"I'm not going to lie, Mark, but this adventure sucks ass right now," Q says in a joking manner.

  I agree with Q. I found myself laughing along with the male's sly remark. We had been traveling down this road for at least an hour and a half. Despite the perceived distance traveled, the scenery had not yet changed. While we had encountered several splits in the road, we also opted to take the westernmost highway to travel on. In reality, we had no idea where we were going or how far we had traveled. All around us were still flat grasslands stretching for miles without end.

  To conserve our strength, we opted to take breaks every half hour to avoid overexertion in the increasing heat. The thick armor we wore became more of a nuisance than a necessity, but we kept it on due to the unknown dangers we might encounter. That, and we just didn't have anything else to change into.

  "Indeed, but do not feel disheartened just yet. Liu Bei and his sworn brothers wandered from place to place during the Three Kingdoms. Yet, their adventures later became the stuff of legend," I responded.

  I would push up my glasses as the sweat loosened their natural grip around my furry ears. While most of the pain in my arm had subsided, there was still lingering pain whenever I decided to move it. At the moment, I relied on my one good arm to do simple tasks like that when we embarked.

  "I do not know any Liu Beis, Mark, and I am not elated to be compared to his journeys," Q responds.

  "Well, my friend, I do know of him. Since we have nothing but time, I'll enlighten you with a wonderful story. As you may know, I am a man of culture. My tastes in media are quite exquisite, but there are a few things in this life that I will credit with shaping my interests. Nothing has impacted my life more than Dynasty Warriors. It is the genesis of me as the man I am today," I said, puffing my chest out.

  Alongside anime and manga, the "Dynasty Warriors" gaming franchise can count me as an avid fan. Ever since childhood, I have experienced the defining battles of the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, and Shu alongside Jin and the other factions. Allow me to start at the beginning."

  While we had plenty of time to spare, I once more took the initiative in the conversation. I explained to the two men the intricate history of ancient China that inspired the gaming series, delving into the characters, battles, and overall lore in greater depth. I practically talked their ears off about the subject, but they humored me.

  They asked questions about certain characters and events, and we laughed whenever one of them quipped with my explanation of a character. It was many more hours that we walked, and we could tell that it was around noon.

  Due to the ever-rising temperature, sweat became more abundant on our respective faces, but we soon found ourselves at another fork in the road. This one possessed a sign that, ironically, was a good sign for us. It was a large, wooden post with three medium-sized planks nailed a few inches apart. They seemed to point in the three directions the roads split into.

  I placed our previous conversation on hold as we crowded around the sign to read what it said, but to all of our surprise, it was in an unfamiliar language etched into the wooden planks. My dry laughter would rear itself almost immediately.

  "Of course. We can't read the language on it…Hold on...Wait, what?"

  As soon as I spoke up, I could see the letters on the sign flip over and shift within my mind. It was almost as if my brain were automatically correcting to accommodate the discrepancy. It shocked me at first, but the process was nearly instantaneous, and it appeared that the same thing was transpiring to the other two. After the process had finished, I once again looked at the words on the sign.

  Grotto Plains, Astana, and Struburg were the respective words etched into it. While Astana was directed toward the east, Struburg was pointed toward the west. According to this sign, we had just exited the Grotto Plains. That confirmed Bonner's assumption that we spawned within the Hidden Grotto, but these two other names were incredibly unfamiliar. I would shift my eyes to Bonner, but I found him simply looking over at me.

  "The update," we both say in unison.

  It appeared that we both reached a similar conclusion briefly around the same time. Learning the map's various locations is essential for any serious MMORPG player, so Bonner and I took it upon ourselves to explore every inch of the map using the internet as our guidebook. So when the cities of Astana and Struburg appeared before us in the sign, we understood that things had changed drastically since the new update. There was no telling just how much had changed in that update.

  New monsters, events, or even people could have shaped the world we know. I began stroking my goatee as I stepped onto the intersection. I looked down both roads, trying to look as far as I could down the road.

  As far as I could tell, the road of Astana started as the same grassland as the Grotto Plains, but further down, it turned into what essentially boiled down to a forest. Turning to Struburg, the scenario played out pretty much the same as in Astana, but the line of trees seemed closer. There was no way to tell until we traveled down it, honestly.

  I heard Q ask, "So, what direction do you boys think we should head next?"

