Time Elapsed: 01:04:12

"That was completely unnecessary," Maun complained.

"Yes, it was," Severance muttered under his breath. He stared at the transparent window before him, trying to wrap his mind around what he saw. He'd been seated on a stump for the past few minutes, going though System windows and tabs. "This doesn't make sense."

"Your animal bit me!"

As proof, Maun tugged at his pant leg, showing that the bottom half of it was absolutely shredded. It was also significantly bloodstained.

"What doesn't?" Batin came away from the tree he'd been leaning against and walked over. He stood behind Severance's shoulder as if he could somehow see the System windows.

"I healed you," Severance told Maun, then glanced up at Batin. The man's presence made his nerves go on edge. It was like having a naked blade hovering near his neck. It wasn't aimed at him, per say, but close enough to be dangerous.

Vast thought the same, for he watched Batin with an intense focus from where he lay by Severance's feet. His tail flicked from side to side.

"As you should have." Maun shook out his leg, as if testing it for any lingering damage.

Severance rolled his eyes and tapped the window before he remembered that Batin couldn't see it. His attributes were listed before him, still at level 34.

And truly, the boost he'd gotten hadn't been small. It more than doubled his Agility and made it his highest attribute. With five points from the first Gift and an extra point from his weapon, that meant he'd gotten a whopping 20 additional points from the new Gifts alone.

Wisdom 25
Intelligence 26 + 1
Vitality 30
Agility 21 +26
Strength 6
Fortitude 2

"So, I've got a boost to Agility. But also I have all these passive traits and I don't know what any of them are for." He shifted the screen to another tab, which showed his skill tree. At the bottom was a new section, labeled PASSIVE TRAITS. There were three traits there:

Flow: Surefooted
Flow: Lightstepper
Flow: Mastery (HIDDEN) - requires 60 Agility

"What are they?" Batin inquired. He stood so motionless, without even a hint of movement, that he didn't even appear to be breathing. Or blinking.

Severance suppressed a shudder and avoided looking at the man. He read the traits out loud.

"Ah," Batin said.

"What?"

"You've gotten a lot out of the Gifts," Maun sounded impressed. "The Lightstepper one sounds like Batin's specialty."

"Hn." That was Batin.

Severance resisted the urge to turn around and glare at the man. He didn't know Batin very well, but what he could see was enough to make him feel rather cautious. A trait that he used could only be something really cool.

"What is it?"

Batin didn't answer. Not verbally. Instead, he walked around Severance and went over to Maun. Even though the forest floor was covered in small twigs and scrubs and brown needles dropped by the trees, his passing left no mark. Nor did he make a single sound.

Severance tilted his head. Wasn't that how all Veiled walked?

Maun then strolled over to Severance, all very casual and relaxed. He moved with the same predatorial grace, but there was a difference that was hard to notice unless one was watching closely.

Unlike Batin, Maun's steps pressed some of the pine needles into the soil, leaving the faintest depression behind. And once, there was the whispering crunch as something gave way beneath his weight.

Severance blinked. "Oh."

Batin folded his arms and leaned against the nearest tree. There was a proud glimmer within his sharp expression. It was clear which set of steps were superior.

"What about the Surefoot one?" Severance asked.

"That must be Bian's," Maun mused. Then he shoved Severance off the stump.

"Hey!" Severance flailed, aware of the System windows blinking out, and he caught his fall with his hands. He sprang up immediately. "What was that for?!"

Maun just gave an eerie smile and lunged at him. Severance leaped back, eyes growing wide for a moment before they narrowed in irritation.

This was revenge for sending Vast after him, wasn't it?

With a low sweeping kick, Maun attempted to knock out Severance's feet. Severance barely could see the motion, yet his body reacted instinctively. He danced back, then to the side, and next thing he knew, he was kicking off the stump to narrowly fly over a high elbow-strike. He landed easily on both feet, knees bent to absorb the impact.

He blinked, finding himself slightly out of breath, and his heart - his heart positively raced in his chest. Maun didn't attack him again.

Instead, the clansman turned to Batin. "Well?"

"The skill is there," Batin mused. "But it is unfamiliar. Instinct alone is not enough."

"Yes. Well, that's something we can fix."

"I'm right here," Severance grumbled. They didn't need to talk over him like he wasn't. "What about the Hidden mastery thing, then?"

Maun shrugged. "Reach the agility requirement and find out."

Wow, so helpful. Severance signed gratitude, his lip curling. Then he turned his back. "Whatever. System, Inbox. I'm going to check my messages."

They could have their little discussion about him all they wanted. He had better things to do. Like see how many messages he's gathered in the time he'd been offline.

