When I got home that night it was around nine-thirty. Mrs. Danes had dropped me off, and then she and Rachel continued on their way to Andrea's house for the night. As usual now, I found my parents asleep on the couch together; my aunt was half-awake on a chair next to them. She gave me a wave as I passed by, and I waved back before heading up to settle in.

  Tomorrow night is it, huh? I thought to myself as I softly climbed the stairs to my room. Well, until then... I grinned, hurrying my pace a bit. When I had gotten changed for the night and such, I got into bed, and slipped the Dream Machine on. It was questing time.

  ***

  “All-righty,” I said as I finished loading up in Bethelia, examining my quest log. The notification of the cool-down's finishing was there.

  “Lana! You're on a bit later than usual,” Healina said as she came into the room.

  “Hmm?” I blinked. “Ari should be on in a bit too,” I told her. “We just got back from dinner with her grands.”

  “Ahh, right! She told me that was gonna happen tonight,” the other girl nodded. “Well?How'd it go?” she smiled.

  “Mm... I guess it went pretty good,” I replied. “They were really impressed by that game-table, too.”

  “Good!” she said to me. “Oh! I heard your aunt was gonna be on this summer to play with us; how did that go?” she then grinned at me.

  “Ahh...”

  “Not sure yet, huh?”

  “N-nope,” I shook my head. Heali giggled, and then patted me on the head.

  “So adorkable.” she softly quipped.

  “Hahh...” I sighed.

  “Lana!!” Lizzy exclaimed, pouncing on me for a hug.

  “Gye--huh?!” I blinked in sudden confusion. “Y-you've never done this to me before...” I blushed.

  “Hrrggghh, you were spacing out all day at lunch and club has gotten boooring without you two there!” she softly grumbled, squeezing me tight one last time before letting me go.

  “Ah, hmm...” I returned, still red-faced.

  “Well if you're gonna do it so am I!” Heali declared, giving me a hug as well.

  “H-hi,” I grinned uncertainly.

  “Hey cuteness.” our healer smirked. “Oh! We have our quest again tonight,” she then realized as she let go of me, only for another pair of arms to encircle me.

  “Hey you.” Ariana said.

  “Heya,” I replied.

  “Everyone's pouncing on you tonight, huh?” she remarked with a soft giggle.

  “S-seems so,” I returned. Healina and Lizzy then exchanged a nod with each other.

  I know what's coming next, I quietly grinned as Ari let me go.

  “Arriii!” the two of them said in unison, grabbing my partner for her own hug as she let out a squeak of protest before the three of them began laughing. Ari stuck her tongue out at me as I grinned from a few paces away; I returned the favor, and she smiled back in answer.

  I love you.

  I know.

  “Right!” Lizzy then said as she straightened up. “On to the quest!”

  “Let's wait for the others,” Heali reminded her.

  “Hm? Oh, right, we should do that,” the blonde girl nodded. “I almost got into quartet mode again after so long... tee-hee!” she grinned.

  “Right??” the other nodded.

  “We did some crazy things then,” I said with a laugh as a hand softly rested on my head.

  “You're still doing them.” Maryn remarked, gently patting my head.

  “Lana is always crazy.” Anhe said.

  “Oy...”

  “Ah! But it is a good thing!” she grinned at me.

  “Ahh...”

  “Shouldn't you two be asleep or something?” Lysandra quipped as she walked in.

  “I always sleep better here...” I muttered back, and Ari nodded in agreement.

  “Def.” she softly remarked.

  “Sure,” the older girl smiled.

  “Anyway; where's Belle? And Myanihia?” Maryn then asked.

  “Belle's asleep for a change; she wanted some 'proper sleep' for her psych-exam tomorrow.” Lysandra replied.

  “Eep, that sounds rough,” Heali said.

  “Right?” the werewolf-girl said with a half-grin. “And Myanihia got called in for a shift tonight, so she won't be on until later.”

  “Gotcha,” I said with a nod. “Well, I guess things are secure here... to Annadale?” I then asked, receiving a chorus of affirmations in reply.

