Ren showed up at the required time to attend to the quest, and found the other contest winners were waiting for him.

“Well, if it isn't the little pipsqueak.” Tristan said. “I hope you're not planning on actually fighting!”

“I don't have to fight when I have cannon fodder like you to stand in front of me.” Ren said, and the others laughed.

Tristan turned on them. “Hey, I thought we agreed to keep him separate from us.”

“No, you agreed to that.” Lara, the Sage of Ages said. “We just didn't want to argue with you over it.”

Tristan frowned at her. “Listen, you...”

“No, you listen!” Ren said and pointed a finger at him to get his attention. “Despite what you may think, this is a game quest for all of us, not just for you.” He said. “Either you suck it up and play nice like the rest of us, or you can just trot off to the side over there and wait for us to come back with your share of the loot.”

The other contest winners nodded their heads, and Tristan glared at Ren.

“I'll remember this.” Tristan said through gritted teeth.

“I certainly hope so.” Ren said. “I hate it when I have to repeat myself.”

Selene, the Mistress of Dance snorted a laugh, and Ren winked at her. Tristan huffed and sat down, and Ren sat at the other end of the 5 chairs.

Sanctimonious ass. Ren thought. If he was better at hiding how he felt, like I am, he could use his class for a much bigger advantage than he is. Ren looked down the row of seats at the other three players. The two girls smiled at him, and the other guy avoided his gaze, even though he sat right beside Ren.

Lord Eric gave a long speech about honor and valor, about helping your fellow man, and a bunch of other stuff Ren wasn't really paying attention to. What he was actually doing was examining what everyone wore. He got the plans for all of their clothing and the gear that they wore externally. He couldn't see any weapons on Lara, the Sage of Ages, or on Talon, the Shadow Weaver. He wondered if they just had them stored, and then wondered what they were.

Tristan wore his sword openly in a scabbard on his hip, and it looked awkward as hell to move around with. Selene on the other hand, wore a pair of blades on her back. It made sitting down difficult and probably uncomfortable; but, the ease of access for drawing them was unprecedented.

Depending on her Dexterity and Agility, she could probably draw them from there faster than she could pull them from her inventory. Ren thought.

“Now our 5 chosen heroic leaders will pick their teams of 10, and they'll head into the bowels of the darkness to fight the evil that threatens us all!” Lord Eric said loudly, and it pulled Ren from his thoughts.

The 5 contest winners stood up at the same time, and went through the 300 or so players that had shown up to join them in the special game quest. They were canvassed to see who had what abilities, what their levels were, and what they could do to keep the soldiers alive.

Unlike the others, Ren wasn't looking for high levels or powerful characters. What he needed was someone to specifically help him maintain his facade of helping others while benefiting from it himself.

Tristan could learn a thing or two from me. Ren thought as he talked to a cowboy. A genuine cowboy from an actual ranch.

“Ah don' see how signin' up witcha helps me at ahl.” Clint said.

“Well...” Ren leaned in conspiratorially. “...I can enchant those bow bracers with extra element damage.”

“How much extra?” Clint asked, wary of being suckered into a weak deal.

“Depending on what you're shooting at, anywhere from 8 to 12 damage.” Ren said. “More, if it's vulnerable to that element.”

“Yer kiddin!” Clint said. “Tha's the same as mah normal damage per bolt!”

Ren chuckled. “So, is it a deal?”

“Ah dunno.” Clint said, pretty sure he would take the deal anyway; but, he wanted to see if he could get a little more out of it than just enchantments. “What ah really want is a better pair of these.” He said and lifted the bow bracers.

“May I?” Ren asked, and Clint unhooked one and handed it to him. Ren checked it over and moved all the parts to see how it worked, and received the plans for it. “Hm. Well, it seems they're a special class weapon for you.”

“Tha's righ'.” Clint said.

“I'm not surprised there's no place around that sells them.”

Clint laughed. “Ah looked high 'n low, and nevah saw a sign of anythin' like 'em.”

Ren nodded. “I don't have the skills to make certain parts of them.” He admitted reluctantly. “But, once I do get the skills, I can make a better set.”

