It seemed that Faye was about to get that chance she had been waiting for, much sooner than they had expected. Deep in the forest, with her sense of direction all kinds of lost, the group stumbled across creatures that were different from anything she’d ever seen.

Except for in movies.

“Are those dinosaurs?” she asked. “‘Cause if they’re dinosaurs, that’s both the coolest and the scariest thing ever!”

“What’s a dinosaur?” Arran asked. “That’s a ciua lizard. It’s fast, but not very durable. You shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

The word he’d used sounded something like ‘chewer’, which Faye hoped to God was not descriptive.

“Don’t let it get at your face,” Ailith suggested, as if she had heard Faye’s inner monologue.

Faye glared at the taller woman. She was wearing a full-face plate helmet, where Faye had to make do with a skull cap that only covered the top and back of her head. Nothing else they owned fit her.

Arran nodded and gestured for Faye to move forward. She nodded, rolled her shoulders and grabbed the hilt of the unfamiliar blade strapped to her hip. Arran had told her in no uncertain terms that she wouldn’t be bringing her own, blunt, blade outside the town walls and had given her one of his to borrow.

It was shorter than what she preferred and had more of a sabre’s curve to it than she liked. It had a single cutting edge, the outer edge of the curve, and the hilt had side rings to protect her hand, and one of the cross-guards curved down into a knuckle-bow to protect her fingers.

All in all, it was a duellist’s sabre more than a standard war sword — built almost as much for fashion as it was for killing — but it was sharp, lightweight, and balanced rather well. She had no doubt it would serve her well for this… lizard.

Approaching the ciua lizard, she observed its movements. It was small, less than hip height, but it had a long, thin tail that curved around and balanced the relatively short, stocky body that balanced on two primary legs. Its forelegs were smaller, and it would only move them occasionally as it hopped from spot to spot.

Faye wasn’t sure what it was feeding on but every so often it would bring both of its tiny, clawed hands to its mouth and nibble on something.

She could see numerous, tiny but sharp teeth in its mouth when it ate.

Drawing the sabre, she took a breath and started moving more cautiously; side-on to present a smaller target.

Without knowing how the creature would react, she wasn’t wanting to go charging in—

Suddenly a loud whoop from the adventurers behind her caught the ciua lizard’s attention, its rather narrow head coming up and around like a bird’s.

It immediately fixed beady black eyes on Faye, twisting its head in an avian head cock.

“Thanks, guys!”

The lizard let out a strange croaking hiss then launched itself at her. To Faye’s surprise, it was fast on its feet, the legs seemingly able to move it rather rapidly, and the tail helped it keep its balance. It no longer moved its forearms and did not hop as it charged.

Rotating on her front foot to keep her sabre between her and the lizard, she waited for a few moments more. When it was close enough, she dashed forward and slashed downward.

The blade sang through the air, her controlled cut quickly coming back up to her shoulder with a rotation of the wrist and she cut down again, to the other side.

Both cuts missed. The lizard had stepped aside each time, nimbler than Faye had thought it could be.

The ciua lizard let out another hissing croak, then it launched itself at her face. Its feet came up as it jumped, claws ready to tear her skin.

Throwing herself back a step, she threw out a defensive slash. This time the lizard had nowhere to manoeuvre. It was subject to momentum as much as anything else, which meant her blade met with scaled hide, and left a wound that the ciua lizard cried out for receiving.

Faye tried to capitalise on her first strike, but the lizard bounced away as soon as it hit the ground, running literal rings around her.

Little bugger’s fast.

She felt it dash in and nip at her legs, but it didn’t quite make it through the cloth of her trousers.

Spinning around, her blade flashing out as she pirouetted, Faye managed to catch the lizard just as it ducked in for another nip at her heels. Unfortunately for the ciua lizard, her blade was more than a match for the thinner scales on its thin neck.

The notification pinged in her ear.

Congratulations! You have slain a level two [Tiny Ciua Lizard].

Experience awarded.

As the little lizard slumped to the ground, Faye heard rustling leaves. Around her, the little heads of more ciua lizards popped up from bushes and from behind trees.

“Looks like you got their attention, Faye,” Ailith called out.

“Uh, there’s quite a few of them!”

“You’ll be fine!” Ailith called. “She’ll be fine, right?”

Faye got the impression she wasn’t supposed to hear the second part and she never heard the reply anyway. The ciua lizards were swarming towards her. There were half a dozen close by and she assumed more were coming.

Before they could all come at her, Faye launched forward and attacked. She danced around the outside of the group, hoping that if she corralled them, they wouldn’t all be able to attack at once.

The little creatures were incensed at their fellow’s death, as they screeched when they came for her.

“Ooh, they sound really angry, Faye!”

Slash, pivot, dodge, cut.

Her world reduced down to the moves she was making, the cuts she attempted, and the creatures jumping for her face.

Too soon, her body was drenched in sweat, her arm was as heavy as lead, and her lungs felt like they were burning. She had scored many glancing blows on the lizards around her, but they would dart away and be replaced by their cousins, who were as healthy and rested as they could be.

