At some point Ina woke up, yawning, stretching, just like.. well, a person. Beasts were more intelligent than regular animals by significant margin, but he had never thought of her as a person. Now she was, not only a person, but a beautiful person. He sensed her thoughts over their bond. Her thoughts were, so.. human and yet still alien. She was a little confused, perhaps a little frightened, but mostly just happy with her new form. She cast several different buffs and healing spells on herself, drawing from Dem’s own spell repertoire! Their bond had advanced in some fundamental way. Using each other’s spells was something his first grimoire had only mentioned as a later development, and only speculatively. Bonds developed over time, and often took different directions based on need or how they were most often used. This could be useful in the future. It wasn’t likely Ina had too many spells that would help him, but he would definitely have lots of spells that could help her.

He took a peek at her over the grimoire propped up on his lap, but quickly dropped his gaze. She needed clothes! He would have figure that out, but only after he understood more of what was going on with the both of them. Even after reading the grimoire for a while, he still knew little. The information that appeared on the page was just basic information on some of his improved spells. Or at least that is what it had given him, until a short while ago, when he had a breakthrough. He had mumbled a question, more to himself out of frustration than to the grimoire, and the grimoire had answered. It had answered. An intelligent spelled item, even one with very basic intelligence, was beyond anything he had ever learned about. It was possibly something of the core lands of the True Human Realm. Perhaps it was from some other place entirely?

Getting over his shock quickly, he asked it a flurry of questions, but only received answers to a few, mostly related to the usage of his spells. After a series of further questions, he finally found one that the grimoire would answer that wasn’t related to basic spell information.

“Where did you come from? Who made you?”

No answer.

“Why are you here? What does your creator want?”

No answer.

“Why was I chosen?”

No answer.

“Did you heal Ina and I?”

He stopped, utterly still, as words began to form on the page.

Your physical state was altered to improve compatibility.

The physical state of your companion improved through your connection with her.

What did any of this mean? He was ‘improved’. In what ways, other than obviously physical changes, was he ‘improved’? How had he somehow brought along Ina for this ‘improvement’? The grimoire was so utterly cryptic.

Actually, after thinking for a moment, the last part made more sense than he had initially thought. Generally, when a Beast, or its Tamer, advanced significantly, the bond boosted the other party sympathetically. He had grown stronger, and was able to survive in Wilds after Ina has ascended to a greater beast. This allowed him to surpass his natural abilities, and catch up to the abilities of the other youths of the hamlets. His peers spent most of their time improving their various Wilderness-related Paths through work and play. He could move as fast, nearly, as the fastest of them on low branchtrails, and he could sense as well as the best young hunters. If he used spells that borrowed more strength from Ina, he could perhaps surpass most, if not all, of them for a short amount of time. Tamers, compared to many other combat Classes, were generally weaker on a personal basis. The borrowing of strength, the sympathetic improvement the Tamer experienced, only served to allow the Tamer to ‘keep-up’ with their beasts and other Classers, but fundamentally the beast was the one who did the attacking, took the attacks, and did most of the work. To advance his Path, he had taken more risks than was necessary. Fights were something they had to do together, to sharpen their teamwork. This allowed him to make him greater strides in his Path, and use more spells, more often than most of his peers. It was his edge, and it had nearly cost him his life in the fight with the viper-wyrms.

Beast Tamers generally did not control their beasts through physical prowess, but rather through the personal allegiance a Bond Beast spell laid as a foundation in the mind of the beast. Of course, it was hard to bond an unwilling beast, and so many different methods were used to entice a beast to be ‘willing’. These methods differed greatly. Some methods, like with Ina, were based on growing up together or raising a beast from a pup, others used charm spells and mental manipulation, still others borrowed the power of combat Classes to beat a beast into submission. Bonding beastfolk was where things got.. strange. It was also where most of the negativity about Tamers came from. Tamers were known to choose a very different option when bonding beastfolk, a more.. embarrassing option. His mind slid away from that topic.

He spoke quickly, “What improvements have you made to my companion and myself?” He could hear the anxiety in his own voice.

Your companion advanced in tandem with you. She had advanced recently, and so was unprepared for another advancement so soon. Her advancement expressed itself differently as a result. She grew stronger, but in a different direction than her bloodline would normally dictate.

