Over the next few days, Myles and his team practiced Skills, Trait use, and teamwork. Whether it was training with Will and Kendra or sparring with Ashra, the [Monster Tamer] and his allies had made significant progress towards empowering themselves for the coming fight. Though the others were still shy about sharing their attribute gains, Myles, Ashra, and Squishy were especially proud of their progress so far.

Name: Myles Chase

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Race: Human

Patron: Unaligned

Primary Class:

Monster Tamer

Apprentice 3

Secondary Class:

Succulent Magician

Apprentice 2

Attributes:

Brawn - 17 (14+2)

Dexterity - 21 (19+2)

Will - 18 (17+1)

Influence - 19

Resources:

Soul Energy: 110/110

Mana: 50/50

Dough: 98/100

Elemental Alignment:

None

Talents:

None

Titles Available: 5

Active Title: Leader (Rising Star)

Trust: 92/120

Active Title Synergy abilities: Empathic Link, Shared Moment

Monster Tamer

Skills

Traits

Essence Bond

Bait

Apprentice’s Stasis Gem Creation

Monster Lore

Species Nutritional Lore

Monster Husbandry

Monster Tamer’s Avatar

Essence Bond

Succulent Magician

Skills

Traits

Enchant Dough

Glutenmancy

Phantom Oven

Food Lore

Taste Test

Ingredient Reference

Baking

Magical Cooking

Deft Hands

Resourceful

General

Skills

Traits

Keen Eye

Apprentice’s Item Lore

Aetheric Translation

Dagger Mastery

Resourceful

Mind over Matter

Toss of a Coin

Minion interfaces Available:

Ashra Snowpelt, Silpha

As a whole, Myles had grown quite a bit as he improved. His basic strength was still low compared to a real combat-oriented Runner, but he could finally feel like he was at least stronger now and even hold his own against a weaker monster if he had to. His Will and Influence continued to rise even more steadily than his strength, and he couldn’t help but be happy about that.

Ashra continued her growth as well:

Ashra Snowpelt

Age: Adolescence

Sex: Female

Race: Ambush Rabbitkin

Patron: Rani, Goddess of the Moon

Primary Class:

Ambush Rabbit

Skilled 3

Secondary Class:

Pugilist

Skilled 3

Brawn - 21 (19+2)

Dexterity - 24 (20+4)

Will - 15 (12+3)

Influence - 15 (12+3)

Soul Energy: 130/130

Elemental Alignment:

Air

Title: Guardian

Skills:

Lesser Force Strike

Stealth

High Jump

Combination Skill:

Tremor

Traits:

Soul Link (Myles Chase)

Warrior’s Resolve

Perfect Balance

Quick Feet

Condition: Good

Advanced Condition Menu - Locked

Inventory:

1 - Pearl Knuckles +1 (Equipped)

1 - Pugilist Robes (Equipped)

1 - Chain mail Shirt (Equipped)

1 - Belt pouch (Equipped)

1 - Steel Knuckles

3 - Healing Jelly

3 - Mana Jelly

2 - Kinetic Iron Slime Sphere

Ashra had been as true to her word as she could be after speaking at length with Silvertail. Once he had been permitted by Foliage, the Foxkin had been more than willing to explain the process of evolving his Class through natural means. To sate his curiosity and with their permission, Myles listened in to what the process entailed. Silvertail had been a [Phantom Fist] before arriving at the dungeon for a few months and, before that, had started with a similar class to the Monsterkin— the [Martial Artist] Class, a more generalized version of Ashra’s [Pugilist] class.

With his advice, Ashra had already evolved her Lesser Force Kick into the more well-rounded Lesser Force Strike that could be used with her fists or her feet. The Skill evolution in turn had unlocked a Combination Skill with her Skill High Jump called Tremor. Tremor took nearly half her Soul Energy to use but was well worth it. The Skill was exactly what it sounded like, a localized earthquake that utilized the force from her fall and the force from her Lesser Force Strike colliding with the ground. It threw almost all comers for a loop, except for one, notable exception:

Squishy.

