Casey and Milo joined Devin in the Astral Hall while Grigor was being enhanced. Asha stayed in the forest.

  The first thing Devin did was try out the wardrobe. It was a large wooden box with a small slot on the side.

  Wardrobe (Astral Hall Accessory, Rare)

  This device provides clothing for members of your party. Almost everything will be normal, but occasionally you’ll get something cool. It’s sort of like one of those old gumball machines with a watch in it. Costs 1 Matter shard. Limited to one use per party member per Senarci month.

  “Bummer,” Devin said. “I didn’t know it costs shards.”

  “It’s only one,” Milo said. “And I don’t require any clothing.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Devin smirked and put a shard in. “For Milo,” he said.

  A dog sweater appeared in the box, perfectly sized for Milo’s Weimaraner body. It had little blue hearts on it.

  “What is this abomination?” Milo said.

  “Try it on,” Devin said. “It’s going to look great.”

  “No,” Milo said.

  “Please?” Casey said. “I want to see how it looks.”

  Milo grumbled, but as usual, Casey got her way. He allowed her to put the sweater on him.

  Casey squealed. “You look adorable!”

  Milo stiffened then fell onto his side. “I refuse to proceed until you remove this... this... straight jacket.”

  Devin laughed so hard he could barely breathe. “You are pure cat, Milo. I’ll never be able to see you as a dog again.”

  Casey wiped tears from her eyes and helped Milo out of the sweater. “It’s a shame you hate it. It would be better than armor. No one could possibly hurt you when you look that cute!”

  “We shall not speak of this humiliation again,” Milo said.

  Devin nodded solemnly, barely managing not to laugh again.

  “My turn,” he said. He put a shard in the slot and peered in to see … underwear.

  Silk Boxers (Clothing, Common)

  You’ve been going commando for a while now, and it’s gotten really disturbing. You’re welcome.

  Devin frowned. “I was expecting more …”

  “Outerwear?” Casey said.

  “Yeah,” Devin said. He shrugged and retreated into one of the side rooms, undressed, and slipped the boxers on.

  They were soft and comfortable. It felt like wearing a cloud. His annoyance faded.

  He returned to the main room and approached the wardrobe.

  “Do you think I can get Asha’s?” he said.

  “It’s worth a try,” Casey said.

  Devin inserted the shard. “This is for Asha,” he said.

  The box opened to reveal something soft and filmy.

  Elegant Chemise (Clothing, Common)

  For the lady on the go, this garment prevents chafing while making you look good at the same time.

  Milo snickered. “Keeping a clear mind is important in matters such as these. Your thoughts can often influence outcomes.”

  “Ummm …” Devin said. His face was bright red.

  Casey took the garment. “I’ll give it to her,” she said. “I think that’ll be less embarrassing.”

  “Thanks,” Devin said, unable to conceal his blush. “Maybe I should leave the room in case …”

  “In case it gives me underwear?” Casey said. “I think we’ll both survive the experience.” She put in a Matter shard.

  The Wardrobe clicked, then played a jaunty tune.

  Achievement Unlocked! You Look Marvelous! Casey got the first cool item out of the Wardrobe, on her first try. This was her own luck, Devin. Nothing to do with you, Devin.

  Reward: An awesome dress and the knowledge that you succeeded where Devin failed.

  “Why do I feel like the AI is still pissed at me?” Devin said.

  Casey removed the garment from the wardrobe. It was a gorgeous white kaftan dress made of gauzy fine linen. A dragonfly embroidered in fine silver thread decorated the side of the kaftan. The dragonfly’s eyes were two flawless emeralds.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Chosen’s Kaftan (Clothing, Matter, Silver, Rare)

  The material and color of this kaftan will adjust itself to provide camouflage in battle, comfort in casual affairs, or appropriate attire for formal occasions. The kaftan provides protection from moderate environmental factors such as heat and cold.

  This kaftan will repair itself as if it were Silver-level armor. This kaftan can only be worn by Casey Bailey.

  “Woah!” Devin said. “Grats! You have your own magically tailored outfit.”

  Casey blushed. “I have to make potions,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

  She went through the alchemy lab door without another word. Devin watched her go.

  “Is she upset with me about something?” Devin said.

  “That’s something on which I cannot guide you,” Milo said. “If I could, I’d say not everything is about you.”

  Devin sighed and got back to business. His game clock included a function that showed him the current time in Teth – 8 a.m. - along with the current Astral Hall-to-Senarci time ratio, which was 8:2. That meant the next 8 hours here would only be 2 on Senarci. Unless Grigor had a very long enhancement, he should be done before Teth noon.

  “Will you wait on Grigor to finish?” Devin said. “I want to get started preparing the ambush.”

  Milo hopped up onto a couch, turned around three times, and laid down. “I suppose I can make that sacrifice.”

  “That doesn’t mean you get a vacation,” Devin said. “I want you to figure out how long we have until the enemy arrives.”

  “I can’t access my powers here,” Milo said.

  “I don’t need your powers, just your brain,” Devin said. “Can’t you make an estimate from the data you have?”

  “I don’t have any data,” Milo said. “There’s going to be an unacceptably high degree of uncertainty to any predictions I make. In terms your limited intellect could understand, I would be guessing, and I don’t guess.”

  Devin scratched him on the head. “I have faith in you,” he said.

  Before Milo could respond, Devin went through the portal to Winsley Farm.

