The entrance of the dungeon was situated in the middle of a plain with a single road passing through.

With nothing around them but the green of tall grass with, here and there, bits of colourss from flowers, they advanced very well that day.

After a hill, Maximilian observed little flowers on the side of the road. As he stopped to examine them a bit, Lin-Lin and Octavia came next to him, curious.

"Master? What are you doing?"

"Just a moment, Lin-Lin, Those plants remind me of something..."

His ingredients recognition skill had alerted him. Picking one of the small red flowers, he turned it between his fingers, then smiled.

"Look at that, you two."

"What is it, master?"

"This, Lin-Lin, is a Bloodleaves flower."

"Oh, I know that one!"

Hearing the panda-girl’s exclamation, Maximilian arched an eyebrow, looking at her.

"You do?"

"Yes, those are weeds. My master, before the princess made me pull them out of her garden in the city...but why are you interested in them, master?"

"Because, my dear Lin-Lin, this plant can be used in alchemy to create health potion."

"Health potion, master? But, I've never heard someone who wanted to buy those plants when I was in the city."

"Hum...maybe..."

"Master?"

He took out the alchemy book he had found in the treasure room. Under the sunlight, the big Alchemy encyclopaedia seemed even older. The cracked leather, the yellowed pages, Even the golden words on the cover were partially unreadable.

"If I judge it by its look, this is a very old book. Maybe the potions and poisons way of making described in it aren't common knowledge here...this could be profitable for us."

"Master? What do you mean."

"Help me pick those flower while I explain."

"Kash?"

"If you can help, I would be grateful, Octavia."

As they took some time to pick up all the bloodleaves they could find on the way, Maximilian explained his idea.

"If what you say is true, than that means the bloodleaves aren't worthy of anything for merchants in this country. I don't know how they are making health potions, but it sure costs a lot for people to buy them. If we can find ingredients to make health potion that easily, it won't be long before we can produce a lot of those. After that, I would just have to sell them for a better price...but that will be for later."

"You have really thought it out, master."

"Indeed. As soon as I saw those plants, I thought about how it could help us."

"You really are impressive, Master."

He smiled at the panda-girl.

"Thank you, I’m trying my best."

A good hour passed and all the Bloodleaves around were picked up. They pursued on the road. After some time, they caught sight of a village from the top of the hill they were on.

To reach it, the group simply needed to follow the road, which continued inside a small forest.

"Master, we should get around it."

"What? Why?"

"Because it’s already afternoon. If we are inside the forest at night, we may have to face savage beast."

"And?"

"And...well, normally adventurers tend to not travel in a forest at night because of that."

"Oh...well, thank you for the advice...let's go."

"But, master."

"It's alright, Lin-Lin. What could attack us in there?"

"I...I don't know. I've heard about wolves, but there could be something else."

"Well, we'll see about that."

Maximilian started advancing again, followed by a worried panda-girl and a white spider looking around.

The first thirty minutes in the forest were actually very calm, they found some plants, which is good for alchemy, so they put in the havenbag. There was quite a lot of mushrooms too, along with some savage vegetables, which were luckily edible.

"You have to admit, Lin-Lin. Till now, we haven't met a lot of dangerous beasts."

"Please don't make fun of me, master."

Patting her head, he laughed a bit at the pouting panda-girl.

"Sorry, Lin-Lin. You know I w...."

Jumping from behind bushes, wolves came encircling them. To be exact, One before them and two behind.

Wolves in this world were bigger, with black fur, yellow eyes, white teeth and claws ready to torn apart their prey.

* What a piece of meat...nearly twice the size of the one I used to know...what about the level?*

Surprising Maximilian, it appeared none of them was more than level ten. Their impressive physics seemed to be genetic, more than personal power.

*This could be a good occasion...*

"Okay, Lin-Lin, you take care of the two behind us. Octavia, it is time to have your first fight."

"Kash?"

"Master, two at the same time?"

"Yes, Lin-Lin. This is a good opportunity for you to fight another kind of enemy. Those are different than the spider. They will be quick, and certainly, try to attack you from behind. Be careful."

"Yes, master."

While Lin-Lin faced the two wolves behind, Maximilian came next to Octavia, crouching next to her. The spider wasn't looking very sure of herself.

"Okay Octavia, listen to me. You are strong, you are quick on your legs, and you have a tool you can use."

Octavia looked at him, clearly not understanding what he was talking about.

"Your web, Octavia. Wait for the good moment and hit. Do not worry, Lin-Lin and I are here with you."

