Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 126

Maria is the first to run at me with arms outstretched.

"Jay! Where have you been? We couldn't find you at the hotel earlier this morning! Where'd you run off to?!"

I let out an awkward laugh, dodging the question as Maria throws herself onto me. She smiles while finishing her long hug and backing up to look me in the eyes.

"I wanted to tell you before I left this morning, but like I said, you were gone. I joined the association too! I couldn't just leave you here all alone! Plus they gave me a pretty good offer."

I nod, looking her up and down.

"It seems that way. Aren't you contracted with the Pace guild exclusively though?"

"Well... Yeah, but they let me sign a non-exclusive supplement contract. All dungeons D-Class and below can be farmed with the guild, while higher level areas will be strictly Association business."

"My contract is very similar."

Maria stands in front of me smiling ear to ear. My gaze shifts to Arie and Abby.

The green-haired girl looks like she's in her natural habitat here. A few people passing by smile and say hi as they come and leave, they already know her. Abby looks over at me.

"Welcome to the Association Jay. It isn't exactly like the warm welcome I received on my first day, but I'm glad you're here. I have an exclusive contract if you were curious. Mandatory missions are set up for me and I'm paid accordingly. My newest job is to be a part of this extraction squad. So, we'll be working together a lot from now on."

I give her a kind nod, but Arie speaks up before I can get any words out.

"Same goes for me. I signed an exclusive contract too. Different terms, but the same style of agreement. I'll be on this extraction squad. I'm glad it's you 3, trusting another group of new recruits would be a bit more difficult."

I look back and forth at my 3 new teammates in front of me, not knowing exactly what to say.

Sure, we worked together during the exams and I've even trained with Abby and Maria a few times, but after I hit C-Class I was expecting to go straight back to solo Dungeon Diving. Continuing to work with a team will be a change of pace... Arie is right about one thing, I'm glad it's them and not a group of randoms thrown together by the Association.

I let out a long exhale, then speak up.

"Well, I'm glad we'll all be working together too."

After this line Tripp steps in and has a word.

"Alright, I'll be showing the 4 of you around for a little while. I'm part of a similar group, we do weekly missions and fill certain quotas. The higher-ups told me your squad will most likely be a bit more aggressive for the harder missions. More power to ya I guess!"

He grins.

"Follow me, let's get you all situated with your duties, then we'll join the party upstairs. The second-floor banquet hall will be filled with hunters and executives within the hour. It's tradition, rather boring... but there's always good food and drinks, so we'll have to check it out."

Light on his feet, the blond dagger wielder turns and starts walking toward the door that we just entered. He motions for the rest of us to follow, so we do without another word.

There are no locks on the doors from the inside, they just click open with a slight push. All 5 of us make our way through into the bright-colored mini market. Immediately, my eyes are drawn to all the moving lights again. Tripp points to a smaller storefront at the back of the room.