The Autocraft Alchemist

Windry sighed as she pushed away from her computer. The alt coin season had been rather bullish so far. And she had been wondering how much more of the wave she wanted to ride. While it was possible for more gains if she continued to tough it out for a few more weeks, in the end she decided to just derisk everything that she had invested earlier in the year and place the funds into more stable forever coins.

One good thing about selling the alt coins was that she no longer had to stress or worry about them. Yes, she would be losing out on the upcoming, if rather unpredictable, gains. But being able to relax and not worry was worth a lot more in the long run. Why hadn't she found a better way to amass hordes of wealth than gambling with crypto currencies? She ughed to herself and stepped away from the computer. They called her that terrible nickname when she just got out at the right times. Again and again. So there was probably something behind it but that didn't mean that she had to like it.

Her office was situated on the highest floor of the tallest building in Rowan. Which meant that she had one of the best views in the entire province. And while that might be contested by others with less cityscape and ruins. They certainly could never have the bragging rights to the tallest, and would only be able to share with hers. She stood there with a coffee warming her hands as she looked out over the city to unwind a little.

She'd have to get back to her retirement soon. If anything she should probably derisk all of her wealth from crypto. That way she wouldn't have to watch the market to anticipate the highs and lows. But she had been at it for so long that it had become too much of a habit. Real estate would be a much safer investment. She could build some more buildings, rent them out to others. Maybe start a management company so that it would run with little oversight.

It would also be boring as hell. And as soon as she had the thought laughter echoed out from her throat. Windry knew that she was somewhat of a workaholic. But for some reason she could never stay too far away from it. Having something to do. Working towards what was next. She really needed to find a better outlet.

Maybe she could be like Nobu, her gaming friend, who went by Richard in real life. He had started exploring which was something that Windry had played around with in the past. While it was fun enough, the dungeons ramped up in difficulty so quick that solo exploring was next to impossible. And once she had pugged her way to the bottom of one of the easier dungeons she decided that was enough. Any more and it would be too dangerous.

Windry found herself surfing around guild websites, looking for ones that had casual join requirements. As well as the dungeon information sites. What monsters appeared on what floors, what drops to expect, how difficult they were. The information was out there, only it was gated behind paywalls. Paywalls that were rather easy for her to get around. She laughed at those who would be stopped by something so simple. All one needed was the right scripts and then bam, access granted, and information that should have been free was in her hands.

Her phone beeped and when she checked there was a message from Nobu. She glanced over the contents at first her eyes snapped back to read it a second time. The poor man had almost been grabbed by a red guild. Windry had been glad when he finally started trying to live his life again. Nobu hadn't been too quiet about how much he hated his last job and the damage that it had done to him. If anything the termination was quite the boon. As it was fully possible that he might not have gotten out of there otherwise. And now the very thing that pulled him out of his apartment almost got him enslaved at a red guild.

"Hey Nobu, let's play some games. There's a new co-op shooter out from Punch Wizard. You were talking about it right?" Windry asked him in a message.

"Oh yeah. Did that one come out? I'm not sure that I'm feeling up to it to be honest."

"Yeah you are. You need something to deal with the stress. Didn't they used to give tetris to people so that they didn't develop PTSD? You need to do something other than stew at home."

"What? That was a thing?" Nobu asked and then shortly sent another message, "Huh. That's crazy. Alright fine. Mecha Punch 5 right? I'm downloading it now. I'll be on in 10 or so."

Windry smiled. The reviews weren't the greatest. But sometimes it was the people that you were playing with that made the game.

***

Windry was lounging around at home, trying to act retired, when a message appeared from Nobu who invited her to explore the dungeons with him. Which had surprised her at first. She had been afraid that his run in with the red guild would somehow break him. Only he thankfully proved his resilience and soldiered on. And she was proud of him for that. It also worked out for her, as that exploring had been on her mind for several days. And really the invite was quite welcomed.

She accepted right away and even went to join the same guild as him. The Crafter's Union was lax enough that it allowed for those without crafting skills to join. With the reason stated that it was to encourage people to build connections. Connections that would be helpful until someone could afford a crafting skill or afford gear crafted by someone in the guild. It also was probably a good thing to have a group of guildies to explore with. As they should be easier to trust in others when that party is all part of the same organization.

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With plans in place Windry went looking for the gear that she had stowed some number of years earlier. She knew that hadn't gotten rid of it. The gear had cost her a fair amount at the time. As well as there were so many memories tied to it. Fighting with her friends against the monsters as they explored the dungeons. As well as gaining personal power outside of the dungeons. If she had known about the anti aging effects of levels then she would have started exploring them a lot sooner.

