“Okay, let’s get ready. You know that he will probably jump us before we reach the mess hall,” Emily said.

  “He always does,” Mira replied.

  “Oh, oh, I hope it’s my turn today,” Sara added.

  With that, the three of them gathered their gear. Elven leathers for Emily and Mira. Sara had her own leathers, but they had been modified to allow for her wings. They each had an assortment of magical gear. This morning, Emily couldn’t help but notice that Mira now had a long whip coiled on her belt even as she slung her staff across her back. Opting not to ask where she had obtained that, Emily took the lead.

  Once outside the house, she knew that Daichi could spring a surprise attack on them at any time. She tried to still her mind and pay attention to all of her senses. Mira had the decided advantage of having Esoteric Senses. Yet, when Emily had asked Daichi about putting some points into that skill, he had urged her to refrain, at least for the time being.

  The first sun was already bright in the sky, and the light sparkled off the fresh snow. Emily thought that the undisturbed snow might make it easier for her to spot Daichi, but determined not to rely too much on any one sense. He was teaching her that the moon elf, nay, the elven way was to be at one with your environment.

  Emily heard the faintest whisper of air as it whipped past an incoming fist. It wasn’t enough time for her to evade, but she was able to at least shift her body and take the blow in such a way that she rolled three times and sprang back to her feet.

  Daichi now stood where she had been when he suddenly attacked her. “Very good, Lady Emiri. Your reactions are becoming faster. Just be careful that a blow like that doesn’t break your arm before you are better conditioned. Still, very good.”

  “No fair. I wanted to be the one you attacked today,” Sara complained.

  “Ah, little hana, always so eager. Good news today. I have a special treat for you. Eisuke has consented to take you along with the hogo-sha on some of their specialized training for beast fighting. That is, if it is okay with your mother.”

  Emily looked at the old monk. She wasn’t happy to be put on the spot, but then she saw Eisuke with a couple of the more seasoned forest wardens with him. Her increasing awareness of moon elf customs meant that she knew it would be shaming were she to refuse such an offer from her master in front of his peers.

  She was the lady of the land and could if she so chose, but Daichi would lose face for her refusal. Emily didn’t wish to shame him and trusted that he would not have proposed such a thing if Sara would not have been safe. As if reading her mind, Eisuke offered, “It is only a training exercise meant to teach young forest wardens the nature of their duties. Altracia has also offered to meet us in the field, and she will keep a special eye out for the little one’s well-being. If it means anything, Lady Emiri, I was only a year older than Sara when I went on my first beast hunt and certainly didn’t have anywhere near her level of strength.”

  “Very well, I entrust her to you, my hogo-sha shinrin,” Emily said, evoking his full title.

  With that, Sara was off and running with the three older elves. Daichi then looked at Mira. “You, young mage, will have two instructors today. Nikea here is the one who gave your father that whip for you. Her family used it in the past, and she is offering to pass on their family secrets regarding the whip.”

  Mira smiled at the young elven researcher. Emily could see the wheels turning behind her daughter’s pretty eyes. She thought this would be easy and turn into more of a theoretical day than a muscle-stretching, hard working day.

  Daichi, however, put a stop to that when he said, “And your other instructor will be Rak’kar. As an arena champion to his people, he was required to know virtually every weapon available. So he will provide you with some hands-on training while Nikea provides you with the theory.”

  Mira groaned but knew better by now than to argue with the old monk, so she simply trotted off after the minotaur and elf. Meanwhile, Emily looked at Daichi and said, “This is perfect. I was hoping to talk to you today about some leveling choices as well as asking you why we have not formed a Kirun Shisuta for me.”

  A broad smile appeared upon the monk’s face. “It would not have been appropriate for me to suggest such a thing. Now, though, that you are learning enough of your people to say that, we can begin looking for the right blades to surround yourself with.”

  “Can you point me in the right direction? Give me some guidance about whom to ask to join my team or be my blades, as you said? Maybe you could offer advice about how to best allocate my character points?” Emily asked.

  The monk stared at her silently. Time dragged on for a full two or three minutes. Finally he answered, “I could, but I won’t. I will, of course, do as you order, but I implore you not to, my lady.”

  “Why not? Is this part of that whole ‘these choices are personal’ thing?”

  “They are personal. I say that even understanding that there is some wisdom in sharing information in the way that you and Baron Murkwood are encouraging. Sometimes, though, the only way to find the path of the soul is to search for it on your own. But there is more. At every turn, your family has survived threats that should have killed you. You have performed miracles I never thought to see in my life. Things that I never even knew I longed to see. I believe that any advice I give you now would only hinder your own instinctive way of living, and that wouldn’t be good.” Daichi spoke slowly and solemnly.

  “Very well, thank you, I think,” Emily replied.

  “The only thing that I will say is that you should find a place that is meaningful to you. Somewhere you can connect with what is important to you. Meditate there and seek wisdom within yourself, the memories of your people, or even your goddess.”

  Emily pondered his words for a moment, then stood up. She gave a bow of respect to her teacher. It was always a bit awkward in their formal society. Even though he was her master, she was Lady Emiri, and they didn’t have any customs that allowed for that to be forgotten. He returned the bow, and then she turned to walk away.

