"Tutorial..." I growled. "What are you talking about?"

  Fayador stopped wagging his tail, and cocked his head. "You have access to a Divine Framework, but haven't completed the mandatory tutorial?"

  Sanity slipping like a deer on ice, I clutched the side of my head and closed my eyes. I had entered this dungeon to slay monsters, and complete the quest, not be beaten down by an existential crisis.

  "David Cyprus. Level nine..." The dog's tongue snapped back into its mouth like an overextended measuring tape. "No, this isn't right."

  Fayador's rotting ears pinned back against his bare canine skull.

  I could've rammed my fist straight through the back of the beast's head right then and there. But over the past two nightmarish weeks I had compiled a laundry list of questions. The possibility of getting them answered by an undead talking Mastiff, was an opportunity too prime to pass up. And aside from its decrepit nature, it still resembled the form of a dog. Satanic or not—the idea of sucker punching it through the back of its head felt wrong.

  Fayador slunk down, with a whine. "I thought you were at a much higher level. From the amount of sheer evil in your aura, I easily clocked you at level 30 baseline."

  "Get this through your head. I'm not evil, I'm a beacon of Justice," I said, not really believing the words as they came out.

  One awkward silence later, I relented. "You said my shadow went rogue. That's not the first time something like that has happened. Am I possessed? Is some grand evil using me as its vessel?"

  "Hmm... Have you been blacking out and waking up in a puddle of your own urine?"

  "What? No, I don't piss myself."

  "Congratulations. You aren't possessed. Also, humans make terrible vessels for 'grand evils.' It'd be like if you tried sticking your head up a fly's ass." Fayador sighed. "How does a mere level nine have access to a tenth tier ability? And why is it veiled by the framework?"

  "I'll be the one asking the questions."

  "No, you won't. I must get back to Dazmire before he kills the both of us."

  Companion Fayador Requests Permanent Resignation. Y/N

  Denied.

  Fayador stared past me, up at the ceiling, claw tapping in the air like he was accessing an invisible interface.

  "What's this? It won't let me end the companionship? I'm a free agent! Is your framework glitched? Let me go. I quit. I resign."

  Companion Fayador Requests Permanent Resignation. Y/N

  Nope.

  Fayador howled as he slipped through my fingers and lunged head first into the floor, its form dispersing into my shadow.

  "Dazmire help! The human's over here. He captured me!"

  I spun around, but the pooch was nowhere to be seen. Moments later, an azure glow flashed at the end of the cavern. The light followed in the wake of a massive icicle that twisted around the corner like a precision guided missile.

  Without a second thought, I dashed toward it. The icicle snapped lower, changing its trajectory in response to my movement. I screeched on my heels, bringing myself to a complete stop, watching as the icicle shifted again, nosediving straight for me.

  Dagger Step.

  I teleported further down the cavern, avoiding the ice missile at the last second as it smashed into the ground.

  Boom.

  The icicle detonated, shaking loose pebbles from the ceiling and sending clusters of shrapnel in all directions. I hit the deck as jagged shards of ice ripped into my flesh. The warmth of my blood contrasted with the dozens of frozen jagged bits lodged in my back and legs.

  The cavern's walls flashed again and another icicle turned around the bend.

  "Oh, great," I muttered, throwing myself off the ground and into a pained sprint.

  I approached the bend, and used Dagger Step's second charge, teleporting past the missile. As it exploded I took a hard right into the next cavern, avoiding the second round of shrapnel behind me.

  Not that it mattered.

  A wall of icicles hovered in the air, over 100 feet away at the other end of the cavern, surrounding Dazmire's side. He pointed his staff, and a row of ice missiles launched in my direction. They fanned out, coming at me in all directions.

  Shadow Weave.

  I raised a sheet of shadows out of the ground and draped it over my body, forming a protective shell. Darkness rippled around me as the first wave of missiles exploded against the shield. The blood in my veins turned cold, vibrating from the immense amount of stamina being drained by my defense.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  I counted six explosions and lowered the shield, catching sight of Dazmire and 50 harpoon sized icicles floating in the air beside him.

  "I guess skeletons don't experience shame," I shouted. "Needing the big guns for a single adventurer."

  "A human who speaks the banished tongue and uses magic of the void?" Dazmire chuckled, pointed his staff and launched another two icicles in my direction.

  I jumped into the air, drawing the missiles closer together before I sliced through them with a shadow I pulled from the ceiling. Jagged ice particles pierced my arms and hands as I protected my eyes from the fallout. Although it hurt, the shrapnel wasn't cutting deep enough to pose severe risk.

  "Impressive. Somehow you're still alive. Too bad I'm immune to void damage," Dazmire bellowed.

  I landed on two feet, blood trickling from hundreds of small wounds. The lich glided over the platform, drawing slightly closer with his ice wall in tow.

  As he leveled his staff toward me, I went on the offensive, swiping a shadow straight through his neck.

  "Wait, what?" Dazmire said, surprised as his skull tumbled off his shoulders, and rolled across the ground.

  The headless lich's body responded by launching its entire floating arsenal straight at me, from above.

  Agility Burst.

  I cut underneath the barrage, teeth clenched, feet carrying me up the rocky stairway. The ice missiles exploded behind me, one after the other, rocking the entire cavern. I dove into a pocket alongside the plateau, and covered the back of my head.

  Frigid air expanded throughout the cave. Loose rubble rained down along with a flurry of ice particles. When the rapid series of explosions finally stopped. I regained my footing, amazed to find the walls, floor, and ceiling covered in a thin layer of ice.

