[Confirm relationship option: Symbiote Relationship - Blåberry's Chosen Beast of Burden - Yes/No?]

"So lemme get this straight, yer fumin' cus I wasn't really eaten—but managed to get swallowed down whole—and not happy that I thought to bring some of Läker’s alkazin to cover my butt against the belly acids, like at all?"

Berry was looking frazzled and like she’d been awake for a week or two, but was still happily hitching a ride on top of Damon’s less wounded shoulder, where the last of their medicinal bandage had gone. Damon meanwhile was limping downhill, aiming towards the goblin village in the distance—wounded all over, but mostly suffering from his right leg being badly torn up, and even more badly strained. He couldn't even recall when it had happened.

… And no, that was very clearly the absolute worst way of putting it, but then she was clearly doing so on purpose, so there wasn't anything to gain from pointing that out.

Instead Damon gave her the side-eye glare. “How to put it, how to put it. Kindly fuck off, and die. I'm nobody's pet, let alone 'Beast of Burden'.”

"'Chosen' Beast of Burden, don't sell yourself short!"

Damon didn’t even dignify that with a response, and really didn't appreciate the implication he would have preferred they both die, but to him it was obvious how she’d baited them both into a trap where accepting the prompt was the only reasonable option remaining. Sure, she did it by getting lost in the chaos and pretending to get eaten—but to Damon it remained very clear that she’d done so deliberately. The timing of it all was just too perfect to be a coincidence. Now she was acting like the turn of events was nothing out of the ordinary, that she'd simply been prioritizing the success of the senior's mission; hard at work maximizing the opportunity. And sure, she’d told him straight up that the choice was up to him, and that she wouldn’t be able to change it afterward.

What was Berry to do then, if he misinterpreted the next random situation and then acted all on his own while she was occupied. Could she really be blamed if Damon jumped to conclusions before she could explain any further?

To be fair all she'd said at the time was 'yiiip'.

It would've actually helped my case a lot if she’d acted more in distress, maybe called out desperately for help at the time, is that asking too much?

The fact she had not didn't make Damon feel any less manipulated however, rather it was yet another sign on a big pile all pointing towards how she'd obviously planned it all out minutiously, including masterfully balancing the act in preparation for this very argument.

Obviously.

How to prove it? And to who? I bet those ancient, wrinkly bastards in the village were in on it too, from the very get go. Gah. Who am I kidding, she’s fourteen, they probably handed her the plan fully formed.

Damon was sick and tired of not being able to think of a good counter, while Berry went on and on, but his body was exhausted beyond thinking.

Meanwhile Berry did not 'kindly fuck off', but rather took full advantage of the fact that he was her ride by remaining relentless, she kept working him over. "Look, you think I wanted this? I had dreams too, ya know. Big ones, riding on top of Billy's and Rex' alike, yet here I am, stuck with some kinda hairless monkey for a ride. What sorta beast of burden is that? None I’ve ever heard of. Have you?"

Is this the new tactic? She’s seen what I can do. I’d make a great beast of burden. She’d be so lucky to have me, little shit.

Damon refused to be manipulated any further though. So, in turn he didn't even dignify the ridiculous question with a response.

Unfortunately, that meant she just kept going. "And the seniors claim you're meant to be some kinda special, mythical race of ancients. Hah! You toot in your sleep, just like me. What’s so special? Charming Billy? Billy’s just a sucker for a great ‘massage’, nothing new. It’s similar to how the seniors first charmed the old goat way back in the first place. Just as I was meant to befriend you. They'll be in bits about this wrench in their plans for us two, ya know," She suddenly sounded wistful. “Hopefully the bark will distract them.”

There it is! "They put you up to this, huh? They knew your Class all along, didn’t they?" Damon cricked his neck and tried to stare her down, just on the off chance it might help him discern the truth.

She was blushing blue a bit, but then her words were frosty. "Knew what? That you resonated with my Daos for some reason? Sure. That things might turn out this way? hah. Don't overestimate the old coots. That'd be a big mistake. They got spooked when they heard rumors at the meeting—from some other even older, old coots—that you might be dangerous. Then when they heard from Lila how you’d been acting all heroic and docile, they figured it was someone else the meeting must’ve been warning about.” She eyed him with suspicion. “Fat chance, you saw the way that big bat reacted to ya. And she’d know who to look for; she’s a smeller."

Damon shuddered, but still figured she was trying to distract him with the tangent, so he tried wresting them back on track. "You can just admit it, how you clearly wanted me as your chosen beast from the very start. You two were watching us, back in the orchard. Don’t deny it, then I might actually buy the rest of what you’re selling. Maybe you don't realize, full honesty is the only acceptable starting point."

But voicing his complaints so weakly only earned him another round of super-reasonable explanations.

