25 Temporary Party Established (1/2)
”Recently there has been an increase in the amount of goblin and hobgoblin sightings at the edge of the forest and attacks on nearby towns. We received a report from guild HQ that this is a result of a Kobold infestation that ran them out of their settlements. Rejoice, for now is the time of glorious combat! The nearby nobles have pooled together some rather juicy rewards for this extermination quest. You all have been hand-picked from various branches of the guild to take part in the quest to exterminate these vermin. The reward is high, and the danger is low, as they also hired me, a 5th tier adventurer, to guide you and intervene in case of any unforeseen danger. Let's go make some money! Grahahahaha!” An orc gave a speech to a group of 40 adventurers ranging from 2nd to 3rd tier. Wearing a single sleeve of scale male, that was fastened with leather straps around his chest. Besides his wedding band and a large glaive on his back, the only piece of cloth covering his green hide took the form of a jockstrap that put thongs to shame in a battle of revealing-ness.
Sitting among the group of up and coming adventurers were a familiar few faces. Throughout the past couple weeks, Kalin, Artemis, and Yami had made a little bit of a name for themselves, though only within the small circle of the 18th branch guild employees, a couple higher ups in guild management, and a few of their quest-givers. Ever since their first day as a party, they had finished a remarkable number of quests, a couple days earning more money than some 4th level adventurers. Their repeated successes as a team caused their party to receive recognition for their efficient hunting ethic. Already tier 3 adventurers, they were starting to earn a little street recognition as of late. Though not unprecedented, it was rare to see people gain so many quest points so quickly. It didn't help that they looked like a trio of attractive young women.
”Psst- Yami, wake up.” Whispered Artemis as she stealthily nudged her elder sister with her knee. Sitting near the back of the group, Yami had started to nod off during the debriefing of their quest. Artemis and Kalin were both excited to learn that they had been requested specifically by the guild to take on a quest. While the guild was a good place to find work and earn money, the real benefits were the ones that weren't given to just anyone. Just like a company, the guild gives rewards and preferences to adventurers that produce good results. This served many purposes, but chiefly among them was to prevent other powers from headhunting their best members. Having received their first direct quest from the guild was a great sign for their future as adventurers. Artemis didn't want to ruin this chance because Yami was sleeping.
Though she was worried about it, it was too late to wake her. The man that was giving the briefing had already noticed the person sleeping through his loud debriefing. Instead of being angry, however, he was more amused than anything. His wife always nagged him that everything he did was so loud that even his breathing could keep the city. He even felt the urge to invite this young woman to have dinner with his family to have evidence against such accusations in the future.
The meeting went on for another 30 minutes or so. Things such as locations, rations, duration, and rewards of the quests were discussed. The destination of the expedition was a day's journey northeast of the city. Overall, the entire quest would take anywhere from 3-4 days. One day traveling each way and another to finish the quest. Of course, these were very rough estimates.
After the debriefing ended, the trio were to meet up with the other 5 members in their group. The way the quest would have the adventurers split into 5 parties of 8 people, allowing each party to receive commands and act separately from the others. Fortunately for them, they weren't split into different groups
They found the room that they would find their temporary party members. Inside the guild room, there were four people already present. From they way they acted familiar with one another, it was easy to tell that they were also a party. Consisting of two men and two women, they seemed to be a pretty laidback group.
Noticing the door open, a man around 20 walked up to the group with a smile on his face and his hand extended. ”Hi, I'm Vin, and these are my companions, Rain, Belinda, and Elric. I'm a ranger and the leader of the group. Nice to meet you!” He was pretty average for a human male, standing around 1.7 meters and having a medium body build. He had a strong jaw and lime colored hair. He had a bow sticking out of the arrow bag he had on his back. Around his belt, he also had a short sword, a hunting dagger and a couple of pouches.
Elric was a smaller man, about half a head shorter than Vin. His small horns, curly grey hair, and goat-like hooves gave away his identity as a goat man, also known as a satyr. He had a giant wall shield and a broad hand and a half sword. Beside his helmet which was set on the table next to where he sat, and his bare hooves, the rest of his body was covered by heavy armor. He looked to be around 30 and had a well-trimmed goatee. Belinda was a tall woman who brandished a maul. Perhaps a couple years younger than Vin, she had dark brown that was pulled back into a bun, a fairly popular hairstyle for female adventurers that want to have long hair. While she was considered attractive, the human woman was fairly normal in appearance. She was slightly tan due to prolonged exposure to sunlight, and had a cloth armor that covered her body, leaving her with little sex appeal. While the other three members were attractive enough to turn a couple heads, the member of the group that stood out the most was the woman known as Rain.
Rain stood well over two meters in height, approaching close to two and a half. There sat a being that looked like half a woman emerged from shoulders of a decapitated horse. She, like Belinda was also wearing armor, hers leather, on her torso, but unlike Belinda, it could do nothing to hide her preposterous bust. She had long braided midnight blue hair that ran all the way down her human back, and her lower body was covered with hair so black and shiny that it seemed almost purple. On her person, she had a lance, a shield, as well as a couple swords.
Taking Vin's hand, Kalin introduced himself to those present as well. ”It's good to meet you too. My name is Kalin, and these are my friends Yami and Artemis. Yami is exclusively a mage, but Artemis is both a mage and hunter, while I use magic as well as fight with the sword. I usually work as a vanguard, but I can also take the role as caster if the situation requires.”