We hosted yet another feast to celebrate the founding of Willow Hill. It lasted until the first rays of dawn and my food reserves are almost expended. The monster corpses and the human-made food I stockpiled were devoured by the hundreds of hungry monsters.

The syrup meadow will remain undeveloped and focused on the sustainable production of death willow resin. It is around three miles across. When Spring comes we are going to plant even more death willows in the clearings and make use of Helen's plant magic to foster their growth. The monkeys also are using the slime area as a sacred initiation grounds. Monkeys that want to pass the trial have to fight the slimes using only a goblin spear. They treat the acid burn marks as proof of strength. I wonder where they got that custom from. I didn't get permanent burn marks.

We are also building habitations for all the monsters along the hill. And we need lots of willow syrup to cook into protective amber.

Its fumes are poisonous but the poison is slow-acting and there is a mandate to make everyone learn at least level 2 of poison resistance. When heated and hardened, this resin becomes a tenacious and hard coating. After that, it is only poisonous if consumed, the reason the slimes avoid entering the tree line or touching weapons coated with it. The raw syrup can be collected just like the latex from rubber trees.

The goblin artisans are very proficient with handling the resin. They presented me with more than 100 high-quality javelins made with my toenails. I removed them from weapon crafting and set them on insulating and reinforcing the houses using the resin. It will take a few days before they are usable, but they will be almost as strong as a brick house.

During this time we have to grind some levels and redefine our party dynamics.

"It is goodbye Beowulf for the time being, I guess," I tell my party before retreating to privacy in order to transform back. Five minutes later I am back. Shraaizar also comes and wraps herself around me in her usual way. We need to reorganize our dynamics and patrol our territory.

"Time for job changes. Everyone ready?"

"I'll remain mystic archer," Marcy excuses herself. Not a bad choice, it is a tier 4 job.

"Make me a Druid!"

"Have we unlocked any new jobs?" Zahariel raises a point. They can't see the available jobs without a job crystal, and the job crystal at the guild is rigged to only show the jobs they want. This is a point of concern. I am the only one that can see their job list. If I am unavailable, they are stuck...

"Marcy, I am sorry, but I am having you grind the 'Guild Receptionist' job. I want to see if you can unlock the Guild Master. I promise I will get you back on the Mystic Archer job after you reach receptionist level 20. We need it." I put emphasis on the last part. I dislike to push them in a direction, but we need to set us free from the guild.

"It is ok, I guess." Her stats will take a dive by downgrading her job rank, it is really uncomfortable.

"I will make up to you, trust me."

"Hehe, with this there are two favors on my account. Don't forget it, G!" She winks suggestively. I don't know what kind of crazy stuff she will ask later, but it is for the best.

"Zahariel, we unlocked the wizard job. All three of us. Wanna change?"

"Sure. Wizard it is," the angel makes his pick.

"And for me, monster tamer."

Skills Monster Taming, Training (monster), Whip, Appraise (monster). Skill Fusion available.

Wow, more fusions! I navigate the status window and find the right option. There are actually some fusions available. I had not missed the messages. Is the system changing? Evolving?

Skill Fusion

Target: Skill Growth (A): 10, Skill Awakening Rate UP: 5 Instructor: 4, Training (monster): 1

Proceed?

YES NO

"Marcy, I unlocked a skill fusion. Is there any problem?"

"No. Usually, the effects of the skills are preserved upon fusion, and you get a more powerful skill overall. Sometimes a minor effect gets lost, but it is almost always worth it. And unlike skill evolution, there is no chance of failure. You should bump the low-level skills a little to get a better fusion."

I spend 14 SP to increase monster training to level 5. "Then it is a Yes!"

Fusion Finished!

Unique Skill Skill Mastery (SS) level 1 awakened.

Increases the chance of skill acquisition for a party member or controlled creature by x 15%

Increases own chance of skill acquisition by an additional x 35%

Ability to delete a skill from any party member or controlled creature. Requires confirmation. Refunds x8% of the SP value. Cooldown: 1 day.

All abilities above only work on skills of the same level as this one or lower of rank S or lower.

It fused into an SS skill. 108 SP spent to level 10. SS costs double... And the ability to remove and refund skills... "Helen, wanna make a test? I'll change you to wizard first."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Skill Reset: Helen's [All Elemental Magic]!"

"What is it? A System message asking if I want to forget [All Elemental Magic]! What should I do?"

"It is ok. It says the SP is refunded." And now she can retrain the skills and shoot at those ultimates.

"It is gone... 43 SP refunded...." She took a while to understand but then jumps up and down screaming. "It IS GONE! I can retrain the basic elemental skills now! I don't have to be stranded by this crutch!"

