"So, what are you spending your points on?" Suzette was looking at options, but for once was holding off, and strangely hesitant to spend her points. More and more it was sinking in that this wasn't a game anymore, nor just a job she could drop and walk away from. She was 'Suzette, the Lonely Barmaid' - maybe for a long time.

She was curious what Ozzy was going to do with his big chunk of points. All of the talk about strategies, coupled with a bottle wine, made the job of picking skills seem less urgent.

"Not quite sure, but I think I need to buy smoke magic before I do anything else. It's expensive at 25 points, but now would be the time to get it. Skills like that, especially magical ones, are always going to be hard for us to get.

And I have to admit, even with just the little bit I have, it makes a big difference. Not so much the curse, that's just a combat ability. Cleanse I use all the time. The ability to clean up after a hard day’s work is a real keeper. I can't imagine what real spells would be like."

Suzette agreed, "You should absolutely do that. When are you ever going to have this many points to spend? Grab your magic. It's part of your main skills. Just do it."

Ozzy smiled down at her, "You aren't jealous that Ben and I got some real magic skills? You do great with your cantrips, but I know you want to do more than that."

"No. Not jealous at all."

"Maybe if I didn't have any magic, but I’ve got some fun things. It may take some work to get the most out of them, but I enjoy that. The cantrips are a mixed lot. You never know what you are going to get, but they all have uses. And my Solar Arrow is really juiced up now."

Ozzy concentrated for a bit, "Ok, done. 25 CSP tossed to Smoke of a Distant Fire. I wonder what happens next? Joe said something about visiting someone called 'Old Smoke'."

"Ha! With your luck it will be an alcoholic dragon addicted to fine cigars. How much does that leave you?"

Ozzy shook his head sadly, "I barely have 35 CSP after that big expenditure. Just not sure what to do with so little."

Suzette had a sudden urge to test her new hair sticks out by poking her boyfriend with them, but held off. With her luck he'd survive and gain points from it. "So unfair. Next time I get to kill the huge nasty critter and you cower in a hole."

"I'm OK with that. I get the feeling it's going to be a long walk home next time I die. No express trip."

He brought up some old messages and shared them with her, "But, looking at some of the things we were notified about when we hit tier 2, I'm worried about skills I didn't pick up before then. It looks like the cost might keep going up as we hit a higher tier. That would make buying little piddly abilities from tier one cost a lot in later tiers. The ability to see magical things I'm not too worried about; the first level will do. You have that covered. But seeing in the dark I need; dungeons are too dim.

"And the mitigation skill is something I really need to keep up with. We can't wear armor and if I'm going to be the group’s tank, I should focus on those skills now, so I can take them into Tier 2, and not have to play more catch up. That leaves 5 points."

Suzette was looking over the skills list herself, mostly looking for things that would help Ozzy with his agility or perception, "Did you take the jumping ability yet? I agree with Rolly. That one will be useful. And did you put aside points for Tier 2 prodigy?"

Ozzy scanned his sheet, "Oh, dammit. I actually spent points on Tier 1 prodigy, and never picked a skill. Leroy started a fight as I was doing skills and things never slowed down after that."

Suzette shook her head, "You're getting old and senile already? Damn, I was hoping to keep you around a few decades. Then again, all those lean muscles don't really need a mind to go with them. I'll keep you after all."

"Keep it up and I'll take tickling. At least that would be a DEX skill."

"Did you ever consider a cooking skill? You smoke all that meat, but what about grilling? That might be separate from cooking skills and you could take it," Suzette wanted the subject changed quickly, she hated being tickled.

Ozzy thought a bit and tried to select it for his open prodigy slot. "Wow! it worked, you’re a genius."

You have gained the Tertiary DEX skill: Grilling

This is one of the oldest of cooking skills.

"I'm going to take that level in Jumping Jack from Tier 1, and then save the last 3 points. Then I've got that thousand EP to put into a skill. Did you notice it said 'Event EP' and that we can use it for any skill?"

