Eric had his crossbow in hand, aiming at a target, thirty feet away, he pulled the trigger. Click, TWANG, fwip, thunk. The bolt hit the target, a couple circles away from the center.

“Great, I finally got the sights fixed.”

A flash of light appeared nearby and Luna stepped forward.

“Heya Eric, how are things?” She smiled brightly.

“You have been avoiding me Luna.” Eric commented.

“Ngh.” She reeled from him.

“I feel like the reason is because you made a mistake, or two, or three, or somewhere close to triple digits.” Eric continued.

“Hngh, ngh, please stop Eric! I didn’t mean to! They were supposed to be simple blessings, but, well, I kind of-…” She trailed off into a mumble.

“You kind of, made everything into a divine tool? Turned my water into divine water? I am not mad in the least bit Luna, I am quite happy.” He got on his knees and did an overdramatized bow to her, “Praise be onto my one and only goddess, Luna!”

“Unyaaahh! Please stop Eric! This is so embarrassing!” She cried and he laughed.

“Okay, I will stop. Sorry Luna.” She had tears in her eyes.

“****** wouldn’t stop teasing me about it when she found out. Hmm? Is that the crossbow? Sniff.” She asked.

Eric smiled, “It is. Just finished. My furnace being a divine tool made it very easy for me to melt and cast all the parts I needed. You know, I also tested my computer, it is also a divine tool. I can look at things from my world but I cannot interact with it in the least bit. What? No I did not try to contact my family, it would have freaked them out too much. I did look into how they were doing, which,” he bowed his head deeply to her, “thank you Luna, for asking for my family to be blessed.”

Luna smiled at the heartfelt thanks. “You are very welcome Eric. *******, the one in charge of your world was very accepting of the idea.”

She looked over at a mannequin, “Whoa, what is that?”

On the mannequin was a shiny, gold, horned mask that covered the upper half of the face. There was also a dark gray, hooded waistcoat that had silver and gold trim that intermixed across the torso and long sleeves. The robe did not go much further below the waist in the front, but in the back went as far as the knees.

“Um, well, sigh. Since I am going up against a powerful organization, I felt that having an alternate persona would be useful. It would allow me to travel freely and I don this when I am doing something where there would be witnesses.”

“Ooooh, I see. But wouldn’t they be able to connect the two while seeing the lower half of your face?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, I have been trying to think of a better design, but have been having a bit of a creator’s block. I really liked the mask that is on it now…” Eric slouched in sadness.

“Then how about I bless it to make it so no one can distinguish your features?”

Eric turned to her in surprise.

“T-that would really help…”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “You think I am going to mess up again.”

He bowed his head and apologized.

“Huuuh, okay, here I go, no mistakes this time.” She pumped herself up and blessed the outfit.

“Okay, there we go. Let’s see… Yay! No mistakes! Oh, I also made the robe durable and able to dampen damage for you. I don’t want you dying during your quest.” She smiled.

Eric thanked her the help and tried the mask on.

“Oh wow, your look changes each time I blink. I can’t tell which is really you… though none really look like you. Did I maybe go overboard again?” She mumbled her question to herself.

Taking the mask off, he returned it to the mannequin. “Thanks again Luna. I don’t think you went overboard on this one. I think overboard would have turned me completely invisible.”

She wasn’t happy about the comment, but thankful. Eric gave her some of divine rocket boar jerky as thanks and apology. Luna returned to the heavens and Eric headed to bed.

The following day, they were rolling along at their slow pace, but the day was mostly quiet.

“Heeey, Eric, you wouldn’t happen to have some food would you?” Jiggly was being a bit needy again.

Eric handed her a carrot to snack on which she happily accepted.

“You’re going to run out of ingredients at this rate.” Said masculine Micah.

“I will be alright. I still have plenty.” Micah was unsure, but didn’t pursue.

“BANDITS!” A shout chained from the front of the caravan. Jiggly’s cart was near the rear of the caravan.

“Damn, Eric, stay inside.” Micah ordered.

Once Eric was by himself, he jumped into his Haven and grabbed his crossbow and thirty bolts for it. Quickly returning, he jumped up front with Jiggly who looked scared.

“Where is Micah?” He asked her.

“Micah headed up toward the main fight. Why are there so many!?”

