“Hey you, you’re finally awake—” I started as Fissyah woke up.

She groaned and sat up, pushing me away from her face. “You keep saying that. What does that even mean?”

“Oh, it’s just a meme from my world,” I said, giving her some space.

“A meme?”

“Uhm,”— I wasn’t sure how to explain the internet or the idea of mass communication to her so I decided to move on— “anyways, it’s time to get going!”

“Right.” Fissyah got to her feet and stretched. She looked quite different now— slightly taller, longer hair, and tanned skin. It was going to take a while for me to get used to her as a Gremlin. I still mentally thought of her as a Goblin, even if that wasn’t right anymore.

Her stomach rumbled as she took a single step forward. She looked away from me in embarrassment, and I blinked. (Metaphorically, of course!)

“That was—” I started.

“S-sorry,” Fissyah said, waving her hands hurriedly. “I’m just a little hungry, that’s all! But I don’t really need to eat right now.”

“No, no, no, no, no! That absolutely won’t do!” I bounced up and down indignantly. I gestured for the Gremlin to follow after me as I found a set of monster tracks that led further down the tunnel. “You can't fight on an empty stomach. We’re going to find you your breakfast, then we’re going to find Oblec.”

She pursed her lips as I marched on. I wasn’t sure why she was lagging behind, but I decided that it was probably because she was nervous. After all, this was the first time she’d strayed this far into the Karhid Caves. It was normal for her to be afraid of the monsters that could pop up and attack at any moment.

“Don’t worry, Fissyah,” I reassured her, flexing an appendage. “I’ll take care of anything that shows up!”

* * *

“Vio—”

“Run for it!” I yelled and grabbed Fissyah.

The girl stumbled, nearly tripping over a rock as the cacophonous footfalls befell us. We had accidentally caught the attention of a small horde of monsters. They bounded after us, dozens of them, each one over seven feet tall when standing. I’d fought one of them before, and while they were terrifying creatures with sharp teeth and dagger-like claws, they were also… amusing.

Their voices echoed down the tunnel after us as they gave chase.

“Come back here!”

“I promise you, I’m vegan. I won’t eat you!”

“As if I’m falling for that again!” I shouted back.

They were Earthen Sirens. Badger-like creatures that mimicked sound with their magic to lure in their prey; it reminded me of the sea sirens from Earth’s mythology, except our sirens were meant to have alluring appearances. These Earthen Sirens were far uglier in comparison.

God, I would’ve much preferred a group of half-naked and extremely hot guys to be chasing after me right now. Unfortunately, I had to settle for these bumbling, idiotic monsters instead.

“I’m not lying. I’m actually a pescatarian.”

“Isn’t that a religion?”

“No, that’s a presbyterian—”

There was a fork in the cavern up ahead, and I yanked Fissyah down the right passageway.

“Violet—”

“This way—”

But the ground burst open. The large snout of an Earthen Siren poked out, its neck still half-buried in the dirt. I blinked as it stared right at me.

“Hi,” it said. “We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.”

“I’m not paying you anything, you stupid scammer!”

I smacked it across the face. There was a snap. An audible crack. It dropped dead as Fissyah came to a halt, panting.

“Wait…” I paused and stared at the Earthen Siren’s corpse.“That was easy…?”

“Violet!” Fissyah’s voice snapped me out of my brief stupor. She glanced over her shoulder quickly before turning back to face me. “Why are we running from those Earthen Sirens?”

“I mean, they’re stronger than me, right?” I gave the Gremlin a confused look as the footfalls drew closer.

She blinked. “What? Why would you think that?”

“Because…” I trailed off.

I remembered the first time I fought an Earthen Siren. It had a higher Combat Power than me back then. It was one of the more difficult battles I’d been in prior to finding Korukh. And yet, a notification hovered the dead Earthen Siren, and my mind slowly worked.

