“RNNNGH!” The buffalo roared out as Meghan’s dagger pierced its neck, black blood shooting out onto Meghan’s hand, ‘it pierced-“ Meghan was ready to celebrate internally, but her thoughts were cut short when she heard Sai’s voice which had briefly caught her attention, having been just barely audible under the sound of the Buffalo’s roar, “Meghan!” Sai had forgotten to mention one crucial detail in his panic and rush.

“Jump-“ Sai’s face went pale along with Meghan’s as soon as she realised what was going to happen, ‘crap!’ Meghan thought before the buffalo jumped with its front legs, flinging its head into the air along with Meghan who got flung two stories into the air with her dagger in toe. ‘Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!’ Meghan wanted to scream, but somehow her thoughts prevented her from doing so

Notice: Due to the Kitsune’s importance, the tower has temporarily boosted the agility stat by 20.

Time seemed to slow down for Meghan, the screen completely slipping past her peripheral view, “what?” despite her greatly increased speed, Meghan found her life flashing before her very eyes…



Two years ago, “Meghan…” A soft and drowned out voice awoke Meghan from a deep sleep, “Meghan…” The voice remained soft, but it became recognisable. “Meghan,” it was a familiar feminine voice, that caused the now waking up Meghan to smile, “Meghan I know you’re awake,” Meghan found herself completely awake, and listening to the annoyed voice of her best friend.

“Why you little, wake up!” Meghan furrowed her eyebrows, the sound of fabric rubbing on fabric catching her attention for a brief moment before she felt a soft surface colliding with her head, “hey Kelly! What the hell!?” Meghan yelled, opening her eyes, and instantly sitting up, “It’s not my fault you slept through your alarm again,” Kelly sighed, she had taken her pillow and thrown it in Meghan’s face.

“I did?” Meghan said in a confused tone before turning her head to face her alarm clock which showed the time, “six thirty!? I’ve got a class at seven!” Meghan threw the pillow back at Kelly who wasn’t quite expecting it, taking it face first which ruined the little hairdo she had and made her blond hair messy.

“Hey!” Kelly yelled, disappointed that she had to redo her hair, “it’s not my fault you didn’t hit me with the pillow sooner,” Meghan responded with a snicker before dashing out of the room, ignoring the light blue eyes that were staring daggers at her. “Once my hair is done, I’m leaving without you!” Kelly raised her voice so Meghan could hear from down the hallway, “sure you will,” Meghan said, walking past the door of the room with a few towels and her school uniform tucked carefully under her shoulder. Kelly just smiled and shook her head before walking to her bedside table, reaching for her hairbrush to brush her hair.



The flashback came to a halt and Meghan found herself gaining a reason to stay alive, and it was Kelly, her best friend and the woman she considered to be her sister, but now she was faced with a problem, she needed to survive.

Notice: Due to the Kitsune’s importance, the tower has temporarily boosted the endurance stat by 20.

Another part of her life from a year ago began to shroud her mind. “Hey Meghan?” Kelly’s voice directed Meghan’s attention from the professor and onto her best friend. “Yeah?” She responded in a whisper, “what do you think of Sai and Michael?” Kelly asked, whispering now as well. “I-“ The question had caught Meghan off guard, and due to this, she had to take time to think of an answer.

“Well…” Meghan began to whisper again, eyeing the instructor briefly to make sure he hadn’t noticed them yet, “Sai is helping me study for next week’s English quiz, so just for that I’d say he is a good guy in my books, otherwise he is starting to feel more like an older brother to me than anything else,” Meghan said leaning back in her chair a bit. “What about Michael?” Kelly prompted Meghan to talk again, leaning towards her slightly.

“Well… I- don’t know what it is about him, but I don’t really like him, I guess you could say he is just a bit weird for me,” Meghan traced her memories of Michael one by one, how he had eyed her on the odd occasion whenever he thought she wasn’t looking. “I see…” Kelly spoke softly, she too glanced at the professor to make sure they hadn’t been spotted. “Well, I’d say Sai is it for me!” Kelly spoke in an excited whisper, like she was unveiling the hidden mystery that was her future. “Cute,” Meghan chuckled before returning her attention to the professor.


This flashback came to a close as well, Meghan somehow managed to smile though all of what was going on, her resolve having grown to a peak, but she still needed away out of this, she had completely missed the screen that had mentioned her endurance increase during her reminiscing…

‘I need to survive,’ Meghan thought to herself, she was currently faced with her back to the ground, ‘I need to survive,’ Meghan turned her head at what felt like a pace that her eyes still needed to adjust to, ‘a way to survive…’ Another memory sprang to life in her vision, and she was taken back to the events of just half a year ago.