  Anna Belle met us near the newly-opened market square of the little village that bore her name, cheerily smiling as we approached. All around the village we could see a bustle of activity as the Ragamis carried on with smaller building projects or with developing fields, orchards, vineyards, or grazing lands. On one edge of the square I could see a wool and cloth shop had been set up.

  “Welcome back, friends!” Anna said to us as she waved us over. “We're ready for some help again!”

  “We're ready to help,” I smiled back, and the next chapter popped up.

  Hitherlands Expedition, Chapter Six: Prospecting, Smithing, and Frontiers.

  “Good! Our little village is peaceful, but we don't want to come across as push-overs to passersby. We need some defenses, and we also need to give our incoming smith a solid foundation to work with when creating our farming tools and defensive weapons!” Anna nodded to us. “If you can identify some reasonably safe mines in the nearby mountains and help us get some decent walls up, that'd be a huge help!”

  “We'll see what we can do; what about your uncle?” I asked her.

  “Oh he's absolutely thrilled with what has been sent back so far,” Anna told us. “He's planning to visit himself sometime, but that's in the future.”

  Probably in a later chapter, huh? I mused.

  “Well then, we'd better get to work so it's safe for him to be here!” I smiled back, and she gave me a nod.

  “We're counting on you!” she said, and then scurried off to help someone who called her name.

  “All-righty, divide and conquer?” I asked the others.

  “Sounds good!” said Lizzy. “You'll need me for the prospecting stuff. Anhe and Lysandra should come with. We'll call if we need help.”

  “Hm? You don't want more?” I wondered.

  “This village is already large, almost a town,” Anhe remarked. “I think you will all be busier than we will be!”

  “Ahh...” I returned, looking around at the place.

  Sure, and with more Ragamis incoming we'll have to take thought for future space in the town... sheesh, wasn't Ty studying something like this? I wondered as I quietly surveyed the Ragamis village.

  “I think she gets the idea,” Lysandra grinned. “We'll be back!” she then called as the three of them headed off towards the mountains.

  That being said... ahh, wait, I think I get it. Stupid of me not to think of it first... nice forethought, Lizzy, I nodded to myself as I scanned the town again. She's anticipated that the Ragamis might come under attack while we're getting up walls and such.

  “Ari, you and Heali should stay back and mind the town. You're both better at crowd-control anyway.” I then said.

  “Betting on trouble?” my partner asked me.

  “So was Lizzy.” I nodded back.

  “Gotcha.” she replied. “Hurry back, then!”

  “Will do!” I said.

  “Wait!” Heali called. “You're gonna get some wood, right? Let me enchant Mystic Saw on you two,” she said to us, doing so at once. “That should last for ten in-world hours, plenty of time to get a solid start!”

  “Super! Thanks!” I grinned.

  “Thanks, Heali!” Maryn smiled.

  “Now hurry up!” our healer told us, and we hurried off towards the forest in the east.

  As the two of us made our way there, we observed another group on their way to the forest as well. We knelt down behind some brush so I could take a look. Maryn stared intently towards their direction.

  “It should be someone on our side, right?” she said to me.

  “And it might be NPCs of some sort... no, they're players,” I said. “Looks like Eyra Mysti and her guild.” I said as I stood back up to resume our trek, as did Maryn.

  “Sheesh, girlie, scaring me like that...” the older girl said, softly elbowing me.

  “We are on the frontier, here,” I grumbled in reply. “Ah--!” I then stopped again, taking note of a large oak off to the right.

  “Hmm? Ahh, that one,” my friend nodded. “Well, time to get to work!” she grinned.

  “Right!” I nodded as we got out woodcutting axes.

  “Waaaiiit!” a voice called to us from further away. Eyra and two others, whom I recognized as Carol and Rei, were running frantically towards us. “Not that oak! Not that one!” the girl with copper-red hair cried out.

  “Hmm?” I wondered, a blank look on my face.

