Strem walked through the gate, following Red-skin and Mask. As they entered the room Strem was surprised to see it was similar to the room they had previously waited in. Ritka and the other twin were sitting against one of the walls at the far end. They raised their hand in greeting and everyone walked over, Strem sat himself down next to Ritka, blowing out a breath in relief.

The twins exchanged a few words and sat down on the bench across from him, Mask joined them, the bench Strem sat on was more than filled by just him and Ritka. Thinking about it he was amazed the benches could hold Ritka's weight.

"Isn't it about time we actually introduced ourselves?" Strem smiled at the rest, "I'm Strem, The big guy is Ritka." He pointed at the giant with his thumb.

The male of the twins tapped his chest, "I'm Makin and this is Ratisha."

Everyone looked over at Mask. She hesitated, nodded to herself and answered, "You may call me Naya."

"Nice to meet all of you, I was wondering if there was a way for us to watch the ongoing rounds?" Strem asked.

"We cannot." Naya answered. "It was deemed unfair for starters like ourselves to be able to peek at each others fighting style."

"Too bad, I was wondering how my friend was doing." Strem added, tapping his chin.

"Does your friend have the same strange abilities as you do?" Ratisha asked.

Strem raised an eyebrow, "Strange?"

"You fight many enemies, take many blows, yet you are neither injured nor do you show any signs of exhaustion." Naya pointed out.

"Well if you call those strange abilities then yes she also has them." Strem said, "They are, however, simply high level skills, it has nothing to do with, this." He said gesturing at his body.

"May I ask what race you are, I have never seen one of your kind before, nor have I heard of them." Ritka asked.

"I honestly couldn't tell you, as far as I know I am the first of my kind, I used to be human." Strem sighed, "This change was forced upon me and a few others, each of us differ in appearance."

The story naturally made them curious, a human, forced into a new race, it was unheard of. Strem told them the story, he told them about how he and the others were captured, how they had been tortured and manhandled and how that was the origin of his skills. He told them about the core that was forced into their bodies and how it changed the very structure of their bodies. A few minutes into the explanation, Yinta entered the room. Strem introduced her to the others. They marveled at her skin and how a flower seemed to actually be growing behind her ear, Naya pointed out how it was the most beautiful shade of pink she had ever seen. Yinta gracefully thanked her for the compliment.

After the starter rounds had ended it was announced that the remaining warriors would be spending the night, all the rooms had double bunks however so they would need to find a roommate, the twins had it easy. They were used to bunking up anyways, Yinta and Naya decided to bunk up. That left Strem with Ritka, Strem grinned at the giant. "Just so you know you're definitely NOT getting the top bunk." The giant chuckled, "I would be surprised if I even fit in the bed at all."

— White Room —

"And then I was lying in the top bunk, with Ritka taking basically the entire floor." Strem said grinning.

Jer stroked his chin. "You've met some interesting people."

"That we have, they would make for strong allies, I had a conversation about doing the group tournaments with Ritka, he wanted to enter both the Duo and the Group tournaments as well as the solo ones. Says he's happy to have already found a competent partner."

Jer smiled, scratching his chin. "Having a giant as a friend will prove useful, you should know however, that he is not a half-giant as you assumed, he is a full blooded one. He is merely young, giants continue growing through-out their lifespan. I think he is about our age, maybe even younger."

"Really?" Strem's eyes widened, "The fella is going to get even bigger? Oh lord save me."

"I think it is interesting, how all of us have ended up somewhere else, only Three and Sumi have become adventurers as originally planned." Kolstum said.

Yinta stepped forward towards the projector. “I guess I shall show you my progress, the rest of Strem’s memories is the rest of the tournament. Which by the way Ritka won with ease. Not that it surprised anyone.”

Everyone nodded and made noises of agreemant and watched as she started up the projector.

---- Yinta POV ----

She fought in the tournament, same as Strem, Fliít even complimented her on her bare handed technique. She nodded gracefully in thanks to the compliment. The others were surprised when she stepped out of the tournament after the all-out brawl, but she had decided that this type of life was not what she wanted for herself. They watched as she created her financial plan, as she went out to the fields and used her magic, core-given ability to succor the fields of farmers, convincing them to join her new merchant company. She would help them nurture their fields, increasing their yield and quality by a large margin. The farmers were exuberant about the results of the first batch.

She asked for no pay but instead convinced them to allow her to sell their harvest in the city. She set up a store, using most of the money Strem had received for placing third in the tournament. The eventual winner had been Ritka, to no one’s surprise. Sheer size was an overwhelming advantage that the other competitors could not compensate for, given their low levels and lack of stats. Mask had come in a surprising second place, managing to defeat Strem with beautiful sword play- only to be squashed by a body slam from the giant. The reward money Strem had received was not insignificant and Strem had trusted her with nearly all of it, keeping only a small sum so he could eat. She smiled at the memory, as she used the money to buy a store.

