Knob’s lungs were burning, and his legs were heavy. With his stamina nearly depleted, every step felt was effortful. The little ape in his hands couldn’t have weighed more than a few kilograms, and yet to Knob, in this state, it felt like he was holding a bag of bricks whilst running through mud. With the sound of every falling leaf and snapping twig Knob fully expected to be blasted with some sort of life ending attack. His vitality level was not impressive, and a single well aimed strike would likely be enough to end him. In fact, it was a miracle that he hadn’t been killed already. Thankfully, in the most recent battle almost all of the attention had been on Barry and not him. Additionally, the villagers had been hesitant to send projectiles towards him for fear of hitting their allies that he had under his control.

It didn’t make sense that he cared about this little creature so much given he’d only known him for a couple of days. But these days had been some of the best of Knob’s life. He truly believed he had made some real friends in Barry, Tuti and Swirly. The very first friends he’d ever had. And yet so quickly one of his friends had been taken from him. The moment Tuti had been killed he felt like a hole in his heart formed that could never be mended. And if that was how he felt about someone who was a stranger but a few days ago, he couldn’t imagine what Swirly must be feeling. Logically, he knew his best chance of surviving was to leave the ape behind. It was funny that he even cared if he survived, as for the longest time he was so unphased by the prospect of death. But suddenly, he had the desire to live, he wanted his friends to live, and he was prepared to do anything to make that happen. Eventually, Knob’s determined run fell to a slow jog, and then a walk, just as he reached a section of forest littered with large fallen tree trunks. His stamina was about to tick down to zero, and he felt completely drained. He barely had the strength to crawl to the closest fallen trunk, dragging the still sobbing Swirly with him. With a strain, he managed to get his heavy body into the log and cover the entrance with a leafy branch. Then as he sat curled up in the confined space all he could do was pray that they wouldn’t be discovered.

Suddenly, he could hear footsteps running past, and angry voices shouting from all around him. Their pursuers were close, they’d caught up to them, and there was nothing more he could do about it. Knob covered Swirly’s mouth gently with his hand to silence him, and Swirly stared back at him with teary and fearful eyes. Knob gasped internally when he heard the creaking of the wood above his head indicating that one of their pursuers was standing atop the very log that he was hiding in. He held his breath, and Swirly did the same, not daring to breath for fear of being discovered. The seconds felt like minutes, and the minutes felt like hours, but eventually the noisy activity faded and all that was left was the sounds of nature. The sun rose and reached high in the sky before Knob dared to peer out and look around. Thankfully, it appeared the coast was clear, and Knob allowed himself to believe that they were safe, for now.

The pair pushed onwards through the fallen tree forest, putting as much distance between themselves and the village as they could. Knob had mostly recovered his stamina and mana after the long rest, but he still felt anxious about running into enemies. Thankfully, luck was on their side, and although they did come across various large marsupial beasts called ‘womaroos’. These beasts were solitary creatures with broad heads and large front claws built for digging and slicing. However, now that much of Knob’s mana had recharged, he found it easy enough to control the beasts with his abilities. A full day of fleeing, hiding and fighting off beasts had passed before Knob finally allowed himself to relax. Swirly was still a mess, but at least Knob had managed to convince the little monkey to eat some of the various berries and fruit from the plants they’d foraged, so at least he knew the heartbroken creature wouldn’t starve to death.

The next few days consisted of the pair searching for food whilst doing their best to avoid altercations with initiates at any cost. Swirly turned out to be quite the effective lookout with his exceptional hearing, and other heightened senses, which made it easier to avoid conflict. However, battles with some beasts were unavoidable, and Knob’s soul item levelled up more than once after he had started to use his staff for physical attacks and blocking. He felt this was for the best too as he knew being completely reliant on one form of attack was a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless, his soul magic had also improved, but at a much slower rate given its already high level. Swirly for his part had refused to participate in any of the battles so far and Knob was starting to doubt whether he had maintained any of his previous stats or skills. His current leading theories were that losing your bond meant you lost the abilities that came with that connection, or Swirly just didn’t want to use them because they reminded him of Tuti. Knob didn’t know, and he considered trying to ask the little creature, but he didn’t want to risk upsetting him again, and he wasn’t sure that either of them would understand the other anyway.

On the third morning after the battle with the villagers Knob was walking through a section of forest filled with small glistening lakes with Swirly sitting upon his shoulders. The water of the lakes was so clear that at times it was hard to determine what was real and what was reflection. Each lake was around fifty metres in diameter and separated from the others by rocky paths that were around three metres wide. The beauty of this region could not be understated, but its downfall was that Knob was fully exposed out here in the open in between the lakes. Suddenly, Swirly patted his hands rapidly but quietly onto the top of Knob’s shoulders, an action that Knob had come to learn meant that there was danger nearby. Swirly’s floppy orange ears perked up, and Knob looked up to see his face locked onto an area in the distance to the right. Knob cursed internally for putting them in a position where they could be so easily exposed and gripped his staff tightly. He thought about crouching down, but it was pointless, there was no cover around and the clear lakes would just make his position even more obvious. Instead, he squeezed Swirly’s tiny forearm gently, a sign for the ape to hold on tight, and he started to run forwards, following the path between the lakes and trying to move away from where Knob had indicated the danger would be.