There was a lot, as it turned out. Two were from Ironhide, who politely asked if they could meet somewhere to talk, one from Sheesh, and the rest—over thirty of them—were from Awesome Dude.

Severance sighed. He didn't feel like listening to them all right now, so he just composed a quick message and sent it to all three of them.

"Hey, I'm back. Sorry I vanished for a while. Some stuff happened. Let me know when you're free and we can catch up."

He closed the window. "Okay, I'm done. What's-"

The System chimed.

You have received a message from Awesome Dude. Would you like to open message?

Whoa. That was fast. He held up a hand, telling the others to hold on. Not that they were paying attention to him anyway, but just in case. "Yes."

The message instantly unfolded before him, with Awesome Dude's enthusiastic and slightly breathless voice nearly shouting in his head.

"Dude! Where were you?! What happened?! I thought you quit the game! We need to talk, there's so much stuff going on, it's crazy! Can we meet up now?"

"Huh." He scratched his jaw and looked up from the window. "My friend wants to meet with me right now. It sounded kind of urgent."

Maun exchanged a look with Batin.

Then Batin straightened, coming off the tree. "As expected."

That took Severance by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"What clan is your friend with?" Maun asked.

"It's Awesome Dude. You know him already. He's Eternal Champions."

Maun traded a second look with Batin. "That's good. They can be considered allies, though I suspect the other factions will be moving as well."

Baffled, Severance looked from one to the other. "What are you guys talking about?"

Instead of answering, Maun clapped him on the back. "Let's go meet this friend of yours. Ask him where he wants to meet."

Severance frowned at Maun for a minute, trying to figure out what was going on the man's head. He failed miserably. He gave in, not that it was meant much since he was planning to do so anyway, and sent Awesome Dude a message.

"Yeah, that works. Where should we meet up?"

The reply barely took more than five seconds. "Ascendence."

"Ascendence?" Severance wrinkled his forehead. "Why there? Wouldn't Two Bridges be better?"

Batin strode over in his weird, traceless steps. "No. Two Bridges has fallen."

"What?!"

Both of them reached out as one: Batin rested a hand on his shoulder while Maun his back, though he barely felt it through his coat. With a scattering of white sparks, they teleported him away.

The noise of the town reached him first. It was louder than he'd expected. Voices created a constant drone of sound, and when he looked around, the place was absolutely packed.

Most were players—Severance could see that from a sea of blue names—but there were plenty of Eliona residents as well. As a beginner town, this place had always been busy, but he never remembered it being this crowded. There were hardly any gaps between groups, even on the main road.

Something bumped his leg and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked down and blinked. "Vast?"

The beast in question looked up. His ears, which had been pinned back, perked up upon receiving Severance's attention.

"How did you get here? No, wait, never mind that!" Severance spun to face the Veiled clansmen. "What do you mean, Two Bridges has fallen?"

Batin didn't even blink. "Were my words so difficult to understand?"

"Yes! I mean, no, but it doesn't make sense. What even happened?"

"Keep your voice down," Maun murmured by his shoulder. "This is not a good place to draw attention."

It was too late, however. Three men in black with a huge silver beast turned out to be rather eye-catching. Especially when Vast started growling.

The sound rumbled through the crowds, cutting through nearby conversation. Within a minute, Severance found himself standing in an isolated bubble with his clan members. People had pulled back to give them wary space, and were now staring. Whispers arose.

Vast didn't like the attention. His growl deepened into a near subsonic rumble. It wasn't a loud sound, but low and relentless like the vibrating thrum of a monstrous engine at an idle. His ears went flat and his whole body grew rigid with tension.

Severance got the sense that he'd leap into the crowd and start tearing them apart any second. That would probably be a bad thing to happen, so he placed a hand on Vast's head. He rubbed gently at one of the ears, knowing from past experience that Vast seemed to like it.

"Vast," he softly said. "Take it easy."

Vast's ears twitched beneath his touch, but the beast did not otherwise react. The only good thing was that he stayed close rather than flying off into the crowd. Though he was sure it wouldn't take much to trigger Vast into doing just that.

"This should be interesting." Batin scanned the area around them, taking everything in with a watchful calm.

Maun also appeared to be on guard, though the only way Severance could tell was the fact that Maun's eyes constantly moved about. The rest of him appeared to be quite relaxed. "Hm."

"Maybe we should look for him." Severance found the attention increasingly uncomfortable. Staying here and waiting for something to happen was not appealing. "Or maybe I should message him and see where-"

"Heeey!" A loud shout rose over the whispers. Next thing Severance knew, people were being shoved aside as something tore its way through the crowd. It only took moments before a familiar figure burst through and rushed straight towards them. "Finally! Do you know how -"

Vast lunged.

