Li Mei ran until her feet were torn to bloody shreds, until her lungs threatened to burst from her chest and her throat burned from trying to drag in enough air. Bao ran at her side, tongue lolling from his panting mouth, spindly legs scrambling to kick aside tangled undergrowth and clear the way for his gasping human friend.

Roars and shrieks filled the forest. Trees as big as skyscrapers blocked most of the sun with vast canopies while bushes bearing thorns like swords ripped at the flesh of the fleeing pair as they passed. Many trees had exposed networks of roots crawling with entire ecosystems, clusters of glowing eyes blinking at them from behind curtains of moss.

Gritting her teeth, Li Mei dived into one such root network through a hanging wall of flowering vines. "This way, Bao!"

The horse skidded to a halt, hesitated, then jumped in after her. Both of them crawled deeper into the roots, mindless of biting insects and hissing creatures scurrying into the shadows, until they hit a chunk of wood they couldn't find a way around. Li Mei turned to look for another route and froze in place, eyes wide.

Enormous curved claws ripped into the tangled mass of roots mere moments later, sending a shower of splintered wood and bark into the air behind the furiously digging creature. But no matter how the hulking scaled behemoth snarled and raged, it could not dig deep enough to reach its hiding prey.

It let out a disappointed snarl, exhaling sharply through slit nostrils. Huge silver eyes fixed their predatory gaze on a fearful pair of mauve ones watching it from the shadows. As though to mock its prey, the giant lizard licked its chops with a forked tongue before slinking away through the undergrowth.

Li Mei coughed and gasped for breath, her entire body trembling in pain and fatigue. She pulled a thermos and bowl out of storage, pouring water into the bowl for Bao before she sipped at the rest. The poor horse collapsed next to her, barely mustering the strength required to drink.

"Storage... stores items... In stasis. I thought for a... a moment we shrank, but... the stuff in storage is the same size so... so the forest is just huge?" Li Mei muttered to herself between deep breaths of sweet, sweet air. "I don't think it would... shrink items... along with me. Probably? Maybe it did... And it has to still be the estate... because of my Enslavement Bind thing... Man, what is going on?"

She felt sick. Stomach churning, muscles aching, face warm. Her poor feet were a bloody mass of disgusting, with no sign of the makeshift bandages she used to wrap them earlier. Every injury throbbed with pain, like thousands of needles stabbing down to bone. A strange static feeling wrapped her lungs and made inhalation difficult.

She set her thermos aside, unable to stand drinking any more water that tasted strangely sweet. Several notifications popped up, but it was getting harder and harder to focus. Her eyes didn't recognize written characters anymore.

"Bao, I... I don't... Feel..." Li Mei's lips trembled, blood draining from her face. The forest spun again, eyes rolling back as she fell unconscious.

The exhausted little horse was greatly alarmed. When she didn't respond to his frantic nudgings, Bao exhaled sharply. His adorable fuzzy expression changed to something a bit more cunning.

Li Mei knew Bao was clever, he learned his name right away and responded to her words. What she didn't know was Elysium horses in general possessed intelligence comparable to humans - their chirping noises and body language were all part of an intricate language. They had their own pride, opinions, and even desires. To obtain an entire herd for his estate, Adalrich Agilo had to pay a hefty price and negotiate some very good conditions for them.

Bao nudged Li Mei until she was laying against the chunk of wood that initially trapped them, using his muzzle to manipulate her limbs into a comfortable position. Then he drank some of the water in the bowl and got slowly to his feet.

His glorious blanket cape was lost in their frantic escape through the forest, so he had to make do with something else. The forest was full of ferns, he didn't have to wander far to obtain some choice fronds. Once Li Mei was covered with a warm layer of greenery, Bao left to harvest some very important ingredients.

He took several trips, piling various herbs and flowers and plant roots until they dominated the small hiding space. By the time he finished a few hours later, Li Mei managed only to curl up like a shrimp under the pile of fronds. She hadn't moved otherwise.

Bao cleared out an area big enough for both of them to stand comfortably. Roots and biting insects were shredded by sharp claws, while moss and vines were moved aside and rearranged. He started picking herbs and flowers from the pile, crushing them with his feet. Pulp was smeared on roots around them by surprisingly dextrous claws, then worked into the loam.

Protected by the network of roots overhead, the dirt at the base of the tree was spongey and soft like a comfortable mattress. Unfortunately that made it easy for insects and burrowing creatures to tunnel through, so Bao paid special attention to it. He gently rolled Li Mei with his muzzle to get at the dirt beneath her body, adding extra herbal pulp to that spot in particular.

Small blue flowers were carefully plucked of their heart-shaped petals, which Bao scattered in the dirt just outside their shelter. Using the rest of the water in the bowl and various different roots, he mashed up a gross lumpy paste with a brilliantly rancid smell.

