Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist's Desk

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

  1. Unreachable Hope

    Unreachable Hope Unspecified, Wandering and Doubtful Member

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    A hour later, Cinis was himself an inn, to be more exact, the inn in which the envoy was residing, he hesitated for a few minutes before entering. As expected should he say? It was rather neat inside, there were not much people but he guessed it was because people prefer cheap inns?
    First thing he did was to look around, to see if there was someone using the colors of the Empire, black and red he supposed. However, he found nobody like this, or to be more exact, he found no humans that has those colors… or perhaps, it should be better to say that he found any humans. He let out a sigh and decided to ask the receptionist at the counter, while he did not wish to because attracting attention always was more annoying than anything else, necessary but bothersome, like so many things.

    “Excuse me, is there any human that took a room here? If I am not wrong, he should be the one that sent a request for me.”, hearing him, the orcish receptionist raised her eyes and said on a rather respectful tone.

    “They are on the first floor, last room. I hope you will have a nice time with this mister then. And good luck as well.”, hearing her saying good luck, Cinis supposed he was the right man, why would she say that? His personality, however, humans are rare, there shouldn’t be much people here, on top of that, she only said one room, which means there is only one human in this inn.
    Immediately proceeding to go upstairs, Cinis wondered about how he should introduce himself, with his true name? A fake one? Should he even try to hide his name? Could he not be completely honest? No, in the end, don’t some of them already know where he is? Then why bother with this. Polite and respectful, that is how he will try to deal with this person.

    Minutes later, Cinis knocked on the door, instead of waiting for a reply, he immediately introduced himself rather loudly, there should not be anyone here.
    “Sir, this one is named Cinis Pretium Lorem, the adventurer charged of accompanying you through the city. I apologize for coming rather lately.”, his voice rang out, filled with as much courtesy he could muster from the depth of his memories. It felt rather displeasing to speak this way, but if he wished to rank up, it was only fair of him to do it this way.
    A voice solemnly answered to the half-elf on a rather spiteful tone, or so he thought.

    “Enter, Demi-Human.”, as expected, it was the right person. He pushed the door and looked inside, the room was rather simply yet neat. The noble was there, in a casual cloth, a luxurious one, albeit a bit dirty, probably because of the travel from the Holy Empire of Men, and he might be reluctant to wash or clean in a place of mostly ‘demi-human’ as he would say. Who would touch their water? Their food? He needs to, nevertheless eating and drinking may already be too much for him.
    Probably in his forties, the middle-aged men still had chestnut hair, a certain youthfulness despite his age and many wrinkles, he had a sword at his belt, a severe smile, or not to say, a merciless one, on the verge of indifference, should he say? Apathetic perhaps.
    Despite everything, his eyes seemed to be filled with fury and rage, how odd. A seething old man that seems emotionless at first sight, normally, he thought that these kind of people will temper their personalities with time and become more and more seni- silly, yes, silly. As in, like a doting grandpa who will do anything for his grandchildren. Nothing more than that.

    “Cinis Pretium Lorem, an elfic demi-human.”, he was sit on a chair near a table, drinking something, the mug was still fuming, it was still hot. He stood up and seemed to be observe the half-elf rather finely, from feet to head, his cheekbones seemed to relax and he continued to speak, ready to leave and getting led throughout the whole city.
    “I see. Then, let’s begin, demi-human.”, Cinis was still unsure whether the envoy was really from the Northern or Southern regions of the Empire, however, from how the situation was going, he thought that it started off rather well. The noble was cooperating for now.

    Immediately, Cinis descended the stairs and went outside, followed by the Envoy, keeping his spine as straight as possible, the adventurer wondered where should he go with the envoy, the first idea he got was visiting the churches with him, then, perhaps a merchant? A tailor? The Adventurer Guild itself? He was not sure, but he thought that he should just go along with it.

    “Sir, would you allow me to be a guide toward the Church of Ralditorias?”, he knew a few ones, the less crowded was to go through poor districts, of course, the noble would not be pleased if he did so. A rather modest way but not too crowded, how hard would that be? Perhaps he should have waited for a specific day, however, it was too late, now that they are out, now that he is accompanying him, there is no going back, he can only lead him.

