I hear the croakings of Despair,

The dark predictions of the weak;

I find myself pursued by Care,

No matter what the end I seek;

My victories are small and few,

It matters not how hard I strive;

Each day the fight begins anew,

But fighting keeps my hopes alive.

'The Fighter' Samuel Ellsworth Kiser

****

"The guard got back to me; the Derailed Mine has an infestation of ratmen. Supposably they are merely a group of recently evolved rats and shouldn't be a problem. He thought this would be an excellent way to get the initiates' feet wet."

Ken was looking over a few messages at his desk in the office in Ground Sheer. Dode was leaning against the wall behind him, staring out the window. Rob was sitting in front of the desk, smoking a pipe, the smoke lazily drifting towards the ceiling.

Furu was also in the room, though he was asleep on the couch, snoring away. None of the other occupants paid him any mind, used to him as they were.

"It's a bit early for the expedition, isn't it?" Rob asked. "Normally we would wait for another month. Ratmen aren't pushovers either. They can swarm the ill-prepared. I think it would be better to pass this off to one of the advanced halls. I hear that the Knight school, you know that one on the east side, what's its name? Anyway, I understand they have a decent crop this year. Some big wig outlander wanted to get certified and dragged a good chunk of his forces there with him."

"You mean Steel Mil? I heard about that too, but they won't take the job. Those people have high levels, over a hundred and these ratmen are level fifteen at most." Ken answered.

"Fifteen? I know you said they just evolved but that is even less than I thought. How can we be sure?"

"Get this, one of the miners came across one of the beasts, and it noticed him. When it tried to chase him, it tripped over its tail and fell face first. The miner was able to kill it in a few swings to the head." All three chuckled.

"If it was that clumsy it couldn't have been more than a day since it evolved. Rats evolve at level twelve to ratmen right? When did this happen?" The smoking man questioned.

"Only two days ago, so even if that one was an outlier, the others can't be too much stronger. If we keep miners from that area, they will only be able to grow on other monsters. We have maybe a month before they reach level twenty. By then others would have been dispatched to clean up the mine and scatter the ratmen. The tunnel cannot go unused for more than three weeks before production slows down, so we do not have time to train the kids up to our regular standard before then."

"The average level is seven at the moment. We have two at level nine, but the others are around there. Everybody has gotten the endurance stat, so they have that. Beginner equipment will work with ratmen, so we do not have to worry about that, but we haven't covered how to work in teams yet." Dode chimed in on the conversation.

"Here is what we'll do. We will set the expedition for this Sunday. This way it gives us six days to train them in team tactics as well as how to fight in caves. A bit of a rush but it is better than letting the beasts get to higher levels while we train. Worse comes to worst, and they are all wiped out, we clear the mine and use it as an excuse to drill them harder." That decided, Ken drew out a blank piece of paper to answer the guard who had messaged him.

"What about snake boy?" Ken looked up at Dode.

"Snake boy?"

"You know, that helper kid who always carries a snake," Dode answered.

"Oh, you mean Nero? I don't know. I've only seen him a few times since he started. What about him?"

"Should he come too?"

"Rob, you think we should take him? He has only been training for two weeks, how is he doing?" Ken asked the other instructor. Rob took a moment to think about it, drawing another puff of smoke from his pipe.

"He can throw a decent enough punch now. When he first started, he hadn't fought a day in his life. He can hold a weapon without dropping it and make some necessary moves in a static environment, but that is about it. He lacks experience, and I wouldn't count on him not panicking in his first fight.

He is dedicated though. He never complains and can keep going for hours without a break. Despite only attending seven sessions he has already gotten the endurance stat. The biggest problem is he is just terrible with weapons. If he trains for a few years, he might be able to wield one semi-competently, but that is if he practices daily with only one choice. There is something about them that he just can't grasp, no matter how many drills we run through."

"Bah, who needs 'em? Back in my day, the only weapon I needed were me own two fists." The old man on the couch grumbled lightly before rolling over once more and trying to go back to his nap.

"You said he could throw a punch? Try only teaching him how to fight barehanded then. If he is decent at that, then he could become a pugilist or martial artist something." Ken told the smoking instructor.

"That's not a bad idea. The boy has decent reflexes, but none of us are too good without weapons."

"If you can't teach him anything in specific then just cover the basics and then spar with him, if he becomes a fighter then he is going to have to learn how to fight people that use weapons while he doesn't." The head instructor shrugged uncaringly. "He will come with us on the expedition. Even if he can't fight it can still be a good experience, and he can carry some stuff."

