Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist's Desk

Discussion in 'Roleplaying Games' started by AliceShiki, Jan 28, 2019.

  1. WhitesRabbit48

    WhitesRabbit48 Well-Known Member

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    Even with their limited range of vision, Lethe and Deanna safely made their way towards the receptionists' desk without dropping anything. After a brief struggle, Lethe slid the report to the nearest receptionist.
    Deanna stood outside the guild's entrance. It was her first mission. Although she didn't know exactly where the Village of New Spice was, she brought along her horse in case it was far. Taking out an apple to feed the horse, she waited for Lethe.


    Seeing his party member waiting for him, Lethe tried to wander over a little faster. Mornings weren't really his thing, but he did what he could.

    "Mornin'." he got out before succumbing to the all-consuming need to yawn.

    Post yawn, Lethe offered Deanna a biscuit and asked: "Ready?"


    Deanna took the biscuit and offered some cream puffs.


    "Yeah," she replied before taking a bite of the biscuit.

    Finishing the biscuit, she asked, "Where's the village we need to head to?"


    Happily accepting the creampuff, Lethe drawled, "Southeast 'n near th' riv'r. Little farth'r th'n Lakeside."

    After a pause Lethe continued, adding what (in his opinion) was the most important part, "Heard they've good spice cake. "



    Looking toward the direction of the yet to rise sun, Deanna said, "Okay then, let's get going before the sun rises."

    Deanna walked up to her horse and checked that it was saddled properly before mounting him.


    Seeing at Deanna on her horse and ready to go, Lethe looks around confusedly. He didn't see another horse and he certainly doesn't have a mount of his own, so what was he supposed to do? After a good minute of looking around and hoping that another horse would just magically appear, Lethe turned to Deanna, wondering if she already had a plan of some sort.


    Deanna realized his predicament and was a little embarrassed, as she assumed that he would have a horse.

    She thinks for a second before suggesting, "We can ride together, or we can take go and see if there are any merchants heading in that direction."


    "T'gether's fine."

    Thanks to a little assistance from his party member, Lethe then somehow made his way onto the horse. They were finally ready to make their way to New Spice Village!

    As they left Nagrand, the streets were still empty and the guards not yet fully awake. Lethe, personally, felt like this was a sign that no one should be awake such an ungodly hour in the first place. The lull of the horse's movements also didn't help his sleepiness. Maybe... maybe if he shut one eye... only for a little bit... just... one…



    Deanna sighed as she watched Lethe slowly falling asleep.

    "Just sleep, I'll wake you up when it's time for lunch."


    No sooner had he heard Deanna's reply, than he passed out, dead asleep.

    When he was next awoken, they seemed to be by a river bank and maybe almost to New Spice Village. Was he awoken because they were about to arrive sooner than Deanna had expected, or were they still a ways away and truly just stopping for lunch? Either way, Lethe took out one of Grandma Gene's Gorgeous Gingerbread Cookies to munch on.


    Taking a sip of her water, Deanna informs, "We'll stop for lunch here. We'll get to the village before nightfall."

    She takes out an apple and feeds it to the horse before letting it drink some water and rest. Deanna takes out a sponge cake and leans against a tree to rest.


    After finishing their respective sweets and taking a decent rest, they once again got on to the horse and continued on their way to New Spice Village.

    Whilst riding, Lethe suddenly realized that he should probably get to know what exactly his party member does so they don't end up dead by the end of this quest.

    "How y' fight?"



    "Bow and arrow, speed and agility," Deanna responded.

    She turned her head and looked at Lethe, "You?"


    "Little bit uh stealth stuff 'n summonin'. Lesovy's ver' naggy green slime. He has vines."


    " 'Kay," Deanna responded as she turned her attention back on the road.


    When they reached New Spice Village the sunset had just begun to dye the sky. Due to their unfamiliar faces, they were halted briefly by the guards until both Lethe and Deanna showed their guild badges and gave a short explanation regarding the purpose of their journey.

    "Ah, here for more supplies I see. You both seem a little more delicate than the two that came the last time; but you can never tell with adventurers, I suppose. Well, head on through. You'll find Chief Villeroy in his house right smack dab in the middle of town. It's the one with the blue door, can't miss it."

    Once the friendly guard waved them through, they began their search for the chief's house.



    Lethe and Deanna headed to the blue house according to the guard's instructions. Once there, they saw a blue door unlike the others. Deanna knocked on the door and waited.


    "Oh, dear me. You both must be the adventures here to escort materials back to Nagrand for reconstruction. Such a shame what happened with the cultists and all; Nagrand was such a pleasant city. Oh me, oh my, where are my manners! Mother would be turning in her grave if she saw me! I'm the Village Chief of New Spice Village, Montauk Villeroy. Please do come in, come in!"

    The jolly middle-aged orc then stepped aside and gestured towards his home. Once they had entered, he led them towards a small seating room and motioned for them to sit.

    "Anmut, dear, could you please get these two fine adventures each a slice of your homemade spice cake and something to wash it down with?"

    "Of course, of course! A pleasure to meet you both! I am Anmut, Montauk's wife."

    Before they either adventurer could return her greeting, she had disappeared into what appeared to be the kitchen.



    Anmut came back in with two slices of spice cake and two cups of tea. She set them down in the table in front of Deanna and Lethe.

    Deanna said, “Thank you.”

    Before Lethe could dig in, Deanna introduced themselves.

    “Hello, we are from the Adventurers Guild. My name is Deanna and this is Lethe.”


    "Nice to meet you both, and thank you for coming to escort the supplies! They'll be leaving at first light tomorrow. You're welcome into our home for the night, if you would like." offered Chief Villeroy.


    Deanna looked toward Lethe. Deanna didn’t really care where they stayed at so she decided to let Lethe make the decision.


    "M'kay. Thanks," responded Lethe who was nearly asleep at this point.

    "Well," said Anmut giving a clap, "let's get you sorted then! I have supper waiting on the table for you both and I'll show you to your rooms after!"

    After a scrumptious dinner, both adventurers were ushered to bed. They awoke early the next morning to the smell of bacon and were greeted with a full spread for breakfast.



    After breakfast, Deanna and Lethe prepared to head out.

    Deanna asked Montuak, “I know we’re escorting the carriages, but who’s driving them?”


    "Ah, well that'd be my old buddy Natoll! He and his crew will be in charge of handling the carriages. All you two have to do is make sure they reach Nagrand safe and sound! Anything else before I lead you their way?"

    "Mhmmm. Why're prices so low?" asked Lethe.

    "Oh, yes! That! Well, a passing merchant introduced a new product that allowed us to produce building supplies much faster. It's remarkable really! Unfortunately, we got a bit overexcited, so we now have a surplus of materials... Good for you all, though, I guess!"



    Montuak introduces us to Natoll and his crew. They checked the supplies and caravan. Once it was done, it was almost noon, so they headed out.

    Once they were outside the gates, Deanna used her [multi sense].


    ...


    The first half of the trip went pretty well. Natoll and his comrades had a good time trying to get a rise out of Lethe and enjoyed their conversations with Deanna.

    "Tell me again how they let a wee lad like you become an adventurer?"

    "Yeah! How'd you're mum even let you leave the house yet?"

    "Dunno m' mum..." finally responded Lethe and an awkward silence fell over the group.

    "Oh, um, sorry 'bout that lad. Didn't mean to be insensitive there."

    "S'okay. Don't remember anythin' anyways."

    "Not sure if that makes it better or worse. Here, have some dried fruit. Just got these in from that merchant that passed through New Spice."

    Just as Lethe was reaching for the fruit, Deanna jolted to attention.



    She stood up and looked ahead. “There’s something ahead,” Deanna warned. She could sense something rising out of the ground 20 meters ahead. Something very powerful.

    The group’s conversation stopped and everyone’s guard went up.


    Out of the forest strode a creature the size of a white rhinoceros. It had the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, a snake for a tail, and the head of a beautiful woman.

    "Say, travelers, answer me this and I shall let ye pass without harm. If none can discern the answer to my riddles, a coin for Charon is all ye shall receive."

    "Wh-what a-a-are y-you?" stutters one of the merchants.

    "I am the Scourage of Thebes, the Adversary of Oedipus, the Mighty Sphinx. Though I sought passage to Hades, I have arrived here in this strange world where the gods speak no more. Now answer what I ask if ye do not wish to meet the judges of the dead. There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are the two sisters?"



    Everyone was thinking about the problem when Deanna asked, “How many chances do we get?”

    “Ye shall get only one chance,” the Sphinx replied.

    Deanna thinks and she finds herself stuck. Sighing, she looks at the setting sun and thinks, two beings, that give birth to each other.

    Knowing that he's not really the riddle solving type, Lethe summoned Lesovy while Deanna and the rest pondered.
    Lesovy quickly joined the rest in trying to determine the answer after getting a quick rundown of the situation from Lethe. (Lethe worked on it as well, but his chance of success are, shall we say, slim.)

    Obviously, it wasn't talking about two actual sisters as that wouldn't make any sense. Definitely an allusion to something else... It had to be something cyclical and, given the nature of the Sphinx, probably something a bit pretentious and "grand." Hmmmm... The slime's mind worked in overtime trying to compile a list of possible answers.

    Letting his eyes wander as he thinks, Lesovy notices Deanna's distant gaze. Following it, he sees the sun's slow retreat and the night's languid descent. Maybe that was it! Day and Night! It was certainly pompous enough. Feeling the need for consultation before giving an answer, Lesovy makes his way over to Deanna.

    "Day and Night? Correct?"



    Deanna turns towards Lesovy, “I think so. However, I’m not too sure. What do you think?”


    "Seems correct. Ask others?"


    “Yeah,” Deanna responded.


    She walked over to where some of the others were and asked for their opinions.

    Once they heard a suggestion that could answer the riddle, they all agreed. Deanna turned towards the Sphinx.

    “Is it Day and Night?”


    "Ye are correct. I shalt leave ye to thy travels. May we not meet again."

    The Sphinx slowly faded as it disintegrated into the air.

    Once the Sphinx had fully dissipated, Natoll and his gang collectively let out the breath they had been holding.

    "Grand job lass and, uh, are ya a lass or lad little slime?"

    "I am male!" huffed Lesovy.

    "Well, either way, ya both really saved our hides back there!" said one of the men giving them both hearty pats on their backs, or what he assumed to be Lesovy's back…



    They continued in with their journey and made camp for a night in the forest. The rest of the journey went smoothly and everyone safety arrived at noon the next day.


    After giving the two adventurers each an inordinate amount of dried fruits, the merchants bid them farewell. Deanna and Lethe then made their way to the guild, each struggling to carry the enormous amount of dried fruits they had been gifted.
    -New Spice Village does indeed have really good spice cake.
    -Prices dropped due to the introduction of a new product that allows them to produce building supplies at a faster rate, and they were a little too gung-ho about it so now have an overabundant supply.
    -Encountered a creature called a Sphinx that likes to eat people if they can't answer its riddles. It seems to have disappeared for the moment?
    -Supplies have been safely escorted.
    -Both adventurers have received a mass amount of dried fruits.
    @AliceShiki @Daisydacrazy
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2019
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  2. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    A sphinx...? You're telling me we have a mythical being living right next to our doorstep...?

    Oh gods, this is gonna be messy... Thanks for the report.

    The rewards will be... 20 Large Copper Coins for you to split as you see fit, as well as 4 Guild Points for each, the extra coins are because you got the explanation over why their products are so cheap.

    Take care now~

    ((*pokes @Daisydacrazy too*))
     
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  3. michael.kx5

    michael.kx5 [Sloth Incarnate][Lewd Overlord][The mediator]

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    "Hello Aria, I would like to report that our party has finished the quest. The target is outside the hall, waiting for the client"
    After taking the quest sheet, while feeling quite doubtful about how they were supposed to do that, Cinis searched the people who were interested in this quest. Reading that letter put him in a rather bad mood, perhaps, and with luck, his partners would be enjoyable and people he could relax with?

    Seeing them, he introduced himself, feeling even more perplexed about their appearance and... He didn't understand how... Oh well.

    "Greetings, this is the first time we meet I believe.", of course it was the first time, at most, they would have just seen each other during the festival.
    "My name is Cinis... Simply Cinis, I am here for the quest about... Taming a wyvern, I do wonder how we shall proceed, but I suppose it should be alright. If we beat it enough. It will probably submit."

    Or so he thought.

    Rei observed both her companions for the quest.
    A male demi-elf with a ruffled up silver hair, and pale skin, who had a bad expression on his face.
    A tiny, deep blue wyvern. It's about the size of an adult man's palm.
    And a tiny gray squirrel slightly larger.... How did it even register?
    After taking the quest, the demi-elf introduced himself as Cinis.
    Rei turned from her inner thoughts and replied in kind.
    "Nice to meet you Cinis, I am Rei.
    A martial artist and a Ki user, so I am fairly confident in my strength.
    I admit I never tried to take down a wyvern before (at least not in this form) but I sure I can be of some use if you can force it to the ground level or at least tree height where I can reach it"
    She bitterly muttered the middle part in a very low voice.
    Rei then turned towards the small creature.

