As we broke the camp, Mnemosyne sent me a new message.

Bran, I have finally gotten a handle on how the bands work, and why they cannot affect you and some others. The false pet bond is very dangerous, we will need to talk to Mae soon. Can you arrange something?

I nodded, knowing that Mnemosyne could detect the acknowledgment. Once everything was fully packed away, Rik handed me something that looked like a large canvas bag with a golden cord wrapped around it.

“Is this the loot bag?” I asked Rik curiously, and [observed] it at his nod.

The thing was wrapped in illusion magic, with an odd sort of glyph where the cord was. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t real, but the illusion was somehow solid. Unlike the other magic items I had seen, however, it was tied up without a solid pattern, and seemed to move in a wobbly knot similar to how I tied knots on my mana. Not exactly, but as we started walking, I studied the knotting extensively.

It was not clean and neat like mine, more like it was grown the same way that a trellis vine would knot its creepers around a support. The magic was quite strong but was designed to be absorbed by whatever was inside when it was unknotted. I memorized the way that the essence was flowing through it, as it was an interesting pattern that I might try to replicate with knotting later on.

I murmured to Mnemosyne, “Can you see this? If you can, I’d like you to try and draw it to help me remember it.”

The pattern is recorded. I will try to reference it in Draconic, but it could take me a while. We don’t have the level of mana needed to replicate it, but you should watch while you open it. We might be able to get a useful pattern from it.

I carefully unwrapped the knot while every eye felt like it was on me. Considering how nosy everyone was being, I resolved to pester them to find out what they had gotten at the soonest opportunity.

I finally teased out the knot and opened the bag, which dissolved while the mana seemed to draw itself in towards the palm of my hand. In a moment, the mana was completely gone, leaving me with...nothing.

“Umm. Anticlimactic.” I murmured and looked up to see a shocked look on Rik’s face.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” He stated, “I mean, I could see the loot transferring to my inventory through the pet link, possibly, but I didn’t get anything, and you didn’t get anything. That’s a major bug. I am going to report it.”

I got something.

I held up my hand to Rik, “Don’t bug report it.”

He looked surprised. “Why on earth not?”

“Remember that we might be running close to exploit territory. Do you want them looking closely at this particular team?” I answered. I was being careful not to lie, even though it felt a bit like one.

Rik let out a little oh, and nodded, “That is true. I mean, I got these.” He held out his hands and I noticed that he had a very nice pair of bronze gauntlets. “These prevent me from being disarmed. They are very nice, but it’s not even close to the armor you made for Shiana. You are probably right, whatever was supposed to be in the bag probably wasn’t worth getting nerfed.”

He shrugged, “I have never heard of people’s pet wolves and the like getting loot rewards in other games, although when you have one, you can sometimes start getting drops specifically for your companion, so maybe you won’t get specific completion loot? That’s a hard hit, but still.”

He chuckled a little, “Now Cassie and I are the slowest people on the team. She got a new shield, but Mae got some slippers that speed her up. Shiana’s always been fast.”

“Is PVP a thing?” I asked.

Rik groaned, “Yes. That’s one of the reasons we left the Sindaenaway area. Shiana got ganked twice while she was spotting, but since she’s my pet she didn’t lose anything, but a killer guild was already starting in that area. If you get ganked and there’s no evidence or witnesses, whoever got you doesn’t lose reputation, and anything you don’t have in your inventory space has a chance of dropping for whoever killed you. You don’t lose experience before level 5, but some teams were starting to prey on other players since they were often easier sources of loot than the local monsters.”

I nodded, “It’s been several days. Is it possible the gankers have moved out this far?”

Rik nodded, “Yeah. That guy that reached level 9 was named Pelethor Pkgod. He was pretty much bragging about how he leveled up so quickly. PVP is banned in cities and towns by decree, but the moment you are outside the boundaries, it’s open season.”

“Okay, here’s my idea.” I started, “Mae and I both have high stealth. How about we go about a half an hour ahead, and keep an eye on the trail. If we note anything, we can flash a tree to let you know to keep your eyes open, and if we spot an ambush we can hightail it back to you guys. Shiana can spot a flash no problem, right?”

