Chapter Eight

Cerulean

The funeral rites for the otters that died earlier was quick and functional. Everybeast in the pack was brought there to the tower, as far as Ogre knew, against their will. They did not choose to fight and die but they did everything in their power to survive. After that night of crimson fog and red skin goblins, few otters were left alive. Besides Jeda only the four that still stood after Ogre slew the gremlin, were left alive. The dog was able to see that there was some good that came of the battle. The four otters, one sword and board adventurer, one wielding Glaeddra’s s-class greatsword, another a spear and shield and the last a dual wielder of paired axes, went from level 42 to 62. Jeda who was morose the moment he woke up to the present, reached 125. Ogre knew they used the levels to treat their pain at surviving when almost every other beast in their group had not. The rush of leveling was so powerful, so all-encompassing that it washed away guilt for hours. First in an instant of bliss then with indeterminate longing for it, that never fully faded. That was why Ogre did not level up instantly after the gremlin. He had to control it. It needed to be controlled.

It took a lot of coaxing from Ogre, but Jeda led the remembrance ceremony for the fallen beasts. He spoke quickly but solemnly. There were no bodies, just loot and damaged armour and weapons. The remaining otters took what they could hold but left Glaeddra’s equipment save the greatsword, for Ogre and Jeda. Jeda peered at Ogre, after the dog scoured the loot from every monster after the otters had their pick. He walked up to the dog and backpawed him across the snout, leaning in, leading with the hips, and following through. The crack was so loud everyone save Jeda, and Ogre froze. The dog did not flinch. His hardiness was over ten times greater than it had been and Jeda, despite his high level was not a warrior or fighter class.

“You had the power to save us…you had the strength to end the fight with those…monsters. But you waited! You waited until almost everybeast was dead…You let her die, Ogre! Glaeddra was right you are selfish all the way to your bones. Was she so foul to you? Sure, she said some things…but you did not have to let her die!” Said Jeda, muzzle smooth, eyes liquid and dark. “You slew that monster that tore us apart with ease! It took bolt after bolt of lightning as if they were raindrops and it a fish. And it you slew it so fast that no one saw it. They told me of your exploit. One moment it was there, the next it was gone. I think you fooled us…I think you fooled me. You are not like us. Those monsters came for you. There is no other explanation why they were that strong. You did this to us.”

Ogre said nothing. What is the point of arguing back? I don’t know why those ridiculously powerful monsters came. Borhelm said nothing about them, only about the jackalopes and Buckroos.

Lam spoke up, “That is not fair! You were there also, you failed everybeast too, you were the leader of the pack! Ogre did what he did, when he could!”

Jeda’s face tightened. “Why would I listen to a fox? Your kind is synonymous with cunning and slyness! Tell me, you fought that monster with Glaeddra and I, was Ogre weaker than it, before he leveled up?”

Lam went quiet. Ogre looked at him sharply, speaking, “I wish I could have been stronger and faster than I was, but there is no doubt that Gremlin was far stronger than I was. My stats doubled three times over. And it was all so that I could slay that thing!”

Jeda pointed at the fox, “There is a reason why he does not speak. Your lies will not fool me, I can tell when you use your skill, dog. I can taste it!”

Ogre flinched and deactivated Silvertongue. I didn’t even realize that I was using it! He looked to Lam, “He is not right, Lam, It was so much stronger than I was! It threw me as if I was a twig!”

“The difference was in your dexterity.” Said Lam, he looked at the dog with kind eyes, “You were likely as strong if not stronger than it was. Dexterity or in truth, well-balanced stats, will allow a beast to utilize even a standout talent, such as your strength, to it’s maximum. Your strength was close to a level 200 fighter since the tower. And before the fight with the goblin it was at or beyond a level 300 warrior…even with a quick calculation…you should have been able to do exactly as it did to Glaeddra, me, and the others with raw strength. Your fight with the troglodytes was the biggest example of your true power. Even after a full night of fighting, you clashed with the highest levelled of the Troglodytes on one end while our group attacked their flank...”-

-“Hammer and anvil.” Both Jeda and Ogre said, before looking at each other, Jeda with hard eyes.