    “Chirp~” Chip said as she started writing on the ground with her claws.

    “Hello! I’m Chip, and the furry dragon over there is my slave Squick. The receptionist said so, at least. Pleasure making your acquaintances! If you want any eyes torn out, trees slightly charred, or a chance to speak with a wyvern, we’re your dragon duo!”

    Of course she was secretly planning on how to snag the Wyvern’s hoard when no one was looking, as well as recruiting a new member to her furry dragon alliance!

    “As for the plan, how should we try to get the wyvern to submit? If need be Squick can blind it so it’s easier to take down.” Chip suggested. Her mask was perfect!

    Still, why is everyone so much bigger than her, a mighty dragon?

    'Dragons... they are clearly not dragons...', thought Cinis when he saw the two of them. Slave on top of that? The receptionist said that? A sigh escaped the half-elf's mouth. Did they even understand what did slave mean?
    At the very least, they could understand each other, it was the point.

    "Alright, pleased to meet you and since the introductions are finished... let's just think about the quest and nothing else. Where we would find the wyverns? In a moutainous area perhaps? If yes, I have a horse which can ease our transport there. As for Chip and Squick... you can settle on someone's shoulders and heads I guess?", then he continued to speak, looking toward Rei.

    "Does it bother you if we ride the horse together? It will be too troublesome to search for a carriage or something along those. Unless you have something similar I guess?", finishing on this note, the adventurer coughed and felt a bit nauseous. Shaking his head, he thought that he might just be sick, it will get better later on.

    Rei stared a while at the letters written on the ground, and then at Chip.
    And then at the letters again.
    It was honestly baffling.
    Before she realized, Cinis was talking to her about horse riding.
    "No, I don't mind. Unfortunately, I don't have a mount of my own.
    A word of warning though, If you HAVE TO grab at something, anything but the horns. Alright?"

    Chip and Squick both nodded at Cinis’ words before scurrying on top of Rei’s shoulders. They probably just thought they’d be safer with their own gender.

    "Oh, then I won't.", so her horns are sensitive, eh? Wait, why would he even need to grab something... This thought faded as quickly as it appeared since he went to search his horse.
    "Just a minute, I will go bring it."

    First, he called them.

    "Odio!", something moved in the corner of his vision, a sigh escaped his mouth, he cleared his throat and called them a second time.
    "Odio!", his horse slowly trotted toward him, Cinis smiled and took something out of the saddle bag. It was a carrot.

    "Good boy. Here you go.", then he fed Odio or so he called his horse. It was slowly realizing that their name was Odio.

    "Well, here it is. Haven't been with me since long so he doesn't quite recognize the name I gave him.", if was overall a basic brown horse, nothing seemed special about it except that it seemed to be quite robust.

    "Well, I suppose we should head south to find the wyvern?"

    While Cinis was calling his horse, Rei played a bit with the "dragons" on her shoulders, allowing them to play-bite her fingertips.
    When Cinis returned with a brown horse who was obviously not used to his new name, he proposed they head south to find the wyvern.
    Rei silently nods her head and tells the small dragons to hold tight and with a quick jump climbs on the horse's back.
    She gently patted its neck afterward to calm it down after a stranger just jumped on it.
    Horse riding wasn't a first for her so she was used to dealing with them however it WAS gonna be the first time she was gonna do it with her current center of mass.
    Well, at least its gonna be good training for her new sense of balance.
    Rei sent a look at Cinis and asked "Which one of us should hold the reins? It is your horse"

    "Then I will take the reins.", Cinis said as he got on Odio rather slowly, he wondered for a few seconds how long it will to take to reach the mountains. But then he thought that they had the time, so, he just shrugged it off. Worse case... Someone can just ride the wyvern to get back more quickly, no, that's actually a pretty bad idea, albeit an interesting one, it's an awful idea.

    "Alright, tell me when you are ready, Odio will start trotting."


    Rei leaned her body a bit forward and raised herself while making sure to grasp at Cinis's sides.
    She took a short look at the two small "dragons" who were firmly attached to her shoulder pads.
    Then she turned back to Cini's back and said.
    "We are ready, let's go"

    Not having much to do since the two can’t participate in a conversation at the moment, Chip and Squick played a game of catch with one of Squick’s acorns. Normally they’d set it on fire to spice things up a bit, but they decided not to since they’re hitching a ride for free.

    Instead, they kept looking around while they played catch, hoping to catch danger before it struck the party. Of course, they haven’t left yet, but it’s still good practice! Hopefully Cinis will get the horse moving before playing catch gets boring.

    A dozen of hours later, including breaks, after heading south, they finally reached the mountains, unfortunately, it seemed that the weather will not be with them, clouds began to cover the sky, and it seemed that they were quite nasty.
    The half elf could almost smell the rain from the ground when it did not even begin.

    "Time to descend.", last time he headed south, it was for a quest, he crossed the Caves of the Dead. Having some bad memories about it, he decided to slightly go toward the southeast instead of just south.

    "Aaah, hopefully, it won't rain."

    Listening to Cinis's words, Rei looked up at the sky as she got off the horse.
    Certainly, the skies were starting to get cloudy.
    It's best if they hurry up.
    "Yes, I don't fancy fighting a wyvern in the rain. It will make my clothes heavy and harder to move in.
    Let's hurry up and find a wyvern to tame"
    She said as she follows Cinis to the southeast direction.
    She did wonder why he didn't go directly south but.....the cave of the dead was in that direction so it wasn't like she couldn't imagine something.
    "You don't like undead?"

    "More like... I already went into the Caves of the Dead, well, almost died. Undeads don't really bother me... this place is just shady, something feels wrong."
    Cinis said as he remembered how it was inside, a labyrinth, he will do admit that he was rather lucky that he was accompanied by a basic protagonist of novels. Then, as he got off his horse, he began to walk toward the mountain, wondered how would you track a wyvern, it would be a first for him.

    "And the scent as well, the scent is terrible.", he added as he suddenly thought of how it smelt inside. Disgusting he thought.
    For some reasons, his already pale skin seemed even paler now.

    "Already went into the Cave of the Dead? Or something similar?", he asked as he was checking if his crossbow was in a more or less proper state.

    Rei nodded and said-
    "I didn't go inside the cave itself, but I accompanied someone who needed to collect 'Blood Lilies' nearby.
    I fought two zombies back then, although only one at a time.
    Luckily I have this-" Rei lifted up her hand and a small flame started dancing on her palm, "-Since they are weak to holy magic and fire.
    I agree about the smell though, I made the mistake of fighting the first one in close-quarters"

    Just as she finished speaking, she felt something tugging at her hair.
    When she turned her head around she saw Chip who soon jumped off her shoulder to the ground and starts writing something.


    Pulling on Rei’s hair to get her and Cinis’ attention, Chip jumped off of Rei’s shoulder and started scratching on the floor.

    “There’s definitely a wyvern nearby! I can sense it! Probably made a nest for itself in a cave near the top of the mountain. It might have sensed me too, so we should be extra careful!”

    "Got it, I think we should try to sneak up on it and get it under control before it manages to take flight.
    Do you happen to have a net or a rope on you Cinis?"

    "So. There is one near the top? Likely, the weather might be with us... If it's going to rain, it's unlikely that they will leave and go flying in my opinion.", Cinis first said as he looked at the top of the mountain and sighed. It will be quite a long walk, he thought.

    "I have nothing of the sort... Hmmmm, if we get inside the cave, all we have to do will be to block their sight, I doubt it will try to fly in those conditions. The first thing that comes to mind is smoke. We could burn something at the entrance?"

    "Sounds good, I will be right back"
    Rei stepped away from the group and approached one of the lone trees nearby.
    She purposely chose an old and withering short tree near the end of it's life-span.
    She closed her eyes and concentrated while relaxing her right hand into the shape of a spear.
    Listening to the breaths of the world, she singled out the rhythm of the tree's breathing.
    While using lightning enhancement to boost up her speed, Rei made numerous movements almost invisible to the naked eye.
    The next moment the tree's trunk had a big chunk of it missing on one side and it began to fall.
    Then, she used her hand to cut away the tree and soon several wooden planks were ready.
    Next, she canceled her lightning enhancement and began to hold a light fire near the wood planks in order to completely dry them.
    When she was done drying Rei turned around and said "I think these will do".

    After the wild ride, Squick jumped off of Rei’s shoulder and barfed in a corner. She then turned to Chip and squeaked at her. In response, Chip scratches in the ground.

    “Squick said to follow her up the mountain. She knows a good path.”

    Maybe she’s hunted nuts here before? Or the ninja squirrels gave her some intel. Either way it’s good to have a fast path to the summit!

    Feeling like they did not have any other options, Cinis shrugged and said as he tapped Odio.

    "Odio, you can go. And well... I suppose we have no choices but to follow Squick? We have basically no clues about where to go and the such."
    On top of that, since she had a way, might as well take it, let's just hope that the road is not practical.
    Meanwhile, Odio went away on its own. The weather still seemed calm, but as unoriginal as it might be, it's the calm before the tempest, he thought.

    Rei picked up the firewood she prepared and followed Squick.
    She felt a bit sorry for forgetting the small animal was still on her shoulder when she went all out, so she took a small nut and offered it to the furry dragon (squirrel)

    Taking the nut in her mouth, Squick starts leading the party up a hidden path in the mountains. It took a while, probably one or two hours, but they eventually made it to an outcropping of rocks that overlooked the nest of a wyvern.

    “Squeak!” She cried, to which Chip translated as, “We’re here! Feel free to blind them!”

    When she saw the writing on the ground, Rei set up a barricade inside of the cave's entrance.
    "should we wait for the rain?"
    Just as she said so, a drizzle began to fall outside the cave and soon it turned into a full-blown storm.
    Rei's face twitched a little while she said "Well that was convenient"
    And she lights up the barricade.
    Soon the cave was full of smoke and a bit after that they could hear a roar from inside and big footsteps running towards them.
    Once the Wyvern came into sight, Rei noticed it was quite small for a member of it's species.
    "Perfect."
    Rei used regular physical enhancement in order to avoid burning the wyvern and jumped on its neck to try to force it to the ground while using short bursts of lightning arts in order to numb the monster's nerves and paralyze it.
    "Cinis! Chip! Now would be a good time to negotiate with it!"

    "Give me a moment to be shocked about how easy it was to paralyze it.", Cinis sarcastically said as he swiftly moved toward the wyvern. Taking his seax, he was unsure whether it would understand him or not, but he wondered whether it would realize if the half-elf threaten its life.

    "Oh wait.", as a wyvern, they might be familiar with crossbow or bows, after all, hunters might be shooting at then when they see one, perhaps.
    Let's try this out. Loading his crossbow, he pointed it toward the beast's head, there was barely a feet between the bolt and its eyes.

    "Hey, would you like to receive a bolt between the two eyes? If not, listen to the fluffy ball, they are named Chip.", the adventurer's pupils darted toward Chip, except threatening or provoking it. He did not know how he would be able to negotiate with such a creature.

    Chip nods, runs in, and starts talking to the wyvern.

    “Chirp!”
    “Roar!”
    Chirp!”
    “Roar!”

    As you can probably tell, they’re arguing. About what? Who knows. What’s important is that a few hundred squabbles later, they came to an agreement. Sort of.

    “The wyvern says it wants to be paid and have vacation days to sleep on its hoard of money. It should also be provided its own room.”

    Apparently the wyvern wants to be employed instead of tamed.... It should work out fine, right?

    "Well, a stable counts as room I guess?
    And I don't think that alchemist will leave town EVERYDAY so rest days is also okay?
    I don't know about being paid though.
    Well I am sure something can arranged if we leave a message for the alchemist when we hand in the wyvern and report.
    Worst case we can have chip mediate their negotiation.
    Will it promise behave and follow us peacefully -on foot- if I let go of it now?"

    "Oh, I don't believe it, you wish to gain time to flee? Surprising for a beast.", Cinis, still with that sarcastic tone, said as he was ready to cripple the wyvern. Of course, he thought that the wyvern really wished to be employed, but acting as if he didn't understand give him a reason to intimidate and threaten the animal.

    "So, I will give you a choice in case you run away... eyes or wings? In other words, would you like to become blind and probably injure yourself until you die or... Do you wish to lose your ability to fly?", since the wyvern could understand them despite everything, might as well threaten him a bit more. For a wyvern, the half elf thought that losing wings or eyes would be worse than death.

    To add a bit more of a scare to the wyvern, Squick decided to climb up its face and looked it right in the eyes. She then brought out her claws, right before the wyvern's eyes. This way the wyvern would be both blind and unable to fly lest it try to run away.

    You don't have to be a dragonoid in order to understand the wyvern's furious nodding and the pleeding eyes he sent towards Rei's direction.
    '...eh? Why me? I am one holding down it's neck and sending weak shocks through it'.
    For some reason Rei became the good guard after Cinis + Chip played the bad guard.

