I had been in the village I now called home for just over a week.

While practicing firing and reloading the crossbow using what I was now calling Mage Hand instead of Telekinesis I learned I could place down inert or inactive threads.

I placed one on the crossbow that could draw it back, then a second thread that would pull a bolt attached to a quiver attached to my wrist, and a third thread attached to the trigger. All I then had to do was supply mana to each thread and I could arm, load, and fire the crossbow. This would work to about 20 feet before my mana threads fell away.

The problem was once I was outside of that range the threads would break and I would have to rebind everything again. At first I thought I might be able to glean some useful information from the light gems but as it turns out they glow as a reaction to mana.

The mana explosives I could generate seemed a bit different as well. That was more like stuffing a spring in a box, when the unstable objects are damaged sufficiently the energy releases. After testing I also discovered that an unstable item will lose mana overtime. In fact I really lucked out because the first test I did with the chair leg was so unstable that hitting it on the ground was enough to cause it to explode. All the other times was because the slime's acid damaged the item enough for the metaphorically spring to release.

From what I had read about already I was starting to bump into enchantment territory. So far other than some references in the books but nothing on enchantment directory. I needed to go searching the town again to try and find an enchanted item to use as reference.

I decided to focus on some of the stores and other public buildings in my search for supplies. I was in a second Tailor shop where I had not totally gotten distracted by a very nice dress when I heard voices.

"PEOPLE!" I almost screamed out loud, another part of my brain stopped me from being so stupid.

"... Smoke two days ago." A gruff voice said.

"This place still looks abandoned, it's been what, 5 years?" A higher voice, maybe a women's voice said.

"You saw the runnel that was left at that group of houses…" a third voice, this one being male or female I could not tell.

I could still hear the voices but could no longer make out what they said. I did my best to move as quietly as possible leaving the shop, I wanted to get a look at these visitors before they saw me. I was able to sneak around to the corner of a building then take a look down what I had been calling 'Main Street'.

I could see 4 people in total each with their own outfits, but I could not make out much detail as they faced away from me. Two of them had rabbit ears for some reason, that seemed like an odd sort of fashion. I still could not make out what more they were saying so I ducked back around the house and would try to follow the group from the next house group over.

I quickly ran up in parallel to their position but didn't want to get too close. I unfortunately still could not make out what they were saying other than the occasional word. I at least wanted to figure out where they were going.

Eventually the group or would it be a party? Stopped a bit far from my house and huddled up a little bit to discuss. My paranoia spiked for some reason and I froze for a moment.

So then I asked the person behind me, "so umm are you going to try and stab me or are you just making sure I don't attack your friends."

"That took you longer than expected to catch on, just place the crossbow down next to you and slowly stand, please keep facing forward." The voice said, this one was slightly higher but I was still unsure if it was a man or a woman.

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"Ok… I can do that." I told them, I then set the crossbow down and it was pulled out of my sight.

"Also rotate your arm so all the bolts fall out." They said, I did so without protest.

"Alright let's go play the introduction game." They said. I then felt a hand press the center of my back but it was only to guide me.

I was then directed to the group of people.

“So Lluvia, who won the bet?” The deeper voice called out.

“You Root but only because you were the ‘closest’ she missed everything…” The voice who I assumed was named Lluvia said.

"Wow really? That oblivious?" Another person said and they all started to turn towards me from out of their huddle.

I was in for my second almost shock today. One looked kinda like a bird, one looked a little like a lizard and the other two ‘humans’ with the rabbit ears. I think they were there ears based on how they twitched.

The group in front of me was dressed not unlike an adventuring party from a video game, well except more travel worn.

The Lizard person was a dark red sort of crimson shade for scale, I was unsure of their gender. They were a bit shorter than me but by only an inch or two. They were dressed in robes of dark blue almost black, I could see layers underneath that but they didn't wear any sort of shoes from what I could tell. They were also wearing an overstuffed pack where I could see a bedroll and other camping implements.

The bird person had gray feathers and plumage, I could also not tell their gender. They were of the same height as the lizard person. They wore a tank top style shirt in a dark purple that left their feathery arms exposed. They also wore very short shorts that exposed some feathers and a raptor-like leg. Their arms ended not exactly in hands but more like talons.

The rabbit man I think named ‘Root’ was well almost completely ‘human’. He was a few inches taller than myself and a bit on the larger side but it looked like muscle more than fat. He was wearing dark brown pants that seemed very sturdy, he also had a flannel shirt and heavy boots. If he has a beard it would have called him a stereotypical lumberjack. The only odd characteristic was the 2 foot tall ears out the top of his head. His skin color was a bit darker than mine and black hair… then again most people skin was darker than mind I didn’t tan, I burned. He also had a shield on his back and a short sword on his hip.

The rabbit woman was a bit taller than the rabbit man, she was on the muscular athletic side as well. She had skin almost as pale as mine, with dark red hair, Irish heritage if that was a thing here. She wore a travel dress in sky blue and also heavy boots. On her pack she had a shield strapped and a Mace at her hip.

They all gave me a few seconds to look over their appearance and I guess to give me a moment to catch up. The group seemed more wary than hostile.

"So who are you? And what's a Human doing so far out here on their own." Root asked.

"Umm my name's Nicole, as for what I am doing out here that is far more complicated. Like so much so that I'm worried you won't believe me." I told the group. That got some curious looks.

"All right then Nicole, you seem to be by yourself and you are a low level too. If you promise not to do anything then I think we can all relax a little bit." Root said.

"I'm not even sure what I could do in a fight… so no I am not going to be a threat." I told them honestly, the group in front turned to the bird person.

"She's telling the truth on both statements." They said.

"I'll be holding on to her crossbow and knife." The person behind me said.

"Fuck… wait did you pull my knife out with me even noticing?" I asked person behind me.

"Yup…" they said and I could hear the smile in their voice.

“Do you mind if we head back to my house? I would like to put some of the stuff I have collected away.” I said.

The person from behind me finally stepped around and I was introduced to a Tolkien style Elf. Pointed ears and fair features, she had a faint scar across her left cheek. She was also in a travel dress, this one in black, her pack was in black, most of what she was wearing was in very dark colors. She reminded me of a goth that was trying just a bit too hard.

During the walk back I was introduced to everyone by name.

The lizard person was Iser of Clan Longclaw.

The bird person was Orlo of House Falcon.

The rabbit man was Root of HopsOLot village.

The rabbit woman was Turnip of Burrow Hill.

The last was an Elf woman by the name of Lluvia from Snowland.