After a ride full of accusatory glares, the party arrived back at the AO's main building to meet up with Ashlyn and Selenia. Walking through the door, they began walking over to the pair when Ian saw Jen come through the door from the courtyard. Giving her a small wave, she began to make her way over.

"Who else is down for some more pew pew action?" Ashyn asked as the party got within hearing range. When everyone looked at each other before looking back at her, she sighed. "Fine, fine. Hopefully, we won't be there all day. Only a couple more pieces until we complete the sets."

"Oh, which pieces do you have now?" Jen asked, arriving just as she finished.

"Let's see. I have the pauldrons, chest, bracers, boots, gloves, and belt which means I still need the leggings and helm. Nia has most of the other set already. She is just missing the circlet." Ash stopped to give the other woman a playful glare. "It's almost like she's found the secret to the random number generator."

"Yes, yes," Selenia said back with a smile. "You are just jealous that the moon goddess smiles down upon me so. The set is already proving to be incredibly useful, especially the five-piece bonus that allows me to regenerate mana in combat. It isn't a huge amount, but it will make a big difference during longer engagements."

"Not to mention the armor set looks really good on you," Claire said, looking the woman over. "It almost makes me wish I were able to start casting."

Ian had to agree with Claire's assessment. While Ashlyn's salamander leather set was a dark brownish red with black streaks in it, it looks very much like normal leather armor—with an emphasis on protection over style. Selenia set didn't look anything like what the goblin shaman they had looted it from had been wearing.

Her new armor was a light grey, almost white fabric with dark black leather straps wrapped around it in various locations with blue gems for buttons. The pants she was wearing were primarily made of cloth material but had three thick leather strips running down the outer sides of her legs. These thick pieces of leather went all the way up to her waist, which was wrapped with an embroidered cloth belt. Her gloves had open fingers with two buttons at her wrists, allowing her to adjust the fit. The bracers were cloth with two thick pieces of leather running down her forearms. Instead of pauldrons, she wore a cloak that covered her shoulders and went halfway down her back, which just accentuated the slightly lighter gray blouse underneath. The entire set was drawn together with a white half-mask with magical glowing blue strands constantly moving across her cheek in different patterns.

"I'm just happy the dungeon sizes gear to us automatically when we put it on the first time," Ash commented, poking at the leather pauldrons. "I'd honestly never figure out how to properly fit these things without it. Unlike my other leather set, this one has an underlayer that feels like silk against my skin. Ten of ten, would recommend."

"Yes, these are extremely comfortable," Selenia agreed. "Even more comfortable than the clothes from my home."

"So, what are you all going to be up to this afternoon while we go repeatedly slaughter the dungeon?" Ash asked as Ian switched out the buffs.

"Jimmy and I are going to go sit down with Claire and go over skill planning," Ruth said, leaning into her husband.

"Yup yup," Jimmy added, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist. "Then we are going to make a list of materials we could use. Once we hand that off, we're gonna go pack up our stuff to get ready for the movers. So, we probably won't be around much tomorrow while we get settled in."

"Gonna take a nap and meet up with some newbies I ran into for some basketball before dinner," Tram said.

"I'll probably take a nap and read," Lana said.

"I'm gonna see if I can steal some of Ian's time really quick," Jen said, having just made it over to the group. "We haven't had a chance to talk in a few days, and I have a few questions about things I've noticed."

"Oh damn! Think she's also disappointed he didn't try to get a handful earlier?" Ashlyn stage whispered to Selenia.

Lana's face lit up as she glared at the younger woman.

"Oh, I think that means it's time for us to go, Nia!" Ashlyn said, grabbing Selenia's hand and dragging the confused girl towards the door."

"I swear to the curator, that girl…" Lana muttered before looking around.

"Everyone was watching, and you should be super embarrassed," Tram said with a chuckle. "All the bystanders just looked away when they saw you checking."

"Don't listen to him. You're fine, hun," Ruth said, putting a hand on Lana's shoulder. "Ash was just trying to mess with Ian here, and nobody is paying that much attention."

"Thanks," she replied with a small smile. "I'm going to go take a shower and read. I'll catch you all at dinner."

"We need to go too, if we want to get everything taken care of," Claire said.

"Want to go talk in my dorm?" Ian asked Jen as everyone else left. "With Claire using her office, there isn't really a secure place other than there."

