The pair made their way out of Krooth without issue as they blended in seamlessly with the usual townsfolk. To many, Shane and Alabaster looked like another human civilian and their hybrid overseer.

The shadows from the road's trees slowly faded as the skies above turned cloudy with potential rains. It was the afternoon now. The sun was beginning its descent behind the clouds into an imaginary space beyond the world's endless generation. This was not the first time he briefly committed to the idea of one day exploring that space beyond physical reality—if that was even possible.

Shane's cloak was good at repelling water but not as good as the physical barrier Alabaster erected above himself when the rain did begin falling. Shane annoyingly found himself on the receiving end of the barrier's liquid runoff as the shining golden wall pushed the rain off its curved edges. He crossed the road with a grumble and enjoyed the sound of the falling rain as the winds hastily flowed through his tunic and cloak.

"The weather seems to be picking up, Alabaster! Let's increase our pace to my dwelling!"

Shane wondered if Alabaster could hear from within his all-encompassing barrier. Moments later, the vampire gave Shane a quick nod—his curiosity was quickly answered. He nodded to Alabaster, and they both began to run as the rain came down in heavy torrents.

A hint of thunder echoed across the now storming landscape.

By the time Shane and Alabaster made it to the cozy, wooden cabin, their protection against the rain had long since stopped. Thankfully, as soon as they stepped inside, the pair were met with delicious smells and a roaring fireplace.

"Shane, you're back! Alabaster too! It's so great to see both of you. I'm assuming you both met up in or near Krooth?" Liz greeted them with an almost aggressive sweetness.

After spending the morning getting chewed out by an old bitter hybrid shopkeeper, her attitude was a palate cleanser. Shane and Alabaster took turns describing what they went through while in Krooth. Liz listened in silent awe, saving her reactions until the end of the pair's recollections. When they finished weaving their daring tale with only a few exaggerations for flavor, Liz floated up to Alabaster in her usual bubbly, bouncy way.

"Thank you for watching out for him," she said as she rested her faceplate against his silky attire. "I'm relieved and glad to see you have fully recovered, to boot!"

She backed away from Alabaster and shook herself slightly to get the rainwater off her reflective metallic shell.

"You two look like drowned ratlings. Get yourselves dried off by the fire, and Humphrey will serve you some delicious food!" Liz told the two of them.

"Thank you, but I prefer blood for my meals," remarked Alabaster nonchalantly.

"Ratlings?!" Questioned a perplexed Shane, as that particular creature was on a list of many he hadn't yet experienced.

Not long after Shane got situated, Alabaster excused himself to leave for an afternoon snack while the sun was still up. Shane excitedly ate Humphrey's cooking, this time taking the form of gamey, fried meat on a bone with steamed rice and vegetables.

The slightly off taste didn't match well with its enticing smell. The system told Shane it was technically the lowest quality level of a meal, yet he still found his mood raised slightly from the game's food mechanic. Humphrey tiredly explained that his current steward rank made it less likely to procure higher-quality food. The obvious solution was to raise the steward's rank within the dwelling interface tied to the rock structure in the living room.

How much that would cost him when there were defensive upgrades he wanted to buy was the actual issue. While digesting, Shane made his way to the rock structure that doubled as his dwelling's [dwelling system interface].

-Dwelling Menu-

[Stations]

[Fix]

[Buy Station]

[Sell Station]

Each option opened another window for Shane to explore. He picked the [Stations] menu first.

-Stations Menu-

Currency Exchanger: Rank Bronze

Dwelling Steward: Rank Bronze

Shane explored the [Currency Converter] station. Since many dwelling upgrades and advancements seemed to cost only gold, he felt this station would be handy—especially at higher ranks. He converted roughly half of his bronze and silver coins to gold.

-Currency Exchange-

Current Tax Rate: 25%

Bronze Coins Exchanged: 300

Silver Coins Exchanged: 90

Gold Coins Gained: 9

Shane observed his total currency, feeling pleased with the conversion—even with the outlandish tax. He was sure the tax would decrease as he upgraded the station itself.

-Currency-

Bronze Coins: 352

Silver Coins: 90

Gold Coins: 22

With his inventory screen's wallet feeling a little heavier in his mind, Shane decided to explore the defensive options for his dwelling. All the options listed were [Wooden Rank]. A quick question towards Liz confirmed that any upgrades he bought were tied to his dwelling's current rank. He also learned upgrading his dwelling's status beyond [wooden] would require the [Advancement Station].