The giant lizard that hunted them shredded several tree roots into splinters with its sharp claws. Bao spent a few hours using them to build a makeshift wall - large pieces were arranged into slanted angles, while smaller shards were mixed with the rancid paste as mortar to fill in gaps. Moss, ferns, vines, and leaves were piled up on the outside of the wall to make it look less supicious, also serving to cover the only exit with a curtain of greenery.

Once his job was done, Bao laid down between Li Mei and the shelter's exit. Her body radiated heat, lips cracked and bleeding even as sweat dripped down her brow. Bao manipulated the thermos with his claws and tongue to periodically give her sips of water. He knew as much about the care of humans as she did of horses, but creatures needing plenty of water to stay hydrated was a universal truth.

Between blistered and bleeding feet developing an infection, various insect bites sustained as they fled from the lizard into the roots, and injuries from the thorny bushes during the initial escape, her poor little body couldn't take anymore. Li Mei tossed and turned for three days and nights, her small body tormented by fever. Bao stayed by her side, his fluffy tail draped over her feet, keeping watch for anything vicious that might sniff them out.

When she ran out of water, he took the thermos in his mouth and sniffed out a spring for a refill. Leaving her alone for any length of time made him nervous, but the sick human needed hydration! He moved as quickly as he dared without alerting predators to his presence, sneaking from bush to bush on his journey to and from the water source. Bao also crushed different herbs every few hours and dropped them on her healing wounds to fight the raging infection.

Li Mei awoke on the fourth day to her stomach growling loud enough to wake Bao from a deep slumber. The horse rolled over in surprise, kicking his legs into the air to attack the invisible enemy. She chuckled softly, wincing when it made her head throb.

Her eyes took in the crude makeshift wall, the wilted frond blanket, and a weird pasty residue on her feet. Li Mei glanced at Bao, who rolled back over and laid his head on her lap while his tail wagged. "Did you... Do all this?"

His tail wagged harder, the expression on his face clearly waiting to be praised. Li Mei grinned and smushed his cheeks with her palms. "What a good, clever boy you are!"

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[ERROR]

Spacial array and anomalous aura readings above Rank 3 detected in vicinity of Host, extrapolating new data.

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[ERROR]

Unexpected situation exceeds safety parameters designated for Host early growth period. Initiating one-time Emergency Response Mode protocol.

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[E.R.M.]

Emergency Response Protocol engaged. Forcing relevant survival upgrades...

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[E.R.M.]

Increasing all base stats of Host by 1.

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[E.R.M.]

Hide upgraded to Lv.5 (Max). Scan upgraded to Lv.5 (Max). Stealth upgraded to Lv.5 (Max).

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[E.R.M.]

Hide Lv.5 (Max) and Stealth Lv.5 (Max) meet requirements for Merge. Host DEX value insufficient. E.R.M. override, compensating with equivalent EXP. Merging Skills into Concealment.

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[Concealment]

Combines the principles of Stealth and Hide into a single rare-grade Skill. Move silently and with grace, undetected even by those actively looking unless they have special Skills or Spells. Once you hide, it's almost impossible to notice your presence.

Concealment allows masking your emotions, aura, and killing intent, in addition to your physical form and traces of your passing.

Effectiveness of Concealment is reduced as long as your DEX is below 15.

Effectiveness of Concealment is greatly reduced as long as your DEX is below 10.

Effectiveness of Concealment is severely reduced as long as your DEX is below 5.

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[E.R.M.]

Unlocked Sense Lv.1.

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[Sense Lv.1]

Greatly enhances primary physical senses as well as metaphysical ones - Sense allows you to detect hostility in your immediate vicinity, even from hidden enemies.

Hostiles detected by Sense will be marked on your minimap.

At Lv.1, your detection range is limited to 10 meters.

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[E.R.M.]

EXP Debt for forced upgrades applied to Host.

Host EXP reduced to -7381396.

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[E.R.M.]

Due to significant Host EXP Debt , use of EXP Shop and Skill Merging are locked until balance is brought back to 0.

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[E.R.M.]

Deleting Emergency Response Protocol from Interface...

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Li Mei's head swam as she tried to absorb all the information from the cloud of notifications hovering around her face. From what she gathered, the Interface had an emergency backup program that would give her an enormous boost in capability in exchange for ludicrous amounts of EXP - but only once, since it deleted itself.

"7.3 million..." She groaned, dropping her head into her hands. But then she froze, realization flashing in her mauve eyes. Her head whipped around to fix a stare on Bao with such intensity the poor horse shrank in on himself in fright.

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[Bao]

Wild Fera

Male

Rank 0 (12%)

Wild feras are prideful and picky about those they allow onto their back or follow into battle - unlike domesticated feras, which can be coaxed with their favorite treats or some sweet words. If a wild fera likes you, they're your friend for life.

