As the cave network loomed ahead, Kaden summoned the [FalCrow]. There wasn’t any reason to take this risk if he didn’t need to. The bird materialized before Kaden, holding its wings stiff against the gale to glide in place.


    “I need you to tell Ashi I’m here and not to roast or freeze me,” he said.


    But as he spoke the buzz of wings in the darkness grew louder than the wind. A glistening black mosquito with wings a man’s height wide and all too human eyes swooped by—and another—and another.


    The Falcrow could, of course, phase out of existence, but the problem was, for the first time in his experience, it was filled with pure frustration, and far more interested in punishing these beasts—it screamed in pain and disappeared, then re-appeared.


    [Mansquito - Created Beast]


    These hunters in the dark feed on mana beasts, and their ability to hunt down the otherwise invulnerable beasts is exactly what they were created for. They have neither history nor future as a created Beast. Beast Knowledge * None.


    Skills: Mana Drain, Devour, Phase


    [Moment of Speed] gave him the match to leap at one of the [Mansquitos], only to have it disappear, becoming as intangible as the mana beasts they feasted on. All around him, blurs of the [Falcrow] attempting to phase in—only to be attacked—left him no question why Ashi hadn’t sent a message.


    “Flee!” he shouted, sending the command through the soul bond.


    Then he drew a common mana bird from Inventory. He always kept a handful, but now he regretted not getting more. He clutched it tightly and raised his fist


    SNAP! It was gone before he realized the mansquito was coming.


    This time, Kaden held his hand out in front of him, constantly triggering [Moment of Speed]. The [Mansquito] swooped down, extending a probiscus that stabbed toward the mana bird in his fist—and froze.


    You have bound a Created Beast (Mansquito).


    _ERROR_INCONSISTENT_ENTITY_.


    CONSISTENCY CHECKER OVERLOADED.


    ENTITY TERMINATED.


    The beast exploded into particles of mana before Kaden could drag it into his soul. Kaden didn’t hesitate, raising the bird again and burned mana like blood to match the circling [Mansquitos].


    You have bound a Created Beast (Mansquito).


    You have bound a Created Beast (Mansquito).


    You have bound a Created Beast (Mansquito).


    You have bound a Created Beast (Mansquito).


    Over and over, the beasts disapeared as he bonded with them. The last one dodged, and Kaden applied [Beast Command]. “Stop!”


    CONSISTENCY CHECKER INVOKED.


    _ENTITY_ REGENERATED FOR SKILL COMPATIBILITY.


    CONSISTENCY CHECKER ENDS.


    [Mansquito - Messenger Hunter]


    In the depths of the southern isles, many creatures have risen and gone extinct without ever seeing another soul. These creatures have evolved to isolate prey for greater predators, devouring the mana beasts that would let Adventurers call for help. Never coming alone, they are the harbingers of your doom. ADMIN_NOTE This flavor text is terrible. Seriously, all these things do is eat mana birds? We should totaly make these things mana vampires.


    Skills: Mana Drain, Devour, Phase


    Kaden quickly bound it and pulled into his soul. When only the sound of wind and falling snow remained, he sent his final mana bird off to Ashi.


    A moment later, a plain brown bird returned. “Beware, this [Ice Gorger] is not vulnerable to [Taming] or [Binding]. I have kept the students safe, but at great cost of mana.”


    First step was getting Ashi and her students out, and at least Kaden had a plan there. The gorger was an ambush boss, meant to strike at unaware victims and then drag them back into the narrow tunnels of its lair.


    With a silent order to Garm to stay hidden, Kaden, turned and charged straight for the gorger’s lair. It probably sensed vibrations, and Kaden relied on [Moment of Speed] to ensure he hit the narrow tunnel—with [Eldritch Shied] active—just as the boss reacted.


    But Kaden hit it inside the tunnel, where it couldn’t expand, where it couldn’t unfold its jaws and claws. With a crack, he collided with the gorger, a creature whose body was designed to give it leverage pulling back into a cave, not driving itself forward.


    The [Eldritch Shield] muffled the roars from all three heads, heads which normally worked together to grasp a target. Right now, it couldn’t grasp the edges of the shield. Kaden braced himself and shoved. Foot by foot, he forced the beast back—until a glow from the side drew his attention.


    “Kaden!” Ashi called. “This way, the beast may not pass.”


    Kaden [Shield Bashed] and leaped right, nearly crushing Ashi. Her wraps were disecheveled, almost all the mana stones dark. “How did you get this far back?”


    “I thought as you do,” Ashi said. “I sought the beast’s lair for protection, and while it grappled an illusion, we fled deep into the caves. But now we are hunted, and I was forced to seal exits.”


    Kaden followed her back to a smaller cave, where eight young [Mages] sat in a circle around a pale heatstone. Small mana orbs kept the cave lit.


    “I have spoken to you, ‘do not despair,’” Ashi said. “And you have held strong in spirit. Many times, enemies will seek to kill you. Fear, greed, and more. What is best in life?”


