Lucas woke up to the frantic movement that came from all around the prison. When he exited the cell in which he slept, he found crafters hard at work. Blacksmiths were slamming their hammers; jewel makers were carefully assembling some piece of jewels or another. What surprised him were the leathers that were drying, almost drowning all the other fumes with the putrid stench that radiated from them. In the other corner, adventurers were preparing a stew from the meat which Lucas guessed was the source of all the hides and leather currently drying up. He caught up to Ted and approached toward the man, keeping the eye out on the rest of the movement. There was a weird sense of harmony that led the actions of the men and woman hard at work, as if they were dancing to the melody only they could hear. A dozen people worked without a hitch, not one worker impeding the other. He arrived at Ted’s location, immediately asking about the leathers.

“I and few of our adventurers went out to catch some beasts. There should be nice armors soon, but I’m highly doubtful they will match the material you showed. That steel coral is extremely light, but extremely impervious to damage. Leather will fall to second place during choosing” Ted explained.

“What choosing?” Lucas asked, confused.

“You don’t know? Bruce explained it all before retiring to get some shut eyes. Basically, everybody but you will get a chance to choose his gear from the bunch, going from the highest level to the lowest. For the people with special classes, that demand some kind of non – conventional weapon or armor, orders were already made.”

“Everybody but me?” Lucas repeated what Ted said to him, confused why he was exempt.

“Why of course, you will get the best of everything. Undeniably, you are the strongest one here. Having you geared properly will help us immensely when the counter – attack come”

“Speaking of which, why are you and Maggie still here. You are not local, you could took your chances and leave.” Lucas asked.

“As I said, we owe you our lives. The least we can do is help a little bit here. The rest of people that can fight are fiery, but lack experience and training. And more importantly, they lack levels.” Ted explained

“You are risking your lives for complete strangers” Lucas added.

“Hey, we are not strangers any more, at least you and me” Ted said, smiling.

Lucas nodded, before broaching the next subject.

“Speaking of which, what classes are you and Maggie?”

Ted looked Lucas for a second as if arguing with himself should he reveal that particular information or not. Lucas frankly didn’t care much, as he was sure his upgraded “Sharpsight” could discern it. He asked because he hated doing that, feeling like he was going through the journal of someone. But after Michael, he had to be sure there were no more surprises, and he will found out that particular information one way or another. He just hoped Ted will share it out of his own volition.

“I’m Light Guardian level 37. Tank class, Agility and Constitution main stats. I prefer using light clubs or hammers, anything really that don’t slow me down much, as I avoid enemy attacks instead of blocking or taking hits. Mags is Sharpshooter level 38. Perception is her main stat and Intelligence comes in second place. She usually uses crossbows and has a lot of ways of killing. And by a lot, I really mean a lot.” Ted revealed. Lucas listened to him with apt attention, analyzing how good would they work together. He hadn’t forget competence both of them showed during the retrieval of the crafters tools, nor did he forgot how much he missed working with the competent people. He already planned on asking both of them to officially become a team, at least during the duration of his mission at Camp Hearth. Fate once again proved to have perfect sense of timing, as Maggie was approaching the two men, looking and feeling refreshed from the sleep she just took. Ted was first to greet her, and he immediately excused himself, planning to go get some sleep himself.

“Just a moment, if you can?” Lucas stopped him. “Would you two like to become a team, at least until all of this is over?” he asked.

Maggie and Ted exchanged long looks as they non – verbally thought of the offer. After a few long moments they nodded their heads and accepted the offer. Ted went to get some sleep, while Maggie took his place.

“I guess you already know what we can do? Ted loves to brag” Maggie asked him with a tone that suggested she was asking a rhetorical question. Lucas nodded.

“Don’t you think it’s fair to share your information with us?” she asked.

“I’m Duelist level 41. I run all over the battlefield and stab my sword at things. Agility as a main stat, Strength and Perception tied at second.” Lucas quickly recited, the convention drilled in his head during long day looking for groups for a job. Although less than two weeks had passed since he accepted the last one, to Lucas it felt like a lifetime ago.

Maggie looked at him, shell-shocked. Lucas, noticing her shock, looked her quizzically.

“You are only level 41? By your aura alone, I thought you are in early seventies.” she explained. Lucas hoped he managed to hide his ignorance, as he didn’t have any idea what aura exactly was. He made a mental note to ask Bruce about that, but for now, he had to hand wave something.

“Yea, people often tell me I’m stronger than my level” he responded, blushing and scratching his head. Luckily for him, Maggie didn’t commented further, but suspicion and surprise still didn’t left her green eyes. Lucas was starting to feel a little embarrassed and he mumbled something about going to see if he can help the crafters, looking for any way to extricate himself from the situation. Maggie only nodded and went back to the cauldron, waiting for stew to finish. Lucas took a rapid pace to the people hard at work and there he spotted a familiar face. He slowed himself down, carefully approaching the massive man that was hammering away at one of the pieces of steel coral ingot. Lucas doubted it was really an ingot, but frankly, he didn’t care too much to learn a different categorization. He managed to sneak deep into the personal space of the man, him being engrossed in his work enough not to notice his surroundings. Lucas was satisfied with the successful sneak, stood and watched. Before his eyes, the material was molded into something resembling a big gauntlet. He carefully extricated from the immediate vicinity of the man, and then subtly coughed to catch his attention. The blacksmith was startled for just a moment before registering Lucas.