    “Do so.”, only two words escaped the Envoy’s mouth, Cinis wished he could let out a sigh, of course, he can not do that, he can not let a bad first impression to the noble. Keeping a smile, he wondered whether he should try to discuss with him, perhaps he should just treat him as if he was a tourist or something along those lines.

    “Originally, Nagrand was an orc town, so the majority of the citizens are orcs, however, today, as you can notice on the streets, there is a bit of every race. Despite being in Ternus, it is fine to have this diversity of races, because we are geographically isolated, you could say, or so I think.”, he quickly said something that the envoy should know since he came here, he noticed that the envoy was pleased with his words, even if he already knew much more than what was said. Perhaps because it meant that Cinis was trying to serve him through these words? If that was so, then that is perfect. Everything was going as perfect as it could.

    Then, after some time, they arrived in front of the Church of Ralditorias, now, perhaps he could explain something he did not know. Mostly stories about Lord Ralditorias or the Festival.

    “Well, then, I suppose I am allowed to speak about the story and recent events related to the Church?”, he still asked for their permission in a way, it was rather lowering for him.
    A simple nod replied to this question, the envoy was not much of a talkative person.

    “While you probably do know that Ralditorias is the god of perseverance, the unyielding. Despite being a rather small branch of the main church, the church has been one of the most significant power in Nagrand along with the Adventurer Guild and what the Mayor did for this city as well. Then, recently, there was a festival, a few weeks ago.”, hearing the latter part of the Festival, the envoy seemed to be rather attracted.

    “I didn’t quite participate in it, I only cleared some quests that were related to the preparation of the festival, then, there were a few contests, in which I was not really interested. There were stalls but there was an event which was fighting with the Head Priest Soren, I would have said trying to survive a few hits from it was more appropriate…”, then he proceeded to explain a bit about the Festival, while avoiding everything that may be related to the cultists. If the envoy noticed something odd about the Church, like if there was something damaged or anything, Cinis would bring up a new subject about the festival, for example what he has seen.

    “Oh yes, I did hear something quite odd… about Gourd? A gourd yes indeed, so… apparently, it is because of an Adventurer, someone wearing… a gourd helmet, there is even a quest this week that was about… Gourd God, I skimmed the quest board, I didn’t really check but I remember that a noble’s daughter began praying to it… a quest was about carving crests for this same god… so basically, there is a sort of new god that people pray to? Because of one of the weirdest adventurer we have here, Gourd, some people call him the Protector of Children and so on…”, slowly trying to spread the reputation of Jack in the Empire, Cinis diverted the subject and decided to go toward Ophelia’s temple. He was swiftly avoiding every subjects that could be sensitive.

    The envoy felt quite perplexed about Gourd God, he thought that once he is back home.
    “I should search about it…”, later on they arrived in front the Temple, Cinis explained the basic information on Ophelia, the goddess of nurturing and healing. Then, he spoke about the festival a second time.

    “Oh yes, at night, there was a sort of ceremony with the people here, most of the population was around here. Even Head Priest Soren was there.”, it was about how the citizens were escorted there with Soren’s help. Of course, once again, he will not mention the cultists, no, he would even make up a story about what happened in the city instead of the cultist. Of course, no sensitive questions was asked, he had enough tact. If he wished to have a more or less decent time, he should not trouble his, even if he feels like it, it might attract the thunders of anyone around him considering how savage Demi-Humans should be according to his opinion. So, while he can spout some common terms they deserve to be branded with, he should not be impulsive like a kid.

    A silent disdain was what could be felt, he could feel that spite he had for Demi-Humans, his eyes were completely honest and sincere, his hate was quiet but heavy. He supposed that with age, they learnt to control their emotions, however, their eyes betray them, they keep reflecting these emotions, how exhausting.
    Afterwards, where should he lead him to? Two religious place, something different would probably be welcome, he thought that he should pass by the merchant area then perhaps… the Adventurer Guild? He did say he wished to see the wonders of demi-humans, and then, the Guild is literally a melting pot. Is it a good idea to bring him there? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. At the very least, he is following his words.

