As they stepped through the door, Fenix and ChibiScker blinked in surprise when they found themselves back on the isnd's familiar shores. They were back at the pce where they had started. Fenix found it quite convenient. At least they didn't have to travel back through the dungeon to leave.

  Looking at the sun bzing high in the sky, just as it had been when they first entered the dungeon. Fenix felt they had been in the dungeon for a whole day. A quick gnce at his in-game clock confirmed it—an entire day had slipped by unnoticed.

  ChibiScker stretched, his arms extending skyward as a wide grin spread across his face. “That was a bst! I wish my quests were this exciting.”

  Fenix tilted his head, curious. “Don’t you have to do quests to get your skills too?”

  “Yeah, but they’re mostly boring fetch quests,” ChibiScker replied with a nonchant shrug. “It’s just running back and forth collecting stuff.”

  Fenix chuckled softly, a hint of envy in his voice. “You’re jealous of my quests, while I’m envious of yours. What a pair we make.”

  ChibiScker’s ughter rang out, echoing across the water. “We’re quite a duo, huh? Anyway, let’s get off this isnd.”With a nod, Fenix reached into his inventory and pulled out the raft kit. He tugged on the string on the side of the package, and before their eyes, a finely crafted wooden raft materialized on the sand. It wasn’t just a simple collection of logs but a well-designed vessel with raised sides for added safety in rough waters.

  Two oars were securely fastened to the raft, ensuring they wouldn’t be lost even if their hands slipped. A padded seat in the middle provided a touch of comfort, and the entire raft had a bonus speed of +5, which was an awesome perk.ChibiScker circled the raft, his eyes wide with curiosity and excitement. “This is so cool! I’ve never been on a raft, in-game, or in real life.”

  “Me neither,” Fenix admitted, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “But there’s a first time for everything.”

  ~

  Fenix grunted as he and ChibiScker struggled to push the raft toward the water's edge. It felt heavier than he expected, and he mentally kicked himself for not assembling it closer to the shoreline. He'd assumed they’d have to put it together piece by piece, but the raft had popped up fully formed. Lesson learned—next time, he’d read the item description more carefully.

  With the raft finally floating, they climbed aboard, each grabbing an oar.

  “So…” ChibiScker ventured, gncing at Fenix. “Do we take turns paddling? Like, I paddle, then you paddle?”

  Fenix shrugged, just as clueless. “We can try that.”

  They gave it a shot, but the raft stubbornly spun in circles with each awkward paddle. Frustrated, Fenix stopped rowing, opened his profile, found the internet interface, and began to search for instructions. A few taps ter, he found their mistake. It seemed they needed to row together, not one at a time.

  “ChibiScker, stop. We’re doing it wrong,” Fenix said, pausing the raft’s dizzying movement.

  “What should we do?” ChibiScker asked.

  Fenix expined what they had to do, telling him they had to row at the same time, in sync with each other. At first, it was a little awkward, but then ChibiScker started humming a catchy tune, and soon enough, they found their rhythm, paddling smoothly as if they’d been doing it for ages.

  The journey across the water was straightforward, with no need to navigate since their destination was directly ahead. As they paddled, ChibiScker broke the silence. “So, tell me about that Throw skill you used while we were fighting that monster.”

  Fenix, keeping his stroke steady, replied, “It’s nothing special. Just let me toss potions at monsters from a distance. I think the skill you used was way more awesome than mine. You know the one where you impaled the creature with one hundred swords? It was really impressive, though a bit fshy.”

  ChibiScker grinned, clearly pleased. “Hey now, fshy skills are the best part! That’s why people get them.”

  Fenix smirked, his tone ced with sarcasm. “Really? I thought that skills were there to make pyers stronger.”

  “Well, that too,” ChibiScker admitted, “but mostly to look cool.”

  “Whatever you say,” Fenix chuckled.

  “You don’t believe me?” ChibiScker unched into an enthusiastic monologue about the value of fshy skills, gesturing excitedly as they paddled. Fenix zoned out halfway through, content to let the boy ramble until they finally reached nd.

  With a sigh of relief, Fenix hopped off the raft, gd to be back on solid ground. They had arrived at a small clearing, just a stone's throw from a dense, shadowy forest that seemed to stretch endlessly. Fenix couldn’t shake the feeling that someone could easily get lost in those woods without even trying. With dusk approaching, he decided it was best to set up camp for the night; after all, the forest could harbor any number of dangerous creatures, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

  “It’s going to get dark soon,” Fenix said, surveying the area. “Let’s set up camp here for the night.”

  There wasn’t much to do, just make a fire. While this wasn’t an official campground, every pyer knew that when out in the wild, lighting a fire at night was essential—it kept the monsters at bay. But not just any fire would do; it had to be a registered fire pit, unique to each pyer, or the protection wouldn’t work.

  ~

  As darkness settled and the fire crackled warmly, Fenix and ChibiScker had little to do but wait for dawn. ChibiScker chose to pass the time fishing by the water's edge, while Fenix sat nearby, dipping his feet into the cool stream. Instead of fishing, Fenix focused on his combat potion journal and Shilvak’s notes, his eyes scanning the pages intently.

  One year into the war

  ‘I’ve been healing soldiers injured by monsters every day since this war began. While I take pride in aiding those in need, I can’t shake the sense that I should be doing more. I want to be on the front lines, fighting the monsters who have inflicted so much suffering. Yet, all I know how to do is make potions. Will I ever be more than just a healer?’

  - Shilvak

  Two years into the war

  ‘I can no longer stand idly by. I must help my fellow men in more ways. I have been secretly working on potions that would destroy rather than help and I finally made some progress. While making a health potion I accidentally knocked a Glow Flower into the mixture. It made a giant explosion. After tweaking it for a while, I can now create mini fireballs. The damage is not great and it can only attack two monsters at a time, but it’s something. Now I know that the health potion, mixed with certain flowers, can create fire-type potions that will do great damage to monsters. I will call them... combat potions.’

  - Shilvak

  A notification popped up in front of Fenix, revealing that he’d learned the recipe for the mini fireball potion.

  Mini Fireball: A potion creates a concentrated burst of fire that explodes on impact, dealing moderate damage to up to two enemies. The intensity of the fmes depends on the quality of the potion, ranging from 40 to 150 damage.

  Fenix was ecstatic—finally, a combat potion that actually did some damage. However, the other two paragraphs in his combat journal were still blurred, probably because he wasn’t high enough level to read them yet.

  However, at the moment he didn't care. He was just thrilled to be done with his giant cutlery. Standing up from the water, Fenix pulled out his portable potion-making kit and got to work on the new recipes. It was lucky he had those glowing flowers from Beginner Town.