Approaching the final clearing, he was ready for the three attackers. Pawly met the first with a vicious swipe, tearing into it with her claws. The second one took a knife to the spine, and Stern grinned.
That grin was wiped from his face when he felt something hit him from behind. The chittering and scrambling up his back told him it was a scurridane. He whipped around, trying to fling it off him, but the creature didn’t get dislodged.
Pawly had her own problems— because she’d killed the last of the three original scurridanes, that left her open for another to latch onto her back, much like the one on Stern’s.
Hissing, Stern saw the mob as it lunged up and dug its claws into his face to hold on before sinking its teeth into his ear. Screaming, he grabbed the creature and ripped it from his face, slamming it into the ground and stomping on it.
Pawly dislodged her rider and tore its throat out. With a yowl of anger and pain, she looked up at him.
“I wasn’t expecting five of them, either,” Stern said.
A softly glowing blue orb appeared in the air, and he exhaled and sat down.
“That was it... it’s done,” he sighed as he dug through his bag for the salve. “You should go home. I’ll call you back for dinner, okay?”
Pawly moved over and headbutted his chest, chuffing before she faded away. When she left, it struck him that the ribbon was going with her. Lips pursed, he set about salving his wounds, glad the one scurridane hadn’t taken a chunk from his ear when he’d torn it free.
Chapter Nine
“Done with your second dungeon,” Ria said, greeting him. “Ouch. Something took a liking to your face, at least.”
Stern snorted at her humor. “Just a scratch, and right at the end, too. Reminded me of a good lesson.”
“Oh?”
“Just because there seems to be a pattern doesn’t mean there is.”
Ria nodded sagely. “That is very true. What happened?”
Stern took a moment explaining the dungeon to her and how he’d been attacked.
“At least it didn’t go up your pants,” she said with twinkling eyes.
The wince was immediate as he considered how badly that would have gone. “Ouch.”
“Your knees bent in as soon as you thought about it,” Ria giggled.
“Any man would react that way.”
“Indeed. Are you ready for your perks?”
“Let’s give them a look,” Stern replied.
Ria moved her hands over the counter and three pages appeared. “Take your time, Walker.”
Stepping up to the counter, Stern picked up the first sheet. Emotional Stone; sometimes, a rock is the best way to be. Lose the perk Empathic Soul.
He looked at it for a long moment. “This is…”
“It’s something you’ve wanted before,” Ria said gently. “But…” She trailed off and frowned.
“What?”
“How much of your current perk is what lets you communicate with Pawly?”
Stern swallowed as he looked at the paper. “I… don’t know.”
“Something to think about when you look at the others.”
Setting the page down, Stern took a few deep breaths before picking up the second. Unnerving Presence; back off, or else. Thinking beings will be afraid of you.
“Not helpful,” Stern sighed. “I have enough issues with people seeing me as blighted already.”
Ria didn’t say anything, just leaning on the counter.
He picked up the third paper and sighed. Improved Companion 2; best friends keep giving back. Your summons will gain something new. Improvement based on the summon.
“Well, fuck,” Stern sighed as he set the page back down.
“That’s a tough choice,” Ria said.
Stern shoved the second page at her. “Not taking that.”
Her hand waved over the page and it vanished.
Looking at the other two options, he sighed again. “If you hadn’t mentioned what you did, I’d be tempted for the first one... I can’t deny that being able to feel her emotions makes it easier to communicate with her.”
Ria watched him as he stared at the papers.
Shaking his head, he picked up the third one again and willed it to be his. The page burst into golden light and he panted through the few seconds of change. His arms were shaking slightly when the feeling passed.
“Damn, does that ever get easier?” Stern asked.
“No. Some say it gets worse,” Ria said brightly.
“That is so cheerful,” Stern said sarcastically.
“Glad to help cheer you up. Ready to talk dungeon points?”
“Yeah. Might as well see what we have.”
“For killing the monsters, you get thirty points. Clearing the dungeon netted you another ten points. There were no style points to be gained or traps to overcome again, so those two categories are worth zero on this run. Your crew has accrued a total of two hundred points. Since you are alone, again, those are yours to spend.”
“Two-forty,” Stern smiled. “Almost double my first run.”
“Close. What would you like to look at?”
“Soul shards that are less than a full?”
“All soul shards are full,” Ria said softly.
Exhaling deeply, Stern nodded. “Okay... anything that can make Pawly more of a badass?”
