"Humanity stands out among the multiverse in a lot of ways, but the biggest way by far is Anthropomorphism. Humans have been taming, keeping, breeding, and domesticating sub-sapient beings since they learned how to walk upright. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, a human won't apply human-like characteristics to. The system recognized this and a unique kind of magic, called Anthropomorphic Empathy, sometimes shortened to 'Wild Empathy' or just 'Empathy,' was created just for them. A full third of humanity is born with an affinity for this magic, sometimes spontaneously manifesting it outside of their system-generated class. The other sapient races quickly learned, when dealing with humans, never underestimate a wild beast or monster, there may be a keen mind directing it from afar." -- Multi-versal guide book, subsection 'Humanity.'

  Erick turned around to find a set of large ivory teeth bared in his direction. Those teeth belonged to the largest, most built german shepherd he had ever seen. It stood at the top of the stairwell, staring him down with hackles raised. The dog didn't look anything like the primeval wolf-like creature he had seen before. This dog looked like the prime that all german shepherds descended from. Easily twice the size of a regular dog, with shiny well-groomed fur, intelligent eyes, and white teeth.

  A feminine voice spoke over the growls, a little rough from some emotion and trying to hide it. "You probably should. Cujo heard you and alerted me, I was worried he'd found one of those monsters again. Down Cujo, good boy." The dog's ears pulled forward and its teeth disappeared at the word 'down' and its tail began to wake at the words 'good boy.' Coming up the stairs behind it was a woman Erick had only ever seen in passing, she lived on the floor beneath him. She was athletic and blonde, an inch or two taller than him, and tanned from long days out in the sun. She had a swimmer's physique, well-muscled but not overly large. The few times he had seen her out his window she had been walking her dog, which had been a lot smaller and more friendly-looking than the current Cujo.

  He stuttered for a second, still jittery from the adrenaline shot, "Y-y-you named hi-him Cujo? Isn't that like asking him to get put down for attacking someone?" He looked the dog over again and shook his head. Not much of a worry anymore, he wouldn't be betting on the dog catchers if it came down to a fight.

  She snorted in response. "We don't live in the safest part of town even before animals started turning into horror picture versions of themselves. I figured naming him something fierce would keep people from noticing his a big ol' softy." Cujo brought his head down to sniff the railing near him, after a moment he licked it and then started making gagging sounds. "Also he's an idiot." She sighed and reached, well not down anymore, over to pet his neck and shoulders.

  "Yeah, I'm pretty sure the name isn't necessary anymore. Three-inch long fangs and muscles a tiger would envy are pretty intimidating all on their own." Erick commented and then turned to the woman finally. "Hi, I'm Erick, and I have been unconscious for most of the first day after a less than friendly run-in with my house cat."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The woman grinned at his words and then nodded, "My name is Tanya. You're the shut-in from 3c yeah? I've heard the neighbors complain about you playing anime music at odd hours in the morning, and yelling at your computer."

  He winced, "Alright I'm guilty of the music, I was not aware of how thin the walls were when I first moved in. The yelling though, well I was a raid leader for my guild on an MMO. It's just gonna happen." He smiled sheepishly bringing his free hand up to run it through his hair. This caused Cujo to give him a careful glance, but the dog was obviously well trained and his master wasn't worried, so he wasn't.

  Tanya nodded. "That makes sense, I've done a few raids when I was streaming, I had to censor our leader out because he almost got me demonetized." She sighed frustratedly. "Not that I'm going to be doing that anymore I guess. I'm going to miss my followers, they were hilarious and always helped me unwind after work."

  Erick watched her curiously, "You stream? I don't recognize you, were you a Vtuber?"

  Tanya winked at him. "Yup, and I'm not telling you who my character was. I'm not going to get to be her anymore, so best not to let her baggage and adoring fandom follow me in the real world."

  "That's, probably smart honestly. I know it's kind of private and I'm not sure how etiquette is going to work but what is your class? Something to do with Cujo I'm sure, I honestly thought most people got eaten by their pets. I know I almost did." Erick said, as he looked back at the dog, who appeared to be going in for another lick on the railing before Tanya tapped his head.

  Tanya looked at him sharply for a moment before sighing. "I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you, My class is called Pack Alpha. I was told I had an affinity for something called 'Anthropomorphic Empathy' and it gave me the class. If I succeed at a will check versus a pack animal I can add them to my pack, and I start at wary disposition with pack-oriented beasts and monsters. Normal people seem to start as hostile." She grinned, and there was a flash of something feral in her eyes that made Erick gulp.

  "That's impressive. I suppose it makes sense you'd be out with just Cujo when most of the pack hunters will leave you alone. Are you part of a bigger group? or still by yourself?" Erick asked cautiously. He wasn't against telling her what his class was in return, but if he could avoid it, he would. His class had some glaring weaknesses that people could abuse if he was too free with it.

  She stared at him for a moment and then shrugged. "The rest of the apartment complex sort of gathered at the Walmart nearby. There's plenty of non-perishable food there and the doors weren't that hard to barricade. Now I shared, I'd like some info too. For all I know your class is, serial killer, and I'm gonna have to let Cujo eat you." She said it half-jokingly, but there was steel in her spine like she was preparing to have to do just that.

  Erick blushed, "I was asleep when we got the questionnaire. My class is a little embarrassing. It gives me an enrage power that reinforces my physical stats, and I have a sort of escape power if anything bad happens to me. It'd be easy to take advantage of if I described it though. Maybe once we get to know each other better?" He smiled hopefully.

  She mulled it over for a bit and then nodded. "That's fair, so the names embarrassing huh?" she grinned evilly. "What is it? are you superman? the defender of justice? the chosen one?" she giggled.

  He shuddered and sighed, "Thank you, it's good to know it could've been worse."