It was an oversized building, one that had unnecessary bronze furnishings amidst its darkwood beams, stone walls, and paned windows. At the front was a massive maw of an opening with tall, wide pillars made of carved dark wood jutting out on either side and climbing up until they reached the ceiling up above, suspending it in the air and stopping gravity from pulling it down. He couldn't see the roof because of the red tarps placed directly below it but Jacob guessed that it was probably as over the top as the walls design wise.

'Tiled, definitely. Made of brick, too.' Jacob tried to predict the roof's design. And he based his judgement solely on the marble stairs that he's ascending, it looked expensive enough that Jacob assumed the people who designed this place would want nothing less for their roof.

When he reached the top of the staircase- it wasn't much, just three steps or so, - Jacob's eyes were spoon fed with orange light emanating from the torches placed on either side of the two double doors that were the building's actual entrance, his eyes lingered on them for a second or so before he moved them up to stare at the statue hanging above the doors.

It was placed atop a clam-shaped bowl filled with gold, the two arms were spread out in a welcoming gesture, both were full of gold and jewelry, a theme that further extends up to his neck, body- well everywhere really. If the statue had a part that didn't have gold in it, then Jacob would be pleasantly surprised. He could barely make out the three piece suit carved out from concrete underneath it all and he had already given up on whether or not he can even see through enough of them to spot a small piece of the pants.

The way the statue had its lips curved into an expressive, yet condescending grin went un-ignored as Jacob walked further into the building, when he reached the doors, he placed a hand on its well polished surface and pushed.

It felt like a presence was watching him when he went inside, it wasn't unnerving or anything, it was just... there, staring, Jacob supposed. And it seems that whatever it was is content in doing so because it left Jacob alone otherwise, enough so that he managed to reach the receptionist by the counter: A well dressed man in a suit and tie who looked more than eager to see Jacob walking across the building's floor, he was just one of the three but Jacob knew that the other two right next to him definitely had the same opinion of him.

Jacob could smell the oil coming out of their mouths well before he even went 4 feet near them.

"Hello fine sir," Yep, oily. Jacob pushed down a sigh and replaced it with a stiff smile, one that zipped his lips tight enough that he knows he wouldn't be throwing out obscenities out of his mouth sometime soon, "Are you perhaps the fine [Mage] that we've heard so much about? I hear the farm out back is pretty nice."

'Didn't even try to hide the fact that they're sleezy and have their hands on everyone's mouths.' Jacob thought with no slight amount of disdain. If they were advertising their information gathering capabilities, then their resume is looking good. He nodded, "Yes, I wanted to talk about that actually," Once the receptionist swept his hands forward in a 'take a seat' gesture, Jacob pulled on the padded chair hidden below the smooth marble counter and took a seat, "I heard you guys have Unions?"

The man nodded, "We do, construction?"

Jacob nodded in return, "Yeah, uh, how much would... let's say 10ish-15 workers cost? Per month, preferably."

He had the audacity to fake a thinking pose and place a hand on his chin while digging through the paper work on his desk, a little while later, the receptionist took out a brown envelope and tossed it at the counter. Jacob grabbed it and started reading, it was a contract of sorts, just what in nature, Jacob didn't exactly know, but that's what [Haggling] and [Financial Management] is for.

[Haggling] didn't really tell him anything of worth and instead to just tread carefully, and he knows that much already. [Financial Management] though gave him a vague idea on how to properly manage the construction workers he's gonna hire, said ideas ranged from just how many people he can hire per month with his money (It's dependent on the information he had on hand, sadly, but that can get solved with the paperwork on his hands- Hah!) to just how much he can get out of his current wealth. (Again, information dependent.)

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jacob put the parchment back on the envelope and looked at the receptionist straight to the eye, "So let me get this straight, you're telling me that you can afford to get me a construction worker for..." He trailed off and took the paper out of the envelope, he flicked it, "...40 Silver a month." He said dully, "You think I'm some sort of dumbass or are you implying that I actually am?" He said with a threatening tone.