Suzette looked at the notification, "You're right. It doesn't have to be a skill we used in a fight. Interesting. What are you thinking? I can feel the wheels turning."

"Well, it seems like raising the Demon Slaying skill before we have to fight any might be better than fighting demons to raise the skill. Plus, I could even out my COR and RAD. Both would be at 11 points each." Ozzy had become more and more worried about the effects of his high COR. The incident with Timmy and Brandon came to mind. Granted, he'd had reason to be mad, but that had been a full on berserker rage. If he did that in a dungeon, he'd end up killing friends as well as foes.

Suzette nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. Let's keep you from becoming some demon butcher and sprouting horns. And let me know if you notice too much radiance affecting me.

That sorts you out nicely, although I think you need an agility-based skill. And we all need to get one for perception."

"My turn, let me know what you think."

"I've only got 20 CSP, unlike some people. I'll be good and buy a rank of prodigy for a STR skill, but I'm also buying some magical skills for 5 points. I think I'll take both ranks in Jumping Jack. I wish there were more ranks in Un-noticed and Silent Step. Those are the only stealth skills I've seen pop up so far."

Ozzy looked at her choices, "Distant Shot 2 is a solid buy. Gives you a ton of range, and range is good for a mage. Jumping Jack can help in tight spots, like when we had to get people up in the rafters before the weasels got to us."

"I'm undecided on how well the stealth skills will help you. Trying to put some sneakiness into your skills? I guess it might pay off down the line if you get some sort of spy class offered to you."

Suzette nodded innocently, "Who knows what might happen?"

=*=

Rolly and Squirmie had just finished off a delightful late dinner of grilled Sedge Beast liver. Rolly looked for a bulge in his bug, but couldn't find any, "You're eating twice as much as me, where do you put it?"

Squirmie tossed a last chunk of half cooked meat in the air and swallowed it whole, "There are some things it's just impolite to ask! But you're a smart one, Rolly, I'm betting you figure it out some day."

Rolly cleaned his hands, careful to not get grease on his suit, "I'm probably overthinking it. It could be something as simple as you breaking down the matter to its components so you can store the important enzymes and proteins for your next evolution in a non-Euclidean space, and all the excess mana goes to expanding your core."

Squirmie made a strange noise, and reminded himself again that sometimes his pet was just a little too smart. He needed to be careful.

"I need to go change. I don't want to get this suit dirty." Rolly had greatly enjoyed wearing one of Leroy's suits from the bag. Adrianna had barely had to alter it - the fabric moving to adjust itself to his lesser frame."

Squirmie snorted, "Can't you smell it? That clothing is already dirty. It reeks of sulfur from the pit and dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap. I don't like it, but I will admit it was highly intimidating to your adversaries in your silly tax-duel."

Rolly had changed back into his normal burlap and wool clothing. Some of the workers complained, but the cheap clothes didn't bother Rolly. Animals didn't care much how you dressed, and he didn't worry about what people thought of him.

"They sure didn't like having their own tax code tossed back at them - which is silly. Every Baron must have an advisor. It was easy to read through, and they had the parts dealing with Billy bookmarked."

Squirmie landed on his shoulder and they began walking out to the meadows to check on the herd. There were several cows giving birth each night. Rolly liked to check in with them all. Squirmie had a question for him, "Humans really should think about passing down knowledge from one generation to another. It's much more convenient. How many humans can read something and remember it forever like you can? Is it a skill I can copy?"

Rolly considered that and didn't know, "It's not a game skill, it's just something I can do. Some people can dance good, I have a photographic memory. Dancing would be fun."

Squirmie was determined to copy his pet's skill next evolution. He was realizing how much knowledge he could absorb from humans that way. It was like eating their brains without eating their brains.

Arriving at their nest, the exhausted bug flopped down and rolled itself up in some fluffy strands of silk, "You go do cow things, Squirmie is sleepy."

