I woke up with a yawn to the rising of the sun. Pressed against my side was Void, still lightly snoring and drooling on my chest even though we were on a queen size mattress. I had learned my lesson this time and adjusted my arm so it wouldn't have the circulation cut off in the night. Plus, I really liked the drool on my chest. I know, I'm weird. I'm from Florida.

We were in the only inn in Gesper and we had the day off until 7Af when we were scheduled to enter our first dungeon on the trip. Since the village wasn't particularly popular, the owners of the inn, the Gesper Guest Ghouse – yes, they named it that way for the bad alliteration – were very happy to see us.

The place had 36 rooms and all of them were empty. There were only three other teams in the area and they were currently occupying the Advancement 1 dungeons. The inn would take any business they could get, so we had run of the place. It also helped the owners, a young beaver-clan husband and jaguar-clan wife, were starstruck to see me. My reputation as a dud, or a filthy sewer man, or a lech, hadn't reached this far yet.

I said we were low on funds and could only take three rooms. Of course, Lia and Tizek read between those very spacious lines and knew what was going on. Void and I hadn't enjoyed intimate time since her first. It was also the very first time I initiated. The travel lodges along the road, while nice, were hostel-style accommodations with 24 to a room. Not exactly a place to enjoy quality time.

We also spent downtime at the lodges working on learning our new spells. Unfortunately, since Lia and Tizek were illiterate, they were limited to unrestricted spells. In this world, spells come in two flavors. The unrestricted ones are fairly common and their scrolls cheap to buy. Those spells can be taught readily and it is how Void and I worked with the teens to teach them.

Lia learned First Strength, which gave her a small boost to her power. She also picked up Flame Dart, a minor offensive fire spell, along with Sparks, which could distract opponents with a shower of embers to the face.

Tizek started working on Triage, a very mana efficient spell used solely to stop bleeding and didn't actually heal, along with Slow Venom, which reduced the spread of venoms, not poisons, and could potentially cure extremely weak venoms with multiple uses. Tried is the operative word since Tizek was still hesitant showing his Light attunement in public while I couldn't very well bleed myself for him to practice where others could see.

Void received a free pamphlet for the utility spell Sunshade, which allowed her to create magical sunglasses on her face for an hour. The sunglasses weren't terribly useful against magical attacks like Lia's Sparks or the more advanced Light spell Flash. They just made her look really cool and protected her eyes against harmful UV radiation, not that the people here were aware of ultraviolet wavelengths.

Void also purchased First Trap Sense, which was not all that reliable and only gave the caster a vague feeling a trap was nearby, along with Obscure, which helped make it harder to see the caster when it was already dark. Unfortunately, there weren't any useful unrestricted Shadow spells for combat.

Void purchased one restricted spell, Shadow Hold. It allowed the caster to constantly drain mana to stop a single target in his tracks. The downside was it was fragile and any damage to the target had a high probability of breaking the spell. Still, it was valuable.

Restricted spells, like Void's Shadow Hold, had multiple layers of protection to keep them from being shared without authorization. The Mage's Guild had a monopoly by law over the distribution and sale of spells. Restricted spell scrolls had magical encryption and were impossible to read without following the proper procedure. The seller, an authorized retailer like Armond, had to mana-sign the scroll before transfer. Next, the buyer had to also mana-sign. This allowed the buyer, and only the buyer, to read the scroll.

The other layer of protection was restricted scrolls came with a geas. When the spell was learned, the caster would be unable to write down the procedure, teach, speak about or use any other method to transfer the spell. They were single-user licenses. This was done to maintain the Mage's Guild revenue sources and were also effective as a copyright so the Mage who created the spell could receive royalties.

Of course, aspiring casters could try and recreate the spell effects themselves. The problem was doing this was very dangerous. Messing around with mana could lead to unpleasant results. Having your balls crushed in a vice was pleasant compared to some of the accidents I've heard about from the Mage's Guild research wing and they had decades of magical training to back up their experiments.

This led to magic being a very expensive path. Gerry, the gang leader who tried to kill Lia in an earlier loop, was fortunate to have his two unrestricted spells, Rock Sphere and Earth Shield. We blew through 3 platinum and 56 gold buying the spells, which was a ludicrous sum. We didn't buy more because we needed buffer funds and I refused to spend my tainted dowry coin Lisa gave me. I didn't want any tacit agreement to the proposal and I'd keep it around to throw back in her face.

