Even with his carefully curated winter gear, it was still as frigid as always. For each breath he exhaled, a bellow of frigid smoke emerged. Such a cold winter made Renault wonder if his choice of spells was correct. Had he chosen fire, he would be able to keep warm. That was beside the point, though. Such petty things shouldn't trifle him. What he picked was what he picked. No amount of willpower could change the past. Actually, would it have been possible to flex in another contract with a fire spirit? That would be a question for later. He'd ask the sadistic receptionist that stood at the mage guild if he could.

Not that it mattered.

He didn't even have the money to get another spell. Spells were expensive. It had cost him his entire endowment from Mathers to join the mage guild. Even though his former party could make serious coinage, he had to spend all of his gold just to catch up to them. The only nest egg he could make was a total of 7 silver. An entire seven silver. If he stretched it as much as he could, how many days could he last? One week? Two at the most. Not long enough to wait until the winter was over. No, he had to get back into action. Hunt some monsters, but without the help of his former team. For a mage? That was pretty much a death sentence.

The answer was obvious. Renault had to join a new party. He was—thank the gods—a semi-experienced mage. Mages, after all, were an extraordinarily powerful force. They were weak and fragile, but a good mage could decimate hordes of monsters before they even got close to the frontlines. Even if he wasn't good enough to keep up with the big leagues, he could still make a killing if he just knocked himself down to where his skill actually was. Even if it was risky, dying from exposure and starvation in the middle of winter was probably worse than getting stuck with a sketchy party. If he could just get five silver from hunting, he would basically double his breathing room.

And there Renault was. In the middle of the square, scoping out parties illuminated by the bizarre orange glow that always came with the snow. Light from fires and the moon reflected unimpeded thanks to the snow's white nature. Even though the sun was nowhere near close to breaching the horizon, there was enough light to see everything. The less fine details, at the very least. It had been a long time since he had looked at the bounty board. His party leader would choose each bounty that his party had gone to complete. Now, it was up to Renault to finally see what quests remained in the desolate winter.

A good amount.

Purifying skeletons was cheap and easy. It was basically like fighting oversized ice cubes, just more stubborn. Skeleton mages were terrifying, though. They silently cast their magic and were generally unaffected by things. The Ravager-Wyrm was also cheap. A large worm that was misspelled? Most likely. It was more of a threat to the landscape than people, though. 13 silver was an okay amount for brand new adventurers, but if it was split between more than three people? Only enough for some food. Salamander riders seemed like a good choice for a decent party. Magic was effective against most things. The Embalming Hunter wasn't a good matchup for Renault. Had he been a fire mage, he would easily be able to torch the beast's lair. He wasn't. No point in dwelling over it. Bringing supplies to the fort was the real money maker. If you did it right, you could get ten gold every 3 or so days. It was probably difficult and soul crushing, but the possibility of making fat stacks was there. The other two were a bit difficult. Both of them were like raids; large bosses surrounded by their troops. Unless Renault got an amazing party that he could trust every step of the way, he would have to avoid those two like the plague.

Renault needed a party before taking his thoughts any further. Don't miss the forest for the trees. Would the better metaphor have been 'don't skip steps when building a chair?'

Well. He would just wait by the bounty board for now, trying to not freeze his buns off as he scoped out groups that looked like they could use another member.