As we climb up the hill to the den, I can’t help pausing at the top to take a deep breath. I’m home. It’s funny to think that, but these days away have made it very clear to me that indeed this rough cave has made its place in my heart. I share a look with Bastet. Her eager happiness is enough to let me know that she feels the same as me. Next, I turn to my three new companions.

“Welcome home,” I tell them, a grin on my face. Fenrir looks at me, a sense of asking permission coming through the bond. I give it, curious about what he wants to do, and see him run off to sniff at everything. Fair enough.

Sirocco, in opposition to my other two companions, seems completely uninterested. She sends an impression of not enough trees, and a preference to stay in the forest. Being Tamed, and not Dominated, I don’t actually have any say in the matter, so just shrug as she wings her way back to the tree cover.

If you want to come for food, I’ll be putting some out soon, I tell her. She sends me an acknowledgment of the offer, but no indication of whether she’ll take me up on it or not. Ah well – her choice.

River takes the longest to give an opinion. His feelings are clearly mixed. It’s not really surprising, when considering everything. For all that Dominate has switched his focus to protecting and obeying me, his loyalties are still very much with the village that he’s left behind. Why wouldn’t they, when the other lizard-folk are all he’s ever known? Because of that, I can understand that calling this place ‘home’ isn’t likely to come easily.

It’s not what I expected from the den of the Great Predator, he finally muses. I raise an eyebrow.

“What did you expect? Something bigger?”

No, more bones, he says completely seriously. I laugh.

“The only bones Kalanthia keeps around are for Lathani to play with. She’s not big on home décor, honestly. Come on, let’s get settled in.”

The first thing I do is to check on my beans. To my dismay, something has clearly been through while I’ve been away. Or perhaps while Kalanthia’s been a bit out of action. All five bean shoots have been massacred. Sighing with disappointment, I gloomily hope that they might recover. My hope stems from the fact that, unlike beans on Earth, samova beans have several shoots. There’s the first shoot which is the main leader, but it’s not the only one: the plant itself looks more like a bush than a vine. Fortunately, despite me not watering the patch for days, I can still see hints of green. If the plants have the time without being eaten again, they might regrow.

“Fenrir,” I call, seeing the lizog’s head shoot up from where he’s sniffing in my erstwhile fire pit. “If you smell anything around here, come and chase it off. Kill it, if you can without leaving the hilltop.” He sends me eager acceptance of the order, then continues sniffing around.

That dealt with, I enter the cave, hoping that it is in a better state than my farming attempts. Kalanthia is there, curled up with her back to the entrance. Reading the mood, I don’t even greet her. I guess Lathani’s there too, but I honestly can’t see any indication of her presence. I have a feeling her mum’s not going to let her go any time soon.

Quickly ducking into my alcove with River following, I fear the worst. Fortunately for me, inside the cave seems untouched. Maybe it smells so much of massive predator that no creature around here is willing to investigate, even if they’ve gathered the courage to come close enough to eat my samova beans.

Either way, all my stuff looks exactly like it did when I left about a week ago. I didn’t take my counting stick with me so I’ve lost track a little, but I’ll quickly mark them now. Let’s see… There was the night after escaping the tentacled monster and I’m pretty sure I didn’t spend a whole day and night getting to the salt caves. Then after returning to Kalanthia before noon, I’d set off straight away in pursuit of Lathani, that day ending with the night in the forest. After that, there was the night in the lizard-folk’s village and the night before heading into the tunnels… Then I lost track of time while underground, but it can’t have been a full day and night, so I’ve got to guess that we didn’t spend another in there. So maybe it’s only been five days? Feels way longer than that. But first…

Within a short time, I’m sitting back, a satisfied grin on my face. A fire crackles in the hearth, its flames sending flickering shadows across the room. Tucking the ‘potatoes’ near enough to the fire that the heat will cook them, but far enough away that they’re not likely to be charred, I start preparing a new soup. After days of only meat, I’m rather sick of the taste again, so I just prepare some newly-harvested pondweed and more ‘potatoes’ in a vegetarian stew. If my beans do recover, I look forward to adding them in too.

