《Outworlder: Session Zero》 ONE. Id better get some broken magic powers out of this. You ever have one of those dreams when you''re falling but you wake up just before you hit the ground? This was not one of those times. Gavin''s eyes flashed open in a moment of panic. He was falling, a croaked gasp escaped his lips in the moment before he landed face first in the dirt. Numbness punched through his body as he collapsed in a whimpering heap. Flopping himself over onto his back he stared up at the canopy above, processing what was going on. His body hurt everywhere with a stiffness that chilled him to the bone. It went deeper than just ordinary aches and pains, he had a bone deep wariness that felt like he''d been ground down over years. His vision was a little blurry, as well as a persistent ringing in his ears. ¡°What the actual shit just happened?¡± He slurred as his brain lurched into gear, the rush of the past few moments finally coalescing in his mind. Sitting up he could see he was exactly as he''d gone to bed, dressed only in a pair of stretchy red boxer-briefs, he was covered in dirt and bits of twigs from his fall though he didn''t appear to be injured as far as he could see at least. ¡°Where actually am I though?¡± He said as he gathered his thoughts. He didn''t recognise any of the local plants. Not the trees, the underbrush or the small orange and purple toadstools sprouting up around a rotting log beside him. While not a wilderness expert he had been possum hunting with his dad a fair bit and was pretty confident that he wasn''t anywhere near his hometown. ¡°Why am I naked? Was I drugged and abducted? Was I¡­?¡± Scrambling to check himself he sighed with relief. ¡°Guess I better figure out where I am.¡± he said to the empty air. He was on a gentle hill that sloped up and away from him. Below he could hear a creek burbling through thick undergrowth. ¡°Time to make a move Gav¡± he said. Pushing himself to his feet he took his first step straight onto a twig that jammed up into the arch of his left foot. ¡°Mother fucker¡± he swore sitting back down to inspect the wound. It was fine, a red dot marked a tiny piece of broken skin. He rubbed the sore spot, closing his eyes against the pain. Looking around he could see the ground strewn with dense leaf litter, the place was absolutely covered in bits of twigs, leaves, and wait, what was that? He turned his head about to get a better look, but the thing he wanted to look at sat firmly in his periphery. Without moving his eyes he focused on being more aware of his vision, there was definitely the image of a vitruvian man in the top left corner of his vision, two images, one red one blue superimposed over each other, the red one had a slight discolouration on the foot while the blue one was nearly all the way depleted. ¡°Kinda looks like a health and mana pool. Am I in a videogame? Wonder if I''ve got a¡­ bingo!¡± Gavin laughed as a character sheet appeared, superimposed over his vision. Gavin P¨¥ne Race: Human Class: Artificer Strength: 11 (11) Agility: 11 (11) Endurance: 11 (11) Intellect: 11 (11) Willpower: 12 (12) Spirit: 4 (4) Health: 8/13 Mana 4/4 Stamina 2/5 Racial ability: User Interface Class ability: Visualise schematic Titles: None Number of unlocked soul powers: 0 Soul powers: None Soul integration: Level 0, 0% ¡°User interface?¡± Gavin said aloud ¡°visualise schematic?¡± He figured whatever world this was didn''t have electricians so had given him the nearest equivalent class of artificer. He had no idea what the other things were. For the second time Gavin pushed himself to his feet, this time taking more care. As he took his first real step a wide grin split his face, he was in a new world, and he was going to get sweet magic powers. He felt ambition bloom inside him, he was going to figure this world out, and he was going to beat it. He set off again, he figured his character sheet and the vitruvian man in the corner of his vision wasn''t all his user interface could do, and with a little tinkering he managed to open up the rest of it. It appeared to be heavily inspired by one of his favourite games when he was young. The window was split into two halves, the right half had a dark silhouette of a person in the same vitruvian man pose, around him were dozens of slots for items to fit in. Currently he had ¡®mundane underwear¡¯ equipped in the relevant slot. Below that was a four by ten grid as well as an eight by one hotbar. His inventory had a single tab labeled ¡®unsorted¡¯ with space for more tabs. The left half of the window was his character sheet and below that was a button labeled ¡®journal¡¯. Mentally clicking on it brought up another window, it was a stylised book that had several red silk banner-like tabs labeled as ¡®quests¡¯, ¡®bestiary¡¯, ¡®map¡¯, ¡®lore¡¯, ¡®recipes¡¯, ¡®people¡¯, and ¡®notes¡¯ in fancy cursive lettering. His map was just an image of the area he arrived in and the short distance he''d walked, the rest of the world being greyed out. The spot he''d landed in this world was tagged with a marker called ¡®arrival point¡¯. Striding up the hill he was overcome with a sense of excitement and wonder he hadn''t felt in years. A feeling of purpose washed over him, enervating him, all aches and pains pushed aside as a flood of motivation flowed through his body. He fully intended to master this new world if he could, but first he needed to not die of exposure or to wild animals, he also needed to find pants. Coming to the crest of the hill he could see a glimpse of the ocean through the trees but couldn''t make out any more than that. Steeling himself he began to climb one that looked like someone had tried to make a norfolk pine out of eucalyptus tree parts. Hand over hand, he pulled himself up the smooth branches into the canopy until he emerged above the surrounding treetops. There, he had a good view of the surrounding area.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Assuming it was mid morning, he was able to get his bearings. He was near the edge of an endless forest that rolled as far as he could see to the west. To the east was a wide azure ocean broken up by small islands strung out in a meandering pattern. He could see the hills sloping down into tussocks that turned into sandy beaches and craggy black cliffs. To the southwest there were what looked like farmed fields, the grass was too uniform to be wild and he could see the shapes of animals silhouetted against the rolling hills. He figured it was his best bet, where there were farms there were people. He could retrace his steps down the hill, find the stream and follow it to the ocean then turn south until he found signs of life. He was nearly to the ground when his foot slipped on a mud smeared branch. Panicking he threw a hand back to the one he''d just released and managed to slap the next one down, missing his grip. He fell a short way until he jerked to a stop as his other arm snagged on a lower branch as it slammed painfully up into his armpit. Steadying himself he took his weight, looked down, then dropped himself to the ground awkwardly. He staggered and tripped over himself, arms flailing he fell to the ground again. A sharp pain stabbed at his abdomen as he lay there in the wet mulch, winded and wheezing. When he was sure he was more or less okay, he picked himself up, pulling debris out of a small wound near his belly button. A nasty looking red welt marked where he''d hit a rock embedded in the earth. Limping back down the hill he passed the point where he''d awoken earlier that morning. From what he could see there was nothing special or unusual about that spot. No flattened circle, no ring of fire, no sphere of disintegrated earth, just normal forest floor exactly the same as anywhere else he''d seen so far. Before long the trees broke up to reveal a clearing, soft grass and delicate flowers peppered the grove, broken by a stream that ran through the middle. It looked about shin deep and was moving steadily but not fast enough to disturb the silty bottom. Gavin trudged into it, collecting a handful of cool water and scooping it to his mouth. ¡°Oh, that''s the stuff¡± he groaned Splashing water on his stomach he scrubbed the dirt from around the wound there. Without the mud he could see there were a few layers of broken skin but no blood. It''d turn into a painful bruise over the next few days but otherwise he should be okay. Gavin looked around, the stream was flanked by more bush as it flowed down, it''d be difficult to walk near the water unless he cut back into the woods and kept it in sight or he could walk in the stream and risk slipping or getting stuck in the clinging mud. ¡°Back up we go I guess¡± he said as he turned back to climb up the bank he''d just climbed down. As he turned, something glinted in the corner of his eye, a swirl of light just below the surface of the water. He watched as it swirled, shining more brightly as it coalesced into a small bubble on the surface of the water. It was opaque, glimmering with pearlescent light of slowly undulating pinks, blues and purples. The bubble floated gently down stream towards him, caught in the current of the river. Not knowing what to make of it, he bent down to pick it up, panicking as it pulled him in. His perception of the world shifted, rolling forward into a lake that hadn''t been there a moment before. He scrambled to get his bearings, finally pulling himself upright in the waist deep marsh. he brushed muddy water off his face before taking a look around at his new surroundings. He was in a kidney shaped lake surrounded by a strip of land under a pearlescent dome. Wading back to shore he pulled himself back up onto a bank, trying to understand what was happening. His best guess was that he was in some sort of pocket dimension. He assumed that touching the dome would let him out, though that was something to investigate later, he didn¡¯t want it to be a one time instance and lose this opportunity to look around. Standing, he began to navigate his way around the water''s edge, trying to discern the purpose of the area. Oddly, he did recognise the plants here, there were flax bushes, cat tails, and a plethora of native grasses he''d seen while out hunting. Something wasn''t right though, and it took him a moment to place it. There were no animals. No insects, birds, nothing. The place seemed to be a tranquil paradise wasteland. He was just contemplating leaving when he heard a splash in the water. Whipping his head around he could see concentric ripples wandering across the lake, but not what had made them. As he watched, another set of ripples appeared as a ¡®V¡¯ plowing their way roughly towards where he stood. Frowning he walked to the side, fear slowly gripping him as whatever was below the surface adjusted its course to track him. A slimy bullet shaped head emerged from the surface, rows of teeth angled backwards as it snarled at him, slowly, the creature snaked its way out of the water. It was the largest eel Gavin had ever seen or heard of. As thick as his thigh, it was easily as long as he was tall, trailing a slick film of mucus behind it as it slithered towards him. ¡°Nooope.¡± Gavin said, turning to flee. He took a dozen strides, holding his hand out in front of him. He hit the shimmering wall as if it were solid steel, his hand made a hard slapping sound against it as his shoulder followed through and cracked into it a moment later.. From behind he heard the eel hiss its ire, panicking he began running the perimeter of the lake. He turned to watch the eel, still working its way inexorably towards him. He was going to have to fight it. Gavin was keenly aware of how much people overestimated their ability to take on wild animals. His uncle had been mauled by a small wild boar, barely escaping with his life, and his old man had his leg torn open by a possum caught in a trap at the time. An eel as big as he was with that many teeth was not something he wanted to get remotely close to. He looked around for something he could use, spotting several rocks in the soft earth. Racing over to them he hauled them out of the ground, stashing them in his inventory, something that came quite naturally to him. Finding a safe space he could retreat from he stood and waited, watching the eel advance on him with its slow, steady pace. He lifted his arms above his head, taking the first rock from his inventory he threw it at the ground with all his strength. The rock thumped into the dirt, barely grazing the eel. The beast lunged at him, its body lengthening a metre as it threw itself towards him. Gavin dodged to the side, feeling its slick body slap off his back as it flew past. Pivoting, he didn''t hesitate to throw another rock, this one slamming into the curled mass of eel as it undulated to face him again. The eel seemed to be unphased, twisting on the spot to throw itself at him again. Sweating, Gavin stumbled, crashing down to the ground as the eel slapped past him a second time. He barely got himself righted when it came at him again. His final rock appeared in his hands, interposed between them. He thrust it into the open maw of the eel, crushing teeth as its jaw distended to fit around it. He scrambled to the side as the eel dropped beside him, covering his near-naked body in slime as it rolled up over him. He quickly picked up the first rock he''d thrown, lifting it to hammer down on the eel''s head. He felt the two rocks connect with a fleshy thud as he crushed bone. He brought the rock down again and again, not stopping as the eel continued to thrash. The ground was beginning to thicken with foul goo, causing him to lose his balance as he jelly wrestled the eel for his life. He slammed the rock into thick meaty flesh again and again, stoving its head in and crumpling its vertebrae as it tangled itself up in his flailing limbs. Slowly the creature faltered, falling off him as its desire to kill him was outweighed by the damage done to it. Grunting in pain he extracted himself from the mass, hauling on handfuls of grass to pull himself clear. He watched as the eel pulled itself into knots, thrashing wildly as its last spasms of life wracked its dying body. He watched in silence. He wasn''t a massive fan of killing, especially for sport, but this was survival. It was either the eel or him, and he was going to pick himself every time in that equation. Still, he didn''t like watching it suffer, but there wasn''t much he could do. It was probably already dead, the final nerve impulses making it seem like it was in pain, hopefully. As he watched, the eel began to disintegrate, flaking apart as specks of grey ash. An ethereal wind Gavin couldn''t feel blew the dust away, dissipating into thin air. Where the eel once was sat a small orb, about as large as a squash ball, nestled in the grass. It swirled with a twinkling blue light, like looking up from under the ocean on a summer''s day. He bent to pick it up, holding it to the light marveling as glinting shafts passed through it. [Item: Demon soul] [Type: Water] [Rarity: Common] [Description: Use to unlock Soul Power: Water Breathing] [Item compatible with user physiology] ¡°Soul power? That sounds an awful lot like magic powers to me, but water breathing? how gods damned lame.¡± Gavin grumbled to himself as he shoved the orb into his pocket He didn''t know what was in store for his future, but he knew it was going to involve becoming as powerful as possible, assuming he could find some busted synergy. The dome of his pocket universe began to crack and splinter while he inspected the glowing orb, the ground beneath his feet roiling as it broke down into the same flaky ash the eel had done a few minutes earlier. Scrambling, he stumbled for the wall again, relieved to find his hand disappearing through a rift between the cracking shards of barrier. Without hesitation he dived through, feeling a wave of disorientation as he appeared back in the river. It had grown deeper while he was in the pocket dimension, finding himself flailing in chest deep water as it rushed him down stream. He tried to swim to the edge, but the flow of the river had other ideas, tumbling back towards the middle with each bend. Whitewater washed over him as the speed increased, tumbling him into submerged rocks. He kicked for all he was worth, slamming into one especially large boulder, jarring his shoulder painfully. The rapids grew to a crescendo, sending him rolling over a bank of well worn rocks into a widening pool. He landed on a log, toppling over it to fall face first under the water. Thrashing around he fought to right himself, finding the surface he swam up, sucking in lungfuls of air as he was swept out into the middle of the circling pond. A shallow river wound off at the opposite end, the bottom shallowing out as he swam closer. Finally, his feet gained purchase and he was able to pull himself out of the river. Exhausted, he took stock of himself. A ribbon of red trailed its way down his side from a gash he''d picked up somewhere. Probing at the wound on his hip he could feel ragged flesh and torn skin, there was another deep puncture into the meat of his thigh above his kneecap. His shoulder ached, but wasn''t too badly damaged. ¡°Fuckin excellent.¡± Gavin fumed. ¡°I''d better get some broken magic powers after this.¡± Bringing up his character sheet again he could see his hit points were getting low and there was now a ¡®bleeding-minor¡¯ listed under status conditions ¡°Better keep an eye on this.¡± he muttered to himself. With renewed resolve he picked himself up, his wounded leg refusing to work properly he fell to a knee. Groaning, he attempted to stand a second time, getting his feet under him with an effort, using the trees to pull himself up. He stumbled and limped along the riverside, ducking back under the larger tree cover when the foliage became too dense in places. Under different circumstances he would have really enjoyed exploring the new wilderness, he hadn''t been out in the bush since he was a teenager and he found he missed just being outside. Today was different though, he was cold, tired and injured. He needed a hot meal and a cold beer, and maybe something for his wounds. TWO. I can figure the rest out later. ¡°Just think of the magic powers¡± Gavin muttered with gritted teeth an hour of exhausted stumbling later ¡°pain is just weakness leaving the body, so now there''s room for more magic. Definitely how that works. Pretty sure, anyway¡± He was wrapped up in his own world, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other while coming up with ever more creative ways to bitch about his string of bad luck while completely giddy with excitement at the possibilities in front of him. His attention was focused on his notes as he realised he''d bumbled his way right into an unfolding life or death situation right in his path. He felt a now familiar wave of disorientation, looking up he saw he''d stumbled right into another pocket dimension. ¡°Oh shit¡± he muttered, startled at the scene. Three people were fighting a seven foot tall dinosaur. It looked like a knock off Jurassic Park velociraptor, a terrifying cartoon brought to life. It would have been comical if its teeth weren''t covered in gore. A blue robed wizard was shooting bolts of fire and lightning every few seconds from his fingertips, scorching small welts across its flank, though half of his shots were going wide. He chugged the contents of a vial of blue liquid before resuming his assault, dodging and weaving unnecessary as the dinosaur paid him no interest whatsoever. The second combatant, a woman with a thin pointed face, had a spear and was using it to jab ineffectually at the scaled creature, the gleaming tip was skittering off its hide as she failed to commit to powerful strikes, with either fear or inexperience keeping her from hitting its weak points. All she was doing was annoying it. Periodically she''d shoot a green beam at the third and most competent fighter. The third person, a woman, covered in her own blood stood between the two others and the dinosaur. She seemed every bit an avenging valkyrie, short cropped blond hair, fine features and bright blue eyes twisted into hate. Her breastplate was stained red and had several puncture marks as if it¡¯d been bitten once before. She wielded a two handed sword with ease, thrusting its tip into joints and soft parts while dashing and dodging its lashing bite. The dinosaur seemed to resist her attacks, as if her weapon were blunt. Gavin watched as the creature, inhumanly fast, thrashed its tail to clobber the elf across the chest who crumpled to the ground. The swordswoman launched into a blurring series of attacks too quick for Gavin to follow, finished with a mighty strike that tore a gash across the dinosaur''s neck. Thick blood oozed from the wound, but it looked nowhere close to fatal. The spear wielder staggered to her feet placing a hand over her chest as it glowed with green light. Before she could bring her spear to the ready, the dinosaur hit her again with its tail, this time on the shoulder. Gavin heard her arm crunch as a bone broke. She fell screaming, clutching at the jagged splinters sticking through her skin. Blood flowed freely from the wound as she tore strips off her clothes and wrapped them around her arm tightly. The wizard relentlessly fired bolt after bolt of energy. Individually they weren''t doing much, but over time they were beginning to stack up enough to matter. Scales were beginning to flake away as they turned to ash, revealing ruined flesh beneath. He paused for a moment, readying himself for a big attack. He called out an incantation as his hands glowed red. A spiraling helix of red and yellow shot out, carving a line from the dinosaur''s hind quarter, across its belly and finishing just below its head. Spent, the wizard slumped to the ground looking dazed, as if his body just refused to work anymore. Enraged, the dinosaur broke off its attack with the swordswoman to pounce at the wizard, its jaw open wide. She scored a vicious hit as it barrelled past, opening a line across its ruined back and tail. The sight of the wizard''s throat being torn out shocked Gavin into action. ¡°Time to sack up Gav, you aren¡¯t going to get ¡®OP¡¯ by being a coward¡± Sprinting to the downed woman he snatched up her discarded spear. He wheeled, gritting his teeth against his wounds and launched himself back towards the combat. The dinosaur, finished with its kill, whipped around to lash out at the fighter who blurred to avoid the attack with inhuman speed, slashing her sword out to open up another gash, this one across its cheek, separating the skin on its jaw to reveal its bloodstained teeth. The dinosaur rushed forward, attempting to bully her to the ground. She backpedalled, dodging around it as she stumbled, flailing her arms to get her balance. The dinosaur lashed its tail as it passed her, clipping her with its tail and throwing her bodily to the dirt. The dinosaur, sensing the kill, pounced at the prone fighter. Gavin slid to a halt beside her, spear braced against the ground, tip pointed straight at its face. The spear thrust up between its maw of teeth as it landed, the tip skewering into its soft palate, parting the flesh and plunging through its brain to stop dead against the back of the dinosaur''s skull. Gavin lay on his back, using all of his strength to keep the spear steady as the dinosaur thrashed its clawed arms at the two fighters with its remaining life. Bloody drool splattered from its open mouth as its gasping foetid breath washed over them. Raking claws drew closer as it impaled it further on the shaft, even with its dying moments still focused on killing them. ¡°A little help?¡± Gavin grunted, eyeing the woman beside him. She rolled out from under them in a flash, kicking it in the side, toppling it past him, then used her sword like a machete to hack at its neck. The dinosaur''s life ebbed away in a bloody mess as Gavin lay panting, the swordswoman making grizzly work of the dying beast. The brief burst of adrenaline wore off as pain crashed back into Gavin''s body. With the dinosaur thoroughly dead, the woman rushed over to her downed companion, the elfin looking woman with the broken arm. She was deathly still. She began rummaging around in a small pouch on her hip, then a discarded satchel nearby, looking for something she couldn''t find. ¡°Fuck!¡± she swore, dashing across to the wizard and looking through his backpack. After a minute of searching she upended the bag on the ground, snatching at a red vial that tumbled out. She sprinted back to the elf, spraying clumps of dirt as she slid to a stop against her downed companion. She ripped the stopper from the vial, and began pouring the liquid down her throat. Nothing happened. The red liquid welled up out of her mouth to dribble down her cheek. ¡°No, fuck, you can''t be dead! It''s just a broken arm!¡± she pleaded searching around for something else to help her companion. Coming up with nothing she fell across her chest sobbing ugly tears. ¡°Hey, are you ok? Physically I mean, not uhh¡­¡± Gavin trailed off from his position beside the dinosaur corpse, the woman seemed not to hear him Unsure of what to do and too tired to move, he sat beside the dinosaur and waited. While he avoided looking at the woman crying over her friend he noticed another swirling light, like the one from earlier that had coalesced into the tiny pocket dimension. This time the light became a deep crimson flecked with streaks of black. The light flashed brilliantly, another squash ball sized orb falling to the dirt, its pulsing light lessening to a dull glow in the dappled shade of the trees. Grunting with the exertion, Gavin hobbled over to collect the stone. [Item: Demon soul, Spoils of War] [Type: Battle] [Rarity: Very Rare] [Description: Loot monster corpses to convert their remaining latent energy into various permanent items.] (Level 1): Loot a single corpse to create thematically appropriate items. Quality of looted items is proportional to monster level and latent magical force. Looting corpses above your level of magical integration has a reduced effect. Items may be looted directly into any extradimensional storage spaces owned by the user.] ¡°I should probably research what powers I want before just picking up whatever falls into my lap¡± Gavin mused, turning the glowing sphere over in his hands. ¡°Fuck it, let''s try it, I can figure the rest out later.¡± He willed himself to use or absorb it without any initial success, then remembering he had an inventory he placed it inside and selected it from there, a menu popped up prompting him to use the soul power, and another asking if he was sure. Clicking through the menus he saw the item disappear from his inventory and a rush of power coursed through his body. It was an odd sensation, like a door in his mind had just unlocked itself and a whole new world of possibilities lay beyond it. He had an instinctive understanding of how his power worked and how to trigger it, like a child picking up a loaded handgun for the first time he Placed a hand on the dinosaur and pulled the trigger. The corpse wasted away to ash like the eel had done earlier, this time instead of a lame waterbreathing crystal appearing on the ground a stack of materials appeared in his inventory accompanied by a new popup window. [You have looted: Bone Snapper] [You have looted:] [5 Bone Snapper meat] [2 Bone Snapper teeth] [1 Bone Snapper Hide] [1 Level 1 Platinum coin] [3 Level 1 Gold coin] [5 Level 1 Silver coins] [10 Level 1 Iron coins] [20 Level 1 Bronze coins] [50 Level 1 Copper coins] [1 Level 1 uncommon healing potion] The haul of looted items appeared in his inventory as single icons with a number in the bottom corner indicating how many were in the stack, the coins filtering into their own currency tab. ¡°Wonder what the limit on the stacks is?¡± he said, as soon as he had the thought he felt it instinctively that it should be ninety nine for most things with exceptions being for powerful or unique items. He idly wondered if that was a property of the power or an arbitrary restriction he¡¯d somehow instinctually placed on the power. He experimented with taking the items out of his inventory to inspect them, mentally dragging and dropping each item out into the world. The meat appeared first, wrapped in butcher''s paper, a cross of twine securing each chink. The teeth were loose, dropping to the ground while the coins clinked beside them in loose piles. The hide was rolled up like a large gaming mat, grey-green scales on the outside and a piece of twine holding it tight near each end. The healing potion lay in the middle, slightly larger than the vials he''d seen used earlier. Reaching down he grabbed the potion, uncorked it and drank it back. It was like drinking warm fizzy lemonade, the tingling sensation washed down into him, its magic working instantly. His pained leg re-knitted before his eyes, his various bumps and scrapes vanishing moments later. He checked his character sheet to see his health was once again at eleven of eleven. Noticing the woman staring at him, he glanced down at his near naked and filthy body. He was about to say something when the small universe began to collapse, the ground flaking away beneath them. Panicked, Sam began hauling on her friend''s arm, dragging her to the edge of the world. ¡°Grab him¡± Sam yelled, a note of desperation in her voice ¡°please.¡± Gavin sprinted over to her other companion, sweeping an array of gear into his inventory as he did. He pulled on the dead man''s corpse, struggling to move it. The ground was becoming unstable as he braced himself pulling with all his strength against the flaking world. ¡°Shit.¡± Gavin swore, knowing he wouldn''t be able to get out in time. He felt some instinctual revulsion to what he tried next, pulling the corpse into his inventory. He felt his gorge rise, having a person inside him, freshly gored to death was wrong on a fundamental level. Fighting down the nausea he ran for the cracking dome, stumbling through it as he vomited on the ground. He threw the corpse from his inventory like shaking off a spider, not willing to have it inside him a second longer than necessary. Panting, he fell to the side, rolling away from his pool of red stained chunks of mystery goo seeping into the packed earth. Catching his breath he sat up, she was watching him, a complicated look on her face. She was sitting beside her friend, a short trail of blood behind her leading to where the dimensional space had just been. ¡°You alright mate?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°No¡± she said flatly, staring bloody daggers. Her face softened ¡°thanks for the help. Having a body to take back- thank you¡± Gavin unrolled his newly looted dinosaur hide and wrapped it around himself like a toga. He was expecting it to be much more cumbersome to do, but it was surprisingly flexible, like wearing a cool blanket. ¡°No problem, I just wish- Ahh, shit you don''t need to hear platitudes¡± he trailed off ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your friends.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± she said, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet. ¡°Who are you, why were you out here in your underwear?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Gavin¡± he said, holding out his hand to shake hers. ¡°Funny story, I kinda just appeared in the bush back there without clothes on. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Samania. Samania Starbourne.¡± said Samania, her voice cracking only slightly. She was tall and strongly built. Gavin thought that she looked like a poster child for an early forties German propaganda film, all she needed was to look off into the middle distance with a breeze to tousle her hair and a problematic uniform. She shook his hand as a grin crinkled across Gavin''s face. ¡°That''s a proper main character name right there. Mind if I call you Sam though, saying Samania every time is gonna wear out real quick. Also, call me Gav, after what we just went through I think we can safely say we¡¯re mates now.¡± Sam looked at him a long moment before nodding slightly. ¡°Very well. Where¡¯s that accent from? It''s not local.¡± ¡°Yeah nah, it''s from pretty far away eh. I¡¯m from a little town in New Zealand, pretty sure that''s on a different world to this one. Just got here today¡± ¡°Different world?¡± ¡°Yeah, I''m pretty sure anyway, and the last thing I remember was going to bed in my own house then I woke up in the bush a couple k¡¯s that way¡± Gavin said pointing a finger back the way he''d come from. ¡°K¡¯s?¡± ¡°Kilometres? Don''t tell me you use imperial measurements here?¡± ¡°What are those? ¡°Inches, feet, yards, fahrenheit.¡± ¡°I haven''t heard of fahrenheit, but the other ones are common units of measurement.¡± ¡°Ugh, this is the actual worst.¡± Gavin grumbled ¡°a kilometre is like, six tenths of a mile, give or take.¡± ¡°Sounds like an odd measurement system.¡± ¡°I think you can go back to calling me Gavin at this rate. A kilometre is a thousand metres, kilo means one thousand. There are one hundred centimetres in a metre and ten millimetres in a centimetre. A litre of water takes up a volume of one thousand cubic centimetres and also weighs a kilogram. The whole system is really easy to convert between measuring distance, weight, volume, whatever else you could want to measure.¡± ¡°Are you a researcher from your world?¡± ¡°No, not quite, I¡¯m a sparky, basically a person who makes machines work by plugging coloured wires into them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an artificer?¡± ¡°That''s what my character sheet says. My world doesn''t have magic so the skills probably aren''t the same. We use the laws of physics and technology to make things work.¡± ¡°Laws of physics? What are th-¡± ¡°Something I¡¯d advise you not to ask about Samania Starbourne¡± said a voice that washed over them with a wave of power, Gavin felt his bones creak with the force of it. It felt like being scoured by a pile of old books. ¡°Jesus Christ!¡± Gavin exclaimed, startled by the new person in their presence. ¡°Not quite. I am Soliece, the goddess of Intellect¡± she said, smiling coquettishly. She was tall and slim, wearing a plain cream robe. She appeared to be the exact stereotype of an idealised middle aged librarian, the sort of person who inspires teenage boys to read. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Where the shit did you come from?¡± "Usually people are more deferential when they meet a god." ¡°You¡¯re a god? No shit? Well,if you are a god you already know my feelings are regarding you lot" "Yes, I do. Gavin Friedrich P¨¥ne¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know my name?¡± ¡°I know everything that anyone on this world ever thinks, you have thought about your name, and therefore I know it.¡± ¡°What about my world?¡± ¡°Just this one, though I do now know a little bit about your world because you know about your world, thank you for that, unique thoughts aren¡¯t as common as one might think.¡± Soliece said, smiling at him with a self impressed look. ¡°Yeah, no worries, did you know about me waking up in the bush over there, getting my leg fucked up, then walking half the day through the bush? Or about this happening here?¡± He asked, his voice growing more accusatory. ¡°Gavin! You can''t talk to the gods like that¡± Samania said, startled. Gavin ignored her and stared at the god before him waiting for an answer ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Could you have shown up a bit earlier to give us a heads up about what the story is, or give us a hand?¡± ¡°I could have.¡± ¡°Sounds like a bit of a dick move then. Is there a god of healing that could have helped save these guys?¡± ¡°Her name is Florin, though she does not make a habit of intervening in mortal affairs either¡± ¡°She sounds like a bit of a prick too.¡± ¡°Gavin!¡± ¡°Bro, if there''s gods here and they don''t help people then I feel pretty justified in calling them whatever I want. They have a duty to help if they have the power and ability.¡± ¡°The gods have killed people for talking about them like that¡± Samania warned. ¡°Is that true?¡± Gavin asked rounding on the deity. ¡°Yes. Some of my siblings are a little less open minded as others. I¡¯d advise not talking to Entropy like that.¡± ¡°Fuckin great. Turns out gods are real here and they''re the smite you dead if you step a hair out of line types.¡± ¡°There is a balance that must be struck, gods do act to intervene in events both directly and indirectly, but if you would have Florin turn up here to heal the injured or myself to warn you of the dangers would you also have the gods Entropy or Malice be given leave to lay it all to waste?¡± ¡°OK, fair enough.¡± Gavin said, his tension flattening slightly. ¡°A bit of a hand when I arrived would have been nice though, is there a god of clothes that could have hooked me up with something to wear?¡± ¡°I think we should discuss why I¡¯ve come here¡± Soliece said, arresting Gavin''s tirade. ¡°I''m listening¡± ¡°There is knowledge from your world that I don''t want you sharing.¡± ¡°And why the fuck not? Aren''t you the god of knowledge?¡± ¡°I am the god of thinking, and ideas, not the god of hoarded knowledge.¡± ¡°Great, you''re the actual thought police?¡± ¡°Yes Gavin, literally nineteen eighty four.¡± Soliece said, smiling crookedly. ¡°Excellent. Is this the do as I say or die sort of thing, or is it the buy my silence with cool shit sort of thing?¡± ¡°Are you asking a god to bribe you?¡± ¡°I bet the gods have the best bribes. Am I right?¡± The goddess chuckled light-heartedly ¡°to use an expression from your world, we can use a carrot and stick approach.¡± ¡°So bribe, yes, but also smiting?¡± ¡°Something like that¡± ¡°Specifics?¡± Gavin said, adopting his serious business attitude. ¡°You want a contract?¡± she asked, cocking an eyebrow. ¡°Uhh, not especially, I doubt I''m super great at contract negotiation with a god. How about something a bit less formal? A deal in good faith?¡± ¡°I think that will work out best for everyone.¡± ¡°So, in exchange for me not running my mouth about quarks or whatever I get, what, exactly?¡± Soliece held out a strong willowy hand, a leatherbound book appearing in it. ¡°Information.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A book that outlines every known soul power and their effects.¡± Gavin took the book and flicked through it, the writing was neat and dense though layed out in a very easy to follow format. He quickly found the ability he¡¯d just unlocked which showed additional effects as it went through the ranks. The book itself was roughly the size of a highschool maths textbook, though as he rifled through the pages he was sure it was actually a lot bigger than its size. ¡°OK, that''s pretty sweet, but I feel like I''m going to be pretty inconvenienced for my whole life in exchange for something I could probably get with a bit of time and effort, got anything else to sweeten the deal?¡± Soliece erupted in a belly laugh that sounded like cuddles from a thousand sleeping puppies. ¡°There is a reason the gods tend to humour new arrivals Gavin. I think I can accommodate your request. I''ll offer you something more permanent in addition to the information.¡± Three small glowing balls appeared in Soliece¡¯s hand. One rusty orange and black, pitted with imperfections, the second jet black, like a hole in reality, and the last swirling with rainbow colour. ¡°Sweet magic powers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Deal¡± Gavin took the orbs in his left hand then shook her hand with his right ¡°How come I didn''t get the notification to absorb these?¡± ¡°Intention is a key component in the process. You didn''t want to use them right away so they remained in their inert form.¡± ¡°Gotcha. One other thing, does a lot of this magic stuff work on intuition? When I used the looting ability just now I kinda just knew how it worked.¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°Okay, so, now that I''ve been thoroughly bribed, what knowledge can and can''t I share?¡± ¡°Your history, culture, the lamington recipe your aunt taught you are all fine. I specifically don''t want you spreading things like the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology. I will let you know if you are straying into territory I¡¯d like you to reconsider.¡± ¡°OK, got it. Good chat.¡± ¡°Farewell Gavin, I look forward to our next meeting.¡± ¡°Well, that was pretty intense,¡± said Gavin, turning to look at the stunned and pale looking Samania. ¡°You alright mate?¡± ¡°Ahh, yes. I think so. You are a very odd person¡± she breathed ¡°Yeah, I bet¡± [Title: imperturbable] [Your nonchalance in the face of a god has left a mark on your soul Gain a small resistance to effects that impede your abilities] ¡°Oh neat. A title¡± ¡°What?¡± Samania gawped. ¡°Title. Just got one. Gives me resistance to stuff that impedes my abilities.¡± ¡°Gaining a title is no small thing, they¡¯re exceedingly rare.¡± ¡°Ha.¡± Gavin laughed. Good to know. Anyway¡± Gavin said, his voice going sombre ¡°what are we going to do about all this?¡± He said motioning at the scene of death. ¡°I- need to take them back. You have an inventory power right? Can you take them?¡± ¡°I''d really rather not, having that bloke in my inventory for even a few seconds made me want to claw my insides out.¡± ¡°If I carry Allan, can you carry Gail then?¡± ¡°Ah, sure, what about their gear? I picked up a bunch of it, but quite a bit got left behind.¡± ¡°It''s probably best I take their gear, I''ll return it to their families¡± Gavin stashed and organized his new possessions, taking out the weapons and trinkets he''d picked up before the pocket world fell apart. Sam took them, placing them into a small pouch at her hip that easily fit the spear and other assorted items without issue. ¡°I reckon we could make a litter to drag these two, got any rope? Or anything that can cut some branches?¡± ¡°We have plenty of rope and I can get branches if you can assemble it.¡± ¡°Yeah sure, no worries.¡± Samania bought Gavin good sturdy branches she¡¯d hacked off nearby trees with her greatsword while Gavin lashed them together into a makeshift litter. Once it was complete, they loaded each mangled body on before hefting their burden with a loop of rope over their shoulders. With a heave they began the long trek back to civilization. While they walked Gavin quizzed Sam on how the world worked. ¡°So, how does magic work here exactly? I''ve unlocked a power, how many can I get? ¡°That¡¯s complicated, about half of people have inert souls, they can''t use magic at all, some people can activate magical items but that''s about it. One in ten or so are warlocks, we can use demon soul crystals to bind to our souls to get magical abilities.¡± ¡°like this thing?¡± Gavin said holding out the one he''d picked up off the eel ¡°Yes, how did you get it?¡± ¡°I got sucked into this little bubble world a couple hours ago, smashed this eel thing with a rock and this came out of it, it says I can use it to breathe water. Then I got another one that just appeared by that bonesnapper thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s odd. Was it the looting power I saw you use?¡± Samania asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°And the ones Soliece just gave you?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll spend a bit of time trying to understand how all this works before I absorb any more powers.¡± ¡°What were they?¡± Samania asked curiously. ¡°Something called Deconstruct, Gate of infinity, and empowered intellect.¡± ¡°I don''t know about Deconstruct, but Gate of infinity sounds like a teleport power, which are about as rare as they come and empowered intellect is one of the most important powers for wizard type builds.¡± ¡°Does rarer mean better?¡± ¡°Typically yes, to a degree anyway. That waterbreathing power is better if you need to breathe underwater, but generally the rarer a power is the more impact it will have but be less versatile, conventional combination theory says you want one or two signature powers and the rest to round out your abilities to maximise their effect. That intellect power will boost your ability to cast spells and generate mana faster, it''s absolutely necessary if you plan on focusing on magic, and even useful for people that want to use a lot of special attacks.¡± ¡°How many powers can I get? Is there a limit?¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t a hard limit to the number, there¡¯s a soft limit of nine where you wont notice any effect, after that they will start interfering with each other, you¡¯ll notice your progression slowing down and if you get enough of them it taxes your body and mana supply just having them.¡± ¡°Is there like a meta that people follow with the number of powers they get?¡± ¡°Fifteen is usually where people stop, at least until they get to tier twenty and continue to progress their strength, then taking on three or four more powers is fairly common.¡± ¡°I see.¡± said Gavin, suddenly feeling like a small fish in a big pond. He was a commoner in a world of epic scale powers. ¡°I think I should use the intellect power, if it''s as important as you say there¡¯s not much point mucking about. I¡¯ll save the others for later.¡± ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Samania said, shrugging. She didn¡¯t have much stake in his magical progression, and it was an excellent power, if a little unexciting. Gavin resolved himself, selecting the power in his inventory and activating it feeling a rush of power as his intellect stat increased by five. Checking his character sheet over he saw his mana capacity had also increased by five up to eighteen. [Empower intellect] [Description: Increases users magical capacity.] (Level 1): Users Intellect attribute is increased proportional to their level in this ability.] They walked in silence for a while, Gavin turning over the thoughts running through his mind. He¡¯d need to get a better idea of what his attributes did. He had just increased his intellect attribute by almost fifty percent but didn''t feel any smarter, if it was a raw intelligence increase he should be up there intuiting the nature of the universe with the great minds of his world. He needed to figure out what his attributes did if anything, his health certainly wasn''t representative of how likely he was to die, he''d been close to done earlier in the day but he hadn¡¯t really been injured that badly. Sam was doing the majority of the work, she was easily stronger than he was. His muscles ached as the rope bit into his shoulder, every caught tree root and stone was an annoyance for him while she barely seemed to notice. A while later they stopped for a break and she offered him some rations and a stamina potion to stave off his wariness. The yellow liquid tasted sour but flushed his exhaustion away. Reinvigorated, he began asking questions again, eager to learn as much about this world as he could. *** The trees opened up to reveal the edge of the small town Samania called Wildeness, it was the central hub for several surrounding towns, it had the only patrolled road leading out through the forest to the towns and cities beyond. The town sprawled out over the landscape nestled in the lee of a wide bay at the mouth of an estuary. Standing on the road was a man dressed in storm grey vestments, a silver necklace with a strange symbol featured prominently on his chest. ¡°Know him?¡± Gavin gasped as he heaved another step with his burden ¡°Priest of Nepharon, he''s the god of death and dying. Probably here to take Allan and Gail from us.¡± ¡°That right, mate?¡± Gavin called ¡°you here for these two?¡± ¡°Yes. I will take them and return them to their families, and let them know what happened¡± ¡°Good shout, I''m buggered¡± ¡°New arrival, you get used to it.¡± Samania clarified, noting the clerics'' confused expression. They dropped the makeshift litter with a sigh of relief as the priest busied himself over the corpses, cleansing the gore with a gesture. They looked like two wax sculptures rather than people, gavin felt odd when the priest cast another spell to levitate them up to waist height like they were goods to be transported. ¡°Could you take their gear back to their families too?¡± Samania asked tentatively. ¡°I will.¡± ¡°These belong to Gail¡± said Sam producing a stained satchel ¡°and this is Allan''s¡± she said retrieving his pack. The priest bid them farewell and departed into the town, hailing a low dirge as he walked, trailing the two bodies. ¡°The God of death isn''t like some sort of evil God right? That guy seemed alright but-¡± ¡°The God of death is a neutral God, they are responsible for taking the souls of the dead and returning them to the ether.¡± ¡°Oh, like Hades,¡± Gavin said, ¡°probably not Disney Hades though.¡± ¡°What''s Hades?¡± ¡°A god from my world, fictional god, none have ever popped in for a chat, except for one bloke that claimed to be a god, or the son of god who is still also the god he''s the son of, though there''s not very good evidence he was even real, that was over two thousand years ago. How many gods are there? Is there one for everything? Oh, shit, is there a god of a really good beer at the end of a long day?¡± ¡°There is not a god of beer. There are eight majors in total, and some number of minor gods, plus the prime fundamental forces, which are sort of like gods, but they aren¡¯t sentient.¡± ¡°Specifically eight big ones and you don''t know how many little ones?¡± ¡°They come and go, I¡¯m not a theologian, I only know a little on that front.¡± ¡°Okay, that''s fair, was Soliece one of the major ones?¡± ¡°Yes, she is one of the more active gods. Some gods spread their influence far and wide, performing minor miracles like Soliece creating that book for you, or the gods of order and entropy just slowly but constantly working to nudge the world where they want it to go while others tend to be passive, saving their influence for big effects. When the god of death turns up you''d better run.¡± ¡°Didn''t you just say the god of death was neutral?¡± ¡°Yes, they are responsible for shepherding souls back into the ether. When they turn up they''re usually coming to collect a due, people that cheat too many times find themselves getting smited, Nepharon likes to do it in waves, like he''s clearing house once in a while.¡± ¡°The god of death is an admin rolling out ban waves. That''s only a little terrifying.¡± THREE. Dire rat cheese. Sam took Gavin back to her family residence, located in an estate in the centre of town. It was a large compound fenced with elaborate hedges and contained a series of buildings made from irregular cut stones, perfectly fit together, the most prominent of which was their destination. ¡°Hey Sam. Are you like, rich or something?¡± Gavin asked, looking around the expansive grounds located near the centre of town. From inside the walls the outside world may as well have not existed, the city smells and sounds were absent and the hedges blocked out all but the tallest of the other houses and buildings around them. ¡°For this town¡± Samania laughed hollowly ¡°my parents are both retired Wardens, mother is the director the guild in this town and father is a merchant, though he is currently the elected mayor as well¡± ¡°So, how much flak will you catch over what happened today?¡± ¡°Some. Gail wasn''t from one of the great families, her family pooled their resources to get her powers, they- they won''t be an issue.¡± Sam said with a sigh ¡°Allan is, was, the second cousin to the heir of the Wayfarers house, one of the old nobility from the area. They''re quite influential. My family will shield me from any official punishment, but I''d expect they''ll try something unofficially¡± ¡°Punishment for what? Is this not a you knew the risks situation?¡± ¡°Theoretically yes, but in practice a great house has lost an important family member and I, as their leader, am responsible for them out in the field.¡± ¡°But not legally?¡± ¡°Technically yes, legally too, there will be an inquiry. Regardless of that outcome, my name will be tainted in this town for a long time. I won''t find anyone ready to sign up under me until the memory of Allan and Gail fades.¡± ¡°And people have long memories?¡± ¡°Yes. I may have to leave town to find a group who will have me as a member, let alone a leader.¡± ¡°Is being a leader of a party important to you?¡± ¡°It was. I expect it''s not something I can realistically achieve now.¡± ¡°Something my mum always used to say, if you think you can, or you think you can''t, you''re right.¡± ¡°There''s more to being a warden than just believing you can so intensely you just get everything you want¡± ¡°Not with that attitude.¡± Gavin said condescendingly ¡°take me. Came into this world a few hours ago, got some cool magic powers, by next week I bet you I do something fuckin epic.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I fully intend to get some insane magic powers then become the best wizard ever.¡± ¡°I think your goals might be a little lofty, you don''t even have a plan¡± ¡°No, but I can make one. The goddess in charge of research just gave me the literal playbook for doing busted shit. Give me some time and I bet I can break the system.¡± ¡°You sound very sure of yourself.¡± ¡°Lady. Back on my world I''m a bit of a nerd. My favourite thing in life is to find loopholes and exploits, no one is going to stop me now it''s actually real and I''ve got a literal god egging me on.¡± Samania led Gavin inside, they stepped over a circle of silver runes set into a complex geometric diagram inlaid into the stone floor, the second their feet touched it he felt a flare of magical energy engulf them that felt like a fresh breeze on a summer''s day. The grit and grime he¡¯d accumulated over the last few hours sloughed off him in a wave as if his skin were a well oiled skillet. The gunk congealed in the centre of the diagram and subsumed itself into an aperture that vanished from sight once it had cleared away all of the filth. ¡°What the shit was that?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Oh, just a ritual circle that cleanses anything dirty.¡± ¡°How does it work? How does it decide what''s dirt and what''s not? If I walk through here with a pot plant will it eat all the motting mix?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never really thought about it though, that¡¯s a good question.¡± She led him through a large ornate foyer, down a wide hallway and into a dining room the size of Gavin''s flat, set with a long wooden table and fine cutlery as if ready for a meal that was about to be served. A man servant stood waiting near another door that led out the other side of the room. ¡°James, this is Gavin, he is my guest, please extend him every courtesy.¡± Samania said formally. Turning to Gavin she added ¡°I need to go and find my father to tell him about today if he doesn''t already know. James will get you anything you need, you should take your things back now, I may be gone some time.¡± ¡°You wouldn''t know if, ahh, what''s this called again? Bonesmasher? bonesnapper meat any good to eat?¡± He asked looking up the description in his inventory ¡°It is considered quite the luxury as is most monster meat that isn¡¯t poisonous or otherwise undesirable.¡± ¡°Good one. I''ve got some here, you reckon we can cook it up for dinner? There''s probably enough for the whole whanau.¡± ¡°I''m sure the chef would not object.¡± ¡°Sweet, any chance of a snack in the meantime? I haven''t eaten anything since yesterday, unless a healing potion counts as food?¡± ¡°Healing potions have little nutritional value, though they can temporarily stave off the effects of malnutrition¡± said James, taking Gavin¡¯s offered meat parcels. He left through the door Gavin had noted earlier then returned a minute later with a platter of cheeses, crackers, and assorted chopped vegetables and set it on the table. ¡°If you''d like to be alone I will be behind that door, call if you need anything.¡± ¡°That''s a bit awkward, you can sit and have a yarn if you want, you hungry?¡± ¡°If you prefer¡± said James sitting at a chair beside the one Gavin picked. Gavin dove into the food with gusto. Relishing the new flavours. ¡°Mate, this stuff''s all excellent. That cheese with the red bits in it is top tier, what''s it called?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Dilworth Farms Dire Rat milk cheese.¡± ¡°Dire rat cheese? "No kidding¡± said Gavin, crunching down a cracker loaded with another slice ¡°and what are these?¡± Gavin said, pointing at a small bowl of little pink berries. ¡°Hazleberries.¡± ¡°Huh, They¡¯re pretty good.¡± ¡°As you say¡± James said matter of factly ¡°Right, anyway, this stuffs all new to me. We don''t have hazleberries or dire rats, bonesnappers, magic or even real gods.¡± ¡°You don''t have gods?¡± ¡°No, we do, just not real ones¡­ so far as anyone can tell.¡± Gavin said. ¡°You have fake gods?¡± ¡°My world has religions based around gods that, so far as I''m aware, no one has convincingly proved even exist, is that good, Soliece?¡± ¡°It is.¡± came a disembodied voice. ¡°Cheers mate.¡± ¡°Was that?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think she likes me. Got anything to drink mate? I''d kill for a beer, or even a water?¡± ¡°Right away sir¡± said James, looking perturbed. Someone so casually talking with the gods was definitely going to be trouble. James left again and returned with a pint of frothy ale in an ornately decorated pewter mug. ¡°Legend. You having one too?¡± ¡°Not while I''m working.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Hey, I¡¯ve been wanting to ask, how much do people abuse their power here?" Gavin asked, changing the subject ¡°I understand people can become ludicrously strong, what stops someone with the power and inclination from just exterminating whole countries and making them again in their own image?¡± ¡°Authority is tied heavily to power. A warlock of the third tier may be able to push around a tier two all they like, but if they¡¯re part of a guild there¡¯s going to be someone stronger they¡¯ll answer to eventually.¡± ¡°Sam said she was part of the adventurers guild, are there others?¡± ¡°Wardens guild. There are, the main one in these parts is the Starbourne wardens guild, there''s also the guild of magic users and the demon hunters union, they''re the main ones but they tend to push each other out of the rural areas.¡± ¡°push each other out? there''s turf wars over who gets to kill monsters?¡± ¡°non-violent ones, yes. We¡¯ve had some horrific wars in the past so any hint of someone sowing those seeds gets cut down hard and fast.¡± ¡°Big stick diplomacy. We have that where I¡¯m from too. Some countries invented explosives powerful enough to wipe out whole cities in one big bang, once several countries had them, no one could use them, so conflicts between nations have become small proxy wars in poorer parts of the world to ravage them for their resources¡± ¡°It seems peoples nature spans whole realities¡± James mused They ate in silence for a while, Gavin processing his thoughts and coming to terms with how his new world worked. ¡°I''ve got a few things I''d really like to do after I''ve finished, I have a book I''m pretty keen to start reading. Also, I''m not super keen to keep wearing this pelt all day, you reckon I could get some proper clothes to change into? Also, what time is dinner, and also also, how do you tell the time?¡± The estate has a study down the hall and to the right, I''d be happy to show you there at your convenience. I can take your measurements and find suitable attire for the evening, additional clothes can be arranged later. Dinner will be at sun down, you can tell when that is because the sun will be down.¡± Gavin finished his platter of food with some small help from James who picked at it to be polite, then showed Gavin to the study down the hall which turned out to be a large room richly furnished with desks and leather chairs, rows of bookshelves lined the walls and a windows half the size of a wall looked out over the grounds. It looked like the sort of room you''d imagine two retired lawyers smoking cigars and laughing about poor schmucks they''d fleeced for all their money sitting in while enjoying a quiet whisky or two. James then waved a small device over Gavin that hummed and vibrated. He explained it recorded and stored Gavin''s clothing measurements. Satisfied, James left to get Gavin something to wear. Hebegan to pour over his new book, it became immediately apparent that it had been tailor made to get him up to speed as quickly as possible. Soliece apparently had an understanding of how he thought, The powers were laid out like his electrical regulations test books, in sections according to category but with comprehensive notes to explain the fundamentals of how they worked and how powers could synergise with each other and where they wouldn¡¯t as well as a thorough index that referenced everything he thought to check. He started with the abilities Soliece had given him that he had yet to unlock, mentally flagging other abilities of interest and dismissing even more as he became more familiar with what they actually did. He figured she had given them to him for a specific reason and should start there to figure out why. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The empower intellect one was obvious, he would definitely be trying to do something magic based and if Sam was correct that it was absolutely essential to have he should probably also assume the others were too. The teleport power was interesting, it was a long range teleport power on a long cooldown that could transport him and others over fairly long distances. Deconstruct seemed like the oddest choice, though the one that fit in with his other abilities the most, he could already loot monsters, and his class ability to visualise plans in his mind seemed to be pushing him towards a crafting build. At some point James returned with a set of new clothes, it looked like fairly normal attire for someone wanting to go to a renaissance festival. A thick blue doublet with flaps that extended part way down his thighs, it knotted in front with silver cord. Dark brown pants that looked comfortable and practical for everyday use as well as a white undershirt and some glorious breeches. Gavin gladly took them into his inventory then equipped them by dragging the items over his avatar, happy to finally be wearing pants again. James then showed him to a large, if sparsely furnished bedroom, with A crisply made double bed, small desk, empty armoire and empty bookshelf. Gavin set to work again, trying to find some combination of abilities that would go infinite or otherwise break the rules. Samania came to collect Gavin at dinner time. He didn''t even notice that the sun setting, the area around his desk had become bathed in a warm light while he sat and dimmed when he stood to leave. ¡°That''s neat¡± Gavin said looking at the desk quizzically ¡°It''s a simple enchantment. It feeds off your excess mana while you sit there to power itself.¡± ¡°Huh, cool. I''d be interested to find out how that works.¡± ¡°There will be some books on artifice theory in the study, though I doubt they¡¯d be anything more than a basic introduction though maybe father has something more advanced, there are a few books in there he only bought to make himself look more learned than he is.¡± ¡°No worries, the more I learn about the world here the more I think I need to know.¡± ¡°Not having any luck breaking the system?¡± ¡°I mean, I''ve had a couple hours of study, give me a couple days and I''ll probably have something. I haven''t even read over a fraction of all the powers I can unlock right now.¡± ¡°Do you need help with that? I have a mentor that¡¯s skilled in magical theory.¡± ¡°Ahh, I''d like to have a go at it myself for a start, how was your meeting with your old man?¡± ¡°It was- fine. There will be trouble, but it won''t be serious.¡± Samania said with a slight hitch in her voice. ¡°Hey, everything will work out fine, yeah?¡± said Gavin, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. ¡°They were my responsibility and I got them killed.¡± ¡°They made their own choices too Sam, you might have been in charge, but don''t use that as an excuse to take away their agency.¡± ¡°Thanks. It''s just, well, I guess I feel a bit like I shouldn''t have been the one to survive.