“...So, what happened?”

Medoly was leaning on the doorframe at the entrance of the Kerdan family home, blocking Henry and Karsten from entering. Her arms were folded, and her expression was one of not being particularly impressed.

To Henry’s chagrin, when Medoly learned about what happened with him the previous night, she reacted by punching the poor lad in the face. Henry flew - not fell, flew - onto the ground and landed with little dignity.

‘... I wonder what her level is.’ Karsten mused as he watched Henry pick himself up and walk back to the door. He didn’t walk all the way back, though, and Karsten had the acute feeling that he was being used as a meat shield. Shrugging, he turned back to Medoly and entered the house.

They stood at the entry, talking about the quest the guys had just been on. Henry followed shortly after, leaning against the closed door, rubbing his now red nose.

“Hmm? It isn’t even Christmas eve yet. Aren’t you a bit early, Rudolf, my lad?” Karsten asked Henry seriously, even with a hint of worry.

Henry looked up at his new ‘cousin’ and scoffed. “Is that supposed to be an insult? And what’s Christmas?” Henry looked like Rudolf if he was a criminal. The resemplance was uncanny, and Karsten could barely hold back his laughter.

Then, Karsten’s face fell.

“Wait,” He stumbled, “You don’t have Christmas?”

“Never heard of it.”

“You…” He started, his face twisted in anguish, “So you don’t have a magnificent, glorious and omnipotent bearded man that travels around on a flying sled with his little elf slaves and sentient reindeer, crawling through your chimneys and giving you gifts?”

‘What kind of lives are you living…?’ Karsten shook his head regretfully.

“What the fuck kind of tradition is- OW.”

“What my brother means to say, is that that sounds like a wonderful tradition. I’ve never heard of Christmas before, personally, but I’m sure we have an omnipotent, bearded man flying around here somewhere. I don’t imagine he gives people gifts, though, or does a lot of crawling...” She paused, mulling something over. “The higher the level you are, the more ‘omniscient’ you become. I can see how what you’re saying might be possible…” She trailed off as when she saw Karsten staring at her, an unsettlingly gleeful gleam in his eyes.

“Are you saying that, with enough levels, I can become Santa Claus? Saint Nicholas himself? Me?”

“Ah… Yeah. I mean, hypothetically.” She gave a hesitant reply.

‘I hope I haven’t started something…’ She shook her head internally.

She gathered her thoughts and continued, “Well, I don’t know what kind of class you’d have to be to make the things you said possible, but I imagine that with the Bard class it might actually work… It’s probably the perfect one for the job, actually - as long as you have some kind of item to make yourself fly. Even if you didn’t, though, you could just convince people that you were. ‘Reality is what the Bard makes it’, as the saying goes.”

‘This… This changes everything…’ Karsten grinned, thinking about the infinite possibilities that had just opened up for him. It was a bright horizon. Intermittently, his grin gained a crazy hint to it, then turning deadly serious, then back to grinning.

‘Wait! Doesn’t that mean I could be… Oh! And that would work too, wouldn’t it?… God, I love this world…’ His eyes shone more and more as he laughed silently amidst his mutterings.

“I… I’m not sure he’s alright, sis.” Henry said, pointing to his head. “In the head. Seriously,” he whispered.

Medoly looked at Karsten with pity. “Well, we already knew that… I just... I hope I didn’t give him too many ideas.”

“Ah!” Karsten suddenly exclaimed, startling the two siblings. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen, or quill, or something? I have to write this down…” He said, chewing the nail on his thumb.

“Uhm… Yeah,” Medoly said, going to a nearby table and fetching a piece of thin parchment and a quill and ink.

“Thanks,” Karsten received them appreciatively and immediately began scribbling, noting down point after point of Ballux knows what, the siblings didn’t know. They did not want to know.

“Alright, Karsten...” Medoly interrupted gently and walked over to the inspired Karsten.

“Hm?”

“Why don’t you come sit down on the couch while we talk?”

“Huh? Sure,” Karsten folded the parchment and put it in his pocket, placing it in his inventory.

Medoly guided him carefully over to one of the two couches in the room and sat him down. Karsten didn’t think much of it, and just allowed himself to be sat.

Henry shook his head and joined them, sitting down in a comfortable leather bound chair at the end of the small table.

