Estaria woke groggily in the morning, and went out to see how things were getting on. The shoddy barricade had gone and was now in the process of being replaced by a proper gate, with the materials that the relief force had brought in. No sudden attack in the night, and nothing going horribly wrong. Which was very good, so Estaria leant against a pole and opened the screen to pop her newest trait down. Scrolling through, one Captain Trait looked good, so she opened it up.

Your fight is with me! - Instantly taunt any enemy to fight with you, ignoring any other target between you. Debuff surrounding troops if you lose or run

That was bought. Very good skill for pulling in the enemy commander and getting an intimate one on one with him. Just had to make sure that she could beat him and didn’t have to run away from him. That would be bad. Guys didn’t need debuffs more than being humans already did for them. Next, she opened her inventory and stared at the A-rank dungeon key. The last dungeon was a mess, and she wasn’t eager to have a repeat performance or worse in a hostile territory like Drakwald. Maybe when they got back to Altdorf.

And speaking if, it was time to get her guys moving on back there. Didn’t want to be proclaimed dead or anything crazy like that. Putting on her gear, Estaria headed out, and first saw a few men gathered around a wagon. At first she thought it was the supply wagon from the way they were all crowded, but it turned out to be the wagon carrying the building supplies. What led everyone to crowd it was revealed when she got closer and saw people trying to lift it, and not doing so well since it was a large, ladened wagon.

“What’s going on?” Estaria asked, looking over at the apparent situation.

“Ahh, Captain. We’ve got sommat stuck in the wheel. Guys trying to lift the cart and get it out but so far it’s not going to well. ‘Eavy laden cart, ya know?” the man replied. Estaria looked it over, and then nodded, grasping the cart and hefting it up. The weight was nothing compared to her strength stat, and it was hoisted off the ground, giving the man plenty of time to free the wheel before she put it down.

“Nice lift Captain! Gotta share your secret with me” a man exclaimed. Laughter and repeated accolades followed, and then the men dispersed. Going to find Borrago to get everyone ready to leave, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked back at the wagon. It might have been normal for her, but the others should have definitely said something about her lifting some six hundred pounds off the ground by herself. But...apparently no. Did it just not occur to anyone? Or was there more to it than that?

Estaria thought for a moment, and then just shook her head. This wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Maybe later she could go talk to a scholar or Wizard in Altdorf about it, if she ever could start that conversation...How would she start that? ‘Hello, a floating set of boxes that control reality are giving me superpowers. Care to explain?’. That really wouldn’t go down well at all. Insane asylum at best. And that would really cripple her career...Although the jackets that were used to restrain the patients were kind of cute. She’d keep it around as a possibility if all this soldiering fell through, and went off to go see Borrago. With him, she gathered her men and proceeded to make the journey back to Altdorf. Fortunately, nothing else happened along the way, they made good time out of the forest, not meeting anything more than small packets of Beastmen. The Drakwald Patrol had kicked up three times as much in the face of the oncoming Chaos Horde, and so the road home was finally over. Altdorf loomed in front of them. Beautiful, beautiful Altdorf. Never would she have thought those walls would have produced such relief in her.

Letting her men go to the barracks or their families - and claiming to shoulder any flak they got for that order - Estaria wanted to retreat to her little hovel and just enjoy not being in a life-threatening situation for a few days, but she had duties to get to - she went to go report to her commanding officer, and deliver the letter as well. She found the Major in his office, and entered after knocking and being told to come in.

“Ahh, Estaria! We were expecting you back days ago. How was it?” the Major asked. She’d never really got his name, he was always just “Major” to her.

“We arrived in time to repel the attack, Major. But we have suffered several battles on this outing. First we were hit by an outrider horde in a hamlet, and then after the siege itself, we took the Drakwald road and came across a fort currently under attack. After that, we were pitted with multiple minor skirmishes on the way home, resulting in considerable loss of life. The ultimate objective, however, has been achieved perfectly. The Count of Middenhiem has sent this letter with my regiment to ‘Those in Altdorf’.” Estaria withdrew the letter from her inventory - subtle like so it seemed like she was getting it out of her pocket - and handed it to the Major. He was high enough of a rank or just self-absorbed enough to open it and read the contents. Then he closed it again and nodded.

