With the entrance to the sewers sealed with Agusti under the watchful eyes of Arnas subordinates, Saga took stock of their situation. They had barely made it out of there alive, something that was becoming something of a habit. Saga grunted as they moved their shield arm, that at one point had been fractured in multiple places. Turned out that magic while wonderful did not fully substitute rehabilitation. Having taken multiple heavy hits from the creature upon their shield, their left arm now ached all the way to the bone. Sasha seemed to notice how Saga winced when rolling their wrist.

“You all right?”

“No. I think the healing of the arm didn’t take as well as I thought it did.”

“When Vajra healed you, she healed a very complicated injury,” Sasha said, continuing before Saga could do their usual thing and play Fantasy Tourist. “Your bone was knitted together, as was the flesh. But even with magic, a shattered bone will always take time.” She said, confirming Saga's suspicions that magic wasn’t quite as powerful and convenient then they had initially thought.

“I heard of the injury from Olaf,” Arna said as she called over one of the people guarding Agusti. “After we take Agusti somewhere safe, I suggest seeking out a healer that specializes in strengthening and reinforcement magic.”

“Noted. Didn’t know they had Physiotherapists in the North.” Saga muttered, finding that in a world of magic, specialization gave civilization a lot

The two women shared a glance but decided to not ask about the strange words that came out of the reincarnated berserker's mouth. They had realized by now that Saga had many a strange word in their vocabulary, ready to be unleashed on the others.

***

“Your going to lay in a bed. and you are going to rest.” Ingrids voice brokered no argument and Saga quickly quelled the urge to argue, despite how ingrained that reaction was.

They were standing sheepishly next to a concerned-looking gentleman in his late 60’s, with grey hair and the kind of expression that Saga associated with doctors everywhere. It was deadpan and neutral, with a hint of confusion at the behavior of whatever patient had just explained their terrible injury to them.

“I will. I want to be there when they question Agusti. They saved our lives, even if they been part of the squad trying to kil us” Saga said but the stare Ingrid gave them shut them right up. Instead they pressed their lips together i na thin line. They had gotten directions to after accompaning Arna and Agusti to a guard house. Saga had barely managed to sit down

with the healer when Ingrids voice had called out for them. Soon, Saga had been made to regale the entire tale of the Sewer battle yet again and when mentioning their arm and how close to death they had been, Ingrids had fixed Saga with a stare that held the Berserkers soul in a iron grip. It was equal parts frustration and concern for thier well being. IT was the kind of stare older siblings fixed you with after you broken something while doing something extrodinarily stupid.

After the healer had tended to arm and giving Saga some sort of potion meant to help thier bone strengthen, Ingrid had given Saga no chance to get away from the dwarf. The woman had seized Saga by the health arm and dragged her to a small backlot behind the Healers home where the dwarven woman had begun to explain

“Ye survived getting pummeled twice before that thing down there. And now your reckless fighting style is catching up to you.” She said and Saga found it very hard to argue with Ingrid said. There was a case to be made that it wasn’t Sagas choice how they thought, due to the whole path thing. But at the same time their plan was almost entirely based around rushing shield first at things like a linebacker with a death-wish. So instead they kept their mouth shut tight and took the dressing down like an adult. That is to say they pouted nad muttered mentally to themselves while keeping their face as apologetic as possible.

After extolling the virtues of knowing your limits and taking the time to rest, Ingrid's expression softened and she sighed. “You’ve been in this world for barely a month and you've already been close to death twice. Trust Arna to do her job, and rest.” She said, her tone almost pleading. Saga closed their eyes, mulling it over. Everything she said was true. And they had been tugged one way then the other. Or tossed bodily, as had been the case with the Bear.

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“You’re right. Besides. I am only level 5. I want to deal with something more my speed.” Saga confessed. They were tired of fighting things that clearly were out of their league. Only surviving due to the help and sacrifices of others. If this continued they would die to someone or something that was simply to strong.

