Wyn opens her eyes, diluted rays of sunlight piercing through the entrance of the cave. In the distance, birds chirp their morning songs. Wyn rises to her feet, shaking her arms and legs. Despite a crick in her back from sleeping on the floor of a cave, she feels remarkably well rested. Energy, different from Essentia, flows through her as though she had the best sleep of her life.

  But that wasn’t true. While her body rested, her consciousness was locked into the Interstice, or as Wyn would call it, the Waiting Room.

  Looking around, she spots Psai floating innocently a few feet away, avoiding eye contact.

  “Care to explain yourself?” She asks the orb.

  “I am uncertain of what it is you are presently referring to. Please provide additional details so I may best assist you!” says Psai, each word tripping over the next in a nervous deluge of frantic words.

  Wyn crosses her arms. “Oh, no you don’t. You know exactly what I am referring to. Come on then, orb. Speak up. I’ll wait.”

  Psai sputters, the geometric shapes that make up his face going jagged and strange before reforming into a deep and pitiable frown. “I must inform you I am not simply an orb!” I am the single most—”

  Wyn rolls her eyes. “Yes, yes, you’re a very orb. Now explain yourself.”

  Psai sputters again before sighing with an electronic whine. “Fine. You are referencing how you were taken out of the Interstice without warning?”

  Wyn nods. “Yes. That was very rude, Psai.”

  “I do apologize.” He sinks in the air, lowering himself in submission. “Your avatar was waking, so I had no choice but to return your consciousness to your avatar.”

  “Fine,” Wyn sighs. “Please give me some warning next time.”

  Psai jumps up into the air, brightening significantly, his volume increasing. “Absolutely! It is my pleasure to serve!”

  Wyn rolls her eyes.

  Wyn checks her Essentia reserves, wanting to be fully charged before any potential fights. Without a way to see the exact number in her pool, she looks for a clever workaround. When she’s cast Essentia-based abilities before, she could feel the energy drawn out of her pool and flowing through her body. Maybe, she figures, she can sense what’s left just by reaching inward without actually casting a spell.

  After finding a comfortable position, Wyn sits and begins meditating. She focuses on the pool of magic inside her, that swirling pool of energy that charges her spells. Meditation isn’t enough for the details she wants, so she proceeds with her experiment. Wyn guides the Essentia out of the pool and through her body, willing it to move under her command.

  At first, it refuses. The swirling magical energy content to sit in the pit of her stomach. But after some more forceful mental prodding, the Essentia begins to flow. With each passing moment, Wyn feels her Essentia Pool getting emptier, bit by bit. The pool of swirling energy becomes calmer as the Essentia departs it. After 5 minutes of channeling, she feels a slight chill. A warning that she’s running low. Wyn releases the Essentia, allowing it to rush back into her pool.

  She takes a breath and stands. While she doesn’t have quantifiable numbers, her instincts tell her she has plenty of Essentia at her disposal. She clips her Essentia generator to her belt, and equips her staff, and walks out of the cave with Psai following close behind.

  The pair travel down the winding mountainous road together for some time. Wyn passes caravans of traders, adventurers, and all manner of strange individuals on horses. The air gets thinner as she rises in altitude, making the already arduous journey even more difficult.

  True to her stats, Wyn lacks the endurance to simply hike up the side of the mountain unphased. At regular intervals, Wyn has to stop and rest. Each time she does, she takes some time to continue experimenting with Essentia. When there aren’t travelers near her, she experiments with her mage bolt, testing its range and improving her accuracy with the ability.

  Her efforts are rewarded, as her accuracy greatly improves. At her first break, Wyn struggled to hit something as simple as a stationary rock about a few dozen feet away. But after her seventh break, Wyn can somewhat consistently strike a flying bird a few dozen yards away. Wyn is disappointed that the ability itself doesn’t upgrade to a higher rarity with her effort, but is nonetheless pleased that it has improved.

  Thinking back to how she earned her First Aid ability, the game seems to grant players abilities, so long as they show the appropriate level of skill. Wyn guesses that if she continues working in this way, her abilities will slowly upgrade and her strength will improve. But Wyn is not a patient woman, and wishes the ability improvements would come much faster.

