I’ve only just closed my eyes when a thought occurs. It’s raining. Everyone is stuck inside. Or at least, River and Fenrir aren’t, and Sirocco’s hiding out somewhere else, but none of us are planning on going anywhere while the rain’s still pouring down outside. I’m planning on spending this time improving myself in terms of fixing my Core; what about my Bound? Although I’m not going to give out all the Energy-Hearts I have, not knowing how many I’m going to need to fix myself, I can at least give out some.

Pushing myself back up, I head over to where River is sitting and staring out at the rain with an unreadable expression. Not to say that most of his expressions are readable exactly, but even the Bond isn’t helping me out much here. Not without digging down deeper than I feel comfortable doing.

“Hey, are you OK?” I ask quietly, crouching next to him. The tip of his tail flicks and the feeling of uncertainty comes across the Bond. I give him a few moments before I speak again. “Well, you know how you said Energy-Hearts would help you evolve? I wanted to give you a couple to get started with. I think you said you spend time absorbing it? How many do you want? And is your method one that Fenrir and Bastet could use?” My barrage of questions seems to have brought him back to himself and he looks at me, a sense of eagerness overtaking the uncertainty.

The Energy-Hearts we harvested from the cavern will probably each take a day, or a day and a half to absorb. There is no special method: they just need to stay in contact with my skin. However, the Pathwalkers have found that focusing on trying to feel the Energy moving within is the most effective method. I would have thought that the others would be perfectly able to use the same strategy. Even if they cannot feel the Energy moving, it only means that they will take longer to absorb the Heart.

“Good to know,” I tell him honestly. “Here, then. Take this for now and when you’ve finished with it, come and get another from me. I’d put them in a pile somewhere for everyone to access, but I wouldn’t want to risk some other beast being attracted to them or stealing them.” As I speak, I withdraw an intact Energy-Heart from my Inventory and hand it to him.

He receives it with gratitude that bleeds over the Bond to me. I feel a little uncomfortable: it was Bastet and River who harvested the majority of the Hearts in the first place; technically, it should be me thanking them. Especially since the reason I didn’t harvest as many was because I gave into a temptation and touched something I shouldn’t have. Still, I’m not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, and I just pat him on the shoulder and stand.

I...you defended me. Defended my village. Why? he asks as I’m about to walk away. I pause and look back at him.

“Well,” I reply after a moment of consideration, “it would have hurt you if I didn’t. As I said, even beyond you being my Bound, I feel like you’ve become my friend. And that’s the sort of thing friends do for each other when faced with potential genocidal massacre,” I remark a little wryly. The fact that I would probably have been OK with said genocidal massacre before I got to know and like River is something I’m not totally comfortable admitting even to myself. I mean, the shaman is still on my kill/feed to Kalanthia list, but taking the rest of the village with her seems to be going a bit too far.

But what if the Great Predator had desired your life in replacement for mine?

“I honestly don’t think it would have come to that,” I assure him. “As you heard, she feels that she owes me a boon for bringing her cub back to her. Kalanthia has proven to be someone who pays her debts. If it came down to that, I would have asked for my life as repayment of the boon. In fact, I thought that was what she was proposing until she corrected me.”

Thereby passing up any other reward she would have offered. I shrug.

“Honestly, I would have helped for Lathani’s sake anyway. But yes, she offers good rewards – it would have been a pity to miss out on it. I’d rather you were alive, though.” He’s silent and I just smile at him before patting him on the shoulder again and walking off to speak with Bastet. If he wishes to discuss it further, we can do so later, but for me the matter is closed.

After a short conversation with Bastet and then Fenrir where I briefly explained what River told me, I return to Kalanthia, approaching her tentatively, knowing it’s not been long since she ‘dismissed’ me. As a peace offering, I hold up another Energy-Heart.

