The visit to the farm had ended up widening the [Guild] members’ horizons in regards to what the future might hold. Especially if their seed made it to a proper state. They cleaned up from the earlier sparring and shared a hefty lunch consisting of pancakes that tasted like more than half egg.

Not every meal of Brunner’s is a hit. Oscar thought the words but unlike his brother he was not absent-minded enough to even mutter them.

As they got dressed up and turned to leave Livia dropped some parting words. “We’re going to build something Brunner, something entirely new. I know we look young, and we do have a lot to learn, but you'll see what I mean in time. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, you know? We will keep leveling, but you’ve helped the boys out a lot. Just don’t underestimate us. Nobody understands how important your project is better than me.”

What a serious young lady. She’s actually reminding me of Bertrud, despite Harold being the [Druid]. Damn it, now even I am calling her Bertrud. Solomon would kill me.

Brunner had just given her a nod, the same open expression on his face. A man who valued actions over words.

On the road back they were enjoying a comradely silence. Livia kept working out what her next recruiting-target would be, the top option now being a young [Arborist], who had jumped the queue, and a [Brewer] who was rumored to have the Skill [Brewer’s Eye] which could help identify the less evident traits of various ingredients. The Skill was not very powerful on its own, but if it was to upgrade to [Alchemist’s Eye], then they were in business.

But was it worth a [Quest] cooldown, and if so, when? It would depend on the personality behind the Class, but even if it seemed certain they could pull off their assigned task it didn’t mean using the cooldown on recruitment was their best option.

Oscar suddenly recalled the night with the special honey and got an idea. “Hey, Livia, what if we check if that [Brewer] has any interest in brewing with the honey? We might even get away with implying we have a source for more, I’m sure he could get some levels out of the attempt if nothing else. If that doesn’t convince him, I doubt he’ll ever be. ” Livia did have plans for the strange magic substance. But then again bees hardly needed much. “I’ll bring it and think about if it seems like they need some convincing, good thinking, that might save us a cooldown.”

Upon returning to the orchard they all discussed the coming week, but first they planned for the weekend that had now arrived. First up, another bout of recruitment while they still held all their cards, but then it was time to send Harold on the 2nd [Rare Quest]. Provided nothing unexpected happened.

Sten came by the house the day after and was met by the enigmatic Dunner sitting in the living room. "So you are the one, the new member looking to join my [Guild], is that right?"

The man wore a dark cloak and the shades were drawn, with the fire crackling despite the day. His sheer size reminded Sten of his father. One of his Skills was trying to tell him something, but the rest of his senses crowded his attention too and it was lost in the noise. "I believed I was a member already, Sir. I was not informed of a Guild Master, and if I may be candid it was heavily implied Livia served the role."

"I am Dunner," Roldy was sitting in the inner corner beside the door, Sten had not even noticed him at first. Now he gave him a second look, and instantly grew suspicious. "And everyone in my [Guild] has to learn the Salsa, an ancient rite where we determine if your hips can lie," Kalle made Harold burst out with that one. He'd barely been hanging on after Sten was duped so completely that he doubted his membership. This was a prank for the ages. I knew that stupid bangle would come in handy.

Sten so very nearly looked horrified for just a second before his poker face was resumed. "No, no I could tell. My nose remember?" The two were still nearly doubled over laughing, Kalle just pointed at the crackling fire they had lit specifically to block his nose, so Sten finally gave up. "I am never calling anybody Sir again. You guys ruined that, I hope you're happy." He cracked a smile himself for once at Harold's surprisingly high-pitched laugh.

Oscar had been waiting and came chuckling around the corner and happily joined in now that he was sure Sten could take the joke. "I hope you don't mind a prank, your reaction was hilarious so I doubt they'll forget to include you from now on,"

Sten sighed heavily. "I suppose I'll just have to get my payback in the sparring circle," Kalle got rid of his Dunner disguise at this. "I hope you do not expect an easy time of it, you are clearly superior when we go at it without Skills, but if we are talking about with them Harold still clearly reigns supreme."

Sten nearly scoffed at the words, but caught himself with a cough. He did respect Harold, the guy worked his butt off and that crazy regeneration made his own efforts the only limit. But getting the image of Kalle playing him for a fool out of his mind was not so easy, not to mention Sten remained strongly suspicious now that it was evident how much they enjoyed pulling his leg. "I would beg to differ," There, that was nice and neutral.

On somebody else the words would have worked fine, but Kalle could read the underlying emotion for once. It seemed Sten was not quite as adept at controlling himself outside of combat.

"Hmm, how about a wager then?" Sten had never been one to bet. He'd been involved too many times when he was underestimated and earned his father good coin. People only wanted to bet when they knew something you don't. But then again, when it came to sparring Sten was a very, very hard one to surprise. And these lads probably still underestimated him, they had certainly embarrassed him earlier. When Kalle noted the hesitation he threw out a 2nd set of bait. "I'd wager he can have you surrendering inside a minute, I'd put a 100 silver on it."

Sten barely had that much, but the insulting parameters were just too much. "You're on."

Harold was just shaking his head, smiling.

A hundred possibilities of what they could be cooking up crossed Sten's mind. He had pulled stuff like this on his siblings too, this was far from his first rodeo. It was different when dealing with casters though, but his father had talked about how to fight such a common Class as [Druid] extensively over the years. Even if Hyde was hiding around the corner, which Sten doubted very much considering the way mosswolves smelled, he was still confident he would be able to survive at least a minute, and punish them severely if they made mistakes.

He still was not prepared for the sight when Kalle gave his signal to start and a thousand warrior wasps simultaneously left the nearby apple trees to surround them both in mere seconds. How could he be?

Fuckin' magic.