Bob leaned back against the cold rock of the cliff face, watching as his UtahRaptor pack tore into yet another group of wolves.

To be fair, his pack only existed for five seconds and needed to be replenished every second, but it was effective, especially in conjunction with his ability to portal a freshly summoned Jake to wherever he was needed on the battlefield.

After two more portals, Elli and Harv had shown him a cliff face with easy access to two nearby copses of pines, each of which could be counted on to bring forth a pack of wolves every thirty seconds, assuming Bob took a step a few feet forward, and to the left, or to the right.

It was a truly excellent spot to engage in a therapeutic bit of wolf murder.

The only trouble had come when a bear had first made its appearance. First, the bear was eight feet at the shoulders, and ten feet in length. Second, the bear had a pair of very sharp horns on its head.

Bob was coming to the terrible realization that while he might have had Thaylan stuffed into his head, it was increasingly obvious that some of the words that were being translated were doing so with an eye towards convenience rather than accuracy.

While Bob hadn't had a lot of experience with animals beyond what is normally found inside of a city, he was quite certain that bears weren't normally that big. Nor did they have horns.

The bear had charged into the last few seconds of a fight with a wolf pack, where only one wolf and three UtahRaptors remained. It had dropped two Jakes as they finished off the wolf, and had proven to be terribly resilient, requiring ten claws from the EOT UtahRaptors to see it brought down. That in and of itself wasn't too terrible, however, the time it took to kill the bear led to another wolf pack appearing and engaging before the last few hits were landed.

The bear killed UtahRaptors in two hits, which in conjunction with the second wolf pack, had been more than a little stressful.

Still, he was slowly making progress.

Bob ambled back to along the cliff face to Harv and Elli.

Two hours had passed, and he was more than ready for a break. He'd dispatched nine hundred sixty-four wolves, and twenty-four bears.

For his troubles, he'd received sixty-nine crystals, bringing his total to one hundred and ten.

Despite the annoyance of the wandering bears, Bob was pleased with the experience.

"Just one more day buddy," Bob muttered, "I'll kill wolves all day tomorrow, and then I'm going to save you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob woke up the next morning with a start. This was it. His last day of delving into the Dungeon like a mad man. The end was in sight. He swung his legs out of the bed and placed his feet flat on the floor.

"Just a couple thousand wolves today," he whispered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That evening, Bob staggered back into his room and turned the tub's faucet on. Three thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven wolves, and ninety-three bears, which resulted in one hundred and twenty-seven crystals, bringing his total to two hundred and thirty-seven.

Additionally, his Summoning School had reached level two, and his Summon UtahRaptor had reached level eleven.

In Bob's humble opinion, Jake was really starting to come into his own.

Summon: UtahRaptor(Jake) Tier: 5 Size: 5 Level: 11 Weapon Hardness: 18 Hide hardness: 12 Strength: 36 Mana: 18.72 Armor: 71.8488 Coordination: 36 Stamina: 43.2 Claw Damage: 274.752 Endurance: 19.2 Health: 283.44 Bite Damage: 263.268 Intelligence: 15.6 Movement: 51.6 Wisdom: 15.6 Dodge 56.4 Beauty: 19.2 Summoning Mastery 1.2 Caster Value / 2 126

The UtahRaptor had increased in size slightly upon reaching level ten and was now six and a half feet tall.

His Portal spell had also increased to level two, which resulted in an increase in its range to eighty-eight feet.

Bob sunk into the tub full of hot water and started scrubbing.

Thanks to his portal spell, the trip to the rat dungeon's location should only take half a day, rather than two.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thidwell sat behind his desk, stifling a yawn. The past week had been too busy. Between someone from another world showing up on his doorstep, and the wave that was due in another week or so, he was worn out.

A knock at the door drew his attention and he half-shouted "Come in."

Harv and Elli came in, shutting the door behind them, and took their seats.

"I appreciate you shepherding Bob for the past few days," Thidwell began, "I know you two are more of the slow and steady type."

Harv and Elli exchanged a look, and Harv said, "We tried to impress on him that this kind of pace is dangerous and unsustainable, and we think he may have understood."

Elli gave a shrug and continued "He isn't the friendliest guy, or the most talkative."

Harv grimaced and nodded "He's not going to find a team unless he changes dramatically," he said, "as it stands he is edging into the realm of competence, and that monster of his is, well," Harv shuddered, "a real monster. But I know that I wouldn't delve at level or for crystals with him."

Thidwell nodded and asked, "Do you think we can count on him to stand on the wall during a wave?"

Elli hesitated a bit before cautiously answering, "I think if you asked him to, he would. I know that with the way he summons those monsters, he could be a real asset, the cast and forget way he does it," Elli shook his head, "isn't normal, but it would be damn effective in terms of keeping monsters off the wall."

