“Did you see anything that Tási and I could handle on our own?” I asked him.
Most of the beasts are fairly powerful, Sintári. They must be to live in these lands. But they are all traveling alone. If you are careful, I am sure you can deal with any of them.
I had Bane lead us into the forest, tracking down our first victim for us. We followed him as he glided from tree to tree, directing us towards the closest of the creatures that he had spotted. When we closed in on the beast, Bane flew down and landed on my shoulder.
I do not know what this creature is, Sintári. It is quite tall, over ten feet high and looks like a human, but badly deformed. At the moment, he is resting in the small gully below us. Our position up here should give you quite an advantage, at least to begin with.
I peered beyond the slight cover of undergrowth we hid behind and into the depression where our target was lying. I recognized the misshapen form immediately—it was another Forest Ogre, just like the one we had defeated after meeting the Dryad. My Blind arrows had made the difference in that battle, rendering the monster unable to find any of us as we beat him down relentlessly. I drew a shaft from my Quiver, intending to repeat the tactic that had worked so well for me before.
“He is vulnerable to my blinding attack,” I whispered to Tási. “I’m going to keep him in the dark while we wear him down.”
“Are you insane?” Tási replied incredulously. “That thing is way too powerful for the two of us.”
Tási waved off Bane’s angry stare as she waited for my reply.
“We fought a Forest Ogre before, and won,” I told her. “Keeping it blinded made the beast nearly helpless. We can do this.”
“If I die, you’re never going to hear the end of it. I promise you that,” she whispered back at me.
I sighted in on the ogre and infused my arrow with Blind. The shot was a simple one, since the creature was both incredibly large and completely stationary below us. I let the shaft fly, and the enhanced arrow struck the ogre squarely in its chest. Where my former bow and lesser arrows had failed to penetrate the hide of the other Forest Ogre, my new weapon and ammunition pierced this one’s defenses with ease, and the monster bellowed loudly as the entire length of the arrow buried itself inside him.
The enraged monster lashed out all around him, wreaking havoc on the helpless vegetation that surrounded him, but doing us no harm. From above, I fired a series of devastating arrows into his body. With the tremendous power of the Bow of Impact, even my unenhanced arrows jolted the ogre’s body. As I turned the ogre into my own personal pincushion, Tási pelted him with flaming bolts. Even though his thick hide protected him from most of her damage, he was still quickly covered in scorches and burns. The ogre was soon overwhelmed by our onslaught and collapsed to the ground. His once impressive health bar was reduced to a mere sliver, and I halted our assault so that I could finish him at close range.
I cast Find Weakness and then Bolt into his helpless body as we drew near, watching as he convulsed helplessly under the effects of its electric energy. Although his body glowed soft red from Find Weakness, I ignored his vulnerabilities and focused only on utilizing as many of my talents as possible before he expired. With precious little life remaining in him, I drew the Essence Blade and my short sword and channeled every Blade skill I had as I slashed into him relentlessly. The ogre’s life ended quickly under my assault, and I backed away from him slowly when he expired.
I turned to find my companions and saw Bane perched on Tási’s shoulder. Tási stared at me with a combination of awe and barely contained disgust on her face. Although Bane’s expressions were much harder for me to read, I could tell that his own impressions were not much different from hers. Neither had seen me take advantage of a kill like this before, and I knew from past experience that observing it could be… disconcerting.
“I guess I should explain,” I offered my two stunned friends.
After a few minutes spent reminding them how my skills developed, they finally understood why I had attacked the ogre so viciously. I knew it was an unpleasant tactic, but in this dangerous world, I needed to take full advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. Tási and Bane understood this concept as well since both were native to these harsh lands and accepted my explanation with no objections.
“Bane,” I said to him when we finished our little discussion. “Scout the area and make sure were safe for the moment. Then please see if you can find us another target.”
Of course, Sintári. Oh, and I do hope that wasn’t one of Baby Ogre Girl’s relatives that you just murdered.
