Aubrey fell backward and her father caught her before she slammed into the ground. Her soul is reduced to its original size and the color is washed from her face.

  A large crater sits where the Stag-Lattice Abomination once was before it got obliterated by whatever magic Aubrey casted. I look around at the burning trees and charred grass completely dumbfounded by the display of power.

  I sputter out. “What the hell was that?!”

  Eva stands over Aubrey as Atremer uncorks a bottle of a milky white liquid. Lifting her head, he pours the liquid into the Wizards mouth. Eva graces me with an answer, but says it like a question. “That was divine invocation?”

  Atremer grimaces, but he confirms, “Yes.”

  “Incredible-”

  “What’s divine invocation?”

  Eva stopped as she looked over to me. “You don’t- oh, that's right.” Eva casually recalling that I’m not from this world. “Divine invocation is exactly as it sounds like. She channeled the power of her god, which is very impressive for her level. Divine invocations are usually reserved for after the second, maybe even third class advancement.” Eva turns back to Atremer, “How is she not dead? She must have put every point into soul in order to achieve that.”

  Atremer looks down at his daughter with a mix of pride and worry. “She’s just special.”

  I blink as I stare at the sleeping Wizard.

  “I wanna do that!-”

  ---

  I couldn’t do that.

  After the battle with the abomination was over, Aubrey was passed out, so we decided that we needed to wait for her to awaken. It took several hours. Apparently her divine invocation had drained all of her mana in a single instant and she needed to recover.

  During that time Eva explained to me more about divine invocations. They are a type of power that connects you to your god, letting you use just a fraction of their power. It isn’t a magical power necessarily, but a divine one. It’s not the same thing as Eva’s Forced Demonic Banishment. That’s just a form of advanced chanting.

  In order to pull it off, I would have to embody my god’s concept. That’s why I don’t have a chance at doing a divine invocation. Bogodhan is the God of Patience, and I’m not delusional enough to think I’m a very patient person.

  Well, after Aubrey finally awoke, we continued on our epic journey through the woods. Atremer told us that we should reach Memphit by midday tomorrow at the pace we’re moving, and we’re moving pretty fast.

  Everyone here was above level 50, except for Aubrey, who was now level 49 from killing the Stag-Lattice Abomination. Atremer didn’t level and neither did Eva, but she said that she feels like she’s close to her next level.

  (Cleric / level 52)

  “Wait, weren’t you level 51? When did you level up?”

  “I leveled from the fight with the Abominable Chimps.”

  I frown, “But you didn’t kill any of them, I killed them all.”

  Eva sighs, “Yes, but I’m constantly buffing you. And you fought with Titanic Presence constantly activated. Do you realize the absurd amount of stamina that it requires to keep up? Your endurance sucks, so where do you think all that stamina was coming from?”

  “Oh, thanks Eva!”

  Eva rubs her temples like she’s nursing a migraine. I should have realized sooner that Eva was giving me her stamina, but every time I fight I kinda get caught up in the excitement of it all. Maybe when we’re alone we go over our abilities so we can fight together more effectively.

  Anyway, that’s not what is preoccupying my mind right now. I glance over at Aubrey. That girl is full of surprises.

  After Aubrey woke up, she entered the crater she made with her divine invocation. In the crater were the antlers of that abomination she killed, still mostly intact. Those antlers really were fucking durable.

  But what she did next surprised me. Aubrey touched the spiky mess that was the antlers and it vanished as soon as she grabbed it. Just- poof! Like it wasn’t even there in the first place.

  Obviously I was curious about what that was, so I asked her. I was genuinely shocked by what came out of her mouth-

  “I just put it in my Inventory.”

  Inventories are a thing in this world! Aubrey confirmed that it wasn’t class skill, but a regular skill! That means I could eventually learn that too! Apparently that skill is extremely difficult to learn, but if I can get it, I can live the RPG life of my dreams.

  Eva’s reaction when she heard that was funny as well, being even more impressed by that than Aubrey’s divine invocation-

  “That’s… Impressive, you being a- um, so young!”

  I snickered at that. Casual racism aside, night was approaching and we’re finally leaving these abominable cursed lands. The sparse trees became increasingly more sparse as we entered the plains.

