The three of them talked infront of the building in a low voice as this matter was a bit sensitive. Rosie didn't try and eavesdrop, even though the fact that they didn't let her in on the discussion made her a bit peeved. Bella on the other hand was showing had visible irritation on her face, as she interpreted their secrecy as not trusting them. Which to some extent was true, Xavier didn't really trust people he only met, and if he could have hidden his stash from Mickey and Maria, he would have. Mickey was the same and Maria simply followed their lead as they haven't misled her so far.
The three of them planned how they were going to split and use the remaining nine monster stones they had received from the goblins. As they planned, Ava, Anna and the five new recruits arrived. Anna and Ava looked at Maria, Mickey and Xavier at the entrance and then at Bella, who had an irritated look on her face, and Rosie who was leaning against the wall with a disinterested look.
"What's going on here? A private discussion?" Anna asked as she and the others approached
"Nah, we were just discussing our plans for tomorrow...if we survive that long anyway." Xavier replied
"And pray tell, what are your plans?" Ava asked
"To kill more monsters." Mickey said, folding his arms with a frown, as he thought her question was a bit too inquisitive. There was visible tension in the air between Xavier, Mickey, Anna and Ava. Maria was looking between them, trying to think of a way to expel the tension, but she couldn't think of anything to say. The five new recruits looked at the situation confused, as they thought Xavier, Maria and Mickey were subordinates as well, but based on the situation, it did not seem that way.
"Hey guys, what took you so long?" Rosie said, walking forward and giving both Anna and Ava a hug.
"Sorry, we were woken up a bit later than you guys. It seems the guards don't let us out at the same time." Ava explained, which made sense considering things like watches and clocks don't work here.
"Either way, glad you are here. The same for you five as well." Rosie said to the five new recruits, and entered inside and everyone followed behind her. Doing a quick count, Xavier counted twelve people, and he groaned internally as it would be a pain to gather enough monster stones for all of them.
"Alright, so our objective today is teaching you guys how to hunt properly. We haven't been here long ourselves, but we have gotten pretty good at killing monsters ourselves, especially those three. I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you guys get oriented." Rosie said and looked over at where Xavier and the others were standing, and Xavier nodded his head.
"To get you guys oriented, we were planning to head East. The goblins aren't the easiest monsters to kill, but fighting them should prepare you guys for the other monsters." Rosie said and the new recruits looked at her nervously.
"Actually, we were planning on heading west today." Xavier said and Rosie's eyelid twitched and an irritated expression on her face.
"Don't make that face. We can take the newbies with us." Xavier said, and the new recruits flinched
"D-doesn't the West have the strongest monsters. The red devils." One of the new girls said, and Xavier raised an eyebrow
'Red Devils.' He thought
"They aren't as strong as you think." Mickey said and both Rosie and Anna's eyebrow twitched.
"You don't think so because you are so fucking strong." Anna mumbled under her breath.
"Ah, if you guys come with us, we will show you something special. When was the last time you guys saw a clean river?" Maria asked, and they looked at her in surprise.
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After they explained about the river Xavier found to the West, they all agreed to go with them. First they went to the Orb of Eldara, where they bought 7 copper water canisters, and Rosie kept her promise of buying Xavier clothes. She bought him a pair of cotton pants, shirt and a low quality rubber and shoes. The size of the clothes were exactly Xavier's size, which surprised him.
"Thanks." Xavier said, before placing them in his bag. He then walked up to the Orb and bought two bronze daggers, each valued at 90 Points each. And a clothes for Mickey, same type of clothes Rosie bought for him. He got the option of choosing the size by the Orb, but unlike using a normal metric system of measuring, the Orb simply required him to imagine the person the clothes were for.
Finishing his purchase, he could see the members of the Sisterhood staring at him in surprise and envy, along with a lot of the prisoners around them. Xavier handed his bronze sword to Bella who was the only one among the original seven, who didn't have a bronze weapon and she graciously accepted.
Next, Maria bought bought clothes for herself, a cotton shirt, pants, underwear and black tights. They did one last weapons check, which included the seven empty bags that they were carrying with them. They left the extra weapons back at the building, as they figured even if they were stolen, they could always gather more.
"Alright, let's go." Xavier said.