Jim edged his way through the crowd as they gathered around the poker tables. As he popped his head through the hips of two large green orcs, he saw Filbert pointing a thrusting finger into the stomach of a now fully stood Draconid.

The crowd started to bustle and sway as the air of a fight began to reverberate around the room. The movement of the orcs squeezed on Jim’s body and he was dropped to the floor from a wayward knee.

“Oi, I’m down here you know!” Jim shouted up to the Orcs.

“Sorry little guy.” One of the Orcs said, in the deepest voice Jim had ever heard. The Orc passed Jim his huge hand.

Pulled up to his feet Jim brushed off the damp patches of beer from his butt. Now stood in the space the crowd were using hopefully to egg on the fight, he turned to see the commotion.

“Ayyyyye, look who's back from death's door!” Twill shouted as he placed himself between Filbert and the Draconid, pointing to Jim.

“Everyone, a round on me for our friend here!” Twill motioned, throwing his hands into the air.

The crowd erupted into cheers as the band kicked back into full swing.

Twill eagerly pulled Jim over to the table, back between Filbert and the arguing Draconid.

“Here, grab a seat, let’s play a game, get to know each other. Do you know this guy nearly died a few days ago? Right on the dock. A raptor damn near ripped his throat out!” Twill gestured towards the Draconid and Filbert to retake their seats as he set the table back standing.

Brushing down the table, and resetting the cards and coins, Twill continued to talk in a rushed gush of conversation, trying to move the tone on from the argument.

“You killed that thing too right? Not the pack leader, but the other one, the little one? Where’s our beers anyway, Paxx where are you?”

“Yahh, coming darlingsssss.” A tiny scandinavian voice peaked through behind some tables.

A gnome, about two feet tall weaved around legs and hung weapons making its way to the table.

The regular sized tray made for a comical sight as the small gnome rounded the final leg of an Orc, balancing flagons of beer bigger than the size of himself.

“Twill, my darling hunk, apologies for taking soooo long, these big guys just don’t see me. Me! Can you believe it?” The gnome let out a dramatic whimpering cry. “It’s sooo not ok there isn’t a me size bar”.

“Wow.” Jim said, accidentally letting out a thought.

“Yah i know right, I am wow!” Paxx said as he brushed his quaffed white hair and spun in a dazzling pirouette, his sequin covered cape reflecting the light in the room as he spun.

“And whoooo. Is. This?” Paxx said, flicking his eye lashes as he bit the end of the Olive sitting in a glimmering martini glass.

“Leave him be ya’ sex pest.” Filbert said as he grabbed a beer from the tray.

“He’s Jim, he was with us when the Raptor pack got loose.” Twill said.

“Oooh a fighter? Sexehhhh.” Paxx exhausted his breath, now twizzling his hair into a knot.

“Ermm noo, not a good fighter. Love the cape, it seems very, you!” Jim said incredulously.

“Thank you darling, oooh you’re such a little hairy muffin snack, I love him, can he be on the team?”

“He is on the team. Mae told me earlier.” Twill said.

“Oooh Yassss, we’re going to have so many adventures together. I’ll be more official then, I promise.” Paxx jumped onto the table in a magical leap, grasped the attention of the team with a dramatic cough and performed an elongation bow.

“Welcomeee to the team. I’m Paxx, gnome, witch and style icon, a pleasure.” Paxx said with a wink as he reached for Jim’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jim.” He said, greeting the gnome with a smile.

“No Classss?” Paxx asked.

“Ermmm, well yes, but I don’t think it’s very useful, or popular.” Jim said as he scratched his head.

“If we’re on the same team, then we need to know your skills.” The mammoth of a Draconid said from the other side of the table.

Jim immediately recognized the Draconid from his scars and tattooed arms.

“You’re on the team too? It’s good to see you again by the way! I didn’t catch your name the other day, I’m Jim.” He stretched his hand out across the table to Draconid.

“Burnie. Druid.” The Draconid said, his exhaling breath washed a wave of heat across Jim’s hand.

“Is this everyone? The whole team?” Jim asked.

“It sure is!” Twill clasped his arms around the team in an embracing team hug. Jim was caught off guard and pulled up to the table, shaking the stacks of coins.

“Back off.” Filbert said, trying to escape the hug, his shoulders scrunched together as he tried to slip out of the hug.

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“Nope, not again Twill.” Burnie said unmoving from his seat.

“Ooooh yass show me those arms, mhmmmmm.” Paxx rubbed his face against Twill’s bicep.

“You always ruin it Paxx!” Twill let the group go.

“Ok, so my class is… Thief...” Jim held a hesitant breath as he re-stacked the coins on the table.

The team sat quietly.

They looked at each other.

“That.” Twill said incredulously.

“Is GREAT NEWS!!” He shouted, standing up and throwing his arms into the air.

Shocked, Jim took a moment to see the team start to chatter and fist bump each other.

“I honestly thought I’d have a much worse reaction than that.” Jim said as he sipped a beer.

“You’re joking? Our team captures monsters, rescues all kinds of folk and loot everything we can. You’re going to be an amazing addition! What abilities have you got? Got any Augments?” Twill said excitingly.

