Lance had the kabbit lain across the kitchen table. He inspected the creature under his D.I. only to notice that while skinned the only parts of the creature that weren't red were its sinew. Even its bones were red. He cut the tendons and then left the small creature whole trying to decide how to cook it. Wellyn walked in the kitchen catching him in his wonder.

  “ Wondering how you should cook the bastard? Most folk actually treat them like additive meats to stews. Their meat is strong and requires a longer time to cook. A hot boil usually loosens em up. Unfortunate for you, that pot looks a bit small. You should think about purchasing a large one and leave it on and head it back in. Or throw in on in that ice box you got now. Though you should know that box’ll leak and melt by tomorrow.”

  “ You know I kinda wanna cook it whole. Do you know of any way I can bake it? I might try to stuff it and make a tea broth with the stuff we found in the forest. Also do you know anything about mushrooms? Redcaps?”

  “ Hmph… Well i cant say I've seen anyone cook one whole, would certainly be a long boil beforehand. Most use it for filler meat adding a good chew. Tea broth? Interesting. And you ran into a redcap? Yeesh. Nasty things. Surprised yer still kickin. Those little shits are a plague. Almost literally, anyone sick? Didnt.. Eat it right?”

  “ Uhhhh” Lance blushed. “ No why would i eat that disgusting little thing. We killed one and i happened to get another soul prism. Crushed it and got a spore ability. Just thought maybe i could make mushrooms to eat.”

  Wellyn's eyes rolled at first, then his jaw went slack and then he covered his mouth with a fist and coughed. “ You have some twisted luck there boy. Another soul prism? And you chose to crush a redcaps… Let me guess you can create spores that will grow into mushrooms. Have you done it yet?” Wellyn asked as he backed away fist still covering his mouth.

  Lance noticed the slight fear in Wellyn's back peddle. “ No I haven't yet. And yes that's what it says why?”

  Wellyn gasped, catching a held breath. “ Oh thank havens, Thought you'd have contaminated this whole room. Well good news and bad. You're also a plague now. Those mushrooms aren’t edible, conventionally. Only folks unaffected by them’d be the Tri-high. Ork, Dwarven, and Elven. It’ll give any other intelligent species flu-like symptoms at first and then a ghastly pale complexion. Followed by uncontrollable vomiting, diarrhea, coughing fits, fever, migraines, eventual coma then death. Only if eaten though so no worries then. I could assume since you’re a carrier of spores you'll be immune, but I'm not certain. Might need to consult a scribe.”

  Lance’s stomach dropped as he continued to speak. He took it all in waiting for him to stop.

  “ Wellyn my man, please come in and close the door.” Wellyn's brows rose and he stepped into the room further then closed the door softly. “I.. well they.. They we.. We fought a redcap yea. They ate some food he made and I dont know what happened to Reilly but she was definitely affected by something. They seem fine now though, do you think they?”

  Wellyn sucked through his teeth. “ How long ago? Symptoms you’ve seen? It hasn’t been nearly enough time for the spores to take hold or they’d be bed ridden. At most a half a day. I can't get you anything that would heal you of something like that, it's against the rules. But I could make some suggestions. The only way to survive it is through the worst of it unfortunately. I’ve heard of some healing classes with abilities that remove blight like this. Poison, invasive species, mental curses, and infections like these are always nasty things ta treat. Some herbs you could look for even, but they only alleviate.” Wellyn began to pace around the room. He muttered some things under his breath. Lance felt weak in his knees. Not out of any symptoms, raw fear. It felt like all the fear he should have felt from the start of the game til now compounded and released at this moment. He gripped the table holding himself up. He couldn’t help think that this was it, this is how he lost his new group of friends.

  “ Chin up boy. You’re fine. But if you wanna save yer friends, time to do something you are not gonna like.”

  Meanwhile ~

  Valora stood to the side of the bodies of 6 goblins that lie on the floor. Blood ran from her blade in a slow trickle. Kai, Orange and Pear had begun to check the bodies of the goblin pack grabbing every bit of equipment they could. As Kai and Orange began to dig into the corpses for gems Pear stood and moved to the side of the room next to Valora. She looked on at her boyfriend watching him intently as he began the bloody ordeal of gem gathering.

  “ I’m beginning to understand the hunter and gatherer titles men and women have.” Pear said, trying to break the silence. Valora stood to the side of the room scanning the remaining items, assessing value.

  “ Its not gender-specific, they’re a difference in mindset. It’s easy to understand how primal you can be when you have to hunt and gather. Pear, you’re on normal mode aren't you?” Valora said as she flicked her blade then wiped it clean sheathing it.

  “ Yes I am. I didn't really believe I would ever be able to beat a game first and the prizes made me feel too much pressure just thinking about them. I think the tactic the game studios took to add a competition was smart, it created a die hard player base from the start, pun intended.”

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  Valora walked towards the beds of the slain goblins and knelt wrapping up their bedding, a bunch of woolen blankets. “ Hmph, I suppose you’re right.. What do you do for work? Or school?” she said looking back at her questioningly.

  “ I'm in school, working towards a D.M.D, or dental medicine doctorate. I’ve still got a few years.”

