Entering the game the next day, I yelled out to Inkler, “Hey buddy, breakfast time!” I had just gotten some more of the elk meat searing when I felt him rubbing against my hip. I just barely let both sides of his sear before tossing it to him, which he happily devoured. I spent a full hour and a half just constantly searing elk meat, as I wanted a lot on hand for my trip to the next dungeon.

After that, I placed the boar belly I had gotten yesterday and started the process of curing it. Seven days in a cool, dark place with seasoning and curing salts outta do it, then I was wanting to smoke it. Once that was done, and the minor battle with Inkler who wanted to sample it already, I managed to make it out and towards Djarleen’s shop. On the way I picked up my commission from the enchanter’s and it turned out to be a cloak that would hide my name from identity as well as give the illusion that I was human. I was warned about it not working on any city guards, and I thanked them and paid three platinum for it. Expensive, but worth it. Just outside of Djarleen’s shop, I remembered to pocket my ring.

“Angus! What is that slinking around behind you?”

“Morning Djarleen. This is Inkler. He chose me after we lost Alnoss, and now is rapidly growing as a battle pet.”

“Oh? I can see how a wonderful nightliger like that would make a fantastic companion for yourself. Are you going to make him a variant as well?”

“I would like to, do you have any ideas on what to do with him?”

“Oh my, yes I do. If you can get him enough fairy magic cores, you could give him illusion magic. Who needs a displacer beast when you can have several copies of your pet? Hmmm, adamantine claws would be fantastic, but that’s a lot of claws to find. Venom from some of the southern desert beasts would do wonders, though if he attacks as savagely as I heard you do then it would be wasted. No point in damage over time if the enemy doesn’t live for a long time.” By this point she was more muttering to herself, but both Inkler and I seemed fascinated. “Steelpelt bears would toughen his hide, but he shouldn’t be getting hit anyway. I’VE GOT IT!” We both jumped when she yelled. “Phase beasts. Find some dimensional cores from phase beasts, and you’ve got the perfect upgrade.”

Coming around from behind her counter, she got in Inkler’s face and started scratching at his chin. “How about it cutie? Do you want to be a terror that attacks and phases away before anyone can hit you? Of course you do, that’s how you survive fights now isn’t it? That and instilling terror in your foes. Yes, we love instilling terror, don’t we?” By the end there I could sense a bit of discomfort at the bloodlust that Djarleen seemed to be automatically releasing.

“Anyway, we do need to be going. Do you know how much those dimensional cores would cost? Or where I could find them?”

“The most likely place to get them is off plane. For someone Inkler’s size you would need at least a medium sized core as well, and those are going to cost you about five platinum per core.”

“Damn.” I muttered, thinking about what it would cost. If I were going for the weakest possibility, that would be 50 platinum. To boost him with a perfect dimensional core, that would be 50,000 platinum! “That’s an awful lot of coin.”

“Oh? Thinking of going with ten perfect dimensional cores?”

“Yep. If he can get a boost like I did out of it, it would be well worth it.”

“True, it probably would be. By the way if you are heading to the desert, I do have a few things to collect if you have the time.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“Giant scorpion venom and desiccated bone dust. Both are fairly common drops, so I can’t give a lot for them. Tell you what, for every set of ten, I’ll give you 50 silver. Deal?”

“Sure thing.” I said, quickly accepting the quest generated popup. It would only be a little bit, but it would be a start. Heading to the back of the store, I almost activated the transport before asking Djarleen. “Hey, they aren’t going to be upset with Inkler following me, will they?”

“Hmm? Oh, so long as he doesn’t get into anything it should be fine. Just don’t let the guildmaster experiment on him and you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks Djarleen, see you later.” She simply waved at us as we teleported to the alchemy guild. I hadn’t warned Inkler about the transition, and to my dismay he handled it with ease. Smug bastard. Great, let’s add insult to injury and have the front desk manned by Montgomery.

