Todd and his friends don’t pay much attention as the pixies congratulate the human defenders on their victory. It’s mostly a whole lot of puff, and a whole lot of fluff.

“How’s your leg,” Randall asks.

“I mean, it’s pretty good. I may even be able to get it closed up by tomorrow morning without blowing my last healing pill.”

Candra holds her head still as teen blondie-grim plaits her hair into a french braid from behind. Her eyes track as far as they can without turning her neck. “I’ve noticed you’re going to a lot of trouble not to use that thing,” she observes.

“You took a look at our quest rewards, right?” Todd feels a sudden compulsion to check the state of his hair, swiping at it so it will part right. “The only new pills were for beating that big monster. I’m worried they’re not going to give us more.”

Joe taps his knuckle against the stone of the floor. “And I did notice you only get new food if you fought.” He sighs. “I’m catching you guys’s paranoid streak now.”

“They couldn’t do that, that’d be…”

“That’d be insane.” Candra finishes for Todd.

Randall adjusts his seated position, raising up on his elbows. “Why would that be a problem?”

“Cause we’re here for a month,” Joe whispers. “That right?”

“That’s what Befor said.”

“And then we’ve got what, five something hundred people?”

“I mean, we never really finished the count. So I dunno. That feels right.”

“I forgot about that. They really never figure out how many people’re here?”

“Not as far as I know. So the next question is how many people fought a bug?”

The question simmers on low heat for a few seconds.

“It got pretty messy towards the beginning. I’m willing to bet that a lot more people had to fight than we were planning on.”

“Still. Could leave a hundred people not getting new food.”

“Oh my God! I don’t want to even think about this!” Candra wails scratchily. “Nobody should have to deal with this kind of stress with a blood alcohol of zero.”

“Sorry.”

“You’re right, you’re right. Not something for us to worry about yet. I’ll bring it up with the Alderman, maybe run it by Soup Nina.”

“We’re still calling her Soup Nina?” Todd objects.

“Guys, can you be quiet just a sec?” Randall interrupts. “I can’t hear what Aefore is saying.”

Joe shrugs. “Is it anything important?”

“Well the bugs came from space,” Randall announces. “That’s a pretty big deal right? I mean, aliens… there are uh, aliens.“

Should Todd be more surprised about that? “Huh. I mean yea. That’s wild.”

“I swear, you guys are nuts. You should be excited. We just fought a monster army, I shot a fireball with magic.”

Joe places his hand on Randall’s shoulder. “It was a very good fireball, buddy. Super cool.”

“You weren’t even there Joe,” Randall rolls his shoulder to throw off Joe’s patronizing palm. “It was like twenty feet big around,” he pouts.

“I know man, you saved our butts. Top ten coolest things I’ve ever seen, I swear. I’m sorry, we’re just all real tired,” Todd reassures him.

Then Candra perks up, clasping her hands over her heart and sliding back down onto the floor. The poor girl behind her drops the finished braid and locks up in alarm. “Oh, thank the saints and stars, they’re gonna unlock the rooms,” Candra practically coos.

The news is enough to turn the attention of the whole gang. Around them, the six hundred human Cultivators of subsection four have settled into the spaces in between the arthropod carcasses that litter the plaza. The area near the crystal is cleanest, but there’s plenty of unpleasant there too. It takes a certain minimum exhaustion for a person of self respect to sit down in spitting distance of a crumpled, gooey exoskeleton, but exhaustion is available in plentitude. Above them all hover the pixies: pink and purple are paired next to the home crystal, while Aefore drifts low.

While the pillar pixie speaks, she passes between the listening audience. Personable, approachable, that whole deal. “Your quarters will be unlocked, from this point forward. Barring exceptional circumstances, you will be free to enter or exit as you please. Your time is your own, but I shall advise you use yours wisely.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I’m gonna hop in the shower and just never come out,” Todd tells the others.

“My sisters and I will investigate Caqaiba IV to see if the planet harbors any additional dangers. If it is as we fear, we will need your help. Brave humans of Earth, the safety of your world may very well be in your hands.”

“Kakaybuh four. Right, they mentioned that before the bugs showed up,” Joe reminds the others.

“We have no other choice. Tomorrow and overmorrow after, we shall train you in earnest!” Aefore clutches her fist close in to her body, and her face contorts in pained regret. “We never wanted to put you all in danger! But woe! The path of the warrior chooses the walker!”

