Laying in the darkness of the murky abyss at the bottom of the lake. I can only wait for rescue since I don’t know what direction gets me out of the water. I decide to utilize this time to allocate my newest ability point. I open my skill tree and browse my options. There are three available choices. I can improve my Impactful Shield, which would be helpful, but that doesn’t improve my versatility. There is another that allows for an improved earth-rendering impact for Mighty Leap. I can’t imagine that would help me in my current situation, or to avoid a similar situation for that matter. The last is called Blade Grapple. It allows me to pull a target to my location instead of me going to them.

 

Heh… if only I had this a little ago. I could have brought the turtles onto the beach instead of getting into the water myself. Well, not that it matters if no one finds me here. I select Blade Grapple and close my panel. As I lay there in the ever-shifting waters, a light begins to illuminate above me. Some new enemy, or are they searching for me? As the light moves around sporadically, it eventually makes it’s way down to me. A name appears with a health bar. It-it’s Lilac! I fight through the mud to stand back up, but I can’t manage to pull myself out! I raise my hand out! Hopefully she sees me!

 

The light turns my way and comes closer! As it approaches, the face of some God forsaken beast appears before me! Large, aggressive teeth with illuminating lights across the span of its body with a bauble hanging from its head! It’s hideous! It turns sideways to reveal Lilac riding its back! I reach my hand out to her! The creature leans over to allow her to take my hand, pulling me from the mud and swimming us to the surface! As we escape the water, I see all the monsters standing around in silence. Embarrassed that this is how they found out that I can’t swim, I give a light, nervous wave. They begin cheering wildly as if they thought I had died. Examining the situation… I guess that’s a fair assumption…

 

We approach the shoreline, the creature we’re riding disappears. Lilac raises her hand to me. “You alright, Laoch?” I look at her hand for a moment, then nod my head and grasp her hand in return. Mange rushes over to me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace, lifting me from the ground and shaking me around. “I thought ya might ‘a been lost to the drink!” He holds me out, inspecting me. “Yer health is so low! Ya nearly died on me!” Mange is coddling me as though I’m a child! I push away from him, but I can’t break his grip! The leader rushes over to us in a panic. “I am so, so sorry! Had I known you couldn’t swim, I’d have never thrown you in!” Mange pulls me away from the Leader. “A’course he can’t swim! What on ‘im looks like it’ll catch water?!”

 

I manage to shake myself free from Mange’s grip, landing on my feet as I drop to the ground. I give myself a light, gentle wipe before reaching my hand out to the leader. The leader smiles as he takes my hand. “Thank you for your forgiveness! I-!” I grip hid hand and swing him out, throwing him into the deeper part of the lake like tossing a stick. He crashes into the water, making a large splash before quickly standing up, soaked from head-to-toe. Everyone looks at me in shock except for Mange, who is laughing hysterically. The leader looks at me as he shakes his arms off. He sloshes his way back towards me. “Well, I certainly deserved that!” I slap his shoulder with the back of my hand in a playful manner. The leader smiles as he grabs my arms, kicking my legs out and dunking me into the water.

 

“Keep your eyes open, Laoch!” the leader shouts in an energetic manner! He lifts me back up while laughing. Everyone else seem to loosen up and join in on the fun. Splashing in the water and having a good time. Mange turns back to Lilac and gives her a silent nod. Lilac smiles as she makes her way back to the beach. He quickly turns to the leader and I, grabbing us both, throwing up into a deeper part of the water. “Ya boys barely got wet! Keep on yer toes!” The leader and I spring up quickly. We look at each other and nod.

 

The leader takes his dragon form and flies towards Mange! I use my charge to get in close, then grab Mange by his legs! The leader grabs Mange by his upper half with his mouth, I help the leader lift Mange as the leader tosses Mange into the deeper waters. Mange lets put a loud shout as he whips through the air into the water. Everyone stops and looks out to where Mange hit the surface. After a few moments, Mange springs up from the water! His fur is soaked and drooping down over his face. “Haaaaah ha ha ha ha! Ya boys got me!” The leader turns back into his humanoid shape, dropping into the water while holding his legs.

 

I take a look around. Everyone is having fun playing in the lake. This is the kind of freedom that monsters should be able to experience all the time. Now that I’m a hero, then maybe one day… I can help the leader accomplish his goal of raising a monster city. We can enjoy days like this all the time without risk of being slain. I walk from the lake onto the shore. I take my armor off, dumping the water from each piece before putting it back on. I look around for a good place to sit. I see Lilac sitting alone. Perhaps… I should thank her for saving me.

 

I walk over and sit down next to her. She look doesn’t look away from the lake. “You don’t have to sit with me just because I’m alone.” I put my finger to the sand and write out “Thank you” for her. She looks down at it and chuckles. “Do not dwell on it. I know you mean a lot to Mange.” I point to Mange, then write another message in the sand that says: “Who is Mange?” Lilac leans forward. “Mange’s story is not mine to tell.” I stop to think for a moment, then write a new message that says: “Why does he hate you?”

 

Lilac goes silent as she watches Mange play around in the lake. “Truthfully, I’m not quite sure.” She says as she leans into her hand. I look down at the sand with my finger down as I think of what to say next. “I suppose I could tell you about Mange since meeting him. That much is not exclusively his story.” I turn and look at Lilac as she raises her knees to her face, hugging her legs. “I was still low level at 16 years old. That was when we first acquired Mange. Shackled in a cage. Strong and dangerous, he was given to us because Malachai thought he’d make decent a faux companion. We were only level 15 at the time while Mange already had a name, and was level 23.” Dangerous? Are we discussing the same Mange?

