Felicia sighed, arching her back like a cat. It had been a difficult day of discussion and negotiations. The Elf woman who had taken over for the Elder was ruthless in their talks. Lady Serena, who had been trained by multiple master traders of the Beast-Kin, had been left floundering with each statement that the Matron of Trade had made, and they had steadily been losing the ground that they had gained from the Elder.

Shaking her head, she looked around the flat that she and her Lady were resting upon. Noticing that there were no Elven around to watch her, and that her charge was sleeping peacefully sprawled next to the bonfire, Felicia began to practice her magic. A small golden orb of flame appeared above an outstretched hand, and Felicia began to split it into smaller and smaller orbs, creating a constellation of golden light floating above the Fox-Kin.

She had developed this method during the weeks of travel with the Mageous before arriving in the Elven Enclave. It had been an enjoyable trip, but was overshadowed by the fact that the Mageous had been lying to them for most of the journey. Knowing now that he had been a master of three different elements and a God-ling, Felicia had felt cheated. She craved knowledge of all kinds, but what interested her most was magic. Being able to contort the reality to suit her very thoughts was seductive in its persuasion.

Focusing her mind back onto her training, she contorted the orbs into more and more abstract shapes, mesmerizing herself into the intricate dance of the heavens. She continued this exercise for some time, before moving onto her knives.

Dispersing the golden orbs, the Fox-Kin reached into the sleeves of her maid’s dress and pulled out the finger length knives she always had on her person. Grabbing the two sets of three knives in between the knuckles of her fingers, she flicked them towards the bark of the towering Elderwood that served as the support for the flats ringing the massive tree. With a series of quick thuds, the knives embedded themselves into the tree, barely a hairsbreadth away from each other.

Reaching into her sleeves again, the maid pulled another set of her throwing knives and flung them towards the tree, delaying the releases of each individual knife to force them to fan out. She continued the throwing practice for an hour, throwing her twelve knives in groups of three, changing them from a tight cluster to wide fans intermittently. After her last through which left six knives in the trunk forming an X, with the center knives buried into the same knot in the tree, she shook out her arms and reached behind the small of her back.

With a twist and a pull, two long serrated knives, looking more like small swords than knives, appeared in her hands from the hidden sheath in her sash wrapped around her waist. Holding the knives in a reverse grip, with the blades running along her arms and reaching to her elbows, Felicia inhaled slowly, and exhaled with a sigh.

Springing into action, the Fox-Kin began to work through the forms instilled into her since she was nothing but a kit with all the grace of a dancer. The knives darted through the darkness, their pristine blades glinting from the sporadic firelight behind the training Beast-Kin. Dancing between invisible opponents, Felicia spun and sliced, going for the weak points in the armor she knew they would have. Bending backwards to dodge the swing of an oversized axe, she spun back upwards and dragged the knife through the blank opponent’s tendons and muscles.

Dancing backwards to avoid an attack, the Fox-Kin sprung forwards and planted both of her knives through the imaginary eye slit of a helmet. Rolling with the falling body, she came back upwards, her daggers leading the movement. Taking a deep breath, the Beast-Kin closed her eyes and brought her hands up to shoulder level, crossing her arms and finishing off her training. Releasing the breath slowly, she slid the knives back into their sheaths and moved to get the throwing knives still lodged into the tree.

As she yanked out the final still quivering knife from the bark, she felt a cold presence bloom into her mind, familiar and yet threatening at the same time. Turning around, she threw the knife towards the real threat before it could end her. A blast of frigid air blew the knife off course, and a shard of crystalline ice slammed into the projectile and sent it spinning back towards the Beast-Kin.

Felicia dove underneath the returning projectile, tucking and rolling back to her feat with her twin long daggers reappearing in her hands from their sheath. Before she could turn around to face the opponent, the presence within her mind surged, forcing her to her knees from the pressure. A cold and calculating voice echoed within her mind, and the Fox-Kin instantly calmed.

“How rude of you, Vixen. To attack someone just for attempting to say hello.” Felicia felt the pressure fade, and she slowly regained her feet and turned towards her companion. She blinked in surprise, and then smiled at the figures changed appearance. Felicia bowed her head, the smile never leaving her face.

Welcome back, Master Mizutsune. I can see that your advancement into a higher form has gone well for you.

The massive fox pulled his lips backwards, showing off his glistening teeth in a feral smile. “Of course it has, young Vixen. What would you expect from someone such as I?” Mizutsune looked towards the bonfire and the sleeping Owl-Kin. Turning back to ensnare Felicia in his deep sapphire gaze, he nodded towards the back of the flat. “Come, there is something that I must do.”

Felicia nodded. Of course, Master. The fox moved towards the edge of the flat, and Felicia fell in step behind him. She could not help but watch the gentle sway of the Mystic Beast’s flank, or the ripples of taut muscle that moved beneath his soft and luxuriant fur. His four tails hung low, barely a finger’s length above the wood of the flat, and the strands of hair swayed with each passing breeze.

