"AMANDA! And Nala, oh, I'm so happy to see you both—to see all of you, hello Sly! Hello Praetorian! Hi Gakk! Oh, I've been so bored and lonely, do you guys want to come in? I don't have much stuff and it's pretty small and boring inside OH! Amanda! I have—come in, just you, well Nala could come too I guess if she wants except maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea now that I'm thinking about it so okay, just Amanda, come on come on come ON!"

Amanda allowed Mist to drag her into the little apartment, the others left outside on the covered balcony. The rain had lightened a little, but not so much that it ceased to be a discomfort.

"So," Praetorian said to Nala, as they waited for whatever was going on inside Mist's apartment to finish. "You have it all figured out, do you? This mission, I mean. The location and the components and so forth."

"Calamity Plateau," Nala said. "Located in northern Nimbus on Isolation Island. Terrain type is a mixture of DeepForest, HighCliffs and DarkCaves. Threat level is nine—"

"NINE?"

Sly was staring at Nala.

"Are you serious?" he said. "Nine? I've never gone over six and that's with dudes who can, y'know, fight! What's this place got, dragons? Behemoths?"

"There is a chance of behemoths," Nala said. "Also land lizards, crystalline wyverns, scale dragons, kukuts—"

"Whoa whoa whoa, you don't know what you're getting into here—okay, sure, land lizards aren't a big deal but these other monsters, they're what we RUN from—"

"Yes. We will be avoiding the monsters. Their threat level is irrelevant."

Praetorian cleared his throat. "I wonder if it will, perhaps, feel relevant when we're being eaten by said monsters."

"Our safehold shards will activate before any significant digestion."

"Ah yes, so very encouraging, I can see why you're our leader. Now I admit I'm not an expert on monster hunting or the mission system or any of that sort of thing, but shouldn't we start with a threat level a little closer to our capabilities? Zero, perhaps?"

"There's no such thing as threat level zero," Nala said. "The high rating is a benefit to us. Low threat rating missions are popular because they are seen as safe. I don't want to encounter anyone else. Monsters are more predictable and less dangerous than our fellow students."

"Mm. Perhaps. Even so, I keep coming back to the rather unwelcome possibility of being eaten—"

"Large monsters are often dormant. They don't attack unless engaged. Smaller monsters are often aggressive. They attack on sight. Low threat rating areas have small monsters, but many of them. High threat rating areas have large monsters, but less of them. The entry area for any mission is always free of monsters. I will use my stealth to find a safe route to gather points, then guide the rest of you to them."

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"Uh, so, maybe this is a stupid question but I gotta ask," Sly said, "but, uh ... do you actually need us?"

"Aha! Yes! Excellent point from my good friend Slythaneile, could you not go alone, remaining entirely safe due to your stealth?"

"No. Gathering cancels my stealth. This is a rule."

"There is a limit also," Tzugakk said, from behind Nala. "We are each given a pouch, the pouch holds thirty items, no more than that."

"This is another benefit of a high threat area," Nala said. "More valuable components. SparkleFlowers will be our primary target."

"Worth twenty merits each as a base," Tzugakk quietly added, which caused Praetorian to shut his mouth and Sly to raise his eyebrows.

"Man, really? Twenty each? Wish I knew this before I started going out, I just ignored gather points and stuff."

"Knowledge is power, as they say," Praetorian murmured. "Very well, my enthusiasm is beginning to rekindle. Still, I think I'd feel—"

"Sorry for taking so long!" Mist said, as she came out of her apartment. "Amanda had some trouble with the, um, you know, getting dressed ... especially with everything so wet ... um, anyway, here she is!"

Everyone stared at Amanda. At her new dress, the one Mist had spent days making. The fabric was two different shades of dark grey, but in the gloom of her apartment Mist had failed to notice this. Consequently the dress had a patchwork quality that couldn't be said to be attractive. Although there were slits up the legs for ease of movement the left slit was longer than the right and the front and back were uneven in length, giving the entire lower half a lopsided appearance. Even so, it was an improvement on the ragged old tunic Amanda had previously worn, and there was a small smile on the dead girl's face as she plucked at the too-short left sleeve.

"I just finished it half an hour ago," Mist said. "I got craft merits! I was so surprised when they popped up, I wasn't even thinking about merits, I actually said 'Oh!', like that, 'Oh!'. Um, I know it's not, um, useful or anything, I mean it doesn't count as armour, but I just thought ... um, I thought ... I don't know. I guess I wasn't really thinking much. I'm just glad you like it, Amanda, I was worried you wouldn't."

"I can honestly say," Amanda said, smiling at Mist, "that I can't remember getting a nicer gift."

"Yes, touching," Praetorian said, before raising his hands in mock-innocence at the look Amanda gave him. "It is something of a shame, though, that ragged and torn look was very you. I'm not sure if this speaks so accurately to your inner core—although I am pleased you kept the arm bandages, they're certainly a charm point. Now if only something could be done about your hair—and, well, let's be honest, everything else—"

"Stop it!"

Praetorian raised his eyebrows at Mist.

"She, she doesn't like it when you talk like that!" Mist pressed on. "Be more nice to her! She's a girl, she has feelings! Nala, you say something too!"

"...how many craft merits did you get?"

"What? No! Sixteen! That's not what I meant, say something to Praetorian, it's bad that he treats Amanda like that—"

"I honestly meant nothing by it, I simply ... spoke. My apologies if I caused offence. Sixteen, eh? Those in charge must be feeling generous today."

"Careful, Darkcede," Amanda muttered.

"Yeah, uh, ease up, why don't you," Sly said. "And, uh, shouldn't we be, like, moving? Heading to the lodge?"

"Well, if there wasn't all this fussing over Amanda's new clothes—oh, honestly? You glare at me for THAT? I cannot win with you people, I simply cannot win. Nala, I look to you for guidance, lead us from this ugly little part of this ugly little academy and take us someplace far away. I only hope the weather is nicer in this deathtrap we're all heading towards."