Brina looked as a horde of ants entered her adventurer’s guild. This was the first time she has seen such a thing, granted she has been working as a receptionist for about a week. And here she thought that the weirdest thing that had and could happen was a gnome coming to register.

There were two children with the ants. And from the door came…four goats as well as a Tedsby. What was happening here? The children approached the help desk and the little girl placed a heavy coin bag on the counter.

“This is the entrance fee for 9000 ants, four goats and one Tedsby. They would like to form parties and venture to the Badlands.” Said the girl with a smile.

Well, the situation has just become even stranger, thought Brina. Ants, goats and a Tedsby wanting to invade the most dangerous region of Eomis? That was a sight to see.

Brina took the bag and placed it in the magical cash register, so the coins can be counted. 9005 gold coins. The entire entrance fee was here.

“Would your…friends want to team up with other adventurers?” Asked Brina as she began to press the bottoms on the printing press to get enough forms for all the new adventurers.

“No, they will move in teams of ten, for the ants, with four teams adding the goats and Tod the Tedsby. That is not against the rules, is it?” Asked Theanore. She wanted everything to be by the book. If she was going to spread her way of thinking in the Badlands, she wanted no one to say that she had cheated.

“A party can have up to twenty members, so, yes. You are within the allowed limits. I take it you will go to the Bone crusher dungeon? And who are you two?” Asked Brina. The last time she had approved someone to go to that dungeon, they had come back seven members short. These children were not going anywhere near the Badlands. No way.

“Not Mari and I, the adventurers will. They will pacify the entire Badlands, but yes. They will also conquer the Bone crusher dungeon and bring back my murder muffins.” Said Theanore with a hopeful glint in her eyes. She hoped the nice lady at the help desk approved a dungeon vs dungeon war.

Brina relaxed when she heard that the children were not at risk. Then the printing press began to spit out forms and the packaging machine put them in paper packages.

“All adventurers must have a sponsor.” Said Brina. “A next of kin or someone who can accept their remains, should they perish. Would you buy return rings for your friends? In case of a fatal wound, they will be transported to the clinic and receive help.”

“Of course. A ring for everyone. And, do these rings work only for adventurers?” Asked Theanore.

She remembered that Nick used to get in a lot of trouble because of Clotilde. The witch was gone now, but if he got wounded, she would be happier to know that he could get medical help right away.

“No. They work with everyone. I take it you would like to buy more rings? Just so you know, the disenchantment of return rings is against the law.” Brina added the last part because she recognized the girl as the dungeon core of the Apple Grotto dungeon. A renowned enchantress.

“I would like 450 more rings. Luca and his goblins would appreciate them too. And Elm, Di and Dede.” Said Theanore happily. But, she realized there was a small problem. She had brought with her only enough money for the entrance fee.

“Lady, can I pay on a later date?” Asked Theanore. Brina nodded.

“I will put it on your tab. You will have to give me your name.” Said Brina, quill raised and ready to write.

“Theanore the nymph.” Said Theanore.

“And I am Marinus the merman. Can I put forward quests for adventurers here?” Asked Marinus. The lake seemed devoid of life compared to his pool and the sea aquafarm he had going in the underwater caves by the grotto.

“There are three types of quests you can place an order for. Retrieval, rescue, and exploration.” Said Brina.

“I would like adventurers to go around the lakes of Eomis and bring back different types of fish. Alive.” Said Marinus. He wanted the lake to overflow with life. And he had a plan to make more fisheries around it too for fish for food.

“How many fish would you like? I need to know, so I would be able to calculate how many teams I have to send.” Said Brina, now her voice was business like.

“A thousand. Two of each kind. But I don’t know what types of fish live in lakes. Only in the sea.” Said Marinus, blushing. A changeling he might be, but there were many things about land and landlocked water bodies he didn’t know.

Brina handed him a form from below the counter.

“The level of the quest is a D gathering one. Don’t forget to write that down, young man. And for you, young lady, you have 9005 forms to fill.” Said Brina. She really didn’t envy the small girl.

“Can my friends help?” Asked Theanore. Brina raised an eyebrow at that. The ants could write?

“Sure. But how?”

Theanore pulled out a whistle and blew it, and the ants moved to the side like disciplined soldiers. In came children, ogres and gremlins.

“Everyone, grab a form and remember what we talked about before we came here.” Said Theanore, and she began to give away the packaged forms. The ants, meanwhile, were by the quest bulletin board.

An adventurer stared at the gathered ants with worry. One nudged him.

“You want me to read you the quests?” Asked the boy. When he had signed up for this life, he had never expected to see such a thing.

The ant that nudged him nodded, and the boy began reading.

“Quests for lower Dawn Empire, quests for upper Dawn Empire, quests for Sapphire Empire of the forest of plenty, quests for No Man’s Land…” The ants began stamping their feet at the last one.

“You want to know about No Man’s Land’s quests? From where? Fairy village, gremlin village, giant fortress, Badlands…”

The ants began jumping up and down again. The boy looked at them incredulously.

“You want to go there? For real? Well, there is only one quest. Retrieve princess Lea of the Sapphire Empire, who is held in Ash Hallow. Reward: One million gold coins.”

The ants gave out a war cry and went to the armor section of the adventurer’s guild. The blacksmith grinned at the challenge such an armor type would put before him. It was time for some hammering.