Over the next few days, Myles, with regular visits from the healers and his ever-present team, made a steady recovery.

  Over and over, he assured them he wouldn’t stress himself and would be fine to take as much as a bath on his own.

  No one believed that for a second.

  On all accounts, Myles was good to his word, but that didn’t mean his friends didn’t worry that a hug too far might snap his spine even with his increases traits. Even so, they were with him as he finished his soul dews, one per day, and watched the results.

  The second of the [Succulent Magician] dews fizzled on his tongue and he felt something change. Examining his status, it was just a small increase to his reserve. Not terrible, but not what he needed either.

  The first [Unifier] was a dud, but the second…

  Monster Tamer’s Avatar has received the benefits of a [Unifier]’s Class Modification.

  Monster Tamer’s Avatar has been enhanced.

  Skill Cool Down has been decreased.

  Skill Cast Time has been conditionally reduced.

  Skill Duration has been increased.

  Skill Restrictions have been modified.

  Success Determination has been modified.

  Skill Effect has been modified.

  Monster Tamer’s Avatar

  Skill Type: Active (Unique)

  Unifier Modified Restricted Skill: Grandmaster Monster Tamer (Unique - Dungeon Core Modification)

  Cost: 50 SE

  Cast Type - Chant

  Cast Time - Varies based on connection with the target with a varied additional time required for body modification. Time increases with complexity of the changes and species differential.

  Duration - Until canceled or critical damage mental or physical damage has been received

  Cool Down - 8 Hours

  Distance: Touch

  Success Determination: Soul Link Status, Monster must be willing

  Effect: Deepen the connection between your soul and the soul of another living creature bonded to you and merge your forms, classes, skills, and personalities to create the [Monster Tamer]’s Avatar. In this state, Tamer and Monster become one, adding the two stat pools together and averaging them with a skew to the higher levels of each. Strain and injures caused by the use of the skill is split between the two bodies evenly upon separation but will not be fatal for either party.

  Only a single avatar can be created per species type and is lost upon the death of the bonded monster. New Avatars of a prior species can be attempted after the expiration of the Soul Shivered Debuff but becomes increasingly difficult with each monster’s death of that species.

  If this skill is used with a spirit, astral, or other creature that has no corporal form, you will suffer from the Astral Walker status for 24 hours.

  He hadn’t used the skill yet, but Mists below, even he could see how broken the influence had made it. Unlimited duration? No species restrictions anymore? A third of the cooldown time? What was the [Unifer] Class to do something like this to a Skill?

  A day later, Myles proved that the increase wasn’t the end of the run as a day later he took the final vial and downed it.

  This time, Myles felt something deep inside him swell for a moment. Something deep, something private was being exposed in a way it shouldn’t be and made him feel uneasy, embarrassed, before the feeling was gone as if it had never been.

  Not a moment later, a message awaited him.

  You have been granted a skill from the [Dream Weaver] Class line.

  You have been artificially granted the Skill - Dispel Illusion

  Dispel Illusion

  Skill Type: Active - Spell

  Soul Modified Skill: Dream Weaver

  Cost: Mana based on strength of illusion

  Cast Type - Gesture

  Cast Time - Instant

  Cool Down - One Minute

  Distance: Line of Sight

  Success Determination: Will and Experience vs. Illusion (Strength of Spell + Will)

  Effect: Banish an illusionary object. This spell is more effective the more experience the caster has in identifying dreams, illusions, and imaginary creatures.

  And that wasn’t all.

  Class Update!

  For successfully gaining and/or using at least four Skills and Traits from Classes beyond your own, you have unlocked a new Class Path for the Journeymen rank [The Path of the Mentor] and the Class Path Talents - Learning and Teaching.

  Well, its now or never.

  Opening his interface again, Myles looked over his Path options.

  Four Paths await at your fork.

  The Path of Fusion

  The Path of the Invoker

  The Path of the One

  The Path of the Mentor

  The Path of the Mentor

  Journeymen Path - Monster Tamer Class Path - Unifier Varient

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Unique Skill - Learning, Teaching

  Path Information: Through dangerous, forgotten, and unique methods, you have expanded your role as a Monster Tamer into something more than the sum of its parts and find yourself looking down the Path of the Mentor.

  Your knowledge of monsters, Skills, Traits, flexibility, and dedication to making yourself and your monsters greater reflects in their growth and respect for your abilities. On the Path of the Mentor, your growth continues not through yourself alone, but through those around you.

  Originally a Path of the Unifier, the Path of the Mentor allows you to learn and replicate monster, monsterkin, and Korgan Skills and Traits through mana manipulation and observation filtered through the Learning Skill.

