Freya prepared to leave Einskin early the next morning.

Shaman Calaren walked her to the edge of town, talking the entire time. 

“The mayor wants to build a fountain in the middle of town, but he hasn’t been able to get any wizards to write the runes for it. I told him we should just build a mechanical or gravity one. I heard they’re actually pretty easy to build. Isn’t it better to not rely on wizards?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Freya said, not listening up until the point he mentioned not trusting wizards.

“Oh, that’s right!” Shaman Calaren continued excitedly. “Have you heard about the demoniclasts that found a troll in Kypro?”

“Really? A troll?”

“Yep, it’s true. They brought back a toenail from it. I heard some shamans in Kypro verified it was a troll.”

Freya chewed her lip. She wondered if the incident was game-related. First orcs and now trolls–she wasn’t sure which was worse. Both were long believed to be gone from the continent. 

Shaman Calaren backpedaled a little after seeing Freya’s worried expression, “ Well, Kypro is far from here. And they have a lot of uninhabited forests. Maybe they actually killed the last living troll!”

“Maybe.”

Massaging her temple, she made a mental note to ask Infamous Biscuit or Heilong about the incident. There was still too much she didn’t understand about this game, from extinct monster appearances to minor things like the game’s supposed goal. If only she had more information.

Then a thought crossed her mind. She blinked twice at Shaman Calaren. 

“Have you ever heard about ‘pieces of sonder’?”

He was the nosey type. When they first met six years ago, he somehow already knew her whole life’s story. Perhaps his encyclopedia of gossip had picked up something…

“Hm, ‘sonder’? That does sound familiar. Oh, yes! I remember! I was talking to Miss Silvia outside her cafe when I overheard two ladies talking about pieces of sonder.”

“What did they look like? What did they say?”

Shaman Calaren grinned at her interest. He gestured dramatically as he explained, “They looked like ordinary people, but they said some crazy things. They kept talking about how some sonder pieces could be linking different worlds together! One of them thought bringing all the pieces together could form a magic gate! Crazy right?”

Freya clutched her shaman’s staff, her heartbeat echoing in her head.

“I thought they might be from a cult or something, but they seemed quite normal,” Shaman Calaren continued scratching his chin. “They also kept saying something about how the pieces were not a part of a game. I didn’t understand that part. Well, none of it made sense.”

…

Outside Einskin, Freya sat on a fallen log and looked at the vial in her hand.

[Shakyisyani]

[Item Class: Piece of Sonder]

[Super condensed water. Just a sip and you’ll be completely hydrated!]

Since receiving the item in the desert, she hadn’t thought much about it. Infamous Biscuit said the game’s goal was to collect pieces of sonder, but she didn’t care about reaching that goal. To her, there was no point.

Still, they must be important if the point of the game was to collect them. If the gossip was true, she needed to investigate more. She considered if Shaman Calaren lied or exaggerated, but his mention of a game made her believe him. 

 

She shook her head. Putting the piece of sonder back into her inventory, she stood and continued on her way back home. She thought about fast-traveling but decided to take the time to enjoy nature and collect some herbs.

Wandering off the path into the denser forest, Freya searched for lachen mushrooms. They liked to grow in the damp dead leaves of the forest floor. Once dried and ground up, they were useful for reducing swelling. Taking note of her surroundings, she continued further and further off the road. The shade from the old-growth trees looked like the perfect spot for mushrooms to grow. She spotted a large patch of lachen mushrooms growing under a chestnut tree. She started walking towards them.

Beep!

[Now Entering: A Little Nutty Practice Field]

Squeak! Kuk! Kuk!

Covering her ears from the high pitched noise, Freya looked up to the source of the noise, “What the heck is making that sound?”

Squeak! Squeak! Kuk!

A gigantic squirrel flew down.

Barely dodging, she rolled out of the way.

The squirrel’s black beady eyes stared in her direction. Standing up, the demon overshadowed Freya. Its tail alone stood taller than her.

