The boat was moving along smoothly. I stared at the foamy water breaking off the boat, lost in thought. They were chatting about something or other when Terrie said, “I should get back to training.”
“We’re almost there,” Tatiana told her.
Terrie gazed into the distance to where she expected Greinne to appear, saw more of the beach, and asked, “Almost?” Tatiana nodded. She then turned to me and asked, “When are we exploring Greinsdu.” Greinsdu was Greinne’s only dungeon. I was still lost in the foamy water. “Hey!” She  raised her voice and poked my shoulder to get my attention. “When are we  exploring Greinsdu? Are we going in today or tomorrow?”
“What?” I was confused. “Never.” I’m going there to sleep with three men and get some jellyfish syrup. It was the second ingredient I needed to forge the proof to join the Three Leaf Clover (TLC). Fortunately, there’s an active mermaid black market in Greinne. I already have Rainbow Wood; once I have the jellyfish syrup, I can head  to the sky islands for the final ingredient.
“Never?” It was Terrie’s turn to be confused.
“Weren’t you listening? We are only going to two dungeons on this trip. One at Gwawl, and the unnamed one beyond Brynhildmar, near Kunti.”
“What? Then why are we stopping at Greinne?”
“To fuck men,” I stated. She sat back down, flabbergasted. Nikola and Brigitte both nodded, pleased with my plan. I couldn’t understand it; she wasn’t even trying to level up; Nikola and Brigitte regularly went out to gain points, while all she ever does is swing her sword. I shook  my head, I didn’t want to sound like my mother, but I said, “You need to fuck more men. I’m fine with your training, but training isn’t a substitute for levelling up. I gave you the bracelet-” I stopped myself from saying anymore since Brigitte was unaware of the bracelet. “I mean, you need to fuck men. If you’re too shy to do it on your own, hang out  with Nikola.”
“What!?” Nikola was shocked. “I mean, ah… sure, she can hang out with me.”
“No, I don’t… I can do it on my own.” She sulked, her gaze falling to the floor.
“I didn’t mean it that way. You can hang out with me, Terrie. We can be each other’s winggirls.” Nikola tried to correct her slip of the tongue.
“No, I understand. I’ve just been lazy.”
“Well, you’re training all the time, don’t exhaust yourself with that, and you’ll have plenty of energy to level up,” I suggested.
“I know I need to level up, but-”
“There it is.” Tatiana interrupted us. We looked ahead and saw a smidgeon of buildings and ships, civilisation. It was port Greinne.

***

I grunted, trying to get the space expansion bag off the boat. I couldn’t even get it off the floor. My knees were bent, my back was straight, and every muscle in my body was tensed.
Nikola pat my ass and said, “Move aside, chief.” She grabbed the strap with one arm and swung it over her shoulder.
“Ah, thanks,” I said, feeling embarrassed. I’m never going to try that again, I thought to myself. I shifted my gaze to Tatiana, who was tying up the boat. “You sure you don’t want to come with us? I’ll pay for your room.” I thought it’d be more fun for us to hang out together.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I have everything I need.”
“Yeah, but…” I scratched my head.
“You guys do what you need to do. I’ll be taking it easy here.” She smiled. “I want to catch up on some reading.”
“Alright.”

***

The port and the city were one. Only a portion of the port was for cargo ships; most of it was for travel vehicles. Restaurants lined the pier. We’d only taken 3 steps, and already we were at a cafe. We saw and heard people laughing as we passed by.
“Where should we go?” I asked as we walked along the cobblestone path. Many rickshaws and carriages were waiting for customers along the route.
“Let’s go there,” Brigitte said, pointing to the tall blue-marble building jutting into the sky. A modern structure among the small stone antiques. The Boudica, a 100-storey hotel built only five years ago.
“That’s the Boudica!” Nikola cheered up. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Hmm…” I thought, catching my chin.
“Oh, no, I didn’t really mean it.” Brigitte took back her suggestion. “The Boudica’s expensive.”
“No, no, we have to go there. It has a strip club and male hosts and, and…” How does she know these things? “I’ve been looking forward to going there since you said we’ll be stopping at Greinne. Please! There are no boys; this is the only time we can go. Let’s go.” That was true.  Ever since we started travelling, Garth was always with us; finally, it was just us girls.
“Does everyone want to go there?” I asked.
“Yes!” Nikola, of course, shouted.
“It looks nice, but I don’t really care. I always stay at the little inns where I can meet other adventurers when I’m travelling.” Terrie said.
“Well…” Brigitte scratched her head. “Yeah, but it’s expansive. I wouldn’t want to impose.” She then quickly mumbled, “Also, I can’t pay.”
“That’s fine. I’ll pay. Let’s go.”
“Yes!” Nikola jumped, pumping her fist.

So we decided to walk. Greinne’s main source of income was its tourists. Every block, there was a differently themed restaurant. The streets were lively with musicians and performs. Bright-eyed children and tired parents shuffled through the streets. I passed by an armoured adventurer that complained about how expensive everything was… A child pointed at a shop window and screamed, “I want that, mommy! Mommy! The dolphin.” I looked inside as I passed by him and saw a toy dolphin. “Spare some change. Spare some change,” a homeless woman begged. We cut through everything in a single-minded trek to the Boudica.
When we reached the front of the hotel, I heard a small child screaming, “Extra, extra! Macme announces new challenge. Read all about it. Macme announces new challenge!” I stopped in my tracks. The three continued forward to the hotel while I turned toward the child.
“Give me one.” I took out a copper coin.
The little girl smiled and lifted her hat, revealing half a dozen copper coins. I tossed my coin in the hat. She put it back on her head and handed me a paper. “Thank you, madam.” She did a little bow before turning her attention to other potential clients, screaming, “Extra, extra! Macme announces new challenge!”
“You’re welcome,” I mumbled and walked away.

