Osric and William shook hands once again.
And the first thing they did was walking up to the front desk together and tell the guild clerk that they wanted to register as an official party.
"Ah yes. Franklin told me that you would build your own party and I have therefore already prepared the necessary documents."
"Should I write you down as the official party leader?"
Osric nodded.
"Yes. And William here is my first and only member as of now."
The guild clerk looked at William and nodded. He had already interacted with him a few times before.
'Two of the up and coming young adventurers are forming a party. This is good for the guild and them.'
'Most people would probably wonder why Osric is the leader as he is the junior, but I know of the missions he completed. He is very capable according to the records and Franklin.'
The party registration didn't take long. They only had to sign a couple papers and it was done.
"Okay. You are an official party now. Good luck to you both."
They both thanked the guild clerk and left the building together.
—
After a few minutes, they arrived at the shop that dealt in monster materials.
William put the big bag with the Forest Lynx corpse on the counter.
The older man looked up and immediately recognised Osric.
'This kid again? He is an annoying negotiator, but at least he brings business.'
"Welcome back. And I see that you brought a friend this time."
He looked inside the bag.
"Forest Lynx huh?"
"This will get you much less than before though."
William looked confused.
Osric asked.
"How much?"
"Well the body isn't in good shape. And even if it was, the pelt can be sold for an okay price, the fangs and claws go for a decent amount, but everything else is useless."
"I can offer you 45 copper."
William had no idea whether that was a fair price.
'Doesn't sound like much. Will Osric take it?"
Osric responded.
"85."
The shopkeeper frowned deeply.
"Are you crazy brat?!"
"The highest market price for a whole Forest Lynx corpse in perfect condition goes for only around 80 copper!"
"I will offer 55 at most!"
Osric remained calm and replied again on the same unbothered tone.
"70."
"This crazy kid. Fine, I will give you 60. But if you want more, you can go find another shop."
Osric didn't push it this time.
"Alright. 60 copper it is."
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue and handed over the money.
Osric handed over 24 copper to William while keeping 36 for himself as promised in the contract.
As they were walking down the street on the way to a nearby inn, William stared at Osric.
'I didn't know he had such a side to him. He really cares about getting all the money he can. I'm surprised he even decided to give me 40%.'
Osric interrupted his thoughts.
"You hungry?"
William grinned.
"Yes. Definitely!"
—
Once they sat down at a table in a quiet inn and ordered their food, Osric asked.
"How's your wound?"
William smiled.
"Not bad. Applying ointment and bandaging it at the guild helped a lot. But it wasn't a deep cut to begin with."
Osric nodded.
"That's good. When do you think you'll be ready to take on another mission? Without putting yourself in danger of course."
William chuckled and replied.
"Haha. You really are eager man. I should be ready to go the day after tomorrow. Do you already have a mission in mind?"
"Nothing specific, but I think we should take on somewhat easier missions that also make good money. We should get used to teamwork before taking on something too challenging."
"Yeah. That makes sense. Forest Creepers and Venomfang Snakes probably make the most sense then right?"
Osric frowned faintly.
"Forest Creepers yes. If the head count of the nest is accurate. But Venomfang Snakes are too unpredictable from my recent experience."
William looked really curious.
"Oh what happened?"
Osric then told him about it.
The next couple hours were spent talking about past missions that they both took. William drank quite a lot. Osric didn't.
At the end, Osric decided.
"We will first take one very easy E-Rank mission like killing a single wolf or something. After that we will complete Forest Creeper missions for a while to get more money and increase our experience and teamwork."
William agreed while being tipsy.
"Sounds like a plan boss! But how come the drinks didn't affect you at all?"
"Because I drank much less than you. I don't like losing control."
William laughed.
"Haha, you aren't very fun are you?"
"But fun doesn't help you survive, so who cares?"
Osric sighed.
"Yes. We should probably call it a night."
They stood up and left after paying a total of 42 copper. Osric payed half even though William ate and drank more.
William asked one last question before they parted ways.
"Do you already have other people in mind to recruit into our party?"
Osric looked at the slightly goofy looking William and answered.
"Not yet. I am careful when it comes to picking people I choose to trust."