  Daichi had given her a great deal to think about. If she had to sort this out herself, then she needed to find the right place, as he’d suggested. Emily walked over to the church. The building was quite busy. Not only the worshippers of Shanelle but of all the Gods. It might have been the first time in the history of Talos that such a thing occurred, but she only saw it as another sign of how blended their society had become.

  To her, the vision she had of God or Shanelle couldn’t exist as only redemption any more than it could exist as only justice or only sacrifice. The humans of Eris’ Rise were lacking on their own. So to the moon elves, whom she was more and more thinking of as her people, were incomplete by themselves. Together they were more. The same could be said for the Gods of Eloria.

  As much as she felt there was something to that, she also knew that the Elorians, especially the truly religious, were not ready for such an idea. Heck, she still had to process it herself. So, while she was excited by the activity at the church, it was clearly not the spot she would find herself.

  Walking around the side, she saw the sacred ash. The great treant this tree had sprung from had spoken to her. She had felt its mind and knew a perspective so much broader than her own. The moon elves cherished those treants and even these trees in an almost holy way. Perhaps under the branches of the sacred ash, she would find the clarity she needed. It would certainly give her a connection to her new people.

  Yet the cool winter wind blowing around her pushed a leaf from the tree to land on her arm. The tree was special, but it was still just a tree. That wasn’t where she would find her meaning.

  If a place of faith wasn’t where she needed to be, and a place of her new culture was lacking, then where should she go? An idea sprang up in her mind. She ran at a sprint for the house they called home now. Family had to be the key. She entered the house, nodding at the guard who was posted there around the clock.

  Once inside, she walked from room to room. The living room had only limited use, and no real depth of memories popped up. Strolling down the hallway, she entered her bedroom. This was the room she shared with Dave.

  All too rarely, she thought, because he was constantly at the dungeon, trying to build up their defenses. She missed him but couldn’t begrudge him. Part of what she loved about Dave was his dedication to protect the family. Even looking at the bed brought a smile to her lips.

  She grinned. Coming to Eloria had some real advantages. Gone was her middle-aged husband with a belly, and now she had her incredible hulk with his broad shoulders and bulging muscles. Yet men’s egos could be fragile things. She would never express how glad she was for his superhuman physique lest he feel inadequate in the past.

  From there she visited the kids’ rooms. She smiled with memories of each of them, but seeing Jackson’s empty room only made her miss him more. Emily determined right then and there that as soon as they stopped the goblin invasion, she would go and visit her son.

  Then it dawned on her. She realized why she was having so much trouble with Eloria. It wasn’t just the bizarre cultures and customs. It wasn’t the gamelike rules. It wasn’t even the danger.

  The problem was that she was still living like this was a place they were stuck for a while. Even though consciously she had given up on being able to return to Earth, subconsciously she had not stopped living there. She could no more see Jackson as a young warrior than she could truly see Eloria as home.

  To her, her son was still that little boy who picked dandelions for her and climbed into her lap for a story. She would always have those memories, but she realized they were holding her back from enjoying the life she had now. The truth was that as an elf, she would have another couple of hundred years of youthful vigor, and she would get to share that with her family. At least she hoped she would. For now, she needed to do everything to put her old life to rest, and find herself in this new life.

  Right there in the middle of her son’s empty room, she sat on the floor. Her legs crossed, her eyes closed, she breathed deeply. She wanted a future and wouldn’t trade it for memories. With a smile she felt a sense of peace fill her that transcended her understanding.

  God or Shanelle or whatever she wanted to call it had only had to throw her across the universe to finally convince her to let go, stop trying to save the world, and simply enjoy her life. Struggles would come, and she wouldn’t shy away from them. But for now, in this moment, she would seize the new person that she was meant to be. She would let herself be shaped into something worthy of that bright future.

  Without even thinking, her character screen popped open. Her mind’s eye went to her twelve unspent stat points right away. Stat points didn’t define her in all the most important ways, but they were useful tools.

  In the past she had always second-guessed how those points should be spent. Assigning them had felt like balancing a checkbook, trying to account for every detail. Now, it just felt natural. Maybe she was screwing up, but if so, she was screwing up by being herself.

  Without a moment’s hesitation she assigned all twelve stat points to Agility. Then looked at her stats for a moment before smiling in satisfaction and moving on.

  STRENGTH: 14

  Bravery: 4.2

  Regen Rate: 1.4/hour

  Melee Damage: +28%

  DEXTERITY: 13

  Ranged Damage: +26%

  Rogue Skills: +26%

  AGILITY: 58 (+30%)

  Movement Rate: +150% (x30%)

  Defense Rate: +290%

  CONSTITUTION: 27

  Health: 470

  Regen Rate: 2.7/hour

  Fury: 8.1

  Regen Rate: 2.7/hour

  ENDURANCE: 25

  Stamina: 7.5

  Regen Rate: 2.5/hour

  Needed Rest: -25%

  INTELLIGENCE: 39

  Mana: 650

  Spell Damage: +78%

  WISDOM: 57 (+70%)

  Mana Regen Rate: 1026/hour

  Faith: 17.1

  Regen Rate: 5.7/hour

  CHARISMA: 29 (+30%)

  Social Skills: +58%

  Teamwork: 8.1

  Regen Rate: 2.9/hour

  LUCK: 10

  +10% chance to avoid catastrophic effects

  +10% improvement on chance of loot drops

  +10% improvement on quality of loot drops

  Next she looked at her character points. With 251 available, she had a number of options. The thing was, if she really looked at her options, there were fewer than she might want, but she had a clear vision of what she wanted to be. Her mana levels were not as high as either Mira’s or Dave’s, so she wouldn’t be able to go into a prolonged casting battle.

