*zzz*

*zzz*

Did he really just fall asleep while talking about how drowsy he was back then? Look at him, hard to believe all the things he’s done, when he looks that adorable lying there. He’s only cute while he’s sleeping though, and may the gods help you if you wake him. He’s been known to kill those who disturb his slumber, don’t you know?

Come outside, I’ll pick up the story for a bit, while he naps. Who am I? I’m Katrina of course, the hostage he was just talking about. The poor woman who was convinced she was about to die. I didn’t, but it was a close thing. Don’t worry, he’ll wake up and take over the story again soon. For now, let’s call this a brief interlude.

So there I was, a crude knife held at my neck by a kobold two feet shorter than me, and I was trying to make my peace with it. I remember feeling humiliated by it, killed by such a minor threat, reduced to such a state, but I also felt joy. I would be avenged. I knew how desperate those kobolds were, because I had the same poison debuff. 27 more minutes of 2 hp damage per minute.

The head kobold had roughed me up after those horrible beetles had attacked, maybe thinking I knew who’d sent them. I didn’t, but I kept my mouth shut anyways. I could understand kobold well enough, but I’d be damned before I lower myself to try to speak it. No, they could take my life, drop my hp to 42, a death sentence with the poison I had left, but they couldn’t take my pride. I would die with a smile on my lips, knowing the kobolds would die too.

Then they dragged me to a clearing where I saw the corpse of one of their kind and I really did smile. Whatever had done that, it had been merciless. I could only hope that the remaining three kobolds would suffer the same fate, death by poison seemed too kind.

The head kobold ranted and raved for a while, talking about a tiny terror. That’s the name they gave him, eventually, you know. Soon all kobolds in the Underrealm would know him by that name. Or as they sometimes shorten it, “Tinter”. I had no idea what the fool creature was talking about, offering me for someone to claim? If any man, other than a werewolf or another kobold of course, had dropped in to kill the kobolds that day, I’d have been willing to reward him that way. But it was no man or humanoid that dropped in.

I saw him first, my perception was grandmaster level even back then, so I was able to see him. A tiny tiger-like creature, falling from high in the sky, in active stealth, judging from the way he was cloaked in darkness. His paws were sheathed in bright light, mana crackling around his outstretched tiny paws, it was all you could see. He looked like a legend my grandmother once told me, of “asteroids” as she called them. They fell from the open night sky of the Overrealm in a streak of white light and granted wishes. I’d wished for death to all the kobolds, and he was a bright asteroid that would grant my fervent desire. A tiny furry asteroid... of doom.

He landed on my kidnapper with a wet and meaty thunk, and that kobold probably never knew what hit him, for he was thrown to the ground. Well maybe that dog bastard did get a brief look, for I might have heard him try to scream, right before that furry asteroid bit into his neck with his dainty but incredibly strong jaws. Blood gushed, and they were both soaked in it.

The other two remaining kobolds screamed, but tried to find the courage to attack. I suppose being doomed by poison gives even the most craven of creatures some spine. A cornered dog will bite even if it faces a tiger.

But then the tiny tiger activated it’s intimidation skill, and it was horrendous. Never have I felt a grandmaster intimidate skill activated before, it was as if the very air shuddered and pulsed. You could feel the waves of violence and danger, like a silent siren of death, a banshee’s wail that only your soul could hear. It was hard for any of us to even breathe, I sank to my knees, weak with fear. Those kobolds dropped their knives and ran away leaving twin trails of piss. It was glorious. I wept tears of joy that I would live to see such a creature before my death. I was content and ready to pass on to the afterlife, for I had seen the face of my tribe’s patron deity, the great tiger, writ small.

What you yapping about, human? You’re still alive. Stop being so melodramatic.

I was just…

Human, go fix me some treats. I have a story to tell, and it’s my story to tell.

Hmph! Well someone’s grumpy after their nap, and you’ll have to wait, it’s almost time for dinner...

