While we were waiting for her energy to refill, I decided to give an impromptu lesson on Bone Lore. We had all these bones lying here, and we could look at them for examples. I broke a cracked one, and we examined the layers that gave it rigidity. The lesson went on a lot longer than expected when we got to the function of marrow to create blood and how joints were shaped and functioned.

Then there were different types of bones, some with marrow and some without. Were teeth bones? No, they weren't, and neither were orc tusks.

Kiri felt out her skill in her body, "I am sure my affinity includes teeth. Why would that be if they are not bone?"

I shrugged, "The term is possibly generic, covering the solid parts of the body. Maybe it is just your version of it. Does it include nails and claws?"

She concentrated for a bit, "I think it does actually. What does that mean?"

"Bones are made of a lot of minerals, but primarily calcium and phosphate. Teeth are different and have an enamel layer over a root structure with a nerve. Nails and claws are different again and made from the same thing as hair, hooves and antlers."

"So I could grow antlers?"

"Probably, if you wanted," I replied.

"But this Dire Boar didn't understand any of this, and it had all that bone armour," Kiri observed.

"Yes, and the armour was living bone too, as it was healing, but that was probably the limit of its ability. Even now with your Fuse Bone, you are doing something it could not, or the bone armour would have been reinforced. You could coat your bone armour in enamel, sharp claws, or fish scales when you learn the skills. You could sharpen those useless human teeth.

"Then there is the function of the bone." I continued, "You could not only strengthen it but increase the marrow you have and therefore your blood supply. Bones hold minerals, so you can add minerals to make them stronger or more flexible.

"Troll bones are known to heal faster. Can you add that to your bones? In fact, I think ground Troll bone was one of the ingredients in that bone-mending potion. You have many, many more options than a monster like the Dire Boar, and through you, Pānihi can also benefit greatly."

It was night when we finished our talk/teaching session, and her eyes were alight with the possibilities. I was clearly shown the benefits of all my reading and Lore, and teaching it to Kiri levelled several Lore levels.

I learned a lot about bone affinities. I bet very few knew it affected teeth and claws as well. All the examples I had read were like the bone armour on the boar. My Monster Lore and Physiology both went to Journeyman.

I didn't get a teaching skill, but I felt closer to the Team Leader Skill. I think that was partly because I stepped up and took charge of the session.

Kiri got her Bone Lore and Anatomy to Apprentice, and she didn't have Bone Lore when we started. We had gone way longer than we anticipated, but I felt this was knowledge she should have.

"Let's have dinner and then Pānihi has waited longer than she was expecting to."

I looked at Pānihi, who looked like she was asleep. "Was tonight supposed to be our joint dinner with your brother?" I asked suddenly. I lost count of the days."

Kiri rolled her eyes. "No, tonight is the third night, so dinner is tomorrow."

I just nodded. I am not good with appointments and dates, etc.

Kiri roasted part of the pork while I cleaned some hide and set up a drying rack near the fire.

There is not much I could do if things went wrong. They were weak in Cold Resistance, so I could kill them with Frigid Void if Pānihi went on the rampage. Otherwise, I was moral support only.

Kiri kept coming up with random thoughts about the process. It was probably stuff she had picked up from her relatives.

"Dad said Skills could come from the boar and not just the affinity."

"Physical changes can happen," she added.

"Will she become a Dire Panther with bone plating? I like her fur," she mused. "Will she get tusks? What if it doesn't work? Dad says to trust your bond's instincts."

"Mum took a big risk with Liten, and that worked. Liten was the one to push to do that, and Pānihi is pushing to do this." It was like she was having an internal debate out loud. I didn't respond to any of that. She was probably partly talking to Pānihi and partly to herself. I just kept cleaning the hide.

I still had the monster cores from the fire ants. I looked at Felix. He had never shown any interest in absorbing them. In the end, the fire was too different. The similarities were too superficial. They were not compatible.

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Finally, Kiri couldn't put it off any longer. Pānihi nudged her with her head. They moved away from camp a little, and Kiri handed her the core.

I watched with all my senses. I saw Pānihi lick the core, lie down with it in her paws, and keep licking it for a while. My Void Senses just gave me a sense of bone from both Pānihi and the core.

My spiritual senses were watching spiritual energy transfer from the core to Pānihi. It was slow, and Pānihi's spiritual energy was getting stronger.

It was too slow for Pānihi, so she grabbed the core in her teeth, lifted her head, and forced it down her throat like an overly large piece of meat. My Spiritual Senses tracked it until it entered her body proper. Then her energy flared, and things were not slow any more.

Pānihi's body spasmed like all her muscles locked up, and the spiritual energy grew brighter. Kiri moved forward to try and help, but I doubt Pānihi was aware of her presence. Her bond was probably her best way, but she continued trying physically as well.

Pānihi started a series of convulsions and foaming at the mouth, then she settled down as if she were unconscious. Sometimes she would twitch like she was dreaming, and once I saw her cough up phlegm and not even the first hour had passed.

