Life Bond

I smiled at her before I started to get ready. I wasn't sure if it would work. But after the treant incident, a day ago, it was worth a try. It could be harder than expected though, and it really would be awkward if after all my jabbering on and talking, that I couldn't actually do it.

I looked back at Rose as she was standing and saw that the black energy would soon completely cover the green energy in her body. That would have to be her life force and the only thing keeping her alive.

I couldn't waste time.

"Could you lower your head? I will try and break your bond now."

"Try?"

Kuro chimed in from the side and I sent her a look to be quiet. She only looked worried so I didn't say anything to her.

"Now once I break the connection please try and bond with me, hopefully it will work."

Rose nodded and bowed her head. In front of me in my spirit vision I watched the black thread that shot off into the north. I turned my head to look in the direction, before focusing.

"Ok."

I said it to myself quietly before opening my mouth and chomping down on the thread. For the first time in a long while, I felt a resistance in my mouth. I had been able to tear through bone and fur. Eating wolves while they were alive wouldn't be a problem.

But right now at this minute, my teeth couldn't go through the thread. I'm sure it would be weird to see a grown man suddenly chop on air. And I didn't want to turn to Kuro who would be showing a weird expression. At least Ella would understand what I was doing.

It was as I was trying to chomp through the whole cord, that I got a message from Ella.

'Father aim closer to the origin, it should be easier there.'

I had no clue how she knew that, but I chalked it up to her being an infected. It would come naturally for her. Having no choice I pulled Rose up, who had a bit of a disappointed look on her face. She would have felt the tug when I chomped into the line and was disappointed that it didn't break.

I could see her sad expression.

"Don't worr.."

I didn't let her finish and just took a deep breath before take a huge bite out of the skin, right over her chest. Rose yelp in surprise as her skin was instantly torn through. Even though I just took the surface of the skin, there was still a lot of blood. And to any normal person having the skin right above their heart eaten, right in front of them, would be shocking.

I could hear Kuro on the side also exclaim in surprise, as I tasted blood in my mouth, I didn't want to swallow the skin I had just taken off, but it just slid down the throat before I could spit it back out.

I was discontent for a second as I realized this, but was happy that my stupid idea had worked. And so had Ella's advice. The bond that had been on her chest was gone. Well the whole crest was gone; I had eaten the entire thing.

I looked up to show a smile at Rose, and she was still in a stupefied state.

"Hey hurry up."

I said that to her as she wasn't making a move and looked at her current status. The black energy that had been thrashing around was already starting to fade and was going to disappear soon. The thread that connected her was gone and I could see more of the green energy inside her.

But as I watched on, the green energy was starting to also fade out. It had been feeding off the black energy and that was what was keeping it going. To have that go was as she said, going to kill her.

My words had roused Rose out of her stupefaction and I watched as her brows furrowed. The green energy that was inside her gathered towards her heart.

The wound or bite, that I had taken out of her heart area was all she needed, she wouldn't need to injure herself to get the blood to come out.

In a quick 10 seconds the energy gathered and I watched it push outwards. It pushed into a single point and I watched as it formed in front of me.

A single drop of green blood hovered above her chest, as sweat started to pour down her head. I looked at the single drop and reached for it.

Rose looked on as I grabbed the drop of blood and held it up to my mouth. I looked her in the eye before dropping it in. And she looked back with determination. She gave me a small nod before I finally let go.

It slid down my throat and seemed to want to tunnel into me, as I felt it burst through the back of my throat and head for my heart.

I sucked in a deep breath of air as I felt it go down and then settle into my heart. It burned in there for a few seconds as a box appeared in front of me.

(Foreign substance ingested)

Well no shit.

(Assessing)

The blood continued to heat up as I noticed that Rose was doing fine right now, she was still sweating hard and had closed her eyes, but the green energy inside her wasn't leaking out anymore.

Finally after 5 minutes the burning started to stop and Rose opened her eyes. I looked at them as they flashed green and a thread formed over her chest.

The skin that had been bitten off before grew back at an astonishing rate and a new crest formed on her chest. It looked slightly different to the last one and was completely green. The black was gone.

