?????, ???????, Griffion territory
March 23rd, 2291
The Slepnir trotted down the destroyed snow-covered highway slowly.
"So a guy throws a ball at a guy holding a bat and the guy with the bat's job is to hit the ball out of the stadium?"
"Yes, that's called a home run."
"And that lets everyone standing on the bases run to home for free?"
"Yep, how did you never hear about baseball?
"Locked in a test chamber remember."
"Well yeah but still, I figured the scientists would mention it."
"It sounds fun, you should take me to a game when we get back."
"That's a promise, as long as you root for the Boneyard bashers."
"Who?"
"Nevermind. Listen I say we rest here for the night pick up in the morning."
Frank nudged the horse slightly and soon began to slowly lead it off the highway to a broken-down home.
"Which room do you want?"
"I'll take a top-floor one. Hopefully, there's a bed, unlike the last one."
Wendy hopped off the horse as Frank lifted open a garage door.
"Got any potatoes left?"
"Yeah let me grab it."
Wendy took her backpack off and reached inside. As she did Frank took the horse inside and left it unhitched.
"Last one."
"Well...it's fine give it to Unica...I hate that name still."
"Well, it's what I picked."
Wendy took the potato from the pouch and fed the mutant horse. Frank looked at Wendy and smiled from the inside of his helmet. As the horse gobbled down the last of the potato Wendy turned to face Frank who was taking out the pot and stove to cook.
"So where are we?"
"Should be near Denver"
"Then why does that sign say Wyoming?"
Frank looked up and followed Wendy's hand out to a sign by the start of the street. A small makeshift sign said Wyoming followed by gibberish. Frank took out the map he had stored with him and looked around.
....it's winter we're good.
"Alright, fuck me.....I took us the wrong way."
"What now?"
"Nothing. We just rest and go back to where. I'll stay guard when you go to sleep."
"Why?"
"I can find out where exactly we are...."
"Alright."
"Okay get inside quickly."
5 minutes later
Frank grumbled and groaned as he set up the cooking set and began cooking. Wendy held the 5.56 revolver as she stood guard, Frank seemed extra nervous he had locked the doors and even had his new colt revolver next to him hammer cocked.
"So what exactly is out here?"
"Nothing nice, we shouldn't have to worry but still."
"Okay..don't you think I ought to know-
"-Done."
Frank clattered the spoon on the pot as he called to her. She holstered the revolver and walked over.
"So what's on the menu today?"
"Chef Kingly proudly presents 200-year-old instant mash."
"Again?!"
She turned and sat down as he got her plate ready.
"Not my fault you wanted to take the shot on the radstag instead of letting me."
"I know but you couldn't have just made the mac and cheese?"
"I'm kidding it's Salisbury steak. Come on dig in."
Frank handed her a fork and the plate as she sighed.
"I believed you for a second."
"I know you did."
Frank cut a piece of meat off and shoved it into his mouth as he chuckled.
"Mmm (swallow) I remembered a joke..."
Frank cleared his throat as Wendy looked at him confused.
"Why was the mutant worried his friend was sick?"
"I......don't know why?"
"He was a little green."
Wendy groaned as she took a sip of water.
"That was awful."
"Oh please, you loved it."
Wendy smiled as she continued to eat.
"Get better material."
The two ate in silence before Wendy asked again.
"Do you know what FEV is?"
"Forced evolutionary virus, it's the thing that made all super mutants and gave you your abilities according to what I know about psykers...why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
"Yeah, we learned about the stuff in training, found out about it after Navarro...my mom was a trooper then."
"What was at Navarro?"
"Old Enclave research base forced people to evolve using the goop."
Wendy looked at her plate and then at Frank
"Frank, what's out there?" She said sternly
"Out where?"
Wendy pointed to the door behind her.
"You seemed nervous lately and even more now."
"Raptors...they're hybrid cat-bird things, according to our biologists back in California they're the same story as deathclaws. Some pre-war army bastards wanted expendable killing machines so turned to nature, mixed wild cats with old birds of prey, then they got a dose of FEV."
"Wait deathclaws were made with FEV?"
"Yeah...why do you think they're bullet resistant."
"I just thought they were tough-skinned....but you killed deathclaws with ease. Raptors can't be that big of an issue right?"
Frank ate a forkful before setting down the fork and plate.
"There were once a bunch of settlers and tribals up here in Wyoming. (Explains the wooden shacks we passed now.) Then someone had the bright idea of helping more of their kids survive."
"Why would they do that if they're so dangerous?"
"The eggs, raptor eggs usually don't all survive, those that do were the lucky ones. Arms dealers sell the young to the highest bidders. Raptors are vicious but can be tamed from birth if done right and used as living weapons, NCR polices them and makes sure no unauthorized folks get them."
Wendy looked at the window nervously.
"Our saving grace is its winter. It's too cold for most to leave their burrows so they hibernate, usually when the poachers go to find them. Most don't succeed."
"But they're animals...how are they so dangerous?"
"They're smart. Lead victims into ambushes. Their ears hear things better than ours. Even a low whisper can get you torn to shreds."
"What kind of ambushes?"
Frank chuckled as he took the pot off the stove and readied a new pot for coffee
"OK, try to imagine yourself as a person in power armor. You get your first look at this thing as you cross an abandoned street with say two other people. It looks like a small cat with wings and a bird face, feathers all up front then halfway looks like a small panther. It also moves like a cat, lightly moving back and forth its yellow soulless eyes on you. You stare at it, and it just stares right back as you level your weapon. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the sides..."
Frank stirred the coffee powder into the water as he continued
"..from the other six you didn't even know were there. Because they're pack hunters. They use coordinated attack patterns and they are bloodthirsty. And they slash at you with this."
Frank drew his knife and spun it around
"...3 six-inch claws, like knives on each foot. They don't bother to slice your armor like other animals, they slash at you here, or here..."
Frank pointed to spots across his body with the knife, spots undefended by the armor, before continuing.
"They know exactly where to hit, they learned it. Then once you're immobilized they take their time. Peeling off the armor plating one piece at a time as you hear your friends blood gurgling screams. The point is, you are alive when they start to eat you. Nasty fuckers, always kill them on sight."
"Why are they only in Wyoming then?"
"They aren't, they're Colorado natives but they migrate, they prefer Idaho actually, and other mountain states. Last time I was through Albuquerque a whole flock tore the place up for a few days."
"Really? So that's why you asked me to be quieter near Saratoga?"
"Yep, another job for us rangers back west is pest control anything too big to deal with by locals is assigned to us. I killed 35 alone in California last year, they're just more aggressive the more east you go for some reason."
Wendy finished her food and then set the plate down, as she looked around her nervously
"Shouldn't we leave now instead of waiting then?"
"No, the big and dangerous are out at night. Those are the ones I've been looking out for."
