Rak really isn’t too sure as to why Alley has taken such great interest in him but he has a sneaking suspicion that it is because of his gold. But even that seems a bit of a stretch, especially after seeing the woman’s strength. With that kind of abilities surely should she should be able to gather gold coins easily.

These were among Rak’s thoughts, but what he fails to understand i that humans will not do what is ‘ideal’ or ‘efficient’. What Alley does to spend her time may not be profitable at all. In fact, her interest in Rak is more likely to be a part of her interests in general, one could guess that her interest lay in people or meddling in others business. Whatever her motives are, they have entangled with Rak’s.

“What do you two want?”

“Do me a favor and sell Rak a couple of your horses for his new carriage.”

“No!”

Rak felt a bit embarrassed by Url’s very blunt response and then he remembered what kind of person Url is.

“Don’t be like that. You know you can’t sustain this many animals. How many horses do you have anyway?”

On the tall beast and its current location near the farm, Rak can see a herd of at least twenty horses grazing. Near the horses is another herd of horse like creatures that are clearly of similar descent. Near those are another batch of animals, though half the size of an average horse, yet seems to make up for it in girth.

“I have just enough, can’t lose a single one.”

“We both know you can barely feed all these things and Town hall isn’t willing to give you any more grazing land. You know, I could let a portion of your beasts graze on my land.

Unlike Url, Alley is an advance hunter and including her various contributions over the years, she has accumulated quite a few perks. This is why despite not having a farm her over all property in Alp is larger than Url’s.

“I don’t need more grazing land.”

This time around it was very clear to both Alley and Rak that Url’s conviction is wavering.

“C’mon Url. You already know Rak, right? I’m sure he’ll need a place for them to rest and live when he can’t use them.”

This was a little white lie but not entirely wrong, Rak would probably not let those horses go for a while. If there is a time where he has to travel to the endless mountain range, he’d still not return the horses here because he’d have to store them near whatever village is close to the endless mountain range.

“...”

“I also have a lot of work in the future Url, I may need you to tame more horses for me.”

“Tame more?”

“That’s right. This isn’t set it stone but I’m planning to build a merchant fleet. Though I would be calling it an import export company. But there is no need to go into that.”

Rak noticed Url´s eyes dim with uninterest and decided against enthusiastically propose some his grander ideas despite feeling positively bubbly with excitement. What Rak didn’t notice was Alley’s glimmering eyes when she heard ‘merchant fleet’. While she is no business woman, she can easily relate the word merchant with wealth. It may be that her interest do lie in the financial aspects after all.

“I’ll need bigger land to tame more in the future.”

“I’m not sure I can help with that right now, but I’ll look into it.”

“You can only buy untiered horses.”

Seeing as Url finally relented, Rak felt excited until he realized he may not be able to afford Url’s beast. Even though he had nine gold, eight of them are spoken for. However Rak is worrying for nothing, untiered beasts aren’t valued too highly and Url is no cunning merchant.

“Alright, with these two steeds you should be ready to make your journey to Cal and Often.”

Rak has already stopped wondering about Alley’s motives but seeing her enthusiasm again, he couldn’t help but relight his suspicion. The only reason he doesn’t dwell on it is because of the conscious knowledge that this is a virtual world and perhaps this Alley, that Url and whoever else, have no reason for doing what they do.

In simple terms, Rak is being dismissive of the autonomy of humans in Chaos theory, the humans that he considers not human. This thought will be better left behind in the future or it may cause a tragedy that is hard to recover from.

“You should lead these two down to Town hall.”

“You’re not coming?”

Alley didn’t answer and just leapt back on her companion beast, Ley. after reaching out and scratching her ear she looks back at Rak. Rak, feeling a bit exasperated by the dramatic silence and the whole show, can’t help but roll his eyes.

“I got your scent, I’ll find you later. I got things to do.”

“That’s it?”

Not leaving to hear Rak’s answer, Alley let out a sound and Ley took off in the direction of her house.