Squishy

Age: Stage 2

Sex: None

Race: Slime (Kinetic Iron)

Patron: none

Primary Class:

Kinetic Iron Slime

Skilled

Brawn: 12

Dexterity: 7

Will: 5

Influence: 5

Soul Energy: 30/50

Mana: 0/0

Elemental Alignment: Earth

Skills:

Mimicry (Iron)

Kinetic Blast

Kinetic Redirection

Density Shift

Traits:

Slime Regeneration

Core Soul

Soul Link: {Myles Chase)

The Kinetic Iron Slime didn’t really have a sense of up and down, and the additional kinetic energy only gave the eager-to-please creature more power to play with. Once the slime learned how to shape the power used against it with Myles's help, Squishy became a terror on the battlefield. Despite its lower overall power, Squishy’s ability to disable Ashra after an attack gave Myles pause. He’d known the slime would be a potent weapon, but he hadn’t realized how much so when it went on the attack.

Once the slime got going and in range of a physical attack, Squishy could easily manipulate its shape to snap onto Ashra’s feet, bind her hands, or launch himself at her waist and easily throw her off balance.

Working with Myles, Squishy became faster still. With Myles’s instinctual guidance, Squishy could shift between density levels and shapes at twice the pace and had even learned how to act as something like a hand cannon a [Gunner] or [Alchemical Arm] might use in extreme situations, an idea he had to say he’d never even considered until Lyna had suggested it. But as powerful as it was, it did have its downsides.

Iron slime was sturdy stuff and didn’t regenerate nearly as fast as the others’ slime masses. On top of that, the slime instantly became solid when it separated from Squishy, making it unable to be reabsorbed except as food. After two days of consistent practice, Myles learned that every shot the slime took used about twenty percent of its mass and limited the shapes it could take based on how much mass the iron shot took.

On the bright side, the traders bought it up eagerly for its purity and unique properties, so really, it was a win-win as long as Myles didn’t plan on going back out on the hunt with Squishy for about a day after. He and Ashra had even taken to carrying a few of Squishy’s spheres with them to save on its mass as replaceable shot.

“Good work, Squish,” Myles said, calling the slime to heel.

Squishy projected happiness and released Ashra’s feet before jumping into Myles's arms and coiling around his chest to become his handy bandoleer once more. It always amazed him how the monster craved his approval. Squishy was like a child, but in some ways, that made sense to Myles. Dogs weren’t more intelligent than a young child was, and they loved when their masters approved of them.

Not for the first time, it gave him a little chill at how his Class worked.

Thankfully, Ashra was under no such requirement as she got back to her feet. “I do not like fighting Squishy.”

The [Monster Tamer] grinned as a hand gently rubbed between the slime’s eyes, much like he would a cat.

“Squishy seems to enjoy it,” he pointed out. On Myles’s chest, The slime wiggled with pride as its eyes practically glowed with admiration of its feat. “You should be proud that it’ll be able to help us fight.”

Ashra eyed Squishy and Myles in turn. “I am proud, but Squishy has a long way to go before fighting a real opponent.”

“Are you saying you’re not real?” Myles teased, in an exceptionally good mood thanks to the empathic link.

She eyed him again. “Other monsters will not hesitate to kill.”

Myles knew that already, but he was growing more confident by the day that his allies and his monsters would be able to turn any tide on the first floor with a little more training. If he could get Squishy to the next stage of its slime development as well, their only real concern would be magic users, and they only began appearing as bosses and rare or elite monsters on the first floor. Even Shardking preferred physical attacks rather than magical ones.

“All the more reason to help him grow stronger,” Myles argued. “If Squish can master its ability to redirect force attacks, it’ll be almost unstoppable.”

“Until it cannot.”

“That’s why Squishy has us.”

Another hum of support from the slime solidified his decision. Squishy wasn’t a solo agent like Ashra, but if he had his way, Myles would have the two working more closely. Ashra complained his constant weight shifting threw off her combat style though which made a bit of sense. Because of their link, Squishy knew how to adjust for Myles’s movements, and that link couldn’t extend to Ashra. So until Squishy had better control of its Skills, he didn’t push the issue.

When the time came for the two to fight together, Myles was looking forward to seeing the destruction the two could cause on enemy forces.

“That’s enough for today,” Myles said as Ashra began to strength again. “I need to go meet with Will, then we’re going to visit the ruins.”