¡± ¡°I think we might be able to help each other, I plan on getting wildly powerful, so if you show me the ropes I can be that friend you need.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like that¡± ¡°What about your mum?¡± ¡°She''s away on guild business for a few days. She is aware of the situation but can''t spend time to deal with it now.¡± ¡°Gotcha. Let''s get dinner then, James said the chef would cook up that dinosaur meat.¡± Gavin followed Sam back to the dining room where a grizzled middle aged man sat. He was handsome in a rugged outdoorsman sort of way. His eyes locked on to Gavin as he walked in the room and followed him all the way to his seat. He has the distinct impression of walking into a tiger''s cage or accidentally stumbling into Gengis Khan''s war room. ¡°How''s it going mate?¡± Gavin asked, holding a hand out to shake. ¡°I''m gavin, nice to meet ya¡± ¡°Griffon Starbourne¡± said the barrel of a man, grasping a vice-like hand around Gavin''s. It wasn''t a painful squeeze, just unmoving. Gavin felt like he would be powerless to resist anything Griffon did if he wanted to do it. ¡°My daughter has told me about you at length over the past few hours, and what you did for her,¡± he said, glancing at Sam. ¡°She didn''t make up some story about my dashing heroics did she?¡± ¡°I don''t believe she made up anything¡± Griffon said, turning his hawk gaze back on to Gavin again. ¡°I bet not a lot gets past you eh? You''re not crazy powerful or anything?¡± ¡°Even humble merchants usually need start-up capital, and the best place to do that is killing monsters. I¡¯m more powerful than most, but not as much as some.¡± ¡°Right. Well, anyway, yeah, I jumped in to help Sam when she was in a tight spot. Managed to not die while she finished off that bonesnapper.¡± Gavin said pointing at the tray of meat that a servant had just bought into the room. ¡°You looted that with a looting power?¡± ¡°Yeah, I unlocked it just today.¡± ¡°Finding a demon soul on your first day is unusually lucky, most full adventurers can go months or years without seeing one.¡± ¡°I did actually get another one off this eel demon thing I killed, but it¡¯s a super lame water breathing one.¡± ¡°You should be careful with that information, two in a day is suspicious, you might draw attention from the sorts of people that would kill for that sort of luck.¡± Griffon said, giving him the impression that it wasn¡¯t just a figure of speech. ¡°If it''s all the same, I''d rather fight monsters than people¡± Gavin said, trying to diffuse the sudden intensity Griffon had in his eyes. ¡°Don''t we all. Speaking of, you killed a Giant eel?¡± Griffon asked, lightening his mood. ¡°Lesser, it did seem pretty big though.¡± ¡°Just one?¡± He asked, leaning forward. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Odd that it was by itself, they usually come in hordes.¡± ¡°That wouldn''t have been ideal,¡± Gavin laughed. ¡°It was in a really small pocket dimension, the bubble smaller than my hand, does the size of the space change how many monsters are there?¡± ¡°It does, yes. It is very unusual that two dimensional spaces would manifest so close together though. ¡°Could the magical barrier thing be all skewy after I popped through?¡± ¡°Not my area, I¡¯m afraid. Samania said you solicited a bribe from Soliece but wouldn''t elaborate.¡± ¡°She bribed me not to do a thing I am definitely not going to do¡± Gavin said, enunciating his last words more loudly and clearly. ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°She isn''t super keen on me spreading some information from my own world to your world.¡± ¡°Samania told me you weren''t from this world. You''re a new arrival. I''m informed your kind tend to bring trouble with them and die early¡± Griffon said, his unblinking eyes not leaving Gavins. ¡°Well, if it''s any consolation, I''d guess trouble is unavoidable, people seem to get really fighty around me, not exactly sure why, though I fully intend to live a long and prosperous life, preferably as close to the top of the food chain as is physically possible.¡± ¡°You seem very sure of yourself,¡± Griffon said, finally settling into a relaxed pose. ¡°Mate, back home I spend my days obsessing over details of fictional characters with fictional abilities to do the most broken things possible that no one on the planet has thought of or tried. Now the magic powers are real and I can have them. I''m going to break the magic meta or die trying, preferably without the dying part.¡± Gavin said, his genuine excitement shining through as he smiled toothily. ¡°Gavin bet that he was going to break magic combination theory within a week¡± Samania chimed in. ¡°Is that right?¡± Griffon laughed, a deep mirthful sound that scrubbed away all of his simmering intensity in an instant. ¡°Sure is,¡± said Gavin, skewering one of the dino-steaks onto his plate as well as a host of foreign foods ¡°What''s magical combination theory?¡± ¡°Just that powers tend to even themselves out, people have managed to find specific powers that work well together but no one has managed anything that makes them meaningfully more powerful than someone else of a similar skill level¡± Griffon said ¡°Sam said some powers were a lot stronger than others, like, there''s the empower intellect power Soliece gave me, it''s clearly better than half a dozen other powers that do the same thing.¡± ¡°At lower levels yes, the numbers are definitively better, there are powers that are more useful or powerful than others, but there are enough of them that the most powerful combinations aren¡¯t appreciably better or worse than any others we¡¯ve found. Also, at higher ranks the magic is more about force of will than the strength of the powers themselves.¡± ¡°Well, I''m not saying I¡¯m better than everyone on this world, but I am working with perfect information of any and all of my possible powers. They do tend to have annoyingly wishy-washy descriptions, but I''m pretty sure something has to go infinite in there¡± Gavin said. ¡°In that case I have a proposal.¡± Griffon said, seeming to decide Gavin had passed some test. ¡°Propose away¡± Gavin said relaxing in his seat, forcing himself not to put his feet up. ¡°You stay here and train under Samania and her tutors, we provide you with some solars as compensation for helping bring my daughter home safe, as well as a small stipend. You join Samania''s adventuring team when she deems you worthy. If either party wishes to break the agreement we will each negotiate terms in good faith at such time as that becomes necessary.¡± ¡°Lord Starbourne, I believe we have an accord¡± Gavin said, leaning over the table to shake starbournes hand again. ¡°He is your responsibility now, Samania, his performance will reflect on you from now on.¡± ¡°Yes, father,¡± Samania said, her expression inscrutable. The remainder of the meal went quickly, Gavin wolfed back his meal then retreated to his room to study late into the night. He was feeling pretty good about the day, all things considered, and absolutely determined to make good on his promise. He took extensive notes, opening a new notes tab in his interface to compile his ideas and possible abilities to add to a short list. FOUR. Dinosaur armour The next day Gavin joined Samania on a morning run. He didn''t appreciate being woken just before sun up after only four or so hours sleep. She easily outpaced him, having to stop often to let him catch up. ¡°You''re going to have to get a lot fitter if you want to join the guild. You do want to be a warden right?¡± ¡°Sure do. There''s a legend from my world about a man who gets cool spider powers powers, he has a motto; with great power comes great responsibility, and I intend on becoming the most powerful.¡± ¡°That''s a good attitude.¡± Samania said. ¡°On another note, reckon we could get some more clothes and things today? I can''t keep wearing this same thing even if it does get magically cleaned whenever I walk through your front door.¡± ¡°I''ll take you through the guild and show you how it operates. You can even get someone to turn that bonesnapper hide into some armour if you like, and we can sell that crystal you picked up.¡± ¡°Dinosaur armour? Sounds fuckin sweet to me.¡± Later that morning after breakfast they walked back into town where they first went to the adventurers guild. It looked like a small university campus with dozens of young adults milling around, though most wore various forms of fantasy inspired armour. There were functional wood and brick buildings scattered over the grounds, interspersed with well maintained trees and shrubs. Samania led them straight to the main hall, and past a guild representative at an administration desk. Into a busy room. A large map of the surrounding area took up one entire wall, with coloured dots splattered across it like ink stains. To either side were two notice boards with sheafs of paper pinned to each wall. ¡°The guild posts contracts for incursions up on this wall. They¡¯re colour coded by level to the map, they¡¯re usually fairly accurate as to where the contract is, but not what it is unless a local spots it and passes that information along to a local guild representative. If we take a contract off the wall it is our responsibility to deal with. Do not take off more than you can complete in a day, it''s the one thing mother does not tolerate above anything else.¡± ¡°Yeah, no worries there.¡± Gavin said, feeling Sam''s hard words as something not to test. Samania led Gavin on to the next section. ¡°These ones are posted by non-guild members, usually for resource collection, though sometimes they want other things like investigating unsolved crimes, feral animals, that sort of thing, most often the more complicated quests are only available to higher ranked guild members, see this one here¡± Sam said pointing at a contract to investigate the theft of jewelry ¡°it''s a green contract, but requires a tier three guild rank.¡± ¡°Do you go up guild ranks by completing quests?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°More or less. A strong track record of completed contracts, low or no collateral damage, taking on more than average contracts or harder contracts, also thorough documentation.¡± ¡°Documentation? There¡¯s paperwork for killing monsters?¡± ¡°Yes. Every completed contract needs to be documented for you to get paid. The clerks look favourably on people that make their lives easier and your name won''t even get looked at if they don''t put it in front of the higher ups. Don¡¯t try going around them either, my parents won''t do you any favours, they cannot be seen to favour anyone.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± After the contract hall Samania led them over to the merchant hall. As they walked Gavin noticed more than a few of the people going about their business were giving them pointed looks, most of them weren''t positive. There were more than a few malicious smiles and sneers on the passing faces. Sam either didn''t see or was pretending not to see, she remained relaxed and collected. ¡°First up, I think you should consider getting a combat treatise to learn some basic fighting techniques.¡± ¡°Makes sense, yeah. There''s a movie I watched once about a guy who did a similar thing.¡± ¡°What''s a movie?¡± ¡°It''s like a story that gets acted out and recorded then played back on a gigantic screen for people to watch.¡± ¡°We have something similar, though they''re usually just illusion specialists recreating things they''ve seen or something from their imagination.¡± ¡°So anyway, what sort of fighting do you think I should go for? Are there different skill books for different styles of fighting?¡± ¡°Yes, there are thousands of styles, all designed to work with different archetypes. We¡¯ll pick a basic one to lay some foundational skills now until you get a better idea of how you¡¯re suited to fight.¡± ¡°I''ll trust your judgment there. I can always learn different styles later?¡± ¡°Yes, though training multiple techniques up to a competent level will take a lot of effort.¡± ¡°Well then, lets get me started.¡± Sam took Gavin to a merchant selling treatises. There seemed to be two varieties, magical skill books that you could absorb to gain the knowledge on an instinctual level up to the skill and ability of the creator, and others that were closer to conventional training manuals, though they were a lot more detailed than earth martial arts treatises Gavin had seen, similar to the book Soliece had given him but noticeably less impressive. ¡°This is Edward Coppertree, Edward this is Gavin.¡± ¡°You can call me Ed if you''d prefer sir.¡± ¡°Ed it is then, but only if you never call me sir again.¡± ¡°We were looking for a combat treatise, what ones have you got in stock?¡± Sam said, cutting the round of pleasantries short. ¡°Certainly mam, what style of combat are we aiming for?¡± ¡°One that covers the fundamentals of fighting with basic weapons, he hasn¡¯t got any combat experience or powers that skew one way or another. If he wants to specialise later we¡¯ll come back for a more focused book.¡± ¡°Then I suggest this one¡± Ed said, plucking a red leather tome off a shelf ¡°basic fighting techniques with spears, swords, axes and shields, with a focus on more defensive tactics, it was created by Gerlimaine.¡± ¡°Perfect¡± Sam said, handing over three coins from her dimensional bag then depositing Gavin¡¯s new book inside. ¡°Cheers mate¡± Gavin said as they left ¡°I''ll definitely be back for more later.¡± ¡°I''d appreciate that,¡± Ed said, smiling warmly. Next they browsed the hall''s wide array of weapons. They entered a stall containing racks and racks of various items designed for the express purpose of killing, all labeled and arranged by categories from more traditional swords, shields, spears, halberds, bows of every variety, to more exotic weapons, flails, brass knuckles in a glass box that glowed an angry red, a whip made of water, swords that look like they belonged in a final fantasy game. Sam spent a few minutes examining the spears before tossing one to Gavin. ¡°How''s this one feel?¡± [Item: Extending spear] [Type: Polearm, spear] [Rank: Level 1, uncommon] [description: A magical spear with an extendable shaft, will remain sharp indefinitely] [Effect: Activate to extend or retract the length for a mana cost proportional to the change in length] ¡°I like it¡± ¡°Good. It''s going to be your best friend until you make something better.¡± ¡°Second best friend¡± Gavin winked ¡°No, you''re going to like that spear better than the woman you met yesterday. You''re going to be relying on that weapon.¡± ¡°I was actually talking about my mate Will, but you''re pretty cool too I guess.¡± ¡°Funny guy.¡± Sam said, slapping a handful of coins down on the counter. ¡°One more stop.¡± ¡°Getting this dinosaur hide turned into some armour?¡± ¡°Yes¡± The two exited the building, Gavin carrying his spear as a walking stick, his head hung in contemplation. ¡°Thanks Sam. Really, this all means a lot, I''d be poked if you weren¡¯t showing me the ropes.¡± ¡°I''d be dead out there if it wasn''t for you.¡± Sam said earnestly. ¡°You''re going to have to stop reminding me, you''re not in my debt, I don''t want to be a friend who has that hanging between them forever. Also, I plan on having you saving my bacon a whole lot if we''re going to be on a team together, so behaving magnanimously now will save you lording it over me later¡± Gavin said matter of factly. ¡°How gracious. Alright. I won''t bring it up again.¡± Sam said ¡°Good. Now, lunch is on me. Where''s a good place to get a pie around here?¡± ¡°Why would you eat a pie for lunch? They''re for after dinner.¡± ¡°Wait. You have American pies, not proper pies? Figures. This will have to change.¡± As they left the adventurers guild grounds a severe looking man who had been leaning against a stone pillar spat on the paved path in front of them. He stood to posture himself in their path, his arrogant chin jutting out as he sneered at them. ¡°You alright there mate?" Gavin said, wrinkling his nose ¡°Hey Sam, is it rude to spit in this world because back in mine it''s a good sign that someone is a bit of a cock.¡± ¡°Gavin, I think it''s best you let me handle this.¡± ¡°Sure thing Sam.¡± ¡°Master De Vore" Sam said, nodding towards the man who had moved to obstruct their exit. ¡°Mistress Starborne. I''m glad to see you walking around alive.¡± His tone suggesting that this was a complete fabrication. ¡°I am sorry about your cousin. What happened-¡± ¡°Was your fault.¡± De Vore said, his voice full of spite. Sam hung her head, shoulders slumped. ¡°I-¡± ¡°You should have been the one to die out there, you are an amateur playing team leader and you got your team killed¡± ¡°I-¡± ¡°Watch yourself miss Star-bourne.¡± De Vore jeered. ¡°Mate, and I mean this in the most deferential way possible, but can you actually fuck off?¡± Gavin said, taking Sam by the elbow and pulling her to the side. ¡°What did you say to me?¡± The man said, stalking up to Gavin to get right in his face. Gavin who held his spear casually in one hand at his side subtly shifted the point between them. ¡°Look, I''m not looking for a fight, but you''re being a bit of a prick and we''ve got things to do.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Gavin, this isn''t helping,¡± Sam said. ¡°He threatened you, and where I''m from friends stand together when some dullard bully comes knocking.¡± Gavin said, turning to her. ¡°You''d better watch your tone, you don''t have the weight of a noble family to protect you like she does.¡± Devore jeered. ¡°Mate, I''d think twice before coming at either me or Sam here. You don''t want to be the guy who accosts me or my friends, so, and I''ll say this again politely. Fuck. Off.¡± De Vore spat on the ground again at Gavin¡¯s feet, flecks of spittle staining his boots. ¡°You watch yourself too.¡± He said, turning to leave. Gavin resisted the intrusive thought to kick his ankles out from under him as he stalked away. ¡°Sorry.¡± Gavin said. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, I wasn''t ready for that conversation. You handled it rather more crudely than you should though, you may have made it worse for us.¡± ¡°Who was that guy anyway?¡± ¡°Benjamin De Vore. He¡¯s Allan¡¯s cousin. The De Vores and the Wayfarers are closely related, marriages between their houses are common.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Right. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll need to know that sort of stuff later, but right now I really need some dinosaur armour¡± Gavin said, his mood abruptly changing. They continued on out of the guild campus to a tailors shop in town. The words ¡®Bethanies adventuring attire¡¯ emblazoned in bright filigree above the door. Stepping inside Gavin craned his neck to get a good look around. There was a small wooden front desk blocking the way through to the workshop. A large waist high table dominated the central area, on all sides were benches covered in strange apparatuses and materials. The far wall was a floor to ceiling rack of shelves filled with various leathers and fabrics. ¡°Ahh, hello Mistress Starbourne, and company, I don''t believe we¡¯ve met master?¡± asked a weather worn woman who looked to be in her late seventies. ¡°Gavin, and I¡¯m not a master, just a bloke wanting to turn some dinosaur hide into armour.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯ve come to the right place Gavin. Come right in. you weren''t after anything today were you Mam?¡± ¡°No, just here for him. He¡¯s new in town and a guest of the family.¡± ¡°Right you are then mistress. He¡¯ll get the very best then.¡± ¡°Too right.¡± Gavin chimed in. ¡°Now, Gavin, what exactly were you looking for?¡± Samania had produced Gavin¡¯s dinosaur hide and laid it out on a cutting table ¡°well, I''m more in love with the idea of having some sweet dinosaur armour than I am with having something specific, so I¡¯m open to ideas.¡± Bethany took a moment to inspect the hide, Gavin felt a surge of tingling energy in the room as she used some sort of ability. ¡°Bonesnapper hide, untarnished, looted with a looting power? yours?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°It¡¯s an excellent preserving job, you¡¯ve tanned hides yourself by hand?¡± ¡°Yeah, possum skins when I was a kid, how did you know?¡± ¡°Looting powers tend to work better if the user is familiar with the techniques involved, a potion maker with a looting power will usually get better potions than normal and a warrior or smith will get better quality weapons and armour.¡± ¡°Good to know, cheers.¡± ¡°My pleasure dear¡± Bethany smiled. ¡°I think we could make you a fantastic cloak or cuirass and helmet with this, there¡¯s not enough material to make a whole matching set of armour, though if you found more of this later I¡¯d be able to do that too.¡± ¡°Dinosaur leather duster? Sign me up. I''d rather not fight more of those things if I can help it just yet. How soon can you get it done?¡± ¡°Just a moment¡± Bethany said as she turned her gaze on Gavin. He felt extremely vulnerable as if she was peeling back all of his layers down to his bare skin. She then turned to the leather on the table and traced glowing orange lines across the surface with a wand that materialised in her hand from nowhere. She formed the cut pattern for the large garment in minutes while they watched. Snapping her fingers the cut strips of leather floated into the air, wrapping themselves into the loose formation of a cloak. Tendrils of twine spun from Bethanies fingertips to loop through the cloak sewing it together as they watched. That done, Bethany disappeared the scraps of leather off the table and slung another roll of fabric over, repeating the cutting process from earlier, this time the dark brown material formed an inner inside the cloak, and was similarly sewn in place in moments. ¡°Why don''t you go ahead and try it on?¡± bethany beamed Gavin took the coat in his hands, inspected it and threw it over his shoulders, it slipped over his arms and formed to his body as if it were part of him. Gavin flexed experimentally, it was extremely comfortable and flexible [Item: Bonesnapper hide greatcloak] [Type: Clothing, armour, cloak] [Rank: Level 1, Very Rare] [Description: A cloak made from the hide of a bonesnapper by an expert craftsperson. Provides additional protection to the wearer] [Effect: Has greatly enhanced resistance to physical damage and enhanced resistance to magical damage] [Unenchanted: may be enchanted with an enchantment up to Level 1 - Very Rare] ¡°This is excellent, cheers¡± Gavin said, ecstatic with his new cloak. ¡°You¡¯ll want to get it enchanted if you plan on fighting in it. If it¡¯s damaged it can be fixed, but a self repair enchantment will keep it good as new so long as it''s not fully destroyed.¡± ¡°Cheers Beth, how much do I owe you?¡± ¡°Seven thousand solars¡± Bethany said matter of factly Samania retrieved a handful of coins from her bag and handed them over Gavin turned to Sam and asked ¡°how does money work here? What¡¯s a solar?¡± ¡°Here, take these and tell me what the difference is,¡± Sam said, handing over two identical silver coins and a gold coin. ¡°Ahh, this silver one''s more tingly than the other but it''s about the same as the gold? They''re magical?¡± Gavin guessed, popping them into his inventory to check them more thoroughly. ¡°Yes, exactly ten times more tingly. The coins are imbued with a bit of ether, this first tier silver is ten times less magically dense than the second tier, and that gold is the same value as the second silver¡± Sam said. ¡°They¡¯re close to their mana capacity for the material they¡¯re made of, and they¡¯re useful to use in crafting, you can extract more mana out of them than you put in so you can boost your rituals beyond your own limits if you¡¯re willing to pay for it.¡± Bethany added. ¡°I think I got it. How much are they worth in terms of buying stuff?" Gavin said, noting that the new information had added itself to his user interface, tallying up the total value of his money. ¡°A good rank one weapon made by an expert craftsman with a useful enchantment might be about three thousand solars. Your spear was only twelve hundred solars since it¡¯s only basic, and the book was two hundred and ten solars¡± Sam said. ¡°Can you give it to me in how much food it can buy?¡± ¡°My weekly food allowance for the family is about three hundred fifty solars¡± Beth added helpfully ¡°a meal and a drink at a tavern is about twenty¡± ¡°Wait, hold up, is a solar is like a dollar or two in terms of buying power. You just spent twenty one hundred solars on me today?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°And that''s like two or three weeks income for a normal wage earner?¡± ¡°That''s about right, yes,¡± Beth said. ¡°And you just bought me all this stuff, just like it was nothing?¡± ¡°I doubt it is even a rounding error for father. You''ll find that your looting power gets you a significant income by itself let alone the rewards for monster contracts. That demon soul you have is worth quite a lot.¡± ¡°How does the economy even function here?¡± Gavin asked, mildly exasperated. ¡°It just does. I haven''t really thought about it, how does the economy work where you''re from?¡± Sam asked, shrugging a shoulder noncommittally. ¡°Ahh, actually, I don''t know.¡± ¡°Well there you are then. If you really are curious you could visit a temple of Soliece and ask one of their clergy.¡± ¡°No thanks. Economics is not a fun subject except to economists¡± Gavin said, putting the issue from his mind. ¡°What''s an economist?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Someone who doesn''t get invited to parties¡± Gavin muttered. They bid Bethany farewell, Gavin wearing his new cloak proudly as they left the store. It was a brisk day outside and his cloak felt comfortably warm and cosy. They passed street stalls selling food, and shops of all varieties. ¡°Hey Sam. Just thinking about how to make that pie, where can we get some beef?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a beef?¡± At Gavin¡¯s insistence Sam bought a selection of ingredients from the local market on the way back through town. They weren''t the same as earth ingredients, there were no cows or wheat on this world, but there were things Gavin thought could be acceptable substitutes. When they returned to the estate Gavin busied himself in the kitchen, the head chef, Garland, grumbled at the unwanted intrusion at first, though as Gavin picked his brain about cooking techniques in their world and ingredients to substitute in he warmed up to the newcomer. Several hours later it was mid afternoon and Gavin finally had lunch prepared. He presented Samania with a steak and cheese pie ¡°Kiwi classic, all I need to do is figure out how to make V and we''ll have a champions meal¡± ¡°What''s a kiwi?¡± ¡°It''s a bird from my country¡± ¡°You eat them in pies?¡± ¡°Not on your life. People from my country call themselves kiwis. We also have kiwifruit but that''s more of a marketing thing.¡± ¡°I''m not quite sure I follow.¡± ¡°Ahh, doesn''t matter, what does matter is getting a pie in your gob.¡± They took bites out of their pies at the same time ¡°It''s quite nice" she said as chewed and swallowed her first tentative bite. ¡°Nice? This is awful, dairies wouldn''t even sell this. I''m going to have to do better. A kiwi should know how to make a decent pie. I need whatever the equivalent of Edmonds cookbook is here¡± ¡°You know of Edmond the chef?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Edmond, he''s a cooking magic specialist. Made it big here and went off to be the personal chef for the king in the northern territories.¡± ¡°Did he write any cooking books?¡± ¡°Not sure, you could probably find out though.¡± ¡°Yeah. Anyway, now that lunch was a disappointment, how about we read that skillbook?¡± ¡°Yes, you should, they can be quite taxing but you''ll be fine.¡± They returned to Gavin¡¯s quarters, him taking a cross legged position on his bed while Sam sat at the chair by his desk. She handed him the skill book which he discovered was more like a magical prop that was made to look like a book rather than an actual book. ¡°OK, how do I do this?¡± Gavin asked ¡°Just feed a little mana into it, the magic in the book will activate and want to be absorbed into your soul just like a soul crystal, just let it in, it will be uncomfortable, but don''t resist it.¡± ¡°You know that¡¯s not how I absorbed that power right?¡± Gavin said. ¡°Just try it.¡± Sam said, taking a seat. ¡°Gotcha.¡± Gavin closed his eyes, focusing on the book. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Magic flooded into him like a fire hydrant, fingers of magical energy creeping into his soul. He felt his mind being bludgeoned with raw information. Ears ringing he felt dizzy as if he''d been hit in the head, he gritted his teeth, willing his mind to relax but the sensation persisted. The book began to dissolve in his hands, turning to a thick mist that streamed into his body. He could feel his vision dimming as he fought to maintain consciousness. He gritted his teeth and tried to steady his mind, letting the raw data wash over him rather than standing like a bollard against the tide. The pulsing nausea abated very slightly, the worst was over, the only thing left was to ride out the last of it. When it was done Gavin slumped back, exhausted. ¡°I know kung fu'''' he groaned before his world went black and he fell to the bed, unconscious. FIVE. Dont ever do that again. He was kicked awake the next morning by a stern looking Sam. The sun was well up and streaming in through the windows, baking Gavin with harsh light. She was dressed in her training armour and looked unimpressed with him snuggling up in the mess of blankets. ¡°Aargh.¡± Gavin groaned. ¡°What time is it?¡± ¡°It''s late. I''ve been waiting for you in the training hall for an hour.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not sorry yet¡± Sam said, ripping his blanket off. ¡°I¡¯m going to hate today aren¡¯t I?¡± Gavin said, pulling his pillow over his face. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I promise.¡± Sam said, flashing an evil smile as she turned and left. Sam and Gavin stood apart in the Starborne training hall. Other members of the family and some assorted guards spared a respectful distance from them. Their skill looked impressive to Gavin, who was only vaguely familiar with what actual fighting looked like, his experience came from movies and occasionally watching exhibition MMA fights at his friend Will¡¯s house over beers while they played armchair coach. ¡°Alright. You ready for this?¡± ¡°Ready as I''ll ever be¡± Gavin said, resigned to the fact that he, a novice on the tier of star wars YouTube kid would be about to fight a veteran who''d been training since her hands were capable of the ability to grip. Sam launched forward, her wooden training sword swinging in at a wide arc. The attack was impressively quick and Gavin responded with the appropriate counter, deflecting the blow with his training spear and lashing out with a kick to maintain distance. Samania was already moving, flowing her strike into another and another each from an unexpected angle and picking up more and more speed. Soon Gavin was taking as many blows as he was avoiding or deflecting, Sam''s training sword finding vulnerabilities and driving home without mercy. Gavin was quickly learning the limitations of his skillbook use, the information was essentially force-learned muscle memory, where the author had supplied formulaic responses to textbook examples, not how to respond to an increasingly hectic fight. He would need to learn how to adapt to the chaos, which was a skill he suspected would take months or years of beatings. He was sent sprawling across the wooden floor after a particularly vicious blow to the jaw. He wiped at his mouth leaving a streak of crimson across his hand. Sam put up her sword in a non threatening pose as she walked over to inspect the injury. ¡°Had enough? We should take a break¡± she said, tossing a small red vial to him from her bag. ¡°No chance. I''ve got a lesson to learn.¡± ¡°I think you''ve already learned it.¡± Sam said, nodding to the blood stain on his chin as he gulped down the potion. ¡°I''ve learned skill books aren''t a shortcut to experience. But I haven''t learned how to adapt that knowledge, I think you''re going to have to beat it into me. Come on Shefu Starborne, got the stomach to kick me around the gym a little more?¡± Gavin dashed forward, leaping through the air with an obvious and easily avoidable attack. Sam dodged aside, thrusting her sword at him as he passed. He thrashed in the air, pivoting to try to catch the sword. His hand grasped the tip and he yanked it hard. Samania had a firm grip on the hilt which resulted in Gavin flailing through the air to crash wildly into the floor. He was up in a flash, circling more cautiously, trying to mentally note patterns or her preferred responses to his attacks. He tried dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging again to get in behind Sam''s attacks. He felt if he could get in past her guard he''d be able to find an advantage, her practice sword was as long as his spear, but a significant part of his fighting skill now came from hand to hand combat. Half an hour later Gavin could barely stand, covered in welts and bruises, blood mingling with sweat. He''d been unable to get inside her guard and had paid the price for trying dearly. ¡°It''s pointless to continue Gavin.¡± Samania stated, she''d barely broken a sweat and had taken exactly zero hits while Gavin was barely standing. ¡°Want to have lunch then get back into it?¡± Gavin wheezed, cracking a smile. ¡°You really think you''ll be in any better condition? We should train when you''ve rested.¡± ¡°This?¡± Gavin said, wiping blood and sweat off his brow, ¡°Barely a scratch.¡± ¡°After lunch I''ll teach you something a little less strenuous." ¡°Sounds good Shifu.¡± ¡°Shifu? Is that a term from your home world?¡± ¡°Yeah, it''s something you''d call your martial arts master- I think.¡± ¡°I think getting used to your slang will take some getting used to.¡± ¡°Nah yeah cuz, I reckon you''re spot on mate.¡± Sam''s brow crinkled in a disappointed frown ¡°Don''t ever do that again.¡± A few minutes later Sam and Gavin were in the dining hall eating a traditional mid day meal. It was a lot like a raw samosa made with a leafy vegetable wrapped around fresh salad ingredients and cold cooked meat that had been garnished with local spices. ¡°This is bloody tasty.¡± Gavin said wolfing the meal down ¡°I need to get my hands on some cooking skill books.¡± ¡°So you can figure out how to make your meat pie?¡± ¡°Yes. My country makes the best pies in the world and it''s not close. I could revolutionise the culinary landscape.¡± ¡°So you''re going to revolutionise the magic world with your awesome powers and also the cooking world? Any other revolutions you''re planning?¡± ¡°Just those for now, I''m sure there will be other things I want to have a go at later, maybe an industrial revolution.¡± ¡°Is everyone from your world this strange?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess? Some more some less, I bet there are much stranger people in this world once you start getting magic involved.¡± ¡°That''s fair. Power can do strange things to people, and more or less anyone can get as much power as they can take in this world. I imagine without magic the power systems would be more entrenched and social mobility would be more static.¡± Sam guessed. ¡°I haven''t seen enough of your world to comment, but by and large breaking into the ultra wealthy isn''t something anyone can just do. In my world the top one percent of the population controls something like seventy five percent of the wealth.¡± ¡°That''s a figure you just know?¡± ¡°More like a guestimate. Our technology and ability to track and store information is leagues beyond anything I''ve seen here.¡± ¡°Really? Do you know how any of it works?¡± Sam asked. ¡°The knowledge is very highly specialised, I know enough that I could describe the broad strokes but not any of the actual nuts and bolts. Soliece really wouldn''t like me trying to explain much of it I don''t think. I do have the understanding to figure out a few things, speaking of, one thing I''ve been wondering is if there is a use for having work done in areas where you can''t use magic?¡± ¡°Yes actually, lots of delicate rituals need to be in highly stable areas, they can''t have any magic anywhere near them because it interferes with them.¡± ¡°Excellent. Does your world also have the concept of intellectual property?¡± ¡°Yes, for some things, no for others.¡± ¡°I''m really going to have to go to a temple of Soliece to find out what I can get away with here, unless the lady herself wants to pay a visit?¡± Gavin said looking upwards ¡°Didn''t think so.¡± ¡°The gods don''t just answer your prayers like that unless you¡¯re one of their clergy.¡± ¡°Doesn''t seem to have stopped her in the past.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t make a habit of expecting it.¡± ¡°If you say so¡± Gavin said as if he fully expected to ignore the suggestion. ¡°One thing I want to know, since this is a pretty generic fantasy world, are there non-humans around? I¡¯ve only seen humans so far.¡± ¡°There used to be. They were wiped out thousands of years ago when the monsters and demons nearly took over the planet. You know how I said the barrier to the ether breaks down if we don''t clear the dimensional spaces quickly enough? That''s why. There was a war, they got neglected out in what is now the unclaimed lands and it took the whole world banding together to push the invasion back. After that the guilds were formed to make sure it never happened again.¡± ¡°That''s pretty heavy,¡± Gavin said. ¡°It is. I think we''re done training for the day, I''m sure you have things you want to do, I have my own lessons I need to attend.¡± ¡°Awesome. Well, if you don''t mind, I¡¯d really like to get back to reading, I have a bet to win¡± Gavin said, brushing his clothes down. Gavin retreated to his room to continue his enthusiastic research, confident that his growing knowledge of how it worked would pay off. He stayed there, parchment notes piling up in more haphazard clumps around his room just as quickly as he compiled them in his interface. He was growing more confident that he knew what range of abilities he wanted and how he should spend his stat points. He''d learned enough magical theory that he was confident about some of the abilities he should pick. He had a dozen item creation powers that were all mutually exclusive that all worked in subtly different ways on his short list. He was beginning to understand that some of them were essentially paint by numbers, basic and easily repeatable, probably good for spamming out mid quality gear quickly, others imbued specific effects that couldn''t be altered. He was pretty confident that he should be aiming at some of the more high skill high reward abilities, he''d have to know a lot more underlying theory to get any use out of the powers but the ceiling on what he could make would be a lot higher. He was also pretty confident he''d need to prioritise mana regeneration, everything he looked at told him he''d be using a staggering amount of mana even with his one regeneration power it might not be enough. He''d found a few cute synergies to think about but nothing especially busted yet. He was beginning to think that his best path forward was just picking a high difficulty build then just getting really good. He wanted Sam present when he started making final decisions and picking powers, just on the off chance he was missing something super obvious. He left his room to find her, but discovered that Lady Alana Starbourne had returned and had sequestered her for a private meeting. Feeling let down but giddy with anticipation, he made his way to the dining hall. Griffon was there conversing with a man and what looked like his two children, none of whom Gavin recognised. He sat down politely outside their conversation but not so far away as to appear cold. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Gavin, this is Luke Luskan, and his children Lucy and Lachlan. Luke is one of the members of my staff here for dinner. Luke, this is Gavin, the outworlder who saved my daughter and killed the bonesnapper out in the forest the other day.¡± ¡°Good to meet you mate.¡± Gavin said, shuffling over to shake Luke, Lucy and Lachlan''s hands in turn. ¡°I''m fascinated to learn about your world, I understand it doesn''t have magic?¡± Luke said. ¡°Luke is a member of the Guild of Magic Users, I''m sure the idea of a magic free world is absolutely fascinating to him.¡± Griffin clarified. ¡°Yeah nah, no magic as far as I know. We have some pretty neat technology though, but Soliece doesn''t want me telling people about the specifics.¡± ¡°What about more broadly? What did you do before you came here?¡± ¡°Well, I had several hobbies that I don''t think exist here, but my job was an electrician, which is like an artificer who uses controlled lightning to make machines work.¡± ¡°I thought you didn''t have magic?¡± ¡°We don''t. We, and by we I mean other, smarter people have a better idea on some of the underlying mechanics of how non magical things work, one of those things is how to convert diff-¡± ¡°Gavin, you are treading dangerous ground.¡± ¡°Sorry mate¡± Gavin said, duly chastised ¡°got a bit carried away there, anyway, my job is basically to put different coloured wires into the right coloured holes, and also make a mess that I then don''t clean up.¡± The other people in the room had gone a deathly pale. ¡°Was that¡­ Soliece?¡± Lucy asked ¡°Yeah, probably not a great idea to repeat anything I just told you, just in case right? When I last had a yarn with her she kinda threatened some light smiting if I started disseminating too much knowledge from my home world.¡± Gavin said nonchalantly, having no doubt that the people in the room would take the last few seconds to their graves. Footsteps entered the room, Gavin didn''t need to turn to recognise Sam''s precise gait. She sat down next to her father at the table, barely contained anguish lay behind the indifferent mask she put on. Another woman sat down next to Griffon on his other side, she had the same pale gold hair her daughter did, but with green eyes instead of blue. Her presence felt like a loaded gun on a table at a kids party. This woman was an extremely dangerous person who Gavin felt on a deep, animalistic level he should never try to fuck with. Gavin stood to greet Alana. Shaking her hand over the table ¡°Nice to meet you mam, Samania told me about you.¡± He said, pushing aside the urge to prostrate himself before her commanding presence. Alana nodded in recognition before greeting the other guests. ¡°Good to meet you too Gavin, and thank you.¡± she said, her menacing presence flowing over him. ¡°No worries, your husband has made me feel very welcome in your home.¡± ¡°I''m glad to hear it, now, why is everyone acting like they''ve seen a mirrorfiend?¡± Gavin spent a good portion of dinner making smalltalk with the guests while trying to communicate with Sam using facial expressions and gestures. She seemed okay, if a little fragile. Alana made a point of asking about Gavin¡¯s intentions regarding joining her organisation. ¡°Sam tells me your guild protects people that can''t protect themselves.¡± ¡°Amongst other things, but yes, our primary purpose is to destroy any threat to the city and humanity at large. Samania tells me you have some strong ethical beliefs regarding power and responsibility. When Samania has trained you up more thoroughly I will allow you to take the test to join my guild. Keep in mind that you will not be given special favour.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t ask you to. I''ve been given an object lesson in what can happen out there if you''re not prepared.¡± Gavin said, nodding in the direction of the main door. ¡°I''ve got some tricks up my sleeve Mistress Srarbourne, though they will need a lot of preparation before they bear fruit.¡± The rest of the meal went by rather pleasantly. Samania and Gavin retreated to Gavin''s room. He sat on his desk, feet on the chair and back to the wall while Sam took the bed ¡°How was your chat with your mum?¡± ¡°Not great. She''s furious with me.¡± Gavin nodded. He knew the whole situation put her mother in an awkward position that would be tough to navigate. ¡°She''s prohibited me from forming or leading a team indefinitely. I won''t be able to regain that privilege until I reach the second guild rank, by then it¡¯ll be too late.¡± ¡°That''s rough. So you''re stuck doing grunt work for the foreseeable future?¡± ¡°Yes, that about sums it up. I always wanted to lead my own team, now it''s going to be next to impossible to have a competent one in the next decade. By the time I have a tier two guild rank everyone capable will have been snapped up long ago not to mention the stigma of joining a team where anyone who ever got remotely close died.¡± ¡°I don''t plan on dying any time soon. What happened with Gail and Allan was pretty shitty, but I saw how they were fighting, it wasn''t much better than what I could do after one day of training.¡± ¡°It wasn''t just Allan and Gail. They weren''t the first team I lost.¡± Sam said, her voice creaking under the weight of her words. ¡°You never told me that?¡± Gavin said. ¡°I- I''m sorry. I should have told you¡± Sam said, not meeting his eyes. ¡°I''m not gonna lie and say I''d like to have known, but it''s not like it''s going to change my mind. You''ve been a genuine friend to me over these past few days, and where I''m from that means something. You don''t just pack it in when it gets hard, that''s when you support your mates the most.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She said in a small voice. ¡°No bullshit Sam, I think you''ve just had a lot of bad luck. We can do this¡± Gavin said as Saam nodded her half-hearted agreement. They sat in silence for a time, Sam brooding and Gavin laying back, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. ¡°Hey Sam.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°What if when I join the guild, I form a team and delegated some of the more tedious things like, say, leading to you?¡± Sam looked up, the first glimmer of a genuine smile he''d seen in days growing across her face. It felt to Gavin like the sun coming out from behind the clouds on a chilly spring morning. ¡°That could work. We could be co-leaders, I could handle training and tactics while you handle logistics?¡± ¡°If by logistics you mean I get to be the dashing face of the party while you do all the stabbing, that sounds good to me¡± ¡°I can live with that¡± Sam said ¡°Also, I''m ready to start choosing powers. I''ve got some abilities in mind.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, still not sure on some of them, but I''m pretty confident on the gate of infinity, and deconstruct, that one synergises with pretty much every crafting power and will let me train up my skills quickly, they all work in with the empower intellect ability as well.¡± ¡°What''s the teleport power do exactly? I knew it was one, but what are the limitations?¡± Gavin brought up the description he''d saved in his notes and read it off. [Gate of infinity] [Description: Create a portal to a distant location.] [Effect: Create a portal gate to a visible location up to a distance determined by your [Intelligence] attribute. Gate may be infused with additional mana to transport additional people of a level up to your level in this ability, number of additional people cannot exceed your level in this ability.] ¡°It says it needs line of sight but I''m actually pretty sure I can combine it with my map power to draw line of sight to places I''ve been before within range.¡± Gavin said, excitement building. ¡°That makes sense, there are a lot of powers that need line of sight that people with scrying powers can use wherever they can scry to.¡± ¡°It also keys off my intelligence attribute, and with that empower intellect ability Soliece gave me should push the range out even further.¡± ¡°What about the other power?¡± [Deconstruct] [Description: Description: Consume the latent magical energy in an item to restore it to its base components.] (Level 1): Break down items up to your level in this ability into raw resources. Mana cost varies based your [Dexterity] attribute and complexity of item construction ¡°That seems pretty mundane,¡± Sam said, why is it any better than any of the other abilities you can unlock?¡± ¡°It''s the later effects that I want access to, there¡¯s one that let''s me get more resources when I deconstruct something, and the one after that lets me loot the excess magic from items I deconstruct the same way i can loot monsters, it basically goes infinite with any item crafting ability so long as I have the mana.¡± ¡°I''m not sold on that, you''re going to have enough money to just buy everything you could possibly need¡± ¡°Maybe, but I think it''s going to be important. I don''t like the idea of needing to go back to town to resupply if I ever get caught out. I''d like to have everything I need to work with me at all times, being able to make a wall with a pebble or get money out of trees seems like it could be a good skill to have, especially if I can figure out how to use the magic in the coins to enhance my other spells.¡± ¡°Well if you''re sure¡± Sam said, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°Why, what''s wrong with them?¡± ¡°Nothing, they''re excellent, a lot of warden teams would kill to have a mass teleport power, it¡¯s just that you seem to be angling for most of your abilities to be utility powers, they¡¯re not going to be useful in combat.¡± ¡°Excuse me, they are useful in combat.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°I''ll show you in the training hall tomorrow, in the meantime, let''s try out this new teleport ability¡± said Gavin activating the orb in his inventory. He felt a familiar wave of energy flood his body and a door to a new world of possibilities opened. Once he¡¯d recovered he gestured to the side with his hand with a flourish. An arrow shaped gothic arch made from solid marble slabs rose from the ground and filled with a swirling pearlescent void. Gavin stood back and admired his new power, the most overtly magical effect he''d seen in this world. ¡°If we go through this and there¡¯s some unicorns trying to get us to go to candy mountain we¡¯re coming right back.¡± SIX. I was hoping not to need this. It was with giddy anticipation that Gavin walked through his portal into the training hall the next day to spar against a ready Samania. Behind him, his portal sank back into the floor and disappeared as if it had never been there. They squared off, Gavin waiting for samania to strike. He didn''t have to wait long before she was on him, bashing him with her two handed sword repeatedly while Gavin fought to stay standing, let alone mount an adequate defence. Right as Sam was about to overwhelm him, Gavin dodged into her blade, catching her by surprise. Gavin grasped the blade as it struck him, focusing his will into it. The wooden sword shattered into rough sawn branches and leather strips in her hand as he plowed on, knocking her to the floor. Her surprise lasted an instant before she was moving, twisting under him in an intense grapple. She was stronger than him, and with more practical experience and so she eventually she had him pinned, arm wrenched painfully in her grip. A short training knife appeared in Gavin¡¯s free hand, he used it to stab repeatedly into her side as she tried to wrench his arm from its socket. Grunting in pain, Sam let go, conceding the match. ¡°Sneaky little-¡± Sam said, cutting herself off. ¡°Ha. Told you it would be useful in combat.¡± ¡°You wont get me like that again.¡± ¡°Bet¡± Gavin said, squaring off again. Sam launched into a series of quick slashes, blurring past his guard as she pummeled him with a fresh training sword. Gavin was immediately on the defensive, backpedalling as he defended against her superior technique. A portal rose up between them and Sam moved to dodge around it, but Gavin had abruptly leapt forward, and through. He thrust his spear back through the portal and caught Sam on a shoulder as she attacked the point he''d just been. With a grunt she seized the weapon and tore it from his grip. The portal dropped as she made to chase him through it, leaving them on opposite sides of the training hall, Gavin without a weapon. They spared for another hour, dripping with sweat at the end of their session. True to her word Samania didn¡¯t underestimate Gavin¡¯s new abilities, at least not after the second time he''d caught her out, and beat him several more times to his one. Gavin wasn''t put out, he was proud he''d caught her off guard and won even once. He suspected his fighting style would hinge on that sort of deception as he grew into his powers. Afterwards the two of them rested in the grounds in a semi secluded spot in a small copse of trees. Gavin was getting a feeling for his abilities and how they worked inside him, though had little real progress for them because of his lack of practice. He then retreated to his room to study for the rest of the day, stopping to eat and a quick trip into town before reading late into the night. The next few days progressed the same way, some days with a run in the morning until, on the sixth day of Gavin¡¯s time in this world, he furrowed his brow then let out a loud ¡°Ha¡± before burying himself back into his books. The next morning Sam barged into Gavin¡¯s room, irritated she had to come kick him out of bed again, only to find him wild eyed at his desk, notes strewn even more erratically than normal. His eyes were bloodshot and baggy, his hair manically sticking out in clumps. ¡°Are- are you okay?¡± asked Sam. ¡°Never better. Think I broke magic theory by the way, like, actually it''s kinda simple, can''t believe it wasn''t the first thing I checked.¡± ¡°What did you find?¡± ¡°So, you know how you can enchant items?¡± ¡°I can''t, but I know the process.¡± ¡°I found an enchantment that enhances the power of an attribute by a small amount.¡± Gavin said, waving an enchanting theory textbook at her. ¡°Okay, those enchantments are never worth it though, like a sword that increases your strength never work out as well as just putting a damage enchantment onto them or getting a power that increases your strength.¡± ¡°Just wait, there''s exactly one enchanting ability in Soliece¡¯s book that¡¯s enhanced by the power of an attribute instead of my level in that ability.¡± ¡°So you want to use a loop to enchant an item that makes your enchanting more powerful. You''ll still run up against the limit of power an item can take before it starts to break down, and if you put too many items on that push it too far you¡¯ll run up against the limit your body can take before it breaks down.¡± ¡°Wait, that''s a thing? Shit.¡± Gavin said, flipping through to the index of his book. ¡°Yes, normal enchanters can hit the limit when they get strong enough. Top tier enchanters have to be careful they don''t break the items they enchant with how much mana they use.¡± ¡°Pretty sure I saw something that increased the mana capacity of items?¡± Gavin said, abandoning the book to look back through the notes in his interface. ¡°Yes, that''s not unusual, but I bet it''s by a tiny amount. You haven''t found an infinite loop, sorry.¡± ¡°But at least it''ll be extremely good. Having an entire party where everyone has top tier gear at every level is a massive force multiplier.¡± ¡°Gavin. I''m from an extremely wealthy family. I can just buy all the gear I need, I have entire gear sets ready for me to just pick up and use as soon as I''m strong enough to use them. With your looting power you will be able to afford anything you want too.¡± ¡°Okay, that''s fair, but I still think having the ability to fabricate top tier gear on the fly is a good idea. My class is artificer, I do kinda have to lean into item creation.¡± ¡°Your class doesn''t define who you are, if you focused on something else your soul would change over time to reflect that. If you focused on fighting like me in a year or three you¡¯d get something else. ¡°What¡¯s your class?¡± ¡°Warden, it gives me increased resistance to innate magical attacks.¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re a warden and your class is a warden?¡± ¡°The profession is named after the class.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, I do like the idea of making stuff, I like the idea of getting stuck into the nuts and bolts of how magic works.¡± ¡°There are certain situations where it could be useful.¡± Sam said, trying to give him something. ¡°Some items don¡¯t get made because the effort to make them isn¡¯t worth the cost. Do you know the other powers you need to get this to work?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡± Gavin said ¡°there''s an item creation and an enchanting power that look pretty good, I think the enchanting power can wait though, there''s some others that will be more useful immediately.¡± ¡°Sounds like you have a handle on things, I still say you need more dedicated fighting powers if you want to be an adventurer. There''s more to it than just having good gear.¡± ¡°Fine. I guess. Can I skip morning training? I need to crash.¡± ¡°One time. But I''m going to go harder on you tomorrow.¡± ¡°That''s fair.¡± Gavin said, barely caring about what she was going to put him through tomorrow. Samania left Gavin to sleep. He fell into his bed, collapsing into a deep slumber filled with wild dreams. Only to wake with a start a few hours later. It was still morning, so he figured Sam would be in the training hall. Stumbling out of bed he pulled his clothes on hastily. ¡°Sam!¡± Gavin called stepping through his portal arch ¡°I''ve got it this time! Well, it''s not broken but it is cool as shit.¡± Sam broke off from her attack sequence with Gloria, her mentor and retired cleric of Paragon. Gloria had watched Gavin¡¯s morning training sessions before, though hadn''t interfered, he had never seen her fight, and just the second or two of combat he''d seen after stepping through his portal arch showed that she was an extremely skilled fighter. ¡°What have you found this time?¡± ¡°Well, not so much found as realised.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Back in my world, there''s this game where you basically simulate being an adventuring group. There''s one person who controls all the monsters and people you meet and you control your one character and what they do. Your character gets stronger over time and you get new abilities.¡± ¡°Sounds a lot like pretending to be a warden.¡± ¡°Sorta but not really. Anyway, my favourite character was this bard called Drak.¡± ¡°A bard? Like a musician.¡± ¡°Yeah, but in the game bards have magical powers they get from being awesome as shit. Anyway, Drak ended up with a lot of magic items that no one else wanted and ended up being super useful in combat because he had so many different effects and abilities for every situation.¡± ¡°So you want to play a battlefield support role?¡± ¡°Ahh, sure. Bards are really powerful in subtle ways that most other players don''t appreciate, but they can shut down whole encounters when they get going. They''re like the grease in the machine making sure everything just works.¡± ¡°Sounds like you do want to play a battlefield support role.¡± ¡°Yeah. This time, I was wondering if you could sit in on the planning? I probably should have asked you for advice earlier, but delving into those books by myself was pretty interesting.¡± ¡°I''d be glad to help Gavin. Gloria might be useful to have too, she''s a bit of an expert with magic theory.¡± ¡°Then I''d be honoured and privileged to have you help, if you don''t mind?¡± After their training, Samania and Gloria met Gavin in the library. He''d splayed out his array of notes to go through when the two swordswomen entered the room walking in lockstep. ¡°First things first, what abilities do you have already? I know what I think you have based on what I¡¯ve seen, but in the interest of clarity tell me exactly what they do.¡± Gloria said sternly. She was giving Gavin highschool headmaster vibes Gavin gave her the overview of what his powers were and how they worked, as well as the written notes on them he''d compiled. ¡°Good. You''ve already started on the path to realising the build you wanted.¡± ¡°Being able to just read up on exactly what each ability does without having to search through incomplete merchant catalogues or word of mouth seems extremely useful¡± Sam said. ¡°I think we should make a list of essential powers first, then work the ones that synergise the most with those and how you see yourself contributing to the fight.¡± Glora suggested. ¡°Master Vale¡± Samania interjected ¡°you''ve seen how he fights, he likes to take the most convoluted, complicated and difficult path to victory when he could have just fought more directly for the same result.¡± ¡°Rude.¡± ¡°Yes, I have noticed that. We should try to select powers that make use of that instead of building against it. If he''s given straightforward powers he''s just going to lose fights to people who actually like to fight that way.¡± ¡°People? Not monsters?¡± ¡°Sooner or later you''ll have to fight people. People are generally smarter than monsters, they¡¯re much more dangerous. Any lug can go out and kill monsters all day long, even ones of a higher tier, people will put you in the ground, so we train to fight them.¡± ¡°Okay, well, I''d like to avoid killing people if I can, it''s kinda frowned on where I come from.¡± ¡°Things work a little differently here. If someone comes for you they know the stakes. When you find yourself in that position they will be trying to put you in the ground. There¡¯s no taking prisoners when everyone is built specifically to kill.¡± ¡°So I''m finding out.¡± Gavin said dejectedly. ¡°First and most importantly you need some defensive powers so you don''t just die to one big hit,¡± Sam said. ¡°Body of iron is very useful,¡± Gloria said, pointing out one of the few defensive abilities Gavin had in his notes. ¡°Samania and I have something that''s almost identical to it¡± Gloria Said. ¡°Sounds really boring though.¡± Gavin said ¡°I almost didn''t include it.¡± ¡°Boring keeps you alive. It''s a very useful power so when you get caught off guard, and you especially are going to get caught off guard, you don''t just get squished and get your team killed.¡± ¡°Okay, fair enough. What other abilities do you reckon we should go for?¡± They spent the next few hours discussing Gavin¡¯s future before settling on a loose gameplan. The following day Sam took Gavins list, his stipend from her father, and his waterbreathing crystal into the guild stores to barter for the first few of his abilities, returning with the first three that they were confident would be in stock. The more esoteric spells would have to wait. Gavin took the three orbs from her on her return, one was slate grey like a weathered ball bearing that shed a dim silver light, the second was a similar colour, though translucent and glowing with a core of yellow and orange that seemed to pulse in his hand. The third was another solid ball of metal, though this one was wrapped with bands of bronze and silver. He absorbed all three in quick succession, feeling giddy as he solidified the base of his powers. [Fabricate] [Description: Create items from raw resources in your possession.] (Level 1): Construct items of up to your level in this ability from raw resources in your possession. Mana cost varies depending on item complexity and your [intelligence] attribute [Expert smith] [Description: Improve the properties of created items.] (Level 1): Expend additional mana during the crafting process to enhance the resulting item proportional to your rank in this ability up to a limit determined by the material of the item. [Body of iron] [Description: Description: Increases users'' innate defensive properties.] (Level 1): physical resistances are increased proportional to your rank in this ability. *** Over the next week Sam led a combat training in the mornings, then, after the mid day meal Gavin worked on his own projects, namely tinkering with creating basic magic items and spending time with Garland, the house chef, learning to cook with foreign ingredients. At the end of the week Gavin prepared lunch for Sam and her parents. ¡°Alright. As some of you know I''ve been working with Garland in the kitchens trying to work out how to make a proper kiwi pie with local ingredients, and yesterday I''ve come up with something I think I can be proud of. So, as a small gesture of thanks for your hospitality, please enjoy a humble steak and cheese.