Ria grinned and the case started to populate with items. “It depends on if you want to build for the future or not. As you know, once a rune is on an item, it can’t be removed. The market for runed items is high because of that reason. Of course, items do wear down over time and break. Once they break, the rune is broken.” She paused to point at some pieces in the case. “As you can see, we have collars here. Each has a number of slots for runes. Equipping these onto a summoned creature will allow them to become imbued with the runes attached to them.”
“Limit it by what I can afford, please?” Stern asked. “Can we keep that set as the default for me?”
“Since you’ve asked, yes. Okay, so with that restriction, there’s this one collar with a single rune slot available.”
“Two hundred?” Stern mumbled. “That’s a bit pricey. I wish you could keep your points.”
“The Goddess has deemed that that would be abused by people, especially the Travelers when they arrive.”
“Yeah, Dad used to talk about why it would be broken,” Stern sighed, “but even keeping them tied to a single dungeon would be so useful.”
“And just as broken,” Ria countered. “Look, if that was the case and you ran this dungeon twice more, you’d have at least another three hundred dungeon points. You’d be able to afford these, then.” The case filled with collars that had two rune slots and a handful of lesser runes.
“Yeah. I understand, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Stern said.
“That is fair.”
“Okay, the collar would be useful, but as you have shown me, I can get a better one later. With that in mind, it might be better to pick up a rune… damn, I can’t get two.”
“You’re just short,” Ria said.
“Okay, so if I picked up one rune, that would leave me at a little over a hundred left. What can I get for that?”
Items began to rotate through the display, most of which he didn’t need— just various pieces of armor, weapons, and adventuring gear.
“Unimpressive,” Stern sighed. “Of course, I started off with more than most.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Let’s narrow the search. What would interest me if I bought a rune already?”
Ria paused, then a single item appeared in the case. It was a rune, but it looked different than the ones Stern was used to. “This is a chance rune.”
Brow furrowed, Stern stared at it. “I’ve heard that before…”
“There is a chance it will work and a chance that it won’t,” Ria explained.
“That was it. Dad called them ‘proc runes.’ If they’re attached to a w
eapon, there’s a chance with each hit it will trigger the rune.”
“Yes, that’s what they do. Normally, they’d have a bigger effect since they don’t function all the time, but this one won’t because it’s offset by its reduced cost. You could, in fact, get the normal rune and two of these.”
Stern considered it for a moment. He knew that chance runes were considered garbage by most Walkers, as they were unreliable. When someone was putting their life on the line, an item that only worked on chance was nearly worthless when there were other things that could be guaranteed to work.
“That’ll eat up all of my points?”
“It would leave you with fifteen points.”
“Okay, what would I even care about for fifteen?”
Ria laughed and a single item appeared in the case.
Stern shook his head. “I’ll take it and the runes, then.”
“Done,” Ria said, the items appearing on the counter. “I’ll see you again?”
“Of course, though maybe with others next time.”
“Safe runs to you,” Ria said as she vanished.
“Thanks, Ria,” Stern said to the now-empty space.
He put the runes into his bag and picked up the other item off the counter. He looked back at the counter for a moment before stepping through the glowing doorway.
Exiting the dungeon, his fingers flexed through the pattern, and Pawly appeared beside him. He grinned at her, then dropped the item he’d carried out.
Pawly blinked, sniffed, and then pounced on the fish he’d dropped.
Kneeling in the tunnel, he waited for her to finish her snack. When she was done devouring the fish, he stroked her back. “I have a new improvement for you. Are you willing to try it out?”
Pawly sat down, grooming her paw, and meowed at him.
“Okay, let’s see what happens,” Stern said as he twisted his hand through a strange motion.
Pawly meowed and looked over her shoulder. Stern just sat there, staring at her back, as well.
Two furred appendages grew out of her shoulders. They were long and flexible, and each had a small, flat pad on the end. One came around to the front and Pawly sniffed at it. A second later, the pad had sharp claws extend out before retreating back inside.
“That’s different...” Stern murmured.
Pawly waggled both tentacles, as if getting a feel for them. Then, with no warning, they wrapped around Stern’s head. With a startled sound, he tried to jerk back, but the tentacles held him in place. They came away from him as quickly as they’d struck and he exhaled.
Pawly chuffed and waggled the tentacles again. She laid them flat along her body, blending them into her fur. Stern watched and could see Pawly inching them into her fur so they were even less noticeable.
“So, do you like them?” Stern asked.
Pawly moved over and headbutted his leg.
“Okay, one more thing to check. Ready?” When Pawly sat down, he increased her size. “Now how are they?”