  Turning back to face the two I had left standing near the sign, I processed the question. I merely shrugged in response. Either direction would lead to the same result in the end. We would be heading to a place about which neither of us has usable knowledge.

  "Astana," Bonner answers promptly. His response was dry and lacked context.

  Q repeated the same thing in confirmation, and I nodded along with it. Astana, located in the east, became our next destination. All that we had done since exiting the Hidden Grotto was walk, though strangely enough, there was no sign of fatigue on any of our faces.

  Even during the battle with the Lynx, I noticed that my stamina seemed greatly enhanced compared to that of my previous world. I wouldn't have dared walk for miles in a prolonged fashion unless there was an apocalypse or something of that nature. I doubt my body would have lasted that long anyway, but it was different here.

  As we all entered the pathway to Astana, I could sense that my injured arm was repairing itself, albeit slowly, but drastically faster than it usually should have. I reported it to my travel companions, but they initially remained skeptical. To prove it, I would clench that hand and extend it to its full length with no trace of pain whatsoever. Bonner was the first to speak on the matter, saying,

  "Well, I believe superhuman healing was a trait of the Kitsune race, right? It was quite the busted thing and made it rather difficult to defeat them in battles. Your character was a Kitsune Lancer, after all. From my assessment, we have somehow merged the characteristics of both our real-life selves and our avatars. I would argue that we might've inherited certain enhanced capabilities from our avatars and retained the consciousness of our previous lives."

  "You may have a point. Our avatars were quite brainless for the most part. Since we controlled their every action, I suppose I could see why our actual consciousness would move over. Still, our previous bodies must've been too weak or something, so we inherited the bonus characteristics of our avatars on top of it," I added to the topic.

  "If that is the case, then what would you be now? A halfling? Fox Man?" Q asks.

  It was a good question. One that I did not fully know the answer to. I offered no response as the party grew silent. We grew closer to the end of the grassland and the start of the forest, and instantly, the shade cut down the blazing heat.

  Wearing the materials we had on was uncomfortable in that heat, but we merely dealt with it. Stepping into the much cooler shade offered by the forest canopy was a blessing—one that I rejoiced in.

  "I believe that I am still considered a Kitsune, though my appearance would scream beastkin. I believe that I could be mistaken for one," I say, answering the earlier question.

  Entering this forest was like entering a brand new world within a brand new world. While I did not feel that I was in any particular danger, one would be foolish to believe that there is no chance of danger around us. After all, the moment we spawned here, we stumbled across a mythical monster.

  While I doubted that there were any as strong as the Lynx presently here, I could not rule out the idea that there could be something that posed a danger to us, especially since we were currently unarmed. A fact that we all somehow managed to overlook this whole time.

  "Well, if Bonner is correct, then we all have some latent superhuman abilities."

  It was pretty standard in many Isekai stories that I had the pleasure of reading or watching that the protagonist was often gifted with many magical abilities. Typically, it is brought to their attention in the early part of their journeys.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Most were granted ridiculously broken magical spells or mana reserves compared to the other residents they encountered. Others were given the most overpowered skill set, but they squandered it. They either lacked ambition, were weak-willed, or were boring, so their immense power and skills were pointless.

  At least, that is how I saw the matter. As a person who had no actual power in the other world, I was practically salivating at the opportunity to be granted tangible power. Though fate seemed to have it in store, I was only given the ability to heal slightly quicker and jump incredibly high. I stopped on the road promptly and waited for the other two to do the same. Doing so almost on cue, I would place my hands on my waist and flash them with a devious smile.

  An idea had dawned on me, and since we had nothing but time, I saw the opportunity. I could tell that they were curious about what was going through my head, so I enlightened them. Pushing up the frames of my glasses, I spoke confidently to the two men.

  "Before we set foot in Astana, we should take this opportunity to learn a bit about what we are each capable of without magic. We do not know when our next enemy will present itself and make a stake at claiming our lives."

  "And how do you propose that we do that?" Bonner asks.

  "Well, my dear friend, we test them out. Let's use the clichés that we know and then try them out—simple stuff. Back in the cave, it had dawned on me that you may have enhanced sight or hearing. You managed to find the lair of the Lynx while we were covered in darkness.

  If I recall, some variants of Elves possess keen senses like those in Infinity Unleashed. Some of their skills enable them to pinpoint a target visually and audibly, even over great distances. Same with Kitsunes and their sense of smell."

