The next two days would have some interesting training for meshing the abilities of his team together, but that wasn’t why Myles was nervous today. With Squishy still acting as he legs, he paced around the room nervously as he glanced out the window.

Today was his first, and possibly last, date with Kendra.

“I do not understand why you are so nervous about this,” Ashra said from the corner of the room where she stood with her back against the wall. “It is the natural progression of your relationship.”

Myles stopped pacing and looked at her. “Sure. Natural. It isn’t like if I make a mistake it could ruin everything we’ve built over the past few weeks as a team.”

Ashra simply shrugged. “If she does not accept you for you, her interest will have been misplaced from the start. She will eventually see she was attracted to the idea you represented rather than the you that exists. The end of courting at that point will be mutual and amicable.”

“Is that how it works for your kind?”

Ashra hesitated for a moment. “It… mostly ends like this, yes.”

“And when it doesn’t?”

There was another noticeable pause as Ashra suddenly found something behind Myles fascinating.

“Ashra?” Myles asked incredulously. “What happens when it doesn’t?”

“One family is usually culled under the strength of the other as defense or as retribution for the slight.”

Myles groaned.

“She is a human. I am sure it will not end that way,” she added confidently. “Will would not let it go that far either way.”

Yes, he wouldn’t let it get that far.

Sure.

Myles sighed all the same as he started pacing again and focused on something else. He had more than enough money for the night even with the inflated prices the new wealth from Shardking brought. He had a plan. He had a fresh set of turnovers for them to snack on as they walked. He even had an umbrella if they had the first rain of the Run. Everything was accounted for.

“Silpha says your stress is bothering her and to stop pacing.”

That got his attention focused. “She still won’t talk to me directly, but she can tell me to stop stressing.”

There was a slight pause before. “Yes.”

It’d been a few days now, and he was starting to worry about why she wouldn’t talk to him. If she was able to comment on simple things like this, why not do it directly? In the end, it didn’t really matter. He’d told Ashra he’d respect her request for privacy. Though he’d have to deposit Nod soon. He got the impression that the astral denizen didn’t experience stasis as Ashra did, and with his newly heightened attributes, he felt Nod’s discomfort all the more sharply.

Keeping his mind back on task, he went down his list and went back from his room and into the bathroom to check on his newest clear slime.

“Hello, Paragon,” Myles said, speaking to the small clear slime nesting with the other larger members of the Supply Team.

As he had since his birth yesterday evening, Paragon was alert, chipper, and purring like a cat for some reason.

Name: Paragon

Age: Stage 1

Sex: None

Race: Slime (Clear)

Patron: none

Primary Class:

Slime- Novice

Brawn: 1

Dexterity: 2

Will: 2

Influence: 2

Soul Energy: 20/20

Mana: 0/0

Elemental Alignment: None

Skills:

Lesser Purification

Traits:

Adaptability

Slime Regeneration

Core Soul

Soul Link: (Myles Chase)

Myles had high hopes for Paragon hence the name. There would only be two results for what happened with his elixir experiment. Either Paragon would become a proper elixir slime if such a thing existed, or he’d have an extremely toxic weapon he could combine with Squishy to launch at his enemies.

Either way, Paragon was going to do wonderful, if not destructive and deadly, things. As he fed the others their usual foods and harvested Doughnut for more materials, he carefully measured out a fifty-fifty blend of the highest-grade healing and mana potions he could afford.

Paragon purred again, wiggling out from the nest to take its food while the others simply gurgled their appreciation.

With that and all of ten minutes spent with his mind on something else, a knock rang from his door, and his nerves were alight once more. Stress boiled over as his attention snapped back to Kendra.

You’ve fought monsters, fallen into traps, raised monsters… you’ve fought Shardking for Pantheon’s sake. You can go on a date with a girl you like, Myles.

“I agree.”

