Gourmet Goblin.

John had walked out to find that there was a group of goblins sleeping in front of the entrance. John knew killing them where they slept was a better decision tactically than anything else so he searched for a large rock.

John returned from his search with a rock slightly larger than the head of the biggest goblin ; John raised the rock above the first goblin and dropped it. John closed his eyes as the rock slammed into the head of the goblin, he didn't find the cracking and snapping of bone to be a particularly fun noise.

The light began to flow through John once more as he felt his level rise and the power of his body increase.

He picked up the same rock and repeated the process, killing all 5 goblins and dragging their corpses back to the puppy.

"You're free to eat them pup, I don't think they'll taste great but the other dogs didn't seem to mind."

John shrugged and sat down, he focused himself on opening the skill menu and eventually he found the skill he was looking for : water ball.

John purchased the skill but realised he had nothing to contain the water in.

He spoke to the puppy as if it were a human.

"Alright, we're heading upstairs to find my bag and my water bottle."

The puppy had been viciously tearing chunks from each of the goblins, once it had a taste of each goblin the puppy trembled.

{Nearby monster >1 year has consumed sufficient prey, lvl 1 Hellhound evolving into lvl 2 Hellfire wolf}

John tilted his head as the puppy grew and grew, reching the size of a young golden retriever after a few moments.

The puppy had grown enough that John was worried it might turn on him, even ignoring the appearance of the beast.

The wolf's fur had turned jet black and blue flame was coughed from the creatures mouth occasionally, its ears had grown more pointed and longer and its teeth looked significantly sharper.

John remained still, unsure if the creature recognized him.

Eventually the wolf yawned and walked over to John, sticking its head out to be stroked.

John stroked the puppy and sighed with relief.

John laughed as he realised it was the same puppy as before, nothing had changed but its appearance.

"Good boy, let's go"

John patted his leg and whistled as the beast began to follow him.

"Wait a second... we haven't given you a name..."

John thought to himself for a moment.

"I wanna call you Cerberus but you don't have enough heads... let's see... since you breathe fire I'll call you Celsius for now."

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The wolf seemed to be pleased by John's name as it rubbed his hand affectionately.

The two of them walked through the halls of the bottom floor and up through a stairwell, from there John could see where he had been when the tremors started and so headed in that direction.

Celsius followed behind John obediently until they reached his classroom, both stopping.

John opened the door and let Celsius inside, quickly making his way to his desk. Picking up and then emptying his bag.

John grabbed and opened his water bottle before he put his bag on his back. Shutting the door to the classroom, John sat on one of the desks and began concentrating.

"Water ball"

John held out his palm as a ball of water formed, it still caught him by surprise that it actually worked but since he was slightly prepared he began using his free arm to catch the water inside of his bottle.

John twisted the bottle shut and took a drink.

He had considered trying to boil the water but knew that it'd take a while and that he wasn't even prepared to filter the water correctly.

"In the end I just have to drink it..."

John remained still for a while, the water was similar to tap water but with a minor difference in taste.

John Maxwell Level 4 Strength 22 Agility 22 Dexterity 20 Perception 20 Vitality 20 Intelligence 20 Fortitude 20 Unspent status points. 2 Unspent skill points. 0 Experience for LVL UP 100/800

John realised that it had slipped his mind to use his status points.

"Apply two intelligence"

John saw the numbers rise and felt pleased with himself.

John Maxwell Level 4 Strength 22 Agility 22 Dexterity 20 Perception 20 Vitality 20 Intelligence 22 Fortitude 20 Unspent status points. 0 Unspent skill points. 0 Experience for LVL UP 100/800

John remained still and checked through his status before stretching and standing up.

John felt that a weapon would be of help, especially if something strong like the wizard appeared again any time soon.

He searched through the other rooms of the second floor but couldn't find any javelins, he found 3 hockey sticks on the ground before choosing the sturdiest of the three.

The stick was jet black, a sturdy but comfortable rubber grip allowed John to feel like he could use it effectively.

John then realized something and whistled.

As Celsius ran over to him he stroked the creature.

"Good boy... or girl..."

John then sent Celsius over to the corpse of the first orc he killed and allowed it to feed, John figured that four bodies allowes Celsius to level up just like him and that he probably needed eight more to get to level three.

"Come on, let's go to the third floor."

John smiled and rubbed Celsius before taking him upstairs and letting him feed.

Celsius returned satisfied but still the same size and shape.

"No change? Well we don't want you getting scarily big right now anyway."

John hugged Celsius before taking him back down to the second floor and getting ready to leave, pouring some of the left over water to Celsius and then drinking a little more himself.

He hoped that the water really was safe.

John took Celsius down to the bottom floor again and back to his temporary camp.

"Home sweet home"

John moved the corpses of the goblins out into the hall before shutting the door and thinking about a way to get back to Cameron and the others, John knew water would be an issue for them at this point

"The goblin could lift me... shoot fire balls... shoot a beam... a thundercloud? He might have been killed by the dogs, but I doubt it."

John sighed and leaned against a wall, he wished that it was as simple as levelling up and fighting the goblin but he knew that magic was an absolute advantage.

John looked out of the window over to where the goblin was when they last fought, it was no longer there but instead there was an armoued figure performing what seemed like a salute.

"What?"