  “That's a daer-oak!” she explained breathlessly upon reaching us. “We've counted twenty-three of them so far, including this one; if you try to cut it down it'll turn into a greater boss monster!” Eyra told us.

  “Gyeck!?”

  “Whew!” the two of us exclaimed.

  “How tough is it?” I then wondered.

  “Hah?!” Eyra returned in surprise. “I mean, it has a health-bar, so it's not invincible; but with just the two of you I don't see a good outcome.”

  “But you're here now.” I remarked.

  “We're not equipped for a boss fight,” she pointedly told me. “We're just out here surveying the forest for our records.”

  Greater boss, “greater” boss... so not something I can't one-shot, right?

  “Maryn,” I said, pulling out my short-swords, “Give it a poke.”

  “You sure?” she turned to me as Eyra and her friends gaped at us.

  “Yep!” I nodded as I retreated into the shadows.

  “What are you--” Eyra began to say, but at the moment Maryn struck the daer-oak.

  “Yeek!” Rei exclaimed with a shriek.

  “Watch out!” her guildmate Carol called, pulling both Rei and Eyra back.

  Suddenly, it came alive; parts of the bark began contorting to mimic a facial expression that looked almost like a jack o'lantern. I heard Eyra softly scream. As soon as I saw the health-bar register, I struck at it using the combo-skill. Seconds later, it was disintegrating with a... a tree-like howl...? I guess, anyway. As I sheathed my swords with a satisfied sigh, I saw the loot notification come up.

  “Hmm? Oh nice,” I said, and Maryn came to read it as well. She let out a whistle of amazement.

  “Thirty logs and a piece of special heartwood, huh? Oh, and I guess these are alchemical ingredients, maybe cooking ones...” she noted.

  “Probably; we'll have Ari and Heali test them later,” I nodded. Someone then softly gripped my shoulders from the front. It was Eyra.

  “What, on earth, did you do?!” she asked me in amazement.

  “Just a little trick I picked up from someone,” I smiled back with a small shrug.

  “Didn't you watch the Grand Tournament?” Maryn asked her. Eyra shook her head, letting out a long sigh.

  “Good grief... girl, you're--”

  “Crazy?” I gently interrupted her. “I get that a lot.”

  “Ah-hem,” Eyra then coughed as she let go of me. “Well, if you're going to be out here collecting wood and one-shotting boss monsters, would you mind if we keep close while you do?” she then asked.

  “Sure!” I smiled in reply.

  “In that case,” one of her guildies began, “There was a huge cluster of oak to the southeast; one of the daer-oaks was there, too,” the woman informed us.

  “We wanted to go that way anyway; that cluster of herbs and mushrooms is close to it,” Eyra nodded.

  “Let's get going,” I agreed.

  Well, this is certainly a break from things on the mainland, I thought to myself as we made our way deeper into the forest.

  “I'd love to sit with you sometime and talk about your recent agricultural achievements,” Eyra then remarked.

  “Eh? Sure, I guess,” I replied.

  “What are you going to do with all the lore and knowledge you collect?” Maryn asked. “I know you sometimes post things on the forums and you update the Panarena Encyclopedia, but is it really just for that?”

  “Mostly,” Eyra shrugged. “Perhaps one day we'll make a more noticeable use of it all, but for now we're generally content to explore and record.”

  “Hmm. Interesting.” the dark-haired girl responded.

  Eyra's words made me start thinking. This wouldn't be the last competition event in Panarena; in fact, it was only the second official one thus far. Multiplayer games such as MMOs often have a lot of different kinds of events and competitions; could it be that Eyra was anticipating an event (or more than one) in the future that her guild could capitalize on with their vast knowledge of in-world lore?

  “And you? Lots of people write things about you girls, but I don't think I've ever seen any posts on the forums written by you yourselves,” Eyra then said.

  “Oh, true,” Maryn agreed. “But then, starting to write anything now might come across the wrong way,” she said with a grin.

