Ray woke the next morning feeling slightly better. He knew he was nowhere near full health so decided to take the time to assess his situation.

Health

54/110 (Regeneration: 3.3hp/hour)

Mana

50/50

Buffs

None

Debuffs

None

Since his health had regenerated by 33, 10 hours had passed. He noticed that the feline was still snuggled next to him, trying to stay close.

“Hey little one, want some breakfast?” Ray asked the feline “Look at me, talking to a cat like it understands me”

To Rays surprise, the feline stretched its paws and moved to sit across from Ray waiting expectantly for its food. Ray produced a small bowl from his inventory along with a large amount of raw bacon. He placed the food down for the feline who began eating with gusto.

Ray then took out a portable campfire kit he had been given by the dark elf group. He lit a small fire and used it to cook a large stack of bacon for himself. He added a few berries and a slice of bread to his plate but otherwise ate mostly bacon.

While eating, he spent some time planning his next move. He was obviously going to be holed up in this cave for at least one more day. After that, Ray surmised he would continue heading in the same direction he had planned. That stream was just too much of an allure.

Ray also decided that he needed to get stronger. If he was going to be risking his life over level 1 to 5 monsters, it meant that he shouldn’t be adventuring alone. Ray wanted to get to a stage where he would be able to comfortable fight beasts by himself. For the time being, he didn’t see himself working with a group. This was largely because he didn’t know this world. Even though he had potentially made some friends, could he really fully trust them when they were obviously still hiding things from him?

Ray absently scratched the kitten behind the ears. During the hour or so he had spent awake so far, he had come to realise that the beast was clearly looking up to him like a parental figure. Ray could still see the nervousness in the kittens’ movements but he could also see the determination not to be left alone.

Ray spent the rest of the day focused on recovering. He stored his bloody and tattered clothes into his inventory and equipped a fresh set. Not having to actually put clothing on was something he could get used to. When equipped, they simply materialised in the appropriate area. Unfortunately, size was still a thing, the clothes themselves weren’t inherently magical. Ray knew you could create or purchase items that were magical in nature but that was far out of his reach for the time being.

After changing, Ray decided to meditate to pass the time. Unbeknownst to him, meditation was a way to increase recovery and even consolidate some gains made when fighting monsters or training an appropriate lifetime craft. It seemed that doing certain things the System deemed appropriate, such as weapon smithing would also provide experience, albeit less than directly fighting beasts and System monsters.

Ray didn’t realise that he had entered a trance until light had left the cave. Ray checked the time.

[The time is 10:26pm on Dundar… Day 8 of the 7th month. Year 2566]

Ray had learned that there were 9 days in a week, 4 weeks to a month and 10 months to a year on Arkus. Therefore, there were only 360 days in a year. Interestingly, there were 26 hours in a day. Days still ran AM and PM but they went from 1:00 to 13:00 instead of 1:00 to 12:00. It was taking Ray a bit to get used to the extra 2 hours in a day.

As Ray removed the clock from information from his vision, he noticed a blinking light yet again in the top corner. He realised he must have gained a small amount of experience and it was enough to push him over the limit.

[Congratulations for learning the basics of meditation, you have received +1 Mind]

Ray was surprised when instead of 5 points to allocate, he had 10. He was still only level 5. Maybe it was a bonus at certain level thresholds? Ray didn’t know at this stage and would need more information in the future. He decided to continue to focus on getting each of his stats to 10. He allocated 5 to Dexterity, 4 to Body and 1 to Strength.

Name:

Ray Atton

More Info +

Race:

Human-Error (F)

Level:

5 (F)

Stats

Strength

6

Dexterity

10

Agility

10

Body

10

Vitality

15

Intelligence

6

Mind

6

Luck

15

Unallocated Points

0

Titles

Outcast (Unique 1/1)

Coins

Arkus System

122

Ray immediately realised this had been the right choice. When he allocated the strength, he could tell immediately that for lack of a better word, he was stronger. He also felt more robust whilst maintaining a spring in his step.

For some reason, Ray felt like no matter what stat he allocated points to, he was gaining the maximum allowable for it. Even the point in mind felt like he was getting a full benefit. Even so, Ray still made the decision to gain at least 10 in each stat. It just felt like a good thing to do.

As Ray was getting ready to settle for the night, the kitten suddenly pounced up and sat next to him. Ray initially thought he was about to be attacked and pulled away but instead, the kitten made a bowing gesture towards him.

[Miu – Panther Cat has requested a familial bond with you…. If you accept, Miu will become your familiar 1/3… Do you Accept or Decline?]

