We spent the next three days in the taco shop. Not that we had to, but after everything that had happened lately I needed a bit of a rest before contemplating anything too complicated.

And I knew that whatever lay before us would be complicated. No way that whatever this call inside of me leading towards downtown Oakland was otherwise.

So to that end, I spent those three days training. The monster population in this area wasn’t exactly large, but they were still out there if one knew to look. While many of the nests I stumbled upon were filled with creatures below my current level, I found enough that weren’t to get me within 100 experience of leveling up.

But no further. By the end of the third day, all of the nests were tapped out. Worse, what nests weren’t contained no monsters, only those impervious cocoons.

I was so close, it felt almost a crime to give up now! But alas.

Further complicating any growth plans was Riley. I still wasn’t certain how old the girl was in comparison to dog years, but more and more the evidence pointed to ‘not very’. While she seemed capable of feeding herself, that was about the extent of her independence. Everything from sleeping to playing to marking her territory required near-constant supervision, lest she find herself getting in trouble.

At first, her fear of Zapper and I was enough to keep her from wandering too far, but as soon as she learned that I was a pushover and the little corgi had no idea what he was doing, she started exploring everywhere and touching everything with those nimble little human fingers of hers.

Because of this, Zapper and I took it in turns to keep an eye on her, preventing us both from benefiting from any monster experience. I occasionally sent the little dog out on his own, but he never seemed to gain anything noteworthy from his time.

So on our fourth evening in the taco shop since my return from the rift, I announced we’d be setting out the next morning for the city center.

(Well, I say ‘announced’, but it was mostly just me explaining the situation to Zapper, since even though we could both understand Riley perfectly, she seemed incapable of understanding us—despite all efforts on my parts.)

[I know we still have two days left on the safe zone, but I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by staying here,] I pointed out, gesturing to... well, everything. [All the monsters worth hunting are tapped out. And I don’t relish letting the human live on nothing but chips much longer. My chips.]

This statement was punctuated by another round of loud crunching noises from nearby. Riley had quickly eaten through our entire supply of MREs, and Zapper hadn’t been kidding about her distaste for dry dog food—she hated it almost as much as I did.

My solution to the human food shortage had been simple. A few return trips to the Foodmaxx had provided more than enough items for Riley to peruse over. When the girl had seen them, she’d let out a squeal of joy and almost fell over trying to tear into one of the bags, so I assume I must have picked ones she liked. There had been no problem getting her to eat after that.

[I’m fine with that plan, Boss!] Zapper said. [Wherever you go, I go!]

[Thanks, Zapper. The real trick is going to be moving the human. If we run into any monsters, I’m going to be relying on those natural herding instincts of yours to keep her safe. Think you can handle that?]

The dog barked happily, which drew Riley’s attention. She wandered over, tightly clutching a fistful of Cheetos. Plopping down next to us, she waved the hand back and forth. “Little puppy want a chee-o?”

Zapper just about melted on the spot, and his tail spun so fast I thought he might take off like a helicopter. A corgicopter? Wouldn’t that be a sight to see.

Handing out a small portion of her horde to the little dog, she turned to me. “Big doggy want some chee-o’s?”

I did, but I wasn’t going to stoop to begging. After all, I always knew where to find more.

“Chee-o’s, doggy?” She waved a few in front of my nose.

Of its own accord, my traitorous tail began to twitch. It flopped once against the floor. Twice. A few more times.

I found my mouth watering. Dog dangit, but those crazy little sticks were tasty. Maybe one or two couldn’t hurt...

The girl stopped moving her fist and held them out. I only managed to hesitate for a second—purely for dignity’s sake, mind you—before I wolfed them down. Riley was lucky I didn’t take her hand along with them.

Ugh. Immediately, my mind flashed back to Crunch at that thought. No, you’d never find me taking a bite out of human. Even in jest.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Cheetos devoured, we turned to getting Riley down for bedtime, a task made infinitely more difficult due to the girl’s desire to do anything else but sleep. I’d never even known that there were creatures that didn’t enjoy sleep. Even as puppies.

So, several squealing laps around the taco shop later, I had Riley half pinned under my back end, where she struggled with all of her tiny might as Zapper did his best to wrestle her hair into some semblance of order with his tongue. The results were... mixed, but still better than leaving it full of dust and twigs. Seriously, how could one little human girl get so dirty?

Zapper’s work complete, I stood up, releasing her. Riley squirmed out, her giggles undercutting the frown she was attempting to skewer us both with. I braced for another run-around, but instead she settled into her nearby bed.

“Good night, little puppy. Good night, doggy.”