"There's bigger?"
"Small ones are taken down easily. They vary between 2 feet tall and 6 feet tall. The rare ones are ten-foot beasts. We call them griffons. They're usually by the mountains or the ruins of big cities. They can't be bred or nurtured, we don't even know why they're huge. They usually hunt alone, use their strength to brute force any enemy they have, strong enough to take out super mutant behemoths if lucky."
"How?"
"They swoop down from above claw their skull in half in one swoop then fly away, and return for the corpse later. Saw it myself in a place in Dakota. They're different everywhere. Some in the Dakota rule as kinda chieftains perched up on those mountains with faces. The ones in Missouri kill everything that moves, even each other."
"They're slow at least right?"
"If you ever run into one alone you're gone, only a slepnier at full sprint can outrun it. They can take on everything directly except a deathclaw. If we ever wipe out the scaly bastards they're the next apex predator."
"How many have you killed."
Frank held up a single finger as he turned the pot. Wendy stared at the window, she heard a faint whooshing sound.
"Like I said we're fine. I've cut through here several times. They tend to stick to the same areas. Now get some rest I'll take watch."
1 hour later
Frank turned the pot of brew around as he looked at the map. He probably shared a little too much with Wendy but she needed the truth, it was his fault after all. How did he go the wrong way without knowing? He shouldn't have gotten them to the remnants of Laramie, it was a clear-cut road to Den-
Woosh
Frank's ears twitched as he looked up from the map he turned the stove off and covered the pot. Something was out there, he slowly approached the window with his helmet light off careful not to attract attention. A large silhouette stood bathed in the moonlight street investigating the hoove prints made by Unica.
Crap
Frank watched as the beast slowly followed the prints to the garage door. He grabbed Wendy's rifle and slowly cocked the bolt back as he gently lifted it to fire at the creature in front of him. The beast scratched its claw along the garage door leaving a sharp metal sound in the air.
Just as the rifle was set to fire into the creature's eye Frank heard something else, a small whine coming from the garage. Almost instantaneous the beast tore through the flimsy garage door and rushed the defenseless horse inside with a loud screech only capable of an apex predator.
Oh shit!
Frank held the rifle in his hand as he stared at the door to the garage. The blood-curdling scream of the horse went silent and all that remained was the ragged tearing of flesh and the snapping of bones. Frank kept his eye on the door as he slowly made his way up the staircase, he tried his best to stay quiet, taking a few steps every minute, and after 4 minutes he was finally at the top.
"Fra-"
Frank held his hand out shushing the frightened girl. He moved over to the room she was in and slowly entered with her behind him as he closed the door.
creak
Frank stopped in his tracks as the sounds of eating stopped. A low bird cry broke the silence and then tapping, it heard them and was now investigating further. Frank signaled Wendy to grab the revolver in her holster and ready it as the beast sniffed around. Frank pushed the door open slightly more and in seconds the beast tore through the wooden door that led to the garage.
Wendy let out a small gasp muffled by her hand as the beast paraded around the downstairs portion of the house. We dy mouthed towards Frank.
Is that a
He nodded
White feathers covered the head and half of the torso of the beast, think black fur covered the rest. A sharp yellow beak prodded at the pots and pans. The 6 claws of the front legs tapped away at the floor. Frank took a small step out of the room and readied the rifle. He aimed for the eye as the beast examined the stove. The griffon opened the small pot full of hot coffee brew and stuck its beak in, it pulled back rapidly knocking the tin over and letting out a scream of pain. Frank took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, the bullet soared out of the barrel and hit the creature...in the neck.
SCREECH!
The creature ran up the stairs towards the two as fast as possible. Frank cycled another round and fired it into the creature to little effect. Wendy and Frank fired again and again till it was right on him. He dodged to the left as it pounced towards him, its hind legs knocking him to the side and down the stairs as it turned to face Wendy.
Wendy screamed as the beast stood in front of her. She threw the now empty revolver and stuck her hand out as she fired a large burst of electricity at the beast who quickly ducked into a side room. The griffon then stuck its head back out as Wendy panted. She watched it slowly come out of the room and just stare at her almost frightened.
tiink
A bolt slammed into the wall as Frank extended his robotic arm toward the griffon. He fired another shot hitting the animal in the neck again, the griffon flew down the stairs and pinned Frank to the ground by the neck as it screeched into his face. Its talons digging in but merely holding him. It turned back around and screeched up towards Wendy who looked down at the creature.
"No!"
The creature loosened its grip on Frank and screeched back up at her. As she made her way down the stairs. Rifle in hand.
"Let go of him!"
The creature stepped off of Frank who took a deep breath of air.
"Stay right there!"
The griffon sat on its hind legs as Wendy helped Frank up.
"Are you talking to that thing?!"
"Kinda...."
The griffon snarled as Frank stood up.
"She's still pissed at you."
"I can tell."
Frank massaged his neck as he looked at the beast.
"How are you doing that?"
"I don't know we just....understand."
"Huh.....you're still full of surprises kid...Well, tell her to get lost..."
"I don't think she'd listen."
The griffon screeched at Frank, who in response took a step back.
"Well she can't stay here....and I don't want her to either, besides she killed Unica..."
"And you shot her like 8 times."
"Are you defending this thing?!"
"Look, I think if we help her out she'll help us out..."
"How do you suppose we help her out?!"
Wendy slung the rifle over her shoulder and slowly approached the creature.
"Wendy!"
"It's fine...I think the FEV is acting as a kinda bond thing...I think."
"That is the stupidest thing I've heard....it's going to kill you now back up now!"
Frank drew the revolver from his holster and aimed at the griffon, the beast stood and roared at him.
"Frank!"
"I'm not letting this stupid thing be the death of us...now get back next to me before this thing gets hungry again."
"Frank! Put the gun down!"
Wendy moved closer to the griffon that simply stared at her, she reached towards its neck and grabbed the bolt lodged in it.
"This will hurt...Frank stimpak..."
"What?"
"Stimpak...toss me one."
"I.."
"Do you trust me?"
"Fine.."
Frank holstered the revolver and reached into his satchel and pulled out a stim throwing it to Wendy. Wendy caught it and then turned to the beast.
"This will only hurt just a little."
She yanked the bolt out and the griffon screeched into the air, Wendy quickly injected the stim before backing up. The griffon flapped its wings knocking Frank over. It rose a few feet in the air before slamming back down onto the ground. It turned to Wendy and bowed toward her.
"You're welcome..."
Frank stood back up. And turned to Wendy taking his helmet off.
"So what did that do... besides waste a stim."
"She trusts us...well me more than you.."
"And how does that help us?"
Wendy turned to Frank and then back to the winged beast.
"Oooh no, oooh no I'm not getting on that thing! Are you crazy?!"
