The group arrives at a medium-sized town in the Cavas region, and there's a festival going on.

  There's an all you can eat pie contest which Baldric decides to enter. He chows down pie after pie without even chewing much, and easily defeats his opponents. He wins a medal and a sum of gold coins.

  A free meal and a prize? This day can't get any better, he says, with his stomach expanded to twice its size.

  Kilian buys Alina roasted skewered apples with honey, which she enjoys greatly, and even more so because they came from Kilian.

  Fuki and Lumi watch a local magician. They've never been outside of the Frigus dynasty, they don't get to see many magicians. Although this magician is not quite so skilled in actual magic, his humorous act makes it worthwhile.

  Amaru decides to hit the musket stand. It's a simple game, you have to hit increasingly difficult targets for a price from about 5-20 lengths away.

  You have to use a musket. The inside is likely crooked, and he is not a skilled ranger, so he misses most of his shots anyway. The final targets are even moving, pulled by a string.

  To his surprise there's a man getting all shots correct. Bullseye after bullseye.

  He uses his points to cash out a bottle of cider. Then he leaves for a nearby inn.

  We could use a ranger like that, he thinks to himself. He follows the man to the inn.

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  He sits at the corner, and orders a glass of mead. Amaru asks the bartender if he knows that guy.

  That’s Achran Jakte, best bounty hunter in the Cavas region. If you need someone caught, dead or alive, he's your guy. This confirms it. They need a skilled professional in their group.

  Amaru walks over.

  Excuse me sir, I couldn't help but notice you were hitting all your shots back there at the musket stand. We're on a quest to defeat an... evil mage. The rewards are quite big, perhaps you'd be interested to join us?

  The young man looks over. His expression looks like that of a grizzled war veteran, up to no good.

  He has short dark hair and wears a hat, and a long grey/black coat. On his back he carries a long musket, and he has two pistols on his belt.

  I'm not cheap, he says.

  300 gold upfront. And what are the rewards?

  The reward is about 5000 gold each per person.

  5000? What sort of insane person gave you this quest? Wait, the catch is that this one is really strong isn't it. Tell me about the target. Then Achran turns away and takes a swig of mead.

  Well.. She's a dark mage, proficient in dark magics. We need to capture her alive.

  Wouldn't be a hassle to catch one of those alive, they're always using undying spells to prevent their own deaths anyway, Achran says as he smiles.

  This one is difficult though. She's a high ranking general from the Arcana empire.

  Arcana empire? That's a little far. Such a target is far more difficult than what I usually do. I don't do military stuff, I'm not a mercenary. Far too dangerous, he says.

  Amaru thinks for a second. We'll pay you double.

  Achran thinks. How many people are involved?

  There's me, a shieldbearer, a healer, two frost mages and a sword fighter. We are quite experienced.

  Alright I'll do it.