Chương 15: Chapter 14: Smoke in the Distance

The Razerilted Bear had given James more material than he could comfortably carry, and Kevin appeared determined to solve that problem by eating the evidence. The spider stood on the torn shoulder of the massive carcass with his fangs buried in exposed muscle, consuming flesh with a focus James usually associated with craftsmen working against a deadline.

Through the familiar bond, James felt ordinary hunger mixed with something more deliberate, because Kevin could sense the remaining elemental power inside the bear and wanted it.

"You understand that thing weighs several hundred times more than you do, right?" James asked as he tightened a strip of bear hide around his burned forearm. Kevin paused just long enough to send a satisfied pulse through the bond, then resumed eating. James looked toward Julie and shook his head.

"That wasn't an answer, but apparently we've reached the point where I'm arguing dietary choices with a giant spider." Julie had little interest in Kevin's meal. She remained wrapped loosely around James's torso with her head raised toward the northern trees, tasting the warm air every few seconds. The burned clearing still smelled of smoke, blood, and scorched fur, but something beyond it had caught her attention enough that her focus remained fixed in one direction.

James secured the Ember Core inside folded hide and checked the Warpstone Warhammer before leaving. The weapon had survived the Level Nine Elite, but the second Spatial Impact had produced a thin crack through one of the outer rune channels. When James ran his thumb close to the damaged line, a faint vibration traveled down the reinforced shaft and made his palm tingle.

"Two empowered hits against one bear and you're already bitching about it," James said as he rotated the hammerhead beneath the light. The underlying Warp Obsidian remained intact, but he had learned enough about rune construction to know that visible damage was rarely the whole problem.

"You are officially an emergency button until I repair you, because I have no interest in finding out what a spatial explosion does when I'm holding it." Kevin ignored the warning and continued eating. James left him with the carcass because the spider clearly intended to remain there, while Julie shifted onto his shoulder as he followed the Razerilted Bear's trail north.

"We'll see where our oversized campfire came from, then come back for him," James said as he stepped over a charred root. Julie sent calm agreement through their bond, though she remained alert. The bear had not bothered hiding its movements. Broken branches marked the route, scorched pawprints remained pressed into damp soil, and deep scratches crossed several trees at shoulder height.

Beneath one trunk, James found a pile of cracked bones burned black around the edges, suggesting the bear had been cooking its meals whether it intended to or not. The forest changed gradually as they followed the trail. Green moss gave way to patches of dark-red growth around stones that remained warm despite the shade, while several tree trunks showed old fire damage rather than the fresh burns created by the bear.

James crouched beside one patch and used Appraisal, but the System returned only a generic description identifying it as fire-aspected moss. That was enough to make him slow down. Fire was becoming part of the environment rather than a single monster's ability, which meant creatures living here would probably share the adaptation.

James examined the narrow path ahead and began noticing something else: the trees on either side leaned inward, while several blackened limbs remained cracked but attached high above the trail. James smiled.

"Julie, give me five minutes," James said as he set the warhammer down carefully. She watched him pull several lengths of Silver Thread from his supplies, then turned back toward the forest while he worked.

"If something hunts in a pack around here, I'd rather make the jobsite unsafe for them before they arrive." James climbed partway onto a fallen trunk and tied one thread around two damaged branches overhead. He connected the line to a lower anchor hidden beneath leaves, then weakened several already-cracked joints with his carving blade so a strong pull would bring the branches down across the trail.

A second line ran low between two roots, not to trip anything directly, but to guide the falling limbs toward the center of the path. The setup was crude, but it did not need to win a fight. It only needed to break momentum, separate attackers, and give James several seconds to work. He tested the release once without triggering it, then covered the lowest line with ash and dead leaves. A normal blue System window appeared. [ACTION RECORDED.] [Combat terrain altered through practical construction.] [Class seed growth detected.] James stared at the notification before dismissing it.

"I build one dangerous pile of branches and suddenly you're impressed," he said as he picked up the warhammer again. Julie glanced toward him, and he shook his head.

"No, I'm not complaining. I'd just appreciate knowing what the hell this class seed plans to become." A growl rolled through the trees. James tightened both hands around the weapon. The first creature emerged on four long legs. It resembled a wolf stripped down to blackened hide and corded muscle, with ribs visible beneath the skin and orange light glowing behind its teeth.

