Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

"So, any leads on what it might be?" Lana asked, looking at Claire.

Claire sighed as her eyes darted to Lana. "You found a boss that nobody knew about, and then got an item drop that nobody has ever seen before. I know you're excited, but this is going to take time. Asking me every fifteen minutes isn't going to change that."

Lana made a zipping motion with her hand across her lips. Ian shook his head as he saw the corners of Lana's mouth tick up as she tried to hide her mirth.

Claire had been going through files and had moved from one analyzer to another for the last hour as she tried to identify the purple orb Ian and Lana had looted from Uln'lok. The front desk personnel had no luck with their common and uncommon identification skills, leaving Claire frustrated that her inherent skill only worked on living creatures.

"I think we might just be spinning our wheels at this point," Ian said. "Both Ruth and Jimmy are working towards getting the rare version of identify, so it should only be a matter of time before we know what the orb does."

"It isn't just about the grade of the skill, Ian," Claire said, her eyes tracking back to the orb. "Whoever uses the skill also needs to have the appropriate level to identify the item. It wouldn't make sense for a low-tier adventurer to be able to identify common-grade equipment all the way up to the pinnacle. If they aren't at a close enough level, they fail in their attempts."

"So, there isn't much of a reason for them to pick up the rare version of the skill because they won't be close enough in level?" Lana asked.

"Not quite," Claire said, as she handed the orb back to Ian for safekeeping. "Having a higher version helps identify higher quality gear earlier, and there are also walls in quality that the common and uncommon skills just can't overcome. Say an extremely high-quality item drops in a level 500 dungeon, just because an adventurer in the ultra-tier has the common version of identify doesn't mean their level difference will let them know what the item does."

"That makes sense," Ian acknowledged. "So, it's hard to tell if this is a high-quality item that needs a rare or better identification skill, or if it is just too high for anyone here to appraise?"

"Nah, that is definitely a high-quality item," Claire replied, grabbing her tablet as she started leading them out of the lab. "I have the uncommon version of identify, and I am at a high enough level that I should be able to at least see what it's called. I won't benefit like our crafters will from purchasing the rare and higher versions of identify, but I wanted to have them just in case we needed them in a dungeon.

"I am curious, though, so I'll reach out to some of my contacts and see if I can't get someone in the next few weeks to help us with this. They'll probably be willing to do it for free just to see what it is."

"Someone would be willing to come look at it for free?" Lana asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah," Claire responded before looking off into space for a second and nodding her head. "Yeah, they will definitely be willing to come take a look for free. They're more interested in seeing new things than getting paid for it." She bobbed her head back and forth for a moment before muttering, "Besides, it isn't like they would even know what to do with more money at this point."

Ian smirked, realizing that she was probably talking about someone at least as old as her parents, and probably almost as well known. If he played his cards right, he might even get to meet them.

Their conversation died off as they reentered the primary waiting area for the AO. As Ian looked around, a thought hit him.

"Are there a lot more people here than usual?" he asked.

"I'd say so, especially for it being just after lunch," Lana replied, looking at the growing crowds surrounding nearly every display.

Ian saw some of the regulars floating around, but they seemed to be the center of the crowds, answering questions and pointing to different displays. What surprised him more was how many of the new folks were older than him. Sprinkled throughout the crowds were people who appeared to be easily twice his age, some of them even seemed to be with their teenage kids.

"We've had a lot more people sign up at our particular branch lately," Claire said, giving Ian a knowing look. "Notice something about most of the people in here?"

"A lot of them seem to be wearing actual armor," Lana said, apparently picking up on the same thing Ian had. "And it doesn't look like all of it was made by Jimmy, either."

Ian looked over at the party next to them, all wearing rough leather armor. As he looked closer, he realized the armor only looked rough compared to the mass-produced garbage everyone wore when they started. Honestly, a lot of the low-tier adventurers never grew out of it before they stopped running. It all looked incredibly stylish, but it didn't do much to stand up to anything other than the lowest levels of monsters.

"I can feel the mana that is imbued in their armor, but it isn't quite the same as what I feel from the stuff made by Jimmy," Ian said as he looked back at Claire.

"It seems that you have started another trend," she said, getting a nod of agreement from Lana. "A lot of our local groups are pulling in dedicated crafters into their parties as alternate members. Jimmy has stepped up and is providing courses to new crafters to help them build up their mastery and help them outfit their teams. Him and Ruth are becoming heroes in the eyes of a lot of the newer folks, especially the ones who gave up after getting a crafting inherent."

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Ian looked around as he took everything in with fresh eyes. Only a few of the more experienced groups had full sets of armor, and even some of it was incredibly crude. It was leaps and bounds ahead of what he was used to seeing on them.

"Well, Ruth and Jimmy are amazing at what they do, and if they help get more of our folks geared out, then that is a great thing," Ian said with a grin. "I'll have to ask them later if there is anything else I can do to help. Even with all the classes I took in essence engineering, the way they craft just makes absolutely no sense to me."

"Yeah, well, you are working off of science, and they are working off of magic," Claire responded with a shrug.

Ian groaned. "Let's not get into it. Ruth always makes me feel so stupid whenever I try to figure out exactly how it all works."

Lana and Clare both laughed at his expense.

Feeling a vibration in his pocket, Ian pulled out his phone and saw a message from Jen.

