I was standing rather closed to Nymph. Much closer than she was comfortable with, now that our conversation had petered out. I took a step back and settled down again. After a deep breath, I looked around. Once more I noticed the lush green of the grove and the ring of grass around it. This truly was a wonderful place. Banélin still sat on his chair though the flux had worn off quite a bit. He was no longer looking quite as exhausted and paying close attention to me. I felt a small shift in the telepathic connection and his eyes turned to the mantis. They were talking without letting me listen in. Not that I minded. We had come to an understanding but I mostly just poured my feelings out without thinking about it. Now, after the fact, I was actually quite embarrassed.

The fruits were still around and the insects on them so I helped myself to a snack. I saw Nymph also holding some bug in her clutches. Soon their quiet conversation came to a stop and the mantis looked at me once again.

“Maybe we should find some more comfortable topic. Hum… How are you enjoying Serrington?”

I was glad about the change. With the sun still quite high we had a lot of time to talk. I told Nymph all about my experiences since coming to Serrington. Soon I found how little she knew about ‘her’ city. She was not some sort of governor and tended to keep to herself so it was not really surprising but she still had a decent understanding of dwarven culture. Somehow we fell into a much more enjoyable back and forth without much actual substance.

Nymph told me about herself as well, though there was not much diversity in her life. She mostly just spent her time in the grove, tending to the plants and crystals. Once a week, ten dwarves were allowed into her walls and with the help of her Protectors, she taught them about vis and its usage. It never amounted to much but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Only one or two dwarves every year actually managed to reach medium enrichment under her guidance. Those were often integrated into the Protectors as guards for the Guardian Wall. Banélin and his wife, Deanna, were the only ones she actually met.

The dwarf had also joined the conversation and started talking about the paperwork. It was more complaining, actually, but he always had a smile on his face. At some point, Nymph had taken place on his scalp, combing his hair with her scythes. I saw her drain small amounts of flux with every stroke, lessening the burden on her friend. At some point, the sun was starting to set.

“We have been at this for quite some time, Fio. Thank you for your company. I have not enjoyed myself this much in quite some time.”

The mantis bowed slightly with her words.

“Yes, I had a lot of fun as well. Thanks for the invitation!”

“You are welcome. Visit me again whenever you want. Though I still ask you not to enter my grove. I might react aggressively, purely on instinct. I do not believe you would survive that.”

I nodded deeply.

“Of course. I’ll come by every now and then. I’ll be travelling a lot, though, so don’t expect me too often.”

“Hmm. May I ask where you are planning to go next? Are you staying in the Dwarven Hills or moving away from them?”

“Most likely I’ll be moving away. I plan to examine Stormbringer’s trail. I saw the destruction first wing this summer. I’m wondering how there is any kind of ecosystem left when he moves through twice a year.”

“A most interesting topic. Though I simply stay inside my grove, I have seen the blizzards and thunderstorms even from here. Their outskirts often bring bad weather to Serrington and many more herba and terra crystals are required in that time to repair the fields. Have you read the information available in the library?”

“About Stormbringer? Yes. The expedition from 150 years ago and the thaumaturge’s mad rambling. I didn’t pay much attention to the myths, though.”

“Then you know what you are in for. Do stay safe. I would hate to lose a friend when I have so few of them.”

A friend? Was I really that good at making friends?

~ding~ You have made friends with a new species, congratulations! Experience is awarded!

~ding~ You have reached level 30. Attribute Point allocated. 1 Attribute Point awarded.

Apparently. I chuckled.

“That just gave me a level. Thank you, friend!”

The praying mantis did not really have facial expressions but I could feel her mirth bleeding through our telepathic connection.

“You are welcome.”

“By the way, there’s one more thing. Since you’ve got a magic focused Class… I want to evolve mine into a magic focus at 100. Any tips on Attribute distribution?”

“I… think I will not be of much help. I have invested a little over two-thirds of my Points into the will Attributes. That includes the bonuses I gained from the Milestones. You might want to go for a more physical distribution but I frankly do not know much about Classes.”

“I guess… I put pretty much all my Points into will Attributes since the day I got my first Skill based on them. I’ve been relying on my race levels and milestone bonuses for my physicals.”

“That does make sense. I can give you some advice on race, though. Attribute points are not equal. As a praying mantis, I need about three times the Points in Strength to equal a dwarf. Though I also only need a third of their Dexterity to align with their speed. Think of that and what you want to focus on. It might be a good idea to improve what is more efficient for you, though I am unaware of what that would be.”

“What about the will Attributes, are they different as well?”

“No. As far as I am aware, they are not, at least not by much. Sapience comes for all beings within the system at somewhere between eight to ten Points in each. The race only seems to determine the initial values. I, for example, started with six points each. Since I was born close to this node, I instinctively drew on its vis and received some early points from my race levels in Intelligence and Wisdom. It had to have been something similar for you.”