I am sure that there is some greater intelligence behind this. Someone is tweaking the System in my favor. Probably the person from that message. It should be someone from Zahariel's faction, maybe another seraph. It is strange that he has no 'Last Seraph' title if he is indeed the last seraph. But it would be too cruel to give him false hopes.

"Now it is Shraaizar's turn."

"What isss it, Grendel?"

Let me check this skill first...

Taming (monster)

Channeled. Base cost: 20 MP. Attempts to dominate a monster. Base cost increased by 10 for every rank above E. User has to pay half the base cost for every 10 seconds tick. The chance to dominate and the minimum amount of ticks required depend on the willingness of the monster. Can dominate one monster at level 1 and one additional monster every odd level.

x 7,5% of the stats from the monster tamer job added to the monster's stats. Tame monster receives 50% as much Exp as the tamer.

"I want to enter a contract with you. It will bind us together."

"I am already together with Grendel. Since I accepted this ribbon, I am yours." Stop, weird way of putting it. The girls are giving me 'the stare'. Actually, the ribbon is damaged in several parts, and it shine is gone. Should I repair it? Maybe if I enchant it.

Back to binding Shraaizar with the tamer contract. I'll put the SP to raise it to level 5. 14 SP. And now, "Taming (Monster)!" The tendrils of magic extend from me to her, but the naga closes her eyes and welcomes it. Very different from Mittens that struggled and resisted the domination. It ends at the first tick of domination. It used up almost 60% of my MP.

Shraaizar tamed. Companion UI activated. Companion communication activated. Monster status available. Skill Taming (monster) level 6. {Group Contract} learned. Can contract several weaker monsters of the same species under the same taming slot.

Oh, sweet. It is a strange but nice feeling being bound to Shraaizar. I can tell her general status, mood and where she is almost the same way I can tell where my arm is. It is a kind of proprioception. As if all my worries about her were lifted.

And it seems there is nonverbal communication, like what Helen does with Mittens. "Shraaizar, can you understand me?"

She responds, "Yess, Grendel. I can 'hear' you."

"Awesome. I can talk to Shraaizar in my head now. Helen, was it like this with Mittens?"

"And Emory and all the other familiars. Sometimes I have to order them shut because they chat too much in my head." It might be like a Chirper feed.

"Is it that bad?"

"No, it is nice. It was worse at the beginning when Mittens only thought of slaughter and feeding. He is much better now. But my house was always noisy. It is rather nostalgic."

"I am going to contract Kochurearc now. Meanwhile... How about you girls go practice magic? I can change Marcy to apprentice magician. Maybe she'll pick some new spells. And Helen needs to retrain the basic skills. Shraaizar too, maybe you'll catch some new tricks."

The girls and Zahariel leave to find a place to practice their spells. I walk around and ask some workers, but soon find the big red-and-dark-grey gorilla.

"Kochurearc. We are leaving to patrol our territory, and I want to leave you in charge of the place. Make a contract with me so we can communicate."

He answers with a smile showing his teeth. "You earned the right of command over the flame fist when you proved to be the stronger warrior. Order away." For some reason, I think it does not means the same it does in the human body language.

I do not like this submissive tone. But that ship has sailed when I forced him into submission rather than diplomacy. Ruling by strength is also a way of ruling. And I don't think the survivors of his tribe are loathing me. I'll take what I am given.

"Monster Taming!"

Kochurerarc tamed! Monster status available.

Again it succeeded in the first tick. "Kochurearc, now you can talk to me anytime by focusing your thoughts on me. Like this, try it."

After a couple tries, I finally hear the gorilla in my head, "Yes, master. I'll command in your stead."

"Make sure that the goblins finish the outside of the houses with willow amber before the sun sets, but do not hurt them. Nobody is to use those houses yet. I want the amber to dry properly. Also get these axes and order the monkeys that know how to cut trees to clear the foot of the hills. Just fell the trees, don't move them. I'll deal with the trees later."

"As you will!" Again that teeth smile and he is off to give orders. Besides Shraaizar and me he is the strongest one around, the other monsters won't cause a problem.

The same kind of feeling happens with Kochurearc. It fades with the distance and only a general sense of health and direction remains. Maybe I'll teleport somewhere to test how far can the link be stretched. Later. There are many things I want to do.

First I should see what other skill fusions are available to me. Maybe unlock all the other jobs I've been putting aside. Except for the honeytrap of the Elementalist, I'll just unlock all the other tier 3.