Harv nodded and added, "Shepherding him was pretty boring for the most part. He's fighting above his level and doing it well. He could do some good on the wall." He exchanged a look with Elli and continued, "We suggested he join the Guild and he seemed to agree," Harv shook his head, "but it's hard to tell with him, he's just so damn closed off."

Thidwell leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on his desk. "He has a special skill that allows him to increase the power of his summoned monster far beyond what you'd expect at this level," he rumbled, "which will make him an asset on the wall, and could make him an asset on a team if he can loosen up."

He rolled his neck and leaned forward, "You've done well, and I look forward to seeing you delve to fifteen this year," Thidwell said, "in the meantime, take a week or so, relax, and get ready for the wave."

Harv and Elli nodded as they stood and exited the office.

Thidwell stood up and stretched his shoulders before he started to pace around the room, a frequent habit.

Bob, he thought, was a headache he hadn't asked for. He'd sent dozens of teams out to check on anomalies over the years, and never before had they found anything. If the man had been aggressive or unreasonable, he might have just killed him. But no, Bob had been cooperative, if not particularly friendly, and with his obsessive desire to rescue his stone's damned cat, could be a useful body to stand against a wave, and later the tide.

He paused in front of his desk and sat down on the edge. A tide was due, maybe even past due. And while Holmstead had grown over the past decade, it hadn't grown the right way. His curation of the Dungeon had brought incredible stability to the region, which had attracted quite a few farmers, ranchers, and woodsman, but not nearly enough Adventurers.

The sad truth was, that the Dungeon in the Capital boasted the same style of curation, and the Capital offered much more than Holmstead could, in regards to craftsmen, entertainment, and the raw number of Adventurers to form teams with.

Holmstead was dangerously low in terms of Adventurers.

Oh, it would be fine for the coming wave. The more cautious, and those further out from Holmstead were already coming in, and a number of them could be counted to man the wall. A few Adventurers who had ties to Holmstead had trickled in over the past week as well.

But for a tide?

He grimaced as he unconsciously clenched his fists. He'd lost better than a score of level ten plus Adventurers on the last tide. He'd been shepherding the best he could find to level ten ever since, but Holmstead had slipped into complacency, and too many of its residents were choosing to play the long game, playing it safe.

They never remembered that if there weren't Adventurers willing to stand tall, they wouldn't have the time to level safely.

At least his gamble of throwing some crystals at the Bob problem had paid off. He was always going to end up shepherding Elli and Harv. After they'd lost Calli and Mel they'd stopped pushing themselves at all, adopting a pace so slow as to be nearly glacial. Thidwell understood that losing their friends had been traumatic, but they were damn good Adventurers, and he needed them to be more powerful.

He'd guessed correctly that Bob would see his aid as a debt to be paid. Add in his obsession with summoning his cat, and he had a potential Adventurer who might not be personable but could be counted on to stand on the wall.

With the application of just a little pressure, he could keep Bob delving and leveling. Not at the same pace, but quickly enough that he could be a pillar against the tide. The right comments to Kelli should see him expounding to Bob, and that would provide the lever he needed to make sure that boulder kept heading down the hill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The gentle need to wake up washed over Bob as his System provided alarm clock woke him up.

Bob's eyes sprang open and he sat up quickly.

This was it. Today was the day.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed. He took deep, calming breaths.

He'd made the decision to hold off on level seven. He had a terrible suspicion that the damage to his matrix, which increased the cost of his spells, was also going to increase the number of crystals needed.

And he couldn't wait any longer. Kelli had knocked on his door last night and told him that Thidwell had asked Kelli to escort him to the site for the ritual and that while he was available today, Thidwell was going to shepherd him the following day.

So it had to be today.

Bob dressed quickly, wearing his armor, cloak, and satchel.

He looked in the mirror before he left, and was surprised at how competent, even dangerous he looked.

Bob closed his eyes and took several calming breaths. He thought about how Monroe would meet him at the door when he came home each day.

His best and only friend was alone, and probably confused, maybe scared, and certainly going to be hungry very soon.

He squared his shoulders. "I'm coming buddy," he whispered, "just a few more hours."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Monroe was, generally, happy. His human-servant kept his food bowl adequately filled, his sandbox properly cleaned and provided a stable, warm place upon which to nap.

He had the occasional rodent to test his hunting prowess, which was, of course, exemplary. He often left them for his servant to admire.

Yes, in the normal state of things, Monroe was content.

This was not, however, the normal state of things.

His human-servant hadn't come back for quite some time. His sandbox was beyond filthy, and he'd been forced to use the tiled shower-fall as an alternate. His bowl hadn't been filled, and he had to open the bag of food on his own. His water flow-to-bowl (a recent offering from his servant that had pleased him greatly) was still behaving, but that was the only normalcy offered in his day.

He missed his human. He liked the brush his human used to help him keep the loose hair from bunching. He liked the way his servant knew just the right spots on his chin and cheek to rub.

Monroe curled up in the last feeble rays of the sun and settled down for a nap. His human-servant would come home soon.