“Oh shit,” Fabien couldn’t stop himself from cussing after he heard the steep price of the enchantment. “Wouldn’t that mean that we’d need a sack or two of the stuff if we wanted to strengthen the new wall around the village?”

“Most likely,” Regis nodded as he prepared himself to infuse the second rune into the gates. “I would first have to enchant the wall and gate at the mountain pass though. That’s our first line of defence after all.”

“A defence line we need actual guards for. As well as a proper road to connect it to the village.”

“Just another thing to add to the list of things I’ll be busy with in the future.” The spell weaver noted as he began the enchanting process.

While it took longer to form the second rune, once it came to life, even the sense one would get from looking at the gate changed somewhat. Charlatan’s wisdom proved that it was indeed worth the effort.

{Reinforced Oak Gate}

{Building rarity: common}

{Building quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 600}

{Defence value: 50}

“Its defence value increased by three points,” Regis commented. “I guess that’s not bad for a ‘trash’ ranked enchantment, although I don’t know what’s expected when working with buildings.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Fabien shook his head. “You did as agreed, so they can’t say shit about it. Come on, let's get the other two gates done as well so that we could go home.”

“Are you getting homesick already,” the spell weaver chuckled. “Or is it Mary’s company you miss so much.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.” The infernal headed out towards the northern gate with hasty steps.

“I’m entirely sure you know what I’m trying to say.” The dark elf said as he followed along.

“Are you guys already done with your share?” Valerie asked as she noticed them coming closer.

“We are,” her brother nodded. “What about you?”

“Due to my arcana reserves being too small,” Quentin sighed. “It took us a lot longer to fix up this one.”

“Well it was in a pretty bad shape,” the infernal woman tried to defend their slow pace. “It was below half of its max durability.”

“Ours was in a somewhat better condition,” Regis noted. “Either way, I should get started with this one. You three can check up on the others.”

“I’ll stay here to watch his back,” Fabien stated as he winked at his sister. “You two go on ahead.”

“We’ll check up on Mother Delcine then.” Quentin nodded as he and Valerie walked away.

“Playing the big brother role?” Regis chuckled after the other two were out of hearing distance.

“It’s the least I can do. With all the shit we went through these past days, I’m pretty sure that both of them could use a bit of downtime.”

“Alright,” the dark elf agreed as he put his right hand on the gate while holding an earth elemental crystal in his left one. “It’s time to get started.”

He closed his eyes and began to sink into his meditative state where he drew up the rune of ‘durability’ over and over again until it turned into a solid grey symbol. Once he was done with that, he spend some time meditating to regain his spent arcana. Lastly, he infused the gates with the rune which increased their defensive capabilities. Charlatan’s wisdom then revealed a description that mirrored the previous gate's stats.

{Reinforced Oak Gate}

{Building rarity: common}

{Building quality: ordinary}

{Greater enchantments: 1}

{Lesser enchantments: 1}

{Durability: 600}

{Defence value: 60}

“Everything seems to be in order,” he claimed as he turned towards his companion. “We should head over to the last gate.”

“As you wish my lord,” Fabien joked away, earning a dagger-sharp glare from the spell weaver. “Sooner or later you’ll have to get used to people calling you that. It comes with the job.”

“It still sounds bloody weird, especially coming from you guys.”

“Just wait until you get your manor and servants. Then it will be even worse.”

“I don’t need either of those.”

“No, but you’re still going to have to get them. Thorn Vale can’t be kept a secret forever. The more prepared and built out our settlement is the better. We’ll have to make them believe that we are powerful enough to defend what’s ours and that we are worthy of being allied with.”

“That’s still off to the future,” Regis sighed. “For now, I’m more than happy to have something to eat and a place to sleep at.”

“What took you so long?” Amanda called out to them from a bit ahead as the two neared the last gate.

“It might come as news to you,” the infernal grumbled as he pointed towards the spell weaver. “But he works slow as hell.”

“You can always pick up the slack.” Regis retorted as they finally got to the gate.

