When James woke, it was dark.

Too dark for the summer.

The skies outside the window were pitch black. No stars visible behind a veil of clouds, hiding the light from both sides, concealing the sky behind.

But enough poetic nonsense.

James made no indication he was awake, focusing on what little he could see of his surroundings. As he let his eyes adjust, he could make out the silhouettes of the workbenches, and of several bundles on the ground near him, slowly breathing as they slept.

It dawned on James that they had stayed in the workshop far later than he would have liked, and it was now the middle of the night. Looking around a little, he saw someone crouched over by the door, motionless, but obviously awake.

Good.

They had been organised without him, and he assumed he could thank Dom for that.

He began to move his arms and legs, testing to see if any feeling had left him as he had obviously been out for a few hours at least.

But as soon as he shifted his limbs even a little, he felt shuffling behind him, and arms reach around his chest and neck.

Warmth radiated from behind him, and he realised how cold the room was. He was glad that Dana had decided to spoon him, but was a little disappointed it was cold enough that they were sleeping fully clothed.

Yet despite his best efforts, he couldn't get comfortable. He was hot and cold in all the wrong places. So he eased himself slowly from Danas rapidly tightening grip, and she murmured a little as she adjusted to his absence.

But without what turned out to be a pile of workshop aprons covering him, the chill of the room got to him. He needed to move and checked that his bars were full before walking to the far end of the room, earning the attention of the current guard.

He was somewhat surprised to see the bored, apathetic glare of Annie staring at him from under a makeshift hood of aprons.

He sat somewhat awkwardly next to her and shivered visibly before she threw a handful of poorly sewn together fabric to him.

It was a blanket. A thin, patchy one, but a blanket nonetheless, and James was grateful.

"Thanks. Who would have thought it would get so cold at night?"

James spoke in hushed tones. He understood everyone was tired, and he was lucky enough to have been granted several hours of rest. He was sure he wouldn't have easily drifted off on his own. What little of the world he had seen was already enough to shake him to his core.

"Snap out of it, idiot."

Annie broke his train of thought, and James scolded himself for drifting off again.

"Sorry. Uh... What were you saying?"

"I was saying we shouldn't still be here. I can hear them out there. There are nocturnal ones, and they patrol the halls. Regularly."

James, to his credit, was only mildly startled at this. These lizards were supposed to be little more dumb, yet aggressive, animals. Organised ‘dumb’ animals were more than a little unnerving. Thus, his agreement with Annie was quite understandable.

"What time is it? How long was I out?"

"It's half past midnight. You were out for about 7 hours. What was that even about anyway? Dana was crapping herself because Callum said you had no status effect that made you pass out."

While touched that Dana had panicked over his blacking out, he began to appreciate that a lot could happen in seven hours.

"So what's happened while I was asleep? Give me like, a shortened version."

Annie mulled over the question for a moment, debating with herself what she should include, and what to shorten.

"Well. Not long after you passed out, while Dana was making sure you were comfortable, Callum learnt the Analyse skill, then taught it to all of us."

Glancing away from James, she continued

"The first thing he did was analyse you to see your status effect, but there wasn't one there, so Dana freaked out for a while before May distracted her with some Mana stuff. They sat together for a while and an hour or two later, May was looking around with freaky blue eyes, and Dana was messing around with fire."

James was slightly concerned at his lack of understanding of this apparently vital substance called Mana, but he guessed he would get Dana to teach him later.

"While they were doing their magic, Callum and I went to look for some more food and water. We checked the nearby rooms, and aside from a few Screaming Lizards, it was all clear. We trashed a vending machine and carried as much as we could but I'm worried the lizards will get to it next, so that's no longer a viable supply. When we came back though, I was surprised to see that Dom had been busy with his own thing."

Anna turned back to James, meeting his eyes.

"He had run to the textiles room after me and Callum said it was clear, and grabbed a load of the materials there, and stuffing and shit, and made blankets out of them and the aprons already in here. He got the sewing skill and levelled it up to 8 by the time we got back. Weird skill, but this coat is warm at least."

She gestured towards what James had assumed was just a mesh of aprons wrapped around her, revealing that it was, in fact, a somewhat organised coat of several layers of aprons.

"It even adds Defence because of the material he used, and his level. But by the time we got back from gathering, it was beginning to get dark - Sundown is at roughly 7 pm by the way. Dom kept doing his sewing, and the girls kept doing their magic, so Callum started practising his spear moves, and I took a nap. Then the lights went out. ‘Battery had died. Probably not meant to be used for hours at a time. So everyone started getting down to sleep, and the temperature dropped really fast. Like, it was scary quick. At 8 pm. Remember that."

Anna briefly paused, before continuing once again.

"We could hear them. The Lizards. Hear them patrolling the corridors, and we were like; what if they smell us? What if they find this room?... And shit like that, so we took watches. Everyone does three hours awake. They get to wear this coat, do whatever they want, as long as they don't wake anyone. May probably messed around with her Mana, Callum probably played with his spear, and I've been slowly grinding my Hunter skills."