She started advertising, which really made her stand out because Ritka had helped out. Having a giant call out your wares in front of your store really boosted notability. She used that to advertise her organic, fresh and extremely tasty farm produce. Business boomed, and she earned more than she had expected, enough to expand the store and the circle of farmers she received the food from. Her success made her popular with the farmers, who sold more of their harvest and thus earned more. Word spread like wild fire as farmers came to her shop requesting to be part of her circle. After a mere four days she had already earned enough to open a second store, she had to admit this was beyond her initial expectations.

She was happy with the results and had even hired two employees, one for each shop, so she could spend more time nurturing crops. The people who had eaten the food she helped grow told others that it was tastier than anything they had ever had before. She asked a mage to check out her produce, and it seemed that her magic had actually seeped into the crops. The mage had told her that it even had slightly addicting properties. Nothing harmful, but enough so that people thought it tasted even better than it actually did. By the end of the week she was widely considered an accomplished merchant, Ritka and Strem had decided to duo up for tournaments, with the twins and mask joining whenever the team-based matches were available.

All of them also signed up for the solo brackets. The strange pair went their separate ways, however Strem kept feeding most of his winnings into the shops, causing her budding business empire to grow even faster than would have been possible otherwise. The rest of the group applauded her ingenuity when they saw how fast her merchant group was growing. She smiled, satisfied at their reactions to her memories.

“For the rest not much has happened nor have I met anyone that was notable. I should earn enough at the end of the month to expand to other cities in the area. Should any of you need money in the future feel free to ask, that is why I started my merchant company after all.” Yinta stated as she sat down.

Jer nodded to her, “I might make good on that, I will most likely need a decent sum to get my people armed and armoured, it would let me expand a lot quicker if I had some funds beforehand.”

Yinta smiled. “Let me know the specifics, I can make a shared bank account that will be accessible at all banks. You may withdraw whatever you need.”

“Much appreciated.” Jer answered. The rest nodded, although most of them were not in need of any extra money at the moment.

With that they ended their session and returned to their much needed rest.

—— Three Pov——

Three woke up the next day, feeling better than usual. He could feel his familiars waiting outside the village and had to applaud Shuffles' sense. He had completely forgotten to instruct the undead to wait outside of the village, but it seemed the ghoul understood it was a bad idea to simply enter a village with a group of undead without needing to be told. Having an intelligent companion really did make life easier.

He rose, stretching his limbs, not that he actually had any aches or stiffness. It had become a habit he supposed, perhaps from his younger days. He briefly struggled to remember his past but sighed when he came up with a big fat nothing. He poked Sumi. The girl groaned and turned around in her bed. He poked her a few more times until eventually she sat upright with her messy bed hair and glared at him. He smiled before telling her it was time for breakfast.

“Fiiiiiine.” She muttered.

She dragged herself out of bed and started putting on her clothes. She had been so overjoyed with the clothes Emmi's mother had made her that she had used their recent earnings to buy a few more identical sets. She put them on and strung some beads in her hair to give it some extra color. She grinned at him and ran downstairs, slapping his back on the way down. “What are you waiting for slowpoke!”

Three shook his head as he paced after her, “You, obviously.”

As he walked downstairs he was surprised to find Crimson laying on the porch. Emmi had opened the front door so the Jurgor could stick her head in and watch as the family ate breakfast. Her mother had even been so considerate as to have a plate of raw meat for the creature. Three smiled as he saw the large creature obediently listening to Emmi as she told her to wait. He bobbed his head in thanks to Emmi's mother and took his own seat at the table. He grinned as he smelled the delicious aroma of food. He had not eaten in days, and although he did not get hungry he had to admit that he did like to eat.

After every bit was gone, he tapped his stomach with a satisfied smile. Being full felt odd but the sensation was... good. Much better than the nothingness he usually felt. Emmi got up energetically and nearly dragged Three and Sumi out to the door. Davis and Talin were already waiting for them in front of the house, grinning as Emmi struggled to move Crimson out of the way so she could actually step foot outside. Eventually, the huge Jurgor budged and she pulled them into a circle.

“Right, so we have some catching up to do. You have obviously gained quite a few levels, so that means it's time for us to hit some dungeons. The goblin one is too easy and too small for us, so our best choice would be the Abominatable Dungeon.” Emmi told them, hands placed on her hips as she swept her eyes over the group.

“The abdominatablulbu what now?” Davis said, blinking at the strange word.

“The Abominatable Dungeon, It was named that after some adventurer decided the dungeon was filled with abominations. It's not an actual word, but the name stuck. There are an extremely varied number of monsters in the dungeon, making it a good place to train. More importantly, it has plenty of floors. The monsters on the lower levels even reach into the fourties.” She told them sternly.

