Quick Change Volume 1: Slyborn

by C. T. O'Leary

  Ivon approached the two of them and said, “So, you’re intending to use this trick for defense?” Without any warning his left hand shot out in a lightning fast jab, connecting with Seth’s collarbone, and making him take a step backwards, hissing in a breath and reflexively rubbing the spot the old man had jabbed.

  “What was that all about?” Seth complained.

  The old scout replied, moustache quivering as he spoke, “I think you’ve got a great idea for defense here, but it’s a totally active defense. If you don’t see a hit coming, there’s no way it will get blocked. You need to maximize your coverage on the hits that you do see coming. You need to switch to that sturdy armor, take the blow, and switch back without more than a thought. It needs to be second nature, and second nature requires lots of training.” He finished, and Seth saw a grin appear from under his imposing upper lip hair. Somehow, it seemed like he’d just become Ivon’s latest student.

  The veteran adventurer took a few steps away from Seth and picked up another stick, similar in size and thickness to Aurora’s, and said, “Let’s get training.”

  ***

  Seth limped along the dirt road, desperately wishing he could return to the soft bed at the Adventurers’ Guild safehouse. Ivon and Aurora had drilled him for hours, whacking him with sticks, and though Aurora healed up all of his bruises and scrapes after each bout of training, her golden magic couldn’t fix the exhaustion that seemed to seep straight to his bones.

  Aurora and Pahan walked a short distance ahead of Seth, side-by-side, chatting away, and Ivon walked fifty yards behind them, ready to provide ranged support if anything jumped out at the group.

  They’d left the safehouse behind hours before, and Seth desperately wanted to hop on Pahan’s back and let his brutalized body rest, but his pride wouldn’t let him ask, since everyone else was walking.

  While they walked, Aurora told Ivon about Seth’s experience blessing from Djinia, and his eyes had nearly popped out of his head. He’d decided the same thing Aurora had the first time she’d found out Seth was receiving ten times normal experience; that it was an opportunity that couldn’t be squandered. The two of them had become like drill sergeants then, actively luring monsters from the surrounding area in and then forcing Seth to fight them alone, except from healing, to maximize his experience gain.

  For as much as Seth complained about Ivon and Aurora beating him up with sticks, it actually seemed to have done the trick, and he found it easier and easier to flex mental muscles while bracing for a hit, make his plate armor appear momentarily, and release it back after he took the blow.

  Seth found out the hard way that plate armor didn’t help very much against magic when a giant plant monster shot a fireball out of its mouth. Seth easily shifted into his sturdier armor, which he’d taken to thinking of as his defensive outfit, in time, but the blast still knocked him on his butt, and he could feel the searing heat burning through the chest piece.

  Seth quickly switched back to his offensive armor and felt the heat disappear almost instantly, seeming to have gone away with the heavy armor. He’d ended up taking the aptly named Sunflower monster down after a lot of healing from Aurora and practice dodging the flaming projectiles.

  About an hour after the giant flame-slinging plant, they encountered another surprise when Seth slew the seventh venomous scorpion the size of a golden retriever they’d encountered that day. He’d discovered after the first two that they always seemed to attack in a similar rotation; right pincer, left pincer, poisoned tail.

  Once he had the pattern down, it wasn’t so difficult to dodge their attacks and deal damage between, regardless of their high levels. The first one had poisoned Seth with its barbed tail, and Aurora had to heal him constantly for over two minutes straight until the poison wore off, almost completely exhausting her magic reserves.

  As soon as the scorpion went down, Pahan, who’d been lounging on the ground bantering with Ivon, whipped his head in Seth’s direction and stood, starting towards the man. Seth shook himself, feeling as good as new and knowing that meant he’d reached a new level, and looked at his logs.

  You’ve slain level 29 Dread Scorpion, +9,383 experience, you’ve reached level 20, 23,615 experience until level 21.

  938 experience diverted toward leveling Beast Bond - Pahan. Beast Bond - Pahan has reached level 10.

