Rune followed Aphmau out the blacksmith building, belonging to a man named Asher, both are sad as they couldn't even afford basic supplies.

That didn't stop them from grumbling about it as they walked through the market, the vendors eyeing them suspiciously with prejudice.

There were two prices: one for Adventurers, which was 500% more expensive, and everyone else, which was normal price.

"Seriously, twenty gold for a single slice of bread?" Rune sighed, holding her empty stomach. "I can't believe the Council raised the price only for Adventurers."

"Look around, Rune," Aphmau gestured to the new construction sites and improved architecture. "Our money is improving this town, and in return we get nothing; everyone hates us."

"At least Owen helps us, and Asher is nice," Rune remembered. "Valkuria too, when she's not yelling at us."

Rune noticed her friend's glum expression. "Thinking about Simon?"

"It's been months, Rune, how did we not find him yet?" Aphmau asked as they walked towards the direction of the dungeon meeting. "I'm worried about him."

"You're not the only one; things haven't been the same without him," Rune nodded. "But where ever he is, he can take care of himself... he's a huge nerd, and nerds are smart."

They looked across the market to see a familiar high-leveled player passively looking at an angry shopkeeper, standing at the stairs of her store, with his green eyes while he ran his hand through his dark blue hair with a bored expression.

"What, Aphmau, is that Reed?" Rune asked before her marigold eyes widen in recognition. "Holy Estorra, it is!"

Reed is more of distant friend, the highest-level player they knew before permanently transported to Estorra. Never really going into groups, and doesn't really respect anyone; not even himself.

His tone was mostly monotonous and bored, it would appear arrogant even since many players before would always try to bully him, but they weren't worth his time and they knew it.

It's not his high level, or powerful equipment, that was the source of his superior attitude; he knew every exploit, every item drop rate, and the fastest way to get Experience. He's the walking definition of a veteran gamer.

So when Reed says he's smarter, it's true, and it is no surprise that his level is over 60. He's wearing a crystal gauntlet on his left arm over his usual red samurai-like armor, along with the new sword in his sheath.

"Is that lady yelling at him?" Aphmau asked her friend. "Who's that girl kneeling on the ground?"

She gasped when they saw the girl placing her hand on her mouth to stop the bleeding, just in time for the shopkeeper to punch Reed, who didn't even flinch from the assault. "Hey!"

They ran over to their friend. "Don't do that to him!" The meif'wa shouted. "What's your deal?!"

The tan shopkeeper looked at Aphmau and Rune, before a familiar glare shined in her green eyes. "More of you Adventurers," She sneered in disgust and prejudice. "Don't you have anything better to do besides being a burden?"

"Why are you hitting him?" Rune yelled, she and Aphmau standing in front of their male friend. "And did you hit that girl?"

"Yeah, did you hit her?" The females looked to see a tan man covered in heavy white-blue armor, with other dark colors mixed in. But the real eye-widener was his missing right arm, holding a large pale-blue tower shield in his left hand, yet that never stopped him from smiling. "Let's all calm down here..."

By his armor pattern and layout, they concluded that he's a Sentinel. They act as law enforcers, but they're pretty much the only people who don't discriminate Adventurers.

Captain Valkuria, sometimes called "Val" by her friends, is the leader of the Sentinels, and acted like a stern mother; tough, a bit rough, but fair. Many Adventurers went to her for work and shelter since those who join gets a roof over their head in the barracks.

"A Sentinel, good," The shopkeeper stepped forward, pointing an accusing finger at the three Adventurers. "You can arrest these Adventurers."

"For what?" Aphmau defended as she and Rune glared at the woman while Reed gave her a bored stare. "You punched our friend!"

"He's nothing but a thief," The woman barked. "Just like the rest of you Adventurers!"

The Sentinel tapped his shield on the ground, breaking up the argument. At that, two more Sentinels rushed out from somewhere, alerted by his signal to join him.

"What happened?" he asked sternly, his warm smile replaced with a serious expression as he eyed the girl kneeling on the ground; holding her bleeding mouth as it stained her black hair.

Reed stepped forward. "I was trying to buy some supplies from her shop, but she wouldn't sell anything to me," He then nodded at the girl kneeling on the ground. "She over here, delivered some mail to this woman a few minutes later."

"A few minutes later, she arrived later?" The Sentinel asked. "And why is she bleeding?"

"Actually she was with me, but was hesitant to deliver the message to the woman who runs this shop as she was yelling at me." Reed pointed at the shopkeeper. "She, however, threw a whetstone at her face before kicking us out of her store."

"I was defending myself!" The shopkeeper denied. "That girl used some magic to steal gold from my shop!"