The armor had been placed onto a mannequin at some point in time. Probably by one of her kids or grandkids looking to tease her about it. And they had tucked it away in one of the less used dens. Windry had to admit that it did make for a nice presentation. The red and black armor had buffed to shine. It had been made from some drop or other that she no longer remembered. While the twin short swords hanging on the wall above it had used high level orc weapons for the base material. She would need to find out which one of her descendants did the arrangement and compliment them on the job. Though knowing the brats they would all claim to have a hand in it just to get the recognition.

With her gear found, Windry went back to a task that she had been working on over the last few days. Gathering information on the guild that had attacked Nobu. Their public persona had been that of the recently established Fist of Thorns guild. Something that sounded a little strange to her right away. Thought that might have been in hindsight. As for in reality they were a branch of the Field of Bloody Roses guild. A guild known for causing problems all over the country. Working in both the old and new provinces without a bias for either one.

They looked to be somewhat in an inactive period. Probably gaining strength for some goal or other. And from what she was able to gather from their branch headquarters, before the landlines were cut, was that they weren't doing much more than collecting dungeon drops and crafters. Based on what else Windry could dig up they sounded like they were some sort of cult focused on doomsday prepping for another mass break. There had been several of those groups around before the break. Which made her wonder how they had fared in the end. As there was only so much food one could stockpile or even eat before it went bad. And no matter how many bullets were stored they wouldn't mean anything when the monster being shot had magically empowered toughness to the point of being bulletproof.

Hadn't there been a show about such preppers? Did episodes of it even survive the break? It would be fun to see how many things they got right or wrong. And Windry put a note in her planner to have someone try and look it up. Maybe it survived the break in DVD form or on someone's hard drive somewhere.

Not wanting to leave the investigation half done, Windry created and submitted a proposal to the Sword Souls guild. They would need help to break into and scrape through the computers, tablets, and phones retrieved from the red guild. And she and her company had worked with them in the past. While she was technically going over Tian's head by submitting the proposal. Windry was sure her daughter would be thankful for the contract. Even though the Swords wasn't the biggest guild in the province, they were large enough locally that it would be good to make a stronger connection for any business they might have down the road.

With her immediate task done and without anything more compelling to do, Windry ended up trying on her adventuring gear. While she had tried to focus on something a little more productive, the mannequin called to her. It was stuck at the front of her thoughts, telling her to try it on. Just to make sure that it still fits. To feel the weight of the swords in her hands again. And then maybe she could take a few test swings. Move her body around a little.

Windry didn't really resist it all that hard. And she was soon not only armored up, but also swinging her swords around in the home gym. The mirrors on the one wall mimicked Windry's movement and she found herself laughing at how funny she looked as she tried out moves that she had seen in those martial arts movies.

"Mom? Are you in here?" Tain's voice called out.

"I'm in the gym," Windry said. And then realized that she probably didn't want her kids to know about her exploring again.

Her daughter entered the gym with her head buried in a tablet. "Why was this proposal submitted to the Sword Souls guild? I hadn't heard of anything- what are you doing? Is that your old armor? We had that put away so that you could look at it at any time. Not put it back on."

"Don't worry about it. This momma of yours is strong," Windry said and flexed her biceps. "And I won't be going too deep this time. Also keep this a secret from your siblings."

Her daughter sighed. "This is why Feng isn't happy with you. You're over 60 already. Shouldn't you be acting your age for once?"

"Well. I guess. But then what am I going to do with all of this boredom? Come out of retirement?"

Tain stamped her foot. "Mom! You said that you would leave the company to me if I worked for you all those years. I'd sooner put you into a home than having to deal with you at work again," she said and stuck out her tongue.

Windry smiled. "Alright. So I'm going into one of the weak dungeons here in the city. Don't bother staying up for me. I'm sure that I'll kick butt and look good doing it."

She sighed. "Fine. alright I get it. Just be safe alright?"

Windry smiled. "I'm high enough level that it shouldn't be an issue. But I'll take some of the stronger potions with me just in case."

"Alright. Now tell me about this proposal? I wish that you would have spoken with me about it first."

"Ah, that. We are going to try and help them out with a red guild that they took out the other day. They hurt one of my friends, and you know how that goes right?"

Tian nodded her head. "How can we have face if we allow someone to harm our own?"

Windry sheathed her swords and patted Tian on the shoulder. "That's my girl."