“Hello Montgomery, how are you today?” I asked as pleasantly as I could after waiting in the short line.

“What is that?” He asked with a sneer directed at Inkler.

“Why, that’s my battle pet.” I said in a dark tone. Bastard didn’t even want to pretend to be nice? Fine with me. “And if you keep looking at him like that, you might just lose your head. See, feline companions are known for being headstrong about certain things. Even disobeying direct orders, because cats, ya know?”

“Are you threatening me?” He asked, in a tone that made sure that he thought himself untouchable.

“Whyever would I need to threaten a cheap bastard like you who has done nothing but be a pain in the ass ever since I met him? No, if I were threatening you I wouldn’t be pointing out that while we have been talking, Inkler has crept around behind you and is holding his claws right next to your so very fragile neck.” Sure enough, Inkler let his claws just barely prick his neck. “Now, there are two ways this can really go. You can apologize to Inkler, hoping he forgives you and lets you try and be nicer to me in the future. Or you can keep being a dick and I can see what it looks like when he uses [reality slash] on a living being.” Leaning in close, I whispered in his ear, “I missed it in battle last time, and am kinda curious.” Stepping back, I was surprised to realize I missed Inkler’s growth. After 11 levels, he went from waist high to just below my chest with paws the size of my face. No wonder Montgomery had quickly gone pale.

“I do apologize for my tone earlier, Inkler, was it? I shouldn’t have taken out my mood on such a fine specimen of a nightliger as yourself.”

I nodded to Inkler, but the damn cat let his claws prick just a bit harder to draw some blood, before he dropped back and sauntered to my side. Keeping Montgomery in his sight, he flicked out the same claws that he had used and started cleaning them with gusto.

“So.” He said with a sigh. “What can I do for you?”

“I was supposed to be getting a badge to let me roam in cities.”

“Ah. Master Faraldo has it, he will meet you in conference room 2.”

“Thanks Montgomery.” I said, and headed up. The conference room was empty, so I settled in for a wait. Soon enough he walked in with Grimlet, and sat down.

“Hey there Angus, and what lovely beastie do ya got there?”

“This is Inkler, he’s a nightliger.” I said, and watched as the cat walked over and carefully sniffed the back of the outstretched dwarf’s hand. Always a good judge of character, it didn’t take him long to bump the hand on top of his head in a demand for scratches. “Looks like you made a new friend.”

“Aye, and glad I am too. Nightliger’s be fearsome, and I hear they enjoy tormenting secretaries.”

“Sorry about that, but Montgomery always gets on my nerves. I just didn’t have the patience for it today.

“No worries lad. We all know he can be a bit, prickly. Nobody’s gonna hold his accusations against ya. We do have this badge for ya ta wear, and all the major cities have been warned not to be messin’ around with ya.” He slid the badge across the table. Looking it over, it was a silver mortar and pestle with a gold edging around the octagonal shape. “Just clip it to whatever yer wearin’, and should a guard give you trouble tap it three times quickly. That’ll send a signal to the nearest guild member, who’ll be more than happy to set ‘em straight. I hear that yer goin’ to the southern desert next?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. Anything I should look out for when I’m gone?”

“Yah. There be an armored lizard you should look into. Their scales can shift position, and reflect magical attacks. I doubt anyone’ll ever be able to get a physical attack to hit this beauty, but magic attacks tend to home in on their target and you’ll want some defense against that.”

“Huh, I hadn’t thought of that. What do you say Inkler? Do you want to become a phase shifting variant? One that can create magical illusions about yourself? Or one that can deflect magic?” He stayed fairly still for the first two, and his tail started flicking in excitement for the last one.

“Phase shifting? Dear lord boyo, I already know some nightmare creatures. Why would you want to create something that would add to ‘em?”

“Because I want Inkler to be the strongest, most dangerous battle pet out there?”