Your improvements were different and directed specifically at compatibility with the Class held within this grimoire. Your natural talents were inadequate for the Class, and so you were changed. Your potential was inadequate for the Class, and so it was increased. New spells were added to your mindscape. Your previous spells were upgraded in various ways bringing them in-line with the Class imparted to you.

Dem sucked in a breath. What Divinity-Damned Wilds was this beastshit? He was inadequate? He lacked potential? These were things he knew, but it was another thing to be told by a talking book. He had to admit, part of why he chased after his Tamer Class, wasn’t just to make things better for himself, but rather it set him apart. When the other youths embraced the Wilderness Paths, or apprenticeships if they were from the settlement, he worked hard to buy a Class for himself, to make something of himself. He tasted bitterness, just thinking about what he had sacrificed. He had given up marrying, on friendships, on his own personal safety, all to attain that Class, and now it too was gone.

He sighed and asked the question that had been burning in the back of his mind. It was also a question he hadn’t yet asked because he was afraid of the answer. His future, his dreamed ambitions, rode on the answer to this question.

“What is this Class you’ve given me? What am I now?”

There was a pause, which had meant previously he was not going to get an answer. Just as his frustration was about to burst forth, the words finally materialized on the page.

Your Class will be revealed only after you have begun your new Path.

Was this a joke? What new Path? Paths were things you choose, they were not given to you. Was this the cost he had to pay? He had to change his entire approach to advancement to satisfy this new Class?

“What is my new Path?”

He waited, but no answer came

***

At some point he simply had to move on mentally, and think about the immediate future. Figuring out the grimoire would wait. He spent the better part of a cycle here, surrounded by the carcasses of dead viper-wyrms, either passed out or in utter confusion. The ‘improved’ nature of his body had allowed his constitution to, not heal him entirely, but rather shrug off the effects of the venom. His healing spells worked much better now, both on Ina and himself. Ina had advanced, at the grimoire had put it, and therefore had no problem dealing with venom’s caustic effects. She also had access to seemingly all his spells and the ability to cast them, though when she did it felt like she was borrowing his own understanding of the spell to do so. He had a number of spells in his mind that he simply could not be cast though. He didn’t know what they did specifically, and the grimoire was cryptic. They didn’t come with labels or names. His Path, as it was currently, didn’t seem to empower them to work. He had tried to channel the power of his Path into them, but the little lights in his mind’s eye did not show any effect. He could only suppose whatever his new Path was would be what would make these new spells work.

He prepared himself to leave area, stowing the grimoire away in his bag. There was a problem though, he was having difficulty leaving because he couldn’t look directly at Ina. She didn’t seem to care about her lack of clothing, which wasn’t surprising, as only less than a cycle ago she had no need for it. Still, despite his embarrassment, he took a couple long looks at her, redness creeping up his cheeks as he did so. Was it wrong to look at your own bonded beast naked?

She stood half a head shorter than him, her body covered with short fur, that looked even softer than her previous fur. The fur in certain ‘areas’, was shorter and paler, to the point where it became almost nonexistent. Her hair was a dark mane down her back, nearly reaching her posterior. She was curvaceous around the hips, but less so around the bust. Her legs had a jointed hock like a four-legged animal, but she seemed to have no trouble standing upright. Her arms were a bit longer than maybe they would be on the average human, but not strangely so. She could clearly still move on all fours quite easily should she need to. Her 'hands' were actually something of a cross between a paw and a human hand. They were probably less dexterous than a human hand, but definitely stronger, with retractable claws. Her tails had grown back and she had a full seven tails now, though the secondary tails were thinner. She seemed to be able to hide them within the bushy, longer hair of her primary tail, when she wasn’t using them. He didn’t know if they literally disappear into her primary tail, or just entwined themselves in such a way they couldn’t be seen easily.

Her face.. her face was what reminded him she wasn’t human most of all. She still had the same rounded, arrow shape to her face, but with a shortened muzzle. Little fanged incisors stuck out when her face was at rest. Her eyes were huge and luminescent. Her concentric pupils shook him on some fundamental level. He was lost in them for a moment. This was another reason it was difficult to look directly at her. It was said, that many-tailed used their eyes to charm prey, especially during a night cycle. He had to be careful for so many reasons. Everything about her made him uncomfortable and, at the same time, drew him in.