Kaleb spent the trip to the train station filling in Farrah about his tests. His communicator was waiting in the back seat of the car. Honestly, Farrah seemed more annoyed that she hadn’t gotten to watch his tests. She extracted a promise from him to upload the footage from his memory crystal as soon as he made it home. Kaleb reluctantly agreed.

On the train Kaleb Kaleb just went over his Enchanting book again. Daivor had been building something he said would help with Enchanting. So he wanted to be commit at least some of its contents to memory. He was still hesitant to learn shield magic, for reasons he couldn’t put a finger on. But he figured that enchanting would keep him busy for a while.

When arrived back in downtown Austin Farrah gave him a gently reminder.

“You still haven’t done your patrol for this week.”

Kaleb slapped himself in the head as he walked. “Damn, I almost forgot about all that. I also promised the Quinica vendor I’d help them out on Fridays.”

Kaleb glanced up at the setting sun as he added. “I don’t even know what today is.”

“Still Wednesday, you were down there all day.” Farrah explained.

Kaleb blew out a breath in surprise and relief. “Well, that’s not too bad. Schedule a patrol for tomorrow. I guess visiting the new Lair will have to wait until this weekend. I’ll spend the time until then practicing Enchanting and crafting.”

He heard Farrah typing away as she asked. “Any preference on a partner?”

“Not really. Whoever is available and willing.” Kaleb answered shrugging his shoulders.

Kaleb continued down the sidewalk smiling at the faces of passersby. The hot Texas sun felt good on his skin and he was wearing in his armor, and lab coat. If he wasn’t an ectotherm, he might have been uncomfortable. Nearby NPC looked at him uncomfortably as he walked by. It still surprised him how lifelike this game really was. He really couldn’t believe it had only been two days in the real world.

As Kaleb was taking in the scenery to the sounds of Farrah’s typing he heard a man shout from behind him.

“STOP! THIEF!”

Kaleb spun around to see a 20-something male running toward him holding a bag and looking back at the man who had shouted. Kaleb couldn’t suppress a grin. Okay first baddie of the day, what do I go with? Kaleb thought as the man grew closer. Sun Gun? Cybar Pistol is out, don’t need a dead body in the street. Now I think about a lot of my gear is lethal as hell. Ok, so, Sun Gun. Quip now or after?

Kaleb was debating the merits of one-liners as the thief turned his head just in time to see a 6-foot lizard in his path. Kaleb was so lost in his thoughts, he was almost as surprised as the thief. Without thinking Kaleb waved his hand as the man skidded to a stop in front of him.

“Hi.” Kaleb said as he snapped his robot fist into the man’s face.

The man fell backwards holding his nose and letting go of his stolen goods. Hi? Come on, Kaleb, you could think of something better than that. Kaleb thought as the man rolled on the ground screaming in pain. The man who had shouted came running forward, immediately checking the bag's contents. Getting a better look and the man Kaleb noticed he was rather smartly dressed. He figured the guy worked in a high-end store.

“Farrah?” Kaleb asked.

“Police are en route.” Farrah answered, predicating his question.

“They going to need me for anything?”

“Not really.”

Kaleb nodded and turned to walk again when the store worker's voice stopped him.

“Thank you for your help.”

Kaleb just gave an awkward smile over his shoulder, which seemed to freak the man out more than anything. He sighed and kept walking, ignoring Farrah’s barely audible chuckling. As Kaleb passed onto the Congress Avenue Bridge, he had a sudden thought.

“I surprised at the lack of random mob encounters in this game.”

“Hmm? Oh that was always the case when a new batch of heroes enter an area. The AI takes a wait and see approach. Gangs and Villains go into hiding for a short time. Once they get a handle on where the supers are frequenting they’ll set-up hideouts and go to work.” Farrah explained.

“Kind of like a grace period after a Tutorial Event?” Kaleb asked.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Exactly.”

“Hmph.”

Kaleb grunted as he thought about that. If these past couple of days had been slow, then what would it look like if once the criminal element picked up. Then again, he had spent little time grinding mobs. Mostly he had been going on the odd quest or taking part in events. Kaleb shook his head to clear his mind, he needed to knuckle down on crafting. Do the mandatory Patrol a week, maybe some side stuff, but mainly craft.

Maintain, Improve, Discover. Kaleb thought to himself as he turned onto his block. He had a decent view to his house from where he was. He could see Roy’s truck in his driveway and… something else. Kaleb picked up speed as he noticed several differently sized square boxes on his lawn. As he got closer, he could see that some boxes were standard brown cardboard while others were blue coolers. He had just reached his driveway when he heard Daivor.