"All right, I will try that. I will teach the kid Basic Skinning as well. He can help with gathering the ratmen fur. I heard in the tavern that there was a bit of wool deficiency this year. Supposedly there are too many outlanders for the stock. We can make a bit of money selling the pelts this winter."

"Good idea. Now that is taken care of; we have to deal with the budget for this month." All three men sighed in exasperation as they went about compiling costs and revenue forms.

****

Endurance This stat represents the sturdiness of your body. The ability to withstand what the world throws at you is essential for any being that desires to grow. High endurance means less pain and less damage as you slowly temper yourself in the fires of the world. You cannot allocate points to this stat.

This stat had shown up in Nero's menu after his fifth day of harsh training at Ground Sheer. Like the Knowledge stat, it seemed like there was a requirement before a person could generate it.

With Knowledge, it had been once he had accumulated enough know-how about how the game world. With Endurance it was once he had pushed his body to the limits repeatedly.

Name Nrvn Qsr Level 4 (15 Points Unallocated) Nature The Beast (Natal) Alignment Neutral HP 158 MP 100 STR. 15 DEX. 12 Spirit 10 Knowledge 17 END. 4

He had made some progress over the last two weeks. Both his Strength and Dexterity had improved through training. Every point increased in Strength had given him ten more HP and, once Endurance had appeared, he had gotten two HP for each point.

Knowledge had seen the most significant improvement, however. He only spent every other day at the bookstore; the others days he spent learning about games and game culture in general. The statistical gain was slowing down. It was taking him a full morning to get one point where before it would generate at least two.

His skills had progressed as well. The Nest was still at level one, but assimilation had reached level two once 'Jorry's taste buds' had reached 25 percent completion. Right now it was sitting at 32 percent. The skill hadn't changed at all, but progress was progress. Nero had also gotten more of a handle on having an enhanced sense of taste.

What had him most satisfied wasn't the stats or skills though. Those were just numbers on a screen. It was hard to fundamentally grasp how one number could represent an increase in abilities. Nero wasn't suddenly strong enough to lift a horse or fast enough to run faster than the speed of sound.

No, what made him feel a small burst of pride was the callouses on his knuckles and hands.

It was a small thing, often overlooked on a day to day life. But it was a mark of progress none the less. Where before Kaesar would punch the wooden posts and his fists would start to bleed almost right away, now he could go for hours and not break his skin. Granted, this was only possible because of the salve Rob used to heal his hands, but it was still a mark of Nero's hard work.

Jorry, on the other hand, had not worked hard this entire time. Nero had gone out two more times to kill some rats for some money, the reason he had level up, and that had been the only exception the little serpent had over the last two weeks. It spent most of its time laying in the sun and napping.

Although, Nero couldn't really criticise the little critter at the moment. They were both spread out on a blanket under a tree in that small park where the had first met. It was around noon, and the pair were having a short nap after recently clearing out a restaurant that had needed an exterminator.

Kaesar had gone in search of jobs recently for two reasons, the first was that he wanted to put his new physical abilities to the test. Although difficult to his such small rodents, Nero had been able to keep calm and had dispatched his foes with little hassle, even though they had been more numerous than the first two times.

The second reason was that he needed money. Ten silver coins were enough to feed Jorry and him for a few weeks if they were frugal. Unfortunately, other expenses cropped up. Like clothes.

The downside of realism in a game is that after playing for a while, the avatar starts to stink. While Nero could always find a bathhouse or something to clean himself up, his clothes needed to be changed and washed regularly as well, lest they start decomposing on him.

So he needed to purchase some clothes. This led to the necessary purchase of a bag to hold them. Here magic had once more reared its head. He had bought a bag that was bigger on the inside than on the outside. Nothing too large but it was still about three times the size that it appeared. It was incredibly convenient for the man who did not have a place to put his stuff.

He had also purchased some miscellaneous stuff to make his life a little better. Like the blanket and pillow, he now rested on.

During his time playing, he had found out his mental endurance was not infinite. Nero was able to go for about three to four days straight without rest Gods' Nature, depending on what he did, before mental fatigue hit enough to start affecting his judgment.

So, rather than sleep for a full eight hours or so, every few days Kaesar would finish reading early and spend a few hours merely napping in the sun with his little buddy sleeping on his chest.