"Sure," she said, looking excited.

Tram and Lana were already in their dorms by the time the elevator let them out onto Ian's floor. Walking over, he palmed the door and let Jen go in first.

"Wow, I've read about these," Jen said, looking at the weapon and armor racks he had next to the entrance. "I'm told they automatically clean whatever it placed on them, and they even have the capability of fixing small bits of damage."

"They do," Ian said, pulling off his armor and putting it on the rack. "Unfortunately, I really doubt they are going to be able to handle my bent spear and sword."

"Yeah, James nearly lost it when he saw you bend the spear handle after ramming it all the way through a horker and into the one behind it. Weapons don't usually have that problem unless you are dealing with a much higher-level monster, or your stats far exceed the weapon itself.

"And judging from the way my stats look, I have the feeling that yours are easily four times what they should be to max out those weapons. Which brings me to the real reason I needed to talk with you," she paused to look at the panel on the door to make sure the secure light was on. "I am getting thirty SP per level right now. The only thing I could think of was that you got a new skill over the past few days."

Placing the final piece of armor on the stand, he turned to her and nodded, "You guessed right. I wanted to tell you the other day, but some stuff came up and I haven't gotten a chance since then. Our schedules have just been slightly off."

"I know, which is why I made it a point to get over here today when I knew you were coming back," she said with a smile. "Is this new change the reason Claire decided to prestige as well?"

"Yeah. After we saw what was happening with my skill evolutions, it made sense for her to switch. You need to decide if you want to do it as well."

"Why wouldn't I? With the experience bonus and the buffs, it wouldn't take long for me to catch back up to my party. They are nearing level three hundred now, but that is mainly because I make our runs considerably safer.

"What if it changes your inherent skill?"

Jen's eyes got wide, "What?"

"If you prestige, your inherent skill can change. The best we can tell, it has more to do with who you are and what you want. If that hasn't changed much since you hit level one hundred, you probably won't have to worry much."

Ian led them out of the entry way and into the dorm's main room.

"This place is awesome, Ian," she said, running a hand across the back of one of the sofas as she looked around the room. "And your bed is made. I always thought you would be someone who made their bed in the morning."

"Do you?" he replied with a smirk.

She just smiled at him.

"Anyways, I'm not sure that it matters if my inherent skill changes. It isn't exactly strong. Even without it, I'm not worried about hitting my allies anymore. I'm not Ashlyn, but I have a lot of combat experience. Besides, the extra SP I could gain leveling with this new bonus would let me purchase the passives to increase my aim. Plus, they are requirements needed to unlock some of the stronger bow skills anyway."

Ian had to agree after seeing her in action firsthand. "I think you're very talented, Jen. With you being over level four hundred, you would be getting thousands of extra SP to play with. It won't be a ton in the long run, but it would mean a lot right now.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"My biggest concern is what's going to happen to your party while you catch back up. We can help you, but only after you hit level one hundred. You'll be flying solo for your novice run."

Jen gave him a small smile, "I already worked it out with my crew, saying that I might need to prestige based on what your answers were. We are doing four more runs this week, and I will activate my prestige on Saturday morning. I'd like to do the same thing Ash is doing right now, but it wouldn't be nearly as efficient. With your buffs, I am a monster, but that doesn't mean I won't get mobbed by the groups down there."

"Yeah, Ash's friends make her a true monster at this point," Ian said, returning her smile. "Want some tea? I got mint and Darjeeling."

"If you don't mind me hanging around a bit, I'd love some mint," she replied.

"Ha, you know that I will always make time for you, though I also had a question I wanted to ask you," Ian said, pulling out his desktop kettle. "How well geared is your group? I know you got good weapons now with your sponsor, but what about your actual armor?"

Ian didn't miss the grimace that crossed her face.

"Honestly, most of us are in normal armor, as in completely normal armor. I have a few pieces that we got from dungeon drops, but any of the Magica brand stuff like you wear is so far out of our budget it isn't even funny. I was honestly shocked to see you in it the first time I saw you on stream. The spear you broke today is worth nearly a hundred grand all by itself."

Ian's eyes got wide as he dropped the box of tea bags on the floor. Nearly all of his gear had been a gift from Claire and her parents. The only piece he had bought was the metal helmet, and that was only because the leather set hadn't come with one.

