Fletcher took a step back as he stared up at the creature, really wishing he paid more attention during those biology lectures on the Mythian animals. Because he had no idea what to even call the thing he was looking at it. Or was it things? Yeah, this was bad.

  The creature was spindly in a way that reminded him of a bug, but at the same time it had white fangs spiraling around the legs. And the body itself was entirely clear, to the point he could see through it as though it was a slightly foggy window. And it was tall, like seven or eight feet tall.

  When it—they, maybe—howled, the sound was more of high-pitched whistle, and there definitely multiple tones in it. But he saw only one body. What on earth was this thing? He really thought he’d remember learning about something as freaky as this, but the name eluded him still.

  He didn’t get much more time to think about it as the tooth-heavy bug thing drove two of its legs towards him with shocking speed given its size.

  Fletcher dove to the side, narrowly avoiding getting impaled or bitten. Rolling to a better position, he got his gun up and shot at the creature. A couple of bullets ricocheted off the legs, and the ones that hit the body went straight through it like it was jelly. Maybe it was jelly since the body healed the hole almost immediately. More bad news. The creature didn’t even look injured.

  “If I leave, while you promise not to follow me?” he yelled at it.

  A high-pitched whistle replied, and given the glaring fangs still pointed at him, he decided that was probably a no.

  Dashing away from another attack, Fletcher vaguely remembered seeing a picture of something like this in his textbook back in high school, though the name and any description remained buried elsewhere in his mind.

  Unfortunately, he could really use that extra bit of knowledge because he had no idea what he was supposed to do about the thing chasing him around the plaza. At least he was faster than it. Assuming he could get enough distance away, he’d have time to get to the jeep and then outrun it entirely. He just needed to—

  His planning was cut short as something slashed across his upper arm. Instinct took over, and Fletcher dove to the ground as more of the projectiles flew above him. One impaled the ground near his head, and he got a very close look at a fang which had only recently been attached to the creature’s leg.

  Wait a second. This thing could fire its teeth at him? And why did it have teeth outside its mouth? Then again, did it even have a mouth? Jeez, he really wished he was fighting Trevor the cycat again. Whatever this monster was, Fletcher wasn’t not enjoying getting to know it. In fact, he’d probably live a happy life never seeing it or anything like it again.

  More fangs flew through the air towards him as the creature gave its pitchy cry. Fletcher got to his feet and sprinted in a zigzag pattern to avoid the sharp projectiles.

  Flying teeth! He would love to hear a biologist try to explain to him how natural evolution created some monster that literally grew teeth on its legs to shoot at its prey. Wouldn’t it have to spend a ton of energy and resources regrowing the teeth? Mythia was a strange world with strange beings. And he wasn’t even thinking about the Unhumans.

  A screeching whistle reached his ears, and Fletcher glanced back to see the tooth-monster leaping through the air towards him. Given the skinniness of the legs and the translucent body, it nearly looked like dozens of individual fangs flying towards him.

  The good news was that the image brought a few more memories back to his mind.

  “Tooth fairy!” he shouted, finally recalling the creature’s name. It was an apt one, if a little too cutesy given how horrific it actually was.

  The tooth fairy screamed back at him, and Fletcher jumped out of the way as the creature landed near him. Well, it turned out that having the name wasn’t all that helpful in the end, but at least he could die knowing what to call the thing that killed him, as little consolation as that was.

  His arm ached from the fang that grazed him earlier. He wasn’t strong enough or fast enough to beat this thing. A mere Human didn’t have the edge needed to get out of a situation like this.

  Wait… he wasn’t a mere Human.

  If he wasn’t in such a dire situation, Fletcher would have slapped his forehead for his own stupidity. And the stupidity of all those months at training where he was drilled into never using his [Skills] for risk of hurting others.

  [Activating: Frenzy]

  New strength coursed through his veins, and the tooth fairy suddenly didn’t seem quite so intimidating. Why hadn’t he thought of doing this at the start? He really needed to practice calling up his [Skills] as a first line of defense instead of a last resort, but that was something he could worry about when he made it back to Vesi.

  Assuming he did make it back to Vesi.

  Fletcher tried shooting the tooth fairy again, but that still proved ineffective. He was at a loss for what else to try, but his new friend had decided it wanted him to stick around. Anytime he dashed towards one of the plaza exits, the beast cut him off, making sure he stayed trapped in the arena of ruins.

  “Come on,” Fletcher muttered after his fourth failed escape attempt. The tooth fairy was too fast, even with his [Frenzy]. And it was intelligent enough to block his path to the exit every time, even when he tried to fake it out. Getting to the jeep and getting it turned on would take too much time. The tooth fairy would definitely catch him if he tried, not to mention he was worried about popping a tire with all the loose fangs on the ground.

  If this thing shot out all its teeth, how did it eat?

  Another one of those biological questions he would never learn the answer to.

  Fletcher shot at the monster, but it did nothing more than enrage it further. Surely it had some kind of weakness… he didn’t need to kill it, just injure it enough he could make his escape.

  Another fang grazed his leg as he ran, but [Frenzy] kept the pain back enough he could keep most of his speed.

