Bonded Summoner

Jake and Fhesiah cleaned up the table, listening to Ophelia gab with Tanda over at the computer, with Bloodberri watching in interest and giving their input. Ophelia really enjoyed the ritual, not only Tanda’s meeting him half-way, but also Jake’s modification. Rather than him dancing, he used his Hearthfire and magic to make a unique presentation of his capability.

He had practiced both the ‘song’ and his magic dance prior, and had actually moved forward in his understanding of the Hearthfire as a result. It wasn’t enough to bring the skill to level four, but he was excited about what he would eventually be able to do.

While Ophelia had the Hearth of Hestia ability, she was converting her health, mana, and stamina, and being assisted by the Framework in order to create the effect. Jake’s hearth flames from his divine hearth were essentially the same thing, but they were not being assisted by the Framework or the goddess.

One could see hearth control as a sort of energy manipulation, but for his divine hearth only. For that reason, using the flames was sort of like spell-forms, for him.

By shaping the hearth flames a certain way, he could essentially recreate the spear of Hestia ability, except: it was like the spear of Jake’s hearth, ability.

With only level 3 in Hearth Control, he really could not produce a spear nearly as rapidly or with as much effectiveness as the spear of Hestia ability, but with enough practice, he knew that he could. He could even improve upon it, and, his could be even more efficient. This was a little doubtful, though, as Ophelia’s skill in valkyrie magic would continue to improve her own ability as well.

For now, he was working on recreating his Sacrificial Barrier ability, since he could easily cast it and observe it with his [Arcane Eye], as he tried to recreate it. He already learned that as he got his hearth control skill up, he could substitute the health cost of the spell with his hearth flames, and the ability could be even stronger.

Converting the mana to different types had a cost, even if someone like Ophelia had amazing affinity with it. His hearth flames were already divine, and thus had little to no conversion, Hestia’s having slightly different properties.

Not all of his mana was the divine flames of his hearth, especially in combat. When his mana regenerated, it took time for his core to form more divine flames out of what he recovered.

He finished his kitchen cleanup, and found the two girls had already created the room and the clearing. They had attached it to their side of the hallway, wrapping it around their rooms. They spent a bit of funds for some saplings and many plants, but it was nothing substantial aside from the shrine-related fixtures.

He was lucky that the latter were affordable, likely subsidized in some way for the Refuge in general, as only his family and rare guests could access it.

The ones in the city cost large amounts of CP and Credits, as they provided many services and aided empowering a god with their faith. They were a war resource capable of producing paladins and clerics, and as such had a significant cost.

The five of them went to their new nature sanctuary, and Jake felt that the place actually seemed similar to the jungle of Highlands. The energy density in the refuge from their hearth filled the room with the vitality energy it absorbed from the void, Ophelia having paid a bit more for this option for the large room.

There was a sun in the sky that wasn’t too bright, and it truly felt like they were outside in the jungle.

Tanda had tears of joy in her eyes. “I…never imagined I could feel so at home here. This refuge of yours is a wonder. Maybe…can my room can just be in here?”

Ophelia nodded. “We could just do like a hammock in here, if you like? That extra room can just be for your wardrobe and other things, for the stuff you don’t need to fit in a storage bracelet. The reality is, once we reach Tier 2 things like that will hardly matter, as a single storage ring will be able to fit half a warehouse full of items.”

Tanda nodded, and they all walked towards the center, where the altar or shrine was created. When they arrived, Jake was quite surprised.

“Uh, what’s all this stuff?”

Ophelia laughed. “Brigid and Cernunnos have a lot of symbolism associated with them, so we kind of went a little crazy. I figured I could use even a portion of this, so I spent some of the funds I had earned from practicing my smithing lately.”

There was a strange tree, that the branches and leaves almost looked like it was on fire, along with an anvil in front of it. The leaves were filled with red and orange lights, and there was an alcove inside the base of the trunk that was lit aflame, not much more than a candle.

Jake could tell that it was in fact connected to their divine hearth, a Hearthtree. The life and warmth emanating from the tree was slight, as the tree was quite young, from what Jake could tell.

