Drew slumped to the ground in defeat after scaring off the herd of monkeys. They were cowards through and through. They had some weird creature do their fighting then flee in terror once the fighting came to them.

“You pieces of shit! You killed one of my only friends! Fuck this.” The screaming finally came to an end and left him sitting in the clearing. A light tap on his shoulder made him jump up and turn around to address his next opponent.

Sapphire looked up at her master, hesitant to start trying to comfort him for his loss.

“May I heal your wounds master?” Drew looked down at himself and saw the blood and guts of the penguins had disappeared from his body only to be replaced by sticks and stones lodged into his body.

Streams of blood trickled down his arm and the burning sensation finally started to break through the adrenaline

“Please do.” The meek plushy approached him and stuck her weird parasite trunk thing to his arm. He felt a small prickly feeling and then a cooling sensation.

Over the next few minutes, small stones and sticks were pushed out of the wounds and onto the floor. Flesh rapidly regrew around the openings and small pale dots pervaded his skin.

“I’m going to kill those stupid monkeys if its the last thing I do.” The anger was palpable in the air and Drew’s frustration at his inaction only worsened.

“Master, I highly doubt that Nurgle would appreciate your warpath on this planet coming to an end just because of him.” Sapphire tried to cool him down from throwing his life away now that they were out of danger.

“You were ready to kill yourself to not give them the satisfaction but not to take the fight to them or die trying? They killed him. We kill them. That's the only way i'm gonna feel like we've done right by Nurgle.” Drew was hard set on taking revenge and Sapphire finally saw no reason to cool the flames that refused to be extinguished.

“I believe it would be optimal to get armored back up and organize ourselves more now that the dangers are gone. I doubt they will travel very far and killing them would be much easier if our victory is assured through preparation and planning.” She offered an alternative plan that would keep them alive and get revenge for their cyclops friend.

With the adrenaline finally out of his system, Drew sat back and took time to think on what he needed to do and his priorities.

“I guess you're right. It’s just frustrating, you know?”

The pair got together and made their way back to their home. The leather armor was in shreds and the jumpsuit was covered in holes. The only way to armor back up was to enter the dungeon and clear the first floor a few times.

The second floor was off limits when they were not at full strength and, without Nurgle, Drew was not sure if that time would ever come.

On the way back they killed some frogs for food and quickly cooked them while getting ready for the dungeon dive. It was relatively silent between the two. The somber mood was not going to leave so soon after such a tragedy.

They ate in silence and waited for something to happen to bring them out of their tedium. Sapphire finally chose to speak up for both of their sakes.

“There might still be hope for Nurgle. I doubt the system would not alert you to one of your summons dying permanently. There is a chance that you could resummon him right now.”

“I…. Yeah, I guess I should try that. It makes sense. Summon small monster!” Drew shouted out in the hope of bringing his friend back to them.

Unable to summon

Maximum companions reached for the skill level

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This world loves to fuck my day up as often as possible.” He put his head in his hands and sat in silence as the message sunk in.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Master, that message does not preclude Nurgle's survival. We could gear up and return to the sight of the fight to possibly look for some sign that he is not actually gone forever.”

“He was in a pile of those things. His body would be mangled and in pieces if not completely destroyed beyond recognition. There is no point in going back.” A hint of anger seeped into his tone and he glared at the plushy for the suggestion.

“ I completely understand the thought process, however..” She was cut off before she could finish the thought.

“Enough! We are going in the dungeon and getting geared up then we are going to kill those sick pieces of shit. I don’t want to hear anything else.” He stood up and collected the gear that was intact from the last fight and walked into the dungeon with the plushy stumbling along after him.

The fights were simple enough despite the lack of his berserkers friend giving him back up. He quickly gained leather gauntlets and grieves. The boots had stayed intact and the socks offered the same comfort that always had.

Sapphire sniped the random skeleton that neared her master during combat. The rare lieutenant skeleton made Drew raise his shield and go on the defensive while the plushy sent high speed projectiles straight to its head.

The barrage only needed to last so long until it would crumble to pieces like the rest of them. Drew skipped the skeleton arachnid and went straight to the boss.

He wished it would have gone better than it did before, but it certainly did not.

The pair had damaged the skeleton down to its last bit of durability. The bones were cracked and barely holding together.

The attacks had lost much of their power, but could still brain him if he stepped too close.

Sapphire pelted the monster with volleys of attacks that would have smeared most other skeletons into paste. Drew took the monster's attention and got strikes in while he could but allowed his new teammate to do most of the work.

He reacted slowly to one of the swings and had to bring his black shield up to intercept the blow. His arm was blown to the side and the taloned hand swiped forward with perfect timing.

A burning sensation lit up his right side as he ducked back out of range. He glanced down at where he had been hit and had to quickly avert his eyes. He saw a whole lot of red pouring out of his chest.

The plushy did not falter and continued to pelt the monster that attempted to finish her master off. The projectiles finally opened the back of the skull up and allowed the full force of the blows to plow into the bone.

The general stumbled to the ground and finally dissolved into dust in front of Drew. Despite fighting the monster multiple times, he still made mistakes that could cost him his life.

+105 xp for defeating Skeletal General [Summon small monster] has inherited the xp in your place. 690/1600 xp

The lack of any chest protection was a glaring issue and he had yet to see any real full body armor like he was hoping.

Congratulations on clearing the Dungeon Hidden Behind the Falls floor 1 You rank in the top 10 percent of all participants for clear time. Congratulations Additional reward provided.

No item appeared out of thin air unlike what the message hinted at and the dungeon dive finally ended for the pair.

“I think I need a heal Sapphire. It's kinda hard to breathe and talk. Ugh” The pain lanced through his chest the same way an electrical shock would and it sent him to his knees.

“Let us exit the dungeon while I heal you. My saliva will help dull the pain while you walk for us.” His faithful elephant waddled over and commenced healing the new wound of its leaking nature.

They traveled back to the entrance and sat on the cliff. The sun was not quite to the point of setting but he was beyond the point of caring. The emotional stress and physical pain brought him to the edge of collapse.

“I'm going to crash out here. We are gonna run it one more time tomorrow and I'll try to jerry rig some armor for you when we get out.” He laid against the old clothes and passed out with the sun in his eyes.

Sapphire stared down at her master in contemplation. His behavior was dangerous for both of them and their goals might just have been too extreme given their current state.

She would need to change something if they were going to continue living on.

He was being selfish. Sure, he had lost his new best friend, but he was taking his frustration out on her when times got tough and that was not healthy for his emotional state.

Would she really need to become a therapist for him? Only time would really tell.

Things would be much simpler if the cyclops had not gotten himself blown up, but that did not matter now that it had happened. She just needed to adapt.