Gino sat on the porch in front of his base’s entrance, an arm propping his chin up on a knee. A mild, refreshing breeze strolled past him, kicking puffs of dust into the air as if trying to obscure his vision. He ignored it as usual and continued watching a peculiar sight in front of him, keeping tabs on the black bundle of fur roaming around and enjoying itself on parched earth. Archie, his newly named companion, ran about in circles as it chased its tail and occasionally scratched his rear ever so often in almost predictable patterns.

Gino wasn’t sure if beasts here could even have fleas or that was considered normal behavior for a member of Archie’s species, but he wouldn’t be too surprised if there did exist a version of those bloodsuckers on this planet. The influence of Concepts, or whatever was responsible for causing supernatural events here, had a nasty habit of doing the impossible; Gino had his fair share of such experiences after all. It was only to be expected by this point, as it seemed impossible for any creature to survive without at least one logic-defying power. He quietly mused underneath the sun’s bright, blue light, eventually entering deeper contemplation.

Reminiscing about all he had accomplished throughout the years, Gino now marveled at his current situation. Here he was, relaxing in an alien world, sitting outside of a house made of alien rock, hanging out with an alien pet named Archie, and treating things he had once believed as fiction as the new norm and just an unassuming part of reality. Yup, nothing wrong with that. Gino sarcastically judged. He had long since stopped using the standards on Earth for this foreign environment; otherwise, he might have gone truly insane. But I’m not insane though. Definitely not. I’m just a man trying to survive, that’s all. And getting a pet helps a lot in the mental department anyway.

Gino finally stood up and stretched his arms and legs out of habit, trying to shake off the sense of boredom. He was about to whistle to gain Archie’s attention when he noticed that the beast was already sitting in front of him, waggings its two tails. With an approving nod, Gino rubbed the top of its head and proceeded to return to their two-room house. Over the months he had spent with Archie, Gino and his little helper renovated the base into something barely passable but adequate enough to live in for a few more years. A wide area had been dug out from the stone walls right next to Gino’s room, forming a new home for the beast. During that time, he had learned that Archie apparently didn’t like small, tight spaces or sleeping outside, leading Gino to painstakingly carve a spacious room out of the granite while wondering how the creature managed to survive on that cliff. Still don’t get how Archie lived in those conditions since he’s so picky. He could’ve dug out a hole to live in but it would have been really cramped. What a weird-ass alien dog.

Both of them soon entered the house, each moving to their respective rooms and going on about their own business. Archie decided to sleep on a white pelt that was obtained months ago from a bear-like creature, while Gino went to his favorite stone desk and pulled out a frayed, yellowed notebook from a drawer that was clearly misshapen. Unpleasant screeches rang out as Gino closed the drawer with a slight grimace. His hearing was far more sensitive than what it had been years ago when the desk was created. He shook his head in distaste at the poor craftsmanship before nervously and delicately carrying out his intentions with the journal. Instead of reading from its contents or adding words to it, he began counting the number of pages present.

Long before Archie agreed to stay with him, Gino had already discovered a bizarre, repetitive occurrence surrounding his journal. Every time he had opened it, he would find that a random page mysteriously disappeared. However, there were no indications that a page was ripped off or handled by anyone else other than him. To make matters more perplexing, Gino couldn’t understand why any one or thing would deliberately remove a single page each time the notebook was opened. He couldn’t fathom why the culprit would choose to do so, how they knew the book was opened, or how anyone even knew about the existence of the journal in the first place. Every creature Gino encountered was barely sentient as far as he could tell, and it wasn’t like he taunted every monster he faced to try taking the notebook from him.

Gino flipped through the journal and, as expected, he found that another page was missing again. He sighed in exasperation as his fears came true irregardless of whether he left the book alone for months on end or not. Achieving what he had set out to do, he carefully tucked it away back into the drawer and left the room with a frown. Before departing from his base, Gino casually passed Archie’s room to see what it was doing. He snorted, seeing the beast lounging on the pelt he had roughly skinned from an Ice Vole, and left the compound after briefly noting that Archie still had two Concepts. Ever since that day he and Archie agreed to cooperate with each other, Gino had been able to see his companion’s information on his own status screen. At first, he was confused as to why such a situation unfolded in that manner, but he quickly accepted it as Gino couldn’t even explain the existence of the screen itself.

He decided to examine his status screen for any new changes as he walked a few miles into a random direction.