  He only stayed at the farm long enough to grab the axe and the shovel. Milo said they could fast travel from node to node without visiting the Astral Hall, so Devin ported to the forest node.

  Traveling like that made a wave of fatigue wash over him, but he pushed through it. He hoped it would get easier with practice.

  Asha was crafting arrows when he stepped through the portal back into the forest. Somehow, she seemed even more beautiful. Was it some effect of the enhancement? He’d never actually seen someone after they were first enhanced, except for himself. He took out his dagger and tried to see his reflection. It was distorted, but he seemed like the same old Devin he’d always been. I mean he maybe looked a little more beefy, but enhanced strength didn’t come from giant muscles in this world. If it did, Casey and Asha would look like she-hulks.

  He noticed Asha giving him the side-eye, and he decided it was time to stop acting like a weirdo.

  “What’s your range with that bow?” he said.

  “I like to be within 200 meters,” she said. “The longest hit I’ve scored was around 400, but that was from high ground.”

  “Four hundred meters? Are you freaking kidding me?”

  “Why would I be kidding? A bear went rabid and was attacking farms. It was out in the open when I shot it, and there was no wind. It took eight arrows to take him down. He was halfway up the tree I was sitting in before I finished him off. That was an exciting day.”

  “I don’t think anyone on my world ever made a shot that long.”

  “What can I say?” Asha said. “I’ve got a nice bow and I’ve been practicing since I could hold it.”

  “I can’t wait to see your range now that you’re enhanced,” Devin said. “If you don’t mind, I need you to keep a lookout from that hill until the others get back. You can take practice shots and get a feel for your new range.”

  “Sure. I’ll need to make some bodkins at some point, especially if we’re going to be fighting armored opponents, but these are fine to practice with.”

  She turned to go. Devin cleared his throat, and she looked back around.

  “Do you know how to hide a giant pit from a bunch of people with Silver senses?” he said.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You’re making a pit trap?”

  “Yep.”

  “Where are you planning to put it?”

  Devin pointed to the north side of the cabin. “Right there.”

  Asha paced over to the area and knelt to check the ground. “How big?” she said.

  “Five by five by five,” he said.

  “Pretty big, then.” She stood and circled the area. Then she walked across it, stopping to check the ground halfway. She returned to face Devin.

  “I can hide it.”

  He blinked a few times. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that,” Asha said. “It’s going to be a lot of digging. Do you think it’ll be worth it?”

  “I do,” Devin said.

  “Please tell me that a pit isn’t your only plan,” she said.

  “It’s not my only plan,” he said.

  She smiled. “Good. Anything else?”

  “I don’t think so,” he said.

  She tilted her head.

  “What?” he said.

  “You were worried about me keeping secrets earlier,” she said. “You’re not going to ask what I got from that Achievement?”

  “Nope,” he said. “I’ve concluded that everyone has secrets, and that’s OK.”

  She raised an eyebrow. Then she winked at him and glided into the forest. He watched her go.

  Devin got to work. He cleared all the junk from the cabin into a couple of piles. Then he walked around the clearing several times, marking off locations for the surprises he was preparing for his enemies. Next, he dug the outline of a pit trap.

  The ground here was much harder to dig than at the farm. There were more roots than dirt. It took about 30 seconds to break the shovel, and he had to finish digging the edge of the pit with stones.

  It didn’t take long for him to notice a problem – the overturned dirt and broken ground was as obvious as a flashing neon sign.

  His frustration overwhelmed him and he threw the stone he was holding into the ground. “How the hell are we going to hide this pit?” he said. “This is the stupidest plan ever.”

  The closest living thing to him was a pair of bluejays in a nearby tree, and they didn’t respond. Devin sighed. He was heading towards one of his dark moods.

  Fortunately, the cure for that was all around him. He walked out of the clearing into the trees.

  Devin had grown up in the middle of an Arkansas pine forest. His mother’s family had owned all the land around the area, and his grandfather had given a few acres to his mother as a wedding gift when she married his father. They’d built a small house there, tucked between the trees.

  For a while, it had been just the three of them. Back when his dad had been around, he and Devin had cut trails and built tree forts together. That was when it was trees as far as he could go in any direction –before his cousins started selling off their land.

  After his dad left, it had been him and his mom. Devin had spent more and more time in the woods, mostly to escape the parade of boyfriends his mother had dated. The forest had been his only friend until he moved away to go to college.

  Devin and his mother were estranged by then. When she died, she left the land to her stepson, who’d sold it to the town. By then, Devin was working as a personal trainer and earning more money than he could spend, so that wasn’t what bothered him. He didn’t even really care that his mother had written him out of her will. What did bother him was what happened to his forest.

  The city had clear-cut the area to build a new high school, and seeing photos of the bare land before the school was built had hit Devin hard. What had seemed a whole universe encompassing tens of thousands of little lives was reduced to a graveyard of stumps and mud.

  Now he’d found a new forest. It was much grander than the one he’d left behind 30 years ago. Maybe the whole forest wasn’t his, but the node controlled a pretty big part of it.

  He found that once he walked through a section of his area of influence, everything became a lot clearer on his interface. He opened and closed his map as he walked, tinkering with its size and position and getting used to having it open.

  After a little while, he turned off the interface and let himself feel the land. It was like all the anger drained away to nothing and his affinity to the node deepened. His powers felt even closer here than they did at the other nodes.

  He walked the forest until Milo messaged him to let him know that Grigor was finished.