“Alf isn’t the reason you are covered in blood,” Kaylie defended me. “Both of you did that. That’s what you get for complaining so loudly. We would have walked right by that animal, and he wouldn’t have attacked if you hadn’t been so loud. It serves you right.”

  “Even if it was both of us, he should be the one painted in blood. I mean, he didn’t even help in the battle,” Jack argued.

  “He tried,” Kaylie pacified.

  “That’s the problem. He tries but sucks at everything. Unless he is sneaking up on an enemy in tight quarters, he is useless.” Jack put his hands out as if waiting for her to refute him.

  Kaylie looked at me guiltily and then back at Jack. “Come on. Just lay off him. You and I asked to come here with him.”

  “I know, but there is a high chance he is going to get us killed.”

  Jack's words hit me hard, leaving my stomach in knots. The adrenaline that had fueled me through our heated exchange and the ensuing conflict was now replaced by a wave of guilt. They could wield real magic, walk silently, and handle weapons. Yet, they were stuck with me out of a misplaced sense of obligation on their part. What did they stand to gain? A chance they might die?

  With those thoughts racing through my mind, my anger dissipated into shame. Lowering my head, I walked to the beast. “Sorry, Jack,” I apologized in a dejected voice, and I meant it.

  Jack was a dick, but he was right. I didn’t belong with these people. As I looked at the ground, I could feel their eyes on me. I didn’t care. Shuffling toward the fallen beast, the only sound was the squelch of mud beneath my boots. By the time I made it over there, Jack finally spoke, “Fine. Whatever, let’s get going.” His tone was tinged with residual annoyance, yet the edge had somewhat softened.

  Eager to escape the weight of the moment, I sought refuge in distraction. "Rabbit, how much experience did I gain from that battle?" I asked, trying to shift my focus to something, anything, other than the current tension.

  “Well, you’re not going to like this. I can tell you are already in a bad mood.”

  “Just tell me,” I said surly.

  “None. I guess the universe didn’t think you contributed to the battle at all. I can understand why, but surely, it should have given you some experience from killing that grass over there with your arrow. It was just unfair,” Rabbit joked as if to cheer me up.

  Not feeling up to much else, I placed my hand on the lifeless form of the beast, tapping into my Soul Absorption ability. I may not have gotten experience from the battle, but I would at least get some from absorbing the soul. Hopefully, if I reached higher levels, I wouldn’t be so useless. It was sad to think I didn’t even land a single hit, and though I tried my best, the universe thought that too. Not that it wasn’t true, since I didn’t even distract the animal, but it was a sad realization. The other members in my team could create a whirlwind, or a fireball explosion, or kill this beast with one blow. If I came here by myself, I wouldn’t have even hit this creature with an arrow, and it would have trampled me to the ground.

  “Did I get experience points now?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “but I don’t think that is what you want to talk about. Are you doing okay?”

  “Yeah...” I hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe they are right, and I am useless.”

  “That is true,” Rabbit stated, and I hit an all-new bottom. “Hey,” he said to get my attention. “That doesn’t mean you will always be useless. You literally are days old here. These people have had a lifetime to get where they are. In a short period, you have saved several people from slavery and stolen a lifetime of riches from a powerful nation.”

  He was right. I hadn’t been here that long, and even though I had no real skills to talk about, I was able to accomplish a lot. The whole reason these people were helping me was because of my actions. They shouldn’t have helped me because of that, but I wasn’t strong yet, so I did need their help. At those words and thoughts, I made a promise to myself to get stronger so I wouldn’t be dependent on other people. I didn’t know how I would do that with my limitations, but maybe these treasures could somehow help. Perhaps there was a cool sword that would let me balance out my weakness or armor that could make me invincible. Oh, or a pet dragon. In every book and game I had ever read or played, the main character got a dragon, and that was a universal truth.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I tuned back to Rabbit as I stopped listening for a moment. “…how awesome I am.”

  “What?” I inquired, confused.

  “Were you not paying attention to how remarkable I am?”

  “Were you saying that all my accomplishments are basically because of how awesome you are, and I am just lucky to be in your presence?” I had no clue, but it was a good guess based on how the conversation ended and who Rabbit was.

  “Exactly. I’m glad someone as simple as you could understand it,” Rabbit replied smugly. In the back of my head, I knew what he was doing. He wasn’t smug by nature. He was trying to make me feel better in his own way. Oddly enough, it worked, and in that moment, I was more determined to get stronger.

  I looked at my prompt:

  You have earned 840 experience points from Level 6 Water Hippo.

