Alan wasn't the only one to be rewarded. Akilatjin also had a palm-sized opal stone appear in front of her. She was still staring in the air, that unfocused gaze that Alan had learned to associate with Network messages. This was the first time Alan had seen someone else get a Network reward in front of him, though. The opal continued to hover in front of her while she read her notification. Finally her eyes started tracking the world again and she called excitedly.

"My first quest reward Alan! This is wonderful. We should do more dungeons."

Without arms, she reached out for the stone with her mouth. Alan already knew that her storage space was inside of her, so she had to 'eat' it to move it there. She would be able to bring it back out at any time.

"Wow, that was pretty good." Her eyes caught on the stone Alan was holding. "Are you doing anything with yours?"

"Wait, did you actually eat that?"

"Of course, just looking at it I could feel my body craving it. It's not the first rock I've eaten, but this one was much better than the last."

Alan quickly stowed his own opal in his necklace. While the stone wasn't a magical item, it could be infused with a lot more mana than a regular rock, and even just the opal on its own could be used to help create magical items. He wasn't going to just toss his down her gullet.

"Do you eat a lock of rocks?"

"Well, like I said, it's not the first one I've eaten. I don't go around consuming all the rocks I see, but sometimes I just get a feeling, like my body would really like to eat that, and so I do. It hasn't led me astray yet."

"Anything weird other than rocks that you like to eat?"

"I object to you characterizing my eating of rocks as weird. However, I also find myself wanting to eat almost everything metal. Those cravings are easier to ignore, except for a few occasions, like when I first saw your spewn. I really wanted to eat that, but TS assured me that would be wrong."

Alan quickly stored his spewn, and then the short sword as well. He hoped he wouldn't have to watch out that she didn't start taking bites out of his gear. Thinking on the subject, it did make some sense that a dragon that was once inside a ferric dragon egg would perhaps eat metal. Maybe rocks were considered a type of metal? Alan wasn't a geologist so he couldn't be sure.

Akilatjin wanted to see what was inside the hut, but after hearing some of her more bloodthirsty comments, Alan didn't think that was a good idea. They would be better off heading out and getting back to the village. It should be morning soon, if it wasn't already, and Alan wanted to check in on how the newest members of Elstree were doing.

"That sounds boring." Was Akilatjin's contribution when he shared the plan with her. The young worm fluctuated back and forth between sophisticated and petulant like a seasoned teenager.

"What would you rather do?"

"How about another dungeon?"

That was a tempting idea. The town dungeon hadn't been a real challenge for Alan, so he had plenty of energy he could still work off. He also had responsibilities too, though.

"I tell you what, we'll check in with how things are going, and if everything seems fine, we can pawn off the rest of the work on Roger and go hit some dungeons in tier two."

That got Akilatjin's fu;; approval, so they made their way back quickly, but not before checking on the villagers running through Indiana. With twenty parties of newly classed people, they had taken almost the full day to get everyone through the dungeon. It would have been longer, but few of the groups could make it very far into the dungeon, otherwise there would still be groups waiting.

As it was, the last party had finished while he and Akilatjin were running the town dungeon. The regular schedule of dungeon runs was back on, and Alan was once again thankful he had someone to foist all of the extra responsibilities onto. Coming up with a schedule for the dungeon must be a nightmare, especially since the number of parties who needed slots kept changing.

After Alan checked in with the people above ground, he started communicating with the dungeon core down below. That was when he received an interesting surprise.

Alan had greeted Indiana first. "Good morning, I hear you had a busy night. Any standouts from the groups that went through?"

I suppose it is morning. I don't pay much attention to the intensity of the light above ground. A few groups got farther than others, and one group had to leave early because a tank in their group is apparently terrified of beetles.

Before Alan could say anything, Akilatjin responded. "Are there many beetles in your dungeon?"

Alan was stunned. No one had ever shown the ability to talk with Indiana like he could. He was trying to figure out if it was a feature of their Bond or something else, while the core and the young dragon kept talking.

Indeed, my first room is nothing but beetles. They are low level, but so were these people. The tank who was afraid of them soiled themselves when the first one landed on him. He is lucky that his filth mostly stayed in his pants or I might have had to punish him.

"Ewww, gross. You should have made him pay him anyway. Who is that scared of a little beetle? Maybe if it was three meters tall I would understand. By the way, since Alan isn't doing introductions, my name is Akilatjin. It is a pleasure to see you again."

