I bent down and kicked the stick of wood onto the top of the pile held in my arms. The stick landed perfectly in place amongst the growing pyramid of soon-to-be firewood. It was a feat of athleticism easily performed that I knew old me would have struggled to do. And it wasn't because of some magic-given skill or superhuman abilities. Rather, it was a testament to my body's infinitely better sense of coordination and balance.

Despite how many times I checked my status, it remained the same—the same, except for the two new changes to my page from two days ago.

STATUS

Name: Cyrus

Race: Reborn (Felkin)

Age: ??

Tier: 0

Active Skills:

* (T:0 R:4) Summon Familiar: Verdant Healer: (Áine )

* (T:0 R:4) Summon Familiar: Resplendent Inferno: (Zharia)

* (T:0 R:4) Racial Skill: Dimensional Storage: (Chomperz)

* (T:0 R:3) Spirit Lord's Invocation

* (T:0 R:2) Summon Familiar: The Dead Will Provide (Erebus)

Passive Skills:

* (T:0 R:3) Etherious Blood

* (T:0 R:2) Sovereign-Threaded Soul

Perks:

Legacy of the Obsidian Crown

Scion of Calstrax

Demonic Blood

Child of Mana

Dread Guardian's Apology

Using the very last of my stored energy, I raised both new skills to rank two. The changes made to my new summoning skill were negligible. The cost of summoning the bonespider was still outrageously hefty. And the two new ranks for my new passive skill? Absolutely nothing had changed. The skill remained as obtuse and veiled as the moment I got it. In truth, a few ranks into an untiered skill would not do much, but even a minor change like a slightly lower cost in mana would have been noticed.

Shaking my head before I could drag myself into another looping rant, I turned and headed vaguely in the direction of camp before I pulled up the information about my new passive and perk.

Sovereign-Threaded Soul:

* One must be ready to claim what is theirs to ascend the tiers and shed mortal shackles. For a lord to rule, the absolute dominion of one's authority and rights cannot be challenged. Thus, the soul shall be held by one and only one being.

* The supremacy of your soul is unquestionable.

* Your thread is guided and protected by the Grand Weave.

Dread Guardian's Apology:

* An oath broken, a duty betrayed, a debt owed and fulfilled. A sliver of power given by the Dread Guardian to the ascendant Cyrus.

* Marked by one of the heralds of its aspect, Death grants you its favour.

* Minor resistance to death-based mana.

* Unintelligent undead will view you as one of their kin.

* Intelligent undead will find you pleasing to their senses and be more inclined to trust you.

The Dread Guardian's Apology came with a lot of benefits. And while some of it was vague, like the line about Death granting me its favour, it was easy to understand, unlike my passive skill. What exactly did supremacy of my soul even mean? And how and why did the Grand Weave guide and protect me? I already thought it did.

I tried to dive and explore the changes in the skill, but it was a fruitless and underwhelming thing. The first thing I noticed was a new, more profound sense of realness. When I entered my soulspace, I could feel as if the mental avatar of myself was more real. Things felt slightly more solid to my metaphysical senses. The feeling was strongest whenever I focused on the obsidian island in the middle of my mana lake. Despite my efforts to scour every inch of the island within my soul, I failed to see anything beyond the ring of gleaming glass.

In the end, after witnessing magical feats, both fantastic and terrifying, I expected something more from the skill provided to me. The skill was undoubtedly valuable, but it was hard to appreciate what you didn't know. In truth, I was hoping that I didn't accidentally waste one of my ten slots.

As I returned to camp, Arturous was in his usual spot by the fire with Teddy, using him as an impromptu pillow. Calanae was fiddling with a few jars of spices while Igas and Isaac sat around the fire discussing something about ducks. By now, the scene was completely normal to me, including the strange conversation.

I knelt by the fire and slowly added the wood I was holding to it. I took my time to arrange the wood properly, so as not to receive another lecture from Eodyne. I kept the remaining wood aside in case we needed it later. After standing up, I dusted my hands to remove the dirt and approached Celanae.

