"That was too easy," said Ramona with an extra hissy sigh. She is absolutely correct. It seems like none of the creatures wanted a piece of us the entire trip back. It wasn't like we didn't see any, we ran into quite a few boars and snakes. There was one giant lizard who attacked Kona on a bathroom break, but when we arrived to help it seemed hesitant to continue the fight.

Unfortunately for it, we were a little irritated by the lack of battle and proceeded to work it over like it owed us a lot of money. One of others came to the conclusion that it was me and my higher level, but the boars kept attacking me before, regardless of my level.

“The only difference I can see," I stated to mostly myself, "is the mask." I slide it over to the side as we approach Linqs.

"You're all safe?" Victoria approached us all, a bit of anxiety showing on her face, "Dawn!"

Her untensing shoulders, uncreasing brow, and flashing smile become a light scowl with a side of hands thrown in the air.

"I told you not to go that way!"

Dawn hugs the warrior, "I'm sorry, Duchess Grandersil, I mean, your Grace. I mean…" Shock and horror burst like a flame on her face as she looks over at me. I pop an eyebrow, but stifle my words.

Victoria punches her arm, "I also told you to stop calling me that!"

[Mission Complete: Get the girl

[Received 50XP, 1s]

[Reputation +15 with Victoria Grandersil

[Reputation increased to Liked]

I clear my throat, "Um, so I think we found a dungeon. Are you familiar with the Rentas Dungeon?"

She shakes her heard, "I've heard of it while still living in the city. It was mentioned like a fairy tale. You say you've found it?"

"Yeah, and it practically begged us to enter it. We even got a mission just to set foot in it. That's why I'm a little skeptical. Would you be able to join us to explore it?" Again, she shakes her head. She explains that no one in the camp could survive even a few rampaging boars.

We make our way to our usual spot to sit and talk. Dawn is the first to speak, "If you are okay with it, my lady, I would like to volunteer to stay and guard Linqs."

We're all a little shocked by this. For someone in a race for A LOT of money she seems to be in less of a hurry than I am. Maybe she has the same plan as I do?

Victoria considers this for a moment. I try to add, "Is there anybody here who can fight at all?"

She sighs deep, dropping her gaze, "There are plenty, but their weapons were taken before they were banished. Many are veteran soldiers, still capable of battle, but they were crippled in the wars they've fought. We have no metal and even if we did, we have no forge or refinery!" She slams her fist onto rock, reducing it to dust. "We were barely given a chance to survive out here! And for what? Aesthetics?! Damn that man!"

I put my hand on the fist on the ground, "The skill I taught you leveled up for me. It allows me to make improvised weapons." I feel her fist loosen up, and I pull my own hand back to my lap. "All I need is a bunch of non-metal materials and I can outfit a few people here. If you still feel uncomfortable about it, Dawn can stay behind like she suggested. Sound okay?"

I can see her weighing my words in her head. She puts the back of her relaxed hand into the palm of the other in her lap, looking over at all the wagons, "The seventh one has all the materials we were allowed to take with us. We'll talk to Gorm about what we can do for them.

I'm already standing, holding my hand out to her. She takes it, avoiding contact with my eyes, and thanks me. "Get a room, you two, " teases Dawn, she's got a grin on her face as she nudges an also grinning Kona. Then our eyes meet, and her own sheepish, thin smile hides when she turns away.

Gorm is a towering half-orc, wearing the plain shirt and pants of his old military uniform. A bite is missing from his right ear, scars run like rivers across his face. Half of his arm, from the left elbow to the fingertips, seems to have been left on some long ago battlefield. He stares at me for what seems like ages. Maybe he thinks he can unnerve me, but I've already gotten this mental beat down from cocky chefs and old bartenders who think their words are direct from God.

Gorm smirks, further revealing his fangs. His voice is a deep boiling pot of stones, "I like this one! He has seen much battle! Ha ha ha!" He slaps me on the back, sending me to the ground.

[Gorm strikes you for 5 damage]

[Reputation +25 with Gorm Boneraker]

[Reputation increased to Acquainted]

"NgLike NgWise…" I respond, face full of dirt. I pick myself up, brushing the dirt and rocks off.

"Say, Dawn mentioned that you know a couple recipes. Would you be willing to trade information with me?"

He raises an eyebrow, "Wouldn't figure you to be the cooking type…"

"Well, an army fights on its stomach, right?" He laughs again, deep and hearty.

"Indeed! But I only know Basic and Better Ration, they have little flavor and are meant mainly to stave of hunger and death."

I withdraw my salt, carefully pouring half back into my bracelet, hoping it doesn't just go all over the place. I open my status window and find the recipes page.

"This won't cost you XP or anything will it?"

His jaw is hanging wide open as I place the salt in his hands and bring up both recipe windows. He touches both of them.

[Would you like to teach Gorm Grilled Boar Y/N?