And you as well. I recognize your energy signature from your egg. My real name is JR4yQQZ, but you can call me Indiana.

That last exchange gave Alan's thoughts some traction and so he broke in.

"How can you two communicate, and how do you know each other?"

We communicate the same way that you and I do Alan. And we know each other from when you had both of us in attunement circles.

"I think he meant how are we able to communicate. You and I are Bonded Alan, and you and Indiana have a significant bond as well. Is it any surprise we can communicate?"

Leave it to Akilatjin to try and make him feel like an idiot for not knowing something that he had no experience with. "Remember this is all new to me Akilatjin, and I don't have an entire lineage of memories to call from. But go back a second, you guys were aware of each other back on my farm?"

"Of course Alan, he was just about at the limit that I could sense before you took him away, but I studied him for a while."

There wasn't a lot to do while I sat in that circle, other than absorb the energy it was giving me. And I have to say, Akilatjin's egg was fascinating. Especially the changes that were going on inside of it.

Akilatjin's mental voice carried a lot of excitement. "Could you tell what was happening? We are still trying to figure out how I became a worm."

Unfortunately my senses were not that developed yet. Without having established a domain, my ability to see the details were blunted. I also have no experience to draw on, so even if I had been able to sense it clearly, I doubt I could explain what it meant. For me it was simply an interesting phenomenon. I am sorry.

"That's okay, the mystery will just have to persist a little longer." The previous excitement had been replaced with resignation.

"We are hoping to head south for a little bit to show Akilatjin some more dungeons. We should be back in a few days, is there anything you need from me?" Alan asked.

Would Akilatjin like to try out my dungeon?

"Ooo, that sounds like a great idea!"

"Unfortunately there's quite the queue of people waiting their turn." Alan saw Akilatjin's incredulous look, but he kept on talking. "And yes, we could probably jump the line, but I don't think she would be challenged much by your dungeon as it is now. She just handled opal level monsters like they were nothing."

Hmmmm…you are probably right to find other opportunities then. When I grow stronger, though, I hope that you will give it a try. Speaking of which, if you could bring me some more monsters to use, I could work on expanding to make myself more of a challenge for all.

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Akilatjin was quick to answer that. "Of course we will get you some more monsters, right Alan?"

He didn't think she understood what that meant, but it wasn't a bad idea anyway. Alan had been thinking up ways to add to Indiana's bestiary. A normal wild dungeon would move around some before trying to establish a permanent home. During that slow migration they would no doubt come across a variety of monsters they could then incorporate into their design. Network locked dungeons didn't even have to worry about that, as they got their blueprints straight from the big guy. Indiana was benefitting from having a steady stream of people accessing it already, but it meant it wasn't moving around, exposing itself to new things. It would have to be Alan's job to bring new things to it.

"Of course, it might be a slow process, but we will do the best we can." Was all he could offer.

After that it was a fast jog back to Elstree. Now that he knew Akilatjin could move well, it would be a good idea to test her stamina. The short trip back to the village wasn't enough to tire her out, so that was a good sign.

They grabbed a quick meal from the inn again, Cook was happy to see them, and then it was time to see Roger. On the way, Alan passed the older woman who had been the spokesperson for their first batch of 'slaves'. She was walking with two young panda children. Alan stopped for a moment to check in.

"Good morning, how are you doing today?"

She had been looking around, as if trying to find something, but her eyes found Alan after he spoke. "Oh, it's you. We are doing alright, but we were wondering where to go for food. We have a little money."

"Well, there are three options for food, but first, I realized I never got your name yesterday. I'm Alan." He said as he extended his hand.

Glancing down at the offer, she finally reached out her own furry hand and shook. "My name is Tan."

Her hair was springy and soft, but there was a roughness to the outer layer. "Well, Tan, some people prefer to buy food and make it themselves at home. Another option is to head to the inn, it's just down the road there, but that can be pricey. The last choice is back up the road near the town hall. It's a kitchen that serves food to anyone who wants it. The quality isn't the greatest, but it's free and all you can eat."

"That's mighty generous of you all." She said with a look of actual gratitude.

Alan put on his best politician face. "We're a new and growing settlement, I'm still a relative newcomer, too. We all have to look out for each other."