I looked away.

“It wasn’t. I was sapient before I even hatched. Started at twelve and eight.”

Somehow, Nymph was able to pout without sending the feeling across telepathically.

“You. Are. Unfair.”

“Sorry…”

Soon, our meeting drew to an end. There was not much more of importance we talked about and Banélin asked to leave at some point.

“Then go”, Nymph had sent as answer.

“But, your safety!”

“Fio is a friend. She will come and go as she pleases. You don’t have to worry about her.”

I was glad Nymph was not excluding me from that conversation but it was also a little bit embarrassing. To make the decision easier on the dwarf, I decided to say my goodbyes then and there. He looked at me, grateful for my consideration. With a “Come back soon”, Nymph sent me off and I was in the air before the dwarf could even ask me to follow him.

I found my way back to the inn, only then remembering I had left Droy at the gatehouse. It took only a minute to find he had left on his own accord after someone had told him I would be staying for a while.

With all the snacks provided by the fruit aroma, I was not even hungry. I definitely had to come back at some point, and not just because I promised.

The siblings were sitting in the common room with some steaming stew in front of them. Servin and another merchant from the caravan sat with them. When they spotted me, I was waved over and showered in questions. Of course, they were curious. Had I met the Guardian? Had I actually seen her or just conversed with the Protector in between as most dwarves did? Was she really as powerful as the stories said?

I ignored most of their questions and simply sent: “I made a friend.”

Of course, that only got them talking more. They tried to bribe me with tea, which I accepted. I still kept her secrets. Then they pulled out the alcohol and tried to get me drunk but I made an example and ate the liquid, cup included, with [Owl Stomach]. Some of them offered half-hearted challenges, asking me to reveal my secrets if they won. I only accepted if something was in it for me. A few dwarves were grumpy about that but I paid them little attention. Of course, with all the alcohol going around, I lost not a single time. Then, finally, everyone had found their way to a bed and I got some time to rest. I took a quick peek at my status page, seeing a new Point in Constitution and investing my free one in Wisdom.

Species: Sgiathan Dorcha Owl (adult)

Age: 0

Name: Fio

Gender: female

Status: sapient, healthy, Beast Core (unique)

Level: 30

Class: [Assassin lvl 59], -

Strength: 23

Constitution: 17

Dexterity: 27

Perception: 26

Intelligence: 41

Wisdom: 41

AP: 0

Skills:

Racial:

Utility: [Owl Senses lvl 6], [Preening lvl 4], [Owl Stomach lvl 5], [Sgiathan Dorcha lvl 5]

Offensive: [Solid Grip lvl 4], [Intimidating Screech lvl 4], [Owl’s Shadow lvl 7], [Aerial Combat lvl 4]

General:

[Maths lvl 4], [Hidden Identify lvl 5]

Assassin:

[Sneak lvl 5], [Surprise Attack lvl 4], [Mingling lvl 5], [Eldritch Shift lvl 6], [Winged Death lvl 4]

I was by no means weak but I still had a lot of room to grow. I would have to make sure to find some targets on my journey. Maybe I could make a deal with the merchants for bringing back corpses or at least usable parts. That would give me a much better reason to hunt animals. Though it still was not quite an [Assassin]’s job. That kind of thing would fit much better with a hunter. I decided to take a look at the description once again.

[Assassin]: A blade in the dark of night. A poisoned glass of wine. An arrow out of nowhere. There are many ways to strike down your target. You have chosen to do so without their notice. Gain +1 PER and +1 DEX. Gain +1 AP per level in this class. Unlock skills depending on how you kill your targets.

The only real requirements I saw were killing a target and doing so without being noticed. Nowhere did it read about targeting sapients. Though they would most likely give more experience since it was more difficult to stay unnoticed. Yes, wild animals often had good instincts, but the tendency to form a society and look out for each other was much more prevalent with those capable of reason. I was also curious if creative approaches would grant extra experience but I honestly had trouble thinking of a way to test that. There was no number for experience, levels simply went up when one did something aligning with their race or Class. Even the books I had read in the last week did not know much more. The dwarves had figured out what granted experience for their race and most of the common Classes but it was still difficult to progress for them. Or rather, it was not in their nature to push for individual power so those willing to research how they gained levels had more trouble actually gaining them. In short, this world was weird. Maybe some other races would be much smarter about those kinds of things. I half expected to gain experience for my research since I had sought power quite a bit before my evolution but it seemed my race change had not included that part of me. Or it was just too little knowledge. I was pretty confident I knew too little. No matter if I gained experience for learning or not, I would gain experience faster if I knew more. That only meant, I had to keep my eyes open. One day I would figure out how this world worked.