Unsummoning Inky, Ritalassa agreed to be carried down to the Tavern by Jack. When Jack attached her to his belt, she saw Veronica give her a jealous look. Waving her tentacles at the annoyed looking women, then she looked down at the sheath Jack had made her.

"How does that sheath feel?" Jack asked.

"It feels okay, I can tell it's not a real sheath, but it will do."

"I just didn't think it would be a good idea to carry a bare blade around."

"It's okay, I understand. If you carry a bare blade around, it typically means you plan to use it."

They set off downstairs, with a sullen Veronica. Ritalassa wasn't sure what aggravated her about the paladin. For some reason the woman got under her steel. Ritalassa did sort of understand Veronica's jealousy, Jack was a catch. Yet, she had no chance of a relationship with him while she was a sword.

When they got to the tavern, they went to the far back and found a huge booth that would fit all them for the meeting. Jack said "I got word that they will be here any minute."

He took the back seat. He put Ritalassa on his right side, putting her on the chair so she could see over the table. Veronica took his left side, though she made sure to place a bit of space between her and him. A few minutes later a hooded figure came through the door and approached the back.

When he got closer Jack called out "Maetrin, over here!"

Maetrin came over and said "Good Evening Jack, Veronica." He took a seat next to Veronica.

"Good evening Maetrin, I am Princess Ritalassa." She waved her tentacles at the Demonkin.

Looking surprised at the odd looking sword and said "Er... Greetings Princess Ritalassa."

Jack coughed and said "Princess Ritalassa's soul has been attached to the sword. Ritalassa, this is our Priest and Healer for the expedition."

"Oh a Healer? Tell me do you charge for your healing services?"

"No, not for Healing. I believe as my restorative power come from my goddess, it's not my place to charge for healing. However, for other services I will charge depending on the complexity of the service."

Ritalassa was happy to encounter an trustworthy healer. "You honor your ancestors Maetrin."

"I'm unsure about that. Most of my Ancestors were pretty war minded. I think they would have preferred I went to the battlefield, then heal people."

"When I was a Princess in my Kingdom, some of the most formidable healers in my kingdom were Demonkin." Ritalassa said.

"Much obliged Princess Ritalassa." Meatrin said.

"Speaking of healing, do you think you would be able to heal Ritalassa if she gets hurt?"

Maetrin sank into thought and said "As you are a User of Jacks, the energy should be able to transfer across and recover you. For any other intelligent weapons that are not Users, I do not think I could heal them. They would need to be repaired."

"I did create a Blacksmith class, maybe they could also repair you." Jack said to Ritalassa.

For several minutes they chatted around the table. A waitress brought some food and drinks while they were waiting for the others to come. Ritalassa said "I miss eating." 

Jack said "I think there are several skills that you could use to eat."

"I will have to take a look for them. Oh, I think the rest of the group is here."

Four people came up to the table, and Ritalassa recognized them as the Users she had met earlier in the day. Waving her tentacles she said "Good Evening to you all!"

Riley said "Evening." The tall orc sat down next to her along with Telvin. Alexia and Megan sat on the opposite side of the table. 

Megan said "How was your day Princess Ritalassa?"

"Good, I spent a while training Inky. Were you all able to procure the supplies you need?"

"Yeah, we picked up a few outfits as well while we were in the city."

Telvin said "After we had spent some time watching the street performers, we picked up some more supplies. I managed to find some good arrows."

Jack nodded and said "Good, this expedition is going to be a trial. We will meet early in the morning with Lord Attomas and Lady Niadas before heading out. We will also be meeting a princess of the Empire, so be aware of that."

"Are we going to be taking carriages?" Alexia asked.

"No, we will all be riding horses. Lord Attomas will have a carriage, but it is my understanding that he is going to be transporting a few pregnant women with him."

The group looked confused at that and Megan said "Isn't this area supposed to magical energy heavy?"

"Yeah, the women are monsterkin, so hopefully they don't experience too much trouble with the baby's. Though I agree that they should not be coming with us."

Maetrin interuppted to say "I will be making some paste to cover our skin to help protect us from the magical energy."

"Thanks Maetrin."

"I've never ridden a horse. Is it going to be hard?" Alexia said.

"Don't worry, I can teach you." Megan said.

"Speaking of that, I will make the Riding skill available for you. You'll be able to gain the skill quicker that way. Speaking of adding things, I made a Blacksmith class today. If you see a good potential User, please let me know. I might be able to generate a class for them if I don't have a suitable class already."

Riley nodded and said "What is the plan for the expedition?"

"For the traveling, we will be switching horses in the midday, then again the next day. If we go by Lord Attomas schedule, we should make about fifty miles per day. That is until we get to the real remote areas where the road will give out. As for the Lost City, it's blocked from my sight. I am completly unable to tell what is going on there, but we should count on finding monsters."

