***
"Wait a minute! You're saying it went up a grade!?"
Among the buzzing crowd of adventurers, a female dwarf's voice rose a bit higher. At once, her brother bumped her with his elbow. "Stop yelling!" He was annoyed.
But the next second, he leaned forward to the zoomorph adventurer who stood in front of him and whispered, "You're not joking, right?"
The feline male shook his head. "Why would I joke about something so serious? If you don't believe me, just look around."
The zoomorph adventurer swung his eyes around. Around them were adventurers of all races discussing something grave. Many had grim expressions while communicating with their party members.
All these people were standing on the lap of a hot desert. The closest city can be seen a tiny dot on the horizon. The relevance of a joke is non-existent as mages cast water, ice and earth spell to escape from the heat.
