I kept my pace slow enough that anyone could have matched it. As I jogged toward the team of humans-turned-werewolves, I pulled an item from my inventory I had not used yet and nearly forgot about.

"Face of My Brother. Rare. Place this cap on your head to transform your face into an exact duplicate of any person you meet. Duplication is perfect and will withstand all scrutiny, even touch. It will resist most spells revealing truth."

I dumped my wide-brimmed wolf leather hat into my inventory, replacing it with the simple cap and focused on Sam's face. I felt no difference, no tingle of magic, no distortion of my world. Had it worked?

The leader of the group glanced in my direction as I jogged up to them. Named Robert Taylor, he was a tall man with black hair, broad shoulders, and a very heavy sword. He blinked and did a double-take.

"Sam? What are you wearing? What happened? You look like you've dropped 30 pounds."

Oh, yeah. Sam was way portlier than me. The cap only changed my face, not my body.

Pretending to pant from the exertion of running, I grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "Robert, I thought that was you. I invented a new pastry that burns fat like you would not believe. I'll make millions when we get back to Earth. You've got to try this."

I pulled from my inventory a platter full of some of my less-favorite pastries. No sense wasting the good stuff. I sprinkled a hint of mushroom on them before extending the tray.

"We're kind of in a hurry," said another woman, casting glances at the nearby city leaders. They'd pass in seconds, so the werewolves needed to spring their trap.

I extracted another tray with steins full of Sam's ale. "Everyone's got time for a pint."

That did it. Not even Alpha's orders to kill could trump Sam's food and ale. They all snatched up pastries and steins, clearly planning to wolf it all down, then strike. Except every one of them stiffened in ecstasy when the Tasty Cake Mushrooms did their work.

It proved easier than I'd hoped to shackle every single one of them with zombie slaver shackles. They broke out of their stupor fast and toppled as they struggled to break the chains.

"Unlock me!" Robert shouted, spittle flying, his eyes transforming to crimson orbs as the werewolf inside threatened to burst forth in rage at the restraints.

"What is the meaning of this?" Paul cried as his entire party turned at the shouting.

I swapped my hat back to reveal my true face. "Beware! These people have all been turned into werewolves. They were sent to murder you all."

Most cried out in fear, stumbling back and fumbling for weapons. A few shouted stupid questions, but Robert howled, his body thrashing in that agonizing ecstasy of transformation I remembered all too well. His torso thickened, limbs shortening, corded muscles swelling as his clothing melted into his body and coarse black hair replaced it.

The others began howling too, also transforming. That drew a lot of attention. Most of Paul's party retreated, screaming, while guards and other fighters in the area rushed in, weapons and spells at the ready.

"Do not kill them!" I shouted, waving the onrushing fighters down. "I've bound them."

"They were part of the community?" Crystal asked, her face white with shock.

"Yes."

"How did you know they were turned?" Paul asked.

"My Identify got an upgrade."

"Lucky for us," Crystal said, swallowing and looking a bit sick. Despite the Alpha's first attack on the town, most people had not faced a werewolf up close and personal. They were terrifying, even shackled.

Robert, now fully in werewolf form, thrashed mightily against the shackles, but they held for now. A sizzling sound started, and greasy smoke began wafting off his body as the sunlight visibly burned him. His regeneration kept up, but it looked extremely painful.

When I'd hit the one recently-transformed man with that beam of sunlight, it had forcibly changed him back to human form. I'd suspected they simply couldn't move about in daylight. Now it looked like they could remain transformed if they really wanted to, at least as long as the sunlight didn't overwhelm their regeneration, but it would be very painful.

"Does anyone have nets or ropes to bind them better until we can heal them?"

"Can you heal lycanthropy after it fully consumes someone?" Paul asked.

"No! They are abominations that must be cleansed." The thunderous voice came from the monk, Gabriel. He was charging in, huge hammer raised, exultant zeal on his face.

I caught the hammer and pushed him back gently but firmly. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this time we can actually save them."

