“Thanks, Myles! Hope you come by again.”

Myles just smiled, accepted the items into his inventory and turned to leave the trader’s station Rick’s Rollers. It wasn’t that he wanted to kill Rick in particular in that moment, but if he pressed him for another deal, Myles might just try to speedrun to the second floor, drag the trader there, and have Ashra rough him up for his antics.

Stupid, price-gouging merchants.

There was no way that his obviously used padded leather armor and Ashra’s chainmail armor had cost that much! Even selling his old dagger, he barely had enough left over to survive on till tomorrow.

To his surprise, Ashra smiled openly and brightly. Something he’d not seen her do in front of others before. He knew their link was growing stronger the more they interacted, but she usually just reacted over it, not in public.

Whether she was feeling better in Runner’s Plaza, around people in general, or was because of her new gifts, Myles counted it as a win.

Who needed money in the dungeon anyways?

Nope, not him.

Not at all.

On the bright side, at least the interaction had taught him a few things about Runners he hadn’t known before since it wasn’t exactly an entertaining bit of knowledge. When Myles thought more about it though, it made perfect sense.

Any equipment provided by the dungeon or equipped by a Runner was one size fits all.

It was a little thing, but it was an important one.

Back home, he’d never really thought about how all his [Baker]’s gear was always a perfect because each piece had been made for him, but when he was using an interface and inventory, it didn’t matter. Clothing and equipment resized for whoever was trying to use them.

It also didn’t matter the species either, surprisingly. As long as they were vaguely humanoid, the gear fit perfectly.

After requesting to return to the stasis stone to be equipped, Ashra returned looking more like a warrior than before. Her robes seemed a bit bulkier since she didn’t want them removed, but the chain work easily kept its shape around her exposed fur and flesh. It even stretched over her massive upper legs and hips while tapering to fit until it reached her bare feet. With the way it clung to her, he didn’t know how she’d gotten into it otherwise. Score one for the Interface system.

Myles didn’t look anymore impressive as he donned his new equipment. The padded leather shirt was well made and crafted from a thin, but strong material the merchant didn’t identity for him — more than likely because he didn’t know what animal it had come from. He might have gotten off better than he hopped, but as long as it could hold up to a few attacks, it wouldn’t matter. Not that Myles wanted to get attacked, but it was better to have something than not.

Walking out of the busiest part of the plaza, Myles tried not to look too hard at some of the more impressive houses. Sure, he had his ranch and he enjoyed it greatly, but some of these Runners had to have spent so many vouchers! How’d they get enough for mansions complete with glass windows, iron gated fences, and… a fountain!?

Not having a full kitchen was starting to feel a bit more annoying than it had before.

With a sigh, he caged the greened eyed monster once more and pushed through the crowds to the other side of the once empty plains.

On either side of the plains that wasn’t Runner’s Plaza was the forest, to the other end was the ruined city, but to the other side was the lake. In a usual Run, the lake was the least visited of the different biomes because of its deep water and lack of any real explorable areas without gills.

If the past runs had taught him anything, it was that this place wouldn’t be heavily explored yet. In the best case, he might find something useful just sitting near the beach unguarded or tucked behind some tall grass. It wouldn’t hurt to find some easy prey or something to bring back to the ranch before they needed to be back for the meeting tonight either.

It is a good plan, Ashra confirmed for him as they passed out of the Runner city.

Myles took care to guard his link between them as they passed the final suburban area. It wouldn’t help her to feel the unease in his heart as they moved. The way people watched them move through the city, eying him like a thief and her like walking experience, was… a bit unnerving.

Apparently, he hadn’t done well enough, but Ashra took his unease for the situation rather than from his own people.

We should be safe as long as we don’t get surrounded. The denizens of the beach are numerous, but they are only as strong as the wolven and emberhares.

“Emberhares?”

He felt only the slightest hesitations at the question, but she answered all the same. They are the magic branch of the Lapin Kingdom advised by Preya, specializing in fire magics. You will not meet with their kind unless you go into the deeper reaches of their desert empire. I would recommend avoiding them at our current power level.

That was useful, and there were already bounties for monster information he’d noticed around the market area. He was uniquely suited for getting that information, too. Maybe he could make back some of the money he’d spent?

