The New Bond

["What is the difference between a monster and an animal? It's simple: one wants to survive and will kill where it must, and the other wants just to kill because it can. A man who acts like an animal can be reasoned with, convinced, and avoided. A man who acts like a monster can not. Which one is more dangerous, though? That's where the line blurs."

- Comment from Guild Synopsis on the Grading of Beast]

Aster

The forest seemed silent, almost as if watching along as my hand slowly reached towards the dirt, which seemed to melt away into a blue haze at my touch. The temperature change on my hand was sudden and immediate. The coldness raced up each finger, and while it was colder than the forest at the start of winter, it was bearable, if only for a bit.

Briefly, I wondered if it was a creature causing the cold or if there were somehow ruins below the ground. Ruins in the forest were somewhat common, but sadly, most of them only had a wall or two standing with only a few intact buildings. Kulni had told me some stories about how there used to be a whole city in the forest, but she had never said what had happened, only that elves used to live there.

I lowered my head down. The feeling of expecting to get a face full of dirt only to be met with nothing was weird, but even weirder was what I could see. Ice was everywhere, covering everything.

It was a small cave by my standards and was only about forty feet wide and twenty feet deep and seemed rounded and circular. The hole was in the middle of the cave and seemed to be the only thing letting the light through, which bounced off the icicles scattered on the edge of the cave roof, illuminating the whole area.

The lack of any noise from outside by what I assumed was the illusion's magic was disconcerting and left an extremely heavy feeling of silence. I looked back, bringing my head up and explaining to Sandath what I’d seen and found.

He looked at the ground below him nervously as if expecting it to collapse.

“Can you lower me down like we did at the oak tree?” I looked imploringly at him as I asked my request.

I really wanted to go down and didn't see anything dangerous, so I didn't see the problem. He gave a hesitant look back toward the inner forest. “Shouldn't we ask Mother first? What if it collapses like the tree ruins did? Mother wouldn’t let us into the forest for a month after that.”

I groaned at the reminder of what had happened last year but shook my head. “She wouldn't let us, and what if there's a relic down there causing the cold?” Sandath paused, even his tail slowing down from its anxious movement, and I knew I almost had him. Relics were what Kulni called the items we had found at the ruins that still had some mana left in them. We had only found two in all the years we’d spent looking for them, but suggesting them was tempting.

“I’ll only be down in the cave for a moment, and you can pull me up if you think anything is wrong, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity.” I pleaded. We both knew I needed him to lift and lower me into the cave.

After a silence, he let out a long whine before he spoke, “Fine, but only until the hunters get here.” He finally relented, backing up and stretching out the vine. I smiled. I'd have to repay him somehow. Flipping around, letting my legs dangle into the illusion, I laughed at what I probably looked like. Quickly checking for sharp edges to make sure the vine wouldn't get cut, I gave Sandath a mental nudge and waved a hand to the wolf before I started to lower myself down.

As the cave came into full view, I was slightly awed at the feel the cave gave off. While it was cold to the point of almost freezing in my current clothes, it was beautiful, with the dark ice reflecting the light, making the walls almost look as if they were glowing to the way the lights shifted as I moved. I was left looking around, thinking for a moment I’d left the forest before I was jolted back by my feet touching the ground.

Checking around. I started to get a feel for the area, moving cautiously. Everything was coated in frost, making my first few steps sound extra loud in my ears as the cave echoed with the noise. The wall and floor were smooth, strangely so, shaped like a circular depression; it was hard not to slip inwards toward the middle of the cave.

Walking around the edge slowly, I started my search. I didn’t see any obvious ruins, but there had to be some form of magic that was causing the cold to form and something that hid the cave. The search, however, started off boring with the bare walls and smooth ground. I found no obvious signs of anything hidden on the outer edges of the cave, even with a closer look. That had been expected at first glance. With the chance of a relic, I wasn't going to take any chances.

Turning to look at the middle of the cave, I smiled. Even as low as my level was, I’d have to be stupid not to notice the way everything seemed to be focused on the middle of the cave, with the sunlight casting onto it, to the overall shape of the cave. I would bet my dinner, if anything was here, it was under the only pile of snow in the middle of the cave.