Rolly petted his fuzzy head, "You need a CON skill next time we get points. It’s like I was telling the others; we need to find ways to fix our weaknesses."

"Squirmie thinks it is stupid that just because Squirmie is already immune to lesser poisons that he can't get that skill. But the skills we did get are good, sharing makes things stronger. Go...cows...sleepy."

Rolly gave him one last pat and wandered off. Poor little fellow was getting close to evolving - he needed his rest. And he was right, they'd bought good skills. Anything they both had was one level higher from their Symbiotic Bond. They'd worked together to pick things that would gain that advantage.

They had concentrated on their hunting skills by picking up Camoflage and increasing Shapechanger. There were some neat tricks he wanted to try out with those. Squirmie wanted them to survive the next evolution better than last time, which meant more health. He got 50 health for every point of LIF, 15 for STR, and 30 for CON.

STR had to come from a new skill from Prodigy. CON he could work on if he found better poisons, maybe from Suzette? LIF was easy. He dumped all 1000 EP from the event into it along with the one bonus point.

Increased Health was giving each of them 800 more health. And he got a nice bonus from Tough Side of Town and Fortitude. He probably had more health now than Ozzy. He was going to need it all. Squirmie said each evolution got rougher.

Coming up on the herd, one very pregnant sedge cow came up to him, staring at him needily with her four eyes. He understood immediately, "Triplets? Why didn't you tell me sooner? No, sorry, not your fault. I know math is tough. Let’s just help you get those little guys out so they can run around and play some?"

A shepherd’s work didn't end just because the sun went down.

=*=

"You seem much more confident and relaxed, Benjamin. What's changed?" Diego was sharing a bottle of wine with Ben in the newly rebuilt Courier quarters. The old inquisitor had happily slept on a cot in the basement of the barracks with no complaints, but it was nice to be in more comfortable lodgings. And these were quite comfortable compared to what Diego was used to.

Like most of Sedgewick, the livery stable was somewhat better than it was before. The new building could hold a dozen horses and had a private area for Courier steeds. The living quarters were expanded and included three small bedrooms, one of which Ben had insisted Diego use while he was in Sedgewick. Diego didn't know how long he'd be staying, but he still had many reports to write and much to learn about the area before his superiors would send him elsewhere.

The rebuilding of the town was just one of the things that astonished him. The entire string of events leading up to its destruction had meant that many messages were sent off to the capitol and his report was turning into a small book. His life had gotten much more interesting since the rainy knight a Courier had ridden into their besieged camp.

Ben settled into the chair across from Diego, stirring a large dollop of honey into his tea. He had no idea if the tea and honey in the kitchen pantry had been there before the town was rebuilt, but it had been a pleasant surprise to find it there when he moved back into the Courier quarters.

"I suppose that part of it is finally getting a chance to breath. Things are more stable now. No ongoing corporate tussle and dick waving. No monsters roaming the streets. And the people are moving back into a better town than they left."

Diego was sipping his own tea, some herbal variety with a minty taste. He was also enjoying the benefits of the stocked pantry and soft mattress. "So, you'll be avoiding adventures in the future?" He laughed softly, "I have to point out you're in the wrong business."

Ben smiled back. For all his talk, he knew how quickly he'd be bored living in a small village, "You're right, probably not possible to avoid them. But nice to have a bit of a break. And don't get me wrong, they pay off greatly in improving skills and earning new abilities."

Diego smiled, remembering his own youth when new abilities came easy and every year saw you getting more and more powerful, "Yes, they certainly do. I imagine that with all that's gone on since the war started that you must have earned quite a few points. Over a dozen I'd guess?"

"A bit more than that. I think the all-mighty system or gods or whatever gives Contract Workers larger rewards. We really are fighting uphill with our lack of skills and gear." While it would have been interesting to see Diego's face when Ben told him he had actually been awarded over 50 points recently, that would mean giving away secrets that might affect his friends - and could raise too many questions.

