Jake

A cold snout poked my face with a low growling that woke me up from my dreamless sleep, the best sleep I had since dropping in this cold world.

Opening my eyes I saw the sunlight already weak and distant in the horizon announcing the coming of dusk, better yet I didn’t even need to look at the notification to be sure the mana poisoning was gone.

“Hey Frost, come here for a sec we need to talk.” I called out to her as she was already searching for tracks nearby.

“Ok, talk.” She sat in front of me, her eyes hurrying me to say what I wanted.

“Listen, I know you’re strong, but starting a fight without talking about it with me first is a no no, Ok?” I declared.

“Why? It worked.” She answered without missing a beat, her answer so shameless it left me wordless for a second.

“The fuck you mean ‘It worked.’? You almost died today Frost.” I shot back incredulously.

“I wanted prey… I got the prey… Jake not like hunt… Frost gets it… but Frost needs hunt.” She argued unphased.

“That's not what I’m saying Frost, I’m saying if you listened and let me help we could have gotten them without you getting hurt.” I replied, trying my best to pass my message.

“I know Jake weak and afraid… Frost there on fox hunt… No need lie Jake… I wont leave cause Jake weak.” She answered back in a consoling motherly tone, that made me confused if I should feel offended or cared for.

Sigh.

“I appreciate the sentiment Frost, but I have gained a lot of skills since then. Now I can truly help in an ambush, you just didn’t give me the time to do it.” I argued back.

“Show Frost your power then… ” She declared in a skeptical and decisive tone.

“Fine.” I answered, making my way to the river.

Since she was this stubborn about it, I’ll show her.

‘If mana nourishment took five of my mana pools to end my hunger before I sacrificed health and dark mine description said it dealt a small amount of damage, would three manapools in a single mine be enough to make Frost believe me.’ I pondered in silence while letting the river fill me back up.

‘No, Frost just evolved so she should be even stronger… let’s go with six.’ I decided, a part of me egging me on to put even more mana pools, to make sure my point would be proven.

As soon as my mana filled up I started converting it into its dark element version, before pressing my hand on the ground channeling it through my hand.

It took me around half a minute till my first mana pool had been channeled into a single mine, a black colored ring of mana that lay right in the middle of the imprint my palm made on the snow, waiting to be finalized.

During the time I was preparing channeling it though I started to hesitate on the idea of channeling even more mana into this thing.

Not that the skill couldn’t take it, matter of fact after using it I here could tell there was no amount of mana this small mine could not support, which meant its effects where basically only dependent on mana amount, causing me to reconsider the idea of channeling six full mana pools of mine into it.

‘ Caution is a wise friend and ego is a friendly enemy.’ I mumbled to myself, deciding if it wasn’t enough for Frost I should just make another one.

So putting just a minute amount of dark mana in the middle of it I linked the mine with my consciousness making it ready to activate with a single command.

“It’s done Frost, but be carefull, though this isn’t the strongest it can get and in my head it shouldn’t harm you, I have not tested this thing in practice soo…” I warned my furry companion while taking a few steps back and activating the mine.

Seemingly heeding my warning Frost took careful steps towards it, before stopping a meter or so away and staring at it with a serious look, seemingly judging the palm imprint as if she could see something in it I couldn’t.

“Jake not lie… Frost apologize not believing… Frost will consider Jake when pack hunt.” She declared in a matter of a fact tone, before getting up and walking away, not bothering herself to touch the mine.

‘Well, that sure went better than I thought.’

I thought silently waiting for her to get further away.

After a bit I concentrated on the connection I had made with the mine and triggered its explosion.

Through that same connection I instantly felt the dark mana I had channeled flow away from the snow and fastly jump into the river, leaving an impact crater the size of my forearm burst open in where the hand imprint had been.

After a moment passed a few stunned fish floated to the river's surface before soon being carried away by the currents.

‘Well if we ever find a lake, fishing food will be as easy as breathing.’ I joked to myself, squatting once more to recharge my mana on the magical water.