With the middle of the cave becoming a much steeper slope, it was hard not to slide on the ice, and I mentally wished I'd had something on the bottom of my boots to keep a grip. Surprisingly, I was doing well, that was until I was only a few steps away, and the ice decided to stop being friendly with my boots as I was taking a step, and I slipped, falling forward. Reaching out to catch myself, I landed in the pile of snow, which was surprisingly well-packed but still was a softer landing than the ice, thankfully. Sitting up and wiping the snow off my face, I shivered. The snow was cold, the coldest I’d ever felt snow.

“Mother’s going to kill me if I get sick,” I muttered and shook myself, getting on my knees.

With the only unexplored place in the cave, I rubbed my hands together to warm them up and then started to dig the snow out, moving my hands through it and looking around. With as cold as they were, it was hard to feel much of anything, and the first thing I felt I almost mistook for more snow and fumbled with it. Pulling it out, I looked in disappointment at the stone before me, setting it to the side. More stones followed the first, twenty-two of them to be exact, as counting them was the only way to keep my mind off the cold. The stones had steadily increased in size in the few minutes I’d spent moving the snow around, and now they were twice the size of my fist, requiring both hands. I was starting to debate whether to give up or if frost burn was worth it when my right hand landed on something different somehow, smoother than a stone.

It was so cold to the touch that it sent a burning sensation up my hand, and reflexively, I tried to move it away, hissing in pain, but my hand seemed to be frozen to it. Oh no.

Letting out a few curses that Mom probably would have strongly disapproved of, I repositioned my body, planting my feet on either side of my hand, and tried to leverage my hand up, only to have my feet sink a few inches. Before I could try to think of something else, a sharp, mind-bending pain coursed up my body and into my head, and I let out a choked cry as my body stiffened like the Felim’s had before all at once, the pain vanishing.

It was such an immediate change that my body relaxed on its own, and I slumped forward in relief, closing my eyes for a second. It took a moment of deep breaths and calming thoughts before I opened them. Waiting in front of me was a set of system screens, to my surprise. Both had been delayed in showing because of a setting I had changed for all system messages with only a mental request I had made years ago. It required me to have my eyes open to see any system screen unless I willed it. Waking up because of a blue event screen that didn't matter was annoying. I looked over messages, reading them.

[Bonding Successful]

[Title: ‘Bonded’ Has been earned]

[Rank: Unique - Level: Inapplicable until hatching.]

[Congratulations, Your race class is available for change when advancing grade.]

[Error: Race advancement not compatible with current race alterations. Second-class choices have been altered to allow for bonding.]

I felt my eyes widen. I stared at the screens, reading it once more. I had only the slightest clue as to what had just happened, and I turned my head down and reached into the snow nervously, my hand slightly shaking as it landed on the smooth surface that had burned a moment ago.

Slowly, carefully, I used my second to go underneath the object, pulling it up. I was faintly surprised at how heavy it was, but that was in the back of my mind as I looked down.

I was met with an oval of what I could only think of as black opaque ice the length of my forearm and as wide as an arrow. I stared at it a moment before I identified it.

[Bonded - Frost Dragon Egg - Legendary - The fertile egg of a frost dragon that has bonded to you willingly]

I stared blankly at it, and realizing I was holding my breath, I took a shuddering one, the golden text that filled the mental screen in my mind staying there. Legendary, Kluni had told me the ranks of items, but it was so far up the list that I'd never expected something of that rarity.

A sharp tug from the vine shook me out of my thoughts, and quickly, I wrapped one arm around the egg, pulling it close protectively so I waited for only a second until I was hauled off the ground, my eyes looking to the egg still in surprise all thoughts of a relic out of my mind.

The first thing I noticed was the sound as I neared the top of the cave, and I struggled for a second to get over the ledge with one arm as it got close enough. Briefly, I noted that the illusion had dropped as I swung myself out of the cave. Laying there next to the hole, panting for a second, I tried to get the air back into my lungs that the vine had squeezed out. I really needed to come up with something that didn't just squeeze my waist.

“Did you find anything?” Sandath’s voice entered my head, curious, but I could also sense the relief there that nothing had happened, or so he knew so far.

I held up my hand that wasn't holding the egg in a thumbs up, a gesture Kluni had taught me that meant everything was good or, in this case, a yes.

Sitting up with a groan and moving a bit more away from the hole, I held up the egg, keeping it close to my chest but enough for Sandath to see as he trotted closer.