"So I've had Teddy's stew, and while delicious, I'm curious if what you’re going to make will top it. The horned thumper meat was surprisingly good," I commented.

Celanae picked up a small glass jar filled with purple leaves covered in green dust. She set the jar down with a shake and picked up a different one filled with red powder. "I'll have you know, my cooking is better than Teddy's. For all his positives, the man loves soups and stews with too much loyalty. And if Eodyne manages to bring back some theshermint, I can make my favourite dipping sauce," she replied as she continued to scrutinize the newly bought spices and seasonings.

"There is nothing wrong with a good stew! Arturous agrees with me, don't you buddy?" Teddy called out. The bear raised his head and let out a lazy roar before he returned to resting his eyes. "See? He knows the truth. Even if you can't handle it, he can."

"Bets on what Eodyne catches tonight? I'm thinking stonecrest fowl," Igas said.

Isaac shook his head. "Nah. It'll be thumper meat again. They're the easiest to find at night."

"I'm hoping for some pork. Saproot boars are very common around these parts, and they're nocturnal. The meat would be perfect for the new spices I bought," Celanae added.

All eyes went to Teddy as he remained silent. Another thing I learned about Broken Tower, they loved to make bets. They bet about the weather, the first to say a specific word, and even on ridiculous things like who's the first to get shit on by a bird. It was a bit of madness as they kept wagering who would be right and win the bet. And when I asked why they never wagered any coin, I got laughed at as Celanae conjured a massive board with their names written in columns. From the number of tally marks I saw, Teddy was in the lead by seven points.

Teddy gave a beaming smile and held up two fingers. "I think she will do something completely different and forgo hunting tonight. Instead, she'll bring back some fish—probably crystal carp."

Igas turned to me next with an expectant look on his face. It was an unexpected gesture as they've never asked me to participate, but it felt nice to be included. "I'm going with snake. Never had it, but I've been told it's somewhere between chicken and fish," I offered.

Igas nodded with narrow eyes and then resumed conversation with Isaac as we waited for Eodyne to bring tonight's dinner. Technically speaking, Isaac would have been just as good for hunting down dinner, but Eodyne held the group's official position.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, I sat down on the other side of Arturous and leaned into the wall of fur. Closing my eyes, I spent my time slowly and methodically testing my soulspace. It had been agony not using the new skill. But, with how bad my mana channels were for the past couple of days, it was wiser not to add further strain.

When Eodyne finally returned with dinner, I heard the uproar of faux anger and the hearty laugh from Teddy, but I had my focus elsewhere. Going through a final sweep, I scoured the mana channels in my body and found everything healed. A wide grin split my face as I couldn't contain my excitement. I could finally summon my new familiar.

Opening my eyes, I adjusted my senses to the physical world and saw Eodyne carrying three massive-sized fish. They shined a vibrant blue with scales shaped into diamonds. Each fish was longer than my arm and twice as wide, strung together with rope. Seeing the short woman lifting the large creatures with relative ease was almost comical if it didn't make me feel slightly embarrassed.

History class taught me that archers were stronger than most people thought. A bow's draw required a decent set of muscles, and Eodyne's would have put some men to shame. Still, I suspected she had to have some kind of strength passive skill because I've seen her lift large rocks bigger than her body.

Shaking myself from the stray thought, I approached the huntress quickly. She turned around and gave me an inquisitive look. Putting on my best innocent face, I smiled sweetly. "Hey there, Eodyne. Looks like Teddy won the bet, huh? That's a whole lotta fish."

Her eyes narrowed, and she put a protective hand over the fish. "Teddy cheated. He saw me buy new hooks. Now, tell me what it is that you want. You act as suspicious as a man with two grafukta," she stated.

My eye twitched when she said grafukta. The word only translated partially, but the slight accent appeared, and with came a vague idea of what it meant. Whatever it was, I wasn't sure that I wanted anything to do with a type of hallucinogenic aphrodisiac.

