I didn’t know how long I had been heaving, only that I was standing on a puddle of nasty thick blood and my own throw-up by the time my vision began to recover. I didn’t feel anything but sick to my stomach, over everything around me and, perhaps, a little over what I had done. Even if it wasn’t like me, I still took its life. But the justification fell flat in the wake of my pounding heart. This wasn’t a game to start with, but its levels just got a lot worse. Before I could spiral and ask myself the hard questions, a pair of hands clasped my shoulders and I was pulled an embrace. My personal bubble was invaded, just like that. Except it was… soothing?

  “Kathleen, I— No, we—“ Leah’s own voice choked out. One of her hands on my back was balled into a fist, holding onto something desperately. The Ravenclast Pendant. “We survived! I have managed to keep my promise to you thus far.”

  “Yeah,” I finally managed to say something. “You did. T-Thank you, Leah.”

  Bile and slimy film clogged my throat, but it was the greatest feeling I’d felt in a long while. It was genuine, with the relief of seeing someone you know still alive after a disaster. A hint of something inside of me was giving way for the optimistic bird before me. Saying thanks felt unnatural and outlandish, like learning my neighbor’s dog could solve quantum physics problems. But I did it, and I meant every word. She pulled away from me, looking me over up and down.

  The Plus Menu’s constant pings firing off in my head finally knocked my walls back into place. I was sure I was gross. And she was touching me? Gross. The mood’s gone! I instinctively pushed away, spitting out the last of the bile out my mouth. I scooped my staff up and got on my feet. It was my turn to be concerned.

  “Are you hurt?” I asked.

  Leah didn’t answer. Her back and sleeves were cut, but the potion she had used healed her. Her face was flushed. In the dim blue light, something about her tugged at my previously dead heart. The quaking was growing more intense, and I wasn’t sure if the others were still around. I cleared my throat, spat out a mouthful of bile still lodged in there, and broke the moment of reprieve.

  “The others might see us, Leah,” I urged.

  Leah snapped out of it and clutched her sword, which still had a faint aura clinging to its blade. The serene look she had in her eyes became replaced with a calculating expression again. She nodded and I helped her up.

  “It’s time we put the plan in motion,” she whispered. “We’ll have to pick them off when we see them. Kieron said the Shrine was to our left, right? We’d better move it.”

  We had moved way back into the hallway where we first came from, but the clanging of swords and sniveling noises of those creatures had been significantly diminished. During our walk towards the fork again, I took the liberty of looking inward at my magic again.

  I remembered how I felt when I commanded the magic to flow to my staff. Rather, I was learning that the ball inside of me could not be controlled directly. Every time I attempted to force it, that infuriating notification would ding and tell me I failed. But, I noticed the way the sphere would lose shape and would flow directly onto a pathway that somehow linked to my arm. No, the magic, or mana, would spill out of my hands if I moved them.

  I also remembered how constricted my body felt when I drank that cup of disgusting sludge. Looking inward, I remembered the pathways were blocked, but still distinct. Could it be that the pathways were still obstructed in this white void? I thought of this as I watched the magic ball let out tiny ejections of magic. As I watched, I noticed that the flow of the magic was indeed trapped.

  Sure enough, the more I remained in this white void, the more it felt like I was a dam ready to burst. Putting points into magic helped the last time, did it not? But it was also the act of clearing this block that I felt, too. It was as though I was smoothing the static out of a blanket. It felt strangely pleasant and even comfortable afterwards. Come on Kathleen, think of things that are smooth. For some reason, I thought of my grandfather meditating in front of his calligraphy set.

  Perhaps he was also listening inward, searching himself for feelings like this. Trying to achieve a sense of balance, or anything to make this uncomfortable bursting energy settle. Or he was stumped on how to make the strokes more aesthetically pleasing. What did he say to me again? Patience was the enemy of… my ass, grandpa! I couldn’t let the feeling stay in my arm for too long, so I shook it like I was trying to let a bug out of my sleeve. It responded to my heightened emotions by lancing through my shoulder and down my wrist again. I was about to smirk at the inappropriate timing of that random thought, but it hurt like hell.

