Gavin was in high spirits when their party returned to Wildenesse. The people who knew they'd failed the test all slunk off without ceremony when they thought no one was looking. Clergyman Bines left to return to his temple while Valerie marched them back to the wardens guild. She told them they could either go home and those that passed the test would receive their results via messenger or to wait there while she processed the appropriate forms. No one elected to go home.

  Gavin took the time to find the team registration form from an official in the guild hall who seemed reluctant to hand it over at first but had been talked around by way of a hot pastry meal.

  He and Judy filled the form out on a bench near the meeting spot, Gavin filling in Samania’s name and details to the best of his ability. They brainstormed team names for half an hour, finally settling on one of Gavin's choice that didn't get vetoed by Judy immediately just before Valerie returned. She had a small black box under one arm and a sheaf of papers in the opposite hand. Behind her followed a reedy looking man with a stone tablet.

  “First, Carl here will distribute the loot acquired from the Sandgrubber as per guild protocol.” Valerie said addressing the assembled group.

  Carl walked through the crowd handing each guild member their share of the spoils of Gavins looting power. The members of the group that had already left received nothing so the split wasn't abysmal.

  That done, Valerie distributed their results. Gavin and Judy both passed, receiving their guild badge and official certificate, presented on vellum and enchanted to resist tampering, copying and general wear and tear.

  When she got to Harold Stewardson she delivered him some news he didn't want to hear.

  “What do you mean I failed? I'm twice the fighter anyone else here is.”

  “Master Stewardson, you'll find my rationale in your report.”

  “This is bullshit” he fumed, skimming over the sheet of paper in his hands.

  “If you disagree with your results then you may lodge a complaint with the guild at your convenience.”

  “Oh I bloody well will. This is a disgrace.” he fumed, gritting his teeth.

  Harold scrunched up his paper and hurled it into a bush. Turning on the spot, he stalked towards the entrance of the campus. He came face to face with Gavin and Judy, who were both about to leave through an open portal arch until they'd stopped to watch the commotion.

  “You did this!” Harold roared at Gavin spittle flying from his reddening face.

  “Did what mate?” Gavin asked, weary of having to deal with him.

  “You deliberately sabotaged my test. Right from the start. This is all your doing.”

  “If you say so, but if I were you I'd seriously think about getting some help with your mental health. You've got a lot of anger mate, it's not good to let it eat you.”

  “You dare!” He said, his temper boiling over as he reached for his sword.

  “Dude. Think about what you're doing. If you attack me the guild will come down on you like a ton of bricks. I don't want to fight you, I want us to never see or talk to each other again, deal?”

  “Whatever.” Harold said, pushing past the two of them with a shoulder check.

  Gavin gave Valerie a glance who nodded to him as she carried on distributing the last few guild badges.

  “So, shall we go then? I'll introduce you to Sam and we can start planning if you don't mind a late one? I'm sure her olds’ will put you up for the night if you want to stay.”

  “I'd like that. My living situation isn't the best right now, it's probably not a good idea to stay where Harold can reach me.

  They appeared just outside the Starbourne estate. The sun was low on the horizon, silhouetting the main compound from behind. It cast a wide shadow over them and loomed ominously on the hill above. Gavin walked into the grounds with his new guest thinking that a better idea than to just appear inside with her. Together they walked up the main path, Judy ogling at the wealth on display.

  He took her straight to Sam's bedroom, there was no answer when he knocked. Opening the door and walking inside he saw that not only was Sam not in her room but most of her gear that had once hung on the walls was missing. The place didn't look like it'd been ransacked, but he supposed if he was going to steal the contents of this room just throwing everything into his inventory and portaling out seconds later would be far easier than turning the place over and risking getting caught.

  “Uhh.” Gavin said, wondering what was going on.

  He went to check on his room, Judy awkwardly following behind. It was almost as he'd left it but some things had definitely been moved. His book and notes had been moved but were still there. Feeling uneasy that someone had been in here rifling through his stuff he collected his more valuable possessions back into his inventory, including his magic perpetual motion machine.

