“When you upgrade your class, you’ll retroactively get half the extra stat points you would have gained based upon your current level, but if the distribution is significantly different, you might handicap yourself for the future.”

  The expression on Cami’s face must have given away that she didn’t fully understand all Modessa was saying. It was one thing to know that adventurers were faster and stronger than anyone else, but it was something else to try to determine how she would make the choices that would make her faster, stronger, or smarter.

  Modessa continued her impromptu lecture, pacing back and forth in the small room. “Uncommon classes get six stat points per level, rare classes get ten, epic classes get fifteen, and legendary classes supposedly get at least twenty-one—though I can’t say for sure. So, if we were able to get you an epic class, that would mean that because you already reached level six, you would have lost out on half of the extra twelve stat points you would have gained at each level, or as many as thirty stat points. That’s a pretty big chunk.”

  Cami nodded in understanding. She wasn’t sure how it would apply to her unique situation but Modessa added, “Also, as only a common class, you generally don’t gain any specialized skills or spells. I think you probably gain access to one academic skill at level three and a bonus when using wands at level five. But that’s not exactly inspiring stuff, is it?”

  Modessa’s head turned, and she looked towards the door like she was hearing something that Cami couldn’t hear. “I had better leave you to it, for now. At least you’ll gain more mana with the increased Mind stat. And don’t worry, I’ll come up with some options for your training. We won’t be leaving Taleia for at least three more days—even if Liam’s healing is going better than expected. That is when the boat Serius booked for us all is scheduled to depart.”

  Cami thanked her mentor for the advice and lesson and then lay down on her bed when Modessa left. The rogue had said she’d be back to sleep in the room later, and that the inn was safe and it wasn’t necessary for Cami to lock the door.

  Cami waited for her to leave before focusing inward. She had also gained a single DKP—which seemed like a rip-off, but that was because she had to split it with Nico and the threat had not been significant for him. She wondered if he gained XP or just DKP. There was so much they needed to talk about.

  For now, she looked at her options.

  You have 4,054 XP. Do you wish to apply it to the Dragon-bonded Sorcerer Class (Rare) or the Mage Class (common)?

  She smiled. That was what she’d been hoping for. She couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, but based upon what Modessa had said, it would be much better to apply the XP to her rare class. She was fifteen, so once she reasoned that out, she acted on it immediately.

  Congratulations, you have leveled up five times, and your class is now: Dragon-Bonded Sorcerer level 6 and Mage level 1.

  You have gained:

  Strength: +6

  Agility: +12

  Durability: +6

  Mind: +18

  You have 18 free stat points.

  Cami knew that Modessa had told her to save—to bank—her free stat points, but they seemed wasted that way, and the woman was only expecting her to have six free stat points. At first, the math about the stat points hadn’t made sense but then she realized what was going on. Modessa had said that level five would have double the normal number of stat points. With that adjustment, the math made sense.

  Clearly, her rare class gave her one point in STR, one in DUR, two in AGI, and three in MIND per level up. She knew she wanted to be a powerful magic user, so that made her happy—and was also consistent with the class name. But she also admired Modessa’s speed and grace, so she wanted to apply her other points to physical attributes for now.

  She’d save six free stat points but put nine of the other points into Agility and the final three into Durability. She reasoned that she needed to stay alive if she was going to become a powerful wizard and that danger seemed to follow Nico everywhere. So a boost to her HP would be good and also to her mobility.

  She also noted that she gained some further skill boosts.

  Level 2: You have gained the skill Concentration 1.

  Level 3: Your Meditation skill has automatically been upgraded by 1.

  Level 4: You have gained the bloodline skill: Dragon Claws

  Level 5: Your bloodline skill: Tough Hide has been upgraded by 1.

  Level 5: You have gained the skill: Rapid Cast.

  Level 6: You have gained the skill: Spell Swap

  Spell Swap: You may automatically exchange any of your innate spells for an innate spell known by your bonded dragon of the same level.

  Cami intended to stay awake and reach out to Nico, but the rush of her body changing under the rapid influx of all those stats was too significant for her to handle. She didn’t even see the final notification.

  By passing level 5 in a bonded class, your bond has grown to level 6. You will now share 2% of your bonded dragon’s stats, rather than just 1%.

  She also didn’t look at the other notification about the spell she had used to help save them.

  Shadow Cloak - Tier 1 spell. This spell enables the caster to cover yourself and up to one additional person per level you possess in a cloak of shadows. This will cause your targets to become harder to see even in sunlight. People not looking for you will find that their eyes slide off of you. In deep shadows, you will become truly invisible. Note that attacking any living being while under the effect of this spell will break it. This spell may be channeled if you possess that skill.

  Mana: 15 + 5 per target.

  Cast Time: 6 seconds.

  Cool-Down: 2 minutes.

  Range: 10’+1’ per level.

