As my fist connected with the pointed nose of the grey goblin before me, a burst of concussive force escaped the knuckle caps covering my fist and sent the little grey jerk head over heels backward. I shot forward, chasing my opponent, while shouting “Change! Spike Extend!” The blasting cap over my elbow shifted and elongated, transforming into a pointed black spike the size of an old railroad spike… Gosh that feels like I overused that word.

Anyway, as I closed in, I dropped my elbow into the stunned and still prone goblin’s chest. The chunk of metal stabbed through the leathery flesh and the little grey turd heaved a sigh before the light left its eyes. A small display popped up in my vision: Party EXP +56, Final Blow EXP Bonus +6.

“Maria, check for loot on that one!” called over one of my allies.

What? I haven’t introduced myself yet? Sorry about that. Allow me to take you back six months then, get you on track to where we are now.

I’m Maria Helmsbane, owner of the fakest sounding name ever. At the age of 20, I’m in my third year of college. I’m a business major, with a minor in anthropology, and I’m something of a nerd. No boyfriend, no sex drive, no real issues beyond the regular college struggle. My free time is torn between animation, online games, reading, and those amazing Hong Kong action flicks with the wirework and the insane stunts. I have some friends, but with college and work being what they are we can’t get much time together.

My parents cover my classes, I work part time in an antique shop to get spending money, and I don’t really talk to my brothers. Fairly typical set up for some an adventure to start… or so my hobbies would imply. I mean how often do I touch some crazy old thing that comes in from estate sales and it just feels cursed, the kind of item that pulls the cover from the real world and unveils the fantastical? Or how often do I almost get hit by vehicles because it’s a college town where everyone is on their phones while driving?

Anyway, I was getting ready to clock out for the day and meet with my friends for our monthly munch, when an old lady came in with a beautifully lacquered box. The box had some painted engraving on the top, like it was telling a story almost. It started with a picture of three people holding gold and silver weapons, they fought enemies pouring forth from a portal, and then they spread to tell three different tales. The person with the gold and silver on their arms seemed to get cut off just as their story started.

“Young lady, do you take donations? My husband passed last week and his will stated these were to go to this shop… well, he said I would know where to take them and who to give this to.” The old biddy said, her face a mask of grief with an underlying strength.

“We were just about to close shop for the night, but I can take them and get them set up to display tomorrow.” I responded in my customer service voice.

The lady met my eyes and a look of comprehension washed over her face.

“What is your name child?” she asked, looking for the nametag that normally was pinned to my sweatshirt.

“My name is Maria, ma’am. Did you want the manager? I can go get her if you need her.” I said, concerned I had said something that would upset the old crone.

The lady extended the lacquered box to me, “I want you to keep this. I think that’s what Ian would have wanted. You seem like the right kind of person.”

I froze. This is the kind of thing a fairy pulls and you suddenly owe them your soul or something.

“MARIA! Are you done down there?” The manager popped her head out from the upper level.

I looked up, “Just finishing up with this customer! Sorry, Jan.”

Jan slid down the fireman’s pole she had set up in the middle of the floor. She crossed the store and came up next to me. “What’s the problem?”

The old lady pushed the box into my chest and met Jan’s eyes. “I was simply giving this to your employee. She seems like the person my husband would want to have this. I hope that’s not a problem?”

Jan looked over at me and tilted her head a bit while giving me a look that said “just do it.” So I nodded and took the box. It was very light, smooth to the touch, and slightly warm. I thanked the woman, and we saw her out, then turned the closed sign about so passer-by’s could see it.

“So what’s in the box?” Jan asked, looking over at me.

I shrugged and took the box to the counter, set it down gently, and slowly slid the lid off. Inside was a somewhat rusted… metal glove with a stunning blue-white gem in the center of the back. It looked like it was reinforced around the knuckles and the back of the hand, and it would probably serve as a decent self defense item if needed.

Jan made a comment about how the jewel looked pretty nice and congratulated me on my new windfall. I on the other hand stood in silence, gazing deeply into the gem, almost as though drawn into it until Jan clapped me on the back and reminded me I had a meet up to get to. I removed the half-apron and slung it on the coatrack by the entrance, grabbed my messenger bag from the back office, stuffed the box and the glove into it, and rushed out the door with a quick goodbye and a wave.

