Back on the road leading away from Malart, Lucinda walked alongside Waflaw as they retraced their steps. Having experienced an eventful few hours since they’d left the town, Lucinda was sort of hoping that nothing else would crop up for a while, and continued to do so as they emerged back into the wilderness where the road curved north. But, not far into the wild shrubland, something did in fact crop up.

Skills Name Description Proficiency: Medium Armour I Governs ability to use armour type without penalty. Skill with armour improves with rank.

“I got it at last!” Lucinda announced excitedly.

“Great. How’s it feeling now?”

Lucinda spent a few moments testing her armour. First dodging from side to side, and then jumping up and down a few times.

“I’m not sure… It’s still pretty heavy.”

“Well, see how you feel about things in an hour or two.”

“I’ll feel fine, because… I’m going to shift! Umm, we are continuing off-road?”

“But, of course. It’s a shortcut. Sort of.”

A short time after the sun had passed the halfway point of its daily journey, Lucinda and Waflaw paused their own journey underneath the boughs of a small tree. Shifting out of her wolf form, which was well on its way to rank 3, Lucinda began helping herself to her supply of food.

“How’s that brooch working for you while shapeshifted?” Waflaw asked, before taking a bite of an apple he held.

“I’m not sure exactly, but those rackled wolves earlier really weren’t hitting very hard. I guess I’m an armoured Shifter now?”

“I guess you are at that.” Waflaw chuckled noisily. “Well, I’m glad you’ve got the armour skill now, but there’s one more thing to cover on that topic.”

“Oh?”

“Armour repair.”

“Oh, right. I was wondering about that. Even your summoned rats left a few scratches. Do I have to find another leatherworker?”

“For anything serious you’ll still want to, but for lesser damage you can use my repair kit.” Waflaw dug around in his pack, and then pulled out a small satchel. “You’ll want your own eventually, though they are a bit pricey.”

“Is that another of those gifts you have planned for me?” Lucinda asked with a teasing smile.

“Who can say,” Waflaw replied in an attempt at ambiguity, though the smile he failed to suppress left little doubt as to his true intentions. “Anyway, once we’re done eating, I can show you how it works.”

“Okay, thanks!”

True to his word, Waflaw demonstrated the use of the armour repair kit shortly after lunch was finished. Lucinda discovered the process was simple enough. Requiring nothing more than the careful application of a choice of alchemical concoctions onto the damaged areas, which would magically mend the armour back into an almost as good as new condition, and with that done, they were free to continue onwards.

During the afternoon of the first day of travel, Lucinda was lectured about the first of three class categories: Melee. For Waflaw, fighting melee classes primarily involved keeping his opponent at bay, denying them the chance to effectively retaliate, which was something Lucinda had witnessed more than once. It was also a tactic Lucinda had some experience with herself, making the lesson seem mostly straightforward in her mind. But, as Waflaw had alluded to previously, what worked for him, didn’t necessarily translate to what might work for Lucinda, and it all hinged upon whether she would unlock suitable spells to extensively rely on such methods.

What followed was a great deal of strategic speculation, which Waflaw seemed intensely excited about. Starting from a base set of assumptions involving the spells, form abilities, and skills, she might or might not have, together they considered what tactics she could employ to best succeed against melee opponents. Naturally, a lot of it was little more than guesswork, but Lucinda did feel it would help in the future, just as long as she could remember the most important parts of their discussion.

For the remainder of the day, Lucinda tried to spend as much of time as possible in her wolf form, and made sure to practise her spells before retiring for the night.

On the second day, Waflaw resumed their discussion on class categories not long after they had departed their camp. The topic for the day was spellcasters, and with Lucinda having fought only a single such individual, and with the battle being entirely one-sided, she was particularly interested in learning more.

The general strategy Waflaw described to her, was how he made use of his own magic to mitigate that of his enemy’s, while trying to overcome similar attempts from his opponents, or better yet, preventing them from casting at all. Waflaw then somewhat vaguely talked about one or two of his spells that were effective for the first point, including mentioning how she’d seen one in action already. The second point was more difficult, in that it more heavily relied upon what the enemy was capable of from three classifications of magic: Self-buffing, ally summoning, and offensive debilitation, but Waflaw tried his best to outline what worked against various mixtures of the classifications.