“…well yes, but you matched the fighting ability of nearly three dozen otters with equal weapons and armour and slew as many monsters as we did. A simple Heroic Scale would put you as equal in fighting power as all the rest of us combined.”

“I was wounded, my paws were broken!”

Jeda snorted. “You should have died, we saw tracks from hundreds of troglodytes, and our bevy only slew twenty-five. I should have seen it then! You are a monster yourself, Ogre! Your name suites you!”

“That is uncalled for, Jeda.” Lam said, “Ogre fought just as hard…no harder than the rest of us! He slew eight of the goblins and eventually their leader too! He saved our lives, Otter, and you are supremely ungrateful.”

“You were with him, from the first.” Snorted Jeda, “I saw you speaking with him before the weasels ambushed him in the Hall of Class Archetypes. You probably told him about that too. Though…that is no great sin, they were scum that needed to die. But it shows that you place your bedroll cleanly at this dog’s footpaws. ”

“This is getting us nowhere.” Said Ogre. He looked Jeda in the eye. “Hate me if you wish, but you will never bring me lower than I feel right now for not being able to slay that gremlin faster. I already hate that I was too weak last night. I will make steps to ensure that It will never happen again.”

“It is not enough.” Jeda said, “And I will not be taken in again by flowery words. Glaeddra died because I listened to you on the first.”

Lam sniffed, “What will you do then?”

“I will travel with you all until Cerulean . Leaving now would be foolish, especially now that we see you draw dangerous enemies like dung draws flies. Plus, we are all going in the same direction anyways. But once we make it in. We will part.”

Ogre smoothed his muzzle. “That is fair,”

The dog stretched his paw out, palm down. Jeda immediately pushed his paw forward, palm up before stopping himself. Looking disgustedly at Ogre’s paw, he lifted his left paw up. A globe of water rolled over his fingers, growing larger as they completed a circle. With his retracted right paw, he allowed small strands of electricity to play across the pads of the palm.

“You know…As strong as you have undoubtedly grown, I think I can still slay you.” Jeda said in a flat voice. “My new levels have given me a wider ability to use my High Arts, and the fighting up to now allowed me to see that there are more than one way to use an element for a specific purpose. For instance…”

He lifted his left paw and the globe of water which had grown to the size of a fist, was abruptly as large as Ogre’s head. “No matter what level or how strong you are, you cannot breath water.”

The dog bristled clenching his massive jaws. “You would kill me now, after we went through so much bloodshed, not even half a day ago?”

Jeda’s face darkened. “No. I’d have to kill Lam too. And he has not done anything worthy of death. Being near you should be enough, but if it were we would all be guilty. You will take this as a warning, if I see you out of Cerulean , we are not friends, we are not kin, and we are not of the same Romp. You will be as a monster to me. Let me be as a monster to you as well.”

With that Jeda, stalked off. When he was a distance away up the road towards the Town of Beginnings, he sat down heavily and put his muzzle in his paws and wept. Ogre felt a grief rise in his throat to choke him and burn his eyes and nose. He turned away from the pitiful sight, if only not to repeat it himself. Lam placed a paw on his shoulder then walked off himself. They rested for half a day. During that time, Ogre looked at the spoils he got from the Gremlin.

(A) Rare Black Iron Cleaver [Cleave]

Dmg: 1080

Req: Str 1500

Wt: 150

Common [S-Class] Gremlin Monster Gem

Soulweight: ? [Appraisal Level too Low]

Lifetime Insight: ? [Appraisal Level too Low]