“Guess that was it.”

“Take good care of those two boys, they’re still young and a bit unruly but that’s just how these young bucks are.”

Url’s voice seemed to crack with emotion, Rak was so surprised he didn’t take note of anything Url said and just nodded absentmindedly.

“Alright, come by when you need a driver.”

“I will.”

Few minutes passed before Rak finally got knocked out of his reverie. For some reason he felt this odd feeling he has never felt before. Anyone that has ever experienced friendship may understand, or at least the beginning of one.

Growing up as scion of a wealthy family the closest thing Rak ever had as a friend is his siblings and they were and still are nothing if not mean spirited and competitive. Rak’s attachment to Chaos theory, to Alp suddenly changed and he somehow felt at home now. This profound and esoteric feeling manages to compete with his nirvana esque nothingness he felt when training yesterday.

“God damn it, why am I tearing up like this. Am I crying?”

While no tears emerged yet, with wet eyes Rak tries to shake off this sudden burst of emotions. One of two new horses walking with Rak roughly rubs its head on Rak, making him stumble.

“Careful buddy.”

Not willing to be outdone, the other horse awkwardly prods its head on Rak’s left shoulder, making him stumble again.

“Okay I get it guys. Thanks.”

After gathering his thoughts Rak continues to Town hall where he receives his new carriage. Soon Rak is at the edge of town with hesitation in his eyes.

“I don’t have to wait for her right?”

It isn’t insecurities that’s holding Rak back but his genuine want for some companionship.

“Forget it, I can’t wait here forever.”

Thirty some minutes have passed and only now Rak is prepared to head out on his own. The two bucks seem excited at the thought of travelling outside the village border, their eyes flickering at every which thing along the path, their neighs and burst of air signal something new they see.

“At least they’re having fun.”

With a smile on his face, Rak holds onto the reins and enjoys the travel in spite of the slow pace. It is not yet noon but the sun shining and a soothing wind is blowing, this sort of atmosphere can lul a person into enjoying even the silence.

On the way to Cal nothing of mention occured other than the novelty of travelling by himself wearing off. The two young steeds still felt curious at the wind moving nearby grass.

Upon arriving in Cal Rak quickly found the village’s center and with the confidence of experience he smoothly set up a contract to supply them with cheaper and higher quality tier one beer.

While the travelling isn’t the most fun activity Rak has no other business in Cal and so he resumes his travel with his two eagre new companions. Rak’s map indicates a shortcut similar to the one him and Url explored, ending up with them having a little fight with a local Igorra infestation.

The shortcut is a remnant of a bygone era and not in much use. Due to lacking regular traffic, animals are more likely to found near the road, this just makes people less likely to take path. It is because of these reasons that Rak choice is to return back to Alp and from there head to Often.

From a fighter’s perspective this choice to avoid danger is considered a cowards way and even a waste of opportunity. It isn’t in line with Rak to seek out danger and this decision of his reflects that. This is especially apparent considering that Raks experience with Igorra was a success but that clearly hasn’t given him enough confidence.

It’s already late afternoon when Rak’s little unranked carriage strolls back into Alp town.

“I should grab something to eat.”

The frown on Rak’s face is due to Laughter’s medicine. It is the obvious choice right now, but the thought of dealing with Tril’s nonsense is making him a bit hesitant. Maybe it’s the long travel but Rak really doesn’t feel like going into town. Not only is it easy to just slide into the large front area of Laughter’s medicine, but maneuvering around is more difficult within the town, especially considering his current skill level.

“What am I even doing? She’s not that bad is she?”

Taking a breath and emulating the sensation he felt was training, Rak feels his head clear. The two horses arrive in front of the Laughter’s inn, the place is pretty busy but the noon crowd is already filtering out.

“That vagrant is not going to be here is he? And that giant?”

