Before they left the room, Tess absorbed Mama Bear’s core.

  “Oh, nice!” Tess exclaimed, looking at her haul, “I’ll take that. Give me another couple of minutes to shuffle around the Attributes, I got some upgrades.”

  Ker smiled at her exuberance, leaning back on the wall. “Take your time, kid. We’re here for you, not me.”

  A short series of combinations later, she had a few new Attributes to work with. Most notably, when she created Bipedal Adaption from the Bipedal Adaption (Minor) of the bear cores she had, she was able to combine it with Quadrupedal Adaption to make another new Attribute.

  She put Facultative Biped, Keen Nose, and Sharp Fangs onto Mama Bear to store them, keeping Sharp Claws on herself and transferring Mother’s Might to fill her latest empty slot. “All done.” She said, “You ready?”

  Ker pushed himself back onto his feet. “Absolutely. It shouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours, so we should be done in time to greet Ellie when she gets done with school.”

  And he was right. Being able to just run straight through the floors with Ker ignoring all the monsters outright and Tess being ignored by the monsters meant that it only took around ten minutes to clear the dungeon, including the Mama Bear fight.

  So, nine runs and a level for both Tess and Monster Breeder later, they were back at the Reward Crystal room, Tess already placing her hand on the crystal and claiming her prize.

  Tess let out a sigh, stretching. “Well, that was…something.” She said, “Better than the slime dungeon, that’s for sure.”

  “Might well be a speed record.” Ker said, smiling. “Well, maybe not quite, there are a few people who compete for the fastest times on dungeons, but it’s almost certainly one for your level. Discounting the Mama Bear fight, anyway, you’d be disqualified for having me help, even if it is just tanking.”

  “Eh, whatever.” She replied, retracting her claws and exiting the room with Ker. “Not really that important to me. Let’s just turn in our request and go say hi to everyone.”

  The turn in process was basically the same as picking the request up. Graham just did some typing on his keyboard, handed them some money, and then sent them on their way.

  “Man, personal receptionists are nice.” Ker said, “It usually takes at least twice as long as that, and that’s not even counting the time we would have spent waiting in line. I could get used to this.”

  “It is nice.” Tess agreed, “But we still have like…twenty minutes before Ellie gets home, so what do we do until then?”

  “I figured we could chat with your grandpa, and maybe the rest of The Rumors if they’re hanging about. We were going to meet up here around the time Ellie was supposed to get off, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re here already.”

  “Let’s go talk with Gramps, then.” Tess said, “I don’t want to walk around looking for people right now.”

  So, the two made their way to Gramps’ office, where Ker knocked politely. “Guildmaster, do you have time?”

  “Come on in, not doing much of import!” Gramps replied, and the two let themselves in. “Ah, Tess, done with the dungeon for now?” He asked, setting aside some papers, “Ellie said she skipped out a little early to come check on you, so she should be here any second now. Anyway, how was the dungeon? Get anything good?”

  Tess collapsed into one of the couches. “Yeah, I got a Skill called Parasitizer from the Challenge, and from the regular Rewards Crystal I got the Mythical version of Return to Sender and the Epic version of Status Tennis. Also got a bunch of cool stuff from monster cores.”

  Gramps typed something into the computer he was at. “Good. I’ve made a note of that, I’ll go back and update the dungeon’s info sheet later.”

  “I thought you needed more than one person’s testimony to update those?” Tess asked, frowning.

  “Usually, yes. It’s that or a trustworthy source, and you count as one of those. I’ve gone through the trouble of linking your status bands to mine so I can see if there’s ever a problem, and through that I can check and see what new Skills or Classes you get. All it requires is for you to tell me where stuff came from, and if I trust you, which I do, I’ll update everything. And, since I’m the Guildmaster, I’m free to update listings as needed, no need for verification. Well, beyond a couple of trusted assistants asking me why changes are made, but they’ll understand me making sure the lists are accurate to what my grandkids got.”

  “Um, sure, I guess.” Tess replied, “I’ve got a bunch of cores, do you want those now or…?”

  Gramps reached down, came back up with a bag, and tossed it to Tess. “Unload them all in here. I’ll count them up later and transfer the funds to your account.” As Tess began moving everything over, he continued. “So, you decided to go for unarmed, eh? Care to explain the reasoning behind that?”

  “I got this.” Ker said, “I realized that she would likely be picking up quite a few natural weapons from cores, so I hypothesized that she would be able to use unarmed Skills with natural weapons. We did some further testing and found that she could specify criteria on her luck to get information she normally wouldn’t be able to get, such as the sex of a monster or whether or not unarmed Skills would work with…” He trailed off, eyes widening.

  “Oh goodness, I just realized the kind of information we could get with that. You could lay bare the world’s secrets by asking yes or no questions with monster drops. That’s…”

  Everyone paused suddenly. A window had appeared in front of Tess, and from everyone’s gazes it seemed they had been given windows as well.

