After some discussion, the team decided to see how Myles was tomorrow before trying to adventure without him. Deep down, he was thankful for it. The last thing he wanted to be was dead weight, but right now, something was bothering him.

Why had Silpha been so quiet?

A few minutes later, Myles decided it wasn’t by accident. In that time, she’d ignored every attempt he’d made to reach out to her, but it was clear that she was still in communication with Ashra. In fact, she’d been speaking more through Ashra than she’d normally deemed necessary.

“Ashra, why is Silpha ignoring me?”

Ashra paused, just now considering that could be a possibility as she gave Myles some of yesterday’s leftovers as breakfast. “I do not know.”

“Could you ask?”

“Of course.” The silence persisted for a few moments before she answered. “Silpha is too busy.”

His brow furrowed. “She’s too busy to talk to me, but she’s fine talking to you?”

“That is correct.”

“How does that make any sense?”

Ashra shrugged. “It is what she said. She has also advised me not to take you to her to discuss it.”

Myles paused to consider the backward thinking it took to rationalize that. “Why?”

There was another long pause before Ashra flinched mentally and physically.

“Ashra?”

The pause continued.

Myles was ready to interrupt her train of thought before she finally snapped out of it. “I advise you to listen to her. You can ask her yourself when your legs work again.”

When his legs worked again?

“What does she know?”

“Myles? You trust my judgment. Would I be correct in assuming that?” He nodded without hesitation. “Then for your own good, trust her at her word.”

For a moment, he felt like arguing, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good without something to back it up. Instead, he just sighed.

“Fine. Can you do me a favor and drop these cores into the shower then?” Myles asked, handing Ashra a pair of clear cores from his inventory. She took it with a nod. “Might as well make the best of my time here.”

“It is better to do that than worry about what you cannot change,” she agreed, leaving him alone with his thoughts and his interface.

Name: Myles Chase

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Race: Human

Patron: Unaligned

Primary Class:

Monster Tamer

Proficient

Secondary Class:

Succulent Magician

Proficient

Attributes:

Brawn - 21 (18+3)

Dexterity - 25 (21+4)

Will - 24 (21+2)

Influence - 22

Resources:

Soul Energy: 150/150

Mana: 110/110

Dough: 0/150

Elemental Alignment:

None

Talents:

None

Titles Available: 5

Active Title: Leader (Rising Star)

Trust: 140/160

Active Title Synergy abilities: Empathic Link, Shared Moment

Monster Tamer

Skills

Traits

Essence Bond

Bait

Stasis Gem Creation

Monster Lore

Species Nutritional Lore

Monster Tamer’s Avatar

Sense Partner (Ashra Snowpelt)

Essence Bond

Monster Husbandry

Succulent Magician

Skills

Traits

Enchant Dough

Glutenmancy

Phantom Oven

Food Lore

Sift

Taste Test

Ingredient Reference

Baking

Magical Cooking

Deft Hands

Resourceful

General

Skills

Traits

Keen Eye

Item Lore

Aetheric Translation

Dagger Mastery

Mana Efficiency

Exotic Weapon Mastery (Baked Goods)

Resourceful

Mind over Matter

Toss of a Coin

Minion interfaces Available:

Ashra Snowpelt, Silpha, Medic, Topoff, Doughnut, Squishy

Out of everything he’d gained, he hadn’t exactly had time to examine or use his new Skills properly. Not that he’d gained much since the last time he’d looked, but there was a new skill for his [Succulent Magician] Class since then, Sift. He knew the term well enough from when he’d been a [Baker], so he hadn’t been in a rush to look. Sifting wasn’t anything special; it was a term in cooking that meant you were using a sieve to ensure the flour was perfect for baking. It had never been a Skill though, just something he’d done while cooking. With that in mind, Myles focused on the skill. It was worth a proper look now that he’d gotten a little unforeseen downtime.

Sift

Skill Type - Variant: Active

Cost: Scaling with Difficulty

Cast Time: Scaling with Difficulty

Cool Down: None

Distance: Touch

Success Determination: Dexterity and Prior Knowledge vs. Complexity

Class Variant: Due to synergy with your [Monster Tamer] Class, this skill can be used to negate the effects of Symbiosis, Parasite, and other similar status effects.

Success Determination: Will and Influence vs. Target Willpower and Willingness

Effect: Separate the base ingredients from a mixture using your mana. The more finely the mixture is combined, the more costly this Skill will be.

