Afternoon found Kaden at the Guild in Verona, waiting for Sara and Eve to pick up their gear. He couldn’t help feeling different as he stood among the Adventurers. Still nothing compared to a level fifty, seventy five, or Centurion, but the tier shift came with a difference in the way he felt.

And he’d finally found the weapons smith who’d made him a hand-to-hand weapon from a Wraith’s scythe and picked it up. Honestly, it felt weak in his hands. Like, he could get the job done but never excel with it.

A waste of gold.

A misstep when he wasn’t sure of his path.

Maybe not as bad as Sara’s attempts, as bringing up her grappling hook or bashing bells was a great way to put her in a sulk. Turns out, the Horror liked the taste of grappling hooks and bashing bells. She could have saved herself time by feeding it silver directly.

When they were back at the Holding, he would activate his Assistant. Since it was a Vichorean artifact, having Ashi present was a must. From across the Guild, he spotted a massive [Shield] and began to make his way thorugh the crowd. “Ban! How’s it going?”

Ban pivoted on a dime and lumbered his way, still a foot taller than Kaden. “Look who it is. Lemme find Mara, she’s going to want to see it. She hit twenty nine yesterday and her Tier two bow is finally ready.”

“Where’s your healer?” Kaden asked. Davos hadn’t been alive last time he saw the man. “And Zeek?”

“Davos and Zeek went to a new party for a better cut of loot. Mara and I are reforming. Word of warning, she let Roon back in. He’s a wonder if he’s not stealing from you.” Ban looked him up and down. “Twenty five that fast doesn’t come easy, but—”

“Kaden!” Mara shouted as she headed their way. “Twenty five? I’d say impossible but I see witjh my eyes. Gyre, say hello.”

The Hawk on her shoulder was larger now, and its feathers more gold, but Kaden remembered him. “Hello.”

*Friend*. Gyre could say more and simply didn’t need to.

“We’re not staying here, I got my new bow, we’re going to check it out.” Mara nodded. “Come along, I haven’t seen you since the Surge.”

“Ashi!” He waved for her. “Ashi’s our [Mage],” he said as she joined him. “Mara’s a friend, I’m going to check out her new Tier bow. You want to come, wait for Sara and Eve, or you have shopping to do?”

“I go with you,” Ashi said. “It is good to meet friends, always. This is the [Ranger] of whom you spoke? And her [Shield]?”

“He better have said good things.” Mara headed to the training portals, and activated one. “Rangers can always use this archery range. Is it true, you met Viktor? The ‘Dancing Arrow?’ I heard stories about him. He had mana arrows that could split or join or curve. And he’s dead.”

“We know this. Kaden was present,” Ashi said as she followed them.

The portal led to the Guild’s training range for [Archery], where a [Ranger] oversaw lines of would-be adventurers training with short wooden bows.

“Mara. Friends?” He nodded to the rest.

“Got my Tier Two bow,” She said, holding it up. The bow was silvery metal with black lines through it. “It cycles through Lunar and Solar arrow types without using [Mana Quiver.]”

Mara took a spot and loosed arrow after arrow. The first would blaze with silver light, the second burn with golden light. “I can’t skip one type yet but I will be able to eventually.”

Ashi’s fingers began to glow orange on one hand and darken on the other as she siphoned mana in despite her wraps. She shifted nervously and stood behind him. “We should go. There is too much mana here.”

“Use one of the targets. They won’t mind.” Kaden stepped aside.

The targets were stump creatures so [Archery] would count it.

Ashi carefully let loose a [Moon Strike] style bolt of Lunar Mana, then a swarm of [Moon Strikes], followed by [Eclipse Bolt]. She shrank away from the way Mara and Ban stared at her.

To break it, he took out the package the Rangers had given him and activated the Inventory extraction. A Mana Quiver, and a bow made of yellow bone, without a string. When he touched the quiver, a notification popped up.

Bind Mana Quiver? [Y/N]

Why not? He selected yes, and welcomed the new skill.

[Mana Quiver]

You’re never out of arrows if you’ve got Mana. Inject Mana to pull out arrows. At higher levels, the arrows will retain attributes of your mana.

