"Come here," Pote told Anath. She shied away from him. "Girl, we need to set that shoulder."

Lisa was hacking away at the beast's head with a hatchet, trying to remove it.

"Anath, let him fix the shoulder," Daggat said absently as he walked towards the bear.

Lisa was halfway through the neck. Working at it and cursing its thick hide.

"So," Daggat said. "The fuck was THAT?"

Lisa let out a chortle. "Beastheart. Its focus is on taking the power of the monsters I kill. When I kill something after activating a skill, I get to choose which biotraits I get when I rage."

"That's really handy. What are the requirements?"

"I presented a monster heart I earned to the altar. I was level four at the time." She smiled fondly at the memory.

"You don't mind if I have a taste, do you?" he gestured to the bear monster.

"Be my guest."

Daggat found a sliver of flesh and chewed at it. It was tough. But, after bracing himself with both legs, he ripped it free. He swallowed.

[You have devoured - otsorieus, level 14. Experience Gained. You have gained one monster level. One Biotrait point awarded.]

"YES," he cheered, "hey, that thing was level fourteen." Both Lisa and Daggat gained experience from the monster. That confirmed something Daggat had suspected for a while. That slaying and devouring worked with different amounts of experience. He first suspected as much when he gained full experience for eating the orcs.

"I know. That's why I killed it now. Can't have it get to fifteen, can we?"

She twisted the beast's head violently. It was stuck by a sliver of flesh. Anath grunted in pain as Pote finally relocated her shoulder.

"Well, it would have evolved into something cooler. Also, did you get a level? I did."

"Nah. I'm level 12. I think I'll need one more kill or two. I'm close. But, there aren't many this strong around. Like I said, I helped this one along since it was a cub." Lisa yanked once more, and the head came free. "Got it! Well, if I let it get to fifteen, it will wander off."

"Why?"

"You tell me. You are the monster. It's just a thing, yeah? Monsters wander off when they get to level fifteen."

Daggat didn't know anything about that. Why? Monsters were supposed to evolve at that point. Right?

"I don't know." He admitted. "What are you going to do with the head?"

"Place it by the altar. If that bitch lets me this time. It's traditional."

"My old folk had a similar tradition." He said, darkly. "What about this place? What is it? What was here?"

"Don't know. Ruins like this are scattered everywhere. No one really knows about them. At least, nobody I know."

"Alright, your turn," Pote said as he came up to them. "You got scratched to hell and back." He had a medical kit in his hands. Some bandages, thread, and bottles of alcohol.

Lisa sighed and dropped her head on the ground. Daggat stepped back to avoid being splashed with blood. It looked like this was a common ritual for them. It made sense that he was her medic, seeing how reckless she was in battle.

"Right, well, I'm going to leave you to that," Daggat said, stepping away. He called towards Anath. "Hey, Anath. Do me a favor, would ya? Get the heart for Klaw."

She gave him a flat look. It was a rough day for her. But she nodded and got to work.

Finally, Daggat turned his attention to the hole the beast crawled from. Curiosity itched at him. What treasures could he find within? Likely none. Still, he could check.

He lit his thumb with a snap of his fingers and descended. With his night vision, the little light was plenty to illuminate the lair.

A dirt tunnel gave way to stairs worn by time that led to an oddly shaped room. As though it was several smaller rooms once, but sections of the wall had collapsed, opening it into a large area. The stench was incredible. Rot and waste with an aftertaste of mold and wet bear. He leaned his spear against a wall and went in.

Daggat casually wandered the lair. Old bones littered the place. Otto was a messy eater. He could hardly tell what creatures they originated from. Bits of rib and leg here and there. A clear, oval space marked where the creature slept.

Something did catch his attention after a moment. A bit of the wall had some interesting markings. He wiped away dirt and dust, revealing lines of flowing symbols.

It wasn't artwork or an image. For a long moment, he pondered the meaning of these symbols. He sighed in disappointment at himself when he realized what it was. Script. It had a certain repetition similar to the written word. But it wasn't a script. He knew how to read, obviously.

Was it possible that two scripts existed? As far as Daggat knew, there was only one way to talk and to write. The same script is used by the system. He tapped it with a finger and copied it into his notes. Half expecting it not to work, he found it had copied over neatly. Though about a quarter of the strange text was missing. Faded away with time.

"What is this?" His assistant asked.

"I think it's a different script to write with. Tucked away in an old ruin."

"How old is the ruin? Could it be this is an older script?"

Daggat wasn't sure. Was there an older script? A time before the system and its universal language.

"If you find time, see if you can find any reference to this in our library."

"As you wish."