He shot Ashra one last look, took a deep breath, and opened the door. As he took in his date with her now shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair, her shirt and pants cut in all the right places to draw attention, and the pendant he’d given her the first day of the Run that accented it all, Myles realized he was in over his head.

Kendra smirked, somewhat enjoying the doe-eyed look of his stunned form. “You… see something you like.”

Ashra prodded the back of his mind gently, easing him into speaking and not making a fool of himself. “I see that I’m underdressed.”

Kendra waved it off. “No, you just weren’t ready,” she smirked.

Obviously not.

When he didn’t answer, she pursed her lips and blew a strand of hair from her eyes. After two or three more attempts, she just took her hand, put it back into line, and sighed. “Will said it’d be a better idea not to come in armor and that a dress might be too much. It’s fine, right?”

Myles nodded. “I just didn’t realize you…”

“If you say that I could look like a woman, I will punch you and consider this a flop.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he defended, having fully intended to say something along those lines. “I was going to say that I didn’t realize you brought that sort of clothing with you.”

She shrugged, letting herself lean against the frame. “I didn’t. It came in my donor boxes. Vanessa’s Armory sent all sorts of stuff. I’ve got a full fall and winter line in my inventory now. Mists, I’ve even got one of those fancy, aether wardrobes.”

“With the automatic tailoring?” She nodded, and Myles whistled. Even a [Baker] knew about the wardrobes that the upper class owned. Though their Inventories made it more or less pointless, having a wardrobe that could clean, repair, and re-purpose old and damaged clothing was impressive. “Why didn’t you show that off?”

Kendra scoffed. “What will get more support, a wardrobe or a bra?”

Myles was smart enough to know not to answer that. Sensing that, Kendra attacked like a shark smelling blood. “What? Do you think a wardrobe would get more attention than the girls?”

Heat rose in his cheeks as Kendra eyed him like a tiger playing with a mouse before he cracked. “Not in the least.”

Holding her arm out, she grinned. “Good answer. Now come on, you said you had a day planned.”

***

Arm in arm, the pair walked through Runner’s Plaza until they reached the Runner’s Sojourn. The building was like a sore thumb in the best way compared to the sandy-colored buildings. Made of dark wood and lapis blue shutters, it couldn’t be more different than the almost castle-like structure of the keep on the other side of town. The smells of stew and hops were thick in the air as they pushed past the swinging doors and reached his nose. Once again, Myles had to suppress his Taste Test Skill. Today wasn’t about being a Runner.

The large, Felkin bartender Dune took one look at them as they walked in and smiled. In a voice far outperforming his form, the feline roared like a king of beasts across the bar. “Next round is on the Kinkeepers for the Slayers of Shardking!”

Kendra grinned.

The crowds cheered merrily.

Myles just looked around the room in awe. They’d all helped. They didn’t deserve this sort of attention in his eyes, but he didn’t have a say in it.

“And another from Felfolk!”

And the drinks continued to flow.

“And Storm Riders!”

It continued like this until the seven teams present showed their thanks to the pair that had not such a small hand in their survival. Myles grinned. Two could play at that game. Doing some quick math, Myles estimated the price of drinks, pulled out a smattering of silver coins, and followed suit. He wouldn’t be outdone by the people he felt just as entitled to as they felt to him. His father taught him better than that.

“And one from Rising Star for the Runners that enabled us!”

A cheer roared throughout the tavern once more, and the alcohol and juice began to flow.

As the various drinks were called out and two more barkeeps appeared, Myles realize the folly in his plan as Kendra’s eyes lit up.

“Mead!” she ordered.

“Cider,” Myles added as their turns came.

As they took their seats, their drinks, a bowl of stew, and a chunk of warm bread found them with the compliments of Dune and the rest of the Kinkeepers. If there was one thing he was learning about Felkin, they didn’t like to be outdone.

Thankfully, they were mostly left alone once their order came and people caught onto their intent of the evening. The drinks flowed, the food bubbled and sang from its place in the fireplace, and a [Bard] began a high-tempo song as the two sat alone in their booth.

