Maria is the first to run at me with arms outstretched.

"Jay! Where have you been? We couldn't find you at the hotel earlier this morning! Where'd you run off to?!"

I let out an awkward laugh, dodging the question as Maria throws herself onto me. She smiles while finishing her long hug and backing up to look me in the eyes.

"I wanted to tell you before I left this morning, but like I said, you were gone. I joined the association too! I couldn't just leave you here all alone! Plus they gave me a pretty good offer."

I nod, looking her up and down.

"It seems that way. Aren't you contracted with the Pace guild exclusively though?"

"Well... Yeah, but they let me sign a non-exclusive supplement contract. All dungeons D-Class and below can be farmed with the guild, while higher level areas will be strictly Association business."

"My contract is very similar."

Maria stands in front of me smiling ear to ear. My gaze shifts to Arie and Abby.

The green-haired girl looks like she's in her natural habitat here. A few people passing by smile and say hi as they come and leave, they already know her. Abby looks over at me.

"Welcome to the Association Jay. It isn't exactly like the warm welcome I received on my first day, but I'm glad you're here. I have an exclusive contract if you were curious. Mandatory missions are set up for me and I'm paid accordingly. My newest job is to be a part of this extraction squad. So, we'll be working together a lot from now on."

I give her a kind nod, but Arie speaks up before I can get any words out.

"Same goes for me. I signed an exclusive contract too. Different terms, but the same style of agreement. I'll be on this extraction squad. I'm glad it's you 3, trusting another group of new recruits would be a bit more difficult."

I look back and forth at my 3 new teammates in front of me, not knowing exactly what to say.

Sure, we worked together during the exams and I've even trained with Abby and Maria a few times, but after I hit C-Class I was expecting to go straight back to solo Dungeon Diving. Continuing to work with a team will be a change of pace... Arie is right about one thing, I'm glad it's them and not a group of randoms thrown together by the Association.

I let out a long exhale, then speak up.

"Well, I'm glad we'll all be working together too."

After this line Tripp steps in and has a word.

"Alright, I'll be showing the 4 of you around for a little while. I'm part of a similar group, we do weekly missions and fill certain quotas. The higher-ups told me your squad will most likely be a bit more aggressive for the harder missions. More power to ya I guess!"

He grins.

"Follow me, let's get you all situated with your duties, then we'll join the party upstairs. The second-floor banquet hall will be filled with hunters and executives within the hour. It's tradition, rather boring... but there's always good food and drinks, so we'll have to check it out."

Light on his feet, the blond dagger wielder turns and starts walking toward the door that we just entered. He motions for the rest of us to follow, so we do without another word.

There are no locks on the doors from the inside, they just click open with a slight push. All 5 of us make our way through into the bright-colored mini market. Immediately, my eyes are drawn to all the moving lights again. Tripp points to a smaller storefront at the back of the room.

"Come on, this way."

As we get closer, a short middle-aged woman with white hair and bright blue eyes begins waving to us with an overly energetic smile on her face.

"Tripp, how ya doin'? Are these another new group of recruits?"

He replies with a greeting, then steps out of the way to let us all introduce ourselves one by one. Afterward, the woman eagerly replies.

"Well it's nice to meet the lot of you, it seems we'll be doing a whole lot of business in the future. My name is Sophia Greenday, but you can just call me Sophie. Got it?"

The four of us nod as the short white-haired woman starts sifting through a bunch of small shimmering tablets. They glow with silver and white light and are about the size of an ID card. Finally, she looks up.

"Here, each of you, take your quota counters. You'll track your progress there and hand them back in at the end of every weekly or monthly cycle... Or don't hand them in at all, you just won't get paid, it's not like I care."

She lets out a laugh, then continues.

"Anyways, take a look. We have a pretty simple first week. Usually, we'd stack a few individual tasks in with the team tasks, but the director picked this one out specifically for you four."

I look down at the small rectangular card. It reads out a few lines of text.

____________________

[Jay Soju]

[Available Credits]: 0

[C-Class]

[Team Weekly Quota]:

[Strengthening Fragments][0/10]

[Reward]: 5 Credits

[Individual Weekly Quota]:

[NONE][0/0]

[Reward]: 0 Credits

____________________

I mumble under my breath.

"Strengthening fragments? What are these...?"

Tripp peeks over at my card and lets out a gulp, then looks at Sophie wide-eyed.

