Drake and I make our way back to the access ring for the local Crystal Dungeon once it's nearing dinner time. We waited until now so that we can do this, then return to the tavern, wash up, eat, then get it on and go to bed. Even if we're exhausted from training all day, we're both confident enough in our ability to complete the Class Trial. We did take a small break in the grass to rest up a little.

Honestly, my Class Trial probably won't even be that difficult, since I'm going for Healer. As long as I can think mostly clearly, I should pass it easily. As for Drake… well, he's a fighter with plenty of stamina and energy, and he recovers it much faster than a human. He'll be fine.

As we step into the access ring, I look out at the ocean. The water's so calm, with only light ripples on it from the wind. There's not even a tide anymore, which means the water that's covering the base of the access ring is here until we restore the Water Crystal.

According to Drake, tides are normally caused by the moon or moons orbiting it. We have two moons that revolve around our planet together, causing the tides. But with the Water Crystal acting up, it's apparently not just stilled the seas, but caused a permanent high tide in some places. An act that should go against the natural laws.

That effect seems to be recent, though. According to some of the local sailors, it began recently enough that I wouldn't have noticed before leaving Silent Valley.

The water doesn't bother me so much, but Drake smacking it with his tail so much tells a different story than what he claims. I figured out earlier what it might mean. I think the 'feel' of the water and the sand bothers him. It's different than the water and sand on Granny's island, which was touched by the magic of the place.

Here, however, there's no Crystal of Power filling the environment with magic even slightly, much less heavily. As a result, the plain water and sand is bothering him as it touches his tail. Drake's avoided mentioning it to me, but I'm pretty sure his scales are sensitive.

The sands here are more coarse than the sands on Granny's island, and that probably bothers him in addition to the unmagical feel of them. Then there's the water. I don't think Drake likes his tail being soaked, but if it were infused with magic like the water on and around Granny's island, he'd probably feel at home and so tolerate it a little.

The way he feels uncomfortable but does his best to hide that he does is cute, to be honest. Because of that, I decide to let him enter first, watching him and his tail as he places his hand on the access stone, then disappears.

I place my hand on the access stone and a menu appears in my vision immediately, asking me what I would like to do. I select Class Trial, then pick Healer, then confirm entry. Immediately, I appear in a chamber. Pushing my hood back, I look around.

The room is twenty feet on each side, with no exits and plenty of light emanating from the crystals within the sconces set into the walls. There are two on each wall, each six feet from a corner, eight feet between them.

Sitting in the exact middle of the room is a pedestal, probably how to confirm I've finished. Resting against one wall is a table of supplies, while resting on a bed is a training dummy. A message is in my vision.

Treat the patient's wounds using only the items on the table. You have twenty minutes, be as efficient as possible. The healing rod uses Lesser Heal upon activation; it is limited to healing worth 10 Mana.

A timer appears in my vision as well, and I dismiss the instructions as I approach the 'patient'. The dummy is a humanoid figure without breasts and with a smooth, featureless crotch, the thing an off-white in color. There are several burns, scrapes, bruises, and cuts on it. Nothing too extreme, all of them are simple injuries.

After checking over the dummy and mentally cataloging the injuries, I walk over to the table and get to work. It takes me approximately fourteen minutes to treat all of the injuries, including disinfecting, applying salves and ointments, stitching up the two cuts that need it, and using the healing rod on the injuries I deem requiring it.

I check over the dummy once more, then walk over to the pedestal and place my hand on it. Immediately, a message appears in my vision.

Congratulations! You have become a Healer! You have been awarded the Class [Healer I], the Skill [Lesser Heal], and a bonus 5 Class Points for the completion of this Class Trial.

I dismiss the message, then pull my hood back on before I tap the pedestal to pull up the menu to leave. When I appear outside, Drake is already standing here. From what we looked up, Guardian just has to defend a dummy from some monsters. The dummy has a 'health' value, and if it drops below a certain amount, he fails. It wouldn't have been all that difficult for a powerhouse like Drake.

