For some reason, Rick couldn’t sense how many pups Stella was carrying. It was unnerving for him because he could typically see anything he wanted in his domain. But Stella’s womb was blocked as if the System itself interfered.

He asked Billy who had wandered over to the Den, but the gunslinger had no idea how it worked. Rick also had to stop himself multiple times from asking Jimmy. His friend needed to unwind, so Rick chose to speak to Billy telepathically.

“Any names in mind for the pups?” Rick asked.

A smile crept on Billy’s face, “No, I want to meet them first.”

The minions were somewhat of a mystery to Rick. He couldn’t absorb them. When they died, their bodies were impossible to probe with any of his skills. Then, just before they respawned, their bodies would just blink out of existence and a new replica would appear.

Would the offspring act in the same way? Or would they become something else altogether?

Finn howled as he sat next to Stella. As his howling continued, she began to give birth. It wasn’t at all what Rick expected. Instead of little baby wolves, five orbs of light left Stella’s body. The orbs lifted into the air within the den and began to slowly circulate around Finn and Stella.

An Alert appeared before Rick as well.

—ALERT—

First Dungeon Born Minions Spawned

* Unique Variation Granted

* Prey Critter added to registry

(5) Level 1 Ceaseless Wolves

Skills:

Pack Bond - The pack shares a life line. A single wolf in the pack cannot die until all pack members have suffered fatal injuries. If even a single pack member survives, the others will heal in time, no matter the injury. *Note* Pack Members are tethered to each other. It is impossible for them to separate by more than 2,640 feet.

Speed Burst: The pack can increase speed by 100% for two seconds. (10 minute cool down)

Rick whistled looking at the wolves Finn and Stella made. They would definitely need to increase the number of Challengers allowed inside. Even at a low level, these wolves would be hard to kill.

The floating orbs slowly materialized into newborn wolves. They all stumbled over to Stella and began drinking her milk, which vaguely surprised Rick at first since he didn’t think they needed it. That is until he saw them visibly grow from newborns to proper puppies.

Typically, all babies looked the same to Rick. He inspected them further as they grew before his eyes, and realized they were identical. They all had deep black fur except for a splash of gray on their chests in the same spot.

They had tiny nails on their paws that pressed against Stella as they drank. Their back legs wouldn’t stop moving, seemingly overjoyed to be alive.

If any of those fuckers out there kill these pups, I’m going to imprison them in a fortress of Bill Paxton posters, Rick promised to himself.

Finn waited patiently until they were done. Once they were done, he got closer, let them sniff him, and tug at his fur. If Rick didn’t know any better, he would have thought he saw a proud glint in the wolf’s eyes.

With a quick Identify, it showed that neither Finn nor Stella were part of the Ceaseless Wolves pack, despite being their parents. Maybe he was wrong about that, but it still seemed odd. Perhaps they just had different skills, but were still part of the same pack? Only time would tell, so he moved on and let them get to know each other.

Rick briefly checked on Jimmy and Kara. The two were sitting close to each other. Kara rested her head on Jimmy’s shoulder as she told him stories of her life before the System. Apparently, she had owned her own gym where she taught crossfit. Rick laughed internally, thinking of how much Jimmy used to make fun of crossfit people while he stuffed his face with fried bar food.

“Alright, let’s check out the fodder the System is giving me for our new wolves,” Rick said telepathically to Billy.

Prey Critter:

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Bargle: While these critters do not gain levels, their tender meat offers increased regeneration of health and resources for dungeon minions. Summon Bargle population now? Y/N

“Yeah, let’s see the little guys,” Rick said. He focused on a far corner of the floor, away from the wolves for now, and confirmed the summon.

It sounded like one large squeak, but in reality, it was the tiny screams of one hundred Bargles popping into existence. They looked like a cross between a guinea pig and a goat. Their bodies were fat, with silky fur. Even their faces resembled a guinea pig. But their eyes and legs were like goats.

They squeaked incessantly as they started to prance around their grassy surroundings — hopping on their hooves, jiggling their plump bodies. They were quite cute and much larger than Rick had imagined when he read the word, ‘critter’.

Kind of a shame that you’re all going to be lunch for a group of growing wolves, Rick thought.