Ogre ate as he considered gem and weapon. He was not hungry, though the night had been long and the fighting draining. His grief over the lost overcame his voracious appetite. Still, his goal of being better as quickly as he could, would not wait. Also, it was so much easier to deal with the downsides of gaining weight quickly and overeating, than the blissful goodness of leveling up. His lack of hunger allowed him to take his meals in 65-pound increments. Which added another nine and three-quarter pounds to his mass with each consumption. Ogre was able to eat three times before it was time to move for the town of Cerulean. From there the dog ate nine more times on their trip. The permanent buff activated a bonus for a random physical stat. Strength popped up three times, vitality, power, hardiness, and speed twice. Ogre also gained another 120lbs in muscle. The dog noticed that his limbs were more than twice their girth and the muscle underneath the fur stood out as if it were stretched taunt across the grooves in his body. Veins snaked across his form, showing the change in body composition. The others looked at him with a look of awe that nearly rivaled the stares he got, when he slew the gremlin. Even Jeda could not help but gape at the abrupt changes. Ogre would eat as they walked, then use the latrine; in hours the swinging, engorged belly would flatten as his body grew. Ogre realized that he looked down on Lam as he spoke to the fox. Lam was no longer an ear taller but was now two paws shorter. Ogre was now nearly as tall as Glaeddra had been. The thought sent a pang of regret and shame through him. He always considered before, when he was struggling to get the necessary insight that eating would be the best way for him to get stronger. However, he could not eat to get an instant boost. It took hours for his body to process the tremendous amount of flesh that gorged himself on. 1000 pounds, once I weigh half a ton, I can level up Glutton by eating half a ton at once!

The dog felt stronger. Even though he was more than twice as heavy as he had been in the tower, he felt as if the pull of the world just affected him less. He was as light as a floating leaf. Ogre actively slowed his pace to keep it in tune with the others. After the traumatic events in the forest, all the beasts; otters, fox and dog, decided to walk without sleep to the Town of Beginnings. With surprise, Ogre realized that the otters, the four surviving besides Jeda, stayed closer to him and Lam rather than the Otter Leader. The dog said nothing about it and just focused on reaching the town without incident.

The forest cleared about a day out from their destination. The trees thinned many hours before; the canopy went spotty, allowing brush and other vegetation to flourish under the woody giants. The road snaked back and forth in long smooth curves, that was impossible to notice unless you walked for over a day, staring at the same point ahead. Ogre watched as yellow sunlight faded and the sun dropped like a closing eye to the horizon, taking most of the day’s heat with it. He saw sunset in dazzling splashes of magenta, and purple, caught by clouds that resembled majestic robes. They walked with that beauty behind and perpendicular to them. Long shadows stretched until the land became all gray, with black pooling where the light of the milky moonlight of blue and red and cold stars did not touch. The night seemed longer than the day. The monsters kept their distance as the land rolled with only a few trees, and chunks of limestone and shale, breaking up the monotony of long low hills and plains. Night was cool as compared to the day; the sounds of night creatures grew distant with the forest behind them. Insects and small scaled creatures made their sounds, but they seemed to be lost without trees to bounce them to a beast’s ears.

Night slid to deep night, then the navy gray of early morning, before the sun rose high enough to make golden light spill over the rim of the world. The sun was high when they saw it. The Town of Beginnings sat on multiple low wide hills, with walls of deep blue that mimicked the shade that a cloudless summer sky took on, when the moons and sun could be seen sharing the heavens together. Towers of white, gold and many shades of blue rose over the walls. Jeda, who took the lead as they walked, hours ago, stopped abruptly before a familiar looking chunk of salt-white stone. Ogre recognized it as the twin of the sign that told them the flagstone road was The Road of Beginnings. As the dog drew close to Jeda and the stone, he understood why the otter stopped.

The world shifted and wavered in ethereal color just beyond it, like the prismatic shades on a soap bubble. Looking at it, Ogre was reminded of how the world settled into existence when they exited the World Tutorial Tower. He spoke his thoughts, “Does this town exist in another plane?”

Jeda snorted at him, but Lam responded. “Who knows, after the Tower, we should not be surprised at almost anything we see in this land. This world is…our new world is special it seems.”

Ogre looked at the fox, squinting. “It is not our world, Lam, we were kidnapped from a world where we belonged and dropped into this one. But…for me, it is the only world I know…so far.”

“Should we pass through it?” One of the otters said, Vedana, a female that had the two axes that Ogre first used.

“Do we have a choice?” Orda said, a male otter with s-class shield and shortsword.