There was also a well, and two statues, much like Hestia’s. Behind Cernunnos’ statue were two large trees, one that looked like it was more from a swamp that reeked of death, and another, the largest tree, filled with life in their sanctuary. The tree did look young, and it was only large in comparison to the other saplings.

Cernunnos was more or less like he expected, looking like a satyr man with stag horns on his head, and a plant-like beard. But Brigid looked like three women, each a different race of beastkin, or demi-human.

One was a minotress, or cow parentage beastkin. The second, some sort of avian beastkin, perhaps an owl. The final one appeared to be some sort of reptile parentage beastkin, Jake guessing that of a snake.

Tanda’s tail was wagging. “This is amazing!” She looked at Ophelia. “Thank you so much for helping me with this…”

Ophelia hugged her from the side. “Of course, sister! We all want you to feel welcome, to feel at home. We know how important that is.”

Jake laughed. “That’s right. She wouldn’t have given her oath, or I wouldn’t have become a champion to a goddess of hearth and home, if we didn’t. The beastkin see the world as their home, unwilling to harm it, even for their children to not have to brave dangers. I don’t know how much time we’ll truly spend here, but we do want you to feel at home with us.”

Tanda nodded with a beaming smile and her tail wagging, and they started to set up her ritual. Jake provided a dead raptor he had personally killed, but also a boar from the battlefield to be placed on the altar.

Tanda began to pray, and then she stood, singing a song of no words, as she danced around the trees. She swung her polearm around, and the gist Jake got was it was a song praising life, and about protecting it. A few minutes into it, the sacrifices lit ablaze disappearing in a puff of smoke, and both Cernunnos and Brigid’s statues lit up.

“I accept your oath, Daughter of Timon and Dahlia. May you protect nature and life, forevermore. My husband is here, but only in spirit, so to speak. Greetings, Hart family. Thank you so much for protecting my wayward daughter, both indirectly and directly! And you, Tanda. You truly saved my husband, just like your ancestor those generations before you. For that, I have a gift.”

The Hearthtree grew, and Jake bet that it had aged dozens of years at once. What was only six or seven meters tall before, was now ten or eleven meters high now. The base of the trunk had tripled in size or more, and now the hearth inside the tree could almost compare to their hearth in other rooms.

A single seed formed on one of the branches, and it shot towards Tanda’s heart. It entered through her chest as if it wasn’t there, and Jake could see it attached itself to her heart with his [Arcane Eye].

“There. Now, you shall have a hearth of your own– should you feed that seed and allow it to grow. I bet your new mate will be able to help with that, along with his others? Until it grows, your druidic powers will be quite limited in that you will require seeds in order to use them.”

Jake reviewed the notification she received over their bond.

[Druidic Magic: Rampant Growth]

[Powered By Auril or Mana, infuse seeds with rampant growth. Different seeds produce different results.]

He saw that she had a new skill for [Druidic Magic] just like Ophelia and Bloodberri’s valkyrie and priestess magic respectively, though with only one spell it felt like a challenge for her to improve it. Perhaps, she’ll get better at using the life force. He wondered how she could use mana, perhaps once she had her hearth tree she could?

Brigid continued, “The beastkin will be able to become paladins, druids, clerics, priestesses and more, so the sooner you can get the temple with the many shrines created, the better. It won’t be the same as the classers get, but they will usually receive an iconic ability like Tanda here did, depending on the god or goddess they choose to give their oath to.”

Jake nodded. His plan was to form them as soon as he recaptured the Alliance HQ, which was only days away. He wondered when there could be actual class templates instead of specializations, and thought it had to do with the race not having completed their trial yet, but he wasn’t sure.

That information was out of their reach, for now. Humans were ubiquitous across the multiverse, among many other races like the valkyrie. They did not have the problem of being unable to select a class, even on a fringe world.

These beastkin with their auril heart were unique as a creation of their gods. For them to receive all the benefits of the Framework, it made some sense to Jake that there would be some sort of mechanism keeping them from doing so. It didn’t seem the Framework wasn’t capable enough to make something for them yet, but there was some other limitation.

Tanda was saddened, as she realized something. “I… I’m sorry my people lost your shrines and idols to history, and the enemy. It really feels like a failure on our part.”

