Severance finished fastening the last buckle on the boot, enjoying how his toes no longer stuck out in the open air like shy groundhogs taking their first sniff of spring air. His old boots lay discarded on the floor beside him. They were an embarrassment to all shoe-kind and he was glad to be rid of them.

A test wiggle of the toes proved the new boots to be a good fit. Satisfied, Severance straightened, brushing light fingers across the thighs of his new trousers. They were carbon copies of the previous pair, just like his boots, yet he couldn't help but feel like a new man. These had no bloodstains, no tearing or singe marks from running through fire.

For now, at least.

He made sure to grab a second pair of boots and pants, though sadly, there was no spare coat for him. There were some generic tunics folded on the shelf though, and after a moment's thought, he grabbed a couple just in case. He tossed them into Inventory, then left the small laundry room.

Like the kitchen and dining area, the Veiled had a community laundry room where several cloth hampers collected dirty clothing and shelves held clean pairs of tunics, trousers, shirts and even underclothes in various sizes. All of which he had eyed with varying degrees of alarm, amusement, and awe.

"All set?" Maun leaned against the wall by the door, a black shadow that only drew Severance's attention when he spoke.

"For what?" Severance warily asked.

Maun grinned, showing off all his teeth. "Your new diet, Sev."

"What?" That made a lot of sense, considering Severance didn't eat in this world. He didn't think he even had a functioning digestive system.

"Yep, that's right. I call it—" Maun paused, spreading his arms wide— "the dungeon diet!"

Severance just looked at the man. Then he wordlessly turned and walked towards the main doors of the House. Maun had gone loopy, which meant it was time to leave.

"Hey, come on, Sev! I'm serious!"

Severance lengthened his stride, lips pressed into a flat line. Maybe Mouna was somewhere outside. If she wasn't busy, maybe he could learn another sign or two.

"Seeev!"

There was an unmistakable whine to that last call, prompting Severance to move even faster. He reached out and shoved at the doors. They groaned as he leaned into them before reluctantly giving way. Daylight spilled into the House, bright and warm.

"It's the best way to get experience," Maun's voice was so close, he had to be practically breathing down his neck. Severance flinched in surprise, shoulders tensing, but he didn't turn around or acknowledge him. It would only encourage the man, anyway.

"And it's fast, too. You've got about five hours a day now, and if you're smart about it, you can easily knock out a dungeon an hour." Clearly, Maun wasn't giving up. "Imagine, Sev. if you did that, you might actually put some muscle on those twigs of yours."

"Twigs?" Insulted, Severance spun around. "What are you talking about? I don't have twigs!"

Maun stood barely an arm's length away. He reached forward and poked Severance's arm, a single brow arching. "Then what do you call this?"

Severance slapped Maun's hand away. "None of your business!"

Maun laughed at him, eyes twinkling. It only fueled the indignity that Severance felt. He lifted his chin and marched off to... somewhere. The courtyard wasn't exactly occupied right now, though there was Chaaya sweeping the stones. She looked up and gave them a tired, yet wide smile. Her dark braid hung over a shoulder, the few silver strands seeming to shine extra bright in the sun.

"Hi," Severance gave her a little wave. She was a kind, motherly sort and probably the only person amongst the Veiled that he truly felt comfortable with.

"Is that brat bothering you, Severance?" she called out.

"Brat?" Severance sputtered, then glanced behind him. Seeing the perturbed look on Maun's face made him snicker. He covered his mouth, not daring to laugh too loudly. "No, it's fine. Thank you, though."

"Alright. Just let me know if he steps out of line. I've got plenty of chores to keep him busy if necessary."

"Will do!"

He left Chaaya to her sweeping, his mood suddenly very good. Maun still followed after, but he was silent. That made Severance smile even more. It seemed like Agadhi wasn't the only one who could make Maun shut up.

He really had to learn that trick.

A soft chime resounded, prompting him to stop.

You have received a message from Awesome Dude. Would you like to Open Message?

"Yes," he said immediately.

It hadn't been very long since they parted ways after the dungeon, and he hadn't been expecting to hear from him so soon. His friend had wanted to see if he had any clan quests to pick up, because apparently the more he did, the more favour he earned with the Champions. After seeing what Severance's latest Gift could do, Awesome Dude was determined to get something just as cool.

Severance laughed internally at that.

"Hm?" That was Maun, also stopping.

Distracted by the sound of Awesome Dude's voice ringing out—"Heya Sev!"—Severance waved absently Maun. "Message. Go away."

The thought that he might just have been rude to an accomplished killer didn't even register. He was too busy listening to rambling complaints, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"This is ridiculous, Sev. Ree-dik-yoo-lus! They're making me sweep the stairs. Do you know how many stairs there are? Billions! It's so not fair. Why do I get the lame quests? It's so boring! Please tell me your clan is being nicer to you."

"Well, at least they had a quest for you," Severance responded. "Things are okay here, but they're being annoying."

"Well, I can see when I'm not wanted," Maun drawled. He sounded more amused than upset. Severance ignored him, even when Maun shook his head and wandered off.

"I guess. It's just that it's like, the boringest quest ever. And it'll take forever! We should have just done the Ruins again."