  ___________________

  Modessa hurried back to the others when she sensed a summons from Serius. The old mage sure got his knickers in a bunch if everyone didn’t follow his schedule. When she got down there, they were all waiting for her. It was good to see Liam sitting up. Regrowing a limb was no fun, something which she sadly knew from personal experience.

  When she sat down, they all looked at her. She just grinned. “I told you we’d find out something if we pushed on them a bit. Although, sadly, she gained five levels with just a mage class. I feel like we partially handicapped her with that. We really have to watch her and make sure she doesn’t gain any more levels.”

  Galbrecht shook his head. “I don’t get you sometimes. You are so compassionate towards her, taking her under your wing. It’s really a good look on you, but at the same time you don’t shed a tear for the twelve people killed tonight.”

  Modessa hid just how much his comment cut her to the quick. “What are you complaining about? I thought paladins liked it when criminals died. Trust me, those weren’t good people.”

  He started to say something, but Serius cut the paladin off. “You two can have your little tiff later. Right now, I want to hear about what you learned.”

  “Not a great deal, but there is definitely some kind of connection between her and Nico. She was about to share her stat page with me, but then stopped herself. I’m fairly sure she thinks it would reveal something about him, too.”

  Lisella said, “You can’t be sure though.”

  “Nothing in life is ever sure, but this is part of what I do. I read people. Just like I know you think our young mage is a tasty treat and are even more eager to become his mentor now that he’s turned eighteen. Who would have guessed he was that close and he didn’t even seem to realize it was his birthday.”

  Galbrecht looked at the priestess, “I’d be careful with him. Those men in the alley were ripped to shreds as though by claws. I don’t know how he did it, but he has some technique that allows him to copy the attacks of a beast. Who knows what that would do to a man’s character.”

  Modessa laughed. “Oh, now we get to question him. Being a wild mage wasn’t enough.”

  Serius brought his hand down on the table. “How many times do I have to tell you to keep this on task? You know what our mission is.”

  Liam mumbled, “Do the impossible.”

  Lisella said, “He sort of has a point. Even my goddess won’t tell me anything about those two. In fact, it’s almost like she is purposefully keeping me from learning about them. Even though she supported the mission to restore the dragon riders corps.”

  Serius sighed this time and looked like the old man that he was. “We all know about the ancient monsters waking in the mountains. The dwarves are either digging into their enclaves or some of them have even made their way into Forlay and Haltorst. I’d think a princess of Forlay would be extra concerned about this danger. Your family, your city are on the front line.”

  “All of Miseria’s children are my family, but yes, thank you for the unpleasant reminder. At least we captured one dragon.”

  “The runt of the clutch from what I can tell. We let the bigger one escape,” Serius replied.

  Modessa said, “Only because you wouldn’t let us cut loose anymore. That thing was hardly a newborn. And yes, I know that my sources are the ones who gave us the bad information. Trust me, I’ll be having a good long talk with them.”

  Galbrecht said, “We’re still dancing around the griffon in the room. We know that Cami has the pursuit of a dragon rider. There are still manuals at the university on how to trigger that class. Hopefully, she’ll be able to make a bond with the one we were able to capture. What we don’t know is what the double wings that Nico showed means.”

  Serius rubbed his temples. “I keep thinking I should know, but then it becomes hard to think straight. We’ll have to hope that the Archmage has better luck. Either way, we need to keep testing the boy. Lisella, if you can’t get him to accept you as his mentor, maybe we should let Galbrecht try.”

  “No, I want him… er… I mean I want to be his mentor. It isn’t often that someone comes along with his potential for divine magic. He learned that spell without any instruction just by watching me.”

  Serius sighed again, this time while also rubbing his temples. “Don’t remind me. That boy is an enigma for sure.”

  Stat Sheets - 2

  Nicosandumas

  Race: Blue Dragon

  Maturity: Adult (1% to Mature Adult)

  DKP: 2

  Length: 31’8” Weight: 12,303 lbs.

  Base Speed: 9 mph on land/108 mph in the air

  Stats:

  STR: 320

  AGI: 38

  DUR: 30

  MIND: 17

  HP: 300

  Regen Rate: 30 HP/day (49 with Cami)

  Immunities:

  Electricity

  Sleep

  Paralysis

  Resistances:

  Magic- 40%

  Physical Damage: 14.5%

  Combat Proficiency:

  Armor Rating: 32

  ATK: 26

  DMG: 2-12+14 (claws), 2-24+21 (bite), 2-8+13 (wings), 2-12+21 (tail)

  Critical Strike: 17%

  Racial Abilities:

  Breath Weapon 1: Spark storm 100’ x 10’ (12-48 damage)

  2: Lightning Bolt 300’ x 5’ (18-108 damage)

  Sprint: reach a maximum land speed of 80 mph for up to 30 seconds or maximum air speed up to 226 mph for 1 minute.*

