The next morning started early for Myles.

Not as early as if he had to cook everything fresh that day, but early enough that he still didn’t want to do it. He’d gotten used to sleeping in past sunrise after all. Still, he had his job, and he had assured everyone he could handle it with a little help from Silpha and his Skills.

And handle the cooking they did.

Before he left for the breakfast camp that morning, Myles’s inventory was loaded down with enough food to choke a troll to death through its Regeneration. Despite Silpha’s help in creating the extra, the original work still fell into Myles’s lap since, apparently, dungeons can’t always make a perfect copy from a single sample.

For him, it was a welcomed distraction from the task at hand and had given him ample practice with his Focus Trait. Despite the offer to join the festivities for breakfast, Silpha optioned to stay behind and hold down the homestead, as she had enough with people for a bit after Sindra’s visit. In Myles’s eyes, that was just fine. With all the work, magical or otherwise, that Silpha had done for him, she deserved some time to herself. With a smile, off he went.

As he walked, the morning air was starting to lose its summer warmth and take on the slight chill of fall’s bite. In other words, it was perfect weather for eating outdoors once the dew evaporated and stopped soaking his shoes. Despite the impending rise of a massive monster made from stone and magic, it was a perfect day indeed.

By the time he’d reached the plaza, the rest of his team was waiting. The greetings were quick and the small talk was just that as Myles filled them in on the setup for the morning on the way to Sindra’s home.

Once they arrived at the gates, that was where the battle truly began.

A horde of hungry Runners were already assembled, moaning as if the walking dead for things like coffee, biscuits, and eggs. Their eyes gazed at what should have been a dragon’s hoard of treats and saw bare plates out waiting for them.

The other Runners were early, earlier than they should have been, but Myles was ready.

He had been born into this business, and no one dared to question his authority this day. From his inventory, supplies flew as jugs and baskets full of items stacked as high as the dimensional storage bag would allow.

“Tail, Lyna, with me,” Myles ordered, hanging them each baskets. “Kendra, Will, man the drinks.” They were given two giant pitchers each, easily holding two gallons of liquid apiece.

And like a well-oiled torch, the fires of breakfast were lit to the cheers of all.

Left and right, he continued to empty his inventory. Piles of cinnamon rolls, sweet toast, and pancakes rose like spires of delight before just as quickly vanishing into the void of hunger before it. Fresh bread and jam followed next, one decidedly supporting the bland taste of the other, and that too vanished. On the other end of the parade of the walking hunger, fresh cider and water met glasses again and again as Kendra and Will supported the drinking front as well as they shored up the power of their team.

The battle against hunger was a battle of attrition as Hazen eggs took shape in droves, but they too fell to the hunger beast. It was slower this time, and Myles knew the tide of combat was turning as he pulled out his last tricks, a length of sausage like a limb from the mightiest tree and dozens of fresh eggs, onions, peppers of all colors and ripeness, and the pride of the haul Sindra had given him, fresh cheese. The eyes of the hungered turned to him, mouths watering for the fresh devices as fruit appeared at the other side of where he stood.

Then, in front of all, his Phantom Oven came to life like a gently glowing beacon of hope, and he began to cook the one thing he hadn’t dared to let Silpha do.

“Who wants omelets?”

The cheers were unlike anything he’d heard before.

Over the next hour, stragglers were fed, eggs were beaten and cooked into submission, and the beast called hunger was stomped out with extreme prejudice. Just as he had the fight night of the Run, Myles excused himself from cooking when the majority had been fed, prepared a small plate for himself, and sat down after a long morning that had left him drained in both effort and mana. With his increased Body and Will, it wouldn’t be long until he was in top shape, but he didn’t mind being a little empty. It just made more room for food.

Over the next five minutes, the rest of his team found him and set up camp to eat their shares of the bounty. No words needed to be exchanged as they ate, but Myles could feel their contentedness at the filling meal. He had to admit that Sindra went above and beyond with some of the ingredients even if he had to make them stretch a little more than necessary with Silpha’s help.