“Kalanthia, would you hear me out?” The giant nunda allows it, but I sense that she is not interested in any long conversation. “Thank you. I was wondering….” I hesitate, before deciding to just go for it. She’s always seemed to prefer bluntness; why stop now? “I want to offer you some Energy-Hearts. For Lathani. To pay off River’s debt.” Her focus intensifies and I fight to stop from fidgeting.

I see. How many do you offer? She’s not immediately rejecting it. That’s a good sign.

“How about twenty like this?” I ask, pulling one out and laying it by her paw. She inspects it carefully, seeming to use different senses like I did when first investigating it.

These are the Cores from the underground cave you told me about, yes? I confirm her guess. She seems a little dissatisfied by my response.

“Is something wrong?” I ask, a little confused. Is this not going to work?

Not wrong. However, do you recall what I said about naturally-formed Cores or Energy-Hearts needing to be used judiciously? I nod. Unfortunately, Lathani is particularly vulnerable to this. Although naturally-formed Cores are always easier to absorb, they lack an element of...life to them. That element is something Lathani needs, considering what the lizards did to her.

“They won’t be any use for her then?” I conclude, barely making it more a question than a statement.

I didn’t say that, she replies, her eyes on me once more. I feel hope starting to rise within me again. I will accept fifteen of these as a down-payment on his debt. That will help Lathani more than harm her. I will require another fifteen of them to pay off his debt. The fifteen need to be at least the size of your fist. If they are smaller, he must supply more to make up for their size. All these fifteen must be from within beasts and be provided within the next ninety sun cycles. If he supplies all of these, I shall consider his debt paid. Are we in agreement?

“We are,” I confirm. Fifteen more Cores seems a lot but...it’s a lot easier than some other tasks. Ninety days isn’t a long time, but we’re going to need to head back into more dangerous areas to help River’s village. We should be able to get them then. Counting out the fifteen agreed Energy Hearts, I nod in thanks to the powerful nunda and then turn away to return to my alcove and the meditation which I really need to get back to. My movement is arrested as Kalanthia speaks once more into my mind.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I hope your lizard-man understands what he owes you.

I can’t help but shrug in response – it would have been a lot more difficult to get Lathani back without him. Getting back to the den ourselves would have been significantly more difficult too, if even possible considering all the obstacles we faced. Keeping him alive after all his aid seems no more than his just due.

Not wanting to get into it with the giant leopard and recognising her need for peace, I respectfully nod at her and then head back to where I had been sitting in my alcove.

Meditating with an Energy-Heart in my hand is all I do for the next few hours. It’s a painstaking process, but when I work out a way of continuing to absorb the Heart even while I remain in Meditation, it speeds things up. Funnily enough, the advice that I passed on to Bastet and Fenrir from River actually comes in handily for me too. Concentrating on feeling the Energy move in my system actually meant that after some trial and error, I was able to pull the Energy from the Heart directly.

On the one hand, that meant a much more consistent pull; on the other, it also meant I got through the Energy-Heart much quicker. Where my Bound seem to all still be absorbing their first Energy-Heart, I’m on my third. Hopefully my faster absorption won’t lead to me overdoing it and causing myself more damage….

It also teaches me something else: that at least the outer parts of the tapestry around my Core are somehow connected to my extremities. I work it out because while I’m holding the Energy-Heart with my hands, the Energy always comes from a certain area of the golden weave. When, partway through, I get curious and test this by holding the Heart with my bare feet, I find that the Energy consistently comes through a different set of threads. I also find that more Energy comes through – double the amount, in fact. Holding the Energy-Heart with the hand that hadn’t touched the Pure Energy reveals that I get the same increased amount of Energy as I had through my feet.

All this goes towards proving my theory that the weave is, in fact, my Internal Matrix. I suppose that if I have a dead spot in the hand which touched the Pure Energy, it would make sense that my mana regeneration had been so affected. Why it also affects my mana pool, I’m not sure, unless my mana is stored in my body as much as it is in my pool?

Going to my status screen after a good few hours working, I’m pleased to see some progress, finally.