“Hey Meghan and Kelly,” Sai spoke prompting the two best friends to look in their senior’s direction, “yes?” They both responded at the same time. “Are you guys done with your assignments?” Sai asked, to which both women smiled in response, “yeah, we just finished it,” Kelly spoke while Meghan hummed her own confirmation. “Then do you guys want to play warflame with us?” Sai asked, referring to both himself and Michael, his best friend.

“No thanks,” Kelly spoke first, but Meghan’s blue eyes lit up as she almost instantaneously sat up, “sure thing!” Meghan smiled from ear to ear in a very giddy way, “alright then, you can sit here,” Michael spoke, his grey eyes meeting Meghan’s. “Sure,” Meghan said walking towards the blond man who had been patting the seat in-between he and Sai on the couch. “Don’t you two besties want to sit next to each other?” Kelly asked in a questioning tone, “nah, I’m worried that if no one sits between us we might get into a fist fight,” Michael attempted to joke, but it was a horrible one and no one laughed. “Not funny?” Michael asked looking to Sai who shrugged his shoulders and mouthed an apology for not laughing.

“Here is the controller.” Sai held out a controller once Meghan was by the couch, which she gladly took before sitting down in-between the two men. “Alright, so we are going to be doing a survival mission,” Sai and Michael both took turns explaining what they were going to do. “Alright, I understand,” Meghan spoke with an enthusiastic tone, she had played the game before and thus knew the controls, but she hadn’t played much of it. “Good, then let’s get started,” Michael basically commanded, and the group soon found themselves playing, telling each other certain things while Kelly looked on in confusion due to a severe lacking in understanding of what was going on.

“Quick! Hold down X and press the left button on the D-Pad!” Sai told Meghan in a minor panic, and Meghan complied doing exactly as she had been told, “now just continue doing melee attacks,” Michael chimed in. The character Meghan had been playing had the ability to cover his blade in a coat of pure energy, not only did this ability increase the range of his sword, but it increased the sharpness and durability, even doing ranged damage by releasing waves of energy whenever he swung his sword. The thought of it catching Meghan’s attention, and once again her flashback came to an end.

‘That’s it!’ The brunette looked at her dagger and then at the ground beneath her, she was now about halfway down to the ground, but she felt like she could still work with this, she felt like her speed had suddenly gone up a couple dozen, but to her knowledge it hadn’t. ‘I can do what that sword dude did!’ A menu popped up in front of Meghan and she quickly read it


_______________________

Lunar Energy: Level 1 (Grade: S+)
Lunar energy is a skill that can be used to create Lunar Energy based skills, with every level up you can create a new skill that is stronger than the last.
_______________________

Somehow managing to adjust her body mid-air, she turned to face the buffalo head on, which still had its upper body in the air and like the memories had come to her aid when she was in need, words came to her mind and she instinctively used them, ‘skill: Lunar Energy skill creation,’ raising her dagger above her head. Meghan gripped onto it tightly with both of her hands again, this time facing the blade down. ‘Lunar coated blade,’ the name was a horrible one, but in a life-or-death situation, getting a proper name for a skill was not on Meghan’s agenda.

Notice: Skill creation complete. Skill created: Lunar Coated Blade (C- grade)

_______________________
Notice: Weapon buff in use
Item: Old Dagger
Skill in use: Lunar coated Blade Level 1 (C- grade)
Base Damage: +3
Current damage: +6
Duration of buff: 2 minutes.
Mana consumption: -5
_______________________


A coat of energy formed around the blade of Meghan’s dagger, her blue eyes glowing a shade of silver, while small bits of energy broke off of the blade like it was unstable. ‘This will end it!’ Meghan’s thoughts screamed throughout her very soul, and in a singular moment, she threw her arms forward releasing the dagger which shot towards the buffalo at a pace so fast yet felt so slow it surprised Meghan..

Notice: Agility boost has ended, the user will now return to their normal speeds.

This window caught Meghan’s attention and she realised what had happened, she didn’t understand why it had happened, but she still knew it happened. ‘So that’s wha-‘ Meghan’s thoughts were cut short when she suddenly began to fall faster as her dagger pierced the skull of the buffalo, black blood spewing out of the wound. Her dagger had hit it right in-between the eyes, killing it instantly.