I pressed that ugly thought out of my mind and returned my focus to the present. I breathed in Void's fur deeply as she lay asleep on me. Her hair smelt faintly of lilacs from the shampoo the inn provided in their attached bathroom. The inn was rather well-built for this world. Each room had their own bathing facilities which led to a complex septic system. One of the owners, the jaguar-clan woman, was water attuned and would cleanse the system daily to cycle the water back into use. I found it mildly amusing the beaver-clan man was fire attuned, completely against stereotype.

I had joined Void in the bath to listen to her terrible off-key singing while I washed her back in the tub. I also considered introducing the blow-dry special, but I ended up feeling morose when I thought of it. That was something a previous version of Void wanted. I still had lingering anguish over all the versions of Lia, Tizek and Void who had gone.

"You look sad."

I looked down at Void and saw she had awoken. I began twirling her fur on her cheek with my finger. "You're helping me heal."

She absentmindedly wiped away the drool on my chest. "Take all the time you need." Void then leaned closer and kissed me. "Good morning."

I accepted the kiss and returned it with my own. "You're a fast learner."

I shifted my body and slid out from under Void. She let out a disappointed moan. "Already?"

"You don't have to get up," I replied as I covered Void with the blankets I disturbed. I then slipped into my clothing and then strapped on my rapier. "I have a letter to deliver."

She squinted at me with eyes saying she didn't want to get up yet. "Do you want company?"

"Do you want to come?"

Void thought a moment and muttered about still being sleepy. "I'll let you handle it. I'm going back to sleep."

I snorted. "Don't laze around too long. You have to work with Tizek on the spells. I'll see you in the field outside town."

Void grunted and fell back asleep. I watched her form breathing under the sheets for a few moments. I was struggling believing this would be it. We finally had our out and I would get to see this view fresh, every day, for the rest of our lives.

I made my way downstairs to a small common area as I followed the gentle aroma of baking bread. Inns in this world weren't like your typical fantasy ones from the books. They were closer to real-life. People didn't show up to congregate, eat meals and socialize. This one was closer to a business hotel from where I'm from. Guest rooms, a few common rooms no one used to make it look cozy for guests and a space for complimentary breakfast.

Lia was already up and talking with the jaguar-clan proprietor. The two were enjoying themselves and Lia had the woman laughing at something.

The woman turned and looked at me. Her eyes brightened. "Good morning! Lia was just telling me how you fell into a sewer to retrieve someone's wedding band."

I groaned. Great, thanks, Lia. I had a fresh reputation out here and now I'm going to be something like Odious Oliver.

Instead of the expected mocking, the woman rushed over to me and pulled me into an embrace. I was thrown off by the gesture. "You're big huggers out here, huh?"

The proprietor pulled back and I saw her tail flick. "Oh, my apologies. I was just overwhelmed when I imagined losing the ring James proposed with. I think real heroes help with small matters as often as big."

I was feeling a little embarrassed by the attention. I never thought of it that way. The person who lost that ring must have been elated to get it back. I was just doing it to speed run joining the guild. "Thanks. I never thought of it like that. Say? I never got your name."

"Viola," the woman replied. "Would you like some bread? James just baked it fresh."

"Absolutely," I replied. I turned to Lia, "Want to join delivering the letter? I think we can spend some quality time before the lazy pair get up."

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"Who is the letter for? I could help direct you," Viola offered.

"A woodshaper named Amis. Know where he is?" I already knew, but it would look mighty suspicious if I made a direct path there when I was never in town before.

"He's my uncle," Viola replied. "You can find him two streets north of the town square then a little ways to the east. His shop, Amis and Daughter, is easy to spot."

We accepted our bread and then headed out to go deliver the letter to Amis. As we walked, I glanced around the town. Like Leoren, the people here grew their buildings. Unlike Leoren, the buildings weren't trees. They were various types of bushes with tight branches forming walls and roofs. The inn was a large rose bush with small red and pink roses dotting the exterior.