  Then, my boot collided with something squishy.

  I yelped. Couldn’t help it. A mangled goblin greeted me with a snarl when I opened my eyes; its remaining hand weakly reached out to grab my ankle. I instinctively stomped on its hand, hearing a snapping pop of bones and a squealing noise coming from its ugly mouth. I saw a faint red glowing spot where its gaping wound was. It did look like a canvas to pour magic on, but the energy that flowed receded, stopping at my fingertips and retreating back inside of me. This feeling truly was wierd. But my Core was still active, and I could also see glowing white scars where it was wounded on the red spot. I realized that I wasn’t commanding the magic to do anything for me, I was feeling it inside of me flowing outward. I imagine the activation was moving around my limbs and staff, letting it finally get there.

  “Interesting,” I muttered. I wriggled my arm, trying to shake the magic out of me because it felt heavy, but I felt that this sensation was at least moving rather than threatening to burst.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Still practicing your arts?” Leah asked.

  “Yeah,” I said calmly.

  The more I felt this way, the more I was getting the hang of magic. Or perhaps, this was the uniqueness of my Plus Menu. Standing over the dying goblin, I took a deep breath. The very act caused the magic in me to rustle, like grass stalks being brushed by the stroke of a Spring night’s breeze. It felt calming, in a strange sense. But I didn’t want that.

  During breaks at the convenience store, I remembered I used to sit outside on the curb facing the field. We weren’t far away from the city, but to me it felt like the middle of nowhere. I had many nights where I’d smoke and watch the breeze push the grass under the moonlight. What did I feel then? Detached and lonely? I couldn’t change my life back then, but sitting there helped ease the fatigue.

  With this new soothing feeling of magic, I let it get to my arm again, watching as my blood slicked staff began to glow with white light. This time, my intentions weren’t to control the magic, but to allow it to flow outward. I was merely a guide, letting the light shine wherever I could release it. A few words escaped my lips.

  “[Basic Heal],” I whispered, and the magic in my core finally escaped. So that’s how it is. Instead of the abstraction, saying the word after drawing upon the inner realm of my magic was sufficient enough. Tsk, I should have known I was overthinking the magic. Of course, the Plus Menu was bound to have a simple solution. But I didn’t mind, this feeling was exhilarating.

  Before I could celebrate, the dying shriek of a goblin getting stabbed caused my Core to vanish. I snapped out of it, noticing that Leah had stabbed the goblin I stomped on. Its body was more intact than when I first kicked it. Did I… Heal it?

  ———————————————

  — Goblin Scavenger [Dead]

  ———————————————

  “Whoa, watch it!” Leah scolded me. “Heal me, not them.”

  “M-My bad,” I stammered. That feeling of release was awesome! I peeked back at the lifeless goblin. The bright light revealing its previous wounds were gone, though alas, a bigger and fatal wound was now running through his head. The little shit was definitely not getting back up after Leah dealt with it.

  She simply sighed and strode away, tossing an exasperated remark over her shoulder to me. “Stick close to me, and don’t heal the wrong things anymore.”

  Got it, boss. I shouldn’t put her in danger. Because of her, I was unharmed. I glanced at the goblins, noticing that their bodies were dissolving into a strange black smoke. The red dot at the corner of my eye was next. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I opened Plus Menu. An alarming amount of status points sat next to my name and a new record of 7 notifications appeared— that was far busier than my social media feed.

