“They’re just leveling up soooo slowly,” I complained. Pulling up my character sheet, I eyed the two lines with a glare.

Archery: 9

Spears: 8

After a full week of practice, I’d just baaarely managed to squeeze out another level of Archery. Spears, on the other hand, adamantly refused to budge.

Four figures nodded at my words, none of them seeming particularly surprised at the admission. I’d finally managed to schedule some time for Cal and I to chat with our Drawgin dungeon delving pals, and presently, we all sat around a hunk of relatively flat stone we’d found amongst the ruins. We were using it as a table, as, courtesy of Barb, each of us was sporting a mug of tea.

“Well what did you expect?” Cal replied. “Going from 8 to 9 is harder than going from 1 to 2. Plus, all the other levels you earned from fights, from training with an instructor, or from the tricked-out Drawgin training facilities. You think shooting some targets in the woods is going to replace that? Feel like you’re getting used to being spoiled here.”

The rest nodded once again, and while it was probably true, I was having trouble taking Cal seriously today. We’d chosen a location a fair distance away from the buildings, but she was still worried that someone from Ftheran might spot her and recognize her. As such, she’d only agreed to leave the forest after putting on her holy priestess getup.

Now that I knew her better, the outfit seemed so incongruous to her actual personality, that I could barely keep myself from chuckling whenever I saw her. The main factor that allowed me to keep a straight face was that I knew if I didn’t, I’d probably get knifed.

Still, I could understand her sentiment a bit. If she didn’t use her class skills, no one would know she was the Shadow of Ftheran, but even past that, she had real concerns: She wasn’t keen on the folks from Drawgin knowing that she was a princess, nor did she want her own people to realize she wasn’t some perfect holy robot.

I could vaguely relate, as I was dreading what would happen if one of the shadows spilled my secret about being a Protagonist — if the fighters found out, I’d likely be fending off challenges all day long. Thankfully, neither of our worries had come to pass as of yet.

Barb pulled me from my thoughts, jumping off of Cal’s assertion. “Calilah has the right of it, I’m afraid. Though if you are heavily set on your current path, I’m sure you could manage it faster through some sparring. We’re certainly not too busy these days — none of us would mind a duel or two.” He punctuated his statement with a muted clink as he set his mug of tea down onto the makeshift stone table.

My brows furrowed, not at his words, but at his actions. I readily agreed to take him up on his offer, but deciding that I’d complained enough, I broached the subject that was really on my mind.

“Barb, level with me. Your class isn’t related to tea in any way is it?” The man seemed to have a limitless supply of tea leaves, complete with a self-heating kettle and enchanted mugs which kept the beverage at a perfect temperature. It was perhaps one of the most over-the-top displays I’d seen thus far, made even more apparent by our less-than-refined settings.

He chuckled and took another sip. “I’m afraid it’s just a passion of mine, is all. I find that I’m not overly bothered by the ruins or the dark sky, but can you imagine going a full month without a cup of tea? A horrifying ordeal best left not dwelt on. I only regret that I lacked the foresight to bring any milk or sugar for you all, as I tend to drink mine plain.”

At this, Kex took the opportunity to lock eye contact with the Battle Barber before scooping up some dirt and chucking it into her mug. “Don’t feel bad, Barb. Lots of free flavor all around us, see?” She stirred the tea-soaked soil with a finger, transforming it into a muddy lump which sank to the bottom of the cup.

It was either a testament to their friendship or the sign of an incredibly high Acting skill, but Barb didn’t even bat an eye. “Thank you Kexstella. I appreciate you saying that.”

From there, the conversation shifted into a host of pleasant trivialities and updates. The fighters, as it turned out, were settling in surprisingly well. They’d set up make-shift tournaments of their own, and the city’s ambiance didn’t seem to keep them from their training. Thankfully, they also seemed to greatly enjoy the bathhouse, even if it was the only solid attraction the city could currently boast.

Many had even taken to helping the shadows with their hunting, greatly reducing the load on them. In fact, with their help, the rate at which food was coming out of the forest would have almost certainly been untenable if not for magical hijinks: Between one of Hartha’s class skills — Forest’s Bounty — and the aid of Elphaea, animals and edible plants were growing at an entirely unrealistic rate.