"Frank this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience...you said it yourself Griffons usually attack anything well this one is helping us."
"Only help this one is doing is helping itself to a free lunch when it drops us from 100 feet up."
"She wouldn't do that...right girl."
Wendy stroked the griffon's feathers.
"Okay don't do that, that thing just killed Unica....and probably has kill a lot of other people."
"You said it yourself she's an apex predator she hunts...Unica was prey...it's faster than walking...and safer."
"You're a cold child and I'll take my chances on the ground."
"Oh come on."

"No, end of the story."

The next morning
"How the hell did you talk me into this."
Frank muttered as he climbed aboard the feathery giant as it knelt.
"Relax she can tell you're scared."
"Of course I'm scared, I've seen what these things can do."
"Ya hear that girl, big bad ranger is scared of you."
Wendy rubbed the beak of the griffon as she talked cutesy to it.
"Stop doing that?!"
"Frank if she was gonna eat us she had all night."
"I was up all night keeping watch. And she spilled my coffee."
"Relax already. Diana won't kill you, she trusts us, now grab the reigns and try and ride her steady."
Frank grumbled as he grab the reigns and tapped Diana with the heel of his shoe. Instantly the beast turned its head around and stared at Frank.
"Sorry!"
Frank turned to the young girl at his side.
"Wendy how the hell am I supposed to do this?!"
"If you can't do it how can I?"
Frank sighed as he gently took the reigns once more.
"How did you even get this on her?"
"She let me."
"Oh she let you....that is such crap."
He looked down at the bird and sighed as he shook the reigns gently and leaned down to the beast's cat-like eye.
"Alright....we probably got off on the wrong foot let's just call it even and..."
Frank tapped the griffon gently on the side and it began to walk forward, he pulled the reigns slightly right and it turned accordingly.
"Holy shit!"
Frank smiled brightly as he looked at his accomplishment. He was on a fucking griffon and it wasn't trying to kill him.
"I'm doing it!"
"You look like a kid learning how to ride a bike."
"Shut it. Do you even know how to ride a bike?"
"Yeah, Sarah taught me."
Frank looked down at the beast and chuckled.
"Alright let's see about going a bit faster."
He whipped the reign gently.
SCREECH!
Diana threw Frank off and extended her wings as she took off into the air and then down into the tree line.
"What the hell did you do?!"
"I just whipped the reign gently."
Frank got up and wiped the dirt off his duster as shots rang out in the air.
"RUN GRIFFO-!"
More gunshots rang out from the tree lime, Frank drew his revolver and ran towards the trees followed by Wendy. The two ran through bushes as they came across a small clearing where Diana stood ripping apart a small squad of men, some already dead one man about to die as she flung him into the air. Frank watched as the griffon tore through the remainder of them with ease. The last person wore a suit of power armor and was now pinned to the ground as the beast squeezed
"Stop!"
Diana looked up to where the shout came from and saw Wendy. Walking towards her Frank followed close behind.
"She heard them."
"Yeah, no shit, who are they though?"
Wendy looked down at the last person and looked into their visor.
"Hey who are you?"
The person's eyes were still focused on the griffon.
"Hello!?"
"Please just let me...it's you, Dorkins is right....you're perfect."
"What?"
Wendy looked up at Frank who looked at the person through his visor.
"Wendy let me talk to her. Go...go loot the dead."
"Alright...?"
Wendy stood up and walked away as Frank and Diana remained. Frank knelt and tore the helmet off the frightened attacker with his metal arm. A woman with tribal-like markings on her face lay there still frightened.
"I take it you're a part of the Putrescent Mother thing.....why are you guys after her?"
"She's the one.....she's the perfect form....."
"What?"
"She has granted you immunity to our charms...she has tamed this beast....she's perfect..."
"English please?"
"You're not protecting her....you're holding her back...she's perfect...."
Frank stood up and turned to Diana.
"Drop her!"
"What?!"
Diana unfurled her wings and clenched the woman by her power armor tearing it apart and then taking off into the sky the cultist screaming as they ascended.
"What was that about?"
"She was....they were raiders. Followed us from Utah. They weren't expecting the ambush from-"
"AAAHHHH!"
THUD
"-From her."
"Oh...well....now what?"
"I sat we let her snack a bit, she earned it...and then we practice a bit more..."
"Sounds good."

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are concerned about our 3-year-old daughter's picky eating habits. She mostly consumes snacks and we're unsure if she's getting the necessary nutrients. A typical day's menu includes french toast, grapes, cantaloupes, cookies, cheese, orange juice, carrots, apples, and yogurt.
We've tried the "there is no kids' food, only food" approach, but she refuses to try new things, especially when we occasionally eat spicy foods. We've also considered letting her choose her meals, but are unsure how to handle it when she doesn't want either of the two options we offer and later asks for a donut or cookies.
My wife sometimes resorts to giving her McDonald's and pizza to ensure she gets some protein, but I believe it's better for her to be hungry and eat a healthier meal the next day rather than consuming too much fast food. We also give her a multivitamin to compensate for any potential nutrient deficiencies.
Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to improve this situation? We would greatly appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance!

Unknown
This story is strictly fictional.(Not a fan fiction, this is original.)
The Beginning
I had gone to sleep pretty late that night so when I actually woke up I thought I was thrown into another random dream where I woke up in a forest, but things were realistic. I could feel the droplets fall from the leaves of the trees to my hands and the squishy slimy mud below my feet. Alright I need to assess the situation. I just woke up in a random forest, none of the plants or trees are native to where I’m from, and I’m in a thin long sleeve shirt with a jacket over it and layered tactical pants which are obviously different clothes than what I went to sleep in, and then there’s that rumbling that shakes the ground periodically. Well I can only do two things in this situation: sit here and hope that someone will find me or try looking around.
It’s been about 2 hours since I started roaming this seemingly infinite forest and I finally saw something besides trees and more trees. It's a lone rocky hill and after reaching the top I looked ahead and I saw a beach. When I turned back to look at the forest I saw the cause of the rumbling sound. “This must be a dream, it has to be.” I thought “I have to get out of this cursed forest right now!” And as I ran towards the beach, I saw that vicious, vile creature. The predecessor of the modern serpent, the Titanoboa. It rushed towards me and even running with every ounce of strength and explosive power I had there was no chance. The snake coiled up around me crushing my bones. I felt everything from my wrist snapping to my legs breaking.
Eventually I had either passed out from the pain and died or I died in that moment but… why am I lying on a beach? The chill breeze, the hot sand on the back of my neck and the upwelling tides hitting the heel of my foot. I guess I’m still alive. My clothes are folded next to me. There’s a stone with a book next to it.
