Sim stared at Chris, not knowing what to do. She stared at her meat, then at the pot filled with delicious smells, then at Chris. She was in a dilemma, Chris laughed. He got a deep bowl, and put a spoon full for Sim.
She forgot all about her meat, and ran forward greedily to the new feast placed before her. She wagged her tail as she ate, the taste was savoury like a home cooked meal. Sim had one of such memories, but it was too far into the past to be remembered, all she could remember was the warmth she felt from the food, and the warmth that Chris gave her.
{Your Affinity with your tamed beast has increased by 5}
{Sim's loyalty has risen by 10}
He finally did it, 'her loyalty had increased.'
'All that just for some food,' Chris chuckled, no one seemed to have noticed, but Sim was a real foodie.
After eating and cleaning up, there was a few minutes left until the end of the day.
The system would probably wake him up in a few hours, so Chris didn't hesitate. There was no way he could clear the trial in his condition, so he popped the high-grade potion he had been saving.
"Man, I'm all out of potions, perfect time to restock, before I get ambushed by the dungeon." Chris opened the store window and purchased 5 mid-grade and high-grade potions.
{You have purchased 5 mid, and high grade potions}
It was for the sack of being aware of the dangers living in the shadows.
Chris went to bed immediately.
◇ ◇◇
Mimi decided that she would go on a trip to find Chris. She had got in contact with her family, and bluntly told them that was the only condition for her return. If they didn't fund her all expense paid trip around the world, she wouldn't ever come back.
It was a bit rash, but she didn't mind, a bit of poverty never scared her, she had the skills to make a living on her own, and she could take care of herself. As soon as she returned from the trip, she would return as the only daughter of the Jacky Frost Company, an Omni channel business, that provided defenders around the world with top-notch products.
They had been a retail outlet, and weapons manufacturing company which wasn't popular, until the spilt phenomenon had occurred.
Her parents had awakened abilities that aided in weapons manufacturing and armour. Leading to the rise and growth of the company, and she was their heir, Mildred Annabelle frost,
Mimi Frost.
She was one of the top 10 defenders across the globe.
Unlike her parents she had not only awakened weapons and armour production abilities, but combat as well.
Mimi was decked out in top body armour, imbued with camouflage functions, they donned the appearance of normal clothing, complimenting her black hair, which fluttered harmoniously in the wind, and her deep blue eyes which showed determination.
She would search every inch of the planet to the depths of the ocean, before she gave up on Chris, and that was just what she intended to do.
"The madam, is truly disappointed."
The crew showed obvious displeasure.
"She's wasting our time chasing after a dead man."
"Such disgrace."
"They might have been childhood friends, but isn't this going a bit too far."
"She's already spent far too much time grieving. It's time she woke up, and came back to her senses."
"I don't even want to be here."
"All for her silly prank, our lives might be in danger"
"After all, he might not want to be found."
"Heh, the miss has no discipline."
She turned around and looked at them. Her eyes, as cold as frost. Her pupils, as white as snow, and deep like the clear blue sea.
Silence.
"I'll be sure to remember."
Gulp.
◇◇◇
Meanwhile, Chris had just completed his daily trials, with the inclusion of a 1 km run, and was in the middle of having a lovely play time with Sim.
He hadn't been spending time with her, so he was worried she might be getting anxiety or stress, but she was Ok. She even joined him in his run this morning, and her stamina had increased by 2.
Truth be told, 'she might even be doing better than I am.'
"I might actually be the one who needs her."
Honestly, other guys in his situation would have been busy, training day and night just to get out of this place, but not Chris. He was as care free as ever. His mental fortitude was spectacular. Perhaps it was because Sim was here, it prevented him from turning into a training manic, obsessed with nothing more than, training, revenge, strength, and power.
It wasn't much, but he cherished his time here. As long as he didn't die, he was happy to be here. No one ridiculed him, he didn't have to pay rent, no one tricked him or broke his heart, and most importantly, no one tried to steal his soul, 'unlike that damned Anna.'