The white spider nodded slightly before advancing in the direction of wolves.

The black animal showed teeth to her, growling. Octavia hesitated an instant, instant the wolf used to jump at her, mouth open. The spider emitted some kind of scared shout before pushing on her four left legs, jumping on the side. The wolf landed on the ground, turned to face her and dashed, going for the bite. With a leg, Octavia hit the wolf on the head, evading the bite.

Being in reach, the wolf and the spider started to exchange hits. The wolf trying to bite and claw at the spider, while the spider used her four front legs to parry the mammal’s attacks.

At the same time, Lin-Lin was busy fighting the other two assailants. Using her spear, she was blocking the mouths with the stick part while trying to pierce them with the point. The biggest difficulty for her was the fact that there were two of them.

With the spiders, even if they were numerous, their blindness forbade them from a coordinated attack, while here, the wolves were used to hunt together. One was always trying to get behind the panda-girl while the other was attacking the front.

*Fortunately, Master warned me to look out for my back.*

Rolling on the side, she evaded another dash by the two beasts and she hit them, using a little latency in the wolf’s momentum to turn and thrust, piercing the side of one of them. The beast yelped out loudly before falling down, dead.

*One down, one more to go.*

With the danger of the first one gone, she faced the other wolf, assured, while the wolf wasn't looking that well, facing the panda-girl.

Meanwhile, Octavia was finally getting the upper hand on the wolf. With her four legs, she blocked the two paws of the wolf and, while he was blocked, she spit a ball of web at his face.

The ball hit him and covered the wolf's mouth and eyes.

The wolf managed to disengage, stepping back a bit. By reflex, he lowered his head to try to scratch off the web. Using that advantage, Octavia got around the wolf, jumped on him and, with a powerful and quick attack, pierced his neck.

The wolf yelped and fell down, dead.

Seeing Octavia finishing her enemy, Maximilian turned just in time to see Lin-Lin kill the second wolf, ending the fight. The two companions looked at Maximilian, applauding their performance.

"Very good, I'm proud of you two. You, Lin-Lin, have perfectly adapted to this new kind of enemy, well done."

"Thank you, master."

"And you, Octavia. I see you managed to win against your first enemy, congratulations...and congratulations on your new level."

"Kash?"

Lin-Lin, being higher level than the wolves, hadn't won a level that time. On the other hand, the first victory of Octavia against the level 10 wolf brought her a new level, augmenting her stats at the same time.

"Now that this is done, let's take some time to salvage what we can from them..."

The next hour was used to take, all they could from the corpses of the wolves. Meat, claws, teeth, the fur and skin, and even the blood.

Lin-Lin salvaged one of the wolves while Maximilian did the two others. To their surprise, Octavia showed interest in the process. Maximilian took the time to show her, even if the absence of hands forbid her to do what they were doing.

"Why the blood, master?"

"Second ingredient used for health potions."

"Wolf blood?"

"Mammal blood actually. This is also a thing which is easy to find."

"What are the other ingredients needed, master?"

"From what I've read, we will need Hollyberries and....that's all."

"Really? Hollyberries aren't that hard to find, they grow as well in town as in forests, as long as there is a bit of greenery."

Maximilian looked at the panda-girl, eyebrow arched.

"You know, Lin-Lin, I'm impressed of how many things you know about plants...how exactly did you learn so much?"

"Well...As a slave, I did a lot of different kinds of work for my former master. I happened to serve in the kitchen from time to time, the cook there talked about those kinds of things with guests. I wasn't allowed to talk, but still I could hear them."

Maximilian had a sad smile, hearing her talking about her past slave life. He patted the panda-girl's head affectionately.

"You are a good girl, Lin-Lin, I'm happy to have you with me on this journey."

The panda-girl looked down, blushing.

"Thank you, master."

...........................................................................................................................................................

Their advance in the forest wasn't interrupted again. On the way, they still found some plants useful in alchemy and also, like Lin-Lin had explained, Hollyberries. Although there wasn't a lot of them at the same time, they grew at several places around the road, their golden colour making them easy to spot.

"And with that, we got all we need to make health potions."

"How does it work, master?"

"From what I've read, we must use the blood as the base, then put the good dose of dried bloodleaves and hollyberry juice. The most difficult part is the fact you have to slowly pour a bit of mana to make the best potion possible. I'll try it when I have time or wh...what was that?"

Maximilian was interrupted by a man's scream, coming from further down the road.

