We walk into the Association's HQ after a long week of hunting. Maria happily carries our last Strengthening Fragments tight in her palm.

After Arie scans his ID on the door at the back of the lobby, all 4 of us make our way to the mini-market run by the Association.

Our guide Tripp left us by ourselves about 2 days ago. Apparently, breaking us in was a bit easier than predicted. Bringing the blond-haired Association lap dog around with us on our daily hunting was just keeping him from doing other tasks.

I'm glad he's not on our expeditions anymore, it makes teleporting into the mutant range much easier. Less walking and more training for all of us.

Everyone on the squad has grown past level 365. We're considered a pretty tough C-Class squad, at least for the new recruits.

As we walk closer to our drop-off point, I see the white-haired merchant lady waving to us with a smile.

Sophie was pretty outgoing to begin with, but she's gotten even friendly with the 4 of us as the week progresses. I hear her high-pitched voice ring out as we approach.

"Look who's back, does this mean what I think it does? The last one?"

Her eyes open wide as she bites her bottom lip in anticipation. Maria smiles and runs over in a half-skipping manner.

"It sure does, we got all 10!"

The cheerful blond and the excited merchant laugh together about something I decide to purposefully block out from my hearing.

I take the glimmering silver tablet out of my item storage to watch the number on it shift in front of my eyes.

____________________

[Jay Soju]

[Available Credits]: 0

[C-Class]

[Team Weekly Quota]:

[Strengthening Fragments][9/10]

[Reward]: 5 Credits

[Individual Weekly Quota]:

[NONE][0/0]

[Reward]: 0 Credits

____________________

Turns into:

____________________

[Jay Soju]

[Available Credits]: 5

[C-Class]

[Team Weekly Quota]:

[PENDING TASK][0/0]

[Reward]: [See Regional Director For Instructions]

[Individual Weekly Quota]:

[PENDING TASK][0/0]

[Reward]: [See Regional Director For Instructions]

____________________

I let out a long sigh.

"Well, this can't be good..."

I shift my gaze up from the tablet to see my other 3 team members staring at their shimmering silver plates with puzzled looks on their faces as well. At least we all got the same message, that's a good sign.

Maria flips her quota tablet around to show Sophie.

"Hey, what's all this about? Why do we have to go see the Director?"

The short white-haired woman scrunches her eyebrows and mutters something under her breath in a low tone.

"I had a feeling something like this would happen..."

I jump in after hearing this statement.

"Hey what do you mean by that? What'd we do wrong?"

I know exactly what we did "wrong" but I won't be the one to admit it. The Association gave us this quest, how could they possibly punish us if we actually carried it out...

Sophie shrugs.

"Hey, I don't know what you did wrong. It's just pretty uncommon for a group of new recruits to fulfill their first quest... Well, it's actually near impossible."

She gulps, then continues.

"The advancement teams that create quest quotas directly under the Director often give new recruits a hard time their first couple weeks. It's pretty normal for not even a single quota to be met. Yet somehow, you 4 have completed yours with ease."

She shivers slightly.

"One of the hardest ones too..."

The 4 of us stand in silence for a moment thinking over the words Sophie just uttered. Aside from my hypothesis that mutants have a 0% drop rate, there could be some truth to her statement even if these monster's rate was closer to 1%.

Without my teleportation skill and quick farming strategies, there's no way we could have killed enough mutants to even come close to meeting our quota.

This is enough to convince my other team members... Abby crosses her arms and stares at the merchant with a smug look on her face.

"Well, we're just a whole lot faster than all those other teams."

Maria jumps in.

"Yeah, no way they could keep up with us. The Director probably wants to give us an extra reward or something!"

Arie grins and nods.

"We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure this will be an interesting meeting."

I swallow hard before adding to the discussion.

"I agree..."

The topic of conversation changes between my teammates and the white-haired merchant. I zone out staring down at my quota tablet.

On the bright side, we did complete our first mission together. Each of us has earned 5 credits, whatever that means. I'm going to have to check out a few of these shops. Credits are worth 1 gold if exchanged, or double if used to purchase any items here.

