I pull out of Tarra’s internal matrix when it seems like the changes are coming to a natural close. Opening my eyes, I realise that at some point in my contemplations, Tarra has woken up and is staring at the ceiling with a rapt expression. I don’t think she’s realised that I’ve returned to paying attention to the physical world; perhaps she didn’t realise that I had stopped in the first place.

  She’s staring into the far distance, and I almost see her brain forming new neural links as I look on. Her mouth is slightly open; her eyes are wide with awe.

  It all makes sense, she clicks so quietly that it counts as a whisper, even her mental voice barely present.

  She places her hand on my arm and I’m a little alarmed when I feel her magic crawling through me. Instinctively, I resist, pushing at her magic with my own. I’m reassured when I realise how easy it is to deny her magic purchase within me, even if the attempt garners me a disapproving look – Tarra’s eyes focus on me for the first time since I gave her the stone, their expression chiding.

  I am trying to heal you, she tells me petulantly, a tone that I don’t usually hear from her. I raise my eyebrow at her, pushing a sense of question at her, a sort of ‘why should I let you?’. She sighs and stops pushing at me. I suddenly understand so much more, she tells me with a more normal tone. I wish to practice what I have learned before I lose my inspiration.

  I eye her for a long moment before relaxing and giving her a nod to continue. The fact is that my ability to resist her shows I can take control of this situation whenever I want. No doubt a consequence of our Bond. Why not let her explore her new realisation?

  The magic crawls into me again. It still feels very odd. Not uncomfortable, but…foreign. I don’t remember any of my Bound complaining about this feeling when I’ve sent my magic inside them to heal, but perhaps they just aren’t as aware of the magic inside their body as I am.

  Either way, it feels a bit like ants crawling over my skin, but instead through my veins – itchy, and vaguely worrying. But I follow the magic carefully and see no signs of it damaging anything. Actually, it’s doing the reverse.

  My apprehension turns into interest as I see it doing something I would have never considered. Instead of healing in the way I do, with my magic directing the different facets of the body to come back together, it’s pushing healing magic into my cells and somehow making them healthier.

  Micro-stresses on my cells which I hadn’t even noticed are smoothed out, old cells are regrown, and everything is made just a little more robust.

  When Tarra pulls her hand away what feels like hours later, she looks tired in the light shed by her rune-carved beast Core. I pull a mirror out of my Inventory and inspect myself – the mirror was challenging to make, requiring me to use Fire-Shaping and Earth-Shaping in concert, and then Metal-Shaping to coat the back of it in a reflective substance. Though it’s far better than non-magical primitive techniques could create, it’s not a perfect mirror – there are too many bumps and bulges for that. But it’s enough for me to notice something: I have no wrinkles.

  No beginnings of frown lines between my eyebrows, no stress lines circling my eyes. I have a baby face that makes me look more like I’m seventeen than twenty-seven. Probably twenty-eight by now, actually – I’m sure we’ve passed January on Earth. But my face certainly doesn’t show it.

  I pinch a section of skin and release it. It snaps back with an elasticity that speaks of youth – and health. I’m practically glowing.

  Looking up at Tarra, I raise my eyebrows.

  “What did you do to me?”

  Your skill taught me so much, she confesses eagerly. I hadn’t realised how everything is made up of much smaller parts. Perhaps I should have – the earth looks like it is whole, but is made up of tiny fragments which we can feel when we rub it between our fingers, and any leaf is made of smaller and smaller veins that show if it’s held against the light. Why would our bodies be any different? I sent my magic through all the fragments of your body and gave them the magic to heal themselves. She suddenly looks uncertain. It has helped, has it not?

  “I think so,” I admit honestly, turning my arms this way and that to look at them. They’re absolutely blemishless. Even the faint scars that I had from before I came to this world – childhood injuries, mostly – have vanished. It’s like I’ve been made anew. And interestingly, while I was following Tarra’s magic through my body, I noticed that even if I don’t have scars from the injuries I’ve sustained in this world and healed with magic, there were still traces left within my body that I hadn’t been aware of. Her healing wave seems to have wiped those traces away completely.

  I return my gaze to Tarra, seeing that her eyes have regained that far-away look to them.

  So much that I was not aware about. So much that will help me. Then her gaze focusses on me, far more intent than I was expecting. I’m going to Evolve.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “What? Now?” I ask, slightly startled. I was hoping that Flesh-Shaping might help Tarra to do so, but I wasn’t expecting it to be immediately.

  Yes. Now. I know why I was blocked; I was too limited. I was dealing only with what was, not what could be.

  With that cryptic comment, Tarra climbs to her feet as quickly as I’ve ever seen a samuran do so, and strides towards the exit. Climbing through it with a deftness which speaks to the number of times she’s done so, she takes two steps away and then pauses.

