Chapter 20

  Every part of my body screamed in pain. The green haired woman who had recently tried to kill me had collapsed at my feet. In her defense, she's also the woman who saved my life moments ago. It was pretty hard not to give her a free pass.

  Using a not-entirely-insignificant amount of my remaining energy, I managed to prop Tara's body against the cave wall. I understood that the battle wasn't over yet, but I couldn't leave her on the cold damp ground after everything she had done for me.

  "Get some rest Tara. Leave it to me." I remembered the incredibly badass words she said to me after she sent the big boss Alpha Hound flying. I couldn't just leave her without matching her energy.

  Even though she seemed to be completely unable to move, I noticed a faint smile appear on her face. She made it damn near impossible to not try to act cool.

  Unfortunately, I was immediately reminded of the pitiful state my body was in. From what I could see there were no bones sticking through the skin, but I was fairly certain a large percentage of my bones had some sort of fracture. The biggest offenders were my ribs, my left leg, and every finger on my right hand. Aside from the broken bones, nearly all of my exposed skin was covered in abrasions and cuts. Using my tongue, I explored the inside of my mouth. On top of the thick iron taste, I noticed a handful of teeth were missing.

  I remembered how previous injuries had healed when I rested, but I didn't know if things like broken bones or missing teeth would also be recovered. What about if I lost a limb? Even though I had questions, I really didn't want to have to find out just how far this game's healing system would go to restore a player's body.

  Carefully, I climbed to my feet using the wall for support. My broken right hand and shoulder dragged along the wall with each step as I did my best to not put weight on my left leg.

  I'd never had broken ribs before, so I didn't know what to expect. Every time I tried to move, my entire body exploded in pain and the wind was knocked out of my lungs. The other broken bones were incredibly painful, but the broken ribs were just plain torture. It was more painful than having your friend make you listen to an entire Nickelback album from beginning to end. Who was I kidding? I didn't actually hate Nickelback, and I didn't have enough friends to have one that would force me to listen to Nickelback. That actually would be a fun time. I wondered if Joan was a fan. Tara would probably make fun of me if I admitted to not hating Nickelback. She was easily the smartest person on the planet when it came to music so she probably was a die-hard Tool fan, or maybe Cake, or...

  With nobody around to pull me out of my tangent, I lost my balance and put too much weight on my left leg. The pain made my entire body straighten. The straightening of my body caused my ribs to fight back with a vengeance. It all resulted in my face smashing hard into the ground in what could have been one of the least cool things anyone has ever done.

  It took an embarrassingly long amount of time for me to stand back up.

  The pile of debris hiding the Alpha Hound hadn't moved since Tara had landed her insane god-tier attack. Anyone else would probably think the battle was over at this stage, but Read the Room told me otherwise. I could see the red outline of a Tindalos Hound through the debris. I couldn't tell if it was unable to move, or if it was just waiting to surprise me. Regardless, until I made that red highlight go away Joan and Tara weren't safe.

  By the time I'd reached my destination, I had used up nearly all of my remaining energy. My HP bar had been flashing since the massive beast bitch-slapped me across the length of the settlement, so a slight breeze might have been able to finish me off.

  Reaching deep down into my reserves, I slowly dragged pieces of broken cave wall off the pile with my left hand. My right hand did its best to simply keep me from face-planting. It wasn't the most efficient method. I remembered a really old cartoon, possibly a Looney Tunes cartoon, where an entire tree went into a machine and it was whittled down to a toothpick. That's how I felt. I was putting a tree's worth of energy into every action and only getting a toothpick's worth of results.

  "How do you look worse than me right now? I had an entire house fall on me. What's your excuse?"

  My head turned to the source of the voice. Instantly, a massive weight had lifted from my shoulders.

  "Do you need me to say it? You're practically One-Punch Man, and I'm Subaru Natsuki." Pulling references from two separate anime that I guaranteed Joan didn't know, I realized my description would go over her head.

  "I have no clue what any of those things are, but it's unfortunate to see you didn't get some sense knocked into while I was out." Despite her words, there was a smile on her face that she wasn't able to completely hide from me. Joan slowly removed rocks from the pile.

  As we worked, I was able to hear a faint sound coming from the bottom of the pile.

  "Hey Joan, do you hear that?" We both stopped working to listen.

  "It's quiet, but is that... Whimpering?" Joan confirmed exactly what I had deduced.

  If it had been Tara, she probably would have not just identified the sound but been able to tell us exactly what key the whimpering was in. I guessed D minor, but I honestly had no music experience so my guess was literally based on me knowing that D was a note and minor was a word that music people used to make things sound fancy.

  "It sounds," I stopped for a moment to think of the best word, "Scared."

  Joan had already summoned her trusty pen. Her white knuckle grip let me know that she was significantly less empathetic toward the source of the whimpering that I was.