Words were being chiseled out as I looked at the stone, they said:
“Unknown’s status”
“Survival Time: 5 hours and 34 minutes”
“Encountered Enemies: 57”
“Enemy Type: insect 56”
“Predator: 1”
“Death Type: Death by a predator”
“Enemies defeated: 5”
“Calculating Achievements…”
“Rewards will be granted based on achievements.”
“Rewards granted!”
“Rewards obtained look in inventory to view.”
“View inventory by visualizing it”
I opened it and it says:
“passive skill Bug killer level 5”
“Earned by killing 5 bugs in your first life”
“Passive skill Poison/Venom resistance level 22”
“earned by getting poisoned 22 times in your first life”
“Journal of the next life”
“Earned by surviving 2 or more hours in your first life”
“10 Stat points granted!”
So I died and got and was brought back with game abilities. What the hell? There was also that book when I tried to open it, It opened directly to the middle. I was able to flip the page back once but that was it. It was already written in, and it read: “this is the second time”. “That’s… creepy.” I started to feel hungry and began to roam again.
Survival
I saw a river that secured freshwater, I take out my pocket knife and start to sneak around. I see a dilophosaurus. I rush towards it and stab it in the neck. I take out the knife as it shoots poison at me. I stab it again in the head and kill it. The stone structure appears from beneath me once again. It says “First predator kill”
“Predator kill results”
“Damage dealt 100%”
“Damage Taken .5%”
“Weapons used: Knife”
“Calculating Achievements…”
“Rewards Granted!”
“Rewards obtained look in inventory to view.”
“View inventory by visualizing it, your inventory will be viewed as whatever you visualize it as.”
“Melee Mastery Level 1”
”Experience gained 10”
It looks like I’m going to be here for a while, I should get familiar with everything. I open my inventory and I see a new option, it says “Stats”. The stats are Health which adds how much damage I can take, Strength which helps deal more damage with a physical attack, and a gray option which reads “Craftsmanship”. There’s also a catalog of everything I’ve encountered like the Carboniferous and Permians. I can’t even pronounce that, why do insect dinosaurs have such weird names? The snake that killed me out of nowhere was a Titanoboa. I don’t level up automatically so I have to do it manually. I get to level 2, I get 2 stat points and a new option opens which is “craftsmanship”, The ability to craft something instantly while consuming the needed material. Putting more stat points into it unlocks more craftable items. I can only make a small fire for now. I guess what they say about carnivores is true, this tastes so bad. I hope that poison resistance can hold up to this. That’s my first day here, or second if I count the time before I died.
It’s the second day. I need to gain experience if I want any level of security. I hunt dodo birds on the beach, by the end of the day I get to level 5, I gain 2 stat points for every time I level up. I put the 6 stat points into “craftsmanship”. I can make a stone axe and a stone spear now. I have all the materials needed except vines that I can get from the forest. I use coconut shells to collect water and take some with me. I managed to get some vines without a problem so now I’m back at the river and I have plenty of food to cook. Now that I'm back I make the axe and spear. I wonder if there is anyone around.
Survival
I’ve developed a routine to go hunting to gain experience for the beginning of the day, then check my stats and inventory, after that I would look for any materials that might be useful. On the way back I’d look for any signs of people. After doing this for 3 days I’ve found a grave. It said “Though life may seem like a game it never is. You don’t come back, at least not the same.” Well I guess I’m an exception. I pick up the bag and it’s heavy like it has tools in it or something. When I get to the river I finally get to go to sleep. I wake up and do my routine. When I got back to the riverside I saw something running across the river. I've never explored the other side of the river but I’m curious as to what I might find. Looking deeper into the plains I see a forest and an icy mountain in the distance, but suddenly a small stone looking creature pops out of the ground waving a small flag with a peace symbol on it and the ground starts to shake. What the hell is that? A large stone wall is launched from the ground and lands straight up behind the golem. 5 humanoid golems climb out of the hole that the stone wall came out of. The wall starts to tilt towards me and the smaller golem and I back up then the wall falls crushing the mini golem. What’s going on here? The 5 golems run over to put the wall back up, they’re panicking because of the small one. Once the wall was back up they gathered the pieces of the small stone golem then they held them all up, the pieces started to float together and the small golem was together again but still had cracks in its body. It waved. The golems looked at me and pointed towards the stone wall then they started writing carving out words. I can’t even say that, they just lightly press their fingers on the wall and the small area just crumbles. When they’re done it says “Sorry about that mess right there. The point of this is to tell you what you need to do to thrive in this world, if you follow my instructions you will. Give a thumbs up when you’re done reading.” I hesitantly give a thumbs up and the layer with writing falls off.
The other missions were blank. I should prepare food and tools for this new companion. I’m going to start the mission tomorrow. Morning has arrived. I walk across the river and after touching the stone a guy appeared behind the stone. This is gonna be interesting.
Day 1
Unknown- “Hey, new guy.”
New Person-“Huh what?”
Unknown- “You took long enough.”
Unknown - “Ask questions later, follow me.”
I take the new guy to the otherside of the river.
I don’t want to tell him about my first life so he won’t get any false hope of a second life.
New Person - “ Can you at least tell me your name?”
Unknown - “You can call me Unknown for now.”
New Person - “I don’t remember my name.”
Unknown - “Yeah, you don’t remember much about before you got here the same thing happened to me.”
Unknown - “I’ll explain while we eat.”
2 hours pass…
New Person - “So we’re eating a dinosaur right now?”
Unknown - “Yeah .”
New Person - “So how did you say you opened your inventory?”
Unknown - “I just visualized it like a game.”
New Person “Nothing’s happening”
Unknown - “We could try getting back to the beach where I first learned about the abilities”
New Person - “Yeah let’s go in the morning”
Unknown - “You could get some leaves to use as a bed.”
New Person - “Alright.”
Day 2
Unknown - “Wake up.”
New Person - “Ugh.”
Unknown - “Do you want to see your stats or not?”
New Person - “Fine, fine”
I lead the way to the beach and we get to the stone.
New Person - “What do I do now?”
Unknown - “Put your hand on it.”
The stone cleared back to how it was at first.
It says “choose name”
He put his name as “Anonymous”. He only got 2 skills but one of them is an active skill. That’s the first active skill that I've heard of. The 2 skills are “companion’s stat copy” which is a passive skill and “temporary skill copy” which is the active skill.
Unknown - “Try being more original.”
Anonymous - “Wow ok.”
Unknown - “Now that you have your skills you should try opening your inventory.”
Anonymous - “Alright.”
Anonymous - “I can see it.”
Unknown - “Try equipping your passive skill.”
Anonymous - “Ok I did”
Unknown - “I don’t know how you would activate or use it”
Anonymous - “it says I could use a voice cue or an action cue to activate it”
Unknown - “I see”
Unknown - “Now that you have your skills lets do a little hunting”
2 stone structures unexpectedly appeared, they say:
“All conditions have been cleared”
“Skillset acquired.”
