Chapter 3.3 - Getting Started 3

Having logged back into the game I'm now sitting in the pilot's seat on the bridge of the My Little Pile and looking out the windshield and into the ever-present darkness there. The Arcane Corridor was odd, it gave no impression of movement, speed, acceleration or anything that made you feel like you were even moving. It was like sitting in black nothingness. The only thing indicating I was moving were the holographic displays streaming along information. It would only be a few more minutes before I exited the Arcane Corridor back into real space for my approach to Valencia-5.

First, I planned to stop by the orbital to drop off the construction supplies, they needed to be unloaded to get to one of the containers of electronics for my second quest. Second, I would head down to the planet's surface to drop off the second load of cargo. Third, I would contact Reginald and decide a place to meet up so he could give me what he promised. This was the extent of my planning, after this, I would need some advice on where to go and what to do. Luckily for me, Reginald and his guild members would probably have plenty of advice for me.

A little while later the ship jolts a bit and I drop out of the corridor and into real space, the sight of the stars in the darkness is very reassuring. A small part of me had worried that I might end up stuck in the corridor and that empty blackness for all eternity. I've come out about thirty light-seconds from the orbital, the standard distance for jumping into a system, so it will still take me a little longer to get to the station. The My Little Pile is only capable of reaching 0.25c, or twenty-five percent the speed of light, in normal space. It's kind of impressive when you think about what a piece of junk the ship is. Makes me wonder what the ship Reginald is giving me will be like.

About a minute later the station finally comes into sight through the windshield of the ship, it's unbelievable. It's a gigantic cylinder that has to be at least a half dozen miles long and a couple of miles in diameter. There are dozens of ships of all shapes and sizes flying to, flying from, and docked with the station. One, in particular, catches my eyes, it's the biggest ship docked with the station and right in my current path. The enormous ship is visibly covered is a number of weapons and has a very aggressive look to it, definitely a warship of some kind. I would not mind having a ship like that to call my own someday, but I got the feeling that was definitely a military-only ship. If I had to guess I would label the squarish looking ship, reminiscent of an Old-Earth destroyer, as a Dreadnaught-class vessel.

I finally pull my eyes off of the ship and continue to slow my vessel down as I approach the station, "Celeste, contact the station and request a place to dock so we can unload our delivery, then contact Varax Industries and let them know we've arrived with their delivery and what port we'll be docking at."

The little holographic display of Celeste nods in confirmation of her orders and turns to face away from me. When she does a small holographic desk appears complete with chair, phone, pens, and sheets of paper. She sits down and picks up the phone while dialing a number on it. I can't help but laugh at the little holographic display of her getting to work like she's my secretary, well I guess she kind of is. But that's what I bought the [Personal Computer] and the [Artificial Personality] for.

A moment later a chipper female voice comes over the loudspeakers in the ship, "Greetings My Little Pile, and welcome to the VC-5A Orbital. We've got you on approach and with your permission, we will engage the auto-docking sequence to get you connected with landing port number three-three-five-nine."

I turn and nod to Celeste, "Do it."

The station's auto-docking system takes control of my ships flight controls and carefully guides my ship to the proper docking port. I have to admit I was a little worried about what could happen if I was to attempt to dock the ship manually. My flight skills were not exactly top notch, or even remotely good for that matter. With this, the problem is solved and I can get docked to the station without worrying about crashing into it or doing something worse. The auto-dock system carefully flies my ship to the assigned dock, turns the ship around so the rear is facing the station, and with a loud clang and hiss the ship is connected and locked onto the station.

The same chipper female voice from earlier comes over the comms once more, "Docking complete! Welcome to the VC-5A Orbital, we hope you enjoy your stay!"

I give my thanks to the flight controller and turn my attention to Celeste, "How long until the Varax Industries rep arrives?"

Celeste turns around in her little seat and gives me a warm smile, "They should be here in half an hour or so. They thanked us for our prompt delivery of their supplies."

I nod as I unstrap myself from the pilot's seat and open the cargo hatch at the back of the ship, "Alright, I'm going to go sit at the back of the ship and wait for their arrival. Once we finish this delivery let the station know we're taking off right away and we'll head down to the planets surface to finish our other delivery."