The two young children with her had been clutching her legs the whole time the adults were talking, but the older girl worked up the courage to ask a question she had been wondering.

"How did everyone get classes? Those people yesterday were awesome."

"Meng, that's not polite." Tan admonished her.

Alan smiled and crouched down to talk to the child on her level. Even though he was short for a human, he wasn't that short. "That's okay. Here in Elstree, we think that everyone should be able to have classes if they want. We were lucky enough to end up with a large amount of class stones. One day when you get older, maybe you can get one too."

"Now don't go filling her head with false dreams, Mr. Alan." Tan said sharply.

Standing back up, he looked the older panda woman square in her eyes. "It's not a false dream. Everyone in town has at least two classes, and one day, so can you."

"And what do we have to do to earn them? Sign away our future, promise to fight for you, what?"

Alan sighed as he answered. "I know this is all coming at you fast. A couple of months ago I didn't even know that the Network existed myself. We really aren't trying to take advantage of you. The only thing we really want is to increase the size of our settlement. The classes are just a bonus beyond that, and no I won't ask for anything other than I hope you won't actively work against me."

Tan didn't look convinced, but she also didn't look as hostile as before. "I apologize for my harsh words, then. I hope you are telling the truth."

As they walked away, Akilatjin looked up at Alan. "It's nice to see that not everyone loves you."

"Why's that?"

"Well, it will hopefully keep you from getting a big head. Humans are known for their arrogance."

"That's rich coming from you."

"What does that mean?" Those inhuman eyes managed to convey her honest confusion.

"Nothing. So, out of curiosity, why is it you could talk to Thadrick, but no one else. I know he has a seeker class, but so do plenty of other people here."

"I'm not exactly sure. This mental communication isn't something I was expecting to rely on. If I had to guess, it's at least partly because we had a small bond due to his role in my rescue. I also would guess that he has some kind of natural talent that played a role."

"What do you mean by natural talent?"

"Not everything about a person is expressed on their status sheet. There are deeper talents and abilities that are not from the Network."

This was news to Alan. "Tell me more."

"Well, I'd love to, but that is about the extent of my memories on this. Perhaps when I'm older I will remember more."

Great, two women in his life who doled out critical information in drips and drabs.

Roger was in his office as expected. Alan and Akilatjin turned in their bounty for clearing the town dungeon. Ten gold wasn't a lot for him, but the village also got a cut of that, and Akilatjin got a thrill out of touching her forehead to the ball to verify her completion. Much to Alan's dismay, she chose to eat this reward as well. He would have to make sure to intercept any money she won in the Warrior's Arena. Sometimes a parent has to make the hard choices for their kids.

After getting their gold, Alan discussed the conversation he had had with Tan. "I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to get them working as soon as possible. If they are able to start earning money, they should feel more independent. But I also worry that they'll see this as us forcing them to work."

Roger sat back in his chair as he thought over the issue. "Hmmm…I understand your concern, but I think you're right that the sooner we get them working alongside the other residents, the better. How about if we hand out a list of some of the jobs we need filled, along with some expected salaries, and let them decide. That way we aren't forcing them to do work, but we are showing them how they can be constructive and earn a wage."

"I like it. Some might still get upset, and others might refuse to do anything, but that's probably going to be true no matter what we do. I think this will give them the best sense of agency."

"I agree. You should let Roger make more decisions. He has good ideas." Akilatjin thought at Alan as she stood upright at his side.

"You're just saying that because you want to go run dungeons instead of sitting here listening to us plan." Alan responded.

"Well, you're not wrong, but he does have some good ideas."

Roger sensed that something was passing between the two, so he waited them out.

"Akilatjin gives her stamp of approval as well. And speaking of her, she and I are planning on heading off disk for a while. Not right now, but maybe when the Motley Swarm return, Thadrick, Akilatjin, and myself are going to make a two day trip to a Warrior's Arena. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"I don't think so. Unless things start going poorly with our new residents. I'm hoping to bring in the next group in a couple of days, so you'll still be here for that. If you're taking Thadrick, what's that gonna do about his team escorting groups to get rare class stones."

"I was thinking that his party might enjoy a little time off after babysitting. When we get back, I'll also go with them on their next run so that we can bring a larger group to make up for the delay. Speaking of them, however, how's the recruitment effort going?"

