Limitless Path

The two girls soon passed through the field and woodlot, arriving at the top of the neighborhood and Beth's backyard. As they emerged, Beth saw it was yet another gathering of people, several of the neighbors joining together to pool resources, specifically food. The group was chatting away in the fading light but quieted down as they noticed both Beth and the large red wolf beside her.

Beth wasn't bothered by the group's focus and stepped forward before leaping the ditch and berm in one shot, landing five feet inside the backyard easily. Blood followed behind her, jumping to the embankment first, as she yet lacked the boosted Strength to make as huge a leap as Beth could. Beth led her companion to the rectangular plastic table being used to hold the food as everyone stared, beginning to load up a plate with cooked meats for Blood to eat.

"And who is your new, ah, friend there, sweetie?" finally asked her father.

Beth finished with the plate, setting it in front of Blood, before starting to load up one herself. She answered as she was filling her plate, "Her name is Blood. She's my new companion."

"I guess we're going to become a circus now as well," said Soph sarcastically.

"Yeah, we already have a clown," Beth retorted, turning and staring at Soph coldly until she blushed and looked down.

"Now, now. There is no need for such language. I see that you appear to have had another eventful day," her father interjected, motioning at her shirt. The rest of the people present had started to resume their conversations, but quieted down to listen to Beth discuss what she had been up to. She finished loading her plate and grabbed a large drink before sitting at the table positioned to the left when looking out from the back of the house.

"I cleared the wolf dungeon today," Beth started without preamble, shoveling food into her face right after. Swallowing and taking a huge swig of sports drink, she continued, "It was pretty tough, definitely worse than the ant dungeon. If you can't handle the ant dungeon, definitely leave the wolves alone. Blood was the reward for clearing the dungeon solo." It was a little stretch to say her companion was the solo clear reward, but she figured nobody would be clearing it solo for a while, anyway.

In typical fashion, her father and Zack both took out their notebooks to take notes as she resumed her demolishment of her plate. They both made a few preliminary notes based on what she had said so far while letting her work through more food before they started asking questions.

"What's our enemy composition looking like?" Zack asked first.

"Wolves in the field and area south of the development go up to level five at least and travel in small packs. They roam a lot more than the ants, making the field a lot more dangerous to move through. The dungeon is actually called a Breeding Ground. It's a small area of trees that's bigger on the inside and I don't know how, just put it down as magic," Beth replied, chugging most of the rest of her drink.

"The inside of the Breeding Ground is fairly heavy forest with a bunch of clearings with trails between. The wolves are grouped in the clearings, and there can be a lot. Like, the final group I fought had nine wolves, including the boss wolf, which was a level eight Great Wolf." She got up from the table and returned to the back table with the food, filling her plate again. She grabbed a few more pieces of meat and dropped them on Blood's plate before getting a fresh drink and returning to her seat.

Zack and her father asked her a few more questions as she polished off her second plate of food, but they seemed to not need as much information today, probably having both adapted somewhat and gotten information from other sources. She continued, filling her plate a third time, before returning and sitting at the table yet again.

This time, her mother finally spoke up, "I am sorry I was a bit abrupt yesterday, but I worry about you, Beth. Can you at least tell us when and where you are going to be during the day?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I have Blood with me now, and tomorrow she-," she pointed at Kim, "and she-," she now pointed at Sabs right next to her, "will be with me."

"What?" almost everyone asked in unison.

"The dungeons won't give me that much experience here anymore, I need to go farther out. But I want to raise their levels before that, so it's time for a little grinding," Beth answered.

"What do you mean, 'grinding'?" asked Zack.

"Video game term. Killing a bunch of monsters over and over again in an endless grind to get levels, new skills, gear, money, etc.," she replied before refocusing on the destruction of plate three.

"I'm down. Let's do it," answered Sabs.

"If we're in a group, I guess it's okay," Kim seemed a bit more hesitant, but agreed as well.