Even knowing their schedule beforehand, the fresh reminder of their plans for the day idea sent a thrill of excitement through the usually reserved Monsterkin. Myles was starting to see her tells more as well. The way her nose twitched, how her ears tweaked slightly to the sides, and how her breathing picked up just so. He’d never noticed those kinds of tells around his friends or family, and he attributed it somewhat to his Class. Most of the credit went to the higher level of empathy he had with those around him now. The only time he really minded was when Ashra was blindsided by an attack and he felt a measure of her pain as well.

“We will want to be there and back before sundown,” Ashra reminded him.

Looking to the horizon, Myles nodded. “If the others arrive before us, make sure that they are comfortable and stay out of the barn.”

“I am quite capable of that, Myles.”

Myles sighed. “I know Silpha, but it’s better they don’t question why I’m not using one of my bonded monsters.”

“I’m not a monster.”

“And that’s the problem. Keep Ashra company until then. The Supply Team will come visit after that.”

“You know, I can do more than just babysit and build.”

“I know, and you did an excellent job with the garden and track.

“I’d do better if you let me experiment with the land.”

“Not until I know how the others will take it.”

“Your party will be fine…”

“You know that’s not who I mean.”

A long pause was his response followed by a slightly defeated, “Can I at least have Squishy to study? I’ve never seen a slime like that one before.”

A mental command had Squishy sulk his way off Myles’s shoulder and off to the barn. “Treat him well.”

“Like a brother.”

Turning to Ashra, Myles smiled at her. “Make sure they don’t make a mess.”

“Discovery is a messy process, and I’ll remind you, I only made a mess by accident and it’s only happened once.”

“Once is enough.”

Though Ashra couldn’t hear Silpha, she knew what Myles was referring to. “I will make sure she does not attempt to summon copies of Squishy. If it is anything like what happened with Topoff yesterday, we cannot collect enough supplies to fix the damage before the others arrive.”

“How was I supposed to know how much mana an aetheric slime’s mass could absorb without testing? I’ve never had access to one before. Now, we know that she can be used as a weapon in our influence if we ever need her. You should be thanking me.”

The answer to ‘how much mana an aetheric slime’s mass can absorb’ was ‘not as much as she thought,’ and was measured by the size of the hole Silpha blew in the side of the barn. Ashra, Myles, Squishy, and the rest of the Support Team had spent nearly two hours felling enough trees and pulling them to the edge of the property for the dungeon core to absorb and use to repair the barn. If Myles knew how to use vouchers for it, he would have, but Silpha had informed him that those were a process of the grand dungeon, and within her influence of the homestead, they were pretty much useless.

Just another thing to add to the list of positives and negatives about living within a dungeon core homestead. At least he could still give them to his friends to make their lives easier.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Myles sighed and gave her his ultimatum. “No blowing up our allies,” he repeated. “And no testing on anything but the slime mass and kinetic iron.”

The lack of a response was enough to start pushing him towards the edge of the property. “Keep an eye on them, Ashra.”

“Always.”

***

After realizing he knew nothing about where his allies lived, Myles took it upon himself over the past few days to learn where each called home. Kendra and Will shared a space a few houses down from Tail, and Lyna was on the other side of the street near the start of the crossroads. He should have known from the way she called out her window like a pink dawn breaker at sunrise when he approached though.

She was nothing if not subtle.

“Are we going to fight today?” she screamed excitedly through the window, half-dressed and full well knowing the plan already for the day.

“Meeting at noon,” he called back, knowing she already knew that.

“Before noon? Got it.”

“Noon, Lyna!”

She gave him a dismissive wave and moaned. “But I want to go nowww…”

How Lyna survived a normal life, Myles would never know. Still, he couldn’t help but give her a weak smile. “Mana training then adventure.”

“But— “

“No buts!”

He still heard her heckling as he knocked on Will and Kendra’s place. The one thing Myles noticed about houses was that they only ever had a single plate on them for the owner. Even the larger complexes near the edges of the city had a single name, though his home did not. Was it another function of Runner’s Plaza? Maybe nameplates were only visible to those that didn’t own it? Myles couldn’t remember seeing them on the past Run, but then again, he was never really paying attention for it. Just another thing Sindra’s group organized maybe?

