I found Brand and Aiko outside my tent with Pinky. The metal bird was covered in gore. Pinky's feet had frozen chunks of pulped mobs stuck to them. The Mechana-beast beak was also bloody. Upon seeing us Pinky waved his good wing in greeting and bits of shredded mob fell to the ground.

Brand and Aiko were much cleaner than Pinky. I was also, but that still meant I was covered in gore. Technically I had the Blood Splattered condition. It wasn't as bad as the Gore Soaked Condition but I still felt sticky. "Are you going to stay wrapped up in my cloak?" I asked Angelica.

"Hear me out, it is warm. I also lost all my winter gear." Her hand clamped around the cloak.

"I can make you new gear," I offered.

"I would like that. You need to make a hoodie." She told me.

"I can make you a hoodie," I agreed. That wasn't a hard request but a please wouldn't hurt.

"No, you need to make yourself a hoodie, so I can take it from you," Angelica argued.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yep," Angelica confirmed but did not elaborate.

"Is this so it can have the armor bonus me equipping it would grant?" I asked.

"Nope," Angelica said again, not elaborating.

Whatever, she could have her secrets and some winter clothes. My inventory was full of snow lion corpses. Maybe I need to get some giant spider webbing, I suspect I could make that into silk… the system would probably let me. No idea what I could craft the Bigfeet bodies into. It would probably be a bad idea to mess with the rotten bears. Best to not get fancy with this. Snow lion winter gear for the win.

As we got closer to the others I called, "Are you alright?"

Pinky nodded.

"Yes," Aiko said.

"Thriving actually," Brand replied, "I leveled twice throughout the day."

"Hurray," Angelica said, not that enthusiastic. "I only got one."

Everyone looked at me. I hate it when they do that.

"I didn't level." I said.

"I am sure you're close," Brand assured me. He then pivoted the conversation, " What next then?"

"I was going to drop Angelica off and then-" I started.

"You were going to rest too," Angelica cut in."

That wasn't what I was going to say. I needed to follow up with Nanny Shiv and deal with the dead. After that I had to talk with Toad about getting our army fully set up. Then I needed to figure out being a God or Patron I guess. Apparently that needed a religion. I was uncomfortable with that idea. After that I should talk with Rob Shiv and his loot goblins. Then I really should talk with Helen. That helicopter did a lot of work.

That was enough of a list. There was more but those were the immediate things I could affect.

"I already rested," I said finally.

"No you didn't," Angelica argued. "You rode out one of the worst pain conditions out there and then engaged in high level politics for an hour."

"That is not rest," Aiko agreed.

Pinky nodded agreeing with Aiko.

"It's not like I am doing anything crazy. I slept last night." I countered.

Angelica squirmed, "Put me down."

I did what I was told. Angelica stood. Somehow she was more or less free of blood and dirt. I need to figure out how she did that. Maybe the shiny armor was self cleaning.

"Doug, you have to slow down," She said gently. Wait, that wasn't a demand, it was a plea.

"I am fine," I said, less certain about that than I was.

"No, you are terrified that you haven't done enough, you're dreading what comes next, and you are burning yourself out. I get it. You think everything bad that happens is your fault because you helped start this. That's a lie. The truth is the best way to mitigate harm is to be whole, healthy and ready for what's next." Angelica put a hand on my arm, "You need to rest."

Dammit, she was right. I sighed, "So what should I do?"

"Get cleaned up, eat, and sleep. In that order," Angelica said. She started hugging herself. "This stuff is not winterproof."

I crafted a cloak out of snow lion skin and tossed it to her. "What do the goblins do to wash up?" I asked. I had not seen any showers… well except… no the stew shower doesn't count.

"They do something called a snow bath," Brand said.

"Fuck that," Angelica said immediately as she wrapped herself in the cloak.

"It isn't as… absurd as you think," Brand continued. "They will huddle up where it is warm, stoves, or engines, and stay in the heat until over-warm. Then they will go into the snow and scrub themselves clean. Northern Europeans with saunas sometimes do similar things."

Angelica considered, "No. No… just no."

"I would also prefer hot water and a wash cloth," Aiko said.

"We could burn pelts," I said. It would have a burning hair smell but we could get hot water. Not sure what else there was to burn. Fuel maybe? That seemed wasteful and probably dangerous.

Pinky shook his head. He then sat down and I don't know, overclocked something. He started putting out a lot of heat. Think like a stove burner.

