Oh, I had an idea. And it was a good one. At least I was sure it was. I had thought it after all. But what was it? Thinking was becoming hard. Why was my brain all fuzzy? Oh yeah blood loss. The pain was lessening that was nice. Wait no it wasn't. I was going to end up on those fucking stones again.

  People were being loud. There was an argument. Huh about me.

  What was my idea again? It had been important.

  Yeah, found the thought. If I were going to die, I could try doing the thing. If I hated it, it wouldn’t matter.

  I might be dying, but I wasn’t stupid. Stereotypes to the contrary.

  I opened my HUD

  Found the spot.

  [Two Skill Trees completed. Upgrade or consolidate primary class? Y/N]

  I was fuzzing in and out of consciousness. I was trying to concentrate, but bits of the argument kept poking into my awareness. It was rude. It was hard to make out who was saying what. I wished they would all just shut up till I was done.

  “Look, if I heal her, I will have no mana for the rest of the day.”

  “She’s dying!”

  “That was a dumb move.”

  “Wasn’t it just? So why should I risk our safety by saving her?”

  “Because she won’t just show back up in Bistmore.”

  “So?”

  “Um, I think maybe we should. Like we could stay here until our mana builds up again.”

  The HUD was getting dim. I mentally reached forward and stabbed Y.

  Shadows crossed my vision and they were talking to me. Someone was moving my leg. Couldn’t they see I was preoccupied?

  The wheel on my HUD spun for what seemed like forever. But time dilation from injuries can do that.

  CONGRATULATIONS! Your class has risen from Basic Fighter to Basic Barbarian

  Well, wasn’t that fucking perfect?

  I closed my eyes and waited to die. From my injuries or the mortification of being officially Beth the Barbarian.

  The death screen didn’t show up asking me if I wanted to continue. Instead, an intense warm power enveloped me. Along with a small tongue trying to lick up my nose.

  Ayerelia poured mana into her spell. Healing from this sort of injury wasn’t nice. Or maybe she was making it hurt. I don’t know. But it fucking hurt as bad as getting the injury.

  The nose licking was a normal, if annoying, form of first aid I was well acquainted with.

  The world came rushing back, and everything seemed too loud and too bright. I hugged Dekka to me to stop her licking as much as for comfort. The pain in my leg was a memory, but I could see from the rip in my trousers the bear had sliced me from hip to outer knee area. And there was a lot of blood.

  I looked up at Ayerelia’s pale face. Even her perfect elven features couldn’t hide how much that had taken out of her.

  “Thank you.” I said, and I mostly meant it.

  “You all stay here,” Copperbeard said to the group. I am just going to scout ahead, see how close we are to Engle.” He looked down at me. “Catch your breath and take some time. You were very close to being a goner.”

  I nodded. I knew how close to leaving I was.

  I sat there on the road. Still feeling a bit woozy. I was healed, but I still felt low, like low blood sugar type of low. I went to pull an apple out of my inventory when I saw that my HUD looked different.

  I ate the apple and poked through my new barbarian choices.

  There was a note saying I would keep all my skills from before but would have an option to replace them with the Barbarian Skills as I levelled. Turns out I can only have six active skills.

  As soon as I levelled again, I still had the unarmed options; they were unchanged. My weapon class now said [Bludgeoning] so did that mean I could try something other than a club? What else bludgeoned people? I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head. But I was going to find something nicer than a hunk of wood.

  The other change was under Armour. I could see it was now unlocked. After Amour, it said [Light Armour Proficiency] Armour of any kind sounded good to me.

  When I felt strong enough to get to my feet, Ms. Wharton—who had also been sitting rose to her feet, clutching the wrapped packet of cheese she’d been saving for later.

  “Oh my,” she said, voice quiet. “That was quite the display! I do apologize if I distracted anyone.”