When the plates were cleaned, and in the instance of Lyna and Will licked clean, Myles set his plate aside and felt a familiar nerve starting to rise in his throat.

“I’m not good at this,” he said, starting the conversation off on a positive note, “but I think we’ve gotten better working together and trusting each other.”

“You do feed us,” Kendra pointed out. “It’s hard to get rid of strays you keep feeding.”

“You invited me,” Myles reminded her.

“Yeah, but then you took over and kept the rest of us.”

“She’s right,” Tail added with only a bit of smugness.

Myles ignored them. “Still, I don’t think I could have asked for anyone better than you guys. I just want you to know that…”

“Nope,” Lyna interrupted. “No talk like that.”

“I just…”

“I hate to agree with her,” Will began, getting a gesture of rebuttal from the Halfling. “I know you’ve got scars, Myles, but we’re not going to die on you.”

“Not if we can help it,” Tail added quietly.

“Yeah, the only one you have to worry about is yourself,” Kendra said punching his shoulder. “We’ve got your back.”

“And your front,” Lyna added.

“And your sides,” Will laughed.

“And your… top?” Tail tried.

Myles looked at the four and felt a complex well of emotions. It’d not been very long, but the group had become close, closer than he ever hoped for when he first began as a Runner. They were almost like family now, and like family, some of them just said the wrong thing at the wrong time with the best of intentions. Myles couldn’t help but stare at Tail for a moment before laughing so hard he nearly threw up his breakfast.

When all was said and done, even with the resources Sindra had given him, they nearly ran out of food. Among the remains were a few heels of bread, a splatter of jam and juice, and the crumbs of a cinnamon roll. All in all, if he had been back home, this would have been a great morning. With a full stomach, friends, and a crisp breeze stirring the world, Myles was finding it hard to argue with that logic.

But the illusion had to end at some point, and a few minutes after he had started to relax, Sindra took center stage and cracked the tension with a critical strike.

“I hope everyone enjoyed breakfast! We have a big day ahead of us. Shardking rises tonight, so we’re going to spend the day in the plaza resting and preparing for battle.”

In true Sindra style, she dropped the message so casually that many had to do a double-take. A few brushed it off only to stare intently as she repeated the same message, though not in nearly as many words.

“The Broken King rises tonight.”

She told everyone what Myles and company and a few others from the faces already knew. Thankfully, the rest took it better than he had and cheered the challenge on. The roar of defiance against the next foe was a sight to behold as weapons raised, cheers echoed, and the collected masses of sapient races pledged themselves to wiping the dungeon free of their next foe.

Other than that, the meeting was a short reminder about the jobs and positions. Only one thing had to be added as the group became anxious.

“As a final note, we will be buying any item that Shardking and any other raid boss drops. It doesn’t matter the class or design, we will be collecting them for cataloging. I promise that our prices will be fair and above what the merchants pay. We need all the power we can get, and I want to make sure that it stays in the dungeon. First floor or last as a rule from here on out, boss loot of any kind from the floor guardians cannot be sold to outside forces. Crafted or found from any other source is free game, but the rest must stay here until the end. You are I both know that the dungeon drops things for a reason. A first-floor drop might unlock a special path on the ninth or give us something useful as a trade component for one of the monster races. Anyone found selling guardian boss loot will be banished.”

As much as Myles wanted to argue, he hated that he agreed with her logic. Myles assumed everyone knew the stories of the Third Run and how the Runners could have easily bypassed the entire tenth floor if they hadn’t have sold a seemingly useless sapphire dagger for quick coin when the merchants came. Even if he knew she had personal motives, Sindra was clever about it.

***

The groups dispersed soon after Sindra gave the last of her remarks and Myles retired with the others back to Will and Kendra’s. No one quite knew what to say still, but they kept each other in check with bad jokes, good food, and a few discussions about tactics and plans in case those tactics failed. Most of those boiled down to get the Mists out of there.

A little past noon, Myles got up and excused himself.

“I need to go get the slimes ready for tonight,” he explained. “Meet me at my place near sunset?”

