Auron watched the leaves of the jungle canopy be blown aside from the powerful wind generated by a gigantic bird with a colorful beak. Its beak did not have the telltale glow of mana thankfully, but its inky black feathers did.

Neo-tropical Obsidian Toucan Danger level high

Auron gulped as the bird landed with a grace that betrayed its massive appearance. Summoning his goblin dagger out of habit, he got into a battle stance as the creature opened its beak. A low warbling sound leaked out of its maw as everything living in a ten-meter radius began to sag downward. The light seemed to darken in the area surrounding them as its magic took hold. The mischievous avian animal then began to preen itself casually as Auron struggled to remain upright.

The weight pressing down on his entire being seemed to multiply by the second as his boots began to sink into the mud he was standing on. Dropping to his knees, Auron wisely put away his blade and shouted, "Zander, get us out of here!" Auron, in his panic, fueled further by the inability even to raise his arms, was too overwhelmed to access his mana.

[On it.] Zander sent the message out as even he was beginning to feel the weight. The gravity pressing down on the two then increased even more as Auron could feel and hear his bones creaking.

Zander summoned a blast of wind and directed it upward. Increasing its power by pulling the air in around it, as seconds passed, the centrifugal force of the cyclone multiplied dramatically. The bird was forced to lift its wings to the current of air to stabilize itself, and as it did, its gravity attacked lessened. At that moment, Zander stole the wind from the whirling air and blasted the two of them outside the radius of their foes attack.

Watching the events transpire with dark glossy eyes, the Obsidian Toucan merely tilted its beak in the direction that the two landed, and the gravity increase began once again. Auron had trouble discerning if the black spots in his vision were from the type of mana being used or the gravity magic, making the blood rush to weird places in his down-turned eyeballs.

Slammed back down to his hands and knees, he tries to run through all of the magical tricks he had. Concentrating through the pain he tossed any wind magic away as potential solutions. Anything he could throw out would not match what Zander did earlier.

Slipping off his neck to take some extra weight off of Auron, Zander crawls in front of him. Reaching inward to his purple mana source Auron Activates Stealth.

The activation makes the bird stop cleaning its feathers for a second, but it continues the magical assault. Activating his strength and luck runes simultaneously, Auron pushed himself to his feet. Slowly he was able to move against the increased gravity and grab Zander.

As he turns to make their way away from the bird, a spike of earth flies out of the ground, almost impaling the toucan. The moving earth tossed Auron off of his feet and directly onto his back, leaving Zander's multiplied weight to crack several of his ribs.

Fighting against the pressing force Auron slowly lifts his head as the magic attacking him and Zander comes to a sudden halt.

Throwing his body, his abdominal muscles protesting the quick movement, Auron's eyes open so wide it looks as if they are about to take a trip out of his head.

The toucan thrashed around erratically, its wings flapping violently and its beak pointing straight toward the sky. Slowly backing up from what he expects was another attack, Auron's muscles protested every movement from his recent workout session caused by the bird.

The Neo-tropical toucan falling forward and crashing into the ground allowed a more unobstructed view of what was happening.

Danger level: High. Colors: Grey

Auron's eyes flash red as he watches the panther savage the back of the giant bird. The jungle cat's claws were embedded in where the enormous creature's wings met its neck, and its mouth found purchase on the back of its head.

In a last-ditch effort, the toucan begins to release gravity magic above itself. Now outside of the magics radius, Auron can make out tiny black dots forming in the air. The dots seem to flow together as everything within a meter of the two animals increases in weight. The panther's back legs flatten out, and a sickening snap resounds out as a part of its spine severed from the concentrated gravity magic.

Yowling in pain and anger, the Silver panther then begins to glow. As its fur takes on a grey sheen, spikes of earth impale the neck of the toucan, and the panther's teeth manage to crunch through the bird's hard skull.

As the toucan's head falls to the ground, its eyes now void of life, Auron was horrified by the display of survival of the fittest he just witnessed. The sight awakened something inside himself. The gruesome scene served as a vivid reminder that in this world it was kill or be killed.

