I jumped back as the foot-long, dusty brown ant snapped at my calf, then kicked out with my boot, sending the insect flying back into the mass of bugs swarming out of the hole in the ground. The lightweight ant crashed into the dozen or so bugs crawling toward us and knocked several of its kin sprawling onto their backs. The insects feebly waved their limbs and twitched, trying to flip themselves back over. I knew that they would eventually, but it would take the better part of a minute, and I hoped to be done with this by then.

I looked down at the bonesnapper surrounded by several of the ants and sent it a silent mental command. The lizard spun in a circle, its tail whipping out around it and crashing into the ants nearby. My pet’s tail wasn’t heavy, but the tip moved with frightening speed, and the top and bottom both had ridges of sharp scales running along them like saw teeth. The tail slap sliced through the ants’ armored exoskeletons and ripped their bodies open, not killing them instantly but dooming them as they quickly bled out.

The creature turned back to face the horde and opened its muzzle wide. I felt a surge of energy rise up in it through our bond, starting in its stomach and churning up its throat, feeling uncomfortably like vomit. A blast of water shot from the creature’s mouth and crashed into the ants, knocking more of them sprawling and killing a couple. I felt the monster’s eagerness to rush forward and rip into its prey, but I held it back. It fought a bit against my control, the struggle a faint pressure in my skull, but it quickly gave up and waited for more ants to rush forward.

I stood back and watched as the lizard ripped through the small insects with relative ease. The bugs weren’t helpless by any stretch of the imagination; their shells were thick enough to turn aside a knife blade, they had four-inch pincers that could pierce flesh, and their abdomens possessed a stinger that apparently injected a small dose of fiery liquid into their prey. If the bonesnapper had encountered this many on its own, unbonded, it would have died to them. Thanks to our bond, though, the ants’ pincers merely slid off the ‘snapper’s scales, and without being able to grab hold of the lizard with their pincers, the bugs couldn’t use their magical stingers effectively.

At least, they couldn’t as long as I didn’t let them climb on top of the creature – which one of the bugs was in the process of doing. That was the real danger to my pet since the ants’ stings were magically enhanced, meaning they might be able to truly damage the lizard. I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to find out. I lifted my revolver and fired at it; the weapon bucked in my hand, and a cloud of dark smoke obscured my vision for an instant, but a hole appeared in the ant’s carapace, and it stumbled and fell off the bonesnapper’s back, allowing it to snatch the bug up in its jaws. It bit down hard, and the ant vanished with a loud crunch and the crackling of carapace.

I kept a close eye on the battle but only intervened when the bugs were threatening to climb atop or grabbed hold of the ‘snapper. I sent the pet a fairly regular stream of mental commands, keeping it focused on the battle and restraining its bestial nature. It kept wanting to grab a few of the bodies and run, dragging the corpses off to be eaten, or to charge at the insects. Both of those would be bad ideas – if it ran, the insects might or might not chase it, but it would give them time to recover and reorganize, while if it charged in, it would be out of reliable range for my crappy revolver and would quickly get swarmed.

At last, the beast’s jaws crunched on the last of the insects, and I relaxed my control with a sigh. The bonesnapper immediately grabbed several of the corpses and dragged them backward, settling in to feast on them with loud crunching and crackling sounds. I just hung back and rubbed my forehead as the beginnings of a minor headache formed behind my eyes.

“Not so easy controlling it in the middle of a fight, is it?”

I glanced back at the sheriff, sitting astride Parri on a worn, faded saddle and watching me with a grin. His smile seemed knowing, and for some reason it irritated me, but I shoved that down and shook my head – albeit gingerly.

“No, it’s not. The damn thing kept trying to charge the nest. I had to stay on top of it the whole time, or it would have run in and probably died.”

He nodded sagely. “Yep. Our pets are always trying to follow their natures, and we have to make sure they only do what we want. That’s why they call us ‘handlers’, boy. If you stop handling your pets, they’ll do whatever the hell they want – and that’s not usually a good thing.”

He reached down and patted the side of Parri’s scaled neck. “Just so you know, though, it does get easier the more you practice. Once your pet understands that following orders leads to food and good treatment, it’ll stop fighting so much, and the more you work with it, the more it’ll understand what it has to do to get those things.”

He slid down from Parri’s back and walked toward me through the knee-high grass spread out around us. I suspected that some of the grass surrounding us was probably taller than my head, but from atop the hill we stood on, the horizons were clear in all directions. To the north and south, grass filled my vision as far as I could see. To the west, the sparkling ribbon of the river that wound past Murkburg was barely visible, while to the east, rust-brown peaks clawed at the sky, obscured by a haze of dust but obviously void of any sort of plant life. Far to the north, a line of white shapes moved slowly, just visible above the grass, coming from the northeast and heading southwest.

