Kraant was tired, and cold, and hungry. He’d managed to get a fire started, with the help of Pebl’s Spark spell, but he hadn’t figured out a way to cook the Twin-Tailed Fox meat. He had been able to use Sculpt: Flesh on it, but apparently the result was more of an artistic piece than an actual ingredient. Since the skill had come from his Trapper class, he was pretty sure it just needed to be leveled up a few times before he could actually use it for butchering. For now, it was more about disengaging a disabled or killed creature from his traps. Luckily, the woods seemed like a decent place to practice. Especially since he’d taken the time to set up some snares and the like, so he might have a source of meat that he could sell. Hopefully. He curled up in his robes, as close to the fire as he could stand, and set Pebl… Peblus! Dang! He was still mad at Peblus, although starting the fire had done quite a bit to soothe his wounded pride. Anyway, Peblus was on a sort of watch, since apparently rocks didn’t need to sleep.

He was woken in just a couple hours, as the rain picked up again. It wasn’t too bad, tucked under this old tree, but Peblus had sent him a mental prod, as well. While he was glad that his familiar made a decent sentry, he wasn’t exactly enthused about losing out on his dream. It was looking to be a good one, he was running through a field of flowers and picking meat off the trees, each of which screamed in one Overseer’s voice or another, and… mmm. Maybe it didn’t sound as peaceful as it’d felt, but he’d had enough organs ripped out of him that he didn’t feel bad at all about doing it to the Overseers.

He was still half-awake at best, musing about his dream, when an arrow landed between him and the fire. It had come straight down, as though fired from the tree directly above him, and it flashed a brilliant white as it landed. He shouted, and tried to roll away, but the tree trunk kept him right where he was. He heard a soft thump, as though someone had jumped down from overhead, and felt a flicker of the all-surrounding Void as Peblus cast Dampen on its own initiative. The Void seemed to, well, dampen, the blinding light, and Kraant was able to blink away the stars in his eyes. A humanoid girl, of indeterminate age and build, crouched by the fire with a huge, billowing cloak spread around her in an extremely picturesque fashion. She stared out from under a deep hood at the unassuming stone on the edge of the fire.

“What the FUCK?” Kraant shouted eloquently.

“Holy shit!” The girl jumped and whirled around, apparently just now remembering the kobold was still there. She drew a bow in a fluid motion and pointed the arrow at Kraant. “Uh. Hi?”

“…Hi.” Kraant said eloquently.

“Can, uh. Can I stay here for the night?” The girl asked, somehow sheepish despite her aggressive actions and still-drawn bow.

“…”

“…Please?” She added hopefully.

“Why? And why should I let you?”

“Well, if I kill you, I can have the fire, take the meat from your snares in the morning, and be on my way. But I’d rather not, so I figured I could at least ask politely. What harm could it do, right?”

“Right, I guess that makes sense, but… why do you want to stay here so bad? And what part of blinding me and holding me hostage is polite?”

“Well, I’m hungry and I don’t have the Trapper class, so I’d have to actually hunt anything I wanted to eat. Also, your fire is nice and warm and you picked a… decent… spot for staying out of the rain, even though you didn’t build any kind of lean-to. And I find people are a lot more willing to be polite to me if they’re off-balance and outgunned.”

“…Can you cook?”

“Yeah, my subclass is Survivalist. I can dress, butcher, and cook anything that lives, but the results aren’t always reliable yet. I’m only level 3 in it.”

“Then yeah, you can stay. Peblus Magnificus, stand down.” Kraant felt a mild sense of disappointment from the stone, as well as a little burst of warmth from the fire as Pebl released the Fire mana it had been gathering.

“Lovely! My name’s Gina.” The girl lowered her bow and sat down next to Kraant. “I guess Peblus is the rock, is he your familiar?”

“Sometimes it feels like I’m his, really, but yeah. I’m Kraant.”

“I know. I can see names and titles, although Peblus managed to hide his from me until he cast that spell.”

“Huh. Neat perk. What class is it from?”

“Arrow of Dawn. It’s a light-based archery class, unique to followers of Idh. It’s a sort of Paladin off-shoot. Technically, as you’re a follower of Kue, I think I’m supposed to kind of hate you, but you seem alright.”

“I’m more of a pan-pantheon sort, really, but the monks of Kue helped me out when I first escaped my tutorial zone. I’m a Magus, which is why I have the rock with me.”

“That’s cool, I didn’t know that rocks even could be familiars. I assumed it had to be a living creature.”

“Well, my situation is a bit… strange. To be honest, I wasn’t sure it would work either… and he wasn’t quite my first choice.”

“Well I think he’s adorable.” Gina reach over and stroked Pebl lightly with one gloved finger. “Is he… purring?!”

“…Yeah, actually, I think he is.” They both stared at the stone, who radiated blissful disregard for their stupefaction. “He’s, uh. Not what I expected.”

“He’s got to be close to evolving. What level is he?”

“Uh. He doesn’t have levels. I don’t think he’s technically alive… like I said, it’s a strange situation.”

“Sounds like it. Not to be rude, but do you have any meat I can cook up? I’m still starving.”

“Oh! Yeah.” Kraant pulled the Twin-Tailed fox carcass out of his pocket. “I think it stayed fresh in there, but all I can tell is that the robe’s pockets are full of Void energy, so I’m not sure. They seem to be able to hold quite a bit, though.”

“Wow, I’ll say… yeah, this looks pretty fresh. How is it burned to death, though? You don’t strike me as a fire mage.”

“I have access to quite a few of the Aspects. Like I said, it’s… strange. I’d prefer not to give out too much information until I understand it better, myself. Especially if you decide to kill me in the night and sell the information…”

“Oh, I know we Light types get a bad rep for being all mysterious and crazy, but I’m not like that. I’m sort of like a friar, where I get to keep most of my freedom and rational thought but I still help the church.” Gina started to clean the deer in brisk motions, taking off the skin and separating a few steaks before hanging the rest to drain and burying the viscera.

