“Do you know what kind of animal you want to tame?” Harvey asked.

  “Not sure yet, but it’s a half-day walk until we get to the living side, so I have time,” Hannah replied. As she spoke, blue light flashed from her shoulder, and the essence hawk appeared. Without a word, it soared away, an exultant screech calling down from above the trees.

  “It really is a magnificent bird.” Harvey marveled.

  “I know, right? It’s a Red-Tailed Hawk. We had tons of them up in Idaho. I didn’t include any visions from back home when I made the skill, but it doesn’t surprise me that The System picked one of these little guys anyway.” Hannah explained. “It’s a perfect fit.”

  “Why’s that?” Harvey asked.

  “We had a birdbath in our backyard, and I found an injured one when I was a little girl. My mom freaked out when I brought it inside, but I was determined to nurse it back to health. It’s when I learned I was destined to be a vet.” She replied.

  “You’re right. That is a perfect fit. Are you having it look for monsters?” He asked.

  “No, I figure we’ll find enough fights just walking around, and it uses too much essence to have him out all the time. I’ll let him do a sweep looking for survivors every once in a while and then bring it back. I’m guessing Julian and I already found most people this far out, but it doesn’t hurt to check.” Hannah explained

  “What if something kills the hawk? Can it fight back?” Harvey asked.

  “My instincts say no, but it’s just essence. I can reabsorb most of its body if it makes it back to me, but I can always make a new one if it doesn’t.” Hannah guessed.

  They kept walking, both staying vigilant as they picked their way through the forest. White rays cut through the leaves, and Harvey wished he’d bought a pair of sunglasses before they left. The earth tab sold them, but they were all expensive, name-brand pairs that would’ve been a little too ritzy for him even before the integration.

  It was a cold morning, and he became intimately aware of each hole in his clothes as the wind billowed into him. Without warning, Hannah drew the arrow she kept nocked in her bow and sent it flying into a tree. He hadn’t even noticed the Carrionwing until its impaled body fell writhing to the floor. Walking up, she sent a second arrow into its head, pinning it to the ground where it lay motionless.

  “How did you see it?” Harvey asked.

  “Get ambushed enough times and you learn to recognize the signs,” Hannah answered.

  By the time the trees finally turned from black to brown, they’d killed three more Carrionwing, two small packs of Bloodrunn, each with an alpha over level 10, and three stonetusks. Hannah had spotted all but one Carrionwing before the fight even began, leaving the only major injury resulting from a poisoned feather embedding in the back of Harvey’s neck.

  It slowed him down for a while, but now that he knew the devastating disease they carried, he made sure to dodge the rest before ending the opportunistic hunter's life.

  The combat netted him 5,871 merit and increased both his Class and Race levels

  Your class, Arcanist, has reached Level 9. +1 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +1 Willpower, +2 Free Points

  …

  Your race, Veilstrider, has reached Level 8. +1 to all stats

  His Wisdom and Dexterity were still lagging behind, so he placed a free point in each.

  Where Hannah fought like a soldier, he had started fighting like a cannon. The massive pool of Dexterity she’d earned from her Hunter class helped her move faster than he’d ever thought possible, and combined with the precision and body control she’d built over the years as a cheerleader, she’d become a force to be reckoned with. Most fights, she’d find and bury an arrow in a monster before he even realized one was there. A single arrow wasn’t enough to do major damage to anything but a Carrionwing, but her Steady Draw skill made sure the Stonetusks couldn’t ignore her third and fourth shots.

  Harvey, on the other hand, was the opposite of the man she’d last fought with. Back then, he was underlevelled and afraid. Now, he had a glut of attributes that made up for his unrefined fighting style.

  When a Stonetusk tried goring into Hannah, she nimbly dodged out of the way. When one came for Harvey, he covered his foot in a fangbreaker and kicked it in the face.

  It wasn’t that he’d become some unstoppable force, more that his lack of real combat experience made him able to bend without breaking. When a monster came his way, he stood his ground, loaded up his massive attribute pool, and let one of his skills explode out with brutal efficiency.

  “You actually fight a lot like Julian,” Hannah commented after a particularly nasty bout with a pack of Bloodrunn.

  “How so? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him in action.” Harvey asked, panting as blood ran down his arm.

  “You treat it like a chess match, willing to lose pieces as long as you win in the end,” Hannah explained. “But, you both make sure every piece you lose is one of your own. You’ve never tried using me as bait. Thanks for that.”

  “I’d never dream of it. I do wish I could just dodge hits like you, though.” Harvey replied. “Now that we’re here, what kind of beasts should I expect to see?”

  “Pretty much what you’d imagine a forest back on earth to have,” Hannah replied. “Bears, wolves, boars, snakes, spiders… The usual stuff, but all chock full of essence. If it moves, it probably wants to kill you.”

  “Even the harmless stuff? What about a deer?” Harvey asked.

