Chapter 30

  Eve pulled up her class tree and shared her character sheet with Ben once more.

  “I wanted to ask you about that. I was hoping you could help me choose,” Eve typed.

  Ben no longer had any problems with viewing her character sheet. He looked at her skill tree without hesitation.

  “Sure thing. Just give me a moment to analyse a few things. I have some ideas but I want to double check the wording on some of your options,” Ben said.

  Eve nodded and waited patiently while Ben read. Eve noticed how much more comfortable Ben was with viewing her character sheet. She grew a subtle smile and did her best not to appear too bashful as to not draw attention to the kind of thoughts she was having.

  Ben didn’t notice Eve’s behavior. He was too occupied with another revelation. He could read much faster than before. At least twice as fast.

  All he had to do was skim past different parts of her skill tree and his comprehension was as if he had been studying and thinking about the information for hours.

  “Is this what it feels like to have a high intelligence stat?” Ben thought.

  In Ben’s past life, he never raised his intelligence score beyond the passive increase it gained upon leveling up. He knew about other intelligence-based classes and their claim to have better memory, and faster thinking as their intelligence scaled, but he couldn’t physically see the difference.

  He remembered that the effect was gradual. When he was reborn, he felt more sluggish in many different ways. Over a year, he got used to his reduced abilities. Now, all those abilities had returned all at once. The increase was drastic. Ben smiled.

  “This is cool,” Ben said.

  Eve frowned in confusion.

  “What’s cool?” Eve asked.

  Ben looked at her curiously.

  “Don’t you notice it? Your intelligence is 33. You should be able to read faster,” Ben said.

  She hadn’t noticed that. She stopped focusing on Ben and looked at her character sheet instead. Her eyes widened. He was right.

  “This is a little scary,” Eve typed.

  Ben smirked.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet. This game is going to change the world,” Ben said.

  Eve looked at Ben in astonishment.

  “What do you mean?” Eve asked.

  Ben hesitated. He almost revealed too much. His enhanced brain quickly thought of an explanation that made sense.

  “Even the beta players attested to the enhancements they received after playing the game for so long. It hasn’t been studied officially, but it will be. Once this game is out for a few weeks and starts becoming mainstream, the word will really get around. Think about it. If playing the game improves memory and general cognitive function, that will be earth shattering. That is one of many reasons why this game isn’t just a game. I predict that Eternity is going to take over. Those at the top will basically become celebrities. This game is the end all, be all of videogames,” Ben said.

  Eve nodded dumbfoundedly.

  While Eve contemplated the significance of Ben’s explanation, Ben returned his focus back to her skill tree. He grew a conflicted gaze. Eve picked up on his change in demeanor.

  “Is something wrong?” Eve asked.

  Ben glanced down at Eve before quickly averting his gaze.

  “No, it’s just, I think I found the best option for you,” Ben said.

  Eve noticed the hesitation in Ben’s voice. She looked at him with concern.

  “Which one?” She asked.

  Ben grew a far-off gaze as a memory flashed in his mind.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Before…

  “You can’t keep us locked up like animals, Ben. We can fight too!”

  Ben turned around to bear witness to the beautiful, yet scornful face of a young woman. She stood on the porch of their family house with her hands on her hips. She glared daggers at Ben.

  Ben led a large group of men away from the house towards a dark red pillar of light in the distance. The pillar of blood-red light pierced the sky as far as the eye could see.

  Ben glanced at his best friend. His second in command. The man understood.

  “Good luck,” the man said.

  The man led the rest of the army away while Ben returned to the house to engage with the young woman.

  “Sarah, you know why I can’t let you do that. It’s for your safety,” Ben said.

  “That’s a load of garbage. You just got new recruits but you are letting them go out and train. Me and most of the other women have been around since the beginning. We already have classes. We are higher level than them. If you just let us respec then we can fight too!” Sarah said.

  Sarah balled her fists and shouted at the top of her lungs. Ben could see many people looking out the window of the house towards Sarah and Ben.

  “Sarah, please calm down. I promise to take you leveling in the safe zones later, just like always,” Ben said.

  “It’s not the same. We barely get any experience. That’s why we are so far behind. If you’d just let us join the dungeon raids-”

  “You know why I can’t do that,” Ben said.

  Ben spoke firmly. Sarah scoffed and crossed her arms.