"So," I tell Drake using my deep voice, since we're in public. "Did you add in your Class Points? Or are you going to save them for a Skill Ascension?"

"Can I get one?" He asks.

"I'm honestly not sure," I answer. "I think I'm going to save mine for a Skill Ascension, but I'm also thinking it might be better for me to invest into Healer."

"Why?" He asks as we begin our trip back to Port Zephyr.

"First," I say. "It will increase both my Magic Stat and my Mana, which would be useful for healing. A Healer with 10 Magic and a Healer with 20 Magic will heal the same small scrape at different speeds, because the healing Skills' effectiveness is not just based on which Skill it is, but also how powerful your magic is. We can always stop casting before healing it all the way, since it takes Mana every second we have it active. So it's better to increase our Magic. And more Mana means I can heal more from full.

"In addition to that," I continue. "All magic-based Classes increase Recovery every time they go up a Level. If I added 9 Levels, I'd gain 1 Mana every hundred seconds rather than every thousand, which would be a decent boost."

"Oh," he says.

"We can look up to see if there's an Ascension Skill available for you right now," I tell him. "Though I want a shower first."

"So do I," Drake says. "And food."

We finish the walk back to Port Zephyr, and when we reach the tavern, we head straight upstairs to our room to take a shower. Both of us are a little too hungry to do more than that, so we only wash ourselves off. Once we're clean and dressed, we walk down to the dining area. It's evening, as we spent most of the day training, and the dining area is a little packed because of that.

However, there are two spots at the bar, to the left of Shadow Fang. Drake and I claim them and order food.

"How did it go?" Shadow Fang asks as he stares into his stein. "Your day, I mean?"

"It went well," I answer.

"That's good," he answers.

Our food arrives, and Drake and I dig in, further conversation halted. Shadow Fang seems to have something on his mind, and his mood feels especially depressed. My guess is that he's decided to decline our offer and return home until he's nineteen, rebuilding his funds. Shadow Fang finishes off two steins, though he does seem alert still. Either that's the lighter stuff he's drinking, or he hasn't had enough to do much.

Last night, he had about ten decently-strong drinks before it started to affect him. He can really hold his alcohol.

"Regarding your offer," Shadow Fang says as Drake and I finish our dinner. "I thank you for it, but I'm going to decline."

"Mind if I ask why?" I ask, and he sighs. "You don't have to answer."

"It's not that," he mutters. "Drake is pretty hot, and you mentioned that you're the bottom, not him. Even if he were interested in sharing a bottom with me, people with deep voices are a massive turn-off. Plus, I haven't even seen your face, and I'm sure the scar would-"

I clear my throat, and he stops for a moment. I lean in and put my mouth by his ear.

"Let's continue this discussion in my room," I speak in barely above a whisper, the quietest I can do and retain the deep voice.

Before he can turn and look at me, I've lowered my head again, concealing my face once more. It looks like he agrees, as he pushes the stein forward and slides off his stool, then follows Drake and me up to our room.

"Drake and I talked earlier," I tell Shadow Fang once we're in the room, still using my deep voice. "If either of us had a harem, it would probably be me, not him. Drake doesn't mind sharing me with other guys, and he's actually interested in doing something that takes more than two guys."

"Yeah, but even if you aren't ugly," he says. "And have a visually-appealing appearance, I won't be able to get over that deep voice."

"My deep voice?" I ask in my normal voice. "That's used as part of the facade."

"Your voice," he says. "It's… not deep."

"No," I push my hood back, and there seems to be some recognition in those bright, azure eyes of his. "I'm traveling incognito at the moment, Shadow Fang, because I'm easily recognizable by anyone who's seen one of my brothers or my father. It's much easier to make people think I'm a deep-voiced person hiding an ugly scar and who dislikes people than it is to deal with how people would react if they knew the person rumored to be the next Oracle were traveling around."

"You're traveling to visit your mother," Shadow Fang realizes.