“I’ll be sure to warn the others.”

I’m sure they already know.

Myles didn’t really like the way she said that, but he didn’t have the information to argue with her.

Right now, the most important thing for him was to get stronger, and knowing where not to go would be what separated him from the dead.

If he ran into Preya though…

We do not get along. She would attempt to kill me no matter the risk to her.

Huh.

“Then we’ll have to kill her first.”

He felt the barest hint of pride at that. She was… happy he was willing to kill her family?

More of the question must have crossed their link as Ashra answered.

I have no love for Heiress Preya and her people. We will slaughter them all when the time comes.

There was just such a different between their kind. It was hard to imagine wanting to kill someone in his family for no good reason. If it was enough to make him want to kill someone, others with a shorter temper would beat him to it, but the dagger he’d drawn at some point seemed to have a little more weight in his hands.

Crossing the border of the safe area of Runner's Plaza into the Lake Biome, a warning lingered at the edge of Myles’s vision.

Warning: You are leaving the safety of Runner’s Plaza [Plains Biome].

A few steps later, the message vanished along with the ingrained feeling of safety he’d had in the pit of his soul. The ground didn’t look any different, but there was new, noticeable shimmer in the distance as the water of the lake glistened in the sunlight. He could smell the water and mud of the lake on the air as he continued to look ahead and spoke as if he were talking to an old friend.

“Where should we start looking to train?”

“That depends on what you look to train for.”

That was easy at least.

“I want to get stronger, Ashra. Maybe we could find another monster to train for ranged attacks.”

“I assure you, Tamer, that you won’t find another on this floor as strong as I am.”

He could feel the pride in her voice at that statement, but as proud as she was, he still had to keep an eye out. She may have been the strongest in her kingdom, but there were others, weren’t there?

If she sensed those thoughts, the ambush rabbit princess said nothing. Ashra simply thought for a moment, sniffed at the air, and pointed to their left, to what looked like recently trodden path through the forest.

“There,” the monsterkin informed him. When he didn’t argue, she moved closer, knelt down, and examined the tracks by running her hand across them. “They aren’t at regular strides, so there are at least two sharp deer. Their hooves don’t dig in deeply, so they must be smaller. Possibly a pair of fawns or does that escaped the plains slaughter.”

His heart burned at the thought of those knife-horned bastards. Doe, fawn, or buck, he hated them all. “Can we take them?”

She nodded. “As long as we are together, it will be impossible for them to flank us and get the advantage. If I am injured, you will simply take me to the healer again.” As if an afterthought, she clarified. “A proper one.”

He couldn’t argue with that. He did not like the feeling that came with being healed by the [Distortion Mage]. Feeling the pain twice was a small price to pay, but one he didn’t want to have to pay a second time… or was it a third at this point.

Either way, it wasn’t fun.

“Keep your eyes out for any chests along the way.”

Ashra nodded, and the pair went off into the woods.

***

“These aren’t fawns!” Myles yelled as the sound of steel crashed against his padded armor, sending him to his knees as he drove the blade into its neck.

Ashra grunted a response, driving her knuckled fist into the head of the other as it bore down on her, but across their link, he could hear her loud and clear.

I am aware of this fact.

They’d found the pair grazing a bit deeper into the forest. With their heads down, it should have been an easy smash and grab. Creeping up behind them proved otherwise as a third sharp deer bound from the right, collided with Ashra, and in its bleating cry, alerted the others to the potential attack.

It went to the Mists from there.

As his dagger dragged itself through muscle and sinew, the deer on top of him slumped into his chest before it dissolved into motes of light.

Ashra was still beating against the first, her fist going again and again into the creature’s skull as she attempted to shatter it, but their skulls were made of tougher stuff. With a cry, it reared back, preparing an attempt to impale her.

Myles was on it in a moment, but just then, the third buck lept in and joined the battle.

Horns collided with his armored chest, the sharp points unable to push further as they drove the young [Monster Tamer] into its kin’s flank. A rush of air escaped his lungs, and he nearly dropped his dagger, but his grip, and his weapon mastery, wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

They were the hands of a trained [Baker] with Dagger Mastery.