    Anyway it seems that the Wyvern isn't planning on running away so Rei decided to let go of it for now and stopped sending shocks into it's body.
    She also put out the still smoking barrier by kicking it out into the rain.
    "It's still raining outside so we must wait a bit before heading out, go pack your things in the meantime"

    The Wyvern nodded and headed back into the cave, where sounds of metals being thrown around begun to ring.
    Around half an hour later the rain let up and group was ready to go.
    On the wyvern's back were strapped sacks filled with his personal treasures.
    "Alright, I think we can head out now, let's go back to Nagrand".

    "Errr... It will be quite slow with the wyvern.", Cinis cleared his throat and called out.
    "Odio!", the horse came after some minutes, its upper body was soaked due to the rain, well, it happens. Fortunately, it seemed that the items inside the saddle bags weren't much affected.

    "Good boy... Mhmm, I guess we will just walk, and Chip since it was scared, mind renegotiating with it, or does it even wish to negotiate now? Perhaps it just wants to keep its life now?", the half-elf asked as he fed the horse who came after getting called. Look like he was understanding that hearing "Odio" mean that he would get fed.

    Squick, who was once again forgotten, jumps off the wyvern and glides to the safety of Chip. Chip, on the other hand, chirped in response to Cinis’ question. She then turned to the wyvern and chirped. The wyvern promptly shook its head, looking extremely scared. Perhaps the party had overdone it?

    Either way, the wyvern was acquired! It should be fairly easy to tame too as long as the requester threatens to hire the party again.

    "I see. So basically, it is tamed.", Cinis said after tapping with his palm the wyvern's wing, it shivered for some reasons... was it a scary cat? It was way too easy, really way easy, so easy that it feels rather unpleasant... even wolves show much more resistance than the wyvern they had just "tamed".

    "That's pathetic...", he said while shaking his head, what was this wyvern? A chi-... Oh right. Maybe. Perhaps it was a child, it would be much more understandable. However... Even for a child... A sigh escaped its mouth, Cinis thought that this beast was rather shameful for its species. Disconcerting.

    Getting sidetracked in his thinking process, he thought that it was slightly strange that nobody from the empire came to him since the letter. Were they waiting for a moment? Do they need to wait before assaulting him?
    He did not know. It was sickeningly peaceful. Let's just go back to the guild and see how it goes, perhaps his rank up quest was a released? Who knows.

    ***

    Some days later, they arrived at the outskirts of Nagrand, having the wyvern on foot greatly slowed them down, so it took longer to come back, then, Cinis thought about something rather concerning.

    "Where do we deliver the wyvern?", oh well, they should hand the report beforehand. Concretely, the wyvern should be tamed now. Perhaps it will be scared of every humanoid beings now?

    After capturing the Wyvern and walking a couple of days, the party reached Nagrand and stopped outside the guild hall.
    Rei turned towards her party and says:
    "Alright,You three should wait here with the wyvern while I hand in the report.
    Since I don't think the guild will appreciate if we bring it inside the hall.
    Make sure to keep in line and protect it from other adventurers and hasty guards."
    Having confirmed they understand her, Rei then entered the guild hall and went towards the receptionist desk.
    Scared to death tamed a smallish wyvern.
    The wyvern is outside the guild hall, ready for delivery, with a translator nearby on standby.
    I recommend The wyvern's treasure was to be left with him in order to pacify the creature and earn it's trust.
    @Fossil
    @Unreachable Hope
    @AliceShiki
     
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  4. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Uhn... Rei-san, you do realize that Lyra-san specifically asked for a fast wyvern, right? And one that is big enough to carry Lyra-san and her supplies... Right?

    You could have at least tried to test its speed and how good it was at carrying things... As in, trying to ride it back all the way to Nagrand...

    This would usually incur a penalty in your reward, however... You all were actually able to not only find a Wyvern capable of Rational Thought, but one that was mostly peaceful at that... This was a huge stroke of luck. I'm sure Lyra-san will be way happier with this one than she'd be with the fastest Wyvern of Edhellen.

    So... Even though you all didn't quite fill her requirements with the Wyvern you found, we'll still give you the full reward. It's 90 Large Copper Coins for you to split as you see fit as well as 6 Guild Points for each.

    Take care now, be sure to read the requester's requirements carefully next time, you were lucky this once~

    ((*pokes @michael.kx5, @Fossil and @Unreachable Hope too*))
     
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  5. Haitaka

    Haitaka [Always Busy]

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    "I'm back", Vandrin says approaching the receptionist desk.

    Accepting the request, I go towards the western portion of the town, towards the alchemical district.

    Asking around I get pointed to the direction of Olivia’s shop.

    Entering the shop, I see a skittish woman who seems to not have slept in days, glance at me with eyes seemingly the size of the moon.

    “You! Are you the one from the guild?! Find the shadow! Find it!”, she hurriedly cried out, grabbing my shoulders with a semi-crazed look in her eyes.

    “Of course…”, I said internally sighing, “When do you normally see this shadow?” I asked trying to get information about it.

    “It’s always right behind me!”, she says as she quickly turns to look behind her, looking from both sides, “Find it! I need sleep!”, she says nervously.

    ___

    Watching the shop, specifically near Olivia for nearly an hour, a slight movement in the shadow caught me eye. At first it seemed to be the flickering of shadows due to a candles light, but no candles were lit in the shop, the only sources of light being the sun and the fire elemental spirit.

    The flickering of the shadow seemed to notice I caught on, as it quickly seemed to dash, hiding again.

    Try as I might, my eyes cannot follow the natural movement of the shadow moved between the darkness, but fortunately it seems the fire spirit could as it began to hover over where the being in the shadow was hiding.

    It followed it around, illuminating it as to separate it from the rest of the shadows.

    With some quick thinking I light some candles in the shop, and create a circle surrounding the shadow.

    With no way of escaping now available, the small shadow creature remained in the center, Olivia went to a different room as she did not want to see it.

    “So, what are you?”, I ask out loud sensing the energy of the small shadow, finding it similar to the flame spirit and the dark spirits from the cultist attack.

    “A dark spirit?”, I say with a slight exclamation, “Did you survive from the cultist attack, or maybe you were just an offshoot created from the death of a different dark spirit?”, I say out loud with no way for it to respond.

    “Well it’s no matter, I just need to make sure you can’t bother the herbalist”, I say taking a vial and placing it on the small shadow.

    It begins to enter into the vial to get away from the light sources. After it completely enters I take a cloth and cover the vial in its entirety.

    “Ms. Olivia, I will be leaving now to turn in the request”, I say with the vial in hand, “I have found out what it was, but in keeping with your request I won’t say”

    “Good!”, she said with a sigh of relief, “Maybe now I can get... some… sleep....zzzzz”, her head falls to the desk and a heavy snore can be beard shortly after.

    Leaving the shop after flipping the store sign to closed, I make my way to the guild
    Small Darkness Spirit was bugging the herbalist, now in a vial with Vandrin.

    @Naraku
     
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  6. wraith

    wraith -----------------

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    A heavily bandaged Nero entered the Guild and submitted his report.
    @AliceShiki , @Zone Q11 , @Zero300

    Zone: Orange
    wraith: Default
    Zero: Green
    --- --- ---
    "So... You two also took the quest for the witch hunt?" Zoan said to the four armed half-human and the mixed blood drow elf.
    "Pleased to meet you, my name is Herst," the former farmer orc greeted.


    "Nice to meet you Herst. I'm Nero, and I did accept the witch hunting quest", Nero introduced himself to the farmer and the adventurer.

    "Zinc here. I'm a doctor but I can hold my own." The dwelf replied as he brought out Arsenic. "You don't mind if I bring my pet, do you?"

    "No problem here," Zoan replied. "Let's get this straight first: Do you think that -from the quest's description alone- the witch is real and evil, and that it's not some drunken man's prank?"

    "I don't know, I've heard of poison that powerful from my master though. Is it really a curse? I'm skeptic. I think it might be a powerful poison or a disease of some sort. That's why I decided to take up on this quest. But then again, whether it be curse or poison, I'm positive there's someone behind all of this." Zinc explained his reasoning.

    "Regardless of the cause, those villager need our help", Nero replied before pointing towards Herny, "He's said that there is a range to the spell and he just ran away. I think he would still be affected if he was poisoned."

    He finally directed his attention towards Herny," Are you still puking blood and showing other signs of illness?"

    Herny trembled, not wanting to remember what had happened on the village. But he mustered up his will and shakily said: "N-No, ever since I got far away from my village, my symptoms have ceased... but the fear... the fear doesn't go away...!" He then continued to tremble, seemingly unapproachable for the moment.

    "Alright then. The guy said to me earlier that the village is west from Nagrand. Just half a day's travel by horse. I'll go rent the horses," Zoan said before he left the group temporarily.


    The five of them, including Herny and Herst, left the city on horseback. Nero was surprised that his horse was able to move in relative comfort with him and his equipment on its back. They traveled west through the planes and were able to reach the farmlands just as noon had passed.

    As they were not sure of what to expect when they did reach the village, they stopped to have their mid day meal a few miles away.

    After eating a whole animal meat raw, Zoan offered himself up to scout the village first, while Herst followed him. After entering the 2 kilometer (1.25 miles) range, Zoan asked for Herst to do a check up. "Nothing has happened as far as I can see, sir." Herst replied. Zoan then assumes that he wouldn't get cursed unless he comes into contact with the witch. ...surprisingly, up to that very day, Zoan has never realized that he was cursed. ...even though the report from his previous quest said that he was.

    Anyhow, the nomad and the orc continued to approach the village, and as they finally stood before the entrance, Zoan saw them: They were zombies. He could be wrong, but what he had seen were definitely thin creatures with pale skin, eyes completely white, walking rigidly with dried blood covering the area near their mouth. Herst took a step back, while Zoan approaches a woman and said: "Hello. Are you fine, miss?"

    The woman did not respond amicably however, and instead dashes at the nomad. With instantaneous responses, Zoan swung his club vertically, aiming towards the woman's temple, and killed her. He then ordered Herst: "Go back to the others, and call them here. It appears that this village is a lost case. I'll start exterminating them."


    --- --- ---

    “Come over here Henry. I’m gonna give you a quick check up.” Zinc replied as he pulled out a needle.

    “Uh.” Henry eyed the needle hesitantly. “What are you gonna do with that”

    “No worries, just gonna test if you’re poisoned or not.”

    “Poisoned? What are you talking about? I was cursed!”

    “Just a precaution. It won’t hurt nor will it take too much time. What if you’re poisoned...and still are? Do you want to stay poisoned?”

    “No! Oh, well...fine.”

    Zinc poked the needle into the villager’s liver meridian and quickly pulled it out. Luckily, there was no change in color. With a smile, Zinc patted Henry’s back.

    “All good. Fortunately, you aren’t poisoned. And probably the same goes with the villagers. I guess it really is a curse.”


    --- --- ---

    When Herst returned and informed them of Zoan's ongoing fight against the villagers, they decided to act immediately and join Zoan. They rushed towards the village entrance where they found Zoan holding off a hoard of twenty odd zombies all by himself. A significant amount of bodies lay on the floor, disfigured and bloodied.

    Nero picked up his pace and jumped into the fray, sending the zombies flying about in all directions by swinging his spears. After an intense few minutes of mauling the zombies, they got a few moments of respite. This opportunity was used to catch their breath and come up with a plan.

    "In theory, it should be possible to revert the villagers back to their original state. But, as we have just experienced, it is impossible to communicate with them as they are now and they simply don't stay down even when injured. I think we should sneak our way into the village and keep the casualties to a minimum", Nero expressed his thoughts.

    "We are able to deal with the villagers comfortably. I think that it will be easier to sneak around if we split up. This way, we can also investigate the village quicker. Let's meet up over here in a couple of hours. If this place remains infested, we will meet up at the farms", he concluded.

    "Understood," Zoan shortly replied before going alone, deeper towards the center of the village. Herst soon follows the nomad, unsheathing the iron sword that he recently got lended by Zoan.

    On the way there, he had found more villagers but they were all scattered around, moving without any goal in particular. He ignores them and proceeded to "stealthily" move, but there were not much cover at the time and a villager saw Herst and rushed towards him. Zoan saw the villager and bashed his head before he manages to touch Herst.

    "Thank you, sir." Herst said. It seemed a bit overprotective of Zoan, but at least his intention was good.
    "Don't mind it. Rather, could you check me again?" the paranoid nomad asked. After a quick checkup, the orc gave his partner a surprised look.

    "Sir... This is..." Herst hesitated. "Your hair... They've turned white!"
    "What!?" Zoan shouted, forgetting that he was supposed to hide his position. His loud voice had attracted a many villagers, but after a few minutes of running the two managed to escape the horde by looping the horde around houses.


