A wound in Phantom's side seemed to fester with a dense Entropy Affinity. From there, it was spreading to the rest of her body. The only reason she had survived this long was that she too had ascended. Harmony Affinity radiated outward from her source to the rest of her body and warded off the encroaching darkness, though he could immediately tell she was losing the ground, albeit slowly.
The curse seemed to be having trouble spreading toward the cat's mana source. Taking the path of least resistance, the curse spread up and down Phantom’s sides where it had eventually reached her head.
Danny had gotten close enough, and the cat jumped at him, easily knocking him down and biting deeply into his shoulder. Danny could tell the cat had easily grown twice as large since the last time he had seen her. Phantom’s mouth effortlessly bit from his neck down to his lower arm. Concerned for what the elves would do, Danny expanded his aura beyond them, in hopes of obscuring the elves’ sight with the blinding light.
Danny found it odd that he didn't feel any pain from the cat’s bite and just continued to focus on removing the curse from Phantom's body. He was grateful to find she must have some control of herself, as all Phantom did was bite down. All it would have taken was a quick shake and she would have easily snapped Danny's neck.
Through his affinity, Danny could suddenly sense dozens of wounds appeared all over Phantom's back. Phantom bit down further on Danny’s shoulder, but fortunately still refused to do more than this.
Danny screamed, “Hold your fire! Hold!”
He had already healed the festering wound and had refocused his magic toward her head. As soon as Phantom's head was clear of the curse, she released his shoulder and stood up. Whining in discomfort, she collapsed on her side to ground.
Retracting his aura back down to just Phantom, Danny stood up and continued to focus on the cat. He rubbed her fur as he pulled on the arrows which had embedded themselves deeply into the cat's flesh. Phantom jerked with the removal of the arrows, but the pain must have been dulled by the presence of their combined harmony affinities.
Finally finished, Danny collapsed against Phantom’s side, and the ghost leopard craned her head to rest it on his back. Danny looked out of the corner of his eye at his torn and blood covered clothes. Even through all the blood, he could tell the bite marks had healed already. This confirmed his suspicion that the Harmony Aspect automatically healed his body when damaged.
*Yeah, but don't depend on it too much, Danny. You will eventually run out of internal resources to replace the flesh that was lost. You are really getting dangerously thin.*
Danny just nodded into Phantom’s fur, mentally exhausted.
“Danny!” Brooke and Ivy ran over toward them.
Danny looked over to see Jade crying, and even Brooke had tears in her eyes.
Brooke picked up Danny like he was made of straw and turned him so that she could check his bloody shoulder. Finding him in one piece, she grabbed him into a hug that caused his Harmony Aspect to abruptly end. Pain returned to Danny's world.
“Brooke! Ribs!”
Even in the now darkened woods, Danny could see Brooke's blush, “Sorry, Danny!”
Jade was busy pulling back his torn clothing to thoroughly inspect Danny’s shoulder.
Danny smiled, “I'm fine now Jade. Look, Phantom’s back!”
Looking at his shoulder, Danny added, “There goes my last duster.”
Phantom rose up and pushed her way past Danny to nudge Brooke and Jade. The girls hugged either side of the cat’s head, cooing and petting her. The cat had been just large enough for Danny to ride before’ now she could probably carry two or more of them.
*Danny, I am sorry. I never checked on her after she saved us from the undead goblin. I was just too busy trying to keep you alive, and then there was all the upgrades to deal with. I should have spared a second to scan for her.*
*Cranny, it’s alright. She's fine now and back with us. I should have gone back for her, but we were in such a rush.*
One of the elven soldiers moved forward and bowed to Danny, “Ascendant, I am in command of this patrol, Is everyone alright?”
Danny nodded, “Yes, we are all safe, and my familiar, Phantom, is free of the curse she was under.”
Some of the other elves had moved forward hesitantly and seemed transfixed by Phantom. A few made gestures of respect or bowed low toward Danny’s furry companion.
The elf looked uncomfortable, “My apologies for allowing your familiar to be harmed by those under my command. I will take full responsibility for what transpired.”
Danny shook his head, “You were just trying to protect me from what obviously looked like a threat to my life.”
The elf bowed lower, “Thank you for your understanding. We had orders to protect you at all costs. I feared that we had failed before we could even fire the first arrow. We had your familiar contained and were waiting for one of the elders to come and confirm what was wrong with the sacred beast. Some of the troops recognized the curse from the descriptions in the recent reports and wanted to go against our traditions and immediately put the sacred beast out of its misery. I am grateful we did not make that mistake.”
Danny’s smile faded, “As am I. We will be heading back now unless there is a reason you need us to stay?”
The elf’s head shook, “No, good night, Ascendant. Please allow me to send some of my troops to escort you back to the palace.”
Danny looked over at Phantom and took a moment to decide, “No, thank you. I don't think they will be able to keep up. Brooke, Jade, get up on Phantom. We are heading back.”
Brooke climbed up on Phantom behind Jade and looked down at Danny with disappointment, “I was hoping to fly some more.”
Danny put a hand on Phantom’s head and activated Air Aspect, “Who said we weren't flying? Hang on.”