Fera are highly intelligent creatures with comprehension and puzzle-solving comparable to humans. All feras possess instinctive rudimentary knowledge of some wild plants and their uses. They are also very sensitive to malice, able to detect even masked hostility in a 300 meter radius as adults. Young fera have a shorter range but are equally sensitive.

When employed as mounts or guards, feras are taught to understand the local language. Those above Rank 2 are capable of learning the Telepathy spell for better communication, as their vocal cords are poorly developed for the use of speech.

Breed: Cerynitis

Diet: Omnivore

Favorite Food: Apple (Purple)

Special Care: Claws will keep growing, to prevent problems keep them trimmed - either through combat, or sharpening its claws on rocks and trees. A fera's diet determines the direction of its future growth, take that into consideration when deciding what to feed them. More information can be found in the Archive.

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[Scan: New Data]

Scan has reached the maximum level. It can now detect and display information otherwise unknown to you. Information displayed in the tooltip is summarized, while a more detailed entry will be added to the Archive.

Scan will only display and save information potentially obtainable through relatively common means.

Esoteric and specialized information will not be uncovered without prerequisite knowledge, skills, or spells.

Comparisons will still be made to Earthly equivalents where appropriate, such as with furniture or food items whose taste and/or function serves the same purpose. Nicknames for known items can be set in the Archive.

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Rank was apparently the universally recognized method of measuring overall combat capability. Most commoners, servants, and slaves were in Rank 0. Bao being 12% of Rank 0 meant he had 88% to go until he reached the bottom of Rank 1. When she checked her own stats, carefully avoiding looking at the huge negative number in the EXP row, she saw Rank 0 was added below her name along with a 7%. 'So it'll add all kinds of new information about me as I discover it. Bao's stronger than me, huh... Well, he is an animal. They tend to be a bit stronger, don't they? Since they rely on their own bodies instead of tools and weapons.'

The Cerynitis breed in particular had a tendency for performing well in combat and preferred a diet heavy in meat proteins according to a helpful tooltip, which made it even funnier that his favorite food was sweet purple apples. And that he was an adorable little horse-dog dork. Trying to imagine Bao in combat almost made her choke with laughter, causing her to be on the receiving end of a very confused look from the animal in question.

"You're a fera?" Li Mei mumbled, tapping a finger against her chin. "I mean I knew you weren't really a horse, but... It was making equivalent comparisons for me after all. Can you really understand me?"

Bao wagged his tail and looked very smug.

"Okay, uh. I have a very special magic effect that gives me information on stuff I look at, and it just got a lot stronger which is how I know you're a fera not a horse after all and that you can understand me. And I can also stash items away in an invisible magic box. But it's a real big secret, alright? Nod if you promise you won't tell anyone!" Li Mei held a finger to her lips. Bao canted his head to the side, then nodded.

Such a big cheat like the Interface, especially with the fancy upgraded Scan ability, wasn't something Li Mei felt she could share with the world. Bao didn't seem like the chatty type who'd gossip about personal matters, so she wasn't concerned about him knowing the secret - and it would explain what he'd already witnessed. She'd used her storage multiple times in front of him thinking he was just an animal who wouldn't know better.

'Guess that goes to show I shouldn't make assumptions about anything's intelligence around here,' Li Mei thought with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'I'll have to be more careful in the future.'

Her stomach grumbled noisily, so the pair shared a quick meal. Li Mei eagerly Scanned everything around as she ate, even taking things out of storage to add their new data to the Archive. Being able to learn about Elysium in a fairly efficient manner was so satisfying after two months of being in the dark!

The blue flowers Bao scattered around served as lingering insect repellent against very specific venomous bugs. Several of the roots and herbs he piled in the corner had medicinal and antiseptic properties. Even the paste he mashed up to make the mortar in the makeshift wall was something to keep creatures away! Li Mei devoured the scraps of information with great interest, absorbing every word between bites of pilfered leftovers.

Once they finished eating, Li Mei glanced over at her Quests. Gaining Strength, the Quest which originally had her going into the forest, updated its information and rewards.

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[Gaining Strength]

★★☆☆☆

Elysium is a highly dangerous world, one's personal strength is important. Without strength one is doomed to life as a servant or slave, where your existence depends on the whims and protection of those you serve. While that may be fine for some, your heart longs to achieve better.

Hints:

- The wilds of Elysium harbor many fierce creatures. Survival will be difficult, use the tools at your disposal and move with caution. Your mind is your greatest weapon.

- Forests contain bountiful mana within that will be beneficial to your growth.

Reward: Independence, strength, 100000 EXP

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So much EXP! It should have made her happy, but instead all the girl felt was a crushing wave of depression threatening to swallow her whole. 100000 EXP wouldn't even make a dent in her new debt...