Walking sucks sometimes.

I had been walking in a straight line for a number of days now. Just me, my thoughts, and Psyche for company. I didn’t mind that last bit so much though, and we talked for hours daily.

When I was alive on Earth, I used to love walking. I still do, don’t get me wrong, but walking alone at night when I want to and enjoying the silence is a very different thing to walking through forests and fields, stumbling over logs, and ducking under branches.

Despite the long, arduous journey, there still remained a quiet beauty in walking, the whisper of leaves beneath my feet and the rustle of wind through the trees comforting me as I walked quietly through the sunbeams dancing through the leaves. With Psyche in my mind to talk to, even the longest stretches of road felt less daunting, imbued with a sense of companionship that eased the burden of solitude. Gone were the days on Earth when I simply lived for myself and my animals, and now I don't think I could ever be truly alone again like I was then.

My days were consumed by walking, interspersed with brief points where I ate. I didn’t exactly have to though, due to being a cluster of butterflies I found that I apparently got my sustenance mostly from the sugary nectar of flowers I touched, but I found that I still enjoyed eating when I could.

I ate only vegetarian food, something else that changed from my old life. When I saw a dead animal, I felt no urge to eat it, certainly not. I also instinctively knew that even if I were to cook it and eat it cooked, I would absolutely despise it. I wondered about this, but Psyche explained to me that it was because of my new nature. Which seemed pretty understandable to me.

It was no great loss anyway, I found. It's not like I missed it or anything, and I was more than happy eating the plants Psyche pointed out to me. It seemed she always knew what plants were edible or not, and if she didn’t know, Identify certainly helped, giving me an idea of what plants were safe for me to eat or not.

In the entire time that I walked, it was just Psyche, me, and the animals that I sometimes saw along the way. This world, which Psyche told me was called Caladias, seemed to have much the same in the way of flora and fauna to earth. I saw deer, possums, birds of all colors, as well as bigger animals such as wolves and even bears. I stayed far away from those last two.

While I walked, I kept my eyes out for signs of civilization. While Psyche was a useful source of information regarding Caladias, she was really limited to the area around me, as apparently she could only really see the area close to and around me.

I asked her about the reason for this, and she said it had to do with her domain. Apparently, Deities could only appear in the mortal realm if there was something strong enough to hold them. Normally, this would be fine for most gods. The God of Fire apparently could appear anywhere where there was enough fire, and the Goddess of War could exist at a bloody battlefield, or at the remains of one.

The problem was, being the Goddess of the Soul, Psyche could only exist in the mortal realm if there was a strong enough soul to host her. Since there apparently wasn't, she could only interact with the fleeting souls of the dead before they were dragged away by Thanatos.

That's where I apparently come in. By making me her Avatar she prepared my body to be able to hold a huge amount of Soul. By granting me unlimited soul, she could always see near me as well as through my eyes. Due to this, I basically allowed Psyche to see into the mortal realm again, and this brought her no shortage of joy.

[Woah!] she exclaimed with an almost childlike happiness, [I’d forgotten how beautiful the sun is!]

It was funny really, how much she’d changed after I’d successfully made it down to this Realm, she always seemed giddy with excitement now as it set in that we were really doing this, really seeing the world for the first time. I wondered if she felt the same as I did about it all.

I had stopped for the night, munching on some flower Psyche had pointed out, it was weird honestly, the feeling of the nectar from the plant being drawn into me and energizing me once more was a strange sensation to say the least.

[It really is amazing,] I agreed. [But why is there no moon?] I asked something that had been bothering me since I arrived.

[Caladias just doesn’t have one,] Psyche replied, [there is no Concept of the moon in this world, so no deity exists to embody one.]

I asked another thing that I had been wondering, [So how does that all work? I remember there being a moon on earth, and there being a few goddesses of that in mythology.] This was something that had been bothering me for a while.

[There are two types of deity] Psyche explained, going into detail, [there are Minor and Major deities, major ones, like myself, are universal, because our Concepts are just a fact of reality. There exists a moon on your earth because the concept of a moon exists in that dimension.] I nodded to myself, trying to understand as Psyche went on, [Because no such concept exists in some Realms or dimensions, there is no set deity to regulate the moons. The Goddess of your world would be considered a Minor Goddess.]

I sat down, back against a tree as my wings folded around my body like a sort of blanket against the cold. I had used them a few times already, and as such my [Body] stat now read 13.

Flying was a wonderful feeling. I loved the feel of the air through my hair as I fluttered about, trying to get a birds-eye view of my surroundings to hopefully make it to civilization. It was the landing that I always struggled with; however, I always managed to stumble or trip when I landed. Then I needed to stay still for a while, wings opening and closing slowly as I drew in the much needed sunlight that warmed me so much and seemed to rejuvenate my muscles.

After another week of just walking, I slowly came to realize that this world might be either much more scarcely populated than my old one, or I had just reincarnated into a much, much larger world than my old one.

I kept walking, with only Psyche in my mind to keep me entertained with jokes and stories, which she had learned from all the souls she briefly came across when they found her lonely pocket of life amongst the infinite void of Thanatos before being quickly whisked away down to the underworld.

It had been around two weeks of walking when it happened.

I had just crossed a narrow, burbling creek when I heard a weird noise. A wet squelch came from behind me. 

I turned, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting really, but it definitely wasn’t a big ball of slimy muck.

What? I asked myself as I saw it approaching somehow despite being a collection of mud, sticks, and jelly. I used Identify on the creature as it drew nearer, confused and slightly fearful of the large whatever it was.

