I applied the rare core to my interface, and the number in my inventory ticked down, leaving me with a single rare remaining. Then, a new message appeared.

(1) rare core utilized on interface.

A +1 improvement has been randomly applied to—

[Hey, what’cha doing?]

[Gah!] Instinctively, I dismissed the message before having a chance to read it all. My heart thudding inside my ribcage, I glared at the little dog standing in front of me, his tail wagging furiously. [Dangit, Zapper! I thought you were sleeping.]

[I was. Also, ooh swears...]

Despite my frustration over being surprised, I couldn’t help my tongue lolling a little. [Dangit isn’t a swear, Zapper. We’ve been over this.]

[So what you up to, Boss?] the little dog said, cocking his head to one side. I couldn’t help but notice he had pointedly ignored my comment about the cursing. Whatever. Every dog is bound to have a few neuroses.

[I’ve been trying to figure out some of the additional functions of these cores,] I explained, summoning one of each from my inventory as an example. [We know all the uses for common and uncommon cores, but until now I haven’t had the opportunity to test out the rare ones. I had just gotten started when *someone* interrupted me...]

[Oh, that’s cool, Boss!] Zapper hopped back and forth a bit and looked as if he was about to let out one of those high barks of his. I glanced nervously at Riley, asleep nearby, but Zapper reined himself back in and settled on his haunches next to me.

[How come you didn’t wake me?] he asked. The question sounded innocent enough, but I immediately felt my hackles rise. There was a note to his voice that sounded like...

Melancholy? Was Zapper disappointed I hadn’t included him?

[I guess I didn’t see the point,] I said, trying to hedge as best I could. [No reason for both of us to lose sleep, when there are only so many cores to go around anyway.]

[Still, I should be here for you, Boss. I thought we were pack.]

The little dog’s ears actually drooped as he said that. I hadn’t even known a corgi’s ears could droop.

[Well—that’s—it wasn’t—] I cut off my stammering and looked down at Zapper.

Huh.

All this time, I’ve been going at this whole situation with the mindset of still being alone. Despite spending all day with Zapper and Riley, my default seems to revert back to being a lone wolf given the first opportunity. Until this moment, I hadn’t even noticed, but now that Zapper pointed it out, it seemed obvious in retrospect.

Was this some side-effect of my Wildling class, or just part of my innate nature? Or maybe it was simply a learned habit from years of having no one to rely upon but myself. A trait ingrained in me during my canine time, now carrying over to my canid.

It wasn’t the same as Crunch’s bloodthirstiness, but the parallels were enough that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation.

[I just thought... Maybe...] Zapper continued, and I returned my attention to him. There would be time for further introspection later—assuming I wanted there to be, which I honestly couldn’t say if I did or not. A problem for later. [Maybe you were worried about the... you know... the thing with old Captain Boss. Crunch.]

There was that name again. It seemed that no matter how I tried, I wasn’t going to avoid dealing with the baggage my predecessor had left behind.

Alright. I might not be able to resolve my own internal strife, but I could at least help Zapper with his.

[You’re worried that I don’t think you’re loyal to me,] I guessed. The answer seemed obvious—after all, what else would a dog like Zapper be concerned about? I just needed to do my best to assuage his fears. [Look, I know you respected the Captain, maybe even loved him, and I’d never ask you to give up those feelings. I’m not trying to replace Crunch. So don’t feel guilty about any lingering loyalty you might still feel. So long as I know I can trust you to guard my flanks, I don’t—]

[Nuh uh, that’s not it at all,] Zapper said, giving a shake. I snapped my figurative mouth shut.

[Crunch is dead,] the little dog continued. [And you’re the new boss now. That’s enough for me. I’m loyal to you forever!]

Or at least until I die, too. I couldn’t help the traitorous thought from slipping into my mind. Giving a shake to clear it away, I asked, [What are you worried about, then?]

[The human killing.]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I just stared at Zapper in confusion. After a moment, the little dog continued, [Crunch killed a human, and then you killed Crunch for killing the human. Do I... are you eventually going to kill me, too?]

[What? Why?] It felt like a rug had been ripped out from underneath me. Had Zapper been worried about this the entire time?

Regaining my composure, I added, [It’s not like you’re planning to hurt any more humans, right? You said so the night I came back.]

[That’s right, Boss! I don’t hurt humans!] The corgi’s chest puffed up, but the next moment it deflated. [Except I have, before. Does that make me like Crunch?]

[Like—No, of course not! Besides, there’s no way I’d hold you responsible for something you did under Crunch’s command! If you hadn’t, he would have killed you, Zapper, like he tried to kill me. That was why I fought and killed Crunch. Not because of the humans, but because it was the only way to survive.]

Zapper nodded. He looked thoughtful—which, admittedly, was an unnerving expression to see on his usually vacant face.

[Not just then,] he finally said, his voice so quiet I could barely make it out.

[Not what?]

