First stop was Crossroads village, the last bastion of humanity before crossing the mountain border to the snowy lands of the north. A town that would appreciate her crafts for their use and convenience. Then a four day trip to Solaris City. The most dangerous part of her trip. Between bandits and beasts she and her tames would be tested.
As Sam and the gang traveled through the small cluster of trees between her cave and the road she decided now was as good a time as any to do a little skill leveling.
The first was 'Inspect' . She activated it and looked around. It had to be close to leveling up soon. She first looked down at Iggy sound asleep between her feet. She had meant to do this earlier but it must have slipped her mind.
{Name: Ignite 'Iggy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Embercat (Stage: Emberkit)
Level: 1
Rarity: Uncommon
Tier: Orange
Health: 50/50}
'Yikes, I definitely need to get her a health boost of some kind' she thought looking next at Tempy.
{Name: Tempest 'Tempy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Stormclaw (Stage: Stormkit)
Level: 1
Rarity: Rare
Tier: Purple
Health: 100/100}
Rubbing Tempy's head she cooed at her
"A Rare Purple! Who's a big strong kitty!" Sam laughed as Tempy replied
'Tempy big and strong! Bigger that little Iggy' she puffed her chest out all proud of herself.
Iggy on the other hand, opened one eye squinting at Tempy. 'Iggy smart and warm, Tempy just…sparks' letting out an undignified snort. Attempting to show Iggy how much she can spark tried to jump over Sam to get to her.
"Ahh ahh we are family, no fighting. Especially on top of the eggs." Sam said, grabbing Tempy mid jump and placing her on the seat again. Tempy grumbled and sat back down, her tail flicked back and forth with annoyance.
Shaking her head Sam looked towards Sunblaze now.
{Name: Sunblaze 'Sunny'
Age: Adult
Species: Dawnsveil Courser
Level: 1
Rarity: Rare
Tier: Blue
Health: 120/120}
'Not bad!' she thought. She had expected her to be uncommon but the combination of cores making her a Dawnsveil Courser must have been what pushed her to Rare, being a rare breed of horse in and of itself.
Looking at the trees, animals and plants along the way was finally enough to make it happen.
{Ding! Your skill 'Inspect' is ready to upgrade!}
{Would you like to upgrade 'Inspect' at this time?}
{Yes/No}
"Finally! Yes!"
She added the skill point.
{'Inspect' is now LVL 3. New features unlocked. You can now see the two highest stats (if applicable)}
Looking back at Tempy…
{Name: Tempest 'Tempy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Stormclaw (Stage: Stormkit)
Level: 1
Rarity: Rare
Tier: Purple
Health: 100/100
Highest stats: Vitality (10) Instinct (9) }
Confused she asked Jarvis what the Instinct stat was
{"Again, your lack of curiosity for some things and over abundance for others is sometimes shocking"} Jarvis replies {"There is a new section to your S.I.S.T.E.M. screen you should really check out. Though I suppose opening the section you want right away and not having a need to state S.I.S.T.E.M would do it…plus with your inspect skill… this is my oversight."}
Wondering what he was blabbering on about Sam thought S.I.S.T.E.M. and low and behold there was a new shiny option. Tame Interface.
Opening it, what appeared in front of her was a list of her tames, their profiles, and a description of their particular integration species. Opening Tempy's revealed everything.
{Name: Tempest 'Tempy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Stormclaw (Stage: Stormkit)
Level: 1
Rarity: Rare
Tier: Purple
Experience: 0/100
Health: 100/100
Mana: 80/80
Mana Control: 9
Mana Regen: 8mp/sec.
