(Jamie)

"Hey, Max," I say, and he looks at me. "Ready to return to the Dungeon?"

"Yeah," he sighs, walking over to me. "My dad's a fucking ass for doing that."

"Maybe," I say. "But it's me who's fucking ass in this room."

Max punches me, probably for the bad play on his phrasing. Whatever floats his boat.

After breakfast, we clean up, get dressed, then start making our way down to the Dungeon. The line's especially long today, but since Max is a Demigod, we get to skip it. His sister's on her way out, and she runs over to give me a hug. After allowing me to breathe again, she wishes us luck, then leaves, and Max and I make our way inside.

We trigger the stones to teleport directly to Floor Eight, and I ask Max if he's okay with me attempting to kill some Crimson Field Vipers on my own, due to my new stats. He laughs and tells me to go ahead, so we walk through the grass until some come at me.

I can easily track them with my eyes, telling me that I can definitely kill them. I let one of them bite me, and its teeth literally break off against my leg. Once that's determined, I kill it, then get to work hunting down more.

Max and I battle our way against the Crimson Field Vipers, drawing closer and close to the mountains. These things are actually pretty easy for me with my current stats, and by the time we reach the base of the mountain, Squire has gone to up to Level 3. I almost laugh at the tiny amount of Stats I gained from that. Three points isn't half a percent of one of the two Stats they're split between.

We finish fighting our way to the mountain, where we're blocked by two golems. Unlike the statue-like golems at the other Dungeon, these ones are humanoid chunks of dirt and stone with thick bodies and dark brown stones for eyes. Something more akin to what's scene in fantasy stories and shows and stuff back on Earth.

"Want to try them?" Max asks as I kill another Crimson Field Viper. "Or want to head back?"

"Let's head back to the portal," I tell him. "I want to train a little bit more before going up against those things."

He nods, so we fight our way back to the portal. That done, we fight off to the side, then return to the portal, breaking for lunch and some much-needed rest. I might be a lot faster, but I am still limited by my stamina. Max as well, though he has vastly more than I do.

After we've rested for a bit, we hunt more, then exit the Dungeon, making our way through the streets of town.

"Stop it!" A voice yells. "Stop that thing! Somebody grab it!"

The shouting continues. Several people are yelling. Max and I turn towards the source of the commotion. We can't see anything, though we can tell there are guards running our way. As they draw closer, we see the crowds parting, but then I notice that some people are shifting before then, as if moving out of the way of something.

The guards are chasing something low to the ground. It's moving towards us pretty fast, and it doesn't take long for me to discern the form bolting between legs.

It's a Beastborn, judging by the black, triangular ears atop his head and the thick, fluffy tail at his rump. He's dressed in just a pair of old, worn-out pants as he darts between the legs of people, and according to his Status, his name's Cole, though he has no Level yet. He's running on all fours, like a wolf. His Status confirms to me that he's a Wolf Beastborn.

Several Adventurers try to stop him, but Cole's a bit tricky to catch. He notices them moving before they can get very far and manages to slip out of their reach, sometimes running around or between their or someone else's legs.

This guy's fast.

I look at Max and mouth 'I've got this', then keep track of the Wolf Beastborn, and just as he starts to run around me, I shift at max speed to right in front of him. He crashes into my legs head-first, his rear and legs flipping up for a moment before crashing to the ground. As he moves to all-fours again, I bend down and grab his wrist.

"Hi," I smile at him, and he looks at me with pure fear in his eyes.

He's dirty, and there's a paler spot around his neck, both cleaner of dirt and lighter than the rest of his skin, as if it gained much less time in the sun than the area around it.

Cole struggles to break free of my grip, and I stand, pulling him to my feet with ease. He struggles to slip out of my grip, but it's useless against my Strength. I look at the guards approaching us, they're definitely out of breath.

"Hey," one of them pants, looking relieved. "Thanks… Jamie?"

"Yes," I say. "Why are you chasing him?"

The moment I say 'him', Cole's ears twitch, and he cocks his head at me curiously. He's not used to being referred to as a person.

"He's a damn Beastborn!" The guard says in frustration. "He shouldn't be in this city! He snuck into a merchant's wagon and bolted the moment he was found. Only humans should ever be within this city! No offense, your Divinity – your kind is exempted."

Max smiles, and the guards recoil at that. The smile wasn't a nice one.

"Behave, Max," I say, then look at the guard. "I'm giving Cole here a pass to be in the city."

"You don't have that authority," the guard says. "What makes you think-"

"Would you rather lose your head?" I ask, putting my left hand on the hilt of my sword. "Because I think he'd make a nice addition to my team. He's clearly superior than you guys in terms of speed, after all."

