On the way to meeting Shrieks, I open my status screen, focussing on seeing the changes over the last three months just to remind myself of how far I’ve come. In the samuran village, I don’t worry about being attacked and there isn’t much to trip over – I might guiltily take advantage of the fact that people tend to clear out of my way to be sure of that.

Name: Markus Wolfe

Race: Human

Class: Tamer

Level: 16 -> 19

Energy to next level: 34%

Energy absorption rate: 70u/hr

Energy towards debt: 112% (178)

Intelligence

40+2 (+5%)

Mana: 630/630 (15u/IP)

Wisdom

44+2 (+5%)

Mana regeneration rate: 1150u/hr

Willpower

67+18 (+27%)

Health regeneration rate: 85u/hr

Constitution

32

Health: 470/470 (480) (15u/CP)

Strength

21

Stamina: 130/130

Dexterity

28

Stamina regeneration rate: 280u/hr

Special: Fire Affinity (25%)

Class skills

Dominate – Initiate 9 -> Journeyman 5

*Companion Bond

Tame – Journeyman 2 -> 7

* Alliance

Fade – Initiate 5

Inspect – Novice 1 -> 5

Elemental Bonding - Beginner 1 -> 2

Non-Class skills

Flesh-Shaping – Master 1 -> 2

Stealth – Novice 5

Animal Empathy – Journeyman 5 -> 7

Meditation – Journeyman 9

Energy Manipulation – Master 3 -> 5

Sensation Management – Beginner 9 -> Novice 3

Spearmanship – Novice 4 -> Initiate 5

Archery – Beginner 9 -> Novice 9

Blunt Weaponry – Novice 1 -> Initiate 3

Short Blades – Beginner 9 -> Novice 5

Fire-Shaping – Novice 9 -> Initiate 5

Earth-Shaping – Initiate 4 -> 9

Rune-Carving – Beginner 4

Enchanting – Beginner 8

A good number of improvements, though admittedly my speed of levelling up Skills has reduced a bit since I’ve been working with the samurans and not concentrating on many of them. Still, my continued practice of Fire-Shaping and Earth-Shaping has seen them go up quite a few levels. A few experiments with Sensation Management on what exactly it can affect has helped with that one too. Inspect definitely levels more slowly than the individual Skills would have – I’ve been using it regularly but haven’t seen it even manage to rank up to Initiate.

I’m quite proud of the two levels I’ve got in Energy Manipulation, though. The first was due to my work with Energy channels of others, but the second was when I worked out how to extend my own Energy channels….and give myself points in Wisdom.

*****Previously*****

Inside my Core space, I tug at the Energy within my channels. It wants to move, to flow towards the shining light of my Core, or the other way, out of my internal matrix completely. But I don’t let it.

I remember back to when I increased my Wisdom on a level up – and only that. How the Energy flowed through my internal matrix, going all the way to the ends of my channels and then rebounding to hit my Core, before rebounding again, like a trapped wave. How small parts drifted into the black space in which my internal matrix is situated, binding with something inside me. I’m not sure I’ll manage to do that bit, but if I can control my Energy to move like a wave, extending my channels a little each time, that ought to do something, oughtn’t it?

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

At first it’s hard, near to impossible. The Energy doesn’t want to heed me, doesn’t want to do what I want it to do – only follow its natural inclinations.

I try preventing it from exiting my channels, pushing it back towards my Core, and then stopping it from entering there either, causing a rebound.

It seems to work for a time, but the Energy just slows over that time, finally settling into my Energy channels with complacency, all of its movement gone.

Maybe I need to use more Energy? Maybe it didn’t have enough volume to it?

I try just that, pulling a whole chunk of Energy from my store. This time, even preventing the Energy from escaping my system is almost more than I can manage. Pushing it back towards my Core is like trying to move a mountain with my bare hands.

But I refuse to let it escape. Setting my will against that of the Energy, I stubbornly refuse to give ground. And my mulish stubbornness works. The Energy reverses course; returns to my Core.

There, I do the same, preventing it from entering my Core. This time is very slightly easier.

I keep repeating the same actions, finding, interestingly enough, that momentum doesn’t work the same way in this space as in reality. Speed doesn’t give the Energy any more force; if anything, it’s the reverse. As if the mass of Energy is getting with the programme, I start needing to use less and less force to have it reverse direction.

I start letting it extend just a little beyond my Energy channels, hope kindling in my heart.

And my hope proves fruitful – the Energy which extends past my channels actually leaves a little of itself behind. By the time the Energy starts losing its speed again, my channels are noticeably longer.

I pull out of my Core space with satisfaction rushing through me. That satisfaction is joined by exhilaration when I see the small change to my status screen – I’ve gained a point in Wisdom! This changes everything.

Then I see just how much Energy I lost. Well. Maybe not everything. Twenty-five percent of my Energy store is a bit much to spend on a single point. Even if I take into account the fact that I used a bit in my first attempt, that probably still means at least twenty percent per point. Since I get six points per level-up, that means artificially giving myself Wisdom points is currently less efficient than just gathering enough Energy to level up.

