As soon as Rortenferry left, Vee slowly made his way back up the stairs to the office, his mind churning with every step. How could his fiends not be fiends? What else could they be? He didn’t know, and the fact that his old teacher didn’t either was as strange as it was interesting. Biting his lip, Vee tried to think of other times he’d heard of such a thing, but nothing really came to mind.

Alforde and Reginald were still inside when the [Dungeon Master] pushed open the door and stepped inside. The armorsoul looked up from his book, which had far fewer pages left to read than it did when Vee left, and Reginald shifted on the desk. The hat cocked an eye.

“Everything okay, Boss? You look kind of…lost. What’d Rortenferry want to talk to you about?”

Vee gave them both the abridged version, and while Alforde simply shrugged at the possibility of mistaken spiritual identity, Reginald seemed far more interested.

“Must be pretty obscure if the old guy doesn’t know what they are,” the hat said as Vee picked him up and put him on to leave. “He seems to have a good handle on just about everything spirit-related.”

“Yeah, it seems that way,” Vee said. “He mentioned wanting to do some more experiments, so hopefully he’ll figure something else out soon. We should probably head back though, it’s getting late.”

Carefully marking his page, Alforde stood up, closing his eyes ever so slightly as he picked up Slammy and followed the [Dungeon Master] out the door.

It was a cool night, and the blue-gray clouds up above their heads hinted at further snowfall. Vee frowned up at the sky as they walked. He was growing tired of winter, and was eager for spring to come.

After stopping and grabbing dinner – which was a slightly bland and overcooked meat pie served with potatoes on the side – Vee and his friends returned to the boarding house. There was a large stack of boxes waiting for them across the street, and Sculla gave the trio a significant glance as she smoked her pipe from the stairs.

“You’re back later than usual,” she said. “There were more boxes out here earlier, but a few of the other boarders took some in already. Now, before you get hauling, I want you to know that these aren’t going downstairs like they normally do.”

“Where are we taking them instead?” Alforde asked.

“There’s a big open room down the hall on the first floor, which is going to eventually be remodeled into a proper recreation room once spring comes around. These are all going there.”

Vee lifted an eyebrow.

“Remodeling?”

Sculla smiled as she took a drag from her pipe, and the Expectation tightened around Vee’s shoulders as the ogre’s eyes met his.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time coming,” she said. “I’ve wanted to fix up some of the common spaces around here for a while, but it always got pushed back when other things came. Now seems like as good a time as any to start tackling old projects, since I have a feeling that there’s going to be more people coming through in a few months.”

She smiled, and Vee felt the air get slightly warmer as her pipe flared in the night. Despite that, he shivered.

“Now go ahead and get to it,” she said. “I’m sure you all are tired and have an early morning tomorrow.”

Grumbling, Vee followed Alforde to the first set of boxes and picked up the lightest one that he could find. To his surprise, lifting it didn’t hurt his fingers and arms the way it usually did. He smiled slightly. Maybe he was finally getting a bit stronger.

Setting Slammy down next to Sculla and getting the ogre’s assurance that she’d make sure nothing happened to the hammer, Alforde picked up a stack of boxes and headed inside. Gritting his teeth, Vee followed him.

A few of their fellow boarders were lounging around the hallway, and Vee exchanged pleasant greetings with them as they walked by, though his breath was starting to grow ragged from the effort carrying the box took. Still, he refused to set his burden down and take a break.

“Well don’t they all seem happy? I wonder how many boxes they had to carry in,” Reginald muttered as they walked into the big, empty room Sculla had directed them to.

“Why are you complaining?” Vee grunted. “It’s not like you ever have to do any of the work.”

Reginald was quiet for a moment, pondering, and then said in a perfectly serious voice, “That’s not really important here, Boss. I’m just concerned about the fairness of the situation here.”

“She lets us stay for cheap,” Vee said. “That’s the important part.”

“If you say so.”

Vee rolled his eyes as he put down his first box and watched Alforde do the same. The armorsoul didn’t seem to even notice the weight of his boxes, let alone be inconvenienced by it, and Vee straightened up to look around at the room and catch his breath.

It was bigger than he’d expected, and as he looked at the high ceiling and blank walls, Vee was reminded of all the times he’d been stuffed into his suit as a kid and dragged along to some function or another for his father’s business. Unlike his brother Emory, who’d taken to socializing like a duck takes to water, Vee had spent each banquet in abject fear of spilling something on his jacket and struggling to pay attention to the long-winded blathering of his fellow guests. Even the other kids had been dull.

The [Dungeon Master] shuddered and forced himself to think of something else. Following Alforde back out to the street, Vee picked up another box – this one actually slightly heavier than the last had been – and helped carry it inside.

[Might +1]

***

As expected, it snowed overnight, and Vee’s feet were wet and cold by the time he reached the Westown gate the next morning. To his surprise, Brice Gilbert the [Toy Maker] was waiting for him there. The man was smiling and carrying a large box in his hands, with another two on his back.

“Good morning,” he said with a wide smile as the trio approached. “I finished up some of the prototypes for the Alforde figurine, and was wondering if you had some time this morning to take a look at them?”

Alforde perked up and clapped his gauntlets together. “Of course! Right, Vee?”

