For a moment, there was no sound. Before Luke lost all his tension, a single Serpentizer popped out, ready to take a bite out of him.
Unfortunately for the Serpentizer, Luke and Sooty were more than ready. Luke took the nearly forgotten dirt in his pockets, throwing it directly into the eyes of the Serpentizer, then side-stepping its closing mouth. The thing started to squirm in discomfort on the ground, and Sooty took care of the rest.
She was becoming an expert at targeting eyeballs. Both retreating in case of another surprise, Luke and Sooty waited. Luke used his ability off cooldown again. The dust cloud dissipated and revealed a gruesome sight: the other Serpentizers were all crushed to death.
Luke might have felt more somber about it if it wasn’t for the muffled sounds of a compass managing to pierce through all the rubble. Sooty found Wayfinder in a flash. She had been paying him extra attention since Luke carried it around. Picking up Wayfinder and dusting him off, Luke once more placed the chain of Wayfinder around his neck.
"For the love of magnetic fields. Look at this dent, would you? One perfect dent, right in me casing." Wayfinder nearly began to cry, "Lady compasses are going to spin the other way when they see me now! You've tossed and tarnished me. Me love life is over. May as well leave me for the cave troll."
Luke hurriedly dusted Wayfinder off and noticed a new dent that wasn’t there before. Then again, he had thrown the compass as hard as he could've, adding on the extra impact from his Infusion, and it was no wonder there was a dent. Seeing this, he decided to attempt an apology, at least, even if he didn’t regret his actions. A man must survive first to be sorry later.
“It can’t be that bad, right? Your lady compasses will be all over you when they see you!” Luke tried to placate Wayfinder.
He saw the compass set on ignoring him. Luke accepted the sting of guilt and began to see if anything had dropped from the serpentizers. Before that, a few screens came up, showing him his gains. Sooty let out a series of loud squawks, and Luke ignored the Interface momentarily, instead running over to her, trying to see what was wrong. The problem was Luke couldn’t see any issue; she was perfectly fine. His facial muscles contracted, giving way to a worried expression.
Luke said, “Sooty, what’s going on, pal?”
Suddenly, Sooty calmed down, and formed a connection between the two of them. Something had linked them more than before. Luke inspected Sooty.
[Sooty]
Level: 4
HP: 35
Stats: 12 Agility, 12 intellect, 4 Strength
Abilities 3/5: Reaver Beak II, Iron Feather II, Talon Strike II
Passives 1/3: Reaver’s Link
Class: Reaver’s Companion
Resource: 100 Essence 10/s Regen
Equipment 0/3:
A smart and protective crow. No matter how innocent she looks, she’ll take your food when you’re not looking. Especially fruit.
“Sooty, you got a class? That’s great!” Luke was ecstatic. He worried about her in this cave. As a regular crow, fighting down here could easily kill her. Seeing her stats and new class, Luke could shift focus on to his own survival now. Sooty, already having three abilities, made Luke’s eyes pop out. At least he knew where all his luck had gone; his crow had taken it.
“You’ll be at the front from now on, Sooty. Not sure how I feel about hiding behind a bird, though.” Luke let out a chuckle at the idea.
Sooty, displaying an unnatural level of intelligence, puffed up in pride, letting out several noises. As if saying: you can count on me!
"Lady luck must be with you lad. Not many companion classes exist these days. Best you learn how to work with the birdie sooner than later." Wayfinder didn't stay upset for long.
"You make it sound like they were common at some point," Luke said.
"They were, most of their lineages died out from over-confidence and jealousy."
Before Luke could continue, an Interface screen flashed in the edge of his lower right vision.