Myles reread the skill three times before a cry exploded from his still sore throat as he called out for his Monsterkin.

***

By the time Myles was finished explaining his new Skill and the plan, Ashra stood in stunned silence. He could feel the tension growing with her knot of racing thoughts, and did his best to break the tension.

“It should work. According to the skill, if you accept my help, it should go easier.”

Ashra thought about his words and answered with a few carefully chosen words. “And if it does not?”

He shrugged. “Then it doesn’t.” He paused for a moment before adding. “If you don’t want me to try, I’ll understand. I can always try it on a few things first if you want to see it in action.”

“That would make me more comfortable. I trust you, Myles, but it is hard to trust in a Skill without knowing exactly what it is supposed to do.”

Myles had thought it was simple enough, but he understood the sentiment. He took out a healing balm from his inventory and set it out in front of them on the coffee table. It wasn’t anything special, just a mixture of aloe, pulverized life weed, and a few other ingredients that would help keep a wound clean and disinfected as it assisted in the healing process. There was nothing magical about it, just something the dungeon or an alchemy lab cooked up for the Runners.

As the mixture sat open, Myles felt that he didn’t need to explain his intentions at this point, and Ashra watched as he focused on the mixture in an attempt to trigger his Sift skill.

Sift has been activated on target Healing Balm.

Due to the familiarity with Healing Balm and synergy with prior knowledge from Taste Test, Myles Chase gains the advantage.

Skill Check in progress:

Myles Chase (Dexterity 25+5) Versus Healing Balm (Difficulty 15).

Myles Chase’s Sift attempt is successful!

Due to a threshold greater than or equal to fifty percent in your challenge, Sift will begin at a low per action cost.

He felt something tug at his hands and in his mind’s eye, he could see a variety of colors dance to life within the mixture as the world around him grayed out. Within the small tub were streaks of white, blue, green, red, yellow, and even some purple. It wasn’t like strokes of icing on a cake though, they looked like ropes. Ropes that Myles reached out and began to tug on.

The ropes were slick or dry depending on the color he touched. It felt wrong but in a right sort of way, and one by one the ropes gave way with the shortest slipping easily into his hand while the longer strands needed more coaxing. It was strange work, and he could feel the drain on him with each movement, but the simple actions were almost automatic. It was calming as he worked in his focused mentality. Soon, each color was sitting in a neat pile of string on the table next to the tub of white strands.

Once he broke focus, the world faded back into color, and he released a breath as he looked down at his work. Sure enough, different ingredients sat on the table in neat, clean piles. Picking up the small tub, he took a deep waft of its scent. There was the pulverized aloe in the tub, which must have been the white rope that made up the majority of the strands. Then there was powered green lifeweed if he didn’t miss his guess, and a spattering of small other ingredients his Skills identified as honey, cloves, salt, and strangely enough, oregano. He grinned a bit as he scoured the piles. If it wasn’t for the lifeweed and aloe making the ointment unpalatable, this recipe would be a pretty good source of flavor. He’d have to experiment more to be sure but…

“That was impressive.”

Myles put on his best smile and popped some mana slime to restore the mana he’d spent. It wasn’t a lot, but it wasn’t nothing either and he wanted to be ready. “I try to be.”

“It only took a few moments.”

“It did,” he agreed as he felt the mana in his soul top off and the excess start to bleed away.

Ashra looked at the piles, then down at her metal hands as she considered her words. He felt a slight twang of shame and fear accompany her words. “Will it hurt?”

He considered saying no, but that just wasn’t who he was. “Did it hurt when you and Squishy fused?”

Myles watched as Ashra thought back to that day. She didn’t speak, but she shivered just slightly as she rubbed at her gleaming arms protectively. When she didn’t speak, Myles continued.

“I don’t think it will feel nice, but I imagine it won’t be easy either. I don’t think this is meant to be undone like this. Are you sure you want me to do it? There could be another way we haven’t considered.”

Again, Ashra paused, considering what he had said. He could practically feel the gears turning in her mind as she tried to put to words what she was feeling. Slowly, carefully, the words came, and the words became an avalanche of emotion.

