After exploring the small cave, I began walking around the forest, searching for any monsters I could kill. Most monsters here would be either second rank or third rank. Most of these monsters wouldn't be able to harm me unless it was a unique third-rank monster.
Looking around, it seems like I found a group of students in the upper grade. They were most likely second-year or third-year students. I doubt a first-year student would come to an area like this.
They weren't fighting any monsters and looked like they were about to eat. It was awkward that their group and I glanced at each other. I didn't want to disturb them during their meal time.
"You're Charlie Solaris, right?" One of them asked me, confirming my identity.
"That's right," I confirmed to them that was my name. I didn't have a reason to lie.
"Do you need anything?" I asked, wondering what they wanted from me.
"We found something interesting, and we would like a proposal." One of them said, looking at me like I was a treasure.
"Wait, are you sure that we should leak that information?" Another of their group members said, uncertain about telling me.
"A proposal?" I mumbled to myself.
"It's fine. It's not like we're competing. We're in a different year." The one who asked me for a deal said.
It was interesting when she asked me that. It was definitely worth listening to, considering that a member of her group panicked when telling me.
"Besides, can't you tell she is stronger than us? It would be much more effective if she came along." I don't know if she said that out loud intentionally. The three looked at each other and agreed to the plan.
"When we make this deal, could we sign a contract?" She asked, ensuring nothing would go wrong when making this request.
"As long as it doesn't put me in any harm." I also didn't want to get hurt because of some trickery. Seeing that I didn't mind, she nodded her head and smiled.
"The four of us found a dungeon, the first floor is full of rank two monsters, and we can't tell how long it would be for us to finish. We would split our loot 50/50, and if you're exceptional, we don't mind giving you the 10%." She gave me the details of the deal.
"Make the contract first, and we will discuss the deal." She nodded, seeing that I agreed with her deal.
I could not sign this contract and follow them, but if they lived and saw what I did, they could spread unpleasant rumors about me, and it would be a pain to deal if it spread.
Having to finish writing a paper contract, I looked at the content of it. We would split the loot by 50/50, and if I do exceptionally well, I will get an extra 10%. Under no circumstances would we be allowed to hurt each other. Neither of our groups is allowed to hold back, just to make the others do the work.
Having to read everything, I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I signed the contract making it bind the five of us.
"Do you want to join us for lunch? We're not in a rush to go to the dungeon right away." The seeming group leader said. I had no reason to decline, so I took my rations out and ate them.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves? I doubt that you knew our names." I also would prefer if they did, it would make me uncomfortable calling them by their looks.
"Let me go first. I'm Isabelle Goldlocke, the leader of our group." So she was noble, and by her confidence and leadership, it wasn't surprising for her to be the leader. Like most nobles, she had noticeable blond hair. Her golden-colored eyes were her most prominent features. She seemed like a person easy to get along with.
"My magic allows me to make gold. Nice to work with you." She told me about her magic, not hiding any information.
"I'm Citrus. Nice to meet you." Citrus was looking at me curiously. I didn't know what I did for her attention. She was a fairy, like Tess. I like her stature, and because of it, I think it made her easier to get along with.
"My magic lets me observe anything, telling me information about monsters and objects." It was pretty helpful but not a powerful spell.
"Riley, it's nice to work with you. My magic lets me push things." Riley politely said when greeting herself to me. Her ability reminded me of a character who did that in a show I had watched.
"Tina." She said, looking at me carefully. She was the one who tried to reject the proposal but couldn't stop it. She was the type to be wary of anyone that she didn't know. Personally, it was a normal reaction, so I didn't mind.
She didn't tell me her magic, but I would see it in the dungeon. I started to think she disliked me for some reason. Isabelle smiled wryly, seeing her partner's interaction. "Sorry about her. She has a bit of a trust issue. It took us a while before she was comfortable with us." Seeing that she apologized, I felt bad since she didn't do anything wrong.
"Don't worry about it," I told her.
We then talked a little about the dungeon. Apparently, it was a dungeon in an underground cave, mixed with water-type monsters and others. It was fortunate that my attack wasn't just fire. Otherwise, I would be at a disadvantage against most of the monsters.
After eating our lunch, we began to rest and take a few minute breaks before going out.
"Tina, do you mind if we tell Charlie Solaris your magic? It wouldn't help if you kept it a secret. Besides, you would show your magic sooner or later."
Tina sighed and resigned. "Go ahead." I wondered what had happened for her to act this way.
"Tina can summon bugs." I shuddered to hear that she could summon bugs. I wasn't good with insects. They're unreasonable fast for a small creature. Also, they could appear out of nowhere and be extremely dirty, which can cause sickness.
They smiled, seeing twitch from me finding out her ability. Having all that said and done, we went toward the dungeon.
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