We rifled through the offers left on the bar. There were seven in total though some covered small groups:

Bebe: Level 27 and Stole: Level 29, Demijins,

Mage and Tank, 12 silvers.

Fhill: Level 23, Human.

Rogue, 10 silvers.

Ander: Level 29, human.

Hunter, 7 silvers.

Angelica: Level 28, Dokalfar.

Mage, 7 silvers.

Karucja, familiar in with price.

Maddock: Level 36 Human.

Hunter, 11 silvers.

Remus, George and Tracy: Level 19, Hoomen Ogre, Highbird.

Drooed, Tank, Tank. 4 silvers. J

Docherty: Level 38. Human

Mage. Heading in that direction. Company would be welcome.

“Looks like we have a winner, boys.” Mal said, reading over my shoulder.

“Yeah,” I said excitedly. Looking around the bar to see if I could see the level 38 human. I couldn’t.

“Docherty?” I said loudly.

A tall, dark-haired man, with a rugged face, and a mean look to him stood up. I beckoned him over noting that he had an intimidating presence about him. What really stood out was his ID.

Soulber: Level 38. Cambion.

As he walked over, I spun around to talk to Dug.

“Hey, man...” Dug stopped me with a raised hand.

“I can’t help you. I’m supposed to be impartial in these dealings and I’ve already helped you too much.”

“I don’t want your help to choose,” I explained. “Well… I do, but I know you won’t give it. I just need to know what the fuck a Cambion is.

Dugs face took on an angry expression. “Why?”

The man, Docherty/Soulber, was standing in front of us now. I eyed Dug and nodded at our new arrival.

Dug was back over the counter far faster than I could have imagined possible. Docherty was took a step back but didn’t look too concerned.

“If you really are a Cambion, then you better get out of here while you’ve still got the legs to carry you,” he roared. His words prompted chairs to screech across the floor around the whole bar as adventurers stood and drew weapons.

Soulber stared defiantly at Dug, then directly at me. “You can’t fight it Clive and we will always be watching. See you soon,” he said with a sneer. Then the fucker vanished, leaving behind a black mist that we all recoiled from.

“What the hell Dug?” I asked. “Why do people keep vanishing here like it’s normal, and what the fuck is a Cambion?”

“It’s not normal to teleport away, unless you are favored by Darkness, Destruction, Light or Justice. As for Cambions. They are the humans with demon blood. They are always dark aligned. Their kind aren’t welcome in Laurel, or any cities that support a god from the pantheon of Light.”

“That didn’t stop Soulber,” I said, still a little shaken at how close a demon had just gotten in what I thought was a safe place. “I wonder why he didn’t just kill me?”

“Probably just taunting us.” Joel said. “Letting us know they’re watching and waiting. I hope the fucker isn’t heading in our direction.”

“I know mate,” I said thoughtfully. “In case he is, or there are others along our path,” I said taking them all in. “I think you should all stay here. Try to get stronger and find a way back to our world while I go to Knuntang with one of these adventurers. It’s too dangerous for you, if things like that hunting me. I’ll come straight back if I survive. If not, then at least I’ll know I didn’t get you all killed. Stuck in a different world maybe, but still alive.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Mal said, taking a slurp of his beer. “I’m not letting you outta my sight.”

“I’m with you till the end of this, Clive,” Joel slurred earnestly.

“Maybe one of us should stay here,” Daz said. “We really do need to find a way back,” he added unconvincingly.

That prompted Joel to deliver a heavy slap around his head. “You’re our Healer/Tank. You’re coming.”

Daz looked like he wanted to protest, but held his tongue, with a sullen expression.

“Thanks guys. I really don’t want to drag you deeper into whatever this is, but it means a lot that you’ll stand by me. If I can’t change your mind,” I said pointedly not looking at Daz.

“You can’t,” Mal said firmly. “Now let’s make a decision on who’s coming with us.”

