While their new weapons were being worked on by the local blacksmith, Jasper and Zachary were practising under RuRet’s loose supervision.

Jasper was jogging around the town, naturally, he was surrounded by two zombies to make sure he doesn’t escape.

Slowly, his stamina skill began to increase from the exercise.

Not wanting to spend his time practising for a fight since he couldn’t really see himself ever on the offensive, Zack decided to help around town to pay for the blacksmith.

Remarkably, Zack was able to carry heavy loads without any help unlike most of the villagers who carried the long bundles of wood to and from the homes in pairs.

In fact, Zack probably got some strength and stamina from the “training” thanks to the fact he was essentially jogging with the wood.

After that he was asked to help out at the farming area, the crops grew from seeds to fully-grown fruit and vegetables in mere days, as such, those who chose to work as farmers usually opted for small plots of land that produced a lot of food regularly.

Swiftly, Zack collected the peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes, the innkeeper had his own plot of land where he grew a handful of citrus fruits and some spices, though the climate slowed their growth to almost a week between harvests.

Instead of the usual undead, a mere raven circling him from above was enough to keep an eye on Zack.

Meanwhile, RuRet earned some extra money for the journeys ahead.

“So, keep this in mind, blue mint-leaves are almost always stamina altering and take in two modifier plants, one fruit, one herb, if you mess that part up you’ll end up with a weak poison.” he explained.

“A very basic stamina potion is made from blue mint leaves, boiled in water until you get a yellow-brown mixture, then you want to add the extract from an un-boiled blue mint leaf, I usually just use a mortar and pestle for that kind of thing, and the extract from fruit, for a stamina spell, the sweeter the fruit, the stronger the effect!” he explained.

Mixing the three ingredients in a small vial.

He shook it around causing the mixture to give off a temporary glow before assuming a rich, light orange colour.

He sat at a small stall in the centre of the village.

On the wooden table stood many bottles of water into which RuRet dripped some of the orange potion causing them to turn a bright yellow.

“Make sure to dilute the potion, or you’ll die really painfully!” he explained with a smile.

But RuRet wasn’t making money selling potions.

He squeezed some lemons into each of the bottles and added a bit of sugar.

“Alright, one gold per bottle of magic lemonade!” he finally said.

His stall had a crude wooden sign reading “Magic lemonade, 1 gold coin.”

Uncertainly, the people before him analysed the potions.

While about half of the village were NPCs in the past, half of them were players, even so, alchemy was a pretty rare skill on account of how little of it wasn’t randomized, meaning there wasn’t a solid tutorial to follow.

Seeing their uncertainty, RuRet smirked as took out a small, wooden cup and poured himself a glass of refreshing lemonade.

He drank it all in one gulp with a loud: “Ahhh…” as soon as he pried the cup away from his lips.

“See, it’s perfectly safe!” he explained.

Hesitantly, a few of the villages, NPCs and Players alike approached the stall.

As promised, the drink replenished a tonne of stamina, it was like going from the end of a day to the first hour out of bed.

Needles to say, the money piled up quickly.

By the end of his drink supply, RuRet had earned almost thirty gold, and convinced several people not to attempt alchemy for fear of having to memorize everything.

After counting his money, RuRet decided that he should probably call the others in for something to eat.

He made his way into the inn where he saw crimson-haired man clad in generic leather armour with metal plates and chains, talking to the innkeeper.

At his side he carried a mace, while on his back was a crossbow.

His hair was about shoulder length and kept immaculate, he turned around and looked RuRet up and down.

Something about him was off, even for RuRet’s standards.

Upon showing his face, the man was seen as having a red goatee and a cigarette in his mouth.

“Well, think it over!” the red-haired man said with a carefree smile as he walked past RuRet.

RuRet didn’t say anything as he made his way towards the visibly anxious frogman.

He cleared his throat.

“GREETINGS!” he announced, finally gaining the frogman’s attention.

“Eh?”

“I have come in search of food for myself and my party!” he announced, somewhat happy he finally got to say his thing.

The frogman nodded.

“Right… anything specific?” he asked, he sounded distant.

RuRet leaned in.

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be yourself, frogman innkeeper!” he exclaimed.

Before the frogman could even come up with a reply, RuRet’s ravens noticed something.

A group of thieves clad in the same armour as the ones they “fought” last time attacked Jasper and Zack, knocking them out with some sort of sleep spell before running off with them somewhere.

Through the bird’s eyes, RuRet could see it.

In place of the red-haired man that just left the inn, RuRet could see the shadow of a colossal, scaled beast with massive wings, more than big enough to cover all of Levelgreen twice over.

“I-it’s nothing…” the frogman finally said.

RuRet smiled.

“Nothing, you say…”

Despite his smile, RuRet began to sweat.

“This… is bad…”

Meanwhile, Jasper and Zachary opened their eyes at about the same time, finding themselves in some dilapidated dungeon.

The walls were made form old, mossy stone bricks, the only source of light was the cold, blue light of the moon from outside a small crack serving as a window.

Both Zack and Jasper found themselves with chains around their wrists.

“...”

“...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Immediately, Zack began to scream.

“SHUT UP! I’M TRYING TO J- Ehh… READ! I’M TRYING TO READ!” yelled who they assumed was the prison guard.

“...”

“...”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

Zack screamed a little more quietly.

Sensing his opportunity, Jasper lunged himself at Zack, using the chain linking his hands to strangle the man.

