Pax grinned as he watched the new notifications flood in.
***
Improvement to your Path of Understanding Air: +15. Level 4 - 82/400
Skill Boost: +24 to Universal Mana Shaping Level 3 (Epic-evolved) - 234/300
Skill Boost: +14 to Mana Merge Level 3 (Epic) - 74/300
Skill Boost: +28 to Universal Beast Tamer Level 3 (Rare) - 296/300
Skill Boost: +26 to Light Mana Sight Level 3 (Epic) - 321/300
Congratulations! Light Mana Sight is now Level 4
You’ve earned 9 Leveling Points and 9 Evolution Points
Mage Leveling Points: 14/45
Class Evolution Points Unused: 28
Skill Boost: +8 to Elemental Meditation Level 2 (Common) - 203/200
Congratulations! Elemental Meditation is now Level 3
You’ve earned 4 Leveling Points and 4 Evolution Points
Mage Leveling Points: 18/45
Class Evolution Points Unused: 32
***
He really wanted to cheer at finally seeing improvements after stagnating so much, working only with baby beasts. Then he immediately felt like groaning when he saw how close he'd come to leveling his Tamer skill. Still, the tremendous boost of twenty-eight points to the skill was incredible.
Pax hadn't realized how much it had been bugging him to have such pitiful increases lately, despite spending most of his free time helping at the team's business.
Incedis had been right. He needed the challenge of Taming a much stronger beast to advance. And he still had Venris to help and the four other rebels. So, he wouldn't have a problem getting the next level in Taming today.
His grin was back as he scanned over the details of bringing his first Mage skill to level four as well as bumping up Meditation, too. The sudden clarity Mana Sight had given him when examining the powerful storm of mana inside the howlstorm wolf was incredible.
Even better, unlike Identify, his other level four skill, this one was a mage one, which gave him nine new leveling and evolution points. Imagining what his detractors would think of his speedy progress to his next mage level made his grin widen further.
“I recognize that smile.” Venris' words pulled Pax out of his menu inspection.
He opened his eyes to see the team leader giving him a knowing look.
“You leveled something, didn't you?”
Pax hesitated, trying to decide what was safe to say, especially with the eavesdroppers he didn't quite trust.
“No, no.” Venris waved a hand to stop Pax from speaking. “I'm not asking you to tell me what leveled. I'm just hoping it's something that helps with Taming my serpent back there. It is, isn't it?”
Pax nodded, relieved to keep the details to himself. “I just need to Meditate a bit, and then you and I can get to work with the snake.”
“Serpent. Aquamorph Serpent. It isn’t just a common garden snake, you know.”
Pax raised his eyes at Venris’ sudden defensiveness.
Venris flushed and shrugged. “Seeing your success with the wolf made me feel like the serpent was already mine.”
“I totally understand.” Pax gave him a sympathetic nod. He'd seen plenty of bonding happening early as a candidate’s emotions got invested before Taming even happened.
Some imagined and planned out their future with the pet by their side long before success was even close. It made it much more difficult when a beast died during Taming.
Thankfully, Pax hadn't had that happen in a long time. He was intimately familiar with the signs of a Taming going wrong and had a lot of practice disengaging the mana safely.
“Thanks.” Venris cleared his throat awkwardly. “I'll help Grinheld with her wolf until you're ready.”
As Pax settled back in his chair and controlled his breathing, he couldn't help a small smile as he heard Grinheld’s excited voice. “His name is Galeheart!”
Pax also heard the other rebels approaching Venris and whispering excited questions about their chance to Tame a beast, too. Ignoring all of them, he dove into his Meditation, gathering up the threads of all his elements and cycling them until he felt himself calm and regain the composure he needed to start with the next beast. He’d need more of his water mana this time.
The rest of the day required extreme mental effort that would have normally worn Pax down. Instead, he reveled in the chance to push himself and reach additional levels. His fourth level in Taming came during the third attempt to help Venris tame his serpent. Everything worked even easier after that.
The new level didn’t give him another companion slot. Disappointed, Pax hoped it would happen at level 5. Still, his new Taming level merged seamlessly with his advancement in Mana Sight, making the entire process so much smoother. He could see exactly what he was doing, and it had advanced his sense of how best to work with the beasts. It took him less mana and less effort to connect the serpent’s water mana with Venris’.