Before the partially paralyzed panther can react, Auron takes out one of his rock grenades. Throwing it so hard he felt his shoulder would give out, he watched as it split open on the beak of the dead toucan. The wild wind threw both the bird and the panther around as the mana once trapped inside released.

After a moment, the creature and corpse of its prey fell back down hard. Trapped under the toucan, and limited by its rear legs not working correctly, the panther could only yowl as Auron walked forward, summoning his new blade.

Tucking away any emotions that would stop him from doing what was necessary, Auron slammed the dagger down on the skull of the panther, killing it instantly.

Close enough to appreciate the natural beauty of the creatures, Auron could not stop the flood of emotions that rushed through him. For the first time though, none of the feelings were that of guilt.

Looking at his health and mana pools, Auron was slightly surprised to see that both were still full. The gravity attack was rough on his muscles and bones but did no damage. Standing over the bodies, he waited, his hopes high and luck runes still active.

His expectations were met when both creatures lit up with a faint glow of their respective magics. Auron reached out and grabbed the two stones forming at the creature's cores. Having to lift the large wing of the bird to get to the one from the panther, he crawled back out from under it and held the glowing stones in his hands.

Earth stone

Gravity stone

Looking to his familiar now resting on the ground nearby, he raised both stones along with his eyebrows. "Any preference Zander as to which one first?" Auron says his voice filled with exhaustion from the events. He silently cursed that he could not level up from the two powerful creatures dying.

[It is not my place to choose. Think about what we need. Just be aware the results may not be what you expect.] Zander replied, his voice also coming through with a hint of how tired he was.

Silently wishing his wind magic could treat fatigue, Auron walks over to Zander. "Do you have to eat this or what?" He says in a joking tone.

[If you press it to my head, I can absorb the energy that way.] He sends back, mirroring Auron's playful tone.

Auron decided immediately. The gravity attacks from that toucan were insanely challenging to fight against. They would be a welcome addition to his Stealth and back-stab.

Pressing the charcoal-colored Gravity stone softly to Zander's forehead, he watched in amazement as black mana seemed to seep out of the stone and into his friend. A fight for dominance seemed to break out across Zander's body. Zander's green wind mana won this fight quickly, and black spots formed flowing from the tip of his nose down his spine to his tail.

After the transformation, Auron felt something drain out of him. His quickly depleting mana bar gave him a clue as to what. As his mana went down its full two hundred points, a headache slowly worked its way deep into his brain behind his eyes.

Light sensitivity from his sudden migraine caused him to quickly close his eyes and grab the bridge of his nose. As Auron felt this pain, the two colors of mana settled in Zander's body.

[Sorry about stealing your mana there. With you being at a lower level, then the required level twenty the drain is much more significant on your reserves.] The message seemed to show Zander felt genuine regret for the pain Auron was currently in.

After a few breaths, Auron stood still and waited for his bar to start regenerating. After a few minutes, he was feeling much better, his mp bar slowly crawling back up. As he opened his eyes, a notification was on his screen.

Congratulations! Your familiar as assimilated a new type of mana. New ability granted: Pill creation. Cool-down until next allowed assimilation 30 days.

"30 Days?" Auron says miffed by the wait time, but secretly happy, he would not have to endure that pain again any time soon. Slipping the Earth stone into the last spot of his storage ring, he sits down to rest his tired legs, not caring about any more mud getting on his filthy clothes. "Well, do you want to see what the ability does, Zan?" Auron says, looking at his familiar, slightly confused that his inspect did not tell him what the ability was like it would have for his own.

[Sure. Let's give it a try.] Zander says as he begins to glow green. The black spots on his tail were lighting up dimly as the glow moves up dot by dot until reaching the ones on his nose.

*Blegh* Zander makes a very gross noise as he spits up what looks like a perfectly round and green pebble-sized orb.

"Ew. What the hell was that Zander?? Are you okay?" Auron says, stifling a retch of his own.

Zander only blinks a few times and looks at the orb.

Auron moves his head a little closer to it as well when his ability activates.

