Chapter 5 - Old Friends and new Friends

“I am guessing that means you got a friend AND a class, right?” I heard Valerias voice to my left so I turned to her and said: “Yup. Pretty sweet deal if I do say so myself.”

“That’s great. Now would you please tell your buddy to ease off and stand up?”

“Oh, yeah right. Ummm” I didn’t really know how to start with that. On a whim I laid my hand on the wolf's fur, to get her attention. She relaxed a bit and looked at me. I tried to look reassuring and told her: “It’s alright. She’s a friend. She isn’t an enemy.” That seemed to do the trick. She became visibly less tense and got off me. I got up, petted her head and said: “Good girl!” I didn’t know why, but it felt right. Also she seemed to enjoy that.

“You two are really cute and all, but could we get going? I was kinda going to tell you an important secret, but now I feel like a third wheel.”

“Oh yeah, obviously. Please, do tell, I am all ears.” I stood up and turned in Valerias direction, but I still kept a hand on the wolf's head, giving her the occasional scratch.

“All right. So let’s start at the beginning. First of all, I am not human. I am a celestian.” I wasn’t overly shocked the village was entirely human, but I knew there were other races of humanoid. Orcs, Elves, Goblins etc. I had not seen them, but there were pictures in some of the books we had. I had never heard of celestians but I never expected my education to be comprehensive. There were probably lots of races I didn’t know about.

“OK, you obviously don’t know what that means, since you don’t appear shocked. Celestians are descendants of Angels. Really, really, really far off descendants. Like dozens of generations. However we still live for a really long time, somewhere in the thousands of years. To not go insane over that time period, we started a praxis where everyone should go into the regular world and have at least a dozen different careers. Meaning going from Apprentice to Master or just doing it for so long, that we could reasonably retire. Usually about 40 Years each. I am only 180 years old, which is very young for my people. I only had two careers before I moved to your Village and became a [Ranger]. I was a [Healer] and after that a [Baker]. Now why am I telling you all of this? I kinda hate the other [Rangers] and I don’t find the Job, or the Village very enjoyable. It is frowned upon by my people to quit a Career, unless a unique opportunity presents itself for a new career. So what I am saying is that you are basically my ticket out of this dump. I can justify leaving if I have a unique opportunity to Mentor someone of great potential.”

I stared at silence for a bit, then said: “What are Angels?”

She stared back at me for a solid minute and said: “That’s your only question?”

“I understood most of what you said, but I don’t know what Angels are.”

Surprisingly she grew a genuine smile and said: “You know what? That is kinda fair. Yeah, so Angels. Are humanoids from a higher Plane of existence. They are agents of the gods and do their bidding on this plane, the mortal plane. I forgot how shoddy the education is in this hick town.”

“OK so what is the plan? We run away from the village hoping that my [Curious Child] Perk will get me into wacky hijinks, which I would either resolve and gain something or you save me with your ancient power. And then, after however many years, you get to say that you trained me, or that you tried to train me. As you said yourself I am destined for either greatness or an early grave. And your people will say “That boy was one of Valerias” or “Whelp you tried your best Valeria”. Either way you get to not be a [Ranger] anymore immediately. Did I get that right”

She looked a bit shocked but she admitted: “Yup. That’s basically what I am about. It sounds kind of exploitative when you condense it like that, but yes. That is the plan. By the way, you can call me Val for short.”

“OK, Val then. I don’t think it’s exploitation. I do get quite the boon out of this. I mean what is a quasi-immortal personal Mentor worth? And it’s not as if I really had any ties to the Village since my Father died and my Ex left me. So I am up for it. I mean who doesn’t dream of reaching like level 100 and be supremely powerful. It sounds like that is what you’re offering, so I am in.”

“It’s really adorable that you think 100 is ‘supremely powerful’.” Valeria… sorry, Val said, apparently not intending to explain further. “But to make this clear. I want you to get into messes and to pull yourself out of them and get stronger through that. I have no intention of mothering you. I can train you, heal you after a fight, help you in a general sense, but if I have to save your life, then you have failed to live up to your potential and I am released from my Path as a Mentor. At that point I can leave and try something new.”

That put a dampener on my mood. However at this point I was sold on the power fantasy. So I still agreed to her proposal. A simple handshake sealed my fate.

And that is how my first adventuring party was formed. Val, me and an as of yet unnamed wolf.

I know it sounds clisheé, but looking back, that was the moment I rejected having a “normal life”. From this point on the three of us were bound together.

“By the way, what is your problem with the [Rangers]? They are our protectors, which is somewhat noble and it doesn’t seem much more boring than being a [Baker].”

“About that, your mum was a [Ranger] so they left you alone, but everyone else hates them. They are the only ones with any combat prowess, so they treated everyone else like servants that owe them their lives. If you ask me then the [Rangers] are as far from noble as you can get. I would bet my left arm that they’d let you all die if something came along that posed an actual threat to them.”

That was … not something I expected to hear. My mother had always framed it as a Noble service for the village. Then again, she was likely biassed about that.

