"I can see through you," were the first words spoken to her that morning, as they awoke in the simple bed they had been sharing for the past few nights, lulled by the ceaseless sway of the waves. "Ever since I saw you at the tavern, I knew you were far more powerful than you appeared."

  The elf’s eyes, shining like the sea on a sunny day, hypnotized Yowo.

  "How is that possible? No one knows my true stats, not even the most skilled mages in the world. Only the programmers can access my true powers."

  Years earlier, one of the moderators had spoken frankly to her about her stats.

  "You're one of my favorites," the man had said, appearing before her in a golden robe that matched his shimmering skin. "You're one of the chosen few, which is why you must be shrewd to stay alive long enough. You must choose your alliances and battles wisely."

  The man had appeared before her in one of the barracks where she slept, at the headquarters of the Aneita forces near the imperial capital, Dalux. The tiny particles of dust floating around her, visible through her infrared vision, had frozen in place, as had everything else—including time itself.

  "Even me," she had thought at that moment, futilely trying to move her agile fighter’s limbs. "What the hell does this useless guy want from me now?"

  But the moderator, who looked like a mage wrapped in gold, had allowed her to move—only her—and handed her a manual.

  "Read it until you can’t stand it anymore," the man had said, his voice carrying an unfamiliar accent, possibly from the Outer World. "Practice it in your mind with the same fervor you use to hone your treacherous sword techniques."

  "Why don’t you just upload it into my brain? Aren’t you supposed to control us, to access every line of code that governs our thoughts?"

  "Not in this game," the man had replied, pacing back and forth inside the barracks, the wooden floor creaking with each step. "This game was developed by an advanced AI, where programmers inserted the necessary codes to emulate a medieval world with its respective gods, to see how events unfold on their own. While only a few years have passed in our world, millennia have gone by in the server. We moderators can only try to keep things in order, but we cannot touch the Mother Source Code."

  There, on the guild ship, in the arms of Xyrna, whose kisses had lulled her to sleep the night before, Yowo continued to recall that distant night when the nameless moderator had visited her. She remembered the manual in her hands and its title written in the common tongue of the continent, in perfect ancient calligraphy: "The 37 Infallible Strategies of War."

  "So I have to read this thing like some boring monk in a temple?"

  "That’s my suggestion."

  Shortly after, the man had disappeared, leaving behind more clues about his origin and her special abilities, which went far beyond combat techniques. According to him, they were deeply rooted within her, in her mind.

  But of all the NPCs inhabiting the world, this strange elf was the first to claim she could see her origin through her eyes.

  "Like you, I also have special abilities, ones that go far beyond the ordinary. But I’ve ignored them, repressed them, distracted as I was by swords and blades," the elf said, caressing Yowo’s smooth, tan skin.

  Yowo tried to kiss the lady again, but she turned her face away. That beautiful face that drew her in like the allure of heights, like the forbidden.

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  She had seduced her with another manual the moderator had given her during one of his sudden appearances—one that contained all the arts of seduction. Yowo was attracted to both men and women, but she felt more at ease with the latter. Her encounters with them were tender, if not as physically pleasurable as those with a vigorous man. They filled her soul more.

  "There’s no time for this," the elf said, rising from the bed. "I sense we must be ready for what’s coming."

  It was then that Yowo learned of Xyrna’s true power: Foresight.

  "That’s how she knows my true abilities. This elf can see the future. But for some reason, she doesn’t want to reveal what’s coming."

  Like a cornered beast, the Aneita fighter got out of bed and began to dress. When they reached the deck, they saw that trouble had indeed arrived.

  The guild’s ships, fifteen in total, were clustered like grapes around the few coral islands nearby, providing some flank protection and allowing them to defend the Ixtulite fishing boats, which desperately cast their nets, sensing the impending battle. The sight before them was terrifying.

  "There are ships as far as the eye can see," said Vog, one of the dark elves, who wielded two curved obsidian blades on his forearms. "The time has come to die fighting, to enter the feasts of Nurhim."

  "By the new and ancient gods," Yowo whispered.

  Hundreds of ships approached them, surrounding them like a crescent moon. All flew the black sails typical of pirate vessels.

  "Butchers!" shouted Ridis, the burly captain of the ship, after assessing the enemy forces from the crow’s nest. "Don’t expect mercy from those sea wolves! Once we fall into their clutches, they’ll slit our throats one by one, night after night, for their amusement, while they make us speak with steel pressed to our necks!"

  The enemy ships continued to advance like a stalking predator, as the dark, cloud-filled sky roared with deafening thunder.

  When the captain descended to the deck, sailors and guild warriors gathered around him, weapons at the ready. Yowo could see the terror in their eyes. Fear also grew within her, but she suppressed it with one of her mental replacement spells.

  "The time has come to fulfill what we set out to do in this godforsaken place!" The captain’s voice boomed like thunder trapped in an oak drum. Yowo’s hair stood on end. Despite the spell, fear continued to gnaw at her as the first drops of the storm began to fall on the deck. "Before you lie thousands of experience points that will send you back to the shores of Ixtul as true heroes—or your doom! The choice is yours!"

  The captain drew his greatsword and pointed its blade at the countless ships still approaching.

  The bastard knew about this. He led us into a dead end on purpose, to win or die, without caring about his own skin.

  "You and I both know what will happen if darkness covers our eyes today!" the old sea wolf continued. "We are not reborn, who can return to this world twenty-four hours after death! If we die here, our remains will feed the fish and the squid!" He glanced back at the battlefield. "The corals protect our flanks! These fools will have to come straight at us! Let’s show them what we’re made of!"

  Yowo took the bow she had received from the burly man in the last battle, which now seemed like child’s play compared to what they were facing, and positioned herself near one of the wooden railings, where she would begin firing as soon as the enemies were in range. Her ship was at the forefront of the formation.

  "We won’t make it out of this," she said to the elf. "I know you can see the future," she added, as the furious raindrops began to soak her face.

  "The future is something we cannot know," her lover replied, her thunderous voice carrying a heavy accent, rising above the clamor of the crew.

  "You do know it!"

  The elf stared at her for a long time with her deep blue eyes before responding.

  "The joy of life and its beauty lie in the fact that life is a continuous surprise," was all she said before firing the first probing arrows, with the faint hope of deterring the countless enemies ahead.

  "It’s useless," Yowo thought as she, too, began firing arrows left and right. "The storm won’t stop them. This attack was planned months ago. For seasoned pirates, this is the perfect battle scenario."

  She managed to make out some faces on the enemy ships, crowded with men of many skin tones, all sharing the same look of ruffians and scoundrels, regardless of nationality. The green-skinned orcs and goblins accompanying them offered no reassurance either.

  Xyrna handed her a silver crescent-shaped blade.

  "To plunge into your heart before you fall into the hands of those beasts."

  "You can see the future, but I know we won’t die today," was all Yowo replied.

  "These men won’t kill us. Look at us. We’re attractive, with beautiful faces and glorious bodies—everything a man desires. They’ll chain us in the hold of one of their ships and violate us for eternity. Our future won’t be pleasant."

  "I know you can see the future. But I know we won’t die today," Yowo simply replied.