“We will need to go through it to reach the town, I say let’s go.” Xendaranan said, an otter survivor wielding a s-class spear. “We know where we need to go…why wait?”

“It might be a barrier of some kind.” Said the last of the four, Aida, a female otter who wielded Glaeddra’s greatsword.

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“It will be fine,” Lam said, but the fox made no move to enter the shimmering air.

Ogre felt his heart pound. All eyes went to him as he strode up to the barrier, moving past Jeda. The dog took a deep breath and strode through, closing his eyes tight just before his nose touched. It felt as if a mist broke over his muzzle, then face, ears and body. Ogre felt soaked through, his ragged gambeson and the padded trousers growing heavy with damp that smelled weeks old. The only pieces of his armour that remained intact was the gauntlets and sabatons. Even the chausses, Faulds and tassets were shredded by the dexterous speed of the gremlin attacks. Ogre heard a pop and abruptly he was free of the barrier and as dry as he had been before he entered. The dog turned around to bid the rest of the group to past through and startled. There was no one there. It only took a few steps to past through and yet they were gone. In their place stretched leagues of rolling land, and in the distance, mountains and what could have been a river. Ogre smelled the air. It was a river, and a large one. This is another world, isn’t it? How can it sit so easily on another plane?

Lam appeared right before Ogre, snout materializing from thin air then paws, face and the rest. He looked around, as he brushed himself off, muttering to himself, “I don’t think I can ever get used to that.”

“You are unconcerned about what just happened?” Asked Ogre.

Lam shrugged. “It’s not the most amazing thing I’ve seen this year, Ogre. I remember everything that happened in the Tutorial Levels, believe me those experiences occlude the minor marvels outside of it.”

The dog considered it as the others came through the barrier after a short delay. They, on the other paw, including Jeda, looked around in wonder, exclaiming at the smell of the river some distance away and the mountains behind it. Ogre gave them a few minutes to orient themselves, but spoke soon after, “We need to make our way to the town. We are still a half day out, I want to be able to reach it before night.”

“The town will likely close it’s gates at dusk, we will have to move faster if we want to sleep in a bed tonight.”

Ogre looked at Lam curiously but did not ask the question in his eyes. “Can you all maintain enough speed for us to make it?”

Jeda scowled at the dog. “My endurance is over a thousand and the others are at least at six hundred and twenty. You are not the only one who has gained strength.”

Ogre’s face tightened but he did not look at Jeda. “Let us go then.”

The walls of Cerulean grew as they neared, glittering brilliantly as the sun fell. Beyond the walls towered a white structure like a long pale tooth. It made the dog pause as he saw it and wonder about its purpose. In short order, the dog went back to scanning the walls of the town. Ogre saw that the ramparts were capped with white stone that looked like slivers of pale snow. Beyond the walls, when the sun was still a fist above the horizon, the group walked through the outskirts of the town. The buildings went from disorderly one-story hovels of thatch and few slate tops to neat wooden structures of two and three stories, blue brick and stone, with mostly slate and tile roofs. The Road of Beginnings cut a straight path through the spillage of beasts and culture. Signs that revealed different shops and inns stretched on both sides of the flagstones. The smells of different foods and spices, washing and latrines and all the smells of civilization filled Ogre’s nose drawing him forward even as it repelled. There were a few beasts at the gates of Cerulean when Ogre and his flagging group made it to the gates.

Ogre saw the guards there and immediately wanted to growl. They were boars as large as Borhelm with silvery gray plate and helms, and a tabard of dark blue over their cuirass with a circle of light blue on a square of white. Their spears were capped in blue steel and the swords at their waist would have greatswords in the paws of lesser beasts. The gates were tall black ironbound wood, twice the height of the boars, with a blue-stone barbican capped with white tile roof. They let the beasts before them in, a quartet of black sheep, clad in gray wool stockings, white tunic, and gray shirts.

A boar with a thick ring of gold around it’s right foremost tusk spoke, “It took you all a long time to get here, that…Borhelm told us that he left you all to find your way in any way that you will. It should not have been done. I am Byre, son of Byre, son of Beorn son of Beorn. I would raise a drink to you all.”

