And so, today was the day. The beginning of the quest that the girl would undertake in order to prove herself, prove herself worthy of carrying the Anthellon family name! Her lineage could be traced back to countless warriors on both sides of her family, and so there was no way she would not do all she could to make herself a worthy part of it. Besides, what better way to show her fighting prowess and skill, to display the way that her training had honed her abilities, then to venture out on a quest? It only made sense in the girl's mind. Her side ponytail bouncing as she walked, she noticed that a merchant had set up shop outside of the guild.

Maria smiled. That was quite clever! She couldn't claim to be an expert on business, but there was no way that she couldn't figure out the strategy there. Adventurers would, naturally, require supplies. And setting up a shop outside of the Adventurer's Guild would ensure a steady stream of customers. You could keep prices low so that you wouldn't overcharge those in need, and still turn an excellent profit. Or so she assumed, at least. Naturally, if the merchant(who was quite finely dressed, Maria could not ignore) was charging ridiculous prices, her opinion would rapidly change on that matter.

And so, the girl with the tan hair approached the stand, passing a few people as she did. Was it not ideal to stock up before attempting to do any adventuring? Of course it was. She had supplies, yes, but a wise adventurer knew to take all opportunities they could in order to gain them. Provided they wouldn't spoil or something. That would just end up kind of gross. However, when Maria came to a halt in front of the stand, she noticed something was, well... not quite right.

At all.

Frowning, she reached down and picked up one of the items, holding it up before looking at the merchant, disapproval plain on her face.

"This is literally just a lump of charcoal tied to a string," she said, holding up the dangling piece of junk, "What possible use could this have?"