“Lograve, we’re coming up on the survivors!” Daniel called out. Tak peered at the road ahead, but couldn’t see through the rolling hills.

The group tensed and did the same. No one had expected Daniel, at the back of the group, to have noticed first. “How far?” Lograve asked.

“Two kilometers, maybe? I don’t know how far this goes yet.”

“Sir, I challenge that claim. No man of your level can sense that far, power or no.” It was the first time Gadriel had spoken to Daniel on the journey.

“It’s Ringcat. I’ve got a power that can mark things and he can use it.”

“Is that an Artificer power, or a Spiritualist one?” Tlara rounded on him as well.

“Not a Spiritualist and I don’t think that’s a class, so it’s gotta be Artificer.” Daniel held his ground. The murder cat at his side helped. Then his knees began to quiver as the murder rhino joined Tlara. “Look it’ll be obvious soon. If you don’t trust me trust your own eyes.”

“An acceptable wager,” Gadriel said with a hint of menace. Daniel hadn’t bet anything but he knew he was right, so what was the harm?

Fortunately for Daniel, they confirmed his sighting a few minutes later. The ten saw a reputable caravan in the distance, carts and all. Gadriel had a less fierce expression on his face now. “You are owed an apology, sir. Forgive me, your early escapades give me pause to believe further absurdity from you.”

It didn’t sound like an apology but Daniel took the olive branch all the same. “Thanks! I took your advice, by the way. My charisma is 12 now. Is it helping?”

“You accomplished this through your instant advancement?” The tone was back to challenging.

“Other people have to have that, right? I mean, do you know every power that exists?”

“Not as such.”

Daniel paused in surprise. He’d scored a point. Walking the line seemed easier all of a sudden as level one charisma began to pay for itself. “So is it hard to believe I can do it? You can swing a sword around like a yo-yo and that’s hard for me to believe.”

“I don’t entirely understand your meaning. Yet, upon reflection that is a fair argument.” Gabriel looked down, and then back at Daniel with renewed daring, “But your claims of this ‘dual advancement’ is an affront to the foundations of attributes!”

That’s what this is about? Daniel took a deep breath. Gadriel’s bluster had bowled him over before. Now, his new charisma seemed like a shield against it. He tried to mimic the hero’s formal speech. “Sir Cross, I can honestly say there are things about myself I don’t understand. I have only presented my personal truth. The expression of the world as I see it.” Let’s see if flowery language gets the job done.

“You swear this?”

“I do.” Daniel puffed out his chest in case it would make a difference.

Gadriel looked at him for a while, studying his face. The team had the time. They were taking a break to wait for the caravan to reach them. His aura hadn’t been fully red at the start of the journey, but a fair amount had bounced back and forth across the gray like a lava lamp. It drained away. “You are a man of your word, it seems. After our initial encounter, I discovered you were not consciously aware of your earlier tomfoolery. There is an enemy of mine who makes it a habit to torment me by proxy and I assumed you were his, witting or no. You, sir, have earned another of my rare apologies.”

Thank god. Or is it gods now? Wait, I never asked Thomas if praying was still a thing here. Can they hear my thoughts? He realized he was blowing his chance to make nice with Gadriel and refocused. “I appreciate the generosity. Ringcat and I will have your back.”

“The creature does appear an odd example of its kind. Befitting of the master. I will hold you to your word, though as your superior in level and path, I will temper my expectations.” Gadriel put a hand to his chest in some form of salute and walked away. His aura was now solid gray, so, progress.

It took half an hour but the survivors caught up to them, leading the hunting team to split up as Lograve sought a status report. Daniel had no interest in interfering with whatever discussion was happening between Lograve and Heldren Storm, who had been swaggering at the head of the survivors. He did see a very charged look pass between Gadriel and the other Hero, and after thinking back on their first conversation it was clear who Gadriel had meant by an old enemy. He guessed there was some kind of backstory there but had no intention of getting in the way in case Gadriel started throwing swords.