Their conversations were small ones to start. Things the two of them had already hinted at, but never discussed more deeply than the group had.

Kendra talked about her Tinker’s Dabble Trait and how it held over from her previous class. She’d hoped at some point to relearn parts of her old class and incorporate it into being a [Berserker]. Myles listened curiously, wanting to help as he could, but the mechanics of what she wanted were far above him.

Myles spoke of his family. Well, he spoke about his father mostly. He remembered more than enough about his mother, but speaking about her didn’t feel right yet. Then again, it never did. He spoke about what it was like working in the family bakery, the royal quarters, cooking for the king and queen, and how the Bakery close during the Nights of Remembrance so they could focus on cooking for themselves for a change.

She was as good a listener as he deserved, and the conversation drifted into other things. Music preference being one of them.

“Really?” Myles asked after his second mug of cider. “You like The Skilled Facets?”

Kendra gave him a look. “And why wouldn’t I? They can carry a beat and use real instruments.”

“I wouldn’t count magic items as real instruments.”

She scoffed. “Do you know anything about crystal resonance and projection? Acoustics?" When he looked like a knife deer faced with a will-o-wisp, Kendra scoffed again. “No, I didn’t think so. Magic items and magic weapons are two totally different things. If I want to hear reverb enough to break my ears, I’d go to a Banshee’s Wail concert.”

It was Myles’s turn to be affronted. “At least they use real instruments!”

“They’re posers!”

“Says the woman listening to auto-tuned music.”

“The Facets don’t use auto-tune. Their instruments are made to keep a better time with one another with aether links and timed sound resonances. They aren’t [Diva]s.” She defended. “Besides, why should I believe anything about music from a man that prefers an obviously flawed medium? Next, you’re going to tell me you don’t own recording crystals.”

“I don’t,” Myles replied, sipping his third cider. The potent, crisp taste loosened his tongue just a bit more. “I prefer copper disks. They have a better sound and don’t need magic to play.”

“How is it any different? They inscribe them using magic.”

“But magic doesn’t interfere with it when it plays. The metal holds the sound and acoustics much better for real instruments. It’s like I’m there listening.”

Kendra opened her mouth to counter, but there was nothing spiteful in her tone. She was smiling wide and completely unable to keep it from her face as they sparred over media. “We’ll just have to compare.” Looking to the sky, she laughed. “Hey, sponsors. Send us a crystal recording and a copper disk set of the Skilled Facets’ library.”

Myles groaned. “Can’t we get someone better?”

“Like who? Banshee’s Wail?”

Myles grinned. “Exactly!”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because they suck.”

“They do not!”

“Says the person suffering from near-terminal bad taste.”

Myles groaned. “Fine. We could always agree to disagree though. How about we go with King’s Guard?”

Her brow perked at the name. “King’s Guard?”

“King’s Guard,” Myles confirmed. “You can’t say that Mother of Invention, Towers of Sound, and Born from Caution aren’t classics. They literally redefined the genre. My dad even likes their music.”

There was a flash of annoyance on her face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. Kendra’s smile grew all the larger as she said, “Fine, I can agree to the classics.” With that, Kendra looked back up to the sky. “Scratch that. Send us King’s Guard.”

“Unscratched, please,” Myles laughed, as some of his sense left him as cider warred with the stew in his stomach for dominance. “The complete collection, please.”

Of course, no one answered them, and the two broke into buzzed laughter and their alcohol took a deeper hold.

“I never used to be able to drink so much,” Kendra said after a few moments. “That Brawn attribute really helps things.”

Myles nodded. “Never a big drinker. Had some things on special occasions, but I never had the time to spare.”

Kendra nodded, ready to add something more when the doors to the bar slammed open and another of the Kinkeepers arrived in an obvious panic.

“The lake’s region guardian is up! All hands on deck! Sindra’s orders!”