  Dazmire's headless body twisted in the air, losing momentum until it spun out and crashed into a wall. His skull lay on the ground, the bottom half stuck in a layer of ice.

  Without missing a beat, I dropped down from the plateau like an anvil, channeling my weight into my boots as I landed onto the lich's skull, shattering it.

  +1850 XP

  +425 Karma

  Vapor bloomed from my mouth as I let out a ragged breath. Hundreds of shattered ice particles covered my body, like I'd been rolling around in shards of broken glass. The cave's interior resembled a dark winter wonderland. I nearly slipped on the floor as I approached Dazmire's body.

  Fayador poked out of the shadows against the wall overhead.

  "Um, Mr. Cyprus, what I said earlier... I sincerely apologize. Let's move forward together. A fresh start. Technically, I’m what you humans consider man's best friend. From henceforth, I'll never leave your side. Except during the daylight."

  I ignored the dog and patted down Dazmire's body, looking for the chaos shard only to come up empty. Seeing my non-response, Fayador deemed it safe to come out and park himself by my side. He cautiously wagged his tail.

  "So..." he trailed off. "What is this Earth like? Should I pack for cool or warm weather? A mix of both? It's been forever since I've been in a human realm. Really, I've forgotten what it's like."

  Fayador looked up at me with what were supposed to be big puppy dog eyes. Yet, the lack of eyeballs, and, well, everything else that made dogs cute, invoked the opposite effect. Like I was staring at all of the world's ugliness straight in its face.

  "I'm not going to Earth."

  "We're not?"

  "I'm going to Gadika. Without you," I said, tone firmer than a slab of concrete.

  "But... I'm your companion. I go where you go."

  "So you can throw me under another bus?"

  "Wow, Gadika has buses? That is a huge relief. I thought Gadika was one of those terrible dark age realms. I guess the realm has advanced since Galdir gave up on its creation and abandoned the Outer Dimension altogether."

  I stewed in silence, not loving the fact Fayador was aware of Galdir's absence. If even a lowly monster like him knew about it, then the cat was not only out of the bag, but trampling around, clawing everyone's eyes out. No wonder Chaos was so emboldened and Justice was in a tizzy, summoning heroes in a desperate effort to save her realms.

  "Tell me what you know about Chaos."

  "Who?"

  "The tiny one. You mentioned him earlier while I was watching you with Void Seer. Play stupid and I'll bury you with Dazmire."

  "Ah, the pale one?" Fayador's rotting ears perked up. "I don't know much. He just assigned Dazmire to defend this dungeon. Nothing more or less."

  "Explain it like I never completed the tutorial."

  "Oh, right. There's the Outer Dimension, the realm of the gods created by Galdir. Over the millennia he created countless realms, watching them until boredom became loneliness. Thus he created fellow gods, making them near equals in his image. At first it was a real party, tons of shenanigans, big personalities and laughs. A few millennia later, the initial hype had all but wore off. Cliques formed. Alliances. Endless petty arguments. It all came to a head when a group of gods staged a rebellion against Galdir for eating their lunches despite them clearly being labeled."

  "You can't be serious..."

  "No, it's true. Void historians call it The Rebellion of Petty Disputes."

  "Big mistake. The rebels infuriated Galdir, who slapped them all down and banished them from the Outer Dimension. His fury inspired the creation of three new punishment realms. The Abyss. The Void. And the Pale Horizon."

  At first, I wasn't sure I believed him until he mentioned the Abyss. Goosebumps prickled across my perforated skin as I recalled my stay.

  "Galdir sentenced the rebel gods based on the severity of their infractions. The Abyss was his idea of a 'timeout.' The Void, was a much harsher punishment for those he deemed deserving of infinite suffering. Apparently, the Pale Horizon is far worse, and little is known about it; he only sent three gods there out of hundreds."

  "Which three gods?" I asked.

  "Sorry, further details require a subscription. I fear if I give away too many freebies I'll end up like poor, old little Lord Dazmire."

  "If that's all you have to say about Chaos, you'll be joining him anyway."

  The beast let out a hollow whimper and hung its barren skull in despair. "He never said its name."

  "If you didn't know who he was, why follow his instructions?"

  "When a being from beyond the Pale Horizon asks you to do something, you do it. Asking questions is a great way to end up as bone-crafted furniture."

  Head spinning from secret truths, I walked it off, heading toward the top of the plateau with Fayador trailing close behind. Maybe humans were never meant to see behind the curtain. Slightly nauseated, I honed in on a chest that appeared on the back of the plateau.

  I snapped the bronze latches free, popped the chest open and found some unmarked potions, a twig, a pair of silk socks, and a silver necklace.

  Tempting as it was to abandon the torn up cloth I had wrapped my feet with and throw on the pair of socks, I remembered the Ring of Dying's effect and let them be. I slammed the trunk shut and threw it off the plateau, not planning on taking any of the loot back with me to Ingcaster, anyway.

  "You threw away quite a nice wand in there," Fayador remarked.

  "I can't take any of that where I'm heading, Where's the chaos shard?"

  "Right away, master," Fayador said.

  Disturbed again by the dog's deep demonic voice, I hung back as he scurried off into the cavern's corner and began digging into a patch of soil. Meanwhile, I tried deciding if he needed to go the way of Old Yeller.

  Kill the monster.

  Yeah, kill our intelligent, powerful ally, and remain ignorant until the day you die.

  The creature came sprinting back with a chaos shard glowing in its mouth, tail rattling in a proud rhythm. It dropped the shard at my feet and cocked its head to the side.

  I wiped the slobber off the chaos shard and pocketed it, finally coming to a decision.