By the time the four of them had returned to the main hall, gathered their bedrolls and possessions, and walked back to the herbalist’s hut, it was already dark. Ama and Lance joined them and Hestia lit a fire, the four clustered around it with Ama, Lance and Ash casting glow for extra light. Ash wished she had a bottle of something fizzy to open, or something else to mark the occasion. Instead, Hestia pulled out a single Bondi fruit, cutting and sharing it between them. It was enough. Perhaps it had ripened particularly well, but Ash felt that the sweet fruit had never tasted so good.

  The six of them spoke amiably, excluding Spear, who Scholar occasionally leaned over and whispered a quick translation to. Still, the woman seemed content to sit back, watching the dancing flames in the hearth as the conversation washed over her.

  Eventually, things began to wind down. Ama and Lance stretched and headed up to their room. Hestia nodded, yawning, and said she’s go set up Ash’s bedroll upstairs. Ash took a moment to practice her Saurian, explaining to the final pair that everyone was going to rest and she would see them in the morning.

  “My hammer should be ready once we seal it with wax tomorrow.” Ash said. ”Perhaps we can go and investigate the ruined temple after?”

  Spear turned to her, head tilted. Scholar placed a hand on his partner’s arm, then responded. “Yes. I wish to do this.”

  Ash paused, unsure what to gather from the interaction. Finally, she decided Spear was being left out of a little too much. Perhaps it would be good to try and talk to her. “Spear,” she asked, ”I train in the morning, would you like to join? It’s just a… run,” “but then we can also… practice fight after?”

  The lizard-woman seemed to perk up at that, then tilted her head up and down jerkily. It took Ash a few moments to realise that she was nodding.

  Ash smiled and nodded back to her, subtly demonstrating the smoother motion. Spear quickly caught on and soon they were nodding in unison. This continued for a few moments until there was an abrupt burst of hissing from the side. Both of them turned to Scholar who was quivering and hissing, with a clawed hand over his eyes.

  Spear swatted at him “What!” She hissed. “What’s so funny?”

  That’s when Ash understood that the lizard man was merely laughing. And most likely he was laughing at them.

  “Sorry, you just looked so…” He sniggered again, “It was like watching courting birds.”

  Ash flushed as she recognised it must have been quite the ridiculous sight of the two of them bobbing their heads at one another.

  “Hey! I was just trying to teach her how to nod properly!” She protested

  “Sure, sure.” Scholar waved her off, just about managing to pull himself together. “Anyway. Yes, we should rest if you have all this planned for tomorrow.”

  They all headed upstarts after that, Scholar giving Ash a few final pointers on her Saurian, and teaching her equivalent words for ‘spar’ and ‘jogging’ that she had struggled with before. It was enough for the notification.

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  You have reached Level 14 in Saurian Language

  Which Ash quickly dismissed before waving goodnight and stepping into her and Hestia’s room.

  The room was lit only by the glow of the hammer at her hip. The two bedrolls were positioned neatly at each side of the room, her basket at the foot of the one on the left, while Hestia’s pack lay by the one on the right. The woman herself lay nestled into her own bedroll, already breathing deeply.

  Ash smiled at the woman’s dosing face, then settled down into her own bed. She stared up at the ceiling cupboards overhead, marvelling at how she finally had friends here, and a proper place to call home. Just how far have I come from hunkering down, alone, in an old ruin. Or being lost and alone in those tunnels on that first day. She thought back to that moment, wondering briefly if she should investigate those now that she was a little stronger.

  Then she dismissed the light from her club and settled back into sleep.

  ***

  Ash awoke to a light tapping sound. She blinked her eyes, but the room was still dark. Upon looking around, she remembered she was inside the herbalist’s hut now. Thin slivers of dawn shone through the cracks in the shutters, but otherwise the room kept itself much darker than the main hall. Hence, it was already dawn and she had still been asleep.

  The tapping sound happened again and Ash finally realised it was coming from the door. Hestia mumbled something nonsensical, turning over in her sleep. Yawning, Ash stretched and went to see what it was about.

  The sight of the lizard-woman on the other side of the door almost startled her, before she comforted herself that it was just Spear.

  “Training?” The woman hissed in Saurian.

  Ah yes, I did suggest that, didn’t I? Ash spared her warm bedroll one final glance before nodding and getting ready to head out. She took Spear on her usual morning jog, ending up by the waterfall where Ash washed off her building sweat. She wasn’t sure if lizard-people even sweated, but regardless Spear also took the moment to quickly rinse herself under the waterfall, before spending the rest of the time basking on a large rock while Ash finished cleaning.

  “You will take Scholar to this… Ruin today?” Spear asked, still laying back on the rock.

  Ash started, staring at the lizard for a moment. It was unusual for her initiate a conversation. Perhaps something was on her mind?

  “Yes, that is the plan.” Ash replied in her rough Saurian “You can join us, of course. Is anything wrong?”

  “Hmmm…” The woman hissed contemplatively. “The ruin. It is wrong. Going there is wrong. This is what the Elder’s teach.”

  “So, you’re saying we shouldn’t go?” Ash asked worriedly.

  “No.” Spear said simply “Scholar is… convinced. So, we will go. But it is still not good.”

  “Okay. Well, there are traps and such in there, but we’ll be careful. We won’t go any further than I’ve already been if we don’t think it’s safe.”

  Spear just nodded, clearly finished with the conversation. Still, her words lingered in Ash’s mind. Scholar had also said something about the ruins being bad luck. Now Spear was saying they were forbidden by the Saurian elders. They may even be linked to why the other tribe had been attacking them.

  Still, going there would still potentially be very useful for my Rune Lore skill. And Spear didn’t say not to go…

  Ash sighed and tried to put the thoughts behind her as they headed back to the village to meet up with the rest of the household for breakfast. Apparently, the others had also overslept a little, and they all had a good chuckle about how comfy the new home was, despite Ash thinking the floorboards were actually less comfortable than the packed earth in the main hall. What I would give for a modern mattress right now. She thought to herself wistfully. Didn’t some of the lizard-men wear feathers? Maybe there’s some giant bird I can beat and turn all its lovely plumage into a proper bed.

  Finally, she spent a while in the crafting hall finishing up waxing her hammer. Until, finally, it was complete.

  Iron-tipped wooden maul, Great-hammer - damage modifier: 1.75x(physical, conduit multiplier 2.25x.

  Nice! Ash thought Now that means I’m up to… 18 damage without any bonuses. Or 45 with my fire and ice packed in! Sweet! It is time to properly test this baby out.

  And Ash knew Just the opponent to test the weapon out on. It was time for a rematch with Spear.