The unicorns had fled in a haphazard manner, their tracks changing directions every few minutes, but generally heading north and east. Maya, Lucy, and Dazzlemurg crossed the road into Panaroth and continued north, following the trail. Maya saw no sign or trace of the starwolf Dazzlemurg had hoped to use to track the unicorns, and she suspected that was for the best. If it was a unicorn-eating beast, she didn't want it anywhere near them just now. It would be just her luck for her new pet to get mauled before she could safely soulbind it.

"I can soulbind my unicorn, right?"

Lucy shrugged. "Anything can be soulbound. Lots of archers like to soulbind their arrows, makes retrieval easy even if it is expensive."

"Really. I wouldn't have thought of that." She'd assumed arrows just reappeared. Were they a limited resource? Well, throwing knives were, so maybe arrows— "Oooh! I should soulbind my throwing knives!"

"I wouldn't bother unless you get really nice ones," Lucy warned. "The cost of binding things to your soul increases each time you use it, so it's best to save it for what really matters."

"Ah. How much do high end throwing knives cost?"

"Depends on the type, but probably from 80 to 200 gold."

Maya choked. "E...eighty to two hundred... each?"

Lucy nodded. "The currency scaling in this place is insane. Get high enough, and you'll outlevel a place like this so completely it would be trivial to buy out an entire shop."

"Uhh, wow." It put Sevard's dramatic purchase of hundreds of knives in perspective. For him, it was just restocking. "Wait, why does Sevard use cheap knives, then?"

"He doesn't."

"But, I saw him buying a whole crate full. In Kalyx, when we first met."

"I've never known him to use anything but the best. Unless he found a secret mission to disrupt the knife-smithing industry..."

"Well. I guess it's a good thing I happened to come along." She'd eventually traded him several rare gear items from her haul in the Crimson Flame dungeon for the crate of throwing knives, which she was still using now.

They ended up running afoul of goblin patrols as they reached the more populated section of the woods, but Lucy dealt with them as easily as she had defeated the corrupted unicorns. She didn't seem worried by Maya's lack of engagement and cleared the camps with the ease of long practice. Maya found herself rather in awe of Lucy's ability to take on anything without hesitation. She wasn't exaggerating about her arm strength augment; she could punch goblins clear across the clearing, slam them over the head with enough force to knock them out, or otherwise incapacitate them in a single blow, crushing them effortlessly.

Maya shuddered to think of the kind of damage outputs that would be standard at that level. Even goblins had a decent amount of health. Was Lucy dealing 50 to 70 damage with a single blow?

The trio continued along the trail more slowly, evading two goblin patrols and slaughtering a third before arriving at a calm clearing. Three white unicorns lay quiescent in its center, glowing faintly. Maya's bloodline vision easily picked out their shapes, even had they not been highly visible against the darkness.

"There they are," Dazzlemurg breathed. "I knew they were real." She took a step forward, hand extended. "Hello."

The nearest unicorn raised its head at her approach, stared intensely, then huffed and climbed gracefully to its feet. The other two woke and sat up, lifting their heads in unison to stare at the stranger. The first unicorn huffed again, and the other two jumped up and spread out to surround Dazzlemurg on three sides.

"Um, Lucy? Is this normal?"

Lucy shrugged. "Never did this mission."

Dazzlemurg continued toward the first unicorn, who slowly backed away, continued to stare unblinking at the hunter.

The other two circled and closed, nearer, nearer...

Dazzlemurg slowly drew out a net, letting one weighted end fall to the ground as she gathered up the other, readying to throw.

The first unicorn backed away, maintaining distance.

Dazzlemurg crept closer; the other unicorns drew nearer. Then she spun, suddenly casting the net out in a vast arc. It filled the whole clearing behind her, snaring both of the ambushing unicorns as they tried fruitlessly to escape, tangling themselves up as Dazzlemurg grinned triumphantly.

The third unicorn charged, but the hunter stepped aside, swiftly setting a javelin against the ground so the creature impaled itself on it. Its sudden scream of pain echoed through the forest.

Maya gasped. "I thought— I thought you— this wasn't supposed to be—"

Dazzlemurg grinned. "I'm a hunter." She jerked the bloody javelin free. The wounded unicorn sprang away, grievously injured but not dead, and Dazzlemurg threw the missile with uncanny accuracy, catching the unicorn in the side of the neck and pinning it to the nearest tree. It screamed and struggled to free itself, then its heaving breaths slowed and it slumped, its glow expiring.

The two tangled creatures redoubled their efforts, but the weights on the net stuck to the ground as though glued magically in place and they made no progress.

