Money money money

After defeating the boss the raid group had to drag it out of the gate. Despite their awakened bodies, it was no easy task since the salamander weighed a few tons.

When they got the monster out they returned to the cabin.

"So we have 117 essence stones. That´s around 6k, 5.7k if we count taxes. Dividing that between 5 people it´s a thousand for each of us and I´m not even counting the boss." Hal was counting the profits.

'This guy completely changes personality when it comes to money.' Mark thought when watching Hal.

Hal seemed distant and quiet during the whole exploration, but now he was eager to jump into a pool of essence stones like Scrooge McDuck.

"That´s one of the best raids in my carreer." Rick said cleaning his mace from the dried lizard blood.

"When I´ll be done with the reports I´ll send you all your shares. Depends on the FBH, but it should be done in two days or less. The boss money will come later though." announced Hal.

"I´ll take three of these so deduct that from my share." said Mark and grabbed three white essence stones from the pile.

"Fine, you´ll get 150 bucks less then." said Hal and packed the remaining stone into his bag.

"Rick I have a question for you." said Mark.

"Ask right away."

"Is there a way to get into the dungeon alone?"

"No, why would you want to do that? This was your first gate. Do you even understand how dangerous dungeons are? You could die." said Rick.

'This feels like a scolding.' Mark thought when he heard the visibly agitated Rick.

"Don't be like that." Allen said holding Rick by his shoulder. "If he wants to go alone tell him how. Some people need to learn how to appreciate teamwork. He is not an idiot. He'll be cautious."

"Alright, but if you die then I'll come and kick your ass in the afterlife. You hear me?"

"Sure" Mark answered not really sure what to say in this situation.

"It's quite simple actually. When you book a dungeon on the FBH site you can lock the maximal amount of hunters if you are registered as a raid leader. If you are at least two ranks above the dungeon you can set the maximum on 1. So get your reevaluation and then you can do it."

"Thank you, that will help a lot."

"Don't you dare forget about the potential ass-kicking!"

"I won't, okay. Don't worry."

'Jeez, this guy is insistent.'

"Also if you want to raid some dungeons with us in the future, just call me. We will always take someone like you." Rick said handing him a business card.

[Richard Duncan]

[D-rank hunter]

[XXX-XXX-XXXX]

"I'll call you someday." Mark said grabbing his phone, ready to head back home. "For now, goodbye."

"Bye" said the group of hunters.

Mark walked to the bus stop and waited for another bus.

'This is getting tiring. I'll have to get reevaluated. I just hope I won't get that old hag behind the counter again.'

"Can I take a seat next to you?" a feminine voice brought him back from his thoughts.

Mark looked up from the pavement only to see a blonde-haired girl around his age staring down at him.

"Don't worry, I won't bite." she said with a giggle.

"No problem" Mark responded and moved a little bit to the side to make some space on the bench.

"Where are you going? I went to buy some groceries because, you know, we just moved here and don't have many things home. So I wanted to familiarize myself with the surroundings."

'Jesus Christ please stop'

[Half an hour later]

"I'm sorry."

"Don´t be. It´s fine." Mark said watching the pavement with empty eyes.

"No, it´s not. I always do this. Running my mouth too much and bothering other people." she told him sounding truly apologetic.

"Just tone it down in the future."

"Right, right, I will try."

Finally, Mark could enjoy a moment of silence. He turned on his phone to see when will the bus arrive.

"So you´re a hunter?"

"Didn´t you say you will keep quiet?" He asked lifting his eyebrow.

"I said I´ll try." She said with a wide grin.

Mark turned off his phone and put it in his pocket hoping that time would fly by quicker this way.

"Yeah, I´m a hunter. How did you know?"

"I´ll tell you, but it´s my secret method so you can´t tell anyone."

"Okay?"

"Your trousers are stained in blood and you stink. There was also the chance of you being a murderer, but I ruled that out." She said with glee.

"Thanks for the compliment I guess." Mark indifferently responded.

"It´s alright. You stink nowhere near to my dad when he comes from a dungeon."

"Your dad´s a hunter?"

"My dad and my brother are both hunters." She said with pride.

"That´s... extremely lucky. What is that, like one in a million chance?"

"I dunno. Don´t really care about that. Anyway, what´s your rank?" she asked poking Mark in the side.

"F-rank"

"Ha-ha, very funny"

"It´s funny to me."

"Come on, why don´t you wanna tell me?"

"What do I know, you could be an assassin trying to kill me."

The girl burst into laughter after hearing that. "Why would you even think that?"

"It´s quite simple. A girl approaches me, which is strange to start with, and starts talking to me. She shares some of her information to get me to believe her and then she tries to get my personal info. So maybe you are not an assassin and more of a scammer? Just waiting for you to ask me about the three funky numbers at the back of my credit card."

"Okay, okay I won´t ask about that. On another note what is your mother´s maiden name?"

Mark laughed half-heartedly at the joke and as he saw the bus arriving he stood up from the bench.

"Alright mysterious lady, I guess we´ll never meet again so have a good day."

"Oh, don´t say that. You know how awkward it would be if we met tomorrow?"

Mark said one last bye before boarding the bus.