The thread that was hovering over her chest pulsed for a second and I felt that my own heart pulsed back. And then shocked, I watched the creation of a thread that connected me and Rose. Something from the atmosphere appeared and started to gathered around both of us, that strengthened the green glow.

It built up, as the thread shot towards me and connected to my heart. It continued to be strengthened as I felt a new connection form in me.

(Dryad Life Blood Consumed!)

(Skill 'Life Bond' used on Host!)

(Skill successful!)

(Intangible Bond Created!)

(Skill 'Life Bond' Obtained!)

(Kin Function initialized)

(Kin Function already Found)

(Shared Exp Already Found)

(Connecting)

(Shared Constitution Obtained)

(Shared Sense Obtained)

(Kin Already found)

(Testing Connection)

The new green bond that had formed in me tried to reach out towards Ella, and travel along the purple thread to her. But once again like my ice skill and her fire skill, it reached a barrier. Once it reached there it couldn't continue and headed back.

What was stopping it?

(Connection not yet possible.)

The final box appeared in front of me and I felt the new connection. I felt slightly different after the connection, but nothing much had changed. I still wasn't sure what shared sense did, but I could feel a little something coming from Rose.

At least it wasn't as big a change, as when I connected to Ella. The amount of changes that took place with Ella was ridiculous. It was actually quite refreshing.

Looking over at Rose, she was staring at me with a smile and bowed to me as she saw me look over.

"Thank you again."

I nodded towards her.

"Ella. Kuro."

They both looked towards me. Ella was interested in the new connection that was on me, while Kuro still looked shocked about the whole matter.

"Could you guys collect the orbs while I quickly work some things out? We need to move fast after leveling."

Ella gave me a deep nod before moving off, while Kuro went off in a small daze.

Turning back to Rose, who was filled with energy, I could see that her anger had boiled up again. She had a determined expression on her face and looked like she was about to run out of here.

"Wait up."

I quickly talked to her before she actual went.

"Quickly show me your Status page. It will be easier knowing what you can do."

She, who was about to sprint off, stopped herself and walked over, she pulled up her status and let me look at it. I would have been more shocked had I not already bonded to Ella.

Name: Rose Wood

Race: Dryad

Sex: Female

Age: 17

Level: 19 EXP (350,000 – 1,100,000)

Kin : Liam Coltear

Ella Coltear

Resistance: 10% Wood Resistance

Entertainment Points: 0

Attributes: (0)

STR: 53(57)

END: 63 (63)

INT: 75 (77)

AGI: 62 (66)

SPR: 80 (82)

LUK: 6 (6)

Skills: (Callibrating)

(Life Bond (Innate) LV(3- 10)- You are bound for life with your partner. You live for them; they live for you. Together you will make each other stronger. Creates an intangible force that binds user and Partner. Shared Exp Established. Shared Constitution Established. Shared Senses Established. Unlocks evolution system function, kin function. As level increases, the binding force between user and kin will grow)

(Dryads Kiss (Innate) LV(1- 10)- Those who get close to a dryad should prepare themselves. What is beautiful, is often times dangerous. Ability to drain the energy of a target and turn it into your own. The energy consumed can be used to heal oneself or make one stronger)

(Earth (Active) – LV(4 - 10) – The ability to connect to a plain of existence and control the element Earth. Gives the ability to produce Earth by expending spirit. Puts strain on the connection between host and plain of existence. Connection can destabilize if strained.)

(Shared Senses (Innate) LV (Passive) - Your connection with your partner lets you feel their physical sensations and directs you towards them. Strength of connection affects sensations felt.)

(One With Nature (Innate) LV(Special Conditions) – Born of nature, raised in nature. Through you connection with nature you can communicate with trees, plants and animals.)

(Shared Constitution (Innate) LV(Passive) - You make your partner stronger and they make you stronger. Your bodies are intrinsically linked, when one's body grows, so will their partner.)

(Natural Heal (Active) LV(1-10) - By focusing your natural energy into a being you can increase their bodies healing abilities and promote regeneration.)

(Shared Exp (Passive) - All exp is shared between host and kin.)

(Elf Language (Passive)- User has grasped the basic language of the elves and will be able to understand and speak fluently with said language.)

