You adopt a pet healer.

You don't really have to fight anyone to get stronger; you can get XP from stealing stuff, too. The forest is a great place to hang out and have fun, but it's a terrible place to steal stuff from stupid people. But a monster like you is tied to a specific zone. The only ways you can think of to leave are if you grow outside the level range or get taken in as an animal companion- or worse, as a novelty pet. Ew!

You look up at the healer. She's gotten pretty good at scratching, and those weird smells of holy oils and sweet perfumes have gotten a little less annoying. Plus she's cute, and cute girls are the best to play with. They have all the right amount of padding in all the right places for you to nuzzle and sleep on, too.

It's time to move up in the world.

You hold up a sign. [Friends?]

Ariel stops scratching. She stares at you, confused. She does that a lot. "...Friends? You want to be my friend?"

You nod enthusiastically.

She bites her lip. "I... I don't know..."

You point at your HP bar and your level: 10. She's only level 2. [Boosting!]

"You want to help me level?" Ariel asks, taken aback. "Why?"

What kind of question is that? [Companions!]

Ariel's eyes widen. Normally, only Rangers and Druids have animal/monster companions. Their special connection with nature lets them tame monsters against their will; it's exceptionally rare for a monster to voluntarily become a companion, **** to fight its own kind and potentially kept in a cage for years and years.

Even with that tempting offer, Ariel is hesitant. "I don't know if I want to be companions with..."

You glower at her. She was about to say "monster," you know it.

Ariel catches herself, though, and recovers nicely. "...Something that has its Content Filter off. I don't really, you know, want to risk anything bad happening."

You growl. She's smarter than she looks. The first thing you were gonna do was make her turn her filter off. Well, there's always the side benefits. Like getting to follow her out of the zone. You'll make her think you've turned your filter on. No naughty stuff with her... yet.

[Fine.]

Ariel sighs in relief. She's about to get an animal companion, and one that's eight levels above her! XP galore, special powers, protection, and respect are all hers! At least, that's what you want her to think.

You pull up the "request a companion" screen. Quickly, you fiddle with a few of the settings. Since you're a higher level than her, you can call the shots on the initial offer.

Summoning? No, you don't want to be summoned. You want to be the one able to summon her. You put it from "monster" to "player." Captivity? Hell no, disable that option. You fiddle with a few more as quickly as you can. The biggest deal is that if a player attacks you when you're within a certain distance of Ariel, it will count as an attack on her, too. You'll be able to go into player-run cities!

Once you've finished fiddling, you send Ariel the request. She sees it pop up on her screen. She scans it up and down, unsure what it all means. Her finger hesitates over the "decline" button...

You curl up in her lap and purr softly.

Ariel looks away from the scrolling list of options. She smiles, runs her fingers through your soft fur, and hits "accept."

Just as planned.