With the disappearance of the sun came the time to camp once more, as most people lacked the necessary perception to kill the beasts in the dark. They still attacked, of course, but the lack of movement meant much less intensity; especially with most of the attackers drawn to the huge bonfire.

As we moved, the camp was in chaos around us once more, with tents being erected, carts being repaired in a hurry, forges being set up to repair weapons… A chaotic mess, making me glad that would take only a week to arrive at our destination.

“It was a good day,” Jertann said, exuberant despite his exhaustion. “Now, let’s go eat. I hope this new cook is as good as you say it is,” he said.

“Not the best food I had eaten, but certainly better than the others in the camp,” I answered and led them toward it. As I walked, I noticed many eyes on us, most of them focusing on me. I was getting famous in the camp, an inevitable consequence of my extended show.

Silas separated from the group as we arrived at the Red section without saying a word, but since the others didn’t react, I didn’t question her, just led the others toward the other side of the camp, where Zolast was settling in.

Right at the edge, I noted, making it hard to defend once the gangs started their inevitable harassment, but since Zolast looked content about settling there, I wouldn’t go poking. Especially since there were some advantages to his location, as shown by a small line of people with no armbands, waiting for their food.

“Smells nice,” Terma said before dashing forward to join the line. “Youth,” I murmured as I gestured for Karak and Jertann to follow me, ignoring the line. Seeing that we ignored the line, a few people that were on the line grumbled, but they were limited to that.

An inevitable consequence of the huge, bloodied hammer Jertann was carrying.

“Welcome, Euon,” he said. “So, these are the ones that you talked about,” he said even as he pushed me a plate piled with meat and vegetables, one that had been cooking in a separate container.

“Yes. Boys, meet. Zolast, our exclusive cook until we arrive at our destination,” I said before taking a bite, and a sharp yet delicious taste filled my mouth, the warmth of Vitality mixing with the spices he used. “Wow, much better than what I had before,” I said.

“That’s what happen I don’t have to stir something in a few minutes, but cook properly,” he said, then glanced at his mobile kitchen. “Pity I don’t have a proper kitchen, or I would have cooked something proper,” he said, his professional pride clear.

Seeing that we skipped, Terma got out of the line and rushed forward, his hand reaching to my plate. I chuckled as I let him take a piece of the meat, only for his eyes to widen as he took a bite. “Hot, hot, hot!” he gasped.

“That should teach you not to take other people’s food, brother,” Jertann said with a chuckle. “Especially since you can’t handle spicy food.”

“Like you are any better,” Terma grumbled. “You can’t handle it any more than I do.”

“Of course I can,” Jertann answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I’m not savage enough not to wait my torn.”

Terma chuckled between his desperate breaths. “It sounds like you’re afraid,” he goaded.

I raised my plate toward him. “Feel free to take a piece,” I said while chuckling, and noticed a slow hesitation in his hand. “Believe me, it’s not a problem,” I said.

“If you say so,” Jertann murmured, clearly not happy about the prospect of spicy food, but too proud to change his mind in front of his brother. He took a bite, his lips twitching, and his eyes getting moist. Still, he chewed his food aggressively. “See,” he said after finishing, his smile fragile.

Terma grumbled in annoyance, missing the signs of distress, while Karak’s eyebrows rose a bit — which probably counted as hysteric laughter for him.

“Good,” I chuckled, unable to resist the temptation to pull a little prank. “Another fan of spicy food. Zolast, make sure Jertann gets extra spicy food.”

“No need to bother—“ Jertann gasped immediately.

“Nonsense, not a bother. The least I can do for you all,” he said, but he had a mischievous smirk as well. A good bonding activity, I decided as we watched Jertann unable to admit his weakness to spicy food, watching a new batch of spicy food cooking — next to another, milder batch for the rest.

Soon, Silas arrived, and threw something at me. A pouch, I recognized as I grabbed it, the metallic sound easy to recognize. “Your share from today’s beasts,” she said as she threw others pouches as well, the smallest to Terma, while the second largest going to Jertann.

Mine was the biggest.