“Alright…” Henry started. “We don’t plan on following a strict schedule or anything. The loose plan this idiot and I mulled over on on our way over here is to start in Alles, get a level in the beginner dungeon there, then head back to the city. After we’ve registered everything we need to in the Guild Office here, we’ll head back out to the dungeon outside the wall, the level 2 one, then find a level three one, and so on.”

“We’re trying to get to level 5 as soon as possible.” Karsten added.

Medoly cocked her head, “Why is that?”

Karsten shrugged, “‘Cause I wanna be able to do cool shit.”

Medoly raised her eyebrows, and looked to Henry.

Henry shrugged, agreeing with Karsten.

Medoly sighed, but thought to herself that it only made sense. Karsten was a unique individual, with simple desires. As for her brother… He’d always wanted to be a good spearman, even before he could walk. It had been the one dream he had never given up on. Even on the days he wasn’t allowed to eat by theur father, she’d still see him outside training. Rain or not. Drawing in a breath, she gathered her thoughts. “Well, if you’re looking for a good level 3 dungeon, I know a good one. It’s called Hemistos Bath, and-”

“Ballux’ grave… Absolutely not.” Henry winced.

Karsten frowned. “Why not? Is it bad?”

Medoly explained, “It’s a slime dungeon. They’re known for being a bit messy-” Henry shot her a look, “Okay, very messy. It’s basically a three-day sludge through a neverending expanse of grime and goo, with tons, literally tons, of slimes swimming around, trying to kill you if you come close.”

“That sounds deeply uncomfortable. Love it,” Karsten acknowledged. “But why is that only a level 3 dungeon? Sounds like it should be higher.”

Medoly shook her head. “Not really. Although there are many slimes there, and they very much have the home-ground advantage, they are ridiculously weak. Even a hit from one of you could kill one if you tried hard enough.”

“Thanks,” Henry scoffed.

“You’re welcome,” Medoly smiled.

“Anyway,” She continued, enthusiastically, “If you look away from the meter-deep, neverending, putrid sea of muck, it’s a pretty easy delve.”

Karsten clutched his cloak protectively. There was no way he was going to sacrifice this holy piece of fashion for his own betterment and goals. No way.

Medoly noticed his reluctance and chuckled, “Don’t worry, there are specialized, insulated suits you can wear. They always have a booth that sells them near the entrance of slime-dungeons.

“Suits, huh?” Karsten mused, then nodded, “Alright. I guess it could be a character growth opportunity?”

Medoly laughed, “Great. Everyone clears a slime dungeon at some point in their Adventuring career. You won’t be entering one for a little while, anyway, so no need to think too much about it.”

“Have you?”

“I have. twice. I was an Adventurer for about two to three years, with a small group of friends from the area. I had to stop when I took an arrow to the knee, though.”

Karsten slapped his hand to his mouth. He’d almost blurted out “Seriously? That’s hilarious!” and only managed to save himself by some miracle.

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‘How much more ‘Skyrim’ can this place get? Are there giants here? Draugr? Jarls? There probably are, aren't there…’

Karsten’s cleared his throat and asked, ignoring the weird looks he was getting from the siblings, “But don’t you have potions for that? Healing potions?”

Medoly sighed regretfully, “There are potions like that. Just none that we can afford. Or, well, we can, but our father doesn’t want to waste money on such things.”

“Such things? His daughter?"

Medoly’s mouth became a fine line, and Henry interjected, “He’s an ass. He uses all the houses' income on expensive hair-growth potions, suits and bone-combes to look presentable for his upper class friends. He wouldn’t care if she’d lost the leg.”

“Henry…”

“What? Am I wrong? I’m not. Don’t you remember his reaction when you told him about the time a Henrog kil-”

“Henry.” Medoly’s eyes met her brothers, and he scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

Looking back and forth between the two, Karsten cleared his throat.

“From there,” He said, tactfully changing the subject, “There isn’t really much more of a plan, honestly. I have a loose end goal of going back to my own world, but how I’ll go about that is a mystery, even to Santa.”

Medoly nodded. “But you two should go to Alles before it gets too late. You should already have what you need for the most part, you're only really missing a weapon. Henry already has a spear, so he’ll be taking that. As for you…”

Medoly got up from the couch and went up the stairs, clearly looking for something. Karsten looked at Henry, but he just shrugged and left to get his spear. After a minute, she came back, holding a stunning, dark silver coloured short sword with turquoise inlays.

