Orion was being watched.

Did we make a mistake by following Azeria here?

He confirmed the source of the discomfort as he glanced toward the back of the cavern. It wasn’t just a single something causing his hackles to rise; a wall of green eyes stared at the new arrivals, an aura of malice palpable in the air.

Orion took an involuntary step back, the aura and the sheer amount of enemies causing his nerve to fray at the seams. The eyes advanced as one, taking a step forward as they moved side to side. The form of Azeria darted in front of the advancing eyes and stared them down, snarling and causing her fur to puff out. Just as they’d moved forward as one, the wall of eyes moved back. Some turned and ran away, stopping only when they reached the back wall. All had their eyes fixed on the giant fox, the predatory gleam in their eyes replaced with one of fear.

“If you have the means, cleanse them. Please.” Azeria kept her eyes pinned on the wall of eyes, holding them at bay. “The only thing holding them back is their fear, but I worry even that won’t last much longer—the corruption grows ever stronger. I no longer possess the means of communicating with them.”

Orion focused and his Dark Vision kicked in. The glowing eyes revealed themselves as a mass of foxes of varying degrees of maturity. Some were the size of small cats, others the size of large dogs, but none were anywhere near as large as Azeria. It was hard to discern what the glances from the bestial faces meant, but one overarching theme was clear as he met some of their gazes—hunger.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Orion stepped forward. He made slow, steady movements, removing the Bountiful Potion of Miraculous Healing from his inventory on the way. He stepped just in front of Azeria and set the potion down before stepping back behind her.

“How do we get them to drink it?” he asked, his voice as steady as possible.

“Their hunger should take care of that…”

Azeria backed away from the cauldron, and Orion followed suit, keeping her form between himself and her kin.

It didn’t take long for the first fox to step forward.

One of the larger ones that had been shooting looks of hunger at the adventurers moved toward the potion, its eyes locked on Azeria. Its movement seemed wrong, even for an animal; the joints of its legs moved unnaturally, as if the cartilage there was no longer solid. Eying its matriarch, it bent down and lapped at the liquid with hunger.

After a few ravenous mouthfuls, the fox recoiled. It looked confused as a wave of green light washed over it that seemed to emanate from within it. It wasn’t the sickly green of the corrupting slime, but the cleansing green of a grassy meadow, or the verdant forest outside.

As the green light faded, so too did the sickly pallor of its eyes. It looked at Azeria with now-stunning blue irises, cocking its head and letting out a yip of joy as it bounded toward the larger fox. It wound itself between Azeria’s legs, rubbing its head and body against hers in an obvious display of adoration. Some of the tension held in Azeria’s body released—if only a little. After untangling itself from its matriarch, the healed fox looked into Azeria’s eyes.

Orion could somehow tell they were communicating nonverbally.

One at a time, the foxes made their way towards the cauldron and the potion it contained, their hunger unable to resist a potential meal. One-by-one, they drank, causing the corruption plaguing their minds to be healed.

The adventurers watched on with bated breath; the scene unfolding before them was grandiose enough for even Honeypot to keep his noise-hole closed for a few minutes.

After being cleansed, each had a similar reaction; they let out an excited noise and ran toward Azeria in glee. It didn’t escape Orion’s notice that the first instinct returned to each of their healed minds was one of love. The spectacle made him reassess his opinion on the monsters of this world again; while he wouldn’t take back any of his actions so far, the thought of having to attack and kill these foxes filled him with trepidation.

Could I have healed all the creatures we killed in this way? Had there been a possibility of peaceful coexistence with them, one that we snuffed out by killing them?

He walked up and stood by Azeria’s side without realizing what he was doing, watching intently as the foxes drank from his creation. A handful of foxes made their way over to and were sniffing Arika. She kneeled down, hand outstretched in a show of nonaggression. She ultimately won over their hesitant minds, her scent and a nod from Azeria enough to reassure them. Shadow was sitting by her, content to watch and pet any foxes that walked up to him.

Not seeing Honeypot, Orion looked around and soon spotted him by the waterfall with his own bunch of foxes.

Is he… of course he is.

Honeypot was fishing, throwing the palm-sized fish he caught into the air with merriment, delighting as the surrounding foxes jumped and caught the treats. While waiting for the next fish to take the line, his other hand lobbed sausages at the group of waiting foxes with impressive aim. Orion shook his head, not surprised in the least.

The smallest of all the foxes present had taken a particular liking to Arika. It spent a good ten minutes playing in and exploring the sleeves and folds of her robe, and was now sleeping in Arika’s lap. She was slowly petting its head, clearly enjoying the affection as much as the young fox was.

The last fox approached the cauldron. It showed no care that it was the last creature under the influence of the corruption as it stepped forward, salivating at the sight of the delicious smelling potion. With a lunge, it bit and gnashed at the viscous liquid as the others had before it.

