“Yep,” the [Farmer] said. “I think you’re gonna be real impressed here.” He spat to the side from the cud of greenleaf he was chewing.
Alan, [Beastmaster], tried not to grimace as he followed the old [Catkin] over the small rolling hills behind his home. “So you’ve said. And I have high hopes. But you still haven’t told me what it is he can do,” he replied. “And while I do need an animal, there are… certain requirements.”
“Son,” the [Farmer] graveled without facing him. “I ain’t no adventuring type. Just a [Farmer]. I know farm things. But I’ve heard a few things in town and I’ve been breeding dogs damn near forty years now,” the old man glanced back at him. “If these dogs ain’t suited for you, I’ll be damned.”
“Dogs? I’m only interested in one.”
“And one perhaps is the only interesting one. But he’s got a partner and you’ll never get him away from here without her. Damndest thing too. Dog just showed up one day, a little worse for wear. Wasn’t mine and, far as I can tell, didn’t come from any of the other farms nearby.”
“Where’d she come from then?”
“Well, if it’s true you [Beastmasters] can speak with animals, maybe you can ask them yourself. Ah,” he exclaimed as the two of them crested a hill to come within sight of a flock of [Sheep]. “Here they are. Bo! Com’ere boy!” he cried out.
Alan saw a dog’s head pop up from within the middle of the flock, swivel around, then duck back under. A moment later, and the dog came bounding out of the wool and towards the two bystanders. First impressions were good. Perhaps 50 kilograms in weight, 75 centimeters tall. Well-developed muscles. Graceful, if a bit goofy, though that was probably just caused by being given too free of reign on a farm. He wouldn’t be surprised if the dog was already at Level 9 with a hundred attributes. Not exactly an immediate fit for him, but he’d shape up well with training.
“Bo,” the [Farmer] said, and the dog looked at him. “This here is Alan. He’s an adventurer and he’s interested in a good dog like you. Mind showing him one of your tricks?”
Woof!
“Yes, Bella can go too.”
Woof! Bo woofed, then turned towards the flock. Woof woof, woofwoofwoof! Woof!
“What is he—” Baaaaa!, Alan started before being interrupted by the [Sheep]. The flock began to move in every which direction, spreading out in (again) every which direction. Over five minutes, the sheep had stretched out into long curling lines, and now were wrapping themselves. Something was itching at the back of Alan’s mind, but he couldn’t quite figure it out until the [Sheep] stopped moving entirely. He stared at them until it finally slipped into his head. As he slowly began contemplating what it was that he was seeing, he jaw loosened and was soon catching flies.
They had formed letters. And with those letters two words.
hello alan
----------------------------------------
An hour later, Alan was walking back down the dirt trail away from the farm with two [Dogs] in tow. Bo was energetic, if quiet. He was bounding all along the path, running circles around Alan, diving off into the bushes, running up ahead and then back again.
Bella on the other hand was sedate, queenly even. She followed Alan at a perfect distance, with her eyes ahead, undistracted by Bo or the new [Human], her head held high and imperiously. Bo once tried to goad her, and she chuffed and he quickly retreated.
Soon, they were back on the main road, and Alan led them, not into town, but away from it a few kilometers to his team’s campsite. No matter how excited Alan was to bond with Bo, he wouldn’t do so until the rest of his team had met the two [Dogs]. It, of course, was one thing if Alan already had the dogs when teammembers joined or left, but when bringing [Dogs] into a relationship, it was important to make sure they meshed with the existing members. Especially when one of them was ...
“Hey Alan!” a tenorous voice called out to him excitedly, interrupting his thoughts. He glanced up to see Lara, their [Ranger], perched up in an olive tree like a bird. “Welcome back! I see you got some [Dogs].”
“Yes, but haven’t bonded them yet. Need to introduce them to the team first. Come back to camp will you?”
“Sure thing. Be there in ten,” she called out as they left.
A few minutes later and the [Human] and two [Dogs] entered the team’s campsite. “Hey, Gro, you here?” Alan called out.
“Oh, that was quick,” a deep bassy voice rumbled. A huge [Gnoll] in full plate armor came around the cart. He grinned, showing his teeth and started growling, but cut off when Bo immediately rolled onto his back, stuck his tongue out, and stared up at the tall man. “Huh,” Gro grunted in surprise, then glanced at the female, who covered her face with her paw at Bo’s antics and then, sensing the [Gnoll]’s attention, gave a short bow. “Alright, I’m good,” he concluded.
