When I felt Sarah moving from my back I stood up once more, scratching my cheek as I spoke once more. “Well, I’ll wait on the other side till you’re done.” As I stepped into the flames, I heard Alice calling out from behind.

“You can stay if you want!”

I felt my nerves twitch slightly. I swear this girl… As I came out on the other side, I felt the soldiers look at me, though the look in their eyes couldn’t be anymore different. One looked at me with sparkling eyes full of respect and envy, the other instead looked at me doubtful, questioningly.

“Haaa…” I sighed as I walked over to them, sitting down next to them. “I swear I didn’t lay a finger on them.”

“Sure thing man.” He slapped me on the back, laughing as he did so. Clearly, he doesn’t believe me.

The other instead muttered while shaking his head. “I hope that you say the truth. Towards such a little girl…”

This one doesn’t either…

“You know, before I got married, I also tried my hands at it, but I just couldn’t find two women willing for it.”

Please, hurry up and come over before I burn these two to regain my peace of mind.

Little by little he began to talk about their escapades of his youth. It just felt surreal, hearing about things he referenced to timely events, seemingly happening a few years ago, while it all seemed like a lifetime ago to me.

In between I learned the names of the two. The one who talked like a waterfall was called James, while the silently grimacing man was Paul. Childhood friends who entered the military together.

As he talked about their circumstances he probed for mine, making me have to thing about vague answers to satisfy his curiosity.

“So, what’s the deal with that fire?” When he asked about it his friends’ curiosity was also sparked.

“Just something I got while leveling. You’re familiar with the system I presume.”

“Yes.” His look turned sullen. “Ever since it appeared all these monsters came. Many soldiers died already and even more civilians.” Then he stopped, pressing his lips together.

When his friend turned silent Paul stepped into the talk. “It’s not like the monsters were the only ones. There was someone else fighting against us.”

“Paul, don’t.” James pushed his hand out, trying to stop him.

“I have to.” At his words James lowered his hand, turning silent once more. “There were reports of a humanoid creature, covered in flames attacking soldiers. While it didn’t harm them directly it took their means of defense, leaving some of them to die at the hands of the monster. Seeing how you tried to protect these two girls I recon you’re not our enemy, but…”

I couldn’t help it, I just had to at his words. I broke out in a maniacal laughter, making him grimace.

“Hahahaha! That’s just typical!” I forced myself to stop laughing when I saw their faces turning darker. “I guess these ‘reports’ didn’t state that they shot at me before I even said anything. Nor that I advised them to stop relying on their guns as they would turn useless soon enough.”

His expression turned into one of stupor.

“Guessed right, didn’t I? Did you ever stop to think about what the system could do?”

“Make you stronger. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Now it was my turn to fall in stupor. Could the military really be this stupid? “Have you ever tried to use the skills you got from your job?”

“Why should we use them if we got guns?”

I couldn’t help but berate them. “After a few hours I already had the powers to stop a bullet. A day into it I could have stopped a tank if I wanted.”

“It’s not like anybody is blessed with a special gift.”

“Did you really think that we are this strong because we’re blessed?” My tone turned colder, stopping him from answering. “We are fighting. Day by day. Hour by hour. This is the strength we got after fighting for our lives.”

I’ve had enough of this talk. I let myself fall backwards, the sand rustling beneath my back as I looked up towards the dark clouds.

Besides me I heard James speaking sullenly. “Sorry about that. We lost many friends since this all began.”

 

Finally, Alice called out from the other side, telling me to make the fire disappear. As it died down, I raised my upper body, allowing me to look towards the two at them. They stepped nearer, the changes in their bodies now fully visible.

Both of them had their hair set aflame in the same way I did, though Alice’s turned from a light brown towards a bright red while Sarah’s stayed a light blond. Flames flickered from their bodies, copying the color of their hair.

Alice wore a bright top, pulled over her shoulder to reveal the stab wound beneath. But instead of the visible hole there was fire, flickering out of it to twist upwards. Sarah instead didn’t show much difference at first, coming up shyly as she held her hands behind her back.