While all this cooks, I start going through my Inventory. I’ve got a – large – number of corpses to deal with. Obviously, lizog ones, but also the animals we’d hunted previously: killer chickens being the most numerous, but also that single-ceratops, the monkiles, the remains of those rolling woodlice things, and that nasty venomous creature from the vine-strangler forest. I’ll do that tomorrow, I decide, but pull out a couple of the first ones I get my hands on to set them out in the shade for my companions to help themselves. By chance, they both happen to be lizog ones – perhaps because they were the last ones to be added, so the easiest to access. On my way out of the alcove, I almost start as I see River standing by the entrance.

“You don’t have to guard me here,” I say, half-joking. He snaps his jaw slightly, indicating his nervousness. Another look at the way he’s positioning himself says it’s because of his close proximity to the ‘Great Predator’. “Seriously, if you’re uncomfortable inside, you can stay outside.” He shifts a little. I wait patiently – I’m pretty sure he wants to say something, but I’ll wait for him to tell me rather than prying it out of his mind.

What am I to do here, Ma-Markus? Out there, he waves vaguely in the direction of the forest, I knew what to do. I was guard, guide, and fighter. Here… I get it. He’s feeling lost. I consider the matter carefully.

“Well, frankly, I’d suggest having a break. We’ve all been under a fair bit of pressure over the last few days, and we’ve been running on very little sleep. A bit of relaxation and time to eat in order to return to a state of calmness is probably just what a doctor would prescribe. Why don’t you take the time to consider what you want your role in this group to be?” He frowns.

My role?

“Yeah, if you want to continue being the spearman, or you’d prefer to take a different combat role. Or maybe...you made a big difference to the fight with the lizogs when you offered the poison; if you could create potions which help us and hinder our enemies, that could be even more useful than being on the front lines.” His tail sways gently from left to right and then back again, a gesture I’ve come to understand is similar to a nod from us. “Look, come out with me. I’m going to put out some lizog corpses out for everyone to enjoy. Take some time to think about it, and then let me know.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Very well. I have to admit, I’m a little surprised that you are giving me the choice. I assumed that you would be the one to decide my role. I shrug.

“You know yourself far better than I know you; if you think you’d do best in a certain role, who am I to contradict you?” He doesn’t respond, but his tail sways once more and he follows me out.

Pulling some lizog corpses from my Inventory, I lay them out. Then, suddenly hesitating, I turn to Fenrir.

“Is this...OK?” I mean, they were his pack? Of course, I should have expected the response I get: Fenrir is as practical as Bastet. His answer is complete indifference. Meat is meat, and that’s all the corpses are now. Well, at least I have a good meat supply for a few days, then. Maybe even a few weeks, depending on how much everyone eats. Oh well – although I’m determined to do some crafting, we can always go on a hunting trip if necessary. Once I’ve sorted myself out, that is. I pointedly don’t allow myself to entertain the possibility that what I’ve done to myself is permanent.

Returning back inside, River remaining outside, I continue organising my Inventory. The Energy-Hearts stay inside, as does the salt. I don’t know whether Energy-Hearts can lose Energy if they’re exposed to the air, but they seem OK in my Inventory. Similarly, salt does better when it’s kept dry, so no benefit to pulling it out of my Inventory when I don’t have to.

My half or more than half-used torches are a different story. I decide that the first thing I do tomorrow will be to make a few more of them and stack them in my Inventory: the recent experience has proven that I need a few on hand at all times. And I’d rather not have to keep sacrificing shirts to make them. The flammable substance from the salamander probably has better uses too. A few interesting applications come to mind even though I’m not actively trying to think of ideas. I think a bit of crafting is just what the doctor ordered: my nerves are shot from everything that has happened.