As for Elphaea herself, it was actually due to the dryad that we’d chosen today as the day to meet up. After a few more cups of tea and some light banter, the expected notification finally rolled through.

Congratulations! Your city has built a Bar.

Note, due to the method of construction, this building has been upgraded to Dryad Bar.

For adding a Rare building to your settlement, you gain 5 Prestige.

The quality of the building is: Great

“It’s ready!” I shouted. All four of my companions instantly knew what I was referring to, and each looked excited to finally see the bar in its completion. After cleaning up from our tea party of sorts, we started off in the bar’s direction, and I examined the details further.

The following bonuses will be applied to your building based on its quality and the manner in which it was made.

Great bonus:

Increased durability.

+5 City Morale

All bar goers are less likely to get angry drunk while inside the bar.

Special bonus: Dryad’s blessing.

This bar has been partially built and partially grown by a dryad. Powerful life mana naturally flows through it, rejuvenating those within. Instead of feeling hungover, all bar goers will feel alive and refreshed after any alcohol wears off.

If I’d still been drinking Barb’s tea, I might have done a spit take at the notification. This was amazing! It was kind of a shame I didn’t see myself living in Emer’Thalis for too much longer — if it hadn’t been for the whole “dead, dark wasteland” thing, I would have built my house right next to the bar.

I knew I was far too young to be complaining about getting old, but even though I was just in my mid-twenties, my hangovers were several orders of magnitude worse than they’d been years ago. Alcohol that not only prevented hangovers, but actually made you feel good afterwards? Possibly a recipe for a lot of drinking problems throughout the city, but so far, I’d count it as a win!

While my thoughts were more booze related, Barb’s were running on a different track. “I must confess, I find myself curious to meet an actual dryad,” he hummed. “Do dryad vines count as hair, do you think? I wonder if she’d think it rude were I to ask to cut them…” His hand darted down to his side and fished out a small set of scissors from a pouch. He absentmindedly snipped them a few times with a far-off look.

“Mm. Bet she knows a lot about mud. Lots of mud in a forest. Hope she puts it in her drinks.” Kex joined Barb in his far-off stare, a grin plastered across her face.

For my part, I shuddered. Belatedly, I realized that I didn’t know what the culinary preferences of a dryad were. I really hoped Kex was off the mark about the mud, at least.

While Barb and Kex shared their thoughts on the matter, Jason remained silent. Not wanting to leave him out, I whispered a question to the scaled, party-hat wearing man. “Hey bud. You good? Been a little quiet.”

In response, he beamed at me with a wide, gatory smile. “Never better! I don’t always have a lot to say, so sometimes I just like to sit and listen to my friends talk, you know? Nice just to hear everyone’s voices.”

That was… surprisingly wholesome? I made a mental note to try to get to know the man a bit better, time permitting. Even with his quirks, out of everyone I’d met so far, he struck me as the one with the least need for therapy. It was a particularly impressive feat given the number of monsters I’d personally seen try to kill him in our dungeon runs.

With a bit more walking, the five of us eventually made our way to the site of the city’s newest building. Despite the fact that the bar was now open for business, the area was nearly deserted save for a few builders: Elphaea had gotten annoyed at everyone buzzing around her building, so she’d banned anyone but the builders from the area until it was completed. I’d heard that the few people who’d tried to skirt that rule had been ejected from the premises, courtesy of some very forceful vines.

As I was the only one besides the builders to get the notification for the building’s completion, the area lacked the fanfare that the bathhouse had received. Considering the bar wouldn’t remotely fit 500 people, however, that suited us just fine.

“Honestly, it looks kind of bizarre, doesn’t it?” Cal took in the sight of the bar, clearly unsure of it. “I think… I think I like it? Seems on brand at least.”

Silently, I agreed with her on both counts. Unlike the bathhouse, the bar had been built completely out of wood. Although built might not have been the perfect word in this case.

True, there were a number of features that made it clear that the builders had been involved — a wooden door, smoothly polished wooden planks — but as for the rest of the structure, it looked as though it had been organically grown from the forest floor. Considering who its owner was, I imagined that was exactly what had happened, too.

Four thick tree trunks stood at the corners of the rectangular building, shooting upwards before erupting into dense foliage. Their branches twisted outwards and sought one another out, forming a vined and verdant latticework that served as the building’s roof.