"Someone's having trouble. Let's go, you two."

Running down the road, they took a turn to discover what was making the ruckus.

A man, for whom the best description would be normal. Nor too tall nor too little, short brown hair and brown eyes, he wasn’t wearing any kind of armour, just simple farmer clothes and he was facing five wolves, only armed with a big fork and, frankly, the situation wasn't looking good for him. With his back to a tree, he was pointing his fork at the animals encircling him. It was a chance for him, since he was with his back to a tree, this forced the beasts to face him, forbidding them from attacking his back, which would certainly kill him in an instant.

The scream must has happened at the moment he was attacked, his left forearm was bleeding, bloody scratch marks were showing where he had been hit.

"He's being attacked. Master, shouldn't we help him?"

"Of course, we should. Take advantage of the fact they didn't notice us yet and go for the kill. Let’s go."

Maximilian let Lin-Lin and Octavia attack first. One wolf died, his neck pierced by one of Octavia's front leg. Lin-Lin killed two, Using the advantage to quickly attack the second one after the first one dropped on the ground, with a hole in it’s head.

Although he preferred to let his companions train, the urgency forced him to act. In an instant, the three other wolves were dead, each one of them with an ice arrow thrust in the heart.

It took a few seconds, and the five beasts were dead. The man's legs gave up and he fell down, sitting with his back against the tree.

"Thank...thank you, I thought I was done for..."

Maximilian came in front of him, extending a hand to the hurt man.

"No need to thank us, sir...?"

The man looked at the hand for a second before grasping it, using the help to get up.

"Arold, and who should I thank?"

"You may call me Maximilian, here are my friends and companions, Lin-Lin..."

Arold saluted the panda-girl with a head sign, to what she responded with a smile.

"...and here is Octavia."

Looking down at the spider presently saluting him with a leg gesture, the man was clearly uncomfortable.

"I thought my injury and the situation made me saw things who weren't really there but...it is real...it is one of those giant spider monsters...how did you do? How did you manage to tame it?"

"Tame her? Arold, she is not some kind of animal I captured. She is a friend and one of the three who saved you minutes ago..."

Arold clearly understood he was being impolite, and apologised.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

The excuse wasn't for Octavia, but for Maximilian, who arched an eyebrow.

"It's not to me you should apologise to, but to her..."

The farmer looked at him, as if to confirm he wasn't joking, then turned to face the spider, quietly waiting next to Maximilian.

"Please, forgive me, miss...Octavia, was it?"

Octavia lifted a leg, moving it in an "it's okay" kind of sign, her eyes closed as she let a small "kash" out, clearly not offended. Maximilian laughed at her action.

"Clearly, she didn't take offence."

Pointing at the man's injury, Maximilian pursued the conversation.

"Do you want me to look at it ? It doesn't look too serious but maybe I could..."

The man hurriedly took a piece of clothes he used to cover his arm.

"Oh no, please, don't bother yourself with that I...I'll be okay."

While Maximilian and Arold were speaking, Lin-Lin had crouched next to a wolf body to salvage what she could. When he saw her doing so, Arold lost colour on his face as he strengthened the grip on his fork.

"NO! THEY ARE MINE!"

He tried to threaten the panda-girl with his fork, only to be put in place by Maximilian, overpowering him with one hand. Seeing the six sets of eyes looking at him, he whined a bit, his face showing that he regretted how he just acted.

"Please...I beg of you...don't take the meat...don't take the skins...I need them...please."

The man's eyes were tearing up now. Maximilian let him go, but was still acting cautiously.

"Explain...and I surely hope you have a good reason to try to attack my friend."

"the same reason that makes me be in the forest at evening...I'm desperate and I..."

He gritted his teeth, the injuries on his arm clearly making him suffer. Maximilian wasn't going to let him suffer like this, he didn't like the idea of the man whimpering all along the conversation. He looked at Lin-Lin, still waiting for his order next to the body of the wolf.

"Okay. Lin-Lin, I’m counting on you to take care of the salvaging. Put the skins and the meat on the side for him. You..."

He turned to face Arold again. Using Earth magic, he made two stone blocks out of the ground, using them as chairs, he made the impressed man take a seat.

"You...you are a mage?"

"Among other things, yes. Your injury, show it to me, would you."

"But...I don't have anything to pay you in return..."

"You live near this place, right?"

The man looked at him warily.

"Yes...I have a farm near the forest's edge, why?"

