Learning to ride a horse wasn't going nearly so well as learning to fall off of a horse. Ben made it Rowan Keep with only few mishaps. He quickly talked to the captain there, explaining the message he had received. The captain knew nothing about a traveling group of paladins, but did confirm the return of Chardok the necro-wolf. He was back, even stronger than before and had been the cause of much death among the local adventuring groups.

They got back on the road, this time headed west and a bit south. This wasn't to Mudhead's liking. A quick trip to Rowan, some oats and a leisurely walk back? Not a problem. But the roan didn’t like traveling down strange roads and the chunk of horribly balanced human on his back upset him. He was doing his best, but he was getting the most confusing directions from the reins. Several times he'd been told to abruptly slow down or stop, and then his rider kept going, leaping over his head to land in the dirt. Worse! he then looked accusingly at the horse as if it was his fault.

Ben noticed the unease of the horse, but lacked the skill to interpret the reason. He had a bad habit of pulling back on the reins when he felt himself slipping. The first time, this resulted in Mudhead stopping abruptly with Ben flying over the horse's head and belly flopping into the dirt road.

The second time he managed to land on his hands, tucked his head, and turn his momentum into a forward roll. Becoming daring, he planned a dismount, pulling the horse to a stop, pulling off the forward roll and coming up on his feet. Riding was still tough, but he was getting the hang of falling off a horse.

He didn't have any acrobatic skills to help, but he did have years of pulling such stunts in other games, and had practiced tumbling and acrobatics in the real world. Every hab-block had abandoned areas. He and Suzette had spent a lot of time using make-shift equipment to learn the basics. It wasn't easy, but he could learn to do it again. The game must have agreed.

Generally something only veteran circus riders would attempt, and yet you've learned how to pull off an acrobatic dismount before you can even stay in the saddle!

You have gained the skill Flamboyant Dismount This is a Primary Skill governed by Agility.

Ben celebrated with a sip of water and some dried meat. Mudhead got watered and given a quick bit of oats to keep him happy. They still had a long way to go, and a short time to get there.

Another dozen miles to the southeast was Brackerton. As much like Sedgewick as two peas in a pod, if you took away a few things like sedge beasts and a forgotten city. Due west the road took him, first through Burlsford, and then into Thunderhead. The town of Thunderhead had a bit more going for it. A fast-moving river came out of the mountains, providing power for several mills.

Mattias had told him that a couple of hundred years ago the town had thrived, processing ores brought down from mines in the nearby hills. Most of those were delved out and abandoned now, the mills grinding grain or turned into sawmills. The town buildings seemed a bit rundown and the people sullen. Ben had planned to stop here for the night, but there was still an hour or two of daylight, and something bothered him about the town. He kept going.

Four miles past Thunderhead, he rounded a bend and saw a commotion up the road. A horse was down in the road, with a large wolf attacking it. Three more wolves were circling it's rider and trying to flank them. Ben held on tight and kicked the roan in the flanks. The horse surged ahead and Ben stayed on.

Getting closer Ben suddenly noticed that it was a courier being hard pressed by the wolves. Buff pants were tucked into knee-high riding boots. A lacy, long-sleeved tunic was covered by a leather vest, and a hat similar to his own sat on her head. Her long coat was in her left hand, being used to snap out and entangle a wolf when it lunged. Her right held a calvary Sabre that glinted in the light of the setting sun.

As he charged forward, Ben realized he had no clue of what he was going to do. His only weapon was a whip, not a great weapon on the charge. He cursed ACME and their limitations on contract workers. A saber like the woman he was rushing to save would have been ideal for this fight. He was rapidly running out of road, so he focused on the matter at hand. Reining in the roan hard, he kicked out of the stirrups and did his best to complete a full flip on the dismount. He landed on one of the wolves feet first, knocking it prone. Unable to stop he tumbled forward into another wolf.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the woman thrust her saber through the skull of the wolf he had knocked to the ground, and caught the attack of the other on her left arm. The layers of heavy leather protected her arm and the wolf held on tight trying to bear down. She re-armed by pulling a dagger stabbing into the beast’s neck.

Ben meanwhile, found himself in a wrestling contest with the other wolf. It was currently a tie. Ben had wrapped his legs around its body, squeezing hard and keeping it's jaws away from him with hands on its throat. The wolf tried to claw him, but his armored coat held. He tried to strangle the wolf, but lacked the strength. They rolled over and over in the dirt, neither getting an advantage.

"I think he's weakening, if you keep that up for a couple more days you have him." The musical sound of female laughter accompanied her encouraging words.

Ben gasped out, "That was the plan, but I really am pressed for time. Possibly you could help?"

More laughter, and then the wolf quit moving. The woman had thrust what he saw to be a glowing silvered dagger into its side. "I must say, there is something attractive about a man who knows his limits. Any of my brothers would have insisted on fighting the thing for hours."

Ben stood up and dusted himself off while trying to not stare at the woman in front of him. From tight pants to a tight vest over an ample chest, she looked much better in courier gear than he did. She looked to be in her late twenties.

She shook out her coat, and grimaced at the holes the wolves’ teeth and claws had put into it. "I lose more coats." She eyed Ben's coat. "Yours held up well to the claws. A few scratches to buff out, but that's all. You'll have to tell me where you had it made."

A woman who appreciated a fine coat, if Ben hadn't been smitten already, he was now. He offered his hand. "It's my own work, actually. Benjamin Franklin the 7th, at your service, Milady."

