Cirrus had managed to deactivate some of the glowing runes on the ground floor while Cyn was at the bottom of the tower, not only deactivating the defenses but also opening up a doorway back outside. Rather than an illusion to hide the entrance, which Cyn would have seen, once the door was activated the bricks of the tower itself moved out of the way to create a series of steps down to the ground. It was on these steps that everyone but Cyn would linger, while she returned the egg to the Feathered Brine Serpent.

  The serpent itself was clearly visible as Cyn approached the water, having swam all the way to the shore of the island to wait. As she approached, its massive, scaled head broke the surface to regard both Cyn and the altered egg that she held clutched to her chest. You have found it? The vaguely feminine voice sounded almost hopeful, and Cyn had to suppress a grimace.

  “Yes but... It was changed by someone. Long before I got there.” Spam made a few chirping noises of agreement to Cyn’s assessment as she held out the yellow-tinted egg. In the afternoon sun, outside of the dark recesses of the tower the egg had been residing in, it shone brilliantly. The beams of sunlight danced across its smooth surface, before reflecting outward to instead bathe the surrounding area in a warm, golden glow that could barely be seen in the already bright ambient light.

  The white-scaled, serpentine head moved closer to Cyn in order to more closely inspect the egg. She felt her pulse jump in response, but managed to keep ahold of the egg and keep herself from shaking too badly as the creature’s snout almost brushed against her hands. This is not what I expected you to return to me, Human. Cyn’s heart became a thundering in her ears, but before she could muster a response the serpent very carefully maneuvered to pick up the egg between its giant teeth. But it is satisfactory to our deal.

  Cyn let out a relieved, shuddering breath, moving her hands carefully out of the way to avoid losing them alongside her cargo. The egg looked tiny in the serpent’s jaws, the contrast between the rows of sharp teeth and the fragile, sun-lit pearl stark. Despite the undercurrent of fear the creature inspired in Cyn, with its head in touching distance she was also fighting a foolish desire to Pet the Feathered Brine Serpent. She knew it was stupid. Cyn would absolutely lose a hand or worse if she tried. But it was right there...

  Crunch .

  The sound of the egg’s fragile shell breaking wasn’t very loud, and if Cyn had not been within a few feet of its source, she probably would not have heard it at all. Her desire to touch the creature was replaced by shock as Cyn watched the serpent’s jaws snap shut around the egg, rapidly consuming its contents and most of the shell. She saw a few small shards drop onto the rocks below them, but found her attention quickly preoccupied with the changes to the Feathered Brine Serpent before her.

  Over the course of a few seconds, an invisible wave seemed to sweep over the serpent’s body, replacing cracked, worn, and even missing scales with pristine ones, their color shifting from dull off-white to gleaming snow. The serpent’s frilly head tendrils burst into a brief kaleidoscope of warm colors before becoming pristine and white again as the wave of healing reached the end of its course. It was remarkable to watch, even if Cyn was left utterly baffled.

  I will take my leave of this place, and in the spirit of honoring your assistance, I will leave the Humans along the river alive.

  She nodded quickly at the serpent’s words, relieved, but as the creature began to slide back into the water Cyn could not help but try and get answers to what she had just seen. “Can I... ask a question?” She regretted her curiosity almost immediately as the Feathered Brine Serpent turned back to her and moved to partly encircle Cyn, dragging its body along the rocks as it moved out of the water. Mistake, mayday, why don’t I know when to call it quits?!

  As Cyn slowly spun to keep eye contact with the crimson orbs studying her only a few feet away, her spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a soft whisper against her consciousness. Ask.

  Cyn had to take a deep breath before responding, “Why did you eat the egg?”

  Does it matter? The Feathered Brine Serpent continued to slowly encircle Cyn, creating a loose coil and forcing her to continue spinning to keep eye contact.

  “No, I was just... curious.” Cyn wasn’t sure if this was a threat, or if the creature was just fucking with her. Perhaps a bit of both. For a moment, she felt one of the other Humans start moving forward. But they only moved a few steps before the serpent’s tendrils lit up, now a twinkling pattern of yellows and oranges instead of the white luminance from before. It had the same effect of controlling the others, though this time they just stood still as far as Cyn could feel, and creating a headache-inducing pressure behind Cyn’s eyes. Spam made a small croak before also falling silent, still on her shoulder. Cyn did not feel she could break eye contact to check if the familiar had fallen victim to the mind control, but so long as Spam did not move it should be safe. Ish.