Healing pill. Healing mana condensed to the point that it has hardened into the form of a medicine tablet. Very potent. Heals 200 hp instantly.

"Gods, that is amazing," Auron whispers his surprise momentarily, overtaking his disgust. "That is... bizarre man, but 200 hp is ridiculous." He said as he stood and brushed some of the dirt off of his gear. "How many can you make?" Auron speaks while calculating the use of these pills.

[I think I can make one an hour. It is not that draining, but there is a cool-down to the ability.] Zander replied happily.

Shuddering a little at eating something that had been in his familiar's mouth Auron stretched and faced the direction of the city. "Well, hop on my little pill factory. We have a good deal of walking left, and I want to sleep in some sort of bed tonight." Auron says, and Zander jumps on his shoulders.

After another few hours of uninterrupted walking, the two got into a machine like flow. Every hour Zander would produce a new pill, and Auron would place that into the pouch on his left that was empty, forcefully willing himself to forget the sound Zander made when creating the medicines. Having his healing wind grenades and healing pills each on the left in their pouches would help him stay organized. On his right side, he had his five remaining wind blast grenades, and he left his other bag on that side empty for the time being.

As they walked, Auron's beast bracelet caught his eyes when the sun glinted off it, and he cursed himself for not thinking to use it during his fight. Needing a distraction from the monotonous walking and trusting Zander to watch their surroundings, Auron pulled up his stat screen and put the image of his equipment in his mind. Auron smiled at the results and studied the screen in the hopes he would not forget an asset during a battle again.

Equipment: Sonic rat Cowl, Bracers, Boots Deft gloves (65% skill assimilation) Black Pants Holding belt Copper holding ring Pack Summoning bracelet Body: Blue gemstone Red gemstone

Looking down at his leather gear, he knew that replacements would be necessary soon. It was either that or repair for the tattered equipment. They had spared him a lot of damage, and each scrape and scar that he would have taken, left the leather worse for the wear.

Happy with the refresher Auron noted that he should try and gain the skill from his gloves. As he summoned both of his daggers from his rings, a message popped up.

Warning dagger skills not at the appropriate rank for dual equip. Dual equip skill not learned. A Penalty is given.

Auron's arms felt as if the blood in them had been replaced with lead as they dropped both daggers now perpendicular to the jungle floor. Putting away his goblin dagger, the penalty disappeared instantly. Auron just shook his head as Zander suppressed a slight smile at the mishap and Auron's angry muttering about the "Stupid system rules" as he flipped his shiny new dagger around and got used to the weight.

It took around for hours to reach the edge of the woods. Auron estimated the time by the five healing pills he now had, four being made on their walk. The trip took double the time if they had walked uninterrupted, but they cast Stealth and paused at any noise to avoid another fight. Reaching the treeline, Auron's breath hitched in his throat for several reasons. The first being the size and beauty of the city before him. Moved by some odd nostalgic feeling, he dismissed as something from a game he once played Auron felt waves of emotion crash over him.

The city walls stood tall easily ten meters high, and half as thick the walls seemed to flow directly out of one side of the mountain around the city and back into the mountain a wide U shape. Every twenty paces stood tall guard towers topped with ballistic weaponry the towers and ancient-looking weapons standing defiant as if begging for a siege to crush. Guards wearing shiny steel armor walked along the wall long spears tucked in the crook of their necks, pointing toward the sky.

From his vantage point, Auron could not see the city itself, but far above it set into the mountain as if carved in rows large stone mansions spread out from where the city walls met the hill on each side at the peak of these mansions stood a beautiful and sturdy looking castle.

The other reason for his slack-jawed expression was plastered over the wall he was closest to. Dried blood, as if dumped by the bucket load, was full confirmation to the truth of his vision. The wall was covered in the stuff as Guards attempted to clean the wall with liquid they poured from their posts on top. Simple wooden huts sprawled out along the wall and tucked along the mountain also stood as confirmation matching everything he had seen.

Auron ambled toward the Academy he had seen in his dream as if pulled by the strings of fate itself.