Mato Mato paced bad forth, his excitement growing by the moment, while and Malika hashed out the details of their pn. He was going to test his skills in a real battle.

  I ’t wait!

  “So, Malika is our tank and healer, me and Mato are damage dealers, and Ali is our support mage?” asked, firming their final arra.

  “Sounds right,” Malika answered. “I’ll go get us some wolves.” And with that, she sprinted off past a rather enormous pile of boo where they had spotted the roaming pack.

  Mato’s adrenaline surged at the pierg howl that echoed through the darkness and the sight of Malika sprinting back to where they waited with the entire pack of wolves bearing down on her. Quickly he switched forms, his body twisting and ing into the form of a wolf, pleased to find that he was rger and heavier than the oning Starving Wolves. Only the Alpha was bigger than him.

  Starving Wolf – level 1-3 x4 (Hostile)Starving Alpha – Wolf – level 5 (Hostile)

  With a creaking groan and a strong st of fresh oak, thick, gnarled roots sprang from the ground, reag for the paws of the smallest wolf bringing up the rear. As they tangled around its feet, the wolf yelped and was suddenly jerked to a painful halt. That’s a nice skill! He gnced approvingly at Ali.

  Reag a clear patch of ground, Malika stopped running, wheeled about, and frohe remaining wolves, shing out with punches and kicks that flickered with short bright fshes of light as they struck.

  Rising battle fury surged, a near palpable emanation ing from Ali’s pair of Sewer Rats as they rushed across the mucky ground to separate a sed wolf from the pack. Their iions popped into his mind as clear as day: a plex bination of visible body nguage, dire of charge, st, tone of hissing, and a strara-sensory perception for their emotional state that culminated in an intuition that had to be a blend of his Pack Tactid the Beast Language aptitude provided by his Druidic Shapeshifter css.

  Mato howled and charged. The pn called for him to pick a wolf, and and Ali would help him take them dow a time. But the wolf pack had already encircled Malika and they were darting in and out, chipping away at her whenever her back was turned, or she was fhey would weaken her slowly, taking advantage of their numbers and speed.

  The strategy flowed naturally through his mind – an instinct like he had been born to it. His pack was stronger, and he would turn their strategy against them. Mato picked the weakest of the three right as it dodged back away from Malika and s its hindquarters with his sharp teeth. Mana and stamina flowed through him in a rush as he wove Brutal Restoration into his Hamstring skill and ripped through flesh and tendons. The wolf yelped in sudden pain as warm wetness and the metallic taste of blood exploded into his mouth.

  The wolf stumbled, its movements suddenly hampered, and Mato’s lip curled ba a savage grin as the rhythm of the wolf pack’s attacks began to crumble. The gentle slow pulse of soft spring warmth, new growth, and shoots reag for life-giving sunshine filled his body as Brutal Restoration infused him with tinuous healing.

  But the rich flow of new senses p into his mind was not limited to his uanding of beasts or pack fighting. Mato’s mana flowed outward across the battlefield like aension of himself, establishing his territory, his domain. It was small, barely more than te in all dires, but through it, he could sehe life energy of Malika, the two rats nearby, and most of the wolves.

  Arboreal Sanctuary. As the Alpha wolf lunged in, fangs bared, Mato k would strike. Malika was already forced to block the other two wolves, and their attacks had forced the opening. As the jaed shut on Malika’s shoulder, Mato fed a tiny pulse of mana to his skill and substituted his life for hers. Like a ghostly apparition, ueeth tore through Mato’s shoulder, ripping through skin and muscle with ease and sending his blood fountaining outward to flow down his side and mat his fur.

  Malika, however, was entirely unharmed.

  As the pain of the stolen attack tore through Mato’s mind, a simultaneous rush of power and new energy surged within him.

  He snarled, baring his fangs. Stupid wolves!

  A dim red mist swirled around his face, c his vision, and he lunged forward to sink his fangs into the wounded wolf before him. Magic surged within him as he instinctively unleashed his skills, and bone snapped between his teeth with a satisfying crack. His enemy wheeled about and bit him instead of Malika, finally aowledging his power and ripping another wound in his leg.

  The soft pulse of his healing steadily knit the wounds together, slowing the flow of blood – and the thick red mist began to ebb along with the diminishing of the heady rush of power c through his body.

