Selina tentatively reached out toward the Bond Stones, but pulled her hand back at the last moment. She looked from them to Ethan, shaking her head in disbelief, then finally went and sat back down in the chair opposite him. “Do you have any idea what those are worth?” she asked.

  “To me? Nothing. I already have my Bonds,” he said with a slight smile. “But to you? A brand new future.”

  She shook her head. “Ethan those are–” she tilted her head as she looked at them again, “well, two of those are at least master rank.”

  “Right, sorry. I used one of the good ones to Bond Deevee. But there’s a Dawn rank one I got for my final Bond. I didn’t end up using it though, so it’s all yours.”

  “Ethan,” she repeated, “you could bond virtually any monster in the world with those stones. They’re not just valuable here, they’re nearly priceless anywhere you could go.”

  “They’re just rocks to me, Selina. I can’t buy my way out of the situation I’m in, and someone I can actually trust and rely on is more valuable to me than money. I mean that–my life has been balancing on a knife’s edge since I got here, and I’ve been leaning on you more than I even realized.”

  She smiled. “You could have started with buying me dinner, Bishop. These could buy me a palace. A crappy palace, but still.”

  “Again, I’m being selfish here, Selina. I want a real friend by my side. My relationship to Valanor is…complex, to say the least. There’s still too many secrets and weird power dynamics between us.” Ethan sighed. “Savilar is too close to the Church. And anyone else I’m even remotely close to here is either dead or would be executed if they knew who I really am.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “So accepting a kingdom’s worth of treasure to make all my dreams come true…is really just a favor to you.” She looked at the stones again. “Well! Who am I to turn down a favor for a friend? Especially one who’s apparently been such a bastard when I wasn’t looking.”

  “Selina, I–”

  “Relax, Ethan. I appreciate everything you said, and sure, we mostly talk business, but you’re also not the only thing in my life. Believe it or not, I don’t mind when a strange man from another world comes to my house to talk about wonders and political intrigue a few times a week.”

  She got up and walked over to the stones. “But…if you want to make me a Hunter–to help me follow in Alna’s footsteps, then how can I say no? And if you think fighting next to a friend and two of the kingdom's most famous and powerful warriors is a deterrent, you really don’t understand what you’re offering.”

  Ethan grinned, liking that it felt normal. “So you’ll do it?”

  “Are you kidding?” she asked, smiling back. “I already know what my first Familiar will be.”

  ***

  “A lepus,” Ethan said for the dozenth time. They were nearly to the Northern forest, which was where most low-level Hunts took place. Most recently Ethan had been here Hunting the quickcervus, but it was also where he’d taken on most of his practice hunts in the early days of Dawn rank.

  The several Notices he’d taken to introduce Selina to Hunting were all in these woods, and after a quick trip to the Guild Hall, they’d managed to find one in the same general area for the monster Selina was determined to bond with. Ethan felt it was a relatively full plate for the day, but there was a lot to teach and not much time to do it. Still… “A lepus,” he repeated.

  Selina rolled her eyes. “It’s a powerful support Familiar,” she insisted.

  “It’s a goddamned bunny rabbit and you know it,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “It’s a Light Affinity monster with incredible utility,” she insisted. “That is also an adorable bunny rabbit.”

  “At least it’s common. If you wasted a Master rank Bond stone on a rabbit, I’d rethink my generous gift.”

  “It’s perfect!” she said with a wide smile. “Not everyone’s Familiars need to make everything explode. Besides, I can do that myself. Trust me, I’ve been thinking about this for years.”

  Apparently she really had. It wasn’t a surprise, who knows how many people on Earth had thought about what super power they’d want? And on Nexum, you could really get them. Sure, it was a long shot for the average person, but it was impossible back home and that didn’t stop anyone.

  For a Nator, it was even more enticing, as they received their Soul Bonds first. For everyone else there was always the lingering doubt. You might think that deep down you were a Vanguard, meant to stand at the front and stare down at the enemy, and so your dream team of Familiars might look a lot like Valanor’s. But there was always the chance you’d find out you were meant to stand at the back, as far from danger as possible–you can’t fool your own soul.

  Nators had a completely different problem. In some ways they knew themselves better than any other Unbound possibly could, as their Soul Bonds came first. That meant they could plan and fantasize with impunity, knowing exactly which monster would be the perfect Bond for them–even if the precise abilities were the real challenge.

  The trade offs were significant, however. With other races, no matter what Soul Bond they received, the abilities it unlocked would attempt to balance and compliment the rest of others. This was why Ethan’s Ruin Affinity was so core to his fighting style–the abilities it offered were effectively custom-made for his power set.

  Selina already had three out of four of her own, without a single Familiar. They were powerful, and versatile, which wasn’t true for every Nator, but still complicated things. One allowed her to form Rune Circles instantly, and matching her needs, while the other two improved her capacity to use Monster Gems.

