I sat there until my MP fully recovered and then for another twenty minutes. I thought about heading out in search of the last location, but decided against it. Even though I recovered my points, I was exhausted and had zero interest in getting into another fight. I stood up and made my way across the cavern, wanting to get away from the corpses. I sent the feeling of being guarded through our link, but I wasn’t sure if they actually understood or not. They both felt confused, but neither resisted the instruction, so I decided to leave it alone. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes and fell into a slumber.

When I woke up, I felt good. The cave wasn’t comfortable by any means, but after the day I had, it was more than enough. I looked around for my familiars. Tenebris was underneath a large rock while Sanaa was lounging on a gold vein as thick as my arm. They both looked cute if you didn’t remember how deadly they were. I got up and did a quick stretch before checking my notifications.

You have been awarded 300 experience from defeating Tuxena level 3

You have been awarded 400 experience from defeating Tuxena level 4

You have been awarded 1050 experience from defeating Tuxena matriarch level 10

We got pretty good experience for that battle. A glance told me that both of my familiars received the same experience. I focused on their notifications and tried to will them not to appear. Once they disappeared, I checked their icons and saw they both had level ups. I thought about but decided not to do that right now. Assuming that everything went according to plan, I would be completing a quest soon, which would give me more experience points. It would be better to settle all my level improvements at the same time. I got rid of the notifications and started walking over to the beast’s bodies. From what I could tell, they were made of gold, or at least the claws, tusks and harder parts. “I wonder if your bones are also gold?” I placed my hand on the matriarch and tried to will her body into the ring. It took a second, but the body disappeared. A quick flex of my will brought it back out. “Convenient”

I went around and collected each of the bodies, as well as some of the loose gold ore. Unfortunately, the ring didn’t sort by quality or anything that would help me know what I was dealing with. When I found a city, I should be able to sell it to either a miner or whoever else would want unrefined gold. It seemed the more adventuring I did, the more logistical problems I had to deal with. What I needed was people from the army corp of engineers. Preferably a few architects and someone who knew what you needed in a city before planes existed. Although there were probably air forces or blimps or something here as well. I let out a sigh before waking up Sanaa and Tenebris. Neither was happy with me for it, but they quickly took their places on my shoulders.

We made our way outside to a just rising sun. The orange and red embers looked stunning when contrasted with the black sand. I looked around before whistling for Rex. A few moments later, a very pleased looking salamander found us. “There you are. I take it you found something to eat?” The resulting hiss and slight smell of iron and blood confirmed that he had eaten plenty. I decided not to look around too hard for where its meal came from. I got mounted up and felt for the final quest location. It was in the same direction as the Ifrit but wasn’t too far away. I pushed him hard to get there as fast as we could. Thankfully, he seemed almost excited to run.

It took nearly an hour to reach the next location. Instead of another mine or cave or anything structure at all, we found ourselves on top of an impact crater. The crater was the size of a parking lot, and the glass right around the bottom had turned into glass. On top of that glass was a white sphere about the size of a beach ball. It looked a bit like the world’s largest pearl. I looked around but couldn’t find a tree or anything that would us get to the bottom. I was just about to climb down when a better idea came to me. I summoned a trio of the light drones. The mannequin like humanoids came into being at the bottom of the crater. “Bring that up to me.” I raised my voices to make sure they heard me and waited to see if they could lift the thing.

They linked arms and their bodies began to melt together until they had formed a web like pattern between them. The net then passed through the sphere before reforming underneath it. In perfect unison, they lifted the sphere up and began walking up the sides of the crater. The ease they did it with was a bit annoying, but I didn’t think complaining to the creepy light mannequins would go anywhere, so I decided to leave it alone. The sphere was oddly cold and much too heavy for me to pick up. When the notification came into view, my eyes went wide with shock.

You have found: Hyperriite Details: This is a metal that can be used for the crafting of many objects. Hyperriite is born from the collapse of a star.

Durability: 5,000/10,000

Item Quality:Incredible

Item Rarity: Exotic

Weight: 500lbs

“Holy Shit!” This stuff came from a star. It was exotic in rarity! I didn’t know the tier list for this world, but exotic is usually pretty close to the top. I couldn’t help but rub my hands together in excitement. This would either make one hell of a building or weapon, or I could sell it for a king’s ransom. I looked around, almost expecting a group of people to come running to steal it from me. When nothing happened, I drew the item into my ring and did my best to ignore the fact that something so rare was just on my finger. I got rid of the drones, but before I could decide what to do next, a new notification popped into view.