  Beast Bond - Pahan has reached level 10! You’ve unlocked one bond token. Use this token to unlock skills and abilities for your mount!

  Congratulations, you’ve reached level 20! You may now adopt a secondary class. A master in a particular class (level 40+) can grant you a secondary class in their specialty. Seek out a master to claim your secondary class!

  Congratulations, you’ve reached level 20! Your divine boon is now available for an upgrade! Open the boon interface for more information.

  Seth raised his eyebrows at that, as he hadn’t been expecting any kind of skills for Pahan, and he’d been wondering about Aurora and Ivon’s second classes. Just then Pahan arrived at Seth’s location, standing over the body of the scorpion, and spoke into his mind.

  Seth relayed the notifications about the beast bond token, the boon upgrade, and the secondary class to his group, admitting he really didn’t know much about any of it.

  Ivon spoke up, “Well, the only one of those things I know about is the second class. So, when you reach level twenty, you’re able to ad—”

  Ivon was cut off as Pahan literally inserted himself between Seth and the scout. His growl rumbled the earth below their feet and his mental voice said, Seth chuckled at Ivon’s offended glare. Pahan didn’t seem to notice, his eyes were locked onto Seth. Seth said, “I wonder if there’s a menu for it or…” At the thought, a new window had appeared.

  Beast Bond Skills - Pahan Level 10 beast bond Bond tokens: 1

  Unlock: Fight - 1 bond token With this skill, your mount will become a familiar. Your bond has grown strong enough for you to adequately fuel your beast’s attacks. Your familiar may now participate in battle. If your familiar is killed in battle, they will be forced to retreat to the void for at least 2 hours before being summoned again to the physical plane.

  Unlock: Flight - 1 bond token Your mount has the capability to take to the sky with enough investment of essence from your beast bond. Unlock this still to allow your mount to grow wings and soar. Restriction - while this mount can carry two average sized humans on the ground, it may only carry one while in the air.

  Seth’s heartbeat sped up as he read over the two options. Both sounded absolutely awesome, and he had no clue how he was supposed to pick between them. Allowing Pahan to fight in the physical realm would put another strong teammate on his side, but would totally destroy their strategy of intimidating people with the lion’s size, since allowing him to fight would also allow him to take damage.

  Pahan sprouting massive wings and taking to the sky with Seth on his back also sounded surreal and exhilarating, but Seth hadn’t actually spent much time traveling alone, and that restriction might make it hard to work with groups if he were to constantly fly off on his majestic airborne lion.

  An exaggerated cough from Aurora broke Seth from his reverie, “I’ll assume from that dumbstruck look you’ve found something cool.” Seth was offended until he saw her subtle smile. He was getting used to her tough facade.

  Seth read the two skill options aloud to the group. He was about to voice how difficult a decision it was, but Pahan cut him off, Seth acted exasperated, but felt grateful that the lion had made a clear choice obvious. He selected the Fight ability from the list. As soon as he’d made the selection, the window disappeared, and he felt a slight tug at his center, as if something behind his belly button was trying to pull him forward towards the great lion. At th
e same time, Pahan’s form seemed to become more real. Where he’d looked completely real and present to Seth before, new details now filled in on his massive frame, like a sketch being refined over and over.

  When it stopped, the group could almost feel his presence, hear the dirt shift under his feet and the air move as his great lungs drew in breath after breath. Any and all ghost-like air about the big cat had completely ceased to exist, and he was very much present.

  Pahan flexed his extremities, claws knifing out of his furry paws and retreating back in a heartbeat. He let out a huff through his nose and made eye contact with Seth.

  Seth said, “Pahan, I know our bond is level ten, but does that mean you’re just level ten? If that’s the case, I think you might struggle with these high-level scorpions.”

  Ivon piped up then, “Hmm, so you’re saying Pahan may eventually sprout wings and take to the sky?” He shot a meaningful look at Aurora. Seth wasn’t sure what it meant.

