The cultivator erupted into peals of laughter, tears springing into his eyes with the force of his mirth, “You’re a piece of work, aren’t you? Look around you! See any adjudicators nearby?” The smile quickly disappeared as his expression became menacing, his tone low, “This is the slums. The rules don’t apply here. No one will even find your body, wench.”

Samantha gave a lighthearted shrug, “Well, if you say the rules don’t apply… now, Silas!”

A brown blur shot towards the cultivator’s back as she lunged forward.

*THUMP*

The man yelped in pain, then stumbled forwards towards her as he lost his footing. Using the non-bladed side of her spear, she swiped the weighted end across his jaw. A loud crunch followed by a spray of blood and teeth informed her that she had shattered the bone. Like a puppet with his strings cut, he fell limply to the ground, knocked out of the fight.

Samantha waited a breath to see if he was trying to deceive her somehow with this embarrassingly short bout. Maybe he was trying to lure her into a false sense of security, only to spring up when she turned her back and attack her from behind? However, the longer she watched the man the more sure she was that she really had beaten him with the first hit. She eventually decided that either his bark was worse than his bite, or his condition from fighting with the alchemist was much worse than she thought--maybe both.

Samantha looked up to lock on to her next opponent, but found that there was nothing left for her to do. Silas was gleefully chasing down the crossbowman (who was too slow to properly aim at the small and fast target), and the rope woman was curled up in a ball on the ground, Jacob smacking her with his blunted sword. The cloaked guard was in full retreat, not looking back as he ran as far as he could.

“Yes! Yes! Who’s the prey now?” Silas screeched into her mind. She watched as Silas leapt up and thumped the crossbowman in the shoulder, knocking it out of joint. The man cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground, his crossbow falling uselessly to his side. Though he did not explicitly send it to her, she could have sworn that evil cackling was coming through their bond as Silas looked upon his fallen ‘prey’. She decided to address that later, turning her attention to Jacob still wallopping the defenseless woman.

“Jacob! Enough Jacob, I think you’ve beat her!” she called, trying to intervene before things got any more out of hand.

Jacob paused mid strike and looked up to her, holding a now badly bent straight sword above his head. He looked down at the cowering woman and coughed, embarrassed. “Yes. I think you’re right.”

Bringing down his weapon and taking in the state of it, he blushed and held it out to her. “Do you think you could…?”

“I have a better idea. Take the crossbow and all the bolts you can find. I’ll get you a new sword.” she said, gesturing to the moaning man clutching his twisted arm.

Going over to the cultivator while Jacob looted the crossbowman, she removed the curved sheathe from the man’s back and pried the saber from his still-clenched fist. She searched him for other useful items, but only found a gold piece and some silver on his person. She pocketed the coin, and resheathed the weapon so that no one accidentally cut themselves.

“I think I’ve got it all!” Jacob called, running over to her with the crossbow and 9 bolts.

“Here, take this too.” she instructed, handing over the sheathed saber.

He removed it from its scabbard and gave it a couple of test swings. Samantha thought that the weapon would suit him well. He was no swordsman, but he had enough strength that a chop from the properly sharpened curved blade could do some real damage.

“Thank you.” Jacob said, giving her a light bow once the weapon was resheathed.

“Thank me after we get Aiden back,” Samantha said, grabbing hold of the unconscious cultivator’s long braided hair and dragging him over to the open hole in the ground. She did consider carrying him over her shoulder, but didn’t like the idea of giving her enemy her back when he could be pretending to be unconscious.

It was about a 15 foot drop to the waterway floor, but there was a ladder leading down into the hole so she wouldn’t need to jump that distance. Handing her weapon temporarily to Jacob, she intertwined her fingers with the man’s braid and slowly climbed down the 15 foot ladder. With one hand she held onto the rungs and moved downwards, while the other held the cultivator aloft. When she reached the bottom Jacob dropped her spear down for her to catch, and he climbed down himself. Now there was just the issue of…

“There’s no way I’m jumping down! Just climb back up and get me!” Silas demanded stubbornly.

“We can’t do this every single time there’s a ladder! Just trust me! I swear I will not let you get hurt. I’ll catch you!” She assured, “Besides, I can’t leave Jacob alone down here with a cultivator, and I can’t carry both the cultivator and you up and down at the same time!”

“NO!” he protested, stepping back from the edge.

“Well will you let Jacob carry you down? That’s the only other option here.” She offered.