After all, Frost seemed to have found a track of something and was just waiting for me so we could go hunting once more.

***

Frost

Not long after leaving the shore following a fox track a new track made its way to my perceptive muzzle.

‘Goblins’ as Jake called them, had passed by here not long ago, seemingly to the same location the ones on the shore were headed to.

Their den shouldn’t be too far from here.

So slowly we followed those tracks. And at first the trail was small, no more than 3 goblins should be part of that group, but at some point another track mixed, stronger this time, maybe 5 or 6 additional goblins.

Then another track mixed, and another.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Half an hour into our hunt and my powers already told me dozens of these beasts had passed through this single path.

Their numbers so large a path had formed where their track gathered in the snow.

And though yesterday that might be a threat big enough to dissuade me from giving a look.

Today I was a different beast, not only that but Jake had seemingly grown too, now able to follow me through the dark forest without having to hold my tail like a lost pup.

“There’s a group of about ten goblins in front of us Frost.” Jake suddenly sent to my mind.

Followed by a vision of the same forest we were, but with a blue like light covering every inch of it, making it clear and visible even way beyond what I could see with my own eyes.

There in the distance a group of goblins divided into three clusters with each of those struggling to carry a few bodies, running full speed I could reach them in less than a minute.

“Assuming they armor up after you kill one, how many could you take down and still run away?” Jake asked as soon as the vision ended.

Stopping for a moment I closed my eyes imagining the situation and soon the answer rose within me.

“Run?... Two… full brawl… at least six.” I answered, making him pause in thought.

Now it was my time to ask.

“Jake take down four?” I questioned hopefully, letting prey run away would be a sad choice.

“Not in a fight, but I have a skill to make them weaker from far away so I think we could try getting them one by one.” He answered before pausing and asking. “But do we even need to kill them all anyway? Like how many of them could you even eat?”

“All of those… and more… the more… the stronger I grow.” I stated clearly, to make sure he understood my goal.

“Damn, ok just… if you decide to brawl at least wait for me to get closer, ok?” He asked in a begging tone.

“Ok… Frost going now.” I agreed, accelerating my step to reach where Jake’s vision had shown our prey.

“Be careful Frost.” He whispered in his normal voice, also accelerating to the same direction, only at a much slower pace.

***

Jake

In moments I see Frost zip away towards the goblins, if she would listen or not only she and god knows.

Following suit I hurry my step and start to stare at the weakest and smallest goblin of the bunch, all of them are already struggling to drag whatever they caught through the snow, but this one seemed especially tired.

As I power walked and watched them struggle a question arose in my mind.

‘Why are they even carrying it back instead of eating where they killed it?’

They were obviously overburdened with the weight of what I assumed were three bodies, when if they had dropped or eaten one of them they would have a much easier and safer time, even more so if they did that twice.

‘There must be a reason…’ I shook my head, now was not the time to wander about what purpose a goblin might have.

Focusing my attention back on the goblin I’m graced with a scene that baffled my mind.

The goblin I was staring down had at some point sat trembling on the snow and was apparently arguing with the other two that were helping him carry their haul, which now laid limp on the snow.

To my even greater delight, the other seven goblins ignored their companions' discussion and kept walking away with their own catch.

Moments later a voice entered my mind.

“See three… where others?” Frost asked me as soon as she got halfway to the arguing goblins.

“They kept going further.” I informed her, sending the image of the other goblins just a couple dozen meters leaving the three behind.

“Jake distract three… I brawl seven… Tell Frost when ready.” She declared changing her path slightly so she wouldn’t be discovered on the way.

“Wait, why not deal with those three and then after that we go hunt the seven?” I half questioned, half argued, already expecting her to veto the idea.

“Kill three spook seven… bad… get seven spook three… ok.”

The thought, ‘Should I try to convince her this might go wrong if more goblins show up?’ crossed my mind, but I decided not to push it.

