He squinted at the bright sunlight shining in through the flap of the wagon’s canopy, then looked down at the little golden fox cradled in his arms. Rue was fast asleep now that he was warm and safe and his belly was full. Poor little guy must have been exhausted. What a terrible ordeal.
For the next few minutes, Edge just sat there, running his fingers through Rue’s fur. He was thrilled to have found a Companion, although Rue had some growing to do before he could offer more than moral support.
When one of the deputies noticed he was back, Edge raised a finger to his lips and whispered, “Could you please ask Trapper to come here? I have a few questions I need to ask her.” When the veteran hunter arrived, she tiptoed up to the wagon, then sat down on the end.
“You managed to bond a beast after all. Good for you. He’s adorable. I’ve never seen that species before. Now that the quest is complete, the skill should have changed to Summon Companion. The System will have assigned a rarity that’s comparable to how the AI rates cores. All beasts are born with specialized cores with powers that grow as they reach higher stages. It won’t mean much while your Companion is stage zero, but it will give you a rough idea of how powerful he can become—although there are numerous factors that will determine whether that potential is realized.”
Edge nodded along with Trapper’s explanation—grateful to get advice from someone who specialized in beasts and understood how Companion skills worked. When he concentrated, his Guide detached from his chest and turned into a screen. He pulled up the skill’s entry and began to read.
Summon Companion
Summon a bonded Companion to your side or transport it to a pocket dimension where it can rest safely.
Note: Companions are living creatures. They may acquire skills that will naturally advance over time. Summon Companion does not have a rank and cannot acquire experience via Absorption. If your Companion dies, this skill will be destroyed.
“Okay, now activate the skill and send him to the pocket dimension. Don’t worry. When he wakes up, he’ll let you know, and you can pull him back out.” Edge ignited his core and concentrated. He realized the summon skill had automatically bonded with a socket, and the avatar took the form of a tiny glowing portal.
Rue faded out of existence, and Edge stood up, walking with Trapper as they went to consult with Violet, who knew a great deal about raising young beasts. When they found her, the quartermaster asked him what he’d found. “It’s a golden fox-wolf pup. I named him Rue.” He went on to provide more details, including the story of how they met.
“I’ve never heard of that species either. What rarity did the System assign?”
“Epic.” Both women’s eyes widened at that.
“That’s amazing. I’ve only heard of a few hunters with Epic Companions, and they are notoriously hard to bond. You two must be incredibly compatible. I can’t wait to meet him, but let him sleep as much as you can. It will take some time for both of you to adjust to the bond, and it will tire him out for the first few weeks.”
Violet went on to impart everything she knew about what came next, as Trapper jumped in from time to time to flesh out one detail or another.
“Although you can summon Rue with your skill, Companions are living beasts and not mana given physical form. You will need to train him well and work hard to develop his powers instead of advancing the skill the usual way. In fact, you should have noticed that Summon Companion doesn’t have a rank at all. Instead, once your beast evolves to stage one, you will gain access to a sheet that lists his skills and any traits or ultimate abilities his core may have.
“Keep Rue happy and safe while he’s young, and you will have a friend you can rely on for the rest of your life. I know you won’t, but if you mistreat him, he might even leave you if things get bad enough. Most beasts cultivate mana seeds to trigger their evolution, but Companions draw magicytes from your core instead. He will still need experience to cycle up and advance his skills, but wait until he’s a few weeks older, has adapted to the bond, and the two of you know each other better.”
“Thanks, Violet. You too, Trapper. I couldn’t do this without you.” When the rest of Edge’s friends saw he was back, he explained what had happened.
“He sounds adorable,” Sasha said.
“Can we please meet him?” Mel asked.
“Sure,” Edge replied. “Although I don’t want to overwhelm the poor little guy. I’ll let you know when he wakes up.”
A few hours later, he felt a strange sensation—like someone was tugging on his hand to get his attention. When he focused on the feeling, he could see a pair of green eyes and hear a faint, plaintive whine asking him to set the little beast free.
He ignited his core and used his Summon skill to let his Companion out. When he concentrated on the flowing mana, he had the impression that it was creating a doorway between the physical realm and a place that existed beyond it—a tiny world that was folded in on itself. When the portal opened, a furry yellow form stepped through and materialized in his arms.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Rue was hungry and thirsty, so Edge brought out some meat and a fresh cup of water. He let his friends know the pup was awake, and one by one, they approached the wagon to say hello. The fox watched them with mistrustful eyes, growling whenever anyone got too close, although he was happy to note that Rue didn’t seem nearly as weak after his nap.
Mel eventually won him over by offering a piece of fresh fruit. The fox crept over to the end of the wagon one cautious step at a time—lured by the citrusy scent. It grabbed the treat, then ran back to Edge to devour it. When Rue returned for another piece, he stopped to lick Mel’s finger and let her touch his head before drawing away.
“He’s so soft,” Melenia gushed. “And possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Sasha tried her luck next, but Rue nipped her fingers when she tried to pet him, looking offended when the hunter burst out laughing.
