“Papa?” the three adults in the room said in unison.

“Papa!” Luin shouted again while giving me another squeeze.

“How were you able to allow her to evolve at such an early age? Yet, I’m more puzzled about how she can speak common already. Why did you call this furless one, papa? He’s not a Kobold, not one of your kind,” said the agitated Go’gie.

“I haven’t a clue. I’m new to this entire system. She ate a couple of cores on her own and seemed to crave and beg for them. I’m positive this happened after she ate the Azure Core dropped by the evolved Shinehorn.”

“Papa is special! He’s a…” she shut up as I reached down and covered her mouth with my hand, then picked her up like a small child.”

“I’m Classless and bonded with her. Would that change her in any way?”

“I have heard the rangers speak of their pets getting abilities and traits like theirs or receiving the same affinity for a school of magic. She may have received some of your traits, such as the trait allowing you to consume cores. However, what bothers me is that I’ve never heard of another intelligent race bonding with another intelligent race. This is completely new territory in this part of the world. Is there anything we should know about bonding and the Kobolds, Go’gie?” replied Hollow.

A knock sounded on the door. Hollow went over to open it and moved to the side before swinging the door open. Kiszo stood there, looking like a mummified hairball. “Good, you are still here. I was afraid you would have fled with the pack of Kobolds now surrounding the tavern.”

“Surrounding the tavern?” asked Hollow.

Kiszo looked at Go’gie before speaking. “Yes, almost the entire warren has come with their alpha.”

All eyes went to Go’gie. The Kobold kept a neutral expression on his face as he spoke. “I was told the party inside the dungeon had been gravely injured, and Zeal was seen carrying an unconscious priestess to the tavern. I also got a report that she was twice as big as before. I assumed she forced evolution to protect her bond. My tribe seeing their alpha run out of the warren, followed to make sure I was safe in whatever endeavors I was rushing out to achieve.”

“You speak like a politician from where I am from,” I said.

“Politician?” Hollow asked.

“The people in charge of the nation or cities. Always speaking in half-truths.”

“We will return now that I know your party has survived, and the wonderful priestess is in good health and has evolved. I will take my leave now,” said Go’gie.

The massive Kobold nodded to the ferret before stepping past Kiszo and out the door. I could hear a few barks as he entered the tavern’s central area and then nothing as the door closed.

I turned my head to Luin. “What were you going to tell him about me, Luin?”

“Papa has a special Hero class!” the little Kobold shouted joyously, and she hopped from foot to foot.

“What? Is that how you survived, whatever you did at the hive,” asked the very surprised chief.

“Yes, and keep it a secret. You know what happens to them in the tales of our ancestors,” said Kiszo with a glare at the ferret.

“Quite right, don’t want those lurking about.”

“Those?” I asked.

“There are those who hunt Heroes. They believe they can steal their abilities. Stories say they have done so in the past. These stories say they are grotesque beings that have been warped over the years to stay alive. Most believe they are a rare class that gets their levels and abilities by taking them from others. If they believe a Hero has been born again, they will stop at nothing to hunt you down,” explained Horrow.

“And, how do they steal these abilities?” I asked.

“No one knows for sure, but many believe they eat the brains of the person.”

“Well, that’s just lovely. I feel like I’m just starting my adventure in this world, and I’m already making enemies.”

“I will scout the dungeon once more. If that evolved Shinehorn was the worst of the beasts, then the miners should be able to return to the first floor’s mine. Once the Spittles respawn and confirm they are the weaker variant, we can move onto the Shinehorns and the second floor’s mine.

Zeal, I believe it’s best to leave and continue your adventure. You’re strong enough now with your magic returned. I don’t trust Go’gie. I’ve never seen him care about anyone outside himself and maintaining his status as the alpha,” said Kiszo.

“I’ll miss you guys, but I do want to find a library as quickly as possible. What direction should I head?”

“You’ll want to head west by southwest. There is a port city called Kruton, a few days of travel. Once you reach the coast, the city is impossible to miss,” said Horrow before going over to his desk and opening a lower drawer.

The ferret then tossed me another bracelet of coins. Examining them, I could see quite a few of the five-sided gold coins. “For clearing the dungeon. If you ever wipe out the hive completely, I’ll give you an even larger one. For now, I think Kiszo has the idea of it. I believe you should leave our village for a while. You’re welcome back at any time, of course.”

“What do you think, Luin? Should we travel and explore these lands?”

“Bring lots of tasty meat!”

“You don’t always need to yell. Speak softer.”

“Sorry, papa. Luin won’t shout.”

I patted her on the head, and she seemed to enjoy it. “Kiszo, any chance you can help me with supplies and maybe a bag like yours to carry them?”

“We may have a spare somewhere I can lend you. You’ll have to return it in the future at some point.”

“Gladly,” I said and smiled at the panther and her meaning.

We left the tavern and headed to a large building attached to the wall. Inside I could see it was the village’s barracks and was bustling with activity. Beastkin were coming in and removing gear while others were gearing up and heading out. Kiszo led me to a back room piled with gear on rows of wooden shelves. She handed me a smaller backpack than two bedrolls. She helped me adjust the backpack straps before dropping the rolls inside the inky blackness of the bag’s opening.

