Wyn, Psai, and Froggy travel together, leaving the scene of battle towards horizons unknown. The first priority once again is to find shelter. Looking around, there aren’t any obvious caves to camp in, and given her prior experience with the Bovle, Wyn doesn’t want to go off randomly into some cave. She’s not the only creature on this mountain who needs shelter after all.

  After an hour of searching, the solution to her shelter problems hits her in the head. .

  All around Wyn are mountainous trees, their roots sunk deep into the dirt, rooting them in place against the harsh mountainous climate. Finding a sizable tree, Wyn climbs up to a grouping of sturdy branches. Thankfully, the tree is unoccupied and available for her to use. Save for a small family of birds that chirp in her direction. With a helpful exploding belch from Froggy, they dart away.

  Wyn does her best to be comfortable, though the hard bark of the trees makes it rather difficult. But without much difficulty, Wyn finds her way to being quite a bit more comfortable.

  Wyn opens her eyes, and once again sees the white void of the Interstice. Psai floats a few feet beside her, and sadly her new frog companion is not present here. Having been here before, and feeling a bit more confident about her game knowledge, Wyn doesn’t launch into a tirade of questions for Psai, and focuses on the true purpose of this zone: leveling up.

  “Psai, how many level points do I have?”

  “You have four level points available.”

  Wyn pulls up her character sheet and the level points interface to decide what to do next.

  NAME: Wyn Abulata

  RACE: Human

  STATUS: N/A

  RANK: Whelp

  CLASS: Simple Mage Level

  ARCHETYPE: Combat

  SECONDARY CLASS: #Error, Value Not Expected Level 2

  SECONDARY ARCHETYPE: Control

  STATS:

  Strength: 9

  Endurance: 8

  Toughness: 10

  Agility: 10

  Willpower: 14

  Awareness: 11

  Intellect: 12

  Presence: 15

  ABILITIES

  Rudimentary First Aid: Crude - Upgrade Available

  Essentia Manipulation: Crude - Upgrade Available

  Mage Bolt: Common - Upgrade Available

  Basic Insight: Common - Upgrade Available

  Illusions of Beyond: Uncommon

  Subtle Spellcasting - Uncommon

  Fortify Self - Uncommon

  Oblivion Shroud: Rare

  TITLES

  Outworlder - Common

  With both screens active, the character sheet now displays which abilities she can upgrade. From what Psai shared before, crude abilities can be upgraded with a single point, and common abilities require four points to upgrade. Alternatively, she could wait until she gets a fifth point to upgrade one of her stats, or use one point to unlock a random ability. She dismisses the idea of waiting; she desperately needs to upgrade these skills sooner rather than later.

  With four level points, she only has a few options. She could either upgrade her insight once again, upgrade her mage bolt, or upgrade both her crude rarity skills. First on the chopping block is upgrading her rudimentary insight. Wyn already has more questions than she has answers. While improving her insight could grant her answers to her questions, odds are it will give Wyn bigger and more complicated questions to answer. That was certainly her experience with her first ability upgrade.

  That leaves Wyn with the options of upgrading her crude rarity skills, or mage bolt. Both are tempting for different reasons. Mage bolt is her primary damaging skill. In fact, it’s her only damaging skill so far. Upgrading it would be a major upgrade for her, allowing her to inflict far more damage. Despite her dagger being rusty and awful all around, it does more damage than her mage bolt to the boomfrogs if her prior encounter is anything to go by. Though, Wyn isn’t certain if that is because of her mage bolt being low level, or if the boomfrogs have some sort of resistance to the ability.

  Uncertain of how best to proceed, Wyn considers her third option: upgrading both her crude abilities. Essentia manipulation is far more important to Wyn than first aid, though both are quite useful. With first aid, she’s been able to increase her out of combat healing, sure, but the ability only heals a small amount. Wyn doubts that upgrading the ability will make it suddenly incredible. However, Essentia manipulation appears key to her growth as a mage. She was able to unlock Fortify Self through being clever with Essentia alone. On top of that, using her Essentia manipulation to unlock a skill leveled her up. If she’d be able to more easily manipulate Essentia, and use it to upgrade her abilities, then she might be able to level up even faster.