"You know how I got a new familiar?" I asked. She nodded slowly, still suspicious. "Well, my mana channels are finally healed. And I kinda want to see what he can do."

It was hard to contain my excitement. Out of all the things incredible in this world, the ability to loot something like a videogame made me the most excited to use my mana. Even if all I got were a piece of worm from its gut, I would be satisfied.

Eodyne's slow blinks made my eye twitch like crazy, but I reigned myself in and maintained my innocent smile. Though from how she started to back up even more, it looked like she didn't appreciate my fangs.

"Fine. However, if you ruin the meat, you'll have to share some of those sandwiches I know you have inside your spirit." Her voice left little argument, but that was fine with me.

Carefully she handed me one of the massive fish like she was trying to feed a lion. When I hooked my fingers into the fish's mouth, she let go, and I caught a brief flash of an evil smirk before I nearly headbutted the ground. The thing was heavy, much heavier than I initially thought. There was some snickering behind me, and I twisted my arm around to flip them off, which elicited even more laughter. Eodyne kept the grin on her face as I raised the fish into the air and onto the makeshift table Celanae had prepared.

"Okay, I get it. Still a little grumpy about the whole 'god appearing from nowhere and making you guys nearly shit your pants thing.' Hardy harr harr," I said sarcastically. There was no actual malice from the others, except perhaps Isaac, but it was all in good fun. Slowly but surely, I was acclimating to the new group of friends and the social dynamics of being around them.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Rubbing my hands evilly, I connected to the new skill and flushed mana into my chest. The sudden flow of ice water was a welcome thing. More and more mana was spent, easily doubling the amount used to summon my other familiars. Finally, as my mana pool settled and a part of it temporarily reserved itself for my familiar, I activated The Dead Will Provide.

A new flavour of mana pushed out of my skin. It tasted sickly sweet, with the odour of spoiling fruit. It was cold and tacky, like paling flesh. And behind that was slithering darkness as it coiled itself around my channels and removed my other senses. The sensation was entirely foreign and completely unlike my other summons.

Áine's summoning was the scent of pine and flowers—the feeling of growth and restfulness that rejuvenated your soul. Zharia was excitement and splendor, a flame that burned bright and warm for all to see. Whenever I summoned them, the mana inside made me feel like something was adding to me, a creation of invigoration. But this? It was the sense of loss and decay, like a paralyzing static drowning me.

As Erebus pushed out of my chest and landed into my open hand, my focus snapped back to reality, and I could feel the intense gazes of the others. Eodyne was tense and stared at my familiar. Looking around, only Teddy and Arturous seemed relaxed, but even the jolly man himself held a thin smile.

Erebus sensed my discomfort, and it clacked its mandibles in the familiar thought-speech all spirits seemed to use. I shook off the bit of revulsion that wormed its way under my skin and raised the spider to the same height as my eyes.

"Hello there, Erebus. Welcome to Inoria. Officially this is our first summoning experience together. How do you feel?"

The spider cocked its tiny little head while the skull on the back of its body flashed a dull purple light inside the sockets. After tapping me with his bone-white limb, the spider clacked its mandibles again and tried to communicate by sending me a barrage of discordant thoughts. It was hard to sort, but the primary feelings were confusion, excitement, fear, and eagerness.

After a few rounds of communication, I finally grasped what he was trying to convey. Erebus was bewildered by the abundance of life and mana around him. Although he was thrilled to have a new master and be in a new place, he also felt cautious. Additionally, he had the urge to use his new abilities, but overall he was content to be here.

"I'm, uh, glad you're here too, Erebus. Do you want to try speaking? It's completely fine if you don't want to. Áine prefers to be silent most of the time instead of using speech. Whatever you feel comfortable with, we'll work everything out."

