Rex calmly sat in the chair, awaiting the response from the girls. Sure, they were nice people in general, even more so now that Alurial seemed to have matured overnight, adapting a much calmer and acceptable code of conduct, but that alone was not be all and end all of things. One of the more important points he needed to learn off was their parties core principles, since most were created with a rather specific reason in mind. Be it 'for profit', 'to facilitate the growth of their members' or even something as far fetched and idealistic as 'overcome the evil monster whatever the hell it might be', said core principle often gave yet another glimpse into the personalities of the founding group, and possibly even the newest members, unless said fresh additions were so because of their unique talents, heavily rewarded for said decision to join.

Eventually, Rex was graced with an answer when Samanta replied after a short discussion with teh rest of the girls.

"While we would have left this place eventually, the recent happenings are what has forced our hand. Originaly, we wanted to stay here for a while longer, hopefully finding another front line fighter for our group while earning some well needed experience in the process, before getting on with the main reason for froming the party." seeing that Rex was focused on her, paying full attention to her words, she continiued.

"Our main goal as a party is to reach rank A so we can make a noticable change in our home city. You have probably realised that we are not from around here to begin with." a slightly akward smile graced her face as she spoke so, clearly a topic that the girls were not perfectly comfortable with discussing, yet neccessary to get on the same page, especially if they hoped for Rex to join their party. He had more than proven his ability during the raid, and while there had been no other groups to witness his skills, it was only a matter of time before a better party noticed him as well, and offering a much better deal, should he join up with them. Guildmaster Ross does not show so much interest in ordinary adventurers after all. Something the girls had picked up on as well. His unwillingness to accept their offer regarding a night spent with Ria, in exchange for their participation in the raid, reinforced their willingness and desire to have him as a part of their party.

With his sharp eyes and elevated perception however, Rex noticed a few teltale signs that there was more to it than Samanta told, most likely a juicy secret hidden beneath. It was of no matter to Rex however, at least not for now, so he decided to not pursue it, however it would be too booring to just leave it as it was, so a small hint that he was aware of the slight lie was in order.

"Okey, we will leave it at that for the moment, since you trust me enough to offer a spot in your party, yet not enough to mention the full extent of your final goal. Nevertheless, that still leaves the other part of the question unanswered. I assume you have a few ideas as to the dirrection, maybee even destination, once this city is left behind?" His blatant disregard for subtlety, as well as the fact that he had noticed that something was left unsaid alarmed the girls, though not to the point of becoming hostile. On the contrary, his sharpness, as well as willingness to not inquire further at the given time was apreciated, thus Samanta proceeded to the next item on todays agenda.

"Yes. We have considered our options." she spoke, pulling out a small, rolled up scroll, that she placed on the table and opened up. With that action, the rest of the girls gathered around the table, leaving an open spot for Rex. Simply shrugging his shoulders, he calmly got up from his seat and moved over to the table, where a map of the area was rolled out. A small castle was pinned with Samantas finger in the middle of teh parchment.

"This is where we are right now. Valrun." Samanta explained, moving her finger away from it in the dirrection of north, if the map was to be believed, untill her finger stopped on another, smililarily sized, castle.

"Aproximately weeks travel north, fort Vixiera. Located at the foor of Vyvern peaks, it is the main iron ore suppliers in the nation. Though that in not why it is a point of interest for us. A rather low tier dungeon exists there, serving as quite the draw for adventurers."

She then moved her finger south, untill it reached valrun, then south east for a while, stopping once the finger covered another castle, this time slightly larger than Valrun and Vixiera.

"Fort Crystal." she spoke "Aproximately two weeks south east from here and is notably larger than Valrun. Formed on the shores of River Nea, its serves as a border city between three nations, with the river and its forked split being the border. Due to its location, as well as the large size of river Nea, it has become a flourishing city of trade."

"Why is it called Fort Crystal then?" Rex asked the obvious question.

"A dungeon of course. Just like with Vixiera, Fort Crystal has its own dungeon within its territory. Due to the rather unique fauna of said dungeon, where its inhabitants develop crystals on their bodies, as well as the labirinth like layout that somehow changes from time to time, the city took over its name Fort crystal was how adventurers call the dungeon, and so over time the city that formed around it earned the same name." Explained Ria who had been quiet for the most part.

"How confident are you of taking the creatures there on?" Rex asked.

"If possible, we would prefer not to head there. While we could, in theory slowly take down most of the creatures on the upper floors, it would require enormous amount of effort. And while it is a possibility, this one is a last ditch effort, at least for now. I just thought you should be aware of it."

