The caravan was more of a cart than a wagon this time. Much smaller than the other one with much less cargo. There was another massive wolf pulling this one, but it looked strangely docile. It watched him descend the hill with blank glazed over eyes, and did not move from where it passively stood hitched to the front of the cart.

He ignored the wolf for the moment and made his way over to the back of the wagon, removing his helmet as he approached the two captives.

The first was a man in his late twenties, early thirties, shaggy brown hair and blue eyes with a respectable beard. He was tall and thin, with sunken cheeks and heavy bags under each eye. Despite all that he had well defined muscle, visible on bare arms poking out from under the weathered oversized rags that looked similar to the clothes Andrew had stolen from the last cart. He watched Andrew with suspicion as he descended the hill, but relief spread across his face as soon as he pulled off his helmet, and his knees seemed to shake for a moment.

The second was a woman closer to his own age, mid twenties probably. She had long brown hair, tangled and matted and pulled behind her similarly gaunt face and green eyes. She was a little shorter than Andrew and wore oversized rags that matched the man's, and were almost comically baggy. Her guarded expression was unchanged as he removed his helmet and approached closer.

He tried to put on a friendly face, to smile and look inviting. It had been too long since he interacted with other people and the expression felt stiff on his face. It felt forced though he was genuinely excited to see people again. He felt this surreal sort of excitement and anxiety as he approached the caravan.

Finally. Finally I've found people out here. I can start figuring out what's going on.

"Hey, uh, hi there! Uh, folks." Andrew cleared his throat, "So I've been living up in the forest here for a couple weeks. You guys seemed like you could use a little help, so I uh, I killed those guys. What's goin on with you?"

Idiot.

"Oh thank god, you speak our language!" The man took a step forward but was restricted by the chains. "We have no idea where we are. A bunch of us just woke up in the middle of nowhere and almost starved before these hobgoblins found us. They rounded us up in a big group and took us to a big hole in the ground. We were stuck there for weeks! They forced us to work and sleep in dirt and killed anyone who fought back. I thought for sure we were dead! Anyone they drag out of the camp has never been seen again! We've only been on the road for a few days, I have no idea where they were taking us. Can you get us out? Are there more people around? Do you know what's going on?"

The words came out fast and with rising volume. He was constantly attempting to gesture but his tightly chained hands prevented him from doing so instead just rattling the chains between himself, the cart, and the woman on the opposite side.

She was watching Andrew very closely, looking from his hammer to bloodstained spear. Though she occasionally would shoot an irritated glance at the chain rattler next door, as her own hands were occasionally jerked up and around by his emphatic gestures.

"Hey, I'm really sorry man, I really don’t know what's going on here either." said Andrew as he approached closer and went to check on what connected the chains to the cart. "I woke up in the forest up the hill there, no one else was around. I saw a couple people with one of these caravans my first day here, but it was attacked and destroyed by these big giant things. You guys are the first people I've seen since then."

The chains were bolted onto the cart, and connected to heavy iron manacles which were around each of their wrists. They were secured with an iron bolt and some kind of lock.

"Speaking of, we should probably get out of here fairly quickly, I don’t really like hanging out on the road and we can talk histories later. I know of a safe place in the forest and I'm worried one of those things might come back, or another caravan of hobgoblins might see us, or something. Do you know where the keys to your cuffs are at?"

The man looked down and seemed to be thinking, catching his breath from his panicked outburst earlier. The woman piped up quickly, "They're in a little box in between the front seats of the cart. I saw them take the key out when they would release us to rest or use the bathroom. They also had food and some supplies in the cart. If we're leaving we should take those with us."

"Ah, yeah thanks. I agree about the food, that’s most of what I ate for the first few weeks. I'll be right back then."

Andrew headed around the cart and stepped up to the seats at the front. Sure enough there was a little box in center of the footrest area. It was unlocked and he flipped the simple latch and reached inside. There was a set of three heavy keys in the box, along with a bundle of letters and a sack of bronze and silver coins of varying sizes. He looked nervously over at the big wolf still attached to the front of the wagon. It stood dead still, the only sign of life coming from the rise and fall of its chest. Up close he could see evidence of old wounds, patches of its fur were discolored, or grew in unnatural patterns. There were some spots where no fur grew at all, and white jagged scars showed through.

