Four weeks later…

  Sarah

  Amber and Michelle were sitting together inside a nearby dome of ice of the latter’s making, meant to prevent the loud noises bring produced within it from escaping. Unfortunately, Michelle was absolutely horrible at playing the flute, causing high-pitched squeals to ring out, and also causing Sarah to be unable to focus.

  Michelle had begun learning to play the instrument just as something different to do while they were resting, but her ability to play it was abysmal. Amber was beside her, doing her best to teach the disaster sitting next to her, but the ice elf had proven impervious to musical learning.

  They had originally called it her bubble bowl because of its shape, but there was nothing sweet or victorious about what was going on within. The name had quickly been changed to the scream dome.

  I envy her, despite how poorly it’s going. I haven’t been able to get anything started.

  Michelle had gained a new creative outlet that could easily be shared, while Sarah was stuck trying to figure out how to write a story she would not only enjoy writing, but that people from this world would enjoy.

  I know it’s not that simple. Just as the music tastes on Torneltha and Earth are drastically different, so too is the same for the stories people enjoy reading.

  The group had been taking breaks in the towns and cities they stopped in before setting off to the next one, and it was in an inn a few weeks ago that some musicians were playing. The instruments weren’t exactly like any of the ones Sarah was aware of from Earth, not even historical ones, but the sounds they produced were still recognizable as music.

  Michelle was then struck with the desire to break out of her routine, so she borrowed a flute to study its design, even passing water through it to better understand its structure. She then began experimenting to make a flute out of ice so she wouldn’t have to bother with actually taking care of an instrument, not even having to store it somewhere when not in use.

  Amber had played the flute in high school, which is another reason Michelle had chosen it. Though Amber wasn’t exactly an expert on the instrument herself, her knowledge was at least enough to give Michelle a start.

  Ugh, I’m paying way too much attention to her right now. I’ve got the biggest writer’s block of my life, and I choose to blame the entire world for it. How is it that I am literally in a fantasy world with magic and monsters, but am so utterly lacking inspiration?

  Sarah had already read numerous books from this world, and there were a few things she had noticed. With monsters and aristocracy so prevalent, those topics were the subject of many books. A lot of common stories also revolved around great heroes and epic journeys.

  I have yet to see anything that's not about some powerful figure. Real or fictitious, it doesn’t matter, everything’s about larger-than-life people.

  But regular people are what I like to write about, and I haven’t had enough time yet to actually stay in one place and properly learn what life is like for regular people here. And will I even enjoy writing about that kind of life? I have no idea.

  A muffled screech rang out from the scream dome. Despite how harsh the noise was, Sarah still snickered from amusement. Diamond, who happened to be running by, stopped to give Sarah a cute little head tilt.

  Luna can easily remake Diamond, and almost losing her made Luna develop her Gift further, it seems. It would’ve just run past before, but now she can make it react to specific things. It’s cute.

  Ugh, that reminds me, I haven’t been able to do much with my Gift yet.

  Though Sarah’s Gift had proven invaluable in battle, outside of it, there didn’t seem to be much use.

  Amber’s Gift helped with repairing their gear, and it should also be able to help when creating things, though she hadn’t had a lot of opportunities for that yet. She was working on it, however.

  Michelle’s Gift allowed them to travel at a rapid speed, and as she grew her mana pool and refined her control, that speed only increased.

  Luna’s Gift was the only one of the four’s that had a lot of combat utility. Outside of combat, it basically filled in for having a friend to play with, which was also invaluable. Everyone else also enjoyed having what was basically a pet. Diamond brought comfort to all four of them.

  Sarah groaned, flopped onto her back, and began muttering to herself.

  “Can’t do anything right now. Can’t write because I don’t know the people of this world well enough. Can’t even attempt to learn alchemy or enchanting because we don’t actually live anywhere yet, as only reading books can’t fill in for practical experience. And I can’t even use my Gift for much beyond just fighting monsters.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  It’s times like these that I would chat with my cousin for inspiration. Hope you’re doing okay without me, Jess.

  Well, we’re about halfway to Nibuolos right now, so it’s just a while longer until I can start actually doing things.

  She was frustrated. So frustrated that she almost even wanted to join Michelle in torturing an animal in the scream dome.

  I wonder how much dirt Amber has stuffed in her ears right now?

  Countless ideas of what to write about had gone through her head since her arrival in Torneltha. She even considered writing evil and stupid characters based on people who had wronged her throughout her life, as she would even be able to include their real names with no legal repercussions, but quickly dismissed it. She would rather leave those people in the past.

  A more realistic idea was to try writing little vignettes. That way, she wouldn’t have to go into a lot of detail. She knew wouldn't gain satisfaction from writing like that, however, so she dismissed the thought.

  Another squeak rang out from the scream dome.