  “Oh?” the other tilted her head curiously, and then smiled. “Ahh, I see. Yes, it might seem egotistical in a way.”

  “Exactly.” the shield-user nodded.

  “Well, Lizzy did that live-stream a few months ago...” I then recalled.

  “Hm? Oh yes!” Maryn said, laughing a little. “She did do that, huh?”

  “Live-stream, live-stream...” Eyra repeated, trying to recall.

  “The one where they took down that huge boss monster in Xuanpu, around the Holy Mountain,” one of her other guildies said to her.

  “Oh right!” she said as her eyes lit up. “You girls really are crazy--ah! There's some of our herbs now,” Eyra then remarked, and I took note of a good-sized oak nearby.

  “That one's a normal one,” Eyra's assistant told us.

  “Fine by me,” I said as I pulled out an axe.

  ***

  In the end, we (well, I, anyway) took down two more of the daer-oaks during our trek. Eyra and her friends built up a nice stash of herbs and mushrooms, and we got enough wood (I hoped) to make some decent walls and fortifications. Forty trees' worth, to be exact, not counting the three daer-oaks.

  “I'd love to inspect one of those heartwoods...” Carol said when we had left the forest.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Hmm? I'll trade you one for a couple of those herbs,” I said in reply.

  “Hmm... Eyra?”

  “Go ahead, Carol; let them have a mushroom, too,” her guild-leader nodded. The exchange was made swiftly, and we shook hands on it.

  “We're going back to our camp with the Lightbrook Brigade now; take care!” she said.

  “See you around!” I returned as they made their way northeast. “Oh right, she and Jannie set up in the middle of those meadows and meads near the coast,” I recalled as we watched them.

  “True.” Maryn nodded. “More importantly, we can make at least two good walls; anything else will be palisades or fences,” she noted as she looked over our supply of logs.”

  “In terms of building things that are Ragamis-sized, I think we might do a bit better,” I said with a shrug as I turned to head back to Annadale.

  “Ahh, right!” Maryn agreed, following after me. “Most of their buildings were only about half-sized, compared to normal ones.”

  “Yup!” I grinned back. “Even if we do build a normal-size wall around the main buildings, we should have plenty left over to make sure the other ones will be protected, along with the fields and such.”

  “Gotcha.” she nodded to me. “We'll have to remember those daer-oaks; I wonder if there's something like them in the mines...” she wondered as we walked along.

  “Hm? Like instead of a tree-monster it'd be an ore-monster?” I blinked.

  “Something like that!” Maryn laughed.

  “Hrrmm... I feel like there was something like that in another game I played... I guess it's possible they could have put some... here...” I trailed off, the thought suddenly coming to mind that, if that was the case, Lizzy and the others would have run into one or more by now as well. Suddenly concerned, I checked my messages; there were no new notifications.

  “I'm sure they handled it if it came up.” Maryn said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

  “Yeah, you're right,” I agreed with a smile as I closed the panel.

  “Anyway; so we want to go with a full-wall for the main buildings?”

  “For those, yes. We'll use the daer-oak, and some of the normal oak.”

  “And the rest of the oak, as well as the other types of wood we collected, we'll use for the other defenses,” Maryn nodded.

  “Exactly.” I agreed.

  I won't bore you with the details of putting up each piece of wall one by one. Needless to say, we had finished with the inner and outer walls, and were working on finishing some palisades for the last three farms, by the time Lizzy and her group came back. She herself looked mildly put out; Anhe looked sheepish, but Lysandra seemed as relaxed as ever. Ariana and I exchanged a puzzled look with each other as they approached.

  “What happened?” I asked Lizzy.

  “Dude. Lana. There's like, some sort of weird creatures down in that mine now. I swear they weren't there before.” our smith told me.

  “Hmm...?” I returned curiously.

  Not monsters, just creatures?

  “Girl, we barely got half the quota of ore I was expecting to get from that trip.” she said as she put her hands on my shoulders.

  “H-half?!” my voice rose in pitch as I looked at her with surprise. “What the heck did you wake up down there?”