He grabbed everything and made his way back to the pair. They both held their manacled hands out with what felt like a practiced motion and he got to work unlocking them. The first key he tried failed, but the woman pointed out the right key before he could try another and they were released without issue.

"Hey thanks for getting us out. I have no idea where they were going to take us but I don’t think it was anywhere good. That place was fucked up and I don't think we'd be better off anywhere they were taking us." The tall thin man stepped up after they were both released and extended his hand.

"I'm Kalan Bast, it's good to see a friendly face not in chains. Thanks for getting us out."

Andrew took his hand and shook it. "Andrew Neilson, and yeah same here."

"I'm Shelby. Thanks for saving us." He shook her hand as well.

The stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other before Andrew realized with a start that they were waiting on him.

"Okay. Alright, well Lets grab everything we can carry and get the fuck out of here. I want to hear more about the place you guys came from. If we could get those other people out I think we'll have much better chances surviving this place."

They both agreed and began gathering up the contents of the cart. The big wolf thing ignored them all the while and Andrew was content to leave it be. The wagon contained sacks of rations, bundles of clothes, lanterns and torches, more rope, A single barrel filled with iron ore, arrows, bowstrings and not much else of interest. He was disappointed they had to leave the barrel of ore behind, but he certainly couldn't carry it for the nearly two hour journey back to camp, and Kalan and Shelby could barely manage the sacks of food, clothes, and torches they had bundled in their arms.

They trudged their way up the hill and into the forest. Not making much conversation beyond divvying up the carrying loads until the road was out of sight and they were well into the forest. Each seemed lost in their own thoughts.

More people. I've found more people. And they came here as a group! That group is captured by hobgoblins now I guess, but they're out there. Shit. Okay. How am I going to deal with-

"So what have you been doing out here all this time Andrew?" Kalan asked.

Andrew pulled out of his thoughts with a start.

Right. People. Talking, can't get too far into my own head.

"Well, I was living under a tree for most of the time. Just eating rations and exploring, trying to figure things out. I've mostly just been doing my best to survive, learn enough magic and create enough equipment that I can head out of this forest and find my family. Figure out what's going on. Not get eaten by giants or bears or hobgoblins."

He launched into an explanation of his attempts to learn magic, and the time spent struggling to produce equipment and shelter. Hunting boars and fighting goblins. Warning them of wolves in the area and so on. He was leading the group, but he could feel the pair behind him growing more comfortable as he explained his various misadventures in the forest and pointed out cuts in the trees he used to stay oriented.

Kalan made for a good audience. He oohed and ahhed when he talked about learning magic and fighting the wolves, laughed when he complained about pushing a boulder just to move a couple days later, and sympathized when he explained his inner conflict at killing the goblins. It was a long walk after all.

Shelby was much more reserved, only making occasional comments. Though he got a good chuckle out of both of them when he explained how he blew himself up one time. In fact he was just getting to explaining his ongoing experiments to that end when they neared the forest around the crevice.

The pair stopped short at the sight of the destruction in the clearing. A pair of large scorched divots in the earth. Shards of rock embedded into tree trunks all around the clearing. A weird patch of perfectly circular stone with a mound formed in the center. A downed tree, half stripped of branches and a mound of charred bone spines piled up nearby. Five scattered and shredded hobgoblins corpses strewn about the blast site. A large boar hanging suspended in a metal circle sitting on one side of a river flowing out from a break in the cliffside, half walled off by a messy collection of stone boards all melted into each other and peppered with more stone shards.

"I'll admit it's a little messy right now, but with more people I'm sure we can get it cleaned right up!" Andrew continued walking and hadn't noticed them stop. "If we drag the bodies deep enough into the forest the wolves'll probably take care of them, just like the rest, so I don't think we need to worry too much about burying them."

He set his bundle down by the base of the cliffside and turned to see the two of them standing at the edge of the clearing and peering around at the destruction. Shelby took a few steps back and tensed up.

"Wow you weren't kidding about blowing yourself up. Did you really kill all these guys by yourself?" Kalan started hesitantly forward through the clearing as he spoke.

