They had a lull of a few days due to the scarce iron supply. They'd only lasted this long due to a time delay between the mining and the ore smelting taking place upstream. So Vonn had a little time to focus on woodworking, not his specialty but something where he could try his foot-powered cutting machine.

He made a simple wooden rack that could support a set of loosely attached bars of varying length. Imitating the music scale he was familiar with, he made one bar twice as long as another, with six steps in between them. Most of the work was just conventional sawing and sanding, really, with his machine being overkill. Still good practice.

He whacked it with a soft mallet. The instrument sounded... pretty bad, actually. Inconsistent tones, annoying buzzing, and some jiggling where a peg was loose. "I'm picking up bad vibrations," he sang to Polestar. They were testing it in the hangar while the others were at lunch. The room was still Polestar's makeshift apartment, floored with trampled grass and smelling of sawdust and horse.

The Centaur snorted. "Still beats your singing voice."

"Can't help it. I'm a fox. You know, you guys and the Elves and Humans have a monopoly on what we'd call normal brass and woodwind instruments." Vonn tapped one hand against his narrow muzzle. Then he wiggled his three fingers and thumb. "We'll also be weak at piano, when that gets invented."

Polestar blinked. "Hadn't thought of it that way. I only ever did the fiddle. I was surprised you haven't done a piano yet, actually."

"It's more complicated than you'd think. There's this tricky hammer that hits the string and pulls back until you release the key... not worth trying right now. Anyway, we could probably rig up a Vulin-compatible trumpet or something, but it's low on my list." Vonn tapped out a semblance of a tune on his single-octave instrument. Just "Mary Had a Little Lamb", slightly off key. He said, "Needs work, but maybe I can give this away."

[Skill gain: Woodworking (Agility)]

"Good; I got a skill point."

"Your friend Kotta seems intent on getting songs and stories from us."

"It's a sacred duty for him. I'm happy to share what I remember, but I was never an expert on music or storytelling. I'm also biased. I know Weird Al better than Mozart."

"Weird who?"

"Pop singer. If you know different material than me, that's good. I'm pretty sure we're on the same page overall."

Vonn picked up the mallet and tapped notes, trying to get a feel for the tool, as crude as it was.

Polestar watched him. "Anything we bring here is something that might hang on and spread, huh?"

"It has a chance to. I'm a flawed instrument myself, but something good might come of my being here. The machines, first, but maybe other things."

Tazo was the first to return. She peeked into the hangar and said, "Shouldn't you be preparing for a trip west?"

"Someone has to stick around while Urika is investigating. Tsk, these part-time adventurers running off from their jobs..."

"You just want more workshop time, don't you?"

"That's one reason!" He tapped a note on the xylophone. "Even this kind of thing is important. Kotta's right; I want better ways to share what I know."

#

Tazo, Dad, Urika, Kotta, and Polestar went west.

Another reason why Vonn stayed, when the group left Shieldpoint to visit the western towns, was that it was the start of autumn. Vonn went to the temple right away. It was like getting a Christmas present early in the morning.

The usually quiet complex of wooden buildings for the Monks was a bit crowded today with people eager to please the gods. They were mostly younger people like him, who were able to gain levels quickly. Whispers reached his ears as the others saw him. "What'd he build this time?"

A large Centaur lady who ran a dockside general store happened to be there. "You're here for another level, I bet. Have you ever missed a season?"

"Nope!"

"Don't take it too hard when you do. You've got plenty of time to hit fifth or six tier in whatever you want to do, even to switch paths completely."

He nodded. "I know, ma'am. What are you here for?"

"I'm finally qualified for another level of Merchant, after helping to wrangle some trade with the Baron's men. Tricky work, to keep everyone supplied."

"I know we inland people don't interact much with the dock district, but we'd all be poorer without you."

"And don't you forget it," she said, though she smiled.

Vonn went into the temple and sat cross-legged on a cushion. When a Monk noticed him he asked to go just outside to demonstrate his offering. The man watched curiously as Vonn gathered energy and let fly with a disruptive sonic burst, shaking the Monk's clothes and rustling the grass. "No damage?"

Vonn said, "It's for defense. It's already proven useful against some of the dungeon's monsters."

"Then the gods will likely bless you for it. Go on in and concentrate on how you did it, and what power you're seeking."

Vonn returned to his seat and focused Mana between his hands, containing it and shifting its aspect. The practice was distracting other people, though, and he left off to focus on his thoughts.

The familiar silver glow of the gods' approval raised him off his feet and gently into the air. Reality faded out and he saw mainly the words of the System.

[

Congratulations on your third level of Mage! Select a feat as your reward.

-Enchanter: Improve the quality of enchanted items you create. Refunded if you later specialize your class to Enchanter.

-Magic Analyst: More easily gain skills from the study of others' magic.

-Amplified Sound: Sound spells can create twice the effect for 50% more mana.

-Wand Wielder: Use Mana more efficiently and with greater control when using a wand or staff.

]

Vonn greedily browsed the options and the mystic fine print behind each one, but blinked. This was the first time he'd seen four choices rather than three. As usual they were all tempting and useful to him.