Not Your Usual Magical Girl

Susan’s grounding had gone great. The first two days after her arrival on earth were complete madness, and so she was more than happy for an excuse to stay at home.

Elizabeth, of course, had protested vehemently, and eventually managed to get her punishment rescinded. Mostly on account of being one of the ‘protectors of the Earth’.

As for Anne, without the shadow of her Uncle leaning over her, she had blossomed into quite the social butterfly. Spending each day with an ever expanding group of friends.

And after she had followed through with her promise to deal with the dangerously inquisitive Cole, Susan was left free to relax into the blissful numbness that was high school.

They still met each day for walks to and from the Brick, but Susan’s days mostly passed by in a blur of classes, homework, and reading science articles on her phone.

The weeklong grounding had ended the day before to little fanfare, and Susan had been eagerly looking forward to another bland Wednesday.

Which was why she hadn’t exactly been happy to receive a whispered request from Anne for help with a ‘problem her friend had’, that morning as she passed through the front gates of the school. Now she found herself surrounded by hordes of chattering freshmen, awkwardly making her way to the back of the cafeteria.

She almost missed Anne, barely spotting the mousy girl waving to her over the group freshmen between them. She was standing at the far end of the last cafeteria table in the row, next to another girl sitting facing the wall.

Susan stared at her friend for a moment, wondering exactly what ridiculous situation she would be dragged into this time. Then sighed and kept moving.

Finally reaching the seat across from them, she dropped her backpack down on the table with a thunk before plopping down in the seat and settling her back against the wall.

Then her face scrunched up in confusion as she recognized the girl hunched over next to Anne.

“Mattie Shirden?” She blurted out.

“Shhh, not so loud,” Anne hissed, “We’re trying to hide this from Cole.”

Susan could only blankly nod as she tried to process Anne’s statement, she personally considered the idea of keeping anything involving Mattie Shirden a secret to be pretty much impossible.

Her eyes had to travel up quite a bit to take in the near six foot frame of the girl in front of her. Add the heavy black jacket and jeans, and the girl wasn't exactly a champion at hide and seek.

Though that was only what made her recognizable.

What made her impossible to hide was the fact that she was the instrument by which Anne had fulfilled her promise to Susan concerning Cole.

Last Thursday in the middle of the school courtyard as Susan desperately dodged another pointed question from Cole, Mattie had appeared. Standing over the table they were sitting at, she glared down at the boy with a heavy gaze.

Then she awkwardly sat down next to him, dark clothes clashing with Cole’s brightly colored anime shirt, and asked him out.

The school rumor mill had suffered a grain dust explosion and burnt to the ground as every gossipmonger glommed onto the brand new whirlwind romance. The subject of their attention now sat hunched in her seat, dark eyes glowering at Susan from behind her equally dark locks of hair. Together with her impressive height, her position made her loom over the table.

“So why is she here?” Mattie grumbled, her naturally dour face making her scowl truly impressive.

“She is here to help us with your problem,” Anne said with a look and a nudge of her head.

“But she doesn’t know anything about…” Keeping her eyes glued to Susan, Mattie leaned down to Anne and whispered, “You know what.”

Susan rolled her eyes.

“Is this another magic thing?” She, unable to keep exasperation out of her voice.

“Yes.”

“No.”

The girls answered simultaneously. Anne sighed.

“We need help making Cole into a hero.”

Susan stared at her for a few seconds until she finally realized Anne wasn’t joking. Then she frowned. This was not the kind of problem she was expecting, and definitely not something they needed her for.

“Just hand him a magic sword and throw him in a vampire den!” She said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Exactly!” Mattie exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table.

“Can we not go for the most dangerous option?” Anne exclaimed, “We need him to actually survive becoming a hero.”

“Then do you have a better idea?” Mattie shot back.

“I do, but we need to explain things to Susan!” Anne said with a nod her way.

“Okay?” Susan said with a shrug, half exasperated with their antics and half relieved it wasn’t another eldritch monstrosity she had to deal with.

“So,” Anne said, planting both arms on the table and leaning in, “Mattie comes from an ancient line of witches from England.”