  More! Eager for the rush, he stole the vicious bite that snapped down on Malika’s wrist. Again, pain and power surged through him as he bled on her behalf. He had no idea how it worked, nor did he care. He ighe incessant buzzing of golden bolts and the annoyingly bright arrows shooting past his head and bit down savagely, eager to unleash his power and he gloated with fierce satisfa at the sight of the weakling colpsing at his feet.

  He growled, searg for fresh prey. He showed the rats what he wanted, and they moved, allowing him to fnk the wolf they were fighting. This time, he stole an atta the rat beside him, building his power. With a guttural snarl, he lunged in and bit using his Hamstring and Brutal Restoration bination to savage his foe. The annoying arrows and bolts followed him, smming into the wolf struggling in his jaws.

  Mine! My prey!

  He snapped again, filling his mouth with the taste of blood, and took attacks from both Malika and the rat at the same time, eager to finish his enemy before the arrows stole his kill. In an intoxig surge of power, he bit down on the wolf’s throat, reveling in the g and tearing of flesh.

  Movement off to the side caught his attention, and out of the er of his eye, he saw a solitary Sewer Rat wandering by, near a low pile of bones. Without a sed thought, he dropped the dying wolf and bounded off, eager for more blood to satiate his need.

  “Mato! Stop!”

  Annoying! He ighe shouted distra, fog his mind on the bat as the Sewer Rat appeared within the reddish haze. His mind roared with triumph as his teeth found his prey and blood spilled across his face. Bright arrows and the tiny golden bolts chased him like annoying gnats. He s one.

  Find your own. Mine!

  His jaws fihe rat far too quickly and he wheeled about, searg for more.

  The annoying girl stood alone fag the Alpha. The stro of the pack. His rightful prey. Jealousy c through him like the power that spilled out as a red mist, he charged. His fangs tore into the rger wolf as he instinctively used his skills to fnk it. Reveling in the rush as the wolf yelped in pain, he reached for more, transferring damage from Malika. He barely felt the pain as his power surged yet again.

  Suddenly, she attacked him. An open hand spped him on the shoulder. He snarled, snapping at it, but an intense rush of burning power tore through his body, stitg his wounds shut and staung the flow of blood. The red mist diminished.

  Why am I snapping at Malika? He could smell the anger emanating from her.

  As his wounds closed, his pan to wane. Desperately, he transferred another bite to himself as fury rose unbounded within him. She’s weakening me! She wants the kill for herself! With his power suddenly rising once again, he unleashed his attacks, teariedly at the Alpha wolf until finally it colpsed before him, vanquished by his power.

  His body twisted as he released his Wolf Form, aood there panting from exertion, red mist still seeping from his pores and ging to his body.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” Malika yelled at him.

  His anger fred at once, and he shouted back at her, “I was fighting and saving you by taking your damage.”

  “You got another monster in the middle of the fight, that is risky and dangerous!” Malika stood her ground. “I even had to heal you.”

  “Don’t heal me so much!” Mato roared. “It reduces my power! My Primal Rage needs damage.”

  “Your skill makes you stupid,” Malika said quietly as she stepped up and, faster than he could react, she punched him iomach.

  Mato felt the same burning rush of healing magic surging through his body and suddenly, his mind snapped clear, and the redness in his vision lifted.

  “You stopped healing yourself halfway through the fight,” she finished. “You o be more careful.”

  Mato blinked in surprise as the truth of what she had said hit him like a brick.

  “Let’s have get the group,” Malika suggested, her voice calm, but her eyes still hard and angry. “Mato, use your bear, you said it has armor, that should help. And make sure you’re always using your healing.”

  Shaken by her words, aill trembling from the aftermath of his rage and anger, Mato turned away, cheg his notifications.

  Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf – level 1-3 x4.Yroup has defeated Sewer Rat – level 2.Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf Alpha – level 5.

  Druidic Shapeshifter has reached level 2.+10 attribute points.

  Arboreal Sanctuary has reached level 2.Brutal Restoration has reached level 2.Wolf Form has reached level 2.Primal Rage has reached level 2.

  Mato puffed out his cheeks. Det. But… ’s words from earlier came back to haunt him. What if I really do lose trol. What if I turn on my friends during battle?

  sat quietly with his back to a worn, half-buried boulder, waiting for his mana tee before they tinued onward. With nothier to do, he watched Ali usirange magi the corpses of the wolves, turning them into tiny sparkles of light and mana that drifted away as they faded. But not even that dispy could distract him from wrestling with the implications of what had just happened.

