phoenix portaled back to the top of the rge towering tree to watch the moon that Miles had mentioned rise.

  She was surprised by the appearance of a second moon rising alongside the giant blue orb. The twin was an orangey-yellow color that reminded her of a harvest moon back on Earth, but both of them were only about a quarter full. The sounds of growls and howls began to fill the forest surrounding her. She shuddered at her growing fear of the night despite her ability to blend into it.

  In desperation, she tried to use the sleeves of her dress to tie herself to the rge tree branch so she wouldn’t fall. She hoped that none of the monsters that could climb or fly would find her as she fell into fitful sleep. She never wanted to meet another person like Miles again, and that fear was reflected in her brief snippets of dreams.

  Thankfully, she didn’t die again, which would have been much more permanent. She also remembered to set her [Waypoint] to this new location; the only confirmation she had of her it being set was a glowing rune-like symbol appearing in the air before vanishing a moment ter. She hoped that doing this meant she wouldn’t have another accidental run-in with the crazy mages who thought they could just take people that were lower Caste than they were.

  Phoenix hoped that the Magi were not representative of the whole of Makera and she wouldn’t find people trying to constantly kidnap her. Based on what Miles had told her, however, it seemed like her powers and very existence was rare and, therefore, desirable to people like him. It meant she needed to be much more careful about who she revealed those secrets to. Apparently, a nice smile was not enough to judge a person on.

  She continued making her way east with her portal. Trying to put as much distance as she could between her prospective captors and herself. At night, she would try to find the tallest tree she could to perch in. If she came across another monster that her aura sensed as stronger than her, she portaled back to the st tree of safety before going a slightly different route.

  After the third day, she finally found a stream of fresh water and was grateful that she wouldn’t have to respawn because of dehydration. Starvation wasn’t off the table, though, as she tried to search for something edible that didn’t require her abysmal attempts at cooking. Despite almost dying to a pile of what she thought had been blueberries, she managed to get by on some more half-raw, half-burnt monster meat.

  She tried to follow the river as much as possible since she remembered towns like to pop up near them. That path was made difficult by the wild animals that would visit it for the same reason she needed it. Apparently, it wasn’t just monsters roaming this forest, and she wondered how any animals managed to survive the nights.

  After having to relieve herself multiple times on her journey, she was looking forward to getting more quests that would give her an Aspect. Miles had said becoming a Caster would get rid of her digestive system, and she was looking forward to not needing to struggle with bathroom habits that she was never very good at to begin with.

  This became even more pertinent when a rabid raccoon-like creature tried to take a bite out of her when she was taking a squat near some bushes. After that little humiliating brawl, she didn’t concern herself with modesty in the middle of the woods and made sure she could watch out for anything that might try to sneak up on her.

  Every night, she tied herself to a branch and prayed to the stars that she wouldn’t get eaten. Every day, she kept walking, searching for an escape from the seemingly endless sea of trees that were both beautiful and terrifying.

  On the fifth day, Phoenix ran into the wonder of the river becoming a waterfall and disappearing off the edge of a cliff to nd in a pool dozens of meters below her. She had only seen them in pictures and movies before, and none of them did justice.

  It wasn’t just the sight that was breathtaking as light danced off the spshing water and a rainbow formed in front of her. Not to mention the wonder of the glittering rainbow fish that were literally flying up the waterfall in a mesmerizing dance that reminded her that this world was magic.

  However, it was her other senses going into overdrive as well that truly made her feel alive. The fresh scent of the cleansed air. The sound of crashing waves hitting stone and pool far below. The feel of the spray on her cheeks and dampening her shes. The paradoxical feeling of the wet air being both light with its refreshment and heavy with water spshing and dispersing into it.

  The promises of wonder and opportunity filled her with a sense of renewed hope as she finished resting and simply basking in the beauty before portaling to a spot much further down the roaring river. Unfortunately, a hulking leafy bear-like creature was meandering nearby and thought she might make a tasty meal, causing her to flee once more.

  She had always dreamed of being healthy enough to run, but this wasn’t exactly what she had been hoping for as her bare feet slipped on the wet river stones near the edge of the water and ended up drenched before managing to portal away in time to avoid becoming lunch.

  The haphazard fall into the portal, however, resulted in a twisted ankle and many tears of pain and frustration. She ripped a strip of fabric from her dress and soaked it in the cold river water before wrapping her throbbing ankle in it and forcing herself to keep moving.

  Phoenix gave a sob of relief on the eighth day in this new world when she finally escaped the forested mountain range and found it had given way to a vast meadow-covered hilnd.

  Quest: Escape the Monsters

  Objective Complete: Left the forest without getting captured.

  Objective Reward:

  [Simple Shoes] have been added to your collection.

  Completion Reward:

  10 [Mana Bits] have been added to your collection.

  She needed to find civilization, but there wasn’t a town in sight. Phoenix wasn’t sure of finding edibles among the hills since she had no idea what kind of food aside from grass and flowers grew in this kind of biome. She was famished, and her clothes were dirty tatters after trudging through the dense brush and rocky mountainsides. The shoes would hopefully help protect her bruised and battered feet, and she carefully pced what basically amounted to leather wrappings over the swollen and bleeding appendages.

  As she carefully made her way across the first few hills, movement caught her eye, and she gnced over to see a small pack of creatures daintily grazing in the meadow.

  They were odd ostrich-like creatures but with longer grassy fur that made them blend in fairly well and ft cobra-like heads. She had never seen anything like them before and briefly wondered if they were carnivorous like the evil furballs in the woods she had just escaped.

  Phoenix crouched down slowly, trying to get closer without them noticing her. She was so hungry that she knew she had to at least try to take down one of them. The fact that they were grazing made her pretty confident that they were herbivores and would hopefully try to flee instead of trample or bite her to death.

  The Wayfarer conjured her dagger and moved closer. She focused on being careful and would freeze in order to let her aura blend her into the shadows if it seemed like they might turn towards her. She knew that if she couldn’t get the jump on them, there was no way she’d be able to give chase with her torn-up feet screaming with every tiny step she took.

  As she inched ever closer, her hope kept growing as the animals seemed completely unaware of her presence. Then, with a final burst of speed and adrenaline, she lunged at the closest animal, aiming her dagger at one of the thin throats and praying they had a jugur vein there.

  She missed. Of course.

  The creatures were much faster than she had hoped, and they fled, which she had expected. Desperately, she stumbled after them, but as she crested the next hill, she realized that, even if her feet weren’t wrecked, it would be futile to run after the swift beasts. She gave a loud groan of frustration before a beam of light nced across the sky and through one of the creatures, downing it in an instant.

  Phoenix knew that it had to be magic, and she quickly dropped to the ground, dismissed her dagger, and tried to back away down the hill. She attempted to move slowly and quietly, afraid that whoever or whatever had instantly decimated that fast animal hadn’t noticed her presence.

  She was disappointed a moment ter when shiny gold-pted boots appeared in front of her. Phoenix looked up into the stern face of a blonde bearded man in full pte armor who gleamed as golden and bright as the sun. His eyes were also golden, and in the middle of his forehead was a small gold pte in a roughly diamond shape but with some curves that she didn’t recognize as signifying anything.

  He raised an eyebrow at her as she just continued to stare at him until she cautiously said, “Uh… hello?”

  The man didn’t return her greeting as his gruff voice asked in the same nguage that the Magi had, with her talent transting for her, “Wayfarer?”