[Quest Complete: Escape Cave Troll. Rewarded: 10 Experience, 1 Skill point]
[10 Serpentizers slain. Rewarded: 200 Experience, 1 Mysterious rune, 10 Serpentizer meat, 5 Serpentizer Nest Branch, 3 Snake Oil]
[You have Leveled up, Rewarded 2 Skill Points, Class Penalty: No Stat gain]
[Your companion, Sooty, has now adapted to become a Reaver’s Companion, distributing reserve experience. Penalty: To support adaptation, 90% of your experience has been redirected to Reaver’s Companion]
Luke examined the messages put before him. He didn’t mind giving over some of his experience once. If it made Sooty this much stronger, he’d even call it the deal of a lifetime. He completed a quest and still leveled up. Luke checked over his Class Interface, noticing he gained 1 HP, 3 Skill points, and an ability called Essence Bond. If anything, he was happiest about gaining an HP; Infusion must’ve proced during the fight. Being alive at 0 HP was unsettling to him. No more worrying about a stray rat sneaking up on him and killing Luke in one strike. Being able to steal HP and add it to his own permanently was precious knowledge to know about. Next, Luke examined Essence Bond.
[Essence Bond]
Increase stats of target ally by 10% of your stats, or by 1, whichever is greater, for 16 seconds. Effects increased by 20% if target ally has Infusion applied. Reduces stats of target enemy by 10% and makes target 50% more vulnerable to stat steal for 16 seconds. Cost: 20 Essence
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
“A buff and debuff ability? It can increase the chance of stealing stats?” Luke muttered to himself. The last reward was the skill points. Ever since the quest mentioned skill points as a reward, he wondered what it could do. Noticing a small plus sign next to both of his abilities, he intuitively sensed this was how to spend his three skill points. He first hit the plus sign on Essence Bond to see what would happen. A small glimmer of light came over the icon for the ability; then, he saw its description change.
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[Essence Bond II]
Increase stats of target ally by 12% of your stats, or by 1, whichever is greater, for 18 seconds. Effects increased by 20% if target ally has Infusion applied. Reduces stats of target enemy by 12% and makes target 60% more vulnerable to stat steal for 18 seconds. Cost: 20 Essence
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Thinking the increase was decent, the most notable change to him was the duration went up. Maybe its cooldown couldn’t go down, but what would happen if the duration kept increasing? Unfortunately, since Luke’s stats were so low, the only helpful change for him was the increased duration and a slightly higher stat steal than the first rank. Luke decided to try giving the last two skill points to Infusion next. Sooty and this ability were the main reasons Luke made it this far. That experience made Luke invest in this ability without hesitation. And though he’d never admit it, Luke wanted all his stats to be at least one as fast as possible; being stuck at zero on most stats still wasn’t enjoyable to him. His new and improved Infusion became far more potent.
[Infusion III]
Infuse Reaver essence onto yourself, an ally, or an owned weapon. Increases damage and speed by 30% for the next strike. Has a 5% chance of permanently stealing one stat point from an enemy once struck. Non-stackable. Cost: 15 Essence
Cooldown: 10 Seconds
The upgrade satisfied Luke. Even if he didn’t account for the increased stat steal from Essence Bond, the baseline increase from 3% to 5% for Infusion would mean he’d see his stats increase to comfortable levels eventually. The essence cost of the ability went down as well. Deciding he’d taken enough time to understand the essential changes, Luke and Sooty kept going down the cave path. Strolling this time to ensure they didn’t randomly aggravate a new monster pack or nest. While Sooty, Wayfinder, and Luke managed to fight off those Serpentizers, it was far from easy.
He preferred to take it slow and prioritize safety. The trio returned to the original spot where they met the Serpentizers. Luke made sure to test Essence Bond. Although he didn’t think he could, Luke tried using Essence Bond on himself first. That failed, although it didn’t cause a cooldown.
Next, he put it on Sooty, which worked as intended. Then, finally, he put it on Wayfinder, which surprisingly did work; however, putting it on a rock didn’t work. Luke replenished his rock supply to be safe, and they were in front of the Serpentizer Nest. Sooty landed on the nest and pecked at it. Her talons had a sharp sparkle, and she quickly tore the thing apart.
Luke came over to the nest with Sooty, letting her do as she pleased, figuring she was testing her new abilities or letting out some steam. Sooty paused momentarily and used her beak to pull a feather out of the rubble. The feather was a striking silver and quickly attached itself to Sooty. The crow let out a gleeful rattle as if she found treasure.
“To think a wee nest like this'd drop a rare companion item like that. Your feathery friend there, she's been kissed by the gods of fortune, she has." Wayfinder began.