"Is that hurting you?" I asked.

Pinky shook his head.

"Can you do that for a long time?" I asked.

He nodded.

Fuck it then, a contruction check later And I had wide low ceiling tent over Pinky. A few craft checks later and I had some large bowls that could sit against the undamaged parts of the machana-beast's metal hide. I tossed a bunch of ice in them and that quickly melted. Then the water warmed and even began to boil.

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"Let's get Pinky scrubbed clean first," I said.

It didn't take long. The metal bird whistled a tune as we scrubbed the gunk off of him. Then we picked up and moved roughly ten yards over to a fresh patch of ground and started over with fresh clean ice and a clean Mechana-beast.

As steam filled the tent I asked Pinky, "You still good."

Pinky nodded and went back to trilling his song.

A bigfoot pelt made two large carpets. I then crafted some stools, "You and Aiko can have first turn."

"Why would you have to wait," Aiko asked from the other side of Pinky.

"Well, you would be naked," I said, suddenly uncertain if I was the problem.

"I am not shy, and I doubt you are looking," Aiko said.

I wasn't. Plus bath time isn't really all that erotic of a time. Yes, you can absolutely make a group bath or shower a very sensual experience. I am not arguing that. However most of the time that sort of thing starts with everyone clean before stuff gets dirty. We were all fairly crusty from the start, most of us were profoundly tired, and Pinky's song seemed to be the theme from the good, the bad, and the ugly. The song was pretty good, but not romantic.

"Just get cleaned up," Angelica said, tossing me a bar of soap.

It is easy to forget how luxurious being clean feels. Get away from easy access to running water and heat and you will be reminded. I can't imagine what Sam and Frodo must have felt like in Mordor.

I equipped the hoodie I had crafted. Its stats were junk compared to my Godskin Cloak, but it did have a front pocket. Also since I had the Titanic Armor 2 perk, it had a defense of 51 and a deflection rate of 24%. Which was frankly insane. Technically the effects were temporary, but this hoodie would have these effects for fourty-eight weeks. I had focused on maximum survivability, but had also stepped into being a god tier craftsman of armor. How many cloaks could I make?

Angelica poked me, "You are not paying attention."

"To what?" I asked.

"Food," Brand said.

"All I got left are Starv-away bars," Angelica said.

"I am down to the last bottle of whiskey," Brand sighed.

"I was not provided any provisions," Aiko explained.

"We could get some stew." I offered.

"Pass," Angelica said, "Wait, I think Brunhilda has some of the danger-stew left."

"That has fuel in it," I objected.

"High proof alcohol," Angelica corrected, "And it actually tastes like something."

"Honestly, Starv-away bars and drinks are a damn sight better than I got after most battles," Brand pointed out.

Angelica shrugged and pulled a cardboard box with plastic wrapped bars in it out of her inventory. The box had the words: Monthly Guaranteed Ration stamped on the side. She tossed me one.

"Aren't these Technacoast provisions?" Brand asked.

Angelica nodded. "Yeah" she said around a mouthful, "I snagged these when I was there. They take up almost no inventory, keep forever, and you can test if people notice them and see if they are Fantasy Coast or Technacoast types."

"So you eating one in front of me when we met was a test?" I asked, still looking at the bar. It looked very small in my big hand.

"Oh yeah, you were some giant that wandered out the storm trailing a horde of mobs," Angelica confirmed. She took another bite, "Then you threw me off course with the I don't know anything about anything shtick"

"I didn't," I pointed out.

"Kinda still don't," She teased.

I kinda didn't. Rather than argue, I unwrapped the Starv-away bar and looked at it. It seemed to be some sort of whole grain bar. It smelled a little off. It had a hint of fruit, maybe apple, but it had a salty smell as well. I took a bite. Huh. Okay, it wasn't bad, but it sure as hell wasn't great. It was basically a porridge, one of the old school medieval ones with trace amounts of meat and onion, but also some fruit for flavor. That was then pressed into a brick.

Starv-away indeed. Brand handed me a glass with a generous portion of alcohol. I pulled the bottle of red dragon rum Brunhilda had given me out of my inventory. May as well share it. That tipped things a lot closer to being a party. Sunit and Brunhilda showed up shortly after. They had boiled Giant Spider legs with them. They were like crab legs if you didn't think about it and just kept drinking.

