Path To Radiance; First Ascent

Chapter 11 - Rising Higher: Part 3

The window fades away as the raptor dies thanks to the bleed effect from my sword. I also see three more blades piercing its sides. I have no idea what the prompt was going to say, but I could have guessed. If I just missed out on training a pet raptor, I am going to be pissed right the hell off.

The chime sounds and the door unlocks for us to advance. No chest appears though.

"A big scary monster and no treasure?" Rina whines. "That's bull."

I agree silently. A loot roll window does appear when we examine the body.

Tower Raptor Talons
Level 8
Crafting material

Need
Greed
Pass

I press greed on the claws. I'm decently surprised no one rolled against me for them. They go directly into my bag.

Tamos is kneeling at the Raptor's body. What makes me curious is he doesn't have his skinning knife out. He is touching the creature's chest and looking at it with a grim expression.

"What's up, Tamos?" I ask him. My voice startles him out of whatever revere he's stuck in.

"I was considering using my new spell on this guy." He said touching the creature's claw.

"You mean that "summon undead familiar" spell from your new robes?" Brick asks. Now that he mentioned it, I look at the new robes Tamos is wearing. It's simple and black and goes down to his feet. He has the hood pulled back to expose his white hair. His cherry wand is out and glowing. His response comes slowly.

"I can only use it once. There might be a better monster later." He sounds very torn on the issue.

"It's a freaking raptor!" Brick exclaims with both hands held out wide in disbelief. "A perfect addition to the team, man!"

"I guess so, and I do like dinosaurs," Tamos said. He seems glad to have the decision taken out of his hands. The smile that replaces his concern is that of a child opening a birthday or Christmas present.

Tamos swings his arms wide and begins to chant. A purple and black energy circle appears at his feet. A cast bar appears under his icon that is filling up at a rate of ten percent per second. Sweat pebbles on his forehead at the eight-second mark.

When he stops speaking, Tamos steps over the raptor's body and uses his glowing wand to cut his palm open. Several thick drops of blood splatter on the dinosaur's chest. The magic energy that built up around Tamos while he was chanting is quickly absorbed into the blood droplets which, in turn, sink into the corpse.

In a small explosion, the corpse disintegrates into a pile of flesh, blood, and bones. The mass of body parts then begins to collapse in on itself, the bones grinding together audibly. Once it reaches the size of a soccer ball, it spins quickly in place and shapes itself like clay until it resembles an egg. A thin film covers the gross and it hardens into a milky white color. For all intense and purposes, the mass that had been a fully-grown dinosaur is now an egg.

Tamos put both hands out around the egg and just stares at it. Brick and I congratulate him with cheerful thumps on the back. It had been gross, but I agree that a raptor on the team should be useful.

Tamos scoops up the egg and carries it with him. Since his bag is not a Traveler's Pack, he could safely store the egg inside it without harming the creature within. He in turn asks me to carry his other possessions in my bag that won't fit in his and aren't soulbound to him.

With the awful excitement over with, we open the next door.

It's another hallway. There's nothing in it but stone walls and light. Brick still leads the way, just in case.