Shiana nodded, “I don’t particularly like the idea of cutting a mark in a tree, but I have some tree paste in case you have to.”

I should have guessed she was a tree hugger. “In that case, we can use trail markers instead, and only flash if we absolutely have to. Fair?” I asked Shiana, and she smiled a little and nodded, “Much more fair.”

Rik nodded, “That sounds like a plan. Just don’t get killed. If there’s bandits, monsters, or Pkers, we will counter-ambush them if we can, or avoid them if we cannot or if they are too powerful.” He glanced at Mae, who nodded.

“Very few people can see through invisibility until they get to seriously high levels.” Mae murmured, “There’s a chance that they might spot Bran, but he’s fast and small. If he gets spotted, he can lead them on a chase through the forest while we set up an ambush. They might even think he’s just a monster and get into hunting mode, which should make it easy to take them out. Kobolds are not exactly considered a high threat, even though this one should be.” She smiled at me.

I shrugged self-effacingly. “I have a few ideas for tricks up my sleeve if I get spotted, true. But hopefully, we should be able to find a good camping spot without encountering anyone. I just want to make sure we are on the same page. This is hostile territory, now, so we need to treat it as such.”

Rik nodded, “On the plus side, once a dungeon is reported, the local town will usually build and guard a road to it since dungeons are considered incredibly valuable resources. Towns can tax them, and set up merchants nearby to buy loot and sell gear to adventurers. Not just players, Local adventurers will run them too.”

Rik grinned, “But I am going to have to report it since I got both the first finder and first clear system messages. EVERYONE knows my name now, and I even got two titles. The first finder is a unique reward for being the first player after release to find an undiscovered dungeon, and it gives me higher rewards when we run a dungeon, and the first clear is per-dungeon. It was a local system message, but considering how many players started as humans, half-elves, or halflings, my name is lighting up the boards.”

Mae and I started. With my speed and her new slippers, we should make great time even while I prowled for herbs and other ingredients.

We traveled for almost an hour, and I kept pushing farther ahead until finally, I stopped. “Mae, we need to talk.”

She nodded, “Yes, I assumed you would try to find a way to get me alone. Look, I understand I am not human and seem more approachable, but I am far more than you could handle. I am on a mission, and despite what a wonderful kobold you are, I am bound to Rik, and now is just a bad time.”

“What?” I answered dumbfounded.

“I don’t need to get involved with someone else right now. If you found me alone, I would jump at the chance to be with you, but I cannot risk it right now.” She clarified, looking a little confused as I started shaking my head rapidly.

“No! I mean, yeah, you are gorgeous but...no. Not my type, even remotely. Besides, I know you are hiding something. 3 tails? Level 2? I don’t know much about kitsune, but I know that you are a heck of a lot more powerful than level 2, unless my grasp on legends is WAY off?”

She shook her head, looking relieved. “Not at all. I mean, technically I am level 6 right now, but that’s more than a little like calling you a level 1. I can see your energy pattern, and the way we took out that boss was not a fluke. The level system doesn’t even come close to approximating our abilities, especially as a group.”

I nodded, “Yep, I mean, solo I figure I could probably get walloped by a level 1, but we…” I noticed she was shaking her head. “What?”

“No, You are at the first foundation stage. You have enhanced most of your body with chi. You aren’t ready to tie your meridians together yet, but I have seen purification enough to recognize the ichor. You have a small mass, which causes you some handicaps just from your size, but if you used your abilities you are much tougher than you appear. Based on your spirit beast strength alone, I would put you closer to level 10, and if you had the mass, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could duke it out with the Seeker without help.”

I recovered from the onslaught of compliments quickly. “I am a Kobold, we are not built like that.”

Mae shrugged, “You could be if you were putting your spirit energy into the sort of things Kobolds tend to put it into. Of course, Kobolds that do that just become monsters, and I am not exactly sure what you plan on becoming.”

I nodded to her and started pacing a little. “I don’t know why, but someone has a question for you.”