[Would you like to teach Gorm Grilled Wolf Y/N?]

Yes and yes! He brings up his own menu and searches the recipes. It's the first time I've seen a NPC use their menu. I repeat the process with him and learn both of his recipes.

[Learned Recipe: Basic Ration: 1 Meat, 1 Red Herb

[Stave off hunger/ 24hrs]

[Learned Recipe: 1 Meat, 2 Red Herb, 1 Yellow Herb

[Stave off hunger, +1HP/SP Regen/ 24hrs

[Level up! +1 Cook]

"Wow! These are amazing! I'm sorry it wasn't a fair trade," I say to Gorm as I check out my new recipes.

He swallows and blinks rapidly, "Not…not a fair trade?! I should be apologizing to you! Salt is worth it's weight in gold!" I think back to the stand in Kes Rentas and realize how expensive those skewers really are. If one were to have a high enough level, farming meat in the forest and buying a bit of salt would make for a very lucrative business.

"It's my pleasure, Gorm. If we had time, we could experiment with the Blue Herbs I found."

He nods, "Yes, but Mika would appreciate those more than I. Making potions is better and more helpful."

I pat his shoulder, "Don't downplay yourself, big guy. Anyway, I also heard you can use some weapons? I can improvise a little if you tell me what you can use?"

I hand him the makeshift spear and tell him to keep it, though it looks more like a broom handle in his hand. "This will do for me. My brothers in arms could use the same if you can."

I shake my head, "I only had one dagger, but let's go see what you have in stock?"

Victoria leads the three of us to the number seven wagon. It's mostly full of explorer packs, some lumber, some leather, a sewing kit, a few wagon repair kits, a couple of mining picks, some extra pelts and hides that I donated earlier, and blacksmith tools. The sight is perfection to me.

The last one, however, is strange considering they don't have a forge or refinery. I spill some of my inventory out, noticing that not a grain of salt came out.

Let's see: 3*Boar Tusks, 16*Green Cobra Fangs, 56*Green Cobra Scales, 21*Giant Lizard Scales, and 9*Giant Lizard Spines.

Victoria whistles low, "You're packing quite a bit, aren't you, traveler?" She nudges Gorm and they both barely stifle laughs. The urge to say something is strong, almost too strong, but I manage to just log it away for later.

"Um, yeah. How many people am I outfitting?" I'm making sure I didn't miss anything while they consider.

"Well, " the Half-Orc starts, "There are seven of us with enough limbs to put up a fight. Three of us only have one arm, that's including myself. Can you make bows?"

I shake my head, hands on my hips, "Too advanced for my Skill. The stuff I make is only slightly better than something a goblin would cobble together."

"Are we still talking about Minor Survival Craft?" Victoria seems a little lost. I nod, "I was, um, blessed with the skill from the start so I'm not sure where something like it would originate from."

"Probably from the Rangers, I've heard their elites could do something similar."

Victoria nudges Gorm again, "Are you sure you're not part goblin?"

I glance back into her eyes, "Not where it counts." I couldn't hold back anymore.

Her eyebrow arches and her smile is sly, "We'll see, Winters…"

Dawn and Victoria escort Gorm to get him accustomed to his new spear and for Dawn to top off her XP so she can hit level 3. Elsbeth and Ramona keep watch and Kona sits with me while I break the packs down to their basic forms.

There's quite a bit of rope, about twelve, fifty-foot hanks. There's also a dozen unused waterskins left in the packs. I discover a carpenter's pack hidden at the bottom, and though I'm not a carpenter it's just another good thing to know we have. I find several small leather pouches, using one to pour my salt in since the thought was still worrying me. I activate my skill, staring at everything on the floor and I'm surrounded by a sea of yellow light.

"So, Victoria says you know Alchemy?" the curious kitty inquires.

I'm picking through everything, a little thrown off by the question, "Uh, yeah. I don't remember telling her that."

"Oh, she saw it on your status menu." She must have discerned and memorized a lot about me from that reveresed view of my stats.

"Why?" I ask as I move items around.

"I'm level 6. What level are you?"

"I'm only level 2. How do you level Artisan classes, anyway?"

I have my mask over my face now, using claws in one hand to cut and shape lumber the way I want them.

"You learn things, or level up normally. Either way, you gain spells and skills at certain Artisan levels, or A-Levels. You usually don't have to pay to learn stuff based on A-Level, but most of the top tier guys charge money. Some take on apprentices, but in Kes Rentas A-Jobs aren't placed too high on the social scale."

"Why not?"

"Too easy, giving info away means its free and free means no worth. If you put a price on something, or someone, they have worth."

Her words are low and full of hurt. She doesn't notice me look over at those words and see her grasp a pendant around her neck. I quickly go back to work, pretending I didn't notice. "So, you were an apprentice too?"

She drops her pendant and looks suprisedly at me, "Huh?"

