Chapter 3

They weren’t proper boots, but the sandals the second Ellen had made were much better than bare feet on the ground. They were clumsy, had poor traction, and after only half an hour or so the cords began to chafe, but Ellen was grateful nonetheless.

The real trouble was that the trail wasn’t really a trail. It was basically game trails that the two girls had to stumble through… and there was a lot of stumbling. Going up a mountain had been hard, but without proper footwear it was just as hard going down. Autumn was starting, and dead plants combined with half-hidden roots made progress slippery and treacherous.

It gave the two plenty of time to work out some details, at least.

“So I was thinking,” Ellen began. “I’m not saying I’m the real Ellen, but until we figure that out, I think I should be Ellen One and you should be Ellen Two.”

The other Ellen frowned, but didn’t say anything until she’d successfully navigated the small crevasse that cut across the trail. “I get what you’re saying, but why do I have to be Ellen Two?”

Ellen tapped her temple. “Because… I woke up first. That’s it. We have to have some way, so might as well do something simple and clear even if it’s stupid, right?” She reached out and grabbed Ellen Two as the other girl started to stumble, helpfully steadying her with one arm while the other braced against a sapling.

Ellen sighed at the notification, mentally waving it away as she released Ellen Two’s arm. The other girl frowned at the sigh, then bit her lip. “Are you getting a lot of weird ‘first time’ notifications?”

“YES!” Ellen Two blurted out, exasperated. “I was worried I was the only one! I know I’ve done most of these before, what’s the deal with them?”

“I don’t know, but I’m most of the way to Level Three already, so I won’t complain too much.” Ellen muttered a little more to herself while she tried to navigate to the road. She was pretty sure just going down in a roughly straight line would get her where she needed to go.

Them. Get them where they needed to go.

Ellen Two echoed the thought that was starting to form. “It’s fine if I’m Ellen Two to us, but what about when we get to the village? Are we just going to be twin sisters? This is going to be a problem.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Ellen huffed loudly and considered. “We’ll think of a good story on the way, but twin sisters is the only thing that would make sense.”

At least there were no plans to take over her life. Not that she had much of one right now.

“The real problem is equipment,” Ellen continued. “We have enough money to share a room and replace a few things, but probably not enough for even one pair of boots. Definitely not two. We’re going to have to find work and save up.”

Ellen Two nodded and paused in a way that told Ellen she was also dismissing a notification. “Yeah… with two of us working it shouldn’t take that long, but that’d be just enough for one. I think we should draw straws or something on who gets to go out and get our equipment. The other stays in the village and works.”

That sounded like a good plan, but Ellen glanced back again, curiously. “You aren’t worried that if I win, I’ll just run off after?”

“You think like me, too, and I’d never do that to someone I made a deal with.” Ellen Two declared that confidently, which was reassuring. “Also… we probably shouldn’t run off from one another until we figure out what happened, right? Besides, wouldn’t it be a lot easier if we took turns earning money the normal way while adventuring?”

She had a point… more than one point, actually. Ellen made a face and nodded.

“I’m a little worried about our Class, too. With how fast the banked Experience is being used, we should get to five or even six pretty quickly so maybe it’s less to worry about, but the first time bonuses are kind of freaking me out.”

Her twin bit her lip. “Yeah that is pretty strange. But at least it means we don’t have to grind up to five. I don’t want to relive my early teen years and I bet you don’t either.”

That much was right. Ellen didn’t hate her teen years, but like most kids it took her most of those years to get from Level Zero up to Six. Even at triple rate it shouldn’t be so quick, but the ‘first time’ bonuses were things she’d never gotten first times for.

That’s when she caught on to why.

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“I get it now. We’re getting first time bonuses even for things that we didn’t before, because we did them before we were in the System.”

Ellen Two tilted her head, then her eyes widened. “Oh… oh yeah. I’m not sure why but that would help us get through it. I’ve never heard of a Class change that worked that way though. We really need to find out what happened in the missing time. Do you think it’s just an hour or two, or is it a whole new day?”

“You have the same information I do,” Ellen replied. “But when I was packing I saw the tracks were still there, so probably only a couple hours? At most? I’m not sure but I feel like one more day would have made them harder to find. I’m not all that good at tracking.”

“Me neither,” Ellen Two agreed, momentarily forgetting that they had the exact same skillset.

They both quieted as the trees thinned, and with feet aching the two girls finally trudged onto the road proper.

All things being equal, it wasn’t much of a road. It consisted of packed earth that had been cleared away sometime within the last three months, with two furrows from wagon wheels marking the sides. Likely only one wagon came by regularly enough—and was heavy enough—to make those tracks, as there weren’t any signs of smaller wagons along the road.