Topaz was always both lucky and unlucky at the same time. Her life had seen numerous accidents, but none of them had harmed her in any meaningful way- scrapes and bruises were abundant, but she could only remember breaking a bone once; and that too healed unusually quickly, it's break clean.

So colour no one surprised when a drunk driver on an icy road sent her to an afterlife full of potential. Full of contestants. Full of magic. True to her bizarre fortune, her cheat skill, [Omnimapping] matched that. She had a bird's eye view of kingdoms, cities, towns, mountains, valleys, rivers, dungeons... but the minute she stepped into battle, it ceased to serve her.

So when the enigmatic gold-glowing god spat her out, the first thing she did was activate this skill for a lay of the land. Or at least, what little of it was left. She had began on an island- unable to access civilization, but very difficult for another Contestant to find and eliminate her. Out of equal parts necessity and desire, Topaz answered the System prompt and chose her Class. A few dozen options stared back quickly narrowed down to two- thief and shaman. Recognizing both the importance of both stealthy combat and nature magic, and being afflicted with a bad case of the fear of missing out, Topaz selected their middle ground.

[Hunter]

The second she did, a gold-speckled wind enveloped her. Enough clothing not to die of embarrassment while wearing dissolved, replaced just as quickly by dull brown leather and a mottled green cloak. Tools phased in from nowhere, filling her belt and chances of survival in equal measure. A studry knife with a good angle to lever open monster armor, a pouch full of different kinds of bait, a coil of rope, a bow with a quiver of arrows, and sturdy metal flask for water. Her Skills, while small in number, seemed perfectly-matched to this loadout.

[Ambush: Lines up attacks against unaware targets, increasing damage.]

[Replenish: Transmutes user's magic into depleted items, restoring quantity. Mana-intensive]

[Beast lore: Understand and cooperate with monsters. Increases chance of pet acquisition, slightly increases pet stats.]

[Appraisal: Reveals the stats of a creature or object]

The purpose of this Class became clear at the last line. Topaz was truly only half a Contestant alone; she needed to find a good pet. And fast.

Methodically, Topaz swept the coast and offered bait to anything she could. Anything landlocked would only be useful as far as it could walk, but an aquatic creature coild explore the vast sea- and if large enough, take her across it.

The creatures she found left something to be desired. An amphibious tortoise caught her eye, only proven a bad fit by it's lack of ability to climb. The strange birds were much too agressive, one of them snapping up the bait in a flash and turning to a gouge in her arm before a reflexive stab with her knife stabbed through it's thin body.

Topaz acquired her first Levelup then, and with it a new Skill point. Thoughts twisted from the recent fight, Topaz chose healing magic, flaring up the cyan flame to life and pressing it to the wound.

She had not expected it to drain her mana so fast, but the pain dulled to an acceptable level. After a round-looking fish who wouldn't give her the time of day after a few cubes of bait and a strange winged serpent that was more interested in carrying the cube back than actually eating it, she was low on options.

It was not a total loss, as these attempts had given her two levels in [Beast Lore]. Mostly from learning what not to do, but the few times she got close to acceptance stayed in her memory as behaviors to repeat. This continued for the first day, sparse aquatic beasts oddly reluctant to go near the land while the land beasts were almost humorous in their lack of raw power. Their stats averaged ten, when an average human sported around thirteen, and her highest sat at an even twenty.

The next morning, a long, sharp, red fish greedily swam up to her. It took the bait, then another, then her last, before jumping out and making a happy splash.

[You have tamed: Arrow-ana (I) level 4. Do you wish to administer a Name?]

"you'll be Mist!" Topaz exictedly answered. The small red fish glowed, happily snapping it's jaws under it's sharp nose.

"Fight creatures your own size, and bring back as much meat as you can." Topaz instructed. Mist wasted no time, skewering a few fish and sticking his snout out of the water to recieve praise and the occasional burst of healing

All the while, Topaz built a fire. Hung up every fish brought on a thick branch, ready-made hole in most of them thanks to mist's stabbing charge.

Notifications pinged in of this speed predator's work. [Your pet has slain cephalo-requin. Expirience shared. Topaz, Ranger has risen to level 3. Skill point gained]

Topaz's skill list had tripled in size since pet acquisition. New Skills included [Pet Command] to boost a pet's stats under direct orders, Generic passives such as [Pet strength boost] and [Pet tracking], but topaz chose one that sat right between her budding magic and her exicting beastmastery.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

[You have learned: Mind magic (I). Skill points remaining: 0.]

[Your pet has slain: Greater nest bit. Mist, Arrow-ana has risen to level 5. Evolution available.]

