In the end, Kara and I decide to sleep first so we don't attack a fully alert camp, it also has the added benefit of me somewhat calming down.

We go to the Wrong Ferret Inn, have a nice chat with Clarabelle and her husband, Daniel, who instantly struck it out with Kara as they find a common interest, food, and finally go to sleep.

The next morning arrives and we settle down and eat breakfast, courtesy of Daniel. Kara must have left quite an impression on him but that's to be expected after their discussion yesterday.

There are only two other Patrons in the Inn this early in the morning, a [Bounty Hunter] and a [Merchant] but I heed them little mind as they are minding their own business.

"You don't really intend to blow up the entire base, do you?" Kara asks, shovelling the last of the scrambled eggs from her plate into her mouth. Seriously, she eats so much more than me that it's barely funny anymore. It makes sense with her level of activity but still.

I push my plate to the side, having already finished my much more modest portion. "I want to try but I won't risk either of our lives for it."

She seems content with that answer, finishing her breakfast and putting her plate on mine. "What about afterwards? Do you want to pick up another two bounties?"

That'd be a good idea, we are low on funds after all, but I've got another one. "We'll see about that, we can pick some up if they are on the way but I think it's time we deal with your Slave contract."

"Fucking finally!" She exclaims, getting the attention of the other Patrons. They quickly dismiss her and turn back to their food.

Clarabelle approaches our table with a smile, grabs our plates, and asks "Everything satisfactory?"

Kara nods. "It was great, tell Daniel that I noticed the splash of milk in the eggs, it's interesting but not for me."

"Alright, " Clarabelle says, giving us an opportunity to order something else before leaving. She probably just wanted to check up on us after Kara's little outburst.

I take another sip of my ale as I pick the conversation back up "As I was saying, we should try to dissolve your Contract but I don't know of any major Slavers or anyone named Wilhelm. I think the range thing from your Contract should be a high level skill so I hope they will be easier to track down."

Someone else enters the Inn as Kara thinks out loud "So we'll have to gather info, maybe go to Klon." Klon, the city built on the back of Slaves, now serves as the base of Tharon and a hub for most slave trades. If there is a place where this Wilhelm is, it's Klon.

The woman who just entered has long blood red hair in a tight bun and bronze skin. She wears a puffy jacket that's completely oversized for her but positively covered in fancy symbols and a pair of tight, brown pants, similarly covered in symbols. I even recognise one of the symbols as the same basic rune I used to conjure the Shield orb but it's connected to a dozen others.

She walks around the counter, pulling Clarabelle into a hug. "Clarabelle, it's been way too long!"

She sits on the counter and they settle into some idle chatter. I can't help but feel uneasy with her here, something about her just tips me off.

Kara looks at the new arrival and simply scowls "I don't like her."

"She creeps me out," I agree. It's not like she has a weapon or is moving weirdly but throughout the entire chatting, she doesn't reveal anything remotely personal while Clarabelle reveals a lot of chatter she has overheard.

"Say, Clarabelle," the woman in question says, idly examining one of the glasses laying on the counter, "have you heard of anything interesting?" Sounds like a [Bounty Hunter] asking for jobs but why wouldn't she just go to the sheriff?

Clarabelle's eyes flicker over to us before she answers "What did you have in mind?"

The glance hasn't gone unnoticed as the woman looks over her shoulder at us, a small grin on her face. "I think you know what I mean," she says as she turns back to Clarabelle, "someone attacked the Stokes, completely unprompted."

I finish my ale, suddenly very uncomfortable, and stand up. Kara follows my example.

We get to the counter and set our mugs down for Clarabelle but the woman grabs my hand as I turn to leave. "Leaving so soon?"

"I arrived yesterday and we have some work to do," I explain, putting my free hand on my revolver below my cloak.

She sighs. "You drank half the mug after you've been carefully nursing it for a while the moment I mentioned the attack. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"They have nothing to do with it," Clarabelle cuts in. Always the first to protect her Patrons.

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"They aren't your children," the woman reminds Clarabelle in an annoyed tone.

She recoils as if slapped, quietly excusing herself and slumping into the kitchen. I thought they were friends but it appears they are something else, maybe acquaintances.

"So," she says undisturbed, letting go of my hand and grabbing a bottle of scotch and three glasses, "before we continue, I'd like to know who I am talking with."

"I am Kara and he's Grant, who are you?" Kara quickly introduces us, using our real names for some reason. I guess we can barely be tracked by our names without any residence or consistent employment.

"Cinder," she simply states. Kara and I must have visibly reacted because she laughs loudly. "That never gets old."

