Chapter 13: Finding a New Party
After leaving the restaurant, Lucas went to the nearest store to buy some Mana Potions.
"One small Mana Potion will cost 500 dollars," said the store manager.
"What? 500 dollars?" Lucas was baffled by the expensive price tag and decided to give up on buying them for now, as he wasn't willing to spend half of his wealth on a single Mana Potion, and he still had a couple left on him.
Lucas then took a taxi to the city square, where many people could be seen holding up signs standing around, looking like there was an ongoing protest.
However, these people were not protesters. They were all Players— solo Players that were looking for people to group up so that they could enter public dungeons without forming a party.
Although Lucas could've come here before to look for a party, this place was quite far away from the guild, and it would've taken him an entire day just to walk here, as he was too poor for taxis.
Furthermore, half of the people in this place were for hire, meaning that they will join any party if given a fee.
After getting out of the taxi, Lucas made his way to the square, and he began looking around.
[Level 16 Support for hire.]
[Level 24 Tank for hire. 5 years of experience.]
[Looking for an Attacker that can use magic! Level 20 and above only!]
Lucas ignored the people for hire, focusing solely on the ones that were looking for other members.
However, the majority of the people there were above level 20, making it near impossible for a level 5 like him to join them.
After walking around the large square for about twenty minutes, Lucas noticed two people standing in a shaded area underneath some trees. A young man in his mid-twenties and a pretty young girl with short red hair that looked to be around his age.
[Looking for any solo Player to enter the recently discovered novice-rank dungeon at the Virgo District! Separating after entrance!]
Lucas immediately approached them and said, "Hello, I would like to join your party."
"Great! The only term is that we'll be sharing the taxi fare since the place is kind of far." The young man didn't even bother asking for his level since they were only using each other to enter the dungeon.
"Okay."
"Are you ready to leave now?"
"I am."
"Alright, let's get a taxi."
And without any further delays, the three of them got into a taxi and began heading towards the Virgo District from the Leo District.
The Stellar City was made up of 13 districts that followed the 13 zodiac constellations, and Lucas grew up in the Leo District.
In fact, this will be his second time leaving the Leo District. The first time he left was 3 days ago when he left the city to enter his first dungeon.
"This trip will take around 4 hours since Virgo District is on the other side of the city." The young man who was sitting in the back of the taxi with Lucas said, and he continued, "My name is William, what's yours?"
"Lucas."
"What about you, young lady?" William asked the pretty girl in the front, but she completely ignored him, acting like she didn't even hear him.
After a moment of awkward silence, William returned to Lucas and asked him, "If you don't mind me asking, is that hospital wear that you're wearing?"
"Yes, it is."
"Is it a new trend or something amongst the young people? I have never seen anyone going to a dungeon in that kind of fashion."
"I don't know."
Lucas then changed the topic and asked, "What kind of monsters are inside the dungeon we're going to? And what level are they?"
"Eh? You don't know?" William looked at him with wide eyes.
Normally, people would research the dungeon before actually entering them.
Lucas shook his head. He didn't care what was inside the dungeon, and most novice-rank dungeons are around level 10, so he wasn't worried that he might accidentally enter a high-level dungeon.
"Well, this dungeon has a pretty wide range of levels despite being a novice-rank dungeon. It has monsters between level 1 and level 20. As for the monsters, mostly goblins, and hobgoblins."
"I see…"
"What level are you? I'm level 27," William suddenly said.
"Five," he responded in a calm voice.
"L-Level five? And you're going to a dungeon alone? Surely, you must be joking with me." William looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
Even the girl that had been still this entire time turned around to look at him with disbelief in her eyes.
Lucas merely shrugged. He didn't care if they believed him or not.
"If you're for real, I must say, you are very courageous and bold. When I was level 5, I wouldn't even go near a dungeon without a party."
Sometime later, William said, "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there."
The taxi became dead silent with William going to sleep, and it would remain that way until they arrived at their location.
As for Lucas, he stared outside the car window and watched the scenery the entire ride there.
The entire journey took a little over four hours and 600 dollars, but with the cost split between them, they only had to pay 200 dollars individually.
Four hours later, the taxi stopped, and the driver said, "We have arrived at your destination, Virgo District."
Lucas woke up William, who was still sound asleep.
"Huh? Are we there?" William looked around with a drowsy face after waking up.
"Yes."
The three of them left the taxi shortly after.
After stretching their bodies for a moment, William said, "Alright. Let's stop by the guild real quick to make the party official. I also need to use the bathroom."
Thus, they began making their way to the nearest guild.