“Ugh, why though?” Ben moaned as the notifications woke him up. He knew both were useful, defense enhancement especially, the issue was just that it happened outside of Stonewall, meaning he didn’t have the resources to make a new ring.

I know I know, I’m happy. It’s just another thing to do now is all. He thought to his god as he slipped it off and put it in his pocket before getting up for the day. It was still early so he got up and began preparing breakfast for everyone from the ingredients Falk bought after finding the place. Unfortunately, he could only get a two-room on such short notice, leaving Ben to sleep in the living room, but it was more comfortable than a tent so he wasn’t going to complain and focused on cooking while waiting for them to wake up.

Slowly but surely the smells wafting through the place began to rouse them as both made their way to the kitchen. Falk was first, letting Ben get to see a new side of his teacher as he came out of his room, snow-white fur a mess as he sniffed at the air and took a seat at the table to wait with Thera coming not long after.

“Gotta say boy, it’s smelling nice.”

“Of course it does, I made it. Anyway, dig in,” He told them as he handed over plates and watched them happily eat as he picked away at his own.

“Infinite hells, this is good. So you and Sonya get to eat like this all the time, huh? Maybe I shoulda offered the boy my spare room when I had the chance,” He said with a laugh as his niece rebuked him.

“If aunty Sonya hears you talk like that she’s going to get jealous you know uncle.”

“Ha don’t be like that, Sonya’s cooking is always gonna be my favourite. It’s got memories behind it after all.”

“Then maybe you should put that same offer out to her,” She said quietly, drawing a glance from Falk before he went back to focusing on his meal. It was funny to think that in all the time he’d been in Stonewall, his teacher had barely gotten to taste any of his food, but any time he came over to share a meal with everyone Sonya insisted on doing the cooking. While both he and Thera were aware of her aunt's attraction to the yeti, he couldn’t say for sure just how aware of it Falk was.

On a scale of one to ten, how rude would it be to try and probe a little here do you think?

Ugh, point taken.

“So what are you both up to today then?” Falk asked, changing the subject. “We should have a bit of time before things get serious still, going to see any of the sights?”

“Meeting up with the rest of our team,” Thera said. “We want to practice together a bit, maybe discuss how we all fight and determine our strategy. Should be fun.”

“Mmh, well just remember to follow Ceselee’s orders when you’re out there. Things can get hectic in the heat of it so try and keep a cool head if you can.”

“Ah, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Ben told him with a laugh. “Got you to protect us, right?”

And I’ll finally get a chance to see how you put your skills in action.

It was probably what he was most excited for. His teacher had always hidden away his skills from him, but in a situation like this he couldn’t hold back, at least not without risking the safety of those around him. It was the perfect opportunity to learn a little more about what the yeti had available and was probably the only thing that made going worthwhile. He managed to enjoy the fact for the few seconds it took for Falk to open his mouth and crush his hopes.

“Ceselee’s actually asked me to stick to the town to try and fight off anything that gets too close here, the rest of you will be off fighting while trying to lure them farther away.”

“What? Man this is a ripoff!”

“Ha, you’re not getting any more hints to my card than what you already know boy, I enjoy my privacy too much. Anyway, don’t keep your team waiting. Off with you both already,” He told them with a wave of his hand as they finished off eating, leaving Thera to drag off the dejected Ben to their agreed meeting place.

“Gotta say, we were shocked when Ceselee came to warn us about somebody already causing trouble,” Uzi said with a laugh. “We’ll keep an eye out for you so don’t worry about it too much, okay?”

As the rest of her team gave their nods Thera gave them a polite bow. “Thanks. Hopefully it’s not going to be an issue, but it’s nice to have the help.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it too much,” Zite told her with cheer. “Anyway, we were thinking about how best to practice. There’s nothing really in the area to hunt, but sparing could be a little too dangerous, especially since we want to be in top shape so we were hoping to just discuss battle formations if that sounds good to you both?”

Ben and Thera both agreed easily enough and found themselves seats. Since they agreed to meet at the guild they were lucky there was space, especially given the crowds that would be coming in the next few days, but as things currently were there were plenty who were having their own meetings out in the camp areas or the town’s training grounds.

“Well first off, I usually take charge of things for our group, but since me and Nobu are frontline fighters in a situation like this Zite would typically take over. Of course, there won’t be many orders that can be given when things are going to be so hectic and Ceselee ultimately has control above all of us, but if it comes to it is that acceptable to you both?” Uzi asked them.

“Works for me.”

“Yeah, neither Ben nor I take much of a leadership role while working together so it’s fine, it’s reassuring to have someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Excellent. In that case, the way we usually set up is basically what you’d expect, I and Nobu covering the front up close and personal while Eg and Zite provide support from the back. Thera, you should be able to slot into that role with them nicely since you’ll be able to provide fire while at the same time directing your healing to us, but as for Ben… well, where do you personally think you’d be able to serve best?”

“Back at home, hammering some metal in Stonewall. Worst to worst I kind of have a ranged attack I can use,” He explained, thinking of the gun he packed but not feeling much hope. “Since the targets are supposed to be big I probably won’t miss either, but I doubt it would be able to inflict much damage so you really can’t rely on me for much during this. Sorry.”

“Ah, don’t worry,” She told him with a shrug. “I basically expected this anyway. If you stay in the back with them and help where you can then that’s great, but otherwise don’t worry too much. There should be lots of people around so you could always fill the role of helping other teams evacuate their wounded if you think you’re up for it.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” He told her, relieved that not much was expected of him. If he couldn’t do anything useful then he would have much rather just not gotten involved at all, but as things were the role offered worked fine for him, and there would still be a few days to figure things out if he needed to.

“ALL ADVENTURERS TO THE BEACH, THE LEVIATHANS HAVE ARRIVED!” A man screamed as he kicked open the guild door bearing news nobody wanted.

…Fuck