Nero found that Sarra Keep was situated along the equator of the planet. That, combined with the local topography meant it got much more temperate weather than if it was elsewhere. It had only rained once in the two-week period that he had played.

His nap was peaceful, very few people came to this little park off the beaten path.

It wasn't entirely without worries, however.

Opening one eye a smidge peaked at the observer.

It was hidden a bit by the foliage of a neighboring tree, but he could just make out the brown plumage of the falcon as it stood vigil over the duo's slumbering forms. Standing vigil was a bit of a misnomer, however, more like it was eyeing Jorry like a prime cut of meat.

The small snake was able to sense something was wrong but wasn't able to locate the target and so slept lightly, keeping aware of any disturbance in the air.

Barring that small annoyance, however, things were relatively peaceful.

Which was why Nero was unsurprised when the moment was ruined by the ringing of an incoming call.

Sitting up slightly, so his back was leaning against the tree, dislodging Jorry in the process, much to his consternation. It was from Nico, though Nero should probably call her Octavia. Remembering the joke from last time, he smiled slightly as he answered the ringing.

"Hey, Gus. What's got you smiling?" She asked as the face panel opened up.

"Nothing at all sister-wife dear." Octavia immediately turned red at the mention of the coincidental naming of their characters. "Anyway, you need something?"

"You're such a bully." She said quietly as she recovered from the light ribbing. "Can't a kind sister call her older brother just to talk? That you would assume I am only using you offends me. To make it up to me, you need to help me with my homework."

"And that was definitely the reason you called in the first place, was it? A kind sister would certainly not interrupt her injured older brother's vacation because she was feeling lazy. There is no way the girls who I raised would be so manipulative, would they?"

"Alright, fine. I need your help. I have a ten-page paper due next week, and I have hit a wall. I'm sure my kind and wise older brother would have no problem answering some questions." She relented.

"Why do you need my help?" He frowned. "I thought you guys were getting along with Sophia, didn't you go to eat dinner at her house just recently?"

"She told you about that?" Octavia raised an eyebrow but changed the subject back. "We're getting along fine, but it's different. It's easier to talk to you about it. Besides, you probably know more on the subject than she does anyway. Can you just answer some questions? Pretty please?"

"Fine, what are you writing about?"

"It is for my ancient religion course. I decided to write about how Christianity changed the perception of women over time. I just need some ideas from sources in critical Christian texts. I am already quoting the bible, but I need some books that interpret it and its teachings. So can you just give me some ideas? One or two will do."

"That is an interesting idea. Do you want texts about women or ones that portray Christianity's view of women?'

"Preferably that show their views about women in passing, rather than talking directly about them."

"You could try the Divine Comedy, it has some interesting ideas. Women in it are portrayed in a few different ways so you can get a more three-dimensional view. You have examples of 'lustful' women or 'chaste' women. It should be no surprise that the main thing people thought about women back then was related to sex."

"That's good, any other ideas?"

"I'm not sure if it could work, but you could read Milton's Paradise Lost. The only problem is it was written near the enlightenment when religion started its decline so it might not be too relevant as a comprehensive view of Christianity."

"That's fine. I am just trying to get different perspectives."

"Fair warning though. Milton is not a fan of the fairer sex. In the second chapter, he writes about the personification of Sin. He depicts her as a woman and blames her for her own rape. He has some more interesting views on Eve near the end, but even they are not too flattering."

"Alright. Thank you really helped me out."

"No problem, what are older brothers for? That all you needed?" he asked.

"Yep." She said, popping the 'P.' "I can finish with this. It can put me on the right trail at least."

"When are you girls going to make it here?"

"We finished our quest a few days ago. We should be there in six to eight weeks, depending on what interruptions we meet on the road. You are still in Sarra Keep right? You haven't been too far out of the city have you?" She looked a little worried for his safety, so he was quick to assure her.

"I haven't left the city at all. I found this great bookstore and have been spending my time there for the most part." Technically correct, but it left a lot out. "I am not going anywhere until we meet up, so don't worry."

"Sorry, I don't mean to hover, but I just want you to relax and have fun. Gods' Nature is not like other games, it can be quite brutal when you start fighting." Octavia did not mention anything about how that was how she and Claudia liked it.

"It's not too bad, I haven't really fought anything so I wouldn't know." Not unless you count stepping on rats a fight, which Nero conveniently did not. "I even got myself a cute pet to keep me company, so I am doing fine."

