Reality

"Why are they in the streets?!" Liz scrambled to pull out the daggers.

"I told you Goblet has a goblin problem." Temarick nonchalantly put a hand up, balm facing the goblins.

Liz watched the green monsters sprint on limbs that looked like they would snap at any given moment like toothpicks. "s-so how should I fight that?"

"Ether cut the tendons to cripple and stab in the neck to finish it or stab them in the heart. oh, its nails and teeth are sharp as blades." Temarick adjusted his hand slightly.

As goblins approached them, Liz realized that it was just as tall as temerick and the glowing yellow eyes, 4 pairs of them were locked on her. 'This is ridiculous!'

"Should I kite them for you?" Just as Liz thought about running, a blast of fire erupted from Temarick's balm, toward the goblins.

"No, you need to learn." 3 of the goblins jumped out of the way of the blast while the other 2's skin caught fire and they screamed.

2 of the ones who avoided looked at Temarick before jumping at him while one of them decided to go after Liz. "That better for you?"

The goblin lunged with a wide swing with its long nails toward Liz. 'Jesus!'

"I-I-I GUESS!" She back peddled to avoid it then slashed at the goblin sloppily. It hit its arm but it didn't go deep, only making a small cut that oozed a black ichor that flaked like it was ash that flew off with the wind.

*SCREEE* The goblin screeched at Liz as it tried to grab her face.

Liz stabbed the hand with her left dagger, the dagger got stuck in the goblin's hand. 'Come on, Get out!'

Liz struggled to pull the dagger out but failed as she felt a horrible stabbing pain in her shoulder that made her fall backward. "Gaa!"

Liz looked away from the dagger to the goblin tearing into her shoulder with its teeth. 'Did it just bite me!?'

Liz flipped her right dagger into a reverse grip and plunged it into the neck of the goblin. The goblin fell limp and then turned to ash that dissipated with the wind until there was nothing left of the body.

Liz looked over to Temarick who was staring at the ones he set on fire as they dissipated and pressed on her injury. "Haaaa."

Temarick glanced at Liz and paused when he saw the blood flowing through her fingers. "Did you get hurt?"

Liz removed her hand to show Temarick the rended flesh and visible bone. "It bit me."

"Let me get a potion" Temarick shifted his trench coat and pulled a small vial filled with dark red liquid.

Liz was about to take the vial before she remembered something. "Or you could try using fire."

"Oh, your skill." Temarick's hand caught fire and then held it close to the wound. Liz's body sucked the fire up like a sponge.

"Mmm." She stopped feeling the pain as fire filled the gap, and the wound regenerated rapidly until it was smooth skin with no sign of a scar.

"So how did you get hit by that." Temarick mumbled with frustration in his voice.

Temarick was about to get annoyed at Liz before he realized something. "Have you fought something before?"

"No, that was the 1st time I fought with my life on the line." Liz responded as she pushed herself back up.

Temarick took a moment to look at Liz baffled. "How have you never fought something?"

Liz shrugged at the question. "Fighting was made illegal where I live unless you do it in controlled environments so I never did."

"Sounds like old times... anyway we still have somewhere to go." Temarick gestured for Liz to follow and walked off.

Liz caught up and asked him a question. "So do we need to kill more?"

"Probably, we should do a sweep of the town to make sure they don't kill any more people." Temarick checked the alleyway and abandoned buildings for goblins as they walked.

Liz got concerned listening to him. "Wait how many people have they killed?"

Temarick went silent when he heard the question.

Liz wondered if she said something wrong. "Um you don't have to‐"

"753." Temarick said with a blank face.

Liz was caught off by the sudden number. "What?"

"That's how many died here." Temarick reiterated.

Hearing that people died irked her even though she knew this was a game. "7-753? I'm sorry to hear that."

Temarick glanced at Liz and then continued searching his surroundings. "The only people still here are the ones who can't leave, the ones who don't want to leave, and the ones who protect the ones who are still here."

"Are you the third?" Liz jumped at a sudden fire blast that Temarick fired into a building.

A dozen goblins ran out of the fire-filled building before collapsing and dissipating. "... The second."

"Any more-Ak!?" Liz peered into the building to see but tripped on something.

"No, I'll properly teach you how to fight after this." Temarick leaned down and picked a small jagged gray crystal and showed it to Liz before he offered a hand to her.

Liz took his hand and stood up, She realized that the crystal was in her palm. "So what is this?"

"The resentment of the goblin made a soul crystal." Temarick started searching for goblins again.

Liz looked at the crystal with apprehension before catching up. "So what is the point of these soul crystals?"

Temarick took out his flask and chugged the rest of its contents. "You can break it to see their last moments or with some skills."

"Huh..." Liz put the crystal in her coat pocket.

Liz did nothing but watch Temarick as he fought with a short sword to fight for the rest of their search to demonstrate how to use bladed weapons.

.

.

.

A bell rang as a door opened and a bald man with a scar showing off his dead eye walked through.

He looked around the room.

Half of the room was open space with 3 tables with 5 chairs each, and a counter that had a menu on it it.

On the other hand, stands with various types of things from rations to tents.

