The next day, Dr. Gloria hit Level 10, and they all agreed to call it an early day. In the end, all three of their classes were Uncommon ranked. Lindsey gained a class called Ranger. Madison gained a class called Flaming Fist. Gloria gained the class Aura Medic.

Out of the three, Flaming Fist was the most unusual. Madison lost all of her mana, but she gained an increase to stamina and general awareness. Aura Medic was just as interesting, in that instead of a true healer, Gloria was what Lindsey called a buffer. Someone who can make others in the party stronger.

She gained a spell called [Red Blessing], which increased the physical damage of two targets. She also gained an ability called [Invigorate], which she can temporarily buff her healing spells to better quality. The only downside was she could only use the ability once a day and it only lasted a minute.

Lindsey seemed to get the short end of the stick with unique upgrades, but it all fit her perfectly. She gained the same skill Damien had called [Analyze]. Along with an upgrade to her [Bow] skill, turning it into [Forest’s Bow]. Her attacks would deal extra damage to creatures while she was in a forest landscape.

Mathew himself finally gained another level. He had three points to spend, and was tempted to place them into Intelligence and Wisdom. Yet, he hesitated. His recent fights showed he was well off with magical attacks and mana. He even had two items that meshed perfectly to ensure he was dealing huge chunks of damage to foes.

What he lacked the most was Strength and Endurance. If he wanted to try to fight the Dungeon on his own, he would need to survive. He decided to put two into Endurance and one into Strength.

He also improved his two skills, [Mana Bolt] and [Summon Wispy and Whis] by two levels each. At this point, he was ready for his next plan, taming his wolf summon. He tried once the night before, but once again had a similar reaction.

After talking about it with Lindsey, Zack and a few others, trying to see if anything similar showed up in video games, Leo spoke up. “You know, now that I think about it, maybe it’s scared, or sees you as a threat. Like a dog that’s been abused over and over. It’s an Infernal Wolf right? So maybe, it isn’t a normal wolf, and more aggressive. Those Imps held nothing back when they attacked, so just be nice to the wolf, and earn it’s trust?”

“Or,” Zack said, “You beat it into submission. Alpha wolf style.”

“Didn’t someone debunk that theory a while back?” Lindsey asked.

“Nah, it was brought back when they dropped wolves into Yellowstone National park. The debunk said it was just the parent wolves being in charge, but when wild and new wolves were added, the aggressive fight for being pack leader was still seen.”

Mathew liked both ideas, but was having problems on how to follow Leo's suggestion. An abused animal only works out of fear, but a trusted one would be more reliable. “How do you suggest we follow your plan Leo? I doubt it would stop enough to eat a steak if I offered it.”

Leo thought about it for a moment. “It’s a long shot, but I have an idea.”

Mathew was sitting down in an open area outside the base. Madison, Gloria, and Lindsey were all several steps away. Far enough that the wolf shouldn’t think of them as a threat, but close enough to help if something showed up to investigate what Mathew was doing.

He had both his wisps unsummoned. Not having their blue glow made him feel naked. It was only just under two months, but he had grown used to their presence being around constantly. He glanced at the two plates of food next to him and took a deep breath.

He started the long cast without his rod. He wanted to come off as passive and uncaring as possible to the wolf. He did have his robes on, as he couldn’t really sit in the wilderness without something to protect him. Mathew couldn’t go too far and risk his life, he had bigger plans to focus on, without the wolf under his control.

Mathew finished the spell and instantly picked up a plate of food and took a bite of meat. The wolf appeared at the same time and started to look around. Once it saw Mathew it lowered itself and growled at him. It’s red fur stood out, showing how agitated and aggressive it currently was.

However Mathew didn’t even look at the wild beast. He looked off in the distance, seeming to not even realize the wolf was there. He took another bite of meat and chewed. Internally, he was doing his best to remain calm due to how on edge he was. He refused to show even a sliver of fear to the creature. Mathew knew this was the last chance for a long while to gain a new summoned creature to fight with.

The wolf didn’t instantly attack Mathew, but still kept his eyes on him. It let out a deep bark, trying to scare off Mathew possibly. He almost flinched at the sound. A flash of his near death fight came to his mind, but he remained still. Fighting the urge to just blast a bolt of mana into its face as a reaction.

Mathew must have done something, because the wolf took two steps forward and barked again. Instead of bolting away while screaming in fear or even unsummoning it, Mathew looked down at the other plate of food, and moved it barely an inch closer to the wolf. Then he took a bite of food off his own plate.

The Infernal Wolf continued to eye Mathew, but soon glanced down at the plate that the human moved closer to it. On it was a slab of beef. It growled at Mathew, daring him to move.

Mathew blinked slowly, continuing to stare at some trees nearby. When the wolf took a step forward, he didn’t react. Another step, and Mathew still didn’t move. The wolf charged forward letting out another loud bark, this time Mathew reacted.

He turned toward the beast, now within arms reach and yelled at it. “No you don’t you fucker. You keep attacking me, and I’ll keep you wherever the fuck you come from. I’m done playing your games. Either eat this damn food, stop attacking me, and enjoy life, or I blast you with magic and send your ass back to Narnia or wherever you come from.”

He refrained from pointing at the dog as he scolded it, but his words were true. Leo told him not to do this, but at this point he couldn’t stand the passiveness. He needed to assert his position of master over the beast now before it became a problem.

The Wolf froze, the sudden reaction caught it off guard. Mathew remained seated, but was locked in a staring contest with the wolf. He was glad his [Bind Familiar] spell was still on cooldown, otherwise he would have instantly used it then and there. He was growing tired of this game.