“No! Not there! That's where my house will go, you nimrod! How about I cover your home in dead animal skin!”

“Move you mangy bearded goblin. This has to go somewhere!” Roy’s voice shouted back.

Kaleb looked up into his garage to see Daivor shoving at Roy’s shins with both of his tiny hands. Roy was holding a bundle of neatly wrapped skin in his arms and was trying to side-step the gnome. Kaleb stopped himself from laughing as he climbed up his drive and greeted his two companions.

“Nice to see you two getting along.”

They both stopped their bantering at the sound of his voice. In unison they turned to Kaleb and complained about the other. The sounded influx on English and Gnomish assailing his ears gave Kaleb a sudden headache.

“… Can’t even understand him.”

“… Stomping around on those great big legs.”

“Been trying to work for hours...”

“… Can’t even cook a decent lunch.”

“STOP!” Kaleb shouted holding his head in his hands. “First thing: Daivor?”

“What?” Whined the tiny gnome.

“Why not give Roy the ability to understand you?”

The gnome looked indignant. “Do you know how long it takes to make that much Magic Dust? Besides, I ENJOY bathing.”

“Okay that’s a terrifying statement and I’ll never be able to wash hard enough now. Second: Roy?” Kaleb said, internally trying not to think about Gnome Magic dust.

“What’s up, Doc?” Roy asked shuffling the load of skin in his arms.

“I take it this is all the Greater Ifirt material from the Blue Goblin?”

Roy nodded as he set down his roll of skin. Kaleb looked over all the boxes. They had marked some with a big black S others had T’s, B’s, and C’s. Kaleb could guess what most of the labels were but Roy filled him in.

“They said the S boxes were skin, B for bones, T for tendons, and C for claws and teeth. Also, those coolers hold inedible organs.”

Kaleb nodded as he walked to his front door. “Let’s fit what we can in the garage, everything else will have to go in the living room. We should prioritize the coolers since we don’t know how long they are good for.”

Roy looked down at Daivor, annoyed. “That’s what I was TRYING to do when this pointy-headed rat got in my way.”

Daivor looked ready to explode, so Kaleb shouted back. “That’s because you were setting down skin where he wants us to build him a house.”

“We have to build him a house?!” Roy asked following Kaleb inside.

“Yep. After we get all this stuff inside that will be our first job. He will make our lab work a lot easier, at least as I understand it.” Kaleb said moving the closest cooler into his kitchen.

As he went to get another one he saw Roy eyeing Daivor dubiously as the Gnome sneered back up at the boy. Kaleb shook his head and shouted over his shoulder.

“Your grandpa’s an asshole.”

Roy seemed to go through several emotions at once. Excitement, anger, annoyance and curiosity all flitted across his face before he asked.

“You met him!? How is he? What did he do? What did YOU do?”

Kaleb laughed at his assistance rapid questions before he began to fill them in on his journey to Galveston. An hour or so passed as they worked, at one point Daivor began cataloging the various materials. Kaleb had given the Gnome something to write on, but he didn’t know where Daivor got the pen he was using.

Roy seemed starved for information about his Grandfather. Kaleb went through Obadiah tests, explaining his thoughts on each. But he refrained from spilling the old man’s secret, he figured it wasn’t his to tell. After the sun had set, and they had moved all the boxes and coolers inside, they all sat down for some food. While eating Daivor listed all the amenities, he wanted his house to have.

“… And a tower as tall as you are, lizard. Full kitchen, indoor pool, home theater….”

“How the hell are you going to fit all that in a Gnome Home?” Kaleb asked sipping on a glass of water.

“What’s he on about?” Roy asked.

“He is talking about putting a pool into his house.” Kaleb explained.

“What?!”

Daivor got an annoyed look on his face. “Hey all you have to do is build the shell. My magic will do the rest.”

“Well, that should be simple enough.” Kaleb said as he wiped his hands on a napkin.

“Magic?” Roy asked.

“Magic.” Kaleb confirmed.

Kaleb picked up their dishes and place them in the sink before turning to his two in-game companions.

“So, lets get to building a Gnome Home!” Kaleb shouted raising a fist into the air.

“YEAH!” Roy cheered.

Daivor looked happy but concerned. "You have Blueprint?"

Kaleb slowly lowered his fist and stared at the Gnome. “Damn it!”