“Skillset 1 Hunter, Skills: Target Lock On, Precision Strike, and Killstreak.”
“Skillset 2 Tamer, Skills: “Trainer, Taming experience, and Supreme Command”
Anonymous - “So what did you get?”
Unknown - “I got Hunter, what did you get?”
Anonymous - “I got Tamer.”
Two books fall from the sky landing 2 feet in front of him and I. We picked up the books and the titles read “skill set manual Hunter” and “skill set manual Tamer”. Both books give detailed explanations on how to use our class and what to do with them. With the Tamer, it says there are 2 ways to tame dinosaurs. The first way is through having a bond with it or building a bond like constantly coming back to feed it food and building trust but that can only be used with the trainer's skill. The second way is to put the dinosaur on the brink of death and nurse it back to health. It also includes how difficult it would be to tame the dinosaur and the recommended “method” to tame the dinosaur.
Anonymous - “This really does remind me of a video game”
Unknown - “Yeah it does…”
This guy seems more excited than anything but that made me remember that I didn’t open the bag from the grave, I’ll check that out when we get back.
The Hunter skill set is for hunting as it says in the name. The manual includes the weaknesses for encountered dinosaurs, it also said the recommended hunting spots for certain levels.
We are back and eating to get ready for the first hunt. Opening the bag, I see Rusted Iron tools. There is a “Rusted Iron axe”, a “Rusted Iron spear”, and a “Rusted Iron Blade”. We go to the edge of the forest without going in too deep simply so we can hunt a dilophosaurus.
Anonymous - “Did you hear that?”
Unknown - “Yeah copy my skills”
Anonymous - “Alright what do I do now?”
Unknown - “We’re going ahead just stay to my left side”
I pull out the Blade from my inventory.
Unknown - “This should be enough to damage it and give you time to kill it with your axe ok?”
Anonymous - “Alright”
The dinosaur leaps from the bushes. I activate the skills precision strike and target lock-on. I stab it but it doesn’t pierce far through its skin.
Unknown - “Now!”
He struck the dinosaur on the head with the flat side of the axe and knocked it out. A screen appears saying: “Conditions complete taming possible”.
Unknown - “You know how to tame this thing?”
Anonymous - “Yeah we just have to feed it. Its taming difficulty isn’t that high either.”
Unknown - “Help me carry it back to the river.”
We carry the dinosaur to the river. In about 10 minutes it woke up and we held food to its face. It ate the food and didn’t attack us. A screen pops up again and says “Velociraptor tamed”. I doubt it’s an adult Raptor. I didn’t even think it was a raptor to begin with; it’s too small.
Unknown - “Hey why don’t you try using your skill or something?”
Anonymous - “It worked! I could also give you control of the Raptor”
Unknown - “Cool, let’s head back.”
Day 3
Unknown - “We should go hunting with the raptor”
Anonymous - “You sure?”
Unknown - “What, you scared it’ll turn on us or something?”
Anonymous - “No.”
We head to the beach where all the dodo birds are. Anonymous sends the raptor to kill the bird.
It rushes toward the bird and it bites its head off. It doesn’t eat the body, it just drops the head.
Unknown - “Well that’s just brutal.”
We feed the Raptor and go hunting for the rest of the day. It got to level 10 and Anonymous is level 5 and I’m level 8. I put my stat points into strength and health. Now my strength is at +12 and my health is at +4. Tomorrow we’re going to the forest edge so we can level up more now that we are stronger.
Day 4-8
We’ve been hunting on the forest edge for the past few Fr days and I’m at level 23, Anonymous is at level 18, and Rapt is now level 25. He levels up faster than the both of us because he does most of the hunting for Anonymous. Anonymous does get 45% of the exp that he earns from targeted kills though.
Day 9
Today we head into the deep forest.
Anonymous - “What was the recommended level for this area?”
Unknown - “To go alone the recommended level was 12, but with the most dangerous creature it said recommended to be level 25”
Anonymous - “You really are a cautious guy”
Unknown - “This is our lives on the line here ya know?”
Anonymous - “Yeah I get it. Let's just go already.”
On the way there he starts to ask questions. Now that I think about it we haven’t talked about much besides trying to survive.
Anonymous - “Hey do you remember anything about before you came here?”
Unknown - “Not much but if you ask questions I might remember something.”
Anonymous - “Ok, how old are you?”
Unknown - “ 15”
Anonymous - “Yeah you are young”
Unknown - “How old are you then?”
Anonymous - “I’m 17”
Unknown - “Huh, well we’re here”
Anonymous - “Ok I’ll be on alert”
There’s just a group of Raptors around level 10.
The group only has 3 of them.
Unknown - “Copy my skills.”
Anonymous - “Ok”
Unknown - “I got the 2 on the right”
I take out the rusted blade swiftly as I rush behind the Raptor and stab it. Anonymous does the same and both of our weapons break as soon as we hit them while killing the dinosaurs but there is still one more. I bring out the spear and kill the last one before it could rush after me.
Anonymous - “Wow, that was close!”
Unknown - “Yeah I suppose they only had 2 hits each”
After collecting everything we store it in our inventory. Anonymous calls back Rapt and he comes running back. We switch back to the stone tools that we’ve been using on the forest edge.
Unknown - “Are you still up to hunt?”
Anonymous - “Yeah; you’re the one that almost got killed.”
As we continue into the forest I notice a grave.
Anonymous - “Is that a grave?”
Unknown - “Yeah I’ll check it out”
The grave said: “Time elapsed 255 days”
Beside it was a heavy bag.
Anonymous - “You sure it’s a good idea to take from a grave like that?”
Unknown - “It would be wasteful to let things go unused like this.”
Anonymous - “Yeah.”
We go back to the campsite and open the bag. In it is a book, the book’s title is “Caster Skill Set manual”. I’m too tired to read it so I toss it back in the bag to read in the morning. In the middle of the night, I hear Anonymous flipping through the pages of the book, but I continue to sleep.
Day 10
I get woken up in the morning by Anonymous.
Unknown - “Huh,what is it?”
Anonymous - “Last night I stayed up and read the book and I got some really valuable information.”
Unknown - “Like what? It said it was a caster Skill Set. Can we even use it?”
Anonymous explains how there are 2 ways to get mana availability or access to magic. The first way was to find a mana river or water source with mana and absorb it. The second way is to find a magic stone and you could do one of 2 things with it, you can absorb the mana out of the stone to increase your mana capacity or use the stone as a staff to increase your magic power.
Unknown - “Did it say where the mana river could be found?”
Anonymous - “It didn’t say where but it did show an image of the river and it looked like a snowy area.”