The door opened, and Kendra waited behind wearing a simple short-sleeved shirt the color of a verdant field above her dirt-colored pants. She eyed Myles and grinned.

“Where’s your gift?”

“The same place it was last time,” Myles pointed out.

“I told you before, you bring a lady a gift when you come to visit,” Kendra restated, prodding his chest. “I expect gifts, Chase.”

“Good thing I’m not visiting you,” Myles shot back. Even her pokes were strong, Mist damned [Berserker].

She dismissed his complaints with a wave of her hand. “I own the house, so you’re visiting me.”

Looking beyond her, Myles called out. “Will, we’re meeting at my house from now on.”

A laugh erupted from beyond the kitchen as Will got up and walked out onto the screened-in porch. “If I’m teaching you how to gain a Trait, you’re coming to me.”

“With gifts,” Kendra added smugly.

Myles was about to say when pigs flew, but he figured that would only make Kendra more resolute and condemn some poor pig-like creature to a far-flung fate. Instead, he just gave her a small smile and pushed past her.

“Hey!”

“Don’t want to be late,” he said just as smugly as she had as he slipped deeper into the house.

Unlike Tail’s home, Kendra and Will lived in a more developed two-story house. The front looked the same, much like Lyna’s, but it had more to it on the inside. Despite its small size, Myles swore the inside was larger than it was on the outside. The living room gave way to the dining room, then the kitchen, then the poach on the first floor. There was even a bathroom off both the living room and the small mudroom between the two larger rooms. He hadn’t been upstairs, but Will said they each had their own room, a bathroom for each of them, closets, and a balcony over the back porch.

The luxury Runners could afford never ceased to amaze Myles. Then again, they were also risking their lives on an almost daily basis, so it did go a ways towards balancing everything out.

When Myles reached the porch, he picked the chair closest to the silvered man who was sipping on a glass of water. That’s when he noticed a second glass of the icy liquid was sitting on the small table between Myles’s chair and his own.

“Didn’t think you were coming. Water?”

Myles took an offered glass, drank it, and set it on the table between the two chairs before answering. “Practice ran a bit longer than I thought,” Myles admitted.

“Lyna harassing you again?”

“Only a bit. I don’t know how she survived the outside world sometimes.”

Will nodded in agreement. “Halflings love more fiercely than nearly any other race. I haven’t met many in my time, but every one of them that I’ve ever met love their drink, their food, their reading, and some, like Lyna, love their combat like their own mother’s milk.”

“And their pet rocks,” Myles added.

Will sighed into his drink as Myles grinned at his joke. “And their pet rocks.’

Leaning back into the chair to enjoy the posh comfort he was quickly becoming accustomed to once more, Myles sighed in a more satisfying way than Will had. Then after a few moments, “I really wish I knew the deal with that. The eyes kind of creep me out. I feel like they’re watching me sometimes.”

“You and me both.”

“Me too,” Kendra added, coming to sit in the third of the four chairs for her usual show of watching Myles struggle. “Same deal as usual?”

Myles nodded. “If I can’t control the dough, I cook it.”

“Right.”

“Good,” Kendra confirmed from her spot nearby. “Make sure to keep him distracted with your rambling, old man. We’re almost out of bread again.”

Myles glared. “I made four loaves just two days ago.”

“And Will loves sandwiches,” Kendra shot back.

Will just smiled. “I do.”

Myles grumbled as he got comfortable. “Doughnut isn’t going to like this.”

“Then don’t screw up again, oh, glorious leader.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose.”

“So? Blame your lack of control.”

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

She shrugged. “Don’t blame me for the issues with being a mana-reliant Class.”

“Children,” Will said after clearing his throat. “I think we have a lesson to get to.” Kendra looked only the slightest bit embarrassed, and Myles chuckled at the victory as Will continued. “Did you try practicing what I showed you the other day?”

Myles nodded and held out his hand, palm flat and facing the ceiling as he called a unit of dough from storage and had it float above his palm. The sphere of dough wiggled and wobbled much like Doughnut would when it was excited. “I can get it to float easily enough, but keeping its shape is still hard unless I focus.”

Will nodded, mimicking the action Myles had taken. “It will be at first.”

