"So, what are your goals in the game?" Jay asked, sitting across from Sarah's friend and eating ice cream. They had already formed a party together. Jay smiled at the experience buff. He didn't want to get too far ahead of his party, but he hoped to scrape together a little extra experience.

"Well, I already have founder gear," Casey said, "so I don't need gear. Should we get potions or something? My biggest thing is this quest I got at level ten. I can find a companion, but it requires creating this beast contract thing with them. It's an ability."

Truthfully, Jay had already forgotten about the quest. The goal didn't sound bad. The process would also give him a chance to add more monsters to the Bestiary while they explored. Since she was new, he asked for more information. He didn't know if he'd need to hold her hand through the quest.

"Are there any requirements to keep in mind for creating this contract?" Jay asked.

"Let me see," Casey said, opening her game menus. The other player summarized information from her screen. "The creature has to be a lower level than me. It's easier if the creature isn't an adult. Easier for me to train them. I can also control their growth potential more specifically. Takes a full minute to cast the contract, so I've gotta avoid enemies. Or you could protect me, I guess. Does that help?"

The first thing he thought of was the dire wolf pup he had met the previous night. The creature seemed interested in Elves, based on how it inspected him. It was young, meaning it would have better growth potential. They would need to ensure the mother was away before forming the contract.

"Actually, yeah. Do you like wolves?"

"I love them! It's like one of the best examples of true friendship. They're all about the welfare of the pack."

"Yeah…" Jay said, still uncertain how to react to the young woman. "Let's see about getting you a dire wolf pup, then."

"A dire wolf puppy?" Casey asked, eyes lighting up at the sheer force of the idea. "That sounds absolutely epic. Let's do it. When do we start? Let's start now. Or yesterday." She jumped out of her chair, ready to seek out the dire wolf. Jay chuckled, standing from his chair.

"Soon," he promised. "Let's get some potions like you mentioned, then we'll find the dire wolf."

"Sounds good," Casey agreed. Jay could see her forcefully suppressing her excitement. She followed him out of the shop as he looked for an alchemist shop. It wasn't difficult to find since Marlow's Magical Liquids was near the information brokers, an area he was familiar with.

The shop was far different from Nora's place, with a diverse mixture of items hanging everywhere. It also had a style unique from the fireball sign magic shop. The fireball shop focused more on displaying pieces that were beneficial to marketing. The most incredible stuff was front and center, but there wasn't much organization in the shop.

On the other hand, Marlow's Magical Liquids looked as though it was designed by someone with an organization compulsion. The liquids were organized by the color wheel, making sure like colored liquids were near like. The items were collected by power level within each color, ascending from left to right. Every potion was racked onto a hook, which encircled and protected it from sloshing around or falling.

There were five types of healing potions: basic, novice, advanced, scholar, and potent. The basic, which Jay had been using, healed a total of 100 health. The potent health potion, which genuinely was potent, healed up to 25,000 damage. Jay settled on the novice potions, which were almost a complete heal for him at 300 points of healing.

"How much are these potions?" Jay asked the man at the counter. The guy looked to be about Jay's own age. Like Jay wasn't thrilled about bartending, this guy seemed uninterested in his job. Even in a magical world, employees weren't stoked to serve drinks.

"The novice health potions are five gold Prints each. Since you're going to ask, novice mp potions are seven gold. We have a few other novice tier potions to reduce damage, increase perception, or grant fifteen seconds of invisibility," the man rattled off information quickly.

Jay opened his mouth to speak but was cut off, "And since you're about to ask, my name is Jerry."

After some haggling, Jay purchased five novice health and mp potions, two perception potions, and a single potion to reduce damage. The total cost would have been 92 gold Prints, but he managed to talk Jerry down to 90 gold Prints. There were minor benefits to buying potions in bulk.

Jay waited for Casey to complete her purchases, too. She focused on basic potions, which made sense at her lower level. Fortunately, she could use the Founder's Pack to front her bill, saving Jay from paying. Her bill was much lower than Jay's. To his annoyance, Jerry gave Casey the same two gold discount, despite the lower total.

Jay figured there was no sense in being grumpy about it out loud, even though it was unfair. He would simply find himself a new alchemist.

They left Marlow's Magical Liquids with Casey chattering happily about being friends with Sarah. Jay remembered something, noticing his quest log. He waited a minute to find a place to politely cut into the banter.

"There's one more stop before we start searching," Jay said. "I need to check in with a friend."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Who?" Casey asked. She was bouncing on her heels, clearly excited to get started with the adventure.

"Her name is Nora," Jay said. "We'll be there in a minute or two." He led the way to Nora's Curiosities, finding the merchant was not outside her shop. Hoping that meant she was inside, Jay pushed through the front door. Inside, the collection was on display, though he noticed several things had been updated. The business was doing well since the party had cleared the way for her wagons.

Nora appeared from the back, smiling happily as she saw him. "Hey Jay!" she said heartily. "Did you bring me a new customer?"

Casey was already looking at the various items on display around the shop. Jay didn't think it was worth interrupting her. After all, he had come to the shop with a mission. Nora was the only person, NPC or player, he thought might know something about the secret island from his quest.

"Looks like a maybe," Jay said. "But I did come on other business. Two pieces of business, I suppose. First, do you have any crossbows that can be fired multiple times without reloading?"