"Well yeah, I mean, I hid behind that wall there and basically just threw bombs at them but yeah. I killed them. It felt like more of a kill or be killed kind of situation. The spear is mostly just for killing things trapped in circles like that." Andrew said, pointing over at the boar trapped in the circle. "By the way, are either of you good cooks? Or hunters or whatever? Because I'm not and I really have no idea how to butcher one of those things. I ran out of rations awhile ago and it's harder than it looks."

"Why are you being so open with us? It seems like you've been telling the truth, but aren't you worried we'll do something? Steal your stuff? You don't know anything about us, and we don't know anything about you." Shelby was still standing at the edge of the clearing, and had set her bundle down.

"I, well, I kinda figure we're all on the same side here. I just don't want to see anyone chained up like that, and I didn't really think about all that stuff when bringing you here. Just figured, strength in numbers and all that. Are you going to steal stuff from me? I don't see why you would, we're all just trying to survive out here right?"

"Yeah but how do you know we're not psychopaths or something? Or like, just Kalan here, what if he decides to kill you in your sleep or force you out or like, I don't know, sell you to the hobgoblins or something? Or that you're not the psychopath and you want to lure us in here to do fucked up magical experiments or something?" She was walking closer now, and emphasized each point with a point of her finger.

"Hey woah now," Kalan piped up standing between them hands outstretched, "Andrew just fought off a bunch of those hobgoblins for us. Rescued us from that cart just a few hours ago. Remember that? He doesn't seem to be the type to bring us out here for something fucked up like that. Right Andrew?"

"Yeah definitely not interested in fucked up human experiments."

"Yeah see? Listen, I know we've had a rough go of it the last few weeks, and it might be a little hard to trust, but I think we'll all be okay out here. We need to work together, and while things might be a little strained now, I'm sure we'll make a great team once we get to know each other a little better. Just think about the opportunity we have out here! We might be the only free humans for miles around! We might be the only ones capable of saving all those people in the mines! I don't know about you but I did make a couple friends while I was there, and I would be glad to get them out. Like Andrew said, Strength in numbers. If we're going to find my family, or his family, or yours, we'll need to work together."

There was a strained silence. Kalan stood between them, looking at each as he made his points. His back straightened as he went on, and his voice grew stronger. By the time he finished there wasn't much of the panicked man Andrew found chained to the cart left in him.

Oh shit. Thank god this guy is better at talking to people than I am. I didn't think about any of that, just assumed we would all be on the same page. It is a little crazy looking out here right now. I've been out here alone too long, didn't even notice how insane I must look right now. Only time I've bathed has been to wash wounds or blood off.

Focus on the conversation. Think later.

….

"Alright. You have a point. We can work together, but I'm watching you. I don't think you're a bad person, bad people, but- Crap." Shelby put a hand to her temples and paused, turning and taking a step away and a deep breath.

She turned back after a short pause, "Yeah sorry, you're right, we should work together. Just a little rattled, not used to seeing so many dead people, things, dead things. Thanks again for saving us, and giving us a place to stay, and not being a psychopath, probably. I agree with Kalan, we have a responsibility to try and help get those people out of there." She gave a pointed smile at that. It was a little forced, but it was also the most expression she had allowed so far.

Andrew breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright. Good, glad we're all on the same, probably non-psychopathic page here, because I agree with Kalan too. If there are more people out there we should be trying to help them. But we need to prepare for that. Plan, figure out how many of them there are. I only beat the hobgoblins here by sheer luck. We need to build strength before we try taking that place on."

He stepped over to the boar. "We also need to decide on dinner, and answer my question about hunting, because seriously, these things are everywhere and I have no idea what I'm doing."

Turns out Shelby did know a thing or two about hunting. She lived with her family in a rural area, and had accompanied her father and brothers on more than one hunting trip. She insisted Andrew throw out the smelly hides he had strung up on a rock though. Apparently he had butchered them beyond use. She seemed to grow exponentially more comfortable now that she was working with familiar territory. She had Andrew drag the now dead boar to a tree and assist in using their new rope to hoist it from a branch and drain the blood into a pit in the ground.