"Is the director crazy!? I know he said this squad would be on the lookout for some aggressive missions, but strengthening fragments? Those are only found in the Great Plains Dungeon... My squad doesn't even train there ever since the incident... Titans are wildly unpredictable! Is this really-"

The white-haired woman cuts him off.

"That's what the Director ordered. It's not like I make the rules around here, I just pay people for following them."

I continue to stare down at the shimmering card for a moment. There are so many questions to ask... but Sophie continues talking.

"Anyways, I know some of you are new here, so let me explain how this works. First things first, your team's weekly Quota. As Tripp kindly mentioned, Strengthening Fragments are only found in the Great Plains Dungeon. Just flash your C-Class cards at the Dungeon Hub and you'll be able to get in with no problem."

We all stand in a line, watching her wave her short arms as she speaks.

"Strengthening Fragments look like this."

Sophie rummages around in a few drawers until finally lifting up a small black gem in front of her face. The coin-sized crystal gives off a small shimmer, reflecting the neon lights around us a little, but overall it's a pretty dull-looking rock.

"In The Great Plains, most of the normal mobs will drop one of these once every thousand kills or so."

Abby jumps in Immediately after hearing this statement.

"A thousand? So you're telling me we have to kill over ten thousand C-Class monsters?!"

Sophie laughs and places the gem down in front of her.

"Well, there are some stronger monsters the further in you travel. Mutants aren't too uncommon, they have a ten times more likely drop rate. They may be your best bet for quicker farming."

I stare straight down at the card, still thinking over a few things said earlier. While raising my head to meet the white-haired woman's gaze, I speak up.

"Two questions. What are these credits for, and what are Titans? The monsters Tripp mentioned before..."

Sophie grins.

"Well, the credit reward displayed on your card is 5 for this task. If all of you together can farm 10 Strengthening Fragments, that reward will be paid out to each of you individually. So, 20 credits in total for the group. Credits may be exchanged for 1 gold coin each, or used as currency at any Hunters Association-run shop. The value is nearly doubled if used to buy gear or materials from the shops. Credits can only be spent or exchanged for gold, it's impossible to buy more."

She crosses her arms and looks at Tripp with a smirk, then back to me.

"Titans... They're more of a myth these days because no one is stupid enough to go deep into that dungeon to fight them anymore. Titans are enormous creatures that spawn at the back of the Great Plains Dungeon. There was a pretty bad squad wipe that happened a few years back, a bunch of high-level C-Class and some B-Class hunters just disappeared... The only explanation was the Titans, so most people have just stayed clear of it since. They're pretty odd creatures, and almost impossible to kill. If by chance you see one, you'll know what it is, and what to do.... Run."

The 4 of us stand there in silence, but Tripp chimes in to break the awkward tension moments later.

"Just don't venture too deep in, like Sophie said, they reside deep in the dungeon...."

She replies.

"Their Strengthening Fragment drop rate is almost 100% though!"

Tripp lets out a sigh, rolling his eyes as Sophie finishes up her speech.

"To be clear, you don't have to all work together. Your squad has a unique contract. Each of you just has to submit the requested farmed loot to me or one of the Association run shops within the week. Once all 10 Strengthening Fragments have been collected the reward will automatically hit your account and a new quota will appear. It seems none of you have individual tasks this week, so you don't have to worry about that. It's rather self-explanatory though"

Tripp nods.

"The Director is definitely trying to power level you 4. That's the only explanation I can think of. It'll be a brutal week of training..."

I place the shimmering card in my item box, and my teammates do the same. The blond-haired C-Class turns with a smile toward the door.

"Well, on that note, thanks Sophie, great seeing you. Let's head off to the rank-up celebration, I'm starving!"

He begins to walk away toward the exit. With a few words and waves of goodbye, the 4 of us follow. We leave the mini shopping area, walk through the narrow hallway back into the lobby, then make our way upstairs.

The crowd from earlier has mostly dispersed. Hunters and executives have made their way up to the second floor. The four of us follow Tripp to the elevator to do the same.

I'm not in much of a mood to celebrate again... Last night was more than enough partying for me.

Whatever this rank-up event turns out to be, I'm going to do whatever I can to leave early. The only thing on my mind right now is The Great Plains Dungeon...

To be more specific, the Titans. A new mysterious unbeatable opponent... I'm itching to see what a fight with one of these monsters is like.