"How?" Crystal demanded. "We've tried, but even the full poison resist potions fail after someone turns."

"I can help!" Right on cue, Ruby sprinted into the plaza, hair flying behind. She was dressed in one of her ranger battle leather outfits and looked like a heroine from a fantasy movie.

"Glad you came so fast."

"Of course." She pushed through the crowd and her brand new white Gloves of the Healer's Touch appeared on her hands. "Hold them down."

I pressed the thrashing wolf form of Robert into the stones of the plaza while other warriors carefully held down the others. A couple people got mauled, but soon all were restrained and the injured took poison resist potions.

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Ruby pressed her gloves to the side of Robert's lupine form. They pulsed with a brilliant white light and his body convulsed while he howled long and loud, as if in mortal agony. Then the sound trailed off into the whimpering cry of an exhausted man. When the light faded, Robert lay on the stones, once again human, although gaunt and pale.

"I'm back," he breathed in wonder. "Alpha's gone. I'm human again!"

"Welcome back, brother," I told him, then motioned someone else to help him up.

I removed the manacles and we moved on to the next werewolf. In minutes, Ruby cleansed them all. She looked exhausted by the end. The gloves had a cost that the description had not mentioned, but she still smiled with victory as everyone cheered her.

She rose, but stumbled. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her. She leaned into me and whispered, "Thanks. That was . . . draining."

Paul pushed through the cheering crowd and pumped Ruby's hand. "Young lady, you are a treasure, and you deserve a handshake for that. How did you manage to cleanse them?"

I barely suppressed a laugh. Paul had given Ruby a handshake. I'd never seen him shake anyone's hand before. He was on team The Great British Baking Show after all, and the habit of only shaking hands when a contestant did something exceptional was the hallmark of Paul Hollywood, one of the judges. Paul was more in character than I realized.

Behind him, Gabriel hefted his hammer high, cheering and laughing and celebrating the victory of good over evil.

"Actually, Lucas—" she started to answer Paul, but I cut her off. I had too many stories circling about me already.

"I knew she had the gloves and sent her a message to come assist. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm glad you came so quickly."

That generated another great cheer that drowned out her reply. She gave me an annoyed look, so I winked and in our chat sent a message asking her to just leave it at that. Thankfully, she didn't protest.

"I think this deserves a drink," I added loudly. "Tell Sam that your first round is on me."

Cheering redoubled, and most of the crowd headed for the tavern, sweeping the recently healed werewolves along.

"We really should debrief them," Crystal protested. "They might have valuable information about the Alpha, the pack, or any number of things."

"Good idea, but don't you think they need to celebrate a bit first?"

Paul clapped me on the shoulder. "Indeed! We'll send for them later. Will you join us to discuss other matters?"

"I was heading over here for just that purpose when I spotted the werewolves."

"I'm glad you did." He extracted a few Boston cream donuts and handed them around. Lifting one high, he cried, "To the prosperity of Midmount Vale!"

"Cheers!" I added as a chorus of voices sounded with us. I ate my donut in 3 bites. Not even Tasty Cake Mushrooms would make a good Boston cream donut better.

Ruby excused herself, but only after Crystal promised to submit a resolution to the entire council commending her for saving the werewolves, along with a vague promise of some kind of reward.

A few minutes later, I sat at the council table with Paul, Crystal, and Elizabeth Maberly. That morning, the beautiful actress showed up with her hair styled in a complex braid. It was also brown, with gold highlights. She wore a form-fitting leather tunic that accentuated her mature figure. Burns and Tony were up at the lake, overseeing the work crews and securing the camp on the water.

"Well, the morning is off to an exciting start," Paul said as soon as we sat.

"I'm surprised we saw no sign of the werewolves before that sneak attack," Crystal said.

"Nothing all night?" Elizabeth asked. She looked tired, as if she'd spent the evening in her night club.

"Nothing," Crystal confirmed. "No sign of werewolves or the Alpha at all."

"You're welcome."

"You did it, then?" Paul asked. "You actually kept them distracted and survived?"