Ogre’s mouth dropped open.

His companion looked at Byre sharply. “We do not insult the Ascended, but we must say that it is highly irregular that Borhelm did not lead you here himself.”

“Bah, Yonbore! The so-named Ascended knows that monsters seek out the newly raised adventurers and know to wait near the Roads to ambush them!” Said Byre, loudly. “He was tasked to see adventurers, once they left the tower, safely to Cerulean by the Magistrate. And it looks like he nearly failed.”

Yonbore looked at them as if they were a pups left alone in the wilds. “They are a sorry lot, but you see their levels. There is one among them that is a level 125. Only one of them is of common stock, the dog it seems.”

Ogre bristled, but he said nothing.

“It is not wise to judge only by what you see, unless you can see all of it.”

The large boar did not look at the dog, but Ogre, understood that he could understand some of the strength of his stats. There was a note of respect in the creature’s booming voice. It surprised the dog. Truly he did not know what to think about Byre. Still, Ogre knew better than to take the boar at what he seemed, even if it happens to be as an amiable and decent beast. Yonbore rolled his eyes, “What are you on about, Byre? My appraisal shows that the dog’s a level 4, the others are level 62 and up? Why are you trying to sound all wise? It’s obvious that they did all the fighting on the way to town!”

“Your problem is that you do not think, Yonbore! Your skill with Thrust is second to none with anyone within fifty levels of you but you can’t see strength unless it’s in status numbers.” Byre retorted, “The dog was the one leading them. So even if he’s a level 4 maybe he has a skill that makes he…uh…well I don’t know why beasts so far in level above him would let him lead, but I’m sure there is a good reason for it.”

“Bah, you think too much!” Yonbore tapping the butte of his spear against a sabaton. “They were likely using him as bait to lure weaker monsters in, so that they could either slay them or flee if the monsters proved too great a challenge.”

“That is tactics, Yonbore, now who’s overthinking it?” Byre sounded smug, as he tapped a metal shrouded finger on his companions helm. “I’m proud of you my young piglet! You’re thinking more and more each day. I think I’m rubbing off on you!”

For a moment Yonbore looked aghast for a moment, then he spoke growling under his voice. “If you rub on me, you’ll see first hoof the skill of my spear!”

Byre gave him a huge smile that seemed to stretch to the tips of his tusks. Then he turned back to Ogre and his group. “The Adventurer’s Guild is straight ahead in the center of town, not an hour’s walk from here. They will provide free lodging for the night and an appointment with the Headbeast of the town within the week. Until then behave yourselves. If you see a Felidae, prostrate yourself until it has passed. I haven’t seen many of the Noble Felines, but they can move freely from one town or city to the next. You will die if you do not. Respect those higher in level than you. Long serving adventurers have political capita, based off the sum of insight and soulweight taxes they have paid. As you are freshly molded, you are at the very bottom of the stye. Be careful and move along. I’ll find you all at the guild for a drink when my shift is done. On the morrow, adventurers.”

“On the morrow,” Ogre repeated, in unison with the rest of the beasts.

After they passed the huge boars, Ogre asked Lam what level they were.

“They are level 990 and 991 respectively.” Lam said quietly.

So I should have enough strength to beat them, even at level 4. Ogre thought, playing with the idea of leveling to 5 right then and there. No…I will try to wait until I reach a thousand pounds. Once there, I’ll eat my weight in meat and raise my stats before I double them. The dog did some quick calculations. Eleven hundred forty-seven pounds of food is needed to equal the increase in stats associated with leveling. However, low level adventurers are not held in high esteem. I will have to be extra careful. Ogre spoke to Lam, watching him closely while trying not to seem as if he was. “You see my stats do you believe my strength is equal to theirs?”

“Right after you defeated that red monster, you were lesser than they by a wide margin.” Said Lam, “Your strength right now is greater than theirs…but they will have high leveled skills and companions as highly leveled as they are. I would not do anything to upset them. I’m sure that guardsbeasts stationed at the front gate must have above average ability, but we don’t know if that is the case. Also, those guardsbeasts we just met are not sergeants, captains, lieutenants or commanders, and typically such rank comes with higher power. You would not survive a full guard post of boars like the ones at the gates.”