“I GOT YOU NOW!” he exclaimed.

Audibly choking, Zack clawed at the chain, doing his best to loosen the chain’s grip.

“H-HOLD… ON!” he managed to stammer out.

“ACH- I… WILL… JUST… RE-SPAWN… OUTSIDE!” he cried.

Jasper breathed a sigh as he let go of Zach, allowing him to take in the deepest breath of his life.

He fell to the ground, coughing and gagging.

Eventually, Zack managed to prop himself up and sit against a wall.

“Guess we’ll have to wait for RuRet…” he said, his voice still raspy.

Jasper clicked his tongue.

“I’m not just going to sit around and wait for him to come and save us like some fucking hero! I’m getting out of here by myself!” he exclaimed.

“Mmmm, no, no I don’t think you will,” remarked the red-haired man from before.

The tip of his cigarette was one of the only sources of warm light in the entire room.

In a flash, Jasper lunged forward, ready to choke the smiling man through the bars.

Instead, the moments his right arm moved mast the bars, the red-haired man absolutely destroyed it with one swing of his mace.

The skin as well as at least one finger flew off from the impact alone as blood splattered up to the ceiling.

As Jasper pulled his arms back before he could even begin to feel the pain that was about to come, the red-haired man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key ring with just one or two keys on it.

He shrugged.

“There.” he tossed them the keys, they landed on the stone floor with a quiet clang of metal.

“You’re welcome to come out and fight me.” he offered.

Met with the crippling pain from his hand once again, Jasper gritted his teeth, desperate not to show any weakness to the stranger.

The stranger nodded.

“Well, just sit tight for a few days, we’re going to offer the jGuardians a trade to get back our guild members whom you so rudely captured.”

“I’m sure they’d accept the trade of a few thieves for the murderer of Glummington!”

“Oh yeah, I’m Cardilax, first class mace, second class crossbow, auxiliary class red dragon-kin!” he introduced himself, before turning to leave.

As Cardilax left the hallways and by extension, left the groups line of sigh, Jasper took in a slow, stead breath of air as he pulled his tenderised hand out of the shackle he was in.

Partially free, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the remaining healing bandages, applying them to his hand, sloppily.

This was a job too big for mere bandages, even magic ones.

Seeing Jasper was not only wounded but also ALREADY trying to escape, Zack began to protest.

“What the hell are you doing, man?!” he demanded.

“MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!” Jasper hisses.

Seeing him reach for the keyring to undo his other hand, Zack swiftly snatched the key off the ground.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” he exclaimed.

Jasper gritted his teeth.

“YOU…” he voice was low and bitter.

“YOU HAVE SOME FUCKING NERVE!”

Jasper lunged at Zack, trying to decide between punching him or snatching the keys from his hand.

He decided a punch would carry the message across better as his damaged fist met Zack’s face, undoing more of Jasper’s poorly-applied bandages.

“YOU THINK YOU’RE THE FUCING JESUS TWO-POINT-O FOR BEING A ‘NICE PERSON’!” he yelled.

Plunging his fist into Zack again.

The pain was intense, but the constant punching made it a continuous stream of agony which did little to put Jasper’s flaming temper out.

By the fourth punch, Zack retaliated.

He swung his fist at Jasper in a burst of rage not for his own harm but for Jasper’s never-ending stupidity.

The punch was strong, strong enough to push Jasper back as he fought against gravity to stay upright.

After coming out victorious, Jasper charged in for another punch.

Before it hit, Zack moved to the side, tripping Jasper up and allowing him to fall face-first into some moss-coated bricks.

“WHY CAN’T YOU EVERY THINK FIVE-SECONDS AHEAD, DUMBASS?!” Zack demanded.

Jasper pushed himself off the wall and turned around to see Zack only to see him running in to plant another punch.

This time it was Jasper to retaliated by head-butting the incoming foe.

Both stood still as blood poured from both of their head-wounds and down onto their faces.

Jasper tried reaching for Zack with his hands to try and choke him again with the chain only for Zack to throw Jasper over his shoulder and onto the ground where he landed with a thud and a pained groan.

Zack wiped the blood down from his face, hoping for the battle to be over only for Jasper to use the chain to tangle around his leg and pull him down to the floor.

The battle changed from a proper duel to a rough tumble on the ground.

At first, Jasper has the upper hand, pummelling Zack relentlessly as his face slowly took on various shades of pain.

Zack grabbed Jasper’s shirt and pushed him against the metal bars of the prison, causing them to ring out throughout the entire base as Zack continued the battle with the disorientated Jasper.

He climbed atop him and planted on solid punch after the other, every burst of kinetic energy was more than enough to knock a person to the ground.

“WHY CAN’T YOU EVER JUST ACCEPT YOU’RE WRONG, DUMBASS?!” Zack demanded, grabbing Jasper by the throat and keeping a tight grip over it.

“YOU FUCKED UP ONCE OR TWICE! JUST MOVE ON WITH YOU LIFE, MAN!”

With every passing second, Zack was getting closer and closer to choking Jasper to death.

Jasper’s eyes began to glaze over as he attempted to pry Zack’s hands off his throat to no avail.

With the last of his remaining strength, Jasper sat up, head-butting Zack again and pushing him to the ground, ready to fight back, Zack climbed back up only to see Jasper was already passed out.

Moments later a hand-full of guards charged in to make sure the two didn’t just end up killing each other.