"No!" Maya shouted. "This isn't what I signed up for."

Dazzlemurg strode over to the impaled unicorn corpse, retrieved her weapon, then deftly sliced the horn free, tucking it into her belt. "Don't worry, you'll get a cut of the profits.

The other unicorns were screaming now, bellowing and furious, but no amount of thrashing would free them. Dazzlemurg knew what she was doing.

She started skinning the unicorn, swiftly and with obvious practice. Maya took advantage of her distraction to dart forward. She grabbed the net, intending to yank it free and let the other unicorns go, but the weights may as well have been cinder blocks. She could barely lift one, let alone enough to let the unicorns out.

Well, then. Plan B.

She charged a Fire Whisper, then shot it at the nearest struggling unicorn, hoping her luck wasn't tampering with her thought processes too badly.

The spell vanished, fading into the unicorn just like her other spell had against the Dark version, and its horn glowed brilliant orange. With a new bellowing shriek, it set about slashing the net apart, threads and fibers twisting and melting away in the heat of its newly empowered horn.

Maya punched her fist in the air in triumph, but the change in sounds had alerted Dazzlemurg. She turned, dropped her bloody knife, and seized the javelin to throw.

"No!" Maya jumped in between her and the half-freed unicorn. "Leave them alone."

"Out of my way."

"No."

Dazzlemurg smiled, then threw the javelin. Point blank. Into Maya's chest.

-15 health.

She really was getting impaled with a lot of things today.

Then Lucy punched Dazzlemurg in the face. The elf huntress flew across the clearing, smashed into a tree, and slid to the ground.

She got to her feet, clearly sturdier than goblins, a scowl on her face. "You have no idea what you're doing. You think you're safe because you cleared one iteration of Dark? They attract it, you fool. As long as they live here, Dark will keep coming back, keep corrupting them, and keep turning them against us all. The only way to stop that is to destroy them all."

"It's not their fault," Maya said hotly. "They're innocent, and you're killing them for your own benefit. Don't try to deny it. You'll make a fortune on the pieces, you admitted it yourself."

"Of course I benefit, why do you think I'm here in the first place? It's certainly not for the likes of you. Dark may start with the unicorns, but that isn't where it stops. If left unchecked, nowhere is safe." She turned and gazed north. "Someday, you'll understand. When you reach my homeland, you'll see. You'll know you made the wrong choice here."

"I have no intention of doing any such thing. All I know is, these creatures are innocent and you shouldn't kill them."

Dazzlemurg leaned against the tree for support, turning away. "On your conscience be all that comes after. I have done my best." She took a heavy breath, then turned and walked away into the forest.

The fire-horned unicorn finished freeing itself, then turned to cut free its companion. Maya stepped closer, eager, hoping...

The moment the second beast was free, they both sprang away, bounding across the clearing in perfect unison, disappearing from even her enhanced sight among the trees within seconds.

"But... but..."

Maya stepped into the center of the clearing, staring at the hoofprints of the now-vanished unicorns.

"Come on. We need to get back."

Maya spun on Lucy. "Back? Back where?"

"To Panaroth. You need to turn in your mission."

Maya blinked, turned to stare at the unicorn tracks, then sighed. "Alright. I'm coming."

For a moment, the fiery unicorn had stood, staring into her eyes. For a moment, she'd imagined it would come to her and they would be friends and companions.

But, of course, that hadn't happened. She blamed it on her luck. Lucy was right, she shouldn't have tried to gain a companion creature on a minimum luck day. Why did she keep letting her stupid luck drive her to make stupid decisions?

She continued mentally berating herself until they neared the town and Lucy distracted her. "Nearly there. Though it might be a good idea to wait to turn in the mission. You won't get any experience at minimum luck."

"It's fine, I didn't want the experience," Maya mumbled. "We can always get more experience."

"True. And it does guarantee you'll beat anyone else trying to finish the quest, so you won't have to start it over."

Maya nodded. "Is it repeatable? Can I try again another time?"

"I think it has a cooldown timer so one person doesn't monopolize it. A month, I believe."

"Oh, that's not so bad." Maya opened her journal and made a note to come back to the Dazzlemurg quest in a month.

"I don't remember who you need to turn it in to," Lucy said as they stepped into the light of the village's perimeter. "Try the traders or maybe the mayor."

Maya attracted a lot of glares as she stumbled her way around, people muttering about her being in league with crazy women, but she managed to keep a hold on her temper. It would do no good to snap at the poor NPCs over her luck's inclination not to play nice.