  Your uncontrolled curiosity will get you killed, Human. That would be a pitiful ending for one so odd. The serpent paused. But I will answer your question.

  Eating my egg allowed me to reclaim the power I gave up creating it, while also gaining the power it was given by the thieves who stole it away. The opportunity to expand my own Horizon was an unexpected but not unwelcome outcome of this tribulation. An undeniably preferable, if temporary, alternative to giving up everything in the pursuit of an offspring that will grow even further than I.

  “Temporary?” Cyn blurted out the follow-up question without thinking, trying to process the information she had been given without breaking their little dance.

  That is more than ‘a’ question. The Feathered Brine Serpent sounded amused, but Cyn definitely felt like she was reaching, or perhaps even past, the limits she should push her luck. I will reach my Horizon again, or die trying. If that day comes, I will again give all my power so my offspring will have a head start in their growth.

  “I see. Thank you for the opportunity to understand you better.” Between Erilan’s letter and the conversation with the serpent, Cyn got the feeling that a ‘Horizon’ was some kind of personal limit. But now was not a good time to question the idea further. She now had to look up at the creature coiled around her, and as the serpent slowly lowered its head towards her own Cyn decided that that was enough. Cyn had dismissed a level up notification while the serpent was speaking, and it was time to quit while she was ahead. Activating Soul Slip, she tried to move back to the other Humans on the steps of the tower. Cyn had used the skill on Sam, who was the furthest down the steps after the Berserker had moved forward during her conversation with the serpent. In the split second between the skill activation and end of her teleport, she realized her mistake.

  The serpent coiled around Cyn was a ‘solid object’ for all intents and purposes. And unlike previous uses of the skill - where she had either an unobstructed path or only party obstructed path between herself and the target of Soul Slip – there was no easy route for the skill to take that did not involve going through the Feathered Brine Serpent. So Cyn went through it. While her soul and the entirety of Spam reached the intended destination, a clear spot directly next to Sam, Cyn’s body only traveled around half the distance. For the split second of travel, every nerve in her body burned. That pain was mercifully brief, though.

  Unlike the thunderbolt to her brain that forced Cyn to her knees, retching as her soul violently rubberbanded back into place. Her vision was too blurred to see, and the ringing in her ears drowned out all noise, save the soft, feminine chuckle that flitted across her mind for a few seconds. The distance between her body and soul during the skill backfire was exponentially further than any other time she had used it, leaving Cyn helpless. She found herself unable to even think for an indeterminate amount of time, her every sense – save the ability to feel pain, unfortunately - cut off as her soul struggled to reconnect with her body properly.

  As the pieces of Cyn started to reconnect, the first thing she noticed was that Spam was concerned. Less concerned than she would have expected, but the Voidling must have understood whatever was happening to Cyn was temporary. It also appeared to not have suffered any ill affects from the skill backlash, much to her relief. It was also not entirely surprising that that was the first thing to return to her, as the familiar’s emotions where practically beamed into her consciousness at all times. The snake must have just been fucking with me, or I would definitely be dead.

  After regaining the ability to think, Cyn’s other senses slowly came back into focus as the pain died down. The acrid smell and sour taste of stomach acid, the small puddle of it she had created visible just below her face. The weight of something – Spam, she quickly realized – moving along her spine and up towards her hunched shoulders. The sounds of her concerned allies, mostly Sam and Fish.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Once everything seemed mostly back in place, Cyn tried to wave off their concern and stagger back to her feet. Luckily neither of them bothered to back up much, since Cyn’s disorientation was still bad enough to cause her to stumble and require help to keep standing. Leaning heavily on the other mage, she finally responded to the incessant questions about her wellbeing. “I’m fine, just a miscalculation.” Not a very convincing statement, considering how badly I slurred.

  Fish snorted. “Liar.” Cyn did not bother to argue that, taking a quick look around as she allowed herself to be helped onto the raft they had made to reach the island. She didn’t see the Feathered Brine Serpent anywhere, confirming it had likely started its journey back to the ocean. The raft wasn’t big enough for everyone, but at least Cyn and those who couldn’t swim should remain afloat. Back-to-back with Mountain, Cyn leaned on both him and Fish and closed her eyes. She wanted to look at a few things, and the relatively short ride back across the water was a good opportunity.

  After checking her resources, mainly to note how her stamina was doing – not good, Soul Slip had likely taken more than it would have during a normal use – she moved on to her notifications.

