A medium-sized kite shield immediately appeared attached to the hand he selected. The top of the shield reminded him of a pitchfork's three points, except the metal curved between each of those sharp ends. From there, the shield's metal continued straight down until it spiraled into a single extended point. Great for bashing! Shane thought as he envisioned what that sharp end could do to flesh.

Beyond its exciting shape, the shield's colors were slightly beyond what he expected. The entire outer edge was highly reflective steel with a prominent bolt every few inches. On the inside of that outer layer of steel was an entirely blank canvas of sea-shell cream-white. There was a distinct lack of cohesive design within the less reflective sea-shell material.

Shane rapped a few knuckles on that creamy section of his shield and was surprised at both how solid it felt and the sound his knuckles made. The knuckle tapping sounded like someone knocking on a large diamond—it had that kind of incredible density to it.

Next, Shane tried hefting the shield around. Up, down, side-to-side, and finally, a shield bash that flowed into an outward swing. That seemed to move the air significantly in front of him. Enough that a few nearby bushes and underlying flora moved in response to his physical tests.

This shield! Shane thought as he observed the underside of his new defensive toy. The steel edge from the shield's front wrapped around and tucked into a soft, plush layer of fabric halfway between cloth and leather.

The blowback of a block would be comfortable on my arm thanks to this cushiony fabric. Shane thought with a grin. He then thought to put that idea to the test and commanded both Tank and Rogue to take turns attacking him. Tank's heavy slashes and stabs against his shield only moved his arm slightly, which surprised him. He didn't even really need to brace for the hits.

On the other hand, Rogue's quick and relentless attacks were more of a barely noticeable, consistently slight pressure. The one time Shane did try to intercept and brace against one of Rogue's stabs caused Shane to inadvertently shield bash Rogue and blow off its right arm. After apologizing to his minion and mending its arm, Shane came to the wild conclusion that the shield itself was remarkably sturdy while sporting its own shock absorbers!

The morning sun was beginning to rise in the east as Shane took a small break to lower his fatigue. Halfway through his defense against Rogue, he discovered that blocking with the shield cost him two fatigue per second. Thankfully, Shane caught in time before he passed out during the first volley of skeletal summon attacks. Still, it was a bit of a relief to know his arm wasn't getting tired, even while holding the shield up to block for minutes at a time.

Shane sat in the grass and petted the content grey-hound as they both lounged. The loot pupper had watched the white-haired human all morning while lying on his side from a comfortable spot in the shade of a nearby tall oak tree.

"You are a great dog!" Shane playfully sang to the dozing pooch as he scratched a spot behind the pupper's small floppy ears, making one of its back legs twitch consistently.

He had always regarded dogs, and sometimes even cats, as better than humans—simultaneously nicer and more loving than his own kind. While Shane couldn't always have a pet in the various apartments he moved in and out of, he always wanted to give a friendly dog its own forever home one day. Now that he was here in Endless Veil, he wondered how viable owning a pet would be if some all-powerful jackass clone could kill or steal them from you.

The grey-hound seemed to sense Shane's concerned contemplation as it gave him a soft whine. Followed by a few licks to his fingers relaxed within the wrapping that kept the shield connected to his left arm.

"You really are a great dog. I'd like to give you a name if it's okay with you," he asked the big pup at his side that alternated between rolling from side to side and wanting belly rubs.

If the grey-hound understood his question, it made no effort to deny a name from the human next to it.

Shane studied the lean, toned brindle greyhound with the soft, glowing runes adorning the good boy's shoulders.

"Glowing runes…." Shane mused to himself with one hand cupped around his mouth.

"I've got it! From here on, your name is Rune!"

The grey-hound lifted its head toward Shane and gave an affirmative bark while wagging its thin tail against the ground.

"Rune! Rune! Rune!" Shane said playfully, feeding off of Rune's enthusiastic reaction.

The freshly-named loot-pupper bounced off the ground and hopped side to side before zooming around Shane, who could only smile and laugh at the big dog's antics.

Shane was distracted from all the merriment of actually gaining a loot pupper as a pet. He would soon see a notification had arrived after naming the currently boundlessly energetic grey-hound.