The Sentinel narrowed his eyes before kneeling to the downed girl. Her brown eyes looked into his and she felt safe. "You're an Adventurer?" He asked she nodded. "And I'm taking an educated guess here, but is your Job a messenger, or deliverer?"

She was surprise that he knew the Job system, and nodded as the Sentinel stood up and faced the shopkeeper. "Take this woman into custody."

The other two Sentinels grabbed the woman by the arms. "What are you doing?" The woman yelled. "What did I do, they stole gold from me!"

"When she delivered your mail, did a bag of gold appear?" The one-arm Sentinel asked before pointing at the injured girl. "That's because she's an Adventurer; doing certain tasks causes gold to magically appear."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" The ignorant woman thrashed before glaring at Reed. "There's no way an Adventurer can get that much money, he obviously stole it from others!"

"But you committed two acts of assault," The one-arm Sentinel reminded before nodding at his companions. "Take her to holding."

And so the shopkeeper was dragged away, blaming Adventurers as her hate for them grew, and at that moment, Reed smiled before the joy disappeared and was replaced with a blank stare.

The lone Sentinel turned towards them, glancing over his shoulder to see other estorrans whispering and gossiping, calling him an "Adventurer sympathizer"; amazing how hatred can spread.

"Aren't you going with them?" Aphmau asked as Rune helped the shaking girl to her feet.

"I need to investigate the crime scene," They could have sworn he winked. "All of you, get inside the store for questioning."

They walked up the stairs, the one-armed Sentinel closed the door before looking at Rune. "Hand over the key."

"W-What key?" Rune terribly lied, nervously looking as Aphmau gave her a suspicious look. "I didn't steal anything from that woman!"

"He didn't say anything about theft," Reed pointed out in his monotone voice. At that moment a bag of gold appeared in front of Rune as Aphmau let out a sigh. "He, and I, saw you sneak away and stole that woman's key to this shop."

Reed looked at the Sentinel. "Never knew you could be serious, Fart," Reed smiled and patted the Sentinel as he took the key from Rune to locked the door. "Usually you're more blunt."

"Wait, hold on," Aphmau looked at the Sentinel as she tugged on Rune's hood so she wouldn't sneak off. "You're name... is Fart?"

"Damn right," Fart replied with a humorous smile. He placed his tower shield on his back before patting his chestplate. "The name is Fart Garfunckle, but you can call me... Big Fart, hehe!"

"Ha, I can't believe we met someone who's named Fart!" Rune laughed before Aphmau harshly elbowed the dryad. "Ow- alright, alright, I'm sorry!"

"Nah, it's okay," Fart waved her off, giving off that playful aura. "It makes me laugh too!"

"But it still wasn't nice." Aphmau argued, trying to hide her smile; it was pretty funny.

"C'mon, I said it was fine!" Fart lightly punched her on the shoulder. "Everyone can use a laugh."

"Hold on, Reed," Aphmau looked at her friend. "You called him by his name, you know him?"

"You never mentioned me?!" Fart looked at Reed. "Dude, I thought we were tight!"

Reed let out a sigh. "Guy- er, ladies," Reed corrected himself before coughing into his crystal gauntlet. "Meet Fart, he's one of my old buddies back in the early beta."

"You're an Adventurer." Aphmau stated. "But I thought..."

"It's a good thing the natives of this can't see the species when viewing someone, unlike us Adventurers." Fart laughed. "Makes the job easier when dealing with estorrans; they don't spit at you!"

"I wanted to tell you, but there were too many people outside," Fart then looked at Reed excitingly. "Invite them to the Raid Party!"

"I've already done it." Reed replied as an invite appeared in front of Aphmau. She tapped on the black screen, the words written in an ominous white.

You have been invited to a Raid Party. [Join/Reject]?

Aphmau and Rune accepted. They looked at the list of members, only five: Reed, Fart, themselves, and someone named Penny Finny?

Before she could question anything, she looked at Fart's profile.

----------

[Fart Garfunckle] Species: Human Level: 27 Job: Sentinel Class: Guardian (1) L[Battlemaster] (26)

HP: 5000 SP: 9000 Experience: (10,00,500/27,000,000)

{Power: 90/Vitality: 50/Intelligence: 10/Magic Potency: 25}

----------

Aphmau could only be impressed; with his Battlemaster Class so high, he can greatly boost a Raid Party. But then she looked at Reed's profile.

If strength were represented as a building, Reed would be a tower.

