"Ugh." Vespera yawned and then groaned. "I'm really feeling the lack of sleep."
We could have stayed, but the girls insisted we should keep moving. While we maybe had all the time in the world to take things easy, eating monster meat and drinking from the underground rivers, the constant alertness and the monotone environment of the cave was beginning to get old fast.
Even more importantly, after spending an eternity trapped underground, both Vespera and Elyra were quite eager to see the sky again. They tried to hide it, of course. They didn't want to burden me with their selfish desires, but I noticed all the same. The bond between us meant that there were no secrets, after all, and I was more than happy to leave the caves behind anyway.
"What are we going to do once we get out?" I mused. "Any grand plans?"
"Depends on what we find," Vespera replied in her usual quick, tomboyish sort of way that meant she was not telling me the full story.
I sighed theatrically. "I know, little demon. I didn't mean the immediate plan."
"Who are you calling little?" Vespera punched me lightly. "I will have you notice that I am only a few centimeters shorter than you. Elyra is the short one!"
"She's the same height as you," I deadpanned. "If she's short, then so are you."
"Then she is not short, that's what she is."
The angel in question snorted a laugh. "I think we all know what he meant to ask. After we get settled, what are we going to do? What's our long term objective?"
"I…" Vespera began, then paused. "Spacer boy, what about you?"
I shrugged. "I just want to live a happy and fulfilled life."
"Boring. Don't you want power? Fame? Success? Women of all kinds?" Vespera suggested seductively.
I looked at her in the eyes. "I already have you. I don't need anything else."
She swallowed. "You… you!"
Laughing, I continued. "Everyone wants power and immortality and everything else. With the System, I might even get them so, why not?"
"That's more like it!" she grinned. "I was beginning to fear that you had gone completely insane with your I'm a new man yadda yadda bullshit."
"Trust me, I am. The Sol that died was a loser."
"Well," Vespera began. For some reason, she was looking away. "This Sol here isn't a loser, okay? We are going to become rich and powerful and famous."
"Maybe not famous, Vespera," Elyra said. "I do not like the attention."
The demon hummed. "I shall think about it, Elyra. Consider your request… considered."
The angel in question shook her head, smiling.
"What about you?" I asked the angel.
"I want to know what happened to our Races." she looked at Vespera. "I want to know why we lost access to the System. I want to know why we were imprisoned, and if there are still people out there who wish us harm. I want to protect and nurture the bond between us, but I don't want my past to be a burden."
Vespera coughed in her hand. "Sheesh," she said. She pretended to laugh it off and failed. "You're right, of course. I'll lay waste upon my enemies before they can touch a hair of you two."
"That's what you don't understand…" Elyra began.
"…you won't have to do anything." I finished.
"Huh?" she stammered.
"There's no you, Vespera," I said. "Unless you want to leave the bond?"
"No!"
"Then," Elyra said, taking a deep breath. "There is only us, do you understand? We share the joys and the burdens. Together."
"Ah, shit, my eyes are leaking again."
We laughed, together, and it was a magical moment.
"Alright, sounds like a plan," I said. "Step one, find our footing. This means reaching civilization and understanding how the world works, since none of us three has the slightest cue. After that, we'll work on understanding our bond and our powers. Maybe get the System to cough up a skill or two. Then we power up, of course."
"Heaven, yeah," yelled Vespera.
"We'll need power for our quests. While we do it, we'll search for information about the fate of angels and demons, and proceed from there. I might be a blank slate, isekaied with the knowledge that everything I might have cared about in my old world is nothing but glittering particles of dust in space, but you two need closure."
Elyra stopped walking and faced me. Cupping my right cheek with her hand, she smiled gently.
"You are, of course, wrong," she said. She was trembling slightly. "Your mystery is bigger than even our own. Who plucked you from your world and why?"
"Yeah," Vespera added. "Better to know that before it comes to bite us in the ass, you know? It's not like I want you to also have closure."
I scoffed. "Silly demon. You can say things as they are without needing to pretend."
"Anyway!" she deflected. "Is it just me or do I feel some fresh air coming from up ahead?"
◈◈◈
First it was fresh air, then a pinprick of light. We all sped up without even realizing, and by the time we could see the blue of the sky through the glare of the blinding daylight, we were basically running. I guess the caves had taken a bigger toll on us than we had thought.
When we emerged, the world blinded us. We laughed as our eyes adjusted, feeling the wind on our faces and the sun on our skin.
"Finally!" Vespera cried out, rushing to Elyra and wrapping her in a hug. She lifted her up and twirled her around, making her yelp in surprise.
We examined our surroundings. We weren't in the grassy plains anymore, that much was certain. I wasn't sure how—we hadn't walked that much. Instead of grass, impossible mountains surrounded us, while tall conifer trees and dark shrubs coated the hills closer to us. A river flowed with crystalline, ice-cold water that was a balm to our souls. We drank deeply, enjoying the cool sensation.
