Jack was back well before he was ever called to breakfast, having enough time to take a nice and long bath after a night of hard- not really that hard for Jack to be honest- work, so he did precisely that. There was something special about a long, hot bath that one could soak in and relax his body after an extended, and admittedly good, session of work. The fact that he had been cleaning up the absolute bottom feeders with propensity for scummery and other types of generally undesirable actions was a cherry on top, so to speak. Doing good deeds, as he had come to realize for a while now, did feel quite pleasant as well, though not to the point that he would go all around white knighting for every metaphorical damsel in distress. So long it helped his own agenda and was not too much out of the way however, Jack would help people out, every now and again.

  The kids have had quite the calm night, with just one random monster stumbling upon their camp, one that was promptly dispatched by Chiyo who was on guard duty at that particular moment. From what Jack had seen so far, the kids were fine, at least as far as morale allowed to. The camping part seemed to not quite be the love of their lives though, as their faces upon waking and gathering together were quite sour. 'get they are going to request some better and special made sleeping bags or the like, not the least willing to compromise on that part in the future.' he chuckled in his mind as he was already mentally mapping out the properties and specifics of such an item.

  The breakfast was so much more quiet than usual with the absence of kids, though that did not mean it was not pleasant either. Viki and the farmer squad were cheerful and ready for another day of experiments and calming work, while doing their best to fill out the silence. They too seemed a bit weirded out by it. Just a bit though.

  "We will have to get used to such days as well." Jack spoke eventually. He, of all people, knew that the kids would keep pushing further and further, always looking for a new adventure and greater monsters to slay- both to grow stronger and to get Jack better materials so he could in turn fuel the cycle further, allowing them to fight stronger monsters, then- rinse and repeat. He did not bother to hide the fact either, as he explained what 'he believed' to be going on in their heads and why they would keep going further and further.

  "So don't worry that much." he added "The noise at breakfast in a staple in our lives right now, but we will get used to both it and the silence, as well as learn to appreciate each for what they represent."

  "Boss, you sure you ain't some ancient monster?" Alonso asked as he scratched his beard. "Ain't no way all of what you have and had shared can fit in the head of a single man."

  "Heh." Jack snorted, a smile on his lips "Who knows man. Who knows. Though I doubt there's any reason for you to worry. You are all my people, are you not?"

  "Mhh. mhh." Viki nodded as she definitely agreed, her mouth still full with vegetables she was snacking on, straining to form a smile that conveyed her wholehearted agreement. She too was here, a part of Jack's people, and there was nothing in her memory, save for a couple, extremely fuzzy scenes of her own childhood, happily laughing and playing with her mother. Now however, she also had plenty of new, happy memories, formed ever since she met Jack. Now, each and every day was filled with happiness and joy as she, along with Alonso and the rest of the big oafs, had fun growing vegetables, herbs and fruit trees, laughing and messing around with the rest of the Stolen Constellation members when they were around and much more. There was nothing more she could ask for, at least nothing she could think of.

  Viki rushed over to Jack once she was done eating, with a smile on her face and without much ceremony hugged him, nuzzing her face in his side.

  "Thank you. Thank you for taking me in and giving me a family." she half whispered as tears of joy sneaked across her face, hidden from the sight of anyone who would cast their gaze upon the two. Jack's words, half joking as they were, had conveyed a greater truth with them, causing the dam of emotion in the girl to finally break free.

  "No biggie." Jack hummed, slowly caressing her hair, a rare moment of true gentleness in his eyes, a slightly crooked smile on his lips. 'Damn, I still grow attached too fast.' he chided himself in his mind with no actual reproach, only calm and acceptance, well aware that what was supposed to be yet another 'game run' for him, played in a different style this go around, had already changed much from the original plan. Sure, he was a guildmaster of his own small guild. Sure, he would be doing plenty of obscure shit, and sure, he would be playing the puppeteer of sorts, but it was in a whole different way. The guild- the people within to be precise- had become an integral and valuable part of his new life, and he was all too aware of just what levels of anger could, and would, assault him should they face undue and unjust suffering and loss. If there was one thing that gods did not like, it was something, or worse yet- someone, being stolen from them prematurely, and with him having access to elixir of vitality, something he would be capable of creating once he had enough high level materials(lots and lots of matter), said premature time would be forever.

  Viki stayed there, hugging Jack for a decent while, calming down and enjoying the headpats all the while, eventually releasing him and with a bright smile dashing away to join the rest of the farmer squad who had left soon after she began her hug. Jack remained there for a while longer, the same small smile still stuck on his face. It was miles better than what he had been doing at this point in time the first go around. Sure, slaying monsters non stop, growing stronger and stronger by the moment was fun and all, but it could never hope to compare to a group of friends to experience a new adventure together. Yea, he could not find one issue with the way he was 'playing' right now.

