There was one silver lining about all this mess, I had plenty of time to kill and continue to practice magic. Kappa had joined my other [Sub-Cores] at reaching the dreaded level five, and I had completed my Arcane affliction.

As I delved into the intricacies of the spell, a chilling realization dawned on me. This spell, [Mana Burn], had the potential to harm Trixie. While I prayed I would never have to use it against her, the thought of having it as a weapon against another pixie was a relief.

Just when I thought the day was a lost cause, a figure caught my eye. She was a sight to behold, with a wild mane of fiery red hair and an outfit that could only be described as a loincloth and tunic. But what truly caught my attention were the cat ears perched on her head and the large, bushy wolf tail that swayed behind her.

'Human?' I questioned immediately.

She looked nervous, her tail swishing, and she placed a bright red apple on the table before me as if it were an offering.

"Please don't eat me, Miss Elf. I just want a moment of your time," she said nervously, gesturing towards the apple.

"What the hell kind of rumors are being spread about me? I'm not going to eat you." I said with a hint of frustration; her ears twitched.

"Oh, thank goodness. I'd make an awful meal. I'm all stringy and no flavor." She said with a nervous chuckle.

I frowned. "Moving on... What did you want to talk about?"

"Wow, just like that? I didn't even need to bribe you with more apples?" Pelopi said curiously. Seeing my lack of a response, she added a second apple to the table before continuing. "My party needs another member to get through the dungeon. We've gotten to the first mini-boss but haven't beaten it to get to floor two!"

I felt a sense of relief. "I'm looking for a party to conquer the dungeon. I'd gladly consider joining yours. Could I meet the rest of your team before making a decision?"

"Of course!" She said, her tail wagging energetically. "Our party is called the Misfits! You'll fit right in!"

"Misfits?"

"Because we're a bit of an eccentric bunch. You'll see when you meet the other two," Pelopi said.

I grabbed my apples and followed her out of the main tent. She started leading me towards a rather shabby-looking tent near the outskirts of the encampment, which had what looked like a few burn holes in it. Before we entered, she handed me another apple.

"You can give this to Eliza to break the ice. She's a bit of a weirdo, but I'm sure you'll love her."

'She is calling someone else a weirdo? Kettle meet pot.'

Pelopi dashed into the tent before I could ask her any further questions. "I'm back, and I've brought us a potential party member!"

"Someone actually wants to join us?" A man's voice came from inside.

"Don't say that! You'll scare her off!" Pelopi shouted.

I slowly entered with my guard slightly up.

Inside was a rather large man, without even a single hair follicle on his body and completely bald despite looking only in his early twenties. His skin was littered in scars, and he was wearing some sort of armor that reminded me of the salamander I fought, except that it was made out of the skin rather than the scales.

Another girl with long blonde hair and pale skin was lying on a bedroll with a book in her hands. She was wearing a light blue robe that I could see held some minor defense enchantments at a glance.

Upon seeing me, both of them reacted in startlement. Eliza dropped her book on her face, and Ian jumped back a few feet before tripping and stumbling over what looked like a large axe lying on the ground.

"Wow, guys. Way to ruin your first impression!" Pelopi said with a giggle.

"Are you crazy!?" Ian shouted, trying to recover from his stumble. "I don't want to get eaten in the dungeon or have my organs splattered across the ground! I like them inside of me; that's where they belong!"

"She already agreed not to eat us," Pelopi said.

"I'm not going to eat anyone!" I shouted with frustration.

"That's not what the rumors say!" Eliza said.

"Yeah. We heard you blasted some young swordsman to pieces." Ian added.

Pelopi was trying to secretly gesture toward the apple in my hand. I sighed and lobbed it toward Eliza, who initially tried to cover her head with her arms. The apple bounced off her head and landed on her lap. She gasped when she noticed what it was.

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

"Ian. I think we can trust her." Eliza suddenly said.

Ian groaned, and Pelopi giggled.

"I think I'm starting to understand why you're called the Misfits," I said, shaking my head. I was desperate, but was I this desperate?

"Oh, wait until you hear how weird our party composition is," Pelopi said, waggling her eyebrows.

"Don't scare her off already!" Eliza pleaded. Her tone and attitude had literally flipped over a single apple.

"What's wrong with your party? As far as I can tell, you're just missing a tank?" I asked.

"No. I'm the tank." Ian said.

I was about to ask how a berserker was the party tank when Pelopi shouted. "Misfits!"

"Explain...?" I asked curiously with a shrug.

"I have taunt skills. I gather everything together and then set myself on fire." Ian said defensively.

"You sound like my Pyromancer friend..." I replied. "You're just missing a [Fireball]."

"Normally, people scream about me setting myself on fire." Ian chuckled.

"I can't say it's the weirdest thing I've heard of... But don't tanks try to not take damage?"

Eliza raised her hand. "That's because of me. I need him to have damage so I can transfer it to the monsters."

I blinked in confusion. "What? That sounds amazing."

Eliza gave a toothy grin. "I know, right? That's the power of a Dark Healer! I siphon and transfer damage around!"

"The biggest issue is that she needs a target to take the damage. Her normal healing is kind of atrocious." Ian admitted.

"So Ian takes steady damage from self-immolation in case the monsters can't hurt him?"

