Soulcatcher

by Sergey Zaytsev

  Grant and Glutton had a hell of a hard time after that. Sitting silently and watching the mage fight without my help was unbearable. The burning desire to help him almost broke the trance, but Grant, feeling what was going on inside of me, stopped me in time. "No!''

  The ''Turtangle'' entered the fight first with the ''Ramming Charge'', slashing the ''legs'' with the edge of its carapace. Slowing down, it turned around for a new attack. The ''Sundew'' loudly fell on its side and lashed with its ''arms'', but didn't manage to reach its enemy. Glutton's spit glued several vines onto the central stalk, but the dozen that remained were enough to attack.

  Grant hit it with spells.

  Life against life. A bad combination, but the mage had nothing else. "Life-giving Trap", "Ravenous Ivy", "Corrosive Spores"... Despite the natural resistance to its own element, the ''Sundew'' writhed in pain. But it was still too damn strong and dangerous. As soon as Glutton was within reach, the central stalk quickly bent back, and the huge jaws of the "oyster" closed around the pet's shell with a loud clatter. Glutton barely had time to draw its legs and heads inside the shell before it got bombarded with acid. Its carapace hissed as the rapidly expanding ulcers appeared on the steel-hard, bone armor …

  Grant rushed to help it.

  On the run the mage cast "Blooming", a healing spell, on Glutton, which almost immediately stopping the acid's effect, and a healing membrane covered the ulcers. Face distorted with rage, he jumped at the ''Sundew''. His pet's life in danger, his emotions finally surfaced. With astonishing dexterity, Grant drew his knife and began to furiously stab near the base of the "head". The last blow made the "oyster" fall off, its jaws parted helplessly, releasing the harmed ''Turtangle''.

  Groaning like an old man, the pet took a few steps back, plopped down onto its bone belly, and fell into a healing trance. Grant pulled his staff out of the limp shoots and leaned against it with noticeable effort. His breathing was fast and shallow, face sweaty, and general appearance poor. The beard on his left cheek was singed, sore skin visible through the burned holes on the shoulders and chest of the jacket, and pants corroded by acid spots in several places. A serious repair awaited his clothing. He hastily took a sip from the flask, gave me a warning look and winked, as if saying:

  "Keep it up. All is well."

  Raising Glutton with a gesture, he went with it to the ritual clearing.

  It was unbearable.

  Unbearable to sit and watch others take the beating for you. My trance wasn't easy, either, and I was bathing in sweat, feeling like the weight that was pressing my shoulders would crush me into the ground. The sense of fatigue and powerlessness grew stronger, and I felt like I was dissolving like a piece of sugar in boiling water. Muscles trembled, ligaments ached, and my heart was beating irregularly. The damn ritual was sucking the energy out of me like a vacuum cleaner. High level taming made itself felt in a very unpleasant way. The ''Seed'' on the ''Altar'' glowed, surrounded by a rainbow of burning crystals – it was ready for integration.

  It was time to finish this…

  It seemed that I just blinked, and the picture before my eyes had already changed.

  The bushes parted, and Grant stepped aside followed by Glutton, who carried the sleeping ''Direcat'' on its broad, bony back. The ''Turtangle'' marched with confidence, as if the weight of the cat's relaxed and massive body did not bother it at all. I remembered what was going to happen, and watched intensely, waiting for the moment to come. The bushes also marked the border of the ''sleep'' zone.

  What the…?

  Half drowned in fur, my fairy friend sat on the ''Direcat's'' soft neck. Clinging onto the predator's ear with one hand, in the other she held the cornflower which caused the sleepy stupor. Why did Grant allow her to extend the sleeping effect? Would it work? It would be great if he could drag the beast right to the ''Altar''!

  It didn't work.

  Even magic has its limits.

  The ''Direcat'' woke up.

  Lifting its massive head, it revealed its predatory snout to all and blankly looked around.

  The rest happened instantaneously.

