Moving Mountains

29

^^ Vega ^^

— Josef —

My desire to be first to the guild exceeded my rational thought, which said I could teleport into the building at exactly dawn, and instead I stubbornly laid down on one of the couches in the lounge area, in front of the entrance, and ended up sleeping for a bit.

I cracked my eyes when a group of people stepped in just before dawn, and observed them calmly. Two elves, a human, and a massive Bipedal Polar Bear wearing plate armor; the bear was holding what looked like a block of ice on the end of a simple metal rod, like a podunk ice hammer. The magical ice was a Mythical Item, though, apparently from some very, very rare place, and the metal was ordinary steel, though rolled properly to endure the hits of its owner, and therefore SS+. Impressive in its own right, that.

The two elves were vaguely similar, like siblings or cousins; one sported a spear and a grimoire, while the other had an ElfBow over his shoulder, and two short swords on his hips. The grimoire smelled of smoke, as if its contents mostly related to fire, and the staff/spear had a red magic crystal fitted into a hole in its blade. A pyromancer, perhaps? The other held the bow with a casual ease. It was a white wood with black veins, and small crystals seemed to be growing out of the curves, catching the light hypnotically.

Still... The human was the interesting one, funnily enough.

Just as tall as me, or only a few inches shorter, and dressed casually in a sort of leather sports-bra, with leather pants and boots, all Dragon-Hide. Still, she bore no real armor, and a lot of her skin was on display. She had an impressive athletic frame and a collection of scars, each of them massive and savage enough to have easily killed her, if she was mortal. But, being X+, she was like me, essentially a Demigod. Her long black hair was dyed white at the ends, and full of braids of various styles and decorations. It seemed an interesting vanity, but I understood the importance of a few normal things, once you got into the world of god's and magic.

I watched for now, as the group walked past me towards the counter, but the elf archer and the human woman both glanced sideways at me, before continuing on. Their perceptions were impressive, as I had hidden myself as best as one could without magic or skills.

"Party of Lady Vega, responding to an invitation? An SS+ Special Rank Dungeon Subjugation?" The elf with the bow spoke, and the woman at the counter grinned happily.

"Yes, I'll write it down! Duke Eisenberg was expecting you, so he is here already, with his companion. Do you need any information, equipment, or supplies before you go?" She asked cheerfully.

"I envy people who can be so gods-damned chipper in the morning." Vega muttered, voicing my own similar thoughts.

"Agreed..." I replied, not moving or opening my eyes any further.

The polar bear twitched his nose, sniffing and glancing at me, then growled softly. "That one is Dragonkin, Loran... should I smash it?" He asked simply, looking down at the mage-elf.

"No, Jessie, not yet. You're Duke Eisenberg, I assume?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

I sighed and sat up, stretching. "Well, depends on who's asking... It's good that you arrived, finally; now we can get to work. Follow me." I stood up and nudged Vanya awake, heading towards the entrance.

The group followed me after a moment, while I was sitting on a bench outside, soaking up the dawn sun. I lit a pipe full of this world's version of tobacco, and blinked at them calmly while they gathered in front of me.

"So we were informed that you had information about the dungeon? Someone scouted it out already?" The elf mage seemed to be the talker of the group, and the Leader as well, maybe, while the others preferred to let her handle social interactions.