  Once you have mastered a Skill or Trait, you may attempt to teach it to a compatible monster, monsterkin, or Korgan through the Teaching Skill. As with all lessons, Learning and Teaching is not for every creature, and different creatures learn at different rates based on the methods used.

  On The Path of the Mentor, the student becomes the master.

  For the first time since he’d woken up, Myles felt as though he was making actual progress again, but reading the description a second time, Myles’s excitement tempered, and he felt something he couldn’t quite explain.

  For a long while, he couldn’t place the sense of wrongness that bubbled in his chest and whether it was hesitation or fear as he locked in on the wording for who the Path could affect. The Path of the Mentor affected monsters and monsterkin, but that wasn’t the end of it.

  The Path extended its reach to Korgans, to people like Tail.

  The longer Myles pondered the grouping, the more he felt like he was digging the hole he was in deeper.

  Did that mean the old legends were true?

  Did Korgan’s descend from monsterkin?

  From monsters?

  From the dungeons?

  He wished he had someone to ask about it as he looked down at his hand and the broken brand. Silpha would know, no doubt, but he didn’t have the dungeon core to ask. The more he thought about it, she probablly wouldn’t have answered him either.

  Without knowing the ins and outs of the Skills and Traits, the Path of the Mentor was probably the best option he was going to get. It helped his monsters, and it could help Tail and other Korgan in the Run out by opening their class up to become a true threat on all levels.

  With a deep breath and a healthy dose of anxiety, Myles made his choice.

  You have chosen to follow the Path of the Mentor.

  Your Traits have been updated.

  Your Skills have been updated.

  Your Traits have been modified.

  Your Skills have been modified.

  Go forth and learn that which was never meant to be.

  Before Myles could even begin to breathe, another message followed.

  You have begun your Divine Task set forth by Eventide, God of Trials.

  Myles Chase, follow your Path and become that which is sought.

  Well, that was omnious.

  Even so, the warmth in his chest and the tingling deep within his soul felt right. He felt more like himself than he ever had since waking up, which meant it was time to try again.

  ***

  Staff in hand and holding a dark stone tightly, Myles was once again at the door of the barn. It hadn’t opened to him yet, but he had made the pilgrimage every morning just in case it did.

  As a cool wind whipped at his hair and a coat kept him warm, a whisper of shadows spoke to his mind as he gazed into reflective finish on the realm that once held his monsters.

  “There has been no change.”

  Myles was getting better at hearing Nod thoughts through the stone and the dimensional divide that separated them. At first, he’d barely been able to hear Nod at all in the waking world. After a few days of focus and nothing better to do, it was getting easier.

  Even so, the effort it took surprised him when he compared the effort to Ashra’s early days that felt like years ago.

  Unlike Ashra in another respect, Nod was less inclined to leave Myles to his thoughts.

  “You should stop thinking and rest.”

  I’ve rested long enough.

  “No, you haven’t.”

  There’s no rest for the weary, Nod.

  That much was true. Ever since he entered the grand dungeon, the past two weeks were the longest he’d been off his feet in the dungeon since it opened. It had been well over two months since then, and now the dungeon’s chilly air was already in full swing.

  Even so, the dungeon would kill anyone that was too weak.

  He had to keep moving forward.

  Before he had a chance to start testing his luck, the sound of crunching snow behind him caught his ear and he turned to see Mitchel, dressed in furs, insulated clothing, and armor, easily moving towards him.

  To his great relief, Mitchel didn’t say anything. He walked next to him, put a hand on his shoulder, and a thick, warm, blue blanket mineralized around his shoulders from his inventory.

  For a long while, the pair stood there, looking at the barn as if it weren’t just four walls of red and white polished wood. Mitchel stood with him for a long while until the wind began to bite at his exposed skin and his hand felt numb around the Twisted Breadstick.

  Myles reached out a hand, and the repelling force of the barn began to spark and twist the power back on him.

  “I hate this,” Myles spat, letting his free hand fall to the ground.

  “I know.” Mitchel turned to him then, hugging his friend. “Still, we’ll get through this. We’ve survived worse than a dungeon.”

  Myles felt a dark anger rising again as Mitchel did his best to comfort him. His vision darkened around the edges, narrowing his focus on the man who’d made such a callous comment.

  “Myles?”

  What did he know?

  What could he know?

  “You okay?”

  Shaking his head, Myles’s annoyance rose as he realized the anger wasn’t his. A dark thread connected to his mind, and equally dark emotions were pulsing from it like a pucked string.

  Stop it, he ordered Nod.

  “Anger needs to be directed to be healthy.”

  Not at him. It’s not his fault.

  “Then where other than a shield to absorb the blow?”

  Taking a breath, Myles forced Nod to release the connection to his emotions and clamped down hard on it.

  Where it should be.

