035 Wanted

Everyone went in their own directions; each had different things on their minds. James was no different.

He had to ensure that the large guilds wouldn't have the funds to compete against him and his friends for dungeon completions. When Mercury or himself hits level 25 the first dungeon(s) would release. However, there was no indicator of where they would appear in the world.

The only way he could think of slowing the guilds down was to drain their gold supply. He needed to sell Runes but he also needed to make sure they would not increase the guild's strength too much.

James found what he believed to be a good middle ground between robbing the guilds of their gold and increasing their strength. The new Power Runes only gave an increase in attack points between 3 and 5 instead of all the way up to 8.

He quickly made his way to the auction house once again and listed all 4 of his Basic Runes of Power with starting bids of 2 gold coins. He set the auction time limit to 20 minutes, he knew that the guilds would instantly jump on them. He figured they should still fetch between 4 and 6 gold coins.

While James was at the auction house he bought up all the Rune Crafting materials, Alchemy materials, and a few potions recipes that he figured would be useful in the future.

Sure enough, 20 minutes after he posted his Runes he received 18 gold coins. The sales averaged around 4.5 gold coins per rune which made him happy. He bought a few pieces of equipment off the auction house and made his way to various npc shops to see what he could find.

Along the way he had also remembered that he had the Head of the Guardian of the Forest quest item that Mercury and himself got from the Guardian of the Forest. So, he asked around to see if he could find the Huntsmen to see if there was a reward.

It took him 30 minutes to find the Huntsmen. He found him in a hunting camp just outside the eastern exit of the city.

"Hello sir, I found a giant wolf and killed it with a friend. Could you take a look at it?" James handed over the wolf head and waited.

"The Guardian of the Forest? You must have had a thrilling fight! I have been fighting this creature for years. We were equally matched!" The Huntsmen then pointed at a large scar on his abs. "It gave me these scars during one of our fights! I'm glad the bastard is dead. Here take this as a reward!!"

* Ding *

-----------------------

Your party of Reaper and yourself have completed 'Hunt for the Great Wolf'.

Rewards: 5% experience buff for 12 hours and 20 silver coins.

-----------------------

It didn't take long for James to get messages from Mercury.

[- Mercury: Whatcha up to? -]

[- Blaise: Finishing up with what I wanted to do before we go farm experience points. I turned in that wolf head from the wolf you threw off the cliff. -]

[- Mercury: The silver is meh but that experience bonus is juicy. -]

[- Blaise: It will make leveling up faster for a while. It's a shame that the other members of our party can't get it too. -]

[- Mercury: True. However, the stronger we are the faster we can help them level up as well. -]

[- Blaise: That is a good point too. Alright, I am done with what I wanted to do so I am going to head over to the exit. I'll probably be quite a distance to the side so that I am not easily spotted by other players. -]

[- Mercury: I still have some things to attend to so I will meet you there closer to the designated time! -]

James continued his way through the city until he got to the northern exit. He looked around to see if anyone from his group was already there. He was surprised to see Totem off to the side.

James walked over to Totem, "You're early; did you finish up all those potions that fast?"

Totem didn't have the best expression on, "I did but my teacher did not approve of me making the potions. He told me that the dungeon holds more dangers than just the venom miasma. He warned me not to go in."

"More dangers? Did he give examples?" James wanted to know why Totem's teacher was so spooked.

Totem shook his head, "He didn't and he refused to talk further about it.", he sighed then continued, "Here take these potions." Totem gave James many more potions then he expected.

"You are taking this contract seriously." James praised. Totem gave him 30 Anti-Venom potions, 20 strength potions (T1), 10 major mana potions (T3), 40 improved health potions (T2).

Totem was quite confident with the group, "This contract might be rough on me but hard work pays off. Considering the people you have in the group I suspect there will be huge payouts. I am willing to bet Talon, Reaper, and yourself enough to hold out against the top guilds."

"I'd say so! I was not able to personally see it but I did see the aftermath. Blaise, you and Reaper wiped out Scarlet's platoon of 60 by yourselves, didn't you?" Talon boasted on James's behalf.

Totem, even though he figured the three of them would be strong, was surprised that it only took two of them to wipe out members from Oblivion. "Is that true?"

James had a little guilt on his face. "It is not our fault that Scarlet has a huge problem with Reaper."

Totem zoned out after James confirmed Talon's boasting.

"Oh yeah, Totem, take these." James wanted to hand over the materials and alchemy recipes he had bought. "They may not be useful right now but they might become so in the future.

James gave Totem 4 potions recipes and more than 80 different units of materials.

Totem looked at all the items and also drooled. "This has got to be over 4 gold worth of materials alone, forget the recipes. How much did you spend?!"

"It was quite cheap actually, it only cost me 8 gold and 30 silver coins." James didn't seem to have any real sense of money.

Talon, Totem, and the twins, who had just shown up, were star-struck. They all thought one thing, ONLY 8 gold coins! Only you could spend that much without beating an eye.

Mercury, who was sitting on the branch above them, had almost fell out of the tree when she heard the price James paid. With her legs hooked on the tree branch she let herself fall backwards and spun around the tree branch. Unhooking her legs she flipped in the air and landed with her arms around James's neck and her face almost touching his. "You'd spend that kind of money on someone else? That is not very sweet of you." She had puffy cheeks.

The twins and Totem actually fell backwards in bewilderment. Talon was not as surprised but was still somewhat shocked. They could not believe Reaper, the queen of death, would get that close and intimate to someone. Especially when she wasn't about to kill them.

James grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up and off of his body. He placed her gently on the ground. After which he saw that he was quite mad at him. He pulled something out of his pocket and gave it to her.

