"How is my favourite shopkeeper doing?" I yell out as I open the door to "Morgans Armory", a shop I've frequented these past two months.

A small girl in a fancy, green dress with her blonde hair in a ponytail runs out from the backroom, yelling excitedly "Grant! You came!"

I kneel down and grab her, standing up and spinning her with my arms extended before setting her down again. "I would never miss your System Day!"

I've spent these past two months burning through my funds for new materials and gear to grind levels for [Magitech Tinkerer] while [Death] has been stuck on level 9 for the entire time.

Odd jobs kept me busy and on the move for weeks on end, keeping Idanu away from Strendorrs Mine and granting me some extra cash. I went slowly, letting him wander through the wastelands just to turn around and spend a few days with Morgan and her daughter, Lily. I made sure that I could be here today to celebrate the unlocking of Lily's system with them. I am glad that I figured out early that Idanu isn't just following my trail but knows my current position.

I got rewarded with two skills for [Magitech Tinkerer] and one for [Marksman]

[Mental schematics: Allows you to draw schematics with your thoughts, keeping them locked in and allowing you to craft more complex machinery without the need to draw them out first. Alterations can be made during crafting. -5MR per schematic saved.]

[Runecraft: Allows you to draw out runes and rune arrays intuitively. Holds a mental library of runes after studying.]

[Quickdraw: Draw your weapon from your holster and aim in the flash of an eye. Gives a penalty to your accuracy if you use your full Speed.]

Morgan strolls out the backroom, platinum hair cut short after having it catch on fire one too many times, she wears an overall with twice as many pockets as needed. I've never seen her grab a tool, she always has it in one of her pockets. "My, My, back so soon?"

I tussle Lily's hair as I sadly answer Morgan "The Bandits were just one family trying to make a living through robbery. They turned a new leaf after persuasion."

She knows exactly what I mean by persuasion but she wisely doesn't mention it with Lily here. Instead, she puts the wrench she was holding into one of her pockets and picks up on my tone. "Still no level up?" I nod and she quickly continues, "I've talked with one of the other [Bounty Hunter]'s in town and she said that every class needs significantly more experience from level 10 on. You also get a Keystone Skill at level 10 which other Class Skills later rely on."

"Thanks, I'll pay you back for it, I promise."

She waves me off "Don't worry about it, your help here is more than enough."

Lily grins up at me, impatiently interrupting our conversation "Hey, do you know what class I picked?"

I could just use [Identify] to get her class and level but I shake my head, allowing her to boast.

She puffs out her chest, stems her hands into her hips and grins up at me "I got [Apothecary]! Level two already!"

I put a hand beneath my coat, grabbing her gift. "Wow, Your first level! I still haven't given you your birthday present."

Morgan wipes oil off of her hands onto her jumpsuit as she answers "You shouldn't have."

Lily looks outraged but before she can complain, I pull out her gift. "It's fine, I gained a level from it."

I hand the bundle to Lily who instantly tears into it before stopping halfway through. "Thank you, Grant," She says before continuing to free the contraption.

It's a contraption of gears and gems, encased in a repurposed bottle with four pipes sticking out of one side with dials to regulate the flow on the other side.

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She grabs it and holds it up, admiring it confused. "What's this?"

"I figured you'd pick [Apothecary] or something similar as your Primary Class so I made this. It can regulate the environment for a small greenhouse, water and stuff like that. The lamp at the side will glow red when you have to infuse Mana into it, either by feeding crystals into the top or doing it directly with a skill." I explain to her, looking at Morgan to make sure she is paying attention as well.

Lily will probably try her best to keep it going but it will break sometime, even if the myriad of Gems inside should continue to work for years.

She runs off into the backroom to use her gift, probably hiding some medicinal herbs or sweets with it.

Morgan looks after Lily with a smile before turning to me, smile dropping. "Thanks for the extra work."

"You know she will try her best," I counter. "She will make a fine sheriff one day, helping everyone."

She sorts the shelf next to the counter in an ever-changing system I can never grasp as she answers "Yeah. Did you bring any gems?"

She still disapproves of Lily's choice to become a sheriff but can't force her into anything. A quiet life as an [Apothecary] is not exactly suited for the rascal I've gotten to know these months and she still blames me for it.

I pull out a small pouch with four Elemental Gems inside of it, all charged with advanced elements. I can make gems the size of pebbles now if I Infuse them for the maximum time.

I've been steadily trying out new combinations, like Fire and Dark, which results in Explosive gems. Morgan doesn't have the Sub Skill so she can only make monochrome gems. She says that Polychrome gems are worth a lot but I am mostly interested in using them myself.

"Did they ask for protection money again?" I prod her as I hand the pouch over.

She shakes her head but my relief is short-lived as she replies "They wanted me to work with them and threatened Lily."

She grabs the pouch and examines the gems as I continue. "Who did?"

She gives me a look that I've seen her give Lily many times, a mother's look. "You aren't going to fight them, Grant."

I just stare at her, causing her to sigh and admit defeat "The Stokes."

Those Bastards.

I am glad that there weren’t any repercussions for killing Nathan even though he was a member. Protecting Morgan, the highest levelled [Tinkerer] for miles, from them might have me pop up on their radar though.

"You aren't going to fight them on this, the work they want is harmless." She insists as she picks out a few coins from her register, "40 Gold, ten for each of them."

I accept the coins and let them disappear into my pouch. "Not yet."

Lily comes barging out of the backroom again after safely stowing her gift in her room. “Grant, can you teach me how to be a [Marksman]?”

“Are you sure? Taking a second Class so soon might not be smart.”

She looks at Morgan before looking back at me, “Why? More Classes mean more Skills, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yes,” I concede, “It means more Skills but you share experience between classes.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she asks.

“It depends on what you want to do,” I explain,” It’d take a while for you to get your keystone Skills, which give you a big rise of power.”

“What’s the best stat?”

Ohh, that’s a hard question. I run a hand through my hair as I think of an answer. ”It depends on what you want to do. Dexterity and Vitality are really important for me but so are all the magical stats.”

I spend a few more hours catching up with them, explaining the System and telling Lily stories of my travels, much to Morgan's dismay.

Once nighttime arrives, I lift Lily off my lap and set her down. "I think I should go now, I've got a busy day tomorrow."

"Oh?" Morgan inquires, "What are you hunting tomorrow?"

"I am taking care of a group of bandits that has been terrorising the farmers around here," I explain, "As if it isn't hard enough to be a farmer."

With the arid lands, raving psychos and monsters running around, farmers don't have it easy outside of cities. From the Farms I have visited, it appears like the oldest child always picks up a Combat class while the younger ones pick variants of [Farmer] or support classes.

Of course, there are exceptions like the Johnsons up north, all their kids have [Marksman] Variants and farm completely mundane while their parents have a few small fields they tend to with their skills.

From the Bounty Poster, it seems like their child can't help them defend themselves though.

"Good Luck," Morgan says with a nod.

Lily meanwhile is running to the backroom yelling "Wait!"

It doesn't take long for her to return with a red-tinged potion in her hand. "Here, drink this if you are hurt." She says, all but forcing me to accept the Potion.

"Thank you." I attach the potion to my belt and hug her before departing.