Wooden Rank Dwelling Defenses:

1x Illusion Torch - 3 Gold 1x Mechanical Defender - 5 Gold 1x Automated Crossbow Turrets - 8 Gold 1x Patrolling Bronze Overseer - 20 Gold 1x Charismatic Persuasive NPC - 40 Gold 1x Patrolling Silver Overseer - 100 Gold 1x Patrolling Gold Overseer - 250 Gold

Damn, some of those are stupidly expensive! For the price, that gold overseer better protect dwellings from people like that armored lion hybrid that killed me, he mentally remarked. The sensation of being literally thrown into space still occasionally haunted him.

Shane ultimately picked the [Mechanical Defender] as his dwelling's first defensive structure. It was cheap enough by itself and seemed like a better idea than just a couple illusion torches. He could also augment it with other defenses over time as his gold increased from adventuring.

After buying the defender, there was an other-worldly noise outside. It sounded like something was magically summoned—like Sharlot's teleportation to him. Sure enough, out of the front door was an almost robotic-looking guard. It was closer to that of a wooden mannequin with movable joints—one a foot taller than Shane but with a flexible yet solid frame underneath.

The rain hadn't ceased in the couple of hours since Shane and Alabaster arrived. Shane worried the elements would inhibit his wooden defender. Observing closer revealed the harsh rains that fell from his wooden form without resistance. Defender's wooden body was somehow negating water itself. That is actually pretty damn cool! I wonder if all outside defensive measures have this kind of weather immunity? Shane thought.

Luckily, the wooden guard itself came equipped with a couple pieces of gear. Its dexterous-looking hands wielded a battered iron sword and equally rough iron shield. The thing certainly looked like a defender definition-wise. Unfortunately, it lacked any armor to cover its mechanical wooden body.

Shane was hoping for a little more, given this thing cost him five gold. He briefly wondered if Alabaster could easily destroy it. Understandably, his fanged friend was on a journey for food. So Shane begrudgingly decided to test the defender on some of his summons. The defender's creepy wooden head that completely lacked facial features made the decision a little easier.

Shane raised a hand and felt the mana leave his body as he summoned his ever-faithful skeletal Warriors. To properly gauge the strength of this Defender, he first commanded Tank, who was similarly armed, to attack his home. As the skeletal summon rushed to slam Shane's dwelling's front door, the wooden Defender reacted with surprising speed. Tank's sword collided with the Defenders iron shield.

The sound of metal on iron made Shane's teeth quake within his skull. As quickly as it had moved before, the defender bounced the skeleton Warriors sword off its shield with surprising Force, sending Tank more than a meter in the direction it came.

"Alright, Defender. Let's see how you handle a more aggravated assault! Tank! Attack Defender directly!"

Tank seemed to hear Shane's command and rushed the dwelling's wooden protector. Defender braced for the attack and launched itself forward to meet Tank's iron sword with its own. Their weapons repeatedly clashed as neither could get the upper hand on the other. At one point, they even tried to shield-bash each other simultaneously—creating a shockwave the falling rain couldn't pass. The rain drops near them remained frozen mid-air for a split second, only resuming after the shock wave dissipated.

To Shane, it looked like Defender and Tank used the same AI attack and defense routines. So to see how Tank stacked up to Defender statistically, Shane told Defender to take Tank's attack head-on. Shane's skeleton minion delivered a significant slash across Defender's midsection—leaving a long gash. A health bar appeared above it, revealing a loss of around ten percent of HP.

Oh wow! This dwelling guard might have higher HP than even me! Shane mused. The decision to outfit his dwelling with defenses seemed to be paying off. Especially if all defensive measures on offer had this kind of durability.

Shane then ordered the reverse, and Defender delivered a similar slash to Tank's midsection, slicing through several ribs. The health bar above Tank revealed that it lost around half its total HP.

Shane mentally noted that they both have the same attacks, but Defender has much more health.

"Time for the final test," he muttered to himself.

Shane tentatively reached into his hood and carefully pulled out a small sleeping Sharlot. She was making small snoring noises in the palm of his hand. Okay, that's ridiculously adorable, he almost said out loud but stopped himself.

He didn't blame her for sleeping the whole day away. After all, she must have gone quite a bit during the week he had been gone.

However, the final test was at hand. Shane whispered to the tiny sleeping arachnid, "it's time to wake up, Sharlot."