  The ''Direcat'' suddenly rose on all fours, opened its mouth wide, and grinned viciously, baring its huge fangs. In a blink of an eye it entered battle mode. The fur on its body literally exploded; from its nape to its tail the cat was covered with long needles, which acted like barbed armor. The tail suddenly grew a scorpion's sting. Matte black, triangular scales with curved edges pointed outwards covered the face of the monster. Triangular ears turned into blades, and emerald green eyes flashed ferociously from the deeply recessed eye socket, looking for someone to massacre.

  Without hesitation, Grant ran away. Glutton, obeying his order, struck the side of the monster with both of its heads, drawing attention to itself. It then rushed to my side, turning into a sort of heavy armored missile with four stomping legs.

  Letting out a terrible roar, the ''Direcat'' gave chase.

  Two monsters were rushing right at me, and I gathered all of my strength and courage to help me stay in place, and not to disrupt the trance.

  Thirty feet... twenty.…

  Glutton had no intention of turning, as the momentum would not allow it to quickly change its trajectory. Instead of that Glutton... jumped.

  Holy shit!

  An ironclad flying overhead almost gave me a heart attack. The ground behind me trembled, and right in front of me appeared the ''Direcat'', fast and furious. We looked into each other's eyes, and I knew that I would not have time to grab the ''Uniq''.

  But in that moment, somewhere under the ''Direcat's'' belly, the ''Seed'' flashed with rainbow radiance, shooting thin threads towards the body of the beast and causing instant paralysis. The ''Direcat'' froze, mouth open, then slowly fell to its side, crushing the ''Altar''. Judging by the system's reaction that didn't matter at all:

  Congratulations! You have completed the third stage of the story quest "Loyal Friend" - "Awakening of a Pet "!

  Player, you've tamed your pet!

  Species: ''Direcat'' (kitten)

  Level 1

  Type: rare

  Added entry to the bestiary…

  Received 2000 XP.

  Attention! Player, you have tamed a pet that is not in the taming register for this location!

  Level 1

  Species: ''Treexie'' (adult)

  Type: unique

  Race: fairy

  Added entry to the bestiary…

  Received 3000 XP.

  Congratulations! You reached level 6!

  Current XP: 4283/7593

  Received 1 skill point, use the skill tree to distribute.

  Congratulations! You completed the quest "A Moment of Peace"!

  Reward: 5,000 XP!

  Congratulations! You reached level 7!

  Current XP: 1690/11390

  Received 2 skill points, use the skill tree to distribute…

  I didn't care for the messages that were spamming the logs.

  The fairy! How could she have stayed on the ''Direcat''?! It crushed her!

  I sprang up and hastily searched among the bony needles sticking out of the beast's neck, not noticing my bleeding fingers. There she was! The fairy's tiny body felt weightless on my palm, her golden hair ruffled by the light breeze. She lay still, eyes closed, firmly pressing the flower to her chest with both hands. I noticed only a few scratches on her shoulders and hips and felt relieved. She was intact! The system would have not reported it as a successful taming otherwise. I was so excited that I didn't immediately realize it…

  A warm, green glow radiated from his fingers and enveloped the fairy's body. I gave him a grateful nod and stared in disbelief at my acquisition. My head was buzzing, and my heart felt ready to jump out from my chest. I didn't notice when the guys huddled together and surrounded me and the ''Direcat''. Their remarks could be heard, as if through water.

  ''That's impossible. Two at once... Especially a fairy.''

  ''A bug, nothing e
lse. They are intelligent, too, which means that they are untameable.''

  ''Wise, you're a cheater... Fifteen inches of happiness. I wish I was so lucky!''

  ''Poor little thing. Losing both private life and her friends…''

  ''Dual taming is a dual responsibility. I bet he'll tear himself apart...''

  ''I wonder what can it do? It's purely decorative…''

  ''You're purely decorative yourself, Owl, if not something worse! You could try and not show your jealousy so openly! And stop staring at the girl while she's helpless!''

  ''Yeah, yeah, women's solidarity and all that! Only the owner can stare, as far as I understand it…''

  ''Come on, Gramps! Enough of this. Can we just be happy for our clanmate…''

  Let them tease.

  I could take on the world now.