She felt her heart rate increase, and Felicia attempted to calm herself. While Mizutsune’s presence had been notable before, with his increased strength it was stifling. The fox seemed to hear her wandering thoughts, and turned his head over his shoulder to shoot her a grin. Felicia felt his cold thoughts break into her mind like a wave crashing against the shore.

“We’re here.”

Felicia shook her head to scatter the thoughts, and looked around. They were on the same flat, but there were no other Elves around, and only a single sputtering bonfire was slowly dying in the distance, giving off small traces of light to brighten the cloying darkness of the forest.

Felicia cleared her throat, and turned back to the massive fox. “Master Mizutsune, why did you bring me here?”

The fox’s grin grew wider, his sharp teeth glinting in the sparse firelight. “I’ll give you one guess, Vixen.”

Felicia felt her heartrate increase again, and a bright smile broke out across her face to accompany the deep blush settling into her cheeks. Slowly turning around, she got down onto her hands and knees, her tail swishing around quickly.

With a growl, Mizutsune tore into the bindings of her dress at the small of her back with his teeth, and tossed the torn away clothing off the edge of the flat. A glint of metal fell with the bundle of clothes, one of the daggers having been dragged away with the fabric. The dagger spun into the darkness, and the only sound within the flat was the sounds of two beasts in heat.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jake twirled his new staff through the air, causing the two motes of magical energy on top of the stave to dance and spin through the darkness of the forest. He grinned to himself at how light and easy to wield the weapon was, and then began to experiment with his new toy.

So how the hell do I activate its powers… Jake cradled the staff in his hands, and stared at the two motes of light and dark. The black blot swam through the air, its ethereal trail flowing along behind it as if it were liquid, while the ember of violet flame seemed to dance and jump around the slow moving blot, leaving a trail of purple light that shimmered and dispersed into the atmosphere.

Focusing his mind on the ember, Jake imagined it stopping its flight, as if it had frozen in time. He felt a slight drain on his mana, and the violet flame paused in its erratic path. The flame steadily grew brighter and brighter, and the staff began to shiver. Jake blinked, watching the small ember grow into a blinding sun as he fed mana into the staff.

As Jake averted his eyes due to the blinding light, he stopped enhancing the ember with his magic. With a thunderous crash, the staff released all of the charged mana with a burst of flame and heat from the top of the staff, which was still nestled peacefully in the arms of the human.

Jake was flung against a tree from the force of the explosion, slamming into the flora with the sound of snapping wood and breaking bones. The blast knocked out all of the air from his lungs, and the human gasped and sputtered in an attempt to get back the stolen oxygen. Moments later, Jake finally got under control of his lungs, and he spent the next minute coughing and hacking in an attempt to clear them of the smoke that he had inhaled with his first breath.

Groaning in pain, Jake slowly opened his eyes to see the forest swimming in front of him. Violet flames hungrily grasped onto the brush and bark of the surrounding plants, and a distinct smell of burnt cloth and flesh assailed the human’s nostrils. Attempting to stand up, Jake barely contained a scream as he placed weight onto his left leg. Looking down, he saw a shard of bone sticking out of his flesh, having been broken when he was blasted against the tree.

Taking a shuddering breath, Jake slowly lowered himself back down to a sitting position, resting his battered body against the trunk of the tree.

Well, that didn’t go well...

A notification appeared in his vision, but Jake brushed it away with a thought, focusing on the more important matter of his broken body. Closing his eyes and taking a shuddering breath, he activated his ‘healing’ ability. The [Flames of the Phoenix] quickly took effect, wrapping the slightly shaking human in an orb of violet flame. Jake screamed in pain as his flesh, muscle and bone was instantly vaporized and recreated from the ashes, his nerves being the last thing replaced.

Minutes later, the orb of fire dispersed, leaving a naked, shivering and slightly smoking human in a ring of blackened plants. Taking a shuddering breath, Jake slowly exhaled and grinned at the absence of pain. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out a pair of cloth clothes, and quickly changed into them before grabbing, and lighting, a cigarette.

Puffing on the toxic stick, Jake finally calmed down enough to pull up the notification that had appeared.

Ability Discovered: Burst (Fire) HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ~Giggles Mana Use: 30 m/s of charge.

Sighing, Jake waved the message away and heaved himself to his feet, flicking the burnt out butt into the underbrush. Glancing around at the carnage that he had inadvertently caused within the forest, he walked around and began to stamp out the flames with a shirt that he pulled form his Inventory. I’m going to run out of spare clothes if this shit keeps up. Grumbling to himself, he finally put out the last sputtering flame, and then turned to where he had last seen the magical boom-stick.