  It was worse than he had feared. Mato had bee unreasonable and aggressive, and he had endangered himself and the entire group by attag a passing monster in the middle of a big fight. A mohat, on its own, would likely have passed them by without getting involved. He had alsotten to heal himself and he had even s Malika.

  This is not like him, he thought. and Mato had been close friends for years. What had just happened was not normal. Mato had never lost trol or endangered his friends in all the time had known him – and that included many brawls. No, it was especially true when he was fighting. In fact, time and again he had witnessed Mato’s fierce loyalty and itment to his friends and family ing before even his owh and happiness.

  That was simply who Mato was.

  He gnced up at the sound of footsteps and found Malika approag, a frown creasing her forehead and a hard glint in her eyes. This was the sed time she had gotten angry with Mato, and she was definitely not happy. Holy, though, could sympathize with her feelings.

  “Your friend has a Berserker skill.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes.”

  He half expected Malika to yell at him too, after the se he had witnessed, but she just sighed.

  “ you remind him to heal himself? I think he will be more likely to listen to you in the heat of battle than me.”

  “You could heal him too, it snapped him right out of it,” said.

  “I stay close to him during the fight and heal him if it gets out of hand, but my heal is touch range, and I’m tanking,” Malika said. “I ’t be chasing after him if he decides to run off again.”

  “Thank you,” said. Unfortunately, she was right, there were seldom opportunities for someoanking to run around. “I’ll keep an eye on him too and remind him to be more cautious.”

  “I hope he doesn’t get us all killed.”

  gnced over to find Mato sitting by himself staring at the ground. “He’s not normally like this.”

  “You may o get used to the new version,” Malika said soberly. “Unless something ges, that’s his skill. If he ’t learn to trol it, he’s going to be a liability.”

  opened his mouth, needing to defend his friend, but he shut it without saying anything. Malika’s assessment was exactly what he had feared the moment Mato had shared Primal Rage with him. Berserker skills had a reputation for a reason.

  Berserker skills were extremely powerful, and for that reason, some people were drawn to them. However, they were essentially skills that surrendered will and reason to the fury and rage, the call of battle. They were notoriously difficult to trol and often caused ugly situations. Many groups, guilds, and anizations ht banned berserkers for exactly that reason – too many would iably lose trol and hurt or kill their allies.

  Having grown up with his father, Mato had never learo fear the Berserker’s rage.

  “When you’ve recovered enough mana, could y the group of wolves here?” Malika said, breaking his dark thoughts. “This is a good open spot, and if we fight in the middle, robably avoid drawing any stray monster adds again.”

  “Got it,” he answered, activating his Eclipse stealth skill. As he faded into the shadows, Malika turned and headed back to the others.

  ***

  pced his feet with deliberate care, following the tracks while trying not to breathe or make even a hint of a sound. His eyes darted bad forth, searg the deg woh boulders, and shadows for even the slightest hint of movement. Mana trickled slowly into his stealth skill, Eclipse. The shifting shadows that pyed across his body were quite a reassurance, w hard to make his form virtually impossible to see. But he was still walking around alone in the darkness of a dungeon, trag monsters. The advice he had read so many times upon the pages of Lyeneru Silverleaf’s book lingered, never far from his mind. Stealth was not foolproof. If the wolves caught wind of his st or heard his footsteps, his stealthy cloak of shadows would be worthless.

  The pawprints led a meandering path around the dead wood and strewn bohey were ly lit up by magic, but they may as well have been, given how clearly they stood out on the ground, lit up by his powerful new perception skills.

  And they were fresh.

  He took a slow, steady breath and then held it as he snuck quickly around a big tree trunk that stank of wet rot and fungus. There, on the far side, he saw them. He shrank back quickly, cozying up to the tree trunk and the deeper shadows around it. There were five wolves in the pack, slowly stalking along a clear path, just like the group they had fought earlier. The rger Alpha walked in the ter, head up and eyes alert, while the smaller Starving Wolves scouted the terrain, sniffing and searg for something.

  He studied them carefully for a while. It was easy to tell that this slowly deg underground cavern was not normal wolf territory, a he still couldn’t figure out if these were simply dungeon monsters, or if they had somehow found a way in and were hunting rats or something else in the darkness.