He asked her if this attack was different, which she replied that attacks were never this big, it was like every bandit group came together to attack at once.

A report he read back in Meerka crossed his mind, Goun dressed up as bandits and froze the lake. They most likely informed the bandits about the caravan too.

More bandits flooded out from the forest toward the caravan. Eric pointed his crossbow toward a group of them, twang! The bolt hit one of them in the throat dropping him on the spot. Pulling the lever on the bottom, the internal mechanism forced the hammer back, making the string taught.

“Wat da hells is dat?” One of the bandits shouted.

Eric’s design made it so that it only took him about five to eight seconds to be ready to fire again. Putting another bolt in place, he fired again, hitting another right in the chest, piercing through the bandit’s metal armor.

“That thing pierces armor?” Another bandit shouted in disbelief.

Awesome, the steel tips are working well.

Eric was not confident in his skills to hit targets, but the bandits made it easier for him by clumping together.

Maybe increased luck was another one of Luna’s mis-, I mean blessings?

Eric continued firing away at the bandits until a loud explosion occurred right next to them. As he flew through the air, he saw Jiggly flying along too, he reached out and wrapped his body around her as they hit the ground.

Shit, that really, didn’t hurt?

Eric let his hold on the unconscious Jiggly down.

What the-?

Eric saw he was wearing his alter persona outfit without the mask. He realized that was the reason why he wasn’t that hurt.

Did Luna also make it so it would self-equip?

“Dere he is! Get’em!”

The bandits charged toward them, Eric searched for his crossbow, but he could not find it. The bandits were almost upon them.

Wish I had my gun… Poof! The shotgun fell into his lap.

“Wat?” “What?” Eric and a bandit said.

BOOM! One explosive shot later, one of the remaining four bandits fell backwards.

“Oooh, yeeeeeah.” None of the bandits would have gotten Eric’s movie reference, but he enjoyed doing it.

The battle was raging on, the adventurers were fighting well with support from the other caravan people.

“Give it up! You can’t win! All that belongs to you is our-.” BOOM!

The one speaking looked down, seeing a large hole in his chest. He looked toward the man approaching them. He wore a golden mask that had two small horns protruding from the forehead and a fancy hooded robe. No matter what anyone did, none of them could make out his facial features.

The bandit leader fell over dead.

“Hello bandit scum, allow me to introduce your end. I am the Master Craftsmen, Hephaestus, Phaestus to my friends.”

One of the bandit mages that blew up Jiggly’s cart started to chant a spell only to have his head pierced by something. Phaestus had changed his black rod with a longer, more slender one.

“What hells kind of magic staff is that?!” One of the bandits cried out.

Phaestus switched his slender rod for the all black one, holding it above his head, “This, is my BOOM STICK!”

The bandits recoiled in fear as the people of the caravan looked in awe. Phaestus pointed his boom stick and took out another bandit who tried giving out commands. Then two more strong looking bandits. The bandits noticed only one would die each time, so a group decided to do a suicide attack to get to him.

Phaestus changed his black rod for a wooden one that had two pipes on it. BOOM!

The group of bandits fell to the ground either dead or dying. Switching back to his slender rod, the last mage of the bandit group fell, a hole through his chest.

“RUN!” “DEMON! HE’S A DEMON!” “LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

The bandits began fleeing in droves from before Phaestus. Before long, the bandits retreated back into the forest, their numbers further thinned out by the masked man’s relentless long ranged attacks.

Mr. Barlett tentatively approached Phaestus after the last of the bandits disappeared. “Master Hephaestus, truly, thank you for your assistance. I do not know how many more would have died.”

“No issue. I did find a man and gnome toward the back. The man was gravely injured, but I have sent him to a safe place to be healed. It looked as though he shielded the gnome from harm with his body.”

“That was where Master Eric was! Is he going to live?!”

Phaestus confirmed that the man would live with no issue.

“He did ask me to check in with one named Micah. Are they around?” Phaestus asked.

“Micah was gravely injured, could you also take them to where you took Master Eric?! We are out of healing potions and the healers are out of magic!” Someone came running forward and led Phaestus to Micah.

Micah was laying on the ground, their breath was labored. Micah got sliced across his stomach, his innards were slightly visible. Phaestus kneeled down next to Micah.

“I will take him, I will return shortly with news.” With that, both Micah and Phaestus disappeared.

