The guild hall was alive with sound and circumstance, everyone was hustling and bustling along, folks returning from jobs (some more worse for wear) and other going out to earn their Jewels. Music was playing off in the distance. Ben could hear people having some sort of discussion about a "monster" in the town of Haven. He paid little attention to that, as he had more pressing matters to attend to.

*CRACK*

A loud sound echoed throughout the hall as the cue ball connected with the 9 sending it straight for the corner pocket. "Jeez Colby," Ben kidded "You just wanna call this your third loss now so I can Just take all the Jewel You have with ya? I have some reading I planned on getting back to and I really don't want to embarrass you in front of your buddies" A childish formed across his face, "Tell ya what, you sink this next shot blindfolded, and we call it even, Cool?" And with that Colby sealed his fate and chalked another win up on the board for Ben. "I am unstoppable!" he shouted. "Alright kids I gotta go do a little reading now, if anyone needs me, they know where I'll be."

----

Back in his room Ben unfolded the small piece of nondescript paper he removed from his pocket and began to skim its contents. "The Horror of Haven" it read, "This terrible entity has been viciously slaughtering travelers and townsfolk alike. Terrifying all whom live here and wreaking havoc on the surrounding landscape we ask that you come here and find out the source of this terrible blight that has fallen upon us. Please aid us in our time of need for we have no one else to turn to..." 

The request went on.. "500,000 Jewel" he thought "Quite the payout for what could easily be just some lunatic with a blood lust." I wonder why Pollux was so quick to hide this from us? Does he really think its a waste of time? I bet he just doesn't think any of us here can handle it! Not like it's some special S-Class quest or anything. I wonder if I should just head to Haven to check it out? He thought to himself. As Ben looked around his studio apartment he remembered that this place wasn't free, and he hadn't done a decent paying job in quite some time. "Maybe" he thought. "Maybe Pollux will let me go on this quest if I confront him about it, or I can just go back to the guild and see if I can sucker anyone else into a little trouble, after all, what can it hurt?"

With that thought Ben gathered up his things and headed back to the guild, he figured he would try to find a few capable people to team up with, seeing as he knew Gramps would tell him "NO" outright if he as trying to do this one solo.

----

As he entered the guild he brushed past a young man with long blonde hair seemingly standing awestruck in front of the guild. As he passed Ben turned with a smile and said "You know, you actually have to [b][i][u]open[/b][/u][/i] the doors before you can get inside" He chuckled and pushed open the guild doors, stopping to hold them open for a second and turning to the mage behind him. "If you make it past these bad boys, look for Pollux Vermillion, he's our guild master...after you talk to him, come find me in the guild hall" He motioned to the mage with a thumbs up and a wink, "I'm Ben by the way, hope to see ya inside"

With that Ben ducked into the doorway and made his way over to a small table with some unfamiliar members who he had overheard earlier talking about this Haven mess and proceeded to wait for the right time to approach.