Coco was the first person awake. She was used to little amounts of sleep, for she was a scholar. She cracked open a notebook that was in her bag, pulled out an ink bottle and pen, sat on the floor, and began to write down some ideas.
Ten more days of funding.
Without a support and tank, we will be sitting ducks unless we buy some equipment. Maybe a healing staff, poisons, and/or a shield for Fenrir? However, each of these things aren't cheap.
A basic healing staff is about one silver and two copper, for an impure gem.
Healing and mana potions typically run at three silver a piece for the least potent ones.
A shield, probably the cheapest option, but still a couple hundred copper, maybe even a silver.
"What'cha writing?"
Coco looked up to see a much more awake red haired elf in her base clothes.
"I am trying to figure out our plan for the time being. Money is tight, jobs at our level won't pay the best, and we are lacking as a party in more ways than one."
"I see…Wellll, for now, let's go get some breakfast, I am starving!"
"You can go on ahead, I need to finish my thoughts."
"Having your head in a book twenty four hours a day will make you slip up when the moment counts. You need to take care of the body too."
"Hmph."
"Are you pouting? Eh?! Eh! I never expected that from you. I mean sure we aren't all that close yet, and we just met yesterday, but you?!?"
"Shut up."
"Well, it's my birthday, and I want you to come to breakfast with me!"
"It's my birthday too, and I want to stay in this room!"
"I said it first, so I win."
"Hrmm… Fine."
"Yipee!!"
Alex got dressed then the two headed down stairs.
…
Fenrir woke up and took a deep breath letting the sun hit his skin. After a second of meditation, he got out of bed, and began doing push-ups. Then he moved on to sit-ups, then planks, squats, and leg raises.
Zena is still sleeping huh? She seems so sweet right now, but her demeanor is always scary. Coco, being a demon and all, couldn't have had an easy life growing up. Alex, being royalty, also couldn't have had an easy time growing up. However, the girl before me, strikes me as the kind of person who has had it rougher than the rest of us.
Fenrir thought about waking her up, but was worried that would startle Zena and cause a fight. So he just put his equipment back on and headed down stairs.
…
"You two are already down here?" Fenrir said shocked.
"Wolf man! Happy birthday!"
"I have a name you know!"
"Wolf man?" Coco said, puzzled.
"Ah, I guess I never mentioned it. I met Fenrir on the side of the road while my personal maid was taking me to the capital in a carriage. As per my fathers demand. He looked rough like he had fallen off a mountain side or something. Pair that with his name and he is now a wolf man, perhaps a dog?"
"Um, right?" Coco said, still confused.
"See, it doesn't make sense does it Coco?" Fenrir said, agreeing with the confusion.
"No, not really." Coco nodded.
"Well, it makes sense to me, ok!" Alex shouted in self defence.
"Breakfast is ready!" The inn keeper brought out four plates, silverware, a stack of six pancakes, syrup, powdered sugar, and four fruit bowls. Laying them out in front of each person, including the one not yet at the table.
"Thank you!!" Alex exclaimed, finally awake enough to have a conversation with the man.
"Of course, always happy to give food to paying customers. Haha." He gave out a soft chuckle as he walked back to the kitchen.
Fenrir grabbed two pancakes and slapped them onto his plate, covered them in syrup, and poured his fruit bowl on top of the pancakes. Then took his fork and dug in.
Alex grabbed one pancake, doused hers in powdered sugar, added a little bit of syrup, then politely took her fork and knife and cut the pancakes with precision.
Coco grabbed two pancakes and drenched them in syrup and sugar. She took her fork and folded a pancake in half, picked it up, unhinged her jaw, and ate half of it in one bite. One-fifth of her food was gone in a second.
"AWMM"
"Woah, Coco, the food isn't going anywhere." Fenrir was shocked that such a tiny demon could eat so much in one go.
"AWMM"
Coco finished the first pancake. "Eating quickly saves more time for other activities like studying, reading, magic practice, and more. I eat to give myself energy for the day." Coco said, devouring the rest of the first pancake.
"AWMM"
"Do you not have a favorite dish that you like to savor?" Alex asked, watching her cute friend eat a pancake like a monster.
"AWMM … hmm, variety skewers? I guess."
"Scewers? Like kabobs?" Alex asked, making sure she got the food right.
"Yes, you can have meat, veggies, and grains all in one go. It gives me the most energy." Coco added before eating her fruit bowl. Her meal was now done.
"Your favorite food is the one that provides the most energy and is something you can eat one handed to read more…" Alex let out a sigh while scratching her head. "How about you Fenrir?"