“Then ah don't mind yer leeching mah XP, if'n ya can git me a better set o' these sometime in tha future.” Clint said and held a hand out. Ren chuckled at his honesty and shook the offered hand, then he gained the Haggle skill.

Ren received a friend request from Clint soon after.

Well look at that. Ren thought. I gained more than I thought already. He enchanted Clint's bow bracers with glyphs made of 3 Fire runes, then went around to the stragglers and odd people that the other contest winners avoided, and chose the other 9 people for his squad. Ren had warned them they might not see a lot of action, since he was part of the support crew for the soldiers; but, a few of them were relieved to hear that and signed on right away because of it. He wasn't surprised when he received a popup after 5 deals were made.

Stat Change! Haggle Level 2 (Beginner 0%)

Ren made the other 4 deals, enchanted the things his team members wanted enchanted, then went over to stand with the other players when they were called to gather together.

With everyone picked, Lord Eric declared the Aurora Expedition quest was a go, bid everyone good luck, and the players joined the soldiers on a trek out of the city towards the hills. Their destination was a cave that was rumored to have had nasty things come out of it, and they had caused a lot of mayhem in the surrounding countryside.

Along the way, Ren enchanted the soldiers armor and shields with Earth runes, and gave them bonuses to their Defense. He used a couple of his Full Mana potions to keep his Mana bar full while he kept enchanting, and added 8 to 12 elemental damage to all of their weapons as well. He had even leveled up Enchanting 2 more levels. By the time they had arrived at the cave entrance, all of the soldiers had something enchanted, even the Captain of the Guard.

“I doubted you would be a benefit to the expedition.” The Captain said, then let a small smile escape through his mean look. “I'm glad I was wrong.”

Of course you were wrong, you fool. Ren thought and smiled. I can repair your armor, weapons, and clothing for free, with no loss of quality or durability!

“We're camping for the night!” The Captain said to the soldiers, and the players groaned.

“Why can't we go in right now?” One of the players asked. “The cave is right there!”

“Because that would be stupid.” The Captain said. “We need a rest after a long march, and you need to be wary about going into a dark cave at night!”

Several of the soldiers and players laughed.

“Now, hit the sack! We move out at first light!” The Captain said and walked over to the other support crew to supervise the building of the tents for his soldiers.

“I better log out until then.” Ren said to his team. “See you later.”

*

Ren logged out and ate a meal, used the bathroom, and hugged his nurse. Out of all of them, Lucy is the nicest and the one I like the most. He thought as he rested his head on her chest. He was tempted to slip his hand down a little to touch her behind and say it was an accident; but, he didn't want to give his dirty thoughts about her away. She'd probably never forgive me if I mauled her like that.

“You really like hugs, don't you?” Lucy asked him, and Ren moved his head off her chest and looked up at her.

“Especially yours.” Ren said and beamed a smile at her. Lucy's heart went pitter-patter at how cute and innocent Ren was, and she ran a hand through his hair.

“I like your hugs, too.” Lucy said, and moved her hands down to take his hands. She slid them apart slightly, then moved his hands past her hips. Ren's eyes widened as his hands were moved down the sides of her pants, and his fingers grazed across the thing he had just thought about grabbing himself. It was the most pleasant way to find out that she didn't have anything in her back pockets.

“L-Lucy?”

“You're so cute.” Lucy whispered, then she gave in a little bit to her desire and let his hands go. Ren took the cue and very gently, but firmly, grabbed her behind with both hands. Lucy caught her breath at the strength in his hands, and she sighed as he moved his hands back up to her back and gave her a tight hug.

“Lucy, I... I've wanted...”

“I know.” Lucy said, and ran a hand through his hair again. “You've wanted to do that for a long time.”

Ren nodded into her chest. “You're so beautiful... and... and I...”

“You better get back into bed and log in.” Lucy said. “You've got a long quest ahead of you.”

Ren nodded again, and let her out of the hug. He climbed back into bed, put on the VR headset, and logged back in.

