Dirt parted under forged metal as Bria shoveled another pile onto the grave. Seven people had died before they made it back to the city, including the guard at the gate. She tried to not think about how cold eyes had stared back at her when she found the tavern waitress within the rubble, or how she had just finished burying the poor girl.
The drunk man that hit on her stood just a dozen feet away, helping with another grave of someone Bria didn’t know, but had left him in a sobbing fit. Her own tears fell as she set the shovel aside and let herself fall back and just process it all. People had died because of the actions she took, and not just by her hand, but as a consequence of it.
That soldier Bria had killed was easily reconciled. He tried to kill her, she killed him better. There was minimal grief over that, and only a little trauma from having a sword through her gut. On the other hand, this girl was just living her life, and some creature that Bria had pissed off decided that the village was easy pickings.
Neth-amii wasn’t there with them, she’d helped heal the survivors then made herself scarce once people started to investigate. Her parents were among those. Neither they, nor any of Neth’s siblings had perished thankfully, but they were quite vocal about assigning the blame.
“I’m telling you,” Neth’s father shouted. “If that ungrateful brat hadn’t come back, none of this would have happened!”
Worse, the children were being made to repeat his words.
Bria strongly considered getting up and punching the man again, but could only blink as he was sent sprawling by the grieving drunk. This time, Neth’s mother didn’t shriek or freak out, but just stared blankly at one of the graves. It hadn’t been one of their family, Bria had double checked just to be safe, but it had to belong to someone she considered important.
“Shut yer piehole you overfattened lout!” the drunk shouted. “Yer daughter just risked her life to save all of us, fought the beastie, then made sure nobody else would die once it was dead! Where were you? Hiding in that overgrown cottage you keep by the shore?”
The drunk spit on the man, then stomped off, right over to where Bria was sitting.
“Sorry about everything, you showed us all what true bravery looks like. It was a right proper wake up call, that it was. Yer a brave lass, and I’ll never forget it.”
Unable to think of anything to say to that, Bria nodded. The man left shortly after that, and Bria cursed not asking for his name. He’d earned that much, but she just didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with people anymore.
Standing, she waved at Gil and Krow who were speaking with the village elder, and left the city. Neth-amii was not far from the gates, sitting beside Kro-ahnk’s steed and brushing the poor creature. His cart hadn’t survived the battle, but the spooked mule had, which was a silver lining. It did mean that Krow was essentially stranded until he could arrange for a new cart to be constructed.
“The drunk guy from the tavern just punched out your dad,” Bria said, joining her. She ran a gentle hand along the soft fur. “Your mom seemed pretty out of it though.”
Neth-amii absently nodded, her focus entirely upon the animal. “One of the people to die was her best friend growing up. I always got the feeling she would have rather married him, but their families had other ideas.”
Ah, that sort of explained it. Not that Bria truly understood, given she’d never fallen in love before, but there had been an affair scandal that rocked the island a few years back. Briefly, Bria wondered if those two had taken it that far, but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t change anything for her, and would only pull Neth further into her grief.
“I think I’d like to go home for a bit,” Bria said, leaning against her friend. “Take a moment away from all this fighting, maybe see if any other parts of the island have opened up.”
Neth hummed. “Am I still welcome to join?”
“Always,” Bria said. “You’ll love it there. All the soda you can drink.”
That got a startled little laugh out of Neth, which Bria counted as a win.
“Perhaps not all the soda,” Neth mused, leaning her head against Bria. “But I am curious to see your sky, given how enamored you’ve been with our own.”
A smile crept onto Bria’s face. It was such an innocent little musing, but one that brought a flutter of warmth to her chest. Neth had grown up in such a beautiful world, one with magic and monsters, and a frankly gorgeous planet hanging in the sky above even during the day. While Bria could see how the two might compare, that was because she had grown up with it, just as Neth grew up with this one.
“Absolutely,” Bria agreed. “I’ll take you out to see my favorite place to go stargazing.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Neth said, her voice slurring slightly as her breathing slowed.
Gentle snores soon followed and Bria could barely contain herself over how cute it was that Neth had fallen asleep on her shoulder! Carefully so as to not disturb her friend, Bria laid her head against Neth’s own, and soon enough was drifting off.
It felt like she had just blinked when light pierced her eyelids. She was greeted by the morning sun rising over the horizon, and a gentle smell drifted from nearby. Bria was careful to not disturb Neth, who was still sleeping, and found their other companions sitting beside a fire some feet away. Krow had his skillet dancing over the flame, while Gil watched on.
“Comfortable?” Gil asked, smirking as Krow spooned up a heaping bowl of rice and veggies fried to perfection. “We considered waking you earlier, but it was simply too cute to risk disturbing. I even conjured a picture with that camera device of yours.”