You have become a [3]Warrior! Overlapping skill points assigned. Skill Technique Lore (D) Awakened. {Shield Bash} learned. You have become a [3] Scout! Overlapping skill points assigned. Skill Track (E) Awakened. Skill Trapmaking (E) Awakened. You have become a [3] Acolyte! Skills Celestial Magic [C], Light Magic (D), Holy Magic (D), Consecration (E), Barrier Magic (E) awakened. You have become a [3] Merchant! Skills Geography (E), Cartography (D), Heraldry (E), Regional Lore (E) awakened. Skill Appraise (commodities) [C] level 7. Absorbed lower tiers. You have become a [3] Artisan! Skills Improve Quality, Crafting Speed, Batch Crafting, Aesthetics, awakened. Overlapping Skill Points assigned. You have become a [3] Thief! Skills Pickpocket, Sabotage, Lock Picking, awakened. Overlapping skill points assigned.

The merchant skill just absorbed all the other appraise skills related to trade goods into itself. Why did I go through the trouble of learning them? Anyway, they bumped the main appraisal to level seven. The artisan skills seem really good. I'll invest 9 SP on each one of them to bump to level 4. Improve Craft Quality, Crafting Speed and Batch Crafting do what the label says. Aesthetics improves the looks and the value of the item.

I should perform fusion on the crafts skills to, but there is something more important. Right now I can see that both Helen and Marcy are afflicted with MP exhaustion. I should return to where the girls are training their magic. Just to try, I'll appraise Shraaizar when I get in range.

"Appraise (monster)!"

Appraise failed. Displaying target status from tamer interface. Skill Appraise (monster) level 2 Shraaizar's Status: Name: Shraaizar Age: 178 years old. Race: Dual-Element Crested Naga [Tier: 4] Level: 35 Monster Rank: C Unspent Skill Points: 2 Stats Points Prowess: 30+3 (HP: 462) Agility: 63+3 (Stamina: 330) Magic: 40+2 (no MP) Skills Venom Fang (innate): 10 Healing Magic (innate): 8 Air Magic (innate): 8 Water Magic (innate): 4 Elemental Scales (innate): 10 Max HP Increase: 10 Max Stamina Increase: 6 Stamina Recovery: 6 Poison Immunity (innate): 4 Stealth: 9 Damage Resistance: 5 Evasion: 9 HP Recovery: 10 Constriction (innate): 10 Tough Skin (innate): 5 Presence Detection: 7

She is almost two centuries old? I'd never guess. And her race is a tier 4??? How absurd. Why is she ranked C with those stats? But what is this plus next to the stats? Probably the modifiers from the monster tamer job. I know mage-type monsters are supposedly weak, but I doubt Cloude could land a hit on her before he was shredded by wind blades or poisoned until he resembled an orc, green and bloated.

"Grendel!" Shraaizar sensed my proximity and stopped practicing magic.

Helen and Marcy also turn to face me. Sitting on a rock nearby is Zahariel lazying in the sun and behind the shadow of a tree, Mittens, Emory, and the other rats are all eating something they hunted.

Helen comes to meet me, "You are with happy eyes, Grendel. What happened?"

"Seeing you three working together lifted my worries. How was your training?"

"Awesome! I was able to get level 5 of all four skills!"

Marcy also approaches and hugs Helen from behind, "If only I had a tier 4 MP pool... C'mon learn a skill to donate MP!"

"Get off me and go level up your job! Less than 10 days ago you couldn't even use magic! I took me two years to get where you are now!" She wrests free of Marcy's grip and puts a hand on her shoulder, "I am so proud. Look at you! Now, report! This girl got to level 4 wind magic! On her first day with a magic job!"

"Congratulations! Wind magic is really hard to get!"

"Shraaizar helped me! And any archer can understand the wind." There was something she said that is bugging me, what is it. MP?

"Wait, Marcy. What did you say about tier 4 MP pool?"

"What? A tier 4 magical job has a bigger MP pool than others, even with the same stats. It is... oh. Hey, there's a person from another world here. I guess I should teach you about sub-stats multipliers, right?"

"Yes, that should be me, my love. What about job tiers and MP pool?"

"Every job gives a multiplier to either HP, stamina or MP. And the multipliers are related to the job. Apprentice Magician gives 2x to HP and MP. But a magician gives 2x HP and 3x MP. And a wizard gives 2x HP and 4x MP. Monsters are supposed to be the same. For hybrids and freaks like you or Zahariel, the sub-stats should rise even more."

Hold a moment. I've never checked the status with jobs changed. I have a 122 MP now. It went down because of the job change. If I change to magician... 122/432 MP. It triples but doesn't fill up. The magic stat also goes up. But it means that I could just change jobs and use the bigger MP pool whenever... ORZ.

I could've gone to Mirfield and forth without stopping to recover MP. I'll return to Tamer and learn my lesson. If I need more MP I'll change jobs.

I close the windows and Helen's face greets me right beneath it, "Did you finish playing with the status window?"

"Yes. Now it is time to make a patrol. We need to check up on our territory and I hope we find something strong to kill."

We need to level up these new jobs.