The arrow in my shoulder pins me to the tree behind me.

  It was shot with a lot of force, too, having penetrated rather deep into the wood. It hurts, so bad.

  Jess screams. There’s a roar in the distance. My heartbeat speeds up. Adrenaline courses through my veins.

  A second passes, and Inu is in front of me. Another arrow goes into her arm, but stops before piercing through. She grunts, but I can tell that her [Resistance] is helping her.

  Opal is already on their feet, wielding a sword, while Richard stands there, stunned, staring at the wound in my shoulder. “Don’t hurt the blue one!” I say, loud enough for everyone to hear.

  There is no hesitation in Opal, who instantly changes course to charge into the darkness at the edge of our clearing. It takes Amelie a little longer to react and send her puppets after our knight. Norman appears next to me.

  “Snow.” His words are bitter, and I look at him. “This’ll hurt.”

  I [Suppress] my pain, pouring my refilled mana into it. Norman grabs the arrow and breaks it off. I move forward, feeling the shaft, made from bone, slide against the inside of my shoulder. It burns, but my face remains neutral.

  Then, I stand up. “Help Inu,” I say. Already, I twist my mana into that horrid, botched healing spell, restoring some mobility to my arm. It’s a bit better than the last time I cast it, even though it takes a chunk of my mana.

  Still. I’m not scared. There are sounds of fighting out there. Opal grunting, Thatch and Bay sprinting after them, Jess reading a spell to fire into the darkness. I solidify a piece of mana as I jog off myself.

  It’s hard to see, but I strain my eyes. Can I enhance them with mana? I push a little bit into them, and it’s crude, but it does make the world just a little clearer. Just clear enough to see a figure drawing back a bow.

  Instantly, my [Selection] reaches forward, the ethereal tendril wrapping around the bowstring. Then, [Suppression] follows, and suddenly, it snaps. I smile. The creature holding it is big, covered with fur. It has a wolfish face, with a look of ferocity on it, but no anger.

  Rather than furious or hungry, those eyes are frighteningly intelligent. It barks a few words at me that equate to some kind of insult of my power. Not strength, not at all, but just general fighting capability.

  I swap the target of [Suppression] and the wolf-alien kneels. Opal steps from the shadows, their sword swiftly descending to cut his head off. “Another to my right,” they say. “Fifteen steps.”

  [Suppression] reaches out, finding a target, and I squeeze. The alien stumbles under newfound weight, and that precious second is all Opal needs. [Bound Armament] cuts down yet another creature.

  The forest grows a little brighter when one of the wolf-things throws a fireball. Then, from behind me, Richard jumps up into the air, and swallows it.

  Just bites the flames, chomping them, her cheeks growing slightly in that hamster-like way. I look at her, she looks at me.

  “Thank you for the meal,” she says, politely.

  I nod. “Happy to help,” I say.

  At that, she smiles. Her mouth isn’t filled with teeth, not properly. It’s more… engine like? A circular opening with spinning little turbine-things all over its sides, powered in equal amounts by matter and heat.

  “We hunt, my friend,” she says.

  “Sure,” I confirm.

  Then, Richard opens her mouth, and a torrent of fire floods out. The heat pushes against my skin, blazing, and it even generates some wind, blowing my hair back. The sudden violence surprises me, but as the fires light the fur of a wolf-thing ablaze, Richard’s move seems reasonable.

  My axe whips out, putting the burning beast down. I get ready to fight more, but the mood in the forest changes.

  There is an enormous roar, and the sound of violence. Claws slamming into steel. The roar isn’t anger, it’s a challenge. A duel. I can almost hear Opal grin. “I accept!” comes the answer.

  Instantly, the fighting dies.

  The wolf creatures that were injured simply get up and withdraw. I get a better look at them, now. They’re tall, all around six feet or more, even with their slightly hunched backs, and bulky to boot. They seem strong. Their faces are snouts, like wolves, but they seem to have two maws in one. An upper and a lower one.

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  Also, they have tails. And bone-spikes along the ridges of their back, and down to the tip of their tails. They seem almost a little reptilian, the bits of skin that aren’t covered in fur instead full of tiny scales. Do they have scales beneath the fur too?

  Opal grunts in pain and the realization strikes me that I should probably be helping them.

  I walk forward, and the wolves watch me warily. Eyes trailing me. Some of them have two, some have four eyes, and their tails move a little, as if in anticipation. I move forward until I see the fight, and notice Thatch already standing there, watching.

  There is a ring of wolf-aliens around Opal and a bigger wolf-thing. Seven feet of hunched muscle, bound by fur. The creature has four eyes, one a set of blazing red, the other more orange. It does not wield a weapon, but it’s clearly a creature of skill.

  Opal and the wolf dance around each other. My friend slashes out with their sword, and the wolf uses long claws to catch and counter the blows. The alien is wearing something, though. A fingerless glove, almost, leaving their claws out but protecting their palms in layers of metal and leather.