[Greater Chestnut Squirrel]

[Lvl 14] [600/600]

It lashed its fluffy tail and screeched, Kuk! Kuk! Kuk! 

Freya slowly backed up. She was at level 15; theoretically, she should win in a fight. But she wasn’t sure if this squirrel was the only creature in the practice field. Best to get out of the practice field boundaries. Hopefully, the squirrel would lose interest in her if she moved outside.

Retreating to where she got the notification, the squirrel still chattered at her. It moved closer and closer with each step Freya took back.

Then it charged.

Freya reflexively punched.

“Ouch!”

The squirrel dodged her punch and latched onto her forearm, driving it’s sharp teeth in.

She kicked upwards, sending her Shockwave skill up through the animal.

It let go. Freya cradled her arm. Blood dripped down onto the forest floor.

Momentarily stunned, the squirrel stumbled.

Activating her punching skill, she kept punching until it recovered. Next, she tried her Sweeping Kick. It didn’t work; four-legged animals were difficult to knockdown–but it did deal damage. 

The squirrel shook its whole body then let out an ear-piercing, SQUEAK!

It charged again.

This time Freya prepared for the attack with her Hit Redirect. It barely connected. Panicking a bit, she didn’t notice the squirrel was ready to attack again.

The squirrel pounced forward. Biting down onto Freya’s upper arm, it shook its head.

Flesh tore off.

Head swimming in pain, Freya didn’t look at her arm. She looked at her health.

[30/350 HP] 

“Self Healing,” she said weakly.

Her wound tingled as it started to close. She looked at her left arm. A good chunk of her bicep and shoulder muscles were gone. The muscle loss made her arm unmovable. At least she didn’t lose her whole arm. The bleeding slowed but didn’t stop. 

[135/350 HP]

Struggling to focus her vision, Freya knew she had to change strategies. The squirrel looked momentarily satisfied eating a chunk of her arm, but its eyes still followed her. She couldn’t let it take another bite. But what could she do? Running might be the best, but with that squirrel’s speed? Then, stand and fight?

Quickly taking the healing and strength potions out of her inventory, she uncorked and chugged them. 

Then Freya charged.

The squirrel twitched back from her, but Freya still landed a Shockwave hit. She kept punching with her right arm, using every bit of strength left.

Annoyed by her punches, the demon retreated up a tree. On a high branch, it turned around to face Freya again, lashing its tail in anger.

Kuk! Kuk!

Freya braced herself to dodge the next attack. She felt lopsided with her left arm not moving. But she had to redirect its next bite away. She could not take another one.

It jumped from the tree and charged.

Concentrating, she held her ground. Then, something flashed by, knocking the squirrel to the side. An ax stuck out of its shoulder.

A man in armor ran up to the squirrel and yanked the ax out. Wielding two large axes, he swung at the squirrel. Before the axes landed, the squirrel scampered away. 

With his back to her, he said in a quiet voice, “Sorry for interfering. The fight drew me.”

“No, thank you for helping,” Freya said, clutching her arm.

Above his head, a green box read:

[K13]

[Lvl 15 Berserker]

Freya blinked. The man playing the violin yesterday?

She wouldn’t have recognized him with his bulky chest armor and helmet. Interestingly though, he wasn’t any armor below his waist.

“Are you a tank?” Freya asked, unsure if this was a normal question to ask, but the situation called for it.

K13 nodded, “Yes.”

“If you can hold its attention, I can still land some hits.”

“Okay.”

Both K13 and the squirrel charged each other. The ax hit must have aggroed it to K13.

Freya snuck to the side as the two exchanged blows. The squirrel blocked some of K13’s hits with its arms, but it lost a fair amount of blood from cuts.

Getting a running start, she punched with her Shockwave skill.

The squirrel stumbled. 

K13 buried his axes into the squirrel.

Poof!