  “Ugh. I don't know... but they're not bugs and they're not bees, so I'm dragging the rest of you back there with us. Right now.” she insisted.

  “Ahh... palisades?” I pointed.

  “Hmm?” Lizzy blinked, taking a look to see how far we had gotten. “Just a couple more, huh? I'll help,” she said, and I nodded back, materializing some logs for her.

  “Knock yourself out,” I said.

  “Whee! I'll take that one on the left.” the blonde girl replied as she headed for the one in question.

  “I will help you!” Anhe said as she hurried after her.

  “We'll start with the other one, then, and you can finish this one,” Maryn said as she and Healina went to the third. Lysandra looked around for a moment, and then shrugged, picking up a piece of lumber to help Ariana and me with the one we were at.

  “They're not bugs, but they're... bug-like?” the older girl said in a soft voice as we got back to work.

  “Eh?”

  “Bug-'like', huh?” Ari said with a bemused grin.

  “Yeah, like those things in Eldritch Tomes you find in all the old ruins; the ones from the steampunk race,” our friend replied.

  “Ohh, I know what you're talking about now,” I said. “They have little creeping automatons running around now, huh?”

  “More or less,” Lysandra nodded as we finished with one section of fencing. “Looks like... ten more sections?”

  “I think so,” I agreed.

  “Isn't it twelve more?” Ari said as she looked over the field.

  “Is it?” I wondered, mentally counting again. “Oh, eleven; it was twelve before Sandra started helping us,” I said with a snap of my fingers.

  “Oh right! Tee-hee!” Ari giggled, and we got back to work.

  “You two,” Lysandra grinned.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. We're adorkable.” I sighed, grinning back wryly.

  “Ex-actly.” the raven-haired girl smirked.

  By the time we had finished our work with the walls and fencing, Myanihia had joined us for the night. With most of us online now, Lizzy led the way back to the mines so we could help her finish collecting the ore.

  “It's not that they were too much to handle; it's that there were too many to handle,” she griped as we got closer.

  “If they're automatons, shouldn't your lightning halberd wipe them out?” Healina said to her.

  “Exactly! They should have been wiped out!” the other girl frowned. “These ratty things have some sort of magical shielding from electrical attacks!”

  “Hyeck!?” I blinked in surprise.

  “Right??” she returned, gently grabbing the back of my collar to shake me. “Laaa-naaa, how do we beat theeem?!”

  “I-yi-yi doa-oa-oa-oan't kn-nn-no-o-o-ow....” I attempted to say as my head wobbled back and forth. The others began cackling or giggling as they listened.

  “Let her go, Lizzy,” Healina said in an admonishing tone.

  “Boo. I wanted to do that for another five minutes.” Lizzy sighed.

  “Gyeck?!”

  “Almost there,” Lysandra pointed as she cleared her throat in an attempt to stop laughing.

  “Oh, yeah, there's the d--hah?!” Lizzy halted, gaping with outrage towards the place in question. I soon saw why.

  “Hoo-boy,” I sighed, my shoulders sagging.

  Outside the entrance to the mines were a small horde of the six-legged automatons that had forced Lizzy, Anhe, and Lysandra to flee for reinforcements. Most of them looked as if they were made from bronze, though there were some iron (or steel?) ones as well. My assumption was that these were of a higher level or intelligence than the bronze ones. I could also see a few brass ones; or were they gold? Maybe they were gold. Anyway. Since there weren't many of them, they were probably even better than the iron or steel ones.

  “That... is a lot,” Myanihia said in a surprised tone.

  “I already tried Howl of the Void, just so we know. They're immune to it.” Lysandra told us at once.

  “Oh yeah. She tried that right off the bat.” Lizzy nodded.

  “My auras help with defense against them, and one of the repelling ones I used seemed to work as well,” Anhe said.

  “But there were too many for even a good aura to stand up against for long,” Lysandra shrugged, patting Anhe on the head.

  “True! But now there are more of us!” the other girl smiled back.