  The kids also made a quick call once they were all awake and done eating their own breakfast, delivering a quick recount of the night as well as their plans for the day, that, and as Jack had already guessed, complained about the way their current sleeping bags sucked a bag of dicks- something Jack laughed about when the comparison was made. He was holding back a great deal not to tease Fumiko- the speaker of the comparison- about her personal experiences she had used for the comparison, since by this point it was clear to all that besides Kenji and Kaede, who were doing it on the regular, no one else among the kids had any actual sexual experience. He failed at the end, earning a gasp and no doubt a very, very red face on account of Fumiko, who had hers covered with both palms as she was trying to sink into the earth. Though that embarrassment did not last long, as she shot to her legs and tried to reverse the in her favour situation by blasting back her own quip, that unfortunately did not land quite as she would have hoped, a simple "I told you, I don't do such things with kids. Ask after another few years maybe."

  "But sure, I will see what I can cook up in regard to the sleeping bags. I am that great after all." he added a few moments later when their morning call was about to end, with both sides returning to their own respective plans for the day. The kids kept clearing out the dungeon while Jack was using his growing matter reserves to make more equipment for the kids once they return and before they head out once again.

  The coming few days continued in the same pace for the kids, and Jack was also doing his own thing, though the merc did not appear again, seemingly having finished his bounty. Jack did visit Ramia a few times, talking about the business and whatnot, as well as about the news the merchant was receiving from his contacts and spies about the shitstorm that the rings of dematerialization had caused.

  "So expect another bunch of nosy and self important bunch of troublemakers to wash over the town, though with notable less combat potential. I am even more curious still, I have to admit." Ramia spoke eventually "Just what kind of an abomination of a class do you have to be able of such incredible crafting as well as such combat prowess?"

  "We all have our secrets. This is one of mine, still. Of course, you can always seek appraisal artifacts of greater and greater level and rarity to try and figure it out though." Jack laughed as he half taunted the other man.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "And waste more and more money on what is most likely a fruitless task? No, thank you very much. I have spy and information gathering network vast enough that I know there are a few legendary, though unlikely in your case, as well as unique classes, as well as skills that make most such items useless against them. Besides, even without knowing it, as vexing as it is, our ability to work together and in turn bring me mountains upon mountains of gold is not impeded in any sort of way. So be my guest, keep it a secret for all I care." Ramia replied, the slightest bit of amusement and irritation just barely noticeable in his voice- an action clearly taken on purpose by the merchant. He was old and shrewd enough to have picked such tricks up for his arsenal.

  They went over Jack's progress- if any- regarding any new spice mixes he might have created, though there had been no new progress for the time being. Both also knew very well why that was the case, what with Jack playing a clean up crew and what not. Not that Ramia needed anything of the sorts any time soon, the already provided recipes were already taking both the city and nearest other trade centers by storm, quickly earning the merchant new, almost guaranteed long time customers.

  The city felt quiet. Much more so than usual. The background noise of people moving around and getting to their own business was still there, but some imperceivable change had occurred. It was as though the town itself could feel a new storm incoming, thus the people felt just a little bit more tense, even if they themselves did not yet understand and notice it. Jack though? He sensed it, his own spirit so far above what should be in this plane allowed him to perceive it. The question though was regarding its origin. Was the city preparing for whatever would arrive in among the frenzied scouts chasing after the mysterious merc and the creator of his ring, or was that the preemptive reaction to the possible anger and rage Jack might unleash upon the area should be and his people be annoyed on too many times.

  As he returned back home from his trip to visit Ramia he also noticed that some of the local informants, as well as their people were already scouring the area, ears perked up and listening to any worthwhile rumors and the like. Jack did not hear anything worth his attention, leaving the area soon after.

  'Another couple of fools.' Jack sighed as he sensed eyes on him and a couple of people trailing him. 'Let's see if they stay in the distance, or they try something stupid.' he thought as he continued on his way, betraying not a single tell about his awareness of the tail that was stalking him. Thankfully, for the stalkers that is, they remained in the distance, seemingly either observing his routine or just checking a person of interest. There was word out there about a new guild forming- his guild- and that its core members were the group that held back monsters that tried to enter the city through the tunnel during the last beast tide. And since Jack was said guild's master, it was only natural that some eyes wound up on him, assuming of course tha t his current tail was there for that particular reason.He would find out in time though, so he calmly entered his mansion once back home, leaving his observers to their own devices. Should they try and sneak inside however, Jack would react entirely different.

  Day after day passed in a relative calm after that, with neither Jack nor anyone from his guild leaving their own home and with the kids still going through the dungeon as they had thus far. The party in the chimeric dungeon was advancing with decent speed, though they did not became complacent and overconfident in their own abilities, taking safety first approach to the whole ordeal, allowing Jack to spend a bit less of his time checking in on them and preparing to dart out of the city should something particularly dangerous emerges before the kids and threatens their lives.