"You had no clue?" Jen said, coming over and picking up the closed tea box. He shook his head as she put it down and stood next to him. "I had a suspicion that Claire never told you how much they were worth. When I asked, she said they were a donation from some retired adventurers who wanted to see you succeed. I hadn't even realized you knew other adventurers than me when you were working your way to level 100."

"I had some people looking out for me, even if I didn't realize it at the time," Ian said. "I'm still finding out how much they have done for me, apparently. I knew that gear was expensive, but I didn't realize how much. Now I feel bad that they were just given to me—and even worse for accidentally breaking a weapon worth a small fortune.

"Claire is going to procure new weapons for me today, and the model is for the mid-tier. I have a decent stockpile of cash, but if that spear costs as much as you are saying it does, I'm finding it hard to believe that the quote she gave me was accurate."

"You think she isn't telling you the real costs and is financially supporting you? Not many twenty-somethings have that kind of cash just lying around, Ian."

"Well…actually, never mind. This is something for me to bring up with her later," he said, pulling out the tea bags and putting them in the cups before pouring the hot water over them. "Sugar?"

Getting a shake of her head in reply, he handed her one of the cups as they walked over to sit down on one of the sofas.

"Getting back to what I wanted to talk about, we have recruited a married couple who are inherent crafters. Jimmy is essentially an armor smith, though he has only really made items from leather due to the availability of materials. Ruth is an enchantress. They both really love crafting and have spent all of their SP on crafting skills."

"Yeah, but crafters usually only make low-level goods for high prices," Jen said with a frown. "Without the ability to go gather the supplies themselves, they don't get any practice to build mastery. The manufacturers tend to purchase all the materials for higher prices than individual crafters can afford, putting them in a no-win situation."

"Which is what we are going to try to do something about," Ian said. "We've helped them level, and they are halfway through the low-tier now, and they will be hitting the mid-tier with us sometime next week. What we are planning to do is to spend a couple of days gathering materials to get the items needed to help them practice their skills. Jimmy understands how the mastery system works and explained a little of it on the way back from the dungeon.

"We didn't have enough time to sit down and go over all the specialized nuances, but the easiest way for us to help him is to provide a ton of materials so he can make a lot of different items. The problem is that we can only farm so much at any given time, even if we all split up. Claire proposed creating a list of items he can make as well as the materials needed to complete each. We want to extend the offer of crafted gear to other groups.

"Jimmy said that he would gladly make anything for us as long as we got him the materials. He was so excited that his wife had to calm him down. Though he did put out the stipulation that we had to let his wife practice her enchanting on anything he makes.

"Time out!" Jen said. "Are you telling me that you have two crafters, hundreds of levels higher than nearly every crafter, with the SP of someone sitting around level fifteen hundred and every point spent in their specialties?" She gave him an astonished look when Ian nodded. "And these two crafters are willing to craft armor for free if we provide the materials as long as we agree to let them enchant it for us…for free?"

"Yeah, they need the practice," Ian said taking a sip of his tea.

"It isn't about that, Ian, they could charge any amou—"

"Jen, it isn't about the money," Ian said, cutting her off. "I can walk into a dungeon right now and make ten to twenty grand by the time it gets dark without any risk. I could probably double or triple that if I wanted to go into a higher dungeon. I've been saving most of my drops because I don't need the money right now. As long as I have the dungeon, money isn't ever going to be more than a temporary problem ever again.

"Forget the money. I'm worried about my friends. People die because they can't afford good armor and weapons. I can literally punch horkers hundreds of levels above me to death with my leather gloves. When I get hit by monsters, my level, I don't get huge gaping wounds, I get scratches. I know what I am doing is practically cheating.

"I also understand that a horker hitting Nexa with a spade would cut her wide open and shatter her bones. Her armor isn't real armor. It's practically cosplay, and probably provides even less protection. When I walk into the AO every day, I see kids who aren't even out of high school yet running dungeons in their street clothes and replica swords they purchase at pawn shops."

Ian looked down and realized his hands were shaking. Slowly, Jen reached over and grabbed one of his hands with hers and scooted next to him.

