"Sunny's not on shift today."
The barmaid who gave them the death concoction said to Alric. He physically deflated, falling to the floor on all fours. He looked so disappointed, like a kicked puppy. The barmaid winced and tried to cheer him up.
"Ah! She'll be here tomorrow, though? So you can always come back here!" She waved her arms around.
"Really?"
"Yeah, just make sure not hold her up when she first comes in. I'll have to fill in for her otherwise."
"You're the barmaid from before?"
"The one that ruined your alone time with her? Probably."
"Alone time? That's not-"
"Shush, shush, shush, young one, I know your type." She put a finger to Alric's lips. "All shy and innocent—then, when guards are down—" She mimed a predator swooping on its prey. "Hisssss." Complete with the sound, immersive experience.
"Quit bullying the kid, Lulu," Cherry called out as soon as he got upstairs.
"Sorry, next time I'll just trick him into getting into a small debt of 100,000 instead. Also, stop calling me that asshole."
Cherry shrugged, snickering while tossing her a coin, "The regular for me."
"I won't forget to spit on it."
"You know I'm into that." He settled into his seat and winked at her.
Lulu winced as she headed downstairs, her shadow overlapping Elfie's smaller one.
"You're insufferable, Cherum Graves." She deadpanned.
"I didn't know that was Elven for a greeting., You're insufferable too, your royal highness."
Elfie's eyes twitched. She pointed a finger at Cherry's chair and cast a gust of wind at one of its legs. The chair toppled, dropping Cherry to the ground. With a huff, Elfie pulled out her own seat and sat down.
'Well, that's a good start. If not the debt, maybe we would kill each other faster.'
"I probably deserved that one." Cherry dusted himself off and fixed his seat.
"Who are we waiting for now?"
"Eos, I couldn't find him anywhere." Cherry threw his arms up.
"I've been here the whole time." A voice called out from the edge of the room. From the shadows, more accurately, as Eos quite literally emerged from the walls.
Cherry jumped into Alric's arms, and he hastily caught him. 'He's really light.'
From the princess' carry, Cherry pointed a finger at Eos and screamed, "You can Shadow Walk?!"
Shadow Walk. An advanced Darkness spell that lets the user move between shadows. It's extremely dangerous because if you let your guard down, the darkness will literally swallow you, and the recoil of getting kicked out of the shadows can be fatal.
Eos simply nodded and took a seat. "That's about the only magic I can naturally do. Anything else comes out of a converter."
Cherry nodded as he signaled Alric to put him down. Elfie also pulled out the Aether Attribute device she snatched from the research lab.
"First, I'd like for all of us to measure our Aether Attributes. I'm assuming the two of you know how to work this?"
The two nodded, and Cherry was the first to go. Cherry picked up the tube and carefully poured the gray liquid into it until it reached the middle. Next, Cherry added green liquid to fill another third, then yellow to fill the rest. Elfie took the device, shook it, and the Aether flowed like water. The colors swirled and mixed, then gradually separated into gray, green, and yellow layers.
"Interesting. Composition is above average with 30% on Wind Aether, but your Aether is very fluid. Seems like you're able to use a big range of spells to a competent degree."
Cherry had a smug look on his face as Elfie complimented him; she paid it no mind. Cherry handed the device to Eos, who took it from him. The device reacted the same way; this time, it was filled with half a purplish black color and half yellow Aether. Elfie shook the device again, watching as the Aether, appearing thick, flowed and collided inside. When the colors crashed together, they mixed and then quickly separated.
Elfie had a very interested look on her face, "What a fascinating attribute, a 50/50 split is almost unheard of, even though it is mathematically impossible, naturally. You also have very good harmony even though."
Eos simply nodded at the information. Elfie also paid it no mind and noted down all their attributes.
"You're not gonna show us yours?" Cherry asked.
Elfie shook her head and simply handed him a note. Cherry read the note aloud, "Composition: 90% Wind and 10% Arcane. Fluidity: Abnormally rigid. Harmony: Perfect harmony."
Alric raised his eyebrows, "90% wind and rigid means you can only do one thing well. Am I right on this?"
Elfie sighed, looking away as if she had been caught in a lie, looking wistful, "Unfortunately and fortunately, yes. I only have aptitude in one type of magic."
"That being?"
"Wind magic. What school I'm not telling."
"Well, that's telling."
Elfie dismissed the topic, and an awkward silence settled over the group. Attention gradually shifted as they remembered the looming issue—paying off the debt.
"I'd like for us to count our assets. Be honest about this, okay."
"Rich coming from you." Elfie snidely commented.
Cherry paid it no mind and pointed his fingers at Eos, "10 gold."
Cherry cringed and pointed his finger at Alric next, "I have 20 gold remaining from the money you gave me last time, and I still have 80 from my initial funds."
Elfie went next, "I have around 200 saved up."
Cherry raised his eyebrows in confusion, "Aren't Elves supposed to be rich?"
"An outdated stereotype. Besides, we use different currencies."
Cherry sighed, seemingly unsure about their situation now, "I have 300 on me."
"Aren't thieves supposed to be rich?" Elfie asked.
"If I were rich, I wouldn't be a thief now, would I?"
In total, theycounted 610 gold. While it was a lot to work with, they would need more to survive and pay off the debt. Cherry anxiously bit his fingers, realizing how much work lay ahead.
"Well, where should we start?" Alric asked.
"I have a few contracts-" Eos suggested, before being cut off.
"No." Alric firmly refused.
"I have a few more heist-"
"No." Alric slammed his fist on the table.
The four went silent. As the tension grew heavier, he let out a sigh and offered his suggestions, moving the conversation forward.
"How about we become adventurers?"
"Not a good idea, kiddo. The guild takes too much of a cut. It's better if we don't need to be in a guild or organization to pay off this debt."
The four fell silent. How would they solve this? Everyone had different values, and working alone wouldn't help. Alric wouldn't let Eos or Cherry try their first two plans.
"Maybe we can be an independent problem solver?"
"Being an adventurer without the guild? Who would hire us?" Elfie commented.
Just then, a loud bang was heard downstairs. A hysterical woman was screaming for help. The four went down to see the commotion. The woman was Fiola, the one Alric had saved before.
"Please, anyone! The adventurers won't take this quest. Please save my family!"
"Fiola! What's going on?" Alric called out and rushed to her side.
"Raynar and Millie have been taken by the Hound Bandits! They've taken our Caravan to the cave, please, you have to save them!"
Alric did his best to calm Fiola, with Cherry stepping in to help him. Meanwhile, Eos and Elfie exchanged a glance, nodded in silent agreement, and recognized that they had just found their first job.