“Erin,” Elana says. “This is Enderian and Ameliah.” She says, gesturing.

Enderian offers a slight bow. “Greetings,” He says.

Ameliah narrows her eyes. “My name is Ameliah, the leader of this group.” She says with a hint of challenge.

Erin, was much smaller in stature in comparison to the others, with two pigtails, hinting at immaturity. “That's fine,” She says. “As long as you know what you’re doing.” She says with a toothy grin.

Enderian raises an eyebrow. “Do you have fangs?” He asks, bewildered.

Erin frowns. “Do you have a big potato-head?” She retorts.

Enderian’s mouth hangs open in shock. “Forget I asked,” He says, resigning himself to forget about it .

Elana smiles. “Well, make sure to get along.” She says, satisfied.

…

…

The trio slowly got acquainted; it turns out Erin was an established mage. She was able to provide some healing support, in addition to being quite proficient in illusion magick.

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She was quite eager to go hunting, but unfortunately, the group just wasn’t qualified.

“Ingredient gathering?” She asks, bewildered.

Ameliah lets out a sigh. “Yes, unfortunately it’s all we can do until we become official adventurers. Enderian and I are studying hard to become first circle mages to accelerate the process, but it will take some time. On top of that, we’ve taken out a huge loan and can’t remain idle, otherwise just the interest payments will begin to drown us. It’s not easy for two upstarts who began with nothing.” She says, lamenting their situation.

Enderian lets out a bitter smile. “Hey, at least we’ll be able to eat.” He says, attempting to console her.

Ameliah looks to the horizon in a daze. “Yes, but for how long…” She says, losing energy.

Erin’s eyes widen. “Are you two really so helpless? Why did you even go down the path of becoming an adventurer if you weren’t prepared for this?” She asks.

As for Erin, at least her family was wealthy. She was able to receive a proper education, and with assistance, has awaken both battle energy and has become a mage. She was already an official adventurer.

Ameliah looks back on the decisions in her life that lead to this. “Dreams… and temptations…” She says, wanting to cry but having no tears.

“Food… and to be honest, I’m not sure what other path is available to me…” Enderian says.

If Ameliah had not offered him this road, Enderian could still be out there wandering, starving yet unable to die. In truth, anything was better than that.

“This won’t do. The rewards from ingredient picking isn’t enough for me. Tell you what; if you’re willing to sacrifice a few days of income, then I will help you successfully become mages. After you become official adventurers, then we’ll simply go goblin hunting; it is more lucrative, and you’ll definitely make up for the loss.” She says, enticing the two of them.

Ameliah thinks it over… “But what if takes longer than a few days?” She says, unsure if she could make this gamble.

“How hard could it be? With me tutoring you two, you'll surely breeze through and become mages in no time.” Erin says, luring the two in.

Ameliah continues to think… “Are you sure? Enderian is quite slow.” She says, not having much hope.

Enderian frowns. “Rude.” He says.

Erin becomes frustrated. “Fine!” She says, throwing her hands up. “If it comes to it, I’ll cover your next interest payment.” She says, resigning herself.

Unfortunately, Erin’s personality hated taking orders, and she didn’t like being around people more capable than her. Also unfortunate, was that she was not strong enough to go out on adventures by herself. But reluctantly, she was quite accepting of this arrangement. Although, Ameliah and Enderian were pitiful, it also meant that they weren’t a threat. If they were more pitiful, Erin may be even happier.

A wide smile appears on Ameliah’s face. “That was all you had to say, sister.” She says, satisfied.