Grigor was enhanced to Copper level!

  Grigor’s enhancement took 13 hours, 41 minutes and 4 seconds.

  You’ve used 2 keystones. A six-month cooldown on keystones begins.

  Character Sheet

  Name: Grigor Hemming

  Class - Bulwark

  The Bulwark is as tough as the metals and ores he works with. When not crafting the equipment the party needs to win, he takes hits so they don’t have to.

  Grats! This is Rare class!

  “Yes!” Devin raised both arms over his head. “A tank!”

  “Thank Rainford,” Casey said. She was wearing her new dress, and she looked even more like a goddess than she had before. Devin’s eyes kept wandering over to her.

  “A few more hours and you’d have beaten Asha,” Devin said.

  “Better luck next time,” Asha said.

  Grigor shook his head. “You people are so strange.”

  They broke out some rations and had an early lunch while they discussed their plans.

  “Milo, how long until the enemy arrives?” Devin said.

  “Based on the data I have – which is very incomplete – I estimate an enemy force will arrive between one and three days from now. Again, I can’t give any certainty as to …”

  “Yeah, yeah. We know. Let’s split the difference and say two days.” Devin looked around. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

  “Loot?” Milo said.

  Devin winced. “Yeah, that’s it. I can’t believe I forgot the damned loot. Everybody hold up a second.”

  He petitioned Rainford to get the shards he’d earned since last time, then he used his transmute spell.

  Victorious Transmutation created 3 items. Four Universal Knowledge shards were substituted for 2 missing Matter shards. The total cost was 8 Matter shards, 8 Life shards, and 4 Universal Knowledge shards.

  Asha got a ‘Very Rare’ level magic quiver that gradually imbued arrows with minor enhancements. For Milo, there was a ‘Rare’ ankle bracelet made for cats. It gave him a ‘Poison Bite’ ability. It was a nasty stacking poison that reduced the target’s Speed.

  Casey fastened it on Milo’s front right paw. Quadrupeds had a different equipment menu from humanoids, having 4 ankle slots, 4 feet lots, 2 ear slots, a tail, and one called ‘body.’ He could also equip a collar that could hold up to four tags.

  “I can’t wait to see you get your ears pierced,” Devin said with a grin.

  “Same here, boss,” Asha said. “I think you’d look pretty with a couple of studs.”

  Devin sighed and picked up the third item. It was a small spool of thread.

  Ghostweave Thread (Stitching Materials, Matter, Silver, Very Rare)

  This thread can be used to stitch enchantments into clothing and armor that can make the wearer harder to spot. Contains enough thread to enchant two garments.

  “Does anyone have a tailor profession?” Devin said. He held up the thread.

  “It doesn’t require a profession,” Milo said. “Anyone who is practiced with a needle can sew it onto a garment.”

  “I can sew,” Asha said.

  Devin tossed the thread to her. “Do your cloak and save the other one.”

  “You don’t want it?” Asha said.

  Devin looked down at his ridiculous outfit. “I don’t want to waste it on this outfit that I’m going to chuck at the first opportunity.”

  “Nonsense,” Milo said. “Your stealth is a key part of this endeavor. Use what we have now and worry about your fashion sense if we survive.”

  Devin considered, then nodded. “Good point. Don’t want to die of thirst with a full canteen. Regarding our upcoming endeavor, here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll station a lookout on that hill and start work around the cabin. I want us to …”

  Twenty minutes later he’d covered the basics of his plan for the ambush.

  “Can you do all this in two days, Grigor?” Devin said. “The carpentry and the smithing?”

  Grigor considered, then nodded. “The carpentry is difficult, but it won’t take me that long - if I have help. The smithing is another matter. I have some new skills that’ll help me work faster, but if we’re looking at tools, the machine parts, and weapons … I can do it, but I won’t have time for anything else.”

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  “Don’t you need a forge?” Devin said.

  “I’ve got a spell that can make one,” Grigor said. “I can use the debris from the cabin for raw materials.”

