On their way back, Cassy kept on staring at the card she was holding, as if unable to believe what just happened.
"To think we'd cross paths with the Dragon's Roar...!" She whispered with excitement. "Did you see the woman in white? That's their healer, Priscilla! She's my idol!"
"Really?" Aster replied.
Since he covered his face with his hood shortly after, he wasn't able to see anyone else but the large lizardman before him. 'No, from the party's name, he's not a lizard, but a dragonkin!' He realized a little too late.
"But what's a Clan anyway?"
"You don't know?!" Cassy roared before suddenly recalling Aster's situation. "Ah, right, you... Then, let me tell you what it is!"
Adventurer Clans are something like an extension of usual parties, or more accurately, like a secondary guild. With the Adventurer's Guild setting up parties and quests, clans arrange members fitting for such quests and send them. This benefits both the guild and the clan, increasing the chances of success and decreasing the risk of death.
"Quests..." Aster whispered in a low voice. "Are those accessible to normal parties too, like ours?"
"Ah, that's... only quests that were filtered out by several clans reach normal parties, so they're usually too difficult or have low rewards unbefitting their risks."
"In the first place, there are no quests that can be accepted by newbies like you two," Kali added with a scoff.
"I see..."
Aster, learning about clans, now had two choices. One is to join an existing clan, like the Dragon's Roar. Or two: "Creating my own clan!"
"Humph!" Kali harrumphed. "Only two kinds of guys make a clan of their own. Those who have high leadership and charisma, and idiots like you."
"..."
"Hey, K, isn't that a bit too harsh? It's fine to have a dream at least!"
"Dream? With how unrealistic it is, it'd stay a dream, for sure. You'd need a good leader, a competent advisor, a great team, and financial stability as a party. Other than the last item, this weakling missed all of those."
Aster shrugged his shoulders, accepting Kali's words at face value. "Well, that's talking about right now. Who knows what the future holds, right?"
"Disappointment, for sure."
While the three were talking out loud, they soon reached the Adventurer's Guild. The number of adventurers inside was a lot lower compared to the morning. But there were still a few who were already drinking, despite it being high noon.
"Oh, Aster's party! What's wrong? Done with the hunt for today?"
As soon as they entered, Zenearith greeted them with a teasing smile. Her forked tongue was licking the air as if she were excited while looking at them.
"Listen, Zena! We met with the Dragon's Roar earlier!" Cassy immediately started bragging as soon as she reached the counter. "If I had a pen and paper with me, I would've asked for their autographs!"
"Haha, really? Well, they came here to report, so I know they were going back into the dungeon." Zena replied, patting Cassy's head while leaning her chin on her hand.
"Ah! You don't believe me, don't you? Look! We even received a help card from them!"
The busybodies listening in started whispering amongst themselves as soon as they heard about the card Cassy held.
"Help card?!"
"There's no way that's true. Do you know how hard it is to get a help card?"
"I know. I stood in line for 3 days just to get one before!"
Aster frowned a bit after hearing their light banter, and he realized how precious the card that Cassy held was.
"I see." Zena closed her eyes, nodding approvingly. "Then you should keep that safe. Others might target you for simply having that, planning to snatch it away."
"Of course I will! And I can! I reached level 3 today, after all!"
"Really? Congrats!" Zena smiled sweetly.
After a little more chatting, she finally turned to Aster and saw the backpacks he was holding. "Item appraisal, is it? Please place the bags over the counter here."
As usual, the appraisal itself didn't take long. She dumped the contents of both bags into a special container, which counted the items that entered it automatically. While she was doing so, her face turned from surprise to awe shortly after.
"That's 110 pieces of Slime Core. Amazing! You doubled yesterday's record easily!" She excitedly declared.
"Since the pharmacy is offering a premium for the cores you got, you'll get a 10% increase in their buying price. 5,500 Tels each, totaling 605 thousand Tels!"
"Oh! Price increase, nice!" Cassy cheered.
After dividing their earnings, each of them gained roughly 202 thousand Tels each, which was credited to their cards immediately. Adding to their earnings yesterday, it was already a small fortune!
After finishing the handoff, the three walked out of the guild with heightened moods. "This is a great day! Who's going to lunch together?!" Cassy asked, raising her hand first.
Kali scoffed, turning her head away while walking onward. "I'm not interested." She said.
As she left, only Aster and Cassy were left. "What about you, Star? Wanna grab lunch together?" She asked with a little lonely look on her face.
Although Aster felt guilty, he shook his head. "Sorry, Cassy. I have something to attend to today, so I'll pass. Tomorrow, for sure!"
Sadness crossed her face for a moment before turning to a wide smile. "Oh, it can't be helped. Then I'd go to an eat-all-you-can challenge and test my limit! Wish me luck~!"
"Haha, good luck! Don't break your stomach, alright?"
"No worries! I can eat anything without having a stomach ache!"
Cassy acted cheerfully until she vanished around a corner, running at a moderate speed. As she disappeared, Aster let out a long sigh before changing his expression to a serious one.
"You need something from me?"
He asked while turning back, facing someone who had been watching him since earlier. As he did, a man in a black suit undid his camouflage and slowly materialized. He looked the same as the guys who guided Aster to the mayor's office the day before, which didn't surprise him.
"Mr. Aster Mistral, I've been sent to keep watch over you." He announced it in a flat, rough, and deep voice. "The madam invites you to lunch." He explained.
Aster heaved a deep breath, realizing that it was time.
"Alright. I'm ready. Lead the way."