Survival in Penalty Zone

[A/N: Moved from 6.2 to 7.1 because I'm a blind idiot. Thank you @pickle313 for pointing out the inaccuracy.]

Shaken, embarrassed, and naked, but alive. That was how she felt, seeing the man eye her momentarily. However, his gaze emanated far more concern than anything else. Aria looked around, her waist-long hair swaying and spraying the weird liquid with the motion. Her skin, covered in the slime, glistened as she shivered.

“D-Don’t look at me!" she raised her voice ever so slightly. "T-This is embarrassing…”

Travis averted his gaze slowly. “Are you alright?”

“…n-no…” she answered with a shaky voice. “I-I’m gods-know-where, with a Classless, m-my mana is gone, I’m naked… H-How am I s-supposed to be alright?!” her tone turned angry, but her face betrayed that she was about to cry.

[3:45:31]

Travis stole a glance at the timer. They’d been here for barely 45 minutes… this wasn’t good. He needed to get Aria into a better mental state. Otherwise, their survival chances were not looking well.

“...how about you go and wash up?” he asked, his back still turned on her.

“A-Are you insane?! Have you seen that thing that went out of the water last time?!”

“I explored a little, and there’s a small place that’s safe,” he replied. ‘Found it thanks to those weird boar things chasing me away and forcing me to go up alongside the river…’ “Come on, who knows what that liquid might be doing to you,” ‘To be honest, she stinks…’ he shook his thought. They were in the middle of nowhere, and smells were a luxury they could not afford to care about. It wasn't like either of them would care about him being covered in sweat all over.

Aria looked at him, or rather, at his back. She wasn't exactly sure what to think. On one hand, she wanted to curl up, telling herself that all of this was just a horrid nightmare. On the other, however... “…y-yes, you’re right. P-Please, l-lead me there.”

“Let's go,” he nodded and lifted the axe she’d dropped.

After the two of them reached the river, Travis noticed how Aria was shaking, either with fear or cold. Probably both. The temperature was high, but her body felt cold back in the cavern. He could imagine that it wasn’t much different now.

Soon, Travis started walking alongside the river’s edge.

“Whatever that thing is, it didn’t show up again after you hit it,” he explained, feeling Aria’s hand on his shoulder. “It must’ve gotten scared or ventured somewhere to recover. For now, it’s safe.”

She looked all around, her green eyes glistening. “…how did you get that axe? Did you make it?”

“I got lucky enough to kill one of those boar things," Travis replied. "Surprisingly, it's a decent tool."

“I-I see…” she nodded. “Y-You’ve been in trouble, haven’t you?”

“…let’s not ponder on that,” Travis shook his head as the two of them reached the place. “We’re both in this together. What’s important is that we’re both alive.”

“Yes, I understand…” she stood next to him, looking to her right.

The clearing was about 20 meters across and in a somewhat circular shape. The cliff around it had no more than 2.5 meters, and the rocky beach around the pond had at most a quarter of that. The water was constantly circulating in and out of the pond slowly, the connection to the river both shallow and thin. The depth of the pond could be easily estimated at about a meter.

“There,” Travis nodded, still trying to not look at Aria’s body. “I’ll stand on guard.”

“W-Wait!” Aria’s voice was full of concern. “What if there are leeches in the water?!”

“…leeches? Water’s safe,” he shook his head a little. “I’ve checked it before,” he took a few steps toward the river.

“T-Travis!” Aria felt her body shake a little.

“What?” he fought the urge to turn around.

“D-Don’t go far... please,” her voice got quieter.

“…I’ll be just behind the corner,” he replied, taking his steps away. ‘She’s shaken like hell… I feel sorry for her.’ he closed his eyes as he sat down. ‘RALS, open Quests, Active Quests, Daily Quest.’

Aria stood on the edge of the pond. The rocks beneath her feet felt cold, but so did her entire body. Slowly, she dipped a toe in the water, and with surprise found it to be somewhat warm.