It helped that both Venris and his new pet were water based. Pax thought his new level might even make Tamings involving mismatched mana types work better. But he knew not to get ahead of himself, especially working with such powerful beasts. He planned on restricting the other rebels to matching beast types for now. If he had been planning to expand anyone’s choices, it would have been Venris’.
They all took a break for lunch, the mood much better after the successful Tamings. Working through the afternoon, Pax continued to pretend he needed more Meditation time to refill his mana than he actually did. He was also grateful that one beast was earth-based, so Talpa helped him out. It definitely made the entire process run a lot smoother.
Knowing the other rebels were heading to bases soon, he didn't want news to spread of how fast he could Tame even if they didn’t know exactly who he was. So, Pax strung out the Tamings, claiming a few failures that didn’t happen, doing his best to use most of the day and still have enough time to make it home before dark.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
When Pax finally finished, leaving everyone pretty pleased, even Camden, he took one last look at his notifications. He wanted to bask in how much he'd accomplished in one day of intense challenges.
***
Improvement to your Path of Understanding Flame: +38. Level 4 - 96/400
Improvement to your Path of Understanding Water: +18. Level 4 - 56/400
Improvement to your Path of Understanding Earth: +29. Level 4 - 103/400
Skill Boost: +38 to Universal Mana Shaping Level 3 (Epic-evolved) - 272/300
Skill Boost: +31 to Light Mana Sight Level 4 (Epic) - 52/400
Skill Boost: +15 to Elemental Meditation Level 3 (Common) - 18/300
Skill Boost: +18 to Mana Merge Level 3 (Epic) - 92/300
Skill Boost: +44 to Universal Beast Tamer Level 3 (Rare) - 340/300
Congratulations! Universal Beast Tamer is now Level 4
You’ve earned 9 Leveling Points and 9 Evolution Points
Mage Leveling Points: 27/45
Class Evolution Points Unused: 41
***
While waiting for the others to get ready to leave, he couldn’t resist taking a quick peek at the evolution options he’d waited so long to choose from. Way too many choices filled his view, making him realize he should have just pulled up the four that already had their first evolution.
***
Evolution Choices:
Cost - 1 Evolution Point:
Flashbang Level 1
Combat Clarity
Disruptive Echo
Ghostlight Illumination Level 1
Analysis Mark
Weakening Mark
Windscale Shroud Level 1
Windscale Boost
Windscale Projection
Aeroshift Level 1
Aeroshift Reservoir
Aeroshift Impact
Scorching Touch Level 1
Scorching Endurance
Scorching Aura
Overcharge level 1
Overcharge Empowerment
Stationary Overcharge
Ice Mirror Level 1
Adaptive Mirror
Mirror Projection
Animate Flora Level 1
Attuned Flora
Grasping Flora
Primordial Golem Level 1
Primordial Golem Resonance
Primordial Golem Eruption
Cost - 2 Evolution Points:
Runes Level 2
Instinctive Runes
Projected Runes
Illuminate Level 2
Illuminate All
Revealing Illumination
Haste Level 2
Haste: Enhanced Senses
Haste: Full Vision
Hallucinate Level 2
Emotional Hallucination
Autonomous Hallucination
Water Blade Level 2
Water Blade Shatter
Water Blade Echo
Earth Skin Level 2
Earth Skin Feedback
Crystalized Earth Skin
Cost - 3 Evolution Points:
Elemental Meditation Level 3
Meditation Core
Meditation Patterns
Mana Merge Level 3
mana Strengthening
mana Reinforcement
Cost - 4 Evolution Points:
Light mana Sight Level 4
mana Differentiation
mana Detection
Universal Beast Tamer Level 4
Beast Enhancement
Beast Mob
Cost - 25 Evolution Points:
Universal Mana Shaping Level 2
Universal Mana Patterns
Universal Mana Projection
Light Healing Others Level 2
Purifying Healing
Autonomous Healing
Extrasensory Sphere Level 2
Sphere of Insight
Revealing Sphere
Chain Bulwark Level 2
Static Chain Bulwark
Adjustable Chain Bulwark
Note: Multiple compatible spells and skills have been detected. Please consult your mentors to advise and supervise any attempts at combining spells and skills.
