I woke the next day extraordinarily tired, and my muscles hurt like nothing I had ever experienced. I barely pushed myself into a sitting position as my muscles protested every minor movement. Tesla squeaked from the side table where she was eating the bread from last night.

I slowly stretched, trying not to make myself scream. No part of me didn't hurt. I wasn't sure if it was because I did so much, or if this was a part of the Pill that Wisham gave me yesterday. It took a while, but I was eventually able to stand. I hobbled over to the door stepping out to find an empty house. There was a clay pot turned upside down on the table, and sitting next to that was a note.

Jak,

Lena and I had to go work, and you weren't awake yet. We will be back around midday bell to get lunch. I left some bread out for you, and there is cheese in the icebox. Feel free to feed Tesla too.

Arterian

I lifted the pot and found two large loaves of bread. I snatched it all up and grabbed a block of cheese, then headed back to my room. As soon as I walked in, Tesla stood up on her hind legs sniffing the air. I laughed, "Yes, yes. I brought more food." I set the food down on my bed and patted next to it let Tesla know she could come over too. She immediately jumped the 3 feet over and landed right where I patted. I set a loaf in front of her, took one for myself, and then did the same with half the cheese.

She tucked into the food and went to town. "Do you not get much food, girl?" I brushed her back with my hand and then started eating my meal. I decided I would take things slow and make a list of things to train. I stood up, barely disturbing Tesla while she chowed down, I headed to my desk to start making a plan based on my Stratum.

Name: Jak Rollins

Level: 4

Race: Human

Class: None

Strength: 12

Dexterity: 18

Intellect: 17

Wisdom: 14

Blessings:

Identify

Skills:

Alchemy - Level 21 - [Perfect Measurement]

Bonded Companion [Tesla] - Level 4

Cooking - Level 3

Jumping - Level 5

Mana Blades - Level 12

Running - Level 3

Wind Manipulation - Level 16

"Woah! Bonded Companion grew a lot while I slept!" I looked over at Tesla, and she looked up at me. I felt a near overpowering excitement for a moment. Tesla picked up the rest of the loaf and shoved it into her pouch, which still didn't budge, then she ran over to the desk and jumped up.

"Did you grow too?" Another burst of excitement coming from her. I pulled up her Stratum to check.

Name: Tesla

Level: 1

Race: Pictis(Mimic Slime Variant)

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 7

Intellect: 12

Wisdom: 6

Skills:

Bonded Companion - Level 19

Camoflage - Level 3

Jumping - Level 4

Running - Level 6

Shapeshifting - Level 1

Storage - Level 4

Thievery - Level 1

"Yours grew even more! And your camouflage went up by one. Storage went up by one as well" I felt a sense of agreement. "Are you communicating with me? Is that part of the skill?" That time I got an actual head tilt, and it made me laugh. "I bet it is. That's so cool!" Tesla ran in a circle on my desk, radiating excitement and sat back down, looking at me.

"Do you know anything about your skills? Why did Camouflage and Storage go up?" This time I got a complex series of emotions while Tesla walked around on the desk. Fear, moving, and then safety. When she sent the feeling of safety, she laid flat on the ground, and I watched as her fur changed colors to match the desk.

"You can change your fur color!" I said as I stood up and watched as she looked at me and then looked at her back while it was still a different color. She began walking in a circle, trying to get a better look until she stopped and just did a U-bend and inspected herself. The whole thing was silly, and I broke out into hysterical laughter. Laughter that hurt from the same muscle pain when I woke up not 20 minutes ago.

Once the laughter and tears stopped, I looked up to see Tesla staring at me. She stayed like that for a few seconds before jumping on me and crawling all over, tickling me and making me break out into laughter again. "Sorry!" I managed to yell between gasps of air.

She stopped on my shoulder, and I stood up. "Would you like to come outside with me while I practice?" I got a short affirmative from her, and she jumped to the desk scooping up the leftover bread into her pouch before returning to my shoulder. "That is a useful skill you've got there. We'll have to explore the others later."

Tesla chittered at me, sending vibes of impatience. I took that as my cue to head outside. Walking was still stiff but manageable. We headed out to the garden, where we walked through the hedge maze to my bench by the small pond.

