"Jesus motherfucking Christ, Marwall!!" Fucking hell that hurt. All the movement of the carriage made me fall backwards onto the goddamn table. Even Kojo just flew to the back of the carriage. Thankfully the rope holding the canvas is strong, otherwise he would've just flown out the back. I get my bearings as I try to climb back up off of the floor, while rubbing the back of my head. The pain slightly lessens from the action as I notice that, of course, no answer comes in response to my cries as the carriage seems to bounce even more along the road.

"Ugh. Dave, could you maybe get him to slow down? The carriage is throwing me around and making me nauseous. " Kojo's words grab my attention as I turn my head to look at him. Oh god. Buddy. You've turned upside down. Alright, you're right, I've got to stop this. I get onto my feet and steady myself against the rocking motions. The movement of the carriage adds a side-to-side wobble as well as the bumps, so I brace myself to move forward on sea legs. It had been awhile since I had been on a boat, so I stumble a little bit, but I think that I'm getting better as I am steadily losing my hobble as I make my way past the table and towards the front of the carriage. I manage to not fall over as I find the curtain tassel and pull it open to get a full view of the driver-side curtain. And there, moving frantically, is Marwall whipping about the reins as the...wait. How is it...You know what, not even going to question how the rhino-pillbug's still pulling the carriage while it's balled up and rolling along. It must keep its head very stable to have the bit in its mouth stay in its center mass.

"Marwall, what the hell are you doing? Kojo's being thrown around back there, not to mention I hit the back of my head on the...table." My words seem to fall out of my mouth as my attention is drawn away from him as I finally notice what Marwall was staring at in the horizon. There, slightly to the left of where we are currently driving, is the city I think we've been heading to for most of the week. Honestly, I think that the settlement kind of deserves that moniker. Since I can only assume we're in somewhat Medieval Times, the sheer size and scope of its walls and the buildings that tower behind them can only owe itself to either great uses of magic in construction, or it has been steadily built upon for centuries to get where it is currently at.

So, for it to differ from what I expected, perhaps due to what I have seen of this world so far, to see dilapidated houses, maybe a wall around the perimeter, but what I saw now was very different. There is a wall, of course, but it's much higher and definitely wider than I would have imagined. It looks to be almost six stories tall, and is wide enough to be manned. The buildings rise behind the wall to an even greater height, looking none the worse for wear, in the lights of the city. The light of the city is bright enough to reflect off of the dark clouds looming in the sky. Although the lights encompassed a myriad of colors, they mostly leaned toward variations of blue which seemed to be emanating from some sort of crystals used both in lamps and embedded in the actual pathways along the walls and inside them. The effect was almost making it seem as if the city itself was glowing.

I took all this in, while clutching the wagon rails that were laid out next to the driver's seat, as a support, while we headed toward that large, imposing wall at a frightening speed. Finally, I can see why we're going at this breakneck pace. The large iron gate, or maybe it's called a portcullis, since it almost reaches the top of the wall itself, is closing, and Marwall seems quite determined to make it there before it finishes closing.

"Shit!! They won't let us in once they close it?!" My assumption is proven right, as Marwall's shakes his head no, vigorously, as he once more whips the reins. The dirt of the road almost parting to either side as our carriage beast digs further into the ground for more traction.

"Why are they closing it now?! Is that even normal?" He brings his hand and points towards the sky quickly before bringing it back towards the reins. Shit. The black clouds have grown and they seem to be coming from further right of the city. They are crawling across the sky, blotting out what sunshine remained of the day. As I notice this, I realize that it's not clouds, but smoke. Something really big is burning and seems to be heading towards the city.

"Do you have anything that could get us there faster?!" He nodded before shoving the reins into my hands and rushed back into the carriage...How do I do this? I've never..

"Ummm...Giddy up?"

Skill, Animal Companionship, has reached max level. . . .

Further skill evolution not available at this time.

Updated Skill Description

Animal Companionship: Lv20 [MAX %]

Cost: (10 AP)

As with all things, animals are both a help and a hindrance. It’s best to keep them in a good mood most of the time. This skill allows you to slowly shift the opinion of any animal you spend time with. Since your skill has reached the highest achievable level, you can now transfer effects from various abilities and skills, without any cost to activate for the animal companion.

Wait, what does that? Why did it get activated when I haven't even used it since Kojo learned to speak common? Wait, don't tell me. It's the carriage beast? No, I'm not hearing anything from him, so it can't be. Wait. It said I could transfer abilities and skills to it, right? What would be helpful here? Wait! I have that [Speed] ability! Now how do I do it? Does it activate via intention or-

Beginning transfer of Ability, Speed. . . .

Transfer to Armul-Ruptor complete.

Oh. Guess it's intent. Well, now how do I get him to use-"WHOA!!!!"

I whoop as I notice a shift in speed as I fall backward. I pull myself back up to see what had happened, but it doesn't seem like anything has physically changed about the thing. It's shell is still serrated like it was before, and its horns are still poking out to the sides somewhat, but then something happened. It's shell gained a glossy shine, the edges of it began to get rounded down to smooth points, and the horns that were barely poking out of its shell had began to disappear into the shell, like they were being pulled inward into a forming cavity. However, even with the changes occurring to the animal, his speed wasn't really noticeable at all, but I can feel that bumps from the cart are occurring far more often then before. Wait...shit, hope this carriage has good suspension, otherwise we may break down before we reach the city gate. We'd likely get stuck outside with whatever thing out there that is making that much smoke.

