Using Home Call the dryad and the blacksmith arrived in the system church of Delta.

"Oh, hey Simon." he greeted the rotund priest who happened to be close by.

"Seth, you are back! Are you returning to Minas Mar immediately?" the old priest asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Then you should prepare yourself. Mina seemed a little... agitated lately."

"I see." Seth nodded seriously.

It was probably because he couldn't tell her about the journey beforehand. The beastwoman had been in the dungeon with Team 2. He had been gone for almost two weeks... he knew what that meant.

Under Karina's confused looks, the blacksmith straightened his shoulder and fixed his clothes.

"Thanks for the warning, Simon. I'm ready."

The two men nodded at each other seriously, while the dryad felt like she missed a whole conversation, that would explain the context of what was going on to her.

With a whoosh, they appeared at the entrance whole of the subterranean magic tower.

"Karina, I believe you can return to your quarters alone," he mentioned to the dryad before teleporting to his, thequarters of the tower master, his rooms.

Appearing in his living room he suddenly felt his hair rose. He could feel the presence of a predator, lurking in the darkness. The eyes of a hunter wandering over his body made him tense up.

"You finally returned." he heard er threateningly beautiful voice.

With a forced smile and his arms wide open in a welcoming gesture he turned around and got pounced upon. Strong slender arms pulled him into an embrace as a rough, flexible tongue kept forcefully entering and roving around in his mouth.

After a forceful kiss that took his breath away, and barely escaping suffocation, he took a deep gasp, when Mina finally let off. Still hugging him, to keep him from escaping, her head rested on his chest.

"How could you just leave for such a long time without telling me?" the sadness in her forlorn voice was heartrending. It was in stark contrast to the aggressive and passionate kiss before.

"Naw, do you think it was easy for me? But I couldn't delay the expedition." he apologized, hugging her tenderly.

"I understand that, but... It's been almost a month now," she said reproachfully, pressing her body against his.

"Then I will make it up to you," he said with an impish smile.

With a quick move, his arm had slung around her waist and lifted the catgirl onto his shoulders

"Hey, what are you doing!" Mina exclaimed surprised with a burst of light laughter.

"I know exactly how to make it up to you! Muahaha!" the blacksmith hollered.

With his playfully struggling girlfriend on his shoulder, they vanished in their bedroom for extensive "couple time".

…

"Oh, she already let you go?" Mary asked surprised when Seth entered her office the next day.

"Funny," Seth commented snarkily before he let himself fall on a couch to the side. He had not gotten a wink of sleep.

"You look like a chewed-up gum. If you came here like this, it has to be important?" Mary concluded.

"Yeah, I guess. Nas'Korn gave me a concerning warning," he said and started to explain.

One could say that this "Age of Gods" came at a most unfavorable time since Seth was planning to journey north to find Hyperboreas. He didn't know how long it would take, but in the meantime, Minas Mar would have to function without him again.

Although he knew that the people he had chosen and befriended would be able to get along just fine without him, as they had proven before, he was still worried. Especially with their work on the Trade Route. Things could become complicated if the situation in Y-City or Delta changed.

"If you are that worry, you should just hurry to return instead of hesitating to even go." Mary told him.

"haha, you will laugh. Mina told me exactly the same," he said with a smile.

"So, when are you leaving?"

"WE are leaving once he finished his business here." a voice announced, and the door was kicked open.

Team Two, Yulecat's Fur, with Mina at the front was standing at the door.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked baffled at the sudden intrusion.

"It means you are not leaving Fin and the others behind again!" the rose her fist to the sky full of motivation.

"It will be like back in Ora." Bulko smiled.

Mike didn't say anything, but he couldn't look at his sister as if he was a little embarrassed about her actions. Lyxiss seemed a little unwilling, but she had still come along with the others.

Seth stared at them for a full minute, until it became really awkward.

"Fine, at least our journey won't become boring then." he decided in the end.

"Sorry, Mary, you will have to manage without Team Two for a while."

"Yes, it seems like that is so. If you would excuse me now, I still have work to do. As do you, Tower Master." with that she shooed the crowd out of the room.

…

"And.. when are we leaving?" Mike asked a little forlorn. He had been pulled along by Fin and Mina

"Right, right. When is your business finished? We have to get ready." Fin sang happily.

What did he have to prepare before he set of? The most important task was probably making the golem guard for the trade route...

"Ah, I forget to talk to Mary about the golems... Oh well, I will tell her once I'm done." Seth lamented.

"Does it mean you managed to get the upgrade you wanted?" Fin asked hyped. He had told them about what he wanted to get, but he had only spoken to Mina about his success until now.

"Yes, I actually wanted to show it to Mina today, why don't you all come along?"

The only ones really interested in seeing the Golem Forge were Fin and Mina, but everyone tagged along to see what it was.

"Do you mind if we stop by the kitchen first? I have some stuff I wanted to give Link."

Nobody voiced an objection and they followed him to the kitchen.

"Hey, Link!"

"Oh, Seth! You are back? What bring everyone here?" the gourmet hunter asked without taking his eyes off the pots and pans in front of him.

"I bring you some poultry and crocodiles to dismantle. Your hunter skills will get rusty if you spend all day in the kitchen." the blacksmith said with a smile.

"Wow, I have never seen such birds..." Link exclaimed when Seth emptied his inventory in the dismantling room. He was admiring their almost golden feathers.

"Yeah, I was also surprised when I came across them. Take special care with their feathers and beaks, I don't know if they have anything else valuable," he advised.

"Sure, just leave it to me. Ohh, all the tasty stuff I can try to make out of these. It's not often that w come across normal-sized monster birds." he mumbled to himself as the group left the gourmet hunter to his own devices.

They took the chance to plunder the kitchen and help themselves to a meal before setting off again.

"Alright, let's go to the workshop."