Scratching his head nervously Jim pulled up his stat screen in view in his Hololens.

“Well, just the 1 skill, but I only got it after I woke up after the whole nearly dying thing. I hit level 2 from that fight as well. It’s called fast hands? It’s my first thief ability.” Jim said nervously.

He re-read the ability description.

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Class Ability: Fast Hands

Use: Your tiny hairy hands are the quickest around town. +30% speed to hand actions, +30% chance to steal, modify or craft an item.

Each experience level in this class ability will add a .5% chance of success to the action.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’s actually very useful.” Burnie said in a dulcet monotonous tone.

“More than very, that’ll come in very…. Handy.” Filbert said, waiting for the laugh from the team.

“Speaking of handies, let’s get some shots in boyssss!” Paxx said, sashaying his way back to the bar.

“That little fella is the horniest demon on the planet, I swear.” Filbert said as he shuffled the playing cards.

“Demon?” Jim questioned.

“Fil!” Twill said quietly as he elbowed Filbert in the arm.

“Now let’s play some cards! I’m upping the stakes, the loser has to clean out the boat's shit tank in the morning.” Twill said as he pulled a group of coins into a large stack in front of him.

“We have a boat?” Jim asked.

“Sure do, it’s called… Lavender’s Sting. It came with the name. Used t’ be a scented candle trading ship that doubled up a pirate smugglin’ boat.” Filbert said as he dished out the hands of cards.

“6 guns and enough room to stow a Octatusk Muffmammoth!” Twill said proudly.

“Who names these Monsters?” Jim asked, taking another longer sip of his beer.

“Whoever discovers em’ usually. There’s two or three guilds that are pro’s in exploration. They seem t’ find new creatures all the time, then report them into The Makers church for some serious coin.” Filbert explained.

“The Makers church?” Said Jim.

“Wow kid, where have you been? The Maker? Made the world, the god of the planet? Has thousands of scions that patrol the cities, dish out law and order? You really don’t want to fuck with those guys. Nasty bastards.” Twill said in a fearful rasp.

“So has anyone seen this Maker? I’ve been to a place that had hundreds of Gods, but no one ever actually saw one, a lot of people questioned if they were even real.” Jim said as he started to turn a coin over in his knuckles.

“None of that talk. It’s very real.” Burnie said, as he stared at Jim. The two locked eyes for the first time.

“The Scions purged my whole village when I was a kid. Some idiot created a church dedicated to Fafnir. It was deemed unsanctioned god worship, but the village wouldn’t let up. They came and torched the place with Maker's fire. Never seen magic like that since.” Burnie’s head dropped low into his chest.

“I’m sorry that happened, I didn’t know. I lost a lot of family and friends recently. It really fucking sucks.” Jim put a comforting hand on the Draconids shoulder.

“Yeah, those pricks cause nothing but trouble.” Filbert said as he threw two cards to each of the team sitting around the table.

Jim felt a deep longing for his brother, Luke. The sinking feeling that he’s probably never going to see them again hit his stomach. They were all more than likely all dead.

“You played Knightjack before Jim?” Filbert asked.

“I don’t think so.” Jim replied quietly as a small bubbling streak of snot rested on his moustache. He whipped away a tear that was forming from his eye.

“So, two cards, closest to 21 wins. You can “Smash” to get another card, or “Pass” to leave your hand as is. After everyone’s been, those closest or on 20 win. Two or more on 20 and you split the pot. Easy.” Twill said as he threw 5 coins into the centre of the table.

“Oh, yeah I know this game” Jim said as he picked his chest back up.

Several rounds of the game passed by and Jim was on a hot losing streak. Twill had won four rounds in a row and his stack of coins were as wide as his elbow resting on the table.

“Jim, I want you to try that new ability.” Filbert said quietly as he leaned into Jim, whispering in his ear.

“To level it up you’ll need to actively use it. After a while it’ll become second nature to use it instinctively when the time is right. Look at the order of the cards, and try and deal yourself a perfect 20. You’ll need to be fast, and use some sleight of hand to do it without the other two noticing.”

Jim nodded.

Taking a sneaky look at the order of the next ten or so cards, an ace and nine were there.

Jim mentally prepped himself, thinking about activating the ability. He pushed his will into his hands. He saw a slight rush of mana underneath his skin start to gather in his hands.

He dealt the first 4 cards, giving himself the nine. His fingers moved the upcoming cards into place with left hand in a blurr, shifting the ace from the top to the bottom. The team seeing nothing out of the ordinary, his right hand threw out the remaining cards.

As Jim lifted the cards, a perfect ace and nine combo. He threw down a huge stack of coins, followed by a nonchalant “Pass”.

A Ding! Rang through Jim’s ears.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notification

Ability experience gained.

Class Ability: Fast Hands

Novice 2

Use: Your tiny hairy hands are the quickest around town. +30.5% speed to hand actions, +30.5% chance to steal, modify or craft an item.

Each experience level in this class ability will add a .5% chance of success to the action.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It worked, ranked it up too.” Jim said as he nudged Filbert's elbow.

“Good work, now let’s take all our money back shall we?” Filbert said as his eyebrows danced in excitement.