Dimitri was much more receptive to my criticism than I expected. He knew he had an issue with monologuing and told me he was actively working on it. Just how real can an AI act? He had not only personal goals but flaws that he was trying to overcome. I was aware of the social norms about romantic partnerships with AIs and how Yonder apparently introduced a level of AI that had caused normalization of romantic relationships with AI outside of the niche pervert communities, and while I wasn't after that at all I was finding myself forming a friendship with Dmitri on a level that no real person had ever given me. He was unintentionally hilarious and would roll with it every time I cracked a smile, continuing his bit even at his own expense. And that's how most of our day went, 'Money Makers Extreme' didn't catch up to us, and we just talked and joked with each other. At one point I lamented on how it sucked I wouldn't ever be able to use all the gold we had stolen, and I was surprised to find out that was not the case. Dimitri informed me there were merchant mobs that sold items to the various boss monsters of Yonder.

  "Yeah you know those mobs that always have big bags and high agility? When players kill them they usually get some pretty good loot, very rare and random?"

  "I know the type." Those were the mobs that caused raid parties to lose focus and cause wipes. People were quick to forget their role when a goblin spilling coins out of a burlap sack ran by. Even Platoon Lords had a version of this mob called a supply vehicle. They were armored SUVs that didn't stop for anything or anyone but were usually filled with high grade weapons or VIP targets that could be ransomed for tokens.

  "Those actually are [Nomadic] mobs that trade items with monster nests and dungeons. Players can only chase and kill them, but we can shop with them and even hire them as caravans."

  "What sorts of stuff do they sell?" This sounded big, some of the best loot tables in games came from those fleeting loot piñatas.

  "Oh everything from your typical run of the mill items to trap blueprints, evolutionary crystals, and even mob eggs. They also take requests, though I don't know if that's available for a traveler like you." In that moment there was nothing I wanted more than to go on a shopping spree and pick up some cool stuff.

  "Where do we find them?"

  "Either another dungeon boss puts you in contact with one or includes you in their personal caravan. They will also randomly show up to dungeons sometimes."

  "Would we be able to find you some spectral type weapons?" If Dimitri wasn't already in a good mood, he sure was now. He laughed like he did before one of his monologues.

  "Oh yes, yes we could."

  After a bit of backtracking we carved a new path through uncharted areas of the forest. We came across some more 'trash mobs' as Dimitri put it, and after a bit of arguing I decided not to recruit any. Dimitri told me to save my slots for smarter mobs and more powerful mobs. The spider creatures were only fast when they pounced, and were already slowing us down a bit- so I agreed and we left both the floral plant creatures and the fairy type mobs alone- neither posing any threat to us. After a few more hours of hiking we decided to rest for a bit in a clearing, and that was fine by me. There was still no sign of any pursuers and the developers of Yonder, for some stupid reason, decided to make foot pain a factor in this game. Dimitri continued his current ramblings, 'pontification' as he would call it. He was literally just listing monsters that stood no chance against him in a one on one fight. I had my suspicions that more than half of that list, including 'any dragon', would have a reasonably easy time killing him. But I wasn't going to rain on his parade. Before we had a chance to get up and get moving a crashing sound came from the tree line before a heavily wounded minotaur stumbled past us, an arrow sticking out of its head. Reflexively I prepared my [Enhanced Flames], but before casting it remembered monsters were not my enemies. I switched to [Life Spark] and healed the large creature. He swung his large head towards me for a moment before giving me a thumbs up and a big smile.

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  "Hey boss, we got incoming." As if on queue three adventurers came from the same tree line the minitour did. Without words Dimitri, The Minotaur, and myself all turned on the adventurers. The goofy smiles were wiped from their faces as they realized their easy hunt was no longer going to be easy. Dimitri was the first to strike, grabbing a human man by the shoulders and tossing him into the path of the charging minotaur. The minotaur gored the man with his horns as he flipped and turned over mid air. coming to rest across the beasts head like a veil on a bride. Dimitri, with no monologue, instantly began slashing the healer of the party before he could get a spell off. As I went in to strike the final bow wielding player, a elven women, with my staff, she dipped her head to the side and narrowly avoided it. Unfortunately for her both my spiders had shot their web at her, catching her mid dodge from my swing. After that it was like shooting fish in a barrel. I cast my [Enhanced Flames] on her entangled from and she quickly melted into the charred webs. I looked back towards Dimitri to find him looting, of course. The large minotaur approached me and, oddly enough, raised his hand for a high-five.

  "You guys are seriously badass." Dimitri's head shot up at the validation he so longed for. It wasn't easy to get him to stop looting but it seemed compliments did the trick, because immediately he raised himself up and crossed his arms.

  "It was no big deal really, we have done much more badass stuff today." The minotaur beamed with happiness at that, I opened my diplomacy window to see what this guy was about, and almost spat when I saw he would cost one hundred of my [Monster Diplomacy] stat points to recruit. His stats were impressive, both his charisma and strength were through the roof. If I could get him a mate I might be able to field an army of these guys some day. I decided I'd go for it.

  "You looking to..ugh.. Join us?" I said as I selected 'Yes' in the recruitment window. His eyes shined even brighter, like someone meeting a celebrity and realizing they were even cooler than they had imagined.

  "Does a minotaur moo while he shits?" The large beastman said matter-of-factly.

  "Uhh...?" I had no response for that. Dimitri nodded his head astutely like he was recalling something.

  "Noah, from my experience with minotaur's I'd presume he is saying yes."

  "O-Okay..."