Kalan had apparently been halfway through culinary school, and had worked in a few different kitchen jobs before then. He was more than happy to head through the forest and explore around for some vegetables to add to their diet, and was appalled to hear Andrew had been cooking unseasoned slabs of meat on a rock of all things this whole time.

Andrew mainly cleaned up while they worked. He stripped the hobgoblin bodies of their shredded armors for recoverable bits of leather and metal and dragged the bodies deep into the forest. He collected the five swords, four daggers, four quivers full of arrows, and single intact bow and piled them in his camp.

Andrew was in the process of pounding out a sheet of metal with little drain holes to be used over the fire as a grill when the two returned. Kalan was first in, making a little pile of wild carrots, and long lumpy potatoes on one of the stone tables.

"These were all I could find on short notice, these things are everywhere though. I can't believe you've just been eating meat this whole time. I saw some berry bushes out there too, but I didn't recognize any of them. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go after any of those until we're sure of their effects."

He started to arrange them by size, and looked disapprovingly at the pile of weapons before turning to back to Andrew.

"Hey by the way, do you think you could make me a knife once you're done with that? I don't think we want to cut up our food with those nasty looking weapons. Who knows where they've been, and the daggers aren't made for proper chopping anyways. Also can I use this pot?"

Andrew gave him the go ahead and worked to finish the grill and heat some iron for a chef's knife while Kalan filled the caldron with water and set it over the firepit.

"Here," Andrew said as he took a break to stick a branch in the forge. He would need to light it there in order to start the campfire. "Lemme get that for you." He stood up to bring the torch over but Kalan waved him away. "Don't worry I've got it."

Kalan held one hand in front of him, palm up, and screwed his face up in concentration. A little spark flashed before a small ball of flame formed in the palm of his hand. He gave Andrew a smug smile before extending his palm, sending the little ball of flame into the bundle of twigs, leaves and logs. It caught instantly.

His smile froze in place as he saw the expression on Andrew's face.

"Oh god damnit!" Andrew shouted in mock indignation, branch forgotten. "It took me like, days of experimentation to make fire and you can just *POOF* a lil fireball out just like that? That’s super cool, but shit, come on!"

Kalan gave a little chuckle, "Well, I had to work a little bit to get it, but my Fire Channeler catalyst did most of the work. I got the firebolt skill as soon as I took the catalyst. I had hoped I would be able to fight my way out with it, but I didn't have very many chances to practice with it."

Andrew was about to ask about his skills and make a few choice complaints about magic being bullshit, but a call from Shelby interrupted him. "Boar's done draining! Can one of ya'll come help me get it down and prepped?"

Andrew passed Kalan the knife he had taken from the first caravan and sent him on his way as he returned to finishing up the grill. He'd already been chastised once about his skinning skills. He figured the chef in training would do a far better job.

The pair were bringing slabs of meat into the crevice on cut boards, rinsed with boiling water from the pot over the fire and leaving them laid out on a nearby stone table. As they worked Andrew finished the grill, and replaced his previous cooking rock with the grill. He then refilled the draining caldron with one of his ceramic pots and got to work on the chefs knife. By the time they finished he was wrapping the metal handle of the knife with two halves of a hollowed out branch and hobgoblin scrap leather cleaned in the river. He waved them off for a moment and sat down to empower it.

You will become a knife. You will be sharp on one side. You will not dull. You will not break. You will become a knife.

When he opened his eyes the metal edge of the knife had sharpened, and the wood and leather had melded together and formed to the metal tang.

He looked up to see the two staring down at him.

"Hey, well, here's that knife you ordered." Andrew handed over the knife hilt first. "Not the best at cooking or hunting, but I can do a decent job at making equipment. Wasn't kidding when I said I made all this stuff myself."

Kalan looked over the knife appreciatively while Shelby stepped up and said, "We can probably tan the hide, but it'll take a few days and I've only done it like this a couple times, so no promises on quality. More importantly though we'll need somewhere cold to store the meat unless you've got a bunch of salt hiding around here somewhere."

Andrew looked past her to the boar hide submerged in the river behind her. "You can actually tan that thing? That’s awesome! Cold storage is all done already though, thanks to the power of magic we should be just fine on food storage."