  “There was something else about them...” Lizzy said.

  “We'll figure it out again... for now!” I said as I dove into the shadows to take out on one the edge of the horde.

  “Oh that was it--Lana, wait!” Lizzy called.

  Too late. It's true, there wasn't much to their hitpoints. I didn't even need to use the combo-skill to take it down. But as soon as it died, a jolt went through me, and I got knocked back a few meters. As I landed flat on my back, I noticed an “Immobile” status effect on me.

  “Yikes! Lana!” Ari cried as she ran for me.

  “Geez, girl!” Lizzy sighed hoarsely.

  “Hang on!” Heali said, curing me of the status effect.

  “Uuuugghhh,” I groaned as Ari helped me up. “Ruuude.” I said as I found my footing again.

  “Right?” Lizzy gave me a half-smirk. “If Anhe hadn't had her Storm-ward going earlier, we'd have just plain out died.”

  “Ahh! I forgot to put it on! Sorry, Lana!” Anhe said at once.

  “No no, that wasn't your fault,” Maryn reassured her. “It was hers.” she winked at me.

  “Blehh.” I meekly retorted.

  “I will set them on now though.” Anhe said, activating Storm-ward, Defender's Dance, and another called Mountain's Retribution. This one, I presumed, was the one that would hurt the automatons.

  “So yeah, be careful how you attack them,” Lysandra said as we got ready. I pulled out my bow, shooting one from a distance this time.

  Come to think of it, why didn't they all come running a few moments ago when I took down the one? Or are we outside their aggro-range at this distance? I wondered as I loosed the arrow. It struck the automaton, killing it. I braced myself, but no jolt ran through me this time.

  “Hahh...” I sighed in relief.

  “Ranged attacks are safe.” Maryn noted. “That should mean our mages can do something too.”

  “If they're immune to electric... I wonder, should I freeze them or try to melt them...?” Ariana said aloud, pondering her choices.

  “Anything I can summon with impunity would be about equal to them in strength, but I can bring out some heftier allies and see how they do.” Healina said as she raised her staff, calling up a few mischievous elder-sprites to help us out.

  “I think I'll melt them.” Ari decided.

  “Ah--!” I said, and then backed up some more. The others followed my example as Ari unleashed some hellfire on the automatons blocking the way in. Within a few moments, they had been reduced to disfigured piles of gooped-up metal and scraps. My partner smiled at her handiwork, examining the wreckage with delight.

  “Oh neat! They count as a resource object now!” she exclaimed.

  “Uhh...” I stood there speechlessly, uncertain how to process this.

  “Works for me.” Lizzy shrugged. “Though I wonder what freezing them does...”

  “I'll try that on the next swarm.” Ari agreed.

  “Sweet.” the other girl said. “Oh sa-weet, they really do count as a resource! Though I'll have to finish melting them down later to make proper ingots out of them...” she noted.

  I shook my head, smiling. Then I noticed a couple other people watching us from a few meters away on our left.

  “Good thing no one else is around, or that'd be a forum post by now.” Maryn laughed. I tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the group left of us. “Hmm? Ahh--!”

  “Yo. Lans. Ari. The hell you doin' now?” Tyman said to us as he and his group came over. “Aw, hell no; don't tell me you woke something up in that mine with that quest of yours?”

  “Ahh.... tee-hee!” I smiled innocently. He shook his head in reply, coming over to flick me the way he did in real life.

  “Girl! You're something else.” he said.

  “They're not too hard to beat--well, not for Ari, anyway...” I looked over at my partner. She and Lizzy, along with Lysandra now, were collecting the ex-automatons for scrap metal.

  “Hrrn.” he gruffly nodded. “'Aight, I guess we're teaming up with you against these things tonight.”

  “Sure,” I agreed.

  “The heck were they, anyway?” Tyman asked me.

  “Automatons of some kind,” I shrugged.

  “Hey boss, could these be the Excavators that Wildeye was worried about? You know, from the civilization that used to be here or something,” one of Ty's guildmates asked him.

