Sally paused in the open doorway and looked at the carnage aside. The figure within, perched awkwardly over the chair and the desk in the middle of the room, stood equally frozen due to her appearance.

Assuming this was the person she was looking for, Bully was a frogman. Barely five feet tall, his bulbous yellow eyes were a contrast to his blue-green skin. His pink tongue was currently extended and stuck to a cupboard on the side wall, his mouth open like an iguana while his eyes focused on the zombie. The frogman was wearing khaki shorts and shirt in a cliche safari adventurer design, paired with a small hat that had a string strap beneath his wide chin.

She took one look at the broken glass vials on the floor before raising an eyebrow at the frogman. “Doctor Bully, I presume?”

“I’m not a doctor,” he replied, his voice muffled due to his tongue being several feet out of his mouth. “There was a fly.”

Sally looked at the cupboard as it slowly opened under the weight of his extended appendage. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah.” The tongue slipped down and return to his mouth as the frogman climbed back off of his table and onto the chair. “How can I help you…?”

“Sally Danger,” she said with a grin, stepping into the room properly. “I’m looking for a healer slash supporting adventurer for a mission on another world.”

“Another world,” Bully repeated, putting a webbed hand on his chin as he looked at the ceiling in thought. “I’ve always wanted to go to somewhere unexplored. That said, I’m not much of an adventurer.”

“It would involve fighting monsters, or at least providing healing and aid to the rest of my group.” She clicked her fingers and sat on the chair opposite. “Unfortunately, it’s also a last-minute request, as we would need to leave relatively soon.”

The frogman nodded and turned his yellow eyes to the zombie. “What do I get out of it?”

She shrugged and wrinkled up her nose. “What do you want?” For most of her career, just the desire to fix things and overcome odds was enough incentive. That and all the brains she could eat.

“My going rate is five gold per day, plus renumeration for any consumables or ingredients used. Additional ten percent on wear and tear costs based on how long we are away.”

Sally nodded slowly. “Can I give you twenty up front and then we’ll see how it goes?”

He licked his tongue around his mouth, his expression easy to read. “Good, good. When do we set off?”

“Hold your horses, bud. Send me over your information first so that I know what I’m buying into.” She crossed her arms and waited for the screen to be provided.

[Bully - Level 28 Frogman Explorer]

[Classes]

[Alchemist 3]

[Explorer 2]

[Medic 1]

[Key Skills]

[Brew Potion 8]

[Lifeforce Renewal 4]

[Keen Eye 7]

“Neat.” Sally nodded at the Classes. “You’ll be the lowest level of us, but we can keep you safe enough.” She took a moment to consider the odd group she had put together. Not really her most comfortable or familiar Party, but people she trusted enough for killing some bugs on a different planet.

“What happens if I do die?”

“You respawn on the spaceship and can’t return to the world or to Sanctuary until the job is complete. Or… until we’re all dead.” She smiled and leaned back in the chair. “Which isn’t likely.”

Bully shrugged and looked around the room. “Alright, I’m in. It will be a pleasure serving alongside you, Sally.”

[Bully has joined the Party]

[Humphrey has joined the Party]

[Jackie has joined the Party]

[Edward has joined the Party]

“It’s all coming together.” She grinned and flexed her hands. “Let’s get everyone prepared.”

----------------------------------------

“I’m not a fan of the tabard,” Edward complained, leaning back in his chair and pulling a face.

Jackie sneered at her own. “Gotta say I agree with demon-boy here.”

With a roll of her eyes, Sally tried to tune them out. She was used to having a group of people who couldn’t stop complaining or being weird in the background. That didn’t mean it wasn’t distracting while she was trying to focus on the mission at hand… and if she engaged with the conversation, she’d only end up agreeing with them.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The problem with that was she had been made the de facto leader of the Party. While they were acting even more remotely than usual, it was important that she acted the role.

“Just wear them for now and we’ll take them off when in orbit.” Humphrey sighed and shook his head. “They are just to show the locals we are some manner of virtuous heroes and not a bunch of world-hopping murderhobos.”

Sally smiled to herself as she flicked through the mission dossier. Between the five of them they were quite the sight, and she doubted the tabard would really change how they were seen, but she was thankful she could rely on the Death Knight to hold things together in her stead.

She looked up from the table in the corner of the hanger as Bully placed down a glass bottle beside the paperwork. “Healing potion?” she asked. It was reddish in color like the usual System-created fare, but had an odd sheen to it as if it was extra oily or full of glitter.