“Oh, Ren.” Lucy said as she watched Ren's inert form on the bed. “I really shouldn't tease you like that.” She sighed. “I'm your nurse. We can't... I mean... I can't take advantage of you.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Ren was unconscious and didn't respond; but if he could, he would have vehemently told her that he would like nothing better than for her to do just that.

*

Ren woke up long before the expedition was to go into the cave, and he was surprised to see a large gathering of players in front of him.

“We overheard your team talking.” One of the players said. “Is it true that you can repair things without damaging them?”

Ren nodded. “I can also enchant them.”

“Could you do the same for us?” One of them asked.

“I don't know.” Ren said. “It was a perk I gave the people that signed on with me. It wouldn't be fair if I did the same thing for everyone.”

A low groan went through the crowd, and Ren smiled mentally. He could see that a few of them would probably beg him to do it once their gear's Durability dropped below a certain amount.

“Well... on the other hand...” Ren started to say, and everyone looked at him with hope in their eyes. “I can't in good conscience let players charged with protecting the soldiers, lose their gear because it's damaged or broken.”

Several of the players did a quick high-five, and a few could be heard sighing in relief.

“I won't do it for free, though.” Ren said, and the players looked at him like he was going to fleece them for all of their coins, and he chuckled. “Don't worry everyone; I don't want money.”

“Then what do you want?”

“All of your junk drops.” Ren said.

“You want our junk?” One of the players asked. “Are you crazy?”

“Only a little.” Ren said, and a few people laughed. “I need crafting materials, so I can practice my skills.” He explained. “With all of you working at gathering everything you can find anyways, just give me the garbage stuff that you don't want, and I'll repair your damaged items.”

“I want proof.” One of the players said. “Can you really fix our stuff without damaging it, or are you just playing us?”

Ren looked at the faces of the players, and saw a few of them thought the same thing. He stood up and looked through the players to find the one with the most worn out and ragged clothing. Surprisingly, it was one of the main fighters. He had shining new armor and a gleaming weapon, but the rest of him looked like a peasant playing hero.

“I assume you sunk all your money into the new armor and sword?” Ren asked him, and he nodded. “Store your armor, please.”

The fighter looked at the other players, then sighed and stored his armor without comment.

“Thanks.” Ren said and took out his Master Tailor Sewing Needle he'd gotten from Sally when she passed away, and used his Repair skill. The fighter's clothes reformed into their original state and Durability in a few seconds.

“Wow.” One of the players said. “His clothes look brand new.”

Ren pointed to another player than had slightly old and beaten armor. “You next.” He said, and took out his blacksmith's hammer and used Repair again. The armor regained it's original color, smoothness, and Durability.

One of the other players held up an old bent sword. “Do this one!”

“Where did you get that?” Ren asked as he took it.

“I found it jammed in a doorway inside an old Keep.” The player said. “For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.”

Ren laughed. “I'll see what I can do; but, no promises.”

“Hey, I just wanna see if you can repair it.” The player said, and several people laughed.

“Yeah! Me, too.” One of the girls said. “Show us, Ren!”

Ren nodded and examined the blade.

Damaged Sword This sword is so damaged, no info can be gained from it's examination.

Neat. Ren thought and concentrated on the blade. He held his blacksmith hammer in his hand and funnelled Mana into it. He always had an easier time repairing older things if he charged the hammer beforehand.

“Repair!” Ren said as he touched the blade with his blacksmith hammer. The broken sword was engulfed in a bright golden glow, and players had to turn away from the brightness. When the glow died down 30 seconds later, they gasped when they looked back at it.

Ren was just as surprised when he examined it with Identify.

Ancient Sword of Cleaving This sword has a special enchantment that allows it to cleave through even the toughest opponents. When an attack is made with this weapon, a second backhand strike can be performed for free, with no cost to Stamina.

This sword grants: Free Strike (Temporary Skill), +20 Damage

Ren gained the plans for it and handed the now very useful weapon back to the player that had given it to him.

“Good god.” The player said when he equipped it. “Ren, thank you so much!”

“You're welcome.” Ren said, quite happy that he could reproduce the weapon as many times as he wanted, and it only cost him a tenth of his Mana to repair it and get the plans.