¡± They dug into their pies that Gavin had presented in brown paper bags. ¡°Now that''s a pie.¡± Gavin groaned as the hot chunks of meat burst with feelings of home in his mouth. ¡°Gavin, this is fantastic.¡± Alana said ¡°if passing the guild test doesn''t work out you''d have a lucrative career as an exotic food merchant.¡± ¡°I was thinking of getting a bit of a side hustle up and running. I know a good adventurer is going to make vastly more money than a food stall owner, but it''s good to have other options.¡± ¡°Can you give Garland the recipe?¡± Asked Griffon. ¡°He knows it already, he''s been great to work with, seemed to really enjoy trying to adapt the recipe to my vague description and a list of earth ingredients. Speaking of, Sam, I have some things I''ve made that are ready for field trials. Is there anywhere low risk we can go to find some monsters that are more forgiving?¡± ¡°Sure. I''ll find a low level contract and we can head out. Can Gavin tag along as an auxiliary contractor mother?¡± ¡°Yes. He is your responsibility while he is in training. The second he joins the adventurers guild the other restrictions apply.¡± ¡°Very well, come on Gavin. I want to see what you''ve been working on.¡± Sam took Gavin back to the guild jobs board in the centre of the compound. Other wardens were browsing the documents, picking out the most interesting or lucrative ones. Gavin looked at several himself, figuring out how they worked as Sam searched for a suitable one to try. ¡°Here, Giant Reef Crabs have been coming out of the ocean and attacking Ansville near here at sunset, we have enough time to get there today, deal with them, stay the night there then come back tomorrow morning.¡± Sam said, holding up the papers. ¡°What''s a Giant Reef Crab? Where I¡¯m from crabs don''t get much bigger than a person''s hand unless you go really deep out into the ocean.¡± ¡°Crab monster, they¡¯re as tall as a person with nasty teeth.¡± ¡°Got anything less¡­ terrifying.¡± ¡°How about this one? It''s a mud elemental that''s been living in the sewers of Blacktree.¡± ¡°In the sewers? So the mud is?¡± ¡°Yes. It''s what you think.¡± ¡°So, what direction is Ansville?¡± Gavin said, snatching the Reef Crab contract. They set off at a run, Gavin found it surprising how similar the landscape was to what he remembered back on earth. The plant life was all different species but felt like it could have fit right into his homeland. Vast tracts of bush undulated into rugged hills around them. The ocean stretched out to their right, an azure blanket sparkling under the cloudless sky. ¡°Back - in my world - the native - name - for my - country - translates - to - ¡®the land - of the - long - white - cloud¡¯ Gavin said between gasping breaths as they ran along the paved road "this place - seems - to be - sunny - all - the time.¡± ¡°It is unusually good weather¡± Samania confirmed, looking out over the ocean ¡°that is a rather poetic name, I like it.¡± ¡°I''ll tell you - about - my world - if you - tell me - about yours - when we''ve got - a moment - when we aren''t - running¡± Gavin wheezed, finally struggling to maintain their pace. ¡°You need to get your endurance up if you''re going to be a proper adventurer.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, you can add running - to our list - of things - that I need - to train - better. I''m already - doing better - since I - got - body of - iron.¡± ¡°I will. Starting tomorrow we''re going for a run before combat training every morning¡± Sam said clearly at ease with their pace. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.¡°Good. I wont get OP sitting on my ass.¡± Gavin said, trying to smile through his burning lungs. An hour later they arrived at Ansville, little more than a general store, a small market, and a collection of houses inside a wooden palisade, farmland had eaten into the bush and several horse-sized docile lizards roamed about paying them no mind. Sam called to a weather-worn woman as they entered the town''s open gates. ¡°Excuse me, do you know anything about the Reef Crab attacks?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Good afternoon, little young miss, are you here from one of the guilds?¡± ¡°Yes, Wildenesse wardens guild, we''ve come to deal with them.¡± ¡°Well all I know is a few of them have been coming up every night or two a few of the lads have managed to lure them into the herd so they eat them instead of us.¡± ¡°Doesn''t sound ideal¡± Gavin mused ¡°we''ll get them for you, well, I will, hopefully.¡± ¡°You should speak to Pam and Justin, they live down at that house there, it''s them that''ve been luring the crabs away from us.¡± ¡°Thank you mam.¡± Sam said ¡°Come on Gavin.¡± They walked down to the house the woman had indicated. Knocking on the weather worn door, a weary woman the same age as Gavin pulled it open. ¡°How''s it going? Pam was it?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°We spoke to someone who said you''d give us some info on the crab attacks, can you show us where they''ve been coming up? I''m Gavin by the way and this is Sam.¡± Pam''s shoulders straightened, seeming a little less defeated. ¡°Yes, come with me.¡± ¡°Are these your lizards roaming around outside?¡± ¡°Yes, we''ve lost four so far, it''s going to be pretty rough for us for a while.¡± ¡°Sorry to hear it. At the very least we can stop it getting worse.¡± Samania said sombrely. ¡°They come up down there¡± Beth said, indicating the far end of a pebble beach ¡°three, every day or two.¡± ¡°Can you tell if they''re the same ones? Do they have distinctive markings? Can we be sure the ones they''ve seen account for all of them?¡± Gavin asked turning to Sam ¡°They''re broadly similar, some have different colouring and shape but if they''re from the same manifestation they could be easy to tell apart or impossible. Giant Crabs aren''t smart enough to hide, they come up when they''re hungry, feed, then return to their homes.¡± ¡°One of them, Tom managed to throw a rock on it from the wall on the first night, cracked a chunk off just above its eye before we drew them away, it''s been up every time, it should be the same ones,¡± Pam said. ¡°Thanks for your help, we''ll let you know how we get on.¡± Gavin said, nodding seriously to her. ¡°Good luck.¡± ¡°Cheers.¡± Gavin said, giving her a wave as they turned to walk towards. Gavin and Sam walked down to sit at the point where grass became shale. They looked out over the deep calm ocean, salt air washing over them as the blazing sun sank down towards the horizon. High overhead grey gulls floated on unseen air currents, and the trees behind them were abuzz with the sound of insects. ¡°This is life.¡± Gavin mused, his forearms resting on his bent knees as they looked out over the ocean. ¡°You haven''t gotten to the hard part yet.¡± ¡°Yeah, but back on earth my job is to crawl through pink bats and rat shit. Absolutely none of it is fun, I''ve never got to relax on a beach as part of my job. The best I get is a beer on Friday night, oh, Friday is like Fourthday for you, it''s gonna take me forever to get used to a four day work week¡± ¡°You can still work on fifthday and sixthday too, you know, you''ll be able to pick up contracts on any days you please.¡± ¡°The weekend is sacred time, no work on the weekends.¡± ¡°I thought you said you didn''t put stock in religion.¡± ¡°I don''t.¡± Gavin said with an implied ¡®duh¡¯. ¡°Then how is it you hold the weekend sacred?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Think of it like doing the things I want to do is my religion.¡± ¡°You should find a church of Hedon, they''re all about the feel good lifestyle.¡± Sam said ¡°Is Hedon the god of hedonism?¡± ¡°That''s right.¡± Sam said, absently picking through the stones on the beach. ¡°He¡¯s one of the minor gods, showed up a few years ago, his influence is on the decline.¡± ¡°Isn''t his name a bit reductive?¡± Gavin Asked. ¡°What, the god of having a lack of impulse control is named after the word for having a lack of impulse control?¡± ¡°Yeah, like, Soliece isn''t related to thinking, and the god of healing is FLorin right?¡± ¡°That''s right. I¡¯m not sure why the gods take the names they do, it¡¯s not for us to question their intentions.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, that pretty much sums up why I''m not a massive fan of religions in general. Regardless, I don''t think joining the church of hedonism sounds a great idea in the long term.¡± ¡°I agree, this world isn''t ready for that.¡± Sam said, elbowing Gavin with a friendly poke. ¡°One thing I''ve been wondering. How do these monsters manifest in the world? Didn''t you say they appear in those dimensional pockets?¡± ¡°Not really, it''s mostly demons that appear in the dimensional spaces, they''re just the raw energy of the ether that''s forced to take the form of something living, but they''re not, their soul isn''t real, it''s artificial. They''re basically just magical constructs. Monsters have real souls, they are, or were real creatures that have become corrupted through raw ether exposure, then there''s elementals, they''re like demons but their false-soul is even more simplistic, they''re basically a tiny dimensional pocket that''s influencing the outside world, they bind themselves to an element and animate it. They will eventually die out like a normal dimensional pocket, and they usually explode with whatever element they''re made out of, a water elemental will usually make a flood, fire elementals will burn everything around them to the ground-¡± ¡°And a poo elemental will?-¡± Gavin asked, wincing. ¡°Yes, dealing with elementals and dimensional pockets is the most dangerous part of this job, but also the most important. Monsters will roam about killing when they¡¯re hungry and won''t really do much more harm, elementals and dimensional pockets do real damage.¡± ¡°When I first got here you said, you didn''t know any of this?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°I didn''t, after you asked I went and looked it up for myself.¡± Sam said, pulling herself up straighter ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who can research things.¡± Gavin smiled, turning to watch the sun creep towards the horizon. Wispy streaks of cloud were the only thing that broke up the deep peach colour fading to purple. He was beginning to come to understand his friend, she had access to some of the best tutors money could buy and was extremely dedicated, but she hadn¡¯t yet built a habit of learning something unless she had a specific need to know it. If a tutor had taken the time to hammer in a lesson that was valuable to her career she was a wealth of information, but he doubted she''d ever gone out and learned something for herself outside of topics directly related to fighting monsters. ¡°Thanks for all this Sam. I''ve really enjoyed the past week. You training me, these sweet magic powers, hanging out.¡± Gavin said, appreciatively. ¡°It''s been good. I haven''t had many friends growing up here, my parents moved here six years ago, it''s hard to meet people when you''re the daughter of two of the most influential people in a hick town on the ass end of nowhere, then you go and get some of their promising wardens killed.¡± ¡°Did you just say ass? I¡¯m shocked Sam, shocked¡± Gavin said, arresting that topic of conversation. ¡°You are actually a child.¡± Sam said. ¡°It¡¯s the filthiest thing I think I''ve heard you say¡± Gavin said. Sam turned to look Gavin in the eye, a serious expression on her face. ¡°Fu- wait, I think that''s them now. Off you go, I''ll be here ready to jump in if you need it.¡± ¡°No worries, I should be all good.¡± Gavin said, a feeling of heady excitement building inside. He sauntered down the beach to meet the horrifying creatures shambling out of the lapping waves. They were as tall as he was, huge rock crabs with vicious gnarled claws and a face filled with rows and rows of razor teeth with clacking mandibles to pull in their victims. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Gavin said, flourishing his spear from his inventory. Gavin drove the blunt end of his spear into the shale, leaving it standing up at a jaunty angle. Several iron throwing stars appeared in his hands, glowing runes emblazoned on their faces. Waiting until just the right moment, he sent one after another skimming through the air at the nearest Crab. He¡¯d been practicing his technique for days now and they all closed in on its unarmoured face, slicing deeply into its mouth and chitinous armour. A series of small detonations blew small chunks out of its face, creating several tennis ball sized holes. Slimy red goo splattered out of the ragged wounds as the monster crashed into the sand. [Item: Basic rune etched shuriken] [Type: Thrown] [Rank: Level 1, Common] [Description: A basic throwing weapon inscribed with an explosive rune] [Effect: Expend all stored mana in a violent explosion on contact with an enemy. Deals force and fire damage.] Next Gavin retrieved a small metal pot with a rune scratched into the sealed lid. Feeding mana into the rune he threw it across the sand, watching the intricate symbol come to life as it tumbled through the air. The rune itself was the result of a failed attempt at the ones that had been etched to his throwing stars, except instead of detonating when they came into contact with an enemy it circulated the mana in through itself in a feedback loop instead of detonating on contact, heating up and breaking down under its own power which took about three to five seconds. [item: Makeshift homemade grenade] [type: Thrown] [rank: Level 1, common] [description: Warning, do not use if you value your fingers] [Effect: Detonates to deal explosive force damage in a moderate area. Time of activation varies] The pot hit the shoals just in front of the second monster. It inexorably crawled over the makeshift grenade as it exploded, spraying stone, meat and shell shrapnel over a wide area of beach. The monster shambled on, a leg and part of the lower carapace torn open and streaming ichor. "I was hoping not to need this" He retrieved an arm length rod from his inventory and backed up the shoals to get more room. The crabs weren''t fast but he''d been taking his unrushed time about it so far. Pointing the rod at the same second crab he channeled mana into the base. The weapon cracked a gout of white smoke plumed from the tip. Gavin had spent no small amount of time working on firearm designs this past week. He had watched enough gun restoration videos to have a basic idea of their function, he just lacked the ability to make anything other than the crudest possible gun: a hollow tube with an end plugged off, with a fire rune ready to ignite a chemical explosive he''d purchased from a local alchemist, and a sphere of steel he''d spent an afternoon fabricating to get as close to perfect as he could manage. The result was the world''s first, and worst musket. [Item Gavin¡¯s prototype gun] [Type: Firearm] [Rank: level 1, Uncommon] [Description: Definitely not an actual gun. Device may detonate unexpectedly when used instead of performing its normal function] [Effect: Single use. Fires a small projectile, dealing bludgeoning damage to the target.] The ball of steel flew at great speed, smashing through carapace just above the crabs'' cracked eye socket. The beast faltered but came on in an unsteady shamble. Gavin turned to the final crab. He''d deal with the second after that one if it was still alive. He skittered around it taking his spear with him, it failed to track him as he dodged, its legs were not a good method for maneuvering its bulk. He jabbed at its leg joints with his spear, circling it as it tried to turn to face him. The tip found hard carapace more often than not, but the quick succession of strikes meant some were going to find a chink in the armour. Gavin bore his spear into its vulnerable areas between the chitin. The creature faltered, taking more weight on its front legs as ligaments tore, and the ruined limbs that dragged out behind it became dead weight. Thrusting his spear at the monster''s shell close to the base of a leg, he felt the tip bite deep, quickly he activated its ability, the spear extending to push itself deeply into the monster. The beast thrashed and screamed a gargling roar. The spear tore free of Gavin¡¯s grip, remaining lodged inside. With a flying leap Gavin threw himself at the creature before it could turn on him, his hands scrambling to find purchase on the slick gnarled shell. Finding his grip he hauled himself atop it. It was like riding a slippery mechanical bull, hellbent on murdering him if he came off. Gavin conjured a claw hammer into his hand using his fabricate ability and the stash of materials in his inventory. Now he used it for a more grizzly purpose than it was designed for. Raining blow after blow on its shell with adrenaline fueled strength. The head shattered spider-web cracks out from each impact. The crab continued to buck and thrash more recklessly than before. But Gavin had found his balance. Chunks of shell fell away revealing soft flesh beneath. Gavin slammed the hammer down, the tool crushing and tearing organs. He didn''t stop smashing his hammer into the mushy flesh until the crab gave out with panicked cries that turned to feeble gurgles. Sliding off the carapace, his shoulder aching, and arm going numb, he looked over for the second crab he''d left alive earlier. It''d managed to shamble half way up the beach, turn around and succumb to its wounds not far from where he was now. ¡°Well. As a proof of concept I think it went quite well.¡± Gavin said to no one in particular, surveying the scene. On his way back up to Sam he touched each corpse in turn, Each one disintegrating to crumbling ash which dissipated in the gentle breeze [You have looted three: Giant Reef Crab] [You have looted:] [3 level 1 Gold coins] [30 level 1 Silver coins] [60 level 1 Bronze coins] [90 level 1 Iron coins] [120 level 1 Copper coins] [Level 1 common healing potion] [Reinforced Reef Crab shield] "Not bad." Gavin said, feeling the items enter his inventory, appearing in the ¡®unsorted tab¡¯ before he mentally flicked the items to the right tabs. ¡°Sloppy.¡± Sam said, frowning. Gavin shrugged, he was proud of his efforts and was used to Sam''s training style now. ¡°No. We''re going to need to give you a lot more practice before you''re ready to take the test. If Reef crabs weren''t the easiest creatures in the area to fight you''d have been eaten.¡± ¡°I''ll need a bit of prep time, I''ve got more designs I can iterate on.¡± ¡°Your consumables were interesting, what was the wand you used?¡± ¡°In my world we have weapons called guns, basically every soldier has them as their primary weapon. What I just used was like the equivalent of instead of making a sword I got a stick off the ground and beat the crab with that instead.¡± ¡°You can make it better?¡± ¡°I think so. I know how they work, I just don''t know how to make them well enough that they dont blow up in my hands or have the bullets just roll out the end. They¡¯re quite fiddly and have some parts I¡¯m not exactly clear on. With a bit of time I can make less and less crude versions, maybe when I level up and can use stronger materials to make more powerful designs.¡± ¡°You''re aiming to fight like an archery specialist but you use crafted consumables instead of arrows?¡± ¡°I guess, yeah. We should get back to town, I bet that inn has a nice hot meal and a beer for us.¡± ¡°We have to see Pam and Justin, you promised to let her know how you went.¡± ¡°I did, yeah.¡± Gavin said reluctantly as the thought of a beer after his exertions called to him. They walked back up the beach, Sam sharing her observations of his fight while Gavin listened. A few minutes of hearing about all of the very many ways he could improve he knocked on the door of Pam''s house. ¡°Hey¡± Gavin said, as the door opened to reveal a gloomy Pam. ¡°You got them?¡± She asked, as though the answer didn''t truly matter. ¡°Yeah. They''re gone.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Thank you¡± she said, though it was plain she was just defeated. ¡°Hey. I have a looting power, I managed to loot some money from those crabs. Here, you need this more than me.¡± Gavin retrieved a stack of from his pockets and dumped them into a fabricated wooden container, he held it out for her, thrusting it into her hands when she didn¡¯t immediately take it from him. ¡°I can''t take these.¡± ¡°Yes, you can. In fact I''d be more upset if you didn''t take the money. You do need the money right? You said your livestock have been eaten.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Pam said reluctantly. ¡°Well, I don''t, I looted some items I can sell later plus there''s a reward from the guild, but that''s just money, we''re adventurers, we''ll, shes a warden which is sorta the same thing, we protect people from the monsters, but I''d like to be the guy that doesn''t just leave death behind him, I''d like to leave a bit of hope there too.¡± ¡°Well, thank you, this really means a lot.¡± she said, opening the box to view the small amount of treasure. ¡°No worries mate.¡± Gavin left with Sam to go get his long anticipated meal and ale, feeling a little bit better about himself. ¡°Gods you love to hear yourself make an impassioned speech don''t you?¡± Sam said, shaking her head as they drew out of earshot. ¡°Of course. What''s the point of doing good if you can''t turn it into a philosophical monologue?¡± ¡°You are so full of yourself.¡± Sam said, snorting back a smile. ¡°You love it.¡± Gavin laughed. ¡°I''m starting to rethink training you.¡± SEVEN. Grisly work. Gavin had Samania sell his newly looted shield at the guild market on their way back to the estate, making a decent amount of money between that and turning in the contract. He spent it to get more crafting materials and a metallurgy treatise, leaving his coffers close to empty again. He worked tirelessly over the next few days, up before the sunrise to run through the city with Sam, combat training, then the afternoons for tinkering before a he and Sam took a few hours to relax and explore the city or relax in the grounds of the estate.. He fell into his bed at the end of each day worn ragged from fighting and studying but more content than he''d ever been. His magical powers had seen steady growth with use though he had a very long way to go before ranking up. He was excited to see just how powerful he could become, with each rank in his powers would see a corresponding advancement in his strength, both in terms of versatility as he unlocked new features but also in raw stats. Sam explained that for each level he would get a small boost to his power, each one stacking cumulatively until he¡¯d reach demigod status with enough time. Just running some numbers in his head he could see he could be at this years or decades and still have abilities to unlock. On the fourth day after he¡¯d killed the crabs, Sam and Gavin took a series of contracts all near each other that could be completed efficiently. Gavin took this opportunity to field test his new toy. Their first contract was dealing with a pack of marhounds, a half-demon looking dog monster that were making their way around the countryside. They lay on the ridge of a hillock overlooking a small farming house. Hedgerows and stone fences crossed off sections of the countryside, what looked like Dobermans with burning eyes roamed around the building, lizard carcasses had been gorged on, bones cracked and scattered among pools of blood. ¡°Hope the family got away.¡± Gavin said, a sinking feeling in his stomach. ¡°Come on, we''ll go in together. I can deal with them, just keep them off my back.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Gavin said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Samania set a running pace, Gavin close behind. The marhounds caught their scent long before they got into fighting range. Gavin retrieved some improved grenades from his inventory lobbing them ahead into the charging pack of dogs. Two fiery explosions erupted in the midst of the creatures, killing several outright and injuring more with flying shrapnel. As they drew close, Sam picked her ground near an opening between a low hedge and a rock wall gate. Gavin took up a position behind her readying his latest weapon. [Item: Gavin''s crude revolver] [Type: Weapon, firearm] [Rank: Level 1, common] [Description: A crude gun crafted with only a basic understanding of the underlying mechanics of both magic and firearms, warning, may be as dangerous to the user as anyone near or in front of the user] [Effect: Shoots crafted ammunition. Resistant to physical damage] Readying his crude pistol that looked more like an amalgamation of scrap parts than a weapon, he fired off two shots at the first marhound that leapt the rock wall. His first whizzed over its muscled shoulder, while the second hit it just under the jaw blowing a hole in its neck, the hound stumbled then fell dead, fiery red blood gushing from the cavity Sam was making good progress, hacking through several as they nipped at her with her greatsword, biting heavily into their unarmoured flanks. Howls and yaps cut through the sounds of battle grating on Gavin''s ears. She was an expert at giving herself space to work, her sword seeming to be everywhere at once as it flowed lightning quick in her hands. A trio of hounds leapt the fence in the same place as the first one. Gavin fired off the four remaining bullets, two hit one of them, killing it in moments. He threw out a handful of throwing stars with his other hand. Most of them bit home erupting in more small explosions that tore chunks from their flesh, others landing harmlessly on the ground, detonating only when one of the hounds stood on one. Gavin was concerned at the rate that he was eating through his consumables. He''d need to find a way to churn out more of the common items if he planned on completing more than one contract at a time. With a brief moment of respite, he slowly loaded his revolver, his jittery adrenaline fueled hands only getting four of the six rounds into it before one of the monsters managed to dip around Sams guard, circling behind her as she fended off more from the front. Gavin readied his spear and jabbed repeatedly at the hound, forcing it back. He backed it up against the wall, feeling itself boxed in it attempted a leap to get clear but gavin activated the spear, the tip shooting out to catch the marhound in the shoulder. It screeched in pain briefly before Sam got a moment to cut its head clean off while he pinned it to the ground. Sam had dealt with most of the hounds that had initially rushed them and was pushing out of her chokepoint to fight the remaining ones. He followed behind, spear in one hand, revolver in the other. Sam made quick work of the monsters with her sword, though none got close enough to him to fight. As the last few hounds turn to run, seeing their pack slaughtered in minutes Gavin let off the four shots he¡¯d managed to load into his pistol, eruptions of blood exploded from their flanks, downing them all. That grizzly work done, Gavin went about looting their corpses. Touching each mangled body then accepting the loot request [You have looted twenty three Marhound] [You have looted:] [92 level 1 silver coins] [368 level 1 bronze coins] [1472 level 1 iron coins] [six marhound leather] [three level 1 medium healing potion] [Monster soul: Predators focus] ¡°Monster soul?¡± ¡°What one?¡± ¡°Predators focus. Is it the same thing as a demon soul?¡± ¡°Thats a good one for archers and finesse fighters. They¡¯re the same thing as demon souls, the main difference is demons are more likely to give active powers and monsters give passive ones but not always.¡± ¡°And elementals?¡± ¡°They mostly give out powers related to their element. You should hold onto them, even if you don''t need them. Its not like you need the extra money from them.¡± ¡°I guess. There was also a stack of cash on these things, like-¡± Gavin said, as he checked the solar count in his inventory ¡°fourteen hundred solars, thats a pretty decent amount right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty normal, you¡¯ll get as much again from actually completing the contracts, your old profession wouldn''t require you to do anything as dangerous as killing monsters right?¡± ¡°Well, actually yeah, kinda. Electricity kills a decent amount of people, you can die like that if you''re not careful¡± Gavin said, clicking his fingers to emphasise his point. After they''d finished clearing up all the corpses outside they explored the house, finding the half eaten family inside in one of the bedrooms. Gavin grimly transferred their corpses to his inventory, bile rising in his throat. A wave of nausea and delirium washed over him and he found himself rushing out of the house where he vomited over the flower garden by the front door. Not only was the sight gruesome beyond anything he''d seen before but putting those bodies in his inventory felt wrong on a base animal level. He felt he could sense their corpses in his soul, their rotting bodies smearing blood over him as their cold lifeless eyes peered into his inner being. Sam followed behind looking green herself. ¡°This is the hard part of the job Gavin.¡± she said grimly. ¡°No kidding.¡± Gavin said, wiping his sleeve across his mouth. ¡°We have to check for survivors, someone could have hid somewhere.¡± ¡°We found two adults and two- kids¡± he said, fighting down another wave of nausea. ¡°There are three beds. I don''t think there''s anyone left.¡± ¡°We still have to look, just in case.¡± ¡°Okay. Let''s get to it then¡± Gavin said, not relishing this part of the job, but accepting it needed to be done. They turned the house over looking for any survivors, though all they found was blood and gore. Satisfied there was no one else in or near the house they returned to Blacktree to hand the bodies over to the church of death and to turn in a report to the local guild kiosk detailing their completion of the contract. ¡°It feels wrong to get paid for this¡± Gavin said as Sam gave him the reward money from the contract they¡¯d completed, the coins clinking in his hand as he transferred them to his inventory ¡°Yes, but you''re going to take it anyway. Buying gear and materials isn''t free. You need to become strong enough that you can prevent this sort of thing from happening.¡± ¡°Yeah I know, im not going to feel good about it though. Speaking of, you killed more than half of those things, you should get most of that money.¡± ¡°No.¡± Sam said flatly. ¡°Didn''t you just get done telling me ranking up wasn''t free and we need to buy our way to power to save people?¡± ¡°Yes, but I come from a rich family, my parents are buying me the soul powers I need as they become available, I have all the training and gear any warden could want, you need that money more than me.¡± ¡°Okay. Sure. It''s just¡­ all of this will take some getting used to.¡± ¡°Every warden goes through this, now, come on, we''ve got a job to do.¡± They set off to their next destination through to the other side of town. Unlike Wildenesse, Blacktree was a small tight-knit village, buildings were packed close together inside a wooden palisade wall often two or three storeys high. The whole place felt like walking through a maze. ¡°Hey, you said your parents are buying you powers as they become available, what exactly are your abilities and what ones are they setting you up for? I kinda feel stupid for not asking before.¡± ¡°So far I have Ethereal resilience, its like tour body of iron ability but scales all resistances equally instead of slanting towards physical resistances like yours. Blur, the movement power that lets me move faster for a moment. Ethereal blood which heals me over time. Great weapon master which increases my strength while I''m wielding heavy melee weapons. And wrath of the titan, its a special attack that gets stronger the more the enemy is damaged, it gets some powerful effects at later ranks but has a long cooldown.¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯ve only got five of your abilities unlocked?¡± ¡°Yes. Its not like five isn''t a respectable number of powers, its more than most people can get their hands on without support. My family is trying to get a couple more specific ones, the next one my parents are looking for is an epic rarity one.¡± ¡°On another note, I can''t believe no one took care of the mud monster down there yet.¡± Gavin said, holding his nose as they wrenched open the sewer grate. ¡°It''s going to be more aggressive than normal, the older they get the more their minds break down, they start going feral if left too long, and they usually go on a rampage right before the end.¡± The sewer was oddly cavernous, large stones of varying sizes made up the slimy walls arching overhead. Filth flowed in rivers down the centre with a walkway either side. Iron pipes ran in from the streets and houses above, feeding into the river of waste. Sam held up an egg sized stone which glowed with blue-white light ¡°What''s our plan for killing it?¡± Gavin asked, his nose wrinkling as they delved deeper into the sewer. ¡°Like I said, elementals are held together fairly loosely through a bit of magic that''s seeped through into the world. Disrupt the magic enough and they dissipate¡± Sam said, taking the lead, sword in hand. ¡°Is this before or after we get covered in shit?¡± ¡°I think you can figure that out for yourself.¡± ¡°Great.¡± ¡°How do we find this thing?¡± ¡°We walk around until we see signs. There are items we could have bought that can track elemental magic, but they''re not strictly necessary.¡± ¡°Anything that saves us time in this place feels necessary to me.¡± ¡°Well, now you have some incentive to think ahead before going on a contract.¡± ¡°Duly noted.¡± For quite some time they trudged through the sewer. With only the sound of wet footsteps, scurrying creatures in the dark and poo lapping at their feet to break the silence. ¡°I''m definitely figuring out how to make a light like that as soon as we¡¯ve completed these contracts.¡± Gavin said, looking to Sam who didn¡¯t respond who instead focused on their task. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve got a bunch of ideas, a mate once gave me a box of rings to make chainmaille with and I assembled most of a shirt before I ran out. It was a pain in the ass, but I bet I could make up a suit of scale armour and scribe a rune on each plate separately.¡± ¡°Sounds tedious.¡± ¡°Tedium is its own fun.¡± Gavin said, smiling despite the less than pleasant situation they found themselves in. ¡°You should see how much work I¡¯ve put in to optimising dungeons and dragons characters.¡± ¡°Quiet.¡± Sam said sharply. ¡°We''ve got to talk about something to pass the time.¡± ¡°No. Quiet, do you hear that?.¡± Gavin bent an ear to the gloom surrounding them. ¡°No? Just the water and the- wait, there¡¯s not any of those little rat things around.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Gavin readied his spear and a handful of throwing stars. Out of instinct he dipped the tip of the spear into the wastewater in case they''d wandered right atop it, nothing happened. Next he sent a loose stone skimming over the surface down the tunnel with a kick, landing in a wet slap in a blockage at the edge of the light The poo elemental roared to life, filling the tunnel with brackish sludge. Gavin sent his handful of stars zipping down to impact the monster with as much force as he could impart to them. Small explosions tore at the energy holding the creature together, but it was nowhere close to enough, the voids filled an instant after he¡¯d blown them open. He drew his pistol loosing all six shots in quick succession. It was impossible to miss in such a tight space, all six shots rending holes straight through the creature, splattering chunky water over the walls. With only a moment before he¡¯d need to take additional action he pulled more of his crude bullets out of his inventory and started to reload. The monster surged forward, Samania¡¯s sword flashed as she blurred to avoid an attack, slicing through the filthy appendage that reached out to engulf her. Gavin¡¯s spear extended and struck over Sam as she hacked chunks of sewer water out of the elemental as it rushed her. Having enough of their tricks the elemental rose up and barrelled forward like a tidal wave sweeping both of them off their feet. Gavin shut his eyes and held his breath, retrieving another handful of stars from his inventory and sending them shooting in all directions. Their runes activated blasting more holes in the water that was sweeping them down the tunnel. The creature roared a guttural bellow, throwing Gavin bodily into the wall, he landed with a crack, his head smashing into the stone. A moment later he was up again, wiping muck out of his vision. He''d kept a hold of his pistol but his spear caught on something in the water and had been wrenched from his grip. In the distance he could see Sam fighting the hulking beast that had once again risen to eclipse the tunnel. Sam was the sole light source in the tunnel, smeared with filth and illuminated with a single mote of light she fought on, determined to win. Sprinting back to the fight Gavin launched himself into the air, lashing out with a brutal kick. He plunged through the monster, his leaping assault punching clean through the insubstantial creature, it''s viscous fluids covering him once again. Sam stood over him as he regained his feet, slashing at the thing as it grew more and more frenzied. Gavin rolled back as the elemental washed over the pair again, this time he was more prepared. He kept his footing, lashing out with punches, knees and elbows. Sam''s sword tore a wide hole in the beast as she blurred, landing several successive attacks. Gavin sunk the barrel of his pistol into the elemental as it swung an arm around to crash into Sam from behind, pulling the trigger as rapidly as he could. The gun detonated in his hand throwing him back to land in the river of waste. As he pulled himself up he saw Sam raise her sword high over her head then bring it crashing down into the elemental. Gavin felt a wave of power flow off her as she used her execute power. A pressure wave rippled down the tunnel an instant later as Sam slumped to the ground, breathing hard, the remaining part of elemental that hadn''t been splattered across the walls crumbling back to sludge at her feet. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Gavin wiped at the goo on his face, willing himself not to think about why it was slimy. [You have looted [mud elemental] [You have looted:] [7 level 1 gold coins] [49 level 1 silver coins] [343 level 1 bronze coins] [sword of the unclean hand] ¡°You okay Sam?¡± Gavin asked pulling himself upright. ¡°Yeah, what about you?¡± ¡°Fine I think.¡± Gavin said ¡°What about your hand?¡± Sam asked, sounding worried. Gavin looked down at his right hand, it was a mess, his index finger and thumb conspicuously missing, in their place were two ragged stumps. The rest was torn and bloody. ¡°Guess I''m not okay.¡± He said, noting the hand on his user interface had turned black where his fingers were missing. ¡°this is gonna hurt like an absolute cock in a minute.¡± Gavin retrieved a healing potion from his inventory and sculled it down. He could feel the flesh knitting together but it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to close all the wounds or regrow lost bones leaving him with puckered skin over his knuckles. ¡°We need to get you to a healer, they''ll be able to fix you up. Come on.¡± Sam said, pulling him along behind her. They felt their way back up the tunnel, Gavin finding his spear poking out of the water. He put it in his inventory and they carried on, finding a ladder that led up to the streets above. The climb was awkward with only one good hand, Sam helped him the last of the way out after she climbed up in front of him. When they were out in the fresh air of the street Sam scribed a ritual circle on the cobbles with chalk, filling the circle with arcane runes. ¡°Stand in here, it''ll get rid of the filth, just close your eyes and mouth before you activate it.¡± Gavin did as he was told, moving into the circle and activating it while Sam repeated the process with a second circle. He felt a tingling sensation as a wave of energy crept down over his face and body, scouring his clothes and skin. Where his hand had been blown apart the magic stung like acid. Eventually all of the brown filth sloughed off to the ground leaving a spotless Gavin standing in a puddle of disintegrating muck, the ritual diagram scrubbing itself away. ¡°What was that ritual? It looked different than the one you''ve got at home.¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Basic cleaning ritual, there¡¯s lots of different ones, that one is good for out in the field it¡¯s not as advanced as the ones at the estate, but its functional. You should pick up a ritual magic treatise when we get back to Wildenesse.¡± ¡°I definitely will. Why haven''t you used one of these out in the field before?¡± ¡°Drawing out the diagram is tedious, and its not like a little sweat and dirt is an inconvenience.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it took five minutes and now we don¡¯t have to walk around covered in filth for the rest of the day.¡± ¡°Well, get a Treatise and you can do it. Come on, we need to find that healer.¡± Once they''d got their bearings and asked around they made their way back through town to a temple of Florin, the god of life. Gavin trailed a small trickle of blood behind him even after downing his healing potion. A priest was waiting for them at the entrance with a warm smile on his face, he cast a spell on him as they neared the doors, the smooth golden light surrounding him and filtering into his body over a few minutes while his fingers regrew at a rapid pace. ¡°Thanks mate.¡± Gavin said, flexing his new fingers, they looked exactly like his old ones, down to the scar down the side of his index finger. He''d acquired it years ago with a hobby knife modeling a Treebeard replica out of epoxy putty and armature wire when his hand slipped, slicing his finger open to the bone. Once his hand had been stitched up, he''d gone home to complete his model, only to slice it open in the same way immediately. He vividly recalled his embarrassment as the same doctor stitched him up a second time that same evening, the wound now remaining as a gnarled line of skin across his finger. ¡°How come there''s a scar on my brand new finger?¡± He asked the priest. ¡°Advanced healing uses your mind and soul as a template, you remember those old wounds. You put that scar there.¡± ¡°No shit? Anyway what do I owe you?¡± ¡°Florin intimated you got that wound defending the town from an elemental in the sewer that was getting dangerously close to the end of its manifestation time. In this house, there is no fee for those that take on the jobs no one else wants.¡± He said, inclining his head. ¡°Well, I''m not going to argue with that, come on Sam, you heard the man, we''ve got one last contract to complete today.¡± Their last contract was to deal with a forest troll that had wandered dangerously close to Blacktree. They were notorious for being big, slower than most monsters, but extremely difficult to kill and had a long reach with their powerful clawed hands. They were smart enough to use simple weapons like clubs and rocks. Gavin had exhausted his supply of throwing stars, his gun was more or less slag, all he had was his spear and his ability to conjure basic weapons with the scant resources he had in his inventory. It was mid afternoon as they made their way into the forest. A local woodsman, Sven, accompanied them for their journey. He''d seen the troll and identified it to the guild a few days before and was willing to take them to where he''d seen it. Gavin built up a rapport with Sven, learning a little about the local environment. He hadn''t been on a hike through the bush since he was a young teen, and was enjoying his afternoon after their emotionally ravaging morning. Sven showed him several ingredients the local alchemists used but warned him away from touching most of them, either because they were dangerous or had very specific harvesting requirements. One plant, a small shrub with bright yellow flowers was useful for crafting stamina potions and could be harvested with no special skills, Gavin picked a few of the flowers off each plant wherever he saw them. It wasn''t long until they found troll tracks. The trio fell silent as they followed them up and around the hill. The prints in the soft earth were easy enough for even Gavin to follow which led to a hollow dug out, under a huge gnarled tree that looked similar to one of the natives from his home country. Clumps of earth had been scattered around the hole and sat loosely atop the leaf litter, and more was flying out in great handfuls. He fabricated a throwing star into his hand, though this hadn¡¯t been inscribed with any runes. He readied it and threw it down into the hole, eliciting a grunt from the creature inside. A few seconds later the troll crawled on all fours out of the hole. The thing was a shaggy green carpet, like a sloth had grown to the size of chewbacca. It''s arms looked too long for its body and its face snarled menacingly, sharp teeth bared. Gavin summoned and threw handfuls of z nails to land under the trolls hands as it crawled out. The troll howled in pain pulling each out. As it focused on its hands Sam charged in, ramming the point of her sword down into its neck from above, thrusting it deep into the troll''s chest cavity. The troll howled, scrambling out of the hole and knocking Sam back as blood, thick as treacle oozed out of the wound. It pulled itself fully upright, grasped the hilt of the sword and yanked it free, a glob of thick almost black blood came out with it, clinging to the blade like tar. The troll threw the sword at Gavin who dodged aside only taking a glancing blow on his cloak, skittering off the scales to come to land hilt up in the dirt nearby. Gavin readied to throw more nails at the troll as it walked, timing them to land in patches under where he anticipated its feet would fall. The troll tripped as the prong of a nail bit deep into its soft soles. Sam retrieved her sword and began taking every advantage, darting around the creature hacking at it with wide powerful strikes. Though they were scabbing over as fast as she could inflict more of them. She worked around it, dodging as it lashed out and charged her. Her sword bludgeoned and enraged it, but she wasn''t making a lot of headway. ¡°Fire. Trolls are weak to fire! Gavin yelled¡± wracking his brain for a way to make fire with what he had on hand ¡°stall it!¡± He called pulling items from his inventory with nervous hands. He began carving a rune into a throwing star with a rune engraving tool, it was sloppy but probably functional. He pressed some of his mana into it, activating the rune to explode on contact with a target. ¡°Here, Sven, take these as I make them and throw them at the troll¡± Gavin said hastily, holding out his new star as he summoned another blank to inscribe. Svens throw landed at the troll''s feet, erupting in a puff of fire. The troll howled with rage and turned to sven, though Sam arrested its attention with a blurring flash of cuts to its face and neck as it focused on him. His second throw caught the troll in the back, lodging in its shoulder blade and catching in its matted fur. Flames erupted across it as black smoke plumed off it. A third star skimmed its leg, cutting a bloody line and bursting flames across its lower body. The troll¡¯s regeneration shut off as it was repeatedly burned and blistered with the crude throwing stars. Samania''s attacks began to have a noticeable effect. Between Gavin hobbling it''s movement and her relentless cuts the two of them stacked up dozens of deep wounds on the beast. Sam let out an almighty bellow as her sword crashed into its side, slicing clean through with her execute power. The troll fell to the forest floor, its last breath rattling free of its ragged throat, its lower half completely severed next to the torso. Gavin touched the burned and matted fur of the still warm creature ¡°Sorry mate. Nothing personal¡± He said, feeling only grim satisfaction that the troll would no longer pose a danger to the locals. [You have looted: Forest troll] [You have looted:] [1 level 1 gold coins] [30 level 1 silver coins] [200 level 1 bronze coins] [1 Troll Hide] [potion of regeneration] Gavin retrieved the gold and silver coins from his inventory and pressed them into the stunned Sven''s hand. ¡°Payment for your help.¡± He said, with a tone that clearly indicated that it was not a negotiation. Sven clasped his hand around the coins, thanking Gavin with a nod. ¡°Let''s get back to town before the sun goes down I¡¯m nearly spent.¡± Gavin said. The three of them portalled back to blacktree in high spirits. Sam was becoming more impressed with Gavin''s use of his limited powers to support her fighting style. ¡°You just wait until I get some proper battlefield control items¡± Gavin said, laughing. ¡°When we turn these contracts in I might be able to pick an actual combat power.¡± Svens house was on the edge of town, and their portal opened up nearby on the main road leading out into the woods. Sam and Gavin walked him home safe to his family chatting amiably. As Gavin shook his hand goodbye, an arrow glanced off his dinosaur scale coat just barely missing his head. It deflected upwards catching Sven in the shoulder and pinning him to his front door frame through his collar bone. Gavin whipped his head around to see Benjamin De Vore and two others waiting for them off to the side. ¡°Told you to watch yourself¡± De Vore growled, pulling an axe from a loop on his belt and shouldering a shield. The archer loosed another arrow that caught Gavin in the stomach, slipping in the opening where his open coat didn''t cover. The bodkin tip barely punched through his skin, his enhanced resilience stopping it dead a short way inside. Sam was already launching forward before Gavin realised they were fighting, battering Benjamin''s shield with her greatsword. She blurred to the side to get around his guard and hammered his armour while he pivoted to get his shield up. The third member of the team buffeted her with a gust of wind, sending her stumbling past the axe strike Devore had launched at where she would have been. Gavin leapt into the fight, a surge of adrenaline pushing him on. He lobbed a conjured hammer at the archer as he put De Vore between himself and the wizard and continued throwing conjured items at the archer who was struggling to get a bead on him as he ducked and weaved. Spear at the ready, he and Sam came at De Vore. A shield blocked Sam''s sword but his spear bit into the side of a knee. Gavin followed up with a left handed palm strike as he got inside De Vores guard, then a knee to knock him off balance. Another gust of wind sent all three tumbling to the ground. Gavin was the first to rise as Sam had caught the brunt of it, catching an arrow in his ribs and another shattering off the side of his head before he could dodge out of the way. Gavin thrust his spear at De Vore as he tried to stand, skewering him through his ribs and pressing him down to the ground. Sam rushed over to the wizard and was slashing him to bloody ribbons as Gavin left the floundering fighter, chasing down the archer who was still uninjured, and his real threat. Two more arrows thudded into Gavin before he closed with the archer. His spear launched out, too quick to avoid as he activated its ability, the tip rocketing through the archers neck. Blood gurgled through the wound, frothing out in irregular pulses and splutters as he wrenched it free. The archer grasped at his throat, his fingers slick with crimson. "Drop your weapons" De Vore grunted raggedly. Gavin turned around to find De Vore holding Sven like a shield, his axeblade biting into Sven''s exposed neck. ¡°It''s over De Vore, you can''t win.¡± Sam said, dropping the lifeless wizard with a final cut. ¡°Your man over there needs a healer, I can stay here all night, you can either drop your weapons and save your friend or we all die here today.¡± Gavin looked down at his pincushioned body, the arrows weren''t deep, but they were leaking a lot of blood freely down his torso. ¡°I''m fine Sam, just a scratch, I¡¯ll have a potion once we get this done.¡± Gavin called, as blood flowed from his many wounds. ¡°What''s all this for De Vore? An eye for an eye?¡± ¡°Exactly. She got mine killed, I''m going to get her. So, what about it Starbourne, willing to kneel and take responsibility for getting my family killed? Is your life worth more than this one?¡± He said, slicing a little deeper into Svens neck. Sam looked at Gavin, who nodded. It would be up to him to time this right. Her sword clattered to the hard packed dirt. De Vore¡¯s predatory smile widened as he saw he''d won. He shoved Sven to the side, bringing his axe over in an arcing chop, the blade biting deep into Svens neck as he fell away. Gavin¡¯s summoned hammer smashed into the side of De Vore¡¯s head an instant too late. His manic visage faded to confusion as he tumbled to the earth, eyes glassy. Sam was on him a moment later, her sword parting his bloody head from his neck. Sven¡¯s last choking breaths rattled from his rent neck beside his motionless killer. Gavin staggered to his new friend who was clutching the last of his blood, draining through his open wound. Gavin¡¯s vision blurred as his own injuries were catching up with him. Crashing to his knees above Sven, he pulled his last healing potion out of his inventory, unstoppered it, then poured the red liquid into Sven''s mouth. He then unstoppered the regeneration potion and forced that into Sven''s mouth too, the yellow syrup leaking out from the corners of his lips the same way they had for Sams dead team mate weeks earlier. Sven lay still, potion leaking out of his neck wound, his eyes unblinking as they stared at the sky. Gavin started chest compressions, feeling sick as he grunted the words to Staying Alive. ¡°Get a healer Sam. Run.¡± He said, not stopping his work. He could feel the arrows still inside his body working through the flesh but he didn''t care. He wasn''t going to let this one die. What felt like hours passed and Gavin''s strength waned. His compressions were barely moving the powerful woodsmans chest. His thoughts were muddled and his lips were numb with exertion. The last thing he knew before he collapsed was a frightened cry behind him ¡°Daddy?!¡± Eight. Not fair. When Gavin awoke he was in a comfortable cot in a mudbrick room. Sam was asleep in her armour beside him, still covered in grime. Light spilled into the room through a row of small windows bathing them in a warm yellow glow. The small space was heavily decorated with flowers and plants, creeping vines grew up through the mortar between bricks and a fountain drizzled cool clear water into a basin in the corner. There were a few notifications in the edge of his vision that he bought up to look at [You have died] [You have been targeted with: Revivify] [Revivify] will rebind your soul to your body and heal the user.] [You have been returned to life and your body healed of all wounds] [Title: Defender of the weak] [Sacrificing your life in the attempt to aid another has marked your soul. Your soul has adapted to keep you alive through severe wounds. Your [Endurance] attribute has increased. When you take near fatal damage a last burst of healing energy will automatically heal your wounds] "Uhh. I died died?" ¡°You did.¡± Said a serene voice that reminded Gavin of songbirds in spring. Gavin looked up to see a tall willowy woman wearing a light summer dress, freckles sprinkled lightly across her skin, with wavy red hair that looked like burnished sunset. ¡°How am I alive?¡± ¡°Your friend there fetched one of my clergy to save your other companion, but on her return you were the only one who could be brought back to the living.¡± ¡°Sven-?¡± ¡°Is dead, his soul has been claimed by my brother.¡± ¡°But I died too, how come I didn''t have my soul claimed?¡± ¡°As your soul binds more fully to your body it lingers longer in this world before passing on to the next, my priest arrived in time to rebind your soul and bring life back into your body.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± Gavin grumbled, though it felt like ash in his mouth. ¡°People who protect the lives of others, especially those who cannot protect themselves always have a place in my house.¡± ¡°Just doing my job¡± his voice cracked. ¡°Yes, you were, which is why my clergy are more than happy to do theirs. Take this, it will be of use to you in your times to come.¡± Florrin presented Gavin with a small red-orange orb with a small flick of her wrist, like a magician pulling a card from air. [Item] [Soul affinity: Life Transference] ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why do I get rewarded while everyone around me dies? I couldn''t save Sven, but now I have a new magic power to come back to life if im killed again and I¡¯m being showered with gifts from gods, When I get out of here they¡¯ll even pay me for it. It¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°The world is not fair, you know that¡± Florrin said wanly, her expression sallow, giving gavin a small impression of the injustice she felt as well. ¡°What''s the point of going out and killing all these monsters if everyone still going to die? Sven had kids, now they¡¯ve got no one.¡± ¡°They have family who can-¡± ¡°They don¡¯t have a dad anymore¡± he said, voice rising, anger spilling out as he continued ¡°that''s something they shouldn''t have to deal with.¡± ¡°This world is full of families with missing parents, they have learned to persevere.¡± ¡°That is absolute bullshit.¡± ¡°Then do something about it.¡± ¡°I tried.¡± ¡°Gavin, Why do we fall, sir?¡± the goddess of life asked, her voice imitating a british accent as her form faded leaving him and Samania alone in the room. ¡°So we can learn to pick ourselves up¡± Gavin said, deflating with a sigh, his head hitting his pillow. ¡°How is it you know batman?¡± ¡°What¡¯s batman?¡± Sam said groggily from her chair. ¡°A legend from my world, he''s a rich guy that goes around punching poor people instead of using his vast wealth to improve the city''s abysmal mental health system.¡± ¡°Right. I don''t think I want to know more than that. Are you good to walk?¡± ¡°I feel okay¡± Gavin said, sitting up to inspect his naked chest, a small puckered scar dimpling his breastbone. Swinging his legs out of bed he stood up, completely naked. ¡°God dammit.¡± he said, pulling the blanket over himself. ¡°Blasphemy in a temple, that¡¯s not generally a wise idea¡± came a friendly voice from the doorway. ¡°You saw too? What happened to my clothes?¡± he groaned. ¡°They were ruined and had to be destroyed. Sam informed me you have a spare set in a dimensional space power?¡± ¡°Yeah, give me a moment¡± he opened his inventory and equipped the fresh set of clothes. ¡°You really should invest in some more armour, master Gavin.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, that''s the first thing we¡¯re getting you when we get back to the city¡± Sam said. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, I''ve done enough moping for today, thanks for saving my life mate, also tell your god I take back what I said about her to Soliece, she seems like a good sort.¡± Gavin felt surprisingly rested after all he''d been through even though he''d bled to death the day before. He was still emotionally drained, but physically felt the best he''d been in his life. As they walked he flexed and stretched his torso to make sure he still had his full range of movement. Both he and Sam were being uncharacteristically quiet, both lost in contemplation. ¡°You okay Sam?¡± Gavin asked after half an hour of quiet company. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°I know you''re not normally super chatty, but you''ve been like a rainy saturday.¡± ¡°Just thinking.¡± ¡°Aboooout?¡± Gavin said obnoxiously. ¡°Yesterday.¡± ¡°My whole dying thing?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I got better.¡± ¡°You got lucky.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kinda did, glad you were there to save me.¡± ¡°I wasn''t though. I was useless. I watched you die. I couldn''t do a fucking thing to save you.¡± ¡°You''re a bit raw that another companion died under your watch?¡± ¡°Yes. I can''t go through that again Gavin. I haven''t really talked about it but I''ve been having nightmares. I see their faces. Covered in blood and torn to shreds.¡± ¡°Sam I-¡± ¡°When I got back with the priest you were collapsing on top of Sven''s corpse. One of the arrows pushed right through your chest and out your back. Right where your heart was. Part of me broke inside. I''d lost another one. I decided right then and there that I was done with being a warden.¡± ¡°Sam. You''re not done. Don''t give up on your dreams because I got hurt. I''m fine.¡± ¡°You died though. Dead. Dead dead. It took an actual miracle to bring you back. The priest was sure you were beyond saving.¡± ¡°And you were powerless to do anything about it, that''s what''s eating you up inside.¡± Gavin said, it was a statement not a question. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then do something about it. Get stronger.¡± Gavin said bluntly. ¡°Don''t throw that back at me.¡± Sam spat her voice gaining a harsh edge. ¡°I''ll throw whatever I need to to get you out of your mental rut. You''re going to be a great adventurer because I''m going to be a great adventurer, and I''m not having anyone on my team who isn''t going to be great.¡± ¡°It''s not that simple.¡± ¡°It is that simple. You haven''t unlocked all of your powers yet? Get some ones that will allow you to protect your team.¡± ¡°I can''t, my parents have already picked out everything for me, they''ve spent no small amount of time planning my whole build out.¡± ¡°Then go off script, find your own powers, I''ll help you figure it out.¡± ¡°I can''t do that.¡± ¡°Why not? How are they going to stop you? At some point you''ve got to be your own person, you''re what, twenty two? You don''t need your parents to be making all of your decisions for you like you''re twelve.¡± Sam was silent for a long while. Head hung low, her short blonde hair drooping over her face as they walked. ¡°I can''t do it with my parents money. They won''t allow me.¡± She said, squaring her shoulders. ¡°That''s all good, you''re forgetting one thing.¡± ¡°And what''s that?¡± ¡°You''ve got me.¡± Gavin Said, flourishing the glowing ball from his inventory in an identical gesture to the one Florrin had used earlier that morning. ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Florrin and I had a little chat. She gave me this. It''s something called a soul affinity of life transference, I''m assuming that means it''s the same thing as a demon soul right?¡± ¡°You and Florin. Had a little chat. Of course you''d find a way to have a talk with another god.¡± ¡°Obviously, have you met me? They''re all lining up like the three wise men.¡± Gavin said as he held the stone out for her to take. ¡°You''re full of yourself. I can''t take this, Florrin gave it to you.¡± ¡°She gave me knowing I was going to get into trouble, and knowing you you want the strength to save your team when the shit hits the fan. And life transference you¡¯re the one who¡¯s gonna have the most life in the party between your health regen, resistances and power to get out of the way of any attack.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± Sam said, acknowledging the point. ¡°Have a think about it. We can use it when we get back, if you decide to go that way, or we can sell it, but I bet selling a gift a god gave you is probably not a great choice though.