He hadn’t labeled Tási with that mock insult in quite some time, and his use of it then caught me by surprise. Tási looked at me questioningly as I stifled a laugh, but I just waved her off, choking down my amusement before quickly changing the subject.
“I need to see how much progress that fight gave me. Keep watch for me for a moment while I take a peek, alright?”
Tási nodded back at me and I quickly opened up the notifications tab. There was just the single alert, letting me know how much XP I had earned by defeating the Forest Ogre.
Experience gained – You have gained 1200 XP.
If I remembered correctly, it was exactly the same amount I had gotten after we had killed the first ogre, which also left me over 600 XP short of what I needed to make it to my next level. I sighed as I closed the window, knowing that we needed to survive at least one more encounter before I would reach my goal.
While we waited for Bane to return, I tried to loot the dead ogre’s body. Unfortunately, just like last time, the Forest Ogre possessed nothing of value and the loot menu came up empty.
We only had a short wait before Bane returned again. He landed on a tree branch next to us as he told me about the next creature he had found.
It is not far away, Sintári, and I think it heard your fight here. It appears to be making its way towards us.
“Describe it for us, please,” I asked him.
It is a cat, Sintári. A very large cat with two heads. One head appears normal while the other has long fangs.
I had no idea what the creature was. I passed his description on to Tási, but she had never heard of such a beast either. With the monster rapidly approaching us, I quickly placed several traps around the dead ogre’s body, hoping to use it as bait for the feline. Once I was satisfied, we retreated back to our former position overlooking the small depression. Before we settled in to wait, I cast two more traps around us, just in case the cat was a bit more sly than we anticipated.
It approaches now, Sintári. Bane messaged to me from his perch high above.
I wanted to ask him what direction the cat was coming from, but our one-way communication system did not allow me to send my thoughts back to him. Fortunately, he knew his job well and supplied me with the much-needed information.
The cat should be visible to you soon. It approaches from directly in front of you.
I couldn’t help but smile as I realized just how lucky I was to have the little Rhastoren as my companion, but that smile vanished completely from my face as the beast came into view.
Bane’s description of the cat as ‘large” was wholly inadequate. Huge or perhaps tremendous would have been far more apt. Had I known just how big the beast was, I might have decided to retreat rather than risk the encounter. But we were here now, and there was no way we could leave without the giant feline noticing us.
One of its heads sniffed the ground just beyond the perimeter of my traps, searching the air for hints of danger while the head with the incredibly long fangs glared menacingly around the small clearing below us. The cat’s body reminded of a panther, thick and well-muscled. Its rough fur was a medium brown color, but dappled with spots of dark brown, helping it blend into the forest background. While the head on the left side of its neck seemed almost normal, the one on the right appeared to be grafted from a sabre toothed tiger, complete with long, stabbing fangs.
&n
bsp; The cat proceeded cautiously into the clearing, hesitantly advancing on the carcass of the fallen ogre. I waited until its massive body was fully within the borders of my trap before triggering the entangling vines.
A tremendous roar echoed through the forest as the vines rose from the ground and grasped at the cat’s body. The vines quickly wrapped around the cat’s frame, but the massive creature’s might immediately began snapping off the tendrils. I realized that the trap would not hold the beast for long, and quickly started to fire arrows at the cat. I used every debilitating shot I had to keep the monster at bay, and while they seemed to work for the most part, the cat still relentlessly tore away at the vines that encircled its body.
Tási had been forced to hold back her own attacks to prevent her fire from burning through the vines that were restraining the cat. I was beginning to worry about what might happen once the beast freed itself from the trap when Bane landed squarely upon the cat’s broad back. He plunged his head into the cat’s thick fur and bit the beast repeatedly. I watched in amazement as the giant feline grew sluggish and then collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Bane quickly settled onto my shoulder and I stroked his scales as I spoke to him.
“You told me your venom had gotten stronger, but that is truly impressive, Bane.”
“I’m feeling a little inadequate at the moment,” Tási complained.
