“What do you mean It doesn’t count!?” Myles asked incredulously as he held out the five plants he’d gathered and fought a monstrous beast for.

“I mean it doesn’t count,” Mitchel repeated, holding his hands up in the universal gesture of helplessness. “The quest asked for five life weed dropped by grass knots.”

Myles opened up his interface and checked his newly created quest tab to reread the entry.

—

Sindra’s Gatekeeper

Difficulty: Medium

Objective: Prove your worth to be one of Sindra’s Seekers by competition in a hunting competition with other front-line fighters.

Victory Condition: Be the first back to Mitchel with five life weed, an uncommon alchemical plant, dropped by Grass Knots.

Failure Condition: Using a recovery item to heal yourself, stealing, interrupting an opponent’s combat or gathering, fail to complete the victory condition, die.

Reward: 10 - Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply), A party slot in Sindra’s Seekers

Consolation of Failure - As long as a showing of good faith is made, a customized party request provided by Sindra through her proxy Mitchel.

—

The information was easy to see as his reflection in a mirror glaze. “It says that I just need five life weed.”

Mitchel opened his own window, read the passage again and shook his head.

“Five life weed dropped by Grass Knots,” the proxy corrected.

Myles looked over the information again and a third time before noticing the comma after plant. What did that matter though? “The task was for five life weed. I have five.”

“Sorry. It doesn’t work that way,” Mitchel explained as he brought back up the contract. “LIfe weed provided by a Grass Knot is closer to green than blue-green and has a more pleasant scent. It’s not much of a difference, I’ll admit, but that’s why it’s a challenge.”

When Myles looked down at the stalks of life weed in his hands, he noticed that Mitchel wasn’t wrong. The three he’d taken from the lake, the ones he was most accustomed to finding, all looked the same in their slight teal tints, but the two plants he’d gotten from the rare monster were almost completely blue. Myles’s face fell like a soufflé during the holiday rush.

“We still have time.”

“You still have plenty of time,” Mitchel consoled in much the same tone Ashra’s mental projection had. “We haven’t had a single turn in yet.”

Myles pulled himself up before he could go too far down and looked to Ashra.

Shall we?

“We shall.”

He nodded to the quest proxy, and Mitchel gave him a smile. “That's the spirit! Get back out there and hunt down some Grass Knots. You can do it, Myles.”

Myles gave him a determined look, a quick nod, and turned to return to the deep grass near the lake. However, his steps stopped as he saw someone coming back. At first, he thought it might be Lyna coming to claim the reward, but no, the person approaching was taller and had a visible lack of weapons. She had a shield though.

The paladin Micha wasted no time as she finished her jog to present a bundle of verdant green plants to Mitchel.

“Done,” the paladin declared, and Myles watched as Mitchel took the bundle, examined it, and opened an invisible interface.

With a soft chime, his chance of joining Sindra’s party was over.

—

Sindra’s Gatekeeper

Difficulty: Medium

Objective: Prove your worth to be one of Sindra’s Seekers by competition in a hunting competition with other front-line fighters.

Quest failed.

Failure Condition: Failed to complete the victory condition of being the first back to Mitchel with five life weed.

—

Quest Reward: Myles Chase, [Monster Tamer]

Consolation - Sindra’s proxy will give a recommendation to those that competed about your skill level.

—

That was it.

Myles watched for a moment as Micha pumped her fist in the air and hugged Mitchel. She was saying something to him, smiling all the while, but Myles looked to Ashra. They could feel one another’s disappointment in what had happened, but Myles only blamed himself.

“I’m sorry, Ashra. If I would have read it more closely, we would have won.”

To his surprise, he felt Ashra’s rebuke as if it were a physical action across the link, but she only glared as her mind connected to his once more.

You did what you thought was best for us. You kept us safe and accomplished the goal even if it wasn’t as that Sindra wanted. We will be fine without her.

Myles took a deep breath, looked away from Micha, and waited for the others to return. He knew she was right. He wasn’t the best at the written language even if he did like reading, how could he have understood the difference between the two? In the end, did it really matter that much?

Apparently, it did, but a new wash of messages broke the path that thought traveled down.

—

Member recommendations for Myles Chase

Compiled by: Mitchel (Mitch) Hedgelore

You have been recommended to all members of the contest for your resourceful nature and unique powerset. Sorry you lost on a technicallity. The following are best suited for working with you as a party and have responded with interest and a follow up request to meet at the fountain being build at the center of town at dusk.

Lyna Hugea - Halfling [Master of Arms] - Lyna has her quarks but has proven herself against foe’s twice her size and strength with her varied arsenal. She would be a great help for someone that needs to stay on the back lines.

Dahom Calla - Half-Giant [Mauler] - By the Pantheon, Dahom is annoying as the Mists are endless, but he is strong. I saw him nearly rip a tree out of mud looking for grass knots before shattering it with two swings of his giant mace. He might work with you, but he seems set on working with Fal Rashan, who is not interested in you.