At the end of the games, Alan had taken the winning group's promises to join him in his quest to win the tutorial. Everyone else had been left to consider if they wanted to sign up or not. It had been less than a day since then, but he was antsy to hear the scuttlebutt.

"People haven't had much time to consider yet, but I will say that I've already met with several representatives, and it seems like people are interested. The fact that you're giving them the choice, and that you've already followed through on many of your other promises, has created a lot of trust. Eight different parties, including six from the Principals, have said they'd be willing to make that commitment."

"Sounds like Roger has everything under control, let's go."

Alan had to bite off a laugh at how impatient the young dragon was being. At times she seemed like an old regal being, and at others she had the immaturity of a child.

"Well, if you have things under control here, then Akilatjin and I plan to head down to tier two. There are some dungeons that haven't been reset yet, and she would like to try them out. Before we go, though," Alan heard the worm groan in his head. "I'd like to work on more attribute fruits. If people are getting ready to evolve their classes, they might need to add to some of their non-class stats."

This wasn't something Alan had to worry about himself, since all of his stats were tied to a class. However, for those with only a few classes, it was an issue. Your attributes were tied into your aura. It was the increased stats you got from progressing your classes, not necessarily the progress itself, that caused your aura to increase. In order to handle the energy that an opal class required, your aura needed to be at a certain strength. If someone didn't have enough classes, then their aura might not grow powerful enough to evolve, at least not without some help.

That's where attribute fruits, potions, and other delivery methods came in. These would provide boosts to specific stats, allowing your aura to grow stronger. Not only would that help when it came time to evolve their classes, but it also made the person more powerful. It could allow adventurers to increase non-class stats that were still important to their abilities. A constitution based warrior who never increased their strength would eventually find themselves unable to keep up with more well-rounded combatants.

There were a couple of drawbacks to the fruits. For one, they stifled natural growth, so an adventurer should never use them on a class bound stat. Another issue was that any points gained by such means would be slightly less effective than ones earned from leveling their classes. It was better than never increasing them at all, but if two people with equal stats, one from a class and the other from boosts, were to compare their stat's ability, the class-based person would always be better.

Alan had previously discovered how to make constitution fruits, and his work with dexterity and spirit ones had also paid off, he discovered. There were now Dexterity Apples and Spirit Peaches growing in his test farm. They took longer to grow than the Constitution Goji Berries, but that was a price Alan was willing to pay to actually have a variety of fruits.

The next stats he wanted to work on were strength and perception. Eventually he hoped to have every stat accounted for, but he was still fumbling in the dark when it came to these items. He would get more results by focusing his efforts on small gains, rather than diluting his attention by trying to get everything at once.

Something that had been holding back his efforts was his lack of access to quartz. He had long ago exhausted the loose rocks back in the lake of tier one, but since then, the miners in Elstree had found a vein of the stuff. Roger was able to provide him with a large container of quartz powder. Now it was time to experiment.

First he set up several more circles for growing the new apples and peaches. He had previously made several versions of magical circles for each fruit, but most had turned out to be wasted effort. He erased those and set up five more circles for each type of fruit with the winning designs.

Next were the experiments with strength. The first circle he drew, gathered mana in general, and then pushed it through some special glyphs for things like heaviness, durability, and sharpness. He had learned from the literature that Roger had found, that such combinations could lead to the desired product. It turned out that magical farming was much more of an art than a science, with too many unknown variables that could poison the outcome. Sometimes literally. In that initial circle he placed some apricot seeds. He set up three more circles, with various designs, and he put different fruits in each. The last circle got a soybean plant.

Perception was more difficult for Alan. The book that his mentor Dracon had given him had some enchantment glyphs that were linked with perception, but most had been above his previous skill level. During his copious free time, Alan had managed to fit in some practice with these glyphs, and had even carved one in a rock. When holding it, and running mana through the rune, he found all of his natural senses to be boosted a little bit. Sounds were louder, colors brighter, and the stink of his unwashed body all the more pungent.

He had only come up with two possible designs so far, and the first circle got raspberries and in the second one he planted carrots. That made two non-fruit plants he used, which bothered him a little, but all the literature he had seen had mentioned that vegetables were capable of giving stats as well.

"Are you done digging in the dirt yet?"

"Says the worm."

That earned Alan a petulant glare. "Ahem. As I was saying, are you ready to go yet?"

With a sigh, Alan stood and brushed off his hands. "Yeah. Let's go find some adventure."

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