¡± Sam nodded, setting her shoulders more confidently, reaffirming her defiance against the pressures of the world. ¡°I''ll do it. It''s time to be my own woman.¡± ¡°How disappointed will your parents be? Will we need to find other lodgings? I assume they won''t like it a whole lot that I''ve corrupted their daughter.¡± ¡°You corrupted? I can make my own decisions Gavin.¡± ¡°That''s the spirit.¡± As they walked, Gavin worked on creating items, then deconstructing them down into their raw components. The process wasn¡¯t one hundred percent efficient at his low skill level, so eventually he ran crafting materials before resorting to finding tree branches and rocks to make things out of. By the time they arrived back in Wildenesse, Sam was in good spirits and Gavin was well out of mana. Sam would have to have another uncomfortable conversation with her mother about yet another political mess they''d become embroiled in, but that could wait. They needed to stop by the Wardens guild to hand in their last contract and complete the paperwork, sell Gavin¡¯s surplus items, purchase more crafting materials and a magical treatise on basic ritual magic, as well as a demon soul power leaving his account in a much less impressive state. By the time they were done, it was drawing close to dusk, they entered the estate grounds and headed straight for the small glade they regularly practiced their meditation in. ¡°What power did you get that was more important than new armour?¡± Sam asked, mildly exasperated, but to drained to argue. ¡°Telekinesis. It''ll work in well with my crafting abilities, I can make items to throw with my mind, redirect them if I miss, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Those sorts of powers usually aren''t favoured, they''re much less effective at disarming or pushing enemies.¡± ¡°Yeah, not super worried about that, I can get enough use out of it just throwing my own weapons, remember I''m going to be carrying around a lot of them.¡± He had been eyeing up one particular ability that was becoming increasingly more attractive as his Intellect attribute increased as his power grew. Aside from it having synergy with the fighting style he was crafting telekinesis was in his list of top super powers to have. Now that he got to pick and choose what he wanted, he figured shooting for the good ones was definitely a good idea. He had teleportation, telekinesis, and the resilience of colossus. All he needed was laser vision and Bruce Wayne money and he would be a one man superhero team up. While he waited for Sam to build up the courage to use her new power, gavin absorbed his, smiling broadly as he levitated a coin above his hand. [Force of will] [Description: Manipulate objects through space] (Level one): Exert force on an object within range of the user. Mana cost varies based on distance from the user up to a limit proportional to users level in this ability, total force exerted and material properties of the object. Force exerted is limited by the user''s [Intellect] attribute. Manipulating additional objects has an exponential mana cost per item.] ¡°You''re going to be one of those really annoying opponents to fight aren''t you?¡± ¡°I sure am. What about you? Ready to throw your whole life plan out the window and fly by the seat of your pants?¡± ¡°If I can infer what you meant from context then yes¡± Sam said as she pulled the crystal he''d given her earlier and knelt on the ground. He watched the glowing stone turn to mist and flow into her. Sam opened her eyes, grinning mischievously, her eyes sparkling in the setting sun. ¡°Come on Gav, lets go get some dinner.¡± She said, striding off to the estate. ¡°Hey, we can just por- ahh nevermind.¡± Gavin said as he opened a portal then stepped back through a stone arch, closing it behind him. He came out backwards, finding himself in the dining hall, all eyes on him. The portal sank back into the flagstone floor as if it had never been there to reveal lord Griffon with a fork of food half way to his open mouth. ¡°So, uhh, got a portal power by the way, did you know about that one?¡± Gavin asked, taking a seat. ¡°You did mention it yes, I¡¯m told you¡¯re building quite the collection of utility powers.¡± Griffon said, still not eating his meal. ¡°Back in my world there''s a term for that, an HM slave, it''s a little insensitive unless you''re 14 though.¡± ¡°What''s an HM?¡± ¡°Stands for Hidden Machine.¡± ¡°I think I don''t want to find out more.¡± ¡°You''re probably right, or you''ll end up learning way more about egg moves and IV''s than you want to know as well.¡± ¡°Then I think it''s wise if we dropped that topic entirely.¡± He said, finally chewing on the fork full of food that''d been hovering beside his face for the past minute. ¡°Right. Well, we''ve had a very busy few days, I got a couple fingers blown off, then I died, which was on a different contract to be clear, got bought back to life, Florin gave me a bit of a pep talk, oh, and Ben De Vore ambushed Sam and I, he killed a civilian, his archer mate killed me, and we killed them all back.¡± Gavin said, relaying their trials succinctly to the mayor of Wildenesse. Sam pushed through the door but sat down silently at the table beside Gavin, speechless at Gavin''s rambling explanation of their trials. ¡°Fought a poo monster too, that''s how I blew my fingers off, and some marhounds, I got this cool new telekinesis power.¡±Gavin said, floating a fork over to inexpertly stab a chunk of meat off a platter. ¡°Benjamin De Vore is dead?¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Yeah, that was his first name right?¡± Gavin asked, turning to Sam. ¡°Yes. Benjamin Devore and two others ambushed us outside a man''s house who had escorted us to a contract location, they attacked us from stealth, killed the woodsman, and shot Gavin full of arrows. We overpowered them, though Gavin died after feeding the woodsman all of his potions instead of himself.¡± ¡°Sven had a kid. I think they saw the whole thing¡± Gavin said, his mood turning somber. ¡°They did. It was chaotic after you passed out¡± Sam said. ¡°It seems interesting events follow you around like flies Gavin.¡± Griffon said, no tone of amusement in his voice. ¡°I think that will remain a theme for a long time lord Starbourne.¡± Gavin said. ¡°I see.¡± Griffin said, turning to meet his daughter''s eyes ¡°you¡¯re unusually sullen.¡± ¡°I- it''s just been a tough few days.¡± She said evasively. ¡°I bet it has. Come find me later, we can have a more private conversation, I too was once young and foolhardy.¡± Food had been laid out on platters, which seemed to be the local custom. He was getting a basic understanding of it after spending no small amount of time in the kitchen and markets over the past weeks. He heaped his plate high with orange potatoes that tasted oddly of cashews, roasted death pheasant, and the local equivalent of buttered string beans, there was also a cured lizard leg which was almost indistinguishable from lean pork and a variety of vegetables Gavin didn''t have names for. ¡°What''s this one¡± Gavin asked Sam, skewering what looked like nightmare broccoli that looked closer to a withered death tree in a haunted graveyard than a tiny green oak. ¡°That''s sunroot, it has very minor disease resistance properties, it''s quite tasty when prepared the right way.¡± Gavin took a bite, it was crunchy with a mild aniseed after-taste, a moment later shoveling the whole thing in his mouth. ¡°Tastes like a root that grows in my world that we turn into a lolly.¡± he said, scooping more onto his plate. ¡°We have an alcoholic drink distilled from this, it''s quite¡­ polarising.¡± Griffon said. ¡°I bet it is. I''ll have to look out for some.¡± Gavin devoured his fair share of dinner, ravenous after the exertion of the day before excusing himself to go and work on his projects for the night. Later, Sam knocked on his door, warily stepping inside. She looked as worn out as felt. Putting his tools down he turned to her. ¡°What''s up?¡± he asked. ¡°Just wanted to see how you were doing.¡± Sam said, stepping into his room and closing the door. ¡°About as well as you I guess.¡± Gavin said, shrugging. ¡°So, not good. Part of being a team leader is making sure everyone on the team is okay, it can be pretty hard on you after a bad day.¡± ¡°It certainly was that.¡± Gavin conceded. ¡°You want to talk about it?¡± Sam asked, seeming unsure of herself. ¡°You were there, you know how it was, you''re probably feeling the same things.¡± ¡°Probably, but I did actually say out loud what I was feeling. It helps.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± He grumbled ¡°fighting those monsters was fun, really fun, except for maybe the poo elemental. It''s just everything else that sucked. Watching Sven die. He wouldn''t have been there if I didn''t ask him to show us where that troll was.¡± ¡°That wasn''t your fault.¡± ¡°Wasn''t it? Ben was only there because I pissed him off at the guild.¡± ¡°You don''t know that, he would have done something anyway, you probably just made him try something that was less likely to work.¡± ¡°Sven had kids Sam. We, all of us, made their mum a widow because we blew through there like a hurricane. They''re going to struggle their whole lives because we were there, it doesn''t really matter to them if it was our fault or not.¡± ¡°Do something about it then. Get stronger. Help them. Learning these lessons early gives you a reason to take the power you need and the wisdom to use it properly.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it, I¡¯m not gonna stop wanting to be a superhero.¡± Gavin said, trying to inject a little levity. ¡°It''s not just that though. Seeing those dead kids at the farm, it- it brought up some old memories.¡± ¡°From your world?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don''t want to get into that right now though. It''s a whole thing.¡± Gavin said, putting those memories back in their box and shelving it. ¡°Okay, when you feel comfortable I''m here to listen¡± Sam said, genuine care in her voice. ¡°Cheers Sam¡± Gavin said, giving her a half smile. ¡°By the way¡± Sam said as she paused at his door ¡°that power I got, uses my own health to heal others, its a touch spell, but restores a bit more health than it uses, and the mana cost is almost nothing.¡± ¡°Oh man, that''s pretty neat, that works out really well.¡± Gavin said, genuinely happy for her. *** His training resumed the next day, with a run across the city and back followed by getting severely beaten in the combat hall. He''d managed a couple good hits that time, which was more than he''d accomplished in their previous bouts aside from his one lucky win. Sam was adept at anticipating his moves and adapting to them quickly, even with his tricky powers. As they broke for the mid day meal Gavin was drenched in sweat, tired, but more or less uninjured. His body of iron ability had ranked up slightly and blows from training swords had significantly less effect than before. That afternoon he wandered into town to find a temple of Soliece. He¡¯d been mulling over some ideas in his head about technology to introduce to this world, and wanted some input from someone with more expertise. ¡°Huh. Should have guessed¡± Gavin mused when he was directed to the temple. It was a large stone library, stacked with books and illuminated inside by glow globes that hovered in mid air. He made his way in, gazing about for someone who might be able to help him with his project. The temple was populated with several priests wearing blue robes, all bent over books either reading or writing, many had ink stained fingers, and the room was eerily quiet, punctuated with the rasp of turning paper. Gavin¡¯s footsteps echoed loudly on the tiled floor, out of place in the holy site. A man, much younger than the wizened scholars in their books though wearing the same robes approached Gavin from out of a row of shelves. ¡°May I help you?¡± a he hissed softly. ¡°Ahh, yeah, hopefully. Soliece said I should stop by and have a yarn about what technology I can introduce from my homeworld to this one.¡± ¡°The goddess told you to come here?¡± the man asked, his mildly irritated tone shifting to excitement. ¡°Yeah, we met a couple weeks ago now, seemed like a good sort. Anyway, I''ve got a few things to figure out and I was wondering if I could get a hand.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to assist, how about we find a private booth and you can explain in more detail?¡± ¡°No worries mate. Lead the way. I''m Gavin by the way¡± he said, holding his hand out. ¡°Sean.¡± the man replied, shaking his hand enthusiastically. He lead the way to an alcove that appeared dimly lit when they approached, but when he passed some threshold it sprang to life and the faint noise behind them vanished abruptly. ¡°That''s cool.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Silence enchantment¡± he said, pointing to the ritual circle on the ground around them ¡°we won''t be disturbed in here.¡± ¡°Awesome. Well, anyway, I¡¯m from off world, Sam said I¡¯m something called a new arrival. Where I''ve come from there isn''t any magic so we have to make do with machines that simulate some of the effects you lot have here.¡± ¡°And you know how they work?¡± ¡°Ahh, some things yes, most things no. Learning how to make a lot of the more useful stuff takes years and years of work, and Soliece kinda bribed me to keep that all quiet.¡± ¡°She bribed you?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, you might think of it as a mutually beneficial agreement.¡± ¡°But you have some things you think you can share?¡± ¡°I think I do, I need the okay from the big cheese before I go showing them off though.¡± Gavin said, pulling out a small stack of papers and setting them down on the table between them. Half an hour later they left the temple and headed for the guild of commerce, then towards the shops surrounding the guilds. They walked in to Agatha''s Artifice, a well known creator of magical and mechanical contraptions. ¡°We''re here to see Agatha¡± Sean explained to a young salesman behind the counter of the store. ¡°Is she ahh, expecting you?¡± The young man asked, his voice cracking slightly. ¡°Nah, but it''d be worth her while. I''ve got an invention or two I want to sell her.¡± ¡°One second¡± the young man squeaked, disappearing through a door behind the counter. Some time later after an awkward wait a matronly woman stomped out into her shop trailed by her timid shop assistant ¡°This better be good. She said before her eyes fell on Gavin and his companion. ¡°Ahh, Sean, good to see you, and who¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Hopefully the guy that''s gonna make us all a bit of spare change, I''m Gavin, nice to meet you¡± Gavin said. ¡°He has a couple of inventions he''d like to sell to you¡± Sean said, slapping down two rolled scrolls onto the counter top. ¡°Well, let''s have a look at them then.¡± ¡°This is a plan for a machine that runs on heat.¡± Gavin explained. He''d made a stirling engine as a project in his metalwork class in highschool and knew how they worked. Now he was able to manufacture parts, he could make one with reasonable precision. Retrieving the prototype from his inventory he placed it on the table next to the plan ¡°You can light a fire under here, it will make the motor turn. No magic involved.¡± He said, setting a candle under the machine. They watched as the piston and crank shaft started chugging along, steadily spinning the flywheel.¡± ¡°Interesting. And the other?¡± ¡°A telescope. It uses lenses to focus light, let''s you see long distances clearly, it was a real prick to make¡± ¡°I assume you have patents on these?¡± ¡°As of half an hour ago, yeah.¡± ¡°Good. Then we can deal. What do you want for them?¡± ¡°Well. First off, Sean wants a cut of all profits in perpetuity for his church.¡± ¡°One percent only¡± Sean said quickly. ¡°Second, I''d like something a little bit more esoteric, and some money.¡± ¡°What did you have in mind?¡± ¡°I want a crash course on enchanting theory, they how and why it works not just a list of enchantments I can get out of a book.¡± *** In the middle of the dining room of the Starbourne residence, a portal arch opened. Gavin burst through in a rush, grinning maniacally. Samania, Griffon and Anabelle Starbourne were sitting at the table half way through the evening meal ¡°You know, it''s awfully rude to do that Gavin¡± Samania admonished him as her parents looked on with raised eyebrows. ¡°Yeah, a bit. Anyway, I''ve just done a thing¡± Gavin said. ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Got an enchanting power. Now I''m ready to start making some real gear.¡± [Otherworldly Enchanter] [Description: Enchant items with complex enchantments] (Level 1):Enchant an item using a known enchanting template for a variable mana cost determined by the complexity and strength of the enchantment. Enchanted items have a greater effect proportional to your [Spirit] attribute] ¡°That''s up there as one of the most scarce powers around¡± Griffon said, ¡°how did you get it?¡± ¡°Gavin no, you idiot¡± Samania groaned. ¡°Come on Sam, opportunity comes only once in a lifetime, I''m not going to miss my one chance here¡± ¡°That''s an exceptionally rare crystal Gavin, legendary if im not mistaken, I too am curious how you got your hands on it.¡± Lady Alana said. ¡°Oh, traded some technology from my world to Agatha at Agatha''s artifice for it.¡± ¡°You could have had almost any other crystal in the world instead of an enchanting power.¡± Griffon laughed at his daughters outburst ¡°Gavin, you are an odd person. You could pick up any enchanting power from a crystal far less valuable.¡± ¡°Can''t put a price on happiness lord Starbourne¡± Gavin said happily. ¡°That is somewhat true¡± Griffon said. Gavin wolfed down dinner, finishing at the same time as his hosts. It was probably delicious but he tasted none of it. He was eager to get started with his newest ability. ¡°Hey Sam, I''m gonna bail on training tomorrow to work on making items.¡± ¡°You are not.¡± ¡°How about just a run?¡± ¡°A long run.¡± Sam conceded, recognising Gavin was careening straight into one of his obsessive moods again. ¡°Fine.¡± Gavin departed, finding James on the way back to his quarters ¡°Hey mate, can you do us a favour?¡± ¡°Certainly Gavin.¡± ¡°I need a bunch of supplies, reckon you''d be able to pop down to the adventurers guild and buy some stuff on Sam''s behalf for me?¡± ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°I can open a portal and leave it open for you¡± he said, an arch appearing in an alcove inside the main hall. ¡°That would be appreciated.¡± ¡°Cheers mate. I''ll write you out a list and give you the money. Get yourself something with the change too.¡± Gavin said, handing over a stack of coins he assumed would be more than enough. Gavin spent the evening practicing with his new ability, it was quite mana intensive but that was something he could handle, his mana pool had grown considerably as his soul power integrated itself more fully. Sam had said it would grow in power over time naturally ut to a point. Using it regularly and straining his abilities would strengthen them further and faster. He crashed out in the early hours of the morning happy with his preliminary results. He''d been enchanting and disassembling basic items with his limited repertoire of known enchantments all evening, making solid progress as he practiced creating the architecture then filling it with mana to complete the item before breaking it down for parts again. The process wasn''t one hundred percent efficient, but his goal wasn¡¯t to go infinite yet, it was to get the hang of creating the enchantments as efficiently as he could. He felt a strong sense of pride as he was able to progress past common enchantments to uncommon ones as his skill book knowledge and tutelage at the hands of an expert paid off in only hours. At the end of the next day, absolutely exhausted, Gavin met Sam in the dining hall over dinner. ¡°I''ve got a few prototypes to test, reckon we could pick up a contract or two tomorrow?¡± ¡°Sure. These prototypes aren''t going to blow your hand off again?¡± ¡°Ahh, hopefully not. They''re standard enchantments not experimental ones, smarter people than me actually invented them.¡± ¡°Oh that''s fine then.¡± ¡°Rude.¡± Nine. Elementals. Sam and Gavin faced off again in the training hall. After weeks of daily training he was showing some solid improvement, but it was no match for years of the same training that Sam had benefited from. Sam''s sword instructor, Gloria, sat in on this session, though she was happy letting Sam play the teacher to Gavin. Gloria, retired cleric of Paragon, was fanatical about her duty. She was, as far as he could tell, moonlighting as an instructor just for laughs. She wasn''t a member of the wardens guild so didn''t complete contracts for them, but offered her services to hire for them and the guards of the Starbourne estate. Her real passion was person to person combat, and could often be seen sparring with the veterans, usually outnumbered as her skills far exceeded theirs. Sam fought extra hard under her watchful eye, pulling no punches. Gavin was grateful for the harsh training regime, he''d pushed himself hard to get better, any successful attack or deflected blow felt like a victory to him, knowing Sam was trying her absolute best to put him down. Today Gavin had a secret weapon he was going to spring on Sam at an opportune moment and he was downright giddy to try it out. They faced off, Sam with her wooden greatsword, Gavin with his training spear. They circled each other, he held his spear in both hands, ready to thrust or block at at any attack or opening that might come his way. Sam flinched first, blurring in with a straight forward attack. Gavin thrust his spear, adjusting his footwork to maneuver to the side, he followed up with several quick attacks to try to put her off balance while her blur power was on cooldown. Sam batted his spear aside easily as she retreated, dodging around a slightly misplaced thrust she pressed forward, chopping down at him, he stumbled back to avoid the tip of her sword, tripping over his feet to sprawl on his back. Sam darted forward to offer a killing blow when Gavin''s spear suddenly retracted then shot out, the tip extending like lightning to smash her right in the solar plexus. With the combined force of the spear and her momentum Sam was stopped dead, wheezing. Gavin regained his feet, launching forward in a vicious attack sequence, putting Sam on the defensive for the first time. Just as he was getting through her defences Sam blurred, darting around behind him. He activated his spear again, this time the butt launched itself backwards, thrusting to where he anticipated Sam would stop. It caught her again, this time in the chin. She stumbled back, caught off guard. Gavin pressed his advantage, swinging the tip of his spear around to catch her in the neck. Sam fell to the ground defeated as Gavin''s polearm pressed into her throat. A moment later Gavin offered her his hand, grinning. ¡°You got up early to enchant the training spear? You''ll be sorry you did that.¡± Sam said, smiling. ¡°Totally worth it.¡± ¡°That was well done.¡± Gloria said from her spot nearby ¡°Sam, I hope now that Gavin has demonstrated he does not intend to fight you on your terms that you will put more thought into what tricks he will use before he does.¡± ¡°Yes, Mistress Vale¡± Sam said deferentially. Gavin lost every bout for the remainder of their training session, at the end he was bruised and bloody, having landed only a small handful of successful touches with his spear while he''d been beaten and kicked quite thoroughly around the hall. ¡°You did well today.¡± Sam said as they sat for lunch. ¡°Thanks. With a few more years I might stand a decent chance.¡± ¡°It''ll probably be much sooner than that if you can use your brain to overcome your poor fighting techniques.¡± ¡°That hurts.¡± ¡°Get better then.¡± ¡°You just watch me. Should we go do the thing then?¡± Gavin asked standing up and equipping his adventuring gear from his inventory. Spear in hand, he imagined he cut an impressive figure as he marched down the hill, late morning sun rising over his shoulder, scales of his greatcoat glittering vibrant green and orange in its radiant glow. ¡°Don''t you look heroic this morning.¡± ¡°Pretty sure I look heroic every morning.¡± Sam cocked an eyebrow, not bothering to make the obvious joke. ¡°Okay, maybe only most mornings.¡± ¡°Did you want to leave some magic items for the rest of us?¡± Sam said looking at the arsenal he had with him. ¡°What? These old things?¡± He said, running his hands over the handles of the half dozen wands he had strapped diagonally across his waist like braces of pistols ¡°barely worth mentioning.¡± ¡°They''d better be worth mentioning if you made them all instead of any sort of armour. You can¡¯t keep using just that unenchanted cloak, you haven''t even bought something basic.¡± ¡°I''m working on it, and well, okay, they''re sorta worth mentioning¡± He said, drawing one and handing it to Sam ¡°and besides, armour is only useful if you get hit.¡± [Item: Gavin¡¯s prototype wand of magic missiles] [type: Wand] [rank: Level 1, uncommon] [Description: Prototype wand that does more or less what the creator intended, probably not even dangerous. Warning: warranty void if used] [Effect: Wand contains 9 charges that slowly regenerate over time. Each charge shoots one missile that deals [magic] damage to the target, deals additional damage to magical shields. Missiles track the target to a limited degree. User may expend more than one charge when using the device to shoot additional missiles] ¡°Probably not dangerous?¡± ¡°Hey, I didn''t make the description, it just happened automatically, I''m pretty sure that it''s an exaggeration anyway.¡± ¡°You''re pretty sure it''s probably not dangerous?¡± ¡°It''s an improvement from device may detonate unexpectedly. In another month it''ll be saying that it''s dangerous to use anything I didn''t make.¡± Gavin said defensively as he held out his hand to take it back. ¡°I think that''s enough indulging your waffling for now. Come on, let''s go get some contracts.¡± ¡°Lead the way boss.¡± They jogged down the hill side by side chasing the shadows that stretched out in front of them. The town was bustling with activity, both having to dodge other people going about their day as they ran. Gavin worked on using his force of will to lift his boots as he ran, making running easier at the expense of mana. It was a skill he could use nearly constantly and had gotten pretty good at balancing his mana regeneration with exerting force on the objects around him. He''d been toying with the idea of making his telekinesis ability the core of his fighting style, and thinking of ways to incorporate it into as many aspects of his adventuring career as possible. The power was next to useless on other people or anything they wore or carried, but worked well on inanimate objects well enough and seemed to have a special hidden affinity for items he had specifically made. If he strained himself he could make himself almost weightless, which seemed promising, but the real strength was accelerating small objects. Over a half dozen metres of constant force he could throw stones with the power of a small calibre gun, and with practice that would only improve. Sam scoured the jobs boards, picking out four that returned the lowest rewards for completion, all of them from around a single settlement half a day north. They''d been out north west to Blacktree and north east to Ansville but not South West to Riverford in their excursions, Gavin was looking forward to traveling to the last close settlement to fill up his map of the local area. There were the sand dunes to the east and south of the city across the estuary, but that was largely just uninhabited wilderness the wardens and the other guilds used for training and resource gathering in something akin to a magically fenced off safari zone. After picking up their contracts Gavin portaled himself and Samania south, just out of town to the furthest area in that direction he''d explored. As they left Wildenesse, they came across a merchant hauling a covered wagon with a pair of animals that looked like the horrific love child of a camel and emu. The merchant was more than happy to transport the two in exchange for the additional protection an adventurer escort provided. So, it was not even mid day by the time they arrived in Riverford. A town built around, uniquely enough, a river. The same one that eventually became the estuary that fed out into the ocean around Wildeness. Riverford was an export town, famous for its lumber. Great Ironwood trees grew abundantly along the river''s edge, popping up as if by magic over the course of a year or two instead of centuries like their size suggested. The wood itself was infused with magic, and was extremely durable compared to mundane varieties that could be found even a few hundred metres from the river. Their first contract was to find and kill some spriggan, monsters that more closely resembled tree branches than living creatures. He asked around town for info on them and their other contracts, being directed to follow the river north and west, the spriggan having attacked any of the foresters who''d ventured up that far. Sam was leading the way, sword drawn and slung casually over a shoulder when they attacked. A dozen waist height gnarled brambles that looked like a horde of tumbleweeds roiled through the underbrush. She unburdened her sword, preparing to attack the rushing monsters when Gavin stepped up beside her brandishing one of his wands. [Item: Gavin¡¯s prototype wand of cone of fire] [Type: Wand] [Rank: Level 1, uncommon] [Description: Prototype wand that deals fire damage over a moderate area more r less in front of the user] [Effect: Contains 5 charges that slowly regenerate over time. Each charge [Can be used to conjure a cone of fire that deals low fire damage over a moderate area. May inflict the [burning] condition. Using additional charges increased the duration of the effect] He let loose with two charges of his wand, feeling the power thrum through it and spurt out in front of them in a gout of orange flames. The spriggan were caught up in the fire as Gavin moved to engulf a wide area in the flames. A moment later when his spell had ended the spriggan were little more than a smouldering wreckage on the forest floor, the smell of charred wet leaves acrid in their nostrils. ¡°Okay, that''s wasn''t too bad.¡± Sam said, impressed. ¡°It¡¯s lucky they''re so weak, this wand was pretty much the best answer I could ask for to beat these things.¡± ¡°And if they''d been something more resilient?¡± ¡°Well, I probably have an answer for that too.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°Come on, I''ve got some loot to collect and we''ve got some more contracts to clear.¡± [You have looted Twelve [lesser Spriggan]] [You have looted] [twelve level 1 copper coins] [Bramblevine whip] [Mantle of the wilds] [Level 1 common healing potion] ¡°Huh, what are these?¡± Gavin mused, inspecting the two new items. [Item: Bramblevine whip] [Type: Whip] [Rank: Level 1, common] [Description: A common whip used by apprentice druid] [Effect: Attacks deal additional piercing damage and may inflict the [tangled] condition] [Item: Mantle of the wilds] [Type: Crown] [Rank: Level 1, common] [Description: crown of leaves that enables the user to become blend in with the forest] [Effect: Activate to camouflage the user for a moderate duration on a long cooldown, more effective in forest terrain] ¡°These could be useful to strip for parts, I dont think they''re useful for either of us as is, but the enchantments could be useful if used for other purposes.¡± Gavin said, equipping the mantle which appeared as an animal pelt woven with twigs and brambles. He sneered at it distasteful but left it in place. ¡°Like what?¡± Sam asked ¡°I bet I could make a thrown weapon that tangles enemies when they hit. Scatter them out to tangle up a group of enemies¡± ¡°That does sound useful¡± ¡°Time will be a limiting factor though, I only have so much time to craft consumables, we''ll have to balance that sort of utility with the cost of spending however many hours crafting, also, the enchantment is only good for level one, when I get to level two I¡¯ll have to find a whole new set of enchantments, or figure out how to create my own, I¡¯m just copying existing ones for now.¡± ¡°Just don''t get too distracted and neglect higher priorities.¡± ¡°Is this the armour thing again? I''m working on it. Come on, we can''t sit around here gasbagging all day.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Sam said, rolling her eyes before heading further up river. Their next contract was to deal with some water Elementals, they weren''t usually aggressive so long as you didn''t actually go in the water, they were known to leave the confines of their rivers and oceans to disappear small children however. ¡°Are you going to handle these ones alone too? It¡¯s good practice for when you become a warden.¡± ¡°Actually, I was hoping you could be ready with an assist with these ones, I''ve got one wand that I think could work but I don''t know. Just step in whenever you want¡± ¡°Good. Knowing your limits and when to ask for help is an important part of the job¡± ¡°See Sam, I was made for this adventuring thing.¡± ¡°You have only one remotely offensive power, and you have yet to actually use it in combat.¡± ¡°I handled that last one no sweat.¡± ¡°Just because you''ve dedicated yourself to smashing a brick through a pinhole doesn''t mean you''re a combat specialist.¡± ¡°Can''t argue with the results though.¡± ¡°Did you want to fight the water Elementals solo now?¡± ¡°Well, maybe the results can be subject to healthy debate.¡± They bantered good-naturedly as they walked along the river''s edge. The bush seemed wondrous to Gavin, huge trees as wide as he was tall towered up into the sky, their arrow straight trunks covered in thin cracked bark like torn paper, glued with the barest effort to the surface. The midday sun filtered down from directly above, illuminating the deep river as it burbled next to them, and casting the trees into easy shadow. Small animals Gavin had no names for skittered and flitted about. Most looked like earth creatures but subtly different, like the flying squirrel with a beaked face and dark grey colouring. Finding the water elementals wasn''t nearly so hard as Gavin assumed it''d be. They were devouring a creature not unlike a deer in the middle of the river, a wash of red flowing down after it as they bludgeoned chunks of flesh off the carcass before devouring them. The Elementals were stained red themselves, their bodies easy to pick out in the surrounding water. Gavin took a position up next to Sam presenting another of his wands [Item: Gavin¡¯s prototype wand of gusting wind] [Type: Wand] [Rank: Tier 1, uncommon] [Description: may have unexpected consequences when used other than directed. Directions; do not use] [Effect: Contains 8 charges. Each charge can be expended to create a gust of wind that buffets the target, additional charges can be consumed to increase the strength of the wind] ¡°I think this should be able to tear the Elementals apart and shred the magic that holds them together¡± Gavin said, recalling the small amount of information he''d been told about elementals. ¡°Well, give it a try.¡± Sam said sceptically. Gavin activated the wand, holding it firm as a column of wind rocketed out of the tip of his wand. He''d used four charges to optimise the damage against the risk that expending more charges would accrue. Wind buffeted the Elementals, ripping red droplets of water from their bodies. Instantly their amorphous forms collapsed to the river. They could see the red stain spread out, drawing nearer to their position. ¡°Okay, so not so effective.¡± Gavin said, his palms suddenly clammy. ¡°Wouldn''t seem so.¡± Samania agreed preparing herself to fight. Gavin pulled out a second wand, the wand of cone of fire, ready to use the second the Elementals became visible. Backing away from the water, he activated them, six charges from the wand of fire and four from the wand of wind. The cone of fire became a raging inferno, burning hotter and brighter than before. It washed over the monsters as they burst forth from the riverbank boiling their bodies. When the wands were depleted the Elementals were still there, rolling up the embankment, steam billowing off them as their bodies boiled from the inside. He holstered both wands, drawing his wand of magic missiles, shooting two bolts of blue-white magic at the closest enemy. Chunks of water sloshed off the elemental but still it came on, two more bolts slowed it further, then the last two put it down. Drawing a second wand of magic missiles he shot four bolts at the second, then a fifth and sixth. The remaining three went to the third elemental. He was out of time to draw any additional wands, even though he''d been retreating the whole time, the elemental was all but ready to tackle him. He plucked his spear from his inventory, the shaft materialising in his hands as he swung. Dodging a clumsy attack he slashed at it again, aiming to bludgeon more than stab. His weapon wasn''t very effective, and Sam chose this opportunity to step in, slashing at the elemental from its flank. Her sword bit deep, slicing through easily. Water flowed from the wound where Gavin''s attacks had formed over. The elemental turned through itself to face its new attacker, Sam blurred, darting back away from the monster. The elemental gave chase, though it was rapidly deflating from its wound. Gavin took his moments, extending his spear and poking at it, then retreating to let Sam come from the other side, each attack sapping more and more of its bulk. Soon the last one had been reduced to nothing but another puddle on the wet loamy ground. Gavin dipped a toe into each pool. [You have looted three: lesser water elemental] [You have looted:] [three level 1 gold coins] [six level 1 silver coins] [nine level 1 bronze coins] [twelve level 1 iron coins] [fifteen level 1 copper coins] [Elemental soul: Bubble shield] ¡°Just looted a shield spell. I was looking at arcane shield, but this has a pretty similar effect¡± Gavin said, looking up the power in his book. ¡°Gloria reckoned I needed one more defensive power, and it''s either that or health recovery like yours.¡± Gavin said, his usual smile flashing happily ¡°You want this one? Branch out a little more?¡± ¡°No, you keep it, I''m still thinking about the direction I want to take my skills in, but I think I have defensive powers covered.¡± ¡°Not going to argue there. Want me to run through the list with you later?¡± ¡°Ahh, thanks but no thanks, I think we have slightly different ideas about what constitutes a good set of cohesive powers¡± Sam said. ¡°That''s fair, it''s okay to be wrong.¡± Gavin laughed. ¡°I''m glad you''re recognising your own flaws.¡± Sam countered. ¡°Ooh, thats cold. I''m definitely keeping it now, also how were your attacks so effective against the water elemental, they were leaking all over the place.¡± Samania looked sheepish as she avoided Gavins eye. ¡°My parents found the soul power they wanted for me, it arrived at the guild yesterday. I got an ability that makes creatures bleed when I hit them, even ones that dont have blood.¡± ¡°Awesome, I''m guessing you still haven''t told them then?¡± ¡°Soon. Can you just open us up a portal back to town, I don''t want to talk about that right now.¡± ¡°Sure thing Sam, back to town, just like you said.¡± Gavin''s portal rose up out of the dirt ominously behind Sam, its centre filled with swirling etherial void, the gothic marble looking out of place in the loamy forest. ¡°Go on.¡± Gavin said, cracking a grin. ¡°This goes back to town right?¡± Sam asked, pointing at the portal. ¡°Ahh, sure.¡± Gavin said suspiciously. Sam shrugged, stepping through. ¡°Damn woman called my bluff. Rude.¡± Gavin grumbled. He followed through a moment later to find Sam folding her arms and looking satisfied. ¡°You might be petty enough to send me to the middle of nowhere as a joke but you''re not petty enough to wait around by yourself for ten minutes until your portal cools down to bring me back then another ten minutes to go back to town.¡± ¡°Try me when I level up my portal power a bit more.¡± ¡°I will. Do you want to go to the mine next or collapse the dimensional pocket?¡± ¡°Dealers choice¡± Gavin said, taking a bite from a biscuit he''d taken from his inventory. ¡°I''m going to assume from context that means I choose?¡± Sam asked. ¡°It does.¡± Gavin said, nodding his confirmation. ¡°Then we''re going to the mine.¡± ¡°Sweet as. Also, most of my wands are fairly depleted, it''ll take a full day for them to recharge, I might have one charge built back up on a few of the ones I used, I do have a couple full ones though.¡± ¡°Guess you''ll have to fight them the old fashioned way when you run out then.¡± Sam said, slapping his upper arm. ¡°Bite to eat first?¡± Gavin said, finishing his biscuit, frowning at his still complaining stomach. ¡°We can eat on the way.¡± Sam said, not stopping Gavin retrieved a couple of pies from his inventory, as hot and fresh as when he''d put them in there four days earlier. ¡°This one''s pretty good, what is it?¡± ¡°Bacon and egg, well, lizard and lizard egg, just needs a good tomato sauce. Haven''t been able to get that one right, I keep getting something almost like ketchup.¡± ¡°What''s the difference?¡± ¡°Ketchup is more vinegary and less sweet¡± ¡°What''s vinegar?¡± ¡°Never mind, it''s hard enough trying to explain what I want to replicate with a chef let alone a soldier. I wish I could find something like a potato.¡± ¡°What''s a potato?¡± Gavin ran a hand down over his face as he groaned. How did you describe a potato, or any food, to someone who''d never seen or tried it before, when he hadn''t even tried all the local foods to compare. ¡°It¡¯s a root vegetable that tastes both amazing and really bland at the same time.¡± Gavin said, taking his best shot. ¡°Its like those round vegetables that we had the other night that taste a little bit nutty, except the real thing has that flavour taken out.¡± Sam didn''t bother to try to understand what he was talking about, instead just nodding in agreement as they continued on to their next destination. The mine was a short distance from Riverford, it was well past its most profitable years, though still supported a small contingent of miners. The pair approached the main entrance, a wide rough hewed cave twice as tall as a person. A crag-faced bloke sat at the mouth on a weathered wooden bench eating a grubby pastry. ¡°Yo.¡± Gavin said as they drew nearer. ¡°Hello!¡± Said the old man, oddly reminding Gavin exactly of a stereotypical old-man gold miner accent ¡°you lot here to kill the stone Elementals? They''ve taken over the lower levels of the mine.¡± ¡°That''s right, mind showing us how to get down there?¡± ¡°Not a chance. Union rules. I ain''t leaving this spot till my break is over.¡± ¡°What about after your lunch break?¡± ¡°Sorry, union rules. Can''t play delivery man.¡± ¡°Okay, where are you going to after this?¡± ¡°Back home. I''m done for the day, no way am I going into a monster infested mine.¡± ¡°Then why come here at all?¡± ¡°Can''t get paid if I don''t show up.¡± he said, stretching the suspenders on his overalls, broken teeth flashing through his thick beard. ¡°Right. Well, come on Sam, looks like we''re in for a classic dungeon crawl.¡± The cave was dry and dusty, a well worn rutted path led further into the complex. The walls were hard packed clay reinforced by wooden beams. As they walked further inwards the tunnel system widened and narrowed, branching off on alternate paths. They had a map, but no idea where the Elementals actually were within the lower complex. They''d been sealed in where they''d been discovered, but that still covered a large area. They followed the tunnel along the main path, which remained relatively straight and flat for a few hundred metres before terminating in a wide platform overlooking a vast cavern under the mountain. Dim light from scattered glow globes illuminated pockets in the gloom. A sturdy elevator made from thick wooden beams and rope dropped down from the edge. As a rule Gavin was wary of elevators made from wood and rope, but this one looked like it was designed to haul tons of ore and appeared to his eye to be maintained decently well. It took the two of them a little while to figure out how to activate, there had been a control panel under a cover with magical runes. Gavin had spent some time deciphering them until he was confident he''d figured it out. Touching the rune to descend as well as the medium gear ratio they began to lower at a steady pace, the rope creaking as it wheeled past them on unseen pulleys. The elevator stopped at various levels as they dropped through the darkness, requiring Gavin to reenter the inputs to get them to resume their descent. Finally they got to a level that had a magical barrier blocking the tunnel. Sam pulled out a shard of clear lavender crystal that matched the barrier''s colour, touching the surface of the barrier causing it to shimmer and distort letting the two step through. On the other side Sam touched the wall again where it snapped back to a hard translucent wall. ¡°On your guard, I''ll go first, you back me up¡± Sam said, suddenly stern instead of returning Gavin¡¯s constant banter. ¡°Got it boss¡± Gavin acknowledged, retrieving his spear and an enchanted torch that illuminated the tunnel in bright gently flickering fire light from his inventory. ¡°Couldn''t you have gotten a normal glow globe?¡± She said, exasperation in her voice as she looked at his stupid grin. ¡°It took me ages to figure out how to enchant it so the fire was realistic while also being bright enough to see by.¡± Gavin said defensively. ¡°You actually wanted that effect? If anything jumps out at us I''m not going to be able to tell the difference between a real enemy and a shadow from your torch.¡± ¡°Well, feel free to use your own torch.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have one, you said you had it covered. Do you have a spare?¡± ¡°Yes I do.¡± Gavin said, smiling. ¡°Is it enchanted the same way?¡± ¡°It is.¡± He said proudly. ¡°Then no. Not unless you''ve got a normal light source.¡± ¡°It was you that was telling me I should use the time I was in that sewer without proper illumination as a learning experience right?¡± ¡°I have a glow globe. You know perfectly well that its been playing up since the sewer.¡± Sam said through gritted teeth. ¡°You said you''d make a replacement.¡± ¡°If you''re not happy, you''ve had quite some time to buy another.¡± Gavin said flippantly. ¡°Give me the spare torch.¡± Sam said, holding her hand out with an annoyed gesture. ¡°and when we get back you''re going to learn how to make normal glow globes.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Gavin retrieved a second identical torch that added its flickering light to the tunnel. Between them every nook and cranny was lit adequately. ¡°We''re looking for rock elementals right? Are they the can''t be spotted until they attack sort of creature or the oh hey, what''s that big black rock doing near all this light brown rock?.¡± ¡°Either. They could also be the walls, a dead end, or just walking around.¡± ¡°Helpful, alright, keep your eyes peeled.¡± ¡°Keep your eyes peel- Gavin! Look out!¡± Sam shouted slashing her sword at Gavin. Gavin made to jump past Sam''s strike but was thrown heavily into the wall, shoulder slamming hard into the bare rock. He pushed himself up with his spear as Sam fought a shambling pile of animated rock and dirt. Forming up behind Sam, he jabbed his spear high over her head to poke in at the monster. The tip grazing lines and small divots where it struck. Sam''s sword was more effective, it gouged shallow grooves which spilled trickles of sand wherever she hit, the effect stacking up more and more as the fight went on. Sam blurred to the side and around as the elemental rolled forward to crush her, leaving them each on opposite sides. He retreated, step by step, extending his spear to fight further away. The elemental had turned to face Sam who was clearly the bigger threat, giving Gavin an opening to throw a star, using his force of will to push on it, driving the metal fully into a wound in the rocky flesh. Gavin was showered with shale as his throwing star exploded within. Moments later the elemental crumbled to the floor, its internal magic no longer sufficient to keep it together. Gavin took another wailing blow from behind, sending him tumbling forward past Sam, his spear dropping from his grip as he flew. She he stood from his prone position, defending him against their new attacker. Behind them he saw another elemental, and another behind that stalking down the way he and Sam had come from. ¡°Two behind us. I''ll hold them off, you deal with the other one.¡± Gavin called, throwing one after another star, pushing on them with all of his strength. Small detonations rang out, chunks of stone splattering the walls. He held his ground as he continued his assault, expending his stockpile of resources. His mana reserve was dwindling with each push of his force of will. He used the last of his energy to push on one of his few remaining stars, blowing a large chunk out of it, dissipating its energy. ¡°One down Sam, I''m low on mana though.¡± ¡°Got it, this one''s nearly ready to fall.¡± Sam said Gavin pulled out one of his remaining wands, shooting a distorted wave down at his second elemental. The wand vibrated dangerously, flooded with heat as he expended all of its charges in one go. The elemental kicked off the ground sending it tumbling through the air to crash into the walls. [Item: Gavins wand of light as a feather] [Type: Wand] [Rarity: Level 1, uncommon] [Description: Not a substitute for proper diet and exercise] [Contains six charges. Expend one or more charges to reduce the weight of the target] He sent a small column of wind down at the tumbling boulder, reversing its advance. Giving him a moment''s respite as it struggled lamely through the air, not having its reliable weight to gain purchase against the solid rock. He turned, shooting a single magic missile down to impact Sam''s elemental which was leaking sand from myriad small cuts. He spotted his spear lying discarded on the floor between them. Dashing to pick it up he helped Sam with her quarry, driving it backward as she rained battering blows. The elemental falling under their combined assault. They turned to see Gavin''s ''light as a feather'' spell end, the elemental crashing to the ground then surging forward. Gavin loosed his last remaining magic missile and cone of flame past Sam, though neither was especially effective. Drawing his final unused wand he launched a bolt of lightning down the tunnel, its crackling white hot light blasting streaming showers of sparks across its rocky form. [Item: Gavin¡¯s wand of lightning] [Type: Wand] [Rank: Level 1, Rare] [Description: Wand that deals lightning damage, works pretty good, probably] [Effect: Wand contains 9 charges that slowly regenerate over time. Each charge can be expended to conjure a bolt of lightning. Expending additional charges creates additional bolts of lightning.] Gavin felt his wand beginning to heat up and vibrating as he expended additional charges. He''d just expended the fifth when the elemental came apart. ¡°That last one seemed weaker than the others¡± Gavin mused. ¡°We''ve been fighting Elementals all day and you had lightning damage up your sleeve?¡± Sam asked, incredulous. ¡°Yeah so?¡± ¡°All Elementals are weak to lightning.¡± ¡°But doesn''t lightning have a reduced effect against earth?¡± ¡°Yes, if you''re trying to tear down a wall, but you''re not trying to destroy the rock these elementals were made of, just the magic that holds them together.¡± ¡°Oh, well, lesson learned, guess we aren''t running on the pokemon weakness table.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Oh, like how fire beats grass, water beats fire, fairy beats dragon et cetera.¡± ¡°How would a fairy possibly beat a dragon?¡± ¡°I don''t make the rules.¡± Gavin said facetiously. ¡°Just loot the bodies then we can check we got them all. When you get back to town I''m going to buy you a book on magical creatures so you can look up their weaknesses before you fight them.¡± [You have looted four Lesser rock Elemental] [You have looted:] [Level 1 potion of physical resistance] [Level 1 potion of resilience] [rockbreaker] ¡°What on earth is a rockbreaker?¡± Gavin asked no one in particular as he pulled the magical pickaxe from his inventory [Item: Rockbreaker] [Type: Pickaxe] [Rank: Level 1, uncommon] [Description: A pickaxe that is unusually effective at breaking up rocks and rigid magical constructs] [Effect: Deals additional magical force damage] He tossed it to Sam to inspect, she easily snatched the odd weapon from the air and looked it over. While she didn''t have the exact descriptions of items that Gavin did, any magic user could get a rough idea of what a magic item would do by holding it. ¡°Should be able to strip it down for parts too so I can make something more wieldy.¡± ¡°Good, having a backup weapon for specific enemies would be useful.¡± ¡°Lets get on with searching this place, we''ve still got another contract to close.¡± They explored the rest of the level thoroughly, finding nothing aside from a seam of glittering metal that Gavin extracted by deconstructing what he could touch and the wall around it to get the last little bit with his new pickaxe when his mana ran out.. [Item: Level 1 mithril ore] ¡°Mithril? Is this as useful as I think it is?¡± Gavin asked as he inspected a lump of ore. ¡°If you''re thinking it''s very useful then yes. Some of the best gear is made from mithril, though it''s less useful at low ranks, you''ll be too powerful before you get much use out of whatever you make¡± ¡°Well, I''d better make something fast and useful when we get back, I didn''t get a lot anyway.¡± Their last contract was to collapse an extradimensional pocket, he had some reservations over this sort of contract, namely they were all or nothing, either you won or you died. The guild was pretty good at detecting the power level of each incursion, so at least they knew they could theoretically beat whatever was inside. After he portalled them both to the mine entrance they set out, following a map Sam retrieved from her pack. ¡°The pocket is out in the bush about here¡± Sam said, indicating an area about half way between the mine and riverford but off the trail about half that distance again. ¡°They''re usually pretty easy to spot, especially when it starts getting dark.¡± ¡°I can set a marker in my interface in the same place and portal us back to about there on the road and we can walk the rest of the way.¡± Gavin said, indicating a point on the map they''d walked along earlier. ¡°That''s a really useful power. We do need to be careful though, the contract says this one is on the upper end of level one.¡± ¡°What sort of things can spawn in there?¡± ¡°It varies, could be anything from an arcane soul, a magic item, a really big demon or a bunch of smaller ones. It could even be some sort of magical effect, when I was training I went into one that was just a bunch of healing magic that needed to be used up before the space collapsed in on itself, we had a sparring match against each other until it was all gone.¡± ¡°That''s pretty cool actually. Did The contract say when the space was going to collapse?¡± ¡°It''ll be fine, the contract¡¯s only a few days old and these things last for weeks. Bigger ones maintain stability longer.¡± ¡°And how long has it existed?¡± ¡°Probably an hour or two before the contract went up, the guild is pretty efficient at that sort of thing.¡± A few minutes later Gavin¡¯s portal power came off cooldown, and he sent them roughly halfway back to town to an area with a lookout over the river. From there he and Sam got their bearings and they headed out into the bush. The forest was peaceful, great thick trees grew up smothering most underbrush, wispy shrubs grew scattered through the dry leaflitter that scrunched under their feet as they walked. The air was clean and fresh, a light breeze filtering through. They paused to have a drink and a bite to eat, this time thick sandwiches and mugs of chilled not-quite-lemon water for their afternoon meal. ¡°Having your portal and inventory powers are really handy¡± Sam said, finishing her sandwich. ¡°I see why teams like those utility powers in their group, getting a magical pouch that preserves freshness is really expensive, and that''s if you can even find one to buy.¡± ¡°Can you not talk about me like I''m a particularly good vacuum cleaner?¡± ¡°If I''m understanding you from context then no, I plan on talking to and about you at length as if you were as useful as a cattle lizard.¡± ¡°Rude.¡± ¡°If you didn''t want to be thought of as a pack animal maybe you shouldn''t have got the pack animal powers.¡± ¡°Also rude, hey, is that it?¡± Through the trees they''d been resting at, a glimmering mirror of pearlescent light distorted the landscape. Approaching, Gavin saw it was oddly similar in appearance to the Chicago bean, though this one had an addition; a large black-barked tree grew right through the centre, towering up into the canopy above them while its roots splayed out underneath. ¡°There better not be any tree elementals in there. If I have to kill another elemental today I''m going to be well angry.¡± ¡°What''s wrong with elementals?¡± ¡°They''re annoying¡± Gavin huffed. ¡°Wait till you fight more higher tier monsters, there''s a giant toad beast that shoots its tongue out as fast as you can see, then pulls you in and digests you slowly while you''re crushed inside it. Even if you get out, everything you''re wearing gets soaked in acidic slime, they''re almost impossible to avoid, so you just have to jump in and try to fight your way out.¡± ¡°Sounds way more fun than fighting rock elementals in a cave.¡± ¡°I personally would rather fight Elementals all day if it meant I didn''t have to get covered in acid snot.¡± Sam said, wrinkling her nose. ¡°What about more poo elementals?¡± ¡°Excluding poo elementals.¡± Gavin chuckled at Sam''s gagging expression as they remembered their trip into the sewers. Sam reached out a hand to touch the mirrored bean, which rippled out under her hand. ¡°Still stable. When they start to break down they behave a lot more erratically¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Well, we wont clear this contract just standing around.¡± Sam said, jumping into the bean. Gavin followed behind, jumping into the same spot as Sam, still rippling tiny waves out as he plunged into it. They found themselves in a large meadow, the tightly packed trees at their back stretched out to form a wall that encompassed the clearing. In the centre a huge tree loomed over them, three gnarled limbs of unequal size grew up out of the earth to form into the main trunk leaving a person sized hollow underneath. Around the tree was a rough circle of waist high rocks of various shapes but fairly consistent size. Patches of wild flowers grew in clumps around the field in discrete circles of one of three colours, deep alizarin, vibrant indigo, and sunshine yellow. ¡°Hey Sam.¡± Gavin said contemplatively. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I think those flowers are supposed to restore our health, mana and stamina.¡± He said, pointing out the patches. ¡°Seems like a big leap in logic.¡± ¡°And if I''m right, that tree is-¡± Gavin was cut short as the colossal tree tore the first of its three legs from the ground, scattering great clumps of earth below. ¡°Boss monster.¡± Gavin said, his spear appearing in his hands. Gavin stepped into the nearest patch of flowers, one of deep iridescent blue. As he did, the colour drained into him, the flowers becoming a more muted hue. [You have absorbed mana from an area of heightened mana saturation] [Mana pool is full, mana has been restored to equipped magical items with depleted mana capacity] ¡°You don''t have a good dump for mana do you?¡± Gavin asked as the tree tore its second leg from the ground. ¡°Not right away, my escalating enhancement can use up my mana quickly when I can get multiple hits in close together, but I think I''ll be dodging too much and the ability won''t have time to stack up.¡± ¡°Okay, I''ll leave most of the yellow ones to you then, I¡¯ll take the blue, and we''ll use the red ones as needed.¡± ¡°Sounds like a solid plan, got any more tricks up your sleeve?¡± ¡°Not many, if any.¡± ¡°Great.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, not many got the skills to rock a show like this.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Wait, is this one of your home world things? I don''t want to know, just get ready to fight this thing.¡± ¡°Roger roger.¡± The giant tree pulled its third leg from the ground, as it began to lumber forward, great branches breaking free to form huge arms. One arm scooped up a rock from the circle encompassing it, casually tossing it at them. The rock, so effortlessly thrown, hurtled at them fast enough that they barely had enough time to dodge aside. ¡°Go.¡± called Sam sprinting forward at full speed towards the tree. Gavin began circling the meadow, stepping in each blue patch of flowers, absorbing its energy. He felt each patch was restoring charges spread out randomly across his wands. He checked their level in his inventory as he ran, once he''d absorbed the mana patches from most of the way around the outer perimeter they were full. Sam had been busy fighting the tree monster, dodging and blurring around its sweeping attacks, getting in raking cuts with her sword as she could find them. The tree was oozing thick yellow sap where she''d scoured its thick bark. Gavin ran in, finally ready to fight. He circled round to Sam''s flank, getting into range of the tree, blasting it with four charges each from his dual air and fire wands. White hot flame spouted out in a wide cone engulfing part of the tree. A lashing branch whipped out, smashing heavily into his chest, sending him tumbling head over heels through the soft grass. Staggering to his feet he could see his wands had minimal effect, mostly blackening and charring the bark that fell away to reveal fresh armour growing beneath. Where Sam had cut it however, the sap had caught alight and was flickering with red-black flames. ¡°We need to get some hits in on the main body not just the legs¡± Gavin called. ¡°How? I can''t get up there without getting hit¡± ¡°I can reduce your weight, you should be able to jump.¡± ¡°Do it.¡± Gavin blasted Sam with a charge of light as a feather, then watched as she leapt into the air, clearing its legs to get a solid slash in across the trunk. A massive arm swiped at her but missed as she cut then kicked off the tree redirecting her movement. A thin trickle of sap seeped out between the crack sliced into the bark ¡°If I get behind you I can blast you with wind to give you more speed¡± Gavin called as Sam leapt again, bashing her blade against the tree and drawing another small line of sap. Sam nodded as she landed a few metres in front, turning and leaping back at the tree. Gavin hit her with a jet of wind, shooting her straight back up past an arm that had mistimed its swat. Her sword thrust straight in, sinking half a foot into the wood. Sam latched onto her sword, hauling on it to pull it free but it was wedged stuck. Thick sap pooled around the wound. ¡°Jump Sam!