The bond between Michael and Gelidreynard was as different to the one with Hazel as possible. The bond felt flimsy and weak, like a rope bridge made with frayed and partially unraveled ropes. Michael could communicate with the Gelidreynard (pronounced Jel-Id-Ray-Nard), who he decided to call Jelly, but it felt faint and weak. He attributed the poor link to the temporariness and the distrust Jelly still held towards him.

To be honest, Michael was surprised the skill had worked at all. Taming was never meant to work on Monsters after all, but Soul Bond wasn't a Tier 3 Rare skill for nothing. If it couldn't even overcome a simple restriction like that then it wouldn't be worth being called Tier 3 skill or having the Rare rating.

Once the link was established Jelly released the Glacial Tomb spell, the Gelidreynard trusting in the link to keep it safe. The link may have been tenuous but it did allow both sides to feel the intentions of the other, allowing Jelly to know that Michael meant no harm. It was still cautious though, and kept an eye on them as it bent down to eat the Foggy Dawn Flower. While it was eating the flower Michael looked over the notifications that ha popped up.

Achievement Earned!

As a Tier 2 you have managed to tame a Tier 3 creature forging a bond that surpasses the Tier difference, albeit temporary. You have earned the Friends In High Places Achievement!

Friends In High Places: Higher Tier creatures are less likely to attack you.

Minor Milestone Achieved!

Through either stubbornness or ignorance you have managed to overcome the limits of a skill, making the impossible possible. Well Done!

Bonus:

+10 Unassigned Attribute Points

Michael stood there, feeling awkward. He had thought Monster Taming was within the limits of the skill, it was a Tier 3 Rare skill after all. Just because the skill didn't explicitly say it didn't mean it couldn't, right? Yet, according to the milestone, it had apparently been impossible. Michael shrugged, if not knowing its impossibility made it possible, then so he was going to enjoy his blissful ignorance.

The Gelidreynard finished off the flower, the power within flowing into its body and aiding its breakthrough to the next Tier. Within the first three Tiers progression is simple, a Monster requiring only time and Mana to move through the Tiers. Tier 4 was another thing entirely. In order for a Monster to break through to the fourth Tier it required them to attain and refine their core concept. This could be done in many ways but one of the easiest, and most common, was for the Monster to ingest a natural Treasure that closely matched their core concept. The Gelidreynards core concept didn't quite match up with the Foggy Dawn, one being pure ice and the other life in the midst of ice, but it was close enough. The Gelidreynard moved one more step towards the fourth Tier, the System deciding that its level had apparently jumped from 13 to 19.

Michael watch the entire process and felt even more certain that his actions had been the right ones. Jelly's Ice attacks wouldn't have any weaknesses towards other Ice Monsters like Fire attacks would, even though the elements were the same, due to the base opposition that existed between Attacking and Defensive Magic. Two attacking or defending spells would meld together if they were the same element but an attack would land on a defensive barrier as if it were another element. It meant that, even though Jelly wouldn't have any natural advantages in the Dungeon, they would still have a powerful Tier 3 Mage at their side.

As soon as Jelly had finished refining the Foggy Dawn Flower they moved on. When all this started Michael had used a Treasure Scan to try and identify where the Dungeon was but decided to divert to the flower as he had been curious about the Natural Treasure. Since then, with all the fighting, he had completely lost track of the Dungeons location. Fortunately Jelly had a decent knowledge of the terrain and, once Michael explained what they were looking for, knew where to go.

The trio trekked through the icy tundra towards their destination. Hazel was handling the cold alright, her fur and her Ice resistance keeping her relatively warm, but Michael had some issues until he infused his armor with a permanent effect Fireball, the effect giving him a 10% increase in Ice Resistance as well as self warming. The effect was so good that Michael ended up keeping it, and wishing he had done so earlier. With the effect going he decided to check his Resistances.

Resistances Pain - 23 Poison - 17 Disease - 15 Ice - 15 Fire - 5 Earth - 5 Wind - 5

Michael was surprised. He'd known that the Strumens Ruin had increased his Affinities by 5 each but he'd never thought to check his Resistances. Granted, it wasn't much. Michael still couldn't tell if his 23 pain resistance even did anything, but it was better than nothing. He was really going to have to thank Strumen the next time he saw him.

It wasn't much longer before the trio saw the Dungeon, and what literally lay before it. Curled up on a massive pile of snow, directly in front of the glowing portal that was the Dungeon, lay a Frost Giant. Michael had been a fan of the Marvel films and he knew a Frost Giant when he saw one. It wasn't exactly the same as the films, nothing ever is, but it was a 13 foot tall humanoid with blue skin and a loincloth. Michael wasn't even sure why the giant was wearing a loincloth in the first place, the poor piece of fabric was doing absolutely nothing to cover up what was underneath. Michael was once again thankful he wasn't a melee fighter, if he got hit by that particular club no amount of therapy would help. Tearing his gaze from the world's most horrifying wardrobe malfunction, Michael Identified the Monster.