The sheriff either caught my gaze or noticed the white shapes himself. “Caravan,” he grunted shortly.

“A caravan? Of what? From where?”

“It’s coming from Whitestone, so probably quarried stone and ore,” he shrugged. “They’ll bring it to Murkburg, sell it to Levi, and he’ll ship it on the next train headed to Vadoo or Darapa.”

“I was wondering how the town made its money,” I laughed. “It seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere, with no real resources nearby, but it looks like it’s doing well. It’s a trading hub, then?”

“More or less. Murkburg’s built at the intersection of the Western Line and the road connecting Whitestone to Grimbark. Place started as nothing more than a train station and trading outpost. Added a boarding house for teamsters and merchants to stay in while they waited for the train, then the saloon to entertain, them, and it all just kind of grew from there.”

He stared at the distant convoy speculatively. “Problem is, Murkburg only exists because Whitestone and Grimbark do. When the Whitestone mines play out – which they will one day; all mines play out eventually – Murkburg will go back to being a little trading outpost. Might even disappear once people realize they can ship logs from Grimbark straight south to the Sonkhee and float them down to Fazil a lot cheaper than using the railroads. That happens, somebody’ll build a dock there, and there’ll be no more reason for the trains to stop at Murkburg. Place’ll just kind of go away.”

“What will you do then?” I asked quietly.

He shrugged. “I’ll stay. Place is my home, and there’ll be a few farmers and fisherman who stick around, which means someone’ll figure out a way to run a general store. They’ll need protection, and I’ll give it to them. And if one day, it’s just me and old Parri, watching the town fade away?” He sighed. “Well, I can think of a lot of worse ways to retire.”

He seemed to shake himself. “That’s a long way away, though, boy, and hopefully, I won’t live to see it – and you certainly won’t be here, so there’s no reason for you to concern yourself about it.”

He turned and looked back at me. “All in all, that was a decent fight. You’re getting better at controlling that ‘snapper, and it don’t seem like its thoughts are bothering you in the middle of the fight.” He sighed again. “Which means, boy, that you need to focus on picking a path. Have you been practicing the exercises in that book?”

“I have,” I nodded. “Several hours a day, in fact.” I held up a hand and concentrated on it. Energy pooled around it, not touching my skin but hovering near it and glowing dully in the afternoon sunlight. The radiance was faint, and the power felt wispy and weak, but it was there, and there was a lot more of it since I’d started practicing a week ago.

The simple fact was, there wasn’t much to do in Murkburg if you didn’t gamble and weren’t interested in prostitutes. I read a little, mostly about the world’s history, but I spent most of my waking moments training and practicing handling my bonesnapper.

The training itself wasn’t difficult in the least. To train dominia, I had to practice a form of meditation, basically concentrating on my senses and ignoring any distractions. Personia training felt almost like some sort of Jedi exercise: I had to pick an object and imagine holding it with my thoughts. It would have been cool if I’d been able to move or lift things that way, but I was pretty sure the entire exercise was in my imagination. And for arcania, I had to do what I just showed the sheriff; learn to gather and move magic. The arcania practice had obvious results, but according to Sara, the other forms of practice were working, too.

“You can’t see it, John, but you’re very slightly altering the world’s energy field around you when you do that,” she told me. “And those changes are larger than they were when you started, so you’re getting better at it. It looks like you’re basically creating paths in the energy field with your personia training and then sealing the entrances those paths make into your thoughts with the dominia exercises. That should make it easier for you to bond and control a pet without risking losing yourself to it in the future.”

The sheriff stared at my hand and shook his head. “I’ll be damned. You put the same amount of practice into each of those exercises?” I nodded. “Well, then, I suppose I can show you how to pick a path. It’s a pretty simple matter; you just have to take one of your exercises and use it on your pet. When you do, you’ll attune your bond to that path. Nothing simpler, really.”

“Sounds good,” I said with audible relief. I was eager to pick my new professions; I was pretty sure I had some accumulated XP from the training and battles I’d fought, and I was eager to see it put to good use. I closed my eyes as if concentrating on my bond, then pulled up my professions screen.

Professions Available

Pet Hunter

Standard

A handler who focuses on commanding large numbers of weaker pets.

Shaper

Standard

A handler who focuses on using rune cards in combat

Tamer

Standard

A handler who focuses on training a single powerful pet

I quickly added all three, then looked at their descriptions to see what they actually meant.