“You leveled again?” Ingrid said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. I got a leveling skill,” Saga answered. They had hit level 5, knowing the next increase in levels would be harder to comeby, as every fifth level, the amount of experience needed increased dramatically.

“Ah, which one?" Ingrid asked, curiously looking over Sashas charachter sheet as the bersker shared it with her.

“Headhunter.” Saga explained, pointing to the skill. Reading it, Ingrid nodded to themself.

“That would do it. You have been engaging enemies far greater than you in level and strength.” She said, look at the skill with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.

“Yeah." Saga sighed, feeling suddenly a lot more tired. "I think I will heed your suggestion about resting, before the next terrible thing decides to come for me.”

“If you feel restless, you should still be able to practice your magic with Ordans mother.” Ingrid reached into a pouch at her belt and tossed Saga a small keyring.”

“What’s this?”

“The guest lodge is a bit too small for two people to stay more than a night. so I talked to the others about chipping in for a larger place for you to stay.” Ingrid stated, making Saga freeze on the spot. Eyes wide.

“You bought me a house?”

“Not quite. It’s one of the many abandoned houses down by the river. But it’s close to where you practice magic. It has a kitchen area and a sleeping area. ANd enough space to keep your stuff. It's a small lot, and you are going to do a lot of heavy lifting too.

“That's so kind of you guys. You did too much for me.”

“Nonsense. You came into this world with nothing. ANd you are already making a place for yourself among us. YOur one of us, perhaps you have always been.” Ingrid grinned up at Saga and Saga had to look away, clutching at their arms as they fought back the urge to start crying from the sheer amount of kindness these people showed them without asking for anything in return.

“Thanks.” They said and Ingrid just patted their arm.

“No worries. See you around. Now get some rest.”

***

“Well. It's a renovation object” Saga said, staring at the dilapidated house with a wry grin. They looked at the house in front of them with a sense of trepidation. Sasha was leaning against the one fence post not rotten from the humid river air or sunk into the somewhat loose soil.

Saga didn’t care how rundown it was, however. This was their new home. Not a small, cramped apartment in the sticks, where they felt life slowly erode and crumble. No, this was their place. Their home. Casa del Saga, if you will.

“You look happy. You realize we are gonna have to pull up half the house with its foundation, I can see the wood rot from here.”

“A little hard work doesn’t scare me, babe.”

“That’s more than a little hard work.” Sasha mused but kept herself from dampening Saga's enthusiasm by pointing out all the things they would have to find a carpenter and a mason for.

“Come, let's see what we can save.” Saga said as they moved into the house, a bright smile on their face.

***

"Ok, so there was very little to save.." Saga muttered as they looked at the rotten beam they had accidentally pulled free of an inner wall. Said wall had also crumbled from rot and the two wondered if this was some sort of practical joke by Ingrid and the others. But even so, Saga found that the one part not dilapidated and rotten was the sleeping area. Where most of the house's foundation was some sort of heavy Riverstone and rocks within the silt of the riverbank, the sleeping area was partially on top of rocky, solid ground. Sasha and Saga began to cut part of the rotten beams down, Sasha doing most of the chopping on account of being very good with axes.

"We can take down the worst part of the walls and make sure the roof doesn't cave into the river. The wood is not great for much, but even rotten wood burns if dried." Sasha said as they piled 5 large, rotten trough wooden pillars at each. The house was now half a room shorter, with the rudimentary clay and hay walls crumbling quicker than even the rotten wood.

"We have money from the contract, we should see to get some lumber." The saga began but Sasha stopped them.

"I'll see to that. You're ordered to rest."

"But." The saga started but was cut off.

"Nope. Ingrid will kill me. Besides, save your strength for your magic lessons." Sasha shook her head and

"Fair point. But for now, you're going nowhere. We both need sleep. " Saga said, pulling Sasha in by the hip. The axedancer let out a snort and pushed Sasha's face away. "You still smell of the sewers and death. Why don't we seek up a bathhouse and an inn, we'll set up our new house later"

"I can live withthat." Saga laughed, the two of them heading back into the city center.