  And if they are dungeon monsters…

  The legendary Pathfinder’s warnings about the dangers of dungeons loomed rger in his mind.

  With silent, practiced movements, he unslung his bow. He pulled an arrow from the quiver slung on his back beside his small pad to the b, drawing it all the way back to his cheek. He sighted along the shaft, aiming at the Alpha wolf – the biggest target. If he drew the Alpha into chasing him, the pack was certain to follow. He eled a tiny sliver of mana into Arrows of Brilliance, imbuing his arrow with the power of his light affinity magic.

  The arrow, still nocked on his b, fred with intensely brilliant white light, a radiahat sho, spilling across the slimy bck fungus and tree trunks, and reflected off the heaps of gray-white bones.

  The wolves all froze, their heads snapping around toward him. The howl of the Alpha wolf echoed in the sudden daylight.

  Shit. didn’t typically like swearing. He preferred retaining his posure. But he had just dispelled his owh, giving away his position with his ammunition entment skill. Amateur!

  He hastily released the arrow, sending the bright shining light hurtling out into the darkness but thankfully, his magic startling the pack hadn’t wrecked his aim. His arrow lodged itself low in the Alpha wolf’s left shoulder as it sprang forward to charge him. More howls broke the silence, but simply turned and fled.

  Stamina bled from him as he pushed his body to its limit, suddenly immensely grateful he had decided to sacrifice the steep mana cost required to reserve Blessing of the Dawn and boost his dexterity.

  With the howls and snarling of an angry pack of wolves breathing down his neck, he turhe er into the clearing at a dead sprint. Malika stood at the ready, boung on the balls of her feet with Mato already in his Bear Form beside her. He hurtled across the clearing, releasing a Mote of Light into the air above Malika and Mato as he passed between them.

  Only when he reached Aliandra, peering through her golden barrier with an expression of pure focused determination, did he stop and turn. His mote hovered above Malika tanking the Alpha and aarving Wolf, shedding clear white radiance across the battlefield. Mato was r as he swiped at a third wolf. Out he perimeter of his magical light, one wolf struggled against the thick roots binding it to the ground, while another snarled and s Aliandra’s two summoned rats.

  took a deep breath, trying to steady his frantically poundi. When he had first met Ali, she had been oh’s door – with only a few measly schorly skills. Struggling for their lives in that cave against that first wolf pack, he had been asto the outsized influence she had brought to bear otle with sueffective tools. Now, with proper trol skills, she was taking care of nearly half the wolf pack by herself, and still able to deal damage.

  Beside him, golden fshes burst in a rapid staccato as a stream of magical bolts unched from Aliandra’s palm, arg up and over her barrier to sm into the wolf that Mato was fighting.

  drew his bow, aiming for the same wolf. He used Arrows of Brilliance again, wing at the intense fsh of light as his arrow flew out, but the sudden his gut eased as he realized all the wolves were properly trolled and he could unleash his magic freely. He fired several shots into the Starving Wolf before the bination of his arrows, Aliandra’s magical strikes, and Mato’s cws dropped it.

  This would be much harder without ic affinities.

  Magical affinities were supposed to be fairly rare, with estimates ranging from five to ten pert of csses having one. People blessed with an affinity typically unlocked access to powerful specialized abilities and skills, just like his Eclipse and Arrows of Brilliance. His mother did not have an affinity, but somehow all four of them had received an affinity from the shrine.

  That ’t be normal. What else might our little Fae friend be hiding?

  Mato lunged forward, his paw shing out with great power from within the red mist that was growing ominously dark and dehe wolf peeled away from Malika, spinning about and ss jaws, tearing a deep bloody gash aato’s shoulder. ’s eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized he couldn’t see the telltale green flickering energy of Mato’s nature affinity.

  “Mato! Use your heal!” he shouted.

  The angry bear roared furiously and shed out again with a brutal strike of his heavy forepaw, but ’s sharp eyes he little flicker of green as his cws struck. He breathed a sigh of palpable relief as the dense red mist began to slowly dim and he raised his bow, adding a stream of arrows to Aliandra’s magic.

  It seems he will listen, thought. If Mato could take guidance during the fight, theuation with his berserker skill should be manageable. Maybe.

  He did have to remind Mato to heal several times through the battle, but each time he responded by activating his healing magid diminishing his powerful rage skill. By the time the st wolf died, much of ’s ay had faded. Mato had listened, and he had not attacked anyone. Nor had he rushed off on his own again.

