Now that the danger was over and they had split up the loot, it was time to debrief. Lyonel already knew how he felt about their efforts, but he wanted to hear what everyone else thought. Also, he hoped that one of the mages could fill him in on what had happened in that strange attack from the King and company.

"So, how do you think we did?" The first question was easy.

Samson eagerly kicked it off. "Pretty well. We burned a lot of potions, but we also got a bunch back at the end."

Gerry nodded to show his assent, but Hector had a question, "I'd like to know what happened at the end there. I was watching them charge and then suddenly I was waking up covered in healing potion residue."

The mages looked at Lyonel, but he didn't have an answer. "Don't look at me, I had pretty much the same experience, minus the potion gunk." That was a drawback to topically using the potions instead of drinking them. They left behind a rather foul smelling and sticky mess.

Samson explained, "Once all of the deer's horns started glowing, they blurred forward in an explosion of light. Anything in front of them was blasted backwards. That included all of the carcasses we had stacked up and the two of you."

Gerry took over, "It was a pretty crazy ability they had. It was lucky you guys were just at the edge of their range."

Lyonel took charge again, "Okay, so we think it went well, but what could we have done better?"

Hector was first up this time, "The walls were a good idea, but they needed to be taller and I think it would have been worth it for Samson to make them outta stone."

Samson disagreed, "I don't know. That would have taken a lot of my mana pool just to make, and then the upkeep would have destroyed my regeneration rate. I already drank a lot of potions."

Gerry had another idea, "Maybe instead of making a wall with the corpses down here, we could have used them on the hill to make it harder for them to run down."

Lyonel thought that was a good idea. The deer were fast, but their fragile legs were definitely a weakness. "What I'm hearing is we need to use the environment and anything in it better. That makes sense, whatever makes our task easier is a good thing."

There was some more discussion on the benefit of one spell over another, whether Hector should focus on speed or accuracy, but overall the group was feeling pretty positive. Lyonel agreed for the most part, but none of the others mentioned how the boss had used a boosting skill. If Hector hadn't killed him when he did, that fight could have ended very differently.

Since he was trying to improve their courage and morale, as well as his own, he didn't feel the need to bring it up, and let them revel in their victory. It was a shame to leave behind all of this animal meat, but they had already learned you can't put dungeon monster bodies in spatial storage. He did plan on carrying a couple out the hard way though. That was still an option.

There was also the entire field of corn behind them. Lyonel didn't want to be greedy, but in the past it had seemed like it was okay to pillage dungeons a little. They each stuffed some corn in the pouches and other items before heading out. There were no restrictions on putting loot into their items, just the actual monsters. Samson and Lyonel each grabbed one of the deer guards and carried their carcasses out with them. Unfortunately they still wouldn't be able to store their corpses, even after leaving the dungeon, but they could get Pebble to cook them up. Another option was to sell them in town.

As they appeared once again in the field surrounding the dungeon entrance, the party turned and looked at Lyonel for direction. It was almost an equal distance to Pebble's campsite and the town. Which place to visit first was the question. Suddenly Hector held up his hand.

"Weapon's out!" He said in a loud whisper.

Lyonel had his out in an instant. They hadn't been a party for too long, but he had come to rely on Hector's professionalism. "What is it?" he whispered back.

"I thought I saw something watching us."

They all stayed together for about thirty seconds, but wariness turned to apathy as nothing happened. Lyonel had faith in their scout, but even the ferret man wasn't sure what he'd seen. Maybe it was just a bird or something landing in the tall grass. The moment of panic was enough to decide him on their next stop. The fact that the dungeon had occurred in real time and it should be a little after lunch time had nothing to do with his choice.

While Gerry and Samson both joked with Hector about jumping at shadows, they all stayed close together as they made their way back to the forest. They also took time to linger in the area where Hector thought he'd spotted something, but none of them noticed anything suspicious. They felt more anxious on the trip back to see Pebble than they had on the way to the dungeon. By the end they were a little resentful of Hector for scaring them, but nobody felt strongly enough to come out and say something.

On the approach to the reinforced crack, nothing seemed out of place. Lyonel was happy to see that the camp was indeed hard to pick out without already knowing it was there. In fact, they almost walked right past it the first time. Samson checked on his walls, noticing that they had started to crumble a little in places. Nothing major, but without his mana supporting them, they were already starting to break down on their edges. Placing his hands on each, he reformed them and tried to leave some extra energy to let them hold up longer.