  The first gave her an intuitive understanding of what abilities a given Gem would give access to–something that otherwise required studying tragically incomplete records from the bestiary. The second allowed her to scale up or down a specific ability from a Gem, augmenting its mana cost as she did so. It offered a lot of control, whether she made a relatively weak spell more potent, or downgraded large area spells into a surgical strike.

  Powerful abilities, and arguably a necessity for a Rune Mage, but it didn’t leave much room to make up for gaps that might come from her new Bonds. Still, years of study and planning would alleviate a great deal of those concerns–or so Selina believed.

  “Light Affinity monsters can often make powerful, short term defenses that are perfect for giving me space to use my Rune Magic,” she said. They were leaving the road behind to head into the woods, and Ethan was consulting the ‘Last Sighted’ sections of his Notices to make sure they were in the right area.

  “Honestly I’m still not sure I understand the difference between using those powers through a Bond, compared to a Monster Gem,” Ethan said, pointing the way as they moved into the forest. “Obviously Dawn rank and beyond transforming your body is crucial, but how concerned with abilities do you need to be?”

  Selina let out a breathy laugh. “I wish the answer was that they didn’t matter, and Rune Mages were simply all powerful. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. Your education with Rune Circles is coming along. You know the basics: you draw out the circle, and use runes to craft the spell you need.”

  “Right,” he agreed, happy for the refresher after his time ‘away’. “The spell is effectively drawing a path between the power source, the catalyst, and the outcome I want. For you, your personal mana is the power, the Monster Gem is the catalyst, and you determine the ability you want, then connect them.”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “More or less,” she said with a smile. “The finer details are what matter for this comparison. A Monster Gem only provides access to abilities of the rank of the monster you got it from.”

  Ethan considered that. “Right, so Dawn rank Gem, Dawn rank abilities.”

  “And what would that mean for a common monster?” she asked, entering teaching mode.

  “Common monster?” Ethan echoed, thinking about the implications. He remembered that the rarity of his own Familiars was an issue, but mostly in the context of how quickly they destroyed his soul. What was the difference…

  “Wait, Valanor said the rarity of the monster determined what rank they could reach without a Bond,” Selina smiled encouragingly, and he continued. “So if the ability was from a common rank monster…the Gem could only ever be Dawn rank?”

  “Correct!” she said with genuine enthusiasm. “And don’t underestimate how valuable the abilities of common monsters can be. If my Rune Magic is to stay relevant against Dusk rank monsters, I’ll need Dusk rank gems. Considering the primary advantage of a Rune Mage is our versatility, needing dozens of new Gems each rank is a considerable disadvantage.”

  “Right,” Ethan agreed. “And if the ability you want is from a common monster, there won’t be any Gems at higher ranks at all.”

  “Exactly. But there’s other advantages to Bonds as well. Abilities from a Bond are faster, and more mana efficient. Not to mention the Familiars themselves, which become vastly more powerful with every rank.”

  Ethan froze, grabbing Selina’s arm and pulling her down behind a fallen log. “Our first target,” he whispered, pointing ahead. A gray and green insect was about fifty paces ahead, barely visible through the trees. It looked like a six foot praying mantis with a scorpion stinger, and it appeared to be sharpening the blades of its forearms against a rock.

  “I’ve never seen a regalmantis before,” Selina whispered. “How did you find it so quickly?”

  Ethan cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m not actually great at the tracking part. I usually just take Notices that require a certain number of monsters slain, because they’re too plentiful. There’s a swarm of these things moving through the woods as we speak…so this is actually just luck.”

  Selina laughed softly. “Well I appreciate your honesty. I assume the lessons I’m here to learn don’t include stumbling on our prey by accident?” Part of their reason for the joint Hunt was to catch the Rune Mage’s first Familiar, but they’d also decided to use the opportunity to share their respective knowledge out in the wild.

  Ethan smiled back. “No, Valanor said he’d help with that, though it’s not exactly his specialty either.” The shield knight had come as well, but agreed to stay at a nearby campsite while the two less experienced Hunters went to work. Ethan understood it was meant to be a show of trust, but knowing about the hidden tracking rune, the gesture fell flat.

  “We’re here for the basics. We kind of over-prepared you for fighting thunder drakes, we need you to get used to more traditional Hunting against Dawn rank monsters. I’m going to soften this one up, then leave it to you to finish off.”

  Her eyes widened. “I’m supposed to be support!” she insisted.

  “And when we’re in a group that’s what you’ll be. But for now, one of the biggest hurdles in monster Hunting is getting used to an angry monster charging at you with murder in its eyes.” Ethan looked at the large, multifaceted globe-like bug eyes on the side of the regalmantis’ head. “This one will definitely do. I hope you like bugs.”

  “You know that I don’t!” she said, her normally deep feminine voice rising to a squeal. “If you brought me to a giant centipede I’d make sure it ate you first.”

  “Fair,” he said with a smirk. “Do you have a plan here?”

  She sighed, but nodded. “Insect types hate fire and slashing attacks. I have something that should work.” She paused, looking at the dense woods around them. “I better prepare a water spell too.”

  Ethan nodded. “I’ll get his attention, you prepare yourself.” With that, he became a Trick of the Light, and began stealthily moving through the trees.