Sorry about that, you know how humans are, always want to be the center of attention, I suppose. Well, I’ll not repeat what she’s already covered, let’s pick up where she left off.

I’d just gotten level 4 after killing Nuug, and I was feeling pretty good about myself. I’d chased off the last of the doggos, and I had stinky trails to follow if I wanted to. Of course, what I wanted most, after the adrenaline of killing another kobold faded away, was just to nap. But I was also covered in blood, and that was unacceptable. So of course, first thing I did was jump over to that same boulder I’d been on when Nuug first interrupted my nap, and started grooming myself again.

I think I’d forgotten about Katrina at this point, I’d mostly attacked Nuug because the kobold would not shut up and he’d made me mad. Like an overly aggressive yappy doggo, I’d felt obliged to teach him manners. Saving Katrina was sort of an afterthought, much lower on my list of things to do than properly grooming.

While I was doing that, Katrina took the time to carefully wiggle her way out of her bonds and remove her gag. Well if she could do that, I thought to myself, why hadn’t she escaped before? I guess the kobolds must have kept careful watch on her? She used the freedom to go over to Nuug, rip a small silver necklace off his ruined throat, and spit on his corpse. She wiped the blood off the necklace on the kobold’s loincloth. Then she sat, cross-legged, facing me, and bowed her head respectfully.

“Thank you, little tiger, for granting my wish and killing those who killed and ate my sister.”

I made no reply, since I could not speak, but I did twitch my ears at her in the way a cat would typically acknowledge that it has been addressed, and that the person addressing him is allowed to continue speaking. I finished grooming, and half lidded my eyes in a gesture of trust, my tail twitching slowly to show I was relaxed.

Katrina seemed to understand my body language well enough, for she too relaxed a little and a smile crossed her face. She stared down at the necklace in her hand.

“This was my grandmother’s, and it was my mother’s. I ask of you, as I am soon to die, please show this to my son so he may know I am gone. He lives in a village on the shore of the great lake to the north east.” Katrina paused to gesture in a direction. “If you can understand me, and are willing to grant my last request, please allow me to put this on you. The gem is an onyx, I think it suits you. Consider this my gift for avenging me, I would like you to keep it, so that it is not lost.” She told me, holding up the necklace. It was a pretty affair with a thin silver chain wrapped around a tear drop shaped rough cut onyx stone. I decided it was suitable as an adornment, and I approached Katrina and allowed her to place it on me by lowering my neck close to her outstretched hands.

Carefully, with trembling hands, she wrapped it loosely around my neck and tied it so it would not fall off or choke me. “Thank you.” She said, then pausing to think, “Would you mind if I called you Onyx? After the gem you now wear?”

I shook my head to test if my new collar would fall off. It did not. I was pleased with it. It was interesting and glittered faintly enough that it would not make it harder for me to hide. I batted it gently with a paw and was entertained.

Katrina took this as permission. “Onyx, would you stay with me in my last moments? I do not blame you for my death, the fault for that belongs to the terrible curse placed upon me that has left me unable to fight against even so lowly a foe as kobolds. Please stay with me for a while, we are too far from my village for me to reach it in time, and I would rather not die alone.”

Glancing at her, I decided to be magnanimous. Also, if she was soon to die, I would best get some use out of her, I decided. It was such a waste that after risking my life, my potential grooming assistant and food preparer would not be staying long. But I was not without empathy. In fact, the system had forcibly multiplied that particular stat in me by 5, so I was almost obliged to be kind against my will, really. It was a small blessing that my kindness was still only half of what the system considered “average”. That was one stat I resolved never to raise.

I rubbed my cheek against her arm to mark her as my territory and promptly sat in her lap so that she could share her warmth with me. I purred softly to comfort her.

The volume of my purr increased considerably when Katrina took the hint and began to rub behind my ears. For several minutes, she indulged me, looking for spots I enjoyed and gently rubbing them, finding my chin especially receptive to her attention. I spent perhaps 15 minutes comfortably resting on her lap, dozing while she softly caressed me.

