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It was a slightly chilling morning when Anlesa made her way to the Clarzxa Hunting Guild’s training area. It was at the end of 6th Street's east side, not a location she had visited often during her stay in the city. They had packed extra supplies and potions in their backpack, enough that they would be fine for a week even without foraging.

She entered the area, and ten people were already stationed there. A few were sitting back and relaxing, a couple were warming up, and one was talking to guild staff with documents in hand.

Syrus walked into the zone where their acquaintance from the other day immediately noticed her.

Lavender walked over to Syrus. “Nice to see you showed up, we needed a few more people.” She reached out for a handshake.

Syrus accepted it, saying, “It’s fine. I am available today, and I could use the extra cash.”

Lavender chuckled, “Well good you came now. We were nearly full, only two open spots were available.”

“Oh, so you were able to get enough people.”

“Barely, cutting it closer than a bird in a pig’s pen.”

[What..?] (Eva)

[Don’t worry about it.] (Syrus)

Lavender groaned, then scoffed. “We had eleven open spots this morning, one team decided to show and managed to make it, and a few extras also arrived, so at least we will start without low numbers. God, that would be annoying, fuck, Daniel’s rambles will be the death of me, I swear.”

[I would advise we just let her rant.] (Luna)

[Seconded.] (Syrus)

[I still want to understand what ‘cutting it closer than a bird in a pig’s pen’ is supposed to mean?] (Eva)

No answer was given to Eva because no one was going to ask Lavender about the context. The obvious assumptions were made, but it was hard to know without the proper context.

It didn’t take much more waiting for a group of four to arrive and another straggler, which Anlesa actually knew. One who she was partly optimistic and cautious about working with.

[Maca is here…] (Eva)

The exotic attribute holder, Maca Appel, hadn’t changed much from their previous encounters with the man. The blue-ish bone exoskeleton still covered his body, but he was wearing a short-sleeved cloak over his upper body this time. The purpose of the cloak didn’t seem to be to hide his body, because that was something it appeared purposely didn’t do, but the inside was lined with dozens of small pockets carrying a large amount of small supplies.

He spoke to the organiser and then moved to the corner, waiting for the preparation to be complete.

The one organising the groups was Daniel Harggot. Unlike the staff in the Brown Oak Guild, who were all civilians or retired hunters. The Clarzxa Hunting Guild had a few active-duty staff. Daniel Harggot was one such staff; he was leading this expedition and was in charge of group one.

Group one consisted of Daniel and three others who were joined before today.

Group two was another group of three we joined previously and an extra who seemed to be friends with the group.

Group three was a full team of four that showed up today.

Then there was group four.

[Well, this was to be expected.] (Syrus)

[Sigh, don’t make Maca too suspicious of us, please.] (Luna)

[Sorry if only I could’ve controlled more physical changes at the time.] (Eva)

[Don’t be. Asking someone to be a master with their attribute the moment they discover it is ridiculous. Twice over when that attribute is physical-based and the person is suffering from physical injuries.] (Luna)

[...Right… sorry for getting worked up.] (Eva)

[Relax. Not everything needs to be different to appear like a different person. At worst, he might just think we are related.] (Syrus)

Group four was made up of the new arrivals who didn’t know the other teams and Lavender.

There was only a minor fear of being spotted by Maca. The physical differences were enough, at least, so people shouldn't think that Syrus and Luna were the same person, but there was the chance someone could assume they were related.

Lavender was the first to speak in her small group. “Lavender here, and well, nice to meet everyone; I hope we can get along for the next four days.”

Maca nodded. “Hmm, hmm, agreed. Everything will go well.” Nearly in a rude way, he didn’t introduce himself, but everyone knew who he was in the city, and Anlesa didn’t believe there was any hostile reason why he didn’t. His eyes did flash over Syrus, but she didn’t care.

The third member introduced himself. “Callum, here, worked in this city for a long time. I’m quite skilled at these long-duration missions. Now, Lavender, is this person to my right even capable of being here? I’d rather get a replacement if not.”

Callum was a little shorter than Lavender and a lot shorter than Maca, who was the tallest in the group. Callum wore a yellowish woollen and leather mix and had a two-handed pike resting on his shoulder. Wrapped around his waist were two small bags filled with something.

Lavender was about to say something, but Syrus provoked him. “Be my guest if you want to try anything; just do it now or after the mission.”

[Luna, should we do something..?] (Eva)

[No, he stabbed himself in the foot enough times.] (Luna)

Callum growled and leant forward. Maca was ready to intervene, but Syrus kicked the bottom of the pike, pushing his balance off before throwing him to the ground.

Syrus clapped her hands, “I am happy you chose now rather than later.”

[Syrus, is he skilled or not..?] Eva asked. She trusted Syrus to know. She was just worried if they actually got into any trouble.

[He probably has skill with his weapon, but he is probably bullshitting about the long-duration shit. His bags are way too tiny, at best just good for carrying snacks for a hunt. He is carrying no knife in reach, which would be essential considering his main weapon is two-handed. Don’t worry, he is just tooting his own ego.] (Syrus)

Daniel Harggot afterwards got everyone together to discuss the plan of attack and what they were looking for. The four groups would split to travel around past the eastern forest and explore the plains and forests near the mountains. The massive mountain range was also what blocked a route from the Nevald Kingdom and Arisea Station to ever be formed. The mountain range was simply too long and treacherous. Further east was the Demon territory. Unlike the Nevald Kingdom, there wasn’t much of a natural defence between them, however, there was a wide distance between the city and the border, which was the best they could do. Demons never really left their territory, but according to reports, they had appeared in the area surrounding Arisea Station in the past.

To Syrus’ great annoyance, there was no specific target they were looking for. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in investigations, but always was a needle in the thumb for her. Usually, there was at least a reasonable range of what she had to look for when she was a mercenary, but this time, everything was on the table–an earthquake, bandits, mutants, herds, demons, animals, nomads, monsters, etc.

Afterwards, the groups finally left the city to go on the expedition. Each group was to head in a different direction, and Anlesa’s group was sent furthest east in the searchable area.