The [Guild] gathered that evening to tally their sales and make the most out of their final preparations for the auction.

It was not a matter of gathering funds any more though. At this point they barely had any wares left and the last few bits of silver would simply be going in their pockets in case of emergency, or if they found something truly enticing.

Tomorrow they would be preparing to look for recruits trying to find work on projects like theirs; hopefully with Classes decent for exploring and navigating the wilds. They had no plans of recruiting veterans for now, other than possibly bringing someone on for a job or two, but in terms of capstones achieved... Yeah, no. They’d be able to bring in people with only a single capstone unless they wanted to drain their coffers before even knowing what to expect of their soon-to-be home.

No, instead they were travelling light. But Moa was a welcome first addition, and Livia gave her a far warmer welcome than the young girl seemed to have expected.

Or than Oscar might have received from her father.

But such social games would cease to matter soon, once they braved the wilds and were in the thick of it together.

For now though, issues abound.

Alfred and Albert had run into a farmer who did not take kindly to them helping themselves to what grew on his land; that was until they paid the tithe he'd been after all along, and went on their way with their earnings halved.

Likewise Elin and Lena had been struggling on the different markets around town, trying to find deals but mostly failing simply on account of being marked as a one-off customer who would not remain long early, and having that gossip spread. No point in giving such travellers discounts after all. Drain them for what they’re worth and send them on their way!

It would be different once they were established as a regular supplier of wares, but for now it was a struggle.

Everybody in the [Guild] was starting to look forward to when they started some actual building.

One last thing happened to close out that day. They had spent a couple of hours sparring, and not just to get to know Moa better but also to learn more of Sten’s new abilities. They found that he’d turned practically impossible to submit with any of the more aggressive limb-breaking techniques he had taught them.

He’d always been quite flexible, but his [Ductile Ligaments] apparently turned that attribute up to eleven, without sacrificing one bit of his brute strength.

Harold was fully perplexed by how it was possible; as far as what he understood of the body, something had to be sacrificed, you couldn’t be unbreakable as steel yet mobile as a weasel; it just didn’t add up. “And what does ductile mean anyway?”

Sten figured Harold wasn't going to get it without a demonstration, so he went over to a blacksmith and was gifted with two thin threads of different metals; and he demonstrated exactly how something could be both more ductile but also tougher to break.

It set off a moment of inspiration in the young [Druid], and he could suddenly envision the part of the body that had done the best job of eluding him thus far.

After all, muscles and bone; it was all rather basic. Break it down, put it under duress and it regrows stronger, so long as you do it gradually and have the nutrients to cope. But ligaments always seemed far harder to improve on, what did they consist of anyway?

The young [Druid] flexed his arm and felt the protruding threads enhancing his bicep, and now he could far more easily picture them as metal. He used his newfound insight and walked up to the mount he had gifted to his brother.

And when he activated his [Touch of Chaos] and felt the malleable nature of the non-magic beast beneath his improving Skill, he felt it. How the ostrich especially relied more on this attribute of ductility the most; how it had completely different requirements from muscle, but still complemented it perfectly. It was the secret to what made the creature so explosive, and balanced–without sacrificing things like kicking, or jumping power–and juke torque.

So he supercharged it; but not like he had the oxen. Instead he simply empowered its mobility to the fullest, and with its already impressive natural ability, it was almost like providing it with a lesser version of Sten’s Skill–because when Oscar got up and raced it through the evening streets–it was a crazy improvement to see.

Sten estimated it was probably moving close to 30% faster, and the way it was swerving and kicking the air; it seemed almost twice as athletic as before.

When Oscar looked back at his brother with glee, Harold was looking sort of drained. It was a big beast after all. At least I didn't have to empower a mind... Thank the Spirits me and Hyde have such similar natural affinities.

The [Druid] figured he was learning something new through all this; the reason it was more difficult and draining than the oxen was not simply because the change he was enacting was more complicated–or because the draft animals had a lesser magic affinity than the ostrich–rather it was because he himself did not have stronger ligaments than the bird, but he was at least far smarter than a mosswolf pup; Apparently [Touch of Chaos] in its most base form was more about imparting a touch of your own nature, rather than changing the fundamental nature of the being itself.

It was a lesson Harold took to heart, and it gave him yet another reason to keep striving for self-improvement at his breakneck pace.

That evening they started getting invitations; mostly for Oscar. But also a couple for Sten who it was assumed had trained the lad.

He was invited to [Gladiator] schools, [Mercenary] bands, even an adventuring team that apparently numbered above a dozen, and said they could provide him with training to slay beast instead of man; although they wanted a rather large deposit handed over, for the gear and resources they would be providing, so that one lacked the scholarship feeling of the others, and even made Elin's sense for scams tingle.