Susan pursed her lips, then leaned across the table and gave Mattie a sniff. The girl actually did give off the smell of alchemy and spell work, if a little weak.

“Huh, that’s cool,” She said under the incredulous gaze of both of the other girls.

“Aaanyway,” Anne continued, “Her grandmother is super old fashioned-”

“Freaking medieval,” Mattie muttered.

“-and so she cursed Mattie so that she could only court a man worthy of her.”

“A hero,” Susan finished for her.

“Exactly,” Anne nodded, “I knew about her problem. So after Cole tried to save me from Kelly, I realized that he might have done something heroic enough to count.”

“Except it wasn’t,” Mattie grumbled, almost to herself, “He has to save me, specifically, from a monster for the curse to lift.”

Susan frowned, “Okay… but why specifically Cole? Aren’t there other possible heroes out there?”

“Because-” Mattie cut off before looking down.

“She actually likes him,” Anne said. Susan could only stare as Mattie turned red as a beet.

“Seriously?” She couldn't help but blurt out. She was friends with Cole, but nothing about the overweight nerd had struck her as boyfriend material.

“Yes,” Mattie snapped back, “He’s nice and kind and adorable and I want it to be him!”

Her emphatic defense ended with her leaning halfway across the plastic table, and Susan found herself pressed up against the wall behind her.

Mattie seemed to recognize the position she was in, so she flopped back onto her seat and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Look,” She said, none of her intensity diminished, “I like him and if that stupid spell doesn’t understand he’s worthy of me then I’m going to make him a hero so great that even Grandma herself is going to come and get in line to kiss his a-”

“Aaand that’s where you come in!” Anne cut in, eyes tracking a teacher that was passing by a few tables away.

“And how exactly does Miss Einstein come into this?” Mattie asked, finally cooling down.

“Susan is a dragon,” Anne said simply.

Mattie’s head slowly turned to stare sidelong at Susan.

“Yup,” She shrugged.

Mattie’s eyes narrowed as she thought things over.

“I see…” She muttered.

“So,” Anne said, putting her arms on the table and leaning in, “Are you interested in playing the evil dragon for Cole?”

Susan settled back against the wall to think things over. On one hand this was a complete waste of time and would probably end like some kind of terrible reenactment of a King Arthur play. On the other hand…

“I have to admit…” She started slowly. “I have always wanted to kidnap a princess...”

She trailed off as a smile slowly spread over Anne’s face, she knew Susan was hooked.

Mattie smiled as well and leaned in, “So here’s the plan, have you ever heard of a ‘Grader’ before?”

Susan pursed her lips, “That's a kind of magic training device, right?”

“Yeah, I still have the one I used when I was a kid. It can make him stronger fast, and…” Mattie leaned further in with a gleam in her eye, whispering conspiratorially, “It does it exactly like one of those litRPG stories Cole loves so much.”

Susan was nodding along, but paused when she got to that.

“It’s not a bad idea,” She began, “But I can’t just fight him immediately, magical enhancement doesn’t work quickly and needs a lot of fuel.”

“Don't worry,” Mattie said with a dark smile, “I know the perfect person for that. But first, what do you know about the Isekai genre?”

Fifteen minutes and a hastily devised kidnapping plan later, the three girls absconded to the other end of the cafeteria. It took them a long minute to find Mattie’s friend, and even longer to convince her to join them back in the freshmen section.

Now, after explaining their plan, they found themselves being stared down like criminals before an angry judge.

“You want me to what?” Ruth asked for what must have been the third time as she rubbed her temples. Her well cut shirt and pants contrasting with the expression of bafflement that spread over the dark skin of her face. Bright gray eyes peeked out from a canopy of midnight black hair as she looked at the three of them.

“I need you to beat up my boyfriend for me, okay?” Mattie said, before frowning as she seemed to realize the words that had just come out of her mouth.

“Did he cheat on you or something? Because this just sounds like some sort of insane revenge plot.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Please, are you in or not?” Anne said, leaning in to cut off their glorious leader’s pleas.

