Quest Update: Bond with a Pet, Level 3 Complete. You have been awarded 250 XP and an additional pet-related skill: Companion Atunement
Companion Atunement: Through the act of strengthening your bond, both you and your companion have an increased mental resistance of 25%, reducing the effectiveness of any fear or confusion-based spells. Also, the damage your pet deals with skill usage is increased by 10%.
New Quest: Assisted Affinities.
Assisted Affinities: Companion Quest. Do whatever is necessary to allow your pet to increase the affinity they have with their chosen deity to level 4. Rewards: Affinity Evolution available.
What was that? The amplified mental resistance was great, and the skill damage boost would most certainly be noticeable. But what could the new quest mean by Affinity Evolution? Wracking my brain, I tried to imagine what Pachi might look like if she was somehow evolved with starlight.
I tried speaking about it with her, but the girl had her mind on her meal. I shook my head and assumed, like everything else in this world, I would know in time.
In just a few hours of flight, Pachi and I had found ourselves a real bit of paradise. I looked around and marveled at our location while Pachi remained intent on her meal. The glade was high in the mountains, higher than Benham had been, but was nestled into a valley between three tall peaks. This lent the valley some shelter from the intense wind.
The grass fluttered in a gentle breeze and came up almost to my hip as I walked around, stretching my legs from the ride.
The sound of the deer retreating caught my attention, and I turned to see them disappear into a wooded thicket at the other end of the glade. A ribbon of trees connected this valley to another, adjacent one. Though the seclusion of the glade was appealing, it made sense that there was a connection to the sprawling forests below. How else would the deer have become so numerous if they didn’t have a way to retreat during winter?
I hiked up the incline, reveling in the full warmth of the afternoon sun, then found a patch of particularly lush clover and fell on my back.
I closed my eyes and let the sun infuse me. Despite the day’s exertions, I wasn’t sleepy yet. I thought about reviewing my character status or skills, but not much had changed other than another level-up since the action we’d seen in Gilsby.
Then I remembered my good friend Shin. The man had gone from emotional bankruptcy to full scheming mode and had been on a mission ever since. His rapid changes reminded me of what Alysand had gone through. Jeez, and they say women are emotional.
Sure enough, a message from Shin sat in my inbox.
From @ShinToeBro44: “I’ve done it! I’ve done it!!! (Lightning crashes and thunder resounds through an empty stone keep—hope you heard that. Epic visuals there). Okay, so enough theatrics. I have been busy Dahlia. You have no idea. We need to meet up. I’m sending you this at 6:15 AM. Do you get that? I, Shin the gamer, am messaging you before the sun has climbed above a single skyscraper, and to make it all even more unbelievable, I am sending this from a coffee shop off of 4th and Hewitt St! I know, it is hard to believe, but I am breathing unfiltered air right now, exposing my precious lungs to all kinds of foreign bodies. Isn’t it great? Anyway, I have news. When can we hang? Tonight? Let me know. Anytime from 6 PM and after, I’m down. Later!”
To @ShinToeBro44: “You’re nuts man. Seriously, I think you’ve finally cracked. You wouldn’t believe where I am. Just got done flying Air Pachi and am getting cozy with a gnarly patch of grass. Must be a couple of miles up into the mountains too! Tonight sounds good. Let’s shoot for 7:30. Make sure you print me a Mate Latte or the deal’s off…”
I took advantage of my supine position and stretched my legs. There were few things like clutching at a fox-bird-creature while diving towards the ground to make your hamstrings and hip flexors tight. I clicked on my new quest, reviewing its particulars once more. My instructions were vague, and I wanted any kind of clue to help me on my way.
Stop the Rat King Part 3: Epic Quest. Finished with your business in Gilsby and Benham, you are now being sent into the heart of the vast and perilous Sirrushi Mountains. Judas the Herbalist has asked you to complete the following tasks: learn to fly with Pachi, locate the Sirrushi Wyverns, win them over as allies. Status: 1/3 Complete. Rewards: Unknown Items, access to further quests in chain, 8000 XP.
At least I had one thing off the list. Pachi and I were certain to be able to beg, borrow, or steal an alliance with the wyverns, but what scared me the most was near complete lack of clues. We were being sent into the heart of the mountains. Judas had revealed much more of the map for me when we’d been at Carnen’s Rock, but from what I could see, the mountains were seemingly endless.
Well, you couldn’t kill a wyvern with worry, so I got to my feet a few minutes later and finished my trek up to the patch of forest.
It wasn’t much, maybe only a few acres of trees that I hadn’t seen before. They looked like oak trees, but their limbs were leaner and less gnarled. Better yet, though they stood close enough together to