  “Why? Because we are women? We can be just as useful. Didn’t you see the achievement notification this morning? The all-women Valkyrie guild was the first to clear the boss gate in their region. That proves that women can fight too. So what’s your excuse now?” Sarah asked.

  Ben sighed. He knew she would bring that up. Ever since that system notification was given, Ben dreaded the coming conversation.

  “That’s the top guild in Sweden. They have been receiving additional support from not only their own country, but from many EU member states, specifically because they are an all-female guild. They have access to gear and items that we don’t. That makes up for the fact that…” Ben said.

  He hesitated to continue his sentence. Sarah narrowed her eyes and walked down the stairs of the porch to stand right in front of Ben. Ben could tell she wanted to be more imposing, but when he looked down at her short stature, all he saw was the vulnerable girl that he swore to protect with his life.

  “Say it,” Sarah said.

  “Women have different strengths. The potions you make for the hunters are invaluable. The non-combat support classes that you and the others women specialize in make a real difference,”Ben said

  Sarah scoffed.

  “The men can choose non-combat support classes as well, but you force all the young, able-bodied men to be hunters. Some of them are scared to death. Some of us can take their place. We can fight!”

  “No,” Ben said.

  Ben’s declaration was resolute and unmoving. Sarah stomped her feet in frustration.

  “You can’t keep treating us like this. We aren’t weak!”

  “I never said you were,” Ben said.

  “You don’t have to say it. Your actions speak loud enough.”

  Ben shook his head.

  “You haven’t seen what I have seen. Women are especially vulnerable, especially in the dungeons. It’s not your role to fight. It’s our job to put our bodies on the line to protect those we love. But your contribution is valuable, even if it’s different from the men,” Ben said.

  “That’s such sexist garbage! Just because of what happened to Victoria-”

  “Sarah.”

  Ben narrowed his eyes. Sarah hesitated for just a moment. The young woman gritted her teeth, steeled herself, and continued.

  “Just because of what happened to Victoria, doesn’t mean you have to treat all the women in the guild like helpless victims,” Sarah said.

  Ben balled his fists as a deep feeling of rage and pain welled up inside him.

  “That’s enough,” Ben said.

  Sarah didn’t back down. She took a step closer and poked Ben in the chest.

  “Enough? Enough is right. I’ve had enough of you keeping us down. Do you think Victoria would want this? Do you think she would approve of you keeping your own wife locked away like some kind of caged animal?”

  “Sarah!”

  The next voice didn’t come from Ben. Ben’s second in command stormed forward and glared daggers at Sarah.

  “That’s enough!” He barked.

  Sarah looked at the man defiantly. She opened her mouth but he was first to speak.

  “Don’t think I won’t drag you back in the house myself,” he said.

  Sarah was flabbergasted.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she said.

  She stood with her arms crossed. The man took a step closer.

  “Say her name again, and you’ll find out,” he said.

  Sarah hesitated. She looked at Ben. Ben stood still with his face contorted in agony. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Sarah scoffed and turned her back to the two.

  “Whatever,” she said.

  Sarah walked back towards the house in a fluster.

  “Sarah,” Ben said.

  Sarah stopped to look back at Ben. She tried to ignore his pain-filled expression and hold on to her own anger.

  “You knew the type of man I was from the beginning. If you were going to be like this, why did you marry me?” Ben asked.

  Sarah narrowed her eyes.

  “Because I thought you’d grow up,” she said.

  Sarah stormed back into the house and slammed the door behind her. Ben’s second in command balled his fists and took a step forward but Ben placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

  “Tim, don’t,” Ben said.

  “She is out of line! She should apologize! How dare she bring up Victoria just to make a point in an argument. She-” Tim ranted.

  “It’s ok. She and the other women have been cooped up in the compound for months, barely allowed to leave the protection of the houses. Plus, I knew who she was before I married her. I don’t expect her to be anything but who she is,” Ben said.

  Tim shook his head in protest.

  “We were both raised better than that,” Tim said.

  Ben turned his back on the house and began to walk away.

  “Come on. We’ve got hunting to do,” Ben said.

  Tim begrudgingly complied and followed.

  Sarah opened the blinds to the living room window in order to watch Ben and her brother leave. She wiped a tear away and looked on with a conflicted gaze. A gaze full of sadness and regret. She pushed it down and forced herself to focus on her anger. The last thing she had left in a world gone mad.