“I did a bit of everything.” Thomel replied non-committedly.

“Very descriptive.” Marace said, in between yawns. It was beginning to get on Thomel’s nerves but he knew it was a side affect of some gift so there wasn’t a lot Marace could do about it.

“Well, there’s not a lot to say. I lived in a rural area and we got most of our food from hunting, so naturally I became a hunter and got that as a class. Then a conglomerate of corporations arrived and just started ‘fixing’ everything. Before I knew it my small, quaint town was gone. My mother had died when I was a child and my dad got killed doing construction work once the megacorporations arrived. The cost of living had sky-rocketed and I couldn’t stay there by myself, so I left and became a vagabond. Maybe I could have held out and tried selling the house for what it was actually worth but you know how it is.”

The two men stared at him with complicated expressions and an awkward silence started to form.

Marace despite visibly trying not to, stretched his mouth wide and let out a loud yawn after a few seconds, breaking the silence.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Axel said once Marace was done yawning.

“Don’t be, I’m not. Life happens and you have to adapt to it, that’s one of our greatest strengths as a species. Besides, it’s not all bad, I ended up making a small hut for myself somewhere nice with a couple of other folks. I just got too greedy once I saw there was a tournament going on, and now here I am.” Thomel responded, before feeling self-conscious and getting back to eating.

“Oh, tournaments! I love those, always so fun to see how people compete.” Volly exclaimed loudly, walking up to the table with her plate and Cale in tow.

While Thomel was struggling to finish his mouthful, Marace started debating her on the best types of tournaments.

He zoned out of their conversation entirely as he began to cough. Getting up to help him, Axel slapped him on the back a few times, and that did the trick.

“Thanks.” He spluttered out.

“No problem.” Axel said, still hitting him lightly on the back.

Once he was sure that Thomel was fine, he backed off and went back to his own seat after pointing out a splotch of blood on Cales's cheek.

Cale gave a slight nod of recognition but didn’t make any moves to wipe away the burgundy droplet, even turning down a napkin Axel offered him.

“So how long will I be here for?” Thomel asked once Marace and Volly’s conversation was dying down, both curious and dreading the answer.

Volly turned to face him while Marace began another series of forced yawns.“Depends on how much you owe, for most people I’d say half a year of moderate work. For people like you and me, maybe two or three.”

“Yep, about that; almost everyone gets out in less than a year. There’s a couple of people who’re still here after a few years but they’re the exception.” Marace added on once he was done yawning.

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“Why are they an exception? What sort of debt did they all get loaded with?” Thomel said, somewhat hesitantly.

“The non-existent kind.” Marace said with bitterness, before jabbing his fork into a piece of chicken and stuffing it into his mouth.

“What he means is that, at least as far as we know, anyone who’s here for longer than a year does so of their own volition, in fact, a fair few people come here without any debt whatsoever.” Axel interjected into the conversion

“...What?” Thomel exclaimed, utterly confused.

“It’s an intelligent choice, these worlds offer us so much more than our own does. The experience points you get from killing a mere pig over in some random plane are equal to what you would get for killing a human on Earth. The scenery is better, the cuisine is better, the food chain has us at the top with no need to hide. It’s quite enchanting to a lot of people, even the simple act of combat is so much more real.” Cale elegantly spoke, shooting a knowing glance over at Volly near the end of his explanation.

Thomel briefly dwelt on the fact that Cale had compared killing a pig to killing an actual person but chose to gloss over it. It was probably just a poor choice of wording and he had another question to ask.

Before he got the chance to ask though, Axel lightly coughed and said. “It’s a risky choice, I don’t mean to bring down the mood but hundreds of people die on foreign planets to creatures that are the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully, the mapping is done, but don’t forget that it happens. Even normal hunts can end in losses.”

“A life of servitude costs you dignity and your humanity. You are not a human, you’re just a menial slave, a meaningless servant, serving a meaningless system. A life like this may claim your life but it ensures that you die with the same grace our ancestors once had.” Cale replied coldly, his blue eyes appearing like orbs of ice as he stared Axel down.

“Nope, none of this, thanks.” Marace said, slamming his fist on the table to make his point, all while Volly looked on with glee.

“More of this please.” She said in a sweet honey pot voice, batting her eyelashes at the contrasting duo.

Thomel just kept his eyes down and mouth shut, save only when he shovelled a bit of slop in.

“There’s nothing to argue about that we haven’t said.” Axel calmly said, holding his arms out in mock surrender and shooting a smile over to Cale and Volly.

“Damn right.” Thomel heard Marace mutter under his breath.

Cale looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he chose to delicately eat a piece of his lamb.

“Aw. Oh right, the thingie. Marace, Axel, and Thomel, how do the three of you feel about some security work?” Volly said in an upbeat manner, eyeing up each person as she spoke their names.

“Depends, I doubt it’s just security work if you’re excited. Is this a five-person mission?” Marace replied with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Nope! It’s a rather roomy one. I think it was around fifteen people who were wanted. We’re meant to hang out and keep some base safe for a week or two, no idea why but I’d figure something’s going down, could be wrong and all, it’s peaceful though.” Volly happily answered, leaning in close to Marace while she spoke and animatedly waving her hands around.

“Does it pay well?” Thomel asked, speaking up.

“No clue.” She said, turning around to Thomel with an enthusiastic grin.

Letting out a small sigh, Axel rubbed at his eyes and said with some hesitation; “Let's check this mission out first and then make up our minds once we have all the details properly.

He looked like he felt the same way Thomel had earlier, curious and also dreading the possible answer.

Cale nodded his head sagely with Thomel and Marace both joining him. Volly also joined in, bobbing her head up and down like she was listening to heavy metal or at a rave.