After this momentous conversation we heroically and dramatically … had some lunch. Remember that we came to this spot to eat and talk? Me neither, but Val insisted we shouldn’t skip a meal, just because I was excited.

While eating we got to talking about my new class and skills. Especially [Infectious Mana Manipulation] got her interested. “Since you seem to be going in a direction of body modification, you could think about a Stinger design.” She told me around a mouth full of sandwich. I took a bite out of an Apple and replied: “Stinger? Like a Bee? What do Bees have to do with internal Mana?” She sighed, shook her head and replied: “You have to start thinking outside the box. It’s not about a Bee, or even about poison. It is about injecting stuff offensively. If you can poke something with your stinger, or even just a hollow claw, then inject your blood into the target, your Mana gets a foothold inside the enemy. That doesn’t help with overcoming the enemies resistance, but that way you can open up a second front against your opponent. A third considering your furry friend.” At that last part she pointed at the wolf.

I was thinking along with her explanation, but at that final sentence I started thinking about the Wolf. “She needs a name.” I said. “Do you know something fitting?”

Both females next to me cocked their heads to the side apparently in thought. I tried very hard not to grin at the simultaneous movement. Eventually Val turned her head to me and offered her suggestion: “Skadi. It’s the name of a goddess far to the north. A huntress in the frozen mountains.”

I liked the name. So I knelt before the Wolf, held her head in my palms and asked her earnestly: “Do you have a name?” She cocked her head at that. “I am James.” I pointed at my own chest. “She is Valeria.” I pointed at Valeria. “Who are you?” At that I pointed at the wolf. She cocked her head again, this time to the other side. I took that as a ‘No, I don’t have a name.’ I looked her in the Eyes and asked: ”Do you want to be Skadi?” At that she licked my face. Luckily the System cleared up any confusion.

Congratulations! For naming your companion while considering her opinion on the matter, your Bond has increased in Strength. Your [Animal Companion(Wolf)] has grown and changed into [Animal Companion(Skadi)]

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

[Animal Companion(Skadi)]

You have bonded with Skadi. Both of you will be aware of each other's location and general well being. You will have better senses while your companion will be smarter. The connection to Skadi allows you to send simple Emotions telepathically. This Perk will grow as your Bond with your Companion grows. Should you lose your companion this perk will disappear.

That was quite the surprise, as I immediately got a profound sense of Happy from Skadi. Hopefully that would make our conversations a bit less one sided.

Congratulations! For deepening your Bond with your companion, you have gained a level in [Wolfman](lvl 2). You have gained the class Perk [Wolfish].

Strength+2=>

16

Agility+4=>

18

Constitution+5=>

26

Endurance+3=>

27

Free Points+6=>

12

I really needed to get some of those free Points into the Mental stats.

[Wolfish]

You find it easier to make your Body more Wolf-like and also to remove said changes.

That seemed interesting. I kept a hand on Skadi’s head and held the other up to my face. I tried to make the Claws appear like before. It was moderately demanding. Not a lasting headache, but something requiring real focus. Not something I was capable of while fighting, or running over uneven terrain. I made them disappear again and next tried to make Wolf-like claws. Sure enough it was almost effortless. Granted they didn’t look particularly sharp or pointy, but that was a rather minor fix with my skill. “If this trend continues, I will be running around as a full wolf in no time.” I said to no one in particular

“Probably. Though you could do that already given an anatomical crash course and a few days of time to distribute the mental strain.” Val answered me “For now don’t do any changes below the skin and definitely no changes in your Torso. Not until you have a good understanding of how your body works and how whatever you’re trying to change into works.” It seems the whole ‘Mentor’-Thing had already started.

Still petting Skadi I looked up to Val and asked her: “So what are we doing next?”

She answered with a sly smile: “You two are going to stay here while I get some stuff to test your new abilities. And this time don’t move a single inch!” That last part felt like it had some extra force behind it somehow. Skadi felt similarly, as the both of us immediately sat down next to one another. “Yes, Ma’am!” Was all I could say at that moment.

Val seemed satisfied with our obedience and disappeared. Not like ‘left’ I mean properly vanished. I hugged Skadi for comfort and tried not to get too nervous, just because I couldn’t see my babysitter. I was never all that pathetic when it came to independence, but all the revelations Val had dropped, made me feel like a very small fish in a very large ocean. She was gone for a few minutes at most, before she reappeared, and this time I do mean just walked towards us. She held a large, lumpy bag in her hands and said: “Now we are going to train those skills properly.” As she was saying that she pulled out an unmoving Rabbit and continued: “You are going to form a stinger, poke these rabbits with it, inject them, wake them up with Mana and then kill them with Mana. No sleep until you get it right.”

It was like an hour past noon. How was that gonna be a challenge?

It was 2 hours past Midnight before I ‘got it right’. This stuff is hard as *Insert expletive here*. Every part of this process could go wrong. First I had to make a Stinger. I went with a Wolf-Claw, as it was the easiest to form for me, and then made it hollow and then connected it to my bloodstream, so that I could inject something. Turns out my class was helping me with the shapeshifting. Because even modifying the wolf-claws was a lot easier than modifying other forms of claws. Since [Wolfish] didn’t mention anything about this kind of thing, I assumed that it was the class itself that was helping.