Inside they found Pebble swinging his new club around, sweating from what must have been a long session. It was good that he was training, but they should see about getting him something to do while they were gone. He didn't want the man to get bored and wander out of the secure camp, only to get murdered by a wandering beast.

When he noticed the party's return, his face broke out in a grin and the club went back into his pouch. He saw the two deer that they were carrying and came over, taking the one off Samson's shoulder first, and then with the other hand he grabbed Lyonel's. Humans were strong! Setting the two carcasses down toward the back of the camp, he stood up and started gesturing with his hands.

Holding one hand out horizontally, he then placed the other hand on top of it, but perpendicular, and moved it back and forth. Then he pointed down at the dead deer before pointing back at himself.

"You want to cut up the deer?" Lyonel guessed.

Pebble smiled and nodded. Then he mimed pulling something out of his waist and thrusting it forward. Then he pointed at himself again and shrugged his shoulders. That one took a little longer before they realized he was asking for a knife. He must not have had a proper one himself. Maybe he only had a small knife for eating his food? It must have taken him a while to cut up the meat this morning without a proper blade.

Lyonel didn't have anything that would be appropriate. He had looted a few swords, but they weren't the right shape or size for cutting up dead animals. Hector came to the rescue. As a Huntsman he kept getting rewarded with fancy knives. Taking out one with a seventeen centimeter blade, he handed it over to Pebble, hilt first.

Taking the knife, he knelt and began to harvest the carcasses. Once again Lyonel was surprised at how good of a job he was doing. Hector had gotten the harvesting skill and had needed it at level twenty-five to unlock his opal class. Pebble wasn't quite as good as Hector, but it wasn't far off. Cooking, harvesting, this man was the best camp follower ever. Lyonel wondered if he could do laundry as well.

After fully skinning the first animal, Pebble cut off several sections of the underlying muscle and fat. These he took over to the campfire he had set up, and placed them on a plate. Inside the ring of stones there were already some embers, and after adding some kindling he had gotten from somewhere, Pebble managed to get a healthy flame. Next he added some larger logs, and then went back to harvesting the first deer.

Gerry was eager for food, so he asked what they were all thinking, "Aren't you going to start cooking it?" As a group they looked at the bloody cuts of meat just sitting on the plate next to the fire.

Pebble pointed at the fire and then held his hands out, palms down, and pumped them down and back up again. Lyonel wasn't sure of the exact meaning, but he guessed it meant they would have to wait for some reason. In the meantime, he saw something that they could work on.

"Hey, guys. Let's go collect firewood so that Pebble won't have to leave camp to get more."

Since food wasn't going to be available right away, they readily agreed. Anything to keep their golden cook safe. Samson actually had an axe, so he was able to cut off some branches from the surrounding trees. He looked for ones that seemed to already be dead or dying, even with their limited forestry skills, they knew that live wood didn't burn well. The rest of the party scavenged for what they could find on the ground.

After about twenty minutes they had gathered a good sized pile of sticks and branches for the fire. Samson had even been able to chop up a mature tree that they had found fallen over. It must have happened long enough ago that the tree was clearly dead, but not so long that it had started to rot. That should be some good firewood.

In the meantime, the flames had died down and the fire now consisted of embers and some larger logs that had small flames still licking around them, and also a significant chunk of coals running along their edges. Counter to Lyonel's intuition, this was apparently what Pebble had been waiting for. He now placed the steaks on the grill, sprinkling some spices on top that he got out of a small cup.

This first deer was entirely harvested, and most of the meat was stored in a large bag they had provided for him. It wouldn't be pretty to clean it out later, but they could bring it to town and sell the meat inside, hopefully. They had noticed that the stew in the tavern was light on protein, and they hadn't seen any farm animals in the surrounding fields. The village might be desperate for quality meat. It really was too bad they couldn't put this in storage though, it was making a mess and would start rotting soon.

When they had tried to take the first deer skin, Pebble had pushed back. He made it clear that he wanted the skin for something. They weren't sure what he was going to do with it, but he had been reliable so far, so they let it go. They were also distracted by the delicious smells coming from the fire.