  I hear the ringing of steel on steel, watching the way the wolves are hungrily looking on. The aliens seem strong, physically, but not ignorant of their skills. They are just as intelligent as humanity, or at least reasonably similar, I’m sure.

  Gently, as quietly as I can make it, I reach out to one of them with [Selection]. No one raises an eye. There is no reaction. For now, I just want to observe their chanting, learn their language, but… well, just in case. Just in case, of course.

  Another clash goes by in the blink of an eye. Metal grinds against metal, Opal’s blade knocked aside, and claws coming up to rend them. Mana moves within the wolf, and the other aliens are cheering for it.

  The strike moves faster, suddenly, propelled by some invisible force. Opal just barely brings their blade up, batting it off line, but not before the claws demand their pound of flesh.

  Long, scarlet lines bloom on their side, the red contrasting against their dark skin. I watch as my friend, one of the few people I care for, bleeds. Opal steps back, looking at me, and shooting me a smile. Still, imperceptibly, they nod.

  I don’t smile. My face remains entirely calm. But despite it, another tendril sneaks out. This time, I probe a wolf at the other side of the circle. No one notices. They all still chant for victory.

  At that, I focus. Richard notices as she stands by me, eyeing the wolves. Watching with all those eyes of hers as a tendril of my mana sneaks out onto the battlefield… and connects to Opal.

  I’ve been curious. If my [Suppression] works on pain, what else does it work on? Logically, suppressing pain is a buff, right? Can I suppress fear? Suppress weakness? I try it, just for a second.

  My friend’s grimace vanishes as the pain softens. That usage I’m familiar with. I can feel the way the mana twists and turns inside of me, changing to do as I ask it to. It sneaks into Opal, letting them move a bit faster, focus a little bit more.

  I have used it to [Suppress] my need for sleep, too, haven’t I. Can I do that on Opal? I try it, and the effect goes through, if a little diminished. But the vestiges of sleep vanish from their face, eyes clearing up just a bit more.

  The effects are small, but important. The wolf moves again, blazingly fast, using that skill of its. What level is it, I wonder. Nine? Ten? Does it have a class? How many skills does it have?

  Opal has two. And they’ll have to be enough. With me helping, I’m sure we could crush the wolf, but… I look at their face, and they grin. Opal is loving this. I cannot take that away from them. I refuse to.

  So, I support them. To the best of my ability. I try my trick of the crappy healing spell, and it’s horrendously weak at a distance. But it stems the bleeding, just a bit. Helps Opal’s muscles, just a bit. A tiny advantage, to help push them over the knife’s edge.

  Again, a burst of speed. Opal takes it, deflecting the attack. Then, one moment to the next, the attack comes flying right back at them.

  I’m starting to get the picture. “It’s inertia,” I say.

  Richard looks at me, confused. “What?” she asks, in that childishly raspy voice.

  “The wolf. It uses inertia, or controls speed in some variety. It’s first skill lets it speed up. I think the second one is a speed reversal. If it’s multiple skills in the same direction, it has a class, and probably a third skill that is linked to another concept,” I say. It’s as much for her as it is for Opal.

  On the cleared space, Opal nods. Their greatsword comes forward, leaving a shallow cut on the wolf’s tough hide. What else could the wolf be able to do? Speed is their specialty, and yet, there is more.

  I try to help Opal again, using more mana to [Suppress] their weakness.

  [Suppression 6 > 7]

  Or, at least, I try, but it seems that concept is a little too vague.

  The skill still works, and takes hold. Opal becomes a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, a little bit more, overall, but it feels horribly inefficient. Like using a bucket of water and pouring it all into a cracked glass, cuz my intent was too unclear.

  Still, I learn. My skill becomes more powerful, and Opal just a little faster. They move with grace, learning, growing. Another cut lands on the wolf, and it grows impatient.

  I watch as the alien’s mana moves. It spins and shifts, then floods their claws. For just a moment, they turn almost ethereal. One of their arms simply phases through the sword, the other one catching the blade.

  And then, those ghostly claws turn material again, digging into Opal’s chest. Splitting their skin, drawing blood, piercing them- and my friend vanishes. [Blinks].

  Suddenly without a target, the wolf steps too far forward in surprise, and Opal doesn’t hesitate. Their sword lashes out, cutting one of the wolf’s legs, deeply. It’s not fatal, but the fight is over when the wound lands.

  Opal steps back, wearing a huge grin on their face. “That phasing technique is fucking awesome!” they say. “What was that?”

  The wolf looks at them in shock, kneeling. Their other leg no longer supports their weight. The creature opens its maw, snarling, but it’s not in fury. It’s a gesture of respect. The wolves around us howl.

  Slowly, the classed alien lowers their head. “You best me,” it- he growls. “As the winner, I grant you my body.”

  Opal blinks. “... What?”

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