The armed hand tightened around the hilt, driving it home into the side of the beast. With a grunt that was indiscernible from the man or the beast, Myles yanked it free with a spray of gore, drove it back in, and repeated the action as often as his captor would allow until it pulled back with a bleat of pain and released him to unsteady feet.

Gore painted the dagger as the creature stumbled back, lining itself up for another strike, but Myles feet recovered quicker than the beast intended, propelling him behind Ashra’s stunned deer, but the beast dissolved back into the aether a moment later as Ashra landed the killing blow.

“Mists.”

The hooves were getting closer, nearly on top of him before he did the first thing that came to mind and rolled towards the tree on his left. The trampling feet missed him by a hair as his hare came to call, slamming a fist into its ribs and visibly breaking bone with her strike, knocking it off its intended course.

The sharp deer stumbled again, turning to try to get at him again.

It didn’t have a chance as the injuries slowed its response.

Ashra’s strike was like lightning, and the hit was critical.

Blood painted the forest floor even before she drove her fist against its eye socket, but the darkness that followed the attack wasn’t easy to ignore. Purplish red liquids and chunks of something else flowed freely for only a moment before rejoining the aether and leaving behind whatever loot the fates felt appropriate.

The last looked at the carnage and turned to run. Ashra leaped on it, breaking the bones of its flank and sending it to the ground. It was a slaughter as the two converged, slashing and breaking limbs as easily as ripping through paper until it too joined the aether.

Panting as he picked up the loot or accepted it from Ashra wordlessly, there wasn’t much he could account for: a pair of horns, a pair of pelts, and a steak were all that they found.

He was hoping for another necklace like he’d found with the others, but it was all for naught. Really if it wasn’t for the combat experience, the fight almost wasn’t worth it. As if to drive the fact home, they were both worse for wear, and it’d only been a small fight.

It’d been so easy the other night when they’d routed the sharp deer herd, but there’d been two more of them. He knew there were strength in numbers, but parties were something that took time to grow. He’d only really met a few of the Runners, and the only ones that he had any rapport with were Will and Kendra.

If Myles were going to survive, He needed either more monsters or a party. Gathering another untrained monster on the first floor didn’t seem like the best idea with the Soul Shived debuff, so a party was really the only option unless Ashra grew stronger.

If Myles were being honest, he just didn’t like the way most of the parties looked at them. They had hungry eyes, a look he was all too familiar with as children looks at sweet bread through the windows or shoved cupcakes in their mouths after wheedling it from their parent.

Maybe he’d just accept Will and Kendra’s offer. They already show to be a good team and Will had been a healer… kind of. The memory of his tending made him wince and rub at his thigh absently, and he noticed Ashra’s hands go to the sides of her legs.

The thoughts mulled around in Myles head as they continued to search the woods, coming across a cache of some kind hidden cache in the hollowed-out knot of a tree.

—

Visual Check Passed - LV 1: Hidden Cache

Basic Cache

5 - Silver Coins

5 - Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply)

1 - Unidentified Gemstone

—

Myles transferred all the items over into his bag of holding and sighed. At least the day hadn’t been a total loss, but it was nothing compared to what they’d spent to prepare for the hunt.

That settled it.

Depending on what happened at the meeting tonight, he’d find his two cohorts from the other night and join them. As long as they kept getting along like they had been, it wouldn’t be so bad.

He’d just have to make sure to stay on Kendra’s good side. Cinnamon rolls could go a long way with that. Everyone loved cinnamon rolls.

By the time they made it back to the clearing, the sun was already starting to set, and he could see the crowds beginning to gather.

Well, he didn’t want to be late now, did he?

Myles hesitated for a moment, looking back as Ashra. “You don’t have to be here for it.”

She nodded to him, thankful but resolute. “I would rather make sure nothing happens to you.”

“No one can do anything to me here, Ashra.”

Again, she seemed to only consider that for a moment before redoubling her stance. “I disagree but will respect your decision. Unless you order me to leave or place my back in stasis, I will continue to guard you.”

Ashra was dedicated, he couldn’t argue with that. “Just try not to draw attention.”

Ashra gave him a familiar look, tilting her head and ears to one side as if to ask him how she draw more while at the same time asking him if he was an idiot.

There was one thing he’d say about the Empathic Link skill, it made it so much easier to tell when a woman was asking him that without asking him directly.