Ruth shrugged, “Sure, I’m in. Nothing else to do on a Wednesday night.”

“Thank you,” Mattie said with a heavy sigh, losing some of the tension in her shoulders.

“I am wondering,” Ruth said, moving to rest her chin on her hands, “Why aren’t we using summoning magic to transport him? It seems easier than breaking into his house.”

“We are not using summoning magic!” Susan snapped, eliciting a trio of shocked looks.

“Don’t worry, it's not a problem,” Mattie broke in, “I already have something for that.”

Both girls turned to her, “Really, what?”

“A coffin.”

Anne joined the other two in staring at Mattie, who looked back and forth between them with a confused frown.

“Mattie,” Ruth began slowly, “Why do you have a coffin?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how useful they can be,” Mattie said completely innocently.

“No,” Susan broke in, “Why, and I mean specifically here, in this context, do you have a coffin?”

“Uh…”

Ruth turned to the other two girls, still giving Mattie a sidelong look, “Are we sure he didn’t cheat on her?”

“I think we’re going to find out,” Anne replied slowly.

Cole woke up with a start. His room was dark, and his bed was strangely uncomfortable. He shook his head, then had a moment of disconnect when he felt grass moving beneath his head.

He jolted up, stumbling to his feet as he began to realize that this definitely was not a bedroom.

He stood in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, about twenty feet across and covered by an uneven layer of sod and dirt. The grass crunched beneath his bare feet as he took in a starry sky mostly hidden by towering oaks. A wind whipped around him, the cold reaching right through his threadbare pajamas.

“Where… am I?” He whispered, mind still not quite processing what was happening. Though a little ember in his heart couldn't help but dream up visions of other worlds and godly powers.

“Cole…” A voice came from behind him.

Cole nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to see a veiled woman, dressed in flowing white robes standing behind him.

“Mattie needs your help…” She continued, and the ember of warmth in Cole’s heart froze solid.

“M-Mattie?” He whimpered.

The older girl had entered his life completely out of nowhere. But in the week since he’d begun dating her, he had rapidly realized that he now couldn't imagine himself without her. The thought of her being in trouble, of something like what he had seen with Kelly happening to her was terrifying.

“She has been taken by a terrible dragon…” The whisper came again, and his chest clenched.

A dragon dragon?

The figure continued without pause, ignoring his inner turmoil, “Take up these and become the hero you are meant to be…”

An arm gestured to a flat stone behind the figure. A longsword lay across it, along with a small metal sphere.

The mysterious woman looked at him for a moment, then turned to the side and walked silently into the woods. Cole watched her go with wide eyes, before turning back to the stone.

Stumbling steps took him to it, and a trembling hand reached out to the sphere. It was perfectly round and light like a ping pong ball but his fingers couldn't feel any give in the structure as he grabbed it and brought it up to his face.

A blue square appeared floating in the air in front of him.

/DO YOU ACCEPT THE SYSTEM/

Y/N

“Yes,” Cole whispered reverently.

The sphere melted into his hand without a sound, but instead of fear at the surreal feeling, the only thing he could feel was pure elation.

Even with the threat to Mattie, Cole couldn't resist the visions of glory that ran through his head and a grin came over his face.

Magic was real. Systems were real.

So what if there was a dragon, what could possibly stop him now?

A tiny unicorn appeared, floating in the air next to Cole’s head. It was only a foot tall and looked like a plush toy, with tiny limbs and cartoonishly huge eyes. And it was colored like a neon rainbow. Just looking at it made Cole’s eyes ache.

“Hi! I’m Rainbow! Do you want to be friends?” It shouted with manic enthusiasm.

“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”

A deep rumbling laugh echoed through the woods.

An enormous dragon, its bulk bathed in shadow, waved its stubby arms wildly in the air. Glowing lines followed each finger, drawing glowing arcane symbols. The world around it seemed to tremble as the images completed, and enormous amounts of magical power flowed through them.

The scenery, the trees and grass and even the very air warped and changed to the dragon’s whims. Walls and towers grew like grass around it, the area only barely lit from below by floating arcane fires and the blood of the very earth.

