With a sigh, I land on the ground, surrounded by the rotting bodies of the birds I’d been punching out of the sky.

That’s one of the things that suck about fighting zombified creatures, they’re already rotting.

My wings disappear into my body with only a minimal amount of pain. I didn’t level up, unfortunately. I don’t know how much it will take for me to level up, hopefully it will happen soon.

So, uh, I may have forgotten to take off my shirt before pulling my wings out. My poor shirt now has two large holes in it.

I feel like I’ve been destroying a lot of shirts lately, I might need to go shopping again soon.

I look up at the skies, hoping to see the Dragon again, but the creature doesn’t reveal itself again while I’m looking up.

With a sigh, I bring out the compass to see where it points. Adjusting my course slightly, I continue my journey through the streets of Salt Lake.

The mountains are pretty this time of year, I remember that before the whole end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it thing, they were famous for their slopes, not that I ever got the chance to ski down them.

The city itself is a valley, surrounded by mountains on every side. The mountains themselves are covered in snow, and the cold sun shines off of them as it sets, creating a beautiful effect.

I turn my attention back to the road. The sun is setting, which means it’ll be night time soon. Should I find a place to set up camp? Or keep going?

I’m already ready for this vacation to be over with. And I want to snuggle with Rose some more.

That decides it, I’ll keep going until my eyes start to close on their own.

My imagination moves to the cuddles I want to have with Rose as I walk. Honestly, it’s bringing my mood down a little bit.

I know I should have brought her on this trip.

I’m not an idiot.

I just.... It scares me a little, the idea of something happening to her. Other Beta Testers will be here, fighting against me. And who knows what kind of horror show Salt Lake will be if this mummy guy wakes up. I know it’s selfish, but I can’t see her get hurt.

The sounds of fighting breaks me out of my reverie.

Using a skill of mine that I haven’t used in a while, I increase the circulation of the Psi in my throat chakra, breaking my thoughts out of their usual box. My mind expands around me, and I’m surprised to sense quite a few undead in the buildings next to me. As my mind reaches even further out, I touch upon a group of somethings I immediately recognize as undead, and two other beings. Both of them have rudimentary protection from my mind, but I can still sense them. Beta Testers are the only people I can think of that might be out here, or creatures similar to Kai’Lenal.

I immediately adjust my course to go around them. Usually, I’m always up for a fight, but I’m not feeling it right now.

The two of them must not have noticed me, or they didn’t care. Because they don’t comes to bother me as I continue my walk.

I continue to use my psi to avoid creatures. Pausing every once in a while to let the resource recharge.

The buzzing of my phone in my pocket surprises me, and I pull it out to see a call from my mom.

Huh, I didn’t think I had service out here. I thought the cell towers would be down.

I accept the call, putting my phone to my ear.

“Hey mom!” I say, keeping my voice chipper.

A random skeleton hears me, turning to me with a glimmer in its creepy eyes. I quickly twist my root chakra into a spell I’d been practicing. A spike erupts from the ground skewering the skeleton in its skull.

“Honey! Where have you been? You disappeared so suddenly.” Mom asks worriedly.

I wince at her tone. I may have forgotten to come up with an excuse for my parents.

Cadet: Captain! We’re in desperate need of excuses, or she’s gonna blow.

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve heard these guys.

Captain: We’ve faced this great beast many times Cadet, today isn’t the day she gets the best of us. Execute attack formation alpha; change the subject!

“I’ve been busy. Has Elizabeth told you yet?” I twist the psi in my earth chakra, killing yet another undead with a spike from the earth.

“Elly? Told me what?” Mom asks, confused by the sudden change in topic.

Captain: Any ideas Cadet?

Cadet: I’m looking through the list right now sir. First period? No, too easily disproven. Started a fire? Gets her into too much trouble. I’ve found it sir! Template three, She’s found a boyfriend. It could even be true sir.

Captain: Remind me to look into that. Can’t let just anyone around her.

“Our little sunshine got herself a boyfriend. I thought you knew?” I say, dodging a fireball that comes flying towards me. Huh, who knew skeletons could be wizards?

“A boyfriend? But she’s too young to be dating!” Moms worry shows, as her voice fluctuates.

“That’s what I thought too. You really should look into that. Anyways mom, I got to go. Love you, bye.”

“Wait! I was-” Whoops, my finger slipped and I hung up.

“You guys do know it’s rude to interrupt someone when they are on the phone, right?” I say to the small group of undead that had gathered from the noise of my conversation.

Two zombie creatures that looked like the jacked up versions of a wolf circled around me, while a skeleton surrounded in an eerie green light started waving his hands in strange patterns.