  I sat and stared at the ''Direcat'' and the fairy, with a stupid smile of a blissfully happy person. Joy was incredibly strong, and I suspected it to be not entirely mine, but an aftereffect of taming, some kind of an emotional surge. Now I understood why both Grant and Red were so happy when they got their pets. I already felt a connection with both of these creatures, like I suddenly got some new limbs that I had yet to learn how to use.

  Who could have predicted that I would get much more than I wanted. All that was left to do was to deal with the loot and the skill distribution that accompanied new levels.

  Chapter 18

  "The dungeon awaits"

  "Wise! Hello? Wisee! It's time! Wake up, or I'll drop pour water on your head!"

  Not liking the sound of that, I started to wallow and propped myself up on the elbow, mumbling incomprehensibly.

  It was the same forest.

  My weapons and bag lay nearby. Bushes blocking the fairies' ritual clearing were within sight, and it seemed to be well past noon. Foxy was sitting next to me, with a mischievous smile dancing on her lips, her eyes laughing. The scratches on her face had healed, leaving barely noticeable scarring that should disappear soon. A gorgeous hellion, she was... The shirt under her suede sleeveless jacket was no longer snow–white as the day had been long with plenty of chances to get dirty, and her breeches were worn out. It all looked so natural, without the unreal purity of virtual outfits. The composite bow was lying on her lap and the quiver full of arrows by her side. It seemed to me that one more button more had been undone on her shirt, or, maybe, she had just bent down more; it was tempting to gaze at what could be seen through the fabric. What a pleasant awakening.

  Following my gaze, the girl checked the button with the same cunning smile on her lips. No doubt about it – she did that on purpose.

  "Got your attention, I hope?"

  There was nothing in her hands. She lied about the water. Smart. Oddly enough, none of the clan members were around. That was good. If Gramps saw how relaxed the girl was behaving around to me, his jealousy could turn into another "Lash of Pain". I shivered, thinking that I had forgotten about it, but the memory of the terrible array of emotions that I had felt then was still there. However, Gramps pretended that he did not know the consequences of his actions.

  Now I was sure that he'd decided to discipline me. The statement about the beating, which I allegedly "had been asking for", spoke for itself. I had never crossed him before, so the problem must have been Foxy. And for the most part, this problem existed only in the cleric's mind. Difficult conversations were yet to come, and I was already not looking forward to them.

  "What's happening?" I shook my head, getting rid of the damn thoughts.

  "What 'what'? You passed out," the archer shrugged and absentmindedly moved a stray red curl. It looked cute. "The guys did not touch you; you looked like death. The double taming took its toll on you, didn't it? How are you now?"

  "Still exhausted." The fatigue bar was only half clear. "Where are they?"

  "Cavalier and Grant went to the 'Temple', taking all our socs with them," reported Red and, noticing me reaching for the backpack, added, "don't check, they took yours, too. They told us that the priests have better potions than the ones that we have now. We won't be returning to 'Daisy'. We don't have a lot of time before the dungeon."

  "Got it. Well, if it's for a common cause... And Gramps and Owl?"

  Twisting my head, I saw that out of the six fursters, four were there. The horses were grazing in the distance, near the pine, which had served for reconnaissance. If Cavalier and Grant left, the others should be hanging around here somewhere.

  "I've not seen it myself, but Gramps noticed some players in the forest," said Red. "He and Owl went to check which clan sent us guests."

  I frowned. What were they thinking, leaving me alone with the archer? Had something happened, the girl might have not managed to fight off the danger. Sure, it was all going smoothly, but I better discuss this with Gramps; and some other things, too.

  "It doesn't matter who's wandering there. We have already done the main thing... How long have I been like this?" I suddenly realized that neither the "Direcat's" body, nor the tiny fairy, were there. I jumped to my feet. "Wait, where are my pets?!"

  "Don't shout, Wise," Red frowned slightly and stood up, not looking at me. "No one has deprived you of your pets. You'll see for yourself. We've been practicing it for you, you're gonna love it…"

  "Love what?!"

  "Turn around."

  I turn around sharply... and I witnessed a wonderful scene.