On the other hand, he was interested in talking with Quala. Picking out her semi-green aura from the rest of the caravan was fairly easy, even though some of the people he'd never met had an initial positive impression of him. He’d bemoaned his powers early on for their lack of flash, but was now appreciating their usefulness, especially Identify Creature. Aided by the force multiplier that was Ringcat, he'd made what was meant to be a simple query tool into a god-like detection field. On the way he clued in Thomas, who'd mentioned Quala in passing several times. It turned out to be a good move as the Cleric was already heading off to find her.

“You kept it.” Quala’s greeting briefly dipped into disapproving surprise but recovered to the gentle wisdom she’d had at first. “You are standing taller than the Totem Warrior I met last week.”

“Oh yeah, he’s the best Totem Warrior I’ve ever seen,” Thomas said quickly before Daniel could correct her. Daniel nudged him but that just made the Cleric’s smile brighter. “Great to see you, Quala! Anyone here need help?”

“No, thank you, Thomas. You should conserve your mana for the road.” The two seemed more familiar than Daniel expected.

“Was she your mentor?” he interrupted. “Thomas told me he was the only healer in the Verlund village but didn’t say where he was before that.”

“Indeed. He was my apprentice for two years in Hagain Village before taking to his own. We both came here from Aughal following, well, it’s best left unsaid.” Thomas grew serious as the two shared a look.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Daniel wasn’t going to touch that. “Wow, just two years? Where I come from doct- uh, Clerics can spend five times that learning their trade.” He was about to say magic probably made the process easier but shut up about other worlds. These were exactly the kind of people he shouldn’t mention that to.

“Yeah, Guy says things like that but he’s not too bad otherwise,” Thomas answered Quala’s confused look. She raised an an eye at the way he addressed Daniel, though Thomas continued on before she or Daniel could ask. “I think he had an improperly healed head wound as a child.”

“Well, in any case, it is good to see you as part of a training team. Level two will do wonders for your practice, believe me,” Quala laughed. It was the first time Daniel had heard an avianoid laugh. Hers had a pleasant song-like melody that made him feel better for being near it. Avianoids probably had an advantage when it came to bedside manner since their voices were a step above the other races he’d met. Well, except for Tlara. She somehow found a way to ruin that natural advantage.

“And how was your journey? Any advancement potential?” Thomas asked.

“No, it was there and back mostly. We’ve left the monsters to you two. Three.” She nodded to Ringcat. “It seems to have warmed to you after all. New power, a taming one perhaps?”

“You could say that,” Daniel answered, deciding to store the revelation that Thomas had given him a nickname for later.

Not tame, Ringcat growled in his head, and the anger underlying the words fully pushed the other matter out of his head.

I know but I can’t just tell her that.

Why?

I- The world’s treatment of Ringcat suddenly seemed just as unjust as it had Daniel’s. I shouldn’t need to, but if I do it’ll make things more dangerous for you.

Fine. Ringcat’s presence left his mind and left Daniel troubled in its absence.

…

The caravan and its hundreds of people passed by the eleven as they followed the road. Their arrival would stretch Hagain’s resources but not to the breaking point, not yet. Daniel watched the distant auras disappear as Ringcat obligingly removed the marks. They’d yet to find a distance that the marks would fade away at and could have tested it here, though having a grey blob on the horizon was ruled as too distracting by both. Daniel found sadness accompanied the departure of Quala’s aura. Ringcat may not have murdered him in his sleep, but she was the first person who had shown him real kindness in this world.

The eleven were in high spirits when Ringcat gave his second warning of the day to Daniel. Enemy packs!

Daniel was about to ask if they were more people until red outlines lit the grass to his left and right. By the size of the auras, he could tell they were about halfway within Ringcat’s maximum range. The auras were also of ringcats. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?

They stalk. Hidden. Maybe more.

“We’ve got company!” Daniel said like he was bracing an assault rifle to his shoulder. I don’t suppose you can tell them not to attack us?

They hunt us. No.

“Where?” half of the people asked together, drawing weapons. The earlier doubt about his detection power was gone.

“Two ringcat packs to our right and left pincering us a kilometer out. Looks like…” Daniel counted quickly. “Thirty-ish each. Mostly level ones, but both groups have level twos my power says are 'Alpha Ringcats'. Could be more.”

