They headed into the forest and got to work on the first of a line of traps ringing the clearing. Asha had suggested bringing a torch, but Devin showed her his light globe. He was hoping it would impress her, but she didn’t seem all that interested.

  Asha was a good teacher. She gave him a quick rundown of a few different types of traps and then made one of each as he watched. Some kinds of traps could be put together then moved where they were needed, while others had to be built in place.

  “There’s a lot of different traps,” he said. “I’m surprised it’s only one ability.”

  “Trapmaking is the basic ability,” she said. “There are many more powerful and specific Skills for making traps. There’s also some overlap with other abilities. I’m sure Grigor could make all of these through carpentry and smithing, but they might come with penalties since he doesn’t have this ability.”

  Devin nodded. By now he was used to the quirks of Senarci. He watched Asha closely, trying to keep his eyes on her hands instead of other parts. Asha was beautiful, lithe with strong muscles that rippled when she worked. She moved like a cat, and it was easy to get distracted.

  Everything changed when she decided he was ready to make his first trap. He hadn’t been critiqued this harshly since his first time in a high-level raid group. When he snapped at her, she told him he was welcome to leave any time he wanted. Devin almost stalked away, but he kept at it, holding his temper and doing as he was told.

  After he finished a spike trap, they worked on triggers, then pits. He was working on a rope trap when he finally got an alert.

  Achievement Unlocked! Shut Your Trap and Listen. Someone taught you how to make traps! Now you know how to make traps. Sort of. You’re not very good at it. You’ll probably lose fingers.

  Reward: You learned the ability ‘Trapmaking’ (Intuition, Calculation and Deftness -20) – This ability allows you to make basic traps from appropriate materials. This ability gains a bonus from your ‘Ninja’ Boost.

  Reward: You receive 10 Fundamental Forces shards.

  Devin blinked at the size of the penalty. He opened Party Chat.

  Devin – Hey, Milo. I got a penalty of negative 20 on trapmaking. That’s not good, is it?

  Milo – It is, in fact, very bad.

  Devin – Do I just suck at this?

  Milo – It’s not that simple. Remember that abilities are based on Attribute scores, and a teacher can’t teach more than they know. In that sense, your starting level is limited by Asha’s Attributes. Given all those factors, it’s pretty amazing that you picked it up so quickly.

  Devin – Admit it. You thought I couldn’t do it.

  Milo – If I’d thought that, I would have said it. I had a feeling you might get lucky. And before you complain too much about the penalty, remember that even with it, you’re starting off with a very high score.

  Devin – I won’t complain. But how do I get rid of the penalty?

  Milo – The same way you get to Carnegie Hall. With practice.

  Devin – So it’s the same as raising Attributes?

  Milo – It works the same, but they’re independent of each other. A teacher can help you knock points off your penalty if their own score is high enough.

  Devin – All right. Thanks, Milo.

  As soon as Devin closed Party Chat, another achievement window appeared.

  Achievement Unlocked! – Hot for Teacher. In case you’re not aware, you and Asha working together is hot. I mean, smoking. You’re a couple of delicious snacks, and you’ve got some real chemistry.

  Keep this between the three of us, but that’s the only reason I let you learn Trapmaking from her. I really had to fudge some numbers to make it work.

  Reward: Buff – Hot for Teacher – While this buff is active, your attributes will advance as if each of you were being instructed by a teacher with a ‘Trapmaking’ ability 40 points higher than yours. Basically, I’m letting you teach each other at the same time. This buff will last an hour, as long as you two keep me interested.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  A new icon appeared above his head and Asha’s. It was a crude representation of a female teacher leaning over a desk where a student sat. The timer started at 59:59 and counted down.

  Asha raised an eyebrow. “It seems the gods have an interesting sense of humor.”

  “Agh … I’m sorry,” Devin said. Unlike him, it seemed the AI had no trouble translating humor across languages and cultures.

  “What are you sorry for?” Asha said. “Getting us a sweet buff?”

  “It’s creepy,” Devin said.

  Asha smiled and stretched. “Maybe,” she said. “But I’ve found it’s best to give the gods what they want.” She looked up. “Is it just me or is it warm out here?”

  She pulled her tunic over her head, revealing the silk garment she’d gotten. It covered her, but the fabric was thin. Very thin.

  Devin gaped. She stepped close to him, putting her face next to his.

  “We need to put on a show,” she whispered. “Take off that stupid outfit and let’s get some increases.”

  Devin turned red, but he pulled off his own shirt. Devin had always been athletic, but he had to admit he looked even better now than he had back on Earth. He smiled at her and flexed his pecs.

  Asha raised an eyebrow, then swatted him on the butt.

  “Get to work on that rope trap,” she said.

  He did, and it went much easier. Up until now, he’d been following instructions, memorizing steps and trying to copy them as best he could. Now, he could sort of see how things were supposed to go together.