The fox shied away from the steady look in Ogre’s eyes. “You have a wealth of knowledge about this world, that surpasses the otters, Lam. I have not ignored it. I know that there are skills that can allow a beast to know things about a nation or land. But I do not believe that is the case with you.”

The dog stopped him in the middle of the street. The gates were slowly closed some distance behind them. A row of lanterns on tall painted poles threw strangely vibrant light over the flagstones of the town, pushing the shadows farther than any fire normally could. There was no thatch inside the walls, only pale slate, blue or white, and tile, all different hues where night turned all things dark, darker, and all things pale, that much paler. the buildings were tall and neat, all brick and stone, save for elegant wooden structures that arched down the street. As the shadow covered most of their hue or the light bleached it out. Most of the buildings were two stories tall with a pawful that were three; and half that number of buildings, twice as tall. Jeda was already a dozen paces down the street and walking determinedly for the Adventurer’s Guild. The rest of the otters clustered a few steps away.

“Stay with me for a while, Lam, there are some things I want to ask you, and I want you to answer truthfully.” Ogre said, before turning to the four otters. “Why do you stay with us? Jeda was essentially right, because of my inability to fight, I allowed many of the pack to die. You will likely be better off with the Elementalist.”

The female with dual axes stepped up. Vedana, was that her name? Hefting her s-class weapons. “The ones who received your gift of weapons, survived the longest out there. We were not guaranteed to survive in the Tower, Ogre, quite the opposite. We were told that death is the surest gift that we can get by all the guides that we met. Even the Felidae told us that most of us would die. And that was when there was hundreds of us mustels. But I am alive today, because when you first attacked that horrible red goblin, one of its minions was about to take my head but stopped and moved into the path of your greatsword.”

“You slew the goblin that killed Ona and Uara.” Said Orda, his paw tight on the pommel of his short sword, shield on back.

“You avenged Glaeddra by slaying that piece of red leavings from a bloodcursed latrine.” Aida, said, the female still wore Glaeddra’s greatsword on her back; Ogre realized that if she used the status points, she would have more than enough points to wield it with ease.

Xendaranan, spoke up last. “You saved my life twice…uh…Captain. First in the fight with the Troglodyte chief and his guards. You bit a troglodyte brute in half after it nearly disemboweled me with a spear. Next, the last goblin you slew slabbed me in the side and was about to tear my leg from my hip when you did it in. For me, I’d have to be a fool not to stay near a beast that kept me alive twice when I should have died.”

Ogre stood still, feeling a wave of warmth flow over him. I saved them? I wasn’t even trying to do that. I was just trying to slay my enemies! He spoke again, quietly almost to himself, “Glaeddra died because I was too slow…You all might die because I do not have the strength to save you.”

Aida’s face hardened, “I’m sorry, captain, but you look down on us by saying such words. We appreciate your feelings but are we not warriors? Did we not come from the same tower, were we not gifted with the same ability to get stronger from the deaths of our enemies?”

Ogre jolted back as if slapped with a stone paw. “I didn’t mean…I just thought…”

“If you are to lead us…you cannot look down upon us, captain. You must see our strength and use it properly.” Orda said. “Think about it. We will head on ahead; I can see that you wish to speak with the fox alone. But first please consider our status and think about what we said.

In short order The others saluted and went on ahead, behind Jeda. The former leader did not look back once. When Ogre went back to Lam, he could smell the nervousness of the fox. The smell teased his anger, making him recall the treachery of Borhelm. He looked over the fox and Lam did the same to him. Ogre had to admit that he was much changed. The dog was slabbed with muscle approaching three times the mass he had when they first met.

“You will tell me everything that you know about me, and then you will tell me who sent you.”

Lam nervously glanced at the allies between buildings, before speaking. “It is best if we do this in an Inn or at least away from the main throughfare. Perhaps in the guild…”

-“You will tell me now!” Ogre roared, making the fox jump back.

