"It's a he," Aura relayed to them, her mental voice tinged with quiet joy. "And he says that he accepts, for now. He calls himself Night."

  Lindsay let out a soft laugh from the doorway, relief breaking through her guarded expression. "Night, yeah, it fits. Welcome to the group. Though I'm not sure how we'll fit another being in here full-time without tripping over tails."

  Angie stepped out tentatively, the rain soaking her hair in seconds. She extended a hand, palm up, toward Night. "You're beautiful," She whispered, her voice carrying a vulnerability that surprised Nate.

  The mill had shaken her, reopening old wounds from Jace and the cultivators' crude words. But here, facing this majestic creature, she seemed to find a spark of healing. Night regarded her for a moment, then pressed his broad head against Angie's palm, a low purr rumbling through the contact. The touch sent a shiver through Angie, not from the wet fur, but from the faint pulse of qi that accompanied it. It was like touching a living shadow—cool, yet alive with hidden warmth.

  "He's... lonely," Angie said, echoing Aura's earlier sentiment. Her eyes met Nate's, a silent acknowledgment passing between them. They all carried their own scars from past memories that had shaped them into the people they were currently.

  Mika scampered down Lindsay's arm and leaped onto Aura’s back, where she peered curiously at the newcomer. "Big friend?" She chirped in their minds, her long form quivering with excitement rather than fear.

  Night's silver eyes flicked to the weasel, amusement flickering in the mental link Aura continued to maintain for them all. The Kitsune snorted as a series of images came through the connection. They were of a small creature darting through the underbrush, quick and clever, a worthy scout in the hunt.

  As the rain began to lighten, Nate felt the group's dynamic shift subtly. Night's presence added a new layer—a wild element that could either strengthen them or introduce unforeseen challenges. But for now, it felt right. "We should start preparing dinner," Nate suggested, glancing at the darkening sky.

  Lindsay nodded, taking a few steps towards the refrigerator, only to stop a moment later as she peered back out the door. “Are you eating with us, Night?”

  Aura, Mika, and Night held a private conversation over the next several seconds before the large dark cat let out a stilted nod. The action was unfamiliar to it.

  As the only dry person, Lindsay started cooking, while Nate and Angie took turns drying off and changing, followed by drying off each of the beasts. Aura and Mika were rather well behaved, whereas Night found the sensation of a towel going through his fur odd.

  Angie sat beside him, drying her hair with a towel. "Do you think there are more like him out there?" She asked quietly, her tone contemplative. “Not just hybrids, obviously, there are plenty of those, but I mean ones that are especially intelligent, like Aura. Even Mika was smarter than normal, and gaining the ability to properly cultivate has only solidified that.”

  "Probably," Nate replied, the towel he was using to dry Aura pausing in his hands as he thought. “As far as we know, Mika was a regular Earth animal that was changed by qi. There are countless animals out there. I’d say the odds are good that more like Mika exist.” His eyes drifted to where Night was patiently waiting to be dried off, Mika sitting on top of him. “I imagine that hybrids have even better odds of displaying intelligence.”

  ***

  The Overlander was indeed a tad bit cramped with all of them inside. However, having a third beast in there with them made them feel complete. There were three humans, and now three beasts.

  Night's addition to their group had shifted the air inside the vehicle, making the space feel both fuller and strangely balanced. It was as if the world had nudged them toward symmetry.

  Unfortunately, Night was still an outsider among the group in one way; he couldn’t enter the dungeon with them. Not unless he wanted to become a companion beast to one of them. Angie was practically drooling at the idea. None of them had broached it with the large cat though. It was too soon.

  The Shadow-Cat had only just properly met them, and those bonds of trust needed to be built up over time. Proposing a companion bond to a being who had just met them was a guaranteed way to sever all chances of building real trust.

  For the moment, they wouldn’t be entering the dungeons that night. Instead, after dinner, they began working on the ones they already had and talking about which dimensional zones they should turn into dungeons next.

  Nate leaned back against the Overlander's cushioned bench. The rain had eased into a light patter on the roof, a rhythmic backdrop that mirrored the steady pulse of qi he felt circulating through his body. Since they weren’t entering the dungeons that night, he was using the moment to cultivate.

  Aura lay curled near a window, her five tails draped over and around Mika, who dozed contentedly in the nest they formed. The little weasel had taken to Night with the unreserved enthusiasm of youth, scampering across the Shadow-Cat's broad back every chance she had until Night had gently nudged her away with one tufted tail. Now, Night himself sprawled across the narrow aisle, his midnight fur drinking in the light from the lamps in the ceiling above. His silver eyes were half-closed, but Nate could sense the alertness that was still there. He was a natural predator, and relaxing around others would be impossible for such a being.

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

  Lindsay sat cross-legged on the floor, her back against the cabinet, wrist computer projecting a holographic map of all the dimensional zones within a thousand-mile radius.

  Angie perched on the edge of the bench opposite Nate, her fingers tracing idle patterns on the table's surface. Her own map had several dimensional zones highlighted as pulsing red icons, ones that she had selected moments before.

  "We've got plenty of options," Lindsay muttered, nibbling at the nail of her thumb. “Once you get a hundred miles into Kentucky, they start appearing with a little more frequency.”

  She was right. They still weren’t exactly common, but compared to the practical desert that Ohio and the latter part of Pennsylvania had been, it was a marked improvement.

