When the whole crew arrived back at camp they were more than ready to start picking through the hobgoblins possessions. Unfortunately the ones Andrew was most interested in were completely useless this close to the hobgoblin camp.

Three barrels full of Iron ore mocked him from the back of the wagon. He could produce so many ingots from that, outfit everyone here with more armor. Make better weapons for the people down below to use. Finally get his Blacksmithing up to level ten. So much.

Damnit. Just can't do it right now. If you really want to rush it. Then work on taking over the hobgoblin camp that much faster. And I can't do that faster because it would just put everyone else in more danger. The new guys need time to practice, earn classes and shit. This is so frustrating. Just look away, what else is there that could be useful? Clothes, that’s good. Rope, that'll come in handy for sure. Rations, I guess useful, especially when we gather more people, Kalan's cooking is way better though.

Andrew was pulled out his thoughts when he was called upon to help get the ore barrels down and out of the wagon. They were emptying out the new wagon, and filling it with things that would be helpful during their attack on the camp. Grenades and weapons for the prisoners mostly. Some clothes, bandages, food, things like that. Small enough amounts that they could move the wagon across the ground quickly when the time comes.

This camp is going to be a noisier from now on.

Tyler was keeping up a steady stream of conversation as they worked, whether he got a response or not. He moved from his old job, to ambush strategies to invasive plant species to hobgoblin fashion before the cart was halfway empty. It was a good thing though, Kalan and Shelby looked to be in better spirits than they had in days as they helped, jumping in here and there to try and introduce themselves more as they unloaded the cart and prepared lunch.

When everything was packed away and reorganized they sat down to chew on rations and talk planning. Fortunately Tyler took this cue to quiet down, and all eyes turned to Andrew, who to this point had mostly let the others talk. Which had nothing to do with lingering regrets for the Iron ore. Nothing at all.

"Okay. Well, here we are, I guess. Time to get into it. As you know, we came here to try and rescue everyone in that camp down there. A little bit about myself, I found myself here a couple weeks ago now. I was alone in the forest, and just had to figure things out as I went along. On my first day I saw one of those caravans go by, well actually it got eaten by a group of trolls or giants or something, whatever. The next one found me. I managed to fight off the hobgoblins through pure dumb luck, and get Kalan and Shelby here out. We've been working together since to build enough strength to rescue everyone from the camp they came from." Andrew said.

"I was wondering where you came from!" Tyler exclaimed, apparently unable to contain himself any longer. "I recognize those two, Kalan right? He had a cushy job in the kitchens, and Shelby didn't talk to anyone, and snuck away to slack off all the time. I mean, not that I blame you, I would do it too, but I’m just not that sneaky. I barely saw you and they kept most of us together all the time."

Carter raised a hand and Tyler trailed off. "It's good to meet you two. I would like to thank you again for helping us. Those monsters have a lot to pay for. When are we going after them?"

Carter's slow precise cadence starkly contrasted Tyler's high speed word vomit and Andrew was almost caught off guard by the easy opportunity to speak.

"Not for a couple days at least. You need time to heal up, and we have a strategy for thinning out there numbers a little before we attack." Andrew said.

"We do?" Kalan jumped in.

"We do, though I may not have shared it yet, so it's still not set in stone. We work together here. Regardless you need some time to get familiar with fighting too. We'll need your help against them, but we have some things that will help even the odds." Andrew pulled out a couple of the grenades. "I'll show you how to use these, if you can. I know they just look like scratched up stones, but they're bonified magic items, and they explode. We should be able to kill a lot of them with these, but we'll need to be careful, they can kill a lot of us too if we mess up. You need time to practice with mana so you can use these. Once you're comfortable, we'll work on step two. The river we're camped next to is the main water source for the camp correct?"

"I think so? I mean yes. It is." Baily spoke up for the first time, and seemed to wilt at the attention it brought her. "I didn't have to mine very much, I wasn't any good at it, too weak. They had me do chores with the kitchen people, laundry and carrying water and things like that. I only ever got water from the river. So I think you're right."