He got up and pulled the wooden box out from under a nearby table. "I've just been wrapping most of the meat I butcher in leaves, and tossing them in here. I'm can keep the contents frozen as long as I'm around to keep it charged. There are some leaves around I've been using to wrap the meat, haven't had any issues from it since."

Andrew and Shelby got to work on wrapping and storing the excess meat, while Kalan emptied the cauldron and refilled it, before boiling the water again. He chopped up the roots and carrots, then diced the boar meat and let it all brown together on the grill above the firepit. He then scraped it all into the cauldron and let it cook there. They all watched the food hungrily, snacking on little bits of carrot or potato as they worked.

When they finished packing the meat, Kalan was already most of the way through prepping the meal. "Hey Kalan, slight problem, we don't have any bowls, or forks or anything." Andrew said.

Kalan looked up from leaning over the stew and waved him off. "Don't worry about it, we'll all just eat from the big pot, though you're right we'll need something to eat with. Maybe some wooden skewers, and a spoon for stirring? It'll be just like camping."

"Alright yeah that'll work, good thinking. I can get started on that then. Maybe bowls later." Andrew said.

"Hey speaking of," Shelby said looking up from examining the laid out boards that made up the sleeping pallet. "Where do you sleep?"

"Uhh," Andrew headed to the cart and began collecting promising sticks, not looking back. "Well obviously couldn't prepare those hides or anything so I've just been sleeping on those boards. I used to use clothes to pad it out but most of those got burnt up or used as bandages. Its' pretty rough living out here, sorry. Most comfortable spot in the valley at the moment."

"Oh! Yeah, well that makes sense. Um, if the stew and whatever you're working on is going to take a while then I'm going to head out into the woods and see if I can collect some ferns and things to pad out the bed a little."

"Sounds good, be careful and watch for wolves!"

Shit, hadn't thought about sleeping arrangements. I guess she assumes we'll all sleep on the pallet together, nothing wrong with that. There isn't really anywhere else clear enough of rocks to sleep. That’s why I made it in the first place. Still, a little awkward. I just met these guys today after all. Maybe I should try making more beds? What are we going to pad them with though? Are we even going to stay here long enough to warrant that? I don't want to leave those people in prison for too long. Not now that I know they exist, for sure.

Andrew continued to stew on the newfound complications of adding more people to his little encampment while whittling out wooden skewers for each of them . He caught a glance from Kalan out of the corner of his eye but he seemed just as content to think quietly.

He was finished by the time Shelby returned and Kalan announced the stew was ready shortly after. The three of them gathered around the stew and darted skewers in and out, spearing bits of meat, potato and carrot. Kalan maintained a steady narration throughout the dinner, explaining how he would need more time to prepare a proper soup stock, and how he could do much better if he could recognize any of the herbs growing in the forest outside. It was the best thing Andrew had eaten in weeks.

Once they were finished they all found rocks to settle onto. The sun was finally setting and the fire was crackling. They all sat contently with full bellies and enjoyed the warmth for a moment.

Andrew was the one to break the silence, "So, we need a plan then. For rescuing those people and getting stronger. How much do you guys know about the whole magic and leveling system?"

"It's set up like an RPG game from what I understand. They aren't really my thing, but a few of the younger guys at the mines we were all in were exchanging a bunch of theories. I picked some stuff up from that. Health points represent health, stamina points represent how tired you are, and mana points represent your magical battery. The more levels something has the stronger it is, whether that’s a skill, class or monster. Classes make you stronger and give you skills. Where I get a bit fuzzy is the skills, how much they're actually supposed to do. All the ones I have right now seem to just give me some kind of instinctive knowledge, but the guys at the mine seemed to think we would get super powers or something from them." Kalan said. "Correct me if I'm wrong but most of what they said seemed to be pretty accurate to my experience so far."

"I didn't play games or anything so I'm a little lost with this whole thing honestly. I've been offered a couple classes I guess, but I don't want to pick anything until I can see what they actually do." Shelby said. "I don't trust this, instinctual knowledge, thing. I don't want anyone putting anything into my head. Until we know this isn't dangerous I don't think I'll pick one out."