I finish rearranging my Inventory by basically returning my suitcases to it. I’d had them out because they were taking up a slot which was needed for other things, but now I have so many unused slots, I’d prefer to keep all my belongings close at hand. Frankly, my alcove looks a lot barer now than it did when I entered: apart from things that need to be dried or otherwise processed, I’ve packed everything away. Even my crafting materials such as the snilepede legs which I hope to use as fish-hooks later. Or possibly as hooks for armour...hm, there’s a thought.

Going through my Inventory also reminded me about the crocodile hide I still need to process. That’s going to take some days, but I can get started on it tomorrow too. But first food, and then...well. The other thing that is constantly at the back of my mind.

After eating a satisfying meal of soup and baked potatoes, I go outside to settle down. The sun is once more heading towards the horizon. Considering the length of the days, they pass pretty fast. Sitting in a nice sunny spot, I watch my companions for a moment.

The cubs are happy, playing with each other over a bone, not hungry but just having fun. Bastet is watching, more relaxed than she’s been in days. Fenrir is eating, his large head buried in the body of another lizog about the same size as him. I wince and hope that he’s not going to get any disease or parasites from his cannibalism. River seems to be doing what I am: sitting and basking in the sun. He, too, looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. As for Sirocco, I can sense that she’s sitting in the trees not that far away. She feels satiated so either she came down for a bite too, or she found something in the woods that she likes.

After a few moments of peace, I open my status screen. Time to check on what’s been happening there.

Name: Markus Wolfe

Race: Human

Class: Tamer

Level: 12

Energy to next level: 23%

Energy absorption rate: 26u/hr

Energy towards debt: 75%

Intelligence

36

Mana: 331/331 (-8%)

Wisdom

34

Mana regeneration rate: 680u/hr (-20%)

Willpower

42+8 (+20%)

Health regeneration rate: 40u/hr (-20%)

Constitution

19

Health: 190/190

Strength

15

Stamina: 90/90

Dexterity

15

Stamina regeneration rate: 150u/hr

Class skills

Dominate – Novice 3

Tame – Beginner 6

Fade – Initiate 1

Non-Class skills

Lay-on-hands – Journeyman 2

Stealth – Novice 1

Animal Empathy – Novice 6

Meditation - Novice 7

Energy Manipulation – Beginner 2

Sensation Management – Beginner 5

As expected, little has changed. I’ve advanced a bit in some Skills, namely Dominate, Tame, Lay-on-hands, and Animal Empathy. All advanced a single level except for Dominate which advanced two. Because of Fenrir? I guess. But why two levels? I shake my head – maybe one day I’ll understand this system, but it’s not today.

I find my Energy absorption rate interesting: it’s at twenty-six units per hour. When I was here before, it was at thirteen units. Unless the Energy density has somehow changed, it means that something I’ve done since being away has dramatically changed how much Energy I can absorb. I’m now gaining as much Energy per hour here as I was in the lizard-folk’s village. Maybe this is the answer to how people at higher levels continue to improve – I had been wondering when I’d realised how much Energy I now need per percentage, and that’s only at level twelve. But if we are able to access more Energy the higher rank we get...

Or is it not just because I’ve increased in level? Is it to do with my choices in stat points? Could it be to do with my increased Wisdom? Intelligence? Or something else? Despite the increased Energy gain, my Energy store has only changed by two points since leaving the tunnel, and that also reflects all the Energy I received from helping kill off a whole pack of lizogs. I know that the Energy required per percentage point increases as I increase in level – previous experience has shown that. I’ll have to see how long it takes me to gain a point just by my passive Energy absorption; that will give me a better idea of my current state.

The one change that dismays me is the fact that the penalty I’m currently suffering to my mana total has increased. A single percentage doesn’t seem like much, but it’s reduced the total mana I can store by three units. And worse, I don’t know what’s caused it, though the pain I suffer whenever I try to use magic is a good indication. But what I do know is that in this new world, I can’t survive without magic so I need to work out why.

Closing my eyes, I try to enter that state I found before. Time to find out exactly what I did to myself – and how to fix it.