Her attributes were pretty good, being a mage I wasn't surprised that her INT and SPR was so high, actually this would be about what I would expect from a mage. Maybe a bit less END and AGI but having them so high wasn't that bad.

She had the 'Shared Exp' skill already, so I shouldn't have a problem leveling up again, though I wasn't sure if being connected with Ella would change that part.

Her 'life bond' skill seemed like Ella's 'Imprint skill' but weaker, if I was being honest, what was surprising was the fact that it was already level 3. I had just bonded with her, so I couldn't figure out why it was already level 3.

I had to stare intently at the 'Shared senses' description and the 'Shared constitution' skill for a while. I couldn't fell anything coming from Rose at the moment, but I guess the feelings I would get from her would increase with the level.

The shared constitution skill also gave me something to think about. Would it give her the same sovereign constitution boost that I got each level, or would it affect her differently? I would have to check that out in the future.

Finally the last 3 skills really fit in with her race. 'Dryads Kiss' was an interesting skill and looked like it would work like Ella's 'Imperial growth'. With it Rose would be able to strengthen herself by using it. Judging by the way it was worded and the fact I had seen her use it on Leon, she would have to have physical contact with the person before she could use it.

'One with Nature' was a completely ambiguous skill that I couldn't make heads or tails of; I would have to ask her about it at a later date.

What I was most happy about was the 'Natural Heal' skill. It told me exactly what she was good at. She may have looked like a damage dealing mage when I first saw her fight, but she was a healer!

Healers were an essential part of any game; I wasn't surprised that in this fucked up world called a game, that there would be healers in the future. They would make it possible for groups to fight stronger monsters and accomplish things that seem impossible.

With Rose being a healer, we wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt in a fight. Well we would, but it would be a secondary thing with a healer behind our backs. We could also save on the health potions we use, which would be a big bonus.

A smile touched my lips as I saw that she was a healer. I was also relieved that she didn't rush off alone, with her only being a healer; it is possible that she could have been defeated by herself.

Her skill points tab was 'Calibrating' which was weird, but I didn't worry about it. I had no access to my skill points for a long while after bonding to Ella. It was surely pooling all the points so that we could use each other's.

Lucky for her it actually told her about what was happening, I had no clue when it happened to me.

Finally done looking over her status, I also took a quick look at her gear. She was still wearing the robes that cut off at the midsection, some type of gloves, and nice looking boots. Hopefully when we went through the globes we would get some new gear.

Gear: (Female Elven Mage Robes (Green) – Elven Crafted mage robes specifically for females. Increase in Intelligence and Spirit, +2 INT, +2SPR)

(Elven Mage Staff (Green) – A staff that is attune with nature. Helps to channel energy. Good for nature or earth mages)

(Elven Leather Boots (Green) – Elven crafted leather boots. Increase in Endurance +4 AGI)

(Elven Leather Gloves (Green) – Elven crafted leather gloves. Increase in Endurance +4 STR)

My eyes widened slightly and my jaw hung down.

What the hell was with the normal description of the gear!? I almost thought I was seeing things. I rubbed them with my hand for a second to check, but it didn't change. I looked up at the sky as if I could see that shitty god.

Was he sick or something?

But the gear was even better than I thought it would be. The increase in stats alone was way superior to my gear. The robes even gave improvements in INT and SPR which I hadn't run into up till this point.

My smile widened as I went to help Kuro and Ella collect globes. Rose also helped out as she wanted the whole group to go with her. Because of the amount of dead elves, it took us a while to finally grab them all.

I had looked over half way through and saw that Rose was spitting on some corpses and kicking others. I didn't stop her, it was good to vent.

Finally grabbing them all, I got ready to crush them. With this much EXP we would easily be able to get to level 20, maybe higher. Rose had told me that the elder we were going to face was the same level as her. Her Life bond helped make him stronger and they shared Exp. This meant that he should be level 19 when they met. Maybe level 20 depending on what happens in the dungeon.

With the newly added healer and our group, I was sure that we could beat him once we leveled.

And I also had another ace up my sleeve; I took a peek in my space ring and looked down at the golden orb inside.

Once I hit level 20 I could finally use it!