    “Then, would you like to visit the Adventurer Guild? To be honest, more likely the tavern. I will pay what you need.”, in other words, he was offering the envoy a meal, his eyes narrowed for a second before opening his mouth and speaking more than three words for once.
    “I suppose that I will follow you then, go on, half-elf.”, not demi-human? Half-elf? Well, if it was not a progress, now Cinis was not under a large category that is supposed to be an insult., instead he was calling him by what characterized him, half-elf which was right. While he still did not know, he supposed that for now he acted in the right way? As in, his actions pleased or did not leave a bad impression at the very least.

    Passing through the merchant area, while being careful, the adventurer stayed rather careful, it might be unlikely for some thieves to pickpocket one of them, just on this day, it would be too much of a coincidence, on top of that, it will be rather bothersome for both of them. Noticing that his ‘guide’ seemed to be rather alert, glancing at every seconds all around them, he thought it was due to stress, he smirked and let out some words, on a rather authoritative tone.

    “Walk quicker.”, it was supposed to stress him a bit more, however, instead it reassured Cinis as sooner they leave, sooner the risks of pickpocketing would fade, both of them were accidentally pleased by each other’s actions. Hopefully, they arrived in the tavern and the adventurer finally let out a sigh of relief, he felt relieved, now they were more or less safe.
    “I apologize, I feel safer inside rooms than in the streets.”, which was actually true, he lived in the streets at the start of his life, and he knew how people could be when they meet someone lower than them, they could pity him, then again, it is just self-satisfaction, to make themselves believe they are altruistic and so on.
    Afterwards, there were the violent ones, passing by and striking him because he just happened to be there, plus the ones that were abusing him on a regular basis, it suddenly makes a lot of people.


    Setting to a table around a rather isolated place in the tavern, so they can speak rather peacefully, Cinis immediately ordered something for both of them, obviously, it would not be a cheap meal, at most, he will use ten large copper coins for both of them. Then, the envoy began to look around the tavern, and his face twisted as he saw the diversity inside.

    “...”, as well as he was surprised that there were also people of his kin, humans to be exact, while they were in minority, they seemed to be very well integrated in this place. As if they don’t care about the racial barriers. It was fascinating but also outrageous, how could they lower themselves to this?

    “Isn’t that a wonder?”, seeing the shock on the envoy’s face, the adventurer could not help but comment with a hint of sarcasm. After a sigh, the envoy sternly looked at the adventurer before letting out a sigh and speaking.
    “Indeed, a blasphemy as well. But that is a wonder.”, the adventurer felt that he perhaps did a little error, his sarcasm slipped out due. A shame, everything was going perfectly well until he said this.

    “So, what do you think of Nagrand as for now?”, he thought that he should try to solve what he provoked, to make him forget the errors, the best would be to communicate and knows what he is thinking as for now.
    “Pretium, I suppose you have done enough, I saw enough. It was… interesting for the least. I shall stay for a moment before leaving.”, so, not too bad? He hoped he was not wrong, strangely, he felt as if something was lacking, as if the noble was hiding something, then again, it did not concern him in the slightest.
    “May I hear your humble name?”, as the plates arrived along with some expensive alcohol, the adventurer waited for a reply, hoping to get one as fast as possible. However, he was disappointed.

    “Do not ask any questions. We shall see if we meet again, as for now, your existence is meaningless, so my name has no value to you. You are nothing more than a primitive creature that does not know where his nose is sniffling, that does not know when to backtrack. So, stay quiet. Stay here, stay silent, I will leave later on.”, keeping a straight face, internally, Cinis wanted to spit on this envoy and stomp on him, perhaps even murdering him, bearing with his words? It was something he could do. Especially when he knows nothing at all.
    “However, I will do admit. It was a decent but short stroll, as well as I am satisfied with what I observed.”, yet he got enough. Perhaps he obtained what he wished for. In his eyes was a complex and perplexing light, one that could not be described, no, one that did not make sense, it would be impossible to understand its meaning, it was so… strange. Something felt off about his attitude, if it was not under the frame of a quest, he would try to probe, but he could not.