You have completed the Quest: One With Your Lands I

You have shown your dedication to your land and you have been rewarded. Never forget to be both steward and guardian of the land.

Reward: 7,500 Experience Points

As soon as I wiped away the quest notification I got new one.

Category

Per level Unspent Points Attribute Points Because your Aetheric nature your per-level rewards have been modified. You have been awarded 7 Attribute Points to distribute however you like. 7 Skill Progression +25% Progress to any skill of your choice. 25%

I placed the skill progression into Lumos magic, which earned me a new notification. I ignored it for now. The attribute points went into intelligence. My leveling will start to slow eventually and I was going to need as much MP as possible in order to not get killed. Once I assigned my points, I pulled up the rest of my notifications.

Congratulations! Your skill Riding has leveled up. Riding has reached levels 3 and 4.Your mounted speed increases by 9%. Your resistance to being knocked free of your mount has increased by 9%

Congratulations! Your skill Lumos Magic has leveled up. Lumos Magic has reached level 13. You are able to learn additional spells.

Congratulations! Your skill Pyro Magic has leveled up. Pyro Magic has reached levels 6 and 7. You are able to learn additional spells.

Congratulations! Your skill Stealth has leveled up. Stealth has reached level 2 and 3. You have 6% increase to concealment and to damage while hidden. Each level gained grants an extra 3% to Concealment and an extra 3% damage to attacks made while hidden.

I decided to silence my stealth related notifications. The progress on it was going really, really slowly, and I probably wasn’t going to be able to hide from much of anything at this point. Everything else was making significant progress. I made a note to start grinding pyro and spira magic up as quick as I could. Lumos was seriously outstripping my other magics. I guided Rex over to a tree so I could have some shade while going over the blinking icons for my familiars. I had a feeling they were going to need a bit more care.

Name: Tenebris Level: 5,33% Species: Umbra Dragonling Characteristics Health: 60 Magic: 270

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Regen/min: 5 Stamina: 120

Regen/min: 3 Attributes Agility:22 Charisma:17 Endurance: 16 Intelligence:27 Luck:3 Perception: 10 Strength:7 Vitality:6 Wisdom:10 Resistances Umbra: 100% Abilities

(Free Points:3) Sphere of Darkness – Lv 2, Points to next level: 2

Soul Bond - Lv 1, Points to next level: 1

Umbra Breath – Lv 1, Points to next level: 1

I considered what to increase. So far Sphere of Darkness had proven itself useful and I could boost it again, but my curiosity said that I should boost Soul Bond instead. I wanted to know what the ability would do since all three of us shared it. I had three points to play with so I could boost it and then buy Sphere of Darkness afterwards. I selected the upgrade before I could convince myself not to.

You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Soul Bond. Soul Bond has reached the level 2. The connection between you and your familiar depends. Your companion’s awareness deepens. He can now communicate in simple sentences. Through strengthening your companion, your power also grows. Your necrotic resistance has increased to 10%. Your maximum communication range has increased to 1 miles.

I didn’t even need to think about it before the next two points went into Soul Bond. The idea of making him smarter was insane!

You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Soul Bond. Soul Bond has reached the level 3. The connection between you and your familiar depends. You may now experience small slivers of each other’s emotions.Your companion’s awareness deepens. Through strengthening your companion, your power also grows. Your necrotic resistance has increased to 15%. You now have a sixth sense regarding each other’s well being. Your maximum communication range has increased to 1.5 miles.

I was just about to do the same for Sanaa when I felt something in my head. It was a bit like someone had reached out and touched my thoughts. The sensation was firm, but not painful. A moment later, I heard his voice. It was darker and deeper than before. Intimidating but also comforting. It was hard to explain.

“Hello, Master” It took me a second to realize that he was speaking to me. “Tenebris? You can understand me?”

There was a pause before he replied, only this time I could feel the frustration through our bond. It was like he was searching for the right words as if we spoke two different languages. “I can. It is very difficult to communicate.” That time, his words cut off as if he ran out of energy. “I need rest.”

With that, the connection between us dimmed like a light candle that was slowly burning out. I decided to let him rest. I pulled up Sanaa’s sheet, ready to do the same for her.