It wouldn't hurt to take a look around the place. I'm sure there's some pretty decent gear. An upgrade or two never hurt anybody. On the off chance nothing strikes my fancy, I can just exchange my credits for gold.

I twist my head around, then look back at my teammates.

"Hey uh- I'll be back in a minute, I want to check out the shops."

Arie smirks.

"Sure, meet us back here when you're done. We'll be heading up to the top floor right after. Luckily, the Director isn't away on business, we can talk to him right now."

I gulp, then turn with a wave.

"Sounds... good... I won't be long."

Arie turns back to the merchant's stand with Maria and Abby. I'm not sure what they're looking at over on the short woman's counter, but it seems to be something that's keeping them entertained...

I shrug and begin walking leisurely through the neon flashing signs. The primarily pink and blue lights reflect off the glossy black floor.

It makes focusing on one shop pretty hard, maybe this is some form of advanced marketing tactic?

Or... maybe I just have a hard time focusing and think everything around me is designed to mess with my mind, when in fact I'm the one doing all the mental manipulation myself.

Either way, there's some pretty unique-looking gear in this market. I use Appraisal on a few interesting-looking pieces.

There are long silver swords, heavy metal armor and shield sets, huge axes, shiny black daggers, and even a few high-percentage stat-boosting accessories.

[Enchanted Silver Long Sword] +400 Strength

[Shield of Solitude] +600 Defense

[Armor Set of Solitude] +800 Defense

[High Ogre's Axe Set] +600 Strength

[Enchanted Dagger Set] +400 Speed +400 Agility +200 Strength

[Ring of Protection] +35% Defense

[Enchanted Silver Ring] +40% Mental Strength

[Amulet of Quickness] +45% Speed

[Yeti's Charm] +50% Defense +50% Ice Magic Resistance

All the shopkeepers seem nice, and their items are definitely high-grade, but nothing here gets anywhere close to my blades or some of my own stat-boosting items. I decide haggling isn't even worth my time.

I remember the Director mentioning the Association regulating the buying, selling, and use of element stones. A wielder has to have the stone bonded with their weapon. So, they wouldn't just have them out on display here... If this is all the gear they have on display then I'm not in the market for anything new.

I begin to walk back to my group, but a bundle of green and pink potions catches my attention.

x [C-Class HP Potion] +2500 HP

x [C-Class MP Potion] +2500 MP

I raise an eyebrow while walking over to a grey-haired older-looking man sitting behind a small counter with potions from E to C class lined up very neatly.

"Good evening, are you in the market for any potions today?"

I nod while examining them closely. This is the first time I've seen a C-Class potion. They're much more compact than the E or D-Class bottles I've purchased before. There's no need for me to buy MP potions, plundering mana from crystals is much more efficient.

During the exams, every time I wanted to get back up to full health I had to drink 2 potions. Having some higher-grade HP items may be very beneficial. Being able to heal 2500HP in a single compact potion will allow me to act quicker in the heat of a battle.

"How much for the C-Class HP potions? All 20 of them."

The man begins tapping a small tablet under his counter, then turns it toward me. It reads out: [0.6C] in black text.

"That will be 0.6 credits. Just scan your tablet here and the transfer will happen in an instant."

I nod slowly, then reach for my small silver square. Thrown off by this new technology, I don't even try to throw him a counteroffer. I'm sure I could have gotten them for under 0.5 credits if I tried...

"Uhh- Sure, here you go-"

The two tablets flash with a dim white light, then the merchant smiles and hands me a bag full of potions.

"Appreciate your business today, see you again soon!"

He waves me off before I even think of a reply. I just mutter out a quick "thank you" while continuing my walk back to my team. I place both the tablet with 4.4 credits left on it, and the 20 new HP potions into my item storage.

Arie, Maria, and Abby all stand by the merchant's counter patiently waiting for my return. Arie is the first to greet me, as the others begin walking back toward the lobby.

"Let's go, Sophie just made special arrangements for us. Our meeting with the Director is about to begin."