Kobold (Tonk) has been slain! Bonus XP awarded for killing a canine. Kobold (Brog) has been slain! Bonus XP awarded for killing a canine. Bonus XP awarded for exterminating an entire small pack of kobolds. You have gained a level!

Are you surprised by how quickly I leveled? I would later learn that exp per level is tied to species and loosely based on size and average lifespan. My exp per level requirements were much lower than that of a human. Dragons on the other hand, take forever and a half to grind enough exp per level, though they make up for it by having higher base stats and being able to take on smaller foes of much higher level than their own. In any event, I was level five now, and I was purring loudly in contentment, despite not earning any new abilities. No, it wasn't just the chin scratches, I was purring because I liked leveling.

*puuuurrrrr*

Then Katrina coughed a little blood that spilled on me, and I glared at her resentfully. “Sorry, Onyx,” she said with a soft sigh, “but it seems my time is almost up. I only wish I had had a bit more time to thank you for what you have done for me. Find my son. Find my tribe. They shall be kind to one such as you, I am certain. May all your future hunts bear fruit.”

I hopped off her lap and groomed away the blood. I found myself feeling sad. It was not a new experience for me, I’d been sad before, of course, but this was the first time feeling sad for a future event. I didn’t want my new grooming assistant to die, and her lap would cease being a comfortable place to rest soon. I sighed, yawning briefly, and looked around. Well, maybe I would take a chunk of Nuug with me to eat, as a memento. I would chew on his corpse to properly remember Katrina by. Also, since my potential food preparer was doomed, I would need to secure more provisions for later, I decided.

I put an ability point in my Dimensional Storage ability, I still had six points left.

Dimensional Storage ability (Apprentice) - Allows for upto 20+(2 x amplitude) pounds and/or 20+(2 x amplitude) individual items to be stored. Increased skill provides additional storage. Objects in storage are frozen in time and do not age or decay.

Huh, the capacity has doubled, I thought to myself. Curious, I put two more ability points into the ability. It doubled again. This gave me a crazy idea. It was a bit of a waste of valuable ability points, but there was a chance it could work. I put my last four points into the skill.

Dimensional Storage ability (Master) - Allows for upto 80+(8 x amplitude) pounds and/or 80+(8 x amplitude) individual items to be stored. Increased skill provides additional storage. Objects in storage are frozen in time and do not age or decay.

I tapped Katrina with one paw, and willed her to be stored.

Error, you are attempting to store an object that exceeds the maximum weight that can be stored at your ability level and amplitude score.

Did I want to put more stat points into amplitude? Not really. I had the suspicion that attunement might be more useful, or perhaps more strength, as I wanted to make myself into a fearsome warrior hunter, not a beetle bomb mage. Instead, with another brief yawn of a sigh, I removed my Krok drumstick from storage, causing it to plop to the ground, garnering a yelp of surprise from Katrina. Her overly large mammaries were probably to blame for her excess weight, I decided. She was not fat around the waist, but her hourglass figure definitely meant she was pushing the limits of my now 120lb inventory capacity all on her own. Human mammaries are weird, I thought to myself, much better to have 6 or 8 flat nipples than 2 oversized heavy lumps of fat.

With Krok’s limb gone, I tried again to store Katrina. Success! She plopped out of existence. Curious if I had killed her, I willed her back out of storage. She appeared in mid air, a few inches off the ground, falling on her plump behind with a comically surprised look on her face.

“What just happened?” She asked, confused.

No way to answer her, so I simply stored her away again. I wasn’t sure how much longer she had left to live if I hadn’t stored her, but saving her now was as simple as finding a healer. Time would be frozen for her while I looked for one. Surely, someone in her village would have some way of saving her. If she had mentioned that she didn’t have enough time left to reach the village, it probably meant that if she could reach it, she could be saved. I would seek out her village and try to communicate with them somehow.

This new mission decided, I hopped back up to the tall mushroom-tree and fell asleep. I had my priorities after all, and Katrina now had all the time in the world to wait.