Vitr Jötunn

Tier 3, Level 5

5000 / 5000 Health, 500 Health Regen

50 / 50 Mana, 5 Mana Regen

Strengths: 35% Fire Resistance, 25% Water Resistance, 10% Ice Resistance.

Weaknesses: -50% Lightning Resistance.

Michael was unsurprised at the massive Health pool, this big lug was obviously built for brute force. Michael was a little surprised at the Ice Resistance since it didn't fit with his current theory about resistances but hopefully it wouldn't make a difference.

Michael prepared another Poison Spores infused arrow, the last one having unravelled in the meantime. The Identify information hadn't mentioned anything about Poison resistance so hopefully it would do some serious damage. Once the spell was infused Michael started up his Power Shot skill. Once the skill was charged he released, the arrow screaming through the air to impact the Frost Giant (Vitr Jötunn may have been its actual name, but Michael knew in his heart they were Frost Giants).

The Vitr Jötunn woke up roaring, an intense pain radiating from its chest. It thrashed around, trying to hit whatever it was that hurt it. When it failed to hit anything it looked around and found a group of creatures, right as one of them fired another attack at it. The Vitr Jötunn wasn't fast enough to block it, something impacting it in the chest and bowling it over backwards. It rolled to its feet and held out its hand, frost and ice forming from its outstretched hand into the form of a club.

Michael was shocked, He had not expected the Frost Giant to roll to its feet and he had definitely not expected the Magical Ice Club. The Giant reared his arm back and Michaels eyes widened as time slowed. He already had an arrow nocked so he activated his Spell Arsenal, imbuing the arrow with the Fireball spell as he drew the string back. By the time the arrow was ready the giant had already thrown the club, but that was fine as he was never trying to stop the giant. The arrow sped through the air and hit the club straight on, the collision causing an explosion as the two magics smashed together.

Michael immediately nocked another arrow, but he wasn't the only one in this fight. The Frost Giant started to form another club when several stone spikes burst from under one of its feet, impaling it and interrupting the creation of the Ice club. At the same time several Ice Spears stabbed into its other foot. The frost Giant roared at the group of creatures before ripping its feet free and charging forwards, a trail of blood in its wake.

The Vitr Jötunn was not stupid, it could sense the origins of the spells directed at it. It knew that it could not defeat these creatures at a distance so it had to get close. It charged at the group, activating its Giants Rage ability to increase its strength and dull its pain. As it moved it created another one of its Ice Clubs, this time not to throw but to use. One of the creatures gathered power so it quickly moved the club in front of its chest, where it felt the killing intent the most.

Michael was charging a Power Shot when the Giant formed another club. Michael almost canceled his skill but continued when the Giant made no move to throw it. As soon as the skill was ready Michael shot the Giant but it moved with incredible speed and blocked the shot. Too bad for the Giant he had imbued the arrow with a Boulder Throw. The impact blasted the Ice Club backwards into the Giant, the collision shattering the club and sending the Monster flying backwards. Michael Dupli-Cast his Fireball spell, tagging the Frost Giant as it flew through the air. Jelly and Hazel kept pelting it with spells as Michael prepared another arrow, getting a Thunder Shot ready this time.

The Vitr Jötunn landed heavily, tumbling across the snowy tundra with spells pelting its body. Its health had dropped by over two thousand points and was still dropping, with increasing speed. When the creatures had damaged its feet it had gotten angry, now it was getting worried. The creatures were doing serious damage and it hadn't even gotten a single hit on them. It needed to change something and it needed to do it fast. There was one skill it could use but it would have to pay a hefty price. It activated the skill, right as force slammed into its face, snapping it backwards and stunning it.

Michael stared at the body of the Frost Giant as it dropped to the ground. He had really expected more the Monster to dodge at the last second but the arrow still pierced its head, a small tunnel forming as the arrow penetrated clean through the Giants head. As sad as he was that it hadn't made some sort of final stand, he was happy that no one had gotten hurt. Jelly had warned him of the Giants Strength and though he first thought it meant the giants power he quickly realized that Jelly was being literal. The Vitr Jötunn was apparently an incredibly strong Monster and one hit from the Monsters club may have had deadly consequences for even a fully buffed Hazel.

He was about to head to the Dungeon when he realised what had been nagging him; he hadn't gotten a notification for the kill. He had an arrow nocked and drawn before he even finished turning around. Hazel re-upped her spells, instinctively understanding the warning Michael hadn't even properly formed yet. It was a good thing as the Club smashed directly into her ribs, sending her tumbling across the tundra like a ragdoll.

The sight made Michael freeze, the gut wrenching fear threatening to overwhelm him, before that same fear turned into a white hot rage. Pouring his anger and hate into the arrow he released it, the action draining him of all his Mana and almost the entirety of his Health. The arrow sped through the air at speeds that would normally have shattered it, the arrow held together by the jagged purple and red energy that filled it. A scar was left in the very fabric of reality in the wake of the arrow, though it quickly healed and faded from view.