  “Yeah, I guess so, who knows when we’ll get another bond token though. What was that look for?” Seth looked between Aurora and Ivon.

  The old scout must have thought he was being sneaky, because he acted surprised and a guilty look passed over his features. When Ivon didn’t answer, Seth swung his gaze to Aurora, but she stared back, stone-faced. He’d almost given up when Pahan stepped forward and an impatient growl emanated from his chest, and his psychic voice said, The effect created when the giant lion simultaneously leered at you, spoke directly into your mind, and shook the ground below your feet with a deep growl was incredibly compelling, and Ivon spoke up almost immediately. “Well, there’s a myth passed down among the ranks of the guild. The story tells of a specific prophesied guild member. This adventurer was shown to an oracle in a single image hundreds of years ago. The oracle, who reportedly had no artistic experience at all, supposedly picked up paints and painted the image on a wall as if in a trance. That painting has been reproduced countless times, and one hangs in most Adventurers’ Guild halls, though many in the guild discount the story as superstitious drivel.” Seth glanced at Aurora and saw a slightly irritated look on her face.

  Ivon began fiddling with his bag, pulling something small and rectangular out. It was wrapped in a tattered brown cloth, and he began unwrapping it and walking towards Seth as he continued speaking, “The figure is referred to by believers as the Liberator, and the oracle claimed they would appear alongside the return of the adventurer race, and they’d lead the fight against the spirits of the wild, and their god, Ygzotl.”

  Ivon finished unwrapping the object, and he saw that it was a small framed painting, about the size of his stretched palm. Ivon handed it to him, and he inspected it. Pahan’s head hovered over his shoulder as he looked. The big lion’s breath tickled his ear.

  The image was vertically divided down the middle, and Seth’s eyes were immediately drawn to the right side where a single giant eye and several teeth seemed to be peering out from a hole in the sky. His pulse quickened and his mind flashed back to a similar sight he’d seen when he’d been leaving the ‘tutorial’. He assumed that it must be the god of the spirits of the wild that Ivon had just mentioned, Ygzotl. Even thinking the name gave him goosebumps.

  Seth scanned the left side of the composition, and his breath caught in his throat. A lone, blurry figure sat atop a giant, winged white lion that looked just like Pahan, sword held high. A vibrant red cape streamed away from the figure as they charged toward the god’s eye.

  Ivon spoke up again in the silence. “I thought of it as soon as I met your friend here,” he nodded his head toward Pahan, “but assumed that since he didn’t have wings, and that you weren’t a member of the guild, it must have just been a coincidence. Now that you’ve told us that Pahan can gain flight, the evidence seems to indicate that you’ll enlist with the guild and become the Liberator of legend. It also coincides with the return of the adventurer race. And to think, we thought this was all some sort of vague symbolism. Some people even thought that Aurora’s mother might have—”

  Aurora cut him off, “My mother has nothing to do with this. Don’t worry Seth, those are just silly legends. It is an incredible coincidence that you’ve befriended a giant white lion who can learn flight, but it doesn’t really mean anything. People always look for connections that aren’t actually there.”

  Seth’s mind was whirling, and he wanted to change the subject while he digested what he’d just learned, so he looked at Pahan, tried to adopt a confident expression, and said, “Didn’t you have a date with a scorpion?”

  Chapter 21

  Pahan effortlessly dodged a stab of the scorpion’s venomous tail before lunging in close and snapping the beast up in his jaws. With a sickening crunch, he bit down with his powerful jaw muscles, and the scorpion stopped struggling.

  Your familiar Pahan has slain level 30 Dread Scorpion, +10,203 experience, 3,028 experience until level 21.

  The second scorpion had gone even quicker than the first. Apparently, even the warped physics of Morgenheim had to admit that at level twenty, an eight-foot-tall massive feline predator was way tougher than any dog-sized scorpion, regardless of a ten-level deficit.