Despite feeling indignant about it, Rak somewhat felt an urge to see that woman again. She was something so new he didn’t know where to place her. Sure, Arlina, Savan and Tril are beautiful and posses some uniqueness but in Rak’s mind they aren’t any sort of abnormality. Even Alley never felt off, strange or out of the ordinary.

It may be because Alley hasn’t shown Rak her immense physical strength that he has managed to reconcile her into his mind without much trouble. That towering woman is like a puzzle piece from an entirely different puzzle.

Rak stepped into the tavern and took in the alcohol infused air. Inside he immediately ordered food and skimmed the crowd for someone familiar.

“How is this a traveller? How long is he going to stay here?”

“Abstinence! You’re alive! Well of course you are but, hey!”

“Alive and well. Aren't you supposed to a traveller? How long as you staying here?”

“Who knows when I can taste tier one beer again? How can I leave before buying up your stock?”

“You can buy as much as you can carry.”

“You better be true to your word.”

“Of course. So hey. Where did that.”

No matter how casual Rak tried to be, it is obvious he’s trying to stay calm. Fortunately his conversation partner is inebriated and focused on different things to notice Rak’s awkward attempt to appear at ease.

“Delil. That tall woman go?”

No matter how casual the question is asked, the inebriated person was going to jab at Rak’s it, making Rak’s efforts futile.

“Oh? You know she was really worried about you, kept stroking your pale cheeks, even tried to resussicated you, but she’s better at killing than healing.”

Bursting into laughter the vagrant traveller Hormby slaps Rak’s back. Not wanting to let out his true thoughts Rak just laughed with him, half to avoid suspicion and half because he did think it was a little funny. The woman made a hundred kilogram barrel look like an empty plastic cup.

“Alright, alright. Don’t be sad, she said she’ll be back in a few weeks. She told me to tell you she’s sorry for letting you die.”

“Ah. I see.”

After some rather ramblings Rak’s food arrived by one of the waitresses that works the day shift.

“How did you like my map? Pretty good, right? Ten cities. Twenty eight villages, twenty two towns.”

“I’m still going through it, it really is impressive.”

The map detailed some odd things but the normal things are still there. Rak may not be preparing to travel to multiple cities and whatnot, getting a good idea of what the world is like can be invaluable.

“You know, this is the first I’ve been in a town with a brewery, but this isn’t my first time tasting tier one beer. In fact I keep a bottle of tier two drink called Cavalier’s vision. It’s a one off batch made by a genius brewer, sadly he hadn’t made a recipe so for now it’s a unique piece of wine.”

“That right?”

No matter how much Rak tried to get into the conversation he felt he didn’t have much to talk about. He tried bringing up some of his interests in making new businesses but Hormby always managed to turn the subject to drinking.

“I should get going.”

After repeatedly saying his goodbyes, Rak eventually gave up and just stood up, left the tavern and ignoring Hormby’s continued chattering.

“Unless you´re going to join to Often, this is where we have to leave it.”

“Often, hmm?”

An unsettling feeling has begun to form within Rak.

“I guess I could check out this Often place, though I don’t like the small time village centres, they can be okey.”

“No! Forget it. I’m going alone, you stay here and wait for Tril to serve tier one beer.”

“She has tier one beer?”

“Ye, I sold all the taverns and local villages tier one beer already, Often is my last stop for now.”

With eyes shining like a full moon it was no Hormby’s time to ignore Rak as he flashed back into the tavern with a new mission.

“How in the world does this person make money?”

In a boring fashion Rak made his way to Often and back, arriving late in the evening. The travel time isn’t half bad but most majority of the day has gone into nothing but travelling. Rak got numerous messages in his logs telling him he got increased skill efficiency as a carriage driver and tiny bits of experience towards level eleven.

“Why did I expected Alley to appear at one point? Isn’t she training me?”

Fiddling with his right index finger Rak stares his two horses eating and resting outside his small house. There isn’t much room for horses but this being a village, the houses are built sparsely with decent space between them.