  “That’s a disappointment, but I suppose it’s to be expected.” Gramps said, “Still, it was a good thought.” He opened his mouth to say more, but cut off, looking to the side. “Oh, looks like Ellie’s here.”

  Sure enough, a door had appeared on the wall, which opened to reveal Ellie, still in her school uniform. “Hey, grandpa, where’s Te–” She stopped, seeing Tess. She flew through the doorway, slamming the door shut behind her and hurtling towards Tess. “Teeeeessssssss!” She cried, catching the other girl in a big hug. “I was worried about you! How are you doing? Can I help with anything?”

  Tess wriggled around but was unable to escape Ellie’s iron grip. “I’m fine. I’ve just been dungeon diving with Ker.”

  “What new Attributes did you get?! Any cool Skills?” Ellie asked excitedly.

  “Um, I’m going to need you to let go if you want to see.”

  “Ehehe, right.” Ellie giggled nervously, finally letting Tess free from her embrace.

  “It’s mostly stuff you can’t see, but watch this.” Tess, said, extending her claws. They were up to a full three inches of length and were of a size that clearly couldn’t be hiding in Tess’s hands, so Tess was assuming that it was some sort of extradimensional shenanigans instead of her claws truly retracting and extending.

  For her part, Ellie’s eyes were practically glowing. “Did you kill some animal monster?! Please tell me you can get its ears and tail!”

  Tess shrugged. “I can, but I don’t see the point. It’d maybe help my hearing, but I don’t need the tail getting in the way of things.”

  Ellie grabbed Tess’s shoulders, looking directly into Tess’s eyes. “It’s about the principle of the thing! You can’t not try it out, you have to do it at least once!”

  Tess, taken aback by Ellie’s sudden intensity tried desperately to find something to say but couldn’t get anything but “uhs” and “ums” out.

  “Fine, fine. Tell you what, we’ll have a sparring match, if I win, you have to try it out, and if I lose, I have to do any one thing you want.”

  “I-I don’t know about that, Ellie. Now that we have stats and stuff, we’re not really on a level playing field, and if I try and use Skills to close the gap…I don’t really have a…nonlethal setting.”

  “The guild keeps a Gauntlet of Challenge on hand for times like this.” Ker supplied, “People using it will enter a fight that, if it’s not interrupted by an outsider, will restore the participants to the state they were in before the fight after it’s over. If anyone would die during the fight, they just get immediately restored and taken out of the fight.”

  “I’ll lend it to you if you want, but not now.” Gramps said, “The rest of The Rumors are going to be waiting.”

  Ellie pointed dramatically at Tess. “Just you wait, I will make you try the animal ears, even if I have to fail a thousand times in the process. My heart will never waver!”

  Tess scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. “Yikes. If it means that much to you, I’ll try it for you when we get home.”

  Ellie caught Tess up in another firm hug. “Yay! You’re the best!” She squealed, pulling her friend even closer.

  “Um, are you…OK? You’re a lot more…touchy feely than usual.” Tess asked, gently pushing Ellie off.

  Ellie let go, leaping backwards. “Um, oh, uh, sorry. I wasn’t thinking and was just treating you how I would treat other girls.”

  Tess frowned. “Are you sure? I’ve never seen you this intimate with your friends.”

  Ellie paused for half a second. “Have you ever seen me try to console them?”

  “Well, no, but –”

  “There you go. Let’s go meet up with The Rumors, they’re waiting.” Elli replied hurriedly, grabbing Tess’s hand and pulling her up.

  Ker and Gramps shared a look that Tess couldn’t quite place the meaning of, and then Ker nodded. “She’s right, let’s go figure out what’s on the itinerary. I’m sure Alice and Jin are around here somewhere, no point in wasting time. Freelancers choose their own hours, but Ellie has school in the morning, so we’ve only got so much time.”

  “Only for like…half a year.” Ellie said, “Then I think I’m going to work on freelancing full time. Uh, as long as Tess is, that is. It’s no fun if she’s not going too.”

  “I haven’t decided yet.” Tess said, “It’s…not so bad right now. Better than I was expecting, but I haven’t tried anything big yet, and I haven’t even thought about making a pet. We’ll see how it is after I try those.”

  Ellie squeezed Tess’s hand, which she was still holding. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support you, all the way.”

  Tess blushed, looking away.

  Unsure if Fortune could even hear her thoughts, Tess cast them towards her anyway. Don’t call me cute, it feels…weird. Besides, don’t you have god things to be doing? Something other than being my peanut gallery?

  Tess was only paying half attention to her surroundings as she was led into the hallway, focusing more on her conversation with Fortune. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m pretty sure my chances with her are at an all-time low. And what do you mean “the boss”? Aren’t gods as high up as they get? Is there a head god or something?

