Chapter 25: Endless sun

It had been a few hours since Vulcan and his party returned from the mines. After sharing everything they knew and receiving heaps of gratitude, the lead guard offered the coins he had promised as a side reward. Vulcan could always use more coin, but it was Jess who had the idea to give not only the money they would receive for completing the quest, but also the side reward, to the families that lost their loved ones in the mines. Vulcan didn't care; he already had gold bars stocked up back at the fortress, so for him, money wasn't an issue. This act of kindness left a deep impression within the miners, guards, as well as the town lord. After getting a briefing on the matter, the lord even secretly gave the families double what they gave the families. The lord also opened an investigation on who was responsible for letting this happen, but this was only known by a few people.

Dark Sentry had already found a room in the adventurers guild for the night. What they discovered had left everyone in charge of the town's safety on high alert, and they would soon issue an emergency quest in the morning. That meant Dark Sentry, along with top officials of the town, would be holding a meeting early in the morning. Once adventurers poured into the guild, the board had a piece of paper that was bright red with white writing on it. Everyone who saw this already knew what it meant. It was an emergency quest that was high in difficulty but also high in pay. The lowest rank adventurers that could join were middle bronze rank, and the highest being peak silver. They would have to ask the receptionist desk for further information.

Like this, the morning was buzzing with more activity than usual as adventurers and their parties gathered in the large training grounds in the back of the guild. There, the guild leader, whose name was Esteban and was a peak silver stage fighter with an earth affinity, stood next to the Dark Sentry party. His large form was about the size of Vulcan's but slightly bigger. His muscles were larger than any bodybuilder Vulcan had ever seen on Earth. He wondered earlier how the man even managed to reach anything but before they had come out here, the man asked for a duel with him. He sensed that Vulcan had a deeper connection to earth than him and wished for a small duel. Safe to say that the man was impressive; he fought with his bare hands and body similar to a professional boxer. Vulcan decided to take him on barehanded as well, as a sign of respect from a former martial arts fighter. It lasted less than five minutes, but Esteban was also left amazed by Vulcan's way of fighting. They had locked in a stalemate, to Vulcan's surprise. Everyone had begun to gather after the small duel, so they left the rest of the match fo layer. While Vulcan was thinking about something else, Esteban came over with a trio behind him.

"Vulcan, I would like to introduce you to someone. This is the silver-ranked team, known as Endless Sun. This is their leader, his name is Lucius," said the guild leader as he presented a young man with light golden hair, blue eyes, and a handsome, chiseled face. He was, by every definition, what some would call an Ikeman. His armor was as radiant as his features, shining with lion head designs on the pauldrons and glistening with gold highlights. It was a polar opposite to Vulcan's armor, which was dark and gothic in design.

"Thank you, Esteban. As the guild master said, I am Lucius of Endless Sun, and these are my party members. Alicia, our dual-element mage," he said as he introduced a young dark-haired beauty, who puffed up her chest in pride. "Karter, our team's defensive fighter. Just like our esteemed Guild master, he has an earth affinity as well," he said, introducing the last member who was a large and emotionless man. The man simply nodded at Vulcan, but a small glimpse in his eye made him remember how the guild master looked at him when they first met. After a small awkward silence and Jess nudging him a little, he realized it was his turn.

"My name is Vulcan, and this girl over here is Jess. You don't need to know the others' names; they stay quiet most of the time. We are all swordsman fighters. That's pretty much it," Vulcan said with a tone that let everyone know that he was done talking. Lucius wanted to laugh at his straightforward answer but contained himself with a trembling smile, while his team seemed to frown. Jess facepalmed.

Meanwhile, the guild master broke the ice with a boisterous laugh, "You may be a peak silver stage fighter, but your social skills are absolutely shit," he said, slapping the back of Vulcan.

It was the other team's mage who let out a gasp, "No way is he peak silver stage fighter! Guild master, you must be joking. How can he be stronger than Lucius? Impossible!" Alicia cried out, making almost everyone's mood sour at her complaining.

"Young lady, I may be many things, but don't you ever dare call me a liar. Otherwise, can you handle the consequences of slandering my name?" said Esteban as he glared at the small mage.

It was Lucius who stepped in after Alicia cowered under the guild master's gaze. "Apologies, guild master. She was just simply shocked, as we all were. Alicia, please apologize to everyone," he said, nudging her forward as she fought back against Lucius' strength.

"Please forgive me for my rudeness," she said, curtly bowing her head a little.

"Next time, hold your inner thoughts, young lady. People end up dead when they don't know how to hold their tongue. You might end up stepping on a dragon's tail without knowing it," said Esteban, offering some words of wisdom for the young adventurers.

After the small moment of tension, the guild master changed the subject. "You may be stronger, Vulcan, but Lucius here is one of the guild's promising stars. At the young age of 22, he is already at middle silver stage. He is also here on behalf of the lord of Krestfall. I hope the earlier exchange didn't sour the future collaboration between your team and theirs," explained Esteban.

"I don't mind. I know that our team has just recently been promoted to peak iron rank in the guild. So I understand some may underestimate us," Vulcan said, leaving more stunned expressions from Lucius' team. But this time, they held on to their thoughts.

"Alright, let's get this moving. It seems everyone is here," Esteban said, eyeing the enormous crowd of adventurers. Some of them had been murmuring things about both parties being with the guild master, but most were directed at Dark Sentry as Endless Sun was very well known in the area as the highest-ranked team. For adventurers, anyone whose party was past silver rank was considered an elite with the potential to reach gold rank status—the cream of the crop of the continent.

Esteban called out for everyone's attention as the crowd silenced. "Last night, a fine group of adventurers left on a search and rescue mission to the mines. Miners had disappeared, and the cowards running the mines left them for dead. Through skill and talent they managed to save the majority who went missing. But what caused this incident is far more concering. Deep in the mountain, the group found an ant colony that is threatening the existence of our very own town. Marchioness Valeria, the lord of Krestfall, has ordered an extermination of these insects. We, as the guild, have answered the call to protect the citizens of this great city. Coordinating with the town guard, we will sweep every single tunnel until every last ant is dead."

He then gestured to Endless Sun and Dark Sentry. "I, along with these two elite teams, will storm the queen's chamber and kill the queen along with her royal guard. For every worker ant you kill, you'll receive 5 silver. You kill one of the main guard ants? That's a gold coin in YOUR pocket. Am I clear!?" Raising his voice towards the end.

"YAH!!!" replied the adventurers enthusiastically.

"Are you ready to kill some bugs!?" he hyped the crowd up.

"YAH!!!!" said the crowd with a louder war cry.

"We march to the mines. We'll show these vermin why leaving the sanctuary of their home was a big mistake and why fucking with us humans means death!!"