~~~Stanley~~~

Stanley woke up gasping for a breath that he just couldn't seem to catch. Which might have had something to do with the giant tongue smacking into and over his entire face... "Caff!"

Caffeine backed off with a whine while also shrinking to a more manageable size and laying his head on Stanley's chest. "Good... boy."

He didn't think Caffeine's excessive affection was the cause of his pounding heart and tight chest... there was something else tugging at his memory. Something with burning claws lashing out from the darkness.

Stanley didn't even try to remember; he only sat up and continued meditating immediately. That helped, and he looked over his soul while calming down.

The work he'd done the day before to repair the wound was still there. Still the same miniscule progress, but progress all the same. It might have even looked slightly better today... like fragile scabs turning into scar tissue.

His next experiment was to remove his jacket and see what his soul would pick up. The souls were out there even with the jacket, but he wanted to check something...

It got loud immediately—all the souls around Zeke, all the souls further out, including the undead beyond Zeke's purification area. He saw the monsters roaming in the wild. More monsters filled the lairs. More. More. All... the... souls...

Stanley dropped his jacket back over his shoulders and caught his breath over the next few minutes. Then he tried creating his own shield and removing the jacket again.

The cacophony wasn't as bad, but it was less protection than the jacket and much harder to maintain while getting bombarded. Maybe it would get better if he practiced more...

He waited until he felt calm... well, calmer. Then he removed the jacket again, just to test... Shit. He'd thought it felt like a lot of those non-human souls were reacting to him, and he was right. There was an obvious inward flow of souls now. Not all of them. But enough. All coming for him.

Strangely, it seemed like all the souls coming his way were inbound from beyond the purified zone. None of the wildlife inside the zone was coming his way. In fact, he saw one group of souls heading outward on what looked like an intercept course with the newcomers.

It seemed obvious once he thought about it. They were defending the clean area as their territory. At least, that was the gist he got from their souls. Though he wasn't sure why they weren't living in lairs like most of the monsters...

Stanley took himself outside and looked toward the base. He could go get some breakfast. If he used his shield along with the coat, it shouldn't be too bad, and even if it was, what did he care? It wouldn't actively hurt anyone, even if it was unpleasant. Not that he especially wanted to go, but Caffeine would probably enjoy the visit...

That was a good enough excuse. If it would make Caffeine happy, then damn what anyone else thought.

The shield helped. It didn't block everything, but it blocked enough. More than a few people's souls still twitched as he approached, but they could just deal with it. They would have to, because there were definitely more people than he remembered. A lot more.

Other things had also changed while he was gone—walls had gone up around the building, or rather, buildings plural. The second one looked like it was still under construction, almost an extension of the original structure.

Meanwhile, wall was a generous term. It was mostly dirt piled up against stacked shipping containers. There wasn't an actual gate through the new wall, but one section had a ramp of sorts for the more land-based people.

Caffeine jumped straight to the top, sniffed a startled man, then pounced through a window into the building. Stanley followed at a more sedate and less alarming pace.

As expected, Caffeine led him to the kitchen, which was still in the same place but with a new expansion. The cooks had their own room outside the original now, all four of them. A bit more ventilation let them have a sprawling fire festooned with a number of spits in varying sizes. The central spit held what looked like a whole chicken—one the size of a small car.

Stanley wasn't able to slip through the crowds in the room undetected. Every head immediately turned his way, with plenty of them pre-emptively opening a path to the front and the food. How thoughtful of them...

"You look alright," Jerry said upon seeing him. "Only a bit... louder, and way, way overdressed. You know this isn't a black-tie restaurant, right?"

"I... I'm glad you survived," Stanley said, ignoring the comment about his attire while taking every scrap of cooked meat from every serving table in the room... They even had some variety now. Caffeine zeroed in on the chicken. Of course.

"You know what? I'm pretty jazzed about surviving myself," Jerry said, while looking behind Stanley with a widening grin. "Well, would you look at that? No one is bitching about you taking all the food."

Stanley turned to look and saw a collective turning away of eyes and heads. It was... nothing. He wanted to yell at them for being a bunch of weak cowards, but for all he knew, they weren't cowards and had fought against the undead. Or they were all crafters, like Jerry. And yelling at Jerry for being weak just seemed... pointless.

Caffeine ate everything offered in one massive bite... and then watched Stanley eat a much smaller portion with eager anticipation. Stanley shared while he checked to confirm Caffeine had gotten the food buff... and because he'd forgotten to look at Caffeine's status the day before. Or the week before?

Status

Name: Caff Caffeine

Race: [Canine(Pug)](E-grade)

Traits: [Good Boy]

Class: Beast Lord (Legendary) - Level 20 (Basic)

Class Skills: Howl of the Beast Lord (Legendary) - Level 10 (Basic)

Attributes:

Strength: 100

Vitality: 100

Dexterity: 100

Wisdom: 100

Intelligence: 100

Willpower: 100

Soul: 94 [Twin-Soul Bonded(Stanley Cascade)(Lee Cascade)]

Non Class Skills(0/6): [Big Enough] [Strong Enough] [Fast Enough] [Tough Enough]

Buffs: [Bill's Special]

Debuffs:

He had, but his stats were still weird. The buff didn't add to the pug's numbers like it did his, and technically, there was no way Caffeine still had a hundred in all his attributes... Speaking of which, Nate probably owed them some cores.

Stanley noted that Caffeine's race still hadn't changed at E-grade. He really should have asked Daryl or Adrian more about their pets... though that probably wasn't the right word for them. Caffeine still acted like a pet, but Princess's and Cheesesteak's souls had felt more intelligent... Princess had talked to Caffeine...

