[Dola Stubfang cannot learn the Skill: Minor Survival Craft.]

[Dola Stubfang cannot learn the Feat: Apex Predator.]

[You received 200XP for teaching Dola Stubfang: Zoom I, Enhanced Smell I, Enhanced Hearing I, and Thermal Vision.]

[Dola Stubfang failed to learn the Spell: Lesser Dragon Force

[Required XP from monster: 3000XP/1000XP available/1800XP maximum.

[Wait time until Learning XP recharges: 119:57:46]

"Sorry, Sir Ardy. Brain no space for new magic yet. Must level up more." Dola clutches the sides of his head as it wobbles in circles after trying to learn Lesser Dragon Force. First of all, I didn't expect it to cost so much XP for him to learn. Second, I wasn't expecting any limitation to how much he could learn at once. Whenever I taught anyone anything, be it the Hybrid Nightmare or the citizens of Linqs, I only ever tried one Ability at the time.

Dola is the first in line to receive my tutoring and its still a learning process for me, too. Just like when I taught everyone Minor Survival Skill, part of my list of chores today is to teach the Kobolds what I can. I'm not sure why they can't learn the Apex Predator Feat, but they can learn the components of it, I guess that'll be an experiment for later. This is also the first time I'm made aware of the XP limitation.

At level 20, its looks like Dola can only spend ten percent of his current XP on learning which answers my question on how abusable teaching can be. Having to wait five days for the XP to recharge all at once and not in increments, really slows down the farming speed of such a task. Although, it might be worth it if there are enough students cycling in and out learning from a single teacher.

"It's okay, Dola. Wanna try a different one?"

I peruse my Character Sheet for all the monster Abilities with the "+" symbol in front of their names. Hellbent Roar would be awesome, but if the XP cost has any connection with the casting cost, then that Skill would be far more expensive than Lesser Dragon Force.

"We could try: Shadow Toxin, Healing Breeze, or maybe Corrosive Spray?" I ask the little lizard man. Lethargic Miasma and Bubble Blast are tricky to use, even for me, as is applying Glamour Breath at the right time and place. They can't learn Trinity Stream and I want to hold off on trying the other Feats. I don't want to make them too powerful too quickly.

"Kobolds weak to Poison element, Sir Ardy, so we no can learn Poison Spells. We maybe try heal Spell, but low Arcane. Kobolds not meant to be Casters. Sorry, Sir Ardy." He fidgets with his clawed hands and feet as he casts his eyes down and away from me.

"What do you mean? You leveled up a whole bunch, can't you put some Stat Points into Arcane?" I bring up my Character Sheet for him to see what I'm talking about, but a quick glance and a more down trodden expression tells me everything I need to know.

It seems like one of the main differences between people and monsters is that when they level up, they have to follow a set way of growth in their stats, while we can pick and choose as we please. I guess being sentient and sapient isn't enough for a creature to be considered an intelligent species.

"No matter. We'll just work on what you're best at and add to it. Plus, it's a good excuse for me to learn more monster Abilities. Come on, I think you got more than enough Skills to play with." I slap a confidence boosting hand on his back and he lets out a squeeking hiss. "First, let's get everyone on the same page. Then, we'll let Elsbeth know the situation. I'm sure she and I can get you all used to your new senses in no time."

"Crap," I moan as I dismiss my Character Sheet, withdrawing my Battle Wand in my right hand and producing an arcane rapier in my left. "After tutoring the Kobolds I'm still less than eight hundred XP shy of my next level up and I'm stuck training. No offense."

I give Conner a slight bow to show him I meant no disrespect, but he cheerfully waves it off, "No worries. You don't have to stay, you know? If you wanna go hunting to level up you--"

"Don't cut him any slack, Con," Sonny interjects with a wry smile, aiming the massive Meteora straight at my chest. "If Ardy is going to be the tip of the spear, he's gotta be sharp."

Like the old phrase states, "Iron sharpens iron," and Sonny is doing most of the sharpening. She puts on quite the display of how much she's learned so far and how much I've been leaning on overpowering less trained foes and monsters. Even limited to just weapon attacks, I'm quickly overwhelmed by her much more practiced use of Meteora and Sonnivarius. Gone are the wide swings and stuttered timing in wielding two very different weapons. It makes me wonder how easy Vic was taking it on me the other day.

When players face off, they're permitted to use Skills since an accidental death wouldn't be too extreme of an outcome. Both Richter and Rachel show signs of improvement in hand to hand, especially the avian Faunus and her new Skill, Exploit.

[Exploit I (30SP) 10feet/Reaction: This Skill remains active until the first missed attack aimed at the user. Deal 70% main weapon's modified damage to attacker. This Skill's damage cannot be blocked, dodged or reduced.]