Like with melee, Waflaw led them into another speculative discussion on how Lucinda herself might deal with spell casting opponents. Then, with that complete, Lucinda again spent most of the remaining hours of daylight in wolf form, including for a brief battle against a few skeletons they found near an abandoned hut in a forest they passed through.

On the third day, alongside a noticeable drop in temperature, Lucinda was unsurprised when Waflaw began his lecture on ranged foes. She was also mostly unsurprised to learn that dealing with those kinds of enemies was similar to spellcasting, at least in that pressuring them in melee, and avoiding line of sight, were both recommended when possible. Where they did differ more noticeably, was the potential for ranged classes to dish out large amounts of damage in a short time, and most importantly, in a surreptitious manner. It was a fact that spells were noisy, and while drawing a bowstring and firing an arrow weren’t entirely silent, they were considerably more so than unleashing magic.

It was during the subsequent discussion about how Lucinda might handle ranged enemies, that her concerns over the vagueness and speculation involved began to abate, as she came to the realisation that Waflaw was trying to improve her ability to think critically about combat, rather than give her a set of steps she could follow mindlessly to victory. It was a most welcome realisation, that helped ease the pressure she had been feeling due to trying to memorise so much of what had been discussed.

By mid-afternoon on the third day, the small village of Drepar came into view. The village itself was nestled at the foot of the expansive mountain range that marked the northwestern border of Chakog’mar, and close to a half-hour of walking from the main road that led to the pass connecting Chakog’mar with Oradas. The closeness of the mountainous terrain had also signified an ever-increasing drop in the ambient temperature, and by the time the first traces of snow were visible, Lucinda was already immensely glad she’d purchased her travelling cloak.

“I’ve never seen so much snow before!” Lucinda said with plentiful excitement, as she admired the surrounding terrain and the village they were rapidly closing in on. “It’s beautiful.”

“Is that so?” Waflaw replied, stopping in place as he did. Lucinda likewise stopped and grew suddenly suspicious as Waflaw turned away from her and bent down to the snow-covered ground.

“What are you…? Eeeek!” Lucinda’s questioning words were halted as a small ball of cold snow collided against her face. “Oh, you’ll pay for that!”

Many minutes later, Lucinda and Waflaw stepped foot into the village looking considerably more snow-covered than they had any right to be. Taking a moment to try and shake off of the worst of it, and help each other in that regard, they entered the inn and approached the innkeeper.

“Afternoon, travellers,” the thin middle-aged woman behind the counter greeted them. “Heading through to Oradas, or returning?”

“Neither as it happens. Isn’t that so?” Waflaw’s question was aimed at Lucinda, who took the hint.

“Yes, I’m actually looking for someone that could point me to the location of a certain spot near the pass, where large birds are supposed to dwell,” Lucinda added.

“Oh, goodness, you’ll have to pardon my presumption,” the innkeeper replied with a touch of flushed embarrassment on her cheeks. “You’ll want to speak to Klarl.” The woman paused and frowned. “He’s been a bit out of sorts of late, so please be patient with him. It can be trying, but with what’s happened to him, he’s hardly to blame.”

“Umm, what do you mean?”

“Sorry, Dear, you’ll have to ask him yourself. His house is on the far side of the village from the road, the one with the rubble outside. Will you be wishing to stay the night once you've seen to your business?”

“We will,” Waflaw acknowledged.

After having paid for a single room, Lucinda walked alongside Waflaw to the indicated house. As described by the innkeeper it was hard to miss, thanks to the large quantity of stone slabs that were piled haphazardly outside. A short stint of knocking brought the owner of the house out to greet them.

“Travellers… Have you seen a young woman on your way here?” the man asked in place of a greeting.

Lucinda was surprised by the question, and if Waflaw’s sideways glance at her was anything to go by, so was he. The man before them was dressed plainly, as one would expect from a villager, but his appearance was scruffy and unkempt. He also seemed to be suffering from chronic sleep deprivation, and stank of alcohol.