He'd go back. He would definitely talk to them again, if only to try and communicate with Caffeine... to apologize for everything... to thank him... to beg forgiveness for everything he’d put the pug through...

Buff: [Purifying Aura]

Buff: [Purifying Light]

Zeke's light hit him well before the boy touched him, and it felt... stronger. If that was even the right word for something that felt so soothing.

Stanley drew in a shuddering breath. "I'm fine, Caff." He gently pushed the pug away from his face. "I know you missed your friends... so go say hi. Please."

Caffeine stared into his eyes for a long moment, and then his sad whine turned deafening as he pounced on Zeke with frantic excitement.

Zeke laughed under the assault before Caffeine took off in wide, sprinting circles. Each time he looped back, he would enlarge enough to catch the boy's face with his tongue before dashing off again, and it wasn't just him.

All of Stanley's old team had come in with Zeke, and Caffeine stopped at each of his friends with equal enthusiasm. Even Jerry got assaulted when the pug jumped through the window into the new kitchen area.

Stanley smiled with his eyes closed and tried to increase his soul shielding efforts. "Thanks, Zeke. I keep forgetting how good that feels."

Zeke was smiling, but there was something else in his soul. Something beneath the surface that he wasn't saying. Stanley really wasn't feeling up to any more emotional drama... or whatever it was, so he pulled a core from his pocket. "I brought you a present."

Mana Drain (Epic)

He'd offered it to Caffeine already, but the pug didn't eat it. His best guess was that Caffeine didn't use mana, which seemed reasonable considering how the bats had behaved. It was a shame. That and the fact that Caffeine didn't have adaptable... He'd have loved for him to evolve it into some kind of mana-devouring ability... especially if it worked the same way he devoured his food.

Using it himself seemed pointless. What would it turn into? A psionic drain? Would that only work on another psionic? Sure, there was a slim chance it would turn into something useful, but between him being a psionic that never really ran out of energy and the touch part of the skill... he wasn't hopeful. He also owed Zeke a reward for... something? Even if it was just the soothing light of his, that was a good enough reason.

"Um... thanks." Zeke took it hesitantly. "I don't actually have mana. I use..."

"Do whatever you want with it," Stanley said quickly, and then flew out the far door away from where he could feel Eve charging closer. Her soul was screaming with a lot of weird sensations, including terror. He didn't need that kind of negativity right now...

Stanley posted up atop the wall outside. With his breakfast. He wanted to meditate and calm himself as much as he could so Caffeine wouldn't come running. Especially considering the whole reason he'd come here was to let Caff have some fun...

Unfortunately, he couldn't shield and meditate at the same time.

It was tempting to try his new Still Mind ability, but maybe it would be better to test that while not too close to other people. And he definitely wanted to test it.

Nate had noticed a key detail while Stanley had been freaking out over the skill. He had indeed been training all his attributes before it went too far. If he could do that regularly... and without the soul damage, it could be massive. Especially if he could increase his soul attribute along the way.

After all, he'd come out ahead even after losing one point. If he went slower... Well, increasing his soul attribute was the next best thing to fixing the leak.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Nate found him. Which wasn't hard to do, considering he was a literal beacon now. Stanley wondered briefly when the man took time to go hunting—or did he let others do it for him?

The bag of cores he brought with him was... well, not wholly unexpected, but welcome nonetheless when he plopped down onto the wall. "I don't think your soul can actually compete with the racket Caffeine is making."

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Stanley laughed. Just once, but it was genuine. Caffeine's happy whines were echoing all the way out here. "He makes friends so easily... and misses them so much."

As if on cue, loud barking preceded the thumping impacts that shook the building behind them. Nate chuckled. "Aw, I see he found Barbie."

Stanley smiled at that. "I'm glad he made it out alright."

"That beast is too stubborn to die," Nate said, handing over the bag. "This doesn't make up for anything, but I'm guessing you have other things on your mind than hunting right now?"

"It... thanks. Caffeine needs cores for sure." Stanley hesitated, then asked, "Where did you get these? Are they yours? Is that why you're still so weak?"

"Ouch... and no. I took a collection, mostly from the people who know you already, but some also came from the new additions."

"They don't feel very upset." On some level, it made sense. They were paying for Nate's protection. As weak as it was, he was still stronger than any of them. Not to mention Zeke's protection from the miasma.

"I think you might have misunderstood the collection part," Nate said. "I didn't order or demand cores from them. I told everyone that the only guy to kill any invaders had just killed another, and that he took a beating doing it. They wanted to help you."

"They... did?" Stanley looked away with a strange feeling in his chest and blinked when his vision blurred slightly.

"It's not the help I promised and not what you needed most... but you aren't alone in this fight. Even if all we can do is gather a few cores after the fact." Nate stood up and dusted off his pants. "Do what you need to. We'll keep the cores coming. It's the least we can do."

He left Stanley sitting on the wall, thinking not entirely unpleasant thoughts about the weakling cowards all around him. They were weak... but maybe they weren't all cowards.

Those weren't his only thoughts.

It wasn't any of their fault's that he'd almost died. The skeleton that attacked him wasn't after any of them. It only wanted him. It only wanted the source. Greater challenges.

The only question now was whether the D-grade was a one-off or if more of those monsters might come after him.