    “I see, then I am reassured.”, he could only act his way out and hope that everything would be finished soon. Both of them have the opportunity to start a discussion, nevertheless, none of them would do. What would they even speak about? Their natural hate toward each other? The stroll? This topic was closed as soon as they entered the tavern. So, they will simply eat their respectives meals in silence, nothing else than silence.
    A creeping one, slowly invading their hearts to let no thoughts escape.

    Later on, the envoy left without words, without mentioning anything, he just left. Cinis looked at the ceiling and let out a sigh, what could he say? Nothing. He just went to Pierre and gave him ten large copper coins for what both of them ate and drank.
    However, he still had something to say to that envoy, he wished to know something, for example, news about the north, if he wished for money or services, he could easily do both.

    So quickly, he went toward the inn he found the envoy, nevertheless… when he got there, he heard the receptionist say on a cheery tone.
    “Well, he unfortunately and finally left."

    “Aaaaah, he changed inns.”, so, immediately after they left, he already decided to change inn? A shame, it meant that he could not track him unless he searched every inns of Nagrand.

    “Well, nothing else to do…”, he will just go back to the guild and give his report, hoping that he has done his work properly.
    "I am back and... I sincerely don't know how it went, he didn't really seem like the talkative type. Neither did I know how to deal with him... So I treated him as a tourist I suppose?", Cinis said after handing his report to Aria.

    "I am glad I am finished though.", he sighed, whether he succeed or not did not matter to him in the end.

    OOC: @AliceShiki
    Hmmmm, this quest is a bit of a first to me. One of the first one or the first one in which I just didn't know what to do~
    Tis was really obscure to me~
    The rank up quest seemed interesting but I was just like that when I started it :
    "...is it an essay that I have to do..." since I felt completely lost for this one~

    Anyway, it feels a bit rushed however... Well, that's too late now~
    Hope it's not too bad~
     
    Zone Q11 likes this.
  2. AliceShiki

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

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    Welcome back Cinis-san, glad things went alright~

    I'm sure the mayor will be pleased with what you did, it was more than enough~

    As of now you're officially a D-ranked adventurer, please take this bronze guild badge, as before, you'll need to pay a fine in case it's lost, and it also has your name in its back for proper identification purposes.

    That will be all, be careful on your future quests, alright?

    ((Oof, sorry if it felt like that! I was hoping it would be more interesting! >.<

    Hopefully future ones don't go like that...))
     
    Zone Q11 and Unreachable Hope like this.
  3. A5G_Reaper

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

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    A gourd staggered in with a... huge weapon in hand. It was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. It was also damaged badly, scraped and chipped all over and slightly bent near the center.

    "Hello? We've found a sword alright but it's not the Hero's. May we keep it?"

    "Nyllia, huh? More elementals, I hope there's less of the flying pests now."

    "Elementals should be fine", Vandrin said looking at the small flame spirit floating over his shoulder.

    "Yes but they're annoying regardless."


    "As long as I can hit 'em, they don't stand a chance," brags Ayumi.

    "They say confidence is key", Vandrin says with a small chuckle


    "We'll get supplies then. See you in an hour."

    The gourd pulled on Ayumi before she could process his words, humming a strange tune on the way to the commerce district.


    "Yes?" Somewhat confused, but happy, Ayumi follows Gourd.

    "See you in a little while", Vandrin said as he left to go buy some rations for the days or travel, dropping off the cat with Pierre as he went.

    The gourd brought Ayumi to different stalls, explaining about good rations to bring on a long trip and the general price range. He didn't bought that much, saying that hunting was a good option for something fresh on the road, but having supplies were necessary. There's the hardtack biscuit infamous for breaking teeth, dried or salted meat, even packages of sundried fruit for snacks.

    "Some people need tents but personally I dont mind a little rain. Do you need one? Fit enough for two perhaps?" The gourd nudged her at the last statement, grinning jovially.

    Ayumi herself is rather surprised that people actually prepare for quests, and pack supplies. After all, she has never done something like that before.