“She’s really hamming it up,” Joe whispers brightly. They watch as the pixie opens her palm against her throat and transitions to a quaveringly tearful beneficence.

“I have faith in your strength, Children of the Earth. If there was any doubt, in our hearts or yours let it be dispelled now. I believe that you may, dare I even say it?” She chokes up a little. “Be the heroes fated to save the world!”

“Didn’t know the world needed saving,” chuckles Todd. Then as he looks over at Joe, his expression grows thoughtful. “Right?”

“Maybe she’s talking about Cokiba whatsit,” Candra groans.

“Caqaiba IV,” Randall hisses, still enthralled by the ongoing presentation.

“Now my sister has a few announcements.” Aefore rises out from the crowd, gives a subdued thumbs up to her sisters, and then Ciforre floats forward and upward.

She adjusts her spectacles and withdraws a pair of short doweled rods, then unrolls a short scroll from between them. “Ahem,” she begins. “Residential zone teleport arrays are now unlocked and charged for a standard 32 uses. We are confident that should be enough for a standard Tutorial duration, but let us know if you find yourself coming up to the limit. They’re rechargeable, which is a nice feature.”

The pixie looks down at the scroll and reads ahead.

“Ah yes. We have finished installing outpost network relay crystals in your residences. That means you will all be able to access the store from the comfort of your rooms.” She pauses to look up. “Thought you’d like that one, very convenient. Let’s see, other good news: congratulations on driving off those nasty redburr stinging crabs! They’re actually distantly related to the Wolmarzian Drek, if you can believe it. Fascinating Genus, really.”

The crowd murmurs in confusion.

“Some of the crabs did survive and escape. So just a note, next time it’s best to chase down monsters and you know,” Ciforre draws a finger against her throat and makes a choking noise. “End them before they regroup. Just some advice. Oh! And you protected the crystal, which means you’ve unlocked additional store items. So enjoy that…”

Aefore makes a point of coughing into her closed hand.

“Right! Of course. I am required by protocol to announce that your first crafting quests are now available,” Ciforre sounds reluctant to say this next part. “And that this tutorial is sponsored in part by the department of Greed, and Greed associates. Because enough, never is.”

Unbidden, Todd’s quest menu appears in front of him and he notices a new entry.

Shuck and Shell (Easy): Clean, Harvest, and Process monster resources. (0/100) (Timed 08:00:00) Reward: [Scarlet Shell Armor], [F-Nexus Crystal]x3, [F-Apothecary’s Primer Manual]

“We hope you enjoy your new bags. They’re not fully operational cosmic sacks yet, but if you like the design, you’ll see they’re upgradeable in the store…”

Candra levers up from her prone position and the four huddle to confer.

“You guys wanna clean bug bits,” Joe offers insincerely.

“I kinda don’t,” Todd admits. Then he starts as the blonde girl stands up in a swift, jerky motion and marches off towards pixie Befor. The four friends watch her go, then climb to their feet.

“Seen enough freaky crabby entrails to last me a lifetime,” Candra remarks.

Randall scratches lightly at his neck. “It’s got an armor reward,” he hedges.

“You really going to cut up a hundred bugs?” Todd doubts.

“A hundred’s a lot,” Randall concedes. “I wish they’d given us leg armor though.”

“I was thinking about that,” Todd taps at his wooden bracers. “And you know what? I think these are shin guards.”

Randall’s eyes widen. Joe simply nods. Candra wobbles.

“Oh my god. Candra, get some sleep,” Joe laughs.

“I know, I’m gonna crash. I just – those rooms are so spooky and I’m not exactly excited to be alone in them.”

“Well,” Todd ventures. “I was thinking what I wanted to do was try to get a head start on my Cultivation.”

“Already?”

Todd tips his head and shrugs. “I think things are gonna get worse before they get better, and I don’t feel like I did so awesome today.”

That statement hits home for all four.

“So what if we,” Todd hesitates, “did like a slumber party thing? You can all come over to my place, and we can work on our foundations and hang out a minute.”

Candra thinks about it. “Can I crash on your bed while you guys voodoo yoga? I’m like done.”

“Sure, yea, of course,” Todd gulps. Casually, though. “If we knock out our foundations tonight, it’s gonna give us a huge leg up on whatever’s coming next.”

The only thing to figure out is, how is Todd supposed to let them in?