She took a look at her body. From the moment she was freed by Travis, she was covered in the slimy goo that the plant emanated. It did not burn her skin or irritate her eyes, but she almost instinctively knew that it was some form of digestive acid. Given her current state, it probably was extremely weak and would've taken days to consume her. Aria shivered at the thought. Now the liquid was partly dried up, and she noticed how her hair was glued together.

Making a round around the pond, she peeled her eyes out, trying to find anything out of place in the water. After about half a minute, she decided that it was free of anything that could want to catch her.

One foot, two feet, and then her calves. Aria felt goosebumps all over her body. Then, she lowered herself a little and wetted her hips. A shiver ran through her body as she felt her stomach get covered by the liquid. Her hair started flowing in the water.

“...Travis?” she asked loudly. “Are you there?”

“I am,” came a nigh-instant answer.

She looked at her hands. “…a-are you sure?”

“…do you want me to show myself?” she heard his voice, his tone bearing but a tinge of annoyance.

“N-No…” she closed her eyes, finally sitting down on the ground.

Aria closed her eyes. She needed to calm herself down, even if only a little. What had happened was a horrid experience for her, but getting on his bad side wasn’t something she wanted. He was her savior, the last thing she'd want is for him to feel annoyed by her presence.

She reminded herself of what she’s been through. Combing through her now wet hair and trying to wash off all the enzymes, she remembered how the plant was trying to push her into a flower aggressively. She scratched the vines that tried to strangle her, and so long she had a sliver of mana, she didn’t hesitate to use it for fire attacks. However, the thing overpowered her after just a few seconds. It flailed and stunned her for a short while, and while Aria was unable to fight back, it wrapped around her arms and legs. She still could feel the creepy vines making their way up her stomach, squeezing her tighter and tighter as seconds passed by.

Soon, it seemed to get bored by the ‘foreplay’, and it **** her into a fresh flower. Seemingly understanding the nature of the clothes she wore, it wrapped itself around her robe and ripped it off of her, same with her underwear and accessories, all the while Aria could do nothing but alternate between sobs and rage, constantly fighting as she could. After what seemed like just a few short minutes, some spores were released into the air, and Aria felt her eyelids getting heavy.

A yawn escaped her mouth. Wasn’t she supposed to be getting some sleep by now? Candidly, she has had so little sleep lately. Perhaps... a little nap would be alright...

...

…WAIT!

Aria’s eyes shot open as she splashed water all around herself. Her heartbeat hastened. She turned around, her green eyes scanning the surroundings. After a few seconds, she let out a small sigh. No, she wasn’t eaten by that plant monster, not anymore. He came to save her. That man, Travis… he risked his life… Aria couldn’t help but feel a bit of awe toward him.

‘He's a Classless, and yet, he came to save me.’ she closed her eyes, slowly rising from her position. '...to think that me, a Brinn, has allowed for such a situation... gah, Foll would laugh if he saw me like this.' she grimaced slightly.

...

'Get a hold of yourself, Aria!' she berated herself mentally, clenching her fists. 'Who cares if you're the weakest Brinn, who cares if you work far away from Tullia! A Brinn is a Brinn! You're not as strong as Gerial or Foll, but you're still their sister!' she groaned at herself. Getting a hand to her head's level, she channeled some mana, summoning a small ball of fire. A tiny smirk appeared on her face. 'Good. My mana is getting back to me.' she brought her fingers slightly closer, and the fire decreased in size. However, the power emanating from it remained the same.

She frowned.

'Seems like complex manipulation is out of the question for now. I'll need some time to regenerate fully, but at least I won't be a dead weight. Still, it would've been much better if I had my bracelets... Foll would give me an earful if he knew.' she sighed, looking at her thin wrists. '...if.'

She felt a sense of dread stir at the base of her skull. It was difficult to think of any positives about the situation. In the first place, how did the two of them get here in the first place? Were they sent there by a god? Or was it a demonic trap?

'Pointless to wonder too much.' eventually deciding to stop her musings, Aria wrapped her hair together as tightly as she could and squeezed all the water she could. 'I'm not a Holy Mage or anything of the sort.'