  “Cool!” Devin said. “What about armor? Can you make anything with that Feather Iron?”

  “Not in time for this battle,” Grigor said. “Even a simple magic item takes days of work. Even if I did nothing else, I doubt I’d get one in time.”

  Devin frowned. He’d been hoping Grigor would have time to make himself some magical armor and some for Casey. According to Milo, putting regular armor on enhanced people was worse than useless. All it did was slow them down and limit their mobility. At least Grigor and Casey both had Skills that would protect them to some extent.

  “We’ll need shovels,” Devin said. “A lot of shovels. They break really fast.”

  Milo rolled his eyes. “They wouldn’t break if you were careful.”

  “All right, Mr. No Thumbs,” Devin said. “I don’t suppose you’ll be doing any digging?”

  “Paws and claws are far superior to shovels and thumbs, but unfortunately for you, I have more important things to do,” Milo said.

  "I can enhance any tool I make to Copper level,” Grigor said. “They’ll hold up a lot better.”

  Devin perked up. “Seriously?”

  “Leave the smithing to me, youngster,” Grigor said. “My biggest worry is that my Matter mana pool is barely big enough to finish the forge, let alone do any tool crafting. Even with the rest buff, I’m not sure I can handle the magic part of this.”

  “I can help,” Casey said. “I’ll make some Matter Recharge potions. I have the materials.”

  “Yes!” Devin said.

  “They do have a one-day cooldown ...”

  Devin groaned. “Of course they do.”

  “I’m not done,” Casey said. “I can use my ‘Blessed Alchemist’ Boost to remove the cooldown, but I can only make one Blessed potion a day. I’d planned to use it for combat potions, but maybe this is more important?”

  Devin considered. “Yeah, Grigor’s prep work has got to be top priority. Casey, you and Milo get together and come up with a potion-making schedule. How fast can you make a normal recharge potion and Blessed Matter recharge potion with no cooldown?"

  “An hour and a half for both,” Casey said.

  “Great!” Devin said. “Make those first, and some for tomorrow, too. After that, use your best judgement.”

  He looked around the clearing. It was dotted with trees. They were smaller than the surrounding ones, but some were still big. What he was about to say hurt, but it had to be done.

  “Those trees will have to come down,” he said. “We can’t leave that much cover around the cabin, and Grigor will need the wood. Asha, are there any forest spirits who will take exception to that?”

  “There are always forest spirits, and they never like people cutting down trees,” Asha said. “But, if you don’t touch the old forest, only take what is needed, and if you don’t keep taking before the forest can recover, you shouldn’t disturb anything ... powerful. I’d rather not be on tree-cutting duty, though.”

  “That’s fine. You’re the only one with the Trapmaking ability, so we have plenty for you to do. Speaking of that – Milo, can you prepare a two-day schedule?”

  “I already have,” Milo said. He sniffed. “Once I estimated the time frame, I predicted you would settle on two days. Perhaps your faith in my abilities was not misplaced.”

  Devin blinked, then chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear!” he said. “Great work!”

  For a moment, it looked like Milo couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or pleased with himself. He settled on pleased.

  “I don’t want to be the voice of doom here, but is all this worth it?” Grigor said. “Do we even know the enemy is coming?”

  “Devin’s Boost wouldn’t have brought us here for nothing,” Milo said. “The Achievement he got tells us that his attempt to nudge the Boost in the right direction worked, so we can be confident this is the right place to be. I’m more concerned about an enemy force arriving before we’re ready.”

  “We’ll know soon enough,” Devin said. “I’m sending Milo and Asha through the farm portal to scout as soon as its dark. Once they locate the enemy, we can adjust the schedule. In the meantime …” He looked at Milo.

  “Casey will work on potions and Grigor will finish his forge,” Milo said. “Asha and I will go scouting and hunting.”

  “It'll be an honor to hunt with you,” Asha said. Devin smiled at how high Milo’s tail was jutted up.