Name: Markus Wolfe

Race: Human

Class: Tamer

Level: 12

Energy to next level: 72%

Energy absorption rate: 26u/hr

Energy towards debt: 75%

Intelligence

36

Mana: 334/334 (-7%)

Wisdom

34

Mana regeneration rate: 680u/hr (-20%)

Willpower

42+8 (+20%)

Health regeneration rate: 40u/hr (-20%)

Constitution

19

Health: 190/190

Strength

15

Stamina: 90/90

Dexterity

15

Stamina regeneration rate: 150u/hr

Class skills

Dominate – Novice 3

Tame – Beginner 6

Fade – Initiate 1

Non-Class skills

Lay-on-hands – Journeyman 2

Stealth – Novice 1

Animal Empathy – Novice 6

Energy Manipulation – Beginner 7

Sensation Management – Beginner 5

All the Energy I’ve absorbed has made its mark – my Energy store has leaped. That would normally be a good thing, but I’m worried about what might happen if I level up with my Core still cracked. Maybe I should think about directing the excess Energy to my debt… As for my progress on my Core, I’m three percent better now than I was before I started. I think Kalanthia’s right – the more I do it, the faster and more efficient I will become.

At the moment, I’m probably absorbing ninety percent of the Energy from the Heart rather than using it to repair my Core. But that’s a lot better than at the start where I was probably absorbing ninety-nine percent of it. My Energy Manipulation Skill reflects my improvement, having also leaped through the ranks – from two to seven.

Looking back up at my status screen, I frown. That’s strange. I swear it was at seventy-two a few moments ago: it’s now only showing seventy-one... Flicking back through my memory, I become even more sure of it. My memory has always been decent, but thanks to the points I’ve gained in Intelligence, it’s slowly becoming more accurate and long-lasting. Another twenty points in Intelligence and I bet that my memory will be more like a digital camera. Forty points and I’ll probably be putting those cameras to shame. But that’s for later.

For now, I want to know why I appear to have lost some Energy. Considering the matter, I think I know why. My Core is cracked; my Core appears to be the thing which holds my Energy. Isn’t it logical that a cracked Core is just as leaky as a cracked anything else?

I grit my teeth. If fixing my Core hadn’t already been the most important task on my list, this would have just raised it to the number one spot. But I need a break for now.

As I stand up to stretch my legs, I pull out some food and water. Then, looking around, I notice that my companions seem all to have the Energy-Hearts close by. River is sitting there with his eyes closed, as is Fenrir who appears to have curled up around the Core, inside from the rain finally. Curious, I pull up the tab which links to my Bound, wondering how they are coming on.

Interesting. Of course Sirocco hasn’t made any progress – she hasn’t been in the cave, benefiting from the Energy-Hearts. Actually, that’s an important consideration. Sirocco is a companion, but one who can choose to leave at any moment. She also wasn’t part of the whole cave thing, but that’s less of a consideration. Maybe I should see what my Dominated Bound feel about it? I mean, I don’t want to suddenly start making a difference between my companions, but at the same time, what if I offer loads of resources to Sirocco and then she leaves? Hmm, something to think about later.

I’d checked Fenrir’s stats briefly on our way through the forest and he’s made the most progress out of all my Bound. Interestingly, he’s also the one who started the lowest. Similarly, River has made four percent of progress, and his starting position was lower than Bastet who’s only made two percent progress. I guess it’s similar for beasts as for humans: the further you get, the more Energy it takes.

Still, if those trends continue, we should be able to get Bastet to Tier two in a week or two, depending on how quickly her progress slows down. Fenrir and River are both going to take a bit longer; I doubt we’ll be able to get them to Tier two with our current stock of Energy-Hearts. Looks like they might have to go hunting. Whether I join them is another question: now I’ve got a little group of combat-focused Bound, I don’t feel that everyone needs to be part of every excursion. Besides, ideally I need to get my own Core sorted before going hunting.

Another question to think about later. Right now, I need to get back to my primary focus: fixing my Core.