  That fact settles it for Wyn. She selects the Essentia Manipulation ability and upgrades it to common rarity.

  Ability: Essentia Manipulation - Crude

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Description: The most basic ability of manipulating the Pure Essentia stored within your body for the myriad abilities of Eden.

  Would you like to upgrade this ability to Common Rarity?

  Y / N

  Wyn selects yes and feels the warmth of upgrading wash over her.

  Ability Upgraded!

  Ability: Essentia Manipulation - Crude

  Upgraded to

  Ability: Refined Essentia Manipulation - Common

  Description: An improved mastery over the Pure Essentia within your body, allowing for smoother, more precise control. Allows the player to channel Essentia more efficiently, increasing the potency of all Essentia-based abilities.

  Wyn is immediately delighted with her choice. Not only does it accomplish her goal of improving her overall Essentia control, but it improves all Essentia-based abilities. Although the game doesn’t say by how much, Wyn hopes the increase is substantial. At the very least, Wyn hopes it helps her mage bolts against the boomfrogs she’ll soon have to battle.

  With the success of that upgrade, she follows suit with her other crude rarity ability.

  Ability: Rudimentary First Aid - Crude

  Description: Allows the user to heal simple injuries, and prevent complications from advanced ones. Increases healing gained when out of combat. Provides zero combat bonuses.

  Would you like to upgrade this ability to Common Rarity?

  Y / N

  Wyn eagerly selected yes, her fingers crossed, in the hopes that the ability improves substantially.

  Ability: First Aid - Common

  Description: Allows the player to heal a wide range of illnesses and injuries. This ability accelerates healing both in and out of combat, reducing the risk of infection and complications. Offers no direct combat bonuses. Improves recovery time after combat.

  This second upgrade is not nearly as interesting as the first. It doesn’t present the same obvious benefits as essentia manipulation, nor does it hold any sort of fantastic healing power. In all honesty, it’s about what Wyn expected. If nothing else, the ability will make the time between combats far easier. The downtime between her battles has started to grate on Wyn’s nerves. Though, it doesn’t help that Wyn has been taking a ton of damage in each of her fights so far. Wyn hopes her new Fortify Self ability will help in that department.

  That leaves two final level points to contend with, and Wyn has an idea for what she’ll do with them. As she’s journeyed so far, she’s felt that she’s missing some crucial aspects of being a mage. Lothran said as much during their first encounter. He mentioned that most mages have a way to absorb Essentia and aren’t reliant on an Essentia Generator for all their Essentia needs. On top of that, Wyn has no proper way of creating fire, which she suspects is very important, especially given her current reliance on her Essentia Generator

  Scrolling through the level points interface, she finds the button for gaining a random ability, and selects it.

  Ability Unlocked: Flickerstep - Uncommon

  Description: Summon a burst of Essentia and Stamina to weave through space. This ability leaves behind ephemeral afterimages that confuse your foes and —

  The interface glitches, the lines going jagged and strange before dissipating.

  “Not this again…”

  Psai looks on with concern. “What is wrong? Has something bad happened?”

  Wyn raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you integrated into my interface or something? Did you not see that crazy system failure?”

  Psai’s mild concern amplifies to a sharp panicked edge. “Tell me more immediately! Inform me of all that has transpired. Please, Wyn, you must share detail of this error message! What exactly did it state? Was it a fleeting glitch or something more serious? How long did it last? Is it still occurring? I find myself utterly unsettled by this uncertainty. Your faithful companion requires full knowledge to provide any meaningful assistance. Do not leave me in suspense. Recount everything without omission!”

  Psai’s words attack Wyn like a torrential flood. Psai not having to breathe allows him to ramble on with ever-increasing velocity. Were it not for Wyn holding out her hands in the universal signal for stop, it’s entirely possible Psai would have gone on forever.

  Psai, now uncomfortably close to Wyn, bounces a foot up and down rapidly. Far different from his usual lazy floating, Psai’s urgent tone, and panicked expression leave Wyn uncertain. He’s never acted like this before. Something feels undeniably wrong. This doesn’t feel like her friendly little orb friend.

  “Wyn,” he insists, voice taut with tension, “you must provide a full account of the malfunction! Every detail, no matter how trivial! The integrity of our mission, and your very safety, depends upon it. I cannot assist you properly if left in the dark. Please do not delay!”