¡± Gavin called, giving her a moment''s notice to leap free of the tree branch aimed at her. The branch raked down its trunk, scraping bark off and hitting her embedded sword, levering it through its own wooden flesh. The tree groaned a painful creak as more sap glugged from its open wound. Gavin blasted Sam with another charge of light as a feather then another gust of wind as she leapt at her sword, timing it to shoot past another intercepting blow. Sam caught her sword, turning it into another long cut, opening up the wound further. She leapt off in time to slice a branch it came crashing in again. Gavin shunted her back in mid air with two charges from his wind wand, Sam using the momentum to batter at the exposed wood, now scraped free of bark. The sap began to flow freely, running over itself and setting like candle wax. Gavin pressed forward then used several charges of his wand of fire and wind from below to wrap the body of the tree in a wreath of fire. Flames sprung up, catching the sap alight and billowing black smoke up into its upper boughs. Sam continued her assault, though more cautiously as the tree became enraged. Gavin ran another half loop to pick up more mana patches to restore his wands. By the time he was done they were nearly depleted, and the tree was thoroughly alight. Huge splintering cracks glowed with orange embers from within as fire spread up into the upper branches. The tree shook violently, a hail of flaming leaves raining over the whole meadow, pattering off Gavin''s armoured cloak and scorching the exposed skin on his hands and face. As he brushed the embers free, the tree exploded in a shower of glowing coals and razor sharp splinters. Gavin fell into a crouch, turning to protect his face and letting the brunt of the damage clatter against his armoured back. He stood to see Sam tumbling like a leaf on the wind before his spell wore off, sending her clattering to the ground, crashing through red then yellow patches of flowers. In a moment she''d rolled to her feet. Stretching and dusting herself off. Gavin sauntered over to her grinning ¡°That was pretty sweet.¡± ¡°Yeah, go loot its corpse, and we can get out of here.¡± ¡°Oh, we''re not done yet¡± Gavin said, mirth playing at the corners of his eyes. ¡°It''s in a thousand pieces around us Gav, I''m pretty sure it''s dead.¡± Sam said, gesturing around them. ¡°We haven''t had phase two yet.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Watch.¡± Gavin turned to see a glowing green haze filled with motes of yellow light collecting around the base of the blazing ruin of the tree Rising out from the ashes the top half of a lithe, half naked woman, her skin was so thin it was nearly translucent, formed from paper-white bark. Her hair was a tangle of brambles framing her carved face, sharp angry eyes burning orange coals, filled with hate. A slim, delicate waist melded into the lower half of a powerful tree, sprouting thick knotted arms and legs wrapped in ornate corded vines, emerald light glowing within its core. The enraged dryad raised a sinewy arm in their direction crying a shriek that pierced their ears. ¡°Take this¡± Gavin said, pressing his fire wand into her hand ¡°You''ll be able to get closer than I will.¡± They surged into motion as a beam of emerald light shot out, carving a furrow of death through the wildflowers. Sam blurred as the beam nearly sliced across her. Gavin ran in the opposite direction, throwing one then a second throwing star, straining his mana as he pushed on them with as much force and precision as he could. Whip vines lurched up from the ground around the dryad, swatting them out of the air in fiery explosions as streamers of burnt vine fluttered down in their wake. Sam had manoeuvred in behind the monsters guard, led by a cone of flame from her outstretched wand that immolated the vines that writhed up to entangle her. The dryad screeched again, pointing an arm out either side, swinging them round to cut two laser arcs across the battlefield. Gavin leapt over one, the tip of his foot clipping a beam as it passed under him. He looked on in horror as his health indicator instantly turned from a vibrant crimson to a deep umber from the barest touch. A wave of lethargy washed over him, like his very life force had been partly obliterated. ¡°Watch out for the beams, they''re fuckin strong¡± Gavin called, stumbling into the nearest health flowers. Gavin pulled his wands of magic missiles from their holsters, loosing all eighteen bolts, sweeping one across horizontally and the other up vertically. The bolts of magic soared out in an array, tracking back down into their target. The dryad saw the rain of missiles homing in on her, raising a thick emerald shield around herself. The first bolts collided with the shield, shattering it to shards as more thundered in to impact it, carving welts out of herbark armour. Sam came in again asit staggered, she engulfed the dryad in another gout of orange flames as she scored a handful of solid hits in with her great sword. She ducked and blurred back out of range of two clobbering arms, circling to keep it off balance. Gavin''s wands crackled with arcane energy, suddenly nearly too hot to hold. He stashed them in his inventory to deal with later. Drawing two more wands he pointed one at the ground, a gust of wind throwing up a cloud of soil as he shot into the air, narrowly avoiding twin beams of green light that crossed the field like sickles of death where he stood. With his other wand, he pointed it at the dryad as he soared through the air, an arcing bolt of lightning streaking to crackle against it. Gavin hadn''t considered his landing as he hurtled back to earth, realising at the last second that falling from five or six metres was probably going to hurt. In a rush he pointed his wand at the ground again, buffeting it with wind, he shot back at an acute angle, crashing on his ass to roll back painfully, feeling ribs crack. Gavin let out a muffled ¡°oof¡± sound as he lay on the ground, trying in vain to pull himself to his knees. As he struggled he felt a hand slap his shoulder, healing energy flooding into him, knitting together cracked bones as he rapidly healed. ¡°Get up, we''ve got work to do¡± Sam said, rushing past to re-engage the monster. ¡°Right¡± Gavin said, following, trailing a line of lightning at the dryad as he ran. Gavin''s mana resources were rapidly decreasing, forcing him to pull out his spear and join Sam in melee combat. As he drew in close he saw the dryad was looking worse for wear, leaking translucent red sap from gouges carved across its charred body. Sam blurred inside its guard, slashing at the tree body again. He extended his spear to thrust at the vulnerable torso of the towering woman using his force of will to enhance the attack, the tip gouged a bloody line above her hip. Her eyes fixed on Gavin as her lower half engaged Sam in a brawling fight, her hands pointing at him. In a moment of clarity he launched his spear like a javelin, pushing on it with as much force as he could muster, his mana racing down to nothing as the spear shot from his hand with a crack. Two green lights filled his vision as he was cut down by the dryads attack, his health vaporising. He collapsed to the ground, barely conscious, his skin ashen grey as his life force withered inside. ¡°No!¡± Cried Sam, crashing atop him, her hands flooding precious life into his body. Gavin felt a wreck as he watched Sam''s face grow pale ¡°I''m- okay, finish- fight¡± he grunted. Sam nodded, pushing herself up. Gavin saw over her shoulder the dryad swaying, dazed as his spear protruded half through her eyesocket, the tip extending through the roof of her skull ¡°Jump Sam.¡± Gavin slurred as coherently as he could muster, pointing his wind wand up at her, blasting her forward as she leapt. He watched her sword arc upwards, catching the dryad under an armpit to trail a ragged line up and out through the opposite side of its neck. Red sap gushed out as the top half of the dryads body split open, held together with the last splinters of wooden bone Gavin sat up, gulping down one after another healing potion as he watched, then offered one of his few remaining ones to Sam ¡°No need, I have that heal over time power, it''s good to work it out¡± she said, offering her hand to pull Gavin to his feet. ¡°Good work, that was an epic fight¡± he beamed. ¡°We''re done then?¡± Sam asked. Gavin kicked a toe against the fallen dryad. [You have looted: Demon matriarch of the forest grove] [You have looted:] [1 level 1 platinum coin] [10 level 1 gold coin] [100 level 1 silver coin] [1000 level 1 bronze coin] [10000 level 1 iron coin] [100000 level 1 copper coin] [level 1 potion of resilience] [Demon soul: Heart of the Forest] [3 level 1 ironoak heartwood] ¡°Payday¡± Gavin said, tossing the soul crystal to Sam ¡°interested in this?¡± [item: demon soul, Heart of the Forest] [Rarity: Unique] ¡°Unique demon soul? This is worth an absolute fortune¡± Sam said with wonder in her eyes ¡°You could retire off this.¡± ¡°Well, heart of the forest doesn¡¯t seem like where I want my build to end up, and I''m not super concerned about money, remember I''m like this close to having infinite money. If you don''t want it, I''ll probably just hold onto it.¡± ¡°I don''t even know what it does.¡± ¡°I don''t think I saw it in the list of powers I looked up the other day.¡± ¡°It wouldn''t be on any list, the whole unique thing sort of gives that away a bit.Your book came from Soliece right? She cant know what it does until one of us uses it.¡± Sam said, holding it up to the light. ¡°So you are gonna use it?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Just so we''re clear, you want me to experiment with my soul with an unknown permanent power?¡± Sam said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°If that''s what you want, yeah.¡± Gavin said, clearly excited for her to do just that. ¡°I''ll think about it.¡± She said, tossing it back to him. ¡°Well you don''t have long, we¡¯re only a couple portal cooldowns from home.¡± ¡°I don''t have to do it straight away.¡± Gavin stared at her, nonplussed, having not considered that to be an option. TEN. You always this cranky in the morning? ¡°So, you doing this?¡± Gavin asked as they portaled in to Sam''s estate. ¡°I''m still thinking.¡± ¡°Your parents are going to find out about the last one sooner or later.¡± Gavin said, guessing at her apprehension. ¡°I know.¡± she said, biting her lip. ¡°I''ll support you when the time comes.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She said in a small voice before steeling herself ¡°I''ll do it. Stand aside, I''m absorbing that crystal.¡± Gavin watched as Sam knelt, placing the pulsing green crystal in front of her. It''s light wrapping around her like vines lashing her to the ground. The glow around her surged then faded as it was drawn through the tendrils into her body. Slowly the light under her skin faded. ¡°Gavin.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You''re going to be very jealous.¡± ¡°What did you get?¡± Gavin asked, his voice raising an octave. ¡°You know that tree thing the dryad was melded into?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I think I can do that now.¡± ¡°No. Fuckin. Way.¡± Gavin said, his unwavering grin flashing in the dying light ¡°I''m gonna use my one too, then we can test yours out. ¡°Deal.¡± Gavin opened his inventory and selected the bubble shield power, pausing for the last moment to consider if it was a wise choice or if he was just making it because he didn''t want to be left out. He contemplated his own path, he was walking ever more down the support caster road, taking a bubble shield instead the arcane shield would be more skill intensive but would allow him to protect others as well as himself. Both were linked to his intellect attribute that was gaining an artificial boost so either would be good choices. He was situating himself as the core of a team, not as a solo hero. He''d always been drawn to playing bards in dungeons and dragons, the fuel that kept the party running. Not especially good at devastating enemies, but undoubtedly making combat trivial for everyone else. ¡°Damn. I¡¯m Robin.¡± Gavin said with sudden realisation. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Nevermind. It''s your turn to be jealous sam.¡± Gavin smiled. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I can make bubbles¡± [Bubble Shield] [Description: Create a short lived shield to protect you or a nearby ally.] [Effect: Create a shield of force around a target that negates all damage until damage threshold is reached up to a distance proportional to your [WIllpower] attribute. Threshold determined by your [Intellect] attribute] ¡°Oh, that''s nice¡± Sam said. ¡°It''s no awakened tree body, but still, blowing bubbles can be useful too I guess.¡± ¡°Rub it in why don''t you.¡± Gavin laughed. ¡°I intend to, at length¡± Sam said, matching his energy and mimicking Gavin¡¯s usual mocking tone ¡°now come on, I''ve got a power to test, and some parents to really annoy.¡± Sam stood in the centre of the clearing, emerald light glowed from underneath her skin as her eyes turned a fiery copper. Braided vines shot from through gaps in her armour to twist into powerful knotted limbs. She rose up as the tree forming beneath her took shape. It was similar but different to the one the dryad had been embedded in, it was smaller for one thing, standing at just over two metres tall including Sam, her arms were incorporated into the main body of the tree instead of being wholly separate. Her head and torso were exposed, encased in their steel armour while her legs melded down into its abdomen. Gavin guessed her feet would have been about where its hips would be, assuming it even had hips. The braided vines scrawled into the musculature weren''t as gnarled as the dryads, forming an intricate design through the powerful limbs. In one hand Sam held her sword, looking closer to a shortsword than the greatsword it was in her normal form. ¡°Thats cool as shit. You look like a paragon warsuit made out of trees. I wonder if I can make you a multi-melta or something.¡± ¡°It feels really good.¡± she said, ignoring the rest of his ramblings as she ran her new body through a quick sequence of exercises, her blade twirling easily in the knotted wooden hand. ¡°I''m gonna need to do some training with this, it''s eating into my mana faster than any of my other powers combined.¡± ¡°Oh man, it must suck to have such a tiny mana pool.¡± Gavin said, inspecting his fingernails casually. ¡°Ha, I knew you''d be jealous.¡± ¡°Well, I''m definitely keeping all the money we got from those contracts now.¡± ¡°Go ahead, all the platinum in the world couldn''t pay for you to be as awesome as me.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± Gavin shrugged ¡°I''m glad for you Sam.¡± ¡°Thanks Gav, come on, let''s go find my parents.¡± They strolled through the grounds, turning heads as they walked up to the main hall. Gavin threw open the large double doors letting Sam walk through, barely needing to duck. Lady Starbourne had her steely cold stare laser focused on her daughter. That stare shifted to Gavin as he touched Sam''s wooden hand to reassure her. Gavin felt his insides turn to mush. He''d drawn the ire of a very dangerous predator who now wanted his blood. Griffin wore the stern expression of an angered king, though he couldn''t help noticing the crinkles around his eyes and the upturned corners of his mouth. Gulping despite his dry mouth he took a lonely step forward, the sound of his leather boot echoing in the dead silent room. Sam mirrored Gavin, striding out ahead with her new mighty body. She arrived at the head table before Gavin, dismissing her form and shrinking back to her normal size. They each took a seat opposite Sams still silent parents. Gavin met the eyes of the Lady of the house, Sam dragging hers up from her navel to glance at her father then her mother. ¡°So, how was everyone''s day? Ours was pretty normal¡± Gavin asked as though there wasn''t an air of danger so thick he could feel it at his throat like a blade of ice. Somewhere in the hall someone choked off a stifled squeal. ¡°How d-¡± ¡°Ann¡± Griffin whispered ¡°not here.¡± Anabel shot a look at her husband ¡°We will discuss this later¡± she said, pushing her chair out then stalking from the room. ¡°Well, up until thirty seconds ago my day was quite pleasant. You''re certainly developing a flair for the dramatic, daughter.¡± Griffin said, glancing at Gavin. ¡°I should have told you sooner.¡± ¡°What''s done is done. I''m going to go talk to your mother. Eat some food then come to the private meeting room.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Sam said, gulping down her fear. ¡°And Samania, I''m proud of you, even if I think you could have chosen a more diplomatic avenue to do what you did.¡± Lord starbourne strode out of the dining hall following his wife. ¡°Well, that could have gone worse.¡± Gavin said optimistically. ¡°Could have gone better too.¡± Sam said. ¡°Just walking in like that was never going to work out well.¡± ¡°Cheer up, now all we''ve got to do is bring your mum around.¡± ¡°I have never in my life seen or heard of anyone who has seen her bend her will on any issue.¡± Sam said. ¡°There''s always a first time. She''s your mum, if she can''t be happy for you that''s completely her problem not yours.¡± ¡°And if it tears my family apart?¡± ¡°Then your mother chose her pride over her family.¡± ¡°Like I did.¡± Sam said hollowly. ¡°You chose your own self determination over your overbearing mother''s plan for her perfect little daughter.¡± ¡°You make her sound like a monster.¡± ¡°In my world some parents live their lives through their children. Forcing them to be the person they wished they were. It''s cruel and abusive. The kids always turn out fucked in the head from decades of pressure. Can you say you were headed down a path that led you to a happy fulfilled life? Becoming the perfect soldier. Having a team of hand picked mercenaries all focused around making you the centrepiece, all there to build up your reputation while they get paid to keep you alive.¡± ¡°It''s what I was born to be, what I was made for.¡± Sam said. ¡°Ahh, what does that mean exactly?¡± Gavin said, his tirade ending abruptly. ¡°When adventurers get too high in rank our bodies become like magical constructs, certain biological functions stop working.¡± ¡°I''m not seeing how this is relevant?¡± ¡°My parents went to a temple of Florrin to create me, combining the best parts of each of them.¡± ¡°Woah woah woah, back the truck up. You''re telling me your parents conspired with the god of Life to create the ultimate soldier?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Je-sus¡± Gavin breathed ¡°I- fuck Sam, that''s so fucked up. Like I can''t-¡± Gavin rambled, his thoughts a blurred mess. ¡°It''s okay.¡± Sam said. ¡°I am who I am.¡± ¡°You need to be the you you want to be. Not what your parents made you to be. Great heroes aren''t made by committee, they''re forged in the fire with their trusted companions. Putting all that pressure on you from birth is beyond unfair.¡± ¡°I know that look Gav, and you will not say anything about it. I mean it, it''s a fight you won''t win.¡± ¡°Fuckin oath I''d win that fight.¡± ¡°I mean it. Just drop it.¡± ¡°I''ll keep my mouth shut. But only if they don''t force the issue. I wont stand by and let them fuck with your head Sam.¡± Gavin said, frustrated. They ate in uncomfortable silence, the food like lead in their stomachs. When they were done Sam pushed her plate away and stood. ¡°I''m going to see my parents.¡± ¡°You okay? I can come with.¡± ¡°Thank you for your support earlier but now this is something I want to face alone.¡± ¡°I''ll be with you in spirit, come find me later, I think I''ll go into town for a bit, I need to spend some of this money that''s been burning a hole in my pocket.¡± Gavin said without enthusiasm. Sam nodded and left to find her parents. Gavin cleaned his plate then opened a portal into town. He made a beeline for the Wardens guild, even though dusk had settled hours earlier the place was still alive with activity. The enrolments office was open, and Gavin strode in full of swagger. ¡°I''d like to apply to take the test to become a member.¡± he told the bored looking office worker. ¡°Fill out this form¡± she said, handing him a sheet of paper and pencil. He took the form and retreated to a cramped bench to fill it in. Given name(s): Gavin, Frederich Family name: P¨¥ne House affiliation: none Guild sponsor: Samania Starbourne Nationality: New Zealander Unlocked powers: Deconstruct, Force of Will, Body of Iron, Empower Intellect, Spoils of war, gate of infinity, otherworldly enchanter, expert smith, bubble shield, fabricate. Notable achievements: Make a pretty good steak and cheese pie, also made a new friend without both of us being drunk. Gavin handed in his form to the lady who glanced it over, frowning. ¡°No house affiliation?¡± ¡°I''ve been living at the Starbourne residence recently, though I think lady Starbourne herself would be a little upset if I tried to claim her family as my house at the current moment, not that I''d be especially keen otherwise. I kinda just annoyed her, but not nearly as much as she just annoyed me.¡± The office workers eyebrow raised a hair ¡°Well good luck to you- Gavin¡± she said, glancing over his form one more time. ¡°Test is four days from now, assemble at first light over there by that white post.¡± She raised a gnarled finger and pointed it out the blackened door. Gavin followed the gesture to see a lone marker out off to the side of the courtyard. ¡°Gotcha, cheers¡± Gavin said, walking out of the building. On his way to the market he overheard some adventurers discussing their latest contract, evidently they were tier two adventurers and had killed a bunch of fairly powerful monsters. One of them had looted some very useful items and they were on their way to sell them at the hall ¡°Hey, mate¡± Gavin called ¡°mind if I have a look at whatcha got? I''ll pay full price if there''s anything I like¡± The group rounded on Gavin irritation on their faces ¡°Got the coin to pay or are you just wasting our time?¡± One of the guys said failing to keep the scorn from his voice. Gavin flashed a couple of his higher value solars before disappearing them back into his inventory. ¡°I''ve showed you mine, now you show me yours?¡± ¡°He can have a look as long as he promises not to make it sound so dirty¡± the leader of the group said. ¡°Deal, whatcha got mate?¡± ¡°We''ve got an power of mass teleport¡± Gavin whistled appreciatively ¡°We''ve also got a dagger of divine retribution, an animated shield, and a ring of mana recovery.¡± ¡°How much for the lot? Minus the crystal.¡± ¡°More than you''ve got.¡± ¡°Try me.¡± ¡°Hey Simon, you got the market rate for this stuff?¡± ¡°Yes. The ahh, time crystal is worth three thousand seven hundred solars, The shield is worth somewhere between two thousand solars and two thousand two hundred solars, the ring is worth eleven hundred solars, the dagger is worth six thousand three hundred solars, give or take.¡± Gavin did some maths in his head ¡°I''ll take the shield and the ring for three thousand five hundred if you''ll let me inspect the dagger, I just want to copy the enchantment.¡± ¡°Simon?¡± The leader asked, deferring the choice to him. ¡°It¡¯s more than it''d all cost to buy, we''ll be making more profit off it too since we won''t be selling to the guild at a discount.¡± ¡°Are you willing to make sure he doesn''t run away with the dagger?¡± ¡°What if I gave you money for the dagger now, take it, find you in an hour and swap it for the remaining gear and the difference?¡± ¡°Acceptable, it will be easier to sell the dagger than the other items and isn''t out of my way. I will be in the guild market purchasing supplies for one hour and eight minutes, give or take¡± Simon said checking a silver pocket watch. ¡°If you aren''t at the entrance before I leave, you can keep the dagger and we''re keeping the rest.¡± ¡°Deal¡± Gavin said hastily, proffering a leather pouch filled with jangling coins. Simon took the money, stashing it in his own extradimensional space ¡°Its all there¡± he said nodding to the leader and pulling a silver and gold hilted dagger in an equally ornate silver and gold sheath from his inventory ¡°you have one hour and seven minutes.¡± Gavin snatched the dagger, falling back through the portal he opened behind himself. A little over an hour later Gavin¡¯s portal opened up in the same place it''d been previously. He stepped through at a run headed towards the marketplace, his hair significantly more frazzled than it''d been earlier. He had a manic look about him, his smile showing too many teeth as sprinted. He nearly ran headlong into Simon as he leapt up the stairs three at a time. ¡°Right on time.¡± ¡°Yeah. Cut it pretty close. Here''s the dagger.¡± He said, materialising it from his inventory. ¡°And here''s your other gear. Thank you for your business.¡± ¡°If you''re keen I''d be happy to keep in touch if you want to make some extra money before you sell your gear to the guild.¡± ¡°I''m open to the idea.¡± ¡°Good, well, I''m staying up at the Starbourne estate, for now anyway, if you come across any interesting or unusual enchanted items I''ll pay to look them over for a bit, you can keep them afterwards to sell.¡± ¡°Acceptable.¡± ¡°Have a good one then mate, ask for Gavin, that''s me, or James, he''s one of the employees.¡± Gavin beamed. ¡°See you around, Gavin.¡± Simon said, pleasantly happy with the small windfall that had fallen into his lap. Gavin trundled off, a spring in his step, to spend the last of his remaining coins while his portal came off cooldown. He had another soul power he wanted before he felt he was truly ready to fight on his own merits, and one that would solidify the core of his fighting style. Half an hour later he portaled back to the Starbourne estate, his money situation looking extremely bleak. He ran for his room, colliding with Sam who was just exiting as he slammed his door open. ¡°Ow.¡± Sam said, holding her nose. ¡°Sorry.¡± Gavin said, pushing past to go work at his desk. ¡°Whats got your marhound in a frenzy?¡± ¡°Work to do.¡± Gavin said, practically bouncing with excitement. Are you ok Gavin?¡± ¡°Yeah, excited. Need to figure out if I can make it work¡± he said, pulling books out of his inventory. ¡°I''ll come back later¡± said Sam, pulling the door closed. ¡°No, wait¡± Gavin said, collecting himself. ¡°How did it go?¡± He forced himself to calm, trying with an effort to tamp down his bubbling fervor to be empathetic for his friend. He placed the books back in his inventory and turned to look her in the eyes, giving her his full attention. ¡°Okay, I think. Mother isn''t happy, father is acting as mediator, trying to smooth things over. We all said stuff I think we''ll end up regretting.¡± ¡°Family can be messy.¡± Gavin said distastefully. ¡°Sure can.¡± said Sam, flumping down on Gavin¡¯s bed. ¡°Did my name come up at all?¡± ¡°A lot actually. I don''t think mum will let you join the guild now.¡± ¡°I thought that might be a possibility.¡± Sam sat up, eyeing him suspiciously. ¡°Gavin. What did you do?¡± She said. ¡°What? Me? Not much.¡± ¡°You''ve been alone for two hours, you''ve had more than enough time to get into trouble.¡± ¡°Well, I''ve spent about ninety nine percent of the money I had.¡± ¡°To buy what?¡± ¡°Crafting materials mostly, and I got a new power.¡± Gavin said, winking out of existence and appearing across the room in the same instant. [Ether warp] (Level 1): Instantly teleport yourself a short distance to a location you can see on a 6 second cooldown, maximum distance proportional to your [Intellect] attribute, mana cost proportional to your [Spirit] attribute. ¡°Ether warp? You didn¡¯t go with translocate or step through time?¡± ¡°It synergises with my powers a little better and getting additional charges as it ranks up and the reduced mana cost feels a little bit more useful than being able to use it on an enemy or being able to make an unblockable attack every ten seconds.¡± ¡°You¡¯re planning on making it your centrepiece ability when you rank up? Be everywhere on the battlefield rather than use it in key moments like my blur power?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll have the mana to make it work, especially when I start enchanting top tier gear for us.¡± ¡°That I¡¯d like to see.¡± ¡°Give it time.¡± Gavin said with a wink. ¡°Also I booked in my guild test is in four days.¡± ¡°You did what?¡± Sam said standing up ¡°oh, mother is gonna be piiissed.¡± ¡°I was wondering, on a scale from one to ten, how bureaucratic is the wardens guild?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, once the forms been signed, stamped, and sent away to do whatever it is the bureaucrats do with the application forms, how much power would, say, your mum have about whether or not I can take the test or have my test torpedoed?¡± ¡°She would be able to stop you, but it''d be a really embarrassing political mess. If you pass you''d get to be a warden, but you''d almost certainly not get a promotion without her blessing, and you''d be on thin ice. Even if you move cities it will be an issue for you.¡± ¡°I can live with that.¡± ¡°So, what did you buy?¡± ¡°Some magic stuff, also rented a dagger for an hour to figure out the enchantment on it.¡± ¡°And did you?¡± ¡°Give me a couple days and I''ll let you know. Also, I''m skipping training for the next three days.¡± ¡°You''re not skipping training¡± Sam said definitively. ¡°If you want me ready for my test then I will be.¡± Gavin said matter of factly. *** Gavin worked tirelessly for the next few days, planning, tinkering, working and reworking. Finally his hours of exhaustive testing began to bare fruit, he¡¯d come a long way in a short time and had come up with a small handful of items he was genuinely happy with, given the circumstances. On the third evening he bathed and emerged from his hovel to have dinner in the main hall for the first time since he entered his feverish working spree. The starbourne family were all in attendance. He felt Lady Starbourne¡¯s hackles rise especially when she spotted him. Before he sat, Gavin faced her. ¡°I know I''ve put no small amount of effort into taking actions that incidentally interfered with your family, I know I¡¯ve been a disruption here that you probably didn''t want.¡± He said diplomatically. Anabel nodded curtly but remained silent, her jaw muscles working almost imperceptibly. ¡°I hope that we can put our differences aside when I demonstrate my value as both a warden and as a team member to your daughter.¡± ¡°And how do you plan on doing that exactly?¡± Anabel shot. ¡°You all know I got my hands on an enchanting power.¡± Gavin said, producing a sword from his inventory, letting it sit naked on the dining table in front of them ¡°Go on, have a look. This is what I can do after a month. Give me a couple years and see where I end up.¡± Anabel reached across the table, her fingers touching the wire bound wooden hilt of the sword, its steel bright pommel a smooth seven pointed star. The blade was of slate grey steel, where the edge was lined with bright white metal, sharpened and polished to a mirror finish. A single fuller engraved with the word ''S A M A N I A'' ran down its length on one side and Temet Nosce on the other. Lady starbourne did something Gavin had never seen before. One corner of her lip ticked up in a whisper of a smile before snapping back to a rigid control. Lord Griffin took up the sword in one hand, his eyes meeting Gavin''s. ¡°Looks like this is for you, daughter¡± he said, dropping the formality. Finally sam took up her sword, her mouth dropping open as she looked it over. [Item: Samania''s Great Sword] [type: Weapon, greatsword] [rank: level 1, epic] [Description: A sword forged with the fires of friendship with the hope this blade will remind its owner of the importnance of seizing their own destiny, and also looking totally fucking cool while she fights evil.] [Effect: Activate to deal additional radiant damage. Damage increase proportional to enemy maximum health] [Effect: Activate to grow in size for a low mana cost proportional to the change in size] [Effect: Can be soulbound] ¡°Gavin, thank you¡± Samania said, her voice croaky as she wrapped Gavin in a tight hug. ¡°No worries mate¡± Gavin said, hugging her back across the shoulders awkwardly. ¡°How did you make a soulbound item at your rank?¡± Anabell asked. ¡°Something I''m interested to know as well.¡± Lord Griffin said. ¡°Well, funny story, I might have only got my powers in the last week or so and most of them are level one still, but my smithing and enchanting skills aren''t.¡± ¡°You had your smithing skill for only a few weeks now and your enchanting skill even less than that, are you telling me you ranked them up in that time?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, pretty much¡± said Gavin inspecting his fingernails. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Turns out smithing and enchanting can be exploited slightly.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Back in my world there''s a game where you can control an avatar and go around killing monsters in sorta the same way wardens do. One ability you can level is smithing, you can go into a town, buy a bunch of iron, then make a thousand daggers, smelt those daggers down to make a bunch of iron ingots, then forge those ingots back into daggers. Eventually you get to a point where you''ve reached the absolute maximum smithing level the game will allow, and now you''re able to craft the best gear at the very beginning of the game. Then you do the same for enchanting, which is much more tedious because it requires physical components that are hard to get. Unlike that game, a lot of basic enchantments here only need mana.¡± ¡°And that works in this world with your powers?¡± ¡°To a degree. I do have these really annoying bottlenecks with needing to be a specific level to unlock additional effects, but the enchanting power I got basically let''s me make whatever enchantments I want so long as I know how to do it, it only caps the max rank I can enchant to.¡± ¡°Have you been spending your afternoons making thousands of daggers, enchanting them, deconstructing them, then remaking them.¡± Sam asked already knowing the answer. ¡°That''s more or less what I''ve been doing for weeks, yeah.¡± Gavin admitted. ¡°And you used all that of that skill and all of your money to make me a sword instead of preparing for your test?¡± Sam asked sudden frustration and exasperation marring her face. ¡°Come now, I made one or two things for myself too¡± Gavin said defensively ¡°your sword was actually the prototype.¡± The next day samania escorted Gavin down to the adventurers guild where there was a small gathering of people. He was decked out in his casual clothes that he''d commissioned a tailor make for his day to day use. He wore an approximation of board shorts and t-shirt and paid a very confused cobbler make some jandals, which were apparently not a thing in this world. Most of the group were outfitted with their adventuring gear, the ones that weren¡¯t, looked like they were there to see their wards off, the same as what Sam was doing for him. ¡°Did you soulbond your new sword?¡± Gavin asked as they loitered around waiting for the test to begin. ¡°Last night.¡± Sam said, holding her hand out and summoning her sword for a second before then dismissing it. ¡°Suits you.¡± ¡°It does. I meant to ask you, what does the inscription read down the blade?¡± ¡°It''s a phrase from a movie, it means ''know yourself'' in this dead language people use to make themselves sound cool.¡± ¡°I''d like to hear that story some time.¡± ¡°I''ll tell you about it when we go out next.¡± Gavin laughed ¡°you''ll like it, well, the first part of it anyway.¡± ¡°First part?¡± ¡°Yeah they wrote the first part of it to be the whole story, then a while later they decided to make some more money so they wrote three more parts. The story gets really convoluted and up it''s own arse towards the end.¡± ¡°Is that why you like the end parts then?¡± Gavin''s face scrunched up like he''d bitten into an unripe lime ¡°blasphemy¡± he grumbled. They watched as two people approached from within the guild. The first, a deathly pale man dressed in plain brown robes, he looked vaguely athletic, but his timid gait showed he was no fighter. The second person, an olive skinned woman in loose fitting clothes that wouldn''t have looked out of place in an episode of Dragonball-z. She had a ragged scar starting just under one eye, running down to meet the corner of her lip as it passed down to end at the centre of her chin. ¡°I am Valerie Westheart, you may call me Val, Valerie, or Westheart, I don''t care what, so long as you aren''t calling me ¡®my lady¡¯ or ¡®Mistress¡¯, or by any other title. I will be administering your test, I am a tier three guild official, and as such I am responsible for weeding out those of you who I believe will not be able to represent my guild. This is Clergyman Bines, you may address him as clergyman or clergyman Bines. He is a healer of the second circle from the temple of Florrin and is responsible for putting the blood back into you when you fail your test. He will not be assisting you in combat unless you are in danger of dying. Anyone not participating in this test may leave now. Are there any questions?¡± ¡°What exactly are the testing criteria?¡± One youth near the back asked as half the gathering dispersed. ¡°My own.¡± ¡°That''s not fair.¡± another argued. ¡°Not my problem.¡± Val admonished ¡°now, we need to confirm everyone is here and are who they say they are.¡± Val held out a hand and a stack of papers appeared in it. ¡°Gibson Farmsten?¡± ¡°That''s me.¡± said Gibson, a weedy looking youth in the crowd. Val stepped up to him, looking him over. Apparently seeing no issue, called out the next name. ¡°Sarah Conway?¡± ¡°Here.¡± The dark wiry woman called. Val looked her over too ¡°specialisation?¡± ¡°Killing monsters mam- uhh, Va- Westhart.¡± ¡°Good. Gavin Pene?¡± ¡°Yo.¡± ¡°Funny man are you? What are you doing enrolling into my guild?¡± ¡°Ahh, signing up to be an adventurer, oh, ahh warden?¡± ¡°Why?¡± she said, her eyes narrowing at his flippant tone. ¡°I want to get strong and people need protecting, seemed like a good idea to do the thing where I can do both.¡± ¡°You''ve listed Samania Starbourne as a sponsor, did she train you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You have an awful lot of utility and crafting powers for someone wanting to fight monsters.¡± ¡°I guess so, yeah.¡± Gavin shrugged. ¡°You don''t see that as something detrimental to your career?¡± ¡°I believe that''s your job to figure out Val.¡± ¡°I''ll be keeping a very close eye on you.¡± ¡°Not too close I hope, some of these other fine people might want to pass the test too.¡± Gavin said not breaking eye contact. Val puffed a slightly stronger breath from her nose, calling out the next name ¡°Steven Stewardson.¡± ¡°Is all this strictly necessary?¡± Steven said. ¡°Yes¡± said Val, eyeing the broad shouldered man ¡°Why are you here.¡± ¡°You know who I am?¡± ¡°I do, I have your name on this list right here.¡± ¡°Then you know why I''m here.¡± he said, rolling his eyes. ¡°I should rephrase.¡± Val said sweetly ¡°why should I let you into my guild?¡± ¡°Because that''s your job.¡± Steven said snorting his derision. ¡°My job, mister Stewardson, is to disqualify any of you who I don''t think should join the Wardens guild. I am under no obligation to pass you because of your name.¡± ¡°Try fail me and see what happens.¡± ¡°You''re gone. Go home Stewardson¡± spat Val without hesitation, using his name like an expletive instead of a title. ¡°My father will hear about this.¡± ¡°I''ll see that he does. Anyone else have any issues with what just happened here, you have anything to add Mr Harold Stewardson?¡± Val said, rounding on another tall broad shouldered man who''s stormy expression looked like he wanted to start trouble. ¡°No, Westheart.¡± he said after a long pause. ¡°Good, now, Judy Hawkthorne?¡± Val rattled of the rest of the list, querying some like she did Gavin but most warranted no more than a glance she seemed to have narrowed in on potential troublemakers and got them out of the way early. She then led them in a column out of town, across the bridge leading to the other side of the estuary. As they marched haphazardly through the streets Gavin struck up a conversation with the woman beside him ¡°Judy, was it? I''m Gavin.¡± he said, extending his hand for her to shake. ¡°It''s nice to meet you¡± she mumbled half heartedly. ¡°You from around here?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Your gear looks pretty solid for unenchanted stuff, want me to give it a quick glow up?¡± ¡°No thanks.¡± She said, putting a wall of calm up between them. ¡°Doesn''t seem to fit very well, is it second hand?¡± Gavin asked ¡°It was my mothers¡± She said flatly. ¡°Oh.¡± Gavin said, backing off. ¡°Hey, blacksmith, you with the funny accent¡± came a familiar voice from behind them. ¡°What''s up mate?¡± ¡°Why don''t you keep your questions to yourself.¡± ¡°Just having a yarn mate. What''s your issue, got an eye problem?¡± Gavin said, standing up a little straighter. ¡°She''s part of my team.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So you don''t talk to my team¡± Gavin''s eyebrows raised slightly ¡°You serious mate?¡± ¡°I''m not your mate.¡± ¡°You always this cranky in the morning?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± Judy whispered. Gavin looked at her, nodding silently. ¡°Okay mate, I''ll keep my mouth shut.¡± ¡°You''d better.¡± Harold said, satisfied he''d won the exchange. Gavin turned away, gesturing rudely at his back. Crossing the bridge out of Wildinesse over the estuary into the wilds beyond, they formed up into a loose clump in front of Val, a seemly endless expanse of rolling sand dunes behind her. ¡°Okay, I''ve got a bunch of monsters to clear in this area, they aren¡¯t on contract so you will not be getting paid by the guild for killing them unless you can convince anyone who might have a looting power to harvest them for their resources. I''m going to be sending you out in different sized groups and sometimes as a solo while the rest of us observe. If any of you impress me enough I''ll be handing you over to Clergyman Bines to oversee while I take the slackers up into those hills tomorrow.¡± Val said as she indicated at a grey smear on the horizon vaguely in the direction of Riverford. They set out, Gavin''s jandals clicking against his feet in stark contrast to the sounds of creaking armour and soft robes that seemed to be the dominant adventurer fashion. It wasn''t long till they crested a ridge to see a half dozen armadillo creatures tussling in the dunes. ¡°Gavin, Sadie, Nick.¡± Val whispered pointing out the members of the group. ¡°You three up first.¡± Gavin looked out over the monsters then at their makeshift team ¡°plan?¡± ¡°We go in and kill them¡± Nick said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. ¡°What are your combat styles? I''ll adapt to fill whatever role our group needs.¡± ¡°I''m a sorcery specialist, elemental spells and such.¡± said Nick rolling his eyes. ¡°Archery.¡± Sadie said more agreeably. ¡°Guess I''m taking the front line role then. I''ll tie them up while you two blast them.¡± ¡°They''re just ardwears, they die easy.¡± ¡°I''ve never fought them and they aren''t in the book of common monsters and demons I have.¡± Gavin said looking for them in his user interface. ¡°They look like they can burrow, can they?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± said Sadie ¡°there are probably a lot more under the sand.¡± ¡°We don''t need to worry about them, they''re easy to kill.¡± Nick said, clearly irritated with Gavin''s caution. ¡°I mean, we have an unknown amount monsters to fight, seems like a good thing to figure out.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Nick said rolling his eyes even more deliberately. ¡°Okay, let''s go.¡± Gavin said frowning at him. Gavin set out at a jog, slipping through time to appear instantly at the bottom of the dunes equipping his armour as he ran, his new spear materialising in his hand at the same time as he threw up a small metal star to hover in the air above himself, its seven points glinting in the morning light. [Item: Gavin¡¯s spear] [Type: Weapon, spear] [Rank: level 1, epic] [Description: A spear made by Gavin, for Gavin. If lost, please return to Gavin] [Effect: Activate to deal additional radiant damage. Damage increase proportional to enemy maximum health] [Effect: Can be activated to grow in size for a small mana cost proportional to the change in size] [Effect: Soulbound] Gavin''s spear was a mirror of samanias sword, an iron oak heartwood shaft that terminated in a head made of magical steel with a mithril edge. Steel inlay in the shaft read ¡°G A V I N¡± on one face and ¡°what man is a man who does not try to make the world a better place¡± down the entire length of the other in fine cursive. He tossed a small star from his inventory up above his head, the tiny object hovering in place on a thread of force. It followed him as he walked his way down the dunes its wickedly sharp blades glinting in the morning sun. [Item: Gavin¡¯s throwing star] [Type: Thrown] [Rank: Level 1, rare] [Description: Really fuckin sharp.] [Effect: Deals additional slashing damage, can cause the [bleeding] condition] When he''d covered most of the ground between the ardwears an arrow streaked a metre over his head trailing a corkscrew of purple light. The arrow connected with one of the monsters which unceremoniously slumped to the sand, dead. A ball of fire hit the ground a few metres in front of him and slightly to the side, tumbling and rolling across the sand as it spilled a trail of flames behind it. Several ardwears were caught in the conflagration, letting out pained shrieks Then Gavin was in amongst them, twirling his spear in wide arcs to keep the rush of oncoming monsters at bay. He kept mobile, circling the mass of bodies as they surged into action, he teleported to the side and attacked their flanks t keep them off balance as arrows and elemental energy rained down on them from the hill above. He had trained under Samania for weeks now, and she was a master of creating space and avoiding being hit, he used that training now to take every opportunity to stab at the flanks of their enemy and whip his spear around to dissuade any further attacks. His spear bit home time and again, killing several of the creatures, though it seemed for each one the prospective adventurers killed, another was burrowed underneath the sand, each rising up around Gavin''s feet as he manoeuvred around the battlefield. One or two ardwears from the back of the pack periodically broke off to run up the hill towards his companions. Gavin''s Star zipped through the air to slash through their leather hide. Pulling on the star it resumed its lazy circling around his head while he worked at his constant retreat from the overwhelming force of enemies. Gradually the pack thinned and Gavin was able to take a more aggressive posture, thrusting his spear into them as they mobbed him, the tip of his weapon burning crackling holes of white light inside their bodies. The fight wasn''t one sided, he took dozens of small wounds that nipped at his legs and tore at his boots and he spent the majority of the time trying not to get hit even if their teeth were too dull to do much more than scrape his toughened skin. He pressed the fight more violently, trying to finish the fight quickly, not caring about the minor hits he was taking. His shooting star becoming more animated as he had fewer enemies to concentrate on, it whipped around him, skimming through flesh and trailing lines of blood in the sand behind him. Lightning and fire decimated their ranks but became less effective as the enemies thinned. The arrows from above became more useful, picking off the strays as Gavin dealt with the last remaining knot of monsters. When they were done, Gavin walked around each of the bodies, touching them with a jandal, having changed into more comfortable clothing. [You have looted sixty four [Ardweir]] [You have looted:] [64 level 1 silver coins] [128 level 1 bronze coins] [256 level 1 iron coins] [512 level 1 copper coins] [3 level 1 common health potions] [10 Ardweir hide] Gavin sauntered back up to the group ¡°Made a good team I think, nice work.¡± Gavin said amiably, holding out two identical pouches to Sadie and Nick. ¡°Maybe Sadie and me made a good team but you barely killed any.¡± Gavin shrugged ¡°kept them busy though, you think you would have been able to dump all your mana if they''d come up here to chase you around? You should just take the loot and keep your trap shut.¡± ¡°How much did you keep for yourself?¡± Nick asked. ¡°A third.¡± Gavin said exasperation creeping into his voice ¡°you don''t have to take it if you don''t want it, by all rights I could just keep the lot.¡± ¡°You think you''re entitled to it all let alone a third?¡± ¡°I know teams usually contract out loot distribution, but I''m doing this out of the goodness of my heart and that goodness only goes so far if you want to keep being a dick about it.¡± Gavin said offering Sadie two additional small vials. ¡°What about mine?¡± Nick said, unable to help himself. ¡°Maybe if you weren''t such a cock you''d have gotten one, I got my one third share of the loot, I¡¯m not much fussed how the rest of the team deals with their share, unless you want some leather? I bet I could make you a really cool leather face mask¡± Gavin said holding his index fingers and thumbs up in a rectangle that framed his face. ¡°That''s enough bickering, back into the group.¡± Val called from her vantage point. The day wore on, the team trekking through the dunes. Gavin''s improved stamina from near constant training and small bump to his endurance attribute from ranking up two of his crafting abilities was a real boon for warding off fatigue in the beating sun. While he wasn''t fighting he was wearing his casual clothes that felt breezy and light as he strolled over the radiating sand. The second team to fight was Stewardsons team. Gavin looked on as Judy shot arrows at a blistering pace at a heavily armoured, six metre long komodo dragon that spat acid at the group. Stweardson appeared to be a frontline fighter like Sam, fairly talented, while the remaining member of the team was throwing buffs on Stewardson while he danced around the massive lizard with a sword and shield, hacking mostly ineffectually against the thick bony skin. Once they were done, Stewardson approached Gavin ¡°go on, loot the corpse.¡± ¡°Gonna ask nicely mate?¡± ¡°Go do your job.¡± ¡°Okay, sounds good.¡± Gavin said, walking back into the group pulling a steaming pie from his inventory. ¡°Well?¡± Stewardson stated to Gavin¡¯s back ¡°Hmm?¡± Gavin grunted through a mouthful of food ¡°what''s that mate?¡± ¡°Go and loot the corpse.¡± ¡°Nah, don''t feel like it. Not super keen to have a bunch of rich pricks push me around for the next few days, did you not see how it worked out for Nick when he tried the same thing an hour ago?¡± ¡°You have a looting power, it''s your job to loot the monsters.¡± ¡°Actually, I''m technically unemployed, so I figure just bumming around with a bunch of other unemployed people is a fairly good description of what my job is. Tell you what, if I pass the test I''ll come back and loot the body for you, deal?¡± ¡°Go do what I said.¡± He said more emphatically, his face turning red. Gavin shot Val a look who remained impassive, her hawklike eyes watching the group. Taking that as permission to handle it how he wanted he continued winding Harold up. ¡°What is it with you rich pricks and being massive wangs? I''m not going to do anything for you if you''re going to be a cock about it.¡± ¡°You''re just going to leave it there?¡± ¡°Yeah, probably, ask me nicely and I''ll be happy to pop down there and search its pockets.¡± ¡°I''ll ask you with my sword, peasant.¡± he said taking a step forward. ¡°Not a great idea mate.¡± said Gavin pulling two wands from his inventory, pointedly keeping them at his sides, well away from directly threatening Stewardson. Stewardson stopped, glancing around, finally realising where he was. Sheathing his sword he marched through the crowd of onlookers to stand on the opposite side of the pack, his team in tow. Val led the party further across the dunes headed for a distant forest. Gavin hung at the back of the pack for the most part, watching as members of the group were sent out individually and as different groups to fight various monsters. ¡°Gavin, you''re up.¡± Val called ¡°Gavin?¡± A moment of awkward silence followed before Gavin appeared through the group ¡°Sorry, wasn''t paying attention.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Right.¡± Val said narrowing her eyes ¡°next ones all yours.¡± Gavin looked over the ridge to see a thick swirling vortex of dust zigzagging across the sand ¡°Ugh, sand elemental. I hate elementals.¡± Gavin said as he looked at Val, then, noting her expression added ¡°Fine, I''ll get going.¡± He trudged down the hill, not bothering to equip his armour. Pulling a wand from his inventory he pointed it at the small tornado. Gavin shot out four bolts of lightning that arced white hot across the formless mass of dust and grit that rolled across the sand. A few seconds of continuous energy was all it took to scatter the elemental to the wind. He reached a hand through the dissipating cloud, turning it to ash as he looted it, then walked back to the group. He retrieved a glass of juice from his inventory to sip as the rest of the group stared at him. ¡°I''d be interested to see how you perform without all of your plethora of magical items.¡± Val mused. ¡°Would you deny Sadie her elemental powers or Julie her vision and Dexterity powers?¡± ¡°No.¡± Val said after a moment''s thought. ¡°My powers are mostly crafting related, I have two enchanted items I didn''t make myself and one of them is a ring that very slowly recovers my mana and the other is a shield I haven''t ever used and havent had a chance to train with yet. My gear is my abilities.¡± ¡°Fair enough, as you were.¡± Val said, giving Gavin an unreadable look. Gavin retreated back to the pack, silent. As they set up camp later that night Clergyman Bines retrieved an extradimensional pouch and started pulling out pack after pack of prepared meals wrapped up in square packages. Gavin approached him and offered to help distribute the goods. He took an armload and went about handing them out the the small cliques that had been forming. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He found Judy sitting by herself outside a makeshift tent ¡°You fight well.¡± he said surreptitiously, handing her a meal while he swiveled his neck around to see if her team leader was around. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°How attached are you to your team?¡± Gavin asked in a low voice. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, you don''t look super happy with yours and I''ve seen you''re a valuable team member, Samania Starbourne and I are forming a team once I''m qualified and we''ll be looking for good people.¡± ¡°She''s the one who got her team killed right after they qualified?¡± ¡°Lessons hard learned are not easily forgotten, I trust her to keep me alive, though in fairness I did die once already while we were out adventuring.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nevermind that, I got better. Anyway, just think about it.¡± Gavin continued his route, making sure everyone was fed before he sat down to enjoy his own meal, not the field rations but his own home cooked meal, the smell wafting like poison through the camp. That done, he set about erecting the tent he¡¯d bought earlier in the week. An octagonal canvas hut six metres across popped down into the sand directly from his inventory. It was tapered inwards like the top half of a cut gemstone though made from thick fabric and resembled a concrete bunker. He settled down for a nights sleep, contemplating his latest point to spend after having leveled up after his last fight. *** The next day Val sent a good chunk of the group off with Bines, including Judy and her team, leaving him, and a several people he could see had tenuous hope of passing the test. Gavin was deep in thought when his name was called several hours into their walk. They''d reached the forest and were not far into it when Val called him to the front. ¡°Through there is a gorillion, it''s a large ape with four arms, taller than you, they''re strong and reasonably fast, but lack any abilities that aren''t tearing arms off the hard way. You think you can handle it?¡± ¡°I got it.¡± said Gavin, walking nonchalantly into the trees making more noise than was strictly necessary. The gorillion saw him before he saw it, with a burst of speed and power it crashed through the low ferns with thunderous pace, hauling on trees with spare arms for extra movement. Gavin picked up a small rock, throwing it with all his physical and spiritual strength, it plinked off the gorillions eyesocket, cutting a gouge through its thick fur and flesh. He rolled to the side as the monster crashed past, its arm extended to grasp at him. Gavin continued pelting the monster with rocks and twigs, all aimed at its face in an attempt to blind and enrage it. The gorillion threw a fist, catching Gavin¡¯s hastily summoned bubble shield. It shattered on impact, the remaining strength of the blow smashing into his shoulder sending him flying through the air, he disappeared to pop back into existence behind it. Gavin resumed his concentrated assault on the monsters head, wounding it with dozens more superficial cuts. Blood flowed freely across its hairy face, clotting in its thick fur. Hefelt his foot catch on a root and he stumbled to the ground. Grasping at a fallen log he deconstructed it then teleported to avoid a double fist slam aimed at his prone body. Before his step through time came off cooldown the monster had rounded on him and was charging for the attack. He crafted a makeshift spear with the wood he¡¯d looted, thrusting with all his strength, he felt the tip slam into thick muscle before it slid deep into the gorillions stomach. Two massive meaty paws gripped Gavin¡¯s shoulders, hauling him into the air and squeezing. He was brought face to face with the creature, its two great yellow fangs jutting out of the minced-meat jaw. Gavin teleported atop the creature, summoning a dagger sized wooden splinter into his hand and thrust down piercing the gorillions eye. With a wail of rage it threw Gavin aside. He conjured another shield around himself as he crashed bodily into a tree on his way down. A second later he was up, thankful for his shield and increased resistance to physical damage. The gorillion raged on, smashing trees recklessly. Gavin ran as the beast pursued him, he ducked around trees, fled through bushes and dodged more and more erratic attacks. Soon the monster was completely blind from its bloody wounds that he''d been raining on it near constantly and the battle turned. Gavin stalked it, stinging it with a thousand cuts and bruised muscles. After a long, bloody fight the beast was exhausted, falling to the ground in a bloody mess. Gavin summoned his spear and thrust it into the beast''s clavicle, burning it out with golden light. Returning to the group he chugged a healing potion, feeling the pain in his ribs lessen somewhat. ¡°That''s what you wanted to see right? That''s me in a fight as unprepared as I can be, nothing but the powers I have on hand¡± Gavin said. Val wasn''t paying attention though, her gaze was on the red beam of light shooting up into the sky in the distance. ¡°What''s that?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Bines is in trouble, he doesn''t have offensive spells, only healing. Whatever it is, it''s putting them down faster than he can keep them up.¡± ¡°That looks like its close to where we were yesterday.¡± Gavin said, referencing his map ¡°I can get us there.¡± His portal opened beside them, the gothic arch filling with pearlescent light. ¡°No, I''m too high a rank to go through that, and I''m not putting any of you in danger, we go on foot¡± Val said. ¡°With respect, Val, I think we can turn the tide, it''s not killing them instantly so it''s in a category we could theoretically deal with, with more bodies we could make the difference.¡± Val considered for a moment, her expression uncertain as she considered her options. ¡°Go, I''ll get there on foot¡± before sprinting through the trees at a blistering pace. ¡°Staying or going?¡± He said turning to the group. ¡°Make up your minds now, it will probably mean the difference between passing or failing the test, for what it''s worth.¡± Without waiting for them to make up their minds he dashed through the portal. The other side was half way between the forest and where they¡¯d camped the night before, getting his bearings Gavin sprinted off to the nearby beam of red light, using his teleport power the instant it came off cooldown to hop up the dunes. It was only half a kilometre away, but running in the sand was taxing his body even if he could mitigate the worst of it. As he ran Gavin opened his inventory, swapping out pieces of gear as he scrambled across the dunes, his jandals replaced with leather boots and casual clothes replaced with his basic combat gear. Bursting over the last dunes he saw a bloody sight, bodies lay scattered about the sand, Bines feverishly ran to each of them in turn, blasting them with healing magic, some lay dazed and some getting back up to rejoin the fight. Four remained standing, Nick up on a hill on the opposite side of the fight, peppering it with arrows, Stewardson standing his ground as his companion with the shield layered him up with buffs. Another woman, Sarah, attacked with a quarterstaff, raining rapid blows down on the six legged monster whenever it wasn''t battering at them with massive clawed paws. Gavin recognised the beast from his book as a sand grubber, a van sized six legged monstrosity, extremely resilient and very deadly, it was a rank two monster, twice as powerful as a normal monster of its size, and perhaps the most dangerous thing that could spawn in the area. He raced down the dunes, his throwing star zipping out ahead of him to slice deeply into the beast''s flank. He pushed on it with his force of will, feeling it lodge itself in deeper and its enchanted blades causing blood to flow freely. He pulled two wands from his inventory as he crashed to the sand below the beast''s lashing paws, pointing them straight up at it. The sand grubber flew a dozen metres into the sky as all nine charges of his improved wands of light as a feather and gust of wind blasted into the monster. Its massive bulk became weightless and the buffeting winds sent it flying directly upwards and away from the group. Gavin stashed his two wands and retrieved two more, shooting eighteen bolts of blue magic at it, before stashing those to retrieve his final two wands. The light as a feather spell ended, and a second later the sandgrubber crashed to the ground with a cacophonous thump, throwing up sand in a wide cloud. Five bolts of lightning and a stream of liquid fire erupted from the ends with heat that was almost too hot to look at. The fire wand glowed perilously hot with the strain, so he threw it and another damaged wand in his inventory at the creature. A beam of lightning caught one of them as they flew past, overloading them with a deafening explosion inside its open maw. A gout of fire erupted from its mouth, shattering teeth and lacerating leathery flesh. Wands spent, Gavin charged, spear at the ready in one hand, and in the other a stack of rune carved throwing stars that he sent spinning into the whirling cloud of dust and smoke. Eruptions of fire exploded in the haze. His spear tip extended out as he leapt into the smoke to smash into the sand grubbers brow, the tip punching deep into its skull. Beams of golden yellow light erupted from its eye sockets as it burned out from the inside. Gavin slumped back to the sand, wispy white clouds filling his vision, exhausted, as silence descended on the battlefield. ¡°What the fuck was that.¡± someone nearby asked incredulously ¡°One minute mage.¡± Gavin said, sitting back on the sand as his adrenaline wore off. He lay in the hot sand, his gaze unfocused as he looked at the sky. He¡¯d expended all his mana and stamina on his dash across the dunes and the fight that lasted no more than a few seconds. He felt utterly exhausted. He dragged himself reluctantly back to the present as he became aware that Bines¡¯ face hovered above him. ¡°Are you ok?¡± He asked. ¡°Mostly, think I bruised some ribs getting into a fist fight with a gorillion earlier, got a bit of a stitch too, how''s everyone else doing?