As soon as the bus stopped at Alve's entrance, Traxler jumped outside and started running. He was already half an hour late.

He felt dwarfed by the size of... everything. Tall buildings for other scientific or exploratory organizations surrounded him, and the nature that peeked through was all tall, venerable trees. The entrance itself to Alve was also quite intimidating: a massive gate of brightly painted steel beams with security persons on either side, it was the first warning of what you were getting yourself into. The Unexplored had been protected well by the governments of the world for a very long time, at least a thousand years. Some universally honored agreement established by all the major nations decided that civilization was not to expand any further. There was some complex and muddled history behind all of this, but Traxler wasn't really concerned about it. Or at least, he wasn't anymore. Most agreed that the reasons for the protection died with Heraldin Zonfray, the fourth ruler of Qrooq, or were only passed down to successors.

"Hi!" Traxler waved to one of the security people. "I have my ID. I'm from the Daphinde."

She checked his Daphinde card and he was let inside immediately.

Though explorers were certainly respected by border control, there were only a select few places they were allowed to go. Any location that had a failure-to-return rate that was not negligible was deemed illegal ground. Only the very best explorers with the greatest credentials were allowed to scout new areas. If they didn't return, or had any doubts about whether it was safe or suitable for exploration, the area was not cleared.

Currently, they were three major areas of the Unexplored that were available for exploration, suitably named the Unexplored-1, Unexplored-2, and Unexplored-3, which could all be reached from the Great Gate I of Qrooq. They all consisted of forest-like areas with relatively few new species, most of which were harmless. But that was a very, very small part of the unexplored. Researchers theorized that most of the Unexplored was below sea level by huge margins. It made sense, since most of the border to the Unexplored (North of Qrooq and East of Crocsarkool) was a cliffside of unknown height. No other stretch of land at an equal elevation had been spotted, either, though it was hard to see anything because of the amount of mist that surrounded the border. It was almost like nature didn't want them to venture off course either.

The Unexplored-3 was currently the hottest area of exploration. Because of the limit on the number of people allowed outside at a time, they hadn't made too many groundbreaking discoveries. But interestingly, according to reports that had been disclosed, remnants and artifacts of prior civilizations had been found.

Traxler's goal was to become one of those explorers, and his first step would be showing prowess in more mundane missions such as the Red Ravine.

His walk had taken him to the entrance of the Daphinde headquarters. It was much more pleasing to look at than the location in Donkeybad. It had a modern look and feel, built from steel and glass, and had a bluish texture in the bright sunlight. Tall trees loomed overhead, as they did everywhere in Alve.

He stepped inside. It looked like everyone else was already here. He counted five other explorers like him, wearing brown Daphinde uniforms, and about two dozen others he assumed to be mercenaries. He walked towards the explorers, who were in the middle of an intense discussion.

"-- and that's what I've been thinking about, isn't it weird how spontaneous those robberies are?" asked one of the explorers. He was a man of medium height and slender build; his uniform was a little too big for him. Perhaps he had lost weight.

"Yes, Rolt. I have some ideas myself about what criminal organizations are behind this. It's sad we aren't investigating that," responded a tall woman with a very sharp voice.

The other explorers agreed.

"Hello, fellow explorers!" Traxler interjected. "I am also very saddened by this. Splendid, we have so much in common! My name is Traxler. I assume you have names as well?"

The other explorers evaluated this newcomer, and didn't seem to like what they saw very much.

"I'm Merk," said a tall, pale, lean man with a slight hunch and the unnerving aura of a sociopath.

The rest followed suit, introducing themselves and stating where they were from. The man who talked about the robberies was Rolt, and the tall woman with dark hair was Anda. There was also a powerfully built man named Chad, and a quiet woman named Reuce, who was Merk's younger sister. All of them, except Traxler, were from Silod, where most of the best explorers came from. It was also the capital city of Qrooq, and was starkly different from Donkeybad though not very far away.

"Well, your names are very satisfactory," said Traxler, awkwardly. He was the kind of person that one would describe as both very social and socially incompetent.

"Traxler, what do you think is in that coffin?" asked Chad, pointing to a large coffin of high quality

wood that was the object of interest of the mercenaries.

"Well, a dead body, I suppose. Why is it here?"

Chad looked at him. "That's the package we are to deliver."

"Oh... I'm guessing we can't look inside?"

"Precisely," said Anda. She didn't seem pleased with Traxler's obliviousness.

"So, what are we actually helping with? Like, the job description said we're helping the mercenaries navigate the terrain, but what exactly does that mean?" Rolt looked around at the other explorers, scratching his short brown hair.