“Do I have to go look for her myself? I could also take a break for a while, I am sort of exhausted.”

Rak’s actions contradict his thoughts as he is already getting the horses ready for another trip, this time to Alley. Olric is already working on making more beer but Rak already increased the production again, overproducing by about thirty percent, in case any surprises pop up and one of the taverns need theirs delivered prematurely. With that, he has little to do.

“Should I visit a city soon?”

A city will have more busineses and more demands than towns or villages. The busineses there should give Rak some ideas of how to expand in the future. There is also the mission of gathering a bigger map, with the hope of finding the city his family might have spawned near.

“It was Vik, Underfell, Konvar, Housing, Dellkast and Jung. Those are the cities mom, dad, Hart, Jiji, Loje, Irel and Varri are near.”

These are the cities his family know about, or more acurattely, knew about two weeks ago. At that time, Rak had also known that Hampter was one of the two nearby cities. Now he has the names of eleven cities. Hampter and Trove he gatheres on his own, and the other nine he got from the traveller Hormby’s map.

“I should also return home and send this to dad, he’ll definitly praise me.”

Being the youngest of five siblings, Rak has always been doted on but he is also in a position where his achievements are shadowed by his elder siblings. No matter what Rak achieves, one of his brothers or sisters have already done the same and probably did it better and at a younger age. These feels are buried deep beneath the surface and rarely show themselves, but this time around Rak believes he has something of worth.

“I should still go see Alley and stop by Url’s and set up a delivery contract. It’s a shame Olric isn’t any good at managing.”

It might not seem like a hard job, but if Rak let Olric handle things too many things can go wrong. Letting him focus on brewing not only lets him produce faster it gives him more time to experiment on his own.

Rak hopes that Olric discovers a new tier one recipe, giving him another product to sell. Even if it would take longer to make, be more expensive and be more prone to failure it is still considered a worthwhile endeavor.

On the way to Alley Rak decided to got Url instead and finalize the delivery contract and it is near midnight when Rak is arriving at Alley’s private house. As his carriage makes its way down the private road Rak can’t help but take notice of how large Alley’s land is compared to his little ‘hovel’.

“The treatment is too different.”

Comming to a full stop suddenly Rak feels a bit awkward, what is he doing here? Should’nt he be at his house sleeping? Shouldn’t he go leave a report for his dad about his map? All these things swirl in his head but that doesn’t stop him from getting off the carriage, tying the horses and knocking on Alley´s door.

“Is it because I want become a hunter?”

One thing Rak is sure of, is that he isn’t infatuated by Alley so this compulsion to come here isn’t him lusting after the woman, no matter how curveous and beautiful Alley is.

“Maybe I want to become stronger?”

In the past days Rak’s horizons have been expanded a great deal. From Delil and Hormby’s strength to Alley’s miracolous concealment ability, Rak seems to have sparked a flame of curiosity. While Rak hasn’t reconglized this new feeling with himself, he has certainly acknowledged its existence.

“Why are you here this late?”

“To train?”

“Its almost midnight, what training are you thinking of? It can’t be you...”

Feeling a heat fiercly flow through him, Rak understood he was embarassed. He was embarassed because he was clearly out of place. He wasn’t embarassed because of Alley’s very obvious teasing or the thought of them tangling togther as it is something he is really not unaccustomed to.

“Damnit. I should have just come in the morning.”

“Okay okay don’t stand there like a fool, come inside.”

Alley is dressed in very light clothing but no matter how Rak tries he can’t see through those thin looking fabrics, instead everything seems to become increasingly blurry.

“If your going to train then train.”

Throwing away his thoughts Rak walks in the direction Alley is pointed and sits down and summons the bow from his inventory. In attempt to rid himself of embarssement he tires to immerse himself but all thoughts lead back to that moment of him standing outside Alley’s door like and uninvited cat.

“I guess I’ll go get something to drink.”