I sit on the ramp for my ship for the next twenty or so minutes until an older gentleman approaches me with another of the remote-controlled drones dragging behind a pallet. He stops in front of my ship and studies it with a discerning eye, it was going to be good to get a nice ship from Reggi so people stopped judging me for this piece of crap. Still, the gentleman gives me a warm smile, "Captain Darkrose of the My Little Pile I presume?"

I climb to my feet and dust my ass off, "That's me."

The man nods and steps closer holding out a data pad for me to take a look at. I read it over and confirm that he's here to pick up the cargo I've brought. I authorize the transfer and hand the data pad back before gesturing to the container that now belongs to him, "It's that one there."

He nods and uses the controller for the drone to guide the pallet into the cargo bay and retrieve the container. When he's finished he turns around to me once more and holds out a different datapad, "I've confirmed receipt of the cargo. Once you authorize this I can give you your payment."

I nod and take the datapad to scan the contents of it again, seeing nothing fishy I authorize it.

Quest Complete Varax Industries needs 1 bulk of construction supplies delivered to the VC-5A Orbital Station orbiting Valencia-5.

Varax Industries has been notified of your location and will arrive within the hour to load their cargo onto the My Little Pile.

You have delivered your cargo in a timely and professional manner, your reputation with Varax Industries as a reliable courier has grown. Rewards: Experience, 5,000 Credits Failure: Compensation for lost goods Experience Gained: 750 (500+50%) Quest Complete Congratulations on claiming your first ship! Now it's time to put it to good use. Accept any quest that requires the use of your ship and complete it.

You have completed your first ship-related mission, you're officially a spacer now! Rewards: Experience Experience Gained: 1,500 (1,000+50%)

I dismiss the notifications while the gentleman pulls out a credit stick and hands it to me, "A pleasure doing business with you Captain Darkrose."

I accept the credit stick and pocket it for now, "The pleasure is mine. If Varax Industries needs anything delivered, and I'm nearby, please keep me in mind."

New Skill Diplomacy 1/100 (+0 Charisma)

The gentleman nods, turns, and leaves with the cargo. That wasn't too bad really. A short flight and a little smooth talking earned me a decent bit of experience, a new skill, and a potential new contact for future jobs. You might be wondering why I was excited about jobs right? After all, my main goal is to make things. It's pretty straightforward really. In all games, your level is of paramount importance, as are your skills and abilities. To get those higher, quests are necessary. However, in this game, the quests also provide the main resource, perhaps the only resource, I needed to craft in StarPath, Credits. To build in this game I needed a shit-load of credits, to get credits I needed do quests like this.

A part of me, a very small one, has to admit that only needing money to build things was a bit of a nice break from the usual. I'm starting to think of my time in StarPath as a bit of a vacation from the grueling work of crafting in other games where I could spend a week just looking for a single piece or item to add to a recipe when making something. Yeah, let's go with that. Here in StarPath I can break with my usual modus operandi and just have some fun doing random stuff to earn money, buy MCU's and make different things. Well, provided that Reggi lives up to his end of the bargain and finds that Ancient Tech item to change how crafting works, whatever that means.

I let out a soft sigh and feel my whole body relaxing, yeah let's go with this for now. I turn around and walk through my ship and into the cockpit to sit down and strap in. I close the cargo hatch and look to Celeste, "Alright let the authorities know we're ready to leave. We've got one more delivery and then we're meeting up with Reggi to get our new ship and join his guild. From there we'll figure out what to do next."

Celeste smiles and picks up her little holographic phone once more. A minute later I hear the docking clamps release and feel the ship begin to drift a little. I take hold of the controls and begin to fly the ship on the course the navigation system tells me to follow. Time to head to Valencia-5 and drop off the last of the cargo. Following the navigation computers instructions I leave the heavy traffic area around the orbital and fly into empty space. Once I'm far enough away I throttle the ship up to full speed and point it in the direction of Valencia-5.

Piloting (Light Freighter) +1

It doesn't take long for me to fly the ship from the VC-5A orbital to the planet Valencia-5, this is my first time seeing a planet from space in StarPath. When the Kagarezaka dropped me off on Gharstavh I was stuck in the back of the dropship and it had no windows. Valencia-5's atmosphere is bright green, don't ask me why I'm not a scientist, but it is beautiful. From up here, I can see the various continents with swaths of green forests, yellow deserts, and green oceans. Maybe it's the color of the oceans that makes the whole planet seem green? I don't know but it is very beautiful.

