“Okay, we still have some time before the event begins,” Infamous Biscuit explained. “I heard it’s a pretty simple dungeon for druids, so I should be able to do it myself. Still, it might be good for you to watch. But first things first, take this life. It’s dangerous to go into a dungeon without an extra life.”

Freya took the glass shard handed to her. Slightly larger than her hand, its rough edges grated her fingertips. Her palm appeared magnified through the thick hazy glass.

“What is-?”

A small box with words popped up above the object.

[Life Shard]

“It’s a life. As long as you have an extra life, you’ll respawn at the nearest town center if you die.”

“With this, you can resurrect yourself?!”

“Hm, yeah I guess that’s one way of putting it. Anyway, put it in your inventory.”

“What?” Freya had gotten tired of hearing herself say that. Her unconscious mind was still screaming it too. What was going on with this whole situation?

“Like this: Inventory!” Infamous Biscuit said while miming opening a door.

When Freya tried it she saw translucent shelves hovering in front of her. Reaching out, she tried to touch the shelving, but her hand met nothing.

“Don’t worry, they’ll hold objects,” he said, noticing Freya waving her hands through thin air. 

Doubtful, Freya carefully lowered the glass shard onto one of the shelves. Surprisingly she felt and heard it set down with a solid clink. Once she let go of it, the life shard dulled in color, matching the same filtered appearance of the shelves. 

“Second things second, let’s party up.”

Infamous Biscuit walked her through the process. Freya saw his stats show up below hers in the corner of her vision. She also noticed the odd sensation Infamous Biscuit explained was part of the ‘party system.’ Like the touch of someone running a finger down her arm, she could always feel exactly where he was in relation to her. He said it worked in a 50-meter radius and would be extremely useful in battle. It was a bit bothersome, like sensing a nagging bug, yet also comforting.