    --- --- ---
    Nero's PoV

    After splitting up, Nero decided to move around the perimeter of the village in order to observe the situation from the outside. As he dodged confrontations, he noticed that the villagers were most sensitive to noise. They would turn their heads towards anything that made a sound and investigate what caused it without heeding anything else.

    Nero used this knowledge to his advantage as he armed himself with stones and used them to create a diversion so that he could sneak around. Of course, his giant frame wasn't something that helped his cause hen being stealthy and he did have to fight quite a large number of foes in spite of his tactics.

    As the fights grew more frequent, he found himself being ushered in towards the center of the village as he searched for a way to get free and compose himself. The villagers were getting much more stronger as well as more aggressive the deeper he went inside the village. As he ran through the narrow streets, throwing the stone to his left and right, he saw a large tree that was growing next to a wall and decided to climb it. With the chasing villagers clawing at the trunk, he jumped over the wall and found himself at a temple.

    --- --- ---
    Zoan's PoV

    'How did this happen...?' Zoan asked himself. 'Was I cursed the moment I entered the village, or sometime else...?'
    "Herst, check me up again. Is my hair still white? How do I look? Do I look older?" Zoan asked his partner. "Sir, only a small part of your hair has turned partially white. Only your left side has turned white, and I do not see any differences to your physical age. It seems that only your hair was affected."

    'Well then, at least I won't die of age any time soon. That's a start. However, I still wonder how this happened. Did the witch found us and cursed me?'
    "...anyways, I feel as if nothing has changed inside me, and I don't puke blood either, so I assume that I am still safe for now. Let's hurry and continue the witch hunt." Herst responded his employer by giving a nod, and the two continued to explore the village until they found a certain adventurer near a temple.

    "Isn't that... Four Arms?" Zoan whispered, and proceeded to walk towards Nero.


    Nero saw Zoan and Herst approaching him and gestured that the villagers were nearby. Once they came within earshot of each other, Nero whispered the obvious," I think this place has the strongest villagers. But more importantly, what happened to your hair?"

    "Good question. Either I am cursed by the witch, or someone else has cursed me. Either way, it doesn't seem to affect me for the time being," Zoan carefully explained.

    "Either way, this place is where the strongest enemies are?" Zoan said as he turns his head towards the temple. "If so, then I want to attack it now. Fighting in a group is better but... now that I think about it, where is that Mixed Blood anyways?"


    --- --- ---
    Zinc's PoV

    After the party decided to split up, Zinc decided to make a possible medicine that could at least lessen the effects of the curse. Kind of like manually countering the effects of the curse through physical and/or emotional changes. He knew, from the quest description, that the affected villagers would puke up a lot of blood. And, judging from the side-effects Zoan experienced, those who were cursed also had their hair turn partially white...maybe all white if Zoan had stayed in the curse's range any longer.

    Medically speaking, puking up a lot of blood came from damage to the internal organs, particularly in the lungs. Hair turning white was also a sign of extreme stress. As for sensitivity to sounds, people who suffer from headaches were known to be very sensitive and focused on sounds and noises. Combining all these symptoms, Zinc's initial guess was that the curse was similar to having a blood clot lodge within the lungs since this sort of disease could also cause anxiety and headaches.

    Because he doesn't know much about curses, the doctor wondered whether a curse can travel via air and spread through breathing. Nevertheless, now that he had deduced what disease was similar to the curse, Zinc decided to conduct a few experiments before concocting the perfect medicine to alleviate the effects of the curse. For that purpose, Zinc decided to capture an affected villager.

    After capturing an affected villager and tying her up, Zinc conducted a preliminary checkup on the zombie. The zombie had pale eyes and pale skin. The zombie had a few other symptoms upon closer checkup but overall, she seemed healthy. All these symptoms confirmed his theory about the blood clot. After experimenting, the doctor started pondering on what materials or herbs to use to solve this issue.

    On the top of his head, Zinc could name a few herbs that could help lessen the effects of such symptoms and have anticoagulant properties. There's tumeric which was the number one leading herb for thinning blood and preventing clots. But such an expensive material can only be foraged in the east. Even if this village was located in the east, Zinc didn't think the villagers had the money to afford the expensive spice. So, the dwelf thought about other less expensive items. Surely, the villagers would at least have some of them in stock.

    "Hmm, if my memory serves me correctly, ginger and garlic are both good herbs for blood thinning. Not to mention, the natural healing properties of ginger can also reduce migraines. The spiciness of peppers have been known to increase blood circulation and sunflower seeds help boost immunity." Zinc mused as he listed a few key ingredients. "All of these can be used to make food. Why don't I make an herbal soup?"

    Quickly, Zinc searched the houses that had been cleared out of zombies by Nero, Herst, and Zoan. In a couple of minutes, the doctor was able to find all the necessary items. Although he couldn't find any sunflower seeds, he was able to find safflower oil. Safflower oil was similar to sunflower oil and can be used as a suitable alternative. In addition, Zinc was able to find a vat of clean water he could use for cooking.

    Zinc brought out his iron pot and began boiling some water over an open fire. While the water boiled, he quickly crushed the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. Then, the doctor dumped the crushed bits and pieces of herbs and stirred the mixture until a faint fragrance emitted from the pot. As the aroma increased, Zinc continued to stir until finally, a light-brown and thin soup was made. Zinc poured out some of the herbal soup into a couple of small rotect jars - each holding about a mouthful of soup - to preserve their taste and aroma.

    The dwelf swallowed his own portion and shivered at the spiciness. It was a bit too spicy but the effects were the same. He could immediately feel his body warm up as his blood pumped and circulated throughout his body. He fed some to the tied up villager and the doctor could see her skin reddened and her behavior becoming more docile. It seemed to be working.

    Zinc packed up the rest of the soup and headed towards the temple. Along the way, he administered the herbal soup to all straggling zombies he had encountered. Like the female villager, these zombies also became docile after consuming the soup. Soon, Zinc arrived at the temple where he encountered his party.

    "I made some herbal soup and it seemed to lessen the effects of the curse. Try some!" Zinc called out as he brought out three rotect jars and handed them to Zoan, Herst, and Nero.


    Zoan ate the soup in a hurry, and resisted the spiciness with moderate ease. Although some tingling feeling remains on his tongue, it was edible to say the least. Some meat might have been nice, but it was not time, nor the place to eat food without caution.

    Zoan then asks Herst to see whether his hair has returned back to brown, but it was of no avail. The color remain to stick on the nomad's head.
    "Sir Zoan, perhaps it takes some time to return? Sir Zinc's medicine has effectively pacified the enraged villagers, so it is definitely working for sure. However none of the villagers seem to have white hair caused by the curse... which makes me conclude that your illness might have been from something else!" Herst said, attempting to liven up his employer's mood.

    "Pay no heed to it then. I don't feel any headache nor any urge to vomit blood. Your medicine works, Doc." Zoan then smiled at the Dwelf, before returning to put on his serious face. "Now then, let's get straight to the problem: The temple. Four Arms here said that the strongest villagers are in there. We want to cure them, but they won't do that without retaliation. Plus, there is no telling what the witch might do to us in the meantime."
    Zoan then paused, as to ensure that he is not going too fast in explaining his idea. "So I have a plan: I distract the villagers, Doc helps me suppressing the villagers, and while the witch is focusing on killing and cursing us, Four Arms kills the witch. How about it?"


    "Okay. I'm down with this plan. I can try to attack the acupressure points in their legs and arms to temporarily cripple them, providing me enough time to feed them the soup. But, just in case, should we devise a plan B?" Zinc nodded after some thought.

    Zinc continued after a momentary pause. "If the witch uses another powerful spell or curse, we might not be able to cope with that. If this does happen, we may need outside help. There are two possible options. I can have Arsenic secretly poison the witch but there are some risk of failure. Another option, I have with me some homemade wolf lures. I can use one to draw in nearby wolves and attack the witch. But these frenzied wolves might attack the villagers. What do you guys say? Got anything to add? Or a new plan to propose?"

    " It would be great if you guys were able to draw the witch outside. If that doesn't happen, I'll take my chance and go inside the temple", Nero agreed with the strategy brought up by Zoan and then turned to Zinc. "We should use the wolves as a last resort. And unfortunately, we need you to help the villagers outside the temple. That means I'll have Arsenic accompany me to the fight."

    "Alright. Let's do this."
    Zoan walked towards the entrance of the temple and opened the big double doors. Inside, there were many villagers, but they were different. They did not walk aimlessly, but instead sat down, kneeling at the pews.

    At the center, there was a statue made of wood, presenting a figure of a female humanoid with wings of a bat as wide as her own height. The wings were folded, as to distribute balance of the statue. Next to the winged statue lies broken stone fragments of what is presumed to be Ophelia's statue.

    "O lost sheep, have you come to pray?"

    A voice was heard. In front of the winged statue, there is a sole figure, kneeling with both knees touching the ground. It was the witch. She wore a black dress, tattered in some places.

    "No. I have come to kill you." Zoan said stoic voice.
    The witch chuckled, taken by surprise at the answer the stranger gave to her. "I see... So it is that time already..."

    "Yes. Any last words?"
    "Yes... Get him!" the witch shouted, ordering the villagers. Without any delay, all villagers stood up, turned their bodies towards the nomad at the same time, and began to scream at him.

    Zoan then ran as fast as he could towards the west, where the streets were wider than the others. He had assumed that this was probably the place for merchants to put down their carriages and trade with the villagers, but it was not the time to think about it.


    --- --- ---

    Nero sat on top the tree next to the temple grounds, waiting for a signal. The wait wasn't too long as he heard a commotion within the temple which quickly moved away from him. After waiting for a few moments, Nero decided to enter the grounds and move towards the temple itself. He saw that the doors were open and a woman was standing in front of the statue.

    The witch looked like she hadn't expected his appearance and took a step back before chanting a spell. Nero acted quickly and threw his spear at her, but it was blocked by a black translucent barrier. The barrier shattered upon impact, but it had done its job by dispersing all the force of the spear, causing it to fall harmlessly on the floor. Not even a moment later, the witch waved her arm and sent a dark slash straight towards Nero, not even stopping her ongoing chant. The slash was powerful and Nero didn't find the time to dodge it. He lifted his shield up and felt the impact through his body, leaving his shield wielding hand feeling a little numb.

    It was well known that magicians shouldn't be given space to dictate a fight. Nero decided to close down the chanting witch as she continued with her chanting. As the distance between the two shrunk, Nero had to block a couple of slashes that had come flying at his face as well as his foot. The witch finally finished her chant and smiled in triumph but then froze in fear as Nero jumped forward in order to close the distance. He had finally reached striking distance and swung his spear down at her head with his entire body weight behind the hit. The swing was blocked by the appearance of another dark barrier which managed to stop his spear completely but crumpled upon impact. He was stuck in an awkward position at the moment but recovered quickly by kicking her right in the stomach before she could do anything. The witch had no more defense against his attacks and she flew a few meters backwards before collapsing into the floor. Arsenic, who had been hanging on to Nero's back, dropped down on the floor and went to hide behind the statue.

    "ARGHHH", the witch screamed in agony as Nero slowly approached her. But then, he felt something change. He threw up into his arms and saw blood. His eyes widened as he realized that she had cursed him just like the villagers. He had become unable to move as he kept on throwing up blood on the floor.

    In the meantime, the witch had somewhat recovered from the bone shattering kick and had crawled away to a safe distance. Her expression was one that was filled with pain and fury as she declared with all her might, "You could have become my servant, but now you shall die."

    She undid one of her necklaces and broke it, causing all the beads fall onto the floor. Immediately, Nero felt himself becoming weaker as his cursed blood, that was on the floor, started to emit a red energy that flew into her. The witch had regained some of the color that her face had lost. She stood up slowly and it could be seen that her injuries were being healed.

    Nero grimaced as he had finally stopped vomiting blood. It looked like the witch had stopped the curse and had used it to power herself up. He got back into a battle stance as he got ready to fight. But then, something happened that made him feel dread. An enormous quantity of blood energy came flying from outside the temple. The witch absorbed it all and her skin turned into a shade of red.

    --- --- ---

    Seeing Zoan rush out into the streets while being chased by a horde of zombies, Zinc quickly jumped into action. With so many enemies, the doctor did not have enough needles for all of them. Instead, he decided to use his trained fingers. Since he was aiming for spinal nerves in the zombies' bodies with deeper effects but not enough to cause permanent damage, Zinc decided to only use his forefingers and his middle fingers.

    The doctor performed the necessary warmup and gestures before bringing his fists up to eye level. Then, he slowly extended his forefingers and his middle fingers. With a sharp gaze at the zombies, Zinc charged towards their backs. Moving in from behind, the dwelf had an advantage of surprise. Zinc jabbed the first zombie on the neck and on the midsection of the zombie's back, causing a sharp numbing sensation to the zombie's limbs and brief paralysis. While the zombie leaned back, Zinc shoved some soup into the affected villager's mouth.