    A young woman raised her hand. “To crush your enemies and see them driven before you, to hear the lamentations—”


    “No! Do not spoute such nonsense,” Ashi said. “It is best to live.”


    Kaden focused on the spot he’d memorized. A wobbly portal sprung into existence. “Get them out. The Resyr village is safe. I’ll follow along later, once I’ve dealt with the Adventurers who meant to kill you and your students. They’re coming prepared for you. They’re not coming prepared for me.”If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Ashi stepped through and herded her students. “Focus. Move quickly, move quietly. Escape into the night and leave your enemies to their fate. It will not be gentle or kind.”


    She smiled as Garm dropped [Stealth] and joined Kaden in the cave. “I have nearly no mana. But I have enough to undo my defenses. [Stone Shape!] I will tell the others.”


    Three crevices expanded as thin sheets of rock dropped away.


    Kaden let the portal close and summoned his [Mansquito]. Killing an entire party was beyond even his abilities, if they were near matched in levels, but he really wanted to teach them what it was to be hunted. “You’ll help me with that, right?”


    Garm didn’t answer, but the emotions said that he was always open to hunting prey, or anything remotely prey-like. Unlike Trinity, Gram had limits to what he considered reasonable. Kaden could work with that.


    In the darkness, the [Ice Gorger] moved, its scaley body whispering past the crevice as it strained to turn toward him. Kaden didn’t blame it. Instead, he planned. It would have been better if he knew exactly who was coming. He listened to the [Echo Beetle], hoping for clues to their abilites, but all he could gather was that one of them was a [Knight], one a [Tamer], and a [Healer] who couldn’t heal her party well enough.


    They boasted about new equipment that would reflect spells. Equipment that turned it to health, turned it to mana, gave boosts and more. And joked about what they’d do with their new-found wealth.


    There were many different kinds of anger, Kaden had found through the years. Some anger burned white hot and came out in screams and fists and wild blows. And other anger simmered, clouding judgement. But the anger that turned ice cold and formed determination, that was the most dangerous kind.


    Every party wipe was one bad decision you just didn’t see coming.


    They’d never see him coming.


    It began with the enraged screams of the [Ice Gorger] as it attempted to ensnare prey. Its body, soft like snail or slug’s trailed far behind it. Kaden squeezed through the crevice and made a snap decision, retreating further back into its lair by bracing his hands and feet. After all, the Beast would never expect prey to go that way.


    The winding tunnel glistened with shed scales as he worked his way deeper in, letting Garm’s night vision keep him moving. Ah, there. A mound of bones and armor, crushed weapons and bent tools, all the cast off debris of victims, arranged in a nest. Kaden took them as a mater of course. The bones could be buried, loot could be sold, but what was most important was to enrage the [Ice Gorger].


    It backed down the tunnel, forced by a steady barrage of arrows and spellcraft.


    “Shit! They’re gone!” a man shouted.


    Kaden took in the location. The smell of not-quite-rotting flesh, the drift of air currents from other tunnels, the reek of its own filth. He’d never be an expert in Portal, and juggling multiple portal locations could be deadly, so he surrendered all thoughts of the safe exit—and opened one back to the side-cave. Small glowstones lit the cave, probably dropped by the first


    “Let’s start hunting,” a woman called from outside. “Torger and Bal will drive it back so you can exit. Stay clear!”


    Kaden carefully collected glowstones, leaving only one, and engaged [Stealth Aura].


    A moment later, a [Knight] in green armor came stumbling back from one of the passages Ashi had opened. Snow clung to his beard and he swore as he entered the cave. “Godsdamned stones-who’s there? Torger? I said stay—”


    You have acquired a flesh ram.


    Kaden struggled to lift the man an inch, but even an inch off the rock floor, the skill took over. He rammed the knight backwards into the stone.


    You have inflicted 600 points damage on the wall and on your ram.


    Like an enraged [Ice Gorger], perhaps one being constantly peppered with spells and arrows, or maybe one who had retreated far enough to discover its shit-and-bone nest had been stolen, Kaden charged from side to side, then took his real aim, bashing the knight out into the crevice that led to the gorger’s ambush.


    The knight screamed as an errant spell hit him instead.


    “Don’t hit Zig! Hit the Beast!” the woman shouted.


    But if they stopped, the [Ice Gorger] would be free to surge forward. Free to find the man half protruding from the wall. Free to drag him back into its lair, crunching and tearing.


    You have helped kill the [Knight] Zigory Dane.


    You have gained experience.


    The cries of horror from outside told Kaden his party leader knew what had happened. At least, she knew he was dead.


    “I’ll get him back,” a deep woman’s voice said.


    A man answered, the words garbled, lost to the wind, but the tone spoke of hopelessness.


    With a thought, he sent the only [Mansquito] into action, ordering it to circle just beyond the cave, hunting. And Garm lay hidden, deep in stealth, just as Kaden had asked. As an [Ulf Ravager] he knew how to select prey, and Kaden encouraged it. The Beast didn’t know the concept of a [Healer] or [Mage] but it did know ‘vulnerable’ and its kind had long ago learned to maim prey and wait for the elements to finish them off.