~~~Caffeine~~~

Caffeine laid his chin on the ground and sighed as he looked up at Dearest Human. He was just sitting there with his eyes closed.

Ever since Dearest Human had tried to sneak away to the lonely house, he had only been sitting and thinking. It was good thinking, and Dearest Human smelled like okay with some happy.

But it had been sooo long. Plus, Dearest Human had forgotten Lunch! It must be a very good thing to think about if it was more important than Lunch!

Caffeine sighed.

"It's plenty safe here, Caff. You don't have to stay right next to me if you want to go play." Dearest Human said something about stay and play. That was a good idea. He should play... but Dearest Human was busy thinking...

The sun was warm on his back, and Caffeine decided that he could take a nap while he waited for play time. Sunny naps were the best!

His back got too warm, so Caffeine rolled over. Warm sun on his belly was almost as good as a belly rub.

He opened his eyes when his belly got cold. Caffeine saw the sun had hidden behind the trees, so he rolled over and got up.

After a good stretch, Caffeine walked over to Dearest Human. His tail wagged as he looked at him. Dearest Human was the best!

Caffeine sniffed at Dearest Human, who still smelled like thinking, so he sighed and crawled gently onto Dearest Human's lap. Another nap will be good.

Dearest Human's hands pet him as he lay down, and Caffeine rolled over for the belly rubs. Belly rub naps are the best!

Caffeine woke up, and Dearest Human had stopped petting. He still smelled like busy, so Caffeine sighed and climbed into his new bed inside Dearest Human's coat. It was always the perfect size for cozy naps. Though he did poke his nose out, in case something needed barking at.

Then he was back home, with both Dearest Humans! They were chasing him back and forth from room to room, while Caffeine carried his favorite squeaky toy!

He ran and ran so good! It was so good that he couldn't help the happy cries that came from him. He had missed other Dearest Human so much! They both made the happy sounds while they chased him until Caffeine had to rest, and then he got two belly rubs at the same time!

Before he could fall asleep, they suddenly had chicken! So much chicken! Both Dearest Humans gave him bite after bite. It was the best!

Then Caffeine got more excited, and the chicken vanished! Both Dearest Humans faded away into the dark! Caffeine cried out for them... and opened his eyes. Oh... it was only the sleeping fun.

Sleeping fun was nice, but now other Dearest Human was far away again. Caffeine missed other Dearest Human... but it was still good to play with him, even in sleeping time.