I spent my time using my mana to push a feather through the air. Moving the feather was easy. I could use a minimal amount of mana to make a sort of bubble around it and fling it around. Tesla thought it was fun and chased it down. That was when it turned into a game then. I was playing keep-away, but nothing I could do would keep it from Tesla for long. She was too smart, quickly learning my tricks and making erratic movements to catch the feather when I thought I had it safely away.

We stopped when Tesla's stamina got low, and she tired herself out. I moved on to working on making a blade of wind that I could shoot out. I was able to condense the air effortlessly, but I couldn't quite figure out the movement. Pushing it was easy, but that didn't give it enough force to fly off and cut a distant target. I kept that up until the midday bell, and then we headed back to the house.

Lena was waiting for me, and Arterian was walking out of the house and locking up. "Thought we'd go have another conversation with Martin. We'll grab food from the market on the way." She didn't step away this time when I got close with Tesla on my shoulders. Instead, she stepped closer. "She is quite pretty, and larger than most Pictis." Tesla had been watching her the whole time. "Can I pet her?" To both Lena and Arterian's amazement, Tesla nodded.

Lena just stood there staring, so Arterian jumped in, "Jak... can Tesla understand us?"

I smiled, "Yep, she can. And she can communicate feelings to me. Do you know if companions can share my Age of Skill?"

"You are in an Age of Skill?!" Arterian nearly choked while asking.

"Wisham said I was. He was telling me a bit about previous heroes that the Kitsune have kept in their histories. I really want to learn more. But I ask because Tesla's Bonded Companion is leveling fast. Faster than my own."

Neither Lena nor Arterian knew much about bonds and companions, but Arterian guessed that it did pass over based on the leveling rate. Arterian was also excited to hear what kind of perk Tesla would get.

--

We made it to The End and went inside to find Cassie and Athena running the desk again.

"Hiya Jak, Lena, and Arterian!" Cassie waved excitedly.

We all greeted Cassie. I waved to Athena, and she gave me a slight smile. She was not happy with this position, and I could tell, so I decided to ask her about Wisham. "Do you know when Wisham will take us out for training? Or where he will take us even?"

Lena and Arterian went to the back with Cassie to go to Martin's office while we spoke. "He said he'd give you a break today. Tomorrow he was going to come collect you." Tesla had been laying across my shoulders, sleeping during the walk, she had used her camouflage to change to match the color of my shirt. But now that I was talking to Athena, Tesla looked up at her and dropped the disguise.

Athena jumped back, "Jak, is that the Pictis from yesterday?!"

I nodded and smiled in response, "Athena, this is Tesla. She and I bonded last night, and we got a skill for it. Do you know anyone knowledgable with Bonds? Tesla is brilliant, she can understand speech." I leaned in and spoke quieter. "And she has a Stratum. Arterian says that's extremely rare for a companion."

"My mother is a talented beast tamer. She was well known as an adventurer before slavery was introduced in the Kingdom. Maybe you could come over and talk with her. She attends the livestock for the family that owns my mother and father." Another sore spot for her in this society.

Tesla jumped down onto the counter, and I reached out to scratch her head. "Would Martin mind if we went around back and started training today? Also, does The End have any books on tactics or training regimen?" Tesla was pushing into my hand as I scratched behind her ears.

Athena stepped forward while watching Tesla closely. "Martin probably would mind," she groused. "I keep having to close up the shop. It's not so bad during the day, but since we were closed so long yesterday, we missed two teams of adventurers." Athena reached out her hand and stroked Tesla's back idly.

Tesla looked up at Athena, and she realized what she was doing. "Sorry!" Athena sputtered. I got a ping of amusement from Tesla, who stood up and wandered over to the edge where Athena was standing before sitting back down.

"I think you're fine. She likes the attention." I chuckled at the expression Athena was giving me.

Athena scratched Tesla's ears and then down her back. "Her coat is super soft! I don't think Tesla acts anything like a Pictis. They usually are skittish and flighty. I've never even heard of someone having an Animal Companion with a Pictis."

"Bonded Companion. Tesla is my Bonded Companion." I corrected her.

"Bonded... WHAT?!" She actually screamed.

"I... uhh..." I wasn't sure what the problem was. But Martin came running out of his office, followed closely by Cassie, Lena, and Arterian. He stopped next to Athena behind the counter.

