I picked up information in the Guild Library on summons. Apparently, there is a loyalty rating for the summons that I can’t see. If I mistreat Rob and the loyalty drops below zero, the summons connection can break. Even those who don’t think summons are alive should treat them well, or they might lose them, although this lends more weight to the summons being alive. The idiots who treat their summons as tools won’t have them for long. The information is available in a book available to all Guild members. There is no excuse for idiots.

I ride Rob out the gate, drawing stares. This will probably make Alistern’s job easier. The saddle wasn’t ready, so Smith and Jones gave me straps to use temporarily. Rob was low to the ground, so I was sitting significantly lower than the people mounted on horses. The second thing was Rob’s length. He was 12m long, and the tail was about half that. There were some annoyed people following me.

Once we cleared the gates, I let Rob run. I needed to get an idea of speed and stamina over longer distances. We would practice me staying on with him sprinting later. Robs could keep the pace of a trotting horse for a long time. His sprint was swift but also at a very short distance. I earned a level in my Riding skill by staying on. The Skill is close to maxing out, and I need something more sophisticated than basic riding for this.

I found a problem. Rob was nocturnal, and the bright sun hurt his eyes. While I was riding him, I could give him shades with my Shadow Manipulation. He was okay under the shade of trees, but open grassland, desert, and snow were going to be a problem.

We rode out to where the Slyhill safe zone used to be and then kept going to find the expanded area. The Trial expansion gave not only more resources but also more safe, usable land. We could ride all the way to the Burning Lake and not leave the safe area now. This was big for trade.

On the first day, we just rode and mapped the area. I let Rod go and hunt. I didn’t think he needed to eat, but we were discovering what he liked, and I know he liked to eat, even nasty Graks. He was mostly a carnivore. Because he had the suction pads on his feet, he didn’t have claws. He had his Viscous tongue for catching small prey, his bite, and the acid poison I introduced. He had a good tail swipe as well.

In the late afternoon, I found a gully with a reasonable-sized stream. I set up camp and let Rob roam. I watched as he used his Adaptive Camouflage to disappear next to the river, dart in, snatch a fish, and then go back to waiting. He was definitely alive.

I got out my purchases to practice my Ward Weaving. I could do simple attack wards with a crystal powering them. Now, I wanted to adapt them to be powered by my affinities. What I have discovered is that different materials can hold different amounts of injected mana, what I place the ward on matters if an external source like a crystal does not power it.

The other common thing I can use to power it is monster cores. I can inject my mana into the core and increase the mana in it, but it has to be compatible. All those cores I wasted searching for skills would have been great for holding Death Mana and, to a lesser extent, Shadow Mana. I have cores from the Slyhill trial, and the rats are good for death and shadow, the spiders are only good for shadow, and the lizards are good for shadow and life mana, which I assume is a source for their regeneration.

The elements are obvious. I didn't know there was Iron Mana, but it seemed to be an offshoot of metal. They could also hold Crystal mana, which I didn’t know was a thing, either. All in all, I had some cores that could take my death, some that could take my Shadow and none that could take my light.

Adjusting the weave to use a monster core as a source was not difficult. However, the monster core was not nearly as dense in mana as the crystals, although the higher-ranked scores were better. Before I left town, I purchased some monster cores from a swan bird monster that was receptive to my light. I also bought a selection of other cores with different inherent mana types to test the durability and effects.

Changing the weave to use monster cores was fairly easy, as it was still a concentrated source of mana. Using a material like wood or metal meant the source of the mana was spread out, not concentrated. If I only pulled mana from a single point, the material broke. That would take more work, so I put it to one side and concentrated on the monster cores.

I pulled out the monster core for the Matriarch Spider. As I was sensitive to shadow, I sensed the Shadow Mana first, but there was also other mana there in descending concentrations. I focussed my Mana Sensitivity, and Spider Mana was the highest. Do species have their own mana or only monsters? That is a question for later. Then there was Web, Poison, Shadow, and Camouflage. There were others, but these were ones I could probably use. The less there was, the less it would last, and then the core would break down, wasting the other types.