¡± ¡°You''re the last.¡± Bines said warily, crouching to touch him, green light flooding his body ¡°everyone else is alive, a little shaken, but alive.¡± ¡°Cheers mate, here, you look shattered.¡± Gavin sat up, retrieving a pie and a cool glass of juice from his inventory offering them to the priest ¡°smoko time. Have a break, looks like you earned one.¡± ¡°Anyone else want a pie? I''ve got enough for everyone, not many drinks though.¡± Gavin called to the staring group. ¡°I''ll have one.¡± Nick said coming down from his position ¡°I''m starving.¡± Gavin handed out hot pies wrapped in brown paper bags to those that wanted them. He received wary thanks from almost all present. ¡°Stewardson, your team hungry? I''ve got steak and cheese, mince and cheese and bacon and egg, haven''t managed to find a good recipe for potato top or the other classics though, here, have one, it was pretty rough out there, you need a good pie.¡± Stewardson took one hesitantly. ¡°Thank you.¡± he said as if it hurt, then walked over to a small grass hillock in the dunes to brood. ¡°No worries mate.¡± Gavin said, looking to find the guy with the shield and Judy. ¡°Here, have a steak and cheese, they''re my favourite¡± They each took one, biting into them, Judy''s eyes going wide. ¡°This is good.¡± she said dropping splinters of pastry. ¡°Yeah, kiwi classic, they''re a staple morning meal, or lunch, or afternoon tea, dinner too for that matter, I¡¯ve never been a fan of the family sized ones though. Took me quite a while to make a recipe with this world''s ingredients.¡± ¡°This world?¡± ¡°Yeah, I''m not from here, I guess I''m an alien or something? I only arrived on this planet like a month or so ago. Anyway, glad you guys are all good, I''m gonna go loot that monster, also, you two take this.¡± Gavin surreptitiously palmed a pouch of coins to Judy ¡°you two split this up how you like, it''s from the lizard you killed.¡± Gavin went over to the blackened and bloody corpse, touching its dry skin with a hand. [You have looted Sandgrubber] [You have looted:] [2 level 2 platinum coins] [20 level 2 gold coins] [200 level 2 silver coins] [2000 level 2 bronze coins] [20000 level 2 iron coins] [200000 level 2 copper coins] [potion of resilience] Gavin approached Bines ¡°Hey mate, are you like with the guild in an official capacity, can you deal with splitting up the loot?¡± ¡°I think it''s best that Valerie does that, as the adventurers guild representative.¡± ¡°That''s fair.¡± Gavin''s portal had come off cooldown so he opened it up back to where he''d come from after killing the gorillion, he poked his head through looking around. ¡°Monsters dead guys, come on through, Val should be arriving shortly.¡± Leaving the portal open he found a quiet shaded spot to lie down in and pulled out a thick leather bound book, arcane runes inked into the covers and began to read, paying no mind to the glances he was getting. Some time later he looked up to see Val conversing with Bines, who pointed in his direction. Sighing, Gavin pocketed his book of magic theory. ¡°How''s it going Val¡± Gavin asked. Valerie looked absolutely exhausted from her run across kilometres of sand. ¡°Worse than you it seems.¡± ¡°Yeah, I bet you''re knackered after getting here the long way, want a drink of juice, it''s still cold.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Gavin proffered an ice cold glass of juice, then another as Val downed the first in three gulps. ¡°Hungry? I bet you''re a bacon and egg sort of person¡± Gavin said holding out a brown paper bag. Val took the pie but didn''t open it. ¡°Clergyman bines informs me you killed the sandgrubber more or less single handedly, that the combined efforts of the rest of the group barely scratched it but you had it dead in about twelve seconds?¡± ¡°Yeah, completely depleted my resources though, I''m basically just a guy with a fancy spear now.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Val said, her look inscrutable. ¡°And you say you¡¯ve been training under Samania Starbourne? For how long? You weren''t in her previous batch of dead wardens.¡± ¡°I actually was there. It was my first day on this world, I stumbled into a dimensional pocket where a dinosaur was half way through killing them.¡± Gavin said, not relishing the memory. ¡°You¡¯re a new arrival? Makes sense. You¡¯re adapting well.¡± ¡°Doing this sort of thing has been a dream of mine before I knew magic was even real.¡± Gavin said with honest sincerity. ¡°Oh, right, speaking of adventuring, I looted that monster, Bines suggested you should distribute the money, I can''t break up the coins evenly among everyone here.¡± ¡°The guild has a process for this, everyone who was here will get an equal share when we return to the city.¡± ¡°Equal share? Half of these people didn''t even do anything. Judy here got hit at the start of the fight, didn''t even put a scratch on it, even after Bines healed her she sat the rest of the fight out¡± Stewardson complained, having evidently eavesdropped on the conversation. Gavin glanced at Judy, raising an eyebrow. She looked away, clearly hurt. ¡°Mate, if you want to distribute the loot by effort contributed to the fight, Clergyman bines is getting half, your mate with the shield is getting about ten percent, you''re getting about six copper pieces, and I''m taking the rest. You had a dedicated support person loading you up with every buff under the sun, did you even manage to make it bleed or were you just wasting the healers mana burning though his healing powers every few seconds?¡± Val held up a finger to forestall any rebuttal before turning to look at Gavin. ¡°Mr Gavin, I''ll thank you not to escalate the situation with your assessment. As it stands the guild is now in charge of the distribution of loot, so what I say is law, everyone gets an even share.¡± ¡°Except the guys who were with us in the forest. None of them followed me through my portal.¡± ¡°Very well, I''ll make sure only those present get a share.¡± ¡°So, are we clearing out more monsters this arvo?¡± Gavin asked, standing up and stretching. ¡°Yes, we still have three to complete.¡± They remained as a group for the rest of the day, Val sent the group that had been with Gavin in the forest out one more time with Bines, leaving Gavin with the main group. He noticed Stewardson bickering darkly below his breath with his team who had been shooting him the odd glance. ¡°Okay, Harold, Gavin, you''re up.¡± Val called as the day was drawing to a close. ¡°What are we dealing with?¡± Gavin asked, pushing through to the front of the group. ¡°Marhounds, it''s unusual they''d be this far out of their natural territory, but they''re there and they need to be dead.¡± Stewardson harumphed ¡°I don''t need his help.¡± ¡°Mate, could I have a word privately?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± he stalked off some distance where they wouldn''t be observed ¡°what?¡± ¡°You know why Val is putting us together right?¡± ¡°And whys that? You seem to be awfully chatty with her.¡± ¡°She''s testing you.¡± ¡°She''s seen me fight.¡± ¡°Sure. What she hasn''t seen is you work well in a team. You''ve had someone there to cover for you every time like they''re another piece of equipment, you''ve just spent the last day pissing off everyone around you. Val wants to see that you can work as a team, that you''re not just going to sacrifice your people for your own glory. You''re gonna fail if you don''t work with me.¡¯ ¡°She wouldn''t dare fail me.¡± ¡°Mate, she failed your bro before we''d even left the guild grounds.¡± ¡°Fine. Stay behind me and keep them off my back.¡± ¡°If that''s what you want.¡± Gavin shrugged. Stewardsons eyes narrowed dangerously ¡°Don''t you dare sabotage me.¡± ¡°Mate, I don''t need to. You''re doing a good job of that yourself.¡± ¡°What''s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Think about what I just told you.¡± Gavin said done with the conversation. Hestrode back to the group, Stewardson trailing behind as he equipped his battle attire. ¡°What''s your game?¡± Stewardson said to his back as he looked out over the pack of hounds. ¡°Just trying to be the best man I can be.¡± Gavin said, holding out his arms to either side, palms facing upwards. ¡°Its all I want, do some good, kill some monsters, help some people that need it. Theres nothing more to it than that.¡± The pair walked side by side into combat, Gavin''s spear twirling in his hand as he limbered up. Harold had his sword slung casually over a shoulder. ¡°Just FYI, I''m basically all out of tricks, all I''ve got is my spear and this.¡± He said, indicating his mithril throwing star as he threw it up to buzz over his head ¡°also a couple potions, in fact, I think now''s a good time to have this strength potion.¡± he said, taking it from his inventory. The marhounds came on thick and fast, quickly surrounding them. Gavin and Harold fought back to back, Gavin''s spear sweeping and thrusting, his star biting deeply through the crowding monsters. Harold''s sword danced as if it were no more cumbersome than a foil. He didn''t have Sam''s blur power but he did have his own unique set, he''d occasionally loose a crescent of silver energy with an attack, sending the blade out to slice into several creatures before the energy dissipated. As the fight drew on his sword hummed with crackling lightning, sizzling flesh and arcing out to nearby hounds with increasing power. One marhound dipped past Gavin''s guard and he spun to kill it as it lunged for Harold. He turned back to the fight to see two more had launched themselves at him. ¡°Harold, behind you¡± Gavin called. One of the hounds tried to latch onto Gavin''s arm but was deflected temporarily by a bubble shield as he skewered the second. More hounds bore down in his moment of weakness. Harold turned to help Gavin, sawing the gnawing dogs head clean off. More hounds were getting in, now that their guard was down. Gavin rose a portal up in the middle of the fight ¡°Get through there.¡± He saw Harold leap for the portal before he stepped through as well, both emerging a few metres away on the other side of the combat. ¡°Keep it open¡± Harold called as they reengaged the marhounds from behind The two of them began mounting a hit and run skirmish, striking several down before running back through the portal to attack from behind. Gavin''s throwing star skipped through the monsters, cutting thin lines across their flanks. The bleeding effect began to take its toll, the hounds flagging as their life leaked out in dozens of tiny wounds making the fight easier the longer it went. Soon Harold and Gavin stood panting in a field of dead. Gavin moved through, touching each in turn. [You have looted fourty Marhound] [You have looted:] [160 level 1 silver coins] [640 level 1 bronze coins] [2560 level 1 iron coins] [12 marhound leather] [ring of fire resistance] ¡°Here''s half of the coins, there''s a ring of fire resistance and some leather, if you give me an hour or so to study the ring you can have it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Harold said after a pause. ¡°No worries mate. That was a good idea for me to keep the portal open like that, it''ll make fighting the less intelligent monsters much easier.¡± They pitched camp not long after. They had field rations for dinner, everyone except Gavin who''d packed his own meals. Afterwards he went off to find a quiet spot to sit and think. The dunes around him rolled like unmoving waves, a great streak of stars strung across the sky like Christmas lights. It could have almost been like his childhood memories of camping at the beach. He thought about his progress with his magical powers. He was over two thirds the way through his build and honing in on where he wanted to end up. He still wanted to find a vision power and some sort of battlefield control spell but he was willing to wait to expand his powers further until he found the exact right fit now he had a workable base. A special attack he could use as his bread and butter wouldn''t go amis, though he figured he could probably just simulate that with an enchantment or specialist gear for specific scenarios. He thought back to how Sam said her powers worked and the differences between them. She was a brawler, every one of her powers designed to be the centre of a fight and have everyone else work around her. He couldn¡¯t deny its effectiveness, but he needed more esoteric abilities to feel comfortable, ones applicable to as many situations as possible so he could deal with problems that violence didn¡¯t solve. He wanted to be the glue that held the team together and the fly in the ointment of anyone who dared pull it apart. His Body of iron power would be his next ability to rank up. The bludgeonings he''d taken at the hands of Sam''s training swords combined with maulings and beatings from the various monsters he''d fought. Force of will was not far behind it. His near constant use of it had seen a steady increase, even though he almost never got to strain his ability while using it. He was about to set up his tent and turn in for the night when he noticed Valerie watching from a short distance away. ¡°Hey Val.¡± He said, his tone cheerful as he pulled himself out of his thoughts. ¡°Got a minute?¡± She said, walking up to him. ¡°Sure. Step into my office.¡± he said popping his sleeping quarters out of his inventory. Gavin pulled the flap closed behind him as Val stepped into his tent. ¡°Why do you need a tent this big?¡± Val asked looking around the enormous room that held only a bedroll and blanket. ¡°You came here for a reason?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°I wanted to talk to you about today.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°How much did Samania tell you about what the test would entail?¡± ¡°Almost nothing, that I''d need to prove I was worthy, that there would be fighting.¡± ¡°And you guessed what I''ve been testing you on. Using your wits not your wallet, working as a team?¡± ¡°My world has a lot of stories, one of the most profitable jobs on my world is to come up with new ones or present old legends with a slightly different twist. Millions of people watch any given story when it''s released to the public, and I''ve made it my business to watch a damn lot of them.¡± ¡°Your point?¡± ¡°There¡¯s noting new under the sun. There¡¯s a template people use called the heroes journey, its a load of crap, but basically it says if you squint your eyes hard enough every story is the same. Any test you were going to give me would be about demonstrating good character or using my head when the stakes are high. My skills favour being prepared for any eventuality, it was obvious you''d want to see me fight when I was unprepared.¡± ¡°And Harold Stewardson?¡± ¡°Heard that chat did you? Well, you more or less told me what you wanted from him the second you paired me with him.¡± ¡°I did?¡± ¡°I''ve been getting under his skin pretty constantly since we met, because of who he is and who I am. He''s headed on the right track to get someone killed unless he can learn to work as part of a team right? You wanted to see if he could work with someone who''s been annoying him consistently over the past few days.¡± ¡°That''s a fairly accurate assessment of my thought process.¡± ¡°But that''s not why you''re here is it? You wanted to talk about the other thing?¡± ¡°You killing the sand grubber.¡± ¡°What are your thoughts?¡± Gavin asked, feeling she had something to get off her chest. ¡°You did a good job, not just killing it but your reasoning as to why you thought you could help.¡± She said. ¡°To be one hundred percent honest, I''d have found any number of reasons to justify going even if the circumstances were worse.¡± Gavin said truthfully. ¡°These people might not be my friends but I''m not going to sit around and watch people die when I could maybe have done something to stop it regardless of the risk.¡± ¡°That was a concern I''ve had about you Gavin. That attitude will get you or your whole team killed eventually. I understand you''ve already died once.¡± ¡°Bines told you about that?¡± ¡°No, I read it in your file.¡± Val said flippantly. ¡°I have a file?¡± Gavin asked surprised. ¡°You killed a warden in broad daylight, of course you have a file.¡± ¡°He attacked me first, and it was two, sort of, im not exactly- right, not the point.¡± ¡°Which is why¡± Valerie said, forging on ahead ¡°No one has come after you. You didn''t think it was odd that you killed someone and no one said even a word about it?¡± ¡°I figured Sams mum made it go away.¡± ¡°Anabelle Starbourne might have a lot of influence, but she is ultimately an administrator, the decision to punish you was out of her hands as soon as she declared a conflict of interest. The chair of the Edomont branch himself determined no action should be taken against you, and would probably have extracted concessions on your behalf if Lady Alana suggested that avoiding further conflict was in everyone''s best interests.¡± ¡°I think we''re straying a little off topic, you''re concerned about my casual attitude to danger?¡± Gavin said, for once being the one to keep a conversation on track. ¡°Very.¡± ¡°My first day on this planet I jumped in to help Sam fight a bonesnapper while I was injured from my first ever encounter with a monster, my only magical power was a map showing about three kilometers of bush and some deep pockets. Sam would be dead if I didn''t throw caution to the wind, and I''d probably have someone running medical experiments on me right now if she and her family didn''t shelter me.¡± ¡°Throwing away your own life to attempt to save another is a good way to get you and everyone around you killed Gavin.¡± Val said, unconsciously touching the scar on her jaw. ¡°Live to fight another day?¡± Gavin said finding the words distasteful. ¡°Yes.¡± The real danger in this world is the unending waves of demons and monsters popping up across the planet, all we can do is hold them off, there will never be a time where they aren''t a threat. The way to do the most good is to be cautious, if you''re not careful people will die and then all the good you may have done over the next hundred or more years will never happen.¡± ¡°I don''t think I could live with myself if I just let someone die if I had even a chance to save them. There''s a saying from one of those stories i mentioned, with great power comes great responsibility I''ve got power now, not as much as most but more than some, I have a duty to use that power to protect people.¡± Val gave Gavin a wry smile ¡°well Gavin, you''re either going to end up one of the greats or end up dead. I hope you''re strong enough to live with the consequences.¡± ¡°You''re not just giving me this talk because you disagree with my attitude are you, you''ve lived it and lost people?¡± Gavin asked looking at her scar. ¡°Yes.¡± Val said, her veneer of stern authority cracking, suddenly she looked very old. ¡°I once thought I was going to conquer the world, save everyone, go further than anyone from this town had gone before. I took on challenges I shouldn''t have and got away with it until I led my team into a fight we couldn''t handle. Now my friends are dead and all that good in the world they could have done is gone because I snatched that future away from them. Like your friend did, like you and Nick and Harold will one day too. You¡¯ve got the same attitude I used to, people will follow you because you make them believe they can do anything, Samania Starbourne makes people want to follow her because shes a brilliant fighter. The two of you together will need to be careful you don''t run head first into the worst dangers you can find.¡± Gavin was silent for an uncomfortable minute while Val¡¯s stoic demeanour appeared as thin as paper in the dim light. ¡°I''m sorry Val.¡± he said as he considered, really considered her words. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, thanks for the talk, I know it probably wasn''t easy for you.¡± Gavin offered her a hand to shake, nodding to her with respect as she clasped it in her hard calloused hand. ¡°Samanias mum has forbidden her to form a team.¡± Gavin said, letting go. ¡°I heard.¡± Val said. ¡°When you pass me, I''m going to be forming a team.¡± ¡°You? With Sam and who else?¡± ¡°I asked Judy to join me.¡± Val nodded ¡°She''s quite talented. Anyone else here stand out to you?¡± ¡°Not especially. Quite a few seem good but not great, and the ones who are any good have conflicting personalities.¡± ¡°Nick and Harold?¡± Val smirked ¡°that would be a disaster.¡± ¡°Yes. They''re like me with some of the ugly side closer to the surface. Arrogant, prideful.¡± ¡°They will struggle to hold teams together.¡± ¡°That sounds like a them problem though, I''m more interested in my team.¡± ¡°Which is currently yourself, Samania Starbourne and potentially Judy.¡± ¡°We need a healer and at least one more, I''m thinking a front liner which would leave me more flexible to be ranged support with the ability to fill a front line role if necessary.¡± ¡°I''d agree with that.¡± Val said nodding. ¡°So we need a good front line combatant.¡± Gavin said, staring at Val and her swords seriously. Val froze, irritation flashing on her face before she schooled it back to her usual stoic scorn. ¡°No.¡± she said ¡°don''t even ask me that, it''s a serious conflict of interest.¡± Gavin shrugged. ¡°Just think about it, you know you¡¯d be a good influence on us. I won''t ask again.¡± ¡°You have some stones Gavin I''ll give you that.¡± He laughed ¡°There''s another saying from my world, fortune favours the bold.¡± ¡°Is that from another story?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so, not actually sure where that one comes from though.¡± ¡°I should get back to camp.¡± ¡°Thanks for the chat Val, I''ll take what you said into consideration.¡± After Valerie left the tent, Gavin closed and buckled the flap behind her. He readied his sleeping arrangements and prepared to do a little work on his item situation. He was just pulling out some materials for a new project when he heard footsteps in the sand outside. He opened up his tent to see Judy, her eyes red and face grim. ¡°Come on in.¡± Gavin said gesturing for her to come inside ¡°can''t offer you tea or a chair but there''s a nice floor to sit on.¡± ¡°Is the offer to join your team still available?¡± Judy said tersely. ¡°Indefinitely.¡± Gavin said, flashing her a smile. ¡°I want to join.¡± ¡°Does Harold know?¡± ¡°He knows I''m out of his team. I just stormed out on him.¡± Judy said, crinkling her mouth wryly. ¡°Good for you. Well, welcome to the team¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°Just like that. You''d be a good fit for us. Know any good healers?¡± ¡°Not that aren''t attached to other teams already.¡± ¡°Never mind, I might have a chat to Florrin, she might be able to send someone our way though I''m a little bit miffed with her at the moment.¡± ¡°You can''t just talk about the gods like that.¡± Judy said. ¡°Seems to have gone well for me so far.¡± Gavin shrugged ¡°So far?¡± ¡°I had a chat with Soliece on my first day here, she bribed me not to do a thing, then I had a chat with Florrin after this prick killed me, she was nice at the time, she gave me a bit of a pep talk after the whole dying thing, she gave me a soul power that I gave to Sam.¡± ¡°You gave samania a soul power? What did she give you in exchange?¡± ¡°She gave me friendship, I gave her a piece of sparkly stone, it wasn''t much of an exchange.¡± ¡°They''re worth a lot of money.¡± ¡°I think I can technically make infinite money, well, infinite things I can sell for money which I''ve been very cautious about exploiting.¡± ¡°You can do what?¡± ¡°Oh, infinite gold or whatever is nothing, it''s super tedious to do, I think killing monsters is probably more profitable, which is why I haven''t got a visit from some god of money yet. I think gods find people from off planet interesting which is why they like popping in for chats every now and then.¡± ¡°There isn''t a god of money. And the ones that do exist won''t like you talking about them so casually.¡± ¡°The gods are well aware of my thoughts on them, if they had an issue with me they''d have smited me the second I came into this world, or they''d send someone to kick my teeth in, or come tell me to knock it off in person.¡± ¡°You''re going to get yourself branded a heretic one of these days.¡± ¡°Then I''ll have to get strong enough so that no one would try.¡± ¡°You''ve got some pretty lofty ambitions then.¡± ¡°You don''t even know the half of it. Anyway, why don''t you grab your stuff, we can talk team strategy while I work on some things.¡± ¡°I''ve already got my tent set up¡± ¡°No worries, I can go with you and chuck all your stuff in my inventory.¡± ¡°Okay, I''d appreciate not having to sleep out near Stewardson tonight, he''s got a vindictive streak.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can see that.¡± They walked out into the chill night, a gentle breeze had picked up, drawing in salty sea air. Their way was bright enough to see by the light of the full moon, casting shadows that loomed off over the dunes. ¡°So what prompted your blow-out with Harold?¡± Gavin asked as they navigated the camp. Judy sighed ¡°he started talking about how we needed to act more like a proper team, how everyone needs to pull their weight and I just couldn''t do it anymore.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ I think he may have been talking about himself as much as everyone else there.¡± Judy stopped stunned ¡°he what?¡± ¡°I may have told him that he''d fail the entry test if he kept showboating and didn''t consider his team.¡± ¡°Well this is going to be awkward.¡± Judy said. ¡°Reconsidering your choice?¡± ¡°No, it''s been a long time coming, he won''t turn over a new leaf. People like him don''t change for long.¡± Gavin shrugged ¡°maybe, maybe not, but you''re definitely burning a bridge.¡± ¡°Burning bridges I can do.¡± Judy said shrugging a shoulder. ¡°That''s fair. You''re part of the team now, and our team sticks together.¡± ¡°You''re not concerned I''ll abandon you too?¡± ¡°Not especially. If the team isn''t a good fit we won''t begrudge you moving on. We''re offering friendship and the opportunity to get paid killing monsters.¡± Gavin said. ¡°I guess that''s all I can ask.¡± ¡°Good. Now let''s hope Harold isn''t dumb enough to start trouble while we''re out here.¡± Judy nodded her agreement, leading Gavin to her tent. Harold was there, his face livid. ¡°Evening Harold.¡± Gavin called as they drew near. ¡°Huh. I should have known. This is your game. You''re trying to poach my team members.¡± ¡°Well, actually yeah, I guess.¡± Gavin admitted, scratching his chin ¡°I can see how this looks from your perspective.¡± ¡°All this time you were playing me, manipulating me. This is all your doing.¡± ¡°Bro, I don''t know what you''re on but this is all your doing. All I did was tell Judy she''d be welcome on our team. You made her jump, I just let her know there was somewhere to land.¡± ¡°You''re good with words, you''ve been in my ear, in her ear. You''re just trying to take what''s mine.¡± Harold fumed. ¡°Dude, Judy isn''t yours and she isn''t mine, she can make her own choices. I know you genuinely tried to be more of a team player, but you''ve been such an absolute cockhead for such a long time that you''ve got a lot of groundwork to lay before you can start pretending you''re a changed man.¡± ¡°Shut up Gavin. You come off all high and mighty, like you''re the smartest person the room, throwing around insults as if you''re not even more guilty of everything you claim about others.¡± Harold said fuming. ¡°Mate, firstly, I''m an sparkie, I usually am the smartest one in the room, and secondly, I don''t pretend I''m not arrogant or a bit of a prick, what I do do is respect other people until they show they don''t deserve it.¡± Harold took a step forward, his fists balled. ¡°Dude, make the smart choice here and drop it. I''m not going to fight you and you can''t touch me without it bringing a world of hurt down on yourself in return. Either one or both of us pass the test and then any bad blood between us dies. I''m not up to speed on what the punishments are for guild members fighting other guild members but I do know that killing someone who attacks you first isn''t punished at all. Walk away, we can forget about each other ever existing by the end of tomorrow.¡± Gavin said attempting to circle past him. ¡°Fine. Go play along together. But you better believe I won''t forget what you did.¡± ¡°I probably will. We have a saying on my world, the best revenge is a life lived well. Hope you have a good one mate.¡± Gavin said solemnly. Harold turned and stalked off into the night kicking up a trail of sand. ¡°Wonder what Val''s going to do about him¡± Gavin mused. ¡°She''ll pass him. He was in the group of people who didn¡¯t need extra testing.¡± Judy said confidently. ¡°I think Val is testing our attitudes more than our ability, I wouldn''t be surprised if the big group was just people she already knew the results for and wouldn''t change their grade regardless of how they performed. Anyway, that''s a later problem. Let''s get your stuff.¡± They stayed up for a little while later discussing team tactics and where Judy saw herself fitting in with the team. What sort of gear she needed and what skills she had so far, and what she wanted to unlock. They fell asleep in their respective beds on opposite sides of the tent. The next morning Gavin was up early, he went out for a quick run, returning when the sun was just cresting the horizon. The sea breeze was chilly and was strong enough to pick up stray sand, stinging exposed shins. Returning to his tent he found Judy just waking up. ¡°Where have you been?¡± She asked rubbing sleep from her eyes. ¡°For a run. Sam and I usually go for a run in the mornings, feel free to join us, Sam might ask more emphatically though, she can be hard to say no to.¡± ¡°I''ll think about it. I''m usually up late into the night practicing then get a sleep in.¡± ¡°We''ll work out a routine. You don''t strike me as the sort of person who shirks training, I''ve just spent a day and a half watching you hit pretty much every target even with team mates in the way jumping and diving in the path of your arrows" ¡°I train in the evenings after Harold has had enough wandering around the countryside killing monsters.¡± ¡°Were you his scout? I can''t imagine Harold or his offsider would be the types to scout.¡± ¡°I was, though I don''t have any powers useful for scouting aside from sharper vision.¡± ¡°Do you want to take on a scouting role with our team?¡± Judy shrugged ¡°I''m not fussed.¡± ¡°It''s a pretty big commitment, you''d be permanently changing your soul just to convenience us. I''d prefer you be absolutely sure what you want to do and that you''re doing it because it''s what you want not what we want.¡± ¡°I''ll add that to the list of things to think about.¡± ¡°We''ve got plenty of time, Ive got pretty much all of my core powers, I just need to go up a couple levels so my next tier of abilities unlocks which means killing lots of monsters. Ill be training with just the ones I have unless a god wants to swing by now and give me one? Anyone? No? Worth a shot.¡± ¡°Gods won''t just show up and give you powers Gavin, that''s not how that works.¡± ¡°I''ll make you a bet. I say one or another god will offer me a magic power personally before I¡¯ve filled out my set. I bet they¡¯ll clamber over each other to get some sort of leverage over me.¡± ¡°What do I get if I win?¡± Judy asked, his boast pushing her inclination to accept almost anything he¡¯d wager. ¡°I''ll buy you the rest of your powers.¡± Judy''s eyes bulged ¡°and what do you get if you win?¡± ¡°Bragging rights?¡± ¡°Come on, that''s not a reward, and Id rather you didn¡¯t bring it up every other day in the unlikely event you win.¡± ¡°Being right is a pretty big reward, but if you insist, you buy me dinner.¡± ¡°It''s the first day of me being in your team and you''re making a pass at me?¡± ¡°Hey, friends can eat out together, invite Sam along too, but you''re paying.¡± ¡°Okay, I''ll take that bet, it''s not like you''re going to win.¡± ¡°If you say so. It''s time to get up anyway, field rations are being served.¡± Judy rolled out of her bedroll and stretched ¡°do team mates get the good meals?¡± ¡°Uhh, yeah, sure.¡± Gavin said turning red, averting his eyes ¡°Oh come off it, I''m wearing clothes¡± Judy said following his gaze. ¡°Barely. Anyway, I''ll see you out with the rest of the group.¡± ¡°We could just eat in here where it''s warm.¡± ¡°I''ve been getting a lot of enjoyment watching Harold eat field rations while I get bacon and eggs.¡± ¡°Actually that does sound good, mind putting my gear in your dimensional space?¡± ¡°Ohh yeah sure. Just leave anything you want stored in here and I''ll stash it all together.¡± ¡°I won''t be a minute.¡± Judy said. She pulled on her combat gear that was essentially light clothes with hardened leather plates strapped to it to cover the vital areas. ¡°We''re definitely sorting you out with some better gear.¡± Gavin said when she was done. ¡°What''s wrong with my gear? Its functional.¡± ¡°Mate, you''ve got to look badass while you''re killing monsters.¡¯ ¡°I don''t think that''s a requirement.¡± ¡°Tell me that when you saw me come dashing in down off the sand dunes in my shiny dinosaur cloak, do a big slide through the sand and absolutely blasted the sand grubber to smithereens it wasn''t the coolest thing you''ve ever seen.¡± ¡°I was unconscious, I didn''t see what happened.¡± Judy said. ¡°Well that''s lame. So you haven''t even seen me cut loose?¡± ¡°No, all I''ve seen is your fight with Nick and the time you killed the sand elemental.¡± ¡°You should have seen me just before the sand grubber, I''d only just finished fist fighting a gorillion.¡± ¡°You fist fought a gorillion?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I cheated. I threw stones. Did you want eggs on toast, fruit salad and yoghurt or crepes?¡± ¡°What are crepes?¡± Judy asked suspiciously. ¡°They¡¯re like thin pancakes.¡± ¡°What''s a pancake?¡± ¡°Like a pikelet except bigger and less sweet. ¡°Nevermind, give me whatever.¡± ELEVEN. Demons. Samania had her first Gavin free days in weeks. She''d barely seen him around the house while he was in seclusion crafting her new sword, now she watched him departing with the group of other hopefuls, wondering what trouble he was going to cause. She''d been hyper focused on training so long that the disruption to her routine had tanked her motivation. She''d been whipped up in getting her new friend and ward up to speed, operating at his pace while not giving herself her own time to process her own direction. The deaths of her old team members niggled at the back of her mind like spectres. She hardly allowed herself to think their names, though the smell of her own vomit clinging to her armour and the sight of all that blood often wormed its hot foetid fingers into her dreams. She''d become much better about denying those thoughts, pushing through for the greater good but the cancer was eating away at her from the inside. The quiet moments she''d had left her terrified of her own mind. He''d called himself her friend right from their first meeting, and she''d been using his intense nonchalance as a crutch to avoid dealing with her own mental anguish. She''d felt herself becoming unhealthily attached to his presence, he was a genuine friend and she was only pretending to be his friend because she couldn''t deal with not having her crutch there to support her. She didn''t deserve his friendship, she was broken inside. It would be easier if she could just sail into the quiet nothing so the charade could end. ¡°Snap the fuck out of it. Weak. You''re weak. Get strong. Survive. You have a duty to protect, not to cower like a child.¡± she scolded herself, halting that train of thought again. She needed to think about her future. She''d irrevocably thrown herself from the mountain her parents had built for her to climb, to forge her own path that led to the unknown. What powers did she want? What role should she take? And was she deciding her fate not because it was what she wanted, but because they''d cover up the weakness down inside. If she could just save her team from her own mistakes would it make the dreams go away? Gavin had picked open the scabs of her repressed emotions and left her to deal with them by herself. He¡¯d been furious at what her parents and the god of life had done to her, something she had never questioned before. She had only ever seen it as her duty to repay the debt she owed to them for creating her and giving her everything she would ever need. The more she thought about it the more she wanted to lock those feelings away in a box, she hadn''t told Gavin all of what they''d done. The cost to bring a life into this world was high and her parents had made her pay it, and up until a few days ago she had just accepted it as a way of life. Now it was eating at her inside. She wanted to work out her frustrations with violence, but trekking across the countryside alone with her thoughts, on the way to destroy a sentient knot of magic leaking into the world wouldn''t make it better. Samania turned the sword Gavin had made over in her hands. It read SAMANIA on one side, and know yourself on the other in his foreign language. It was all well and good to just say know yourself, it was another thing entirely to figure out who she was underneath the veneer of stoic competence. Her pacing took her on a meandering path through the city, vendors selling street food were out in force, blanketing the area with delicious smells. She ignored them, thoughts of Gail and Allan, the latest of her list of dead companions turning the thought of breakfast to ash in her stomach. They hadn¡¯t been especially close, their relationship being akin to coworkers rather than friends, she felt guilty about not mourning their deaths. Guilty that her pain that she¡¯d felt because of her failure hurt more than their deaths had. She had been their leader, responsible for them, and they had died under her care, it was an irrevocable stain on her soul and she had the hairline scar over her heart to prove it. That was the main issue she had with herself, she felt like a monster being more concerned with her own selfish feelings rather than for anyone else. She wasn''t the hero her parents had built her to be, she simply cared more about her own image more than she cared about other people and that was why she hated herself. ¡°Samania Starbourne?¡± She was broken out of her spiralling thoughts by someone calling her name. A man. One of the people in her testing group who had failed not from a lack of talent but from his attitude. His name swam just out of reach for a moment before it came to her. ¡°Joffery Greysky?¡± ¡°The one and the same¡± he laughed. Joffrey was of one of the noble houses, a talented scion from the Greysky house, they were an ancient and respected family, though their influence wasn¡¯t as far reaching as some of the greater houses, like the Stewardsons or Heathsteads. Joffrey was a whip of a man, tall and lean, his short cropped hair and goatee fit his grinning face well. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, what have you been doing since-¡± Sam said, trailing off, not wanting to drag the uncomfortable past up. ¡°Washing out of the warden exam? I''ve been out and about getting my hands dirty¡± ¡°Fighting monsters?¡± ¡°Sometimes, though it¡¯s mainly people in the arena. I''ve earned quite a bit of coin betting on myself, through an intermediary you understand, don''t tell anyone though, it¡¯s all very illegal¡± he said, whispering behind a hand loud enough for anyone who cared to listen to hear. ¡°I''ll be sure not to mention it.¡± Samania said. ¡°Good. What about you? Off to take some contracts? You¡¯re headed in the wrong direction for that.¡± ¡°Not today. I¡¯ve just dropped off my new ward off for his test.¡± ¡°Ahh yes, the new arrival, I hear hes headed for the same fate those types always end up. He¡¯s been quite the talk among some of the great houses, caused a bit of bother when you two flicked the nose of the De Vore family¡± ¡°Mother has kept me well away from that talk.¡± ¡°Yes, she came in like a bludgeon to dissuade the gossip from spreading, you can imagine how that went.¡± Samania grimaced. Her mother had one tactic, and diplomacy was not that. It served her well as the head of the wardens guild, but she did not have a head for dealing with her fathers side of politics. ¡°Say.¡± Joeffry mused as if the thought had just occurred to him. ¡°If you¡¯re not busy I wouldn''t oppose having a partner to fight with in the arena later tonight? Doubles and team matches attract more viewers and the betting can be more competitive. We¡¯d win a lot more than the single events individually, and I recall we paired quite well with each other during the guild test.¡± ¡°I cant my-¡± she said hesitating. She was about to say her parents wouldn''t allow it, but she was beyond that, she¡¯d decided to make her own decisions, would fighting in the arena be what she wanted to do? ¡°How long do I have to think about it?¡± She asked. ¡°Just turn up at Maranelli¡¯s before sundown, I''ll be there. If you come we can register as a duo, otherwise I''ll go in solo¡± ¡°I''ll think about it.¡± They departed, Sam gaining at least some measure of a direction to understanding who she was and what she wanted to be. She figured confronting herself with different scenarios was a good way to peel back who she was underneath the layers so long as she could be honest with herself. She had little knowledge of the underground arena, aside from its existence and its dubious legality. She knew someone who could give her more insight, her mentor Gloria Vale, semi retired priest of Paragon. She would know what path to take. Samania marched herself back to her family''s estate full of purpose. The training hall was occupied as it usually was by guards and soldiers sparring. The familiar sour smell of sweat, coppery blood and warm leather infused the room. Morning sun cut stark beams through the high windows, enchanted glow globes casting a more diffuse light to train by. Gloria sat relaxed on a wooden bench observing the training. Noticing samania she cocked her head to indicate the seat beside her was open. ¡°You have questions for me today.¡± ¡°You know why I''m here? Did Paragon tell you?¡± ¡°No, not exactly¡± Gloria chuckled ¡°he does not converse with his priests unless it''s of surpassing importance and almost exclusively right before or during open battle. He might give me a feeling once in a while, the absolute lightest touch I think a god can give, he just let me know he is aware of what is about to happen and trusts my judgement.¡± Samania sat in silence, gathering her thoughts. Gloria watched and waited, no stranger to waiting for someone else to make the first move. ¡°I think I want your council, can you give me advice without changing your opinion of me?¡± ¡°Samania, I have been your trainer and mentor for over a decade. I should hope that we have built some trust over that time.¡± ¡°I''m considering fighting in the arena.¡± She said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I met Jeoffry Greysky in town earlier, he asked me to join him.¡± ¡°Why are you considering it and not making a decision one way or the other?¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± Sam said, not expecting Gloria to take that line of questioning. ¡°Yes you do. Come on young miss, you know how to act decisively, I spent ten years beating that into you.¡± ¡°It is better to act than to do nothing even if it''s the wrong move. You''re telling me to do it?¡± ¡°I never said that, you could act by finding something else to do to work through your demons.¡± ¡°Did you ever fight in the arena?¡± Gloria stared at Sam, a deadpan look on her scarred face ¡°Samania Starbourne. I am a priest of Paragon, there is a place in the city where I can fight people in earnest without holding back in fair, open combat. I was there last night and I''ll be there again tonight.¡± ¡°You''re going tonight?¡± Sam exclaimed, dumbfounded. ¡°Yes. Now you need to think about whether or not you will too and why.¡± ¡°I''m going.¡± Samania said, setting her jaw. ¡°I''ll be disappointed in you if the only reason you go is because some boy asked you to or that I also happen to be going. You don''t have to do what I want when you''re outside this building.¡± ¡°I have this urge to fight, to stand up to someone and hit each other until someone can''t take any more hitting. I have this feeling deep down that I deserve to feel pain and another part that wants to break something. I just don''t think indulging in those desires is healthy for me.¡± ¡°Why haven''t you just gone out and killed monsters? That''s a necessity and doesn''t come with the moral quandary of hurting a living creature.¡± ¡°It''s not real though. Killing monsters is like doing laundry, its just work.¡± Gloria gave a wide smile ¡°you have the temperament of a priest of Paragon.¡± Samanias face scrunched slightly ¡°I don''t want to be a priest, I want to find my own destiny, not live in service to someone or something else.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Then you''d better get used to making hard choices yourself. Really, it sounds like you''ve made your choice, you just want someone to tell you that choice is okay. You''re going to have to find a way to tell yourself that you''ve made the right choice and screw anyone else that disagrees.¡± ¡°Thanks Master Vale.¡± Sam said standing, her shoulders set ¡°I guess I''m going to do something impulsive then.¡± ¡°Good for you.¡± Sam left the training hall for her bedroom, on the way stopping by Gavin¡¯s empty room. In the short time he''d been here he''d made it his own. She envied him for his ability to know his own path and his courage to follow it. He''d left a lot of his gear there, crafting materials, notes, half finished contraptions and odd looking machines. There was a device on a shelf that looked like a waggon wheel with curved spokes rotated slowly, balls in the gaps between the spokes rolled from the centre to drop to the outside edge as each spoke completed a revolution. His desk was covered in piles of hand written pages and drawings, books lay scattered about haphazardly. One was open, its spine broken, stained with ink and scrawled writing around the margins. Frowning she extracted the book, careful as not to disturb too much of Gavin¡¯s work. It was a book on every known magical power and their effects, the relic Solice had hand crafted for him Curious, she took the sacred book in hand, then retreated to her room, locking the thick wooden door behind her. Her bedroom was distinctly different from Gavin''s, for one it was considerably larger. His was little more than a place to put a bed and desk while hers was an opulent living space, even if it was decorated a little spartanly. There was a modest shelf of books, filled with fighting treatises, biographies of legendary fighters and historical battles. A comfortable reading nook with two plain leather couches sat in one corner opposite a large four poster bed, beside which were doors to a walk-in wardrobe and an ensuite. Three suits of armour, two she''d previously worn until she grew out of them and one she would wear when she was strong enough stood proudly on mannequins in the empty spaces between furniture. On her walls hung weapons of several varieties, some she''d been given over the years as gifts, others her parents had bought. One notable weapon, a huge two handed sword, sat propped up in a corner comfortably in its scabbard, its belt wrapped tightly around it. That was a sword so heavily enchanted that holding it threatened to tear her apart with its power, she would have to be as strong as her parents before she could use it. It was all so much junk now. She''d been prepared her whole life, a machine built to be the perfect soldier and now she was set on a different course, into the great unknown. Flopping down onto her bed Sam opened the book to the first page, astonished to find Gavin had scrawled notes across nearly every page in the margins, crossed out abilities, circled some, and colour coded others. ¡°Is nothing sacred to you Gavin?¡± Sam admonished, disgusted that he would desecrate a book as valuable as this. Flipping through the book she began deciphering his notations. It was a haphazard mess, but was full of his unfiltered thoughts which were often as insightful as they were abstruse. Sam had access to both of her parents and Gloria, all three were experts in analysing powers and Gavin appeared to be nearly on par with what they''d taught her over the years. He placed particular value on abilities that Her parents would never consider, they were too unfocused and would lead to a watered down build. For someone that appeared to be easy going he seemed very fastidious in his studies, there was more to this than simple research. He had thrown himself at this thoroughly, completely immersing himself in the inner workings of her world. When she was about a third the way through the book she found something new. A yellow circle marking the blur ability, one of her own powers. Flicking through to ethereal blood she found that circled in yellow as did escalating enhancement and her other unlocked abilities. Samania wondered why he''d highlighted her abilities, though dismissed that thought immediately. He was going to be on her team, or more accurately she would be on his, knowing each other''s powers would be important. Flipping through the book to a page at random it opened to a page with a folded sheet of paper jammed hard in to the spine, ¡°Samania potential build?¡± it read in slanted letters across the top. Opening the paper she uncovered a spider web like list of powers he''d picked out. He seemed to have a solid grasp on the concept she¡¯d been studying for years, what was different to everything she''d ever learned were the types of abilities he was trying to select for. Instead of focusing on being a hyper efficient fighter built for killing demons there were several utility powers in there, as well as ones that would give her a more generalist role with different ways to fight other than just close up. Was this what Gavin really wanted for her? Was he planning on manipulating her to be his own pet project instead of her parents? No. She trusted him enough not to think that was true, more likely when she turned down his offer to help he went ahead and did it anyway as a thought experiment. One particular ability at the top of his list that spidered lines from her existing abilities then off to other abilities in his list below was aura of rejuvenation, an ability that gave allies within range of her a small passive boost to their mana, stamina and health recovery, at later levels gaining increased and varying effects. It was a reasonably powerful though was only valued highly by people wanting to become healers, not something her parents would ever consider for her as a frontline fighter. ¡°Why has he given this ability such a top priority?¡± She wondered aloud. Flipping to the page in the book that detailed the ability he found a yellow ¡®x¡¯ instead of a dot. Gavin''s brief note scribbled in the margin read ¡°top tier paladin ability.¡± ¡°What''s a paladin?¡± She wondered, from context it appeared to be an archetype, but his list of ideal abilities seemed to be at odds with each other a lot of the time. Like her. Two halves pulling in different directions, one part the trained and dedicated fighter, while the other needed to protect her team at all costs. Snapping the book closed, she collected her bag of holding and a few other items from her room, returned Solieces book and marched herself into town clutching the note in a sweaty hand. Two hours later Samania''s future was well and truly hers. She''d sold the trinkets her parents had painstakingly acquired for her and purchased an armful of monster and demon souls. She found her meditation spot in the grove of trees in her estate, laying the array of multicoloured crystals out in a line, Gavin''s note unfolded in front of her. She didn''t strictly need to absorb them all here, but it felt right. She¡¯d unlocked her two traitorous powers here with Gavin, and now she was here to finish the job. Taking her first crystal she held it up to the afternoon sun ¡°here goes nothing¡± she said, resolving herself. [Aura of rejuvenation] [Description: suffuse the area around you with your life force.] (Level 1): Nearby allies gain a small increase to their mana, stamina and health recovery proportional to your [spirit] attribute. Next she took up the brilliant gold crystal, all but shoving it into her soul. [Compelled Duel] [Initiate a duel with a worthy opponent] (Level 1): compels a single enemy to stay within range of the user. Mana cost and distance are proportional to your [Strength] attribute and enemy [Spirit] attribute. While under the effects of this ability the affected enemy may not leave the area by any means.] Next was the angry red and purple crystal. Most people wanting to become adventurers went nowhere near this one. It was considered morally foul by most, not because the power that resulted from it was necessarily evil, it was mainly because it had been used famously by multiple despots and warlords in her country''s past. Gavin seemed to value it highly however, and she trusted his unfiltered opinion over generations of cultural propaganda. [Bond of Reprisal] [Description: enemies that attack you or an ally mark themselves for your retribution] (Level 1): Target one enemy. When targeted enemy deals damage, they gain an instance of [Vulnerable]. [Vulnerable] curse: take additional damage from your attacks and abilities until effect is dispelled, additional instances stack. Sam was set on this path now. Taking one then the next and the next crystal into her soul, barely pausing to think between each one. [Power from Pain] [Description: Gain strength from hardship] (Level 1): When taking damage, gain an instance of [Empowered]. [Empowered] buff, gain a small increase to [Strength], [Agility] and [Endurance] attributes. Her abilities were definitely skewing in a whole new direction now, no longer a classical fighter by any stretch of the imagination. The next crystal was clear blue like a cloudless summers day. [Assault of the Valkyrie] [Description: become the master of the skies] (Level 1): Sprout ethereal wings for the duration of this attack that grant the [Flying] effect and increase users [Agility] attribute. Make a melee attack against the target. May be used in combination with other special attacks and abilities. Last in her bunch was a glowing yellow-orange gemstone that almost felt warm in her hand. Gavin''s notes said this was a necessity and she had to agree, it''s capstone ability was beyond powerful even if the cooldown was as long as any she¡¯d ever seen. [Radiance of the dawn] [No enemy is safe from your divine radiance] (Level 1): User emits bright light for a short duration up to a distance determined by your [willpower] attribute. Enemies within range take radiant damage proportional user''s [Spirit] attribute A very useful area attack. Radiant damage was notoriously hard to resist and was extremely useful against all types of monsters and especially destructive to most demons. Weapons like her sword were highly prized for dealing even a small amount of additional radiant damage, this one only affecting enemies made it valuable as both a last resort and an offensive tool in the opening moments of a fight. Sam was out of soul crystals and out of money to buy the last of the ones on thr list. She would be the avenging valkyrie, bringing the fight to her enemies while bolstering her allies, the defining player of any battle, someone that everyone could rally around. Sam collected Gavin¡¯s note, now a cherished possession as it laid the blueprint of who she was and stashed it in her extradimensional bag. After a brief meal and some time to relax and settle her mind she was ready to fight in the underground arena. TWELVE. A friend in need. Gavin was in high spirits when their party returned to Wildenesse. The people who knew they''d failed the test all slunk off without ceremony when they thought no one was looking. Clergyman Bines left to return to his temple while Valerie marched them back to the wardens guild. She told them they could either go home and those that passed the test would receive their results via messenger or to wait there while she processed the appropriate forms. No one elected to go home. Gavin took the time to find the team registration form from an official in the guild hall who seemed reluctant to hand it over at first but had been talked around by way of a hot pastry meal. He and Judy filled the form out on a bench near the meeting spot, Gavin filling in Samania¡¯s name and details to the best of his ability. They brainstormed team names for half an hour, finally settling on one of Gavin''s choice that didn''t get vetoed by Judy immediately just before Valerie returned. She had a small black box under one arm and a sheaf of papers in the opposite hand. Behind her followed a reedy looking man with a stone tablet. ¡°First, Carl here will distribute the loot acquired from the Sandgrubber as per guild protocol.¡± Valerie said addressing the assembled group. Carl walked through the crowd handing each guild member their share of the spoils of Gavins looting power. The members of the group that had already left received nothing so the split wasn''t abysmal. That done, Valerie distributed their results. Gavin and Judy both passed, receiving their guild badge and official certificate, presented on vellum and enchanted to resist tampering, copying and general wear and tear. When she got to Harold Stewardson she delivered him some news he didn''t want to hear. ¡°What do you mean I failed? I''m twice the fighter anyone else here is.¡± ¡°Master Stewardson, you''ll find my rationale in your report.¡± ¡°This is bullshit¡± he fumed, skimming over the sheet of paper in his hands. ¡°If you disagree with your results then you may lodge a complaint with the guild at your convenience.¡± ¡°Oh I bloody well will. This is a disgrace.¡± he fumed, gritting his teeth. Harold scrunched up his paper and hurled it into a bush. Turning on the spot, he stalked towards the entrance of the campus. He came face to face with Gavin and Judy, who were both about to leave through an open portal arch until they''d stopped to watch the commotion. ¡°You did this!¡± Harold roared at Gavin spittle flying from his reddening face. ¡°Did what mate?¡± Gavin asked, weary of having to deal with him. ¡°You deliberately sabotaged my test. Right from the start. This is all your doing.¡± ¡°If you say so, but if I were you I''d seriously think about getting some help with your mental health. You''ve got a lot of anger mate, it''s not good to let it eat you.¡± ¡°You dare!¡± He said, his temper boiling over as he reached for his sword. ¡°Dude. Think about what you''re doing. If you attack me the guild will come down on you like a ton of bricks. I don''t want to fight you, I want us to never see or talk to each other again, deal?¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Harold said, pushing past the two of them with a shoulder check. Gavin gave Valerie a glance who nodded to him as she carried on distributing the last few guild badges. ¡°So, shall we go then? I''ll introduce you to Sam and we can start planning if you don''t mind a late one? I''m sure her olds¡¯ will put you up for the night if you want to stay.¡± ¡°I''d like that. My living situation isn''t the best right now, it''s probably not a good idea to stay where Harold can reach me. They appeared just outside the Starbourne estate. The sun was low on the horizon, silhouetting the main compound from behind. It cast a wide shadow over them and loomed ominously on the hill above. Gavin walked into the grounds with his new guest thinking that a better idea than to just appear inside with her. Together they walked up the main path, Judy ogling at the wealth on display. He took her straight to Sam''s bedroom, there was no answer when he knocked. Opening the door and walking inside he saw that not only was Sam not in her room but most of her gear that had once hung on the walls was missing. The place didn''t look like it''d been ransacked, but he supposed if he was going to steal the contents of this room just throwing everything into his inventory and portaling out seconds later would be far easier than turning the place over and risking getting caught. ¡°Uhh.¡± Gavin said, wondering what was going on. He went to check on his room, Judy awkwardly following behind. It was almost as he''d left it but some things had definitely been moved. His book and notes had been moved but were still there. Feeling uneasy that someone had been in here rifling through his stuff he collected his more valuable possessions back into his inventory, including his magic perpetual motion machine. Next, he went for lord Griffons study, finding that empty, he went to Lady Annabelle''s study, she was there pouring over a pile of papers. ¡°Hey, uhh Lady Anabelle¡± Gavin began, not quite sure how to phrase his thoughts. ¡°Good evening Gavin. How did your test go?¡± ¡°Yeah fine, we passed, ahh, has something happened to Sam?¡± Anabelle looked up from her work, stone still, confusion on her face. ¡°Not that I''m aware of, why?¡± ¡°Well, she''s not in her room and all the swords and armour she had in there are gone, someone¡¯s been in my room too, but not taken anything, looks like they just moved things but we''re careful to put them back roughly where they were.¡± Anabelle was up in a flash, pushing out the door past him down to Sam''s room. Her superhuman speed making the action seem quite unnatural. Bursting through the closed door, she confirmed Gavins words, Sam''s collection of armour and weapons were gone, leaving only empty mannequins and stands. The veteran warrior-turned-administrator cast her hawk like gaze about the room. The air around them felt suddenly cold and dangerous, like a shark fin had just cut the surface of the water at a crowded beach. Anabelle pulled a palm sized stone from a pocket and pressed a finger to a rune that lit up blue in her hand. A moment later a house guard appeared behind them. ¡°Do you know the whereabouts of my daughter?¡± ¡°Not exactly Mistress. She left for town about two hours ago and hasn''t returned. She did the same thing yesterday and came back to the estate after midnight with swordmaster Vale.¡± ¡°Thank you Sorril. That will be all.¡± ¡°Come with me¡± Lady Starbourne said curtly as she strode from the room. Gavin shrugged apologetically to Judy, completely missing what was happening and why Lady Starbourne was simmering with barely contained rage. Judy elected to follow him as he rushed to catch up with Anabelle. ¡°What''s going on?¡± Gavin asked as they half jogged out of the main gate, turned abruptly right and headed along the main road towards the commercial district of the town. ¡°It appears my daughter has made some poor choices. We are going to find her.¡± Anabell made a direct line for the not so secret fighting pit, located in an underground entrance inside a seedy tavern in the middle of the city. A man accosted her for payment to enter but withered under her glare as she passed him. Gavin was beginning to have a very bad feeling about how the evening was going to play out. As they walked down the wide stone staircase the sounds of a jeering crowd careened ever more loudly up at them. The smell of sweat, blood, smoke and centuries of stale alcohol assaulted their senses. A bouncer stood aside to let the three of them pass at the bottom of the stairs, revealing a large underground cavern. It strongly resembled an ice hockey arena, though instead of ice the ground was made of granite or some other hard stone. Bleachers rose up the sides of the cavern surrounding an oval field of energy that marked the edge of the fighting area in the centre. There, under harsh lights, a straight shot down the stairs in front of them was a woman half melded into a tree construct, wielding an exceptionally large sword, fighting for all her worth. Despite her huge size she moved expertly, blurring to cover half the distance of the arena in an instant, slashing her sword as fast as lightning at her harried opponent. The young man was busy dashing and dodging as fast as he could, flinging an endless stream of daggers that returned to his hand after a brief moment. He had a similar short range teleport as Gavin and used it as often as he was able to appear behind Sam or out of her reach. Oddly, the man always stayed uncomfortably close to her, never electing to get far enough away that he was out of her threat range. Sam was taking the small cuts from his thrown daggers in stride, they appeared to be laced with elemental magic that crackled and burned her, though those wounds were closing nearly as fast as she was taking them and she seemed to be getting stronger and faster as the fight went on. She looked like a vengeful angel, righteously dealing justice in the name of some wrathful God of nature. Gavin knew her tree form was extremely taxing on her mana, while she was in zero danger right now all the man had to do was outlast her, eventually she wouldn''t be able to maintain any momentum and peter out. