Gita happily caught the gold coin Salas had tossed at her, "Thanks for the charity!". She carefully rubbed the coin against her cloth before she put it into her pocket.

"There goes all of my money." Salas dejectedly looked at her empty wallet and sighed. "You guys better shut your mouth, you know." Salas pouted as she put her wallet away in her pocket.

"Don't worry about it, unlike two particular pipsqueaks, we know how things work." Brad spoke and leaned his back against the trunk of a tree.

Salas looked at him for awhile and turned around facing the two novice hunters who had been apologetically sitting on the ground while hanging their heads down.

"... I am sorry," Nila spoke genuinely. Her apology was short because really, there was nothing to add into it. She had unintendedly spoke about the bribe in front of other veteran hunters. Gone were four gold coins from her one-day mentor's wallet to shut those hunters' mouths.

"You know, you two have done things that I especially asked you not to do. I started to feel you two are screwing with me." Salas spoke annoyedly and crossed her arms.

"We are not!" Nila looked up and denied her. "These are just... novice mistakes. Please, we genuinely think we can handle anything that would come up on our first quest as we have been into the forest for the past last year. We are wrong... we are not prepared enough." She clenched her hands and threw her gaze down again.

Salas looked at the girl for awhile before she veered her gaze to the boy who sat beside her, "... And you? Do you not have anything to say?" Salas irked, the boy had literally stabbed his companion in the back and even now he hadn't been apologizing at all, not to her nor to Nila.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I am terribly ashamed I can't even bring myself to ask for forgiveness. But, if I still have an ounce of right to explain my doings, I hate you and that smith because he hurt Nila, and you let him do it. Whatever your wise reason behind it, I can't except it. If you hurt me and only me maybe I can endure it. But you hurt her." Jake hanged his head even lower and clenched his hands tightly.

"But my hate for you had made me hurt her too. And now I hate myself as much as I hate the two of you." He looked up to her, pain in his eyes. Anyone who looked at him would know that he had some nasty suicidal thoughts in his head.

"Geez. You have too much, Jake. Chill." A hunter from Gita's party who sat on a branch of a tree commented.

"Just help them finish the quest, Salas. Then bring them home. I think it's not wise to let them in the forest any minute longer than this." Gita advised.

Salas looked at her peers who had expressed their concerns, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's get this introduction arc over with." She said and walked away from them, she headed towards the different part of the forest without any more words than what she had already said.

"Come on, kids. Follow your mentor, or else you will left behind by her." Another hunter from Gita's party urged the young hunters to act.

The two youngster looked at each other, Nila was the first to stand and she held out a hand to Jake. The two packed their things and bowed to the healer's party in general then they darted off to catch up with Salas.

"Do remember your way to get here! This is the save point as your mentor like to call it! We are always here everyday until sundown! Come here again when you need immediate aid to heal your injury!" Gita shouted at the two who seemed to fail to hear her words as they didn't glance back at all.

"Should have told them earlier before they are gone." Brad commented.

Gita shrugged, "They have met us, they will learn about us, then they will come again to us if they have another dire situation."

She lied herself down on the ground and stared aimlessly at the sky. "Hey, do any of you can fight Jade Eyes Jaguar one-on-one while some of us get frenzied and injured?" She murmured.

"What kind of stupid question was that?" Brad replied.

"Yeah, figured. There is no way any of us could go toe-to-toe with the famous party shredder like Salas did." Gita stared at a single grey cloud in the sky which slowly moving southwards.