"Recently there has been an increase in the amount of goblin and hobgoblin sightings at the edge of the forest and attacks on nearby towns. We received a report from guild HQ that this is a result of a Kobold infestation that ran them out of their settlements. Rejoice, for now is the time of glorious combat! The nearby nobles have pooled together some rather juicy rewards for this extermination quest. You all have been hand-picked from various branches of the guild to take part in the quest to exterminate these vermin. The reward is high, and the danger is low, as they also hired me, a 5th tier adventurer, to guide you and intervene in case of any unforeseen danger. Let's go make some money! Grahahahaha!" An orc gave a speech to a group of 40 adventurers ranging from 2nd to 3rd tier. Wearing a single sleeve of scale male, that was fastened with leather straps around his chest. Besides his wedding band and a large glaive on his back, the only piece of cloth covering his green hide took the form of a jockstrap that put thongs to shame in a battle of revealing-ness.

Sitting among the group of up and coming adventurers were a familiar few faces. Throughout the past couple weeks, Kalin, Artemis, and Yami had made a little bit of a name for themselves, though only within the small circle of the 18th branch guild employees, a couple higher ups in guild management, and a few of their quest-givers. Ever since their first day as a party, they had finished a remarkable number of quests, a couple days earning more money than some 4th level adventurers. Their repeated successes as a team caused their party to receive recognition for their efficient hunting ethic. Already tier 3 adventurers, they were starting to earn a little street recognition as of late. Though not unprecedented, it was rare to see people gain so many quest points so quickly. It didn't help that they looked like a trio of attractive young women.

"Psst- Yami, wake up." Whispered Artemis as she stealthily nudged her elder sister with her knee. Sitting near the back of the group, Yami had started to nod off during the debriefing of their quest. Artemis and Kalin were both excited to learn that they had been requested specifically by the guild to take on a quest. While the guild was a good place to find work and earn money, the real benefits were the ones that weren't given to just anyone. Just like a company, the guild gives rewards and preferences to adventurers that produce good results. This served many purposes, but chiefly among them was to prevent other powers from headhunting their best members. Having received their first direct quest from the guild was a great sign for their future as adventurers. Artemis didn't want to ruin this chance because Yami was sleeping.

Though she was worried about it, it was too late to wake her. The man that was giving the briefing had already noticed the person sleeping through his loud debriefing. Instead of being angry, however, he was more amused than anything. His wife always nagged him that everything he did was so loud that even his breathing could keep the city. He even felt the urge to invite this young woman to have dinner with his family to have evidence against such accusations in the future.

The meeting went on for another 30 minutes or so. Things such as locations, rations, duration, and rewards of the quests were discussed. The destination of the expedition was a day's journey northeast of the city. Overall, the entire quest would take anywhere from 3-4 days. One day traveling each way and another to finish the quest. Of course, these were very rough estimates.

After the debriefing ended, the trio were to meet up with the other 5 members in their group. The way the quest would have the adventurers split into 5 parties of 8 people, allowing each party to receive commands and act separately from the others. Fortunately for them, they weren't split into different groups

They found the room that they would find their temporary party members. Inside the guild room, there were four people already present. From they way they acted familiar with one another, it was easy to tell that they were also a party. Consisting of two men and two women, they seemed to be a pretty laidback group.

Noticing the door open, a man around 20 walked up to the group with a smile on his face and his hand extended. "Hi, I'm Vin, and these are my companions, Rain, Belinda, and Elric. I'm a ranger and the leader of the group. Nice to meet you!" He was pretty average for a human male, standing around 1.7 meters and having a medium body build. He had a strong jaw and lime colored hair. He had a bow sticking out of the arrow bag he had on his back. Around his belt, he also had a short sword, a hunting dagger and a couple of pouches.

Elric was a smaller man, about half a head shorter than Vin. His small horns, curly grey hair, and goat-like hooves gave away his identity as a goat man, also known as a satyr. He had a giant wall shield and a broad hand and a half sword. Beside his helmet which was set on the table next to where he sat, and his bare hooves, the rest of his body was covered by heavy armor. He looked to be around 30 and had a well-trimmed goatee. Belinda was a tall woman who brandished a maul. Perhaps a couple years younger than Vin, she had dark brown that was pulled back into a bun, a fairly popular hairstyle for female adventurers that want to have long hair. While she was considered attractive, the human woman was fairly normal in appearance. She was slightly tan due to prolonged exposure to sunlight, and had a cloth armor that covered her body, leaving her with little sex appeal. While the other three members were attractive enough to turn a couple heads, the member of the group that stood out the most was the woman known as Rain.