  "Good. It should be scared." She removed a large chunk of wall with her free hand. Underneath a small part of the Hound's body was exposed. "After everything it did, I will take pleasure in killing it."

  I didn't know why, but my heart ached at her words. She was right. This beast didn't show us any mercy. It wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to rip us to shreds. But hearing its pained cries, I couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

  "Do we really have to..."

  "Clay, I appreciate your bleeding-heart stuff. I really do. It's inspirational or whatever. But now is not the time." Her glaring eyes met mine. The anger in her eyes was only matched by the pity she felt for me. "It's going to get you killed. In this world... Your empathy will get you killed."

  "But..." I tried to push back, but I knew she was right. This wasn't some heartfelt manga where the hero saves the world by showing empathy to the enemy. The world was nowhere near kind enough for that to be a possibility.

  "It's kill or be killed. I'm sorry, but that's how this world works. You've seen it for yourself. You know what happens when you don't finish a fight and let the monster roam free." Her voice caught in her throat. If her words hadn't hit me so bluntly, I would have seen how much she immediately regretted what she'd said. "I'm sorry. Clay, I didn't mean... I shouldn't have said..."

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  It was strange to hear Joan at a loss for words. I wish I could have spoken up to let her know that she was right about everything. My inability to kill the Hounds during my first encounter in the settlement had resulted in hundreds of innocent deaths. Her words were cruel, but true.

  "Let me put it out of its misery." Joan broke the uncomfortable silence with an appeal to my senses. Put it out of its misery was much better wording than Kill it... But the end result would be the same.

  Shifting the final large piece of the wall off of the disabled Alpha Hound, there was no longer any time to delay the inevitability.

  She took a deep breath before lifting the pen over her head. The red eyes of the beast reflected the terror in its heart. The red outline still surrounded the Hound, reminding me that it would kill if it had the chance. Joan was right. I had to let her do this. Her hand swung downward, aimed directly at the Hound's eye.

  It never reached its target. Instead, Joan's pen stopped millimeters from my chest. I had used my remaining energy to throw myself into the path of her attack. With my current HP, I would have certainly died if she had connected. Even I couldn't explain why I had put my life on the line for a creature that had nearly killed us.

  "Please. Just give me a moment." My words were far stronger that I should have been able to produce. Why did my hero moment have to come at a pitiful time like this?

  Joan couldn't contain her shock. Clearly she didn't understand what could have possibly been going through my head. I didn't even know what was going on in my own head. Even though she didn't understand, she lowered her pen and turned away without a word.

  I painfully knelt next to the massive hound. It was laying on its side, covered in injuries. Its chest was rising and falling in pained breaths. The translucent core of its body seemed to flicker as if barely clinging to life.

  The Hound's glowing red eyes met mine. It didn't look at me kindly. It would still rip out my throat if it had the energy.

  My unbroken left had gently patted its body. The tendrils of miasma gripped my wrist, seeming to feed off my good intentions. The body's texture was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was almost as if touching a solid cloud of despair. I suddenly realized why so many things in Lovecraft's stories were listed as indescribable. This creature was somewhere between living and ghost. Its texture was simultaneously solid and gaseous. It didn't belong in this world.

  "You're a strange one, aren't you?" My hand rubbed the side of its head. Its jaws could easily snap down on my wrist and rip the life from my body. Its tendrils fed on me. But I didn't pull away. "You don't really belong here, do you buddy."

  Its eyes met mine and didn't pull away. Perhaps this was an effect of my Eldritch Whisperer ability, but I could feel the Hound was listening to me. I could feel an impossible connection building.

  "You want to know a secret? I don't belong here either." Without thinking, I closed my eyes and leaned forward. My forehead pressed against the forehead of the beast that had recently given everything to kill everyone I held dear. It had also tried to take the life of the one I hated most. "It's scary, isn't it? To not have a place to belong... It hurts."

  The creature's forehead pushed gently against mine.

  "I want to think you're a good boy. That deep down, you were just scared. Are you?" I opened my eyes to find the red eyes were still staring deeply into mine. "Are you a good boy?"

  A rush of energy flowed into me at that moment. The Hound and I were suddenly surrounded by a miasmic whirlwind.

  Congratulations!

  +h3 /\/u11 has unlocked a new ability!

  Eldritch Tamer

  User can form a contract with up to 1 familiar.

  Potential targets must be classified as an eldritch being.

  Target must be in a weakened or charmed state.

  Familiar must willingly accept becoming your familiar.

  Increase level to 3 to increase number of contracts to 2

  Level 1

  "What's happening? Clay, are you okay?" Joan shouted from outside the whirlwind.

  "Don't worry. It'll be alright." I could only give those words. I still didn't understand what was happening. My heart was racing and my mind was reeling. More than anything, I felt as if my soul extended outside of my body, grasping at something just out of reach.

  Congratulations!

  +h3 /\/u11 has a potential familiar contract!

