The trip back to Lapis wasn't nearly as bad as the trip to Myre's little get-together. Either the guards forgot to refresh the boat wards th

The trip back to Lapis wasn't nearly as bad as the trip to Myre's little get-together. Either the guards forgot to refresh the boat wards that blocked magic, or they had finally come to their senses and left the wards deactivated. As such, Nali didn't spend the whole ride puking her guts out on the side of the boat.

Perhaps her growled threats of maiming had made them see sense…

Harry was just glad that he didn't have to keep refreshing his translation spell. Even at full proficiency, it only worked for a few minutes at a time. Nali's spell was far superior.

Din was quiet on the way back, staring at the horizon as if she had something on her mind. Harry decided not to interrupt her thoughts. The story they'd heard from the two Myre siblings had been a lot to take in. He didn't really think it was any of his business, but Din had been born on Ember, it was as much a part of her history as it was a part of the Myre's.

By the time they were off the boat and back at the city gates, the sun was peeking over the horizon. It wasn't worth going to bed now. Harry had a better idea.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys in a bit," he said.

"Where are you going?" Din asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Harry grinned. "To end the longest dry spell of my adult life. Don't wait up!"

Nali shook her head. "Don't get yourself in trouble. We'll go make sure we still have rooms to go back to."

Harry paused. "They wouldn't give away our beds, would they?"

Din shrugged. "Depends on whether or not they thought we were coming back."

With that cheerful thought, they parted ways, Nali and Din heading back to Emerald House and Harry off to the local pub.

He had far too much time to think on the way, which put a damper on some of his enthusiasm. Nali's plan to shut down the archipelago and free everyone on Lapis was admirable, but reckless. Harry would've cut and run if he hadn't grown stupidly fond of the two women over the past month.

Nali had practically adopted him as soon as they reached Lapis, and Din was like a bubbly little sister—when she wasn't brooding, that is. Lately he caught her staring at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. She'd spent more time thinking lately too. He assumed she was just worried about Nali. She practically worshiped the older woman.

Harry had no intention of asking, in any case. He wasn't one to pry into others' personal lives. If it was important, Din would tell him what was bothering her.

Harry had to admit, another reason for his unwillingness to simply run away had to do with the other four humans on Lapis. He couldn't say he was particularly fond of his own species, but apparently, getting dragged into a fantasy world with a large selection of alien species made one more inclined to spend time with anyone who looked even remotely like themselves. Emma and the others didn't really trust him, but they were willing to converse with him in English, and it was a nice reminder of where he came from.

The pub finally came into view and Harry's excitement returned. What he needed right now was a jukebox and a stiff drink. He figured he could get at least one of those two things at the pub.

He figured wrong.

"I'm still on probation?!" Harry snapped as the cat-faced woman wiped down one of the tables. "I've been here a month already! That was supposed to be the waiting period."

The pub was nearly empty, the hour being too early for most patrons. Those that were there were likely leftover from last night's crowd. Unlike the bars back home, the pub was clean and well lit, the interior smelling less like booze and more like herbs and freshly baked bread.

The woman's name was Loril, and she didn't seem impressed by his tone. Her nose twitched, her long crooked whiskers bouncing with the motion. "I don't make the rules. You left the island. That resets your timer."

Harry closed his eyes, taking a deep calming breath. He wondered briefly how strong he would need to get to punch Lord Myre in the nose. Perhaps he just needed to get his Endurance high enough to survive the aftermath. Even if the punch didn't hurt Lord Myre, it would make Harry feel at least a little bit better to crack his knuckles against the man's jaw.

He dismissed the ludicrous notion, turning back to Loril. "Who's in charge? I want to speak to your manager."

Classy, he thought. I'm becoming a Karen…

"Probation is handled by the council building in the square," Loril said, moving to the next table and clearing the empty dishes. "I'm not sure who exactly is in charge, but they won't be in today. It's a rest day."

Harry's frown deepened. "If it's a rest day, why are you working?"

Loril snorted. "If everyone rested on the same day, what would we eat? I'm on the Thursday cycle."

The conversation was deceptively mundane. Harry had learned not to trust the translation spells completely. For the most part, they did a good job of swapping unfamiliar words with words that would make sense in English, but there were concepts in which it got confused. Miles and kilometers, for example, were used side by side, sometimes swapping multiple times within the same conversation. Whichever measure gave the most accurate estimation, the spells used that. Harry missed being able to type the conversions he needed into a search engine.