You have defeated an [Earthen Siren - Level 12 (Combat Power: 273)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

“You’re literally way stronger than every single one of them! Their Combat Powers are barely around 200 to 300!” Fissyah said, gesturing at the oncoming monsters. “Even I can take out at least two or three of them on my own!”

“Mmm, I guess I don’t know my own strength, huh?” I didn’t realize how much I’d leveled since getting to Korukh. Even though it was only a few days, I leveled up quite a bit in that short timespan.

I slid in front of the Gremlin, facing the Earthen Sirens as I hopped up and down pretending to be a boxer.

“Support me with your fire magic, Fissyah.”

“Got it.” Flames appeared at the girl’s hands, shooting out after me as I leapt forward.

I crashed into the first Earthen Siren, sending it tumbling to the ground. Spinning around, I lashed out with a pair of tendrils to knock the Earthen Sirens closest to me back. As they fell one after another, I unleashed a salvo of [Arc Shots] to finish off the downed monsters.

A second wave drew closer, swiping for me with their terrible claws. I threw myself out of the way, richoteting hard off the wall. The stone cracked as I bounced back towards the rows of Earthen Sirens.

I smashed into each of them, using the momentum to hit the next even harder. They fell one after another, some of them even instantly crumpling dead to the ground just from the impact alone. A wall of red washed over those that were still alive. Fissyah kept them from getting back up as I turned to the remaining Earthen Sirens.

There were four of them left still standing. They stared at me as I spread my tendrils wide, unfurling from me like the thorns of a wicked flower.

“Yo,” I said.

And they went scattering.

“Screw that!”

“I told you this was a bad idea.”

“What? No— I was the one who told you this was a bad idea!”

I felt a bit bad for them, but I didn’t let myself be deceived by their sound magic. The only reason why I didn’t give chase was to help Fissyah finish off the remaining, injured Earthen Sirens.

You have defeated an [Earthen Siren - Level 15 (Combat Power: 314)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

You have defeated an [Earthen Siren - Level 11 (Combat Power: 221)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

…

You have advanced to Level 16!

- Arcane Essence +40

* * *

You have replenished 40 Arcane Essence!

You have also replenished 20 Arcane Essence due to [Improved Absorption]!

…

You have replenished 60 Arcane Essence!

You have also replenished 30 Arcane Essence due to [Improved Absorption]!

“That was a delicious meal!” I smacked my lips as I finished consuming the last of the Earthen Sirens lying on the ground.

I’d gathered the bodies up for Fissyah, but she couldn’t possibly eat more than, say, a single arm. After all, she was still quite small despite her evolution. We’d set up a small camp a bit aways from the fighting, in an alcove where a campfire burned, created from her magic.

The Gremlin sat, knees hugged closely to her chest, and arms wrapped around her shins. The flames crackled, dancing wildly as it cooked the Earthen Siren leg. She watched the color of the meat change to a crispy gold, red eyes reflecting the burning of her own magic.

“Something wrong?” I asked, peering at her curiously.

“No,” she said and glanced over at me. Her lips curled up as she spoke. “It just… feels weird. Being able to use magic. Being able to create fire from the world around me and use it to hold my own in battle. I’ve always dreamed of this, and yet…”

“It doesn’t feel real, does it?”

“No, no it doesn’t.”

“I get that, although our circumstances are different. Nothing has felt real ever since I woke up at that lake, being licked by a Toxic Toad, before being chased by a horde of monsters.” I laughed as I grabbed the cooked Earthen Siren leg and gave it to her.

“I barely even know how my new Skills work.” Fissyah accepted it and murmured, “That’s hot— and I don’t even know what Arcane Essence does either.”

“Neither do I. There’s no need to worry too much about that.”

“I guess it’s just… I’ve always been weak, ever since I was born. And every other day, Rioke and his men would beat me. If we ever did anything to defend ourselves or even remotely offend the soldiers, we’d be punished.”

The smile slowly slipped from her face as the embers in the background faded. Her flames snuffed out, her gaze darkened, and she gritted her teeth.

