“I’ve marked out pitstops on the quest,” Freja said like a fussing mother. “The first town is known for its forges, even if you ignore the rest you must stop there. You’re going to need gear enhancements if you’re planning to work in Castalor, and Forge Town is the perfect place to get them.”

  “It’s called Forge Town,” I said flatly, “really?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” She replied, “anyway, my suggestion is to get at least one stat upgraded to 100%, that’s the maximum effect you can add to a single stat. If you can afford to do it to more than one then that’s even better.

  “I would also imagine you have collected quite a lot of crafting materials by now, use them, use all of them! Get your weapons and armour upgraded with everything you’ve got. You’re going to need it. In your case, start with your dagger. To be frank, in its current state it’s bloody awful.”

  “Got it, pimp out our gear to the max then slay some monsters on the way to Castalor,” I said matter-of-factly.

  “I love pimping,” Bell added, hanging out of the camper’s side door. “Maybe we should pimp our ride whilst we’re at it?”

  “The mobile base is upgradable,” Freja said, “but upgrades to mana vehicles are expensive and, in all honesty, they’re more about comfort than practicality. Your gear and weapons should come first. Oh, and whilst I remember, you should probably know that the camper doesn’t count as a safe space so you won’t be able to open loot boxes inside it. Take that as a warning to keep a sentry on lookout.”

  “Good to know, and I agree,” I said, taking a more formal tone, “if we can spend money on things that will keep us alive then they’re the most important things to spend it on. How much does everyone have?”

  Bell held up a single finger, signalling that she’d be back in a minute, then disappeared inside for a moment. Freja and I waited, each with folded arms until she returned.

  “I’ve got about 800,000, Rex has 120,000, Azzy and Panda have nothing,” she said in an uncharacteristically succinct way.

  “I gave Panda 10,000 just the other day, how has he spent it already?” I grumbled, “and why do you have more than me?”

  “Because I make a point of looting the things we kill,” she replied with a cheeky grin.

  “The things we kill?” I asked.

  “Yup, you’re always forgetting or being knocked unconscious… someone has to take it.”

  “You get knocked out more than I do!” I yelled, “you owe me some back pay.”

  “Back pay?” She scoffed, “you’re the team leader, if anything you owe me back pay. Aren’t I, like, your employee? You’ve never once given me a paycheck… we haven’t even had an office pizza party!”

  “If you were my employee I’d have sacked you for negligence by now,” I retorted, “we’re a team, so if you aren’t going to give me a cut, then you’re on food duty until we get to Castalor. I expect that camper fully stocked at every available opportunity. That means every time we get to a town it’s your job to buy all the food. You can coordinate with Rex since he’s going to be cooking for us.”

  Pulling a pouty face, she huffed and then ducked back inside. I was pretty sure I heard her say something about me being a slave driver, but it was the kind of criticism I was happy to take if it meant I could offload a little responsibility onto her. I had too much on my plate as it was.

  “Nicely done,” Freja commented with a satisfied nod. “We’ll make a leader of you yet.”

  “Well you did say I needed to be one if I wanted to skip the bronze rank exam.”

  “That I did, though I don’t think you can skip the seminar. You’ll have to sit through an hour of corporate level rubbish once you get to the capital.”

  “Hooray,” I replied flatly.

  “Anyway, I’ve got a city to defend so I best be going,” she said tiredly. “Good luck, and don’t forget to give that message to the branch director when you get to Castalor.”

  “Can I ask you to let me know how Sally’s doing when you get the chance?” I asked.

  “You can, but you could also ask her yourself through the interface chat function.”

  “I don’t trust her to tell me if she’s not doing so well.”

  Freja looked at me for a long moment with a discerning expression. Her midnight purple skin glinted oddly as sunlight pierced the jungle canopy.

  “Alright then,” she said after a moment, with a solemn, single nod of her heard.

  You have received a message request from Freja, Director.

  Do you accept?

  Y/N

  Mentally asserting yes, I scowled at her. “Freja comma director?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “What no last name?”

  “Most people don’t have last names in this world, that’s something reserved for nobles and royals,” she replied, “however, I just don’t want you knowing mine.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “So you do have a last name?” I replied, “are you a runaway princess or something?”

  “Of course not, now, goodbye Kaleb and good luck.”

  “Goodbye Princess!” I called after her as she turned to walk away but all I got in return was a playful wink before a quest notification popped up in my HUD.

  New Quest:

  Grunt Work

  Director Freja of the Cali Port branch of Adventure Society has formally requested the aid of the Dissident Flame party to clear the road between Cali Port and Castalor.

  Like a bunch of absolute noobs, you have been asked to fight some monsters as you traverse the main road to Castalor.

  The Director has also offered suggested towns to stop in along the way. These are optional, but a hidden reward will be given if you manage to go to all of them.

  What an exciting and extremely advanced quest you’ve been given. Someone must really value your talents.

  Objectives:

  Slay monsters on the main road between Cali Port and Castalor 0/100

  Visit the following settlements (optional):

  Forge town 0/1

  Boggy Marsh 0/1

  High Rock 0/1

  Rewards:

  x100,000 gold per party member

  Hidden reward available upon completion of optional objectives

  “Jeez,” I said to myself, “I think that’s the longest quest I’ve ever seen.”

