It was only a short lope to the nest, in the remnants of a burnt out Salvation Army store across the river in Alameda. As I slipped through the crumbling doors, I noticed that even more of the ceiling had collapsed since the last time I’d been in here, letting in the moonlight overhead.

And further back in the store, another light glowed, beckoning.

Instead of approaching, I drew in a deep breath. Immediately, my vision populated with about twenty dots, some yellow, mostly white. They moved about erratically in the distance, zipping first one way, then another.

Satisfied with the numbers, I started creeping forward.

I passed several racks that had once held cleaned dresses and still-serviceable skirts, but now only contained their charred and rotting remains. The light began to grow brighter. I moved slower now, not wanting to alert my prey. My tail wagged involuntarily in anticipation.

After that were mounds of former appliances or electronics or something else that left behind melted piles of slag from the fire. I tried not to think about it too deeply. Careful... almost there...

And then a light buzzed across my vision, just for the briefest of moments. My heart leapt into my chest, despite knowing these things were no threat to me. But then it was gone.

Not before the system got a bead on it, though.

Deathflame Fly (Basic)

Level 6

Perhaps you were the sort of dog that liked to chase after fireflies when you were younger. While your owners watched, shaking their heads in amusement, you spun circles until you were dizzy trying to seize just a single one of the glowing bug kibbles. Bet you never managed it, did you? Probably because you were too slow, or the bugs were too smart. Well, good news for you—these CGI generated entities are neither smart nor quick.

Bad news—they don’t need to be. Between their venomous bite, flame shots, and overgrown size, you won’t be sticking these bugs into a jar anytime soon—or into your mouth. Instead, try to take them down from a distance before they swarm and overwhelm your defenses.

Okay, that was exactly what I remembered from before. Sadly too low-level to get me that last hundred experience I needed, for target practice? Perfect.

Before I launched into combat, I pulled open my inventory and used an uncommon core on myself. This was another trick that Zapper and I had been perfecting in the last few days.

You have been granted the following random blessing: Fellfur (1 hour)

I knew this one. It made it so that any creature that came into contact with me suffered the Weakness debuff for thirty seconds. That was perfect for these little pests. While it wouldn’t protect me from their poison, at least it ensured that if any bit me they got as good as they gave.

Zapper and I had figured out you could only have one blessing active at any given time (at least, from the ones granted by uncommon cores). So while it was a bit wasteful, if I really didn’t like a particular blessing, I could simply use another uncommon core and try for a different random effect.

Since this one was satisfactory, I let it be. Preparations complete, I started creeping forward again.

The dots fell away as I moved past the last of the obstacles, replaced immediately by more deathflame flies. The bugs each had a body about the size of a cat, and wings that extended nearly twice that on either side of their body, which buzzed almost as fast as a hummingbird’s as they darted about.

None of them seemed to have a particular destination, just zipped in one direction, hovered a moment, let out a quick burst of light from their rear ends, then darted away again.

And each time they generated that light, a little trail of sparks drifted down to the ruined floor. If I had any doubts as to who started the fire in here, that answered it quick enough.

My new static field generator said that it could be used five times before recharging. I had no idea the size of these fields, if they could catch more than one bug at a time, but since I also still had my stun wands, I wasn’t too worried. One way or another, these monsters were going down.

Stepping out of the shadows, I activated my newest piece of equipment, targeting the closest deathflame fly.

The effect was instantaneous. The air around it filled with a dull yellow glow, forming almost a perfect cube, about three feet to a side. Crackling noises emanated from inside the field, and even from this distance I felt the force of it raise the fur along the back of my spine. If the bug had been even another foot closer, I’d probably have gotten a jolt from my own attack.

I didn’t. But the deathflame fly did.

The flapping of the monster’s wings slowed noticeably. At the same time, its body shuddered, as lines formed across its shiny carapace. The lines widened in mere heartbeats, a clear, viscous liquid pouring out from a dozen different places.

Before I could see much more, the fly plummeted to the ground, its slowed wings no longer able to sustain itself in the air. It hit the ground with a wet splat.

You have defeated: Deathflame Fly (Basic) — Level 6

0 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.

Simple enough. But there were still nineteen of the horrid things flying about, and my attack had gained all of their attention. For a moment, they ceased zipping about, slowly pivoting in place to look at me. My tail wagging slowed.

With an angry buzz, they charged me en masse.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I dove to one side as the first pair came in, throwing up a static field behind me. The flies jerked to a halt as another crackling cube formed about them, their bodies shuddering and beginning to tear apart before they even dropped to the ground. Two more kill notifications appeared in my vision, which I hastily swiped away.

Because I had more immediate problems. The swarm was fast and, now that they saw I could keep them from reaching me, were turning to their ranged weapons. A half dozen slowed their charge, curling tails in my direction.

Even as I leapt about trying to avoid the dive bombs of their cousins, bolts of molten light began to rain down around me!

This must be the flame shot the description had mentioned. I leapt out of the way of one, only to take another to my left flank. Yelping, I twisted about, barely avoiding two bugs trying to pincer me, then rolled onto my side in an attempt to quench the flames. The pain subsided with a soft hiss, but there wasn’t time to check the damage. Attacks were coming in from all directions. I had to do something to level the playing field.

So I did. Two somethings. Two more fields to either side of me, their edges no more than a few dog hairs away from zapping me.

At least seven died instantly in the field to my right. Another two collapsed as they hit my left field, but one insect that had been about to charge darted back at the last second, and a second made it through!

