With the sun being used as an engine to force their way across space, the forest was cast with strange shadows, stretching across the landscape. Marcus had to wonder at the animals that lived on Datov’s surface, with none of them even acting like this was anything strange. Living on a world where the schedule of day and night was dictated by the whim of the planet probably led to a hardier mindset.

"So Datov really doesn't mind me hunting his animals? You said that they're connected to them?"

"From what I’ve gotten from them, it's kind of like us hunting down bacteria on his skin? And only one or two of them at that. Scale is kind of crazy to think about with Datov." Marcus replied.

“Then don't think about it, just focus on keeping an eye out for our target.” Tobin replied with a shrug, checking his weapon for the umpteenth time.

Marcus studied them. “Are you sure you’re up for this? You seem pretty nervous, so if you want to try for something smaller..?”

The gnome hesitated for a second, and then shook their head. “I'm good, just need to keep my wits about me. I've built myself up as a sniper and ambusher, so if I can spot the bear first then this will be a cakewalk. But if not, and it ends up being a proper fight, things are going to get a lot more hairy, so keep your eyes peeled.”

“Well, it’s your hunt, so how exactly do we do this?”

Over the next few hours the two moved quietly amongst the trees, or in Marcus’s case, as quietly as he could. Tobin showed him what sort of signs to look for, pointing out things like faint tracks, broken branches or droppings. He wouldn’t say he actually picked up much from the gnome’s teachings, but the lesson itself was relaxing, reminding Marcus of studying at home.

As they travelled they spotted a number of other animals, most of which they gave a wide berth, actively hiding when they spotted a passing stag. Tobin had pulled out his rifle and tried lining up a shot on it, but as they watched it topple several trees by accident as it tried to eat the leaves higher up, they decided not to risk angering it.

“There!” Tobin whispered excitedly, getting down on to their knees. “See that print there? That’s our target, and they should still be around. Stay back a bit from now on, and stop when I tell you.”

As they began crawling forwards, Marcus watched him begin preparing his attack. In the strange twilight of the forest, Marcus watched as previously unseen lines and symbols covering the gnome’s weapon began to light up and quietly hum with power. Finding a suitable stone, Tobin rested his now glowing rifle on it and held still, patiently waiting for their target to appear.

Five minutes passed, then ten. After half an hour Marcus was getting cramps in his legs, but seeing Tobin still so deeply focused he kept quiet and just kept waiting. Eventually, as he began to start doodling in the dirt in front of him, he saw Tobin tense up suddenly, and a few moments later, he heard it.

Datov was a massive planet, with a range of creatures both varied and horrifying. But no matter the planet, no matter what reality it was; a bear was still a bear. It may not have been able to go toe to toe with some of the true top predators found on this world, but as the bear came into view, Marcus wondered if they should have aimed lower.

Ten feet tall at the shoulder, the hulking grey animal was covered in bone plate and spikes at seemingly random locations. Its fur was tattered and torn around these protrusions, as if they’d burst through violently.

“That’s not like the other bears I've seen.” Marcus muttered, frowning at the animal in concern.

This proved to be a mistake as the bear’s ears flicked at his words, its massive head turning towards the sound and began approaching at alarming speed. Swearing under his breath Tobin quickly repositioned his rifle and fired at the bear before it could reach them.

Unlike what Marcus had expected from the rifle, there was no sound of gunfire, nor did a bullet fly from the barrel. Instead the glow from the weapon flowed towards the trigger before being launched forwards at incredible speed, a near invisible beam of light that hit the bear in the neck, piercing clean through the animal. But the wound, while likely fatal, was simply too small to bring the beast down immediately.

“Run!” Tobin shouted at Marcus, before blurring and vanishing before his eyes.

Needing no more encouragement, the wooden figure stood and began running off back toward his cabin, putting his long stride to work as he tried to keep ahead of the now frenzying animal. Hearing its pained roars behind him was more than enough motivation to run faster than he ever had before, especially as they didn’t seem to be getting further away.

“Bring them over here!”

Looking up, he saw Tobin sitting high up on a branch in a tree off to the side, weapon in hand. Happy that his hunting partner hadn’t up and abandoned him, he ran towards them with one last burst of speed. As he leapt forwards and reached the base of the tree he felt a blinding pain as the bear caught up, an enormous claw catching him in the back, ripping down and tearing one of his legs off. As he fell to the ground in pain Marcus turned to see the enraged bear, blood still pouring freely from its neck, stand up tall, roaring in anger. Then there was a faint flash of light and a small hole appeared in the centre of its forehead, sending it silently to the ground.

“Shit, are you alive?” Tobin asked urgently as he leapt down from his perch. “I needed time to charge another shot up, but I didn’t expect you to get caught like that. Damn mutants.”

“...eg” Marcus choked out.

“What? I don't have any eggs... oh, right, leg. Um... here?” the gnome said, dragging the severed limb over to the wounded wood walker.

Feebly, Marcus tried to push his leg back into place, his struggling brain hoping that it would reattach with a bit of effort somehow. But the wound remained, vital sap continuing to pour out at an alarming rate. Cutting through the haze of his injuries, he felt Datov begin to panic, which gave him a burst of clarity.

“Tobin,” He gasped out. “I'm not going to make it, and Datov knows it.”

“Oh shit. Oh shit! What do we- what do I do?” the gnome asked, eyes wide in panic.

“You need to get clear of here... can you take the bear quickly enough?”

Grabbing a small pouch from his waist, the gnome opened it and pointed it towards the bear’s body. With a complete disregard to physics, the massive corpse was vacuumed into a matchbox sized container.

“That’s... really cool. Now run away.”

