Gabriel looked at the spectacle of death he had brought forth.

It wasn’t the first time he killed an animal like that.

Back when he was still with his grandparents, they had secretly replaced his school life with lessons on how to live by yourself, and in the wild; though he was still way too small to get all those teachings to mind; he clearly remembered his first trauma.

When his grandfather had him kill a deer after the old man had caught it.

Thinking back, he did not remember his grandfather owning any weapon, fire weapons, or bow of any sort, so he could not remember the hunt itself or the process involved, but Gabe remembered the fact that he had been the one indoctrinated to end the animal’s suffering, and he did just so while crying, but he did it.

And anyway, his thoughts were definitely leading in another direction right then and there, because in front of his eyes paved his Level 5 rewards.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 5.

Select a First Tier Active Perk to receive.

Analyze;

Binding;

Recall.

What the hell are these? He thought.

Was this what Varcivald was talking about as a surprise? What do they do?

As he asked, the Anchor Page burned another layer of letters in front of his vision. He understood without even reading; the information was being fed to him when the info appeared, that together with the visual prompt, he was being fed information directly into his head. As if he was learning them the moment before he started reading.

Analyze allows you to try to obtain Anchor related knowledge about something which belongs to the worlds blessed by the Anchor. Quality and quantity of information defined by Level.

Cost: 1 Mana per use.

Binding allows the formation of official contracts which can be used to bind willing targets to other willing targets, objects, places, or situations.

Cost is based on the number of targets.

Recall allows you to summon an object bound to you by a Mana Imprint or Soul Imprint Bindings.

Cost: 1 Mana per summon.

"Oh… wow."

Do you need help here, Gabriel? He asked himself. Yeah, you probably do.

"Liz, do we need help? Should we go bother our one-armed only supporter while she recovers?" He asked aloud, launching a dip at the girl, which was already sleeping.

Nice, no responses… Let's see. Hey, Anchor! Can I come back later on this and look at something else?

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 10.

Select a First Tier Passive Perk to receive.

Auto-targeting;

Enhanced Pain Resistance;

Enhanced Senses.

Oh, this must be a yes. Not that useful, though, Anchor, not that useful.

So, Perks. Active Perks and Passive Perks.

Let's see… Analyze, I know jack shit about pretty much anything, so it can definitely help. It gets… 5 points.

Binding… this thing is no joke. It says willing people, so I can't, for example, bind someone to love another for the rest of their lives, right? No, that would be crazy. I might be making a mistake, but I'd give it 4 points.

Now, Recall. It seems good but only Bonded thing, like my lance, though I can retrieve my lance with those laces, they are there exactly for that purpose… it would be stupid to throw it too far anyway, so I'd say… maybe throwing knives? Its cost is 1 Mana, though… mmh, it would be kind of a waste, for now. So, 3 points.

Analyze then?

He turned toward Liz, "What do you say? Analyze?"

Liz inclined her head, then she closed her eyes and nodded.

I choose Analyze!

A burst of pain hit him full-on. He recalled the time when the Anchor had tried tethering him.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have unlocked the Analyze Perk.

Tethers

Bond

Enhancement

Boost

Lizard

None

Alacrity +2

Power +1

Recovery +2

Stamina +1

Perks

Cost

Type

Analyze

1 Mana per use

First Tier - Active

“That wasn’t pleasant at all, son of a bitch… You’re going to do it again once I choose the passive Perk, are you? Bastard…”

The faster I get it done, the better. Hey, Liz, do you feel the pain too?

The lizard shook her head.

Good, at least only one has to suffer.

Show it to me, Anchor.

Auto-targeting makes you always aim correctly to your wished target. Auto-targeting does not guarantee a target hit.

Enhanced Pain Resistance gives you a mental edge in dulling out the pain. With enough training, it is possible to cancel pain entirely.

Enhanced Senses substantially magnifies your basic senses, making them reach pinnacle performances. Enhanced Senses is based on your race.

Now, Enhanced Pain Resistance looks really tasty; it could seriously be handy in many situations, like the current one, for example, but… is it really that vital? I don’t think so.