I turn to Celeste, "Connect to the local network and look up the contact info for Draeivian Tech and let them know we're here and need to know where to meet them. Then have the ships navigation plot a course for me, preferably the easiest one, this is my first time entering the atmosphere of a planet after all."

Celeste gives me a thumbs up and picks up her little holographic phone to do as I've asked. It only takes a few minutes before the navigation screen lights up and gives me the path I need to take. Celeste puts her phone down and turns to me, "They want us to land at their landing pad in the city of Nekaris, Captain."

I check the navigation computer for directions and nod, I don't think this will be too hard. Worst case scenario I fuck up the approach and either burn up in the atmosphere or bounce off of it. If I had a choice I choose bouncing off of it. Still thanks to the navigation system it's not that difficult to point myself in the proper orientation and begin my descent to the surface of the planet.

As my ship descends, the friction builds and increases the temperature of the hull. The windshield is completely blocked by the orange glow of plasma from the orbital entry. I can't see out of the windshield but my instruments are feeding me all the information I need, like my altitude and speed. I guide the ship along the prescribed course using the instruments and no visuals. I can feel my heart, or hearts, hammering away as my nerves build. This is pretty goddamn terrifying you know?

Before long my speed begins to drop and the ship begins to level off as I control it, the orange glow fading away and giving me a spectacular view of the planet below. It's breathtaking, the scenery is indescribable. In the distance, I can see one of the megacities of the planet and according to my instruments, it's where I am heading, Nekaris. I check everything as I use the joystick and throttle to pilot the ship, thanks to the meager few ranks I've earned it's a bit easier than it was before, but I wouldn't be pulling any flying tricks anytime soon.

Following the directions of the navigation system, I find the spot where I am supposed to land, "Celeste, contact Draeivian Tech and let them know I'm coming in for my landing."

While she calls them on her little holographic phone I begin the landing procedures. I pull the ship directly over the landing pad and stop my forward momentum. I ease off the power of the vertical thrusters and slowly descend, at the same time I lower my landing gear. With a somewhat rough bump, the ship successfully lands on the landing platform.

Piloting (Light Freighter) +1

With the landing complete I set all the ships systems to idle. Celeste speaks up, "They should be here momentarily to pick up their cargo."

I nod and hit the control to open the cargo hatch at the back of the ship and let myself out of the straps of the pilot's seat and move through the ship to wait for whoever is picking the cargo up to arrive. I don't have long to wait until three people show up, all in business suits. Two men, led by a woman, approach the ship and greet me, "Welcome to the Draeivian Tech offices on Valencia-5. I take it you're Captain Darkrose of the My Little Pile here to deliver our cargo?"

I nod and gesture to the three large containers behind me, "Got it all right here for you nice, safe, and sound." I hold out my hand, "I've shown you mine, now show me yours."

The woman lets out a sultry laugh at the lame joke and holds out a data pad for me. I scan through it to make sure the authorization is correct and nod, "Looks good, have at it."

I authorize the transfer while the two men begin to unload the cargo onto the same kind of remote-controlled drones that everyone has used so far. I step next to the woman and hand the pad back to her. In exchange, she hands over the credit stick with my payment on it, another twelve thousand in my pocket.

Quest Complete Draeivian Tech needs 3 bulk of electronics delivered to their satellite office on Valencia-5.

Draeivian Tech has been notified of your location and will arrive within forty-five minutes to load their cargo onto the My Little Pile.

You have successfully completed your delivery for Draeivian Tech and shown them you can do a job in a timely fashion. You have increased your reputation with Draeivian Tech. Rewards: Experience, 12,000 Credits Failure: Compensation for lost goods Experience Gained: 1,500 (1,000+50%) Diplomacy +1 Level up!

Automatically updating Health Point and Mana Point Totals...

Health Points: +7!

Mana Points: +120!

You have 1 Attribute Point to spend.

You have unlocked Rank 2 Spells.

You may select 2 new Rank 2 Spells.

Your Flight spell has grown in power.

Nice! Got enough experience to level up, I dismiss the windows for the time being. I'll go through and finish picking my spells and stuff when I'm alone. Once the unloading is finished the three reps leave me alone on the landing platform. I walk back into the cockpit of my ship and sit down in the pilot's seat. With a quick swipe on the console, I close the cargo bay and smile to myself, time to pick new spells! Now, what were my choices...

