Syl: Chapter 195 (Patreon)

Chapter 195: Exchanging Stories and Offers

"Okay..." I said with a nod. "So I guess she wants me to help you with magic because you've got [Dimension Magic], and she is the goddess of magic."

"She's the goddess of magic and chose to put me into a spider?" She asked. "Surely there were better options?"

"I guess you could have been a slime, like me?" I suggested.

"I meant something more... Human..." She grumbled.

I shrugged. "From what I understand, they wanted to test traits, and monsters were ideal for that."

She grumbled more curses.

"Okay. I mentioned this earlier, but how about becoming my [Bonded Companion]?" I offered. "I think it'd work out well for both of us."

She took a while to finally respond, clearly thinking it over.

"I'm not saying no. But I'd like some more information."

"How about I do you one better?" I replied and presented the skill for her to read.

<[Companion Bond]
Form a bond with a willing monster. Accepting the bond cannot be forced by any means.
The monster will receive the [Bonded Companion] emblem, a requirement for future companion-related skills to function.
Your [Bonded Companion] is always treated as a Party member to you. You may only have one [Bonded Companion].
If the monster lacks basic intelligence and language capabilities, it will receive an initial mental improvement and the [Universal Language] skill to facilitate communication between the two individuals.
The bond lets both individuals know one another's health status and allows greater cooperation as their bond grows. As the bond grows, further bonuses will be given.
A [Bonded Companion] still has free will; however, [Order] commands can be given to give temporary situational bonuses in extreme circumstances. The [Bonded Companion] only gains these circumstantial bonuses if it agrees with the [Order]; otherwise, it can attempt to resist with its Willpower against your own, and depending on the severity, a permanent bond penalty will be applied.
This skill has no levels.>

I gave her all the time she needed to read through it and digest the information.

"And having this [Bonded Companion] Emblem would stop adventurers attacking me?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Do you have any idea what these further bonuses are?" She asked curiously.

"Uh... There was a skill. I didn't take it... I wonder if I can still show it to you?" I murmured and started poking through my profile.

<Would you like to spend 1 Skill Point to purchase [Companion Training] Skill Points remaining 15.>

"No... I don't want to buy it," I grumbled and started mentally poking the different parts of the prompt. "Come on, display it! Ugh... What if I focus on that part? Maybe?"

<[Companion Training]
Your [Bonded Companion] receives additional skill experience when you are training them and minor additional experience for kills earned together.
Bonuses experience scales with skill level and bond level.>

"Ah!" I exclaimed happily. "Can you see that?"

She nodded. "I can. Although, like the last skill, it tells me I do not have the required class unlocked to buy it."

"Interesting... I guess that's to stop sharing skills you aren't qualified for. Well, not that I'd recommend the Monster Tamer class to you. You'd probably be good with Mage or Rogue and maybe even get the hybrid class between them. Shadowcaster was really good, in my opinion, despite the stigma."

"Syl! You're going on a tangent again!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry... I find this stuff kind of fascinating," I admitted.

"So I'd be able to get a class?" She asked.

"I don't see why not? If you're my system-registered companion and everything," I answered. "I'm a Gold-rank adventurer, so I reckon I have some clout. I could even lie and say I want to privately change my class and let you use it."

She nodded. "And it would allow you to rename me?"

"I've never done it before, but it was done to me. I might need to poke around with the skill until I figure it out."

"I don't like the whole... [Order] thing..." she started saying. "Like... At all. The idea of suddenly losing my free will is terrifying. It's why I kept rejecting your [Telepathy]. I thought it was some mind-control brainworms."

"I could swear not to use it," I began explaining. "To be perfectly honest, the person who bonded me ordered me to kill her. I can't say I was happy about the whole experience."

"What? Why?" She asked.

"She was dying and didn't want to give her essence to her killer," I explained earnestly. "There's also a whole thing where elves have an Emblem that can be passed down, but she didn't want to give it to him."

"That must have been some serious commitment. I don't think I could kill myself with the power of spite alone..." She responded and then gave the equivalent of a mental sigh. "I'm sure you're a nice slime, Syl. But I don't think I could take you on your word alone. I'd be opening myself up to a big risk..."

"I'd swear a Sprit's Oath if I could..." I murmured.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's like a super contract. There's these big magical chains that literally enforce the promised oath."

"Huh... That would be pretty convenient."

Gramps? Mother? Assuming you two are still watching this... Can I swear an oath never to use the [Order] command?

There was an awkward silence between us. Then, something shockingly appeared between us.

<You wish to swear an oath to the gods to never use the [Order] command on your [Bonded Companion]. Do you accept?>

"I just got a prompt!" I shouted excitedly.

"I got one too... I guess this is the real deal?" She asked somewhat skeptically.

"Look. I'm genuinely willing to swear on this," I admitted. "I had a warlock also try to enslave me, so I perfectly understand your fear. I like the idea of having a companion; there are benefits for both of us, and I'm in a somewhat unique position to help you. But at the end of the day, it's up to you."

"Wait, a warlock tried to enslave you?" The spider asked.

"Yeah... He was a goblin trying to become strong enough to defeat the humans or something like that."

"And I thought getting kidnapped while evolving was bad. What kind of crazy life have you been living?"

I grinned. "Well, we got time. Maybe it'll help you decide whether you want me to take this oath or not? So... Let me tell you about how I started as a little slime and nearly got killed by a little boy with a bucket."