High above, trapped within a cage that sat suspended from an enormous stone arch, a fair maiden clothed in a white gown looked down on the beast cackling to itself below.

“I think the lava moat is a little overkill,” She called.

The great maw of the beast whipped up so the dragon could glare at her.

“Shut up, it's fine!” Susan snapped back.

“It is supposed to be an evil dragon’s lair,” Ruth spoke up from where she stood leaning against the side of the stone arch. She was now barefoot, and wearing a fluffy bathrobe despite their place in the woods.

“Thank you, Ruth,” Susan said sweetly.

“Uh, hello?” A voice shouted from beyond the maze of walls and lava moats, “Can I come in?”

Susan jumped in place, making the earth rumble before turning around to look toward the sound of the voice.

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot to make the drawbridge!” She cried.

A few seconds later an avalanche of stone and gothic ironwork appeared midair, then formed into a wide stone lane leading through her improvised fortress.

“Thank you,” Anne snarked as she came marching over towards them, dressed in the flowing robes that had shocked Cole only minutes before.

“How did it go?” Mattie called down.

“It was humiliating!” Anne almost screamed, “We forgot to include an exit! I went over the lines, and then had to just walk away! I’m lucky he didn't just follow me back here.”

“Looks like I’m up,” Ruth said.

Stepping away from the arch, she began to grow. The bathrobe hit the ground behind her as shoulders broadened, legs thinned and lengthened, and her long hair thickened into a mane.

She gave the others a quick nod before bounding off into the woods.

“Be careful with him, please,” Mattie shouted after her.

The only response was a huff that echoed back through the stone walls.

“Seriously, why couldn't we make the Grader do the exposition part?” Anne grouched.

“It would have taken too long,” Mattie shouted back, “I had plenty of trouble erasing the old avatar as it was.”

She stopped, and then a frown crossed her face.

“Wait,” She muttered, “I did remember to erase Rainbow, right?”

Susan looked up from forming another rune.

“How should I know,” Her voice boomed, “You wouldn’t let me touch the enchantments on the thing.”

Mattie’s eyes widened, and a second scream echoed through the dark night.

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

Cole finished screaming, but the gaudy abomination was still there.

“Are you OK?” Rainbow said with exaggerated care.

“Buh… What. What?” Cole stammered.

“I’m a unicorn. That’s a kind of magical horse. I’m here to show you magic, help you not die, and have fun!”

“D-die?” He asked, trying to take a step back.

The unicorn just followed, staying barely a foot away from his face. Cole’s eyes were starting to water from having to look at it.

“I was told there was someone in trouble. Do you want to save them?” It asked.

Cole nodded furiously, “Yeah, Mattie, my girlfriend. She’s the one in trouble.”

“AMAZING!” Rainbow shouted, throwing its hooves in the air, “Can I help you?”

“Uh… sure,” Cole said calmly. By this point he had simply given up on understanding the eldritch children's mascot.

“Hooray! Let's see how strong you are!”

The unicorn’s face drooped and its eyes began to open wider and wider, the cartoonish orbs ballooning to terrifying proportions.

A shiver instinctively ran down Cole’s spine, but was stopped by a wave of heat running upward. It seemed to linger for a moment in his chest and head before vanishing. All the while the unicorn stared on with its terrifying multicolored eyes.

Then, after an agonizing few seconds, the plush abomination returned to normal.

“I’m all done! Now I’m going to show your Magic Numbers. Magic Numbers show how strong you are. A higher number means you are better at something! Can you count?”

“Yes,” Cole mumbled helplessly.

“That’s incredible!” Rainbow shouted, floating to the side only for a square pane to appear in its place.

Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!

Strength- 5 Mana- 1

Agility- 3 Sensitivity- 0

Constitution- 6 Knowledge- 0

Resisting the urge to claw out his own eyes at the color, Cole read through the information.

He didn’t say anything for a minute. He wasn’t sure, but single digit stats were usually reserved for the start of the story. And dragons were reserved for the end.

“These are pretty bad, aren’t they?”

