The next few seconds go by in a blur. Tiene lunges towards me, fire in her eyes. The big guy lashes out, grabbing and restraining her gently. Tiene, being in no mood for that kind of shit, stomps his foot. As the shock forces him to release her she elbows him. On a normal sized man she’d probably hit his gut. I can see his eyes cross as he collapses like wet cloth. Torn between kicking him some more and saving me, Tiene goes for the power move.

“If you don’t let him go right now I’m going to rip off his balls and choke you with them.”

Gesturing towards the big lug on the floor, she’s less than happy with the reaction she gets. The moaning, crying lump of man starts laughing, a booming sound. The woman behind me is giggling, the knife long gone from my throat. She steps forwards, hands out to the side.

“Please, not his balls. He needs those for.. Wait, what did you need them for again?”

The big guy stands up, still laughing.

“Beats me Rain, it’s not like you’ve let me stay in one place long enough to find anyone interesting. Now move aside. There’s business to attend to.”

He comes towards me, an irresistible force to my soft and movable object. His massive arms engulf me and he squeezes me so hard I feel like I’m about to go back to respawn.

“Tee! We’ve missed you. What happened, you haven’t replied to our mails for days!”

I kiss him on the forehead and he lets me back down. Then I punch him in the gut.

“Are you sure you sent them? Maybe you just ate them. Some of us have been hard at work eking out a living.”

Tiene is standing there, spluttering. By my estimation she is about five seconds away from an eruption violent enough to bring down the shed, two fields and a good chunk of the forest. I move to her, putting an arm around her. She flinches a little. I can see a smug smile under Rains hood.

“Rain, Stomp, this is Tiene. Tiene, these are my companions from the other world.”

Stomp bows deeply. Rain barely nods, smirk firmly in place. I don’t like where this is going. She steps forwards to touch Tiene, tracing her collarbone through her jumpsuit with a finger.

“I guess this is why he hasn’t replied for a while. What’s the matter Tee, too busy ploughing?”

Tiene strains against my hold, but I persevere. When she calms down I whisper to her.

“Can you go and check up on Reynard and the other animals with Stomp? I need to talk to Rain alone.”

Your standing with Tiene has fallen to Loyalty.

I close my eyes and try not to groan. Tiene snorts and walks off, the gravity of her mood enough to pull Stomp along. I move to stand in front of Rishi, trying to catch her eye. She avoids mine.

“So…”

She rolls her eyes at me.

“So.”

I point at her weapons.

“That’s a nice dagger. Who’d you have to murder for it?”

She pulls it out, brandishing it with skill.

“This little old thing? An orc tribe raided a wizards convoy. The wizards were distracted protecting the civilians and children, so the leader claimed his personal belongings. This was my reward for retrieving the loot.”

She steps towards me, a different gleam in her eyes. Talking about her exploits always got to her.

“The loot and the leaders head, of course. You wouldn’t believe the things he promised me. First he tried to recruit me, then he tried to get me to leave. In the end he just wanted me to end him quickly.”

She leans in, her mouth at my ear.

“But you know I don’t do requests.”

Then she bites me. I try not to yelp, but she has a way of being terrifying in new and exciting ways. She pulls back giggling, with no trace of the mood from before. Her avatar is lithe, built for speed and agility, every inch covered in dark leather or cloth. She pulls back her hood, revealing smooth, scaly skin. Big yellow eyes adorn her face, with fangs protruding past her lips. A snakekin. I whistle in appreciation.

“That is an amazing look for you Rish. Your guide must have been all over you.”

She gives me a puzzled look.

“My guide? Why would they be all over me?”

I tilt my head in confusion.

“Yeah. I got this really weird one with a trenchcoat. A cool guy, but he kept hitting on me.”

She looks incredulous for a moment before something clicks and she starts laughing.

“My guide was a dwarf. He gave me instructions, helped me get used to everything and kicked me into the game. Maybe I was too skinny for him. Mika’s guide was a functionary of some sort. He wore a suit and everything. Literally ticked off each action as he completed it. You must have lucked out something fierce. I didn’t even get the name of mine.”

I scratch my head.

“What about your gifts? What did you get?”

She just smiles.

“I got a spell. Invisibility, kind of. Drains mana like crazy, and it’s not perfect, but it’s been useful so far. Awesome for pranking dumbasses.”

I scratch my head sheepishly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I…”

She turns away from me.

“Don’t. Mika told me about it. Told me how you felt.”

Folding her arms around her body, she looks down.

“I just wish you hadn’t kept it from us.”

A high pitched laugh makes us turn towards the others. Mika is showing off his strength, lifting Tiene high into the air. He seems to be some kind of half giant, grey skinned and as tall as Grimguard. I stare at them, lost in thought, when I realise Rishi is looking at me again. An inscrutable look disappears from her face, replaced by the casually playful expression she wears.

