The world is but a canvas to our runes of imagination.

  ~ Henry David Thoreau

  Sarah appeared in a forest clearing carpeted in low grass, surrounded by thick woods on all sides. It was night, the sky pitch black with no stars, but a full moon bathed the scene in a soft, silver light. A stream bubbled past on her left, and a gentle breeze caressed her face, bringing the scents of grass and pine and wild outdoor places.

  She shivered, despite the temperature remaining balmy. She was more a city girl. Getting dropped into the middle of the wilderness made her even more nervous in its own way than getting dropped into the challenge dungeon.

  This forest felt different, wild and primal, as if no human had ever walked within miles of where she stood. Hopefully the next tutorial course would go quickly so she could get home. The sight of a new message box popping up in front of her was a relief.

  Runes can provide great benefits to those who learn to wield them well, but there are risks inherent in every form of power. Additionally, some will always seek to dominate, destroy, and twist power to evil purposes. Should you oppose their plans, you too would become the target of their depravity.

  Kind of dark, but also reassuring that the path seemed to frown upon evil uses of its power. That suggested it was somehow different from the terrifying Mai Luan, who definitely qualified as one who sought to dominate.

  Instead of displaying evil runes, if there was such a thing, or an evil dictator like Darth Vader, a large tabby house cat popped into existence on the opposite side of the clearing, facing her.

  Sarah started to smile, but then a symbol flashed on the cat's fur, just like the runes had on the competitors in the stadium. She could not make out exactly what the cat’s symbol looked like, though.

  The cat’s back arched and it hissed, then yowled, the sound a mixture of anger and pain as its body convulsed and grew larger. It was not a smooth process, but legs, back, and head each swelled in turn in a jerky fashion that resulted in it growing to triple its previous size.

  Its eyes began to glow with a bright amber light, and when it hissed again, it sounded more like a puma. It bared fangs that looked too numerous and too long to fit inside its jaw.

  “Whoa,” Sarah exclaimed, taking a startled step back, her eyes locked on the cat-turned-monster. Another message box popped up, making her jump.

  Many legends of monsters and creatures that prowl the night started from the twisted experiments of those seeking to transform life to fit their grotesque needs.

  “What is that thing?” Sarah whispered.

  Instead of answering, the cat disappeared, replaced by a montage of other monstrous creatures. A lizard the size of a horse, a long, lean skeletal dog, a bizarre giant crab thing the size of a car, with four additional long tentacles waving over its huge body, and a lion with oversized sweeping horns of a mountain goat.

  Somewhere on each of the monsters flashed a symbol, suggesting that each was the twisted result of experimentations with runes gone bad. Sarah never saw the symbols clearly, as if the path did not actually want to teach her runes to produce such monsters.

  That was a relief. If the path had set her up to create monsters, she would have had to find a way out. Evil Overlord was not something she was ever going to add to her resume.

  After the last monster disappeared, another message box took its place.

  On the path to greater power, you will face many dangers. Learning to assess a threat and respond appropriately with speed is a vital skill to develop. Initiating active training mode.

  “I do not like the sound of this,” Sarah muttered, taking another nervous step back, glancing around for an exit, but seeing nothing but unbroken, dark forest.

  The first oversized cat monster appeared again, thirty feet away, hissing at her and crouching to spring. Another message box appeared.

  You have three seconds to choose a symbol to temporarily strengthen one of your stats to assist in defending yourself.

  “Hey! I can't fight a cat with my bare hands,” Sarah exclaimed, worry replacing her previous excitement about learning rune symbols.

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  Several symbols that she recognized from the classroom whiteboard appeared hovering in the air in front of her, glowing faintly blue. The system was really serious.

  It was going to make her fight this monster. On the other side of the clearing, the cat hissed again, its tail lashing side to side as it prepared to pounce.

  Sarah's thoughts raced as fast as her heart as she scanned the symbols, trying to come up with some kind of a plan. What stat would help her the most?

  Agility might help her dodge, but extra Strength might give her the power to punch it and knock it out. Then again, Toughness might improve her defense and help her stay alive. She had no idea what Willpower might do to help.

  The glowing symbols started to flash, punctuating her quickly disappearing timer. If she did not make a choice, she would end up with no boost to any stat. So she focused on the leaping hare and made her choice.

  “Agility!”

  Agility was already a lot higher than any of her other stats, so an additional boost should give her a big advantage. That was the plan, anyway.

  All of the other symbols disappeared, while the leaping hare flashed one more time, then swept forward and splashed against her stomach. Instantly, a wave of power flowed through her, infusing every muscle with the need to move.

  Half a heartbeat later, the monster cat leaped into motion, crossing half the distance to her in a single bound. It hurtled toward her, roaring like a lion as it charged, the magic symbol blazing like white fire through the fur of its chest.

  Despite its speed, Sarah tracked its movement easily and jumped to the side with a nimbleness far beyond anything she'd ever felt.