Using his [Mage] status is bad on normal people, not blood sucking parasites. (Merchants)

"No- of course not." The receptionist only faked a scared tone and Jacob silently listened as the bastard pressed a button by his foot. For some reason, they made it audible and Jacob just... didn't get it. "We assure you sir, these are fair prices-"

Jacob stood up, [Haggling] told him it was already useless to argue with the prick. "See ya, I'm gonna go out there and see if I can find a few drunkards to fix my shit." They're probably cheaper, too.

"See you, sir." He heard the receptionist say from behind him.

"See ya!"

Jacob ignored the glares of the two Orc guards now standing by the door as he passed them by.

When he stepped back out into the streets and away from the marbled floors of the merchant's guild, Jacob decided to cover his options- He can technically go back and pay for 40 silver coins per worker every month or he can find a few of the drunkards around town and offer them a job, going back to the Tavern and scouting them out seemed easy but then comes the problem if they're competent or not. 'Shit. I hadn't thought of that.'

Jacob looked back to the building and bit his cheek- The 40 silvers per month does sound cheap if the construction workers are competent but again, one silver coin is enough to feed a family of five for an entire day and that's what? Jacob paused, 'It's fair. I guess.' He reluctantly admitted, that moment of honesty didn't stop him from looking back at his funds and seeing a potential hole in his pocket though. If they're good then great, but the price may be a bit too much for him right now.

So that just means he has to find a job, right? Sighing, Jacob instinctively looked to the direction of the mayor's office and started thinking. What does a village want a mage like him to do for money, anyways?

Actually- Jacob channeled [Locate] and started pumping it with amp, when it asked him what he wanted to find, he answered 'A job' and low and behold, the spell worked.

Was Horos being generous when he gave him this thing? Seriously, what the hell?

His plan on going back to the forest to hunt down the bandits again evaporating, Jacob went ahead and followed the trail that the feeling from [Locate] is giving him and it was a pleasant surprise to see that it led him to a large gathering of people around what he assumes is an ancient door.

And Jacob means ancient, it was... by all means filled with vines, cracked, and eroded through weathering. Jacob can only stare at the Aztec-like door as he approached it, the black stone that it was made of was colored that way not because of design choices or because its natural, but because it had been eroded to that point. Several carvings were drawn on the thing, both to the side as well as up top. Looking closer, Jacob saw that the door had a mound out back, it was smooth and curved downward into the ground, blending with it and leaving no trace lines.

"Oh, it's you again." The Acolyte of Horos who told him about the merchant's guild suddenly said.

Jacob faced him, "Yes, nice to see you for the second time." he greeted.

"I feel the same," He bowed, and spread his arms wide, "Meet my team," Jacob eyed them one by one, standing to the Acolyte's left was a man wearing brown leather armor with a chainmail visible thanks to the opening for his arms. To the left was a cloak wearing man, Jacob couldn't see what was underneath the cloak but he did note that the man had the same features as the natives of this village, brown hair, and black eyes. 'Or maybe that's the feature for everyone in this world.'

"The warrior is Carlo while the rogue is Kaga." Jacob nodded at the two of them and so did they, "Are you diving as well?"

"Something like that." Jacob replied, "Are you waiting for everyone else?"

They nodded, "Yes, that's the usual procedure for this Dungeon." The Acolyte helpfully filled him in as for what the door in front of him is.

Jacob nodded, "Right."

So this is a Dungeon, huh?..

Jacob got pulled out of his thoughts by a snicker and he turned to face the warrior next to the Acolyte, who was waving his hand while apologizing. "-Sorry- sorry- it's just- you're both so stiff!" He fell down, cackling.

The rogue nodded with a sheepish smile, "I. Am. Kaga." He said in a mock robot voice- or maybe golem? - then followed after his friend with laughter.