Zane showed up at the restaurant around noon with a pocket full of gold and several snacks for his pets. He sat on the floor, absentmindedly stroking Dumpling as he waited for the cores to do their work. In hindsight, it was a good thing the bandits had tried to rob him. He had been spending more time cooking than killing lately and was running low on supplies.
Dumpling burrowed deeper into his lap. It was the first time she had lost a fight and he could tell the spirit beast had been shaken by the experience. Daisy had gotten the worst of it though. She had been standing over the General when his attack went off. The horse crushed a core with her teeth and swallowed it. “That cultivator was unpleasantly resilient,” she said.
“I know, right?” Zane agreed, “And that area of effect attack he had was total bullshit. I’ve got no idea how to counter that.”
Dumpling purred in her master’s arms as she tried to devise a strategy. “PERHAPS WE CAN USE ITS DESTRUCTIVE NATURE TO OUR ADVANTAGE. THE TECHNIQUE COULD BE HARMFUL TO ALLIES, AS WELL AS ENEMIES.”
“Maybe,” the young man replied, “I can’t imagine the General putting someone else’s life above his, assuming he’s still alive.”
Lily stepped into the stables. “General Badi is alive, barely,” she informed them.
“Good for him,” Zane said bitterly, “Remind me to fix that later.”
The woman frowned. “I’d rather if you didn’t. I don’t think I want him dead.”
Daisy and Dumpling gave Lily a look of disbelief. The void stalker narrowed her many eyes at the former disciple. “THAT IS INFORMATION WE COULD HAVE USED YESTERDAY.”
Zane didn’t want to admit it out loud, but he was not looking forward to fighting the General again. He could still remember how it had felt to have his skin peeled off by that shockwave attack. Only his regeneration had kept him from being killed by the first one. He repressed a shudder.
“I suppose we can see if he pulls through before we decide what to do with him,” Zane said, “The General might choose to leave once he’s healed.”
“POTENTIALLY,” Dumpling admitted, “THOUGH IT SEEMS A WASTE. THINK OF THE EXPERIENCE WE COULD GAIN BY KILLING SOMEONE OF HIS LEVEL.”
“Not to mention his core,” Daisy added, licking her lips, “It must be filled with such delicious light.”
Lily gave the two spirit beasts a slightly queasy look. “Well, I guess that settles that.”
Zane shook his head. The young man wasn’t great at reading social cues, but he could see that the conversation was making Lily uncomfortable. “Look, if it bothers you that much, we can leave him alone for now. But if he comes after us again, I’m going to put him in the ground.”
“Thank you,” Lily said as she made a hasty exit from the stables.
The rogue cultivator turned to his disciples, “Look, I don’t get it either. But apparently they have some connection, and I care more about keeping our crew happy than killing some asshole cultivator.”
“Fair enough,” Daisy said, “But if he so much as looks at me funny, I’m taking his core.”
“AND I WILL NOT HESITATE TO KILL HIM FOR DARING TO HARM MY FELLOW DISCIPLE,” Dumpling added.
Zane smiled. Death threats were as good a proof as anything that his pets were on the mend. “That’s fair,” he said, “Now, what shall we have for lunch?”
***
The next day they reopened the restaurant for brunch, then went out to gather resources afterward. “Who can see the next city?” Zane asked, pointing up the mountain.
Groucho and Lily could, the others weren't high enough level yet. “I'm almost there, I think,” Pinky said with a groan as she stood in her tiptoes.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The kitsune had been very interested when Zane told her about Lady Foxglove’s warning. Thankfully, Pinky didn't seem particularly jealous of the goddess. Apparently she thought he was too oblivious to cheat, which was a first.
Women were always fighting over Zane and accusing him of flirting, which got old quickly. If other women were attracted to him, that wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could do about it.
“So, what's the plan?” Groucho asked from underneath his wide brimmed straw hat. Pinky had solved his reluctance to wear clothes by informing him about the wonders of sun damage. Now the killbot wouldn't go outside without every inch of his skin covered. “You said we needed to focus on leveling up.”
“It's simple,” Zane replied, “Apparently my fucked up core is like a lure to any spirit beasts in the area. All we have to do is go about our business, gather supplies, and kill anything that attacks.”