"It was a busy night." I shared a brief recap of my encounter with Alpha and the Death Stalker, with emphasis on the danger but light on the details. They celebrated my victory over Alpha, but mourned the loss of another team.

"Human losses have slowed, but we cannot seem to stop them entirely," Paul said with a sigh.

I hadn't checked the survivor counter in a while, and when I did, I mentally winced. It had dropped down to 465.

"Up in the mountains, you must have seen that huge fiery dragon," Crystal said. "Did you get a good look at it? The entire town was on high alert, but luckily it disappeared and did not attack us."

"Dragon?" Elizabeth exclaimed. Definitely spent the night indoors.

I hesitated. "Yeah, I saw it. You don't have to worry about that one either."

I gave them an even briefer version of that experience and highlighted how lucky I'd been to survive. By the time I finished, they were all looking at me a bit funny, as if not sure they could believe me.

"How can you do all that?" Crystal asked softly.

Thankfully Elizabeth Maberly interrupted before I had to start another song and dance routine to deflect suspicion. With a laugh and a little clap, she said, "Splendid! You are endlessly interesting, Lucas. To think you spent the night battling monsters that would have slaughtered us all, and you speak about it like it was nothing."

I chuckled. "It definitely wasn't easy."

"And yet you did it! You're a hero, and heroes should be rewarded." She produced a small piece of golden parchment and slid it across the table to me. "A small token of my appreciation for your herculean efforts to safeguard Midmount Vale."

It read, "VIP pass to the Eclipse club. Enjoy free refreshments and 2 hours of any services you desire."

"Um, thanks. That's very generous." No way I was going to ask her any more clarifying questions about what services the club offered. I'd heard enough rumors. It sounded like a place that would make the wildest adult entertainment establishments blush back on Earth.

"It is indeed. That reminds me, my head bartender has been looking for you." She leaned forward, expression eager. "Is it true you have access to a supply of hard liquor?"

"I do."

"Perfect! How much to buy the lot? Good drinks are the one thing we're struggling to produce."

"I can sell you 200 bottles of assorted spirits," I said, welcoming the change in conversation to safer territory.

"200?" Paul exclaimed. "Where did you get it?"

I shrugged. "Heroic fights, remember? They bring heroic loot."

Elizabeth's expression fell into an actual pout. She looked at me through long lashes and said, "We don't have a great deal of mana crystals in the form of liquid cash. I've had to invest heavily and up front costs are very high."

"So how do people pay for drinks?"

"We do take mana crystals, but we also have a barter system set up. It's proven quite effective."

"Okay, what do you have to barter for booze? And speaking of bartering, are you all ready to share your best offers for mushrooms?"

"Oh, yes!" Crystal exclaimed. She and Paul extracted rolls of parchment and handed them over.

Elizabeth did not look pleased that her bartering session got interrupted, but she too extracted a rolled parchment, making it look like she was drawing it from her bodice instead of from her inventory.

Paul's offer granted me access to the town leaders' tier-1 preferred shop at the system store. I nearly laughed when I read it. Of course, to anyone else, it would be a great offer. Crystal offered a custom crafted suit of armor from a crafter on her team. Not bad, but I doubted it could compete with the eel hide armor I'd just gotten.

Elizabeth offered unlimited access to her club and 2 hours per night of unlimited personal entertainment. How did she find enough people to work the night club? The offer made my skin crawl, but I still wanted to understand how her club worked. If she was using any kind of compulsion or seduction charm like that insane diva Abbie, we would disagree. Violently.

I'd look into it later. I hoped she was keeping things above board. I really didn't want to kill more humans. There weren't enough of us left.

"You don't look excited," Paul said nervously.

"I'm considering a counter proposal. In the meantime, feel free to chat about whatever other items you need to cover."

I wasn't sure what else I could demand, but an idea began percolating in the back of my mind. I just needed a minute to figure it out. I wanted to help, but I also sensed I had an opportunity to win some important benefits for myself, and I did not want to miss them.

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