After I harvest the three wolfhawks, the rest of the night is rather uneventful. Gael’s presence seems to ward off any would-be attackers quite well. I even manage to sneak in a few more hours of sleep, practicing my movements with Shayde for the equivalent amount of days. I wake up right as dawn arrives, but I decide to check out my Heart Scroll before I enter the city.

  Name: Luck Vidadura

  Age: 18

  Race: Aldkin

  Skill: Box - Summon a box to store things in.

  Affinity: Spacial, ???

  Skill Aether: 83%

  Skill Credits: 0

  Credit Level: Level 15 (218 SC allocated)

  [Skill Tree]

  [???]

  [Permissions]

  [Inventory]!

  [Quests]!

  [Bonded Creatures]!

  [Bonded Items]

  [Map]

  Wow… I can’t believe I’ve reached level fifteen in just a few days. Only two credits shy of sixteen, too. That number is going to bother me, though. I hope I’ll find an upgrade that lets me fix that… Let’s see what’s in my inventories.

  Inventory A: 100% capacity (0% Volume Inefficiency)

  4 copper rings

  1 bronze ring

  5 tin rings

  2 iron rings

  1 steel ring

  Inventory B: 67% Capacity

  1x botany tome

  1500x air berries

  6500x air berry leaves

  4000x air berry thorns

  73x hoglin warts

  52x hoglin teeth

  3x wolfhawk beaks

  2000x wolfhawk feathers

  3x wolfhawk skins

  Inventory C: 50% Capacity

  1x Woeful Bloodsteel Blade

  Inventory D: 0% Capacity

  Inventory E: 0% Capacity

  About what I expected. It’s interesting that I didn’t get any meat from the wolfhawks, though… I guess it must not be worth anything. Next up, there seems to be a quest notification.

  New quest found!

  Category: Surprise

  Aspects: Dangerous, Variable

  Level: 10

  Time Limit: Before death

  Description: A wild mowle has attacked! Find a way to survive.

  Progress: Completed, Bonded

  Reward: 50 SC and 5 iron rings

  Penalty for failure: Death

  2x Quests Completed

  Accept Rewards?

  Yes

  50 SC granted

  5 iron rings have been added to Inventory A

  Variable reward detected!

  Performance rating: Exemplary!

  Scroll Resonance has been added to Inventory B

  I’ll absorb the scroll Resonance here in a bit. First, I want to check out the last thing on my list. The bonded creatures tab.

  Name: Delilah

  Age: >756

  Skills: Wound Reversal, Stasis Stun, Telepathy, Mind Spike

  Affinities: Temporal, Mental

  Level: 13

  Aether: 54%

  Disposition: Friendly

  New creature bond detected!

  Name: Gael

  Age: 378

  Skills: Beastly Strength, Sharpened Talons, Updraft, Accelerated Dive, Accelerated Tunneling, Tremor Sense

  Affinities: Body, Air, Earth

  Level: 12

  Aether: 87%

  Disposition: Transactional

  My eyebrows raise in astonishment at the capabilities of my new acquaintance as I give him a look that I hope conveys the respect that it’s intended to.

  “Wow, Gael! You’re really strong!”

  The Gahoo’s head lifts with prideful elegance as he climbs out of the hole. Upon cresting the top, he spreads his wings wide, chest puffed, his intonation filled with an awe inspiring… flatness. Well, maybe not flat, but nowhere near the gravitas I expected to accompany this display.

  “Gael knows this, but Gael is happy Giver also knows this.”

  I’ll have to teach him how to add flair to his words, but that can wait.

  “Three affinities? Six skills? All at one level below Delilah!”

  To this, Delilah scoffs, shaking her furry little face. Sending a feeling of annoyance through our bond, which seems to mostly be there to mask her jealousy, she turns to face away, with her back turned toward both me and Gael.

  “Hmph! Creatures of lesser affinities often do receive more, Human. What you should be admiring are my two greater affinities.”

  The cat’s tone causes me to smile, nearly laughing, as she very obviously fishes for a compliment. I indulge her, of course, as that is usually the quickest way to appease the little drama queen.

  “Yes, my little baby kitty, you’re strong too.”

  As I chuckle, Gael decides to innocently add insult to injury.

  “Gael can sense Small Morsel’s strength. Small Morsel is not strong like Gael, but Small Morsel has strength of Small Morsel.”

  A scowl immediately flows from her, though it barely masks the smug contentment hidden beneath it.

  “Trod carefully, Human. If you trip, you may find my claws buried in your skull for such an insult. At least the mowle has the sense to be respectful.”

  The threat causes me to chuckle before I remember that I have a Resonance to absorb. I summon Inventory B, examining it as I pull it out. It’s perfectly transparent, with only the barest hint of reflected sunlight to let me know it’s even there.

  “Hey, Delilah, what do you know about the scroll Resonance?”

  My musing tone brims with a quiet curiosity. Even though I asked the question, I’m barely paying attention, still trying to glean some insight from the visual aspects of the orb. That is futile, of course. It’s clear. The end. Delilah’s sarcastic retort, however, cuts through my daze like a beast’s claw through skin.

  “It’s a Resonance with a scroll attunement. Such is to say, I know no more than you do, Human. What do you take me for? The resident Resonance expert?”

  She scoffs, but beneath that lies undertones of mischievousness and delight.

  “Etheri, Delilah, you could have just said you don’t know.”

  “I just did.”

  “You— Whatever… I’m just going to absorb it to find out.”

