Winston stared at the screen, eyes wide. Even with his elevated dexterity, he was still much slower than Erynd and everyone else in the party, but this skill would fix it.

  Energy Conversion Core (Construct)

  Grants the user the ability to convert mana or energy into other energies or stats. The user may only convert into energies or stats that they already have.

  Winston purchased the skill the second he finished reading the description. He quivered in anticipation, but nothing happened. Looking closer, he sighed. He’d known it was too good to be true.

  He stared in disappointment at the absurd price. 3750 credits. He only had 62 credits to his name. Winston shook his head. It was expensive, but he would get it. He would just have to curb his spending until he could afford it.

  Reading over the screen again, he tilted his head. Why did it say ‘Construct’ where the rarity usually was? Winston sighed. There was still so much he didn’t know.

  Memorizing the name of the strange skill, he kept browsing. As he experimented with the filters, he found something. He could filter it by rarity, but the description of each skill didn’t give the full picture. He could filter by many rarities, from common to epic, but there were subdivisions as well. From rare onwards, it was divided into low, mid, and high.

  [Energy Conversion Core] was a special. It showed up when he filtered the shop for only mid-rare skills, but it didn’t have any real rarity. When Winston looked back at the filters, he found something else. The rarities didn’t stop at epic. But everything after that was just a series of question marks. Before Winston could do any further investigating, he heard Erynd call his name.

  He glanced up and found a sleepy-looking Erynd standing with another Caltheran that he didn’t recognize.

  [Caltheran(Kareth) - Initiate 9]

  Winston’s eyes widened—the man was a Kareth. Only one tier below Commander Thalysar, who was a Serath. He looked about the same as all the rest of the Caltheran warriors, except that he had far more crystals adorning his body.

  Barking, Winston waddled towards them. Despite his stubby legs, he was able to move far faster than before he’d come to the Tower thanks to his dexterity. When he arrived, he leaped into Erynd’s arms, and Erynd plopped him down on his shoulder. As they spoke, Winston managed to hear that the Caltheran’s name was Maeris.

  After a moment, the man cleared his throat. “As I was saying, Commander Thalysar would like to see your pet.”

  “May I ask why?” Erynd asked, idly scratching Winston’s chin.

  The Caltheran smiled. “It's quite obvious, really. Reports tell us that it single-handedly killed an Acolyte 3 beast. Is that a good enough reason?”

  Erynd sighed. “And where did you get these reports?”

  Maeris’ smile widened. “Those two scouts in your party. What were their names again? Varrek and Oren?”

  “Damn it,” Erynd cursed, “Of course they did.”

  Winston just sat there, listening to the exchange. What was the big deal with what he’d done? Why didn’t Erynd want Commander Thalysar to know about it?

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Well, then,” Maeris said, “If you’ll please follow me.” He spun on his heel and strode away.

  Erynd cursed again before following a few feet behind him. Winston wasn’t sure what was happening, but Erynd’s anxiety was infectious. The massive tent in the center of the camp was several minutes away, but no one uttered a word for the entire walk.

  Winston was pacing restlessly by the time they got there, teetering on Erynd’s shoulder. There wasn’t any room to move while on Erynd, so he just picked up his feet and put them back down.

  At the entrance to the tent, the two guards stepped aside. They stepped in, and Winston took a cursory glance around. The tent was much the same as he remembered, but with significantly more furniture and people walking about.

  Erynd saluted, and Winston focused on the figure in the center of the tent. Commander Thalysar saluted back and stepped towards them.

  [Caltheran(Serath) - Acolyte 2]

  Winston’s eyes widened. Thalysar wasn’t Acolyte 1 anymore? With a thought, he pulled up the rank leaderboard, finding that the commander hadn’t actually moved up any places on the leaderboard, as he had already been in third place, but he was now the same rank as first and second.

  “Now then, shall we begin?” Thalysar dismissed Maeris with a wave of his hand. “Will you allow me to see the corgi?”

  Erynd clenched his jaw and nodded, handing over Winston.

  As Commander Thalysar held the struggling Winston before him, he chuckled. “This reminds me of a very familiar situation from not so long ago. How long has it been since you first brought him in? A week? More, I think.”

  Erynd nodded. “I believe it's been a little over a week, sir.”

  “He’s grown so powerful so quickly,” Thalysar exclaimed. “It’s honestly quite difficult to keep him in my grip. He’s stronger than most of the men in the camp!”

  Winston sighed in relief as the commander passed him back to Erynd. Settling back on Erynd’s shoulder, he stared at Thalysar. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew it couldn’t be good.

  “If you don’t mind, sir, could I ask what you intend to do with him?” Erynd asked tentatively.

  “I suppose that depends on how this conversation goes,” Thalysar responded, turning and sitting down at a nearby table. “Come, have a seat.”

  As Erynd walked towards the table, Winston took another look around the tent. It was ridiculously large. It looked big enough to fit dozens, if not hundreds, of tents like Erynd’s.

  Winston leaped onto the table as Erynd sat down across from Thalysar. After a moment, he sat down on the corner.

  Thalysar sighed. “I hope you understand that you won’t be able to keep him. He’s already proven himself to be too valuable to be a simple pet.”

  Erynd tensed. “Why can’t I keep him? I’m sure there are plenty of other people in this camp that can kill an Acolyte beast on their own.”

  “Well, it’s not just that,” The commander said. “His abilities are important as well. His manipulation of golden energy? Mind control? We can’t have a creature like that just sitting in your tent.”

  Winston cowered, leaping into Erynd’s lap.

  “What are you going to do with him?” Erynd asked, putting a hand around Winston.

  “Research, I suppose,” Thalysar tilted his head. “Perhaps assign him to an elite unit.”

  “Research?” Erynd hissed. “What does that mean? What are you going to do to him?”

  “Erynd. I understand that you’ve formed a bond with the beast, but you’ve overstepped. This decision is not yours to make, and you are not to talk back to me like that.”

  “Sorry, sir.”

  Thalysar nodded. “Now, you won’t be completely cut off from him. We’ll still let you hunt with him on occasion. Of course, you won’t be spending as much time with him as you have been, but you’ll see him at least once a week.”

  Erynd clenched his jaw. “Yes, sir.”

  Winston trembled on Erynd’s lap. What were they going to do to him? What was he supposed to do?

  “Now then, I’ll be taking him,” Thalysar said, reaching out. When Erynd made no move to respond, Winston nuzzled him before leaping onto the table. He hesitantly stepped towards the commander. He wanted to flee. He wanted to just leap into Erynd’s arms, but he knew there was nothing he could do.

  Commander Thalysar had defeated the Acolyte-tier Nightrender with ease when he was just Initiate 6. Now, he was Acolyte 2. Winston doubted he would stand a chance against even the weaker Initiate-tier Thalysar. Now that he was far stronger, Winston didn’t even try.

  Still trembling, he let Thalysar pick him up. Winston took one last look back at Erynd as Thalysar stood. Erynd just sat there, unmoving, staring at his hands.

  Patreon(So Winston can buy some treats)