After deciding that we would stay here for the next couple of days, Adra and I started to clean the cave up. Or rather, I did. At first, Adra wanted to simply use her hands to toss out the debris left behind by the bear, but I balked. Most of it was just too disgusting to touch. So, I cheated. There was more than enough snow outside and I used my magic to drag some of it inside, piling it up in the deepest part before pressing it against the ground and wall while slowly moving it back out. It worked very much like a fine-bristled broom, cleaning to debris out in one fell swoop. Lenore snickered in my head and left her Hallow, to do her part. Again, we moved into the deepest part and she perched on my shoulder, explaining what she was planning. While her main element was Death, she had a passing familiarity with Wind magic, something I had tapped in once before. Now, she wanted to do something similar, with her forming the magic and me powering it through her.

It seemed like an interesting idea, so I agreed and watched as she built her magic, a process that was both familiar and alien at the same time. The basics were the same compared to my own magic, but the way she constructed those basics and the end-result was different, especially the construction. But allowing my own power to flow into her was easy and after a bit of time, there was a nice airflow going on, pushing air out the bottom of the cave and drawing more in from the outside, quickly chasing the musky smell away.

When I was done, I went back out and saw Adra shake her head at my frivolous use of magic, but I just laughed about it. Magic was a tool - an impressive and incredibly useful tool, but a tool nonetheless.

The other two were still wrestling with the bear, having a load of fun trying to skin it, its fur had lost some of its durability with its death, making me think that it had had some sort of magical boost, but not all of it. As we passed them, I told Sigmir that Adra and I would be looking for a supply of firewood further down the mountain and that we would stay in the nearby cave while we hunted on the mountain. She just nodded and asked if we could get her a couple of sturdy branches so she could construct frames to stretch the pelts we already had.

Searching for dry wood in a snowed-in forest was a barrel of laughs, it was less looking for wood itself but more, search for a protected spot that kept the wood free from snow. Lenore helped once again by flying reconnaissance and with her better vantage she was the one that found a tree that had fallen against a cliff, protecting it from most of the snow, especially the lower branches. After the first load of wood we carried to the cave, Adra asked Sigmir for her small axe, it worked quite well outside of battle, to cut wood. Adra and I worked even longer than Sigmir and Rai, getting enough wood for the next few days into the cave, cutting up quite a bit of tree in the process. It must have fallen some time in the spring or summer, the wood was pretty well dried, making for good firewood.

When we got to the cave with the last load, I almost dropped it, laughing. Sigmir had placed the frame with the bear’s pelt in front of the cave, like a door. It sealed most of the entrance, protecting us from wind and I had no doubt that there was a bit of a message there, for everything smart enough to understand. The message being, “Those who sleep here, killed the previous owner. Are you sure you want to challenge us?”

Inside, it was time to cook, today it was cooking with Adra and we made bear-stew. Not the best meat - too gamey and stringy - but we had far too much of it to just let it go to waste. In addition, I had found a couple of edible roots in the forest, adding some fresh veggies to our diet.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

For the evening, Sigmir and I split a little from the other two, just relaxing together, not doing anything but just being together, basking in the presence of the other. I was tempted to try my mind-magic ideas but we were on a dangerous mountain and I had no idea how well they would work, no need to invite trouble. But looking at the stars together was very enjoyable, even without being naughty. Or maybe, because neither of us was feeling naughty.

It was interesting, the stars looked quite similar to those seen from Earth, if there was no light-pollution at least. I wondered if Pantheon had simply copied them, if they had taken the night sky we knew and slightly altered it, or if there was more to it. I did not know enough about astronomy to pass judgement but it was something that made me curious. The world of Mundus was so similar in some aspects, geography for example, but also so very foreign.

The next morning, while the others prepared breakfast, I experimented a little. If the three stooges logged in right after their twenty-four hours death-timer, based on the real world, was up, then they had been able to revive about two hours ago. So, I was curious if I was able to get at them using Blood Magic and if not, why.

“Pica, can you show me the Road to Purgatory stream from Ghostfire?” I asked my personal capsule attendant.

“Checking. Yes, the stream is completely public, so I can do that. However, to ensure fairness, the stream will be delayed by ten minutes and while you are watching, you cannot move or communicate.” the attendant answered and a parchment materialised in my hand. On it, I was looking at the web-interface for the streaming-service and I watched the three stooges wander around a town, apparently Yaksha.

Hoping that they did not log out in recently, I rolled up the parchment and got out the blood I had drawn from Stooge number three. Using the same methods I had used previously, I tried to channel magic, first to follow the link the blood provides back to the source. What I gained was not really an image, just a mental impression of his body and existence. But with the link, I formed runes of Blood, letting them seep into the Blood in his body. There was a moment of resistance, but I focused, gently pushing forward, deeper into his being, until the resistance parted and the runes were linked with his entire being. Then, I channelled power into the runes and the blood I was linked to was forced out of the confines it had previously been in.

The power I had used to link myself quickly evaporated while forming a humanoid shape, just a little seeping out from the head and the groin. I felt Lenore chortle in delight about the successful test, to her, it is the best kind of magic. Incredible range and with improved skill, it might be possible to use a single hair for such an effect. Maybe.

Skill increased You increased your skill: Astral Meditation [47/100]

Skill increased You increased your skill: Blood Rune-Mastery [53/100]

Skill increased You increased your skill: Blood Magic [46/100]

Sitting back, I felt baffled. Killing someone at such a huge distance would be incredibly bad for the game. I could easily imagine the amount of damage I could do at my relatively early power-level, without having even a single mastered skill, so I didn’t even want to try to imagine what could be possible with more skills and power.

Feeling it was my duty as a tester, I wrote a ticket using the ingame-interface and sent it to Pantheon, explaining what I had done and my opinions on the results such a mechanic would have for their game. Just getting caught, once, would be enough for a fate that rivaled perma-death in its severity. Blood Magic would be even more abhorred than it already was, especially amongst players.

Out of curiosity, I opened the streams of him and his two buddies, watching until the time-delay got to the moment in which I had used my magic. The three of them had walked down the street, without a care in the world, when suddenly his stream just turned black with the message, You died, respawn in twenty-four hours. But the streams of his buddies were more interesting, their friend just gasped once before falling to the ground, like a puppet with cut strings. On closer examination, blood was seeping from his ears, eyes, nose and mouth and there was no indication of breathing or any other sign of life. Just, sudden death.

I would have to wait and see what Pantheon would do about my ticket. And look into the forum in the evening, just to see what the stooges had said. But for now, we had wind raptors to hunt.