Micah could not make out what happened, but he could hear someone franticly moving around.

“Hear, drink this.” He drank what was given, it tasted like water, but it was pure and delicious.

It gave him a tingly feeling through his body.

“Forgive me.” A burning sensation occurred at his wound.

“Gah!” Micah cried out in pain.

“This might hurt, but I need to close the wound.” The voice said.

“Wait, I can do it… Len nah fal, uls vena tar [Molding].” Micah lightly molded the wound back together, the pain was excruciating, but he finished closing his wound.

“Wow, you can use [Molding] like that? Wait, is that why it is so hard to tell? Is that how you change back and forth?!”

Micah looked up at the person helping them to see a familiar face, “Eric?” He said as his consciousness faded.

That is when the most unexpected thing happened before Eric. When Micah ended his [Molding] spell, his very body began to change. His height did not change, but his skin began getting darker, his thighs thickened, various features becoming more and more feminine.

Riiip.

“What was-?” To answer his question, Micah’s shirt exploded open at the chest area revealing a sizable pair of breasts.

Whoa! Look away! Look away! Micah would kill me if I stared! Wait, waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait, hol’up, Micah, is, a, WOMAN! I FINALLY KNOW! THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED!

Eric felt so elated to finally be free of that major teasing point. He started to turn, but remembered that she was still exposed.

“How to handle this… Oh, let’s try that.” Focusing a bit, a baggy shirt appeared in his hand, nodding, he focused again and the tattered shirt that was on Micah was in his hand.

Slowly turning, he saw he successfully swapped her shirt with the other.

She seems little uncomfortable… Oh, those pants, let’s fix that.

Eric used his Haven ability to switch the overly tight pants with a set of soft fleece pants without ever needing to touch her. Micah’s expression softened, but was still uncomfortable. He made sure to check where she was wounded and came to find that she didn’t even have a scar where she was cut.

Eric moved up to his guest bedroom and pulled the covers back and then summoned Micah to the bed, her breasts jiggled so slightly. I’m sorry… Eric thought to whoever was watching. After pulling the covers over her, she had a light smile on her face.

Okay, this is taken care of. Donning his mask and pulling up his hood, Phaestus shifted out of the Haven.

“Oh, Master Hephaestus! How are Micah and Master Eric?” A worried Mr. Barlett asked.

“They are fine, they will need some time to heal. Is there anyone who cannot walk? I can take them to the town immediately. I intend to notify the local garrison there that a large scale bandit attack occurred here.” Phaestus said, summoning a large silver carriage with black wheels and glass windows.

“By the gods, what is that?!”

“This is my truc… Chariot. It can only be operated by me, and only I know how to use it. Also, I will never part with it as it would draw the ire of the gods. I intend to remain on their good side. With this, I could get to the town by the afternoon.” Phaestus answered.

Mr. Barlett was in awe, “Thank you Lord Hephaestus, we will gather the injured immediately.”

Mr. Barlett issued orders out to everyone to gather the worst among them. A bruised gnome with pink hair approach Phaestus, “Um, Lord Hephaestus, are you sure that Eric and Micah will be okay?”

A warm smile came across his stern face and he kneeled down to her level, putting a hand on her head.

“I assure you, little miss, they will be fine. They just need some rest now, you will see them again.” He assured her.

She smiled brightly at the news and hugged him in thanks. Phaestus open the back of his Chariot to allow them to load the injured people into it.

“Those are all the worst of us Lord Hephaestus. I truly thank you.” Phaestus waved off Mr. Barlett’s thanks like the whole thing was not a big deal for him and climbed in the front himself. The Chariot roared to life and moved forward at an increasing speed, kicking up dust in its wake.

A bored pair of guards stood watch on the wall of the port town of Tala.

“Hey, what the hells is that?” One of them asked.

The other looked out toward the main road, seeing a large dust cloud moving toward the town at an alarming speed.

“Is it a monster? Alt ven tuul [Long Sight].” The guard casted a spell that increased his abilities to see far away.

“It, doesn’t look like a monster… It looks like some kind of… armored cart? I have never see something move so fast. Alert the captain, we will follow his commands.” The first guard nodded and ran down below.

