We were led through the woods by Capitaine. What remained of the beasts under their control sprinted around in front of us and made sounds towards their owner who would quietly react to whatever information was returned.

Creeks and ponds continued to cross our path. Odors that smelled like rotten produce and old hamburger dyed the stagnant water a dingy shade of yellowish-brown. Two-headed turtles and oversized dragonflies, amongst other mutated life, rested on the shores and flittered around the irritating stenches.

Outside of the small chirps and growls from Capitaine’s beasts and the movement of the unthreatening wildlife, there was little else that disturbed the peace of the forest. My eyes scanned between the trees around us, but did not detect any hostile creatures. Yoshitsune also seemed unable to find anything, leaving her with her mouth scowling and unnerved. Unlike the Tar Gardens, this place seemed completely devoid of the hostile life that we feasted on for steady XP gains.

“Where are all the monsters?” I asked Capitaine, no longer willing to keep the suspicions to myself.

“They typically reside further in,” Capitaine explained. “The Corpse-Watcher’s energy naturally repels most of those damnable creations. Ironically, it means that the closer you are to the Corpse-Watcher, the safer you are. To an extent, of course.”

Another report came in from a toy-dog sized beast and caused Capitaine to spare a wayward glance away from the Corpse Copse. Yoshitsune and I both followed their gaze, but could not see anything out of the ordinary.

“And how did you get these ones to listen to you?” Yoshitsune asked, pointing at the little beasts that led the way.

“Ah, well that is a long story,” Capitaine mused. “You see, one of my immediate abilities was related to leadership. In my past life, I was an officer that oversaw territory in French West Africa. Born to a French father and a Wolof mother, I faced a great deal of struggle as I rose up the ranks of the army.”

“The point, please,” I said, cutting, of what I knew to be, a long-winded and unrelated speech.

Capitaine only laughed at being cut off by my words. The overly amicable attitude continued to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

“Even though you are now colored in black scales, I now realize that you have deep European ancestry,” Capitaine mused. “So impatient, so demanding. But, I will acquiesce to your demands for the sake of our friendship. What you need to know is that I was given an ability that empowered those that listened to my orders.”

“You have a nice cup where all there is to drink is sewage,” Yoshitsune replied.

“I very much agree with you, my muse,” Capitaine sagely nodded. “The kind of place we live in, one can never rely on these malformed people to do as you say without inviting a dagger to the base of your head. So, when I finally left those awful Bowels, I spent a long time exploring the world to determine the best way to use my talents. But, I finally found a suitable ability sold in the shop; [Beast Tamer]. After spending all the XP I earned on the ability, and even selling a couple of my existing ones, I commissioned this beauty I hold in my hands. Now, I have these little pretties here.”

I was intrigued by the end of Capitaine’s story. In my perusing of the shop, I saw that you could buy abilities. But, I had never considered the possibility of selling them. I was still content with my abilities then.

What about now? Would unlocking my magic capabilities and exploring new routes really be the answer to my recent concerns, or, would it simply be a matter of believing the grass is greener on the other side? I would need to think on this matter harder over the coming time before I entered an irreversible situation.

“So, if you have an army of beasts and cannot trust others, why have you tried to recruit us?” Yoshitsune pressed.

“It is true that all of my attacks against the Corpse-Watcher have failed due to a lack of trust in critical moments,” Capitaine conceded with an unexpected growl of disappointment. “However, my beasts are not enough to overwhelm such a powerful creature. To be able to triumph before anyone else has the opportunity to steal from me, I must make some concessions.”

Capitaine grew quiet as we navigated the forests to come across their stronghold. A tall white flag with a black dog stood atop a hill. Resting at the base of the flagpole sat a large canvas tent.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Here we are, my own Fort Saint Louis,” Capitaine introduced with a renewed grin. “Let us see if the rest are around so we can do some quick introductions.”

We crested the steep hill and reached the tent at the summit. With the flourish of a drama student that secured their first big part, Capitaine pulled the flaps away to reveal an empty tent. A small table was surrounded by cushions.

“It appears that there will not be any introductions,” Capitaine announced, mostly to themselves. “How about a drink while we wait?”

From the sky, a thick glass bottle fell into Capitaine’s hand. They swept their hand over the table to reveal three small glasses. They uncorked the cap and poured an amber-colored liquid into the glasses. They recalled the booze and exchanged it for a bucket that steamed with vapor. After digging around the contents, they dropped a couple ice cubes into each glass. Satisfied, they handed Yoshitsune and me the drinks.