Groucho was cool with that. He liked killing. “Better you than me,” he said, “I’m trying to avoid getting any holes in my new suit. That shit hurts.”
Lily gave the killbot a look of morbid curiosity, “Wait, you can feel pain? I mean, you can feel your skin?”
“Yeah, isn’t magitech amazing?” Groucho pinched his cheek, “It ages too, which kind of sucks. I don’t know why my creator was so obsessed with the idea of making constructs that seemed human, but you have to admire the craftsmanship.”
“I still think it’s creepy,” the former disciple said with a shudder, “You’re literally wearing someone else’s skin.”
“Waste not, want not,” the killbot replied with a shrug, “But yeah, something was definitely wrong with my creator. That dude was fucked-up in the head.”
Zane nodded sagely. “Making killer robots that can pass as human is always a dumb idea. Even I know that.” He paused as a shadow passed over the meadow. The rogue cultivator looked up to see a massive orange bird circling above him. It also appeared to be on fire, which was a new one for Zane.
“Hey guys!” he called out as the flaming bird started its descent, “It looks like we have company!”
Zane wasn’t exactly sure how experience worked here. The young man probably should have asked about that before they started trying to fight random spirit beasts, or come up with a plan of attack, but it was too late for any of that now.
He sprinted out into the center of the meadow to draw the creature away from his companions. The firebird had a wingspan twenty feet wide and its yellow talons crackled with electricity. He summoned a cleaver and waited for it to get within range. When it was only a few yards away he threw the weapon as hard as he could, and teleported out of the way.
Zane watched as the spirit beast hit the ground with a sickening crunch. At first, he thought his cleaver had crippled a wing. Then he spotted a triumphant void stalker floating above her prey. The bird twitched as Dumpling’s gravity attack destroyed its hollow bones. A few seconds later Daisy trotted over and crushed the spirit beast’s skull with her hoof, extinguishing the flames that rippled along its body.
“Woah,” Zane said as he processed what had just happened, “I kind of expected more of a fight.”
Dumpling floated over to him, her tail lashing back and forth with amusement. “I THINK BIRDS MIGHT BE MY NEW FAVORITE PREY,” she said, “THEIR BONES MAKE SUCH SATISFYING NOISES WHEN THEY BREAK.”
Zane wasted no time butchering the creature. He held onto the core and any cuts of meat that looked edible. Pinky claimed a few of the feathers because she thought they were pretty. The rest went to his pet spirit beasts.
Watching Daisy eat was always a surreal experience. The horse barely chewed, instead preferring to swallow her prey whole whenever possible As the majestic bird vanished head first into her toothy maw, Dumpling started at the feet and worked her way up. They met somewhere in the middle, ripping the creature in half and sending orange feathers flying everywhere.
Lily looked over at Zane. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” she said.
“Me neither,” agreed Pinky, “It’s like watching two starving dogs fight over a steak.”
A chorus of angry shrieks rang out across the mountain before Zane could reply. He looked up and saw a flock of five more birds flying towards them. ”Ah fuck,” he said, “Here comes the rest of them.”
What followed next wasn’t pretty. His original tactic of teleporting out of harm’s way turned out to be much less effective than simply summoning a shield and letting the birds crash into it. The Sorcerer Initiate ability he bought back in the warren was finally coming in handy, though Zane was annoyed it only came with three spells. Light, Shadow Jump, and Shield were all good, but he would have given someone’s left nut to be able to throw a fireball.
Daisy and Dumpling continued to use their tried and true tactics. The void stalker immobilized the birds while her sister went in for the kill. Lily and Groucho held back because they didn’t need the experience as badly, leaving Pinky as the odd one out.
The kitsune didn’t have any good ranged attacks and she couldn’t use her poison abilities on anything her friends might eat. Daisy ended up using a hoof to pin one of the birds so that Pinky could get in close and drain it, but combat was obviously not her strong suit.
“Leveling up is going to take forever,” the kitsune said with a groan.
“Yeah, probably,” Zane agreed, “Unless someone has a better idea of how to go about it.”
Daisy slowly raised her hoof. “I believe I might have a way.”