    Then Gourd mentions the tent. Ayumi, thinking back on how she wanted a quest with both of them alone, nods, and hugs Gourd's arm, her face flushed. "A tent for two would be nice."

    Almost exactly one hour after they separate, the gourd and Ayumi returned to the meeting spot with a bag of supply and a small roll of tent. It's nothing fancy, barely big enough for two people to sleep in, but it'll keep the rains out. Mostly. If it's not a downpour.

    All in all, they're ready to depart.


    Vandrin was waiting for them at the meeting spot, his sack now restocked with rations and the like.

    "Already to go?", he asked seeing the both of them approach.


    "Yep, ready to go and kick some ass! Let's go~!"

    The party hitched on a random merchant as free guard in exchange for transportation, taking them most of the way there. Then it's a few more days of walking through the wilderness where Van had to deal with Gourd and Ayumi's flirting and generally sticking together way too much.

    There's also elemental attacks, mostly little and minor pests like the fist-sized light elemental that tried to come to their face and explode loudly and brightly, causing several minutes of heavy disorientation should they managed to close in. Gourd had some experience dealing with these ones, too small and weak that a pebble thrown through their center of the mass would pop them in a distance. It's not like they're fast.

    Meanwhile, the abyssal equivalent was a bug-like thing about the same size with way too many sharp limbs trying their best to deal some nasty cuts during the night. Some torches worked alright warding them off, but they're a great degree more annoying that the lights - at least those weren't wounding.

    Eventually they'd start finding the bigger elementals. And when those started fighting with each other? That's the cue that they've arrived in the general location of the battle - if it exist at all.


    During the travel, Van had the small flame spirit gather some of the remnants of the fallen elementals, having it devour some of them and keeping the others for research purposes.

    The group handled the smaller elementals easily enough as they made their way, eventually reaching a zone of peace, and area between the elementals rankings, where the small, and medium elementals want to avoid the larger ones.


    Ayumi manages to mostly forget that they are on a journey to find the hero's sword and manages to show a great amount of affection to Jack, mostly by being very very clingy. It's almost as if she wants others to know that she and Jack are in a relationship.

    When confronted with small elementals, Ayumi's sword works surprisingly well, due to the fact that it can also directly affect their spiritual part. However, once the first bigger elementals start showing up, Ayumi's sword deals less and less damage to them, until it finally reaches the point where Ayumi is afraid of attacking elementals because their soul is much stronger than hers, due to which her attacks would only hurt herself.

    As the group finally reaches a peaceful zone (which feels more like the calm before a storm), Ayumi, rather annoyed, shouts: "Dammit, why don't my attacks hurt them!?"

    "I'm not even sure. What's that sword made of?" The gourd scratched his head. Even a random stick would leave some ripple on the elementals, but Ayumi's sword just bounced off and it seems that she's also hurt from the backlash. No such problem with himself or Van.

    "The sword is me," starts Ayumi to explain. "whenever I feel like beating someone up or executing them, it just appears. Oh, and also if I concentrate enough! I then just have to pull it out from my soul, like, SCHOING."

    "So... it's a manifestation of your soul?"

    Ayumi thinks about it for a bit, then thinks a bit more, before finally agreeing: "Yes?"

    "...should've brought a sidearm." The gourd shook his head. "Well, for now let's have some makeshift weapon for you."

    He found a solid stick and tied a rock onto one end to make a prehistoric club. Looks barbaric, but it'd bash someone's head just fine. Or in this case, disperse an elemental.


    Ayumi pouts, and watches as Gourd puts together this 'weapon'. As she picks it up, she frowns. "I don't like how it feels. Can't I just use my sword?"

    "No way, it doesn't work on the elementals anyway. I've told you to get used with mundane weaponry." The gourd chatisized.

    "But it feels weird..." protests Ayumi, although she hasn't dropped the club yet. "It feels foreign, compared to my sword."

    "It would, but with practice you'll get used to it." The gourd took it from her and did some practice swings. "Yeah, this is solid enough to work."

    He gave it back.


    "Fine... fiiiine!" sighs Ayumi, sad about the fact that she won't be able to use her sword.