"My favorite food? I just really like sea food, since it was hard to get in the mountains, but fish, octopus, eel, anything really. You?"
"Dumplings! They are so gooey and soft mmm." Alex slumped down, as though day dreaming about dumplings.
"Mine is eggs, any kind." Zena said, sneaking up to the table sitting down next to Coco.
"When did you get here!!!" Alex screamed, not noticing the presence of Zena.
"Around the time that Coco finished her meal is when I came down. You two are super loud." She said, looking at Alex and Fenrir.
"Well happy birthday!! How did you sleep, Zena?" Alex said happy to see the final member of their party join the table.
"I very much needed the rest, but I slept longer than intended." She said with a straight face before turning her head to the side."Coco, what's the plan for today?"
"Umm, we need to see what kind of jobs the guild offers to E ranked adventurers, then plan around that."
"Works for me." Zena said, reaching for a pancake.
Zena had an odd way of eating her pancake. It was plain. No additions to it, not the syrup, powdered sugar, or even the fruit. Just a plain pancake. She ate it with her bare hands too.
"I hate to ask this, but why is Coco the leader all of a sudden?" Fenrir asked with a tinge of jealousy behind his voice.
"She isn't, she is the strategist. Without her we wouldn't have survived yesterday not with the prince nor David" Zena avoided voicing the word prince allowed, but mouthed it so they all knew.
"I agree, Coco should be our strategist." Alex said with a smile.
"When it comes to talking, giving orders, and being the backbone of this rag tag group. That is where you come in, Fenrir." Zena continued, pointing out the obvious.
"And me? What about me? What do I do?"
"You, Alex, are our scout. Tracking, making sure we aren't being followed, things of that nature."
"Ohh, ok, I am the scout!" Alex said, posturing herself upwards, fist over her heart, like this was a task she was promising herself that she would do well.
"Before you even ask, I am this group's shadow. Ensuring that we don't go too far in one direction or the other. An overseer of decision making if you will."
"Sounds good with me" Fenrir said happily knowing that he got the main leadership position.
With the explanation of each person's role in the group and breakfast being finished, the group decided to head to the Sinful Hunters guild hall.
The group got up and left the inn, bidding the inn keeper farewell. Since they paid for the breakfast last night when ordering the rooms, they didn't have to worry about paying.
When they left the inn, they noticed that there were far less people around than yesterday. Even though it was around nine in the morning, there were only a handful of people walking around and a number of shops were open.
They worked their way over to the Sinful Hunters guild hall.
Once again, as they entered the adventuring hall, no one paid them any mind or attention. There were a lot fewer people here than yesterday too. Only around seventeen adventurers or so in total.
David, the man cladded in gold, was nowhere in sight.
The group headed over to the quest board. "E ranked missions … E ranked - ah here we are." Coco said having found where the missions they could take are located.
There are a few options:
Flower picking - 1 silver
Lumber chopping - 1 silver
Finding Liam''s lost cat - 2 silver
Testing with the guild master - 2 silver
Carrier quest for any higher ranked party willing - one-eighth of overall pay.
Carrier quests are where lower ranked adventurers work with those of higher ranks by carrying anything that they might need. Drops, creature parts, equipment, etc.
This is meant to make higher ranked parties better as they aren't being slowed down by carrying too many items, and it helps weaker adventures since they get to see their peers at work.
Carriers get one-eighth of the money promised from the quest, in accordance with the guild, not the money found during the mission, meaning this isn't a very profitable venture.
"If we want to get better quickly, then taking a carrier quest would be the best bet. However, for money means, simply picking flowers might help us out more." Coco said thinking about this dilemma.
"I got this, no worries." Zena said with a diabolical smile, before walking over to another adventuring group that is sitting by the bar.
…
Zena walked over to a pig demi-human.
Demi-humans are an incomplete term for these people. They are half one race and half another race, not necessarily half human and half beast. There are half-elves, half-dwarfs, half-demons, half-angels, half-merfolk, half-pigs, and hundreds more. Fenrir is a half-dwarf, but appears mostly human.
Other than anyone demon related, all other demi-humans are allowed into the capital city, Ebria. Despite them being allowed in the city, they are not widely accepted. Oftentimes they are stared at, followed by law enforcement, randomly questioned, and generally treated as lesser.
The reason they are allowed in the city is because usually they are stronger than typical races. Even though they are half beasts, they are superior in almost every way. All beings suffer from a weakness or two, related to their specific race and their magical attribute.