As we race across the grass, I can tell we are getting noticeably faster as time goes on, as the tree that outlined the horizon to past the city towards the left had been passing by faster and faster, while the grass beneath are cart had transformed from gast moving grains to the continuous color of green. However, my amazement at our speed also let's me see something else rather important. The gate itself is getting closer at an astonishing rate, but it still seems to be falling. Shit, this is going to be close. Hope that whatever Marwall's doing is impor-

*BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

Holy fuckin hell, where...oh. That's a big firework that just went right over my head. Crap. I can't hear anything now. Ringing in my head and hurtin my brain...Wait, the gate's stopped. Yes!!! Finally, some good luck. I was wondering why that went off! Wait, I think I just realized something. How the hell do I get it to stop?

"Marwall!!! I liked your idea with the firework, but I need help. Now!! I don't know how to stop this thing!" Umm, do I just pull back on the reins? NO! Definitely not. Oh crap, it's getting closer, I can see people at the gate panicking. Wait, what if I get rid of speed, can I take it back?

Ability, Speed, has been removed from Armul-Ruptor.

Ok. Seems like the steed is slowly shifting back to what he was before he used that ability. And it is slowing down some...Ok. Nevermind it isn't slowing down at all. Ok, remember. How do you slow down? Increase friction. Can I do that here? I don't think so. Uh. And just like that, my thinking is interrupted by a sharp tug on my shoulder, and the reins being forcibly taken from my grasp.

"Marwall!!" And yes, there he is. Appearing like one of those old heroes of yore, looking for all the world heroic...that is, if he weren't such a little fuzzball.

"Dave!" Turning my head, I find Kojo peeking through the curtain, seeming to be bouncing much more than usual. Instinctively, I grab onto him and pull him close to stop the shaking.

"Thanks. You wouldn't believe how much I've had to deal with. For some reason, it just kept getting worse. By the way, Gunvar says thanks." I look down at him quizically.

"Gunvar?" He motioned his head towards the rhino-pillbug, or maybe the official name is Armul-Ruptor?

"The guy pulling our carriage." I nod my head as understanding dawns upon me.

"Ah! Can he...stop?" Kojo takes in my words briefly before bringing his head out of my shoulder to bark at the thing pulling us. I don't hear anything in the reply, but judging how Kojo's ears are twitching, he's definitely picking up something.

"Oh. Uh...yeah, no. He can't really control his speed when he rolls, so..." Well...Shit. Guess It's up to Marwall.

"Marwall, can you stop him from ramming into people, the wall, or literally anything at all?" At this, his form stills. It's almost like...a deer in the headlights. Then, he slowly shakes his head. Oh. This is definitely much worse than I thought.

"Is it ok to panic now?" He doesn't give a response, but then again, I don't really think he needs to.

Alright, uh. Anything. Think of anything at all. Just think of something goddamn it!! Wait! Growth! I could just...yeah! It might work, if we aren't going to fast. [Growth] Time to sonic this bitch. Reaching deep within me, I pull at my mana and force feed it as much as possible into the spell. I'm not too sure if this will work exactly like I'm thinking, but if I can influence how the grass is grown, maybe I could do one of those old fashioned mobius loops. But...I guess the question is how do I pick out grass that can do that, cause that's all I got around here, other than a few flowers. Wait, I have that minimap thing I can do. Just select an area in front of me, that's a fair bit away, and just start there.

Directing my magic through my spell, I can feel the mana flow through me, into the floor of the carriage, and through the ground. I...didn't feel that before. Weird, but I guess what I'm asking for is going to use a lot of mana to do, so it makes sense I feel something significant happening. It's also somewhat out of my line of sight and I'm using the map to try and do it, so of course it would feel different. And all at once the weird feeling ends, and there it is. The grass growing, intertwining, knotting itself, and yes! I got it. I CAN CONTROL IT!

"Alright everyone. I'd suggest you'd hang onto something. If this works, we might end up upside-down or mashed against the floor." At this Marwall looks back to me, almost questioningly with a raised eyebrow...eyeridge since he's all fur? Then he sighs, and pulls a lever next to him.

And the carriage got disconnected and I can feel a shuddering occurring from the sides...Well, I feel stupid. But at least, Gunvar will be able to...wait no. He just plowed through the loop and started going in circles. Well...it's a good thing that there's something we can do to stop our carriage. And not a moment too soon either, as we pass by the grass wreckage and the looping steed, we find ourselves right in front of the gate. One of the two guards comes up to us. The one left behind, who looks like a bast, just with different fur colorings, seems to huff before turning his attention to the crankshaft on the other side. The one that's approaching us, I think it's an ev, judging its general body shape, and how it seems to be made up of the grass around us. He, I think, whistles in amusement at the whole affair before turning towards Marwall.

"Well...can't say I've seen somethin like that in awhile. Anyways, best to get inside then. Think monster attacks comin. By the by, welcome to Erranid, hope you enjoy ya stay."