Moonless, the sky was adorned with a thousand sparkling stars that did nothing to light the soft grassy earth upon which Alden walked. Each step was slow and methodical, his foot ever so gently touching the ground and, confirming that the ground did indeed exist beneath his foot, pressing harder and harder until it bore his weight. A needed precaution when one could not see, irritating as it was. With only touch and hearing to guide him, Alden approached the sound of trickling of water, and with every step he feared he would plummet over the river’s bank.

He cursed himself with each step; a torch would frighten the beast, he’d figured, thus here he was, tiptoeing in total blackness in search of a creature that could tear him limb from limb. Not his brightest idea, even he would admit, but his options were limited.

Coming to the edge of the river’s bank, Alden lowered himself down cautiously, feet sinking into damp sand. He dipped his hand into the water, splashing it about; cold, it reminded him of ice water and left him with a thirst.

The task at hand was a concerning one, ever more so due to its confusing aspects. How did one tame a 1200 pound flying deer monster, one resistant to magic to boot? If any knew how, Alden was not one of them. The deer he knew of ate clover, grass, and other greens found in nature that no human made a habit of consuming. But that was the previous world; this world operated on its own logic, and Alden was not privy to as much as he’d like.

That meant only that he needed to use what he was privy to. Forming a half-spade with his hand, Alden concentrated on his internal flow of magic, directing it with his will. From his core the burning tendrils shot forth, following the path they always took–to his arms. Struggling against the flow, he redirected the otherworldly power up towards his head.

The idea had come to him some time ago. He had only toyed with it, at the time, afraid of what might happen if he were wrong. Magic hurt to use at its easiest, and he found out quickly enough that this plan of his was anything but easy.

Pain ebbed across his skull akin to a dozen migraines striking at once. Veins and arteries began to bulge from his neck and face, blood erupting in small, painful spurts that doused his arm and body. Continuing onward, the energy grudgingly reached its destination–his eyes.

Falling to his knees, Alden let out a low, anguished scream. The pain was almost unbearable, as if his eyes had been lit on fire and melted within their sockets. He clutched at them uselessly with his hand, not knowing if they truly had melted. Was it a mistake? Was his assumption wrong?

As the pain subsided Alden felt wet tears streaming down his cheeks. He had fallen to the ground completely, he realized. Laying on his side, he gazed across the river to the river’s bank, above which grew waist-high grass that flowed uneasily in the night wind. Blinking, he looked again, then turned to look down the river. A distance away was a large boulder at the river's edge, the water splashing against it as it flowed past.

With an elated push off the ground he stood, his body suddenly light.

Skill Up

Learned Body Reconfigurement Rank F

Reward: 50XP

First Discovery Bonus Reward: 1,000xp

Level up

Reward: 5 Stat Points.

First Discovery Bonus?

Explanation

Due to being the first to discover this Skill, a bonus reward has been generated.

And now this? Shaking his head at the screen, Alden dismissed it, content to slake his curiosity later. Body Reconfigurement was the more tempting of the two, at the moment.

Risky as it was, Alden could not help but try. Magic already did wonders on altering an injured human body, restoring it back to its initial state. Why, then, could one not change what they already had to something new? No doubt countless mages had attempted the same, only to meet a fate similar to Alden’s own—pain and suffering. What separated him from them was the success.

The newly brightened river was as he’d remembered it from earlier in the day; calm and pristine and overlooked by an otherworldly beast.

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Stood at the precipice of the bank’s edge, the peryton gazed down curiously at Alden just as it had done before. It beat its mighty wings, a warm breeze billowing past Alden, and an instant later the beast had jumped down to the river inches in front of him. It approached him with confidence, as if to say that nothing he could do could harm it, a fact both were keenly aware of.

Larger than any horse he’d seen, the peryton towered over Alden, who barely met the height of its shoulder. Looking up, its antlers were like a late autumn tree in the dim night, its branches twisting and stretching and curving into sharp branches.

Majestic as it was, Alden felt cold tremors course up his back. Alden could feel its hot breath against his face; smelling of fermented grass and dirt, a rush of burning vomit brushed the back of his throat, leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

Slowly, he reached out with his hand, placing it just before the creature’s nose. Its large nostrils inflated into large black holes as it breathed out, its breath warm against his hand. Nuzzling its nose against him, its nostrils flattened into slits as it sniffed at him.

It was almost cute, in a way. Like a dog meeting a stranger for the first time. And for just a moment Alden felt that, perhaps, taming the beast would be possible.

