"How do you know that?" An exact countdown, down to the minute until her death was too brazen to be true.
The voice sighed, the sensation sending chills all over Lorena's body.
Your debuffs.
Lorena scanned her interface, her heart sinking.
Broken Hand (physical) - Your hand is broken, reducing your health by 5 points until healed.
Gaping Chest Wound (physical) - Your chest drips with blood, draining one health per minute until dispelled and healed to full.
Gouged Calf (physical) - Your calf was gouged by the fangs of a spider, reducing movement speed by 5% until dispelled and healed to full.
Her mind focused on one word, healed.
"Where is a healer? Is there one—"
Get to Silvershire. That's the closest healer out here. Though I'm not sure how you're going to get there in time. It's a six hour walk, and that was before you went and ruined my calf.
Her inventory. She had to have something that would help. Lorena scanned the list, one item jumping out at her.
Ripe Apple (15): Heal 18% of your maximum health by consuming the apple.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She had a chance, if–
18% of her max health… That was 25 health per apple? That seemed right.
Her head swam, the world spinning around her. She closed her eyes. Just a minute of rest. Her legs twitched, her body begging her to move, to get away from this spider infested forest.
But if she didn't plan, she'd die in eighteen minutes.
The wind picked up, sending a sharp stinging sensation through the gaping hole in her chest. She clenched her jaw and focused.
28 minutes. No, 27, just to be safe. She needed to eat an apple every 27 minutes. Relief washed over her with the realization that she wasn't going to die, yet.
Lorena took the apple out of her inventory and hesitated. Hunger and fear overrode any sense of concern she may have had as she bit into the apple. Her jaw ached with the flavor, light and crisp but overwhelming.
Warmth radiated through her, lessening the tension in her back and dulling the pain of her wounds to a mild ache.
She pushed herself to her feet and her vision narrowed to a pinprick. She braced against the log, pain blooming in her vision as her ruined hand took the brunt of her weight. She'd lost too much blood. Her vision faded to black. She bit the inside of her cheek, a new source of pain dragging her body back from the brink of collapse.
The voice groaned with the pain.
Lorena spat, more blood than spit. She could do this. She took an uneasy step. It was painful, but she'd been in pain before. The last three months in her old body had been nothing but pain every waking moment. Another shaky step brought a smile—her ankle didn't hurt. She rolled her shoulder, her chest whining at the minimal stretch from the movement, but her shoulder didn't hurt. The glowing debuffs hung in her interface. The broken hand. The gaping chest wound. The gouged calf. All temporary. All of it fixable.
She glanced at the clock in her interface. 25 minutes until her next apple. Then another 27 after that.
The pitchfork helped steady her. One step, then another. Silvershire waited at the end of this road, and she'd crawl there if she had to.
After about three and a half hours into her journey, Lorena realized her mistake. Her health was draining faster than the apples could regenerate. She redid the math and adjusted the timer to every 24 minutes.
That was two and a half hours ago, and now she was staring at her last apple, apple number 15. The thought of eating another apple made her feel sick, her stomach uncomfortably full. She hoped it was enough. She checked the map again; Silvershire still wasn't visible, but it looked so close on the map.
The apple brought her to 36 health.
She staggered into town several minutes later, feet dragging her toward the sounds of people and the smell of grilled meat. Her health ticked down to 6. Her vision dimmed as she turned a corner.
Health: 5/140
Rough outlines, blurry shapes. Was this a market? The muffled sound of excited bartering and laughing children rang in her ears as death knocked.
Health: 4/140
She saw an old man napping in a hammock and the urge to collapse on the ground nearly won out. Her feet shuffled her further, her body on autopilot.
What was she doing again? Right. A Priest. She needed help.
Health: 3/140
A horrified scream filled the air and she was briefly aware of running. Was she in danger? She was going to die, wasn't she?
Her legs staggered and sent her to the ground, the pain from her broken hand not even registering in her brain. She tried to push herself back up, but her arms were too weak.
She missed her old body. Those arms were strong. She could bench press her own weight. Now she couldn't even stand.
We're going to die. You need to get up. The voice sounded scared.
Health: 2/140
"By Veythra's light, are you okay?" Lorena's eyes fluttered open, a burst of light blinding her. A woman looked down at her. She looked scared. Should Lorena be afraid? She was too tired to feel fear.
Health: 1/140
Oh right. Death. She needed help.
"Pr—Priest." That was exhausting.
"Oh no you don't." She heard the woman say, but she sounded far away. Was she running too?