_______________________
Enemy: Mutated Buffalo (lv.1) Killed
Total exp: 12
Exp received: 7

Level: 1
Exp: 7/10
Skill: Kitsune Evolution’s (Grade: S) completion rate went up by 2%
Skill completion rate: 2%
_______________________

Meghan didn’t have time to inspect the menu before she hit the ground, a wave of pain shooting through her body, but to her surprise, she heard no cracking noise.

Notice: Damage Taken.

_______________________
Hp: 190/230
Stamina: 200/215
Mana: 5/10

Skill: Lunar coated blade (10 second cool down)
Notice: Skill Lunar coated blade has received 2 exp due to its usage. Exp gained by low grade skills do not take exp from killing npc’s or completing quests.
_______________________

Shortly after the screen popped up, Meghan was able to stabilize her mind, and sat up, “hahh, hahh, hahh,” breathing deeply, Meghan looked up ignoring the screen and saw a very panicked Sai running towards her, “Meghan! Are you alright!?” Sai asked, coming to a complete halt in movement, his feet sliding on the damaged tar underneath him. “Yeah I am fine… Somehow,” Meghan said as another blue screen popped up in front of her.

Notice: Endurance buff has worn off, Hp and stamina shall now be restored to 50 and 35.

Meghan looked at the window in disbelief and so did Sai, “what is that about?” Sai asked, wondering if that skill she had just used had something to do with it, “I- I have no idea…” Meghan found her thoughts becoming a mess again, this situation was one she’d never forget, and it was something she never wanted to happen again. “Are you alright?” Sai asked a second time, prompting Meghan to look up at him and force a smile, “I- I’m alright, I just need a second to catch my breath,” she wasn’t feeling alright. She was worried about Kelly still, but the near-death encounter had her breath remaining steepened.

“W- Where did you say Kelly was?” Meghan asked, trying to divert her mind from what had just happened, which Sai silently picked up on. “An art museum…” Sai said sitting down next to Meghan, “I- I see, do you know which one?” Meghan asked glancing at Sai, “yeah, it’ll be a long walk though…” Sai replied to which Meghan instantly nodded and replied to, “then we’ll leave immediately,” Meghan wanted to have a break, but she was too concerned about Kelly, “you haven’t forgotten about Michael have you?” Sai asked raising an eyebrow, he was well aware that Meghan had picked up on Michael’s habit of glancing at her, and he also knew that she wasn’t particularly fond of that habit of his. “You said Michael was with Kelly, so if we find Kelly, we find Michael,” Meghan said bluntly before finally calming herself down.

“I- True,” Sai said scratching the back of his head for a second. ‘I know she can be blunt at times, but that felt almost harsh,’ Sai thought to himself, picking up on Meghan’s now calmer demeaner and standing up. “Then I guess we should get going if you are ready to,” Sai said holding a handout for Meghan to take, he really felt guilty for putting her in that situation, but she somehow didn’t seem to be too bothered by it anymore, “thanks,” Meghan said reaching out and grabbing onto Sai’s hand, allowing for the man to pull Meghan to her feet.

‘Wow, I- I’m fine?’ Meghan thought once she had stood up, she no longer felt any pain and without her noticing, all the pain had faded away after the notification about her endurance boost wearing off. “No problem,” Sai forced a smile and the two began to walk in a direction, “wait, which museum is it?” Meghan asked, prompting Sai to respond, “it’s the Whitney Museum of American Art,” Sai replied, causing Meghan to turn around, “what?” Sai asked turning around as well, “that museum is that way.” Meghan pointed Southwest of where they currently were, ‘I forgot she took geography all the way through high school,’ Sai thought to himself before nodding, “then we go in that direction,” Sai forced another smile and the duo began to walk in the direction of the museum, with Meghan walking past the buffalo and taking her dagger out of its head. “Ugh…” Meghan said, cleaning the blade on the buffalo’s cleaner fur before continuing the walk.

“I think we should try and level up,” Sai said causing Meghan to look in his direction, “how so?” Sai then explained, “well, if the stats and levelling system work like a game, then that means if we level up, we will get stat points, and given the fact that we got experience from killing that buffalo, we might have to kill more animals like it to level up,” Sai took a breath after finishing that long sentence and Meghan nodded, “if that’s the case, then I-“ Meghan wanted to deny killing monsters, but with the distance in-between them and the museum, running into a monster was inevitable. “Alright, I suppose 6 hours of walking might make us have to kill monsters,” Meghan finally spoke after a breath of silence, and Sai furrowed his eyebrows ‘6 hours?’ He looked around them briefly before returning his gaze to Meghan "Then lets go,"