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. An inky pool appeared on the ground under her, grasping black tentacles tangling her legs and attempting to drag her to the ground. A sweeping slash from her sword shattered them in a shower of golden light. She blurred to attack the man, who had teleported back out of her reach. Before he could react, a set of glowing wings burst from her back and she rushed forward redoubling her speed. Gavin could barely follow her movement, her sword stabbed for the man''s chest, catching his arm as he dodged. A deep crimson spray splattered from the wound which had all but exploded open with the power of the strike. Sam was on him, relentlessly slashing as he tripped over himself to get away. She was about to deal the killing blow when she looked up. Her mother, Gavin and Judy stood at the top of the stairs directly ahead. She faltered a moment, giving the man a second to get out from under her attack. Her tree form vanished and she fell to one knee as her body returned to its normal state. The man, not wasting an opportunity, closed in for the kill, two daggers flashing to plunge into her chest. A bubble of blue light appeared around Sam as she fell back to avoid the blows, that shattered the shield on impact. ¡°Samania Starbourne is disqualified by reason of outside interference¡± a voice boomed across the crowd. Instantly a thousand people turned to see Gavin rushing down the stairs to the aid of his team mate. The crowd erupted in riotous anger. There was a lot of money riding on this fight and to have it end in such a way was not great for Gavins chances of survival. ¡°Come, Judy, run¡± Gavin yelled as he sprinted for the arena, opening a portal as he ran. He dashed across the arena at full speed, dragging Sam through the portal moments before Judy leapt through after them. Anabelle starbourne would have to find her own way out, though Gavin had no doubt she¡¯d manage one way or another. ¡°Hey, Sam, you OK? Sam?¡± She looked stunned, pale. Terrified. ¡°I messed up Gav. Mother wasn''t supposed to find out like this.¡± Sam said, her face still white as a sheet. ¡°Find out what? What happened to your gear? How did you get those new abilities? Wait, did you sell your stuff to buy those powers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Oh shit Sam. Your mum is gonna blow her top. Judy, it''s probably best you go home for tonight, this is gonna be very unpleasant for everyone here.¡± ¡°She can stay right where she is.¡± came Annabelles cold voice. Gavin looked up to see the lady of the house in all her power and it made Gavin''s soul quiver. She stood tall, like a vengeful demigod, eyes blazing blue energy, her aura pulsed like a wave of knives pressed to Gavin''s throat. ¡°Mother, I can explain.¡± Sam said weakly, staggering to her feet. ¡°What did you do, Samania? Tell. Me. Now.¡± her voice boomed. He felt his bones creak with a similar power to the one Soliece demonstrated the first time they met. ¡°I- I sold, I sold everything and bought soul crystals with the money. I-¡± she stammered. ¡°You dare!¡± Anabelle screeched ¡°your father and I gave you everything, and you''ve thrown it all away to ruin your soul for what? It was bad enough that Gavin pushed you to taking those first two crystals but this is beyond the pale. You''re too old to be a rebellious teenager.¡± ¡°Hey, I-¡± Gavin began. ¡°Quiet you, I''ll get to you next.¡± Anabell said, rounding on him. ¡°No, mother, enough. Don''t talk to him like that.¡± Sam said, steeling herself. ¡°Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.¡± Anabelle said coldly, her voice dripping venom. ¡°Don''t Gavin!¡± Sam screamed watching as he drew himself up to his full height. ¡°Sam. I need to do this. Lady Annabelle. I''m not a kid you can just talk down to like that. I am an adult and you will treat me like an adult. I have shown you nothing but respect despite everything you''ve done. For you to treat a guest like you''ve just spoken to me is not just a dick move, it''s fuckin foul. It''s a disgrace the way you''ve abused your daughter. Treated her like she''s some thing, some pet project, forcing her to permanently alter her soul for your own amusement, I-¡± Gavin was cut short by a blow to the side of the head, too fast to see. He crashed to the ground, his vision a wash of red and black. Idly he tasted copper and heard muffled voices before the world came crashing back into him. Samania had fainted atop him while Annabelle stood over them both, panting with rage. Gavin rose to his feet. Refreshed with the sacrifice of the life energy Sam had given him. ¡°Director Starbourne. That was a very fuckin dumb thing to do.¡± Gavin said derisively. ¡°How dare you talk to me that way, whelp¡± Anabelle croaked, gravel in her voice. She pressed down on him with an aura of menace, it felt like a physical force needling at his skin like poisoned barbs. ¡°Someone had to. Where I''m from you''d be the lowest of the low, parents who abuse their kids are the actual worst.¡± ¡°Abuse? Foolish boy, you know nothing! She has been given every privilege in this world. Everything she needs.¡± ¡°Nah, you''ve got it all wrong. You never gave her the love and support she needed. You just threw money at her as if that''s some substitute for your time. You forced her into being your perfect ubermensch. I''m just the first mate Sam''s ever had, and as her mate I''m gonna god damned say something.¡± Gavin felt another blow hit him, this time in the stomach. He doubled over, vomiting blood. ¡°Jesus lady¡± Gavin spluttered ¡°you know, there''s a saying, from my world¡± Gavin said paused to select a health potion in his inventory. ¡°Violence, is the language, of the illiterate.¡± Another blow to his neck knocked him to the ground, this time he maintained consciousness though his body refused to respond to his commands. He watched as Anabelle grasped her groggy daughter by her throat and lifted her up to stare into her blazing eyes. Anabelles fingers pressed into Sam''s neck, digging red furrows as blood welled up over her nails. Sam struggled feebly, having no energy to fight back. Something snapped within Gavin, his spear materialising in his limp hand. With all his strength he slammed his will into the shaft, activating the enchantment as it flew from his grasp. The spear tip smashed into Lady Annabelle''s wild eye. She staggered, dropping her daughter as it pierced several inches into her skull. Gavin surged power again, this time using his force of will to float his body up, legs dangling uselessly under him. ¡°Don''t. You. Put. Your. Hands. On. My. Friend.¡± Gavin croaked, his breaths coming hard. ¡°Or what? You''re done, boy. This is the last day you see her. Go on. Find a healer, if you can.¡± she said, dismissing him and aiming a kick at Sam''s prone body. Gavin screamed a guttural yell of anger and fury, as energy wreathed his body. [Title: a friend in need] [Your courage to protect your friends in the face of the impossible has marked your soul] [You may expend your own [mana], [Health] and other resources to reset ally cooldowns and restore their [mana] and [health]] Gavin fed his power into Sam who rose, gaining strength as her health replenished, fury boiling even hotter and brighter in her eyes than her mothers. Sam''s body transformed, growing to fill the room. She towered over her mother. Slamming a fist down at her unblinking face. Anabelle caught the fist and twisted, eliciting a grunt from Sam as wooden sinew twisted and warped within her grip. Gavin fed more power into Sam but he was running out fast. Sam slammed another fist at a Anabelle, which she caught easily. She handled her daughter as if she were no stronger than a toddler, wrenching her arms down to force her daughter to kneel as her arms splintered. Gavin, in a moment of clarity, understanding on an instinctual level how his new ability worked began feeding coins from his inventory into Sam, feeling their innate magical energy flood across their bond as he broke them down for their raw ether. The level two coins he¡¯d acquired felt like bolts of lightning, jolting Sam with a burst of energy. She stood, surprising her mother. Her new power from pain ability raising her strength well beyond her normal limits. ¡°Stop it daughter before you do any more damage.¡± Anabelle growled. ¡°Daughter?¡± Samania bellowed ¡°I am not your daughter, you are dead to me¡± then, with a final surge of power Sam threw her mother back against the wall, stone cracking to fall as dust. Two short swords appeared in Annabelles hands and she stalked forward, malice in her eyes. She had one method of solving her problems and that way was violence. ¡°WHAT IS GOING ON HERE¡± Griffon Starbourne bellowed from the doorway over a stunned Judy¡¯s shoulder ¡°Anabelle, Samania. Cease this at once!¡± There was a moment of silence, anabelle seeming to realise where she was and what she was doing. Her swords disappeared from her hands and she turned to face her husband ¡°Griffon, I-¡± Gavins portal came off cooldown in the moment of distraction, he summoned it between himself and Sam, using the last of his strength to tug Judy roughly towards him, her momentum tumbling them both through the inky void. Sam followed an instant later, her tree form vanishing to fit through the archway which fell to the ground behind her. THIRTEEN. Talking it out. ¡°Where are we?¡± Samania asked as they stumbled through Gavins portal. ¡°Just outside of Blacktree¡± Gavin grunted from the ground. Sam offered Gavin a hand up, something he could no longer accept. ¡°Can''t. Think my spine is broken, can''t move my arms¡± he slurred barely in control of his speech as he mentally drank another healing potion. ¡°Shit¡± Sam said, reaching down to pick him up. ¡°No, don''t. Can you get a healer?¡± ¡°No need for that¡± said a warm, friendly voice that blanketed the night. ¡°You¡¯re not Florrin?¡± ¡°And they said you were clever.¡± The god chuckled. ¡°Which one are you then?¡± Gavin croaked. ¡°I am Paragon¡± ¡°Oh neat. I''d shake your hand, not really feeling it, right now¡± ¡°Clever¡± ¡°So¡­ any particular reason you''re here? Because I''d really like a favour from a god right about now, if, hypothetically there were any in the area¡± ¡°I am here because of the lengths you went to to protect your friend just now. I like to reward those that go above and beyond for their friends.¡± ¡°Don''t want to sound rude, but I''m not super comfortable lying here in the dirt while you lot get to stand¡± ¡°Do not worry Gavin, help is on its way.¡± ¡°But not from you?¡± ¡°No. Healing your injuries is beyond the scope of my powers.¡± ¡°Right. So, you just here to keep me company?¡± ¡°That''s not¡­ inaccurate¡± Paragon said evasively. ¡°Did you come here to see if I''d mouth off at you, while im helpless on the ground? Wait, is that? Correction, while I''m helpless on the ground, after having just shat myself?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Prick¡± Gavin muttered under his breath as a cleric of Florrin, illuminated by a bobbing mote of light, came running down the path. He seemed a little shocked to see a god watching over Gavin but was in no way shocked in the same way Sam and Judy were, basking in the overwhelming presence of a god. ¡°Maaate.¡± Gavin cooed as the priest looked him over ¡°tell me you can heal broken backs?¡± ¡°I can.¡± said the man, placing his hands on Gavins chest and bathing the area with glowing green light. Gavin groaned as his bones cracked and muscles spasmed inside his meatsack body. He felt the priest''s energy flooding into him, restoring his body to perfect health. As the light faded Gavin flexed his fingers experimentally, then leapt into the air from the ground, using his force of will to push him up. ¡°Fuckin legend mate. I''m gonna buy you a beer as soon as we find a place that''ll sell us one. What''s ya name bloke?¡± said Gavin, shaking the priest''s hand. ¡°I am priest Quincey, your thanks is very welcome.¡± ¡°Nice. I''m Gavin by the way. I''m serious about that beer, I think all of us need a drink, gotta see what this bloke wants first though.¡± said Gavin, hitching a thumb over his shoulder to point at the god waiting patiently behind them. ¡°As I said, I reward those that further my interests.¡± said Paragon, seeming not at all put out by Gavin''s lack of reverence when he finally finished with the priest. ¡°And this reward is?¡± ¡°This¡± Paragon said, producing a fist sized icosahedron ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°Something akin to a soul crystal, it is of my own creation.¡± ¡°No shit¡± Gavin said, taking the crystal ¡°Why''s it so big?¡± [Item: Divine Affinity Crystal of Paragon] [Contains a sliver of the power of Paragon] [Can be used to awaken a divine soul ability] ¡°Ho. Le. Shit¡± Gavin said, jaw dropping. ¡°I take it you approve?¡± ¡°Fuckin oath I approve mate.¡± Gavin said ¡°not every day you get the power of a god just handed to you¡± ¡°It is not the power of a god, it is an infinitesimally small part of my power¡± ¡°A tiny piece of infinity is still infinity¡± Gavin said, turning the crystal over in his hand ¡°Mate, you a DND fan?¡± Guardian laughed ¡°I''m not sure I follow.¡± ¡°Ahh, ask Soliece, she''ll explain it.¡± ¡°I think I will leave that question unanswered.¡± ¡°Anyway mate. Thanks heaps for this¡± ¡°It is my pleasure. One last thing though, I''d suggest summoning the spear you left back at the Starbourne estate. There is currently a sorcerer examining it to trace your location through your soul bond to it.¡± ¡°Ahh shit.¡± Gavin said, holding out his hand until his spear materialised in his grip. ¡°Do they know where we are?¡± ¡°Not while I''m here.¡± ¡°You''re protecting me from Annabelle?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°For how long?¡± ¡°I will make it known to the members of the Starbourne estate that pursuing you would be a very bad idea. I''d advise you not go looking for trouble there however, my domain does not cover vengeance.¡± ¡°Fuckin legend mate, just between you and me, lady Starbourne scares the shit out of me.¡± ¡°So you''re not a complete moron, Soliece will be very surprised.¡± Paragon laughed as he winked out of existence. ¡°Fuckin prick¡± Gavin muttered ¡°anyway, better use this before I lose it.¡± ¡°What are you going to get? Do you know?¡± ¡°I don''t¡± Gavin said I think old mate gets to pick for me. [Divine instant fortress] (Level 1): Summon a fortress at an adjacent location. Lasts until dispelled or destroyed. Instant fortress is immune to damage and effects of a lower rank than it. Equip items from owned extradimensional storage spaces into [Divine instant fortress] when completing the summoning ritual. ¡°Come on. Let''s go get a beer. I promised old mate over there I''d get him one. You alright mate?¡± Gavin strode off back towards Blacktree, a spring in his step as if he didn''t have a care in the world. The group was feeling subdued with the exception of Gavin, who, in a moment of realisation, snapped his fingers and turned back to the party. Walking backwards he stared straight at Judy. ¡°Know what the best part about tonight is?¡± Gavin smiled. ¡°No?¡± Judy mumbled, half in her own thoughts. ¡°You''re paying¡± Gavin laughed ¡°which is just as well because I kinda used up all of my money boosting up Sam''s power.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Yeah, turns out I can send my energy to my allies and also convert my stuff, including money, into energy.¡± ¡°Is that what you were doing?¡± She said as if Gavins explanation made sense to her. ¡°Yeah, turns out the real way to demonstrate friendship is to just give them money.¡± ¡°Gavin. That is the most moronic thing I think you''ve ever said, and you once said you were going to become the world''s strongest sorcerer.¡± ¡°Oh fuck you Sam¡± Gavin laughed ¡°didn''t seem to complain when I made you an Epic quality sword.¡± ¡°You did what?¡± Judy asked, astonished. ¡°Oh yeah, I can make some pretty sweet items, here¡± Gavin said, handing over his spear. Judy''s eyes went wide ¡°You made this?¡± ¡°Yeah, made Sam that sword she was using to fight that knife bloke too.¡± ¡°Oh. Hey, Gavin¡± Judy asked. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Why do you have your name written across your spear?¡± ¡°Because he loves himself that much he started naming his gear after himself¡± ¡°Oi, shut it you. Your sword has your name on it¡± ¡°What man is a man who does not make the world better¡± Judy read, running her fingers over the inlaid quote ¡°Sam''s one says ¡®know yourself¡¯ in an ancient language from my world.¡± ¡°Cute¡± Judy cooed. ¡°Hey. It''s important to have positive affirmations. When I make you something special it''ll be just as cute.¡± Gavin threatened ¡°You''re going to make me something?¡± Judy said, her face brightening, handing back his spear. ¡°Ahh a-yeah¡± Gavin said with an implied ¡®duh¡¯. ¡°You''re part of the team now, assuming you still want in, wouldn''t blame you for bailing after tonight, there''s probably going to be trouble for anyone connected with the two of us¡± ¡°No.¡± Judy said firmly ¡°I''m staying, if you''ll have me.¡± ¡°Course. Oh, shit, yeah, Sam, this is Judy, she''s on our team now, Judy this is Sam¡± ¡°Mother is not going to let you form a team now Gavin.¡± Sam said emphatically. ¡°Mother doesn''t really get a choice, I was registering our team before we even got our guild badges. Paperworks been filed. By the time your mum finds out it''ll be registered properly. If she wants to fight about it I''ll fight right back.¡± ¡°Gavin, don''t be stupid, you''ve seen what happens when you try to push back against people more powerful than you.¡± Sam said. ¡°Yeah, you get a god turning up in person to tell them to back right the fuck off.¡± ¡°She nearly killed you Gavin.¡± ¡°Yeah, cheers for saving me by the way, but that''s my point. She, the director of the local branch of the wardens guild, attacked me, a guild member and guest in her house for telling her to back off abusing another guild member, who she then attempted to kill. If she wants to fight over this I bet I can make her life pretty uncomfortable, let alone the political mess it''d cause for her outside of the guild.¡± ¡°You''ve got some big brave balls¡± Sam said ¡°you know you''d just be making life harder on yourself, right?¡± ¡°Don''t think you''ve noticed, but I usually do things the hardest possible way.¡± ¡°I did notice that, yeah¡± sam said. ¡°You sure do.¡± Judy chimed in. They walked together for a few minutes, all contemplating the ramifications of the events of the night. They had each taken a leap into dangerous waters and none of them were sure what their futures held. ¡°Hey Gavin?¡± Sam asked with a tone of horror in her voice ¡°What''s our team name?¡± ¡°Knights of the round table.¡± Judy said proudly. Sams shoulders relaxed very slightly ¡°What''s the round table?¡± ¡°It symbolises that we¡¯re all equal in the team, everyone is just as important as everyone else, it''s from a famous legend from my world.¡± Gavin said. ¡°Oh, thank the gods¡± Sam said, tension ebbing away instantly. ¡°If we come across anyone named lancelot he¡¯s not on the team though, okay?¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.¡°It wasn''t his first choice, he must have gone through a hundred options that I had to reject; the league of extraordinary gentlemen, fantastic four, powerpuff girls, Gavin and the whalers..¡± ¡°Fantastic four? Gavin there''s only three of us.¡± ¡°Yeah, for now.¡± ¡°What happens if we get a fifth member¡± ¡°We change it to the fantastic five¡± ¡°No, we can''t, the team name is set now and can''t be changed.¡± ¡°Lame.¡± Gavin grumbled. ¡°Were you planning on changing the team name to something weird later without telling us?¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ no.¡± Gavin lied. They bantered with each other all the way back into town, the mood progressively lightening. Priest Quincey even getting in on the good-natured jabbings the group were inflicting on Gavin in an attempt to reign in his growing ego. It was somewhere just before midnight when they stepped through the door to the imaginatively named ¡®Blacktree Tavern¡¯ which happened to be the only tavern in the town of Blacktree. It still had a small group of patrons at this hour, though they seemed to be winding down for the night. Gavin made a beeline for the bar, behind which stood a barmaid who looked like she''d seen it all and could handle herself well. She looked up, seemingly unphased at the late hour and set her own glass of amber liquid aside to serve him. ¡°Hey mate, I could murder a beer right now and one for old mate too, plus whatever the other two are having, her shout.¡± Gavin said to her pointing back at Judy. The barmaid blinked slowly. ¡°Am I not making sense Sam? You guys do speak english right?¡± ¡°No, I have no idea what English is or what you said and I''ve been listening you your prattle for months now.¡± ¡°Ugh. I would like to order one beer for myself, and another for the gentleman wearing the priest robes, additionally if the other two members of our group would like anything, I''d appreciate you accommodating them too. The woman with the black hair is paying.¡± ¡°Can''t serve you alcohol unless you get food too.¡± said the barmaid, pointing to a sign. ¡°That''s all good mate, I''m fuckin starving, what about you lot?¡± The party sat down at a booth after Judy paid the barmaid, eating up the solars she''d received from the expedition earlier that evening and then some, she was left nearly as broke as Gavin claimed to be. ¡°Oh that''s the stuff.¡± Gavin said, gulping down his mug of ale and all but inhaling a fork of roasted vegetables and gravy. ¡°So.¡± Quincey said awkwardly ¡°what happened to you earlier Gavin? That was quite a beating you took¡± ¡°Got into a fist fight with Sam''s mum, which went a lot worse than the time I got into a fist fight with a gorillion.¡± ¡°And that warranted a visit from a personally sent priest of Florrin, the intervention of another god and the gift of a divine soul crystal?¡± ¡°They tend to do that yeah, I think they''re looking for excuses to turn up with gifts like I''m some sort of loud-mouthed baby Jesus.¡± ¡°Don''t ask¡± Sam said as Quincey opened his mouth to ask another question. ¡°Yeah that''s fair¡± Gavin confirmed ¡°I do wonder what these gods are after though, they keep offering me power and I''m wondering for what?¡± ¡°Have you considered that maybe they''re doing it just because they''re benevolent gods and want to reward you for behaving in a way that pleases them?¡± ¡°They might be benevolent, but no one does anything without an ulterior motive¡± ¡°That''s quite the statement coming from you, Gavin.¡± Sam said, fixing him with an annoyed look. ¡°What?¡± Gavin asked as if his statement was self explanatory. ¡°You just got your head caved in, twice, and your spine broken by my mother to protect me, what''s your ulterior motive?¡± ¡°Ahh, it makes me feel good when I have friends, and standing up to your mum seemed like a good way to continue being your friend.¡± Gavin said simply. ¡°You''re insane Gavin.¡± Sam said, shaking her head. ¡°I mean, probably. It''d be a real downer if this were all in my head though, so I¡¯m going with ¡®I''m completely sane and everything is fine¡¯.¡± ¡°You are such a hypocrite.¡± Sam said, snorting out a smile. ¡°No I''m not.¡± Gavin said. ¡°You ranted to me at length about people in your world believing in gods because it made them feel good despite any verifiable evidence they were right, now you''re choosing to believe you''re sane because the alternative is depressing?¡± ¡°Fuck¡± Gavin swore under his breath. ¡°Ahh. So, how about that new bird wings power thing, that looked fuckin sweet.¡± ¡°Assault of the Valkyrie.¡± ¡°Neat, that''s a good one. What other powers did you get?¡± ¡°Aura of rejuvenation, compelled duel, bond of reprisal, power from pain, and radiance of the dawn¡± Sam said in a small voice. Gavin''s face ran through a mix of emotions, his face contorting as he struggled to figure out how he felt. He sat his fork down next to his half eaten dinner, no longer hungry. ¡°Gavin?¡± Gavin let out a long loud sigh ¡°I shouldn''t have done that.¡± ¡°Done what?¡± Judy asked, confused by Gavin''s reaction. ¡°I spent quite a while researching what each ability does as they level up and what crystals they come from, then as a thought experiment while I was waiting for my mana to recharge in between crafting sessions, I made a hypothetical list of abilities I¡¯d want if I were in Sam''s position.¡± ¡°And those abilities are the ones Samania got?¡± ¡°Yeah. I''m sorry Sam, I went off at your mum for forcing you to permanently alter your soul the way she wanted then turned around and did the same like you were just a dungeons and dragons character I wanted to build.¡± ¡°Don''t apologise Gavin. The difference between you and her is that she didn''t give me a choice, you never even mentioned you were thinking about it. How long have you been sitting on that list and didn''t say a word about it?¡± ¡°Can you help me pick my powers?¡± Judy asked excitedly. Gavin stared at her long and hard until she shied her eyes away. ¡°I''ll do it if you tell me what you want your abilities to look like, I''m only going to point out things I think are strong and why, but you''re making the final choice.¡± ¡°I''d like that. Thank you.¡± Soon after Quincey departed to return to his temple. The rest of the team left to try out Gavin''s new Instant Fortress. With a deep thrum the castle dumped itself off the side of the road leading into town in a small clearing. It wasn''t well lit, but it appeared to be the size of a two storey house and stylised like a cathedral in miniature. It was of a similar design to his portal arch, though was made of dark grey stone, not blue streaked marble. Inside was pitch black and bare of any decoration, the rooms little more than empty husks. The dining room had a single deck chair while the kitchen had a small amount of food stored in the cupboards, bedrooms were void of any furniture aside from Judy and Gavins camping gear stacked neatly in a corner. The only place that was well stocked was an armoury, decked out with shelves and shelves of crafting materials, with a well lit bench that wrapped around two walls, a shadow board containing Gavins handcrafted tools hung over it, showing a wide array of silhouettes where missing tools should be. ¡°So, Gavin, you uhh, wouldn''t be able to make us beds?¡± Sam asked. ¡°I have my camping supplies, Gavin too.¡± Judy said ¡°I''m ok for now.¡± ¡°You can take mine Sam, I''ll stay up a bit and try to work something out. I reckon we take a rest day tomorrow to sort ourselves out and make a plan.¡± The two women retired to their rooms while Gavin went outside to collect resources. He figured he''d need to make a big sack and fill it with a bunch of sawdust or something to make it somewhat useable for the night. He began by harvesting the plants outside the fortress, taking trees, shrubs and brambles, deconstructing them into manageable sizes before returning to his empty room to assemble it all together. He first made a frame, something that was reasonably easy to do with his fabricate ability. Next he started on the mattress as there was a soft knock at his door. Opening it he found Judy looking nervous. ¡°Come on in. I haven''t made a mattress before. I''m pretty sure it''s going to be a real prick¡± Gavin said, stifling a yawn. Judy followed, closing the door, hesitating as she worked up the nerve to speak her piece. ¡°I wanted to talk about what happened tonight, at the Starbourne estate¡± She said finally. ¡°What about it?¡± Gavin asked, looking up from his project. ¡°I¡­ I didn''t help you two. I just stood there and watched her do those things to you.¡± She said, confessing her sin. ¡°You''re afraid I think you''re a coward or something?¡± Gavin asked, frowning. ¡°I, yes, it''s more than that though, you and Sam never gave up, not when everything was against you. I don''t think I have that in me.¡± She said. ¡°It''s okay to be afraid, Judy, that fight had been a long time coming for Sam, and I''m too block headed to keep my nose out of a fight. It takes a certain amount of trust in someone to lay everything on the line for them like that, you''re not there yet and that''s completely fine.¡± ¡°Thanks, I think I needed to hear that.¡± She said. ¡°Cheer up mate, just think, if I''m ever in a position like that and you jump in to help, a god might turn up and give you a sweet magic power too.¡± ¡°I''ll keep that in mind¡± Judy laughed. ¡°Okay. We cool now?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Yeah. Good night Gav.¡± Judy said, smiling at him. ¡°Hey Judy¡± Gavin called as she left his room. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Thanks for bringing this up. I fuckin hate when people let their issues fester when just talking it out would have solved everything.¡± Nodding, Judy left Gavin to his project and turned in for the night. It was well after midnight before Gavin collapsed into the mound of detritus he''d assembled into a roughly bed shaped object, too exhausted to continue. FOURTEEN. Starting over. Gavin woke up later than usual after getting a good seven hours sleep. He felt decently rested, if a little sore. Exploring the house he found Sam awake and meditating in the dining room. Gavin retrieved a still hot pie and an ice cold juice from the kitchen, happily surprised that the same magic his inventory power had to keep food fresh seemed to work in his fortress too. Judy stumbled in rubbing sleep from her eyes as he was finishing his meal. ¡°Alright, the gangs all here. There''s food in the kitchen Jude.¡± Gavin said, pocketing his pie wrapper. Wordlessly she shambled through into the kitchen to find herself something to eat. ¡°Okay team, we''ve got a few things to take care of.¡± Gavin said once everyone was ready and attentive ¡°first off. I''m broke. So we need to go out clearing contracts asap and punch some money out of dragons or whatever¡± ¡°I''m broke too¡± Judy grumbled ¡°after last night I''ve got sixty solars left.¡± ¡°My extradimensional bag is back at the estate, all I have is my armour and sword¡± ¡°Okay, so first priority is getting money so we don''t starve to death and getting Sam some spare undies.¡± Said Gavin making a note on a summoned sheet of paper with a pencil he''d crafted himself. ¡°Judy, I need you to note down what your powers are and we can have a discussion about team dynamics and what role you want to fill, you need to let us know what you want to do so we can get started filling out your powers. Sam and I both have ours more or less filled out. We should have a while before we need a final decision, it''s not a super big deal, you''ll have plenty of time to catch up. Leveling six abilities doesn''t take much longer than leveling one or so I''m told.¡± Judy, who was about to raise a point stopped and continued eating her pie. Her thoughts obviously less important than her morning meal. ¡°Next is loot distribution. Now you don''t have a family to bankroll you Sam, you''re going to be taking your share of the loot.¡± Gavin continued. Sam nodded her ascent. She hadn''t yet internalised what the blowout with her mother meant for her, but clearly Gavin had been formulating a plan of action. ¡°We can divide the loot up lots of different ways. Since I''ll be making everyone gear constantly I''ll want a steady stream of crafting materials. I can make infinite resources if I have them to work with first, but it''s super tedious and eats into crafting time that I could spend making and enchanting gear instead. So, I propose we either split all the loot from contracts and my looting power evenly and you guys buy me resources as you want gear, or, we split the contract rewards evenly, I keep all of my looting power rewards and just make you guys whatever I feel you need. Not going to lie, the second option is easier for me, but it''ll probably mean that the gear gets distributed as I feel the team needs it or whatever I feel like making on the day, not evenly.¡± They voted and chose the second option without debate. Judy was happy to get any gear at all, and Sam reasoned gear Gavin made as a passion project would be better than something he felt obligated to make because he had to. ¡°Okay, that''s everything from me for now, oh, Judy, you know I''m technically team leader but Sam and I had an agreement that I''d do all the boring logistical stuff and she''d do the tactical stuff. When we''re outside this fortress she''s the leader. Sam, got anything to add?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Sam said, standing for effect ¡°training. I want us to resume our training plan, a run every morning, sparring until noon, then free time. This is only to be interrupted by days where we go out and clear contracts all day, and a rest day on sixthday where you can do what you like. I think we should aim to have two contract clearing days per week at a minimum.¡± ¡°No complaints from me.¡± Gavin said. Judy nodded her agreement, slightly wary of having to get up so early in the morning. ¡°Judy, do you have anything you¡¯d like to add?¡± She shook her head in the negative. ¡°In the interest of Gavins point one, I think we should go out and clear a contract or two this afternoon, then spend all of the rewards on food and supplies.¡± Sam said. ¡°We should be able to clear a lot, I''ve been around here a bit so we¡¯ll be limited mainly by my portal power cooldown if we''re good¡± Gavin added. Their first contract took them a little further up the river than where they''d fought the water Elementals. There had been a sighting of spiderwebs as thick as ropes locking off a decent area of the forest. It was an eerie feeling walking through the enormous trees that dwarfed the three adventurers. ¡°So how big are these spiders going to be?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Depends¡± Sam replied helpfully. ¡°On?¡± Gavin asked coaxing an answer out of her with a ¡®please elaborate¡¯ gesture. ¡°What sort of spiders they are.¡± Sam said with an implied ¡®duh¡¯ ¡°You know, that book you got me to buy is missing an actual lot of monsters and demons, I have no idea what sort of spider varieties are out there.¡± ¡°If they''re dire red tail spiders they''ll be about this big.¡± Sam said indicating a football sized object with her hands ¡°and there''ll be lots of them. If it''s a giant white trap spider there will be one of them and it''ll be as big as that dryad we fought in the extradimensional space and it¡¯ll ambush us when we walk over its nest.¡± ¡°So, two not ideal situations? Is there a middle ground where there''s only one little one?¡± Gavin asked hopefully. ¡°Yes, there are hundreds of varieties of giant spiders that could show up, it''ll be hard to know until we''ve had a closer look, if it''s one little one it''s not going to be a fun time for us, of it¡¯s a black funnel web the first time you''ll see it is when it bites you and then you''ll die a minute later, healing potions or no.¡± ¡°Fuckin excellent. You know spiders are creepy as fuck right, was there nothing else?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Would you rather I try to find us another sewer elemental?¡± ¡°Spiders are good.¡± Gavin said hastily. They came across the den without much hassle. It was easy enough to find. Webs strung out between trees blocked the sunlight from reaching the forest floor, becoming so dense at ground level they formed gloomy tunnels almost large enough for a person to walk through. The air was deathly still, closing in around them like a ratty old blanket. Gavin''s usual incessant banter had ceased, the three of them had their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Judy had an activatable vision power that drained her mana to vastly increase her perception and she used it now in short bursts, peering into dark hollows and dingy shadows. There was nothing to be seen. Samania took the lead, sword in hand as she crept silently towards the mass of spun death in their path ahead. Gavin behind her ready with a wand of magic missiles and a wand of wind to either snap off quick shots at lone spiders or blast away a massed ambush. Judy had her bow at the ready, arrow nocked and ready to shoot in an instant. ¡°I am not going in there¡± Gavin said as they looked down the pitch black tunnel leading into the spider''s lair. ¡°They''re not coming out to us.¡± Samania argued. ¡°Not coming out to us yet. How flammable do you think these webs are?¡± ¡°Try it. Just be ready for a fight when you do. Ready Judy?¡± ¡°Ready.¡± Judy confirmed. Gavin exchanged his wand of magic missiles for his hastily crafted new and improved wand of fire. It was identical to his first one, though with a smaller chance to blow up in his hand, he hoped. Extending both hands forward he stepped around Sam, activating both simultaneously. A cone of fire burst forth, enhanced by the jet of air blasting into it creating a twisting inferno that rocketed down the tunnel. webs caught alight and burned freely, billowing acrid black smoke up through the canopy. Releasing the effect of both wands before they channelled mana to dangerous levels, he returned them to his inventory. Taking his spear in one hand and a wand of missiles in the other he set himself to the side and behind Sam ready to support her. Sam prepared to transform at the first indication they were under attack, she didn''t want to waste her stamina waiting in her tree form. Judy''s head was on a swivel, checking their surroundings for spiders, paying particular attention to the webs that crept between the trees above their heads. Then they heard it, not a screech of protest or righteous indignation but a rustling thrum of noise as thousands of hairy legs scurried into motion. The tunnel ahead of them was still alight, the fire barely sustaining itself as it spread its sputtering flames. The spiders didn''t come straight at them, they came from the sides and above, dangling on thumb-thick silk webs. The group was soon surrounded on all sides by dog sized tarantulas, venomous fangs dripping with sticky ichor. ¡°Getting bit by those is probably not going to be ideal. We should avoid it if at all possible.¡± Gavin said, watching the carpet of angry monsters advance on them. ¡°If they overwhelm us, Gavin, you summon your portal and we''ll retreat to fight again later.¡± Sam said, tightening her grip on her sword. They pulled in close to Sam who laid about with her extended greatsword clearing the way for Gavin and Judy to step into while she swept aross the next spot. Judy loosed arrow after arrow, skewering a spider through the eyes with every shot. Gavin''s wands were quickly depleted, gouging great chunks from spiders around them. He levitated his throwing star above them and used his force of will power to sling it around the battlefield, slashing spiders and their webs to drop them from the trees above. He was becoming quite adept at pulling on the star to conserve its momentum and accelerate it to slice into his enemies. He used it for its deadly purpose here, scouring bleeding gashes across dozens of spiders to weaken them over time with the bleeding debuff enchanted on it. His role adapted to keeping spiders that got past Sam''s blade off of them, stabbing out with his spear at anything that got within range. He used his animated shield for the first time, using it as a barrier to protect their most vulnerable spots. Judy ran out of arrows quickly, Gavin levitated a fresh bundle he¡¯d fabricated on the fly into her quiver. They were crude but they didn''t need to be well made, the targets were plentiful and hard to miss. They''d deftly won the initial part of the battle but the spiders were too numerous for them to kill as fast as they came. Sam sensed when the perfect moment would be, right when the spiders were too thick to hold off any longer, shouting ¡°NOW¡± she activated her radiance of the dawn power, bathing them all in brilliant golden light. Gavin and Judy took cover, shielding their eyes from the light as a warm tingling sensation washed over them. Gavin opened his eyes once the feeling had passed to see the battlefield littered with blackened bodies, scoured by the cleansing light. Spiders that were further from their position were twitching or writhing on the ground, others merely scalded, their delicate fur scrubbed off to raw flesh as they climbed over their kin to get to their prey. With the herd thinned the pressure had lessened but was not gone. Sam called for a fighting retreat. As they slowly backed away, the spiders massed from one direction, making all of their attacks much more effective. Judy loosed a string of pinpoint arrows down the line, felling them at an impressive rate while Gavin sewed chaos by lobbing improvised explosives into the thickest parts of the throng. Soon they were in melee combat again and Gavin joined Sam on the front lines, using his ether warp ability to deal with spiders that tried to flank them while Judy picked up the ones he missed. Sam was their anchor, dealing with the majority as efficiently as she could, sawing clumps of spiders in half with each slash, her escalating enhancement ability empowering each attack with more strength as the battle continued. They entered the third phase of the battle, Sam''s mana and stamina were dwindling as she fought with all her strength and skill. Gavin fed his own excess mana pool into her, keeping behind her and fighting more conservatively. When Judy ran out of arrows again Gavin fabricated another bundle, glad that Sam''s aura of rejuvenation was preventing his reserves from running dry so long as he moderated himself. At last their task was done, leaving a trail of dead spiders on a wandering path from where they''d started most of the way back to where they had fought the water elementals over a week prior. Gavin moved between each corpse in turn, touching them to loot, the process taking as long as the combat had. Judy followed behind, collecting all of her spent arrows, most were broken or otherwise damaged but some were still useable. The broken ones Gavin deconstructed and remade, keeping a large stash in his inventory. Samania kept an eye out for any more spiders that might be lying in wait while the other two had their eyes focused downwards. There was nothing left alive, and when they returned to the site of devastation where once the nest had been they found nothing but ruin. [You have looted three hundred and forty eight giant venomgnasher spider] [You have looted:] [49 Spider venom] [40 Spider meat] [70 Level 1 platinum coin] [90 Level 1 gold coin] [110 Level 1 silver coins] [130 Level 1 Iron coins] [150 Level 1 bronze coins] [170 Level 1 copper coins] [8 Level 1 medium healing potion] [21 Level 1 medium potion of antivenom] [Staff of web] [Monster soul: Spider''s Eyes] ¡°So uhh, that was quite a haul, there''s like eighty thousand solars worth of coins, a couple potions and crafting mats, and an soul crystal¡± ¡°What one?¡± Judy asked. ¡°Spider eyes. You want it? I think it lets you see in all directions.¡± Gavin said looking it up. ¡°Not a chance¡± she said, shuddering at the thought of how that ability would manifest. ¡°Hey Sam?¡± Gavin asked, his levity replaced for curiosity ¡°why are there eggs here? Aren''t these monsters like congealed magic that seeps into reality? How do they breed?¡± ¡°Some monsters can reproduce, usually the lower ranked ones.¡± ¡°Wonder how that works with the offspring, do they dissolve back into the ether when they use up their latent magic or can they live out a normal life?¡± ¡°You''d have to ask a nature mage or a knowledge priest, it''s not something I was ever taught.¡± ¡°Ehh, I''ll file it in the ¡®don''t care enough to do unless the answer falls right into my lap¡¯ basket.¡± Gavin said. ¡°I''m not going to argue, hey, what are you doing?¡± Sam said. ¡°What?¡± Said Gavin who had started putting clumps of spider eggs into his inventory ¡°we can probably sell them to an alchemist or whatever, we need money wherever we can get it.¡± ¡°No. There have been too many cases of people doing that sort of thing only for the creatures to get into the hands of people who shouldn''t have them, it hurts innocent people in the long run. We kill monsters. All of them. Dead.¡± ¡°Fiiine¡± Gavin grumbled, dumping the eggs from his inventory and burning them with the remaining charge from his fire wand. They portalled back to town once they were absolutely positive nothing remained alive in the area. Gavin filled out the paperwork, then turned in the contract with the local guild representative who worked in a glorified kiosk. They then set about the small town with the idea to burn the cash they''d just acquired. They stocked up on food, consumables, and put a significant dent into various crafting materials available in the city and sold them a bunch of spider related products in exchange. Last, and most importantly, they visited a local carpenter about constructing beds for them to keep in Gavin¡¯s fortress. He commissioned five in total since that was how many rooms his castle had, with a priority on the first three. Gregoriah said he''d have them ready in five days, including sourcing mattresses for them, Gavin insisted that money was no object with regards to their comfort, pressing a handful of coins into his hand as a deposit. That done, they cleared out two more contracts before turning in for the night, the first one to kill some more dryads to the south, and the second was a nest of trolls that they made very short work of. Gavin made them a hearty not-quite-irish stew for dinner, with a fresh loaf of bread and butter before retiring to his workshop to tinker for the evening. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He''d had some time to think about what the party needed, and what he could churn out fast. Sam''s mana and stamina were her main issues, he himself needed more staying power, once his wands were depleted he was just a mediocre fighter with a spear, and Judy''s gear was all mediocre without many abilities to shore up her weaknesses. He wanted to make a whole new suite of wands for himself, but to put the required effort in would take a lot of time, so that was the lowest priority. Sam''s mana and stamina issues were the easiest to solve, rings of stamina and mana recovery were easy to craft and he knew the enchantments. He could make the party one of each in a single batch. His main issue was Judy. He didn''t know enough about bows or archery to make an effective weapon at this stage, leaving him with one quick viable alternative. The next morning after their run, before combat training, the three knights of the round table sat around Gavin''s round wooden table and chairs he''d thrown together. He presented the group with his newest creations. ¡°I''ve got a ring of mana and stamina recovery for all of us. The effect is pretty mild so don''t expect anything game changing, Judy, you should be able to have your vision power up constantly between this and Sam''s rejuvenation. Sam and I should be able to last a bit longer in protracted battles.¡± Gavin distributed the two rings out to each person, slipping his two on opposite index fingers. They fit themselves to his fingers, easily, adjusting the size of magical equipment by a small amount was pretty much standard practice for any craftsperson worth their salt. Gavin had been learning magical theory from several textbooks he¡¯d picked up as well as a small amount of one on one tuition, his comprehension of the core abilities was growing rapidly and his versatility as an enchanter expanded at the same rate. ¡°Next, Judy, you have the worst gear out of all of us. I want to make you a top tier bow, but don''t have the skills right now. I''m going to need a bit of practice before you get anything I''d consider good. However, I''ve got something to use in the meantime.¡± Gavin pulled the three arrows from his inventory and handed them to Judy, who took them reverently. [Item: Judy''s enchanted arrow of killing stuff good] [Type: Ammunition, arrow] [Rank: Tier 1, rare] [Description: Dangerous to anything it hits, not dangerous to anything it doesn''t] [Effect: Deals additional force damage] [Enemies damaged with this arrow gain the [bleeding] condition] [Can be soulbound] ¡°You can soulbond to them, so you can dismiss them and resummon them once they''ve hit their target. I''m mildly sure that if they break, when you resummon them they''ll come back whole, but don''t quote m-¡± Judy wrapped Gavin in a tight bear hug, burying her face in his shoulder. Gavin returned it, holding her tightly for a time. ¡°Thanks Gav.¡± Judy said brushing a tear from her eye ¡°this is fantastic, I love it.¡± ¡°Damn Judy, you''re gonna make me cry.¡± said Gavin, caught up with her joy ¡°I made it with party funds, you are entitled to some sweet gear. If I''d just given you the money you could have bought whatever you wanted.¡± ¡°No, not like this. You couldn''t get someone to make level one soulbound gear, it just doesn''t exist. Anyone who can make it can also make higher level gear and can sell it for much more. I might be able to get a good bow or enchanted arrows but they''d still be out of my budget.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay, that''s kinda my role in the party though, you don''t see me gushing when Sam slaughters a few hundred spiders.¡± ¡°You should¡± Sam said, trying the rings on different fingers until she found a combination she liked that didn''t interfere with her sword hilt. ¡°My point is, my strength is in preparation, on the battlefield I''m going to drop off in effectiveness for raw power as we get stronger so equipping the team with the best possible gear is how I make up for that gap. It''s my job to do this for you Judy.¡± ¡°Gavin. Can it with the modesty. It''s not a good look on you¡± Sam said, now trying her sword out to see if the new rings would interfere with it. ¡°Fine. You''re welcome Judy, it was my pleasure. But seriously, it''s gonna get super tedious if you''re going to be all thankful whenever I give you guys stuff. I should be churning out a couple good items a week, more if we¡¯re okay with average tier stuff like these rings.¡± ¡°I''m still going to thank you Gav.¡± Judy asserted ¡°it''s sweet and thoughtful.¡± ¡°So, what are we doing for training Sam? It''s gonna be awkward if we take turns sparring¡± Gavin said, changing the subject. ¡°That''s why it''s you two against me.¡± ¡°You cocky bastard¡± Gavin laughed ¡°you reckon you can take both of us?¡± ¡°Ahh a-yeah¡± Sam said, imitating Gavins sarcastic tone perfectly. ¡°Oh you''re fuckin on. Judy, just FYI, if you shoot her repeatedly in the face with some training arrows it won''t permanently wound her.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Judy said in a mock serious tone. They didn''t have a good area to train in so they trekked a little way into the bush. Gavin took the opportunity to dismiss his instant fortress so they could relocate somewhere less conspicuous. With a little bit of effort they felled a clearing, leaving stumps that were useful as cover and hazards for movement as well as an additional area to resummon the fortress that was completely clear of debris. When they were done, Gavin had deconstructed wood into his inventory until it was full. Finally they squared off to fight, already warmed up from their manual labour ¡°Rules of engagement?¡± Gavin asked Sam. ¡°No sharps.¡± Sam said dismissing her sword. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°Try not to kill each other?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Judy?¡± ¡°No objections.¡± Gavin fabricated a half dozen wooden copies of Sam''s real sword, his own spear, and bundles of arrows with bulbous ends for Judy. The instant he felt Sam''s aura drop, noting him as hostile, Gavin sprang into action, whipping out his wand of wind and blasting Sam with it. She countered by dramatically increasing her weight as she transformed into her tree form, bracing herself against the buffeting gale. Judy loosed a steady stream of arrows at Sam''s face who was forced to block and duck the attacks, the arrows might be blunt but they still carried enough force to crack bone. Sam blurred, aiming a viciously fast attack at Gavin who blinked to appear behind her. He blasted her with four charges of light as a feather and another from his wand of gust, sending her tumbling lazily through the air. Judy used the opportunity to launch a dozen arrows at Sam who was helpless to get out of the way, after the second arrow struck home a pair of ethereal wings burst from her back. With a powerful beat, she was zipping her massive bulk at break-neck speed straight at Judy. Gavin used his last charges of his wand of gust at Sam, blasting her to the side as Judy took a glancing blow from Sam''s wooden sword. He fed her some of his health as he teleported to intercept Sam''s ballistic path with his spear. As he was about to land a devastating blow she unleashed her radiance of the dawn ability, blinding them both and scouring his skin bloody. He dived to the side recklessly. His teleport was on cooldown so he summoned a bubble shield around himself as he rolled. Sam''s sword clipped the edge of it, shattering the shield a moment after he had conjured it. He felt his back roll over a branch on the ground, crunching painfully. He yelped as he came up, clutching at his back. ¡°I''m ok¡± he called, dashing back out of Sam''s reach. ¡°Unfortunately¡± Sam said, charging after Gavin. Her speed and acceleration in that form couldn''t be beat, though he did well to dodge and avoid her with his step through time ability, as well as summon his conjured bubble shields to deflect the attacks he couldn''t avoid. Sam quickly figured that fighting Gavin was going to be an exercise in frustration, instead she opted to target Judy and force Gavin to come to protect her. Sam dashed to Judy, swatting arrows out of the air. As she drew close, she stepped straight onto a stick that jammed painfully into her foot, the same with the next step and the next. She watched in horror as Gavin was redirecting Judy''s deflected and spent arrows to stick straight up out of the ground precisely where her feet would land. When she adjusted her stride to avoid them he redirected the arrows to slam into her face and get into her elbows and armpits as she tried to swing her sword ¡°Ugh, bloody hell Gavin, can you not be so annoying?¡± After he''d got two particularly well timed arrow shafts to smash into her nose then another in her ear ¡°Not a chance¡± Gavin called back, reloading a bundle of arrows into Judy''s quiver. Judy, taking a queue from Gavin, began targeting Sam to frustrate her, aware that her rudimentary powers weren''t going to pose any real threat. She had her perception power on full blast, catching minute weaknesses in Sam''s guard, her dexterity power letting her more easily time precisely when to loose her arrows when used in combination with her predators focus power. She hit Sam repeatedly in the wooden hand that held her sword with a stream of arrows, switching to shoot her in the neck, kneecap, elbows and feet in turn, never giving an idea of where the next arrow would land. Sam finally caught up to Judy, slamming through Gavins hastily conjured bubble shield with a powerful wallop. Judy grunted and stumbled backwards, dropping her bow and clutching her arm. Sam came in for a finishing blow as a portal opened up between them. Sam crashed into it, too small to fit through the archway fully, her sword arm stabbed entirely through the pearlescent void. On the other side of the portal Gavin fabricated a mass of wood around Sam''s arm to lock it in place, then bashed Sam''s hand repeatedly with his spear until she dropped her sword. With a bellow of rage Sam wrenched her arm free of the portal, splintering wood as she hauled it back through the opening. Judy had taken the moment to retrieve her bow and dash back through the opposite side of the portal to appear next to him safely away from Sam. Sam sprinted forward, launching herself into the air to crash down where Gavin had just been. Both he and Judy had stepped through the portal to appear back where she''d come from, arrows coming at her from behind. Sam, feeling for the first time inadequate in a fight, pummeled the portal arch with thundering blows with her powerful heart of the forest form. Stone exploded off in chunks, raining more debris down on the battlefield until the portal winked out. Turning to face Gavin with a triumphant smile on her face she caught a dozen magic missiles across her face and torso, feeling the white hot bolts burrow into her. The fight changed then. Gavin and Judy had been running rings around Sam, frustrating and harassing her. Sam had progressively been getting more resilient to their attacks, her healing ability while very slow, was working to blunt the majority of the damage coming her way. She was on a timer, but with her increased attributes and new enchanted rings restoring her mana and stamina the timer was progressively slowing. Gavin was running out of tricks and Judy was running out of energy, Gavins rings had kept Judy combat effective for a long time, but an unenhanced human arm was just not designed to keep up the pace Judy was asking of herself, shooting dozens and dozens of arrows in a short span of time. Sam stalked her prey, batting arrows out of the air as they came, she grew a bit more concerned when Gavin began feeding Judy his stamina, and pushing on her arrows with his force of will, each one becoming a deadly missile that burrowed chunks out of her awakened armour and bashed painful dents into her exposed breastplate. Sam threw herself into the air again, using her attack of the Valkyrie ability as it come off cooldown to redirect her flight and crash into Judy with her full weight, shattering Gavins bubble shield, and knocking the wind out of her. ¡°Yield¡± Sam cried right as Gavin blasted her flank with a full blast from his wand of fire, then another from his wand of lightning. She lashed out a backhand at Gavin, ploughing through his shield and slamming him clean in the chest. She followed up with a leaping attack missing him as he teleported in mid-air. He sent some of his remaining energy to Judy who was staggering to her feet, barely recovered from Samania''s attack. Both Judy and Gavin were on their last legs, low on mana and stamina as well as physically injured. Sam was not much better. The fire and lightning had really hurt, bypassing a lot of her resistances and eating up into her precious time before she''d have to drop her form. Sam was just about on him when an arrow shot by Judy and pulled on by his force of will slammed her in the back of the knee. Topping over backwards Sam rolled to the side to avoid the arrows that''d be coming her way only to find Gavin''s instant fortress summoned right on top of her legs, crushing them into the dirt, and pinning her to the ground. He collapsed to the ground with the mana expenditure, completely out of the fight. All up to Judy, she retrieved one of Gavin''s fallen spears from the battlefield, pointing it at Sam''s throat ¡°Yield¡± Judy said, smiling. Sam made one last ditch attempt at winning the fight, dismissing her tree form to get heeself free of the fortress, Judy slammed the tip of the practice spear right into Sam''s clavicle too fast to avoid, eliciting a grunt of pain. ¡°Ahh, I yield¡± Sam yelped, flopping back down, exhausted. The two women limped over to Gavin who was awake but incoherent. Sam''s aura of rejuvenation quickly got him up again, and once everyone had slugged back a recovery potion, their aches and bruises had all disappeared. ¡°That was well fought team¡± Sam said to begin their post fight debrief. ¡°Good use of teamwork and fast thinking by you in particular Gavin.¡± ¡°It''s a talent.¡± Gavin boasted. ¡°Yes, you are exceptionally skilled at being an annoying little ass.¡± quipped Sam as Judy snorted back laughter. ¡°We need to work on your mobility, Sam¡± Gavin said ¡°or get you a ranged attack. It''s a big weakness needing your enemy to come to you, we don''t want you caught out by something or someone that can just avoid your attacks.¡± ¡°I agree. Gavin, you need to make yourself a weapon that can last over a long fight and another that can finish a fight quickly. Can you make something that''d just kill something as tough as me?¡± ¡°Uhh, yeah, probably. In my world there are one use weapons designed to take out armoured targets, I could do something similar, and I''m on the same page regarding needing a more reliable main weapon. Actually, making a weapon that can kill someone of your level outright is probably not ambitious enough. If we get into trouble its not going to be against a monster that we could just fight the conventional way, it''ll be something we can''t fight fair. I''ll work out something that''s as strong as possible¡± ¡°Judy, your job for the rest of the day is to think about what skills and abilities you need given our training today and how you anticipate you want to fight going forward. After dinner Gavin and I will help brainstorm ideas¡± Sam said. ¡°You don''t need to come to a final decision right away¡± Gavin added ¡°but having a general idea of how you like to fight is going to be important moving forward.¡± ¡°Last thing¡± Sam said ¡°our next training will be exclusively with melee weapons. Even you judy, there will come a time when you''re disarmed and you will need to know how to fight in close range with a backup weapon. Gavin, can you make her a sidearm?¡± ¡°Yes, I''ll add it to the list, suggestions?¡± He said turning to Judy. ¡°Knives and short swords are good¡± Judy suggested ¡°I have a power that increases my dexterity, I could get into weak points easily with a dagger or something light.¡± ¡°Done.¡± ¡°Okay, that was good. Now, let''s have a rest and break for lunch.¡± That day Gavin¡¯s force of will skill crossed the line into level two to join his crafting abilities. His body of iron, and ether warp abilities were nearly across the line as well with the others more or less half way. He resolved himself to spending time on those abilities more, though his instant fortress would be a real pain to rank up. FIFTEEN.This is really really not good. The three adventurers met for dinner later that evening. Judy had taken a turn to cook, which turns out was a good choice, she''d made a paella, or the local equivalent, with fresh water clams and crustaceans that inhabited the nearby river. ¡°Oh, this is fantastic Judy¡± Sam said as she devoured her plate of food. ¡°One hundred percent¡± Gavin said around his own mouthful. Judy beamed with pride. Glad her new friends were enjoying her meal. ¡°You gonna cook tomorrow Sam?¡± Sam''s face blanched ¡°I can''t cook.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°No, I don''t know how.¡± Sam said, embarrassed. ¡°Ohh yeah, you had a chef your whole life. Well, I''m not going to say you have to cook but I will say I think it''s important for team bonding.¡± Gavin said, finding an argument he thought would work. ¡°Fine. I''ll try¡± Sam said. ¡°Happy to give you a hand, but my cooking knowledge is all with different ingredients, I never did get around to finding a cooking skill book, maybe I should find a couple?¡± Gavin said, his mind wandering again. ¡°I''ll help her.