  By the time I’ve pulled myself through the hole and stood up, I see Tarra staring up at the two moons overhead – both crescent moons currently and separated by only a small section of sky. There are few clouds blocking the view of the heavens so the stars sparkle in the night, lighting up the deep blackness of the sky.

  They’re reflected in Tarra’s eyes for a moment before she closes them as the sparks of green start emerging from her chest.

  I pull out a comfy chair from my Inventory and sit back, happy to spend a little time staring at the beauty of the cosmos and the fireworks of the Evolution happening before me.

  Despite the quiet of the village indicating that it’s long past sunset, I still hear the faint press of scaly feet upon the dirt of the ground. A warm, feathery body presses itself against my leg even as a head bigger than my own descends to press heavily on my shoulder.

  My fingers find Bastet and Lathani’s heads without me needing to look and they both let out content sighs as my fingers find their favourite spots.

  Storm and Ninja are next, though Ninja is so quiet that I don’t even realise she’s there until she’s butting at my elbow and demanding scratches like her pack-mates. My ears and Inspect tell me that more and more are rousing, either the feeling in the air or their companions telling them about the events.

  In dribs and drabs they arrive to encircle us. I don’t know whether it’s the solemn beauty of it, but if anyone speaks, it’s in a quiet murmur that doesn’t carry even in the night’s calm. Even the denizens of the forest beyond seem to have reduced their night-time chorus, or perhaps that’s just my perception.

  A lizard-like head pushes through the Storm and Bastet to lay itself on my lap, and another one nudges at my knee. I definitely need to practice growing extra arms to stroke all of my Bound at the same time – that or risk them getting too jealous of each other.

  A delicately-clawed paw rests on my shoulder and I spare a glance to see River staring at the ball of deep green mana that encircles Tarra.

  She thought she’d never Evolve again, River murmurs to me quietly. Even after Wind-whisperer succeeded and proved it was possible, Herbalist thought that she was too weak. That her abilities, useless in direct combat, would limit her forever.

  “Perhaps she just needed a different perspective,” I offer just as quietly.

  Perhaps.

  We stand vigil for the Pathwalker breaking through her own limitations in a way that no amount of Energy can ever match.

  I think I fall asleep like that, surrounded by my companions, embraced by the endless night sky and the warmth of a summer night. Perhaps I merely go into a state much like Meditation where time slips by unnoticed and unremarked.

  All I can say is that the dawn is lighting the horizon when the sparks around Tarra fade. Like Windy, she’s grown slightly and her body looks sturdier. Her claws are even shorter, though – if she cuts them a little bit, her fingers will look almost like human ones. Not exactly since the claws are actually an extension of her bone structure rather than connected to a nail bed like mine. But they’re short enough that they don’t even cover the whole of the flesh at the end of her fingers now. And, of course, she has a patterning of deep green mana lines all over her body which mimic her internal matrix.

  For the first time, I wonder why they Evolve to practically show their hearts on their sleeves – Kalanthia didn’t want to tell me about her Energy channels for fear of making herself vulnerable, yet here are the Tier three Pathwalkers who have them patterned onto their skin. Perhaps there is another advantage to it – could it make the internal matrix more robust? Or improve Energy absorption? I decide that if I have time, I’ll investigate.

  But not now. Right now, I access my Bound tab and pull up Tarra’s information.

  Impressive, I comment to myself. Her health is the best out of everyone in the village. Kalanthia still has significantly more than her, but she’s so far beyond any samuran that the comparison is almost irrelevant. Tarra beats Kalanthia for mana, though. In comparison with Windy, Tarra has better physical stats, but less mana by around two thousand points. Which should be a significant amount, but when it’s less than a fifth of either of their mana pools, it’s not too dramatic a difference.

  As for her abilities, she’s kept Flesh-Shaping, but Transmutation seems to have become Healing Transmutation and Healing Infusion has become Energy Infusion. She’s also picked up two Inspect skills, which should help her learn more about how things work.

  All in all, it’s a good change, and as I close the screen and watch Windy and Flower be the first to congratulate their sister, I feel satisfied. With Windy’s combat power, Flower’s growing and building powers, and Tarra’s healing powers, I feel like the village is being left with the skills they need to succeed even without me here. And with Flower and Tarra now able to override Windy’s more selfish tendencies when it comes to the village, I’m less worried about the petulant ‘Enlightened’ Pathwalker undoing everything I’ve built just out of spite or desire to put herself first.

  I don’t doubt that there will be changes, but I’m confident that both Flower and Tarra will do their best to make sure that the changes are right for the village, not just one person.

  Smiling, I caress the heads of my beast companions and then push myself out of my comfortable chair. Time to congratulate her myself.

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here