The horned wolf yelped in pain as Ashe’s well aimed arrow hit it. Furious, the beast charged into the clearing as Ashe retreated away, leaving the trio to fight the wolf together.

It was large, for a dog, perhaps massing as much as a hundred pounds. Deep blue fur covered most of its body except for the underbelly, snout, and the ends of its feet which were purest white. The horn was ridged and wickedly sharp, looking a bit like a jagged goat’s horn, but straight. The male loner, an outcast from its pack, stared at the two children with rage filled eyes, but it was the dragon upon whom his gaze lingered.

Slave of the humans, something whispered in Rex’s mind. A contemptuous message that seemed to flow from Rex’s twin hearts, leaving a dull ache.

Rex asked Idea.

Idea asked. The AI asked with interest.

Rex said, unnerved.

Eric, on the other hand, was confident, in his specially crafted suit of child sized mithral chainmail, armed with an expensive enchanted short sword, he had little to fear. His father had spared no expense to equip the young noble. He was waiting for his opportunity to strike, but he let Rex take the lead as the dragon stepped forward slowly.

Karla was a bit more nervous, but she was eager to prove herself. Her spear and leather armor were of good quality, though inexpensive. She was waiting for instructions.

The horned wolf reached down and ripped the arrow out from his front leg with his teeth. His eyes never leaving the dragon, he began to back away. Curse you, he whispered, what are you? Rex’s beast core throbbed painfully inside his chest.

I’m a dragon! Rex wanted to say in reply, but he wasn’t sure how. He was not as firmly tied to his beast core as the other beast. Instead, Rex growled and advanced closer.

The horned wolf turned to flee, but Leonard, watching, cast a spell that conjured a wide wall of flames behind the wolf. The spell was weak, but it served to drive the horned wolf back to face the dragon with a loud growl of his own. The blue beast realized that there was no escape but to fight past the smaller but no less dangerous black dragon.

Idea asked Rex softly. In the last month, Rex’s desire to escape had waned. With Karla to relay his desires, Rex’s life had become more pampered.

Idea for it’s part continued to feel a relentless desire to go exploring, to leave the familiar behind. The AI had already managed to learn to read, thanks mostly to the simple expedient of having Eric read some books out loud while Rex sat with his eyes following the progress of Eric’s finger across the page.

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Rex said in reply, So far, there had been no sign of any spell book, and Rex had seized upon that as an excuse not to have to think about escaping. In his heart of hearts, Rex was no longer certain that he really wanted to escape, the unknown world seemed particularly hostile to him, while life in the duke’s manner was easy.

The two remained closely linked, but there was growing tension between them. Idea withdrew inwards as Rex’s excitement and eagerness to fight grew stronger.

Rex lived for the moment, Idea lamented, while the AI was trapped by its preconditioned yearning to always be seeking new things. They were bound to have different objectives.

In desperation, the horned wolf charged, leveling its horn at Rex, seeking to disable what it saw as it’s most dangerous opponent.

Rex instructed Karla who’d been waiting for some signal. As Rex danced away from the charge, he crossed in front of Karla. So focused was the horned wolf on Rex, that he did not react in time to Karla bravely dashing forward with her spear extended.

The blow from the catgirl, when it landed, did almost no damage, but it was a distraction. As soon as the wolf turned to face the fragile catgirl, Rex immediately bounced forward and chomped on an uninjured leg. The horned wolf howled in pain, raising his head up, exposing his neck.

Eric, who had been patiently waiting for an opening, charged in with his magically sharp blade and scored a perfect lunge. The blow was the product of many hours of training against a practise dummy with a skilled instructor to help the boy perfect his form. The preternaturally sharp point of the blade struck true, and the horned wolf’s howl was cut short as he slumped down to the ground, dead.

Some energy transferred from the wolf’s body and beast core, a last gasp of lifeforce spurted out and washed over the trio, and dutifully, Idea updated his status screen:

Anima Progress: 85/100% (2 levels of progress, unused)

“Oh,” Kayla said, “I think I gained a level!” She had felt something like a full body tingle and a “ding” sound in her ears.

Leonard walked up to the catgirl and cast an analysis spell. “Indeed, it looks like you’re a level 2 Dragoon now. Congratulations.”

Karla wanted to jump for joy to celebrate, but she restrained herself, instead bowing to Leonard, “Thank you for confirming, master Leonard,” she thanked him.

Rex spoke to Karla again, remembering to make a huffing sound for the benefit of the cover story. He asked.

“Status screen?” Kayla asked confused, “what is that?”

Leonard glanced at the dragon, “I don’t know, I’ve never heard of that before. Was Rex asking about your level? Karla will have to wait until she makes it back to the shrine’s purified dungeon core to be able to see her level information. The purified cores are used to help adventurers see information about their attributes, levels and skills. Perhaps that is what the dragon meant? Status screen, I like it, perhaps that is a good name as anything for what the purified dungeon cores show when adventurers place their hands on them.”

Idea told Karla with sudden interest.

Karla relayed the request to Leonard, who replied, “I don’t see why not.”