By the time Maya appeared outside Kalyx City, Sevard had already switched from his Rend disguise to his normal persona.

Maya looked around, but didn’t see anyone else, so she also activated her mask interface and switched her persona from Twinkle back to Maya. She sighed faintly. She missed the mental fortitude that pretending to be a big strong guy had granted her. Yet at the same time, she also felt more at home in her original form.

Sevard winked at her, then crouched into stealth and disappeared. Entirely. Despite there being nothing around to hide behind.

“So, you know I can’t see you, right?”

“Meet you at Dalra’s?”

Maya shook her head. “I didn’t have my map back then. I don’t know how to find it. And with my luck, I’d end up in the sewers or catacombs again.”

“Then head to the northwestern intersection, and I’ll guide you from there. I have to run to my house and take care of a few things first.”

Maya nodded, though she felt a bit vulnerable traveling without him. She’d have to get used to it. He had to log out soon.

The sun slid ever nearer the horizon. Late in the afternoon, but not yet evening. The sky was clear, with only the same handful of decorative clouds as usual.

“Does the weather ever change here?” Maya asked, but received no reply.

Well, he couldn’t get away from her conversation so easily any longer.

“Sevard, Sevard?”

“Yes?”

“Does the weather ever change here?”

“To some extent. It’s never as dramatic as reality. Each zone has a preferred climate, which it defaults to in most instances. But there can be variation.”

“Does this connection link thing only work once a day like you said?”

“I made that up so it would sound more like a perk. As far as I know, it is unlimited.”

“So you did hang up on me that time!”

“What can I say? I am a trickster, after all. Honouring my deals doesn’t mean I have to be stuffy and boring.”

Maya grinned, and ended the communication. She wondered how long he’d keep talking to no one before he realized she wasn’t listening.

She arrived at the crossroads a half hour later. Sevard stood waiting for her.

“Finish your monologue alright?” she teased.

“Yes, thank you. Follow me.”

Maya paid more attention this time, watching on her map as he led her through the city. It did increase the number of times she unfortunately stumbled into walls or tripped over the ground, but Sevard was able to catch her in time to prevent any damage.

The trip to Dalra’s shop proved as confusing as ever, involving climbing over fences and Sevard’s secret knock.

Dalra opened the door and nodded when she saw them. “Right on time.”

The crafter gave Maya’s current armor a curious look as she passed over a stack of items.

Maya knew at once that they were perfect; the texture, the colour, and most importantly the stats, were all exactly suited to her. She equipped them one by one, grinning into the array of mirrors as she transformed from an awkward noob with her mismatched garb to a well-geared mage. Low-level, sure, but with a matched set and proper stats.

Finally!

Maya couldn’t help it. Impulsively, she hugged the older-looking elf woman.

Dalra tolerated Maya's affection for about three seconds, then crisply disentangled herself and set about brushing imaginary dust from her clothing. "I'm glad you appreciate my work. Not everyone does."

"I do! This is absolutely wonderful! I haven’t had good on-level gear once since I started playing. This… I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

Sevard handed Dalra a bag of money, which she accepted with a brisk nod. "You know my doors are always open to you. Don't hesitate to come back."

"You know I won't."

"I don't suppose you’re ready for your tier five outfits?"

Sevard shook his head. "I'm working on it. You know how it is."

Dalra shrugged. "Actually I don't. At a certain point, leveling and crafting go their separate ways. Why would I need to be high level? Only to collect high-level materials. And I can get those from anyone. Anyone high enough level to use the items I would craft is high enough to collect ingredients for them."

"Could you make me a tier two outfit?" Maya asked. "I'm getting close to level 10. But this one should be different. I want to emphasize health and speed, but not agility. And I don't need armor, just accessories."

"Strength and momentum. No problem. I'm assuming you want it in a similar style?"

"I'm thinking of something more battle mage with a bit of rogue, but in white and gold. The one you've got for me already is perfect for pure mage. This will be used for different purposes. Is that doable?"

"Certainly. If you can dream it, I craft it. What level? Tier two is a wide range."

Maya hesitated. "Sevard, what level you think I could reach in the next three days?"

"12. Assuming you pass your tier trial."

"Then let's go for 12."

Dalra nodded agreement. "Thank you for your continued patronage. Your order will be fulfilled within four days. I do have some other work to finish first, and it wouldn’t be right to prioritize you over older orders. Unless you like to pay to expedite the process?"

"No. I'm in no rush. Four days is perfectly sufficient."

After a few more minutes spent in more detailed discussion of materials and stat distribution, Maya and Sevard took their leave.

By now the mountains’ shadows stretched long across the valley, heralding the oncoming evening.

"Sorry to abandon you, but as I said have other obligations. I really do need to go. I’ll contact you tomorrow. Do think about that riddle, if you have the chance."

And with that, Sevard logged out.

Maya stood for a long moment, feeling strange to be on her own again. For a moment, she felt abandoned and directionless.

But only for a moment. She had a list of obligations, and no reason to delay.

First, she headed to her apartment, saved the game, and loaded her unspecialized save in mage Academy. It was very convenient, she thought, being able to transit from one place to another without crossing the intervening space. Even if it did mean her level would be reverted each time.

With some consideration, she loaded her Seer save instead. Of all her saves, that was the one that she knew she’d absolutely want to level sooner or later, so she might as well get a head start. Just in case she did anything worth experience.

She'd forgotten how vulnerable it felt to only have 80 health. She’d had over 300 a moment ago. But, really, so long as she remained experience locked on her other save, she may as well make some progress. Maybe she should stay here, waiting out her penalty on this save, then swap back to her already leveled version once she could do something useful with herself again.

Of course, on this save she was left without any of her new equipment. She could use her Path of Life save for dangerous things, travel with Sevard, and fund her craziness. This version be dedicated to magic, intelligence gathering, and other such non-dangerous pursuits.

Her journal entries did not carry over between saves, so she’d have to start over with her notes and plans. It shouldn't be a problem, since she rarely checked her notes anyway.

Which gave her another idea. Now that she had her contract with Sevard, she wouldn't have to worry about money. She'd earned enough in one day to more than cover any equipment costs.

And that decided it. Time to finally go shopping on her own.

Not that she had anything against Dalra's custom items, or Sevard buying everything for her, but there was a certain value to visiting every shop in the city, no matter how obscure, and making her own equipment purchases.

Now that she knew how to use dyes and disguises to change her persona, she wanted to keep going and make even more. If she already had Maya purple and white mage, and Twinkle the canary battle mage, what else could she become? Who else?

She couldn't wait to find out.

Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 8 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Seer Base Equipment Modifiers Total Strength: 8 0 0 8 Momentum: 11 2 3 16 Agility: 8 2 1 11 Control: 8 19 0 27 Attunement: 17 0 1 18 Focus: 8 0 1 9 Intelligence: 15 0 2 17 Flexibility: 8 0 1 9 Luck: -25 - -45 -70 Unassigned: 2 Health: 80 of 80 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 143 of 143 Energy: 116 of 116 Speed: 1.31 Switch penalty: -33%, 8.3 secs Stealth: 0.71 Chain bonus: +5% Awareness: 0.9 Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 4