  “Yep, nothing seems very docile now. It’s just like us, teach us that we can get stronger by killing things, and it all becomes a race to the top.” Hannah explained.

  “So how are you going to tame something? Did the book give you any tips?” Harvey asked.

  “Not really. There are some magical beasts that are well-documented, but everything here is specific to Earth. Basically, I need to corner something, prove I’m strong enough to kill it, and then let it live anyway. If it’s smart enough, it will realize it’s better off sticking with me.” Hannah postulated.

  “Makes sense, so where do we head now?” Harvey asked.

  “The river, you, my friend, are in desperate need of a bath.” She laughed.

  It wasn’t long before the rustle of grass was replaced with rushing water, and Harvey fell to his knees at the water's edge. It was a perfect sapphire blue, and the kind of icy cold he’d expect from melting snow rushing down a mountain. He furiously scrubbed his hands just beneath the surface, days of soot, dust, and grime melting away. He could see the oily, brown water flowing downstream and wondered if his filth would kill some unlucky fish.

  When they were finally clean, he lifted a handful up to his mouth and greedily slurped the river water down. It was as crisp and sweet as lemonade. It could have all been in his head, but there was also the chance that this was what a real forest, unsullied by humans living there for thousands of years, really looked like. It was nature in its wildest, raw form, and he wanted to get lost in it.

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  He paused for a moment, wondering if there might be something under the surface he needed to worry about, until Hannah cannonballed into the water next to him. Seeing her, he flopped forward, letting himself be washed into the river. The current moved fast, and his head was filled with the rush of water pounding against his eardrums as he held his head underwater. It reminded him of hitting the end of a waterslide as a kid.

  His clothes needed to be washed just as badly as he did, so he didn’t bother taking them off. Lifting his head out of the water, he waded to a spot on the bank where he could stand and got to work scrubbing his hair.

  “Pretty amazing, right?” Hannah asked, wiping her own face before running her hands through the mess of white and blonde hair covering her head.

  “It’s crazy how great a bath can feel when it’s been days without a shower. I had no idea how badly I needed this.” Harvey replied.

  “If I could pick up Veil’s End and put it right here, I would. This little glade is like the Garden of Eden.” Hannah continued.

  Harvey finished cleaning himself and decided to take a swim before drying off. The river was wide, nearly 20 feet across. He could stand easily near the banks, but it got deep enough that he couldn’t see the bottom towards the center.

  “Hey, I’m going to swim down and see if there’s any clay near the bottom,” Harvey called out to Hannah, who was braiding her hair on the riverbank.

  “Clay? What for?” She asked.

  “I need some to repair the forge. I’ve got some mud caked on to fix the cracks for now, but clay would be better.” Harvey replied before diving headfirst towards the middle.

  He could see perfectly fine underwater and was elated to see schools of tiny fish darting in and out of long grass gently flowing from the riverbed. It was a 10-foot swim down to the bottom, and he was disappointed to see mostly round stones and gravel lining the bed. He wanted to dig around and make sure before he left, but was shocked when a flowing stalk darted for him, wrapping his hand in a vice grip.

  It was coarse and jagged, feeling like the bark of a tree rather than the oily smooth he expected from seaweed.

  In moments, it had wrapped itself around his wrist twice, and tiny teeth buried into his hand for good measure. It wasn’t a plant at all. It was an eel.

  He let out a shocked scream and kicked himself when the bubble of air he’d held floated up to the surface. The bite was nothing he couldn’t handle, but the stubborn creature wouldn’t let go even as he yanked with all 38 strength his body could muster. Every tug pulled tighter, until he could feel the blood flow to his right hand being cut off completely. Even worse, he felt a drain on his weave like when the Carrionwing poison assaulted him, but instead of interrupting the flow of essence through his body, the eel was trying to siphon it out of him.

  Refusing to let a two-foot-long, paper-thin eel be the death of him after days of fighting the forest's undead monstrosities, he pulled his body down to plant both feet on the riverbed. Doing so allowed two more eels to wrap around his legs, but he got the leverage he needed to tug his arm free. He pulled with everything he had, feeling the ground beneath him begin to buckle like he was pulling a weed. He yanked harder and harder, but it didn’t budge.

  He could hear his pounding heartbeat echo underneath the water, and the pace nearly doubled when an unholy sight rounded the bend. Seemingly attracted by his thrashing, a massive fish with glittering rainbow scales and a ringed maw of lamprey teeth began swimming towards him. It was fat and happy, slowly meandering towards him as if it had no doubt he’d never be able to break free, and judging by its size, it was right.

  Nothing in a river this small should ever get that big, which meant it had been feasting. It likely used these eels as bait, killing whatever they captured and leaving the scraps behind for them to feed on. Symbiosis was fascinating when watching animals in a glass cage. It was horrifying when you were stuck in the cage with them.

