A few weeks had passed since the grand party, and life had settled into a comfortable routine for me and my friends. Each morning, I would wake up early, stretch, and make my way to the training grounds where Kael and Elyndor waited. Training with Elyndor always felt like an uphill battle—he had a natural strength and speed that outclassed me easily. Yet, Kael was different. Sparring with him was an even match, and we pushed each other, learning and growing in our swordsmanship.

"Still not fast enough, Duke!" Elyndor called out, grinning as he effortlessly dodged another one of my strikes. I narrowed my eyes, trying to focus, but Elyndor's experience shone through every time. It didn’t bother me much anymore—I was improving. Besides, Kael's presence kept the competition fierce

As for Kaldor, he refused to join us in training. Every day, he would disappear into the nearby forest, returning with fresh bruises and scratches. His fur, though mostly hidden beneath his clothes, couldn’t hide the signs of his solo fights with whatever creatures lurked in the woods.

Mira, ever the caretaker, would sigh and heal him with her magic. "You’re going to get yourself killed, you know," she’d say, but Kaldor would just shrug it off.

Sylas and Mira also train their abilities by using the local magic library. I have never been there but was told that there were a lot of magical textbooks and the world’s notable destinations and structures.

Every now and then, they would go inside the forest to test out new magic. There was one time when they tried a C-rank magic, it caused a huge explosion and made the residents angry and lord Merric awkwardly explained it to his citizens. But they helped clean up the mess anyway.

Once training ended, we’d all go out together, exploring the city or wandering into the forest. The city had become a second home to us. Its lively streets were filled with shops, vendors selling all sorts of trinkets, and the smell of freshly baked bread wafting from nearby stalls. We’d spend time at the local square, watching street performers juggle flaming torches or practicing magic tricks.

Mira and Sylas always seemed to have the most fun when we stumbled upon magical shops. They’d spend hours browsing enchanted items, picking up odd things like floating candles or glowing stones or even the head or skull of a monster.

In the forest, our adventures felt more like escapades. We’d climb trees, race each other, or just sit by a calm stream, listening to the quiet hum of nature. Kaldor, of course, seemed the most at peace here, even when he wasn’t training in secret. Elyndor would always challenge us to climb the tallest tree or leap over the widest streams.

And despite my protests, I always ended up giving it a shot. We often pass through the same route, go over a fallen tree that acts as a bridge, create a small raft with magic since Kaldor got washed away in the river when we first explored the forest and finally jump on top of trees and climb to the huge cliff that overlooks the forest and most of Brightmoor, the watch towers, the lord's castle, and the houses.

At night, the city quieted down, and we’d sneak up to the rooftops. The stars spread across the sky like a glittering blanket. We’d lie there, side by side, staring up in silence.

It was one of those rare moments where even Elyndor would stop talking. "You ever wonder what's out there, beyond those stars?" Sylas asked one night, her voice soft, almost like she didn’t expect an answer. But none of us knew. We just kept watching the stars, the night calm and peaceful.

Three months flew by in what felt like an instant. Life in Brightmoor had been easy—too easy, apparently. One evening, as we sat around a worn wooden table in our favorite corner of the tavern, the reality of our situation hit me like a hammer. I looked at my friends, their chatter blending into the background noise of the bustling tavern.

"Guys," I said, leaning forward with a serious tone, "we're running out of money."

The air around the table shifted. Elyndor, sitting to my left, groaned dramatically and dropped his head into his hands. His golden hair cascaded over his face like a curtain. "How’d that happen? I thought we were set for months after all those parties!"

"Turns out," Kael said, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he lounged back in his chair, "Living costs money. Who knew, right?" He shot Elyndor a sly smirk, clearly enjoying his misery.

"Well, maybe we wouldn’t be broke if someone—" Mira’s sharp voice cut through, her finger pointing directly at Kael, "—hadn’t decided to buy five rounds of drinks for the entire tavern last week. Were you trying to buy loyalty or just showing off?"

Kael sat up, looking offended. "First of all, they were on sale—"

"Drinks don’t go on sale," Mira interrupted, crossing her arms.

"They do if you know the bartender," Kael shot back. "Besides, at least I’m not the one who bought a handmade cloak that ‘just felt right.’ Mira, how much did that even cost?"

Mira’s cheeks turned pink as she glared at him. "That cloak was practical! It’s warm, durable, and—"

"—embroidered with gold thread," Kael added smugly.