Today's lunch seemed to be all meat, which of course was fine with Lyonel and Hector. Samson and Gerry were more inclined to vegetables, but like all Corellians, regardless of their beastkin origins, they were actually omnivores. The amazing scent coming off of the roasting meat would probably be enough to change a herbivore's mind anyway.

Once Pebble declared the food ready, they tore into it. Not literally of course, they weren't savages. Once again, the dishes and utensils were provided by the human, and Lyonel was starting to wonder how many he had. There also wasn't a stream nearby, they would have to see about getting something set up for him, or maybe they could take the dirty dishes with them to wash.

After they finished eating, Lyonel asked him. "Can we take these to clean?" He also gestured towards the dirty dishes to make his question clear. Pebble thought for a moment, and then his face lit up. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a barrel. How big was his storage space? Lyonel had originally thought it was somehow filled with water, but it was empty.

"What are you going to do with that? Do you want us to fill it up?" He asked the man.

He nodded his head in the affirmative, but also pointed to Gerry. He twirled his fingers in the air, and then thrust them toward the empty barrel. They all stared at him blankly. He picked up a small stick, and after gesturing at Gerry again, he waved it in the air, and then pointed it at the barrel. Using his other hand he mimed something shooting out of it.

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Gerry was the first to catch on. "You want me to fill the barrel up? Why me?"

Pebble sighed, and then pointed at the stick again. The way he held it and waved it around almost looked like…

"Do you mean he should cast a spell to make water?" Lyonel asked.

A smile and head nod confirmed his guess. Thinking about it, he wasn't sure how Pebble knew that Gerry could do that. His gear certainly suggested he wasn't a melee fighter, so maybe Pebble was just guessing, but he seemed so sure.

Samson must have been thinking the same thing, because he asked, "Why do you think he can make water?"

Pebble almost looked disappointed with them. He stared really long at Gerry and then used his fingers to pry open his eyelids even further. Hector was the first to catch on.

"Do you mean you identified him?"

Of course. Lyonel used his own skill on Gerry and saw that it listed his mage class, Waters of the Deep. If Pebble could see that, then of course he would think he could make water. He suddenly realized that he had never used identify on Pebble. After training himself not to identify everything he saw to prevent overload, he had not gotten used to using it on the new people he met. He wondered what it would say.

???: Human

Well, that wasn't very helpful. The question marks were new, that should be where he saw Pebble's name. Then again, it didn't seem like the man had a real name, they had just asked him for something to call him. Maybe if they kept calling him that, those question marks would disappear and the Network would officially recognize it as his name. Also, the fact that it only listed his race made sense since he didn't have any classes.

"That's a great idea. Gerry, would you?"

It took Gerry a little while to completely fill the barrel, but the water was cool and pristine when he was done. Now Pebble could also wash the dishes and use the water for cooking. Too bad the water would get dirty from washing everything. As he was thinking this, Pebble pulled out another barrel.

Gerry was running low on mana, so the second barrel took much longer to fill. It was worth it though, they now had a barrel for cleaning and other for drinking and cooking. This place was turning into a real base of operations, not just a temporary campsite. It was now well into the afternoon, and if they wanted to turn their quest in at town they should get a move on.

"Pebble, do you want to come with us to town? We have to take care of some stuff."

The man thought about it for a minute, and then shook his head sadly. It was probably the correct choice. Their party was already taking a risk by showing themselves in the town again, but Pebble was more likely to be wanted than they were. After all, they were simply strangers who had helped him escape, the human was the one who actually committed the assault.

By the time they made it back to the village, the sun was well on its way down. Hopefully the Town Hall was still open. It was there that the quest said they had to turn in their mission. Everyone had already removed their armor and put away their weapons. The group wanted to hurry and get this done, the longer they were in town the more time for another party to find them. The only thing that gave them pause was the fact that they didn't know if the villagers were actively looking for them. Playing it safe, they sent Hector in first.

One of the nice features of the Network was the fact that party members could chat with each other. There was a limit on distance, around a kilometer they had discovered, but as long as you stayed within that radius you could will your words to everyone else in your group. This let their scout enter town and check out the situation. If he was discovered, which was likely in a village this size, and chased, which was hopefully less likely, then he had the best chance of getting away.

Hector had only been gone for about ten minutes when he reported back. "Everything seems ok. I've even talked to a few people and I haven't noticed any strange responses."

