thomasdarkrose
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Vol. 4 - Growth - Chapter 45
🕑 Added 2019-03-28 20:41:47 +0000 UTCThomas sat at an empty table and placed Snowlily on his lap. Snowlily didn't offer any complaints as she looked over the top of the table and waited patiently. Thomas knew she was intelligent, she was a Garou after all, he just didn't know how intelligent she was at the moment. Was she as smart as a child? An adult? Somewhere in between? He honestly didn't know.
They sat together in silence just letting the drone of various conversations wash over them. Martha returned with two plates of food and set them down on the table with a smile. The first plate was a regular plate of food for Thomas, a nice thick cut orc chop. Martha looked at Snowlily as she asked, "Does she eat only meat? Or are vegetables okay too?"
Thomas didn't know the answer to the question so he looked down at Snowlily and gave her a questioning look. Snowlily just looked back up at him and remained silent. Thomas shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Martha, "If she doesn't then I'll eat them for her."
Martha nodded and set down the second plate. The orc chop and vegetables on the second plate had all been cut up into bite size pieces for the pup. Martha gave Snowlily a bright smile as she said, "I hope you enjoy it little one!"
Martha went off to get back to work helping out other customers. Thomas ignored his food for a moment and picked up a piece of orc meat to hold out to Snowlily. She delicately plucked it from his fingers and chewed on it. Her tail wiggled a little against him but she showed no other reaction to the food. Thomas smirked as he asked, "So you like this better than what I made?"
Snowlily just looked up at him and waited for him to fetch her another piece of meat. Thomas reached up to her plate and picked up a piece of one of the vegetables that reminded him of green beans. He held it out to her. She leaned in and sniffed at it for a bit before huffing and turning her face away from it. Thomas felt her reaction was less like it was improper food for her and more like trying to get a child to eat broccoli. Grinning he whispered, "You have to eat your vegetables if you want to grow up big and strong you know."
Thomas would never admit that ever since logging into AoG his diet had been at least ninety percent meat. Most games didn't require players to eat a balanced diet. Others only had food as a means of providing buffs. Some didn't have food at all. In his experiences so far, AoG just required him to eat but didn't seem to care what he was eating. Now that he had a kid to raise though... he would have to fix that bad habit.
Thomas popped the cut of vegetable in his mouth and chewed on it while smiling, "Trust me, it's pretty tasty."
He picked up another piece and held it out to her. She sniffed it again before delicately taking it from his fingers and chewing on it. Thomas smiled in approval and started cutting up his meat and eating it as well. He rotated between feeding himself and Snowlily. She seemed to enjoy the meal, especially the meat. Before too long their plates were cleared of all food.
Snowlily licked her chops clean while Thomas leaned back in his chair to relax while sipping a mug of mead. Snowlily lay down on his lap and curled into a fluffy white ball of fur. Thomas gently stroked her back and waited for Martha to come and check on them. He needed to pay her for the extra meal and some more time at the inn. He still needed to make himself some more weapons and a new set of armor before he went out to do anything else. He also hadn't had a chance to use his revolver in real combat yet.
After thinking a bit he decided to head into the dungeon tomorrow. It was closer and guaranteed to have some monsters for him to shoot. It would also be a good spot to get Snowlily a little experience. When he'd looked at her status there was no indication that he would be able to control her attributes so she would be in charge of it. Her attributes, as they stood now, showed that she was a mobile spellcaster. That could obviously change though.
Martha eventually returned to the table, "Do you need anything else?"
Thomas shook his head, "I just wanted to pay for Snowlily's meal."
Martha beamed as she looked at the wolf snuggling up on Thomas's lap, "No need. Tonight was on me."
Though he could insist it seemed like it would be rude to Martha. He placed a small pile of gold coins on the table, "I'll be staying a few more nights."
Martha scooped up the coins while Thomas scooped up the wolf pup into his arms. He made his way to his room and carefully set Snowlily down on one of the corners of the bed. He stripped off his extra clothing but kept his underwear on. It seemed odd that he felt awkward at the thought of being naked in front of Snowlily. Once he was ready for bed he joined her on it and relaxed. He went through his nightly practice before using 'Serenity' to drift off to sleep.
Thomas was the first to wake up. He looked down at the sleeping puppy and smiled warmly. She really was unbelievably adorable. He watched her for a bit but eventually had to climb out of the bed and get ready for the day. As he got out of bed his movement woke Snowlily up. He gave her an apologetic smile but continued with his preparations. He put on all of his gear as he prepared to enter the dungeon. Once he was ready he pulled out the supplies that he'd purchased last night and got to work.
It was rough, but it didn't take him more than a few minutes to sew up a sling bag big enough to hold Snowlily on his back so his hands would be free. He added a little cotton stuffing to make it a bit softer and more comfortable for her. When it was done he tried it on and thought it might change his balance a bit, but since he intended to fight at range mostly it wouldn't be an issue. Besides, at this point, he was significantly stronger than the goblins inside of the dungeon and could easily tank their blows. As long as Snowlily wasn't hit there would be no issues.