The other patrons visibly tense as I probe for confirmation "Cinder, as in…"

"Yeah, yeah, I am the leader of the Stokes," she waves us off, "Why do you care about the [Tinkerer] so much? You aren't family, you haven't been around much and frankly, I haven't heard anything about you anywhere."

I don't know if I should be glad that she hasn't found anything on me or insulted. I thought I had somewhat of a reputation by now. "She is a friend of mine."

Kara just rolls her eyes as Cinder pours three drinks. "You assaulted a fully staffed base from a Gang notorious for their firepower for a friend?" Cinder asks incredulously, almost sounding hurt.

Chuckling, she puts two of the glasses in front of us and takes a sip of her own, "You are one crazy bastard, but I like that."

"What do you want, Cinder?" I ask. I feel like talking with her for a prolonged time will only benefit her so I cut to the chase.

"Rude," she says but I have a feeling that she doesn't really care, she is unnervingly relaxed. "Alas, dancing around the topic won't help either of us so here's my offer. Work with me and I'll forget about this little mistake of yours."

"What about payment?"

She answers quickly, smiling "500 coins each month and some new gear you desperately need. " A tempting offer for what is probably a lot less dangerous than my current situation.

[Vona: Don't you dare work with that snake, we already have an agreement.]

"Sorry, that's worse than my current arrangement," I apologise. After all, it is difficult to outbid the people apparently granting me my class. "I doubt you could offer enough money to outbid my current employers."

"A shame."

In one fluid motion, she draws a sickle with a chain, similar -no, exactly like- Vonas weapon, and uses the chain to propel the sickle in an arc to ram the blade into me from above.

I take a step back but she just slides her hand down the chain, widening the arc so it still hits me.

Kara barely manages to snatch the chain out of the air, cutting the arc short so it narrowly avoids my head and wraps around her hand instead.

Without another word, Cinder jerks the hand holding the chain up and then down, causing a wave of ghastly green fire to travel the length of the chain in the fraction of a second.

The two other Patrons evacuate the building at this point.

Kara lets go of the chain but is a moment too late, the fire having already reached her hand, she shrieks in pain as it eats through her skin.

I [Quickdraw] my revolver and fire all six shots at Cinder, using [Reap Shot] on five of them and completely draining my Mana.

She swerves out of the way of all six bullets and reclaims her sickle with one flick of her wrist.

"Well, you are out of mana," Cinder claims, rolling up the chain and placing it on the counter, "and I doubt Miss Savage here has anything to kill me over this range. Have you never heard of pacing yourself? Nevermind, Are you two ready to negotiate or do you want a scar to bring home my point?"

Kara is seconds away from jumping over the counter so I quickly speak up "Alright, you won. What do you want to negotiate?"

"Obviously, you need something from me and I'd prefer to not kill you two unless absolutely necessary, " she explains, picking her glass back up and downing the content in one go. Kara and mine stay untouched. " Permanent employment is off the table but that is by far not all that I offer. It'd be a shame to kill you two when you can still be useful."

"Do you know of any Slavers named Wilhelm that are powerful enough to put an open Contract with a range Inhibitor on a Slave?" Kara asks.

"Of course," Cinder says with a cheeky grin, refusing to elaborate any further.

Of course it wouldn't be this easy. "How much do you want for the info?"

"It's not how much," she protests, "it's what. There is a nest of Dunecrawlers that has been interfering with one of my mines and I would send some of my men but they recently formed something they call an union and refuse to work unless I hire someone else to take care of it. Apparently they think that I can't fire all of them. I'll also stay clear of your [Tinkerer] friend."

Her workers formed an Union? That… is really smart. “Taking on a Dunecrawler nest is way too much for something that simple,” I complain. “Is there anything you can offer to make this more worthwhile?”

“More worthwhile?” she asks. “Do you realise how few people could tell you about him? You have my offer, take care of the nest or search for him on your own.”

I mull it over in my head. Dunecrawlers are annoying to deal with, being Spiders the size of dogs with a venom that somehow manages to drain Mana from your system and diffuse it into the surroundings makes them a pain to fight. I got bitten by a lone Dunecrawler once and couldn’t use any of my Skills for the rest of the day, I would’ve died if there were more than that so it makes sense that a Gang focused on Magic wouldn’t want to fight them. Dunecrawlers build their nests in huge tunnel complexes beneath the sands, using their webs to stabilise them and drag prey down.

Fire is rather effective against them as their nets are flammable but the Stokes would have already burned them out if it was that easy.

I look over to Kara, waiting for her input.

She simply nods and grabs the glass Cinder set out earlier.

“We’ll do it.”

“Great,” Cinder says, “it’s not that complicated…”