"The sun's getting down and I fear we won't reach the nearest village before the night. I don't want to bother looking for an inn so late. I propose we let you have the skins and meat, and in exchange, you offer us a roof for the night...what do you say?"

"I...I don't know, I..."

"While you think about it, let me look at your injury. Don't worry about retribution, take it as a proof of good intention."

Arold looked at him for a few second before extending his arm, letting Maximilian look at it. Taking off the tissue around it, he turned the farmer's front arm a bit.

"You're lucky, it isn't too serious. The attack has only hurt your flesh, no nerves or tendons were severed...let's wash and bandage it."

Maximilian used water from is waterskin to make sure the injury was clean before putting a bit of cicatricial ointment, then bandaged the member. While he was attending the man's injury, he talked to him a bit, to know a bit more about the situation and also to make him sit still.

"So...that was quite the reaction you had there...Are those wolves special? Or maybe are you collecting beast skins?"

"I...I'm sorry about that. It's just that...meat is rare, too rare actually. It's almost impossible to find little prey at day, so I'm forced to hunt at night...even if, as you can see, it has not been going very well."

"Yeah, you seem to have found a bit too much meat at the same time...and with nothing more than a fork to defend yourself. I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but isn't a fork a bit strange for a hunting weapon?"

"I...I'm not a hunter, I don't have a bow, or heaven a sword, the fork is the closest thing to a weapon I managed to find."

"Oh...well, this explain that I guess...okay, I'm finished, your arm will be fine in a day or two, really nothing to be afraid of."

"Thank you, Maximilian, really. You didn't have to help me, but you did, twice."

"Don't mention it, it's alright."

"Master..."

Arold and Maximilian looked at Lin-Lin and Octavia, waiting to have their attention to pursuing.

"What is it?"

"We've finished salvaging the corpses of the wolves, master."

"We?"

"Yes, Octavia helped me, she is very skilled with her legs master, and she provided the web to pack the skin and meat of the wolves for sir Arold."

As she was talking, she showed the skin of wolves coiled and attached with spider web, making small packs, easy to transport.

"Impressive..."

Arold was clearly appreciating the two girl's work. Maximilian went to them with a smile, patting their heads.

"You did well, you two, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, master."

"Kaash."

Maximilian clapped his hands, catching everyone’s attention.

"I propose we move on. Lin-Lin, help me put everything in the Havenbag."

Seeing the worried look on Arold's face, Maximilian reassured him.

"Do not worry, I didn't forget your parts. I'll just put them in this bag, it will be easier to travel like that."

"That's not going to fit..."

"Wait and you'll see."

.........................................................................................................................................................

After they took everything they could and put it inside the Havenbag, under the mesmerised look of the farmer, they pursued on the way, guided by Arold, warily looking around. It was clear that the recent attack hadn't put him at ease. Maximilian knew he wouldn't be able to reassure him a lot, so he quietly followed him with Lin-Lin and Octavia.

Nearly an hour later, as the night had fallen on the land, they finally arrived on Arold's land. Maximilian didn't say a thing but wasn't thinking less.

The farmer's house was old and clearly needed some maintenance. The top of the roof, on a side, was menacing to fall at any second. The walls were made of wood, and the house itself was directly constructed on the ground. The only thing that prevented the house from being submerged by the first rain was a trench, dug all around the living place. Some wood plank served as a bridge to cross it.

The field, not very broad, was filled with rocks and weeds, clearly, nothing good was growing there at the moment. The little bit of greenery which could have been passed as edible had been stomped.

"I know it isn't much, but you're welcomed anyway."

"Thank you Arold. I hope we're not imposing too much...I see you're waited for..."

The door had just opened to let a silhouette visible in the doorway.

"This could be bad..."

Arold wasn't looking too sure of himself right now, this worried Maximilian.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, Maximilian...at least not for you...I guess."

They passed the "bridge" to arrive in front of the door. The person waiting for them was a chubby woman in her thirties, with long brown hair and blue eyes. Blue eyes that were currently examining the incoming group with one hand on her hips, the other handling a broom.

Arold came in front of her, a sheepish look on his face.

"I...I'm home, dear."

The woman looked at him from head to toe.

"I can see that..."

She used the broom to hit the man on the head.

"DO..."

The broom hit Arold once again and did again at each word.

"YOU.KNOW.HOW.WORRIED.I.WAS?"

She finally let the broom fall down and pointed at the man, still yelling at him.

"Going in the forest at nightfall, what were you thinking?"

She shook her head from left to right before taking him in her arms, the anger on her face replaced by relief.