  Devin forgot to think about looking sexy and he even managed to stop thinking about what Asha looked like. His fingers moved through the steps with only a few mistakes here and there. He finished without any major screwups.

  “Very nice,” Asha said. “You’re ready for more complicated work. Now we’ll try a rope trap with a log spike. This is a two-person job, and it’s going to be tricky. Follow my lead.”

  He made more errors this time, but Asha was there to show him what he’d done wrong. Both of their increases rolled in at a steady pace. Devin was grateful that the AI had solved the problem by helping Asha instead of holding him back.

  They kept at it until the buff disappeared. Asha pulled her tunic back on while Devin struggled to get into his shirt, which seemed to have shrunk in the last hour. They took a break, and at last Devin had time to look at their increases.

  He’d gained 6 points in Calculation and 2 in Intuition, and he’d brought his Trapmaking penalty down to -18.

  Asha’s increases were incredible. She gained 18 Attribute points, which was a massive increase for a Copper level. It was almost enough to make him stop feeling guilty for watching her parade around in her underwear.

  “You were right,” Devin said. “You’re a damned good teacher.”

  “With that buff, it almost feels like you taught me,” Asha said.

  Devin’s chuckle was broken by a yawn. It had been the longest day of his life, and they still had to sit through Milo’s stupid planning session.

  The meeting was boring as he thought it would be. They spent forever talking about the learning buff he and Asha had gotten. Milo made Devin go over the most minute details of the one-hour session, and Devin kept dozing off in the middle of it.

  It was almost 1 a.m. by the time they were done. Devin got up from where he had fallen asleep on a stump and started trying to gather up the materials to make another trap. He tripped over something and fell to the forest floor. He was so sleepy it felt like a feather bed.

  “I’ll get up in a minute,” he muttered.

  “Go to sleep,” Asha said. She looked like she’d just come back from a two-day vacation. Even her clothes were clean. “If you tried to make a trap right now, you’d kill us both.”

  Right before he drifted off, he heard a soft rustle. The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was Asha sitting against a nearby tree with her eyes half closed.

  Casey shook Devin awake the next morning. He was disoriented for a second, then he realized he was back in the clearing.

  He yawned. “How did I get here?” he said.

  "Asha carried you back,” Casey said. She handed him a cup of cold water.

  Devin grimaced. “Well, that’s emasculating.”

  “You can carry me around again if it makes you feel more manly,” Grigor said.

  Devin chuckled and looked around. Everything was different. The cabin looked as sturdy as a fort. Only the northern wall and roof were still unfinished. The southern wall was broken by an opening the size of a door. That would be Devin’s hidey hole.

  He’d missed breakfast, so he grabbed some jerky as he walked around the clearing. Someone had done more digging, and the pit on the northern side of the cabin was deeper than ever. Grigor had improved the bucket system, adding a couple more pulleys so it automatically poured the dirt out into small cart that he’d somehow found time to build. The cart was half-full of dirt, and a familiar chain was attached to the front.

  Milo napped under the cart while Casey made potions. Asha, as usual, had disappeared into the forest at first light.

  Devin saw that Milo had a new symbol above his head, a brain. He checked the description.

  Big Brain (Buff) – You will receive a +5 bonus on your next three mental ability checks.

  Devin shook his head. Only Milo would get a buff like that.

  “Anything interesting happen while I was asleep?” he said.

  “Aside from Asha stripping down to her underwear to try to entice the gods to help her learn blacksmithing from Grigor, then burning herself on the forge?” Casey said. “Not much.”

  Devin blinked and glanced at Grigor. The big man’s face was expressionless, but his ears were bright red.

  “Seriously?” Devin said.

  “I tried to remind her that pushing the gods is unwise, but she was determined,” Milo said. “You’ve been setting a bad example.”

  Devin shook his head. “What the hell, Grigor? You let Asha get burned?”

  “You’re blaming me?” Grigor said. He crossed his arms. “She was so focused on trying to make a performance of it that she couldn’t even make a simple trivet from square stock.”

  “Why’d you even try to teach her then?” Devin said. "Were you enjoying her performance?”

  He took a step towards the big man.

  Casey put a hand on Devin’s arm. He realized his fist was clenched and his arm was drawn back. Grigor was watching him with one eyebrow raised.

  “Are you planning on punching me, boss?” he said.

  “Of course not,” Devin said.

  What the hell was the matter with him? He looked around at all the work Grigor had done. He’d been working his ass off for the cause.

  “I’m sorry, man,” Devin said. “I’m tired. I can’t believe how much you’ve done. Did you even sleep last night?”

  “I can sleep after we survive this,” Grigor said.

  Devin glanced at Casey.

  She shrugged. “He’s not fatigued. I guess he’s one of those people who doesn’t need much sleep.”

  Grigor pushed a board into place, drove in a nail, and wiped off his hands. “Let me get a shovel enhanced for you so you can get back to work.”

  Devin groaned and took a second to thank the gods that his enhanced skin didn’t get blisters.