With one of her attacks, she heard the familiar notification ping.

Congratulations! You have slain a level two [Tiny Ciua Lizard].

Experience awarded.

She had no time to think about her success. Her blade had sunk into the body of the slain lizard stopping on its ribs. The delay removing it exposed her side to the other ciua lizards. Three more jumped toward her, their claws outstretched. One of them landed on her back and clambered up to her neck, trying its best to sink its teeth into her flesh.

Just as its teeth caught hold and made Faye cry out in pain, she felt the breeze of cool air whipping past her. The weight of the lizard vanished, as did the two other annoying reptiles.

Congratulations! Your group has slain three [Tiny Ciua Lizards].

Bonus experience awarded.

Arran was nearby, his sword drawn and held down by his side like a certain space-wizard duellist. Faye had to admit it was pretty cool.

She nodded at him. “Thanks for the assist.”

He was looking at her oddly, though, and ignored her thanks.

Ailith and Gavan walked over much more slowly.

“You didn’t use a single active skill, did you?” Arran asked. He sheathed the blade with practised ease.

Faye frowned. “I’m not sure what you mean. I was actively fighting them, obviously. My skill was… well, maybe not as amazing as yours, Mr Dooku, but adequate.”

“That isn’t my family name…” He shook his head. “That’s beside the point. I know that you’re a low-levelled person, but surely you have an active skill that would have assisted in the fight?”

“An active skill? You mean, like a… spell, or an ability?” she asked. Suddenly, her thoughts flashed back to some of the MMOs and games she’d played — the real thing had always excited her a bit more so she wouldn’t have considered herself a real gamer — and the words active skill made a lot more sense. “You do, don’t you? I bet you used an active skill to get over here and take out those lizards like that.”

Ailith laughed at the affront plastered over Arran’s face.

“He didn’t need an active skill for that, Faye,” she said between chuckles. “Gavan or I might have, though. Arran’s a little more focused on attacking directly than we are.”

Faye nodded. That made sense. For a mage and a defender to not be able to move and attack that seamlessly fit with the core concepts of those builds, to borrow a term from the games she had played.

“So, no,” Faye said, after a moment. “The answer is that I don’t have an active skill to use.”

“No wonder,” Arran said, shaking his head. Then his eyes narrowed. “What level are you, Faye?”

“You can’t see? I assumed that everyone was able to see, that’s why they’ve all been treating me like shit.”

Gavan interjected, quietly. “Most people cannot see. Some do. Most feel the difference.”

“And out of us all,” Ailith said, “Gavan’s the closest to a seer, though he’s never told us specifics.”

Gavan shook his head, firmly.

“That’s beside the point, everyone.” Arran was still looking at Faye with hard eyes. “What level are you?”

Faye took a moment to think about it. Maggie had reacted badly. But these three had known her longer. She mentally shrugged. They were already outside the town’s walls.

“Two,” she said, “but before you say anything—”

“What?!”

“Unclassed?! By all the gods below, what have we done?”

Gavan immediately began a chant, moving his fingers and hands in deliberate patterns.

“Faye,” Arran began again, but he couldn’t get his words out. Instead, he looked around at the trees of the forest. “Ailith, perimeter, intercept everything.”

Gavan’s words ended, and Faye felt something light and airy settle across her skin. It tickled.

“Gavan, overkill authorised.”

Gavan nodded, his eyes alighting in a flickering of overt power that Faye hadn’t seen before. She took a step back, barely noticing Ailith stepping in perfect timing with her.

“Faye, listen to me.” Arran grabbed her by the shoulders. “It’s not your fault, I want you to know that. But you are too weak—”

Faye’s anger, frustration, and anticipation of the words Arran was obviously about to say immediately boiled up and over. Her own words spilled forth.

“Don’t you dare call me weak! I had to survive out here, on my own, for three nights before I ever met you. I had a blunted training sword and my own bloody skill that I spent years developing. I don’t need an active skill to tell me when to swing, I don’t need a guy with an overblown sense of his own importance telling me that I’m weak. I’ve had to fight against people like you my whole fighting career, Arran. Watching their smug faces change when they realised that little old me had taken the gold was my driving bloody passion!”

She pushed him in the chest, but he barely moved.

“I am not a child. I am not someone to be coddled. I am a grown woman who needs the people around her to give her the respect she deserves.”

“You’re not acting like an adult, right now.” His voice was cold. “You’re acting like a child who isn’t getting their own way. We’re not patronising you when we tell you that it’s dangerous out here, Faye. You’re level two. There are literally children stronger, more able to withstand an attack, that we don’t allow outside the town walls!”

“I don’t care! I don’t care!” Tears of frustration welled up. She willed them not to fall. “I don’t give one shit about what your children do, Arran. Don’t you get it?”

He shook his head.

The tears that she had told not to fall ignored her, just like the adventurer in front of her.

“We’re taking you back, before something—”

“Presence approaching, uncrested at least,” Ailith’s words were curt, certain, and caused instant reactions from Gavan and Arran.

Time to prove I’m not useless, Faye told herself.