As if understanding that he was the subject of discussion, Jorry looked at his companion. The way the snake tilted its head and looked at Kaesar made him slightly uncomfortable. It was probably his imagination, but Nero could swear that Jorry was saying; 'You are obviously MY pet, fool.'

"A pet? I'll have to meet it when we get there. I have to go, the bus is going to be here soon. Have fun okay?"

"You too. Love you."

"Love you too, bye."

As she hung up the connection, Nero turned to his little companion.

"You don't want to be a pet? Then you are going to have to get stronger."

If Jorry could have understood what Nero was saying, it would be hard to know if the lazy little snake would have stayed with him.

****

Kaesar was under no impression that he was a good fighter. One does not become proficient in combat after only fighting rats and attending just seven training sessions does not a good warrior make.

It did not help that Nero acknowledged he was absolute pants with a weapon.

In many ways it was understandable, there was just no time in the modern world for a person to use a classic 'cold' weapon unless they were dedicated to learning it as a hobby. That did not mean that other people could not learn, it just took a long time, and somebody needed a particular aptitude to become really proficient with their weapon of choice.

Take players of Gods' Nature, for example, most never would have picked up a sword in their life, but after playing the game for over a year, they would have had quite a decent mastery of it. Practice makes perfect after all. But not everybody is created equal, some people are better at somethings than others. That is only how the world works, to think differently is not just to be ignorant, it is also patently false.

Thus Nero was able to readily admit that he had no talent with weapons. After two weeks of training sessions, he could barely hold a sword, the most basic and favorite weapon, properly.

And Nero was okay with that. This was the reason he had chosen the Beast Nature in the first place, to try out a variety of things until he found what he liked. Kaesar would keep with Ground Sheer for the rest of the fall, then Nero would apply for the magic training hall. If he found he did not enjoy something, he had no problem shifting specializations.

He was on vacation, after all, he had plenty of time to find what he enjoyed and then to pursue it. But for the moment, though he definitely wasn't the most talented of fighters, he did have his own advantages.

Sophia had once told him that he could have been an assassin in his past life or a politician.

She wasn't commenting on his morality, his ability to kill or even his stealth techniques. He had none of the last two. What she had been talking about was his capability of getting what he wanted to be done using methods other than brute force. His approach to life and his goals were subtle rather than overt. He knew how people worked and he was patient, crafty and a bit manipulative. Instead of forcing his will on people, he schemed and tricked. A few well-placed words can do wonders, especially if they were said in passing as if they just slipped out of one's mouth without notice.

It had helped him raising his sisters, and it would help him in Gods' Nature.

Jorry was a lazy little snake, that was certain. Appart from the occasional rat hunt it only laid down and slept. Perhaps that was partially Nero's fault, Jorry was no longer a wild Gardner snake after all. He had been, for all intent and purpose, domesticated.

But if there was one thing that Augustus disliked in this world it was the acceptance of mediocrity. He believed that constant improvement was the only way to live. That was why Augustus kept up his studies even after he dropped out of high school. He read books in his spare time, he listened to audiobooks and podcasts at work, and he exercised regularly. It wasn't that he had any particular goal, though he did intend to go to university once his sisters had become self-reliant. Augustus just wanted to be better than him of yesterday.

He personally believed that once somebody stopped improving themselves, all they had left was to wait for death. He had instilled it into his sisters, turning them into the two best students at his school. Now, it was time to instill that into Jorry.

Which was going to be hard, because they could not really talk to each other.

So Nero came up with a scheme to motivate the small serpent. Unfortunately, for what he had planned, he needed money. More money than he had. So it was back to hunting rats for the moment. Which was also good, it gave him some time to prepare Jorry.

Here he was once more. Near the outside walls of the city where he had found most of his clients so far. It wasn't as luxurious as the center but still being within the walls meant that they had to be concerned about hygiene to keep their customers.

He had done enough jobs that his name was starting to get around as an exterminator who worked cheaper than skilled magicians while having a perfect completion rate. He was still relatively new to the area, but he was no longer a complete unknown.

As he was walking the area, trying to find an establishment he hadn't applied to last time, he was stopped by shout on the street.

"Hey, you! Snake guy!" Nero turned around to see a slightly rotund man waiving at him. It took a moment to recognize his face. It was the boss of the restaurant he had first worked at. Deciding to see what he wanted, Nero made his way over.