    "If needed I also have a couple of daggers you can have", Vandrin said moving his cloak to the side, showing the two daggers sheathed on either side of his waist, "Though they are a little worn"

    Looking at her sword, the club, and then the daggers, Ayumi decides that she'd rather have the club than the daggers, as it, just like her sword is quite top heavy, and heavy in general.

    Gaining a vantage point to survey the dissonant battlefield, the group felt the earthquake, heard the sounds of mountains being shattered long before they saw the eternal fight of the High Ranking Elementals.

    Giant Avatars of Elements exchanged blows shaking the ground the group was standing on with each and every blow.

    "Well I think we're in the right place", Vandrin said looking at the other two.


    "I'll look into it. Vertigo."

    The gourd sent himself falling, way faster than any elemental could catch. Eventually he reached a height where nothing could fly after, there he stopped the fall and sat on a materialized platform.

    "They look like pebbles from here."

    Far below the elemental titans the size of watch towers were slugging it, smashing and blasting at each other with utter abandon. There were at least a dozen different battleground, with the biggest one at the center involving at least eight of the colossus. Light and dark clashed endlessly clashed for supremacy, and he could spot several more heading this way from their respective spawn points. Dust-like flickers of black and white denoted the more reasonably sized elementals, way too many to count as they made their way to the battlefield.

    "Hmm? Wait a minute..."

    There were several places that the darkness elementals avoided, even the big ones. The lights weren't so limited but the lack of dark ones mean they just passed rather quickly. The gourd noted the locations, three major ones connected by an invisible blockade that the darkness elementals avoided whenever they managed to push forward - they'd break the charge and took the long detour instead.

    Having seen enough and probably worried his party members, the gourd hopped off the platform into a freefall with Vertigo sparingly used to slow his momentum, finally landing gracefully.

    "So, I've got some places we could check. The darkness elementals avoid those place so we have a good odds that there's something there."


    Ayumi meekly stares at the battlefield, and the giant elementals fighting each other. She nervously tightens her grip on her club as she starts to see the extent of the battlefield and the numbers and strength of the elementals.

    Then, as she turns to Gourd, he suddenly falls upwards, and a suppressed gasp leaves Ayumi's lips as her eyes follow him upwards. After waiting for some time, clearly worried about Gourd and the general situation, Ayumi breathes a sigh of relief as Gourd returns to the ground.

    "But the other elementals don't avoid them?" asks Ayumi. "Do we really have to go, well..." she points towards the battlefield. "There?"

    "According to our client the battle happened because the abyssal force grew way too big and overwhelmed the tower's elemental. So the areas avoided by darkness elementals are suspicious." The gourd nodded. "Well, the lights are also hostile so that's still a problem. The place's straight up cutting through their advance path."


    "So what are we going to do? Just... charge through and hope for the best?"

    "I believe its best if we take a stealthier approach to it", Vandrin said as the ground shook again.

    "Though I don't particularly know if thats an option"


    "Hell no. Any one of the big guys would stomp us like bugs." The gourd shook his head. "Any of you got a method to sneak through somehow?"


    "I don't," admits Ayumi, visibly intimidated by the elementals.

    "I don't have anything to hide us either", Vandrin said while thinking.

    "We can either be slightly smart and safe, and try to move very quietly through the area", he said taking a brief pause.

    "Or be brash and stupid, making a mad dash"


    "I can hide our presence at night." The gourd stated. "But any bright light and we're exposed."


    "With all of these walking lightbulbs, it's going to be challenging... can't we just keep them from attacking us?"

    "On the contrary, it's the darkest under a lighthouse. We'll see them coming from miles away, finding shelter until they pass shouldn't be too hard."


    "Well whatever we do we should probably do it soon", Vandrin said as the ground shook another time.


    "Then sneak in when it's night, hide whenever something comes close to us, get the sword, and run away," is what Ayumi summarizes the plan as.

    "But... why are they attacking us anyway?"

    "They're assholes." The gourd summarized his entire experience with elementals, regardless of color.

    *****

    "Alright, time to go. Shadowflip."