“Ah, fair enough I suppose. Now, if ya don’t mind I need to get going. Grimlet here is trying out as an apprentice alchemist for a bit.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you could try out for those things.”

“Well, after everything went down I made a rather public split with my clan.” Grimlet spoke up from behind Faraldo. “I ended up joining the crafters clan, and they are letting me try several professions before I join up so that I can see what I like.”

“Rather public! Ha!” Faraldo chuckled. “You’lda been proud o’ him Angus. He went in there in front o’ the king and council, and laid out what all his clan had done. Was granted the split per dwarf custom, and his old clan be kicked out o’ the entire kingdom on pain of death.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” I said with a smile. “You always seemed like a straight shooter, and I’m glad you found a clan that will help you grow.”

“Thanks. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, send me a PM, ok?”

“I’ll try. Not sure monster races can communicate with light siders like that, but if nothing else I’ll send something through Master Faraldo here, as long as you two don’t mind?”

“Fine by me.” Both dwarves declared, and Master Faraldo stood up and offered his hand. “Angus, I’ll be here too if you ever need anything. Though the closest when you travel will be Mad Mardigan, and I sincerely hope that nobody tries messing with you. He’s liable to level a portion of the city.” He said the last bit with a shudder, and headed out with Grimlet.

They headed upstairs, while I headed downstairs to the area with the transport circles. I was happy to see a golem in the wall by the one we would normally take back home. Its eyes flashed red, then turned green as we neared, another good sign. Instead of heading home, we went three doors down to the one marked Al Paranda.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

We exited the transport circle into the back room of a shop that was set up almost identically to Djarleen’s. “Just know, if you’re here to steal stuff I will find you!” I recognized the voice of Mardigan from the front, he must be doing something that prevented him from coming back here. I flicked the hood up and activated the enchantment, adding the button from the guild. Sure enough, after a minute Mardigan came storming through the blanket that separated rooms and froze in confusion.

“I know damn near everyone in the guild, but I don’t recognize you. You have five seconds to say something before you get randomly potioned. Five.”

“Greetings, Vice guildmaster.” I said almost immediately. I didn’t want to find out what a random potion from an alchemical master could do. “I’m glad my disguise worked, if you didn’t recognize me then the players wouldn’t either. It’s me, Angus.” I dropped the hood to reveal my face, and he immediately relaxed.

“Angus! Wow, Faraldo really put that badge through quick, didn’t he? I know you have some business here, but I do have some words of warning if you want.”

“From a local? Damn straight I want some words of warning.” I said with a chuckle.

“Right, just had to be sure. Some of you adventurer’s are rather stubborn about advice. Anyway, the deeper into the desert you go the stronger the enemies you’ll find. Bring three times the amount of water you think you’ll need, you are going to go through it a lot quicker than you thought. Also, the stronger monsters come out at night. Any undead you see will pretty much double in strength at night as well.”

“That’s good to know about the undead, as that’s what I’m hunting. Ever heard of a lich in these parts?”

“Lich? Oh, you poor bastard, are you talking about Zandkazaar?”

“I’m not sure, all I have to go on is a lich that is fusing the bodies of living creatures and crafting undead. Sound like your guy?”

“Yeah, that’s Zandkazaar. You really need to be properly prepared when you go against him. He lives in the deepest part of the desert, and uses a mix of undead and flesh golems. The worst part is that you can only access his hideout at night.”

“Well, can you point me in the direction of something that would work?”

“Sunburst potions to start with, I can show you how to brew ‘em. Bone dust from the desiccated dead, as well as pollen from the sunlight flowers you’ll see growing along the edge of the desert are the easiest ingredients to get.”

“So what’s the hardest thing to get?”