"Never heard of any such mission," grouched a sleazy saleswoman sprite, glowering down her pointed nose at Maya. "And don't think I'll be offering any special offers to the likes of you."

"So you ran the crazy woman off, why does that have anything to do with me?" said a vampire merchant, turning away. "Move along, Harpy."

"I never liked her anyway. Good riddance. Not that I like you any better."

Maya sighed and mentally checked off the merchants. They all had no interest in providing her quest rewards or even the slightest praise.

"Mayor?" she asked wearily, and Lucy pointed to his house, the only two-story house in the village. She knocked on the door, and a window opened above her.

"Who's there?" demanded a grumpy older human. "Oh, you again. Here to scream about fake creatures more?"

"No, I finished the hunt with Dazzlemurg. She was trying to kill unicorns to prevent the Dark from hunting them, or some such nonsense. But I stopped her and she ran off."

"Hmm, so you've rid us of the pestilence. I suppose that's acceptable. Does that mean she's not coming back for her possessions?"

"Probably not. She was heading north."

"Then I suppose you can have whatever's left." He tossed a writ out of the window. It fluttered down and landed in the mud before Maya could grab it. "And leave me alone." He slammed the window and his loud snores soon resumed.

"Alright, so I have a writ for Dazzlemurg's possessions. Where do I turn that in?"

"Barracks." Lucy pointed. "Or what passes for one."

Maya nodded agreement. It was a pretty meager building, even by Panaroth standards. She found the place easily enough and handed over the muddy writ to a grouchy soldier. Then Maya had to wait while she examined every inch of it for authenticity before finally grumbling, "It doesn't look fake. Fine. Back there." She pointed to a closed door. "Your problem now."

Maya tugged the door open, expecting to see some backup javelins or maybe a bow and arrows. Instead, an angry starved-looking mutt jumped on her, growling furiously as it nipped at her clothing, searching for anything to eat.

"Uh, what?"

Lucy grinned down at her. "Congratulations, I think you found your first pet."

Maya spent the next three hours trying to wrangle her new dog, who was scrawny, wiry, and aggressive. His fur was short and bristly, his tail thick and dangerous, and his limbs long and sturdy. She wasn't sure how to describe his breed, since he had pointed ears like a husky but a smaller body more like a terrier. His coat was thin and uneven, speckled with brown and grey in a haphazard pattern.

And he was not happy to be here. He'd tried to escape the barracks no fewer than twenty times before Maya managed to get his leash on, and then he yanked it out of her hands at least four times before she figured out the trick of wrapping it twice around her hand and pulling it tight to prevent him from jerking himself free.

All that accomplished, she finally had a violently independent dog on the other end of her leash, and she couldn't have been happier. Sure, he was no unicorn, but she realized that it was silly to have expected a beginner quest to grant something so epic. Of course the unicorns wouldn't end up coming home with the first noob they met. They must be the reward of a much bigger, secreter, and more impossible quest.

He still needed a name, though, and 'runaway' didn't quite have a solid ring to it. She considered 'snapper' or 'Dave', before deciding that they were just as terrible as 'jumpy' or 'scamper', which were her runner-ups.

"I don't know what to call him," she said as he strained at the end of his leash, trying to get at a hissing town cat.

"Did you check his name tag?" Lucy asked. "He was owned."

"Oh." Maya leaned down to check his tag, but he wouldn't stay still long enough for her to get a hold of it. Only by gradually tightening the leash until he couldn't move more than a few inches did she finally snatch the tag and stare at it.

"HUNTER. Could be worse."

Hunter barked and snapped at her hand.

-3 health.

"OW! Hunter, down."

Companion recruitment successful: Hunter (beast)

Hunter growled softly and lay down obediently. Maya exhaled with relief. "Okay, so he knows his name and basic commands. That will be a big help."

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Lucy inquired.

"Well, I need to get him soulbound first thing, I suppose. After that…" Maya smiled down at her new companion. "I think I need to test his capability, comprehension, skills, speed, strength, obedience, and fighting prowess."

"And you'll be fine doing that all with minimum luck?"

Maya shrugged. "I've survived this long. "

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I think I'm good for today." She knelt down and rubbed Hunter behind the ears. He growled, but in a less aggressive way. "We'll get there, boy."

"Then I'll leave you to it. If you need anything, contact me. I'm going to try to find that trickster riddle tile, but don't hesitate to interrupt."

"I will. Thank you."

"I’ll be in touch. I have a few ideas for how we can proceed with your other problem, but I’ll need to do some research first to be sure. Have a good day, Maya."