He looked to Dug who was sitting near us again. “Demijins?”

“Half Djinn and in this case, half humans.” He looked as if he was going to give more away, before clamping his mouth shut.

“Dokalfar?” I asked.

“They’re the racial cousins of the Losalfar. They live underground, the Losalfar above.”

“Right, thanks, and lastly, Hoomen, Ogre Highbird?”

Dug tried to hide his laugh. “Bless them, they’re trying. It’s should say human, ogre hybrid.”

“So, do we need to be concerned about any of these guys? Ogres don’t sound like safe company.” I said briefly glancing around to check them out. I zeroed in on three hulking figures sitting around a table. Two of them in particular were extra-large, with hairless heads and looked pretty much Identical. The third, despite being smaller and slighter of build was still powerful looking, with black and green hair. They all looked brutish, and dangerous, but not wild, uncontrolled, brain bashers.

I cast my eye over their IDs for the first time, surprised to find that Tracy was not the one with the top knot. That was Remus, and this would be confusing.

“Shouldn’t you be concerned about everyone you meet?” Dug asked cryptically.

“Are they all at least Neutral or Light aligned?” Daz asked.

“Not that it means too much about a person’s character. But they wouldn’t be allowed in Laurel if they weren’t, would they,” Dug replied.

“Oh, you mean like the Level 38 demon who was sitting in your bar?” Mal asked. “Was he one of those rare light worshiping demon types?”

“He was clearly masked somehow. It’s always going to happen. The guards aren’t all powerful.”

“Okay Dug, thanks for sharing your knowledge,” I said before, facing my friends to discuss the merits of those we had to choose from.

“Half Ogres seem like a good bet to me,” Mal said, also glancing over to their table. Cheap and there’s three of them. They look hard as nails, too.”

Joel nodded, Daz looked less certain, but then Daz didn’t look certain about much these days.

“I agree, they’d be awesome, and I don’t mean to sound harsh, but based on their note, and their overall level I think someone with a bit more expertise might be better. I’m sure those guys could teach us a few things about beating someone to death, but, honestly, a hunter is going to know where they’re going and how to travel there quickly. A powerful mage, particularly one with a fricking familiar, is going to have a lot of knowledge for us to learn from, while being dangerous to demons I imagine.”

“What’s the familiar?” Mal asked.

“It’s like a magical pet,” Daz answered. I saw Mal’s thoughtful expression turn sour.

“I know that Daz. I meant, what is a fucking Karucja?”

“It’s a type of monkey,” Dug interrupted, before looking off in another direction as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Right, so you want the Dokalfar?” Mal asked me.

“I don’t know. It would have been nice to speak to them all, but I get the feeling that isn’t going to happen. I think the rogues out, just because they’re charging so much. Robbing bastard,” I grinned. I was alone in appreciation of my joke. They did all agree that the rogue was too much money for what they could offer.

Daz huffed. “This is going to take forever, at this rate. Shouldn’t we all just pick our favourites from what we know?”

“Bebe and Stole for me,” Joel said immediately. “It means we get two strong adventurers of different classes.”

Daz shrugged. “The level 36 hunter I suppose. Might as well take the strongest, especially if we’ll be facing enemies like the Cambion.”

“Both good choices. For some reason, I’m edging toward the mage with the familiar,” I said. “We get two of them and they’re much cheaper than the others. I’m pretty sure Dokalfar is going to be like a dark elf. If they’re a good dark elf, then you know who I’m thinking about, don’t you?” I’d been looking around the bar, trying to catch a glimpse of the Dokalfar, but I couldn’t see them. When adventurers had brought notes up, more than a few of them were hooded.

It was Mal’s turn to choose now and he smirked at my reasoning before offering his own suggestion.