Auto-targeting might really be game-changing… however, it’s auto-targeting, not sure hit, it shouldn’t make my attacks perfect; it merely eliminates the easiest step.

Which brings us to Enhanced Senses. Which should always come in handy, probably.

And if it increases Liz’s sense as well, it would be an excellent tool for many occasions. Yes, I think I’ll go with that.

Hey, bastard Anchor, I’ll go with Enhanced Senses, do your worst!

And yet, the pain did not come, but he fainted.

When he woke up, Gabriel was standing in a little pool of his blood; or maybe it was something else, he couldn’t tell, precisely, what instead he could ascertain, was that the world felt different.

Holy shit, you really did your worst...

Colors were denser, shades of them easily recognizable and distinguishable, and he could see much further.

The sounds too, they were richer, qualities he had no idea could be produced, he recognized them, like the little gasp in his own breathing, the faint beat of his own heart; he marveled as focusing on the beating of his heart, he could feel it distinctively, he even felt it speed up as he got excited.

The quality of the texture in the dirt he was touching with his hand, they were distinct, “palpably so”; he could clearly discern which was dirt, which was bits of rocks, where exactly the heat came from, and its, even if minuscule, shades of volume. He could feel his clothes, as he never had, but what got him the most was the wind. The wind blowing on his skin had many different varieties, hot, warm, cold, gentle, dense, strong, thin, and the little things it carried.

Gabriel spent the next hour with his eyes closed, simply feeling the wind, crying. But before that, he was forced to get up and leave his seat because of the various smells coming from the bear’s corpse.

Gas, iron, sweat, rancid piss, a burnt odor of what he could say was moss, it would attach to his clothes, which after hours of running already started smelling bad.

And lastly, there was his new sense of taste.

He noticed right away, his saliva was the worst. The fight had given him a vague sense of bile to his mouth; he could distinguish it. He knew it was so strong because he still had not had the chance to adapt to it, and that with time he would stop recognizing it so strongly, but thinking that he could have always have such disgusting feeling in his own mouth, he lost it for a second, but just for a second, before his mind cleared up.

If he did not have any water problems while they were in the cave, now he wished he could really drink to his heart content and wash; wash thoroughly.

Then, there was Liz, she did not smell of anything, she had no heartbeat and did not breathe. Everything about her was a simulation, but she was real. He could feel the complexion of her scaleless skin. With his hands, he would have licked her, if not in fear of a bite on the tongue, just to see how she would taste.

A couple more hours went by as he tried, and hoped to adjust to his new senses, then he simply recognized that he had to give it time.

He reviewed the Tethers tab of his Anchor Page.

Tethers

Bond

Enhancement

Boost

Lizard

None

Alacrity +2

Power +1

Recovery +2

Stamina +1

Perks

Cost

Type

Analyze

1 Mana per use

First Tier - Active

Enhanced Senses

None

First Tier - Passive

Liz had climbed on his shoulder while the process took place, feeling his Bond Human distress.

"Let's go to the burrow," he said to Liz.

He petted her, watching her close her eyes for pleasure though, really, the feeling of her skin on his hands was the real pleasure for him, but he didn't tell her.

She snuggled like a cat before she bit him because he stopped too soon.

Gabriel chuckled, "Let's sit go smell Olive, hope she doesn't smell like her name would suggest."

He went inside the burrow, sitting near the pain-stricken but snoring girl. She was using Brill as a pillow.

As he imagined, getting closer, Brill smelled of nothing, but she did, and it was somehow arousing… arousal that died down the moment he looked at her "for real."

His gaze fell on her wounds. They were already on the cicatrization process, while her shoulder stump was weirdly twitching.

That's really gonna regrow… what a world. Man... people back home would pay… gosh, I have no idea how much they would pay for something like this. He said, thinking back on what she had said about regrowing arms.

He shook his head. Thoughts about the morality of keeping Magic to oneself or sharing it with others were forced away by his next objective.

Alright, Anchor, Class Level reward.