“Well, I'm sold!” The player said. “Ren, if you'll fix my things, I'll give you everything that I pick up and don't want.”

Ren shook the player's hand, and then all the other players shook his hand, too. Except for Tristan who wasn't there.

Stat Change! Haggle Level 1 (Intermediate 0%)

All the players went back to their chosen spots to wait for the call to enter the cave, and Ren sat back down.

“Tha' was some negotiatin' ya did there.” Clint said.

Ren nodded. “It was the only way to show them that it was worth it to make the deal.” He said. “If I'd just said 'trust me', they'd have laughed in my face.”

Cling snorted a laugh. “Hell, I'd have laughed in yer face!”

Ren chuckled. “It's a good thing I already suckered you in then, huh?”

Clint nodded and pat Ren's shoulder. “Ah'll give ya my junk drops if'n ah get any.”

“We all will.” One of the healers said. “It's not likely, but we don't know what this cavern is going to be like.”

“Just make sure you stick close together.” Ren said. “Mutual support is going to get us through this.”

“You got it, man.” Another player said. “We're gonna stick to you like glue!”

It was Ren's turn to snort a laugh. “I'm sure you're a nice guy and all, but I don't think I want you quite that close to me.”

Everyone laughed at that, and Tommy introduced himself. Ren greeted him, and then his team sat quietly to wait for the Captain of the Guard's orders. The order to assemble came less than 10 minutes later, and they all gathered together and chose the teams for the front, flanks, and rear of the soldier's formation. Ren and his squad were at the rear of course, so they would be the most protected.

“It looks like you were right, Ren.” Tommy said. “We're not going to see a lot of action.”

“Not at first.” Ren said. “But I've played a lot of games. Once we're inside and the creatures start spawning...”

“Ahl bets 'er off!” Clint said excitedly, and Ren nodded. The entire expedition moved into the cavern and received a popup that said they were the first to enter the forbidden cave, and the first monster killed would provide the biggest boon to the one that slayed it.

The other players immediately abandoned their posts and rushed further into the cave, and the soldiers hunkered down while the Captain of the Guard tried to corral the errant players.

“How stupid are they?” Ren asked. “They're supposed to protect the soldiers!”

“We'll spread out a bit.” Tommy said and knocked an arrow on his bow. “We can give the soldiers a little coverage.”

Ren nodded and took a step to the right, fully prepared to use a Health or Mana potion if needed. He deeply regretted that his class couldn't use standard weapons; but he did have access to some of the nastiest potions available in the starter city. He took out a Poison and an Acid potion and held them at the ready. He turned around to see if anything was coming up from behind them, and heard a crunching sound.

Congratulations! You have killed the first monster in the forbidden cavern.

“What the?” Ren asked as he looked down and saw a very squished beetle under his boot. “Is that... no, it can't...” He knelt and looted the body. It dissolved and left a ring in it's place. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Wha' is it?” Clint asked and came over to see what Ren was looking at.

“It's a ring.” Ren said as he picked up the ring and identified it. He'd been using Identify for months now, each and every time he made an article of clothing or a weapon at the blacksmiths, and it was at the master level.

Beetle Crown (Ring) This crown possesses the trapped soul of the Beetle Prince, Teepo. It can be worn like a ring, and you may communicate with the spirit inside of it.

Is that even possible? Ren thought. Well, I guess there's only one way to find out. He examined the ring to get the plans for it, and was surprised at the recipe.

Beetle Crown (Ring) Recipe Ingredients: One High Quality Item Soul Bind (Spell) Fresh Corpse Once you acquire the Fresh Corpse, killed within your Aura within the last 5 minutes (by either you or someone else), you must touch the High Quality Item to the Fresh Corpse and cast the spell, Soul Bind.

Depending on the Health of the subject (before death), it can take anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes for the soul to be transferred from the body into the High Quality Item. Once complete, the soul can take Astral Form when summoned, and is essentially Immortal.

Warning: If the Soul-Bound High Quality Item is ever altered or destroyed, the soul is set free from it's container to continue on it's way. Since it has no body, it will expire as it should have when the original body died.

Show info for Soul Bind. Ren thought.