“Well that was easier than I expected.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gro squinted at the [Human], as Lara came out of the trees.
“These are two of the weirdest dogs I’ve ever met. Frankly, I had no idea how the pecking order would go.”
“Aww, these two are so cute,” Lara squeaked as she kneeled in front of Bo, then, when Bo looked offended, amended quickly, “I mean handsome.” To which Bo started panting happily.
“Oh, please don’t fuss with them like they’re pets,” Alan bemoaned. “You make my Class harder.”
“Oh, they just need to be treated right,” Lara retorted, then turning back to Bo, “Do you know any tricks?”
Woof, Bo replied.
“Sit!”
Bo sat.
“Paw!”
Bo offered her his right paw.
“Other paw!”
Bo switched paws.
“Speak!”
“Woof.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Did he just say ‘woof’?”
“No, of course not. That’d be ridiculous.”
“…”
“Uhh, who said that?”
Bo started chuffing heavily, then laid down and started rolling around on the ground. When he finally stopped a minute later, he rolled over, and sat back up. “Thanks a lot guys,” Bo ◐ said. “I’ve really been meaning to get that off my chest. The looks on your faces were priceless.”
“Wha-you-you,” the three humanoids all started speaking at the same time, but startled to a halt. They exchanged glances, then all looking at the [Elf], “Your dog can talk!” she cried out, pointing at Alan.
“What she said,” the [Gnoll] continued, “but with more emphasis.”
“What the fuck!” the [Human] [Beastmaster] concluded.
“Huh, but I thought you’d be excited about this?” Lara asked.
“I mean, yes. Yes,” Alan collected himself. “Yes, I am. But it’s like… having a lifelong ambition suddenly fall into your lap, without having done anything to deserve it, you know? I didn’t expect this until I got into the 40s at least, if not a tier up.”
“Well, it’s just your lucky day isn’t it, Alan,” Bo interjected himself back into the conversation. “So, shall we make a bond? Or I can go back to my [Sheep], being [Guardian of the Fluffies].”
“Huh? Oh, yes, yes,” Alan replied, “[Beastmaster’s Bond],” he invoked, then, manipulated an unseen screen for several seconds before Bo got a notification.
> Ding!
>
> Alan [Human] (L36) [Beastmaster] (L36) would like to form a bond with you. Here are the terms and conditions:
>
> …
>
> …
>
> …
>
> Do you accept? [Yes] / [No]
Bo spent a few minutes reading over the notification, the details of which don’t bear repeating. As he did so, Gro returned by the campfire for his afternoon tea, while Lara went to scratch Bella. Finally, Bo selected his choice.
“No?!” Alan cried out at the notification, “Why’d you decline?!?”
“Those terms are terrible. There is no way I’m letting you make any decisions about my Status.”
“What?” Alan was completely discombobulated, “But that’s one of the main things [Beastmasters] do! We guide our bonds during their Classing and then in Skill selection and Attribute distribution.”
“Yeah, no, I already have a Class. And you are way too dumb and inexperienced to really help me there.”
“Hey! What would you know! You’re a two year old sheepdog that hasn’t left the farm.”
“You’d be surprised. And, no, I have a higher INT than you.”
“Oh bullshit. Show me your Status.”
“Mmmm, as much fun as that would be, you can’t handle the truth.”
“Fine! What is your INT score then?”
“42” – “Lie”
“Ha! 55!,” Alan exclaimed, then turned to Gro, “Wait what did you say?”
“He lied about his INT.”
“Ooh, a truth sensing Skill,” Bo ◐ cooed. “55.”
“Lie,” Gro sipped his tea.
“69.”
“Lie.”
“Over two hundred.”
Gro sputtered his tea everywhere. “Truth!”
Lara started cackling in the background as the two men just stared at Bo. The laughter was not helping with Bo’s meager attempt at being serious, and he gave her the stink eye.
Lara sat up with a gasp. “Who said that,” she asked out loud.
Bo responded,
“Ahh! You have a telepathic dog!” Lara replied for the benefit of the group
“Wa? How’d you get that Skill? Who taught you that?”
“The extinct [Elves] from The Ayres? But that was centuries ago!”
“Believe what you will,” he responded mysteriously returning to [Belly Speech]. “Now, where were we?”
“You rejecting the standard [Beastmaster’s Bond].”