At first she didn't want to accept his gift out of spite but after she saw what it was her eyes sparkled. She took out her pole arm and threw it and the gift to James. "I will forgive you this once!"

James chuckled, the gift was the best rune he had made to date. It was a Rune of Power that had a +15 damage points. He quickly enchanted her weapon and handed it back. "Much better than 8 gold coins?"

"Ahuh!" she hugged her weapon close.

Seeing that he appeased Mercury he turned to the twins. "I have some things for you two as well. They are not nearly as expensive as a Rune or 8 gold worth of materials but it will help you here in the now." James handed the twins two daggers each; they were of the rare quality. He had paid 2 gold coins for each set.

They were reluctant to accept but saw that everyone was encouraging it. James had no clue how much he had helped them already, they felt like this was too much but fell into peer pressure.

Destiny had tears in her eyes, "Thanks Blaise. We will never forget this." Karma agreed, "We will also pay you back in the future."

James only laughed it off, "Nonsense, no need to pay me back. You are part of the team so your strength is our strength."

Looking over to Talon James could only apologize. "Sorry Talon, I didn't see anything useful for you. Looking at your equipment you have good stuff anyway."

Talon was not hurt in the slightest; in fact he even joked about it. "I see who the favorite is", he then looked at Mercury. Who in turn stuck her tongue out at him. "I have been lucky enough to get good drops from the elites I have hunted. I have a few pieces of rare gear."

** A Scout's POV **

[- Lute: Scarlet, I have something to report. -]

It took a few seconds for her to reply. She currently had her dagger lodged in a large wild cat's back. She firmly grasped her dagger and used both legs to kick off the cat's back. Her dagger was freed from the cat and she was now momentarily floating in the air. Since she had kicked off it's back the cat fell to the ground due to the force she applied.

Two arrows and 4 water bolts flew in the air and directly hit the defenseless cat. The life in the cat's eyes faded away. Only then did she respond to the message.

[- Scarlet: What is so important that you have to interrupt squad-A's experience farming? -]

[- Lute: I saw Blaise walking to the city's northern exit. He was wearing a mask but I noticed his name. I figured you would like to know. -]

[- Scarlet: I will let the quartermaster know that you get to pick a piece of equipment out as reward for this information. Did he enter the forest? -]

[- Lute: Negative, he is talking to Totem. -]

[- Scarlet: What are they doing together? -]

[- Lute: I don't know, I cant get closer at the moment. -]

[- Scarlet: You did good enough, stay put until someone comes to relieve you. -]

[- Lute: Understood -]

Scarlet started a group chat with Tempest and Alexander.

[- Scarlet: I have some interesting information. -]

[- Tempest: You know that Alexander doesn't like to be included in things like this. He is busy with something important with the guild. -]

[- Scarlet: We found Totem and he is with someone interesting :) -]

Alexander asked someone to hold on for a second then started talking in the group chat.

[- Alexander: Where is he and who is he with? -]

[- Scarlet: What's in it for me? What can you offer for such information? -]

[- Alexander: That would depend on how good it is. -]

[- Scarlet: You're no fun. Totem is with Blaise and it looks like they will be heading into the forest together. -]

[- Alexander: What exit? -]

[- Scarlet: The northern exit. -]

[- Alexander: Thanks for the information, but here will be no payment. -]

[- Scarlet: What?! You're going to treat me like that? -]

[- Alexander: I'll be more specific there will be no direct payment. Only the satisfaction of knowing that Blaise will die. I am hiring hitmen to kill Totem. I am sure they won't mind killing Blaise as well. -]

* Alexander as left the chat *

[- Tempest: He is hot headed for getting stiffed by Totem. Sorry! -]

* Tempest as left the chat *

Scarlet was annoyed but shortly calmed down. She knew Alexander would not cheap out when dealing with someone who disrespected his guild.

** In a Dark Room **

Alexander got off the chat and continued where he left off, "Sorry about that, an acquaintance had some useful information" He was looking at a dark figure behind a wooden desk. It was hard to see in the room they were in. There were no windows and only two candles lit up the space.

The figure leaned forward and the candles casted a warm light over his silhouette. The man had a dark black hood that covered his face and head. The only thing visible was a pointy nose and a set of orange colored eyes.

The figure had a hoarse voice when he talked, "What kind of useful information? Was it so important that you would interrupt a meeting with me?"

"In fact it is, it is about the target. He was spotted just outside the city's northern exit." Alexander explained himself.

"Oh, that is useful. I will overlook the interruption then." A set of pearly white teeth appeared in a smile from under the hood. "Fortunately for you the price just dropped since we don't have to search for him ourselves."

"What is the new price?" Alexander asked.

The figure pitched his offer. "It dropped from 15 gold coins down to 10 gold coins. This still includes 10 total deaths; the new price is one gold per death. Is that acceptable?"

Alexander wanted to lower the price even more, so he threw a curveball. "Let's lower the price. Blaise is also with him. Your organization would benefit greatly if you kill him. News would spread and your clientele would increase."

The figure thought for a while. "Fine, this is my final offer. This is no longer negotiable, 8 gold coins for 10 deaths. We will see to Blaise however we wish."

Alexander tossed two gold coins and a Rune of Power on the table, "Will this suffice?"

"It sure will" The man stood up and offered his hand for a hand shake. Alexander followed up and the two agreed to the terms of the hit.

"Gentleman, it is time to hunt!" Commanded the figure. At first Alexander was confused about who he was talking to. That was until he noticed that from the shadows around the room ten other cloaked figures appeared out of nowhere.