Four large spiders jumped from four different trees around the griffon, one of them only ten meters in front of me. They all trailed frosty webs. I had no idea they could jump so far. All the spiders were larger than the ones in the cavern.

  The griffon must have seen something, and its wings stretched to fly away, but it was not fast enough. Three of the spiders landed, and one was bounced away by a wing. Three stingers went down, and I think at least two penetrated the lion fur on the body. I am not sure about the third, as it was near the feathered neck.

  The griffon let out a scream, and its beak came around to grab the spider on its neck. It only managed to grab a leg and tore it off as all the spiders moved in the same direction they jumped. Their trailing webs were getting caught on the griffon's feathers. The griffon flapped its wings, snapping one of the webs but not generating enough lift to get off the ground.

  The deflected spider darted in on this side, stabbed its stinger into a leg, and skittered away from a claw strike. It also had webbing trailing it, and more and more webs were entangling the griffon. I am pretty sure it used its frost breath. This didn’t do anything to the griffon as it probably had similar resistances to me. What it did was add a layer of frost to the webbing, making it stronger.

  The griffon snapped at something on the far side of it, and I heard a crunch. The beak came around with a crushed spider in it, which was spat out on the ground.

  The griffon staggered forward and struck out with its two rear legs, ripping the legs off one side of a spider. It staggered again as a spider on the farside jumped onto its back, and the stinger went down again.

  The wing of the griffon flapped down, and I heard a crunch, and something was crushed on the other side. The griffon moved and I saw a spider with multiple broken legs. The griffon tried to take off to get rid of the last spider on its back, but the leg that had been poisoned gave way, and the webbing hampered the wings. It flopped sideways as it tried to reach the spider with its beak. It used its wing to stop itself from rolling and stumbled to its feet again.

  The spider worked its way down the back of the griffon, and the stinger went in again. Then, an arrow sprouted from the spider near the mouth as Yoboc joined the fray. I am guessing used arrows was good evidence.

  Then I saw Goldie waving me forward to fight as she dropped her pack and went forward with her axe and shield.

  An arrow went into the griffon's hind quarters as I dropped my pack and Sprinted forward with my shield and axe.

  Goldie had gone for the wounded Spider. I went for the griffon’s head. I saw one more arrow sprout from the griffon and another deflect off its feathers.

  Then I was at the head, moving with speed as I activated Seismic Smash with my shield against it and brought my axe down on its eye spike first. This ruined the eye but didn’t kill it. It tried to turn to look at me, but I moved to stay in its blind side, and I chopped down with the axe on its neck.

  The axe skittered off the feathers, so I Seismic Smashed the head back away from me as I brought the axe in at an angle against the contour of the feather, and this time, it bit into the neck. I did it again and again until I had severed the spinal cord, and it went limp.

  I had my Cosmic Aura active, and I could sense a bright, airy and spiritually strong point somewhere in the griffon's chest. Now was not the time to investigate.

  I looked around and saw that the spiders were dead. The wounded ones were now sprouting arrows, and Goldie had cut several. Yoboc was coming out of the trees and watching the sky. That is right, there are more griffons up there.

  “Cut out the monster core from the griffon, then we have to go,” he said to Goldie. I hope he was talking to Goldie because I had no idea where the core was. Probably, it was the bright spot I felt with my aura. Interesting.

  Goldie used her axe to cut open the chest and got out a knife to dig around. “Grab my pack,” she said to me, “we need to rip it and scatter things.”

  I jogged back to where she had dropped her pack. I felt much safer under the trees. Then I remembered the spiders jumping from high up in the trees, and I suddenly didn’t feel so safe.

  On my way back, I saw Yoboc rip his pack with the claws of the griffon, and items spilt out, and then he just dropped it. Goldie was elbow-deep in the griffon. Both were watching the sky frequently.

  I grabbed a Spider leg, stabbed it into Goldie's pack and left it there. I ripped the shoulder strap and dumped it. Scavengers would come sniffing.

  Yoboc said, “You two dump your shields and axes as they have been used in the fight.”

  I tossed my shield near the griffon and dropped my axe. The next snow would cover it, and it will probably be found in the thaw in a few months when the next lot of scouts come.

  I saw Yoboc cut his hand, drip some blood on his quiver, and then drop it. I guess he is being thorough, although I see he has kept hold of his bow. He did grab the remaining arrows from the quiver.

  Goldie pulled away from the griffon with the monster core in her hand. She grabbed some snow to wipe the blood off, and then we dashed for the trees' cover.

  When we got to where I left my pack, Goldie and Yoboc both had huge grins.

  “That monster core is worth a lot,” Goldie explained as she stored it in our only remaining pack.

  “And we didn’t have to stage a fight,” Yoboc said. He turned to me, “You should have the monster kill, which should open up class options. Let's wait until we are safer to sort that out. You grab the pack, Goldie, and Ivan will be free to use his claws.”

  Goldie lost her grin but picked up the pack, and we moved away from the fight very carefully. I watched the trees very carefully, and I spotted a couple of spiders. We were fortunate we moved into the area with such caution. Four Frost Spiders took down a griffon. Yes, it was mutual destruction, but they are more dangerous than the small ones in the cave would have suggested.

  We didn’t stop until we got to the backup gear. I would say Felix was happy to see me, but he was asleep when we arrived. What a fantastic guard dog.

  “Did the monster kill trigger any specialisation class for you, Ivan?” Goldie asked after we had a bite to eat.