A group of armored knights on horseback stood at the ready in front of the gate awaiting the strange cart’s arrival. It slowed down and came to a stop nearby and a hooded man in an extravagant gray robe and golden mask stepped out of the, what they now deemed, carriage.

“Are you the city guard?” The man asked.

“Yes, I am Captain Jensen of the Tala guardsmen. State who you are and your business.”

“Then greetings to you Captain, I am Master Hephaestus, a master craftsmen. Earlier I came across a caravan being assaulted by about a hundred and thirty bandits. I assisted the caravan and we were able to drive what remained away. I have some injured people in the back of my Chariot here, could you have your healers or bring some potions for them please?” Phaestus opened the back of his Chariot for the Captain to see.

The people inside confirmed the story and the Captain gave out orders to his men to call for healers and potions. The Captain also issued orders to his lieutenant to take the guards on horseback and go to meet the caravan before sundown. The Captain asked if Phaestus could take some medicine and potions and a couple of healers back to the caravan, which he agreed to.

The town lord even came to the main gate, especially since he heard of the mysterious silver Chariot. Phaestus of course, warned the Lord that the Chariot was useless without him, and any attempt to take it would lead him to angering the gods. The Lord gave up when the caravan people shouted at him in protest, and pointed out that Phaestus single handedly drove the bandits away after wiping out nearly forty by himself with little effort.

“Well, Master Hephaestus, please, I would like to invite you to my home for-.”

“No.” Phaestus turned the Lord down curtly as he climbed back into his Chariot.

“I will be heading back to the caravan to assist in escorting them back, or possibly bring more people in dire need.” He closed the door and it roared to life once more, creating a dust cloud as it sped down the road.

“Do you think we will make it before sundown lieutenant?” One of the guards asked the one put in command of their cavalry.

“Maybe, if we keep this pace we should… What is that sound?”

A silver carriage jumped past them and roared its way down the road.

“Well, uh, let’s just do our best…” The lieutenant said, watching the silver carriage become smaller and smaller. “Let’s do our best…”

Mr. Barlett noticed the large dust cloud approaching them and looked through his sight scope to see a familiar silver carriage speeding toward them.

“Lord Hephaestus has returned! Come to a stop and begin setting up camp!” He ordered.

The carriages pulled off to the side and took their semi-circle setup just as the silver chariot came to a stop.

“Lord Hephaestus, how did it go?” Phaestus exited his Chariot.

“It went well. The people I took to the town are being looked after and there is a contingent of guards on horseback heading this way right now. The Captain was kind enough to send some healers and potions.”

The poor healers stepped out of the back a little worse for wear since they were tossed around a bit when Phaestus veered off road to avoid the guards on horseback. Mr. Barlett gathered the remaining injured for treatment.

“By the way Lord Hephaestus, how are Master Eric and Micah?” Mr. Barlett asked.

“Last I saw, this, Master Eric was well on his way for a full recovery. I will head back there and check in on the other.” Phaestus stored his Chariot away and shifted away.

Eric took his mask off and pulled his hood back.

“Micah?” He called out.

“E-Eric, is that you? Where are we? What is this place?” She sounded scared.

Eric walked to the room she was in and found her sitting up in the bed he put her in.

“Is this some noble’s house? What is up with that outfit?” Micah was confused over everything.

That is also when Eric noticed something he didn’t earlier when she changed to her true form.

“Are you, an elf?” Her ears were pointed at the end and her eyes were a beautiful ruby color.

Micah looked at her hands, seeing her darkened skin.

“Um, oh, ahahahah, this is just one of my dis-.”

“I literally saw you change right in front of me when you lost consciousness.”

She had a conflicted look, but in the end resigned herself.

“Yes, but more specifically, I am a dark elf, more akin to demon-kin.” She looked away as if expecting something bad to happen.

“Oh, that’s neat. I didn’t know that.” Eric said with a smile.

She slowly turned to him, disbelief on her face. “You, you are fine with me being demon-kin?”

Eric looked at her confused for a moment, “Micah, you do remember that I am from another world right? I have different values than people of this world.”

Her eyes teared up and she began crying lightly.

“Uh, wait, what? What’s wrong? I don’t understand!” Eric began to panic a little at her reaction.

“No, sniff, I just, I just, no one, sniff, no one ever, cries, accepted…” She began crying, most of her words being undecipherable.