  ———————————————

  > Status [+184 available]

  > Notifications [+7]

  > Item Box [Locked] [Level 10 Required]

  > Unknown [Level 20 Required]

  > Skill Points [0]

  > Exit

  ———————————————

  Forget the new features that had somehow entered the Plus Menu. My brain nearly short-circuited when I saw the number 184. I skimmed over the ones informing that I’ve encountered goblins and investigated the notifications that made my numbers go up. Killing these guys, well, getting the assist for many of them and killing a measly one managed to increase the Status points by 110. And, I was level 4 now. A clear path to strength was before me, yet, I didn’t exactly know what to spend them on.

  ———————————————

  Notifications

  > Host has assisted a party member in slaying 8 goblins.

  > Host has slain one goblin.

  > Host has gained 60 status points!

  > Host has successfully healed Goblin Scavenger, level 2!

  > Host has gained 50 status points!

  ———————————————

  Eh? Healing gives that much of a jump? I supposed it made sense. And there were clearly more than just 9 of the creatures lying around us, but time didn’t allow us to stab each and every one. Something else surprised me when I peeked at Leah’s back.

  ———————————————

  Leah Ravenclast [Healthy]

  Human Knight, Level 2

  ———————————————

  She didn’t level up at all during that fight, even with that awesome Skill of hers wiping them out. How? I struggled to make sense of her unchanged Status. Do humans in this world level up? Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable. Did the settings only apply to me? Was I the only one with this ability?

  As we walked, I realized that my nose had already gotten used to the stench lingering in the air. There wasn’t a sign of the goblins anymore. Living ones, that is. Crumpled bodies littered the floors, dissolving into that strange magical black smoke. In addition to the withering creatures, several blood-soaked gems twinkled in the middle of a pool like unearthed rubies. A simple tag hovered over it as I held it up in the blue light.

  ———————————————

  — Chipped Bloodstone [Tier 1].

  ———————————————

  I picked it up. The viscous liquid felt sticky and thick, clinging to my fingers as I clutched the shiny rock, but immediately slicked back when I pulled it out completely. Gross, but I pretended to be unbothered.

  “What a pretty little thing,” I remarked. I extended the rock out to her, offering it, but she refused it.

  “A Bloodstone,” Leah explained, keeping watch. “A precious thing formed in the blood of monsters and demons of the Rifts. We Hunters use them for weapons and sometimes they can even cause an immense evolution in our Blood. But we offer them to our Bearer, for our Family. Hold onto them if you can, but do not mistake them over our orders.”

  Ah, so that might be how the Hunters get stronger. Still, I suppressed a groan as I tossed the rock aside. This foolish girl’s devotion to the cause was sorely misguided. Still, I needed her sense of duty to get out of here.

  The sounds of metal clashing echoed further down the hallway. Dust shook off the bricks. A clang made me flinch. As we approached the fork, the fighting became louder and the electrical sound of magic racked the air. Leah tensed up, and we both heard it. It was other Hunter parties fighting each other. I couldn’t help but sigh. In this dark and dangerous place, they somehow have the time to PVP?

  “See? They’re fighting over trinkets over the Bearer’s Divine Will.”

  No, my eyes suddenly became interrupted by a blood red Plus Menu window that materialized on its own. I read it, and blanched. All the pulse pounding adrenaline in me from a while ago instantly returned. Leah noticed my changed complexion, and gave me a questioning look.

  ———————————————

  — Rift E|E|L|A|N1048AB has been invaded! —

  A foreign enemy now stalks the halls, seeking forbidden knowledge.

  ———————————————

  “What’s wrong?” Leah asked.

  I didn’t have to say anything, because at that very moment the cries of death reached our ears from the right side. In the distance, a tall and heavily armored figure swung a massive fiery sword, cleaving an unfortunate batchling in two. After the blade enveloped the victim, streaks of crimson blobs siphoned out of their body and flowed directly into the Hunter.

  “We gotta go,” I said. Her face was white from shock, but there was no time. “Come on, we can be scared while we run!”

  I yanked at her arm. Right as we began to run, I sensed the flaming sword’s evil intent was now aiming directly towards us.

  We were being hunted.