  Lindsay zoomed in on a dimensional zone near their current position on the map. "I think we should just go with this one. It’s the closest and likely connects to Aura’s, and I guess Night’s world. Does he claim your world as home or Earth?”

  Aura looked over at the girl, her eyes drooping tiredly. “I haven’t asked him, but there is no reason for Night to consider my world home since he has never even seen it before.”

  “How is the lesson going?” Nate asked her.

  She was trying to teach Night how to converse telepathically, the same way she had with Mika.

  “Good, it will still take him some time to pick up on certain things, but I’m hopeful that by morning he’ll be able to start talking with you all.”

  “That quickly?” Angie asked in surprise.

  Aura nodded. “He already has the basic requirements, which is what took so long with Mika, well, that and her youth in general.”

  Nate highlighted the dimensional zone Lindsay had mentioned and initiated the Dungeon Core creation process. “Do we want to use a similar setup to the original dungeon, or use a different format?”

  “It would be better to use a different format,” Aura answered before anyone else had the chance to even think about the question. “If you would remember those shadow guards that you enjoyed so much. Where do you think they're natively from?”

  Nate shivered. He did indeed remember those shadow beings. Some of his most horrific deaths inside the dungeon had been at their claws. They were wily, fast, strong, and utterly merciless. The traps had pretty much never been effective against them.

  They would have to think about which sort of traps and theme to use for the dungeon before they started working on it. Regardless, that was one more dungeon that was now started.

  Aura and Night knew what to expect best, so he would let her handle the dungeon, with Night providing input.

  With that decided, they moved on to the grouping that Angie had highlighted for them. At first glance, they looked as though they had been chosen at random. However, a closer look revealed what the girl was actually doing. Each of the dimensional zones she had chosen was either close to a city they had stopped at on their trip or near the highway system.

  Nate and Lindsay blinked and shared a look. Why hadn’t either of them thought about doing that before then? It made so much sense.

  In the past, Nate had always wanted to make sure the dungeons were spread out. It was a simple method to ensure that as few of them as possible were localized around their home city. However, by that point, they had already spread out a fair bit.

  Perhaps it was time to stop overthinking the matter and just do what they could.

  “Alright, let’s do that,” He agreed.

  They divvied up portions of their route and began selecting one dimensional zone after another. The energy inside the shared pool plummeted like a massive drain plug had just been pulled. Each of the Dungeon Cores they were creating at the moment cost over five hundred thousand energy to make. Each additional dungeon would generate more energy for the shared pool, but they weren’t all equal.

  In the end, they were only able to create seven dungeons, that number also included the one that they believed the Kageyasha had come from. The other six were divided up among Nate, Angie, and Lindsay, with each choosing two locations among their portion of the route.

  Lindsay chose a dimensional zone near Pittsburgh and then one near New York City. The qi had been so strong there that they were expecting that portal to be a higher-tier one.

  The two dimensional zones Angie chose were in Arizona and Virginia, respectively. This left Nate with part of their route that they hadn’t done yet. In this case, he decided to just go with the safe choices and selected the dimensional zone nearest Kansas City and the one closest to St. Louis in Illinois.

  That took a lot less time than they had originally planned on it taking.

  The group took the night slowly, just enjoying each other’s company and working on the different dungeons as inspiration hit. This was the last night of their trip, and they just wanted to enjoy it. They would reach the banshee dungeon in Kentucky the next day, which was also when it would officially be conquered.

  They would need to spend a little bit of time setting the community inside it up. Once that was done, the portal would appear and be ready for use, and they would be able to go home.

  Hours slipped by as they talked and laughed. Outside, the rain was a constant companion, beating against the shell of their vehicle. Fatigue eventually claimed them, the plan for the next day already set in stone. As soon as they awoke, they would begin pressing on to the dungeon for the portal home.

  As they prepared for sleep, Nate lingered at the table, staring at the notes he had been making for his new meditation arts. Ever since he had quasi-completed it, his cultivation speed had increased, and his strength had begun to undergo a transformation as he was filled with an elemental energy that fit his body better.

  It was a benefit that he hadn’t expected, and he wondered what would happen when he finished his dual-cultivation meditation art. He had meant to work on that next, up until earlier that is. Their encounter with the shambler had changed things. Not by a lot, but during that brief interaction, he had gotten a few ideas that pertained to dimensional energy. After all that time observing the spatial jellyfish monsters, he had gotten used to using his senses in that manner. It wasn’t particularly useful most of the time; however, it had proven useful this time.

  Copying everything, he opened a new note and pasted it all in one go, and then began entering his new ideas. This was going to take a long time, and with just one experience -which was more than enough- it might not ever get completed, but it was a start.

  The world was vast, filled with wonders and horrors. He was sure he would get another chance to observe something in the future, just hopefully not that being.

  Aura nuzzled his hand, her thoughts a gentle murmur. "Rest now. Tomorrow will be busy."

  He nodded, turning off the light and shutting down his wrist computer. In the darkness, Night's silver eyes glowed faintly, a sentinel watching over them all.

  Thank you to all the people who have taken the time to rate the story and to my latest Patrons! I have other stories up on my Patreon, including my current WIPs. Which are now Created G.H.O.S.T. System(My Cyberpunk story), WetWorks2, plus The Restaurateur and His Daughter and DungeonFall. :)

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