Tesla sulked as we left the Feena behind. They stayed in the camp until we had all woken up and packed everything up. The Feena Tesla was spending her time with last night gave her a large scale that was still glowing red as it had in the fire last night. I watched as Tesla ate it and sat there for a minute, then shivered before her silky fur rippled and turned into scales the same color and shape as the one she had eaten.

Her eyes glowed red and flickered before the scales rippled and turned back to fur. A quick scan of her Stratum showed a new skill at rank two called Adaptation. I scratched her head as we pushed through the scrub and got to the road. "You're going to meet lots of people that become friends. So when you are leaving, don't say 'goodbye'. Instead, say 'see you soon.'"

Thanks.

"You'll feel better soon. I'm glad you made a friend though. The Feena were nice."

I could almost hear her voice. I was able to grasp her feelings, though.

"That's great. I hope that one day you can talk to anyone. When you're not in your Kitsune form, I mean."

Why didn't I think of that!

Tesla jumped down and transformed into her Kitsune form. It was a little different this time though, instead of the orange fur, it was a smoldering red, like the scale the Feena gave her. And instead of the traveling clothes she used, she had on a set of scaled clothing; it was the same dull gray the Feena had before they touched the fire.

"That's new, I saw you got a new skill Tesla." Athena had been silent so far as she walked beside me, but the armor and color change had Athena paying close attention now.

Tesla looked down at her clothes, running her hands over the scales that made up her shirt. "I like it. I can remember that meeting now." Tesla turned to Athena, looking excited. "Can we run?!"

Athena's grin was predatory, and her tail swished behind her.

"I've got this. First to the bend you can see ahead," I gestured down the road. "And then back to me is the winner. You'll have to slap my hand for it to count."

Athena nodded, and then both turned and readied themselves to run. "On go. Three, two, one, GO!"

They took off, and I watched with a smile.

--

It took us less than 2 hours to make it to the farm where we needed to eradicate the Skulds. In that time, Athena and Tesla raced three times. Once again, Tesla was sulking in her Pictis form on my neck because she didn't win a single race, even though she did come close on the second attempt. Athena finally winded herself after the last race and refused to run more, but Tesla made it seem like she could run longer.

"We need to find," Athena looked at the Job slip we received from the Adventurer's station at The End. "Farmer Herva."

We walked down the lane onto the farm property. The tall stalked plants had bright purple flowers every six inches; they would be harvestable soon. The growing season never ended here on the plane, and it still baffled me how it worked.

"Here in the fringe of the Cities reach they can't keep animals easily due to monster attacks or raids. But the increased ambient mana helps the crops grow faster. They only have to make a trip to the city every few weeks." Athena educated me.

That answered my unspoken questions, but it also made me wonder what kind of person would want to work so far from the city. Walking down the lane, I could tell where the crop had been knocked down and eaten. Leafy debris scattered over the road.

We warily approached the modest house and knocked on the door, but no one answered. I led us around the house and towards the barn, where the door was open. I walked around the corner and stopped in my tracks. Athena bumping into my back.

"What? Athena sputtered.

"RUN!" Someone yelled from inside the barn. In an explosion of movement, three full-grown Skulds jumped to their feet. These Skulds were twice as big as the Alpha I faced down before. Easily the size of a pickup truck instead of a small car.

Tesla jumped down and changed her Dervish form. Tesla's transformation was larger than ever and had bright red claws. Athena squatted down into a battle-ready stance, and I formed the gauntlets from my cuffs. We stared the three Skulds down, and no one moved.

In a whisper, I gave orders to move back away from the building. I knew they would follow since we were on their turf. But we needed to get away from the building if someone was trapped inside. We didn't want it to fall on them.

We slowly crept back, and the Skulds stood up straighter as we got farther away. We got halfway to the fence line before the Alpha roared long and loud, the ground rumbled with the humming bass undertones.

"Go for the legs. I've got lots of potions, hide if you get hurt. Split up, and good luck!" I said as soon as the battle growl ended. We waited as all three Skulds came barreling out of the barn and turned to face us.

Tesla rolled under the fence and ran to the trees, Athena split to my left, and I headed to the right. Luckily they each split off and followed each of the giant beasts followed one of us.

Since we had an idea of what we were facing, we had come up with a strategy as we walked. I planned to make blades close to the ground that would cut into the thick legs hoping to impair the Skuld's movement. My biggest issue would be dodging.

I almost messed up right at the start, too caught up in my head to notice how much the Skuld had caught up to me. I was running along the fence, so I reached out and grabbed a post to fling myself around it and towards the trees, aiding my change in direction with a gust of air from Wind Manipulation. The Skuld missed narrowly and let out an angry gravelly rumble as it skidded to a stop. I carefully laid my first trap of a fan of wind blades, some in would get its belly and others would hit the legs.

The animal charged me like a rhino, and I jumped straight up and using a tree branch to swing out of the way. The Skuld sideswiped the large trunk making the tree shiver and crack from the blow. I stared in shock as the tree had a large rent in the side. I saw drops of blood on the ground, but the Skuld showed no signs of slowing down. It turned back to me, and an idea popped into my head. I moved to the other side of the tree and set up even more blades, pushing as many as I could into being. It felt draining, but I got 25 made and used Compression to make the edges facing the incoming bull as sharp as possible.

I turned and started to run away, keeping the blades corporeal until I felt the link to them shatter, the tree cracked again, and the Skuld keened in pain, but the stomping never let up. I used the freed mental capacity to make an angled platform that braced against the ground for myself to use to kick off and change my direction once more.