“*Achoo!*” she just barely managed to cover her nose with both her hands. “Damnation…” she sniffled a little and spat forward, quickly making her way out of the pond. Indeed, waist-long hair was going to be a hindrance, as it clung to her body, sucking out the temperature from her skin. She would need to do something about that at some point.

She took a look at herself. Her modest breasts were all covered in goosebumps, and her nipples were standing out proudly. Her stomach was very thin, so much so that she looked a little anorectic at first sight. Her large bottom was the only thing that prevented people from mistaking her for a man, the prominent hipline giving her an alluring pear-type shape. Well, it wasn't like she cared that much. Every person had something going for them. Aria, for one, was very confident in her ability to learn.

...

She sighed. Such an ability was amazing in many scenarios, but here, pure instinct was far better. Had she had a shred of it, perhaps the other situation wouldn't have happened...

No, shake off any unnecessary thoughts. Survival came--

*Achoo!*

--first. Pondering could be done later.

-Meanwhile-

Travis pushed himself off the ground again. There was sweat all over his red face. He was used to rigorous training, but the one done under Storm Rogue was concentrated on emphasizing his speed, not strength. And now…

[Daily quest: To become strong.

Do any 3 of the following:

66 push-ups (66/66)

50 pull-ups (0/50)

4500-meter run (0/4500)

250 lunges (0/250)

Optional: ‘Plank’ exercise for 700 seconds total (41/700)

Time remaining: 23:01:42

Reward: 4 stat points, 1 ‘Complete Stealth’. For completing all 4 conditions, gain 2 stat points.

Optional reward: 1 stat point.

Failure penalty: You will be transported to ‘Penalty Zone’, and ‘Penalty Quest’ will begin. Penalty Severity: very high]

…he was **** to do mostly strength training. Thanks to his increased Endurance, he was able to do all the push-ups in a few sessions and even scored some seconds of the optional exercise, but he would need some rest before he attempted anything more. In the first place, he shouldn't be using too much stamina at this time. The only reason he did so was to not let his body settle down too much.

But he learned something worthwhile while Aria was washing. RALS kept very accurate track of how he did his push-ups and only counted those that were done with proper technique. If he only pushed up from the halfway point, it didn’t count. If he bent his knees, even a little – no counter increase.

Having finally finished his exercise, Travis returned to a sitting position. For now, he and Aria needed a plan. Make it two, even. The plan for both of them was survival. He wasn’t sure when something would come around and try to hunt them, but he was sure it wouldn’t be too long. As much as he didn't want to, he'd have to urge her to finish bathing soon. She didn’t seem too… stable. He needed to be careful with her.

But then again, he also needed to think about himself. As soon as they got out, he would probably be apprehended again. Until that time, he needed to figure some way out.

‘What to do… How should I go about this?’ he pondered. He already knew that there was one way for him to go about it: using <Suggestion> on Aria, as many times as his MP regeneration would allow. This was, truthfully, the only strategy for him as he had no Skill Points to learn new skills, but… how effective would just <Suggestion> be, even if used many times? They were just that. Aria wouldn’t change her mind easily with just a simple spell. Once they got back, he would likely be back at square one.

‘Maybe I can… persuade her…’ he was aware of her situation. She didn’t know that this was a survival quest. Maybe he could use it? ‘...that doesn't feel right.’ he felt a little stirring sensation in his stomach. He had stolen before or manipulated other people through a careful selection of things to say, but… this was a life-or-**** situation. 'Dammit. Be it as it is, and I'll probably have to do this. Either this or ****... can’t I catch a break?’ he sighed.

“T-Travis?” he heard Aria’s voice. “A-Are you there?”

“Yes. Are you alright?” he asked, turning his head. Immediately, he noticed how the woman was sticking her head from behind the corner, surveying the terrain around.

“Yes, I’m-- *Achoo!* --fine,” she sniffed a little.

“Wait, here,” he took off his shirt and handed it to Aria.

Seeing his gesture and how he was turning his head away a little, Aria accepted the piece of clothing. She instantly felt that it wasn’t entirely dry, but… she shook the thought out of her head. She couldn’t be picky. Without much thought, she put the shirt on, letting her hair under it. It felt... a little large.

