Elmar was out in the rain again, but he was not socked through. He was trying out his new fire powers. Heating the swamp water was easy. There was no fish in it anyway because the water had become poisonous because of the rain.

It came without guilt for Elmar to boil it and then freeze it. He had thought about setting a tree on fire, but then had thought better of it. What if he started an uncontrolled inferno that got to the inn?

He was the only one who could get out in the rain. The rest needed the inn intact. Elmar made a whip of fire and gave it a few test swings. Then he began to move faster, whipping the air and watching as the stray flames danced.

He wanted to absorb more abilities. He had heard that in the near there is a cave with a water slime. Obviously, the rain did nothing to it. And there were other things in the cave too.

Glowing lizards. What couldn’t he do if he could glow in the dark and light the way for his friends when next they delved into a dungeon? Apart from the glowing lizards, there were tigers inside. Ones that were renowned for their agility.

Would their agility pass to him once he ate a couple of them? This train of thought reminded Elmar he hadn’t eaten anything since the fire demon. His stomach contracted painfully and made the decision for him.

With sure steps, he moved in the direction Garry had told him the cave was. It had been a problem for the inn for a long time, Garry had told him. The tigers sometimes hunted too close to the inn and scared the guests.

But why was there more than one tiger in the cave? Tigers were very territorial animals, their territories spanning kilometers. For them to have gathered at a single place was odd.

Was it a dungeon? What would happen if he ate a dungeon core? His thoughts went back to Theanore and the horror the little nymph would feel if she ever finds out he had considered such a thing.

No, for Thea, he would control himself. No dungeon cores, just mobs. Except if the dungeon core was evil. Then he would feel no remorse in eating it. Elmar was certain of it.

When he approached the cave, he saw the slime outside it. It was like a big water bubble. No eyes, no mouth. It didn’t resist when Elmar plunged his hand inside. Nor did it have a soul.

Elmar cursed at the realization and left the thing be. He went inside the cave and saw a glowing lizard. It was a small thing and glowed a bright orange color. Then it began to glow red and finally blue.

It was afraid. Too afraid to move from its spot. Elmar felt sorry for it. How much can the soul of such a thing feed him, anyway? He moved deeper into the cave.

There was a big slab of meat on the ground. As big as Elmar and with the shape of a blob. He went and touched it. His fingers came out sticky. Something growled behind him. But an adult did not make the growl.

There, in the roots of a shrub, were three tiger cubs. Still blind and feisty. Elmar went to pet them. His resolve to find a meal evaporating. He went back to the blob of meat and uttered a spell to check what it was.

It was a tiger. Skinned and cleaned of bones. Perhaps even the cubs’ mother? So, Garry had seen a single tiger and had thought there were more. And he was right, sort of.

Elmar looked back at the cubs. They looked starved. They didn’t seem like they could eat anything but milk yet. If he left them here, they would die. If he took them out of the cave, they would get the swelling sickness.

He knelt down next to them and petted the smallest of the three.

“I’ll be back with milk. You stay strong now.” Said Elmar, and he traced his steps back towards the entrance of the cave and then the inn. When he saw Garry staring out the window, he smiled.

“Garry, do you have milk here in the inn?” Asked Elmar. Garry shook his head.

“No, but now that I am a dungeon, I can purchase a goat or a sheep. No cows, they make too big of a mess.” Said Garry. Elmar nodded at the gnome and Garry was enveloped in a bright white light and a goat appeared.

Garry rummaged in his dimensional bag and got out a bucket that strongly smelled of apples.

“It is not broken, feel free to use it.” Said Garry, and he went back to the window, to continue his vigil.

As Elmar milked the goat, how wondered why he was doing this. What was he going to do with three tigers? And in another three months the rain will finally stop, and he would be able to leave. What will happen with the tigers then?

Should he take them with him? Train them to obey him? There were three of them. One for him, another for Dereck, and the last for Diana. The twins had always wanted pets, but Claudia, the orphanage’s matron, had never allowed it.

Elmar understood her reasoning. She used to find difficulties just feeding the children under her care, let alone their pets. Now that the grotto footed the bill for food and other necessities, children could get pets, but most of them just had their favorite animal that already lived in the grotto.

The blonde boy smiled at the thought of his favorite animal. He wondered what brave Hiss, the murder muffin, was doing now. He always slipped her a fish from Marinus’ pool in secret. Guarded her as she ate, too.

The goat’s udder dried up, and he wiped his hands on a spare cloth that was hanging by a hook. Then a thought struck him.

“Garry, with what are you going to feed the goat?” Asked Elmar.

Garry was enveloped with another light, and hay appeared next to the goat. It began to eat happily as Elmar petted it. Now, to bottle the milk, so the poisonous rain wouldn’t get inside it.