He had brought out a hundred gold just for today. He and Sim, picked out a lot of toys from the doggy section, which they could afford at the moment. Soon there was a heap of toys on the floor. Chris carried the toys in his pack, they went up to the corridor of the training area. There was enough space there to stretch and play.
They went crazy as they burned through one toy after another. They played with puzzles, and Frisbees.
They played catch, hop, hide and seek, cup games, name games, giving commands, singing, dancing, treasure hunts, etc.
He also bought new treat dispensing toys, and a catch machine and chew toys for sim.
Sim was thoroughly pleased.
She kept going around in circles and turning about, while jumping up excitedly.
After they were tired out, they both laid on the floor breathing heavily
"Huff, huff, huff."
"That was fun."
"Awof."
"We should do that again sometime."
Chris rubbed Sim's belly.
{New training commencing}
{Beast Taming}
{Train your dog into a hunting machine, with these simple steps tailor made for you}
{Complete the obstacle course 0/1}
{Run 3 km 0/1}
"Look."
"Awoo!"
Sim whined and folded in her ears.
"Ha, ha, looks like it's time to start your training. I'm going to make you big and strong before you know it." Was this the first time Chris was enthusiastic about the trials? Sim couldn't help but look forward to the training.
◇◇◇
True to his word, that evening, Chris bought Sim a pair of matching clothes. Since the challenge had been issued that day they had to get it over with to avoid any unfortunate situation.
So Chris immediately left for the training room with Sim. Crossing the fiery pits of Lava now felt like taking a stroll in the garden, it didn't take long for them to make it to the other side.
"Now then," Chris opened the door, he saw a well made section. Beside the blue area inside the training hall, was a new doggy area, he dropped Sim in the room, he wanted to cheer her on and guide her, but she insisted on doing it herself. So, Chris had no choice but to leave, he decided, since he was here he should wait until she was done.
He activated B6-419, and started to swing his sword, it wasn't his main training anyway, so he decided to swing at two targets this time.
After a few minutes, he heard a muffled sound. He thought he was imagining things, "I must just miss Sim a bit too much."
"Bow wow."
He heard a loud bark and turned around only to find a dog staring at the floor, and looking at him with the corner of her eyes.
"Sim what's wrong." It hadn't even been half an hour, and she was back, it was either his Sim was exceptional, or things had gone terribly wrong.
"Aww."
Sim walked back, and Chris had no choice but to follow, Sim led him into her training pen and sat down.
A window appeared before him.
{Would you like to commence beast training}
"Oh?" He smiled mischievously, 'no wonder she was like that,' she was just embarrassed to call him back after saying she could do it all on her own?
He smirked, "well you know what you have to do, don't you?"
"Ruff," Sim ruffed.
She rolled over with her legs up in the air and acted cute, she didn't look at Chris, like she wanted to avoid acknowledging what she was doing, Chris laughed as he patted her belly.
She was so adorable when she was like this, Chris spent the entire time laughing while Sim's ears turned red.
Her face seemed to say something along the lines of, "I just hate this guy, tsk."
When they was done, Chris got started with the training, he ran a distance of 3 km along with Sim. It looked like she didn't even break a sweat, if fact she was itching for more, but Chris kept in mind that it was her first time, and didn't let here over do it. He calmed her down with treats while telling her what a good, brave and strong doggy she was, which led to Sim puffing out her chest.
"Ha, ha, ha." Chris chuckled.
Next up was the obstacle course, it was a mix of a maze, along with various obstacles and distractions for Sim to avoid. Chris decided to let her find her way through, while shouting commands from to time to see how she would perform. She didn't have a hard time finding her way out; as expected. Why would the dungeon make everything easy for dogs. In the end Chris let sim find the exit herself.
She responded well to his commands, and reacted accurately.
"She'll have to do it a few more times, and learn to figure her way out."
All in all, Chris was proud of Sim, she did well for her first time, not to mention, she had done it all in 6 hours, which was a lot better than Chris who had completed his trial in 9 hours on his first try.
Chris felt a bit defeated, and slightly ashamed.
"Is it because I'm human?"