  A massive grassland extends to the horizon and to the far north I can see the ocean coming into view. Far, far away, sitting next to the setting sun is a city surrounded by massive walls.

  We come to a stop as the father and daughter duo start to set up their camp, but I find myself still staring at that horizon. The way things shrink into the distance and eventually vanish from sight. A thin layer of hazy fog.

  It’s uncanny, wrong, disturbing on a primal level.

  Eva calls for me and snaps me out of it. I called back. “Yeah?!”

  “Get over here!”

  I blink at the set up camp. A campfire burning surrounded by three pretty large tents. I’m briefly confused about where this all came from, but I smirk. “I really gotta get Aubrey to teach me that Inventory skill.”

  I jog over to the rest of the party and find Atremer using the fire to cook something. A pot full of strange vegetables I’ve never seen before. I point to one of the vegetables, “What’s that?”

  “Rengasergus.”

  Atremer takes a sip of the broth before putting in some mystery seasoning into the mix.

  “I see, welp.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I almost attempted to clap my hands together, but stopped myself before I did something hilarious. I walk over to Eva and Aubrey who are standing in front of the tent.

  “I’m sorry, we only had the one extra tent.”

  “It’s fine, me and Tiffany can share.”

  I stop in my tracks when Eva says that and she notices my movement behind her. She turns to face me. “Hey, Tiff. I’d like to talk to you alone when we have a moment.”

  I purse my lips in an attempt to control my expression, but I can still feel my face flush. “Sure-” My eye darts to the side, “But doesn’t someone need to keep watch? I can take the first shift.”

  Aubrey shakes her head, “No need, my dad has a class skill that would let us know if anything gets close, even while he’s asleep.”

  “Okay… Then I’ll be totally fine with sharing a tent with Eva!”

  Aubrey tilts her head, “Okay? I didn’t-” She looks at Eva and she simply shrugs back at her. The awkward air doesn’t last long as Atremer calls from behind me.

  “Foods ready!”

  I can almost feel Eva grimace behind her mask, but I get her attention by gesturing to the newly set up tent. “Don’t worry, we can eat inside. I’ll bring you your food.”

  She nods back at me and enters the tent by herself. I return to Atremer with Aubrey. There’s seats, cooking equipment, and even a table.

  “How much can you fit inside your Inventory? This is a lot.”

  She grins, “A lot is correct. When I first learned the skill, I could only fit a few pounds of material at most. Now that it’s at level 7, I can fit over 2500 pounds of material at a time.”

  “Oh, so how much you can carry is determined by weight and not space?”

  Aubrey blinks at me as her soul spills surprise. “That's… right. Not many people can tell that there’s a difference.” Her father hands her a bowl filled with the stew, “Despite your appearance, you’re very technically savvy.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  I grab a bowl of stew and I try to get another bowl only to reach with nothing. I scowl as Aubrey continues speaking.

  “Um, no offence.”

  “Nah! Don’t worry about it. I’m just still not used to having one hand.”

  Aubrey talks with a wooden spoon still in her mouth, “How did you lose your hand?”

  I smirk, “I lost it while fighting my brother.”

  Aubrey pauses, clearly not expecting that answer. I wonder what conclusion she’s drawing from that. “Sorry, if I was being insensitive-”

  “No, you’re fine.” I grin, not explaining any further. I pinch the walls of two bowls together to lift them. “Maybe I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

  I leave the father and daughter behind as I head back to the tent. I stop as I realize I should warn them. I turn back, “Oh, and don’t come in without letting us know first!”

  I open up the flap with the elbow of my right arm and get a look from Eva. She sits cross legged on a blanket covering the grass floor. A second blanket rests across from her, probably for me. I glance at her soul for a moment, resisting the urge to read it.

  “It’s nice that we don’t have to sleep in the grass again.”

  I place a bowl in her hands and go to sit on my own blanket.

  “What did you want to talk about?”

  Eva looked down at her stew before hesitantly taking off her mask. “Be careful what you say, this tent isn’t enchanted to block sound.” She says, in a hushed voice.

  “Yeah I know.”