“Totally, you are super weak! But don't worry. I'm here to help!” Rainbow said, still with its usual cheer.

“So, do I have any cheat skills? Or anything, really?” He pleaded.

“If you are in danger then I can make you stronger with magic!” Rainbow said.

“Great! So what’s the best way to increase my stats the most?”

The unicorn paused for a moment with a frown, then began speaking again, “Oh, you mean the Magic Numbers. To make your magic numbers go up, you need to find somewhere with lots of mana! Can you find the mana?”

Glittering eyes stared at Cole, begging him to try. He could only stare back helplessly.

“No…” He gave in with a confused shrug.

“That’s ok, you did your best!”

He had to hold himself back from punching the thing.

“You can also find magical animals! They have lots of magic I can use to help you!”

Cole wanted to cheer. At least this was something he could understand. He could cultivate or hunt down monsters to get stronger. He had been confused at the start, but the more things aligned with the litRPG and isekai stories he had read, the more confident he became.

Plan in mind, he grabbed the sword and lifted it up before him. It was about four feet long, with a long handle that fit both of his hands easily. The design was simple, like Andúril from the Lord of the Rings movies. The only difference were the sides of the blade, which had a strange wavy pattern of different colored metals that he vaguely recognized as Damascus steel.

He swung it back and forth slowly, trying to get used to the unfamiliar weight.

“Now I just need a wolf to fight and it’ll be a proper isekai,” He whispered.

A deep growl echoed through the clearing, the sound so deep and heavy it made his chest vibrate.

Any kind of intelligent thought vanished from his mind as a wolf stepped out onto the soft grass of the clearing. It was covered in heavy black fur, and so tall it came up to his chest.

Gray eyes shone in the gloom, above a mouth filled with the kind of teeth you usually saw in the prehistoric section of a museum.

Cole had been feeling a lot of different things. Worry for Mattie, hope and joy at the situation, and annoyance at the unicorn.

All of that was washed away by a tide of fear.

He had seen scenes like this in manga and anime. The hero always fought a wolf once they were “isekai’d”. It was so common in the genre that he had even ranted to Mattie a few times about it.

But now… now he was living it.

The wolf was leaping at him before his brain could process it.

He tried to swing the sword at it, but couldn't do much more than get it between himself and the wolf.

The action at least did something. The wolf twisted midair to avoid the blade. Instead of catching him with its jaws, it instead smashed a shoulder into him and sent him sprawling.

His back hit the ground, sticks and stones digging into his skin as he clamped his eyes shut.

He waited for a second for the feel of teeth around his neck, then wrenched them back open once nothing happened.

The wolf was just standing across the field, barely visible in the dim light except for its eyes which watched him with glimmering amusement.

He spent a panicked second scrabbling to his feet. Then held the sword out in front of himself, between him and the wolf.

Then the wolf was moving again, ducking under the outstretched sword and hammering its head into his stomach.

Cole hit the ground again, but this time he barely felt it. His attention was instead focused on the all consuming need to get more air back in his lungs.

It took a moment to get his breath back, but his quivering lungs didn't settle. The air rushed in and out of his over and over in a quick rhythm as he scrabbled backward away from the monster.

“W-w-why are you- what are you- what is happening?” He almost screamed out.

The wolf stared at him for a few seconds, silent and unmoving as it stood crouched a few feet away from him.

Slowly it lowered its head and opened its mouth.

“test, for, hero,” It coughed out word by word, the sound horrifying as it rasped from a throat not meant for human speech.

“you,” It continued, “fail.”

Childish defiance and fury got Cole to his feet. He stared down the wolf with defiant eyes, even as his shaking hands made the sword held between them jump back and forth.

“Hey!” Rainbow abruptly appeared in Cole’s face, making him jump back with a scream.

That was the only thing that saved him from the wolf’s next leap. The sound of its closing jaws snapping together rang in his ears like a gunshot.

“Hey Cole!” Rainbow repeated.

“WHAT!” He screamed, even as he watched the wolf gracefully land and swivel around to stare him down again.