As a high Agility character, her opportunities to dodge are abundant and during combat the Skill hits as hard and fast as her normal attacks. They're especially jarring since they seemingly come out of nowhere. Coupled with close range Double Shots with her throwing daggers, her SP drains fast, but so does her opponent's HP.

Each duel is a great lesson on many degrees and worth delaying my level up. Even Richter, through the rigorous training of our Elven Ranger, learned how to use a bow in close combat. His movements reminded me of a certain fox Faunus, his band of merry men, and his epic execution at the wrong end of Elsbeth's bow. What was his name again? I'm pretty sure it had "fox" in it, too. Anyway, El also taught Richter how to swing a rapier like her, but he wasn't comfortable dual wielding quite yet. He ends up being my only win of the day and even then I had a lot to unpack from that particular fight.

Not one to do lunch breaks like a normal person, I take my meal to-go and head off east through the city. I want to meet up with Dawn and Vic to see what they're up to and to get permission to grind. After a bit of searching, I find the Infernus in her civvies, leading a few people through buildings with the metal doors either melted or smashed off their hinges.

"Anything good?" I ask, finding a spot to her right to stand and watch the progress along with her. Reiger and one of the Tailors, Xara the Elf, walk out of one of those buildings with a smirk and an inventory screen up for inspection. We both lean in to see two bolts of simple silk, two bolts of cotton cloth, six different blueprints for clothes, and a large container of Lucidium buttons and toggles.

"Alright, drop the fabric and the buttons into storage, if you don't mind. See if you and Torgan can use the blueprints. I'll send a runner in case we find another Tailor shop. Thanks, Xara." The Elf nods and walks with a graceful glide back to the vardo. Reiger offers a light salute to the two of us, before moving on to the next building. Dawn punches me on the arm, resting her fists on her hips.

"This is the life, eh, Ardy? Maybe less than a dozen houses to huff and puff before we run out of storage space in the crates. We have so many bricks and ingots that we can use them exclusively to build our own little hamlet in the valley. I'm really excited to see it." She clasps her hands and looks up at me with stars in her eyes, "The way Vic describes it, it sounds like paradise."

"It'll be a lot of work, starting up our own little frontier town. Especially there. But you sound more excited than stressed. You doin' okay?" We watch Plisk, the lanky Elf practically drowning in his armor, slide out of a melted doorway. He gives us a thumbs down before moving on to the next one.

"Are you kidding? We're so, so close now. We have the perfect location, tons of material, literally, an amazing community, and all kinds of expertise. The only thing we're missing, is a name." A human, female reserve unit gets our attention and we go to see what's up.

Dawn thanks and dismisses her, figuring the two of us won't be needing a guard for any reason. She moves behind the counter and powers up the DARIN System with a chunk of her own mana.

"Oh shit," she drools as she transfers over the inventory, letting me see the screen and what the fuss is all about.

[You received: Bladed Shield Blueprint, Dwarven Longsword Blueprint, 1*100Unit Storm Steel Ingot, 3*100Unit Lucidium Ingot]

"So cool! Good thing you found out about these places, Ardy. Each one has been like a big ol' treasure chest." She brings up one of the blueprints while I look around the studio space.

"Well, we wouldn't have been able to access any of them if we didn't have crafters with high enough levels. By the way, when did you hit Blacksmith twenty five?"

"Ages ago. Maybe around the time Lavina made the saddles? She was the second of my students to pass fifteen, so I'm actually Blacksmith twenty seven. Just, don't tell Mika. She made such a big deal in Kes Solomas, but the Blacksmiths and I have been crafting so many new and advanced things lately. The Alchemists have only been churning out potions. Mostly. Nothing too exciting. Besides, what do you think I've been doing when I send you out to Adapt instead of crafting? You used to be the main guy for making all kinds of stuff, remember?"

We find several more stores and I fill her in on how the tutoring went. None of the ones we come across are within our level range or they're in classes we don't have like Butcher and Miner. Dawn marks those buildings with one of the Purple Runesticks before she calls in Victoria to see how her demo team is doin. Aside from using the Runesticks for Spells, they also work like neon-paint brushes without needing the paint. The writing works on any surface, even the air, and they last until we dismiss them or use them for a Spell. We did find a restaurant, but Gorm and Malica are two levels shy of twenty five. So maybe by the time of we take another trip back to the city for more materials at least one of them should be ready.

"Anyway," Dawn says as she stops me in the middle of the road, "When we get to the valley we might be depending on you with your Goblin Feat."

I look down at the ground and she slaps at my head with a laugh, "You know what I mean. I don't want to waste time or materials with a practice build here, so we're just gonna have to work on the fly when we get there."

