Chapter 2: Fused & Fighting

Felicia and the strange girl both were sitting in complete silence for what felt like a good few minutes. She was letting it all sink in.

The weird mental world with ponds, the black haired girl with branches growing from her head dressed in brown ragged clothing.

Felicia took a deep breath before speaking. “A fantasy world of magic and junk? You, and a bunch of other minor deities, are all a part of a game where you have to survive to a certain point?”

The strange girl nodded. “That's probably the best way to summarize it”

Felicia let out a deep sigh. “Okay, I have accepted that. It's very weird, whatever the explanation. But what does that have to do with what's going on between you and me here?”

“Each of the minor deities gets a representative to play the role in the survival game. Based on some rumors that I heard, all the representatives come from your world.”

Felicia shot to her feet when she suddenly realized her new discovery.

“It was the damn truck wasn't it?! That's how people get sent here! Wait? Why did you try to stop it from getting to me?”

She hesitated for a moment. “You were the only one I was able to find that was compatible with me.”

The strange woman went on to explain that every minor deity is able to grant a different form of body for their representative once they have traveled to the fantasy world. In Felicia’s case however, she was paired up with a minor deity that was considered very lowly and did not have much to offer.

“Wait, then why am I still here? I can't even move! What body did you give me?!”

The strange woman slowly stood up and gave Felicia a guilty yet sympathetic look. “I am Eunice Edelweiss, and I gave you my own body. You and I are now one.”

Both of them gazed out into the distance. They both looked through the view of their shared body’s two colored eyes. One gold and one red.

Their reflection in the water of a girl with red and black hair dressed in brown rags. With a face that looked similar to both of theirs.

***

Outside, in the fantasy world the shared body of the two girls being driven by Eunice, is making its way through the forest area. Ever since Eunice had revealed her actions in giving a new body to Felicia she had been letting loose a string load of swear words for quite some time.

Nonetheless, the two girls still needed to do what they had to in order to survive. After examining the stat menu a bit they learned a few things. they had the general stats of level 1, HP, MP, defenses and attack power. But no skills.

Eunice had claimed that since she was a lowly minor deity even among her own kind that she had no skills to offer. After spending only about an hour with her, Felicia could tell the girl had very low self esteem.

It was a shock to both of them however, when they saw in their skill section there was a passive skill that improved the potential of others.

It didn't seem like it would be too helpful in making themselves stronger but regardless it was still better than nothing they thought.

After traveling a bit they heard noises in the distance. the sound of a human being shouting followed by snarling from what could only be assumed to be wolves.

“We should definitely avoid going in that direction.” whispered Eunice through the shared body’s lips.

Felicia stood up in the mental world with a determined look on her face. “<No! Someone could be in danger, they might need our help!>”

Eunice tried to argue against her decision but Felicia stubbornly remained adamant for the conversation.

“<If you don't want to, that's fine but remember you dragged me into this! At least let me make some of the decisions here!>”

Eunice relinquished control over to Felicia out of guilt. Felicia was so stunned by the sudden shift in control that she almost fell over immediately.

It felt like riding in a car with someone only to suddenly have them push the steering wheel in front of you.

She only had a brief moment to process what had just happened before another scream brought her back to the task at hand.

She charged on ahead through the forest and came across a clearing. She stopped when she noticed a boy surrounded by wolves.

The boy didn't look much older than her. He had messy white hair, tired yellow eyes and was also dressed in rags just like she was. Maybe another isekai kid?

He was holding a makeshift axe in his hand made from a stick and piece of stone ready to fight. He looked like he was out of breath and ready to pass out any second.

Felicia ripped two branches off of a nearby tree and charged into action. She leapt into the air and exclaimed “Surprise Attack!”

As soon as one of the branches in her hand smashed down on the wolf's head the world around them suddenly shifted and became enveloped in a fog. The fog cleared away just as fast as it had appeared. Felicia found herself standing on one side of the group of wolves and the boy standing on the other.

“Is this magic or something?!” said Felicia as she looked around wildly.

Boy gave her a somewhat amused yet tired look. “Heh, first time?”.

Felicia nodded and noticed that the Wolves were just standing there menacingly.

“Don't worry, they won't attack you. At least not right away. It's your turn right now since you got the surprise attack.”

The boy gave her a short but quick explanation about the combat of this new world. Apparently the battles here are turn-based. It made Felicia feel like she would be a Sitting Duck just waiting to get smacked every so often during a fight.

The boy tried to hurry his explanation and Felicia noticed a timer in her line of sight that was almost completely out. The boy urged her to hurry up and make an attack or do something before the timer ran out.

That was something important she wished she knew earlier. Even though it's turn based combat, if you take too long then the system will keep things moving. At least there’s no worry about an eternal stalemate.

She shrugged and dashed over to the same wolf that she smashed earlier. This time she cracked down on its face with both branches at the same time. She dealt two separate totals of damage; 7 points for each hit. The wolf collapsed and hit the floor.

She noticed an experience meter appear above her head for a brief moment. It filled up slightly then vanished. She also noticed a notification saying that she had slain a basic Forest Wolf.

“This is definitely a video game.”

One of the wolves started arching their back getting ready to pounce. She tried to run, but found her feet were unable to move.

“You can only dodge during the small dodge window. Otherwise, grit your teeth!” The boy yelled out to her.

Felicia looked back in time just as the wolf bit down on her arm. Pain shot through her body and blood spilled down her sleeve. She gave the beast an uneasy look as the danger of the situation truly sank in.