I still want to explore it a bit, maybe learn how to do it with the other stats. Maybe with practice the Energy required will go down. Or maybe at higher levels when each percent takes a lot more to earn, this method will become more efficient.

*****Now*****

On the other hand, at least working with the samurans has helped me increase my more Class-relevant Skills like Dominate, Tame, and Animal Empathy. And, of course, my weapons Skills.

Even Shrieks has been forced to admit that running weapons lessons and sparring sessions for more than just the Warriors has been a good idea. Even some of the Pathwalkers have joined. River, of course – she’s been with me for long enough to be convinced that relying on magic alone is not a good idea. Flower was the next to come, surprisingly, and then Joy. Tarra has joined for a few sessions, but not regularly. Once they Evolved, Happy, Dusty, and Hunter all continued the regular attendance they had had as Unevolved. Only Windy and Sticks have passed up the opportunity.

Of my non-village Bound, Bastet and Lathani have been the only regular attendees, bringing the cubs with them more often than not. Not that they’re really cubs anymore – and Trouble’s tendency to cause mayhem has only grown with him. In fact, I have a feeling that Bastet is itching to kick him out now and I wouldn’t blame her. It might be time to give the young raptorcats the choice of a Bond but I’d best check with her first.

“What’s the problem?” I ask Shrieks as I find him at the main gate on the down-valley side of the village. “I thought we’d already made all the necessary decisions on this matter.”

I recently visited your den to meditate, he starts briskly. When I emerged… he grimaces, his spikes touched with an uncharacteristic hint of yellow, the Great Predator took pains to inform me that she would be coming with us.

I can’t help it: I gape at Shrieks.

“Kalanthia is intending on travelling with us…to a festival of samurans?”

Apparently so. I…did not feel able to argue with her. Perhaps you could try to make her see reason? he requests politely. Honestly, I’m a bit sad to have missed it. Shrieks always gives off this feeling of being impossible to intimidate; seeing him try to keep his cool even while Kalanthia is crouching over him must have been a sight. That said, I don’t blame him for not wanting to argue.

“I will talk to her, but I don’t promise to succeed in talking her out of it,” I tell him cautiously. “She’s a friend, not one of my Bound. I don’t actually have any control over her.” Unless I threatened to cut off her access to the higher Energy density. But considering that she’s far better than I am at Earth-shaping, all she’d need to do would be to create her own access point.

I understand, Shrieks answers, but I fear that if the Great Predator travels with our party, we will arrive at the festival too shaken to give a good impression. And it cannot be good for the eggs when we return either.

“I’ll speak to her,” I reiterate. “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about? Is everything going well with the preparations to leave?”

It is all well and we will be ready for tomorrow. Fortunately, we have enough Warriors now for me to feel comfortable with both the strength we can bring with us and what we leave behind. He sways his tail gently from side to side in amazement. If you had asked me when you first arrived in this village if I thought we could more than double our Warrior numbers within three moon cycles, I would have thought you had been drinking too much tarash. If you then said that you would add four more Pathwalkers to our numbers, in addition to Pathwalker River, I would have thought you completely addled even without the help of tarash. As it is, though…. He sways his tail again in wonder.

We exchange a few things before I take my leave – I’d better see Kalanthia sooner rather than later.

He’s right that the village is in a much better position than it was when I first arrived; I can’t deny that my own efforts have been a major part of that. After I finish the conversation with Shrieks and start jogging in the direction of my den, I find myself considering it.

To be fair, when I started healing the samurans, I didn’t realise just how much I would be able to help them. Although I’ve managed to correct most of their physical problems – remnants of injuries, for the most part – when it came to their Energy channels, Happy was just the tip of the iceberg.

As it turned out, the main reason for samurans reaching ninety-nine percent progress towards Tier two, and then never actually Evolving, was an issue with their Energy channels – Happy’s issue. The second biggest reason was due to a mismatch between their Energy channels and body in some way – Fenrir’s issue.

After Happy Evolved, I found I was inundated with requests from other samurans for help. They had seen me interfere in Fenrir’s Evolution and correct it, and had then seen me enable the Evolution of one of their own. It makes me uncomfortable whenever I hear it, but there have been whispered questions of whether I am one of the Great Spirits, come down to earth to bless the village after the betrayal and death of their shaman.

I haven’t been able to help everyone. Some are at the point of Evolution, yet I can’t see what’s holding them back. Others aren’t yet on the point of Evolution. Some I haven’t got to yet – healing Energy channels is a painstaking and slow process. But I have been able to help twenty-three samurans to become Warriors, and Happy, Hunter, Dusty, and Yells to become Pathwalkers.

Yells, aka Reflection, was a bit of a surprise. Once the Unevolved who first informed River what was going on in the village with the samuran, she is now the village’s most recent Pathwalker. In fact, she only Evolved a few days ago so is still getting her feet under herself.

Her magic is rather odd, though.