"[Intercept]!" Layla's body appeared behind Trillia with her shield raised as a large paw slammed into what should have been Trillia's exposed back.

  Fred lay on the ground a few feet away. Malor was concentrating on keeping a barrier up while Amelia healed their downed front-line fighter.

  Simon and Taz had drawn more than half of the damn creatures away, and Trillia was starting to worry about them.

  Ialu's body slammed one of the wolf-like creatures away from Layla. The desert skoll stumbled as she tried to maintain her position. Her beautiful golden fur was matted with blood and cuts, and the two illusion-inducing tendrils dragged along the ground, having been targetted by the [Primordial Wolves] that they were now facing.

  The damn things were durable and nearly immune to magic. As one charged at her, Trillia channeled five thousand mana into her rapier and waited for the thing to be a half second out. "[Thrust]!" The rapier's tip came up in a flash. The wolf tried to side-step, but Trillia hadn't left it enough time to react.

  It managed to avoid a dead-center hit, but her rapier bit into its eye, and the divine damage went off, removing its head entirely.

  "[War Keeper's Call]!" The words echoed across the battlefield as Taz and Simon came back into view. Both of them were soaked in blood but had no evident wounds on them.

  You are affected by War Keeper's Call!

  For the next 10 minutes you will not use Health, Stamina or Mana on skills, after that 10 minute period is up you will not regenerate any resources for thirty minutes.

  "Go all out! One final push, everyone!" The group flipped from maintaining resources to throwing everything they had at the enemies. Slowly, they whittled their enemies down.

  "Leave it alive!" Trillia called out as Taz pinned the last creature to the ground and was ready to snap the wolf's head off with his powerful beak.

  The group looked at her oddly, but Taz listened after a confirmation nod from Simon. Trillia reached into her pouch and pulled out a couple of potions. "Use these on Fred. They aren't very good healing potions, but they are something. Once Taz is up for it, he can heal us the rest of the way."

  Simon nodded as Malor ran over to grab the potions and take them to Fred. Trillia walked up to the snarling, snapping maw of the [Primordial Wolf] and used a skill she hadn't in years. With a deep breath, she let the skill flow from her.

  "Hear me, O' winds of fate. Listen to the call of the Aether and breathe new life into the warped visage of this creature. Bind it to my will and soul. [Monster Taming]." Trillia dumped twenty thousand mana into the skill and slapped her hand on top of the thing's head as she reached out with telepathy.

  The creature's body jerked and went rigid, and the wild bloodthirst in its eyes faded.

  Simon and Taz watched the skill with interest.

  Trillia remained calm and tried to establish the connection again.

  Dire Howl the Primordial Skoll; Level 117 has accepted your Pact!

  Monster Pact Bonds available (1/3)

  Dire Howl is considered a Canine!

  Ialu the Desert Whisper Skoll has become a Pack Leader!

  Dire Howl has submitted to Ialu's lead.

  "Well damn. You can tame [Primordial] warped creatures? Damn. I never thought to try."

  Trillia motioned for Taz to let the creature up. Taz turned its head to look up to Simon, who nodded. "Trust our fellow Beastmaster. She's no novice to combat."

  Taz slowly stepped away but crouched down, ready to pounce and tear the thing apart. Dire Howl rolled over onto its belly and dug its nose into the ground, sneezing at Ialu's feet. Trillia let [Mana-Sight] activate and saw a strong mental link between the two, as well as thin blue lines connecting them to each other as well as to her.

  Dire Howl would like to establish a mental connection.

  "My mind is clear again. Tell me. Has my old pack truly all fallen?"

  Trillia felt a small pang of guilt as she nodded. "I'm afraid so, Dire. You all were warped by the [Primordial] and attacked us. It was your pack or our lives. I'm sorry."

  Dire's eyes closed, and she felt a shudder run down its soul. "So be it. I am at your disposal." It didn't seem resentful...more just... as if it had given up.

