The tunnel wasn’t long, just another minute or two to navigate. Which was good, because Zapper had rushed beyond where I could see. One would think a dog with such short legs wouldn’t be able to move that quickly, but all those points in Speed were serving him well.

While I, meanwhile, was moving slower than I should have been. I really needed to get that rat rot taken care of. Sigh.

As the tunnel mouth widened and the ceiling yawned above, I found myself in another large chamber, comparable in size to the last.

Unlike the last chamber though, this one was occupied.

I wasn’t sure what they were at first. Tiny piles of boulders, about of a height with me. Vaguely humanoid in shape but lacking a defined head like the rubble golems possessed. Longer arms that dragged on the ground behind them as they stumbled about the chamber, apparently oblivious to our approach—

Just then, the system finally kicked in.

Rubble Golemet (Basic)

Level 5

The unholy spawn of a bag of cement and a welder with really low standards, golemets seek to complete the work that began with their siring, even if it means absorbing their siblings to do it. Successful absorption results in evolution of a full rubble golem.

Okay, so these weren’t rubble golems, but like... baby golems? It sounded like that, if I was understanding the system correctly.

Either way, there were a lot of these things. A few dozen of them at least. More notifications popped up as I scanned the room, but I dismissed them just as quickly. Mostly level fives, with a few level fours mixed in.

And Zapper, standing happily in their midst.

[Zapper!] I hissed, once I finally noticed him. [Get back here before you get torn apart!]

[It’s okay, other dog! I don’t think they can see me!]

I paused mid-step towards rescuing him and studied the monsters again. It was true. The golemets didn’t appear to see... at all, really. As I watched, one of them bumped smack into a wall, turned a bit, walked forward, and hit the wall again. It took three tries before it finally turned fully in another direction.

[Even so,] I said, unsure how loud I should talk. Could these monsters even hear us? Based on the way they were moving around randomly, I didn’t think they could. Or they just couldn’t hear in general. Ears certainly seemed in short supply at the moment.

[It’s okay, other dog!] Zapper let out an excited bark.

That got the golemets attention. Scratch the whole ‘they don’t have ears’ thing. Clearly they had some way of hearing us. Three of them immediately converged on Zapper’s position.

[Run!] I shouted, even as I dashed forward myself. The golems didn’t have an obvious gem sticking out like their adult versions did, but I bet there was some trick to beating them. I hit the first with a direct Claw Slash, hoping to open it up a bit and see what they were hiding inside.

My Claw Slash cut clean through the monster from shoulder to crotch. It wobbled precariously for a moment, then its two halves split and flopped to the floor, unable to hold themselves up.

What in dogs name? Had I killed it that easily? No... I’d gotten no notification. But that wasn’t important right now. Two still closed in on Zapper. I leapt again, landing on the back of the nearest.

My jaws closed on its shoulder, and my mouth filled with the chalky taste of drywall. I snapped and chewed, but it was like working a piece of old leather. Which was to say that I could hurt the thing, only it was a slow process, even with my higher Power.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zapper bark again and dry to slip past the last golomet. The monster swung one of its overly long arms, catching Zapper on the chest and sending him tumbling.

[Zapper!] I released the monster and dashed away, bowling over the last as I passed it. Still no notifications, but that was practically the last thing on my mind at the moment.

I found the little dog laying a short distance away. Even as I feared the worst, he rolled over and leapt to his feet, giving an excited bark. [That was fun! I want to do it again!]

[You’re... okay?] I asked.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

[I think so? Those extra points in Power must have made me SUPER tough!] The little dog panted happily.

Somehow, I doubted a measly five additional points in Power were doing much, but then I hadn’t been hit by one of these golemets yet, so who was to say?

[Why didn’t your skill protect you?] I asked, changing directions. The answer occurred to me a moment before Zapper explained it himself.

[I spent all of the uses for today up on the last monster thing.] His eyes glanced towards the golemets, and my own followed. Behind us, several were lumbering in our direction, and the one I’d sawed in half still lay on the ground, quivering. It looked as if it was healing, but slowly. Much slower than the golems did. I suspected if I could finish the job and cut it in half, it wouldn’t live long.

[Shall we fight some more?] Zapper asked. His tail was wagging so fast it was a near blur. [These monsters are fun!]

[I’m not sure there’s a point. They aren’t worth any experience for me, and—]

I paused to reconsider that statement. Most of these golemets were level five. Too low for me, but for Zapper... they were perfect. Assuming we could kill them without getting mobbed.

Plus, I could use the cores. I was down after the last several healings.

[Okay, we’ll try taking out a few. But no more barking!] I admonished Zapper. [Try to attack as quietly as possible. I don’t think they’ll know we’re here if we do.]