¡± Judy said. ¡°Done¡± Gavin said, slapping his hand on the table. ¡°Next up, Judy, did you have a think about your build?¡± ¡°Yes actually. I was thinking of being more of a mobile skirmisher. After seeing you run rings around Sam made me really want to do that rather than just stand and shoot.¡± ¡°Good. Do you want stealth options?¡± ¡°I''d rather mobility, I don''t really want to go off tracking away from the group.¡± ¡°Understandable. I should be able to simulate a bunch of powers eventually with magic items, so even if you feel you want a different effect later I should be able to work that out too, like, if you want a stealth power later I can make gear that will camouflage you.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± Judy said brightly. ¡°Okay, lets get started then¡± Gavin said happily. They brainstormed late into the night, coming up with a list of crystals they wanted to buy. Sam and Gavin spent a little time talking about what her final ability might be, but the overall focus was on getting Judy up to speed. The next day they trained hand to hand combat, focusing on technique without powers that time. Later, Gavin worked on making himself and Judy new items. Sam cleared two contracts by herself then made dinner which was fine, not great, but perfectly edible. It consisted of boiled and seasoned vegetables and fried lizard tail steaks. Gavin worked late into the evening to produce a few more of his enchanted throwing stars and his new staff, made from a local ironoak sapling, its root system twisted to hold a clear crystal at the top and some new bracers for Judy. He then tinkered with other ideas until he collapsed into bed. [Item: Gavins prototype staff of light] [Type: weapon: Staff] [Rank: Level 1, rare] [Description: a reliable weapon made to do one thing: look impressive while killing monsters] [Effect: Staff contains 30 charges. Charges can be expended to create a beam of light that can be channeled for an ongoing charge cost. Light beams deal radiant and fire damage. Expend multiple charges for an increased effect at the cost of the integrity of the staff. Charges restore over time, user can channel mana into the staff to restore spent charges. [Item: Judy''s bracers of ogre power] [Rank: Level 1, rare] [Description: Faster, higher, stronger] [Effect: Increases users [Strength] attribute and stamina recovery] Gavin presented his new items over breakfast, giving Sam his two wands of magic missiles since his new staff filled that same role and it gave her a ranged option. Judy was ecstatic with her new bracers, pulling out her bow and testing the draw with her enhanced strength. ¡°They''re great Gavin, thanks¡± she said, the effort of pulling her bow to its full draw taking no more effort than if it were a child''s toy. ¡°No worries mate.¡± After breakfast Sam and Judy went to collect another round of contracts while Gavin put an order request in at the local guild branch, handing over their small fortune in exchange for a receipt for delivery of goods in two days. Rejoining the group, the trio of self named knights ventured out into the woods to murder more sentient knots of magic. They cleared three that day, killing a group of marhounds, a dire bear and lastly a yellow ooze inside a dimensional pocket, a sort of acid elemental that grew progressively bigger as it digested more biomatter. By the time the group had killed it, it was the size of a bus and had the remains of a splintered tree digesting inside its translucent body. On their way back to Blacktree, they were wandering through the forest waiting for Gavins portal power to come off cooldown when Judy spotted something through the trees. Approaching the anomaly they discovered it was another huge extradimensional pocket, its slowly undulating mirrored surface distorting their reflections. ¡°We need to report this.¡± Sam said. ¡°Yeah, no kidding¡± Gavin agreed. ¡°Is it level three?¡± Judy asked, astonished as she inspected it with her vision power. ¡°Yeah, looks like it¡± said Gavin, moving closer to watch his reflection more closely ¡°I didn''t think level three magic could exist around these parts¡± Judy thought aloud. ¡°It''s magic. Anything can happen I guess.¡± ¡°What do you guys reckon the chances are we can clear it?¡± ¡°You are not going in there Gavin.¡± Sam said ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What if it''s full of treasure?¡± ¡°What if it''s full of monsters?¡± ¡°Thats not an ideal situation. I¡¯ve been in like four of these things I think I''m due for a treasure one.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oay, fine¡± Gavin said despondently stepping back through his portal, pausing a moment to look back at the bubble of forbidden magic. The group began to find their rhythm, constant training, eating, ribbing and encouraging each other had begun to form the basis of a solid team based on mutual trust. Gavin was surprised to discover he was truly happy for the first time since he could remember, and so it was with high spirits that he ventured into town to get a few things, collect the team''s new beds and pick up the delivery from the guild branch. ¡°Val!¡± Gavin exclaimed with a laugh finding her sitting outside of the guild kiosk ¡°good to see you!¡± ¡°And you Gavin.¡± ¡°What brings you out this way? You finally taking contracts again?¡± Gavin asked slipping the guild representative his receipt. ¡°Actually, you''re not far off. I came to take you up on your offer.¡± ¡°No!?¡± Gavin exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Awesome. Hey bloke, could I get a team member amendment form please?¡± Gavin hastily scrawled his team details across the page and handed it to Valerie to complete. ¡°Not going to consult your team?¡± ¡°They know I asked you, they won''t object.¡± ¡°So, how''d you know I was here?¡± ¡°Gavin. You are not a subtle person. It wasn''t hard to figure out. We need to talk, you and your team, there''s things you should know from what''s been happening in Wildenesse the past few days.¡± ¡°Okay, we better go then, the fortress is this way.¡± ¡°Fortress?¡± ¡°Ha, yeah, we''ve got a sweet club house now.¡± They walked out of town and into the woods. The team had beaten an easy to follow path if you knew where to look, to the untrained eye it looked like a normal game trail. ¡°So, with you on the team all we need is a healer, or at least someone with some proper healing adjacent abilities and we''re good to go.¡± ¡°Healers are in high demand, you''re probably going to have to put in a bit of effort to find one, the sorts of people that want to dedicate their lives to helping people usually don''t like following wardens around through the forest.¡± ¡°Ehh, I figured Florrin would send someone my way at some point.¡± ¡°Gavin, you can¡¯t rely on the gods to give you everything.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. Hey, check it out, it''s the castle I got from Paragon!¡± Gavin said as they pushed their way through the undergrowth. The house sized castle loomed through the trees, angular spires piercing the branches. Outside Judy was shooting her bow at targets that swung on ropes from the trees, a near limitless pile of arrows beside her. Sam was engrossed in a book, and was lying in the dappled sun. ¡°Hey team, our fourth member has arrived.¡± Sam and Judy looked over at the pair coming towards them. ¡°Valerie Westhart? The guild instructor?¡± Sam said incredulous ¡°I thought you were joking.¡± ¡°Sam, you should know I never joke.¡± ¡°If they looked up the word joke in a book of words they''d see a portrait of you.¡± Judy said. ¡°Cold, you guys, just for that Val''s getting one of the new beds and the other I''m gonna deconstruct for parts.¡± ¡°Did you say Paragon gave you that castle?¡± Val asked gazing up at the incongruous house. ¡°Yeah, it''s actually a part of his soul, he gave it to me because I had a fight with Sams mum.¡± ¡°Paragon gave you a piece of his soul?¡± ¡°Yeah, part of his soul is technically attacheda to my soul, I''m pretty much a demigod now.¡± ¡°Gods damn it Gavin, when you get smited down you will definitely deserve it.¡± Samania moaned. ¡°Its actually refreshing to see the housing market in this planet is fucked, you pretty much need divine intervention on my world as too.¡± Gavin said earnestly. ¡°If you all are done, I actually have something serious you need to know.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, right, you''d better come inside.¡± Gavin wandered off inside to sit at the round table in the dining room, conjuring a fourth chair for their newest member. ¡°So, what''s the news? Is it about my mother?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Yes, actually, at least partially. The political situation in Wildinesse is rather-¡± Valerie paused to find the right word. ¡°fragile at the moment. There are a few factors that are compounding on eachother, ready to boil over.¡± ¡°Not just lady Starbourne then?¡± ¡°No, she''s only a minor part really. You recall your guild test? I failed Steven Stewardson at the guild hall, then Harold Stewardson at the conclusion of the test?¡± ¡°Yeah, did they file a complaint?¡± ¡°They did.¡± ¡°And the guild told them to kick rocks?¡± Gavin guessed. ¡°Ha¡± Val laughed derisively ¡°no, they, that is to say, Lady Starbourne, caved immediately, passing Harold and allowing Steven to retake the test. I got a formal reprimand and a demotion from rank three down to rank two.¡± ¡°They fuckin bloody well didn''t?¡± Gavin exploded ¡°why''d Sam''s mum do that?¡± ¡°Think about it Gavin, the Stewardsons have strong political capital, they might not have any direct power but they run large parts of the town and have many political allies. There''s already a lot of animosity that the guild is too closely tied to the mayor, that the mayor either could or is using the guild to further his own political career, that he has his own private mercenary group at his beck and call.¡± ¡°Okay, yeah, makes sense.¡± Gavin agreed ¡°I''m not going to pretend to understand the cultural influence the guild has in this world, but in mine, something like that would be extremely volatile, politically speaking.¡± ¡°Then you have several inciting incidents, the first was publicly failing two members of the same family, political rivals of the mayor using his private mercenary group. Then we have the guild leader shutting down the underground fighting ring-¡± ¡°Mother shut it down?¡± ¡°Indirectly. Your participation was actually seen as a good thing amongst the people that care, Samania, it showed even the Starbournes could get their hands dirty. Then your mother busting up the fight so publicly led to an official public inquiry from Griffon. Arrests and fines were made, the whole thing was tied back to House Veritas. Colin Veritas, was arrested then released almost immediiately after a lot of public pressure.¡± ¡°Oh damn.¡± Gavin said, catching on ¡°this whole thing is a series of incidents and fuckups that look like a coordinated attack on the Stewardsons. Don''t tell me there''s an election coming up soon?¡± ¡°Early next year, though candidates will be starting up their campaigns in the next few weeks.¡± ¡°Fuck me, so this all looks like the mayor is trying to rig the election?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Val said. ¡°But father isn''t. He wouldn''t.¡± ¡°It''s not what''s true, Sam, it''s the story you can spin. The Stewardsons will be fanning the flames, building their propaganda machine to make themselves out to be the righteous martyrs, fighting for justice and equality while the Starbournes are using corruption and cronyism to muscle their way to political power.¡± Gavin said. ¡°This is bad¡± Judy said worriedly ¡°will our team be in danger since we''re connected to this?¡± ¡°The team? Probably. Gavin, definitely yes.¡± ¡°Why me? Oh, shit, yeah¡± Gavin said, realisation dawning as Sam nodded along. ¡°You understand?¡± Val asked. ¡°I don''t?¡± said Judy. ¡°I was the instigator in it all, Harold reckons it was me that torpedoed his test, that I''d set him up to fail from the start. I led Ben whatshisface to having a go at me and killed him and his mates. They know I''ve been staying at Sam''s house, they''d spin it that Lady starbourne set me up to make sure it all happened. Then just hours after the guild test it was me that put a stop to Sam''s match, with Lady Annabelle right there beside me.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah. Those punters that were there had all probably bets on that fight that the bookmakers would never pay out on with deliberate interference, they''d likely argue the fight was rigged by the Starbournes from the start. I bet there are people in Wildenesse that would attack me on sight if I went back there, how many you reckon were there Sam? Three, four thousand?¡± ¡°About that.¡± Sam agreed. ¡°Closer to two thousand two hundred¡± Judy confirmed. ¡°I bet I''m persona non grata in Wildinesse right now.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Judy asked. ¡°Oh, ah, very unpopular.¡± Gavin translated. ¡°That''d be an accurate assessment¡± Val said, tone sombre. ¡°My decision to come here and join your team will exacerbate the situation too. I heard about the fight with your mother Sam. It turns out one of the house guards saw it happen, he left and told anyone who would listen. If even half of what he said was true- I felt sick when I heard, then they demoted me. I couldn''t continue to work for your mother in good conscience. I couldn''t transfer to another branch without it crossing your mother''s desk, she''s not well Sam, erratic, dangerous. I needed to get out of there.¡± ¡°So now it really does look like it''s all coordinated, you and I, on the same team, both conspired to fail the Stewardsons?¡± ¡°This is really, really bad¡± Judy said, horror growing on her face. ¡°Yes. I propose we get out of here, either now, tonight or tomorrow morning at the absolute latest. Val tracked us down here easily, it''s not like we''ve been hiding, though it might take a while to find us out here¡± Sam said, already planning their escape from the area. ¡°Tomorrow is too late. I could find where we are in an hour or two¡± Judy said ¡°the signs are obvious if you have any sort of vision power, we''ve also been out here making a lot of noise, the locals likely know the rough direction we''re camped in, just walking out here in circles they''d stumble on us too.¡± ¡°Tonight then. We can teleport and move under the cover of night.¡± Gavin said. ¡°I can''t go through your portal.¡± Val reminded him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Fuck, yeah, sorry I forgot. We''ll have to get out on foot, definitely after dark then, cross country or by road? I don''t super want to get attacked by monsters in the dark.¡± ¡°By road, or near it. You''re right Gavin, we absolutely don''t want to go through the forest.¡± ¡°Well, this has been an absolute downer of an afternoon¡± Gavin grumbled ¡°on the plus side, having Val on the team is a positive, so I guess it all worked out.¡± ¡°I''m sorry to dump this on you all.¡± Val said. ¡°No way bro, if we hadn''t known we could have been attacked unaware, now we have you to help us, and we know what way the winds blowing in this shit storm we''ve just walked into.¡± ¡°Gavin''s right, thanks Valerie, it was brave of you to do what you did, I appreciate it¡± Sam said while Judy nodded her agreement. There was a moment of silence in the room where the team was lost in thought before Gavin broke in. ¡°So, not to put too fine a point on it, but I know today was supposed to be a fun day for you Judy, unlocking a bunch of powers, but I think we need to go ahead with that even if the memory of today is soured a bit, we might need you to have these powers if we''re in a life or death situation and they could have saved us.¡± Gavin said placing the thick wrapped parcel on the table. ¡°I''ll do it. And the memory won''t be tainted, I''ll always remember this time as when we formed as a team, when the whole world was against us. We all have eachothers backs, no matter what.¡± ¡°Ooh, that was a good monologue Judy. Top tier¡± said Gavin offering her a fist bump. ¡°Is that what your package was? crystals? There was a bit of a stir about how many valuable resources were being diverted out this way.¡± ¡°Enough for six more powers for Judy, a martial arts skill book too, a skill book on bow making for me, and a skill book on cooking for both Sam and I, plus some expensive crafting materials¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Sam said, shocked. ¡°Why''d you get me a cooking treatise? I was learning fine with judy.¡± ¡°I mean, I ordered it before I tried your cooking, and to be honest, I thought you''d be an awful cook.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks Gavin¡± Sam harrumphed. ¡°She is, if it weren''t for me doing all the work in there you¡¯d be lucky to get ash.¡± ¡°You, traitor!¡± Sam said, throwing her hands up in defeat. ¡°Okay, jokes aside, I say we get Judy powered up, I''ll absorb my skill book and try to whip up a basic enchanted bow this afternoon while Judy gets familiar with her powers, we set out at dusk through the woods near the road until we''re well away from town, head back to Wildenesse, skirt the city till we get to the Great West Road and follow that until we''re too buggered to walk, set up the fortress off the road and rest all day, then repeat until we hit Arrowton. We probably need to move on from there too, to where no ones going to bother coming for us, maybe clear some tier two contracts with Val to pay for a portal user to jump us somewhere far away?¡± ¡°The first part of the plan at least¡± Val agreed, we can discuss the rest once we get to safety, we won¡¯t need to clear contracts, I have money.¡± ¡°If we''re ambushed or separated later we should meet at the temple of Florrin either in Arrowton.¡± Sam suggested ¡°Good idea, smart.¡± Gavin said, nodding to Sam. ¡°Ready Judy?¡± ¡°Ready.¡± Judy said, laying her soul crystals out in a line. The first two were archery powers to add to the one Judy had already had, that would set up an archery theme leaving them free to select synergistic powers around them. One split her arrows, halving any effect on them but effectively doubling their base damage, the second let her increase the power of her shots by expending mana. Next they started on the utility powers the first was Prestidigitation, a minor illusion power that created a false image or sound with varying degrees of believability depending on her willpower attribute. Shadow step was a power almost the same as gavins short range teleport that left behind a brief haze of darkness and had a reduced cooldown and mana cost depending on the ambient light levels. Lucky dodge gave her a passive ability to turn solid hits into near misses and near misses into actual misses. They were setting her up to be a mobile skirmisher that would be as hard to pin down as Gavin and much more effective at killing enemies. ¡°The shadow step looks good¡± Judy said sounding pleased. ¡°Yeah, cool, forget that, prestidigitation, it''s one of the better abilities there is in my opinion. It was on my short list for a long time.¡± Valerie snorted, trying to stifle laughter. ¡°Uhh, no, it is certainly not¡± Sam said ¡°not to insult your ability Judy, it''s fine, but there are thousands of abilities that rate higher.¡± ¡°Bloody nonsense Judy, these Luddites haven''t got any imagination. Think about the possibilities, make enemies itch in combat, make your sword look longer or shorter than it is, make a patch of ground look safe or dangerous, make it look like you''re unarmed, or that you have an ability you don''t, make Sam''s food taste good, make Val''s feet stink, make water taste like ale or ale taste like vinegar, make sewer monsters smell like a fresh sea breeze, make shadow Elementals glow bright green¡± Gavin said, losing himself in the possibilities. ¡°If it can make Gavin''s head look like it''s a normal size I''ll change my opinion to it being useful¡± Sam joked. ¡°What''s wrong with my head?¡± Gavin said, touching his face and scalp with his fingertips. ¡°It does look a bit bigger than a normal head, doesn''t it?¡± Said Val, cocking her head as if to inspect it from a different angle. ¡°Fucks sakes, just have another crystal Judy¡± Her next power was extradimensional pocket, an inventory power like gavins that would expand in volume by absorbing latent dimensional forces from collapsing dimensional spaces. ¡°I bet I can shoot arrows even faster if I don''t have to reach for my quiver, or walk around with a bow strung and ready to go¡± Judy said, materialising an arrow into her hand. ¡°Yeah, it also means I can give you a bunch of different arrows with different effects and you can pick what one you want to use exactly when you want it. There''s a legend about an archer who uses different arrows to fight bad guys, he''s super lame though, you''re way cooler Judy.¡± ¡°Uhh, thanks, I think.¡± ¡°Ok last one¡± Judy said, taking her final stone in hand. Gavin agreed with Gloria that everyone needed at least one, preferably two defensive powers. Sam had some active defences with her evasive powers, but it still helped to have passive defensive powers too¡± The last one was Grit. When she took any damage it would convert some of that damage to eat at her mana instead of her health, essentially a passive mana shield. ¡°The damage mitigation will be super useful but you''ll have to manage your resources well to get the most out of them, especially later on.¡± Val said. ¡°Okay Gavin, if you''re going to go absorb that skill book and make Judy a bow, I think Val and I can have a bit of a training session with judy to get her familiar with her new abilities.¡± ¡°We should stay inside until we''re ready to leave.¡± Val said ¡°is there a training room in here?¡± ¡°There is now¡± Judy said, touching the table as it vanished into her inventory. The bow making skill book was fairly easy to absorb, both because he was growing used to absorbing them and because the book was actually pretty basic, with information on how to make level one recurve bows and how to get the most out of that basic design. He set to work testing his technique, going through two dozen iterations before he was happy, then began the enchanting process. Sam made dinner that night, using her new skill book knowledge. ¡°This is good Sam.¡± Judy praised her. ¡°Sure is¡± Gavin agreed ¡°do you cook Val?¡± ¡°I do, so long as you''re okay with not eating meat.¡± She said with a pointed look. ¡°Wait, do you have like, an ethical objection to killing and eating animals?¡± Gavin said with horror. ¡°Yes. It''s disgusting¡± Val said frowning at Gavin chewing on a hunk of meat. ¡°Gavin, she has half a lizard steak on her plate right now.¡± Judy said. ¡°Oh, right, so you just can''t cook it?¡± ¡°Just messing with you¡± Val said, rolling her eyes. ¡°You need to up your banter game Val, even Judy has some good ones when she speaks up.¡± ¡°Hard to speak up when you''re the one constantly talking¡± Judy grumbled. ¡°Okay, yeah, that''s fair.¡± Gavin admitted. ¡°Anyway, I made you a bow, it''s not as good as Sam''s sword or my spear, but it''s a lot better than the one you have already, in a does more damage sense, I know your current one has a lot of sentimental value. Give me a good week and I think I can make you something as good as sam and I have.¡± [Item: Judy¡¯s prototype bow of slaying] [Type: Weapon, bow] [Rank: Level 1, rare] [Description: A hastily made bow for a valued party member, made with all the care and skill that time and ability would allow] [Effect: Bow contains 10 charges. Activate to imbue loaded ammunition with additional energy, arrows gradually use up energy to accelerate when shot, excess energy is violently expelled on contact with an enemy dealing additional [force] damage. Charges are restored over time, user can channel their own mana into [Judy¡¯s prototype bow] to speed up this process.] ¡°Go ahead, try it out.¡± Gavin said, handing it to her as he fabricated a wooden target against the far wall. ¡°I didn''t have the time to make it a soulbound item, but I''ll get there when we¡¯ve got more than an afternoon. Judy gave the bow an experimental draw, then, taking one of her soulbound arrows, sent it rocketing across the room trailing silver motes of light. The arrow exploded on contact with the target, shattering both itself and the target into toothpick sized splinters. Judy dismissed the arrow and resummoned it, perfectly intact, a wide glowing smile lighting up her eyes Placing the bow and arrow down on the table, Judy wrapped Gavin in a warm embrace. ¡°Thanks Gav, I''m glad you asked me to join your team.¡± she said into his shoulder. ¡°It''s our team now, we¡¯re the knights of the round table, everyone is equal.¡± ¡°Mind if I take a look?¡± Valerie asked Judy when she and Gavin had composed themselves. ¡°Sure.¡± Picking up the bow, Valerie too gave it an experimental draw, looked it over closely, then handed it back to Judy ¡°impressive, with four hours and only a basic crafting treatise that''s a lot better than I would have thought it would be.¡± ¡°Yeah, if we can ever get some solid time without needing to flee the city for our lives or whatever I should be able to get some really good items going. I think next up we need some armour for the team, we¡¯ve all got weapons now, armour is the next priority, that''ll take me longer than an afternoon though, it''s going to be a lot more time consuming to make properly.¡± ¡°I''ve been telling you from day one that you need to make armour.¡± Sam said. ¡°Yeah, well, I haven''t got a good self repair enchantment so there hasn''t been much point. I can reforge it if I need to, but it''s a pretty big waste of mana and time.¡± ¡°Gavin, you are a blithering moron¡± Sam said as Judy dissolved into howls of laughter. ¡°What?¡± Gavin stammered, caught off guard by Sam''s outburst. ¡°For a guy that constantly has his mouth open, you can really, what''s the expression? Shit in the bed? Shit on the bed?¡± Sam ranted as Valerie joined Judy, clutching her sides with poorly suppressed giggles. ¡°Shit the bed.¡± Gavin corrected. ¡°Yes, that one. Gavin, my armour has a self repair enchantment, that''s all it does. How many hits have you seen me take and not once have I ever had it repaired.¡± ¡°Oh. Could I ahh, have a look at it then¡± Gavin said nervously. ¡°Yes!¡± Sam said, exasperated ¡°for the gods sakes, if that''s the only thing that''s been stopping you from making armour, even unenchanted armour, you really- Ugh, well, so long as you start right away then I''ll be happy¡± ¡°Sounds good mate, we have a couple hours before we need to leave, chuck us a look and I will get started right now, well, not like right now.¡± ¡°Gavin.¡± Sam said with a warning tone. ¡°Fine.¡± Sam doffed her armour and handed it in pieces to Gavin who examined it right there in the dining room. ¡°Valerie, while we wait, I think it''d be a good idea to go over your abilities and talk over team dynamics. I haven''t seen you fight before, I only know you were a successful fighter a few years ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a duelling specialist, one on one fights with single monsters or people. Mobile, high burst damage.¡± ¡°Excellent, that should cover our bases well. Abilities?¡± ¡°Armour master, that reduces the movement penalties for wearing armour. Eviscerate, makes my opponents bleed, a lot. Soporific enhancement, enchants my weapons to slow my enemies and reduce their stat''s. Freedom of movement let''s me avoid movement debuffs, deft hands, same as yours Judy, increases my physical dexterity. Devastating attacks, makes me attack harder and faster the more I fight. Ethereal blood, heal over time. Retaliate, if I resist any attacks the damage is reflected back to my enemies, damage absorbed by armour also counts. Leech life, take health from my enemies I attack. Blind fighting, I can sense hidden, invisible or illusory enemies better. Illusory attack, makes a double of me that attacks while I gain invisibility for a moment. Shield breaker lets me get around heavily armoured targets. Animate weapon, I can float a few weapons around me that attack like I was using them. Siphon soul, takes damage I deal and refunds the mana and stamina of my attacks back to me, and lightning fast charge, increases my speed by a lot for a second to cover a lot of ground quickly.¡± ¡°So, you really want to charge in, stack up a lot of damage very quickly to kill one target, then move onto the next?¡± ¡°Yes, but that doesn''t mean I can''t fight in a protracted engagement, I just have to modulate my abilities instead of just using all of them in combination at once¡± ¡°I''ll work on items that increase your mana and stamina maximum when that becomes a priority then?¡± Gavin piped in. ¡°I am, well was, a third rank warden who was operating for years, I have good gear that works well with my abilities, you''ll find I''m more than adequate until you can start making epic quality level two items, or uncommon level three ones.¡± ¡°Well fine then, no gear for you, actually, can I get a look at your gear after I''ve finished with Sams? Knowing what it does will help me know what you''re capable of and also if it''s good gear it''s probably got some effects I haven''t seen yet.¡± ¡°Sure¡± Val said, pulling some items out of a dimensional bag and laying them out on the table next to him, including a dozen swords.¡± ¡°Why all the swords?¡± Judy asked ¡°for different enemies. I use either these two, or these two depending on who or what I¡¯m fighting¡± Val pointed to two pairs if nearly identical short swords ¡°and animate a combination of any two of these ones¡± she said pointing at the other short swords that variously pulsed, glowed, or dripped different coloured liquids or effects. ¡°Oh dude!¡± Gavin said, resisting the urge to dump Sam''s armour and begin on the weapons. ¡°You are not making weapons until you''ve made at least armour for yourself and Judy.¡± Sam said. ¡°Fine,¡± Gavin grumbled. ¡°I won''t start any new weapons.¡± SIXTEEN. Bad vibes. The four wardens surreptitiously slunk from their base camp, leaving the fortress in place. Valerie reasoned that if any hostile wardens or mercenaries came along they''d spend no small amount of time trying to break in. She estimated it''d take her hours or days to break it down, though conceded that a more specialised magic user would get in much sooner. The night was quiet and still, becoming humid as heavy clouds drifted lazily across the sky. Unlike Gavin¡¯s homeworld, the moon and starlight was easily adequate to see by at night, even through the forest and looming clouds. With Judy taking point and picking a path they had an easy time of it. Gavin, not one to just waste his time only sneaking from the forest without doing something else, began work on his newest project. Fabricating individual rings and imbuing them with enchantments and energies every few minutes, waiting for his mana to fully replenish between each ring. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Val whispered. Gavin passed the ring he''d just finished over carefully so as not to drop it in the dark. [Item: Gavin''s enchanted jump ring] [Type: armour, crafting material] [Rank: Level 1, epic] [Description: one of many thousands, to come together to be greater than the sum of its parts] [Effect: Self repairing] [Effect: Absorb and store ambient mana from the surrounding environment. Mana can be charged or absorbed by the user] [Effect: Mana shield, damage is absorbed at the expense of stored mana] [Can be souldbound.] ¡°We need to get you to rank your crafting stats up so you can start making me gear.¡± Val whispered. They walked for three hours before needing to cut in towards the road, Judy found signs of troll footprints, wanting to avoid that confrontation they made a sharp turn and hit the road a minutea later. They walked in silence, each straining their ears and eyes for any sign of life. It was around midnight when Sam suggested they pick up their pace, any enemy wanting to track them would surely not start their journey from Wildenesse in the dead of night. They broke into a brisk jog, relying solely on Judy''s eyesight to keep them out of danger. Between Sam''s recovery aura, the magical rings, and their magically boosted endurance and strength they were able to set a solid pace. A run that would have nearly killed Gavin two months ago was now easy. He might not be able to keep it up on the level of Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn, but a marathon level distance should be doable before he needed a break. When Wildenesse was in sight, they slowed their pace back to a walk and cut back off the road, finding one of the many rivers that flowed through the valleys around the area. Gavin fabricated a makeshift raft that the four could fit on without sinking, then, using long poles, they pushed themselves down stream. A few hours before dawn they were close to the city, and with Valerie and Judy''s guidance, they successfully navigated the trees and farmland to find the Great West Road. From there they walked for a time letting their resources build back up again, then ran, reasonably confident they were in the clear. Right as the sun was cresting the horizon Gavin stumbled a step. Sam shot him a concerned look, they were all wary with exhaustion but none of them were in dire need of rest. What had made him stumble was he sensed someone trying to force a window on his fortress. ¡°Someone''s trying to break into the house. They just tried to lift a window, now they''re trying to scratch it with a tool.¡± Gavin whispered. ¡°You can tell that?¡± Sam asked surprised. ¡°Yeah, I think I can sense anyone trying to break in or damage the place, I haven''t felt when you guys come and go, it must feel intent, a lot of powers distinguish between allies and enemies.¡± ¡°That''s probably right.¡± Val said. ¡°Now they''re trying to break in, there''s a few people blasting the windows with spells and weapons. No level two powers it looks like, someone¡¯s climbing the building. I bet I could make him look a right cock if I dismissed it now.¡± ¡°Don''t. We want to make them think we¡¯re inside as long as possible.¡± Sam said. ¡°Right. Hey, I think I can make the windows opaque so they can''t see inside.¡± ¡°Do it, they''ll think we¡¯re holding up in there, they might try to starve us out.¡± ¡°You do realise that most of our food is in there right? I only have like four days of food in my inventory.¡± ¡°I''m sure we¡¯ll manage.¡± They pressed on until they couldn''t go further, cutting off into the forest to continue their flight. They found a rocky face that''d sheared off the side of a hill, Gavin deconstructed chunks of it, then they all piled into the newly formed cave, he sealed it behind them with some crude stone shaping. Gavin slept restlessly, plagued by dreams of people attacking his house, battering the walls, digging underneath, using explosives, piling a bonfire over part of it and setting it alight. Then, finally, a soul tearing boom as part of the house disintegrated in a cacophonous blast. He woke with a start, feeling dozens of people pour into his home like scurrying cockroaches. As they reached the bedrooms Gavin dismissed the building, feeling his connection to the area vanish. He lay there, cold sweat on his brow. Having no idea how long he''d slept, only that it was ink black and that his companions slumbered on peacefully. He was still tired, but his heart was racing. He felt his private domain violated, it was an odd visceral feeling, like those people had been prying their way into his soul. Seeking the relaxing medium of his craft, he resumed his fabrication of rings, one after another, every few seconds. He didn''t feel like sleeping, instead falling into a meditative trance as he produced hundreds of rings in the darkness surrounded by his friends. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Gavin tore down the blocked entrance to the cave, fresh air drifting in to clear out the stale smell of sweaty humans packed too tightly into a confined area. The sun was still up, though it was late afternoon. They ate, and drank their fill and rested under the cover of the trees while their meals settled. Judys predator''s focus had hit level two over their nightime journey, as did Sam''s aura of rejuvenation. Dusk fell again and the party resumed their trek. With Gavins fortress destroyed they were operating under the asumption the roads would all be watched. There was one way out of Wildenesse and they were on it, all they could hope for was that they were still ahead of their hunters. They kept off the road, moving slowly. When the path got difficult they risked delving deeper into the forest rather than making for the road. They did come across monsters, but Valerie made quiet, efficient work of them without the rest of the party needing to join her, which would certainly make light and noise detectable to anyone looking. When day broke they camped up in another hole in the ground. It was on the third day they stumbled into Arrowton at dawn, a bustling city much larger than Wildenesse built originally as a mining town, then trade hub for the various neighbouring towns and cities. Arrowton was the crossroads from both Wildenesse and Slolk and the only way out into the wider world. It then branched out further inland with a series of spider web roads that crossed the country. Valerie left them to try to contact a portal user to send them far from there while Gavin rented a few rooms at an inn for the day. He resisted the temptation to go out shopping or find street food to stock up on, instead choosing to sleep and craft his time away. Valerie returned hours later, after a brief nap for herself she took them to the portal specialist, a mage of the magic users guild. ¡°How''s it going mate? Names Gavin¡± Gavin said, introducing himself to the man. ¡°Thromok.¡± said the fine featured man shaking Gavin''s hand. ¡°Val tell you where we need to go?¡± ¡°She did, Edomont, correct?¡± ¡°That''s the one. Val, you feel like ponying up the cash for this one.¡± Hiring a portal user was prohibitively expensive, only a veteran like Valerie would be able to afford the service without hardship. The knights¡¯ coffers were dead empty after spending it all on crystals and Gavin¡¯s various projects. She handed over a thick pouch of coins that Thromok painstakingly counted before summoning a ritual circle on the ground that appeared as a ring of stone flags with runes carved like creeping tree vines. The four wardens stood in the circle as he activated the portal, swirling branch-like growths of ether wrapped around them as the teleportation magic enveloped them. Gavin gave the man a cheery wave as light engulfed him, in an instant transporting them further than he¡¯d ever gone in one jump. They reappeared into a dank dark room. The portal shut off the instant they were through leaving them alone in a stone cell barely big enough for standing room. Valerie acted first, slamming a fist into the wall, yelping in pain. Gavin felt his various magical effects wink out. Judy looked around in confusion as her vision suddenly returned to normal human eyesight. ¡°Anti magic field. It''s strong¡± Valerie stated matter of factly. ¡°Thromok set us up?¡± Sam asked. ¡°Looks like, yeah.¡± Gavin agreed. ¡°We need to work together, we need to get out of here, now. Look around for something, anything¡± Sam said, her resolve making her sound more confident than she felt. ¡°We¡¯re in a stone box. Can anyone feel a door?¡± Judy asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Nadda.¡± ¡°I bet old mate has us in an underground bunker where the only way in or out is through the portal.¡± ¡°That''d be my guess too.¡± Sam said. ¡°Shit. I''m sorry, this is my fault¡± Val groaned. ¡°No, this isn''t something you can blame yourself for, none of us got bad vibes from that guy¡± Sam said, reassuring her. ¡°Someone could have bought off every portal user in the city if they wanted us bad enough.¡± ¡°Okay, I think we should plan for what we do when they portal us back¡± Gavin said. ¡°What makes you think they won''t just leave us here for a month, then portal our corpses out?¡± Val asked. ¡°Two reasons, first, anyone willing to pay to have a portal user do this for them is going to want to monologue to us. Second, this place doesn''t smell like shit or death¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± ¡°If they''ve used this place before, the captives haven''t been here long enough to piss or shit themselves, or die in here. The smell of death you can''t get out¡± ¡°There are any number of spells and potions that can get that smell out¡± ¡°Yeah, ok, sure, but are they going to use them to clean out the death pit a kilometre under a mountain? I wouldn''t.¡± ¡°Okay, so, we¡¯re assuming we¡¯ll be out of here in an hour or three. Let''s come up with some ideas about how they might set up a room on the other side to subdue us instantly and make up contingencies from there.¡± Sam said. The four discussed various methods for their possible containment and how they should react. They made plans for if they weren''t able to speak, move or see, if they were transported to a room full of third, second or first tier fighters ready to give them a beat down or just force them to go somewhere. Gavin found himself enjoying this game, managing to compartmentalise the horror of immanent death or torture. His attitude rubbed off on the party who faced their challenge, Judy especially coming up with creative ways to refine Gavins big picture ideas ehile Sam and Val gamed out the specific tactics they should use. Three hours later the room flared to life nearly blinding them. The same ethereal branches wrapped up around them and, with a flash of light, they were gone. SEVENTEEN. Not today. ¡°Scenario two¡± Gavin groaned ¡°so fuckin lame.¡± They were in the underground arena. Brilliant lights battered their eyes that had grown accustomed to the darkness. They were trapped inside a dome of light, swirling pearlescent streaks like a soap bubble. Outside of the dome stood Steven and Harold Stewardson, an older man and woman who looked vaguely related to them, and four other bodyguards. All were dressed in expensive armour and were eagre to fight. The stands were packed with people, as many as had been in here on the night that had set this all into motion. Gavin felt his access to his powers return, he palmed a ring from his inventory and back to check. ¡°Is that Harold or Stevens mum and dad?¡± Gavin asked Sam, pointing at the older man and woman who were now talking to the crowd. ¡°Stevens, they''re the heads of the Stewardsons household, Vance and Geraldine, both level three, I''d expect the guards are all level two.¡± ¡°Variant four then?¡± Gavin asked. ¡°Ugh, fine, you know I don''t like that one.¡± ¡°Yeah, but the first part is fun at least.¡± ¡°For you.¡± Gavin strode to the edge of their barrier and tapped it. The bubble appeared to be a typical energy shield, probably level three, he''d be hard pressed to damage it. He couldn''t hear what they were saying outside, meaning they probably couldn''t hear what he was saying inside ¡°Oi cock womble.¡± Gavin yelled, cupping his hands to the dome. Harold smirked even more broadly at him. ¡°Those assholes¡± Gavin complained ¡°they blocked me from being able to talk.¡± ¡°Gavin, if I know you at all I know you''ll find a way to piss them off.¡± ¡°Too fuckin right I will¡± thinking a moment Gavin snapped his fingers. ¡°Hey Judy, can you make an illusion of the old lady there violating her husband with a cactus?¡± ¡°What''s a cactus?¡± ¡°Ahh, spikey plant that grows in the desert.¡± ¡°I don''t think so, it''s probably too complicated.¡± ¡°What about if you make it as crude as possible, it''ll really sell the effect. Also, add in an arrow and point it at them.¡± Judy concentrated a moment, making a small sign in front of her. ¡°What is this? A sign for ants? It has to be at least three times bigger than this.¡± ¡°Uhh, okay.¡± Judy said, making it somewhat larger. ¡°No, I mean like massive can you make it as big as this dome?¡± ¡°I can try, Judy said, stretching the image in all directions, soon the child''s drawing of Stevens mum and dad having intimate relations filled the free space inside the dome. ¡°Fuckin brilliant Judy.¡± ¡°It''s quite a strain on my mana.¡± ¡°Got it, don''t overdo it, wait, I''ve got a better idea.¡± He said, feeding a little of his own mana over to top her up. Gavin reached into his inventory to access the prodigious amount of wood stored in there, drawing it out and fabricating it into larger than life effigies of their abductors. Vance and Geraldine were performing a similar action to Judy''s illusion, with a reasonably accurate two metre long cactus. Harold was on his knees in front of Steven who was giving his dad a hand, while the guards stood around in a circle seeming to enjoy the scene. Gavin was especially proud of how realistic he got the clothing scattered on the ground to look. To remove any doubt, Gavin laid out sticks on the ground to form an arrow pointing at the group outside the dome, then an note that read ¡°Vance¡± with an arrow ¡°Geraldine¡± and another arrow, ¡°Steven and Harold¡± with a third. ¡°I think they noticed.¡± Judy said. ¡°They sure have¡± Gavin said, laughing at the Stewardsons who were growing quite red, anger flashing in their eyes. They''d stopped addressing the crowd and were seeming to yell something at Gavin, who cupped his hand to his ear then made a palms up shrug. Suddenly the dome swirled with colour going opaque. ¡°Touched a nerve there¡± Sam said. ¡°Of course, they met him.¡± said Val with a resigned tone in her voice. ¡°This affront to my mockery will not stand¡± Gavin fumed. ¡°Well, we can''t do anything now, they can''t see or hear us.¡± ¡°Can''t smell us either. Can''t tou- huh.¡± ¡°Huh what?¡± ¡°Ahh, something Soliece wouldn''t like me explaining.¡± ¡°Just do whatever it is.¡± ¡°Here''s hoping this works.¡± Gavin returned his wooden construction to his inventory, fully intact, not only would it be a waste of mana to deconstruct it, he might want it later, if even as a collectors item, it was his masterpiece like the trojan horse in Troy. Next, he removed several bars of iron from his inventory fabricating into sheets that he formed into a colossal cone that he pressed to the dome. He Scribed some runes into the mouthpiece of the cone he thought he would never need again then funneled a bit of mana into them. His task complete, he put his mouth to his makeshift device. ¡°Oi, dingleberries¡± Gavin''s voice boomed ¡°Wait, that might not translate for you guys very well, a dingleberry is like a bit of shit that''s dried in the ass hairs of a sheep, oh, a sheep is like a swamptrotter, except covered in wool, and without the hard face, its-¡± ¡°Gavin, we have sheep here¡± Sam said. ¡°Wait? You''re telling me I could have been eating mutton this whole time? I''ve been eating lizard steaks when there were lamb chops? This is the worst thing to happen to me since I got to this world, and I once had to spend two days with Harold, God that guy is a douche. Oh, ahh, a douche is a device a lady uses to clean out her, you know, not to imply that Harold is literally a douche that his auntie uses, anyway, it''s just an expression from my world.¡± ¡°Gavin''s homeworld must be absolutely devastated he left to come here.¡± Judy said to no one in particular. ¡°So anyway, man I hope this is all coming through, I''m going to be really disappointed if I''ve been rambling this whole time and no one''s heard it.¡± Gavin continued unabated. ¡°Oh, we''ve had to hear it.¡± Valerie complained. ¡°Quiet you. Anyway, this is our formal notice that since you have elected to kill us, we decline to do your dirty work anymore. I think we''d all be better off if we just came clean, took our lumps in jail for the conspiracy we committed to get you guys elected, and live out the rest of our lives in peace when we get out.¡± The dome dropped, revealing a livid looking family in front of them ¡°Lies!¡± Geraldine screeched at the same time as her husband. Gavin continued on unperturbed ¡°This is what we in my world, which isn''t this one by the way, I''m an from a whole different one, call a false flag operation, a country that plans an attack on its own people then blames it on their neighbour as a pretence to go to war with them for-¡± Gavin was cut short by a bolt of lightning that smashed him in the chest, felling him where he stood. He dragged his cone down with him, the whole contraption tumbling to the stone floor beside him. Gavin was dimly aware of commotion, flashing lights and sounds of steel scraping on steel, but his world was closing in on him, eyes going dim as arcs of electricity crackled across his scorched flesh. Gavin felt himself drift into the void, surrounded by darkness. He felt almost content, knowing he''d made a difference here, everything would be okay, wouldn''t it? His friends would be okay, he could just drift off into the great nothing. He could feel his soul fraying at the edges, dissolving back into the ether. Except. Except his friends were not okay. His friends were fighting for their lives around his corpse. They might only have moments, Sam and Val might be fine for a time, but that time would be short. He''d be god damned fuckin ashamed to let them fight while he lay on his back and let them die. Also, to a lesser extent, it¡¯d be really fuckin dumb if he, a sparky, died to some fuckin electricity spell. How. Fuckin. Embarrassing. [Title: Defender of the weak.] [sacrificing your life in the attempt to aid another has marked your soul. Your soul has adapted to keep you alive through severe wounds. Your [Constitution] attribute has increased. When you take near fatal damage a last burst of healing energy will automatically heal your wounds] Pain flooded into Gavins lungs as reality slammed back into him. He was alive and whole, the scene around him burned vividly into his eyes. Immediately in front of him Harold and Steven were on the ground, Harold was missing his whole shoulder, his arm connected by a flap of armpit. Steven was desperately trying to scoop his intestines back into his body like he was an actor in a D-Day movie. Judy was down too, a streak of glassed stone next to her on one side and a blackened patch of broken stone to the other, she was alive but dazed, gasping air like a fish out of water. Sam was in rough shape, her tree form was heavily battered as she swung her sword ineffectually at Geraldine who was dodging back out of reach with inhuman speed while Vance harried her with arrows from his bow, blasting chunks of wood off her body. Valerie had dealt with all of the guards before she¡¯d fallen, unmoving. ¡°Not today¡± Gavin howled, throwing himself into the air as tendrils of life streamed out of his body and into his friends. Instead of taking one of his wands or his new staff from his inventory he equipped an experimental weapon of his own design, shouldering the weapon and pointing the bulbous end towards Geraldine as she launched herself at Sam for the killing blow. [Item: Gavins experimental Magic Propelled Grenade-adjacent launcher thingy] [Type: Weapon, explosive] [Rarity: Level 1, Epic] [Description: A one use device designed with the intention of making one thing turn into many things] [Effect: propels a warhead(?) Filled with various chemical compounds towards the target. Device detonates on contact mixing the chemical compounds inside the device] Gavin watched the grenade explode out of the launcher at Geraldine, he slammed his will into the end to punch it faster through the air and guide it into his enemy. Geraldine noticed the device too late, in mid air and unable to divert her course as she leapt at Sam. It caught her in the ribs, blasting her backward before erupting in a purple-green fireball that burst outwards with a blistering concussion wave. Gavin was thrown back to slam into the barrier that ringed the arena, Sam smashed into it too a second later, her tree form shattering, leaving her bruised and bloody body to crumple next to him. Judy was down again as well, having just regained her feet. Valerie was on one knee trying to stand to face off against Vance who was staring at his wife in horror. Geraldine staggered to her feet, her torso torn asunder. She¡¯down been split in half at the navel, left half of her rib cage, arm neck hanging off one side and the other arm and right ribcage hanging off to drag along the ground, intestines, lungs, heart and other various organs her body cavity flowed out of her in a waterfall of gore. She took four staggering steps, lightning crackling from one hand that dragged across the stone before crumbling to ash, as if the very molecular bonds holding her atoms together just gave up. ¡°What have you done!¡± Vance wailed, turning his bow on Gavin. Six arrows were in the air before Gavin had even noticed the first being shot, with a moment to react he ether warped to appear a few metres away, the arrows smashing into the wall beside him, gouging chunks out of the heavily enchanted barrier. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! He shunted more energy into his friends, feeling his energy dip as he burned through his potions, coins, stored crafting resources, then into his magic items, wands, his throwing star, dinosaur cloak, thousands of enchanted rings prepared over the past days to protect him and his friends. Spent, he fell back, clinging to the edge of life with his fingertips as his friends rose to their feet. Fully restored. Sam''s tree form returned as she dodged and sprinted across the arena, arrows blasting her to ribbons as she attacked. Judy shot her own bow back at Vance who easily sidestepped the arrows as if they were barely worth looking at even as they split into two and curved in to hit him. Valerie was there in a flash, her dancing swords slashing at him from every direction. He was taking some hits but not many, thin trickles of blood seeped from his flesh as her razor sharp blades did little but scratch him. Then Sam was there too, adding her sword into the fight. Vance didn''t appear to have any teleport based powers, just the sheer strength and speed of a demigod. He dropped his bow, taking out a longsword that he used to eviscerate Sam, slashing her legs out from under her with a single attack. ¡°No¡± Gavin groaned as Vance slid his sword into Valerie''s chest, pinning her to the ground, a feral look in his eyes. Then he turned his eyes on Gavin, murder on his face. Slowly he stalked towards the prone Gavin, letting Judy''s arrows smash into him as he walked. Red welts formed where her they exploded across his face. He raised his sword, ready to bring it down on Gavin''s head. Then his eyes flashed with bright white light. Vance flinched, giving Gavin a moment to flop to the side. When he looked up he saw his attackers eyes were strobing black, white, yellow, orange, pink, blue. The colours were changing faster and faster as a high pitched squeal pierced Gavins ears and drove him to distraction. Judy. Determined, gritting her teeth Judy''s hands were a blur as she poured all of her mana into her bow, refreshing the enchantment to empower her arrows, sending a constant stream of explosions at Vance''s face. Whipping his sword around wildly, unable to close his eyes against the onslaught of sensory overload, Vance thrashed in the direction the pain was coming from. As he closed the distance she jumped to the other end of the arena bombarding him with arrows from the other direction. The fight was not pretty, it took more than ten minutes of Judy bludgeoning Vance to death with pinpricks, he was completely unable to defend against her, not able to find her to kill her. Finally, he went down. Judy continued hammering his body until his face was nothing more than pulp. Judy fell to one knee, struggling to maintain her balance. The fight was done. The knights broken, but not beaten. A long moment of stunned silence followed before the arena erupted in applause and shouting. They''d just seen four level one fighters defeat eight enemies, including two level three and several level two fighters. The fact one of the knights was actually level two made absolutely no difference, this story would spread like wildfire. A wash of green light flooded the arena, restoring Gavin''s health along with his friends. Standing to dust himself off, he sauntered over to the healer standing at the open entrance. ¡°Cheers for the heal mate, what''s ya name? I''m Gavin¡± ¡°Lance.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Lance, anyway, I''m gonna go have a yarn with my mates.¡± He said, turning his back on the man. ¡°Hey wait.¡± Lance called to his back. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don''t have a healer on your team?¡± ¡°Observant¡± Gavin confirmed. ¡°Can I join?¡± ¡°You a priest of Florrin?¡± ¡°Ahh, yes, actually.¡± ¡°How long were you watching out there?¡± ¡°I ahh, that is to say, I knew I¡¯d be needed here so I came, I got here right as the bubble shield came down.¡± ¡°And you didn''t jump in earlier to help us out?¡± ¡°No, I ahh, well, they would have killed me.¡± ¡°You wouldn''t be a good fit mate, sorry.¡± Gavin said, sauntering back to his friends. ¡°Alright team. Time to go?¡± Gavin said, pulling his friends into a hug. [Title: forged in battle] [Your team has fought and lived through battles that should have killed you, bonding your souls together] [Gain a limited telepathic bond with allies. Range and level restrictions are reduced for allies that share this ability. ] ¡°Neat.¡± Gavin said, reading their new ability. ¡°One last thing before we get out of this town, reckon we could see if scenario twelve variation three works?¡± Sam asked the group. ¡°Fine by me.¡± Valerie laughed. ¡°Me too.¡± Judy said. Gavins portal opened beside them, an inky black void in the middle of the gore strewn arena. ¡°Gavin, you know I can''t use that.¡± Val said frowning ¡°You couldn''t use that, pretty sure you can now, try it.¡± Grinning ear to ear he watched as she walked through. The team followed behind her, the noise of the crowd at their backs vanishing as they emerged at the Starbourne estate. ¡°Judy, did I tell you that spell was one of the best or what?¡± Gavin laughed as Sam pushed open the doors to her former house ¡°Sam, are you going to take back what you said about Judy''s power?¡± ¡°Gavin, banter later, we have to set a tone, remember¡± Sam said in a hushed voice. ¡°Fine. But we are definitely discussing this at length back in the bat cave. Did you know I actually died again back there? I¡¯m pretty sure that title I have actually gives me a free life on a cooldown, not just a one off thing.¡± ¡°You what?¡± Judy asked, astonished. Sam stalked through her parents home, her heavy armour clanking on solid stone. She led them down the main corridor and into a room on her right. ¡°Mother! Father!¡± she bellowed ¡°Entertaining room. Now.¡± Her party followed her inside to sit on the couch and chairs facing the door. Gavin stood behind them, his back to the door gazing out the window contemplatively. ¡°Too much tone Gavin¡± Sam whispered. ¡°Oh. Right, this is your show.¡± Gavin sat down at an empty chair, resisting the urge to put his feet up on the table. He made a gesture to summon a beer from his inventory, but was disappointed to learn all of their food and drinks were gone, consumed to keep his friends alive minutes before. He''d have to remember that they each owed him a beer for saving their lives. ¡°Samania?¡± Griffon called, his footsteps rushing down the hall. Griffon barrelled into the room, rushing to his daughter, arms outstretched. Sam stared at him coldly and he faltered. ¡°Sit¡± she commanded ¡°we¡¯re here to talk, then we¡¯re leaving. Where is mother?¡± ¡°Here¡± came Anabelle Starbournes brittle voice ¡°you came back.¡± ¡°Not for long. We plan on leaving, we won''t be back. Ever.¡± ¡°You can''t leave!¡± she squawked. Her face was stretched thin, heavy purple bags marred her bloodshot eyes. ¡°Yes mother, I can, I can go where I damned well please.¡± ¡°You haven''t heard? The Stewardsons want our blood, your blood, I, we, can protect you.¡± Anabelle said. ¡°Ha¡± Samania laughed coldly ¡°do you know where we¡¯ve just been?¡± ¡°Ahh-¡± ¡°We were just abducted by the Stewardsons and brought to the arena to be puvlically executed.¡± ¡°How di-¡± ¡°Steven Stewardson is dead.¡± ¡°You ki-¡± ¡°Harold Stevenson is dead.¡± ¡°Both-¡± ¡°I. Am. Talking. Mother.¡± Sam said, ice dripping from her breath ¡°Four of their level two guards are dead. Geraldine Stewardson is dead. Vance Stewardson is dead. We. Us four. Killed them in fair combat. You cannot stop us from leaving and we. Don''t. Need. Your. Protection.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°The power of friendship.¡± Gavin said, unable to help himself. ¡°Sorry, as you were, doing great by the way¡± He sat back, miming zipping his lips then when he was satisfied Sam wasnt looking motioned drinking from a bottle to Judy. ¡°That''s impossible.¡± Griffon said. ¡°No. It happened. There were thousands of witnesses, the story will be out by now.¡± ¡°Then-¡± ¡°I''ve come here to talk at you, mother, not to you. We¡¯ve solved the mess you created As far as the public are concerned, the Stewardsons bribed, or blackmailed our team to make it look as though this house was trying to attack them to make them look like victims for their own political game. We confessed to our part of the false conspiracy then killed anyone who knew that we were lying. It is now your problem to take care of the details, I don''t want to hear a word of anyone from this town wanting to inconvenience us in any way. I want you to remove any black marks from our records with the guild and you to stay out our way.¡± ¡°Thats-¡± ¡°In exchange, we will forget about your conduct the last time we met. You know Paragon gave Gavin an actual piece of his soul and shielded him from your scrying for coming to my aid. If you think you were in any way in the right for your actions you are wrong.¡± Sam glanced at Gavin who sent her back a thought through their new telepathic link. ¡°Now you can talk, have you got anything to say for yourselves, either of you?¡± ¡°Samania, don''t do this, you can stay here.¡± Her mother pleaded. ¡°Not a chance. I''m going out to make my own way, just like you always wanted, just on my terms, not yours.¡± ¡°We only wanted what was best-¡± Griffon whined, his powerful demeanor looked haggard and hollow now. ¡°You only ever wanted what was best for you, father, not for me.¡± She glanced at Gavin again who held out five fingers, dropping one then another. ¡°Goodbye father, I hope you grow a spine one day.¡± A portal rose up between the Lord and Lady of the house, Sam stepped through, Gavin and Judy teleporting beside it and followed her through, while Val, completely blocked from sight, stood to walk through last. *** ¡°Top tier monologue Sam¡± Gavin said, high fiving her ¡°didn''t know you had it in you.¡± Sam let out a long held breath watching her hands tremble. Judy put a hand on her shoulder for support. Sam looked up, beaming at her friend''s ¡°Thanks team, I couldn''t have done it without you there.¡± smShe said, pulling them in for a bone crushing hug. ¡°No worries mate¡± Gavin said ¡°so, where to now? Wanna go find that portal user and give him a bit of a kicking?¡± ¡°Sounds like as good a plan as any.¡± Sam said. ¡°Lead on then chief.¡± The four knights of the round table set off on their next adventure, the beating sun casting long shadows behind them. ¡°Ahh shit.¡± Gavin groaned ¡°those Stewardsons had a bunch of gear I could have looted, also, I may have eaten all our beds to keep you alive.¡± ¡°You what?¡± Sam yelled rounding on him. ¡°Your camping supplies too. We pretty much only have anything Judy has in her inventory and your dimensional bag.¡± ¡°I left my bag in the estate the night of the incident.¡± Sam said. ¡°I''m not going back in there to get it.¡± ¡°That''s right, yeah, well, we only have what''s in Judy''s inventory then.¡± ¡°I only have arrows, you had all the party funds.¡± ¡°Jesus, fuck guys.¡± Gavin groaned ¡°I super don''t want to have to clear contracts tonight. I want dinner and a beer, we fuckin earned it.¡± Behind him Judy took a long loud slurp of an ice cold pint, foam covering her upper lip and the tip of her nose. ¡°Please tell me you have more than one.¡± Gavin begged. ¡°Please.¡±