“Do not be sorry, child. My husband was on the decline for a long time, your people are not to blame. He had long since been unable to answer your people’s prayers with reliability, his spark weakened. Instead, your people should be proud. Our enemy kicked him while he was down, targeting your people in ways that were beyond your ken. They also made it nearly impossible for me to interfere, their resources overwhelming us on other worlds. Your people defended him in ways not even the enemy could predict, and now, it shall be a triumphant return, thanks to you. I am ashamed that I had to wait for help, but there was too much at stake.”

Jake wondered how Cernunnos could have a triumphant return. In the end, didn’t Tanda just gain one divine spark, the same that was used to make her a champion in the first place? Perhaps, not all divine sparks were equal. He would have to learn more on his own.

“My time here is at an end. I shall be at the banquet in a few weeks when you meet the other gods and goddesses of Hestia and Odin’s pantheon, where we shall have more time. I wish love and happiness among you all, Clan Hart. May you have many blessings among you.”

The light left Brigid’s statue, and somehow, he felt like he received a smile from Cernunnos, despite the statue not moving outwardly, before the light left it too.

Berri said, “Are we finally going to watch the movie now? I want to see the talking snowman!”

Fhesiah said, “I’m not so sure if I’m interested in this story. Our Trial was filled with ice creatures, I feel like I will remember it too vividly if I watch this.”

Jake shrugged. “We can have a game going for those not overly interested in the movie.”

Blood said to Fhesiah, “We can play another game of Go, sister. I challenge you.”

Tanda said, “A game? Oh! That sounds like fun! I wanna play too. But, the movie sounds interesting.”

Ophelia laughed. “We play games all the time, you can just play next time we have downtime. Go is a bit advanced, we can play a game of checkers and still pay attention to the movie, if you like. It’s much easier to play.”

They sat down and watched the movie, each playing their respective games. Jake sat next to Tanda, Ophelia across from her, the checkers game on a raised platform on the couch. Blood and Fhesiah did similarly, Fhesiah next to Jake, and Bloodberri on the outside of the couch, the Go game on the arm of the couch almost floating.

Tanda had been focused on the checkers game at first, but when the singing started, she really got engrossed in it.

“This slate thing, you called it a television? It’s neat! The colors are so vivid, but why do the people look weird?”

Ophelia explained, “That’s just animation, this type made with computers, like what we made changes to the Refuge with? It’s a form of storytelling, where an artist creates a series of images that are animated, and the characters voiced by people.”

Tanda’s tail was wagging, and it even started slapping Jake’s side. “Wow! So this is another form of art. We always just act out the plays, but this is a lot more complicated. Can we make a movie?”

Fhesiah smiled at Tanda. “Jake and I make a movie just the two of us occasionally. I’m sure you can make a movie if you wanted.”

Tanda said, “You two made movies already? I’d love to see them!”

She frowned at Jake. “What don’t you do? You’re even a play actor!”

Ophelia laughed. “I wouldn’t put much praise in ‘acting’ in that type of movie. Still, that’ll have to be another time, won’t it? It’s getting pretty late.”

Tanda appeared to be checking the time in her menu. Her ears went flat on her head, and her expression darkened.

“Oh yeah. Wow, time really flies…” Jake guessed she was thinking about her long flight, him feeling a flicker of longing.

Jake said, “I know you have a long flight, but once it’s done, we should be together often, right?”

Tanda brightened, her tail slapping Jake again. “That’s right! Oh, sorry, Jake. My tail has a mind of its own…”

He chuckled. “It’s no problem, I think it’s cute. It doesn’t hurt, in fact, it’s soft. I didn’t notice that it’s kind of like fur and feathers, until now.”

Tanda blushed. “Y-Yeah. My hair is a little feathery, too.”

Jake peered closely at her hair, his face inches from hers. “And there’s a purplish hue. I thought it was just black, but it’s a little reflective, like a raven’s feathers. It’s a pretty color.”

Tanda blushed again, her tail slapping him even harder. “T-Thanks. I’m glad… You like it?”

He laughed. “Yeah, you truly are beautiful. We only have a bit of the movie left, let’s enjoy it?”