However, demi-beasts don't suffer from race-related weaknesses. Half vampires can walk in sunlight, half-merfolk can wander around the desert, each demi-human counteracts the negative side of their origins.
On the flip side, their magic abilities are never as pure as their full blood counterparts. Half vampires can walk in sunlight, but their blood related abilities aren't as potent.
Overall, they are hated but they are needed as they make for good adventures, workers, and military grunts.
…
"Excuse me, mind if we join you as carriers on your next dungeon raid?" Zena said with a cute, innocent, acting smile.
The demi pig looked at Zena's fake smile. "Hrmmm. The fact that you are asking me, means that you have more guts than you are letting on. I don't trust you."
"Me and my party are new, not just to this guild, but to raids, so I will make this more enticing for you. We don't need to get paid."
Coco, Alex, and Fenrir watched from afar in shock over her sentence.
"You will work for free? That is even worse, I hate rich kids." The pigman said annoyed.
"There is a catch to this agreement. If your group fails at any point during the raid, and you require assistance from us. Then you have to pay us half of all the rewards." Zena said, clapping her hands together.
"HAHAHA, I take back what I said, I like you kid. You want to try and stroke my ego to let you and your party join us…Well, it worked, we leave in an hour."
"Sounds great, can I please get your name?"
"The name is Pigsky. Joined with me are two mages nicknamed Red and Yellow."
"I can't wait to meet them! We will see you in an hour in front of the guild doors."
"Mm!"
Zena walked back to the group, her fake smile faded the moment Pigsky couldn't see her face. "We are good to go."
"Zena, we can't afford to not have work." Coco said with a pause.
"Don't worry, they are going to pick a harder dungeon, and when they slip up, we get a bigger pay-out." Zena responded and made an ok sign with her fingers.
…
During this hour, team Earth counted all of their items, and discussed if they should buy any tools like a shield or wand. The conclusion was as long as they remain carriers, then there is no need to waste money.
They went to the guild receptionists office and got a carrier bag. A large leather adventuring bag meant for carrying items. These are free to rent since they are donated to the guild by a certain aristocrat. Because so many people use these bags though, they are not in the best of conditions.
An hour later, they meet up with Pigsky and the two mages. One mage was wearing a solid yellow cloak and the other was wearing a solid red cloak. "I talked with my group, we are taking on a C ranked dungeon. Although you lot don't have to do a whole lot, I wanna give you the run down. So, who here knows how dungeons work?"
A pause
Coco, weary being in front of three unknown people, still chose to speak, but there was a certain level of uncertainty.
"I believe that dungeons are said to be a gift from the Crafting God. They hold many treasurers, artifacts, and mana rocks. In turn however, they are also home to powerful monsters and traps. Dungeons vary in size, but one rule remains constant: every ten floors, there is a keeper of the dungeon. Dungeons also vary on themes that dictate their attributes. Some dungeons are water themed, others are fire themed, the list goes on. Each theme has a primary setting. Fire for instance is mainly creatures and a lot of fighting, while ice dungeons are mainly trapped focused."
She went on a mini tangent, that the only person who remained listening in full focus was Pigsky.
"You sure know your stuff kid. The only missing information is how dungeons are ranked. In accordance with guild regulations, dungeons are listed in the same ranks as adventurers. E rank being the lowest and mythic rank being the highest." Pigsky added on with pride.
"What kind of dungeon are we entering today?" Coco asked, feeling concerned for how today will play out.
"Today we will be entering the C ranked forest themed dungeon, known as the The Glowing Crypt, meaning it is a mix of a lot of things, traps, creatures, and puzzles."
"Oh, great." Fenrir said as a passing comment.
"Do not worry, we will only go to the fifth floor today."
"Anything else we should know?" Coco asked, wanting to make sure all bases were covered.
Pigsky scratched his chin, "nope that about does it."
The dungeon was a little ways outside of town, about an hour long walk from the town gates to a grove. The entrance to the dungeon was located in the center of a small patch of trees that seemed out of place to everything else around it.
In the center of this grove was a stone staircase that led to the dungeon's first floor.
"Right! Now that we are here, I have to make one last bit of news clear. When there are carriers in the party a detailed description of events must be written for the guild's personal records, just in case of any accidents. Since writing out the names of all seven of us will be difficult, we will be split into two groups. Group one will be the adventurers, me and my party and group two will be your four carriers." Pigsky announced with his booming leader voice.
Each name and which group they were a part of was written once, on the front of a notebook given by the guild.
Group one, Pigsky and his party, led the way, with group two, close behind.