We entered Andreas. After leaving the horse and carriage at the town stables all five of us headed to the AG in Andreas. Brent spoke before going ahead of us, "Thanks to you guys I've reached in two days. I'll be sure to increase the payment to 20 silvers, don't worry. It'll take the AG a little while to process the quest details so you guys should have dinner before going there. Once again thank you. Then I'll be leaving first, goodbye and good night." 

All of us bid him goodbye and leisurely took a stroll around town, looking for a restaurant. We found a place that surveys hamburgers so we sat down and ordered eight as they were small in size. After eating both my burgers I had finally satisfied my urge for a bit of junk food.

We asked the waitress about the inns in Andreas and she told us about two. Both were on the cheaper side but with good conditions. We decided to go to the AG first, before finding an inn. Apparently the AG in each town or city is always located in the center so that's where we were heading.

The AG was triple the size of the one we were used to. All of us were a little in awe of it. When we entered, although it was so late, the place still had over two dozen adventurers around. Jared took our cards and headed to the quest completion counter. I noticed two extra counters which weren't there in the previous AG.

Both the counters were for buying miscellaneous items, one for low rank and one for high rank. In front of the low rank (D-F) counter here was a board put up. On close examination I found that they accepted items at a 25-33% better value than in quest requests. So Ken and I went there to sell the E and F rank spoils that we had (wolf, goblin, foxes and hobgoblin's mana cores).

We had stacked up quite a few of them and so, got a total of 230 silvers (2 gold coins and 30 silvers). We decided to split it as 55 silvers each and give Jared the 5 extra silvers. Meanwhile, Jackie had gone to check the C and D rank quests. Jared came back from collecting our rewards and gave each of us 5 silvers. All in all, we had netted a profit of 60 silvers from this single quest. Although it was a two day quest, we were all quite satisfied.

Jackie came back to us, “We were right, there are better opportunities here. There are multiple D and C rank quests. Apparently for rank D quests, our party standard should be fine. But for C rank quests we’re still not up to the mark. There is a vast difference from C rankers.” Jared also added, “I’ve been told the same thing. Also, the receptionist told us to be here the day after tomorrow at 10 am for a brief explanation of our situation. If we have any questions regarding our circumstances we are to clear them the day after.”

"Also, tomorrow evening at 8 we'll have to meet with the blacksmith's party mates to give them their items." I reminded everyone. Ken interrupted, "Oh yeah, free food."

Well that was one way to look at it. Jared said, "For now, let's look for an inn to spend the night in. Preferably one with good food." We headed to the inn 'The Sleepy Comfort' which was the closest to us. Apparently, this inn was popular because it only had single rooms. The food looked pretty decent as well, so we decided to spend the night here. It costed us 1 silver for one night and 5 for a week.

As it was a recommended inn, we decided to stay for a week to save 2 silvers each. After we checked in, we sat down for dinner. Tonight's dinner was mixed meatloaf. Jackie spoke up after our meal, "We are supposed to be level 20 before we attempt rank C quests. So I think we should party up into two teams. All of us can practically solo a rank D monster so parties of 2 should be fine."

Jared also agreed, "Yes. I agree with her. For now let's focus on grinding levels. So Jackie and I should form a team and Ken and Megzie should be the other team. Moreover, when our quota for rank D quests are over, we'll sell our spoils to get a better price instead of using them to complete quests."

I spoke up, "From rank D to C we require to complete 25 D rank quests and 10 C rank quests. I agree, for now we should focus on leveling up and completing these 25 quests. Especially Ken and I. When we all hit level 19 we'll discuss this again. Till then, let's continue to have meals together."

Ken also agreed, "Sounds like a plan. But… Before we start working, let's take tomorrow as a rest day. We still have to check out Andreas. Plus, the day after tomorrow, we'll have some of our questions answered. So let's take it easy tomorrow."

After the unanimous agreement, all of us headed to our rooms. The corridor to our room stretched left and right, shaped like a square with the rooms on the inner walls. Our rooms were on the first floor, next to each other. The first two rooms were already occupied. I took the third room, followed by Jackie, Ken and finally Jared. Although Ken was in the room next to Jackie, his room was after the bend.

The first thing I did was go to the bathroom. These two days while we were on the road, all three of us didn't use the toilet. We did of course pee in the forest, in pairs a few times. So I was glad to relieve myself after almost two days. I'm sure the others were the same. After that I took a hot water bath. An inn with a bathtub is too expensive for us at the moment, so this is the best we can do, for now.