Glancing back up, he saw both women looking at him expectantly.

"Do you mind if I take a rain check on our jog, Lana?" Ian asked. "Jen just messaged me, asking if I had time to meet up. This is the first time she's reached out to me since her match at the tournament, and I really want to see how she's doing."

"Of course," Lana quickly replied. "Let her know that we are all here for her if she needs anything."

"Agreed," Claire added, giving him a nod before meeting eyes with Lana. "If you don't mind, I wouldn't mind taking Ian's place on the run today. I could use a run to clear my head, and I've been told the coffee shop on the other side is amazing."

"Of course!" Lana agreed with a smile.

* ~ * ~ *

Jen's room was in a different building than his on the AO campus, one that he had never been in before. He received a few looks as he went in and took the elevator to her floor. The doors were a little closer together and there were more of them in the hallway then he had in his building.

Pressing the buzzer, he didn't have to wait long for the door to open. Instead of Jen on the other side, he found Nexa, who immediately beckoned him inside. As he walked in, the quiet woman gave him a quick side hug before pointing towards the couch where Jen was sitting.

He discovered the room was quite a bit different what he expected. It was similar to his room, but more compact. There wasn't an entryway with places to hold her gear like he had. Instead, it opened directly into her living space, with her bed just beyond it, a bathroom off to one side, and a closet next to it.

"Hey Ian, thanks for coming," Jen said, as she got up from the couch and walked over towards him. Ian felt a sense of relief when he saw that she no longer had that lost look in her eyes that she had at the end of her match.

"I'm so happy to see you," he said, returning her hug when she squeezed him tight.

She gave him another squeeze before pushing him back and looking up into his eyes for a long moment. He just met her gaze, and she finally sighed in what seemed to be relief as she pulled him back in for a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" he asked in confusion.

"For not looking at me any different now that you know what I went through."

Ian separated and met her gaze. "There is no need to worry about me ever seeing you as anyone other than who you are. Every experience in our life has a part in molding us into who we are, but no individual experience defines us. You were there when I needed someone the most. You're one of my best friends, and nothing is ever going to make me see you as anything other than the wonderful, caring person you are."

"Thank you, I'll lean on that when I start to doubt myself," she said, letting out a slow breath. She looked over at Nexa and let out a small laugh. "I know you told me that already, Nex. But hearing it from more people helps put me at ease."

Ian couldn't help but smile at the 'I told you so' look Nexa was giving Jen. When his eyes turned to the display, he saw a panel of commentators talking about what to expect in the mid-tier mass elimination matches.

"Let's sit down," Jen said, changing the subject while causing the three of them to move toward the couch. "I've been watching your streams, and your entire party has been shooting up through the levels. Are you ready for your tournament debut tomorrow?"

Nexa nodded enthusiastically as she leaned in for the conversation.

"Ready probably isn't the right word to use," Ian said with a chuckle. "We've managed to get a few levels, but at the end of the day, we don't really know what to expect. I'm hoping we make it through the battle royale tomorrow and make it into the brackets. I'm not really sure what it is going to be like fighting other players, but if it helps us grow stronger, I'll see it through."

"It was…easier than I thought it would be to kill other people in the moment," Jen said, a thoughtful look crossed her features before her eyebrows furrowed. "But it didn't stay that way. It's kind of messed me up a bit over the past few days, if I'm being completely honest with myself. I had to reach out to talk with my therapist about it, and she said that it was natural to feel this way. She even admitted she had people who had similar issues from the last tournament.

"Yeah, I don't really want to fight other people," Ian replied with a sigh. "However, it is hard to pass up an opportunity like this. Finding alternate ways to grow stronger, especially when it doesn't come with a risk of death, is something that we just can't pass up.

"I'm honestly worried that we are leveling too fast. We have more SP-related skills than we should, but we don't have the personal skills with our weapons, communication, and tactics that we would if we had taken the normal amount of time to get here."

"I'm glad you are thinking about that stuff, though," Jen said, getting a nod of agreement from Nexa. "You all seem so powerful as individuals, leaps and bounds ahead of what you should be. However, it seems to get you in over your head quite a bit. There is a reason most of us only fight battles we know we can easily win. Even with your buffs, the amount of danger we put ourselves in is nowhere near the level your party does on a daily basis."

"Yeah, I understand that," he agreed. "I do think that mindset might help us out tomorrow, though." Nexa gave him a confused look, causing him to chuckle. "I'm just saying that a lot of people seem to be risk-averse, and they hesitate to make decisions against more dangerous groups. I'm pretty sure both Ash and Nia will just open up on anyone they see."

Nexa nodded as Jen laughed.

"I'll be shocked if they don't," Jen said. "Tram is also incredibly solid for his level. I'm not sure many people will be able to hurt him in melee. He's probably weak to magic still."

Ian nodded. "We'll see how it turns out tomorrow, but what about Restless Hands? Do you plan on doing anything in the next few weeks?"

"That's an understatement," Jen said as both she and Nexa laughed. "James has half a dozen training streams he wants to do, and we are going to spend quite a bit of time farming materials for our new crafters. Let me tell you what he plans on—"

As Ian settled in to listen to what Jen and Nexa would be up to, he couldn't help but be thankful that Jen wasn't just getting back on her feet, but seemed to be looking forward to what was to come. Knowing she was alright felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.