Wind wrapped around the cat and the girls, keeping them securely on. They all rose up in the air and took off slowly toward the palace. At first Phantom was tense with arms and legs splayed outward, but once they cleared the treetops she started trying to run. While this action made them wobble a bit, Danny didn’t stop her as it seemed to have a calming effect the large cat.
***
They reached Danny’s window, and Phantom was almost too big to fit through. After the girls got off, the cat quickly bounded around the room and promptly declared Danny’s bed as her own. The bed groaned and sagged in complaint at the weight of the large beast. Danny flopped down next to her and the cat turned to lick Danny’s face.
Laughing and wiping his face on the covers, Danny looked around to find it was just Phantom and him in the room. Danny turned to the cat and extended his mana and connected to Phantom’s mind with his Nature Affinity. Over the next half hour, Danny and Phantom shared their experiences since they had been separated.
Through memories and emotions, Phantom shared how she had also been caught up in Danny’s massive spell to heal himself. Before he had healed himself, Phantom had quickly returned to find him on the ground. Then a few minutes later, there had been a bright light and she had collapsed to the ground, blacking out. She had no memory of her transition after that.
*Danny, like the elder explained, the other variant beasts we fought were ascended as well. Maybe beasts can skip unlocking their mana all together and go straight to ascension. I'm guessing either this is a natural process for them or there is a better chance for the beasts to survive the change.*
Phantom continued showing Danny her memories. She had awakened before Danny, to discover the undead goblin almost upon them. Maybe it was coincidence or maybe instinct that awoke her, Danny only knew he was grateful for whatever it had been. Phantom had been disoriented from the change, and the cursed goblin was able to bite into her shoulder before she could finish it off. Phantom felt pain at the site of the bite but otherwise felt no immediate ill effects from it.
Phantom’s ascendance brought about a great hunger, but she resisted long enough for Danny to w
ake up before she ran off to hunt. Over the next few days, Phantom knew only the pangs of hunger and the darkness of unconsciousness. Danny found this odd as he didn't need to--or couldn't--sleep anymore.
*Look at how large she is now, and in such a short time. I bet this is why she had to rest so much. Apparently, even this ascendancy state has its limitations.*
By the third day, Phantom’s neverending hunger lessened enough for her to realize that something was amiss. One whole side felt wrong. Danny had expected pain or a feeling of sickness. Phantom reaffirmed that, besides the bite which hadn't healed, she just felt off. She struggled over the next day to reach where she knew Danny was. The wrongness spread to her head, and that’s when she had to start constantly fight for control. Reaching Danny soon became her only coherent thought.
Danny hugged the cat around her neck as Phantom purred and pushed back against him. Danny watched with interest as his mana sight showed the mana in Phantom’s body rippling outward from her source. He wasn’t sure what to make of this.
Cranny guessed, *Maybe it’s an animal thing?
Before the ascendancy, Danny would normally go to sleep at this point. Last night he had spent experimenting with Nature Affinity but had held off using Nature Aspect until he was with the elders.
A guard materialized at his room’s doorway, “Ascendant, the queen apologizes for not coming to you in person. Recent events are taking up most of her time. She would like to express her happiness at you being united with your familiar. She requests yours and Phantom’s presence in the throne room tomorrow morning after breakfast. A servant will come by to take you there.”
Danny hadn’t expected this and figured he couldn’t ignore the queen. He replied, “Thank you. Tell her I will be there.”
After the guard left, Danny grumblingly thought, *I wonder what that is all about? I got the impression she had been keeping our presence here low key…*
*With us flying around every day? She probably also wants to show off Phantom.*
Danny got up out of bed, “Come on Phantom. Let's go find some supper.”
CHAPTER 15
Danny and Phantom walked into the atrium of the guest wing. The girls were talking in the sitting area with the Basalt women while Wizard Basalt was still busily eating over at the dining table.
Ivy saw the two enter the room and called over excitedly, but to Danny's chagrin, it was just to Phantom. Hearing the familiar voice, the cat quickly ran over to greet the girl. The rest of them quickly gathered around to lavish the ghost leopard with a ridiculous amount of affection.
Danny just stood there watching with a pained look until he heard a deep chuckle coming from the dining table. He turned to see the wizard stuffing his face, while watching and shaking in laughter at Danny’s expression. A few bits of food flew out of his mouth as he failed to reign in his mirth at the dejected look on Danny's face.
Danny scowled at the older man which only made him laugh harder. Danny sat down next to the man and grabbed a plate and started filling it from the abundance of food still left in the middle of the table. His recent healing had made him ravenous.
Wizard Basalt swallowed the not so insignificant amount of food that was currently in his mouth, “Danny, I see you found the girls’ little kitten. Don’t worry, I am sure you will always be in a close second in their hearts.”
Danny smirked while taking a bite of some sort of pie that was filled with meat and a delicious tasting fruit, “Yes, she is quite the popular one with the ladies.”
“Is that jealousy I hear there Danny?”
Danny turned to the wizard, “Yes. Yes it is.”
