"Hey, good morning you two! Not sleeping in this morning?" Zach teased, while Miria and Claire took seats at the table and helped themselves to breakfast, and Sarah and Sasha both blushed and looked away.

"Mmm, she didn't want to sleep in today. Too bad, eh?" Claire teased right back, grinning as Sarah and Sasha's blushes both intensified.

Miria sighed, though she couldn't keep a smile off her face. "Yeah, well. Can't spend all day in bed with you." She teased, loading her plate up with roasted veggies and flatbread. "Besides, we get to wake up to fresh bread. That's worth getting out of bed for, ain't it?"

Claire pouted and took a nibble at said flatbread. "...Yeah, okay, it is pretty good. You're an impressive chef, Sasha, to do all this without gas or electricity."

Sasha shrugged, still blushing. "I liked to cook, and flatbread was one of my favorite recipes... I'm lucky it's so easy to make."

"She's selling herself short, I watched her work - she really knows what she's doing." Sarah said, eating her own bread, dipped in olive oil with herbs and spices. "Anyway, what do y'all have planned for today? Janet and Zach want me to help Janet learn Zach's magic. I think I hear Claire saying she wanted to finish the hedge wall today? And we both need to get our magic to level 5, of course."

Claire nodded. "Yeah. Not sure what to do after that... Start expanding the food gardens and the like? Maybe see if I can make it easier for Maxim to gather firewood..."

"What about adding, like, a superstructure of trees around the building? Give us balconies and the like, maybe some towers?" Miria suggested, and Claire frowned.

"Uh, I dunno... I made sure to put the hedge wall a little ways away because I was afraid it would damage the buildings foundations if I put it closer. Same idea here, except it sounds like you want larger plants, which will make that more difficult..." The dryad responded. "Maybe just, like, a single big tree as a watchtower? I think I can make it with a built in ladder..."

Miria nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Go for it. I need to make sure everybody is getting towards level 5 - probably be pulling you off for that, Sasha. Also need to hit it myself, of course. And will need to have Janet and Zach see how comfortable they feel about scouting the forest..."

Claire hummed to herself as she finished the last section of trees. *Okay, finally! Now for the big tree. I'll need to grab a seed first, none of the ones I've been using so far are large enough. Maybe get Jack to escort me, too, just in case? I think he's with Joey...* She stretched and gently roused Chomper to wakefulness with a thought, then headed off to circle the building to where she'd last seen them. They were helping Maxim grind for essence, while Miria and Janet helped Sasha a little ways away.

"Hey you two! Can I grab you for a side quest real quick?" Claire asked, and the two of them perked up.

"Vhat do you need?" Maxim asked, seemingly more than eager for a distraction from what he saw as an annoying chore.

"I need to get myself a seed for one of the big trees - there should be something viable on the ground, I just need you to escort me up to it - it's not far." She replied.

Jack looked at Maxim, and he shrugged. "I don't see why not. Point the way." He said, and Claire pointed him off.

They walked through the forest, Jack and Maxim periodically taking care of the monsters they encountered, to reach the tree in question a few minutes later.

"You are going to grow zomething like this?" Maxim said in disbelief. "It is hyuge! It must hav taken a thousand years to grow to zuch a size."

Claire giggled. "Yeah, I won't make it this big - but I can make it taller than our apartment block in a few days, I think? Or maybe more like a week or two - not sure how long it will take, to be honest. But it will be an interesting experiment." She said, helping herself to a handful of seeds. "Thank you for the escort! Lets get back now, yeah?"

Janet sat on the ground in a triangle with Zach and Sarah. "So! Meditation first, right?"

Sarah nodded. "That's right. Claire taught me, it's surprisingly helpful. So, the mind has two components, attention and awareness..."

Janet breathed deep and followed along, doing her best to perform according to Sarah's instructions. It took a while, but soon enough she was able to guide her mind to stabilizing it's attention for most of a minute, a system prompt greeting her when her attention finally wandered.

Would you like to learn the Skill [Meditation]?

"There we go, got it! So now what, I just practice for a while?" Janet asked.

"Yeah, fraid so." Zach said. "Kinda boring, I know, but it's also kinda nice once you get used to it. Nice and peaceful."

Janet sighed. "Well, I suppose a little peace won't kill me..."

"Heey! You get to level 5 too?" Claire said, walking up to Sarah, who nodded.

"Yeah. I got a metamagic ability, even. Not as powerful as Joey's, I think, but much more flexible. Appropriate, I suppose." She said, sharing her milestone options.

[Blue Magic has reached Level 5! Choose a milestone.]
- +1% spell control per level.
- Alter Spell (Metamagic): When casting a spell, you may worsen up to two attributes by up to 5% per level each, in order to apply a matching improvement divided over up to 3 other attributes as you see fit.
- +1% increased ability to make spells per level.

"I took the metamagic - didn't feel like I needed help with the other things. How bout you?"

Claire shrugged. "I got the same option Joey had... Thinking I'll go for it? It'll let me heal larger injuries, move larger chunks of dirt, and strengthen Chomper more, when necessary."

[Nature Magic has reached Level 5! Choose a milestone.]
- +1% natural empathic ability per level.
- +1 MP and MP Regen per day per level.
- Empower Spell (Metamagic): When casting a spell, you may increase its mana cost and casting time by up to 10% per level to increase its effect by twice that percentage.

"Go for it. How are you on leveling everything else up? I'm still short of level 4 for Mana Sight. Though partly cause I'm being stingy with my essence, but still." Sarah replied.

Claire shrugged. "Yeah getting essence is annoying - I'm already down to a few points for most monsters. And even with Chomper, I generally want an escort to make sure nothing gets me. Might want to pick up that 'Melee Combat' skill?"