[I didn’t just attack humans when I was with Crunch. It happened once, before.]

[Before you met Crunch?] Suddenly I realized what he was implying. [You mean your former owner, right?]

The little dog nodded silently.

[Do you... do you want to talk about what happened?] I had some assumptions, based on what I’d learned since the little dog had originally let his admission slip. Now I was starting to second-guess some of those assumptions. If he had killed his owner before he’d even met the others...

[I don’t really remember, Boss. It happened before I woke up. Before I became... became...]

[A canid?] I offered.

[Yeah! Everything before that is so hazy. I remember my owner, she was sweet and kind and used to take me to all sorts of cool places! And then one day, I...]

His whole body drooped. [I don’t know why I did it. Why I attacked her. When I told Crunch about it, he said I’d done the right thing. That I shouldn’t feel bad about killing her. So I didn’t! But then you came and shouted at Crunch about not killing humans and made me start to wonder if maybe I’d done a bad thing after all.]

This was probably the most meaningful information I’d ever gotten out of the little dog. I took a moment to digest his words.

[I can’t say for certain whether or not you did a bad thing, Zapper,] I said finally. The little dog looked forlorn at my words, so I hurriedly continued, [However, I can say that it’s in your past. If you’re honestly trying to be better, if you feel that whoever you were before the change isn’t who you are now, then that’s all that really matters. I like you, Zapper, and I want you in my pack, so long as you think you’ve got a place here. Do you have a place?]

[I sure do, boss!] The little dog leapt into the air, and this time let off a quick yip. I cringed and glanced at the bed, but Riley merely muttered and rolled over in her sleep. When I looked back at Zapper, he had a sheepish expression on his face.

[Sorry, Boss...]

[It’s alright. Are you good, though? You’re not still worried that I’ve been excluding you?]

[Of course not, Boss! If you say we’re pack, then we’re pack!]

That level of exuberance would have been more believable if I hadn’t just spent the last ten minutes assuring him that I did, in fact, still trust him, but I decided to leave well enough alone. I returned my attention to the three cores in front of us.

Briefly, I explained what I’d learned about the item fracturing ability, and how I suspected using a rare core on the self would provide a more powerful blessing. Then I returned to my latest experiment.

[And just before you surprised me, I’d applied a rare to my interface, but I ended up dismissing the message before I had a chance to read it.]

Zapper drooped a bit at this comment, but I’d already moved past it and pulled up my interface. I scanned over everything, trying to figure out exactly what had changed.

-Stats-

Power: 49 (+26)

Speed: 10 (-5)

Agility: 15

Presence: 4

Mind: 23 (+18)

Points Available: 0

Hmmm... I wasn’t 100% certain, but I thought I recalled only having three points in Presence before. If that was the case, and a rare core could grant an additional stat point...

My heart started thudding as I considered the implications. Quickly, I explained my thoughts to Zapper.

[So what are you going to do?] he asked.

[Repeat the experiment, I guess? Make sure it actually does what I think.] Bending my head, I nosed the rare core in front of me and applied it to my interface.

(1) rare core utilized on interface.

A +1 improvement has been randomly applied to Mind.

It worked. It actually worked. My modified mind score went from 23 to 24.

Amazing!

[You know what this means?] I asked Zapper. He shook his head. [It means that we’re going to be able to start drastically improving our stats. Even if we can’t level from piddly little monsters, we can collect cores. And every hundred cores will buy us another stat point—maybe less, if they drop an uncommon or rare. We might even reach a point where leveling doesn’t matter!]

Although something told me it wouldn’t be that easy. So far, I’d seen that the system put limitations on just about everything to keep it from being abused. Likely this situation would be the same.

Still, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try. Opening my inventory, I studied my remaining cores. I had 453 commons—enough to make four more rares. I didn’t have enough uncommons to get any further than that, but four more was a start.

If need be, I’d monster hunt all night for more cores.

A few conversions later, I had four shiny new rare cores. I started applying them to my interface.

The first three went as expected, and I got +1 to Speed and another +2 to Presence. Then, on the fourth core, I hit a wall.

Error: Maximum improvements applied for this level. Raise personal level to 9 before attempting again.

[Okay, first problem,] I said, turning my attention to Zapper. The dog had a glazed expression, likely utilizing his own supply of cores for the same purpose. [Seems like there’s a maximum +5 bonus per level. Still, that means with a ready supply of cores, we can double our stat increases going forward.]

[I like the sound of that, Boss!] The glazed expression disappeared from his face, and his tail started wagging. [I managed to create two rare cores!! Isn’t that great?]

[Yeah, that’s really good, Zapper.] For a moment, I contemplated giving him my last remaining rare core. If we really were pack, then it would make sense to share resources.

But I still had one more use I wanted to put that final core towards. There would be plenty of opportunities to gather more cores before either of us leveled again, of that I was certain.

Not that it mattered. Before I could finalize my decision, Riley sat up in bed and started to scream.