Warmth flooded her body as she took in a desperate breath. The dimness fled her vision and the pain scurried back. The warmth slowly faded, leaving her whole and healed.
Pressure built where the hole had been just moments ago. Lorena pressed a hand to it and found a solid surface, rather than the gaping hole.
The pulsing ache in her hand had calmed, the swelling instantly reduced to the point that she couldn't tell which hand had been broken.
An itching sensation drew her attention to her calf as the wound closed on its own.
Lorena checked her status in her interface.
Health: 140/140
Debuff Broken hand (physical) was removed
Gaping chest wound (physical) was dispelled
Gouged Calf (physical) was dispelled
This was a miracle. Moments ago she was at death's door and now not only was her health full, but her wounds were completely healed.
Not a miracle. The Goddesses don't reward your type.
Lorena shuddered as the voice spoke in her mind.
Lorena let the Priest help her to her feet, following her out of the middle of the street and shooing away onlookers.
"Thank you," Lorena said.
"Of course, now what happened to you? Do we need to worry about something following you into town?" Concern was etched onto her face.
"No. I—I was in the forest… A spider—"
The Priest gave her a bewildered look. "The forest? At level 10?"
When had she hit level 10? It must have been from the spider.
Merciful Goddess Tevra, please free me from this fool. I will accept death with open arms.
The forest had seemed perfectly safe. It made tactical sense—Get off the road and out of sight, stay hidden until she got the lay of the land. How was she supposed to know giant spiders lurked in the dark?
None of that came out. Her mouth opened, empty, the endless justifications dying on her tongue.
"You don't even have a class. What were you thinking? Why haven't you even bothered with that?"
Lorena took a step backwards and tripped. This body's center of balance was all off.
"I was just trying to get here. Thank you for saving me." She turned and started walking further into town.
"Wait," the Priest called out. Lorena froze, her tactical senses flaring. The woman had shown up and saved her from certain death, but did she trust her? No.
The woman didn't look particularly strong, now that Lorena was back at full health she could probably take her. A quick jab with the end of the pitchfork to her sternum, kick out her knee—
Are you seriously considering harming the only person who's been nice to you? What is wrong with you?
Lorena suppressed a scowl at the comment.
She'd probably kill you–us–in a second anyways. She must be at least level 15.
How would you know that?
Do you know anything? The voice was incredulous. Priests don't get that strong of a heal until level 12.
Lorena chewed the inside of her cheek. She needed a way to evaluate people now that muscle and technique mattered less than System granted strength.
The voice drew closer. You really don't know anything. Who are you?
What are you talking about?
Just use Identify on her.
Lorena pressed her lips together, trying to suppress the automatic thought of how the hell do I do that?
The voice recoiled. You–Just think about it.
Lorena thought about Identify. What it might do, how it would work. Then, information floated into her mind.
Jade, Human, Level 18 Priest
Her body folded in on itself, shoulders rolling inward, spine rounding. She winced as her calf burned with the memory of the spider bite. The spider had only been one level higher than her. Jade was eight.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Jade asked, her voice slightly less judgmental.
Lorena took a step back as her risk calculation morphed, Jade transforming into the dangerous predator she was. Lorena needed to hide.
"I was going to find a place when I got to town."
"I can help with that. Follow me," Jade said with a smile. Too warm. Too welcoming. Lorena took another step back as Jade turned and started walking down the street.
How are you feeling more like a victim than me?
I don't trust her. This feels like a trap.
I wish I could roll my eyes. You've taken that from me. Follow her. You can trust her.
Lorena debated the advice.
Not advice.
But before she could decide Jade turned around and frowned.
"You coming? I'm not one of those pushy guild recruiters," she said with a laugh.
Follow her, the voice urged. As much as I may dislike her for following Goddess Veythra instead of Goddess Tevra, you need her.
Lorena's jaw tightened, but her legs were moving, one hesitant step, then another. She had nowhere else to go. No contacts. No plan. And apparently, no idea how this world worked.
"There you go. Come on, you'll love Henry."
The voice was quiet as Lorena crossed the busy market. Not gone, just quiet, lurking just beneath the surface.
Lorena gripped her pitchfork tighter, using Identify on everyone she passed.
Level 20 Warrior.
Level 17 Hunter.
Level 34 Mage.
All brandishing weapons. All capable of killing her without breaking a sweat, and they knew it. The stares confirmed it, not hostile, just… Pitying.
She swallowed hard and actively tried to relax her posture. She had survived the spider attack, the walk, even almost dying.
Now she just had to survive sharing her body with the woman she'd murdered.