The tavern exploded the moment the Vixens stepped inside.
Not figuratively.
Literally.
Cheers hit them like a physical force.
Mugs slammed against tables.
Chairs scraped backward.
People jumped to their feet.
"The Vixens!"
"They're here!"
"They cleared the Crystal Cave!"
"Thirty-four hours!"
Someone started chanting.
Then ten people joined.
Then thirty.
"VIX-ENS! VIX-ENS! VIX-ENS!"
The tavern keeper looked around helplessly as his establishment transformed from a respectable business into a festival.
The Crystal Cave record had become the only thing anyone in Crystalshire wanted to talk about.
Thirty-four hours.
Forty-two minutes.
Nine seconds.
The previous record had stood for four years.
Set by an S-Rank party.
A party that had spent months mapping routes, studying spawn cycles, documenting boss mechanics, and refining strategies until perfection itself had become routine.
The Vixens had shattered it.
And they had done it on their first attempt.
The crowd parted as the women were ushered toward a long table near the center of the room.
Children immediately swarmed them.
One little girl launched herself at Bunny's leg.
"I wanna be a Vixen when I grow up!"
Bunny froze.
Then smiled.
Then knelt and hugged her.
"You already can be."
The little girl gasped.
Like she'd just been knighted.
Food arrived almost immediately.
Stews.
Fresh bread.
Roasted meats.
Pies.
More food than any reasonable group could eat.
Not that anyone intended to be reasonable tonight.
The Vixens soaked it all in.
Llandra greeted everyone with genuine warmth.
Zee was slowly being overwhelmed by handshakes.
Nyxian accepted praise as if she'd been preparing for this exact moment her entire life.
Which, honestly, she probably had.
And Bunny laughed so hard at one story she nearly inhaled an entire potato.
The celebration grew louder.
Then the tavern doors opened again.
Jax entered.
Alongside him came Eldrich.
Behind them were Pophov and his wife Ellie.
The noise dipped slightly.
Not because people weren't excited to see Jax.
But because most of them were still trying to figure out who the nervous man in the bow tie was.
Eldrich immediately looked like he regretted every decision that had led him here.
The scientist adjusted his bow tie and scanned the room.
His expression suggested he was calculating emergency exits.
"You know," he said dryly, "one gains the same nutritional value eating in private."
Jax sat down.
"True."
Eldrich nodded.
"Good. Glad you agree."
Jax grabbed four mugs from a passing waitress.
"But drinking alone doesn't create memories."
Eldrich opened his mouth.
Paused.
Thought about it.
Then frowned.
"...I dislike that you're technically correct."
Jax grinned.
The introductions happened quickly.
Pophov and Ellie turned out to be exactly what Jax suspected.
Smart.
Capable.
Practical.
The kind of people who quietly built success while louder people took credit.
"The amount of Temporal Crystal you delivered today..." Pophov said, still sounding stunned.
He shook his head.
"That inventory alone could keep my warehouse operational for over a year."
Jax shrugged.
"Good."
Pophov blinked.
"Good?"
"There's more coming."
The warehouse owner stared.
"More?"
"The cave is still being excavated."
"...Still?"
"We left workers behind."
Technically true.
They just happened to be undead shadow workers.
Pophov slowly turned toward Ellie.
Ellie slowly turned toward Pophov.
Both looked like people trying very hard not to scream from excitement.
Jax took a drink.
Then looked toward Eldrich.
"How's the gateway project?"
Eldrich immediately brightened.
"The theory is sound."
The Vixens exchanged worried looks.
That tone usually meant trouble.
"The synchronization arrays should work. The harmonic resonance equations are stable. The primary concern is crystal density and long-term anchor degradation."
Everyone stared.
Eldrich stared back.
"...What?"
Jax nodded.
"Makes sense."
Everyone stared at Jax too.
"...How?" Bunny asked.
"I understood maybe four words."
"That's four more than me," Nyxian admitted.
Jax reached into System Storage.
The room quieted instantly.
A crystal appeared in his hands.
Not a small crystal.
Not a large crystal.
A massive Temporal Crystal.
The thing looked like someone had carved a chunk out of the sky itself.
Mana shimmered beneath its surface.
Eldrich stopped breathing.
His eyes widened.
His hands trembled.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
He reached toward it.
Jax slapped his hand away.
"No."
Eldrich looked offended.
"What do you mean no?"
"You can have it tomorrow."
"But—"
"Tomorrow."
"I need it for science."
"You need food."
"It could change everything."
"You haven't slept in two days."
The scientist looked genuinely torn.
Then Bunny leaned forward.
"I like your bow tie."
Silence.
Eldrich blinked.
"...What?"
"I said I like your bow tie."
The scientist looked down.
Then back up.
Then down again.
A strange warmth settled into his chest.
No one had ever complimented his bow tie before.
Not once.
It wasn't important.
But somehow...
It mattered.
"Thank you."
Bunny smiled.
"You're welcome."
The conversation continued.
The drinks kept flowing.
Stories became increasingly exaggerated.
By the third retelling, Bunny had apparently punched through an entire mountain.
By the fourth, Llandra had shot an arrow into next week.
By the fifth, Zee had personally wrestled the Crystal Cave into submission.
Nyxian was encouraging every version.
Jax suspected she was responsible for half of them.
Eventually, business returned.
Mostly because Jax couldn't help himself.
"That forty percent stake," he said casually.
Pophov nearly choked.
Eldrich looked up.
"Twenty percent belongs to Pophov."
Pophov blinked.
"Twenty percent belongs to Eldrich."
The tavern fell quiet.
Eldrich dropped his fork.
"...What?"
"You'll receive royalties from every gateway sold."
The scientist stared.
Forever.
"No expiration."
Still staring.
"No buyout clause."
The staring intensified.
"You focus on inventing things."
Jax took a drink.
"I'll handle the rest."
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Finally—
"Why?"
The question slipped out before Eldrich could stop it.
Jax looked genuinely confused.
"Because you're good at what you do."
The answer landed harder than anything else that night.
Not because it was complicated.
Because it wasn't.
No manipulation.
No conditions.
No hidden angle.
Just belief.
For perhaps the first time in his life—
someone was investing in Eldrich because they believed in him.
The rest of the evening became a blur.
Songs.
Stories.
Laughter.
Friendships.
Partnerships.
Possibilities.
At some point, Eldrich drank far more than he should have.
At another point, he apparently challenged a table to a debate about dimensional mathematics.
At a third point, he was standing on a chair explaining why teleportation was technically impossible.
Then explaining how he planned to do it anyway.
Nobody understood a word.
They applauded regardless.
Crystalshire would remember that night for years.
Not because of the record.
Not because of the celebration.
But because that was the night something changed.
A city gained hope.
A scientist gained purpose.
A warehouse gained a future.
And somewhere in the middle of it all—
without realizing it—
Jax Darquebane gained two more people willing to help him change the world.