"I am really not thrilled with the idea of you dragging other people into this madness. Just make sure to be careful," her mother said with a sigh.

Beth finished her food and entered the house, getting a large bowl before filling it with fresh water and heading outside. She dropped it in front of Blood and returned to her spot at the table, answering yet more questions from the people present about the wolf dungeon. She described the size and speed of the Great Wolf in detail, warning everyone not to try to go in and fight one until they were much stronger or unless she was with them.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

After Blood was finished eating and drinking, she walked over beside Beth before pushing her head into Sabs, nearly knocking the small girl off her chair. Sabs responded immediately, hugging Blood's already somewhat large head with both her arms and burying her face in Blood's thick, soft fur. The rest of the evening passed quickly, with everyone else, except for Sabs, leaving before it got too late. Sabs spoke to her mother for a minute before Sabs' mother left for the evening and Sabs herself returned to sit by Beth again.

Beth simply grabbed Sabs' left hand with her right and kept going over some of the details of the day with her father. Eventually, Thomas had everything he needed and entered the house to compile his notes further, the rest of the family trailing after. Beth, Blood, and Sabs stayed outside for another few minutes, enjoying the much cooler air of the late evening in the early Fall.

"So how exactly was your day?" Sabs asked Beth while giving her a bit of a raised eyebrow.

"It was long," Beth replied with a deep sigh. "I almost died this morning because I was hurt so bad and now, here we are, sitting and talking."

Sabs squeezed Beth's hand as she talked, listening to her recount in more detail what it was like to fight the giant wolf. After a moment, she took Beth's right hand in both of hers and held it firmly. Once Beth had finished speaking, Sabs just sat for a moment, holding Beth's hand tightly.

"You know, you don't have to do everything alone," Sabs said suddenly.

"I guess not, but I want to be out there, fighting these beasts. I don't want to hide," Beth answered, squeezing Sabs' hand while looking off to the side.

"You think I'm going to hold you back?" Sabs asked, frowning at the taller girl.

"No, that's not what I meant." Beth immediately reacted, trying to hold both her hands up to wave a negative, only realizing a second later that Sabs' hand was still in hers. "Oops, sorry," she continued, letting their hands drop again.

"Then what did you mean?" Sabs asked, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I just get frustrated sitting around with nothing really happening. I've always been like that," Beth responded while glancing at the table, still not wanting to meet Sabs' eye.

"Well, I didn't appreciate being left behind today," Sabs replied crossly. "And before you say anything, I know I don't know as much as you, but I could still help."

"Hey, I'm sorry. But we're going to correct that tomorrow, okay?" Beth replied, still not able to meet the older girl's eye.

"It's fine, Beth," Sabs replied with a sigh. "I just want you to stop and think about what other people think before you just act." Sabs stood up as she finished speaking and slipped into the younger girl's lap, resting her head against Beth's shoulder while she wrapped her arms around Beth's neck.

Beth returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl and pressing her cheek against the top of Sabs' head. The two remained like this for a little while before Sabs stood up, disentangling herself from their embrace.

"I have to head home now," she said as she stretched a little, Beth admiring her the whole while.

"You sure you don't want to stay the night?" Beth asked, grabbing her hand again.

"No, honey, I'll see you tomorrow morning," Sabs answered before leaning down quickly to plant a light kiss on Beth's lips, quickly darting out of the Bells' backyard immediately after in hopes of hiding her blush.

Beth, taking a minute to recover from the quick shock of the kiss and being called 'honey,' got up and walked inside, dropping her equipment in the mudroom, Blood following behind. The two headed up to Beth's room, not encountering anyone else on the way. Beth grabbed some fresh clothes before taking a quick shower, changing into something light to sleep in.

She hopped into her bed and set her phone on the nightstand, plugging it in to charge before she turned out the light for the night. Blood had settled on the floor for the moment, and the two soon fell fast asleep.