“I can’t say we have,” Waflaw offered. “Who is this woman you seek?”

“Ah…” The man’s tired expression darkened noticeably at the news. “It… doesn’t matter. The inn is that way.”

“We’re here to see you,” Lucinda said as she saw the man move to close the door.

“I’m not in the mood for visitors,” the man replied without pausing his door closing attempt.

“Wait, please!” Lucinda said more loudly.

The man froze with one hand on the door. His eyes slowly tracked to Lucinda, and seemed to take in the sight of her for the first time.

“…She was about your age,” he said quietly, before falling silent entirely.

“Perhaps we could talk inside?” Waflaw suggested, when it became clear the man had nothing further to say.

With his eyes still boring into her, Lucinda was unsure if the man had even heard Waflaw. At least until he found his voice again.

“If you insist.”

Lucinda followed Waflaw and the unwelcoming man inside the house. The interior turned out to be as unkempt as its owner, with random junk littering the floor, soiled clothes scattered about the place, and empty bottles and discarded plates covering nearly every surface. The man seemed completely unaware of the state of it, or simply uncaring.

Stopping in the cluttered kitchen, the man collapsed into a chair, not bothering to remove any of the clothes that lay atop of it.

“You want something from me?” the man said with the same tired expression lining his face.

“We were told you know of a location near the pass that is home to large birds of prey.”

“Yeah, I know it. I’d take you there, but… I’m not really feeling up to it.”

Waflaw moved to take the chair next to the man, displacing the items that rested upon it as he did so.

“It’s clear something’s troubling you, Friend. This woman you spoke of, your wife?”

A pained look overtook the man’s features.

“No… Wife passed on some 15 years ago.” Lucinda saw a trickle of moisture appear in both of their host’s eyes. “It’s my daughter… She disappeared recently.”

“How long ago?”

“I… Can’t say for sure. Things have seemed so pointless since it became obvious she wasn’t coming back. Maybe a few weeks? I searched everywhere at first… Asked everyone in the village… Even borrowed a horse to ride to town… No one had seen her. Not a single one. It’s like she just vanished without a trace.”

The man’s pained countenance soured abruptly as his words spilt forth, until it became too much and he burst into tears.

“She was all I had left…” he choked out, as he collapsed onto the messy surface of the table.

Lucinda was stricken by strong feelings of sympathy for the man, but could think of little that might help soothe his troubles. She saw Waflaw reach out one hand towards their host, and with some hesitation land upon the man’s shoulder.

A strained and awkward silence lingered in the house as the man continued to let out his gloomy feelings.

“Sorry…” he said, sitting up from the table and wiping his eyes on his dirty sleeve. “This isn’t how guests should be treated…”

“Don’t trouble yourself on our account,” Waflaw replied.

“You wanted help with something?” he asked Lucinda with eyes full of uncertainty.

“Yes, the spot where I can find large birds of prey in the mountains.”

“Ah… You said, right. I can give you directions.”

“I’ve got a map too, would that help?”

“It should… But, I’ve never been good with them. Best I can do is directions.”

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m sure I’ll manage.”

The place she sought turned out to be reachable via a number of small paths that lead up through the mountains to a large forested area higher up. The nearest such path was easy to find, at least according to Klarl, and required Lucinda to look out for a number of natural landmarks along the way.

“Thanks!” Lucinda offered warmly, once she was sure she had the directions mostly memorised. “Is there something we can do in return?”

“Other than finding my daughter… No.”

“What about those stones out front?” Waflaw asked. “Were you planning on building something with them?”

“… A storehouse by the field outside of the village. Doesn’t matter much now…”

“Well, I think it only fair we help out regardless.”

The depressed man shrugged. “I won’t stop you.”

Back outside, Lucinda looked over the pile of rubble with her mentor.

“Poor man,” she said. “He’s had a hard time of things. I can’t imagine how he feels.”

“It does seem like fate has dealt him a bad hand. Still, no reason to fall apart as badly as he has, but it happens.”

