Harold considered how the trip had gone as a whole, now that they were walking up on the Brunner farm from the opposite direction. It must look strange, them returning so soon and with a weirdo in tow. They were bound to have to answer a lot of questions. I really hope Livia and Kalle take the lead on the harder ones.

There was no denying they had learned a lot, not the least of which was a piece of what their children's children's children's children were getting up to. Why do I have a headache?

But the question remained; what Brunner and the rest of the people who had seen them off, not to mention Kalle's old folks back home, would have to say about it all. The return did stir up thoughts about Ronald and Harold was sure that Oscar was having similar thoughts. How could he not. But even if they did not have the Hare's Retreat to return to they did still have the silver the sale had earned them, but if they started dipping into that then it posed the question of how they would fund their trip in the spring. Harold did think about these things, but he made sure not to dwell on them. If he didn't have an answer then he was sure one would materialize eventually, one way or another, or something more important would come up. The point was not to worry.

The fellowship, with the recent addition, made sure to holler properly when they came within distance of Brunner. It took a minute but the old [Hatchet Arborist] soon came within sight and waved at the group with a big smile on his face.

"Returning so soon, and with a friend in tow, or is it a trader?" The whole group had been thinking of how to answer, but for some reason they had not discussed it and now nobody really took the lead.

Oscar was the first to figure out why Livia did not. "Hi Brunner, it's a long story but we will tell you all about it, this is Livia who saved us from a group of mosswolves." The words widened Brunner's eyes considerably. "It wasn't near here was it, such beasts should be weeks out but they do roam at times," A large enough pack was a threat even to Brunner and if there was trouble he would need the rest of the gang from Salcret to back him up.

"No need to worry, it was dealt with thanks to Livia here, we don't know of any more threats," That calmed the man, but he was still visibly thinking. "We should probably send some messages and see if the other villages have heard news of attacks."

They were ushered into the familiar farmhouse after that and Livia got a chance to relax in a proper house for a couple of minutes, which was something she sorely needed, before more questions needed to be answered. They even got a proper meal while they sat, as was custom at Brunner's house.

When he heard the rest of their story Brunner was amazed at how much had happened in just a few weeks, as were the lads now that they were back home and the reality of it all got put into perspective, they'd had plenty of days where nothing happened, but then what felt like three adventures mashed into one in a matter of days. But the shame the boys felt when recalling their mistakes, how they'd exhausted themselves right before entering the most dangerous area on the journey, how they had even likely attracted the beasts by using their Campguard stone way past when it was advisable. Even the mistakes during the actual combat.

But Brunner was not someone who believed in dwelling on things, he was similar to Harold in that way. Instead he focused on what could be improved. He aimed his words at Kalle. "What have you learned about your Spell then," He gave the lad an encouraging nod.

Kalle took a deep breath and answered in a rush. "That I control its focus completely, and only my own experiences can fuel what my Spell does, my imagination is the limit and my experience limits my imagination," Brunner was nodding along. "Not how I would put it, but close enough to the mark. You know what I felt back when you hit me with it, what made me break down when I was so sure I was ready for anything you lads might throw at me?" The whole room was hanging on his next words. "Disappointment, a profound sense of disappointment in myself, in my inadequacies and my failures. I'm pretty sure our mindsets resonated and you hit the button, because I was broken inside for a minute."

The words stunned his audience, but the honest moment was revealing. Kalle took up the reins. "Yes. I see how that could be. My worst pain before this trip was the sense of failure I felt when my mother died. Even though there was no logical reason, or thing I could have done to help, I remember feeling like a failure, for a thousand reasons that made no sense. If I had been older, if I knew great magic, if and if and if. And then just fearing weakness, fearing to try and fail. I guess I put all that into my Spell."

Brunner had been observing tearfully as he spoke, but now he shook it off and clapped Kalle on the back. "Hit me right in the spot, but it doesn't work so well on wolves, now does it?" He delivered the words with his characteristic uproarious laugh, and even the others couldn't help but chuckle. "But now you've got something else to attack minds with, don't you?" When Kalle understood what he meant it all finally clicked and he suddenly knew how he could make his whole Class more powerful. "I'm going to burn them," The dark words did not mix with the gleeful expression on Kalles face. It wasn't the prospect of inflicting pain, but just the figuring out his Class and feeling hope for the future that made him smile so creepily. But the contrast caused another bout of laughter despite the fact.

Eventually Livia interrupted the morbid topic and casually mentioned how Oscar and her both had their birthdays just the other day. This of course made Brunner break out the apple-drink and after sharing a lovely evening the group were all properly sauced.

The only one not taking the opportunity to truly relax yet was Harold. Instead he took the opportunity to talk to Brunner alone out by the latrine, to see if the man with a more highly leveled nature affinity Class had some advice on figuring out his highest tier Skill. [Voidthorn's Grasp]. It had sounded so simple when Harold first saw the words, but all his supposedly greatest Spell did was drain his entire magic pool and summoned what looked like heavily overgrown rosebushes, but not of a kind nor amount near enough to justify the exorbitant cost in battle.

"Huh, Voidthorn, I can't say I've heard of it. Certainly sounds magical," Brunner spoke thoughtfully while Harold was sloshed and nodding at the words. "One thing is for sure, a lot of [Druid] Spells are based on some plant or animal, and having a relationship with said creature always improves the Spell in every way." Harold was confused by the words, but did see how it explained his poorly working Spell. "If you don't have the manapool to create the real thing then you'll need to use the Spell as a summon instead, and the more similar your summon to the original intent of the Spell the less friction to cause the magic cost to rocket off," Brunner was tipsy as well but he nodded at his own words, looking like he had done an old teacher proud with the short lecture.

Harold had forgotten it all by morning.