Mathew fell to his butt. He was staring at the dead wolf. Where the head used to be is now a pile of ruined flesh. The two wisps floated next to him and bobbed up and down in the air. “You two did great. I would be dead if it wasn’t for either of you.”

He swore he saw one of them smile, but shook his head and chalked it up to his imagination. “Well, I can’t really go anywhere right now, my hands are ruined, and I am tired.”

With nothing else to do, Mathew turned to his notifications.

Combat Summary:

2x Infernal Wolves, Level 11

4x Infernal Wolves, Level 12

2x Infernal Wolves, Level 13

1x Infernal Pack Leader, Level 16

Knives Novice 9 -> Beginner 0

Staves Novice 8 -> Beginner 1

Mana Bolt Novice 6 -> Novice 9

Summon Wisp Beginner 1 -> Beginner 2

Universal Currency Earned: 51,412

Quest Complete

Who Let The Dogs Out

Quest Rewards:

Veridian Ring

3,500 UC

Bonus Rewards:

Titles: Pack Leader, Soloist

Doozkora’s Rod

16,500 UC

Title: Pack Leader

For killing the leader of a pack on your own and establishing your dominance over them, you can now summon a creature from it’s pack as your own. Spell Gained: Summon Infernal Wolf | Novice 1

Title: Soloist

For completing an area quest alone and being the first to do so, you are granted a title of the highest degree. +20 to all stats. +5% to all stats.

Please go to the nearest Hearth Crystal for a Profession upgrade.

Name: Mathew McGonald

Race: Human [Beginner]

Class: Summoner

Profession: Contract Scribe

Level: 15

Universal Currency: 91,699

Titles: Classy, Forerunner, Lawyer, Pack Leader, Soloist, Survivor

Strength:

44

Vitality:

58

Dexterity:

59

Endurance:

39

Intelligence:

126

Wisdom:

118

Unallotted Stat Points: 6

Mathew closed one blue box after another. He put off the task of allocating his stat points till later. He was delighted to see his menu, which showed a massive increase to his stats across the board. All thanks to his new favorite title.

Pack Leader was another welcomed addition to his growing list of titles, since it gave him a new summon, one that would be able to fight in the melee. The fact he didn’t succeed in making the wolf his familiar was even a blessing now.

Mathew wondered about the two other items listed under his rewards. One was a ring, the other a rod. After looking around for a moment, he saw two chests had appeared near him.

The first was small, no longer than six inches on a side. The second was long and skinny, roughly four feet long. Both were highly detailed with gold ornamentals. He glanced down at his hands and sighed. He really wanted to open them before anyone showed up. They were his rewards, and the risk of them being taken were high.

His entire right hand was ruined. He honestly doubted he could use it again, if this wasn’t a magical world with magical healing. His left was only partially damaged, with two fingers still in prime working order.

He decided to open the smaller one first, thinking it would be less awkward to do. Inside on a bed of velvet was a ring. The band was silver while the centerpiece was, instead of a gem, a symbol made of a green metal.

Mathew picked it up out of the box to look at it closer with his left hand, as he did the box vanished. He was startled, not expecting it to just disappear like that. Assuming nothing bad would come as a quest reward, Mathew put it away until his hands were fixed. He slid it into his magical bag.

The second chest held what appeared to be the horn of the wolf he just slew. It wasn’t as jagged, and it had a polished shine to it. Mathew picked it up, feeling it’s weight. The box vanished again, this time Mathew watched it closely. Once he blinked it was gone, as if it was never there. “That’s weird.”

Mathew had no clue what either item did, and decided to have Di check them out later. For now, he needed to heal up and get out of the cave. He stood up and did a quick search of the area for anything extra. He was tempted to try and carry the large pack leader corpse out, but decided not to.

Mathew slowly hobbled out of the cave. Once he was outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air. He enjoyed the cooler temperature. He did note the sun was setting, which means either he was down there for a couple hours, or it was an entire day later.

“Come on you two, let’s go home.” Mathew called out to his wisps. He needed them to defend him if any other creatures roamed the forest. Plus the fact he can’t see in the dark was another reason he kept them floating around him.

Mathew was about a third of the way back through the now pitch dark forest when he saw lights from vehicles up ahead. Curious, he stood behind a tree and watched. It was a series of military trucks in a convoy, making their way through the forest. Next to them were a few people he recognized.

One of which leading the group was Captain Henderson. Mathew smiled at the face and walked into the lights. He waved them down. He was soon surrounded by both medics, and people questioning him.

“Are you bleeding anywhere?”

“How did you escape?”

“Where is Tank and Washington?”

“What happened to your hands? You are missing your pinkie and half your ring finger on your right hand!”

Mathew did his best to answer the questions, primarily the ones about his health. Soon he was loaded up onto a stretcher and was a priority on the way into the hospital. Mathew had no suspicions as to who ensured he was well taken care of.

He was after all, General Paynes prized possession for now. Mathew knew he would be seeing him once the doctors did their best to fix him up. More than likely to yell at him for almost dying.

His robes were removed and his bag thrown aside. “Mathew, can you please dispel your wisps, they are getting in the way.” A feminine doctor asked him. Mathew saw her name badge, said Dr. Gloria.