    All this happened in a matter of seconds...and before a minute was up, Zinc had calmed down about thirty zombies. The doctor wiped away some sweat that glimmered on his forehead as he look towards Zoan who was still being chased by a large number of zombies. Luckily, the zombies were more focused on the barbarian and did not notice Zinc even after knocking down all those zombies from behind. The doctor was telepathically connected to his "son" Arsenic and from Arsenic, he could tell that Nero was having a hard time with the witch in the temple.

    "We need to hurry." Zinc muttered as he continued disabling more zombies.


    --- --- ---

    After having run a nice couple of minutes through the big street, Zoan paced himself into a jogging speed. Halfway through, he had noticed that there were less and less villagers chasing him. Now there were none.

    Herst then came out of nowhere, providing Zoan his water pouch. The nomad didn't break much of a sweat, but a drink after being chased by cursed villager-cum-zombies is always nice to have. Even if it lasted less than 10 minutes.

    As he looks at his partner Zinc, he noticed that the Dwelf had an uneasy look while facing towards the temple. Just when he was about to approach him, some red mist had emerged from the knocked-out villagers. As the three of them maintain their wariness, the mist proceeded to flow back towards the temple.

    "...so it has come to this after all, huh?" When he accepted the quest, he knew he was going to kill people. In fact, he even knew that he had already killed some innocent villagers whom he could have saved, but didn't.

    Still, there is always something in his heart that aches when he encounteres enemies whom he can talk to. This has been the case since he was a child. Since before he had been taken into the tribe. It was a something which had even made him hire Herst.

    ...unfortunately, such thoughts are not the time Zoan to think about. Not caring what happened to Herst and Zinc, Zoan rushed their way towards the temple. It was then when Zoan encountered the witch a second time. While the witch has clearly had some past, she is causing mayhem towards the village and towards one of his newest partners. Damage of property and assault; it appears that negotiation won't work on her anymore.

    "How unfortunate," Zoan grunted, and launched himself towards the witch. A black translucent barrier had yet appeared again. Responding to it, Zoan raised his stone club up and swung it down, breaking the barrier.

    Without losing momentum, Zoan tackles the witch and carries her body along with him. The witch was taken by surprise, and pummeled the nomad's back multiple times while saying "Let! Me! Go!" And he did... but simply not after smashing her body towards the temple's wall.


    Zoan had made his appearance at a crucial time. Nero had been struggling to keep up with the witch after she had powered up. His shield was barely held together and was chipped away at multiple places with small cracks appearing wherever he had blocked an attack. Her frequency of slashes had also increased by a lot as Nero couldn't rely on his shield to keep all of them from him. He had some mild cuts on his right arms as well as on both his feet, causing him to slowly bleed and lose blood.

    He would have died a long time ago had it not been for Arsenic, Zinc's centipede. Arsenic had managed go around the room and poison the witch from behind and hide before she could figure out what had happened. The result was a green patch of skin on her left calf that had continued to spread as the fight progressed. While this poison was really weakening her, it didn't look like it would be enough to keep a weakened Nero alive.

    When Zoan arrived and attacked the witch, Nero finally got a chance to take a break from defending. He rose from his crouched position and limped over to the witch who was using her magic to heal herself. But it looked like she was quickly running out of the external blood energy. Her previously reddish skin was now really pale with a greenish tinge. Nero lifted his spear and swung it down with great force. A barrier formed for the umpteenth time as it tried to block the strike. But it wasn't enough as the spear broke through the barrier and shattered it in an instant before continuing on its path and piercing the witch right through her chest.The witch must have realized that her time was up and her eyes had a distant look. She spoke her last words, "May our Lady... open the eyes of the heathens."

    Nero pulled his spear out of her body, leaving a gaping wound. The wound started to heal for a little while before the magic gave up. Her body had now turned completely green and her breathing had stopped. The witch was finally dead and Nero sat on the floor of the temple and rested against the wall, falling asleep from exhaustion and blood loss.

    While Zoan and Nero dealt with the witch inside the temple, Zinc stayed behind to take care of the villagers. Ever since the duo defeated the witch, the doctor could see noticeable changes to the cursed villagers' complexion and behavior. While the soup's effects wore off, Zinc applied some acupuncture to the affected nerves of each villager's spine as well as massaging the forefingers and the ring fingers to stimulate the nerves in their limbs. Soon, the villagers reverted back to normal and their injuries healed. By the time the first villager woke up, he was able to move his limbs.

    Zoan went to check up on the villagers. One by one they regained their sanity, with some having their spirit broken upon realizing what they have done to other villagers, and realizing who they had lost. However the quest was about a witch hunt, and not consolation of the loss of life, love and friends.

    "How is it Doc? Any side effects over?" Zoan asked.


    "They're recovering. It'll take a few days but no worries, there's no side effects." Zinc answered Zoan's question.

    The doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a dried stick of ginseng. "Here, take this. Though it won't bring back your hair color, it will at least stimulate your blood and activate hair growth. Once we get back, just stop by my shop in a week's time and I'll give you an acupuncture treatment free of charge."

    After Zoan received the dried herb, Zinc also gestured for Nero to come over. The doctor also gave Nero a dried stick of ginseng. Since Nero had lost a lot of blood from the curse and from the fight, the ginseng will boost his body's circulation and promote healthy blood production. After treating everybody, Zinc stood up and received Arsenic from Nero. The quest should be completed now. All that was left were the formalities. Zinc walked towards Zoan and Nero and asked them what they were doing next.


    Nero did start feeling better after being treated by Zinc. He went over to the witch to search the greenish dead body as well as the temple. He found nothing on the witch herself apart from an enchanted ring which was glowing a faint red. After searching the temple, Nero found a few letters that the witch had received from someone. The contents of the letter were vague, but it showed that someone was aware of her doings and was helping her from the background. Apart from the the letters, he found some coins, but he decided to leave those to the temple which needed repairs.

    --- --- ---

    While Nero was searching for loot, Zinc was searching for something else. He wondered that if there was any living organism that could have survived and adapted to the witch's curse. As Zinc looked about and overturned a few tables and stones, he was visibly disappointed at the lack of success. Just as he was about to give up, he caught a glimpse of movement. Focusing at the movement, Zinc realized that it came from a small, white worm.

    Immediately, Zinc sent out Arsenic to try to intimidate and communicate with the white worm. As soon as Arsenic made contact with the white worm, the worm limped and became submissive. Zinc contained the worm in a small rotect jar and peered at the worm. Zinc glanced over at Arsenic for a translation as he asked the worm some questions.

    "Can you hear me?"

    "What are you going to do to me?" The worm replied through Arsenic.

    "I won't hurt you. Why don't you follow me? Follow me and you will become great...that I guarantee."

    "R-Really? Will you feed me blood?"

    "Is that what you eat? Sure, I can do that."

    "Deal!"

    "How should I address you? Do you have a name?"

    "No."

    Zinc chuckled lightly. "Then, I'll call you Cerium or Ceri for short."

    After Zinc pocketed Cerium, he left the temple to check on the villagers one last time.


    Meanwhile, at the temple, "..." Zoan stared at the corpse of the witch. "I am going to take this back with me," he said as he lifts up the whole corpse.

    --- --- ---

    Nero showed the letters to his teammates as they left for the horses tied to the farmlands outside the village. Herny, who was waiting with the horses, was jumping up and down in joy as he learnt that most of the villagers had recovered and the curse had been lifted. He decided to see the adventurers off as they left for their return journey.

    - got rid of the witch who used blood magic.
    - eliminated the curse from the village.
    - found letters that shows that someone was backing her.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2019
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  7. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Oh dear... Just after a cultist attack we get this...? No rest for the wicked, it seems... Makes me wonder what was her purpose... Opening the eyes of the heathens is... *sighs*

    Well, you certainly did a great job, I'm glad you could also save the villagers at that~

    The rewards are 80 Large Copper Coins to split as you see fit, as well as 6 Guild points for each~

    Take care now~

    ((*pokes @wraith, @Zero300 and @Zone Q11 too*))
     
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  8. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    "Ah, still some remains of the cultist? A dark spirit, eh, I guess that was rather unexpected. Good job dealing with it.", Gaap immediately said after reading the report, when will they finally disappear from reports? He hoped that it was soon.

    "Alright, here's your reward, 10 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points, don't do anything dangerous with the dark spirit, okay?"
     
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  9. Arexio

    Arexio Blob Fanatic | AG Player

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    Ryul greeted, "How are you doing today, Mr. Gaap? I hope you're quite alright."

    Ryul pulled the papers out of his bag.

    "I'm here to turn in my report," he placed said report on the desk in front of the receptionist.

    "It turns out things are not exactly what they seem to be," Ryul said as he motioned at the report.

    As Ryul read over the quest details once again, doubts began to fill his head.

    First, he found it quite strange that the people in charge felt it appropriate to hire a carpenter, a profession specializing in woodworking, to fix a stone bridge. There must be some bureaucratic mess going on if the Tower Mages were complaining and this was the end-result of that.

    His other problem had to do with the rewards offered. 10 measly Large Coppers was not at all sufficient to travel all the way down to Doylors and back, especially if he also had to pay the toll for Kuro's Mountain Crossing Service.

    The final issue Ryul had was why would this Norman figure decide to hire an adventurer, who would most likely have little to no construction, architecture, or engineering knowledge nor experience, to repair a bridge that was mostly still fine. It seemed like Norman just wanted to throw this problem, which reeked of politicking, to a poor soul who happened to be himself this time.

    Ryul sighed defeatedly as he also questioned the Guild's moral boundaries as they had approved such a request; he supposed Miss Aria wasn't the only miserly individual in the establishment.

    Shaking his head, he went through his usual routine of information collection before officially starting his quest.

    . . .
    On the merchant vessel heading southeast down the river, Ryul observed the beautiful scenery and reflected on the past couple days' events while leaning on the railing on the side of the medium-sized wooden boat.

    In the library, he crammed as much knowledge as he could gain from books about bridges, design, and construction work as he could in a day. His [Comprehension] ability helped him get through a good number of reference texts.

    He concluded two things: one, this was going to be a bit costly (he's not paying for it) if he wanted to do a proper job and two, it seemed like it would be a logistical nightmare - transporting the raw materials, modifying them into the desired shape, tearing down some of the older parts of the bridge to replace them, having enough laborers so it wouldn't take ages, all while ensuring trade boats and bridge-crossers passing through weren't disrupted in the process.

    Ryul already felt the onset of a migrane setting in. He sighed. There had to be an easier way. There was also the other interesting and possibly quite important piece of news he discovered by way of an information guild, which he obtained by cashing in a favor from someone.

    Apparently, Mage Shad Kuin - Baron Kuin had discovered his long lost heir and brought his son Shad and his family back to take over the territory - stirred the pot quite a bit when he was here in Doylors; he had led a group of young mages from the Mage Tower to join Mayor Pierce's faction, the Progressives, and became a strong pillar of support in the group.

    As a result, the Mage Faction was absolutely furious and has been struggling to regain more power ever since. And now that Mage Shad Kuin is gone, weakening the Progressives Faction, the Mage Faction has decided to become bolder in their approach and try to win over some of the Neutral Faction, who are mostly composed of tradesmen and merchants.

    The whole bridge fiasco is most likely somehow related to all of this. Norman was most likely part of the Neutral Faction and an innocent victim caught in the crossfire. Ryul will have to find out more when he gets closer to Doylors and Rainband Tower.

    His train of thoughts was interrupted as they were just about nearing Kuro's Mountain Crossing Service, the toll service placed at where two great rivers from Nyllia and Ternus intersect. Surprised shouts and a few screams rang across the deck of the ship as three green reptilian monsters with a nasty set of jaws and teeth climbed aboard. Ryul studied the seven-foot tall bipedal creatures hulking across the deck towards them as the sailors either drew their weapons or panicked out of fear.

    Snapjaw Gators. ((See notes for more.))

    These uncommon river monsters shouldn't be this far South though; they lived much further upstream in the country of Nyllia in colder waters.

    Ryul didn't have much time to be confused as he drew his own sword and desperately tried to recall any information he read about them that would actually help him in a fight.

    That's it! Their softer underbellies should be their weak point, hence why they crouch over to make better use of their tough, leathery hide. He was about to shout this helpful fact out loud as the closest sailor to the monsters halfheartedly swung his blade at one of them and caused a shallow wound to appear on its scales.

    Enraged, the Snapjaw Gator quickly turned, opened its maws, and chomped off the poor man's head and upper torso like it was never there to begin with. Ryul darted his eyes away from the gruesome sight as a few of the sailors puked and more began to panic.

    "Their weakness is their underside! It's much softer than their hide!" The half-elf shouted loudly before morale was completely loss.

    Ryul charged Thunder energy into his blade with his [Infuse] spell, chanting the few necessary words, and moved towards the closest Gator to himself, which had just finished biting off a man's right arm. He ducked low to the ground and thrusted an upwardly pointing stab through the creature's throat.

    It gurgled in great pain and violently shook from the large amounts of electricity that ran all over its body both inside and outside, the power amplified by the monster having just come from the river and still drenching wet. As it was taken care of, Ryul moved to the next Gator that was facing off against two men who were able to inflict decent wounds by listening to the scholar's earlier advice.