This is the best I can do for you, Myles.

No hard feelings?

Mitch Hedgelore [Armored Wall] - Sindra’s Seekers

—

No hard feelings?

No, Myles wanted to hold a grudge. He wanted to be mad, but in the end, Mitch wasn’t the one setting the terms though he could have specified them more. His anger was palpable all the same.

Myles wanted nothing more than to go home, grind up the life weed into a fine powder, make some dough, and knead it until he had something that could pass for a weapon when cooked. Then, he could go find Sindra and shove it down her throat.

Then again… that may not end well.

As he began breathing regularly again, Myles let the anger flow from him like oil across water. It was still there, but it was easier to shed now that it had settled somewhere. Soon, where he stood became where he sat as he waited for the others to return.

In the mean time, Ashra wandered, but not far as he opened his inventory and called forth the uncommon skill stone. He felt a bit of interest across the link, and he understood why as the stone’s soft glow added to the sun’s light, or rather, drank it in. It didn’t so much as give light as it drank in the light around it and exuded a kind of wafting, glowing fog from around where he held it.

It wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen before.

The uncommon skill stone was cut like a yellow-ish orange triangle, but each of the three points had been cut off. The center of the gem was missing as well. Holding it up to the light proper, it drank it all in, letting Myles see not only the circular orb of light, but the subtle distortion of the world’s unnatural boarder.

In short, it was beautiful.

Beautiful and completely alien to him.

Myles’s skills had always come naturally. If he worked at something long enough, got the right experiences from life, or wanted it deeply enough, the skill had a chance at developing when his class grew complex enough. How would this even work?

As he studied it, he felt Ashra’s interest draw her closer. He could feel her curiosity at the item and its deep amber hues. As she moved closer to get a better look at it, Myles’s lore skill, or the skill gem’s own latent knowledge of itself, triggered.

—

Skill Path Advancement

Value: Cannot be sold or traded

Skill Stone - Monster Tamer (Uncommon)

Description: A trilliant-hollow cut, smoky quartz skill stone.

Detail: For qualifying skills, this skill gem can advance an active skill or a passive trait to a compatible evolutionary path. This evolution will result in a more potent skill leaning more towards its most common use.

Effect: Evolve a skill or trait.

—

Myles read the description twice before the full weight of it fell on him.

It was simple knowledge that skills could evolve. His own [Baker] skills didn’t really have evolutions like this, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know about it. Skills that fire mages got like spark could become fireball, and with enough time, fireball could become flame lance, and so on. It only made sense that skills would get stronger.

The thing was, that took years, if not decades, of practice.

But what had he practiced enough to already be able to advance? The notification had appeared when Ashra’s bond had increased, so did that have something to do with it?

As Myles pondered that, his answer came to light, and a new set of information appeared below the information window for the stone.

—

Compatible Skills for Advancement

Soul Link/Empathic Link => Essence Bond

Requirement 1: Refined or higher Soul and Empathic Link with a monster

Requirement 2: Link with an Intelligent monster

Requirement 3: Gain the willing respect of a sufficiently intelligent monster

Evolution Cost: All Soul Energy produced for the next twenty-four hours.

Original Skill 1:

Soul Link

Skill Type: Active - Monster Tamer

Cost: 10 SE

Distance: 20 Ft.

Success Determination: Influence against Attitude, Brawn, Influence, and/or Will

Effect: Forge a link between your soul and the soul of another willing creature. A successful link will give you access to the creature’s interface and control of the evolution of their skills and traits. This creature gains the Soul Linked status at the cost of 1 SE per forged link. As a Link ages, more abilities are conferred. All new links begin as Simple Links.

Original Skill 2:

Empathic Link

Skill Type: Passive - Monster Tamer

Cost: None

Distance: 42 Ft. (Influence x3 Ft.)

Success Determination: Soul Link Strength, nature, traits

Effect: Feel the emotions of your monsters through your Soul Linked status effect. Using this link, send mental commands for your monster to follow directions, use skills, retrieve materials or perform other actions. Success varies on the monster’s traits to perform the requested action and their intelligence.

Evolved Skill:

Essence Bond

Skill Type: Active/Passive - Monster Tamer (Evolved)

Cost: 20 SE

Distance: 50 Ft.

Success Determination: Influence against Attitude, Brawn, Influence, and/or Will

Effect 1: Forge a connection between your soul and the soul of another living creature. A successful link will give you access to the creature’s interface and control of the evolution of skills, traits, and body. This creature gains the Soul Linked status at the cost of 1 SE per forged link. As a link ages, more abilities are conferred to both Tamer and Monster. The starting link will be based on the forging of the connection.