If only the chicken... Caffeine sighed and then sniffed again. Chicken! I smell chicken! He climbed out of his cozy bed and sniffed deeper.

I smell grass, sticks, the sneaky dog, water, something interesting over there and over there, Tough Strong coming closer, and... Chicken!

He turned and watched Tough Strong walk out of the trees. "Hi, Tough Strong!" He yipped. "Chicken? Chicken!" His feet were dancing with excitement, and he checked if Dearest Human was excited, but he was still sitting and thinking very hard.

"Hi Caff." Tough Strong said as he stopped in front of Caffeine. "You being a good boy?"

"I am a good boy!" Caffeine barked. "Chicken!"

Tough Strong smiled at Caffeine, but then frowned at Dearest Human. "He is still working on it, huh?"

Caffeine wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at the paper bag that smelled very, very much like Chicken!

Tough Strong made a happy sound and lifted the bag. "You want some chicken, don't you?"

Caffeine couldn't stand still. It smelled so good!

"I brought this for Stanley." Tough Strong said and set the bag next to Dearest Human.

Dearest Human’s Chicken!? Caffeine felt very sad. He licked the bag. Sooo good! But Dearest Human needed to have dinner too, so he lay down and stared at the bag in front of his nose.

It wasn't too sad... Dearest Human would share his dinner. He always shared. Dearest Human was the best! But... he wasn't eating yet! He was only thinking very hard, not eating the chicken!

"And I brought this for you, Caff." Tough Strong said his name, and Caffeine managed to glance away from the chicken to look at him. Only for an instant, in case the chicken tried to escape!

Then Caffeine froze before jumping to his feet. Chicken!

Tough Strong pulled a giant piece of chicken from behind him and held it out to Caffeine! It was almost as big as Dearest Human and had a crunchy stick inside it!

Tough Strong was the Best Human!

Caffeine danced anxiously as he waited for Best Human to set it down. He did, and Caffeine hesitated. Dearest Human should eat with me. We always eat together...

Caffeine cried a little as he looked at Dearest Human and then at the Chicken, and back at Dearest Human and back... Maybe just a small bite... Dearest Human might think for a long, long time after all.

Caffeine decided.

Just one small bite.

He took a small bite of the tiny piece of chicken. It was sooo good!

Best Human smelled like surprised and then laughing.

Caffeine opened his eyes, and the chicken was all gone!

Best Human made a happy noise and gave Caffeine a friendly head scratch. "I'll bring you two drumsticks tomorrow, Caff."

Caffeine whined sadly. The chicken was all gone! It had been such a tiny piece, after all.

"That's what happens when you swallow the whole thing in one bite." Best Human patted Caffeine as he said mostly not words. "You even swallowed the bone!"

Caffeine looked at Best Human when he said the magic bone word, but there were no bones. He sighed and laid down to stare at Dearest Human's chicken.

"I have to get back." Best Human stood up after another head scratch. "We aren't that far away, Caff. If you want to come by and see your friends, maybe play with the kids some more..."

Caffeine looked at him. Come, Play? He looked at Dearest Human and whined before laying his head down again. He couldn't leave Dearest Human alone. There were lots of scary and dangerous things out here. Like rocks and stumps and jumping leaves!

"I understand," Best Human said something. "You're a good boy, Caff. Take care of him, okay?"

Caffeine watched Best Human run away and disappear behind the trees, and he sighed. I am a good boy.

Caffeine guarded Dearest Human's dinner diligently for a very long time. But he kept getting thirstier and thirstier until he had to go find the water he could smell somewhere. Dearest Human had forgotten to bring his nice water bowl when they left the rumbly place, but Caffeine understood; after all, he had forgotten it too until just now!

First, though, he did a sniffing check around the area for danger or scary things. Everything was the same, so he followed his nose to a giant lake. It was a dangerous and deadly place. The water looked almost too wide to jump over, and Caffeine was sure that if he fell in, it would be deep enough to kill him instantly.

He crept carefully to the edge and leaned down. The water smelled strange... He took a taste.

Debuff Resisted: [Ten Tongue Toxin]

It was spicy and made his tongue tingle. Caffeine thought about it as he licked his lips. He decided it was a good spicy. Very interesting. He drank until a small thing sitting on top of the water started croaking at him.

"Hi there!" Caffeine woofed. "Are you..." The croaking thing tried to lick him, and Caffeine had to jump aside. "Your tongue is very long!" It tried again.