I started walking again, with Mae beside me, and called to Mnemosyne, “Please come out.”

Wow, she wasn’t kidding about being a fairy. Less than 6 inches tall, she was perfect in a tiny way. She was still clad in her teacher’s outfit, but the wings on her back were quietly humming until they were almost invisible. She appeared almost instantly, although with [observe] I could see the mana flowing from my core before she solidified.

Her voice was tiny and slightly harder to hear than usual, but she whispered, “I see you, Mae Bae Ling, 3rd tail of the Redfur clan.”

Mae bowed her head towards Mnemosyne and held out her hands, tucking her left fist into her right hand. “I see you Mnemosyne, bonded sprite.”

Hah! I had been right about the way they would greet. My little bit of exposure to Asian cultures matched up fairly well with my expectations. Mnemosyne got started right away, and I felt something in my hand.

Odd. It looked like a rolled-up piece of paper. Real paper, not parchment or rag paper, it was smooth and fairly soft, unlike modern paper. I looked at it and started to unroll it as Mnemosyne spoke. “We need your help, Kitsune. In exchange, Flame will bless your mission.”

Mae raised an eyebrow, “Why would she do that? She made it very clear right at the outset that she disapproved, and it even cost me a tail.”

Mnemosyne stomped her foot in the air. To be honest, I could tell she was upset, but the motion looked odd. “Because leaving when you did violated the accord! She had to punish you, or risk violating the accord herself! If you had waited just one more day, your fate would have been woven into this one instead of the destroyer! She needed your help, and you took off, patting yourself on the back about how noble and self-sacrificing you were. You were exactly what he needed, but she had to send me instead. I am grateful that she did, but I am a very poor second best to your knowledge.”

Mae looked shocked, her mouth open and her eyes wide. “Wait, why was I supposed to bond to him?”

Mnemosyne perched on my shoulder. I just waited, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “You don’t think Flame can stick her finger into holes in the web of fate? Why do you think you were drawn to Cassie? She would have led you right to him, and he would have the best possible companion right from the very beginning. Now he’s at incredible risk of drawing the wrong kind of attention, and he’s stuck with me… I am familiar, not a spirit guide, I am trying my best but I just don’t KNOW how to activate his gifts, and there you are, happily soaking up the destroyer’s seed while your people desperately try to fix the thread your every action is pulling farther out of the tapestry.”

Mnemosyne sighed heavily while Mae tried to figure out something to say. “I only have a few moments left. I am at loose ends here too. Let’s just say that with the waves the destroyer has made, even if he breaks the bond right this minute, the enemy will find Bran even before Rik gets back from his world. You need to help him figure THIS out.” and she pointed at the scroll I was looking over, “And either give him or help him recreate your fake, or your people will die when BOTH of these worlds are destroyed.”

Mnemosyne vanished. I had never seen her like this before, she truly looked pissed, while Mae just stood there looking confused and angry.

There were three rules that I used when dealing with women. The first rule was easy to keep, although it could be broken by accident if you didn’t pay attention to whatever girl you were interested in. Never stick your d… in crazy. Rule two is never apologize, fix. Rule three, though, apparently I had broken just by existing. Never get between two angry women. Yet here I was.

Time to try rule 2. “I am not exactly sure what the hell is going on, but umm, what can we do to fix it?” I asked, starting to move down the path. She easily kept up and shook her head. “What do you know about kitsune?” she asked.

“Probably a lot, most of it wrong?” I asked, curiously. “I know about the tails being kind of like ranks and a measure of power, and that they have fox magic illusion, but the legends alternately paint them as clever spirits that help a man succeed and often fall in with mortals, or they are horrible monsters that destroy a man’s family and life and eventually his soul.”

Mae shrugged, “That’s sort of close. We are instruments of judgment, kind of, of the spirit world. A normal man would have little to do with us, but when a man is fated to be powerful, sometimes he stumbles upon a kitsune. It kind of depends upon what kind of man he is and what kind of kitsune he meets, and who we work for. Our tails are awarded for service to our patron, but we can serve patrons just like humans serve gods. Or we can work for ourselves, but kitsune that are selfish can only gain power by stripping all of the good out of someone’s fate.”