"It's alright," Jen said, squeezing his hand. "I've known too many people who have died in the dungeons since I started diving. We try to gloss over it, but we average a death every few days in the AO. Some of them are unavoidable, but a lot of them come down to being too under-gear to adjust to anything out of the ordinary."

Her frown morphed into a smile as she looked up to meet his eyes. "Even though the subject is sad, it makes me happy to get a glimpse of what you are thinking about. Now that I know you've found a home, which is something I've long wished for you, you're no longer just surviving day to day. You are looking at tomorrow."

"You're right," he said, giving her a small smile. "Over the last couple of weeks, I have come to realize the people around me are the only things that really matter. It isn't about the money I make or the items I find. It doesn't matter how much the media talks about me, or who they think I'm sleeping with. I want to do what Jason does, and do the little things I can to help the people who will come after me.

"I have the ability to do things that others can't right now. It doesn't hurt me to bring crafters with us, because we are already overpowered for our levels. Will that change in the future? Probably. But right now, we can make a difference, and it isn't just a random idea I've thought up that might work either. Have you read the reports released about the hard mode awakening challenges yet?"

"I've skimmed them. The only one I have read through completely was yours," she replied, giving him a smirk.

Ian gave her a wry smile before nudging her lightly with his shoulder, "Mine is the least important one in there."

"Maybe to you, but I know many who disagree," she retorted, nudging him back.

"Maybe personally, but in this instance, it was within their reports that I discovered every rapid increase in the average level of their adventures came from a powerful individual paving a path into a new tier. Every time someone completed a hard mode challenge, they flooded the market with new weapons, armor, and materials that made earlier tiers easier. Unfortunately, very few of them continued to push boundaries once they became the top adventurer on their planet."

"Wait, what?" Jen said, sounding confused. "Why would you stop when you finally make it to the top? Unless they were struggling, there wasn't much of a reason not to keep pushing."

Ian agreed with the sentiment and believed he would keep going himself. However, his conversations with Selenia showed him that their cultures were too different to apply human sensibilities to the Faeorcen people.

"The problem they ran into was that most of them were solo adventurers," he said, chuckling at the shocked look on Jen's face. "Most dungeon parties in their society are led by a male and are filled with the members of his harem. Men make up a much smaller percentage of their population than women, and there has only been one man who completed a hard mode awakening challenge. He is also the only one to die before becoming the highest-level adventurer on their planet.

"Regardless, the women had a lot of issues finding a partner because women in their society tend to want strength in a mate above all else. Their parties started as all female, but their members began to leave to join the other harems when they got near the top tiers, leaving their leaders to push into the unknown without any support. In the end, they had to continuously push towards new milestones to maintain their power and prestige in their own faction, eventually leading to them dying in the dungeon without ever having children."

"That's really sad," Jen said. "But you said this idea wasn't your own? They don't seem to be doing what you seem to want to at all."

"No, they aren't. Their society is too mercenary," Ian agreed. "What I didn't release to the public, or even give to the AO, was all of Leonian's notes on challenges. A lot of that information isn't about the challenges themselves, but how society could utilize those who awaken to push everyone forward. How a coordinated effort could help push a faction so far above others just by taking the time to further develop the supportive elements for the normal adventurers.

"He also explained the reasons why this idea would never work in his culture." Ian smiled as Jen's eyes began to glow with interest. "Apparently, they are too hardwired with the desire to chase power and wealth at the expense of everything else to ever work together. Both sides would constantly be working to undermine the other and take everything for themselves."

"That's definitely mercenary," Jen said, letting out a whistle. "But I think you have a really good point, and I'd be a fool if my group didn't start helping out. I bet James would love to work with them to do streams on crafting as well. Since it's so hard for crafters to progress, there isn't a lot of information out there about them."

"So, you're in?" Ian asked, giving her a smile.

"Does that fry machine ding still haunt your dreams?" she asked.

"Perfect," he said, chuckling. "Then you should start texting your party and seeing which pieces everyone needs, and we can focus on getting everyone geared out this week."

"Oh, and what are you getting up to do?" she asked as he stood and stretched.

"I need to take a quick shower, then we can hang out until dinner if you want. I was going to turn on Ash's and Nia's stream for a bit and just relax."

"Sounds great. You go get washed up, and I'll be here when you get out," Jen said, giving him a grin.

Ian quickly turned on the stream and handed her the remote before heading into the bathroom.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.