“So what else is there to do here?”

I give her a brief tour of the farm. When we get to the forest I tell her about Leona. She wants to go meet her immediately, but I manage to convince her to wait until tomorrow. She shows no interest at all for the voidsiphon, but I had expected that. As soon as I show her the miners sludge, however, she starts paying attention. I give her some samples, which makes her happy as she hides away in her tent. Back at the camp, I sit down with Mika and Tiene, the latter sitting close to the big guy.

“I hear you’ve been through some shit. What are your plans going forward?”

Mika doesn’t mince words. I clear my throat.

“I’m probably going to lose my pack animal tomorrow.”

Tiene’s face pales at the news. I continue.

“After that, I have about a week to fill a massive order. After that, my schedule is pretty open. It’s nice not to worry about paying rent for a while.”

He looks at me with a confused expression.

“What do you mean? Our site isn’t going that well.”

His eyes phase out for a moment as he checks the portal. They go wide as he looks back at me.

“I can see your section now. I guess we’re close enough that it doesn’t matter to the controllers. You’ve done much better than us. If this continues we might pay rent before we’re kicked out.”

I grin when he pauses, then tell him about my encounter with Rezzer. He’s sceptical at first, and envious of my guide. When I show him a screenshot of the contract, he picks me up from the ground, throwing me into the air. When he’s done, he heads to the cart, coming back with two kegs.

“I got these as commission for a painting I did for a lord. He tried to convince me the exposure was payment enough, but Rain visited him in his room and showed him the error of his ways.”

He cracks one of them, handing out mugs to us and calling for Rishi, who doesn’t acknowledge us at all. It tastes strong and sweet, dark with undertones of honey.

“Stomp, can I have the other keg? I need fine ale for my order with the Baron.”

Nodding, he rolls it over to me. I pick it up with great difficulty, storing it in the shed. Hopefully the Baron will accept it. That makes two out of four items so far. All I need is the butter and flour. I go back to the fire, and we drink until the fire dies down. By now, Tiene has fallen asleep with her head on Mika’s lap. When she’s out, he looks at me with a serious expression.

“I don’t know how long we’re staying here. I don’t know what Rain expected to find, but a groupie wasn’t even on her list. I’m guessing you didn’t really get to resolve anything with your brief chat.”

I shake my head, and he sighs.

“God dammit Tee. It’s always like this, isn’t it. Girls falling over you, and you showing just enough interest to hook them before you start ignoring them.”

Taking a deep breath, I look up at the sky.

“Not always. Not everyone.”

He gently lifts Tiene off his lap like a ragdoll, wrapping her in his cloak before walking over to me.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

Standing up slowly, I feel like a child about to be chastised for breaking a rule. I can feel the petulance rising in my chest, forcing it back down. Lighting a torch, I lead him towards the field, towards the mine.

“You need to focus on the now, Tee. She turned you down and she’s gone now. We honour her memory by continuing, by staying together and being there for each other.”

A low growl escapes my throat.

“She didn’t turn me down, she just couldn’t let herself. It just wouldn’t have worked. Look, me and Rishi will be fine. She’ll corner me when I’m alone, beat me stupid and then she’ll be back to normal.”

He’s about to answer when the world is bathed in a green light. We both look up as Elaph, the Essential moon, showers us in it’s light.

You have been exposed to a moon surgeAn uncommon occurrence, the cause has never been ascertained. The results are many, and depend on what moon is surging, how much exposure you get and what you’re doing.Your affinity for Elemental Essence has increased temporarily.

All around us the world glows with an inner green light. With a startled expression, I run to the planter, leaving Mika behind with a beatific look on his face. The fairyhome is glowing stronger than it’s surroundings, having happily absorbed every morsel of the light it could get.

Basic planter (Fairyhome)Soil: Standard.Health: 84%.Current crop: Fairyhome (1)Growing cycle: Mature.Status: Essential Affinity Surge.Estimated yield: 5.

With reverence I harvest the shoots, getting 5 bulbs out of the one. I quickly clean up and water the mother plant, hoping for a second harvest later. When I’m done, the Essential glow all around us has faded. Mika comes over to see what I’m doing.

“Don’t think we’re done talking about this.”

I hold out one of the bulbs, letting him investigate it.

“This is pretty cool. I bet Rishi would love to check out one of these. Her alchemy skill could use some work. All she knows so far is poison.”

I chuckle darkly. That seems about right.

“I bet. But it’s getting late, and farmers get up early. I’ll show you my personal dungeon when you guys have helped me do the chores.”

He grins, about to answer, when a we’re interrupted again, this time by a roar coming from the forest. We look at each other for a moment before we run towards it, all common sense thrown to the winds. My respawn sickness has faded to level 1 now, but I’m still unable to keep up with Stomp as he dashes through the forest.