Grick led us down along the riverside, the path sloping lower and lower. It was hard to gauge with no sunlight to go by, but I got the feeling this river just continued to head deeper and deeper underground. I had to wonder about these “bad things” Grick would occasionally mutter about whilst insisting he would show us a “good way.” Of course, what might qualify as a “bad thing” to the scrawny little goblin might not turn out to be such a big deal to me.

  He eventually slowed and unloaded his armful of possessions. “Grick must rest. Long way, Grick gets tired. Woo!” He exaggeratedly wiped his arm over his forehead.

  Lily sniffed him as his small hand patted her snout, and her tail wagged. I was pretty tired as well, but I knew how important it was to keep moving right now.

  After giving them a brief respite, I gave a chuff and nodded forward.

  “Yes! Time to go!” Grick declared, grabbing first his lantern, then propping his fishing pole through the crook of his arm and over his shoulder. Then, when he went to pick up his metal box, he crouched and struggled to lift it as though straining himself.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “So heavy! Grick grows tired! But Grick…” He hoisted it up. “Must… show… the way!”

  Lily’s ears folded back as she watched him, then let out a small yip.

  “Puppy take box!?” He asked, instantly holding it out one-handed with none of the strain he had just been showing. Lily instantly extended her neck forward and took the handle of the box in her mouth.

  I watched him suspiciously, but soon he was ushering us forward once again.

  “Come, come this way, this way.”

  Lily didn't seem to mind as she padded along after him, the box hanging from her mouth. However, it was obvious to me how he was laying it on thick about struggling with the box at all.

  Whatever…

  I sighed and followed as well, but after only a few more minutes, Grick suddenly lurched forward as if he tripped on something. He fell to his side and clutched his knee to his chest.

  “Ah! Grick’s leg! Grick’s leg! It hurts!” He whined as he lay on the ground, rubbing his leg. Lily looked alarmed, quickly setting down the box and coming over to sniff the spot he was rubbing.

  My eyes narrowed once again. He didn't look like he had fallen that hard; in fact, it looked quite purposeful. “Nice puppy, Grick will be okay,” he said, patting Lily's head. “Grick must show nice puppies the way.” He began to stand but then stumbled as if he couldn't put weight on his leg. “Ah! Grick's leg!”

  Lily whined softly in concern, but my annoyance was about at its limit. It was completely clear he was faking it. I walked over and growled at him to stop messing around. We didn't have time for this!

  “Ah, Grick sorry! Grick will try! Grick will try!” he insisted, flinching away from me, but once again stumbling. “Ah! Grick's leg.”

  That's it, enough of this…

  I walked closer, ready to give him a loud bark, but Lily got in my way. She whined at me, eyes wide and pleading.

  I winced. Come on, Lily! Don't fall for this!

  Lily turned back to Grick, lowering to her belly and nudging him, gesturing to her back.

  “Grick can ride? It's okay?”

  I barked at him. “No!”

  Lily turned her head and barked back at me. It was the first time she'd ever shown me any real aggression like that. Her ears folded back, and she gave another soft, pleading whine.

  Before I could complain further, Grick got up to accept Lily's offer. “Good puppy, nice puppy. Grick will be better soon! Grick is sure!”

  I couldn't help but notice he had no trouble putting weight on his supposedly bad leg this time as he climbed on Lily's back. She then dutifully picked up the metal box and continued walking with Grick now riding on her back.

  I sighed. There was no point wasting time arguing with Lily, and her tail wagged happily as she trotted along, clearly not minding at all having the goblin hitch a ride on her back.

  Still, I was completely irritated and couldn't wait to ditch this annoying creature.

  “Tunnel right ahead,” Grick explained, lantern in one hand and fishing pole in the other as he rode Lily. “Leads to good place.”

  My tail drooped as I processed that. I seriously had no reason to take his word for anything. He already showed twice that he was willing to lie and manipulate Lily just out of laziness.

  When we arrived at the promised tunnel that branched off from the riverside path, he nudged Lily. “This way, puppy. This good way right here! Just as Grick says.”

  Lily began to turn as indicated, and I instantly bounded forward to get in front of her. I barked and nodded down the river. At best, Grick was just wasting our time; at worst, he was leading us into some kind of trap, and I wasn't going to fall for it.

  Lily yipped back at me in protest.

  I growled and stepped forward, showing Grick my teeth to make it clear I was done playing his games.

  “Ah! No, don't be mean, puppy!” Grick cried, cowering and hiding behind his lantern. “Grick helps! Grick helps puppies! Don't eat Grick!”

  The mushroom lantern rattled in his trembling hand. I let out a sharp bark: “Enough!”