  The cat missed her by several inches, its long claws gouging furrows in the soft grass as it turned to chase her again. Without pause, it leaped again, huge jaws gaping wide to bite her with all those long teeth.

  Sarah threw herself backward into a reverse somersault, tumbling three times before landing and sliding several feet through the grass, barely avoiding the crushing power of those jaws. The cat pursued, chasing her with relentless fury and startling speed, but Sarah managed to stay just ahead of it.

  Jumping, dodging, and throwing herself into acrobatic tumbles, she escaped death by inches again and again. She panted with the effort, every muscle tuned to the challenge, cold fear mixing with a white-hot thrill like nothing she’d ever felt before. Playing tag with a monster was terrifying, but also exhilarating.

  Still, how long could she keep ahead of it before it caught her in its teeth or with one of those swiping paws? She didn't want to wait to find out, so took a chance and reversed her movement suddenly, closing on the cat after dodging one of its sweeping paws. Lunging in close, she punched it in the ribs with all her strength.

  It felt like punching a soft, furry steel bar. Her hand ached from the impact, but she did knock the cat stumbling several quick steps away. It spun to face her again, roaring like an angry tiger. Then it froze, and yet another message box popped up.

  Strong defense is vital, as is determining your opponent's weakness. Choose the best tool to aid your combat.

  That was more like it. Several items appeared hanging in the air in front of her, but Sarah's initial flash of hope faded to annoyance. The system did not offer her a shotgun or a .45 caliber pistol, or even a giant cat cage.

  Instead, she got to choose between a series of different knives, their blades ranging in shape and length, from a tiny, curved blade with a finger ring on the end of the handle, to what looked like a short sword.

  Who fought giant cats with knives? That was insane, but Sarah was not about to miss the chance to grab a weapon, any weapon. Her first instinct was to snatch the sword. A longer weapon meant longer reach, but the cat’s claw-tipped arms would still be longer than what she could fend off. Besides, she had no idea how to wield a sword.

  In that frozen split second as she hesitated, scanning the available blades, the indistinct symbol blazing on the cat's chest flared again, drawing Sarah's gaze. She got a crazy idea and snatched a medium-sized knife with a single, slightly-curved edge to it.

  As soon as her fingers wrapped around the handle, the cat unfroze and pounced at her again, its long claws extended, mouth gaping. This time, instead dodging, Sarah dove straight forward.

  Terror and exhilaration both flared through her and she could not help screaming a wordless battle cry as she dove between the sweeping, deadly paws and right below the snapping jaws.

  Just before she struck the ground, she slashed with the knife at the huge, furry body hurtling inches above her. The blade tore through the middle of the blazing, incandescent symbol still concealed within the fur of the monster’s chest.

  Fur and symbol and skin all parted under the steel of her blade, and the symbol seemed to explode. Shards of white lightning rippled across the giant cat's huge body. It convulsed in midair, crashing to the ground and rolling as its body shrank before Sarah's eyes.

  “Yes!” She exalted, pumping her knife hand into the air.

  The memory of Mai Luan's body accidentally smudging some of her own runes and unleashing that explosion in the vault had given her the idea to try attacking the symbol instead of trying to directly kill the monster. She allowed herself a self-satisfied smile when the next message box popped up.

  Success. Sometimes removing the source of power is the most effective way to defeat a rune-enhanced enemy. It is not always possible, or the only way to succeed, however.

  “Should be enough for tonight, right?” Sarah tried.

  No luck. The giant cat disappeared, replaced by that weird, giant crab tentacle thing. Sarah glanced down at her little knife and grimaced. This was where having a grenade would work better.

  Again, she was given the option to select a symbol to boost a stat. Her previous super-enhanced Agility faded away, and she felt the loss deeply. She did not actually see the symbol that empowered the crab, so getting in close enough to cut the enormous monster seemed foolish.

  So she again chose the symbol of the leaping hare. Once more, that rush of additional Agility flooded through her, making her limbs light and boosting her speed and confidence.

  “Let's dance,” She grinned, and charged straight at the monster.

  That proved to be a mistake. Despite being so huge, the crab monster was extremely nimble. It could move in any direction, although its huge, grasping claws swept toward her in ponderous arcs that she could easily avoid.

  The tentacles were a different story altogether. They snapped out like whips, stretching farther than she expected, and one of them wrapped around her waist. She shrieked in disgust and managed to slash it in half with the knife, but by then two more tentacles had seized her by an arm and a leg.

  She struggled mightily, screaming in panic, but before she could cut herself free, the two tentacles yanked her off her feet and flung toward the the crab mouth. It opened way bigger than should have been possible, and Sarah was shoved inside.

  No no no no no. This cannot be happening!

  She slammed her blade into the top of the creature’s mouth, but the angle was awkward, and she lacked enough strength to force it through the armor-like bony plate. The enormous jaws slammed shut and crunched through her body with ease.