For the past thirty minutes, everyone at the table had been working hard to ensure none of the feast before them was left uneaten. Duncan was extremely disappointed he wasn’t able to eat some of the higher-tier dishes. He even considered braving death for a single bite of something that looked and smelled like perfect mashed potatoes.

  “I wouldn’t give him that if I were you,” Phevona said in between bites of some sort of fish. “He’s been here for two years, but somehow, he still doesn’t know how money works.”

  “I know how money works,” Duncan insisted as he grabbed the bag of shining silver coins Cinder had just placed on the table before him. With a soft glow, the contents of the bag vanished. “Where’d my money go?!” Duncan yelled in panic.

  Phevona burst out laughing. “See? I told you. What have you been teaching him for the past two years?” The question was directed at Cinder and Neta, who both looked up from their meals with innocent faces.

  “How to use a sword,” they echoed one another, then continued eating.

  “Realm coins always do that,” Sonny said, a little confused at Duncan’s reaction.

  “No, they don’t,” Duncan insisted. “I’ve used them before, and they don’t just disappear.”

  “You didn’t have a Subject interface before.” Sonny held his hand up, only for a tier one realm coin to appear between two of his fingers. “I didn’t summon that from a storage device. Realm coins are directly held in your interface. People with Subjects don’t handle the actual physical coins too often. You can still access them from your balance, but it’s a lot easier to just transfer them from one interface to another.”

  “The Realms have their own online banking system...” Duncan muttered to himself, willing his realm coin balance to appear.

  Every coin Duncan had left over from his monster hunts had been in that bag. He’d spent the majority of his earnings on armor repairs, basic metals for swordsmithing, and his enchanted boots. The boots, in particular, had been expensive.

  “Why doesn’t the balance add up the value of all the realm coins into the highest tier?” Duncan asked in confusion. He knew that every tier of realm coin was worth 100 times more than the prior tier. So, 100 tier one realm coins had the same value as one tier two realm coin. His 107 tier one realm coins and three tier two realm coins were worth a little over four tier two realm coins in total.

  “Because their monetary value isn’t the only value they hold,” Orneta explained. “They’re a common component in enchanting. While 100 tier one realm coins have the same monetary value as one tier two coin, an enchantment that requires a tier two realm coin can’t use 100 tier one realm coins as a substitute. It has to use a tier two coin. Since you can’t physically combine 100 tier one realm coins to make an actual tier two coin, the physical coins you have matter. Many enchanters will charge you the value of their services on top of the required physical realm coins to create the enchantment up front.”

  Duncan made sure to burn that information into his mind. He’d likely need to find enchanters to add enchantments to his swords, so he’d need to know some of the basics. His aunt Donna would have known all this and had likely explained it to Duncan over a dinner or two, but he’d never been one to pay attention to much other than swordsmanship back on Earth. The thought made him miss Donna and his little brother Wayne. They would have loved to enchant anything he made.

  “So, now that you’re all registered, what are your plans?” Jen’s question brought everyone's attention to the reason they’d gathered at the restaurant in the first place—one last celebratory feast for the newly registered adventurers before they started on their paths. Duncan, Sonny, and Phevona would be the masters of their own fates from then on. No monetary support. No free shelter. No free equipment. No more training. Everything would be on them for the foreseeable future—another Kunish tradition. For the first three tiers- until they reached the beginning of tier four- they were pretty much on their own.

  Duncan would have liked to see how some of the nobles from Earth fared with similar treatment. Personally, he was excited. He didn’t come to Dintarnum for others to hand him everything. Yes, he’d been lucky enough to receive some of the best training he could have asked for. He’d even gained a new family.

  But now, it was time for him to do what he came to Dintarnum to do. He’d have to progress fast if he wanted to be of any help to his family back on Earth, if an opportunity ever presented itself to get them away from Corvelin’s influence.

