"No, absolutely not," stated Harlan as he swiped at the words floating in front of him, giving up with a sigh when his hands passed right through without having any impact. "My days of that kind of tomfoolery are well behind me."
The adult fox tilted his head and gave Harlan a stunned look. Over his extremely long life, no one had ever even thought to refuse the bond and the power that came with it. The fox couldn’t even comprehend such a thing and just sat there, unsure of how to proceed. He wasn’t even sure if he could undo the bond. His thoughts were interrupted by Frank J. Mothman, who attempted to reason with the bewildering human.
"Grggrgrggrgrg grgrg grgrgrgrgr," said Frank, putting forward an intricately well-reasoned and thought-provoking argument, touching on aspects of self-preservation, self-determination, neo-environmentalism, and even the story of Prince Geoffie the Reluctant.
Harlan let out a sigh. "You know I can’t argue with you, Frank. If you really think that whatever this is"—he waved his hands at the glowing, floating words—"will help with the coming calamity, then I’ll do it. But I’m going to be crotchety about it the whole time."
"Ding! Your bond with [Phoenix Fox] and [Phoenix Fox Pup] has strengthened. Would you like to give a name to [Phoenix Fox] and [Phoenix Fox Pup]?"
"Gah," said Harlan in surprise. "I don’t think I can get used to that. It’s, ah, it’s asking me to give these foxes some names. Do you have names, or should I just make something up?"
The elder phoenix fox replied with a series of yips and barks.
Harlan clicked his tongue. "I understood that," he looked up at Frank. "I... I understood that. I can understand foxes now—or at least phoenix foxes. You know, I moved all the way out here to get away from this kind of funny business, and you’ve sucked me right back in."
The Mothman gave a shrug, with what passed as a bashful look on his face.
"Okay, so Ignivora and Cinderis. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that your names have a not-so-subtle theme to them. I’m just going to call you Iggy and Cindy, by the way."
Cindy responded by licking Harlan's face, while Iggy gave a flat look.
"So, what have I actually signed myself up for here? I’m seeing these floating words telling me that we’ve bonded, but what does that mean apart from being able to understand you?"
"Ding. Harlan Landry. Level 1. Beast Master."
Strength: 3
Speed: 2
Intelligence: 5
Endurance: 4
Charisma: 5
Spells:
[Fire Immunity]: Passive
“You receive no damage from fire and fire-based attacks.”
[Heat Pack]:
“Absorb heat and use the energy to heal yourself.”
[Breath of Fire]:
“Breathe a small flame.”
"So, no one else can see this, right? This list of spells? Also, that 2 for speed feels very disrespectful."
"Grggrggr gggrgrrorow grgr," replied Frank.
"Right, so you can’t see mine, but you’ve got something similar. Well, might as well try out one of these spells," said the Sheriff as he placed Cindy on the ground and got to his feet. "…uh, how do I do that?"
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"Grgrggr."
"Of course," replied Harlan before clearing his throat and saying, "[Breath of Fire]," and blowing out. A flame erupted from his mouth, reaching about 10 inches out. Even though he was expecting it, fire suddenly venting from his face startled Harlan, and he fell to the ground while instinctively batting at his face, trying to put the fire out.
"Well, that was… surprising," said Harlan after lying on the ground for a second and realizing that he wasn’t on fire. "Guess I’ll try again."
After climbing to his feet, Harlan took a breath to steady himself, set his feet, and called out, "[Breath of Fire]," before blowing and creating a flame again. He held it for about 10 seconds before he stopped blowing, causing the fire to go out.
"That's… that's pretty neat. Not much of an attack, though. It would be real handy if I smoked. Guess I can start fires with it? Seems like more of a party trick than actual magic."
"Grgrggrgr."
"Hey, I warned you that I was going to be crotchety about it. So it says I’m level 1—if that goes up, will I get stronger magic?"
Iggy responded with a series of yips and growls that Harlan understood to mean yes.
"So, how do we go about getting stronger?"
Iggy responded with more yips, telling Harlan to sit tight and keep feeding Cindy, before heading out of the clearing and disappearing from sight.
"Any idea what that's about?" said Harlan to Frank.
"Grgr."
"Yeah, guess we’ll see."
Harlan and Frank went back to their routine of keeping the fire going and feeding Cindy. At one point, Frank walked up to the massive tree they were camping under and extended his proboscis before violently ramming it into the tree, piercing the bark and allowing him to drink the sap within.
"That is disturbing every time I see it," said Harlan, shaking his head. The appearance of more floating letters tore his attention away from the Mothman's feast.
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
"Huh, that’s kind of…"
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Pygmy Spider-Turtle]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Congratulations, you are now Level 2."
Harlan was slightly stunned by what he was reading. "Damn, Iggy, are you trying to wipe them out? I know they’re horrible blooming things, but leave some alive," he thought to himself.
"So, it looks like I can go up levels when Iggy kills things. That's pretty handy." Harlan called to Frank
Frank pulled his proboscis from the tree with an audible slurp and pop.
"Grgrgrg?"
"Yeah, level 2 now. I didn’t even have to do anything. But I think Iggy is planning on wiping out the local spider-turtle population."
"Grgrgrgr."
"I don’t think anyone likes ’em, but I’m sure they’re important for the food chain. Or something."
This pattern repeated throughout the day. As Harlan went about his duties, he would occasionally receive notifications that Iggy had killed something else.
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Greater Sand Slug]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Ferocious Fungal Boar]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Ember Snake]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Stone-Beak Woodpecker]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Goliath Skunk]. You have gained experience."
Harlan noticed that between each level, Iggy had to either kill more creatures or more dangerous beasts. Finally, as the sun was low in the sky, Harlan received one more notification.
Ding! "Ignivora has killed [Shadowbound Bighorn]. You have gained experience."
Ding! "Congratulations, you are now Level 5."
"You have gained a skill point. Please select a skill from the following:
[Senses of the Fox]: Increase sight, smell, hearing, and taste to superhuman levels.
[Agility of the Fox]: Gain the ability to run and jump at the speed and height of a phoenix fox.
[Flame Mantle]: Learn the spell [Flame Mantle], which allows you to create a shield of fire around yourself that will damage any attackers in range."
"Well, that's something different," remarked Harlan. "I get to pick a skill, they all look like pretty blooming good choices. What do you think, Frank? Senses of the Fox, Agility of the Fox, or Flame Mantle?"
"Grgrgrg."
"Yeah, I agree."