Erebus sent over a new wave of emotions, and I understood them as further confusion followed by acceptance. Watching the spirit closely, I found myself watching the purple orbs flashing in and out in accordance with the spider's thoughts. It seemed whenever the spider was thinking hard, it reflexively flashed the lights inside the skull on its back.

Suddenly, the skull dimmed, and Erebus froze. I waited, but after thirty seconds, I feared that I somehow scared the little fella. Then the skull's lights flared with a bright glow that made me narrow my eyes.

"G̵̹̰̲̫̟͖͈̤̜̟̱̺̙̏̆̀̃̑͌̐͂͐̽̌͗̕̚r̷̨̢̧̨̼̻̳̥̰̖̥̬͍̺̩̂͂̓̍́̀̇̚ͅè̷̮̗̪̱̲͚͉̈́̊̄̆̂̾̇̿̍̓̕͝e̸̪̭̤̭̱͚̠͈̜̩̩̖̲̊ͅţ̴̛̭͖̺͓̣͍̼̹̳̮̫͜͜i̶͙̲̫̬̩͖̟͉̺͈͖̜͊͊̎̐̎́̉̏̿̈́n̷̨̙͙̼̰̦̬̦͉̹̼̳͇͈̾̈́͋̽̈́̄̔̚͝͝͝g̶̛̔͘͜͝š̸̜̦͕̦̗̯͎͓̻̘̜̫̙̼͑̂̓̀̒̽̈̄͆͜͝͠ ̸̣͖̥̠̖͓̗̟͉̪̘̣̽t̶̨̳̉́̔͗́̑̽́͐̌̆͊͗o̴̧̧̪̭̭̤͕̗̮͚̪̍͋̓͜ͅͅ ̷̡̛̲̍̆́̋̀̈͝ͅt̴̡̛̬̞̻̪̩̣͉̎̂͋̂͒̐̆̈́̈́͝͝ḧ̶̨͙̱̦̳́̀͒̆̎̄͂̎̉̐̓̈̇͘̕͝e̶̛̟̻̳̱͎̙̦͇̺͇̘͔̝̔̅̍͌̒̑͊̒͘͘͜͝͝ ̴̖̌̅͐́̉̚̚̕G̸̺̰̤͎̖̍̾̒̿̍̓̈̐͛̉͠͝ŗ̴̜̻͚̭̱̜̪͙̞̰̮͖̦͔̄̈͊̈̎̐̌͂̉̍̈̒̀̊͘͜͝e̶̡͇̭̲͕̪̻̫̲̗̠͌̆̊̒͠a̷̳̓̍̑̊̏̂̈́t̶̢̢̢̛͎̣̗̘̬̣̦͈͖͙͎̹̔͊͝͝ ̵̢̧͕̖͉̙̤̫̞̥͔̙̝̰̈M̷̢̢̤̺͇͙̫̺͚͓̘̮̫͉͖̀͗̽̊̏͐͂̄̈́͊͊͘a̶̲̳̠̜͎͎̪͛͜s̸̨̡̺̜͇̪̲̼̝̣̝̼̎̀̇̀͘̕̕͜͝t̷̞̏͊e̶̲̾̌͐̓͊̃̓̎̈́̈͌r̴̡͉͍͎̰͍͚̮̝͉̞̳̹̘̤̀͂̕.̶̢̭̝͙̩̰̅͑̈́̒͑͜͝ͅ ̵̛̛͇̞̼̞̮̺̤̜̲͓̀̆̈́̀̿͒̕Ĭ̷̧̧̨̛͕̞̝̗̝̭̖̇̃̔̿̔͑̉͗̈̿̕͝ ̶̯̏̂̽̀͌̀̿a̸̧̢̨͓̟͍̱̱̺̩̯̺̩̝̐͑̄̈́̊́̉̉̃͛̓̾́͘̕̕ͅm̶̭̙̈́̋̈͌̿̆̏̇̀̏̽̒͘̚̕͝ ̵̣̻̠̭̱̯̜̲͈̯̗̞̗̓́̂͊̾̈́͘r̷̛̝̤̥̪̮̹̹̩͕̞͉̈̋̎̀̓͛͋͘ͅḙ̵̢̨͉̙̪̭͔̖̖͍̮̼̻͎̉̃͋̀͊a̷̡̛̺͚͗̃͆̄̍̽͌̀̈́̇̀͒̇͝d̶̡̛͙̮͍̉̐̀̀̿̄͛̿̅̔̈́̅̎͠ÿ̶̧̮̩̘̻̝͉͕̼͓͉̜̳̖̹̱́̓̿̅͗́͘̚͠͝ ̴̰͇̂̇̆̍̍̕t̶̤͙̠̫̖̞͇̮͈̓̓̽̄ͅo̴̡̗̻̘̗̒̓̔͜ ̷͎̥͚̥̍̀ş̵̞͓̫̟̰̳̈́͗̓̏̅̾̅̃̊̉̂͘̚ͅͅę̶̼̻̪͕̬͈̪͂̑́͠r̷̟͕͇̼̮̙͔̦̰̝̙̥̖͌́͗́̈̀̅̉͊̓̚ͅͅv̶͖̫̱̹̬̦̤͕͕͙͈̋̂̌̇̌̽̽̎͛̓̄̅̈́͘͝ê̷̥̜̜̤͖̱̫̪͔̩̜̠̜͒̇͝!̵͙̪̭̙̼̐"