Rank 2 (19.7 MP) Caustic Nanites - Magically summon and fling nanites at one target that deals 4-16 acid damage to the target. Command Undead - One undead creature obeys your commands. Darkvision - Grant the ability to see in total darkness. Fog Bank - Create a cloud of fog that obscures vision. Holographic Image - Create a hologram with sound. Implant Data - Implant data of your choice into one computer or system. Inject Nanobots - Your touch deals 4-32 damage and confuses the target. Chameleon Cloak- Target becomes invisible for 1 minute per level. Decode - Unlocks one locked or magically sealed door. Logic Bomb - Target Computer deals 6-36 energy damage to the first creature that attempts and fails to use it Repair - Restore 5-30 health points to a target object or construct. Holographic Mirror - Create decoy duplicates of yourself. Recharge - Replenish the charges on any device that holds charges. Magical Cyberlock - Magically lock a portal, chest, or computer system. Invisibility Scan - See invisible creatures or objects. Spider Climb - Grants the ability to walk on any surface.

There were quite a few good looking spells on the rank two list, and some I wasn't sure I could see a good use for. Unfortunately, I could only choose two, and since I wanted to survive the first one I select is [Chameleon Cloak]. I figured [Comeleon Cloak] would work amazingly with my beloved idea of getting into someone's face and shooting them with my [Mana Shotgun]. The next choice was going to be a lot harder to make. There were several combat options and several decent looking utility options. I honestly didn't know what would come in the handiest, several spells seemed pretty useful for how I wanted to play. Darkvision, Decode, Repair, Holographic Mirror, Recharge, Magical Cyberlock, and Invisibility Scan all seemed like they would have excellent uses.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head, none of the other ranks had been so difficult to choose from. Alright, when all else fails choose something that will help with survival. I select [Holographic Mirror], the decoys would help prevent me from getting shot in combat and keep me alive. Alive is always the best condition, right?

Lastly, I drop my attribute point into [Reason] to bring it up to twenty-three. With everything done I spin up the ship's systems and turn to Celeste, "Alright, get in touch with Reggi, he should be in the system now and we should be able to figure out where to meet up."

"Sure thing Captain.", she turns and picks up her phone and does as I asked.

"Hey Thomas!", Reggi's voice comes over my earpiece, "I take it you're all done with your quests?"

"Yeah all done on my end. Where do you want to meet up?"

"We're parked at a public landing area on the east side of the city, I'll give your Celeste the coordinates so you can join us.", he finishes.

I look at the information he sends over, it's only a few hundred miles from here so it shouldn't take me all that long to get there. I spin up the thrusters and begin my vertical take off. I don't bother retracting the landing gear since it will be a short flight. I keep an eye on the sensors to make sure no ones in my way and start pushing the throttle forward to fly over to the designated area.

Piloting (Light Freighter) +1

After landing at the lot that Reginald selected and lowering the cargo hatch I step out of the ship and look around.

There are quite a few ships around, as I look around a group of people approaches me. The leader of the group is tall, skinny and bright red. Two black horns grow out of his forehead and curl back over his slicked back black hair. He even has a little black goatee growing out of the center of his chin, the typical appearance of a depiction of Satan.

Next to him, on his right, is a giant creature that tops out at around at least nine feet wearing a set of thick power armor covering him from the neck down. His large head looks reminiscent of a small tyrannosaurus rex and a thickly armored tail trails out behind him.

On the devilish looking mans left is a lithe human-looking woman with short dark hair. She's wearing a skin-tight black suit with silver glowing lines running across it, it reminds me of a really high tech ninja outfit. She's also the only one who is clearly armed, I can see the butt and barrel of a sniper rifle, as well as the handle of a sword, crossed over her back. She also has a small sidearm on her right hip.

The leader walks up to me with his two companions and waves then asks, "Thomas?"

I nod, "Reggi?"

The devil looking man grimaces, "I really wish you would call me Reginald man."

I laugh and step up to him offering him my hand to shake, "Now why would I want to do that? I'm wondering what you look like when you blush now. What's with the sinister looking guise?"

Reginald grabs my hand in a firm shake, "What can I say? The Devilion race called my name. Despite these looks, there's no prejudice against me and I think it's really fun!"

I laugh and look at the other two, "Going to introduce me?"

Reginald nods and gestures to the large guy in power armor first, "This is Leriod, he's a Rexarian."

He then turns and gestures to the woman, "This is Nania, she's a Suverian."