“What?” Tobin asked, confused.

“When I die, Datov will hit me with enough mana to bring me back. Last time, they weren’t... accurate. You remember the state of the beach around my house?” he said, trying to hold on long enough.

Their eyes widened even further. “Got it. I’ll head back there.” He said before running away.

Marcus winced and lay back with a smile. “Datov, you listening?” He asked weakly to the now empty area.

“Always. Dying. Help?” Datov responded quickly.

“Not yet. Let’s make sure Tobin doesn’t get caught up in your ‘help’. We don't want to hurt our friend do we ?” he whispered, closing his eyes.

“Soon.” Datov promised, as everything faded to silence.

~

Tobin had been sprinting desperately for several minutes, but when he started to feel the hair on his neck stand on end, he wondered if he’d gone far enough. Deciding that a few more seconds of running would change anything, he turned around to watch things unfold.

In the sky above where they’d fought and where Marcus’s body lay, mana had begun to build up. Raw mana, before being put into a spell or ability, was normally invisible and undetectable, but the amount in the sky was not only giving off light but had begun condensing into a physical cloud. As the gnome wondered at the anomaly, it suddenly pulled in on itself, before slamming down towards the ground. While the bolt of mana moved silently, the result of its impact did not. The explosion shook Tobin even at this distance, trees and unfortunate animals all but evaporating against the forces involved.

Looking at the small mushroom cloud that was rising over the site, he shook his head. Almost everyone wanted to find a way to live forever, but he hoped if he found one it’d be a little more subtle.

~

Rosanna sat back in her chair, looking out over the city through her office window. Some of the other cartels set themselves up as kings and royalty, insisting on being called by titles to give themselves an ego boost. But the jouster family had always held true to what they were: a business, and sitting at the top of it was all she needed.

Even so, she was still irritated when one of her secretaries came rushing in without so much as knocking.

“This had better be good for you to bother me like this.” She said, running a finger over the gilded crossbow sitting on her desk. One didn’t stay in control of a cartel by letting people ignore your authority.

The secretary paled slightly at the implied threat before gathering themselves.

“Apologies madam, but the message is supposedly time sensitive, so I felt it would be best if you were informed as soon as possible.” They said with a small bow, offering a letter.

She raised a brow. “Oh? What’s it about?” she asked, becoming intrigued.

“I'm unsure of the details, but it’s from an information broker who goes by Greenline, and they say that it is going to change everything.”

~

“You need to figure out a way of doing that a little less destructively. Like, a way of reviving within a mile of anyone else who wants to stay alive.”

Marcus shrugged but agreed. “Datov says aiming is hard. Considering everything I've learned, I believe them, but it would be nice not to wake up in a blasted crater.”

Still groggy, it had taken him a little less than an hour to stumble back towards the house, finding Tobin going through the process of preparing and butchering the bear. With nothing else to do and still feeling tired after having died twice today already, Marcus had sat down and watched the gnome work.

“So why does it look like that anyway?” he asked as the gnome cut away another of the bone plates.

“You can identify it yourself you know.” Tobin said without looking up.

-Datovian Black Bear (Mutant-Unknown). Level: 873-

“So it’s a mutant? What does that mean exactly, other than it now looks weird?” He asked, poking at the malformed animal.

“You read about class’s, and how they work?”

“A little? The information packet I got was all but useless.”

Tobin nodded. “Sounds about right. I've said it a few times that I'm not a professional about this stuff, but the basic idea is that the same way a class can improve, so can your race. It’s not as easy to do, when you have a class, but if an animal or other monster does enough weird things of note they can evolve. But when they’re not sapient and able to think through their decisions, things can go a little... wrong. Like stronger than average bears with bones growing through their hide.”

“Does it hurt?” Marcus asked absently while reading.

The gnome snorted. “Having random bones through your skin? I’d have to assume that this was almost a mercy killing. Normal evolution, not so much, at least mine didn’t.”

Marcus’s brow went up. “You’ve evolved.”

Tobin nodded as he pulled a smaller knife, getting in deeper. “Unless you’re lucky and have some highly evolved parents, most people start out basic, no modifiers to speak of. Most people change when they’re a triple, same as I did. All my travelling let me grow from a normal Gnome to a Gnomad.”

“Gnomad. That’s what you’re actually called. Seriously?”

They stopped their work for a moment and sighed. “It’s not exactly something I'm proud of, but there’s a lot worse names for things out there than that. No one even knows how it decides the names, let alone why some manage to be puns, but it is what it is.”

“That’s... interesting. Final question then, when you hunted down the bear I got experience for it even while having nothing to do with killing it, pushing me up to level fifteen. What’s up with that?”

“You get experience for more than just landing a killing blow, and you helped both find and lure it.”

“I don't want to be a killer.” Marcus said firmly.

Tobin snorted. “Trust me kid, you’re no killer. Especially with that title of yours. But stop complaining about getting some power from someone who is. You think you’re gonna keep your family safe as a level two? With your mighty powers of running slightly slower than a monster? Take what you can get, it’ll be easier to hold on to those ideals of yours with some power backing you up.”

“There’s more to it than that, but fine.” Marcus responded after a moment, deep in thought.

“You wouldn’t be the first to fight against it, but only the victor gets to say what’s right. But it’s a little odd you only reached level fifteen, that bear should have pushed you higher... you get your class? That would have cancelled the rest.” He asked curiously.

Marcus shook his head before sharing the System message he’d gotten. “Not quite, looks like for now I'm going the way of the bear.”

-You have earned enough experience to reach level 15!-

-Evolution is now available. Please make a selection before more experience can be acquired.-