The next morning, I was up and about before most others in the guildhall. The building itself was large, three stories and countless rooms. The first floor held the common rooms, as well as the forge and a few small apartments for members to stay in if needed. I had been living in one such room for over a week by now, and still didn't know what town or city I was in. I had been meaning to ask Allysa, but kept forgetting in the face of the various excitements and issues that kept cropping up. I was seated in the main room, which doubled as a tavern and bounty hall, eating breakfast when Allysa's team entered, Pala yawning as though she had just woken up.

Allysa waves at me, and I return the motion, still shoveling eggs and sausage into my mouth. Turns out, dealing with a year of pent-up trauma and extreme emotions really exhausts a girl. Anyway, the trio order their own food before joining me at my table. I had moved one of the chairs to a different table so I could sit, so the others take their places in front of me.

“Hey Lycara, you doin’ better? Seemed a bit out of sorts yesterday,” Draven says, looking me over strangely. I nod, still just eating. Damn, I was hungrier than I thought!

Pala is also looking at me strangely, and a quick glance at Allysa shows the same. Swallowing my mouthful of food, I lean back a bit.

“Alright, spill. What's wrong? Why are all of you looking at me strangely?” I ask, and they all look away guiltily. Allysa clears her throat before responding.

“Have you… looked in a mirror today? Just out of curiosity.”

I raise an eyebrow and shake my head.

“No, why? Is there something on my face?”

Draven coughs into his hand. “In a manner of speaking.”

Allysa channels her magic, conjuring a reflective chunk of ice in front of me. What greets me isn't my normally pale reflection, but that of a wolf. Sleek black fur covers a canid muzzle as two amber eyes stare back at me. Looking down and feeling like a moron, I realize that the [Shifting Form] effect must have also been held back, at least a bit, by [Disassociation]. Thinner white fur covers my chest and stomach, but everything else is coated in fluffy black. Looking at my arms, my claws have gotten a bit sharper and now look like proper claws, rather than sharp nails. I keep my focus away from my lower half, knowing what I'll see there and not mentally prepared to deal with it right now.

“Well then,” I sigh, “Can't say it's a surprise, I did absorb a large chunk of essence from that squirrel.”

Allysa shudders at the memory before nodding in agreement. Checking my status confirms all this, as [Shifting Form] is now gone and the gender symbol has resolved itself into an (H). Oh gods, I am NOT dealing with this right now. It can wait until later!

Shuddering to myself at the strange dilemma that awaited me at a later date, I close my status and refocus on the others and my food. Continuing eating, I listen to the chatter of the guild members around me, talks of dungeon runs and other quests. Once I finish eating, I set my plate to the side and lean back a bit, still sipping a cup of coffee,and wait for the others to finish. When they do, I finally break the silence.

“Alright, so what brings you three here? As much as I'd love to say it was for my sparkling personality and glossy fur, I somehow doubt that.”

Draven nods, setting his own fork to the side.

“And you'd be right. The guild asked us to scout a new dungeon they found a few days ago, but on the condition that we find a fourth member for at least this delve. Allysa vouched for your skills, and said you could handle yourself, so we decided to ask you if you wanted to join.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I tilt my head, thinking for a moment as the others wait for my reply. On the one hand, dungeons, especially unrated ones, are notorious for having high death rates for unprepared rookies. But on the other hand, dungeons have a massive bonus for the first people to clear them, usually a trait or skill stone that works with the person's build. Traits alone are near impossible to get outside of special situations like this, and skill stones can be traded amongst party members.

Contrary to what most people think, skill stones don't give a specific skill. Instead, they are linked to a type of skill such as mobility, offense, defence, passive, or active. Spells are also common rewards, with casters being awarded grimoires or scrolls to add to their own.

Eventually, though, I stop stalling and give the answer that I already knew I would.

“Sure, I'll join you guys. Beats being stuck in the guildhall for another week!”

That gets a round of chuckles from us all, and Draven continues on with the specifics.

“Alright then, now that that's settled, let's get down to the details. The dungeon was discovered two days’ ride from Avernis, and from what the team who found it described, it'll probably be a ruin type. So expect undead and creepy crawlies. We'll leave here in the next couple hours, so get everything ready that you'll need. I'd recommend packing for about a week and a half, but it may be longer or shorter depending on the difficulty of the dungeon.”

He pauses for breath before continuing.

“Don't worry about food or water, Allysa will deal with that, and we do have a spare spatial bag if you need it. It's not that big though, so keep that in mind. Any questions?”

At my negative, he nods and stands up, the others following his lead.

“Then we'll meet back here in an hour or two. See ya then!”

And with a wave, they're out the door and I'm left alone with my thoughts. Standing up and stretching, I wander my way back to the forge. I have one last thing that I want to craft, but I have no idea if it's even possible. Going back to the supply closet (they're totally going to need to restock it when I leave), I grab a fang, a small bar of brass, and a large bar of what [Inspect] reveals as deep iron. I actually do know what deep iron is, since I learned about it while training. Appearing as a darker coloured iron, deep iron is about as strong as steel and holds magic as well as gold.

I plan on making a more permanent replacement for my leg, since a basic wooden prosthetic probably won't hold up in a dungeon. Taking my materials to a workbench, I get to work, starting with the deep iron.

Stripping the metal, I separate it into several small parts and one large piece. Working quickly to prevent it from solidifying, I shape the larger part into an imitation of my missing bones, connected together with small joints. Leaving the main frame of the leg to harden, I start shaping the smaller parts into overlapping plates overtop of the frame, making sure it can bend as it needs. Once all of that's done, I'm now left with what looks like one paw of a suit of aurisal armour.

Picking up the brass next, I strip it and begin trimming the plates in the golden metal. The dark, almost black deep iron contrasts with the golden colour of the brass perfectly.

What? This is going to be my leg for the foreseeable future if what I'm going to try works, might as well make it look good!

And now comes the tricky part that I'm not entirely sure will work. Up until now, I've only taken one or all of the concepts from a material. Now, I'm going to try and take multiple without taking all of them. Focusing only on the magic and life of the fang turns out to be incredibly difficult to do. My skill keeps trying to default to one or all, not only two of them, but after a few minutes of struggle I manage it. Stripping the concepts of magic and life but leaving the hunger and beast, the fang cracks in my hand before shattering, sending fragments of rapidly disintegrating bone flying everywhere. Blinking at the two distinct masses of essentia in my hands, both clearly shaped like the tooth, I shake my head and continue working. Once more moving quickly, I focus on the life essentia first. Imbuing the intent of growth, I then carefully mix the magic essentia into it, binding the growth with the magic to enforce it on an inanimate object before imbuing the entire mass into the armoured paw. This time, the reaction of the item’s creation is much more spectacular than the others: a flash of golden light and a tangible pulse of magic as I slump down, exhausted from the drain of the item. Smiling wearily at the prosthetic which now truly looks like what my paw used too when in armour, I call up the [Inspect].