Professions Chosen:

Pet Hunter

Standard

Primary Stats:

Dominia, Vigor

Skill Gained:

Improved Handling

Ability Gained:

Simple Bestial Resistance

Shaper

Standard

Primary Stats:

Arcania, Skill

Skill Gained:

Improved Runecrafting

Ability Gained:

Simple Rune Casting

Tamer

Standard

Primary Stats:

Personia, Prowess

Skill Gained:

Improved Taming

Ability Gained:

Simple Beast Domination

Skills:

Improved Handling

Rank: Initiate 3

Your bonds take 2% less damage per level

Initiate Benefit – Your pets resist 1% damage per level

Improved Runecrafting

Rank: Initiate 4

+1% to crafting speed and -1% to cost of runes per level

Initiate Benefit – Your runes are 1% per level less likely to fail explosively

Improved Taming

Rank: Initiate 3

Your pets gain +1% per level to attack, defense, and damage

Initiate Benefit – Your pets gain +1% per level to Dodge

Abilities:

Simple Beast Domination

Passive Pet Ability

You can tame a pet up to Lesser Rank. You can tame pets up to 150% of your level. You can tame one fewer pet than normal.

Simple Bestial Resistance

Passive Pet Ability

You can tame one more pet than normal, plus one pet per 5 levels of hunter. You can tame Pets up to 50% of your level. You can tame pets of Simple rank only.

Simple Rune Casting

Passive Pet Ability

You can craft and use simple runes. You can have up to 2 runes active at once, plus one rune per 5 levels of Shaper. You suffer a -1 penalty to your check to tame a new pet.

You have 712 unassigned XP.

These XP may be assigned to the following Professions:

Hunter, Shaper, Tamer

I read through the screens a few times to make sure I understood everything, then split the XP evenly between the three new professions. The new screen that popped up took me totally by surprise.

Analysis Complete!

Doorworld: Puraschim

Magic Rating: 34

Tech Rating: 69

Bio Rating: 74

Analyses:

Magic–Puraschim is a world of low magic. Spells are cast through runes rather than incantations or evocations. Typically, for a world with this rating, most people use minor magic regularly, but the native sapient race is inherently resistant to magic. This makes the use of magic something only common among the talented and precludes the usage of ritual or faith magics. the very talented can use standard spells, but this is uncommon.

tech–Technology in this world allows complex machines, advanced metallurgy, and the creation of high-quality alloys. Chemical combustion functions normally, and machines can be powered mechanically with steam, combustion, and electricity. Basic electromagnetic transmission functions, but advanced and dense-bandwidth transmission does not. Microelectronics do not function, and computing machines must be analog to work.

Biology–This world has a high degree of biodiversity. Creatures freely shift between biological niches, and small regions may contain entire bio-webs. There is little standardization of form, and species evolve constantly, often from generation to generation.

Profession: Pet Hunter has gained a level!

New Level: 3

For every level of Pet Hunter, you gain:

Dominia and Vigor +1

1 Skill Point per 2 levels

Profession: Shaper has gained a level!

New Level: 3

For every level of Shaper, you gain:

Arcania and Skill +1

1 Skill Point per 2 levels

Profession: Tamer has gained a level!

New Level: 3

For every level of Tamer, you gain:

Personia and Prowess +1

1 Skill Point per 2 levels

“Sara, didn’t those level up awfully quickly?” I asked concernedly. “I seem to recall Standard professions needing more XP to level up than that.”

“These are Standard rarity only because so few people can get a profession here, John,” she explained. “Since they’re the most basic professions in this world, though, they level like Common ones. The XP goes farther than it might have.”

“Well, that’s useful. Does this mean I’ll be able to rank them up faster, too, then?”

“You will. Another couple of battles like that should do it, actually. I think the sheriff is power-leveling for some reason.”

“Having trouble?” the sheriff’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

I opened my eyes and refocused on the man. “No,” I shook my head. “It just took a bit to get all three paths, is all.”

“So, you took my advice.” He pulled a card out of his shirt, and I activated See Magic as he sent magic flowing through it. I quickly recognized the Analyze rune and deactivated Resist Magic to let the spell work, then looked up to see the results.

Paths: Pet Hunter, Shaper, Tamer

Pets: Lesser Bonesnapper (3)

Dominia: 8.7 Personia: 8.9 Arcania: 9.5

Affinities: Predator, Air, Water, Lightning

He whistled in amazement. “Damn, boy. Three levels in each of your paths? That’s a hell of a lot of growth in a short time.”

“Thanks,” I grinned. “That was what you had in mind with all the fighting and training though, right?”

He gave me a rueful smile. “Figured that out, did you?” He shrugged. “You’re right, boy. I’m trying to get you leveled and ranked up as soon as possible.”

“I’m not complaining,” I laughed. “I have to ask why, though.”

