Chapter 37

The kits were napping when I arrived at Illia’s house. Seeing Aerie snuggled up with her siblings made me feel a little bad about separating her from them, but I suppressed the sentiment since I knew that Illia had no intention of keeping any of the kits.

Even if I didn’t take her, she would eventually be sold to someone else. At least this way, I could ensure Aerie got a good life.

“They wore themselves out a few minutes ago,” Illia whispered as she tiptoed over to the pile of asolade kits.

The momma asolade watched from her perch a few feet away as Illia gently lifted the kit I’d grown fond of from the pile. The momma’s eyes showed mild interest, but nothing beyond that.

“Here,” Illia said, handing me the small white and gray ball of fur. “Once we settle the balance, I’ll take you somewhere private to bond with her.”

Understanding her intent completely, I handed her the agreed-upon amount. With a satisfied nod, Illia guided me to another room and gave me a few moments to bond with my new companion.

Putting the still-sleeping kit in my lap, I opened the small Beast Companion skillbook and quietly learned the skill.

Though it was my first time slotting such a skill, I instinctively understood how to use it. I knew that, for now, the skill would be limited to a single companion. But with time and intention, it could expand to include others.

However, I had little intention of taking the skill in that direction. Instead, I planned to deepen the skill, allowing a closer connection between Aerie and me. But that wasn’t anything I needed to worry about right away. It would likely be a long time before the skill was ready to grow.

Following my instincts, I focused on Aerie, willing a bond to form between the two of us as I held her in my hands. Her cute, kitten-like eyes lazily opened as she yawned.

“Hey, Aerie. Do you want to be my friend?” I whispered.

Words weren’t strictly necessary to form the bond, but it felt right. Less than a breath later, a distinct connection between me and the kit in my hands formed.

As if the new connection between us wasn’t anything remarkable at all, Aerie lowered her head and promptly fell back asleep.

“This is Aerie,” I said, introducing my new companion to the rest of the party later that evening.

Stephen wasn’t there, but he’d already met her. He had accompanied me to Illia’s house to visit once before, but this was the first time Mike or Cora were seeing her.

“She is so much smaller than I imagined,” Cora exclaimed as she extended a single finger to rub the kit’s tiny head. “She’s practically the opposite of Wally. He was such a big boy! I’m a little worried about accidentally stepping on her when we’re all in the sanctuary, to be honest.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. Asolades like to nap in elevated or enclosed spaces, so it’s unlikely she’ll be lying somewhere you might step on her. I was actually thinking about adding a little access door to let her go out into the garden whenever she wants, so she’ll probably spend more time out there than in the part we use as a house.”

It wouldn’t be hard, even without making any suspicious changes. The door leading to the garden was a sliding door, so adding a small panel with a flap wouldn’t be all that difficult.

Of course, I could easily just add a little door for Aerie directly, but that would likely draw too many questions that I still didn’t quite feel comfortable answering.

“Can I hold her?” Cora asked.

Though I was still feeling a little clingy because of the newness of the bond, I handed the ball of fur to my friend. Aerie needed to get used to the rest of my party sooner rather than later, after all.

“She is so cute,” the rogue murmured when Aerie noticed she was no longer in my hands and started looking around curiously.

I sent warm feelings through our nascent bond, trying to impress upon the young asolade that the person holding her was a friend. She must have understood my intent, because she immediately rolled onto her back and exposed her pure white belly to get more pets.

Seeing the way his wife was reacting to the tiny asolade, Mike raised a brow and said, “You wanted to wait to get a pet, remember?”

“Oh, I remember,” Cora replied. “That doesn’t mean I can’t love on this little cutie,” she added in a tone reserved for very small children and pets.

“I have a bed for her already, but I was thinking about picking up a few more things to keep her entertained. Stephen is still working on the commission he accepted yesterday. You wanna go shopping with me?”

The question was more for Cora since Mike had never expressed much interest in shopping. However, I made sure to look at both of them when I asked.

“You two can go without me. I have some stuff I want to take care of,” Mike replied.

Hearing his comment, Cora shrugged and agreed to join me. The sun was already hanging low in the sky, but that didn’t mean very much, especially near the Dungeon Complex, where businesses tended to remain open quite late.

Some that catered specifically to delvers stayed open all the time since those leaving the dungeon often did so at random times.

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The streets were somewhat crowded as we made our way to the pet store. By their low levels, I could tell immediately that most were people who’d decided against progressing beyond the first evolution, opting instead to live relatively mundane lives instead of risking their lives chasing more power.

I could see the desire for such a life in a lot of the unevolved delvers who were still grinding through the requisite levels to become official adults. They lacked a certain spark that was obvious in many of their counterparts. It was like they’d given up and were simply going through the motions until they reached the end.

The majority still hoped to one day ascend since doing so was considered the height of accomplishment within the realm, but I estimated about forty percent of the iron rankers had already given up such dreams and were merely trying to survive until they could walk away from the dungeon forever.

Of course, that wouldn’t actually make them any safer.

Sure, they would no longer be entering the dungeon and fighting beasts to earn wealth and power, but they would still have to face any demons who attacked the city. And the truth was, more people died to demon attacks than in the dungeon, by a significant margin.

In the dungeon, delvers could progress slowly. Nearly all encounters fell within expected parameters, and rarely did anything unexpected occur on previously explored floors.

The dungeon’s evolution had added a bit more danger, specifically because some aspect of the dungeon had changed. But once those changes were recognized and shared, the danger diminished significantly.