After a complicated night due to her fight with Daniel, who had left the room and never came back, Lucian and Ebony were sitting at the table with Russel, who was wearing a magic ring glowing red-hot.
"Relax, it's not going to hurt… Well, not much," said the redhead as he showed a teasing smile.
"What the hell is that?" Ebony asked.
"It's a magic ring, it has a contract-type spell, technically it's a license to be a mercenary and part of the Pink Unicorn guild… Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much," Lucian mentioned with a faint smile, looking away.
At that moment, Ebony knew something was wrong, but even so, with a firm gaze, she swallowed hard along with her fear and extended her left arm toward Russel.
The half-dwarf grabbed Ebony's wrist with one hand, and with the other, where the ring was glowing red-hot, he suddenly pressed it against the girl's palm.
Pain flooded the blonde's body, it felt as if a nail were being driven through her palm while an unbearable burning sensation ran through her nerves, she tried to keep her face calm and appear resilient.
Lucian and Russel were surprised by her tolerance to pain, exchanging looks while Ebony breathed steadily with her eyes closed.
After a few seconds of intense pain, Russel removed the ring from Ebony's skin, as the red-hot metal pulled away, her skin began to release a bit of smoke with the smell of burned flesh.
"That's it?" the blonde asked with a calm face.
"Yes, that's all… Let me tell you, you surprised me, I've never seen anyone endu—" Suddenly a scream burst from Ebony's mouth, silencing the half-dwarf.
"Fucking damn dogs, bastards, sons of a bi—" Ebony was suddenly silenced by Lucian, who covered her mouth with one hand.
"Well, even so, it's still impressive," Russel said while resting his fist against his mouth, coughing lightly.
After a few minutes of an enraged Ebony with teary eyes, Russel pulled out a folded cloth that he slowly unwrapped, revealing a silver necklace with a magic crystal embedded in the center.
"Since both of you are officially members of our guild, here I hand you your first official job, it's not something glamorous like participating in a war or anything like that, but it's important," the redhead said as he raised his hand, signaling a waitress to bring drinks.
"It's a frequent client who commissioned this, if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have accepted such a dangerous job."
"Since we're ten territories away from Sapphire Port, it'll probably take you a full month to cross all that, even at full speed," the bearded man's gaze looked worried.
"However, the client needs it in two weeks, it'll be complicated without help, so consider this a professional courtesy," Russel said as he pulled three small scrolls from his pocket.
"This is a summoning scroll, if you use it, you'll be able to generate solar horses, they're very obedient spiritual entities if you treat them kindly, however it only works during the day, this will speed up your journey at least enough… I hope," he mentioned while looking seriously at Lucian.
"The client is the Melian family, they are the rulers of Sapphire Port, according to what I was told, this necklace is important for the wedding of their firstborn with a member of another important family, so treat this cargo as if it were yours or even worse, as if it were mine," Russel mentioned while smoking from his pipe.
"Great, but why are there three?... Oh right," Ebony said with a sigh, watching as the waitress placed three mugs of beer on the table.
Lucian took the necklace along with the cloth protecting it and carefully stored it in his backpack along with the summoning scrolls.
Then Russel grabbed a mug of beer and made a toast, a guild tradition to send off its members on their first mission.
"May your path be filled with danger, and if you happen to see a unicorn along the way, remember that unicorns don't exist if no one says where to find them, ho ho ho," with a raspy laugh, the half-dwarf clinked his mug against the couple's, finishing the guild's traditional ritual.
In one gulp, the three of them finished the beer in their mugs, and after a final farewell, the couple left the place, beginning their journey.
Russel, for his part, stayed at the table, looking at the summoning scroll that had been left over.
"(It's a shame the boy decided to separate from the group, Lucian seemed more affected than he wanted to admit… Well, I guess that's just how things are, tomorrow I'll return this scroll, hopefully they'll give me a refund)"
At that moment, Russel picked up the beer mugs and carried them behind the bar, where he began cleaning them, until suddenly a hooded customer approached him.
"I'll be brief, barkeep, I don't wish to destroy the place nor kill you, I know you probably think I'm just another drunk bragging, but you're wrong," the hooded man said as Russel looked at him and saw his Stats.
At that moment, the bearded man dropped the glass mug, which shattered and scattered broken glass across the floor. The waitresses immediately froze as they saw their boss standing stiff with a shocked expression, something that caused the five girls to draw their poisoned knives.
"Oh wow, I see you have the famous eyes of a mixed-blood, it's curious that a gift like that fell to you, but to be honest, I couldn't care less, I'm not here for your eyes, I'm here for the necklace you were tasked with delivering," the mysterious man said, resting his elbows on the bar.
"That necklace you mention was sent days ago, you won't be able to catch up to the messengers even if you wanted to… Besides…" At that moment, Russel swallowed hard and, with courage, took a fighting stance with only his fists, ready to attack.
"They're members of the Pink Unicorn guild, I won't let you leave this place unharmed if what you plan to do is hunt my people!" the bearded man said as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead.
"Uh-huh, yeah yeah yeah, don't strain yourself, kid, I know you want to protect your people, I respect that, truly, but hey, I've got a job too, you know? So listen, I'll do this for you since I like you," the hooded man said as he stood up from his chair.
Russel thought about attacking, he moved his muscles with all the courage he had, but in an instant his body froze as magical pressure began to fill the place, shattering glasses, windows, and even the wooden floor beneath where the hooded man stood.
"I'll pretend you didn't see my target and that you're also unaware of its special contents, don't worry, we all lose our sight from time to time, but I regret to tell you that I can smell the necklace, I will find it, and just for you, brave dwarf, I'll kill your kids quickly," at that moment, the hooded man began walking toward the exit.
When the man left, the waitresses let out a sigh and fell to their knees on the floor, meanwhile their bearded boss didn't know how to save his friends, until suddenly Daniel came down the stairs, his face pale from hearing and feeling the executioner of his friends.