  Copperbeard chuckled as he walked and gave her a little bow. “Ma’am, ye have been the least offensive Justicar we have escorted so far. And in even better news, it looks like Engle is only a mile or so ahead of us.”

  He strummed a few light, lilting notes that echoed pleasantly through the clearing, lifting the mood.

  Arjun wiped his blade clean on the bear’s fur and glanced at me. His eyes were tired but steady.

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  “This one lived,”I said softly, just for his ears.

  “We aren’t safe yet,” he sheathed his sword. “Will you be ok to continue?”

  I nodded once.

  It was an uneventful rest of the way to Engle. We stayed in formation the entire way and Dekka retained her hellhound form until we passed the town marker.

  CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE COURTHOUSE QUEST - Escort the Justicar. You protected the member of the local judiciary body and escorted them safely to the town of Engle.

  We had done it.

  Ms. Wharton, oblivious to our collective emotional whiplash, was already rummaging in her satchel. “I believe I promised tea,” she said, beaming. “If we head over to City Hall, I don’t believe they have a courthouse here…” She trailed off, looking through her papers and personal paraphernalia.

  Copperbeard laughed, tired but warm. “Aye, we could all use a cuppa after that.”

  Dekka sneezed, spraying a mist of bear blood across my boots. I looked down at her; she was wagging her tail.

  “You’re a dog.” I told her.

  The tail wagged slower, and her grin faded.

  “You want tea?” Her ears perked and her tail went faster.

  “Fine,” I muttered, scratching her ears. “You’ve earned a taste”

  An official looking young woman was striding towards us. She greeted us formally and the Justicar with slight relief and reverence.

  We were all escorted to the Town Hall, where Ms Wharton perplexed the Mayor of Engle and his staff by insisting on making tea for us before any official business was concluded.

  A bowl was put on the floor for the dog. Dekka sneezed a few times as she lapped at it tentatively. But when I made a move to pick it up when I thought she had lost interest, she hovered over it and showed me her teeth. Her tail was wagging, but it was clear she wanted me to keep my hands off her tea.

  I shrugged and took another cup for myself. It was very good. And they even had honey to put in it. Thinking for only a moment, I took a spoonful of honey and added it to Dekka’s bowl. She licked the spoon as it went by her face. I pretended not to see the look on the official’s face when I handed the spoon to them.

  After the Justicar was settled and the trial of some minor noble was to start on the morn, the officials turned to us.

  “You have done us a great service.” The portly mayor said and actually bowed to us. I awkwardly bowed back, as did Darkraven. Ayerelia, to my surprise, gave a bow with smooth elegance. Arjun nodded his head, and Copperbeard just looked slightly uncomfortable.

  “We have been waiting for a Justicar to come decide the fate of a beloved son of Engle. It has torn our little community to shreds. I would like to give you a token of my personal appreciation.”

  He took something out of a velvet pouch and held it out to us. It was a ring with a large flat purple gem set on the face with a seal carved into it.

  “Pretty,” breathed Darkraven.

  “Indeed, it is lovely. But it is more than just beautiful. I am hoping that you will take it and a letter I have to Prince Horace. He will reward you handsomely. The ring was his uncle’s. Who died here.” The mayor’s face clouded over with regret and worry.

  “Where can we find this Prince Horace?” Arjun asked.

  “He is out with his army,” the official replied and tucked the ring back into its pouch. “You can find him in the Foothill Fields to the north and east of here. He is trying to bring peace to the lands by slaying the foul and angry beasts that infest them”

  That tracked. Of course, the devs would make all the beasts ‘foul and angry’, not just the ones the players came across. What a menace they were to the poor unsuspecting NPC population.

  Ayerelia accepted the pouch and letter the Mayor was holding out.

  CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE ROYAL DECREE QUEST - Find Prince Horace and give him this letter and ring. Do not let anyone break the seal on the letter nor steal the Royal Ring.

  Oh goody, another quest.