Mathew nodded down at the plate, “I have no clue if you eat, so there is some food. If you don’t then sit there and shut up till I’m done. I really hope you can understand me, otherwise I look like a complete buffoon right now.”

The wolf kept staring at Mathew. The two refusing to back down to the other, a subtle contest of wills had started. Seconds ticked by, and the tension slowly grew. The wildlife sounds in the forest continued as if nothing was going on. A gust of wind blew, carrying the scent of meat away.

Mathew refrained from glancing behind the wolf, where the girls were at. Staring into it’s yellow eyes had something behind them that Mathew found familiar. It was anger and fear. The same eyes he saw from his brother all those years ago before he died.

A moment later the wolf looked down at the food and slowly went to pick it up with it’s mouth. It carried the food away and started to eat, while keeping Mathew within its eyesight. It wasn’t properly relaxed, still positioned to react at a moment's notice.

Mathew let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and smiled to himself. “Well, you finally got a pet dog, Mathew. A giant, red furred wolf... I refuse to name it Clifford.”

He hadn’t considered naming it till then. Both of his wisps had a name, so why shouldn’t the wolf?

Mathew finished his chunk of meat and glanced over at the wolf to see it had finished it’s meal already. “Can you understand me at all? Uhhh, bark once for yes.”

The wolf cocked it’s head to the side before letting out a soft ‘woof’.

He stared at the wolf for a moment, surprised that it worked. Yet, he wondered if it was a fluke. “Bark twice for no.”

The wolf licked it’s lips while it looked up at Mathew, then it let out two soft ‘woofs’ in a row. “Okay good. Here is how this is going to work. You are my summon. I earned the right to summon you by nearly dying and killing one of your kinds Pack Leaders. You have two choices, here and now.”

Mathew held up two fingers. “First, you do your job as a summoned creature and fight. There will be times where you fight for me, and other times with me. I get to make those choices, but if you are a good summoned creature, and are worth the heavy amount of mana, you can grow stronger.”

“Your second choice is to remain unsummon, and you are a wasted opportunity. I have no clue where you come from, or if you are just a manifestation of magic. Regardless, I don't care right now. You apparently eat and have free will, as well as understand me. That means you are sentient to some degree. I won’t force you to serve under me like some mindless mutt. Slavery isn’t my goal. I want those who are under my power to be in a relationship. It goes two ways. You help me, I help you. Or, you can bite the hand that feeds you, and remain lost to the world. Forever remaining nothing but a forgotten annoyance.”

Mathew let his offer hang in the air. This was the moment that would make or break his second summon. If he can’t convince this creature to work with him, it could be a disaster for his plans. The wolf alone would be the backbone to his plan of soloing the goblin dungeon.

The wolf stood up and walked to Mathew. In turn, Mathew didn’t move at all, knowing he could unsummon it at any time. The wolf sat down next to Mathew, looking up at him, as if waiting for something.

“I’ll take it that you agree. Or, you want more food.”

The wolf let out another ‘woof’ this time a little quieter.

“How much of that did you understand from me?”

Another single ‘woof’, followed by the wolf pawing at Mathew’s leg.

“I’m just going to take that as you understand. If you misbehave, you're gone. Understand?”

The wolf didn’t respond, just kept looking at him. Mathew took that as a yes for now. “Alrighty guys, come on out, but slowly. This is what will really determine if the mutt finally understands it’s situation.”

The three girls slowly walked out from the cover of trees. Out of all of them, Madison looked the most fearful and hesitant. The wolf turned and growled at them.

“Nope, stop that.” Mathew said, and whapped the wolf on the head to get it’s attention. It stopped, but looked up and glared at Mathew. In turn he glared back, giving it the ‘parent stare’ as if begging it to give Mathew a reason to unsummon it.

“You know, up close, it almost looks like a giant husky.” Gloria said. “The features it has plus the thick coat is a weird but kinda accurate comparison. My husband and I used to have a small family of them when we lived in Montana.”

Lindsey scoffed, “Right. It’s still a wolf thought. Maybe not as big as the ones in fiction, but still bigger than any dog that existed in the last thousand years, minus a few exceptions like a great dane. Are you sure you have handled Mathew?” She asked, giving a sideways glance toward the beast.

“I can unsummon it at any moment if it misbehaves. This is a trial run. Tomorrow I will take it out to fight. We only have two days till the Goblin Dungeon opens. I want to try and get it to the Beginner rank before then, but I doubt it will happen.”

Madison peaked from behind Lindsey. “Do you have a name for it?”

Mathew shook his head. “Not yet, I’ll wait a little bit before I do. Figure out it’s personality, and uh” He leaned over and took a quick glance, “Okay, so it’s male. That narrows down the list a bit. Already, I eliminated the name Clifford, along with any other dumb names like Fido or Max.”

Gloria held out hand for the wolf to smell her. She seemed really relaxed around the wolf compared to everyone else. “I have a name for him. Before my husband passed away, we had a red furred husky, it turned brown as it aged, but when he was a pup, his fur looked red in the right lighting. It’s name was Jeffrey. I think it would be a good fit for him.”

The wolf licked Gloria’s hand, and seemed to not disapprove of her. Mathew would need to figure out just how much it was sentient versus a really smart sapient creature. Could it follow complex orders? Or would it only follow simple commands?

“Uh, sure. It seems like a normal name for a dog.” Mathew looked down at the wolf, “You disagree?”

The wolf looked up and didn’t respond. Gloria smiled. “That’s not a no.”

Mathew rolled his eyes. “Fine, we can go with Jeffrey until either I find something better, or the wolf somehow communicates it doesn’t like the name.”