The new Ceaseless Wolf puppies were already napping in the den by Stella’s belly. Finn sat in front of them, guarding the entrance of the door.

Jimmy and Kara had now moved into one of the little hobbit houses together. Rick was about to ignore them completely but realized nothing was happening to be embarrassed about. They had shared some trauma together and simply needed companionship. They were both asleep in each other’s arms, enjoying the simple touch of another person. Something that Rick would never have again.

The sense of loneliness did strike Rick once in a while, but this time, he didn’t mind. It was just another reminder that he wasn’t a human anymore and the emotional sting wore off more quickly than usual.

With everyone preoccupied, and himself being low on Energy, he decided to watch another old action flick on the portable DVD player until morning.

----------------------------------------

“Alright, wakey wakey Jimbo!” Rick shouted after watching Cobra for the third time. He had already absorbed the pile of empty beer bottles, cleaning the place up.

Jimmy startled awake, elbowing Kara in the forehead in the process.

“That’s a first,” she laughed, holding a hand to her head but looking fondly at Jimmy.

“Jesus, Rick,” he said catching his breath then looked at Kara and smiled. “Sorry about that. That was just Rick’s 497th attempt to give me a heart attack.”

Kara laughed. “We’re pretty lucky to get to wake up in here. Out there we probably would have been woken up by an explosion or screams,” she said. The smile faded from her face.

“Yeah, no kidding. I guess we better get back to reality. The assault happens today,” Jimmy said.

“Speaking of which,” Rick interrupted. “What can I give you or the Cartel to kill those Eagle fucks?”

“Just a shit ton of guns, I guess,” Jimmy said, scratching his head. Rick noticed that he had a little bit more hair on there. The receding hairline creeping forward instead of backward.

“Dude, are you taking some kind of testosterone supplement?” Rick asked. In just over a week, Jimmy must have lost thirty pounds and looked years younger.

“The only good thing to happen from all this fuckery is that the stats make people look and feel better. I’ve been putting most of mine in Vitality because it makes me a little bit harder to kill. Injuries, recovery, all that are better with Vitality. Bonus is that it sheds a lot of the bullshit from my body too,” Jimmy explained.

“So why doesn’t everyone focus on Vitality?”

“It’s definitely a popular choice, but it depends on their class. Kara for example focuses on Agility. She’s like a ninja dude — Her class gets a big benefit from that stat. I think you’ll start to notice it more when Challengers come out. Every level makes the stat choices more pronounced.”

“That’s pretty cool. Sadly, you mortals are pathetic. I have the greatest stat of all with Energy.”

“No shit, that’s one of the basic things my skill tells me. Energy is OP as hell.”

“Actually, Energy is kind of bullshit. I have to figure out how to keep it topped off or I can’t do anything other than wallow in self pity and boredom.”

Jimmy laughed at that, “Come on, you saw how crippled Lazaro was after he did a couple of spells. People have to rely on Mana. If they drain themselves too fast, it can kill them.”

“Well, like I said — Pathetic,” Rick said with a laugh. It was good to banter with Jimmy again, especially with how down they had both been.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a literal dumpster that I need to go scrounge up some trash for. I’ll be back in a bit,” Jimmy said, waving his hand.

“Oh wait, I just need one more Challenger to level up. I want to level up before tomorrow, but obviously, that’s not a priority until my parents are back. If you can pass the word along, I’ll give a reward to anyone that brings me one of the Eagle Empire schmucks.”

“Yes boss,” Jimmy mocked and left the dungeon.

Less than a minute later, a steady stream of garbage made its way onto the dungeon floor. Rick started making assault rifles, handguns, and loads of ammunition. The anticipation of seeing his parents safely out of custody was at an all time high, but he had to calm himself so he didn’t fall into a trance.

Glossing over his dungeon, he saw the glacier beginning to melt and a small trickle dampening the hole it sat in. The Bargle were jumping around or grazing on the grass. The wolves had gone over to Billy’s little hobbit house where he was holding one of the pups, thinking of names. Penny was curled up next to the Kaiju Egg, kicking her feet in a morning nap.

It had been less than ten days since Rick had become a dungeon core and all he saw around him was new life. The cost was high, but he felt proud of his results so far. Where would he be ten years from now? A hundred? He felt excited.