 

“At first, Malachai would release Mange in the training room, attempting to overpower him. However, it was all in vain. Mange was far too strong, killing Malachai hundreds of times. Through that, Mange had grown another ten levels.” Mange grew ten levels killing the same person?! Especially at that high of a level?! That would make me give up! Lilac looks up at Mange. “Malachai eventually left it to me. Mange was willing to eat the food I gave him, so he thought Mange may open up a little if it was me asking. Thus, Malachai threw me into the training room with Mange. I assumed Mange would kill me immediately, but… he held back. He went into the corner of the room and curled up.”

 

Lilac smiles a little. “After that, I started eating my dinner with him. At first, he was savage. Quickly eating his own food, then stealing portions of mine. A couple months of that, he had noticed I was getting thinner, and he stopped taking my food.” I look out to Mange. Mange is splashing around in the lake with the children. He used to be savage…? “When he decided to speak for the first time, he chose to talk first. His first word to me was “Here” as he offered me a portion of his own food. This… moved me in a way I’ve never felt. At first, I wanted nothing to do with this idea, but I’m sure you’ve noticed, Mange grows on you. It’s hard to ignore his genuine, kind nature when he shows it.”

 

Malachai began to see the progress I was making and offered Mange to leave the room, so long as he wore a collar that would both kill him, then respawn him near Malachai at a command. It took a couple of times for Mange to respect this rule, if you understand… This was the start of our union.” So, this is why Mange doesn’t mind humans? I think I’d be even more weary of them after all that… “We had ventured together across many lands. We’ve seen many things together. Most humans didn’t understand why Mange had a level, so we convinced most people he was my tamed pet, thus I was active more times than not without a pet. Mange proved he was more than happy saving me when I needed it.”

 

Lilac begins to sound a little more… giddy? “I was given the activation device to Mange’s collar after a few years. We began adventuring together, with just us two. Mange really shown his gentle nature when Malachai wasn’t with us. He was-“ Lilac stops talking and clears her throat. “A, uhh, close friend, as he said!” She seems… a little weird about saying that… I guess it would ne weird to know of a monster and human being that close of allies. Lilac’s face changes drastically. Her smile turns as she seems to become sad.

 

“It wasn’t long after a long journey that Mange and I took that he and Malachai got into a heated confrontation. I heard them after they had already engaged in combat. Mange beat Malachai nearly to death, then shackled Malachai to the cage Mange arrived here in. He did so to prevent him from healing or reviving and bringing reinforcements. I witnessed the moment that Malachai told Mange that he didn’t deserve to wear human-forged armor. Mange dropped his armor, stuck his weapon into the floor, then stormed out.” Lilac looks as if she’s holding back tears. “He… just glared at me… and kept walking…”

 

Lilac puts her hand over her eyes for a moment. She takes a quick breath in before continuing to speak. “*phew…* Since then, I’ve been trying to get him to come back. Malachai wants to see him again… and I want him to come home…” Lilac looks at me. “Something they discussed made him run away. He had broken off his collar, and now if he dies, he’ll respawn wherever he calls home. Although, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him die aside from the few escape attempts before.” I look out at Mange. Could that big, giggly fur ball could really have all that going on? He said I can’t trust Lilac, but… she doesn’t sound like she’s lying.

 

I remember that place Gibson mentioned. It was… Scovir, I think? How is that spelled? I put my finger in the sand and spell out “Skoveer” in front of Lilac. She looks at it for a moment. She seems surprised by my mentioning of it. “Scovir? Where did you learn of Scovir?” I point to Mange, then shake my head and shrug my shoulders. Lilac glances at Mange, then back at me. She seems to be struggling to talk about it. “Scovir… was a monster breeding town that specialized in Eastern Desert Jackals. Because of their boundless stamina, they made very capable slaves…” wait… slaves? Breeding town? What… is she talking about?! “That town was where Mange was from… It was burned down by some random assailants one night. No human, or monster, survived.”

 

My eyes widen. I quickly look over to Mange, then back to Lilac. I turn back to Mange, staring at him. Mange… was a born slave? But… he’s so nice! He couldn’t have… As the idea processes through my head, my chest begins to tighten. My vision suddenly begins to blur. I wipe my face, then look at my hand to see a glowing liquid on it. Lilac looks at me closely. “Are you… crying?” She quickly puts her hand over her mouth. “*Gasp!* I think I told you something I wasn’t supposed to!” Lilac grabs me and shakes me aggressively. “Forget what I told you! Stop thinking about it and forget it!”

 

I can’t stop the tears from flowing! I can’t believe there are such things happening in this world! It’s so much more cruel than I had thought! Lilac stops shaking me as a shadow casts over us. We both look up to see Mange standing over us with his soaked shirt over his shoulder. “Ya seem ta be getting pretty chummy.” Mange looks closer at me and notices my tears flowing down my face. He quickly grabs me and picks me up. “Oi! Whatcha do to the skelly boy?! Ya didn’t hurt ‘im, did ya?!” I.. want to fight out of Mange’s grasp again, but with the knowledge I have now, I just wrap my arms around his neck, holding onto him in a tight hug.

 

Mange puts his hand to his mouth. “*Gasp!* Ya musta scared ‘im half to death! He’s terrified!” Lilac chuckles a little as she lays back down in the sand. Mange holds onto me as I continue hugging him. I’ve never felt so much sympathy for someone in my entire life! I need to know his side of the story! I must know what happened now! No more secrets! As the day ends, we wrap up our night by just setting up camp at the lake’s edge. The risk is higher here of being spotted, but we needed the mental break. Fivi had grown to level 3 slaying turtles that made their way to the shore. Mange cooked the turtles, using their shells as giant cooking pots. The sunset sinks slowly in the distance. Now, I just need to find my chance to get Mange to talk!