"that’s.. fair. That’s actually not something I considered before. " Andrew said. "I played games like this a lot. I was kinda excited by the idea actually, once I got past how fucked up the situation was in general of course. I didn't really think about the mechanics of putting information in people's brains."

"Exactly! Where is that information coming from? Who's giving it to us? What determines what kind of class or skills or knowledge people get access to?" Shelby said.

"Yeah I mean, these are all valid questions, but we have to remember what kind of situation we're in. If I didn't have these skills I would probably be dead right now. I definitely wouldn't have been able to save you guys. I got most of my skills without really trying to as well. I don't think there's a way to avoid getting skills without just sitting around doing nothing. That’s not something we can really afford to do right now. You must have skills already right?" Andrew said.

"Yeah. I do. I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything. I just think we should be careful."

"Yeah and I agree with that. But I don't know. Right now I'm going to make use of the skills, make use of the power it grants and try and do my best to make the most of the system we've found ourselves in. I think if there was an ulterior motive to putting this system in our head we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it in the first place. We couldn't do anything to prevent being brought here right? Couldn't avoid the skills showing up on our status sheets. So if the system has an ulterior motive, it could just drop the information into our head whenever it wanted, to accomplish whatever it wanted. It doesn't seem to need out permission to do anything." Andrew said. "I think we need the system, and it seems like everything around us is part of it. Those hobgoblins probably have skills and they definitely have levels, I'm not about to handicap myself going into a fight with them."

Attribute points: 145

"Well, not without good reason."

"I'm definitely going to be using the skills. I've already got a profession and catalyst and I think we'll need them to get people out. That’s the important thing here. I think getting combat skills will be important, and some kind of information gathering skill or stealth skill. We need to know what we're up against so we can prep properly." Kalan said. "I think I can help with combat and support. I have the [Worker's Chef] Profession and [Fire Channeler] Catalyst. They're both pretty low level, but the catalyst gave me that fire bolt skill, Worker's Chef gave me a skill that makes my food more filling and gives anyone who eats my meals a 5% bonus to health and stamina regeneration, but there were others that will be more useful now that we're free."

"I… see your point. We do need every advantage we can get. I- yeah, I want to help get everyone out, carry my weight. I'll think about it. I'll probably get one eventually, but, I'll think about it." Shelby said, looking off into space at a screen Andrew couldn't see.

"Good. I don't want to force you to do anything, but I think the stronger we are, the better chances we have. Now Kalan, how did you get your profession and catalyst?" Andrew asked, "I got my Scavenger class after killing a boar, and dismantling a cart and such, I was also offered a bunch of catalysts at the same time but I haven't picked one yet."

"I got them at the same time. The hobgoblins picked up on my cooking abilities after I tried to improve some of the rations they gave to us. They had me cook meals for all of us after they picked up on it. When my cooking skill reached level ten I got the option to pick the profession. I also got the opportunity to pick a catalyst in the same block of messages. It was all fire based catalysts, due to my 'proximity and familiarity with fire mana,' which I guess is due to working the ovens and firepits in the kitchens." Kalan said.

"I haven't been offered anything yet. I also haven't gotten any of my skills up to ten though, and I haven't killed anything either." Shelby said.

"Okay good to know. I'm pretty sure there are advantages to waiting before picking a class, catalyst, profession or whatever. My choice of catalyst changes a little each time I earn enough experience to level. I think you gain different options based on what you've done and what skills you have, which means that there are going to be some that are stronger than others. If you guys read the primer, it said you would be able to change everything but the catalyst later, so I think that's the only one we need to be really careful about picking. My scavenger class gives five free attribute points, one vitality point, one dexterity point and one wisdom point per level. I also get to pick a skill every ten levels." Andrew said.

"Huh, I get one skill every ten levels in both profession and catalyst so that seems pretty standard. I only get three free points, and a dex and wisdom point per Chef level. My catalyst gives a point of intelligence and wisdom, and a 1% gain in fire affinity per level, but no free points. Five seems like a lot in comparison. " Kalan said. His eyes were looking blankly into a space somewhere just in front of him.

"It might just be a difference between a class and a catalyst. I suppose we'll have to wait until we all get one of each to start comparing." Andrew said, "We should figure out combat roles too, so we can train properly before we try and take this place. Do any of you guys have any experience with fighting, or sports or something?"