Topaz jumped at the chance. The system produced it's largest window yet, pixelated sprite of the red stabfish in the center and surrounded by a handful of sharp aquatic beings, all of which choices. From the humble [Greater Arrow-ana], to the logical extension of ranged weaponry, the [Pistol shark].

Choice paralysis overtaking her, Topaz reached out her mind to the crimson fish of violence. She felt her mana reserves burn up like cotton, stopping at a sliver of magic left- as a double helix of light purple and silvery gold spiraled out from her hand to her willing ally.

"You're about to evolve" Topaz panted through the mind bridge.

"Oh boy! I hope I get to be big and strong!" Mist's voice raced through, words hitting like his hunting style.

"What... do you want to be good at?" Topaz asked. "Power, speed, dura-"

"Stabbing!" Mist unhelpfully answered.

Topaz studied her options. And after a minute of deliberation, chose one.

[Confirm choice?] the System asked, as Mist swam close. "Oh boy what'd I get what'd I get"

was the last thing he said before his features vanished, transmuting into a glowing orb. Topaz, initially worried she somehow killed her loyal companion, watched it take detail. A

larger, thicker body, sharp snout looking reinforced by metal

[Mist, Arrow-ana (I) has evolved into a Joustuna (II)]

Topaz marveled at her selection. Evolution was no joke, she decided.

"I'm ready to hunt!" Mist sounded older. Still confident, but graduated from a highly violent talking dog to a highly violent teenager. The Joustuna, as the system told her, leaned harder into making highspeed charges and killing anything it could it in a single hit, at the cost of being unable to survive a counterattack from anything that could make one. And of course, mist was happy as a clam with that description.

The day rolled past. Levels came quickly for Mist as he turned the waters into his playground of impalement, and slowly for Topaz as she collected a share of the EXP. Yet despite this difference in levels, they earned skill points at a near-identical speed, each collecting 3 more in the day's trawl.

Every skill point accellerated the hunt. Topaz doubled down on support, choosing [Pet speed] for Mist to cover more ground and hit even harder, [Mana gathering] to spread more healing, and [Corpse cleaning] for herself to make better use of Mist's many kills. She additionally chose some simplistic skills for him- [Night vision], [Breath], and [Pain resistance]. She felt dissapointed there was no passive regeneration skill, nor did Mist seem to qualify for anything more defensive. He already had a purely offensive kit and a grand total of three thoughts a minute, so she tried to pick supportive skills that wouldn't tax his brain even further.

That whole evening, topaz built a basic shelter under a broad-leafed tree, and Mist pushed against his cap of level 9. and topaz feared he had reached his maximum- until the moon peaked over the horizon.

[Your pet has slain: Young Water wyvern. Mist, Joustuna has risen to level 10. Evolution available.]

Topaz called mist back over, recoiling at the numerous cuts and scratches on his flanks.

"You're getting kind of scratched up" She commented waveringly

"Isn't it cool? lady fish love scars" Mist turned his scale-spares side, posing.

"I've... cooked up a special evolution for you" Topaz half-lied, quickly scanning the list of options and selecting one before Mist could object. Halfway through asking what it was, he lit up the shallows as evolution reduced him to a glowing orb, larger than before.

As the glow subsided, Topaz's eyes adjusted to the dark. What posed back at her was a fish the size of a small canoe, head seamlessly merged with a forward-facing sword. Plates of shiny chitin, mirroring a set of animal barding, covered his skin, streamlined to facilitate an aquatic charge

"What are you going to become next, a chainsaw fish?" Topaz joked to herself through her awe.

[Mist, Joustuna (II) has completed his evolution into a Barrongcuda (III)]

While the last evolution leaned harder into the gimmick of charging, this one 'only' supported it. Speed saw only a slight bump, strength and mind more of one, but most of this evolution's power went straight to defense. The tall blade and increased mass and size would make turning awkward, but those very setbacks would put even more power behind the charging stab or vertical slash.

"I'm going to bed for the night. Don't bite off more than you can chew." Topaz instructed to her newly-evolved Pet.

"I will not be defeated." Responded the deeper, ever-eager voice of Mist. Fatigue hung off his voice, as a day of swimming obviously burns energy.

The two of them slept. However, Mist awoke faster. Full of energy and confidence, he swam along the shallows, eyes filtering the incoming dawn with growing ease, until something he saw brought him words of celebration

"Jackpot." said Mist, deep and loud enough to rouse Topaz from her slumber.

Topaz sighed wordlessly before answering "What'd you find...?"

Mist could barely keep himself composed. "Nest. Tasty eggs. Big sleeping worms."

"Be careful..." Topaz warned

"Worms are weak" Sidearmed the sword shark, scraping his blade on the cave ceiling.