With a new piece of kit at hand and smiles on their faces, our trio have left the dungeon at Witches Falls and are back to the surface.

"That was a particularly tickling experience… If it is alright for me to say it, chaps. I have read extensive literature on the subject, but it seems the thrilling experiences belong to the higher difficulties?" Despite stomping his way through, it left him craving something more. Though MC could see he was happy to have finally had a shot at trying a dungeon.

"Lucky for you, my little budding buddy, we can move onto the three-star dungeons next time. We should head along the cliff-face route towards New Stonks City (NSC) and then onwards to Lilacatta Town. We'll stop off at NSC first, though." Confident in his ideas, MC suggested to the other two something they could be on board with.

Horace nodded in agreement; walking along the route, he waited a fairly long time before making any suggestions himself. SINCE WE'RE GOING that way next, we may as well take on that dungeon OUTSIDE OF Lilacatta Town."

It would be convenient. It's super close to the town after all. Realising that it's a smart move, MC agreed, "Sounds like a plan. Try giving the others a call, and Larry too whilst you're at it. It's been too long now; someone needs to make the call. It may as well be us at this point."

Horace began to open up the Shellnet tab on his system window while walking.

WARNING: You are currently set to 'Do-Not-Disturb' max mode. Uh oh… when did I enable this setting!? All incoming alerts and notifications are disabled; Calls will go to answering system; Messages will be sent straight to the inbox

*Missed calls - 50*

*Unopened messages - 45*

Sweat began to pour out from Horace's forehead. Heavy sweating caused his fur to become soaked with moisture; a strong breeze and standing at the back helped him to cool down in the night time travels. I'm not gonna say anything. They'll never let me live it down.

Dillee caught wind of the odour and mentioned it aloud, "Is it me? Or is there a smell of wet animal in the air?" Sniffing the air, MC couldn't pick up on anything; he turned to Horace, who wasn't acting out of character, though he did notice the heavy sweating on his face. Must be coming down with something

The cliff-face road was one of the more pleasant experiences the trio had thus far. The smell of the sea and quiet tidal night gave them a plain walking trip through a dark, gentle, breezy pathway. Lamps were dotted along the cliff to provide waypoints of light a welcome addition to their travels.

They travelled in the same manner for nearly two hours, eventually reaching the section that would take them to the lower region of NSC. A road built alongside the beach was always going to invite sand. Tourists were playing around the beach, and full-time employees hired just to keep the sand at bay were useless in the short and long term, particularly as a strong gust of wind seemed to be targeting that small section repeatedly.

MC and Horace were familiar with walking on sand; the crunching against their boots and shifting as the sand spread from their footsteps was a different experience compared to Dillee.

"Whilst I appreciate being able to get roots deep, I do wish they didn't meet concrete at the bottom. There's dissatisfaction in not finding something I can absorb. Not to mention, it's getting in-between my nooks and crannies; I can't imagine that's good for the flavour or chafing."

Trying to shimmy and get the sand out as he walked was hilarious to MC; it reminded him of when he had a four-legged friend back on Terra. Shaking after being walked in the rain to dry off. Except this two-legged friend could talk, read, and write.

"I do appreciate your little quirks, buddy."

"Whatever do you mean, 'ol chap?"

Rubbing his tip and helping him as he dragged his roots in the sand, MC thought in his head, 'Just those little things you do.' They're so unique and it makes you interesting, bud.

"Nothing, buddy. Come on."

*** Wardi swap~

Wardi and his companions sat in the hotel rooms, enjoying a hearty bunch of guilty foods and causing the room to be an abomination of clashing scents and aromas. The sweet dessert that Rhua had paired sort of well with Lucy's sweet/savoury curry. Wardi's salty, savoury, traditional-style food was a bit of a culture clash. They had to keep the windows open after guests complained the smell was keeping them awake.

"This is one heck of a place to crash for the night. We haven't stayed somewhere with room service for a while." Wardi was desperate for comfort, though his companions didn't appreciate the pastry spillage all over the floor.

Those crumbs are setting me off! Rhua quickly turned him away as she stuffed a mouthful of Ostkake in her gob. "MMPH, dondoeet, mmph, chomp chomp, cost mmph a fortune." Chunks of the dessert fell onto her casual wear and around the floor. *'2-second rule', she thought as she picked at them, only ending up pushing them further into the carpet. Well now I can't complain about his mess…

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Lucy was in a spice coma, having accidentally taken someone else's curry in confusion; "..." was her response as they tried to get her attention. She flopped over the bed, hanging herself off the side of it. Rhua with her back against the door, and Wardi sprawled out on that strange sofa that seems to be in nearly every hotel room even though the rooms are standard for two people.

If I were married and upset the wife, she could kick me out of bed, saying, 'YOU'RE SLEEPING ON THE SOFA,' which could finally be put to use, heh. 'God, this is just like my mum's cooking.' Wardi chomped into a pie made with liver from a questionable origin. The herb-goodness against the tender meat and crumbling pastry and tatoe had him on a nostalgia field trip.

Trying not to lose herself, Rhua spoke to Wardi, "Any luck with your calls? I tried them again, and I got through to the answering system." Sighing with a mix of frustration and worry.