I guess people don’t treat her people that well… He sat on the bed and held her hand.

She calmed down after five minutes. “Sorry Eric, sniff, it has just been a long time since anyone has been so accepting of me, and so easily.”

“It is no problem Micah. Can you tell me about yourself? And maybe why you changed back?”

Micah nodded, starting with telling him that she normally maintains the molding spell on her physical form so she can easily change things at will. Since she used [Molding] to fix her wound, she lost consciousness, and control of the spell. She could only keep her altered form so long as she maintained the spell.

After her explanation, she told her story. Apparently she was nearly a hundred years old. Most of demon-kin live for long periods of time, her race in particular lived around three to four hundred years. Around five hundred years ago, the demon-kin race originally ruled the land that now belonged to Goun. Their race had a split ideology back then, one side wanted to live in peace with all races equally, while the other felt themselves superior and that they should rule all the lands. The peaceful side ended up losing the political battle and were banished from the kingdom to the faraway land that was the present day Moona. The people of Moona received assistance from the High Elves that were hidden, somewhere deep in the forest of the continent to live in peace. Micah’s grandmother lived in the original kingdom when the aggressive party began their war to rule all. They ended up pushing the human race to the brink, when their saviors appeared, the Heroes and the Church of Light.

The Heroes beat back the demon-kin forces, driving them all the way back to their capital city. Luckily for Micah’s grandmother, a ship of the peaceful faction arrived earlier and evacuated all who opposed the war. They later heard news of the fall of their original homeland, and how the demon-kin were either killed or enslaved. The humans thought to eradicate all the demon-kin, but the High Elves assisted in keep the invading forces at bay by using ancient magic that controlled the currents and a disorienting fog that surrounded the continent. The people remained closed off from the world for a long period of time, until they heard that there were people who did not get along with the Church of Light.

The first people they reached out to was, the Kingdom of Alta. They were apprehensive at first, but eventually accepted them, especially when they introduced their main crop known as vulta powder.

“So did you travel to Meerka then?” Eric asked.

She shook her head, “No, my grandmother escaped, but my mother was not so lucky. She was a royal knight and could not abandon her post.”

Eric understood at that point, she was born into slavery.

“I was told my mother died giving birth to me. I was kept as some noblewoman’s attendant. I was treated poorly, but nowhere near the worst. I saw the kind of things those bastards would do to my people.” She was visibly shaking with how angry she was.

“Most of the nations did not embrace the Church of Light because they were very pushy about their religion and authority. They had a lot more influence about sixty years ago, but there was an incident where they had their Heroes slaughter a bunch of people who didn’t like their rigid beliefs. A lot of nations basically kicked them out and isolated them from their local politics. Lady Vannil was one of their people who helped regain some of their influence, but only in Meerka. All of that though went to naught when she resigned from the church, they haven’t made any additional headway since.”

“I understand a lot of things now. Thank you Micah. So, how did you escape slavery then?”

“Oh, I used my [Molding] skill to change the way I look. But the hardest part was getting the collar off. My spell would work on the collar only a tiny amount. It took two years of effort before I was finally able to break it off. During that time I developed my skill so much I was able to easily manipulate the way I looked and even give myself emergency medical treatment.”

“So, I understand, but why the whole androgynous look? Could you not just change your looks slightly?”

“I could have, but at first I was afraid of someone recognizing me, then it became, a habit?”

“You just found it fun to mess with people.” She laughed lightly at his accuracy.

“Well, the people outside were worried about you. Do you think you are well enough to-.”

“Did you change my clothes?” Her phrasing was deathly cold as she just noticed she was wearing different clothes, but Eric had already prepared a response.

“Yes, but not in the way you think.” Focusing, he changed her top instantly.

“Whoa, how did you? Ah! You still haven’t told me where we are!”

“Alright, but you have to swear in the name of the goddess Luna, that you will not reveal what I am about to tell you.”

“Goddess? Luna? I have never heard of such a god. But, okay, I swear upon the name of the goddess Luna that I will not reveal what I see or hear here.”

A brief golden glow flashed over her, “Huh? Wait, what was that? Wait, I seriously just gave a pledge to an actual goddess!?”

Eric laughed and mentioned that Luna was an associate of his and he would try to introduce them later. Her head was swaying back and forth, unable to comprehend that he knew a goddess that he would introduce later.