“Because like it or not, boy, you’re trouble,” he sighed. “I’m still not totally convinced that your story was the truth, but whether it is or not, someone with your talent should have been snapped up by a corporation a long, long time ago. If not the railroads, then the shipping concerns, or the mining companies, or one of those exploration companies that’s trying to build new settlements. Hell, the Sarjan Army would have paid your folks gold to get their hands on you.

“The fact that you’re walking around, seemingly free and clear, means that either you really aren’t clear – which don’t make no sense since there’s nothing to be gained by sending you out here without training and a pet – or you’re running from somebody that tried to rope you in and failed.”

“So, why not just kick me out?” I asked curiously. “Or execute me? Seems like that would be the smartest thing to do.”

“You ain’t given me no reason to execute you,” he said, spitting into the grass. “I run a strict town, boy, but it’s a law-abiding one. I don’t break the laws any more than I let other people do it.

“And as for running you out being smart, in the short term, sure. But in the long term?” He turned and pointed to the grasslands.

“See the prairie out there, boy? Looks peaceful, don’t it? Well, I can tell you, it ain’t. There are camps out there, hidden in the grass, filled with people who prey on others the way your bonesnapper preys on glitterfish in the river. If one of those groups found you and realized what you could do? Trained you up to be a killer and a murderer? Well, that wouldn’t be good for anyone, especially not for a town that once kicked you out without so much as a by-your-leave.”

“I don’t think I’d be coming back here to mess with Parri, Sheriff,” I laughed.

He shrugged. “Not yet, maybe, but give it a couple weeks, and both you and that bonesnapper will be ready to rank up – and I’ll bet you can handle at least two more bonds already. In a moon, you could have three Greater pets, plus some nasty scores to support them and a whole lot of training that makes you a lot more dangerous than you look. Give it a year, and you could come back here with enough powerful pets that even Parri wouldn’t be able to do much about it.

“Of course, you might not, but I’d rather us part on friendly terms,” he chuckled. “There’s no point to making an enemy when you don’t need to, especially one that might very well be able to help you out one day.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.” I looked down at my bonesnapper, who lay in the grass, basking in the sunlight, emanating a feeling of fullness and contentment after feeding on the ants. “So, what now?”

“Now? Well, we need to get you at least one more pet, or you’ll never rank up hunter. Then, you need to start making some runes; you need to know at least four to rank up shaper, and one of them’s gotta be a Lesser rune, at least. There, I can help you.”

He pulled out a pack of hard plaques from his shirt and rifled through them, removing a handful. “You saw the runes in the book, right?” I nodded. “Good. They’re all worthwhile, but with your pet and fighting style, I’d focus on Analyze, Snakespine, and Regenerate. Usually, that last one’s a bad idea – most naasi can only use one rune at a time, and wasting that on something that slowly heals your pet is foolish when you could just end the fight faster – but for you, it’s a good idea.”

He handed over the cards. “Here are a few others that might be useful. I’ll let you use the book to figure out what they do – that’ll help you understand them better – then you can choose a couple to try and make yourself.”

“Where do I get the supplies?” I asked curiously.

“Manasi carries blank cards and ink,” he shrugged. “Most any general store does. Of course, you can use just about anything you want – so long as it came from something living. No stone or metal. Writing paper’s fine, although it’ll burn up the first time you miscast it; so is leather, although it’s harder to ink, so you might waste more.” He shrugged. “Those are bone, which I prefer – they last a long time and are hard to damage – but bone’s probably too expensive for you right now. Wood can work if you’re a good hand at carving, but most people just use hard paper cards, at least at first.”

He turned and began walking back toward Parri, motioning for me to follow. I did, mentally summoning the bonesnapper to my side. He looked back at me, his face grave.

“And then, once you’re done with that? We’ll see you ranked up – and then I’ll ask you to be on your way. No hard feelings; I just like to keep my town an orderly place, and I don’t need no corporations or armies sticking their nose into it, you understand?”

I nodded. I really did understand. The sheriff was helping me because he hoped it would be the best thing for his town, but he wanted me gone before I could bring trouble down on it. Honestly, remembering the fate of Borava, I didn’t much blame him. At least he was being upfront with me from the start, letting me know that my welcome was going to be short one way or the other. That was a big step up from Vasily, Borava’s elder, who’d kicked me out in the middle of the night during an undead attack. He’d ended up regretting it, of course, but by then, it was too late to save his village.

I shivered as I climbed onto Parri’s back, carrying the bonesnapper under one arm. My memories of Borava would always be stained with the image of the village burning to the ground, littered with the corpses of its inhabitants and splattered with their blood. I glanced toward the west, where the dusty little town of Murkburg waited for our return, and wondered if I’d have to see it burn, as well.