“Oh right,” Bo hummed pensively. “Levels 72, 92, and 98. So you’re—”
“Oh, don’t tell me you have [Identify] too.”
“Ok, I won’t tell you. Now, you’re primarily needing an XP Tithe, though a good Skill or an MP Tithe would be good too. So that’s to you, and I want…” Bo trailed off as he fussed with an invisible screen until Alan received a notification.
> Ding!
>
> Bo (L44), [Shepherd Dog] (C) (L22), [Guardian of the Fluffies] (Ra) (L22), has proposed alternate terms for a bond with you. Here are the terms and conditions:
>
> * Bo will tithe ⅛th of his XP to Alan
> * Bo agrees to [Skillshare] one (rare) or lesser Skill to Alan
> * Alan may draw upon 50,000 of Bo’s MP
> * Alan will bond with Bella
> * Alan will cause Bo and Bella to receive at least two cooked meals per day
> * Alan and Bo will be able to sense each other’s location
> * This bond will terminate upon mutual agreement or the death of either party
>
> Do you accept? [Yes] / [No]
“Fifty thousand MP!” Alan exclaimed.
“What, is it too little?”
“No! It’s just,” he trailed off. “Do you even have that much?” he asked quietly and seriously. “I can’t be taking all of your MP. And what the heck am I supposed to do with that much anyways?!”
“I’m always partial to some [Siege Fireballs].”
“I’m not a [Mage]. How the hell am I supposed to learn [Siege Fireball]?”
Bo’s ears quirked. “I could share it with you.”
“Ugh,” Alan’s mind finally gave out from the weirdness of the day. “Whatever, I’ll accept.”
> Ding!
>
> You have formed a [Beastmaster’s Bond] with Bo.
>
> You have received a tithe from Bo of 19 XP (157 * 1/8).
>
> Bo has shared with you the Skill [Siege Fireball 6].
“Huh? Why did you receive a base of 157 XP from forming a bond?”
“Don’t ask. So, ready to try a [Siege Fireball]?”
“[Siege Fireball]?”
----------------------------------------
Twenty minutes later, the group had put out the last of the fires started by Alan’s first ever magic spell.
> Ding!
>
> Bo has stopped sharing with you [Siege Fireball 6].
>
> Bo has shared with you the Skill [Learning 56].
“Oh, come on,” Alan bemoaned. “You gave me [Learning]?? And how is it level 56?!” he cried out at the end.
“Yes, yes I did. And because you’re clearly an idiot who needs to learn how to properly throw around reckless magic.”
“Give me back [Siege Fireball].”
“I don’t recall agreeing that you could select which Skill I shared.”
“I—” Alan swallowed. “I just got lawyered by a [Dog].”
“Not just any [Dog]: The Magnificent Bo!”
“Ugh, fine, lesson learned. No magic for a while. Can you please share with me something less embarrassing?”
> Ding!
>
> Bo has stopped sharing with you [Learning 56].
>
> Bo has shared with you the Skill [Attract Birds 18].
“Why do you even have the Skill [Attract Birds]?”
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“Don’t ask.”
Alan rubbed his temples, trying to get the headache out from them. “So,” he started, “is she going to be as difficult as you?”
“No one can be as difficult as Bo,” a sonorous female voice rang out.
“Fuck!” Alan cursed.
----------------------------------------
Alan kneeled in front of Bella ◮, eyeing her as she imperiously stared him back down, daring him to refuse. He turned back to the screen in front of him.
> Bella (L42), [Shepherd Dog] (C) (L21), [Brawler] (Ra) (L21) has proposed alternate terms for a bond with you. Here are the terms and conditions:
>
> * Bella will tithe ⅒th of her XP to Alan
> * Bella agrees to [Skillshare] one (remarkable) or lesser melee Skill to Alan of Alan’s choice with Bella’s advice
> * Bella agrees to tithe 1/20th of her total Attributes to Alan.
> * Alan will address Bella as “Princess Bella” or “Your Highness”
> * Alan will cause Bella’s cooked meals to be better than Bo’s, however slightly
> * Alan and Bella will be able to sense each other’s location
> * This bond will terminate upon mutual agreement or the death of either party
>
> Do you accept? [Yes] / [No]
With a sigh, Alan accepted the terms of the bond. “Thank you, Princess Bella,” he got out.