"Okay guys, let's head on in." Lyonel directed.

Even though it was supposed to be safe, they decided to skip the main street and entered through one of the smaller, newer looking roads. The buildings on either side seemed to be all housing with nothing over two stories, that was until they got closer to the main street. Here the buildings were at least two stories tall, with many being three, with there seeming to be a shop of some kind on the bottom with possibly living accommodations above it.

This was where Hector met them, and they had planned it so that it was only a short distance to the Town Hall. Lyonel was a little confused about what to call this settlement. The residents themselves usually referred to it as a village, but occasionally they said town. Even the Network had called this building a Town Hall and not a Village Hall. Perhaps there wasn't a difference between these two terms in their new universe?

They were in luck, the entrance to the building was open and there were lights on inside. The sun was still up, but the outside light was failing and if you needed to read anything, at least without a high perception stat, you would want some extra illumination. The streets weren't very crowded at the moment, so they quickly made their way past the quest board and into the hall. Lyonel would have to see if the papers had changed after they finished inside.

The building itself wasn't anything especially impressive. It was two stories in height, but inside it only had one floor. The front half of the building was a lobby with a couple of chairs and a desk. The desk was currently empty and showed only minimal signs of use. There were a few torches on the walls, but they didn't seem to be normal ones. If he had to guess, they probably ran on mana or some kind of spell instead of oil or some other fuel.

The back half of the hall was walled off and had three doors. The one on the left was heavily reinforced and the other two looked more normal. The center door was the only one currently open and they could see a human inside. Lyonel and his party were relatively new to non-beastkin, so they were unable to properly judge his appearance, but compared to Pebble he was cleaner and had a more pleasantly symmetrical face. After noticing Lyonel's group come in, the human stood and they saw that he was quite a bit taller than them.

Stepping out of his office, he greeted the party warmly. "Welcome, my name is Roger, I'm the mayor here. How can I help you?"

They really only had a sample size of two, but it seemed like humans were incredibly nice and helpful people. Pebble made them wonderful treats and this Roger was acting like they were valued guests without ever having met them before. It gave Lyonel a warm and fuzzy feeling, not an uncommon one for a hamster person, but it still encouraged him to make a good impression in return.

"We are here about one of the quests on your board." The phrasing made it half question half statement.

"Ah yes, why don't you all come into my office?" Roger then ushered them all in before closing the door.

There were a couple of chairs in the room, but not enough for everyone. Rather than letting the party stand while he sat in his large chair, he instead perched on the front edge of his desk. "Before we get to the quest, I have to ask about the busboy you helped. No one has seen him since last night and I wanted to make sure he was ok."

Lyonel was unsure of how to answer, and the other members of his group were just as conflicted. The mayor was still acting very nice, but what if he was just pretending so that they would let their guard down and turn Pebble in. After all, the man had been responsible for harming what had seemed to be a high ranking member of the village. Their hesitation must have been plain on their faces.

"I assure you I mean him no harm. I take my responsibility to my residents very seriously."

"What about the men he injured?" Lyonel asked.

"Yes, that was an unfortunate incident, but while they are important individuals," a strange expression crossed his features as he said that last part, "they are not actually residents here."

Lyonel thought a moment before answering, "He is safe. For the time being he has decided to work with us."

If this was going to be an issue, they might as well find out about it now. He didn't want to find out later that Pebble was going to cause a problem. Better to deal with it now and move on. Also, he was getting a good feeling from this mayor, he seemed to truly care about the people of his village.

Roger smiled at hearing the busboy was ok. "I am so glad to hear he is ok. I hope that he continues to stay that way." There was a little steel in his voice when he said that last part.

"It has only been a short while, but he has already done us a great service and we will make sure that he is taken care of." was Lyonel's only reply.

"Well, now that we understand each other, you said you were here about a quest?" The mayor asked.

"Yes, we were wondering how that worked. We completed one of the quests and got a notification to turn it in here at the town hall."

Roger looked weary as he asked about their quest. "Yes, which one would that be? The mushrooms, wings, frog legs…" he trailed off at the end. The mayor seemed rather bored with the whole thing.

"Uh, it was the Town Dungeon one."

That certainly got his attention. "Really, and you say you completed it?"

This seemed important to the man, but Lyonel wasn't going to lie about the quest, it was the whole reason they were here. "Yes, we finished it earlier today."