Still, I fell at this first hurdle about a dozen times. First I made the hole too big, so the claw wasn’t pointy enough to pierce skin. Then I made the hole too tiny, so the blood couldn’t get through properly. Then I made the tunnel too windy, so it would take the blood too long from my finger to the tip of my claw. Then I made a reservoir in the claw, which made the claw too weak and caused it to break very easily. Then I … you get the point. I struggled for hours just to get the stinger right. In the end I went with the following design: A hole at the very tip, a tunnel connecting the hole to a reservoir along the bottom half of the claw. An opening from a vein in my finger to the tunnel, constantly filling it. And a muscle with three possible positions.

1. Relaxed: the muscle is shutting the opening in the vein.

2. Contracted: The muscle is pushing the vein shut, but opening the opening, making my blood pressure fill the claw up in a fraction of a second.

3. Extended. Flexed the other way the muscle fills the cavity in the claw, pushing the blood out through the hole at the tip.

It was not an elegant, or efficient design, but it was replicable and it consistently worked.

Next I had to wake the rabbit up. I didn’t have any knowledge of the brain functions, so I just went with pain. I tried giving them cramps. I understood those well enough. A muscle flexing so hard that it hurts. That worked well enough after only an hour.

Killing the things was the real headache. When I did this to Skadi she had given up and didn’t resist anything. Anything actively resisting you is a headache and a half. And then you have to tell mana, that isn’t yours, to do stuff on top of that. It was mental torture. I wasn’t even allowed to put points into willpower to ease my suffering. But after 13 hours of exercise I finally did it. The claw was routine at this point and waking the thing up was getting familiar as well. When I had all the pieces in play for the umpthenth time in a row I told the rabbits heart to stop and focused all my rage and frustration on making sure the heart stayed frozen. After several heartbeats of my own I finally felt the opposition to my efforts waver and then drop entirely. Since I now was in complete control I wanted to make sure, so I told the Rabbit to burn, while throwing it to the side. I looked pleadingly towards Valeria, to which she relented: “A bit over dramatic at the end, but I suppose that’s fair considering your day so far. You may go to…” And that was as much as I heard, before I fell into the blissful oblivion of sleep. Not unconsciousness, proper sleep.

About 6 hours later:

I awoke to someone strangling me. As in, the first thing I felt were hands closing around my throat. The next thing was that I couldn’t see due to a blindfold of some sort. And the one after that was that I couldn’t breathe. Obviously I panicked, but I was too close to death too many times for me to freeze up right now. First I sent a thought of DANGER to Skadi. Then I let the Instincts of my class guide me, as I let my arms and legs go completely lupine, including claws. Then I dug my claws into the arms that were strangling me, while frantically kicking and scratching with my legs. At that moment I heard Skadi growl to my left and then jump. Next I dug in my claws deeper into the arms of my assailant, commanding them to grow pointier, longer and more curvy. Finally I commanded my claws to heat up and my fingers to grow numb.

That seemed to do the trick. The hands released me and the figure went away from my striking range. Immediately I tore off my blindfold and got a good look at my assailant.

She was a pretty Redhead. About 1,8 metres tall and with an athletic build. The smouldering holes in her forearms reminded me to drop the heat and numbness from my fingers and claws. I tried to get up for round two, but wolf legs aren’t the most stable platform, when you’re used to the human variety. I struggled to get up for a few moments, before I reverted my legs. Finally standing I tried to wait for her to make a move while watching out for any signs of spellcasting or allies in the underbrush. After a few heartbeats I noticed that Skadi was calmly lying next to me. That puzzled me, until I heard Vals voice come from the stranger: “Don’t blame her, I explained it to her beforehand. I must say, I am disappointed that you didn’t use your infectious Mana, but those heated Claws were a pretty good idea. Also I did warn you about changing your limbs too much without proper knowledge.”

I stared at her with a slack jaw. “What in the entire fuck, Val?”

“Well my little trainee, I wanted to check how prepared you were for a nighttime assault. And your general combat reflexes as well. You did pretty well. Again, next time try infecting your Assailant if you have your claws in them anyway, but otherwise well done. Oh and the appearance is just an illusion spell.” At that last part she changed back to the way I knew her.

Intellectually I could understand her, but on a personal level I was not in a headspace, where I wanted to deal with all of this. So I decided to just ignore Val and go have breakfast. Looking at the ambient light I gathered that it was just about Dawn.

After a good meal and a bit of a calm down I decided to check my notifications.

[Internal Mana Manipulation]+1=>

52

[Infectious Mana Manipulation]+4=>

5

[Leporine Anatomy]+3=>

3

[Shapeshifting]+2=>

2

I focused on the new ones

[Leporine Anatomy]

Knowledge of the internal workings of Rabbit-like Creatures

[Shapeshifting]

The Ability to make permanent alterations to your Body. Supplemental Skill for [Internal Mana Manipulation]

The Bunny one was likely not going to do much for me, but that [Shapeshifting] Skill seemed useful. I mean it is kinda putting a hat on a hat, but a boost is still a boost