The words screeched into my head and clawed my brain. The words were translated, and I could tell they were not in any dialect I could compare to. Each syllable was a cacophony of sounds and screams that blended together in intricate tones, both harmonious and discordant at the same time.

Checking myself for blood, I massaged the side of my head and held the spider back up to my eyes. "All right then, Erebus. I'm sorry for nearly flinging you there. I wasn't expecting that. Maybe try again, but this time try to copy what I'm doing and lower your volume."

Erebus's skull dimmed, and it started twitching its legs erratically. A pang of sorrow and disappointment filtered through our connection, and I gently squeezed on the mental thread. Tapping the forehead of the skull gently, I stopped Erebus's thoughts. "Hey now, none of that. You didn't mean to hurt me, and it's okay if it happens again. We can work on this together. And I'm sure the others will help you if you ask. Orrrrr, you don't have to speak at all if you don't want to. I'm perfectly fine using thought-speech like before."

I tried to impart as much sincerity and comfort as I could. The little guy was now a part of me, a weight on my soul that I constantly felt. We swore a blood pact and completed the ritual of binding. So what if the death spirit spoke in mind-damaging, eldritch screams? I'd simply have to learn to adjust or find a different solution. The difference mattered not to me as long as it produced the outcome I wanted.

The newest emotion was happiness, followed by cautious determination. I'm sure the difference between me and the guardian was like day and night.

Gently, I lowered the spider onto the table and motioned to the giant, shiny fish corpse waiting for it. "Do you think you can loot this thing?" This time I spoke out loud so the others could hear me.

Erebus circled the fish and tapped its scales lightly in a couple of places. After inspecting it, it sent me an inquiry, and I confirmed with a nod, curious as to what it could do. By now, the others had come closer to watch the little spirit loot the fish.

A pulse of mana flared, and the skull on Erebus' back glowed brightly. A wave of twisting shadow rose from underneath his body and covered his limbs. The bone-white chitin of his legs was now covered in shadowy ink.

Isaac muttered something, and Celanae snapped at him, but I tuned them out and continued to watch Erebus. After the shadow had wholly covered the spider's body, he slowly crawled onto the fish and positioned himself on its belly. With a silent chitter that only I could hear, he sunk into the fish like it was made of water.

Seconds went by, and I sent a probe through our connection. In response, I received confirmation, curiosity, and intense focus. The thought-speech was different from how Áine sent her thoughts. Erebus was like receiving short, frequent bursts of packaged sentences, while Áine was a slow but concise stream of intent. I didn't hate the feeling, and if anything, it only made me smile in delight. Each and everyone one of my familiars had their own way of doing things that I could share with them individually.