Instead of dough appearing, Will created a ball of gently glowing light no larger than his fist. The light was consistent, unlike most light crystals. It gave off its light without waxing or waning, but to Myles, it felt… slower and gave him a strange feeling as he stared at it.

“Myles,” he warned in time for the [Succulent Magician] in training to catch the near catastrophe that was his dough.

His focus snapped back to the drooping sphere and reasserted his authority over the floating dough to bring it back into line. “Sorry.”

The older man smiled. “It’s fine, Myles. We don’t all become mages overnight. I was lucky to have mana before all this started.”

And so it began again.

“You were a [Preserver], right?”

Will nodded. “I was. Worked with keeping the meat fresh and the milk from curdling on a farmstead outside Krosse. It was steady enough, paid well, and I had a good teacher when my talents started to solidify as a [Preserver].” He chuckled a little as the light floated gently from his hand, and a new part of the story began. “I wanted to be a [Chronomancer] of all things, a legendary magic-user of myth. It wasn’t fire, air, or water, but I was determined.”

“And your parents just let you do that?” Myles asked, surprise showing in his eyes and in the violently drooping dough.

“Focus,” Will chided, then nodded once Myles had the sphere back under control. “My parents knew whatever mana-based Class I ended up with would pay well, so they let me try.” He sighed, smiling at the memory of days long passed. “With their blessings, I studied all the temporal and temporal-adjacent magic I could get my hands on.”

“Makes sense,” Myles said, struggling to keep the sphere intact as it warmed further in the sunlight and focus on Will’s story at the same time.

He took another sip, showing his near-effortless control. “I was missing something though. Somewhere along the lines, what those time wizards could do was well and truly lost. I made progress with some Skills though. I could slow reactions in specific circumstances, but I couldn’t do more than create a stasis field. It wasn’t enough.” He sighed again, bouncing the sphere of light as if it were a ball against the back of his hand. The man’s control was truly astounding. “Time bubbles are something completely different, and by the time I realized I couldn’t do it, well, my Class was set.” He sighed, closing his fist and making the orb wink out as if it never had been. “But we’re getting off track again. Why are we doing this, Myles?”

“To build mana control and unlock the Mana Efficiency trait,” he responded almost instantly.

“Right,” Will nodded, but then continued, “but that’s not all. Using and focusing mana properly increases the mana open to you despite not expanding your reserve at a regular clip. It’s not the same as increasing your Willpower, but you can effectively double your reserve if you can cut the drain of each spell by learning what the spell needs and focusing just on that. It means something different for each mage, however.”

“How do you focus?” Myles asked for not the first time since they started exercising.

“By cheating,” he grinned.

Myles stared. “That doesn’t sound fair.”

“It’s not, but I’m getting there.” Will assured, ”I focus a spell by focusing on the force needed to reverse the effects of the opposing force my spell is being used against. Since I reverse the damage, I’m telling the body what to forget. The more I know about the wound, the more I can undo the lasting effects.”

“And you cheat how?” Myles asked.

Kendra hushed him.

Will gave her a look. “There’s no harm in him asking as long as he keeps that sphere in check.”

“I know,” she replied. “I’m trying to distract him. Thanks for the help.”

Myles continued to balance the sphere out of pure spite for the woman as Will laughed then continued. “I cheat because I have skills that helped me learn that very quickly. I have a set of Skills called Inspect and Assess that show me everything I need to know and let me tailor the spell specifically when I have time. I learned in my first encounter they can all trigger together, and it’s how I healed Ashra so effectively despite the severity of her injuries.”

“And I… we still can’t thank you enough for that,” Myles said again as he felt the familiar brush of Ashra at the back of his mind.

“Focus,” Will chided, but gave him a warm return. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. She’s a good ally to have. Now, it looks like you’re making progress.” He moved closer, examining the sphere of dough that had solidified as a solid object finally. “Not bad, Myles. You have been practicing.”

“I try.”

Will smiled again, more wickedly this time. “Now, hold that for half an hour this time. At this rate, we should have the Trait opened by tomorrow.”

Myles groaned, and the sphere plopped into his palm with a soft, slightly wet thud.

The grayed man grinned, reaching over the gap and patting Myles on the shoulder. “You can start over after you’ve put the loaf in.”

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