"Never scare me like that again, you hear me, husband?"

Arold returned the hug to his wife.

"I'm sorry dear, we needed food, and you wouldn't have let me go if I told you."

"Of course I wouldn't have! You are a farmer, Arold, not a hunter. You could have been hurt....You have been hurt!"

While talking, she saw the bandaged front arm of her husband. Her reaction made Maximilian fear she would hit him again, but this time with something heavier. He decided to intervene.

"Do not worry, madam. I made sure his injury was taken care of."

The women placed herself next to her husband, lifting her head a bit to look at Maximilian in the eyes, being a head smaller than him.

"And who might you be? I know my husband went looking for food in the forest, but I doubt you would taste good in soup...although right now I would be willing to try. You better have a good reason to bring me back my husband with injuries! Are you... smiling?!"

Maximilian couldn't repress the smile on his face.

"Please forgive me, madam. That smile you see isn't one of mockery, but of joyful memory. You simply made me remember someone I really care about, in the way you care for your husband."

It was true. The way that women acted stern and at the same time lovingly protective with her husband remembered him of his own parents, although he was sure his mother never hit his father with a broom, his old man being far taller than she was.

Arold tried to defend Maximilian from the matron.

"Please dear, if it wasn't for those three, the wolves would have killed me. They saved my life and even helped me transport the m..."

"Three? What do you mean th...YAAAH!!!"

It was at that moment Arold's wife realised the presence of Octavia, with the result being quite audible.

"M.M.M.MONSTER!!! AROLD, MY BROOM!"

She didn't wait for her husband to give it to her and just picked it up but, as she lifted it above her head, she saw Maximilian standing before the white spider, protecting his companion from the woman's fury.

"I would appreciate if you didn't try to hurt my friend, madam..."

"A...a friend? You are a friend with a giant spider? What kind of madman are you?"

"The kind who try to understand things before trying to hit it with a broom...why don't you let me make the presentation."

"Honey, please..."

"Arold?"

The woman looked at her husband as if a second head had grown on his shoulders.

"That man and his two companions truly helped me, and yes, that means even the spider."

"I...okay, but if she tries something, she will taste my broom, am I clear?"

"Ask her yourself. What do you think, Octavia?"

Stepping on the side, Maximilian let the white spider advance to stand before the woman.

"Go ahead, ask her questions, but it would be easier if the answer could be answered by yes or no."

Maximilian explained quickly how she could simply talk to Octavia, and she did.

"You...understand me?"

She nodded assent. That visibly surprised the woman who let the broom down.

"I...I've crushed spiders in my house before, do you resent that?"

Octavia took a look at Maximilian as if to say "Really?", then she shook her head, denying.

"Okay...are you going to attack me or my family while we sleep?"

Octavia made what could be understood as a sigh while lifting her two front legs, the closest thing to shrug she was able to do.

"Is that a no or a yes?"

"That's a no, exasperated I think, but a no nonetheless."

That, of course, wasn't Octavia speaking, but Maximilian, who interpreted the spider’s gesture. Interpretation validated by the said spider pointing at him while nodding assent.

"Okay...last question, why should I let you in my house? And to be frank, it works for all of you. We had a lot of visitors lately, and rarely ones with good attentions."

"Yes, I understand your mistrust. You don't know us, if not for the fact that we helped your husband...we made a deal with him. I don’t keep the meat and skins from the five wolves we killed in front of him, and in exchange provides us with a roof to sleep under. Here..."

With the help of Lin-Lin and Octavia, he took out the wolves meat and skins, still wrapped in Octavia's web. They gave everything to Arold who made three travels inside to not drop anything, under the look of his wife.

"What we promised has been given. We would really appreciate a roof to sleep under, but this land isn't ours. If our presence bothers you, we will now be on our way."

Maximilian politely saluted to the couple before turning his back to them and walking away, followed by Lin-Lin and Octavia.

"Honey, maybe they could..."

The woman sighed.

"I know, husband. I know...HEY! YOU THREE!"

The three turned around.

"Yes?"

"Don't you dare make my husband a man who don't respect a promise. You come in here, the nights are kinda cold in this season."

"We thank you, madam."

"And stop it with the "madam", my name is Molly."

"In that case, we thank you, Molly."

Molly sighed as she smiled at him, signalling them to enter.

"I swear, husband, you have found a strange trio."

"And wait till I explain the rest, honey, you won't believe your ears."

And like that, the group found a place for their first night since the dungeon.