"Fine by me. Now get me out of this damn earth magic. I'll take the 4 of you to DryRock so I can get paid."

Abby nods at me, then turns to Issac as the stone around his neck starts to melt away, revealing his torso, then flowing off his legs back into the sandy earth.

The green-haired mage heals his leg, making it as good as new.

I get a weird sensation as she activates her healing magic. It tingles throughout my body even from over 5 meters away and buzzes with an extremely high-pitched tone. It's definitely much different in its upgraded form.

It is a legendary skill, after all, there must be something very special about it now.

I think for a moment, but shrug it off as my thoughts are interrupted by the excited cry of the fire wielder.

"Hohoo, It feels good to move again!"

He moves his arms and legs around while turning off his fire magic.

"You 4 really are Association uh- what do they call 'em again? The special squads that are chosen every year... I forgot the name. Those are you guys right?"

Maria proudly nods.

"Mmmhmph. That's us. The New Elites."

I flinch, as she just outed and confirmed exactly who we are... but the ice wielder crosses her arms and beams with delight as the fire user looks down at his fully restored leg in awe.

He's not paying much attention to Maria right now.

"I thought I'd be limping for weeks."

He lets out a chuckle, but it turns into more of a nervous laugh as all 4 of us walk forward to surround him.

I look the man in the eyes, then let out a sigh.

"Alright, let's keep this all business. I know we may have started off on the wrong foot, but there's no hard feelings from me. You get us into DryRock, we take out the breaks, you collect the bounties and we never speak of this again."

I nod.

"It's that simple. You don't want to be associated with us, and we don't want to be associated with you."

He looks up at me.

"Perfect, just how I like it."

We shake hands, then I turn to my teammates.

"Got it? I want to fight some monsters, get stronger, and find rare loot. That's it. There's no need for any unnecessary attention from locals in this next town. Let's keep our heads down and get the mission done."

I get a unanimous agreement, then turn to Danny, putting out my right hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you too. I hope your people can return to the village unharmed."

He smiles, shaking my hand.

"Most certainly. With this break gone, the water sources should come back within a few days. It- uhm, may have just been a mission for you, but I'm very grateful. Please, come back to visit anytime. Your secret is safe with me."

I give him a kind smile and the others bid him well as the scrawny hunter gets back on his camel with a cheerful skip in his step then rides away into the desert sun back to the village to share the good news.

I turn back to our group, now realizing there is a third camel tied to a portion of rock on the far side of the cave we just left. I point to it and turn to Issac.

"That your ride?"

He nods, slowly walking over to it as the 4 of us get on our two camels behind Arie.

He makes his way over to us. Both Abby and I activate our Earth magic to create shields for the sun over our heads, preparing for the long walk.

I see his eyes go wide as he moves his camel through the middle of both of ours, but he doesn't say a word. The grunt knows to keep his mouth shut now.

He may have sounded arrogant and hardheaded moments ago when we first met, but the second a business deal came up his true colors came out. Issac seems to be a pretty smart guy, just down on his luck.

He speaks up, waving a hand and pointing off to the north.

"Alright, If we leave now we may be able to make it there before the sunsets. It's.... A long trek. You're all ready?"

I check my storage to make sure I'm stocked up on food and water, then give him the go-ahead.

"All set. We'll take your lead!"

I turn to Abby as we get moving, now less than 3 meters to my left, and mutter under my breath.

"Watch the map. Make sure we're going in the right direction at all times. He knows better than to mess with us, but it never hurts to be cautious."

She gives me a firm nod.

We leave the rocky cave system just like that and head off to our next city. I hand out food and water to everyone and we share small talk on the way.

Hours pass, but the desert terrain hardly changes at all...

Rolling hills pass by on our sides with small yellow shrubbery begging for moisture. Rock structures occasionally peek out of the desert sand and white clouds float by through the blue sky.

It's a beautiful day.

We keep following Issac straight into the blazing sun-scorched flats. It gets much hotter, but Maria's Ice and my shade make it so this doesn't affect us at all.

The small talk we share starts to become less frequent until we all settle into silence, just enjoying the rhythmic footsteps of the camels' feet on the hard sandy ground under the hot dry sun.

I have a lot of time to think about my position in the world.

To be honest...

I think back to a few days ago before leaving on this new mission.

Even after days have passed, I'm still a bit shaken up by the Floor Boss fight in the Vice City Labyrinth.

We've fought some strong monsters here, but none of them have come anywhere close to the immense levels of power that beast possessed.

It showed me what was possible. It forced me to push my limits and become much stronger myself.

Battles like those are what give me the drive to keep pushing forward and create goals for myself to surpass.

Although this mission to the Dark Continent is just getting started, and I've barely just recovered from another intense battle, I can't help but wonder what the toughest Dungeon in this mysterious unofficial section 4 capital "Solara" will be like.

I grin, staring off into the rising and falling hills before me for hours on end, daydreaming of what adventurers are to come in the near future.

Hours and hours pass, but the sun still shines bright in the sky...

A range of red rocky mountains comes into view as I squint out into the horizon.

Issac speaks up.

"We've made it, in record time as well!"

I sit up straight, straining my eyes to look ahead, but I'm missing what the fire user is pointing to...

All I can see are a few medium-sized mountains off in the distance, and a small tight-colored tent about 500 meters away that we're approaching on our left side.

There's at least a kilometer worth of flat open sand between the tent and the mountain bases.

Issac points over to the small structure.

"That's our way in. The Western gate."

His eyes go wide for a moment as he turns back at us, then begins digging through an item box around his waist.

He pulls out handfuls of red-colored fabric, then throws it at us without a second thought.

"Put these on, all of you! Quick!"

I use Appraisal to see they're red robes similar to what the villagers were wearing back in the small town we left. The skin of the base-level salamander mobs is made into protective gear.

It must have been a common drop before the break.

Each of us catches one and does as he says, then the grunt yells out again.

"And put away that earth magic! We need to blend in, not stand out!"

Sensing the seriousness of his tone, I nod and do as he says while turning to Abby to watch her do the same. We let the blazing sun shine down on us and walk forward on camelback.

We get closer and closer to the small tent and I begin to see supplies underneath. There's a large green metal crate and a small wooden table along with a short old man walking over and waving us down.

Issac speaks up, hopping off his camel to shake the old man's hand, slipping him a few silver coins.

"I have another order to bring through, not the usual time of the month. I'm on special business this week."

The old man smiles, accepting the bribe and throwing it behind his back while muttering words in a language I'm not familiar with.

Then, Issac nods, pointing off into the open desert before the mountains.

"Here we are! Welcome to DryRock!"

I feel the air shift as he says this, and the once-barren desert changes in front of my eyes into a sight beyond what I ever expected to see...