The Skuld blew past me. It was visibly slower now, but getting hit by a truck moving fifteen miles per hour instead of twenty is still going to be a bad time. I hurried back to the large tree, standing directly in front of it. It looked ready to fall, and I was going to help it along. The Skuld eyed me with deadly fury. If I didn't have the training and this plan I came up with on the spot, I would have been terrified.

The Skuld made its final move. Head lowered, it ran at me. I saw the dirt flying up behind it as it's furious charge threw it into the air. I set my feet, ready to move away.

The Skuld was 50 feet away, and I ran the 10 feet to the other side of the tree before turning as the tree cracked for the last time and fell back onto the back of the massive and furry beast. The tree rocked back and threatened to smash down one more time, so I quickly raised a single blade and sharpened the top. The tree smacked into the Skuld's crest, driving its head onto the spike that pierced through its brain.

I jogged back to the fence and ran down it to find Tesla still battling the Alpha. Tesla had left gashes along its legs, and there was blood everywhere. She was doing well. I didn't see any damage to Tesla at all. I forgot to check the level of

I've got it. It won't last much longer. Check on Athena?

I ran along and kept following the fence. I could hear the thundering charge ahead of me, and I picked up my speed. As I peeked over the hill, I caught sight of Athena dodging rock to rock, circling the Skuld as it spun in place. She wasn't giving it a chance to build any speed. But I couldn't see any damage to the beast. It turned to face her by the time she got her balance on the next rock.

"Need some help?" I yelled.

The Skuld never changed targets, moving to face her. "I guess!" Athena yelled. The frustration was apparent in her voice.

I moved down the hill, and once I got close enough, anchored blades to the ground that hit its legs as it spun. It got mad and turned to face me instead. Athena used that opportunity to lunge at the beast's massive furry side, but at the last moment, the Skuld spun back at Athena. It caught her mid-strike, but this time she wasn't ready for it.

I watched as the Skuld's bone crest smashed into her shoulder and launched her into a large boulder. I winced at the sound it made as she crashed, then stared in horror as she didn't get up. Instead, she slipped down into the water.

If I wasn't hyped up on adrenaline before, I was now. Things seemed to move in slow motion. I pointed at the ground, and a wave of blades shot up under the Skuld, stabbing it in the stomach and legs and pinning it in place. Its eyes lost the rage they held and instead turned to fear. It keened in pain as it struggled on the blades. Some shattered as it stomped around, but others stabbed again and again. The Skuld slipped on the river's wet stones and fell to its stomach, legs splayed out as they ripped apart on the blades.

The Skuld was down, but not dead. I pulled at the air around its head, using my barriers to make a bubble that was devoid of all oxygen. The beast slowly stopped moving—the lack of air and blood contributing to its final shuddering movements.

The strange calm fell away like a dream. Time felt like it was speeding up as I processed everything that just happened. I slipped and stumbled through the rocky river to where Athena floated face down, stuck between rocks that cut through the river. I grabbed at the potions on my hip and poured one down her throat. She didn't move, and after a few seconds of no change, I scooped up and onto a large flat rock that stuck out of the water.

I moved my ears close to her mouth and couldn't hear her breathing. I started doing CPR. Pinching her nose and breathing into her mouth before starting compressions. I gave her another breath and then started compressions again. I repeated this twice more and was getting more and more frantic.

I felt the wind pick up hard, nearly knocking me over, and then I remembered. I concentrated and used the air sitting in her lungs to force the water out. Athena coughed and spluttered, rolling over and sitting up while taking heaving breaths. I nearly tackled her in a hug, and she weakly grabbed my arms.

She passed back out, but a quick check showed she was still breathing. Not sure if the potion I gave her did anything, I dripped another into her mouth before I scooped her up in a princess carry and got out of the water that just now registered to me as cold. I found Tesla sleeping in her Pictis form on remnants of the fence in front of the dead Alpha Skuld.

I managed to scoop her up on a compressed pocket of air and set her down on my shoulders. Her warmth was a comfort after the stress of that battle and near loss of Athena.

"Tesla?" I said quietly.

Hmm? She responded without actually waking up or opening her eyes.

"Can I get a blanket from our supplies?" I asked. Athena started shivering as I walked back, and I wanted to get her warm.

Sure, you'll have to get it, though. I have no energy.

She managed to pull a corner out of her pouch, so I sat Athena in the grass and pulled the blanket out of Tesla's storage. I laid the blanket out and then scooted Athena onto it before wrapping her in it and picking her back up.

I walked up to the barn and peeked back in; thankfully, no more Skulds greeted us.

"Hello?" I said hesitantly. I didn't expect to be attacked by whoever yelled before, but I felt much more confident about protecting myself after putting the blades to use.

"You're alive?!" The person asked. I saw two heads pop up out of the loft: a man and a child.

"Farmer Herva?" I asked.

"Call me Dom, short for Dominic." He gestured to the girl next to him. She only looked like she was seven or eight years old. "This is Lacey, my daughter. Is it safe to come down." He asked the last part as he tried to look past me. Only then did he notice the bundle in my arms.

"Is your party member okay?" He asked with wide eyes

"She will be fine. She just needs to rest. And yes it is safe, we defeated all three Skulds, though you do have a mess on your hands now."

"We've been up here for three days. I've had Lacey sneaking out at night to bring us food from the house. Let us get down, and you can take your party member inside to lay down."