“Neat.” And the bow, as he gripped it, drained mana and flexed as a string of pure energy formed.

Mara looked like she was ready to shout. “Finally trying a real weapon? Where did you get that bow?”

“Viktor said I should learn how to use one.” He read the bow’s description and couldn’t help smiling.

[Thorn Caster - Epic Bow]

Crafted from the horns of an extinct [Quillophant] species, this bow retains the piercing and poisoning skills that made the Beast such a terror. Arrows loosed from it will always do a point of damage and inflict poison.

“What did you do to earn that?” Mara asked.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Kaden hadn’t expected such a generous gift. “All I did was walk into Hell and challenge a bunch of minotaurs. And insult a Demon Lord. And betray his Daughter.”

“Beautiful and deadly, as it should be.” Ashi put her hand on the bow and plucked the string of mana so it hummed. “Show me.”

The only problem?

Kaden didn’t have [Archery.] He’d never been one to let a lack of ability or talent stop him, so he held the bow firmly, reached for the quiver. It was like pulling a thorn from his side, one that took mana instead of health, but the result was a dull brown wooden arrow with a head that glistened like black quartz.

He nocked the arrow and awkwardly drew it back, imitating the way Mara held her bow.

It did not hit the target.

It did not hit the grass.

The arrow sailed over the target and whistled into the hillside.

“Oh, this hurts,” Mara said. “Arm up, turn your lead shoulder first, draw back to match your chin, and look at the space between your arrow tip and the target. See where it’s at? Remember that, because when you miss, you can adjust using that.”

Kaden loosed the arrow and smiled as it actually struck the bottom of the target. He drew another and aimed upward. And another, and another, until the arrows reliably thunked into the target.

Your skill with Mana Quiver has increased.

No Archery skill now, but every arrow only cost a few points. Instead of wooden shafts, they felt like metal, and the tips were solid black stone instead of glittering.

“Move slightly right and adjust,” Mara said.

He did, and two shots later repeated.

“Back.”

Again, and left, and right. On a hunch, he aimed not at the closest target but at the one furthest away. Focused on drawing the arrow. On loosing it in a single smooth movement. It was an absolutely beautiful miss.

So were the next five, but the sixth slammed home.

You have learned a new skill.

[Archery]

Pull the string and let it fling, shooting stuff that can’t hit back is fun, and if you shoot it enough, it never will hit back. You know how to hold bow and arrow. You shoot good. Good shoot. Shoot more to shoot gooder.

Like with [Stealth], the skill came as understanding of the gap, the slightest knowledge of how to hold the bow better, an understanding of the relationship between distance and the arc of the arrow. “No wonder Sara and Trella like this.”

Liked.

She liked it.

“The bow will do for a while but sooner or later you’re going to need something better. Mine will be solid at least to seventy five,” Mara said. “Five thousand gold, but worth every coin.”

Ban laughed, a deep throated guffaw. “This is why I chose skills that grant elemental equipment. My gear is cheap. It gets ruined. I make more.”

“[Shields] and [Mages] are different, I guess. You want to have something to eat? My treat?” Kaden led the way to the third bar and ordered there on Eve’s tab, since she had a standing deal, part of what her family arranged. Kaden had eaten preserved biscuits, and the food at the guild was delicious as far as he was concerned.

He sat at a table with Ashi, while Mara sat across and Ban, the poor man had his own. Monster sized [Shields] were a problem the Guild dealth with by having special tables for them.

She explained how most party leaders took a larger cut of the gold and loot, and given that she had no unique ties to Davos or Zeek, she’d been happy to let them go. “Zeek was good, but his brother was coming up as a [Shield] and his cousins are [Swordsmen]. Davos needs to work the temple. He’s not cut out for getting trapped in a Dungeon for days.”

“Sara’s looking for a new [Rogue] for us, until Trella’s back.” He spoke it with force. It would be true. “Any suggestions?”

“Talk to James Dervish. He’s connected with everyone. If you were a few levels higher, I’d offer you a spot. Kinda think you’d say no, though. You still in love with the Party Leader of yours?”

Kaden didn’t flinch. “Never was, though I’d step in front of a blade for any of them.”