    The half-elf quickly judged he'd be more helpful in a supporting role in this particular confrontation as he condensed mana to his left palm. His fingertips crackled noisily as he lined up his [Bolt] spell and chanted the required words. He released the small lightning bolt right as the green monster was about to close in on one of the men who accidentally overextended himself.

    Zigzagging across in a mild curve, the Thunder magic struck the inside of its open mouth, and the creature started to seize in place. Taking advantage of the Gator's inability to move, the other sailor slashed several times across its underbelly, leaving large bleeding gashes behind before it was eventually downed. The last river monster was easily taken care of as it was vastly outnumbered, only requiring another [Bolt] from Ryul to make it much safer for the others to approach.

    The aftermath was not too surprising, all things considered. A couple men lost their lives with several more injured. The head merchant and the captain both perfusely thanked Ryul for his assistance and were glad they had agreed to his earlier deal of providing guard services for transportation to Doylors. After the merchant ship briefly docked at Kuro's Service, everyone learned more about what had just transpired.

    Apparently several weeks ago, a massive fire-breathing octopus monster was causing havoc up river in Nyllia. This caused a chain reaction in the local ecosystem eventually leading to a sizeable exodus of Snapjaw Gators migrating downriver and terrorizing the local fauna and people here at Kuro's where the two great rivers meet.

    Ryul supposed he should inform the Guild about this in his follow-up report as this was relatively recent news, and they most likely didn't know yet. After everyone rested for a bit and the ship leaders paid the toll, the rest of the journey was, both literally and figuratively, smooth sailing.

    . . .
    "What? Is that really the case?"

    Norman was a bit surprised at what the adventurer he had hired informed him of. Before coming to the builder's camp near Peatlurta Bridge, the half-elf stopped by in the Town of Doylors to dig up some more information after parting with the merchant vessel.

    Norman continued, getting more and more furious, "I can't believe those Rainband Tower Mages would do something shitty as bribing Administrator Brown and making a fat fuck out of nothing with this stupid ol' stone bridge!"

    The portly man pulled his graying hair, "Shoot, y'know how pissed I was when Administrator Brown called me - ME, the head of the local carpenter's guild - to his office and told me I was assigned to work on this STONE bridge because the Mages were complaining about its quality?"

    "But now, not only do I want to punch all the stupid Mages in their stupid old faces, I want to give Brown a good ol' socking as well!" He paused to sigh, "I don't really have a choice but to fix this stupid bridge if the Mages have Brown in their pocket...Fuck!" Norman continued to vent and curse the administrator and mages as Ryul did more productive things.

    Ryul had found out that Norman was indeed part of the Neutral Faction and held substantial power in the group too, being the leader of the carpenters in Doylors and all. The Mage Faction saw he wasn't going to come over to their side, so threw this Peatlurta Bridge issue at him as a warning of sorts to publicly show others in the Neutral Faction they can make their lives difficult if they failed to cooperate.

    After demonstrating proof he was put in charge by Norman, Ryul started to set some things in motion at the campsite, making the most of what he learned in Nagrand's library about bridge construction and repair and putting the few idle laborers to work. This wouldn't be enough resources and manpower to actually repair the huge stone bridge, let alone do it correctly either; he needed some expertise too.

    The former lord's retainer supposed he should brush off some of his political skills for this request. He'll need to meet with a few people to actually "repair" this mostly functional Peatlurta Bridge as the potholes and bumps didn't really kill anybody trying to get across. Well, there was that one weak support column he saw when he examined it earlier - that could potentially be a problem.

    As for the deeper issues and factional conflict that this bridge represents...that's above Ryul's pay grade. After leaving the Empire, he wasn't doing that kind of work anymore and was only simply hired to repair a stone bridge. He left Peatlurta Bridge to go to the nearby Doylors Town yet again to get some additional help.

    . . .
    Three weeks quickly passed by since Ryul arrived at Peatlurta Bridge. The massive stone bridge was making good progress on its repairs and the work had mostly stabilized by now.

    The former retainer had used his silver tongue to somehow get an audience with Mayor Pierce and was able to inform him of the corrupt activities and switching of sides of Administrator Brown. The mayor of Doylors was not happy as he could not immediately remove the administrator due to the amount of power he held, so he had to play along with this grand act for now, all while slowly stripping Brown of his power and people, one way or another. The half-elf chose not to ask any unnecessary questions.

    Ryul was able to get an architect, several engineers, some actual stonemasons, many more laborers, more raw materials, and other resources he needed from Mayor Pierce. As he helped to supervise and manage everything over the course of three weeks - Norman was mostly useless as it was outside of his expertise - the work on the bridge gradually stabilized, and now he didn't really have much to do anymore.

    "Ryul, I can't thank ya enough for your help, my lad. I don't what I would've done if you hadn't been here. That request I put out to the Guild was more of a desperate plea for help than anything. Can't believe it actually worked, though!" Norman patted his shoulder. "You've been great taking over all of this and getting this extra help and manpower. I would've been at my wit's end if it hadn't been for you. It seems like I can take over the rest from here."

    The carpenter handed over a sealed letter to Ryul, "And here. Take this back with you to the Guild. It'll act as proof of you accomplishing my request and then some. I can't give you too much in terms of a reward as I'm strapped for cash right now, but I can give you this as thanks."

    Out of his leather bag, Norman pulled a beautiful and ornate small chest box with intricate designs carved onto the woodwork. He laughed as passed it to the half-elf's hands, "Hahaha, I had to do something while you were busy running all about, and plus I was bored out of my mind."

    Ryul smiled, "Mr. Norman. It's been a great pleasure getting to know you and work with you. Thank you very much for your gift. I'll be taking my leave then."

    "Hahaha take care my boy! Have a safe trip back to Nagrand -- oh and watch out for those Snapjaw Gators! I heard they've been a real problem recently!"

    Ryul said his goodbyes and waved him off as he departed homebound. Norman was able to get him a ride on another merchant vessel that traded many of the carpenter's guild's products to Nagrand.

    Luckily, he didn't run into any Gators or any other unexpected surprises as he made his way back upriver to Nagrand and, subsequently, the Adventurer's Guild.

    Ryul supposed there will be some interesting information that he'll have to share with the Guild this time.

    • The bridge problem is just a proxy war for the major factions of Doylors.
      • Carpenter Norman is an innocent victim in all of this political scheming as he holds power in the Neutral Faction.
      • Bridge was repaired/in process of being repaired with help from Mayor Pierce.
    • The Shad Kuin and his family leaving the Mage Tower had political ramifications.
      • Baron Kuin had discovered his long lost heir and brought him home with the help of the Guild to take over the territory.
      • Mage Shad Kuin, when he was here, had led a branch of the younger mages to join the Progressives, the faction led by the mayor of Doylors, Pierce, angering the Mage Faction.
      • Now that Shad is gone, the Mage Faction is trying to reclaim power by persuading the Neutral Faction, mostly craftsmen and merchants, to their side.
      • Carpenter Norman was made into a public example for those that failed to join their faction.
      • Recommendation: It's all a political mess and above Ryul's pay grade. He'll let the Guild and Doylors sort this one out.
    • The Fire-Breathing Octopus that had lived far upstream in Nyllia caused an ecological backlash downriver in Ternus.
      • The huge monster set off migratory waves of small families of Snapjaw Gators (new monster) which are terrorizing the river area at the intersection of Kuro's Mountain Crossing Service.
      • [​IMG]
        [*]Scale: Head larger than the size of an average human man. (7ft/2.1m)
        [*]Nasty teeth, claws, and jaws.
        [*]Underbelly is weak spot.
      • Recommendation: Subjugation of Snapjaw Gators to decrease their numbers.

    OOC: @Naraku

    @AliceShiki (added a new monster)

    Please let me know if I need to change anything.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2019
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  10. A5G_Reaper

    A5G_Reaper [DCLXVI, sohyee, and iampsyx's cute imouto]

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    ((I'm having problem with the heir part, I established that he left because he didn't want to rule in the first place. He only come home to make up with his father and showing off his newborn. No way he got saddled with ruling so suddenly.))
     
  11. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    "I'm finished, here to turn in the quest~"
    By a stroke of luck, the same old merchant from Asphodelus whom I had talked to last time was in Nagrand for another trip, so I ended up tagging along. On the way, since the timing was okay, I ended up asking him about this sudden influx of merchants.

    “Ah, the festival? Us merchants all pray to Ishtar, Goddess of Wealth and Trades, and today is the day she was said to have been born, although to younger merchants, I suspect this is just another opportunity for them to earn money...How the times have changed.”

    He sounded rather melancholic, so I chose not to respond, thinking that I would give him some alone time, but the old merchant just turned to smile at me, shaking his head sadly.

    “Let’s pick up from where we left off last time. What tales do you wish to listen to?”

    “Ah, tell me that one about…” - E

    As usual, it was a peaceful trip sticking to the main roads, although occasionally I would have to deal with bandits trying to waylay us and make a quick buck. And then goblins. The latter were incredibly annoying.

    Five days later, we arrived in Asphodelus, and split up once again, him going to his house, and me heading over to the local guard barracks.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    “...You’re the one who took the job? But you’re a girl, and look like you’re barely 15...is not what I’m going to say. I doubt you’ll have a problem with those thugs, just try not to cause any collateral damage.”

    The guard captain, who introduced himself as Zarek, was watching on as I floored two of his men when they refused to believe that I was an adventurer. That ended when I flipped one over the shoulder, and then tripped the second, causing both to fall on their faces.

    “Here, wear this around your forearm. It’s how members of the city guard identify each other, so when someone causes trouble and you try to settle it, you won’t end up getting arrested on counts of vigilante justice.”

    I took the item, and examined it.

    “Woah, fancy. A red bandana with a small circle sewn into it…the symbol of the city guard, is it?” - E

    “Yep.”

    “Alrighty! I’ll head along now and see what’s up.” - E

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And thus, sometime around noon, there was a commotion, a discovery, followed by a city wide chase. I ran along the rooftops, and dropped down in front of the fleeing group.

    “Hands where I can see em. I’m taking you all to jail.” - E

    They stared, and then started laughing.

    “The little lady says she’s going to arrest all of us! How cute!”

    “Hahahaha!”

    “Say, little lady, you better come to our hideout in the , so that you can arrest all of us! Hahaha!”

    “Here, I’ll even write it down on the map so you can find it! And when you do, remember to tell the doorkeeper that old Smith sent you down that way!”

    Hm?

    “Smith? The guy they’re talking about in Seditio?” - E

    “Yeah, that’s me!”

    Nice try, but the Smith isn’t real. I would know, because that was something I did on a quest a while ago.

    “I see. And thanks for wasting so much time laughing and talking, now we’ll be making our way to the guard barracks.” - E

    “Hahaha, the little lady is still keeping up her act---Huh?”

    From his surprised face, I reckon he finally noticed the fact that his hands had been securely tied together with rope. And the fact that the other three guys were in similar situations.

    “Wait, how’d you just…”

    “You four were clowning around so much that I had the time to borrow these ropes from a nearby merchant, who, by the way, isn’t pleased with how you messed up his stock. So let’s get you to the barracks and turn you all over to the guards.” - E

    “You bitch!”

    He tried to kick me when I was clearly out of range, so I actually didn’t understand what he was doing. This continued for a good minute until I got tired of his antics, and then proceeded to give him a light kick of my own.

    “YEOWWWWWWWCH!”

    Oops. Looks like I accidentally hit the area between the legs, my bad. The other 3 froze up, all visibly worried about getting the same treatment.

    “Well, let’s head along without any interruptions this time, or I’ll have you all experience what ‘mutual suffering’ is. Hurry along.” - E

    And so, like a duck leading her ducklings along with a rope, I led the quartet into the barracks. The guard on duty had already seen me several times since morning, and had started calling me ‘Windy’ for some reason.

    “Here you go. These people were stealing from a merchant’s stall, and then subsequently breaking those when they were caught in the act. I don’t know what kind of punishment this warrants, but I hope there’s enough cells to hold them.” - E

    Oh, almost forgot. Before I left, I made sure to turn around and mention something extra to the guard.

    “By the way, this guy said that he’s the Smith. I’m not sure what that meant, but I just thought you should know.” - E

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    “...And here I was wondering what kind of sane people would become bandits. I take that back, telling their hideout location and access method to an adventurer on a request...Although, I guess they were tricked by your---Ahem. Let’s get back on track.”

    I was smiling at him, as always, as he coughed again for some reason. Did the guard captain get sick? He should probably stay at home to rest if that’s the case.

    “As I was saying, while this is great news, I’m afraid we won’t be able to do anything about it until this whole event is over, because we’re already shorthanded without having to send more guards to go check the place out And since it’s barely been a day, there’s plenty of time for those bandits to realise that their brethren have not returned from the fest, and start tightening up their security. By then, it’ll simply not be worth the risk to clear them out, so we’ll have to give up on this matter…”

    Zarek coughed, and then continued, giving me a wink.

