This is definitely not like my binding with Gnat.

This was my first thought. By comparison, that had felt like a cheap parlor trick—and likely had been, one crafted by Erebus to fool the lowly newbies he’d trapped in his web.

The next thing that struck me after reviewing Ghost’s profile was her potential. While the pyre wolf lacked my versatility, employed correctly, she would effectively double our combat strength. Yes, Ghost wouldn’t have her own attributes and yes, it was disappointing that she would share my ability slots, but these deficiencies were offset by her skills—her unique skills.

They complimented my own nicely. Even better, magma maw would give my familiar access to magic—something I lacked myself—and it didn’t matter that it was only touched-base fire magic, adding any sort of magic to the mix could be game-changing.

Then, there were her ash armor and stygian claws skills—both would make her a formidable tank. Ghost’s armor gave her three different types of damage reduction, making it superior in every way to my leather armor skill. More importantly, I expected her own attacks would bypass her foes’ defenses. There couldn’t be many fighters out there—or mages for that matter—who were armored against necrotic damage.

Her telepathy, I was less certain about.

Not because I doubted the power of the skill, but because its abilities would eat away at my own much-prized Mind ability slots. If Ghost and I both specialized in Mind, we would quickly run out of slots.

But things were different when it came to Ghost’s Magic and Strength abilities and, to a lesser extent, her Constitution ones. I had little use for those slots myself, and my first instinct was to have Ghost focus her development in those areas.

Still, I hesitated.

There was another consideration to keep in mind: Ghost’s Class points. They, more than our shared ability slots, would limit her advancement, especially seeing as how she would only gain one Class point every twenty levels. The other complication, of course, was that Ghost’s Class points were also necessary to increase her remaining lives.

This all boiled down to one simple fact: Ghost could not develop as many abilities as I did. At most, she would be able to specialize in two, or perhaps three, abilities.

But there’s no need to decide what those should be right now.

In fact, given how precious my familiar’s Class points were, it made more sense to wait and see how she performed in combat before making a decision about her abilities. Really, the only thing Ghost desperately needed was more lives.

And for now, that’s what I should focus on.

Ghost already had three skills and three abilities, all of which were currently usable, and until she advanced her skills a bit more, there was little point in investing further in her abilities.

It had also not escaped my attention that Ghost’s telepathy was at rank five and not rank zero like the rest of skills. Additionally, her telepathic abilities were already at tier two. It didn’t make Ghost combat effective, not by a long shot, but it did give her a solid means of dealing damage, especially if she combined her astral bite ability with the magma maw skill.

Rubbing my chin, I pondered my reasoning a bit further. Increasing Ghost’s lives and saving the rest of her Class points for later seemed the smart choice. I nodded decisively.

That’s what we’ll do—my eyes drifted to the left where Ghost was sniffing the basilisks’ corpses—assuming she agrees.

“Ghost,” I called out aloud, “come here, please. We have much to talk about.”

✵ ✵ ✵

Ghost had no objections to my plan.

After discussing her profile with her, I got the distinct impression that all the Game ‘stuff’ left her feeling overwhelmed, and she was content to focus on the abilities she already had rather than acquiring more.

Which was fair enough, I supposed.

Turning my focus inwards, I called up Ghost’s Class upgrade interface.

Your familiar may advance her Class to rank 2 at this time. Class points available: 11. Do you wish to proceed?

I signaled my intent to do so, and a list of benefits appeared. Amongst them was the one I was looking for.

New benefit: born again. This trait grants your familiar 1 additional life.

Seems simple enough, I thought, and selected the trait twice on Ghost’s behalf.

Your familiar has been awarded 2 additional lives. Total lives remaining: 3.

Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 9.

Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 3.

“It’s done,” I said, opening my eyes.

Ghost wagged her tail. “That means I don’t have to go back into the Cloak, right?”

My lips twitched upwards. “Correct,” I murmured.

“Perfect!” she barked.

“One more thing… Your diresight ability, I see it gives you the ability to read minds. How does that work?”

“Like it always did, I suppose. When I was a spirit being, whenever I wanted to see what someone was thinking, I would draw close to them and delve into their minds.” I sensed her mental shrug. “Sometimes it let me see their thoughts, other times it didn’t.”

I rubbed my chin. “How close did you need to get?”

“Close enough that if I had physical form, I could’ve stretched out a paw and touched them.”

“Touching distance then,” I said, disappointed by the range of the ability. Then, something else occurred to me. “What about when you’re unmanifested? Can you use diresight then?”

Ghost pondered the question for a moment. “I don’t think so. When I’m in the Cloak, I’m also cut off from my abilities.” She tilted her head. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, just an idle thought,” I said. “If you could use diresight while in the cloak, then you could read my mind and know what’s happening around us. That way, you’d feel less disconnected from the world.”

“Oh, I don’t need diresight for that,” Ghost replied easily. “Since you completed the spirit binding, I can sense your thoughts like I used to before.”

I blinked. “So, you can see and hear what I see while unmanifested?”

“Yes,” she replied happily.

“Ah. That’s alright then.”

Turning about in a circle, Ghost dashed off to the left. “Oh, I almost forgot! I found something.”

Shaking my head ruefully—Ghost had moved on from her transformation and its implications quicker than I had—I followed the excited pyre wolf.

Ghost didn’t lead me far, just around the corpse of the nearest basilisk.

Concealed behind it was a silver box.

A loot chest, I thought. Quickening my pace, I strode forward and flipped the lid open without ceremony. The loot box was only silver, the lowest value chest I’d yet found in the dungeon, but that was to be expected considering I was now of the same rank as its denizens and was an apt reminder of how far I’d come since entering Draven’s Reach.