"I've been here before," answered Traxler. "The path to the red ravine is mostly grassy, with some very sticky marshland along the way. We have to look for potholes and the occasional poisonous plant."

Rolt nodded. "I'm sure we all have the credentials to do that much at least," he said, chuckling. Traxler wished they wouldn't keep bringing up the fact that they got rejected from the more interesting missions. He was trying to stay optimistic.

"HEYHEYHEYHEY!" A very large man in colorful clothes with an appropriately loud voice yelled at the group from the center of the waiting room.

"Everyone! I am the leader of the mercenaries. You can call me Big Boss Brody, or just Boss for short." The mercenaries cheered for their boss, who seemed to have their utmost respect and loyalty.

"You!" he said, pointing to the group of explorers. "Don't go around thinking you're better than us! You can hang around and tell us when you see flesh-eating mushrooms, but don't expect us to treat you like first-class citizens! Don't underestimate our capabilities on our own."

"We promise not to do so, my venerable commander Big Boss Brody," said Traxler solemnly. He heard Reuce worriedly asking her brother if there really were any flesh-eating mushrooms on their expedition.

"GOOD!" he said, looking pleased with himself. "Our anonymous employer, who we shall refer to as the Commissioner, has asked us to deliver this package to the Red Ravine, and we intend to do so. Explorers, we will protect your fragile bodies, and our fragile cargo, with a strong sense of duty! Now, it is almost daybreak! Time to begin! Let us go to our vans, which our mercenaries and I have kindly stationed outside the building!"

It was actually about eight hours after daybreak, but of course that did not matter to Boss.

The group of mercenaries and explorers gathered outside near the vans, which were parked under some trees on the side of the road that would lead them to the first Gate of Qrooq.

"So, what do you think of our leader?," said Traxler, trying to make conversation with his fellow explorers.

"I would like to stab him," said Merk, his sociopathic tendencies shining through.

"He's an attractive leader, in a kind of way," said Anda, then proceeded to say "No, not that kind" as Reuce gave her a disapproving look.

"What a loudmouth! But he reminds me of my uncle," added Rolt.

"Very nice! Excellent walking!" Boss was talking again in his unnecessarily loud and patronizing voice. "It is time... to decide each car's passengers!" He clapped as if this was a grand ceremony, and his mercenaries began clapping as well.

"He has an uncanny hold over his mercenaries." said Chad. "It's like they're all controlled by the same brain, and it seems that there just aren't enough brain cells to go around."

"OK! Explorers, you will stick together to avoid unnecessary discrimination! My second in command Nickwell and I will go with you so we can all be acquainted. Mercenaries, sort yourselves out in a civilized manner, and decide who will take the cargo! Now, populate the automobiles!" Boss finally took a breath and jumped off the ledge he was standing on to give his glorious announcement. The explorers followed him into a van colored an obnoxious bright green with the name "Brody" spray painted in purple carelessly on the door. Traxler, Chad, and Anda occupied the second row while the other explorers took the last row. Boss was in the passenger seat. Nickwell, a tall and very muscular man sat in the driver's seat. He had a shotgun strapped to his pants that he clearly wasn't trying to conceal in the slightest.

"So, where are we driving?" asked Traxler. He already knew they were going to the first gate, but he had the habit of asking unnecessary questions. Nickwell slammed his foot on the gas before anyone could answer the question, and everyone lurched forward in their seats except Nickwell. He only hummed peacefully, apparently accustomed to this dangerous style of driving. The ground was somewhat rough and uneven, but Nickwell's driving made it seem like their tires were clambering over jagged boulders.

"Ha! I would think you should know that already, being an explorer!" said Boss, wagging his finger at Traxler. "But we are driving to the first Gate of Qrooq."

"Hey," said Rolt. "Merchants!"

Traxler looked out the window. He was right. Visibly wealthy people were walking on the side of the road, probably to meet their own merchant groups and discuss deals.

"I hope we see one of them getting robbed," said Rolt.

"Not likely," said Merk. "No one has actually seen any of the robberies taking place. Things just disappear."

"Wonder if our package has any connection with the robberies... Maybe some rich guy wants to sell what's inside, but knows he can't trust the vaults here? So he hides it somewhere he knows no one will go?" Traxler scratched his head in thought.

"Not likely. I don't think he'd trust a bunch of mercenaries and some mediocre explorers," said Anda.

Traxler looked at his feet, wondering why in the world anyone would want to send anything out in the Red Ravine. Maybe there was a body in the coffin, and the Commissioner wanted to give that person a special burial? No explanation made much sense.

When he looked up again, there was a shotgun barrel in his face.