"Companion item?" Luke looked puzzled.
"Did you not notice your bird's earned slots for gear when she got her class? It's not some shiny trinket. Items like these, they either give you a good deal of strength or special tricks. She's one lucky lassie." Wayfinder's tone turned urgent, "Now, make sure you've nabbed all you can from the nest before its mum and da come back. A wonder they've not returned by now, but if they're gone for good, that means you'll be meeting whatever did them in, and you don't want that."
Seeing his point, Luke quickly searched the nest, and a few flashes of silver light melded into him, filling his inventory. Looking over what he gained, Luke saw some newly added snake oil, crushed branches, and a torn page. Nearly taking a double look, he saw a set of rusty throwing knives. “How did I miss that?” he said out loud to no one. Quickly, he threw away his rocks to make space in the limited inventory and made these his new weapon. A new notice popped up amid a small celebration for having an actual weapon.
[Quest acquired find remaining torn pages 1/5]
Reward: 500 experience, Completed Clue.
“Not sure how to feel about earning a ‘completed clue’, I’ll take the experience any day.”
The word triggered the callous view a stressed Sergeant told him that he never truly forgot.
Killing gets easier with experience, Private Luke.
Forcing back the memory, Luke shut his eyes and then reopened them. Seeing that he was only level two, Luke welcomed the timely reward. Then, he looked around him. The cave was bleak, a dim blue glow above him. There was a dampness to the air, and a oppressing feeling enveloped him. The tips of his fingers were cold, like icicles. Being stuck in a god-forsaken cave got to him for a moment, and Luke couldn’t help but think of that silly, strong, and resourceful old man of his.
"I miss my old man. He'd help me out of this place," Luke said.
Sooty flapped up to his shoulder and rubbed her head against him. She had supported him during that lonely year and consoled him like this since they partnered. It was as if she could sense his emotions.
Wayfinder tried to snap him out of it. "Lad. This isn't the time for sentimentality. Save it for when you're out of this hole and in the sun. Being in this forsaken cave brings pressure, but don't forget we're not alone down here."
As Wayfinder's words left his mouth, the trio heard a rumbling sound echoing through the cave. It differed from the Serpentizers; this was deeper, resonant, and came from further within the cave. The ground beneath them started to shake slightly, as if something massive was on the move. Luke's body anchored to the cave floor, and his body turned to the sound.
"Ah, so you've noticed it too. Seems like you didn't attract the wee beasties. You've got the attention of something much, much bigger. And it's coming this way. Fast." Wayfinder's voice had lost its earlier levity.
Luke looked around. There were no hiding spots, no more traps he could lay. All his abilities were off cooldown, but he was far from perfect in using them. He didn’t even know most of Sooty’s abilities. Suddenly, Sooty squawked loudly, her eyes glowing a sudden bright blue, brighter than Luke had ever seen. An instant later, Luke saw a feather of energy rush to him, floating around him protectively.
"What is this, Sooty?" Luke felt like he was speaking to Sooty directly through their newfound bond.
The little crow made several pleased clicks, and for a moment, Luke was confident they could face whatever was coming. That is, until the entire cave lit up, glowing markings appearing on the walls, revealing the shape of an enormous, spectral creature walking from a pillar further down the cave. It had plate armor that seemed to drink the light, eyes that glowed an ominous blue, and a giant sword used to dismember men. White hair flowed like water over its shoulders.
[Spectral Lord]
Level:???
HP:???
A quest screen popped up in front of him.
[Quest: Defeat the Spectral Lord] (Class Trial Quest)
Rewards: 9500 experience, 5 Skill Points, Spectral Heart.
Luke felt a lump in his throat. This was no Serpentizer.
Having witnessed an impossible force before, Luke muttered, “What quest? More like execution.” He stared back at death as the wheels of his mind turned, “What’s the word again? Tactical retreat? Let’s do that.”
As Luke was about to turn and sprint back the way they came, the Spectral Lord spoke, reverberating throughout the cave.
"Another new Reaver has come to bother me and disturb my rest."
The cave fell silent except for the ominous ticking of the quest timer.
10... 9... 8...