There was no time to react, no time to even blink. Awesome Dude barely had taken three steps towards them before Vast had him around the throat. And then there was no throat.

Awesome Dude's body landed on the ground the same time Vast dropped back down to all fours. The Shade's head was barely attached to the rest of him. Where his throat had once been was a horrific, squirting reddish-pink hollow.

Vast trotted back to Severance's side, head held high, blood dripping from his jaws. He sat, tail curling around Severance's legs. The rumble in his chest continued as he watched the crowd for further threats.

Severance stared at Awesome Dude's body, horrified. The area around them was entirely still as a stunned silence settled upon them.

Then a low whistle came from Maun. "Very effective."

Severance scowled. This was not the time to be admiring bloodshed. They had a major problem on their hands! "He killed my friend!"

"Then it's good you can heal him, no?" Even Batin appeared intrigued. He tilted his head a bit, as if the new angle would get him a better view of the mess.

Exasperated, Severance grabbed his new war fans from Inventory. The blue gems in the joints caught the sun and shimmered. Why couldn't he ever have a nice walk through town? If it wasn't the Veiled, it was Vast. And if it was either of those, then it was Awesome Dude.

He began to cast a Revive. Silvery light pulled in around him, spinning around his feet and ruffling Vast's fur. As it began to rise, it tugged at his coat, lifting the hem. Both clansmen beside him were treated to a lively breeze as well. And for a short while, the three men and one beast stood in the center of a tiny storm, while all around them was a complete stillness.

Severance released the skill. His poor friend was lifted gently from where he lay in a gory heap. Blood ran from his wound and splashed onto the ground beneath him.

Vast snarled suddenly, tensing. Alarmed, Severance tore his attention away from his friend, and spotted three more people cautiously approaching from the crowd. Two were Eliona residents unfamiliar to him, but he knew the one in front.

"Ironhide!" He exclaimed, then grabbed a handful of fur as Vast twitched. "No, Vast. Stay."

"Severance," Ironhide greeted evenly, though he stopped just within the little open space surrounding them. His eyes went to Awesome Dude's Reviving body.

"I'm sorry!" Severance blurted before anything further could be said. "Vast was supposed to stay home but he kinda teleported here with us and he's not good with strangers, so when Dude rushed us, he uh..." he trailed off, unsure how to describe that. Vast had been absolutely brutal.

"I see." Ironhide had a great poker face, though his attention lingered warily on Vast.

The beast bared his bloodied teeth, head low and ears focused on Ironhide with a laser intensity. Severance held that handful of fur tight, though he knew that if Vast wanted to go, there was nothing he could do to stop him.

"Perhaps we should find a less crowded area," Maun suggested.

One of the two people that came with Ironhide was a tall fellow with close-cut dirty blonde hair and rugged features. He introduced himself as Enson Ferrason from the Eternal Champions. He gave a sharp nod of agreement, expression tight. "Yes. Let's do that."

The other man was from the Vigilant. Younger than Enson, he had only laugh creases around his eyes, and a constant upward cast to his lips. He kept his hair longer, with the top half of it tied back to keep it out of his eyes, and the sun caught the red highlights and made them shine amongst the brunette tones. His name was Avris Denyer.

+1 Wisdom

Avris gave an easy smile that reached his amber eyes. "I know of a place. Will you follow me?"

Severance didn't understand. He'd only come here to meet Awesome Dude. So why were these other people showing up? Other than Ironhide, he didn't know any of them. Even more baffling, it appeared that both Maun and Batin were entirely unsurprised. It was almost like they expected to be approached.

"Whoa, that was awesome! Where'd you get a killer dog? It's so cool!" Ah, that was Awesome Dude. The Shade was back on his feet, and as oblivious as ever. He gawked at Vast like he was seeing a real live dinosaur before him.

"Vast!" Severance was forced to grab two handfuls of fur as the beast made to go at Awesome Dude again. "No!"

By some miracle, Vast allowed himself to be held back. Though the way he showed his teeth made it seem like he was grinning in bloodthirsty anticipation.

"Oh, he seems kind of excited." Awesome Dude crouched down where he was, and waved at Vast. "Hey buddy!"

"Just stay back," Severance groaned. "At least until we get out of here, all right?"

Thankfully, Awesome Dude had the sense to listen. Mostly. He cheerfully walked beside Ironhide just behind Avris from the Vigilant, who led the way down the main road through town. Interestingly, people seemed to shift out of the way, opening up a narrow path for them. Severance wondered if people actually respected this guy that much, or if they were just trying to get out of the way of the killer beast.

Ahead, Awesome Dude glanced back, grinning when he caught sight of Severance. Severance grinned back. A silent message passed between them, the joy of friends reuniting once again.