  Phevona looked at her two teammates before she answered Jen’s question. “For now, we want to start clearing temporary realms as often as possible. We’ll probably stick around Kunora for a bit. Earn some money. Start filling out or Ability slots and progressing. I’ve already set us up at an adventurer boarding house near the Guild. What we need most right now are funds to gear up for whatever our next move ends up being.”

  Duncan nodded in agreement. They’d already left everything they’d been given by their families and masters behind. That gear was meant to get them through hunts and training as tier zeros. It had done its job; now it was time for the trio to equip themselves.

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  For now, Duncan only had his remaining realm coins, some extra clothes, four unenchanted swords he’d made with his own materials, and his enchanted boots. Even adding up the team’s entire savings, they didn’t have anywhere near enough money to buy even a single spatial ring, so Duncan held all of their equipment in [Quintessential Armory] for now.

  “As for after that, we haven’t decided yet.” Phevona shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll discuss it more once we have a few missions under our belts.” Phevona nodded at Duncan, who understood his team leader’s intentions. He summoned three sheets of paper from his storage and handed them to her.

  “We ended up grabbing a few missions from the Guild,” Phevona said, sliding the sheets across the table for everyone to see.

  All three sheets were the same, except the map marker on the back of each listing was slightly different.

  “The Guild Master was kind enough to let us sign up for these when we registered. They were just being posted when we finished, and would’ve probably been taken quickly since they’re all in the same area.” Phevona looked at her mother, who was starting to say something before her daughter cut her off. “Yes, Mom. I checked to make sure there were no critical realms or higher-tier monsters spotted in the area. There are a couple of tier three realms, but they were reported at the same time as ours. None of them are close to overflowing.”

  “Good girl,” Pheobe said, pride in her voice. “It always pays to know what you could run into, even in Dintarnum itself. Will you leave right away?”

  “I need to grab a new wand first,” Phevona said. “I know the Abilities enchanted into anything I find won’t be very good, but I only have one Combat Ability. I need variety more than quality at the moment. Once I start filling out my Ability slots, I’ll switch from an Ability wand to an enhancement wand.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Pheobe nodded.

  “While you're out, make sure you buy a reusable compendium scroll,” Neta added. “You’ll need them if you want to start identifying your gear and loot. The exact details of your equipment didn’t matter much when you were still tier zeros and had a safer environment to train and learn how they worked. Now, though, you should use your Subject interfaces to keep track of everything.”

  Duncan nodded his head in understanding. “All right. Anything else we should be doing before we leave? Should we be looking for some teammates, or are the three of us enough?”

  “You three should be just fine,” Cinder answered. “You don’t have a dedicated defender, but all your missions have an expected difficulty of normal. The Guild scouts around here don’t often get their difficulty ratings wrong. Especially for tier one realms. If you start taking on some missions with higher expected difficulties, you should at least find a defender to relieve some of the front-line pressure.”

  The group continued to discuss the team’s upcoming missions. The experienced delvers among them gave the rookies advice ranging from travel tips to material identification and gathering. The materials within a temporary realm can often be more valuable than the rewards for clearing it. They’d have to rely on compendium scrolls to identify materials until one of them unlocked an identification Ability.

  Zak returned one last time to deliver a dessert made with rare fruits and a pie-like crust. Duncan was going to miss eating such good food. He’d been spoiled with Cinder’s cooking, and while he’d learned some things from helping his youngest master in the O’Leon kitchen, he’d never be able to make anything close to what Cinder could.

  The group thanked Zak profusely for the meal after they finished their dessert, with DJ going as far as to jump up on his hind legs to lick the titan’s face. Duncan almost thought that if Sonny hadn’t bonded with the wolf, DJ might have decided to abandon Sonny for the titan’s cooking.

  Leaving the courtyard, everyone began saying their goodbyes. Jen gathered Sonny and DJ into something close to a hug, one neck squeezed under each arm. Pheobe was drilling some last pieces of advice into Phevona’s head, even as the girl went to embrace her father.

