The preparations were complete. Over the course of several weeks three sets of armor and weapons had been created, potions had been brewed, supplies had been packed and now they were ready to go. Fire was satisfied with the completion of Ambigious', Unchosen's and TehLulz' training. freeZe still was far from done but that was to be expected, the main factor that made a novice mage into a master was experience and she would certainly get that on their journeys.

The six of them were standing in the entrance hall of the base. Fire, Ambigious, Unchosen and TehLulz were wearing their black firesteel armor, Shadow and freeZe were wearing identical black robes. Fire carried a variety of weapons including a halberd and his bow. The others had stuck to their choice of weapons from the training, only that now their weapons were custom-fit to them. Ambigious had heavyheartedly discarded his sunglasses since wearing them below his helmet was quite impractical. They had forgone archery for the most part, only TehLulz was carrying a crossbow that he and Ambigious had made in collaboration, Ambigious had created it and the bolts, TehLulz had enchanted it to consume negligible amounts of life force in order to aid cocking the string. They carried supplies in a variety of pouches and backpacks, their inventories were mostly empty since the hackers could still see what they were carrying.

Fire went over their supplies one last time to make sure that they were not missing anything, then they turned to go. As the group climbed the stairs up to the elevator TehLulz pointed at a demon who was carving something into a blank wall.

He asked: "What's it doing there?"

Fire answered: "Engraving a picture of our departure."

Instead of asking anything further they stepped onto the elevator platform which started to move upwards, slowly at first but gradually speeding up. A couple of seconds later the elevator had disappeared into the hole in the ceiling. Fire looked upwards, he could see the bottom of the projection that concealed the elevator rapidly approaching. When they arrived at the top Fire felt a pulse of energy passing through them.

freeZe flinched, she asked: "What was that?"

Shadow explained: "We just left the ender field warp that contains the base, if nobody is inside time stands still in there. Demons however are not affected by our time so they can still move and act inside. Expect that engraving to be done when we are back."

They all were in a good mood, enthusiastic about finally setting out on their quest. Fire and Shadow less so than the others since they knew more about the world and its dangers but there was no denying that they were still in good spirits. Ambigious was joking around with his friends while freeZe talked to Shadow. Fire went ahead of the group and used a sword to clear out the bushes and vines that occupied most of the space in the jungle.

Unchosen said: "Turns out that when you are equipped and well fed, travelling isn't much of a problem anymore."

Fire nodded. "I can only agree. How is the armor doing?"

"I honestly don't even notice it's there, it just goes with my movements. That and it is also quite cool. Both looks wise and temperature wise."

Ambigious said: "Yup, firesteel is one hell of a material, keeps heat and cold out while being protective and flexible."

A couple of hours later they left the jungle, the biome it bordered was a savannah. As soon as they stepped out from underneath the trees, the sun burnt down onto them. The warriors' firesteel armor kept most of the heat out, Shadow and freeZe were protected by a rectangular projection above their heads.

Fire's plan for this day was to reach a small oasis and then camp there, from there on they would walk through the savannah for two more days and then they would reach a mountainous biome.

Shadow asked freeZe: "Did you read anything about Drandin?"

freeZe said: "Nothing really. I noticed the name in a couple of times in some books. Other than that, I just know what you two mentioned." She paused for a moment. "And then there was that engraving in the living quarters of course."

Shadow explained: "Mencur-Besh usually either live nomadic lifestyles or have some function in a town, you never hear of Mencur-Besh settlements, right? That's not because there aren't any. It is because most of them never lasted. Sometimes because the humans got scared and tried to wage war, forcing the Mencur-Besh to retreat, other times because being nomads would benefit the collective more than staying in one place."

freeZe said: "I assume that Drandin is one of those settlements?"

"It was one of the first ones and as opposed to any other ones, Drandin still is a Mencur-Besh settlement. I should actually say that it is a settlement of those associated with the Eye-and-Claws, it has been that way from the very start. It began as a mining outpost in a particularly hostile mountain region. The Mencur-Besh and the most capable warriors and miners that carried the Eye-and-Claws established a foothold there, constantly defending against magical creatures and hordes of undead. With time they managed to gain the upper hand over the environment, magical anomalies were found and neutralized, mob spawners were shattered. They had performed some basic mining during their defense because they needed resources but after the battle was won they could start digging deep, deeper than anyone has ever dug on the server."

freeZe said: "Right, makes sense. The stone goes deeper too."

Shadow continued: "With time they had mastered the art of mining, becoming able to break harder rocks and to dig even deeper. Drandin's population is about two thirds human and one third Mencur-Besh, you'll never see more of them in one place than in Drandin, over a quarter of the two thousand total Mencur-Besh live there. As you may know, most of the mined resources on the server come from Drandin, along with things that are only found in the deepest layers. There are gems that can store many times more magical energy than diamonds, that and much more. The drandinians also came up with a way to crystalize diamonds into armor, weapons and tools, the process takes years but the resulting gear is more or less indestructible. The weapons and tools cut through just about anything."

Ambigious remarked: "And I read that they also brew and drink a lot of alcohol there. They are as close to dwarves as it gets."

Shadow explained: "We are heading towards an entrance of the old underground railway, it was built a couple of thousand years back in order to facilitate the moving of resources all over the world. It was and still is the prime way to get around if you have an Eye-and-Claws mark."

Shadow kept talking to them for quite some time and the sun was starting to set. Fire could already see the oasis he wanted to reach in the distance, only about half an hour of walking separated them from it. He was quite satisfied that the first step of their journey was almost completed, completely according to plan. He hoped that the future steps would be equally easy even though he knew that it wouldn't be the case. There were no perfect plans, only good enough plans.

When they reached the oasis they laid down some blankets to sleep on and lit a campfire. They sat there and talked until they were tired. Shadow summoned a ghostly eye to watch over them while they slept. They went to sleep after convincing Ambigious that the eye was a sufficient security measure and would not murder them with laser beams. As usual, Fire was the last one to fall asleep.