“By the way, what happened to my armor and clothing?”

“They uh, kind of didn’t fit you anymore, which is why I changed you…” He trailed off.

“You saw something, didn’t you?” She narrowed her eyes toward him.

He took out her tattered shirt, “Blame this, not me.” He handed it to her.

“How much did you see?” He told her just a brief glimpse and just apologized.

“Anyway, we keep getting off topic. This place is my personal safe haven. A pocket dimension connected to me, that only I can access at will. When I came to this world, I was not summoned. I failed at an experiment that forcibly transferred me to this world. The gods were kind enough to let me keep my home and workshop that came with me. At the same time, they blessed many items in here turning them into divine objects. All the ingredients came from my fridge, er, cold storage that keeps things in the most fresh and delicious state. That rocket boar jerky, from my smoker. I brought you here to treat your wound since I had divine water from my well, even the peroxide I used to disinfect your wound was divine… Luna seriously went overboard, but I am thankful since it helped me to save your life.” Eric finished.

“So you mean to say, that things in this haven are from your world?” She asked.

“Correct.” He answered.

“That sounds, amazing, I would like to explore, but I have a bit of a crisis here… Where is your outhouse?” She asked, her face getting a bit red.

“Ah, right, it has been many hours, t-this way.” Eric showed her the bathroom.

“Whoaaaa, ho, ho! What is this!?” She asked, getting excited.

“This is a bathroom. This is the toilet, you uh, do your business here and push down this lever. It will cause a rush of water that will flush it all away. Oh, yes, that is a bath tub. If you pull this out, water will come out. If you turn the knob this way, the water will get hotter, this way cooler. Hmm? Yes that is a sink. The knob on it works just like the bath tub. The metal part on the wall? That is for showering, pull this up and water will spray out of it. Wait, whoa! What are you!?” Micah shoved Eric out of the bathroom with a huge grin on her face.

He heard the tub beginning to fill.

I guess she really wanted a bath? Not that I don’t understand, the [Cleanse] spell can’t compete with the comfort of being enveloped in hot water.

The door opened and Micah poked her head out, “Do you want to join me?” She said teasingly. Eric ignored her obvious baiting.

I wonder about the washing machine, would it be able to repair clothes too? I get the feeling it will.

Shifting to his laundry room, he took Micah’s tattered clothes and tossed them into the washing machine.

Better let those guys know things are good. Eric let Micah know he was heading back to the caravan for a bit, shifting back after putting his mask on.

“Oh! Lord Hephaestus! You were gone for so long, I was beginning to get worried.” Mr. Barlett said.

“My apologies for the wait Mr. Barlett. They are both in good condition, your friend Master Eric asked me to bring these ingredients to you.” Phaestus summoned for some food ingredients for them.

“Master Hephaestus, we heard that a couple of people were in your personal care. Are they in need of healing or potions?” The lieutenant came forward with a satchel and person.

“The healer would not be necessary, though the potions may be of help. Just a few should be fine.” Phaestus stated.

They handed three potions over to him.

“How are things here? Any signs of the bandits again?” The masked man asked.

“No sir. Things have been quiet since sundown. I believe you truly put the fear of the gods in them.” The lieutenant reported.

“Excellent, I think the two of them will be recovered by the morning. I will return them and be on my way. Don’t expect me to say farewell, I am very busy man.” Phaestus explained.

“Oh, but we would like to thank you Lord Hephaestus. Please!” Mr. Barlett cried out.

“No need.” He shot him down.

“Please wait sir. I mostly sell reagents and such, but you are welcome to anything on my cart for saving those two.” The little pink haired gnome came forward. The determination in her eyes shone brightly.

“Hmm, fine, show me what you have.” Looking over her items, he opened a barrel and was hit with a smell of rotten egg.

“Is this sulfur?” Phaestus asked returning the lid in place.

“It is.” Jiggly answered.

“Do you also have saltpeter?” She shook her head and Mr. Barlett spoke up, “I know one of the others has several barrels of it.”

“Very well. I will take one barrel of sulfur and one of saltpeter. That will be my payment.” He hopped down from the cart as some people went about and brought both barrels to him.

“Your two companions will appear here tomorrow morning. Farewell.” With that, Phaestus and the two barrels disappeared.