I worked with Lessy to apply reinforcement enchantments to the limbs and body, as well as the anchors for my auto-draw system. While I was not familiar with the process, Lessy was able to walk me through elements of it. As it turned out my mana type was one of the more common types to use for this kind of work, which meant we didn't need to contract it out. Last I learned that as an item ‘aged’ enchantments that aged along with it bound stronger to the item generally making the entire thing more effective.

Congratulations! Through repeated actions your Tinkering skill has improved and is now eligible for rank up!

Rank D is a free Rank.

Tinkering

Rank - E 100%

Your creations and modifications are much more sturdy and stronger.

Rank D is a free Rank.

“You're quite clever and well-versed for someone just hopping around the backwaters of the Pyrowalk Empire.” Lessy said as we finished up the additions to the crossbow.

“Thanks! Umm… it's sort of complicated why I'm in this situation to begin with. Unfortunately I’m not ready to share that story yet as fascinating as it would be to tell.” I told her.

“Oh, hun, I understand. Look, if you're on the lookout for a cozy warren and want to keep those ears out of trouble, my oldest granddaughter is on the hunt for an eligible bachelor. It might not be as fancy as what you're used to, but it promises a snug and peaceful life.” She said.

That made me start to really question who this woman saw me as… Maybe some sort of Noble runaway?

“Umm… that's quite alright, I’ll also admit that a quiet life does have its appeals… But I also have tasks that need to be accomplished and I might be the only one capable of doing that at the moment.” I said kindly.

“Well, if you ever decide to hop on back, my door is always open and I have plenty of Granddaughters.” she told me.

“Umm thank you again.” I said, now very clearly uncomfortable. Then I left the shop with all my new goodies.

As I was heading back I pinged Iser via the communication band to let him know I had the crossbow in hand if he wanted to see it.

I was in Orlo’s, Lluvia’s and my rented room when Iser snuck in.

“So what do you think?” I asked him while holding up the crossbow.

He looked at the crossbow then looked at me confused.

“What's up?” I asked.

“You are still male?” he asked in confusion.

“Oh right… I got distracted with the new toy.” I said then switched myself back. I left the Bun features in place however the ears were fun to toy with when I was thinking.

“I am surprised you did not change back sooner when in private.” Iser whispered.

“Ah… umm boobs and hips are nice but they can get in the way… particularly the boobs. Since I have also been acting as a guy I have been less worried about my face. Oh and I dont include any changes umm lower down…” I said.

“Ah I think I better understand then, let us look at the new ‘toy’.” He said a bit confusingly.

After a moment of study.

“There is little difference than what I would have expected. The pulleys are ingenious but nothing truly Dirt shattering.” He said.

“True, it's more just a refined version of what already exists. And honestly not even the most refined if we had access to synthetic materials.” I said.

“What would syn-the-tic materials provide?” Iser asked.

“Waterproofing mostly, oh and synthetic fibers can support much higher weights.” I said.

“It looks like you already added in the engravings for your draw and reinforcement. This actually could easily out perform a standard light crossbow now, even if we attempted to augment a standard light crossbow.” He said as he was continuing to review.

“You seem distracted? Are you ok?” I asked him.

Iser paused a moment at that comment thinking.

“You said you were going on a date-night which I believe means you are meeting someone new?“ He asked.

“Oh… one of the Seeker guards seemed interested in Nick. Lluvia and I were going to use this both as an opportunity to practice well… spycraft… as well as just a method to gather information.” I said.

“Ah so this is not a romantic interest then.” He said and seemed to cheer up.

“I… wait… were you worried I found someone else or was going to include someone new?” I asked.

“Umm… yes…” Iser said.

“Wait… I thought you said you didn't care about who else I might be with.” I said with humor in my voice.

“I thought so as well… as it turns out I was fine with Lluvia… I know her and trust her…” He said abashed.

"I'm actually sort of relieved in a way, I was worried I was the only one being insecure." I told him then pulled him into an embrace.

Lluvia, Orlo, and myself went down to get some supper, have a few drinks and exchange local gossip. It was my first two bites into the meat filled stew that I noticed something odd.

"Hey does the stew taste off for either of you?" I asked.

"No mine is fine." Lluvia said and Orlo indicated likewise.

The stew was a mix of game meat, likely deer, and an assortment of starches and root vegetables. The vegetables tasted ok but they soaked up some of that flavor and smell from the meat. I indicated to Lluvia that I wanted to smell hers and it did smell exactly the same.

"You feeling ok?" She asked.

"Yeah fine…" I said confused.

I when back up to the bar and greeted by one of the two Bun bar maids.

"Mind if I put a new order in? This is just not my thing." I asked.

