Before I head off to deal with what remains on my itinerary for the day, I still need to talk to Lifk about whether or not we're going to be evicted now that everything is ostensibly dealt with and the deal we hashed out is no longer in effect. I can't imagine he'll reject us outright, but I fully expect to be asked to pay our way going forward. Which is entirely justifiable as an expense so long as it's cheaper than just renting a few rooms at one of Meteo City's four Inns.

Having said that, there are only five beds, so if indeed we are to recruit another two members tomorrow, arrangements will need to be made, as the Sheveret Troop won't be present for much longer, so the time we have left to make use of our tent is running out at rapid pace. Ideally, we'll have the Guild Headquarters within the next week, but that's dependant on the outcome of our confrontation with Arevas and whether we can get enough people to fill out the coalition, as I'm not optimistic that Truthseekers and Wolf Hunt will be enough to meet the thirty minimum. At most, Truthseekers will be able to field 7 people, and maybe about 10 people from Wolf Hunt if all their core members participate, even if the class distribution is uneven.

We need as many tanks, healers and AoE specialists as we can get, while damage dealers like me are, to be completely blunt, rather superfluous. Especially since we'll be mostly stationary, so my class gimmick of moving from target to target accumulating bonus damage will be completely irrelevant and my effectiveness will be limited by virtue of being melee. In all likelihood, I'll be needing to take the place of a Tank on the frontline in order to justify my involvement, which is less than ideal.

I'm getting ahead of myself again, but it helps to distract me from the extreme discomfort I'm feeling by being the one to hold onto the Droplet of Obsession. On that note, taking a survey of Fander Field to uncover any other 'manifestations' is definitely something to add to the ever-growing list of things that need doing. Not because they're powerful, and they are, but because leaving unclaimed items that dangerous to whatever green Newborn stumbles across them is, frankly, irresponsible now that we've been made aware of the problem.

As a related aside, I'm all for exploiting my knowledge to gain an advantage, wherever an opportunity I'm aware of would otherwise be squandered or abused - See: Hadrian King becoming a psychotic tyrant under Arevas' talon - but otherwise, there's ultimately no point in being greedy and attempting to hoard everything. Diversity is important for the community and the game to develop in a healthy manner, or else I'll just be replacing the CIG Guilds as the villain which led Merrow to stagnation, which is ideologically abhorrent to me, even if pragmatically speaking I could work that angle to the same conclusion if I put the effort into playing a 'Heel', I believe is the wrestling term.

"Are you doing alright over there Silver?" Angelus calls out of concern, having moved to a table further away from me.

"Just absorbed in my thoughts," I give an assuring thumbs up, "The Droplet isn't bothering me any more than standing next to The Birdcage."

"What's it do, by the way?" Windy, sat next to him, questions, "You never said anything beyond 'this shit be ultro-cursed yo'."

I frown, "I didn't say that."

"It's more concise than what you said," she shrugs, unrepentant.

"It increases all basic attributes by 15 points permanently," I reveal, rolling my eyes, "Impressive, but with a heavy cost associated no doubt. Unfortunately, Lesser Item Appraisal is only capable of revealing surface-level information, so what those drawbacks are, I can only guess at."

Windy whistles, "That's pretty meaty. So, things like that are how we deal with the dump stat problem then?"

"It's one of the ways," I nod, aware of what she's talking about, "But not the main one."

"Do tell," Angelus prompts, his interest piqued.

"It's pretty obvious really," I laugh mildly, "Though it seems like you've both forgotten."

Seeing their confusion, they have indeed skipped over the obvious, likely writing it off as merely cosmetic in effect. Which, in fairness, is how Astral Reckoning presented and marketed the feature.

"You train," I shrug, "Our Vessels are - while blessed with the ability to resurrect more or less infinitely assuming no external influences such as certain Soulbane effects - still alive, and the minds and souls encased within are similarly considered 'real' here. While you won't be able to completely negate the stat difference between you and someone who jacked their Agility ten times greater than yours, training keeps your mind and body in working order and helps acclimate it to increases in Level."

Both of them look surprised and a little ashamed of their inability to pick up on the answer themselves, again, likely not seeing the Body Adaptability System as being all that important. Instead, it's one of the core systems that fuels how the game and the world function. Levels aren't the be-all and end-all, being more representative of a person's 'Level' of progression than a source of power. Without a well-trained mind and body, with skills to accentuate them both, you will quickly hit a brick wall on that long Path if you just rely on dumping every last scrap of stat bonuses into a single stat.

