"Are you ready to talk inventory?" Laurence approached Levi with a serious expression and yet another notebook in hand.

"Sure." Levi had been in the process of creating a makeshift harness for the ogres so they could carry the necessary supplies. Since they'd be going on foot and the chances were high that during the trip some of them would end up leveling out of the 'safe to be in cars' power bracket, they needed an alternate solution for transporting luggage. In this case - ogres. He set aside the leather he'd been struggling to cut in the proper shape and nodded for Laurence to continue.

"You had me searching for any of these crafting items, anything providing fire resistance, any tokens or power stones being sold under your value cap, or specialized equipment that no one else knew what to do with. Here's what I've found."

He pulled three pages out from the back of his notebook, printouts from the computer, and handed them to Levi. Levi raised his eyebrows, then whistled. "These people have no idea what they have," he said, voice incredulous. There was nothing as incredible as his five-slot power array, or the one that converted two elements into a hybrid one, but there were certainly more than a few items on the market that he recognized as rare and incredibly powerful in the right hands. "How much can we afford?"

Laurence smiled. "I've already placed offers on all of them, we have about a 60% acceptance rate so far, but..." he pulled out another page, a shorter list, but which contained most of the best items. "These ones need to be collected in person."

"Makes sense." Mana weapons, especially ones with power stones, could cause havoc going through mail security scans, and it would be a great way to have your package tied up in uncertainty for months.

"Unless you have a better plan, I'm going to go around and collect them. I'll meet you all when I'm done. Cassandra already got me the itinerary, so I'll know where you'll be."

"Perfect."

"Now, did you have anything else you wanted sold? I know you were collecting weapons earlier. I'm planning to make a post listing where I'm going to be so I can meet people to deliver. Since I'll be traveling a long way, may as well get the best prices possible."

"Anything we have that isn't someone's and isn't on the list of things I want to collect and keep, you can offer. We can look them over now, if you want."

Levi led the way back to the house, where he’d stored the larger objects that couldn’t fit in his storage items.

"And..." Laurence asked hesitantly, "any chance I could borrow a couple minions? I'd love to get some more leveling in, but I know how you feel about anyone going in a dungeon on their own."

"Sure. Who did you have in mind?"

"Whoever. Maggie seems pretty awesome.” Laurence shrugged innocently. “Frosty is a great team player."

"Fire and ice, huh? Well. I can't speak for Frosty, she's Gordon's, but if Maggie doesn't mind accompanying you I have no problem with it."

"Oh, then I'll speak to them. Any chance you can spare Cen again?"

Levi hesitated a moment to consider. He didn't like splitting up his centipedes, but with Drok needed to help carry their luggage, that would leave Laurence - a squishy mage - without any tank. Neither Maggie or Frosty was especially sturdy. "Yes, go ahead and take him."

"And don't forget to pick up conduit as soon as you hit level 15," Laurence instructed, as if Levi's ability choices was any of his business.

Levi chuckled. "We'll see. I'm not going to promise anything."

"It's the clear power move, dude! You need every advantage, right? Every bit of experience you can echo to the rest of the team is going to add up."

Levi shook his head. “It’s going to be hard enough to hit level 25 in four months as it is, I don’t want to slow down my progress any further.”

“The fact that it applies to all minions means it’s objectively superior. Your progress might be slower in the short term, but in the long term it’ll more than pay off as all your minions level faster.”

“I’ll think about it, but it’s a major commitment I’m not going to make right now. Conduit may be a route to stronger minions, but it could also be a trap that’ll lead directly to my own death.” He couldn’t help but think of all the Tamers who’d been unable to keep up, who’d fallen behind in their own levels despite having incredibly powerful minions, and eventually all been killed.

“I’m not following. It's a powerful option, how could it be a trap?”