  Maybe he could try tiring the creature out by running it in circles. The only problem with that plan was that it was a big bet on his own endurance, and he wasn’t sure that he would be able to outlast this thing.

  Fletcher got so caught up thinking about how to escape the fight with his life, he failed to notice a stray stone on the ground which caught his foot and sent him sprawling out on his stomach, his gun flying out of reach.

  He made a move to get to his feet as fast as he could, but a looming shadow appeared before him, and he found himself gazing up at the translucent jelly that made up the tooth fairy’s body.

  And then a leg shot down at him, causing him to roll to the side.

  Another leg came at him, and Fletcher scrambled backwards, barely avoiding each strike as it fell. This did not look good.

  He once again tried getting up, but he didn’t make much progress before he had to launch himself backwards to dodge another fanged-leg. As he crawled backwards, his back hit something solid.

  A wall.

  Fletcher was trapped.

  Oh, yeah. This was definitely not looking good.

  He threw his arms up to protect his face as what would be the killing blow descended, bracing for the pain.

  But it never landed.

  A high-pitched howl sounded, and Fletcher opened his eyes to see the tooth fairy being hauled backwards by a… a dog.

  Not just any dog! The dog from the cycat. Somehow he found Fletcher again and came to his rescue for a second time.

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  “Good boy,” Fletcher called out as he got to his feet. The tooth fairy tried to stab one of its legs back at the dog, but he grabbed hold of it. “No, you don't.”

  The dog kept pulling the leg he had in his mouth back as Fletcher held onto a front leg, but then he was sent stumbling backwards as the tension released.

  The tooth fairy screamed with a dozen voices of varying pitches, and Fletcher’s mouth dropped open. The dog actually yanked one of the legs off the creature completely. They managed to injure the tooth fairy.

  As the tooth fairy frantically stabbed backwards at the dog and forwards at Fletcher, he grabbed hold of a front leg, smiling as the dog grabbed one of the back ones. This time he yanked alongside the dog, and both legs came off.

  The jelly-tooth-monster screeched, and it attempted to skitter away from them with its remaining legs. The dog ran after it, but Fletcher jogged to catch him as a notification popped up, his [Skill] sensing the danger was over.

  [Deactivating: Frenzy]

  “Whoa. Hold up, boy. Let it go. We don’t need to kill it. It won’t hurt us anymore,” he said as he grabbed the dog’s neck, ignoring the extra twinges of pain that came from no longer having his [Skill] active.

  The dog looked up at him with fearful eyes, but Fletcher kept hold of him, holding his free hand out for the dog to sniff.

  “I’m a friend. I won’t hurt you,” he assured his canine companion. He glanced around the plaza to watch the tooth fairy bury itself in some dark hole, far away from them. He’d make sure to mark this place as a danger zone on the map and then resume his search for water access elsewhere.

  The dog relaxed only slightly, but Fletcher was determined to befriend the animal. He had no idea how an earth creature ended up all the way in the Mythia part of the world, but he appreciated a friendly face.

  “You saved my life twice now. The least I can do is properly thank you,” Fletcher said. “Come with me to the jeep. Let’s see what rations I brought with me. I’m sure I have something that’ll interest you.”

  The dog’s ears twitched, but he remained skittish, obviously wanting to run away again.

  “Come on. I’m going to give you food,” Fletcher told the animal.

  He stayed where he was, only not dashing off because Fletcher was still holding him.

  “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.” Bending down, Fletcher scooped the dog into his arms. He was a medium-sized dog so it wasn’t the easiest to carry him, but Fletcher did so anyway, first going to get his fallen rifle and then taking the dog to the jeep and setting him in the back.

  The dog looked even more terrified as Fletcher kept a hand on him while using the other to search through his supplies.

  “Aha! Here.” He triumphantly held up a can of Spam. It was disgusting, but surely it would appeal to his new friend more than a Human.

  The dog stared at him with wide eyes as he slowly opened the can, his black nose twitching.

  “Oh, yeah. I called it. I knew you’d want some of this.” Fletcher dug a hunk of the barely edible meat out of the can and held it out to the dog.

  The dog inhaled it in a second.

  Laughing, Fletcher got another piece out, hand feeding it to the dog.

  The dog fully relaxed as he ate more of the Spam, and Fletcher went ahead and dumped all of the meat out for him to eat.

  As he ate, Fletcher rubbed his head.

  “Yeah. You’re a good boy. You earned this.” He smiled. “You and I make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

  The dog continued to devour the food, and Fletcher opened a second can for him.

  “I’m glad I can at least count on you for backup. No one else at this stupid station is going to watch my back,” he muttered.

  He rubbed his hands through the dog’s dirty fur, just happy to have a friend near him. “Backup. That’s a good name, isn’t it? A fitting name for someone as brave as you.”

  The dog, Backup, glanced at him with soft puppy-dog eyes and gave a small bark.

  “I’ll take that a ‘yes.’” Fletcher continued to pet Backup as the dog ate. Once all the meat was gone, he poured some water in his hand for Backup to drink and then drank some himself. It’d been a long day, and he still had injuries to attend to.