  Next, he went for lord Griffons study, finding that empty, he went to Lady Annabelle's study, she was there pouring over a pile of papers.

  “Hey, uhh Lady Anabelle” Gavin began, not quite sure how to phrase his thoughts.

  “Good evening Gavin. How did your test go?”

  “Yeah fine, we passed, ahh, has something happened to Sam?”

  Anabelle looked up from her work, stone still, confusion on her face.

  “Not that I'm aware of, why?”

  “Well, she's not in her room and all the swords and armour she had in there are gone, someone’s been in my room too, but not taken anything, looks like they just moved things but we're careful to put them back roughly where they were.”

  Anabelle was up in a flash, pushing out the door past him down to Sam's room. Her superhuman speed making the action seem quite unnatural.

  Bursting through the closed door, she confirmed Gavins words, Sam's collection of armour and weapons were gone, leaving only empty mannequins and stands. The veteran warrior-turned-administrator cast her hawk like gaze about the room. The air around them felt suddenly cold and dangerous, like a shark fin had just cut the surface of the water at a crowded beach.

  Anabelle pulled a palm sized stone from a pocket and pressed a finger to a rune that lit up blue in her hand. A moment later a house guard appeared behind them.

  “Do you know the whereabouts of my daughter?”

  “Not exactly Mistress. She left for town about two hours ago and hasn't returned. She did the same thing yesterday and came back to the estate after midnight with swordmaster Vale.”

  “Thank you Sorril. That will be all.”

  “Come with me” Lady Starbourne said curtly as she strode from the room.

  Gavin shrugged apologetically to Judy, completely missing what was happening and why Lady Starbourne was simmering with barely contained rage. Judy elected to follow him as he rushed to catch up with Anabelle.

  “What's going on?” Gavin asked as they half jogged out of the main gate, turned abruptly right and headed along the main road towards the commercial district of the town.

  “It appears my daughter has made some poor choices. We are going to find her.”

  Anabell made a direct line for the not so secret fighting pit, located in an underground entrance inside a seedy tavern in the middle of the city. A man accosted her for payment to enter but withered under her glare as she passed him. Gavin was beginning to have a very bad feeling about how the evening was going to play out.

  As they walked down the wide stone staircase the sounds of a jeering crowd careened ever more loudly up at them. The smell of sweat, blood, smoke and centuries of stale alcohol assaulted their senses.

  A bouncer stood aside to let the three of them pass at the bottom of the stairs, revealing a large underground cavern. It strongly resembled an ice hockey arena, though instead of ice the ground was made of granite or some other hard stone. Bleachers rose up the sides of the cavern surrounding an oval field of energy that marked the edge of the fighting area in the centre.

  There, under harsh lights, a straight shot down the stairs in front of them was a woman half melded into a tree construct, wielding an exceptionally large sword, fighting for all her worth. Despite her huge size she moved expertly, blurring to cover half the distance of the arena in an instant, slashing her sword as fast as lightning at her harried opponent.

  The young man was busy dashing and dodging as fast as he could, flinging an endless stream of daggers that returned to his hand after a brief moment. He had a similar short range teleport as Gavin and used it as often as he was able to appear behind Sam or out of her reach. Oddly, the man always stayed uncomfortably close to her, never electing to get far enough away that he was out of her threat range.

  Sam was taking the small cuts from his thrown daggers in stride, they appeared to be laced with elemental magic that crackled and burned her, though those wounds were closing nearly as fast as she was taking them and she seemed to be getting stronger and faster as the fight went on. She looked like a vengeful angel, righteously dealing justice in the name of some wrathful God of nature.

  Gavin knew her tree form was extremely taxing on her mana, while she was in zero danger right now all the man had to do was outlast her, eventually she wouldn't be able to maintain any momentum and peter out.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  An inky pool appeared on the ground under her, grasping black tentacles tangling her legs and attempting to drag her to the ground. A sweeping slash from her sword shattered them in a shower of golden light. She blurred to attack the man, who had teleported back out of her reach. Before he could react, a set of glowing wings burst from her back and she rushed forward redoubling her speed. Gavin could barely follow her movement, her sword stabbed for the man's chest, catching his arm as he dodged. A deep crimson spray splattered from the wound which had all but exploded open with the power of the strike.