I held the liquor glass close to my eye to see if there was anything out of place. Yoshitsune seemed equally as guarded towards the beverage.

Capitaine, however, took a small sip from the glass and smiled contentedly. Their affable eyes looked in my direction and made me feel like an idiot. I tilted the glass and wetted my tongue on the contents to find flavors of oak and vanilla with the tell-tale burning sensation that came with alcohol.

Seeing that I made a pleasant face in reaction to the drink, Yoshitsune also ventured out to take a sip. However, her face immediately puckered and she shook her head in muted displeasure. I resisted the urge to laugh at the reaction; it reminded me of the times that a freshman got their hands on their first real drink of liquor.

“This whiskey?” I asked.

“Correct,” Capitaine affirmed. “It seems that you were a man of some class in your previous life. That’s good, my other compatriots had never had any in their lives.”

While never my own drink of choice, I could appreciate a good glass from time to time. I would rather go for less complicated beer or vodka to get my head swimming. If I ever downed a shot of whiskey in front of Terry, he’d go on and on about how kids never appreciate fine things and that he wasted eight bucks on me.

“I didn’t think that such things would be sold in the shop, less so that anyone would buy them,” I remarked.

“Why wouldn’t good liquor be sold in this infernal place?” Capitaine asked with a laugh. “There are few things that have brought men to ruin like this little amber bottle. Since I am down here anyways, why should I not indulge in these things? Why should I toil away endlessly without stopping to enjoy my resurrection? I certainly don’t benefit by tightening the belts and holing up in a cave.”

Capitaine’s rhetorical questions struck me. Looking back at how I lived to this point, it was all so very pathetic. I walked and fought endlessly to the point that I forgot to even miss sleep or drink or pleasure. Little separated me from a mindless gecko that lives underneath a log.

“I suppose that you are right,” I replied, unhappy that this dog managed to successfully preach to me.

“I knew that someone dressed as you would appreciate these sentiments,” Capitaine replied happily, misreading my situation entirely.

Voices could be heard outside speaking in hushed tones and halting our conversation. A moment later the opening of the tent was pulled wide open to reveal a pair of people that were shocked to see us.

“Why are you here?” Culuur, the weasel demanded. Bonnie, memories still fresh from our last encounter, took a partial step behind Culuur.

“Hello again,” Yoshitsune said with a short bow, disarming the pair.

Capitaine looked back and forth between the two groups. They seemed to be relishing in the interesting development. They summoned two more glasses and filled them the same way before holding them out towards Culuur and Bonnie.

“You already know each other? How fortuitous!” Capitaine exclaimed, purposefully unaware of the unease between us. “Please, tell me all about your history.”

“There is no history,” Culuur curly replied and sipped from the cup. “These two savages interrupted our last raid and murdered our party members before forcing themselves into our party and then stealing the highest contribution from slaying the Drowned Giant. I can only describe them as unreliable.”

Capitaine nodded eagerly and moved to refill my glass. They were unabashed in their intentions to use liquor to loosen everyone’s lips. Not wishing to be outdone, I continued to drink. The second drink was more pleasant than the first and my reptilian tongue slowly learned to embrace these forgotten flavors.

“I thought that, last time we spoke, you said that you’d cooperate with us the next time we attacked a dungeon together,” I countered. “Were you lying?”

“The intention was for us not to meet for some time,” Culuur admitted stiffly.

“If that’s the case, then all is well,” Capitaine said happily. “How fortunate to recruit four people so quickly. Of course, there is still plenty of time to recruit more compatriots and mend these hurt feelings before we have to face the Corpse Watcher. Though, I would appreciate it if you all listened to my orders.”

The four of us exchanged glances amongst ourselves. I could see the lack of trust resting behind Culuur’s eyes despite the words of respect he offered us in the Dungeon. However, we were all greedy creatures that aspired for more. Everyone here knew what everyone else was capable of and made this a more reliable party than you would get if you were to bring in complete unknowns.

“You still have my cooperation,” Culuur said reluctantly.

“And you still have ours, provided your plan is good enough,” I confirmed.

“In that case, I have a great idea to learn more about what you all are capable of. Why don’t we hunt in a way that we all can get to know each other a bit better?” Capitaine suggested while clapping their furry hands together.