When I got to the exit, there were only two guardsmen waiting for stragglers and the rear guard. I could hear the rear guard not far behind me with angry griffons.

  “Straight through,” Joe said, “the Sarge will have a camp nearby.”

  As I ducked into the tree with the exit gate, I saw Alistern, Zeek and Suda all make a run towards us. Then I was through, and instead of coming out into the world, I was in a room with only one door. At one end of the room were three chests on a raised platform.

  The first thing I did was lower Tāwai to the ground and check his wing.

  “Trial reward? Trial reward with potions?” he said, stating what I should have known. The reward chests probably had healing potions.

  I limped forward carrying Tāwai. The left-hand chest was covered in brightly coloured parrot designs. The right-hand chest was in bright colours of the rainbow. The centre chest was in the shape of the completed stone tablet, and the tablet was the lid of the chest.

  We went to Tāwai’s chest first and opened it. Inside were some stones and a potion. I identified the potion as Greater Bone Mending.

  “Do you want to use the potion or keep it and wait for Austin outside?” I asked.

  “Stones? Maybe Regen?” he asked.

  I identified a stone, “Oh, this is good. It won’t fix your bones, though. It is a secondary Attribute called Graceful. It enhances Agility and Dexterity. There had better be one in my chest. This will open a lot of options for classes.” I tossed it to him, and he worked at it until it appeared on his status as Graceful: 2.

  There are two levels in it. I had better get that, especially after the burning lake cheated me out of Endurance.

  I watched as Tāwai seemed to change, and his movements were smoother.

  “Potion, potion,” he said.

  I ignored him and identified the other stone. Then, as it would not fix his wing, I handed him the potion.

  He drank the potion, and the wing straightened right out. He gave a couple of experimental flaps before taking off and flying a couple of laps around the room.

  “Faster, faster, acrobatics boosted!” he exclaimed in delight.

  I reached in and picked up the last stone, and tossed it into the air. He turned on a wingtip and caught it. It disappeared, and Farsight appeared on his Status. He let out a happy call. It almost sounded like a mating call.

  I moved over to my box. Tāwai came and perched where he could see. My box contained a Greater Health Potion, which I stored away for the future. Between my Regeneration and Tāwai’s Heal Wound, I would be fine soon.

  “Ha, ha,” I said to Tāwai. “I beat you!”

  Graceful: 3 appeared on my status, and I really felt like chains had fallen off. Everything was smoother and easier. This was going to make lock-picking a breeze. It would make ward carving a breeze. I felt faster and far, far more precise in my movements. I moved away from the chests and went through the forms for Purifying Dance, and it felt like before this, I was merely an untrained apprentice. This was fantastic, and I couldn’t wait to get out and use it. This was going to make everything I do better. EVERYTHING!

  “Pisst,” mocked Tāwai. “You only got three, as I was more graceful to start. Merely catch up.”

  “You just keep thinking that,” I said condescendantly.

  The other object in my box was different. It was obvious what it was, but I couldn’t identify it. I pulled out a pair of black leather boots.

  “Oh,” I said. “I need to bind them. Soul-bound boots.”

  I pushed some mana into them, and the connection to me happened. I used Identity on them, and I got the following:

  Mirage Boots: +5% Agility, Self Repair, Mirage Facade, Set Binding.

  I had to look deeper at what they did. Self-repair was obvious.

  +5% Agility was incredible. My Agility was at 70, so this would add three and a half. The Dance of Death boots only gave a +1. But this will grow. If I get my Agility to 100 I will have five extra. The percentages are amazing and not something you see often. It is part of why Soul Bound equipment grows with you.

  Mirage Facade meant they could change to look like any footwear I liked. This would be great for my disguises. It could also change the tread pattern. I touched them and made them look like my Dance of Death boots, and they looked exactly like them, even in their current rundown state. I checked them, and it was only in the look. They didn’t have the bone reinforcing the Dance of Death boots had. That was a shame.

  However, the final ability was also incredible. Set Binding meant they would bind with any armour set I was wearing and add to the set—they would be part of the set. If I had the Dance of Death set, they would count as the boots and give the set bonuses. This was also true of other sets. If I had two pieces of a three-piece set, the boots would complete it even if the set did not have any boots. If the set had a helmet and jacket and I was missing the bracers, the boots would count to give the set bonuses. They could only be part of one set at a time, and if I had the complete set, there was no room for the boots to be added.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “These boots are incredible,” I described them to Tāwai. I put them on, and I compared them to the Dance of Death boots. There was no armour reinforcing and no Sure-grip enchantment, but their other benefits outweighed the loss. I will get the Dance of Death Armour repaired when I can because it is a great set. I now have Graceful, and my Steady Footing has improved so I should need the sure-grip less.

  “Shall we?” I said, indicating the centre chest that represented the boss challenge rewards. Tāwai nodded.

  I opened the chest, and there were more stones. “Four Skill Points,” I said to Tāwai, “Probably two for each shard we helped retrieve.” I thought for a bit. “Maybe it was only one skill point per shard, and we got one each for the shards.”