  Ramia was on point with his side of things as well, warning Jack in advance the moment he was in the know himself about any new arrivals that came with the explicit desire to snoop around the merc and the new rings of deconstruction that surfaced here. It was just mere moments after he had finished one such exchange with the merchant, his body still sat in a chair that he was swinging back and forth on its two hind legs, about to check in on the kids progress momentarily that he was greeted by an unexpected notification from the system, One so unexpected he toppled over and fell with his chair, creating a decently sized sound as he landed on the floor. Not that he felt much pain- or any really from the fall itself. Still, he remained unmoving on the floor, staring gobsmacked at the notification, as though his personal system had experienced a crash and was trying to reboot.

  Chimeric garden complete. Awarded +1 unassigned stat point for participating. Calculating bonus reward.......

  Not qualified.

  "Wow. Just wow." he mouthed a few minutes later, his gaze still locked on the notification. That was something he did not expect. At all. And with that, million other questions arose in his head about this particular interaction and if there was a way to abuse it. The dungeon was within the necessary levels for him to get the participation reward, true, but what if it was not the case? Would the calculation be in regard to his own level? The levels of those inside the dungeon who wielded his creations? Or did all of that was based on the tier of the items themselves? If it was anything but the first, he could already see few hilarious results of it happening. His mind thus began to race, cooking up plans within plans as to his next few steps. Eventually though, he came to the obvious conclusion that it was about time for this Virtuoso to come out of the relative obscurity that he had remained for the time they had spent in Valkia. A new, incredibly capable low level weapon crafter was about to be born, or revealed to the masses in his case.

  "Did you forget to ask or mention something?" Ramia responded a few moments later. Jack had spent another ten to twenty minutes figuring shit out and then had immediately made a call to the merchant.

  "How well do you think weapons made by me, epic quality from tier 0 to tier 2 would sell? Either here or exported?" Jack asked without beating around the bush, all too well aware that there was no better person to be the linchpin of his new endeavour than Rania himself.

  "I thought you did not want to accelerate your fame spreading all that soon?" the merchant asked back, a slight chuckle in his voice.

  "Things changed. I have a need for a large test that involves many, different people using my weapons."

  "Hmm, I suppose you don't plan to share the reason for that test?"

  "It's a personal one. I get a sort of feedback on their performances, allowing me to gain new inspirations as a result, allowing me to progress further with my crafts and with less time spent waiting."

  "Ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha." Ramia laughed at Jacks explanation, all to aware just how insane such an ability to a crafter class would be. Doubly, no more so, for a Virtuoso class variant- something that the merchant believed Jack had. Since the class was unique, and thus not known to others, observe would, naturally, display on the basic class, as well as the base rarity of Virtuoso. Jack was not even really lying when he had delivered the explanation to the merchant though. There was no way the possibility of extra free attributes justy rolling his way could do anything but improve his mood, allowing him to think up more and better new items to manifest.

  "You are utterly, impossibly insane. Well, your class is at the very least. Fucking hell." Ramia spoke, his voice still fileld with the remnants of his last cackling spree, as well as excitement at the prospect of Jacks words. "As for the weapons? because it's me through whom they would be sold, our cooperation would have to become public of course, lest some fools try to use less savoury methods to acquire your services, I believe there would be plenty of customers. What kind of materials do you need to begin? I would need a set of at least twenty, one and two handed swords preferably, to start. Those weapons are the most common ones used by adventurers that start out after all. We could expand into custom made items once we gain traction. Would also allow for you to mask the extent of your capability in regards to weapon types you can forge. There are no smiths out there that have the range that you do when it comes to epic quality gear of any tier really. So, regarding the materials then?"

  "Anything of the tiers of items you want made really." Jack replied, earning a moment of silence.

  "What do you mean by that?" Rami questioned a few moments later, his voice filled with confusion. Sure, he was no smith himself, but even the dumbest of fools would know that steel weapons would need steel to be made, and so on and so forth. What was with Jacks request then? Thankfully, Jack was a merciful man and explained in a way that saved the older man, not so much in appearance anymore, more questions and extra headache.

  "More of my class bullshit. You will get used to it fairly soon."

  That elicited another round of near mad cackling, the merchant seeing piles upon piles of gold. No, mountains stacked upon mountains should Jacks ability to produce epic tier items translated even one tenth of this level to tiers above.

  "I will inform how much I can make with what you send over once it's here."

  "Expect a messenger early tomorrow." Ramia added before the call was ended. The merchant had things to send over and set up for the new trade he was about to sink his greedy and excited hands in, a glint of excitement and pure joy radiating from tehmans eyes.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 22

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +12

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage,