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Chapter 122: COMPLACENT INSECURITY - PART 1

Tamara let out a sigh of relief by her side. "I\'ll have to be honest, I was a little nervous when I hired them, but thank the goddess they\'re the real deal, huh?"

"I bet they\'re all connected through a Party Chat or something. That\'s why they all look so coordinated," Benjamin chimed in, nodding. "And it also saves them time. NPCs are least likely to get distracted or lose concentration. Truly astounding."

"All right," Astrid said as she scanned her surroundings. "Before I go, I\'d like to speak to the contractor. Where is he? What\'s his name?"

"You\'re looking for Bill Warren, ma\'am," Tamara said, looking around, until her eyes set on a man atop an incomplete house, working on its rooftop. Wearing working clothes and a shirt drenched in sweat, he looked fully immersed in his work, driving his hammer up and down with skilled precision. "Hey, Bill!" Tamara called out, and the man with dirty blond hair tied in a ponytail glanced down, showing his overgrown winter-style beard. He jumped down, and seemed to grimace for a second for having been interrupted from his job, but hid it quickly.

"Ms. Tamara," he said gruffly. His features suggested that he was in his thirties. His physique, unimpressive compared to Benjamin, and his tired eyes hinted that he may have been working for the last three years straight.

"Really good work what you and your company have been doing for the last two days. Really impressive!" Tamara beamed.

"That\'s what we\'re good at, ma\'am," Bill said, giving a quick glance at Benjamin, and finally setting his eyes on Astrid.

"Oh, right! I\'d like to introduce you to my boss, Astrid Bradford. And this is Benjamin Woods. They\'re leaders of Shooting Stars and Titan Hunters, respectively."

"Interesting teamwork you have here, Bill," Benjamin said, stretching out a hand, but Bill was not looking in his direction. Bill\'s eyes were still scrutinizing the blonde Guild Master in front of him, with a blank expression on his face.

"I\'m very impressed," Astrid said, unfazed. "I expect you\'ll all finish by the weekend, as promised?"

"Maybe even sooner," Bill replied, turning around. "Nice meeting you all. Now, if you\'ll excuse me..." And with those words, he returned to his labor in silence.

"Why am I not surprised?" Benjamin whispered to Tamara in a bitter tone. "The guy is 24/7 surrounded by NPCs. If there\'s something he\'s lacking, it\'s social interaction."

"Why do you say that?" Tamara asked with a puzzled expression. "All I see is a hard-working man who\'s in love with his job."

"I think he may fancy something else," Benjamin muttered, glancing at Astrid, who snickered.

"On the contrary, Ben. I think he hates me."

"Nothing we can do about it," Ben said, shrugging, as they turned around and exited the area. As they were about to reach the outskirts, he glimpsed a flying mount soaring in the distance. "Our tour guide is finally here, Astrid... Are you staying then, Tam?" he asked the petite girl, who smiled at him.

"Yes! Until Aarmus returns back to normal. Are you guys going already?"

"That\'s right. I don\'t think your boss can wait any longer," Ben said before Astrid bumped her shoulder against him. "See?" he chuckled. "So... See you later?"

"Good luck on your trip!" Tamara smiled and gave him a smooch on the lips.

"Trip? I don\'t think that traveling with the Golden Comet can be considered a \'trip\'."

Waving a final goodbye to Tamara, Benjamin and Astrid walked towards a rider waiting beside a recently rebuilt sign, welcoming every visitor to Aarmus Town. The woman was still sitting atop her Eagle hippogriff, smirking at them.

"Here it is, Astrid," Ben started saying, "my number one boss slayer, Rita Santoro. She\'ll help us--"

"There\'s still time to gather a raiding group if you\'ve changed your mind," Rita intoned, locking eyes with Astrid.

She donned the same type of catsuit that Helen and Marissa Laflamme loved to wear. So, a Rogue, huh? Astrid thought, studying the grinning girl with curly black short hair, honey-colored eyes, and black skin.

"We\'re good," Astrid said. "I\'d do this solo anyway."

"Of course you will," Rita giggled. "Especially now that word of your secret skirmish against J?tnarkungen is all over the Navinet, eh?" the young woman said in a playful tone, making Benjamin nervous about Astrid\'s reaction.

"Rita..." he hissed, and she quickly cleared her throat.

"I know, I know. This is a top-secret mission. So secret that you haven\'t even told me which raid boss we\'ll be farming... Seriously, Ben! I could\'ve investigated a bit while on my way here."

"I haven\'t told you yet because I don\'t know it yet," Ben stated, turning to Astrid so she could provide them with the info.

Astrid exhaled first. "Is it true that all the Legendary-grade weapons have already been claimed?"

"All of them," Rita replied while checking her red-painted nails. "Until the Administrators give us a new area or a dungeon to explore; and that doesn\'t guarantee that we\'d be able to snatch its treasures first. Anyway, it\'s been four months since the last update, so there is also that..."

"I can\'t wait." Astrid ran a hand through her scalp. "We\'ll have to go with crafting something new from the ground up, as you suggested, Ben. I have a claymore in my personal Vault, waiting to be sacrificed to get its Unique Skill."

"Leave it to my weaponsmith." Ben nodded. "He could do that kind of transferring process with his eyes shut."

Rita frowned at Astrid, perplexed. "Wait, you have a Legendary claymore already? Why go through the hassle of farming the materials for a new weapon then? Your Battlemage class could benefit immensely from it!"

"Rita," Ben called out to her in a stern tone again, but Astrid put a hand on his shoulder.

"It\'s okay, Ben. I need to come out clean with her before planning our little trip..." Astrid then locked eyes with Rita and formed a mild smile. "I can\'t use a claymore because my class is incompatible with it. In reality, I\'m an Elemental Mage. A pure pyromancer."

Rita snickered, turning to Ben to catch a hint if this was all a joke, but after a long few seconds of silence, she shook her head. "W-Wait, let me get this straight... Are you implying you want to craft a STAFF? Like, seriously?! Y-You know you\'re FAMOUS for your PUNCHES, right?!"

Astrid smiled innocently. "That\'s why we\'ll forge the sturdiest staff to ever exist. A staff that I can\'t \'accidentally\'... break..."

Rita reflected on it for a moment. "Like a mace, dash, staff?"

"N-No..."

"Wait," Ben added. "Giving a strong shape to the staff with the help of the Novus\' resilient material would work wonders for you, Comet."

"True... But not a mace, please... NOR a hammer!"