“Caught that, did ya? Pristine oasis water. There are a few places I can mark on your map to get it. Here you go.” Taking my map, he quickly jotted down three locations and handed it back. “Good luck, and don’t forget your hood.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I said, heading out after flipping up my hood. The city was vastly different than the drakeling’s. People dressed in light, flowing robes and showed an impressive amount of skin. They also avoided the midday heat by basically shutting down the marketplace and hiding under awnings when they could. The few guards I saw patrolling went with minimal leather armor and at least one scimitar. Several dropped the buckler of their fellows in order to have a second blade. I meandered about, looking for an inn to stay at. Mardigan had steered me well, and answered most of my questions. I was planning on heading out at night, as I figured I would consume much less water and the darkness would help Inkler with his hiding.

Eventually I found something worthwhile, and just in time as several passing guards had given me side glances. Each time I made sure that my badge was on display, but that still didn’t stop them from walking around with their hands on the pommels of their swords. Walking inside, I couldn’t help but chuckle. I was hopefully going to be staying at the Djinn’s Inn.

“Greetings!” A jovial fat man rounded the counter, freezing at the sight of Inkler and me. “Customers?”

“If you’ll have us.” I said, trying to be nonthreatening.

“Sure sure, come back here for a second.” He led us back to a small, private room with pillows on the ground for sitting.

“Inkler, don’t destroy the pillows.” I said, glaring at him as he was already shaking his rump back and forth in preparation to pounce. Instead, he returned my glare and walked over and plopped down to groom his paw, as if that were his intention all along. “Not fooling me.”

“So.” The innkeeper said, shutting the door. “I guess I’ll just have to put this out there right now. I know you are one of the drakelings, and likely every shopkeeper here will know as well.” At my confused expression he added, “We all have the same identify skills the guards have. Do you have permission to be here?”

“Got it through the alchemist guild.” I said, pointing to my badge. “Don’t worry, I’ll be spending most of my time here exploring the desert and killing things.”

“Oh good.” He said, visibly relaxing. “Then welcome, customer! I am Abdurab, and it will be one silver per night. That’ll be for food for yourself and your nightliger. Judging by his size, he seems to be around level 30? 35?”

“Just hit 28, do you know about them?”

“Not much, they tend to be from further west than what we are now. But they grow as they level. Waist high at 10, chest at 30, and shoulder above 50. If they should reach level 100, then you’ll be the one coming up to their chest.”

“Wow, I had no idea you were gonna get that big buddy.” I said, patting Inkler’s sides. “Soon enough you’ll be eatin’ the whole elk, right?” Standing back up, I held out a hand for the innkeeper to shake. “I think we will be accepting your offer, thank you.” We shook hands, and I handed over five silver. “I figure we’ll be here a few days for sure, so here.”

“Paying ahead? Oh what wonderful customers. Here, your key good sir. Second floor, room three. Would you be insulted if we had the food delivered for you? It’s not that I don’t trust you, but that your Inkler would make several of our guests rather nervous.”

“That’s fine. If you don’t mind, I have a few things I need to be doing. Will my key work if I come back late at night?”

“Night? You’re going out to the desert at night? That’s madness good sir! The undead, they get stronger at night, and several of the stronger predators come out as well!” He seemed rather panicked.

“Inkler and I will show them what true predators are.” I said with confidence, while Inkler gave an extended yawn to show off his teeth.

“Of course sir.” Abdurab said as the color drained from his face. “Yes, your key will let you in no matter the hour. Gggooood luck.” He stuttered the last bit, opening the door for us. “I’ll have some dinner delivered in a bit.”

We headed up to our room, and killed a few minutes just relaxing. Soon enough there was a knock at the door, and the owner was there with a dish that resembled a gyro for me and what looked like an entire goat leg for Inkler. “Thanks.” I said to his retreating back, as he fled the moment the food was securely on the bedside table. “I think you are getting rather terrifying Inkler. I can only imagine what you can do when full sized.” Dropping the leg in front of him, he went at it with gusto. I ate rather quickly, and told him, “Listen. I’m going to relax for a bit, then we can head out hunting tonight.” He seemed to be ignoring me for the food, so I laid down on the bed and logged out.