When they stopped before us Alice twirled around, showcasing her new look, before she grabbed Sarah and pulled her in front of her, the suddenness making her fiddle through the air with her arms as she tried to regain her balance, letting one see bright flames flowing from her fingernails.

“What do you think about your priestesses?”

I opened my mouth speechless, thinking about any possible answer or even reason for this situation. But before I could even say anything another mental jab struck out from behind.

“Damn, he even got them into roleplay.”

I couldn’t help but hold my hand at my temple, shaking my head as I unconsciously created a spell circle behind me. But before I could finish it my hand was pulled away, followed by a finger lifting up my chin. Coming face to face with Alice she grinned at me.

“Speechless? That’s no good.” Then she twisted my head towards Sarah, still standing where she pushed her seconds before. “Come on, she’s waiting too.”

I didn’t know how I could turn this situation around, defusing it without letting them down. So I let out the only words which wouldn’t end in a catastrophe. “You two look beautiful.”

She blushed a little, turning around to Sarah to give her a high five. “Yaaay.”

 

We crossed the water once more, trudging over a small bridge of ice. I felt a headache coming once more, though this one was much more bearable as I didn’t have to freeze the entire area. Quickly we managed to arrive on the other side once more.

I looked towards the eye of the storm, turning away from it to face the direction we needed to walk towards. “The gate should be somewhere in that direction.” Before the soldiers could say anything, I walked forward, Alice and Sarah stepping up right behind me.

Having noticed the strange atmosphere the two didn’t ask many questions, instead opting to fight against the monsters that came our way to test out their new skills.

At first a couple of cranes attacked us. Pulling out her bow Sarah grabbed an arrow she made on the way. She nocked it on the string and started to pull, before the fire from her nails flowed onto the arrow, covering it. As she let go it flew forward, striking one crane cleanly before the flames shot outward, exploding, and dragging the second one down with it.

I was astonished at the power of her strike, but the mana I felt being used made it probable that she couldn’t use it more than a couple of times.

Alice instead opted on a one hit one kill strike as we came across a group of these crocodile-like monsters she once tested her skill against. But opposed to rushing forwards she stopped a fair distance away, pulling her sword back and gathered winds around her. As she struck out the flames shot down her arm over the blade before being carried with the wind.

What was left were charred remains as the fire passed anything in the way of her sword, traveling over a hundred feet. It left nothing behind, though she breathed heavily afterwards, having to rest for a few minutes.

After walking for a few hours, we saw a glint in the distance. Getting nearer we stumbled across a company of soldiers guarding it.

“Stop right there!” Quick as always, they pointed their guns at me. But before I had to react the two soldiers behind me stepped forwards.

“It’s alright, they aren’t enemies.”

Seeing a comrade, they turned skeptical before listening to him as they pointed their muzzles down. Not that they bothered to pull the safety back in case they still needed to shoot at us. While Paul went forward to talk to them, James came back to us.

“I don’t believe I could ask you to come with us?”

“To end in a prison? Or as an experimental subject, no way.”

“That’s…!” He wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t. “I understand. At least let me thank you for saving the two of us.” He stretched his hand outwards.

I grabbed his hand, shaking it. “Though it were these two that wanted it.”

“Doesn’t change that you helped.” He grinned before he turned to my comrades, thanking them too.

“Well, it’s time to go.” I saw the soldiers behind him get agitated.

“Take this, yours barely holds on anymore.” He slung down his backpack, holding it out to me.

I grabbed it, pulling it over my shoulder before I turned around to step into the swamp once more. Behind me I could hear the clicking of metal once more.

“Stay still civilian! You’re coming with us.”

“Commander!” James called out.

“Stand down soldier!”

Hahaha… “Hahahaha!”

“Hands in the air demon!”

I turned around, grinning at the soldiers as I formed a circle. “And what if I don’t?” Before he had a chance to shout his next command, I summoned a Firewall, separating them from us. “Guess that’s our clue to get out of here girls.”

As we ran I heard James shout out behind us. “I will change their view about you and the system!”