I’d really missed travelling. Seeing the landscape pass us by, flinging my spear at the occasional monster before having it dissolve and reappear in my hand.

Being cooped up in my room on the other side really wasn’t for me. The clouded sky, the concrete mazes, it was all like a big cage. A luxurious cage, certainly, with soft bedding, running water, and tasty food, but it was a cage. There was no Annabelle there, no Qi outside my own core, only smog and the endless miserable faces passing by below my apartment building.

Here?

Trees. Critters. Adrenaline, sunshine, fresh air, and the bubbling excitement of an unknown future. The tingle of danger in the air, which I was ready to fend off with a spear in my hand and my friends by my side. My nervousness began to fade as I began to embrace this reality again.

I loved my spear. The weapon had cost half a fortune, and looked borderline boring, but it was corebound. No matter how ordinary it looked, I would always have it with me. This one was less of a true tenet, but more of a rule of thumb my teacher had beat into me. ‘A bad weapon in a desperate situation is worth a thousand good weapons when you’re safe.’

Having something that I could always rely on was what I needed, rather than flashy attacks and special effects. And the spear was sturdy, too. It could stand up to my Qi, and most likely always would be able to, since we were tied together. Regardless of where it was, I could always have it back by my side, and if it broke, I could fix it.

A grin was plastered bright across my face as Annabelle grabbed my hand. I flashed her a smile as we walked. She held a small scepter in her free hand, ready to cast spells at anything that came into sight. We’d dealt with a few drytz already, mole-like critters with razor teeth.

They were dangerous to newbies, but once you got used to the sounds they made, you could hear them coming. Matter of fact, I quickly stabbed my spear into the floor as I heard one approach, making the little thing scurry off.

Being on the road felt so good again. I knew the path we treaded was dangerous, but I felt safe with the others, and nothing major happened. We sped up once we got further from city limits. The black sands weren’t too far out, and the scorions lived at their edges already. True monsters were found far further in.

With Qi, and Mana, and Divinity in our steps, we flew across the plains. Trees became nothing but blurs as we hurried along, nothing around with the ability to keep up. And after hardly two hours, we were at the sands.

The landscape went through a rough change at the border. Grass decayed, first. Long, green stalks turned yellow, then brown, then grey. Death hung in the air like a solemn promise. I grimaced, but Ann squeezed my hand, and we marched on.

Tension was stuck all around us, but we were here as hunters today. The scorions liked to burrow in the sand during the day, probably part of the scorpion heritage. We needed to be on edge to spot them.

Marie was beginning to go ahead slowly, Liam trailing after her, and the rest of us behind them again. Matt carried a single sword, its guard a design of interlaced flower petals, and Emilia held her tower shield close to her chest. I could see her knuckles turning white as she clenched them around her mace.

The twins, Eric and Reya, seemed less tense, and more curious. Briefly, I wondered about their levels, before I forced my focus on the environment again. I couldn’t afford to get lost in thoughts right now, it had ended poorly once before.

Not long later, we heard a whisper carried to us by a breeze of wind. Liam, sending us a message. “Scorions, right ahead. Pack of two, partners. Maria will draw aggro. Be ready.”

With quick nods, we got into formation. Emilia at the very front, flanked by Matt and me. Ann and the twins stood in the back. The girl, Reya, was already gesturing, and moments later, I felt a divine spark settle in my chest, burning with the promise of strength. I allowed myself a small grin at it.

When Liam brushed by my side, we knew it would be time soon. Then, Marie hopped over Emilia, and a moment later, a scorion crashed into her shield. It was a massive creature, the lower body that of a giant scorpion, with a stinger extending from its back, yet atop the front of the insectoid body, there was a humanoid lion. Emilia grunted, and with a heave of exertion, she pushed the beast back before it could swing at her.

The lion’s head atop the creature let out a roar. Its body was full of muscles, each dense and pulled taut as a bowstring, and was holding a massive club in its clawed hand, one enveloped by the black death Qi so common in the sands. It swung at Emilia, and she parried the blow, batting it aside with her mace.