Sarah sighed. "Yeah that might be a good idea."

"You don't need to escort me. I'm tough enough to kill any spiders I come across!" Alice growls out, while Jack and Miria follow her into the forest.

"Yeah, I don't want anyone going out alone right now. Not until we have a handle on things. Besides, me and Jack both need to grind too, eh?" Miria replies. "What are you at now, level wise?"

Alice huffs. "I'm working towards level 4 for my class, and then level 5 for everything else. Wanna get some of those milestones for myself." She said, eyes scanning the forest with a predatory gleam.

Jack laughs. "Yeah, I should try and pick up some more. But we can't all spend all day grinding essence, hmm?"

Miria laughs softly. "I suppose not. Still, you must have gotten more milestones by now?"

Jack nods. "I did! Nothing too crazy - lemme show you my choices."

[Junkwrighting has reached Level 5! Choose a milestone.]
- +up to 1% improved speed of crafting when using inferior tools & materials, depending on their quality, per level.
- +1 CP per level.
- +up to 1% ability to craft when using inferior tools & materials, depending on their quality, per level.

[Dodging has reached Level 5! Choose a milestone.]
- +1% improved awareness of opponents when dodging per level.
- +1 FP per level.
- +1% improved speed when dodging per level.

"I went for the crafting ability and the speed. I need to get more crafting skills - might see if I can get Maxim to teach me metalworking." He continued.

Miria paused as a monster came upon them and Alice looked at her. "Sure, go for it." She said, and the wolffolk darted forwards to engage it with her short swords. She turned back to Jack. "Go for it. We'll probably need more crafters if we want to make armor for everyone."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Is that a goal?"

"Yeah, if we can manage it. I hadn't brought it up with you and Maxim and Sarah yet, sorry, but it is something we want. Better more protection than less, after all." She said with a shrug.

"Alright, check this out!" Zach said, walking up to Claire and Sarah. "I hear I'm a little late to the club, but still."

[Basic Protection Magic has reached Level 5! Choose a milestone.]
- Enlarge Spell (Metamagic): When casting a spell, you may increase its mana cost and casting time by up to 33% per level to extend its size by twice that percentage.
- +1 option when learning protection spells on level up.
- +1% spell effectiveness per level. (Common)

They both raised their eyebrows. "Ooooh." Claire said. "Those are some neat options. Which one you gonna take?"

Zach shrugged. "Uh. Not sure. Any advice?"

Sarah pursed her lips. "Well, the first doesn't help your current spells much... What did you get for your latest spell?"

Zach grinned. "Oh, right! I got a neat one, actually. Here, check it out!"

Lesser Tripwire Alarm
- Cost: 1 MP
- Casting Time: 10 seconds
- Duration: 12 hours
- Range: Touch
- Stretch a tripwire of magic up to three feet and anchor the ends to solid surfaces. A mental alarm will draw your attention if anything crosses it.

Sarah nodded. "Oh, nice, I'll need to pick that up. Anyway, with that, the first option could help you... At level six, you could make your spells five times as big. So you could have a fifteen foot tripwire... Not sure that makes a huge difference? It would make it much easier to waterproof, like, entire cloaks or whatever..." She nibbled her lip. "Not a huge effect, IMO, unless you're going to personally do lots of scouting. The second will take a while to give you anything - nothing until level 7 - but at that point it might help you get something good? Bit of a long shot. The third one would be an extra 5% effect at this level - me and Joey tested that earlier, effect covers all of the measurements of a spell. Size, duration, damage, etc. So, 1% per level isn't a lot, but it wouldn't cost you any extra mana, and it would be a noticeable increase in what you could do, probably...?" She shrugged. "Hard to make any definite pronouncements."

Zach groaned. "Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, I'll think about it, see what I can come up with. I already have 2% spell effectiveness per level, and it's just barely noticeable, but not that exciting."

Claire smiled. "Maybe if you came up with some new spells for him?" She said, both of them looking over at Sarah.

"Could you do that?" Zach asked.

She frowned. "Huh, yeah I could... Not trivial, but it shouldn't be too hard. Most difficult part will be teaching them to you. Anything you want in specific?"

He shrugged. "Maybe an improved version of the tripwire alarm? Beyond that, better defenses, I guess? Maybe some kind of barrier?"

"Okay, you ready?" Janet said, looking at Zach, while he stretched and nodded, both of them standing at the edge of the apartment clearing, the plants beyond already beginning to encroach.

"Yeah. Just a simple scouting expedition, right?" He replied.

"Yup. We're gonna head, like, 20 minutes out into the forest and make a circle of the apartments to see if we spot anything interesting." She said. "Maybe have you throw down some of those tripwires."

Zach nodded. "Got it. I want to try picking up your 'scouting' skill while I'm at it - see if you can teach me?"

Janet shrugged. "Sure, I can do that. So, now that you've checked all your gear, just relax, center your attention in the moment, and then direct it outwards to your environment. Take a look around the woods, let your mind take it all in, and try and feel anything that seems out of place. Let yourself come into harmony with it, and move fluidly over the terrain..."

Zach nodded and did as she directed, focusing his attention outwards as they moved through the woods. Several times, they had to stop to fight off monsters, but finally, after they had completed two thirds of their circuit, he received the desired system message.

Would you like to learn the Skill [Scouting]?

"Hey! I got it!" He exclaimed.

Scouting:
- Uncommon Skill (2 Star)
- +2% increased senses while scouting.
- +2% improved movement speed while scouting.
- +1 FP per level.
- +1 FP Regen per day per level.
- +1 CP per level.
- +1 CP Regen per day per level.

"Perfect, well done. Now, can you put down another tripwire spell over this way?" She said. "I definitely need to learn your magic now, that spell is just too useful."