These were the types of parties I enjoyed. Good food, and a little good company. Nothing against bigger gatherings, but small celebrations give you the opportunity to simply sit back and enjoy the happiness of the moment so much easier.

Also I could do a little thing here and there. I kept my Craft skill going in the background. I also had the chance to use Commune.

Commune Check… Successful

You are now communicating with Follower Rachel Blum

Doug: Do you have time to talk?

Rachel: I guess. We are in a Safe Zone in the dungeon. We have layer 1 cleared.

Doug: Everything going alright?

Rachel: Two casualties. Not dead but no longer combat effective. This place has a mob called a Silken Jailor. They are a damn menace. Their webbing can inflict poison. The real problem is the antivenoms interact with other meds. So now a bunch of us are stuck dealing with instability the hard way.

Doug: Can I help?

Rachel: I hate to say it, but you already are. You are buffing our rolls. We knew the risk going into this place. That's the main reason this place was our third choice, but we got this.

Doug: Alright stay safe.

Rachel: Wait, what's going on outside?

Doug: We haven't reached the tower yet. We crashed into the army of mobs. We almost killed Grond. He gave up the Purview of Beasts.

Rachel: That last bit is something you lead with. That explains why everything feels different. Hold up, can you turn the mobs neutral?

Doug: I don't think so. That isn't my dungeon.

Rachel: Lame!

I severed the connection. I think she was downplaying the severity of the situation, but not by a lot. It felt like they could clear the dungeon. The question was at what cost. I remembered the time in the Snow Lion Dungeon. The moment the trap split us, or the first fight with the White Shadows. Hell, there were a solid dozen instances where we all almost died. Things could turn on a dime at any moment.

I should follow up with Seth

Commune Check… Successful

You are now communicating with Follower Seth Cohen

Doug: Hey, Seth are you somewhere we can talk.

Seth: Absolutely. How is Rachel?

Doug: She and the rest of the Chimera Corps are in the Dungeon of the Dread Spiders. They made it to the first Safe Zone.

Seth: I do not like her being in a dungeon.

Doug: I get that. Do you want the full summary I have?

Seth: Do you think she will get out of the Dungeon?

Doug: Rachel, yes. Everyone else with her, I worry.

Seth: …Thank you.

Doug: You're welcome.

Seth: Zarina is terrified about the Ictheys. She said they are the greatest threat has ever faced. They are the Mystic Troopers enemy. Doug: She could have told us that earlier.

Seth: She claims that talking about those creatures is dangerous. Not just spies but some other risk. I couldn't get her to explain.

Doug: Maybe you can convince her later.

Seth: You will get a chance first most likely. They left within two hours of hearing about the Ictheys and the Mechana-beast.

Doug: Shit. I really don't think they should be out in this.

Seth: I tried to convince them to stay. Jannie is furious at you about this. Zarina leaving has left her as basically the sole leader of the community. Doug: Oops.

Seth: I don't think a foot rub is going to improve her mood. She grumbled something to that effect.

Doug: Any other news? Seth: I am at the Fourth Stage of Unrelenting Glacier. The experience of progressing along the path has pushed me to level 9.

Doug: Damn. That was fast.

Seth: I think I hit a bottleneck however.

Doug: Is the issue Craft and Construction Seth: For now yes, but the last stage… I am no leader.

Doug: Leadership is just a skill. Seth: So you say. I will accept any help you are willing to offer.

A few Mentor Checks later and Seth had Craft and Construction. I tried to give him Leadership as well but that failed. That didn't help him advance along the path for the Cosmic Martial Art. I recommended he practice using Craft on a layer of Ablative Shell.

"We should go to bed," Angelica said. At some point she had stolen my hoodie. I had been wearing it. She had taken it off of me without me realizing. This was an escalation from her normal blanket thievery. I suspected she had a skill to manage this sort of thing.

"Are you happy now?" I asked, pulling on the shoulder of the hoodie.

Angelica stepped out of my reach and demonstrated how her newly acquired clothing hung from her like a tent. The bottom of the hoodie almost reached her knees. "Yes, the feminine urge to steal my partner's clothes has been appeased, for now."

"That can't be real," I argued.

"It's entirely true buddy," Brunihilda said before stuffing earplugs in.

Sunit watched Brunhilda with a look of concern. The poor man clearly worried that his snoring bothered others.

In the Dark I couldn't sleep. There was one last thing I simply needed to do before I could rest.

I needed to speak to the Titan, and this time he would answer me.

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