While Rak struggled with his embarassemtn, Alley faces her own problems. Never has she hosted a person before so she has now ended up standing in her kitchen staring at empty shelves.

“Why did that brat come in so late? I wasn’t expecting him until tomorrow. Is it okay to just bring out water? I do have this bear’s blood but he hasn’t gotten his tier one job yet.”

As the night continues Rak is eventually presented with a cup of bear’s blood and a rather anoyed Alley.

“Are you intending to stay the night?”

“I was going to train like I did yesterday.”

Another bout of silence and Rak finally grabbed the cup, the red color makes Rak assume it is a wine. Not expecting wine he’s slightly surprised but has a small sip anyway. The lukewarm drink is viscous but has a delightful taste.

“This is amazing, what is it?”

“Bear’s blood.”

“Huh.”

“What sort of person serves people blood? Well it is amazing.”

No matter how Rak racks his brain, he can’t think of a better tasting drink. THis is coming from a scion of a wealthy family, his access to lavish cuisine is great and yet this cup of bear’s blood has stumped him.

Just as Rak is about to continue praising the drink he feels a surge of energy course through him.

“Activate |Steady hand| to use the energy.”

Bear’s blood is something like coffee to Alley, but to a untiered person like Rak whose body hasn’t been developed, its a rage of energy that needs venting.

“If that isn ‘t enough just pull back the bow for longer.”

Alley isn’t too sure how effective the bear’s blood is but her senses are telling her that it wouldn’t be good to give him more than just a few drops at a time.

It is called bear’s blood and not the blood of a bear because it is something Alley has refined herself and not something just extracted from an exotic bear. Although one of the main components is the blood of a particular bear crreature, it is not the ‘active’ ingredient.

Every time Rak comes out of |Steady hands| calming ability, he still feels energetic. Everytime he feels his breathing getting too ragged he takes another sip and resumes his training. This sort of training is consuming everything at a faster rate and in less than an hour Rak has nearly depleted both the cup of Bear’s blood and his fatigue.

“Why am I already so tired?”

As Rak´s fatigue falls below ten percent he can feel the very obvious exhaustion that follows. Just like reaching over fifty percent fatigue grants a person a ‘rested’ feeling falling below ten percent causes ‘exhausted’ feeling. Both are hidden effects but are still public knowledge.

“Looks like you’ll be renting my bed again. I hope you made some deals today, hotel Alley isn’t cheap.”

Even though Rak was feeling exhausted he still find the energy to dramatically roll his eyes and give Alley a disdainful look. This causes Alley laugh with glee and she pours herself another cup of Bear’s blood.

“I didn’t expected my Bear’s blood to be this effective. Maybe I should have it appraised.”

“I’ll buy all you got for thirty silver coins.”

“Thirty?”

Looking into the air, Alley is making calculations but realizes she doesn't know the market value of anything she used to craft this Bear’s blood. Ninety percent of the things she creates are from materials she gathers herself and can be considered done at random. Similar to Olrics attempt to brewing new beverages it isn’t a recipe yet.

“Forget it, treat it as a part of the maintenance cost.”

“Alright.”

Not willing to spare more effort on speaking, Rak continues training. He hasn’t managed to enter that profound state again. When Rak finally collapses, Alley sits there staring at Rak and slowly drinks her Bear’s blood. The drink doesn’t have much effect on her and she just drinks it for the taste.

“He should be ready mentally for a tier one job. His physique is a bit lacking but that can’t be helped in such a short time. He should spend a week training archery, if he meets the mark I’ll take him to get the hunter promotion quest.”

After emptying her cup Alley carries Rak to her bed. Even though she can stay away for days at a time, and has done so on many occasion on one of her hunts, she still decides to lay down next to Rak to sleep.

Earlier in the evening she was feeling bit off put by Rak´sudden appearance. This has mostly to do with her being used to being alone. Unable to sort out her thoughts Alley chooses to sleep, leaving behind a very harmonious sight.