Jun snorted at Okeria’s suggestion. “You know, Nia said something similar. That we’d take years to raise our hazard rating, but now you’re telling us we’ll be level ten in months. So what’s the fastest you could see us getting through this?”

“Twist my arm, why don’t ya?” Okeria chuckled, then scratched his chin. “Well, if we completely gloss over the mystery parts of this hazard and just speed the two of ya along, I’d say five ta eight weeks. Eight if ya want ta get the most out of this hazard, and five if ya don’t want ta do anything on your own.”

“Um, excuse me Okeria, but what did you mean when you said ‘mystery’? Please don’t tell me that you’ve been keeping parts of this hazard a secret from Juniper and her partner just for the sake of testing them.” Keratily said with the kind of judgmental tone only a grandma could muster.

“No, not for testing them. It’s ta get them experience.” Okeria corrected. “When they get out of here, they’re gonna–”

“Okeria.” Keratily cut in with what I imagined was a disappointed shake of her head. “If I find out that the only reason you’re delaying is so that you can increase your own armory, then I promise that I will make our every interaction for a decade very inconvenient and uncomfortable for you. Again.”

I raised an eyebrow at Jun, who shrugged in return. Okeria stuttered out a few excuses that fell flat on Keratily, then sighed and pressed his hands to the massive box on the table. Lines of blue shot through the silver metal, decorating it in wave-like patterns until the entire box was more blue than silver. The lid and four walls burst into a shower of metal balls that spilled down from the table in a constant din of uncomfortable noise, revealing a set of tools and trinkets that looked like they’d been haphazardly thrown together.

“Okay, so five weeks from now we’ll be outta here and in Rainbow basin. One week for Keratily and I ta help ya get hazard ratings that’ll let ya safely walk out of the switchport’s stilling and into the real hazard, then four weeks ta clear the actual hazard with a whole lotta help from us two. And the first step for that is the slyk’s core that Jun so quickly slipped into her inventory.”

All eyes were suddenly on Jun. She looked around uncomfortably, then shrugged. “Sorry, but I already consumed it. Progress and whatnot, you know?”

“Oh, well that makes this a whole lot easier. How’d the gains from that core compare to the monster I’ve… appropriated from ya? I’m guessing they’re a whole lot worse, considering that they’re from a much higher level monster?”

“Well, not a whole lot worse, but yeah.” Jun nodded. “Definitely worse. I still got one of each stat node, though, so that’s a plus. Actually, I got three recovery nodes and one of each other one. That’s gotta be my core function working, right?”

Jun turned to me with that last question. I wasn’t really sure how the system gave out nodes, but if it was a flat ‘you get one or you don’t’, and not a small percentage, then Jun’s core could turn that zero into a one.

“Maybe?” I answered with uncertainty. “I guess it depends what your core sees; does it see that you got zero of a specific node type and makes it into a one, or if it sees a–for example–50% chance and ups it to 51%. So you’re either extremely lucky, or extremely unlucky and your core is carrying your growth.”

“Would you mind sharing what Juniper’s core does so that we aren’t in the dark?” Jun’s grandma politely asked, but it was more of an order. She shot Jun a small smile that said Keratily was very much used to getting her way, and I saw Jun consider flat-out lying to her grandma for a split second. “Juniper? Why do you have that look on your face?”

“No reason.” Jun muttered.

“Well, if there isn’t a reason for your expression, then would you please divulge what your core function is? It may help me create a more tailored path for your growth.”

{She might not be as bad as the rest of them, but she’s definitely still a Keratily.} Jun sent me, along with an accompanying sigh that everyone heard. {Should I tell her what my core does? I know it won’t give her any power over me or something, but I feel like being stubborn today.}

Until Keratily said something, I thought that she’d already known what Jun’s core was. {I don’t think telling her would be anything but good for us, but if you want to keep it a secret, I’ll keep my mouth shut too.}

Jun smiled and nodded discreetly to me, then turned to Keratily with a neutral expression. “My core function ups all numbers that are good for me by one, and lowers all numbers that are bad for me by one. I don’t know how far its range is, but it works on stuff that I don’t have equipped.”

“Interesting. Very interesting.” Keratily mused. “If you gain one of each node type no matter which core you consume, then you might end up having more stat nodes than empty nodes to fill. I’m not sure anyone’s ever had that problem in the all-world’s history.”

Keratily smiled to herself, then reached for a tool on the table that looked exactly like a wrench. “And you’re certain that you can’t use raw materials to make your equipment, Sebastian?”

The quick turn in Keratily’s attention surprised me, and I had to think for a second before I answered her. I’d never really tried making something out of nothing before, and the fact that my core said it was ‘corrupting’ items made it seem like I had to have something to corrupt in the first place. And when I tried to ‘corrupt’ what I got from the floodforest, it only gave me the option to convert them into potential.