Neither Matt nor I needed another moment. His sword lashed forward at the same time as my spear did, gold and pink blades of Qi striking against the massive creature’s chitinous legs. His strike was accompanied by the fragrance of plum blossoms, but I shoved the thought aside and gave my everything to my weapon.

I could feel the world around me fade as I did so.

Combat had begun, and my conscious thoughts faded. I could feel my mind sharpen, focus, and hone in on the important facets of what was going on.

My hands were mispositioned slightly, my edge alignment off. I clicked my tongue and corrected, the golden glow around my weapon reinforcing. Matt, Emilia, and everyone else faded away, it was only me and my target.

A moment later, the blade of gold found a gap in the chitin, tearing through into soft flesh. With an effort of will, I had the blade expand, turning from a single slash into a torrent of cuts. Immediately, blood and ichor gushed from the wound, as part of the leg became hollowed out, and the scorion lost balance.

I tore the spear back with a spin, having its butt smack hard into the other side of the leg, and hearing a satisfying crack of chitin again, the spark of Divinity making my attack hit that much harder. It would not be using that leg anytime soon.

Before I had a chance to celebrate, I heard a whisper again. “Partner coming for you,” Liam’s voice sounded in my ears. “Duck, quick.”

I followed the command, feeling a breeze pass over my head where the second scorion's blade sliced through the air. A drop of sweat fell from my chin to the floor, staining the black even darker as I jumped back. It had been a close call, but we still had the advantage.

Once I was ducked behind Emilia’s shield, a blast of fire soared above us, impacting the scorions’ raised stingers, and vaporizing the acid they had been about to shoot. I mentally thanked Ann as I roused my Qi once more, getting ready for my next attack.

Matt danced forward before I could. Liam threw a dagger at the fresh scorion, the one wielding a scimitar. Of course, the creature easily deflected the attack aimed at its eyes, but Matt used the gap it created. Purple petals of Qi manifested in front of his sword and dug into the fur of the lion, streaks of blood dying the wounds scarlet.

There were too many to dodge for the large creature, so it instead chose to shield itself with the scimitar, thin wisps of white Qi covering its body. My mind raced. Frost?

Matt ducked back as he noticed, interrupting his second strike and transitioning to a flip instead as he gained distance. It was a good choice, as a moment later a blast of icy air erupted from the monster, its eyes now bloodshot.

The other one, already wounded, was struggling to regain its balance under Marie’s harassment. She shot at it with her longbow, making it parry and deflect strikes from uncomfortable angles. Matt seemed intent on fighting the frosty one, so I charged to help Marie gain a more decisive advantage.

In the middle of my run, I felt Divinity surge into my muscles, speeding me up more. For a moment, it threw me off, but it was nothing I couldn’t correct with a quick step. My spear rose, wisps of gold solidifying around it into a thick extension for my spear.

I grinned. The scorion had not yet noticed me. It would, soon.

Thrusting forward, the thick wide blade of gold dug deep into the waist of the lion. Blood spilled forth like a river, its thick hide unable to withstand my Qi. I felt my core roar in my soul, asking me to do more, to keep going, but instead I slashed to the side, my spear exiting the body in an explosion of red haze, and cutting a second deep gash into the base of the creature’s stinger. Once again, the Divinity proved its worth.

Emilia appeared behind me, blocking a burst of acid from the other scorion, drops of it spattering aside, and a few landing on my scalp. They burned, but nothing a bit of healing couldn’t handle.

Marie gave me a quick signal with her hand, telling me she had the rest. Liam would support her as well. With a nod, Emilia and I turned back to the second scorion, its body wrapped in icy armor to withstand the barrage of blows from Matt and Ann. It was a stalemate, but it wouldn't last, I could see. Matt was sweating heavily, his petals raining down by the dozen.

