Inside the tavern saferoom, Carl and Donut notice that Mongo has reached level three and is growing rapidly into a larger, more dangerous mount-like creature. While Mordecai lies passed out in his own vomit, Carl and Donut open their Silver Earth boxes and review a new achievement for receiving their first quest. Donut gets a scented candle, a large cat tree, an Earth Hobby Potion, and, from her unopened gold pet box, a magical collar that lets Mongo appear on the map.

Donut also retrieves a new spellbook from the mailbox and learns Clockwork Triplicate, which temporarily creates two clockwork copies of Mongo. Carl approves of the spell and reviews Donut's growing spell list, realizing her Torch spell has quietly reached level ten. Carl opens his own box and receives a small cactus, a boxed set of Louis L'Amour westerns that stirs strong emotions, and an Earth Hobby Potion.

Both hobby potions prove strange and unclear. Donut gains level three in scutelliphily and does not even know what it means, while Carl gains level three in Cesta Punta without any useful explanation. Since saferooms allow some spell use, Carl has Donut repeatedly cast her new spell to test it, but the spell does not seem to gain experience there. Carl then spends time examining his explosives and smoke bombs, thinking through future bomb-making possibilities, but he lacks the right tools and supplies to build what he wants.

Instead of traveling to the larger settlement before dark, Carl decides they should remain nearby and scout the circus carefully. Once outside, Carl and Donut notice three crawler death markers on the map near the earlier lemur attack, and Carl regrets not checking on the other crawlers sooner. Mongo senses danger first, and Carl spots a hidden skull-headed lemur lying in wait on a rooftop, confirming the area is trapped.

Carl tries to approach stealthily through a ruined building, but Donut takes initiative and climbs the beams to ambush the lemur from behind. Her collar bell and armor make noise, and Mongo screeches, yet Donut still kills the lemur and Mongo tears into the body. Afterward, Carl criticizes her recklessness and then hurts her by saying Mongo is only a pet, a remark he immediately regrets. Donut recovers, loots throwing knives from the corpse, reports another sleeping lemur across the street, confirms the circus tents and giraffe mobs are a few streets away, and hears circus music in the distance. The chapter ends with Carl proposing they kill the second lemur, inspect the dead crawlers, and move toward the circus, while Donut accepts being called his partner.