"Shouldn't be a problem." She has a conversation with Vic on her Whisper Ear Cuff while I check the in game clock. It's only a quarter to three and dinner isn't until seven. When Dawn returns her attention to me I ask if I could go out to play, since I'm only 779XP shy of my next level. She tosses me an ear cuff.

"Alright, but you gotta try Adapting some Abilities. I don't know if it's something you can help, but I really want to retire the soldiers and reserves by the time we establish ourselves in the valley. In order to do that, we need someone to replace them."

"The kobolds..." I muse, nodding along with her train of thought. "Well, if they also level up some more then they can learn stronger Abilities. Still, they're gonna be limited by their set Stat growth..."

She slaps her chest plate, "We'll supplement their Stats with equipment. I don't like the idea of them being simple fodder so we have to make them as strong as we can."

Victoria and her squad make their appearance and she joins us on the side of the road. She gives me quick hug and a cheek kiss, "We found another restaurant, a tannery, a carpentry, a stone masonry, and a tinkerer's workshop. We'll have El check the carpentry after practice. Is Ardy going on a hunt?"

"Yeah, but he really needs to focus tonight so if it's okay, he'll go solo this time." Dawn shifts uncomfortably, waiting for our arguements. Vic and I just couldn't muster up the nerve to mess with her this time.

"Of course, Commander." Vic nods her head, placing a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, Boss. Though some company would been nice."

HER company would've been nice. But, it's not like Vic and I didn't have our own little adventure recently. One of the other players would've been nice, but they have their own duties to perform. Still, I wasn't expecting my current partner. What was Dawn thinking? How am I supposed to focus if I'm babysitting?

"Sorry for being burden to Sir Ardy. Lady Dawn good leader, but Dola not know why she order go with you?"

I didn't have an answer to the cowering Kobold taking tentative steps by my side clutching his iklwa like a lifeline. We equipped the Kobolds with a bunch of the first generation spears and some small bucklers, but they couldn't wield both at the same time just yet.

Upon the sudden arrival of a Dire Wolf, his first instict is to cower behind me. But, plucking up his own courage, he shuffles one short step at a time into view and readies his spear like he was trained. The monstrous canine lets out a sharp bark and its enough to cause Dola to flinch and quake at his knees, but he doesn't run.

Only a couple levels higher than the Kobold, the Dire Wolf keeps its distance mainly because of my presence. A novel idea pops into my head and I step forward, placing myself between the two. I summon my character sheet and shift so that he can see it.

"These are my Abilities. Take a quick look so you can tell me what to do. Oh, can you form a party?" As a precaution, I ready my claws. Dola stammers incomprehensibly and I have to reassure him that this is what I want to do.

[Dola Stubfang has invited you to a War Party. Do you accept Y/N?]

Well, if monsters have Feats like Swarm Tactics then they should be able to form parties. I smile to myself when I get a small boost from his Pack Tactics Feat and chuckle when my Swarm Tactics II boost startles Dola.

"Alrighty, Boss, you know what I can do. So, I'm just awaiting orders. Oh, and make sure you have Enhanced Smell and Hearing on." My eyes never leave the snarling, drooling Dire Wolf. Arching its back to make itself look much larger, its massive paws move it closer to us little by little.

Dola stammers a string of vowels before blurting out, "Protect Dola!" His command comes just in time for the Wolf's pouncing strike to a hastily summoned Mana Shield. The attack knocks me down to a knee as I push/slide the beast off and chase it away with a slash of my own. It narrowly avoids getting an odd shave and prepares itself to strike again.

[Arcane Shield blocks 77 damage! -77MP]

Once again he stammers, but seeing how effectively I follow his orders boosts his confidence to try other things, "Bolts, Sir Ardy. Keep Wolf far." With that I withdraw my Battle Wand and unleash a series of Arcane Bolts at the creature. It's spry enough to evade most of them, but when the purple orbs splash against it, the damage is significant. Used to the radar in the corner of my vision, I notice an approaching hostile to our right and ask if Dola sees it, too.

"Yes. Red dot come near. Oh!" I glance over my shoulder and see that Dola is actually moving forward to cover my flank, "Fall back, please. Maybe four steps."

I can't help but laugh as we line dance backwards together. I hurl two bolts at the incoming Dire Wolf and one at the first, just to show I didn't forget about it. "Two on two, now, sir. May I suggest I summon my own wolf to keep the advantage?"

He simply nods, no longer trembling and spear out in a more threatening posture. Ghost comes out to play and I position him on the other end of the line, sandwiching Dola between us. With a few more notes of confidence in his voice, he asks me to continue firing. Being able to split targets allows me to keep them both at bay while wearing down their HP.

