The fish was delicious. Lapia's batter was a thing beyond what three-Michelin-star chefs could make. The meal was light even though it was deep-fried, which was a nice surprise.

I wasn't one to care about calories all that much, but I did care about fitness and being healthy. Especially during my last years of sedentary lifestyle.

We ate inside the cabin, talking and drinking. I noticed Pokora's face of uncertainty when looking at the fish. Probably a lasting caution from Earth. A silly thing, considering we're literally on another planet who knows how far away. Though I never understood the nature of what made sea produce become so toxic to humanity, I had the inkling it was the rampant pollution. I had no proof, but neither doubt.

My life on Earth could be called simple. Boring at best, insanity-inducing at worst. Wake up, exercise, take a shower, buy something to eat from one of the many delivery companies that rose during the pandecade, work on projects for the game company for hours, play the piano for a while, connect to online lessons I enrolled into to kill boredom, watch a few streams, play games, and masturbate. Sometimes upload speed-drawings or art tutorials on video-hosting websites. Boring stuff, really.

After the meal, we Bonded with Pokora. It was a handshake as we did with the men. She was not a romantic prospect. At the moment, at least. I think it'd be a bit of a stretch to see every woman I meet as a potential lover, unless stated as such. The Church helps a lot with the system they came up with.

Galeia is a lung-filling breath of revitalizing fresh air. Sure, shit is weird. Magic exists, so do Gods and Halves which so far make no fucking sense to me. But it's good. It's better. Life is calm so far. True, a group of people tried to kill me, but it was more like eating the spiciest pepper in the world rather than stone-melting acid meant to kill me. Still, I'd pick being poisoned over committing mass genocide in Hell everyday. I don't dwell on the morality or ethics of my actions during my trial too much, however. Not like I could have chosen a different approach, really. Hard to do when absolutely insane, in my humble opinion.

“Grar!” a growl woke me up from my deep thoughts.

Sonya was pushing my stomach with her big head, urging me to pick the wooden stick she dropped in front of me.

“I've spoiled you too much,” I concluded, looking into her eyes.

She scoffed at my words. Or something that resembled a scoff, anyway. Then, she pushed my chest with her left claws.

“You cheeky thing,” I chuckled, rubbing the scales on top of her head.

She licked my face and ran off, the sign that she wanted to play tag.

'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' Pokora's flat voice entered my mind.

“What the fuck is that?” I wondered out loud as I chased Sonya down the shore of the lake. “Thats a pretty long word, but I have my own!”

'Рентгеноэлектрокардиографический' I sent back. (*)

I waited like an idiot for a response, then remembered messages are a once-a-day thing. I shook my head, thinking the woman wasted it for a silly thing like that. I just replied so it doesn't count for me.

Sonya jumped high up in the air as I reached her, but I waited for her right where she'd land with a big smile on my face.

“For such a smart creature, you don't really learn that lesson,” I laughed with open arms, looking at her falling towards me.

She came down and I pushed her, making her roll to the side.

We played for a few minutes, chasing one another over the sand. Her stamina had dramatically increased along with her level since I bought her. Her scales felt harder, and her pushes felt stronger.

I was pretty happy with the Ratnak.

As we made out way back to the cabin, birds flew up and away as we approached. Sonya chased a few, and slapped a couple to unconsciousness. After leaving, birds surrounded it as if to protect it. I laughed at that, then scolded the lizard.

Back at the cabin, I took a shower to get rid of the sand and wore a simple skirt with a shirt. Then, I went to the backyard where Bromisnar was talking with Alyssa.

“I don't know about that,” Alyssa insisted. “Yinka would not do that to the characters. It's obviously a metaphor about death.”

“True, they wouldn't,” the Satyr said with a nod. “But you can't ignore the fact Yinka had the habit of writing exceedingly cold male leads. That's just unrealistic, even when considering the many metaphors.”

They were talking about Yinka Plavas, the mysterious author of Kingdom Fall and many other books.

“What book are you talking about?” I asked. The one I read had no male leads other than the harem, so I was a bit lost.

“Unending Journey,” Alyssa replied with a sigh. “It's set in the Second Age of E'er. The main lead is a man that lost everything to a Giant invasion, and apparently that is too unrealistic for Bromisnar.”

The man in question rolled his eyes, and I held back a smile.

“It's not the events that are unrealistic, but the way the character acts based on them,” he argued, shaking his head. “People don't lose their emotions in the face of adversity. They hide them. The fact Konrol never grows out of it despite finding a new life is just... odd. Besides, we can give Yinka the benefit of the doubt since it was the first book they published so I'm not that hard on it.”

So fantasy people have hard standards on what's realistic when it comes to fiction? I wondered, a little surprised. I thought anything would be passable... since magic exists.

“No!” Alyssa hissed, her tail slapping the floor. “He's not just a man, but a metaphor. He's supposed to be death, and the new life is the afterlife. Yinka proposes that the afterlife is a place with no emotions.”

“If so, then why do people change?” he asked, scratching his right horn. “He even has a son, if the argument of the afterlife was what Yinka actually intended, then why are people able to create new life?”

“Maybe it's a transformation afterlife,” I supplied, and both turned to me. “Where the soul is cleansed of everything, and the son symbolizes that?” I asked with a shrug. I was shooting in the dark, having no clue about the plot itself. “Perhaps the afterlife portrayed in that book is not an eternal stasis and instead is a place where change takes place?”