The woman started to shake his hand, paused, and then continued. "Well, this is a surprise. We had no idea you were even alive. A pleasure to meet you. Harmony, of the House of Franklin. I believe we are 5th cousins."

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The fifth and final group had just returned from the dungeon. This outing had gone, much better. Timmy had made sure each group had an objective, and emphasized low risk, and clearing of the trash mobs. Only three people had died out of the five groups. Each one had killed an elite boss in some part of the upper levels.

Far fewer roaming patrols were seen, and large areas had been cleared out of rat-kin, undead, and a den of carnivorous capybaras. With five elite bosses killed, and a couple hundred rat-kin exterminated, the dungeon was down to 47%. Suzette gave the go ahead for a full raid the next day.

The loot she collected consisted of some very shiny bars of silver that were slightly magical, a magical dagger, and a set of plate gauntlets. Those all went to ACME; she'd take the first item tomorrow.

Her hopes of Timmy finding a nice item for trading against her shield didn't work out. They did find a magical staff, but other than summoning butterflies that swirled around the user, it was just a pretty stick. Nothing against a pretty stick, or butterflies, but she'd hold out for a better trade.

The drinking was mild, in anticipation of the raid the next morning, but still a profitable night. The inn and other shops in the village were also doing very well with the sudden influx of adventurers. Aliester and Zephyr were making potions non-stop. Zephyr still wanted to become an adventurer, but she was getting a firsthand lesson in why alchemists made money no matter how successful the raids were.

===================================================================

Ozzy was spending the early part of the morning working in the charnel pit. Before he could do another batch of meat, it needed some work. Large amounts of black ash had accumulated in the pit. He shoveled this into barrels and took it over to the fields. One of the farmers had commented that the soil in some areas was too acidic. Good for berries and tomatoes, but not for groats, wheat, and barley. Ash would help. Maybe. He wasn't so sure about ash from a magical pit bar-b-que.

After that chore was done, he took a look at the fire pit. The coals at the bottom were still glowing, just barely. The stone around the pit was now glazed and blackened. The loose stone bricks had turned into a blackened brick wall. He carefully started digging a stair out of the pit to make it easier to get up and down. No messages came and nothing happened so he assumed this didn't affect anything. After the stairway was dug, he laid down flat stone for steps.

Jorges had produced some metal poles for him. One end went two feet into the hard ground, leaving a four-foot-tall pointed stake sticking up. Twenty-four sedge beast carcasses got impaled on these. This would make it easier for the smoke to reach them.

Once he had the meat on the stakes, he piled up a couple of cord of wood in the fire pit. He wasn't quite sure how to start the thing. But when he tried to bring up the menu from before he got a similar message.

The Charnel Pit of the Butcher is ready to BURN!

You have enough fuel and ingredients to make the following:

-Screaming Charcoal. (Missing ingredient: Screaming sentient.)

-Smoke Golem. (Missing ingredient: 2000 mana. May be added slowly over four hours.)

-Tasty Dark Roasted Sedge Beast. Requires 12 hours of time.

Please select an option.

He pondered the Smoke Golem. It sounded like an assistant to help in the pit. Turning sausages had been mentioned. He had 1060 mana. If he started it up, put in all his mana, and took a nap, he could just get in the 2000 needed in four hours. Selecting both the Dark Roasted Sedge Beast and the Smoke Golem, he concentrated on starting the pit.

The fire roared to life, with all of the wood seeming to burn at once and tumble into the fire pit. Like before a white-hot flame lanced up and out of the pit. He wondered how he added the mana. He picked up his bill hook and pointed the 'tongs' at the pit. The description said it could act like a magic staff, maybe it would work here.

The bill hook glowed and he felt a rush of...something...leave him. He was suddenly very sleepy and hungry.

The BURNING! of Dark Roasted Sedge Beast x24 started.

The creation of a Smoke Golem has started. Mana: 1060/2000

Tool detected. Do you wish to attune 'Tongs' to the Charnel Pit? Y/N?

Clicking yes, the bill hook was suddenly ripped from his hand, and the weapon was drawn over to the fire where it stuck into the center of the pit, tip down.

"Shit, I was sort of getting attached to that thing. Should have tossed it the caber instead."

He shrugged, who the hell knew what was going to happen when you messed with magic. Time for a break. Sitting down with his back against a tree, Ozzy watched the fire burn in the pit. Being this close would have left blisters on anyone else, but he barely felt it.

Might as well catch up on paperwork while he was sitting here. He'd saved three Core Skill Points from the big chunk they got from killed the demon. Snik'tik and Skartongue had added another five and three, bringing his total to eleven. Looking over the list, he considered the other of Steel.

It looked like it gave him a chance to land a stunning blow with his fists. Considering that was his only weapon most of the time, that seemed like a good deal. He paid the seven points. His left hand itched a bit, and then got slightly bigger, and his skin hardened up. A similar thing had happened to his right hand when he took One fist of Iron. Not something most people would notice. Well, not unless he was hitting them.

Mitigation was the other skill he'd looked at. It would give him the equivalent of a little bit of armor. For two points spent, he could ignore the first ten damage off of most hits. Well, physical hits. It wouldn't help against something like a life drain. He saved the other two points. Lots more things to buy later on.

That out of the way, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Time for a nap.

Down below in the pit, smoke swirled around the sedge beast carcasses, burning the dark mana they held and sucking it into the charnel pit, leaving the meat tender and much better tasting. The dark mana mixed with the smoke, growing thicker and thicker. Two fiery eyes opened up.