  Eva worriedly glances towards the tent flap before standing up, setting her bowl on the ground. I raise an eyebrow as she shuffles over and sits directly next to me. My eye widens as she leans in close over my side. Close enough to feel her breath on my skin.

  Before I can question her intentions she whispers in an annoyed tone. “Why didn't you set your race to human?”

  I blinked with confusion, “What?”

  “Your mask- You didn’t set your race. That’s why they thought that we could be elves.”

  I blink a few more times at the clearly irritated elf woman. The masks? “But I’m already a human. Why would I need to set my race as one?”

  “Because the mask won’t do anything to stop someone from questioning your race, especially this close to the Zetan Empire border. The mind magic of the identity mask works by forcing anyone who sees them to not question the changed identity, but since you didn’t change your race, of course they would be suspicious.”

  I slowly begin to take in her explanation. I purse my lips, “Whoops.”

  Eva leans back away from me and sighs, “Look… You know now, so it’s fine.”

  I groan internally at myself. That whole fiasco with proving that we’re not elves could have been prevented if I just set my race as human, but since I didn’t, I had to do everything I could to convince them that Eva wasn’t an elf…

  Wait a minute, “Why did they question your race then?”

  Eva shakes her head, “The masks have strong mind magic, but not that strong. Since Atremer was already questioning your identity, I got caught in the crossfire.”

  Eva pulls my mask from under her robes. She was holding onto it for me since I was traveling with the group without it. Eva hands it to me and I Immediately influence the mask to make people assume that I’m human when they see me.

  Eva gets up and returns to where she was sitting before. Picking up the bowl and eating some of the stew. I glance down at my own bowl. Good thing they didn’t serve us meat-

  ---

  Atremer and Aubrey sit by the raging campfire together.

  Aubrey is enjoying herself by looking up at the night sky. Observing the large cracks of white the permeate the firmament. Her Mana Perception showing the currents flowing between the cracks and smearing the sky in a magical aurora that only she can see.

  Atremer isn’t enjoying the sky however as he stares at the tent that their uninvited guests are staying in. His suspicion is as strong as ever.

  “That woman’s an elf.”

  Aubrey looks dubiously at her father, “You still think that?”

  “Yes.”

  Aubrey looks over at the tent. Her father has trained her for her entire life. Aubrey has been through some of the most dangerous situations that anyone else would have died in. All for the sake of becoming stronger.

  And during that time she had come to understand something about her father. Atremer’s judgement is never wrong. “What should we do about it then?”

  Atremer breathes in sharply before relaxing his body, “We do nothing-” He grabs the ladle in the pot to fill his bowl with seconds. “They made it clear that they don’t want to fight us, and I’m not interested in fighting them. Once we reach the city, we’ll go our separate ways and that’ll be that.”

  Aubrey tilts her head, “What about Tiffany?”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s a human right? We saw her without that mask.”

  Atremer grimaces. His daughter is smart, very smart- but she has the instincts of a deafened bat, “Aubrey…” It hurts him to have to explain the darker parts of this world to her. She is always so starry eyed about magic and wonders that it could provide, but she needs to hear this for her own good.

  “That girl’s a slave.”

  Aubrey’s eyes widen at that, it suddenly clicks for her. The elves slavery of humans was always something she heard about from her father, but she never actually saw it in person before.

  But it made sense. The way that Tiffany seems to do everything Eva tells her to without questioning it. The times Tiffany’s voice would cut out. That tattoo of a collar around her neck.

  Aubrey slowly turns back towards the tent the two are staying in. She recalls all the scars covering Tiffany’s body. Fire and acid burns covering her arms. The thousands of lacerations that permeate her skin. Her missing eye and her missing hand.

  Aubrey grits her teeth as she remembers what Tiffany said right before she left-

  ‘I lost it while fighting my brother.’

  Aubrey thinks of all the horrible things Tiffany must have gone through, while in the hands of Slavers. At the hands of Eva.

  Atremer notices the shift in his daughter’s mood. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Aubrey sighs, “I’m not.”

  She told her father that she wasn’t going to do anything stupid, but she had come to like Tiffany. Aubrey admires her love for magic and her analytical mind, so Aubrey was going to do anything to save Tiffany from her terrible fate.

  She nods. Doing the right thing isn’t stupid, right?