"Sure Hun, just remember in the future to stick to what you like. You don't always have to eat what other folks get." She said with an amused smile and switch bowls.

"Hmm that was an odd exchange I'm not quite sure what she was talking about…" I said to the other two as I took a bite.

This time it was perfect, none of that off smell or taste, which was really odd because I enjoyed meat.

"Better?" Lluvia asked.

"Yea" I said.

She leaned over and smelled it then commented "That's just all vegetables."

"Wait didn't you feel different when you and Iser?" Lluvia asked very quietly.

"O yeah… o right…" I said out loud then switched to the band, I didn’t want some of the Buns to overhear what we were talking about. "I keep forgetting I'm a Bun right now… interesting that my taste in food changes…"

Lluvia must have included Orlo in the band chat " can you hit Nicole with an insight?"

They shrugged and did just that then replied "same levels, same class,same name, … Bun…" they said out loud in a little shock.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Damn… should have thought about that sooner, I mean I knew it wasn't just surface level… but even how the system presents my information… that simplifies so many things." I told the two of them via the bands.

It was later that evening when the Seeker Guard that hit on me showed up. I hit her with an Identify as she walked her way across the room. Part of me hoped she could not sense the ping of mana and another part of me hoped she would. I was unsure if she would want more attention from me or less… I hated mind games like this.

Bun, Watcher (Level x16) Strutting

So a bit higher level than me but still not on the same scale as my friends. She got herself a mug of beer and from the sounds of it put in an order. She then took a moment to look around the room before laying eyes on me.

Well time to play the only character I knew how… me.

When she noticed my own glance I quickly looked away embarrassed. Then I saw her approach our group sitting at a small table with one extra chair that just so happened to be available.

"Oh hello, fancy meeting your little group at the Inn. Do you mind if I grab a seat?" She asked.

Wow… this was so weird… I was never a bar person in my previous life but I knew men could get 'weird' and creepy when looking for a hookup. Seeing a woman do it here seems… almost alien.

I offered her my set and put myself in the chair that would put me against the wall, the Seeker to my left, Orlo to my right, and Lluvia opposite me.

"So my name's Nick, do you mind if I get your's Seeker?" I ask politely.

"Oh my so polite, just Piper as I am off duty at the moment." Said Piper.

I pinged Lluvia via the band and sent "Fuck me what am I doing…".

"Just play along, you're doing fine." She sent back.

"So what brings you three into town." She asked.

"So I may have… inadvertently coaxed these two into assisting me with the Deep Dark Dungeon run? I think that’s the name?" I turned the last into a question to hopefully throw off any truth detection skills, Orlo helped me work on that for a little bit. The trick wasn't foolproof as someone might require you to answer more direct questions but in passive conversations it was valuable.

"So are you looking at becoming a Seeker yourself, or do you have other ambitions?" She asked.

"Umm other ambitions, maybe open a business one day. I'm quite good with my hands in fact." I said proudly.

"Yeah you are." I received in my head from Lluvia.

"Your hands do look rather dexterous." Piper replied.

That was the start of a very awkward evening for me…

Several hours later Orlo and Lluvia had left some time ago but Root, Iser, and Turnip had all come down and were keeping an eye on things.

I had a total of 3 drinks and plenty of water while my Seeker date had 5 and not as much. She was far from hammered but I had no doubt she felt a nice buzz. She was also starting to get a bit touchy, occasionally brushing my bun ears and such.

"So I am a bit nervous about asking but what's with all the Seekers as of late?" I asked quietly.

"Oh… that… we are supposed to be looking for a group of Core breakers and murders." She said.

That stunned me as the only murder I was aware of was my own.

"Sure murder happens and it's disgusting, traumatic, and sad but to break a core? Disgusting, that can affect entire towns, hundreds or even thousands.." She said with real heat in her voice.

"What Dungeon did they destroy?" I asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"A new one from what I heard, from that cursed town on the other side of the mountains. All those families that were going to try and build new lives … wasted effort and for what? One delver gets 2 extra points…" She said.

"Fuck…" I said softly, and even meant it as well, It was a side I had not considered.

I got the impression she really had a thing against core breakers… best guess would be maybe her family was affected when she was younger.

"Also who was murdered?" I asked quietly.

"Two of the Seekers that happened to be in the area investigating and several towns militia." She said. That left a cold pit in my stomach and plenty to speculate on.

"That… is fucking horrible as well…" I said with real remorse in my voice.

We continued to chat about less morbid and more interesting topics throughout the evening. I didn't want to make her suspicious about my real motivations here.

"I've enjoyed the talk, you seem to know quite a bit about everything but let's do something more fun." She said to me.

Oh fuck me… which might just happen…

I worked on maintaining a nervous blush which was not hard and pinged Lluvia.