Notice! You do not know the Void (Arcane) spell, Soul Bind (Level 5 - Master)

That's very interesting. Ren thought as he slipped the ring onto his index finger and concentrated on it. Hello? Ring spirit? Teepo? Are you there?

“Huh... wha...what? Who's that?”

I'm Ren. Ren thought. This is really weird.

“You're telling me!” Teepo said. “Where my uncle?”

He's... well, I don't know how to tell you this, but... I squished him.

“You WHAT?”

I'm sorry. Ren thought. It's dark in this cave and I didn't see him.

“You stepped on him?” Teepo asked. “He's dead?”

Yes. Ren said. I looted his body and found the ring.

“YAAAAYYYYY!” Teepo yelled, and Ren stopped himself from grabbing the sides of his head.

Ow, that hurt.

“Sorry!” Teepo said. “I'm just really glad he's dead!”

I got that. Ren thought with annoyance, then he realized that he could feel the spirit's feelings. Hey, I can...

“Yeah.” Teepo said. “You're wearing the crown, so... we can feel what the other feels.”

How? Ren thought. You don't have a body!

Teepo chittered in delight. “Just say, 'Summon Teepo' when no one is around, and I'll appear.”

When no one's around? Ren asked.

“People will think you're crazy if you start talking out loud to an invisible beetle.”

Ren chuckled. Good point.

“Wha's so funny?” Clint asked.

“I just got the best boon for killing the first monster in the cavern.” Ren said, and the soldiers and his team stared at him.

“You WHA'?!?” Clint exclaimed, and Ren laughed.

Word spread quickly that Ren had gotten the first kill, and nearly everyone had congratulated him. They were disappointed when he said he didn't know what the ring did, but Ren agreed with Teepo. Keeping him a secret was going to be essential if Teepo was going to be useful in the future.

Over the next game day, they traversed a good portion of the cavern and met several groups of creatures. Giant Bats and Giant Spiders were the normal fare for the players to fight, and they kept the soldiers at bay. At the end of the day when the soldiers camped, the players visited Ren and he took their junk loot in exchange for repairs and enchantments.

Ren received spider fangs covered in weak poison, poison glands, bundles of spider webbing, and even giant bat wings. The poison glands and fangs were pretty much useless to him for what they were; but thanks to his alchemy mastery, he could use them as substitutions in other more powerful potions, vials and tonics. He didn't get any real treasure until the next day. The creatures that the players and soldiers encountered as they went deeper into the caverns were goblins. Lots and lots of goblins. The group was constantly attacked, and Ren and his team had their work cut out for them while they protected the soldiers from the rear.

Ren had to constantly repair both the weapons and armor of players and soldiers alike as the day progressed, and he didn't even look at the things people gave him in exchange. They made it to a nice clearing where they could set up a good base camp, and the player teams kept going out to fight, then came back to rest and get repairs.

With the constant enchanting Ren was doing, he leveled up his skill several times and got it up to Advanced. That gave him 3 glyphs of 4 runes each, and once he'd enchanted his team's items, word spread quickly that he had achieved such a rare height so soon. Everyone came to him to have their enchantments upgraded, and since they had already given him their junk drops not long before, several of them gave him the things they picked up that weren't quite junk.

Ren was more than happy to accept these items, and kept his Mana up by absorbing the old enchantments. It still cost Mana; but every time he leveled the absorb skill up, he recovered more and more Mana and it cost less and less to enchant. By the end of the day, he was exhausted from all the work and his inventory was almost full. He looked at how much space all the individual items took up and had an idea.

Ren used his Bag Craft skill to make a huge sack, and dumped a pile of spider silk web bundles into it. He got about 30 of them in it, then stored it. He made another one and filled it with another 30 bundles and stored it, and was happy that it went into the same slot as the first huge sack. He laughed and kept working, despite being so tired. He let his enthusiasm over finding a loophole in the storage system give him energy, and he cleared out nearly half of his inventory of individual items and funnelled them into only a few slots.

When he was done, he took out his bedroll and got in it.

“Pause Quest.” Ren said and relaxed. “Logout.”