“Can we do anything to help?”

“I hope so. Get him to move these stones with us, and then finish the building he had in mind.”

“Oh… What about my animal companion?”

“You’ll be heading off tomorrow, while I remain here.”

“Alone?” Lucinda asked feeling a slight sense of worry. “Part of my rite of passage?”

“Exactly. It will be dangerous, make no mistake. However, a quest for an animal companion is best done alone. You also may recall I said don’t rush things. I’m thinking a week should do it.”

“A week!? But, it’s only a half day’s walk from here at most!”

“Getting there is the easy part. Finding and befriending a suitable animal is the hard part. Of course, you have that little skill of yours, but influencing an animal isn’t really the same as befriending it. I won’t stop you from returning during that time, but I think it would do some good for you stay gone the entire week, or longer if needed.”

“You could have said earlier…”

“Ah, you’ll be fine. I believe in your abilities, and so should you.”

Lucinda smiled at the unexpected praise from her mentor, and the warm feeling that came with it. “I’ll try not to let you down.”

“Good. I can’t wait to see what animal you pick. In fact, I’m probably almost as excited as you are.”

“I doubt that!” Lucinda laughed. “I can barely think of anything else right now.”

“Well, I’m afraid you must, because I have an important question to ask of you.”

“Oh, what?”

“Previously I have given you no choice in the matter, and while it was rather amusing, I did feel somewhat bad about it. So, this time the choice is yours… Are you willing to help me and Klarl carry these stones in donkey form?”

“Oh… As long as you don’t try and make me dance for your amusement, I guess I don’t mind.”

“Hmm, no, I think I’ll save that request for later tonight.” Waflaw’s suggestive wink provided all the context Lucinda needed to suss his true meaning.

“That’s not happening!” she retorted, fighting to keep a blush off of her face.

“Are you sure? This will be the last night we have together for around a week.”

“I’m sure…”

“Pity,” Waflaw replied, though it was obvious he was more amused than disappointed. “Well, how about you disappear out of sight and let your donkey alter ego return in your stead?”

“Donkey alter ego?” Lucinda frowned at Waflaw. “I’m not sure I like that sound of that. But, fine.”

Returning to the house just a short time later, Lucinda was soon amazed to discover just how much she could carry as a donkey. The stones were large, and she’d been convinced she would struggle to carry a single one as a human. Yet, her shapeshifted self had little trouble carrying several of them at once, though it took some effort securing them all to her back. Lucinda had been sceptical of whether Klarl would actually join them, but Waflaw proved her wrong in that regard. The man still seemed incredibly unhappy, and like the innkeeper had said, Lucinda could hardly blame him. However, he hauled rocks along with her and Waflaw without complaint, or even any curiosity as to the nature of the beast of burden that was Lucinda. The work wasn't hard for her, but it did provide her with a rank up in donkey form, which wasn't exactly exciting, but it was something.

You have reached rank 2 of Shapeshift Donkey.

“Simple as that,” Waflaw announced, as Klarl and he eased the last load of stones off of Lucinda’s furry back. “Next step is building it of course.”

“Planning on staying a while?” Klarl asked, though his tone of voice suggested he wasn’t much interested in the answer.

“I sure am. I’ll be expecting your help to get these stones looking like a building too.”

“…What’s the point? The field's dead. Just like my future.”

“Come on now, Friend. You can’t go moping about like this forever. Would your daughter want you to live like this? Would your wife?”

“Doesn’t matter… They’re gone…” Klarl replied haltingly, before turning and heading back to the village.

“Stubborn,” Waflaw muttered. “Meet me back at the house in a bit.”

Lucinda brayed quietly as her mentor walked off after the depressed man.

A short time later, with daylight rapidly fading, Lucinda found Waflaw waiting for her outside of Klarl’s house.

“Are we heading back to the inn?” she asked, as Waflaw greeted her.

“No, we’ve been graciously offered a chance to sleep here for the night. And I’ve accepted.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lucinda asked quietly, not wanting to be overheard by the owner of the messy house. “Isn’t it filthy?”