A barrage of burning text appeared in front of him. It was dizzying.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You reached Class Level 5.

Select a Skill from the list.

Man… what the hell...

There were hundreds upon hundreds of Skills… and he had no idea how to choose one thought one thing was clear.

Varcivald was right. They are all linked to my higher unbonded Attribute, Recovery.

He checked his Anchor Page, and indeed his Recovery had become the highest, even if for only a small margin, at 11.1.

Ok, we need to clear some space here; let's see, Anchor are you listening to me? Show me only those that permanently increase Power.

The Anchor listened. The Skills were cut by more than 5/6th.

Talk about fast thinking.

Now show me those which bind to an element.

Once again, the skills diminished, but there were still too many.

Now, of these, show me only Skills, which are Magic Skills!

The list was reduced to precisely four Skills.

Perfect, let's see.

Skills

Skill

Whispers of the Densil (Legendary)

Description

? ? ? ? ? Your Power permanently increases by 10%.

Element

Earth

Slot

Recovery

Type

(Soft) Magic Skill

Skills

Skill

Yggdrasil’s Teachings (Legendary)

Description

? ? ? ? ? Your Power permanently increases by 10%.

Element

Life

Slot

Recovery

Type

(Soft) Magic Skill

Skills

Skill

Nebulon’s Scion (Legendary)

Description

? ? ? ? ? Your Power permanently increases by 10%.

Element

Wind

Slot

Recovery

Type

(Soft) Magic Skill

Skills

Skill

Mandate of Tiamat (Legendary)

Description

? ? ? ? ? Your Power permanently increases by 10%.

Element

Water

Slot

Recovery

Type

(Soft) Magic Skill

Lots of question marks, eh? I wonder what this Soft wording is about… Should I wake Oli up and ask her?

"Yeah, let's do that, Liz."

Gabriel bent forward and started shaking her awake, gently.

"Hey, little girl, wake up, I'm sorry, but we need a hand."

"Gabe…" Her eyes wide, "Why the hell did you wake me up for… I can't fuck in these conditions, you know? Are you that tactless?"

"That… was hurtful… I don't see you as an object…" he said, feigning an injured pride.

"Yeah… it just hurts like hell, I'm sorry… I'm not a front-liner," she said, sitting up and clenching her eyes in pain.

"I'm sorry, really, though I just need you to help me choose a Skill. It's a Magic Skill, so I don't want to make a mistake I'll regret forever," he apologized.

"Oh, you leveled up? Oh, I can see, you got half the experience, I think, must have been quite a lot for you. Recovery right? Shoot, then, what Skills have you got?"

"That was only half? Holy hell..." he commented before continuing, "Well… all of them apparently, but I narrowed it down to four Legendary Skills, so list-"

"What!? Legendary!?" She shot up like an arrow, before flinching.

"Yeah… I thought you said it yourself, I would be able to choose any Skill I wanted so. Apparently, it was like that. Now listen as I read them to you…"

Olive was befuddled. Yet, she remained quiet as he explained.

"You are not lying to me, you could not know the details of those, and I doubt you are inventing them outright cause I know one… Mandate of Tiamat… that is… I have the Very Rare version of it… I know mine will never reach Legendary but still… wow…"

She kept repeating 'wow' for minutes as she was lost in her own world.

Gabriel coughed, "So, as I was saying, I need your knowledge, and my question is, what the hell is Soft Magic."

"Oh, yeah… Soft Magic, so. There are three fundamental types of Magic, Hard, Soft, and Higher Magic."

Gabriel nodded as she refocused her gaze on him.

"Soft Magic can bind itself only on Affinity or Recovery, it is used mostly for healing and support in fighting, but it is so much more than that. However, it is physically less offensive than Hard Magic but easier to use. Now, Hard Magic binds only to Affinity or Power; it is faster, more direct, it strikes harder, it can be used to support and strengthen like Soft Magic, but it cannot be used to heal, and it is harder to maintain."

"Soft Magic, just like Hard Magic has four possible, ouch-, elements: Earth, Life, Water, and Wind. While those related to Hard Magic are Dark, Fire, Ice, and Light."