"What's wrong, Athena?" Martin asked while looking at me.

"I need to take Jak to see my mother. Right now." Athena's tone brooked no argument, which made Martin's eyebrows climb up his forehead. He looked at Athena before turning back to Tesla on the counter.

"Because of this?" He asked as he pointed at Tesla.

"Right," I gulped "This is Tesla, my b..." I trailed off as Athea sharply shook her head. "My companion."

Martin sighed. "You can't keep doing this, Athena. It's fine for today, but you only have a week left of training Esh to run the shop." He turned to Cassie, "Cassie, could you fetch Esh? I'll teach him a bit myself, and then the two of you can handle the shop together."

Athena hopped over the counter with ease as Lena and Arterian stepped up. "Is everything okay?" Arterian asked as I stuck out my hand for Tesla to climb up to sit on my shoulders.

"I think I can explain later..?" I looked at Athena, and she nodded.

"That should be totally fine. But we need to hurry."

Athena and I said our goodbyes to Lena and Arterian before we headed out of the shop. Only a few steps out of the building, and she abruptly stopped and spun, smacking me with her tail. "Follow me, we'll run." She flashed me a sharp grin, turned, and broke into a sprint. I took off after her with Tesla chirping merrily in my ear.

--

We got a few odd or angry looks on the trip out of town. I had to run with Athena, and she knew it, so she slowed down. Any Demi-Human seen without a master while running could easily get reported as a runaway to the guards. I doubt it would have been pretty.

We made it to the house in 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Athena sped up as we got closer and beat me there by just under a minute.

We stopped at a walled-off compound with a gate to match, but they weren't standard height walls. Instead, they were 12 feet tall, something I was used to seeing outside the detention center we would pass while riding the bus. "Why do the walls need to be so tall?"

Athena raised an eyebrow, "Not met a Sooli yet?"

"No idea what a Sooli even is." I said as I shook my head.

Athena walked over to a bell on the wall and rung it; however, it didn't make a sound. A short while later, an ogre pushed open the gate and looked at Athena. He had chocolate-colored skin and was bald aside from a crown of horns. He had at least 12 that I could count, and the one in the front and center was the largest. His arms were thicker than my head.

[Rul - Ogre, Level 13]

He looked at me and then back at Athena and grunted before stepping back inside the gate. Athena pushed me from behind, and we walked inside. My jaw dropped.

Inside was a massive pasture with hundreds of creatures that stood taller than a horse. They had long floppy ears and elongated snouts that reminded me of an aardvark. They had short fur and almost no tail, and their legs ended in paws. Their colors were so... odd and shiny and vibrant that they looked like gemstones. Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, and many other colors beyond those.

"Beautiful aren't they?" She asked with a smirk while looking at my slack-jawed expression.

"I've never seen anything like it." I watched as a pearlescent white Sooli was being led into a barn. "What do people use Sooli for?" I asked as I looked back at Athena.

She started to walk towards the barn and beckoned me on. "People use them for quick travel, or for their fur, and some of them are bred for producing milk. Here we breed them to be ridden. My mother does the training. Here," We ducked into the barn, and I saw rows and rows of stalls, most of them were empty. "MOM!" Athena yelled.

"Back here!"

We followed the voice to an office where a young-looking Kitsune woman was sitting going over some documents. She had pitch-black hair and fur on her ears and tail. She had roughly the same build as Athena but was wearing overalls and boots with a plain linen shirt. She smiled up at us and pointed at the two chairs, so Athena and I sat down.

[Norrin - Kitsune, Level 41]

"I am going to guess that this is Jak? I'm Norrin," She asked while looking at Athena, "This is the one you are going to train?" Athena and I both nodded.

"Right, I'm Jak. This is Tesla." As I introduced Tesla, she ran down my arm and saw that she had changed her coat to match the pearly white Sooli we saw as we walked in.

"Well, I've never seen a Pictis that color before," She remarked.

"That's not her normal coat color. Tesla, change it back. You're why we're here anyway." She sent me a tiny amount of sadness before her fur changed color in a wave back to the dusty brown with darker brown stripes. "You're still pretty. Don't worry." I said as I scratched her behind her ears.

"That is why I left The End in the middle of the day and showed up here." She said while pointing at Tesla.