  ***

  “Thanks for gathering, everyone,” Rex said in a not entirely confident voice as the rest of us lounged around the living space. “I know I’ve only just joined this team, but I’ve led merc parties before and I wanted to talk about team tactics.”

  Smiling to myself as he spoke, I thought back to Freja’s suggestion that we work on party tactics and roles. She’d mentioned that Rex had some experience and I was all ears.

  Especially since we were driving along the swampy, sketchy main road leading out of Cali Port and I had nothing else to do but meditate.

  Panda was busy driving our completely unsuitable vehicle, but the driver’s seat was right next to the communal area so he could still listen to the conversation if he wanted to.

  I just hoped he wouldn’t get distracted and crash the hunk of junk, we were liberally calling a vehicle, into a tree.

  “Go ahead Rex, we’re all ears,” I said, happy to take a bit of a back seat for once.

  Nodding respectfully at me, he continued. “Well, this party is quite small so I think we can employ a few different tactics which we can practice and name. That way, when we’re attacked, we can switch up manoeuvres mid-battle.”

  “Can I name them?” Bell asked, putting her hand up like she was in a classroom.

  “No,” I said.

  “However,” Rex continued, politely ignoring her outburst. “In order for that to work effectively we need defined battle roles in the party.”

  “Ah, of course,” Asmodeus said, puffing his chest out. “I have been waiting for this moment to come. Yes, dear servant, I will happily take the role of commander in chief.”

  “I think he means like long range, melee and fireball specialist,” Bell said.

  “No, he definitely means to place me in charge of the entire operation,” Asmodeus replied. “As my first act as commander in chief, I motion that we change the party name to Demon Lord Asmodeus and the Help.”

  “What’s wrong with our current name?” Bell snapped back, “Kaleb named it after me!”

  “Will you two shut up and let him speak?” Panda shouted from up front.

  I was just happy to not be the one organising everything for once. The raspberry and cinnamon flavoured smoothie Rex had made me didn’t hurt either.

  “As I was saying,” Rex continued, demonstrating the patience of a saint, “we need defined battle roles. I already have an idea of what they should be. Asmodeus should act primarily as recon and air support, he will work directly with Panda, passing information to him in real time.

  “As a daemon, Panda would take on the role of tactician. Since he can’t fight, I figured his best use on the battlefield would be his mind. I also have quite a lot of books on strategical theory he might find interesting.”

  Panda looked over his shoulder at the crouching lycanid, laces of drool hanging from the corners of his mouth. His eyes sparkled with delight and I couldn’t tell if he wanted to eat Rex or kiss him.

  “So the idea is that the two of you can get the best overview of a battle situation, then organise us like chess pieces on a board,” Rex continued, “since we can’t see much of the big picture during a scrap, that might give us an edge against particularly tricky foes.

  “Bell, you would be primarily a ranged support unit. If there’s high ground, in most instances I’d expect you to take it and provide covering fire. However, in certain situations your flames might be more useful as crowd control. In that case we might need you up front. Just be prepared to stay flexible and follow orders.”

  The fire mage nodded and clicked her fingers, sparking a flame atop them. She grinned evilly at it and then put it out when she realised we were all still watching her.

  “I’d like to put myself forward for ground leader,” Rex continued, a little sheepishly this time. “I have a lot of combat experience and if things go south I think I can keep the team together long enough for Panda to come up with a higher-level strategy. Obviously, I’m also a melee fighter. So I’ll be taking the lead in most fights, tanking hits, and dishing out twice as many.

  “That leaves Kaleb to act as a floater. I know that sounds like a bit of an odd job but your power set is more versatile than what I’m used to. The acid on your weapons lends itself to an afflictions build, but you also possess a powerful ranged attack and, when using your daggers, you’re quite well suited to a damage per second melee fighter.

  “I think you’d be most suited to slot in where needed. That’ll give you a lot of freedom and I can take the strain of mid-battle leadership off your shoulders, along with Panda. I’m hoping that’ll mean the only thing you need to worry about in a fight is how to be the most effective.

  “When we come across monsters with a high defence or unsuitable resistances for our team, your powers might make the difference, so I want you to be able to be flexible. Naturally, in some instances you might need to switch between bow or dagger depending on what specific tactic we’re using at the time.”

  Looking at me expectantly as he twiddled the fur on the side of his head, he finally took a breath.

  “That all sounds great to me,” I said, after swallowing the sip of smoothie I’d just had. “In all honesty I think you’re more suited to battlefield leader anyway and Panda is definitely the best man… bear, for the job when it comes to strategy.

  “I don’t really know much about that stuff. It’s been hard enough just learning how not to die. Thinking about coordinating the rest of the team just adds to the strain.”

  “Perfect!” He said, his face lighting up with relief as he finally sat down on the tatty, red, patterned carpet.

  “Is everyone else happy with their new roles?” I asked.

  Looking around I got nods from everyone. Asmodeus didn’t seem too pleased about not being in charge, but I could tell he liked the idea of being able to fly around.

  Despite his superiority complex, he was really starting to jell with the rest of us. I was beginning to think he might even like some of us… maybe.

  “Alright, then it’s settled,” I said, “is there anything else anyone wants to add before I end this meeting?”

  “Kaleb’s a floater,” Bell chuckled.

  “Your adventuring career has well and truly gone down the toilet, kid,” Panda added.

  “Ah, I get it,” Asmodeus said, lifting a single claw up next to his face, “they’re comparing you to excrement, how witty.”