My three friends didn’t even notice I wasn’t with them until they had to pay. Nikola came running out of the hotel while I slowly walked in with the open newspaper in my hand.
“What are you doing?” She yelled.
“Trying to figure out what the new challenge is.” Macme University announces challenges randomly throughout the year. Sometimes the challenges are as difficult as writing a magic thesis on black holes, while at other times, it’s as simple as drawing a stick figure. It was an easter egg, and the rewards varied depending on which professor issued the challenge. “It doesn’t mention the problem. This only tells me which professor issued the challenge… and the due date… then there’s a lot of babble about how great the professor is,” I said, annoyed. “This is just advertisement for the academy!” Most of the article was just advertisement. But I was able to deduce from the professor’s biography that this challenge would be related to biology.
“Ah, okay…” Nikola said, “But you need to pay for the rooms.”
“You are aware that the majority of our funds are in the space expansion bag, right?” I said, walking into the hotel. It was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. Two escalators were coiled together in a double helix in the centre of the building, one going up and one  going down. The white marble floor gleamed. The magical chandeliers above us gave the hotel a uniquely romantic feel.
“Oh.” Nikola realised her mistake and ran back to the receptionist’s desk. The cute receptionist took her money and handed her the keys.
Newspaper in hand, I followed them onto the escalator. I continued to read as we went up, around and around…
“It’s probably in the magic magazines. Hmm…” I was annoyed. “Because it’s not in here.” I flipped through the pages, but there was no mention of the problem; it only said that it was announced, which I could  gather from the title. They got off on the 88th floor, and I quickly  jumped down before it took me higher. “Oh, I almost hit my head.” These things were lethal. I rolled up the newspaper and said, “Okay, give me my key.”
“Don’t worry, I got ours.” Brigitte smiled.
“We’re sharing rooms?”
“Ah…” Her smile turned to confusion.
“What? You saw me buy the keys. You agreed.” Nikola looked to Terrie.
“I did?” I was too lost in the paper. All I noticed was the cute receptionist.
“You’re the one who always accuses me of being irresponsible with our money.” She spat out her rationale. “I was looking out for our expenses.”
“Okay. Fine.” I guess it’s good that she’s trying to be responsible. “So you guys are sharing a room.”
“Do you want to switch, or… Am I…” Brigitte didn’t know how to finish her sentence. She felt like the fourth wheel; she was the only unofficial member of the group.
“No, no. I’m fine. We can share a room.” I felt like an idiot; I thought we got 4 rooms.

They went into room 8810, and we went into 8811. The room was big.
“Wow.” Brigitte opened her mouth.
There were two giant beds as white as clouds on one side of the room and  sofas on the other. Beyond them was the balcony. I walked past the beds and slid open the glass door. Cool air. Brigitte jumped on a bouncy mattress.
From the balcony, I could see the lake and the little bar - the mermaid black market. I looked to the side. Unfortunately, the view of the amusement park was blocked. There were two targets in the amusement park and one in the city park. I fingered my philtrum and considered who to  pursue first… “The chess loser is probably the easier of the two… So, the city park…”
“What are you mumbling about?” Brigitte joined me on the balcony.
“Oh, nothing… Figuring out my plans for the city…”
“Alright… Ah…”
She looked like she had something to say. “Spit it out.”
“You don’t mind if I bring boys over, do you?” She questioned, unconsciously gesturing to the bed.
“Why would I? We’re adventurers sharing a room.”
“Yeah.” She smiled, scratching her head. “You don’t need me to put a sock on the doorknob or something? I wouldn’t want you to get traumatised by my pale ass.”
“I think you have a fine ass.” I retorted. I wouldn’t mind seeing her ass at all. I’d love to join in too. Kneel between those big thighs of hers. Eat her pussy… But I got the feeling she wouldn’t be into it. She was the type of gal that might punch me if I tried. A hard slap landed on my back, “Pft.” It knocked me forward.
“Hahahaha…” She laughed. “If you’re into that shit.” Yeah, she’d punch me for sure if I tried anything.
“Ah, yeah.” I had no interest in forcing myself on anyone. I might’ve done it for points, but it’s not like I got off on it. “You do what you  want. I’m going to the bookstore,” I said and walked off the balcony.
“You’re not coming to the strip club? Or bar or whatever.” She pointed to the floor; the basement of this hotel housed the city’s largest strip club and bar. “Nikola wanted to go.”
“The strip club doesn’t open till 8… I’m pretty sure.”
“Yeah, but I think the bar’s open 24/7.” She shrugged. “We thought we check it out. Maybe have lunch.”
“I think there’s a restaurant on the first floor,” I said.
She shrugged again. “She wanted to check out the basement.”
“I’m going to the bookstore. I want to look into the new challenge. A magic magazine should have it.” Macme’s challenges are pretty big, so  the magic magazines would certainly print the question, unlike the newspaper. “Did Nikola take the space expansion bag?” I noticed it wasn’t in our room.
“Yeah, she was holding it last I saw it.” Brigitte nodded.
“Well, tell her to put it in our room. I have stuff in there that I need.” I said as I opened up the little fridge in our room and popped open a bottle of fizzy lemonade.
“Okay.” Brigitte agreed.
“I should be back before 8,” I said as I left the room.
I think I heard her say something along the lines of, “We’ll be hanging out in the bar.”