It was only a ten-minute walk from the shop to the restaurant we had all agreed on, so you’d assume nothing could happen. But just about halfway there a creep came out of an alleyway and slammed me to the ground.

“Your money or your life, you dumb slut!” he screamed in my face.

My bag had slid enough that the box had popped out and the top came off, but the creepy guy didn’t see it. I slid my hand into the box, searching for the glove. I completely ignored the can of mace I had, the panda bear taser, and the pocket knife I had… for reasons I still don’t completely understand. I needed the glove, that’s the only way I could get out of this situation.

As my hand slid into the glove, I felt the guy starting to try and slide his hand under my shirt. His face went from just creepy to that perverted creepy face that said he wasn’t going to just let me go. I scrunched myself as tight as I could and tried to kick out, but it didn’t work. But the box and metal glove slamming into the side of his head definitely got the point across.

He slid off and grabbed his bleeding face, screams of anger and pain coming from the jerk’s throat. As I stood up, I balled my hands into fists, and then… something took over. It was like my body knew what it was doing and I was just a passive observer.

I dropped into a partial crouch, one leg in front of the other, my weight on the back foot. My unarmed hand out before me, and the one with the glove pulled back. I felt my muscles tighten and visualised my fist as an arrow, my elbow and shoulder were the string and the bow, and for a moment the world went silent. And then the arrow flew from the bow and smashed into the man’s face at the same instant he had removed his hands to glare at me.

He fell to the ground, unconscious. I grabbed my stuff and ran the rest of the way to the meet up. I saw my friends through the window, they waived, and I hurried through the door. Only stepping through the door didn’t take me into the restaurant. Instead I stood in a dark room, torches in sconces on the walls, and a glowing circle with sigils inside it.

“What the crap?” I asked, momentarily stunned.

A man clothed in robes of deep crimson stepped from the shadows at the edge of my vision. “Welcome warriors. Thank you for heeding the call, we would ask you listen to our plea.”

A girl in a white tank top and booty shorts sporting a sizable axe stepped forward, her blue and white dyed hair swayed as she shook it off her face. “And we’re gonna do that… why?”

On my other side, a young man stepped forward. His jeans and band tee were tattered, and the chain whip on his hip jingled with each step. He scratched his head, the blonde hair looking rather windswept seemed to get worse while he itched his head. “Uh… I’d just like to know what’s happening here. One minute I’m about to go on stage, and then I’m here in this…” he gestured vaguely, “can you tell me what’s going down here? And how do I get back to my gig?”

I bowed neatly and asked “I don’t know what’s happening, but I’d like to go home now.”

“That’s going to be a problem… We can’t send you back at this time. We’re sorry. But we know how you can get back.” The man in red spoke, as other people came forward. “Let us take you to the queen, she can explain everything.”

I sighed, closed my eyes, centered myself, and stretched my arms… noticing the glove wasn’t just a glove anymore. Both hands had gloves now, but only the left one had the jewel, and my elbows had armored plates on them. None of it felt heavy, and my movement was definitively not hindered, so that’s a bonus.

It was then that I noticed a little white and blue plus sign in the top of my vision. Focusing on it, I was able to bring up a heads up display… or that’s what it would be in a video game. Let’s see…

Along the top there was a green bar, a purple bar below that, and then a much smaller blue bar below that. Focusing on each bar, I ascertained that Green was HP, purple was Ki, and blue was MP. Pretty standard… oh, there’s a light white bar on the other side, it’s for EXP.

On the bottom there was a small box that seemed to be for notifications, a small exclamation mark in a circle inside a small square, a rainbow triangle, and a series of marks that… I’m not certain what they were for. The exclamation popped up the help menu, the rainbow triangle brought up the skills menu, and the extra marks could be looked at later.

I focused back on the men in front of us and the HUD dropped to the plus sign again.

“Are we in a game?” I asked, confused.

The girl next to me gently pushed my shoulder, “First time being reincarnated? This is like number six or seven for me. Though… this is the first I’ve heard about returning to the other world.”

I’ve been reincarnated? But I don’t recall dying! WHAT THE CRAP?