  There were three other items in the chest. Two were small studs for piercings that were popular with the younger crowd. I tried to identify them, but nothing happened. “Soul-bound piercing studs?” I said in wonder. “They look like a paired set. Do you think they have to be worn together, or is it one each?”

  Tāwai’s head darted into the chest, and he came back with one of the studs. I watched as he fed mana into it. Through our bond, I felt a connection to the studs, and I picked up the second one. This time, it read:

  Vital Spark (Paired Studs): +5% Constitution, Life Swap.

  Just two features? The boots had four. Maybe it was the size. The constitution boost was welcome, but what was Life Swap?

  Life Swap: Sacrifice your constitution to boost the constitution of the paired soul.

  “Definitely paired and definitely one each,” I said to Tāwai. “Where do you want it to go?” I asked.

  “Hidden, hidden under feathers. Between wings?”

  I got a thin needle from the Mosquitoes and looked at his back, moving some feathers to find his skin. After the first cut on my hand, I put on gloves. His Darksteel feathers were sharp. I found a spot at the base of his neck and put the stud there to try. The stud took over and inserted itself. OK then. The feather lay back over the top, and you would never know it was there.

  “Your turn, your turn,” Tāwai chirped.

  Where do I put mine? Somewhere hidden. Soul-bound equipment can make you a target. Stealing it involves killing the soul it is bound to, and we don’t want to encourage that. I have seen a lot of facial studs. Some have bellybutton studs or breast studs, and Lady Elizabeth had one on her… let's call it the most private area. Nobody but her lovers saw that. I am not keen on that. A name like Vital Spark could be interpreted as making new life.

  I chose my belly button. It was out of the way and usually protected. The Stud inserted itself, and I instinctively knew I could send Health to Tāwai at the cost of my health, which was now 5% higher.

  I looked in at the last item in the chest. It was an ability stone, and when I inspected it, I found that it was restricted. “Mass Variation: Summons ONLY.”

  I didn’t trust Trials, and I would have liked more details, but the rewards have been beyond my expectations so far. Maybe not all Trials are out to cheat you on your rewards.

  I summoned Rob and tossed him the stone. Summons like Rob don’t usually get new abilities, although there are many different types of summons out there. Rob’s abilities scale with mine, so we will see what this one does.

  Mass Variation appeared on his Status. I looked at him. He looked at me. His tongue flicked out, tasting the air.

  “Ah, Rob, can you try the new ability?”

  Then he disappeared. What the? No, he didn’t. He shrunk. He was about a handspan in length. I squatted down, “Rob?” He was normally about 6m long, but now he is a handspan in length. The Change cost him all his Stamina, Mana and a hunk of his health. His Regeneration was kicking in, and my Rejuvenation helped.

  Over the next little while, we explored the ability. His previous size was his default size, and the more he changed, the more Stamina, Mana, and Health it cost. He could increase his size as well as decrease it. A change of the magnitude that he did to get to a handspan in length was his maximum, and that was only because of his Regeneration. He was back to full health, mana and stamina after about half an hour, so it was not without cost. Changing back costs just as much. Smaller variations in Mass have less cost, so this adds to his versatility.

  This had multiple advantages. One, I could carry him instead of putting him back in the Tattoo. This will also let him scout through small gaps, etc. More applications will need to be explored, but I liked him being out, so now I could carry him, and it was great. If he changed back to his default size, he would be ready to ride after about ten minutes, but I would not like to get into fights while he is low on resources, so he needs to pick a size before we go into fights.

  Then, the Experience Points rolled in. “Wow. I don’t know how they distribute the experience, but that is a lot.”

  Tāwai and I both went to see what we could level. I was blocked from levelling Seeker and Pilferer due to the other requirements for the class. Advance Classes are a pain in that way. However, I had plenty of kills to level up Spectral Slayer. The Experience was enough to level it twice, and some was left over for the others.

  I was tempted to put all the attributes into agility, but Mana was what I was short on. I split it between Agility and Wisdom to help the mana regenerate faster.

  I saw Tāwai boost his Agility and Constitution. He obviously didn’t like being unable to fly. We must find him a better self-healing skill, like my Minor Regeneration. Unfortunately, four skill points are not going to be enough for that. Especially as the prices kept rising.

  I never realised it, but every time you buy something with skill points, the prices go up. Minor Regeneration used to cost five points, but now it is listed as seven. You can only buy skills for yourself, so I can’t get someone else to buy them. I instinctively realised I could also buy for Tāwai, but he, apparently, couldn’t buy for me. If the Trials aren’t fair, why would I expect the gods to be? Assuming they are the ones running the skill shop.

  I looked at Tāwai. “Are you ready to head out and face everyone? I assume the academics are going to be mad at having to leave before figuring out the bonus reward.”

  Tāwai chirped.

  “What do you mean, that's my fault? It might be you they were hunting!”

  Tāwai let out a derisive chirp.

  “Dream on. Let's find out how many people got the secondary attribute. If I remember that book on classes, it is a key to opening up a lot of the elvish classes. I bet you Myantha got it.”

  Tāwai chirped negatively.

  “Chicken.”

  That got a loud, indignant squawk of protest. I grinned, and we exited the trial.