Before I could react, the deathflame fly latched onto the nape of my neck. Searing pain flowed through me, and amid all of the kill confirmation windows, another flashed.

Warning: You have been inflicted with Poison (1 m)

Immediately, nausea and dizziness overtook me. I snarled and swung my head, trying to snatch the fly attacking me from my back, but couldn’t reach him. He kept snapping down, and I could practically feel more and more of its venom pumping into me.

Warning: You have been inflicted with Poison (1 m).

Effect is stacked due to already existing condition.

You are now inflicted with Poison (2 m).

Grr! I twisted about, almost tumbling into my own static field. Another flame shot past overhead, making me realize I couldn’t stay here much longer. Already the other monsters were angling around the fields, cutting off my avenues of retreat in front and back. Either I needed to force my way through them or...

Or go through one of the static fields.

I hesitated for a moment, giving the fly attached to me time to sink its fangs in once more.

Warning: You have been inflicted with Poison (1 m).

Effect is stacked due to already existing condition.

You are now inflicted with Poison (3 m).

Okay, this called for drastic measures. Since I didn’t have any other way to deal with the problem...

I dove into the field on my left, bracing myself for the pain and the slowness. Pity my new collar couldn’t negate that as well.

Or could it? I almost paused in confusion as I burst out the other side of the field, unharmed and no slower than before. The monster on my back fell quivering to one side, cracks running up and down its body. Hardly even paying it any attention, I sawed it in half with a quick Claw Slash, too distracted by my apparent invulnerability.

Well, it was a mystery I’d have to solve later. For now, I leapt away, just barely avoiding a new barrage of flame shots, then dashed through the first field I’d created. Just like the last one, I suffered no damage or slow effect, and emerged on the other side, buying myself some precious seconds to strategize.

While I considered my options, I pulled open my inventory and used a trio of cores on myself. I knew from experience they wouldn’t cure my poison, but they could help mitigate the effects. Immediately my nausea got a little better, though the dizziness remained about the same.

I’d just have to live with that.

Turning, I watched the remaining deathflame flies. There were seven of them, and they were keeping their distance from me as they circled the static field. A few were close enough they probably fell within the range of the ability, but I didn’t want a few dead, I wanted all of them dead.

Then, an idea occurred to me that set my tail wagging. Yes, that just might work.

Slowly, I backed up into the static field again. Crackling yellow energy washed over me, leaving me unharmed. The monsters buzzed angrily, a few firing longshots, but unable to penetrate my field.

I popped out the back, then ran pell-mell towards the twin fields. The flies buzzed and raced after me. As I passed through the fields, they broke to either side.

So it was only four of the monsters that were caught flat-winged when I burst through the field to my right, almost in their midst. They immediately shot away from me—directly into the new field that I had created behind them.

Four more victory messages flashed across my eyeballs as I turned to deal with the remaining trio. The first was just rising over the top of the static fields, trying to aim a shot at me below, when a bolt from my stun wands froze it in place, dropping it into the middle of the waiting field.

A second followed a moment later, only to die in the same way. From behind the field, I heard an angry buzz from the remaining survivor. Would it take the bait?

No such luck. The monster zipped upwards, not over the field towards me but in the direction of the nearest hole in the roof. I fired a stun shot after it but missed by a wide margin. Dog darnit.

Well, if it thought I wouldn’t (or couldn’t) follow it onto the roof, this monster was in for a big surprise. Tail wagging, I leapt onto the nearest pile of slag, then used that extra height to lunge for the roof.

My Agility might not be anywhere close to my Power, but I still had my natural dog reflexes to rely on. They’d served me well in the instanced rift, and they served just as well here.

It took a moment of scrambling before I finally pulled myself entirely onto the roof. Up here, I found a gray landscape waiting in the moonlight, featureless but for the occasional hole for an unwary pup to plummet back into the store below. I’d have to be careful about where I placed my weight, lest a weakened section collapse under me.

And there, in the distance, I spotted a flickering glow.

I padded along after the monster, eager to get this business done with so I could return to the others.

Why didn’t I just leave the remaining monster to bother someone else? Stubbornness, I suppose. Stubbornness, and not wanting to leave a job unfinished.

I moved around several spherical vents, bone white in the moonlight, and leapt silently across a small opening. Ahead, I saw the light zipping about frantically for a moment—before going dark entirely.

Something about that set off alarm bells in my head. I rushed forward, all pretense at silence gone now, bounding the last few feet and skidding to a halt where I’d last seen the monster’s glow.

Nothing there now, except another one of those spherical vents. It was as if the monster had just...

Wait.

Reaching out, I activated Claw Slash and swiped at the object. I already knew what I was going to see, but even so, when it flashed across my vision I couldn’t help but let out a little growl.

Warning: CGI generated weapons and skills are ineffective against users and entities currently undergoing a metamorphosis protocol. Users are advised that they may be subject to civil and criminal penalties if they attempt to interrupt another user’s metamorphosis.

Of course. These spherical objects weren’t vent. They were cocoons. That last insect must have activated whatever evolution sequence these monsters possessed, rather than let itself die by my paws.

Well, not the most satisfying end to the evening, but at least I’d learned how to use my new equipment, and even collected a few cores. Given what I had planned to try over the next few days, they’d likely prove worth the trouble—

My ruminations about future plans was cut short as I caught a flicker of movement. Turning slightly, I studied one of the other nearby cocoons. Was it larger than the others? It was difficult to tell without getting closer.

But what wasn’t difficult to tell was the fact that, despite an absence of wind or imminent building collapse, the cocoon was, ever so slightly, moving.