  Valora sighed, remiss about the lackluster leftovers the goblins had around the cave. “ Well I'm sure you will make a great dentist. Best of luck to you” Valora stood with a few small blankets underarm.

  Kai looked up from the bodies, noticing she was readying to leave. He had been on standby whilst Orange dealt with gathering the gems. “ Hey wait!” he said, rushing over. “ Wait I was gonna ask you something.” He darted some eyes towards Pear and Orange. “ In private, for just a sec.” Pear took the hint and walked towards her boyfriend. Valora stopped before the doorway to level 2.

  “ Okay, what?”

  “ You really aren't military or anything? How did you learn about how to play this game?”

  “ Kai, I'm a novice really, I've been playing for a few days and I died once, made an alt, got to level 2 and started over on my Hard mode playthrough. If i didn't know how to finish this level by now I should just quit.” Valora took a step towards the door, to which Kai grabbed her hand. At first Valora nearly grimaced, before she stopped and looked at her hand. In it she held a Renown tier gacha. She looked up to him puzzled. “ Wha-

  “ Listen, You're strong. You have a level mindset. I’ve watched you, and I've seen how you look at this.” He said gesturing over to the goblin bodies that Orange seemed to be finishing up with. “ You are obviously disgusted with it, yet you already know about the gems. You’re gonna have to get over it. One cause you need gems, and two you're on hard mode. But more importantly not every job is meant to be dealt with alone. I can tell you got other reasons to play this game and that's good and all but you gotta try to find a reason here. And I think I know exactly what one could be.”

  Valora stood confused momentarily. “ Hmm, a sales pitch? For this?” she thought looking down at the Gacha she held in her hand.

  “ Me. I’m your ticket to the top.” Kai said confidently.

  “ Pffft” She said, handing the Gacha back. “ Sorry man not go-

  “ I know what's in it. I have a skill that can roll it without opening it, but it's stuck with whatever's rolled. I rolled something I think you will like. It's a nice Elven shield. Trust me.” Kai said. Looking back at Pear and Orange that were having a conversation in the distance.

  Valora looked down at the Gacha. “ That’d be bullshit, and firstly how'd you even get this.” She said showing her lack of faith.

  “ I dealt all the killing blows. He just maimed them. Left them wide open, with you holding the line, and her deafening them I was able to sneak behind a couple of them. The rest were just lucky hits. But I got it for the title I received. And my Vagrant class has a passive, Gambling addict. Look I'm not okay, but it allows me to roll a Gacha, and 20 percent of the time it won't open but I get to know what it is. I was eager to open this because obviously it's rare. But my passive kicked in. And I started thinking, we could make a fortune selling off Gachas that we knew weren't good for us.”

  “ Look Kai, You say you’re not an addict, but that way of thinking is literally an addiction waiting to happen. And so you got lucky, 20 percent of the time is pretty good odds for a first try, but that's it. I’ve already got a squad waiting for me. I'm sorry. Here take it, sell it. I appreciate the offer.”

  “*sigh* Just keep it. I'm not using a shield. And at least just add me then. Maybe we can link up sometime, when you get some rare ones, we can use my passive.” Kai said with a wide smile.

  “ Valora is also my username. Thank you, and sure maybe someday soon.” Valora nodded at him and a moment later she received a friend request. She walked through the door.

  A moment later she stood atop the drawbridge to her legacy space, the Garrison she opted to call it. The sky above was dark and the stars above glittered in a wide nebulous cloud of green and purple haze. She could see Bastion in the training stable holding different katas with his blade. She walked over, and stood silent until he addressed her.

  Bastion dripping sweat approached her a moment later. “Went well then. Not a scratch on you. Good. What's this? Blankets?”

  “ Yes. Nothing really special happened. Ended up basically helping train some other newbies.”

  “ Hmph. Well it takes courage to lead, good start. How much time do you have?”

  “ A few hours, I was planning on inviting my next level companion over. He’s basically beaten level 2. Then we could strategize.”

  “ No, we train, I’ll show you more stances. Earn any new memories?”

  Valora internally sighed. Bastion had told her that any memories she received she was not to open until out of the dungeon. She pulled out 3 shame tier and one Kai gave her. Bastion smirked and took them, holding them up to the stars peering into them. He handed them back to her a moment later.

  “ Well. Open them.” He said.

  She opened the shame tiers first. A pair of boots, which added defense. A book, which was a spell tome for mage classes, she thought of Pear wishing she had known, and a goblin-made crossbow. When opening the shield she smiled, happy, but also now believing Kai.

  “ Bravo, well done. Something useful. Give it here” Bastion took the shield giving it a good heft and bashed at the air. “Perfect for you, lucky find. Elven make wonderfully light armor. Terribly brittle against repeated elemental drain or magics, but durable for bashing and deflection. The swat of a shield is part of their fighting style. Come I’ll show you shield stances first.”

  Valora sent a quick message to everyone, and in particular to King a couple more. She’d meet up with him tomorrow. She trained with Bastion for her remaining time then logged off. She sat up in her pod and a few moments later so did Courage from his. She smiled at him ready to tell him about her new beginning, However he cast a downward glance and frowned..