He wrapped his arm around her hip, pulling her lithe body tightly against his side. He could feel that she enjoyed his warmth, and him leading the way on this. Jake put his hand on top of hers, and they just luxuriated in the feeling of each other for a time.

Ophelia watched the two of them with a smile, before turning and watching the movie towards its conclusion.

Tanda enjoyed Jake’s embrace for a while, but eventually, the movie neared its climax. She all but stood up, her butt at the end of the couch.

As the people fought in the final scenes, it was almost like she was picturing being there, fighting them too. He felt like if she had a sword in her hand, she might be swinging it. Ophelia got into it quite a bit too, and was pretty upset with the girl foolishly ‘falling in love’ and getting engaged with a sleazeball after one visit, and singing a song about love being an open door together.

“The girl was so naive, getting engaged with that prince after that song.”

Tanda frowned at that. “But they sang their song together? I don’t see anything wrong with that, it’s believable.”

Ophelia laughed. “For you, I guess it would, huh? Well, most people don’t have a magic heart that sings too, like your people. If they did, I bet she’d have been able to feel his ill intentions?”

Tanda nodded. “I’ve definitely had some men sing their song, and feel the wrongness of it. Like they were just trying to sing what they thought they wanted me to hear.”

She grinned viciously. “I hit them extra hard during our duel, or made sure my dad did instead.”

Tanda’s ears went flat on her head, and Jake realized she was probably remembering her father. But she perked up.

“I thought my dad was dead, but Cernunnos said a strange thing. That he picked the Affliction specialization. But how could that be possible? There’s no way he initiated into the Framework, or he’d have told me.”

Fhesiah said, “Aren’t you proof there are other ways to reach out to the god? Perhaps, they can pay a price to reach out to you, instead. Bloodberri wasn’t initiated into the Framework, but she prayed at a shrine to Hestia, and was initiated in the process.”

Ophelia nodded. “When I was younger, I had read about cases where gods and goddesses did approach those on the verge of death. You’ll find that the gods related to death can make a connection in that way, too. Maybe he did die, but his soul was collected before Tartarus could get to it? It’s hard to know, but all that can be possible, if that god or goddess has a special connection to the world. Among the Celtic gods, there’s Arawn and Cernunnos himself, isn’t there?”

Tanda scratched her head in frustration. “There’s also Aisling, who infuriatingly is acting like his death isn’t a big deal! Even from the beginning! She probably knew something…”

Blood said, “Prophecies are like that, aren’t they? By saying too much, sometimes you can harm or change the path away from the best one. Perhaps she had a reason?”

Tanda sighed. “I know. My clan-mother does often know best. Perhaps, that’s why she survived, letting my dad wound the enemy so, but it’s just frustrating.”

Jake said, “Well, I hope in the end he’s okay, and you weren’t given false hope. That’s one fight I look forward to, even if I know it will be difficult, from what I’ve heard.”

Tanda and Ophelia grinned in excitement. Both were looking forward to seeing Jake’s fight.

Tanda laughed a little awkwardly, “I would say you don’t need to fight, your potential was shown differently, but I’m not so sure if he’ll see it that way… He might just fight you because he wants?”

Ophelia said, “Oh, I can’t wait to meet him! Think he’d fight me?”

Tanda beamed. “My dad, my mom, and my other clan-mothers love to fight! They’ll be more than ready to brawl! Aisling is just a little different, since her manifestation is as it is.”

Berri said, “Who cares about fighting, I want to build a snowman! Jake, tell me there’s a way to get snow in here!”

Ophelia said, “Snowball fight!”

Tanda beamed. “We always do that on Harmony Peaks! There’s plenty of snow in the winter.”

Jake laughed. “Maybe next time, we’ll set up some snow to play with.”

Berri was sad. “Oh c’mon, I don’t need to sleep, Blood can do it for me. Let’s play!”

Tanda frowned at Berri. “What?”

Ophelia shook her head, clasping Tanda’s shoulder.

“Don’t mind it, or you’ll lose. Just accept she’s different.”

Tanda sighed. “It’s so much fun here, thank you so much… I’m so glad my heart and mind finally matched, I’m so relieved. I kind of want to stay the night, but I realize I should talk to Aisling, even if I have to wake her up.”