“I have a lot of mana now! I can make you strong-”

“YES!”

“Are you sure you want me to make you stronger?”

“AAAAAAAAH,” Cole screamed as the wolf leapt at him again.

Then as the bulk of the beast rushed at him, wide jaws and gleaming pointed teeth filling his vision, it seemed to slow.

Cole could see it now. The wolf, each and every hair drawn with incredible detail to his eyes, and its trajectory. It wasn’t aiming at him. The creature’s claim of it testing him was true. He could see now that the head was positioned so that it could move down and ram him in the chest instead of biting him.

With a speed and coordination Cole had never experienced, he kicked himself backwards. The wolf’s teeth clacked shut just in front of his chest, but this time he didn’t feel panic. He simply watched it happen with complete surety.

The wolf’s feet barely touched the ground before it bounced backwards, landing on the ground at the edge of the clearing.

Cole watched it go. The strange feeling that had come over him was incredible. It wasn’t like the wolf was moving slowly now. Instead, his mind was just able to process what was happening fast enough to keep up, along with the near instinctive reactions given by his body to avoid it.

“I’ve just made you stronger,” Rainbow chirped, “Now I’m going to show you how to use a sword!”

Cole shot it a look, but had to keep his eyes on the wolf as it began to slowly stalk to the side. His feet shuffled awkwardly as he was forced to turn to keep it in view.

“Now stand like this!”

From the corner of his eye, he saw the unicorn stand on its cartoonish hind legs. Materializing a blocky copy of his sword and holding it in both hands in front of itself, the unicorn took on a light crouch.

With no better options, Cole copied its pose.

His grip firmed up on the sword, and instead of the embarrassing poses he might have made with his uncoordinated body before, he now imitated the unicorn perfectly.

The wolf readied itself to leap again, but a swipe of his sword stopped it.

The motion made him frown. His improved vision could now see how messy the arc of the blade was.

“And swing like this!” Rainbow swung its sword, slowly tracing a perfect slash.

He swung again, and the blade hummed as it sliced through the air.

Cole smiled. The wolf frowned.

“Good job!” Rainbow said with that artificial warmth reserved for very small children. Cole groaned.

Then the wolf was rushing at him, low to the ground this time. His sword was swinging down immediately, on a trajectory for its head.

The blade bit deep into the soil as the wolf nimbly dodged to the side.

Fear of retaliation crashed down on him again, but this time he pushed through. His feet kicked up the loam beneath him as he charged down the wolf, sword whipping in a horizontal arc.

He saw its eyes widen, and then it jumped. It's body rising and legs curling up just enough for his sword to hiss by harmlessly underneath.

Its paws touched the ground, and before Cole’s sword had even finished its arc the wolf’s head was shooting forward.

Their foreheads connected with a crack, and Cole was sent sprawling backwards. His feet tripped on the uneven ground of the clearing, and then he was on his back again.

He was still blinking back spots when a weight settled on his chest.

It was the wolf, its front paw on his sternum, the other pressing down on the arm that still held his sword.

It leaned in until gray eyes and gleaming teeth were the only thing he could see.

“better,” It spoke, “but, still, not, hero.”

It held him there another moment before getting off him and trotting away. Cole stared after it as it vanished into the woods without another word.

After a few stunned seconds, he stumbled to his feet before turning to face an overjoyed Rainbow.

"Great job on not dying!” The unicorn shouted.

“Yeah,” Cole muttered, staring it down while he debated whether or not to scream at the magical Alexa. Squashing the urge, he finally spoke again.

“So, how are my stats?” He asked.

“They look great!”

Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!

Strength- 13 Mana- 1

Agility- 17 Sensitivity- 0

Constitution- 10 Knowledge- 0

-Physical Powers!

Strength- 13

Agility- 17

Constitution-10

-Magical Excellence!

Mana- 1

Sensitivity- 0

Knowledge- 0

“Wow, you’re doing so much better!” Rainbow said. Though Cole barely heard it as he read.

“So I guess I’m the swordsman class,” He muttered to himself.

“To take a class, you need a teacher. Do you want to find a teacher?”