The group agreed except for Kendra, who got up, brushed herself off, and fell in next to him in her pitted armor. “I’ll come too. It takes me a while to get used to being bonded to that slime of yours. I don’t want it distracting me in battle.”

He shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s that bad,” she explained.

Will nodded. “It’s unnatural.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about it,” Lyna commented bitterly.

“Sounds good.” Myles nodded, holding the door for her as she walked out. “See you guys later then.”

“Don’t die on the way,” Lyna called as the door shut the pair off from the rest of the team.

As the sun beat down on the plaza, the day had gotten warmer compared to the cool morning. Myles was still comfortable as he walked, but there was more to it now as he took each breath. There was a scent on the wind now, something familiar, something that tugged at his mind in a way he knew well by this point.

“Does it smell like mint to you?” Kendra asked him a moment later.

Myles took in a deep breath.

Not just smelled… no, it tasted almost like mint— just like it had when he’d nearly died of mana poisoning. It didn’t have the same fizz though, just the scent that wafted on the wind and landed on the tongue like when you could taste the dish because of how thick the spices hung in the air.

“Yeah,” Myles commented a bit lost in thought as they walked, more aware of the sights and smells of things as they moved through the crowd.

Kendra took no notice, but he could feel her emotions tense just slightly the longer they walked.

“Bringing Doughnut too?” Kendra asked a few moments later as they passed the town square.

He considered that and shook his head. “No, Doughnut doesn’t have the Symbiote Trait, and I’ll have trimmed all his excess dough off by then to restock my resources,” Myles explained. “I do have an idea for a new slime, but it won’t be ready until after the raid.”

“Oh? Holding out on us?”

Myles smiled, speaking more about his latest idea as they walked. “I’m going to try to create an elixir slime.”

Her ears and attitude perked up. “Got an arm and a leg to spare for that many elixirs?”

“No, the theory is that elixirs are part healing potion, part mana regeneration potion.”

“Topoff and Medic.”

He nodded, raising a hand to greet a few Runners that called thanks to him by name. “Right, but we need them too. If I can feed a clear slime enough of both potions, I think I can make it work.”

“And hopefully not poison yourself in the process?”

He sighed. “One time.”

“One time I’ll never let you forget.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Myles groaned, brushing the comment off. “It paid off though, but my Monster Lore is more practiced than my Item Lore, so I feel like it won’t steer me wrong. I mean, why call it an elixir slime if it isn’t made of elixir?”

“Fair enough,” she relented. “What about a replacement for Squishy?”

His mood visibly darkened. “I’m not sure yet. As useful as it was, I don’t want to try raising another until I’m sure Squish is gone.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Ashra is safe, and she’s stronger than ever before.” The silver lining helped things before he remembered how happy Squishy had been just to help. It was a hard lesson. “I just have to be more careful next time.”

“You will be.”

“I hope, besides, I had time to train with Squishy. I wouldn’t want a fresh monster in a situation like Shardking.”

“I get that. It’d be like taking a [Baker] to fight in a dungeon.”

He ignored the jab.

By the time the conversation peaked, the pair had reached long past the center of town and began walking through the outskirts. The road had been expanded over the past two weeks towards Myles’s place, but it was still a long walk away through the low grasses. Again, he cast a glance towards the homes he hadn’t heard from. It still ate at him not knowing if the people he lived near were alive or dead.

Kendra seemed to pick up on that and put a hand on his shoulder. “They’re fine.”

“You sure?”

She shrugged, taking her hand back to complete the scene she had created. “No, but why should we worry. They’re as trained as any other person. I mean Mists below, Myles. Think of where you started and look where you are now.”

The point was well put. “True.” The idea of combat had gotten him well and truly off track as they approached his homestead in the distance. “What do you think the second floor will be?”

“As long as it’s not a puzzle floor or a water floor, I’ll be fine. I hate boats, and you know full well I’m not patient.”

“No, you are not,” he snickered.

She punched his shoulder hard enough that he continued to feel it until they reached his front door. Again, he felt her discomfort bubble up and he sighed.

“You know it’s not that bad.”