Stats:
Vitality: 10
Strength: 7
Wisdom: 8
Instinct: 9
Skills:
Active skills:
Static Pounce LVL 2 – It dashes at a target, dealing minor damage and briefly shocking them (1s stun on crit)
(Remaining Skills Locked Until Evolution)
Passive skills:
Electrified Whiskers LVL 1 – Slightly increases dodge rate due to static-boosted reflexes
(Remaining Skills Locked Until Evolution)}
{"Beasts work a little different than humans. For starters most of the stats you have, are combined into Instinct. Agility, Perception, and Intelligence are instinctual for animals. Vitality and strength go hand in hand, the stronger they are the healthier they are. Charisma and Luck are humanoid concepts and not included. They also don't have access to their S.I.S.T.E.M. They don't have an inventory, they don't collect coins so they don't need a store, and they communicate with each other the old fashioned way so no community. They also don't need quests since survival is their only 'quest'. Not being able to read is also a factor."} Jarvis joked. {"They also have their stats increased by just living. This is where tamed beasts differ. Once tamed you get to allocate their stat points now. For each level they get two points. Their skills upgrade much like your basic general skills, through use."}
Next she checked Iggy's profile
{Name: Ignite 'Iggy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Emberkit (Stage: Emberkit)
Level: 1
Rarity: Uncommon
Tier: Orange
Experience: 0/100
Health: 50/50
Mana: 70/70
Mana Control: 8
Mana Regen: 7mp/sec.
Stats:
Vitality: 5
Strength: 4
Wisdom: 7
Instinct: 8
Skills:
Active:
Ember Nap LVL 1
The ability to keep you warm while providing a health regen, it also slows fatigue effects. One minute provides a 5% increase.
Mana cost: 5/minute Duration: Variable
(Remaining Skills Locked Until Evolution)
Passive:
Living Heater LVL 1
Handy in colder climates, this ability keeps you warm regardless of environment.
(Remaining Skills Locked Until Evolution)}
Sure, her stats weren't the best at the moment but a little training would help. Plus leveling would improve a lot of weaknesses.
Almost like the S.I.S.T.E.M. was listening…
{Ding! Your tame Iggy has leveled Ember Nap to LVL 2}
{Ding! Your tame Iggy has leveled Living Heater to LVL 2}
"Way to be an over achiever Iggy" Sam said leaning down to pet her head. "So Jarvis, I'm going to assume Iggy's main level won't rise unless she's in combat with me and shares the XP? Like with the wolf?" She asked, looking back to the road watching for any threats.
{"Actually, if you look at the top right corner you will see the balance of your Beast Bank."}
"Beast Bank? What, do they get paid?" Sam joked
{"Not quite, this is a feature exclusive to the Beast Tamer.
Beast XP Bank:
Level: 1
You can allocate a percentage of XP points for newly found tames who, while a low level, have excellent possibilities or skills you need. Or have skills that don't inflict damage to enemies. You can then add a portion of banked XP to raise their level.
Max XP: 100xp
The higher the level the more XP you can bank and levels you can upgrade.
Essentially, when you fight only you will receive XP. You can allocate how much is automatically or manually sent to the bank. After 10 uses the level will upgrade to double its last amount. 100xp for LVL 1, 200xp for LVL 2, 400xp for LVL 3 and so on. You can allocate a percentage, a specific amount, or as most do, choose MAX.
This will fill the bank to its maximum XP. It's convenient for low levels, as your bank would consistently be full. This is also one of the few skills that can be upgraded without having to gain knowledge in the skill…since there isn't really anything more to learn about it. So your are free to use your SKP on it anytime."}
"Does it only work for XP gained in the moment or can I sacrifice my own to level them up too?" Sam asked
{"This only applies to gained XP, you cannot give your own."}
"Alright, then let's add some skill points." Sam said looking at the points she had, she could spare a couple. "How many to bring it to LVL 3"
{"It is similar to how you gain SKP's, the first two levels take one SKP, the next two levels take two, then three and so on. It would cost a total of two SKP"}
{Would you like to upgrade Beast XP Bank to level 2?}
{Yes/No}
"Yes" she said and her SKP dropped to 74.
{You're Beast XP Bank is now level 2, you can bank a max of 200xp. Would you like to add another SKP?}
{Yes/No}
"Yes"
{You're Beast XP Bank is now level 3, you can bank a max of 400xp. Would you like to add another SKP?}
{Yes/No}
This time Sam said no.
