All 4 of us walk toward the back of the crowded mercenary guild through the tables full of people, sloshing drinks, various colored coins, and magical items being traded.

The situation with a presumably well-known fire-using grunt has distracted the crowd's attention from our entrance enough that we make it to the front counter without any trouble.

The old white-haired guild manager shows us a professional smile as we approach and gives a nod before speaking up in a much more confident voice than earlier.

"Some new faces around here. Are you looking to fill a request? What difficulty level are you all looking for, we have plenty available but for outsiders, the pricing may be rather low. Competition has been tough lately with all the new hunters coming through. People are willing to jump at lower and lower offers every day."

Arie steps up and places a hand on the counter, leaning in and matching the gaze of the old man.

"We're looking to buy today, not get paid. Do you have a few rooms available? Just for the night, we'll be leaving to go further north in the morning."

The old man raises an eyebrow at Arie's last comment. He begins to shuffle paper and small items under the desk, then speaks.

"For the 4 of ya? The best I can do is a quad-bunk room. There isn't enough space for single rooms in this town anymore I'm afraid."

He pulls out a small partially rusted key and places it on the counter.

Arie turns back to us with both hands raised slightly to his sides.

I shrug and reply while stepping up to the old man.

"If that's all ya got, then we'll take it."

I reach into my item box to grab a few silver coins.

"How much is it gonna run me?"

He nods.

"That'll be 40 bronze for the night."

As the manager replies promptly, the grip on the coins in my item box loosens and my mouth hangs wide open. I swallow my next words before they come out.

Sifting through my item box, but not able to find any coins lower in value than the silver and gold I brought along, I gulp and place one of the shiny silver coins on the table.

"Maybe we could get a few drinks and some hot meals with that too."

He quickly takes the silver coin, throwing it under the long table between us while I take the small key and put it in my item box.

He replies.

"Room 117. You're right down the hall."

The white-haired man points to a hallway off on our left side that twists out of sight from the main guild's main room.

He continues to speak.

"Drinks? We can fill ya up, for the extra coin ya gave me. Even if it's not for now, I never forget a face, don't you worry."

He winks.

"Food on the other hand, you'll need to go find a restaurant in town. This isn't a bed and breakfast."

He lets out a chuckle. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the scrawny man that stood up to the fire user earlier approaches.

The guild manager takes notice.

"It was a good try earlier, Danny. Maybe the next crew of adventurers that roll in can help ya out. It could even be these fellas."

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The manager points over to us.

"You 4 are hunters, right? Just looking at the way you handle your money and wave that high-class gear around like it's nothing, I can tell you're probably pretty good ones too."

As we confirm his suspicions with slight nods and momentary silence, the white-haired man turns to the younger thin blond.

"It's always free to ask, might as well show them around town. They're in need of some good food."

The stick-thin villager looks over to me and puts out a hand.

"H-Hi, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to cause a scene on your entrance. The name's Daniel, o-or Danny, whichever you prefer."

He gives off a nervous laugh as I shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you too... The name's Jay."

I pause, remembering back to what the man in front of me said to the arrogant grunt before he left.

He wanted him to clear a dungeon of some sort to help people from his village...? Or at least something along those lines.

I put a kind smile on my face and speak again.

"Whatever it is, we'll hear ya out. Just find us a place a good place to eat and we'll happily listen to your problems"

His eyes light up and his posture straightens.

"Amazing- I- I mean certainly, please, come this way. I'll bring you to the best hot meal in town."

He turns to the exit of the guild, with a whole new attitude about him.

I shrug, and my teammates do the same. Maria chimes in as we begin to walk towards the door.

"Works for me, I'm starving."

Abby rolls her eyes but politely follows, and Arie crosses his arms, not saying much just moving his gaze across the room.

Most people ignore us as we thank the old manager and leave with the thin hunter back outside into the desert town's streets.

The sun is starting to set now, and it's beginning to cool off. Lantern lights pop up in the various shops as the small man, Danny, leads us to the far edge of the village.

We pass a dozen small square-shaped one-story huts and smaller dome-style buildings on our way. Behind me, the light yellow glow of lanterns disappears as I peer out into the open desert.

On this side of town, the sun sets far off in the distance and the starry night sky comes into full view.

The world around me seems to fade away for a moment as a streak of light zips across the sky for a fraction of a second.

A shooting star.

The light echoes from the chatter of trade, children playing, and random villagers' laughter fills my ears.

I let out a sigh, thinking about how simple life must be ...out here...

After a brief moment of silence, the thin hunter's voice interrupts my thoughts as he points to one of the dome structures ahead. A steady flow of cooking smoke comes from a hole in the roof.

There's a crowd outside, but not nearly as packed at the guild center we just left.

Danny excitedly walks over.

"Here it is, the best food in the whole village. Come on, let's grab a table!"

We walk over, and the smell of rich fatty meats and spices takes over my senses. Peering into the hut, there are circular tables and many cheerful villagers eating steaming hot meals.

The 5 of us sit down in a well-lit, cozy room with a view of the desert through an open window to my right side. We order our food from a kind woman and Danny begins to tell us his dilemma.

"Thanks again for hearing me out, I hope your travels through the sun-scorched flats so far have been... uneventful."

Arie nods and replies.

"Since you already know what direction we came from, I'll tell ya more. There's no harm in it. We made it from the Section 4 entrance wall in under a day. No bandits, no sand storms, or any signs of trouble yet."

Maria speaks up.

"Hey that's not true, we ran into one of those weird-looking salamanders on the way here! Isn't that what all of this is about anyways?"

Daniel's eyes widen.

"You fought one of them on the way here? How terrifying! I- I mean, you must be pretty strong?"

I raise an eyebrow while using Inspect and Appraisal on the man to see he's level 134 with a Dagger Mastery skill. He's not exactly the creme of the crop, but still higher than expected.

I interject.

"Yeah, we handled it fine. I'm assuming all of this is about a dungeon break? Relating to those monsters?"

He nods.

Then, the woman that took our orders earlier brings out trays of steaming hot food and drinks. We begin to eat as Danny tells us his problems.

"Well, it all started about a week ago... There's a large cave system in the center of the surrounding villages that has many of the dungeons we all mine resources from to survive out here."

He pauses and takes a bite, chews, then continues.

"Last week, the most difficult dungeon in that cave system changed... The portal turned bright red and monsters started to pour out. The Volcanic Salamanders. Usually, our most proficient fighters are able to handle the heat, and farm materials without a problem. Recently, those that have Fire aptitudes are the only hunters able to get into that dungeon due to the extreme temperatures. Mutants that roam those caves are getting stronger and stronger by the day. We're not able to safely live in any of the nearby villages or even think about farming loot in the other dungeons."

Danny lets out a sigh.

"I'd offer you everything I have, really! These creatures are drying up our last remaining water sources and forcing all of the surrounding villages to move out here. That's why it's so crowded. We don't have many options left. Is it possible that you 4 are strong enough to handle it?"

I look at all of my teammates and they reply with shrugs and nods. After placing my fork down on the half-finished plat in front of me, I point one finger in the air, and the tip ignites into a small dark flame.

"Sure, I think we can make a deal."