"Only humans and Demigods are allowed in town," the guard snaps. "That's the law, and-"

"Fuck the law," I draw my sword, spinning it so I'm holding it properly. "Because he's staying."

"He's a-"

"I don't give a fuck!" I yell, the civilians watching us stumbling back. "He is going to be with me until such a time as he can handle himself. Then, if he wishes to leave, he may leave. You will not touch him, you will not hurt him, you will not hinder him, you will not cheat him. This is final. Anyone who wants to be a discriminatory bastard with him will lose their lives. Am I clear?"

The guards look like they want to protest, but they're having second thoughts. I know I can take them by myself. I'm not letting Cole suffer because people can't get along with those of other species. Not anymore. It's clear he's been a prisoner for a long time, judging by the collar tan he has. Or had been. They take him back, they'll likely beat him, abuse him, and enslave him again.

If they don't just torment him until they kill him.

"We-" the guard begins.

"Will not," Max steps up beside me, deciding to finally speak. "Put a hunt on Jamie and attempt to have him arrested for this. Or do you think that whatever Adventurers would come after him would be able to challenge me?"

Max snarls at them, and the guards stumble back.

"I didn't think so," Max snarls. "Even if a powerful enough Adventurer did come who could manage to take on Jamie – or even a team of them – none of them would be able to handle me. Jamie wants a Beastborn with him, he gets one with him, despite your discriminatory bullshit. Now fuck off, before I decide to eat you for dinner."

Max turns and starts walking, and I roll my eyes, then follow him, keeping a firm grip on the Beastborn's wrist as we walk.

"Let's sell our loot, first," Max tells me, and I nod.

We head into a shop to sell our loot, and it's clear they don't want to deal with us, because of Cole. We ignore that and sell our shit, making sure they know we know the real prices on things, then make our way to a nice restaurant.

It takes a few minutes to get them to actually work with us, as well as me restraining Max from burning the place down. He's a Demon to the core, even if he's softening up for me. He's also hungry. So it's only natural that he's in a bloodthirsty, destruction-happy mood right now.

"Also," Max growls as we're seated. "For that bullshit you pulled when we first tried getting seats, I expect our meals to be free."

"I-" the waitress begins, and Max gives her a glare. "-will speak with the manager."

"Good," Max growls. "Now get us our drinks."

I remind Max that we need to order our drinks first, then we look at the menus and order them. The waitress leaves, and Cole shifts in his seat, uncomfortable. We're drawing a lot of stares.

The rest of dinner is a disaster. Max is in a foul mood the entire time, and the waitress is nervous. She spills a couple of things, drops a refill on Max's drink, shattering the glass, and Max is constantly snapping, snarling, and growling. Cole is silent as hell, scared out of his mind, and people keep giving us glares and uneasy looks.

I think I'm the only 'calm' person in the restaurant by the time dinner ends. We do get to leave without paying, though, but that's probably to get Max and Cole out of there. Max because he's furious and really, really wanting to burn the place down with everyone inside, and Cole because… he's not human.

We walk to the inn we're staying at, and I tell Max and Cole to wait where they are so I can talk to the innkeeper. He keeps giving Cole looks that says he doesn't want him here.

Whatever.

"Hi," I say. "I've added a new member to my team, and was wondering if I had to up the rate for my room or not."

"We don't allow that kind in our establishment," the innkeeper says.

"I have it on good authority," I say. "That you have two Demigods staying at this inn. Would you rather have a reputation for kicking out paying customers just because they aren't your species, or for chasing off two Demigods? Because both will no longer be patrons of this establishment if you refuse to allow Cole to stay with us. And what's the deal, anyway? Why do you see him as not a person just because he isn't Human? It would be like trying to kill me because I'm gay. It's not like he chose to be born like that. Or I to be born gay. Or I for a god to pull me to this world on a whim. Or you for you to be born with a tiny dick."

The innkeeper doesn't look happy, but he reluctantly agrees to allow us to stay, even with a Beastborn in the party.

"Fuck that," a mountain of a man starts walking towards Max and Cole. "The brat's only Level 15, it's not like he could do shit. I'm not staying in an inn with one of those freaks. If you won't throw him out, then I will!"

He doesn't say anything else, mostly because Max has removed his head from his shoulders in a movement too fast for me to even notice. One moment, the man's marching towards them, the next, his body's dropping to the ground and Max is holding the dead man's head.

"Max," I say. "I know you're angry, but you could still show some restraint. Next time, just, like, remove a hand or something."

"Whatever," he drops the head on the ground, then swirls fire around his hand to burn away the blood. "Let's go up to our room, I'm still soaked in sweat from our workout. You can go for a long time, so I need to wash and get some sleep."

You worded it like that on purpose, didn't you? Now everyone knows I'm getting Divine Ass.