Anonymous - “The only place that has snow is where I saw I first got here; the icy mountain.”
Finally something new that I can look forward to.
Unknown - “We should head over there tomorrow after the first challenge is completed”
Unknown - “I've been putting stat points into “Craftsmanship” for a while and I’m finally able to make all the things needed for a house. Now we just need to gather the materials. Deforestation time!”
Anonymous - “Finally, I’m tired of sleeping on palm tree leaves.”
A few hours pass…
Building the support beams is the worst because we have to make sure they are aligned, and that alone takes about an hour.
Thanks to the auto crafting feature, all we have to do is gather the wood in one place and I can easily select the option in the crafting menu. The walls fit like wooden puzzle pieces because they have slots to lock it in with smaller blocks. The end result is about the size of a classroom.
Unknown - “I can finally get some shade without going into that insect-infested forest!
A shadow comes from behind the wall and raises its scythe to strike Anonymous.
Unknown - “Anonymous get outside now!!!”
Anonymous runs out not knowing what's going on.
I dash outside, the reaper follows Anonymous and he still can’t seem to see it.
Unknown - “Go across the river!!”
Anonymous - “Why what’s going on?”
Unknown - “Just trust me go!”
As soon as Anonymous gets in the river, the dark figure stops at the river bank. I equip my axe and swing causing it to phase through it. But water splashes on it and it seems to have taken some damage from it so I quickly take out my shovel and splash the water on it. It melts into green slimy goo and Anonymous appears to be able to see it now. A screen now appears, it says: ”Special Achievement! You've defeated the grim reaper! The minimum requirement was to survive from it. I'm impressed. As a reward you and your companion shall receive mana accessibility! The next mission will be revealed shortly.” 2 copies of the same book explaining about mana dropped. The basic casting skills are “heal” and “ally heal” . We can use them just as we would use active skills. Anonymous crosses the river to come back and we make our way into the base but it’s pitch dark, we make torches and hang them up. The first thing I want to learn is ice magic. Though it’s called caster skill, the term magic is more convenient. In my stats I have a high Ice magic proficiency and a high earth magic proficiency. Anonymous has an electricity magic proficiency and a wind proficiency. To cast spells we have to visualize it just like we would visualize our inventory. The more we master the specific skill the less mana it takes to perform the skill. I tried to make a sharp ice projectile but all that happened was I made a small ice sickle. I’ll just read more into the book, and if I increase my knowledge of this I might get better at it. I walk back and anonymous is sleeping on the wall with his book in his hand. I make a sleeping bag for myself because I had unlocked that with the house parts. I just go to sleep. I'll read it in the morning.
Day 11
I wake up and Anonymous is still sleeping. I can just continue to read until he wakes up. The book says that not having proficiency can make using other elements difficult to use but we are still able to use them. The effectiveness of the magic depends on your current physical state. For example, if you’re dehydrated and using water or ice magic it will be less effective. This doesn’t apply for all elements, this rule doesn’t apply to earth, lightning and wind ect. The rule only applies to anything rooting from fire or water. Using magic can work 2 ways. You can use purely mana to create your magic or you can use the surrounding area and use less mana. Training mana does not expand the mana capacity but it does make it easier to use magic and not use all your mana at once like I did the first time. Mana replenishes over time but it is faster to meditate. Anonymous wakes up when I finish reading it.
Anonymous - “You done reading it?”
Unknown - “Oh you’re awake.”
Anonymous - “Yeah let’s see the next mission.”
Unknown - “Alright”
We walk across the river to the stone, it says “It seems you have already completed the second task which was to tame a dinosaur of choice. As a reward, you can choose to stop the timer for another 5 days or continue on to the next mission right away.” I discuss it with Anonymous and he agrees. We choose to use the next 5 days to train our new skills. It’s still bright out so I feed Rapt, we haven’t gone hunting in a while. I decide that I should start to train my earth magic. Using earth magic is more convenient because it’s everywhere so I won’t have to use much of my mana. We head over to the beach where all the dodo birds are first. I'm just trying to at least make a small part of the ground collapse like a sinkhole. With magic, it is not limited to anything as long as we have the mana and creativity for it. When I have more control of it I want to try to combine elemental attacks. The ability to become stronger here is what makes this world even slightly enjoyable. Trying to make a sinkhole without any open space below it didn’t work but splitting the ground and closing it did work. It’s only the size of my foot right now. As I continue to practice it gets larger and starts to take less mana in comparison to the skill size. I eventually run out of mana and so does Anonymous.
…
My attack is now able to fit a fully grown dodo bird and I’m also able to execute the attack quickly. I’m able to split the ground and close it as soon as the victim gets inside, crushing it and having blood spill out of it. It feels like a rubber band when I split the ground then it snaps back when I release it. Too much detail maybe? The Sun is still up so while Anonymous meditates I stand guard just in case something happens. After 10 minutes he’s done and stands guard for me. We continue to practice magic until the end of the day guarding each other when meditating. It’s the end of the day and I can confidently say that I can practice in the deep forest right now. I’ve practiced moving around while casting and it feels like streams of mana coming out of my body and pulling the ground apart. It would be nice if I’m able to move and cast at the same time. We go back to the house and I just read through the other elements and fall asleep.
Day 12-14
We continue to train in the forest for the next 2 days. I am now able to use magic in different ways now, I’m able to use earth as spikes from the ground and pierce the target. I’m not sure what Anonymous is able to do because we train in different areas so we don’t interfere with each other. Tomorrow we should be ready for the next mission.
Day 15
Today I’m just going to relax and check out my stats and options. I forgot that I didn’t level up automatically and I’m able to level up 5 times now. There is a new option that is called “Mana Strength”. I was able to strengthen my mana the whole time. Although I’m able to strengthen it through stats, the practice for control is still useful. I’m going to see the difference so I go to the backyard of the house. I’m able to make spikes out of the ground larger and I’m able to make multiple at the same time. Splitting the ground is less efficient but after some experimentation I found that I can soften the ground to make areas in the ground like quicksand or slippery.
Anonymous - “Still practicing?”
Unknown - “Yeah, I didn’t know that I could put my stats into mana strength”
Anonymous - “Oh ok, I’m going back to sleep.”
I continue to practice until I run out of mana for the 5th time. I cross the river to check how much time is left until the next task and there are 5 hours left. After Anonymous goes outside to practice when I’m done and I go to sleep because I’m tired from practicing. A few hours later Anonymous wakes me up to say the next mission is about to appear. We go across the river to the stone and the stone crumbles and it says:
“I hope you enjoyed your training, but now it’s time for your next mission.”
“Go to the town near the peak of the mountain”
“The map and route is accessible through your inventory.”
“You will be able to see the missions through your inventory as of now.”
The stone crumbles and leaves nothing but rubble on the floor.