Daggat stepped out of the status void. Next, he wanted to investigate the stones. Something was off about them. He picked up a stone that had once been a bit of wall. It was the size of his fist and had a smooth texture. Notably, it was dry. Too dry. The air was heavy with moisture here. It should be slick with it.

The walls, too, were dry. Moisture settled in pools on the stone ground, and the edges of the water seemed to curl up at the edges. As if shying away from touching the stone.

Stone that water fears. Why? What purpose would that have?

"Oi, Assistant." He said as he entered the status void once again. "Got a puzzle."

"Oh, I just love puzzles. Especially when I already have a task." It said, dryly.

"Why would you build a structure out of stone that can't get wet?"

It swirled around in the air, thinking. In the blink of an eye, it opened and closed several notes. He was getting scary good at that.

"Well," he said. There are a few tidbits about exploding rocks in fire. Wet stones trapping moisture, then exploding into fire. And water can expand when frozen. Perhaps it is to extend the lifespan of the structure? Prevent water damage."

That made sense. If that was the case, then how old were these ruins?

Elyndris could glean more information about these stones. But it was an idle curiosity. So, he put it in his pocket and left the status void.

Searching once more through the room, this time he was looking for anything useful. Finally, he spotted something akin to what he was looking for.

A boot.

Daggat grinned. Boots were worn by people, and people carried loot. He embraced his goblin nature and started to rut around in the bones.

He found the legs and a chewed torso. Some unfortunate human was dragged back to the cave. By his estimate, the body was at least four or five days old. Goblins, being scavengers, had an instinct for that sort of thing. He would have had a nibble if Otto hadn't already taken the experience.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

It wore shards of armor. Chain and leather, so it must have been some adventurer. Rifling through his pockets, Daggat found a few trinkets.

A small knife, some string, flint and steel, and a small pouch of coins.

Nothing too interesting. Its weapon must have been dropped in the fight, as he couldn't find it. He did find a chewed and ravaged wooden stick. It had the general shape of a walking stick, or perhaps a spear missing its head.

At the end of a pink bit of bone, he found the corpse's hand. It wore a ring.

It was made of silver, primarily. A simple band that held an unusual stone. Not stone at all, in fact. Rather, it appeared to be a polished oval of dark wood. It gleamed as brightly as any stone. Holding it were two trees, entwined around each other. One dead, the other alive.

The finger was a bit swollen, and the ring couldn't come off. So, he bit the finger off and spat it across the room. He marveled at the ring once it was free. It had a certain heaviness to it. Not a physical weight. But it an importance as a symbol of wealth. As much wealth as it was worth, the stone was made of wood, afterall. Still, he slipped it on a finger.

Goblins had three fingers and a thumb. Unlike human digits, these were longer and thicker than a similarly sized human would have. So, the ring fit snugly.

"You sit out of the fight, and now you're looting?" Said a voice. Lisa.

Daggat jumped. "I was just taking a look around." He laughed nervously.

"Relax, I don't care. Find anything good?" She wrinkled her nose at the stench.

"Not really. Do you know anything about the writing on the walls?"

"No. We need to get going back. Your spider is almost done digging through the bear."

Daggat hesitated. He felt more at ease down here in the muck and blood. Not from a goblin mentality, but because Lisa seemed unwilling to enter. "Uh, sure. Give me a few more minutes. And you shouldn't call her that. She gets testy about being called a monster."

"Whatever. Just hurry up."

Then, she was gone. Daggat took a deep breath. The walk back was going to be tense. To distract himself, he entered the status void again.

"Hey-"

"WHAT… is it, Master? A third task or puzzle?" Several notes were open, and the assistant was floating through them.

"Pause on… whatever it is you are doing," Daggat said. It opened its mouth to say something, but closed it instead. "I've got a spare biotrait. Time for an upgrade."

The assistant sighed and switched to Daggat's biotraits notes. "Weren't we going to save the points?"

"Only one, for the altar. No, I've got one of those hunches." Daggat had been seeing patterns in the system for a while. He wanted to check something. "First. What are the upgrades for Death Sight?"

"As usual, only three. Curious how every trait and skill has three choices. We need to figure out what happens when you buy them all. Let's see… Improved clarity. Simply allows you to see more. Spirit Sight reveals dead spirits to you, not just undead. And Death Gaze. That one is fun. It is similar to hypnotic gaze, but instead, it shows those whom you gaze upon the same world of the dead that you see. As a side effect, they are more greatly affected by auras, psionic, and spiritual effects."

"Fascinating. Good stuff. Let's keep those in mind. Now, let's buy Aura Sight."

"I see, very clever."

A moment later, Daggat purchased the new biotrait.

[Biotrait Synergy requirements detected. Death Sight and Aura Sight. Combine into Second Sight? Yes or No?]

