-Callen-

  I violently yank the joystick of the hunting copter to the right. Narrowly avoiding a piercing bullet of air launched from a frog below. I wildly adjust the controls on the hovercraft trying to restabilize. All the while Callia is standing in her seat whooping and cheering while contesting against the frog. The frog rapidly spat its tongue at us, sending up anti-air projectiles one after another. Meanwhile, Sis took the rapid attack as a challenge and was using arrows to disperse the attacks.

  If it was a contest of power, the frog would’ve long crushed us both. Its level was tangible even as we held the advantage of aerial combat; when the guard patrol had identified a high-level frog in the region, Sis wanted to have a real fight. Knight Gunther was watching from the side with their support squad and a fireball in hand, waiting for us to get our asses handed to us.

  I had prepared a small arsenal of runic arrows meant to even the odds and give Callia a fighting chance. Impact arrows for blunt damage, piercing arrows to penetrate, incendiary arrows in case fire seems like a promising option, shock arrows because maybe electric fishing would do the trick, and a couple other more experimental ideas. It seemed like a simple confrontation, but our choice of surprise attack was found lacking. A double shot with fire and lighting the fire was smothered by the mucus on its skin, and the electrical charge was dispersed harmlessly away.

  It quickly devolved into a game of survival with my reflexes operating the hovercraft and Callia’s use of impact arrows to disperse the counterattacks vs. the frogs’ near invulnerability and concerningly fast attack speed. As I stabilize from the most recent dodge, Callia manages to slip a piercing arrow through and right into the frog's leg. It cuts straight through, and we receive a mournful wail. The frog’s demeanor shifts; it seems to realize we can hurt it, and I see it tensing to jump.

  I prepare to swerve the moment it takes off, but Callia grabs my hand.

  “Don’t move; this is right where I want it.”

  I can’t help but feel she’s crazy, but instead of dodging, I grab my backup plan that I originally intended for us if we crashed and needed to wait for Sir Gunther to clean up. It was an enchantment using Mana Zone and Mana Manifestation to define a border around us and solidify it like a safety bubble to prevent us from being attacked until it was broken. Callia grabbed one of the experimental arrows, and it was one I had the least confidence in.

  It was my first affinity combination rune. Typically affinity runes needed the user to have the proper affinity, but Callia had a skill, Bond Affinity Channel, that she had recently worked out could give or take affinity mana as needed. The arrow itself was using the life affinity to link to the vitality of the monster and then drain the vitality into the void. All of this is theoretically possible but entirely untested and added last minute as one of those crazy last-moment "what if" ideas.

  I hold my breath as the frog's muscles contract. I feel Callia pull from my affinity at the same moment she lets the arrow loose. I immediately activate the emergency shield, and the hovercraft loses power.

  The frog was like a bolt of lightning flying at us. I wouldn’t have been able to dodge even if I wanted to. In the next moment we were engulfed in the frog’s stomach, with a fragile barrier being the only line between us and its digestive fluids. I close my eyes, bracing for the acid to eat my flesh, and I feel the violent impact as we hit the ground.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “YES!”

  Callia’s cheer shakes me out of my shock. But not for long, as we have somehow exited the frog. I turn my attention to where Callia was looking, and in the air I see a swirling black but also transparent sphere floating in the air. I look back at the frog and see us resting in a hole in its stomach the same size as the sphere.

  “Huuh?”

  I barely managed to grunt out before I dropped yet again from mana exhaustion.

  -Callia-

  When I told Callen my crazy idea for a combo affinity weapon, I was super excited by the prospect. It had been more than a year since I got that skill, and the only use I had found for it was boosting Callen with my life affinity burst skills like Boost Stamina and Regeneration. It had been nearly useless for me since I didn’t have access to his ‘void space.’

  My idea had been some kind of vitality drain weapon, but the only thing I could describe here was that Callen had somehow made an antimatter vortex or spatial distortion arrow. This could be a huge game changer for hunting bigger monsters near town. I almost want to try going to sea to test my new toy on something even bigger.

  I reached to pat Callen on the back for another exciting toy, but clearly it was too much for him. I got the feeling of mana exhaustion from my bond, so I passed him a bit of life energy to kickstart his recovery. I check back to Sir Gunther and company, who are looking on slack-jawed, and the massive hole I shot in the frog monster.

  He isn’t stunned long and orders his team to pack up the frog. Withdrawing back to the town without issue, and soon we are triumphantly presenting the frog head across town on the road over to the butchery. High-level amphibian skin makes high-quality swimming gear for both enchanting and water resistance.

  We split with the knights, and I’m left with an unconscious Callen to drag home. Obviously I swing by the markets, buying a vial of ink to doodle on his unconscious face. I didn't have much space and ran out of canvas, but I appreciate my work. A monocle, a mustache, and a stick figure dancing. We are nearly home when he finally comes to. I quietly debate whether to toss him down to finish on his own, but after a hunt like that, I figure to take it easy on him.

  Then I feel him tense.

  “Sis, check your system.”

  I’m not quite sure what he’s on about, but I feel it the moment my status is open. My stat lock was gone; somehow, someway, we could now freely distribute our stat points. On impulse I almost jump straight into it, but my brother stops me.

  “Wait, we should talk to Nightshade first. This is the moment she warned us about. When we become adults and stats are unlocked. Even if it’s early, we should still be careful; this isn't something that should be rushed.”

  I slow myself down and nod right. Even if I looked forward to finally kicking Grandpa’s ass, it was best to make sure we could handle the consequences.

  1+1=0

  -Lexia Harlanou-

  The strange bipeds hadn’t eaten her. She wasn’t sure what it was they wanted. They kept dragging her into a room with a soft biped, and then they beat her when she ripped out the prey's throat. Ever since that incident they have been chaining her down to have the soft ones jabber at her.

  At first she resisted everything they did but found when she mimicked their positions or copied their jabbers, they seemed excited and even gave her nummies that tasted sweet. Eventually the jabbering started making sense. This was a kind of fun she hadn’t known before, and sometimes she didn’t even feel like hunting the soft ones.

  That is when they don’t overreach. She had learned quickly that while sometimes attacking the soft ones wasn’t ok. If they irritated her, she wouldn’t be beaten for ripping off the fingers presented to her face. Like when a soft one was jabbering about one plus one and asking her to tell him how many fingers he had up.

  That's when she bit off the fingers that had entered her space. Then spat them out because they had too much bone. While the soft one fell over screaming, she gave it the answer it had asked for.

  “No, Fingers!”

  She gave him a big, toothy, and slightly bloody smile. While holding out her hand, waiting for a reward nummy. The soft man didn’t give it, but the Alpha entered and gave her one.

  “Excellent progress, my heir. Do not tolerate fools who irritate you.” He pats her head, and she almost starts humming in happiness but holds back because the last time she did, she was immediately sent to the punishment room. Ever since then, she always paid close attention to the alpha because she got the best treats when he was happy. The only thing that made her sad was when she felt her murder growth lock. The rush of growth from the hunt was gone, which irritated her.