  Sam was on him, relentlessly slashing as he tripped over himself to get away. She was about to deal the killing blow when she looked up. Her mother, Gavin and Judy stood at the top of the stairs directly ahead.

  She faltered a moment, giving the man a second to get out from under her attack. Her tree form vanished and she fell to one knee as her body returned to its normal state.

  The man, not wasting an opportunity, closed in for the kill, two daggers flashing to plunge into her chest. A bubble of blue light appeared around Sam as she fell back to avoid the blows, that shattered the shield on impact.

  “Samania Starbourne is disqualified by reason of outside interference” a voice boomed across the crowd. Instantly a thousand people turned to see Gavin rushing down the stairs to the aid of his team mate.

  The crowd erupted in riotous anger. There was a lot of money riding on this fight and to have it end in such a way was not great for Gavins chances of survival.

  “Come, Judy, run” Gavin yelled as he sprinted for the arena, opening a portal as he ran. He dashed across the arena at full speed, dragging Sam through the portal moments before Judy leapt through after them. Anabelle starbourne would have to find her own way out, though Gavin had no doubt she’d manage one way or another.

  “Hey, Sam, you OK? Sam?”

  She looked stunned, pale. Terrified.

  “I messed up Gav. Mother wasn't supposed to find out like this.” Sam said, her face still white as a sheet.

  “Find out what? What happened to your gear? How did you get those new abilities? Wait, did you sell your stuff to buy those powers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh shit Sam. Your mum is gonna blow her top. Judy, it's probably best you go home for tonight, this is gonna be very unpleasant for everyone here.”

  “She can stay right where she is.” came Annabelles cold voice.

  Gavin looked up to see the lady of the house in all her power and it made Gavin's soul quiver. She stood tall, like a vengeful demigod, eyes blazing blue energy, her aura pulsed like a wave of knives pressed to Gavin's throat.

  “Mother, I can explain.” Sam said weakly, staggering to her feet.

  “What did you do, Samania? Tell. Me. Now.” her voice boomed. He felt his bones creak with a similar power to the one Soliece demonstrated the first time they met.

  “I- I sold, I sold everything and bought soul crystals with the money. I-” she stammered.

  “You dare!” Anabelle screeched “your father and I gave you everything, and you've thrown it all away to ruin your soul for what? It was bad enough that Gavin pushed you to taking those first two crystals but this is beyond the pale. You're too old to be a rebellious teenager.”

  “Hey, I-” Gavin began.

  “Quiet you, I'll get to you next.” Anabell said, rounding on him.

  “No, mother, enough. Don't talk to him like that.” Sam said, steeling herself.

  “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.” Anabelle said coldly, her voice dripping venom.

  “Don't Gavin!” Sam screamed watching as he drew himself up to his full height.

  “Sam. I need to do this. Lady Annabelle. I'm not a kid you can just talk down to like that. I am an adult and you will treat me like an adult. I have shown you nothing but respect despite everything you've done. For you to treat a guest like you've just spoken to me is not just a dick move, it's fuckin foul. It's a disgrace the way you've abused your daughter. Treated her like she's some thing, some pet project, forcing her to permanently alter her soul for your own amusement, I-”

  Gavin was cut short by a blow to the side of the head, too fast to see. He crashed to the ground, his vision a wash of red and black. Idly he tasted copper and heard muffled voices before the world came crashing back into him.

  Samania had fainted atop him while Annabelle stood over them both, panting with rage. Gavin rose to his feet. Refreshed with the sacrifice of the life energy Sam had given him.

  “Director Starbourne. That was a very fuckin dumb thing to do.” Gavin said derisively.

