"We will work on this first, as it's easier," the smith started, gesturing to the dents in the solid armor vambrace section. "We will bring these dents back out to flush and check the integrity of the metal. I'll show you the first part."
"How can we hammer the dents out without getting our hammers in the inside of the gauntlet?" Beth asked, frowning as she looked at the damage.
"We can't, so we won't," Elana replied with a shake of her head. "We won't hammer the dents back out, but instead, we'll use a tool designed to pull up dents. We can also heat parts of the gauntlet and use pliers to help push the metal a little, but that's trickier and usually doesn't solve the problem fully. Let me show you."
Elana proceeded to slowly demonstrate the techniques for pulling dents out of pieces of metal where it would be inconvenient to try to take them apart to hammer or roll them. Beth learned quite a bit and, after two demonstrations, was ready for her own attempt. Elana supervised her first attempt, correcting her tool placement before eventually giving her passing marks on fix. Beth spent the rest of the afternoon working on the right gauntlet, working through the less serious dents before packing it up for the day.
Normally, she might have headed up to the arena for some evening training before stopping for the day once night was truly well under way, but she had a very cute girl waiting for her in her suite, so that was her next destination. It took only a minute to head up to the rooms, leaving Elana grumbling over James's latest attempt at nails, Beth taking the elevator up and walking down the hallways while rolling her shoulders. She entered the room to find Sabs in undies and a T-shirt sprawled on the couch, Blood sprawled out on the floor in front of the coffee table.
Beth tossed the gauntlets and her forging hammer in her Pile of Much Loot, already getting in the habit of keeping everything that belonged to her in a location she considered secure. With only the enforcers, Sabs, her sisters, and James allowed anywhere beyond the lobby, she wasn't really concerned with her things growing legs and wandering off, but she wasn't in the habit of leaving her stuff laying out for other people to mess with, and she wanted to get in the habit of consolidating it in her room.
She also went through the process of shucking everything but her underwear before heading into the bathroom, noticing the decided staring Sabs was partaking in as Beth moved around mostly undressed. She took her time in the huge shower stall taking a scalding hot shower, thinking about whether she could continue collecting resistances by turning the heat up further. In the end, she decided that was a theory best left for some other time, and even preferably some other tester, before shutting the shower down and toweling off. As she was starting to form into a habit, she exited the bathroom wearing nothing but the towel draped around her neck and across the middle of her breasts. She took her time sauntering over and into the bedroom, seeing out of the corner of her eye the wide-mouthed stare her girlfriend was stuck in.
Beth dressed in one of the CRA pairs of panties and a CRA provided bra, still the most comfortable set of undergarments she had worn by a country mile, before returning to the living room. She tossed her towel into the bathroom, not being neat about where it wound up, to a frown and little huff from Sabs. She quickly overwrote that frown, hopping up on the couch next to Sabs and leaning over top of her, placing her left arm over Sabs's right shoulder and her right arm over Sabs's left shoulder before leaning in and kissing her quite firmly. Sabs was quite happy with the act, making a happy little noise as she reached up and wrapped her arms around Beth's neck, pulling her deeper into the kiss.
The two continued for a minute until Beth broke it off, not enjoying what the odd leaning angle was doing to her lower back. She sat down the proper way next to Sabs before easily lifting the slim girl up and onto her lap, wrapping her arms around Sabs's stomach with a contented sigh as the older girl wriggled back against her, worming deeper into the embrace. Sabs had already established firm control of the remote, but Beth didn't really care, focused primarily on her girlfriend.
She was briefly distracted, however, by another version of the advert she had seen a few days ago. The announcer was different, and the video was different, but the message remained largely the same. A group of young, powerful, beautiful, stalwart and just prodigies had been formed to help curve the chaos of overflowing beast tides and unanswered monster assaults. It was all pretty lazy propaganda, in Beth's eyes, but at least the music they used was a bit catchy.
