As the sun was reaching its peak in the vast blue sky deprived of any clouds, one boy was sitting with his eye close in the middle of a sea of grass. Next to him led down a sleeping beauty using her hair as a mat, whose scarlet taint was emphasized by the sunlight.

Only a few minutes have passed since Sam and Alice arrived in this new place, and even though he had lost his foresight, he was convinced that her sister was likely to wake up soon. In this untouched part of the world, there was no road or sign to guide them, so it was up to him to find the way…

Fortunately, this task was perfectly befitting his role as a Seer.

“Mouaaaaah”

“You finally wake up, sleepy head…”

“?!”

After a long and annoying yawn, she realized she was awake and immediately jumped on her feet, looking around and getting on her guard.

“Calm down! Kunan is not here, we’re in the next struggle.”

“…you let me sleep on the grass?”

"That's really the first thing you ask? Nothing like: Where did she go? Did she say something? What is this place? You know, normal questions for people in your situation."

“That wasn’t a no.”

“…you are heavy.”

Okay, that was a bit petty of me to let her sleep on the ground without a blanket or something, and I am ashamed of myself, but when I saw her 'stats' or whatever, I was kind of annoyed.

Alice, ??? of ??? (lvl 36) Strength 121 Agility 164 Dexterity 220 Intelligence 1394 Flux Control 103 Flux Power 146 Techniques Magic [Fire(Proficient), Water(Proficient)]

Air Jump

Lightning Gathering

Illusion Crafts (Beginner)

Art of the Flow (Beginner)

Spatial Splitting Art (Proficient)

The world is not fair. She even got my own Art...

“Fuck, I have grass in my hair!”

“Do you really care?”

“…yeah, I guess not. Anyway, if that makes you happy… *hum hum* Where did she go? Did she say something? What is this place?”

“Aww, thanks. So, I don’t know, I don’t know, and… I’m not sure.”

“You are a useless male.”

“But! There is something that might interest you!”

Struggle#16

Objective: Craft Alice’s Quest Book

Sub-objective: Bring Alice - Meet Ogre Omtapo - Defeat the Guardian

I showed the Quest Book to her, and witness her genuine surprise to see her name on it.

“What the fuck…”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I thought too.”

“I had no idea we could make one of those. In fact, I think Marie tried but gave up.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that… that’s complicated, if even she can’t do it, it’ll be hard finding someone.”

“So… we are stuck here?”

“Not yet, I believe there something further in the south.”

"…did you see the future?"

"No, the past, there's a guy that passed around here multiple times, from north to south or the other way around. So it's likely there's a village or something in one or the other direction."

“And… why south and not north?”

“Nothing, just a hunch.”

“…You’re pretty cool when you say things like that, with the wind in your hair and everything.”

“And you’re pretty shameless to say that.”

“I’m trying.”

Haha, despite saying that, her cheeks are completely red and I can see her pupils slightly shaking. Her smile is cute though.

Anyway... we went south, and as expected, after an hour or so, we saw a single house, in the middle of the plain, with stone wall and a lot of smoke elevating in the sky from a small chimney.

A few minutes later, we were in front of the door, and after exchanging a quick glance to Alice, I knocked on the door.

"Dammit! I told it wouldn't be ready before tomorrow…"

With shouts and violence, a chubby man opened the door. He was smaller than me, but not much, with black hair and an afro. Adding that his face was covered in dust and soot while he was wearing a perfectly clean white shirt, you could say that both of us were quite startled by his appearance.

Him as well, it seemed… was he waiting for someone?

“Who the hell are ya?”

“Hum… well, how do I say this…”

I guess I should have thought of a way to introduce Alice and myself beforehand. I didn't really have to before, so it got off my head… Shit, how do I do? We need to make it plausible without telling him too much…

“We’re on a struggle.”

“Oh, a bunch of noobs! What a cool surprise, come on in!”

Or, we can simply say that… Great job, Sis’! I guess…

We entered in his humble home, who was more of a workshop than anything. There was wood table everywhere, an oven in use and a bunch of metal scraps and tools here and there. There was also a huge chest on the back and stairs going to the first floor.

“As you can see, I’m a crafter, the best there is!”

“Oh oh, I hope you never meet Mar.”

“Not the right time Alice.”

“Who is Mar?”

“No one, a friend of us, anyway! Who… who are you?”

"Oh, sorry, didn't introduce maself. I'm Ogre Omtapo! Mason of Kindness, at your service."

He theatrical presented himself, bowing to us with disproportions manner. He seems to have fun doing it.

“Haha, I’m quite excited, you’re my second set of newcomers!”

“Really? Wait, what happened to your session?”

“No idea, I just lost my book, well, more like it was stolen. In the end, I have no way of leaving this struggle, so I settled here, and, well, it’s been forty years or so… so it’s likely we failed. And when I saw my first newcomers, it was like a proof to me.”

“That’s… sad.”

“Haha, don’t worry, I had time for grief! Now it’s time for me, to help you! What can I do for you!”

“Oh, thanks, I’m Sam and she is Alice, my si…”

“We need a book.”

“A book you say? That’s it? I’m more of a metal worker, but…”

“A special kind of book…”

I figured I might as well show him the objective, so I did.

Needless to say, he was shocked.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

Why does everyone say the same thing?

“Valentine!”

“What?”

“Stop messing with my stuff!”

“Come on Will, let me play for a bit, I’m bored!”

“You’re always bored! Go annoy someone else! I’m busy!”

“The blond girl hasn’t moved from her 12th?”

“No! But that’s not the problem, no fuck off.”

“Oh my, do you have your period or what?”

Valentine casually left William’s office, trying to think about another activity to occupy herself.

For some reason, the place where Sam and his sister were transported to this time was not covered by Williams setup. That was weird, but not impossible, only the first world is completely covered, the higher the flux concentration, the harder it is to put the recording devices, according to Will himself.

So, she is currently looking for a way to kill time. She has at least a month before the main event, where she is scheduled to kill Sam, but she had pretty much nothing to do until then. She could contact him, but they already chatted the day before, and she doesn’t want to give the impression she cares about him.

“I know!”

She had a revelation, and without wasting time, she went to one of the desks in the back of the room.

“Clar! How’re you doing? It’s been a while girl!”

“Val! Well, we saw each other at the last reunion, I guess.”

“Yeah yeah, what are you doing?”

“You know, watching Naomi… I don’t really know what she’s doing though…”

“What do you mean?”

As she was on the wrong side of the screen, Valentine had to go around to see what was happening, and, arriving near Clarence’s back, she froze.

Slowly, a big childish smile started to cover her face.

“Oh, I know exactly what she’s doing…”

“Really? What is it? Seems fun but…”

“You don’t have to know! Just, stay there… I’m gonna grab some popcorn.”