She glared daggers, but her glare softened soon after and she sighed, shaking her head for just a moment. “It is when you could lose so much.”

“What happened to Ashra…”

“That’s not what I mean,” she sighed. “I’m just picturing the worst. You know how you can plan for everything and still fail.”

Myles smiled. “Didn’t you all tell me I couldn’t think that way?”

She snickered. “Don’t use my own words against me. Come on, let’s get me bonded to a slime.”

“You sure?”

“Chase, if that red blob means the difference between me bleeding out and me surviving to torment you for another day, you know the answer.”

“Alright, I’ll promise he won’t get too close with you,” Myles teased.

Kendra shivered and glared. “And now you’ve gone and made it creepy. Thanks.”

“Anytime, Kendra,” he joked again, holding the door open.

“Have you always been such a gentleman?”

“I have, in fact, always been such a gentleman. My mother helped raise me well.”

“Of course she did. She’d be so proud of you protecting maidens from inappropriate monsters and holding doors.”

“You’re not a maiden.”

She walked past him, flicking his face with her hair in a deliberate jab. “[Berserker]s can be maidens.”

“And a roll can be a grenade,” Myles joked, then considered the option as he closed the door behind them.

Going into the bathroom, Myles checked on the slime nest made from his towels and gave the three remaining members of the support team an affectionate rub to the head. They did the best imitation of a purr as they could before settling back into the warm materials.

For his part, Myles opened up his inventory and checked on his supply of remaining clear slime cores. He had a paltry six left. He sighed, not realizing he’d used up so many in cooking, feeling the slimes, and in failed attempts at growing new slimes. He had a better plan this time and fully intended on capitalizing on it. With slime mass from Topoff and Medic, he had an infinite supply of potions to feed this one when it was ready, so into the shower a core went.

There were a few hours left before sundown, so Myles began the task of stripping down Doughnut and shaving some mass from Medic and Topoff.

“Need any help?” Kendra asked, standing in the doorway.

“Nah, I’ve got it,” he said, putting the fresh slime mass from Topoff into a jar. “But if you want to help, you can feed them.”

She gave him a look. “I thought they ate mana.”

He nodded. “Right, but they can also eat what they’re made from. So healing items for Medic and mana regeneration for Topoff. It’s in the closet, top shelf. I’ll take care of Doughnut.”

“You keep it…” she shook her head. “No, it makes sense.”

“I like to think so.”

Something tugged at his attention as she turned, but he brushed it off. She was in her comfortable clothes now, a new-looking short-sleeved shirt and pants. He’d missed when she changed, but it made sense that she would change when his back was turned. Armor wasn’t always the easiest to manage indoors.

The [Monster Tamer] emptied the scraps of the feast of bread crusts for his dough slime by the time Kendra arrived with the rest. “Two bottles each,” he said as she handed him one of each. She nodded, went back to the closet, and came back with another. Myles handed them back. “Open the stopper so they can drink it. They leave behind the glass, so I can refill it later.”

“Refill it?”

He nodded. “I have a standing agreement with one of the merchants. I return the bottles, and he gets to practice his Alchemy cheaper.”

“Which one?”

“Kyle.”

“Really? Thought he was a [Berserker], too.”

“Nope, it was a potion he made. Since it eats through the vial if he leaves it sit too long, he isn’t against making a deal to lower his overhead.”

“Huh.”

Myles nodded, slipping his blade back into the sheath at his side before moving aside to let Kendra to the slimes who gurgled happily. “Yeah, he was bragging about it making him as strong as any monster. I knew one of the ingredients by reputation and took a risk making a deal.”

“What was it?”

“Hydrofluoric acid, some pretty nasty stuff. We use to use it to clean rust from tools, but if it’s potent enough, it can eat pretty much anything. A local [Glass Master] used it to etch the new windows in the bakery when Dad was promoted. He wouldn’t say why he used it, but I assume it has to do with how it breaks down some of the herbs.”

“Sounds like it could eat his insides next,” she commented, popping the top and feeling the heal slime its recovery potion.

