Novus was filled with excited energy as she lept from bed in her small rented room. Today she would be working with the Mud again. Ever since he had reassured her in the dungeon, she had been feeling strange new emotions for the golem.

She pushed down the fluttering emotion in her stomach for a moment. It wouldn't do to be slovenly. Just as her master had taught her, she neatly made her bed. After carefully checking the condition of her equipment, which she had thoroughly cleaned the night before, she carefully donned them. Respect for your equipment is respect for yourself.

The girl took one more look around her cramped apartment. In places, the aged and unpainted wood splintered, and the furniture was of a design greatly outdated. But it was clean, and well organized. It was a place she could be proud of.

Heading out into the hostels common area, she made sure to lock the door behind her. She had nothing worth stealing in the room, but it was still the prudent thing to do. With a determined look and her chest held high, she headed out to meet again with her trusted boss, Mud.

"Do you think I should have Novus killed? Her performance has been unreliable in critical moments." Mud asked in his typical monotone towards Cob.

While Mud had originally been unsure of cooperating with the human who had previously done the golem harm, Mud had found Cob's cold logic and lack of moral compunctions useful for exchanging ideas.

"No, she's just like that because she's inexperienced. She seems to be loyal to you, and we have dirt on her now if she tries to split." After a moment, Cob continued. "If she tries to leave your group, obviously you should kill her. She's the type to give a formal resignation before disappearing."

"I understand your point, but If she continues being an unpredictable element, she may need to be eliminated."

At that time, the subject of their conversation arrived. Marching with perfect posture down the long road towards them, was Novus. Spotting the two sitting at the coffee shop, Novus broke into a light jog.

"Hey guys, hope I didn't keep you waiting." Looking over towards Mud, her eyebrows rose with surprise. "Mud, did you get bigger?"

"Yes." Mud answered simply.

"Um... why did you get bigger?" The girl shifted slightly uncomfortably.

"My species has ascended. I am now an Earth Golem. Additionally, I have begun integrating earth into my body with a rare skill."

"Oh, so you'll get even bigger in the future?" While Cob already knew about the species change, his interest was piqued by the last part. "So how big can you get? What are the limits here?"

A flat look covered Novus' face. "Oh, so you're one of those people, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean? What sort of people?" A combination of confusion and offense crossed the scarred man's face.

"Obsessed with theorizing about leveling and skills. People who are more worried about how strong somebody will be in ten years than how strong they are right now." Distaste was clear on the young woman's face.

"I am willing to disclose the details of my growth ability. It may be relevant to future tactical choices." At Mud's proclamation, Cob looked smugly at the annoyed Novus.

"My absorption rate is limited by the suitability of the input material. Currently, I only have easy access to common dirt, which is slow to process. I must acquire powdered Earth elemental to increase in mass rapidly."

Cob sat back and crossed his arms. "Yeah, no way in the abyss we're getting our hands on that any time soon."

Novus looked around at the outdoor seating area of the coffee shop, empty save for their own table. "Where's Jabrax the Red? Isn't she joining us?"

"She has other tasks to complete today on her own." At that, Mud dropped down from his chair and began walking towards the direction of the dungeon. "We will now report to the Delver's Association and begin today's tasks. The human break is complete."

Cob quickly stood up while stuffing the remaining half of a scone into his mouth and washing it down with half a cup of coffee. Novus was already walking a half pace behind and to the left of Mud.

Looking down at the golem, the swordswoman couldn't help commenting on his bobbing head. "Mud, you're actually bobbing and swaying while you walk. It's weird how... normal it looks." Mud didn't reply.

Looking up at the sign, Jabrax let out a sigh. Ingeit's Blacksmith. Real Dwarven Craftsmanship! Pushing open the door, a light chime rang out.

"Coming! Just a moment, ay!" A boisterous voice echoed from the back room of the shop. A moment later, a short demi-human with a metal artificial arm entered into the room. "Hello there miss, how can Ingeit help- ach!" The blacksmith's introduction was cut short as he spotted the mass of metal held in Jabrax's hands.

A jumble of chains, blades, and a large sphere of metal. Half the chains appeared to have been cut clean through, leaving them separate from the rest of the device. Additionally, a large gash was visible on the top of the metal sphere.

Running around the counter, Ingeit grabbed the heap of metal from the woman's hands, the customer completely forgotten in his distress. "How could this happen? I only made this a few days ago! And with top quality materials too..."

Although Jabrax had a general distaste for all of the Archon's creations, she could still appreciate a skilled artisan. While dwarves were still the enemies of demonkind, a bit of respect was due to those that create great works. "It is no fault of yours, smith. The opponent was simply beyond what the weapon was designed to take."

A look of horror crossed the dwarves face. "That lad, Mud, did he...?"

"He's fine, it was in the tournament." The dwarf let out a sigh of relief at that news. "He wants you to repair this weapon. It has been very useful, but the broken chains have limited functionality."

At this, the dwarf nodded slightly. It was a shame, but if the enemy was simply too strong for the materials then it couldn't be helped. Still, he would make sure to increase the durability further when he recast it.

"Also..." Ingeit looked up from his examination of the damaged chains as the girl spoke up. "Mud has some additional changes he would like to make." From a pouch on her side, she produced a thick bundle of papers, which she passed to the smith.

Ingeit flipped through the pages. Having already worked with Mud's blue-prints, it was much easier to decode their meaning this time. What he saw varied from standard, to slightly confusing, to concerning. Among the most simple was the addition of two extremely long chains for increased range. The confusing was the addition of large numbers of extremely thin cords. Concerning was the several pages of amateurish rune script to be inscribed on the weapon.

"These runes... to be honest, they're just bad. This reads like someone who had no practical experience with enchanting that read about it in a book. It's more likely to kill the user than any enemy."

Jabrax waved a hand dismissively and headed for the door. "He says he trusts your judgment. Just do whatever you think is best, I'm sure it will work out. Just get it done by tomorrow morning."

"I'm willing to give a good deal for my friend Mud, but this is going to be expensive." With a vague affirmation, Jabrax left the shop. Ingeit scoffed. Even if Mud was a friend, if he couldn't pay his bill he would see how well the mountain people can hold a grudge.

Still, he could trust Mud, for all the golem had done for him. Besides, these new blueprints offered many interesting ideas for the Chain Spider project.

After arriving at the Delver's Association, the group was assigned with various tasks around the city. Cob and Novus were assigned to sweep the streets for any civilians who had not yet moved to their assigned shelters. The Association had somehow found out that Mud had a spell for repairing structures, and the golem spent nearly the entire day repairing damage from the previous day's overflow.

During this time, Mud practiced the concept it had learned the previous day from Jabrax. Stretching its will outward, it attempted to impart the Ideal of Home onto the ambient pure mana in the air. Unfortunately, the task was easier said than done. Time and again, Mud was forced to simply use its own mana pool to complete the task.

The problem was magnified by the fact that ambient mana was naturally less near a dungeon, or so Jabrax had claimed. Still, with consistent efforts throughout the day, Mud finally managed to cast a weak spell using only external mana.

[External Mana Manipulation Skill obtained at level 1]

The spell was weak, and barely repaired a tiny crack on the building Mud was repairing. Still, it was a start. For the remainder of the day, Mud diligently practiced its new skill.