“I don’t know him! Just go on without me.” He huffed, “I’ll… I’ll guard the entrance for you until you get back!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I need you for whatever is up ahead! Just. Trust. Me.” she practically begged. She handed her spear to Jacob again and held out both arms in a catching motion, waiting for Silas’s decision.

She watched Silas process the request. His nose scrunched up in distaste, his ears pinned back, his eyes widened and squinted, trying to judge the distance. He shifted from side to side near the edge and closed his eyes for a moment before looking to the sky as if sharing a prayer. Then he leapt.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” he shrieked as all four of his limbs flailed helplessly in freefall.

When he was within reach, Samantha expertly cradled his falling form, smoothly lessening the speed of his descent and pulling him close to her as if giving him a hug.

*Ding* Congratulations, you’ve strengthened your spirit bond with Silas!

You have convinced Silas to confront his greatest fear: heights. This is not the first time that he has relied on you to overcome this primal terror, but it is the first time he’s willingly leapt from great heights with complete belief that you would be there to catch him. You have successfully completed a trust fall, and Silas’s faith in you has deepened significantly.

+1 Bond Ability Point awarded for this feat!

Samantha’s eyebrows raised as she read this notification. She remembered she’d gotten something similar when she had fought the Iron Boar with Silas and gave him a name, but she wasn’t sure if that’d be a one-time occurrence or not. This confirmed to her that passing major milestones with her companion could increase their spiritual bond and the amount of power that they could share.

Looking over her current options, she would only be able to get “Translucence” or “Herb Hunter” with the single point she possessed. Neither seemed immediately helpful, and she didn’t want to rush the decision on where to allocate such a precious resource, so she decided to save it. If she got a second point she could invest into the second rank of “Swift” or “As One”.

“You saved me!” Silas beamed up at her, breaking her train of thought, “You really saved me!”

She felt relief, joy, and affection pulse strongly through their connection, and she couldn’t help but smile at her fluffy friend as he nuzzled into her for a moment.

“...But let’s never do that again, okay?” he concluded, wriggling to free himself and hop around on his own four legs.

Jacob handed her back her spear once her hands were freed, and a groan from the cultivator nearby had her rushing over to the groggy man. She pointed the spear at his throat and waited for him to fully regain consciousness. With a broken jaw, it was impossible for the man to say anything to her other than grunts or moans of pain, but she didn’t need him to be able to speak.

“I’ll make this very plain for you,” she explained, “we need to find Aiden, and as the loser of our duel you will show us the way. All you need to do is point, but if you lead us the wrong way, try to escape, or try to attack us there will be consequences. I want to assure you that I don’t want to kill you, in fact, I actually want to exchange you for Aiden. However, it’s up to you in what condition you’ll be traded, understand? Nod once if you do.”

The cultivator glared at her, but when she didn’t back down or look away he nodded his affirmation.

“Good, then get up and start walking.” she ordered, and their enemy-turned-guide begrudgingly led the way.

It took less than 10 minutes for the sounds of human activity to reach her ears from up ahead. Once her heightened senses were able to clearly hear the muffled sounds of conversation in the relatively silent tunnel, that was her cue to tighten her hold on her captive. She gripped his braid again in her hand and held her spear’s tip to his back, whispering, “Don’t do anything stupid. And Jacob I need you to get behind me now. We’re coming up on their base and I don’t know what they’ll throw at us.”

He followed her directions without complaint, moving in single file behind her as she hugged the left side of the tunnels.

“Silas, can you move ahead and scout? If you get there and it seems too risky, just come back.” she silently sent.

“I’ll let you know what I find.” he confirmed, becoming partially see-through while quietly moving forward through the tunnels.

They stopped their progress and waited on news from her bond. After a few minutes, Silas contacted her, saying, “There is a tall wall of wood and metal. Many humans stand behind them with the same weapon as Jacob carries. The one that throws sharp sticks. There are also humans with different weapons too, and many, many rats. They are ready and waiting for us.”

Samantha sighed, “Figures. Well, thanks for the update. Find some place to hide and I’ll let you know if and when to attack.”

She relayed the information to Jacob, and he cursed under his breath. She felt the same way, but there was nothing for it other than to press on and do the best with what options were given to them. “Let’s get on with it then.” she declared grimly.

She walked towards the barricade with the cultivator held in front of her, stopping 20 feet away when a woman called out, “That’s close enough!”

