Tesla came walking over, licking the blood off the claws of her Dervish Form. By the time she got over to me, she was clean and dropped back to the Pictis form, climbed to my shoulders, and promptly fell asleep.

Sleepy...

I blinked tiredly while I scratched her head. I felt like I had no energy left. The drain from adrenaline leaving your body was the same whether you felt like you were fighting for your life from angry nightmare birds or running from a kid that was two times your size and needed a punching bag.

"Um, Jak." Athena said.

I looked over at her, and she was cradling her left arm and walking back in my direction. Her hand was pressed to her left forearm, stifling the flow of blood. I jumped to my feet and ran over to her. I used Wind Manipulation to make a tight cuff over it so she could move her hand away.

"Thanks." I reached down to my belt and grabbed one of the potions I had stored for the trip. She tried to stop me from using it. "Those are expensive, Jak. And we haven't made any money yet."

I pushed her hand out of the way and adjusted the barrier a bit to drip a few drops on the three gashes before handing her the vial. "You know I can make these potions, right? I made over 200 of them and brought them all with us. Tesla is storing crates of Health, Mana, and Stamina Potions, among other useful things too.

Athena choked on the potion as she swallowed it down. She coughed a bit and took a few deep breaths before speaking. "What?!"

I turned away from her arm and gestured over to the grassy slope alongside the road. We sat down, I moved Tesla to my lap, and explained my skill in Alchemy, bringing a travel alchemy kit and the money I had made.

Athena stared at me while I watched the trees sway in the breeze. "Why are you doing this then? You could make loads of money like Lena and never need to leave town."

I was quiet for a bit before I glanced over at her. She was staring at me with confusion plain on her face. I quickly looked back to the trees and laid back on the grass. "I don't know..? I don't like the way Demi-Humans are treated, and I want to make a difference. Not to mention I don't like being cooped up in one place. I grew up like that, and I want something else." I closed my eyes and felt the breeze brush over me. "Does that make sense?"

I felt Athena fall back to lay in the grass too. "All too well. I spent 5 years on the road with my Father, and I wanted something similar. Only to go back to the city and be given a job that kept me indoors most of the time." I opened my eyes to see her holding her left arm up in the air, where it was smooth skin again but still surrounded with drying blood. I held up my arm to help guide Wind mana along to dry out the blood and then brush away the flaking blood.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"No problem. Should we do anything about the dead birds?" I asked.

"I can prepare them for you to cook. We've got a while until dark, but that's probably the best use for the time we have. Let's grab the fowl and move off the road and out of sight to set up camp." I nodded in agreement, and we got to work.

I moved Tesla back to my shoulders and helped grab the birds. We walked off the path for a while before coming to a clearing that butted up against a stream that was twelve feet across and two and a half feet deep.

After we started the trek through the woods, Tesla had woken up and had managed to find this spot for us. I got to work setting up the tents and digging out a small pit for a fire. Athena de-feathered the birds and cleaned them out. They were larger than some of the turkeys I had seen cooked at Thanksgiving.

I found some wild vegetables and set those to cook on my grill, and the birds I put on a spit after filling them and covering them in spices.

I took the time to look over my Stratum.

Name: Jak Rollins

Level: 6

Race: Human

Class: None

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 21

Intellect: 20

Wisdom: 18

Blessings:

Identify

Skills:

Alchemy - Level 24 - [Perfect Measurement] +1 INT, +1 WIS

Bonded Companion [Tesla] - Level 23 - [Strength of Bond] +2 STR, +2 DEX, +2 INT, +2 WIS

Cooking - Level 21 - [Cooking is a Science] +1 INT, +1 WIS

Jumping - Level 6

Mana Blades - Level 13

Mana Foci - Level 8

Physique - Level 3

Running - Level 5

Strategy - Level 19

Tactics - Level 20

Wind Manipulation - Level 26 - [Air Compressor] +1 DEX, +1 WIS

And for good measure, I peeked at Tesla's Stratum too.

Name: Tesla

Level: 3

Race: Pictis(Mimic Slime Variant)

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 9

Intellect: 17

Wisdom: 10

Skills:

Bonded Companion - Level 28 - [Bonded Communication] +2 INT

Camouflage - Level 9

Jumping - Level 6

Running - Level 12

Shapeshifting - Level 24 - [Forms] +1 STR +1 WIS

Slime Body - Level 21 - [Transmute Mass] +2 STR

Storage - Level 17

Thievery - Level 6

We both got two levels. I glanced over at Athena and saw the information pop up telling me she was level 7 now. I left Athena with Tesla to wash up in the stream while I read more of the bestiary. After being lost in the book for a while, Athena came up and lightly kicked my feet.

"Let's do some training. You can use the ball to fire at me, and I'll try to block it." She said, somewhat excitedly.

I set the book aside as I nodded. "We both can work on our skills that way. That sounds good." We separated and moved to opposite sides of the clearing. On my right was the creek, and on my left was the fire and past that the tents. I looked up and found Athena standing on a fallen lock with her spear in a ready position. There were 18 yards between us, so I'd have to be a bit more careful, but I could work on my control this way.

"I'm ready when you are." Athena almost shouted.

I retrieved the ball from my belt pouch on my way, so I waved it in the air before using Wind Manipulation to make my construct and launching it at her. The knocked the ball back in my direction easily.

"You can do better than that!" She taunted as Tesla ran over and grabbed the ball. She used her tail like a hand to toss it back to me.

I took the challenge in stride before changing the construct imperceptibly to have grooves that should give my leather ammunition a bit of spin. I added a bit of power as well, and the ball curved slightly through the air. Athena's eyes went wide as she tracked the ball, but she still managed to slap it out of the air with the flat of her blade.