“You’re quite welcome, Alan. Now, shall we discuss what melee Skill you’d like to borrow.”
“What do you have? [Bite]?”
“Mmm… actually, I don’t.”
“Eh, we’ll sort it out later. I guess you can just pick something for me.”
“Okay.”
> Ding!
>
> Princess Bella has shared with you the Skill [Bleeding Cuts 14].
“Oh,” Alan grinned. “Not bad.”
----------------------------------------
The next day, the team—Quick Response—set out along the road away from town. They traveled two days along the road before leaving it and heading deep into the valleys between some shorter mountains. Princess Bella came up alongside Lara.
“Gah! That’s too freaky when you do that.”
“Apologies then,” Bella ◮ switched to [Belly Speech]. “My query?”
“Well, Princess, there have been reports of a monster attacking folks round these parts but hiding out in the mountains. And, you see, the merch—”
“I sense something,” Bella interrupted.
“Oh, that nose of yours?”
“What? No, it’s a Skill. It’s about a klick north.”
“Might be our perpetrator,” Lara replied.
Quick Response scrambled their way north though the foothills and ravines at the base of the mountains. They just reached a long, straight stretch, when a lumbering, hideous form six meters tall came around a corner into their line of sight.
“It’s an [Eldritch]!” Lara cried. “Run!”
The [Gnoll], [Elf], and [Human] all scrabbled back as quick as they could, while Bella and Bo just stood there watching them run, heads tilted quizzically. “Bella, Bo,” Alan cried out, “Run!”
“But it’s just one [Eldritch]?” Bo ◐ responded, confused.
“Dear, would you bind it in place while I attack?” Bella asked sweetly.
“Of course, dear,” Bo replied, as the [Eldritch] screeched, then rushed towards them. Bo cast an overpowered [Constrict], then began manually channeling divine energy through the Skill to empower the vines grasping at the [Eldritch]. As it struggled, crying out, Bella began to run towards it, then up the steep wall of the gorge, ascending. Two, four, six, ten, twenty meters up. As she leapt off the top of the gorge, arcing back down towards the beast, she lit up in golden light and, like a falling star, slammed into the fiend.
----------------------------------------
“What the hell!” Alan yelled, coming to a halt, as the notification popped in front of him.
“Come on Alan, our only hope is that we can outrun it,” Lara turned to yell at him.
“No, I just got the XP tithe notification.”
“They killed it?” Gro responded puzzled.
“Not just that. They tithed me over a thousand XP.”
“A thousand!” Lara exclaimed. “What the hell was that thing’s level? Eighty-ish?”
“That impossible,” Gro barked. “How can level 40 something (common) [Dogs], even with (rare) Classes, defeat an [Eldritch] almost twice their level that quickly?”
“I don’t know,” Alan mumbled as he gritted his teeth. “But we should go ask.”
----------------------------------------
The trio returned to the scene of the battle to find Bella ◮ licking her paws, while Bo ◐ was crawling all over and around the corpse. They stood there, dumbfounded a dozen meters away, Bella ignoring them. Finally, Bo finished whatever he was looking for and came up to them, sitting down. “Sup?”
“You have some explaining to do,” Alan said grimly, which was about as serious a tone as he could take.
“What’s to explain?”
“Everything!” Alan overexaggerated. “You’re a two-year old [Dog] that grew up on a farm. How the hell do you have the Skills you do? Or the Attributes? And you’re only Levels 44 and 42.”
“50 and 48 now. [Eldritch] are good XP.”
“That’s not the point! You two took down that [Eldritch] like it was nothing! And it was what, Level 80?!”
“80? No, only 59.”
“Don’t lie to me. I got over a thousand XP in tithes between the two of you. It had to be around Level 80 in order to award over nine thousand XP.”
“Oh,” Bo cooed. “The tithe is after the XP calculations. Wow, yeah, that would freak you out.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Bo fell silent and looked to Bella, who ignored him. Whether or not they had [Telepathy], Alan was sure there was a lot of byplay between them he was missing. And he called himself a [Beastmaster].
Finally, Bo sighed, then looked up at the reddening sky. “Let us think about it. What you’re asking for is… very private. We’ll talk in the morning.”
----------------------------------------
Early the following morning, Alan’s eyes cracked just as he returned to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was his mouth salivating and his stomach gurgling. He had eaten before going to bed, so that couldn’t have been it. A few moments more, and he realized a beautiful smell of roast pork—no, something gamier—was wafting through the camp. He crawled out of his tent to a strange sight.