“Have you guys seen Quentin and Valerie?” Sophie asked her companions as Regis stepped beside the gate.

“They went ahead to check up on how Mother Delcine fares with our supplies.” Fabien noted as they watched the faint outlines of a grey-coloured rune form on the inner side of the gate.

“I got to say,” the blacksmith sighed. “I think they got the better round of this deal.”

“Obviously,” the storm knight agreed. “We already made a rough calculation with Regis regarding the price of the repairs and the enchantment compared to the supplies we were asking for. It’s about a three to one difference if not worse.”

“It’s not like we have much of a choice,” Sophie chirped. “And besides, it doesn’t take too long to get things done here. It could have been worse.”

“Perhaps,” the dark elf said as he opened his eyes, glaring at the greyly glowing runes. “But we’ll have to try to find a different way to pay in the future. Magic isn’t something that usually comes this cheap. Otherwise, people might start asking questions about our magical resource supplies. Anyway, I’m done over here so we should go and get our payment.”

“Already?” Amanda blurted out surprised.

“That went fast,” Sophie smiled as she grabbed Amanda’s hand, pulling her towards the building mother Delcine told them their supplies would be at. “Let’s go. The sooner we get back home, the sooner we can set up that farm and greenhouse.”

The group headed over to the building that turned out to be a warehouse of sorts. Their friends were already there, chatting away with a thick bearded dwarf.

“I’m telling you,” the dwarf said with a coarse voice. “All these monsters roaming around are bad for business right now. My brothers got the better end of it, being blacksmiths and all, but us roaming traders got screwed over by this ordeal with the war and the plague. But once things settle, it will be a new race for us merchants to find and trade away what folks need the most.”

“How long have you been stuck here?” Valerie asked as she waved the others closer.

“A bit over two weeks now,” the man sighed. “I’ve seen you when you were last here, but I was too busy dealing with the local lord’s bootlicking retainer to talk with you lot. Not that I would have anything that would interest you.”

“Are you done with the gates?” Quentin asked from his companions as they got close enough.

“We are,” Regis stated. “What’s going on here?”

“We were just chatting with Yaggic here while waiting for the locals to put together our supplies.”

The group looked at the dwarf, trying to get a better feel for him. The man was roughly a meter and a half tall with a thick black beard and hair. He wore an iron-reinforced leather breastplate with a rugged knapsack that reached from the top of his head down to his thighs.

“Yaggic Flintsword at your service,” he introduced himself. “And you must be the loremaster the old priestess was talking about. I must say, it's rare to see a dark elf running about on the surface in broad daylight. Then again, you fellows are supposed to be outlanders from what I hear. The fact that your kind showed up on the Shardlands means that good business chances will bloom in a lot of places.”

“You seem to be quite well informed,” the spell weaver noted. “I am Regis by the way. Glad to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise,” the dwarf nodded. “I’m always happy to meet with an enchanter. You folks always have a thick purse.”

“Maybe, but didn’t you just say that you likely don’t have anything I would like to buy?”

“True, but you might have something I would like to buy. As I was telling your companions here, I’m a travelling merchant. Sadly, this war and the fallen plague caught everyone by surprise, so I’m stuck here like the rest of the people.”

“I don’t have much to offer in the way of enchanted wares right now,” Regis admitted. “I have a couple of low-level magic scrolls, maybe a ring or two that would increase arcana regeneration, but nothing of significant value.”

“All of those are valuable my friend,” Yaggic laughed. “If you know who to sell them to. But more importantly, I’ve seen you lot appear in a flash of light at the gateway. That means you are capable of using it, aren’t you?”

“We are,” Regis admitted. “Why?”

“As I said before, I’ve been stuck here for a while now. I figured that if you are willing, I would pay for your services as a gateway mage. If you can take me to Rust-well Keep, I’m willing to pay good coin for it. And I’m also willing to trade for any enchanted items or magic scrolls you have, even if they are the most basic magic bolt ones.”

“An interesting offer,” the dark elf nodded. “But first I would have to return with my friends and the supplies to our encampment. After that, I can bring over what I have for you to look at and take you to Rust-well Keep if that’s what you want.”

