Selecting The First Ruin

Looking at the card in confusion, Jake just tilts his head, before going to the counter to ask what was wrong with his card. As he was reaching the counter, a sudden alarm sounded, causing everyone to run to the counter, pushing and shoving everyone in the line. Bewildered, Jake gets pushed like a pinball, left, right, and center, as the people start crowding towards a large bulletin board.

On it, several notice hang on it, which within a couple of seconds, gets cleared out. Asking towards the nearest being, who happened to be a small, petite female harpy, he queried "What's the occasion? It's like as if there is a wholesale is going on in here." Although very irritated, the harpy replied "Look, all of us are trying our best to get the juiciest ruin to explore. Getting the best license here is like scoring the biggest jackpot you can imagine. Just one can load you up for li- wait, hey, give that back! It's mine! Squawk!" Soon, she got into a tussle with a Murloyle, getting drenched in mud and moss, while shooting wind blades of some sort, freezing the slimy, flying creature.

Deciding it would be wiser to come back tomorrow to learn more, Jake decided to leave the hall, and return home. On the way, he met up with Grud, who decided to stick to him, even though he was still recuperating from the horrific attack. On the way, while bantering with each other, Grud casually mentioned a piece of news that made Jake stand still "Oh yeah, by the way, yesterday, a bunch of pirate scum decided to raid a couple of ships near the exosphere. Although the adventurers did defeat them, they lost heavily. A couple of highly classified artefacts were also lost. Wonder what they were? I would love to know, hehehe..." As he turned around, he saw Jake busy pondering on what he said "Umm, Jake? Hello? Earth to Jake? Can you hear me? You still there?"

As Grud kept on asking whether or not Jake can hear him, all Jake did was just stand still, before ditching Grud and going home, still pondering about this, and wondering whether Strados will be fine or not. 

On the way, he saw old man Edward again, who, once noticing him, attempted to call him, was ignored by Jake, who upon noticing him, turned his head away in a huff. All Edward did was shake his head slightly in disappointment, beodfre turning back and watering his plants, quietly keeping an eerie on him.

With a large bang, Jake closed the door, and changed his clothes. After a quick lunch, he went back to the gardens, this time practicing without trying to bury himself alive. As he practiced, all his distractions faded away, leaving nothing but tranquility within him.

Just before he slept, he wondered to himslef what ruins were, as the notion of money turned him quite on. Greedy for cash, his mood turned quite sour when he realized he had school the next day. Just when he thought there was no hope to go to one, a sudden ring snapped him out of his stupor.

Looking at his holowatch, he realised that it was a message from the Hall. Upon opening it, it mentioned simply:

Mr. Benson,

You have been confirmed booking a placement on the next list for exploring ruin J - 616 - A