"Right, now it's not a huge river, and we're up stream. So if we can cut down some trees and block up the river, slow the stream way down at least, then we might lure a few of them up here to investigate. Those will be easy targets. From there we'll have to move fast. I imagine it will put them on their guard when they don’t return, so we'll want to do this the day before we attack at the earliest. There's another part, but I'm not as confident on this one. Does the river flow through the camp?" Andrew said.

"It does" Shelby said, running a hand through her hair and looking down hill into the distance, as if she could see the camp through the thick tangle of trees. "Kind of. Most of the camp is on one side of the river. There are a couple buildings on the opposite side, and the mine, not much though. It's pretty shallow though, and they have a bridge for the wagons. We'll have to go over that if we want to bring our wagon into the main camp."

"Maybe not. If we can catch the prisoners before they cross that bridge, we may be able to give the hobgoblins quite a shock" Andrew said, "I might be able to rig the dam to explode on a delay. It would be very risky though, it would be on a timer, no way to stop it if something goes wrong, or someone's out of place. If we can make it work, we might be able to buy ourselves some distance from the hobgoblins, give us a chance to really make the grenades work for us."

"It might work, but we would have to be very careful about our timing. Maybe we have someone stay up here, by the camp. That way they can set it off once we give some kind of signal, then come down to join us. They would be fifteen, twenty minutes behind, but we would have more control." Kalan said.

"I'll do it! I said I was a fast runner, and well, I'm not sure if I'll be very good at fighting. I'm not very strong either. I, mean, only if I can do the magic thing I guess." Baily said.

"Alright, I think that's worth a shot. You'll have to be careful being here on your own though. There are wolves and things in the forest completely separate from the Hobgoblins that could be dangerous." Andrew said. "Does anyone else have ideas they want to pitch before we break off to practice some things? We'll have more time to discuss plans at dinner if you think of anything."

The chorus of nahs sounded out, so Shelby and Kalan rounded up the group and picked through the weapon pile to get them sorted out. Baily ended up with one of the Hobgoblin daggers. The sword was almost comically large in her hands, but she expressed interest in learning the bow. Carter picked out the sledge hammer almost instantly, and was able to swing it one handed from the onset. He also grabbed a sword, and belted on a dagger, but the sight of him and that hammer just seemed right. Tyler grabbed a sword and dagger as well, he also grabbed a bow, but arrows were limited and his attention drifted more to Andrew than anything else.

While they were getting acquainted with the weapons, Andrew was setting up a couple of little mana transmission tests. He grabbed one of the wooden boards they packed and cut it into three familiar squares. Then using his chisel he inscribed each one with a short delay rune connected to a water gathering circle. He wanted each of them to be able to practice charging circles before they had to use the grenades. Hopefully Shelby and Kalan would get a chance for some practice too, but they already had reliable weapons at their disposal.

He finished the more simple circles well before it was time for their nightly meal, and took a short break to sit back and watch Kalan and Shelby work with the newbies. Carter was very obviously athletic before arriving here, though he never had any experience working with a weapon. Apparently he spent several years practicing Judo, but mostly treated it as a casual hobby. As far as Andrew knew the martial art didn't involve the use of weapons, and Carter's practice with the sledge hammer seemed to reflect that. Still, he was far better off than Tyler, who worked his sword with passion, but became winded quickly and often tripped over his own feet. While Kalan worked with the two men, Shelby and Baily worked on archery. Baily had never used a bow before, and Shelby was proving to be a good teacher, albeit a little blunt when it came to criticism.

When practice time was over Kalan headed out to gather ingredients for dinner while Shelby set out to check on the camp one last time before dark. That left Andrew with the trio of sweaty, panting people. He dragged the old chest up and out of the wagon, before setting it down in front of himself with a thud, and popping open the latches. Within were the five glowing blue crystals.

"So? Having fun yet? Kidding, anyways, sit down, this should be a little more easy going than the last one. Might be tougher for some of you though, I'm not sure." Andrew reached into the box and pulled one out for each of them. "These aren't dangerous, so don't worry about that. Just hold on to them for now. This is how I first figured out how to use mana. Hold on to them for a moment, what do you feel?"