“Thank you,” she nodded to him.

“Don't mention it. Health is important."

“Y-Yes, you’re right… *Achoo!*”

“Come on,” he rallied her just behind him. “We need to find you something to wear for now.

Then, the two of them started going back the way they came. Aria peeled her eyes out all the time, looking everywhere around them in search of anything that might jump at them, while Travis seemed to be deeply lost in thought as they soon reached a part of the riverside where they could go into the forest without needing to climb.

Eventually, the woman’s attention concentrated on the man’s back. She noticed how there was a large scar on his left arm, about 15 cm long and almost entire 3 wide at the biggest point, going from the back of his collarbone and stretching over his shoulder blade. She felt a slight shiver travel down her spine. This man must’ve suffered in his life. ‘If there’s a scar, he either couldn’t afford a healer… or healing magic couldn’t help him…’ she turned her gaze away, not wanting to ponder on that. Inside, she could only feel sorry for him.

Meanwhile, Travis was thinking of how the situation as a whole. ‘A little over three and a half hours remain… Something will come after us in a few minutes, I'm certain…’ he stared blankly in the distance as the two of them made their way between thick trees. ‘Until that happens, something to cover Aria would be useful, and some footwear for her as well. Hmm… This is doable.’ he thought back to one of his jobs, as a cobbler. He was working in a shoemaker’s shop, but as he was there for only 3 months, most people ever called him was ‘cobbler’. It wasn’t like he cared. He took the job whilst trying to find out what class would be most suitable for him. His hand-eye coordination was good, so he thought that he would give it a shot. And while he left the work cursing at it, right now he felt thankful for the experience he had gained.

‘If it’s only a pair of single-use soles… I don’t need a skill for that.’ a smirk donned his face. Looking around, he already had everything he needed.

“Aria,” he said as they finally stopped, not turning toward her. “Can I ask you to do something?”

“D-Did something happen?” he heard a glint of a quiver in her voice.

“It’s nothing serious,” he cleared the misunderstanding with a warm tone. “But if you could get us a few of those large leaves,” he pointed to the left, where there were multiple large plants reminiscent of ferns. Their leaves were nearly 30 cm large each, and a third of that wide.

“…y-yes… And what will you do?”

“I’ll cut a few vines,” he got hold of the nearest rope-like plant and cut at it as high as he could. In no more than 10 seconds, he was holding a piece that was roughly 2 meters long.

“I… alright,” Aria took a deep breath and started walking toward the fern-like plants.

After getting what he wanted, Travis soon sat down and got hold of the leaves she brought him.

“Alright, alright,” he nodded lightly. “Those will do.”

“What do plan on doing?” she tilted her head in surprise.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see in a minute,” he formed a smirk, just barely stopping himself from looking up at her.

-5 minutes later-

“There you go,” he said, sliding the crude footwear to Aria.

“F-For me?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “You can’t be going around barefooted, now can you?”

“T-Thank you-- *Achoo!*” she sneezed.

What Travis made was a pair of very crude sandals. They were more slippers if anything. Using a few leaves one on top of another as sole, and then making holes in them and connecting them with vines, they had an arc that would go above her foot to allow for them to stay in place and pieces of vines that would secure the sandals to Aria’s feet by knotting them above her hills.

Travis was somewhat surprised when he first got those leaves in his hands. They were large, but contrary to what he was expecting, they were also elastic and rather resistant to any **** he applied to them. They were of no protection against pointy things, but after stacking a few of them, they formed a mildly soft surface. They weren’t amazing, but they would probably be enough for Aria for the next few hours.

“They’re not great, but they’ll do for now,” he said. “Care to try them on?”

“I… y-yes…” Aria didn’t hesitate, instantly sliding a foot into one of the sandals. “Oooh… they’re soft!” She delighted herself in the feeling for a long moment. “H-How did you-- *Achoo!* --do this?”

“I was a cobbler for some time. Picked up a few things.”