As the healing green light washed over the fox and the corruption faded from its eyes, light exploded out of Orion. An unwitting smile made its way onto his face as he was flooded with the familiar euphoria of advancement.

Critical Quest updated: Cull the Doc

Progress: 3/4

You have advanced from Journeyman 3 to Journeyman 4 in Alchemy. Congratulations!

You have advanced from level 5 to level 6. Congratulations!

I gained a level in Alchemy just by using the potion?

Orion cleared the notifications from his field of view. The foxes were gathered toward the back of the cavern, facing him and his party. Azeria sat before them with regal posture. The small fox that hid in Arika’s robe now sat between the matriarch fox’s legs, and beside Azeria was a purple, glowing chest.

Before Orion could say anything, Azeria spoke.

“I cannot thank you enough. You have saved my family, despite the natural order between humans and monsters. If it were up to my discretion, I would reward you much more than this. Unfortunately, the system has its rules, and this is all that I can offer you for your help. Know this, however: we believe ourselves to be in your debt. If the day comes that you require our aid, we will do all that we can to repay you.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Feeling awkward but trying to appear gracious, Orion stepped forward and looted the chest.

You have received an EPIC amulet! An amulet granted by Azeria, matriarch of the foxes living in the surrounding forests of Valbrand.

Amulet of the Swift Fox

Epic

Neck

Armor: 0

Speed: +5

It may give you the swiftness of a fox, but unfortunately for you, not the intelligence. Moron.

Back at it again with the insults, huh, System? He sighed.

He hadn’t seen the Speed stat before. Was it a hidden stat? He checked his character sheet, seeing that after equipping the necklace, it now listed Speed as +5.

I guess we’ll have to test how that affects our movement…

He looked up at Azeria, prepared to thank her for the item he’d received, but noticed an odd gleam in her eye. She was staring at Arika, who was staring right back with a look of shock mixed with… wonder?

Arika’s eyes went wide. “Are… are you sure?”

Azeria smiled with amusement. “I am more than sure, though it is your choice to make.”

A smile of pure glee spread across Arika’s face, and she must have accepted whatever Azeria had offered. A beam of ethereal light appeared and connected the two. The beam grew stronger over a few seconds, and Orion realized it wasn’t connected to Azeria, but the small fox sitting beneath her. The torrent of light dissipated abruptly, and the small fox took several small, adorable bounds, then leaped into Arika’s waiting arms.

Arika spun, arms outstretched, both she and the fox releasing a symphony of happy squeals. Arika appeared preoccupied, so Azeria explained what had happened.

“Your friend has gained my daughter as a familiar. Femera will grow as your friend grows in power. Given time, their bond will grow to be as firm and deep as the roots of a great oak.”

“Is that okay? Femera is as sentient as you are, isn’t she?”

“As we all are.” Azeria let a sly smile cross her face. “This was Femera’s idea. I was hesitant at first, but she presented her argument well. Foremost, she wishes to see the world, and help others as you have helped us. She also pointed out that it may lead to protection from her and your party if—no, when you grow stronger. Altruism and family values—as noble a goal as any, wouldn’t you agree?”

Orion nodded, realizing that he had made a mistake in assuming Azeria’s kin were less intelligent and self aware than their matriarch. He’d taken the small fox for an adolescent, which may still be true, but she had also shown a level of intelligence and critical thinking that belied her age.

While Azeria and the bosses they’d faced so far had shown a level of intelligence, he assumed that their subordinate monsters lacked that same intelligence. That was certainly the case for the spiders and moles. The wolves had shown strategy, but he assumed that’d been hunting instincts or the orders of the slime boss. He would have to take care not to underestimate any creatures they came across in the future.

“And so…” Azeria’s musical voice snapped Orion out of his thoughts. “I offered Arika a contract, which, as you can see, she accepted.”

“Damn it.” Honeypot had a look of utter disappointment on his face.

Orion knew he’d regret asking, probably immediately, but indulged Honeypot anyway.

“What’s up?”

“She got a title. I was hoping to hold that over her a little while longer.”

Orion inspected her and realized Honeypot was right.

Her name was ‘Arika, the Tamer.’

For her part, Arika was still making incoherent noises of joy, and completely ignoring their inspections. Femera was now cradled close to her chest, squirming and nuzzling as close as possible to her new master.

“Thank you, Azeria.” Orion watched as Femera jumped down and started sprinting in circles around the Fire Mage. “We’re all grateful for your rewards, though I’ll admit, I don’t think I’m as happy as Arika.”

“That’s to be expected.” Azeria looked toward the newly bonded pair, joy clear on her visage. “There is no need for thanks. It is your just reward. It will take at least a few hours for their bond to solidify, so I’d advise you to let them get to know each other before you go running off. There is also the matter of the final dungeon location…”

Orion felt Azeria send him a marker, and he brought his map up to see the location. It was almost directly west of Valbrand, far from any of the discovered sections of his map.