Days of the week, months of the year, and the four seasons were generally consistent, but without a calendar, Harry had no way of keeping track of the days anyway.

"The council building will be open tomorrow?" he asked.

Loril nodded. "They're only closed on Mondays."

It was just Harry's luck to be coming back on the one day he couldn't demand his booze privileges be reinstated.

Despite his frustration, he thanked Loril for the information and headed back to Emerald House. Din waited for him on the front steps, her expression contemplative.

When she noticed him coming, she nodded in his direction. "How did it go?"

"Don't start," Harry said, in no mood for teasing. "I bet you heard the whole thing."

Din shrugged. "You could always ask Nali for alcohol. I'm sure she has some in her Inventory."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"And get us both kicked out of the city?" Harry scoffed. "I'll stick to the rules, however asinine they may be." He looked around. "Where is Nali, anyway?"

"Out looking for the humans," Din said. "They vanished while we were gone, apparently."

Harry blinked. "Emma's group?"

"Do you know any other humans on Lapis?" Din asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Great. Now I've got missing roommates and a grumpy bird-woman to deal with…

"Should we help Nali look?" Harry asked.

Din got to her feet. "She wants us to check the woods outside while she searches the city."

"Outside?" Harry asked incredulously. "I'm a level 35. The woods are basically a death trap."

He was only as high as he was because Nali and Din were sharing their Experience with him. He hadn't actually fought anything since the tutorial, and he wasn't delusional enough to think that qualified as true combat experience.

"Don't be dramatic," Din said with a teasing smile. "I'll keep you alive. Nali said she'd catch up when she was done here."

"Wouldn't it make more sense just to wait for them to come back?" Harry asked. "They're lower level than I am. If they're out there, they're already monster meat."

"Not necessarily," Din said, starting down the path.

Harry waited for her to say something else, but she didn't seem inclined to clarify the overly optimistic statement.

He threw his hands up in defeat, running to catch up with Din. "Fine. But I don't plan on fighting any monsters, so you better keep your word about protecting me."

Din nodded solemnly, the small smile from her teasing already gone from her face. This didn't improve Harry's opinion of the situation.

No booze and a search-and-rescue mission through a monster-infested forest… today just keeps getting better and better.

Harry turned his name tag off as soon as they were outside the city gates. Call it paranoia, but he hated the lack of privacy on Lapis. Not to mention, his name was a total eyesore. He'd never gone by Harald—he still resented his traditional father for saddling him with the name—but now, every new person he met was calling him by it. What was worse, they butchered the pronunciation. Harry knew he was the same. He made a point to say as few names as possible while he was on Ember; he couldn't read half of them anyway. The System had resorted to obscure pronunciation symbols for the sounds that didn't exist in human speech and Harry had no idea how to decode them.

Din turned her name tag off as well, so it probably wasn't just a personal gripe.

They started off by checking the path from the gates to the beach, following it up with a thorough sweep of the outer edge of the island. They kept far enough from the sand so as not to disturb the worms, but Harry didn't think he was comfortable even just getting as close as they were. Emma wouldn't even describe the worms and Harry's imagination was too good to fill in the gap with anything less than living nightmares.

When they were sure Emma and her group weren't on the beach, they headed into the forest. Harry trudged along, cursing every leaf that dared appear under his shoes. He was running on no sleep, no breakfast and no patience for this goddamn forest. It was loud, wet, and he could practically feel the many sets of eyes peering at him through the trees. Every third or fourth step he glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see a giant wolf growling at his back.

He kept his shield—a heavy metal item that he wouldn't have been able to pick up back on Earth—ready at all times as he stomped through the underbrush. If he could go back and redo the tutorial, he probably would have picked something a little sharper as his starting equipment, but defense had served him pretty well so far.

Harry thought his legs would fall off before Din finally let them stop for lunch. They located a small clearing where Din set up protective wards, ensuring they could eat in peace. The gesture was much appreciated, as she had killed enough monsters in the last few hours for Harry to gain another level. He didn't want some god-forsaken wildcat interrupting something as sacred as mealtime.