  As I spoke to the two men, something occurred to me. To our avatars within Infinity Unleashed, our actions were second nature. They did so without giving it much thought. If we were truly merged into a single, super being, then this might have been the key to unlocking our full potential.

  "I have a theory that it hasn't presented itself to us because we were mentally blocking it out."

  "Blocking them out? How can you block out enhanced smell or sight? That doesn't make much sense, Mark," Q says. His confusion was evident in his tone.

  His confusion is justified, but I believe that I was suddenly thrust into an epiphany. I gestured towards the two before pointing to my head with my left index finger.

  "It is the mentality. Allow me to…"

  Feeling that I was onto something, I moved to a nearby tree that was on the side of the road. Stumbling a bit, I found the uneven terrain a bother as my tail was suddenly caught in the nearby bush when it followed my movement. It was quite a hassle, but I managed to untangle it by pulling at its base. Freed from the annoyance, I stepped onto the shrubbery that was in the way as I attempted to finish my sentence.

  "Demonstrate."

  In comparison to my height, the tree that I was standing next to was at least twice my height, approximately twelve feet in height, and as thick as an Oak. While I am no expert in all things trees, even I could tell that this must be a healthy adult tree.

  I would press my exposed right palm on its trunk and feel the rough gray bark that protected it. It was incredibly thick. Usually, one would need to utilize a chainsaw or an ax to pierce it, but if I were correct, then I wouldn't need them.

  "Now, I believe that we are thinking like humans. You see, internally, I am Mark Nicholson, and as such, I addressed things like I would normally do as a human—this tree. No human alive could shatter this tree here with their bare hands. They would have to be a comic book or anime character to do so, or… a video game character."

  "Roktavor?" Q asks.

  I immediately pointed to him as he had caught on to what I was talking about. As I spoke again, I began moving my hands around. I elaborated on my point even more so that they may understand.

  "Yeah. Mark Nicholson could not pierce this bark, but Roktavor could. As you may know, I have Roktavor's body under my control. According to our theory, he and I are now the same. My knowledge and mental expertise directly control the power that is at the fingertips of Roktavor. My injuries sustained during the fight with the Lynx have healed completely. That is normally what would happen when Roktavor leaves a battle area. His latent Kitsune healing would kick in and repair any injury he had sustained. It was the same here in this case."

  Raising my fist, I mustered some of my strength and closed the distance between the tree and my fist to land a punch against it. As expected, things went differently than I had imagined. A loud snapping sound filled our ears as the impact of my punch spread throughout the tree, causing it to flail slightly.

  If I were dumb enough to attempt that in the previous world, then I would have likely needed a trip to the emergency room, as I would have broken my hand. Luckily for me, this was not the same place. Much like The Grinch, my mustache twirled up from my satisfied grin when I saw the results of my demonstration.

  Crumbled by the impact of my fists, the once firm tree bark became mere shambles under my new power. It was a decent-sized hole around six inches wide, extending from the epicenter of the strike. As usual, I had felt no pain from the impact, but in this case, my hand had sustained no visible injury.

  I received my limb from the area as I showcased the result to the two spectators, who peered at it with curiosity. Sure enough, as I held the hand towards them, we would find that not even my skin was bruised by my unorthodox experiment. Fixing my glasses when they began sliding down my face, I would address them once more,

  "During my time on Infinity Unleashed, Roktavor was one tough bastard. While he did not possess too many area-of-effect elemental spells, I designed him to be extremely resilient and repairable. I sort of held back since I figured that I would shatter my hand if I was wrong, but the proof is in the pudding. The power of a Kitsune Lancer is at my fingertips. It should be the same with you two. It is our mentality that is currently hindering us. We may not be able to use magic yet, but our natural gifts might be sufficient to keep us alive."

  "So you are saying that we should just acknowledge that we have these powers, and then we have them, huh?" Q asks, stepping over in my direction.

  I was under the impression that the male would test out our theory for himself. Given his physical build, it would be easy to assume that he would likely have physical power that far exceeds my own. While most Kitsunes weren't particularly strong physically, there were some based on their builds that allowed them to be exceptionally well-endowed.

  While that case is dependent on specific variables, it was common knowledge that fairies like Q were rumored to be able to lift and handle items ten times their actual size. Q was no longer the exact size of a fairy of his race. Based on my experience, it is likely that he follows a similar logic to that of his specific race.