"You’re one to talk," Elyndor groaned, lifting his head and gesturing wildly at Kael. "You spent an entire afternoon throwing coins at street performers just because one of them beat you in a knife trick! Who does that?"

"Hey, I was supporting local talent!" Kael defended himself, raising his hands. "And, for the record, I didn’t lose—I was distracted."

"By the pretty girl in the crowd," Kaldor rumbled, his deep voice calm but filled with quiet amusement. The usually stoic bear-like beastkin leaned back in his chair, clearly entertained.

"Okay, but what about you, Kaldor?" Elyndor turned to him, narrowing his eyes. "You’ve been eating enough for three people every day. Maybe try skipping one of those ‘extra snacks.’"

Kaldor shrugged, unbothered. "I’m a growing beastkin. You’re all welcome to try and out-eat me."

"You know," Mira suddenly said, leaning forward with a sly smile, "maybe we should talk about Elyndor’s contributions to our financial situation."

Elyndor stiffened, his golden locks practically shimmering under the dim tavern light. "Excuse me? What are you implying, Mira?"

Kael grinned, catching on instantly. "Oh, I think she’s talking about the older girls you’ve been entertaining every other night. Didn’t we see you drop a handful of gold coins on that one lady who called you ‘shiny’?"

Elyndor’s face flushed a deep red. "That’s a complete exaggeration! She was—uh—just appreciating my...style."

"Your style cost us enough to pay rent for two weeks," Mira quipped, crossing her arms.

"Two weeks?!" Kaldor’s deep voice boomed, his eyebrows raised in mock disbelief. "What were you doing, buying them jewelry?"

"Not jewelry!" Elyndor said quickly, his voice rising in pitch. "Just—" He hesitated, as though realizing he couldn’t talk his way out of this. "Okay, maybe a couple of small gifts. It’s called being charming!"

"Charming?!" Mira leaned over the table, glaring. "It’s called wasting! And for what? So someone twice your age can call you ‘handsome’ while taking your money?"

Elyndor groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I don’t need this from you guys."

"Oh, yes, you do!" Kael laughed, slapping the table. "We’ve all seen it, Elyndor. You just can’t resist the compliments, can you?"

ylas, sitting quietly until now, finally spoke up, her voice soft but firm. "Guys, maybe we should stop blaming Elyndor. This isn’t helping anything."

The table went quiet for a brief moment before Kael turned to her with a smirk. "Sylas, you’ve got nothing to do with this. Everyone here knows you’re the only one who hasn’t spent a single coin on anything unnecessary."

Mira nodded, surprisingly agreeing. "Yeah, Sylas, this isn’t your fight. You’ve been careful with money—unlike some people." She turned her gaze back to Elyndor.

Sylas frowned, her shoulders slumping as she silently sat back down next to me. Her usual lively expression was replaced with one of quiet disappointment.

I shot her a sympathetic glance and leaned closer to whisper, "Don’t take it to heart. They’re just...venting."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She gave me a small, half-hearted smile but stayed silent.

"Alright!" I shouted over the noise, raising both hands to calm the group. "Enough already! Elyndor gets it, okay? He’s made...questionable choices, but blaming him isn’t going to solve our money problem."

"Thank you," Elyndor muttered, peeking out from between his fingers.

"That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook," I added, giving him a stern look. He slumped back in his chair, defeated.

I sighed and glanced at Sylas, her quiet sadness tugging at me. "And for the record," I said loudly, turning to the group, "Sylas is right. This bickering is pointless. We’re all responsible for where we are right now. So let’s focus on fixing it instead of tearing each other apart."

The group exchanged sheepish looks, a few murmured apologies slipping out.

"Good," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Now let’s come up with a plan to make some money before Kaldor decides we’re on the menu."

Sylas, sitting next to me, tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, we could always sell Elyndor’s charm. I bet some noble ladies would pay for his company."

Elyndor immediately perked up, grinning ear to ear. "Now that’s an idea I can get behind!"

Kael rolled his eyes. "I think that’s called something else, Elyndor, and it’s not what we’re going for."

"I’m serious," Elyndor said, raising his hands defensively. "I could make a fortune off my charm."

"Or," Mira cut in, shaking her head with a look of exasperation, "we could think of more realistic ways to make money. Maybe we can perform in the city square. You know, like those traveling performers?"