"Which brings us to Higher Magic." She paused, raising her index on Gabriel's nose, tapping it, and getting him out of his stupor. Liz jumped with him, "Higher Magic is what you get if you have unlocked both types of Magic and gain the necessary Perks to mix them up. Higher Magic is the highest and purest form of Magic, and it is the signature of any great magicians."

"Was I clear enough?" She asked in the end.

"I- Yes, you were very clear, but! I need you to say it all over again, pretty please!"

Olivia sighed.

"Alright, but let's prepare something to eat first. This is gonna take a while…"

It was night, and they had hidden inside the burrow, shielding it with the help of her Dark Magic rituals, though the dead bear, which neither of them was able to move, was still out there for anyone to notice.

"So, based on what you told me… I think I'll go with Life Magic. I mean, Water Magic is good and all, but I can't restrict myself to be water bound for maximum effectiveness." He shook his head.

"Well, do as you say, I just think Water Magic is the best there is, end of the story," said the girl, then she turned her head the other way, clearly pouting.

"Hey, Gabe, I was thinking you had access to each and every Skill bound to Recovery, right?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Then, try to look for the Basic Skill for the Healer route."

"The Basic Skill? Like mine? Alright, let's see… mmh... no, nope, there's no- oh, there it is!"

Skills

Skill

Helping Hand (Basic)

Description

Increase a target Recovery by 100% for 1 Mana. Permanently increases Recovery by 10%.

Element

None

Boost

Affinity +2

Alacrity +1

Recovery +1

Resilience +2

Slot

Recovery

Type

Basic Skill - Spirit Skill

Gabriel nodded at the twitching Olivia.

"You really found it? You are not taking me for a fool, are you?" She said, her hand trembling, her other arm had regrown already by a couple of inches.

"Why would I?"

"Then pick it! Oh, my Goddess, you are so broken… I can't believe it…" she put her hand on her eyes.

"Oli, are you alright in the head? Why would I pick this? There's no reason for me to take it. There are far better Skills; this is shit, plain tough to swallow shit."

"Gabriel, do you have any idea what the Skill Evolution you get at Class level 10 and every ten levels after that are for?" She asked, getting closer to him, menacing.

"Oh, Varcivald said something about it, let's see… To… evolve Skills?"

"Yes, exactly, but do you know what happens when you evolve a Basic Skill? You probably don't, so listen. When you evolve a Basic Skill, the permanent bonus is carried over, and you get to choose whichever Skill you are worthy of having, in your case, whatever Skill you want. Add to that the fact that Liz will get Helping Hand as well…"

"But… that means I'd have a Power increase and a Recovery increase both on the same Skill?" he paused, confused.

But wait does it mean that there are two versions of Helping Hand?

The Anchor came to help him at that moment, it showed a Helping Hand tagged (Common), then the Basic version that was considered a Class-defining Skill. They did indeed differ in the multiplier.

"I see how that can be considered broken..." he admitted massaging the beard that had started growing back on his chin. He still looked like a hobo with those unkempt and barely regrown hair, but it was better than nothing.

"Oh! He sees now! Lucky son of a donkey… damn I'm so envious, I'm shaking with envy!"

Gabriel chuckled. "I could make you shake for something else since you're so full of energy, you know?" He proposed.

"Ah, that's rich! No. Sex for you is off-limits. You've already gotten too lucky for your own good. Your thing might drop if you push it too much."

"As you wish," said Gabriel, raising his hands in defeat. "You're the boss."

Well, Anchor, let's go with Yggdrasil's Teaching! Oh, no! I meant-

You have chosen the Magic Skill, Yggdrasil’s Teachings (Legendary).

???You do not meet the qualifications???

Based on your qualifications, you may only receive Yggdrasil’s Teachings (Uncommon).

Do you wish to?

Oh, my… I almost screwed it up. My, my, my... I almost entirely screwed it up...Weird though, why couldn't I receive it?

He couldn't help but look at Liz for confirmation, he wanted to ask Oli again, but she had fallen back to sleep.

