Ray readied an arrow as the group of howlers closed in. They looked like normal brown bears at first glance, but upon closer inspection, their throats had a large sac that produced their wailing.

“Hold your ground,” Igi said, moving in front of the group. “They normally don’t gather in this big of a pack. We will need to be careful.”

Ray looked over at the creatures slowly surrounding them again and noticed something strange.

“Are they supposed to have that white fungus growing off of them?”

“Now that you mention it, no. Avoid that stuff and use ranged attacks. I believe the walker fungus has infected them.” Igi responded.

The group of newbies turned pale at his words and drew back bow strings or pointed staffs at the creatures while muttering incantations.

“Walker, what now?” Erith asked.

“It's a fungus that propagates by reanimating corpses and using them as vectors for transmission. If infected and not treated within 24 hours, you will end up joining their ranks.“ Arabella said, drawing her sword.

The group tensed as the casters finished their incantations. Igi listened intently, waiting for each of his students to finish before he finally gave the signal.

“Now!” he roared, followed by a volley of martial and mystic arts flying at the infected bears.

“Power shot!”

“Icicle!”

“Grasping vines!”

“Mana bolt!”

The group roared in tandem. Erith and Ray, refusing to be outdone, unleashed a firebolt and constrictor shot, respectively. Vines and moss sprang to life, holding the creatures in place. A large shard of ice followed, tearing through five of the creatures snared close together. Another bear fell as an arrow ripped through its neck, almost completely removing its head and severing its spinal cord. Next, two mana bolts, one a glowing blue and the other crimson, impacted their targets. They tore into their targets with the crimson one, causing the creature's fur to ignite. It howled in terror as the fire not only consumed the bear but the fungus controlling it before disappearing as if had never been there. The final projectile impacted one of the three remaining bests. A large green snake appeared, wrapping the creature in a tight hold before its fangs descended on its neck. Ray’s jaw hung open as his skill drained the life out of its target. He checked the bow to see if anything had changed since he enchanted it, but that was not the case.

Maybe it's because of my mana rank up? I will have to talk to Freia when I get back. He considered before refocusing on the last two targets, but concluded his help was unnecessary.

“Shockwave!” Igi roared, extending his fist with a powerful punching motion.

The air rippled as a powerful unseen force moved through it. It impacted one of the remaining bests, reducing it to a red stain on the ground before continuing into one of the mushroom trees and causing it to topple.

“Shit, overdid it again,” Igi said with a frown while rubbing the back of his head.

Ignoring the raw display of power, Arabella gracefully moved her way through the fallen creatures and to the last remaining member of their number before dispatching it with a slight flick of her wrist, causing its head to fall to the ground. She sheathed the blade that did not have a speck of blood on it and returned to the group.

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“Erith, would you be a dear and reduce those corpses to ash so the fungus cannot spread further?” She asked.

“Yes, lady Arabella.” She responded before igniting the bodies one by one until nothing remained.

“Good work class. That fungus explains why they have been venturing out in search of food recently. Damn disease must have been spreading through the cave for months.” Igi said.

“We need to scour the cave so that this does not become a recurring problem,” said Arabella.

Igi nodded, and the group reformed a defensive formation and swept the rest of the cave. They came upon a few more packs of the infected creatures but made quick work of them between the druid (that Ray had learned was named Jen) and Katelin’s ice magic. There were a few close calls, but Arabella or Igi would step in before anyone got hurt. They even came across a small uninfected howler that Katelin quickly made into her familiar getting Igi’s permission. After three hours, they had finally cleared the cave completely of the fungus infection. They left the enormous cavern and Katelin conjured another gate spell transporting the group back to the city entrance.

“That should be all for today. Remember that we will have a debriefing tomorrow at 11 am. Erith and Ray, you're also invited if you wish to attend. For now, you are all dismissed as I'm going to need to help Katelin with the paperwork for her new familiar.” Igi said, turning to follow the girl who was now riding atop the small bear that was still the size of a horse. Erith and Ray followed Arabella back towards the castle as they spoke.

“I expect both of you to attend Igi’s debriefing tomorrow. He may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but he has an incredible mind for all things related to combat. As expected from my former star pupil.” Arabella said.

“Will do. His insights helped a lot when we last trained with them, so I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.” Erith responded.

Ray made his way down the steps leading to the workshop as soon as they arrived back at the castle, excited to get to work on his next project. He also needed to ask Freia if she knew anything about what could be going on with his bow. He pushed open the large door leading to the cluttered room and saw Freia working on a new set of blueprints. She looked up, hearing him enter.

“Hey Ray, how's ya day been?” She asked.

“Good, but I have something I want to ask you about, the enchantments in my bow,” he responded.

“Sure, ask away.”

“I used it in the hunt that Arabella took me and Erith on today, but it had an effect trigger that is not in the item description.”

“Hmm, so what was the effect?” She said, inspecting the item and using her investigation skills.

“It activated like normal restraining the target, but then it bit down on its neck and drained its life force. Do you think it could have something to do with my mana rank up?”

Her large eyes lit up as he spoke.

“Oh my, a skill combination. Who could have guessed that your arm would be capable of somtin’ like that?”

“Skill combination?” Ray asked.

“Ya, it's what happens when you infuse two items with compatible skills at the same time. It's extremely rare, but guessing by the broad ability that your arm has, it may be compatible with a lot more items.”

“But I was not even infusing my arm when it happened.”

“You draw back the bowstring with your right hand, ya?”

“Yes.”

“And how do you infuse the energy needed for your bow skill?”

“With my right.. arm… Ok, I see what you are getting at.”

“Good, now that's sorted, why don’t we get to work?”

Ray nodded in agreement, walking into the back and emerging in a leather apron with large gloves designed to keep him from being burned while working the forge.

“Alright, what do you need done first?”