  She’s always been quick to learn new things in the real world. On one occasion, Rohn asked Wyn to make him a massive cake for his birthday. She had never baked before in her life, but Wyn almost never says no to Rohn, especially not on his birthday. After a few hours of searching the web, Wyn gave it a try. Rohn received a brilliant cake from Wyn, baked without problems, and themed on Tartarum, his favorite place in Elysius. She used layers of chocolate cake to create a mountain, with a jam lava flow down the center. Rohn loved that cake, and Wyn couldn’t be prouder.

  Wyn wishes that same experience would carry over into Eden. That she could attempt something and succeed quickly. But no luck. Eden requires quite a bit of hard work to level up skills, it would seem.

  Outside of leveling up her Mage Bolt for more damage, there’s one other skill she wants to acquire. During her initial fight with the Goblin Shaman alongside Mirana, the elven healer created a sort of Essentia Shield to block damage. Considering her utter lack of defense, having no shield or defensive abilities to speak of, Wyn knows this has to be her first priority for gaining new skills. Given that she was able to gain the First Aid skill by demonstrating her ability with it, Wyn figures that unlocking an Essentia Shield will be no different. If she can make a facsimile of an Essentia shield, then the game ought to grant her the formal Essentia Shield ability.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  As she walks, Wyn pulls the Essentia from her pool and attempts to create a barrier in front of her body. Each time, the Essentia forms a small square in front of her, but when she tests the shield against her dagger, it pierces right through without resistance. At one point, she thought she had it, as she had to fight against some resistance to get the dagger through, but once again, the attempt ended in failure.

  Each time she tries it, she feels as though there is some fundamental aspect she’s missing. But with her lack of knowledge, she doesn’t know where to start. After hitting the 20th failed attempt, and feeling her Essentia pool starting to run low, Wyn gives up for now. If she wants to learn more abilities, she’ll have to get Lothran to teach her more things. And in order to get Lothran to teach her more things, Wyn needs to complete this quest.

  Quest: Invasive Boomfrogs

  Requirements: None

  Travelers across the Arazid Mountains report an increase in Boomfrogs along Imperial roads. The creatures, while not dangerous, can grow into more dangerous varieties should they not be destroyed. Warning: if high-level variants have spawned, report back to Lethisburg immediately, and avoid direct conflict. The Arcane Consortium is not responsible for any harm incurred due to an excess of bravery.

  Objectives:

  Defeat Boomfrogs — 0/15

  Defeat Warrior Boomfrogs — 0/13

  Defeat Elder Boomfrog — 0/2

  Defeat Boomfrog Matriarch — 0/1

  Once again, the numbers have changed. Wyn is tempted to pick up the pace, to charge up this mountain as fast as her legs can take her. But she knows better than to rush in like that. If she were to charge in with reckless abandon, she’d be exhausted by the time she reached the boomfrogs. And if their name is accurate, Wyn isn’t interested in fighting down a hoard of exploding boomfrogs at anything less than her best.

  After another hour of walking the winding mountain pass, it flattens out, and even begins to trend downwards. From her high vantage, peering through the snowcapped peaks, Wyn gets her first look at the grand Arazid Empire. Farms cover most of the landscape, with dozens of farming villages joining them together. And for every half dozen small villages, is a larger town. And for every few towns, there are grander cities. Winding between them all are winding creeks and rivers, with the edge of an enormous sea just barely visible from the horizon.

  Wyn grins wide at the vastness of it all. Progenitis promised Eden would be the most expansive game ever made, and they most certainly delivered. This area alone would be enough to dwarf most games, matching the size of most countries. And from what Wyn heard, there are dozens of nations equal in size to the Arazid Empire. If she gets the chance, Wyn hopes to see it all; to explore every nook and cranny of this vast new world before her.

  Glorrrrrrrrrp.