“Impressive nose,” Tak complimented Ringcat. Daniel wasn’t sure if the Totem Warrior had more insight into their relationship than he let on. Ringcat’s impression of the bird man only improved, at least. “They must have followed the caravan to pick off the weak who fell behind. That is us.”

Lograve took command. “Convenient that they split their numbers into two groups. Break into the formations we discussed. Trainers take the brunt, but let your trainees get some hits in so this counts for something. Go off the road and clear a space to fight!”

Kob’s team pounded away to the right while Lograve led Daniel and the rest left. His heart was racing from more than the running pace. Everything that had happened to him, not counting the sparkbats and all the falling to his death, hadn’t been too dangerous. Now three dozen bloodthirsty murder cats were coming to rip him to shreds.

Ringcat sensed Daniel’s fear. Flee?

I can’t.

Pack large. Death.

Lograve fought something worse than them and Tak seems to be itching to fight. They’ll be fine. He tried to sound more confident than he was. You’re not going to run, are you?

No. Ringcat didn’t elaborate.

Just stay close. I don’t think either of us should be fighting these hand to hand. Claw to claw, whatever. He looked at the shortsword he was holding. He’d drawn it without realizing. Not through practice, but an instinct to grasp at anything when predators were at large. He carefully sheathed it and went for the crossbow on Ringcat instead.

What is? Ringcat watched Daniel sight the weapon. The crossbow had a tough string and was capable of firing bolts just shorter than his arm was shoulder to wrist. Daniel had chosen that over the bow when asked about ranged weapons, knowing the latter required practice that he didn’t have. Young Daniel, however, had had a lot of experience sighting down arcade guns. This should be similar, right? It’s a long fang, I guess.

Longfang. Ringcat accepted the poor explanation at face value.

Daniel, Ringcat, Lograve, Thomas, Tak, and Gadriel stood in grass that went up to their waists. Everyone could see disturbances in the plants ahead drawing closer. Daniel could make out the predators hidden in the movement. They would be on them in a minute. Lograve concentrated for a moment and then waved his hands. Two scythes of ice appeared from the moisture of the air and started harvesting the grass around them to make a clear circle.

“Is that Aquakinesis?” Gadriel asked.

“Yes! I just heightened it to level three. Now listen up if you don’t want to be cat food. Thomas and Daniel, remain in the center of the circle. As long as you strike the enemy a few times you will most likely earn advancement potential. If you can manage a kill or two then all the better, but do not overextend!” He pointed to Thomas. “And you, do not rush to anyone’s aid! These beasts can’t fatally wound someone level two or higher unless the pack gets on top of them.”

“What about the alphas?” Tak asked.

“Leave those curs to me.” Gadriel leveled his sword at one of the largest disturbances in the grass. “I shall strike them down.”

“No theatrics, Hero. The three of us will form the points of a triangle surrounding the other two. The pack will likely attempt to get around us so stay alert. Of us three, my powers are more ranged focused, so don't mind me if I let you two take all the glory up front.” The tails of the first ringcats were now visible amidst the grass. The beasts knew they’d been spotted and rushed their prey with abandon. They had numbers. They had alphas. They had instinct driving them mad, rushing them towards the hated mortals they vastly outnumbered.

Any insight from your beast? Lograve privately asked Daniel on the way to the back of the formation. Now that he’d accidentally revealed the power to Ringcat, there wasn’t any reason to hide it when they needed to discuss sensitive information.

It wasn’t too hard for Daniel to keep a straight face as he replied. He’d been getting a lot of practice with talking in his head recently. We wouldn’t have known as quickly as we did if he didn’t say anything. It’s alright if I keep him with me?

Definitely. That ringcat is more valuable than you with its scouting. It’s not looking for a new master, is it? He seized both of Daniel’s shoulders. Hey! That was a joke, so smile! Seriously, Daniel, you fought a sparkbat swarm and survived your first day here. Keep your head steady and you’ll be fine. With that, he left.

“What was that?” Thomas asked, unable to follow the conversation and unaware of Lograve’s Telepathy. He’d only seen the physical contact.

“Nothing.”

The Cleric gave him an odd look but didn’t press. “Ready Guy? You sure that cat isn’t going to go turncoat?” Thomas asked.

“He won’t-“ Several snarls cut him off. The time for talking was over.