17. Vesper #2
I read through a few more, dismissing them as options. Ashbinder, Puppeteer, and Hollowborn don’t sound like anything I want to mess with. Iron Veins and Bloodwrights sound terrifying. I start to lose hope until my eyes find and hold on the last option.
BEAST BOUND
Beast Bound players forge a living bond with a predatory force, blurring the line between human instinct and animal dominance. They excel in tracking, ambush, and close-range combat, where instinct outpaces strategy.
Those who choose this path gain freedom from fear, but risk losing the part of themselves that remembers how to be human.
Core Ability Modifier(s): Willpower and Agility
I hum under my breath and scroll to what a Tier One Beast Bound looks like.
“Tier One is called a Scavenger’s Bond. The alley-crow and the cellar rat .
. . these are your first disciples. Remember to treat your familiar well or else suffer their wrath.
Every Beast Bound begins small. A single bond, brittle and frail, is already unnatural.
Whispers say a Beast Bound’s first rat never leaves their side, even in death, gnawing its way back into their corpse.
Or perhaps, that’s only your familiar . .
.” My eyes scan the stats. “Plus one to agility and willpower. Bond limit of one. And corruption level of five percent.” My mind replays my conversation with Cipher and his mention of corruption.
Corruption must be an important metric in our stats. Is that the key to surviving this?
Cipher remains quiet as I study the Glitch, but I can feel his approval of my thoughts down our mind connection. I’m on the right track, but I have a question.
“How do I keep corruption from increasing? Is it something I can stop?” I ask.
“You can hold back corruption with increased willpower,” he answers. “There is nothing else capable of stopping it. Corruption does not decrease once it rises.”
“And what’s a familiar?” I ask, my eyes studying the menu in case I missed something.
“A trait of the Glitch. Consider it a perk. Beast Bound players share connections with beasts, so you could be gifted one through various challenges though it is not guaranteed. The familiar will be a creature that you share a bond with and must actively work to maintain that bond.”
“Is that the bond limit the description talks about?” I ask curiously.
“No,” Cipher replies. “A familiar does not count toward your bond limit. Your bond limit determines how many beasts you can bond with outside of your familiar. The size and strength of that bond depends on the size and strength of the creature.”
I sit there for a while longer, flipping through the menus back and forth, trying to decide which Glitch I should pick and which would benefit me the most. At some point, Locke stirs awake, lurching up from his nap with a violence that makes me jump.
When he realizes where we are and that I’m staring at him, he shoves his hair out of his face and sighs.
“You still haven’t chosen yet. How long has it been?” he grunts.
“I’m being careful,” I growl.
“Well hurry it the fuck up, Hyena.” He pops open his map. “There’s a safehouse close by we can go to once you’ve chosen. We need to start moving if we’re going to get there before dark.”
As if remembering the Killing Trees, he glances around us, doublechecking we’re not in fact being eaten by a fucking tree. But his words do catch my attention and force me back to the menus.
Hyena. A hyena. I flip back through the menus until I find the Beast Bound glitch again and stare at it.
“If I chose this one, Cipher, are you going to allude to your disappointment and then refuse to tell me about it?” I ask out loud, staring at it.
“I am not permitted to give my full opinion on which Glitch you should select, however, I am capable of stating that the Beast Bound Glitch would look good on you,” he replies.
I take a deep breath. “Alright. Then that’s what I’m going with.” I tilt up my chin and reach up to the floating interface in front of me. Beneath the Glitch, there is a button floating. I hesitate for only a second before I tap it. “Accept.”
The menus close and a zing flows through my body that makes me straighten and shiver.
All of the hairs on my body stand on end as a feeling of wild excitement flows through me.
I suddenly feel more in touch with the ground beneath me, with the trees around me, with the animals just outside of my perception.
My throat itches with the urge to growl, not in aggression, but in revelry. How strange.
A new notification pops up on my interface before I can really sink into the feeling.
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
You’ve selected beast bound as your glitch. Congrats! You must really love monsters. Good luck not turning into one.
REWARD: this loot chest
A small chest appears in front of me at the same time as one appears in front of Locke. It hovers in the air and begins to spin, lighting shining from around it. Locke scowls up at the sky.
“What? I couldn’t get this when I selected earlier?” he grunts.