  Lily barked at me more assertively, making me back off a step. My ears folded back as she continued to let out a low, warning growl.

  I wished more than ever right now that I could talk and give him a proper interrogation. I really wanted to know just what he was up to.

  In the silence that followed, Grick raised one finger from his lantern. “It is good way. Grick swears it. River bad way.”

  I gave him a look that communicated that I wasn't buying it.

  “Look! Grick no need to ride. See?” He balanced the fishing pole between his elbow to free his hand and opened the door of the lantern. He pinched off a small piece of the mushroom and popped it in his mouth. “Mmm, good shroomy. Make Grick better.” Then he hopped down from Lily's back and jumped up and down on one, supposedly freshly healed, leg to demonstrate. “See? Grick much better.”

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  Lily's tail wagged, and her ears perked up, relieved.

  The deadpan stare I gave him only deepened. His leg was never hurt in the first place, and either way, he could have done that from the beginning!

  “Come, come,” Grick said, starting down the tunnel and waving for us to follow. “Grick lead!”

  Lily gave me a look and let out a soft whine that said, “Just give him a chance.”

  I sighed, looking down the river path. The way it was sloping down, I could feel reasonably sure that it would only lead us further underground. Besides, even if it did lead out of the cave system, there was a chance the red masks would send scouts to secure that exit as well, and I wasn't ready for a fight.

  I wasn't sure how much I could take that apex predator achievement for granted, and it was a bit of a wide assumption that I was currently the strongest predator in this cave system.

  Also, considering how pathetic Grick was, why would he lead us towards something truly dangerous and risk getting hurt himself? I didn't know what he wanted, but perhaps this tunnel was the best choice right now. Hell, if we had never crossed his path before coming to this branch, I would have certainly considered going this way on my own anyway.

  I huffed and turned to follow. Lily gave a yip and then trotted forward happily, tail wagging.

  Grick led us into the narrow side tunnel, his mushroom lantern casting jittery shadows along the walls. The river’s sound dulled behind us, replaced by the faint crackle of dripping water and the whisper of our own paws and Grick's bare feet on the damp stone.

  Grick continued to mutter his assurances, passing by more branches in the tunnels, never stopping to consider his route, which made me think he did indeed at least know this area fairly well. The red masks would struggle to traverse most of these passages, so I did feel we were making it to a safer place to camp out for a while, at least.

  “Easy to get lost, but Grick smart, Grick knows the way. Grick live here many years, very close to shiny things now.”

  Shiny things, huh? I doubted his definition of treasure matched anything I would find of value. He had already tried using worms as a peace offering, after all.

  However, my doubts were soon silenced as we made maybe our tenth turn through the tunnels, and I saw a glow coming across the next bend in the distance.

  “It’s here, it’s here! Shiny things!” Grick said excitedly, prancing ahead in odd single-footed hops.

  Lily and I increased our pace as well. I didn’t think this glow was simply from more mushrooms; it was much fainter and lacked the pale-green hue.

  The tunnel finally widened into a high-ceilinged chamber, the walls were studded with veins of crystal, glittering faintly in a range of muted colors. Greens, yellows, faint blues, and reds.

  Lily’s ears perked as she took cautious steps forward, her gaze sweeping from wall to wall.

  Grick waddled ahead with his lantern raised high. “See? See! Grick told puppies! Shiny things! Many shiny things!” He laughed, a nasal giggle that echoed oddly around the chamber. “Look there. Look! That’s Grick’s home!” He bounded ahead, pointing downward.

  The chamber sloped gently downward toward a basin at its center, where a shallow pool reflected the glimmering walls. Ripples distorted the mirrored light, and I could just barely make out a slow-moving current leading to a narrow tunnel at the far end.

  At the shore of the small body of water, there was a hut made of mud. In front of it, there was a burned-out fire pit, and along its side, there was a pile of junk that any hoarder would call a treasure. Giving it a brief examination, I saw bent spoons, broken pottery, a half-rusted pan, and what might’ve once been part of a sword’s hilt.

  Then I noticed on the cave wall nearest the mud hut, a particular crystal vein had been chipped away with jagged chunks missing, tiny shards all around it, and a tool that looked like a crude pickax lying carelessly on the ground nearby.

  “Very good place!” Grick insisted, widening his arms to gesture all around. “Puppies can stay! Make home with Grick! Grick bring fishy, and puppy keep away nasties.” He cringed as he set down his lantern and fishing pole by his hut. “Nasties hurt Grick. No more mean nasties with puppies around!” He puffed out his chest and placed closed fists on his hips proudly.