  “How dare you talk to me that way, whelp” Anabelle croaked, gravel in her voice. She pressed down on him with an aura of menace, it felt like a physical force needling at his skin like poisoned barbs.

  “Someone had to. Where I'm from you'd be the lowest of the low, parents who abuse their kids are the actual worst.”

  “Abuse? Foolish boy, you know nothing! She has been given every privilege in this world. Everything she needs.”

  “Nah, you've got it all wrong. You never gave her the love and support she needed. You just threw money at her as if that's some substitute for your time. You forced her into being your perfect ubermensch. I'm just the first mate Sam's ever had, and as her mate I'm gonna god damned say something.”

  Gavin felt another blow hit him, this time in the stomach. He doubled over, vomiting blood.

  “Jesus lady” Gavin spluttered “you know, there's a saying, from my world” Gavin said paused to select a health potion in his inventory. “Violence, is the language, of the illiterate.”

  Another blow to his neck knocked him to the ground, this time he maintained consciousness though his body refused to respond to his commands. He watched as Anabelle grasped her groggy daughter by her throat and lifted her up to stare into her blazing eyes. Anabelles fingers pressed into Sam's neck, digging red furrows as blood welled up over her nails. Sam struggled feebly, having no energy to fight back.

  Something snapped within Gavin, his spear materialising in his limp hand. With all his strength he slammed his will into the shaft, activating the enchantment as it flew from his grasp. The spear tip smashed into Lady Annabelle's wild eye. She staggered, dropping her daughter as it pierced several inches into her skull.

  Gavin surged power again, this time using his force of will to float his body up, legs dangling uselessly under him.

  “Don't. You. Put. Your. Hands. On. My. Friend.” Gavin croaked, his breaths coming hard.

  “Or what? You're done, boy. This is the last day you see her. Go on. Find a healer, if you can.” she said, dismissing him and aiming a kick at Sam's prone body.

  Gavin screamed a guttural yell of anger and fury, as energy wreathed his body.

  [Title: a friend in need]

  [Your courage to protect your friends in the face of the impossible has marked your soul]

  [You may expend your own [mana], [Health] and other resources to reset ally cooldowns and restore their [mana] and [health]]

  Gavin fed his power into Sam who rose, gaining strength as her health replenished, fury boiling even hotter and brighter in her eyes than her mothers.

  Sam's body transformed, growing to fill the room. She towered over her mother. Slamming a fist down at her unblinking face. Anabelle caught the fist and twisted, eliciting a grunt from Sam as wooden sinew twisted and warped within her grip. Gavin fed more power into Sam but he was running out fast.

  Sam slammed another fist at a

  Anabelle, which she caught easily. She handled her daughter as if she were no stronger than a toddler, wrenching her arms down to force her daughter to kneel as her arms splintered.

  Gavin, in a moment of clarity, understanding on an instinctual level how his new ability worked began feeding coins from his inventory into Sam, feeling their innate magical energy flood across their bond as he broke them down for their raw ether. The level two coins he’d acquired felt like bolts of lightning, jolting Sam with a burst of energy. She stood, surprising her mother. Her new power from pain ability raising her strength well beyond her normal limits.

  “Stop it daughter before you do any more damage.” Anabelle growled.

  “Daughter?” Samania bellowed “I am not your daughter, you are dead to me” then, with a final surge of power Sam threw her mother back against the wall, stone cracking to fall as dust.

  Two short swords appeared in Annabelles hands and she stalked forward, malice in her eyes. She had one method of solving her problems and that way was violence.

  “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE” Griffon Starbourne bellowed from the doorway over a stunned Judy’s shoulder “Anabelle, Samania. Cease this at once!”

  There was a moment of silence, anabelle seeming to realise where she was and what she was doing. Her swords disappeared from her hands and she turned to face her husband

  “Griffon, I-”

  Gavins portal came off cooldown in the moment of distraction, he summoned it between himself and Sam, using the last of his strength to tug Judy roughly towards him, her momentum tumbling them both through the inky void. Sam followed an instant later, her tree form vanishing to fit through the archway which fell to the ground behind her.