"So why are we here?" The bell rang as a tall woman with red to blue hair, amble breasts and red Irises that pulsed with blue walked through the door.

"To get a refill." Temarick nonchalantly sat in one of the chairs and waited.

Liz walked over to the counter to look at the menu. "...There's not a lot available."

The menu was full of food choices but almost all of them were crossed out leaving only vegetable stew and fries.

"Got a problem with it, take it up with the damn goblins." An elegant-looking woman with bags under her eyes, wearing a floral green blouse stained with old blood, honey-brown hair tied in a ponytail, and ruby-red eyes walked through a door behind the counter.

Liz yelped and felt embarrassed. "Ah! T-that makes sense, oh, I'm Liz, what's your name?"

"Oh honey, it's fine. My name is Sam Garmin, what brings you, oh... Rick." The woman pulled a familiar flask out from under the counter and threw it at Temarick.

Temarick caught it and put it in his jacket before he threw the empty one at Sam. "Cheers."

Sam caught it and put it under the counter. "Oh shut up you drunk, Oh sorry about that, what can I help you with?"

"I was following Temarick." Liz shifted her gaze to Temarick polishing his knives.

"Why were you- Isn't that Yuna's coat?" Sam looked her up and down then at Temarick with narrow eyes.

Temarick locked eyes with Sam before he sighed. "It was the only thing that would fit her."

Sam looked angry and looked at Liz "Honey could you check on my daughter?"

"Sure? But who is Yu-" Liz got cut off as she was ushered to the door behind the counter.

"She's upstairs, to the right, and don't steal, I'll know." Sam smiled at Liz before she slammed the door leaving Liz alone.

Liz took moment to look around the room which seemed to be a living room with a kitchen built-in to the wall, she noticed most of the furniture was in poor condition and that something was hanging on the wall that had a cloth draped over it.

Liz's Curiosity got the better of her and she lifted the cloth to see what was underneath, a photo of a smiling family that consisted of Sam with no bags under her eyes and a far happier expression, A handsome man with blonde hair and eyes that looked like pure silver ball's and a young girl in the man's arms who had Honey brown hair from Sam and those silver eyes from the man. There was small writing in the corner. [Sarah's 7th!!!]

Liz covered the portrait back up and turned around, and saw stairs leading up.

Liz was about to go up before she saw a thin book labeled. [Goblet's lament]

Liz opened the book and skimmed the contents. [They didn't have a chance to goodbye to each other. The monsters ransacked the full Goblet and slaughtered them before they knew what happened and before the one who could stop the monsters could stop it. Families torn apart, homes turned to nests, abandoned by the rest of the world, left to rot and fester.]

Liz noticed that the rest was torn out with [Pricks] scrawled into it then snapped it closed. 'Why is this place so dark?'

Liz walked up the stairs and saw two doors one on the left and one on the right.

Liz knocked on the door to her right door and waited. 'Wait how should I even introduce myself?'

Shuffling was heard behind the door before it creaked open, and a silver eye was seen looking through it at Liz's hip level. "Who are you?"

Liz lowered herself to be at eye level with the eye. "My name is Liz, and I'm a phoenix, your mom asked me to check on you. so what's your name."

She opened the door a bit more. "What's mom's name?"

"Her name is Sam Garmin right?" Liz saw the door close and the sound of locks being undone.

She pulled the door open and Liz immediately felt her stomach lurch as she saw the pretty little girl in the portrait was now missing an arm and that one of her eyes were gouged out. "I'm Sarah, Miss Phoenix."

Liz's mind spun as she tried to not show the horror on her face. "What a pretty name."

Sarah grabbed Liz's hand and pulled her in. "Come on, come on, it's been so long since played with someone other than mom!"

Liz followed the pulling as she looked around the room. It was full of worn furniture and toys.

Liz was pulled to what looked like a chessboard. "Chess?"

"You know what it is!? Great!" Sarah giddily sat down across from Liz and put the pieces on the board.

Liz's mind slowly settled as she played chess and talked with Sarah.

"Why are you here Miss Phoenix?"

"Um, wellll... Do you the boring explanation or the dramatic one?"

"Oh! the dramatic one!"

"God gave me the power to travel to other worlds to experience a different life!"

"And why did God give you the power?"

"I couldn't walk after a... Incident."

"You couldn't?"

"I get a new body for each world I travel to. so I can walk here."

"Miss Phoenix can get a power like you?"

"Well, that depends on you."

"Me?"

"Yes, God gives his favor to those who live by their morals."

"Really? what happens if you don't?"

"You lower the bar of what you shouldn't do."

"Why is that bad?"

"You start with borrowing then taking unimportant things than stealing then you start hurting people to steal."

"Wow, that sounds bad."

"Haha, yeah it does. Well, check mate."

"Aw you won, do you want to play again?"

Liz got up and stretched. "No, I think I'm going to go back for a while."

"Go back?" Sarah got up with a frown.

"Remember I can travel between worlds. I'm going back so my other body doesn't get any worse." Liz opened the 'link'.

"But what will happen to this one?" Sarah Gor closer to Liz.

Liz thought about it before pressing log out. "Why don't we find out?"

Liz's senses stopped working again.