  Hm, so that’s it. I realized the reason he was helping us was to get us to hang around and protect him. There were plenty of monsters in these caves that would be dangerous for a creature like him, but Lily and I would be far superior to them. Coming across us, he must have calculated that befriending us would be a way to keep himself safe. I suppose I couldn’t be too angry at him for that.

  Unfortunately for our green little friend, I did not plan to just continue living in these caves, even without the threat of the red masks that would soon be upon us. Even if I was inclined towards such a life, Grick essentially was hoping to domesticate us. If I refused domestication by humans, it was doubly so for this pathetic little goblin.

  Lily’s tail wagged as she padded over to his pile of junk and started sniffing. Grick followed her and started digging through the mound. “Good things here, but these Gricks things. Puppy doesn’t touch Grick’s things!” He tossed aside a rusted knife, a dented helmet or pot (I couldn’t tell which), a few torn scraps of leather, and then finally he retrieved what he was looking for.

  He held a bone out to Lily. “Puppy gets bone! Grick doesn’t need this!”

  I wondered how much he really “needed” any of that other junk.

  All the same, Lily was happy to accept his offering, instantly lying down with it between her paws and beginning to gnaw on it. I padded over and gave a brief sniff, thinking of the bone Genzo had given me that taught me the Marrow Sense skill. However, this seemed like an ordinary bone, completely lacking the rich scent of the one I had received from Genzo.

  My attention then drew over to the busted-up crystal vein that Grick must have been mining. I didn’t see any of the shards repurposed for anything around here, so it was a curiosity why he would bother to do that.

  Why Grick wanted the crystals would remain a mystery for now, but as I got closer, I realized something. Within the damaged portions of the veins, I saw tiny particles moving about like they were drifting on a slow current. They looked like mana particles. If this is what I thought it was…

  I used {Elemental Absorption}, rearing back and then slamming my paws down. Instantly, particles reversed their direction, came free from the crystal, and floated towards me.

  [Achievement! Elemental Harvester!]

  You have successfully discovered and harvested a mana vein!

  Minor bonus to all stats!

  My tail wagged as I checked my reserves.

  Elemental Reserves

  Fire: 5/20

  Electricity: 5/20

  Water: 5/20

  Wind: 5/20

  Earth: 5/20

  Oh, hell yeah! Wasting no time, I used the skill three times in a row to fill all of my reserves to the maximum.

  {Elemental Absorption}!

  {Elemental Absorption}!

  {Elemental Absorption}!

  Elemental Absorption leveled up! 1 > 2

  +3 Attunement

  I have to admit, I had my doubts, but it turned out that coming across this little guy was a huge stroke of fortune!

  Then I heard a shriek of alarm and looked over my shoulder to see Grick barreling towards me with arms raised.

  “No puppy! Bad puppy!” he yelled. “Shiny belongs to Grick! It’s Gricks!”

  He threw his body into me, which didn’t even make me budge an inch. “Puppy get bones! No shinies!” he repeated angrily, pushing against my side with all his strength. When that failed, he turned around, pressing his back to my side and pushing his little feet against the ground as if that would somehow move me.

  I gave him a dry look. Wasn’t the promise of “shinies” the very thing he had used to coax us down here in the first place? Though, Lily wouldn’t be able to understand his words anyway, and I had no idea what he meant by “shinies” at the time.

  I finally got annoyed enough by his pushing to crane my neck towards him and bare my fangs with a warning growl. He instantly retreated, tripping for real this time, and defensively folding his scrawny arms over his face where he fell.

  “No! No eat Grick! Bad puppy!”

  This time, Lily was too enamored with her bone to come to his defense. The little guy wasn’t so bad after all, but I still decided to take the opportunity to remind him who was really in charge around here. Lest he start to think he had any place to command me.

  I prowled towards him, curling my lips so he could see my teeth—just enough to remind him not to test me again.

  “Ah! Grick will share! Grick can share!” he spat out. He quickly got to his feet and ran over to the crystal vein, patting an undamaged portion. “Puppy can have shinies too. Good puppy gets shinies!”

  I stopped my growling and tilted my head up smugly. “That’s better.”

  Grick let out a relieved sigh, but then his gaze wandered down to the crystal veins. “Don’t take too much, puppy. Grick trades shinies. Grick gets good things for shinies. Grick brings back good things for puppies.”

  That grabbed my attention, and it solved the mystery of why he was mining the veins.

  Just who was he trading the crystals to? Unless there was a civilized society living somewhere in the depths of these caves (which I had seen no evidence for so far), then that must mean he knew a way out.

  I stepped towards him as non-threateningly as possible and turned my head, urging him to continue his explanation.

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