Peering into the chest, I inspected my rewards.

The target is a piece of enchanted mosaic.

The target is a greater attribute gem. It grants you 3 attribute points.

The target is the rank 4 familiar’s collar: shadow’s friend. This item has been enchanted to increase your familiar’s stealth skill by +4 ranks and requires a minimum Dexterity of 16 to use.

I sighed. Silver chest notwithstanding, I’d really been hoping to find another upgrade gem. My sneaking was nearly at elite rank, which meant gaining a true invisibility ability was almost within my grasp. Sadly, it was not to be—not yet, anyway.

But who knows, maybe I’ll find something else to fight soon. I was not hopeful though. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the rest of the chest’s contents.

The mosaic piece, I eyed thoughtfully but left it where it was. I could only assume from its appearance that the dungeon had begun resetting and it got me wondering.

How long until a new sector boss appears?

Draven’s Reach had an exceptionally slow respawn rate, so it could be days yet, or even weeks.

Not my problem, though, I thought, shrugging away the matter. I was sure Farren and Adriel would have worked out the implications for themselves. The pair likely already had the lich’s court on alert and were more than capable of dealing with any new ‘boss’ that appeared on their own.

Picking up the attribute gem, I activated it.

Greater attribute gem used. You have gained 3 attribute points.

Finally, I turned my gaze on the last item. “A familiar collar,” I murmured, retrieving the jewel-studded metal ring. The collar was interesting, not for its characteristics—they weren’t of much benefit to Ghost; she lacked the sneaking skill to begin with—but for what its existence implied.

Familiars could have their own gear.

I couldn’t help wondering, though, what would happen to the equipment Ghost wore when she unmanifested. Would the gear accompany her into the Cloak of the Reach, or would it fall off?

Only one way to find out. “Come here, Ghost.”

Padding forward, the pyre wolf looked at the object in my hand curiously. “What is it?”

“A collar for you,” I said and explained further. Reaching forward, I clasped it around her neck.

Ghost has equipped shadow’s friend, gaining +4 ranks in stealth.

“Do I unmanifest now?” she asked, looking at me with big, sorrowful eyes.

I chuckled at her exaggerated pretense at disappointment. “No need. We’ll find out soon enough when the time comes.”

The spark of delight in the pyre wolf’s eyes returned. “What do we do now then? Continue on to New Haven?”

“No,” I said, stifling a yawn. “We break for the night. I need rest, and I imagine in your new form, you are going to need sleep too. We’ll keep watch in shifts.”

✵ ✵ ✵

I woke early the next morning and immediately went about finishing my remaining chores. Extracting the alchemy stone from my backpack, I placed it inside one of the basilisk’s bodies, and while I waited for it to collect the corpses’ reagents, I saw to my newly acquired attribute points.

Your Perception has increased to rank 56. Other modifiers: +4 from items.

Your Strength has increased to rank 14. Other modifiers: +8 from items.

When I was done, I had twenty free Perception ability slots—enough to advance my facial disguise ability to rank five, not that it was ready for that, but it was good to be prepared. The last attribute point I added to Strength, more for Ghost’s sake than my own; the additional Strength would help with her claw attacks.

After the alchemy stone finished, I picked it up and stored it away.

New ingredients acquired: 4 x orbs of petrification.

I turned to Ghost. “Ready?”

She bobbed her head vigorously. “Always.”

“Then, let’s be on our way.” Facing northward, I began walking.

✵ ✵ ✵

A few hours later, we reached the northwestern rim of Draven’s Reach and the isolated gorge containing New Haven.

Pausing at the edge of the sheer cliff enclosing the city, I studied the scene before me. As expected, the nether fogbanks were gone. Nor were there any lurking stygians.

I frowned. So why are the surrounding farmlands empty?

As long as the city’s fields had lain fallow, I would have expected them to be bursting with farmers trying to salvage the remaining crops. But I spotted no one outside the city walls. Not a single soul.

Perhaps it’s the city’s night-cycle.

I wasn’t convinced, though.

“Is something wrong?” Ghost asked.

“Perhaps,” I murmured. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” I glanced at her. “It’s time.”

The pyre wolf lowered her head. “Do I have to?”

I nodded. “The last time Taim was in the city, he was unaccompanied. Your presence will raise eyebrows, and we don’t want that.”

Ghost sighed but didn’t object. We’d discussed the matter already, and she’d agreed she couldn’t openly accompany me in the city. I knew how much she hated returning to the Cloak, though, so I didn’t rush her.

The issue wasn’t just Ghost’s now very-visible presence—one most would consider disturbing and frightening. It was also the pyre wolf’s level. I’d analyzed her after disguising myself as Taim. Unfortunately, facial disguise did nothing to conceal her level—just my own—and my inspection had revealed her true rank.

Which was a problem since Taim was supposedly level two-hundred and forty-seven.

I could, of course, explain her away as my companion or ally since analyze had not revealed her to be a familiar, but doing that was unnecessarily complicated when there was a much simpler solution at hand.

Still, Ghost’s form was distinctive and hiding her away was not a long-term solution. I would have to consider more deeply how to go about disguising her in future.

Ghost has cast unmanifest.

At the arrival of the Game alert, I glanced at the spot the pyre wolf had recently occupied and caught a glimpse of a few trailing wisps of smoke.

“Thanks, Ghost,” I murmured, studying the ground intently. No familiar collar lay there. I guess that answers that. I turned back to New Haven. Time to find out what’s been happening while I was away.

Equipping my cat claws, I dropped down into the gorge.