"A bucket?" She asked in disbelief.

***

We spent a lot of time talking as I gave an abridged version of my tale. She was honestly quite dumbfounded by most of the things I had done. I couldn't help that I was quite a busy little slime.

Once I had given mine, she gave her own, although other than the kidnapping, it was relatively normal. While I had awoken as a slime pretty much on the spot, she had actually hatched as a Giant Spider (Baby) and then rapidly grew into a Giant Spider in less than a day.

Monsters really fast-track their baby program.

I would have thought she'd have been spawned using abundance essence, but perhaps that wasn't feasible then, or Mother had another reason for using a more regular form of birth.

She had only a few siblings who had tried to eat her at the time, and she had to kill them to live. It was somewhat reassuring that I wasn't the only one dropped into immediate danger upon first awakening.

It took her days to get more accustomed to her body, even with the installed instincts, and then she finally started braving the caverns to find her next meal.

I was initially jealous that she got to have the trait assistant for twenty levels, compared to my ten, but it sounded like she had a considerably smaller pool of traits to choose from. Either that, or she didn't interrogate it as much as I did.

I kinda bullied Gramps into unlocking Mana Reinforcement, after all.

The unique thread-related traits she had picked up allowed her to evolve into a very rare species, and that was when she went from Giant Spider to Trapweaver Spider.

That had opened up a whole new world for her, as now she could use her smarts to lay traps and ambushes, far smarter than any regular monster. Her growth now soared, and she had pretty much taken over an entire section of the lower caverns by herself.

This was when she earned the [Apex Hunter] emblem, as she had killed some notable monsters above her own weight class by leading them into traps. It was clear she had put a lot of time, thought, and effort into designing her traps, and I had invalidated the majority of them by existing. I felt a little guilty.

Once again, [Acid Slime] proving it is one of my top traits after all this time.

One day, she encountered dwarves and discovered there was sentient life. She tried opening communications with them, but they had a kill-on-sight mindset instead.

"I thought maybe it was my scary appearance that was offputting... So I vowed to make myself seem less... Monstrous," She explained. "Either my intent was acknowledged, or I met some hidden condition, as when I evolved again, I had the option for a mutation I thought would help."

She took a mutation for her second evolution option, Shrinking, as she had hoped it would have allowed her to appear less threatening to any more people she encountered. However, she admitted she also wanted it because she was terrified that a future evolution would make her far too big to get around.

She hadn't fully understood the evolution torpor and that this one would be far longer. She thought she was safe in her booby-trapped home when some dwarves found her unconscious body and kidnapped her.

She awoke in the orichalcum mine stored in a box with some rocks. She had immediately tried using her shrunken form to appear harmless to the dwarves, but they weren't having any of that.

"Some of them even accused me of being an ant! I look nothing like an ant!" She mentally screamed in protest.

That was when she was forced to kill. Her combination of rare evolution and mutation and her traits related to manipulating and producing various forms of spider thread helped her get the upper hand on the dwarves. Fighting dwarves with class and race levels meant she entered an overly explosive growth period.

"When I evolved again, I thought of leaving this place... I could use [Blink] to go pretty much anywhere I wanted, and I usually use it to leave and hunt for food. But I had grown accustomed to living here. And the dwarf attacks had nearly stopped entirely."

"No, I understand entirely. Although your period of peace and quiet was due to outside influence. Once ownership of this mine is transferred, the attacks will likely return in full force," I informed her.

"So either way, I need to leave. I just get to choose if I join you or run wild in the caverns again."

"The choice is yours. Either way, I'm willing to throw in some magic lessons to satisfy Mother enough to get my discount," I offered.

She paused, thinking it over some more.

I felt like she was on the verge of accepting, so I tried to sweeten the deal.

"I can promise you good food as well. Not to mention, taking a class will give you an abundance of skill points. Way more than the scraps you've gotten from [Apex Hunter]. Also, It's not like the position is permanent. If you wish to part ways down the line, I could let you go..."

"You'll take this oath to never use [Order] on me?" She asked.

"I swear on Gramps and my slime cores."

"Okay... I think I'm willing to accept."

<You wish to swear an oath to the gods to never use the [Order] command on your [Bonded Companion]. Do you accept?>

"Yes. I swear to never use [Order] on my [Bonded Companion]."

"I accept," The spider replied.

I had expected a repeat performance of the golden rainbow chains appearing to bind me to my promise. Instead, an iridescent black thread apparated and plunged itself into me. It wrapped around my core before tying into a knot.

"Huh... I didn't expect that," I answered honestly.

"It was your idea!" The spider said, clearly a bit shocked by the strange display.

I nodded. "Yeah, but the Spirit version was more... Flashy. It had chains and rainbows and-"

"Please don't go on another tangent..." The spider begged. "Now, how do I become your companion?"

"Well, I hope you don't slap this mental handshake away," I joked as I activated the skill. A connection between us reached out.

<The Terror has accepted your offer to be a [Bonded Companion].>

It was interesting. Immediately upon accepting it, I could vaguely sense her location. It wasn't like any of my normal senses, more like a compass in the back of my head. I could be spun around with my eyes and senses closed and immediately point toward her.

<Bond Growth: Kindling.>

<The Terror is slightly injured.>

<The Terror's Mana is critically low.>

"What do you mean you're in perfect health and full Mana!?" The spider shouted in outrage.