  “I think you're right,” he nodded back. “Excavators, huh? How bad are they?”

  “Melee earns you a jolt and a stun,” I ruefully recounted for him.

  “Dayum. Gonna be one of those nights.”

  “You're telling me...”

  “Shaddup!” he returned, flicking me again. “You got a bow, chick!”

  “Twice!? Rude!!” I said indignantly. The others around us laughed.

  “We're done! Oh, Tyman! Hi!” Ari said as she stood up.

  “Yo!” he called back to her. “We're goin' in with you! 'Got some ore demands from our smiths!”

  “Good to have you along!” my partner smiled back. “I'm definitely gonna freeze the next swarm. Just to see what happens.” she then reaffirmed.

  “Let's get in there, then.” I nodded, and we headed into the mines.

  After descending a long passage, we found ourselves on an overlook that gave us a view of a large cavern. There were several mining spots around, with platforms and scaffolding carefully placed to help reach the more difficult deposits. And all around, there were swarms and swarms of the Excavators. Further in the distance I could see larger automatons; unlike the six-legged Excavators, these almost looked like a cross between a beetle and a tank.

  “Those look worse,” I remarked as we continued surveying the area.

  “I think Wild' mentioned there should be four main kinds of automatons; the smaller ones are the Excavators, and that thing over there should be a... yo, Winzalot, what was that thing again?”

  “That one... it's the Marauder, right? Or a Sentinel...” his comrade replied.

  “Nah, the Marauders are more humanoid; that's a Sentinel for sure,” one of the others said.

  “Right, right,” Winzalot nodded.

  “Ari, ready?” I asked my partner.

  “I'm going for that cluster over there,” she nodded towards the right.

  “Gotcha,” I said. A few seconds later, she unleashed a blizzard-spell on the Excavators, freezing them. Their health went down to zero, but, curiously, they did not disintegrate.

  Come to think of it, the one she melted didn't disintegrate either... I guess it's intended they'll be used as resources? I mused to myself. The ice faded away a few moments later, leaving the lifeless metal husks in their final positions.

  “Hmm?” I wondered, now thoroughly intrigued. I ran over to one, touching it. Nothing happened. As I picked it up, a label appeared.

  Soulless Excavator.

  “No kidding,” I remarked. “Oh, there's more,” I noted as I saw a downward arrow on the label, pressing it.

  Use an enchanted magistone to bring this Excavator back to life so you can use it.

  “Hmm...?” I said with interest as the others came over.

  “Oh, cool!” Ari said as she read over my shoulder. “Umm... here! Try this one!” she told me, pulling a magistone out of her inventory.

  “Right!” I said, pulling the defunct one out and placing hers inside it. A few seconds later, the automaton came back to life. This time, however, it turned to face us and then sat there idly.

  “So if you melt them, you get resources...” Lizzy recounted, “But if you freeze them, you stop their magistone core from working and you can then place your own inside it so that it works for you? That's kind of cool,” she said with a smug grin.

  “But why does freezing them work when electrical attacks don't...? Ugh, games...” I sighed, shaking my head.

  “Search me, Lans,” Tyman shrugged. “But that thing'll obey you now, huh?”

  “I guess...” I said. “Hey, go mine some ore -- over there!” I pointed to a safe area, and the automaton scurried off to do so. “Well whaddaya know,” I said in amazement.

  “How many more magistones do you have?” Maryn asked Ariana.

  “I have... twelve.” my partner replied.

  “Hmm...” Lizzy pondered.

  “Let's activate five more in this pile, then we'll melt the next few swarms.” I then said. “I doubt it'll work on the Sentinel, but let's freeze it just in case it will,” I added.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Ari smiled.

  “You don't think it'll work on the Sentinel?” Lysandra wondered.

  “If we could convert all the automatons in this mine, that'd be majorly broken,” I said. “My guess is that only the Excavators can be repurposed, but we'll see!”