Snowlily sat on the bed and silently watched him the entire time. When he was finished he looked at her, "Ready for breakfast?"
Her tail immediately began to wag. He finished with, "Just remember to eat all of your vegetables."
Her tail immediately froze in mid-swing and he could have sworn she was frowning. Thomas laughed and scooped her up to make his way downstairs. They enjoyed their breakfast together. Snowlily, grudgingly, ate her vegetables. When they were done he helped her get into the sling and set it on his back. She weighed hardly anything to him so he didn't really feel restricted at all. On the way to the dungeon, he picked up a few snacks for lunch.
At the entrance of the dungeon, he signed in before making his way down the stairs toward the first floor. When they arrived at the main room of the first floor he picked a random passage and made his way down it. The dungeons changed over time so the pathway he knew from before no longer mattered. He didn't really feel the need to find and kill the dungeon boss either. His goal was only to test his weapon and get Snowlily some experience.
He swiftly made his way down the path retrieving his still cocked revolver along the way. When he arrived at the first room he spotted five goblins milling about. He glanced over at Snowlily as he said, "This is going to be loud."
She looked at him curiously as he turned back to face the goblins and lifted the muzzle of the revolver to point it at his first target. He carefully aimed at the head of the goblin. Though he didn't have much experience making guns, he had plenty of experience shooting them. The majority of his time in the last game he'd played was spent shooting various kinds of guns.
With the muzzle aimed at the goblins head, he channeled his mana into the gun to not only power the enchantment but to enhance the gun as well. The bullets could crack the barrel of the gun if it wasn't enhanced and he didn't want to have to repair it after every shot. As his mana channeled into the gun it took on a subtle glow while the firing pin emitted a small flame. He squeezed the trigger. There was a deep bass roar as flames leapt from the barrel. Before they'd even reached their full length the bullet slammed into the goblins head and sent the goblin flying.
Thomas continued to channel his mana as he cocked the hammer again to ready his next shot. The goblins had only just begun to react to his presence when he fired the second shot and hit another goblin in the chest. The goblins seemed to be panicking from the sudden deaths of their companions and the sound of his gun. He cocked and fired the gun three more times to devastating effect. Five shots, five very dead goblins.
Thomas lifted the gun and blew at the smoke trailing out of the muzzle. Firestone powder didn't produce a lot of smoke thankfully so the air was still rather clear. After performing the classic move, he made his way over to the last goblin he'd shot to check the damage before its body disintegrated. The point of impact on the goblins chest was a massive crater that had obliterated its flesh and bones. Thomas let out a low whistle and looked over his shoulder at Snowlily, "Looks like it's really effective."
Snowlily glared back at him with a look of blame as her ears wiggled on her head. He smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but I told you that it would be loud."
His revolver was actually not as deafening as a real gun was. Maybe because of the Firestone powder the sound of the gun firing was more like a deep bass that a loud explosive sound. The sound of the bullet breaking the sound barrier was the loudest part of firing the gun. Thomas reached over his shoulder and stroked her head before checking her status to see how much experience she'd gained.
Name: Snowlily
Experience Gained: 90 Experience Spent: 60 Experience Remaining: 30
Power: 4 | 50 Exp
Endurance: 6 | 70 Exp
Agility: 9 | 100 Exp
Magic: 12 | 130 Exp
Skills:
- None
Abilities:
- Tracking (Scent) // Rank 1 // 5/20 Exp
- Mana Control // Rank 1 // 5/20 Exp
Magic:
- Ice Magic // Rank 1 // 5/20 Exp
Titles:
- First Soul Companion
Thomas was surprised when he saw that Snowlily had already spent the experience she'd gained. Or maybe it was automatically spent? He didn't know enough to really speculate on what was happening with her status. He dismissed it and looked at Snowlily, "Did you spend your experience already?"
She just tilted her head to the side at his question and didn't answer him directly. There was no telling if she could speak and chose not too or was unable to speak yet. Thomas studied her for a little bit longer to see if he would get a reply. When nothing was forthcoming he just shrugged his shoulders.
Before heading to the next room he ejected the spent rounds from his revolver and stored the empty cartridges away. He then loaded fresh cartridges into the cylinder. The greatest advantage revolvers had offered when they were made was the number of shots they had. Back then being able to fire six shots in a row was a big advantage. However, Thomas felt that a bow or crossbow would actually be much better at a sustained fire rate than his revolver.
None of that really mattered though. Now that he'd made the revolver he had more experience making a gun from scratch. With this experience under his belt, he could start thinking of ways to improve it and add more enchantments and infuse mana into it to make a true Magitech weapon.