“You did exactly what you should have Tási, no more, no less,” I offered. “I’m going to finish off this beast, so if you don’t want to watch, now’s your chance to look away.”
I was about to kill the giant creature the same way I had dispatched the ogre, by hacking away at its body mercilessly while running through every possible talent before it finally succumbed to my relentless assault, but looking at the giant cat made me remember the forest cat I had killed back in Tula. Its pelt had been fairly valuable, and I couldn’t help but think that the hide of this giant beast might be worth a great deal more than that. So, rather than ruining the pelt with a series of needless slashes, I carefully planned my assault.
Instead of attacking the cat’s body and ruining the pelt, I focused only on strikes to its head. I slashed and stabbed the beast repeatedly, finally ending its life with thrusts into the eyes of both its battered skulls. With the beast finally dispatched, I pressed my hand against its still-warm fur and pulled up the loot menu. Just like with the forest cat, the feline’s claws and fangs popped into the menu alongside its pelt. Harvesting the tremendous carcass would truly be a chore, and I asked Tási and Bane to keep watch while I set about the gruesome task.
It took quite a bit of work to peel the hide off the cat’s gigantic carcass, but eventually the pelt I had put so much effort into saving was mine, and I stuffed the giant hide into my backpack along with the cat’s massive fangs and claws. While I had no idea what they might be worth, just having the trophies from our battle felt like an accomplishment to me.
Instead of checking my notifications right then, I decided to wait until we were safely behind the protection of our wall again. We had just fought two rather noisy battles in the dangerous wilds, and it was well past time for us to be out of the area. Being ambushed while I was busy navigating the level-up menus was definitely not on my to-do list.
Bane scouted ahead of us, making sure that we encountered no further surprises on our journey back to the valley. His task was easy this time, as nothing popped up along the way and we made it back inside the safety of our fortifications without incident.
I sat down when we reached our new campsite beside the wall and let out a deep breath. The day had been a very long and stressful one, starting with our battle against the orcs and including my own struggle with the summoning magic before ending with our fights in the forest. Now that it was finally over, exhaustion set in and I felt the full effects of the day’s exertions.
I could barely sit up straight, but fortunately, Tási offered to prepare some dinner for us, and I thanked her as I opened up my UI. I focused on my pending notifications and brought up the messages.
Experience gained – You have gained 1650 XP
You have gained a level! – You have earned sufficient experience to advance to level 25.
You have gained three Attribute points. Two of your points have been automatically assigned to WIS and CHA. You may assign the remaining point to any other Attribute as you see fit.
I decided to put my stat point into Constitution this time, boosting my Health and Endurance. Neither had become an issue for me yet, but I was concerned that my stats were becoming far too imbalanced. All of my Attributes had value, even though some would only be apparent in the long-term, but my goals ranged far beyond my immediate needs, and I was rapidly learning that I needed to keep the future in mind at all times if I wanted to have any chance of success. With my choice made, the next menu immediately appeared before my eyes.
You can now choose a new Ability. You must choose one of the following:
Rapid Fire – After firing an arrow, your follow-up shot takes half as long as normal to be fired. Cost – 10 Endurance.
Seeker – Your next single shot has an increased chance to hit. Cost – 10 Endurance.
Body Blow – Your next dagger attack, if it lands, will cause your opponent to suffer an Endurance penalty. Cost – 20 Aura.
Impale – Your dagger inflicts a damage-over-time bleed effect. Cost – 20 Endurance.
Focused Fire – Your next arrow causes increased damage if it hits. Cost – 20 Endurance.
Long Range Shot – Increase the effective range of your bow. Cost – 30 Aura.
Shockwave – Advanced Ability – Your arrow explodes on contact, dealing minimal damage but generating a stunning shockwave in a radius around its detonation. Size and scope of this effect increase with proficiency. Modifier – Strength. Cost – 120 Aura.
Companion’s Aegis – Advanced Ability – Provides additional armor for your companion animal. The selection of this Ability provides a permanent boost to your familiar’s armor rating.