“Huh… Are you sure this is what you want?” Ray asked.

The kitten simply stayed in the bowing posture. He could see determination in its eyes. He guessed the beast didn’t want to be alone and had decided to take this option for both survivability and companionship.

Ray only hesitated for a moment. This was the first time he had truly felt like he belonged with something in Arkus. Sure, he had made some connections with the dark elves but het didn’t feel like he could be completely free with them.

The only thing that made Ray hesitate was the fact that it seemed one could only have up to 3 familial bonds. Ray guessed any more would impede on a developing relationship. This hesitation was short lived however. Ray decided that it made sense to accept this creature. After all, he had killed the cat’s entire family and it had still wanted to bond with him.

“Uhh.. Accept” Ray said out loud.

A wave of golden light suddenly flooded both Ray and Miu. The light slowly came together in a clear joining of spirits. Ray could feel some sort of force rushing out of him and being replaced with a similar inward sensation coming from Miu. The whole experience only lasted an instant, but it left Ray sprawled on the ground, panting.

Ray noticed that Miu wasn’t faring any better. If anything, the cat was worse off then he was. After what felt like forever, Ray finally managed gather enough energy to move himself into a sitting position.

“Well, that was an experience and a half” Ray said.

Ray suddenly jolted backwards in surprise as he heard a smooth female voice in his mind.

“It certainly was, wasn’t it… uhm… daddy? Master? I don’t know. Is it ok if I call you daddy?”

Ray’s eyes widened. He didn’t know how to process this. Not only was a cat talking but it was talking with him telepathically.

“Uhh hi? Did I break you daddy? Miu said

Ray looked at the cat nervously. “Uhh no? I’ve just never spoken to a cat before”.

Miu looked indignant “I’m not a cat. I’m a panther cat, we’re special. Separately, why are you speaking like that. You can just think your thoughts to me, I’ll get them. We are linked”.

“So, by linked, are we like friends now?” Ray asked

“No silly, we’re family. I’ll always be by your side from now on daddy!” Miu said, clearly extremely happy.

“But, you know I killed your family don’t you?”

“No, you didn’t, the System is at fault for that. If anything, I’m just happy you put them out of their misery and saved me. You’re my hero”

Well, that was one way of looking at things Ray supposed. This actually made him happier. Somehow, in another world, Ray had adopted a cat.

In front of Ray’s eyes, Miu began to shrink. She jumped into Ray’s lap and snuggled there, now as big as an ordinary house cat”.

“You can change size at will?” Ray asked

“I can do a lot of things, though I’m only level 1 now, I’m sure I’ll catch up to you soon! Don’t forget to check yourself. You’ll have some new stats because I’m awesome” Miu responded.

Ray settled down, getting ready to sleet so he could tackle the day ahead. Ray checked his character sheet. At first he didn’t notice a change, then the System messages appeared.

[Congratulations, you have adopted a unique cat. You have received a new title: Panther Cat Tamer (Unique 1/1)]

[Congratulations, you have learned the skill: Telepathic Communication – Familiar (Common)]

Ray immediately checked his title information.

Detailed Titles

Outcast (Unique 1/1)

Congratulations you are unique

You have shunned the system and are shunned in return.

+10 Luck

-10,000 Relation to the System

-10,000 Relation to System Merchants

One Time Bonus – You may call the system to you. It will send you to the void. You must make a final decision at this time.

This title can evolve.

Panther Cat Tamer (Unique 1/1)

You are the first person on Arkus to successfully tame a Panther Cat.

All stats + 1

Miu is the sole-surviving Panther Cat. Title upgraded to Unique.

Bonus for unique title.

All stats +3

Holy crap that was a big boost. Ray was excited just thinking about it but he was too tired to do much else right now.

“Are you going to be ok? You’re the last of your kind.” Ray asked

“It’s not ideal but I have you daddy. I couldn’t ask for more” She responded but she clearly was withdrawn. She had curled up even tighter.

“Alright, lets talk more in the morning. We both could use the sleep”

“Goodnight daddy!” Miu said

“Goodnight Miu”

Character Sheet at the end of Chapter 9

Name:

Ray Atton

More Info +

Race:

Human-Error (F)

Level:

5 (F)

Stats

Strength

10

Dexterity

14

Agility

14

Body

14

Vitality

19

Intelligence

10

Mind

10

Luck

19

Unallocated Points

0

Titles

Outcast (Unique 1/1), Panther Cat Tamer (Unique 1/1)

Coins

Arkus System

122