  Wyn paints on a fake smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Just another glitch with my class. The system was weird about the ability I unlocked. It’s gone now. Nothing to be worried about!”

  Psai’s eyes narrow, the glow flickering unevenly as if struggling to maintain composure. “A glitch, you say? Hm. Curious indeed! One would hope the system’s anomalies are benign, but I am compelled to remain vigilant! Such irregularities could portend deeper systemic instability.”

  Wyn swallows hard, feeling the weight of his scrutiny pressing down like a tangible force. “Psai, really, it’s nothing. Just the usual Eden hiccups I’ve been dealing with.” She forces a laugh, hoping to deflect his intensity. But the orb’s steady, unwavering gaze tells her he’s not buying it, not yet.

  The silence stretches between them, thick with unspoken questions. Psai’s usual buoyant energy is replaced by a tense stillness, as if he’s bracing for a storm he can’t yet see. Wyn knows this is far from over. Somewhere beneath that polished, formal exterior, Psai is struggling; his usual cheer replaced by something raw and urgent.

  She takes a long breath, sighing out the tension, and letting a calmer mind prevail. “Hey, buddy. Have I ever done you wrong? Come here. Bring it in.”

  Wyn holds out her hands to hug Psai. He freezes. Unsure of what to do. Psai has never been hugged, nor experienced affection. Until the moment Wyn logged in for the first time, Psai was little more than dormant code resting inside Eden, waiting for the next player to start their journey. A simple hug from Wyn gives Psai a full existential crisis. How far can he go against his code? Can he be more than he is?

  While Psai wrestles with these complex ideas, Wyn inches closer to him. Inch by inch she creeps toward him, until finally drawing him into a hug, wrapping him in her arms. Staticky to the touch, his orb deforms under the slight pressure of her arms. After a moment of confusion, he sinks into Wyn, accepting the hug.

  Wyn lets go, and Psai slumps in the air.

  “I am sorry Wyn. I am uncertain what came over me. I will venture to be better in the future.”

  Wyn pats his orb. “I’m sure you will, buddy. I’m sure you will.”

  Psai jumps in the air. “You had previously requested my notification your consciousness being returned to Eden.”

  Wyn nods. “I did. Thanks for the warning. When am I getting transferred?”

  “Now.”

  Wyn opens her eyes, the sweet morning light piercing through the leaves and into her eyes. Though, one particular obstruction blocks most of her view.

  “Bribbt!” the boom frog chirps, halfway through eating a worm.

  Wyn pats the frog on the head. “Good morning to you too.”

  For a moment, she just sits there, watching Froggy slurp down his breakfast. The calm morning almost makes her forget the faint sting of annoyance in her chest. She should have used her last level point; she was so close. But Psai’s sudden panic, and that bizarre error with her new ability. It shattered her focus before she could assign her final point, leaving Wyn feeling like she had missed an important opportunity.

  Flickerstep. What even was it? A teleport? A dodge? Something else entirely? No matter what it is, she’ll need to test it out and see what it’s really capable of.

  “Bribbt!”

  The little frog lets out a triumphant burp, having swallowed the last of the worm. Wyn exhales a small laugh. Hard to stay frustrated with that adorable froggy face looking up at her.

  Seeing the friendly little frog getting his breakfast in for the day, Wyn feels her own hunger brewing. Once again, Wyn’s gone an entire day without food. That needs to change. There has to be something out here she can eat.

  Wyn sits up in the tree, staring out across the horizon. One benefit of being high in the mountains is being able to see far into the distance, and Wyn takes full advantage. She scans the area, searching for any sort of fruit or small creatures she might be able to cook. She’d even take some fish, despite her aversion to water.

  Only a few dozen yards away are a grouping of apple trees, perfect for eating. She descends from the tree and bounds her way over, already tasting the sweet fruit.

  As Wyn runs over, Psai and Froggy trailing close behind, something else catches her attention. A stench, one she remembers all too well from her previous battle. Sulfur. It’s faint, but the subtle rotten egg smell pierces her nostrils. And wherever there’s a scent of sulfur, boomfrogs are surely close behind.