“The later years, there were no Summoners left. No Tamers, no Beastmasters, none of them. The more I learn about the class, the less it makes sense. They could have directed their armies from miles away and still gained plenty of experience to level! There was no need to get in close combat… ever. So why did they all die? I always assumed it was due to falling behind on health, but there were still mages and rangers at the end - not a lot, but more than a few - so why were there no Summoners? You’d think, even for a less common class, there would be at least a few who made it.”

“Overconfidence?” Laurence ventured, though he didn't sound entirely convinced himself.

“Possibly. The two Summoners I met were both much higher level than me. One had a fire wyvern he kept with him at all times, the other had a trio of hellhounds she’d stolen from an invasion wave, and always hinted that they were just the tip of the iceberg. But neither survived to the last years, and their minions disappeared around the same time. We never saw them again. So what use is a powerful team without a Tamer at their core? Without me, they’ll dissipate in a week or two, leaving humanity no better off.” His own survival was too important. “I’ll make the final decision when I reach the threshold. Perhaps there’s a balance. Putting everything into maxing Conduit may be unwise, but that the ability may not be completely useless.”

“Or it may be the key ability that everyone else was too cautious to take." Laurence sighed, seeming to deflate a bit as he shrugged. "Well. Be sure to let me know what you decide.”

“Speaking of decisions, do you happen to have Gordon’s team details in there?”

“Of course. Not this notebook, but back at the car.”

“Do you know if he did the threshold upgrades for any of his minions? Do you know what their options were?”

“I’d have to get back to you on that.”

“Please do, I’d like to add them to the minion records I’m keeping. Also, did you get anything interesting from those dungeons you ran by yourself?”

“Bunch of regular potions, two Destruction tokens, a pouch of halewood seeds, and an elixir base,” Laurence recited. “I’ve already added the ingredients to your stash at the standard rate you gave me.”

“Is there anything you’re interested in of what we’ve found?” Levi shoved the box of unwanted items in Laurence's direction.

Laurence's eyes immediately lit up. He ran his hands along the staff Levi had carried around for so long, as though barely daring to touch it. “You didn’t tell me you had this.”

“You asked for magic staffs. That one’s blank.”

Laurence shook his head, hands closing over the wood. His voice trembled. “That doesn’t matter. It’s a real wizard staff.”

It really wasn’t. It was a blank staff, which could be imprinted for either melee or magical use, smooth and straight and far from exceptional. But Laurence lifted it like it was a priceless treasure. “How much?”

Levi waved away the question. “I’m not going to charge members of my team, especially not for junk like that.”

Laurence clutched the staff to his chest, looking offended on its behalf. “Junk! This is the most precious companion of the great wizard Laurence Skystrider, and I’ll not have it spoken of otherwise.”

“Want the book too?” Levi passed him the blank ‘spellbook’, a thin volume with only four thick pages that looked as though it had been bound by a complete amateur, but which Laurence immediately seized with the kind of glee Levi would expect from a child on his birthday.

“Ah, I can’t believe these priceless artifacts were wasting away in your careless grasp when they could have been with a true appreciator!” Laurence pressed a hand to the book’s cover, eyes narrowed as he glanced around as though reading through system messages. “Do you have any idea what these can do?”

“Yes. The staff enhances the power of whatever you imprint on it, the book decreases the mana requirement, and a wand - if you had one - would decrease the time required to cast. They’re all basic enhancement items, but since they require being a magic-y person they've never been much use to me.”

Not to mention the inconvenience of juggling books and wands and staffs for all the different spells… if he had to use a completely different weapon for every intended effect, he’d have probably died a long time ago. Switching between two was plenty to keep track of.

Levi went searching through his pouches, pulling out anything that might be of interest to the mage. “Here, I think I’ve got some other random wizard stuff.”

Laurence’s eyes grew wider and wider. "I take it all back,” he whispered, as Levi filled his arms with the mage accouterments. “You are a friend to wizards and a true ally. If ever I speak a critical word against you again—“

“That’ll be five thousand dollars,” Levi interrupted, completely deadpan.

“I hate you.”