“I did check, and you’ll be glad to hear that it is more or less clean.”

“Oh… Okay, then. I guess that saves us some coin.”

“It does at that, though the innkeeper wasn't thrilled when I asked for it back. There's also only one bed.”

“That’s fine… I’m planning on sleeping as a wolf tonight.”

“Damn,” Waflaw cursed, bringing a spell of light giggling from Lucinda at his expense. “Well, I suppose your fur might make a nice headrest at least.”

“Do you mind if we do some training before calling it a night?”

“I suppose we can. Our host probably won’t mind. Back to the field then.”

Having received a notification that wolf form was rank 4 sometime during the previous night, Lucinda chose to practise with it some more against Waflaw’s summoned creatures. Like with her battle with the skeletons in the forest, she made use of her Howl ability to lower the Willpower of her attackers, before following up with spells. She wasn’t sure how much of a difference it made in terms of dealing damage with her magic, and unfortunately, neither did Waflaw. However, there was little doubt that it did make some kind of difference.

Lucinda continued to train with Waflaw for a few hours, first in the near dusk, and then in the actual darkness that followed. It wasn’t a problem for her or her mentor, nor the summoned wolves he pit against her. Thankfully, no one from the village dropped by to investigate the sounds of wolves battling, or spells being cast, but with the field being a reasonable distance from town, it wasn’t too surprising.

Arriving in the guest room Klarl had offered them, Lucinda was relieved to discover Waflaw hadn’t been lying about the state of it. If anything, the room looked like it had remained undisturbed for some time, with only the dust that had collected on the various surfaces causing her any discomfort about its condition.

“How’s it coming along with spell masteries?” Waflaw asked as he got ready for bed.

“My highest is Heal at 27%. It really takes a long time…”

“It’ll come. You still planning on sleeping in wolf form?”

“Yes, sorry…” Lucinda replied, feeling slightly guilty about her decision.

Waflaw chuckled faintly at her reaction. “I was only asking because I’m waiting for my pillow.”

“Oh… I thought you were joking…”

“Well, I wasn’t.”

Laughing at the strangeness of Waflaw’s request, Lucinda shifted into wolf form and then climbed into place at the head of the bed. Waflaw wasted little time in getting comfortable.

“Not bad at all,” he commented. “Night.”

"… in bed you know," Waflaw’s voice called out, startling Lucinda from a deep slumber.

"Huh?" Lucinda sleepily replied along the way to wakefulness, her words emerging as a small whine.

"I said: You can't stay in bed all day," Waflaw reiterated.

Opening her eyes she found faint traces of daylight streaming into the room, but it still seemed early enough to her. Waflaw was standing beside the bed, fully dressed in his clothes and armour. Letting out a tired yawn, Lucinda shifted back to human form.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she grumbled. “I couldn’t stop thinking about animal companions.”

“Well, you can laze about all day once you're alone in the forest. Though, I wouldn’t recommend it. Anyway, how about some breakfast before you head off?”

“Sure,” Lucinda replied with a somewhat tired smile.

Lucinda followed Waflaw out of the room, and then almost collided with him as he came to a sudden stop.

“You smell that?” he asked.

Taking a few sniffs of the air, Lucinda caught a faint hint of something unpleasant.

“Maybe? I’m not sure what, though.”

“I am. Blood. Stay close to me.”

The suddenly serious tone Waflaw assumed, and the truth behind the smell, sent Lucinda’s pulse racing in her chest. Clutching her staff tightly in one hand, she followed after her mentor. The house was quiet, apart from the faint noises of villagers at work outside, but the source of the smell became clear before long.

“Shit,” Waflaw cursed, as a small trail of blood leaking from a nearby door came into view.

“Is that Klarl’s room?” Lucinda asked in shock.

“It is.” Waflaw moved in front of the door. “Klarl? You in there?” he shouted out. Hearing no reply he banged on the door loudly. “Klarl!? Answer me, man!”

Lucinda strained her ears as she waited for the reply she hoped would come, while a growing sense of dread began building inside of her with each passing moment of continued silence.

