I hop from foot to foot. “This is pretty cool. It’s strange to suddenly be able to smell so many things.” I get a burst of smells; cakes, waffles, people and a just bit of mold.

“Speaking of which, I think someone just opened the door to the café.” I nod towards it, obscured by trees.

“I want to get used to this form-” The smell of waffle is getting stronger. With strawberry jam. “So I think I’m gonna walk around a bit, maybe find some more monsters.”

I look at the others in a brief pause. Mmm, waffle. Distracting. “Anyone wanna join me? Form a party of sorts, a hunting party?”

Unsurprisingly, most people here don’t seem too psyched about the idea of potentially facing monsters.

“Sure. Why not?” Eivind is in. “It’s not like you’re gonna find another bug hive.”

I grin, startling two of my ‘disciples’. Oh right, wolf face. “Honestly I was only planning to walk-slash-jog around the lake. To get used to this form -as I said- and to get some exercise. I’m pretty-”

The waffle smell stops right next to me. “Uhh, Lars?”

I turn to the speaker. “Yeah, that’s me. Now with four-hundred percent more fur. Roughly estimated.”

Waffles are thrust towards me. I blink at the girl(or is young woman more appropriate for her?) “Wait, you actually bought me a waffle?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Well, don’t mind if I do.” I grab it and take a large bite, before remembering I was talking.

“Abywaih, ash I shaid.” Swallow. “It’s mostly just to get some exercise, but I’m pretty sure it won’t hurt to know how to protect oneself.” Another bite, smaller one this time. Ahh, I spilt.

“If I’m not mistaken, over time we’ll need people to to take care of these monsters anyway. And most people should be able to protect themselves.”

Swallow, bite, nom nom. “That’s one reason why I taught you those abilities, you know? I want to get paid for it, but I think it’s best if everyone can at least defend themselves.”

“I’m not so stupid as to seek danger.” I look to the ground and lower my voice: “Though safe to me might be dangerous to you.” I look back up. “Anyway, I got a healing ability which is pretty easy to learn, plus a first aid kit and the knowledge to use it.”

“So, who’s in for some exercise?” Oops, feral grin again. Bahh, they’ll get used to it.

“Let’s do introductions, then. First off, I’m Lars. Possibly the highest leveled and/or most knowledgeable about the [System] among us. I don’t mind answering questions or giving some tips, but in-depth help will be two-hundred Crowns per hour, thank you.”

Two hundred Crowns isn’t that much. Twenty USD or thereabouts? I can always up the price if there’s demand.

“I’m Eivind. I was here during the bug invasion yesterday. Level sixteen. I can do some magic and got the [Throwing] skill.” Short blonde hair, blue eyes and a strong build. In other words he’s basically the ‘übermensch’ according to WWII Nazis.

Next up is the girl who got me the waffle. Shoulder-length brown hair in a neat ponytail and quite average height for a scandinavian girl. I suppose that makes her pretty tall on a global scale. Her clothes gives off a bit of a tomboy vibe while still being distinctly female.

“Hilde. Level twenty-three. I have [Summoning Magic] and [Transportation Magic].”

Cue the sound of jaws hitting the floor.

[Summoning Magic] Magic used to summon things. It is limited to existing objects or creatures that the user have made a mana-bond to. Convenient if you forget where you put your keys, or as a way to quickly retrieve something from a container. [Transportation Magic] This form of magic is used for easier transportation of goods and people. Initially one can only transport a little mass at a high mana cost, but eventually one can instantly transport things to their destination.

“Seriously?” mutters Eivind, voicing what we all think. “That sounds both awesome and completely useless at the same time.”

I follow up: “Can you do anything useful with it yet?”

She shrinks a bit under the sudden, intense attention and shakes her head. “No…”

Ahh, a bit shy. The answer was as expected, I suppose. Next up: previously pretend-disciple #2.

“I’m Hanna. I fully unlocked the [System] just earlier now.”

Is it impolite to ask? No, as long as I’m not rude about it… “Hanna, are you trans?”

“Yes.” Oh, she is. I nod to her reply then turn to the last person who wanted to come. Is it really surprising that I don’t ask any more?

“I’m Stian. I’m level thirty-one. I have the [Martial Artist] class from [Aikido] and [Taekwondo].”

“All right!” I take the lead again. “So we’re a group now. Who’s with me?”

I hold out my hand and the others put theirs on top. I look around at the others, they don’t seem to be overly excited. Well, I wouldn’t be either, but I want to make sure this works.

“I hereby give our group the temporary name of ‘The Mist Hunting Pack’” and with that I raise our hands.

