Half a meter from the edge of a cliff, I discovered that my new life depended on a marmot.
“Could we try the other direction?!” I asked as politely as I could while the animal tugged at my hilt again.
The voice that came out distracted me even from the risk of falling. It was soft, high, and unmistakably female. Before I could check whether it had really been me, the marmot took another step backward and dragged me toward a burrow I wouldn’t fit into even sideways.
“Wait, please… I think you might hurt yourself…”
It dropped me and ran. I lay on the grass with my tip sticking out over empty space and no way to pull it back. I listened to the water tumbling down the cliff for a few moments. Since I didn’t seem about to slide off on my own, I dared to try again.
“Hello?”
The same voice. There was no one nearby who could have spoken for me. I tried to touch my throat and remembered, too late, that I had no hands. Or a throat.
Glowing curtains parted in front of me.
[Transfer complete!]
The system’s voice sounded delighted with the result. I interrupted before she could move on to the next part of her presentation.
“Excuse me… why do I sound like this? Was that the side effect?”
[Exactly. You’re a girl now!]
She announced it as though she had just handed me a game show prize. I was still trying to recognize myself in that voice, and her enthusiasm wasn’t helping.
“But I chose to be a sword…”
[And you are still a sword. The surprise was included. Your memories and consciousness have been preserved as promised.]
“Zarek,” I said, trying out the sound of it.
It felt strange. It was my name, but I wasn’t used to hearing it like that. For a moment, I didn’t know what to make of myself. Then I remembered Aleks, his phone, and the blood running down his forehead. I still wanted to know if he was all right. That worry was mine; at least that hadn’t changed.
I was embarrassed to keep talking just to hear my own voice. Fortunately, a sword couldn’t blush. Right?
“I’ll need to get used to it,” I admitted.
[You have a whole lifetime ahead of you. I recommend spending it somewhere other than the edge of a cliff.]
I would have appreciated that consideration before she decided where to leave me. From the grass, I could make out the slopes of the valley, broken up by gray rock faces. A stream crossed the meadow and plunged over the edge beside me; its noise made the drop hard to forget. Flowers and a few trees grew among the rocks, and parts of the path disappeared behind enormous boulders.
Cloud shadows drifted across the hills. In one of the open stretches, I spotted a pink-haired figure. I called out right away, more hopeful than careful, but the water drowned out my voice. She disappeared behind a rock before I could get her attention.
[Let’s meet our leading lady!] the system continued. [Would you like to keep your name or choose another? I suggest Zaelia. Though I also have four hundred other proposals.]
“Zaelia is fine,” I answered before she could start listing them.
Then I took a moment to repeat it more slowly. Zaelia. I had already chosen what I was going to be. Now I could decide how to introduce myself, and I liked that name.
“Yes. I like it.”
A window unfolded over the landscape.
[PROFILE]
[Name: Zaelia]
[Form: Living Sword]
[Level: 1]
[Experience: 0/100]
[Bond: None]
An image of my body appeared beside it. I was a meter long, with a silver, double-edged blade, a guard with curved ends, and a grip wrapped in black leather. The pommel was rounded. Just above the guard sat an orange-red eye with a vertical pupil.
I closed it. The eye in the image did the same. I opened it again and stared at the illustration; until then, I had been too busy with the marmot and my voice to think about what I would look like to other people.
“I hope I don’t frighten anyone.”
[We can work on your introduction. A bow usually helps.]
I tried to bend before thinking about how I was supposed to do it. Nothing happened. I was still lying on the grass, just as straight and just as close to the edge as before.
[Perhaps we’ll save the bow for another evolution.]
The illustration gave way to a list.
[STATS]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Mana: 20/20]
[Attack: 5]
[Defense: 10]
[Mobility: 0]
I stared at the last number. I had already found out what it meant, but seeing it written down made me even more worried about my tip hanging over the drop. I turned my attention away from the edge and focused on the window.
“Can I change that?”
[That’s where your repertoire comes in!]
Four panels filled my field of vision.
[SKILLS]
[Durability I: Reduces damage and wear.]
[Evolution I: Allows new forms and abilities to develop once their requirements are met.]
[Consciousness I: Allows you to perceive your surroundings.]
[Communication I: Projects your voice to the outside world.]