I changed into my shorts and tee and as soon as I got under the blanket I drifted off to sleep. Sleep came real easily over here, probably because of all the physical exertion. It was around 10 that I slept. And when I woke up, I realized that I had almost skipped lunch. It was 2 when I woke up. Not in the wee hours, but in the afternoon!

I quickly scrambled out of bed, changed my outfit, brushed up and made it downstairs. When I made it downstairs, I saw the trio occupying a table. I made my way there and gave a sheepish smile as I sat down. Ken made fun of me, "Hobo, looks like miss sleeping beauty has finally woken up. A little longer and I was wondering if we'd have to find you a prince to wake you up." I blushed in embarrassment and amusement.

Jackie smacked Ken's head, "Don't listen to him, he came down barely fifteen minutes before you." "Ow", came Ken's yelp, "I'll have you know it was a full half an hour. Half. An. Hour." Jackie gave him another hit and Jared tried to calm them down while suppressing his laughter.

I laughed and soon all of us were laughing. Jared finally caught his breath, "Well I woke up the earliest, and even that was at 12. Jackie came at 1 and you know the rest. Damn was I bored for an hour. Anyway Jackie and I have already had lunch, or rather, breakfast. You and Megzie go ahead." 

So Ken and I had lunch while Jackie and Jared waited for us. Jackie said, "So the plan is to walk around town, go shopping and eat street food. Anything else you guys want to do?" Ken after gulping down some milk, "Sounds good. I want to also check out how expensive C rank weapons are. I also need a rank D shield. My current one is E. And let's eat our hearts out."

"Jeez" I said after finishing my breakfast, "We've barely finished one meal and you're already thinking of the next." "What?", Retorted Ken, "Food is love." I rolled my eyes but didn't disagree.

After lunch Jackie grabbed my hand and pulled us towards the shopping district. We first went to the weapons shop. I was mesmerized by the detailed craftsmanship of the weapons and the stats of the weapons. Even rank C weapons were a cut above the rank D ones that we owned. But, so we're the prices.

Rank D weapons were of the range of 20-40 silvers. But the cheapest rank C weapon was already 1 gold. And those were the ones without options. Each option added another 25 silver. Damn this was like daylight robbery. So now another list of things to do got added to our list - 'Gather enough money for C rank equipment.' In the equipment region I was in the best position, with only my mace. 

Jared needed two swords, Ken needed a sword and a shield, not to mention Jackie's bow and quiver of arrows. So it was decided that I would be the one to buy two dismantling knives for the party. Moreover these knives were cheaper compared to weapons, hence I agreed. For the greater good of the party. If we included armor, now all of us needed to save around 5 golds each.

This was going to take a few days. The escort job gave us 50 silvers each. So in that sense 4 days would give us 1 gold. But, we sold the spoils at a more expensive rate at the other counter. So I'm estimating 5 days for 1 gold. We also had to work in pairs of two. Thankfully rank D monsters sold for five times the silver of rank E monsters.

To add to the value, rank D monsters also had a few parts that could be useful. So those parts were also supposed to be retrieved. Like horns, claws or even wings. All in all it would take us over a week, according to my calculations. While I was lost in thought we were already out of the weapons shop and going towards the bazaar.

There were stalls selling various items. But what caught our attention were the accessories. They were not just accessories, they were power enhancing accessories. Most of them increased stats or resistances. Some gave boosts and even skills. But those were very rare and expensive.

While browsing around we bought a few meat and vegetable skewers to munch on. After walking around for quite a few minutes, we saw an auction house. This was a completely new concept to me and so I was curious. The inside was like a museum. Where items were displayed in glass containers alongside their descriptions. Beside each item were small ballot boxes with the end timings written down.

We were greeted by an employee, "Welcome to the auction house. You can pick up your auction slip there, swipe your AG card on it and then use your finger to write down your bid amount. Then slip it into the ballots next to the equipment you want to purchase. You can come on the day the ballot ends to check if you win. Then after exchanging the equipment for money you can claim it. If you have any doubts or want to sell something, please ask me." Saying that he left us to our devices.

All the items were way above our pay grade so we decided to just do window shopping. Most of the equipment was above rank C. I even spotted a few rank A but they were not displayed like the rest. They didn’t have a ballot box next to them, they were just there for display, for the time being. Anyway rank A was a pipe dream for us right now. After a while we left the auction house to meet with the blacksmith's salesman (the party whom we met on our way to Andreas).