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“Oh, it’s you boy. How’s the sword serving you?” he asked, living to the stereotype that a true crafter remembers every piece of his work. Lucas felt a pang of regret, memories of how his lost his exquisite rapier rushing back into his head. He sadly shook his head and blacksmith, to his credit, immediately caught his demeanor and let the subject go.

“Well, I got something to make your day. The armor you brought is retrofitted, and I’m finishing the rest. Don’t hold your breath, but I’m fairly certain I managed to expand the set bonus. It will truly be a masterpiece. And frankly, you need it. Your current armor looks like shit.”

Lucas couldn’t disagree with the man seeing as he was walking with a gaping hole in his chest, with only one gauntlet and with various smaller damages and holes from all the times Lucas took damage. He had to admit an update in gear was very welcome, as his current gear was lagging behind. Well, the gloves were holding and the ring was to new to feel like impediment. He said goodbye to the blacksmith, who reminded him to come check on him in about half an hour to collect his new pieces of armor. Just as he started walking aimlessly, he spotted Bruce. Almost in full sprint, he covered the distance in what amounted to seconds, managing for the first time to surprise the old Loremaster. Recovering, Bruce asked

“Is your new gear ready? I heard from Ted and Maggie what happened. It was unfortunate and I’m afraid that pushes timetable. There is no way a scavenging group will go unnoticed and they will try to contact the prison. From there, we will only have half a day before they scramble an assault force”

“It will be ready in half an hour, or so I’m told” Lucas responded “But I’m interested in what aura is and why is my so strong?”

“Well, your aura is strong because you are strong. I thought that obvious. As for what it is, it is an imprint someone leaves on his surroundings. In a way, it’s the sum of you” Bruce explained.

“Is there a way to tone it down a bit?” Lucas asked.

“Of course there is. If you asked me yesterday, I would have told you there is no way you are ready for that, but after the display with upgrading your identification skill, I guess you are close. But, I do implore you to leave that at least after we survive the counter –attack. Aura management is a delicate business and there is a chance that will exhaust you for a few days. And without you, we will not survive.”

Lucas nodded, content with the answer and seeing the wisdom in Bruce’s words. As always, it came to the matter of trust. After recent events, Lucas had found that to be the hardest part, but the old man hadn’t led him astray this far.

“Neither did Michael for your whole life, until now” a voice in his head roared his ugly head, a part of him that was dormant from the moment it got its vindication after finishing the Scenario dungeon.

“No, it didn’t get vindication. We got from the dungeon unscathed” Lucas reminded himself, trying to drown his doubt. His inner fight raged for some time more, before a loud shout awoken him. The blacksmith called to him, in front of him displayed full set of armor. Lucas crossed the distance, activating “Sharpsight” while moving.

Exquisite Naga steel coral breastplate (Rare)

The Naga that evolved on the planet called Earth found the planet poor in natural resources in the oceans. What they did have was steel and metal in abundance as well as ingenuity to fuse it with what little deep - dwelling materials they could find, making a unique brand of armor that was flexible enough not to hinder movement, but hard enough to withstand even the mightiest blows. This particular breastplate was forged by a particularly skilled Naga crafter, who managed to replicate reproduction cycle of the Earth corals, giving this armor ability to repair itself. Skilled human crafter refitted this armor to the size of humans, his skill in the craft managing to hold all the properties of the armor during the process. Part of the Exquisite Naga steel coral set.

Bonus ability: Self - repair

Exquisite Naga steel coral leg guards (Rare)

The Naga that evolved on the planet called Earth found the planet poor in natural resources in the oceans. What they did have was steel and metal in abundance as well as ingenuity to fuse it with what little deep - dwelling materials they could find, making a unique brand of armor that was flexible enough not to hinder movement, but hard enough to withstand even the mightiest blows. This particular leg guards were forged by a particularly skilled Naga crafter, who managed to replicate reproduction cycle of the Earth corals, giving this armor ability to repair itself. Skilled human crafter refitted this armor to the size of humans, his skill in the craft managing to hold all the properties of the armor during the process. Part of the Exquisite Naga steel coral set.

Bonus ability: Self - repair

Exquisite Naga steel coral shoulder plates (Rare)

The Naga that evolved on the planet called Earth found the planet poor in natural resources in the oceans. What they did have was steel and metal in abundance as well as ingenuity to fuse it with what little deep - dwelling materials they could find, making a unique brand of armor that was flexible enough not to hinder movement, but hard enough to withstand even the mightiest blows. This particular shoulder plates were forged by a particularly skilled Naga crafter, who managed to replicate reproduction cycle of the Earth corals, giving this armor ability to repair itself. Skilled human crafter refitted this armor to the size of humans, his skill in the craft managing to hold all the properties of the armor during the process. Part of the Exquisite Naga steel coral set.

Bonus ability: Self - repair

Exquisite Naga steel coral gauntlets (Rare)

A skilled human crafter managed to replicate the ingenuity of the saltwater Naga, using they signature material as he was born as one. Due to this fact, this piece of human made armor is able to fit into the wider set of the Naga made ones and it even managed to replicate the insight about coral reproduction cycles the original Naga crafter had, getting the ability to self repair in the process. Part of the Exquisite Naga steel coral set.

Bonus ability: Self - repair

Lucas was out of his old armor in record time and he was already putting on his new gear.

“About time” he muttered, already feeling the quality of his new armor.