Rushing to their assistance, Emilia leapt forward. She used a technique, but I couldn’t hear its name over the roar of Qi. Her body was enveloped by a furious storm of metallic glean, then she was in the air, her body itself a weapon as her mace crashed down on the scorion's armor.

I saw the ice crack, Emilia’s mace digging into the creature’s shoulder. The lion tilted forward, the blow so hard it lifted the back legs of the scorpion off the ground, as Emilia sunk a foot deep into the shifting sand. We did not give the monster a chance to retaliate.

Divinity wrapped itself around my spear, and Matt’s storm of blossoms pushed me forward faster, then I felt mana surge into my muscles. I felt so incredibly, incredibly free.

My core roared, a blaze of gold erupting around the tip of my blade, and I thrust forward, cleaving apart the scorion’s head. It dropped its weapon, then grew limp, collapsing onto the sand.

I heard a second thud next to me as I panted heavily, a large grin nestled on my face. The remaining acid burned against my skin, but the pain faded as Reya laid a hand on my shoulder. I roared in excitement, soon turning into laughter, as the others cleaned the blood off their weapons.

We reviewed things quickly, but we were quite happy with our teamwork. After the rather brief chat, we set about the more grisly business of adventuring.

Taking out some more tools from our packs, namely saws and smaller spatial bags, we began to collect monster bits. Collecting things was disgusting, but somewhat meditative once you got into it. The bags we used for the parts were specially made by the gatekeepers, interweaved with the system, and could only be used for monster parts.

It was a shame, too. I wish we could have used them for convenience, but spatial packs were much more expensive than the ones provided by the strange guardians of the mirror gates. The items regular enchanters could make also often held hardly a candle to the strange things they offered. But all of their items came with restrictions. Perhaps it was a strange measure of theirs to keep the balance of Eden intact.

I shook my head at my idle thoughts, focusing on the things in front of me again. Making sure to separate the acid, the ichor, and the blood was my chore. Liam was removing chitin plating, Emilia and Marie butchering meat from bones, while Annabelle separated out any alchemical ingredients.

All of the work was bloody and disgusting, but with everyone working together, we were soon done. The bones were left to the twins, disinfected by their clerical magic, and blessed to last longer. The gods of this world worked with bones for burials, but they would also prepare monster bones for alchemy. Up until now, we’d had more trouble with it, so this would help.

And then, we continued the march through the plains.

Marie scouted ahead, Liam acted as the bridge, and the rest of us made idle conversation. Most of it was small matters. I brought some news from the other side. I hated reading the newspaper, but my friends here wanted to keep up to date, so when I was there, I didn’t have much of a choice.

It was all the same old anyway. More smog, more companies, more greedy old bastards, and more people flocking to Eden. ‘Rule number five: The mirrors can’t eat you, but greed can,’ I told myself. My old mentor truly had known a lot, I supposed, predicting the way the world would go far before Eden became near as popular as it was now.

I smiled as I reminisced on those first days. He’d picked me up right after I was out of the entry ceremony, moments after I’d finally stopped vomiting. I was the first to stop, a good sign for talent, he told me. My strong stomach had gotten me a good teacher that day.

Somehow, when I thought about him, it was almost always like he was gone. I suppose in some ways, he was. He’d retired from Eden some time ago, and taken the gatekeepers’ offer as well. They extended it to everyone. You may choose to spend the rest of your life on the other side, and have your memories made in Eden revoked.

Why had he taken the offer? He told me I’d understand at some point. He still had all the experience and wisdom, and I’d sometimes call him on the other side just to hear his voice, but he had become a wise grandpa rather than a fierce warrior. Maybe… maybe that’s what he wanted though.

Again I shook my head. Since when did spending a day in Eden make me this sentimental? It was nothing like me. I replaced the thoughtful frown on my face with a smile, and gave Ann a peck on the cheek, soliciting a giggle from her and a groan from Matt. We moved on, treading further into the black sands.