  Profession level up! [Creature Handler] is now level 10

  +3 Vitality, +1 Mind, +2 Will, +1 Strength, +2 Agility, +1 Luck

  +3 free points

  Knowing that the next notification would be prompting her to select a skill, Cyn hesitated. She wasn’t even sure what could be offered, since her profession usage lacked a theme and instead had been all over the place. She considered waiting but, believing she would have enough time to choose before reaching the shoreline, Cyn instead opened the notification and selected to view her skill options now.

  Natural Armor (Faulty) - Taking inspiration from creatures you have observed, you have learned how to temporarily harden your skin to reduce damage taken.

  Objectively not terrible, except for its quality. Was faulty worse than weak? Cyn wasn’t sure, but she kind of felt like it was. The skill overall sounded to Cyn like a more natural version of the Mana Barrier skill she had been offered as a mage.

  Golemancy (Common) - Gain the knowledge required to create simple golems.

  ? This skill can be used to activate a golem after creation.

  ? Golems have various requirements in order to be activatable.

  ? This skill can be used on an active golem under your control in order to give basic commands or deactivate it.

  [Creature Handler] - Evolutionary path altered.

  [Martyr] - Evolutionary path altered.

  Cyn was not interested in this skill, aside from the brief fantasy of controlling a small army of cute creations.

  Skill Share (Uncommon)(Passive) - So long as you and a familiar have a strong enough bond, they are able to access and use some of your skills. Shared skills will consume your resources if the familiar does not have the required resource.

  ? What skills are shared will depend on familiar capabilities, quality of Skill Share, and strength of the familiar bond.

  [Creature Handler] - Evolutionary path altered.

  [Martyr] - Evolutionary path altered.

  Ah. A skill to make Spam useful. She was mostly kidding with that thought, seeing as the Voidling had actually helped her with various problems since showing up. Skill Share did look like it had serious potential to be powerful, though. It all depended on what skills Spam would be able to use, and the description offered little in that regard. Cyn barely even knew what a Voidling was, much less what it should be capable of.

  Shapeshift (Rare) - You have learned how to change your body to temporarily mimic other creatures.

  ? While Shapeshifted, you will gain access to new abilities based on the creature you are mimicking.

  ? Some Shapeshift forms will restrict access to or effectiveness of other skills.

  ? Learning new Shapeshift forms requires an in-depth understanding of the creature you wish to mimic.

  ? Available forms: [Sheep]

  [Creature Handler] - Evolutionary path altered.

  [Martyr] - Evolutionary path altered.

  Now that was an interesting skill, and the fact that she already had a Sheep form unlocked was hilarious . Inspecting the available form just told Cyn that it had a passive ability that reduced damage taken, confirming that the fact she had polymorphed herself while falling did matter.

  She almost took Shapeshift on a whim, just because it was a cool idea. But the lines in the description about altering her path made Cyn hesitate. Only the Natural Armor skill lacked the warning, likely because it was a solid but uninspiring skill. If anything, it just aligned vaguely with changing her body like a discount Shapeshift. The other three skills would effect both her class and profession, and after thinking about it for more than a few moments that actually made sense.

  They were all skills that Cyn could see defining how her profession would evolve, and what she would be offered going forward. Considering how closely her class and profession already sat – she had already had one skill move between categories after choosing her class evolution – their potential effect on her class also made sense. For her journey to Martyr, the defining moment was probably her willingness to make use of the buff that her Boots of Near Death Experiences. More so than even Freeform Mana Casting. She had not realized how important that small choice would end up being in the moment, but this time Cyn actually had a chance to consider how she wanted to define herself.

  Golemancy wasn’t even in the running.

  Shapeshift looked really cool. Depending on how it worked, Cyn could imagine a whole lot of non-combat uses of the skill. Obviously, there was going to be creatures that were also really good at fighting. It wasn’t out of the question that there would be creatures that had useful support abilities, and so long as she found more forms she could use her normal skills in, it would definitely improve her maneuverability in the long run. The skill seemed versatile, and more disconnected from her class than the other options.

  But if she was taking into consideration how this would affect her choices and evolutionary path going forward, Cyn had to seriously consider Skill Share. For better or for worse, her and Spam were stuck together. Permanently, if the Familiar Bond skill description was to be believed. Even putting aside the quiet fear of losing her familiar that had recently been instilled in Cyn, having her profession focus on the pair of them synergizing wasn’t a bad idea at all. Skill Share, however, required her to ask an important question.

  Did Spam even want to be a critical part of her profession?