She handed me two sacks and explained they were travel rations made with a tough biscuit. It would be best to dunk them in water if I needed to eat them. We left the barracks and headed back to her house, where I emptied the pillowcase of jerky and skins into the backpack. I took a look at myself as best I could without a mirror. I looked like a proper pilgrim on his way to travel. I had Ren’s hammer hanging from my corded belt. The bottomless sack at my hip held my books and the new backpack strapped over my shoulders.

I picked up Luin and lifted her over my head, so her feet were dangling over my shoulders, and her butt was sitting on top of the backpack. “I think we're ready. Would you please escort us to the gate and show us the direction we need to travel?”

As we left Kiszo’s house, I spotted a few Kobolds across the dirt path watching us. An older one whispered to the young Kobold at his side, and the kid most likely took off running and reporting to Go’gie. I couldn’t imagine needing a message runner when I was a kid. Some things I’m really going to miss from my world.

At the west gate, Kiszo hugged me. “Please return when you can, Zeal. I want to hear about the world and your tales.”

“I will, Kiszo. Thank you for saving my butt a year ago. Who knows what I’d be doing right now If I hadn’t met you.”

The panther gave me another hug, and we departed. I began walking across the yellow prairie, heading for the forest’s edge. Above, the sky was still filled with dark grey clouds. The periodic snowflakes fell to melt as they touched the warm ground. I held onto Luin’s fur and scaly legs as we began our track.

Nearing the forest’s edge, I began to look for signs of monsters or Gnits. No movements caught my eye, and the sounds of the forest were still filled with various birds and insects. We entered the forest, keeping to the direction I knew was the southwest.

We walked for a couple of hours when I heard the crack of a twig behind and to my right. I spun around, Luin grabbing onto my head. I scanned the forest but couldn’t see anything. I stayed as still as I could as I scanned back and forth for a few minutes.

Luin began to squirm on my shoulders, and I let my breath out. It was probably an animal, I thought. I turned towards the southwest and began to walk through the forest once more. “Luin, why did you call me papa earlier?”

“Zeal is papa. Just is. I looked at you, and papa came to Luin.”

“I see. Do you know what happened to you?”

“Luin sees many words in the air asking to join you. I wanted to leave behind other mean Kobolds, so I agreed. Then big flashy, and then we lay in a new cave. Many more words showed in the air when I saw the shiny rock. It tells me to eat, so I eat. It was tasty. Then when sister Kiszo got hurt, I saw a new shiny rock you did not want, so I ate that one too, then woke up in town.”

“The words in the air, are they in a box that floats in the air?”

“Yep, yep. Many words in the box. I don’t enjoy reading them.”

“That is what Kiszo calls ‘The System.’ Did it say anything about a class or systems?”

“Luin see no class or system. Luin sees a ‘2’ up here,” she said as she pointed to the top right of her vision.

“A ‘2”? Do you know what it means?”

“Nope, nope. After eating the sweet Luin gem, I saw a ‘2.’”

“Yes, Luin means blue. Luin is a smart girl.” I could feel her shake a bit at the compliment.

Our talking was cut short by another crack behind us. This one was directly behind, maybe twenty meters at most. “Luin, can you watch behind us as we walk. I have a bad feeling someone or something is following behind us.”

“Yep, yep.”

We walked in silence for another couple of hours until it began growing darker. I found a slight rise of the forest’s floor and raised three-meter stone pillars from the ground making a five-meter circle of the pillars, leaving one pillar to get inside. I let Luin climb down from her perch and tossed the bag onto the ground, taking out the two bedrolls.

I went outside the stone circle and began to grab as many sticks as I could before returning to make a fire on one side of the inside. I made a few trips before Luin joined me, grabbing a couple of sticks of her own to dump in a pile near the fire. I raised the last stone pillar enclosing us within with enough wood for the night. I looked up at the opening and the dark grey sky above us with the slowly falling snow.

I helped Luin get inside her bedroll before getting into mine. I turned over to look at Luin, but I could see she had conked out almost immediately. I wish I could do that, I mumbled to myself. I was about to close my eyes when I caught the movement of a shadow on the stone’s wall. I looked up to see two sets of faint glowing eyes looking down at us.

I shouted Luin’s name and constructed two ice spears before releasing them upwards towards the cloaked figures. One hit home, and I heard a howl of pain before the figure disappeared over the edge. The right figure dodged and jumped down, landing on my chest, knocking the wind out of my lungs.

I heard Luin scream before the figure howled in pain, and I felt the heat radiating to my side. I struggled to look for Luin and found her a moment later. She had the furred leg of another assailant in her mouth. I looked back up to the face under the cloak, Kobolds.

I struggled to construct a simple fireball, but my coughing kept me from letting it click. The other Kobold bent down and back-handed Luin. She flew to the side, and I heard her hit the wall. I remember the hammer was to my side and began to reach for it but felt something cold press into my chest. I looked over and could see the glint of metal before realizing I had a short sword with its blade halfway sticking into my chest.

I coughed once more, my lungs burning turning into a raging fire. Then a coppery taste began to fill my mouth. My head started feeling dizzy, and movement to my left drew my attention from my impaled chest. Another Kobold was now picking up the unconscious Luin and putting her into a burlap sack.

The Kobold barked something, and the Kobold with a foot on my chest laughed. I looked up at the laughing Kobold with rage and hatred. I would kill them all for this. The Kobold caught my stare and swung his second blade. I tried to suck in air, but gurgles reached my ears and then blackness.

[ Death Notification ]

You have died of blood loss

That’s the second time. You should strive to retain your blood.