"Wanna finish them off?" I ask and he looks up at me with shock and awe. He answers with a resolute yes and I activate Distracting Footwork. As big and fast as they normally are, their weakened state makes it much easier to dodge them. Dola let's out a shrill scream as he stabs into their battered sides, putting one down and then the other. Gasping for breath after so much excitement and the sudden burst of attacks, he watches the bodies evaporate into loot sacks. His victory dance is cute as he shakes his spear over his head and hops back and forth on each foot.

"Good stuff, party leader." I cast Healing Breeze on us, just in case he may have gotten hurt some time during the skirmish and to remind him that I'm a healer. The wave of refreshing magic perks him up and he looks up at me with a toothy smile.

"Alrighty, Dola. Two big lessons there." His expression drops but I assure him that he did great. I take a knee and place my hands on his shoulders, "Know your team and trust your team. You did both and, look, we won. Now, this time we're gonna try something a little bit more complicated and we're going to have to trust each other. Okay?"

We try it out at a walking speed with Blue using her scythes to attack us. Dola, close enough to be a scabbard on my belt, thrusts his iklwa and defends from below while I do the same from above. It's a bit awkward at first, especially when he hesitates and I trip over him. A few times when he comes back to his ready position after an attack he inadvertently slices my arm or chest. Its nothing Fey Touch can't heal. I remind him to trust me, that I am as mindful of him as he is of me. We spend some time at this, getting into a good jogging speed, but nothing I'd try to implement during a fight with a Vile Crawler or a pack of Dire Wolves. Once again, though, his voice shows a few more notes of confidence. Nothing haughty, just a Kobold happy with his progress. A few more days of this and he and I could easily fight as a single unit.

Of course, sometimes things like this don't want to wait until it's the best time for a trail and the universe really wants to see what you're made of. We had lost track of time and the soon to be setting sun heralds the domain of the nocturnal creatures of Arc.

"Something coming, Sir Ardy," Dola says in a near whisper after I saw the blip on my own radar.

A creature familiar only in bits and pieces lumbers its way toward us. The body is covered in patches of light gray fur or bristley, dark brown hair. There are legs, too many legs to be practical especially when they're on the creature's back, kicking and twitching at the sky. Some I recognize as Dire Wolf legs with the bony protrusions at the knees, but they end in the cloven hooves of a Boar. Pairs of floppy, white bunny ears line the spinal column like a ridge of fur. A snout full of mismatched tusks and fangs sticks out of its side, biting at the air. It's "proper" mouth, not sure how else to say it, on its face has the same dental formation below bulging, dark blue orbs which I can only assume are its eyes.

Understandably less confident, Dola slides back until he bumps into my leg. I instinctively move my hand in front of him in an act of protection, but he pushes past it. I swap Blue with Ghost and he assumes his place on our line as Dola readies his Iklwa.

>Scan[1666/1666HP, 200/200MP, 200/200SP

[Multiple creatures cannot inhabit the same place on the same plane. Aberrations are created when this happens during the mana birthing process, mixing the creature's features and giving it random knowledge. Filled with pain and frustration, their only instinct is to unleash their suffering onto other living creatures.

[+Static Gaze, +Flame Claw, +Arcane Claw, +Parasitic Vines, +Bubble Blast, +Ice Blast, Bite, Tackle]

Almost every single attack this thing has is a monster Ability with no apparent reason as to why it would have it. It's as if some mad scientist had sewn this thing together and injected their favorite attacks into its brain, hoping the creature would just figure out how to use them on its own.

I might have good odds on Adapting at least one of those Abilities, but with only one creature I would have a single shot at it. Somehow Kole, the god of monsters, heard my inner dilemma and two more Aberrations appear. One swoops in on long, blue, gossamer wings like those of a dragonfly while the other emerges from the shadow created by the first Aberration. Three of the exact same type of creature with three wildly different appearances and lists of Abilities.

I go over strategies in my head when three more Aberrations force me to broadcast a general call for help on the Whisper Cuff. Kona is the first to reply, giving me a fifteen to twenty minute ETA.

"Dola, willing to take the lead on this?" He looks up at me, eyes conflicted and mouth quivering. "Its okay, buddy. We'll keep it simple. Hop up on Ghost and get back to the city." Somehow we had wandered a good hour walk away from Denagrin and there's no way his little legs could get him out of here without getting caught by something in the dark. With a nod from me, Ghost takes off with a squeeling Dola on top, gripping the fur with his hands and feet. An Abberation readies its wings to fly after them, but three Arcane Bolts to its face (the original one, I think) send it sprawling to the ground.

Using my Battle Wand's MP cost reduction to cast Lesser Dragon Force, I activate Hellbent Roar with a loud scream at the creatures. They don't even flinch. My left hand and wand glow a dim blue as I drop into a ready stance.

"No to-go food tonight, fellas. I'm afraid its dine in only."