Unknown - “It hasn’t even been a week since we had the house.”
Anonymous - “Yeah but If we take down the house and store the parts in our inventory we might be able to rebuild it when we get to the town.”
Unknown - “Yeah, I guess that could work if it doesn’t take up too much space.”
We take the house down, our inventories can’t fit everything so we leave all the food that we didn’t need in Rapt’s inventory. We can’t afford to waste time so we quickly prepare. I check my inventory and see a message from “???” a blank space. It's the map. The mountain is about 15 miles away so it should take at most 2 days to make it to the base of it. 5 miles ahead is a forest with fairly large trees. Anonymous finishes his preparations and we are on the way. An hour later we are still walking 2.5 miles in and we both get a new stat option “stamina”. Stamina can be gained naturally, but stat points can also be added to it. By the next hour we make it to the forest and our stamina stats are at +10 by just walking. Rapt is keeping up like it’s no problem. We rest once we get to the forest. We take a break for about half an hour and continue for another 5 minutes and a triceratops appears. The triceratops seems aggressive and is trampling the area. This is exciting! Something that might be a challenge to test my strength.
Anonymous - “Wait! I might be able to to tame it”
Anonymous runs towards it but it’s too aggressive to approach. I loosen the ground below it and it slips around and falls. Anonymous continues to go towards it then puts his hand on it and I can see particles of electricity leaving the dinosaur and it falls down.
Anonymous - “You got any berries?”
Unknown - “Yeah, but not that many. I gotta get more”
Anonymous - “Ok I’ll watch it for now.”
I go to get more berries deeper in the forest and come back.
Anonymous - “Ok place the berries in front of it, I’m gonna wake it up.”
I pull all of the berries out of my inventory and drop them in front of it. He wakes it up forcefully with electricity and it wakes up aggressively again. Anonymous puts it back to sleep. We do this process 3 more times and Rapt is still on standby to attack but it finally works. The screen pops up just like last time and it says “Triceratops Tamed”. It’s night time now so we set up a fire and sleeping bags and we rest for tomorrow.
Day 16
I wake up before Anonymous so I check for new options and I see that I can make a saddle for our newly tamed dinosaur. I have all the materials to make it except animal hide (Skin or Leather) so I go hunting for a while and I find a lystrosaurus. It looks ugly but kind of like a dog so I can’t kill it. I continue to look for something while not going too far from the camp and I find a dilophosaurus. I kill it with earth spikes and I skin it for the animal hide. I walk back to make a saddle but I make two instead of one. I could still use the other one if we tame another one. I attach the saddle and wake up Anonymous.
Anonymous - “ Oh you made a saddle, nice.”
Unknown - “Yeah I made 2 so if we find another one I can use the second one”
Anonymous - “Alright, let’s continue”
We continue on two feet because it would be difficult to maneuver with all the trees on Trike. That’s the nickname I decided because it has three spikes (Triple Spike). We continue for the rest of the day. We don't need to take any breaks because of our built up stamina. About 6 hours later we are about to make it to the base of the mountain. From the corner of my eye I see another triceratops.
Unknown - “Look! There’s another one.”
Anonymous - “Hey do you have any leftover berries, I don’t need as much as I did the first time.
I give him the berries that I got just in case of a situation like this. He walks over to it and gives it berries “Triceratops Tamed” the screen appeared. Just like that! It would be that easy compared to the first time.
Unknown - “How is it this easy now?”
Anonymous - “It’s less aggressive and there was a skill from the trainer skill set, it was called “Taming experience ” it makes it easier to tame dinosaurs that I’ve already tamed before.”
Unknown - “Well that’s convenient”
I put on the saddle and we use the dinosaurs to get up the mountain. We reached the snowy part and to get to the village it is another 5 miles. They are slower than us running but it’s safer to ride them because of the risk of getting sick. Catching a cold is a possibility for us after all. Since I’m in a snowy area I start practicing Ice magic. By the time I run out of mana I check “Journal of the next life.” I’m able to see day 17.
“Day 17”
When I wake up I see the village and Zephyr is awake before me as always. When we reach the village there’s a gate with 2 people guarding it side by side with iron spears and wearing real world jackets. We walk over to greet them. I notice the chilling breeze stops when we get near the village.
Aster - “Hey there”
Guard 1 - “Hello you must have had a long journey here, what's your name?”
Guard 2 - “You know they probably don’t remember their names.”
Guard 1 - “Yeah I’m just messing with them.”
Aster - “My name is Aster”
Zephyr - “My name is Zephyr”
Guard 1 - “Oh you came up with names already, that’s surprising.”
They look fairly young then what I would have thought the stereotypical guard would be. They look around my age. They lead us in the village. They have an abundance of people and large wooden houses that looked like they could hold many people living there. When we left the gate another 2 guards took their place.
Zephyr - “What about our dinosaurs?”
Guard 1 - “So there's another tamer, huh”
They then open the second gate and it’s way larger. We lead all our dinosaurs to the pen.
The town has a warm glow that makes it feel comfortable. They lead us to a small building. There is a woman sleeping at a desk with papers all over the desk.
Guard 1 - “Hey Lauren, it’s time for you to do your job. Stop acting like you're so busy.”
She wakes up drooling. She has glasses and is wearing a business dress, like a secretary. She wipes the drool off of her face
Lauren - “That’s Ms. Lauren to you.”
Lauren - “So you survived?”
We explain the situation to Lauren and the guards.
Lauren - “Hahaha. That guy has a weird way of wording it making it sound like it’s that urgent, but it’s fine. The fate of the world isn’t all in your hands.”
Aster - “What do you mean by him?”
Lauren - “Well to summarize it there is a threat to this world and the creator of this world summoned us to defeat it. We will fight it in about 5 years. It’s a war between 2 worlds. The “Plunderers'' as they've called themselves have been invading our land and routes for about 10 years.”
Zephyr - “Sorry to interrupt, but why were we summoned?”
Lauren - “Well, 10 people from earth were chosen to create a world. I don't know the main details but they all had a level or skill system. One of the world’s creators lost control of the people so as a result they left and went back to earth leaving the people of their world stranded. This happened 10 years ago.”
Zephyr - “Sorry to interrupt again but-”
Lauren - “I’m getting to it ok!”
Zephyr - “Sorry, Sorry.”
Lauren - “So, to continue Free is what we call the one who summoned us. Because the other creator abandoned his world he opened what we call routes which connect the other worlds so the people from his world who aren’t Plunderers could escape and go to another world, but in that process Plunderes were able to invade. The plunderers have a mark given to them by the creator of their world. In its early days this used to be a calm paradise, hopefully we can go back to it.”
Lauren - “But to answer your question you were summoned to defend this world.”
Guard 1 - “You love telling this story don’t you?”