Three more moved through the brush behind it, spreading outward with enough coordination that James immediately understood why the System bothered mentioning pack behavior. [Ashmaw Jackal — Level 7] [Common predators altered by prolonged exposure to concentrated fire-aspected energy.] [Ashmaw Jackals hunt in packs and release short bursts of heated breath.]"All right, Jules," James said as she slid from his shoulder into the brush.

He watched the four creatures continue spreading and shifted until the prepared path remained behind him.

"Bite, move, and don't stay anywhere long enough for one of these bastards to cook you." Julie disappeared beneath a root. Her agreement reached him through the bond a moment before the lead jackal lowered itself to charge. James moved first. The Warpstone Warhammer struck the side of the lead animal's skull with a heavy crack. The jackal hit the dirt but immediately kicked one rear leg beneath itself and tried to rise, proving the first blow had stunned rather than killed it.

Two packmates rushed James from opposite sides before he could finish the job. James stepped back and swung toward the closer attacker. It twisted outside the hammerhead's path and snapped at his arm, teeth scraping across the bear-hide guard and leaving smoking lines in the material. James tore himself free just as the other jackal opened its jaws. Orange light gathered behind its teeth.

"Shit," James said as he threw himself sideways. The short cone of fire crossed where his chest had been and struck a nearby trunk instead, sending burning bark into the air. James shielded his face with one arm while sparks scattered across his breastplate. Julie's warning struck the bond. James turned. The fourth jackal had circled behind him during the distraction.

He caught its open jaws against the reinforced shaft of the warhammer, but the impact drove him backward while the creature's claws tore three lines across his thigh. Heat spread through the metal fittings as the jackal breathed against the weapon, and the leather wrapping around James's hands began warming painfully.

"Fine," James said through clenched teeth as he stopped trying to pull the hammer away. The jackal bit harder, convinced it had trapped the weapon between its jaws, while James shifted his hands farther down the shaft.

"You want the fucking hammer that badly, you can have what's inside it." Purple light ran across the damaged rune channels. James hesitated for half a heartbeat. Then he triggered Spatial Impact at point-blank range. Space compressed around the hammerhead with a sharp crack. The jackal's chest folded inward before its body flew backward through the ash, struck the ground, and rolled several times before stopping near a burned stump. The Warpstone Warhammer vibrated violently in James's hands.

The existing crack spread farther along the outer rune, and a small piece of reinforced metal broke free from the hammerhead. Purple light flickered unevenly before fading back to a weak glow.

"Nope," James said as he stared at the damage. He lowered the weapon into a normal fighting grip as the remaining jackals closed again.

"That was the last one until I repair you, because I'm not turning myself into a fucking spatial accident." The animals gave him no time to inspect the problem. One slammed into his side hard enough to nearly knock him over, while another came low toward the injured thigh. James drove the bottom of the hammer shaft into its snout, but heated breath washed across his back from the first attacker and snapped one of his breastplate's leather bindings. Pain crawled beneath the armor. Julie struck.

She shot from beneath a root and wrapped around the nearest jackal's foreleg, pulling just hard enough to disrupt its footing. Her fangs entered above the paw before the creature could stomp her, and she released immediately. The poisoned jackal spun after her. That broke the pack formation. James saw the opening and retreated toward his trap.

He made enough noise to keep the remaining creatures focused on him, kicking ash aside and striking the warhammer shaft against a tree while Julie stayed low beneath the brush. The uninjured jackal followed immediately, while the poisoned one hesitated before joining with movements that had already become slightly less precise. James crossed the hidden line. He grabbed the loose Silver Thread.

"Come on," James said as the lead jackal lunged after him. He waited until the second entered the narrow stretch of path, then pulled with both hands.

"Right fucking there." This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The weakened branches tore free overhead. Heavy blackened limbs crashed across the trail. One struck the lead jackal along its spine and drove it into the ground, while a forked branch trapped the poisoned animal between two roots. Neither died, but the pack ceased functioning as a coordinated unit. James turned on the trapped jackal first. Orange light gathered behind its teeth. He stepped aside.

