To understand just how Mir came to be waiting at the border for the King of Verdan to arrive, one would have to go back to just after the Goblins had returned to their clans.

  This had only happened after scouts had gone to verify that their enemies did not retreat into a camp but had altogether left and returned to wherever it was that they came from. Only then was their own camp disbanded.

  Even with the loss of so many of their people, it would have still been a great cause for celebration, seeing that not only had their king returned to them, but he had also been the primary force for driving back the enemies that sought to kill him.

  But that very King promptly fell unconscious the second Ruknar wore off.

  Instead of only being weakened for some time, Rick’s body had to completely shut itself down to focus on recovery. Even Valora, who would usually be able to stay awake during these moments, was left in the dark as well.

  This was the cost he had to pay for more power. Some would argue that this was a paltry cost compared to what was given, but others might counter and say that being forced into a state of uselessness was completely unacceptable.

  Regardless of which side of the fence people, or in this case Goblins, landed on, this was now Rick’s reality. He could tap into the deep well of power that was Ruknar, but he would have to know that it came with being rendered unconscious.

  For one whole day, in fact.

  Of course, when he lost consciousness, he was immediately collected by members of the Royal Guard and transported back to his personal abode, where a constant guard was in place and no one was allowed to approach.

  Yet despite that, a day later, when Rick awoke, there was something else in his room. In fact, not only was something else in the room with him, but it was also sitting directly on his chest.

  “Ugh... my head... uh... what’s that weight on my chest... uh... Velora?”

  [...I am here.]

  ‘Are you seeing this too, or am I hallucinating?’

  [I see it.]

  ‘…What is it?’

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  [A creature covered in darkness that seems to be constantly shifting between multiple forms. Oh, I also cannot scan it, by the way, so there is that.]

  “…What do you mean you cannot scan it? Are you getting question marks?”

  [No. I quite literally cannot scan it. There is something like a barrier around it and any attempt to scan it is rebuffed.]

  ‘All right. So I have a creature sitting on my chest while it constantly shifts between forms, and there is a chance it is far stronger than myself since it is able to shrug off all your attempts to scan it. Does that sound accurate?’

  [Yes, that sounds accurate.]

  Rick, whose head was only raised slightly, lowered it back down, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh.

  Seeing as how he had just spent the last few weeks fighting Tier Seven beasts, going toe to toe with humans, stressing over the repercussions of the war, and dealing with many other things that had settled in his mind since Jaba first gave him the role of Chief so long ago, Rick was a far more patient Goblin now.

  The beast resting on his chest was likely above the Seventh Tier, and if that assumption was correct, then Rick knew that if the beast wanted him dead, it had every opportunity to do so right now, much less while he was unconscious.

  As long as there was no immediate threat to his life, or more importantly his Goblins, there was no reason to raise alarms and prepare to sacrifice himself in any last ditch, tear jerking scene.

  Or at least that’s what Rick thought.

  After taking a second to relax his mind and let the haze from waking up dissipate, he opened his eyes again and looked at the creature on his chest. Coincidentally, the creature had just transformed into something that loosely resembled a cat.

  “…A cat?”

  The creature, of course Mir, seemed to perk up at the sound of Rick’s absentminded comment.

  “What is a cat?”

  Rick paused for a moment as a voice, neither clearly male nor female but clouded in distortion, asked him a question.

  [Be careful, Rick.]

  ‘I know.’

  “Well, a cat is a feline creature that is typically a common pet. For the most part it is not too big and is covered in fur…”

  Rick then spent the next few minutes describing to Mir what a cat was, and as he did so something amazing happened. Mir’s features, which were already in the process of changing, slowly began to pause in their transformation and instead started to look more and more like a cat.

  It did not replicate Rick’s description exactly, but for all intents and purposes Mir now resembled a cat: one with two tails, color changing eyes, and a sort of darkness that absorbed some of the light near it.

  “Ah, this form is interesting. You did a good thing.”

  At this point, Rick decided to take the situation in stride and not worry too much, and this of course lasted only a few seconds because of Mir’s next comment.

  “My name is Mir. What is yours?”

  ‘Did it just say its name was Mir? Like the Dark Lands of Mir?’

  [I believe that is precisely what it said. And if what it says is true, then this is not an ordinary being in front of us, Rick.]

  ‘I know. Or at least I think I know. It’s kind of hard to wrap my mind around meeting the being that an entire place like the Dark Lands of Mir is named after.’

  [Don’t keep it waiting.]

  “You’re right.’

  ‘My name is Rick. It is nice to meet you, Mir.”

  “Rick? I find you interesting. Get stronger so that we may fight forever. You are too weak right now.”