Spiritually, she was a mess, and energy whirled like a tornado. In the second hour, the bone manifestations started growing. Bone spikes started ripping through her hide along her spine, and she was losing blood. She was coughing blood now, and her eyes were dripping blood. Then it was like she collapsed, looking lifeless, but I could see she was still breathing shallowly.

This went on for the third hour, and she lost several teeth. She would collapse for half an hour sometimes. It looked like she was losing weight.

The fifth hour, I had to help Kiri and cut a bone away from her throat as it was blocking her breathing. Her heart was working hard, trying to keep her blood circulating. The spikes on her back fell out, leaving gaping wounds in her flesh.

In the sixth house, it was like all her joints had seized up. Kiri and I had no idea what to do. We had one general health potion left, which wouldn't free the joints. Kiri tried to use her bone affinity to free them up, but she didn't have the knowledge or the skills.

In the seventh hour, we thought we were going to lose her when she went through violent convulsions. This broke her joints free but also broke other bones. Kiri was Fusing Bones where she could.

In the eighth hour, she collapsed into a lifeless state again, and I noticed something was different.

"She is growing larger," and she was. She was barely skin and bones, but this was also because she was bigger. We tried to get food and water into her, and partially succeeded.

In the ninth hour, it was like she took a deep breath and held it, but it was large enough for bones to break and crack. Kiri was very low on energy and was only keeping her skills for life-saving events.

On the plus side, Kiri's efforts have resulted in her Level 1 Bone Manipulation. She thanked me for the Bone Lore, as this was now essential to keeping Pānihi alive and removing bones from places they shouldn't be, like the heart and lungs. Pānihi would be dead if Kiri had not learned this skill. Bone Manipulation does not create bone. It just manipulates existing bone, and level 1 means it only works on very small bones. It is gaining levels fast.

My spiritual Sensing watched the spiritual energy, and it had changed again. It wasn't a tornado roaring uncontrolled through her body, but it was a pulsing wave centred from a point deep in her body. I don't know if this meant her monster core was forming, but it was a point where her spiritual energy was focused.

In the tenth hour, Pānihi seemed to stop growing. I estimated she would be close to my height at the shoulder when I was in bear form, but she would not have my bulk.

In the eleventh hour, she started growing sabre teeth from her upper jaw. Everything else had slowed down, so we were hopeful the worst was over.

Kiri said the bond was still strong, but Pānihi was not responding to her. Kiri had a new Bone-Sensing skill; she could touch Pānihi and sense what bones were out of alignment. Once it reached apprentice, she shouldn't need to touch what she wants to sense. She should also start to get a sense of the health of the bones. I clued her in to using her map skills to map the bone structures. She was a scout, so she had a Map. She now needs to learn to draw.

In the twelfth hour, Pānihi seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and her energy had settled right down. Kiri fed her the general health potion.

I went out scavenging for some herbs that Goldie said had health properties, and we made a pork stew with them in our billy. Kiri got some down Pānihi.

Sixteen hours after we started, Pānihi woke up and was aware of her surroundings again. She was very weak. She was literally starving to death after her forced growth. We got some more stew into her. Kiri confirmed to me she was not mad or wanting to go on a rampage.

Once she had some food, I could see the Regeneration Skill she shared with Kiri start kicking in, and her fur was starting to patch together. She was going to be hungry. I hope she likes pork.

Kiri was exhausted, and Pānihi was not going anywhere for a while. We were a good day's fast run from Jern, and we were supposed to be at a dinner in about five hours. That wasn't going to happen.

"We won't make dinner tonight," I said.

"Leif won't be surprised," Kiri said.

"I think we lost Kahz somewhere along the way, but he is probably out here looking for us," I suggested.

"Here," Kiri said, pulling out a small knife and cutting a small piece of leather. She put a couple of symbols on it and handed it to me. If you see him, have him take that to Leif. It will say we are fine and won't be more than a few days."

I nodded, "I will go for a bit of an explore," I whistled, and Felix jumped at the chance to come. We needed a short run to get rid of the kinks.

We jogged out and stretched out to a fast loping run that would eat the distance. I spotted a mountain goat, and Felix and I had fun running it down. We held out for the up-close kill, and I ripped its throat out with my teeth.

I was skinning it when I spotted Kahz. I think he was trying to stay out of sight, but I got his attention and held out the leather as I kept saying "Kevin, and Leif. Kevin and Leif." Kevin claimed he was smart, but I wasn't so sure. Maybe he didn't want to go against Kevin's instructions. I sweetened the deal with some pork jerky, and he finally flew off with the leather. Maybe he was smart and waited for his reward up front.

I realised I wasn't smart. Pānihi would probably like something other than pork, and Kiri probably wanted the bones. I should have just carried the whole thing back rather than skinning it here. I sighed and bundled the parts into the goat skin and awkwardly started back.

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