  I was baffled to see that such a dangerous beast only gave 840 experience points. It could have easily killed me, yet I was at a higher level than it. I guess levels weren’t everything. It was merely a means to empower someone. It put things into perspective. After all, no matter how high a cricket's level might rise, it could not hope to defeat me.

  Lost in my thoughts and lingering over the carcass, I realized Kaylie and Jack had walked off a while ago. I assumed they were talking. Kaylie, ever the pillar of support, must find it draining constantly to be the one others lean on, yet she handled it with grace.

  Meanwhile, Sana kept me company, maybe to make sure nothing ate me. She maintained a respectful distance, offering silent support without intruding on my space. It was quite the opposite of Kaylie’s more direct approach.

  “You know where to cut it?” Sana asked.

  “Where to cut it?” I slowly asked, and then put two and two together. I continued, “Do you mean to eat? Don’t you think this is a lot of food?”

  “Sure, but you have that nifty bag of yours. Plus, you don’t want to kill something without using what nature gives,” Sana replied.

  I didn’t think about that. I had the bag, and these people lived in a forest with limited space for domesticated creatures. While Humans on Earth made animals almost an assembly-line product, here they represented not just a meal, but a survival challenge. I mentally prepared myself for what was about to come. If I couldn’t be helpful in the fight, at least I could be when carving up the animal afterward. “How do I start? I have never done this before.”

  “Never?” She stared me down with wide eyes, as if that was the craziest thing she had ever heard of. In her world, that would be true. Everyone had to kill and dress animals to eat. In my world, it was strange.

  “Never,” I reaffirmed.

  “This is going to be interesting. You should take off your clothes. Your first time is always messy and wet.”

  “What if the rest of its pack comes by?”

  “Good point.” She then walked over to the beast’s hind legs and kicked the top one. “It’s a male. Females run in packs on Hippos. The females watch the young and also protect each other. They only meet up with the males during breeding season.”

  It was sad. A male of that species would always be alone. That would suck.

  After removing my armor, Sana guided me through my first time. She drew outlines with her finger before I started, which Rabbit memorized and showed to me when I wanted to begin. I took a deep breath and surrendered to the process.

  As the blade pierced, it resisted for a beat, then gave way. "A bit more force," Sana coached. I complied, but it was evidently too hard, as she was sprayed almost immediately. “First Jack and now me,” she complained and then walked off.

  “Don’t worry. It was your first time,” Rabbit added in my head.

  With Sana gone, I realized I had to finish the task myself. It took some time, and true to Sana's word, I ended up a wet mess. The upside? Jack and Kaylie returned to find me hard at work, and the sight seemed to cheer Jack up quite a bit. Maybe it was seeing me contributing to the group or the fact that I was miserable.

  After I was finished, I washed off in a nearby pond, its presence a result of the fluctuating river levels and the high water table in the area. The mud was thick around its edges, but the water was refreshing and close by, situated near where the beast had charged us earlier. Without a towel, drying off proved challenging, especially when it came time to don my armor on still-damp skin, and dusk was quickly approaching.

  Upon returning to the group, I found Kaylie had started a fire. Together, we cooked every part of the beast, ensuring nothing was wasted. The process, from the skirmish to the final piece of meat roasted and a portion salted, spanned several hours. We ate modestly, storing the majority of the food in my magical bag. I had assumed we'd camp nearby given how tired I was, yet to my surprise, everyone else began packing up, readying to depart. I followed them, knowing I was the clueless one here.

  Walking beside Kaylie, I inquired, "Where are we headed?"

  "To set up camp for the night."

  "Yeah, but where exactly? Why not just camp here?" I pressed.

  "Out here, in the mud? And if the river rises, then what? We'd be soaked and stuck. Plus, the trees can give us some cover. Animals around here aren’t too clever, and we can use that to our advantage. Seems like there's a lot you don’t know," Kaylie explained, her tone kind but carrying a hint that I needed to learn fast or there would be more problems.

  "That's what I've been saying," Rabbit piped up in my head, siding with Kaylie.

  "Yeah, I get it,” I replied to both of them. Rabbit had been nagging me about going through Sophia's books, but who had the time? I had been too busy surviving this whole time.

  Once we reached the trees, we didn’t wander far before deciding to make camp. I thought about cracking open my books, but I knew Jack would freak if I pulled out a light stick. So, like everyone else, I settled down to sleep.

  Lying there, I stared up into the night. Two moons appeared like a pair of bright eyes against the black canvas. One was a deep red while the other was a brilliant blue, and both were almost entirely full. They were beautiful. Even as I closed my eyes, the image of the moons was etched in my mind until I drifted off to sleep.