After finishing off the other mermanta—and netting another 300 XP for my trouble—I set to work clearing the pool of any remaining pups.

I’d like to say it was like shooting fish in a barrel, but... well, it was really more like slashing the throats of frog-fish as they tried awkwardly climbing a set of stairs. But that doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

Between all the cores that Prometheus had given me, plus the ones those pups dropped and minus a few that I needed to heal myself, I ended up sitting on a whopping pile of one hundred and ten by the end of it all! No further experience, sadly, as all the pups were too low-level, but I hadn’t been expecting much, either, so I couldn’t complain.

I needed to spend some time using those cores to improve my skill and equipment, but there was still the pressing need for water. The little I’d swallowed from the pool did not count.

A bit of searching turned up a laundry room at the back of the hotel. In an old sink off to one side, a substantial pool had gathered thanks to a clogged drain. I drank my fill, content at last.

Then it was finally time to deal with my upgrades.

I had enough cores now that I wasn’t too worried about the cost to upgrade my remaining equipment. Though I was uncertain if there was much to be gained doing so to my second chance dog collar. Based on the description, was it even possible to improve it in usefulness?

Only one way to know for certain, I supposed.

However, before I could upgrade my equipment, I encountered a new message upon opening my inventory.

-Inventory-

(110) Common Cores

(10) Waterproof Matches

(1) Trip Mine

(5) Safe Zone Generator

(7) Instant Pancake Mix

Show Dog Collar (lv 9)

Static Field Generator (lv 10)

Would you like to convert any cores? Costs:

10 common -> 1 uncommon

10 uncommon -> 1 rare

I had suspected for a while that there were levels past uncommon cores, and here at last was my confirmation. The real question was: could I possibly gain any advantage from creating a rare core?

After considering for a time, I ultimately decided against it. Until I had even more cores to spare, I couldn’t risk so much just to create an item when I didn’t know what it would do. Eventually, I could imagine a situation where I had thousands of cores, and spending a few hundred to figure out their secrets would be less of a burdensome cost.

For now, it was best left alone.

I did at least end up converting thirty cores to their uncommon variety. Two of these I spent raising my class skill to Claw Slash 4 (also increasing its base damage multiplier up to 3.3), and the final one went into raising my bracelet to level ten.

Bracelet of Minor Replication

Level 10 (+5)

Must be equipped to a hind leg. When activated, this bracelet immediately moves the user up to twenty feet to the rear, or when they encounter another solid object, whichever occurs first. At the same time, an illusion of the user is left in their previous position. Enemies have a 50% chance of believing this illusion to be the caster. If the illusion is successful, the user will be rendered invisible for 20 seconds. Usable once every ten minutes.

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It doubled both the distance traveled and the time I’d remain invisible, but there was no reduction in cooldown time. I suppose one couldn’t have everything. The gains were still phenomenal, and ones I wished I’d had before going into battle with the mermanta.

After that, I also spent another twelve cores maxing out the level on my bandana, and nine to raise my dog tag by 3 additional levels, the most I could have currently, given my own.

Sadly, when I looked over the dog tag description there was no change. Oh well, no more than I suspected.

Still, I was impressed with the overall improvements.

Name: Bubba

Race: Canid (Advanced)

Class: Wildling

Level: 5

XP: 2,500/3,500

-Equipment-

Collar: Worn Leather Collar (lv 5) (+3)

Tag: Second Chance Dog Tag (lv 10) (+3)

Left Front Leg: Wand of Stupefy (lv 8) (+5)

Right Front Leg: Wand of Stupefy (lv 8) (+5)

Left Back Leg: Bracelet of Minor Replication (lv 10) (+5)

Right Back Leg: Bandana of Cleverness (lv 9) (+5)

-Racial Skills-

Skill 1: Night Vision

Skill 2: Enhanced Smell

Skill 3: Song of the Night

Skill 4: Pack Loyalty

-Class Skills-

Skill 1: Claw Slash 4 (2%)

-Stats-

Power: 18 (+5)

Speed: 5 (-5)

Agility: 15

Presence: 8 (+5)

Mind: 23 (+18)

Points Available: 0

Thanks to my bandana, my Mind score was now my strongest stat. Not that it meant much beyond longer stun times, but eventually I’d find further uses for them, I was certain.

With my equipment maxed out, it was time to hit the road again. I still had an instinctual twitch inside me hinting I should head for the city center, and I was still undecided on whether or not I was going to listen to said twitch. But either way, I needed out of this hotel.

A back door from the laundry room led me to another wide street running east to west. Looking to my left, I saw the road blockaded again just a few streets away. I suspected all of the southern direction cross streets would be much the same, just like the front side of the hotel. All the northern routes, the ones that would drive me further into the heart of Oakland, lay open before me.

I didn’t know what the best course was. Part of me wanted to be the good dog and follow the orders I was being given, nebulous as they were, while another part of me, the part that had lived alone in the city for years, rebelled.

Turning, I looked to the east. The road stretched away, piles of refuse and broken vehicles lining the sides, but no obstructions directly within sight. I padded in that direction.

Soon, I passed by the burned husk of the apartment, along with several other towering buildings. The path moved me away from the city center, but I didn’t feel any better about the decision. Nor did I feel any worse. For the moment, I would just have to accept that.

Then a large intersection appeared before me. The road continued on, curving south now. It was open, with no obstructions blocking the way. If I followed this, I’d be free...

Across the road and to the north, there were no more buildings, no towering skyscrapers or hulking apartments or even single-story structures sprawling across most of a city block. Just... trees.

Trees, and water.

I stared in disbelief, not entirely sure it wasn’t some trick of the system. Cautiously, I loped through the intersection and slipped between the trees. They hid my view for a moment, only to pull apart the next, revealing blue water stretching away in all directions.

It wasn’t nearly the size of the bay, but it was still large enough that the buildings on the other side were only distant smudges. Unbelievable. After all that searching for a drink, and here was enough drinking water to drown myself in.

Plus, fish! If I could find a way to catch them, I wouldn’t need worry about going hungry ever again. How tasty would a fresh fish be, after all this processed food? My mouth watered at the thought.

Unfortunately, I only took a few steps out of the brush before I realized my first mistake. The brackish smell that hit my nose was so familiar I almost had trouble placing it—until I realized it was the same smell I’d lived with at the shipyard. This was no freshwater. Was it even a lake? What do you call a lake full of salt water?

Still, fish lived in salt water, too. If I could find a continuous source of fresh food, I wouldn’t complain.

I padded towards the water, my nostrils flaring worse the closer I got. It wasn’t just the salty, ocean smell that bothered me. There was something else in the water. This close, I noticed there were patches of discoloration, places where it looked gray, almost black.

Had more mermantas contaminated the lake? My hackles rose, and I scanned in either direction, but nothing appeared.

Still, it seemed I would find no solace here. No food, no drinkable water. Just another obstacle in my way. I should go.

And I almost did. If not for the bark.

I turned. Coming down the paved footpath that ran along the water’s edge was a smaller dog, pumping his tiny legs as fast as he could move.

And he was making a beeline directly for me.