Samantha did a quick scan of the area to see what she was dealing with. As Silas had described, a shoddily constructed wooden barrier around 4 feet tall spanned across the width of the tunnel, meant more to slow intruders down than halt their progress completely. In the center of the wall was a doorway sized gap, which was guarded by three melee fighters wielding straight swords. On either side of the gap were four crossbow wielding men and women, bringing the number of visible mortal combatants up to 11.

A loud series of squeaking drew her eye to a truly mind-boggling pile of rats swarming in front of the wall. There must have been hundreds of them, and it seemed like the endless mass was picking through a small mountain of refuse and garbage. The Pack Rat members were not paying any attention at all to the shocking number of rodents, which she found oddly disconcerting.

What was most concerning though, was the thuggish looking man lounging lazily on a makeshift throne made of scrap metal. He wore a set of tarnished bronze armor, sturdy but clearly not new. In contrast, the bronze helm he wore positively gleamed with the amount of polishing that was done to it. The helm was designed with adornments and filigree that made it seem like the man wore a crown, and a low grade spirit pearl was set like a gem into the forehead. The aura he exerted told her that he was High Copper, and the enormous rat obediently resting at his feet indicated that she wasn’t the only one present who had a spirit bond. The sickly-looking creature was nearly double Silas’s size, and looked down at her with a malevolent intelligence in its singular good eye.

Gathering her nerve, she stated her terms, “I’m here to make a trade! Your defeated cultivator for the mortal courier Aiden.”

The man on the throne barked out a laugh and spoke without deigning to look at her, “You come to the Rat King’s domain, abuse his minions, make demands, and don’t even have the decency to introduce yourself?”

Samantha, despite the seriousness of the situation, worked to suppress a bout of uncomfortable laughter.

Rat King? Minions? This man is unhinged!

“My name is Samantha Cray, also known as Lunara in the Black Market combat tournaments or as the courier Cheese. I’d prefer to leave here without more violence, I’m only interested in retrieving Aiden.”

“Oh, is that all? Well, here you go! Feel free to take him. I’ve had my fun.” he replied nonchalantly and waved her off.

The huge rat at his feet stirred and lifted its snout into the air, giving two short squeaks that caused the seething mass of rats in front of the wall to freeze. In perfect sync, the rats separated themselves from the refuse pile and revealed what was beneath.

Her eyes didn’t want to believe what they were seeing. Her mind refused to accept it. Could this be some sort of trick by this delusional ‘King’ to off-balance her? There was no way anyone could be cruel and evil enough to commit such an atrocity in reality, right? There was no way that the mangled, legless, half-eaten corpse of a child before her was the boy that she knew.

She unconsciously tightened her grip on the cultivator’s braid, pushing the tip of her spear into his back and eliciting a grunt of pain. She was lightheaded, and she suddenly felt oddly empty. Empty of all the countless fears and doubts that she normally carried. All that remained was a black, cold emotion that she had never even known she possessed. All she knew was that this man was a monster, and those who followed him were lower than filth. They deserved to die.

Jacob howled in rage and pain, looking upon the body and forgetting all instructions that Samantha had given him previously. He ran out from behind her and shot his crossbow at one of the melee fighters, causing a chain reaction of return fire. Jacob’s bolt struck true, plunging deep into the throat of a sword wielder. In the time it took for the man’s gurgling corpse to collapse to the ground, the bowmen shifted their aim from her to Jacob and she made a split second decision. Knowing that his leather buckler wouldn’t stop all of the bolts and that his life was in imminent peril, she shoved her captive with all her strength into the line of fire. Not half a second later the cultivator slumped to the ground dead, having taken 4 of the 8 bolts to his chest and one through his eye. Of the remaining three bolts, one shot wide, another was caught on Jacob’s now-raised shield, and the final bolt lodged itself in his left shoulder.

The pain didn’t seem to register with the man as he bull rushed forward, intent on exacting a blood price from his son’s murderers. He didn’t make it far though, since the sea of rats turned their attention to him and hindered his movements. As Jacob did his best to avoid being overwhelmed by the legion of clawing, biting vermin by stomping and slashing indiscriminately at his feet, Samantha closed the distance with the human combatants.

“Silas! Get rid of that spirit bond!” she growled, anger making it difficult to send a coherent thought to her companion. A sensation of vicious agreement from Silas assured her that she didn’t need to worry about him, and could focus fully on the fight in front of her.

The Rat King stepped forward to fill the position of the man that fell, readying a heavy spiked wooden club. His sneer was wild and manic as she approached, but she ignored him for the moment and leveled her speartip at the mortal swordsman to his left. The next round of crossbow fire would be ready soon, and she knew she needed to remove the distraction they caused from the battle as quickly as possible.