The high of being able to finally see the sun lasted a long time, but before we could enjoy it fully, a roar shook the alpine forest.
"Monster," Vespera whispered.
Immediately the two girls took position near me. Of the three, I was probably the one with the most points in Strength and Vitality, but I was also slow and unarmed. They summoned their magic, and we slowly moved towards a more defensible location while scanning the forest.
There was only silence. Even the song of birds had ceased, the forest holding its breath while a dangerous predator lurked nearby.
"There," Elyra said, pointing.
We saw it. A hulking mass of brown fur and maddened eyes. A monster, like Vespera had said.
The moment we looked at it, it was as if it had suddenly become aware of us. Its head snapped towards us, sickly yellow eyes that glowed with power locking onto us. The mutated bear was as big as a small tree, at least four meters high. It rose to its hind legs, almost doubling in height, before slamming into the ground and charging us.
Elyra directed her angelic magic towards her halo. Before the monster could even breach out of the forest, a thick beam of energy erupted from her and impacted its hide. Roaring in pain, it changed direction, beginning to zig-zag towards us. She tracked it, firing beam after beam.
Vespera growled, and claws made of darkness appeared on her hands. She shot off in a burst of speed, weaving around Elyra's beams of light. Then they clashed. She danced around the creature, nimbly dodging and weaving, never stopping for a single moment. She was almost a blur, her limbs and tail swimming in the air, seeking weak points and creating distance.
Elyra kept shooting, but it was soon evident that her beam was nothing more than a distraction. While it left singed furrows in the monster's hide, they were all superficial wounds. Her wings glowed, but my attention was wholly focused on Vespera. Despite her impressive speed, she was dangerously close to the beast. She swiped and sliced with her claws, impossibly sharp blades of darkness, but she failed to inflict any deep wounds.
The bear suddenly jerked, its speed increasing without warning. It caught Vespera off-guard, hitting her in the stomach and sending her straight into a tree. She bounced off of it, groaning and crumpling onto the ground. Then the bear was on her.
It rose on its hind legs again, but this time it wasn't to intimidate.
I was already running. The bear roared, and I knew I wasn't going to make it in time. I cursed, forcing my body to move faster, but only managing to stumble my way forward. My Strength was too high while my Dexterity was too low, and instead of running all I was managing was a sort of drunken bunny-hop. At least it was fast.
Right! It was fast. I leaned into the strange style of locomotion, hopping and propelling myself forward with my legs instead of trying to find a balance. I crossed the last few meters by literally jumping in the path of the monster as it slammed down. I saw its enormous paws descend upon me like a boulder, feeling the immense weight of the monster behind them. Its claws caught the light of the sun, thick and brown and sharp.
I redirected one of them, feeling like I had hit a beam of solid steel. It barely even moved, but now we were out of the way of the claws. The rest of the bear was still falling on top of us, though. I closed my eyes, shielding Vespera's body with mine, hugging her tight. As I waited for the pain to come, I realized just how dangerous this world was. But then…
The pain did not come. I opened my eyes, and saw pure white light all around. There was something like a sheet of glass between me and the monster. It claws were scratching at it as it roared, but the glass simply rippled with geometrical shapes, lines and concentric circles that shifted and changed. In the distance, Elyra was hovering a few centimeters off the ground, her wings glowing.
"I can't hold on for much longer!" she cried.
Vespera shifted beneath me. She summoned her claws again and grinned. "Thanks for the save, spacer boy. I'll take it from here."
She blurred forward, shoving me out of the way. In one fluid motion, she plunged her hands into the bear's exposed underside from beneath the shield, and then pulled. The flesh parted, but it wasn't a clean cut. The monster's hide was too tough. The demon woman screamed in effort, grunting as she strained to part the flesh. Already blood and gore were raining on the shield and on her, spattering against her plastic jacket and staining her hair.
The bear roared again, attempting to take a step back to create space. Before she could be yanked away, with her claws still embedded in it, I rushed to her, adding my strength to hers. We pushed and heaved, slicing open the bear's underbelly.
Innards, strange organs and stinking flesh poured on us like a flood. I gagged, throwing myself back, but Vespera resisted my attempt at pulling her away. Instead, she turned everything she could get her claws on into mincemeat, not stopping until she finally saw the System message.
You have defeated a level 7 [Rabid Bear].
General level up!
General Level 2 → 3
+1 to all stats.
+1 General skill point.
We all collectively blinked.
Vespera cocked her head, staring at the message window. Thanks to the bond, I could see all their System messages, which were all about kills or Class level ups, and they could see all of mine.
"Is it just me, or did the System just delete the last line?"
As if on cue, a new message appeared.
Insufficient energy.