Astaroth woke up what seemed to be several hours later. The sky was dark and close to him, he could hear the crackling of a fire.
There was a blanket covering him. He groggily lifted his head, before terrible pain assaulted him.
He caressed his head, and there he found a nasty gash, covered in some kind of ointment, on the back of his skull.
'Who saved me?' He wondered.
Then he heard a cracking noise behind him. Astaroth got up as fast as his state permitted him and equipped his polearm, pointing it in the crack's direction.
"Easy there, kiddo." He heard in a familiar voice.
"Korin?" Astaroth asked, puzzled.
Vertigo then caught him, and he started dropping.
"Woah there. Easy now. Sit down, will ya?" Korin said, catching him back before he hit his head on the ground again.
"What are you doing here?" Astaroth asked him.
"What you mean to say is thank you for saving my sorry ass, I think." Korin teased him.
"Ahh, you are the one who pulled me out of the river?" Astaroth asked, still hazy on the events.
"Who else would have saved you, kid?" Korin said, giving him a silly smile.
"You were in trouble, and I was there. I would not let you drown and waste all that precious day of training now, would I?" He added.
"How do you... It's you! You were the one I kept feeling was following me!" Astaroth exclaimed, finally understanding what had transpired.
"Oh? So you knew you were being followed? Why didn't you try to find me?" Korin asked, now curious at the young man's thought process.
"Well, I guessed if what or who was following me had nefarious intentions, they would have attacked me while I was fighting, or right after, when I was exhausted." Astaroth explained.
"How naïve." Korin smirked.
"Huh? Why?" Astaroth replied, confused.
"Do you think a good hunter attacks when his prey is weak? No. He attacks when his prey least expects it." Korin said, matter-of-factly.
"Hmm." Astaroth hummed in contemplation.
It was at this moment that Astaroth noticed a little white lump, on the other side of the fire. He stretched his neck, trying to see what it was, and then he saw two little ears wiggle on the lump.»
"The pup!" Astaroth exclaimed, crawling to it.
"Yeah. When your wolf threw it to the river bank, I picked it up. You were trying so hard to save the little fellow, that I didn't want your efforts to go to waste. So I picked him up before following you downstream." Korin said, smiling gently.
"Young master. Please let me out." Astaroth heard in his head.
"Young master? Since when do you call me that? You usually call me weakling or Elf." Astaroth replied with an eyebrow rising.
"You saved my kin. I shall be eternally grateful for it. You deserve my full respect." White Death said in his head.
Astaroth could feel the reverence in his tone. He summoned him out.
The wolf appeared next to him and slightly bowed its head, before walking to the pup. White Death sniffed the pup all over, licking the wounds on the poor thing.
It did all of this, ever so gently. It surprised Astaroth how gentle the wolf was right now.
Then again, he had already guessed that the pup was his. After the panicked reaction and the insistence to save it, plus that he had been looking for something in his old den, the dots were easy to connect.
When the pup felt the nudging and licking, it weakly opened its eyes. It immediately recognized the white wolf in front of him, although it was smaller.
It whimpered and tried to get up. White Death pushed it back down and kept taking care of it.
"So that's why you were saving it." Astaroth heard from the side.
"Yeah. The pup is his. They rejected it from the pack after the alpha died and swapped to another wolf." He nodded.
"Makes sense." Korin replied.
When the five-minute summon was almost up, White Death grabbed the pup by its scruff and brought it before Astaroth.
"I have told her who saved it. I also told her who my master was now and why it should follow you, too." White Death said to Astaroth.
"You want me to adopt it?" He answered, a little bewildered.
He had never had a pet in his life because it was too much responsibility. He feared he wouldn't know what to do.
"Yes. Although I wouldn't say adopt it. More like making her your companion." White Death replied.
"And how do I do that?" Astaroth asked.
"Name her and make a blood pact with her." White Death said, like it was the most normal thing to do.
"A blood pact?! How do I form a blood pact with her?!" Astaroth said in bewilderment.
"Name her first. If she accepts the name, the first step is already done. Then cut open your thumb and press it upon her forehead. That will seal the pact." White Death said, looking at Astaroth like he should know this.
As he looked at him, he started fading. Time was up.
Astaroth just looked down on the pup, and it looked back at him. Her big, black, puppy eyes were staring at him like she was peering into his soul.
He finally shrugged and went through with it. He thought for a brief moment, trying to find a suitable name.
Then he recalled something he had read in a psychology paper once. Something about an orphan girl, abused and cast away.
The situation here fit, so he recalled that little girl's name.
"Genie." He said, looking at the pup.
"Does that name suit you?" He asked.
The little pup bobbed her head a bit like she was nodding. It almost looked like she could understand him.
"Okay then. You shall be called Genie." Astaroth said, nodding too.
He then pulled his dagger out, cut the tip of his finger, and pressed it upon the Genie's forehead. A spout of vertigo took Astaroth, but it lasted only for a moment.
He could feel a conscience connect to his. No words came from it though, only feelings.
He felt a bit of fear from it, followed by a wave of relief. He looked back down and Genie was now climbing his legs and lying down on them.
She fell asleep right there and then, curled up in a small ball of white fur.
"Well, it seems like you have yourself another ally." Korin said from the side.
"Take care of the little thing and it can become a powerful helper." He added.
"Mmm." Astaroth replied, in a daze.
He looked at the pup's stats, now that it was bound to him.
Status:
Name: Genie
Race: Dire Wolf (Pup)
Level: 4 (0/100) (Exp share 50/50)
Grade: Special
Stat Allocation: Agi-Con-Agi-Int-Str
Str: 4 Agi: 6 Con: 5 Int: 5 Wis: 4
Heath: 250 Mana: 45
Attack Power Str (Bite):20 Attack Power Agi (Claw): 30
Defense: 0.5%
'Great. Now I have another burden on my Exp.' Astaroth thought.
Then again, that is only in the short term. In the long term, this companion would become another asset to put him on top.
Astaroth looked at the little fur ball sleeping on his lap, smiled, and got some rest.
"I'm tired, can I leave you to guard the first part of the night?" He asked Korin.
"Sure, kiddo. I'll wake you up when it's your turn on watch duty." Korin Replied.
Astaroth thanked him, lied down, rolled into the blanket, and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, his day catching up to him.