Each day Myles grew stronger, as did his appetite for properly cooked food.

  By the time he was cooking for a small army again, the day had arrived, and it was time to meet with the prospective healers for the team. They’d be arriving by noon, and he didn’t think it would be bad to be a proper host now that his strength was more or less back.

  Thank you, Brawn.

  Throughout the morning, Myles proofed, cooked, and prepared with Kit and Mitchel in tow, knowing the rest would be by later when Myles thinned the numbers with his friend’s help.

  Dough floated, then oven hummed, bread hovered over furnature as it cooled to warm the seating to a more pleasant degree, and The three were a whirlwind as Myles got used to moving through the familiar motions and magics again.

  Then, the first knock came, and with it, the real test began.

  “Nod, get the door.”

  Easily mistaken for a statue, the stalk still suit of cracked, dark armor moved at Myles’s command, and the Nightmare Incarnate known as Nod showed itself. Red light seeped from openings in the helmet and the cracks spider-webbing its body, seeping the room in a feeling of unease that Myles easily ignored. Kit glared, and Myles didn’t miss the way Mitchel tensed, but the [Armored Wall] wouldn’t have been a good tank if that was enough to break his concentration.

  The dark knight of nightmares given form looked at Myles through its blood red nebula and nodded his agreement before walked silent as a ghost. “As you command.”

  Opening the door to its fullest, Nod looked down on the first arrival as the winter wind whipped its way past his large frame.

  The woman screamed something unintelligible, and that was all Myles knew before Nod shut the door a moment later.

  “She believed she had the wrong address.”

  Myles sighed.

  One healer down, but in all honesty, if they couldn’t handle simply seeing Nod, how would they fight alongside him? Everyone knew he was a [Monster Tamer] it shouldn’t be strange to think there’d be monsters in his service, would it? Then again, maybe it was the fear that draped his monster like a heavy blanket. Did it really matter?

  With that thought, he went back to cooking.

  Five minutes later, there was another knock, and Myles gave the same orders.

  Thankfully, there wasn’t a scream or a thud, just the wind as Nod stepped aside. “Announcing, Nine-Ghosts, [Soul Channeler].”

  Nine-Ghosts?

  The name sounded Beastkin, but as Myles finished settling the food and looked at the newcomer, he noticed the very unbeast-like appearance of his first real healer candidate.

  With hair the color of winter and eyes like ice, the woman was shorter than Myles but carried a light presence. She was covered in a heavy coat and hat, so Myles could tell little else as she passed the threshold and spoke with a voice that reminded him more of Lyna than Tail.

  “Where can I take care of this?” she asked, motioning to her coat as she removed her hat. “It’s a blizzard out there.”

  Because nothing could be easy for his team, of course.

  “The coat rack is by the door,” Myles said, motioning with his chin as he began washing up. “I’ll be with you in a second. Bread? Butter?”

  “Gods, yes,” she answered as she hung up her coat and took it as an invitation to come further in. Without the coat, Myles noticed she wore a coat of glimmering mail. The rings covered her arms and legs easily, and must have been freezing in this weather. As she got closer, he noticed the rings weren’t metal however. They were made from what looked like crystal. The links of the armor caught the light as she moved, but didn’t keep it as it passed through to the fur lined leather armor below.

  “Spirit Armor?” Mitchel asked, faster on the upkeep.

  “Channeled Armor, but close enough,” Nine-Ghosts replied. “Now, I’m starving. Food then talk.”

  Mitchel laughed at the girl’s forwardness, and Myles grumbled good-naturedly. This was not getting off to the start he wanted, but he always enjoyed people that had their priorities straight.

  As he handed off a slice of warm bread, buttered from edge to edge, another prospect came knocking.

  Nod answered the door once more, but the response was louder this time as a distinctly loud voice cut the winter’s wind.

  “A golem?” the voice asked before pressing in to where Myles could see him. “No, I don’t sense a power core. Some other construct then? A monster… a durahan? No, you have your head… well, sort of.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “He’s an evolved spirit ripper,” Myles said from the kitchen counter. “A nightmare incarnate using my memories to create a solid body here in the physical plane.”

  “A Somniums resident? Here in the material plane? Amazing…” the man said before entering proper, putting his coats, all three of them, onto the coat rack before giving the three in resident a winning smile. “I’m Frog, [Druid of the Flesh] and [Mechanist].”

  “Just Frog?” Mitchel asked.

  Frog gave a bow, nearly taking the hat off his head before he could remove it and place it with the coats. His bushy beard nearly swept the floor with the action. “Well, it’s actually Francis Aurillis Genus, but everyone thinks that’s a bit much.”

  “Agreed,” the [Shield Wall] laughed. “Frog is a great name.”

  Frog was not a frog, but a man with a squat, rounded face, black hair that came into an equally squatly beard, and a pair of glasses that made him seem more homly than heroic. From first appereance, Myles assumed he was either just a stalky man or a tall dwarf but didn’t want to be rude by asking.

  The worn, fraying robes he wore was patched with mismatched colors caught the eye even more as he looked around the room, taking Myles, Mitchel, Nod, and Nine-Ghosts in. At least his instinct seemed to be right on, and he was the only other dual classed Runner he’d met that he knew of. Two things that worked well in the man’s favor.