Beth woke to the sound of her cellphone alarm going off early the next morning. She was a little bit groggy, and it took her a moment to realize something was off, as a heavy weight was pressing her down. After giving her head a shake to really wake up, she looked down to find Blood had climbed on top of the bed at some point and was sprawled over her legs.

"Hey girl, time to get up," she said in a slightly husky voice as she reached down and scratched Blood's head. The wolf halfway sat up and yawned with a huge grumble before leaning into the scratching. After a couple minutes of that, Beth realized she might just spend all day petting her new companion if she didn't get moving.

Managing to climb out from under both Blood and the covers, she shuffled over to the bathroom while absentmindedly scratching her stomach. She stopped as she got in front of the vanity before suddenly jerking her shirt up, looking in surprise as the mirror displayed a much more muscled stomach staring back at her.

"Huh," she grunted eloquently before letting her shirt drop with a shrug and continuing her morning routine. After brushing her teeth and a quick face wash, she stepped back out into her bedroom, finding Blood sitting on her haunches in the center of the room.

Beth quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, followed along closely by Blood. Just as she was getting to the kitchen, she received a message on her phone, immediately turning back and walking out to the front door. Opening it, she found Sabs right in front of her with her right hand raised in a tentative wave.

Beth ignored the raised hand and stepped forward a single step, wrapping her arms around Sabs' waist and lifting her off the ground in a smooth motion. Sabs only got out a short squeak before Beth pulled her inside, able to hold Sabs up with one arm while she closed the front door behind them using the other. After hugging Sabs for another second, she released the smaller girl before leading her back to the kitchen.

There was nobody up at this time yet again, Beth rising earlier than the rest of the house. She said to Sabs, "You can hang out while I cook," but was immediately refuted, Sabs replying, "No way. I'll help out."

The two proceeded to start cooking a huge amount of food, Blood sitting off to the side and watching attentively. Beth was glad there still seemed to be a supply of food and mentioned as much to Sabs as they cooked.

"It's because the governments are actually doing something for once, as shocking as it is to even think. They've got military and civilian workers protecting food production, distribution, and supply points. That, as well as a number of private companies and groups stepping up to help keep food flowing has prevented things from spiraling out of control. Hopefully, we won't be down to ant legs and wolf shanks any time soon. No offense, Blood," Sabs explained, nodding at Blood at the end. Blood just yipped in response and continued watching the preparations.

The girls continued for a while, finishing the breakfast preparations while they discussed their plans for the day. As they were mostly done, Kim slouched into the kitchen and joined them, petting Blood casually before helping set out the food. Not much later the rest of the family showed up, even Soph staggering into the kitchen while rubbing sleep from her eyes, hair sticking up in multiple directions. It was grab as much as one could and eat it, no talking happening while plates were first loaded, then emptied.

"So, is it ants today?" asked Thomas near the end of the meal.

"All ants, all the time. It'll be great. And by great, I mean gross, sticky, stinky, sweaty, and just generally unpleasant," Beth replied with a nod.

"Just be sure to be careful. I have seen what your clothing is looking like lately, young lady, and it tells a story all on its own," Thomas responded, giving each of the girls a serious look.

After breakfast, all the girls, apart from Soph, helped with the cleanup detail before heading out to the mudroom to get ready. Soph joined them as the three were getting their gear on with Blood watching from the side.

"And what can we do for the young princess today?" asked Beth.

"I'm joining you," Soph replied determinedly.

"Okay, just make sure you know what you're in for. This'll be a big pain in the ass," Beth replied.

"Just like that? I thought you hated me and would tell me to piss off or something." Soph responded.

"Nobody hates you, Soph, they just sometimes find your attitude annoying," Beth said, walking over and hugging her sister.

"Get off me, you oaf," Soph struggled to break free of the hug, but eighteen Strength was certainly not something she could overcome at her level.

"Fine, just keep the stuck-up attitude in check and you're welcome," Beth let go of her and moved over to ruffle Blood's ears.