We approached the gates about mid-morning and we must have looked a sight. I was barely awake in the saddle, having lost a lot of blood overnight. My armour was torn and ripped and there was a body tied on the back of the horse still dripping fluids. When the guard on the gate saw us he blew his alarm whistle before coming forward. And a bell started to ring. Pip had the sense to hide. He caught the reins to stop Rocky and I basically fell from the saddle. He half caught me. Others were coming at a run, weapons ready.

When they saw it was a Goblin Shaman on the back of Rocky a louder bell started to ring. I was fed a potion and started to come to my senses. A sergeant was trying to get me to answer questions. I was moved into the guard house and a Healer summoned. I was fed a different potion and this brought me around enough to answer questions.

I showed them my Mercenary Guild ID. They brought a map and I showed them where the cave was. I think a Squad or two were immediately dispatched to look and report. I described the Bear and the cave, and in broad terms the fight. Nobody could understand how I survived against a Shaman and his Horde even in a tight space. I mentioned a shield but not that I had no skills nor that I created it. Tabitha was summoned and arrived with Ylwa and Lars from the prospecting team. Eventually they helped me home with strict instruction and a smelling ointment from the Healer. Lars took the Shaman body to the Mercenary Guild before it rotted too much further.

Tabitha had Pip and Ylwa led Rocky to our cottage. I got out of my armour with help and collapsed into bed. I woke at dusk and Tabitha had a bowl of stew and a loaf of bread for me to eat. Pip was curled up by the fire. They had unloaded Rocky and semi sorted things. The city was still on high alert.

I went through everything step by step with Tabitha. I looked at my Status and there were significant skill gains and a Level in Hunter. Granite Sense, Spike and Bones were now all Journeyman and Granite Shield was Apprentice. This gave me several Spiritual attribute gains. Darksight, Quick Strike and Power Strike were all now Apprentice level.

Wiremu Hunter

Class

Hunt

QW

Spy

Pros

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

9

11

6

2

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

11

2

22

1

45

Agility (PA)

12

5

9 4

30

Perception (PP)

11

0

18

1

2

32

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

12

2

23

Agility (MA)

12

3

2

6

23

Perception (MP)

11

1

0

6

18

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

3

0

11

3

27

Agility (SA)

8

2

4

6

1

21

Perception (SP)

10

4

0

6

2

22

Totals

92

41

37

33

30

8

241 Free Points

8

0

0

0

Resistances:

Poison +18, Pain +9, Crushing +20, Cold +18

Skills:

Novice:

Cooking 4, Animal Care 4, Truth Sensing 3, Lock Pick 4, Disarm Traps 4, Sense Spiritual 4, Disarm Spiritual Trap1, Monster Lore 3, Detect Spiritual Trap 3, Detect Traps 4, Venom Arrow 3, Imbue Venom 1, Spiritual Trapping 4, Repair Leather Armour 3, Veneer 2

Apprentice:

Bond Senses 5, Fishing 5, Orcish 7, Far Sight 8, Riding 7, Unarmed Combat 7, Sewing 7, Throw Weapons 7, Camouflage 6, Sense Treasure 6, Mineral Lore 5, Spear 7, Hide Armourer 7, Animal Lore 7, Manipulate Status 5, Butchering 5, Plant Lore 5, Weapon Repair 5, Granite Shield 5, Power Strike 5, Quick Strike 6, Darksight 6.

Journeyman:

Hearing Aid 11, Hammer 13, Identify 11, Animal Bond 12, Granite Spike 11, Trapping 10, Tracking 10, Bow 10, Skinning 10, Deceive 10, Granite Sense 10, Small Blades 10, Granite Bones 10

Master:

Stealth 15

Affinity: Granite

Monster Kills: 2

Bond: Pip Desert Viper.

Crushing Resistance +20, Cold Resistance +18

Skills: Venom Bite, Quick Strike, Granite Bones, Camouflage, Strength Boost.

I now had 8 free attribute points. I still didn’t know what to do with them so I would wait a bit.

Then I got out the Monster Core and we both Identified it and she appraised it and applied her Spatial Awareness. It was a dense core of highly concentrated Spiritual energy. She had learned about them from her Merchant training and this was a small one. It was still worth several Platinum.

Monster cores come with an affinity, or sometimes a major and minor affinity. This affinity is usually related to the Monster it came from and the skills it had. Goblins are known for their growth and fertility alignment. The blood and body parts are often used in fertiliser and fertility potions for livestock and Sentients. This Shaman showed skills in manipulating Rock.

A person could use a Core and it could have a number of effects. It could enhance an affinity or learn skills. Or it could damage what you have and in extreme cases cripple you for life. There were tests to see if a core was compatible with someone by using rituals. Usually cores were used to power rituals and not used by individuals, except maybe the very rich.