  Sound Imitation/Ventriloquism*

  Dragon Fear 1

  Project Image (10% real)*

  Shape Change 2*

  Fabricate 1*

  Soul Space 1*

  Manipulate Sand 1*

  Concentration 3*

  Companion Bond 5*- Camille Westfork

  *- These abilities can be used in either form

  Mana: 170 points

  Regen: 1 MP/minute. (4 with Cami)

  Innate Magic Spells:

  1st Tier: 2/6

  Force Darts

  Identification

  2nd Tier: 1/6

  Lesser Regeneration - Miseria

  3rd Tier: 0/4

  4th Tier: 0/2

  ____________

  HUMAN FORM

  Nico

  Apparent Race: Human

  Apparent Age: 18

  Class: Monk/Sorcerer

  Level: 8th/7th

  DKP: 1

  Height: 6’3” Weight: 201 lbs.

  Base Speed: 10 mph

  Stats:

  STR: 80

  AGI: 38

  DUR: 30

  MIND: 17

  HP: 300

  Regen Rate: 30 HP/day (49 with Cami)

  Armor Rating: 10

  ATK: 23

  DMG: 1-8+13 (punch), 1-10+13 (kick)

  Critical Strike: 5%

  Immunities:

  Electricity

  Sleep

  Paralysis

  Resistances:

  Magic - 30%

  Physical Damage: 0

  Monk Fighting Style: Dragon

  Monk Abilities:

  Rapid Movement

  Flurry Attack 1

  Stunning Fist 1

  Meditation 1

  Stillness

  Pure Mind-Pure Body

  Make Me Whole

  Evasion

  Mana: 170 points

  Regen: 1 MP/minute. (4 with Cami)

  Innate Magic Spells:

  1st Tier: 2/6

  Force Darts

  Identification

  2nd Tier: 1/6

  Lesser Regeneration- Miseria

  3rd Tier: 0/4

  4th Tier: 0/2

  ________________

  Name: Camille Westfork

  Race: Human- draconic bloodline

  Age: 15.8

  Class: Dragon-bonded sorcerer/mage

  Level: 6th/1st

  DKP: 5

  XP: 4128/7000

  Height: 5’4” Weight: 116 lbs.

  Base Speed: 6 mph

  Dragon Bond- Nicosandumas- 2% stats, bloodline (claws**), spell share, telepathy 1000’

  Mentor: Modessa Lonerat

  Stats:

  STR: 20

  AGI: 29

  DUR: 19

  MIND: 35

  HP: 190

  Regen Rate: 19 HP/day (49 with Nico)

  Armor Rating: 10

  Resistance: All Damage - 6

  ATK: 6

  DMG: 2-4 (non-lethal)

  Critical Strike: 1%

  Skills:

  Tough Hide 2

  Meditation 2

  Concentration: 1

  Dragon Claws

  Rapid Cast

  Spell Swap

  Mana: 350

  Mana Regeneration: 3 per minute (4 with Nico)

  DBS Spells:

  Tier 1 (2/6)

  Offensive: Force Darts

  Defensive: Shadow Cloak

  Tier 2 (0/6)

  Tier 3 (0/3)

  Mage Spells:

  Tier 1- none

  Pets: Rollie and Patch- year old bear cubs. Further information is unavailable until a formal pet contract is created.

  Chapter 35 - Beginnings

  The dragon dream was new every time and yet always felt old. I purposefully willed myself into a deep sleep, bordering on hibernation. I wasn’t sure if I could actually hibernate in my human form, but I wanted to experience the dream as fully as possible.

  The dream began in a vast and ancient forest. I could feel the presence of my ancestors here and the memories that had been passed down. Then, I began to witness the memories of another. Birds sang sweetly in the trees overhead and the thick underbrush of the forest surrounded him. He could hear the leaves rustling in the wind and the roar of a distant waterfall.

  Nico had previously experienced the small forest near Cloverdale, but he got the sense that where this was, it was so far beyond that as to compare a pond to the ocean. There was nothing but a sea of green in every direction for hundreds of miles. It was always hard to know exactly what time period these memories came from, but Nico had the sense that this was one of the earliest.

  Nico stretched out in the lush grass and felt the soft ground beneath him—or rather, his ancestor did. But it felt so real, that it might as well have been his body soaking up the sun, and his life. His ancestor had been still long enough, that birds had perched on his back and rabbits were hopping around nearby.

  The thought crossed his mind to wonder what rabbit tasted like. He'd never bothered to hunt them, they were less than a mouthful, it just seemed like too much work for too little gain. Now if a deer or other larger game had been foolish enough to appear, he might have mustered up from his comfortable position to grab a quick snack.

  He closed his eyes and felt the sun warming his scales, just as it had done for generations of dragons before him. It was the same sun that warmed all of the world, but he was one of the first to arrive on this new continent. It had been a long flight across the great water the lesser races called oceans to a place called Taleian by its inhabitants.