"Oh ye, ye. Yer a real catch. Stubborn as a goat, face like a pallid bison and the same amount of legs as any goblin, what a specimen. Don’t be such a daft cunt. I was offered the Class I’ve long dreamt of, all because of my personal Daos. Got it? Not because you showed up a week ago and jumped to the top of my list of targets.” Damon wanted to cut in—to object to the characterization if nothing else—but Berry was still mid-combination. “Pretty much any other beast of burden would have been better. If not something with a few extra legs, then I’d have gone for something with wings, or even flippers. We've got goals of our own, you know. How was I to know that frickin’ swarm would refuse to quit over some damn bark!? We needed to make it outta Doc Forest no matter what, doing so with the bark meant you were my best shot. Don’t make it deep!"

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The slightly glowing bark was still hovering on attached lines behind him as Damon trudged on in the sullen silence—every piece battered, nibbled and yet still along for the ride.

By now they were about 10 minutes out from the goblin village, and Damon frankly couldn't wait to get some distance from the chattering voice. He’d rejected her version of the events from the start, yet she was still defending her choices during the battle—including the ease with which she’d survived—all to no avail, falling on deaf ears.

Really, her surviving simply wasn’t why he was mad in the first place. Not really. When he finally saw the prompt it was obvious what had happened, but in the heat of the moment Damon had still demanded that Berry confirm a few things by sharing her Chronicles scroll before they went one step further, namely to make sure of her specific Daos, because if Damon risked working with someone who might be about to sacrifice him, then he damn sure wanted to know about it, or he was right out.

Some of those Classes he'd been offered had looked downright sinister. That Blåberry only gave him a dirty look for a second before she agreed was the only valid reason he’d even let her back on to ride with him in the first place.

Chronicles

Explorer ID: Blåberry Lilyleaf

Explorer Class: Herculean Beastmaster - level 34

Explorer Race: Redcap Dwarf Goblin

Ratings

Strength: 110

Perception: 45

Mana: 79

Grace: 10

Dao Path: Dogma of the Tribal Champion, Exemplar, Strength, Mastery

Titles: Goliath Tamer

Symbiote Relationship: Damon’s Chosen Beastmaster

Yes. As it turns out she had a familiar Class. A Class that Damon recognised all too well, even if his version had been slightly different. One that he'd had cause to reconsider, after first meeting with his own Billy—which was when he'd first realized the myriad level of fauna that he might be set to encounter in this strange, new world.

Still, he had never considered how he might end up being a prospect on the other end of that relationship—certainly not to the point of being measured and fitted for a collar himself, and so soon.

The whole situation was bizarre, unacceptable. It felt humiliating, even if Damon had seen nothing but benefits so far. That's always how it starts. I will never be willingly enslaved, no matter what situation the System forces me into. Nor a tool for some tiny master to sacrifice towards their own goals.

He looked at Berry and sighed. I can't believe that's a real thought I'm having.

But then again, Blåberry didn't have the Dao that had made Damon himself balk at the Class. She was not taking on the role from the same angle, even though the approach to fighting was clearly similar. Suppose our biggest difference is how she's motivated from impressing her tribe? I don’t see how that makes a practical difference to me though. In the grand scheme I’m still nothing but a ‘Beast of Burden’, and to a bunch of goblins? Pfft. If we don't find some way out of this, I'll have to somehow make one.

Blåberry was at least a [Herculean Beastmaster], as opposed to the very similar Class that Damon had been offered, only with the ominous word tamer instead. Even with such a small key difference, Damon felt certain the two Classes probably led to quite different Skillquests. But Damon had no way of gauging whether that difference was truly that meaningful. In the end they’re both about domination, plain and simple. Why else would she have needed me to agree? There’s clearly a hidden downside.

By now it seemed rather obvious that Damon should have been asking about Berry’s Class at some earlier point. But then even if he’d been fully aware how paramount it was, she didn’t even have any Dao skills to speak of at the time. He simply hadn’t prioritized it. Sure, it was clearly important with hindsight, but during the brief window when Damon had been fantasizing about what kind of abilities she might reveal, he had seriously been thinking he didn’t want to spoil it in advance by asking. Then later he’d figured she was some sort of support when she boosted him during the pylon Challenge, not a frickin’ tamer. And who would have even predicted that I'd be a valid target in the first place? What the actual shit is that about.

Now he was a System designated Beast of Burden—by choice—and he had no clue if there was any way out. Berry had claimed the Skill was permanent, and it certainly wasn't as easy as simply dismissing the designation.

He'd already tried that.

She planned on this from the start, they all did. There's no way any of it's a coincidence.

Once they got back to the village, Lila and the rest of the Goblin seniors all certainly had some explaining to do.