She scratched her head, “Working for ourselves is always a strong temptation, to have enormous potential power without all the drawbacks of serving a patron, but in the end, if we get powerful enough, we become monsters and bounty quests are called on us. Fate is not set in stone, and we don’t know the future, and twisting a man’s life into an endless horror might be what he truly deserves or it might be a horribly evil act of greed.”

“I thought… I mean, the destroyer’s fate is well-known, to destroy a world, one which helps keep ours alive. He is to help destroy his own world, in a misguided attempt to keep ours safe. My patron is Flame, and she has always treated me well, but when I found out about it, I thought it was a perfect chance to both gain rank and help save our world. I was going to attach myself to him and tear his fate apart.”

“But, once I took on the role, I realized he’s not a monster. He is a fool, and he may one day become a monster, but… it might be my actions that cause him to embrace evil. You men are overly emotional, and assign too much meaning to everything. I mean, we might get filled with hate and destroy someone, but you guys will start wars and kill millions over a simple ideal, desire, or lust. Even sex is often enough to turn an otherwise good man into an evil monster.”

I wanted to argue with her, but it is sort of true. How many wars had started to get the enemy’s women? Faces that launched a thousand ships? Even money, the root of all evil, was based around power, which had a foundation in sex. The most powerful men got what they wanted, whether that was the opposite or even the same sex. Crush your enemy, see them driven before you, just doesn’t have the same impact if you don’t add the lamentations of the women.

I wouldn’t agree that we were more emotional than women, but when we had a powerful emotion, we tended to allow it to drive us far past the point at which a woman would have written it off as a fail. I had a lot of emotional control, but even I was not immune… the few times an emotion had caught me, it drove me way past the point of sanity.

Mae continued, “Anyway, he’s an idiot but he’s not evil. I am stuck with him. I can try to drive him towards good, but his soul is not in this world… I couldn’t ever have that sort of emotional connection to him that I would need to encourage him towards acts of good, and even if I try, the system can change what he thinks I say or do. It doesn’t help that the only reason I am NOT bound to him is because I don’t wear a true band, his special ability changes the way women think around him. Not just human women, but all women. If someone has a band, they will fall in love with him if he tries. That power is… terrifying.”

She sighed. “It’s almost stupid the way it works. If he gives you a gift that you like, want, or need, or if he says something that he considers nice, it drives your affection up. It works on EVERYTHING, even creatures that use sex as a lure, like a vampire or a succubus. I worry that if I retreat, he will let his emotions drive him to evil. He’s not very mature, and young men can be stupid. If I break contact, it might be my fault that he becomes the destroyer!”

I sigh and shake my head, rerolling the scroll. The glimpses had been tantalizing, but this was more important. “There is a saying in my world, ‘The face that launched a thousand ships', about a woman named Helen of Sparta and a young man named Paris of Troy. It was complicated, he eloped with Helen, the most beautiful girl of her generation, and sort of kidnapped her from her husband, Menelaus of Sparta. This started one of the greatest and bloodiest wars in history.”

Mae nodded, and interjected, “Helen must have been a kitsune. Punishing adulterers, especially if Menelaus was also an adulterer or abusive, is right up our alley. I bet she got to nine tails from that.”

I shrugged, arrogance is common among both sexes. “That isn’t the point. The point is that men started that war. It wasn’t Helen’s face or behavior that started that war, it was the men who responded to it. Her face didn’t launch a thousand ships, her husband did. Her behavior might have been at fault… we don’t know if she willingly joined Paris or if he kidnapped her from her husband, but that war was not her fault or her face’s fault.”