The Identify showed me all I needed to know.

[Mud Slime, lvl 17] 

What the heck is that thing? I thought to myself, wondering if it was hostile or not, before jumping as Psyche’s panicked voice emanated in my head as the Slime came closer. [Cyn, run!] she yelled. I ran, if Psyche was telling me to run, I wasn’t going to argue. 

I took off, and as I glanced behind me, I saw that the slime also started to speed up and with no shortage of horror, I realized that the slime was closing the gap quickly. It must have had a much higher [Body] stat than mine. I couldn’t do anything, the slime was bearing down on me so quickly that I couldn’t afford to turn around.

There was only one chance I had left. Stopping briefly, I crouched low before pushing against the ground.

In desperation I took flight.

My wings beat against the air as I lifted off, feet barely clearing the slime that had just passed under me. From my position in the air, I saw it hit a tree, and when it came away from the tree, a steaming hole gaped in the wood.

I swallowed, eyes wide as I stared at the damage that the slime did. That could’ve been me. I swallowed again as Psyche started to berate me for not running when I saw the creature, whose level of 17 far dwarfed my lowly 1.

[What were you doing?!] she exclaimed, voice filled with concern, [You just stood there as it came closer and closer, you could’ve been killed!]

[I didn’t know what it was?] I told her tentatively, [I’ve never seen anything like it before.]

[Oh no,] Psyche suddenly said, her voice filled with realization and tinged with horror, [I forgot you were from Earth]

I asked her what that had to do with anything.

[Earth is one of the few places without monsters beyond their own natural fauna.] She explained, [I forgot to mention that there are monsters here that spawn with dungeons and near civilization.]

I remembered some of the books I used to read on earth, and how to level up, the protagonist always had to kill monsters to get EXP. I confirmed this with Psyche, and she told me that people did in fact have to slay monsters and other beings to level up, alternatively, they could also work, and their class, which is unlocked at Level 5, or when a being reaches the age of 15, will grant EXP.

I also learnt that every 5 levels, a new skill is unlocked, which usually relates to the recipient specifically. Some are even uniquely suited to that person, such as my Butterfly Born and Soul Immortal skills, which, along with the rest of my skills, I unlocked by default when I became the Avatar of the Soul.

All this happened when I was perched up in a tree however, still half watching the slime rampage as it struggled to find its latest prey, me. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself by using anymore skills, and I was assured that skills such as Soul blast were simply ineffective because of such a large difference in levels and my own paltry [Mind] stat.

I stayed hiding in the top branches of the tree like this until dark, listening to the slime moving beneath me. My wings were too tired from the sudden work I put them through, and so I stayed that way until the night slowly enveloped the world, and the slime left again to wherever it came from. 

I breathed in slowly, relaxing at last and taking in the night. It felt empty without the moon, but the stars seemed to provide enough light to see somewhat. I recalled the way I used to walk the streets at night, and smiled at my old self. It really took me back, the quiet night. Made me feel just like I had before, safe and content, only now I had Psyche to keep me company so that I would never really be alone again.

The feeling of nostalgia and deja vu was so deep that I thought I saw even the golden glow of the servo, and I smiled again, content with the knowledge that I would never again be defenseless like I was back then.

I was a bit confused when the light started to dance however, throwing light in the distance, where I could just slightly hear laughter in the wind. Strange, I thought to myself, the servo was quiet, and the lights came from an electric light, not a fire. It was only then that I realized I was a colossal idiot, and that that wasn't the service station, but a caravan that had just set up across the stream.

I sat up again, suddenly wide awake and shaking off the dream of me being back on Earth as I looked over the stream and saw a group of people sitting around a campfire talking amongst themselves and laughing together while sharing around some poor beast they’d killed.

Behind them sat a large wooden caravan that looked straight from a fantasy, horses even tied up to the trees next to it. It had a cloth top, and seemed to be filled with supplies. I stared on as I saw another three just like it in a row behind it, likewise filled.

My eyes grew wide as I saw the weapons. There were so many of them! Each person seemed to carry at least one killing device with them, or they had one close at hand. I counted bows and longswords and daggers and halberds! Truly this caravan was well armed! They might even be willing to protect me as I made my way to civilization! This was surely a blessing of some sort from Fate.

I remembered Psyche telling me earlier that slimes spawn near civilization and dungeons, and I’d almost forgotten it at the time due to the slight distraction of a rampaging monster beneath me, but now I cursed myself for forgetting something so important. Monsters were clearly a sign of people!

[I would have reminded you regardless] Psyche suddenly interjected, her voice warm. Startling me as my attention was focused entirely on the caravan. [Your safety is always a priority.]

[Aww, thanks a bunch,] I told her after I’d recovered from my small fright, grateful for my divine companion, [it's awesome how you look after me.]

I could sense her smile from my place in the mortal realm. [I just want to make sure you’re always alright] Psyche said.

And with that, I hopped from the tree, mindful of the slime and grateful to my Goddess, and made my way towards the first people I had seen so far in Caladias.

PurpleMonarch

From here on out I'll limit the release of the rest of chapters to a few times a week and not twice daily. I do have a backlog, but editing and writing is taking up a fair bit of my time at the moment, and pretty soon my break will have finished so I wont be able to spend as much time writing this as I'd like to.

On another note I'd like to thank you all once again for the continued support I've been getting from this community. You all are so kind and I really appreciate all the feedback and comments I've gotten. APB has reached heights I didn't dare to hope for after just two days, so I'm adding this chapter in as a bit of a bonus before I slow down the release schedule. 

Peace,
- Monarch