  Species: Hound of Tindalos

  Special Classification: Alpha

  Sex: Male

  Current Form: Eldritch Puppy.

  (Evolves into Cosmic Good Boy at level 10)

  Would you like to form a contract to make Level 1 Hound of Tindalos your familiar?

  Yes/No

  Warning: Accepting Hound of Tindalos as your familiar will fill 1 familiar contract slot.

  Warning: Accepting Hound of Tindalos will revert creature to Eldritch Puppy.

  Hound of Tindalos' current level will decrease to 1.

  I would be lying if I said I knew what all of that description meant. But it didn't matter.

  I mentally selected Yes as quickly as possible. I'd never been more sure of anything in my life.

  You have selected to form a familiar contract with the Hound of Tindalos.

  Please state desired name for your familiar to finalize the contract.

  A name? What sort of name would be appropriate? Possibly something that you'd name a normal dog like Max or Fido? That just didn't seem right.

  What name would suite a Hound of Tindalos... Tindalos... Tindalos... Tin-Dalos...

  "His name is," I spoke confidently, "Dalos!"

  "What do you mean? I don't understand." Joan responded. Amidst the torrent of new information, I'd forgotten she was somewhere outside of this tornado of miasma. She obviously didn't see my notifications, so my words must have seemed completely nonsensical.

  Congratulations!

  You have successfully registered Dalos (Level 1) as your familiar.

  The whirlwind abruptly dissipated. Joan immediately rushed in, as she tried to understand the situation. She wrapped her arms gently around me, but stopped when she realized there was something cradled in my arms.

  "What is..." She couldn't finish her sentence. She noticed the Alpha Hound was no longer in the pile of debris where it had last been. And in my hands, I held...

  "Joan. Meet Dalos. He's my familiar."

  The black translucent puppy nuzzled into my cradling arms. Dalos resembled something like a Doberman puppy. He was roughly the size of a toddler. Aside from the obvious physical changes and loving playfulness there was one more striking difference with Dalos, his eyes were now yellow instead of red.

  "Familiar? Dalos? Wait, you mean that's..."

  "He's the Alpha Hound. I've formed a contract with him." It was impossibly difficult to stop staring at the adorable Eldritch Puppy in order to meet Joan's eyes. "You don't need to worry, he won't hurt us. Dalos is a good boy."

  "Clay, are you okay? Do you need to rest? Don't push yourself." The quiet voice came from behind us.

  Immediately Joan tensed, realizing for the first time that there was a third person in the settlement. And for obvious reasons, Joan could only see Tara as a threat. The last time Joan had seen Tara, we were chained to chairs and left as Dimensional Shambler bait. To Joan, Tara was just as much of a threat as the Hounds had been.

  Once again, I had to use the scarce remaining energy in my body to throw myself between Joan and her target.

  "Wait! Joan, it's not what you think." Her hazel eyes narrowed with betrayal.

  "I know you have a soft spot for her, Clay. But she tried to kill us! There's a limit to how trusting you can be." Her use of the word trusting hit me like a right haymaker punch to the gut. I'd spent way too long trusting people who betrayed me in the worst possible ways. I understood Joan's concerns. And regarding literally any other person, I would have stepped aside.

  "If it weren't for her, I would have been killed by the Hound!" Joan hesitated as I explained, "After you got hurt and it was just me, the Hound had me cornered. There was nothing I could do. Tara showed up just before it killed me. She did some crazy powerful move that took it completely out of commission... But it also put her out of commission."

  "So what? She's already betrayed us once." Joan protested.

  "She couldn't move after she used that ability. I had every opportunity to get revenge on her then. Tara had to know that there was a good chance she would have been killed by either of us after she was disabled. She saved me anyway. She was willing to give her life for me... Please. Raif isn't here! It's just Tara." I dug my heels into the ground. Tara had never been our enemy. It had always been Raif. Joan had to understand that. Tara's own actions should have washed away any doubt.

  "Clay, step aside." My words hadn't reached her.

  The small body in my arms suddenly tensed. My small familiar bared its fangs at Joan while doing its best to growl.

  Seeing Dalos' reaction somehow caused Joan to stand down. I knew she couldn't have been afraid of Dalos. Maybe she had a soft spot for puppies?

  "Fine. Tara, for now you can join us. But don't think for a moment that I will let my guard down around you. One false move and I won't hesitate to make you wish you'd run when you had the chance." Joan stared down Tara over my shoulder. I couldn't see Tara's reaction since she was behind me, but I was confident that she was at least a little terrified. "But right now, we need to get back to town."

  With the sudden relief of Joan stepping down, my body was finally able to feel the actual effects of all of the fatigue and injuries I'd built up. I was no longer able to remain fully upright, dropping to a knee.

  "Clay, are you alright?" Tara rushed to my side, drawing a glare from Joan.

  "I just need..." My final word would have been sleep had my body not chosen that moment to do a hard reboot.