Where the small campfire the night before had been was now replaced by a huge bed of embers. Above it, a whole [Boar] had been butterflied and skewered on two spits the size of small trees—no, they were small trees. Despite no apparent means of motion, the spits were slowly rotating, roasting the [Boar] over the low dry heat of the ember pit. From the way the fat sizzled out and dropped from the spits, the animal must have been roasting for hours now.
“Oh good,” Bo ◐’s voice called out. “You’re awake.” A plate of the [Boar], together with some hardtack which had been softened with what looked like gravy, floated into Alan’s hands. Alan was still too groggy to even question the levitation. “Eat up. We’ll talk shortly.”
As Alan began to dig into his plate, Lara and then Gro followed him in waking and receiving a plate of breakfast. Gro was too out of it to notice, but Lara stared briefly at the levitation before accepting the food herself. Neither had said a thing since waking. Bella ◮ soon joined them, but merely sat near Bo, while the others ate. When they were done, they put their plates down and an awkward silence followed.
“Do it,” Bella said quietly and nuzzled Bo.
Bo sighed. “Have any of you heard of Crazy Kazuhiro and Ryoko the Ripper from Slanemore?” They all shook their heads in the negative, leading Bo to sigh. “Ugh, well, there went the easy explanation.” Bo dawdled for a moment before beginning.
“We are, as you pointed out yesterday, two-year-old [Dogs]. But we have a … pedigree for lack of a better description. It means we have a lot of Traits and Skills. A lot. Until recently, I was approaching three hundred. We had so many Skills, we started picking up Skills to manage our Skills…” Bo trailed off for a moment before resuming.
“That means a few things. First, it means that we have Skills that only make sense in the extreme long term. Someone living 50 or a 100 or even 200 years wouldn’t pick these Skills, but we can. Second, it means we’ve picked up some very… unusual Skills. Because we’ve have situations where we had more SKP than we knew how to spend.” For all that the two had apparently worked to prepare breakfast, the speech was not nearly as polished.
“Third,” Bo continued, “we’ve picked up Skills which quite frankly are absurdly expensive, but monstrously powerful, especially when you start stacking them together. We’ve got XP multipliers, boosts to our HP and MP, boosts to our regen, boosts to our Attributes.”
“So, what do those things mean?” Bo approached his conclusion. “Let me show you. [Short Status: Visible]”
Bo (L50), [Shepherd Dog] (C) (L25), [Guardian of the Fluffies] (Ra) (L25)
Bella (L48), [Shepherd Dog] (C) (L24), [Brawler] (Ra) (L24)
HP:
392,245/392,245
408,855/408,855
(10,864 / hour)
(7,200 / hour)
MP:
608,856/608,856
207,570/207,570
(8,260 / hour)
(4,285 / hour)
CON:
204
424
STR:
195
424
DEX:
190
179
INT:
404
137
WIS:
404
137
CHA:
155
139
Free:
0
0
v.1.21
“At the moment I was born,” Bo continued, “I already had over 200 total points in Attributes. It means that in two years, I hit Level 50, which you all seem to have forgotten, but is monstrous growth. It means that with, 25 levels in a (common) Race and 25 levels in a (rare) mage/melee hybrid Class, I have over 1,500 Attributes, nearly four hundred thousand HP, and over six hundred thousand MP. A standard [Human] [Mage] would never level high enough to get that. Bella is almost as overpowered, though she tends towards melee builds, while I tend towards mage builds.”
Bo fell silent, and the troupe sat in their campsite, [Boar] sizzling and birds chirping.
“So, if you’re so powerful, why were you on that farm? And why Alan?” Lara asked.
“Hey!” Alan exclaimed.
Bo rolled his shoulders in something imitating a shrug. “Sometimes we like to take it easy.”
“So now what?” Gro asked.
“That’s up to you,” Bella chimed in. “If you’ll have us, bonded or not, we’ll travel with you for a while until we decide otherwise.”
“You’d really continue to be bonded with Alan?” Lara asked.
“Hey!” Alan exclaimed.
“Yes, it’s mutually beneficial.”
“But it’s so lopsided in Alan’s favor isn’t it? Your XP multipliers give him a lot more XP than he would earn with any other beast, he’s got that Attribute bonus, and access to more MP than he knows what to do with.”