"S-She is magical?!" Norrin sputtered as she jerked forward. Athena looked pleased with herself.

I just looked back and forth between Tesla and Norrin. "Probably? I don't know much. I've not been here long, and I'm only level 4."

"Do you mind if I classify her?" She adjusted her question as soon as it had been asked. "Sorry, do you mind if I added you to my bestiary, Tesla?"

Tesla looked back at me and then turned back to Norrin and nodded.

Norrin grabbed a stack of papers and set them on her desk along with ink and a metal pen. "Classify." She spoke it evenly, and I watched as she started writing out information faster than a printer on Earth.

Seconds after she started, she had 3 pages full of information on Tesla. Tesla shuddered and ran back over to me, where I picked her up and held her in my arms. I watched as Norrin's eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped even lower.

"Tesla, what happened to you?" Norrin looked up with concern. She spun a piece of paper around to me, and I read it.

--

Tesla - Pictis/Mimic Slime, Level 1

Tesla is a product of magical genetic manipulation that is the first and only success coming from the Magi Academy of Rune. She has the combined intellect of the Mimic Slime and the Pictis resulting in sentient thought.

Her body has adapted to the Mimic Slime, granting her the ability to shapeshift. She can adjust the size and shape of her body by increasing her level of skill and increasing her mass.

Camouflage is another skill granted by the adaptation of the Mimic Slime. Tesla can use this to affect any part of her body to adapt to her surroundings. Higher levels of Camouflage will increase the speed of adaptation.

Storage is based on unknown magic, and nothing is known about it.

As a Bonded Companion, Tesla can communicate with her Bond. Higher levels of the skill will allow communication to happen over greater distances, or to people other than the bonded.

--

I reached down and scratched Tesla behind her ears before focusing on Norrin. "Where does all the information come from?" As I asked, I checked Tesla's Stratum and saw that Bonded Companion was at level 20.

"My class is called Beastkeeper. I focus on raising beasts, one of the perks I got from my Animal Husbandry skill was Classify. It lets me make my own bestiary. I've gathered a lot of information on the inherent skills of various animals and monsters. It used the information I've gathered to create the entry. However, the skill can also pull together other information based on the intellect of the scan's subject.

"There are two important parts to focus on here. The first is that Tesla is a hybrid. It appears she was owned by a Magi studying at the academy." She pulled out a handful of crackers and set them in front of me on the desk. "For Tesla."

I grabbed two and handed them to Tesla while Norrin continued. "It looks like Tesla wasn't treated well while in captivity. Mimic Slimes are the most intelligent types of slime. They can completely copy a person and their mannerisms until they can get their target alone. It makes them one of the more dangerous monsters found on the World Tree. It appears you are also already treating her well if she chose to bond with you.

"As for Storage, it's odd that I know nothing about a skill since I am constantly working on my bestiary. This skill definition is like nothing I've ever seen after the skill has done it's job, that it is based in unknown magic is even more odd." Norrin's voice trailed off as she lost herself in thought.

"Would you like to see it work?" I asked before looking at Tesla. She reached into the pouch on her stomach and pulled out a cracker. I looked over at the desk, and the stack of crackers were all gone. I chuckled at her and gave her another scratch.

"Interesting, can she hold more than a normal Pictis then?" As she asked the question, Tesla jumped back onto the desk and pulled the loaf of bread from this morning out of her pouch. There had been no inclination that it even been stored. "That... That shouldn't be possible." She poked at the bread then at Tesla's stomach. "Do you know how much you can hold."

--

After lots of questions and prodding, we headed out. It was upsetting knowing what happened to Tesla. We had more in common than I thought. I waved goodbye to Athena after we got back to The End and found out that Lena and Arterian had already gone home. It was already getting dark.

"Would you like to get a bite to eat before we head home?" I felt in my pocket at the coins I still had tucked away. Tesla pinged me with agreement and hunger, so off we went. I grabbed 4 skewers of meat and vegetables when Tesla indicated interest. I took us back home where we sat and ate in the garden. "You're omnivorous. You and I won't be picky it looks like."

After that, we went inside, and I talked to Lena and Arterian a bit before heading to bed. I climbed into bed and laid down. "Goodnight Tesla."

Goodnight Jak!