Daggat chuckled. Easy. Pretty much anything that had similar-sounding words or covered similar areas of the body or senses seemed to combine. But, now for the tricky part.

He mentally took hold of the window and pushed it to the side. It wasn't something he did often, but it was helpful with notes. It easily moved.

Now, he tried to upgrade Aura Sight.

It let him. He could hold off on making the decision to merge biotraits, it seemed. Well, that window was going to have to sit there for a while.

The upgrades for Aura Sight were fairly straightforward. Enhanced Aura Sight which increased the range and clarity. Aura Statistics, which converted information gleaned from auras into readable numbers. Then, there was the one he was looking for. Ambient Aura Sense. This allowed him to sense the magical aura of the environment. Essentially, allowing him to see what essence was most common in the area. Not with the same clarity as Elyndris, of course. But, it would be essential for properly doing alchemy.

Of course, he didn't purchase the upgrade yet. That would be the next two levels. He wanted Ambient Aura Sense as well as Death Gaze, then he would combine them. Second sight blended the world of magic and the dead into one sense, combining the effects he had from both. He hoped to be able to see the workings of the untethered auras of people, and the ambient state of the world, all at once. He would miss no detail in the workings of the world and its forces. Be their spiritual, psychic, magical, or mundane.

Muffled shouts echoed from outside. It was probably Anath and Lisa. In hindsight, Daggat thought it would have been smart to bring Anath down here, too.

Satisfied with his discoveries, he grabbed his spear and left the lair. He noted a faint glimmer around the spear, but his mind couldn't fully grasp the sensation.

Pote and Lisa were talking quietly among themselves on the surface. Each had a faint, visible aura around them as well. He didn't sense them in colors or shapes as he would with his eyes. This was a new sense. One he wasn't quite used to. Working out the information was giving him a faint headache.

On a brick near the now split corpse of Otto was a neatly butchered heart and, surprisingly, a core.

"Hey, where's Anath?" He asked, noticing she was gone.

Lisa chuckled uneasily. "The bitch ran off. Couldn't take a bit of criticism."

Pote sighed; he was used to Lisa. "Sorry, Daggat. They had a small fight. She just dashed off. Alone."

Daggat kicked a stone in frustration. "Just… go on without us. We'll meet you back at the camp."

"Eh, find us in town. You two are weird, but you didn't try anything. You've got my okay." Lisa said. "Good luck with the kid. You might want to bring a handkerchief or something."

Lisa laughed to herself as she and Pote wandered off. Pote gave him a worrying look and mouthed an apology.

Mumbling curses under his breath, Daggat wandered into the forest.

Daggat

True Name: Daggat Soul: Monster Genseed: gremlin [ 3 Str, 4 Dex, 3 Con, 2 Int, 3 Wil, 3 Cha; Regenerating Teeth, Rot Resistance; Tiny Size] Genbloom: goblin [ +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con, +1 Int, +1 Wil; Scavenger; Small Size]

Monster Level: 11

Attributes (0/6): Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 11 Intelligence: 20 Will: 10 Charm: 12

Feats: Encounter: True Angel Ability: Mighty Intellect Act: Fledgling Alchemist Knowledge: System Knowledge Act: Devotion [Layered feats] Act: Usurper Act: Touch of Death Act: Reborn by Fire

Skills(0/4): Alchemy: 1 [Source: Fledgling Alchemist] System Aptitude: 1 [Source: System Knowledge] System Assistant: 2 [Perk: Semi-sentience] Mind Codex: 1 [Synergy: Mental notes + Copy Tome] Party Leader: 1 [Source: Usurper]

Notable Natural Skills: Literacy: Apprentice

Biotraits (1/11): Base size: Small [Source: Goblin] Regenerating Teeth [Source: Gremlin] Enhanced Night Vision [Source: Gremlin] Disease Resistance [Mutations: Rot Resistance; Source: Gremlin] Temperature Resistant Skin [Synergy: Fire Resistant Skin + Cold Resistant Skin] Scavenger [Source: goblin] Death Sight [Source: Touch of Death] Increased Pain Tolerance Fire Core Beguiling Presence [Synergy: Hypnotic Gaze (Dominating Gaze, Mesmerizing Gaze) + Hypervocal Cords (Beguiling Voice)] Aura Sight

Transformations: Drakeheart Form: +2 strength +2 charm Extreme Temperature Resistant Scales [Synergy: Fireproof scales + Temperature resistant Skin] Fire breath

Night Stalker form: +2 strength +2 dexterity Dark vision [Night Vision Enhanced] Deepen Shadow

Regenerator form: Advanced Regeneration

Other: Variant: +10 Intelligence Skill potions used: 1/5

Notable Gear: Strange pure-white sword shard Spear of Bracing 2 Mihr Contracts

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