“…I… t-thank you… Travis,” she bowed her head to him (Not that he saw it, as he was turned almost completely from her to let have a bit of privacy). “I… you’ve done nothing but help me since we got here… I…” she quieted down, not sure how to finish the sentence.

“Hey, what matters is that we’re both alive.”

“Y-Yes… *Achoo!*”

[1:37:20]

Travis and Aria had finally stopped running. They have been escaping a group of boar monkeys for the last 5 minutes or so, just barely managing to lose them now.

“They’re becoming truly relentless,” noted Aria, fixing a little the short, plant skirt she had on her now. Another thing Travis made, also created from the fern-like leaves and knitted together using vines, was a surprisingly strong construct, allowing him to look at Aria without any awkwardness or embarrassment on either side.

“So was I thinking. But I think we lost them,” he replied, expelling hot air from his lungs. ‘At this rate, we might not make it until the time limit.’ He took note of how the creatures all around were starting to attack more and more frequently. At first, they only did so every 15 to 20 minutes and left them alone the rest of the time unless provoked. But after they breached the 2-hour mark, the attacks became almost twice as common. As it went for the boar monkeys, they also started scouting much closer to their position. “For now, at least.”

There was another thing, too: they didn’t manage to kill a single beast around. Not a boar-monkey, not a plant monster, not a reptile, not a single avian that tried to plummet at them.

‘This is not good.’ he thought. ‘If this keeps up, we won’t have enough time to regain stamina.’

“Do you think we should move?” asked Aria.

“…probably,” he nodded.

The two of them haven’t exchanged much talk during their time in this place so far. For the last hour, Aria did not initiate a talk, constantly surveying the surroundings with diligence. Though she tried not to show it, she was quite shaken, as evident by her quivering at the sight of anything out of place.

Travis was keeping his cool, but he understood where she was coming from. A completely unknown, hostile environment and lack of communication with home was not something that could be treated lightly. Had he not known the situation, his state would have been no different. But now, she was starting to get accustomed to this, if only a little bit at a time. She appeared calmer now. Curiosity began being mixed with the wary looks she was giving everything around. Noticing his staring, she asked, "What is it?" her shoulders visibly tensed up as she prepared herself to run if he only gave the command.

"Nothing," he shook his head lightly. "I'm just... wondering a little."

"About...?" she squinted her eyes a little, but her posture relaxed.

"I may not know much about working as an officer of law, but I don't think that going around in the middle of the night for a rehearsal is something you'd do. You do seem tired. So I'm thinking, why?" he raised an eyebrow, gauging her reaction.

"Oh, that... *Sigh* There is a story and a half behind that. It's kind of boring, I don't know if you want to listen to that," she shrugged lightly, scanning the nearby trees. This had become a routine by now, and her eyes quickly went in a spiral, checking the sides of the tall plants and the sky before returning to him.

"I feel like that'd be more entertaining than walking around in silence. Don't tell if you don't want to, though."

"It's alright," Aria nodded gingerly. "Long story short, I have had a very long evening today. I've been stuck with paperwork for hours."

"Don't you people work in shifts?"

"Normally, yes, but today, something happened. Everyone of Inspector rank and higher was called to the capital. I think it was around... 18 or so?" she raised an eyebrow but the question was clearly rhetorical.

"Why?"

"I'm... not sure myself," she shrugged weakly. "From what my Captain told me, they have received a call from Forna's supreme priest. Nobody knew what it was about, but they had to heed it immediately."

"I see. That's why you were up so late?"

"Pretty much," Aria nodded. "I thought I was going to pull an all-nighter just to surface. I was already working my bum off and all of a sudden, my workload increased almost tenfold."

Travis remained silent for a long moment. 'Something feels off... supreme priest calling everyone to himself out of the blue? The timing seems... a little too much to be a coincidence.' he sighed. Still, he decided to not ponder upon it at the moment. There were more pressing matters right now.

"Didn't you say something about being an Inspector yourself? Why didn't you go?"

"Well... I would have gone... if I were an actual Inspector," Aria's lips stiffened ever so slightly, forming an expression reminiscent of a pout.