An old memory came to mind, all the way back from high school. I’d visited a friend’s place while she was celebrating sukkot, and she’d shown me around her family’s sukkah. If perhaps slightly less supernatural looking, its roof was oddly akin to the bar’s.

Huh. I don’t think I’ve thought of that in years, at least.

Having little desire to dwell too much on Earth memories, I took in the rest of the structure.

Based on the height of it all, either the bar had an extremely tall ceiling, or, more likely, the latticework roof was actually the ceiling of a second floor. Between each trunk was a more standard assortment of dark-tinged wooden planks, although they appeared to be melded together to some degree. Roots rimmed the building, and the walls were partially covered in moss and vines, making the entire bar look as if it were one living entity.

Looking far more out of place, a massive wooden still sat off to the side. Who amongst the city’s residents had made it, I wasn’t sure, but apparently Emer’Thalis now boasted its own moonshine.

“Tess and friends. Hello, young ones.” An airy voice susurrated through the surrounding forest, and following the sound of it, I caught sight of Elphaea stepping out from a nearby tree. She eyed the five of us casually and with a faint smile, as if our presence amused her. “You are the first save for Foreman Tuk and his ilk. Come inside; I believe a toast is being made.”

None of us needed to be told twice, and moments later, I opened the door to the bar, immediately struck by a number of important details.

As I’d guessed, the building had two floors, with a wooden spiral staircase leading upwards. Unsurprisingly, the wooden theme held true inside, and all the stools, shelves, and the bar itself were half grown, half carved from dark-veined wood. Despite this, a high variance between dark woods and light woods kept it from feeling monotonous. Coupled with the dim lighting of some luminescent moss and mana lamps the overall effect was quite pleasant, somewhere in between sultry cocktail bar and fairy grotto.

Much more pressingly, just as Elphaea had noted, the occupants of the room were in the midst of a toast. A visibly tipsy woman stood on the bar with a wooden tankard full of what I assumed to be moonshine. Her focus was on the patrons of the bar, and she shouted out while gesturing animatedly.

“To new beginnings and fresh starts!” she yelled, a chorus of cheers following her words. “To having this moment where all of our problems — all the shit in our lives and the people we don’t want to see — are cut off from us by miles and miles of blight-cursed wasteland. A moment where we can have a nice, strong drink, and truly esca-”

Noticing our arrival, the figure turned our way, her eyes passing over each of us before rapidly coming to rest solely on me.

She blinked, and then as if not trusting her eyesight, she blinked again.

“Huh,” I offered.

For her part, the woman was just a touch more vocal.

In one quick motion, she leapt off the bar in my direction, brandishing her tankard like a weapon. As she flew towards me, the bartender shouted out.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Stat & Level Updates:

Archery 8→ 9 Light Magic 1→ 2 Illumination 1→ 2

Character Sheet:

Name: Tess Age: 26 Race: Human Class: Arcane Arsenal Level: 8 Experience: 618/9250 Prestige: 770 Health: 220/220 Mana: 220/220 Stamina: 210/210 Stats: Constitution: 22 Strength: 22 Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 19 Intelligence: 26 Wisdom: 22 Perception: 26 Charisma: 19 Luck: 24

Skills:

Weapon & Armor Spears: 8 Archery: 9 Small Blades: 4 Unarmed Combat: 4 Swords: 3 Hammers: 2 Staffs: 2 Axes: 1 Medium Armor: 5 Heavy Armor: 1 Movement Dodge: 3 Magic Life Magic: 5 Water Magic: 5 Fire Magic: 4 Light Magic: 2 Spells: Minor Healing: 6 Conjure Water: 6 Flameploof: 4 Illumination: 2 Resistances Trauma Suppression: 9 Poison Resistance: 6 Heat Resistance: 2 Detection God's Eye: 6 Detect Trap: 5 Detect Secret: 4 Tracking: 2 Social Drinking: 4 (+5) Conversation: 4 Trade: 3 Flirt: 2 Deception: 1 Gambling: 1 Craft Woodworking: 6 Jewelry Making: 5 Herbalism: 2 Alchemy: 2 Construction: 6 General Reading: 1