“When children left the house and began to lead their own lives, it was always a bit of a sorrowful parting for the parents, yet it was an inescapable fact of life.” - Old Folk Saying.

“That sounded like an interesting proposition,” said Ashani the next day. On that particular day, the youngsters had went off on their own, which was pretty much everyone in the group other than Cal, Kino, Vark and Krystal with Ilena and Ida, as well as Tal, who was more interested in the lizard-like therians’ local tradition of eating the unfertilized eggs they laid periodically than hanging out together with the rest. “Grandma basically allowed me to choose my own path to walk, and this sounded like a good way to get comfortable with the world outside our little island.”

“Count me in as well,” chimed Dan in from the side. The half-goblin healer had been part of the party for a few years running now, as he was all too happy to follow along Cal’s trips for the princely sum she offered. He had also become quite close to them over the years, most as friends, though closer with a certain someone. “You lot are going to need a healer anyway, better someone who already knows what to expect out of you. Besides, how many of you know how to balance an account book? Or budgeting your expenditures?”

A series of head shakes answered Dan’s question to his exasperation. “I thought as much. I can do those, but some of you better help with it and learn how to do it as well.”

“Well… I know the basics… “said Ognar with a bit of an embarrassed tone. “But I always found it boring even when grandma told me to study up on it.”

“I can probably help with those, even if I don’t join you guys on the field,” said Giselle with a smile. “I mean, you guys still plan to base yourselves off Paradise, no? Can always visit my place with the books. I’ve learned a bit from my parents on how to deal with the accounting.”

“Right, that’s a solution,” said Dan after he gave the matter some thought. The youths - including Cal’s nieces, who were still youths in half-elven considerations - had planned to make an adventurer party together, and their talk happened to be overheard by Cal’s students, who were passing by, which led to the idea of both groups joining together in one party. “Gotta say the party would be one helluva group, though, much less amongst newly established parties. We got like… what? All gold tags between us? Other than Ashani’s who’s got too little time to gather achievement for hers.”

“Don’t forget mine!” said Willa boisterously.

“Right, and one of the youngest black tag holders in the history books to top it off.” replied Dan with some exasperation leaking into his voice. “Other than that… we definitely seem a bit lopsided, heavy on the offensive end with an abundance of trackers who are familiar with the wilderness, and a lack of support roles.”

“Eh, I don’t think there’d be many things we can’t solve by beating it up until it cries between us all,” said Elaina with a confident smirk on her face. “I mean, unless they pit us against someone of Aunt Cal’s caliber? I think we can brute force our way through most situations just fine.”

“She makes a fair point, you know?” added Leila from where she was seated atop Lumi’s tail, with her back leaning against the Ice Drake’s torso. “Worst comes to worst, most of us can get the hell out at speed, and the few who can’t like you or Fheeri could always take a ride on Lumi.”

“I know, I know. I’m just worried that you lot might bite off something that’s more than what you can chew, is all,” replied Dan with a nod. “Youthful arrogance like that is one reason many who became adventurers die young. Seen enough of it happen myself.”

“I think… That’s something you won’t need to worry about too much, Dan,” replied Fheeri with a slightly sheepish voice from where she was sharpening her claws on one of her oddly-shaped throwing knives. “One of the very first things teacher ingrained upon us all… was never to overestimate ourselves. Believe me that we kept those lessons in mind.”

Her words were met with nods from pretty much everyone present, as all of Cal’s students and nieces had learned that lesson from her. The only one who had not been on the receiving end of those lessons were pretty much Dan and Ashani, and no other.

“I guess that’s most of the basics handled then? I’m quite familiar with how the guild works so I can walk you through the registration and other bureaucratic stuff,” said Dan to the nods of the other youngsters present. Most of them had experience even from before Cal took them on their trips, as Levain’s combat magic courses involved taking up adventurer work as well, while Elaina and Sidonie had also done similar jobs during their days in the forest. “So we’re going to base ourselves out of Paradise?”

“Seems like the most logical choice to me,” replied Willa to Dan’s question. “We all got the token to use the gates freely from Miss Aideen anyway, and from Paradise we can take the gates to the large cities, from where we could reach our destinations. Besides, most of us already live there as well.”

“Fair point. I’ll consider finding a place if this arrangement becomes more long-term as well,” replied Dan. “I’m sure Miss Ashani could also find arrangements that work for her if she planned to join us for the long haul.”

“Actually, Willa and I bought a place on the outskirts to stay in already. We still have an empty room there even with Fheeri also staying with us,” replied Ognar. “If Ashani likes, she could make use of that empty room until she finds something better.”

“That’s a kind offer,” replied Ashani with the typical fang-bearing smile of her kind. “I do believe I will accept the proposition.”

“Just keep in mind that it gets loud at night sometimes!” added Willa with a laugh.