  As soon as the battle cluded, headed out to hunt, trusting that the others would be ready by the time he returned.

  They tinued hunting wolves in this part of the cavern for several hours, each of them growing more used t with the abilities and personalities of their teammates. To his great relief, there were no more issues or squabbles – and even Malika’s suppressed ire seemed to have faded.

  He had to admit, though, that Mato’s skill was every bit as crazy as its reputation cimed. The power with which he unleashed his cws upon the monsters was unreal. When the red mist was dense, he was a force of nature, tearing through monsters like they were made from tissue.

  With the unfortunate downside of messing with your mind. I could never pick a skill like that.

  Although for Mato it hadn’t been a choice; it had been one of his first six css-assigned skills.

  Weary, but tentatively happy, they returo the now moss-covered shrine area and the clearing which Aliandra had expined art of her domain. As he sat to recover, checked the results of the day’s battles.

  Yroup has defeated Starving Wolf – level 3.…Yroup has defeated Starving Alpha – Wolf – level 5.

  It was a surprisingly long list of kill notifications. browsed them all, studying them carefully. But then he reached the end and stared at the final set of messages.

  I leveled up! Excellent!

  Archer of Light has reached level 3 (+2).+20 attribute points.

  Radiant Archery has reached level 3 (+2).Arrows of Brilliance has reached level 2.Motes of Light has reached level 2.Blessing of the Dawn has reached level 2.Eclipse has reached level 3 (+2).

  The gains for the day’s hunt were impressive. He had gaiwo levels aled into a fortable flow with the group. His biggest limitation seemed to be running out of mana and being forced to wait for it tee. His css seemed to effective mana-regeion skill like Malika’s Meditation, or Ali’s Destru.

  I’ll put some of my points in wisdom, he decided, hoping the increased mana pool would offset the regeion problem and the cost of reserving so much of his mana for Blessing of the Dawn. He pulled out his pen and notebook from his pad began calg the new costs and damage values for all his skills, given the level increases.

  Apart from his mana issues, and the flict between his light magid his stealth, the biggest problem he could see was his defenses. His dodge rating now that he had reached level three had dropped from thirty pert to twelve-and-a-half. Teically, it hadn’t dropped – he still wore the same leather armor – but the effective dodge rating was retive to monsters his own level. And he was basically three times higher in level, now.

  But he still hat repg his armor with something higher-level was an urgent priority.

  Aing some mana potions.

  ***

  Name: AveryRace: Half-Elf

  Active Buffs: Blessing of the Dawn

  Css: Archer of Light – level 3

  - Radiant Archery – level 3You are profit with a bow and ranged bat.Stamina: Attack with your bow. Your damage and accuracy are increased by +80% [40 + skill + dexterity].Physical, Attack, Ranged, Dexterity

  - Arrows of Brilliance – level 2Mana: Imbue your arrow with additional Light damage.Light, Ranged, Intelligence

  - Motes of Light – level 2Mana: You summon up to 1 [1 + skill / 10] motes that emit clear light and dispel stealth effects. You freely trol the motes of light anywhere within ye. Duration: 12 minutes, Range: 530 feet.Light, Area, Intelligence

  - Explorer – level 4You have enhanced spatial perception and perfect recall for pces you have explored. You dis importaails about the pces you are expl and the creatures that inhabit them.Stamina: Use your enhanced perception to track your prey.Knowledge, Identify, Scouting, Trag, Perception

  - Blessing of the Dawn – level 2Mana: Your Dexterity, Perception, and Intelligence are increased by +43.7% [40 + skill + base intelligence / 10]. Reserve: 20%Light, Buff, Intelligence

  - Eclipse – level 3Mana: You have stealth in shadowy or dark pces. (This effeds when you take an a that draws attention to yourself.) Light, Stealth, Illusion, Intelligence

  - [Locked]- [Locked]- [Locked]- [Locked]

  General Skills- Bowcraft – level 4- Wood Carving – level 3- Cartography – level 4

  Aptitudes- Languages: ana (Affinity): Light- Perceptive (Racial): +11 to Perception- Quick (Racial): +5 to Dexterity- Timing (Css): You have an innate sense of timing

  Attributes- Vitality: 14- Strength: 9- Endurance: 10- Dexterity: 37 (+11)- Perception: 40 (+12)- Intelligence: 24 (+7)- Wisdom: 12