  Ialu's voice broke into the mental conversation. "You have a new pack. These people are the pups you must defend. We will get vengeance on the creatures that warped your minds and took honor from your pack."

  A small flame of anger simmered in the back of Dire's mind. "As you say, Pack Leader. It still hurts to lose so many."

  Trillia reached out and ran her hand along the back of his head. "We've all lost a lot. You're in good company, Dire. Did your pack do anything special for your dead?"

  The wolf shook its rather massive head. "No. We let nature take us. Such is the circle of life."

  Trillia was surprised to see it was so intelligent. Ialu hadn't been when she had first been tamed. Either the level difference or after-effects of the [Primordial]. "We will bury them."

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Dire Howl looked around at its kin, hesitation evident in his mind. "Leader Ialu."

  The desert skoll looked over at it. "Bury their hearts, but use the rest of them."

  That caught Trillia off guard. "You'd let us defile their bodies?"

  "I'd see the warp carved from the part that is important. Use that warped flesh to strengthen our pack."

  Trillia thought about that for a while before looking at Ialu. "If Dire is ok with it, there is no reason to waste resources. Our kind are scavengers by nature."

  "Dire has asked that we honor the dead by carving out their hearts and burying them. The meat, bones, and pelts we can use for gear."

  Taz had moved on to heal Fred, but desperately needed to spend time regenerating his own resources before he could hit the rest of the party. "Good. We will spend some time resting and healing. I can fly the bodies of the others back. I think we got thirty of them in all."

  Fred groaned as Layla helped him sit up. "What the fuck are his claws made out of?" The armor smith looked down at his chest plate, which had been carved through with minimal effort. "This armor is going to take me a few days to repair. I won't be able to front line until I can get it fixed. Thanks for fixing me up, Taz. I owe you some fresh fish, buddy."

  Taz was all too happy with that deal.

  Layla started wrapping Taz with bandages and using what little mana she had left, making sure that no one was going to bleed out while they let regeneration take over. Malor and Trillia had taken to carefully skinning their kills, setting the hearts to the side.

  Once all was said and done, Dire stared mournfully at the pile of wolf hearts. As he reached out for a mental connection, Trillia connected him with both her and Ialu. "Can I ask yet another favor of you?"

  Trillia looked over at the beast. "Cut one of them in half. I... I sense something wrong in them."

  Trillia relayed the information to the others. Malor gently lifted one of the hearts and used his butchering knife to slice through the thing. They all heard a light clank sound. Trillia took the heart from him and reached a hand in. She found a small marble-sized gem and pulled it out, letting her scan activate on it.

  Monster Core: Level 10 - Earth Mana Manipulation.

  "A monster core? Aren't creature cores supposed to shatter when we die?"

  The entire group looked around, confused. Dire bit into another heart and let another core roll out.

  Monster Core: Level 7 - Earth Mana Manipulation.

  "Rip them all out." His ruthless demeanor worried Trillia a bit. But this wasn't something any of them had even read about. All of the materials went into the saddle on Taz. It was apparently a rather powerful storage item. The group said prayers over the remains of the buried hearts. Dire sat on the edge of the camp, lost in its own thoughts. Ialu lay next to him, trying to give their newest member some comfort.

  Trillia twirled the core in her fingers. "I know dungeons, cities, and realms have cores. Uncle Stas once told me that everything has a core, but it usually shatters beyond recovery when they die. I've never seen one intact before."

  Malor had a book out and was scribbling in it as he studied one of the cores. "It's odd. I can feel mana in it, but can't access it. I've never even seen shards of a creature's core before."

  Simon looked over at Taz with a nod. "Taz says that a lot of predators will leave their prey alive and eat them alive so that they can consume the core while it's still whole. Doing so can let you learn skills from your prey."