[I really wish she would give us some proper names,] I grumbled as the girl closed her eyes. [Or that we could figure out a way to tell her our real ones.]

[But I like her name for me!] Zapper said. [She thinks I’m a little dog!]

[You are a little dog, Zapper... Oh, never mind.]

Soon enough, the corgi was curled up next to Riley, half-draped over her like a blanket and snoring loudly. I lolled my tongue at the both of them, then set off for the back of the taco shop.

There was something I’d been putting off for days now, but with our departure imminent, it could wait no longer: opening Crunch’s box.

In fact, I hadn’t done anything with my inventory at all for days now, not since before the battle with my former pack leader. The monsters I’d been battling in the area had been horribly pedestrian, so I hadn’t even needed to heal.

Likely I had quite the collection of cores by now. Maybe even enough to try an experiment with a rare core.

With that in mind to finally rally my spirits, I pulled open my inventory screen.

-Inventory-

(163) Common Cores

User Box: Crunch

(6) White Quality Loot Box

(2) Yellow Quality Loot Box

(10) Waterproof Matches

(1) Trip Mine

(4) Safe Zone Generator

Static Field Generator (lv 10)

Minor Skill Bracelet (lv 10)

Wand Of Float (lv 5)

Yeesh. I’d definitely been putting off anything to do with my inventory, if the six unopened regular loot boxes weren’t hint enough.

I took care of those now, netting myself a few cores, a few pieces of worn equipment... and one box of instant cake mix. I filed that away for a special occasion later and junked the worn equipment.

The easy stuff dealt with, my eyes drifted momentarily to the Static Field Generator. I still needed another two points in Power before I could equip it, which I’d have next level... assuming I ever managed to find another monster that gave me experience. That didn’t seem likely in the near future. It almost made me wish that we would encounter trouble when we headed out with Riley. Stupid and self-centered of me, I know, but c’mon! I’d been holding onto that thing for weeks, and still couldn’t use it.

But that was a concern for later. For now, I let my attention bob between my large number of cores, and the various loot boxes in need of attention. So many possibilities, it was difficult to decide which to settle on first—

No! Stop! Bad dog! I was letting myself focus on anything else but that item. With a sigh, I turned my attention to Crunch’s parting gift.

Would you like to open this user box now? (Warning: boxes cannot be opened while within visual range of enemies.)

Yeah, somehow, I thought enemies were unlikely, ensconced in the safe room as we were. Did the system not have a way to check, or was this some sort of canned response? And why even bother asking—

Dog dangit, I was doing it again! I don’t know why I was so hesitant to see what was inside. Maybe because in some way, it would cheapen what had happened. After all, it wasn’t as if I’d killed Crunch because I had a choice. Getting whatever paltry items he’d been holding onto just felt... macabre.

But I also couldn’t just leave potential loot alone forever. It wasn’t in my nature. So here I was, bracing to pull off the proverbial band-aid.

Before I could let my mind wander again, I confirmed the message. It winked away.

A box appeared in front of me. Like, an ordinary, wooden box. Perhaps crate would be a better term. A loot-crate-box?

Whatever. It was time to do this. I nudged the lid open. What did Crunch even have on him when he died? A few spare cores and those MREs I gave him? Hardly enough to justify all this inner turmoil. I’d slip the items into my inventory, then see about—

The lid of the crate sprang open, but there was nothing inside. Instead, another message filled my vision.

You have received the following items:

(237) Common Cores

(12) Uncommon Cores

(2) Rare Cores

(1) Skill Upgrade Core — Basic

(3) MREs

(6) Potions of Effervescence

Shotgun of Pestilence (lv 13)(+5)

Indomitable Choke Chain (lv 12)(G)

Worn Trenchcoat (lv 9)(+5)

Chainmail of Icicle (lv 9)(+1)

Rugged Boots (lv 8)...

It continued on like this for some time, a long litany of equipment I’d never heard of. What in the name of all that is good and pure was going on?

No answers. Only more items.

Finally, the list came to a halt, so long that it wouldn’t all fit in my vision at once. I had to keep looking up at the ceiling in order to see the beginning. At least this explained why the box had been empty—no way it all would have fit inside. But could all of this have come from Crunch?

Clearly the other dog had been holding out on us.

Scanning over the items again and again to get a feel for them, my eyes kept returning to something I’d seen near the beginning. Amidst the—truly titanic—quantity of common, uncommon, and rare cores, there was one other.

(1) Skill Upgrade Core — Basic

Upgrade a basic class skill to the next rank.

Okay, this was... interesting.