They ate in silence, Din chewing thoughtfully as she stared at the ground. She had grown quieter as the day wore on, her frown lines growing with whatever thoughts plagued her. Harry minded his own business, turning his attention to his stat sheet instead.

Name: Harald Blanc

Level 36 (Exp: 1200/74,966)

Class: Warrior Knight (Uncommon — First Ascension)

Race: Human

HP: 1420/1420

MP: 50/50

Stat Points

{C-4} Str: 137

{C-3} Dex: 61

{C-5} End: 216

{C-1} Vit: 142

{C-1} Int: 15

{C-1} Wis: 5

{C-1} Luck: 10

[Free Points: 2]

Spells

Basic Heal — Proficiency: 100%

Basic Translation — Proficiency: 100%

Shield Wall — Proficiency: 10%

[Spell Choices: 0]

Skills

Rage — Proficiency: 100%

Eavesdrop — Proficiency: 100%

Outer Shell — Proficiency: 50%

[Skill Choices: 1]

Titles

none

Quests

none

Special Traits

Adaptable [Species Trait]

Friendly [Species Trait]

Boozy [Personal Trait]

Hardhat [Personal Trait]

It wasn't very impressive, but he was building it up slowly. He popped his two free points into Endurance and closed his Menu.

As far as he could tell, the only interesting thing about his sheet was his traits. 'Adaptable' definitely sounded like a decent way to describe humans, but 'friendly' seemed like an odd choice to him. As for his personal traits, he'd love to get some more information on that. 'Boozy' was pretty straight forward, but Hardhat? Did the System think he worked for a construction company or something?

Nali had asked to see his Character Sheet after officially bringing him into their little group. He hadn't seen any reason not to show her. She hadn't really reacted much except to advise against his Endurance-focused build. She said it would hurt him in the long run, but Harry didn't plan on changing up his system. He didn't plan on using magic, so Wisdom and Intelligence were dump stats. Strength was already getting a decent boost from his Class and his Vitality and Dexterity were high enough in his opinion. His goal was to just tank whatever damage came his way. That, as well as the fact that Endurance was his best C-level at C-5, had made dropping everything into Endurance seem like the right course of action.

The hair on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. He reacted before his brain could catch up to the situation, raising his shield to block the black ball of energy that hurtled toward him.

What the hell?

Harry jumped to his feet, knocking over his bowl of soup. He backed a few steps away from Din, keeping his shield up.

"Who are you?" Din asked, her voice cold. "I want the truth, not this persona you've adopted in the tutorial."

"Are you nuts?" Harry snapped. He ducked behind his shield again, her ball of energy smacking against it with enough force to move him back several steps.

"I'm done waiting for you to reveal yourself," she said. "It's been a month, and you still cling to this charade while actively using magic within wards. You're a danger to all of us and I want to know what your deal is. Are you up to no good, or are you just delusional?"

"You're asking if I'm delusional?" Harry demanded. "I'm not the one chucking balls of energy around."

"No, all you do is eat, sleep and joke around like you're one of them," Din said. "Have you changed back once since coming here?"

Harry hazarded a peek over his shield. "I don't—" He ducked another attack, reinforcing his shield with Shield Wall. The extra energy barrier didn't absorb much of the impact, but it let him stand his ground.

"You're still going to deny it?" Din demanded. "Even after circumventing my energy barrier?"

"What are you even talking about?!" Harry snapped. "I'm just trying not to get my head blown off by a homicidal chicken!"

"So, my appearance is throwing you off," Din said, her voice hard.

She said nothing for a long moment, but the clearing wasn't silent. Din's grunts of pain, punctuated by cracking joints echoed through the air. Harry didn't dare look out from behind his shield, his imagination running wild with the sounds. He pictured spikes growing out of her back, or some sort of monstrous body modification that she would use to smash his face into the ground.

What about now? Din's words came directly into Harry's mind. Do you still deny it when I appear before you in this form?

Harry carefully lowered his shield just enough to see Din. She towered over him, the ball of energy now floating between long curved fingers that ended in sharp points. Her clothes had morphed into a long black dress that curled into smoke around her ankles and long black hair whipped around her head in her anger. Glowing eyes glared down at him from her full nine-foot frame.

Harry's jaw dropped as he recognized her description from the Myres' story. "You're a Corvi?!"

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