"Um, A pulse, kind of like my heartbeat, but slower." Tyler said.

"It just feels kind of cold to me" said Baily.

"Nothing. Hmm. I think I felt something, now that you mention it. That might be a pulse. It feels faint," said Carter, looking critically at his crystal.

"Alright, well I think that answers one question I had, I think everyone has a different natural affinity for using mana. Tyler, my experience with the crystal was closest to what you've described, so I'll start with you. Everyone else can try and follow along if you'd like, but you may have to go about it slightly differently, I'm not entirely sure exactly how this works myself." Andrew said, taking up the last crystal and holding it in his own hand.

He felt the cold pulses of mana wash over him, flowing easily up through his palms into the rest of his body. "Now, try to focus on the pulses. Focus on their path through your body. Do you feel it?"

"I- Give me a moment." Tyler said.

The other two sat silently, eyes closed crystal gripped tightly in their lap.

A few moments passed before Tyler spoke up again, "I feel it. It comes out from the crystal and passes like a wave through my whole body. It's I think I was able to speed it up a little, I tried, I guess pulling on it, and it seemed to speed up. I'm not sure if I actually did anything though." His eyes were still closed and his face was screwed up in concentration.

"Good, that's excellent. Try to slow it down instead. Feel the pulse flow through your body, and try and keep it there as long as possible. You can affect it's speed, that’s how I figured out mana control in the first place. It took me about an hour before I got the skill. I think Shelby has it too now, but it took her much longer." Andrew said. "Baily, Carter, how are you two doing?"

"I definitely feel the pulses now, though it mostly just feels like a chill passing through my body, I don't really know how to describe it." Baily said, "I think I can slow it down. I'm not sure, it's hard to tell if I'm making any progress."

"I'm still not sure. I think I felt one. Yes, every once in a while I get one, and it does feel cold. It's very infrequent though." said Carter.

"Alright, well you guys just sit right there and work on slowing those pulses down, Carter you too. If you can get the mana control skill you should be able to power up the grenades and use them when we attack the camp. Trust me, they are worth the practice, it will be a huge help to have a few more people who can use them around. Once you get the skill I'll have you work on pushing your own mana into these boards. Part of how I practiced as well. Until then, I'm going to make more grenades, the more the merrier. Maybe once we're done with this I'll show you how this bit is done as well." Andrew said, before pulling out his chisel and using it to continue work on more grenades.

Shelby returned right around the time Kalan was finishing up with the evening meal. Apparently the camp was as calm as ever. Baily wasted no time assuring Shelby she could already start slowing down the magic pulses, and Carter seemed relieved for the break that mealtime provided. He could feel the pulses all the time now, but had little success slowing them down. Tyler had not said a word the entire time they practiced, and even as Kalan called out that the meal was ready, he didn't respond, still deadset on the crystal in his hand.

"Hey! Tyler buddy, foods ready, you can get back to practicing as soon as you're done. A break might help your concentration." Andrew said, standing up to get a plate of his own. The cold box was nearly empty, they may have to hunt down a boar soon, or start relying on rations again.

He was just sitting down to eat when Tyler jumped up from the ground, crystal raised high. "I did it! I did-"

He was instantly shushed by group effort, as his raised voice echoed around the campsite.

"We're still hiding. Talking is okay, but no yelling, keep your voice down a little at least." Shelby said.

"Sorry." Tyler said looking down. It only lasted a breath before his head came right back up with a bright smile across his face. "But I did it though! I got the Skill! Mana control! It gave me a point of Intelligence and everything! This is great, can I be a wizard now?" The words spilled out of him in a comically loud whisper.

Well, he's trying at least.

"It means you can sit down and eat. But also yes, I had a few magic based catalyst options open to me, and I'm pretty sure it was in part due to that skill." Andrew said, grabbing a plate and trading it for the crystal. "Now let's settle down a little for the night, you can practice more after we eat, but you'll have plenty of time for that tomorrow, and you need to get into practice keeping watch. It's important."