The wizard’s house was a longer walk than any of them expected, though Marco could tell his team didn’t mind. They were still glowing with the joy of brand-new gear.

Unfortunately, despite making their way around so many houses, he hadn’t been able to pick out something for himself. The way his class worked was simple and very convenient in a lot of ways. If he killed things, he got stronger. That was in the end what the Gluttonous part of his class name meant. The power of monsters went to his ship, while taking out other ships captains meant his gear grew in quality. That was why he was able to adventure in what amounted to level one appropriate equipment while fighting with krakens and pirate armadas. His rapier was not just his sword but bits of every sword it had eaten. His armor was not just cheap-looking, very uncool low-level buccaneer gear but pretty elite armor for his stage. And he had it all without spending a dime.

That also meant gear runs like this were less useful for him. He had convinced himself in the past that upgrading the ship, something he was often able to do, was just as good. He was also sure he’d find a ring, a pendant, or something that would give him a minor boost. But it was still hard to keep a brave face up and running as all of his friends saw all of their wildest dreams come true.

“Here we are.” After Marco had plenty of time to brood, the short man finally stopped in front of what looked like a conventional barn. “My birds are through here.”

The building stunk. There was no nice way to put that. There were birds of all kinds, shapes, and sizes, and each of them was producing their own brand of smell that mingled with the others into a thick but invisible cloud of odor.

“I keep the chickens near the door since that’s what people tend to see. Come here, you.” The Fowl Wizard’s hand darted into a cage and came out cradling a juvenile hen. “This is what you probably want. Not quite laying yet, but she will be within the next few months.”

“And what makes it special, if not the eggs?” Marco had half expected the hens to glow in the dark. This one looked normal. “I’m assuming there’s something.”

“Depends on the bird. I can make them smarter, which matters if there are predators in the area. Those over there?” He pointed at another cage filled with identical hens. “They have enhanced stats. They can kill a conventional fox dead.”

“And this one?” Aethe reached and smoothed the feathers on the hen’s head. It clucked nervously at her. “What’s her story?”

“She’s a hider.” The wizard looked down affectionately. “That’s the highest level thing I can do, and I’ve been doing this my whole life. She hides.”

“Don’t all chickens hide? I mean if something threatens them.” Marco frowned. “I don’t know that much about birds.”

“Maybe, but not like she does. She’s no more tough or strong than a normal chicken, but she’s aware. And if she’s threatened, I mean really in danger, she’ll just… wink out. Disappear. Not invisible, but better. It’s like she doesn’t exist.”

Everyone stopped for a moment to digest that.

“Where do they go? Riv finally asked.

“Oh, they bind to the ship. From the first time this thing lays its feet on a deck, it’s part of that ship. They show up as equipment does in the Captain’s system screen.”

“Can he…” Elisa’s eyebrows dropped. “Can he repair it?”

“No,” the miniature man protested immediately. “Of course not.”

“Here’s my problem,” Marco said. “They just lay an egg a day, right? That’s not enough for us all. We’d have to either fight over it or get four of them.”

“Then we are getting four. And that’s that,” Elisa said.

“I don’t know,” the wizard said. “You’re down to two purses of gold. I don’t think you’ll have enough.”

“Oh. Don’t worry about that. We’ll get it.”

—

The trip back to the ship was a good half hours worth of walking, even taking a more direct route. They had ranged further than they expected, buying and browsing and looking for goods. Even if that hadn’t been enough, they were now trying to make the trip back while holding four reasonably large wooden chicken coops that the Fowl Wizard had demanded they nail to the deck of the ship.

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“They can’t sleep in the ship’s space they disappear to,” the wizard had said. “Don’t ask me why. But I wouldn’t worry about them too much. So long as you feed them and provide them water, the coops should be enough for them. They just need a place to go.”

Once they did get back, it only took a few minutes for Riv to pin down the boxes. The sun was dipping low in the sky by then, and they all seemed to realize at once that they had no idea what to do with night coming on.

“We could just leave,” Marco said. “An hour or so out and we’d be in deep ocean. Nobody would be likely to attack us if they couldn’t find us.”

“Nobody, but not no things. We could have another kraken incident,” Riv said.

“And the island does seem pretty nice,” Aethe added. “Even considering the fact that your mortal temple enemy lives here.”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that,” Marco said. “Is there any law that says he has to be my enemy? He’s claimed a temple but so have we. I don’t really think of us evil when it comes down to it.”

“I mean, he had to get it somehow. It might have been violent,” Elisa offered. “We can’t be too careful.”