Lauren - “It’s not like I get to tell it much anymore.”
Guard 2 - “Ok we got the story now let’s give them names already.”
Lauren - “Whatever name comes to your mind.”
Aster - “Aster works.”
Lauren - “Ah I see, the violet flower nice choice,”
Lauren - “And for you mister interruption?”
Zephyr “Zephyr.” Lauren - “Interesting.”
Zephyr - “Yeah”
The guards lead us out of the building to head to the housing district. As we’re walking we see many people wearing modern clothing.
Aster - “So, how do they have modern clothes?”
Guard 2 - “The one that created the routes trades with us. We give valuable materials from our world that we can’t use and we get modern comforts.”
Aster - “Cool.”
We get to the housing district and there are furniture shops and dining halls.
Zephyr - “The town didn’t look this large from the outside.”
Guard 1 - “That’s because this is a cleared dungeon.”
Guard 2 - “Yeah dungeons are basically-”
Guard 1 - “There are plenty of books on it. You can check it out if you're that interested, but I’m tired.”
They lead us to different houses and I go back to sleep. I'm too tired.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt the comfort of a soft mattress. I wake up and I see a letter on the desk by the bed. It says: There are clothes in the closet and a shower in the door to the right, please prepare and go to the main hall for your documents to be written. I get ready and head out but I have no Idea where to go.
Mist - “Hey my name’s Mist, are you new here?”
Aster - “Why do you ask?”
Mist - “I’m supposed to lead the new people to the main hall to get all the documents done if you saw the letter.”
Aster - “Was there another guy here?”
Mist - “Yeah I saw him but he’s still inside, did you want to wait for him?”
Aster - “Eh he’ll be fine.”
Mist - “So what’s your name?”
Aster - “... Aster”
Mist - “Ok let’s go then.”
We walk down the main street and get to a small office building.
Office lady - “Weren’t there supposed to be 2?”
Mist - “Yeah but the other guy is still inside resting.”
Office lady - “Well I can get this one outta the way, but get the other guy in as soon as possible I want to go home.”
She asked questions about how I got here and my encounters with dinosaurs and when I responded they were both in shock.
Mist - “So umm, what type of lifestyle do you want to live.”
Aster - “What do you mean?”
Mist - “Would you like to get stronger.”
Aster - “yeah.?”
Office lady - “Would you like to be an explorer? You can bring your friend too?”
Aster - “What would I get out of it?”
Office lady - “Well, when you’re on break you get to live the luxury life. There’s a process to it though.” Aster - “And that is?”
Office lady - “Well first you have to take “classes” then combat training, then you will be able to prove yourself through an achievement if you want to be a high rank.”
Aster - “I’ll go wake him up.”
Mist - “Alright I’ll be waiting here.”
At the office…
Office lady - “So how’s Misty?”
Mist - “She’s becoming an explorer.
Office lady - “Are you joining too?”
Mist - “Nah she’ll be fine, I already have a job to do and I don’t want to have to go through all that fighting again.”
Office Lady - “That’s shocking, the overprotective brother letting his sister do what she wants?”
Mist - “Shut it.”
Back to Aster
I walk over to the house and I see him standing outside confused.
Aster - “Zephyr follow me.”
Zephyr - “Do you know where the Main Hall is?”
Aster - “Yeah follow me.”
We head to the Main Hall.
Mist - “Hey my name is Mist, we just need to sort your documents.
Office Lady - “So first what’s your name?”
Zephyr - “My name is Zephyr” Office Lady - “Ok how old are both of you?”
Aster - “15.”
Zephyr - “17”
Office Lady - “Now, I’m going to explain what an explorer is and if you’re not interested you can choose another job. An explorer is a part of the military. You have the potential to become an explorer if you can use magic and have combat experience. You get to live a luxury life if you have a high position. Although it is difficult to get to a high position you both seem to have the potential for it. You might be fighting in dungeons or defending routes from the plunderers. You might even get to meet Misty.” Zephyr - “Who’s Misty?”
Office Lady - “Oh, she’s Mist’s beautiful sister that he’s been hiding from the world, but the bird has escaped from the nest and is going to explore and She’s about your age Aster.”
Mist - “Hey hey hey. Calm down there Jade”
Jade - “What, are you afraid that she’ll get taken away from you?” Mist - “Don’t pay attention to her.”
Jade - “Sorry about that but what’s your decision?”
Aster - “I’ll become an explorer.”
Jade - “And what about you Zephyr.”
Zephyr - “I’ll do it.”
Jade - “Ok I’ll get everything sent through to the teachers.”
Mist - “The next entrance is in another 6 months so you guys should find temporary jobs.”
Aster - “What are the options?”
Mist - “I would recommend becoming guards if you guys do fit the requirements. You can apply after I show you around.”
Aster - “Alright”,
We walk out of the building and he shows us around and there are libraries, stores, Training grounds, and different housing districts. We go to the job application center. Mist talks to a guy and he comes over to the desk.
Mist - “You’ll start tomorrow there should be a clock in your inventory, be ready by 12pm you’ll be out by 6pm. Set an alarm now.”
Aster - “What about payment?”
Mist - “We use a system which can be seen through your inventory; it's called the points system. You will receive your pay automatically once you reach the end of your shift.”
Zephyr - “That’s interesting but I’m tired so are you ready to go back?”
Mist - “Yeah that should be it for now”
We head back to the housing district, but I stray off to head to the library. It really is a warming place. “There are a lot of magic related books here.” I finish reading by 10pm and I head back to the house. “Ugh this is such a pain, to think I would have to have a job at this young of an age.” I fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
Beep Beep Beep! I go to guard the gate with Zephyr. I grab a chair and read until the end of my shift.
Aster - “Nope I don’t have the patience for this I’d rather go back to living and hunting in the forest”
​
Thank you for tolerating my 8th Grade Writing. Part 2 is already completed, stick around for it!

So i (18m) went to macdonalds to by myself lunch, I've not got too much money atm, so I was only going to get a burger and fries.
A homeless man walked in and came up to me. He asked me to buy him something to which I politely declined due to me not having any money. He looked upset but walked away. I saw him ask evryone in the macdonalds, I felt bad for him but I continued to order my food.
He came up to me again and asked for me to please order him something. This time I decided I would so I told him I would get him a small burger. He stepped in front of me and began to order a burger, fries, drinks, apple pie and loads of other stuff. I was telling him that I wouldn't be getting him that as he was ordering and to get something off the saver menu but he continued.
Once he had finished, he stepped back then just pointed at the screen and motioned for me to pay. I told him he was taking the piss and that I wouldn't be buying him anything now. He told me to fuck off and walked away. I told my gf and she agrees it was weird. I feel like an a hole though because he really did look hungry. Aita?
(Exuse the bad grammar English isn't my first language)