Beth hummed a bit, not really keeping with the tune, as she nuzzled Sabs's neck. The older girl just pressed back against Beth while making a contented noise, enjoying the contact as she watched the show. They spent some time like that before Beth's rumbling stomach interrupted them, the tall girl having had a couple nutrient bars and water earlier in the day, but it was clear those weren't sufficing anymore.
Sabs hopped up with a chuckle, pressing Beth back down when she made to follow, and moved to the kitchenette to prepare a quick meal. Beth just lay back and kicked her legs up on the table with a chuckle, letting Sabs take care of her for a bit. She sat back up when Sabs brought some food in for them to eat, able to balance enough for the three of them in one trip. After they finished up, Beth intercepted the older girl getting up, lifting her with ease and tossing her back on the couch as she stood.
"Beth!" Sabs exclaimed, more exasperated than anything.
"I'm at least going to clean up if you're going to do everything else," Beth answered while grabbing the containers on the table. She quickly had everything in her arms and carried it to the recycling chute in the kitchenette.
When she returned to Sabs on the couch, she asked, "Did you already shower?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Sabs replied with a quick nod.
"Good, then let's get ready for bed," Beth said, walking into the bathroom. Sabs followed a minute later, having turned what she was watching off. They finished their nightly prep rather quickly and Sabs took Beth by the hand, walking ahead of her to the bedroom. Beth closed the door behind them before being pulled to the bed by Sabs, hopping up behind her and sliding up to the top of the bed where the two of them curled up together, Sabs facing her and nuzzling into the top of her chest.
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The two woke early the next morning and got up relatively quickly, getting breakfast and taking care of their morning needs. When they were all finished, they armored up and headed out, Blood joining them as they left the room and moved through the underworks. Beth figured they should start by going straight to the source, assuming that even though it was still a little early, Jaq would be up and about.
The three entered the commissary in short order, walking up to the counter and waiting to be noticed. Beth leaned against the counter as she glanced around, Sabs and Blood simply standing and waiting. It only took a minute before the central door silently opened, Jaq emerging from within with a small frown on his face.
"Bothering me in the commissary is not going to make today's work go any faster," Jaq started off with immediately.
"Good morning to you, too," Beth said with fake cheer and a very insincere smile. Jaq just glowered in response, giving them a look, and Beth continued, "We wanted to maybe...help?"
Jaq continued to glower and, just when Beth opened her mouth to speak again, he said, "Very well. Follow."
He turned and slid the section of the counter open that Beth had used many days ago when she threw the scraps of her old clothes away. Beth gestured for the other two to proceed first, following at the back and managing to figure out how to slide the counter closed behind her. Jaq opened the lefthand door and led the way down a long corridor, Beth narrowing her eyes to slits as she followed behind the others. She was quite sure Jaq's mysterious doors didn't lead to hallways, but she held her tongue…for now.
After some time walking, they moved through another door behind Jaq, coming out into what Beth could truly only describe as an underground section of a parking garage. The parking garage bit wasn't particularly strange, and it certainly wasn't the part that had arrested Beth's attention immediately. No, what had captivated Beth immediately was the large, sleek, red and black truck hovering in the air in front of them.
"Is that, like, a fucking hover truck?" Beth asked, gaping at the vehicle.
"It is, in fact, just a regular hover truck," Jaq replied coldly, causing Beth to give the man a double-take.
"Right, well, are we using the hover truck?" she asked.
Jaq gestured to the side, where seven large crates were sitting on the asphalt. Beth walked over and looked at the crates before glancing in the back of the truck. The vehicle was a little over twenty feet long including the cab and not much taller than a truck of similar type. Beth did note the side, floor, and ceiling of the truck seemed fairly thick and heavy, likely armored, and that the truck's base was about eighteen inches off the ground.
Beth looked over at Sabs and Blood, who were conducting their own investigation of the vehicle, before shrugging and grabbing one of the crates. They weren't heavy, well, at least not for her, Beth able to easily lift the crate and hop into what she could only assume was Jaq's truck with almost no effort. She set the crate down next to the three that were already inside before turning and exiting the back of the truck. Sabs was still investigating the truck while Blood was now sniffing the crates, and Beth scratched her companion quickly before continuing loading the truck.
