The art, first mastered by the Sophos, those unfortunate and criminally ignored peoples, of creating and raising ‘pets’ is generally underutilised on Pangera, as a rule.

Naturally, there are certain cultures and societies who make great use of pets and the various Classes and Skills that aid such a build. However, these examples, I will attempt to prove, are the exceptions that prove the rule. There should be far more pet based delvers than there are, currently, and I have devoted years of research to discovering why.

One curious wrinkle in the discussion is the widely available knowledge of just how powerful and useful such a pet can become, given the right circumstances. The guardian beast of the Golden City is almost as famous as the city itself, the Light Phoenix Rammon. The mythical Sirens of the brathian conglomerates are another well documented and frequently discussed example. Every citizen of the many cities within the fourth stratum is aware of these monsters and just how strong they are, so why do so few attempt to raise one of their own? Even those who fight within the Dungeon for a living?

Now, of course it is unreasonable to expect that any individual or small group could hope to create a tier eight or tier nine pet, as Rammon is rumoured to be. The cost in cores would be astronomical, not to mention the difficulty of finding a mythic grade core. Such things are priceless in the truest sense, as they simply cannot be bought.

But a tier five pet? Or even six? This is more than achievable, and there are many examples of even individuals who have succeeded in doing so.

- Excerpt from ‘Cultivation of Pets. Why not?’ by Larian.

[I feel like that trip was extremely profitable! How are your Levels looking, gang?]

Invidia practically purrs with satisfaction.

[I am Levelssssss one hundred and sixty.]

[Oh snap! Well done, Invidia! You’re ready to go! How about you two?]

Tiny stares at me.

[What level are you?] I prompt him.

He stares some more. I stare back.

[Tiny, what is the number on your status screen, next to where it says ‘Level’?]

He narrows his eyes a little, then shrugs.

[Dammit, Tiny! You don’t even know what Level you are?!]

I get an enthusiastic thumbs up.

[I’m level one hundred and thirty five, Master,] Crinis interjects. [Since we evolved at the same time, he should be roughly the same as I am.]

[Thank you, Crinis, that’s very helpful.]

She wriggles with joy while I stare at the big ape, frustrated. How in the name of heck can he not even know what Level he is? I’m going to raise the amount of intelligence he has to keep in the next evolution, I’m dead tired of him being this stupid.

What’s especially frustrating is that I’m pretty confident he isn’t this stupid. He has enough brain matter to be able to read the numbers off his own damn status sheet! For that matter, he has more than enough to talk in more than single words or small sentences. I think he just chooses not to because that’s all he’s used to. Or perhaps he can’t be bothered putting effort into something that doesn’t involve muscles or punching.

Putting the issue of Tiny and his brain aside, I’m extremely pleased! One of my friends has reached the necessary milestone and is ready to go! The others are close, super close. Hopefully, they’ll be ready to evolve by the end of the wave, and the four of us will be the same tier once again. Exciting!

[I hope you don’t mind waiting to evolve with the others, Invidia,] I tell the floating eyeball. [It’ll be better if the three of you can do it together.]

[I wantsss it nowssss,] he says, eye glowing an ominous green.

Of course he does.

[But think about it. There’ll be a big celebration when Tiny and Crinis evolve together, which will be even bigger if you evolve with them. Do you really want to miss out on that?]

Invidia literally has a brain the size of a human bedroom, and I can feel the heat radiating from his pocket dimension as his eye narrows and he ponders what I said.

[Big celebrationssssss?] he asks.

[Oh, massive. Huge.]

[I wantssss cakesssss.]

[You will get them, for sure.]

His little fingers wriggle with glee.

[Yesssss,] he hisses softly.

Nice. Won him over easily enough.

[I’ll have the three of you keep up your work on tunnel duty, even you, Invidia. It’ll help the Colony and you can keep improving your Skills. Ranking those up is just as important as evolving. Don’t forget to keep building up that stockpile of Biomass as well. You can spend big once you evolve.]

Something I always forget to do. Not this time! I’ve been slowly chomping away throughout the wave, and I’m banking up some big time points. It’s unfortunate that the fifth stratum monsters are such a pain in the gut to eat. Some of them are downright too toxic to even try it, which is cheating, if you ask me. Stupid slugs.

Once we make it back safely within the protective borders of the Colony, I say goodbye to the wuffers and tap Ellie and Bella with my antennae.

[Fantastic work, you two. Go and have a chat with Solant, let her know how it all worked out, I’m sure she’ll be fascinated to hear about it all. Keep working on improving your design and don’t be afraid to take risks. If you need extra cores, let me know and I’ll try and rustle some up for you. The whole family will be counting on your work to get us through the fifth.]

[Thanks, Eldest!]

The two of them appear extremely chuffed with my praise and race off full of beans, which is nice to see. I’ve always believed in the core shapers and I know they do more for the Colony than most suspect. This is really a great chance for them to shine and I’m sure they’ll make the most of it.

[Alright, enough dallying! There’s slugs to blast! Let’s get to it.]

Obviously, that includes me as well. Not too long later and I’m once again ensconced in my tunnel, holding off the ever-encroaching wave of slime and goop whilst diligently training my Skills.

The only difference is that this time I do it all while hanging upside down. I will raise my grip Skill’s rank this time, I refuse to let it go!