“It was more efficient to give you your loot chests at the same time,” Cipher responds haughtily. “I could always take it back.”
Locke grabs his chest from the air and holds it tight. “Not a chance, asshole.” He pops it open and looks at the items inside carefully. “Looks like some more Harrow Coins, another shard, and a new weapon.” He lifts up a pretty normal looking hammer. “Gotta be better than that rusty sword, huh?”
“Probably,” I shrug. “Everything’s better than the sword.
I open my own chest and stare at the few items inside. “Six Harrow Coins, a shard . . .” I reach in and lift out the weapon. “Oh, thank fuck.”
The menu pops open and explains what the weapon is.
BLOODSENSE FANG – Initiate Beast Bound weapon
Type: short blade / ritual fang
Material: bone and dark iron, bound with sinew
Handling: close-range, off-hand friendly
Special attributes:
-Scentwake: fresh blood slightly sharpens the wielder’s senses for a brief moment. No damage bonus, awareness only.
-Instinct anchor: while wielded, panic effects are mildly reduced, but aggression is marginally increased.
-Beastmarked Grip: the weapon subtly reshapes to the wielder’s hand over time. Cosmetic only at Tier One.
“Wow,” I say, studying it closer. “This is way more in depth than the other weapon descriptions were.”
“You are Glitched now,” Cipher explains.
“You will be able to wield many items you could not before. You will also now have a mana bar as well as your XP. Both of you. This will need to be filled as you progress through the Tiers in order to use certain attributes of your glitch. For this particular weapon, Vespera, you do not need mana to wield it, however, you will be fatigued quickly if overused at this tier. There is still one item in your chest.”
“There is?” I say, frowning and looking down. I hadn’t seen anything, but now that I look, I see that there is another item sitting in the bottom of my chest. “Oh.”
“I only got a weapon,” Locke grumbles. “Of course you get something extra. Fucking System favorite.”
When I lift the item out, I realize it’s a mask of some sort, but when I turn it to face me, my whole body seizes in shock.
“What is it?” Locke asks, leaning closer. His brows furrow. “Is that a—”
“Hyena,” I finish, nodding. “It is.”
“What does it do?”
“Hyena mask,” I start to read as the menu pops up.
“Initiate Beast Bound relic. Type: mask / headgear. Material: hardened bone, stitched leather, and faded tribal markings. Handling: worn over face, snug fit; slightly enchanted.” I look over the special attributes and clutch the mask tighter.
“It slightly improves visual acuity while wearing it and heightens perception of nearby living creatures faintly. It can also help regulate corruption levels, but it doesn’t explain how. ”
“Well, that’s fucking cool,” Locke grunts. “How come I don’t get a mask?”
“Bone Breaker’s do not rely on outside tools for battle,” Cipher surprisingly offers. “Your fists will be better weapons than any mask.”
Locke’s expression eases. “Well, I can’t argue with that perk then, can I?”
Cipher doesn’t answer, and I can feel that disapproval through the link again, but he doesn’t tell Locke anything else. He doesn’t direct him, or comment about how he starts cracking his knuckles before he spins his hammer in his hands. Instead, he speaks to me directly.
“Keep a close eye on the Bone Breaker,” he warns.
“Why?” I ask for what feels like the thousandth time, but again, Cipher doesn’t answer, letting his warning hang in the air before me.
“Let’s get to the safehouse,” Locke says, not even realizing we were talking about him. “I hope it’s another AppleFrog’s.” He pats his stomach. “I could use a good meal after that nasty fish.”
“Nasty?” I repeat. “The fish was amazing. But I could use some more of that bacon from AppleFrog’s.” I slide on the hyena mask over my face. It’s a perfect fit. “Let’s go.”
As I follow him to the trees, my senses stretch and pick up everything around us. The caimans in the river, hungry and waiting. Small furry creatures in the trees that run away as we pass.
The insects in the soil . . .
TIER 1 – SCAVENGER’S BOND
Wastrel, entry-level
STRENGTH: 10
AGILITY: 11
VITALITY: 10
WILLPOWER: 11
CHARISMA: 10
LUCK: 10
BOND LIMIT: 1
BOND STRENGTH: 30%
CORRUPTION: 5%