Caffeine circled around the big lake, jumping forward to grab a few slurps in between tongue strikes. "You're very good at playing catch," Caffeine complimented the croaker.

Caffeine had fun playing with Croaker until he realized he'd had too much to drink and went back to guard Dearest Human. Also, he remembered he was supposed to be guarding the Chicken!

There was a loud noise, and Caffeine arrived to find the Chicken safe and unharmed.

"I can't believe I forgot the Chicken!" Caffeine huffed. He looked over at the sneaky dog that was still hiding under a tree. "Thank you for not eating Dearest Human's dinner."

Sneaky Dog didn't respond, but that was okay. He must be shy, Caffeine thought. He did smell like fear and worried suddenly... "Do you want to play chase?" Caffeine woofed at him. Playing always made him happy, after all. "I can play if we stay close to Dearest Human."

The shy dog said nothing and only ran away. Caffeine sighed and walked over to smell his hiding spot. It smelled interesting, and he hoped he would come back to play later so Caffeine could smell him better. And it would be fun to play while he took care of Dearest Human.

Much later, after a very long time, Caffeine decided that Dearest Human wouldn't stop his hard thinking by himself. The light was almost gone, and it was getting colder, so Caffeine climbed onto Dearest Human's lap and started licking his face.

That was the best way to wake him up because, while sometimes he was grouchy when he woke up, a good face licking would usually bring some happy sounds, and that was good!

"Ah! Caff!" Dearest Human finally opened his eyes! "Ahh, stop!" He wiped his face with his hand. "Why is my face so wet?! Oh..." Dearest Human picked up the bag of chicken!

Caffeine sat down in front of him. He was a good boy!

"Did Nate come by?" Caffeine scooted closer, though he was already as close as he could get. "Have you been keeping watch, Caff?"

Caffeine wagged his tail as Dearest Human opened the bag and stuck his hand inside. Yes! Yes! Chicken!

Dearest Human pulled out a piece of chicken, and Caffeine froze as it hovered in the air, its destination unknown. Then it moved towards him, and Caffeine grabbed it! Sooo Good!

Another piece came out of the bag, and Caffeine held his breath. Dearest Human's stomach made a hungry sound as the Chicken moved to Caffeine, and he froze with indecision. Dearest Human is hungry too!

Caffeine had eaten one small piece earlier... but that was sooo long ago. Ages and ages. He looked at Dearest Human's belly and whined.

"Okay, Caff." Dearest Human chuckled and ate the Chicken. Then another piece came from the bag... and came to him! Caffeine gobbled it up.

Dearest Human made the happy sounds and patted his lap. "Come on, Caff. Let's go inside while we eat. I'm so fucking tired."

Caffeine jumped into his lap and sniffed at the bag while Dearest Human made them move into the air.

"I think I'm making progress, Caff." He handed a piece of chicken to Caffeine. "My soul is getting better." He ate a piece of chicken. "It's just so slow." He made frustrated noises and gave Caffeine another piece. "At least it seems to level my skill and class... so not a total waste." He ate another piece.

Dearest Human made lots of noises like that while they ate chicken, and when it was gone, they had somehow gotten inside and on the bed. Dearest Human got under the cozy blankets and held them up for Caffeine.

Caffeine wanted to stand guard, but Dearest Human seemed sad, so he crawled under and cuddled with his legs. Dearest Human always liked it when he did that.

Caffeine waited until Dearest Human was asleep and carefully crawled out of the warm, snuggly place. He curled up on top instead. Bad things had hurt Dearest Human before, and Caffeine wouldn't let them do it again.

When Dearest Human started making sad noises and smelling like frightened and hurting, Caffeine crawled closer and licked his face. "It is okay now, Dearest Human. I will make the scary things run away." He huffed quietly and laid his head on Dearest Human's chest.

The frightened and hurting faded, and Dearest Human rested until it happened again. Caffeine reassured him again, and the long dark passed slowly.

Only one something tried to approach in the dark. Caffeine heard it coming and growled softly at it. "No!"

It froze, and Dearest Human stirred and mumbled something. Caffeine rested his head back on Dearest Human's chest and huffed quietly. I will be quiet.

The something outside ran away very fast, and Caffeine closed his eyes. Good.

The light eventually came back outside, and Dearest Human woke up with a smile and some happy sounds, followed by a wonderful belly rub that turned into the best nap ever!