“That’s fine with me lad,” Yaggic agreed to the offer. “I’ll get my things together while waiting for you.”

With that, the dwarf said his goodbyes and headed back towards the local inn.

“Looks like you managed to find a new source of income.” Amanda chuckled as she watched the dwarf walk away. “We could use the extra money,” Valerie noted as she noticed the warehouse keeper bring along a couple of burlap sacks. “And it looks like our supplies have arrived as well.”

“Sorry for the wait,” the man apologized. “The warehouse is in a messy state right now and I hadn’t the time to clean up the place. Anyway; here’s what Mother Delcine promised.”

The burly man handed over the first sack to Fabien while explaining its contents.

“This one here has a small wheel of cheese, a couple of sausages, some smoked fish and freshly baked bread in it.”

“Fresh bread.” Almost everyone stuttered at the same time as they looked at the man and the sack.

“Old lady Delcine asked me to talk with our baker to get one for you. Although we are a bit low on flour, it’s not so bad that we couldn’t bake a couple of loaves of rye bread. As for this other sack; it has the seeds you asked for along with some vegetables.”

He handed it over to Amanda, the tall woman lifting the heavy-looking sack with ease.

“Since we got what we came for, we might as well get going.” Regis noted as he turned towards the gateway.

“Are you that eager to help your new dwarven friend?” Fabien asked with a goading tone.

“The sooner we get back home, the sooner the farm can be set up. And besides, we need to gather some information about the current events and Rust-well Keep is a good place for that.”

“They do owe us in a way,” Quentin hummed as they stepped into the teleportation circle. “I should go with you. It’s better to have a paladin around in case you run into trigger-happy soldiers.”

“Fine with me,” Regis nodded as he grabbed his amulet. “Is everyone ready?”

“Punch it.” Amanda said as the runes of the circle glowed up and they disappeared in a flash.

“Damn it!” Fabien growled as soon as they appeared in Thorn Vale before he stepped out of the gazebo to puke his guts out.

“Wuss.” His sister muttered as she stumbled out of the teleportation circle, trying her best to keep her breakfast in.

“You’re back!” They heard Letty’s voice, seeing the wood elf standing beside the young Landwaker that was now over a metre tall with a small crown of branches and leaves forming on its top part.

“I guess that means you managed to get the supplies we need.” Osmond noted from the side, walking over to see if his companions needed any help while shaking off the side effects of the teleportation process. “We did,” Sophie chirped with a content smile. “Regis even got himself a job as a porter.”

“Come again?” The pale youth looked at the dark elf puzzled.

“We met a dwarven travelling merchant who got stuck in Escroft. He’s willing to pay for us to help him get to Rust-well Keep using the gateways.” Regis explained.

“He’s also more than happy to buy any surplus enchanted trinkets and spell scrolls we have.” Valerie added.

“You mean any stuff he has,” Cruz corrected the infernal woman. “I’m pretty sure we can all agree that the things Regis crafts and sells are his earnings and no one else’s.”

“She’s right,” Quentin agreed with the tomboyish wood elf. “We might share some stuff like food supplies and whatnot, but our communal wealth stops there. We have no claim to each others’ wealth.”

“But...” “But what?” Fabien looked at his sister with a surprisingly stern glare. “If you want to get money to spend Val, then you’ll have to earn it like everyone else. You are more than welcome to pick up a craft.”

“You don’t have to be so harsh about it! I never said that I’m expecting any of you to splurge your money on me,” Valerie scoffed with an obvious hurt in her voice. “I’m not Mom.”

“Okay,” Cruz coughed awkwardly. “Let’s talk about something else before someone gets hurt. How much did you get?”

“We haven’t checked yet,” Sophie spoke up, all too happy to change the subject. “But according to the warehouse keeper, there’s some dried goods and fresh bread in one sack while the other has veggies and seeds.

“I’ll take the foodstuff to the pantry.” Fabien stated as he hurriedly walked away towards the inn.