“Dammit,” Waflaw cursed, before bracing himself and slamming a shoulder into the door. It took him a few further tries, but the door did give way before his persistence.

With Waflaw standing in the doorway to Klarl’s room, she couldn’t see much beyond him, but a fresh wave of the unpleasant smell hit her in full force.

Oh… What is that?

Coughing and gagging at the foul stench, Lucinda backed away from the room. Waflaw meanwhile, stood seemingly frozen in the doorway.

“Waflaw…?” Lucinda choked out. “Is he…?”

Almost as abruptly as he’d opened it, Waflaw closed the door and stepped back from the room. He turned to Lucinda, and the sight of his face caused her heart to miss a beat.

He looks afraid! Oh Hefnopt, what happened in there?

“He’s dead,” Waflaw said levelly. “Quite dead, in fact. Come on, we need to check on the village!”

Startled out of her shock, Lucinda managed to keep pace with Waflaw as he rushed towards the front of the house.

“It wasn't suicide?” she dared ask.

“No, definitely not suicide.”

“He was… killed?”

Lucinda’s question went unanswered as Waflaw burst out of the front door. Lucinda followed swiftly behind him, and almost bumped into him again, as her mentor stopped suddenly just outside. Taking a look around, Lucinda saw a number of villagers scattered about, only some of whom were glancing at Waflaw with curious looks, while the rest went about their business.

“Waflaw, what’s going on?” Lucinda asked in a near whisper.

“I wish I knew…” came his response.

Lucinda watched in confusion as Waflaw scanned the village. The thought that Klarl had been killed, and that the killer might still be on the loose was troubling, but with how normal the village seemed, it was difficult for her to remain wary. Finally, Waflaw looked back at her and motioned back towards the house.

“Yes, he’s been killed,” Waflaw said, once the front door was closed behind him. “While we were asleep just a few rooms away…”

“Oh no… But, how? An assassin?”

“As I said: I wish I knew. I heard nothing. Wollow heard nothing, and saw nothing for that matter… And he was right there! So close to us!” Waflaw’s voice rose as his words continued, and were joined by his fist slamming noisily against the nearest wall. “Poor sod didn’t deserve this.”

“What happened to him?”

Waflaw looked at her. The anger and frustration were evident in his eyes, as was a hint of the same fear she’d seen earlier.

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do…” Lucinda said, despite the internal sense of warning she felt. “Tell me. Please?”

Waflaw held her gaze for several seconds, and then let out a weary sigh. “…Butchered. Torn to pieces. Everything was there… except his bones.”

“Oh…” Lucinda gasped as the horrific depiction became known to her. “…Why? Who would do something like that? Someone in the village?”

“I don’t know!” Waflaw all but shouted. “I don’t know…” he continued in a calmer voice. “Wollow’s not found anyone still. I don’t see how anyone in the village could have done something like that… And without me noticing either. I’ll have to tell the villagers. Convince them I’m not responsible, and then try and find out what happened here.”

“But, what if it was one of them? They could come after us next!”

“That’s not going to happen. I want you out of here and off to the mountains. Shift into something small and get away.”

“What about you?” Lucinda asked, with a mixture of fear and worry fermenting in her gut.

“I’ll be fine. Come on, you need to get going. If you absolutely have to return before the week is up, wait outside the village in deer form. I’ll have Wollow lead you to me, wherever I might be. Okay?”

“…Okay. Promise you’ll be careful?”

“I’m supposed to be telling you that,” Waflaw replied with a hint of a smile on his lips.

Lucinda returned his smile, and then moved to hug her mentor.

“I’ll be careful too,” she said.

"Good. Grab whatever food you want, then I'll open a window for you."

Lucinda raided the kitchen in a hurry, though there was little to take, and a great deal of mess to dig through. Adding whatever non-perishables she could find to her pack, she nodded at Waflaw, and then shifted into her cat form. In the adjacent room, Waflaw directed her towards a suitable window, and offered her a reassuring smile as he lifted her to it. Taking one last look at her mentor, Lucinda moved out onto the sill and then jumped off into the snow beyond.