“Good. Excluding any emergency deployment, you and your regiment has the fortnight off to rest and recover. We will refill your ranks while you are on leave, and then you will be in charge of training them up to scratch for any future deployments. You are dismissed” The Major gave a nod, and then got back to his paperwork. Estaria was glad for Captaincy, she didn’t want to go any higher though, it seemed a hell of paper and red tape. Still, couldn’t argue at two weeks off. Probably more to drum up recruits, arm and basic boot camp the sods than to actually rest the men. A few screaming brats in nine months would be testament to how tired her men were coming home. Giving him a salute, Estaria left his office, and went home.

Once there, a hovel of a thing that she shared with another - she had splashed out on better gear with her pay, but would probably get new accomodations soon - she stripped out of all her clothes and quickly got into the bath. Her roomate worked as a blacksmith during the day, so little chance of him appearing. After laying there for an unspecified amount of time, soaking in the water, she returned to her senses and looking over her body. Her abdominal muscles were rippling, and her arms muscular. She couldn’t remember if this was some subtle progression or if she had popped into this overnight or some other strange third thing. Not that she was complaining, a set of abs like this were always good on a girl.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Estaria opened her inventory to lazily browse while soaking, and saw she had a few of those potions put away. She forgot to finish them off in all the catastrophe she had since then and now. No matter, she was now in a prime position to do just that, so she fished them out and took all four of them. Together, they were just enough to push her over the edge. The stat page, was looking very healthy indeed, these days. She could open it up and get a broad relay of what she had, which was lovely.

Strength: 53 (72)

Stamina: 60

Constitution: 49 (69)

Dexterity: 76

Agility: 66

Precision: 70

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 32

Luck: 32

Gold: 69134

Powder Matriarch: Black Powder is your Blood. While you may lack academic understanding, your practical knowhow rivals an Engineer, and even the most unruly of firearms bow to you. 70% increase to range, 50% increase to damage. Imprecise is removed

Decorated Veteran: Well known, and well respected, your name is toasted to by many. Increase the rewards of Tokens, Medals and Medallions by 1.

Swordswoman: Learning the way of the sword is hard, but with practice, one can be a venerable cause on the field. Grants subtargetting for melee weaponry.

Celerity: Swifter than most, you run with the grace of ten men and the speed of five. Add +20 to agility for the sake of movement speed.

Quick-Load: In the blink of an eye, you are ready to fire again. Spend Cool to instantly reload your firearm with a flourish.

Your fight is with me! - Instantly taunt any enemy to fight with you, ignoring any other target between you. -20 stats to surrounding troops if you lose or run

For The Empire!: A steely shout to light a fire in the hearts of your men! +10 to all stats (Excluding yourself) to anyone who can hear your shout.Captain’s Shadow: Snap of a Captain’s finger, and the target falls. Designate a target to be hit with a Hotchland Long Rifle bullet. Usable every 10 minutes

Captain’s Half-Dozen Halflings: Sneaky little half-men with large sacks, loot all enemies at the end of every fight, regardless of the fight.

50 Stamina: Furious Zeal - Stats are reduced by 65% at 100% fatigue rather than immediate unconsciousness.

50 Dexterity: Second Slice - The blade is like flowing water, always moving from one spot to the next with incredible grace. Spend Cool to make a second melee attack immediately after the first.

50 Agility: Weight-Spread: Your weight counts ¼ of it’s actual number for the sake of unstable footholds.

50 Precision: Advanced Sub-Targetting unlocked. Groin, Eye, Hands, Feet (arrow/knife/bolt only)

50 strength: Overwhelming - A mighty blow can fell a hardy foe in one swing! Damage that causes a Critical Wound now spills over (but does not create a second Critical Wound)

Groin: Deals high damage and stuns the enemy when hit. Destroying the Groin causes stun bypassing Resistance.