That last addendum jarred James from his ‘smile and nod’ routine.

"Hunter? Is that a class?"

"No, it's my Occupation. I was offered it when I used the XP ball from the slime"

"XP ball?"

"Geez, let me get to it. The slime kept dissolving slowly, so when it was gone, Callum started to Analyse all the things in it. The gold and silver balls were XP balls. We didn't know how much XP they give, but they decided I should use the silver one because I didn't take part in the slime kill. Apparently, they give knowledge more than XP, and I was offered a few occupations. Before you ask, I was offered Hunter, Tracker, Racer and Survivalist. I chose Hunter, and that achievement I got earlier gave me an extra skill called cold camo. It lets me slow down my heart so that my body cools, and it lets me go longer with less food. Useful as hell when I'm on guard against those scaly bastards. I'll explain my other skills later. I want to know about your skills."

James was expecting this and was mentally building up a shorthand explanation for all his news skills while she was talking.

So he explained as efficiently as possible what he got, and she nodded approvingly at some of them.

"You should be able to grind those skills really easily in here. Dom found that most skills give some stats when you level them up to 5. But some probably require them to get higher."

"What does grinding mean?"

"Um... it means, to like, do the same thing over and over to level it up higher. I've been using cold camo on and off over my shift, and it's level 7 already."

"Huh. That's cool."

James didn’t know what to else say. He and Annie weren't exactly close, so he didn't really know how to make small talk with her. Besides, she was obviously exhausted and she had talked a lot. But this gave him an idea.

"Why don't you go to sleep for tonight. I've already slept plenty, so I'll finish your shift and... who was supposed to take over from you?"

"Dana."

"Perfect. I'll take over your shift, and take Danas as well. It will give me a chance to grind some skills quietly."

"Sure. Just try not to run out of stamina. You'll pass out, and we’ll all die. Horribly.

James was, for once, genuinely intimidated. Her expression had darkened as she spoke, and in the nearly pitch black room; her hooded form cast an imposing figure.

"Sure, Sure. I'll make sure I have a buffer of like fifteen Stamina or something."

"Good. Now be quiet. I'm going to sleep."

Annie strolled over to a bundle of cloth, and as a final thought chucked the coat back to James.

He had full stamina and saw an opportunity to figure some things out.

Analyse

Crude Leather Coat:

Quality: poor

Condition: good

Defence: +3

Cold resistance +12%

That Defence stat was new, so James looked Into it.

Defence (stat):

The value indicates the damage deducted when taken in the armoured area.

Somewhat disappointed at the small Defence only his torso would receive, James just put it on, and immediately appreciated the residual warmth left over from Annie, as little as it was.

But he was short on time and counted in his head while watching the clock on the wall. After five minutes had passed, he checked his stamina, and it had risen from 26/36 to full again. James was frustrated that he would need to try this again, but at least his stamina regeneration was over 2 per minute.

Two more trial runs later, and James had pinned down that his stamina gain was at 2.6 per minute. That was an Analyse every four minutes. James decided that analyse really was one of his most useful skills, so he would grind that tonight, at the same time as grinding sewing and any other of his skills with no cost.

An hour and a half later, James had analysed almost thirty objects. His analyse skill was up to level 5 now, but the cost hadn't been reduced yet, and he couldn't tell if more info would be revealed to him, as the items he was analysing were fairly mundane.

He had more luck with his other skills. He had used Chalked Line on all the cloth he was sewing, and tried to imitate Dom’s design for the coat but with some lighter material when sewing.

Sewing had reached level 13 and given him a point of vitality every 5 levels. At level 10, it had also given him a skill that seemed more offensive than what would be used by a leatherworker.

Pierce [1] (skill):

Strike with a higher chance of piercing the outside of your target.

Progress: (0%)

Cost: 2 Stamina.

He had debated using this as he sewed to level it but wanted to work on Analyse more.

Chalked Line, however, hadn't levelled at all because it was one of the skills that couldn't level.

As soon as he realised this, James threw his current work to the floor, and almost shouted at himself in the hallway when he heard movement.

James froze, listening out for further sound. Then an alarm needed into existence, and James jumped, barely managing to not cry out.

Everyone was shuffling now, either drawing more covers over them, covering their heads or slowly sitting up. This last reaction was limited to Dana, who showed more than some confusion at James no longer being with her, but instead sitting where Annie have should have been.

Dana picked up her warm blankets and walked over to James before sitting in front of him and settling into a sitting position with her blankets wrapped around her.

They looked expectantly at each other, and James was about to say something anything, but she spoke first. Surprisingly, almost as if she was holding back tears.

"You're ok?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry for worrying you, but I just passed out when I got my new occupation. I think my brain couldn't deal with It, so I had to sleep it off."

