Four more meetings went similarly. So far they were all equally good picks. Between their party make up, loot distribution, or what they could offer for him to join. The final meeting was one Nathan looked forward to the most.

It was the Bronze Rank group and the signing bonus that was offered interested him greatly. In walked a giant of a man. He had to duck under the door frame to walk in. He wore his steel armor, but had no weapon on his person.

“I take it you are Brawn, the Half-Giant right?’

“Indeed I am. You look well Mr. Shultz. I would sit, but sadly this room has nothing suitable for me. I hope you don’t mind me sitting on the floor.” His voice was deep, but smooth like jazz. If this man took up singing, he would be famous back on Earth.

Nathan nodded and gestured for him to sit. Even sitting Nathan had to look up at Brawn.

“So what can you tell me about yourself and your party.” Nathan asked.

Brawn chuckled. “Taking the lead are you? Good, so you aren't a spineless Healer. I follow my fathers build that has no proper name. It involves massive damage in a single hit, but my low agility makes me slow to swing my sword again. My party prides itself on adapting to any situation.”

“If you join, you will be the sixth member. A bit unorthodox as most teams are three or five, but at the lower end of Bronze we make enough coins now that you can make a decent amount. Don’t worry, we barely do Bronze missions anyways, we stick to Iron Rank but try to complete as many as we can in a suitable time period.”

“As for our party make up we have:

Kira, a Catfolk Trickster. She doubles as our scout and trap expert. In combat she does what she can to distract enemies to keep them away from our backlines.

Parker, an elven Sorcerer Archer. He infuses his arrows with magical effects and attacks enemies from afar. While he has decent Wisdom, he is more suited for combat than anything else.

Ko’Nu is a Half-Drake who specializes in Fire Magic. I should warn you, he has traits of his Ancestors and the ability to breath fire. He is in my party and I will not tolerate discrimination against him if you join. He had nothing to do with his past, you should appreciate him for who he is today.

Lastly, we have Thu. He or She, we honestly still don’t know, is our ace in the hole. They are a Jack. A person who has extremely high skill points gained per level, and is our highest level at 12. I am the second highest at 10.

You will be the lowest at 4, but if you join, I will have you at Level 8 in less than three months. And I don’t mean by rushing your Level. It will be filled with pain, sweat, and blood. However, you will come out of it stronger than before. In Mind, Spirit, and Body.

I should also mention nobody in our party is signed to another guild than this one except Thu. They are signed along with the Librarian Guild, which is a minor one that enjoys information gathering, but is forced to share any and all secrets learned with them. That does not extend to builds from party members. So any secret you have is safe from Thu.”

Nathan was severely impressed. Also, the name Thu was one of his bunkmates was it not? Was it the same Thu?

“I hate to admit, but you are so far the best interview I’ve had yet. Your party seems well rounded, and don’t worry about Ko’Nu. I have no reason to judge him until I meet him.”

Brawn nodded. “It’s all I ask. If you join, you will be under a two month test period. No contract, but you will get your share of the rewards regardless.”

“And what is your party's loot and reward system?” Nathan asked, interested to see what his would be.

“A modified one, created by Kira. First, we split items. We don’t draw lots, we know each other enough to know who can use what. Anything not needed is sold. At the end of it all, we take the total coin and take 15% of that to use for funds toward the group as a whole. Travel cost, supplies, and information gathering. After that everything is split based on your total contribution percent at the end of the journey.”

“Whenever we get a combat summary or a daily report by our Menus I will keep a tally of who participated by how much, and reward everyone based on that.”

“Holy shit, they got this stuff down really well. All at Bronze Rank as well. What caused them to be this well oiled?”

Nathan rubbed his tongue over his teeth in thought. “Tell me, and I have to know. You are all Bronze Rank. Why is your group way more put together than all the others? What’s the catch?”

“My father is an Adventurer actually. Hence why I follow his footsteps in my build as well. He is currently Gold Rank. He gave me advice, but not so much that I relied on him. He is a great teacher, and even today I ask for his advice. Before I came here, I talked to him about you.”

“And what did he say about me?” Nathan was curious. Brawn had him hooked, and was resisting the urge to confirm him then and there.

Brawn smirked. “That you were smart but uneducated on Guild politics. He doesn't know your background, but since you are not in any other Guild, you have no clue what was a good or bad deal. He didn’t tell me what to say or do, just to do what I thought was right.”

“Well, if it means anything you are competing for a yes from me. I have to do three more interviews tomorrow, after all of that you will get your answer.”

Brawn stood up and stuck his hand out for another shake. “I do hope you join, a Healer is what our party is missing. If not, then whoever does manage to win you over is lucky. I wish you a good future Nathan.”