“If you’re right about dark elves, then yeah, it would probably be a strong choice. So, hear me out. If we want to survive this, I think the stronger we are the better. We all spent roughly three silvers each, outfitting ourselves. If Clive spends the same, that leaves us with eleven silvers and five bronze. We probably should have all gotten outfitted after we saw how much we could spend, but we didn’t. I also don’t think it would be fair for Clive to not be able to spend the same as we did. So we haven’t got the twelve silvers, for Bebe and Stole, right? After that it’s the level 36 Hunter at eleven silvers. Which is great, but for eleven silvers we could have the Mage and familiar, along with the three half ogres. We could get five solid fighters for eleven silvers!”

We all took a moment to absorb what he was saying. I felt a smile creep on my face. I actually really like that idea. Slapping him on the back, I looked to the others. Joel gave me a cheerful thumbs up. Daz was starting to piss me off.

“I’m not sure about the Ogres. It seems like a needless risk to me.”

“Daz, you whinging bastard.” I said. “Everything is risky right now. But if they’re reliable and can fight, then we’re winning!”

“We’ll see,” was all he said, and I so desperately wanted to spark his lights out. I ignored him and turned to Dug, “We have our choices.”

“I heard. Good choices, too. Having good numbers is a solid plan and those three deserve a chance.”

“What do you mean, deserve a chance?” I asked.

“They havent got the best levels because they don’t get many offers on account of their mixed heritage. But they’re strong as oxen, keen as mustard, and good as gold. This will give them an opportunity to get stronger and prove themselves a little.”

It could have been a trick of the light, but I was sure I saw tears welling up in Dug’s eyes. He blinked quickly and resumed his usual taciturn expression.

“Call out the Dokalfar first. She’s pretty much ready to leave. If she’s not chosen first, she’ll be off and if you bring them all over at the same time, you won’t be able to talk to her properly, for the triplets.”

“Triplets?” Daz asked confused.

“Yeah, Remus, George and Tracy. Trust me, half-ogres are not a regular occurrence. Ogres don’t normally let their toys get away. And when they do, their victims don’t normally manage to give birth. Amy, may Devotion bless her soul, managed to survive whatever happened to her, only to die giving birth to these three. They all entered the world at once, though Tracy has a thing about being the oldest.”

“You seem to know them well,” I noted.

He nodded with a mix of emotions on display. “Best call your mage up first and get the ball rolling.”

I did just that. “Angelica?” I asked loudly into the bar. From the shadow under the stairwell, a hooded figure seemed to materialize and made their way over to us. I couldn’t see much from under the hood, only up to her mouth. Her skin was dark, somewhere between blue and purple, which confirmed my hopes and suspicions that she was in fact a dark elf.

I didn’t know much, but I knew dark elves were badass. It had absolutely nothing to do with how perfect the brief glimpse of her face was. Nor how tall and lithe she was or how smoothly she moved, seeming to glide over the floor. She came to a halt in front of us.

“Get the hood off, then! Let’s see what you look like under that cloak,” Joel said, drunkenly from behind me. I almost broke my neck by how quickly I turned to scowl at him. “Not okay, mate,” I said before slowly turning back to Angelica.

“Sorry about my friend. He’s drunk, and even when he’s not, he can be a jackass. Just ignore him.”

“It was very offensive. I no longer think this is such a good idea.”

“Angelica, seriously, I’m sorry for Joel’s words, but I think you’re reading too much into it. Where we’re from, it’s considered polite for someone to remove their hood when speaking with someone.” I explained, reluctant to offer more offense. “However, it really doesn’t matter. Everywhere is different and we wouldn’t dream of imposing our expectations, on someone else. Well, unless one of us is drunk.”

“Where are you from, that you would expect a Dokalfar to expose themselves to the light for a conversation?”

“You’re our first Dokalfar and Joel didn’t know you had to protect yourself from the light. How about we start this conversation again. This time without the misunderstandings?”

“Very well. Place your finger on this coin please,” she said producing a golden coin from out of thin air. I inspected it first. There was a three-headed dragon engraved on the face. It looked nothing like the currency we’d seen so far, other than being circular in shape.