The burst of heated breath scorched the dirt beside his boot. James brought the warhammer down before it could prepare another attack, stunning the creature with the first strike and crushing the skull with the second. [You have slain an Ashmaw Jackal lvl. 7.] [Experience awarded.] James pulled the weapon free and turned toward Julie. She moved in a tight circle around the poisoned jackal, remaining just ahead of its snapping jaws while forcing it to turn repeatedly.

The injured leg dragged through the ash, and every failed attack exposed the creature's side for a little longer. The jackal James had struck at the beginning of the battle rose behind him. Julie warned him again. James spun as the animal launched itself forward, but he did not have enough room to swing the warhammer properly. Its teeth closed around the reinforced handle instead, and the creature began pushing him backward while heat spread from its jaws into the metal fittings. James stopped fighting the pull.

He stepped forward. The sudden movement drove the hammer shaft deeper between the jackal's teeth. James slid his hands toward the head, rotated the weapon, and rammed the sharpened obsidian spike at the opposite end upward beneath the creature's jaw. The point punched through. The jackal went limp against the shaft. [You have slain an Ashmaw Jackal lvl. 7.] [Experience awarded.] James kicked the corpse free and crossed the path toward Julie.

The poisoned jackal attempted one final rush, but its weakened leg collapsed halfway through the movement. James stepped into range and swung once. The warhammer broke ribs and drove the creature into the ground. It did not rise. [You have slain an Ashmaw Jackal lvl. 7.] [Experience awarded.] James looked toward the first creature thrown by Spatial Impact. It lay near the stump with its chest collapsed and showed no sign of breathing. A final blue notification appeared. [You have slain an Ashmaw Jackal lvl. 7.] [Experience awarded.] Silence returned slowly. One burning tree crackled nearby, Julie climbed onto a low branch to search for additional heat signatures, and James stood among four corpses while checking his damaged armor. His thigh bled through three claw marks, one breastplate strap had failed, and the Warpstone Warhammer's spatial rune looked substantially worse than it had before the fight.

"Still works as a hammer," James said after testing the head with both hands. Julie returned to his shoulder once she confirmed nothing else was approaching, and he felt her relief through the bond.

"Spatial part is grounded until repairs. I mean it this time." Julie's response suggested she had heard similar promises before. James ignored that. The jackals' trail continued toward a rocky rise not far beyond the ambush site. Their tracks became easier to follow where ash had gathered between exposed roots, and several sets overlapped enough to suggest the pack had used the route repeatedly. A shallow cave eventually appeared beneath a stone overhang. The smell reached James before he entered.

Burned fur, old blood, hot stone, and cooked meat filled the cramped opening, while bones covered the ground near the entrance. Several jackal skulls lay among them, suggesting the pack had occupied the cave only after something stronger abandoned the territory. Thin red roots grew through cracks near the rear wall. Orange light pulsed through them. James crouched several feet away and activated Appraisal. [Emberroot — Uncommon] [A fire-aspected root that grows near concentrated sources of elemental heat.] [May be used in medicine, alchemy, runic construction, or heat-resistant equipment.]"Now that is useful," James said as he examined where the roots entered the stone. The patch was larger than he needed, and tearing all of it free seemed shortsighted. He carefully cut three mature sections while leaving the majority connected to whatever source fed them beneath the cave. James brought the wrapped Ember Core close to one harvested section. Heat spread immediately through the hide.

The living roots still inside the cave curled toward the Core. James moved it away.

"That seems useful and dangerous in equal amounts," he said as he rewrapped the orange sphere. Julie watched the root continue leaning toward the Core's former position.

"So we are not putting the magical fire rock beside the magical fire plant and hoping nothing explodes." He used a strip of Razerilted Bear hide to create a separate carrier. A piece from one of the fire-resistant ridges reinforced the inner layer, while a thin section of Iron Fox metal kept the warm Emberroot from pressing directly against his other supplies. The construction remained crude but isolated the two fire-aspected materials and redirected most of their heat outward. A blue System message appeared.

[ACTION RECORDED.] [Fire-aspected material preserved through compatible construction.] [Class seed growth detected.] James tightened the final strap around the new carrier.

"Good," he said as he stood and tested whether it shifted against his hip.

"Now we find out whether Kevin ate himself unconscious or finally discovered that even spiders have limits." Julie sent immediate doubt through the bond.

"You're probably right," James said as they began returning toward the bear clearing. He adjusted the damaged breastplate and carried the warhammer carefully rather than resting the cracked rune against his shoulder.