“Thanks,” I said, not bothering to argue how it was unfair for me to get the biggest share. It was about seven denicas assuming it was only silver, more than doubling my current assets, while a glance was enough to confirm that even Jertann barely received three denicas.

I didn’t bother digging into the financial details of the situation. I knew far too little about the economics of the world, though even that, I suspected the amount that was distributed was rather low compared to the value of our work.

However, considering the complicated situation of the camp, it certainly didn’t mean that Silas was fleecing me. It was much more likely that they were being cheated as a group.

“Any plans to pick up a new weapon,” Jertann said to me.

“Maybe, but there’s nothing decent here,” I answered. “I don’t want to buy anything that would shatter halfway.”

“You should try the inner camps, there is some decent stuff, starting around ten denicas,” she said, then paused slightly as she raised her own pouch, a silent offer to let me borrow some.

“That sounds affordable. Maybe I’ll browse some,” I said.

“Don’t forget to buy some clothes first,” she said. “You look a mess.”

“Good point, and probably a tent as well,” I said.

“Don’t worry about that, I already arranged some,” Silas said. “Karak was planning to go there to pick some arrows, maybe you two go together.” Karak nodded silently, and I chuckled. “Good idea,” I said.

I didn’t say anything else, letting Silas join the banter between Jertann and Zolast, who was warming up to the group quickly, which was nice. It made it easier for me to fulfill my promise to Zolast.

[+1 Health]

[+1 Health]

“Amazing cooking, Zolast,” I said as I gave the plate back, and started walking away. “I’m going to find something better than these bloody rags.”

“Have fun shopping,” Terma said cheekily.

I nodded and left them behind the bond while I walked toward the interior of the camp. Buying some new clothes didn’t take long. I didn’t bother bargaining, paying half a denica for leather pants and a fur tunic, another denica for solid-looking boots, the best in the display.

Good shoes were always a good investment.

I didn’t bother haggling even as I realized they were fleecing me a bit. The reason, I didn’t want to waste much time, was not when I could see people gathered around a fire, with occasional cheers and curses exploding, the intensity giving me a suggestion of what was going on even before I saw dice going back and forth.

Gambling.

An excellent way to boost my riches a bit while getting to know others as well. As I walked close, they fell silent. “Any place for a new player, Gert,” I said with a chuckle as I called the only one that I knew.

“Of course, Euon, you’re more than welcome,” he said. “Silver is silver.”

“Excellent,” I said as I took a seat, taking note of the amount they were playing. “I’m not going to stay long, I still need to go buy some weapons,” I said.

At the first glance, I could see about five hundred denicas, spread around seven players. Not a bad amount, especially since I could see the tightness in their gaze. I watched them play a couple hands, trying to get a sense of the mood as I accepted the offered drink, the bitter taste certainly unwelcome even with the buzz that was supposed to come along.

Instead, I watched to get the rules of the game as well as the intensity they were deploying. It was a simple game, with five dice, and making some guesses about the amount. A few rounds were enough to show they were horridly mediocre, both in terms of making horrible bets in terms of probability.

And in terms of cheating. Two of the dice were weighed, distorting the probability significantly, but the thrower didn’t use them in each attempt, and sometimes, he used a wrist trick to throw some tricky throws.

His fingers were incredibly nimble, but he was suffering from the technique. It wasn’t the telltale signs of skill usage, showing that at least for gambling they went through the effort of practicing, but that didn’t work as well as I had hoped against some of the other concepts.

Basically, free money.

“Let’s start small,” I said as I removed a piece of silver that weighed around a denica and a half, and throw it in the middle … only to lose.

“Too bad,” I said with a silent gasp, but that was the extent of my reaction, noticing that people were looking at me tensely. After all, I already built a reputation for beating people up. Then, I smirked. “But that’s normal, my hands are not hot… Again,” I said.

Yet, the fear of the people was useful, as no one noticed that, as I reached forward, my off-hand reached suspiciously close to one of the larger silver piles, the irregular nature of their silver making it very easy to swipe some.

Just like that, even as I lost the next bet of a denica, I was six denicas richer…

It was going to be fun…