The Vitr Jötunn had almost been killed by the lightning charged arrow that had pierced its head, but it turned out its skill was far more literal than anyone could have guessed. Mindless Destruction was a berserker skill that put its big boy pants on, the skill completely removed all thought from its mind and doubled the Vitr Jötunn's already considerable strength as well as reducing all incoming damage by 90%. The skill was always meant to be a last resort as, despite being a near invincible killing machine during the minute long duration, all Attributes were reduced by 95% for an entire hour afterwards. This was not even the worst part as using the skill required the loss of a significant portion of experience, almost two entire levels worth.

It had expected the skill to let it destroy the creatures attacking it, what it had not expected was for the skill to let it continue fighting with a hole in its head. Usually, an injury like that would create debilitating debuffs if the injured even survived the attack, yet that was not the case here. The Vitr Jötunn did not remember what happened after it gained the injury, and even now it was hard to think with the partial destruction of its brain, but as it looked down to the plate sized hole running clear through where its heart used to be it found itself desperately wishing it could remember the last few seconds; It would have liked to know what had killed it.

Michael wasn't paying attention to the Frost Giant. He had no idea what attack he had just unleashed but he knew the Monster was dead, he even got the Notification to prove it. Michael's only focus was on Hazel, Jelly helping him to move as he was still woozy from the attack.

When Michael reached Hazel he found her with only 53 Health left. At first Michael thought Hazel was okay, if knocked out, but then he saw her Health tick down a point. Looking through her Status Michael saw that she had the Internal Bleeding Injury, stopping her natural Health Regen and taking off 5 Health every minute.

Michael pulled out a potion and fed it to her but it didn't work. Rather, it did restore Health Points, but it did nothing for the Injury. He used Novice Heal on her, after waiting for enough Mana to Regen, but it also failed to remove the injury. What was worse, the spell hurt actually hurt to cast, as if his soul was fried from the attack. He could bare the pain, especially for Hazel, but he needed to get rid of the injury an he didn't know if Minor Heal or Potions would eventually do it. Fortunately he had another option; Killing the Frost Giant had levelled him up, hitting level 11 and getting another Skill Point. Michael entered the skill space but was instantly booted back out. He was confused but the confusion quickly lifted as the skill gain notification arrived.

New Skill Gained!

Healing Sap

Tier 2, Level 1, Nature Magic Skill

100 Mana Cost, Touch Range, 1 Minute Cooldown

Manifest a sap that heals for 150 Health over 10 seconds. Healing increased by 10 per level. Does not stack. Heals Moderate Injuries.

Seeing the last line raised Michaels hopes. Kneeling beside Hazels ribs, where the club had struck, Michael cast the spell. Even though he had braced for the pain it still almost made him black out. Blinking away a Pain Resistance increase notification he placed his hand on Hazels side, smearing the sap that had appeared on his hand over her ribs. The leafy green sap stayed for a second before sinking through her fur and into her skin.

Michael checked her Status but nothing changed other than her Health going up. Michael frowned before he realised the problem, the injury was internal and the sap would only affect the area it was applied to. If Michael wanted to directly heal Hazels internal injuries then he either had to cut her open and get to the injury directly, which was definitely not an option, or he had to find some way to get her to swallow the sap. That would likely work but the sap was far too sticky to get to her stomach so he had to first water it down before she could swallow it. Taking a bowl from his inventory Michael cast the spell as soon as the cooldown finished and wiped the sap off the interior of the bowl. Once he got the sap into the bowl he filled it with water and started stirring the mixture until the water was a cloudy green.

Pouring the mixture into Hazels mouth without it spilling or choking her was difficult but Michael managed it by going slowly, one drop at a time. As soon as Hazel had swallowed the last drop he pulled up her Status. To his dismay he found the injury still there. Michael was still staring at in, trying to think of another plan, when the injury suddenly disappeared. Michael blinked and rubbed his eyes, freaking out a little when closing his eyes didn't make the Status go away, and checked it again to make sure he was seeing right but despite several checks he could not see any sign of Hazels Injury.

The relief hit him like a tonne of bricks and, like most people when hit by a tonne of bricks, he collapsed to the ground unconscious. The Gelidreynard looked on, unimpressed at this turn of events. It was surprised that the earthy smelling bear had managed to survive a direct hit from a being a full Tier higher that specialized in Strength. What surprised it more was the actions of the human, Michael. It was clear that it was desperate to heal the bear yet it could not understand why. If the bear had been strong it could have understood yet if anything the bear was a liability. To go to such lengths to help a creature that had yet to prove its worth was an alien concept to the Gelidreynard, yet for some reason it found itself jealous of the weak bear. It did not like this feeling, or that the human had brought it on. The sooner they completed their deal and the bond was broken the better.

Surprisingly, the idea of simply killing the helpless pair never occurred to the beast.