“My Mama was killed because of me— because she tried to protect me from their beatings. I should’ve been the one to die that day, not her. Mama stepped in… she saved me. And they killed her instead.”

I watched as tears streamed down the girl’s cheeks. She sniffled, quickly wiping them away as she tried to hide her face by digging into her food. I brought her arm down before meeting her gaze.

“You didn’t kill your mother, Fissyah. Rioke did.”

She blinked a few times, and I continued.

“And Rioke is dead, all thanks to you,” I said, placing an appendage on her shoulder. “If you hadn’t come to me— asked for my help and followed me to Fort Erkaed— he’d still be alive and hurting the people of your village at this very moment. You aren’t weak, Fissyah. It is because you were strong, you saved Korukh.”

“I’m strong, huh?” The Gremlin closed her eyes.

I nodded eagerly. “Of course you are! You’re Level 10— wait, no you just leveled up to Level 11— and your Combat Power is 280! That’s, like, more than a Dark Elf’s at your level!”

I wasn’t actually sure if that was always the case, but from what I’d seen, it was generally true.. Still, Fissyah shook her head. Getting to her feet, she opened her eyes and bore her crimson gaze into me.

“I thought I’d be satisfied once I was no longer weak— once I could protect myself from Rioke and his thugs. But even now, I don’t feel strong enough. I’m not satisfied. Not yet.”

I met her look of determination as she finished.

“I still want to grow stronger, Violet.”

Even though her fire had been snuffed out, I could still see a twinkling in her eyes— a burning desire. I bounced up and down, agreeing with her.

“And that’s why we’re out here, remember? We’re going to find Oblec, and he’ll help us out.”

Fissyah blinked. Shuffling her feet, she said, “That’s actually what I’ve been meaning to bring up to you.”

“What is?” I gave her a puzzled look.

“Do you— do you actually know where Oblec is?” the girl asked. “We know that he’s in the Karhid Caves, right? But… do we know where he is, specifically?”

“Nope!” I answered truthfully. “I have absolutely no idea where Oblec’s at.”

“So how are we going to find him?”

“Uhm, we’re going to wander around until we stumbled into him?”

She sighed. “Violet, you don’t know just how big the Karhid Caves are, do you?”

“I have absolutely no idea how big the Karhid Caves is. I literally just appeared in this world, like, two hours ago.”

“That wasn’t two hours ago— your sense of time sucks. But the Karhid Caves is hundreds and hundreds of miles long, and it is made up of many, many, many tunnels and caverns. We’re not going to be finding Oblec anytime soon.”

I created a set of tendrils and shrugged. “I mean, what do you want to do instead? We don’t have a map, do we?

“No.” She took a step forward. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something else in the meantime.”

“What are you saying?” I studied her expression.

Fissyah proffered me a hand. “I want you to teach me your Skill.”

“My Skill?”

“Yes. That Skill you use— the one which can instantly kill a Dark Elf who’s close to your level.”

“Oh, you mean [Arc Shot]?” I asked, and she nodded eagerly.

“That’s the one!” She spread her arms wide, speaking in an excited voice. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Something so small— so compact. And it’s so powerful. Kind of like you, although you can change your size. But still!”

I drew back as she continued her chippering.

“It’s so amazing. If I had that, I wouldn’t even need to get close to a Dark Elf. It’s way better than my [Basic Fire Magic]. Please, Violet. Can you teach me? Please?”

With one of my appendages, I pushed her back. I looked at her round eyes as she clasped her hands together, pleading to me with her expression alone.

“Alright,” I said. “I’ll teach it to you.”

“Thank you so much—”

“But be warned, Fissyah,” I cut her off with a raised tendril. “My training will be very difficult for you.”

“O-oh.” The girl hesitated, pressing her lips into a thin line.

I continued, “Because I have absolutely no idea how I got this Skill in the first place.”

“Oh,” she repeated herself, but this time, with a much different— flatter— tone.