"A few fights when I was younger, nothing that serious though. Played football in high school and did weightlifting, but that’s about it." Kalan said.

"Well I went hunting with family quite a few times. I've done a fair bit of shooting with a shotguns and handguns, but obviously we don't have those here. My brother had a bow he tried hunting with a couple times. I've shot it a few times so I'm familiar, but the draw weight was really high." Shelby said, perking up a little from looking at her own status sheet. "I could probably draw it no problem now though, given how much my strength has increased, just from working hard for a few weeks."

"I can make a lot of things, but a gun is definitely out of my area of expertise-"

"Oh I could explain one to you! They're really not that complicated, see-"

"Wait. Sorry but I think the main issue with the gun is going to be gunpowder, not just the actual weapon." Andrew said, "We did recover a bow from one of those hobgoblins though, and we have a bunch of their arrows. You could try working with that again. I can make armor and weapons for all of us. We could have me in the front with you in the back shooting, and Kalan switching between his fire bolts and close combat. I've actually fought a few things with just a hammer and spear at this point, and I have a fair bit of health, so I'd be alright being the distraction."

"Yeah, I'd be okay with that. I want to get a lot of practice in before we fight any of those hobgoblins, but I guess that’s not a big deal. You took out two without bombs or anything right?" Kalan said.

"Well, not really, I had a couple circles like the one that trapped the boar setup in the forest. I lured the hobs into those and just stabbed them while they were trapped. If I had to fight one on one I would get destroyed, almost got killed just running away towards the trap" Said Andrew.

"Alright yeah, so practice for all of us then."

"Yeah bow practice could actually be fun!"

"Alright good, well, its pretty late so I think we should call it a night soon. We have food and a plan for the future. I think tomorrow I'll work on getting armor for all of us and continue improving those grenades. I think it would be best to improve your skills to try and get a good class or whatever once we get to practicing and gaining levels." Andrew said.

"Yeah I'd like to do some combat training or something. If skills really effect your class options and I'll be going into melee, that'll give me some better options." Kalan said.

"Cool, well that’s it for business I guess."

They chatted around the fire for a few more minutes, joking about what kind of armor they wanted and taking bets on who would be the best at killing hobgoblins when they were all trained up.

Andrew was a little reserved about the last part. He hadn't forgotten the sight of the goblin bodies piled up in front of him. Killing the hobgoblins today didn't take as much out of him. They had been coming after him, threatening his home and holding humans captive.

Killing some hobgoblins to rescue people is fine, but I don't think I'll be hunting anything that person like just for levels any times soon.

It's been a little while since I checked this.

Status

Name: Andrew Neilson

Race: Human

Catalyst: None

Class: Scavenger lvl 30

Profession: None

Titles: Pioneer

Status:

HP: 530/530

SP: 530/530

MP: 400/400

Attribute points: 145

Strength: 47

Dexterity: 60

Vitality: 56

Intelligence: 43

Wisdom: 56

Scavenger Skill Points: 2

Skills:

-Perception lvl 6

-Camouflage lvl 1

-Mana Control lvl 6

-Woodcarving lvl 4

-Rune Inscription lvl 5

-Adaptive Weapon Mastery lvl 4

-Empower Item lvl 7

-Rune Modification lvl 1

-Blood Infusion lvl 1

-Stone Carving lvl 2

-Mana Inscription lvl 6

-Mana Smelting lvl 3

-Blacksmithing lvl 6

-Scavenger's Resilience lvl 3

-Lumberjack lvl 3

-Carpenter lvl 1

-Butcher lvl 1

-Pain Resistance lvl 1

-Fire Resistance lvl 1

I think I'll have to pick a catalyst soon. I should get familiar with whatever skills it grants before we get started on this fight. Long way to go to blacksmith ten though, or mana inscription, whichever one gives me a profession that will probably be decently beneficial as well.

I think I'll be picking something related to my rune carving. If my rune carving abilities advance they'll get even more useful the more people there are to use items made with them. The descriptions on those also implied rarity, which is always good in a game. Though sometimes more difficult to work with I suppose.