If one of your basic attributes pulls too far ahead of it's related attributes, you can start running into problems with your coordination or see diminishing returns. 200 Agility is great and all, but if your Strength is still at 5 and you've done no training to compensate, your muscles won't have enough development to express it, just as an example. And I relay as much to the three of them. It's fine, and even recommended to play to your Class strengths by emphasising those stats, but you can't get carried away and rely on them exclusively.

"So, in essence, I just need to do push-ups and go for a run every morning?" Angelus clarifies.

"The intensity required depends on your personal situation, but essentially, yes," I confirm, "That likewise means that Henna and Windy will need to take some time to study every so often in order to keep their minds sharp."

"...I see," Henna nods thoughtfully, though Windy looks a little disgusted.

"Aw come on, I just got finished with education basically for the next three to five years," Windy whines, dropping her head into her arms on the table.

"Suck it up, Vice-Leader," I snort, "Because I will be making sure you all keep on top of this. It's also not as if I'm somehow exempt to this either."

"Yeeesss Boooosss..." her sarcastic grumbling comes through muffled.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Henna inquires, ever-studious.

"A few, but we can talk about that another time, once I have had a chance to put together some materials for it," I find logic puzzles and the like are good for it, but I already have too much to do as it is, so I have yet to make any significant effort in compiling a curriculum to work through. Pursuing the Scholar and Cartographer subclasses can also help a bit, even if the former has more synergies with magic specialists.

So long as the B.A.S recognises the activity as being valid, you're not really restricted ultimately, although there will always be 'optimal' ways like that.

As if to bookend the conversation, Lifk returns from the recovering marketplace carrying a filled burlap sack and a covered wicker basket that smells strongly of cheese even from the opposite end of the room. Silently, he notes the unexpected presence of an additional two people in his tavern, then turns to acknowledge me and Henna, finding nothing objectionable, perhaps owing to his limited familiarity with the pair.

"How were the market lookin'?" Henna asks, curious, "Saw it was covered in Architects and their gophers this mornin'."

"City Hall has temporarily relocated commercial operations to the plaza by Boulder Gate," Lifk intones woodenly, "Seems to be more merchants than usual, like a Dire Wolf pack scenting a wounded herbalist."

"Suppose I oughtn't to be surprised," Henna muses, dangling her empty mug by the tip of her finger, "Spy any metal merchants plyin' their wares?"

"A few," the Quirstic barkeep nods slowly, "Though their wares were mostly requisitioned by the officials for the reconstruction effort. All the processed goods, by my reckoning."

"So they still have a supply of raw material?" I inquire, unbothered by the news.

"I assume so," Lifk equivocates, "I didn't pay them too much mind in the course of my own business, truth be told."

"Then it behooves us to go and see for ourselves," I look to Henna, and receive a smile in return.

"Do I hear a gear upgrade?" Windy immediately perks up.

"If we can acquire sufficient materials, yes," I stand up and stretch, "Before we leave, however, I was wondering where we stood on the use of your safe room downstairs, Mr Lifk."

Lifk considers it, "You and the others that took down that hgoa weonu can use it whenever you wish. But if you plan to stay for more than a week at a time, I will be asking for a small fee in recompense."

Ignoring his brief slip into Quirino, I bow my head, "That's more than generous of you, thank you."

"It's the least I can do, after all you've done," he shakes his head slowly, "I'll be sure to change the sheets before I open for business."

"Thank you very much," Angelus offers his gratitude, as does Windy.

"Alright then," I gesture for Henna to make ready, "I assume Windy will be wanting to stick around to receive her new equipment, but what about you, Angelus?"

"I might take a walk around the city, or take up some more work from City Hall," the healer contemplates, "Unless you have something in mind, Silver?"

"A suggestion, not an order," I assure him, "There's a relatively well-to-do Firm man who lives in the West Residential District who likes to collect local lore and the like. If you ask, he'll likely be happy to set you on the path of a Scholar."

"Oh?" Angelus looks very interested, "Is that a fact?"

"Are you talking about Sori Bammel?" Lifk tilts his head in askance.

"The same," I confirm, "A little on the insensitive side when it comes to the historical conflicts between Firm and the other Ignorant, but ultimately harmless."