"That was great! Was that your manipulation?" She asked, speaking loudly so I could hear her.

"Not at all," I responded in kind. "A change to the Wind Construct itself."

We kept this up until dinner was ready, my skill in cooking helping me determine when that was. The Wailer meat tasted much like turkey, but it was much juicier. I ended up cooking three of the birds; the one Tesla mauled in the air was in tatters and was too difficult to pluck or do anything with. Tesla ended up eating the whole thing as it was in one large gulp.

Not as tasty as the food you make, Jak. But it'll help with my Slime Body skill!

--

We sat around the fire a bit longer and discussed how the night would work. "We are close enough to the city that the basic alarms you brought should be enough to give us a heads up. I don't think we need a watch." Athena suggested.

I don't sleep very heavily, and I'll use my Felisian form tonight so that my senses will be extra sharp.

"Tesla offered to keep an eye on the camp, and she can sleep on me while I walk tomorrow if she needs it." I relayed to Athena.

I set up the alarm wards around the camp and banked the coals before climbing into my tent. It was cozy inside, and the mesh allowed it to breathe and not be too stuffy inside. Tesla followed me inside in a slightly smaller Felisian form so that the space wouldn't be too cramped. Before I tied off the opening to my tent, I caught Athena tying down her tent flaps just to my left. We had the tents side by side to make sure we could wake the other if needed.

"Good night, Athena."

"Good night, Jak."

I curled up in my blanket and laid there, stroking Tesla's neck before I succumbed to sleep.

--

The next day went much the same, we just saw fewer people than the day before. We walked until lunch before pulling out some of the leftover cooked fowl. We didn't talk much, and Tesla spent a lot of time with Athena as she ran ahead and then back, getting in some exercise.

It was getting close to time to stop to find a spot to set up camp when Athena bumped my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" I asked as we kept walking.

"You've been quiet today. I can count the number of words you've spoken, and I've seen you walking a good portion of the day with your eyes closed."

"Ah. I'm just not much of a talker. I was enjoying my time outside while working on my Wind Manipulation skill. I'm trying to use a blanket of air to feel things around me. I don't get a clear picture of what things are, but I could at least orient myself along the road." I said with a shrug.

"Ah, I guess I'm just not used to that. My time on the road with Father, I was asking questions or following his instructions. And then at The End, I was always talking to people or training someone. You're really different than anyone else I know."

"Back where I'm from we called people like me, Introverts: people who weren't social or outgoing, they like the quiet, time by themselves or with their closest friends. I didn't have a single friend in my old fucked up life. Here I have no obligations, only the chance to do what I want." I turned and met her gaze with a toothy grin. "Not to mention the weather here is wonderful! The climate at home varies greatly based on the stars and your location in the world."

I laughed at the look she was giving me. "If I didn't believe it before, I do now. You're an odd one."

"You're one to talk!" I exclaimed. "Most people seem content to sit inside the city and stay safe, but you're chomping at the bit to be out and about."

"A pair of odd ones then."

Me too!

Tesla stretched and yawned on my shoulders, where she had been napping. I reached up and scratched behind her ears.

"We all are."

--

We set up camp, and I had strips of the Wailer smoking for some jerky to eat on the road when the alarms went off. Athena ran over to where I was sitting and set Tesla down so she could grab her spear.

I stood up and connected my mana to the cuffs on my wrists. I could hear noises coming from the brush and watched as Tesla's hair stood on end before she shifted into the largest version of her dervish form. It was over 4 feet tall now.

We all put our backs to the fire to help with our eyesight, and we waited.

The sound got louder, and I could see Athena start to fidget. Whatever it was, the creature would push through the leaves any moment, and she was ready to move as soon as was needed.

...

Large eyes peered out of the underbrush, glowing in the light from the fire. Two more sets peered out to both sides of the first. We sat there watching and waiting, not moving so that we didn't set them off.

Finally, it pushed through, out of the underbrush and into the fire's light, and a large body followed. The creature was scaled and walked on two short legs with thick toenails, but balanced with two larger club-like arms. It had no neck, just a bulbous head with frog-like eyes.

[Feena, Beast - Level 14]

"Feena!" Athena said with a whisper before lowering her weapon. I slowly relaxed and split my attention between the lumbering creatures and Athena. She watched them curiously, as they trooped closer to the fire. I started to reach toward them as the first one put an arm into the fire itself, but Athena grabbed my arm and hauled me a couple steps back.

"They are peaceful creatures, as long as you don't harm them. Watch!"

The three Feena all crowded around each other, touching the fire in some capacity. It was odd to see, but they eventually settled down and practically fell asleep in the fire itself. Their scales took on a red glow as they slept. We finally went back to our regular tasks, Athena training her spear forms, me reading and tending to the improvised smoker. Tesla had scouted for things to eat in the nearby forest and had come across a large berry patch. Her face was covered in bright pink juices from the berries.

The smallest Feena silently watched Tesla while she ate, and when Tesla noticed she shared her pile of sweet treasures. I watched as Tesla would run off into the trees and come back with some other snack that she would share.

When it got too dark to read, I checked on the jerky and found it to be done. I gathered it all up and wrapped it before setting it aside to have Tesla store for us. Athena sat on the ground next to me and watched Tesla run back and forth as well.

"Feena are Magical creatures, like Tesla. I wonder how much they can communicate." She was silent for a while before continuing. "Feena are rare. They were hunted to near extinction years ago, but if you house them and share your camp, it's said to bring you fortune. I don't know how much of that is true, but I'd like to believe it. They have a calming aura about them."

I slowly nodded in agreement. It was something I could definitely feel now with all three in the middle of our clearing. I set the alarms back up and headed to bed, while Tesla stayed out with the Feena.