That catches my attention so I turn to Nania and smile, "Nice to meet a fellow Suverian. I gotta ask, are you weirded out by your heartbeat too?"

Now that she's closer I can see that she's a rather good-looking woman, despite being lithe she's got all the right curves in all the right places in proportionate sizes. As I look a little closer I notice her eyes are not natural eyes, they're cybernetic implants that seem to try and replicate the look of natural eyes but fall just short. She gives me a grin and replies, "Yeah, having two hearts and having them both positioned down near my stomach took a bit to get used to."

Oh, turns out we do have two hearts? I was joking about that before but that's fine. I can't help but grin and return my focus to Reginald, "So Reggi, what next?"

Reginald rolls his pitch black eyes and turns to look at Leriod, "Send a guild invite to Thomas Darkrose."

The giant guy nods and does something that opens up a notice in front of me.

Leriod Vestorax has invited you to join the guild Chaos Rig. Accept: Y/N?

I select yes and get a notification that I've joined the guild as a recruit, "I'm in."

Reginald claps his hands together, "Excellent. Now that the small stuff is out of the way lets show you to your new ship."

I nod and look down at my [Personal Computer] on my wrist, "Celeste pull yourself out of the My Little Pile."

Celeste appears hovering over the computer, "All done Thomas."

I look back at Reginald, "So what should I do with the My Little Pile?"

He looks over at the ship then turns to Leriod, "Transfer the ship to Leriod, he'll take it to the guild headquarters and store it with the other starter ships. We keep them just in case we have a use for them in the future."

I nod, "Do it Celeste. Kiss the piece of crap goodbye."

Celeste lets out a delightful little laugh and turns around to blow a kiss at the ship, "Goodbye!"

Leriod checks his own [Personal Computer] and nods, "Trasssssfer Complete."

I toss him the [Authorization Key] for the ship and smile as he catches it, "The My Little Pile is all yours."

He shakes his head, "Sssssuch a ssssstupid sssssship name."

I laugh and nod, "Damn right it is." I turn to Reginald, "So where's my new ship? I'm excited to take a look at it!"

Regnilad shakes his head while Leriod heads into my ex-ship, "Follow me."

Reginald turns around and leads Nania and me back into the array of ships in the landing area. We walk for a few minutes before Reginald stops in front of a large grey ship. Its shape is somewhat similar to the My Little Pile, except an order of magnitude bigger. The front end is a blunt cone shape leading along the fuselage to a pair of massive angular wings. The ship has to be over five hundred feet long and a couple of hundred tons. I can see a couple of large weapons sticking out of the front and an even larger one sticking out of the wing on this side of the ship.

Reginald gestures grandly to the ship, "I'd like to introduce you to the CR Spectrum. A Heavy Freighter we got ready for you. It's got a little of everything so you can do what you want while the rest of us hunt for that Ancient Relic for you. Your job is to get as many levels and skill ranks as you can while we do that. On board, there's an Arcane Laboratory, Tech Workshop, and enough bunk space for a full crew of twenty. You'll need at least a quarter of that for full combat functionality, and only two or three to just fly it around."

I look at the ship and smile broadly, "I like it."

Reginald grins and lifts his arm to type on his [Personal Computer], then Celeste chimes in through my earpiece, "You've been given command authority of the CR Spectrum, Captain."

Reginald turns to me then and gestures to Nania, "For now, Nania will be your second in command. She's a level fifteen Operative."

Nania turns and gives me a small smile, "My specialty is long-range sniping and close range stealth kills. I'm also a pretty good pilot. Reginald figured your specialty would lay elsewhere so you could use someone to fly this tub around."

I smile back at Nania and nod in agreement, "He's right, my flight skills are abysmal so having a real pilot around will be a huge help."

Reginald claps his hands to get our attention and retrieves an authorization key from his [Utility Belt] and offers it to me. I take the key and step up to the ship to use the key and open it up. A door on the hull swings inwards and a ramp slides out for me to climb. I turn to Reginald and give him a warm smile, "Just don't forget your promise to find that piece of Ancient Tech for me. You got a month."

Reginald nods, "Don't worry we're already looking for it, your job right now is to gain levels and skills. We're investing heavily in you with this ship, just remember while we're giving you command of it the ship still belongs to the guild so don't go getting it blown up. Still, you're welcome to upgrade it as you see fit."

I nod, "You got it."