***
Overwhelmed by the influx of amazing choices, Pax scanned down the list, his inner greed wanting to take all the evolutions. If he’d leveled all the options offered him, he imagined he’d be powerful enough to face the empire by himself.
His pragmatic side instantly quashed his visions of facing the empire's armies on his own and wiping them out. There was plenty of strength in numbers, as the empire had proved time and time again.
Calming down, Pax noticed the increased prices to evolve things like his Tamer skill. Now, he regretted not leveling it up when it was level 1. From what he’d researched, the first level would cost him only 4 points now, but the next one would be quadrupled to 100, with the final evolution costing 400 points. There was a reason their instructors hammered into them that early decisions made about their builds had lasting impacts.
Pax couldn’t help going over the choices for the evolved items at the end of his list. An almost physical pain twisted in his chest, knowing he could only afford to evolve one of them. And considering the 100 points needed for the last level, he might have to stick to one.
Then there was the note at the bottom of the list. What compatible spells and skills? Why couldn’t Vitur just tell him which ones would fit well together? His guess was the obvious list of mana skills he had, but what if adding another to the mix, like Runes, would boost the capabilities of the new skill?
He still hadn’t reached his ten-skill limit, so there wasn’t any pressure to decide soon to free up a spot. But what if the combined skill boosted his power significantly? He had the most evolution points he’d ever had, so now was the time to evaluate expensive choices.
It was very obvious he needed some dedicated quiet time to go over the list much more carefully. Some math help from Rin would be helpful, too. Any of his level 1 stuff he evolved would no longer earn him evolution points. He needed to only pick the ones he planned to use heavily in the future. He’d have to leave the bulk of his stuff unevolved so they could earn enough points to boost his main ones.
“Time to head out,” Venris said, breaking Pax out of his thoughts.
He shook his head and pushed aside all the calculations tying up his thoughts before following Venris and Grinheld with Talpa by his side.
“Thanks for everything,” one of the rebels called out, breaking free from his fascination with his new air-based companion to wave at Pax.
Pax waved back, glad to see even Camden aiming a grudging smile his way. Today had been a very successful day.
By the time they emerged from the nondescript base into the late afternoon day, Pax was both grinning and completely exhausted. Knowing they still had a trek back to the road made him very grateful for his levels in Strength and Endurance. Talpa immediately dove into the ground and checked their surroundings. When he reported all was quiet, they moved out.
Thankfully, Venris and Grinheld picked up on his need for quiet to recover as they escorted him back. They kept quiet and switched to their more professional demeanors now that they were back in the Wilds, eyes sharp for dangers.
That reminded Pax to bring out his new shield, just in case he got a chance to use it. He also activated his Meditation to recover, enjoying how much easier it was to manage while walking now that it had leveled again.
It took a few moments for Pax to stop flinching when Galeheart moved around their small group. Pax was definitely not used to adult-sized beasts who were friendly. The difference between a Tamed adult beast and a baby beast was very clear as Pax watched how Galeheart acted.
His ears were up and nose sniffing as he constantly scanned their surroundings. Grinheld's expression was full of pride as she watched how well he responded to her instructions to help guard them. It made Pax even more excited for the future when his crew could all get stronger companions, too.
As they approached the meeting spot they'd arranged previously, Grinheld reached out and gave Pax's shoulder a squeeze. She didn't say anything, just gave him a grateful nod before turning back to her duties. Pax nodded, understanding exactly what she meant, glad he’d managed a successful outcome for both of them.
He knew she wouldn’t enjoy keeping Galeheart hidden in the city, but they’d agreed it was vital. So, Grinheld had made plans to bring Galeheart into the city inside a cage, using her contacts to pretend he was a wild beast captured for an unnamed aristocrat.
Thankfully, Venris’ entire team would leave Salman soon, so it shouldn't be a problem for a long period. And if Incedis could set up another trip outside, Pax might be able to help the rest of the Burning Claw Team gain companions before they left, too.
Pax, are you on the way yet? Turgan says we’ve got half an hour and then we’re going back to town. Pax?
The monotonous tone of Rin’s questions indicated she’d probably been repeating it for a while. He perked up, excited to reunite with his friends and tell them everything that had happened.
Yes! We’re almost back, he sent. Be there soon. And I’ve got lots to tell all of you. Just as Pax grinned at dropping that kind of teaser on the others, she responded.
Good, because we do too.