Chapter 12 Grind Till You Drop

The decision on where to put points gave Cain a great deal of trouble that night, but eventually, he decided to put a few each into INT and DEX, bringing up his movement speed and gaining a bit more mana. Then he put 20 points each into STR and CON, bringing up both his and his Golems damage and survivability.

Name] Cain

[Level] 34

[Class] Puppet Master

[Race] Human

[Stats]

[STR] 65

[DEX] 30

[CON] 70

[INT] 30

[HP] 280

[MP] 150

"Yes, that's about perfectly balanced." Cain decides.

With the skilled creation amulet, the Golems should do quite a lot of damage now, but keeping their stats ahead of the monsters they were going to be facing was important.

Misha has agreed to go with him to the next town, to farm the dungeon there. But neither of them will know anyone in the town, and they've both had the same bad experience grouping with random people. It's left them a bit nervous, and they've decided to simply run together, as they know they can trust each other.

"So what should we do when we get there? Find a hotel?" Misha asks when they meet up in the morning. "We've got money, but it feels wasteful, Cid says the hotels in other towns are even more expensive than here."

"Why not rent an apartment. I got a crummy, tiny place here, but we can get somewhere nicer for the time we are there way cheaper than a hotel." Cain suggests.

"That's a great idea, a small apartment can't cost too much. Plus We spend all our time together, so it doesn't make sense to be in different places overnight."

The two head out early, deciding to walk the distance instead of paying for a carriage ride. They have never been in the wilderness of this world, as the village guards won't let transfers leave the town they all arrive in until they reach level 25 for their safety. It will be good to put these run down wooden shacks behind them and see the world they've been brought to.

Who knows what sort of cool and unique things it holds once they get to higher level areas? 

"It reminds me of home" Misha smiles. "All the trees look different, but the smell of the forest after the rain is the same." She's for a point, the trees are familiar, but not a single one is identical to anything Cain has ever seen or read about. 

The walk is a much needed relaxation after the intense fighting of the previous day. Regular traffic down the road keeps the monsters away and a recent rainfall kept the dust down on the dirt pathway.

Cain got excited when he heard talk of a herd of wild pigs in the area, but they couldn't find any sign of them before they reached the city. Wild pig would have made a much better lunch than the dry travel rations they packed for the journey.

"Entry fee is coin or goods worth 1 silver each" a tired sounding guard greets them at the town gates.

Both handed over their coin without an issue before Cain asked the guard "Might you know if there are apartments to rent near the dungeon? We expect to be here a while and would prefer not to rent at the inn that long."

"There's a tenement building just down the road from the dungeon, next to the weaponsmith and the Cafe."

"Thank you." Misha flipped him a copper for the information and the duo headed out to find somewhere to stay.

The buildings here are a mixture of brick and dark painted wood homes, like the trees, they are hauntingly familiar, but just a little bit off from anything they'd seen before. Like someone described to the architect what they wanted, but he'd never seen one before. 

The first noted location they passed down the light gray cobblestone streets was the Cafe, eerily identical to the one in the town they just left. Cleaner, and more recently renovated, but identical in layout and design. Even the special was the same. Meatloaf.

"Perhaps it's a chain of some sort? Like Denny's or Waffle House?" Cain asked and Misha looked appalled.

"Please don't mention those places again. I once worked at both and would much rather forget."

Cain laughs at the distraught look on her face but nodded "Deal. It's not like we'll ever have to see once again anyhow."

The three story gray stone apartment building that the guard sent them to find looks to be in decent shape at first glance. The front grass is trimmed, no garbage is about and the owner has placed a sign out front that says they've got both 2 bedroom furnished units and 5 bedroom furnished townhouses available in town. 50 and 110 silver a month respectively.

"Who would need 5 bedrooms? Are families here that big?" Cain wonders and Misha pokes him in the head.

"Think man, think. What's the maximum party size for the dungeon? 5 people. That's why they made so many 5 room rentals."

Oh, yeah. That totally makes sense now.

The old adventurer who owns the place is more than happy to show them to an apartment. "Would you two like a regular unit or the honeymoon suite? It's got a big hot spring tub in it and upgraded furniture."

Cain can see Misha's eyes light up at Hot Spring Tub, but the blush to her cheeks says the thought of being together in a honeymoon suite might be too much for her to handle.

"Does it still have a second bedroom? With crafting and such we're not always on the same schedule you see."

The landlord smiles in misunderstanding, taking the young man at his word. "That it does son, and the unit is soundproofed from the neighbors, no need to worry about thin walls here."

That sounds like a better place than Cain ever lived in. "Lead the way, good sir."

The beds are both good sized, with silk sheets in a soft pink colour. There is a good wood stove in the kitchen, with all the essentials available and soft rugs on the hardwood floors.

The Hot Spring sits in a sauna like room, with wooden walls and benches around the outside. A luxury that makes Cain certain no other option will be acceptable to Misha. Even after the tour, she keeps looking back at that room.

They quickly sign the paperwork and pay a month's rent, before going out to see the rest of the area.

The weaponsmith has a pretty wide selection and offers repair services. Cain's old bow is barely serviceable, and they say they can have it ready for the morning, but he decides to look around first. It's a plain thing from the starting dungeon area's vendor, it shouldn't be hard to upgrade. He finds a decent looking green quality compound bow that adds more damage than his old one and drops 10 silver on the upgrade.

"I feel much better now. This one has twice the range, and adds a lot of initial impact damage to my [Poison Arrow] skill." Cain smiles.

"It will do just fine until we can hopefully get the epic upgrade." Misha agrees with a chuckle. "It's going to be so weird doing dungeon runs with only one other human, but a full party fighting."

"Tell me about it. Two tanks, four melee warriors, plus an archer and a Healer, we're a bigger team than most full parties."

"If only they could be cuter." Misha pouts. "Like puppies or big cats instead of those ugly little clay Golems. Those things are just creepy like they belong in a horror movie."

Cain decides to search his skill descriptions, to see if there's anything he missed. After all, a clay golem should have multiple shapes, right? The big ones got a tank form at level 30 after all. Still a big clay golem, but it was a change in form.

[Summon Lesser Golem]

Summons 4 clay Golems. Damage and HP based on casters STR and CON.

[Next Upgrade] 

[Summon Lesser Golem] 

Requires level 40

Summons 5 Clay Golems in 1 of 3 shapes.

Damage and HP based on casters STR and CON.

"Level 40 I can make them look cooler," Cain says, linking the description in friends chat. Such a useful function this system provides, you can show your friends or party members any of your skill or item descriptions and it will show up at the location they set in their interface.