As the guildmaster and my mum began negotiating in earnest, the rest of us wisely stayed out of it to let them hammer out the details. Masa was looking out the window, probably looking for birds again while my dad took out his phone to fiddle with it. I quickly glanced at the guildmaster, but he was too occupied to notice the handheld device. I gestured at my dad to keep his phone, but he either ignored me or didn't even notice what I was doing. I sighed and spent the time half-listening to their conversation while examining the guildmaster's office.

The office was not much to write home about, being utilitarian with hardly any decorations. There weren't even any pictures either hanging on the walls or on his table. Only the soft green curtains at the window and a small vase with some wildflowers in a corner made the place look a bit more homey. A closed bookshelf stood against the wall on our left, which I assumed contained records, and what looked like a flat computer screen hung on the wall next to it. Ah, that was probably the same type of "crystal slate" as the one at the front of the guild.

In the end, my mother managed to wrangle half the transportation fee out of the guildmaster, who looked vaguely dissatisfied at the conclusion. Despite winning that much, my mum didn't appear very pleased either. So we were off to defeat a giant slug then. I sure wasn't looking forward to it. Well, better a slug than a snail, even if it was a fire-breathing slug. Come to think of it, the monster was called a Flame Slug, but maybe that had to do with its colour? Like the Fire-bellied Newt, Fiery Minivet or even fireflies.

Ah, the Fiery Minivet is a bird, by the way. I was searching for colourful Malaysian birds purely out of curiosity, mind you, and the name stuck in my mind because it sounded cool. It's an uncommon songbird with a striking red, yellow and black plumage. Naturally, it is not actually on fire, nor does it breathe out fire.

Then again, Shyi'eld was a world of magic and giant bugs. Maybe we should invest in fire-proof equipment and clothing. My parents didn't look worried as they bid the guildmaster farewell, and Masa still looked like he was merely along for the ride. No, wait, he was at the reference book section again, probably researching the target. He was raring to go, wasn't he? That reminds me, he was the one who had levelled to Level 30 in three days. He must have been going slow recently out of consideration for me. Great, as if the fact I was the weakest one hadn't been rubbed in my face enough.

The game's system didn't allow power-levelling, so unless I inflicted the most damage, the majority of the experience would likely go to the others.

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"Do we need to register as a party, then?" my dad asked the guild staff. "Are there any benefits to parties rather than individuals?"

"Of course," replied the young man, who looked rather familiar. Ah, he was the same guy who registered Masa and I as adventurers previously. "When you accept a quest as a party, the reward will be distributed equally and the kill would be accounted to each member of the party as well. However, if you accept the quest as an individual and then team up with others later, both the reward and the kill will go to you alone."

"Hmm, sounds good–” my dad started to say, but my mum nudged him with her elbow and overrode his comment. "The two of us would like to register as as adventurers and form a party with these two as well, please."

The guild staff member gave my dad a sheepish smile, then provided my parents with the forms to fill out. Once they received their adventurer cards, all four of us were registered as a party. "Would you like to register a party name?" asked the young man, looking at my mum this time.

"The Singapore Swing!" suggested my dad. "Y'know, because we swing swords and we're Singaporean. And it kinda sounds like the Singapore Sling."

My mum gave him a frosty glare while I face-palmed. "Masa's not even Singaporean," I pointed out. "And don't just add the word 'Japan' in there or something."

As my dad pondered, my mum quickly said, "Let's just go with something simple, like 'Masa-Tans'."

Masa and I nearly did a spit-take. Fortunately we weren't drinking anything at the time. I took a few deep breaths to hold down my laughter while the Japanese boy shot me a glare. "Masa's surname also starts with T-A-N, so why don't we go with just 'The Tans'?" I proposed.

"No complains here," said Masa with a sigh.

Mum also nodded, but Dad frowned. "It's not catchy enough. I want something cooler," he grumbled, folding his arms.

"It's all right, you can change your party name later if you want," said the guild employee with a wry grin. "I'll just register you as 'The Tans' for now. And you'll be taking the quest offered by the guildmaster, right?"

"Yes, and he offered to handle half our transport fees as well," added my mum with a smile.

"Right, I've already added the value to your respective cards, along with the rewards for completing regular quests," explained the young man. "Tseuk Village is only an hour's carriage ride away. You may purchase the tickets from the driver himself."

My mother accepted her card with sparkling eyes. "How can we confirm the value in our cards?"

"Every store should have a small crystal slate for that purpose, and you simply tap the card on it to check." The young man brought out what looked like an iPad and showed it to my mum, who tapped her card and nodded at the value shown there. "If everything is all right, I wish you safe travels and good hunting," said he said with a small bow.

We left the guild to head towards the carriage terminal, or whatever it was called. On the way, my dad exclaimed, "I've got it! We're the FERM Swords! It's perfect because the acronym is made up of our names and swords are firm, right?"

None of us dignified that comment with a response.