I did as asked, placing my index finger on the coin that she held flat in her palm. She spoke again. “I will lead you five to Faray in the kingdom of Knuntang for seven silvers. Providing we leave Laurel in the next two days.”

To my utter astonishment, a god damn, quest prompt popped up in front of me.

Accept the adventurer Angelica Taemous terms: Y/N.

I said, “yes,” out loud.

“Gah!” I yelped as the feeling of getting an electric shock, coursed through my body. It stopped as the prompt disappeared.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, feeling invaded by the process.

“The contract,” she replied with the first smile I’d seen from her. It concerned me slightly that my discomfort would be the object of her amusement.

“You could have warned me!”

“You are the first person I’ve met that was unaware of the process.”

I doubted that very much, but left it alone after Joel’s blunder.

“Fair enough, Angelica. We’ll probably want to leave in the morning. So, how’s that?”

“Fine. Where are you staying?”

“Er currently at the temple of Devotion. I imagine they weren’t intending to house us indefinitely, though. Just because of how unwell I got. There’s every chance we’ll be turfed by the time I get back.”

“One bronze a night per room.” Dug interrupted. “We’ve got twins and doubles.”

“Thanks Dug, we’ll take you up on the offer.”

“I’m also staying here,” Angelica said. “That will make this convenient. Make sure to arrange trail rations for each of you for seven days. We will hunt as we can, so if it takes longer, we should be well supplied. I will see you in the morning,” she said, already tuning away.

“Wait. Angelica. I’d like to speak with you about us outfitting ourselves for the journey.” She turned back at my words. Her voice had a bored and uncaring tone to it. “Very well, that will cost another silver.”

“You can fuck right off. I thought you were supposed to be helping us!”

“To travel to Knuntang, for seven silvers. Those are the terms. Only to cross and starting from tomorrow morning. The rest of the time today is my own to do with as I will.”

“How about a bronze for an hour of your time?”

I saw her smile again. “Sure. Not the drunken loud mouth though.”

“Which one?” I laughed. She didn’t reply, leading to an awkward silence.

“Okay that’s, fine. We’re going to take the three half ogres, too, for back up. Let me speak to them first, then we can talk.”

She groaned. “You’re seriously taking the ogres? This job was bad enough before I spoke with you all. Now? Urggh, just urggh,” She mock shivered to show what she thought of the whole deal.

“I’ll be back over in my seat under the stairs. Join me when you’re ready, and we will talk. I like honey mead.”

I reflected that we may have made a mistake hiring her, but I couldn’t help wanting to learn more.

Once I’d recovered from being Angelica’d, I looked over to the three half ogres. “Hey, Remus, George, Tracy, can I have a word?”

“Huh?” George asked.

“Come over here a minute so we can talk,” I said waving them over.

Remus, the shortest one with the black and green hair, jumped up from his chair, and led his siblings over. I found it difficult to pull my eyes away from his hair. His head was almost completely bald except for this one fountain of hair, right in the center. It was bound with material to stick up a foot in the air. He had beige colored skin, but at this range I could see a definite green tinge to it. They all shared the feature of a protruding lower jaw. With prominent lower canines, that were only just hidden by their upper lips.

“What’s up?” Remus asked.

“We want to employ you three on our journey.”

“Seriously?” He answered surprised, while Tracy and George high-fived each other. What I could also see now, particularly in those two, was how young they were. I’d put them at twenty years old, maximum, and that was pushing it.

“So, are you up for it?”

“Yeah!” Remus growled happily.

“Okay then, we leave first thing in the morning. Do you live close by?”

“We live here,” he replied.

“Brilliant, we’re staying here too. Is it safe to assume you’re the mage of your trio?”

Remus smiled broadly. “That is me. Natural mage.”

“What does that mean?” I asked curious.

“I make nature my bitch!” He grunted happily. His excitement was both worrying and infectious.