Group formed: The Mist Hunting Pack Members:

Lars (Leader) - Eivind - Hilde - Hanna - Stian

Eivind slowly turns to me, I face him with what I imagine to be a cheesy grin. If that’s even possible with with this face. “You- You knew this would happen!” He sounds half angry, but he, too, is grinning.

“Sure did! Shall we do further talking while we walk?”

So we grab our gear. And by that I mean Eivind and I grab our backpacks, the others didn’t come here geared up for battle. My boots are tied to my backpack since they don’t really fit my feet right now.

Well, I am the only one who has geared up ‘for battle’, but Eivind did bring a small first aid kit and a sledgehammer. When he says it’s ‘just in case’ I believe him. As much as I brought a pickaxe yesterday, ‘just in case’, that is.

We start walking the road around the lake. It’s not a big lake, but it’s still a day’s travel to walk around the entire thing, which we’re not going to do. Hmm, if people want to patrol the area they should use bicycles or something.

We talk as we walk. I also absently use [Mana Crafting] on a branch I picked up, trying to learn more about the crafting skills like [Rune Carving]. I equipped them as abilities, not via the classes.

As good as [Artificer] is, I kinda need [Proto-Mage] to use magic and [Pack Leader(non-beast)] to communicate with the wolves properly.

Of the others, only Hanna does not have a mist wolf companion, but they don’t have quite the same level of communication between them and the wolves as I do. At least they have all unlocked [Beast Empathy], so it should just be a matter of time.

As for the talking, it’s about abilities. I give the others tips on how they can improve, starting with Stian. Turns out he doesn’t have [Magic Pugilism], nor [Body Enhancement]. Those should both be great for a melee vanguard type like him (inb4: did I just assume his ‘class’?).

While he tries to figure unlock those by beating a stick, we give Hanna some pointers on magic, before getting side-tracked and questioning Hilde about her rather unique magics.

She isn’t quite clear on how she learned them, but when she demonstrates what little she can use them for, Eivind quickly learns [Summoning Magic], followed by me and then Hanna. Stian is still beating his stick, having unlocked [Body Enhancement].

We find out that, at least on our levels, only one person can make a mana-bond per item, with the exception of larger, more complex items. We are also unable to remove other’s bonds, but can ‘read’ them, recognizing who made the bond.

I therefore bond to the head and handle of my pickaxe, and can now summon it, even if it is attached to the side of my backpack!

Not very useful when I have to stand still and concentrate to summon it, and it doesn’t appear in my hand either, it just sorta falls out of the air and I have to grab it. Still, I feel like I can improve upon that skill to essentially make myself ‘quickslot’ weapons. I can’t un-summon them afterwards, though…

When I pull out my wand to bond to it, the questions start coming my way. But [Transportation Magic]!

Ahh well. Answering, I tell them I made it myself, got a class for it, it’s a ‘focus’ that can make it easier to cast magic better and that I can make more for the low, low price of three-hundred Crowns + materials.

I then demonstrate usage. They aren’t exactly impressed. So I repeat it without the wand, missing the target. Two shots later a {Mana Spike} finally finds its mark at the designated arboreal target.

Since they are still not impressed, I fire off three quick spikes, all hitting within a small area next to the hit from the non-wand shot. Of course this leads to them trying out the wand.

At which point they are finally convinced. Hilde immediately agrees to buy one, if I lower the price. I took her for being a quiet, introvert kinda person, but when we start haggling she becomes almost as loud as me.

“How about this then: For fifty crowns and whatever materials you can find within ten minutes I’ll make you a super-simple wand. Later, I’ll make you a proper wand for a hundred, plus materials or the cost for materials.”

“Deal!” Her eyes are practically shining. Why do I feel like she got the better end of the deal…

“Actually, if you want to go full mage-girl, I can make a scepter or staff instead. I should be able to make them with better stats or even abilities. The end should have a mana stone, so find a way to make one, kill and dismantle a monster, or pay me to do either of those.”

I bring out the grin, though this time she is unaffected. In fact, that’s kinda unsettling.

“Ey, your eyes are literally glowing.”

She jumps back a bit. “They are?”

“Not anymore. Did anyone else see that?”

“Nope.” “Yes.” “See what?”

Stian saw it. “They glowed. Like some demon or something.”

“Huuuuh.” As she breathes out, it’s like she deflate back to her (seemingly) usual self.

“So if I find a stick you’ll make me a wand?” This girl doesn’t skip a beat…

“Well, yes. But do you want your wand to be made from some random ol’ stick? And as I said, I can make other kinds of foci.” I look at her back as she enters the tree line. But I wanna experiment on new artifice on someone else’s bill!

“Sooo… Anyone else wants magic foci? Same deal.”