"Yup." Eliza nodded.

"Please tell me you have some form of pain mitigation," I said, almost pleading with Ian.

"One of the first things I got. I'm not a masochist," Ian said as if it were obvious.

"It's really cool!" Pelopi said. "Eliza fills up her healing buffer with the damage she inflicts; that way, she can heal the real big injuries!"

"Honestly, it sounds pretty amazing. I thought my own class was impressive, but I've never heard of having a healing buffer or healing via damage or even transferring injuries." I admitted.

"Our general strategy is to kill things before they kill us. It usually works well." Ian nodded.

"Except for the dungeon mini-boss. We keep running away because we don't have enough damage." Eliza said, now crunching away at her apple.

"Well. I can certainly help in the damage department. I can debuff monsters to lower their defenses and resistances, and then I've got six different kinds of magic to work with."

"Six? Damn, I thought Pelopi's four was impressive." Ian replied. "Can you make things weak to Fire?"

"Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, and then both general defense and magic," I answered.

"If the monsters were weak to fire and my axe, that would be amazing!" Ian said excitedly.

"Wait. I can understand making something weak to like Fire, but how the hell do you just make something weak to magic overall? Or defense?" Eliza asked.

I shrugged. "It's what the spell does. Think of your general protection enchantment on your robe, except in reverse."

"So if you lowered my defense, and I stubbed my toe, I might break my foot?" Ian asked.

"Maybe not that bad?" I answered, scratching my head; it was a little hard to judge how much of an effect it really was. "In general, it seems to work very well. I usually combine that with [Sneak Attack] and finish most fights before they start."

"Super elf magical assassin!" Pelopi said with a gasp.

"So you really did blow that guy's guts out," Ian said a little nervously.

"Does that mean you did seduce a married party?" Eliza asked, her eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"Yes, I beat some guy harassing me in a duel. No, I didn't seduce anyone." I answered.

"Damn." Ian and Eliza both said at the same time.

"Don't forget me!" Pelopi said, flailing her arms wildly. "So I'm a druid, except magic is hard, so I can only really make plants grow. Instead, I like to claw things to death."

"She has four affinities, and she barely uses one..." Ian said, shaking his head. "At least she can make these seedpods that explode when there's fire. It works well with me."

"And infinite apples." Eliza pointed out, handing Pelopi some apple seeds from her fruity remains.

As weird as their party was, it seemed to be working out for them. I could definitely fill a magical damage dealer role in their group and perhaps a rogue on the side since it's clear they currently have no method of dealing with traps.

"Well. Looks like I wasted a trip." Another voice said, raising the tent flap.

"Whatever it is, we didn't do it!" Pelopi shouted before leaping backward like a startled cat.

Jet looked extremely confused. "Right... Well, Lisa asked me to come as a favor when she heard from Bert you were having some difficulty finding a party."

"How did you get here so fast?" I asked.

"[Shadow Step]. I can move between any connected shadows." Jet answered.

"I'm starting to feel like there's a step for everything," I chuckled. Unfortunately, my joke fell flat with the others.

"Anyway... It looks like you've managed to find a decent party, if a little unorthodox." Jet said with a firm nod.

"Damn. Did you try to recruit a bigshot or something, Pelopi?" Ian asked.

"I mean, she is an elf." Eliza pointed out. "How many elf adventurers do you know?"

"One," Pelopi answered cheerfully.

I cleared my throat, trying to get back on topic. "So what was Lisa's plan? If you don't mind me asking."

"I was going to throw together a random party and join as an examiner. Any group would jump at the opportunity to have their dungeon run officially examined, and it would stop any further... Incidents."

"Yes! Please examine our run!" Ian shouted frantically.

"Why do we want someone to examine us?" Pelopi asked before I could.

"Assuming we don't screw up, we'd be basically assured to get promoted if our run was officially signed off," Ian answered.

"Oh! That sounds good. Yes, please!" Pelopi said, giving a short, frantic bow that caused her cat ears to flop forward.

"Huh... I didn't know it wasn't a guarantee. I thought you just had to clear the dungeon." I said, scratching my head.

"Heavens no. The only time that happens is if someone behaves exceptionally well above their rank," Jet said, and the way he stared at me gave a hint of what he meant. "Usually, you need to meet a minimum number of quest turn-ins, recommendations from guild staff, well-respected third parties, and so forth."

"Then why are so many people here?" I asked.

"I can answer that," Ian replied. "The dungeon clear is the minimum and often seen as the stepping stone; most people try to get it done first so the guild starts paying attention to them."

"Correct." Jet said.

"Sounds like I really did things out of order." I chuckled.

"From what Lisa has told me. Yes. Yes indeed." Jet answered.

"So, will you join our party?" Pelopi asked, trying to give her best puppy dog eyes.

Jet examined each of us and then shrugged with a smile. "Sure. I'd hate to waste the trip, plus it'll be fun to see what this party of misfits can do."

"Hey, that's our group's name!" Eliza said with a toothy grin.

"Just don't expect me to carry you. I won't use my enchanted weapon and will appropriately scale myself down to your level." Jet replied with a chuckle as he ominously sunk into his own shadow. "We leave tomorrow!"

"Damn, that's creepy." Ian chuckled.

"Damn, that's creepy cool, you mean." Eliza corrected.