The staff had buried itself up to the grasping hands in the dirt from the explosion, and Jake spent a few minutes attempting to dig it out. Finally wrenching the stick away with a spray of dirt, Jake inspected the weapon for any damaged pieces. Surprisingly, the stave seemed perfectly whole, the runes glowing cheerily in the gloom and the two motes of energy, the tongue of flame having returned to normal, continued their hypnotic dance.

Sighing in relief, Jake sat back down, cradling the staff on his knees.

So, we know that we can charge these little blobs of magic with mana, and they have an effect. Maybe it was because I was forcing it to stay in place caused the explosive reaction? Jake scratched at his chin, and paused as he felt burnt hair. Shaking his head, he moved his attention back to the stave. I’m not going to play around with its abilities anymore. But I want to figure out how it’s supposed to reduce the cost of my Binding. The question is, who to summon? I could go with my imp, but I don’t want a demon following me around where there is a chance for him to be discovered. It would tip my hand too soon.

Jake watched the twin motes of energy dance through the air, thinking. So, no demon’s yet. The Lurker would be even worse, as it’s just a giant hulking fish-man. Maybe a new Binding?

… No, that would take too much thought. I would go with Quelaag, but, again, giant spider is a dead giveaway. If only she was fully human. That would make things so much easier. And it’s not like I can just wish for her to…

Jake stopped, staring off into the distance as his brain caught up with his random thoughts. … Can I? Oh, shit. If this works, I am a fucking idiot for not trying it sooner.

Surging to his feet, Jake grabbed onto the staff with both hands and slammed the bottom into the dirt, stabilizing the violent magical twig. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Rivulets of purple flame surged into being, wrapped gently around the humans shoulders. The liquid flame poured down his arms and inched upwards along the pulsing veins of the staff, reaching towards the [Heart] embedded into the weapons core.

When the trailing flames reached the [Heart], [The Rift Stave of Jer’El] pulsed in Jake’s hands. The ember dancing above the [Heart] moved into the beating organ, and the [Heart] burst into violet flames. The stave was pulsing constantly now, the heartbeat of a great beast was coursing through the weapon.

Jake concentrated on the image that he wanted, and the Flames followed his thoughts. With a roar of dragon Fire, the [Heart] launched a stream of liquid flame into the perpetual twilight of the forest. The torrent of Fire slammed into an invisible barrier, and began to swirl into a vortex of flames.

The human continued to pour mana into the spell, causing the rippling torrent of Flame to surge with the newly added power. The vortex steadily grew, streamers of flame arcing outwards and then curving back into the tear in the fabric of the world.

For what seemed like a lifetime, Jake continued to pour mana into the spell, and the vortex continued to grow in power and size. With a snap of exploding air, the disk of spinning Flame extended backwards, a black rend through the fabric of the world absorbing the violet flames. The Rift contracted, and a figure dressed in robes was violently ejected from the darkness, and the Rift closed with a snap, sending the surroundings into the perpetual twilight of the forest.

The figure stumbled forwards with shaking legs, and collapsed to their knees. The figure was clothed in a flowing black robe, etched with golden embroidery along its seams. The hood was pulled upwards, masking the face from the light of a rapidly conjured purple flame.

Jake slowly knelt in front of the figure, keeping the hand with the violet flame above to light the surrounding area. Being as gentle as he possibly could, he reached outwards and pulled the hood back slowly.

Long black locks fell free from the hood, framing the smooth angular face. Black eyes filled with shock stared back at the human, complementing the figure’s alabaster skin nicely and bringing attention to the pert nose and thin mouth of the figure.

Jake grinned at the figure, and reached down to one dainty hand, slowly helping her regain her shaking feet.

“Welcome back, Quelaag.”

Spell Updated The spell [The Witch of Izalith] has been updated, increasing the Sacrificial cost. [Old cost – 3,000 Mana over 1 minute (includes Mana Regeneration). Sacrifice 100 Mana to sustain the Binding (Sacrificed Mana will not be regenerated). New cost – 3,000 Mana over 1 minute (includes Mana Regeneration). Sacrifice 200 100 Mana to sustain the Binding (Sacrificed Mana will not be regenerated) (The power of [The Rift Stave of Jer’El] reduces the Sacrificial Mana cost by 50%).

Jake let go of Quelaag’s arm, and the once cursed woman took a tentative step forwards on legs that had been gone for as long as she could remember. When the leg did not buckle under her weight, she took another. And another. A smile began to bloom on her face, and Quelaag began to laugh. Tears flowed freely down her angular face as she walked for the first time since she had been cursed.

The ecstatic woman twirled around to face Jake with all of the grace of a dancer, and clasping her hands to her abdomen bowed deeply. “Human… Jake… I do not know what to say.” She stood back up, and gracefully walked over to the human. Holding out her arms, she enwrapped the startled man into a tight hug. “Thank you… Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

Jake froze for a second, before returning the embrace, patting the still crying woman on the back. “No problem. I said that I would, didn’t I?”