  Still unable to yank himself free, he remembered how his fangbreaker had nearly knocked him over when he’d stomped on a Bloodrunn while the shield covered his foot. Out of better ideas, he jumped just high enough to flood his sigil with essence and cover both soles with as much essence as he could. He could feel the rate of the eel’s siphoning the lifeblood of his skills increase as he forced it through his body, but there was nothing he could do to stop them.

  The pristine, icy blue was filled with a growing pool of red as the body of the eel gripping his hand snapped in half. It’s will to hold fast to him and the riverbed was unbreakable, but its body wasn’t.

  The mental nudge of a kill notification appeared, but he ignored it as he struggled against the two remaining eels. He’d left his wand on the riverbank, not wanting to lose it while he swam, so all he had was his fangbreaker and his body.

  His stats helped him move more freely under the water, but nowhere near enough to batter a monstrous rainbow trout like the one in front of him to death. Besides, he was running out of air, so all the fish needed to do was wait. Its lackadaisical stare as it sat just outside of his reach proved it had reached the same conclusion, and it was content to watch him drown. There was no hate in its eyes, just the blank anticipation of a pet waiting to be fed.

  All that changed when Hannah dove in beside him, quickly reaching the riverbed beside him. She handed him an arrow before squaring up to face the fish. Harvey wasted no time in jamming her weapon into a second eel and was pleased to find it much easier to cut than to snap. Cut and weakened, he repeated his skill-assisted stomp and pulled a foot free.

  Seeing its meal succeed in fighting back, the trout roared into action, darting straight for Hannah’s throat. She responded with a jerking motion, throwing her elbow across her body as she turned to the side. She was fast, but not faster than the fish. Its teeth tore into her as it shot forward like a ballista bolt, but instead of finding her neck, it met her shoulder as she punched it away.

  She’d saved herself from a lethal blow, but now that its teeth had sunk in, it began wildly thrashing like a crocodile roll. Luckily, it wasn’t large enough to throw her like a ragdoll, so she responded with quick, sewing machine strikes where she impaled her remaining arrow into the fish’s side.

  Harvey desperately wanted to help, but his vision was already closing in on him. He was running out of air, and his weave and body grew weaker with every second. Rousing every shred of will that remained, he formed one last fangbreaker and broke himself free. Blood and guts floated all around him, but all he could see was the devil trying to drown his friend.

  With a mighty heave, he pushed off the riverbed to tackle into the thrashing mess, carrying them all towards the surface. The light grew brighter as the white sun grew nearer, and he took a gasping breath when his head finally broke free. If the water was pure lemonade, the air was as sweet as sugar after being deprived for so long. The tunnel around his vision opened once more, but he didn’t hesitate before returning below, where the trout struggled to drag Hannah deeper. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he pulled her to shore.

  Once again recognizing him as the largest threat to its meal, the fish let go of her shoulder and began ravaging his legs. He screamed in pain, blood flowing freely as his flesh was torn apart, but he soldiered on with an awkward backstroke until his back hit land.

  Lying Hannah's body on the bank, he lunged forward, searching the mud and blood mess for the body of his attacker. When his hands met its rainbow scales, his grip closed tight. His grip strength had never been great. In fact, it was horrifically bad before the integration, but stats and days of holding his tongs let him yank the fish from the water, throwing it back over his head where it flopped helplessly on the green grass.

  His legs hurt too badly to walk, so he pulled his body over to the wooden wand nearby. His essence reserves were nearly empty, but he could muster a bolt if he must. Or, he could watch the fish drown, just like it had done to him. It was in his world now, fighting to breathe all the same as gills manically opened and closed.

  It would be easy to wait and watch it die. Responsible, even. The fight was over, but he may need to save his energy in case another opportunistic predator showed up.

  Lucky for the fish, that was not the type of man he’d decided to be.

  A single arcane bolt ended its life, and a kill notification appeared in his mind.

  You have slain Level 8 - Anchor Eel. Essence Gained. 672 Merit Earned

  …

  You have slain Level 9 - Anchor Eel. Essence Gained. 741 Merit Earned X2

  …

  You have slain Level 13 - Prismjaw Trout. Essence Gained. 1296 Merit Earned

  “Are you ok?” Harvey panted, turning to Hannah.

  “I will be.” She croaked. “How about you?”

  He looked down at his legs. Blood flowed freely from countless wounds, staining the grass all around him before running into the water. Fumbling at his belt, he pulled the health potion he’d offered Elena before, and said a silent prayer thanking her for not wasting it on a single scratch. Uncorking it, he tipped it down his throat and watched his wounds close up.

  He’d found the limit of what a minor health potion could heal. His muscles still ached, and thin scars remained on his skin where the lacerations had been, but he would survive.

  He marveled as the bloody water flowed away, leaving the river a pristine blue once again in a matter of minutes. Like his near-death experience had never even happened.

  “Yeah, we’ll be ok. Thanks to you.” He sighed.