Ryan leaned down and grabbed the paper plane, bringing it with him over to his friends' table. Luckily, all the people in the café already moved back on to their own regular conversations, though of course they were very curious to see someone in such unique-looking armour, a baseball bat, and a shield. That's why most of them still glanced over toward him every once in a while.

Ryan put his stuff down at the table and set down with a long groan, making Silvia laugh a bit, "You guys both made the same sound when you sat down."

With a raised brow, Ryan looked at Modak, "Long day at work?"

"Mhm. Long day in the... you know...?" the orc responded, and Ryan quickly nodded. At that point, Runar came over with two cups in his hand; one was Modak's black coffee, and the other was an iced latte, Ryan's usual order.

"Oh, thanks," Ryan replied, "Can you get me something to eat as well? I stashed some stuff for me in the break room."

"Coming right up," Runar replied, quickly turning around to head into the break room behind the counter.

"So..." Silvia curiously looked at Ryan, "What level are you?"

Ryan grinned lightly as he leaned back in his seat, "Level 8. Maximus is level 9, and Gaia is level 6. We're making pretty good progress already. It looks like Jester's coming along to warming up to me as well, but there's nothing from the others at all."

"Oh, wow, that's pretty fast, right? And honestly, I don't know how you even managed to get to level 4 in a single day, I've been using my skills so much and I'm only level 4 since yesterday..." Silvia pointed out, and Ryan looked at the paper plane contemplatively.

"I mean... have you been making just things like this? Like, I know you made my armour, shield, and bat, but even that felt like you were just kind... playing around?"

Confused by what Ryan meant, Silvia slightly tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

Modak nodded in agreement, "I think so as well, like... I think the reason why Ryan levelled up so much on his first day in a dungeon was because the situation was so serious."

"Exactly," Ryan replied, looking inwardly at Maximus' domain, where the knight was currently using the wooden weaponry provided by his domain to train. After the Spirit Domain skill levelled up a bit, more of Maximus' 'hut' was revealed, and tons of different training weapons attached to the outer wall were slowly coming into view, "Basically, it's like... the function behind how levelling works isn't 100% understood, but there are a few parts we do know. So, let's say Maximus trains for 5 hours. The actual progress he's going to make level-wise could be... 5%. But if he were to use those 5 hours for actual combat, he could make 50% progress."

Silvia frowned lightly, "So what, there's no use in practicing, or sketching, or playing around with it? I always have to work on serious projects to make any progress at all?"

"Actually, no, not at all. So, the more you practice, the more of an experience-boost you get when you actually do do the real thing. With the same example, if Maximus trains for five hours, and then is in actual combat for 5 hours, he could make more than a full level's worth of progress, and that's not even mentioning the non-system related progress you make," Ryan explained, "At the end of the day, as long as you just add in some proper 'projects' into your workflow, you can just kinda do what you think is fun."

With a relieved expression, Silvia nodded her head, "Alright, in that case, I'll try and work on something. Maybe a painting... it's been a while since I sat down in front of a canvas, anyway. Hm, I might need to get some new oil paints, though..."

"I can help with that," Runar pointed out, giving the small bag filled with snacks to Ryan before placing a small metal pyramid on the table. It let off a slight glow for just a moment, and Ryan could feel magic flow through him momentarily, "We can talk freely here with that, it creates something like a small barrier that obscures someone's perception of what's contained in it. So nobody will hear or even notice you guys."

"Oh! That's so cool, how does it work? I think I've seen some of these around at the magic tower," Modak curiously leaned forward, and Runar quietly yawned.

"Yeah, the magic tower uses those a lot when they talk about projects that they don't want other mages to hear about. We use them when we've got certain types of matters to deal with too, like when we need to move people through the city inconspicuously," Runar explained, and Silvia quickly looked away from the metal pyramid and back up at him.

"So, what do you mean with 'I can help with that'?"

