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Chapter 2 - Another Difficulty

Expecting to wake from a dream, I inspected my person and belongings before beginning my travels.

I am young. This really is a dream. I can't be older than 20! My lungs are pristine, and my joints don't ache. I can't find a single scar anywhere.

I've got a tunic, trousers, undergarments, sandals, and a knapsack. The clothes are made of linen, sandals of wood and leather, and the knapsack of a coarser fiber. Inside the knapsack are simple survival tools: a knife, a small axe, a length of twine, several kinds of coins, a small pouch of salt, and a large empty pouch.

It would be best if I could find a settlement. But first, I'll catch some fish in the river for food.

After catching several fish with an improvised spear, I roast them on an open fire, eat one, wash myself, and prepare to start hiking.

Blocking my path, a sheet of black smoke rises from the ground. I ready my spear. A slender figure steps out of the smoke: an extraordinarily beautiful woman clad in black leather.

"Finally! That goddess finally sent someone down without her protection blessing! Listen here, 'hero': you're going to serve me now!" She fires a beam of magic at me. Thwack!

"What!? No one has ever deflected my charm spell!" She fires another. It is deflected again, and more rudely.

I brace my spear. I don't know what this malevolent creature is, but it is better to die fighting it than to become its prisoner. I sprint toward it with my spear extended!

She arrogantly casts another spell at me. It's deflected. Her face contorts with shock. She might be a slow learner. She dives to the side, evading my charge. I reduce my sprint to a jog, and follow the river downstream.

"You insolent wretch! I will find you!" She shouts from the distance.

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