“I have great power now, Myles. I am strong, and I can protect what is mine. I could take what I want and keep it. With you by my side, I could take anything this floor has to offer. As I am, I have everything I could ever want and more power than I could have ever imagined possible outside of becoming like Silpha. If I wanted, I could challenge even my matriarch for control of the dungeon. Moreover, I was able to survive a fight with the Broken King. Having aided in his destruction would be enough for her to step aside with little more than a suggestion. It was only made possible because of this form, and it is hard to consider giving up such a power.”

As she finished speaking, Myles already knew all of this. It was true she had everything that a fighter could want. He’d seen her devastate the other Monsterkin of her tribe three-on-one, but the experiences had nearly destroyed her. Even knowing that, being a Kinetic Iron Rabbitkin may have been the only thing that saved her in that final attack by Shardking. She had come into her own as the hybrid. He knew all that, but somehow, he was still surprised when she offered her hand to Myles, and the last of the avalanche came crashing down to the base of the question’s mountainside.

“I have everything I could ever want. I could die in wealth and family, but it would not be mine. It would not be earned.” The words were cold and carried the weight of her thoughts as they settled into her coda. “Worse even still, if I stay as I am, the family will suffer for my choice. That is not my way. I will have this power again, someday, but it will be as I deem it, not by an accident. If I can once again be me, I will accept any risk.”

Myles smiled and took the hand into his without another thought.

“We will grow stronger together, right?”

Ashra nodded, her long, metallic ears defying gravity to move back behind her head. “To the ends of the dungeon and beyond.”

Setting his will to the task, Myles triggered Sift.

Sift has been activated on ally Ashra Snowpelt.

Due to the familiarity with Ashra Snowpelt, her willingness, and synergy with prior knowledge from Monster Lore, Sense Partner, and Monster Husbandry, Myles Chase gains the advantage.

A Willpower challenge has been withdrawn (Ashra Snowpelt).

A Willpower challenge has been withdrawn (Squishy).

A Willingness Bonus has been added (Ashra Snowpelt).

A Willingness Bonus has been added (Squishy).

Skill Check in progress:

Myles Chase (Will 25 and Influence 22 + 40) Versus Trait Symbiosis 2 (Difficulty 100 - 20).

Myles Chase’s Sift attempt is successful!

Sift will begin at an average per action cost.

As the world grayed again, Ashra shimmered with a double helix of silvery white light. Unlike the mixture from before, the lights pulsed and moved in near perfect sync with one another. Near perfect wasn’t perfect though, and Myles could just make out how the silver flashed first before blending back in with the white of newly fallen snow to make up the nearly solid color. Instinct became his guide, and with the Deft Hands at his disposal, his work began.

Again and again, Myles took more and more of the strips of wiggling silver from the brown, pushing the strange, wet sensations to the back of his mind.

As he continued, his hands began to burn with each new victory. He felt his mana draining, but he couldn’t stop now. Something instinctual told him that would be a very bad thing.

Again and again, he dove back into the glimmering network of colors, pulling out more of the silver and placing it into the slowly growing pile. More and more white until only a single, gleaming sphere of silver swam in the brown, connected by infinitely smaller strings to the pieces Myles had already removed.

His hand dove in, wrapped around the sphere, and pulled.

As he did, the world burned.

***

Myles awoke slowly to a raw throat, and the comforting feeling of his face against the rug on his living room floor. A coppery scent filled his nose and pain split his head like it was a fresh melon ready to be scooped out. He tried to move his legs to sit up but remembered after a moment that wasn’t an option.

He was ready to curse until a hand was on his neck, soft fingers pressed against it looking for a pulse.

“I’m okay,” he managed, seeming to surprise her. As he spoke, Myles tasted blood but ignored it as he opened himself to her. Her unbridled joy was more than enough to dull the edge of his self-inflicted pain.

“Don’t get up.”

Myles didn’t argue as Ashra looked him over. Her hands were swift as they went from his neck to roll him onto his chest. Her ear pressed against it a moment later to check for signs of a steady pulse.

As she did, something nudged his hand and a familiar connection reasserted itself.

Myles reached out and stroked the creature’s form. Contentment, pride, and safety washed over him in a tide of positive emotions as his hand came to rest on the cool metallic slime that was trying to cuddle into his side.

With barely a prompt, Squishy squirmed into his lap and nearly melted into a puddle of contentment. Though the creature didn’t speak or communicate like Ashra, Myles could easily sort through its emotions as if Squishy could speak. There was no sign of annoyance, no anger, just the contentment and pride of a job well done, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. Squishy was now sporting a small pair of rabbit ears similar to Ashra’s.