The Rat King cocked his bludgeon back to strike her as the distance between them rapidly shrank, but before she even entered his attack range she put 3 points into Swift. This raised her Agility from 9 to 13, but the extra speed wasn’t what she needed the most. The extra traction that Swift seemed to give her movements was invaluable for unpredictable, snappy turns and directional changes.

She abruptly altered her course from running directly at the Rat King to darting towards an unstable looking section of wall. Angling her shoulder so that it would punch through the crude structure, she kept her spear extended so that it would slice through the neck of the nearest sword-wielder. On impact she flared her aura to put the nearby mortals off balance, and the entire wall crashed down around her as those nearby were showered with arterial spray.

Silas heard his human’s sorrow and rage-filled request and was more than happy to oblige. He had taken shelter in an unobtrusive corner behind the wooden wall, and made his move as soon as he saw the man with the shiny helmet leave his seat. Silas moved around to his prey’s blinded side. Though confident that he could easily defeat the sickly looking creature, he didn’t underestimate his opponent. Wounded or sick creatures could often be the most desperate and deadly.

He snuck through the cluttered space of the encampment as best he could, avoiding small clusters of rats that lingered near fresh piles of food scraps. As he neared the range where he would be able to reach the enemy with his Thump attack, a small squeak coming from under the throne startled him. A rat had been hiding beneath the chair, and the sound had alerted the enemy to his presence.

As the large rat began frantically searching the area for his position, he leapt forward and Thumped the foul rodent in the side. The force from his kicks sent both parties flying, but he was used to the sensation. Silas was able to neatly twist his body to land on his feet, but the rodent wasn’t so lucky and tumbled across the ground until impacting with a box. While his enemy was still stunned, Silas shot forward to dig his sharp teeth into the ruff of the rat’s neck.

The vermin’s screaming was overshadowed by the sudden crash of wood as one half of the wall was knocked down by his rampaging human.

The remnants of the wooden barrier pinned the crossbow wielders to the ground as it fell. Samantha seamlessly rolled to her feet after pushing the wall over, and could see the mortals struggling to fight off the effects of her killing intent without much success. She would deal with them later.

Now on the other side of the barrier, she could clearly see the other four crossbowmen lined up in a neat row on the other half of the wall. In a similar situation to their downed compatriots, their faces were pale and they looked like they were about to be ill. It didn’t help that the Rat King was also beginning to release his aura which was even more potent than her own.

She decided to capitalize on the chaos seeing as the archers were still hindered by her spiritual pressure. She lined up her spear and thrust forward, punching through one, then two bodies before her momentum was arrested. A bolt struck her in the chest and another glanced off her helm as the remaining archers took pot shots at close range, but no actual damage made it through the tough leather of her new armor. As soon as the bolts were fired the men abandoned their post, dropping their crossbows and trying to flee over the wall.

She saw the Rat King preparing to swing at her from behind as her spear was still lodged in the torsos of the two archers. She lined the butt of her spear up with the man and yanked backwards to try and interrupt his attack, but was only partly successful. The sharpened weight at the end of her spear struck him squarely in the chest and dented his armor, throwing him off balance, however he was still able to connect with a wild swing.

She felt the club impact her back as she was flung through the still-standing barricade, breaking it apart and causing the two fleeing archers to tumble to the ground head-first.

*Ding* Damage to back has activated “As One”. Serious wounds for Samantha have been transformed into moderate wounds for Silas and Samantha.

*Ding* Damage to ribs has activated “As One”. Serious wounds for Samantha have been transformed into moderate wounds for Silas and Samantha.

A bit winded from the blow, she rapidly twirled her spear around her defensively as she got up from the ground. Several stabbing pains radiated from her lower back and side, but she put a qi point into Flawless Regeneration to take the sting out of them and get back into the fight.

By this point, all the living mortals on the Rat King’s side realized that they were severely outclassed in this fight. Those who hadn’t already begun to flee dropped their weapons and did so now.

With the number of targets narrowed down to one cultivator and some vermin, Samantha activated Inspect, taking in the Rat King’s every motion.

For a full minute the Rat King attempted to close the distance and strike at her with his shorter-ranged weapon. For a full minute she denied him, every attempted swing failing to connect as she used Swift to duck and dodge out of the way. Even when he used combat arts to raise the strength of his strikes to stone-cracking levels, he found nothing but air in the place where she had been a moment before. And each time he fully committed to smiting her with sheer power he grew more and more fatigued, allowing her to make quick attacks on his legs, arms, chest, and head from a safe distance with her much more versatile spear-range.