    Kaden had his own plans. “Help! Someone help. That damned [Knight] stabbed me. I need a status cleans for [Mortal Wounds].”


    “I’ve got your status cleanse!” the woman shouted. “Torger, let’s remove the status. And his head.”


    Kaden drank a stamina potion and crushed it underfoot. An enclosed area, no [Agony Cloud] potions and a hostile beast weren’t ideal but he’d make them work. His plans were evolving.


    Metal scraped on rock as the [Shield] charged into the [Ice Gorger’s] lair. They’d thought of the same weakness, and probably used it over and over to attack Ashi.


    Kaden activated [Destruction Aura] as the woman twisted sideways into the crevice that lead to Ashi’s cave.


    [Mira Kan - Shield], Identify offered.


    “Hello, Mira,” Kaden said, using the [Eldritch Shield] to block her in the crevice.


    “Stay behind me,” Mira called to her helper. “He’s got AOE damage. Really shitty AOE damage.”


    Kaden let her push forward. Let her strength overmatch his as she forced her way out into the smaller cave. When she levered the [Eldritch Shield] up to punch him in the jaw, he rolled with the punch as [Brawling] commanded—and activated Portal as he turned off [Destruction Aura.] “You shouldn’t have come in here.”


    “Two one one,” Mira answered. “You’re not a [Shield] and you’re not pure damage, which means you’re totally screwed. Let’s kill him, Choam.”


    Her helper was a [Hunter] who dashed forward—as Kaden deactivated Portal. “One on one.”


    Outside, someone—a woman—screamed, a tortured wail that echoed in the cave, followed by snarling. Garm had struck.


    “Choam?” the [Shield] called softly. “What did you do?”


    “I opened a portal to the [Ice Gorger]’s den after you came through,” Kaden answered. He flinched as pain flowed through the soul bond with Garm. [Fortress of Stone] didn’t help much with pain that bypassed his nerves. “Choam is with your knight friend now.


    Your soul-bound beast may not be tamed.


    Oh. Their [Tamer] wasn’t quite as dead as she’d sounded. Well enough, at least, to attempt to take one of his beasts. Kaden needed only a thought to give Garm an idea. An idea the ulf embraced.


    Your soul-bound beast may not be tamed.


    Your soul-bound beast may not be tamed.


    Your soul-bound beast may not be tamed.


    A second set of screams rose up, dying down to whimpering.


    “Good boy,” Kaden said, keeping his eyes on the [Shield]. “That was your tamer. How many were in your party? That’s probably four down. You must have a rogue. I’m guessing your healer was who the [Ulf] killed.”


    Mira summoned a shiny metal shield engraved with vines. “You can’t possibly kill me.”


    “I don’t want to. I need someone alive to take a message to Samuel. Tell him to leave. I’ll let him go.” Kaden headed toward the crevice the knight had come from. “And I can kill you. But for the moment, you’re useful to me. Don’t make me change my mind.”


    Was it bravado? Yes. But what mattered here was what she’d tell everyone else. He activated [Moment of Speed], pouring mana into it like a leaking bucket—and disappered into the crevice. After twisting and scraping his way through the passages, Kaden poked his head up through the snow.


    Garm waited a few hundred yards away, licking blood that leaked from a [Tamer] who lay in the snow, weeping. One leg was gone below the knee, both hands mangled.


    Healing potions lay scattered in the snow where she’d summoned them from Inventory but been unable to open or drag them.


    Kaden kneeled down. “You thought you could survive Ashi’s spells. How?”


    “Mana to Life gear.” Each word was a separate, wheezed gasp.


    Kaden studied the remains of her gear. “Pretty bracelet.”


    [Spell Vampire]


    Translate one percent of incoming damage to health. This number will rise as you use this item, to a maximum of fifty percent. Overloading the spell vampire will destroy it.


    That was just broken. Fifty percent of spell damage would make him unkillable. Kaden collected it all, then uncorked a potion and forced it into her mouth. “We’re not going to kill you.”


    While the potion took effect, Kaden looted the healer, who also carried a [Spell Vampire], but one that would turn incoming damage to mana. The others probably carried one as well, but Kaden had descended into the [Ice Gorger’s] den once and had no intention of doing it again.


    “Don’t leave me,” the Tamer said, while Garm licked his lips and sniffed the smooth, fresh skin on her stumps. “I was just following orders. It wasn’t personal.”


    Garm returned to Kaden’s side as he again activated Portal, right in front of the [Tamer].


    Gorgers were not intelligent beasts. They understood tunnels. And openings. And ambushes. This one spun to face the unexpected tunnel and flared all three heads, dropping the corpse it had been gnawing to slither forward.


    “I’m not going to try to [Tame] you,” Kaden said, focusing on [Beast Soul]. “She did try.”


    The Ambush boss was almost timid, poking a single head out to sink teeth into the healer’s abdomen. It tugged at her like a puppy with a new favorite screaming, crying toy.


    Kaden let the portal collapse, cutting off the screams and leaving only the whistle of wind and drift of snow.


    It was very personal.