Both squinted at me.

“Anyway,” I sighed, not wanting to get into an argument about a book I had no clue about, or talk about a belief I had evidence was not real. “I think you're looking too much into it. It's just-”

“Don't you say it's just a book,” Alyssa warned, arching a scaly eyebrow.

I clamped my mouth shut. Bromisnar laughed, grabbing his sides and leaning back.

“So, ancient beauty,” the Satyr teased, bringing up the newspaper interview. “What brings you to our mortal conversation?”

They do say friends shit on each other... I thought.

“Nothing much,” I replied, shrugging. “Just finished playing with Sonya. I was wondering about what we'll do tonight. I don't mind going out again, though.”

“Ah,” Alyssa nodded. “There's a celebration tonight. Since it's the mid-point of the Aphelion here in Lumin Kingdom.”

“Oh?” I asked, a little interested. “And what do people do?”

“There's going to be a festival,” Bromisnar replied. “Gazing at the sky in total darkness, lighting lanterns, bonfires, singing, dancing.”

“Neat,” I muttered with a nod. “And we're going?”

“We can celebrate here,” Alyssa replied. “I'm sure you've seen bonfires around Lakeview? Those were rehearsals. Tonight is the real deal.”

“Sounds cool,” I nodded. “Well, I'll go bother Lapia, then. You can continue your book talk.”

Both nodded and resumed their argument. I walked into the cabin and went to the master room.

Lapia was laying on the bed, reading a thick book.

“In her natural habitat, the Elf lazes around,” I began, standing in the doorway. She looked up at me and I continued. “Unsuspecting of predators, she lowers her guard, making for easy prey.”

I slowly walked to the bed, closing the door behind me. She raised an eyebrow and put the book to the side.

“The Halve, natural predator, stalks the defenseless woman,” I narrated, climbing on the bed and crawling to her. “Though a delicious meal was given to pacify her hunger, not much can be done to pacify the Halve's lust.”

“Oh?” she uttered with a small smile.

“However, the Elf is not one to let herself be eaten so easily,” I continued, taking her feet and running my fingers on the soles. “As a predator herself, she has the arsenal to fight back. Alas, it's not enough to remain victorious.”

She sighed as I massaged her feet.

“Not one to admit defeat in the face of insurmountable odds, she fights to the end,” I lifted her left foot and kissed it. “Even while knowing of her imminent loss.”

“That tickles,” she giggled.

“What are you reading?” I asked, nodding at the book.

“My next class,” the Elf replied with a shrug. “With how fast we're leveling up, I think it's smart to start reading on it already.”

“Mhm,” I hummed with a nod. “Got any tips for my skill advancements? The book you lent me isn't very useful, to be honest.”

“You could add elemental effects,” she offered, producing a book with E'eral symbols on the cover. “I don't recommend doing that, however. Your strikes carry enough kinetic energy already, no need to add a layer that won't make full use of that force.”

“Well...” I groaned. “That's not really helpful.”

She shrugged. “I'm not a Warrior, Natasha. I can't really help you with that, unfortunately.”

“It's okay,” I said with a smile, crawling next to her and laying on the bed. “I'll check if something comes up.”

“Haaa...” she sighed, shaking her head. “You really need to think about it more carefully.”

“If nothing comes up naturally, I'll stop,” I said back.

I closed my eyes and dove into myself.

Natasha Novak
Forest Halve

Class(es)
-Hoplite Lvl 450 (Open Skills)
-Lancer Lvl 450 (Open Skills)
-Dragoon Lvl 450 (Open Skills)

Status
-STR: 5400
-CON: 2700
-INT: 675
-WIS: 675
-DEX: 4050
Health: 54000/54000
Stamina: 13480/13500
E’er: 13500/13500

I focused on the Hoplite Skills and picked one I used a lot.

-Throw Spear, Lvl 50. Throw your spear to attack the enemy. Targets that survive, but receive major wounds, are impaled to the ground. Can pierce through multiple enemies while in its path. The spear impacts surfaces with a massive shock wave that damages all enemies nearby. Spends E’er to return your weapon via Shift.

I looked at another skill, from the Dragoon class. Gae Bulg. A few lines caught my attention:

Your weapon’s momentum is massively increased the higher you jump. Breakable ground explodes, becoming projectiles that injure all enemies in the surroundings. The greater the impact, the larger the area of ground that breaks.

Then, I thought about the possibilities.

Couldn't I just add the increased momentum thingy and the area increasing with the magnitude of the impact to Throw Spear? I mean, my throws are fucking strong, and the spear flies way faster than the speed of sound if I put my back to it.

I felt around both skills and noticed completely different patterns on them. That made me frown internally. I didn't exactly have the time to explore around; the first time I advanced a skill costed me around twelve hours.

At least I had an idea of what to do. If it worked, it would mean I could throw spears with increasing momentum, which would be pretty strong if I got it right. Probably even reaching several times the speed of sound, which according to my shitty calculations would mean huge areas of effect.

I opened my eyes and noticed Yolin sitting next to me, Lapia was taking a nap, and night was approaching.

“I found it,” I told the Oni as I looked down at my hands.

“What did you find?” she asked me, tilting her head and knitting her brows.

“A weapon to surpass Metal Gear!” I declared in a husky voice.