Roger asked them to hold on a moment and he went rummaging through his desk. He pulled out several drawers as he searched for something. As he did he absently spoke to them.

"Where did I put that thing? The only quests anyone has tried to turn in were the gathering ones. No need for the orb for those. Oh, is that what happened to that, I'll have to remember for later. This will be my first time using this thing. Ah, here it is!"

From the back of one of the many drawers, he pulled out a glass orb, slightly larger than his hand. Lyonel could tell from the way he held it that the thing was heavy. As they watched, the mayor got a far away look for a moment and then the sphere lit up. It was a yellow and white light that swirled around the inside of the orb.

Roger held it out to them. "If you could each place your hand on here, it will verify that the Network has given you credit for the quest, and then I can get you your reward."

This was interesting. Lyonel had never heard of anything like it, but it made sense that they needed some way of verifying that someone had completed a quest. Otherwise anyone could just say they had and take an unearned reward. As the leader, Lyonel went first. Reaching out, he carefully placed a finger on it. It felt like smooth, cool glass. Nothing happened.

"I need your whole hand on it please."

Shrugging, he placed his hand on the orb. It still felt the same, but the colors suddenly brightened and started moving faster. It was bright enough that the whole office seemed to be bathed in the noonday sun.

"Thank you, and I also need anyone else who participated." The mayor said after a moment. His eyes had briefly glazed over in the way that signified reading something from the Network.

One by one, the rest of the party placed their hand on the orb and each time it briefly shined out before returning to normal. After Gerry took the final turn, the mayor once again got that 'checking with the Network' look. This time it lasted a while longer. Lyonel started to get nervous, maybe something was wrong?

Finally the mayor finished whatever he was doing and spoke, "Okay, everything looks to be in order. If you could wait in the lobby, I will return in a moment with your reward."

Roger followed them as they stepped out of his office. Back in the lobby, there was a section with a scattering of wooden chairs and they sat down to wait. The mayor went to the reinforced door and placed his hand on it. Then he reached down, turned the knob and slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

It was only a couple of minutes later when he stepped back out. When he did, they noticed a pin attached to his tunic, it hadn't been there before. Walking over, the mayor placed both of his hands on the pin, and when he drew it away he was holding a pile of golden coins.

"I wish there was a better way to do this. Sorry we don't have any sacks or bags, but all of our resources are going to building up the village at the moment." With that Roger dumped the pile into Lyonel's lap. It took all of his coordination to prevent them from spilling out.

He quickly worked on storing the coins in his bracelet and watched as the mayor repeated the process with each of his teammates. This was awkward, but he had gotten his money, so there wasn't much point in complaining about the delivery method.

After handing over the last pile of gold, the mayor addressed the group. "Are there any other quests you would like to turn in, or anything else I can do for you?"

Hector had a question, "How many quests can we turn in at once?"

"There isn't really a limit, although we would appreciate it if you didn't bring in too many at a time. It just makes the logistics a little difficult."

After that there wasn't really anything else, so they took their leave. While they were meeting with the mayor, the sun had set and night was in full force. They noticed a few lamp poles scattered throughout the town, providing just enough light for people to safely walk around. There were still patches of shadows, but it was decent coverage, and since Roger had suggested that they were tight on resources, it made sense that they couldn't cover everything.

The group was eager to get out of town, just in case, but they stopped to check out the quest board before leaving. The only light here was what spilled out of the town hall, so Samson helpfully cast a light spell on a coin he took out from his pouch to make reading easier. Not much had changed on the board. There were no new additions, and none of them had disappeared, either. The only difference was that the Town Dungeon quest's timer had changed to just under ten days.

That had been a lucrative quest, maybe they could run through that dungeon a few more times before trying something else. Whatever they were going to accomplish next, for now it was time to return to Pebble and see what he had made for dinner. The thought of his next meal had Lyonel's mouth already watering.

One of the conditions for winning this tier was to enter an agreement with the mayor. Maybe if they kept completing quests for the village, the man would warm to them, maybe even offer them that deal. It wouldn't solve the issue of the other groups, but it was at least a step in the right direction. He could think on the implications better with a full stomach. That reminded him that he had a bag of bloody meat on his back. They still had one more task before they could return to camp.

"Let's get moving."

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