Within a few seconds Knob learned what it was that Swirly had spotted, as he saw a pair of humans rocketing towards them. Knob’s eyes widened in shock as he watched them approach, not because of their speed, which was impressive in its own right, but by their method of transport. The two, a man and a woman, were being carried along the surface of the water, encased in what appeared to be a large translucent bubble. The man looked tall, but thin, and wore a set of robes not dissimilar from Knobs own outfit. He had a hood over his head and held a small glowing blue wand in his left hand. The woman on the other hand was even taller. She wore some half-sized plate mail armour and skirt that strangely kept the top half of her torso and legs protected but left her stomach and legs below the knees completely uncovered. She had long blonde hair that fell down in front of her shoulders and reached to just below the underside of the chainmail chest plate. But most notably, she had a massive metre and a half long sword strapped to her back that was nearly as wide as the woman’s waist. The pairs bubble sped along the surface of the lake, spraying water up and to each side like a jet ski on the ocean as it approached. Before they got any closer, Knob inspected them, and his stress grew.

Inspection:

Race: Human

Level: 8

Stat: Mana

Inspection:

Race: Human

Level: 9

Stat: Strength/Dexterity

Knob frowned at the information; the pair were strong. He had made some good gains recently, yet he was still only level seven, and although technically Swirly was still level eight, he hadn’t shown any ability to fight since Tuti death.

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“Maybe they are just curious and want to say hi,” thought Knob optimistically.

Ironically, it was as if his thoughts were cursing him, as a moment later, when the pair got within twenty metres, they began firing water bubbles forward at him. Knob jumped back at the attacks, but he didn’t have anywhere to go, or anything to hide behind for cover. He was a sitting duck. Reflexively he held his staff up in front of him in in an attempt to block, but as the bubbles got within range, they instinctively dodged his staff and flew past, bursting the moment they touched Knob’s robe or skin. This happened over half a dozen times in quick succession before the pairs large travel bubble reached the path he was standing on. The moment the bubble touched the land it instantly popped, and the two humans stepped out and onto the stony path before him. Knob didn’t feel any pain from the bubbles that had hit him, but he did feel strangely tired, and as he glanced at his stats, he saw that his stamina had been drained to ten percent within a matter of seconds. As he stared at the pair with a muddled frown on his face, meeting the eyes of the man who simply laughed at him.

“Don’t look so worried, we’re not here to hurt you or your little pet,” the man grinned.

Swirly growled at the man’s words and Knob didn’t allow his focus to dip.

“Now now little beasty, there’s no need for the hostility,” the man smirked, “Just give us all your loot and we’ll be on our way.”

The man’s facial expression turned serious as he finished his sentence, and he summoned three small tennis ball sized bubbles above his left hand that floated ominously in the air.

Knob knew it. He had known all along they would be dangerous and crooked. There were few good people in this world, and he had been blessed to become friends with a couple of them. The rest didn’t care about the likes of him and had nothing but bad intentions, like these two. There was a time when Knob would have cowered in fear at such a threat. But that was the old him, someone he no longer recognised. He wouldn’t allow himself to be bullied anymore. So, with that he gripped his staff and the soul item glowed.

“I suggest you leave us alone before you get hurt,” Knob said with his best impression of a confident tone.

The woman and man just glanced at each other before bursting into laughter.

“You do know you’re outnumbered two to one right?” the woman jeered, “And I’m sure you know as well as we do that we are both a higher level than you. Your stupid bluffs aren’t going to work on us. Now for the last time, give us the loot,” she ordered with a sharp tone as she unsheathed her large broadsword from the scabbard attached to her back and it too began to glow with a fluorescent green hue.

Knob moved first, sending out a pair of energy tendrils forward towards the duo. The strings of straw colour energy moved much faster than they did in the past, easily covering ten metres in a second. Knob directed one tendril forward at each of the enemies. The woman reflexively stepped back and away from Knob’s magic. While the man summoned a large bubble and he began to float upwards and out of the range of Knob’s tendril. But Knob’s attack was no longer so easily avoided, and he shot the tendril vertically upwards at the man. The energy of his tendril pierced straight through the bubble of the man and wrapped around his leg. Knob felt the man’s willpower fight back against his manipulation abilities.

“Not bad, but not quite enough to be a problem,” Knob thought as he measured the man’s willpower level with his ability.

Finally, after a brief battle he felt himself gaining control of the man’s mind, and he started to plan his next move. Then suddenly, the connection ceased, and he felt his connection to the other tendril snap as well.

“What was that?” Knob thought as he moved his attention to where his other tendril had been.

In its place was the massive glowing green sword of the woman planted firmly into the ground. With an unimpressed grunt, the woman heaved her sword over her shoulder and looked back at her partner.

“You alright there Fred? Your eyes went a little weird there for a second,” she asked.