  Maybe I should write about the shrieking of an anguished flute as it gets revenge on its abusive player.

  As Sarah lay on the ground, she noticed her tail twitching along with her thoughts. She no longer minded having it, though she did wish it wouldn’t broadcast her emotions so easily.

  Though, I guess it is nice to have something soft, warm, and furry to play with. Even if that thing is attached to me.

  An unexpected challenge of having a tail was the way she had to sit down, having to be careful to not crush her extra limb in some awkward position. She was quite relieved when after Michelle redesigned her motorcycle’s seats to have grooves in the backrests that her tail could easily fit into.

  The tail actually did help her with her balance, too, which was a benefit of having one that she hadn't expected to ever experience. It helps her make sharp adjustments when she’s running at high speed. And because she bolsters her speed with her wind magic, it’s even more important.

  I wonder if Victor’s okay…

  Her orcish friend from the game had been among the first to leave the research base, and she had neither seen nor heard anything about him in Elsanth or any of the other cities they stopped in.

  He’s probably been having a lot of fun, wherever he is. Especially because gay people are much more common here, so he can flirt with as many guys as he wants to.

  ———

  Sarah had been brainstorming in one of her blank books when the two elven women stepped out of the scream dome.

  Oh, thank god.

  “No need to look that relieved,” Michelle said to her.

  “Ah, sorry. No offense, but…” Sarah started.

  “I was channeling my inner banshee?”

  “Yeah. Are your ears okay? Both of you?”

  The two elves shared a look, then started laughing.

  “Um…”

  Amber pointed out, “You didn’t notice the difference?”

  “No? What do you mean?”

  Michelle explained, “I’m definitely bad at it, but there’s no way anyone could’ve made that many horrible noises by accident.”

  “What? So you were just… being annoying?”

  She and Amber both laughed proudly. “Yes!”

  Sarah buried her face in her hands. “The two of you are so dumb, oh my god.”

  Now that I think about it, it was only today that the noises were that terrible.

  Looking them in the eyes, Sarah stated, “I’m going to create some characters based on you, and they’re both going to be idiots.”

  “Ooh, I can’t wait!” Michelle exclaimed.

  “You’re not supposed to like the idea!”

  “Why wouldn’t we?” Amber wondered.

  Sarah groaned. Luna, who had been playing with magic with Diamond, came over now that her mom was no longer busy.

  “Can I be a character, too?” the girl excitedly asked.

  Great, now I have to make my pretend threat real, and I have to do it in a friendly way.

  Michelle seemed to be able to read her thoughts, because she was trying not to laugh.

  Ignoring the idiot, she told Luna, “Of course!”

  “Yes! I want to be, um, a knight!”

  Michelle picked up Luna and hugged her. “You’re already a knight, Luna! You have armor, a sword, and even a mighty steed!”

  Said mighty steed began pawing at Michelle’s leg. Diamond was currently only the size of a puppy instead of her ridable size, so it was adorable.

  “Oh! Put me down! I want to go do knight stuff!”

  “’Knight stuff’?” Michelle repeated.

  She set her daughter down, who ran off without answering her. Luna formed a fake sword made of ice in her hand to play with, a habit Michelle had gotten her into for training both her magic and swordsmanship simultaneously.

  Too bad Michelle can’t make a real sword out of ice. She said she’ll probably be able to do it eventually, meaning Luna would also be able to do it.

  Michelle was about to call out to Luna to remind her to not run too far away from the camp, but she didn’t have to, because her daughter had stopped within a reasonable distance.

  Luna used to pretend that Diamond was a monster to fight against in the past, but had stopped doing that a while ago. Now, they either fought imaginary opponents together or attacked self-made targets of ice.

  Michelle sighed forlornly. Amber gave her a side hug and said, “She’ll be in school soon. Then she won’t have as strong a focus on just monster stuff.”

  Returning the hug, she replied, “I know. We’re nearly there. It’s not much longer until we can all start doing other things.”

  Deciding to change the subject, Sarah asked, “So, what does everyone want for lunch?”

  ———

  She had nearly fallen asleep when she was struck by a sudden realization.

  Why is it always when I’m nearly asleep? Where’s my ideas book?

  She had to dig through her things for a couple minutes before finally finding it.

  I don’t like the idea necessarily, but it’s where I should start.

  It was an incredibly simple idea, and she had previously discarded it for being too obvious. It was to write about adjusting to a new home after being forced to leave and dealing with a drastically different culture.

  It’s way too on the nose, but that’s fine. This is just for practice and study. I can use my actual experiences for this, and it also gives me more motivation to learn more about the people here.

  Sarah didn’t think it would be interesting to read at all, but she desperately needed somewhere to start with her writing, and this was as good a place as any.

  I’ll make sure to challenge myself as much as possible with this. It doesn’t have to turn out good, I just have to learn a lot doing it.