“Smithing!” Ren said immediately, without having to think about it.

  Holy crap! Ren thought in amazement.

  By the gods! Ren thought in shock. It just keeps going!

  This is unbelievable! Ren thought. I just... I just gained... 34 levels! From one battle!

  Ren stood still for several minutes to see if it was going to keep going, but nothing else happened.

  Whew, it's finally stopped. Ren thought in relief. I honestly thought it wasn't going to stop. He shook his head. 1,640,000 XP and 38 levels! He started to laugh. I can't believe it!

  “Wow.” Teepo said. “I just gained 26 levels.”

  That's great, buddy! Ren thought to his friend. I bet Ruck and Princess... “Oof!”

  Princess had just run over to him and bumped into his back.

  “Hey, what are you... stop! Stop!” Ren said as Princess proceeded to lick his head and hair, then covered him in slobber.

  Thank you! *LICK* Thank you! *LICK* Thank you! *LICK*

  “Okay, okay!” Ren laughed and pushed her away. “You're welcome!”

  Quickly, My Lord! Princess thought at him and huffed. Assign my stats!

  “I think you might be a little excited about this.” Ren opened her status screen, and they felt each other's amusement. Princess told him where to put the points, and she sighed when they were all assigned.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Ah. Thank you. Princess thought to him. I am off!

  “Don't go far!” Ren said as she disappeared, then he got a message popup. He smiled when he saw the sender, and opened the messaging system.

  *

  Lara closed the messaging system and sighed. I can never tell him how many levels he's given me. She thought. It's one of my class restrictions.

  *

  Ren closed the messaging system and thought about his party. “Show Party Status.”

  Ren chuckled when he saw 'restricted' as Lara's level. It really is a closely guarded secret, apparently. He figured while he was at it, he might as well check his own status. “Show Status.”

  Would you look at that! Ren thought. My stats are so high!

  “That's usually what happens when you level up so much.” Teepo said.

  I wonder what Nathalia thinks of this. Ren looked at his Sending Ring and thought of her.

  “Nathalia?” Ren whispered.

  “REN!” Nathalia yelled. “I'm so glad you're okay!”

  Ren chuckled. “You should have known I was okay, after that giant XP boost.”

  “Giant is right!” Nathalia said. “I'm up to Level 42 already, and I haven't done anything!”

  “You're in my party, so you get the benefits just the same as the others do.” Ren said. “Plus, I'm sure you would have come if I'd asked.”

  “You mean if you hadn't snuck out on me this morning.” Nathalia laughed. “Thanks for leaving me all alone in the bed like that.”

  “Hey, I kissed you and you mumbled.” Ren said. “I thought you said 'get the hell out there right now!'.”

  “I did not tell you to 'get the hell out'.” Nathalia said. “I didn't say 'hell' at all.”

  Ren laughed. “I've got to finish repairing and cleaning the giant's clothing, then I'll be heading to the mine for a few hours to finish out the shift.” He said. “I'll be home after that.”

  “See you then.” Nathalia said. “I lo... ah... I'm at the restaurant.”

  “I'll let you get back to work then.” Ren said and grinned. “I lo you, too.”

  “Ren!” Nathalia said, slightly scandalized.

  “See you in a few hours, Nathalia.”

  “Goodbye, Ren.” Nathalia said, and the Sending Ring stopped glowing.

  “So, do you want to try your body again?” Ren asked Teepo.

  “Sure.” Teepo said, and dissolved into the Beetle Crown ring. Ren slipped the Ring of Recall over it and put it back on.

  “Summon Teepo!” Ren said, and Teepo was shunted into the platinum beetle body. “You with me, buddy?”

  “Yeah.” Teepo said. “This is kinda weird, though.”

  Ren handed him the key, and Teepo held it in front of him.

  “What do I do with this?”

  “There's a slot on your underside. If you get tired or anything, just wind yourself up.”

  “No way!”

  Ren chuckled. “Yes, way.” He said. “I wound it as much as it could take before animating it, so you should be good for a long, long time; but, you should take the key with you, just in case.”

  “What do I do with it?”

  “Store it, of course.” Ren said. “You've got 40 internal slots for stuff.”

  “Wh-what?!?”

  “Just select 'store key', and it'll tuck it into one of the slots.”

  “This present keeps getting better and better!” Teepo said, and stored the key. “It worked!” He said and started to move around. “I can't remember the last time that I had to crawl, though.”

  Ren grinned. “Who said you have to crawl?”

  “What?”

  “I wouldn't give you a present you couldn't use properly.” Ren said. “Deploy your wings.”

  “How do I... oh, I just have to think about it.” Teepo said, and his back opened up and thin metal wings unfolded and spread out. He started to beat them furiously, and his platinum body slowly lifted off of the ground.

  “I... I'm doing it!” Teepo said, and went higher. “Wheee!” He said, and took off like a shot.

  “You're not a bullet! Take it easy!”

  “You can fix me if I crash!” Teepo said and did several loops in the air.