"I don't understand, though," Beth said to Jaq after finishing the loading.
"I would be surprised if there were anything you did understand," he replied laconically.
"Yeah, yeah," Beth answered with an eyeroll. "What I don't get is this: why the truck?"
Jaq sighed as he adjusted his beret. "Several reasons. Firstly, spatial items are extremely expensive and few people are able to afford one that offers more than a handful of cubic feet. For this reason, you're going to have to get used to working with vehicles for transportation.
"Secondly, most people or groups want both comfort and speed. The distance we have to travel today is trivial, but many people even with spatial items or skills will still use vehicles for convenience. Also, it is far more convenient for me, working out of a vehicle, as I don't have to spend the whole day with a thousand people pestering me a million times for access to parts or tools or materials."
"I suppose that makes sense," Beth replied, tapping her chin as she scrunched up her brows.
"You, as an elite solo operator, will move around and experience things differently than the vast majority of Wayfarers, even some other elites. Even so, you may one day find it convenient to acquire a vehicle, as they can also act as a mobile base and camp, providing a safe and comfortable second home," Jaq explained as he gestured for the group to move to the cab.
Sabs and Blood hopped into the far side of the front cabin, followed closely by Beth. As soon as she levered herself up into the truck, she found that the cab was larger on the inside than she had believed. There were two bucket seats in the front, but between them the space led back to an elongated area with two well-padded benches running parallel to the length of the truck. At the back of this dimensionally expanded cab space was what looked like a small workshop to Beth, with a bench surrounded by parts and pieces on the walls.
After shutting her door with a firm *thump*, Beth gave Jaq a narrow-eyed stare as he started moving the vehicle forward. Beth wasn't too busy glaring to notice that even under forward power, the truck basically made no noise at all, only the absolute faintest of whirring noises indicating that the vehicle was even operational.
"After receiving that eye upgrade, you shouldn't have to narrow your eyes anymore," Jaq commented acerbically.
"You gave me such a great little speech about nobody having any spatial tools, and that everyone needs to use some kind of vehicle. Then I climb in your truck and it's a fucking spatial tool," Beth let up the glare, but continued frowning at the senior enforcer as he maneuvered the truck out a garage door on the opposite side of the Hall as the front entrance.
"I am not nobody," Jaq replied coldly, returning her frown before he pulled the truck high into the air. "Where is this village of yours?"
"It's a development, Jaq, not a village," Beth replied with an eyeroll. "And it's northwest about six or so miles."
"I would tell you to hang on, but my vehicle is far too good to let you feel a lurch, nor am I an incompetent pilot," Jaq said, already piloting towards Beth and Sabs's neighborhood.
"Speaking of your eyes," said Sabs. "How do they work, other than the heat vision? They let you see information on things?"
"I'm not exactly sure what you mean," Beth responded. "They let me Identify beasts and people, and I have heat vision now. They give me some information about items, too, which is super nice."
"So, you don't need Identify anymore?" Sabs asked.
"Actually," Beth replied, "it's entirely gone now."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't have Identify anymore. The new eye power entirely replaced it."
"Oh. Is that normal?"
"It's fairly standard," Jaq interjected into the conversation. "You will sometimes acquire skills that are more powerful version of lesser skills you know or incorporate a lesser skill into a more complex skill."
"I just wish I hadn't lost skill levels," Beth replied with a frown. "My Identify was level eight or something, but my FrostFlame Eye is only copper[4]."
"Higher tier skills are tougher to level," Jaq responded with a shrug as he brought the truck down in front of the small community center in Beth's neighborhood, to much gawking of the locals. "The upgrade type I just mentioned will absorb whatever experience you have with the skill or skills it subsumes, but that doesn't mean it will be the same rank."