"I feel like they'll get on like a house on fire, in that case," Windy remarks, then flinches, "...Shit, sorry, man."

Angelus sighs then waves her off, "It's fine, you didn't mean anything by it."

---

 

Stone Arsenal, Meteo City

It takes a lot of Henna's leftover savings, but we have enough fuel, copper, tin and iron to keep the forge sated for the interim, at least until the Captain makes good on his promise to reimburse her for the losses sustained during the Siege. We both know that so long as we use these resources wisely we can make that money back and more besides, however, so neither of us is overburdened by the expenditure. She still has plenty squirrelled away to keep herself fed on simple fare, and if nothing else Lifk will no doubt be willing to lend a helping hand should worst come to worst.

Unfortunately, however, if Henna wishes to undertake her Promotion past Basic, she'll need better materials and better Schematics, but on the bright side she was able to rise from 4-Star to 5-Star in the midst of her First Step, which will reduce the overall failure rate of what she is able to create right now.

Promoting from Basic to Journeyman requires the crafter to have learned 75 Schematics suitable for their tier, and to have successfully completed all of them at least once. Although it sounds like a lot, it really isn't as bad as it seems, since it doesn't have to all be equipment. If you, for whatever reason, had 50 Schematics that denote a slightly different way of forging an Iron Rivet, and you made each and every variation, it would be the same as if you made ten different sets of armour as far as the system is concerned.

It is, however, still quite expensive. At least for players who aren't best friends with a blacksmith mentor NPC. Part of the deal with Henna we hashed out was that she put all her knowledge and Schematics at the Guild's disposal - or more accurately, Meteor Manufactory's - so that's a significant portion of that grind already done away with. Thank you, Henna.

Still, it's not enough, only amounting to 55 Schematics in total. To get more, we'll need to get Geronil's former pets to cough up the remainder, or put in an order with a 2-Star Travelling Merchant. There may be other ways of getting what we need that don't involve travelling long-distance, but as ever, I am not omniscient.

That said, on my second attempt, I successfully create my new chest slot armour.

 

 

A woven mesh of polished iron rings, with a leather belt and cloth lining is taken into my hands, with a satisfying weight to the piece. Lonnets are essentially analogous to a Squad Sergeant, and the armour they wear is of slightly higher quality than a standard infantryman, but not by a great deal, as evidenced by it's Copper-Tier rating. Still, Copper-Tier or not it's a step up from the Bronze-Tier Terrorsteel set by the simple virtue of having been designed by someone who knew what they were doing. That the Lonnet set is chainmail instead of platemetal is of no consequence in terms of protection, and if anything allows for greater freedom of movement.

Henna, meanwhile, is working on my new sword, by her own insistence. To my relief, it is a slimmer, double-edged piece, lacking any and all embellishments, which makes it vastly superior to the Horrorblade for my specific style of combat, although it does appear to be a little on the shorter side for a two-handed weapon, not too much longer than a standard longsword. Designed to be used as part of a formation, if I had to guess.

She works with a speed and enthusiasm that would make any machinist in reality blush furiously, and veteran smiths throw up their tools in frustration as if the hot metal is instead pliable clay. Happier than I've ever seen her, at that.

After barely any time passes, I am now fully equipped, looking for all the world like a member of the City Guard if one were to judge by my silhouette alone, and so is Windy, clad in the half-plate styled Bannerman's set, with a buckler shield and curved saber that features a hook-tip design to pull shields and spears out of the way.

"Feels like a new car smells," Windy sets her stance and takes a few experimental stabs and slices towards Stone Arsenal's wall, "A lot lighter. And without the oversized beak that made me feel like I was going to pitch over."

"Glad you like it," I smile, "Don't get too attached though, we'll be replacing it before long."

"Yeah. Weird how this set is a Tier lower, but still has more Resilience, Strength and Willpower, but so it goes for RPGs, I guess," Windy sighs, sheathing her sword.

"Indeed," I murmur, then address the staring Henna, "Has seeing them equipped given you some thoughts as to which you wish to create for yourself?"

Blinking, snapped out of her reverie, Henna nods, "I think I'll be a better fit for the Bannerman's armour. But as for a weapon, the same as you, Silver."

"Very well," I inhale, "After we're done with that, I believe all that's left is to visit City Hall and go through all the paperwork."

She smiles peacefully, "No objections from me."