  Wyn turns to find a strange tiny frog, all round belly and gawky limbs. Its slick, red-green skin glistens in the late afternoon light. Big golden eyes bulge from its head, giving it an eternally startled expression. Its mouth stretches wide, sucking in an enormous gulp of air.

  “Fwoooomp!”

  It swells, more than tripling its size until it’s the size of a melon. Its throat sac balloons outward, glowing from within as gases in its belly mix and churn. For a heartbeat, it looks absurdly proud of itself: cheeks puffed, eyes half-lidded, body trembling with stored pressure.

  “BWOOMPF!”

  It releases the air in an explosive jet, sending out a shockwave of heat and sound. A brief tongue of orange flame ripples through the burst, and the little frog goes tumbling backward, legs flailing like a tossed pebble. The smell of singed ozone and sulfur lingers in its wake.

  After the blast, the frog lands a few yards away, dazed but unharmed. Within seconds, it resumes its usual tiny, round shape, blinking innocently as if nothing happened.

  Wyn’s mouth hangs agape at the tiny creature. If it weren’t for casually exploding and acting like nothing happened, it’d be the cutest creature she’s ever seen. It’s not hard to figure out that this is an apply named boomfrog, but Wyn hopes it’s not one she has to kill. It’s far too adorable to kill willy nilly.

  Creature: Juvenile Boomfrog

  “Phew. Not one of my targets.”

  Wyn leans down, holding out her hand to the frog. “Hey there, little guy, are you friendly?”

  The juvenile boomfrog chirps softly and sucks in a tiny gulp of air, becoming a near-perfectly round froggy ball. It points its head downwards and lets out a tiny jet of explosive energy. With a blast, it bounces forward. It then bounces on its stomach a few times before releasing another small blast. After three controlled jets, it lands right in Wyns hand. Its large golden eyes blink one at a time, and Wyn swears she spots a glint of curiosity in its frog eyes.

  “Oh god. I’m about to adopt a frog, aren’t I?”

  Glooooooorrrp.

  A deeper, rumbling croak rolls from the nearby bushes. Her new boomfrog friend swivels toward the sound and uses the last of his explosive air to rocket straight into the undergrowth.

  “Ow!” Wyn yelps, shaking out her hand as a red welt blooms across her palm. “For a tiny frog, you sure pack a punch. And to think I was about to make a pet out of you!”

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  From the bushes, a massive shape emerges. A boomfrog the size of a large dog. Its slick hide glistens like wet stone, and its golden eyes lock onto her with a heavy, unmistakable warning.

  Wyn takes a careful step back, heart thudding against her ribs. The huge boomfrog lowers its body, throat pulsing with energy. A shimmer of heat ripples through the air. Wyn steps back again, holding her hands out in surrender. If the little frog could give her a serious burn mark, there’s no telling how much damage this one can do.

  “Easy there, big guy,” she whispers, hands raised. “I’m not—”

  FWOOMP.

  The great frog inhales sharply, ballooning outward in a single breath. Wyn freezes, preparing for searing pain, but the blast doesn’t come. Instead, the frog’s golden eyes flick past her, toward the bushes.

  Her little boomfrog friend hops back into view, throat already glowing with that familiar orange hue.

  “Oh no,” Wyn mutters.

  The air grows thick, electric. The smaller frog puffs itself up, shaking with defiance, while the larger one answers with a low, rumbling croak that makes Wyn’s bones vibrate.

  Thump. The giant takes a step forward. The little one doesn’t budge.

  Wyn’s eyes go wide. “Oh, come on—”

  FWOOSH.

  The air ignites between them as they launch into a pitched battle. Wyn barely manages to dive to the side as shockwaves ripple through the clearing.

  Looking between the two frogs, she makes a split-second choice; she’s backing the little guy. If nothing else, it’s cuter, and the big one looks like it could flatten him without trying.

  She grips her staff, feeling the thrum of power gathering in her fingertips. “Alright, tiny,” she mutters, eyes narrowing on the larger amphibian, “let’s even the odds.”

  The giant boomfrog rears back, throat glowing like molten glass. The smaller one answers in kind, trembling but unyielding.

  Wyn grins, heart pounding. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”