"Noted. So, anything else, or is that it for now?"

"No, of course not. There is also Arunhill and Maurina." replied Samanta, moving her hands both west and south from Valrun. "Arunhill is yet another city, aproximately two and a half weeks away from here, built near a large expansive forest thats filled with all manner of beasts and monsters. Scholars reason that there is an ancient dungeon deep within the forest, long since overflooded, creating the current situation. From what is known, no party had reached the deepest parts of the forest there for centuries."

"So, no dungeon, but open field hunting. And what of Maurina?" Rex questioned, awaiting the last option.

"Maurina is similar to Vixiera. A mining town south of here, aproximately three weeks away. Unlike Vixiera though, the mining itself takes place in the dungeon that has taken the form of an enourmous pit. The deeper ones descends, the more and more powerfull the creatures appear, as well as better and better metals could be mined, all of which have some magical properties, depending on the vein they are extracted from. The monsters are not the greatest reward there, but whatever metal vein a party can come upon."

"And, which place does tickle your parties fancy more?"

"Right now we are more inclined towards Vixiera or Arunhill. We dont have experience with mining, making Maurina less appealing and Fort Crystal feels like too much of a gamble too soon."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Solid reasoning." Rex nodded his head in agreement. "Anything else you can tell me about Vixieras dungeon, besides its supposed low level? While I dont particularily care, I have a glaring suspicion that it should be the more stable option of the ones you are considering as the primary options. Arunhill smells like the perfect place to get unlucky and encounter something that one would prefer not to, especially when the party is relatively new and inexperienced. And the perfect place for the lackies of a certain lordling to finish said unlucky party afterwards." he added, earning a few grimmaces from the girls.

"So, our only reasonable choice seems to be Vixiera." Concluded Samanta.

"Seems so. What is the plan regarding it then, asuming I join up with you? There has got to be more than just 'runing away from greedy and horny bastards'? " Rex inquired.

"Taking gathering and kill quests from the guild untill we reach C rank, perhaps a bit lower, then to proceed towards the next location, assuming we have outgrown Vixerias dungeon. Could then proceed to Fort Crystal, or try our luck in the elven lands on the other side of the river there." Samanta explained.

"Wait what? We are next to a fucking kingdom of elves and you mention it only now?" Rex's gaze radiated new intensity as he stared right through Samanta, dirrectly in her soul.

"You did not know?"

"Hello" Rex waved his hand. "Grew up in a back water village in the middle of some random forest, mostly ingored by the townsfolk too. So yea, that is something new for me. Why try our luck then?"

"Well, elves are not the friendliest of folk, their borders are quite strictly controlled. Unless rank C or above, it is quite difficult to get in without connection, or special circumstances. Might be even harder for us, since I am a halfbreed. The purebloods are not fond of halves like me." Spoke up Alurial for the first time this evening, clearly dejected that once again she might be messing wit hher own party and friends.

"Any good hunting grounds in their lands then? Or that would simply be a good place to go to escape any stupid lordling, my curiosity notwithstanding?"

"The latter, mostly." replied Samanta.

"So, to sum it up. You are planing to go to Vixiera to escape the current greedy and horny cunts eyeing your booties, literal and metaphorical, as well as grow stronger, before trying our hands at greater quarry. And my role here woule be as the second front liner, is that correct?"

"Thats about right." nodded Samanta.

"I suppose I dont see why not, though I do have a condition."

"What would that be?"

"Dont ask questions about my skills, no matter how bizare they might appear down the line, or the actions I take outside of combat. I have my own secrets I would like to keep. They are of no threat to you though, so as long as we can agree there, I dont mind tagging along." With his mind spoken, he returned to his previous seat, allowing the girls to converse among themselves, coming to a decision a short while later.

"We would like to be able to ask questions, but you can not answer anything you dont want to. I think it would be better that way, lest misunderstandings arise because of something you do not consider one of those secrets of yours. Does that sound fine?" Samanta spoke.

"I am fine with that, yes. So? When do we depart? I would like to replace my weapons before we do."

"We wanted to hire a carriage to bring us to Vixiera, saving on time traveling, so we can technically depart any time we want." Ria spoke.

"So why dont we meet up tommorow morning, here at this inn, go get me my new weapons and depart? Stock weapons will be fine for me, so it should take no time whatsoever. Or do you need more time to arrange for our transport?"

"No, we are fine with that." Samanta replied.