He didn’t know what it meant, but Myles smiled and continued to stroke his slime. As he did, a weight he’d been carrying was lifted from his shoulders.

It was done.

It was finally done.

He’d fixed his mistake and brought everyone back safely.

Ashra helped him into a sitting position and handed him another cup of water. Myles drank it eagerly to wash the taste of blood from the back of his mouth. Looking down at the carpet, he sighed.

Well, at least that would clean itself.

Ashra felt like a bonfire as she glared at him, waiting for the moment he finished drinking to speak. He knew better though, and with Squishy sleeping in his lap, he put the cup aside. “I know what you’re going to say, and no, I didn’t know it was going to be dangerous. Did it matter though? If there was a chance, I had to do it. The skill wouldn’t have killed me.”

Probably.

If a Skill couldn’t complete, it would usually leave the user alive.

Usually.

The bonfire slowly died, but Ashra was more annoyed than happy as the embers cooled to ash. Even so, Myles counted it as a win even as she tried to argue.

“You could have waited until you were stronger. We would have understood.”

“I know.”

Myles didn’t try to argue. He knew full well they could have, but it wasn’t really in him to wait when it came to things like that. He knew it, Squishy knew it, and Ashra sure as the Mists below knew it. As a new notification ticked in his vision, Myles realized that the grand dungeon knew it too.

A title you have obtained has been upgraded by your actions.

By your willingness to fulfill an oath you made in good faith with no consequences and only personal cost, your title of Oath Keeper has been promoted into Oath’s Guardian.

That was impressive and all, but the next message is what had his attention.

[Succulent Magician] Skill Sift has evolved due to the use of the Skill.

Sift has gained a secondary effect.

Sift

Skill Type - Variant: Active

Cost: Scaling with Difficulty

Cast Time: Scaling with Difficulty

Cool Down: None

Distance: Touch

Success Determination: Dexterity and Prior Knowledge vs. Complexity

Class Variant: Due to synergy with your [Monster Tamer] Class, this skill can be used to negate the effects of Symbiosis, Parasite, and other similar status effects.

Success Determination: Will and Influence vs. Target Willpower and Willingness

Effect: Separate the base ingredients from a mixture using your mana. The more finely the mixture is combined, the more costly this Skill will be.

Secondary Effect: While focusing on the targeted mixture, a resource cost will appear based on currently known values in Mana and Soul Energy, if any. If this cost exceeds your maximum resource total, it will fail, leaving you at 1 SE.

Was it really that bad? Myles wondered as he opened up his interface to check on his resources. As he found the sections for Mana, Soul Energy, and Dough, his mind reeled.

Soul Energy: 10/150

Mana: 0/110

It had been that bad.

It had cost him almost everything.

Well, at least that explained the bloody nose and the taste of copper from earlier. Overexertion was not something mages enjoyed, but something they could do in times of great need. He nearly gagged again as the taste dribbled down from the back of his throat and caught on his tongue again.

Yep, didn’t want to do that again.

For a long while, Myles sat where he was on the floor and pet the proud slime as Ashra watched over them. He felt like crying, but if Ashra was strong enough to resist the tears of joy she felt, he wasn’t going to let himself either.

That lasted all of five more seconds as a hand wiped them away.

“It is okay, Myles.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he replied softly. “I won’t ever ask…”

A hand on his shoulder stopped his attempt at a speech.

“If the safety of our group is at stake, we will do so again,” Ashra said, uncharacteristically gentle, sparing the slime in his lap a look before she continued. “We are stronger together, and knowing you can separate us again makes the risks acceptable. I was born a warrior, Myles. Squishy is armor, weapon, and family, and I would be a fool not to accept it when battle called for it.”

Myles considered that and gave a slight nod to his monster. “I won’t force you.”

“You would not have to. I will take your word as I always have. You still have much to learn, but you are worth learning with.”

Neither had to say anything else on the matter as Squishy opened its large, black eyes and looked at Myles. The feeling of a question passed from the slime to him. It had been a while since one of the slimes had attempted to communicate something more than a need, and it wasn’t an easy thought to decipher.

Squishy was determined though, so Myles allowed the rabbit-eared slime to follow through with its plan.