"...I think I need an explanation?" half-asked, half-stated Travis, his yellow eyes glimmering. The duo stood atop a cliff, looking at the river down below.

"It's a little complicated, but in essence, I have the authority of an Inspector, but I'm still a Sergeant."

"Isn't it akin to having two ranks at once? Shouldn't that be impossible?"

"...that is true, and... there is a process of ascension in ranks, but... well, my situation boils down to personal greed," Aria glanced away, not wanting to look Travis in the eyes. "I asked for an aptitude test hardly a year after working in Silvana. Normally, you'd have to be level 50 or so and unlock intermediate spells for you to qualify."

“If I may, what's your level, Aria?”

“Before we were sent here, I reached level 22.”

‘That's barely half of what I expected...' he thought before nodding, prompting the woman to continue.

"I didn't clear the requirements, but I did have more basic spells than a typical Mage, so my higher-ups made an exception. They didn’t grant me a rank, but I did have an authority more or less equal to an Inspector, and my coworkers did treat me like one."

“You don’t have to treat it like past already. I’m sure we will find a way back.”

“...grasping at straws never gets old, does it?” she chuckled weakly. The weariness of her expression failed to escape his gaze.

"A little optimism goes a long way," sounded his reply. "Can't look at the sky up above if you keep your head down, can you?"

"...I suppose not."

They did not speak for a couple minutes. Travis took his time to observe the surroundings diligently. Immediately, what came to his attention was that the air appeared to be getting slightly colder. It was still boiling hot but right now, breathing became somewhat easier. The trees all around were still the same as everywhere else, and the plants appeared hardly less dense. The sunlight piercing between the overgrowth went at an angle, signaling that night was going to come soon.

[1:33:57]

Stealing a glance at the timer, Travis realized that they had a couple minutes before the next attack was sure to come. Summoning his status, he confirmed that his mana was recharged. 'Let's do it.' he decided, scanning the white-haired woman's posture.

"Well, but there was a question I had, now," Travis broke the silence. "You said that you were stuck with paperwork. Why did you come to my rehearsal, then?"

"Well," she started. "on one hand, I wanted to have everything done today. Putting your case off meant I'd have to tend to it first thing in the morning... come to think of it," her face suddenly expressed a ponder. "I think it was around midnight when we disappeared... do you reckon this means anything?"

"...I don't know," 'Damn, guessing wildly as she may be, she seems to be pretty sharp.' he thought, feeling a faint shiver running down his spine. "What about the other hand?"

"...a bit of compassion, I suppose?" she formed a tiny smirk. For but a moment, the gaze of her emerald eyes appeared focused on something distant. "When I learned that it was about having a counterfeit MID, you reminded me of my brother. I figured it would be better for both of us this way: a quick trial and we both can sleep in our beds. Well... that was the plan, at least," Aria made a sound akin to a sigh whilst closing her eyes momentarily. Travis instantly noticed that her gaze appeared... slightly uncertain about something.

'This seems to be my cue. A better situation will likely not appear.' a faint sense of discomfort welled up in the back of his mind. A tiny, almost detached, voice that told him that it wasn't right to do this to a person in Aria's state. However, he shook the sensation; failing here, even if they survived the penalty quest, bode his **** right after. '<Suggestion>.'

<If we weather through, we will have to resume the trial. Maybe I can ask him some questions right now.>

Sensing Aria's mind, he could feel it being slightly different than before. More... lively, per se. Yet, it did not resist the spell in the slightest, the mental command slithering within in a split second.

"...say," Aria started, her voice quieter than before. "There is one thing about your case that doesn't make sense to me."

"What about it?"

"The whole 'glitching'. I would understand it if you had a counterfeit document, but the Orb confirmed your words when you said it was valid. An official MID can't just... break. I mean, granted, I don't exactly know what the glitch looked like, but it makes me wonder... did you temper with it?"

Travis inhaled, but no word left his mouth for a short second. Aria hastily continued, "W-Well, don't answer if you don't want to. It's not like it matters, anyway," she glanced to the ground. "I'm just... a little curious, is all."