Your choice is final and must be made now. Choose wisely, as you will now only gain a new Ability every five levels.
“Bane, Tási!” I called out nervously as I stared at the screen in front of me.
They both arrived at the same time, Bane perching on my shoulder while Tási sat down beside me.
“I recognize that blank stare, Dreya. What do you see in your Deathless messages that troubles you so much?”
I read the description of the two Advanced Abilities out loud to both of them before describing my dilemma.
“The Shockwave could be very useful for us if we are attacked by the orcs, or anyone else for that matter,” I explained. “But increasing Bane’s protection would make him so much safer, I’m having difficulty making the decision.”
I will be fine, Sintári. Choose the spell that helps you.
I knew he would decline the added protection for my benefit, so I ignored his advice and waited for Tási to offer her opinion.
“As much as I love Bane, I think you should choose the added offense,” she finally said after several, long moments of consideration. “He is most helpful as a scout. Stealth more than armor is his best defense.”
“Bane,” I said stroking the scales along his neck. “Tási is correct. But if I do this, I need to know that you are comfortable limiting your role to scouting and not taking any unnecessary risks. Especially in the middle of a pitched battle like the one we are probably facing.”
I understand Sintári. I will serve you as best as I can.
“Promise me you will stay safe,” I pleaded with him.
His little reptilian lips curled up in a smile as his thoughts entered my mind.
I will be just as cautious as you are, Sintári.
“Try to do a little better than that, alright?”
I shall. He replied as he nuzzled my face.
I brushed my hand along his neck as I selected the Shockwave Ability. The talent provi
ded a clear means for us to dominate the field of battle, as long as the enemy allowed me the precious time I needed to launch the attack, but I would have to train with it quickly and gain as much proficiency as I could before our enemies arrived for it to have its full effect. With the final choice made, the window closed, and I exited the UI interface. I gave Bane a little hug as he sat perched on my shoulder, and he leaned into me as I embraced him, returning my affection as best he could.
We ate dinner together, and I truly enjoyed the simple meal Tási prepared for us. It was more than just the sharing of a meal that was special to me, it was the recognition that the three of us were growing even closer as we fought to survive on our own in the dangerous wilderness. Our struggles, as difficult as they were, bound us to each other in a way that nothing else possibly could.
On the off chance that anything might get past our defenses, I added several additional traps around our camp before we went to bed. The effort sapped my last reserves of strength, and I tumbled into the blankets as soon as I entered the tent. Tási lay down beside me quietly and I froze for a moment, remembering her vow to repay me for how I’d tormented her the other night.
“Tási,” I said hesitantly. “I know what I promised you, but I’m so exhausted, can we—”
“Yes, it can wait,” she said, cutting me off. Her easy dismissal of the task she had clearly been looking forward to was uncharacteristic of her. Not only that, but her tone was completely off. Very un-Tási like.
“What is it, Tási? What’s wrong?”
She hesitated a moment before blurting out her confession to me.
“I’m scared Dreya. Terrified. Whatever my mother was, whatever she left inside me, I can feel it starting to come out. Somehow, I know that you are the key to its emergence; that you are the one who will pull the truth of it out of me. And more than anything, I’m afraid that when we finally do discover it, my secret will drive you away.”
The genuine note of fear in her voice caused me to pause and consider her words carefully. She was right in saying that we had no idea just what might be hidden inside her. For all we knew, some great evil had been tucked away beneath her gentle exterior, but I simply could not accept that possibility. I wasn’t naïve—I was more than aware enough of the threats that would be ready to pounce on me as soon as this world learned of my presence, but I also knew that my allies had been carefully planning to support me long before my arrival here. And while I had encountered my share of threats in this world, every one of them had been spontaneous in nature. Every single thing I came across that was prepared beforehand had only been beneficial to me. I knew in my heart that whatever Tási held within her was of a similar nature. Despite my exhaustion, I pulled myself up and took her hands in mine as I replied.
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