  “Bread?” Myles asked, making the same offer he had before.

  “Yes, please.”

  Before Myles could even start buttering the healer up, Nod was opening the door again and a horrible sound echoed, drawing everyones attention to the thin woman. Even Myles had to cover his ears as the sound echoed through the house. It felt like nails on the chalkboard of his mind as some of the thinner metal and glass pieces around him began to vibrate slightly.

  After a moment, the newcomer seemed to realize the others were in pain as their hands cupped their ears and refused to leave. As soon as the thought registered, along with the fact that the eyes of the entire house were trained towards her, the noise stopped, and she blinked.

  “Sorry, I don’t realize sometimes when I slip into other tongues. That must have been a rough one. Is everyone okay?”

  His [Shardking’s Shield] continued the introduction for her, not letting Myles respond. “Announcing Verass Pand [Free Merchant].”

  A merchant?

  Verass was one Myles was aware of already, but her Class didn’t add up.

  “You want to be our healer?” Myles asked doing his best not to be rude and handed her a slice of bread.

  “Yep!” she said, accepting the warm slice. Bringing it to her nose, the took a deep breath and smiled. “Do you have jam?”

  Myles shook his head. “Sorry, I’m fresh out.”

  That seemed to peak her smile as she pulled out a coin, a silver. “No problem. Strawberry jam.” The silver coin vanish in a flash and was replaced by a rather large jar of red jelly that looked entirely too similar to Medic’s slime.

  Myles was impressed and took the offered jar. Going back to the kitchen, he grabbed a butter knife, opened the top, and handed them to Verass who had followed. “What did you just do?”

  “It’s a Trait,” she said with a grin. “Free Market. If an item exists and is within reason, I can spend coin or trade items I have on me to import it.”

  Myles starred as she explained and took his time looking between her and the open jar of strawberry jam. “You’re joking.”

  The grin never left her face. “After Somniums, my Class evolved and my Path only made me more flexible. I can wheel and deal with the best of them, Myles. Well, at least five times a day, anyways.”

  “And you want to fight?”

  “Yep,” she smiled, jellying her bread. “Well, I’d like to make sure we all make it through this, and you seem like our best chance outside of Sindra’s Seekers. If I can throw a team’s money at a problem and make it go away while earning more, why shouldn’t I give it a shot?”

  Myles considered that, but before he could consider the use of her abilities to help the team, another knock took him from his line of thought.

  The throng had arrived.

  “Announcing Rinn Gly [Necromancer], Sarah Lee [Bone Dancer], Winter Sky [Nervemancer], Gin of House Tonic [Brew Baron]…”

  Nod began announcing names, and for some reason, people that thought they were healers were not in as short of supply as Myles thought.

  Silently, he cursed Mitchel’s opened ended wording as twenty people soon found their way into his living room, eating his food, and chatting about how they could benefit their new team to be.

  “Madigan Silver [Beast Binder]...”

  Kit looked them over curiously, furrowed her brow, and went back to the bathroom. The room locked with an audible click Myles didn’t miss.

  “Haru Sela [Ectomancer]…”

  Mitchel was slightly red-faced as the names continued and silently mouthed a sorry to Myles.

  Myles sighed, giving him a nod. How could he have known how many people were looking for a way onto their team or a free meal?

  The gathered crowd grew by another three in that time, and the room was jam-packed with applicants. How many of them were viable? Myles had no idea as he lost track of the names as the stream died down.

  “Alright!” Myles called, but his voice was drowned out by the collected cacophony. So, he tried again putting all the force he could muster behind it. “Hey!”

  A few quieted at that, but the majority continued as if he hadn’t even tried.

  That simply wouldn’t do.

  Fighting fire with fire, Myles broke one of his most important rules and stood on his table, clearing his throat to get the assembled’s attention. “Listen up!”

  From his vantage point, the oddity of the scene, and the boom of his voice, the masses fell silent and those that ignored him the first time turned to face him. “If you’re here for the try out, you’re welcomed to stay, but if you’re here to freeload, please find your way to the door.” Then, looking at Mitchel. “My partner here will take down your information before we get started. If you can’t explain your reasoning and abilities to heal, you’re out of the running. If you can reason it, we’ll give you a try. I was a [Baker] starting out here, so I can’t say you can’t till you can’t.” Taking a breath, Myles went through the speech then added, “If you put my friends in danger for a free meal because you lie to him, I’ll personally deal with you, and you don’t want that.”

  “Why?” asked someone he was sure to point out to Mitchel to cut.

  Nod?

  The Nightmare Incarnate didn’t need another prompt as he slowly made his way from the door as easily as fog moved across the morning fields to where the man stood. Like a looming force of nature, Nod overshadowed him and red light bathed his head as the jagged teeth that made up the opening of his mask echoed each and every word. “Because Master Myles will not tolerate anyone that has the intent of hurting his team.”

  That seemed to be the end of the questions despite Myles waiting for more. “Okay then, if that’s settled, let’s get started.”