"Yes," I pull off my cloak and toss it onto the back of the chair sitting beside the desk in here. "Actually, Drake and I are traveling and visiting each of the Elemental Crystals, but visiting my mom goes with that."

"Aren't they forbidding access?" He asks. "I heard they were doing that because they seemed to be affecting the world."

"They are," I nod. "I'm researching the Elemental Crystals and investigating the situation. It's how I know the wind problem will not affect our trip to the Sacred Isles."

While I'm sure it's fine to tell him everything, I'd rather not do so until we've known each other a little longer. I definitely don't have an issue with sleeping with him, we've known each other about as long as I knew Drake when the meteor dragon and I started having sex, and he does seem trustworthy to me. I just don't want him to panic and accidentally tell people the truth, which is more likely to happen if he learns it before he's adjusted.

If the vision that came to me earlier is anything to go by, I also know that everything will work out with Shadow Fang. Because of that, I might as well lay some stuff out for him and see if he's interested.

"Oh," he says. "So you've already been to the Wind Crystal?"

"Yes," I nod. "Unfortunately, reaching the Elemental Crystals is slightly problematic. You see, we have to go through the respective Trial in order to access them – that's a requirement by the forces that created everything. Drake can actually do a fair bit on his own, and I'm his support and healer. So don't worry, we aren't hoping for another adventurer. Drake barely had an issue in the Crystal of Power trials, and only barely more in the Trial of Wind. We'll be going into multiple Dungeons to continue to acquire CP to gain Levels so that we can keep up with this."

While I could mention Drake's absurd Title bonus, I'm going to refrain from doing so for now. Shadow Fang might wonder how Drake is able to handle that stuff while being our age, but he doesn't need to know right away that Drake is ridiculously strong in comparison to those normally where he is in Level.

"I have plenty of healing salves, balms, ointments, and so on," I sit on the edge of the bed. "However, it really would be nice to have someone who can make their own in case we run out or come across something that needs something we don't have. According to Hidden Song, you were the best in your settlement. You even apprenticed under her, and she said that your skills could make you a clan healer if you put your mind to it."

"You know Hidden Song?" His eyes widen.

"She's visited Granny a few times," I tell him as I pull off my boots.

"She's here?" He asks.

"No," I answer as Drake starts undressing, which Shadow Fang doesn't seem to realize is happening. His gaze is focused on me, and Drake is standing a little to the side. "During lunch, I remembered something she told me when she visited during the winter. She mentioned someone who studied under her every summer since he was four It took me until lunch because of needing to piece things together. See, she always called you 'Little Fang', probably because you hadn't acquired your full name yet. I guess you acquired it sometime in the last few months, probably before you left.

"How I realized it was you," I tell him. "Was putting together your training for healing, the fact that you're into guys, and the wolf's fang you're wearing."

"Oh," he says.

"So," I say. "Someone with high praise from Hidden Song? That's someone I'd like to have on my team. You won't be required to go into the Dungeons with us, it would just be nice to have someone traveling with us who can make healing items we need. What do you say? Agree to come with us? You're sure to come across some rare herbs and other ingredients to use if you do, too. Learn recipes from a variety of places."

Shadow Fang thinks for only a few moments before nodding.

"Okay," he says. "I can do that. I'm not sure I'd be able to handle the cost of the ticket, though, even if someone does agree to take us."

"I'll cover that," I tell him. "Having a proper alchemist around can be considered essential, and I'll make up the loss in Dungeons and Ruins."

"Okay," he says.

"Okay," Drake speaks up from where he's standing. He sounds impatient, is fully naked, and he's also fully-erect. "Now that it's settled that you're coming with us, Shadow Fang, Nate and I are going to have sex. Either get out or get naked and join us."

Yeah, he's impatient. He doesn't even wait for Shadow Fang to respond, he just climbs onto the bed and pulls me onto it, pushing me down and adjusting my position so I'm lying with my head the pillows. Shadow Fang just watches, clearly trying to decide if he's going to actually join us as Drake begins pulling off my belt. I pull off my tunic as Drake pulls off my pants.