"Yeah, with Elyndor juggling daggers and Kael balancing on a tightrope," I said sarcastically, earning a few chuckles.

"I’ve got another one!" Kaldor suddenly exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "We could go into the forest, find rare herbs or mushrooms, and sell them."

Sylas grimaced. "You mean the same forest where you come back covered in bruises every day?"

"Well… yeah," Kaldor admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But it’s an idea, right?"

As the conversation continued, the suggestions ranged from the outlandish to the downright impossible. Kael suggested robbing a noble treasury, which, while said as a joke, still made Mira shoot him a disapproving glare. Sylas thought of trying magic performances in the square, but none of us were confident enough in our control over magic to pull that off without causing a scene.

I sat back, their voices fading into the background as a wave of memories from my past life surged forward. Wasting money—it was nothing new to me. Back then, I’d been reckless, pouring everything I had into the flashing lights and false promises of casinos.

I could still picture it vividly: the smoky haze curling through the air, the clatter of dice on polished tables, and the flicker of dim lights reflecting off a dwindling pile of coins.

I remembered the warnings too, voices of friends or strangers—maybe both. "Stop, man. You’re going to lose everything," they’d said. I’d laughed it off, arrogance masking the gnawing fear in my gut.

“One more win,” I’d tell myself. “Just one more win and I’ll walk away on top.” But I never did. The cards were always rigged against me, or maybe I was just too stubborn to see the truth.

By the end of it, I was left with nothing. No money, no safety net, no one to blame but myself. The humiliation of crawling out of that pit still stung.

For the next ten years, I worked my fingers to the bone to scrape by, enduring jobs I hated and endless nights of regret just to make ends meet. Every coin I earned felt heavier than the last, a reminder of the price of my foolishness.

In this life, I swore it would be different. No more recklessness. No more throwing away what I had worked so hard to build. And yet, here we were, running low on funds because I hadn’t kept a tighter grip on things. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

A bitter smile crept onto my lips as I watched the group bicker. Elyndor might have been reckless, but at least his mistakes were born of youthful enthusiasm, not the self-destructive arrogance I’d known so well.

Still, I couldn’t let this spiral. I had to step in—not just for them, but for myself, to prove I’d learned something from the man I used to be.

I shook off the memory, focusing back on the present. The room was filled with laughter and debate, but beneath the lightheartedness, we all knew this was a problem we had to solve soon.

"I don’t think performing or gathering herbs will be enough," Kael finally said, his voice serious now. "We need something more stable."

After a long discussion, with many ideas thrown out and Elyndor's charm plan (thankfully) discarded, we all came to the same conclusion. It was time to take matters into our own hands. We were adventurers in spirit, and now, it was time to make it official.

"We could form a party," I suggested. The words came out slowly as if they had been brewing in my mind all along.

Everyone went quiet, considering it. "An adventurer party," Kael echoed, nodding. "It makes sense. We have the skills. Plus, we had worked together quite well against the raiders, right?"

"And the need for money," Mira added, grinning slightly.

Sylas leaned forward, her blue eyes sparkling. "I like it. A real party, with a name and everything."

The more we talked, the more the idea grew on us. The decision was made. The next morning, we would head to the guild and register ourselves.

The adventurer's guild building stood tall and imposing, its stone exterior lined with banners depicting the guild’s crest—a pair of crossed swords over a shield. Inside, the space was just as lively as the city streets, filled with adventurers of all shapes and sizes. Some huddled over maps, others laughed and drank from mugs that sloshed over with ale, while a few whispered in hushed tones about their latest exploits.

The air was thick with the smell of metal, leather, and a hint of something magical that lingered in the background. The walls were lined with boards covered in parchment—missions, bounties, and requests from townsfolk and kingdoms alike. At the back of the hall sat the receptionist, a stern woman who looked like she had seen her fair share of chaos.

We approached the desk, and I stepped forward, feeling both eager and anxious. "We’d like to register as an adventurer party," I announced.

The receptionist barely glanced up, flipping through papers with a bored expression. "Name?"

"The Rising Dawn," I said. The party name was decided the night before. We all have our own names for the party so we decided to do a rock-paper-scissor to decide. And Mira won.

The others quickly agreed with small smiles, though Elyndor looked like he wasn’t too sure about it.