“That’s okay. We have plenty of time. I’ll make friends eventually.” That was enough excitement for one afternoon. Rue was getting sleepy, so Edge put him back into the pocket dimension and turned his thoughts toward the looming showdown with the Crimson Claws.
He had three goals that he wanted to complete before they reached the Ivory Plains, although only the first was critically important. He needed to hunt every time Extraction came off cooldown and rank up his skills as quickly as he could. He was eager to take Warlord’s Mantle to rank two, since it would offer his aura a vital upgrade that could be combined with Overdrive to bolster the entire expedition at once. It would only last for a minute, but after the battle in the cave, he knew that was enough time to turn the tide if used at the right moment.
Other than that, he wanted to become more proficient with Repel Water and All-Seeing Gaze’s combined mode. The crude blasts of water he had used against Roth could have been far more effective if the fields were arranged in a more efficient shape. Moving on, his sensory skill could provide vital information and help him counter a range of potent stealth skills.
After his daily hunt was complete, Edge handed the meat over to the quartermasters, then sat down to refine his technique with Repel Water. While simple pulses and sprays would always be useful for shoving his enemies back, he needed to find an optimal configuration for using the repulsive and generative components together—an arrangement that would let him turn the versatile skill into a ranged attack.
He had two ideas he was hoping to make work—both based on ways the power had been used against him.
The first was the water drill the gatekeeper had fired. While spraying out water like a firehose worked to some extent against human-sized opponents, many cored creatures were so big that knocking them down would require far more water than he could produce. Instead, he was trying to narrow the spray while increasing the output to turn the flow into a weapon, maximizing the damage it inflicted.
For targets that were further away, he was hoping to perfect the technique Warren the manslayer had used, creating water bullets and then firing them with a blast of repulsion. Since his skill wasn’t limited to the water in his canteen, Edge thought he could fire bullets faster and harder than the bounty hunter had managed. Unfortunately, figuring out the trick to keeping the bullets from flying apart wound up being a lot more complicated than he’d thought and would probably take him a few months to master.
He had better luck with the water drill. First, he created a repulsive field in the shape of a narrow cone—angled to push the water both in and forward to increase the pressure. When he added the generational component and let a trickle of fluid inside, the force pushed it into a tight cylinder while accelerating it along the length of the cone. He couldn’t get it to cut anything, but the pressure was considerably higher than his earlier attempts, so he thought he was heading in the right direction.
There weren’t any water specialists in the expedition, although some hunters were knowledgeable enough to offer general advice, helping him tweak the shape until his spray could knock branches free from the trees. Rita has Manipulate Water. When I make it back to Puppet Town, I’ll ask her for advice on how to improve my efforts.
Since Edge had completed his goals for the day, he decided it was time to work on his skill bonds. When he popped into his inner world, he stepped into a party in full swing. His eyes widened with astonishment as he took in the sight of his avatars having the time of their lives. He had watched them interact in countless ways—even perform complex mock battles—but this was his first time witnessing them let loose to this extent.
By now, it was clear that the longer his powers lived in his village, the more personality they displayed. At the moment, his skills were frolicking in Sea’s rain, dancing beneath the cloud that followed her everywhere when she was in her spring colors. Her dress changed from green to orange as she switched to summer, using Heatwave to dry everyone off.
While his other avatars played in the open area in the middle of the village, Repel Water floated over to the top of Chibime’s mountain and fired a steady jet, creating a waterslide that got everyone wet again. I should ask Repel for some advice on forming my drill too. A few minutes later, Elemental Blade froze the water, creating a vast pool of ice that coated one side of the mountain and a wide swath of the village.
The avatars let out cheer, and they went sliding down the mound, using random objects from their homes as sleds. More of them skated along the flat portion, sliding across the ice while laughing their heads off. Shadow Play was having the time of its life, performing spins and leaps that would be the envy of any professional figure skater.
Not all his skills were anthropomorphic, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying themselves. All-Seeing Gaze, Mental Fortress, Sense Treasure, Wind Ward, and Harden were playing a complex game involving aerial acrobatics—whose rules he couldn’t even begin to figure out. Every now and again, See would fly over to join them before getting bored and darting over to harass Chibime.
When the avatars realized Edge had arrived, they waved him over. He had been planning to watch, but in that moment, he decided to join them, taking his turn sliding across the ice.
Crashing their party felt a little strange at first. Okay, it felt super fucking bizarre, but he figured this was a good chance to deepen the bonds between them. Besides, he couldn’t remember the last time he had done something that was purely recreational—unless he counted his hot tub encounter with Mel. On that note, I should ask her for another boxing session once the settlement is safe. Something tells me it will lead to a rather pleasant follow-up activity.
He enjoyed the fantasy for a few minutes, then rejoined the festivities, doing his best to learn the rules of their games and figure out what his skills were trying to tell him. Even though none of them could talk, he could get a sense of their meaning through the link that had been forged the moment they bonded with their socket and deepened over time.
He played with them until his time was up for the day, then stepped back into his body with a smile on his face. Edge still had far more questions than answers regarding the true nature of his powers, Skill-Eater, and the magic of Ord, but he had to admit. They know how to have a good time.