  Sighing, Fletcher dug through more of his supplies and wrapped his two minor cuts. At least it wasn’t as bad as the cycat run-in two weeks ago. He’d probably be able to keep up his daily exercise routine even with these little scrapes.

  After he was finished, Fletcher tucked away the supplies and glanced around the plaza. Even if that old fountain did have water access, he didn’t want to risk having to fight off a freaking tooth fairy every time he came for water. While he had Backup to count on now, that was still more than he wanted to take on with this project.

  “Alright, Backup. I have to keep searching the city for water access. Do you want to come with me?” he asked the dog.

  Backup stared at him with his tongue out and happy eyes.

  “Great. Buckle up,” Fletcher joked, moving to the front seat. Backup came with and sat in the passenger seat, though he did seem a little apprehensive.

  “It’ll be fine. Hernandez is a great teacher,” he assured his companion.

  Backup did not seem convinced.

  Fletcher started the jeep’s engine and then reached over to grab the dog before he could jump out of the vehicle.

  “Hold up. It’s okay. Stay put,” he said.

  Backup strained against him for another moment before settling back into the seat.

  “That’s better. Now don’t jump out or anything stupid, okay? I need you in one piece for our mission.” Fletcher turned his attention back to the dashboard and slowly accelerated the vehicle, checking on the dog as often as he safely could.

  Backup seemed nervous, but he didn’t try to run away, so Fletcher decided he would probably be okay as long as he took it slow.

  They left the plaza behind, and Fletcher drove to the next location he’d previously selected on the map to check. This one was on the edge of the ruins where he hoped he’d run into fewer creatures trying to kill him while he scouted around. That would definitely make his life easier.

  Backup eventually started to enjoy driving, leaning over the door of the jeep to stick his face all the way in the wind. Fletcher grinned at the dog, deciding that it was a worthwhile trip even if he didn’t find an access point to the underground river this time around.

  As they drove the outskirts of the city, Fletcher kept his eyes peeled for both animals and potential sites. They were on the far side of the city, as far away from Vesi Station as they could get while still being in the ruins when Fletcher found something of interest.

  He stopped the vehicle, grabbed his gun, and hopped over the side. Backup followed his lead, remaining nearby as he approached the pile of rubble. Except this rubble was wet and had metal bars mixed in that reminded him of a grate. Maybe he’d finally discovered what he needed.

  Getting closer, Fletcher did another thorough scan of the area to ensure he didn’t have any surprise visits while he investigated the rubble.

  The coast was clear. As far as he could see.

  A glance at Backup more or less confirmed it since the dog seemed at ease, and Fletcher was sure his canine senses would have picked up anything he missed.

  Convinced of the safety of the spot, Fletcher threw his rifle over his back and then dug into the broken pile of stones. It was hard work, and it sucked, but he was used to physical tasks like this after all his cleaning back at Vesi.

  It ended up taking an hour to clear enough of the rock that he confirmed his suspicions. The rubble was blocking a pipe that pumped out a very tiny stream of water, likely from the underground river in the catacombs. And yeah, it wasn’t a great flow by any means, but it would be enough for his purposes with the garden. It would just take a lot of time to fill up the water containers, but other than that, he didn’t see any problems with it. Especially since it meant he didn’t have to go into the catacombs which were supposedly even more dangerous than the city. As great of backup as the dog was, Fletcher didn’t think the two of them would be any match for what creepy crawlies waited in the underground.

  Fletcher returned to the jeep and marked the location as Backup stayed on guard.

  “Alright boy, I’m going to fill these containers up. Keep watch,” he told the dog.

  Backup did exactly as he was ordered. Or maybe he was just always alert and ready for trouble.

  Fletcher grabbed the first of the three containers he’d brought with him from the back of the jeep. He positioned it under the tiny stream of water and then stepped back.

  Yeah. That was going to take a very long time to fill up. And as exciting as it was to watch the flow, he thought he could find something better to do with his time. Not that he brought any books, and he didn’t want to waste gas driving around when trouble could be lurking quite literally behind every corner.

  His eyes fell on Backup who sat erect near the edge of the rubble. Dogs needed play, right? That would be fun for both of them. He just needed a toy.

  Digging back through the broken stone and metal, Fletcher searched for a piece of wood. Nothing. Unhumans mainly stone for their buildings, so he wasn’t sure he’d easily find anything, especially not at the outskirts like this.

  He glanced around the scenery. There were some trees nearby. That would work. Leaving Backup to keep guard at the jeep, Fletcher jogged over and grabbed a fallen branch.

  As he returned, Backup watched him with big eyes.

  “Want the stick?” Fletcher waved it before the dog. “Go get it.” He tossed it, and Backup took off after it. Yeah. He really liked having a dog. Only, he didn’t think he’d get away with bringing Backup back to the station. Not that the dog would like it there anyway.

  The solution came immediately to his mind. Palacios said he could run patrols, but the Major never said he had to take others with him. He’d just come to visit Backup out here. And that meant he had something else to do to occupy his time. Things were working out well after all, even with the occasional hiccup.