“Tell me more,” Ashi said. “Not you, Kaden. You.”

“You heard him. Nothing to tell.” As a fellow survivor of the Saint’s Hall, Mara knew how it was. Though she hadn’t had someone she could trust, or love.

A messenger bird landed on Mara and she listened to it. “Interesting. Ban, remember the [Beserker] from Karhat? He’s looking for a Party and has a [Paladin] friend. Not sure I can put up with the holier-than-thou stuff but he might do.”

Ban pounded his fist on the table. “Love [Beserkers]. Paladins can lick demon butt, far as I’m concerned. Can we convince him to join and convince the Paladin we’re cultists or something?”

“We can try.” Mara reached over to take Kaden’s hand. “Take it easy. Tempering isn’t overnight, no matter what the System prompts say. You’ll be stronger and faster tomorrow than you are today, and even better every day after for a week.”

When she stood, Kaden did too. “Let’s go find Sara and Eve.”

“Will you reconsider? Her words sound like wise counsel.” Ashi’s tone said there was a good answer and a bad one. “I’ll talk with Sara and Eve. Maybe we go hunting like normal, just Night Spawns.”

When had Night Spawns become something he looked forward too?

Together they went to the seamstress working on Sara’s new Armor and sheaths, which would match her new swords.

Eve should have been back already. She’d taken Vip, and Kaden sensed Vip was calm and happy, so it wasn’t danger keeping her away. “If Eve isn’t back in an hour, I’m hunting her down.”

“No one would take her. If they did, they would bring her back. Perhaps even pay us to allow her return,” Ashi said.

“Vip loves Eve.”

Ashi didn’t even blink. “We all have faults, even your dog. I love that this city has Beasts. In Vichor only the royal family posesses them.”

“I’ll be posessing more soon. [Beast Soul] lets me choose what skills and talents I get. I want a library of skills. I want to test if I have to be near them to swap or if I can do it from a distance. I want to learn everything.” And when he received them from Druids, every last one would be tested before it became an [Entity Seed].

“Ah, and you did not notice, did you?” Ashi’s smug tone said she was right. Again. “Three more parties have run your Dungeon. You do not feel rage. You do not feel pain. You are growing. If the bond deepens and the Dungeon Master does not grow strong, it is the core who controls.”

The Seamstress emerged from her workshop. “Come on, you can’t hide forever.”

Sara.

Her old armor was gone, her old swords gone. Her new armor was the green of copper left out in the weather for years, with a scale pattern that matched the pseudopods, and deep brown leather underneath. Her sheaths matched the green patina and scale pattern, but her swords were slightly longer and wider now, with mana beads embedded in the hilt cap and pomel, and streaks of dark gray that ran through the blade. “Well?”

“Beautiful! Magnificent! Worthy of a true warrior!” Ashi proclaimed.

Kaden still hadn’t spoken. He remembered Sara as this skinny young woman with plain steel swords and flimsy leather armor, facing a Verdant Empress.

“Kaden?” She asked. “I know, it was expensive—”

“I love it. You are incredible. You are beautiful. You are magnificent. Not the armor. You. It’s just the perfect complement for the woman wearing it, and worth every coin.” It was what he thought. How he felt. “We met Mara. She says I’ll be in better shape tomorrow. Maybe tonight we just hunt near the Holding?”

He took the way she nodded as confirmation, but she didn’t speak for a while. “I want to go show Mom. Also, Mom really wants to show you what she’s been doing since she quit Beast Control.”

“Where is Eve?” It didn’t feel right without her. Or Vip.

Mostly Vip.

Also Eve.

Sara shiften uncomfortably. “She bought a Blood Moon staff for the synergy with her mana and abilities. She didn’t ask what was required to bind one to her. The rituals are…messy. When she shows up, don’t ask unless she volunteers information.”

Sara thanked her Seamstress and headed out of the Guild with the Party in tow. They made their way through the merchant district, past the Nobles. And Kaden knew where they were headed long before he reached the gates of the old zoo, which had housed refugees.

BirchHaven, the stone gates read.

Fine Lodging For Beasts and Their People.

“You want to see this?” Sara asked.

He truly did.