  “It’s been a journey, Duncan,” Neta said as she approached from where she’d just finished saying goodbye to Zak in the courtyard. She raised both arms to take hold of her adopted son’s shoulders. “But, it’s just the beginning. You have plenty more in front of you.”

  “You’ve improved so much over the last two years. I’d be surprised if there was a single person under tier three in all Dintarnum that could match you in pure swordsmanship. Just remember, you can never stop improving. You’ve learned the sword forms, but they are only there as a foundation to build on. Use them as a tool to better incorporate your Abilities into your fighting style.”

  The matriarch of the Kunora Clan pulled Duncan into a tight hug, which he returned without hesitation. “You’re an O’Leon now,” Neta said as they separated. “It doesn’t change who you are, though. You’ll always be Duncan, THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD. You’re more than ready for anything this realm or any other can throw at you.”

  Duncan thought of everything he’d learned from this woman. She and Cinder had taught him everything he needed to be the best of his tier. However, he had only just reached tier one. He was at the bottom of the pyramid, with many tiers between him and the top. He knew Dintarnum would likely send a lot his way over the coming years, and not all his problems would be at his tier.

  He had some time before he’d have to figure out how to get Marie, Wayne, and maybe even Mikael out of Corvelin. He knew he had to be patient. He’d likely only have one shot to get them out, so he had to wait at least until Wayne would be sent over, which was years away. He just hoped Mikael and Marie would stay safe until then.

  “I’m likely going to make some powerful enemies in the years to come,” Duncan told Neta, letting his voice carry to the others as they started to group up around him and the matriarch. “I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do, but when the time comes, I’m going for my family. I’m sure there will be plenty of high-tier Corveliners who won’t take too kindly to me after that. I’m not sure that’s something I’ll be able to handle.”

  “I believe you mean we are going for your family,” Phevona scolded Duncan as she came to stand beside him. Sonny and DJ followed her, clearly showing their support. “As if you could get anything done without us.”

  “It won’t be entirely on you,” Pheobe added. “Your family is our family, now. We won’t leave our own behind. We’ll figure something out when the time comes.”

  “As for those high-tier Corveliners,” Neta said, giving Duncan a wicked grin. “Like I said before, your name is Duncan O’Leon now. It’s your job to make your peers respect and even fear the Duncan part. It’s my job to make everyone else respect and fear the O’Leon part. You focus on your job. I’ll focus on mine.”

  ***

  It was just the four of them now. One human swordsman from a magically barren realm. One half-elf, half-human nature mage, who also happened to be a clan princess. One wolf-kin hunter who was ready to escape clan life and explore the Realms. One black-furred midnight wolf, who would follow his bond anywhere… as long as there was food wherever they were going.

  They stood there for a few minutes, watching their loved ones disappear into the crowds of Kunora’s southern road, Mount Myphen looming over the entire city like a silent guardian. The sun tried its best to shine through the clouds, but a thick sheet of white snow now fell from the sky.

  “This is it,” Phevona said, breaking their silence as she turned to face her team. “We’ve been training our whole lives for this moment. What should we do first?”

  “Shopping, I think,” Duncan said, grabbing the sides of his leather coat to shake off the accumulated snow. “I thought I’d be fine with the cold now that I’m tier one, but I think I’m going to want some warmer options. Couldn’t hurt to stock up on a variety of clothes in case we find ourselves in some realms with weird weather.”

  “To the shopping district, then,” Phevona said after receiving a nod in agreement from Sonny. “I need a new wand. We all need tents and other travel supplies, and I know for a fact Sonny didn’t pack enough arrows into [Quintessential Armory] to last three realm clears.”

  “Very true,” Sonny agreed. “I miss my storage ring. We’ll have to pool our funds early on to get a couple for me and Phevona. Can’t have Duncan acting as our pack beast for too long.”

  They started off toward the eastern shopping district, where most of the shops catered to adventurers like themselves. Walking side by side with his friends through Kunora, Duncan decided Neta was right. He was ready. They all were. Time to get started.

  END OF PART ONE: THE O’LEONS