The receptionist jotted it down, still unimpressed. "F-rank," she muttered as she filled out the form. "You’ll start with basic missions: lost animals, herb collection, maybe gathering a few low-tier materials if you’re lucky." She finally looked up, her gaze assessing us. "To rank up, you need to complete enough missions successfully to gain reputation. Once you’ve earned it, you can take the assessment for the next rank. Keep in mind, you can take missions that are one rank above yours, but anything more than that and you’ll need special permission."

Elyndor sighed dramatically. "So, we’re stuck catching stray cats and picking flowers forever, huh?"

Sylas shot him a look. "I think we’ll manage."

But I could sense the frustration in the group. Kael scratched his head, clearly doing the mental math. "If we’re only doing these basic missions, it could take forever to rank up."

"Months, at least," Mira added with a resigned sigh.

Elyndor groaned loudly, breaking the silence. "There has to be a faster way, right? Maybe we could... I don’t know, take on something bigger, like—"

"Like what?" Sylas cut him off. "We can’t just leap to high-ranking missions and hope we survive."

Kael looked at the floor, kicking at an imaginary pebble. "Guess we’ll just have to grind it out."

“We will take the E-rank mission please!” I said to the receptionist

The mission was to clear a group of hypnotizing werewolves, an E-rank monster has the ability to lure enemies into their sight and will eat off the victim. These monsters were recently located at a local village outside of Brightmoor

There was a collective sigh. The energy in the room had dipped. We were excited to start, but this was going to be a long journey.

We were ready to walk away when suddenly, someone called out, "Hey, aren't you the group that saved the city lord’s kids?"

I turned to see a tall man with short, dark hair and a commanding presence, carrying a sword behind his back. He was flanked by three adventurers—a woman with long silver hair, another man with a bow, and a younger girl holding a staff. Their armor looked well-worn, but their posture and ease with each other suggested they were experienced.

"The name's Garrek," the man said, stepping forward and extending a hand. "Leader of the Stormbreakers. We’re B-rank. This here is Sieara, our mage," he motioned to the silver-haired woman. "That’s Thoric, our ranger, and Ayla, our healer."

I shook his hand. "I’m Duke. Nice to meet you."

Garrek smiled. "Sometimes, small parties like ours team up for bigger jobs. Maybe we’ll cross paths."

Garrek glanced at the receptionist, his confident smile never wavering. "Listen," he began, leaning on the counter with an easy demeanor, "we all know what these kids have done. Saving the city lord's daughters isn’t a small feat—it’s the kind of thing you’d expect from seasoned adventurers, not a new party. They’ve earned the right to prove themselves with something better than basic cleanup duty."

The receptionist, a sharp-eyed woman with auburn hair tied into a tight bun, looked skeptical. "Rules are rules, Garrek. They’re a new party, and we assign C-rank missions to more experienced teams. It’s about safety and—"

Garrek cut her off with a chuckle, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a small bag. With a metallic jingle, he set it on the counter. "Let’s call it a guarantee. If they don’t complete the mission, my team will cover any damages or losses. How’s that for a deal?"

The receptionist raised an eyebrow, clearly torn. She glanced at the bag, her fingers twitching as if she was weighing the possibilities. "You’re really vouching for them, huh?"

"I am," Garrek said firmly. "They’ve already proven their courage. Now they just need the chance to back it up with results."

She sighed, grabbing the mission ledger. "Fine, but if anything goes wrong, it’s on your head, Garrek."

"That’s how I like it," he replied, flashing a grin.

The receptionist handed me the scroll with our mission details. "Eliminate six stone golems in the nearby mountains," she said again, her tone flat but resigned. "This is a C-rank mission. Don’t make me regret this, Rising Dawn."

These creatures, called Shardbacks, were known for their tough, jagged bodies that resembled large boulders. The reward was moderate, about 6 silver coins in total, but it was a start anyway.

I accepted the scroll, bowing my head slightly. "Thank you. We won’t let you down."

Garrek clapped me on the shoulder as I straightened up. "See? Easy as that. Just don’t forget to give it your all. You’re representing us too now, in a way."

Thoric smirked from behind him, leaning casually against the wall. "No pressure, kid. Just, you know, try not to die."

"Gee, thanks," I said dryly, but the grin tugging at the corner of my lips betrayed my appreciation.

"Seriously, thank you for this," I said, looking at Garrek and his team. "We’ll do our best, and we won’t let you down."

Garrek nodded. "That’s the spirit. Now go show those Shardbacks what you’re made of."

“Then, we, The Rising Dawn will do our best,” I said to the Strombreakers.