The tentacles came out of her fur. They were thicker and the pads were broader. She brought one around to look at it, and the claws that came out of it this time were more numerous.
“Damn, those will do some damage,” Stern said, looking over the three-inch claws. They were more sharp-edged thorns than Pawly’s normal claws. “I don’t think Thick Skin would protect against those, but Iron Skin might.”
Pawly headbutted Stern in the chest with a chuff.
“Glad you like them, but I think they’ll be a dungeon or wilds addition,” Stern said, dancing his fingers and hand through the two separate motions together. When he finished, the tentacles were gone and Pawly was back to her normal size.
Pawly meowed and started up the tunnel.
“Yeah. Dinner awaits.”
The guards nodded to him when he came out of the dungeon. Johnson smiled broadly when he saw Pawly was okay.
“Who’s a good kitty? Hmm?” Johnson asked, leaning down to offer Pawly his hand.
Pawly walked right past him. Johnson straightened up as his friends laughed.
“Cat,” Stern grinned as he followed her.
Johnson shrugged. “Yeah, that’s a cat alright. Safe runs in the future, Walker.”
“Thanks,” Stern said, not slowing down as he followed Pawly.
It was getting toward late afternoon when Stern entered the inn. The man from the night before was behind the bar, for which Stern was grateful. A handful of people looked his way when he entered and his mood plummeted. The innkeeper stared at him with surprise.
Stern headed over to speak with him. “Is it possible to have my meal delivered to my room again tonight?”
“Room? We rented you a room?”
Stern’s jaw set and he exhaled before replying, “Yes, and I paid your wife again this morning to keep it. I came in last night, dripping wet from the storm.”
The innkeeper’s emotional turmoil was settling down as Stern spoke. “Oh, you were the one who wanted a room while the bard was on stage?”
“Yes.”
“If you’ve already paid,” the innkeeper shrugged. “When do you want your food?”
Stern was happy enough that the man was only irritated and not angry. “After sunset. I just got done with my run, so I’m going to take a bath, first.”
Nodding curtly, the innkeeper walked down the bar where another patron was calling for a refill.
“Drop stuff off, get clothes, and bathe,” Stern said, going for the stairs.
“Hey!” the innkeeper called after him. “Is that cat with you?”
“Pawly’s my companion,” Stern said, looking back at him. “She’s a summons, so there won’t be any mess from her.”
The innkeeper stared at him, then shook his head. “Fine, as long as there isn’t a mess.”
Stern pushed against the feelings of the room and went upstairs.
Chapter Ten
Tossing his room key onto the bar, he met the old woman’s glare. “Breakfast and tea, please.”
She snatched the key and turned away from him to yell into the kitchen. Stern went to the table closest to the door and took a seat. The anger in the old woman dug into him, but he did his best to ignore her.
“Your meal,” the same person who had served him yesterday said.
“Thanks,” Stern replied tightly.
The food was good enough with the hunk of ham, scrambled eggs, and buttered bread. Stern did what he had the day before, carving off a piece of the ham to give to Pawly later.
Getting up after he’d finished, he walked out of the inn and, the moment he stepped outside, summoned Pawly. She appeared beside him, looking up and snagging the falling piece of ham like she’d expected it to be there. Her happiness made him feel better.
When she finished scarfing down the meat, he started walking. “We’ll see if the Walkers have any deliveries for Bloodstone and then be on our way. Three days of overland, but maybe no rain this time?” He glanced at the mostly clear sky.
Stepping into the Walkers’ hall, the place was nearly empty. Two tables had a handful of people spread between them, all wearing good gear that spoke of their rank beyond this town. They all turned to look at Stern— some of them had been there the previous day and started speaking to their neighbors.
The same long-necked man sat behind the desk and gave Stern a nod. Stern returned the nod as he went over to the quest board. Again, the postings of quests ranged from near the top of the advancement chart all the way down to lead.
The quests he could take were nearly identical to the ones that had been in Darkstone. He accepted one that would have him deliver a satchel to Bloodstone, the paper vanishing as he did.
“Sir,” Stern said, moving over to the long-necked man, “I need the delivery for Bloodstone.”
The man nodded and reached into a black void of a drawer. “It is to be delivered unopened. I’m aware that you know, but we must tell everyone who takes a delivery.”
“Yes, sir.
”
“Racing to tin?” the receptionist asked as he placed the satchel on the desk.
“That’ll be the most likely place for me to find a crew, sir.”
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