Consciousness explained why I had still been able to feel the grass against my blade with my eye closed. Communication, on the other hand, had scared off the marmot and hadn’t gotten me any help yet. I reread the description of Evolution, looking for something that would let me stop depending on whoever happened to pass by.
“What does Evolution need?”
[Experience. You will have to overcome opponents.]
I looked at the entrance to the burrow. The marmot had already let me go, and I had no interest in making it come out again.
“I’d rather not bother it again.”
[I had dangerous opponents in mind.]
The patience in her answer made me suspect she was already preparing a much longer explanation. Fortunately, the crunch of gravel caught my attention before she could begin. The pink-haired figure reappeared around a bend in the path, much closer. She stopped to look uphill, then kept walking.
I waited for her to get close enough. I didn’t want the stream to drown me out again and make me lose the only help I had seen since arriving.
“Excuse me. Could you help me?”
The young woman turned her head and searched the bushes.
“Where are you?”
“Down here. Beside the path.”
She approached slowly. First I saw black boots and, above them, the skirt of a dark dress. When she crouched, I could make out her bare shoulders and her face, framed by strands of pink hair. She wore her hair in high twin tails and had two black horns curving upward. Her red eyes searched the grass until they met mine.
“The sword?!”
“Yes. Sorry. I’m still getting used to it.”
She watched me for a moment, as though expecting me to add something. I tried to smile at her so she wouldn’t worry and only managed to blink. I was going to have to find another way to look friendly.
“May I pick you up?” she asked, reaching out.
I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear that question until she asked it. After the marmot and a system that hid warnings behind curtains, having someone wait for my permission was a relief.
“Thank you. Yes, please. Be careful of the blade.”
She took me by the hilt and lifted me gently. The grass fell away from my view, and once she moved me away from the edge, I stopped worrying about my tip. At last, I could focus on something other than the possibility of ending up at the bottom of the valley.
“My name is Zaelia.”
“Azeneth,” she replied, brushing a blade of grass off my guard. “Is anyone waiting for you?”
“I just arrived… I don’t know anyone…”
Her thumb stroked the leather of my grip. Then she carefully turned me to inspect the blade. After so many useless attempts to move, the change in position felt strange, though I appreciated that she wasn’t shaking me around to get a better look.
“Then you could come with me.”
I wanted to accept right away. I still knew nothing about this place, and she was the first person who had spoken to me without trying to sell me a new existence. Even so, I looked at the hand that would have to carry me and hesitated.
“If you don’t mind carrying me…”
“I don’t mind,” she assured me, holding me a little closer.
Before I could thank her, I heard a metallic sound farther up the path. Azeneth looked up, and her thumb went still against the leather. The change made me pay attention to the path she had come from.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
“I was hoping I’d lost him.”
A man in white armor appeared between the rocks. He carried a spear and held his helmet under one arm. He stopped when he saw us, and I had time to wonder whether I had interrupted something before he spoke.
“Drop the weapon, Demon Queen.”
A window opened before me.
[Bond Candidate: Azeneth]
[Title: Demon Queen]
I looked at her horns. Then at the man in white armor. I had seen the red eyes, the horns, and the dark dress, and my biggest concern had been whether I would frighten her. There were a few possibilities I hadn’t considered.
The knight was still waiting for her to drop me. I had only just gotten off the ground and had no desire to go back, but I didn’t know what was going on between them, either.
“I can stay here if you have something to sort out,” I offered cautiously.
Azeneth drew me closer to her chest. Her fingers kept a firm hold on my hilt, and when she answered, her voice was just as soft as before.
“I’m not leaving you with him.”
I wanted to believe that meant she had a plan. The knight stepped forward, and white light began to gather around his spearhead. It grew taller than he was. I thought again about my hundred points of Durability. I had no idea how much good they would do against a spear like that.
“I won’t ask again,” he warned.
“Zaelia,” Azeneth whispered, keeping her eyes on the man. “Can you take a hit?”
“My profile said so, but…”
She raised me before I could finish. The movement changed my view of the path and put that light right in front of me. The spear shot toward us.
[Your first battle!] the system announced. [Try to keep your eye wide open.]
Azeneth put me in the attack’s path. I tried to pull away on instinct and couldn’t.
I had chosen a body that could protect others. I had forgotten to ask if it would hurt.