Cole had to take a second as the gaudy abomination shot down the last of his dreams of a traditional litRPG isekai. Then he squared his shoulder and looked outward, past the edge of the clearing.

“Alright,” He said, “Now how do I find the dragon?”

“Always remember. If you want to fight a dragon, don’t!” Rainbow said, “But my friend told me, ‘Follow the footprints to find the dragon’!” It finished by making exaggerated air quotes with its hooves.

“Follow the footprints, how am I supposed to find…” Cole trailed off as his eyes drifted downwards.

He had noticed earlier that one half of the clearing was higher than the other.

That was incorrect. One half was lower, pressed down into the imprint of a paw. The thing was enormous, ten feet long and half that wide with five enormous claw marks imprinted into the dirt at one end.

Cole found it hard to move his eyes away from the sight. The mysterious woman had said a dragon. He had heard her, but not understood her.

After fighting the wolf though, having truly seen the ridiculous strength and speed a creature like that could produce?

The idea terrified him, made his legs tremble beneath him as he contemplated a creature that could and would kill him by stepping on him.

But…

“Mattie,” He whispered, the name sparking an unfamiliar feeling inside his chest.

“Is something wrong?” Rainbow asked.

“No.”

Cole looked to see where the toes pointed, and, ignoring the fact that he could probably curl up inside the depressions they made, began walking.

Five minutes, and about fifty enormous footprints later, it was starting to sink in that this adventure might take slightly longer than he may have expected. He had no sheath for the sword, so he was forced to awkwardly carry it over his shoulder. The grass was soft under his feet, but every few steps something sharp or spiky would poke his feet.

Was it too hard for whatever god or cosmic being that brought him here to have included shoes?

A twig snapped somewhere in the distance.

He was in the sword fighting stance in an instant, sword pointing toward the origin of the sound.

Then he blinked in surprise, and the point of the sword lowered slightly.

“Hello?” He called toward the figure he had just spotted halfway hidden by one of the thick trunks around him.

“A fellow traveler? How unexpected,” A raspy voice echoed back, the figure stepping out from behind the tree.

Taking in his appearance, the idea finally sunk home that Cole might, actually, be in another world. A cloak so dark it blended in with the night sat on the shoulders of a man with skin whiter than stationary. Blood red eyes stared out from beneath a cowl, and a hint of fangs poked out from the man’s sneering mouth.

Cole’s mouth opened and closed a few times.

“Are you a vampire?” He blurted out.

“Are you a brainless gob?” The vampire sneered back at him, “Obviously I am one of those blessed by the night!”

The insult barely registered, as for the first time since he saw the footprint, Cole saw an opportunity.

“So… are you hunting the dragon too?” He asked.

The vampire jumped.

“How did you guess that?” He snapped, stalking forward and making Cole bring his sword back up, “Have you been following me?”

“What, no!” Cole shook his head vigorously, then pointed to the ground beside him, “Why else would you be following the giant footprints?”

The vampire’s lips pursed for a moment, before calming and taking a step back.

“You are correct,” He said, “I hunt the dragon that left these.”

Cole nodded slowly as he considered things. This was a vampire, a magical creature. He was volatile, but there might be an opportunity here.

“Hey, so I’m actually hunting the dragon as well. What would you say to working together?” He asked, slowly putting his sword back over his shoulder.

The vampire stared at him for a few seconds, probably doing the same mental math Cole had the moment before.

“Acceptable.” He said with a nod, “Follow after me then.”

He immediately turned and began walking again. Cole had to rush to follow after the vampire’s quick strides.

He was taking a risk. But fighting a dragon was a risk too. This way he might have an ally. And even in the worst case scenario, he should have a free source of stats.

Fighting the wolf had given him a good amount of respect for the threat that magical creatures represented. And looking down at another one of the enormous footprints, Cole knew he needed whatever edge he could take no matter what it was.

“By the way,” He asked, wincing as he stepped another stick, “What’s your name?”

“You can call me Robert Ross.”

Hey, he had a name for the vampire now. What could go wrong?