“It’s a Flask,” he said. “You can only have one of these active at a time, but they provided a constant buff for up to twelve hours.”

Gingerly, she plucked it up, watching the surface of the liquid within reflect the light oddly before she placed it in her inventory.

[Flask of Power] [+10% Power, Regenerate 1% HP every 5 seconds.]

“Wow, that’s really good. I forgot to ask you what your aura ability was?”

His wide mouth down-turned as he looked away sheepishly. “I don’t have one yet. The ones offered by my Class selections so far haven’t been useful for my career.”

“No worries.” Sally tidied up the paperwork back into the folder and looked over at the spaceship.

Even with the relatively competent Party she had managed to cobble together, she was still missing having Theo about. Even Lucius and Norah would have made it feel more like old times again. Normally she wasn’t so nostalgic or clingy, but something about using the Sea-faring vessel had her a little more nervous than usual. Not that the usual way of traveling to other worlds was any more safe… things were just new.

As a door opened up to the left, she turned her eyes over to see Dent step into the hanger. The swordsman gave the trio arguing about the tabards a brief glance before clocking the zombie.

“I almost expected you to take much longer to arrange this,” he said, walking over.

She grinned. “You know me, Dent. I always bring the best brains together. It’s just I’m not feasting on them for a change.”

“I also know that you’re nervous, and not just because you’re taking the yet unnamed ship out for a spin.” Dent pulled out a chair and sat with her as the frogman wandered off.

“Well, if it’s not about brains, you know what else usually concerns me.”

He nodded. “Stakes.”

“The times that things go to plan are few and far between.” She tilted her head and looked at her gathered oddballs. “I understand the safety measures you and Chuck have put in place for this whole thing, but there’s just a feeling that… there’s a nasty surprise just waiting for us.”

“No such thing as a quiet patrol, huh? That’s why you’re in charge here, though. If there is anyone that could be thrown directly into the thick of it and find a way out, it’s you.” He raised up his metal hand. “That’s not to say we expect trouble, but your competence is part of our safety measures.”

“Even so, I reckon I’ll be bloodied and throwing up within an hour of dropping onto this new world… which is called Nifra.” Sally tapped a finger on the closed folder. “You sure that we can’t hold out for Theo to return?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. He will likely be gone for a few days, and the cockroach invasion is anytime between… well, three hours ago and nine ahead of us. The Sea makes it hard to determine exactly.”

With a sigh, Sally gave her Party another glum glance. Perhaps it was the additional separation from Sanctuary that had her feeling out of place. While the spaceship was technically a small bubble of her world, death wouldn’t bring her home like usual… it would just leave her stuck on their vessel.

What would happen if something blew up the spaceship?

She asked this question out loud to the swordsman, figuring that it would be important to know if the roaches also traveled in similar fashion.

“Death will take you back to the ship unless it is rendered totally destroyed, in which case you would return here to respawn in the old fashion.”

Every time it was explained how the rules were in their favor, it made less sense to her why the roaches were even coming to Sanctuary to try to steal the ability to respawn. The world had grown in both size and population since the collector had arrived here to kidnap people. There was no way a traditional battle would get them what they sought.

She clucked her tongue and sighed. “Alright then, best stop overthinking and start getting towards the point I can stab people. You said the ship was unnamed?”

“Yes… but I have the power to veto.” Dent narrowed his eyes and stood up. “Only fitting as the first captain you get to… attempt to name it.”

“Neat!” Sally hopped up to her feet, knocking the chair over as she pointed her index finger at the vessel. “I name you…” She paused and furrowed her brow. “Shit, what did STAR stand for again?”

Dent raised an eyebrow. “It’s not really an acronym.”

“Really? Why’s it always in capital letters, then?” She scowled at the spaceship as though it were at fault. “Uh… in that case… TRAIN.”

“Vetoed.”

“Balls. You really picked the worst person for this.” The zombie deflated slightly, before looking over at her Party who was now paying attention to proceedings along with pretending they were content with the tabards in front of Dent.

Before she had the chance to give the naming a second stab, a small blue shape shimmered and appeared on the table - turning into the familiar shape of a ginger cat.

“Archie!” she exclaimed. “You woke up especially to see us off?”

“Far from it,” the cat replied, sitting and curling his tail around his feet. “I am essentially your on-board Chuck when the ship is out in the Sea.”

Her eyes glimmered as she looked between him and the inert vehicle.

“In that case, I have the purr-fect name for it.”