Nathan had several papers of notes from all the parties he had interviewed. All eight plus Okutar’s ninth. He had his arm twisted, and did a short meet and greet during dinner last night. He just finished his morning routine and was excited to see results from his training

Cardio

2/∞

Increase speed by 1% per rank. For every 5 ranks increase Stamina Recovery by 1%.

Invigoration Ray

2/10

Heal a living creature within 50ft. Spend up to 20 Mana and target will Recover an equal amount of Health

He was glad to alternate between Invigoration Ray and Healing Touch. He especially tried to focus more on how his spell worked. His problem now was he couldn’t ‘see’ the magic once it made contact with the person.

“More skills I want to get. Damn it, why do I enjoy what I do too much? At this rate I won’t be a healer, I will be a scholar!”

Nathan distracted himself by going over all the offers and party make ups. Every time he kept getting drawn back to Brawn’s group. It was just too good a deal to give it up. Yet, it was the same reason he was hesitant.

All good things come at a cost. He was given a two month trial period right? He wasn’t in a contract, and if things went poorly, he could get out at any moment. Plus, he could use this to learn more about the world. If Brawn’s dad was Gold rank, who knew what Brawn knew.

With a final sigh, he sent a message to Brawn that he was accepting his offer, and all the others he was currently in a trial period with another group, and if he reconsidered the offer he would contact them.

Brawn seemed relieved Nathan accepted his offer. The next day, Nathan was personally introduced to all members of the party minus Thu.

“Thu is currently on extended leave.” Brawn explained. “It is Guild business so we have no say in it otherwise.”

Nathan was just glad to confirm that this Thu was the same as the one who he shared a bunk room with. Okutar didn’t show any disappointment if he had any about Nathan not joining his team.

Minus Thu, Ithas and Safia were the only two roommates he had yet to meet. Trevor said Safia would be back in two days, while Ithas would be gone for another week as he took up an escort mission to the kingdom’s capital and back.

Meeting the three other members of his party was...interesting. Kira was aloof, and didn’t seem interested in Nathan at all. She wasn't rude or mean, just seemed uninterested. Parker had his nose up and had an aura of ‘I’m better than you’. Nathan didn’t pay it any mind, and assumed Parker was trying to throw off Nathan somehow.

Ko’Nu was the only one who was excited to meet Nathan. “Greetings, this one is very interesting to have a human in the group. Brawn said you are a healer, right? That’s great! This one can’t wait to talk about magic with you. This one is a Fire Mage, but this one wishes to learn all this one can about magic here in your country. If you wish to “

“Ko’Nu, take it easy on the new guy alright? We have plenty of time for you to question him on our next mission.” Kira said. She was currently filing her nails...claws?

“But he knows so much! Imagine if my people could use such magic! Does it differ with scales over flesh? What about our green blood? Does it matter? So much to learn!”

“Actually Ko’Nu, those are the exact sort of questions I want to answer. I am a Healer yes, but I also am after the knowledge of magic and how it works. Especially with healing magic.”

“Hmm, a human nobody interested in learning about magic? Why are you not in the Mages Guild then?” Parker asked, eyeing Nathan up and down.

“Didn’t want to be tied down by their rules or regulations. Could ask you the same about a number of guilds.”

“Because, my family is a Guild to a certain degree. Everyone in my family takes up the bow and arrow. To not to is to be disowned. Surely you heard of the Cathbad Family, famous for it’s perfect sharpshooters. My Grandfather was one who slew one of the last Dragons with an arrow he created just for the beast!”

Ko’Nu either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. Nathan would think someone bragging about killing one of his ancestors would make him upset or angry.

“Right…sorry I don’t know much about the history of your people, or any people really. I lived a sheltered life here. Grew up on a farm my entire life since I existed on this world.”

“And you chose to be a Healer Adventurer? Yeesh.” Kira commented. “Brawn, are you sure this kid is a good pick?”

“He is, Kira. My gut tells me so. Since we are here, I might as well go over our next mission. With Nathan being under a trial period, we will be taking it easy these first few and stick to easy Iron Rank missions. Luckily for us, we can finally return to the slime field.”

Kira groaned in annoyance. Parker seemed eager as did Ko’nu. “You know I hate that place. It takes me forever to get my fur cleaned!”

Nathan smirked as he had the perfect way to win over Kira. “If you are nice to me, I might use my [Cleanse] spell to help out with that fur of yours. I might even use it more liberally here in the guild if it is that bothersome to clean.

Kira’s eyes widened and her ears perked up. “Brawn, never allow me to doubt you again.”

That got a laugh out of everyone except for Kira.