[IC] From the Ruined World—Now Accepting!

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Justin Tsao

The main hall of the New Auren Guild was, as always, about as chaotic and high-energy as could be. The job of 'exploring' had blown up in the last few years, and now everyone in here, new or not, was thirsting for the thrill of adventure in some way, shape, or form. The young man slowly walking out from behind one of the rooms, rolling his shoulders as he did so, was no exception.

"I feel as if I should have expected something absurd, but in the end it was more about physical fitness, wasn't it?" he wondered to himself as he walked up to the desk near the back of the room and passing the clerk there a piece of paper. With a nod, the young woman in front of him took the document and, in a few moments, handed him with a small plastic card.

"Mr... Tsao, is it? Here's your license," the clerk stated, curtly nodding to Justin as he took his card and examined it. "Well, as a representative of the Guild here, I formally welcome you as a new explorer. Please, do remain safe in your journeys for the near future and bring back anything you might obtain from your travels—we would all greatly appreciate it."

"Thank you very much, ma'am," he responded, almost as if on impulse, before walking off to the side to put the card away. There was no fanfare associated with the event, but it wasn't as if it needed one. This was, in many ways, a signing of his death warrant if he took this job too carelessly. Not as if he was going to, of course.

The Guild had, by this point, expanded into a giant facility that supported a variety of things—a marketplace and appraisal station were fairly matter-of-fact, but even things like restaurants and a small library-esque database had become accessible here. Justin's current destination now, though, was one of the former. It was still fairly early in the morning, all things considered, and something to fill his stomach before his first foray outside of the city would be... Ideal. Leaving the main hall to head to the second floor, Justin glanced around to try and find something to his liking—the entire floor was nothing but eateries, after all.

Choosing a small stall that seemed to specialize in breads and pastries, the young man promptly purchased a sandwich filled with some egg and bacon and a few with some cold cuts before packing the latter away in the sling bag at his back. Without another though, Justin found an empty seat among the many empty tables in the area before starting to quietly eat his meal.

"Of course, finding people to work with in a team is probably better for survival, but that's a lot easier said than done..." he mused to himself as he took one bite after another. "Maybe... Other new explorers? Damn, should've been paying more attention to a few other people if that's the case..."

[TheFake]

— New Auren Guild —

He sat alone at a table nursing a half empty drink. To be honest he'd onyl bought half of a drink. With his metabolism any amount of alcohol took a long time to get out of his system. But he didn't want to seem disinterested for wasteful when he left a mostly full glass at the table.

It would be pointless to achieve great deeds with only his own word to vouch for them. So he needed someone new to not overshadow his own accomplishments but looked trustworthy and reliable. Liam took a small, measured sip and stood up, approaching someone that had sat alone. He leaned over and planted both hands on that table.

"Hey, you look like somebody I can trust to watch my back. I'm Liam, no last name."

[VitaVitaAR]

She hated this.

Angrily finishing off her breakfast bar, the girl grumbled to herself as she walked along, her ponytail and scarf swishing behind her. Of course they insisted she couldn't just tackle this one solo. She'd run missions before! She'd never had any trouble! Sure, this one was a little far, but that didn't mean she couldn't handle it...

She huffed to herself, staring at the restaurant, but the mere thought of asking for help was... it was making her blush. No, not just making her blush, it was completely embarrassing! To think that they'd make her ask for help...

Yuko fidgeted where she stood, feeling the heat in her cheeks. She couldn't let anyone see how embarrassed she was. She just couldn't. She'd been here before, they'd see how embarrassed she was and... and... Ah, that's it! She just wouldn't let them see her face! No matter what else anyone thought, she wouldn't let anyone realize that she was blushing. She couldn't!

And so the short girl reached into her bag, withdrawing her mask. It wasn't an ordinary mask, of course, in the shape of the stylized fox's face. It had function both as a guard for her face and through possessing both night vision and heat vision. Right now it was going to be using neither of those.

Right now it was going to be used so no-one could tell how flustered she was.

Strapping the mask onto her head, covering her face behind it, Yuko marched right into the restaurant and stood with her arms spread wide.

"I'm going on a well-paying mission!" she declared, loudly. "So... er..."

She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath before pointing at the people in the area at large.

"So I'm going to let a few lucky people accompany me! It'll be easy since I'll take the lead! So... so just accept my offer and come with me or something, okay?!"

To be perfectly honest, Yuko wasn't used to asking people for help.

[OwO]

"I will purchase... two of those... three of those... one of those... mmm... make it three."

The shopkeeper, his portly 5'0" intimidated by her lean 7'3", had carefully placed two croissants, three muffins, and three bagels inside of a large paper bag and handed it to Dhalma. Taking the bag, Dhalma began to walk around the second floor. Not for any reason in particular. After all, this was her first time being an explorer. She hadn't taken any missions yet, nor had she been trained in anything special. That test was, for all intents and purposes, a cake walk for her. Rather than test skills, they tested for raw attributes - strength, agility, anything of the sort - and Dhalma's strength easily let her complete the exam.

Her guild card, her gaze affixed on it, was the sign that she was an explorer. It was the sign that she would put her life in danger at every turn. It meant that she would help Eunia grow. But, for her, it was a way out of that damnable household. Politics be damned, Dhalma cared not for her extended family. Dhalma was incredibly lost in thought - so much so that the only reason why she didn't collide with anyone was of her large size.