  The whole group looked over at the gryphon. Simon continued to speak on its behalf. "Monsters have a very, very different system window than us. They don't really have classes like we do, either. It's sort of a species and evolution thing."

  Trillia certainly wanted to dig deeper into that. "I'd like to write down some notes on that if you don't mind. Is it ok if I check my notifications first?"

  Simon nodded. "Good idea for all of you to do so, honestly."

  Your group has defeated [Primordial Skoll]!

  Your group has defeated [Primordial Skoll]!

  Your group has defeated [Primordial Skoll]!

  ...

  The list went on for each and every one of them. She was happy to see that [Primordial Savagery] had given her bonus experience as well. Most of the notifications she just ignored as they repeated themselves over and over again. She did take a special look at a few notable ones.

  General Skill Obtained: Scavenging

  Scavenging-

  You are more adept at scavenging parts and pieces from the creatures that you kill. In addition to making cleaner cuts for the meat and pelts. There is a greater chance to extract perfect monster cores.

  That seemed eerily well-timed.

  "Did anyone else get a skill called Scavenging?"

  Malor spoke up. "Sort of. I got it, but it consumed my Butchering and Gathering skills and was augmented by Enchanting. It's uhhh... it's called Magic Carver."

  "I get Scavenging as well. It was augmented by Beastmaster and Grand Beastmaster. Lets me feed cores to creatures I share a pact with to increase their stats." Simon said it offhandedly as he looked through his own notifications. No one else in the group had picked the skill up. Trillia went back to her notifications.

  Monster Taming had hit max level, and Scavenging was already at level five. A few other skills had leveled, but to be honest, she wasn't sure if that was in the fight or just over the past few weeks of travel. Most of her skills didn't bother alerting her if they leveled anymore, as she had set the system up to do exactly that.

  Species: [Least Divinity]; [Primordial Orc] Level 0 -> Level 7

  Sub Species: [Mana-Infused Orc] Level 97 -> 100

  Class: [Mana-Conduit] Level 97 -> 98

  Trillia paused and looked through her notifications again. Then checked her status. All of that battling, and Aetherian Mage hadn't gained a single level? Just what sort of class was it?

  She checked her status again and paused. Dire Howl was adding over a thousand points to her strength. She immediately reached out to Simon's mind with telepathy.

  The goblin glanced up at her before accepting. "Sorry, I didn't really want to speak this aloud and dishearten my friends. Dire Howl is giving me over a thousand Strength. Is that normal? Ialu is only giving me seven hundred or so Agility."

  Simon paused looking over his own notifications. "Ok. So you only have normal [Monster Taming]? Did Ialu pick up Pack Leader, Pack Master, or any skills like that?"

  Trillia sent him the mental equivalent of a head nod. "Yeah. Monster skills get a bit odd. She's no longer giving you the full amount of agility she's supposed to. Instead, she is doubling the amount that other members of her pack are giving you. The amount she gives is gonna be lessened with each new member of her pack. Hopefully, it doesn't hinder you too badly."

  Trillia shook her head, both mentally and physically. "It's fine. I was just surprised by the difference. I hadn't really checked to see how much she was giving when I got the artifact back from Lord Arlyss. Do you know of a good canine-type monster that has a high vitality stat? One of my traits makes my health, mana, and stamina all use my vitality in some way."

  Simon perked up at that. "Really? That'd be a handy skill to have. I could use my seven thousand vitality for even more. Hmmm. Canines with a high vitality. Let me think on it and reference some of my books. Maybe Taz would know as well. Or your current pact-bounds. Don't be afraid to ask them questions. You are their Master even if they are your dear friends and loved ones, they still will want to see their Master get stronger. Utilize the knowledge they might have."

  Trillia nodded and began gathering the resources to make food now that she was done with her notifications. The others chimed in here and there with their own questions about skill evolutions and things. The group was happy to discuss it all. Once the post-battle notifications had been cleaned up. Simon was ready to talk more about monsters.