  Being essentially a human-sized fairy, Q's potential for superhuman strength would be pretty incredible. Strutting over to the tree that I damaged was Q. He was filled to the brim with confidence as a daring smile stretched across his face.

  Immediately, I made my place next to Bonner on the road, giving him optimal space to practice our method. We observed as the male crouched down to locate something inside the shrubbery below his feet. Once found, he merely rose to his previous standing position and sized up the tree.

  "Okay, so control Brass' power and make it my own, huh?" He says as he prepares himself.

  At that moment, he decided to act, and a noticeable shift occurred. The loud sound of shattered wood erupted, causing both Bonner and me to jump at the sound. Various pelts of wood splinters shot around us, even bouncing off our lightly armored clothes. We were taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the action our comrade took.

  It was as if the tree were struck by lightning right before our eyes. The top half of the tree was briefly elevated as it was decapitated from its lower half and crashed into the ground below. However, that was not the only casualty of the experiment, as the trees behind it suffered a similar fate.

  "Bahaha! Excellent! Most impressive!" I shouted out.

  While none of the wood splinters managed to harm me in the slightest, the dust picked up from the impact of the falling tree managed to coat the lenses of my glasses. My Grinch-like grin presented itself once more when I briefly removed them.

  Although I had no proper cleaning kit on my person, I made do by using the soft material on my shirt to do a half-decent job. After, I would turn to see the expression on Bonner's face. It appeared that he carried a similar vibe as my own: genuine excitement.

  "B-Bro, what the fuck was that?" Bonner stammered.

  "I threw a leaf at the tree," Q answers.

  That response brought a deep look of shock to our faces, which in turn made the male laugh warmly. While we were back in the cave, Q managed to successfully damage the Lynx using random rocks that he managed to get his hands on. That was during a spur-of-the-moment thing; the effect of his power was not evident then, but now it was different.

  On his first attempt at using his strength on command, he managed to level at least six or seven trees on the side of the road. That was with a mere leaf, nonetheless. He rotated his shoulders as he removed himself from his previous position to join us on the road. Pumping his right arm up, Q placed his left hand on his right arm's bicep as he flexed on us.

  "Nah, I'm just playing. It was another rock. Smaller than the ones that I used at the cave, though," He confessed, laughing at us for taking him at his initial word.

  I scoffed at the male and shook my head in disapproval. Bonner joined suit by crossing his arms across his chest and chastising the male.

  "See there, bud. Gonna go to hell if you don't stop all that heathen lying. Sin fills your heavy ass heart."

  "I guess I'll see your ass there, too, Bishop. We all know that some consider masturbation a sin as well. You've spilled so much seed that it's practically genocide at this point," Q retorted.

  "Speaking on that matter of seeds… these trees. It looks like you managed to snap a few of them and spread their seeds to the area. One attack is all that it took, and that was with you throwing a single rock. Imagine what would happen if you focused that raw power on throwing hands instead of pebbles," I said, steering the conversation.

  Taking the hint, the two men once more hopped back on topic after bickering back and forth. I stood now with my hands behind my back as we conversed.

  "Yeah. Fairy strength is no joke. I bet Jacket would serve better as our tank. I'm willing to bet that he could also withstand the power he outputs. Weaker opponents should not be much of an issue unless they have magic, but even then, I bet we could overwhelm them. Just look at that. What could rapidly withstand that type of barrage?" Bonner states.

  "I propose that Q and I take on that role interchangeably. I'm faster and jump higher, so I bet I could draw their attention, alongside my strength, pain resistance, and healing, and then I bet we could overwhelm them. Though it depends on what you could do too, Bonner," I responded.

  Our eyes shifted to Bonner as the male suddenly wiggled his pointy ears as he thought. It was a strange, circular motion, similar to a cat's random movements. To be honest, I found it rather humorous. While my skill set was primarily focused on defense and mobility, and Q was centered around offense, we could only assume that Bonner would fill our void.

  Elves are more specialized in magic as a race in general, but there have been several exceptions to the rule, to my knowledge. I would assume that, amongst the three of us, Bonner would likely be the more powerful mage due to his heritage, but we all came from races with high magical affinities.

  That tidbit is quite irrelevant to us now since neither of us could use magic, so we would have to utilize the cards dealt to us. As we clamored together, it would be Bonner who would speak next. His words were plain and spoke frankly,

  "People are coming. Carriage? … no carriages," Bonner says plainly

  With the first arc concluded how are you viewing the book?