Severance rolled his eyes. "We can go when you're done, if you want. My clan wants me to level up anyway. One of them even said I'm now on a 'dungeon diet.' He's a weirdo."

"Haha! That sounds like fun! I can help you with dungeons! I don't know how long this will take me, but I can see if anyone else needs a healer in the meantime. Hang tight!"

Severance blinked, hand freezing midair above the System window that hovered before him. He didn't mean right this instant! Though he shouldn't have been surprised—that was just how Awesome Dude was.

"There's no rush though. I can wait until you're done! Also, I wanted to ask–have you heard from Momo? I've sent her a message and she hasn't responded."

This time, Awesome Dude took a while to respond. "Yeah, she left the game. She said she was looking to have fun, but things got pretty intense. You know. She didn't like how real the fights were."

She quit the game? Severance felt somewhat regretful about it, but he hadn't been all that close to her. She was Awesome Dude's friend; they had started the game together, and he could practically hear the misery in Awesome Dude's voice. The Shade was probably even wearing a dejected expression, a mental image that didn't sit well with Severance.

He sighed again, sorry for bringing the subject up. He hastily composed a reply. "I'm sorry. I—she was a nice person." He winced, because that sounded lame even to his own ears. Comforting people was not his strong suit. "Anyway, let me know when you're done your quest, okay?"

Awesome Dude sent an affirmative response, though he still sounded somewhat depressed. Well, perhaps it was best if Severance left him be for a while. It wasn't like he'd be much help to the Shade anyway.

He wandered about the open courtyard for a bit, until he finally spotted a familiar figure crouching by a pile of dark furs alongside the wall. A tanning rack was set up beside her, with several strange tools arranged in a neat row before her.

A smile broke out on Severance's face as he instantly forgot all about Awesome Dude's problems. He jogged over, making sure to cross into her line of sight. When she looked up, he waved. There was no need to learn the sign for "hi", since a wave was practically a universal greeting.

Mouna just looked blankly at him. Then she lowered her gaze and returned to her work.

Rather than feel slighted by the less than warm welcome, Severance squatted, getting a closer look at what she was doing. Mouna wasn't the warm bubbly type, so he knew better than to expect anything more than a neutral silence from her. Besides, if she wasn't shooting him full of arrows, then he was still on her good side.

He watched as she scraped the edge of a tool against the hide, removing the fur from small sections at a time. It was slow, meticulous work, yet he wasn't bored at all. He'd never seen someone take a fresh animal hide and turn it into soft leather.

Not once did she do anything to acknowledge his presence. Mouna focused entirely on her task, as if unaware that she had an audience. Severance sat on the ground cross-legged and leaned his elbows on his knees. He wondered if this sort of thing would be hard to learn. As tedious as it looked, it seemed relaxing.

A comfortable silence settled around them, broken only by the soft scrape of her tool.

And then a rough woof destroyed the tranquility. This was immediately followed by the sound of paws thudding into ground, claws scraping against stone, and then a whoosh as a large furry body soared through the air.

All Severance saw was a blur of silver before a heavy thing barreled into him. The breath was punched out of him as it knocked him flat. Stars skittered across his vision as his skull hit the ground a little too hard.

This scene felt all too familiar. For a second, he half-expected to hear the chatter of a naked monkey. Instead, a warm, wet tongue dragged across his face and stinky dog breath blasted his senses.

"Vaassst," he groaned.

He tried to shove the offender away, but a surprisingly heavy weight had settled onto his chest. For the life of him, he couldn't muster the strength to push it off. Which was completely ridiculous, because Vast was only the size of a large dog, not a–

Wait a minute.

He cracked open an eye. A toothy grin and bright silver-blue eyes greeted him. Vast gave him another slobbery doggy kiss.

"Get off," Severance grunted, pushing against Vast's chest. His hands sank into thick silver fur, pressing against lean muscle—muscle that had definitely not been that solid a day ago.

Severance opened both eyes, alarmed. "What the heck are they feeding you? How did you get so big?!"

Vast's tail thumped against Severance's leg. He raised his head, tongue lolling out in what could only be a pleased, relaxed sort of grin. His muzzle wasn't quite as short and stubby anymore. It had lengthened, growing into a more adolescent shape that looked far sleeker and more dangerous than that of the fuzzy pup he'd been just the other day.

"You're a freak," Severance told him. Vast huffed in agreement. Or amusement. Who knew what was going through the creature's head? "Will you get off me?"

Vast lifted one paw and carefully set it down by Severance's collarbone. Sharp claws pressed into his skin, making Severance go very still. That was rather close to his throat. Gulping nervously, he shifted his eyes to Mouna, who unhelpfully ignored them both.

What was this? Couldn't she see he was being held hostage here?

"Vast! Here boy!" Someone hollered across the courtyard. The high-pitched cry could only have come from Tayci. Other than an idle twitch of the ear, Vast did not otherwise react.

Severance could only lay there like a piece of slobber-coated meat. Maybe Vast was just marinating him first before eating him.

"Oh, it's Sev! Hiya Sev!" A small shadow fell over him.

Severance groaned. "Hi Tayci. And Mirren."