"You too, Lucy. Nice meeting you."

With that, Lucy tossed a Dust of Recall into the air and stepped into its shimmering field, freezing until the teleport completed and she vanished.

"Hunter, we are going to Kalyx City, and I want you to be on your best behavior."

Hunter looked up at her, tail thumping loudly against the ground. Ever since the official recruitment notice appeared, his whole demeanor had shifted. Her luck may have been able to make his NPC version aggressive and skittish, but once he was considered an official pet he became comparatively docile.

"Good boy. Heel?"

He stood and followed at her side, and Maya let out more of the leash. To her delight, he didn't continue his running snapping jumping escapades, and instead behaved exactly as though he were hers and always had been.

Together they walked along the path south to Kalyx, Maya telling Hunter about everything she planned to do in the future, and Hunter padding obediently at her side like the companion he was meant to be.

"I've never had a real pet before," Maya told him. "I wonder how I'll do at taking care of you. Do you need anything special? Oh, there's a Companion Management Window, that's convenient. Let's see... you'll need 10 units of food every week, or 3 silver. That's entirely affordable. I wonder if it'll increase once you're soulbound."

She dismissed the window. "Oh, I wonder if the academy allows pets. If not, I'll have to leave you in my apartment. Unless they don't allow pets either." She frowned in contemplation. "No, I don't think they'd have any reason to deny pets. After all, this isn't reality. You can eat as much as you like and never have to, well... y'know..."

Maya glanced at Hunter, embarrassed, but he kept trotting along at her side, unconcerned. "I don't suppose it would bother you anyway. Being a dog and all. Eurgh, you might even miss it. I certainly hope it's not programmed in. Though given the way the system is hyper-concentrated on some things and almost inattentive about others, I can't guess what would fall into either category."

Hunter walked alongside her, tail wagging.

"Do you mind me talking? I feel like it helps us get to know each other. Though I don't know much about you. Do you miss Dazzlemurg?"

Hunter bristled, his tail slowing, a low growl in his throat.

"Okay, I'll take that as a 'good riddance' then. And I won't mention her again. You certainly settled down to belonging to me quickly."

Hunter's tail resumed its normal pace.

"I wonder if there's an option to let you talk," Maya mused. "That seems like the sort of thing that might be possible. Right?"

Hunter padded along at her side.

"Oh, look! There's the city. We'll be there shortly. And look, over there is the leypillar, the big black obelisk-looking thing. Isn't it pretty at night? The lightning really adds something. It's invisible during the daytime, you know. The lightning, I mean, not the leypillar itself. Obviously not, that would be silly."

Hunter stopped walking and Maya came up short as she ran out of leash. She turned to see him growling, nose pointing off to the west.

"What is it?" Maya asked, coming back to stand beside him. Red outlined the landscape, grasses and bushes and leaves all outlined in sharp relief, Hunter a vibrant glow beside her, but nothing else moved.

Hunter took a step forward, then barked and charged. Maya toppled over, taken off guard by his sudden lunge, and she fell flat on her face. The leash slipped off her hand as she instinctively tried to catch herself - and failed, unfortunately - and then Hunter was sprinting across the field, barking madly as he went.

Maya sighed and picked herself up. She'd gotten complacent, and forgotten that she still had upwards of ten hours of bad luck to get through. She shouldn't have forgotten. She should have been more attentive.

"Hunter! Come back!"

He didn't come back, but continued running and barking, growing further distant as she watched. Well, nothing else for it. Maya ran after him, still shouting for him to stop.

Then, before she'd crossed half the distance between them, he stopped barking and jumped on something. A brief tussle ensued, between him and something moving around too much for her to fully recognize it, then he came trotting back to her with a dead juvenile drile in his mouth. The scorpion-tailed winged rodent fell to the ground as Hunter's tail wagged.

"Living up to your name, huh?" Maya retrieved the leash, wrapping it tightly around her hand. "Ask permission next time before running off, okay?"

Hunter wagged his tail.

Maya couldn’t help but smile. "Alright, you did good. Now, heel."

Together they trotted into Kalyx City as dawn began to light the sky.

Hunter Small Male Beast Level: 4 Affinity: Physical Sturdiness: 13 Health: 85 of 85 Momentum: 16 Will: 18 of 18 Agility: 10 Stamina: 92 of 92 Control: 9 Energy: 70 of 70 Attunement: 8 Focus: 9 Speed: 104% Intelligence: 10 Stealth: 76% Flexibility: 8 Awareness: 60% Abilities: 3