Birth of a Warrior (1)

"Percy!" Tiara yelled for him. Percy halted and turned around. "You can run, Tiara," he admonished. "Run away from it, towards me."

Tiara's eyes widened and stared at the monster bound towards her. Her heart was pounding faster with every step the creature took towards her. Her legs felt like it was set in stone. She wanted to fight it so bad. It was the only way she could prove that she wasn't a mere sidekick. Nakano's words had hit her hard.

But she was powerless here, Percy being the only one who could save her. But then Tiara looked at Percy simply standing there, telling her to run. If he did have the power to save her and fight these monsters, he wouldn't be running away from it now right?

"Percy is only Level 3!" Nakano yelled from behind. "He can't save you."

Tiara bit her lip and looked back at Nakano. "So am I! Why are you doing this?" Tiara faltered backward as the monster came in closer. Her legs tangled on top of each other like noodles and she fell onto the ground, snow filling her mouth ungracefully.

"Tiara run, please!" Percy yelled in desperation.

'I wish I could… Percy…' Tiara thought to herself. Her ankle was throbbing from the sprain. Her eyes rolled upward as her vision got shaky and saw the outline of Nakano standing there, not coming forward to help.

"Fight, Tiara," Nakano urged, "Not with your body, but with your heart."

'What do you mean..?' Tiara thought. She had lost the energy to even speak now. The pain was too much. She gasped as she felt claws sink into her back, crushing her ribs, already weak from the fight with the Dramon.

She heard the muffles of a scream as she was lifted into the air by the monster's mouth. Her eyes were opened slightly as she saw Percy on the ground, trying to get the monster to let Tiara go.

Tiara shook her head. "Percy, don't… Percy run away…" she wanted to say. Her body dangled from the monster's mouth like a ragdoll and she saw Nakano's eyes. Her words tried to thrust into her.

Fight with your heart.

Tiara strangely remembered her first time in the game. How Mitchell had come to save her from that Level 65 Cerebweiler. A stunning thought entered her head. It was true… Mitchell didn't exactly fight that day, did he? All he did was look into the monster's eyes and say some words. Did that word come from his heart, perhaps? How did Mitchell get to Level 66, really? She hadn't cared or felt the need to think about all this until exactly two seconds ago.

"System…" She groaned, but no comprehensive words came out.

"I can hear you, Player Tiara, for I am everywhere. What do you need?"

Unexpectedly, the crystal clear voice of the System filled her with relief. Percy was down there trying to get Tiara out, the only thing that was stopping the monster from chewing her alive. She felt grateful for that too.

"Leave her ALONE!" Percy yelled, driving his sword into the monster's hide. It cut easily but when Percy took out the sword, the wounds had immediately healed. "Fuck," he swore and gritted his teeth as he saw Karmet send more monsters after them. "Hang in there, Tiara!" he looked up at her seemingly lifeless body.

Tiara spat out blood, drops of which fell on Percy's hair. He felt his heart shrink as the blood traveled down his forehead. "I'm not letting you die on me."

Meanwhile Tiara had asked the system to open up inventory. She understood that she had some kind of potion in store, the one she had gotten when she leveled up. 'What.. does it do?' she thought inside her head.

"This one is for 30% healing."

'Will that do..?'

The system's answer was not satisfactory. "You have 400 spirit stones. You might want to buy a healing potion with higher healing efficiency from the shop."

Tiara groaned. At one point it was highly painful but all pain has a limit. After a certain point, the extreme pain was just a dull background to her thoughts. "Are you decreasing my pain?" Tiara asked the system suddenly.

"It's the least I can do."

For a second, Tiara thought the system sounded no lesser than a human. It was all so weird.

"How much does a 100% healing potion cost?"

"1000 spirit stones."

Tiara sighed. "What can I get for 400 spirit stones?"

"You want to use all your stones?"

"Yes, please."

"Are you sure, Player?"

"Yes."

"There is an 80% healing potion for 389 spirit stones."

"I'll buy that," Tiara said in the blink of an eye.

"You should reconsider spending the majority of your stones."

"I am going to die, okay? So please let me buy this!" Tiara needed more time to work with her heart and if this potion could buy that time, then the number of spirit stones didn't matter to her.

[Potion of the North Wind. Healing Efficiency: 80%. Confirm Purchase?]

[Yes No]

A screen opened up with these words in front of Tiara's eyes. She lifted her hand slowly and managed to swipe the screen. Percy's eyes caught that movement and his jaw slightly dropped. 'What are you even doing, Tiara?' he stared at her as her hand again dropped to the side. He side-stepped just in time as another monster grabbed for his torso. Percy jumped on top of his back and gouged its eyes out.

Karmet's lips curled up in surprise. "The boy… is quite impressive. Let's check his limits." Karmet smiled wider and sent in a pulse of energy forward, filling his monsters with a stronger Intent of Destruction. Their eyes turned into slits and the monster holding Tiara in its mouth roared.

Tiara slipped further into its mouth.

"No!" Percy yelled and he jumped towards her. But other monsters held him back. They had gotten more ferocious.

"Use Potion.." Tiara spoke out and the potion appeared in front of her. The cork unscrewed on its own and she opened her mouth slightly as she let the drops fall into her mouth. It was a cooling liquid, sending chills throughout her body.

It reminded her of the walk back from school. She would stop by the grocery store and buy the candy on the far right, the one in the bright green wrapping.

"That would be 2 cents," the shopkeeper would say and she would give exactly 2 cents and step out of the shop to pop the candy inside her mouth.

Yes, the potion tasted exactly like that. Like mint and ice and the feeling of returning home from school.

She felt a jolt from inside her as the last taste of mint faded from her tongue. Her eyes opened and her hands felt like jelly for a second, but then the next she felt something rush through her. Power. The healing potion was working.

"You have been healed successfully, may the twine powers be with you!"

Tiara screamed in joy and looked around her. She could finally register where she was and what she was doing now that all other thoughts were washed away. It was dark and sticky where she was lying. "I'm in the monster's mouth," she shuddered, trying to stand inside the slimy mess she was in. She felt in the dark and her hands slapped the inner side of the monster's cheek. She could hear the muffled sounds of battle through the thick hide.

"Percy is alone outside," she realized that she needed to help him.

She stepped forward but the slime and saliva caused her feet to slip and a scream issued from her as she slipped further into its throat. She flailed her hands to grab at anything but all that was happening was slip, slip, slip.

Finally, she landed on something hard. She grabbed on tight to whatever she landed on. The surface she was holding on to shook violently, threatening to throw her off the top. And then it was quiet again. Then it shook again. And then it was quiet.

She creased her eyebrows in confusion as she looked around. It felt like the surface under her was pumping something. Her face tilted to the side and tried to look around her. Her eyes caught sparks of electricity flashing around her every time the surface shook.

And she knew where she was. She was inside the monster and the only thing that pumps inside a creature… was its heart.