  Equipment- on: Bow – level 1- Body: Leather Vest – level 1

  Evasion: 12Dodge: 12.5%

  Health: 140/140Stamina: 100/100Mana: 96/120 (24 Reserved)

  Even though he was struggling a little with mana and regeion, had still not turned off his Blessing of the Dawn since he had first earned his css. It was simply far too powerful to pass up the improvements to his primary attributes: dexterity, perception, and intelligence. Even though his blessing reserved a whopping twenty-four mana at this point, he k was far too good to ever turn off. Already he found himself regurly using the improved dexterity to outrun wolf packs and improve his accuracy with his bow.

  Better than being bitten it, right? He grio himself. Still, it did so much more than that. Dexterity improved his rea speed and his damage too. Intelligence improved the damage he did with his Arrows of Brilliance light magitment, and any improvements to his perception attribute fed directly into how sensitive all his senses were – and improved his Explorer skill.

  Happy with his improvements today, he carefully id out all the arrows he had retrieved on the moss in front of him, studying them carefully for damage, aling in to repair the ohat needed some work. His general skill, Bowcraft, looked like it might just be his most financially savvy skill iment ever – certainly if he regurly o fire the sheer number of arrows he had today.

  Aliandra Ali sat on the moss with her panions at the end of a long, but surprisingly productive day hunting wolves. She had been careful to choose a retively dry spot, hoping to avoid dirtying her awesome new brown pants and beige t-shirt. They were both clearly te, but she didn’t care. Rolling up the legs a little and tying a knot in the shirt had worked perfectly.

  And it helps that I didn’t get hit and bleed all over my new clothes for a ge.

  Initially, fighting the monsters had been just as terrifying as always. But after so many fights, her fear had finally accepted that Malika and Mato would prevent the wolves from eating her – and, for the ohey couldn’t catch, she had her roots and her rats. She had barely needed her barrier the entire day, and even when she had, it was mostly precautionary; a backup in case the rest of their team’s defenses proved shaky.

  With the way the others had spoken of the town of Myrin’s Keep above their heads, Ali had beehaed about visiting it, but now, as she was wearing the high-quality craftsmanship of her fortable clothing, she had found a reason to go.

  ’s mother made this? Simple as her outfit was, the fabric felt soft arong to her touch. While her bat skills were progressing well, she sorely missed having her closet and clothes every day. With such a skilled tailor within reach, if she could secure a few more outfits, perhaps her life might return to something a little more normal. Maybe I ask her to adjust these, so I don’t trip over the trouser seam while fighting wolves. Just the fact that such a thought might even cross her mind was still so unfamiliar, she might even call it shog.

  Grove Warden has reached level 5.+10 attribute points.

  Grasping Roots has reached level 5.Are Bolt has reached level 6.Barrier has reached level 6.Grimoire of Summoning has reached level 8.

  Level five already! Sweet! When Armand had told her he had reached level seven in his warrior css, she had been impressed. And rightfully so – he had ear quickly. But her progress, by parison, was nothing short of unbelievable. She felt so much more capable today than she had been when she had first received her css – and there was no parison to her weakness when she had been uncssed.

  Her barrier no longer cracked after a few good hits – if she even o use it. Are Bolt could burn down a Starving Wolf or a Sewer Rat so fast that they could easily take on groups of five or more monsters at a time.

  Imprint: Starving Wolf pleted.

  She had known this notification waited for her simply by the pressure in her mind. It was with great joy and anticipation that she itted it trimoire in the usual flurry of light and magic.

  “Starving Wolf,” she said, answering the curious looks from her panions iion to the light show.

  Given how the fights had gone, she decided she could ease up on vitality a little, so she divided her attribute points among wisdom and intelligence. pared to the first couple of fights, Ali felt like she was in little to no danger now. Whether this was because they had four of them now, her skills growing, or simply more familiarity with bat, she wasn’t certain.

  Probably a little of each.

  Certainly, their teamwork seemed to be improving. Malika was every bit as strong as Ali had expected, taking a bit of a leadership role in their rag-tag band, and doing most of the tanking. It was incredible how tough she was. Despite being bitten and mauled by multiple wolves, she easily kept going.

  was definitely shy, even introverted. The Half-elf didn’t often speak his mind unless asked, but Ali could already tell he was remarkably smart. His magic archery was as beautiful as it was effective, and it was quite useful to not have to use her barrier magic merely fht. He seems quite brave too, she thought, recalling how he would leave to track through the darkness by himself, protected by nothing more than his speed and his stealth skill in a cavern full of monsters, ing back with aire pack every time.