“By my estimation, it should take your slow, bipedal bodies two days to reach the final dungeon if you do not want to exhaust yourselves… which would be advisable, considering what awaits you.”

The adventurers all looked at each other—even Arika caught the ominous words of Azeria and glanced toward them.

“What awaits us?” Orion asked.

“Exactly what? I am not sure. What I can tell you is that the denizens of the final dungeon are primates. Before the corruption grew too strong for them to roam, our scouts, who followed them back to the entrance of their dungeon, spotted them. The dungeon mouth is a giant cave, filled with the roots of the colossal trees growing above. The enemies present appeared… strong.”

For Azeria to consider an enemy strong, they would need to pose a serious threat. Orion took her words in stride, deciding not to worry overmuch about it.

There is no path but forward.

He walked over to the cauldron, seeing that there were still thirteen charges of the Potion of Miraculous Healing left. He placed it back in his inventory, glad that they could rely on the healing it provided.

They walked out into the clearing for some fresh air while the bond between Arika and Femera solidified.

Orion spoke as they sat relatively close to each other.

“We should prioritize the final dungeon—we can’t risk it getting stronger by delaying any further.”

“Aye, sir!” Honeypot said from his spot by the lake, fishing. “We don’t have time for you to make another potion, but you still have charges left after all the foxes drank, right?”

Orion nodded.

“Thirteen charges left.”

“That’s plenty!” Honeypot caught a small fish, and without even a glance, threw it to his growing crowd of foxes.

“Are you sure that’s safe, Honeypot?” Arika pet Femera with both hands. “Did you check the fish weren’t poisonous?”

“No, Arika, I’m feeding poisonous fish to the foxes we just saved—yes, I checked them for poison, you maniac.”

He threw the next one he caught to Femera, who wolfed it down while Arika glared at the fisherman’s back.

Orion began making another Potion of Miraculous Healing—he didn’t have time to complete it, but there was no reason to not get some progress in. When he started, he was surprised at how fast it progressed.

If I can do the entire potion at this speed, it’ll take me two days—maybe a day and a half.

He finished the first step after a few hours, and his eyes cleared. He’d been transfixed on the refinement, and the clearing had transformed while he fixated.

Shadow was set up behind his kitchen, cooking something with Fish. The course of the fish became evident as Honeypot caught another, and seeing it was large, threw it to Shadow.

The foxes were no longer surrounding Honeypot; they were arrayed in a semi-circle around Shadow, attracted to whatever he was making. The smell of spices and cooking fish were on the air, and it made Orion’s stomach growl.

“Welcome back, glorious leader!” Honeypot said from his spot by the river. “You missed my unparalleled ascension to Apprentice six in Fishing!”

Arika made a scoffing noise.

“The only thing unparalleled is your mouth, Honeypot.”

Orion looked at her intently; she was bent over the necklace reward they’d received, doing… something.

“Is that Enchanting?”

She looked up, nodding.

“Yup. Seeing that there was a hidden Speed stat gave me an idea, and I’m pretty sure I’m onto something…”

Orion stood up, stretching.

“How did the bonding go?”

She flashed him a quick smile and pointed to her lap.

“It’s done—we figured we should camp here with how late it is.”

Orion peered down, seeing Femera fast asleep.

A flash came from Shadow, and the foxes all flinched back instinctively. The Warrior blinked, then roared a laugh, throwing chunks of fish to the foxes.

Orion smiled at him.

“Apprentice nine?”

“Yeah!” Shadow finished dispensing seafood and started cooking again, his arms a blur.

As if in defiance of Shadow’s success, a flash came from Arika. A lilting laugh came from her, and she jumped to her feet.

“I did it! I created a new enchantment that gives +1 to Speed, and it took me to Apprentice seven!”

“If I praise you,” Honeypot said conspiratorially, “will you apply it to everything I own?”

“It’s unique, so I can only apply it to your necklace.” She gave him a smug smile. “For a sincere compliment, though, I’ll happily apply it.”

Honeypot shot to his feet, striding for her.

“You, my dear Arika, are the most beautiful maiden I have ever set my eyes upon. Your explosions are as the sun, your legs the finest of poles, your mountainous breas—”

He dove to the side, dodging the rock.

“If you shut up,” she said, “I’ll apply the enchantment to your necklace.”

He grinned.

“Deal!”

Arika applied it to all of their necklaces, the process surprisingly swift.

“Oh, by the way,” Orion said, “did any of you level when we finished that last quest?”

They all answered in the negative.

“I got level six… I guess the difference in levels is substantial enough for the lead in the earlier levels to even out.”

“Ugh.” Arika shook her head with mock dismay. “The one advantage we had is gone.”

“I know,” Orion said with a smile, “my brilliance makes it hard to be around. That aside, let’s set up our camp for the night—we have a big day of adventuring tomorrow.”