We found the place Brand was most likely to have gone. It was on the opposite end of the town. The place was a brick building. The front facade said “Janie’s Gunsmith & More”. A small neon sign flickered in the window behind the bars. The sign said “Open” but the lights in the place were off except for a warm glow of yellow light in a back room with the door partially open.

Spine eyed the sign for a moment, then cracked the book open and noted something, “So this a gun store?”

“Looks that way,” I tried the door. It opened with the tinkle of a bell.

“Oh, Hell,” someone in the back said. “I’ll be right back.” The door opened completely and a willowy woman stepped into the front room, “Listen, I know the sign says… oh dang you are big, and covered in blood. That isn’t going to drip on my floor is it?” She had a southern accent of some kind. The Name above her head said Janie Baker. She peered up at me with strangely wise brown eyes. If I had to guess her age I would guess late twenties, but her eyes seemed a lot older.

“Sorry about bothering you… the blood seems to be stuck to me, so it doesn’t make a mess.” I said, politely. Here's hoping the tone distracted from the ridiculous words of the statement.

“Well, that’s good to hear, I just cleaned the floor yesterday.'' She buttoned her blouse back up all the way and, taking a band off of her wrist, quickly pulled her long hair into a ponytail. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting a customer. Is there something I can help with?” she asked with that service industry smile.

Huh, Janie’s ears were long and pointed. Her flowing brown hair had hid them before. Really, looking at her now, I realized she was about as tall as Angelica.

Janie immediately noticed me looking at her ears, she quickly put a hand to an ear, “What? Do I have something on my ear?” She froze, “It’s not a spider is it?”

“No spider,” I assured, “I have just never seen an elf before.”

“Oh good,” She sighed in apparent relief. Then the second thing I said must have registered, “...oh.” she sounded a lot less happy. After another pause she held her arms apart and said, “Yep, I am an elf. Take it all in.” She dropped her hands, and asked much more bluntly, “Is there something you want?” She leaned on the counter and put one hand underneath it.

That was less than friendly..

Spine who had been standing behind me leaned around, “Is it true you are immortal?”

Janie blinked at Spine and then looked at me, “Is that a talking goblin?”

Spine ducked back behind me. Using me as a shield, “Yep. Please don’t shoot.”

Janie paused for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. After another moment she said, “So, you were being more than a bit rude, but I am going to guess you aren’t an ordinary giant man with a talking Goblin sidekick. How about we all agree to not take offense at blunt questions for the next few minutes until at least one of us knows what is going on.”

“I like that idea.” I said with a nod.

Janie nodded back, “Great. So what are you?”

“I am Doug,” I said not really thinking through the response.

“That can’t be the whole story. I have met Dougs before. They ain’t normally as big as you.”

“I am also the Sixth Spawn of the Titan,” I offered. When she just sort of stared at me I continued, “I am here with Lola’s consent; training with Seth Cohen.”

That took some processing on Janie’s part. Eventually she asked, “That’s good… just to be clear, you aren’t here to kill us are you?”

“No, I am technically working to help fight the Demon of Frost, I guess.” I shrugged.

Janie smiled, “Good. Fuck him. Pardon my French. He is the reason this place is frozen year round. At least that’s what people say. Is that true?”

I shrugged again. “No Idea. I am new here. So… you are an elf?”

“Yep,” Janie nodded. “I lucked out when the system came and was able to select Elf as an option, So now I don’t age, and I get all the side perks.”

“Side perks?” Spine and I asked at the same time.

“Yeah, since I was around on day one, I got the tutorial. Sorry I can’t elaborate on that. Also since I am an Elf I can also follow both the Elven Gods, the God of the Sun and The Goddess of the Moon.”

“You don’t follow Lola?” I asked.

“Oh, I do,” She said. Seeing my confusion she continued, “ You can follow as many gods as you have levels. Few people actually max that out. I follow five gods, Lola, Sims, Adora and the Elven gods. I used to also follow the God of Hope, but he died.” For the briefest moment, I could see Janie’s actual age. She was truly old.

“I am sorry,” I managed.

“It’s fine,” Janie said, forcing another smile that faded quickly. “He died saving both the Fantasy and the Techna Coasts. The All-death killed so many of the gods back in the day.” That just sort of hung in the air for a while. Finally Janie continued, “Not to be rude, but are you here for a reason?”

“Yeah, Is Nameth Brand here?” I asked.

Janie’s face flushed a bit and her grin had some implications, “Yeah he is.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Is he available?” I asked, somewhat dreading the answer.