Henry, having just re-entered the room with a long, impeccably polished silver spear rested on his shoulder, went wide-eyed at the sight of the blade, then grinned maliciously.

“This,” Medoly explained, “Is dad's moon-silver sword. It’s a couple decades old, but it should serve you well.”

Karsten got up from where he was sitting and walked over, examining the sword like it was a unique Lego piece - he beheld it reverently.

Medoly passed it to him, and goosebumps sprung up from his skin as he received it. He felt a slightly electric feeling coming from the blade, travelling through his body. It was a difficult feeling to describe…

“It gives a slight boost to mana recovery.” She pointed at the turquoise inlays, “These are made with low-quality mana stones. Treat it well, it’s expensive.”

“Yeah, no kidding. But are you sure I can have this? Isn’t it your dad’s? Also, if this thing has lasted for a couple decades without suffering even a single dent or chip, it must be more than expensive…”

Medoly scoffed, “You think he actually uses it? It’s a decorative piece he keeps on the wall in his office to wow rich visitors, and to make poor people feel poorer. Take it. Leave handling his wrath to me.”

Karsten accepted the blade, and couldn’t help but look at Medoly as if she was a saint. “What should I name it?”

“Hm?”

Karsten turned the blade over in his hands. “Every cool sword has a name.”

“It already has a name. Moon Maiden, my dad calls it.”

“Moon Maiden… I don’t know, I don’t like the idea of using women. Moon Man? Santa’s cheese-slicer? No, no…” He struggled to find a name when Henry interjected, “Usually, weapons are given a name based on an accomplishment, like ‘Demon Slayer’, or ‘Holy Blade of Exorcism', or some other melodramatic ego-inflating rubbish. You should hold off on naming it until you’ve actually accomplished something worth noting.”

Karsten thought for a moment, then nodded. “Noted.”

“Alright!” Medoly exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Last, but not least, storage.” She walked over to a large chest at the other side of the living room, opened the lid and started rummaging. A short while later, she picked up a small, brown bag with purple details and a long handle and walked back.

“Here, a bag of holding. It can hold up to 225 kilograms, so you should be totally fine with just one. Take good care of it. If it gets destroyed, everything inside will be scattered across the Astral Plane. Also, if you turn it inside out, everything will spill out in a pile, so be wary of that. Also, don’t put living things in it - obviously. If you do, they’ll suffocate. Well, after a minute or so, anyway. Still, don’t do it.”

Karsten accepted the bag, slinging it over his shoulder so the handle was diagonally across his chest, careful to not damage his golden star, and noted the warnings.

‘So they do have bags of holding here… Shouldn’t have expected any less from a D&D world, I guess.’

Placing the weapons in the bag, Karsten and Henry turned towards the door. Medoly followed after them.

Standing outside the house, Karsten looked back at Medoly.

“I really don’t know how to thank you enough, Medoly. I’ve already lost count of how many times you’ve helped me just over the span of a few days. You’re a saint, seriously. And that is coming from the future Saint Nicholas.”

Medoly chuckled, “You’re welcome. It’s not a problem. Anyone would have helped you in that situation... Actually, no, I take that back, probably no one. You looked terrifying… I even nearly decided to attack you outright for a second there.”

“Really? Haha… By the way, what level are you, Medoly?”

“Me? I’m level 4, Ranger.”

‘... So I almost died on my first day. Yay.’

“Level 4… Isn’t that kind of high? Last time I played Dungeons and Dragons, I only got to level two.”

Medoly gave him an odd look, but quickly schooled herself.

“Level four is just beyond the beginner stage, I’d say. At the level 4-5 mark, people have generally attained enough experience as Adventurers to gain a certain amount of reputation among the people, and other other Adventurers of course.”

“Really? So you’re famous, then?”

“Haha, no, I wouldn’t say so. Some people in the city might know me, but compared to other Adventurers, I’m nothing special.”

“How long did it take you to get there?”

“To level 4? About a year, adventuring on and off whenever I was feeling frustrated with my dad and needed to stay out of the house for a while. He is, as you’ve maybe figured, an intensely infuriating person.”

Karsten nodded solemnly.