"A repeater?" Nora asked rhetorically but with interest. "I think I might have one or two of them around here. I don't suppose you've changed your mind on the Netherbolt?"

Jay shook his head, "Not yet. I'm looking for something to fire a few successive shots, so it would load too slowly."

"Hmmm," Nora intoned, eyeballs raking over the items displayed in her shop. She went to the back wordlessly. Jay watched Casey flitting around the shop, inspecting every item she saw. Nora returned a minute later carrying two crossbows. Both options had a clip attached to the top of the weapon. The casings were partially made of glass, which looked fragile but allowed inspection of the bolts inside. Nora rattled off the design details, clearly excited by the items.

"These would do you. Both level fifteen crossbows, since I see you leveled up. Congratulations, by the way! The difference is the number of repeating shots. They work off gravity, mechanically pulling back the metal sheets holding the bolt when you fire. It's a little unwieldy, but it'll do what you want. I have three or five shot versions available."

"How much for the five-shot version?" Jay asked. He could load up the entire clip with slime bolts, which would be great in the current situation. The temporary root effect would make it easier for Casey to escape something she couldn't handle if necessary.

"Sticker price is a hundred gold Prints, but for you, I'd do eighty," Nora said, haggling herself down. Obviously, she appreciated the team's efforts a lot. Jay handed her a hundred Prints in exchange for the item, though she looked at him strangely. Nora pulled out and gave Jay four crossbow clips along with the crossbow. He loaded one of them. The extra three clips went promptly into his inventory.

"This is too much," Nora added, seeing the money.

"Not really," Jay said. "You haven't heard the other thing I need to ask you about. Do you have any information on a secret island, perhaps originally inhabited by Monster Hunters? Or maybe they went there for training?"

Nora looked at him blankly. "Jay, with all due respect, you sound like a bit of a crazy person. A secret island? If it's so secret, how does anyone know about it?"

Casey was watching Jay with deep interest. He was fine with it since she was friends with Sarah. One of Sarah's friends could, most likely, be trusted. Still, he didn't want to reveal too much unless obligated.

Jay flushed, a bit embarrassed by her reaction but playing it up to avoid suspicion. "Well," Jay said, "I've got a strange quest. There's something about a remote island being sealed away from the rest of Tumultua. It's… vague."

Nora blinked, leaving Jay uncertain if her reaction was genuine or the response of an NPC adapting to new information. In the end, Nora just shrugged.

"I can't promise you anything, obviously, but I'll keep my eyes out. That's no problem for you, Jay. I appreciate what your team did for me. And your continued patronage, of course." Nora gave him a little bow before adding, "Anything else I can help you with?"

Casey approached the counter, holding a strange device in front of them. "Actually," she said. "I was hoping you could tell me how much this costs. It's a net bomb."

"I can see that," Nora laughed. "I actually make them myself. Feel free to try it out since your friend Jay was kind enough to overpay." She winked at him. "Make sure you come back and tell me what you think about it."

"I'd love to!" Casey exclaimed. Even Nora was taken aback by the volume, although Jay was slowly getting used to Casey's behavior. "I'll come report as soon as I can."

"You do that," Nora said, still thrown from the outburst. Both players left Nora's Curiosities in a good mood. Casey spent the walk through town talking about how excited she was to make a contract with a dire wolf. The whole way to Ilra's gate, she ran on about what abilities the dire wolf pup might have. She thought there might be a takedown attack to knock over other players. Jay thought it was a possibility, honestly, based on his experiences fighting wolves.

"We need to be a little quieter when we're hunting," Jay said once the pair reached the Ilra gate.

"Of course," Casey nodded. "We don't want to scare him or her off. Lead the way; I'll follow."

Jay led the way, keeping his eyes peeled for new monsters. The first enemy he found was a wasp, about ten times the size of the wasps he was used to seeing in real life. The buzzing could be heard from dozens of meters away, so he stopped Casey. He activated Analyze on the creature while he read its nameplate data.

System Message: Analyze successful. These wasps are native to forests around Tumultua. Typically, they ambush their prey, relying on venom to slow targets down. Despite being a beast, they are vulnerable to cold attacks due to a quirk of their breeding. Other types of damage apply normally.

Vellen Wasp, Level: 8. Health: 95/95.

"Do you have any cold attacks in your abilities?" Jay asked quietly.

Casey shook her head, whispering, "I've got a nature magic attack, a passive, a buff, and the first contract ability."

"Can you take it out with your nature magic?"

The Beast Magician nodded, stepping out in front of Jay. She approached and launched an attack. Brandishing her strange staff, she cast an animal claw spell. The claw, looking like a bear's, surged through the air, swiping the wasp. She threw two more identical blasts as the creature buzzed forward. The creature never even made it to her.

"Nice attacks," Jay admitted. "That bear claw spell hits reasonably hard, huh?" He walked over, finding he could Catalog the creature since Casey was in his party.

"Kinda," Casey said, looting whatever simple loot the creature dropped. "It helps that my passive deals extra damage to beasts, insects, and stuff. Where is the puppy?" Her eyes were positively glowing at the mention of the dire wolf. Jay tried to backtrack a few days to remember where the creature lived. Scratching his chin, he started to lead the way forward.

Both players walked through the forest for about twenty minutes. In the end, they didn't find their goal. The dire wolf pup found them. Jay heard a pitiful whining sound and looked down.

The puppy was tugging on his pant leg as if it wanted him to follow.