The survivors were a guy and a girl. The boy was a platinum-level adventurer, while the girl was a silver-level adventurer. Judging by her clothes, she seemed to be a Divine Magic Caster who played a support role.
Both of them had that dazed, hollow look of people who'd just cheated death, and when they saw the massive Titan Python corpse sprawled on the ground, their bodies shrank back instinctively.
The boy was the first to snap out of it. Being a platinum-level adventurer, after downing a bowl of snake meat soup Barrett had cooked up, he started talking—voice shaky—about the nightmare they'd lived through last night.
Their adventurer squad was called Rose of the Night. They'd taken a job in Golden Sheaf to collect 20 frostspider magic sacs.
Rose of the Night had planned to stick to the outskirts of Mistwood, but then one of their teammates—a silver-level adventurer with an Innate Talent called "Sense the Land of Sunrise"—got bitten by a yellow-eyed poison lizard and passed out. After that, the team lost their way and somehow ended up deep in Mistwood.
Last night, the Titan Python ambushed them out of nowhere. One by one, it crushed and bit their squad to death. He and the girl had blacked out after the python squeezed the life out of them.
The Titan Python figured they were dead and swallowed them whole. It wasn't until Barrett sliced open the dead snake's belly that they managed to dodge the grim reaper.
The boy's name was Sean Tachya, a platinum-level adventurer who was a pro with a longbow and dagger, doubling as the team's lookout and scout.
He was the first to spot the Titan Python coming, sounding the alarm before grabbing the girl and bolting in the opposite direction. But all that did was make them the last two to get gulped down.
Sean wasn't originally part of Rose of the Night—he'd just tagged along for this one job.
"Collect 20 frostspider magic sacs," Barrett mulled over the mission in his head, sizing it up.
Magic sacs were the organs frostspiders used to store their magic. Gathering a full twenty in a short time meant taking a huge risk by hitting up a frostspider nest—there's no way they could've pulled it off by "just sticking to Mistwood's outskirts."
A platinum-level adventurer who knew his own strength wouldn't join a weak-ass team like this for a job with such a crazy risk factor.
But watching Sean—still shaken himself—jump right into fussing over the girl, gently comforting her as she sat there with fear and tear stains still in her eyes, Barrett pretty much figured out why he'd signed up with Rose of the Night.
The girl's name was Stella Famillion, a low-level Divine Magic Caster. From her last name, it sounded like she might be the descendant of some washed-up noble family from Baharuth.
She used to be a cleric devoted to Gaia, but her gambling-addict brother racked up a huge debt with some shady loan sharks. To pay it off for her family, she had to ditch the temple and turn adventurer.
Good thing Barrett had packed plenty of stamina potions to boost energy and calm nerves. His mouthwatering Turnip snake meat soup was a total game-changer too, getting Sean and Stella back to full strength—body and mind—in no time.
As for EeDechi pitching in, she slurped down more soup than Stella did. Barrett just hoped she'd leave enough hot broth for the survivors, who'd been through hell.
The four of them hit the road again, all patched up. Sean kept hovering over Stella, guarding her every step through the woods, which slowed them down a bunch. But other than that, the trek went smooth.
Along the way, they ran into some dumbass Wither Beasts, a Beholder, and a chunky Dire brown bear. EeDechi handled them solo, taking them out in a few quick rounds like it was nothing.
Sean and Stella were floored by EeDechi's insane fighting skills. Barrett, meanwhile, trailed behind her with a grin, carving up the monster corpses and snagging loot, secretly wishing more high-tier beasts would come their way.
After five days and nights of nonstop trekking through Mistwood, the four of them finally stepped out of the forest on a cloudy noon, reaching an adventurer camp on the outskirts.
They took a breather at a rundown inn before hiring a four-wheeled carriage to roll into the heart of Golden Sheaf.
Barrett and Sean headed to the Adventurer's Guild and the black market to cash in the loot from their Mistwood haul.
The Titan Python fetched a killer price—after all, a fully grown, high-tier magical beast in one piece was rare as hell. Just the five vials of fresh venom from its poison sac raked in 45 gold coins.
The rest of the haul—intact snake scales, fangs, a top-notch Dire brown bear pelt, even a few slabs of fresh Titan Python meat—added up to a fortune. Their pockets were stuffed to the brim with gold.
Barrett even got cocky with the buyers, saying he'd only take gold coins—no silver or copper—because if they paid in silver, his already cramped spatial leather bag wouldn't hold it all.
Since EeDechi took down every monster single-handedly, while Barrett and Sean handled collecting the valuable bits from the corpses, they split the profits: EeDechi got 60%, Barrett took 30%, and Sean got 10%. Then Sean split half of his share with Stella.
The four of them hit up the tavern run by the Adventurer's Guild in Golden Sheaf, raising their glasses to celebrate the trip and ease Sean and Stella's pain over losing their crew.
"How old are you two?" EeDechi asked at the table.
"18," Sean said.
"I'm 17," Stella answered.
That age wasn't exactly old, but it wasn't super young either, Barrett thought as he took a swig of beer. He'd left home at 15 to work as a hunting guard for some noble jerk.
"So young, 17, still a minor," EeDechi said, sipping her juice.
"Huh?" Barrett, Sean, and Stella all let out confused noises, staring at EeDechi like she'd lost it.
"What's wrong?" EeDechi frowned, acting like she wasn't the weird one here.
"You're an adult at 16," Sean said.
"Bullshit, it's 18," EeDechi shot back, dead certain.
"Nope, it's 16. Never heard of 18 being the cutoff. I've seen people do coming-of-age stuff at 15, even 14," Barrett chimed in.
"Where I'm from, 16's an adult too," Stella mumbled.
"Whatever, you're a minor, end of story!" EeDechi pointed at Stella's nose, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Fine, if you say so," Stella said softly, too timid to push back.
"Minors can't go on dangerous adventures like this. Where's your home? I'll take you back," EeDechi declared.
Stella freaked out, quietly begging EeDechi. She thought her weak skills had pissed EeDechi off, and this "minor" thing was just an excuse to ditch her. She rambled on about how she'd try harder, how she had tons of potential, how she'd never hold them back, even offering to wash clothes, dishes, and do chores.
EeDechi didn't bite. It wasn't until later that Stella got it—EeDechi didn't have some hidden agenda; she genuinely thought Stella was a minor and needed "protecting."
Stella switched tactics, laying it on thick with a pitiful sob story: her broke family, the crushing debt, relatives needing cash for medical bills. Sean backed her up, and together they barely managed to sway EeDechi.