The air had a slightly unpleasant mixture of sweet flowers, outlying farmland fertilizer and animal droppings. In an inversion of Earth history, the larger cities were cleaner since they could afford to produce sanitation systems and paved with stone. Gesper, with its rutted dirt roads, absorbed animal waste and there wasn't a whole lot the residents could do about it.

That wasn't to say the town was a foul cesspit. They didn't toss their waste out of windows and had septic systems. There were a few residents who cast water purification spells each week to keep the place mostly clean.

There were other aspects that made up for the hints of aerial funk. As Lia and I walked toward our destination, we were given morning greetings by everyone we passed. The people were curious about the mostly hairless person strolling around and, unlike the residents of Leoren, didn't satisfy themselves by gossiping from a distance.

I was in heaven. My dormant Golden Retriever instincts came to the fore and I gladly shook hands and made brief small talk as we walked. I showed off my boots to village women and made my snake tattoo "dance" for curious children. I mused how Gesper was a lot less diverse than Leoren. The only people living here were beaver, ram and jaguar-clans. Of course, there were the four squirrel-clan kids at Amis' place.

Lia, on the other hand, was a little overwhelmed. While she could be friendly one-on-one, such as with Viola, living around the press of people in the slums gave her a sense of invisibility. Here, where people were paying attention to her, it triggered a few of her panic instincts. I politely cut my greetings with the towns people short by saying we were on a tight schedule. It also helped the town was small and we had met most of the people already.

We eventually made our way to the Amis and Daughter shapery on the side street where Viola directed us. The building was, unlike the others in town, what I would consider more traditionally built. The main building out front serving as a shop was constructed in a log A-frame style. The A-frame was attached to a two-story log construction home in the rear with a sloping roof covered in flowering sod. The logs were carved with extensive artwork to demonstrate the skill of the shaper operating the establishment.

We entered to a gentle tinkle of the wooden bell above the door. Inside was much more modest than the exterior. Unlike the city, Amis and Daughter had wares out on racks for people to examine since no one would steal them here. The goods were predominantly tools for farming. Hoes, pitchforks, weeders and scythes were the primary products available for sale.

Along the service desk separating the shop floor from the workshop, which was visible beyond, were little displays with machinery parts and pieces of artwork. I wondered how much demand there was for complex machinery in Gesper beyond some of the flour mills. I also spied a little glass display with rings, each amazingly well-crafted. It tickled something I needed to do and this was the best time to do it.

Behind the counter working on a bison-drawn plow was a teenage squirrel-clan girl. She was around 18 years in age and had a striking jaguar-clan pattern in her fur. She was shirtless, wearing only a cloth wrapping around her breasts and leather leggings. She had a pair of thick safety goggles on her face and was cheerfully whistling a tune as she adjusted the blade on the tool. That must be Layla, Jummi's daughter.

I walked up to the counter and saw a service bell. I touched it and willed some of my mana into it. The musical chime echoed over the shop. "Candy gram for Amis!" I called out.

"Dad! Can you get that? I'm in the middle of something," Layla shouted without turning up to look at us.

"Layla!" I heard a tenor voice belt out from a door leading into a back room. "How many times have I told you to put on a blasted shirt?"

"It gets hot in here!" Layla snapped back as she ran a tool across the wooden plow blade. It was a little toasty inside and I didn't have all that fur trapping heat.

"I told you we can't afford a cooling…" Amis came out from the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. He was a stout jaguar-clan man with a face that made me want to ask him out for a few beers to shoot the breeze. "Hero? What brings you in my shop today? It's quite the honor!"

"Heya, I'm Oliver and this is my companion, Lia. I suspect you're Amis," I stated. Then I turned to Layla. "And that must make your name Daughter."

"Haha, very funny," Layla snorted. She then turned to me and also paused. "Dad! The Hero came to our shop!"

"I can see that, Layla. Now get a shirt on," Amis ordered.

Layla ignored it and rushed over the counter. She wasn't that inappropriately dressed. Make the wrap a little smaller and it would have worked as common swimwear at the Orvis beach. She leaned on the counter. "How can I help you today?" Amis pinched his eyes in frustration at his daughter ignoring him.

I pulled the letter out of my pouch and laid it on the counter. "I was asked to deliver this letter to Amis since I was already on the way out here."