"O fuck… she wants to fuck…" I sent in a panic.

"Hahaha then enjoy yourself. The group was taking bets on how many drinks before she asked." She said in a very amused tone.

"Iser please help!" I messaged in a panic.

"You will be fine, you can think of it as a fair trade, you gain information and she gains pleasure." He replied with his own kind of amusement.

"You ok? I didn't expect to cause you to completely freeze up." She said with an amused smile.

"I… sorry just a new experience for me is all…" I said.

"I find that hard to believe… You had to have all the women crawling all over you with that face and hair and hands and… oh and the most important part of them all." she said, then plucked my Bun ear out of the air with her mouth. It really did feel quite nice… fuck these ears could be sensitive.

"Yes, my most important feature… my left ear." I said with an amused smile. Well I might as well enjoy myself… she actually looked pretty good herself but her personality for me was a major turnoff.

I then did something I never expected myself to do… I gave myself a dick and non-functional testicles…

It certainly felt weird for a moment then an atrophied part of my brain sort of rebooted. I never hated being a guy, I just enjoyed being a woman more.

After that change I grabbed one of her ears gently with my thumb and index finger then gently massaged.

"Ooohh so you have done this before." She accused with a very pleased smile.

"Maybe a little bit…" I said embarrassed.

"So my room or your?" She asked.

"That depends… We get an audience with mine if you don't mind." I said, trying to be a little cheeky by this point.

"Mine it is then." She said hastily.

Once in her room she forced herself on me. I was actually in an uncomfortable situation right now, I was not interested nor really attracted but my body still responded.

Honestly I was hoping to get her to calm down for a few minutes, ask a few more questions then leave before we went too far.

I grabbed both of her ears and applied a gentle pressure massaging again. She let out a soft groan of satisfaction.

"So if you don't mind, I sort of prefer to take things a little slower." I said as I continued to massage her ears.

"That does feel good." She muttered still pressing against me but now In a more relaxed state.

I managed to get her positions on my lap while my back was resting against the bed frame. I then started a scalp massage much like what I did for Turnip a few weeks back. Just like Turnip I was getting similar responses…

"Chronic headaches, right?" I asked.

"Too much stress and too on edge for the last well only you know for how long." I said.

Ding! For completing a special action enough times you have unlocked the class skill 'Play the Part'

I tried not to react to the new notification, I felt I was mostly successful as Piper was quite enjoying the scalp massage.

"Fuck… Yeah… this search has everyone tense. The group is a not insignificant level. All we had been told to do was report and monitor if encountered…" she said.

"That sounds like a group best avoided… anything you are able to tell me about them?" I commented.

"Yeah… group of five… two buns… a Kobolt… an Elf… and Harpy… And only crude descriptions that match half the people I saw today." She muttered frustrated.

"That sounds stressful and not at all helpful." I said in agreement.

"I know right? No names or Aliases or classes, whoever gathered this information did a piss poor job." She said hotly, and part of me could empathize.

"Any rumors that I might be able to use to avoid?" I asked after a moment of silence and continued massaging.

"Ha they make even less sense, some sort of hybrid or chimera, and a Riftwalker no less. It was said the commander took that one out himself." She said in a disbelieving tone.

"Wow… you weren't joking… that is nonsense. That sounded like someone just kept picking incredibly rare things from a hat." I commented.

"Oh I know it's no doubt some lackey trying to buff up the commander's reputation… but it seems so over the top." She commented.

I continued to quietly massage while I silently sent a message to all bands with what I discovered.

After the silence stretched on a little too long she reached up and grabbed my own ears and began to play with them.

“The massage has been great but I didn’t grab you for that.” She said, she then flipped around and pressed her lips to mine.

Physically I could feel my body responding positively and even a small part of my mind wanted this. I also felt disgusted by what was happening, she was just looking for a bit of fun and I used that against her… sure her personality was arrogant but that was no reason to use someone else like this.

I gently pushed her away and after a moment she relented.

“Sorry I just…” I started to say but wasn't sure where I was going.

“What, are you really not interested in some fun tonight?” she asked playfully.

“Oh… there's a part of me that really is…” I said with a smile.

“Then why don’t you listen to that instead of whatever keeps going through your mind. I’m not an idiot I notice when you get lost in thought.” Piper said.

My mind thought back to what both Lluvia and Iser both said just a few minutes ago. My romantic life was an absolute mess…

“See? Right there, stop that and live in the moment damnit.” She said hotly.

Fuck it she and many others where not wrong, I questioned my actions way too much. Besides what I had done was to protect myself and my friends I wasn't going to use the information to harm anyone.

I then smiled at her and looked her in the eyes then… I vanished.