  With a bark of laughter that is more reminiscent of a dog than a cat, she stretches, making her way over to me. Following that, she pats my foot with her paw, taking on a tone flooded with false pity and very real condescension.

  “Yes, Human, just absorb anything that falls into your lap. That could never have any negative consequences.”

  Her sarcasm is, once again, not missed. But it is ignored. Shaking my head, I hold the orb against my chest, and… nothing happens. I repeat the action, pushing it into my sternum with enough force as to cause a mild pain. Still, nothing happens. Delilah laughs wildly as I try a third time, which doesn’t help. As I go in for a fourth, Koa speaks up.

  “You— You should do that again, Human! BAHAHA! It’s going to work eventually, I promise!”

  I scowl at the feline as I once again stare at the curious item in my hand.

  “Father, maybe try putting it directly on your Heart Scroll? It’s a scroll Resonance, after all.”

  My eyes light up as soon as the words process in my head.

  “Of course! That might work! Thank you, Koa!”

  I’m already summoning my scroll as I respond, as it really is a good idea. As soon as I have the scroll in hand, I hold the orb over it. I hesitate for a second, worried about the consequences Delilah mentioned. Before I have the chance to change my mind, however, my Heart Scroll seems to pull on the Resonance. Then the orb slips from my grasp, falling toward the scroll, where it simply disappears. In its place, a ripple spreads across the golden parchment.

  “Okay… now what? Nothing seems to be different.”

  At this, Delilah laughs even harder. I scowl, throwing my Heart Scroll in her direction. Knowing it would disappear, imagine my surprise when it simply floats up to be unobtrusively to the right of where my focus is directed.

  “Oh! Cool!”

  Delilah continues to laugh at me when I say this, rolling around on the ground like she’s trying to put out a fire. Her response is full of giggles and sarcasm.

  “What’s— what’s so cool, Human? Your weapon vanished before it even touched me!”

  I look down at her, perplexity plastered on my face.

  “Wait… you can’t see it? How? It’s right there.”

  As I point at the map beside me, her laughter renews, the fits only growing more annoying.

  “See what, Human? The look on your face? I see it perfectly!”

  I only grow more baffled at her response, staring down at her like she just grew a second head.

  What? But… am I going insane? No, that doesn’t make sense. My scroll absorbed the Resonance. This is completely within the realm of believability. But… why can’t anybody see it?

  “I can still see your scroll, Father! It’s floating there beside you!”

  A sigh escapes me as my worst fears are abated. The thought of losing my mind terrifies me down to my core.

  “Thank you. At least now I know I’m not crazy.”

  The mowle decides to add his own input, which I am grateful for… But it doesn’t help relieve me in the slightest.

  “Gael sees nothing except confusion.”

  If I’m not a lunatic, then this could be useful… very useful indeed.

  …

  As Delilah and I make our way back to the gate, having sent Gael on his way and with Koa tucked safely into her box, I test the new function of my Heart Scroll. It seems that if I grab hold of the scroll, people can see it. If I drop it, it floats beside me. I can focus on it to bring it in front of me, and I can still unsummon it as per usual. I decide to leave it on the ‘Map’ page for now. As I open the map, I see two red dots with shadows flowing from them flanking the gate.

  “Hey, I think there are some enemies at the gate. I’m seeing new indicators that look like the outlines that monsters have when I’m using my Umbral Guide ability.”

  Using ‘Father’s Call,’ I retrieve Koa from her box and hesitantly step out in front of the portcullis. Rather than any monster, I see the guards that took all of my meat from my first hoglin. Both of them are outlined in red, with black smoke shrouding their vital points.

  “Oi! Iss the boyyo from the other night! Whacha got fer us this time, boyyo?”

  The larger man spits on the ground, his smaller counterpart doing the same, clearly in imitation rather than any need to remove saliva. They walk toward me menacingly, the brutish behemoth’s arms cross midway to me, though they don’t stop.

  “Yeah, boy! Give us something good again! We made quite a bit of rings from you last time!”

  I flinch, gripping my hidden dagger even tighter.

  “Wha’s ‘at b’hind yer back there, boyyo? Wouldn’t be ‘oldin out on us, would ya?”

  The scrawnier of the two men reaches out as if to grab me, driving my anxiety through the roof. My palms begin to sweat as I struggle to come up with a plan.

  “Fuck! Koa, stay there!”

  I release my grip on my weapon as she stays floating behind my back. As soon as I’ve done this, I hold my hands out in front of me in a placating gesture. The guards don’t look surprised, nor do they show any other sign of acknowledgement.

  “Nothing, sir! Just scratching my ass.”

  Big Buff Bully, as Koa would call him, grins maliciously. His face looks not like disbelief, but the uncaring glare of a man prepared to do anything to fill his own pockets.

  “Ah, was ‘at it? Ya see, I’m not so inclined as ta be believin’ ya there, boyyo.”

  With that ominous statement, a shadow leaps out from the larger guard, lunging in to grab at me, but Shayde appears. He performs the first stab we practiced, driving his dagger between the man’s ribs, straight into his heart. He then rips the blade out through the side of the guard’s chest, slashing it across the smaller guard’s throat.

  Having been acclimatized to following the guide’s movements, I do exactly that with little thought but much less grace. The first guard dies immediately, with the second gurgling for a few seconds before also moving on to fall eternally through the skies of hell.

  Shit! Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!! HARVEST!

  Not knowing what else to do, I remove all evidence and slowly walk through the gate so as to not draw too much attention to myself. I idly notice my Heart Scroll change pages, so I glance over to see what’s going on.

  New quest found!