  Truthfully he was a little excited about this Hunt himself. Not only was Selina going to help him to use his rune circles, but he had his other new ability to try out.

  Ability: Assassinate/Obliterate (Dawn Rank 0: 0%)

  Type: Ruin, Execute, Conditional

  Conditions: Target must be close to death/destruction.

  For a low mana cost, augment next melee attack to attempt to Assassinate a severely weakened target. This action may be directed at the entity itself, or an injured section/extremity of the entity. The damage of this attack scales the closer the target is to destruction, with a bonus based on how much [Ruin] damage the target has received.

  A living entity killed by this attack is [Assassinated], providing a small rush of health, mana, and stamina. An injured section/extremity of an entity destroyed by this attack is [Obliterated], preventing that part from regenerating without special intervention, and providing a smaller rush of health, mana, and stamina.

  Successful use of either version of this ability will trigger any-on death effects from other abilities. However, if [Assassinate] or [Obliterate] fail to result in death or destruction, the ability is unusable for several minutes.

  The ability was a game-changer for him for a number of reasons. Ethan had a powerful opener with [Knife in the Dark], but trying to rely on it exclusively was…limiting. Rather than focusing on the battle, and the right moments, everything he did had turned into another attempt to set up that one ability–always searching for another way to get out of sight, and often burning through most of his mana to do so.

  It wasn’t a terrible tactic, but it also felt like it wasted the versatility of his class. Now he had a true closer. Something to connect his cycles more naturally, and make fighting a single powerful enemy monster vastly more sustainable–provided he could keep carving pieces off of them.

  As he approached the regalmantis, he watched the stinger–easily as long as Ethan was tall–wave and undulate. It was clearly one of the monster's most dangerous weapons, and removing it would make this a much less dangerous test for Selina.

  Ruinous black energy exploded through the tail as [Knife in the Dark] slashed out. The mantis squealed in a high pitched whine, as the long stinger lilted to one side, already half-severed. This wasn’t a major accomplishment, as many insectoid monsters fell into the fast but fragile category, but it set up his next attack perfectly.

  Ethan focused on his new ability as he lashed out again, feeling a surge of mana erupt into ruin as his short blade connected with the tail once more. Unlike his opener, the energy didn’t simply explode, devastating the flesh. Instead, Ruin seemed to be absorbed into the tail, and Ethan watched in shock as black veins spread along the length.

  After only a moment, dark crystals surged out of the damaged extremity, and for a moment Ethan wasn’t sure if it was his own ability or something the regalmantis was doing. Then the entire tail shattered. The monster squealed louder as its segmented limb fell away into shards and dust. It finally managed to spin around, looking for its attacker, but [Fleeting Shadow] had already been triggered, and Ethan was nowhere to be found.

  Enraged, it couldn’t miss the six and half foot woman in the middle of a glowing Rune Circle. The monster charged at her, weaving through trees and over fallen logs and rocks in its desperation to reach what it thought was its tormentor. Selina was prepared, and a wave of cutting wind flew toward the mantis.

  Unfortunately the woods were thick, and the blades collided with a dozen other obstacles before breaking harmlessly over the rampaging insect. Her eyes widened in panic as she cast her second spell, spears of fire piercing through the air toward the mantis. She learned another lesson, however, when only one of the three made contact with the narrow-limbed monster, and that was just a graze.

  Soon the mantis was almost on top of her, and Selina abandoned her Rune Circles in a panic, taking off into the woods. She’d only had a monster charge at her once before, and that time she’d barely been aware of it, as she’d immediately run away from the thunder drake. Despite the regalmantis being much smaller, Selina had nevertheless watched it coming right for her, and there was an instinctual fear response that came from being chased.

  Worse, the mantis was fast. Six legs tore through the forest in a way that Selina couldn’t hope to replicate. Soon the monster was right behind her, its inverted pincers snapping at her heels. Finally she realized that there was no escaping the massive instinct, and spun around, fury in her purple eyes.

  Her head lowered slightly, horns pointed forward dangerously. The mantis didn’t slow–seeing her as easy prey–and its alien face showed an almost human confusion when its momentum was suddenly arrested. Selina had charged right back, the razor sharp points of her horns piercing into the mantis’ exposed abdomen.

  She didn’t stop there, pulling free, and then slamming a red fist into the insect’s lowered face, sending it reeling back, its carapace cracking from the impact.

  It wasn’t prepared for her Nator-born strength, but it was still a Dawn rank monster, and the minor injuries weren’t enough to stop it completely. As Selina was re-establishing her Rune Circles, it leapt forward, bladed pincers reaching out with deadly purpose.

  A wave of darkness seemed to pass through it at the last moment, and it fell into a heap at the Rune Mage’s feet. The body collapsed in one direction, the head in another. Ethan appeared a moment later, looking at her with new respect.

  “Okay…some lessons for both of us here. You learned the weaknesses of needing to stay in your Rune Circles, and I learned how much I should avoid you punching me.”