  It had come as a very pleasant surprise when they had discovered, after the first scorpion, that Seth received full experience from Pahan’s kills. This meant that he and Pahan could work together to fight enemies, and there would be no experience lost to the other members of the party, as long as they didn’t participate. It also meant that, for the first time since Aurora found out about Djinia’s Blessing, Seth wasn’t fighting alone.

  The group continued walking, Ivon had seemed to know exactly where they were going, and Seth saw his eyes lose focus again as he checked his map. Seth said, “Ivon, care to finish what you started to tell me about second classes?”

  Pahan huffed but didn’t say anything, and Ivon openly leered at him. Seth wasn’t sure if they’d developed some kind of friendly rivalry, or if they were really getting on each other's nerves.

  Ivon said, “Sure, I’d be happy to. As you now know, you gain access to a second class once your primary class reaches level twenty. Most people who don’t fight and train for a living don’t reach that level, so it’s quite common for your average citizen to just have their primary class. As you know, your primary class dictates both how many attribute points you gain per level, like large strength increases for warriors, and what skills you are granted, like your Charge skill. I realize this wasn’t the case for you, but for people born here, we have no choice in our own classes. I’m a scout because both my mother and father were scouts. My mother did have a secondary class as a rogue, so I had a slight chance to be born as that instead, but it didn’t shake out that way. Secondary classes give us more control over our skills and development, doing exactly what primary classes do, but to a lesser extent.

  “Someone with scout as a primary class will gain three dexterity every time they gain a level, and only one wisdom. Priest primaries gain three wisdom, but only one dexterity per level. If a priest decided they wanted to be more dexterous, they may consider taking on a secondary class of scout. Where a normal priest only gains one dexterity per level, choosing scout as a secondary class will cause that priest to gain two dexterity per level instead, since that’s the middle point between the one they should gain, and the three a primary scout would gain.

  “This applies for all of the attributes, stamina, strength, dexterity, intelligence, and wisdom. If the average of what your primary and secondary classes gain is higher than what your primary class normally gains, you gain the average. In other words, just by adopting a scout secondary, the priest won’t suddenly start only gaining two wisdom per level, they’ll instead retain their higher three points of wisdom per level.

  “I realize this is
somewhat dense, especially for a warrior, but just know that picking a secondary class affects your attribute gains in only a positive way. Making you better at what the secondary class does, too. Now, for abilities. I’m sure you’ve seen the little icon on some of your abilities.”

  Ivon spotted the slightly panicked look on Seth’s face and correctly assumed it meant he hadn’t noticed any icon. He continued, chuckling, “Alright, pull up the description for your Deliberate Strike skill and look for the little symbol that looks like a diamond.”

  Seth did as the old man said and there was indeed a small diamond shaped icon after the name of the skill. He said, “I do see it on Deliberate Strike, what does it mean?”

  Ivon said, “That symbol indicates that a skill may be used whether warrior is your primary or secondary class. You’ll notice you don’t see that symbol on your Charge skill. What that means is that only warrior primaries can use Charge, but a scout primary warrior secondary could use Deliberate Strike. This holds for all classes, there are some skills that only are granted to primaries in a class, and others that are granted to someone who has it as a primary or secondary.

  “Finally, there are some unique skills that only certain primary and secondary combinations can use. The literature on these is much less detailed as there are so many different combinations, and people like to try and keep their full capabilities in battle private, but our guild has quite in-depth writings on these skills.

  “For instance, I happen to know that if you were to take a mage on as your secondary class, you’d gain a skill called Electric Saber, causing your enemy extra shock damage every time you connected a blow with a bladed weapon. Electric Saber is completely unique to warrior mage combinations.

  “So, to give you a real-world example, take our friend Aurora over here.” Aurora, who’d been silent until then, looked suspiciously at Ivon, as if he were going to spill some kind of her secrets, but he continued, unperturbed, “I happen to know Aurora’s mother, Liora, is a mage primary, knight secondary, so Aurora’s knight class came either from her mother’s secondary class, or her father.