After a few moments, Quelaag pushed backwards from the human, and wiped a tear away with a dainty hand. Still smiling, the cured human glanced around, noticing the location for the first time. “What a strange place… If these trees were any larger, I would expect there to be dragons roosting in their boughs.” Shaking her head, Quelaag turned her attention back to Jake, and moved closer to the human. “Jake, will you break my sister’s curse now? I can understand if you require more time, but I would be eternally grateful if you would do so quickly.”

Jake nodded. “I was planning on it. I just wanted to make sure that my idea would work first.” Jake checked his mana quickly.

Mana: 815 (-100)/915 Mana Regeneration: 45.75 m/s

He couldn’t help but snort. Even with casting the 3,000 Mana cost binding, he was already back up to full in a matter of seconds. Shaking his head, he turned back to the raven haired woman. “I don’t need to wait.” Pulling out a cigarette out of his inventory, he popped it into his mouth and lit up, thinking that every little bit of additional mana regeneration helped.

Readjusting his grip on the stave, he extinguished the orb of fire and was about to start with creating a brand new binding when a cold presence broke into his consciousness.

“Master.”

Pausing, Jake looked back at the expectant Quelaag, and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, Mizu just started talking with me. Give me about a minute or two and I’ll get started.” When he saw her nod, if a bit hesitantly, Jake turned his gaze back towards the darkness of the woods and turned his mind inwards towards the presence of his companion.

Hey Mizu. Did you get what I asked you to?

From the bond an image slowly bloomed. Felicia was sprawled out on the deck of a flat, her eyes rolled backwards and her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Her half clothed body occasionally twitched and shivered, and Jake could feel waves of contentment rolling off of the fox. “I might have gone a little too far, Master, but the deed is done. Completely.”

Jake couldn’t help but stare at the sight for a few moments, completely at a loss for words. Shaking his head to get rid of the image, Jake internally growled at the fox. Mizu, what did I tell you about showing off your exploits? I don’t want to see that shit. Well, I kind of do, but we’ve got shit to do, man!

“Let me remind you that you were the one to tell, nay, order me to do this deed, Master. If you cannot handle a little bit of skin before you start acting like a young pup in his first mating season, I do not think that you are cut out for this line of work.”

Shut up. Thanks, though.

Jake could feel the fox chuckle through the bond. “Of course, Master. I am here to serve.” Mizutsune’s cold presence receded until it was a gentle pressure, letting the human know that he would not be alone.

Shaking his head again, Jake cleared his throat and readjusted his clothes. “Well, I think we’re ready to get started.”

Grasping the hard wood in between his hands, Jake took a slow breath and closed his eyes with the exhale, evicting all thoughts of the fox maid’s alabaster legs from his mind and bringing forth the image that he wanted to bring forth.

Shadows exploded from the surrounding twilight of the forest, their reaching tendrils wrapping around the standing human with the speed of a typhoon. The grasping shadows quickly lanced towards the [Heart] embedded within the stave, and the blot of light-stealing darkness floating above the weapon slowly swam into the beating edifice, creating a ripple in the leathery surface of the [Heart].

Jake inhaled sharply, and solidified the image within his mind. A deluge of shadows exploded from the [Heart], moving outwards and downwards to splash into the ground with the roar of a raging river. The torrent of shadows continued to spread along the ground, until a perfect circle of light devouring shadows was etched into the dirt and foliage.

A minute passed as the tear through the Void continued to drain magic from the human, and with the sound of tearing fabric, it expanded outwards. A bubble of darkness formed from the darkness, extending upwards to the height of a human. Slowly, the bubble collapsed within on itself, morphing from a perfect hemisphere to the outline of a human.

Jake continued to feed the spell as the shadows began to fade, bleeding away to reveal a humanoid figure. As the final shadows dispersed into wispy smoke, the strain of the spell ceased and Jake heaved a sigh of relief.

Like Quelaag, the figure was dressed in flowing black robes, the gold embroidery occasionally flashing in whatever light was able to seep through the gigantic trees. The figure slowly raised shaking hands towards the hood covering her face and held them inches from the fabric.

Jake cleared his throat quietly, and the hood jerked in his direction. Mimicking Quelaag’s earlier action, Jake clasped his hands in front of his stomach and bowed deeply from the waist. “May I be the first to welcome you to the world of Laeris, my Fair Lady.”

New Spell Created: The Fair Lady And now you have both of them. Well, good luck with that. Mana Use: 3,000 Mana over 1 minute (Includes Mana Regeneration). Sacrifice 200 100 Mana to sustain the Binding (Sacrificed Mana will not be regenerated) (The power of [The Rift Stave of Jer’El] reduces the Sacrificial Mana cost by 50%).