What, but when did they. Oh, Bria had taken several pictures yesterday, including one of the Basilisk while Krow worked to harvest what he could before it went sour. A bit of light caught one of the pictures and floated it over, showing the pair of them sitting there while sleeping. That wasn’t the part that truly surprised Bria.
No, it was how she could only see two women in the picture.
As much as she understood that changes were happening, it didn’t really sink in just how profound they truly were. Her face looked largely the same, with a few differences that would make someone look a bit closer, but that was where the similarities had ended. Her shoulders were still prominent, but that was now due to the muscle defining them. She wasn’t bulky by any means, but she had definition now. Then there was her chest, which the shirt did little to hide how they had grown.
Her armor had kept everything in place during the fighting, but without it? Well, Bria needed a bra if she was going to continue to walk around in nothing but her normal clothes. Then there was the other big thing she had noticed. She had hips now.
Much as Bria wanted to jump up and investigate how she looked, Neth-amii was still slumbering quite contently beside her. Any movement would be a grave sin against all that was good in the world. Yet, there was one question she did need answered. Bria hadn’t reached level ten yet, but it truly did appear that the transformation was finished.
Carefully, a hand trailed down to her trousers and confirmed it.
“Whoa now, at least wait until you’re alone before doing that,” Gil said, grinning wide. “Though I do get it, you’ll be losing it soon. May as well get a bit more use out of it before it’s gone for good.”
Gone for good? But wouldn’t that mean that she would have a— Heat flooded Bria’s cheeks as her hand pulled back like she’d touched a hot iron. The resulting cackle from Gil did the unthinkable. It caused Neth-amii to stir, pulling her from the restful slumber.
“Aww, look who’s finally awake,” Gil said as Neth’s eyes fluttered. She was so out of it, and absolutely adorable for it. “Get some food in you and we can get to the serious discussion.”
As if the prior discussion hadn’t been serious! It was one thing knowing that she was on the cusp of her body being forever altered. Neth had explained it in bits and pieces, but it was another to experience it personally.
After a moment of stretching, Krow spooned up bowls for each of them and they all settled in by the fire for breakfast. The spices were on point, as always with his cooking. The tension lingered as they ate, and each of them received a second bowl from Krow as they ate. Bria hadn’t realized how ravenous that battle had left her.
Finishing her food, Neth set the bowl down. “How bad is it?”
“The village is in shambles,” Gil-hana said with a huff. “Most of the important infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, and they lost their record keeper in the attack.”
“Which means you’re stuck here,” Neth said, staring into the crackling fire.
Gil-hana nodded. “Krow’s busy helping with repairs and using his skills to speed things along. Funny how a merchant class can help coordinate things between craftsmen.”
The man in question rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not doing that much, just getting the right people talking, or acting as the go between if they don’t like each other.”
“Repairs will take half the time thanks to this modest buffoon,” Gil said, rolling their eyes. “If you’re looking for a chance to go visit Bria’s home, this is a good time. We’re like three days walk from the Shrine if you cut through the woods. If you both run, it’s less than a day. We’ll meet you back there at the next eclipse.”
An eclipse? Bria had never seen one of those, but given the size of the planet, she could only imagine how often those came about, or how long they might last. Something to ask about when they had the time.
“Then it looks like we’re parting ways here,” Neth-amii said.
Kro-ahnk shook his head. “Only for a time. Plus, it will give me a chance to get this Basilisk turned into armor for all of us! Anything made from it is better than steel, and will be an improvement all around.”
Immediately Bria imagined herself in shimmering armor made from scales, with a shield to match and a sword forged from a fang. It didn’t look all that practical, but she liked the image her brain was conjuring up.
“I won’t say no,” Bria muttered.
Krow let out a belting laugh. “After jumping into the beast’s mouth, I thought not! You’ll get a full set, at cost.”
Bria’s jaw dropped. “Cost?”
Kro-ahnk started counting off with his fingers. “Labor isn’t free. A skilled craftsman, I am not. Materials for anything not from the snake. I’ll make a trip to Brookvale to consult those necessary for the work..”
Well, when he put it like that…
“Be careful if you do head into Brookvale,” Neth-amii said. “Ri-durak didn’t miss that you joined us, and something tells me he isn’t dead.”
Oh, Bria had forgotten to tell them that part. “His hooded buddy isn’t either. I saw him watching after we beat the Basilisk.”
“Then be extra careful,” Kro-ahnk said with a firm nod. “I can do that!”
Gil-hana grinned savagely. “He won’t be alone. I’m already mad that I didn’t get a second chance to remind Ri-durak why he needs to fear my magic.”