  Even if she wore her mana-regeneration ring, she could still only gain twenty-seven mana back per minute. While that had its uses, combat was not one of them. Her mana would be best saved for healing as much as possible.

  None of that bothered her because she had a plan; she just needed to find the skills on her list of options that would make it a reality. Emily felt she needed to be able to contribute offensively. Yet, even in that she knew she had neither the ability to stand toe-to-toe with an enemy like Dave or to hurl elemental death from a distance like Mira. Nothing she did with these points would change that, and it wasn’t her, anyway.

  The battle between Dave and Seimion, or at least as much of it as she had seen, did, however, shine a light on how she might be able to contribute. What was even more amazing was it fit with the thing she had said she always wanted to be.

  Emily never got into the kung fu, ninja movies like Dave or Jackson did, something that she sorta regretted now. But the truth was, you couldn’t be Mrs. David Nelson and not learn a bit about those things. Ninja were the assassins who stopped wars and ended clan disputes by eliminating the high-value target.

  In Eloria, as powerful as an ogre or other monster might be, it was the mages who wreaked true havoc on the battlefield. She had seen it with her own daughter as she mowed down the enemy, and she had seen it with Seimion, as his power was so overwhelming. Luckily she had a perfect weapon in her Dagger of Mage Slaying. It was intended for the sole purpose of ending threats like Seimion.

  What was more, the fiendish creatures he had summoned were positively demonic. So Emily wanted to craft herself to be the answer to mages and the slayer of fiends. That led her to skills that would maximize her ability to deliver one lethal strike.

  She already had Stealth, Sneak Attack, Short Blade Proficiency and Specializations maxed out. Those would serve as the foundation. To further enhance her damage, she put twenty-three points into Agile Strike. That would allow her to increase her damage based on Agility rather than Strength.

  Beyond that, she thought of her attack strategy in two parts. First there was the part of her build that would be specialized against dark wizards. Then secondly there was the part that would work against fiends or undead, the hellish creatures created or conjured by those same dark wizards.

  Both of those attack strategies could be further broken down into four parts. Her mind was processing this with a clarity that she was shocked by, but she attributed it to finally giving up Earth. Whatever the reason, she felt like Dave would have been proud of her for how she was assessing it.

  Those four aspects were the approach, surviving long enough to find an opportunity, the attack, and then the impact or damage from that attack. It did her no good to be able to hit much harder if she missed. Likewise it did her no good to be able to hit fast and accurately if she couldn’t get close enough or survive long enough to make the attack.

  Her first inclination had been to put points into Charm Magic, for the purpose of trying to learn illusions and invisibility-type spells. There were two problems with that: her limited mana, which was needed for healing, and the uncertainty of what spells she would receive when she picked that school. That was, of course, assuming she could even learn it.

  Fortunately, a deeper look at the skill tree revealed a hybrid skill that required Stealth and Conjuration Magic as prerequisites. She had both maxed, so she was able to learn Gather Shadows. She opted to put twenty points into it for now. While it used mana, it was not overly intensive.

  Gather Shadows: 20. May conjure supernatural darkness around the skill user almost instantly. Cost: 20 mana. Duration: 1 hour when not in combat or 1 tick while in combat. Benefits: +30% defense and +5%/skill level. May include 1 extra individual in effect per 10 levels rounded down. Attacks made from the shadows are automatically considered sneak attacks. Party members are unaffected by the shadows.

  Darkness is no less the domain of the creator than light. Both are simply sides of one coin, and evil has no claim to either except in the nightmares of children.

  Already the points were disappearing, so she had to be very focused. In terms of staying alive, the cheapest skill was Dodge. For a single point it allowed her the opportunity to evade one attack. Besides that, she also put ten points into Light Armor Proficiency.

  While that would provide her with a nominal increase in movement and defense while in light armor like her elven leathers, the real reason for choosing it was because it was a prerequisite for Divine Bond. Divine Bond was the base skill for the hybrid tree that would allow her to deliver devastating attacks against undead and fiends.

  She hadn’t heard about the skill before, but realized that it probably didn’t even show up until she had increased her Essence Magic and weapon proficiency to forty. More than that, it was limited to only paladins and Chosen, so it wasn’t going to be very common.

  The thing about this skill was it was a “go big or go home” type of skill. Once activated, it would empower her to fight evil creatures like nothing else, but when the skill ran its course or she ran out of faith points, then she would suffered the side effect of using the skill. Still, it was too powerful to turn down and a prereq for the biggest skill she wanted in that tree.