The man’s floating bubble popped and he dropped the metre back to the earth. Rubbing his head, he glared towards Knob as he replied, “Yeah, thanks May, all good. The fucker just tried to take over my mind. Scrap the usual tactics, we need to put this guy down!”

“Agreed,” said May, spitting loudly onto the ground to her side as she started walking towards Knob.

“What did you do?” spluttered Knob as he tried to comprehend how his ability had failed.

One second he had control of the man, the next he didn’t. His tendrils had retracted like a hand too close to a fire, something that had never happened before.

“Oh, you want to know what happened to your dirty mind control thing. Well, this happened,” May answered with a pout as she ran an index finger along the edge of her blade before suddenly turning her head and staring at Knob.

“My blade doesn’t just cut flesh. It also cuts magic,” she said with a sinister grin.

Knob was stunned, he had gotten a few soul item levels lately, but magic was still his main method of fighting. If his magical attacks could be quashed so easily then how on earth was he meant to come out of this battle victorious. It was such a shame that after fighting so hard to survive, he would just be put down by two random people that had stumbled across him. No, that was the mindset of the old Knob. He wouldn’t allow that negativity to fill his mind, so with a yell he sent forward twelve zigzagging tendrils, the most he could muster in one go, directly at May.

The tendrils whizzed along the ground and into the crystal water to either side, their movements swift and unpredictable. In response, May huffed and raised her blade. Pushing off through her back foot, she drove forward and swung rapidly with her sword at the encroaching tendrils. The weapon moved seamlessly through the air, with finesse that was unusual for such a large blade. Knob for his part, was forced to try to dodge the barrage of small bubbles being launched at him from Fred whilst continuing his own attack. Despite his best efforts, he was hit by multiple bubbles, and soon he felt his body growing heavy, like it had done after his run whilst escaping the villagers. Then his knees gave way, and he dropped to his knees into the dirt. He tried to get back up, but he didn’t have the strength, all he could do was focus his weary eyes on his tendrils and try to get them to reach their target.

“Feeling a bit drowsy, are we?” Fred gibed as he started to float closer in his large bubble.

Meanwhile, May was ducking, weaving and leaping with supernatural athleticism, avoiding every tendril with ease. With every swing of her sword Knob felt his connection with one of his tendrils burn out and soon he had but one left. Panting and tired, Knob clenched his teeth and pushed all his magical force into the one remaining tendril, attempting to outpace the speed of the woman. With an effortless smirk May simply drove the tip of her blade into the final tendril, smothering the last of Knobs main manipulation ability, and with it his hopes of a swift victory. With her job done, she swung her sword back up onto her shoulder and strolled forward casually towards him.

“Get away Swirly. Get away now before you get hurt,” Knob whispered to his ape friend with some of the last of his might.

He knew he still had his frenzy ability left, but he had held off using it as it would undoubtably affect Swirly as well as his enemies, and he couldn’t bare to watch his friend be slain by these powerful foes. But if he could get him out of range of his attack, then at least one of these people would go down with him, and his friend could keep on living.

“Get away now!” he grunted.

But to his dismay, the ape refused to leave his shoulders, instead his little hands gripped on tighter to Knobs robe, and Knob could hear his little heart racing. Knob lifted his head back up and looked towards May who was preparing to strike him down with her sword.

“Pathetic,” she spat as she raised her sword overhead.

“I’m sorry my friend,” Knob whispered as he waited and watched his inevitable death approach.

As fast as lightning, Knob felt Swirly push off his shoulders and launch forward directly at the unsuspecting woman. With her sword above her head, her high dexterity was useless, and Swirly slammed his little fist into her cheek. The force of the blow created a deafening crack that echoed across the forest and sent ripples across the nearby lakes. May was sent flying along the path and then further back across a distant lake, skipping across the water like a thrown stone. Fred stood stunned with his jaw ajar as his partner flew past him. After rallying his senses, he quickly retreated within his floating bubble.

“You’ll pay for that!” he raged as he moved away from them to pick up his unconscious partner before she disappeared below the waters surface.

Then with a final glare, whilst holding May’s body in his arms, he floated away into the distance.

Knob fell to the earth and with the last ounce of his strength he roll his body over to lie on his back. Swirly walked over and stood behind his head, looking down into Knob’s eyes with a concerned look.

“I’m ok little man, you saved me,” he said with drowsy words as he passed out from his depleted stamina.

When he woke, he sat up and looked around as Swirly stood beside him surrounded by a collection of bloodied dead bodies of some sort of toothy fish creature with small wings on its back.

Rubbing his head, Knob spoke “Did you protect me from these things too? I owe you one little buddy,” Knob said with a soft voice.

Startled, Swirly spun around and leapt into Knobs arms in a tight embrace. Knob didn’t know what to do at first, he’d never experienced this sort of affection. But soon, his instincts took over and he wrapped his arms around the fluffy monkey as he fought back happy tears.

“I’m so glad to have you with me my friend. Let’s go find somewhere to settle in for the night,” he said as he stood up, still clutching the emotional ape, and walked further into the forest and away from the lakes.