“Oh yeah, we haven’t done anything… yet. We have mostly been wrapping up business.” She gestured for us to follow her into the back.

Spine trailed after me as I followed Janie. Being inside a building built for regular people was a little tricky. I was both taller and broader than the door. I had to sort of stoop and turn sideways to slip through. The ceilings were a bit low and if I stood at full height my head would thunk against it. So I was standing with my head tilted forward. That probably made me look more looming than normal.

The back room was a clean and organized work room. Along one was a series of three benches with assorted tools on shadow boards. To the left was a CNC machine and a lathe, both currently not in use. To the right was a counter with a series of presses. They were being run by three people. The first was a freckled, red haired woman named Lily. She waved as we entered. The second was a short lady with long dark hair, named Carla. She gave us a service industry smile that clearly said ‘I don’t want you here, but can’t tell you to leave’. The last was a tall, dark man with an impressive physique. His name was Fracis. He gave me a polite nod. They had set up some sort of quick assembly line and were producing bullets at an impressive pace.

Brand was sitting at a small coffee table close to their work. He was holding a mug and had been conversing with them before our arrival. He stood and walked over quickly. “Doug, so good to see you,” He said in an over-bright tone.

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He grabbed my arm and led me closer to the CNC machine. “You have to help me!” he whispered quietly, but his grip tightened.

“What?” I whispered back on reflex.

Spine and the others were talking still. The conversation seemed to be about Spine being able to talk. That… looked like it was going to stay peaceful.

Brand pulled my focus back to him. “ They are a collective of polyamorous bisexuals who enjoy group sex. Help me!” he hissed quietly.

“Brand, I think of you as a friend, but only a friend. Perhaps I wasn’t clear in the dungeon, mixed signals maybe, but I am not interested in doing anything sexual with you.” There, boundary established.

“That wasn’t an invitation,” Brand cut in.

Oh. Softening my expression, I patted his shoulder. “Lift with the legs, not the back. Communication is key. Be accommodating but firm with your boundaries. Dehydration is the enemy. Things like this are a marathon, not a sprint. It is okay to rest so long as you don’t quit.” That was a good list. Although I figured he should know most of this already.

Brand gazed at me flatly. “Mate, I am asexual and aromantic. I am not interested in sex with anyone. I suspect that is at least part of the reason I have the Boon.”

Perception check …Successful

Brand is telling the truth.

That checked out. Adora continued to be the absolute worst.

“How’d you get into this situation?”

“They had Tea. I got distracted,” Brand said, sounding slightly desperate.

Janie called over, “Doug, would you care for some tea?”

I turned to find her pouring a mug for Spine, as he eyed it dubiously, “No, thank you. I won’t be staying too long.”

“Oh! No! That’s a shame,” Carla called, almost sounding sincere.

Turning back to Brand, “Seriously, aren’t you supposed to be smart?”

Brand shrugged, “Normally I am able to fend off most advances by gentle rebuke and playing one suitor off of the other. I was not prepared for a coordinated effort by a well-organized force.”

I nodded, “Have you considered simply telling them ‘no’?” I had literally just done that. It was easy.

“Doug, that would be rude,” Brand said darkly. Seeing that I was losing patience he continued, “That could be considered a hostile act. More than once that has resulted in a row breaking out.”

I double checked on the others again. You wouldn’t think ammo productions to be errotic, but there was a handle, heaving was involved, and they were determined. Given that Lily wasn’t wearing much beyond an apron and a smile, and Francis had a shirt tighter than my ‘alpha male’ shirt there was something for everyone, I guess. “They don’t seem the type to over react to being denied sex. I mean they have other options.”

“I have been surprised in the past, and I don’t like taking the risk,” Brand explained. He looked tired.

That’s when I realized. That boon Adora inflicted on him was a constant thing. Every person he met would be affected by it and influenced by it. It would push then lead to either the violent clash we had when Angelica snapped out of its influence, or Brand would have to… yeah nobody won with that.

Everything about that was just wrong. What the fuck, Adora?

“What do we need to do?” I asked.

“I need a buffer. So long as I am not the one directly preventing amorous intent, the boon will hold and I can steer things to an amicable parting.” Brand explained. That is a fancy way to say, he needed someone to cock block him.

Fair enough, “Actually this kind of works. Can I leave Spine with you provided you can guarantee this won’t get violent or the other thing?”

“It absolutely won’t get violent,” Brand answered quickly. Brand thought for a moment, “That could work, follow my lead.” He turned and walked back toward the others. “I don’t mean to impose, but Doug has asked if I could protect his ward, Mr. Spindle-Bite for a time.”