"I thought it was you, I hear you cleaned out Job's place a few days ago. You free at the moment?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Nero answered.

"Come inside, and we'll talk." So Nero followed the man into his establishment, past the counter, and into his back room. "Thanks for the work last time, I checked, and there wasn't a single rat left." The owner said once they had reached a more private location.

"No problem, so what do you need?" Nero had things to do after all.

"I don't know if you have noticed, but there have been more and more rats showing up recently. Before every once in a while we would get a nest, but after clearing them out, it would take them a month or so to come back. Now they are popping up every week it seems. I went back into storage to pick up some salt, and I found that they had returned. You think you could help me out? They've only been here for about a day, and they have already spoiled a lot of food."

"I kinda have another job to get to." He didn't, but the owner did not need to know that. "I can come by tomorrow afternoon if you want?"

"I would prefer you take care of them as soon as possible, Tell you what, I'll give you twelve silvers this time. How about it?" Nero put on an awkward face, looking like he was tempted, but then he sighed.

"I better not, I couldn't be sure to get all of them by the time I need to get to my next appointment." Kaesar looked adequately regretful after saying that.

"If you get all of them today, I'll give you fifteen silvers and a free meal." The owner sensed weakness and went in for the kill. Nero hesitated for a few moments, he looked like he was struggling, but then he let out a defeated sigh and nodded his head.

"Fine, I guess I can try and hurry it up before rushing to my next job."

Pest Control 2 The rats have returned with a vengeance. These creatures are ravenous and desperate, and so is the owner. Kill all the Desperate Rats within two hours to receive your reward. Desperate Rats: 0/12 Grade: E+

This quest was apparently more difficult than the others he had attempted so far. All other times the grade had been an E. Nero did not know how much more difficult an E+ grade was, though it likely had to do with why the rats were called Desperate Rats.

The most challenging part of these quests so far had been the beginnings. Nero did not know why, but as soon as he stepped into the room, he would be swarmed with rats trying to kill him. It could be because he was doing a quest or because the rats just wanted to kill and eat him. Either way, most of them would attack from the outset.

So it was a prepared Nero that opened the door to the storage room, Jorry wrapped around his legs, ready to strike at any of the vermin that came close.

Indeed, as soon as he stepped over the threshold the first Desperate Rat attacked. Unfortunately, it assaulted from above Nero's head, falling from the rafters onto his shoulder and taking a bit out of his ear.

-8

"Ouch, you little bastard. Diving for cheese?" Thankfully, though Nero had not attained any measure of real skill in the last two weeks, training was not without its benefits. He was able to stay calm even in this situation.

He grabbed the Desperate Rat in his fist and started to squeeze. It began to struggle and wriggle in his hands with much more ferocity than any of the previous vermin he had fought. But for all its struggle, it was still a rat. So long as he held it in such a way that it couldn't turn its head to bite his fingers and kept squeezing, there was nothing it could do.

With that pest clearly contained and slowly dying, Nero was free to take a look around the room. A good thing he did too, as it took but a moment for him to be set upon by four more of the vermin.

Jorry sprung at one, bitting its head and trying to swallow it whole. While doing that the snake started to thrash, trying to tire out the Desperate Rat in its mouth while hitting another that had come up to attack the small serpent.

With his companion distracting two of the pests, Nero now only had to deal with three of them and the one in his hand. He managed to land a kick on one of them, sending it skidding back along the floor. That allowed him a moment to retreat a few steps and bend down to try and grab a second of the little annoyances. He wasn't able to get a hold on one of them but did manage to hit it with the back of his hand, sending it back a few inches and dealing some damage.

A squeak coming from his hand alerted him to the fact that the one he was holding had died. He let it go and punched at the last of the three on the ground near him who had just taken a bit out of his ankle.

-5

-4

The other two Desperate Rats managed to get back by this point and bit him. He grabbed them and managed to get a hold of one by the tail. It wasn't a good grip, so he merely twirled the rodent a few times before letting it fly against the room's wall with a satisfying 'thud.'

Nero spared a moment to look towards Jorry to see how he was doing. The serpent had finished swallowing the first rat and was strangling the second. A third had shown up, and the two were in somewhat of a standoff. Every time the Desperate Rat would approach, Jorry would bite at it, but the snake could not move too much less it loses its hold on its current prey.

Confident that his companion could handle himself, Nero returned to his own fight. It was a good thing he did because as he turned around to the two vermin at his feet, he noticed movement in the rafters.