I didn’t need the money so I was in no hurry to sell it. I wasn’t going to use it without a lot more information. It was probably compatible with me, but I could get random effects. It was a possibility that all it would do was make me super fertile. No thanks. Tabitha wanted to study it a lot more and so did I. When would we get another chance? We stored it in the cellar behind a block of Granite for now.

I spent the next day around the cottage, mostly seeing what my armour might need. I wanted to do as much as I could to level my Skill and learn for myself. I also started curing the Bear hide. The Healer came and re-looked at my injuries. They would probably take a week to ten days to heal. A week or less if I was diligent in using the ointment.

The next day I went to the mercenary Guild to hand in my contracts and get paid. The Goblin Shaman was only partially useful. All the blood had been lost and decay had started, but I still got five Gold for it. There was also a bonus from the city of three gold for getting the early warning back here. The silver I earned for the actual contracts looked quite meagre in comparison. Apparently Warren Carter was the talk of the Guild. I had lots of new friends, all of whom I put off for now. Good on you Warren.

I spent the next day alternating between repairing my armour and working on my new cloak. I had the outer layer done and was considering the lining. The woollen lining was nice in the old cloak, but I only had goat hide here. I might try to hunt a Llama for the lining this time. I could make some new gloves too as my current ones were falling apart.

Then I felt something happening with Pip through our bond. It was very strange, not like he was in trouble, but sort of like growing and changing. The bond indicated he was in the cellar. That was ominous. I went to look, calling for Tabitha as she had the day off.

I found Pip and he had eaten the Monster Core and it was digesting into his system. His body was noticeably growing. He was normally about a half metre long and quite thin. He was twice that now and going through other changes. His status was in flux. There didn’t seem to be much I could do but wait for it to settle down.

Tabitha arrived, “What’s happening?” she asked.

“He ate the core and it is changing him” I replied.

“Shit. What do you think will happen?”

“No Idea. Actually, on second thought, I think he might be turning into a monster.” I said, a bit worried.

“Double goblin shit!” she said.

“Careful with saying that. It was a goblin core.” I grinned at her.

“How can you joke about this?” she asked. “How long do you think it will take?”

“I don’t know, several hours at least.” I didn’t want to touch him as he was changing, so I got the armour I was working on and settled in the cellar to watch and wait. Darksight was a fantastic skill.

Pip grew and shed his skin then shrunk back to his original size. He would lay still on the floor then suddenly twist and writhe on the floor as if in pain. The Bond was telling me it wasn’t just pain. I didn’t know how to interpret the sensations the Bond was giving me. Then he would lie still for an hour or more and without the Bond I might have thought he was dead. Then he went through another session of growing and writhing and shedding and shrinking. The shed skin quickly broke down to dust. This was going to take hours.

I woke in the dark cellar with Pip curled up on my lap. Time to find out what the core actually did to him. I checked my Status and the first thing I noticed was that he was no longer a Desert Viper. He was now a Venom Serpent, which was a monster type. He didn’t have a class, but his Skills now had levels and there were more of them. Some were obviously from me and some must be from the Shaman. Some I think were combined. All the new Skills were Novice level, but the Skills he had before were much higher.

Then I saw he also had a new name. Tāoke. I wondered what that was about. I knew my original name of Pip was short for Pip Squeak as he was so small then, and that does not apply any more. It was given without thought to a juvenile snake. If he has taken a new name he must have a much stronger sense of self identity.

Bond: Tāoke, Venom Serpent.

Crushing Resistance 20, Cold Resistance 18

Skills:

Novice: Growth 2, Power Strike 4, Granite Spike 4, Venom Spit 2, Granite Shield 2

Apprentice: Strength Boost 5

Journeyman: Granite Bones 10, Camouflage 10

Master: Venom Bite 15, Quick Strike 15

Affinity: Granite

The resistances were the same. I must make more effort to raise the Cold Resistance as winter is coming. Growth was obviously the odd one out. I Identified it and for each level he could increase his size up to the skill level times his original size. He was originally about 0.5m long and 5cm diameter. Grow level 2 he would be 1m long and 10cm diameter. At Apprentice level he would be 2.5m long and Journeyman level 5m long, I could probably ride him at Master level. The Skill could change his size, which was a one off effect. He would stay that size until he changed again either up or down.

Power Strike and Granite Spike are probably from us both which is maybe why they are level 4. The Shaman used some Power Skill to break my shield and had some sort of Rock Spike Skill. Venom Spit is a variation on my Throwing Weapon Skill I think. Similar to when I got Imbue Venom instead of Venom Bite.

Granite Shield was interesting. He could create a protective shield over himself at Novice, but from Apprentice he could vary the size. I could see him with a small shield attached to his tail and then using a Power Strike. Maybe that's the way I would do it. We will have to see. I was looking forward to levelling my own Granite Shield to be more flexible.

The other big change was the jump in our bond. Animal Bond jumped from 12 to Master level 15. I am thinking Tāoke’s intelligence took a jump, but I will have to wait until he wakes. I don’t want to start the next level of our relationship with a grumpy Monster.