“We can’t, but we also are trading a known risk for a possible one. That has to balance somehow.”

“So what’s your thinking? Because I know you haven’t satisfied yourself as far as shopping goes.. Don’t think we didn’t see you looking all jealous.”

“You did? I thought I hid it pretty well.”

“No,” Riv said. “You did not. And I think that settles it. We can stay in one of the inns we saw today, take shifts standing guard, but sleep in real beds. Then we have another breakfast and spend the day looking for your gear. The entire day.”

“That’s too much.”

“No it’s not, Marco,” Aethe said. “Not when your build makes our ship better. It’s more important than our builds are. It just is. You help all of us stay alive. That means we spend time on you, too.”

“Also nobody wants to see you mope. It’s annoying.” Elisa put the final nail in the argument.

As they left the ship, the two brothers were waiting for them, smoking pipes and leaning on the posts that secured the docks to the shore.

“Oh, coming back in? We thought you might be leaving,” the bigger one of them said.

“No, we just came back here after talking to the bird guy,” Marco said. “We’ll be staying in an inn tonight.”

“The bird guy?” Tauncy looked interested. “What bird guy?”

“You know. Little guy. Covered with birds. And bird stuff.”

“The Fowl Wizard?” Tauncy almost yelled. “You talked to that guy? You didn’t hurt his birds, right?”

“Of course they didn’t, idiot,” Bhul said. “If they had, they’d be dead now.”

“Dead? I don’t mean this the wrong way, but he doesn’t look like much.”

“No, he doesn’t. That doesn’t mean he isn’t much. Some of those birds he breeds are for self defense. They started out as monsters and he made them small.”

“And this is a guy who can make a rooster able to kill a wolf,” Tauncy said. “Imagine what he can do with a monster bird.”

“One of those did look a little like the bird that attacked us at sea.” Marco gulped. They had quite a lot of trouble with that. They were stronger now, but the guy they had been talking to had a big flock of different birds. He couldn’t imagine fighting five of them, let alone more. “You don’t think we offended him, do you?”

“If you didn’t bother his birds, then you didn’t bother him. It’s all he cares about,” Bhul said. “Anyway, enjoy your night. Nothing will happen to your boat here.”

“That’s a guarantee?” Riv said. “You’ll stay out here all night?”

“No. But nobody would mess with ships at the docks. Or visitors at all, for that matter. Quill wouldn’t tolerate it.”

“Quill?” Marco said. “Like the name of the town?”

“Our intrepid leader. He keeps things safe.” Bhul waved them on. “But don’t let us keep you. And word to the wise? Go to the inn with the picture of the bear on the door. They don’t have breakfast, but you don’t need them to.”

“Got it.” Marco had no reason to doubt the recommendation. “Thanks.”

The inn ended up being perfect. Inns in the town seemed to be a more occasionally used thing, judging by how surprised and pleased the innkeeper was when he found out they were planning on paying with coin. A few gold pieces bought them all baths, laundry service, food and drinks, and small but perfectly comfortable rooms. Even better, the four rooms in the inn were all there were, at the end of a hallway with a closing and locking door. One person could sit outside the rooms and watch all four doors at once with a layer of safety between them and the outside world. With more than ten hours from when they started getting sleepy, that meant they could all get a full eight pretty easily.

Before they went to bed, they ate a hearty meal of fresh vegetables, big slabs of meat, and fresh-baked bread. Marco was the only person not to drink at least a little, and took the first shift of watch to give Riv and Elisa some times to sober up. Aethe had gotten a little carried away before realizing just how strong the ale in the inn was, and Marco let Elisa know to wake him up for a second shift if Aethe wasn’t in good shape by then.

Sure enough, Elisa came and woke him up for a second go at the watch at the end of her shift. Marco didn’t mind, really. Compared to most days, yesterday had been pretty restful for him overall. He was glad to give Aethe an unbroken night of sleep, while he still got most of his.

An hour into her shift, she came out, holding her head.

“You took my watch,” Aethe said.

“I did. I asked Elisa to wake me up if it was hard for you.”

“My head feels like a big rock.”

“Anything I can do?”

Aethe yawned and walked over to the chair he had dragged out to the hallway. Looking down at him and smiling sleepily, she plopped in his lap, threw her hands around him, and buried her face in his neck.

“This is fine,” she said. “Going back to sleep now.”

When Riv and Elisa emerged from their rooms an hour later, he held a finger up to his lips, hoping to wake Aethe up gently and to avoid getting made fun of. The first half worked, but the second half turned out to be a mere delay.

“So sweet, you two,” Riv said. “Really. It makes me want to find love.”