"I didn't do anything to my MID, Aria," he replied slowly, making sure to weigh each word. "I was telling you the truth all the way. I don't know why the Orb decided I lied," using this opportunity, he used a second <Suggestion>.

<There’s nothing he can gain from lying to me now. He must be telling the truth.>

Again, he felt how easily his spell made its way into Aria’s mind. It was like only a paper wall separated him from her mind, and he was charging in with a sword. Truly, this white-haired woman had nearly no mental resistance. Could tiredness be the only reason for that? Travis wasn't sure. Perhaps Aria did not have much WP to boot. Seeing how easy she was to persuade even without the spell, it was possible.

“I-I see…” she lowered her head a bit. “I… I feel ashamed for having suspected you,” 'Perhaps... he got so nervous that the Orb misinterpreted it...'

“Don’t be,” he shook his head. “You were just doing your job. Besides, it's in the past already. What's important is what's ahead."

“…you sound like a Sage.”

“I had many teachers,” he smirked a little. “Too bad I never really found a class to suit me.”

“…”

“What about you?”

Aria looked at him for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Did it take long for you to realize Mage was the class for you?"

“…not at all,” she shook her head. “Elemental magic runs deeply in my family. Both my brothers also are Mages."

'A lineage thing, huh,' Travis formed the faintest of smirks, looking at his hand. 'Wonder what 'you' would tell me, had you known what I'd become.' he raised his eyes. For the faintest moment, he saw a gleam of golden in the distance, accompanied by a brown shape that bore an appearance similar to a braid. Blinking quickly, he confirmed that it was just his imagination. '...Couldn't become a Mage like you, and instead, I'm... this class.' he thought. A sting of longing lingered in his heart.

...

...

...

[0:00:20]

His stamina was at its lowest, Aria in his arms as he carried her. She was leaning on his shoulder, shooting magic at any monster that approached too close.

For the past 10 minutes, they’ve been running from monsters nearly without a second of peace. It was just as Aria observed; the beasts became far more ferocious as time went on. Large birds were making sharp turns above their heads, preparing to speed at them. Boar monkeys were swinging on vines, alternating between throwing their weapons at them and using the avians as free rides to get closer. The moment they stepped closer to the river, several reptiles lunged at them, attempting to trap them in their long jaws.

'This place is insane!’ a thought went through Travis’ head as he **** his muscles to squeeze out a little more effort. He looked at the timer.

[0:00:13]

No time to ponder. He kept on running, lurking between trees. A bird flew right past them both, missing them with its claws by a hair's width. Then, it started turning around, trying again.

It reminded Travis of an eagle, but it was sleeker than most birds he knew of, and its neck was slightly longer. Its feathers were of a brown and green mix of colors, making it possible for the bird to camouflage on the sides of trees whenever it wanted to, every single one nearly 15 cm long. Its beak was quite large and strong as well, a matte dark orange color and almost 10 cm long, its shape as if it was created for piercing its victims. Its talons were each larger than Travis’ hand, outfitted with 4 sharp nails.

He and Aria just barely avoided the attack. The woman attacked the bird with a fireball, but the beast only appeared mildly annoyed by its feathers burning. In fact, it quickly flew up, and in a second or so it was already fine.

Travis came to a stop. Both he and the white-haired woman saw boar monkeys circling them, at least a few dozen in number. They had nowhere to run.

[0:00:02]

“…n-no…!” he heard Aria’s voice. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, clinging to him with what remained of her strength. Tears ran down her cheeks. She closed her eyes.

[0:00:01]

Travis hugged her just before the monsters lunged at them.

[0:00:00]

The air became abruptly filled with a chilly sensation. Everything stopped moving bar Travis and Aria, as evidenced by his surprised inhale and her body still shaking in his arms. The weird state of the world seemed to last for hours, even though it only did so for two or so seconds.

*Ting!*

[You have finished ‘Penalty Quest: Survive’.]

[You are now being transported out of the Penalty Zone.]

The letters flashed in front of Travis's nose. Immediately after that, darkness opened up beneath, swallowing them. He let out a sigh.

‘We did it.’