"Great. I will see you tommorow morning then." Rex replied and stood up from his seat. He waved the girls goodbye and left their inn. if he was to depart, he had to tie up the loose ends in this city- namely a debt he believed he owed to Lisa, since he would not be able to enrich the girl with commisions from his monster bounties. Something he was not willing to leave as is. A short while late, he was at the reception of the guild, asking one of the attendants to inform Ross that Rex was here to see him, and while grumbling, muttering that not ever other adventurer could request a meeting with the guild master, he still went off, expecting the young man to be told off. Something that caused him a great deal of distress when guildmaster not only did not do as he had expected, but ordered for the adventurer to be brought up.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Ross asked once Rex was inside his office and sitting in front of his desk. Rex placed a small pouch on his table, the clinking of money clearly heard as it hit the table surface.

"I owe a small debt of gratitude to Lisa, one of your attendants. A small bundle of joy. And since she is not working now, I wanted you to ensure she recieves it. As well as the fact that I will be leaving town tommorow. Since I have promised a favour to you, I intend to keep my word. In case you need my assistance, I might be found in Vixiera in the near future, asuming I am not skulking the dungeon there that is. I expect this info to stay somewhat private, with the exception of your request, or the requests of some hunters, who might look for me by name. Should I move somewhare else, I will leave a message for you to know of that."

"So those girls managed to catch you? Which one of them was it, who caught your fancy? Ahh, to be young."

"That is not the reason, though if I had to pick, I would go with their blonde healer Ria."

"IF you had to pick? Damn boy, aiming for the entire party? Thats gutsy, and most likely stupid as well. Think it over. Many great men have fallen this way." Ross grinned as he joked. Once he was done laughing about his own joke he added. "I apreciate the heads up though. And do not worry, I will make sure Lisa gets this."

"Thats all I ask for. Thank you, guildmaster."

"Dont sweat it. I am helping myself with this too." he added, gesturing with his hand for Rex to leave. Rex nodded to the man once more and left the study, descending down the guilds stairs and leaving the building soon after. And while he did not have anything else to do, besides the weapon purchase that is, he walked around the city for a short while, apreciating the rather simple and mediaval building style, well aware of the few pairs of eyes that were following him the whole time.

'What are they waiting for?' Rex thought to himself, not quite understanding the reasoning of his stalker. Its not like he moved through some incredibly shady back alleys to be jumped, besides the level of adventurers in this city was incredibly low, rarely reaching the peak of E rank, which was just two ranks above his F. And while normaly that would be a surefire way to know who was stronger, Rex was a special case. His raw experience with weapon handling and mastery over concepts put him in a class of his own.

Still, the observers that he had did nothing no matter how long he explored the city, and eventually Rex returned to his inn, having yet another hearty meal before retiring to his room where he would sink into his routine, expanding his space storage once more, in the process expending his entire mana pool several times over, using his ability to siphon mana from the world around him.

"A good session." Rex sighed to himself, stretching a bit after he was done, a pleasant exaustion washing over his body. 'Time to rest and prepeare for tommorows departure' he though before lying down on his bed, sliding into the land of dreams.

He woke up early, just like he was used to. Well rested, he found himself slightly anticipating this new journey of his. It would be the first time he would be traveling with a proper party, on a sort of an adventure no less. He packed whatever little things he had aquired over the days he had stayed in the city, and with the entirety of his belongings walked down, greeting the inkeep who was already up and about, ready to serve Rex whatever he had prepeared for breakfast.

"Mornin." Rex greeted.

"Morning kid. Breakfast as ussual?"

"Yes please. Make it double the amount. I have a big day ahead of me."

"Sure thing, coming right up."

A few moments later, Rex was sitting at a table, several bowls of stew in front of him. He face developed a light smile as he dug in his food, apreciating the hearty meal he had come to enjoy every morning. The inkeeper had a few different recipes that he would cycle through, to ensure every day was not the same, making Rex apreciate the place a bit more. Once done with his meal, Rex thanked the inkeep, informing that he would be heading out today, vacating his room.

"have to say I am going to miss this." Rex spoke as he gestured with his hands to the overall place.

"But we all have to move on someday. Sooner or later, one never trully knows. Take care of yourself out there kid. The world is a scary place, and if you look away for just a moment, hand is the least you can lose." The inkeeper spoke, an advice from an aged and life wise elder coming through.

"I will heed the warning. Thank you once again."

"Dont sweat it kid. Stay safe."

With that, Rex lightly bowed to the older man and left the inn.