Winston was jerked out of a blissful, dreamless sleep by the clanging of pots and pans. Looking about drearily, he found that Erynd was gone. He stretched, not letting his worries get to him.

  Outside of the tent, he found the source of the noise. Gathered around a campfire were Erynd and several other Caltherans, each sitting on a log bench. Sitting over the Campfire was a massive metal pot. Several other cooking utensils lay around the campfire.

  Taking a closer look at the gathered warriors, Winston found that he recognized them. Most of the group had been part of the hunting party that had picked him up. Despite this, some of them were newcomers.

  When Erynd spotted Winston, he broke away from the group. Striding over, he picked up Winston. After returning to his spot, Erynd sat Winston down on his lap.

  Immediately, several of the Caltherans stood up from their seats.

  “Isn’t that the same creature we picked up yesterday?” One asked, “What was it called? A ‘corgi’?”

  Winston panicked as he was surrounded by people. He glanced up toward Erynd in distress, but he was busy talking. With a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate as he was passed around the group. Erynd introduced him to each Caltheran in turn, but Winston had tuned it all out already.

  Finally, he was passed to the last member of the group.

  “This is Norra,” Erynd said to Winston, “She’s one of the new additions to the group, but I've known her for a while. Norra, this is...Well, I haven't thought of a name for him yet.”

  Winston glanced up in disinterest. His eyes widened. It was another female Caltheran, only the second one he’d seen since he had arrived. She was wearing amber-colored chainmail and had a massive warhammer strapped to her back.

  Winston stared at the hammer. The head was easily twice his size. How could she lift it? How could anybody lift it?

  Adorning her body were dozens of amber gems. Not quite as many as Erynd, but almost.

  [Caltheran(Vorn) - Initiate 4]

  Winston sighed. He would have to figure out what everything meant. So far, there had been ‘Drathen,’ ‘Serath,’ and several others on the descriptions of Caltherans. Now there was ‘Vorn.’ It seemed important, but he had no idea what it meant.

  “You said he was Initiate 1 when you found him, right?” Norra asked. Erynd nodded enthusiastically. “Then why is he Initiate 2 now?”

  Erynd frowned. “Initiate 2? Really? Last night, he was Initiate 1. Maybe he’s one of those creatures who gain strength as they grow?”

  As they spoke, Winston cocked his head. Initiate 2? He wasn’t Initiate 2. Or was he? He pulled up his status.

  Name: Winston

  Race: Corgi

  Class: Relentless Consumer (Unique)

  Rank: Initiate 2

  Titles (3/5):

  Non-Humanoid Progenitor

  [Redacted]

  Modified

  Food Energy: 200/200

  He blinked in surprise. He was Initiate 2. That was a surprise. All it had taken were some pebbles? That seemed almost too easy.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  [Passive Charm lvl 4 → Passive Charm lvl 5]

  Glancing back up, he found that Caltherans were now all fawning over him. One of the Caltherans reached out to pet him. Winston narrowed his eyes. He recognized him; he was the captain of the group.

  “It’s like he just got even cuter!” The captain said before turning to Erynd. “Are we bringing him with us?”

  Erynd gulped. “Well…that isn’t my decision to make, sir. You’re in charge here.”

  The captain sighed, “I asked you, Erynd. You. You need to step up sometimes.” The captain shook his head. “And you can stop calling me ‘sir.’ We’re all in this together now, and I barely outrank you, anyway. Just call me Roderic.”

  “Yes, sir—” Erynd took a breath. “Alright, Roderic.”

  “Good,” Roderic said, “Now, then, the stew should be ready!”

  All the warriors rushed towards the pot like excitable children. Arguing and pushing to be first in line. Winston just watched in confusion. What was so great about the soup?

  Erynd returned, holding a bowl in each hand. Erynd set a bowl down in front of Winston. Carefully, Winston sniffed. The smell was…amazing. Winston couldn’t help himself. He stuck his face straight into the stew.

  He let out a yip of surprise and yanked his head out. The soup was hot. Roderic chuckled as Erynd wiped the soup off Winston's nose. “He’s cute, I’ll give you that. But his survival instincts are…subpar, to say the least.”

  Erynd smiled. ”Just take it as a compliment to your cooking. Even the animals love it!”

  “Of course they do,” Roderic said, “Everyone loves my food.”

  Winston waited a few minutes before returning to the soup. Despite eating the magical kibble the day before, Winston was still voracious.

  An hour later, Winston was situated on Erynd’s shoulder. As the party left the camp, Winston glanced around in bewilderment. How were they supposed to get out? There weren’t any passes through the mountains surrounding the camp!

  Winston became more and more confused as they approached the sheer cliff at the base of the mountain. Roderic stepped forward and laid his hand on the stone. Then, a chunk of the stone disappeared, revealing an eight-foot-tall tunnel. It was as if it had always been there.

  Digging his claws into Erynd’s leather armor, Winston tensed as they entered the tunnel. It was so dark! How were they supposed to see? As if they had heard his thoughts, one of the warriors lit a lantern, illuminating the tunnel.

  “I still don’t like that this is the only entrance to the camp. What if we need to evacuate?” One of the warriors muttered. “This tunnel is barely three men across. We’d never get out!”

  Roderic sighed, “We know. The commander is working on it, but it’ll take a while. Until then, we’ll have to settle for this. It’s much better defended than the other Caltheran camps. We should be grateful we found such a good spot.”

  The tunnel was hundreds of yards long. Winston had expected it to be longer, but it still took ages to get through. Eventually, it opened into a huge cave, illuminated with both torches and glowing moss. Several other squads of warriors and hunters were there as well.

  As they climbed out of the cavern, Winston heard a metallic clang. And then another. And another. Before he could panic, Erynd put a hand on his head. “It’s alright, those are just the miners.”

  Looking back, Winston peered deep into the cave. He could see the faint glow of distant lanterns and even make out the obscure forms of dozens of Caltherans, each holding some kind of mining tool.

  When they finally reached the mouth of the cave, they passed a stream. Upon hearing the trickle of water, Winston realized just how parched he was. Erynd cried out in alarm as Winston leaped off his shoulder, dashing towards the stream.

  Just as he was about to reach the water, Roderic grabbed him, pulling him back. He held Winston up so that they were face-to-face. “You can’t drink that, okay? It isn’t safe. There’s a reason that sign is there. We learned the hard way.”

  Glancing back towards the stream, Winston saw that there indeed was a sign. Still, unlike the System messages, he couldn’t understand what it said.

  Roderic grabbed a canteen from his waist, taking off the lid and filling it with water. “Erynd! If you’re going to take care of him, you have to give him water!”

  Erynd flushed. “I didn’t? I didn’t!”

  He dashed over to Winston, apologizing profusely, “I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” Grabbing his own canteen, he refilled Roderic’s lid. “Here you go, I’m so sorry!”

  When Winston had had his fill, he leaped back onto Erynd’s shoulder. Before he settled down, he nuzzled Erynd’s neck.

  Seeing this, Norra spoke, “I think that means he forgives you, Erynd.”

  Erynd smiled and scratched Winston’s chin. “I hope so. I don’t think I’ve felt so terrible in a long time.”

  Winston leaped in surprise as the peace was shattered by a deafening roar from behind them. Air buffeted them from inside the cave, and the screams of the Caltheran miners were cut short.