I cast [Unmatchable speed], dodging one of the wolf-like creatures as it jumps at me. The second wolf I block with the shield created from my gloves. The force of its pounce forces me back, helping me dodge another fireball shot from the skeleton mage.

I cast the earth spike again, aiming for the skeleton mage. An opaque shield appears in front of the mage for a moment, before breaking and letting the stone spike through to crack the skeleton’s skull in half.

I glance at my psi to see that it’s just below half.

Thankfully the wolves don’t take advantage of my distraction, instead pacing around me wearily.

Finally, one of them pounces at me. I grab the creature as it jumps, spinning and using its own momentum against it to throw it into the ground.

Blood splatters from where one of its claws cut into my leg. My gloves heal the injury a moment later.

“Bad dog.” I say to the poor thing, ducking to let the second one fly over my head. I’ve really been underusing my psychic abilities, it turns out that being able to psychically see every creature around you is surprisingly useful, even if it does use up my psi.

“You’re a bad dog too.” I say to the second one. “Look, I really don’t like lying to my mother, and it’s gotten me in a bit of a bad mood. So, I really suggest you leave now, before I take pleasure in busting your skull in.”

The creatures growl at me.

At least I warned them.

[unmatchable speed], [force of many blades]

My next two punches cut the two poor creatures into ribbons, gore flying out to land on me.

I think these clothes are going to need to burn when I get home.

I clasp my hands in front of me bowing, and praying for all the undead that I’ve killed. I don’t think they’re actually sentient, but it doesn’t hurt. I also send a small thank you to the pair of wolves that so graciously decided to be my punching bags.

I’ve fallen out of the habit of praying for the creature I’ve killed. I’ll have to get back into it.

My journey continues, my phone dying at some point, saving me from having to make excuses the next time my parents might have called.

Eventually, I feel too tired to continue, so I set up the minor ward against undead, and fall asleep.

The next morning is much of the same, but I am noticing an increase in skill amongst the undead the closer I get to Zizerat. The undead are becoming more exotic, with more magical abilities.

It’s good practice, and eventually a much appreciated message appears.

I see the dragon two more times during my walk, but it ignores me in favor of being majestic and totally awesome.

Late in the afternoon, I finally see something strange that breaks up the monotony.

A giant pyramid sits in between two apartment buildings. It obviously doesn’t belong there, considering the rather holes it makes in all of the buildings around it, the fact that it’s blocking the street, and the waves of mana coming off of it.

I approach the building cautiously, but the caution doesn’t really matter. Considering that a second later, the whole world blurs around me.

The world changes as desert sand appears under my feet..“Hello there.” A distinctly masculine voice says from behind me.

I turn around to see a tan man with brown hair and eyes watching me. He wears a headdress similar to the ones you see in b-movies that feature the egyptians. His face also features the makeup of said b-movie with black eyeliner that shouts “I like being edgy!”

Surprisingly enough, the man smiles.

“So you are the Beta Tester that Isis sent to kill me before I could awaken. It’s a shame that you were too late.” He says, a chair forming out of the sand at our feet. He sits down, watching me carefully.

“You have got to be kidding me.” I say, plopping down onto the sand, resting on my arms. “Are you telling me that I’ve been walking for two days for no reason? I even ruined my favorite bra! The shirt was really nice too.” I motion to the shirt which has turned into mostly rags after my days of travelling.

“You’re calmer than I expected.” The man remarks, his eyes taking in every movement.

“You have no idea how pissed I am.” I tell the man, sighing. After a moment of mutual silence, I speak up. “Have you ever played chess?”

The man looks taken aback by my question, “I have played it. Yes.”

“Fantastic. Could you set up a table for me?” I ask.

After a moment of hesitation, the man does as I asked, the sand flowing into a rather nice table. He even creates a chair for me, which I quickly get up from my position on the ground to sit in.

With a smile, I pull out something that had been sitting in my inventory for way too long. A finely crafted chess set, with dragons as the pieces appears in front of us.

The man’s eyebrows shoot up at the sight of the board.

“Do you like playing white, or black?” I ask, setting each piece in their correct spot, vaguely remember which dragon was which piece.

“I’ve always preferred the reactionary color.” The man says, his eyes watching me with renewed interest.

“Good. My dad likes playing white, so I usually don’t get to play it.” I pull a bottle of orange juice out of my inventory, opening it to take a sip. “I actually just bought this set, so I’m super excited to play it.”

“Strange.” The man says. He does like to stare at me.

“I know right? You think I would play a nice set like this right away. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to, thanks to everything that’s been happening lately.” I motion to the world around us without looking away from the board.

I put my king’s pawn forward, looking up into his eyes with a smile.

“Your move.”