Rain stood well over two meters in height, approaching close to two and a half. There sat a being that looked like half a woman emerged from shoulders of a decapitated horse. She, like Belinda was also wearing armor, hers leather, on her torso, but unlike Belinda, it could do nothing to hide her preposterous bust. She had long braided midnight blue hair that ran all the way down her human back, and her lower body was covered with hair so black and shiny that it seemed almost purple. On her person, she had a lance, a shield, as well as a couple swords.

Taking Vin's hand, Kalin introduced himself to those present as well. "It's good to meet you too. My name is Kalin, and these are my friends Yami and Artemis. Yami is exclusively a mage, but Artemis is both a mage and hunter, while I use magic as well as fight with the sword. I usually work as a vanguard, but I can also take the role as caster if the situation requires."

"Oh, hey! Great to meet you! I'm Belinda. I'm good at hitting things with my hammer." Belinda said with an amicable smile. Her freckled face and large smile gave her a comforting and warm feeling. Although she wasn't the most beautiful woman, she gave off a village girl or girl next-door feeling. However, her words seemed to give of a different impression as they made her seem hyper and somewhat invasive, in a good way.. probably. "Is this your entire party? It's crazy to think that every member uses combat magic."

Elric just lightly scoffed, "Without a tank, your party is doomed to mediocrity. A party of only fragile rearguards will lead to your party being wiped one day."

Belinda just ruffled Elric's hair and said, "Don't worry about him, he's just being shy." Elric seemed to be highly offended by the action and swatted away her hand with a large blush on his face.

While the two of them were fighting, or rather while Elric was complaining to Belinda and she just stood there with a large grin on her face, Rain approached Kalin, Artemis, and Yami. "Greetings," She said with a calm and soothing voice, "my name is Rain. I am the only combat mage in the group. I specialize in fire magic, but I am also trained in frontal combat." She had a calm and motherly aura about her, as her eyes seemed to be filled with a type of unconditional love for people. Approaching Kalin, she lifted him into his arms into hug. She rested him onto her breasts and placed her own head on his before sniffing his scent. "Young lady, you smell much like my homeland. Do you perhaps hail from the north?"

Strangely enough, this strange action didn't make anyone present uncomfortable, maybe because of the natural aura she had about her, giving off the presence of peacefulness and beauty, like a field of flowers. Kalin just smiled as she gave him the warmest hug he had ever been given. "I'm sorry, I've never been in the north. Moved here from a town about a half-day south of here."

Deciding to release him, Rain walked over and hugged both the twins as well, causing Artemis to blush and Yami to yawn, threatening to fall asleep in her arms. Both girls wore their hearts on their sleeves, giving off their own adorable reactions to the over-familiar centaur. The seven of them started to talk to each other and get to know each other a little better as they waited for their last companion to show up. Well, it would be more accurate to say that six of them talked while Elric acted like a grumpy teenager, even though he was the oldest in the group.

As Vin was in the process of orating how the members of the party met, a knock was heard from the door as the last member of their party made themselves known. Wearing a full cloak covering her entire body, a dark-skinned woman with black hair entered the room. The hood of her cloak was down, revealing her face, but covered the rest of her body, save a hand that was holding what looked to be a large cloth-wrapped polearm, spear, or even battleax. She had a wild look in her red eyes and deep violet hair. She opened her mouth and spoke a single word, "Iola."

Taken aback by her introduction, the mood in the room got a little awkward. Though some people such as Yami and Rain didn't seem to notice, and Kalin didn't seem to care as he walked straight up to the woman and said with an outstretched hand, "I'm Kalin, it's great to meet you, Iola!"

The amazon woman stared at the outstretched hand for several moments, the only sound in the room being that of the mood freezing. The air got tense as the rest of the members waited to see what would happen. Seconds passed by, maybe minutes. It was unclear as time seemed to pass by unbearably. Kalin just stood there with a crooked smile on his face with his hand still outstretched, as the Amazon woman just examined him up and down, seeming to judge each minute movement of his muscles.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she reached out her own hand to meet his own and grabbed it with a firm grip. Without speaking another word, she simply nodded.