  “I agree.” Myanihia nodded. “Probably, only the Excavators can be turned.”

  “Still, that's good enough for us!” Winzalot beamed.

  “You said it, brother-man!” Tyman grinned back to him. “Let's get to work!” he said with a clap of his hands.

  “Right!” I nodded, picking up another defunct Excavator to repeat the process.

  ***

  So as it turned out, I was mostly right. While you can turn the Sentinels with your own magistones, it only lasts for fifteen minutes. Whether that was because of the enchantment Ari had on the magistone or because that's just how long it was meant to last, I wasn't yet sure, though I was leaning towards the latter explanation. We did, however, end up with twelve Excavators of our own to continue mining, and we managed to fill out Lizzy's appointed quota--and then some. Tyman and his gang also got their fill of ore, which he was more than happy about. I guess Mountain Tigers was prepping for a full-scale conflict again.

  Anyway. This completed chapter six of our Ragamis quest-line, which once again went on cooldown -- this time for two real weeks instead of just one.

  “There's some optional dailies we can do, but yeah, looks like we're gonna be waiting for two whole weeks.” Healina noted.

  “The competition is over in three, isn't it?” I asked.

  “It is,” Myanihia affirmed. “But, this is a good break; spring-fest, is still going,” she said.

  “Oh right! Yes, I definitely want to go see that!” Ariana nodded.

  “Agreed.” I smiled.

  “So we'll wait to do the dailies until we've had our fill of spring?” Maryn asked with a grin.

  “I'd say so!” Heali nodded.

  “Ehh, sure! I can wait to do stuff with our ex-automatons...” Lizzy said.

  “Of course you can!” the Sea-Elf quipped, gently elbowing her friend.

  “Heh-heh!” the other beamed back.

  “I'll tell Belle, then -- after tomorrow night, of course.” Lysandra winked.

  “Hm?” I wondered.

  “I wonder what tomorrow night is, Robin,” Ari grinned at me.

  “Ah--! Ahh, right...” I said, suddenly feeling anxious.

  “Don't tell me you're getting butterflies now?” she looked at me with concern.

  “Hrrmm...”

  “Oh by the way--where's Der, anyway?” Maryn suddenly asked.

  “Working,” Heali sighed, and Lizzy nodded.

  “They called him in and not me, even though I'm kitchen-and-wait staff and he's usually just entertainment...” she shrugged.

  “That is weird.” I agreed.

  “I guess it gives me some time to do some pre-work on the scraps we got...” the blonde girl then remarked, then nodded to herself. “Right! I'mma be busy. Make sure those brats get to sleep later!” she said as she headed off, and Anhe giggled.

  “Come on, brat,” Lysandra said, hoisting me up to place me over her shoulder.

  “Not this again,” I grimaced as the others began laughing.

  “Yep! This again.” the other returned as we began heading for the wayport.

  “Oy.”

  “Stay strong, babe!” Ari grinned at me.

  Yeah, yeah, I quipped back internally, letting out a quiet sigh. Well, I guess wherever we're going can't be as nerve-wracking as being on stage tomorrow night, I thought to myself after a moment.

  “Tomorrow night, huh?” Anhe remarked.

  “Tomorrow night,” Ari nodded.

  Hm? You look a bit antsy too, I thought to myself as I looked over at her. She patted my cheek.

  “Yes, I'm nervous too.” she gave my a wry grin.

  “I didn't say anything,” I returned.

  “You don't have to. I can read your mind, remember?” she replied.

  “Ahh--true,” I said, and she giggled.

  “Nerves, huh? Sounds like what you two need... is some relaxation,” Lysandra said; I could turn myself just enough to see she was entering a destination of Harmonia City into the wayport.

  “Not Cloverbell?” I asked.

  “Not tonight, chick.” she said, giving me a smile in reply as we stepped through.

  “I think I'm gonna grab Lizzy... wouldn't want her to miss out!” Heali grinned.

  Suddenly, I have a bad feeling about this, I thought to myself with a gulp.