“By the same token, we have another saying ‘keep an honest man honest’, or more simply, ‘don’t be stupid’. If you walk nude through the bad part of town, it is NOT your fault if you get attacked. It is the fault of whoever attacked you, and they should be punished. However, it IS your fault you exercised execrable judgment, and you were punished for it. Perhaps the punishment didn’t fit the crime, but it happened anyway, and there are no takebacks. Leaving your home unlocked in a criminal neighborhood, making yourself a target, does not make you a criminal, but it does make you negligent. You may not deserve what happens to you, but you do deserve to learn from your own mistake.”

I shrugged. “I am probably not the best person to talk to about it, since my worst temptations are intellectual arrogance and a lack of empathy, but whatever you choose to do with Rik is your fault. His response to it, however, is his fault. I don’t understand how your species works, but I don’t think you should feel like you need to spend your existence trying to mitigate his responses. If you choose to do so, that is your decision, but if that’s what being a kitsune makes you do, then I hate to say it, but being a kitsune sucks.”

Mae was glaring at me. I mean, I think it was glaring. We were moving at a walk, but her eyes were narrowed. After a few moments, she started bursting out laughing so hard she had to stop, put her hands on her knees, and laugh into the road. I kept a careful watch, I didn’t know what she was laughing at but I figured I must have said something amazingly stupid from her point of view. It’s entirely possible my advice was horrible, since, from what I understand, she was a lot older and more experienced with relationships than I was.

“That,” she said gasping, and I could see a tear coming from the corner of one black-rimmed eye, disappearing into her cheek fur, “Was one of the best things I have heard in my entire life. Being a kitsune sucks! Yes, yes it does. People look at our power, our spiritual might, and our lifespan and are envious, and don’t ever even think about the sorts of things we have to do to keep that power. There are wonderful times when it does not suck, but when we have to embrace vengeance, it truly sucks.”

She sighs, coughing a little as she grins at me, “Now I see why Flame wanted me to meet you. You have so much fate swirling around you like a cloud, but it is...all undefined. Like a gigantic Karmic load that is only kept balanced by the fact that it cannot decide which way to fall. Oh my goodness. Your body might not be mature, but I’d have fallen for you in a heartbeat!

I shrugged. I was not a ‘nice guy’. I was what I needed to be. I valued my world and people because it was where I lived, and the people made the stuff I liked. And maybe someday I’d want a legacy and a woman I was comfortable and enjoyed having sex with. Acting like a good guy, most of the time, was the best way to keep things on an even keel, and I didn’t have enough wants or needs to be tempted to become a bad guy.

On the other hand, if I needed to become a bad guy to protect… both of my worlds, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. Certainly, I would regret the waste if I had to do horrible things, especially if it was to innocent people, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep. I would try to keep from doing evil, but that was my morality, not my personality.

Off the coast of Somalia, I had to kill people. Specifically, people who had chosen a career of murder and piracy. Yes, I understood that they were just trying to avoid starvation and keep their own families alive, but they were killing other people to do it. I would make a terrible ruler. I didn’t care about guilt or innocence, or even about mitigating circumstances, I was simply on one side protecting mine and they were on their side protecting theirs, and I won. That is all. Life is a balance, and the only part of that balance I cared about was trying to screw over the lowest number of people. Not ‘doing what’s best’, or ‘ensuring their safety or happiness’, no. Just avoid hurting them unnecessarily. I might be somewhat religious, but I had embraced the idea that what is ‘good’ and what is ‘nice’ were not the same thing.

I changed the subject. “I am still having trouble believing you thought I was making a play for you.”

She sighed. “You have no idea how often it happens. It doesn’t matter if I am bonded or not. I was pleased that I didn’t have to change form to a human for Rik, since, looking like a changechild, a lot of males lose interest, except changechildren males, of course, they get horribly jealous and want to ‘take me away from the halfies’, but Sindaenaway doesn’t have many changechildren, so it was not an issue.”

She shrugged, “I forgot that you are not… active yet, I just assumed based on my experiences without thinking it through. Of course, you have no interest in females yet. You come off as a mature adult male, and I forgot that your spirit and body didn’t match. I apologize if I have embarrassed you.”

I shrugged and asked a question that was on my mind, “Well, it’s not a problem, and I am not embarrassed, I was just curious. What the hell is a changechild?”