“That’s why he goes through so many healing potions.”

Kendra visibly winced at that, and Myles had to agree with the sentiment. It was why he didn’t want to touch those kinds of potions and elixirs. Healing potions could already do enough of a run on your body when used properly, he didn’t need to make it worse for himself by testing the limits of what one could do for his body.

Both seemed to have that feeling as Kendra distracted herself by going to feed the two slimes as Doughnut ground the crusts to dust in its maw. It was a… unique combination of squelching, plopping, and chopping that Myles could never forget. If the crust was hard enough, the snapping almost sounded like bone.

He considered how normal that sound was now and nearly got sick.

“You alright?” Kendra asked, looking back over her shoulder as she crouched down to finish feeding the slimes.

“Just considering my career choice,” he commented.

“Too late for that now, Myles.”

It took a little longer than necessary for her to feed the slimes, but Myles didn’t mind the company as he opened the window. The mint smell had gotten stronger the closer they’d gotten to his home and became stale indoors. As the wind blew and refreshed the air, a new smell joined the subtle minty scents.

Strawberries.

Silpha, does mana smell like strawberries?

In return for his question, Silpha prodded against his senses, and he let his guards down for her to smell and taste what he could.

“It does not, but you are smelling both. Maybe someone is baking nearby or maybe Kendra had them for a snack? Strawberries are rare this late into the season, but not unheard of. Some of the omnivores do drop bushels as loot.” A moment later, she felt and replied to his intent. ”No, I won’t make you some. Yes, I’ll get you a list of the creature families that I know of.”

He smiled, but it just made him more curious.

“Kendra, where’d you get strawberries?”

Kendra blinked, seemingly surprised. “You can smell that?”

He nodded. Silpha’s guess must have been right. “Blame my old [Baker] Class, a side effect of Taste Test is improved taste and smell.”

“Ah, it’s not strawberries, more of a body spray since soap isn’t as plentiful for those of us with a typical build.” she paused, and Myles felt a familiar tension she’d been carrying for a while. Embarrassment maybe?

“You okay?”

More tension.

“No,” she sighed, standing up again. “No, I’m not, but it’s a stupid thing to worry about.”

“Considering the stress you’re feeling, I don’t think you think it is.”

Another sigh later, Kendra shook her head. “I don’t want to be that girl.”

“What?”

She groaned, and Myles didn’t need his emotional link to his team to know she felt frustrated with him. “Look, I had an idea for something, and I realized too late that it was stupid to talk about it now. It can wait till tomorrow as long as we survive it.”

He wanted to pry, but the tension was too taunt for him to want to rip whatever baggage she was in. “Is it going to hurt us if we wait?”

She shook her head and sighed. “No. It won’t hurt.”

Kendra knew herself best and he nodded, letting the issue go with a final comment. “If you need to talk to someone…”

“I will,” she finished. “If it can’t wait, Will can listen to me rant and call me a stupid girl..”

That seemed harsh. “You do have other friends besides your grandfather.”

She glared, wiped a hand across her face, and groaned slightly. “Myles, I know you care, and I don’t know how you know that, but don’t call him my grandfather. Call him Will.”

He nodded, but he didn’t know why. He had a few ideas, but they still didn’t make sense to him.

“Now, I’m going to go steal your bed for a nap. Wake me up before sunset.”

Myles wanted to argue since that had been part of his plan with the late night coming, but when he felt the tension ease in Kendra’s mind, he let it go. He had a perfectly good couch after all, and he could use Ashra’s bed too. “Gotcha. Sleep well.”

“I’ll try.” Her face scrunched up for a moment as she added, “I hope you cleaned it. You were disgusting the last time you were in it.”

Myles shrugged. There wasn’t any blood on it and the smell of his sweat didn’t seem to linger longer than a day. “It cleans itself I think.”

She glared again. “I hate your stupid house, Myles.”

In a moment of recognition, as the door closed, Myles realized she hadn’t even bonded with Medic yet. He sighed looking at the little guy and the slime wiggled happily at Myles’s recognition.

Oh well, she’d have to deal with it.