Three days of traveling through alien wilderness had taught me several important lessons about survival in a fantasy world. First, my enhanced body could handle much more punishment than I'd expected, sleeping on the ground, walking for twelve hours straight, and living off questionable berries hadn't killed me yet.
Second, my weapons felt reassuringly solid against my back, a constant reminder that I wasn't completely helpless anymore. Third, this world was both more beautiful and more dangerous than any game had ever managed to capture.
The landscape around me was a patchwork of environments that defied Earth logic. Dense Ironbark Forest gave way to rolling Whispering Plains in transitions so abrupt they seemed designed by committee.
The trees were the most unsettling part, ancient giants with bark that gleamed like polished metal, their surfaces etched with natural patterns that looked suspiciously like runic script. When the wind moved through their branches, they rang like distant bells, creating harmonies that made my enhanced hearing tingle with awareness of magic just beyond comprehension.
The grasslands weren't much better. What I'd initially dismissed as normal prairie grass turned out to whisper, literally whisper, when the wind passed through. Not words I could understand, but susurrus of sound that felt like conversations in languages that predated human speech.
My Eyes of Arcum identified the phenomenon as "Resonant Flora: Minor Magical Enhancement," but that clinical description did nothing to make it less unsettling.
At least the fragmented memories from the Gravernyx ride are proving useful, I thought, pausing to check my bearings against a particularly distinctive crystalline outcropping. Even unconsciously, I was apparently paying attention to landmarks.
The crystal formations were another oddity, natural gemstone deposits that jutted from the earth like frozen lightning, each one humming with its own unique frequency. Some glowed softly in daylight, others seemed to absorb and store the sun's energy for later release. I'd been careful to avoid touching any of them, having learned through bitter experience that glowing magical objects were usually best left alone.
That's when I spotted the figure collapsed near one of the larger crystal streams.
At first, I thought it might be another traveler who'd run into the same hostile wildlife I'd been carefully avoiding. But as I crept closer, keeping to the cover of the Ironbark trees, my Eyes of Arcum provided information that made me stop dead in my tracks.
[ENTITY ANALYSIS INITIATED]
Target Identified: Nulka
Species: Orc (Lowlands Tribal Variant)
Level: 2 Warrior
Condition: Severely wounded, exhausted, malnourished
Threat Assessment: Moderate (Reduced due to condition)
Essence Compatibility Rating: 10%
Compatibility rating? I blinked at the unexpected notification. Why is the system analyzing essence compatibility with someone I haven't even talked to yet?
I dismissed the system window and focused on more immediate concerns. The orc, Nulka, apparently, was in bad shape. Even from a distance, I could see the dark stains of dried blood on her clothing, the way she was curled protectively around what looked like serious abdominal wounds. Her breathing was shallow and irregular, the kind of respiratory pattern that suggested someone running on fumes and stubbornness.
But it was her appearance that really caught my attention. Every piece of media I'd ever consumed had depicted orcs as hulking brutes with prominent tusks, crude features, and skin like moldy leather. The reality was... completely different.
Nulka was lean rather than bulky, her muscle definition speaking of speed and agility rather than brute strength. Her green skin had a subtle scale-like texture that caught the light in ways that reminded me more of expensive jewellery than the rough hide I'd expected.
Flowing black hair had escaped from what had probably been a practical braid, framing angular features that were undeniably elegant despite the obvious exhaustion.
Golden eyes, actual golden eyes, not the yellow I'd imagined, tracked my approach with obvious intelligence and growing wariness. And completely absent were the prominent tusks that every fantasy game had taught me to expect.
She's... actually beautiful, I realized with surprise. Not like Earth depictions at all.
I raised my hands in what I hoped was a universal gesture of peaceful intent and stepped into her line of sight. "Hey there," I called out, keeping my voice calm and non-threatening. "You look like you could use some help."
Her response was immediate and in a language that sounded like music played on instruments made of wind and stone. But somehow, impossibly, I understood every word.
"Stay back, pink-skin!" she snarled, struggling to push herself into a more defensive position despite her obvious injuries. "I won't be your slave!"
I stopped moving, blinking in confusion. "Wait, I can understand her?" I muttered, then looked up at the sky with growing irritation. "System, compared to your cosmic abilities, translation seems pretty basic. You couldn't have mentioned this feature earlier?"
[DEMIHUMAN LINGUISTIC PROTOCOLS ACTIVE]
[TRANSLATION: AUTOMATIC FOR ALL REGISTERED SAPIENT SPECIES]
[NOTE: FEATURE UNLOCKED UPON FIRST CONTACT WITH NON-HUMAN ENTITIES]
Of course it's automatic, I thought with resigned amusement. Because why would the cosmic torture device that passes for my operating system ever explain useful features before I stumble across them?
I turned my attention back to Nulka, who was watching my apparent conversation with thin air with growing suspicion and fear.
"Look," I said, keeping my hands visible and my tone as non-threatening as possible, "I'm not here to hurt you or make you anyone's slave. You're injured, probably haven't eaten in days, and unless I'm mistaken, you're a long way from friendly territory."
Her golden eyes narrowed. "How do you know our language, pink-skin? What trickery is this?"
"Magic," I said simply. "The useful kind, not the threatening kind. And my name's Ren, not 'pink-skin.'"
She studied me for a long moment, clearly weighing her options. I could practically see the calculation happening behind those intelligent eyes, she was wounded, alone, and facing a human who could apparently speak her language through magical means. Not a great position for someone who'd obviously learned to fear my species.