  “There are a few reagents I could use,” Casey said. “If I give you a list, can you keep an eye out?”

  “Let me know what you need, and if it’s here I’ll find it,” Asha said.

  “What’s my job?” Devin said. “Digging?”

  “We’ll do the digging later, after Grigor’s made the tools,” Milo said.

  “Are you sure that’ll be enough time? That’s a lot of dirt.”

  “Approximately 150,000 tonnes, according to my best estimate,” Milo said. “However, with your Might and Endurance, enhanced tools, and Casey and Asha helping, it should take less than a day. Would you like to check my math?”

  Devin groaned. “I’d like it better if you hadn't told me I had to move an entire Empire State Building’s worth of dirt. If I’m not digging, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Someone has to stay here with Casey and Grigor,” Milo said. “They’re going to be spending long periods of time in concentration, and they’ll be defenseless.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Devin said. “It feels like a waste for me to be sitting around while everyone else is working.”

  “I’m sure they could use a gofer, and you could always use the time to practice your Skills,” Milo said. “We’ll be back around sunset, and then Asha will start setting traps."

  “I could use some help with that,” Asha said.

  “I’d love to learn Trapmaking,” Devin said. “Can you teach me?”

  “Absolutely.” Asha looked at Milo. “I can teach him, right?”

  “Learning abilities from another person doesn’t work the same way as getting them from a class or an Achievement,” Milo said. “It depends on the complexity of the ability, the expertise of the teacher, and a hundred other factors. The fact that Asha is an enhancement level lower than you is a challenge. Even if you succeed, you’ll probably start out with a large penalty.”

  “Well, that’s stupid,” Devin said.

  “Stop being negative,” Asha said. “I’m an excellent teacher.”

  Devin has applied the Boost ‘Sharing is Caring’ to the Boost ‘Skill Hound.’

  Milo gains the Boost ‘Skill Hound.’

  Casey gains the Boost ‘Skill Hound.’

  Asha gains the Boost ‘Skill Hound.’

  Grigor gains the Boost ‘Skill Hound.’

  It only took a few minutes for Asha to finish sewing the thread into her cloak and Devin’s outfit, then she and Milo were off into the woods. They got a new buff called ‘Minor Chameleon.” It gave a +3 to ‘Hide.’

  He and Asha got Achievements out of it. Hers was amazing and Devin’s was more trolling.

  Achievement Unlocked! Seamstress for the Band – You did it, tiny Asha. You boosted your party’s chances of survival with a stitch in time. Ha! I’m on fire today!

  Reward: Fancy Sewing Kit (Sewing Kit, Fundamental Forces, Silver, Very Rare). This kit contains an endless supply of needles, basic thread, buttons, and other necessary tailoring equipment. It provides a +20 bonus to your ‘Sewing’ ability and allows you entry to a Fancy Sewing Convention in any city on Senarci.

  Achievement Unlocked! A Matter of Style – You equipped an item of clothing enhanced with a Matter spell. That clothing is, in fact, those Wermer-awful robes you picked up back at the guy’s temple. I don’t want to get in trouble talking shit about that fat ass loudmouth Wermer, so I won’t dwell on that aspect of it, but … man, what a waste.

  Reward: Gem-Studded Ear Stud for a Stud.

  The ‘stud’ was the size of a quarter with an enormous post. It looks like the hole required would be almost the size of Devin’s earlobe. It was etched with tiny emeralds and rubies and gilded with gold and silver. With dawning horror, Devin realized the pattern represented the colors on his outfit. It was the gaudiest thing he’d ever seen. It would have been worth a fortune on Earth, but he bet whoever bought it would have broken it down for parts.

  “This AI is giving great rewards to everyone else just to get to me,” he grumbled.

  “You think the gods spend their days coming up with ways to make fun of you?” Grigor said.

  Devin started to toss the stupid thing aside, then reconsidered. It was obvious that the AI was still pissed at him, and throwing away items it gave him wouldn’t make it any better. He gritted his teeth and stuck the thing in his pouch.