  I had figured we would stay there that night and that the party would log off, leaving me in Engle. But they decided the day was young, and Copperbeard said he had a bad feeling about the trial, and I couldn’t say I disagreed, so I was happy when the party decided to head out straight away. We left the town walking down the east road.

  The sun sank slowly behind the tree tops as the sky put on a dramatic show of pinks and oranges. The forest chorus changed as day birds were settling and the night birds were emerging to take their turn. It was one of those rare perfect evenings. Rare even in a manufactured world. The air had cooled to just the perfect temperature and the breeze was just enough to keep the small biting flies away. I was walking at the back just listening to the group talk. Though there hadn't been a lot of conversation the mood was good. Finishing that quest and not losing the nice Justicar felt good.

  I was a bit disappointed when we found a nice, fairly flat clearing and set up camp. Constantly getting left behind was getting old. Dekka and I took the nicest spot and glared at anyone who looked like they might argue. I would have to actually sleep here; they would not.

  Once we were settled the topic of who should hold the quest items arose. The two elves examined the ring. Darkraven begged to hold on to it; purple was clearly her favourite colour. And by hold on to it she meant wear it. She claimed it would be safer on a finger as no one could pickpocket it. Which was true, but I don’t think the bears or boars out here had very nimble digits or a need to stamp royal decrees.

  In the end was decided she could wear it. It wasn’t as if she fought with her hands and it was nice to see how happy that made her. Happy at being able to wear a pretty ring in a game. I felt a nostalgic tug on my heartstrings. Not long ago, that would have been me. Excited to add a bit of bling to an already outrageously blingy outfit.

  Not that I would ever be so over the top as Ayerelia, but Darkraven had better taste. I sat on my bed roll, smiling as I watched her spin and admire the ring in the fading light of day. I listened to her say how much she wished she would wear something just like it out in the real world.

  One by one they settled down to lie down and log out, after deciding they would message their 'group chat' to coordinate when they could all login again. Arjun was the last to log off. He seemed very quiet as he sat on his bedroll and stared into the fire as night fell. And then he was just gone. I had been hoping he’d stay a while. Maybe we could have talked.

  Dammit, I should have said something. Oh well, the next time I saw him, I would take him aside and ask if he wanted to hang out a bit more. Not just when we were adventuring. I felt drawn to him; he felt like an older brother I’d never had. I felt safer when he was around.

  Days turned into a couple of weeks. Copperbeard showed up once, and we went and killed a few boars. He said the group was having a hard time coordinating schedules. I shrugged. I remembered how that was. Now I had all the time in the world to play a game. As long as that game was this game.

  I put on the bear mantle I had received. It basically just covered my shoulders and was very hairy. I am not sure how it worked as armour, but even I had to admit it was very barbarian chic.

  I wished for a mirror. Not just to see if it clashed with my cloak but to see how much like me I still looked.

  More days passed, and Dekka and I hunted a bit, mostly out of boredom. We found another bear but didn’t even try it on our own. We scouted down the road. There were hills, and occasionally I got glimpses of far-off mountaintops between the treetops. One day I got as far as the better part of a half day’s walk east when I came across a large road that intersected with the road to Engle, which barely counted as a road, more of a trail.

  I could see smoke, the kind that rose from campfires off in the distance towards the foothills of the mountains. I was getting a better feel for how far a days march was. Those fires and whoever was camping were at least half a days walk if you could go straight as the crow flies. So likely longer. Was that part of the army we were supposed to be looking for? NPCs? Maybe other players?

  With a sigh, I turned around to head back to camp. Where, as usual, four empty bedrolls and a barely smoldering campfire greeted me.

  They had better get their schedules synced up, I thought glumly as I stoked the fire and got ready for another night alone. Well, alone with my dog.

  As confused and angry as I was about being stuck in this stupid fucking game, I was eternally grateful I wasn’t truly alone. The mercy of having my dog was the only thing that kept me going on nights like this.