Talin rolled his shoulders, “So when are we going?”

Emmi grinned at the question. “Right now!”

The rest of the group sighed but hid small smiles at the expected response. Davis and Talin were already wearing their brand new leather armor with their weapons tied to their hips and backs respectively. Emmi had also brought her great sword with her. She had not yet earned enough to afford a full armor set, but she had managed to buy herself some steel vambraces and greaves. Sumi, as the party mage, didn’t need any special weaponry. She could get a staff or wand to augment her casting ability, but she insisted that feeling the danger of fire and the risk of setting herself ablaze kept her focused.

Three shook his head at her choice. Her element of choice for her magic progression was less than ideal, given the combustible nature of her body, which was probably exactly why she chose it. She kept talking about turning her weaknesses into her strength, including her inherent flammability. Emmi eyed Three as he walked through town with the rest, “Don't you need your hammer and shield?”

Three blinked at the question. To be honest he had completely forgotten about the armaments. He frowned, deep in thought for a brief moment, but eventually shook his head. “I prefer fighting without.”

Emmi stared blankly at him for a moment then shrugged, “To each their own!”

They made their way through town, greeting those they knew and getting well wishes from some of the stalls they frequented. As they neared the wall, the guards opened the gate. Each of them greeting Emmi like she was their long lost little sister.

“Take care of the little captain!” One of the guards yelled after them as they left the town.

Emmi huffed as she stamped away from the settlement, “As if I need protection. Annoying little...” She started muttering minor insults and epithets at the guards below her breath. Davis started grinning, opening his mouth only to be interrupted by Sumi.

“So how far is this dungeon?”

Emmi looked at her and smiled, “Only a few hours away.” She then glanced at Three, a mischievous smile forming on her face. “Unless of course, a certain large, fuzzy creature is ride-able!”

Three gazed at her, then shrugged. “Ask her. If she's okay with letting you guys ride, I can just run alongside. It would really speed things up.”

Emmi walked over to the Jurgor and stroked the creature's nose, Crimson purred from the attention, her flanks rippling from the sound. Emmi bounced on the balls of her feet, her voice nearly trembling in anticipation. “Crimson, can we ride you? Can you carry the four of us?” Crimson blinked as she stared at Emmi for a few moments. Talin, Davis and even Sumi were observing the one-sided conversation out of the corners of their eyes. Crimson bowed her head lower, pushing her nose between Emmi's legs and with a sweep tossed her onto her back. With a yelp, Emmi flew through the sky and landed, quite ungracefully on the Jurgor’s back.

The remaining group members grinned in excitement and started climbing onto the Jurgor, all four of them lining up on her spine. Three glanced at Crimson, feeling through the bond that she liked the attention. Her long back had more than enough room for the four of them, and she could probably easily carry Three as well. He wanted to run however, feeling a need for the physical exertion. Three started picking up the pace, and Crimson accelerated to a canter to kept up. Three built up speed until he was running at full sprint. The Jurgor easily kept pace, her paws kicking up a layer of fresh snowfall off the ground.

They reached the dungeon after a relatively short travel time. Three noted that his other familiars had fallen behind but were still traveling towards the dungeon. They were moving at a decent pace and would arrive in about half an hour. The rest of the party clumsily dismounted the Jurgor’s back, laughing as they tried to tame their windswept hair and remarked on how amazing it was to travel as such a high speed. They patted Crimson in thanks for letting them ride, causing the Jurgor to start purring once more. Emmi really liked the resulting vibrations as she hugged the creature’s side.

“By the way guys,” Three said, interrupting their reverie. “The rest of my familiars will arrive in about half an hour. Do you want to wait for them?”

As the attention shot towards Three, Emmi walked up to him, with Talin and Davis close behind. “What do you mean your other familiars? What other familiars!”

“Well I told you about how I got the class Monster-tamer right?” They nodded, “Well I bonded a Zombie and a Skeleton during the fights with the undead. The zombie evolved into a rare smart variant and became a ghoul. The skeleton became a strong skilled skeleton. I also control six other undead around level twenty.” Emmi blinked at his calm explanation.

“So you have eight level twenty companions?”

“Technically two companions and six conscripts.” Three corrected.

“Your friggin followers are stronger than our own party man!” Davis exclaimed in shock.

Talin nodded calmly, “Not to mention the level thirty-four Jurgor.” The rest of the group just stared at him as they digested the information.

Three shrugged, “I guess I'll tell them to clear the dungeon themselves. Crimson can you wait here for Shuffles and clear the dungeon with them?” The Jurgor laid down with a yawn which he took for agreement and turned towards the entrance.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the others mouthing ‘shuffles’ with raised eyebrows. Pretending not to notice, he dragged the others into the dungeon. “We obviously have some clearing to do. Let's get inside!”

Three stepped inside his second dungeon, with his still-arguing team-mates.