My eyes jolted open, and I took in a quick, deep breath. I sat back, trying to absorb my surroundings before anything else. I blinked, looking down as it dawned on me.

I was sitting in an old, wooden rocking chair. Around me was a small room, filled with dusty old tomes and scrolls. Near the back edge of it was a desk littered with various bits of parchment and dried inkwells. A single candle was placed on it, burning dimly. I took another deep breath, letting it out shakily as I tried to get my bearings.

The last thing I remembered was fighting the minotaur. It sent me flying into the ground, leaving me with more than a few injuries. In the worst case, it may have caved my chest in with that massive fist. So why didn’t I feel any pain?

I opened my status window, eyes widening at the sheer quantity of alerts filling the panel.

[Congratulations! A skill has been unlocked: Forcethorn Burst]

[Congratulations! Skill “Flame Generation” has leveled up! Rank E -> D]

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Boss of Floor I!]

[Congratulations! You have defeated a foe far beyond your strength!]

[Congratulations! You have defeated a Dungeon Boss alone!]

[Congratulations! You have cleared Floor I of ‘The Dreadspire’!]

[Congratulations! You have cleared a dungeon with the surprise challenge: ‘randomized entry’]

“W-woah..”

[Tallying rewards…]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the title “Boss Duelist”]

[Congratulations! You have acquired the title “Dauntless”]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! 10 -> 11]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! 11 -> 12]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! 12 -> 13]

I leaned back in my chair, totally stunned. I had gained three levels and two titles in one go? To call it absurd would be understating it. I rubbed my eyes. “I must be dreaming..”

A voice came from behind me, the voice of a young girl. “Were the rewards that good?”

I turned my head, but there was nobody behind me. “I’m over here~” Quickly darting my eyes back, I saw her. A girl, no older than eleven. She was sitting on the desk, looking down at me. The hair on her head was colored green, like pine needles, same as her eyes. She was smiling widely. There was something off about her, her face simply looked different from a human’s. An elf, perhaps?

“Um.. Who are you?”

“Who am I?” She put a hand to her chest, throwing her head back and making a pained sound. “Who am I? You wound me!” She leaned forward, crossing her arms and staring me down more intently than before. “I’m a guiding hand, little apprentice. The one who will help you gain the inheritance left to you by my dearest Morgan~”

My eyes widened with shock. Morgan, that was my master. But, I had never really heard anyone call her by her actual name. Would have to have been close with her, at the very least. “You.. Are you really a child?”

She giggled, putting a hand to her mouth to attempt to stifle it as it shifted into a childlike cackle. “My name is Stella, little apprentice. I am a fairy.” She waved her arm in a smooth arc over her head. “An ageless, timeless existence!” She clapped her hands in front of her face, smirking at me. “So impressed that your words have failed you, little apprentice?”

Fairies, or fey. They’re supposed to be embodiments of nature itself. Mischievous, tricksome creatures that are either helpful or murderous depending on the one you encounter. I had my own thoughts on the fey folk, all things considered. Most depictions show them as people, the size of a pinky, bearing the wings of insects upon their backs. Were those depictions incorrect?

“Oh!” A worried look came upon her face all at once, and she stared at me very seriously. “Sybil. Quickly now, six points into resilience.”

“W-what?”

“Six points. Into. Resilience.” She wagged her finger at my face with each word. “This isn’t reality we’re standing in, Sybil. This is your mind. Your body’s dying after the thrashing you got from that minotaur.”

I hurriedly opened my status window, allocating six points to resilience just as Stella told me to.

“Good, that should keep you alive. It’s a crying shame that you had to spend all your points, but it would’ve been bad if you hadn’t.”

Stella sighed, putting her hands on her face. “It was a lovely spectacle, but you humans really don’t value your lives sometimes. If that thing hit you twice, you would’ve died right on the spot, you know? Heavens, if I told you about what it did to your body with one punch, you might throw up~” She giggled to herself.

I was only half paying attention to her, mostly staring at my status window and eyeing the new titles I received.

Name: Sybil Sagecrest

Class: Apprentice

Level: 13 (53%)

Mana: (3/270)

Status Points:

• Strength: 6

• Agility: 10

• Intellect: 27

• Resilience: 15

• Luck: 14

Skills:

• Telekinesis (D)
• Flame Generation (D)
• Light (E)
• Thread Form Technique (E)
• Forcethorn Burst (E)
• Barrier (F)
• Transmutation (F)
• Mend Wound (F)
• Mana Sense (F)

Titles:

• Boss Duelist
• Dauntless

Boss Duelist

Your stats are increased (30%) when battling against a boss-type monster alone.

Dauntless

Your stats are increased (10%) when battling against a foe far stronger than yourself. Provides greater resistance to fear effects.

These were incredible. Though I really hoped that I wouldn’t ever need to benefit from them again. I was pulled out of my thoughts by the feeling of Stella roughly poking my forehead with her finger. “Hey, are you listening to me?”

I glanced up at her, a little embarrassed to have gotten sidetracked like that. “Erm.. Sort of?” Stella just sighed in response. “I have something important to tell you before you wake up, alright?” She slid off of the table, standing in front of me. Even while I was seated and leaning down, she only barely made it up to my face.

“We won’t see each other again until you reach level 15. So I need to give you some advice for the time between now and then.” She raised a hand, with one finger up. “First: you’re traveling with an exceptionally dangerous lady. I’m not trying to push you off your path, just know that staying with her will bring you trouble.” She raised another finger, “Second: start putting all of your points into agility. For now, you have no more need for intellect. It’s useless if you can’t avoid an enemy’s attacks.”

She smiled, raising one last finger. “Third: keep experimenting with your skills and magic. The system favors those who discover new things. Especially with the class you have.”

“Looks like that’s all the time we have, then~” She waved at me, “See ya later, Sybil!”

My vision faded into pure, blank white, and then my eyes opened once again.

I took in a big gulp of air, sputtering and coughing from suddenly inhaling so hard. More blood splattered against the wood next to me. My body was aching badly, but it didn’t feel nearly as bad as it had before. There was nothing for me to complain about, considering that I wasn’t currently a corpse.

A voice came from my side. “Sybil?” It was Adeline. She managed to find me? “Oh!” She leaned down, smiling down at me after seeing my eyes open. She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. It seemed like you may not pull through for a second there.”

I laughed weakly, pulling myself up and sitting against the wall. “Sorry.” I was still exhausted, and it felt as if my body could still give up on a whim. “I accidentally ran into the boss. In these halls.. There.. Was no way to hide from it.”

She crouched down in front of me, far closer than she had ever been before, a satisfied smile on her face. “Even though you had no intention of fighting it, you still slayed the beast. Is that not impressive in its own right?”

“..I suppose?” Adeline frowned a little. “Sybil. You painted a minotaur’s innards on the dungeon’s floor! It’s a feat, especially for one of your strength. What level are you at, now?”

“Thirteen.”

She stared at me. “Ehhh..? Level thirteen? You’re certain of that?” I nodded. She fell back, head drooped down as if she were defeated. “At level thirteen, I would have been trampled to death by a minotaur. Not without a fight, mind you. Still..”

She looked back up at me, “..You’re incredible.”

alerie

I decided to do a little sketch of Adeline and Sybil (Or at least, how they look with some normal, not shredded clothes.) They're a little mid but I think they get the look across!