Layla's expression instantly shifted to a sneer. "Oh. It's from Aunt Sari. It must be about mom again. You should have just lost it on the way."

"Layla!" Amis growled with a deep rumble. "Don't speak of your mother like that."

"Why? If he's delivering it, he already knows mom's the city slob," Layla squeaked back far less threateningly.

Amis silently pointed a clawed finger toward the back with a tight-lipped expression. Layla stared him down with equal silence as the pair waited to see who would break first. Amis jabbed his finger once again which broke Layla's resolve. She huffed and retreated into the back and out of sight.

After Layla left, Amis' posture deflated. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Since you're personally delivering this, I suspect you know the situation."

"Broad strokes," I replied.

"I'm sorry you're having a hard time," Lia added.

I could see Amis take in a ragged breath. He was struggling with the situation. "Thank you. This is difficult for me. I miss Jummi, but with Layla? I couldn't have the other kids thinking the same."

I tapped the letter. "Then I could be delivering some good news."

Amis' shaking hands reached down and picked up the letter. He examined the front addressing before he slipped a claw under the flap and slit the top open. He extracted the single page and began reading. As his eyes darted over the elegant swirls of Sari's handwriting, his eyes widened then shifted to me. "You helped with this?"

I had no idea what Sari had written in the letter. No, I didn't open it. I do have my standards. "I'm not entirely sure what I helped with," I lied because I did have a pretty good assumption.

"It says you got Jummi to change her ways. She was ashamed after hearing how you lost everything. I'm sorry you had to go through that. You seem better now," Amis replied.

"I ran into a lot of good people. Sure, I'm not at home anymore, but I kinda like it here." I emphasized it by wrapping my arm around Lia's shoulders. She purred briefly in response. Huh, that was interesting.

Amis set the letter down on the counter and smoothed it. "This is hard to believe."

"It's true," I replied after pulling away from Lia and leaning on the counter. "When I first came here, I was kicked out of the castle. I went to Jummi on a recommendation from Willem at the castle. Her shop was, to put it bluntly, a disaster. When I went back last week, the whole place had been cleaned out."

Amis' eyes widened in surprise. "The whole place?"

"I mean, I didn't go in the back or anything, but the entire front was empty. There were just a few podiums with slates showing goods for sale. The floor had a few scrapes, but otherwise it was immaculate," I said.

Amis ran his hand through the short yellow hair on his head. "That's surprising. But why are you here?"

"As odd as it may sound, I owe Jummi a lot. She gave me a fair price on an heirloom from home and lent me an ear during the worst time in my life," I replied. "Plus, uh, she made a pass at me the last time. I noticed she was uncomfortable with it after. I get the feeling she's not great with emotions. That's why I'm here helping since Sari said she wouldn't reach out on her own."

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you accepted," Amis said with a sigh. "We're divorced."

"I don't think she perceives it that way. I think she wants to reconnect," I replied. "Besides, I already found my perfect partner."

Amis closed his eyes and craned his neck upward. He then turned back to me. "I'll go visit. It may take some time since escorts don't come this way often. I also have to finish a few jobs."

"We can keep you company back. We need to get back on the 26th of Jaulis," I offered.

Amis hummed. I could tell he was hesitant about traveling to see his ex. He then relented. "I can make that work. Thanks."

"No troubles. I'd love to see you two work things out. I have a feeling two would be much happier together," I replied. "Now, for my other thing."

"Other thing?" Amis asked with a cock of his head.

I walked over to the display with the rings. "I'd like to see about getting one of these." Lia let out a little gasp when I mentioned the rings.

Amis walked over to the display. "Is there one you'd like?"

I looked over the options and imagined them on Void's finger. None of them quite worked. "I'm really not sure. They don't feel right, you know?"

Amis tapped the glass over the display. "The dark mahogany is always popular."

"Nah, that's insincere. Any jerk can buy a mahogany ring." Mahogany was the diamond ring of this world. Common, boring and expensive for no good reason. I then looked up at Amis with a feeling of embarrassment. "Sorry, you didn't get one for Jummi did you?"

Amis laughed. "Oh no. I made her a ring out of pure white northern birch. It matches her red fur. I understand the need for perfection. Is there a color you're looking for?"