The older man nodded, “Good! I was afraid with that with that princess around you would be forgetting about my little Jade.”
Danny smiled and shook his head, “Never, sir.”
The wizard slapped Danny on the back and then got back to work on the cooked large bird carcass he apparently was eating by himself.
“Wizard, I saw you fight that undead mountain troll during the battle in the forest. That was awesome! How did you train yourself to be so strong?”
The older man stopped eating and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his duster, “Danny, I only have one affinity, Earth. Because of that, I felt I would need to have something else to support my magic. I decided that strength was the way to go. My wives are all swift and deadly with their blades and bows, so I took up the heavy lifting to offset that.”
Looking around conspiratorially the wizard continued, “Now, this next part I didn't tell you because I was only able to get it out of my wives when they were young and easily swayed by my undeniable manly charms.”
Danny really tried hard to keep a look of disbelief from spreading across his face, and just barely managed to keep silent so the man would continue.
“Danny, there is something they don't tell wizards because they want us to focus only on magic, even in the order. In Diadem, the men have their roles and the women theirs. What I discovered, was that the benefits of strength and agility attribute bonuses provided by the sanctuary are all dependent on the condition of one’s body.
After long years of study, the people of Diadem discovered that a person who has reached halfway to first threshold in strength has fifty percent more strength than they would normally have. Those who reach their first threshold have one hundred percent more strength. Now, fifty percent more strength on my body versus yours, Danny, would have drastically different results. More muscle, more benefit.”
Danny was ready with a question, “I noticed agility makes you taller, strength makes you more muscular, and intelligence makes you...”
The wizard smiled and batted his eyelashes, “Prettier?”
Danny laughed and nodded.
Wizard Basalt nodded and took a long drought from his glass, “You are right on all cases, yet you don't have everything. Strength makes your muscles more efficient and takes longer to start regressing. Agility makes you taller, but it also makes you more limber and helps you to store more energy in your body. The vanity of the sorcerers made sure intelligence made one more attractive, but it also increases the amount of information you can store in your head and how quickly you can access it. All attribute bonuses are about increasing efficiency, well except the pretty part. It appears the first tier of every attribute raised some aspect by one hundred percent.”
Danny shook his head, “Are there added benefits when you reach the thresholds?”
Wizard Basalt nodded, “Yes, for the strength threshold, we never lose muscle growth, which if one is not careful can cause a person to get too large. For the agility threshold, we get an extraordinary sense of danger that allows us to instinctively respond to threats we normally wouldn't be aware of. Danny, I suspect you already know what happens when someone crosses the intelligence threshold.”
Danny stared at the wizard before answering, “Yes, sir, I am.”
Danny decided not to tell the older man about his knowledge of the other races. He didn't want to give up information provided by the elves. Especially in an area where the guards were listening.
“I am surprised you haven't asked me about this before, Danny.”
“Well, I was always focused on my magic until now, and Instructor Meadow always just gave me more tasks when I bugged her with questions on specifics.”
“Yes, she is expected to reinforce the division of labor. Well, my wives and I were a special case, especially when they couldn’t dissuade me from training in other areas.”
“Wizard, I now find my physical abilities are sorely lacking. Could you give me some tips on how to increase my strength? It seems like that one is the hardest to raise. Most skills seem to have agility as well as strength.”
“Yes, that is true. There are not many known skills that just raise strength. I can make you a list of skills to raise, but will you have time to train while you are helping the elves? I thought you were not finished.”
“No, sir, I am not finished helping
them, but I find myself not sleeping as much lately, and I think the exercise will help.”
“That would do it. But you might want to gain a bit more muscle before you try anything on my lists…” The wizard reached over to put a massive hand on Danny’s shoulder, “Danny, let me know if you want to talk about anything. I know I have had many a sleepless night from things I have seen and done in this line of work. Just come find me, and I will be happy to speak with you.”
Danny smiled at Wizard Basalt, “Thank you very much, sir, I appreciate that.”
The two then tucked into the rest of the food left on the table.
***
Later that night when everyone else had gone to sleep, Danny and Phantom made their way down to one of the courtyards. Danny had gotten the promised list from Wizard Basalt and decided to spend his nights training his body. He was getting tired of people pointing out how skinny he was.
*Yeah, you are looking more lady-man than lady’s man.*
*Shut up, Cranny!*
Danny didn't want to disturb the elven trainers this late at night and decided to try what he could on his own. At first he thought about using Nature Affinity, but he wanted to build strength. So he switched gears, which then led him to the decision that it was time to try his Earth Aspect.
Standing in one of the moonlit courtyards of the palace, Danny found a place that was set aside specifically for training. The area didn't have as much grass due to heavy use, and it was in a corner out of the way. Danny cast a light spell that he knew would last a few hours. Having all this excess mana was great. Phantom wandered over to a nearby tree and laid down in its shadow. In moments she was fast asleep.
Danny looked around the courtyard and remembered his guards who were always there. Sighing, he resigned himself to this fate and stripped off all his clothing. He paused with his boxers around his ankles, *Wait, why didn't I just go to my research room in the elder's wing?*
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