So, no, Anchor. I want Basic Helping Hand.

You have unlocked Helping Hand (Basic).

Alright, it's your turn now, Liz. We've got to choose your Skill. But first, since we've got 1 Mana back… Let's start paying some back.

An azure light shined first from his hand, then the same happened to the girl's whole body.

That's the best I can do for now. Hope it'll help.

"Alright, let's get to it."

Give it to me, Anchor!

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You reached Spirit Level 5.

Warning.

Choosing a Spirit Skill makes your Spirit incur a physical evolution other than a spiritual one. The physical changes will reflect the Skill you choose.

Choose a Spirit Skill.

Skills

Skill

Dry Scales (Common)

Description

Permanently doubles Resilience. Gives Fire Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Feathers (Common)

Description

Permanently increases Resilience by 50%. Permanently increases Stamina by 50%. Gives Wind Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Fur (Common)

Description

Permanently doubles Resilience. Gives Ice Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Mucus Glands (Common)

Description

Permanently doubles Alacrity. Gives Life Resistance. Secrets mucus to slicken the skin.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Needle Skin (Common)

Description

Permanently increase Power by 50%. Permanently increases Resilience by 50%. Gives Earth Resistance. Grow needles to protect and react.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Slick Skin (Common)

Description

Permanently increase Alacrity by 50%. Permanently increases Recovery by 50%. Gives Dark Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Thick Hide (Common)

Description

Permanently doubles Resilience. Gives Light Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

Skills

Skill

Wet Scales (Common)

Description

Permanently doubles Resilience. Gives Water Resistance.

Slot

Resilience

Type

Passive - Spirit Skill

This time, there were a few choices; however, they were not even remotely uncountable like his list had been, and for some reason, he could see all their characteristics.

"These are the baseline for your evolutions, Liz. If memory serves me right, they can take different paths. I bet Dry Scales, even though you should already have them, are probably the best choice for this environment too."

"Hope you don't turn into a snake, though. That would not be ideal… would you like to turn into a snake?"

Liz inclined her head thinking about it, then she shrugged.

"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that."

Anchor, I choose Dry Scales.

The process was instantaneous. Liz started popping out bigger scales all over her skin. Her undefined color shifted into a rainbow color, dancing in the direction the light hit her scales.

She did not grow bigger but now looked a bit like a crocodile.

"You know what? You're actually not that ugly. I like that."

Then came the weirdly unexpected bite.

"Son of a-"

The last thing that remained was adding points, the Anchor kept pestering him to place them, the burning text in the air not disappearing even though he wished it to, and he had been seeing it for hours now. Gabriel was sick of it. He had six Attributes points to place and 10 Pool points; the last ones he knew would go to Mana, his 11 Affinity points, still too few to recover his Mana pool entirely in one day, but he would focus on gaining every single natural Affinity point he could.

After that, he had his Attributes points to place. They could go hand in hand. He would need to plan ahead for his build carefully.

If only I could gauge the Skills to bind to the other Attributes…

Let's put it this way, my Class is that of the Assaulter. However, if I remember correctly, the Bruiser Class had a direct boost in Power, which makes me weaker than it, but faster both in speed and in Recovery, thanks to Burst Attack. Guess that I'll need to cover the gauge by pumping Power and Alacrity into my Attributes for now. I'm sorry, Varcivald, I'll be using one of those stupid builds you mentioned after all. To survive here, I need to deal damage, as much damage as possible.

Gabriel placed 3 points into Power, 2 into Alacrity, and 1 into Resilience, just to be sure.

Since Power is already taken, with this setup, I can make sure that the next Skill I unlock is one tied to Resilience; after that, we'll see… it's still too soon to tell.

Time passed as Gabriel kept thinking about all that had happened that day, his new senses paired with the change of routine, making catching sleep harder than it had ever been for him.

Only the sounds from the jungle made him relax after a few hours, what instead really sent shivers down his spine was the sound coming from the mountains. If he focused enough, he could make out some of them; his skin crept up to the thought of the eerie sound; for they were acute cries of despairing creatures.