  Tess sighed and gave up on the subject. She was shocked back into reality, however, as Ellie once again squeezed her hand.

  “It’ll be fine.” She soothed, “If you ever have any questions about being a girl or anything then my door’s always open. Come wake me up at 4 A.M. for all I care, you’re important to me.”

  Tess turned to say something but stopped when she noticed how red Ellie’s face was. “Are you sure you’re OK? You’re all red now. Do you have a fever or something?”

  Ellie let go of Tess’s hand, turning so Tess couldn’t see her face. “I-I’m fine!” She stammered, “Just getting used to the temperature again. It’s throwing me going from winter in Mael to what feels like summer here. Nothing to worry about.”

  “You two, stop flirting.” Ker said, “We’re almost there.”

  Ellie jumped. “I-it’s just girl talk! N-nothing flirty about it!”

  Ker rolled his eyes. “Alright then.” He opened a door, leading them into a small room much like the one The Rumors took their Fatebinder’s Oath in. Now that she was slightly more focused, she was able to see that the walls were lined with a sort of couch or cushioned seating not dissimilar to the ones they had in restaurants, all around a table with a bunch of gear piled on it.

  “Oh, you’re early.” Jin said, standing up. “How’re things?”

  “Going smoothly.” Ker confirmed. “I went through the first two Rewards Crystals and the Challenge of Cub’s Den with Tess. How are things on your end?”

  “Alice and I have mostly been theorycrafting what would be good for Tess to get. Uh, I’m afraid we haven’t been putting as much work in for you, Ellie, but that’s because we can’t really pick and choose what you get. For you it’s mostly going to be just teaching you how to fight monsters and other freelancer stuff. Oh, Ker, mind giving me the details on what Tess got while you two were out? I need to know so we can re-adjust the plan.”

  While the two of them talked, Alice walked awkwardly over to Tess and Ellie. “Hey. I…said some things I shouldn’t have yesterday. I was jealous and lashed out, I wasn’t considering how you would have been feeling. Sorry.”

  “It’s…fine. It wasn’t the worst thing to happen yesterday, so it wasn’t really sticking in my mind.”

  Alice frowned. “Just because it wasn’t the worst doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad. How can I make it up to you?”

  Tess shrugged. “I dunno. Again, it wasn’t really important to me, so I haven’t thought about it at all. If you’re really set on it, maybe just take me dungeon diving on your day off or something?”

  “Yeah, I can do that. Come back on Friday and I’ll take you on a trip to some more out of the way places to get some quick Rewards Crystals, just the two of us.”

  “Um, can I come too?” Ellie asked.

  “Sorry, but no can do. The guildmaster’s already told us in no uncertain terms to not let you come with us on school days. We’ll both be in hot water if you do. Besides, if I’m doing this to make it up to Tess, then she deserves my undivided attention.”

  “Fine.” Ellie pouted, “But let the record show that I would prefer to be going. I don’t want Tess to get way stronger than me and leave me behind.”

  Alice raised an eyebrow. “That’s not happening for a long time. If she wants any shot at getting stronger than you then she’s going to have to absorb a lot of really strong cores. She’ll only ever beat you out with the number of her abilities and the strength and synergy of them. Without that, she’s got no shot at beating you. Well, provided you don’t stall at the level you are now, but seeing as how you’ll be gaining a few levels I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

  “My stats aren’t going to be better than yours.” Tess said. “Ever. You’ve already got like…twice my stats. I’d have to gain like ten more levels before we’re even. Every level you get is five I have to get, if it’s just raw stats we’re talking about.”

  Ellie winced. “I…forgot. Sorry.”

  “It’s not like you’ll never get the Rewards Crystals I’m taking her to get,” Alice added, “Just think of it as a way to keep you two relatively even while we’re training you. Even Fortune’s blessing isn’t enough to completely narrow the difference in raw firepower between you two. It doesn’t matter what she does if she can’t hurt you at all.”

  So, it’s you deciding what’s best when I leave it to my luck to get me the “best” possible outcome? Tess asked, Ker and I were wondering about that earlier, but you didn’t answer.

  “Um, guys?” Tess said hesitantly, causing everyone to stop and look at her. “So…sorta bad news, I guess. Fortune just contacted me, she said she already has this whole plan for what she is going to be giving me. Apparently, Heroes and War, who I’m assuming are other gods, have mapped it all out, so you guys don’t need to. They’ve left me two picks every dungeon, but they want me to just get what I feel like with those, so I think we should probably leave it to them.”

  Jin raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to say I know better than them, so I think you’re right.”

  Alice groaned. “Well, there go a few hours of planning. Whatever, let’s just get back to dungeon crawling. You were doing Cub’s Den, right? Might as well go work on finishing that off.”

  And so Jin and Alice picked up the gear that was on the table, Ellie put her gear on, and the group left for Cub’s Den.