{Your remaining SKP balance is 72}
"Set the XP allocation to max please Jarvis"
{"Done"}
She stopped the cart and stepped off, telling her tames to stay put as she walked into the woods on the edge of the road. After searching for a few minutes she spotted one of her nemesis…a squirrel. She narrowed her eyes looking for any other ones. It was alone…good. She withdrew her arrow and shot it clean through its evil little skill killing it instantly.
{Ding! You've killed a LVL 4, Common, Orange Mossbellysquirrel}
{+140xp sent to Beast Bank}
{"Seriously? Is this going to become a 'thing' with you now?"}
"It was simply an opportunistic coincidence." Sam said, walking over to grab her arrow where it was stuck to the tree. She grabbed the core on the ground and the rest of the loot and walked back to the cart. Getting back on, she instructed Sunblaze to continue on.
Sam opened the Beast Bank window. Under the balance were the names of her tames with little plus signs, the amount of XP they each had and another section that said 'enter XP amount to allocate' she could enter whatever amount she wanted and then hit the plus sign to add it.
Entering 100xp she then hit the plus sign. She turned her eyes to the tame profiles. She looked towards Iggy's name. At the bottom was now a button that said 'Level Up'. She pressed it and Iggy glowed for a few seconds and then it died down.
{Ding! Your tame 'Iggy' is now level 2}
{'Iggy' has gained +2 STP and +1 SKP}
Sam put the STP into vitality immediately and raised Iggy's health to 70HP. She'd be doing that for a while. As well as Wisdom and Strength. At least until they were on par with her Instinct.
Happy to see it worked like she thought, Sam sat back, placed a hand on Tempy's head and gave her some ear scratches. This would work out well. Now she just needed to go out hunting.
"Hey Jarvis" Sam said
{"Yes Sam?"} Jarvis immediately replied
"Can I only send combat XP, or any XP?" She questioned, she got a lot of XP from crafting, she'd be able to send quite a bit.
{"It only applies to combat XP unfortunately. It's supposed to signify their part in combat. Since you have a Beast Bank the XP isn't divided among your 'party' because the tames are essentially an extension of you."}
"Again, one of those things that makes sense in the weird logic of this world."
The cart creaked softly as it rolled over the worn remains of the dirt road, the path half-swallowed by time and wild growth.
Cracked earth peeked through the thin layer of encroaching moss and weeds, the old track barely more than a memory beneath Sunblaze's steady hooves. The great steed moved with quiet grace, each glowing hoofstep kicking up faint golden dust that drifted behind them like fireflies at dawn.
To Sam's right, the forest leaned in, familiar and dense. These were the hunting grounds she knew—the tangled woods where shadow and sunlight played across ferns and bark, where creatures both wild and wary watched from between the trees. The scent of damp earth, pine, and distant rain clung to the breeze.
To her left, the land changed sharply. A thin line of wind-bent trees marked the boundary where the forest gave way to rising stone. The mountains loomed close, their bases a broken collage of rock, scrub, and stubborn plants clawing for life. Farther ahead, the peaks climbed ever higher, dark silhouettes against the pale morning sky, dusted faintly in snow and silence.
Tempy sat beside her, tail flicking lightly as storm-swirled eyes scanned the roadside with uncontained curiosity. Iggy had curled atop the wooden crate between Sam's boots, her ember-hued fur casting a gentle warmth up through the slats. The makeshift incubator gave off a subtle warmth, shielding fragile hope within.
The road stretched ahead, lonely and quiet, untouched in six years—ever since the village it led to vanished into ruin. Now it carried only her, her companions, and the soft echo of what once was.
As the hours passed, they drew closer to the village. The old dirt road beneath Sunblaze's hooves had seen little use in years—abandoned after the fall of Sam's original village. Now, only wind and time traveled that path. But eventually, it joined a more well-worn route—one that branched south toward Solaris City. And with it came the stirrings of civilization.
People were on the move. Carts trundled forward under the weight of merchant goods, surrounded by hired guards in mismatched armor. Weary adventurers returned from the north, shoulders hunched, blades dulled by use. Others, cloaked in heavy furs despite the warming weather, made the long trek toward the frozen reaches beyond Crossroads. Their pace slowed as the village came into view.