"I don't think Kevin believes in limits." They reached the clearing several minutes later. The Razerilted Bear was gone. A flattened patch of bloodstained earth marked where the enormous carcass had rested. Kevin stood in the center of it and looked entirely too pleased with himself. James stopped walking. Kevin had grown noticeably larger.

The spider was now closer to the size of a serving platter than a dinner plate, with thicker legs, brighter silver patterns, and faint dark-red lines circling the joints beneath his hair. His abdomen looked heavier, though nowhere near large enough to explain the disappearance of several hundred pounds of bear. James looked at the empty ground. Then at Kevin. Then back at the ground.

"Fantasy world," James said as he crouched several feet away. Kevin raised his front legs proudly, and James shook his head.

"Of course you ate the entire fucking bear in a couple hours. Normal digestion apparently got thrown into the apocalypse too." Appraisal activated. A sequence of blue messages appeared. [Your familiar has consumed a creature of significantly greater mass and elemental potency.] [Silver Thread Spider physiology has adapted.] [Kevin's physical attributes have increased.] [Webbing strength has increased.] [Minor fire resistance acquired.] [Evolution conditions partially fulfilled.] James studied Kevin with renewed interest. The dark-red markings around the spider's joints pulsed faintly when he moved, and several strands of fresh silk between nearby roots appeared thicker than anything Kevin had produced that morning. The adaptation was incomplete, but consuming the Razerilted Bear had clearly pushed him toward some future evolutionary threshold.

"You really are a little cheating bastard," James said as Kevin climbed toward him. The spider stopped beside his boot and waited until James lowered one arm, then climbed across the breastplate toward his usual shoulder.

"I have to fight the bear. You get to eat the bear and unlock upgrades." Kevin settled comfortably into place. His new weight pulled the damaged armor strap sideways. James caught the breastplate before it shifted.

"You're going to need your own saddle soon," James said while tightening another temporary Silver Thread binding around the plate. Julie sent amused satisfaction through the bond, and Kevin appeared completely unconcerned with James's complaint.

"Laugh now. Eventually I'm charging both of you rent." Kevin suddenly went rigid. Several legs lowered toward the ground. Fine strands spread from his body across roots, stones, and soil. James felt the distant vibrations through their bond. Many footsteps. Repeated impacts. Something heavy striking the ground. James became still.

"That's hammering," he said while turning north. A narrow column of gray smoke rose beyond the trees, too controlled and vertical to look like wildfire.

"People." The word felt strangely unfamiliar after days spent mostly with monsters and familiars. James had met Thomas and Rachel briefly, but he had not stood inside a human settlement since he fell from the cliff. The smoke suggested something more permanent than a hunting group. A golden window appeared before he could decide what to do. [Tutorial Milestone] [The first human has reached Level 10.] [The first human class selection has begun.] James read the announcement twice.

Someone had reached the threshold before him. He looked down at his Level Eight hands and felt irritation settle beneath his ribs. James had never expected the entire tutorial to wait for him, but knowing another human had already begun class selection made the two remaining levels feel suddenly more important.

"Good for them," James said as he lifted the damaged Warpstone Warhammer. The words sounded less generous than he intended, and Julie immediately noticed.

"Fine. I'm a little pissed." Kevin's threads continued carrying the distant activity toward them. More footsteps moved around the construction site, and another heavy impact sounded in the distance. Whatever waited beyond the trees involved enough people to cut timber, build structures, and keep a controlled fire burning. James adjusted the Emberroot carrier. Then the Ember Core. Then the Heartwood secured beneath his pack straps. Other survivors meant information, tools, food, and possibly safety.

They also meant leaders, rules, frightened people, and the very human habit of deciding that anything valuable should belong to whoever controlled the largest group. James had worked on enough large construction crews to know that adding people did not automatically add common sense. Still, he wanted to know what had happened above the cliff. He wanted information about Daniel, Timothy, Elizabeth, and the hundreds of people he had not seen since Integration began. He also wanted to know who had reached Level Ten.

"Let's go see what they built," James said as he started toward the smoke. Julie tightened comfortably around his shoulders, while Kevin kept several vibration threads trailing behind them. James carried the damaged warhammer in both hands and moved north toward the sound of human construction.