Gino Faulkner Companion: Archie Unknown race Nexum Moderatoris Vulpes Level: -29 Level: 308 Concepts: 5 Concepts: 2 -Of Awareness [E] -Of Connection [CM] -Of Reflection [CM] -Of Communication [JM] -Of Conversion [CM] -Of Balance [T] → [JM] -Of Order [T]

I still find it strange that Archie didn’t have the Concept of Illusion like I expected but something called ‘Connection.’ Also, why does a dog have ‘Communication’? That makes literally no sense, even for an alien beast. It can’t speak so obviously it could only understand speech, probably. I wonder… I wonder if I could get that. The ability to understand what anyone’s saying sounds incredible. If I were on Earth, I’d probably be the most influential polyglot.

But it’ll definitely be useful in this world too. Maybe then I can finally obtain the answers I’ve been looking for. Like what this planet is, why does everything want to kill me, and- the most obvious, of course, why there’s no plant-life here. Hmm… wait a minute. Do I? Do I need to wait for a beast to somehow tell me that? Why can’t I… solve it... on my own...

Gino stopped in his tracks, an epiphany dawning in his head. His eyes were looking at the sun, but his mind was somewhere far beyond. Back on Earth, Gino became a scientist not because of the need for money, but due to his compulsive desire to satisfy his curiosities. It was the sole reason why he was now in an alien world, an unexpected consequence of refusing to wait a single day to begin the energy source experiment. Wistfully remembering his time on Earth, Gino blinked his misgivings away before smiling broadly, faintly recalling that feeling of nostalgia as well as that excitement he had felt right before that strange energy source exploded.

Well, then. I think it’s time to really explore this planet. Wow. What, what was I even doing all this time? Surviving? Been there, done that. I’ve been doing that ever since I got here, but surviving isn’t exactly living. There’s an actual mystery to solve and I could feel that it’s calling me. I wonder why I haven’t done so already. Did I really think that that was normal even for this planet?

Gino glanced at the horizon before squinting his eyes and turning around. He backtracked to his refurbished hovel and immediately called out for Archie. In no time at all, the beast appeared before him, wagging its tails. Gino recognized that body posture and look instantly. Somehow, it knew that they were going to do something exciting. He cleared his throat before squatting down so both he and Archie could be at eye level.

“Hey pal, you could probably guess by now, somehow. Yeah, we’ll be going on a much longer journey this time, unlike any of our previous ventures. I have no idea how long it’s going to take, but I have a gut feeling that it’s gonna be one heck of a ride. I’m hoping you could tag along with me. So, you in?

Archie raucously barked and spun in circles. Gino let out a relieved sigh, chuckling and patting its head. He knew he could count on his partner. Although they hadn’t been together for too long yet, he could instinctually feel that a strong bond was forming between them. Gino partly attributed such a phenomenon to the beast’s ‘Connection’ ability, and the rest to their time spent together. The numerous hunting excursions they had went on continuously improved their affinity as well as understanding of each other. Gino quickly began making his provisions. He went around the house, performing last minute checks and setting basic detection traps composed of rocks stacked on top of one another and in specific patterns. If any of those pillars or patterns were disturbed, he would know that there had been an unexpected visitor during his absence.

Ensuring all his preparations were good to go, he grabbed his trusty homemade flint-and-steel and started running at a casual pace without telling Archie. A few minutes into the journey, Gino could hear the unique footsteps of the four-legged beast right behind him. He then grinned.

For a relatively short time, across the lengths of months, he had tested as much as he could the capabilities of his companion. It turned out that Archie wasn’t as strong or sturdy as him, but it was surprisingly as nimble and even comparable in speed. That came as a huge shock to Gino because his current cruising speed was much faster than when he had first chased down those Tisses - which happened years and years ago. Back then, he had been as fast as a car but now, Gino knew he could outpace probably an airliner and maybe a fighter jet if he gave his all. In his analysis over the years, he had already confirmed something fascinating - he was growing. Gino visibly saw improvements in all aspects of his body on a daily basis, as if he was undergoing rapid, monstrous evolution instead of simply becoming faster or stronger. He couldn’t make sense of it as the results were scientifically as well as physiologically impossible for any human. Gino could only take it at face value by this point and assume that either his status screen or Concepts was primarily at fault. However, he couldn’t say which was most likely the culprit as the status screen contained his Concepts and the Concepts themselves barely changed over the years. ‘Balance’ was still his most recent upgrade despite it occurring months ago. Gino could only sigh with how much he didn’t know about anything on this planet and his own condition.

Looking back one last time at Archie, Gino swiveled his head forward and set course to what was once his most beloved hunting grounds: the Antlion Graveyard. Ever since he had become more powerful and met his alien dog ally, he had molded himself into the Antlions’ greatest terror to have ever walked their sands. It took only a few months for the last of the Molten Antlions to perish, ironically dying within their own quicksands.