Reginald smiles and gestures grandly, "Well don't let me keep you. Go ahead and get on board and assign Nania as your second in command, after that do whatever sounds fun!"

I laugh and nod, "You got it. Shall we number one?"

Nania smirks and follows me into the ship. The interior of the ship feels similar to the My Little Pile, just on a grander scale. Nania and I head through the ship to the bridge, yes an actual bridge with several seats and control stations. I grandly walk over to the seat in the center, the Captain's chair. I turn on the console and several holographic displays appear, "Celeste, connect with the ships computer like you did on the My Little Pile and run a ship diagnostic to make sure everything is in top shape."

It's not that I didn't trust Reginald, but you never, ever, fly a ship you haven't checked. While Celeste does that I go through the ships menus until I find the spot to assign crew. I assign Nania as my second in command and get a notification.

New Title! Captain You are officially the captain of a ship with a crew. All crew members receive a bonus of +10% to all actions when following your commands.

After that, I pull up a display of the ship's information and status.

Ship Name: CR Spectrum Ship Class: Heavy Freighter Crew: 2/20 Hull Points: 140/140 Shield Points: 20/20 (+1/Min) Power Core: 240/250 Damage Threshold: - Critical Threshold: 24 Target Lock: -4 (+1 Size, -5 ECM) Ship Length: 550 Ft. Ship Weight: 285 Tons Weaponry: Chain Cannon: Forward Arc, 6-24 Damage, Short Range

Chain Cannon: Forward Arc, 6-24 Damage, Short Range

Heavy Laser Cannon: Port Arc, 4-32 Damage, Medium Range

Heavy Laser Cannon: Starboard Arc, 4-32 Damage, Medium Range Expansion Bays: Crew Quarters (10)

Crew Quarters (10)

Arcane Laboratory

Tech Workshop

Escape Pods

Cargo Bay (8 Bulk)

Cargo Bay (8 Bulk)

Cargo Bay (8 Bulk) Ship's Systems: Power Core: CZ-5 250

Main Computer: MK II Tetranode

Thrusters: L6 Thrusters

Electronic Counter Measures (ECM): MK V

Arcane Corridor Core (A.C.C.): Basic

Sensors: Advanced Medium Range

Shields: MK II Basic

I check the definitions of some of the things I'm not familiar with.

Damage Threshold - Damage below the Damage Threshold is too low to cause any damage to the ship. Critical Threshold - If the ships Hull Points drop below this value ships systems will begin to randomly fail. Target Lock - This represents how easy it is for guided weapons, such as missiles, to lock onto your ship, lower is better.

After I finish reading Celeste speaks up, "All systems check out Captain."

One of the holographic emitters lights up and a life-sized version of Celeste appears on the bridge, she looks even more beautiful life size. She must have been a model or actress or something with how good she looked. Celeste gives me her usual beaming smile as she struts around the bridge.

I turn to Nania, "So number one, shall we find some adventure?"

Nania shakes her head, "Only if you stop calling me 'number one'."

I sigh, "No fun.", then I grin, "So any suggestions on where we should go next Nania?"

After thinking for a minute Nania nods, "Actually I know of a pretty good spot. We should head to the planet Garbumont. Even if we can't find any quests in that direction we should go there. There's a known dungeon on the planet, but it's a low-level one with a level cap of five. No one has cleared it because by the time people get there they're usually above the maximum level of the dungeon. If you can clear it, you should get a large bonus in loot and experience from it being the first clear. The loot will be negligible, but the experience is nothing to scoff at."

I nod, it sounds like a solid idea and dungeons were always a good source of experience, just one problem, "I would love to do that, and as epically amazing as I am, I don't think I can solo a dungeon."

Nania smirks, "True, you're not that amazing. I have a suggestion though, we should hit the local slave market and see if we can find someone level five or below for sale with a combat specialty. You should only need one for such a low-level dungeon, as long as they can wear some of the armor on this ship and use the larger weapons properly."

Slaves huh? I guess that was an option, and a slave should be completely loyal and someone I shouldn't have to worry about potentially betraying me or any of my secrets... when I had secrets to keep. "Alright, that will be the plan for now. We'll head over to the slave market and pick up a weapon monkey, then see if there are any good quests on the way to Garbumont where we'll take on the dungeon. Any objections crew?"

With neither Nania nor Celeste raising any objections we get to work.

In the darkness, something stirs...