[Aww, but I like barking...] Still, the little dog had the wherewithal to contain his more basic urges as he darted for the nearest golemet. His teeth sank into its leg, causing it to stumble and fall.

I leapt forward and joined him, using my teeth to tear into the monsters back. Even with the consistency of old leather, it didn’t take too long to pull out several sizeable chunks. The golemet flailed its arms at me, but to little avail. After a moment, it stopped moving.

You have defeated: Rubble Golemet (Basic) — Level 5

0 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.

[Okay,] I said. [We know we can actually kill these things. Let’s try to lure a few further away so any noise doesn’t set off the entire hoard...]

I trailed off. Some distance from us, several of the golemets were surrounding the one I’d left wounded. At first, I thought they were helping it, but as their arms roved over their prone companion, the golemet began to shrink while the others bulged simultaneously.

Only then did I remember the warning from the monsters’ description. [Dang it, they’re eating each other! We need to stop them!]

Zapper and I darted forward. I directed him to use his Guiding Nip, which managed to push three of the monsters away from their victim, but others merely swarmed in to replace them. One golemet already had a gem sprouting from its shoulders that I didn’t like, along with a bulge that likely was the start of a head.

I hit that one first, carrying it to the ground. My Claw Slash was off cooldown, so I tore it apart, being careful to fully sever this one. A kill notification flashed but I mentally swiped it away and turned back to the battle.

Zapper had brought down a second golemet and was doing a decent job of tearing it apart with dozens of tiny bites. I left him to it and jumped on another. There were a half-dozen that had gathered now though, so it was quickly replaced. No one attacked me, but without my skill I could only savage a single monster so quickly.

By the time I finished, two more golemets had grown budding gray gems. I picked the most advanced and jumped it.

[Other dog! I did it! I took out a monster on my own!] Zapper sounded so pleased with himself, I didn’t have the heart to point out that while he’d won the battle, we were losing the war. Instead, I directed him to another target.

Too slow, though. Even as he dropped the golemet with the budding stone, the one next to it began to shudder. The motion was too similar to the mermanta pups before evolution for me not to recognize the signs. It stumbled away, only slowing down as white gossamer strands began to wrap around its feet.

I growled, but unable to do anything else, took down another golemet before it could reach the feast.

By the time I finished, the cocoon had fully formed. Only a third the size of the one back in the last chamber, but it still meant trouble. I braced myself for a rubble golem to burst forth. One good blast from my wands should immobilize it long enough to—

Huh. Nothing happened. The cocoon just stood there, amidst the shuffling and flailing golemets. No golem emerged.

That’s right, hadn’t the description for the mermanta pups said they possessed a special ability to evolve instantly? I guess that meant these golems wouldn’t be appearing for a bit. How long exactly that was, I couldn’t say. Minutes, hours, days, so long as we weren’t still tied up in the middle of another battle was fine by me.

Then another thought occurred to me. My wands! In the furor, I had forgotten about them. I wasted no time now, freezing the most advanced golemets mid-feast. This had the added bonus of keeping the monsters behind them at bay.

At least until those golemets started feasting on their stunned kin.

Seemed we just couldn’t catch a break today. Still, it halted the overall advance, if but for a few moments. I used up the last of my stuns, then resumed my attacks. A Claw Slash here, a gnawing attack there. Slowly but surely, we whittled our way through the monster horde.

By the time we were done, a full eight of the golemets had sealed themselves inside cocoons, but we'd easily killed three times that number. No experience, but I once again had more cores than I knew what to do with.

[Did you manage to level?] I asked Zapper as the last of the monsters fell to rubble between us.

[Not yet!] Finally free of any restrictions, the little dog let out an excited bark. [But I’m close! Maybe two or three more monsters?]

[Alright. I don’t think finding two or three more will be a problem.]

After that, we searched the rest of the cavern. There were a few alcoves against the back wall that held a few human bones and some crumbling personal effects, but nothing to interest a dog such as myself. There was no tunnel forward, only the one we’d arrived by.

[Seems we’ll be taking the other path after all,] I said. [Think you can try not to run on ahead this time?]

[Sure, other dog! I can super try!]

[Maybe really super try.] My tongue lolled a bit as I led the way back to the main room. We could check on the cocoons here on our way out. If one or two had hatched—or whatever they did—by then, I wouldn’t mind the extra experience. For now, though, it was enough that we’d managed to get Zapper closer to leveling. All the cores without suffering any serious injuries didn’t hurt, either.

[Don’t worry! I’ll super super try, other dog!]

[Good boy, Zapper.]