“Yeah sure.” he mentally sent the two wisps away, knowing he could bring them back whenever he needed them.

Mathew saw an IV start on him and felt very tired. A few moments later, he was in a deep sleep.

Payne slammed his fist onto the table to stop the two women in front of him from bitching at each other. “ENOUGH!” He glared between Captain Henderson and Retired Major Holly.

“Firstly, Holly you should be thanking the gods Mathew returned alive. What were you thinking! Going in there like that!”

She held her head up high. “It was his idea, the rest of us agreed as well, but-”

“NO BUTS! You had your primary orders to keep him alive! He is useless to me dead, and did you see his hands? You better pray to the gods that kept him alive they can fix his hands, or so help me I am going to wring your neck out!”

Henderson sat smugly in silence, until Payne pointed at her. “And you! You have no right to attack people because they did something you don’t like. If I did that, half this base would be dead! People are in a panic since the Area Qquest not only started, but also ended just hours later. They are asking me questions that I can’t answer till that man is awake.”

Payne pulled out a cigar, one of his guilty pleasures for when he was stressed. “Now, luckily Mathew is alive. That being said, Holly, your team is grieving, and in shambles. Mathew is off your team. The Dungeons open up in four days, and I refuse to let him inside there.”

Holly nodded. “I understand.”

He pointed at Henderson. “Your team is now our primary scouting team. Your job is to keep doing searches further away from base, you have full permissions to use vehicles. I want no additional surprises once Dungeons open up, and who knows what else in this forsaken world.”

“What about the Dungeon?”

“What about it?” he asked, taking a long draw from his cigar..

“We thought we were going into it.” She said, confused.

“Nonsense. Your people are going nowhere near that place. A team of Level 13’s are coming to clear it out just before it opens up. They should be here tomorrow evening. The next day, they will go in and clean the place out.”

Henderson was about to say something, but held her tongue.

“Either of you ladies have any questions?”

Both shook their heads. Questioning their Commander would spell disaster for either of their careers and lives. “Good. Holly, Lucas and Samuel are officially on rest orders until that team gets here. You three are to assist them and will go in with them to guard their exits. Understood?”

“Sir, what about the funeral?” She asked.

“It’ll happen tomorrow like all the others that don’t have bodies. They receive no special treatment. You all should have just left, now look at what you’ve done. Now both of you, get out of my sight.”

Henderson walked away then stopped before she left the building. “Wait a minute, why would there be a team already on their way? He just found out about the deaths a few hours ago. Why is he so adamant about that dungeon? If it was to destroy a threat quickly, then he would simply send everyone in, so why only those loyal to him?”

She shook her head and continued out of the building. Her first stop was to find Leo. He needed to know about Mathew.

It took Henderson an hour to find him, already in the hospital outside of Mathew’s room. She sat down next to him. “How is he?” she asked.

“Doctors say he will live. Any healing pill or potion they feed him isn’t fixing him fast enough, so they assume he already took some. His hands are horrible, but he won’t lose them. It just depends on how his constitution is, plus how effective healing magic works.”

“Good, glad he will be okay. As much of a sleazy asshole he is, I wouldn’t want him to die.”

Leo sighed. “I know. But he is the only person who I can depend on now. Everyone else is a stranger to me, even you. Mathew I know, or at least, thought I knew. Did you see the number of bodies they pulled from the den?”

Captain Henderson didn’t have a moment to respond. “There were eighteen, plus the giant one. How the hell did he do that Henderson? Zack said casters are weak in a fight. Mathew doesn’t like to fight, he just ends a threat before it becomes one. So how did he just survive that?”

“Sheer dumb luck is my guess. Also I’m pretty sure most of them were killed before Holly and her team fled.”

Leo was starting to get angry, his hands moving as he talked. “They shouldn’t have left him. I thought it was a saying in the military. ‘Nobody gets left behind.’ So what made Mat an exception?”

Henderson leaned back in her chair, appearing to remain calm. “They did go back for him, but you can’t expect them to just go in there and die as well can you?”

“They should have done something better! You don’t leave friends behind, or family. Mathew was their team member, even if you hate the guy, you can’t just leave someone like that to die.”

“But he didn’t Leo. And I am willing to bet, Mathew came out stronger because of it. Like a piece of iron in a forge. Strengthened to become cold hard steel.”

Leo shook his head, “I hope so. I can’t lose the only person I have left from before this whole shit started. I have promises to keep, and I need his help to do them. He’s my friend, and I won’t lose him too.”

Henderson sighed. “I get it, if it makes you feel better, I doubt Payne will let him leave this base ever again without a slew of bodyguards.”

“I still don’t like his plan with that contract. I just hope he is done with this place soon so we can leave.” He muttered to himself.

Henderson raised an eyebrow. “He signed a 4 year agreement. He is stuck here for a long while.”

Leo was about to say something, but stopped himself. “It’ll be fine. It’s safe here isn’t it?”

If Mathew was awake, he would make a comment on how horrible of a poker face Leo had. There was a reason Leo was always welcomed to any poker game Mathew was also invited to. Captain Henderson decided to not comment on the obvious lie Leo said.

“Right. It is safe here.” She said, however her thoughts held something else. “Just what exactly does Mathew have planned?”