"Who we are? We're just a couple of mercs." Karl states, not willing to give any more information than that.

Mak crosses his arms with a sarcastic look on his face, "Is that so? Word is the Mercs that fucked the Powder Gangers are rolling down this part of the Mojave. I even found some limbs next to the road... That was you guys right?" ​​

...

"Yeah it was. I wanna ask about your job though, there isn't much to take from Vaults unless you know what you're looking for, this one especially." Afton asks.

"Eh? Some blond bird from the strip needs authentic vault suits... Don't pay too much but the Crimson Caravan holds a grudge..." he says.

Afton raises a brow, from what he'd heard the Crimson Caravan was as professional as you can get. He wondered what Mark had done to piss them off. Regardless, he knew how to take advantage of a situation. "Well, we've killed every hostile creature down there, maybe get something for doing your job for you."

"And maybe you can suck my cock, kid. We can barely afford to feed ourselves with the shit jobs we've been getting. Even the NCR don't wanna hire us. Last man who tried to extort me had his head replace his ass before he was disintegrated." Mark growls, in a low tone.

Karl steps in between them to try and mediate the sudden hostility, "Woah there, kid just wants to get what he's owed. Can't really blame him after the nearly hundred giant mutated rats we were forced to kill down there."

Mark just sighs, "I don't mean to threaten you but, this is a matter of life and death. A single cap lost is one of my men starved. But, if you've managed to make our job easier and let us conserve ammo, I'm willing to owe you are favour..."

Afton just nod, favour's were iffy rewards... Depending on who owed you they could be the best, or the worst. Having the president of the NCR or Caesar owe you a favour could save you from certain death or imprisonment. Comparatively, the favour from a homeless man would be worth less than dirt. If they could not feed, house, or even clothe themselves, what good were they to you?

He wasn't able to judge how useful a favour from Mark would be, but he was willing to bet the man valued his honor more than most things. It was something about his character, speech, and stance... He just seemed like an in-general good guy, whether it was just an act or a facade was difficult to tell.

Afton decides to just take it as if a favour from the man was valuable, not point upsetting him by disregarding it. Who knows, having the leader of a mercenary good owe you might be useful one day. "You sure? Seems like a bit much for just helping you with a job... I heard favours in the Mojave were worth their weight in gold."

Mark just snorts at him, "Where'd you hear that dogshit? A favour in the Mojave is a future betrayal, usually. I'm a man of my word, so if you even need help in the future, just ask... Hopefully me and my men'll be in a better state than now." he says holding his hand out.

Afton shakes his and nods at the man, "Good to know honour isn't completely dead in the wastes. Though, I'm curious what you could've done to annoy the Crimson Caravan.

"Uhh... Well, they hired us to do something I wasn't willing to do. Secretive kinda shit, contract forced us to do it but I tore that shit up, didn't realise they'd added a clause for breaching it..." he admits with says with a slight blush.

Karl nods sagely, "Yeah, fuckin' bureaucrats."

Mark laughs, "Damn straight. With them at the helm I doubt the NCR'll last all that much longer, 'specially with the Legion hammerin' at the gates... Whatever, let's not talk about those fucker's or I'm liable to shoot something. Why don't you guys make camp with us?"

The group send glances at each other before eventually shrugging, "Sure. Might as well."

Afton, Karl, and Boone are still a bit wary of the men, always ready to draw their weapons should something happen, but after an hour of 'Jolly Cooperation' the tensions calmed. Karl had even offered to share some whisky with Mark, the Dowager leader not having drunk alcohol in a while due to how poor they actually are.

Afton keeps Lucky and That Gun hidden in his sleeping bag as he starts to drift off to sleep, unfortunately, just as darkness takes him he feels the familiar feeling of time stopping. A notification blowing any tiredness he had away.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 20]

Huh, it feels like the times where he levels up are coming increasingly more random... Maybe it's like a checkpoint system? Or it won't appear unless he's completely safe... Or feels completely safe?... Whatever, thinking too hard is gonna give him a headache.

Right now he's got 15 skillpoints to spend, he's already got Medicine to 76 so it isn't that far until maxing. Might as well just max that and then look for something else to put points into.

Now, onto the new Perks he's able to take...

[Explorer] : All locations are marked on your map. This, might be an overpowered Perk. Outside the game you'd be limited to the map the developers designed for you... But in real life? He'd essentially be given a complete map of the world with specific locations marked. He'd not need to search for a location if he took this Perk as it'd all be located in his Pipboy... Though, he could always pick up the Perk later on, it wasn't immediately useful to him right now.

[Grim Reaper's Sprint] : A kill in V.A.T.S. restores 20 AP immediately. A good Perk, but wholly unnecessary since he only ever used VATS for recognizance.

[Solar Powered] : +2 Strength and +1 HP per second during the day. The 'superman' Perk. It was very overpowered to say the least. The +2 strength would put him at the peak possible human physique during the day, not to mention the +1 HP per second that'd visibly close wounds at a rapid rate... To understand how broken this was, 30 HP was the amount a regular Stimpack would heal... A medical device designed to heal wounds as quickly as possible was equivalent to 30 seconds of standing still with this Perk...