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I need to work on wards that draw different types and weave them together. That is what the door in the Stronghold did, and I need to work out those different weaves.

I can draw one type from one source for now. What I need to do is have a number of smaller input points spread throughout the ward, which will probably enable me to use mana in the material rather than a single source. Once I have that, maybe I can change those input points to take different types of mana.

I have a long way to go.

I set some single wards from the mana stones around my camp. It is probably too early for assassins, but maybe not. I also let Rob roam around at night. He is nocturnal. The night is when he is at home. I have to keep that Loyalty rating up. Also, if the rating gets low, it breaks the connection, so the rating improving must do something good. That is my theory.

With my constitution, I only need three hours or so of sleep, so I am up working on my wards. I wet some rocks and plants glowing with my charm, Glow. Not that I needed to, but that I wanted to. I need to experiment with that and dim and wither, using the charm with the appropriate manipulation skills.

Then I realised I was an idiot yesterday when I used Shadow manipulation to shade Rob’s eyes. I have a charm that is exactly right for that, and I don’t need to concentrate on it. When the sun rose, I cast Dim on each of his eyes and adjusted it with Shadow Manipulation, and I would only need to recast it in a couple of hours. If I level the Charm, I could probably get it to last all day.

Charms are simple everyday magic, and we neglect them too often.

I set up targets by using Glow on items such as tree trunks, branches, and leaves and practised throwing javelins and short spears. Precision Throw I was familiar with. Power and Piercing throws were different but had a lot in common. I practised with each hand and at speed. Then, I

mounted Rob and practised while riding. My accuracy went down, and I needed to keep practising.

The metal-tipped short spears were a lot more durable than the straight wooden javelins. I could get a file and keep them sharp and smooth out the dents. These are the ones I would stock. I could use them as spears as well. However, that was not my preference.

After decimating the local trees we started riding the perimeter of Slyhill and practising Farsight and Observant Eye and I was mapping more detail using both than using Farsight by itself.

I also practised my Tracking and Pathfinding skills. Tracking was rising up the ranks quickly, but Pathfinding wasn’t. It would sometimes highlight unstable terrain or where good ambush sites were, but it was only occasional. I would stop and harvest herbs when I saw them; it was another skill to level, and it could be very useful.

I spent quite a lot of time running beside Rob and just looking at him from various angles and in various actions. I wanted to perfect my Copy Image and Animate it correctly. It had nothing to do with my sore butt on his hard scales.

True to my agreement with Alistern, we returned to Slyhill late on the second day. The stealth harness was ready, but the main travelling saddle would take a couple of more days. A tiny spatial pouch hung from my pouch, and I could deploy the harness and retract it to the pouch as required, which only took a couple of seconds. It wasn’t any more comfortable.

In the morning, I showed myself in the market, selling a few bits and buying more supplies, and then we headed out of town again. I am pretty sure Rob was happy. He hadn’t been in the tattoo since we left Slyhill three days ago. He trotted after me to the market, ensuring I was noticed.

This time, I was looking for some gullies and cliffs for Rob to go up and hang on to the new harness. Slyhill was more rolling hills than steep cliffs, and I found an old quarry face and a few other places where I could practice hanging on while Rob went up. Rob was faster climbing them, but I would feel safer climbing on my own. The Sure-grip enchantment in my gloves got a workout.

I set up camp, and we practised Throwing and Wards. The next day was more hard terrain and this meant Riding levelled and maxed out. Because I was essentially riding bareback on steep terrain, I was offered Bronc Riding, which helped me keep my seat regardless. It would be useful and needed. I was looking for a skill more like Stunt Riding, though. The mount sales places might have a skill stone for sale. I will check them out. Bronc Riding didn’t come with any padding for the butt.

I came across a body on my way back to Slyhill that afternoon. It had arrow wounds and a throat slit. Whoever killed it had already looted it. I looked around but didn’t find anything, not even with Tracking now at level five. Pathfinder took note of the terrain; if an ambush took place here, it would be a potential hazard to watch for.

If Alistern is making progress, I might see if Smith and Jones have any riding Skill Stones.