I shook my head. “I’m sure that it doesn’t work that way. Oh, and stuff from specific places needs specific materials to be shaped. If you just brought plain metal armor and weapons, I should be able to corrupt them with anything, but don’t quote me on that.”

“I won’t, and that is good to know. How do you determine how strong the equipment you’re about to craft is? Is it a combination of the quality of the original piece and the materials you put into it, or is it only the amount of ‘potential’ you need to use?”

That was a question I didn’t have an answer to. If I had enough potential to fuck around with, then maybe, but I hadn’t exactly had a massive surplus at any point in time. “How much potential it costs is based on how strong the equipment will come out to be, and not the other way around. And I have absolutely no idea how much of an item’s power comes from the base thing and how much comes from the other stuff I put into it.”

“If your core function’s anything like the ones I’ve come across, I’d say ya got a fifty-fifty split on your hands.” Okeria chimed in excitedly. “A friend of mine who taught me how ta make all this stuff has a core something like yours, and he told me that the main item works as a base and all the other stuff is a modifier. So if ya start with something neutral, then you’ve got a one-ta-one ratio on stuff put in ta power coming out. But if you’ve got something terrible like a rusted helmet, ya might only get half strength or less out of whatever extras ya put in.”

“And if I’ve got something amazing, I could get double or more.” I said with a nod. “But that also ups the potential cost by a whole lot, which I definitely don’t have. So we’ll have to strike a balance between cost-effectiveness and equipment strength.”

Okeria nodded to himself, then donned his helmet. “I’ll get ta work making the basic stuff right away. What quality materials did ya find, Keratily?”

Jun groaned when Keratily put on a smile that I saw nothing wrong with. “You smile just like mom does when she does something annoying.”

Keratily laughed and waved her hand over the table, a massive pile of pink-tinged gold ingots slamming down as she went. They sparkled like they were in direct sunlight even in the dim light of the main building, and I felt a dull choking heat emanating from them, as if I was sitting in a room with a coal-burning stove. Okeria leaned forward and hissed through his teeth in excitement at the prospect of the gold, but Keratily tutted and pressed his probing hands away. Apparently that wasn’t all she had.

“This might be too pure for Sebastian’s purposes, but a blend with the others I’ve brought might do wonders. So please be patient, and keep your greedy hands away. I know exactly how many I brought with me, and I will notice if you try to sneak another ingot away.”

Keratily emphasized ‘another’ with a withering glare, and Okeria sheepishly placed his hand on the pile and summoned an ingot he’d apparently snuck into his inventory. “I’ll make sure you’re paid for your services, Grand Warden, so don’t worry about that. And you know I keep my word.”

“Yeah, I know.” Okeria sighed. “But it’s not every day ya see gilded sunblossom, ya know? My fingers got sticky just from looking at it.”

“Your fingers are perpetually sticky.” Keratily said flatly. “Now sit back and behave; I have two more metals to lay out.”

Keratily summoned a rectangular container of matte steely liquid right next to the pile of gold, about the height of a pitcher of lemonade and only half the width. The liquid sloshed around for a moment before freezing perfectly mid-slosh, forming a wave of matte steel that crept up the side and splashed against the deep black lid. As it stood while Keratily summoned five more containers, the steely metal was onset by small glistening blue stars. They permeated the entirety of the metal but didn’t sparkle whatsoever even though they looked soaking wet.

Once she was done with whatever that was, Keratily re-counted the gold and shot Okeria an annoyed glance. He shrugged helplessly and returned the two ingots he’d taken. Jun’s grandma sighed and shook her head, then gingerly placed her hand on the table and set three small velvet pouches down far away from the other two metals.

“Aquifer steel and… desolation’s wake.” Okeria breathed, as if the words leaving his mouth would return the metals to Keratily’s interface. “Keratily, where in the abyss did you find this stuff?”

“Where Persephonia hid it. Most likely from you, I’d assume. So technically all of this belongs to her heir, which is unfortunately nobody, so I took everything of value to redistribute among the people of Walkalong when they’re brought to safety.”

“Oh, so it’s Seb’s stuff.” Jun said, then froze as Keratily gaped at her. “Uh, was I not supposed to say that?”

“I… I need to check the registrar.” Keratily muttered to herself, raising a hand and swiping through thin air. “P… P… ah, there we go. Persephonia’s lineage ends with… Sebastian Cormier Persephonia. How is that… I don’t… names can’t just be given away like this.”

Keratily whipped around to stare at me, and I couldn’t make sense of what I saw in her eyes. “No... they can’t be given to any species that has cemented themselves in the all-world. But you… your people… you aren’t subject to all the rules just yet, are you?”