Ben had used his windfall to become a much better Courier. A lot of the skills appealed to him, and he loved the travel, especially now that he could ride properly. He had increased his AGI, CHA, and RAD by the maximum of 3 points each. His EP had gone mainly into his new skills for dodging and acrobatics, along with increasing his rank with his magic. He could run faster, jump farther, and had some new spells to try out. Flames of the Phoenix seemed to be a mix of 'Burn!' and 'Oh, you poor dear, let me fix that.'

Both types of spell would come in handy, he was sure. For all that he was enjoying a couple of quiet days, he also looked forward to some exploring of Gadobhra and testing out his new magic and skills. If Billy kept his word about getting days off now and then, the next one might see he and his friends heading up to the ruins. Hopefully it went better than their first day off, fighting rabbits and that crazy wolf.

=*=

"I don't see why you're treating this as such a big victory. We managed to dodge taxes that we didn't even know about, are still nearly broke, and we let Suzette steal the other half of the tavern from us," Layla liked big victories, not compromises, and Billy seemed way to happy about the outcome of their meeting.

"Think long term, Layla, long term," Billy was sitting in his only chair, in an empty room in their new Baronial Tower. The room had one chair, one mattress, a few blankets, and two pillows. That would do for now. Tomorrow things would really start rolling and he'd be getting this place fixed up better.

"Consider what we gained. We were going to get hit with taxes sooner or later. We got damn lucky that Rolly somehow knew the local tax codes and the deal with the Legion. Now we have a year to get things up and running. 10k in taxes? 20k? That's chicken feed compared to what we can start making."

"And that contract with the Legion is pure gold. Once they see what we can do, other contracts will follow - and the building points will start rolling in. Don't forget how much those are worth. We can even sell them to other ACME divisions. Except Vern. Screw Vern."

Layla had forgot about the building points. Billy was right, those were quite valuable. They gave either a system boost to building the city, or allowed them to gain a foothold in the capital and other major cities. She hit him again with what she thought of as a loss, "And the tavern? Those dungeons would have given us more items to sell."

Billy snapped his fingers, "Small potatoes. We have more and better dungeons in the city. You miss the whole point of what we gained forever."

"And what would that be?" Now she was curious.

"We gained Suzette, forever." Before Layla could say anything, he continued, "She's tied down now. She isn't going to try to leave the game, or leave the town. At the rate things were happening, that was a possibility. She has property and can make money - she'll stay."

"And If Suzette stays, Ozzy stays. And probably so will Ben and Rolly."

"Look at all the events that have led to us being where we are. Everything seems to have one of them in the middle of it. Sure, they look out for themselves. But at the same time, you and I benefit. ACME benefits. That war was lost, yet somehow, we won anyway, even with Vern working against us. And then POOF! all sorts of odd shit happens that I still don't understand, the town gets rebuilt, and we open Gadobhra."

"And every single time, those four are up to their ears in it. They have talent, and maybe some luck. You've seen what they did over the years in other games. Now they're doing it here, and doing it for us."

"And the rest of that crew Ozzy picked for us has a lot of gems in it. Jorges alone is a goldmine, and all we have to do to keep him happy is let him build. Almost all of that crew revolves around Ozzy, and he's tied to Suzette, who's a happy little barmaid now with her own tavern. We own them all now, more than we ever did before."

Layla considered that, "Fine. But I want new dungeons opened up, and I want building points to open another shop to sell magical items. Did you really spend all 10,000 building points?"

Billy looked sheepish, "I didn't have much choice. The city sort of took over when the builders were here. We got our new HQ and the rest of city got some repairs done or something. We dropped to zero pretty quickly. But I agree, first points we get, you get your shop back."

That mollified Layla a bit, "Let's work on the dungeons then. Do we hire players to explore?"

Billy laughed, "Nope. I'm just going to make sure the workers, especially a certain four, get their days off."