"Right, sorry. Basically, my class depends on writing runes, and a lot of the time I do that using special inks with pigments from magical sources that increase the efficiency of what I paint. I was working on something last night and realized that it might help you too, though you might have to make your paint yourself. I only have the pigments themselves downstairs."

Silvia immediately beamed in excitement, "Wait, seriously? That's actually really cool! I've never made my own paint before!"

"Alright, then I'll show you my pigment storage later," Runar responded with a nod, before quickly turning to his nephew, "Anyway, how did things go today at the dungeon?"

With a grin on his face, Ryan pushed his hand into the completely stuffed backpack, pulling out the plastic gorilla statue, "Pretty well, I'd say."

"Oh!" Runar let out, "You already got him?"

"Yup, and he even had a second one of those statues in that bag of his, together with a ton of coins," Ryan replied, "So will you finally tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do with those?"

With a grin on his face, Runar placed his hands onto the backrest of one of the leftover chairs standing at the table, "Well, what do you think it's for? It's money. Fake money, sure, but there's still only one thing you can really do with it, isn't there?"

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Ryan looked at his uncle with a slight frown, pulling out the massive map of the dungeon. He quickly unfolded it and took a glance around it. Looking at the map's legend, there was just one thing marked on the map, there was just one thing that seemed like the right answer to that question. A gift shop. One that was separate from the ones in the plaza area that Ryan had been going to the past few days.

"So what, can I exchange the coins here?" Ryan asked, pointing at the map, and Runar quickly nodded.

"Yup. It was kind of part of the park's theme before it was closed down. People that would go there could solve a bunch of 'quests'. For example, each of the mascots could give you a different small task, like finding a specific object in the park or something, and then they would give you one of those coins. If you got all the coins and proved it to that gorilla, he'd give you a statue, which counts as a 'special' currency. Other types of 'quests' are things like getting through the haunted house, going on all the rides, playing games at some of the different stands. That kind of thing," Runar explained, "And that was translated to the dungeon now. By killing the monsters or solving the dungeon's puzzles, you can get coins like that and then exchange them for other rewards later on."

"Ehh... that actually sounds pretty fun, I wonder why that place went under..." Silvia let out curiously.

"Who knows, it could have been anything, really. Even we don't really know what happened there," Runar responded, seemingly not really caring all too much. But Ryan had a bad feeling about it. The fact that the area boss went around killing the other mascots still didn't sit quite right with him.

"So, are we going there tomorrow?"

"Yup, just making a stop to see what they're offering at the moment. It kind of changes every once in a while, but they let you 'store' your coins so it's better to stop by and store the 'points' every once in a while," Runar responded, glancing over to the door that had been pulled open. Someone was stepping inside; Chantora, the awakened chef from the noodle shop in the Channel.

Immediately, Runar walked out of the magic item's barrier and toward Chantora, smiling with an expression that Ryan didn't see on him often. The two were speaking for a little while, before Runar guided Chantora over to a table near the counter.

"Oh?" Ryan let out with a raised brow, looking at his uncle's expression.

"Who's that?" Silvia asked curiously, and Ryan quickly explained.

"He's the owner of that noodle shop I told you guys about. During the giant's rampage in the Channel, his shop was destroyed, but he wanted to move his restaurant somewhere else anyway. Runar's been helping him find a place in the area to set up shop."

"Don't get me wrong, but I didn't know Runar had any... friends," Modak said awkwardly, "I know that he gets along well with the people downstairs and all, but those feel less like friends, and more like... coworkers."

"Yeah, but I feel like there might be a bit more than just friendship going on there," Ryan grinned lightly, "Too bad my uncle's already busy as hell, otherwise they might get somewhere."

"Though, if that chef opens a restaurant nearby then they could get to meet a lot, right?"

"Well, maybe so, but I live with him and I barely see him around so I wouldn't count on it," Ryan replied, pulling out his phone with a slight yawn, "I'll have to see if I can help him out a bit to free up his schedule or something."