    “But of course, since we’ve decided not to act on this ourselves, it means that should a certain adventurer wish to raid the bandit hideout since her work here is done, then most of whatever she finds in there would belong to her…Ahem. Not that I would advocate violence, but if you manage to curb the problem at the roots, us city guards would be quite thankful.”

    “Sure. I’m passing by on my way back home, anyways. I don’t mind taking a look. But still, are you sure that it’s alright for me to leave already? It’s only been a day, after all.” - E

    “Yes, it’s fine. The first day tends to be the busiest due to all the entering and exiting, and since merchants are always in a rush to sell, it can be hard to spot any potential thieves. After we make a few dozen arrests, they’ll know that we do mean business, and back off. Still, I’m glad we decided to call for help this year; it seems like crime rates have been rising for some reason…”

    “Well, good luck holding the fort, then. Since it’s night, I’m going to start heading back. Intuition tells me that this is the time of night where bandits tend to get drunk and lose awareness, so I’ll go around and snoop a bit. Ah, here’s the bandana you’ve loaned me.” - E

    “No, keep it.”

    “Eh? You sure? This is quite new.” - E

    “Yes, you’ve earned it; you’ve brought in over 20 potential thieves since early morning. In addition, I’m pleased to name you a honorary member of the city watch. Hope to see you around again.”

    “Well, thank you, I guess. See ya.” - E

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    So I managed to find their horribly hidden hideout some miles out of Asphodelus, and realized that the idiots were sitting around a campfire, all horribly drunk and practically dozing off.

    Well, this makes my job easier, I suppose. I grabbed more rope, and then started tying the rope around their hands and legs. About halfway through, I stepped on a branch, which cracked and made a loud noise.

    One of the bandits stirred, blearily staring at me. I admit, I was caught off guard, and so ended up saying the first excuse that sounded reasonable from the top of my head.

    “Lucid dreaming, aren’t we? Have a mug of beer.” - E

    I did hand him another drink that had been lying on the table, and oddly enough, he did chug it.

    “Tastes like sewer water, as usual…”

    “Well, if you want it to taste better, then work on drinking something better in reality. I can’t recreate a taste that you’ve never tasted before.” - E

    While I was still breaking out in cold sweat, the guy unexpectedly grunted in agreement, and his head clonked back onto the table, asleep. Apparently, he bought the story after all.

    “How nice, ignorance must be really bliss...Oh well, time to tie these guys together.” - E

    I bound all of their wrists together, loosely so I didn’t wake them, the started tying the rope around the table and the chairs. Soon, I had gotten rope everywhere, and if one of them woke up and tried to escape, all of them would get tied together, along with the furniture.

    “Let’s see what we have here in the den...Wow, horses. Two of em. One intact cart...A bunch of weapons, mostly rusted...Ew. I’ll help myself to this relatively clean pair of gloves, and 6 large copper on the drawer.” - E

    “What the----WAH?!”

    And there goes those idiots.

    I looked at the cart, then at the first horse, then back at the bandits, who were now tied and rolled into a huge ball.

    “Well, I guess we can put these to use…” - E

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And thus, I entered the city of Nagrand four days later, hopped off the horse I was riding, before passing the reins to a nearby confused gate guard.

    “This horse here was stolen by a bunch of bandits that I’ve met on the way, and I’ve taken care of ‘em. As for who this horse originally belonged to, I don’t know, so please settle this matter, thanks. You can check with the guards over at Asphodelus for more information. Bye.” - E

    I wandered off, leaving the confused guard behind as I made my way over to the guild building.

    I wonder, did the cart of tied up bandits make it to Asphodelus’ gates? I made sure to write a note to the gate guards and attach it to the horse’s saddle, hopefully the gate guards will see it~

    But well, it was a free extra service on my part, so I’m not responsible for whatever might happen afterwards.
    @AliceShiki
     
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  12. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    "Ah, politics, a good old friend.", Gasp sarcastically exclaimed as his face was twisted with some disgust.
    "Interesting in history but not when you experience it... On top of that, you add mages, now that's the worst, you can expect anything from them. Norman is quite unlucky, well, you got him out of his predicament so he must be pretty relieved. And now prepared for what the mages may reserve for him, likely."

    "Frankly, good job, you got us quite a lot of information at the same time, thank you for that service. And well... after the octopus, alligator, at least, both of them are tasty.", he decided to joke a bit before handing the rewards to Ryul.

    "Can't give you more but hope that is enough. 10 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points. See ya for another quest."
     
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  13. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Welcome back Elaine-san~

    So the festival was to celebrate the birth of a goddess...? And you left Nagrand in the day she was born and arrived at Asphodelus at the same day and was able to take 20 thieves while you were at it? Gods, you were fast~

    ... Wasn't the festival coming up in a few weeks though? Makes me wonder what Zarek-san meant with "first day" then... I guess it's at about this time that the merchants start arriving en masse~
    I guess your merchant friend confused the date? Or maybe they confused the holiday...

    Well, nothing of this really matters, you got a job well done, the reward is of 22 Large Copper Coins and 8 Guild Points~

    Take care now~

    ((*coughs* Looking in retrospect, maybe I should have linked where the fest was first mentioned... >.>))
     
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  14. wraith

    wraith -----------------

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    Nero walked into the guild and handed over his quest report.

    Nero currently stood with Carmilla, looking inside her house through the window. A tiny devil, about the size of a human fist, was currently sleeping in the middle of her study. Pages torn from books were lying on the floor, the walls were discolored, covered in reddish pus and all the furniture in the room was damaged beyond repair.

    "So, he refuses to form a contract with you. Why?"

    "Well, normally we trap the devil before making contracts. Once they realize that they will have to return if they don't form a contract, they give in. I have managed to seal him in the room for now, but he has already done a lot of damage. If I go inside, he could also attack me and escape."

    "And he will most probably attack me if I go in."

    "Yeah, but he won't be able to use magic properly inside my study. And I think you wont have a problem against him in a physical battle."

    "That does play to my strengths. Do I climb in through the window?"

    "Haha, let me open the door for you."

    Carmilla opened the door to her apartment and led Nero to her study. As he entered the room, he clearly felt that he had entered a barrier. Feeling reassured about her barriers strength, he came face to face with the devil, who had woken up and was staring right at him.

    "Hi there, I'm N-", Nero, who had decided to start out with a pacifist approach, was interrupted when began introducing himself. The devil had grown to the size of a small kid and had flown towards him. Nero hadn't expected the devil to charge at him right from the get go and took a punch straight to the face. Unfortunately for the devil, the difference in power was a little too much to overcome and Nero immediately grabbed the devil's outstretched arm. Nero thought about killing the devil, but that was when the devil started smiling.

    "You shall do", the devil said with purpose. Nero felt a sudden pain inside his head as he felt something take form within his consciousness. A voice was heard within his mind, "A strong body, but not much mana. No matter, you will become the first servant of Parcae, the Imposter."

    Nero realized that his mind was to be possessed imminently. Having not had any experiences of defending against a possession, he decided to do the thing he was best at, beating the shit out of his opponents. He lifted the devil's body which he had caught and swung it downwards, smashing it on the floor. At the moment of impact, the pressure from the second consciousness in his mind disappeared entirely. He found that his movements had become easier. He hadn't even realized that the devil had managed to restrict his movements during the attempted possession. Feeling rage at being attacked without any provocation, Nero decided that the devil was better off dead. He raised his foot to stamp the injured devil into minced meat.

    "Wait! Please, I give up", the devil lying on the floor had started begging for his life.

    Nero, not entirely convinced, decided to slow his foot's descent and stamp the devil much more gently than he had initially planned. Having pinned the devil with his foot, Nero crouched in order to come face to face with the devil, and spat out his next words with great venom, "Speak, Parcae."

    "I'll form a contract with you. I'm pretty useful", the devil spoke, his words punctuated with deep breaths.

    Suddenly, the door opened and Carmilla stepped inside the room. Her expression was really bitter and she seemed to be in deep thought. After a moment of silence, she made up her mind and spoke, "I'll form a contract between the two of you, but only for money and the condition that the devil helps me with something."

    "Why not form a contract with him directly?", Nero asked her, wondering where this situation was heading towards.

    "I can only keep a limited amount of summons in contract at the same time. I had already deemed this one to be a failure and was planning for a different summon. He has also destroyed my study and I would like for him to pay for that."

    "What kind of contract will it be?", Nero asked.

    "It will be favorable to you. He will only come to this plane on your orders and won't be able to attack anyone unless you command it."

    "I can't use magic though."

    "You have a little bit of magic. And there are many ways to summon familiars."

    "What do you say?", Nero turned to the demon and asked him.

    "Fine", came a curt reply.

    Hearing these words, Carmilla went to a destroyed table, picked up a few pages and started drafting a contract. It was done in a few minutes and a copy was given to both Nero and Parcae. Nero read through it and signed it with his blood. Parcae took his time to sign, but once he did, Nero felt a link from between both of them. Upon exploring the link, he found out that the two of them could communicate through telepathy.

    "The contract is done. You should be able to feel it", Carmilla declared, " I'm feeling generous, so this will only cost you 1 silver."

    After completing the transaction, Carmilla drained a couple of vials of the Parcae's blood and healed his injuries. Nero had not really warmed up to the devil but wanted to spend some time exploring the link that had formed between them. It was like a piece of meat that was stuck in his teeth, he just couldn't ignore it. In the end he decided to speak through telepathy, "Parcae, what are you going to do now?"

    "Nothing I can do. Looks like I'm stuck with you", Parcae replied in a snarky tone.

    "In that case...", Nero cancelled the summon and sent the devil back to his world. The connection in his mind grew duller and he realized that he couldn't use telepathy anymore. Getting his first taste of magic, Nero returned to the guild with a smile on his face.
     
  15. wraith

    wraith -----------------

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    @AliceShiki
     
  16. WhitesRabbit48

    WhitesRabbit48 Well-Known Member

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    Tired but alive and well, Lethe handed in his report.
    Another long journey to someplace new. For Lethe, it was the usual I guard, you give me a ride dealio. A tad bit of negotiation and skill demonstration were also necessary to reassure all involved merchants that he could, indeed, put up a fight and was definitely a certified adventurer. Really, nothing new. Lethe was seriously hoping his next appearance would be a little bit older looking and hopefully a wee bit taller as well. The constant questioning was getting a bit old at this point– him looking like a child was not by choice!


    Thanks to the upcoming Merchant’s Fest, Lethe was able to stay with the same convoy until they reached Asphodelus. Now that he’d gotten that far, Lethe had to find out the best way to make the second leg of his journey. Figuring going to a tavern and asking around might be his best bet, Lethe entered one of the popular looking locales by the name of Brendon’s Mead and Ale House.


    As soon as he entered, he could feel something was wrong. Everyone fell silent when he walked through the doors and some even had looks of disgust upon their faces.


    “What’re ya doin’ here, ya ‘alf breed? This ain’t no place for ya kind!” shouted one of the more inebriated men.


    Rather than being concerned about the apparent discrimination that was going on, Lethe was more troubled by the fact that the man was already drunk this early in the morning. He knew there was a saying that it’s five o’clock somewhere, but seriously? The sun had barely crested the sky, and this man was already drunk out of his senses.


    Ignoring the man’s less than welcoming comment, Lethe gave him a look of disinterest.


    “WHAT’RE YA LOOKIN’ AT, YA WHELP!”


    At this point, Lethe couldn’t help but chuckle at the man. Did he really think that Lethe gave a damn about what he thought or what he wanted? Well, that and he also looked pretty comical trying to get off his barstool without face planting.


    Incensed by Lethe’s snicker, the brawny man finally succeeded in his struggle to get up off his seat and started lumbering in Lethe’s direction.


    Just when Lethe was getting ready to make himself scarce, someone grabbed his arm and dragged him out.


    “What are you doing?! Don’t you know that, that’s practically a gathering place for Holy Empire of Men sympathizers! And you just waltzed right in there and started laughing at them! Oh my goodness! How have you even survived up to this point? Where is your common sense?” Hissed a young man with wooden antlers.


    Seeing Lethe stare starry-eyed at his antlers, the man quickly pulled himself together and looked away: embarrassed.


    “Oh, um, my name is Finn. My mom was a dryad and my father a deerkin so,” he gestured at his antlers,” I ended up with these, things. Sorry about dragging you out, but you really shouldn’t have gone in there. They’re a dangerous lot that you’d do best to stay away from.”


    “Mmm. Thanks.” Muttered Lethe before reaching upwards and pointing at the man’s antlers. “S’ beautiful. Wish I had antlers...”


    “Uh, thanks,” Finn responded blushing, apparently not used to complements. “So, um, I guess you’re from out of town?”


    Just as Lethe was getting ready to respond, a few men (led by the drunkard from earlier) exited the tavern and appeared to be looking for something– or more likely, someone.


