"So this ghost of yours is in the barn?"

"Yes."

"And it is not aggressive?"

"No, it just runs away and hides when it sees us. But it won't leave and I'd rather not worry about my livestock."

"I see."

Two men were sitting at the tavern table. The younger, Yovan, seemed deep in thought. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with short, black hair. Although his eyebrows were frowning, his green eyes seemed playful and charming. His facial hair was still short and light like he still didn't start shaving. He wore leather armor, with a short sword at his side and a bow on his back. The other, Drashko, was a middle-aged man, sunburnt with rough complexion permeating his face. Yovan was holding his hands over his mouth, hiding his smirk.

"Well, it's hard to say without more details. It could be a minor ghost as you mentioned, but it could be an impersonator or some other higher magic creature posing as a simple ghost. Anyways, my usual fee for this kind of contract is ten silver coins."

"Don't try to swindle me, boy. I've already asked around before talking to you, contracts like this go for two silver coins. Who the hell do you take me for?"

Yovan leaned back into his chair and slid his hands to the back of his head. He wasn't looking at his companion, he was already checking out the cute waitress if this conversation turns to go nowhere.

"Sure, you caaan find some schmuck with a stick to scare it out. And it would probably not cost you much. But who is to say that this amateur will do it properly and stop the ghost from returning? On the other hand, I am an arcane hunter. Magic and magical creatures are my specialties. If you want a job well done, it will cost you more."

"Arcane hunter? Really? You look like you just stopped suckling your mother's tit."

"Well, I did graduate last year from the academy. Would you like to see my diploma?"

"Sure. Let's see it."

A large bag fell onto the table and Yovan started rummaging through it. After a moment he presented a scroll. Drashko unrolled it, moved it further away from himself, and squinted at the paper. Then he made some grunts that probably implied satisfaction.

"Hunter's academy is a respectable institution. Fine. But I can't afford ten silver coins, seven is the highest price I can agree with."

Yovan looked deeply into Drasko's eyes and then made a wide smile.

"You know what? I like you Drashko. Just for you, I'll do it for seven."

"Are there any adventurers in here?"

Shouts of a panicked girl caught everyone's attention in the tavern.

"What's the matter?", asked Yovan.

"Are you an adventurer?", she continued.

"Sure am. Now, what happened?"

"There is a higher demon on the loose. It already rampaged through several villages and is heading to the city. We need every available adventurer to fight it."

"If it's that big of a problem, why don't the city guards deal with it?"

The girl twitched for a second then continued.

"Demon was summoned by Lord N00bpwn3r, city guards can't handle it, and even if they could, they were ordered to stand by."

"So the Warlock unleashed another minion. I guess I'll pass this one."

"What kind of man backs off when presented with a worthy challenge?" A raspy voice interrupted them.

They turned around to see three people, two men, and a woman. The man in the middle, apparently the one who spoke, was a warrior, dressed in full armor. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a couple of scars on his left cheek. The other two were some type of wizards. Yovan sensed elemental power emanating from the man and holy from the woman. Elementalist and a cleric probably. The elementalist had long black hair and was surprisingly well-built for a wizard, while the cleric had lush, brown hair that fell on her shoulders, and was somewhat plump.

"A smart man in this case.", said Yovan, "I am not going anywhere near a high-level demon, especially not the one that was summoned by the Warlock."

"There will be other adventurers. And you should join our group. Together I'm sure we can defeat it and pocket the reward."

"Unfortunately, I already accepted a quest from this good man over here and time is critical. So I bid you, and your party best of luck."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. We could've used a good man like yourself."

"The only thing that lowlife is good for is being a failure and getting people around him killed."

This time Yovan recognized the voice. From the entrance, a lean form was confidently strolling towards them. She had straight, blue hair, tied in a ponytail. Her face, if not for her gentle smile, would seem stone-cold, especially if one would clash with her black, piercing eyes. Just like Yovan, she was also full in leather armor, but magic it radiated sent a shiver down his spine. Or maybe it was just the fact it was Lina.

"Myrkoh," Lina addressed the warrior, "it seems I can't leave you guys alone even for a moment without you deciding to mess up everything."

"You know this guy?", asked Myrkoh.

Lina turned towards Yovan and measured him up, her lips pouting while she seemed unamused.

"We were classmates at the academy. He is a talentless quack. He was skipping classes left and right, and would fail the ones he bothered to show up."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really trying. It was obvious some of the classes were useless and just a waste of time."

"Oh, please Yovan, tell those stories to someone else. The reason you didn't try hard was that you knew you didn't have what it takes. So you decided not to try at all. So you could comfort yourself that it wasn't your lack of talent but your lack of want."

Yovan was steaming. His ears could've fried two eggs if broken on them. A turmoil of emotions ruffled inside. He was angry, humiliated, sad... Why was he sad though? Why was Lina being such a bitch? She mostly ignored him at the academy. A cough pulsed through the heavy atmosphere. It was Drashko, Yovan completely forgot about him. He was still holding the scroll. The storm that was brewing inside Yovan quickly dissipated. Fear chased away every other feeling and paralyzed his every muscle.

"Young lady," said Drashko, "I don't know your history, but he showed me his diploma and I can say he was a decent student. There's no need to insult him like that."

Lina raised her left eyebrow at Drashko's comment, then looked again at Yovan. Her grin seared into his mind. Cold sweat gathered on his forehead.

"He showed you his diploma, how nice." Her face turned serious and sour. "Guys let's go. We have a demon to fight, and if we stay here any longer I think I'm going to throw up."

The party looked at each other with surprised looks and then silently agreed there was nothing to be said any longer. As they were walking out, a confused girl that started the whole ruckus followed them behind. Still unsure of what transpired in such a short time. Yovan sighed deeply once everyone left. He took his scroll from Drashko and returned it to his bag.

"I sincerely apologize, she's an ex-girlfriend. She's still bitter about it."

"I'm not particularly interested in your love life. I just want to know when can I expect you?"

"Of course! I'll come to your place first thing tomorrow."

"Good, then I'll be leaving as well. All this bickering tired me out."

The bed creaked under pressure. Yovan was exhausted, but he was still happy how everything turned out. Especially considering that exchange with Lina. He bargained a good price for a simple job. Truthfully, even though he feigned disinterest at taking the quest, in reality, he was desperate for money. With seven silver coins, he can pay his tavern room for the next week and buy some provisions. He will even have some extra to spend in a brothel, or on booze, or maybe gambling. Yes, things were definitely going for the better. Sweet thoughts relaxed every inch of his body. Yovan surrendered to this natural opiate and left his subconscious to imagine the future through the night.