He was not so certain an instant later. With a loud chirp the beast rose on its hind legs, wings extended. Alden leapt backwards, landing against soft mud as he tried to scramble away from the beast. Falling forward, the peryton’s hooves dug into mud, its great wings buffeting him with a blast of hot wind. Approaching, the beast stood once more, its front legs kicking wildly towards Alden.

Stumbling upright, he dove headfirst into the cool river water to avoid the lethal blows, the sudden drop in temperature paralyzing his senses. Forcing his arm to move, he swam weakly to the other side and half crawled back onto land, a torrent of water dripping down his hair and across his face. Whipping water from his eyes, he turned to see the creature had vanished. Twisting and turning, he searched for the creature as he slipped his sword from its sheath.

His heart fluttered and his grip tightened painfully around the handle of his sword. It was faster than him, stronger than him, larger than him, and the damned thing could fly on top of it all. Yet even as he searched the skies Alden found no trace of it. Could it turn invisible? There was no way to tell.

Alden clambered up the river bank and flopped onto his back, feeling suddenly exhausted. He forced himself up, dearly wishing for sleep and the comfort of a feather mattress. There was no trace of the creature on either side of the river, nor was it to be found by the waters or even the sky above. It was gone, well and truly. That was, until a loud chirping roar sounded out from above.

What he had thought was a small gray cloud grew and grew until finally he could make out the finer details. The peryton. Descending fast, the beast landed several feet in front of him, a blast of wind kicking up a storm of dust.

Holding his sword between them, Alden waited for the beast to make its move, then, when it did not, tiptoed forward. The peryton tilted its head, watching, then trotted over to him. Alden brandished his sword, watching. When it did not attack he let the blade fall away to his side.

In a single swift motion, the creature unbuckled the pack Alden wore on his back, its sharp antlers grazing painlessly against his shirt and mail. Content with its findings, the beast trotted backwards with a lump of cheese between its narrow jaws.

“What the…?” Alden muttered. Nothing could have prepared him to watch a giant bird-deer eat a block of stolen cheese. It left him feeling mildly puzzled and, much to his joy, it left him with a plan.

Sheathing his sword, Alden slipped another block of cheese from his pack. He had brought three with him, as well as some hard bread, in case his search took longer than anticipated. Instead, it seemed, it would serve another purpose.

The peryton finished what it had stolen in quick measure, a pink tongue lapping up cheesy crumbs that had fallen to the ground. Looking up it spotted yet another tasty morsel in the palm of Alden’s hand and froze.

“Come on,” he said with as gentle a voice as he could muster. “Here you go.”

The beast understood him, or at least seemed to, giving the hard cheese a wary nibble. The taste emboldened it, and in moments it had consumed the block of cheese in its entirety, its slimy tongue lathering Alden’s hand in sour smelling spittle as it licked up the remaining crumbs.

“That’s good, huh?” Alden said. Slowly he extended his hand and brushed it against the peryton’s multicolored feather-fur. Soft, it had an almost squishy texture as his hand sank into it. The perfect material for pillows, he thought.

With slow, gentle strokes, Alden petted the beast. It was cute, in its own way, despite its monstrous size. Why, if it had been a fawn it would have been positively adorable. But it was not, and despite the tameness of the creature now, he couldn’t shake the thin strands of terror that were laced around his heart.

Letting loose a high chirp, the peryton dug at the ground with a front hoof, its head bobbing up and down excitedly. It wanted more cheese, no doubt. Alden presented the last block, to which the creature attacked it hungrily. Once finished the beast backed off several steps and began to leap back and forth, its hind legs kicking into the air, its wings flapping. Stopping, it sidled up close to Alden, its snout brushing against his neck.

“You really do like it, don’t you? How about you come with me? Got all the cheese you can eat back at camp.”

Did it understand him? It was a monster, true, innately more intelligent than other animals, but it was an animal no less. A magic animal unlike anything he’d ever seen.

If the beast understood him, it must have refused. Letting out a gentle huff of warm, moist air, the peryton turned away. Its powerful wings extended wide; each wing must have been ten feet long. Flapping hard, the beast rose high into the air.

Disappearing into the horizon, Alden was left alone to the sound of trickling water and chirping insects. A failure. Though perhaps not a complete one.

The blue screen detailing his quest did not change, nor did it disappear. That gave Alden some small hope. He could always try again.