Erebus chittered about completing the task, and I lowered my head closer as he exited the fish. Attached to the back of his skull was a large orb of wavy black energy. The orb was about the same size as Erebus himself, and I reached out to touch the ball, but a firm hand gripped my wrist and stopped it.

I looked over to the owner of the hand and saw Isaac staring at Erebus with gritted teeth. There was a hint of fury on his face and another emotion I couldn't parse. After Igas cleared his throat, Isaac glanced my way and released my wrist. I pulled it back and rubbed at the spot where his gloves pushed into my skin.

"What the hell? What's with the sudden death grip?" I asked with a bit of rage bleeding through my voice.

Isaac scowled further and tore his gaze away from Erebus, who was now alarmed at the sudden anger directed his way. "You were being an idiot. Even with your so-called amnesia, you should know not to touch that thing!" he ground out, pointing a finger at the orb on my familiar's back.

Erebus wasn't scared exactly, but tension flowed through our mental connection. He looked to me for orders. His body was lowering itself, prepared to move and eliminate the threat.

I sent a command to stay and held up a hand above his body, effectively blocking Isaac from his view. Turning to the man, I instinctively flashed my fangs and stepped closer to Erebus. "What the fuck is your problem!"

Teddy moved closer and tried to intervene. "Sorry, Cyrus. He's just tryi-"

Isaac cut him off midway through. "Don't apologize on my behalf. I'm not the god's-damn-idiot trying to touch pure, dark mana. You know full well what happens if you touch that thing unprotected. And last time I checked, I'm the one who uses dark-aspected mana. Tell me I'm wrong!"

Isaac lashed out, and Teddy scowled. Igas frowned, and Celanae looked concerned, but Eodyne, I noticed, was watching me, waiting to see what I would do. I wanted to retort, match insult with insult, letting the burning anger in my veins bubble out. But, Erebus clacked his mandibles and tapped a small rhythm onto the wooden table. The rush of thoughts smothered my rage, and I reached a hand out to my familiar.

Erebus climbed onto my palm and turned to face me, his tiny eight eyes aglow with purple light. I whipped my head around and couldn't help myself. Isaac crossed his arms and looked at me with barely disguised contempt. In response, I grinned and held up my familiar.

"You're wrong about it being pure. I'd expect someone of your expertise to be better at sensing things, but I guess I know my own familiar better than you. It's not made of pure shadows. Inlayed behind it is a meshwork of death."

Isaac scoffed and shook his head. "You think that makes it better? Saying it's safe because death is added to the shadow doesn't make you right. That's like saying the acid won't burn you because poison was mixed in. Damned, fool."

Instead of replying, I held out a hand, and Erebus raised a now shadowless-covered limb and detached the hand-sized orb from his back. Before Isaac could say anything, I plucked the orb and held it in my palm. There was a spine-chilling cold that seeped into my skin along with a spreading itchiness, but the feeling was muted heavily. And more importantly, there was no actual damage to my body.

Raising the orb and waving it in front of the surprised man, I chuckled darkly. "My familiars are a part of me. We agreed to become one in a ritual older than this world. I'm not going to impale myself on my own sword while I am both the wielder and its sheath. They would not hurt me, as I would never harm them. Don't ever accuse my spirits of such a thing. Now, are we done with this shit?

My words sounded strange even to my ears, but they felt oddly fitting. It was another moment when I felt knowledge course through me that I couldn't have. Chalking it up to magical bullshit, I mentally shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

Without waiting for an actual reply, I channeled a tiny drop of mana into the shadowy construct, and it expanded a few inches. The material faded away into motes of dust and left behind a small black sack made of velvety material, tied shut with a grey string. I cocked my head and set the small pouch down on the table. Erebus was busy sending over feelings of accomplishment, and I gave a mental pat on the head.