Eye: Very difficult shot, but deals immense damage. Destroying the Eye causes instant death or Critical Wound

Hands: Hitting the Hands will immediately disarm the foe. Destroying the Hands will cause the destroyed hand to be unable to be used.

Feet(Arrow/Knife/Bolt only): Hitting the Foot immediately stops a person’s movement. Destroying the foot cuts movement speed by one quarter.

There was a new one. One she hadn’t seen before. From this, she could surmise she got a trait at 50 of every stat. Whenever she got to 50 stamina, she must have just missed the box telling her about it. Gold was nice and healthy, so she opened the shop and bought the 50,000 gold head-sized chunk of Gromril. It was a hefty metal, and pure Gromril at that. The beauty she could make out of that. Or, give it to a Dwarf, make a friend for life...She wasn’t feeling the wisdom or intelligence though. Maybe they were dud stats? Meant to be used on Magic and so without magic, she didn’t really get anything out of them? Entirely possible.

With stats checked, money spent and xp potions drunk, Estaria bathed and then when that was done, got out and dried herself off. Clothes were nothing fancy, but she certainly wasn’t getting back into her army gear. Besides, she wanted something that’d show off these abs. Staring down at them with a dopey grin, she still wasn’t over the fact that they were there. Totally caught up on her own body, she heard nothing, until;

“Umgi? Where did you get those muscles?” came the rough voice from the door. Estaria looked up to see her dwarven room-mate standing there, staring at her.

“Dawi..you are meant to be at work!” She exclaimed, dashing to the bed and pulling the sheets from it to wrap herself in.

“Boss has closed up for a week, he’s joining an expedition. I came home to get my gear because I am also joining him. And, you were there. Naked” Dawi had a stunned voice, staring more at the place where Estaria was than the woman herself.

“I got a bath. Didn’t, think you’d be home…” Estaria replied, her face flushed as she scooted over to the wardrobe and pulled some clothes from it. “S-so, this expedition” the prompt was to stop Dawi from looking at her while she dressed, and yet not have an awkward silence. It worked well enough, as he started to talk.

“Aye, there is talk of a new mining operation being built in the caves west of Black Water. It’s not quite the cursed Khark itself, but still saw heavy opposition, with equally lucrative amounts of Gromril. We got word of it, and the city is abuzz. The Dawi want all the hands they can get, so even Umgi mercenaries are in on this. It’s a big thing, and while a lot of mercenaries are already attached to Altdorf and other cities because of the invasion, there are still plenty of hands”

Dawi finished explaining by the time Estaria was dressed in her nice dress. It was far from nobility, but she liked it, and it was also clearly not peasantry.

“Problem being, you gotta buy into the expedition and then you get a cut of any rewards found. Bigger buy in, the larger the cut. So we got a lot of merchants in the expedition, but not actually in the expedition. And enough cuts have been given out that nobody else is getting rich” He looked up at Estaria, and shrugged. “Still, all the Dawi in the slums are joining, pretty much. The cut isn’t as important as helping our kin. Though the money would be welcome. They are buying in as cheaply as a pint of ale, to get up there. The hope is that they will impress someone and get into one of the Throngs” He finished, and then with Estaria dressed, went about getting his gear.

Ancient axe and well-worn crossbow, a shield and some leather, he didn’t have much in the way of gear, but he had guts and spirit like most Dawi.

“Well then, let’s go get in this expedition then. Being on leave would just have bored me anyway” Estaria gave a broad, confident grin, and Dawi led the way. While he did, he grumbled about what he was going to use as the buy in and how much he was going to buy in for. If he wanted to get a big buy and risk it, or little buy and just be present. If there was going to be any good Throngs up in the mountians, if he was going to meet anyone proper. Essentially, like the average dwarf, he grumbled about everything there was to grumble about.