She hadn't realized that, in a matter of minutes, she had already eaten everything she bought.

And she was still hungry.

Deciding to just get a full meal, Dhalma went back to search for someone who sold something hearty. However, that search was cut short by a strange little girl yelling about joining her. Obviously nervous, the girl proclaimed things about needing people to come with her. Perhaps out of impulse, perhaps out of pity for the stammering youth, Dhalma walked towards her.

"I'll accompany you." She told the small girl, her voice unwavering and direct.

[Mangrale]

Reve felt reinvigorated that morning, spurred on by the possibility of a new prospect. This was a far cry from a week ago, a rather uneventful string leaving him with little more than the gear he left with. Yet an inspiration to change his approach came with the latest issue of the "New Age Explorer's Weekly", featuring the third part of an ongoing series for the up and coming trailblazer. There were a lot of valid points in the article, this one in particular detailing the benefits of operating as part of a team. But what Reve was most interested in was the point about working with fellow explorers to seek out promising leads.

This piece of advise was what largely led to him earnestly spectating some arm wrestling matches, all the while holding his breakfast up as he stood. As it happened, Reve had come in contact with an explorer by the name of Charles, the young man apparently having in his possession a contract to what is possibly the last known location of an explorer who had garnered some renown within the past year. This particular guild affiliate was especially known for his good luck, as evident in a streak of lucrative finds shortly before the assignment that likely got him killed. Still, his loss could be anyone's gain, or at least anyone who dared take an assignment with such a daunting difficulty level. But as Reve would find, Charles was unwilling to let the contract go so easily, favoring instead to take on the quest with his own rather muscly partner under the belief that they were best able to meet the challenge.

Yet Reve refused to back down, outright demanding a wager wherein if his partner bested Charles' in a feat of strength, then Charles would relinquish the quest to him. So desperate was the young explorer to get his hands on the contract, that he neglected to mention the simple fact that he had no such partner. So as the sun rose and everyone came to the second floor to eat, Reve convinced some strong-looking nobodies to pose as his teammates and arm wrestle Charles' partner Randal. Unfortunately, two had already gone up against him, with no success.

Reve's eyes squinted sharply at Charles, who was likewise scarfing down his breakfast and standing next to the edge of a long table that looked to be able to accommodate a good twelve people with its equally long benches on either side. He was beside his champion, in the middle of toying with Reve's second pick. In some ways, onlookers to the event may have rightfully discerned that while the arm wrestling seemed friendly enough, it was starkly contrasted by the two lads with stakes in its outcome, even their furious eating coming off as a matter of serious competition.

With a fairly audible thud, the back of the second "teammate's" hand met the table, a moment distasteful enough to Reve to almost catch that last bit of scrambled egg in his throat. "Haha, best two out of three, eh!? But hey, we don't want anyone taking on a quest they can't handle, right?" Charles taunted, knowing he had his challenger backed into a corner. He already knew that Reve didn't have any actual teammates and was basically grabbing anyone he could find, but he was far too amused to care.

Reve wasn't one to let some teasing get to him, but was still not thrilled with the possibility of having to let an opportunity like this slip through his fingers. But that was something he was all but ready to do, when suddenly he heard Yuko's loud invitation from a good distance away, intriguing but the timing couldn't be worse for him. But then he looked to see a giant of a girl, who seemed intent to take Yuko up on her offer. It looked like quite a long shot surely, but one that he saw no harm in taking.

Walking up cordially to the towering explorer, Reve spoke up directly to Dhalma once there was a perceived opportunity to. "Excuse me miss... Um, down here. Hello. I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you," he'd start, finding up close that she was easily two feet taller than him. "You have every right to say no, but I could really use someone like you for a friendly competition of strength, something really quick and you'll be rid of me before you know it. How about it?" the bespectacled explorer pitched eagerly at her.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Justin Tsao

The sudden surge in activity in the area caused Justin to snap out of his self-induced trance, and in turn faced the man who had come to question him first. It was an odd feeling, getting called out to in the first place, but if anything it was a feeling he'd (probably) get used to soon enough.

"Liam, was it? If you'll have me, I'll join up with you. If you don't mind me asking, though—"

Before he could continue the conversation, the sound of what... Felt like was a young girl seemed to echo through the place. Quite honestly, it was a miracle that anyone thought that such self-advertisement was a good idea, but as far as he knew there were all sorts of people in the city. To acknowledge the girl's efforts or not, though... That was a different story entirely.

"Hm. Well, I would assume that you have something in mind? If not, we could always merge with that incredibly socially awkward girl's group... Or something of the sort. I'll leave the choice to you; if there's a place you have in mind, though, feel free to lead the way. We're in no real rush right now, after all," the young man concluded, taking a sip of water before continuing to eat.

[TheFake]

— New Auren Guild —

"Well, I did have something in mind but..."

He shrugged and made a show of glancing over his shoulder at the girl. She seemed to be a bit of a showoff, judging by first impressions. Not really the kind of person he usually interacted with. and the mask was... a little bit of an absurd affection. On almost anyone else it might have been intimidating but on someone of her stature it was rather comical.

"Let's go listen to her. I would hate to pick something outside of your comfort zone after we just met and more people makes it easier to recover if something goes wrong."