"She looks great in turquoise. I doubt there's a wood like that, though," I said. While I've spent a very long time in this world, learning about trees wasn't something I dedicated effort to.

"You'd be wrong," Amis replied. "I have a block of ice larch in the back. It's what you're looking for."

My eyes lit up. "How much?"

"For you? I'll do it for free," Amis replied.

I was speechless and stood there collecting flies in my mouth for a few seconds. "What? I can't accept that."

Amis waved me off. "It's a small block collecting dust. There's no call for it out here, so it's practically worthless to me. How about we call this your fee to escort me back to Leoren?"

"I'll have to ask the others, but I doubt they'd object," I replied.

"I agree to those terms," Lia added.

I extended my hand. "Let's call this a provisional agreement."

Amis gripped my hand with a firm shake. I liked him even more after his perfect squeeze. He then turned to Lia. "Now to get the lucky lady's measurements."

Lia backed away shaking both hands. "It's not for me. I'm more of his little sister."

Amis nodded. "That makes sense. People usually don't buy the ring with their intended in the room. Didn't want to assume since I don't know how you do things where you came from. Do you have the measurements?"

"Sure do," I replied. Amis pulled out a slate and wrote down Void's measurements. After finalizing the agreement, Lia and I left.

"You have her measurements?" Lia asked. "How did you pull that off?"

I gave her a cryptic smile. "That's a secret men keep to themselves. We have our ways." Lia shook her head in bemusement when I refused to elaborate further.

"When do you plan on asking?" Lia said as we walked toward the field south of town we were going to use for training before heading to the dungeon.

"This is strictly between you and me, little sis. The 29th of Jaulis at 902Mor," I replied.

"That's an oddly specific time." Lia looked up to me curiously.

"901Mor is when the portal appears in the sky. I figure I'll pop the question after I'm certain it's over," I replied. I felt a pang of fear flutter in my chest again. No, push that down. Don't think like that. It'll work this time.

"That's what we're training for. It's easier to beat a cult army than the thing you described coming from the sky," Lia said.

I nodded. "You're right. That's why I regret to inform you I'm going very hard on you today. Your form is not great."

Lia whimpered at my wording. She then steeled her resolve. "Alright. I have to be ready."

"I don't think it'll be that bad," I said. "I have a plan to make it easier on us."

"What's that?" We had just stepped out of the limits of the village and into a nice field of flowers. I saw a pair of Advancement 0 monsters milling in the distance where I planned to hold our session. They were weird sheep looking monsters, grotesque copies of the ram-clan people who had a large population in Gesper. I briefly mused how the only ram-clan person I ever interacted with was the maid in the castle.

"What's your plan?" Lia asked.

"We're gonna let Lisa's people do all the lifting and stand in the back," I explained.

Lia turned to stare at me. "Then why are we going?"

"In case they need some help with the six mages. I'm going to play it as needing to stay back in case Lisa's team loses for future loop intel. You three are only going in if it looks like we're going to fail," I said. "I'll brief the two sleepy heads when they get here."

Lia nodded. "I like it."

I smiled. "Good. Now, what was that purr back at Amis' shop?"

Lia coughed. "Oh, you heard that. I was just happy you said you liked being with us."

I ruffled her head and she giggled. "Always. Now, do you want to get a little practice cutting up a pair of ugly sheep monsters?"

Lia peered across the field at the creatures. They were bleating at each other and ejecting some kind of nasty spittle. They had tiny black horns coming out of their filthy brown tangle of wool. They wouldn't be much trouble considering all they had were little sharp teeth and hooves to fight with. Plus, the spittle would vanish once the mana core was pulled.

Lia pulled her sword from her back. "I think I can handle them."

I tapped my chin. "Now that I think of it, leave one for me."

"You left your bow at the inn," Lia replied.

I smiled. "Nah, I feel like rasslin' one."

Lia did her best impression of a fish laying on a dock. "What is ras-lin?"

I dropped my shirt in the grass and unhooked my rapier. "You'll see. I think you'll like the idea. We even have a version where we grease up a pig."

Lia looked at me like she wasn't going to like it. I didn't mind. I wanted to have a little fun while waiting for Void and Tizek to show up. I stepped forward and belted out a yell to catch the sheep monsters' attention. Time to get busy.

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