9. Trash Bonanza

After clearing a third village’s notices, Henrietta reviews the team’s performance. She praises overall capability against iron-rank foes but condemns their lack of dynamism and reliance on preset strategies. Henrietta mandates mixed, often awkward pairings to cultivate trust, improvisation, and deeper knowledge of each other’s abilities.

She immediately pairs Jason with Belinda, exposing their poor synergy as Jason tries to solo while misusing Belinda’s kit. Humphrey and Clive fare little better, defaulting to rigid roles. Subsequent rotations—Jason with Neil, and Neil with Sophie—reveal vulnerabilities such as isolation risks and low offensive output against high-defense foes, highlighting gaps to address.

At the last coastal village, an aquatic bronze-rank monster forces the full team, plus Henrietta, into an underwater battle. Breathing water hampers spellcasting and weapon use; coordination collapses despite Jason’s voice chat. Neil’s support keeps everyone alive as Henrietta’s familiars secure victory, but the near mana drain underscores how close they came to failure.

Henrietta commends Neil, warns the rest, and accepts Humphrey’s strategic answer that sometimes the right choice is to avoid a bad fight. Jason argues for readiness with gear and practice, and Henrietta instructs further underwater training once back in Greenstone.

Turning inland across desert and rocky wastes, the team aids villages tied to spirit coin farms and quarries. They hear of fleeing Builder cultists. Investigating mines, Jason learns sun gold appears with large amounts of non-magical “trash gold.” Discovering his inventory’s size-based stacking, he buys refined bars, planning to exploit their value if he returns to his home world.