Everyone stood up, escorting her to the door.

Jake said, “Before you go, one more thing. Now that you’re my bonded, it means you can receive my buff, even if you’re a great distance away.”

Jake cast his [Divine Reinforcement] on her, which improved everything that she was by 75%. She was filled with golden light, but it faded into her, her body, mind, and soul being covered by divine empowerment.

She shivered, and seemed to bask in the feeling with her eyes closed for a moment. Tanda fluttered her wings for a moment, and seemed to look at herself with wonder, then all the girls and Jake.

“Wow! That’s really amazing. I can even feel your heart’s songs even better. I feel so great, it feels a little like Jake’s aura.”

“This way, I can protect you a bit while you’re not with us. You’ll feel some flashes of my emotions while you’re gone too, no doubt. I can call you at a moment’s notice if you’re in danger, using my [Call Summon] spell.”

Tanda perked up a bit. “That’s so reassuring. Your power is really special!”

Jake sang, “Soar high and free, dear mate. With your winds at your back and the sky as your home. Our hearts will miss your presence among us.”

Tanda grinned, and leaped at Jake, him catching her in his arms. She planted a quick kiss on his lips, and sang, “Farewell, I am grateful for your songs, my heart will remember and be filled with joy and peace. My heart yearns to be in your presence once more.”

The girls all waved at Tanda, and she left through the portal. Jake realized that the Bond had already increased to level two, surprising him.

Fhesiah shrugged. “Those beastkin move fast, in tune with their hearts. Someone like Tanda only joining a mate when she believed they more or less found her soulmate. Brock sealed the deal with Serena and Bria on the first night. If you just gave her a necklace, you could’ve been in the bedroom by now.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes, knowing that Fhesiah was just exaggerating.

Ophelia said, “I think Tanda already knows in her heart that she will be your mate in truth, but this courtship is like a human woman’s wedding, to a beastkin woman. While if the mood matched well enough for her to go forward she would have, I think she wants to cherish this time similarly. Besides, we all know Jake would rather woo her and build up to it.”

Jake laughed. “I do, I think. It’s kind of hard to know until you’re at the moment, but when I read the first, mostly inaccurate, information about their customs, I was a bit worried. It was almost made to sound like I’d beat the girl up and take her to the bedroom. I’m sure some men might enjoy the idea, but it feels wrong to me. That it has a component of listening to their song and making sure their hearts can beat as one, like finding their soul mate, helps.”

Blood said, “I heard the more warrior or domestic type beastkin women do almost just get beaten up and taken home. They desire to have children with a strong, dominant mate. I see the appeal. Before we met Jake, I had hoped to be the one doing the beating up and taking home.”

Berri laughed nervously. “I’m really glad Jake is so sturdy! I think we would have been through a few potential husbands before we didn’t break them.”

Ophelia said, “Well, I think that went really well! Tanda feels like one of us already. So she’ll be flying south to near Kenwodi or Life’s Haven with her flock, those that are ready and able to fly along. Some will stay protecting Harmony Peaks, like Aisling. They will split up some, to deliver more nodes to different areas, trying to delegate some nodes being carried out across the continent. They’ll be targeting the largest villages and cities.”

Jake said, “And we will finish the path to reclaim the primary Alliance HQ, Life’s Haven. We’ll be cutting off as many Rifts surrounding it as we can, and rally all the warriors on foot. When Tanda’s flock arrives, we’ll assault it not long after. We should have some extra time to craft, getting all beastkin armed. Between Rookard’s pack, Vesuvius’ tribe, and Tanda’s flock, we’ll have quite the varied force.”

Ophelia said, “I’m a little worried that Tartarus will have enough time to move pieces such as another Champion, but it hasn’t been overly long. They had hoped to cut us off on Ariminum from making it here on time, but they failed. My understanding is it takes time for them to move their resources, just like us, so I do think our best shot at getting this HQ back is now. Going for this one instead of the smaller one is probably for the better, that’s my gut feeling.”

“I think you’re right, sister. Now come, husband. Let me remove the sleep from you, just a few more nights of this to go. The rest of having a good time as a family has come to an end, unfortunately.”