“Anyway, I think that, if you boys really push yourselves hard, you can get to level 4-5 in about half a year. It’s from level 5 to level 6 that will take you longer. It is what’s commonly known as the unofficial level-cap. Nearly every Adventurer you’ll ever meet either at level 5 or lower. Those at level six and beyond… Watch out for them.”

“How can I even tell they’re level higher-leveled, though?” Karsten inquired.

“They’re all off,” Henry answered. “Mentally. Not all, of course, but a lot of them have all been through more than normal people. It gets worse the higher leveled you get. You can also typically tell by their equipment and clothes. They tend to wear things of higher quality than lower-level Adventurers. Obviously. Anyway, can you stop flirting with my sister and let’s go?”

“He’s not flirting, you utter dunce,” Medoly said as she flicked her finger at her brothers forehead, leaving a red mark. “And it’s good for him to practice having normal conversations with stable people. Anyways, you guys should probably get going.”

“I quite agree, cousin.” Karsten quipped, “Now, let us venture forth, other cousin - We have monsters to fell!” Karsten proclaimed and walked dignifiedly away from the property, followed shortly after by a frowning Henry.

Before they had gone too far, they heard Medoly shout from behind them. “Oh! I almost forgot!”

The duo looked over their shoulders at her.

“Remember to officially party up at the local Adventurers Guild before entering the Dungeon! If not you can’t split the rewards equally!”

Henry was the one to answer, as apathetic as ever.

“Yeah, yeah, obviously.”

And they were off.

~~~

“You know, you’re surprisingly good at haggling.” Karsten remarked as the two exited a food store before their long walk to Alles.

“What do you mean?”

“You give off a kind of brutish vibe, you know? I just wouldn’t have picked you out as a people’s person, if you know what I mean. You aren’t very nice to me.”

“I’m not.” Henry replied.

“You’re not a people’s person? Or are you agreeing that you’re not nice to me?”

“Yes,” Henry answered simply.

Karsten sighed, “I know you’re not a bad person, though. I think.”

Ignoring Karsten, Henry stepped past him and started walking towards the Helis gate, the same gate they’d just gone through the day before.

“People certainly look our way a lot.” Karsten casually remarked as he caught up to his ‘cousin’.

Henry glanced around.

Throughout the morning, as well as the day before, the two had been getting more looks and heard more whispers than Karsten was strictly comfortable with.

“I have a somewhat bad reputation here, and now that people seem to think there are two of me, it’s only natural. It’ll be different when we get out of the city. Probably.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I have to ask, what did you do to earn such a reputation? Simply getting drunk and rowdy in taverns doesn’t quite seem like enough, based on the looks. ”

Henry briefly glanced back in Karstens direction before turning his gaze forward again. “Well… In the past, about five years ago, I’d say, I got my Adventuring Licence. A few people weren’t happy with that, and decided to pick a fight with me. I beat them up, but a few people witnessed the fight and reported me to the guards. After the few days I spent in the city jail, it was as if the whole city collectively decided that I was a ‘criminal’, and the looks I received became worse.”

“What did your dad think of that? Can’t imagine he held a celebration for you.”

“Ha! He certainly didn’t.” The man laughed, “He threw me out for a few days to ‘reflect upon my actions’. I spent the next week familiarizing myself with the menu of different taverns and sleeping in the city’s best Inns, putting everything on his tab. He was ecstatic.”

“I can imagine...”

“Anyway, I guess the reputation is earned. The fight was rather public, and the people who attacked me were laughably weak, so it probably looked like I was the one bullying them. I did laugh, actually. A lot of people still call me sadistic for that.”

“How unreasonable.”

“Tell me about it,” Henry scoffed.

Arriving at the gate, they went through a short check. The guards at the gate were luckily the same as yesterday, so they were recognized and let though easily, without having to show documentation from the Guild Office.

They could’ve gone to the Guild Office beforehand to get all the papers they needed, but neither of them could be bothered to. They had bet on it being fine, and it had paid off.

Exiting the city, Karsten was met with the same exceedingly boring view as the day before.

“It never gets less boring, does it?”

Henry chuckled. Actually chuckled. “Nope. It really doesn’t.”

“Well, let’s get to it, then.”

Saying so, they started their long, boring track along the plain dirt road to Alles.