Just then, a message came through; a notification he's been waiting for, "Oh, fuck yeah."

"What happened?" Modak asked curiously, and Ryan quickly replied.

"I bought some model kits, and they're arriving in a bit. They're the ones you told me about, Modak."

"Those car models? They're pretty cool, and super complex too. It's like you're putting together a real car, plus they're made of metal. I used to play with them a lot," Modak nostalgically explained, and Ryan nodded with a smile.

"It's those ones, yeah. They're pretty expensive though. If you use a mana battery, they actually work. But they had other things beside those cars, like, trains, planes, some tanks, and even a turret that shoots small plastic pellets. I bought a couple of each," Ryan explained, already sighing as he thought about how much work that was going to be, "Those aren't usually my style, but Gregor is an Artillerist, plus he's apparently a robot or something. And after looking into the Artillerist class, I figured this might be a good way to get his attention and wake him up."

"Ooh, do let us know if it works," Silvia replied curiously.

"Will do," Ryan replied, getting up from his seat, "But for now, I'll go upstairs and take a shower. Plus, Maximus wanted to read the newest chapter of one of his stories, and Gaia wants to check up on her plants, so I'll drop them off upstairs. I'll be back after."

Ryan got up from his seat and grabbed his backpack, heading out to the back of the café. He greeted Chantora on his way, and then climbed the stairs up to the flat. Ryan dropped by his room and turned on his computer while undressing, placing his armour onto some hangers. He cleared out his backpack, putting all the coins and the two plastic statues into a large laundry basket with all of the other ones that he got so far. It was overflowing at this point, thanks to the area boss' coins.

When his computer booted up properly, Ryan pulled Maximus out of his domain and quickly navigated to the website that the knight usually read on. After, he grabbed some clothes and walked to the balcony door, opening it up so that he could summon Gaia outside. He was just wearing underwear, so he wasn't going to go out.

"Let me know if anything's wrong or you need my help," Ryan said, and Gaia quickly nodded her head as she got ready to work.

Ryan's shower didn't take all that long; he had already showered after his workout this morning anyway, so he was really just getting rid of any dirt or grime that got stuck to him. The amusement park wasn't particularly clean, after all.

After he got out, Ryan got dressed and quickly checked on himself in the mirror. He's been getting regular treatment from Kula recently, and though at first, the white mage had hoped that Ryan's scars could be healed, they ended up not fading even slightly. They were too old for him to do anything against that, though Ryan was fine with that for now. Of course, he still felt self-conscious about them, but he was working on it. The scars didn't make him any lesser.

"I should awaken the strength stat soon, right? I like this level of bulk, I don't want to be some kind of bodybuilder or something," Ryan pointed out. Though, looking at Runar, who actually seemed pretty lanky at first glance, he figured he would be fine, "Either way, I feel like I'm looking pretty good. But you're still sucking up all the calories I eat, so I'm not gaining any weight at all..."

Glancing at the back of his palm, Tiar just replied with a simple smile, " :) "

"Yeah, yeah, just stop looking at me like that," Ryan scoffed, "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but now that I stopped feeling so hot all the time, not having any fat on me makes me freeze all the time instead."

"(ᵕ•‿•)"

"... Where the hell did you pick that up all of a sudden?"

"¯\_(•_•)_/¯"

"Yeah, yeah, sure you don't know. Whatever," Ryan quickly put on his clothes and stepped back out of the bathroom, making his way to the kitchen where he grabbed himself another snack. Looking at his phone, it seemed like the delivery of the new models was just a few stops away, so Ryan figured he would just wait for it up here. And as he stood in the kitchen, Leon's head peeked inside.

"Ryan?"

"Sup?" he replied, and Leon walked into the room with a notebook behind his back.

"Could you help me with some homework? I don't really understand some of this," Leon asked, and Ryan didn't even hesitate to nod his head.

"Of course, come here," he replied, pulling up a chair at the kitchen table, "Let me take a look."