Under the pale moon light as the city slept, a certain slim youth crept out of his grandfather's shop into a deserted back alley. Shifting the bulky burlap sack on his back, the delinquent rubbed his thin goatee and smiled to himself. With this, I won't be taken out by some weakling's cowardly sneak attack, he thought. Last time I had prepared under the assumption that we would simply be pilfering an abandoned house. That's the only reason that sneak got the better of me. That idiotic slime should have killed me when it had the chance. I’ll be the one who gets the last laugh.

Quickly scanning the alleyway, Bark once again shifted the large sack slung over his shoulder. Seeing nothing of note, he locked the door behind him and trudged silently off into the night. This time will be different.

Taking only a moment to recover from the expected pressure on his soul, Mud set to work dismantling the runes surrounding Jabrax. While it would be much faster to destroy the runes by simply wiping them away, the golem's instincts screamed in protest against such a course of action. Instead, Mud carefully adjusted the lines of oily granular reagents which made up the runeworks. Modified in such a careful way, it would be a simple matter to reactivate and reuse the Magic Circle of Binding in the future, should the need arise. Of course, such utilitarian motivations were secondary to Mud's orders to protect The Masters possessions, which certainly included this valuable array.

After nearly an hour of meticulous work, the shimmering rainbow luminescence finally faded from the runes with one final defiant flicker. No sooner had the lights faded than the demon Jabrax burst forth from the interior with a manic grin on her face, limbs flailing wildly.

"Freedom, sweet freedom!" Flying around the room in wide circles, Jabrax let out a hearty laugh, hugging her shoulders. "I was getting so sick of that cage. And it's all thanks to you, little guy." Swooping down, the demon grabbed Mud with outstretched arms, giving the pile of dirt a powerful hug.

Dropping the mud golem, which mysteriously hadn't dirtied her arms or clothing, she made for the door. "Ah, I can't wait to get some fresh air!"

Stop.

Freezing in place, the demons excited demeanor evaporated, and she slowly turned towards the source of the order.

I have need of advice to spend my Skill Point.

Blowing a stray hair out of her face, Jabrax's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, fine. I guess getting out of this stupid room can wait." Sitting in the air in her typical fashion, the demon placed her head on one hand. "Alright, let me see your Status so I know what we have to work with." Receiving only a blank stare, she sighed and continued. "Just think like you want me to be able to see it. The Record is all about sharing information, so those guys didn't make it hard to trade statuses." A moment later, she hummed in satisfaction. "Yeah, that's it. Let's see here... wow, what's with that mana stat? That's freakish... we should definitely do something with that. And... the surprises keep coming. Even for golem standards this damage resistance is crazy. What did that geezer even make you out of?"

I do not see damage resistance in my status.

Jabrax burst out a laugh, then with moderate success suppressed it with a hand on her mouth. "You... have an unexpectedly cute side to you. It's easy to forget how ignorant you are after seeing you make that crazy contract. Um, look, just think like you want to see more detailed statistics about yourself."

Thinking with all its might, Mud demanded statistics.

Physical Strength Speed Stamina Toughness Coordination Recovery 5 5 unknown 1000 15 20 Mental Logic Processing Focus Resistance Ingenuity Affinity 20 20 unknown 10* 20 100

Focusing on the mark next to resistance, a second window appeared.

General Resistance Earth Resistance Fire Resistance Water Resistance 10 unknown 1000 100 Immunities Disease, Fatigue, Hunger, Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Stun, Suffocation, Thirst, Wounds

Clearing her throat to get the attention of the distracted golem, Jabrax continued. "It looks like you have pretty good mental stats. You could become a pretty scary mage in the long run. Your unique skill looks like an information type, so we probably don't need to worry about synergy... Usually you should enhance a Unique Skill as soon as possible, but for now, I think you should just buy one of the magic schools that looks interesting to you." Nodding at the wisdom of her own analysis, Jabrax crossed her arms and waited for the golem to make its choice.

Mud had been thorough when designing the contract, so there should be no way for the demon to give advice that would be detrimental to the golem. Still, it was difficult to completely trust her. Although the magic contract enforced her compliance, it was obvious that she would desire the golem to die as soon as possible. Mud's death would free her fully from the contract, allowing her to do as she pleases without restriction. Putting aside the reasonable paranoia, Mud decided to once again follow the demon's advice and purchase a magic skill. The question now was which to buy.

The options available were Psionics, Earth, Fire, and Water. Earth seemed somewhat redundant, since Mud could already attack with earth by simply striking with a limb. Fire and Water would be useful as a means of attack, but would likely have little utility outside of combat. After all, if Mud needed fire or water for a mundane task, it could simply obtain them manually without a need for magic. No golem fears manual labor.

A skill that would provide a means of attack as well as utility that could not be easily replaced by simple labor is what Mud needed now. Without further hesitation, Mud selected Psionics.

In the early morning light, a middle-aged man in a comfortable suit walked out of what most would consider the limits of the city Geltheas proper. Looking up at the steep winding path through the woods before him, he let out his tenth sigh of the morning. "Why did he have to build his home in such an annoying place?" Taking a swig from a canteen and wiping away his sweat, mayor Fallow began his trek up the forest trail.

Nearby, in a secluded clearing, a thin youth in ill-fitting metal armor stood uncomfortably. The impressive full body plate mail, clearly meant for someone a size larger, hung loose on his body. Several straps meant to secure the armor in place hung unused, and several others were tied to points on the armor seemingly at random. Behind him a muscular delinquent with a greesy ponytail approached holding a partially eaten meat pie.

"Oy Bark, is 'at you?" he asked between bites, crumbs flying.

Turning deliberately so as not to fall over, the armored youth turned. When he finally managed to get the new arrival in his sights, he scowled. "Jericho, I told you to come ready to fight this time."

Swollowing, he replied. "Yup, tha's why I made sure ta eat before we set off this time." Opening his eyes wide in a look of realization, he added "oh, I figured I'd just pick up a new whackin' stick in the woods on the way up if that's what you mean. I'll be good to go before we get to Cithlar's place, no worries." Smiling wide with a piece of meat on his cheek, Jericho slapped his best friend on the back goodnaturedly. Swinging his arms like a scarecrow in a futile attempt to maintain his balance, Bark fell to floor.