"Is that how you recovered your MP during the big wolf fight?" She didn't think I'd notice, but I know she switched over to her staff back then, which meant she was out of MP. The staff has a weaker version of the Arcane Bolt spell and wouldn't have killed the small wolf outright. She must have gotten more MP from somewhere and cast a real bolt.

"Its a Simple Mana Battery." She reverently holds it again. "It restores 25MP, but it takes three nights to recharge. My master…"

I stop what I'm doing and kneel beside her. "He wanted you to have it?" I emphasized "wanted" in a sincere way, while I put my hand on her shoulder.

She nods slowly, "But no one believed me. When he died… they all thought I stole it!"

She throws herself into my chest, knocking off her hat. Her ears are drooped low and she's sobbing into my tunic. For a moment I don't know what to do about the sudden burst of emotion, but I quickly wrap my arms around her and hold her firmly.

"Its worth more than you! You're a worthless orphan! You're trash! You--" Her voice is muffled, but her words are hot with supressed anger.

"Kona!" Her ears perk up at the tone of my voice, instinctively trying to push me away. She stares up at me with soggy eyes. I lower my voice and ease my tone, "No object, is worth more than your life. You are unique. You are priceless. You are Kona Cafe."

She nods her head slowly, and bursts into more tears. These are just as hot, but as the others were filled with rage, these are tears of regret and acceptence. I ignore the notifications for now.

After a moment, she settles down, and I notice she fell asleep on me. I sigh and wonder how old she really is when I summon a bedroll and pad. With my mask on and the extra point of Strength, I easily hold her and set up the roll. I place her gently in it and pat her head. She mumbles something, but I leave it unheard and go back to work. Except for the sound of splitting wood, I don't make much noise. Ramona and Elsbeth arrive shortly after.

"Is everything okay, Ardacen?" her claw is on her hip opposite her sword.

I nod, "Kona just shared some history with me."

"Yes, she had it rough in the city. The poor thing." She turns her gaze from Kona to me, "And are you okay as well?"

"Almost done with the spears, and I might try to make a shield or two. Not sure how its gonna work though." Elsbeth points at the scales. "Yeah, but they're not big enough on their own and I have no way to attach them to something."

Elsbeth looks over everything on the ground and finds the carpenter pack. She withdraws a hammer and some small nails. She motions for me to cut the plank in half, vertically and into thirds. She places the pieces side by side and it looks like a small door.

My skill seemingly activates by itself and my hands move on autopilot. Together we construct a tower shield using mainly one piece of lumber, and six giant lizard scales. We use up all the pieces we can, making a total of three tower shields. I make another, the size and shape of a buckler, and sign to Elsbeth to attach the cobra scales in the same way.

She spells out R-A-M-O-N-A and I just nod my head and smile. By this point it's obvious that Elsbeth has a few levels of Carpentry and the bag must be hers. I inquire, and she confirms.

Ramona wields a tower shield, waving it around in battle positions. "It's light for a tower shield, the wood isn't really right for it. But the scales will definitely ward off many attacksss. I'm impressed that you two could come up with thiss from scrap."

To be honest, I am too.

"It wouldn't have come together without Elsbeth." She smiles her sad smile, but I can read the pride on her face. I toss one of the new spears to the Saurion. She catches it effortlessly.

"I used two green cobra fangs for the spear tips."

She blocks and pierces invisible threats with great ease, "They will add poison damage! Simply amazing. Too bad you can't work with metal. I would comission a blade from you."

I give her my thanks as I bring up all the notifications I've been ignoring for the past few hours.

[Reputation +150 with Kona Cafe]

[Reputation increased to Liked]

[Job XP ineligible, converting to Class XP

[78XP gained]

[You leveled up to 6n!]

[You have 5 stat points to allocate!]

I add three points to Arcane and two to Dexterity, raising them to 20 and 22 respectively.

[DecaStat Reached: +1 Arcane Spell!]

Before I choose my spell I hand Ramona her shield. "I'm not sure if you can use this, but I'd like you to have it."

She is very gracious and thanks me profusely, turning a darker purple with all the hissing she makes with her gratitude.

"As long as it helps keep you safe," I say as she excuses herself. I thank Elsbeth for the assistance and she returns to her post as well.

From the shorter, but still long list of spells, I practically hone in on one in particular. I recall that it wasn't in the previous batch, but choose it without hesitation.

[You learned Blink Step I (20MP) 30feet/ Instantaneously teleport in any direction. Line of sight is not needed, but the consequences could be painful/fatal.]

[Combination Ability Possible! Blink Step + Critical Stab Y/N?]

"Wow, that's different. Let's do it!"

[Blink Step I became Assassinate I]

It's essentially the same as Blink Step, but if I teleport close enough to an enemy I can trigger Critical Stab for a third of the SP cost. With my claws and new skills I felt the urge to complete the remaining mission: Explore Rentas Dungeon.