Having her announce what she would do was already a win in my books, if things got bad we’ll roll with it.

“Fine, I’m still on my way.” I warned her, going from a power walk to a run, lest I take too long and she engages all ten alone again.

Changing my stare to another goblin I kept running and soon reached their position.

Their arguing was still ongoing but now two of the goblins were sitting on the ground.

“I’m ready Frost.” I told my companion as soon as I hid myself behind a three close to the arguing bunch, to which the only answer I received was the loud yells of goblins coming from further down the path.

‘And I’m not the only one that heard them’ I concluded hearing the discussion suddenly stop.

Taking that as my queue I jumped out from behind the tree.

“Freeze.” I said loudly, catching the attention of the three.

With slow motions I raised my hand to the sky, before stopping in place and staring silently at the only goblin standing.

I see the goblin follow my hand with his gaze, in its eyes I see a mix of worry, confusion and… recognition?

‘Why does this thing look at me as if it has seen me before?’ I questioned myself as seconds passed by and we kept staring at each other, but soon the yells got louder and from my peripheral vision I saw frost move frantically with a dark blue aura.

This grabs the goblins' attention away from me, making them all react by shoving their hands beneath the snow.

Seeing my ruse no longer work, I rushed towards the last goblin I had stared at, kicking it in the shoulder before its armor completely formed.

Pinning it on the snow by sitting on its chest I put my hand on its neck and started channeling dark mine.

‘1, 2, 3’ counted before pulling my hand back and activating the dark ring.

In a moment I felt dark energy rush both at me and the goblin, which though hurt had survived the small explosion making me panic for a moment, but soon I notice that while the goblin is stunned on the ground, I am not, having only received a small amount of mana back from the skill.

‘Shit, I almost fucked up.’ I cuss in my mind, thankful self stun didn’t appear to be a thing.

Worried about being attacked by the other two I did a barrel roll away from the stunned goblin before standing up, only to find the goblins still in the same place they were before, a couple meters away from me, only now wearing the earth armor.

The weakest one which I stared at the most was unable to even get up while the other one’s legs shaked so hard it would fall back to the ground if it took a single step.

Holding the stunned goblin by the neck I started to channel dark mine once again, filling it with a third of my mana pool before throwing it towards the other two goblins and activating the mine, killing the marked one and stunning the other two.

“Jake needs help?…” Frost’s tired mind voice echoed through our connection just a moment later.

“No, you can take your time, but be carefull, you made so much noise it wouldn’t surprise me if more goblins came.” I answered back walking towards the two stunned goblins, impressed by how effective dark stare was at night, since I was positive I hadn’t stared at them for more than a minute or two and yet these two were basically out of the fight.

Seeing my last two enemies lay stunned in the ground, a small smile opened in my mouth and the question ‘Could I kill one of them just with my eyes if I stared long enough?’ popped up in my mind, before I dismissed the idea.

I knew I was too weak to fuck around and test ideas this close to an enemy’s nest.

So in no more than a minute and with two more dark mines I finished the stunned goblins, while looking around for other beasts that might have been attracted by the commotion.

Finding nothing inside my view close to either me or Frost I sat down on the snow and breathed out a tired breath.

I felt conflicted and honestly a bit worried.

These goblins didn't feel like mere animals, they felt sentient, not the smartest move to argue in the middle of a forest, but the fact they could even do that shook me a bit.

I knew killing them was correct, the moment frost attacked me on my first day here I accepted that was how this world worked, but…

‘I liked killing them way more than I should have.’

I could still hear my heart beat frenetically in my ears and feel the weak warmth slowly fading from my hand.

‘I can’t let this get to my head.

I sighed once more looking around at my small battle field, when suddenly my eyes locked into one of the bodies and my breathing abruptly stopped.

In the middle of fighting and staring I hadn’t noticed before, but the body they were carrying wasn’t any ordinary animal or random magical beast, but a middle aged man with a deep old scar over his right eye.