We get to the second floor and Amanda opens a door to one of the rooms. Inside there are five other people. Four of them look at me almost looking afraid. One of them is turned towards the window and hears the door open. He's a man about my height, that being six feet, and he looks a little bit scrawny. The man says "Amanda is that you? We gotta gear up we just got a new job we signed up for".
"Okay, but there's someone I want you guys to meet" Amanda says.
The man by the window turns around to see me and shouts "Holy Shit!!". Another one of the slayers sitting in the corner wipes a shocked look off his face and stands up. He's very tall, six and half feet to be precise. He has more of a grizzled unshaven look compared to the rest of them. He walks over to me, puts out his hand for a handshake and says "Well god damn, I never thought she'd actually convince you to join us. Welcome to the group man". I don't know what possessed me to do this but I shake his hand. He then comes in for a hug and I quickly back up.
"I haven't actually decided to join the group. Amanda was very convincing in trying to have me meet you though" I said.
"Oh, that makes sense" says everyone of the other Crimson Slayers at the same time. The others talk with Amanda about how she apparently keeps annoying people into meeting the group in hopes they'll join. They scold her and tell her to stop doing it. The tall one apologized to me about Amanda and says I can leave if I want to. I'm then just about to take him up on that offer until Amanda grabs my arm and says "Hey, I got him here so the least you guys can do before he goes is introduce yourselves". They all stand up to introduce themselves to me. I decided to be polite and listen to their introductions.
The tall one's name is Morgan Redwood. He is a tier four mercenary. Tiers in the Mercenary Guild decide what kinds of jobs you can get, there are ten tiers in total and I myself am a sixth tier mercenary. The scrawny one by the windows name is Chance Graves a tier two mercenary. Then there were two of them that are Identical twins that go by the names of Tonga and Tangu Albrook. They are both tier three mercenaries. Then finally we get to the last member of the group, her name is Lexi Deville and she is a tier three mercenary.
After their introductions I was curious what tier Amanda was so I asked her. She then responded by saying "Well I've only just started being a mercenary about a month ago so I'm just a tier one for now but all I need to do is get one more successful job under my belt and I'll make tier two".
Here's how tiers work. Tiers are less of a level of power and more of a level of experience. The higher the tier you have in the guild the higher paying the job is. Most people are affiliated with groups much like the Crimson Slayers in the mercenary guild. Usually in these groups there is at least one high tier member, like Morgan, and several lower tier members, like Amanda and Chance. This benefits both parties because lower tier members can get more experience and pay, and the higher tier members have a much better chance at succeeding at their job with more manpower.
I don't need a group however, it doesn't benefit me like it does the rest of them. I'm perfectly fine on my own. They'd only take a cut of my money and hold me back. That's how I view it at least. I'm not going to say this to these people however. I don't trust them but they at least seem nice on the surface. I'll just be polite. I said "It was very nice meeting you all, but like I said Amanda I have no interest in joining a group right now. So thank you for the hospitality but I must be going".
I go downstairs to leave but Amanda catches up to me and tries to stop me. She asks "Is it something I said? Come on why don't you wanna join us?". I tell her how I like to work alone and how I don't look at groups as beneficial to me. She then says "The groups job shouldn't be to long, I saw the papers and all we have to do is kill some goblins in a cave a few miles away. It should only take a few hours. Can you please wait until we get back? If I can't convince you to join us then I'll give you my cut of the reward. Deal?".
I think about it for a minute, I'm in no real hurry to leave yet because there are no interesting jobs available right now. So basically she's offering money for me to sit on my ass until they get back. I look to her and agree. She then gives me a big hug and I slightly blush but it's not very noticeable. She then has a very focused and motivated look on her face. Amanda then runs upstairs to gear up for the job. About twenty minutes passes by as I sit at a table in the tavern drinking ale. I see the Crimson Slayers come down from upstairs and head out the door to go do their job. Amanda gives a big wave goodbye to me and give a slight nod as they go on their journey. Little did I know what would happen next…