  Handing the blanket back to Mitchel, Myles turned back to the house. “I think it’s time to get back to training.”

  “Not cooking again…”

  “No, not cooking again,” Myles muttered darkly. He needed none of Nod’s influence to feel that anger. “I’m never trusting you guys in my kitchen again.”

  “Lyna does it on purpose. I swear, Myles.”

  “To get out of work? I’d be disappointed if she didn’t.”

  Mitchel laughed, catching up to the few steps Myles had already taken in a matter of seconds. “When she starts acting normal, we should all start to worry.”

  ***

  Over the next hour, it didn’t take long to come up with a plan that utilized what they had at their disposal. Of course like most things, there was an order to it, and where there was a trace of order to be had… there was going to be chaos.

  “So, we’re really going to replace Will?” Kendra asked, more annoyed than he thought she’d be at the idea.

  He shouldn’t have been surprised, but it hurt.

  Myles shook his head. “We’re not replacing him. No one could replace Will.”

  “Damn straight,” Kendra said proudly, but Myles wasn’t done.

  “Even when he comes back, we need a true healer.”

  “How so?”

  Myles shrugged as though it was obvious. “Paragon really isn’t up to the task, and Will won’t always be there to undo the damage.” Before he realized it, the thought had made his hand cover his stomach. He lowered it quickly enough that he hoped the others didn’t notice.

  The newest member of the supply team jiggled before melting a bit. Its coloration was closer to purple ash now than the vibrant purple it was before, so Myles took it as a good sign the slime was healing from its attempt to save him. Myles assured the slime through their link that it was fine, but all he felt back was disappointment. He sent back a feeling of hope and a promise of power to come.

  “Sometimes turning back the clock isn’t an option.”

  Kendra looked ready to argue, but all at once, her fire seemed to die as she flopped into a seat, nearly breaking it from the weight of her equipment. “I can see the point there. Any ideas on attracting one?”

  Myles looked among the faces of his group feeling a bit sheepish. “You met a good bit while I was out, I was hoping someone would have said something.”

  “They were from the temple,” Mitchel pointed out. “They’re a party all their own serving their gods, but a few sent their regards.”

  “So… thats a no,” Kendra said cutting to the chase. “We’re going to have to do it the old fashioned way.”

  The old fashioned way? Myles groaned. “Do we have to?”

  “We didn’t have to try out a healer,” Kendra pointed out. “Will was with me the entire time, and they’re in very short supply. We’ve got to do it right and hope for the best.”

  “How short are we talking?”

  “Shorter than a halfling in a half deep hole,” Lyna said seriously. “They demand their weight in gold. If you don’t know one and one doesn’t owe you a favor, there’s about an elf’s chance at brewing to get a decent one.”

  “Better than that,” Mitchel said. “Not much, but still better than that. We don’t want to poach either, or we’ll be dealing with a possible backstab during a floor boss fight or deal with the guilt of their team’s deaths.”

  “So, the old fashioned way it is,” Myles said, sinking deeping into the couch with resignation.

  “It can’t hurt,” Tail added, reminding everyone of their presence. “The worst that can happen is that no one shows up.”

  That was true enough, Myles reasoned, but it wasn’t that simple. With a new healer on their team, they had to learn to work together all over again.

  Maybe it wouldn’t take nearly being murdered by Kendra to make it work this time?

  He had high hopes of that.

  Finding proper information on another dungeon might be difficult after he’d… broken the last one. Sindra knew of all of them on the floor, he was sure of that, so maybe he could call in that favor she owed him for clearing the floor?

  Still even if all that worked out, there was all the training they’d have to do together before he’d be confident enough to risk their lives on the lower floors. After a few runs over a few days, things should be smooth enough to take the risk.

  “Can I write the ad?” Lyna asked when no one else stepped up. From somewhere, she’d produced paper and ink, ready to write whatever they need.

  Mitchel carefully took the paper from her.

  “I will,” Mitchel said. “I wrote Sindra’s first post for the Seekers, after all.”

  Throwing up her hands and the ink, which Mitchel managed to catch before it turned over and spilled out, Lyna groaned loudly. “Fine.”

  And so, with input from Myles and Tail, Mitchel wrote the team’s advert for a healer.

  Seeking a Healer

  Difficulty: Medium

  Objective: Prove your worth to be the newest healer for Rising Star. Those interested should report to the residences of Myles Chase in Runner’s Square two days from today at noon.

  A candidate will be chosen by a team vote as soon as the challenge is completed.

  Victory Condition: TBD

  Failure Condition: TBD

  Reward: A party slot in Rising Star and near-daily access to the team’s personal cook and ‘Monster Tamer’

  Failure - Lunch or Dinner (time dependent) cooked by Myles Chase