He looked at it for a moment, and I could tell he was identifying it by the way his eyes almost rounded in surprise, and then he leaned forward to sniff it. He paused a foot away before taking multiple paw steps back, his nose wrinkled. “It’s cold.” He emphasized the last word while licking the frost that had formed on his nose with his tongue.

I looked down, then back up to him, surprised. The egg had been cold when I’d first touched it, but since the pain had stopped, it’d been a soothing warmth. Even now, it was warm to the touch. I wouldn't dismiss Sandath's words; I had seen the frost on his nose.

Slowly and gently, I lowered the egg to the ground, and sure enough, when it was about a foot away from the ground, I watched as frost formed on the grass. “It’s not cold for me,” I said, pointing out the obvious, looking up to the wolf who had gotten closer again but still stood a tail length away.

“The hunting party has already grabbed the prey and is on its way back home.” He hesitated in his words, eyeing the egg. “Should we leave it here and go tell moth-”

“No!” I cut him off, holding the egg a bit closer, then winced as Sandath’s ears lowered ever so slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so sharp, but what if something came along and took it or ate it? We can’t put it back.” The reason sounded perfectly fine in my ears, but I could spot the look Sandath gave me even as I turned my head to avoid it by looking at the spot Felim had been.

I didn’t want to leave the egg alone in the middle of the forest. It felt wrong.

A long moment of silence passed, and I refused to budge even with the puppy eyes that I knew he was putting on my back. I could be stubborn when I wanted to be, even if it was hard to ignore those eyes. Really hard.

Sandath was the first to speak in the duel of silence.

“We should head back then. It’ll take longer since you can’t ride on my back with it.”

I stood still, surprised. I hadn’t thought of that, but he was right. Mentally groaned at the long walk that awaited me to get back home, but the idea of leaving the egg was definitely not an option.

It took over two hours of walking at a steady, constant pace to make it back, but I didn’t rush. Mother would be upset at me being late again, but I knew she could track me through the inner forest and would see that I was safe and heading back. Looking at Sandath, I let out a small sigh. We hadn't talked much on the way home, not because either of us was upset at the other but because he was upset at the long walk we had had to take back. On the plus side, though, he had managed to catch a decent-sized rabbit he now had dangling from his jaws.

I nearly tripped on my way back as I mentally reviewed the notification I had gotten in the cave mentioning the second class. I was advancing in grade and unlocking my second class today!

I'd managed to forget even after watching the time tick down for it for an entire month.

That realization rattled me a bit, but after pondering everything that had happened, it made sense. I shook my head in mock disappointment at forgetting it, then watched as Sandath moved in front of me.

I could tell we were close to home by the way the forest seemed to bend in on itself and how the sun was impossible to see. Following behind him, I walked, the skill Mother used to cover the cave and home was hard to get past even after being shown the way multiple times. It wasn’t that I couldn’t, but wolves had it much easier with their noses.

Soon enough, the weird feel of the forest passed, and I could see the giant cavern and the small house in comparison next to it. The river that flowed off the side of the cave and back into the forest was shallower than usual, signaling the start of winter, but everything else was the same as when I had left.

Wolves were milling about, sunbathing on smooth rocks that had warmed up throughout the day, eating the prey that had been brought back and other such stuff. I smiled at a group of chest-high pups that ran out of the cave, tackling each other in a bid to get to the food first. I almost followed them towards the food as well when my stomach grumbled, then stopped and sighed.

Kulni had me stop eating raw food recently. Instead, she had me cook it over a fire while discussing spices and herbs. I didn’t mind doing it; I had learned a bit about it, and the meat did have a bit more flavor, but it was tedious when I was hungry.

Turning towards the house, I took two steps but paused and turned to Sandath, adjusting the egg to just my right hand, and reached out, rubbing him between the ears, a spot I knew he loved. The gentle rumble mixed with his tail wag told me he was happy, but the look in his eyes, I’d have to watch my back for more ambushes. I grinned at the look.

“I have to talk to Mom about the egg and the grade advancement, but enjoy the rabbit and tell Nomi I said hi.” I teased.

He looked embarrassed as I mentioned the dark brown wolf he had been trying to impress recently. He tilted his head, then his eyes sparkled, and he lowered his head to my level and whispered mentally in a conspiratorial tone, “Mother doesn't mind what class you pick. She just wants you to be smart about it.” Before I could respond, he’d turned and started to trot off towards the prey pile. I sighed at the reminder of the discussion of classes I’d already had with Kulni, but I still walked towards the house.