  She gnced over at Mato who was sitting off by himself, looking a little subdued. Well, subdued pared to when she had first met him. He had seemed so excited about his css when they had started, but then there had been that little fight where Malika had yelled at him, and a lot of the life and energy had drained out of him.

  Is he still upset about that? Worried? Did something happen up in town?

  While she hadn’t known her panions lohan a couple of days, they were the only people she knew, and she found the lingering awkwardness bothered her much more than she expected.

  “So, Mato…” she began. His head snapped up at the sound of her voice as if expeg a rebuke. He does feel bad. Ali suppressed a grin, trying hard to keep a straight face. “Where do your clothes go when you shift?”

  “I…,” he started, trailing off as he looked surprised and fused all at the same time. “I have no idea?”

  Suddenly, he chuckled, and as if it was a trigger, everyoarted ughing at the absurdity of the question and the fact that none of them had any idea of the answer.

  “Good thing you keep them, eh?” Malika teased.

  Mato reddened. “Er, yes. Right.”

  That’s better. Ali much preferred this mood to the prior one. “Do we have any food?” she asked after everyone quieted down again.

  “I got you,” Mato said, upending his pato the moss, his mood seemingly much more rexed now. Several apples, ed bundles of what looked like packed food items, and some equipment fell out, and suddenly Ali’s eyes widened in surprise. Tumbling out of his pack came a thick, green-bound book.

  “You have a book!”

  One of the things Ali truly missed, to the core of her being, was everyday access to her favorite books. Impressions and memories flitted through her mind – the pure joy of sitting down to read in one of those fy reers rge enough to almost swallow her up, the smell of the library, leather-bound books, old ink, and the soft rustling sound wheurhe pages. The flights of imagination she might embark upon, carried by the words of the story, or the new knowledge she might uncover waiting for her within the covers …

  “Mato? When did you get a book?” asked, obviously surprised.

  “Oh, yes,” Mato answered, “My mom gave me a book on Druidic magic as a gift for earning my css.”

  “May I see it?” Ali asked excitedly. Her hands yearo touch it, and her curiosity about what it tained was almost unbearable. It didn’t matter that it was a Druid book.

  “Sure,” Mato replied easily, pg the rge book on the moss in front of her.

  She opehe cover, excitedly anticipating the words that might be revealed.

  “Oh,” she excimed in dismay, looking forlornly at the unintelligible script on the pages. “I ’t read ohat is ht?” Ali hadn’t had a ce to even try reading, and so her skills had not helped her learn it yet. The frustration of having a bht there in front of her and not being able to read was excruciating.

  “It’s on. Why don’t you read it for her, Mato?” said, as he got up and walked over carrying another book. “Here, you read this, too.”

  Ali wao hug him, her heart immediately filled with the joy aement his suggestion had sparked. “Would you? Please?” she asked, trying to vio despite the dubious expression on his face.

  “Ok, sure,” Mato answered, “I’m not much of a reader, though. I never unlocked a specific skill for it or anything.” He sat his rge frame dowo her, opehe book, and began to read, pointing at the words as he did so she could follow along.

  He’s a big softie.

  The words on the page slowly began to resolve into meaning as her memories – and her hard-w Sage of Learning skill – began to ect her uanding of the on nguage to its written form. More and more words popped from the page as her mana draio feed the discertiion of Sage riffling through her mind.

  She had to ask for numerous crifications, giveeiature of the book, and stepped in to expin usage and interpretations. However, to her surprise, Malika often had answers and further perspectives to offer. Despite being a Street Rat, she had clearly received a det education at some point in her earlier life.

  She expected that Mato would tire of reading after just a bit, but he didn’t. After what must have been nearly an hour, something within her mind seemed to click together and her notification chime sounded.

  Sage of Learning has reached level 5.Your proficy with the on nguage has improved.

  She gnced surreptitiously at Mato, but he seemed to be enjoying reading to her. She found she quite liked the low, peaceable rumbling of his voice, too, so she simply let him tinue. Even though she could now read most of the page in a gh her Reading skill.

  timewalk