“Still, if you don’t mind, I’m going to keep it to myself for now.”

“I can accept that. A Twin-Tailed Fox carcass is well worth keeping my curiosity in check.”

“So, you mentioned my snares…” Kraant started whittling a couple sticks down to spit the steaks on for roasting. “How long were you watching us?”

“A few minutes, just long enough to make sure you were asleep. Did you know you cackle in your sleep, by the way? I just saw the snares while I was looking for a good place to set up for the night.

“…It was a weird, dream, okay? I don’t always cackle.”

“Sure, sure. You do you, man.” As she spit the steaks and set them up by fire, Gina pulled back the hood of her cloak and Kraant got a good look at her face. She had slightly reptilian features, not as strong as his, but she was larger and more human-looking than him. And he fingers didn’t end in talons.

“Huh.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m a Weredrake, by the way. You’re a Kobold, yeah? Gutsy choice. I approve.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, almost all players pick some kind of humanoid, and most of them are some kind of Beastkin for the racial perks they can get. I’m sort of an off-shoot, as a weredrake is technically a human who’s bloodline was cursed with some draconic features and a temporary transformation ability. It sounded way cooler than it is, because I forgot about racism. You’ve probably encountered your fair share too, eh?”

“Uh, no not really. I’ve pretty much only dealt with my tutorial area and the monks, though, so maybe I just left town too early to get thrown out.”

“Could be. You got any herbs for these?” Gina gestured at the skewered meat.

“Nope. Could maybe grind up Peblus like salt, though.” They both chuckled as the rock vibrated and shifted a little deeper into the fire.

“Too bad. They’re just about ready, then. Assuming you want one?”

“Well, seeing as I watched you make them, I’m pretty sure they’re not poisoned. And I haven’t eaten all day… yeah, sure, I’ll take one if you don’t mind.”

“No problem, I made two for a reason. This rain sucks, huh?” Gina gestured vaguely at what little sky was visible past the branches.

“Eh, could be worse. The tree keeps most of it off. The fire helps.”

“True, true…”

They chatted for a while as they ate, and Gina helped him build a sort of tent from sticks and foliage so they could both stay dry-ish. It was still kind of cold, and uncomfortable, but he was… happy. He’d made a friend!

The next day dawned brightly, and a shaft of light pierced the canopy leaves, and the shelter, and the hood of his robe, to hit Kraant directly in his left eye. He woke up grumbly and irritated, but smelled eggs and roasting meat. He sat up, instantly awake, and looked toward the smell.

It was a surprisingly domestic scene, with Gina wearing her cloak tied around her waist like an apron, cooking on a couple large, flat stones near the edge of the merry little blaze Peblus sat in. He wasn’t sure if the fire had gone out and she’d convinced his familiar to re-light it, or if Peblus had simply kept it going through sheer Mana expenditure, but neither option really sat well with him. Maybe Peblus was about to evolve, whatever that meant. He’d probably do well to find a way to introduce him to the three elements he didn’t already have before then.

“Morning!” Gina chirped at him as he stood up and stretched.

“Good morning. Where’d breakfast come from?”

“I raided a bird’s nest while I checked your snares. The results are hanging up over there.” She gestured to the east, where he saw a small rabbit-like creature hanging next to the remains of the Twin-Tailed Fox. A minor effort of will showed him a table, like the Twin-Tailed Fox had.

Lapine Shadow: Dark

HP: 0/10

MP: 0/5

Level: 2

Deceased

“Huh. Was it dead when you found it?”

“No, just Trapped and Bound. Peblus actually finished it off, he could use the experience more than I could.”

“Of course he did. Would you mind shooting him with a Light arrow, by the way?”

“Um. Sure?” Gina reached to her side and pulled her bow out, then fired an arrow at Pebl. It shimmered in flight, and sparked far more than it normally would when it bounced off his stony… well, not his stony hide, per se, but… “What was that about?”

“Now he only needs to absorb some Life mana. I think he sort of… takes in whatever Aspects he’s near, especially if he’s attacked with them.”

“Neat!” Gina looked at Peblus appraisingly. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, well, don’t stoke his ego. I don’t want him to evolve into a Stone of Arrogance, or something. How does that even work, anyway?”

“Well, my friends who play as Magi all have familiars, but they’re mostly cute little animals like squirrels or whatever. As you get stronger, I guess you can either make a new contract or you can sort of double-down on your familiar and make them Evolve. They get stronger, to match whatever category of creature you could have made your new familiar from. More than that, nobody’s sure. I think only a few Magi have even gotten to the first evolution, yet, and most of them have chosen to get a wolf or a horse or something instead of gambling on evolution.”

“That makes sense. You seem pretty knowledgeable about this.”

“Well, while I won’t be giving out personal info, you can just sort of assume that I know anything that’s been posted to the forums. And maybe a few things that are supposed to stay within the company.”

“Cool, cool.” Kraant prodded at the fire and glanced sidelong at the eggs and roast. They smelled so good…

“Not as cool as a multiple-aspect familiar, that’s for sure. Can I post about you on the forums?”

“As long as you’re not too specific. Can I include our conversations in my videos?”

“You’re streaming?”

“No, I’m editing here and there to make for higher-quality viewing.”

“Ah. Then, if you could leave out that bit about the company info…”

“Can do.”

“Then yeah, go ahead. Food’s ready, by the way.”

“Thank the Gods!” Kraant and Gina both immediately settled into prayers over the meal, although the exact wordings varied, and set in. Peblus kept watch from his nice, cozy fire.