Name: Sanaa Level: 5, 47% Species: Radiant Dragonette Characteristics Health: 60 Magic: 80

Regen/min: 6

Stamina: 130

Regen/min: 3 Attributes Agility:28 Charisma:22 Endurance: 17 Intelligence:8 Luck:3 Perception: 10 Strength:7 Vitality:6 Wisdom:16 Resistances Radiant: 100% Abilities

(Free Points:3) Brilliant Frills – Lv 1, Points to next level: 1

Soul Bond - Lv 1, Points to next level: 1

Shining Breath – Lv 2, Points to next level: 2

It was strange seeing how different their stats were. I placed the points into soul bond and received a near identical message. The major difference being that I got Radiant resistance instead of Umbra Resistance. Just like Tenebris, I felt her consciousness touch mine. Only she felt very different. Sanaa felt like a majesty and pride personified. It was hard to explain, but it was like she had been assessing me. I didn’t think she would refuse me or anything like that. It was more like a passive feeling, like it was a part of her.

“Greetings, Master” She sounded much happier than Tenebris but not exactly either. Her voice was higher and more arrogant, for lack of a better word. I couldn’t help but be happy to feel both of them so strongly inside me.

“Hello, Sanaa. Are you alright?” I waited with bated breath to see how long she could converse. I wasn’t sure if the limit was different for each of them or if it was standard. When she responded, she sounded just as tired as Tenebris a moment before.

“It is difficult, but it is no problem for me.” Her words cut off just as his did. There was a brief pause, and then she started again. “I will look after Tenebris.” It was faint, but the underlying emotion was more complex. It took me a moment to realize that she didn’t want to be tired while also wanting to sleep. She couldn’t square feeling both at the same time. I made a mental note to track how her emotions developed, but that would be something for later.

Since both of my familiars were out of it, I decided to rest here for an hour. This would be a good chance to span my wind spells. I got off of Rex and let him hunt around for a bit. While they took care of themselves, I found an empty patch of sand and practiced launching my spell.

We ended up spending two hours waiting for both of them to recover. I spent most of that time grinding out my magic and had a decent haul to show for it.

Congratulations! Your skill Spira Magic has leveled up. Spira Magic has reached levels 2,3,4 and 5. You are able to learn additional spells.

Unfortunately, that was the limit of what I could do without actually fighting something. I wanted to boost pyro as well, but that was nearly impossible. I tried summoning my magmite and then attacking it but that earned me a literal warning from the universe.

Fore Shame! You have violated the base contract between summoner and summoned. You have attempted chosen to damage a creature you summoned. Repeated attempts at violations like this will lead to further punishment. You cannot summon any elemental creature for 24 hours.

After that, I went back to playing in the sand like a good spell caster. I have only been in this world for a week. There was no way I was going to get smited for being stupid. Thankfully, Sanaa and Tenebris were ready to go soon after. They both darted through the air like children who had drank a gallon of coffee. “Are you two done?” I said, barely able to hold my laughter down.

“Yes, Master, what will we fight today? Do you have any more meat?” Tenebris’ cheerful tone was offset by the dark undertone in his voice. I quickly scanned my ring before drawing out the hyena we killed. I left the carcass for the two of them while I mounted up. It was a bit surprising and worrying that I didn’t feel hungry or thirsty. Hopefully Shaurianna wouldn’t mind letting me have some food. Ideally something cooked and properly prepared. Once the pair picked through the meat they were going to eat we set off. They darted back and forth above me as if they had never seen the canyon before. Watching them filled me with excitement. It took a bit to get used to thinking normally to them as they got further away.

“Do you two remember what you were doing before you joined me?” There was a brief pause as they searched for an answer.

“No, I only remember coming through the doorway you opened.” Tenebris was the first to reply, and it was clear the lack of knowledge irritated him. A problem that Sanaa didn’t share.

“It does not matter. We are here now.” I chuckled at the simplistic viewpoint, but it wasn’t wrong. Nothing really mattered outside of the here and now. “Its important to know our past. What if you have the chance to go back? What if we need to go there in search of things?”

She didn’t miss a beat in her reply. “Then we will go and take what we need.” Tenebris sent a wave of irritation at that answer, and I had to agree. There wasn’t much to refute her, though. Either way, we had to deal with enough at the moment. The journey back to the spring took nearly half a day. Sweat poured down my face and the fresh air of the spring air felt wonderful. I flopped down on the banks of the spring while Sanaa and Tenebris dived into and out of the water. I laid there for nearly ten minutes before I drank down the clear liquid. It was like drinking the most refreshing glass of water in my life. It wasn’t ice cold like I normally want but it was still worth it.

I rinsed out the water skin that had the blood red potion before filling both it and the other one to the brim. I then sent both into the ring. I let my familiars play in the water a bit longer before climbing back onto Rex. Once everyone had their fill, we set off toward the home of the Ifrit.