Light crackled around them as Gil cracked their knuckles. It certainly had Bria hoping that she never had to fight them. Everything was more or less squared away in Cliffside, which meant it was essentially time for them to go.
“Anything you might be interested in from Earth?” Bria asked. “I plan to bring back as much stuff as my bag can hold.”
“Those chip thingies were good,” Krow said immediately. “The sugar sold extremely well, so more of that.”
“Books,” Gil-hana said immediately. “Anything on your sciences and histories. What little we learned when the portal was open was distressingly sparse due to limited contact. I’d love to correct that.”
Somehow, the idea of a magical society learning about nukes didn’t distress Bria as much as it probably should have. It wasn’t like she could get her hands on anything that described how to make one. Still, she had her textbooks from school, and those should be a decent start for anything that Gil wanted to know.
“I can do that,” Bria agreed. “Just don’t be surprised if they’re missing key information. Our schooling texts aren’t the greatest and we don’t have much of a library.”
“Just hearing that you’ve had schooling is already promising,” Gil-hana said. “Oh, bring some books on your language as well. You’re not speaking whatever your native tongue is, if you haven’t noticed.”
“I am, actually,” Bria said. “Whatever magic was involved in bringing me here is making communication possible.”
Gil blinked, then looked at Neth. “But her lips are even moving right.”
“True, but you’ve seen the writing,” Neth said with a shrug. “It will probably be easier for you to learn this ‘English’ than to have her translate everything.”
The librarian fell silent at that, which was as good of a chance as any. Bria got up, and immediately pulled Krow into a hug. “You be safe out there.”
“You as well little Bria,” Krow said, smacking her back. She expected to tumble from the hit, but stayed standing. “We shall be ready for what comes next, that I can promise you.”
Bria beamed right back at him. “Damn right we will.”
She then turned, moving to hug Gil, but they held up a hand. “No hugs for me.”
Not even her best pout could change Gil’s mind, so she relented. Knowing she would drag things out, Bria grabbed her bag and shouldered it; Neth doing the same. With a final wave, the pair hit the road at a brisk pace, leaving Cliffside behind. Only once it was firmly behind them did the pace quicken, and eventually Bria cast [Enhance] to give herself that extra push to move faster.
“Slow or fast?” Bria asked after a few minutes of briskly jogging faster than she thought a car could drive. “We’re not actually in a hurry, but it would be nice to sleep in my own bed at home tonight.”
Neth glanced aside, the pain in her eyes receding a bit as she grinned. “Race you.”
And like that, she took off at a dead sprint and Bria moved to follow with every ounce of speed she could muster. Trees blurred by and creatures moved out of their way in a panic. An ambush by some strange dog-like humanoids was scattered by their passing. Then they reached the forest and would have slowed if Neth-amii hadn’t cast her own shielding ability and continued straight through the underbrush.
Bria cast [Bulwark] and joined her in the destructive path, uncaring as small trees and shrubs did little to slow their race. Bria pulled up beside Neth-amii, and shot her a playful raspberry. Neth responded by bumping Bria into a dead log, which disintegrated on impact and barely slowed her down. If any moment could have solidified how much she had changed, it was this.
Human norms were so far behind her at this point that she couldn’t imagine anyone on Earth being able to so much as slow her down without getting the military involved. Where would she be once she had a Class? Would it really make that much of a difference? Everyone spoke of gaining a Class as this mystical thing where one’s power exploded exponentially.
Somehow, Bria pulled ahead just as they burst into a familiar clearing and Bria had to dance around a few of the standing hives. Neth was less than a second behind her, and both slowed to a stop just in front of the Shrine. Bria braced herself as she panted, unable to quite understand what had just happened.
“You are way faster than your level would suggest,” Neth-amii said, her own breathing hard. A soft sheen of sweat covered her, casting her face in a slight shimmer with the afternoon light. Then, she smiled and Bria’s heart lurched in her chest.
A reflexive [Heal] flowed through her, and was followed by a [Cleanse] to remove the sweat from her clothes. Bria quickly looked away, shifting her backpack as Neth began to laugh. With a pout on her lips, Bria stepped over to the entrance to the Shrine where the portal awaited them. Neth followed, casting her own spells to freshen up.
As they entered the antechamber, Bria hung back for a moment, letting Neth-amii take the first steps. If her amulet didn’t work, the portal would open for her, rather than repel her. Her steps were tentative, but she took them all the same. Then, with a flash, the portal spun open. Bria couldn’t help but clap once, laughing along with her friend’s delight.
Neth-amii turned, a massive smile framing her face as she held out a hand.
“Come on, I want to see this world of yours.”