  “I'm more worried about you getting hurt, you nut!” Ren chuckled as Teepo did several spirals and then nearly hit the ground at full speed.

  “Wooo! That was close!” Teepo said and flew over to Ren. He gently came in for a landing on Ren's shoulder. “Thanks a lot, Ren!”

  “You're not going to be a secret anymore, my friend.”

  “That's okay.” Teepo said. “Now people won't think you're talking to yourself.”

  Ren laughed. “I think it's going to take a little more than seeing that you're real for people to not think I'm crazy, Teepo.”

  “It's a start!” Teepo said, and Ren nodded.

  “Yes, it's a start.” Ren said and stored the table and the forge. He walked over to the moat and looked at it. He glanced down at his Amulet of the Spider and smiled. He used the inherent Web spell in it, and it just barely covered the 20 foot distance. He walked across it without sticking to it, and went into the giant camp.

  Once there, the giants lined up in front of the table Ren had left there, and he made another curtain for them to get changed behind. When the female giant handed him her clothing from around the curtain, he repaired them, stored them, and took them out.

  “Can you wait for a moment?” Ren asked her, and she thought about it.

  “What are you going to do?” She asked. “It's not some perverted ritual with my underwear, is it?”

  Ren laughed. “No, Ma'am.” He said and made her a quick robe to wear. “I'm thinking you might want a bath before wearing clean clothes.”

  “I... yes, I would.” She said. “How are you going to do that?”

  “If I could get a hand from a few men, to help dig?” Ren asked.

  A few of the giants picked up the shovels by the large oven.

  “Thanks.” Ren walked around the curtain and picked the empty unused tent he had designated as the changing tent. He stored it, thought normal size, and took out his hammerpick. He marked out the size of the hole he wanted, and the giants got to work. With 4 of them working, it only took a few minutes for the large square pit to be finished. He used paving stones to line the pit, and since they interlocked, he figured there would be very few leaks. When he was done, he took out his forge, and made a long thin mold, 30 feet long and 2 inches thick. He melted more ore, and then poured out the very long mold.

  The giants gasped when Ren picked up the smelter with his bare hands, and went along the whole mold to make sure it was evenly distributed. The last thing he did was take out a steel square and enchanted it with a double glyph that contained 8 runes; 5 of which were Water, and the last 3 were Fire. He attached the enchanted square to the top of the long steel bar, and then Ren built a large wooden brace for it. With a giant's help, he stood it up and embedded it into the ground beside the pit. Ren waved to Laurelia, and she came over.

  “What can I do?” Laurelia asked.

  “Say 'Activate'.” Ren said.

  “Activate.” Laurelia said, and the enchantment activated. Water and Fire gushed out of the steel square, and everyone gasped. “Good god!” She said. “Is that... no, it can't be!”

  “Steamy hot water.” Ren said as the pit started to fill up. “I got the idea the other day when you said you couldn't clean yourself up.” He said. “I'm glad that it worked.”

  “You didn't know it would?!?” Laurelia asked, surprised.

  Ren laughed. “This is all guesswork.” He said and enchanted a steel square with a double glyph (8 runes total) of anti-water. He knelt down and stuck it into the water. Activate. He thought, and it started to suck up the water. Perfect. He secured it near the top of the pit, then made several more of them and placed them around the top of the pit on the other three walls, to make sure the water wouldn't overflow and possibly flood the camp.

  “It shouldn't take long for the pit to fill, and you'll have nice hot water to take baths.”

  “Oh, Ren.” Laurelia said and knelt down. “Thank you so much.”

  “You're welcome.” Ren said. “Things are definitely going to get better once I start getting the supplies to replace your tents with houses.”

  “Wh-what?”

  Ren smiled at her shocked expression. “I made a deal with the Chancellor. I won't tell the world what a miserable bastard he is, and he'll send food and supplies for you.”

  Laurelia picked him up, nestled him between her breasts, and hugged him. Ren couldn't really do anything about the situation, except hug her back.

  *

  “Out of the way!” The female giant who wore the robe said, and the male giants that had helped dig the hole stepped out of her way. She tossed the robe aside and waded into the makeshift hot water bath.

  “Oooohhh! This is bliss!” She said, leaned back against the side of the pool, and looked at Ren. “You're a godsend, little person!”

  “You're supposed to wash and let someone else take a turn.” One of the male giants said.

  “I will.” She said. “In a minute.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I needed this. I really did.”

  Another female giant chuckled. “If you can stand having someone else in there, I'll join you.”

  “Grab the soap and get in here.” The one in the bath said as she moved over slightly. “I don't mind sharing.”

  “Thanks.” The other female giant said, and started to strip. Most of the men turned away so they wouldn't see something they shouldn't see; but, a few others watched her intently. “Oh, my god... you were right.” She said as she sat in the water beside the other female giant. “I needed this, too!”

  They both sat there for a minute, sighed at the same time, and started to lather up with the soap.