    “Shoot! I should have known they wouldn’t let it go! Come on; let’s get out of here.”


    Darting into an alleyway that was nearby, Finn dragged Lethe alond until they reached the slums.


    “They wouldn’t ‘lower themselves’ to come here, so you should be safe for now. Why did you even enter that tavern in the first place?”


    “’m a ‘venturer. ‘m tryin’ t’ get to southeast part o’ Seditio.”


    “An adventurer??? I-I see. Not exactly what I expected, but I guess you were trying to get information then. Well, I can give you a hand with that, actually, if you’re trying to get to Seditio. It’s bad enough that those scum saw me rescue you, so I can’t afford to be seen with you again; but I have a friend named Villars, another half-y like me, who might be able to set you up with something.”


    Tugging Lethe along again, Finn made his way to one of the shacks tucked away in the corners of the slums.


    Giving the door a special series of knocks, they waited.


    “’ey, oo’s dat at dee door?”


    “It’s me, I’m looking for Villars. You seen her around recently?”


    “Ahh ‘s a young Finnigan.”


    “It’s not Finnigan, Aesop, it’s Finn. New been and never will be Finnigan. Anyways, Villars? Seen her?”


    “Aye, ‘ve seen duh lassie. She wuz a headin’ twards duh port ‘bouts ta leave for a run tuh Seditio.”


    “Dang it! I hope we’re not too late! Thanks, Aesop! Come on, wait, what’s your name again?”


    “Lethe.”


    “Cool. Nice to meet you, Lethe. Come on, we have to make a run for it if we want to catch her before she sets off!”


    Both youngsters dashed through the slums; Finn with practiced ease, and Lethe with less than practiced ease. Finally, they arrived at a dilapidated port gasping and out of breath.


    “Hey! Hey, Villars! Wait up!” Finn yelled to a young woman with a watery looking lizard tail and cerulean blue hair.


    The woman stopped and turned to face whoever was calling her, relieved when she discovered it was only Finn.


    “Nearly gave me a heart attack, man! You can’t go yelling my name like that! So, is this the poor soul you’re saving today?” She asked looking at Lethe.


    “Come on, Villars. He accidentally wandered into Brendon’s, and now Garth and his men are after him. He’s just a kid; I couldn’t just leave him. He’s not even from here.”


    Looks like that drunkard’s name was Garth. Lethe’d file that away for later use.


    “Brendon’s?! You know better than to get involved with those pro-HEM scum! Even if they’re trash, they hold more power than we can afford to mess with! You can’t put all of us in danger like that! We’ve worked way too hard to sacrifice the chance of a better future for this tiny little nobody!”


    “I know, I know! We’re almost there, but what use is it if we can’t even help one innocent kid out! Then we’d just be hypocrites! That’s not what our parents sacrificed themselves for! You know your mother never would have just left him!”

    “And that’s what got her killed!”


    “That’s what made her amazing! She helped anyone and everyone! Isn’t that the future we’re trying to build here?!”


    “Fine! Fine! That’s a low blow, but I’ll take it! You win, Finn! I’ll bring the kid to Seditio; but after I drop him off, I’ll have nothing more to do with him! And you,” she said, whipping around to face Lethe, “you better not have ruined our chance to turn the tables on those ‘upper class’ scum! If you have, I’ll find you and drag you down with us– even if I’m a ghost!”


    “Thanks, Villars. I’m sorry. You know I couldn’t leave him; you know I couldn’t.” Finn said, looking rather deflated.


    “I know.” Villars sighed “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be you. I just, I just don’t want everything– all those years, all those sacrifices– to be for nothing.”


    “They won’t be, I promise. We’ll be okay, it’ll all be okay. One way or another, it’ll all work out."


    “I sure hope so, Finn, I sure hope so… Come on, kid. If everything’s gonna be screwed up because of you anyway, I might as well do a good job taking care of you.” Villars said as she turned towards her small vessel.


    “Go on and stay out of harm's way. She’s one of the kindest people and best sailors I know, so you’ll be safe on your voyage.”


    Lethe still hadn’t entirely caught up with what had just happened, but he had enough sense to know that he had caused some serious issues for the pair.


    “’m sorry,” Lethe said, looking up at the kind young man. “If y’ need anythin’ tear this.” he continued, handing Finn a small piece of dried vine.


    “Don’t worry about it, kid. And what’s this?”


    “Piece of vine fr’m Lesovy. Tear it ‘f y’ur in trouble.”


    “Okay, okay. I’ll make sure to do just that.” Finn said, giving Lethe a pat on the head. “Best be off now: don’t want to keep Villars waiting.”


    “Mmkay. Thank you.”


    Lethe boarded the small ship and waved at Finn as they pulled out of the harbor.


    “Listen, kid, this ride ain’t gonna be easy and it ain’t gonna be free. Take this mop and bucket and start cleaning. We’ll probably run into a storm or two given the season; but I’m one of the best sailors in the south seas, so no need to worry– just get below deck. Otherwise, not a peep; ya hear me?”


    Lethe nodded sleepily and wandered his way over to grab the mop and bucket.


    He was successfully able to clean two-thirds of the deck before he succumbed to summoning Lesovy for assistance.


    “What the heck is that?! What did you just do?! How is there a slime aboard my vessel?!”


    Remembering that Villars had demanded his silence, he gestured to his pillow, took out his guild badge, and tried to mine out what was going on.


    “Oh for goodness sakes! Speak! I give you permission to speak!”


    “’m a ‘venturer. This ‘s Lesovy, my summon.” Lethe explained while handing her his badge.


    “At your service,” Lesovy added with a bow. (As close to a bow as he could get, that is.)


    “So, you’re telling me you, a tiny rabbitkin, is not only an adventurer; but a summoner who can summon a talking, emerald green slime.”


    “Mhmm”


    “Yes, miss. Not mhmm!” Lesovy added, not forgetting to scold Lethe on his lack of manners.


    “And the slime is a gentleman… Just, give me a moment to process all this.”




    Villars stood there looking back and forth between Lethe, Lesovy, and the badge; occasionally giving herself a pinch to keep making sure she wasn’t dreaming.


    “Okay, okay. So, little adventurer, will you really give us a hand if we need your help?”


    “’f course.” Lethe nodded and let out a small yawn.


    “Cover your mouth! Yawning with open mouth; no good!”


    Lethe just gave Lesovy a blank look. Really, this slime never gave up, did he?


    “And that vine-y thing you gave Finn ‘ll really work? You’re not pulling our legs?”


    “Naturally, miss! It’s my vine!” declared Lesovy.


    “We won’t be shy then. They already dislike you in the first place so it’s not like you’ll be losing anything. This could actually be quick helpful…” Villars trailed off sinking into deep thought.


    Lethe had currently been hit by a smidge of regret at handing out that tidbit of vine. Goodness knows what that woman would use him for.


    Working in tandem with Lesovy, Lethe was able to get the entire ship spick and span by the time they reached their destination: the southeastern tip of Seditio.


    “I’ve got some business, but you’re free to go, little adventurer. I’ll be seeing you around.” Villars tossed out after docking the boat and heading to a corner of the port.


    After Villars departed, Lethe and Lesovy descended from the vessel and made their way into town.


    It wasn’t a metropolis or anything, but it was a sizable town buzzing with activity. While wandering, they happened across an open-air market. Figuring that this was probably a better place to get information on the hill than trying another tavern, Lethe began to ask around.


    After being persuaded to buy a few products in exchange for information, Lethe had a rough outline of where the mysterious hill was located and some of the rumors about it.


    Apparently, the hill hadn’t always been that way. It used to just be your average hill; but a few months ago, when Brenda (the baker’s daughter) had gone out to play on it, the reverse rolling properties had started or been discovered. Ever since, the people had avoided it and some weird stories about it had popped. Some said it was a cursed spirit that had taken over the hill; others said it was a witch or wizard just having some fun. Brenda said that it was the little man that lived in the hill, the adults had a good laugh with that one.


    Lethe felt that Brenda’s guess was probably the best one, even if the adults thought it was ridiculous. Kids always tended to be more willing to see the truth in strange situations, no matter how absurd it may seem.


    Now all that was left was to make his way there with Lesovy to see the phenomena first hand.


    The trek to the hill was rather short, but Lethe was really feeling the need for a nap at this point in their journey. Seeing a nice fluffy patch of grass practically calling his name, Lethe decided that there was no time like the present. Ignoring Lesovy’s attempts to persuade him to do otherwise, Lethe laid down and promptly fell asleep.


    Who knows how much later, Lethe woke up to the sound of Lesovy arguing with someone else.


    “I-I’m j-just tryin’ t-ta h-help out! H-he can’t just s-stay h-here! I-it’s n-na safe h-here!”


    “No! Master’s fine! Leave us!”


    “Wha’s goin’ on?” grumbled a half-asleep Lethe, trying to rub said sleep out of his eyes.


    “P-pardon m-ma manners. M-ma n-name is R-Rasfan, one o-of the n-noble g-gnomes. C-can w-we d-discuss th-this inside? P-please?” Rasfan turned and gestured towards a rather small opening in the hillside.


    “Mmkay.”


    “Master! Could be a trap! It’s dangerous!” protested Lesovy.


    After Lethe looked at the stuttering gnome and then back at Lesovy, the slime sighed and relented.


    “Fine, fine.” Lesovy grumbled, trailing after Lethe as they entered what seemed to be Rasfan’s residence.


    “Ah, finally, inside! Welcome, welcome to ma humble abode! Apologies for earlier. Being above ground tends to be a bit much for me. I was just trying ta get you inside for safety purposes while you were sleeping. I’ve heard some nasty rumors about a cursed spirit wandering the area and such. What were ya doing sleeping out there in the open in the first place?”


    “Sleepy…”


    “Well, I guess I can’t argue with that! This way, this way. Here, have a seat.” Rasfan said after leading them into his sitting room.


    “So, what are you guys wandering about the hill for? You a ghost hunter or an adventurer or something? I can tell ya I haven’t seen the spirit, but the locals sure have been talkin’ up a storm about it. Oh, and ya names, what are ya names?”


    “I’m Lesovy. This is Master.”


    “’m Lethe a ‘venturer. Tryin’ to find why stuff’s rollin’ up not down.”


    “What?! Oh dearie me! I’m so sorry about that! It seems ma experimental magic circuit’s gone a bit haywire, ya see, and messed up the reality directly above it– which would be the hill, I suppose. Hmmm. I hadn’t realized it had gotten that bad though. Well, good thing I just got the materials in to get it back in order; give me two days and all that should return to normal, so by tomorrow evening. Feel free to stay in the meantime. I’d love to hear some of ya tales and adventures!”


    For the following two days, the gnome worked on righting his questionable magic circuit during the day and had Lethe and Lesovy recount their adventures in the evening. At the end of the second day, the summoner and his summon went out on the hill thankful to discover that the hill had indeed returned to normal. The next morning, they prepared to depart.


    “It was great finally havin’ some company! Come back and visit anytime! Feel free to send some interesting friends as well; I love a good tale! Could teach a bit too, if they’re interested in magic circuitry and such.”


    “Will do. Thank’s f’r lettin’ us stay. ‘ll come back ‘n visit.”


    With that, Lethe and Lesovy left Rasfan’s residence and began their return journey.


    The trip home, though draining, was nothing of consequence and Lethe was glad when Nagrand finally came into sight.
    -There seem to be a powerful group of people that sympathize with the HEM in Asphodelus.
    -There also appears to be a group that's trying to even out the power distribution in Asphodelus.
    -There's a gnome that lives under the mysterious hill that is no longer so mysterious.
    -Rasfan (the gnome) loves visitors and would be willing to teach them a bit about machinery and mechanics in exchange for interesting stories.
    @AliceShiki
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2019
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  17. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Seems like you got a nice thing out of this Nero-san~

    Good to know the devil was a minor one though, I was afraid of what was going to happen if it was to go loose for some reason...

    Well, you got the job wonderfully done, and as such you get your reward, congratulations on becoming a D-ranked adventurer~

    *hands you a bronze badge* This is your new guild badge, it has your name carved in its back just like before.

    Good luck in your future jobs Nero-san, gods blessings upon you~ *bows*
     
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  18. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    ((Uhn... Lethe-chan... Can you edit this to be a bit less machinery and more magicky? I don't really like the idea of having some races/places with more advanced technology to the point they can make things in a hill roll up... It breaks my immersion... >.>

    The rest of the report was fine though~))
     
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  19. WhitesRabbit48

    WhitesRabbit48 Well-Known Member

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    ((Yes ma’am!:blobsalute: All fixed up! I switched it to magic circuit instead. If that’s okay?))
     
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  20. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    ((*hugs* All good! \(^^)/))
    So... There was a gnome experimenting near the Hill? Well, Lyra-san might be a bit disappointed... But again, now that she has a pet Wyvern, she might actually try going there to investigate how that was caused~

    Thanks for your hard work Lethe-kun, it's much appreciated~

    The reward will be of 10 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

    Take care now~
     
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