  “You did get the monster kill, right?” Yoboc asked.

  I nodded. “I did. I am not sure what to make of this specialisation class, though.”

  “What is it called? Your Identify skill should give you some details,” Goldie said.

  “It is called Kill Thief.”

  Both Goldie and Yoboc burst out laughing.

  “What?” I asked.

  “A Kill Thief is someone who steals other people's kills. They are not generally liked. That definitely sounds like it came from a Hunter-Scavenger class,” Yoboc said.

  “It is a specialisation of that class.”

  “What did you need to get it?” Yoboc asked.

  “I needed the Hunter Scavenger Class, Stealth and Camouflage at Journeyman, three perception powers and a monster kill.”

  They were nodding, “That sounds like it makes sense, even though I have never heard of the class before. Tell us about it.”

  “It gives four attributes per level, like the Hunter Scavenger Class. One is in Physical Perception, and then one each in Spiritual Strength and Spiritual Perception. One free point.”

  “A Spiritually focussed Class?” Goldie said, “That doesn’t sound right. It sounds like it should be physically focused.”

  “Maybe it is influenced by his affinity,” Yoboc speculated.

  I hadn’t actually told them about my Cosmic Aura yet, nor about how much it syncs with Spiritual Sensing. Spiritual Sensing uses Spiritual Perception. Yoboc is scarily perceptive.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I got a skill with the class,” I said. “It is called Death Strike. It Spiritually empowers a strike at a critical area. Its strength is based on my Spiritual Strength, and each skill level multiplies the amount of my Spiritual Strength in the skill. It also used the full amount of my base Spiritual Strength in Spiritual energy, so that is about a third of my energy.“

  At the moment, it is about a third of my Spiritual Energy, but as the Cosmic Aura levels up, it won’t be. They don’t know that.

  “That is pretty costly,” said Yoboc. “You would only be able to use it once a fight.”

  “It sounds like a skill an assassin would get,” Goldie said.

  “Except there is no requirement to use it from stealth, is there?” Yoboc asked.

  I shook my head.

  “That makes the difference,” Yoboc said. “Assassin power kill skills always have the requirement to be used from stealth, or be a hidden strike or something. This class and skills are all new to me,” he said excitedly. “I love learning new stuff.”

  “Hey,” Goldie said, “How do you level up Kill Thief? Do you have to steal someone’s kills to level it?”

  “I don’t actually know,” I said. “I will have to test it.” I glanced at Felix.

  Yoboc saw me look at Felix. “It might work by stealing his kills, but because he is your bond, it may not. Does whatever you are attacking have to be damaged by someone else? That would make you have to be on a team… unless it works with Felix.”

  “We will have to test it,” I reiterated.

  “Specialised classes are slower to level than Basic classes as they have more specific requirements. My Monster Hunter Class only levels when I hunt Monsters, which are few and far between,” Yoboc said.

  That was new to me. I never knew he had the Monster Hunter class. I only knew he was a Hunter and Scout. Then, it occurred to me how little I knew about these two dwarves. I knew Goldie was a Forester and, from what she said, an Axeman, but that was all. They have not shared their skills or attributes. In comparison, they knew a lot about me. Maybe I should be more careful what I share as it can be used against me. Now I realised it: none of the dwarves shared more than basic information with me.

  We decided to rest and get a few hours of sleep before moving on. I had also levelled the Hunter Scavenger Class. This meant I had two free attribute points to spend. I was a bit worried about my mental attributes, but I will have to wait and sort it out later.

  I had a number of skill levels rise. Skill growth slows when they get to Apprentice and then really slows when they get to Journeyman. It is a bit depressing. Nightsight is closing in on the Master level, but I have been pushing it very hard in the cavern, and it is not there yet.

  Still, I have come a very long way in a year. My goal for this long wilderness trip will be to work on my affinity, although a lot of that will need access to a decent Lore Society.

  Resistances: Cold +35, Pain +5, Heat +5,

  Skills:

  Novice:

  General

  Weapon Repair 4, First Aid 2, Cooking 4, Trapping 2, Animal Bond 3, Spiritual Manipulation 2, Mask Status 1,

  Fighting

  Crushing Bite 3, Death Strike 1,

  Senses

  Lore

  Monster Lore 2, Anatomy 3, Troglobite Lore 2,

  Astral

  Cosmic Aura 3,

  Apprentice:

  General

  Fishing 7, Tracking 9, Tremor 6, Dwarvish 9, Identify 8, Mining 8, Drawing 7, Subterranean Camouflage 5,

  Fighting

  Quick Claws 5, Unarmed Combat 7, Shield 7, Spear 6, Throw Weapons 7, Axe 8, Tough Hide 6, Small Blades 7, Spiritually Tough 6, Seismic Smash 5,

  Senses

  Clearsight 7,

  Lore

  Arctic Lore 8, Animal Lore 6, Plant Lore 5, Herb Lore 5, Mineral Lore 5,

  Journeyman:

  General

  Common 13, Sprint 10, Arctic Camouflage 10, Transform 10, Carving 10, Stealth 10,

  Fighting

  Senses

  Nightsight 13, Olfactory 10, Spiritual Sensing 10,

  Lore

  Master:

  Affinity: Astral

  Monster Kills: 1

  Bond

  Felix. Huskie Dog.

  Resistances: Cold, Pain, Heat,

  Skills:

  Endurance Running, Power Running, Team Leader, Bond,

  Affinity: Astral