"Let's get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us."

“Shouldn’t we be getting every advantage we can before we leave? You don’t need to be a tattoo mage to use tattoos right? We should all be covered in useful spells just in case, and we should see if Joon can unlock tattoo magic.”

Sure you can’t use the tattoos for risk of thaum seekers, but what if you get caught by the thaum seekers anyway? Then you want every advantage you can get. And project ‘power level Joon’ should involve every skill they can get their hands on.

"That would put us in a precarious position for funds if we have to return via key after using up our supplies, and the most we could afford would be a couple more Surface Sheaths or Slow-Falls like you had for the drop from the plane... I'll defer to your experience on whether those would be worthwhile."

“Sheaths would let us carry less weight by storing gear in there. That sounds very worthwhile for a long hike in a dangerous desert.” Maybe she could bring her rifle after all. She had decided it would be too heavy but if she can tattoo store it… “It is almost always worthwhile to invest in better gear. Tattoos should count. Cash wont save you in a fight.” Well, except for if you have gold magic. But none of them are gold mages.

”Also it probably doesn’t matter what kind we give Joon, if he can unlock the skill by getting a Tattoo. So whatever is cheapest for him.”

Then, after a trip to the tattoo parlour...

The party sets off across the Datura Desert.