  An ash–gray cat emerged from behind the trunk of the nearest tree, paws treading gently, fur glittering as if sprinkled with jewel dust, narrow, half–closed eyes shining emerald green on the triangular face, and the white tipped tail sticking out. It was a sickly kitten, about the size of a dog. On the kitten, with truly royal grace, sat the tiny fairy, her arms crossed over her chest. Head thrown back and button–nose proudly upturned, a waterfall of sparkling, gold hair spread over the cat's fur like a magic veil. Noticing my astonished gaze, the fairy nodded graciously, as if to her faithful subject, but couldn't hold the important mien and laughed into her palm. Continuing to giggle, she pulled the kitten's ears, and they ran away to the ritual clearing, disappearing in the bushes.

  Looking at my face, Red laughed heartily.

  "Told ya you'd like it."

  "What did it look like? The transformation?"

  "Same as 'dispelling'. The process is a general one. About half an hour after you passed out, the extra weight of the beast crumbled to ashes, and this lovely kitty appeared before our eyes…She is a beauty."

  "I wish I saw... 'She'?"

  "It's a girl, yes. You got two girls, Wiso, as well as my congratulations. Quite a harem. Oh, you are in real trouble now.…"

  "Pleasant chores are not a burden," I muttered, and opened the "Glossary". It was about time to see what it had to say about my pets. So, a "Treexie" fairy… My gaze swept over the lines, isolating only the bottom one:

  "Fairies: Spirits of nature and magic-born creatures who love animals but not the members of other intelligent races. Extremely touchy, vindictive and capricious, they are prone to all sorts of tricks and often prank someone purely out of spite…"

  That not being what I was looking for, I skipped the whole narrative and focused on its abilities. They left me stunned.

  "Firefly"

  (active)

  Rank 1

  Natural ability to glow.

  "Awareness"

  (locked)

  Rank 1

  The ability to see the invisible.

  "Spiritual link"

  (locked)

  Awakenes positive emotions in its owner and allies. Development is variable.

  "Enchantress"

  (locked)

  Rank 1

  Magic flight. Development is variable.

  "Mystic lore"

  (locked)

  Rank 1

  Cultivation of unique plants. Development is variable.

  Five! Basic! Abilities! The pet had no crown, just the "unique" status. Sure, the abilities were
almost all locked, but that was natural for level one. Although nothing was clear from the short descriptions, the potential she had was impressive. Did the "ability to see the invisible" mean that she could see things like stashes and traps? Or did it mean something else? And what about the "awakening of positive emotions"? What did that do? Did it create good mood? I hoped it was more than that. "Magic flight?. Whose flight, the fairy's or the owner's? The fairy seemed to be able to fly already... Or maybe, "flight" meant something quite different? "Cultivation of unique plants"? Magic ingredients for alchemy? The most promising thing about the three talents was that "the development was variable".

  It matters not, I'll figure it out. The most important thing was to survive the "sandbox". But, was the fairy a better gain than the "Direcat"? Being so small, I doubted that she would ever become a serious fighter. Her talents were of defensive, or say, "utility" nature.

  Burning with anticipation, I checked the "Direcat's" abilities. Just like before, I skimmed through the information about it.

  "Direcat: A powerful, agile, and swift fighter capable of tipping the scales in a fight with its burst attack, which distracts the enemy's attention away from the owner and onto itself…"

  Finally, I got to its skills.

  "Poisonous Sting"

  (temporarily active)

  "Burst Attack"

  (locked)

  "Metamorphic"

  (locked)

  "Mount"

  (locked)

  Even though there were no descriptions at all, the names alone made it more or less clear what should one expect from them. Only "Metamorphic" was unclear. We were most likely talking about some sort of a combat mode. It was probably the one I had seen during the fight – the beast's transformation into an armored monster at the moment of the attack. Very impressive. It was a pity that I had to forget about owning a proper "Direcat" any time soon, as kittens didn't level until they grew up. Wait... "Poisonous Sting" was active? Already?!

  "Red, I don't understand. Does your "Batwing" have any unlocked abilities yet?"

  "Only the basic ones. He needs to grow up first."