Dave was passed out for around 10 mins. Not as long as I had expected.

When he finally awoke, I showed him the drop items Mary had left behind. Overall, the items weren’t that bad. We picked up a healing potion, a sleeping potion, a leveling potion, and the jewelry and gold that she had to try to bribe us with.

The leveling item was impressive, but not as remarkable as the gold. The gold was by far the most important, given that we now needed a new place to stay and something to eat.

We grabbed the items, and Dave used his interface to store them in some kind of inventory.

As we stood up, Dave looked at me and smiled. ‘’Thanks.’’

Through the sheer exhaustion I felt, that was it. All I needed to hear. A word that carried so much weight. A word that affirmed my faith in my new partner. We were in this together and now we knew we could trust each other. I had no intention of letting anyone get in our way… not even a woman!

I dropped to one knee and lowered a hand, letting the little guy climb up to my shoulder.

‘’By the way,’’ Dave said while tapping away at the air. ‘’I’ve been going through my interface. ‘’We’ve leveled up by 3 levels. Mary was a grunt demon. The lowest class.’’

‘’That doesn’t sound good. We barely beat her. We just lucked out because of your shapeshifting skill.’’ I said.

Dave looked thoughtful but didn’t respond immediately. ‘’I still don’t know how my interface works properly, but I’m getting a hang of it slowly. As for the skill, I think my shapeshifter skill is random. I have no idea why I became a cockroach first, and then a dragon later.’’

‘’Well, you are a pest. Maybe it’s in your blood to just be a constant pain in my ass.’’ I laughed.

‘’Then how do you explain the dragon?’’ demanded Dave as he pinched my ear.

‘’Owwwww.’’

Just then my stomach rumbled.

How did we ever win? We’re both half-starved and exhausted. Maybe we do have plot armor, I thought to myself as I began to walk for the exit.

Yeah, maybe we do have plot armor, a tiny voice echoed in my skull over and over again.

‘’Quit it. I don’t want or need an echo in my skull’’

Stolen story; please report.

I felt a rebuttal simmering but fortunately, something grabbed our attention just in the nick of time.

‘’A little help?’’ croaked a rough voice.

Both Dave and I searched the dark, muddy room for the source of the sound, not see anything.

‘’Over here,’’ a voice from the far room cried in frustration.

I walked over carefully until we found a door no taller than knee height. I crouched down to see a small hole in the door, filled with metal bars.

‘’Please, take me with you.’’

‘’Who are you?’’ I asked.

‘’Free me and I’ll tell you everything. Please, I can’t stay here any longer.’’

Do we trust him? I thought in my mind, projecting the message to Dave.

Let’s go. We can come back tomorrow. Can’t think now. Need food!

No, we’re not leaving him. I countered.

Too exhausted to waste time debating, I pulled on the padlock holding the door locked.

It didn’t budge.

‘’A little help.’’

‘’Sure, if you insist.’’ Replied a despondent Dave, rolling his eyes.

I don’t know what he did, but the padlock instantly melted, the metal dripping to the floor like a shimmering liquid.

I slowly pulled the door open to reveal complete darkness.

Sniff, sniff.

A muzzle poked into sight followed by black beady eyes and a set of furry ears.

It was a badger.

‘’Thank you for helping me. I have been trapped for 2 years in this dingy place. I can’t repay you enough for your kindness.’’

‘’No need to thank us. We’ll see you around.’’ I stood up to leave. My one charitable event for the day was done, and I felt proud of myself.

‘’Wait, wait! Don’t you want to know who I am and why I was locked up?’’ cried the badger.

‘’Hmmmm.’’ I thought for a second. ‘’Not really.’’ We had more pressing matters at hand like food and sleep.

‘’I’m Bodger the wise sage. I can read the future. The demon kept me here to help her find more victims.’’

‘’You mean badger.’’ Corrected Dave.

‘’No, my name is Bodger.’’

‘’Bodger, the badger?’’ Dave questioned.

‘’No, just Bodger.’’

‘’Ok Bodger, If you can see the future, then you’ll know that we’ll be taking our leave now.’’

Bodger quickly shuffled, clearly looking stressed.

‘’Wait, I’m having a vision now.’’ He hummed and buzzed, his eyes wide in mystic concentration while staring at the ceiling. He vibrated and hummed for about 30 seconds, occasionally glancing at us to see if we were looking.

I sighed, deciding to play along.

Both Dave and I looked up at the ceiling to see drops of water dripping down around us.

I counted up to five, my patience running thin.

‘’the divine gods have spoken. We’re to have supper together. Following a three-course meal, I shall have another premonition that shall reveal your fates.’’

I was skeptical, but a feeling of foreboding nagged at me. I wasn’t the only one.

This guy just wants a free meal, mentioned Dave.

I know, buddy. But something else is nagging at me. I have a feeling that if we leave him behind, he’ll hold a grudge against us and become the end boss. You know what they say, the bad guy Is someone you usually encounter early on in a story.

Well, look at the positives. We can treat him to dinner and find out more about the world. He does claim to be wise. He might know a thing or two, Added Dave.

‘’Badger, we have a deal. Let’s get something to eat while you fill us in on your story and tell us a little about what’s going on in this town.’’

‘’Bodger, the Sage.’’

‘’Sorry, my apologies, Bodger.’’

‘’…. The Wise Sage.’’ Emphasized Bodger.

I don’t like him. Let’s ditch him!

Agreed.

What if he does become the end boss?

…………