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[Reed] Species: Human Level: 65 Job: Gofer Class: Warrior (20) U[Ronin] (15) [Mage] (10) L[Curse] (20)

HP: 6000 SP: 8500 MP: 8500 Experience: (57,845,000/65,000,000)

{Power: 85/Vitality: 60/Intelligence: 85/Magic Potency: 135}

Stat Points: 0 Class Points: 0

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

'He got his Ronin Class back, and so much invested into magic Classes,' Aphmau thought. 'Maybe he can teach me...'

"Such high numbers..." Aphmau awed. "How did you get this high?"

"I know a guy," Which is Reed's usual way of saying: don't ask questions about something private.

"Huh, his name actually is Fart..." Rune murmured, completely focusing on something else as she started giggling. "I-I'm sorry, but that's just hilarious!"

"Nah, it's fine, it like calling Reed here a boy!" Fart smiled, patting his friend on the shoulder as Reed returned the smile. "Alright, lets rob this place!"

"Okay!" Rune dashed off. "Fart, you're already my favorite!"

"Wait what?!" Aphmau shouted as the rest moved around. "You're a Sentinel, not a robber!"

"That woman, that EVI," Reed scoffed as he went behind the counter. "Deserves it."

"Reed, they're people," Aphmau reasoned, not liking the derogatory term. "They have names and lives."

"So do we," And with that, Reed won the argument. "But they don't care, and someone has to; might as well be us."

"Which is why we're only taking basic supplies," Fart said sternly. "We're trying to feed people and maintain equipment, not be bandits."

"I can do both~!" Rune shouted from the storeroom, holding a sack of food over her shoulder. "Man, I'm starving!"

"I don't know..." Aphmau shook her head. "Seems wrong."

"That's because it is wrong, I'm not going to deny that," Reed admitted, walking to the girl from earlier as she sits alone in a chair; her mouth stopped bleeding, but had a nasty bruise, and one of her teeth is cracked. "But this town is making us suffer, and there is too many fiends outside of its border to leave."

"We only have each other," Reed then took out a small green gem; green resin, used for healing magic. "Hold still, Penny."

----------

[Penny Finny] Species: Human Level:5 Job: Messenger Class: Bard(4) Mage(1)

HP: 2000 MP: 2000 Exp: (10/ 5,000,000)

{Power:10 /Vitality: 20 /Intelligence: 20 /Magic Points: 15}

Stat Points: 0 Class Points: 0

----------

After the green glow died down, the shy girl whispered a "thank you" before helping Rune gather supplies. Aphmau couldn't help but feel sad because Reed was telling the truth.

"So... it's like a rebellion group?" Aphmau asked. "Why show us, this is kind of a big deal."

"In a way," Reed nodded as he filled his sack with whetstones and arrows. "I showed you this because I trust you, and you trust Rune so..." He handed her a sack. "Wanna help?"

"It does look fun," Aphmau nodded at her friend, she did help Reed steel a sword from an arrogant player in the past before he threw it in the river. "Alright, but I'm not robbing that woman completely, even though she is a huge jerk."

"Heck yeah she's a jerk!" Fart Cheered as he fudged the numbers on the shop's inventory manifest. "There, when she comes back, she won't know that her stuff has been taken."

Rune walked up to Fart, her sack slung over shoulder like a backpack, bread in her mouth. "I'm loving you already," She said with a full mouth before swallowing. "This is a start of a beautiful friendship!"

"Yeah, I'm really awesome," Fart smiled a bit smugly as he returned the manifest back in its original spot. "Alright, Let's go."

"Won't people notice the large sacks?" Aphmau asked. "Estorrans already think we're thieves..."

"Not if your with me," Fart said as he equipped his shield again. "If anyone asks, I'll say I've been gathering evidence and I hired you guys to help me."

"I still can't believe I participated in a heist!" Rune cheered before looking at Reed and Penny. "I would be impressed if getting that woman arrested was part of the plan."

"It wasn't," Reed strung two sacks over his shoulder. "I was honestly trying to buy supplies for a group that is going into a dungeon, but, well, you know what happened. Fart was around, and we improvised on the spot."

"No way, we're heading there too!" Rune said excitedly. "Oh man, this is going to be great!"

They walked back outside, people in the market watched them suspiciously before the saw the Sentinel, ignorant of the truth as their own ignorance grew.

They never noticed a man, completely covered in layers of dirty rags, walked by as he secretly stole from various vendors before stuffing them into his backpack; always making that clacking sound as he walks.

A/N: Well, I've introduced some character from the series, and a side character named Fart. Anyways, the character named Penny is an OC submitted by clocktocdoc. Sorry about the stats, but I had to fix somethings. Don't worry, it happened to me too, and I'm the one who created this!