But this level of attention, it was a new feeling, being wanted like that. And apparently they had only held off until today because there were so many talents already caught up in projects, who came onto the Arena stage for one showing, and then dipped out again, not to be seen for several years.

Now that he’d been seen training there twice, people were far more inclined to believe he might be here for a longer stay, and might even be up for a change in career-path.

So far none of them had correctly identified his Class, but apparently they did not need to in order to find him attractive; His Skills were not that strange yet, so most had assumed him to be a [Brawler] or even [Raider] of some kind.

Of course none of the offers were interesting at the moment, but he did file the information away, because it certainly wasn’t out of the picture spending a season or two being trained by veterans, and with the actual Class to help. It would be an opportunity to grow as a fighter, but that was a priority for later on.

They knew they'd want to keep an eye out for potential recruits of a more martial nature too eventually, once they'd actually built something worthy protecting. And the [Guild] even made a pass at inviting a couple of them over to the Legume to talk further, to try and squeeze some information; but the inn was not usually a place where people went to be recruited for projects of their kind, so the counter-play would be feeling like an ambush if they tried to make a move.

Still, I'm not gonna rule it out, not if they seem special.

Livia was holding court that evening; they had managed to scrounge together a 29450 silver available with the merchants [Guild] for bidding with tomorrow; with an additional 5k remaining in their coffers for the recruiting and the last leg of the expedition. Of course they did not count on spending it all; but in case something vital to their success showed up–then they were not planning on holding back either.

Worst comes to worst they could sell their remaining horses and two oxen, and probably even borrow a bit from Redd’s sons if they promised they'd make it worth their while within the year. But as a rule people did not like lending money to anyone around here, not one bit. Death lurked around the corner far too frequently, so even on the rare occasion you did it, without a specified due date it means there was no expectation of being paid back, which meant you were seen as a beggar from the jump.

All of the details of their sacrifices faded; they were here and they were ready. Every effort they could make was aimed at completing the preparations for the mission now.

They all shared dinner, but Moa for one was mostly fading into the background, so Kalle told her she could simply relax and be ready to leave on the 6th day, and just try and stay in shape to travel in the meantime. Which basically meant don't work out until you pass out, or get too drunk with your mates, if you even have any.

She was given a bedding on the floor in Elin’s room, who insisted they not waste money on another room–since apparently that would have been the greater sacrifice–and then they pretty much gave Moa her space to get accustomed to her now rapidly changing circumstances.

The final thing to happen was that Redd brought them a cheap shield, because they all had a hunch about what had happened to Moa’s.

Redd had been the one to suggest it first. That shield looked a bit mean to him, and he was reminded of an enchanted bardiche which one of the famous officers in the war had wielded–which was of unknown make, and supposedly uncovered deep in a dungeon somewhere; but the details were vague even as such rumours usually go.

But the gist of its fame was that the Bardiche had been cannibalistic. But it would only digest other bardiches, and it was a rare sort of weapon among most of Man’s enemies, although Ogres were known to wield magic ones at times, but that was true of all larger weapons that might be strong enough to replace one of their Ace-clubs, even temporarily.

And so they left the cheap shield lying under Oscar’s find overnight, and as Redd had guessed it: The lesser shield was gone when they woke on the morning of the 5th day, and Oscar found that for the next few hours the shield was heavier than it should be, but the strange state of it gradually lessened as its owner looked on in disbelief.

What’s next? don’t tell me it’s about to burp. That was Livia’s cartoon-damaged mind at work again, but the rest of them grew just as curious as she did about what they might find next by going on these [Quest]'s of Livia’s.

[We call those growth items, although they don't usually eat without being ordered to, this one seems strange. I doubt very much it was created by a contemporary Enchanter, all the modern work I've laid eyes on so far has been shoddy to tell the truth].

Livia could only nod or throw her hands up in surrender. I hope nobody identified the enchantment as making it a Growth item. They really should have been more careful. Even if humanity lacked the means to create a lot of magic themselves; everyone knew they were excellent looters. And identifying magic was a hell of a lot easier than creating it. Still, they had been at the Arena early that day, hopefully the amateur crowd had been far too engaged in the duel to notice how a shield had gone missing.

Livia decided there was no use worrying. It was all fine for now. They hadn't been gathering that much attention, since they’d all agreed to leave the more advanced recruiting efforts for later, once they had more than just work-ethic and levels to show for it. Once they had an actual home to show for it too.

Yes. That was when they'd reveal all, and use their previous anonymity to show up unexpectedly in the possession of great treasures and riches, enough to make their project a recognised name immediately.

That was all in due time.

After all, it was pretty important to know where the hell you were recruiting people to first.