“Yeah, and I’ve got [Cooking 32],” Bo deadpanned. “But, you know, the lack of thumbs makes it really hard.”
Lara glanced around at the [Boar], the fire, and Bo’s prep station. “This is really hard?”
“I am literally doing this all using [Mage’s Hands]. I can handle it, but still, it’s a lot of concentration.”
Lara glanced at Gro, who nodded back to her. “Alright,” she said, “I guess we’ll be partying together.”
“Hey!” Alan exclaimed again, “Don’t I get a say in this?”
“About your bonds, sure,” Gro responded, “and if you want to reject it, I’ll find the damn Skill myself and do it with them. But whether our existing team members continue to travel with us? Majority rules.”
“Ugh, fine,” Alan pouted, rubbing his chin. “I suppose we’ll keep the bonds for now. I’ll think it over more though.”
“Oh thank the gods,” Bo finally relaxed. “Because I haven’t eaten yet and I’m starving.”
----------------------------------------
And so, Quick Response partied together. A year passed. Between the two [Dogs] able to punch way above their station and the tithes Alan received (bumping him a full three levels in both Race and Class), the team found themselves on a blistering XP pace for the year,. The nature of the exponential curve meant that Gro and Lara didn’t see any level gains, though they were close. And of course Bo and Bella did their crazy thing, jumping up another dozen levels in both Race and Class.
Today, the team found themselves following an old trail deep into the mountain wilderness. A young [Wyvern] had nested itself in an abandoned castle high up on the side of a mountain, harassing local livestock, and they were here to kill it or drive it away.
Finally approaching the treeline, the group looked out through the underbrush towards the abandoned building. They stared at the abandoned building for fifteen minutes until Alan piped up.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got [Detect Animal] somewhere in there?” he asked eyeing Bo and Bella sideways.
“Hmm,” Bo hummed, “No. But I got [Locate Animal]. Wonder if it works on something I haven’t seen yet. And…” Bo paused dramatically. “I’ve got nothing. Bella?”
“Nothing either. The Skill doesn’t work, or it’s out—hunting.”
“Or it was never here to begin with,” Gro grumbled.
“Or that. But we’ll give it a good inspection and if there’s no nest, then we have grounds for voiding the contract.”
“Alright team,” Lara began, “Eyes on the skies.” And the team began to move across the high grass towards the castle. They had just passed through the busted gate of the curtain wall when Bo called for them to halt.
“Something’s not right,” he muttered, then began casting Skill after Skill. After about a minute, the air shimmered around them and, when it faded away, the castle was restored to a well-maintained condition.
“You fixed the castle?” Alan asked.
“I didn’t,” Bo replied. “The whole thing was covered in one of the damnedest illusions I’ve ever seen. And bear in mind, I was once an illusion-adjacent mage who poured a billion MP into an illusion of a pizza to see how convincing it was. This illusion only had a few million MP…”
“Tch,” Lara scoffed, “a few million MP.”
“…but it was very, very skillfully done,” Bo concluded.
“My, my,” a deep bass voice rumbled out from above them, “a [Dog] who’s a mage with masterful knowledge of illusion magic. I am quite impressed.”
A cloaked figure lept down and made a three-point landing before standing up to face them. Beneath the blue cloth, a furred humanoid face peered at them, as furry hands clasped themselves in front. Bo shot a quick [Identify]:
> Chodrak Gurung (L174) [Sasquan Pithecus] (F) (L87) [Soulmancer] (F) (L87)
“No,” Chodrak continued, “both [Dogs] are fascinating. How are both of your souls so full and complex? You’re [Dogs].”
“Uhh, hi,” Lara introduced, “We’re Quick Response, an adventuring team sent this way to take care of a [Wyvern]. Don’t suppose you know anything about that?”
“Hmm, oh, that was just a ruse. I’m a [Soulmancer], ran out of souls, you see? And I figured I would just have some delivered. For which, I thank you for coming, but your conversation is unnecessary. [Rend Soul].”
As the [Pithecus] cast his Skill, a wave of purple mana flared out, encompassing all of them. Bo and Bella felt a chill in their core.
> Ding!
>
> You have been hit by [Rend Soul]. You have suffered 51,395 damage.
>
> Your bond with Alan was cancelled pursuant to its terms.
>
> A majority of Quick Response has died. The party has been automatically disbanded pursuant to the party’s bylaws. All surviving members are to hold party property in trust pending a probate proceeding before a certified adjudicator of the Western Breibone Adventuring Association. Violators will be subject to severe sanctions.