Most of her attacks were deflected by his bronze armor and defensive arts, but not all. The protective technique he was using seemed similar to one she had seen in the black market that raised a users resilience at a flat cost of qi investment. This artificial boost would be dissipated once a certain amount of damage was taken, and unfortunately for the Rat King, that ‘amount’ appeared to be rather low.

His flesh was now covered with many small cuts, and each time he approached she would add a few more. She took a twisted enjoyment in watching his arrogance be broken down into desperation as he realized what she had already discovered: they were a bad matchup, and not in his favor. If things kept up this way she would win handily through a battle of attrition, and both of them now knew it. He was already visibly slowing from fatigue as he struggled to keep up with her Agility while covered in heavy armor. Once he slowed too much to effectively dodge, the fight would be over.

Silas recoiled in pain as it felt like holes were punched into his back, and he lost his grip on his prey. The rodent managed to skitter away from him and began shouting some sort of call, all nearby rats starting to converge on their location. Silas shook off the pain and resumed his assault, not wanting to let the rat get away.

He chased the rodent into a corner and latched on to his back leg this time, holding tight to the shaking limb as his enemy thrashed in pain. Claws scratched at his thick coat and the rat tried to tear at his long ears, but Silas was merciless as he tugged, yanked, and scratched the rat in return. As his back claws opened long, bloody furrows in the rodent's patchy coat, the tide of rats that his nemesis summoned finally arrived, washing over them both.

A sea of rats scurried past her feet as Samantha’s Inspect clued her in to the Rat King’s shift in attention. Out of the corner of her vision she saw Jacob nearly collapse against the tunnel wall, exhausted from fending off hundreds of small foes. There was a veritable mountain of chopped rodent bits and flattened carcasses where he had made his stand, and the few that remained seemed to be making their way to the site of her bond’s battle. His entire lower half was bloodied, countless miniscule chunks taken out of his legs from the animals trying to consume him alive, but he had emerged victorious.

The Rat King gazed at Jacob as well, but with a glint in his eyes that signaled ill-intention. Samantha could easily guess his reasoning. If he couldn’t land a hit on her because she wouldn’t stand still, then he would attack a vulnerable target to force her to stand her ground.

“Jacob!” she called out in warning, but wasn’t able to elaborate further as the enemy cultivator dashed towards the fragile mortal.

Jacob looked up first in alarm, but when he saw the face of the man who killed his son he was refilled anew with hatred. Not concerned about his own life, his tired arms lifted his buckler and Saber and he turned fearlessly towards the High-Copper. The expression on his face spoke volumes, and Samantha could tell that he was resolved to either exact his vengeance or face his end.

Running after the crazed cultivator, Inspect notified her of a shift in his weight just in time to attempt to dodge a massive blow from his club. It had come out of nowhere and was like nothing she had seen from him before. The only explanation was that he was holding back one of his most powerful combat arts for a situation just like this. The speed of the club seemed to cut through the air itself as he swung back with a single arm, and she knew instinctively that she would be turned into paste if she let this attack land solidly.

She had been using qi sparingly throughout the fight, but it was time to go all out. She dumped 8 of her remaining 10 qi points into Swift, bringing her Agility up to 18. She abruptly halted her forward momentum and jumped backwards with all the speed she could squeeze from her straining body, minor damage notifications popping up at the edges of her vision as she pushed her muscles and tendons past their limits. She held the shaft of her spear in the direct path of the club hoping that the flexible wood would aid in dampening the blow and braced her arms for impact.

The wood of her spear shaft groaned ominously as the club connected with it, bending inwards towards her chest at an alarming rate. Her arms quivered with the force being exerted as she did her best to keep the spear extended at arms length between them. Her strength, though superhuman, was no match for the ungodly strike, however. Her hold on the spear shaft suddenly weakened as an explosion of wooden shrapnel erupted towards her chest and she was blasted backwards as multiple objects slammed into her.

The world turned end over end as she was flung like a ragdoll across the floor, finally coming to a stop when she impacted against the far wall with her back and head.

*Ding* Damage to chest has activated “As One”. Serious wounds for Samantha have been transformed into moderate wounds for Silas and Samantha.

*Ding* Damage to left leg has activated “As One”. Moderate wounds for Samantha have been transformed into minor wounds for Silas and Samantha.

...