Celanae was the first to touch the material, followed by Eodyne and the rest. Isaac reluctantly accepted the pouch when Igas handed it over, but in the end, he examined it like the others. Celanae had her notebook out and was already creating an entry about the item.

"Hand-sized. The material appears to be a soft fabric, charcoal in colour, with a slate-grey string. Weighs approximately four grams. The material feels real, not conjured." She rattled off observations, and my ears twitched at the metric translation. I highly doubted the universe used the same measuring system.

She put down her pen and gave me a questioning look. I motioned for her to proceed, and she nodded once before setting her notebook aside. Slowly she undid the knot holding the pouch closed, and pulled open the small bag. She grabbed the pouch and shook out its prize onto the table.

Three small gems of different sizes rolled out. They were uncut and rough but shined brightly by the campfire's light. The gems themselves were light-blue and incredibly clear. One was the size of my nail, barely a sliver, while the other two were the size of my thumb.

Celanae picked up the smallest one and held it up for the others to see. I grabbed the largest crystal and ran my thumb along the glass edges. The crystal was cool to the touch, and I could feel the faintest hint of mana inside the stone.

Teddy whistled softly and put the gem back into the bag. "They say the odds of finding a heartstone inside a gemcarp is somewhere between one and one thousand. Worth a few gold, at least."

"Further testing will be required, with your permission, of course," Celanae said as she nodded to me. "But, I do think this bodes well for what your new skill can do. Teddy was right to give this to you. Now, we need to check the fish." As she finished sketching a picture of the gems, she examined the fish from end to end.

The fish looked completely fine, without a single change to that thing. She even used a small knife to cut a small hole into the stomach and looked for signs of any changes internally. After a minute of observation, she put the large piece of meat down and smiled.

"Completely fine. Not a trace of dark or death mana along the thing. We can still eat it."

I gave a silent cheer and sent prideful feelings towards Erebus, who seemed to stand a little taller. Here I am, praising an eldritch spider creature and calling it a good boy. Life is fucking weird.

Erebus sent another question, and I agreed. He skittered closely and tapped the fish corpse along the small section Celanae cut into. She had her journal ready, watching my familiar with intense focus.

There was a small round of oohs and aahs as Erebus got to work. His little legs were like masterfully wielded knives as he sliced and prepared the fish. Organs were packaged into a corner, while the skeleton was removed with fine precision. He even managed to descale the fish, his limbs gliding through the fish's scales like they were made of butter. By the end of the performance, two perfectly sized cuts of meat were resting prettily on the table.

The little spider backed away from the meat and moved to the skeleton. Another question came through our bond, and again, I returned an affirmative. Erebus sent back feelings of gratitude, joy, and contentment. I watched in fascination as he scuttled over to the fish's skeleton and began feeding it into the jawless half of the skull on its back. The skull's sockets glowed as the fish skeleton disappeared into the dark void. A feeling of bloat and fullness came through the connection, and I understood what happened. While Zharia ate fire, and Áine liked her fruit juice, Erebus, it seemed, enjoyed snacking on bones.

"That was a little disturbing," Igas whispered.

Eodyne lowered herself to gaze at the spider and gave it a wolfish grin. "An extremely useful companion. I wish I had a beast who could dress kills, create treasures, and clean up bones so that there was no mess. I may have to borrow him for my hunts."

Checking the mana levels of my familiar showed that it was nearly empty. That small act was enough to drain Erebus of almost all his mana. The process of creating loot was very expensive, mana cost-wise, and it made me think. I really shouldn't have been too surprised that creating something from nothing would require so much mana. It was a surprisingly small price to pay.

Picking up the small pouch of gems, I tossed in the air a few times and rubbed against the velvet material. With a mental command, a small blue potion appeared in my hand. Looking back at the two untouched fish bodies hanging from a wire, I smiled happily and approached Eodyne. It was time to see what else I could loot.