Dana let out a relieved sigh.

"Even with Callum’s Analyse, we couldn't see what was wrong with you. I was so scared, so I got May to help me with finding out about healing magic."

"Oh yeah, Annie mentioned you were messing around with magic together. Did you discover anything cool?"

"Kinda, what we got was a kind of forced regeneration of mana at the cost of health and stamina. The rate looks to be ok though, so it's not completely useless. And I can work from it anyway. Level it maybe, refine the method. Besides, she taught me a fire spell which is way more useful."

"That's good, I'll need you to teach me some magic eventually, so the more you know the better. Anyway, have you decided on an Occupation?"

Dana was silent for a moment, deep in thought.

"I want an Occupation, but I want one that works with my magic. I asked May but she didn't really know much about Occupations. I meant to ask Dom, but he was busy until he went to sleep."

"You could just ask if something is an Occupation, and the box will tell you if you have enough experience to get it."

"Good idea. What about... ‘Arcane Researcher’? No. I have barely any of the knowledge I need. What about just a normal Researcher? I can get it... but the job status doesn't look like it has anything to do with magic."

She looked sadly at James, and he felt that he had to make her smile if his life damn depended on it. He desperately searched his mind for any mention of a magic Occupation in legend.

"Have you tried Witch or Wizard or something?"

"Yeah, and Mage. They're all classes, not occupations."

"What about Oracle? Oracle's in history were all about mystery and seeing into the future."

"Huh. That sounds good. Can I be an Oracle? Damnit. I almost have enough knowledge. What kind of things do Oracle's do?"

"Um, it was a lot of seeing into the future and reading fortunes. Both were just fake and random."

"If I could get to my phone, I could look it up."

"My God, yeah. I completely forgot about my phone. Typical that when we need them most, they're all in the office. Typical of an English college, that."

"I know. I understand why they do that for the kids in the lower schools, but we're adults. It's insulting."

"Ok, so we should try to get to the entrance office at some point, get some phones, and this whole knowledge and experience thing will be so much easier. But it's late, so you should sleep."

"But-"

James stopped her by putting his finger to her lips.

"But nothing. I've slept more than enough, but you haven't. So go back to sleep."

Dana pouted a little, which James only found adorable. But she was obviously tired, so she knew she should sleep.

"Fine, but I'm sleeping next to you, and you have to kiss me goodnight."

James was surprised at the last part of her demands. It just seemed so un-Dana-like.

"What are we, kids?"

"James, you have to."

James only smirked a little at this. And he had a new appreciation for Dana's new face. This was something she could probably only pull off now.

"Fine."

James leant down to kiss her on the forehead. He was going for the cute goodnight kiss that he thought she might appreciate, seeing as she was acting like a kid. But before he made contact, she yanked his head down and planted her lips on his.

James felt the hunger from her. She needed this more than he did, but James wanted it too. She pulled him closer, and he let his hands explore her body, as her kiss deepened.

His mind was surprisingly clear. All he could think about was how his hands ran over her body, familiar curves that felt completely different. Her breath was warm on his mouth, and he got more and more excited until she pushed him onto his back, so she was straddling him on his waist.

Dana let a small moan escape her as she shifted forwards over his erection, and started to lower her upper body down to kiss him again, but kicked a table lightly as she straightened her legs.

The table shifted slightly, making a noise. It was quiet, near silent, but it was enough to still the pair. James searched his surroundings to see if they had woken anyone, and his gaze met the brightly glowing blue eyes of May using the Mana Sight she had recently learnt.

Unseen by James in the dark, May smirked and barely audibly spoke one word.

"Ha.”

James' face burned red, and he distantly noticed Dana undergo a similar reaction, before he turned away from intruding Alchemist, burying Dana’s head in his chest.

Thankfully, May rolled over and let the two have their moment, but the mood was quite thoroughly ruined. Much to their unwanted audience’s joy.

James gently pushed Dana off of him and wrapped the blanket back around her. She sniffed a little and James noticed the slight glint of tears on her cheeks. He hugged her as best he could in his kneeling position and stroked her hair softly while she shook gently in his arms.

"Don't worry about her. When we can have a little more privacy, I'll treat us Ok?"

Dana nodded slightly and pulled away a little.

He kissed her on the forehead and pulled the blanket closer up to her head. She sniffed one more time then smiled slightly and lay down next to him.

James sat there for several minutes, stroking her hair slowly and listening to her breathing slowly steady, comforting both her and himself.

Skill learnt: Comforting ©

Comforting [1] (skill) {on}:

Let out a calming aura to comfort those around you. Toggle on and off

Progress: (8%)

Cost: (none)

This skill seemed immediately useful, and he was gaining progress at an amazing rate.

Glad at the new skill that he could grind, and satisfied that Dana was asleep, he tried to ignore the fact he had been quite effectively Cock-blocked and worked through the night.