Wales crept through the forest that slowly grew denser and denser, following behind Karla and Sylvia as they tracked the hydra, the light of day fading. But the adventurers weren’t bothered. They’d all executed night operations before. And there would be no setting up camp around here. The group had quickly decided after the experience that they needed to uncover the location of the hydra’s den, so they could keep others away from it while they assembled a force suited to fighting it off. Hyena took point, scouting from overhead in the trees, while Sylvia and Karla took turns leading Fergusson and Wales.

Wales might’ve been a fighter, but he sure wasn’t a tracker. That was why he always went to Karla, the best one he knew. She’d often questioned the legitimacy of his jobs, but Wales had never failed to pay her on time, so she had no reason to distrust him. In fact, Wales would even wager that she considered him a friend. He knew he did.

Fergusson was another matter. The huge man was famous in Fakar for his undefeated record in the brawlers’ arena. And while Wales didn’t know the man personally enough to consider him a friend, he was well known amongst Wales’ colleagues. Plus, inviting Fergusson also brought the benefit of his good friend, Hyena.

The legendary assassin, an ex-member of the top ranked crew, Squall, was an invaluable member of any team. Though he didn’t speak, Hyena’s numerous other skills often saved the lives of his party members. Wales would never decline the opportunity to have such a man watching his back.

The only true unknown in this group was Sylvia, the cross-specialized healer-ranger. Nobody in the party had ever worked with her before, and Wales hadn’t even heard of her before the priest had told him they’d be working together. He harbored a suspicion of her, simply because there were very few strong individuals he had limited knowledge on. And he had none about her. Wales scratched his chin as he considered her.

Her hand went up, signalling the party to halt, and Karla had already nocked her bow. Hyena reappeared next to Wales, spooking him. The assassin signalled to Sylvia in the stealth language, and Wales picked up most of their brief conversation.

Strong monster ahead. Never seen before. Hyena signed to her.

From C-O-R-D-O-N? Sylvia responded. Hyena shook his head.

Not likely. Not unsightly enough to be from dungeon. Must be natural spawn.

She nodded, and looked at Wales, signing what she assumed he would understand, Do we attack?

Karla kept her bow drawn back while Wales explained to Fergusson.

“Apparently,” He said. “There’s a monster ahead that Hyena has never seen before. They are asking if we should attack even though it’s not part of the mission. I think we probably should. Who knows what we might obtain from it?”

Fergusson nodded, scratching the back of his head with his gauntlet. “I understand the sentiment, but shouldn’t we prioritize finding the prince? And who knows how dangerous it could be?”

Wales shrugged. “It’s not a hydra, and Hyena must have gauged it to be an easy enough fight if he brought it up. Plus, after that hydra encounter, we can assume the prince is probably dead already.” Fergusson pounded his fists.

“Alright, if even the hired mercenary is suggesting this, then I’m all for it!” He looked to Hyena, who nodded back at him, and laughed that high-pitched laugh again. Then, the assassin leaped up the side of a tree, and vanished back into the shadows overhead.

The party let Fergusson reposition to the front, with Wales behind him. Sylvia stayed behind him, with Karla behind her to protect the rear. Then, they crept forward to the clearing ahead, where Hyena had indicated as the location of the monster.

When the brawler pushed aside the bushes, and clunked forwards into the open space, he abruptly stopped moving, arms at his sides. Wales bumped into him, and cursed.

“Fergusson!” He hissed. “Why are you stopping? The monster is here! I don’t want to be chewed up because I couldn’t see beyond the wall of your armor!”

When the brawler didn’t respond, Wales shoved his way out beside the man, ignoring the formation the party was supposed to keep to. This drew a shout of protest from Sylvia, but Wales didn’t hear it.

Instead, he stared at the beautiful creature drinking from the river before him, his weapon hanging loosely from his hand. As it raised its head from the water, Wales’ breath caught in his lungs. The girls each piled forward, and entered the clearing, gasping in unison.

The creature’s fur glittered in the low light, and its single horn, twisted like taffy from the port cities, sparkled in the night.

“Wait,” The man in the pinstriped suit said, confusion evident on his face. “Are you human?” He continued to stare at the glittering ruby in Timothy’s hands.

Timothy just gazed at the jewel in awe before glancing up towards the man that had just plopped a precious gem the size of an egg into his hand. “Uh, yeah? Why?” He wasn’t sure what to do with the stone, but he didn’t want to give it back.

The man frowned. “What, by chance, is the first name of your mother?” Timothy raised his eyebrows.

“What? Julia. Why do you want to know?”

“Hmm.” The man turned to the side, looking up and tapping the air as though doing mental math. “Take that…” He muttered. “Multiply it by the chaos quotient, divide by three… E plus his karmic value and… Nope!” He turned back to the cashier. “It’s impossible,” He declared. “You’re a regular human!”

“Wow…” Timothy replied sarcastically. “You figure all that out by yourself?” The man smiled, showing his perfectly whitened teeth.

“Actually, yes. But more importantly, allow me to confirm something. Let’s say I had the power to teleport you to a video game-like world, where you could be either a grand hero, conquering various dungeons, or you could be a master of one of these dungeons, building death traps for such heroes. Which would you choose?”

Tim considered the man’s question. Would he rather be a typical hero? Or would he rather spend his time strategizing and collecting resources in order to build the greatest, most calculated dungeon known to man?

Well it was rather obvious to Tim which one he would choose. But then Timothy considered why the man was asking. Did he know that Timothy fantasized about escaping his current reality? That he wanted to be inside a game?

“I mean,” He responded. “I guess I’d probably choose the second option?” The man grinned. “Why do you ask… What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t.” He said.