  Species: [Least Divinity]; [Primordial Orc] Level 0

  Subspecies: [Mana-Infused Orc] Level 97

  Class: [Aetherian Mage] Level 0

  Class: [Mana-Conduit] Level 97

  Stats:

  [Brawn: 3267] + 50%

  \Strength: (191+1101) + Vitality: 287/

  [Dexterity: 2350] + 50%

  \Agility: (230+719) + Wisdom: 1401/

  [Charisma: 528] + 50%

  \Intuition: 260 Presence: 268/

  Status:

  Name: {Trillia Demonsbane "Fairtrade"}

  Health: 5,550

  Stamina: 12,360

  Mana: 168,800

  Health Per Minute: 1,110

  Stamina Per Minute: 2,472

  Mana Per Minute: 33,760

  Life Cycle- Teen; Runt

  Alive; Scorned Divinity (Least)

  Pact-Bound Creatures:

  Ialu (Desert Whisper Skoll) Level 192: Realm- Alirast: Granting- Agility

  Dire Howl (Primordial Skoll) Level 117: Realm- Alirast: Granting- Strength

  Traits:

  Aether Sight

  Alchemical Blood

  Battle Hardened

  Core Destroyer

  Dungeon Addict

  Dungeon Predator

  Lightning Conduit

  Mana Attunment (Lightning)

  Mana-Rage

  Mana-Warped

  Omni-Mana Resistance

  Pact Bound (Arlyss)

  Perceptual Communication

  Relentless Training

  Remain Standing

  Runt

  Thirst For Knowledge

  Racial Skills:

  [Primordial Constitution - Passive]: - Level 4 (Vit & Wis)

  [Primordial Savagery - Passive]: - Level 2 [Limited Runt]

  [Mana-Warped Vision - Hybrid]: Level - 0

  Divine Skills:

  [Minor Divine Skill: Divine Mana-Sight - Hybrid]: Level - Null

  Divine Trait: Of The Aether

  Divine Trait: Primordial Hunter

  Divine Trait: Unwavering Determination

  General Skills:

  - Defensive:

  [Mana Obfuscastion - Hybrid]: Level 10 (Max)

  [Stitch - Active]: Level 7

  [Stalwart Mana - Reactive]: Level MAX

  - Secondary:

  [Alchemy - Hybrid]: Level 12

  [Cooking - Hybrid]: Level 6

  [Enchanting - Active]: Level 0

  [Herbalism - Passive]: Level 14

  [Monster Taming - Active]: Level 10(MAX)

  [Runic Knowledge - Hybrid]: Level 0

  [Scavenging - Passive]: Level 5

  [Telepathy - Hybrid]: Level 1

  [Translator - Passive]: Level MAX

  -Offensive:

  [Chain Lightning - Active]: Level 10

  [Monkey Grip- Passive]: Level 0

  [Universal Mana Manipulation - Hybrid]: Level MAX

  Mastery:

  Minstrel- Restorative Chant - MAX

  Minstrel- Astra's Amazing Agility - MAX

  Fencer- Fleet Foot - MAX

  Fencer - Weapon's Path - MAX

  Swashbuckler - Disarming Charisma - MAX

  Mage - Magic Dynamo - MAX

  Mage - Augment: Extended Range - MAX

  Mage- Augment: Blast Radius - MAX

  Monster Slayer - Mental Bestiary - MAX

  Monster Slayer - Slayer's Aura - Level 2

  Alchemist - Alchemical Encyclopedia - Level 3

  Acolyte of Retribution - Mend - Level 0

  Bound Artifacts:

  [The Shattered Bolt[

  [Sliver of Fate]

  [Reservoir Ring of the Red River Ruffians (Minor)]

  [Red River Resonance(Suspended)]

  [Shield of Faith]

  [Leaf of Yggdrasil(Content)]

  Mentor: Null

  Mentor: Null

  Mentor: Null