Bo ignored the rest of the notification, as he reflexively cast [Grasping Roots]. While the roots did burst from the courtyard ground, Chodrak cast some skill which caused them to wither. Meanwhile, Bella used [Rapid Retreat] and [Move!] to gain some distance and began working her Skills.
With his roots foiled, Bo ◐ relied on [Elven Grace] to dodge a series of counterbolts cast by the [Soulmancer]. Ironically, he was worse at dodging attacks he could see than the ones he could not, and he was hit twice more for another forty thousand combined damage. He threw up [Snow Spray] then [Blinding Snow], then turned [Invisible] and [Immaterial] while using [Float] to move one way and [Arctic Illusions] to have fake versions of themselves sneak through the low visibility courtyard.
“Ha!” the [Pithecus] called, “You think you can hide from me? And to think you were praising my illusions before!” before he sent a lance of that purple mana right at Bo’s true position again. It struck for another hundred thousand of damage, and things were looking dicey when Bella ◮ burst through the courtyard towards the [Soulmancer] with a dagger and a short sword.
Bella had used [Shapeshifter] to change her canine form into an upright, bipedal form with opposable thumbs. She then pulled out both blades, which had been stored in [Hidden Blade]. Triggering [Protect Escort] and [Move!], she was able to quickly dash towards the enemy mage.
The mage himself though was formidable, using a small kite [Mana Shield] and a [Mana Blade] to counter Bella’s melee attack. Though she was using [Barkskin], [Dancing Footwork] and [Dodgeball *M] to maintain her defense, she quickly found herself down another fifty thousand HP. And yet her offense suffered too little damage to the fiend. On the base Skill of [Blades *M], she had [Dexterous Attack] to boost its power, [Reave Defense] to cut through his defense, [Bleeding Cuts], [Stinging Paralysis], and [It’s a Bleeder] to add extra effects, [Sharper Blades] to cause more damage, and [Extra Blade Reach] to make greater effect of her short blades and surprise her opponent. And yet her opponent seemed hardly injured even as she lost another fifty thousand HP. Then her shortsword broke, and she pulled a longsword out of [Hidden Blades]. When her dagger was knocked out of her hand, she used [Create Ice Blade] instead.
Meanwhile, Bo was [Zipping Around] the outskirts of the courtyard, trying to pelt the [Pithecus] with, alternately, [Mana Lances] or [Super Ice Balls], the latter super charged with every extra cold Skill he had: [Ice is Cold], [Extra Cold Ice], and [Even the Ice Thinks its Cold]. But nothing seemed to cause enough damage, and the mage would occasionally return magical spells with his own.
Finally, as he was moving around to where Bella’s body was blocking his line of sight, he turned and started to run towards the pair.
Then [Instinctive Dodge] triggered, and Bo moved sideways just as a large furry hand reached out of the opaque cone to grab him. The hand got a bit of skin, but [Slippery] and [Swaying] let him stay out of touch. The missed grab though turned into a fist, and he got hit for another hundred fifty thousand damage.
A [Thorn Rain] scattered off the mage’s clothing with little effect, but [Protect Escort] meant that it at least caused a distraction.
Or, she tried to. Only to find themselves turned around and still in the courtyard.
“Ha! You may have broken one illusion, but can you break another while under threat of death? Show me a good trick [Doggo].”
Bo replied,
Bo again began [Zipping Around], flinging every combination of attack he could think of, even the [Divine] stuff which really shouldn’t have any special effect. Bella was continuing to be whittled down, and had taken another two hundred thousand of damage.
Suddenly, Bo was caught off-guard by a large wave of purple mana coming from the [Soulmancer].
> Ding!
>
> You have suffered 206,351 damage. You have suffered soul injury. The Trait [Bonded Dryad] was lost.
Though the notification was intellectually shocking, Bo was soon wracked in torment as a part of his soul he didn’t even know he had was ripped away from him. Bella! Bo cried out to himself, unable to use [Speak with Elves] with her non-[Elven] self. With eyes wide shut, Bo couldn’t see where Bella was or that the [Pithecus] had maneuvered himself to stand over him.
“Now, let’s see what makes your soul tick,” the [Soulmancer] said, and plunged his sword into Bo’s chest.
> Ding!
>
> You have died.
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