Vee nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. We have some time before Crestheart opens up for the day.”

The man fell into step with them as they headed toward the dungeon, and Vee smiled at how nice and clean the street was. His light section had done an excellent job of clearing away the fresh snow and pressing it into piles on the side of the road so that it wouldn’t bother anyone. If only the guild had kept up on using the slimes in the city, he thought sourly.

Making their way up to the office, Brice opened his first box. He reached inside and pulled out a figurine of Alforde that was about eight inches tall. Simply carved, it showed Alforde standing with his hammer lifted into the air. A couple variations on the same idea – with the angles and pose modified ever so slightly followed it – and then it was on to the second box. In these versions, Alforde stood at attention with Slammy resting on the ground. The third box contained smaller figures – about four inches tall – that depicted Alforde in various poses, from winding up a mighty swing to bracing against an invisible impact. Carefully, the [Toy Maker] arranged them all on the table and looked up.

“What do you guys think?”

Vee and Alforde walked around and examined the figures carefully. They were well-made, and though they all looked similar at first glance, Vee noticed subtle differences between them as he studied each of them further.

“Will the final product be able to change its pose?” Vee asked. “Maybe swap around between two or three?”

Brice shrugged. “It’s possible, but it’ll require a lot more work. Sturdier joints…better built limbs…the works. I can do all that stuff, but ultimately it’ll mean a more expensive product, and to be honest I’m not sure there’s a market for it around here. Most of the people who come into my shop are just looking for something for their kids to play with for a few days until they get bored or break the thing. They don’t exactly have a bunch of spare money to throw around on something fancy.”

Vee rubbed his chin, and Alforde spoke up.

“I’ve seen some bigger figurines advertised in magazines and stuff. Some of them are super expensive, but they have near unlimited movement!”

Brice nodded. “Most of those are limited edition figures commissioned by the adventurer’s guild. Generally they’re just for outstanding [Heroes], but a few of the bigger dungeons on the continent make some for their [Dungeon Champions] too. It’s a niche market for sure, but maybe we can consider something in that vein once Crestheart gets bigger. With the tools and materials I have access to right now, small figures with a fixed pose is probably going to be the best I can do.”

The word materials gave Vee an idea. Telling Brice to hang on for a second, the [Dungeon Master] scurried down to his lab and grabbed the thin sheets of ectoplasm he’d made but hadn’t found a use for yet. Bringing the stack of them back up to the office, Vee handed them to the [Toy Maker] and grinned.

“Any chance you can do something with these?”

Brice frowned and picked up a single sheet to feel its weight. He poked it, prodded it, and gave the entire thing a gentle flex to see how it handled various amounts of stress. When he finished looking at it, the [Toy Maker] set the sheet down on the table and reached into his pocket. He drew out a small knife, cut a sliver from the corner, then subjected the shard to the same tests he’d given the entire sheet. It didn’t bend nearly as much.

“Hmm…this is interesting,” he said finally. “It seems a little unruly on its own, but there’s certainly potential here. Let me experiment with it a bit and get back to you, okay? Now, which of these poses do you like the most?”

Vee looked over at Alforde, who was hovering next to the pair of figurines that depicted him mid-swing. The [Dungeon Master] smiled and said, “I think those ones over there are the best of the bunch.”

“Are you sure?”

“They have the most energy,” Alforde said.

“Good enough for me,” said Brice.

The [Toy Maker] marked the figures in question with a small strip of red thread and carefully put the rest of them back in their respective boxes. When he was finished, he bowed his head ever so slightly.

“Thanks for the input. I’ll start finalizing the details for these two and get back to you in another week or so. If you like them then, I’ll go ahead and start actual production.”

“Sounds good,” Vee said. “We’ll be looking forward to it.”

He shook Brice’s hand and the [Toy Maker] left the dungeon. Vee turned to Alforde.

“What do you think?”

The armorsoul beamed, his eyes twinkling like stars.

“They’re so cool! I can’t wait to see the finished version.”

Vee chuckled. “Yeah, same here. Did you ever expect to see action figures of yourself?”

Alforde laughed too and shook his helmet. “Not even close.”

They both fell quiet. After a moment, Alforde said, “Well, I should be getting down to the dungeon for the day’s runs. I’ll see you later, Vee.”

Vee nodded, and the [Dungeon Champion] headed down to his arena. Vee sat down at his console and checked his knobs and dials. Another day at Crestheart was about to being.

Outside, the sun peeked through the clouds.

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 28

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 19

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 5

Might: 13 (+1)

Wit: 31

Faith: 21

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 14

Plotting: 18

Charisma: 12

Devious Mind: 22

Leadership: 17

Guts: 13

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 20

Public Relations: 6

Determination: 1

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 21

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 11

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 14

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 4

Might: 39

Wit: 12

Faith: 26

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Endurance: 20 (+1)

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 6

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 6

Vanity: 2

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

--~%@(%[email protected] &% (*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#[email protected]!)~--, #[email protected]& ????

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 38

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 15

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 8

Might: 1

Wit: 33

Faith: 12

Ambition: 27

Greed: 22

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 36

$#&*[email protected]!!

Loyalty: 46

Patience: 8 (-1)

[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]

[email protected]#!! @#[email protected][email protected]#

#[email protected]$#

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 7