In a moment of instinct, as the Desperate Rat fell towards his face, Nero threw a punch that landed squarely on the small creature's body and sent it flying. Two weeks ago there would have been no way Nero would have had the muscle control to do something like that unless he was fortunate.

The rats he had thrown did not come back, Nero did not know if they were dead, so it still left him with only two to worry about and after he managed to grab one of them by the neck the fight was effectively over. Jorry had also killed the one in its coils and had managed to wind around the other and was slowly choking the life out of it.

Taking the moment of the lull until the snake was finished, Nero took the time to go in search of the two rats that he had sent flying. He found the one he had punched out of the air, and it was dead. Nero found the one he had tossed, and it was, surprisingly still alive. Its two back legs were broked so it was pitifully trying to drag its body away.

Kaesar grabbed it by the neck and put it out of its misery.

Once he returned to the entrance, he noticed the Jorry was done with his last kill. That was the eighth Desperate Rat down. It was a little more than Nero had hoped for, but beggars can't be choosers. Now it was time to put Jorry through his paces and train it up to standards.

Looking up at the rafters, Nero was unsurprised to see them made out of thick boards. That would not do, so he started looking around. It did not take him long to find a wooden broom. Climbing up a few boxes, Nero Placed it in between the beams, so it was held over the open area of the room.

Grabbing Jorry gently, Nero hefted the serpent up towards the broom, tail first. With a hand around the serpent's neck, above the bulge of the rat in its stomach, he wrapped the tail around the shaft of the broom.

"All right, I'm going to leave you hanging here and go and lure a rat over. Once it comes under you pounce, got it?" Jorry just blinked, and its tongue flicked in and out. That was as good as he was going to get so Nero let go.

Thankfully the snake was small enough for the broom to hold it and the serpent did not let go. Satisfied for the moment, Kaesar went in search of one of the remaining targets. It did not take long to find it, it was behind one of the boxes, and once the Desperate Rat caught sight of him, it immediately lunged towards Kaesar.

Backstepping quickly, Nero lured the rat until it was directly under the hanging snake. The good news was that Jorry followed his instructions and dropped down. The bad news was that it fell too late and fell behind the rat. That wouldn't have been so bad, but it seemed like it had not controlled its fall and landed on its head, leaving it dazed.

The rat immediately turned around and attacked the confused serpent. Nero quickly came to kill it before it could do any harm.

"That was a good first try," he said to his companion after the rat was dead and it had recovered. "But don't just fall, push off from the broom and try and tilt your body, so you don't hit head first. Also, aim where it's going to be, not where it is at. If you aim where it is at, you are guaranteed to miss."

So they tried again, and this time it went a bit better. Jorry managed to land on its stomach, its body absorbing most of the impact. Unfortunately, it fell too soon, a few inched in front of the rat. Jorry quickly tangled it up and strangled it, but it wasn't what Nero was looking for.

"You jumped the gun this time because you did not expect to fall so quickly. There is a difference between pushing yourself down with speed and merely falling. It is going to take some practice, but you will get the hang of it I am sure."

As they say, third time is the charm. This time Jorry managed to land on the rat correctly and wrap it up in a second. But this time Nero had accidentally attracted the attention of two Desperate Rats at the same time, so it spelled the end of the current practice session.

After putting the broom back where he had found it, he exited the storage room and reported his success to the owner. After receiving his due, a fifty percent increase on last time, he made his exit under the pretext of getting to the next job quickly. He, of course, did not have another job, but it was a good excuse to drive the price up.

Nero did not really feel bad. Usually, magicians charge gold instead of silver, so the restaurant was still getting a good deal in the end, and he needed to save up some money. A win-win situation was always best when conducting business.

"This was a good first step," he told the little snake on his shoulder. "But we are going to need more practice, much more. We are doing good. You've grown, and it won't be long till that small body, with neither wings nor hands nor feet is no longer helpless against the sky."

Jorry just stared at him blankly before resting his head on Nero's neck before going back to sleep.

****

My dreams are spoiled by circumstance,

My plans are wrecked by Fate or Luck;

Some hour, perhaps, will come my chance,

But that great hour has never struck;

My progress has been slow and hard,

I've had to climb and crawl and swim,

Fighting for every stubborn yard;

But I have kept in fighting trim.

'The Fighter' Samuel Ellsworth Kiser