Effect 2: Feel the emotions of your monsters through your Soul Linked status effect. Using this link, send mental commands for your monster to follow directions, use skills, retrieve materials or perform other actions. Success varies on the monster’s traits to perform the requested action and their intelligence, but almost all basic actions can be accomplished with your understanding of your monster’s abilities.

Effect 3: Overall status bonuses will be granted to both the tamer and monster’s base stats equal to the level of their connection, species, and mutual experiences.

End of Viable Candidate List

—

That… was not what he’d been expecting.

Soul Link and Empathic Link were the basis of his class. They were what allowed him to communicate and direct Ashra. He’d used it a lot in the past four days, but that didn’t make sense. It had been four days, and it was already ready to advance?

Then again, the only reason it was advancing so soon was because of the stone, so did that mean if he let it go on long enough the skill would evolve on its own? Two of the requirements for this advancement were rare enough…

Use it.

Myles blinked out of the stupor and looked to Ashra.

You are over-thinking this. We will become stronger, and we will make them regret ignoring us.

Myles gave it only a moment’s thought before focusing on the gem to confirm the selection.

A moment later, Myles felt… strange. It was something he’d never felt before, something both very wrong but not. Not even a moment later, there was a flash of emptiness in his heart. Two motes of his innermost power, his very soul, drifted like drunken fireflies out of his chest and into the world. The motes were small but shone like stars as they seemed to follow an invisible pull and joined together in the center of the misty gemstone.

The stone shattered a moment later, and he felt something slam against the empty space in his heart and fill the spot to bursting. A warmth spread through him until it grew into a roaring inferno.

It was like a true star had been born inside of him.

Then it stopped as if it never was.

The feeling was gone as soon as it had begun, but a new knowledge had bloomed within him stronger than what had once been there.

—

Skills Lost:

Soul Link (Basic)

Empathic Link (Basic)

New Skill Learned:

Essence Bond (Advanced}

Class Complexity Increased!

[Monster Tamer] Class increased to Neophyte 3!

Stasis Gem Limit Increased to 5.

You and your monsters’ basic stats have increased.

—

Myles took a moment to breathe as everything felt different. His muscles felt tighter, his mind sharper, and… maybe just a bit more confident.

This wasn’t normal…

As he looked to his partner, he realized he wasn’t the only one.

Myles?

“Interface.”

Name: Myles Chase

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Race: Human

Patron:

Primary Class:

Monster Tamer

Neophyte 3

Secondary Class:

Baker

Proficient

Brawn - 15 (12+3)

Dexterity - 20 (18+2)

Will - 14

Influence - 17

Soul Energy: 0/90

Elemental Alignment:

Titles Available: 3

Active Title: Runner (Kess)

Skills:

Essence Bond

Bait

Monster Lore - Expanded

Neophyte’s Item Lore (+)

Stasis Gem Creation (+)

Keen Eye

Traits:

Essence Bond

Taste Test

Deft Hands

Resourceful

Mind over Matter

Toss of a Coin

Dagger Mastery

Minion interfaces Available: Ashra Snowpelt

Myles had taken a massive increase in…

In… everything! If he’d remembered his old ratings correctly, everything had increased. That was rare enough, but brawn and dexterity were the most obvious, which seemed directly connected to Ashra’s growth…

With that thought, he opened her interface as well.

Name: Ashra Snowpelt

Age: Adolescence

Sex: Female

Race: Ambush Rabbitkin

Patron: Rani, Goddess of the Moon

Primary Class:

Ambush Rabbit

Skilled

Secondary Class:

Pugilist

Skilled

Brawn - 19 (18+1)

Dexterity - 24 (20+4)

Will - 14 (12+2)

Influence - 15 (12+3)

Soul Energy: 90/90

Elemental Alignment:

Air

Title: Princess

Skills:

Lesser Force Kick

Stealth

High Jump

Traits:

Soul Link (Myles Chase)

Warrior’s Resolve

Perfect Balance

Quick Feet

Condition: Good

Advanced Condition Menu - Collapsed

Inventory:

1 - Coral Knuckles (Equipped)

1 - Pugilist Robes (Equipped)

1 - Belt pouch (Equipped)

1 - Steel Knuckles

That took him a little longer to process. Ashra had seriously gotten the better end of this deal! If he thought he’d improved, Ashra had pushed past all comers, eaten, and then gone through the nearest wall in search for a new challenge.

More importantly, both of them had passed twenty in Dexterity as well! That in itself would have been a celebration. That meant that not only were they fast, but they were also considered more dexterous than a normal sapient should be. In a few short days, Myles had grown to a point some people trained their entire lives to reach. If they were the first to pass the threshold for a stat…

Oh yes…

The others were going to be eating their ashes soon enough.

The thought didn’t have time to linger though. The clanking of steel armor and a familiar voice echoed from a metal helmet, making him smile all the more.

“Oy!”

Maybe they didn’t get the raw end of the deal.