The dog struggled to get his anger back under control as boar guards poked their heads from their gatehouse, and some beasts made shadows along the windows in the second story of shops. For a moment, the fox seemed ready to bolt. In the next moment he relaxed his body and waved to Ogre to keep moving. “We must be careful. We are not in the wilds anymore, I’ll answer every one of your questions, I just don’t want to end up in gaol for disrupting the peace in the town.”

Ogre growled, long and low but followed.

“You wanted to know, what I know about you…It’s not much.” Said the fox, as they passed through pools of blue-tinted lantern-light, shadow and light played across his form, stretching and shifting the patterns of faded patches and battle wear. “My master is a Felidae Prince, whose name I cannot utter without express permission. When the illustrious Feli Tulron first met you, after you completed your first level in the World Tutorial Tower, he sent word that a possible Dreameater Class adventurer might come from the tower. It was said that you complained of having to complete A 1001 Tutorial Level. Everybeast knew that it was madness, as the tower only went up to level 1000. And if you were able to reach that level you would be given leave to Transcend this world and become a Cat Lord. However, your strength even after the first level was said to be incalculable.”

I was right to assume that time passed very oddly in the World Tower. How long did it take for them to send Lam here, to watch out for me? “So, once they found out that this ‘Dreameater’ might come from the tower, that’s when they sent you?”

“No…you don’t really understand just yet, you must let me finish. It will be difficult to get it all out.” Said Lam, “The illustrious Feli, Tulron sent that word centuries ago. They did not believe it until only a few dozen decades back. I was the last of thousands of parties sent to investigate. In the Tower it is not uncommon for what happened to you with the Mustels to happen with everybeast. If you remain alone or set yourself apart from others, you will die. My master knew this and sent me along with a company of foxes. The tower does not accept leveled up beasts unless it is for the role of Caretaker or Guardian. And only then when the previous holders have left or ascended beyond ranks.”

“Wait…there is too much I don’t know.”

“You asked for the information, Ogre, you must let me tell it.” Lam said.

The signs on shops and inns were cast in the pool of light if they were lucky or left in the dark, silhouetted by the lantern. They grew a bit taller as the two walked. The fox sounded put out, even though his stamina was high enough to compensate for effort of walking and talking a hundred times over. Lam continued, “I told you that anybeast that stayed by themselves is just asking for the other groups of beasts to attack them in the tower. You stayed by yourself. I heard that it was because the group that you were first acquainted with either died in the fighting between beasts in the tower or by monsters in the Tutorial Levels. The participants in the tower came in waves for you while you were still doing the levels. You slaughtered them to a beast. It was said that this this went on for as long as you were at the tower. And I got to see it firstpaw…I was sent to the Tower to see if it was true. And if so to make sure you are ready to be seen by my Felidae Prince.”

“How would you know if it’s true?”

“Let me first explain Tutorial Tower Classes. There are 12 levels, the lowest denotes that the beast has the ability to slay a monster. World-Ender is the 10th rank, and explains that you would have the potential to destroy a world or save it. You were classed at Dreameater the 12th and highest. We could not imagine the might that you could one day bring to bear. Judging by how quickly your power grows with each level you may very well meet prestige of the class subscribed to you.” Explained Lam, “I believe it is true, because I met you before you lost your power to the tower.”

“Did I remember the world before this one?”

Lam shrugged. “You did not speak to me…I could not even get near you. It was as if you existed in a different realm. I could not appraise your ability. But neither could the illustrious Feli, Tulron.”

“The tower itself, stole what it gave me?” Said Ogre, “How does that even make sense?”

“The tower does not give power, it awakens the possibility of your vessel and gives you the means to use that power to get stronger, via the slaying of monsters within its levels.” Lam said, “All of us had to pay the World Tower, in insight and levels, before we were allowed to leave the Tutorial Levels. Though for most of us it was not all of our power, merely a fraction of a fraction.”

Ogre abruptly recalled the dog in his dream. Does my true power dwell somewhere inside of me, did the tower really take all of that power? The dog shook himself, “What does your Prince want with me, Lam?”

The fox was quiet for a few steps before he spoke again. “He wants you as his pet.”