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028 Brief Reunion

Ren and Nicole spent almost all of Nicole's one month learning period out in the forest surrounding Jona. During the month Ren had Nicole meditate for at least an hour every day to get her on the path to acquire Ki, since it would be useful to a Martial Arts user in the game. Also, because of all of the unarmed fighting Nicole did, they found out that New Reality Online had already included various martial arts into the list of skills in the game. Nicole picked up the skills for Muai Thai and Kick Boxing since they were more useful against all of the animal they had been fighting then the other styles she knew. The duo would returned occasionally to sell the things Ren made with the furs and pelts and to stock up on supplies before heading out again. Towards the end of the learning period Ren was running low on sewing supplied so they stopped by Jason's shop to pick up more. When they walked into the shop Jason wasn’t in sight so Ren rang the bell and called out.

"Jason are you here."

"Just a minute!" they heard him call back.

After a few moments Jason walked out from the back of the shop. Jason smiled when he saw Ren and quickly walked and grasped his hand.

"It's good to see you again Krono." Jason said, "What brings you back here? And who is this lovely young lady next to you?"

"It's good to see you again as well old man." Ren said, "Jason this is my elder sister Inocri. Jason was the one who taught me tailoring close to half a year ago."

"Nice to meet you." Nicole said, reaching out hand

"Nice to meet you as well.” Jason said, grasping Nicole's hand and shaking it briefly. "You two don't really look like siblings, if you don't mind me saying so."

Ren opened his mouth to speak but Nicole beat him to the punch.

"That's because a long time ago a draconian came into the family so now every few generations there’s someone born with more dragon-like features and this time it just happened to be me." She said.

"Is that so?" Jason said looking somewhat intrigued, "That's definitely some interesting ancestry but we’re getting off topic. So what brings you here?"

"We've been training in the forest for the past few weeks and I've started running low on my sewing supplies." Ren said

"Well that's easily fixed. What do you need?" Jason asked

"Just some thread and a few more needles will be fine" Ren answered

"Alright, just wait a moment while I get them for you." Jason said.

After trading some of the items Ren made for the supplies the duo left to the boundary of the area available to new players, what players called the noob line, to wait for the few hours that Nicole still had for the learning period. Nicole had reached level 10 two days before so the tutor system was no longer active, not that she needed it any more now that she was more comfortable with the game. At this point she could use her skills in martial arts to easily take out opponents a few level above her though past that and it would get difficult. Ren purchased Nicole a horse and they left the village and made their way down the road to the edge of the newbie area to wait for the restriction on Nicole to be lifted. As they waited Ren was sewing various things and Nicole was alternating between meditating, practicing her martial arts, and riding around on her horse to get the [Riding] skill.

Time past and Nicole's restriction was finally removed. The duo mounted their horses and set off down the road towards Crale, Ren wanted to introduce Nicole to Powell and the rest. After that Ren didn't have any plans. It took several days to reach the city, since Nicole had to log off every so often to take care of herself, but overall they made good time. Nicole got the [Riding] skill by the end of the first day which made the rest of the trip easier. Before they reached the city Ren equipped his academy robes. Students and up to two companions were allowed to enter the city without paying the entry fee. Nicole wasn't allowed to enter the academy so Powell and the rest agreed to meet them at the Lazy Angle.

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The two of them were met by Powell when they entered the inn and followed him over to a table in the corner. Once they were seated Rione came and took their order. Once all of that was taken care of Ren was the first to speak.

"Everyone, this is my sister Inocri." Ren said, "Inocri, these are the other members of our party 'The Lost Brigade'."

After Ren introduced Nicole the other introduced themselves as well. Once the introductions were done Ren asked about the goblins.

"It took them a week after you left to clear the rubble. Thanks to that we had more than enough time to clear the goblins that weren't trapped from the tunnels and set up traps and defense leading from the cavern to the surface. Outside the tunnel's entrance we set up a kill-zone. Once the goblins broke out we used the traps and defenses to whittle down their numbers before they got to the surface." Powell said, "Once they reached the kill-zone we unleashed hell on them. Boiling oil, boiling water, spells, arrows, rocks, and really anything that could cause damage was used. After a few hours they began retreating and we followed to keep up the pressure. From then on it was really only a matter of time. The only tricky part was when we reached the cavern and the king and his generals joined they fight. They almost turned the tide but Field Captain Wolf and his guard pushed them back. Also, thanks to all of the fighting, the three of us are eligible for class advancement and I can choose my first sub-class." Powell said the last part while looking very proud of himself.

"You reached level 30?" Ren asked, surprised.

"Yep." Powell answered, "Since I was on the front lines I got more combat time then the other two."

"Do you know what you want you’re second class to be?" Ren asked

"I haven't decided yet but right now I’m leaning towards knight." Powell said.

"You guys get a class advancement and you get a sub-class while I still don't have a class yet." Ren said kind of sullenly.

"That's your fault for not liking any of the classes you've found so far." Lixiss said.

"I know, I know but it still sucks." Ren said.

"Well I don't have a class either." Nicole said.

"Yep but you're only level 10 and you already know what you want to be. All you need to do is find a trainer." Ren said. Nicole just stuck her tongue out at him.

At this point their food arrived and Vulcan decided that getting food was a worthy enough goal to show himself. When Vulcan appeared Lixiss let out a loud squeal of excitement.

"It's so cute!" Lixiss said as she leaned down to get a better look. Vulcan hide behind Ren's hand. "What is it? Where did you get it? Is there more? Can I get one? Can I pet it? Can I have mmmfff..." Lixiss was cut off by Powell's hand covering her mouth and pulling her back into her seat.

"Sorry about that." Powell said

"It's fine." Ren replied

"What is that?" Powell asked

"This is Vulcan. He my familiar. His race salamander though right now he's only a baby. He's a magical beast from the endless beastlands plane. I summoned him as part of my conjuration test before I left for Jona." Ren said

The group started eat their food before it got cold. They eat in relative silence for several minutes before Powell spoke.

"So what are your plans after this?" he asked as he ate.

"I was planning on going to see Master Yurbek then going around to the other instructors to decide what I want to study nest semester." Ren said, "Inocri was going to see if she could find a martial arts trainer in the city. What about your guys?"

"Me and Azriel were going to see what we need for our class advancements." Lixiss said. "Powell's going to and try to get his second class I believe." Lixiss looked over at Powell for confirmation. He nodded and continued eating.

They finished eating and parted ways. Ren headed over to the blacksmithing workshop to see master Yurbek.