Wardi shook his head and responded, "Not a sausage on my end either." Wardi wasn't so concerned just yet. Horace hadn't disappeared off the friend list, so he wasn't dead, at least.

"We really should have added Dillee before we split up. That was a stupid error on our parts. We've done this long enough to know better..." Rhua waited a moment before gorging on another huge slice of Ostkake.

"Should have, would have, etc. What about you, Luce? Did you have any luck with them?"

"...zzz"

"Great talk, kid."

Rhua snorted and choked on her food, splutter, cough. She washed it down with good old-fashioned vann, soothing her throat. "You arse! Don't make me laugh whilst I'm eating." Rhua threw her unused wooden spork at Wardi, though it fell to the floor before it could even get near him.

"Terrible design quality on that, no aerodynamics at all, heh heh." Wardi joked, then continued to stuff his face with pie. Spilling gravy down his chin, God damn, I need a high chair. Wardi sighed and thought to himself as he wiped away the drips. Rhua wasn't amused.

"I'm finishing up, then going to sleep... We should travel through the Widdlewans tomorrow and onwards to Eccles Ville. Stick around there for a while and use the entrams to save time if we need to get going. What do you think?"

"We have no other plans set out; fine by me. You take the bed with Batmage over there; I'll take the shady watch-while-you-sleep sofa. The bed's too small for three of us, and it's weird if I'm in it anyway."

Taking her time so as not to explode from all the food she had eaten, Rhua slowly made her way over to the bed, gently settling into it. This bed...oh, that is a comfortable feeling.

*** - The bailiffcide squad

Wooj and the squad remained at the beachfront, eagerly awaiting the speed blimp to return. The squad were antsy and feeling like Wooj may have been letting this get to him a little bit more than it should have. The Sharpshot spoke out, "Cap… This is madness. I mean, I know it's a signed debt retrieval, but...Wooj is relentless with this particular group."

The squad captain looked around to try and gauge how quietly they should speak. Sensing that they were probably far enough apart that the Banduchladore wasn't in range, he replied to his teammate, "Rookie, you've got to watch that tongue … Do you want to stay stuck in the lower-tier squad forever? But I agree with you. I'm going to report him to my superior when the job is done or if we make a diversion to home base."

The Swiftsong made their opinion known also: "All this over a fight that could have been avoided if they didn't do that stupid roleplay nonsense. What a fucking joke of a company."

Wooj couldn't hear what was happening, but he picked up that the squad were talking. He looked in their direction and barked at them. "What are you all talking about? Something to share with the rest of us?"

The squad captain, trying to keep his team safe, replied calmly, "No, Wooj. We're just discussing non work related issues whilst we wait."

Hmph, bullshitters. I caught you looking over before you spoke.

Wooj looked away, passing time by taking his axe out and sharpening it with a whetstone. It was bigger than most people, and he wielded it with ease thanks to his gargantuan strength. The whetstone being grated against the blade looked more like a flamethrower firing with how strong and intense the sparks were. Members of the resort interrupted him with warnings, "Sir. I've been told to remind you, this region is not Eccles Ville territory. Koudilon Guild controls the area, and you're currently breaking guild rules with damage to property."

The Banduchladore stared and grabbed hold of the resort worker. "What did you say to me, you little shit?" The squad tried to intervene, shouting at Wooj, "Sir, let him go; don't cause a scene outside of the city territories."

"Fuck off, maggots, EcclesVille is only expanding while these shithole places stay the same. Refusing to keep up with the times" Unbothered by Wooj's ranting, the resort worker continued to warn the man, "Sir, you have been warned. Let me go, or you will end up in jail." Wooj was unfazed; the rage for his work was getting the better of him.

The Koanit squawked and echoed loudly across the Atoll; workers busy elsewhere began to rush to the aid of their fellow guildmate, and, unlucky for Wooj, the big boss hadn't left to attend an important meeting elsewhere.

The squad were terrified as the same hatch they had exited burst open, a screeching lid amplifying the fear as it shot high into the sky like a firework. A mysterious figure jumped out to the beachfront. Slamming down, sending shockwaves out as he did so.

Bright fluffy pink sliders, well-oiled skin bronze and shiny, paired with a pitch-black subligar and a neon bobble hat. Finished with a neatly combed moustache. The questionable and enigmatic individual that just joined was one that kept a low profile and hated public appearances with a passion.

"Say, fella. You mahnd, letting go of little Philly there?"

Wooj continued to firmly hold onto Philly while berating the weirdo from the manhole entrance, "The access points are for authorised individuals only. And who the hell are you to tell me what to do ya greased up prick?" Anger was a seriously BAD idea in this situation.

"You come down to my land, stirring up trubbal and think you can talk smack to mah face boy? Are you sss-stupid?"

The captain of the squad almost missed the figure saying 'mah land'. Oh SHIT. "Wooj. You better stand down. Or we're done with this mission in more ways than one; use your head, dammit!" Shaking in his voice, the captain tried his best, but for Wooj, he could care less.

"As per section 2 of the executive order, 'I hereby authorise Wooj Littlerump to use excessive force where necessary.'" I've been needing to let off some steam. Wooj said, dropping Philly onto a pile of broken furniture.

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