"What do you want us to do?" Megan asked.

"I will be acting as a noble, and you will be my bodyguards. As one would expect, I don't really require a bodyguard, so if you need to protect yourselves before worrying about me."

"I will be your Shield My Lord!" Veronica said enthusiastically.

Ritalassa snorted and said "I guess that makes me his sword then." She smiled inside when Veronica glared at her.

Jack glared at the both of them, and said "Megan I want you to take command of the group. Riley will be your second in command. I hope that will be alright with all of you."

"Why have you selected me to be the leader?" Megan asked.

"You and Riley seem to have the most experience in working with groups. For the duration of this trip, I request the rest of you to follow their orders."

Megan looked at Riley and said "We should come up with some combat plans. If we are going to be acting as Jack's bodyguards, we will have to act the part. Will you be carrying Princess Ritalassa?" 

"Yes, I was planning on having her remain a secret just in case. Only Lady Niadas is aware of her at the moment. I have some speculations regarding her motives, so I ask you keep an eye on her. Lord Attomas is even more bizarre so keep an eye on him as well."

"What about Jadai, Jack?" Maetrin asked.

"As far as I can tell he's alright. Hey, Maetrin can you take out that corrupted potion, I want you to give it to Alexia."

Maetrin pulled out a glass container filled with a black goop and orange gas and handed over to a troubled looking Alexia.

"Why did you want to give me this Jack?" Alexia asked.

"After the Expedition I want you to help Maetrin with a quest regarding the corruption potions. As to why I want you to have it, is because you used one and created an abomination. I'm having a hard time tracking it, and it has already hurt several people. While you didn't know it would happen, you are still responsible for it."

"I still don't understand why you are giving this to me. Shouldn't we destroy them?"

"That is for you to find out how to. I want you to hunt down the abomination and slay it. When you find out how to destroy the potions safely do so."

They subsequently spent the next several minutes outlining their abilities to each other while eating the provided food. The tavern was about to close when they finished discussing the plans for the trip. Jack said "I think it's time we headed to bed, I got rooms for all of you, here are the keys." Jack passed out the keys to the group.

Riley nodded and said "I will head up first. Come along Telvin, I have some things I wish to speak with you about." Telvin clasped her hand and followed her up the stairs. 

Megan whispered something into Alexia's ear, and she nodded. Megan said "Good night Jack." She walked up the stairs as well.

Maetrin said "I bid you night as well. I will spend a bit of time making some poultices and the like before sleeping. I will make sure to pass out the healing items when we meet up tomorrow." At that time he left upstairs.

Veronica said "My Lord, will you be taking Ritalassa to your room? I could take her with me instead."

"That won't be necessary Veronica. Please go to bed." 

Vernoica looked like she was bit sad and walked away. Alexia looked at Jack and asked "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"What did you want to speak with me about?" 

"This odd feeling, that's between us."

Jack was silent and asked "what do you mean?"

"I talked to the others about it, but none of them feel like I do. When I look at you, you remind me of my brother. Are you causing me to feel like this?" 

"No. At the minimum I don't think I am. There is stuff I don't understand, I will inform you when I find out more. Just know your very important to me Alexia."

"Alright. I will take that for know. But if you find out, you need to let me know."

"Okay."

Jack picked up Ritalassa, and head up to their room. For some reason she experienced a thrill when he gripped her by the handle. If she could blush, she would as he flexed his fingers on the wrapped handle. When they got into the room, she summoned Inky again.

Inky looked around and looked happy to be summoned again. "So Jack, what's going on between you and Veronica?"

"We enjoyed an intimate relationship. I put an end to it for the moment today. Some things had happened between us, that make the relationship hard to maintain." 

"That explains the Jealousy I've been sensing from her ever since I met her."

"Yeah, she is pretty obsessive."

"Do you think I will ever have a body again?" 

"Yeah, as you get more powerful, you can get access to more powerful skills. In the future I plan to add a class that deals with souls, they may be able to transfer you to another body."

"Thank you Jack."

Jack went to the bed and laid down and said "I will be heading up to my true body to rest for the night. Please keep an eye on my Avatar. Have a good night Ritalassa." With that Jack's Avatar looked as though it went asleep, though Ritalassa could tell it was now just a shell.

Ritalassa turned her attention back to the wandering spider. "Alright Inky, I'm not going to be able to summon you easily on the trip ahead, so I'm going training you hard tonight."

Inky gave her a look saying mercy.

"I think we have done enough web training. What we need to do now, is train your attack skills. First lets start with your bite. Wait don't bite that!" 

The bed creaked as Inky bit through a support post for the bed. "Bad Inky, oh dear. I'm going to have to find a way to repair that before Jack gets up again. Inky just bite the air."