Janie looked less than happy, “Is this just a quick errand?”

“I honestly don’t know. It could take all night. Sorry,” I apologized. I was sincere too. They seemed nice enough. No one likes having date night take a detour.

Brand, looking the picture of regret and the put upon, said to the others, “Doug and I cleared a dungeon together. I owe him my life as many times as he owes me his. A bond like that cannot simply be ignored.”

Holy shit! They looked convinced. Face is a busted attribute.

“I mean that should be… fine,” Janie said. I could see her hopes for the evening dying.

“I am not some kid needing constant supervision,” Spine spoke up.

“Oh?” Francis asked in a forced casual way.

“Yeah I am Sixteen, almost.” Spine explained.

Carla stepped away from the press, “stupid thin walls. I’ll find a board game.”

I could leave Spine here. It’d be fine.

I retreated fairly quickly after that. Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned, but the petty vengeance of the cockblocked is not to be underestimated. I had been told that there was a laundromat on the north side of town. Making my way there I managed to get ambushed by another swarm of Epic Scale cats. They may not have spawned in the city but they clearly could just run on in. This town kinda sucks.

That said this fight was considerably different from the one in the dungeon. First, this time I was using my Ablative Shell. It formed in an instant. The trick was I had to actually trigger it by name with a mental command. I couldn’t just want armor. I had to think and intend to use Ablative Shell. The highly articulated layer of ice formed over my entire body. The weight was noticeable but manageable. My worries about being slowed or hobbled by the shell were misplaced. I had complete freedom of movement.

I was wrong about how many structural points it had. Yeah my Face attribute was twenty points, but then Titanic Armor 2 added my Body attribute to that total, for a grand total of 60 structural points. Which had a Defense value equal to my current Defense 110. So even when a cat could hit me. It didn’t hurt and did minimal damage to the shell. There was also a bit under a ten percent chance that I could just deflect the damage with the skill.

Tanking was becoming viable.

This extreme increase in defensive capacity allowed me to experiment more. It took a minute and several false starts but I dodged as many of the attacks as I felt comfortable. Eventually though it happened.

Dodge Skill Is Now Trained

Cosmic Martial Art has advanced

The third stage of this martial art is Flowing Stikes

All but the greatest obstacle are swept away by the force of the glacier. Perform a counter attack against Mind Attribute opponents you have Dodged per turn

Hey look at that. I never really considered myself a quick person. Glossing over the fact all my memories were technically someone else's; I would put most of my reflexes before the system as average. I was one of those people who preferred HORSE to Basketball. Now, though, I was faster than the prompts. As I dodged into the horde, blocking, the vast majority of attacks and then countering, I was killing forty of the kitties a second. The trick was to balance the dodging and block to ensure the maximum amount of targets were available. I just let my mind go still. My vision tinted blue as prompt after prompt flashed. A casual focus on closing them and choosing to react in the most efficient way possible allowed me to just destroy them. Yeah I had to refresh the Ablative shell, twice, but I didn’t take a single point of damage.

I took a drink of Titanic Brew as I gazed at the nearly half mile long trail of mangled snow lions. Honestly, I was equal parts impressed, concerned, and disappointed. I had to admit that being able to trivialize a fight that had nearly killed me felt good. The concern came from the violence of it. I did the best I could to keep everything in the street but several buildings were caked in gore and chunks of lions. Before, in the world that was, I had been in some dark situations. I understood there are times when you have to protect yourself and your loved ones. That could be violent, lethal even, but it was always tragic. It wasn’t right. Here though, the violence was so ubiquitous, so foundational, so gamified, I was beginning to enjoy improving at it.

That needed to be watched carefully. It would not do to let violence change from a grim necessity to an easy option.

The disappointment was more in myself. This display was something I could have done in the dungeon. My disinterest in the system had caused me to neglect my capacity. I had underperformed and put Angelica’s, Celeste's, and Brand’s lives in increased danger. It was speculative, but the idea that if I could have done more in the final push of the dungeon, perhaps, Rebecca, the priestess of Grond, may have let us pass. I doubted it, but I couldn’t silence that tiny voice of doubt.

Next time I needed to do better.

“So cool!” someone cheered.

“Shhh! He’ll hear you! Someone else hissed.

Apparently I was not alone out here, on a city street.

“What the Fuck is on my wall!” a third person screamed.

The answer was the insides of a snow lion. I should know, I put them there.

Blend In check… Successful

Move Silent check… Successful

Time to go.