“Alright, third things third. You should choose a class.”

~~~

Freya watched the unloading of crates. Above each dockworker’s head hovered a grey box with text inside. She read the text of one of the nearby workers.

[Lif Divis]

[Lvl 8 Dockworker]

The man scowled at her, but said nothing.

She and Infamous Biscuit stood right in the way of the dockworkers unloading their cargo. She followed his example of ignoring their glares. He had a commanding presence with a large staff he pulled out of his inventory and his height.

Looking at his staff, Freya remembered her own shaman staff. She hoped she would be able to find it back at Azer’s house later. If she ever got out of this mess.

As her mind continued to wander, she thought about the ‘class’ she had chosen. Infamous Biscuit explained it was sort of like a profession, but just by choosing it she would gain knowledge and affinity for that profession. He questioned her pick, but Freya had no regrets about her choice of class.

A crate burst open, shaking Freya of her thoughts. Wood fragments flew everywhere.

Out of the crate, crept a single green vine.

Infamous Biscuit rushed towards it. All the dockworkers looked at the crate, confused about the commotion.

“Please move away from the ship!” Freya shouted.

More vines snaked out the crate, twisting and grasping the air. Finally, they gripped the sides of the container and raised the creature’s main body. At its center, a large bristly brown pinecone puffed out its scales. Multiple thick vine arms grew out between the scale pieces.

Above the demon, Freya saw more of that strange text:

[Baby Vine-Pine]

[Lvl 8] [50/50 HP]

 A vine-pine! Freya had never seen one, but she heard her shaman master talk about them. They lived in the far northern mountains of Cikris. The babies were actually the most dangerous. Adult vine-pines looked like typical pine trees. The large pinecones they grew would fall to the ground and could remain dormant for months. Once awakened, the pinecones grew vines and would start an unrelenting search to find a good home. During this process, they killed any living creature they found. 

Freya thought her master was making up this demon. A half pine, half vine creature seemed comical to her at the time. It was much more intimidating in person. 

The baby vine-pine curled in its appendages. It slinked up to the top of the crates, its vines effortlessly clinging to the vertical wall of cargo boxes.

Once at the top, it slapped down a vine.

 Infamous Biscuit sidestepped it with ease, but the ship’s deck splintered, leaving a gaping hole.

The sight of the damage made Freya’s heart race. 

Rushing towards him, she dug in her messenger bag. She didn’t have her staff, but she could at least throw a stunning potion or something to distract it.

The creature slowly recoiled its extended vine, then shifted to shoot out another.

This time Infamous Biscuit didn’t dodge. He stood with one arm outstretched towards the baby vine-pine.

The long vine stopped a foot from him. The spindly extension shook. Not wasting any time he charged towards its main body. In the same instant, the monster jerkily moved down from its place on top of the mountain of crates.

Once in range, Infamous Biscuit hit its pinecone body with his staff, crushing down its scales. The vine-pine whipped an arm behind him, but he stopped it with the same mysterious control as before. Keeping focused on its main body, the druid flattened its front half with a full swing strike. 

Curling black smoke leaked out of the crushed demon. With one more hit, it poofed into a black mist.

“Be careful. There’s probably more.” Infamous Biscuit said, running towards the original box the baby vine-pine came from.

A box exploded next to Freya. 

She shielded her face from the wood shrapnel. Another green vine emerged. 

Freya slowly backed away. At the other end of the ship near Infamous Biscuit, a third vine-pine smashed its way out of a crate.

Faced with the threat, Freya started to gather energy to put into her shaman staff, only to remember she didn’t have it.

A vine shot towards her.

Her automatic instinct kicked in, swatting the vine away. Unable to keep focused, she also released her energy–coursing it through the slap. 

The vine flung back.

[New Skill Realized!]

 [Shockwave]

 [ →  Lvl 1 ]

Freya looked at the text in confusion and then froze as an odd sensation swept over her mind. What new curse was this? It felt like she knew this action. She knew it so well, but she had never done anything like that before! It was like what she did with her shaman’s staff to exorcise demons but just with her bare hand! The sensation was kind of creepy, but Freya had to admit it was also a bit exciting…

Ouch!

Freya clutched her shoulder. Not amused by her new skill, the vine-pine continued its attack.

Dodging its next vine slap, she braced to use her new skill again. As if sensing her new mindset, the vine-pine scurried higher up the crates. Frustrated that it didn’t want to fight now, Freya climbed to get closer.

Eventually, the vine-pine ran out of crates to climb. Rounding to face her, it lashed out a vine. Freya mimicked her previous actions. The movement came naturally to her. The vine flew back.

This time Freya noticed the vine she hit sustained some damage. The vine-pine didn’t use that appendage to hit her again, but it had plenty to spare.

Standing her ground, Freya prepared to block the next vine.

“Heal!”

Infamous Biscuit had his staff pointed at her. A tingling sensation ran through Freya’s shoulder, and a faint green light surrounded her.

Freya had many doubts when this strange man she just met said he could heal her instantly. But it seemed his words were true. 

Slapping away another vine, a circle flashed in the bottom of her vision along with text.

[Skill in cooldown]

Before she could comprehend the message, another vine whipped down at her. Again, her instinct took over and she paired the strike, but the vine didn’t sustain any damage. 

Bracing to go on the defensive, she noticed a wisp of smoke behind on the other side of the galleon. Infamous Biscuit ran towards her. Once close enough, he extended an arm out at the vine-pine.

The creature quelled under his spell. 

“Try to hit its center!” Infamous Biscuit barked.

Freya blinked. Climbing up another crate to get closer, she looked at the vine-pine’s pinecone core. Despite her new technique not working before, she sensed it could now. Instead of a slap, a punch seemed more appropriate. 

Gathering her energy she punched. Her fist smashed down the pinecone scales, then released her energy through the creature. The vine-pine shuddered. With one more punch it turned to smoke. 

“Interesting skill,” Infamous Biscuit commented.

“I was trying to defend myself, but something happened. There were some words that said it was called Shockwave or something.”

“Cool. I’ve never heard of that skill before. Maybe it’s unique to your class.” 

Infamous Biscuit suddenly started laughing.

Freya gave him a look.

“It's cool, but I never thought you would choose that class.”

Freya frowned, “You said to choose a class you think is fun.”

“Yeah, and most people choose to be wizards or knights.”

“Well, I don’t have much respect for wizards. It would be cool to be a knight or–what was it? A samurai? But they still rely on swords. The martial artist description said you could use your own fists and feet to take down an enemy. That sounds much more cool!”

---

~Info Corner~

Class Descriptions:

[Martial Artist]

[Suitability: DPS]

[Traveling down the path of a martial artist gains one full control of both body and mind. Martial artists excel at unarmed combat. They don't need a weapon to win a fight!]

[Innate Skills: Light Jab Heavy Straight, Sweeping Kick, Self-Heal]