*Ding* Damage to head has activated “As One”. Moderate wounds for Samantha have been transformed into minor wounds for Silas and Samantha.

Immediately she put a point into Flawless Regeneration, leaving her with only a single emergency qi point in her pool. Not knowing if the Rat King would be upon her in moments while she was vulnerable or not, she staggered up from the ground as quickly as she could. She checked her spear for damage, fearing the worst given the wood splinters lodged into her lamellar armor, but she needn’t have worried. Her spear looked no worse for wear, though the same couldn’t be said for the Rat King’s club.

A dumbfounded Rat King looked between a broken stump of a club and her. He cradled the arm he struck out at her with, and it seemed to be bent backwards at an unnatural angle. His shoulders heaved with the effort of his labored breathing, and he looked ready to collapse any moment from exhaustion. It seemed his trump card was not one that came without significant costs to use.

“How are you still alive?!” he demanded, nearly shrieking as he was overcome with his resentment for her.

He opened his mouth to continue shouting, but before he could speak his eyes widened in shock and he screamed in animalistic pain. Samantha was initially confused, until she heard a squelching sound and saw Jacob pulling his saber out from the back of the cultivator’s knee. Despite the wild energies of the High-Copper’s aura pressing down on the man, his face was filled with grim satisfaction. The mortal pulled back to take aim at the other knee when he was roughly pushed down to the ground by a now-hobbled Rat King. The incensed cultivator turned his back to Samantha in order to attack Jacob, and Samantha saw her chance.

She was almost out of qi, meaning she couldn’t put enough points into Swift to make it over to the two men in time to save Jacob’s life. There was, however, a skill she had honed in her youth that might help. She had not found an occasion to use it yet and feared she would be out of practice, not to mention that this technique was not normally used with this type of spear, but she forced down her uncertainty. Using her last point of qi to get the 2 points of Agility from Swift and gathering her remaining strength, she cocked back her arm, took aim, and hurled her qiang towards the Rat King’s now-exposed back with all her might.

The heavy spear flew straight and true, flying through the air as quickly as an arrow. Without the cultivator’s attention on defending himself or the energy to fuel his protective arts, it penetrated through the thinner armor covering his back like a hot knife through butter. He cried out as the force of the impact drove him to his knees.

The Rat King looked down at his chest to see the very tip of the spear poking through the front chestpiece of his armor. The thick metal had prevented the weapon from completely going through him, but this was actually one of the worst possible results. Without any way to take hold of the spear from the front or a way to reach the shaft with the angle it had stuck into him from behind, it would be impossible for him to remove the foreign object himself.

His mind raced for a solution, all the while refusing to believe that some Mid-Copper upstart had gotten the best of him. And for what? One mortal brat?

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a horrid tearing in his very soul. A death rattle rang through his mind like a gong as he felt the connection between himself and his spirit bond being severed. It was a pain that cut deeper than even the spear in his chest, and the very foundation of his cultivation was shaken.

*Ding* Your Rank 1 (High) Rous Rat, “unnamed,” has died. The loss of your spirit bond echoes through your cultivation base, the far-reaching consequences as yet unknown. Cultivation progress lost. Changes have been made to your status page to reflect this.

Distracted by taking stock of his injury and the shocking notification, the Rat King forgot about Jacob. That is, until Jacob came down with another blow from his saber. A loud clang rang through the tunnel as the sword came down on the cultivator’s head and dented his helm slightly inwards, causing it to be ripped free and bounce across the tunnel floor.

The mortal raised the sword high above his head with both hands, tears streaming down his face. Was it really not enough to suffer the disgrace of losing to a lower ranked cultivator? Must he endure a killing blow by such a weak opponent as well? Perhaps he should bite off his tongue to at least perish with a shred of his dignity intact.

“Jacob! Wait!” the woman (Sarah? Sandy? He couldn’t remember.) called out. “Not yet. I have questions for him.” Her tone was icy cold and promised cruelty, and it wasn’t hard to guess what the Mid-Copper had in mind for him. He had been on the other end of this scenario more than once, and he felt a chill go through him at the thought of what she would do.

He stiffly turned to face her as she approached--the spear in his back making the movement difficult--and noticed her spirit bond for the first time: a brown and green hare, bloodied and snarling, with a glistening spirit pearl in its mouth. Seeing the fox-sized herbivore with the remains of his pet clenched between its teeth caused the small amount of sorrow he felt at the loss to be replaced with disdain.

Worthless to the end. I should’ve never chosen a rat.