    Shadows rose, coating the three after sun fully set. The gourd led them through the landscape twisted by battle, avoiding the elementals as they slowly travelled forward...


    Ayumi acts, for her, unusually careful, and doesn't make a sound as she follows Gourd, nervously looking from side to side.

    Vandrin used Mask of Many Faces to make his stature smaller and to make his features darker as to help blend in with the darkness.

    The group carefully moved through the area, coming close to being spotted a few times, but the constant battle kept the elementals attentions occupied.


    Fortunately the elementals weren't really looking for someone sneaking about. Instead they charged full-speed forward, in order to fight the opposing elemental on the other side. The gourd had to strain the Brand more than once when the colossus passed by, but they managed to not get spotted during the whole ordeal. The creature being busy stabbing its darker counterpart played some part as well.

    "Here's one edge, there's constant trail toward that direction, where the rest of the sites were present."

    It was quite literally a crater, where the dry and hardened ground were blasted into its current concave shape. There were great lines crisscrossing at places, blows containing so much power that it sheared through dirt and rock with minimum obstruction.

    "Mind the light elementals. Let's start searching."


    Dumbfounded by the size of the crater, Ayumi stands still for a few seconds, before hesitantly starting to look around.

    "I hope the sword won't be hostile to us as well..." Mutters Ayumi as she slowly starts to walk around the crater, hoping to quickly find the sword and get out of here.

    The group moved along the edges at first, trying to stay safe and avoid the elementals.

    Unable to find the sword along the outer edges, Vandrin suggested something unfortunate.

    "Seems we'll have to get closer to the center"


    "Of course it's at the center." The gourd grimaced. "Very well, let's continue."

    Halfway through the gourd started to draw blood to fuel his Brand, the second crater also having nothing of worth aside from being larger. The third was the largest so far and even the light elementals seemed to avoid the center, so they could be slightly laxer. Slightly. It only took a moment of inattentiveness for the big one to pulp them.

    "Let's start looking."

    He's panting from the exertion.


    Ayumi worriedly glances at Gourd. "Are you alright?"

    "A little exhausted. I'll be fine, let's find the sword and be done with this."

    "Okay." Whilst still worried about Gourd, Ayumi starts to search the crater.

    The group cautiously moved through the crater, ever so slowly approaching the center.

    Eventually they found what created this crater.


    Finding the sword was surpriingly straightforward. It was at the center of the crater, a massive hunk of spiked metal that's way too big to be called a sword. The problem, however, was what it's stuck at.

    It was a vaguely reptillian skull as tall as the gourd himself, wingless with half of its skeleton buried with some parts cracked or outright missing. The whole thing was pitch black and slowly oozed out faint smoke which dissipated after a few meters, forming an aura-like layer covering it. The sword was buried in the skull where cracks snaked out from the point of impact.

    "...ten coppers it'll wake up if we pull the sword out."


    Staring at the thing the sword is stuck in, Ayumi shudders. "Is that thing still alive? I mean, it's been lying here for some time, so it should be dead... right?"

    "It's a giant black skeleton leaking ominous aura with a hero's sword stuck on its skull. It's most definitely alive-ish."


    "Well we can try to break apart the body before pulling the sword just in case", Vandrin suggested as an alternative.

    "Let me try a bit... Arcane Armament."

    The gourd's blade lit up in violet. He swung full power at the skull. Then moved and tried the spine. Both attempt barely left a small scratch on the surface of the bone.

    "...yeeeah, not happening unless we labor here for weeks. Can't we just grab the sword and leg it? Maybe wait for daytime so the light elementals are stronger in case this guy need some punching down? It's actually a good spot for a short break here, with the elementals avoiding the place."


    "Sounds like a plan", Van said turning towards the sword.

    "The question is, how are we going to move that while being stealthy"


    "If that thing woke up? We'll need speed, not stealth."


    As Ayumi gets closer to the skeleton, she shudders. "I don't like it. Can I keep my distance from it?"

    "We should. It's ominous."


    "Well speed will also be a problem lugging that thing around", Van said pointing at the sword.


    "So any suggestions on how to do it?"

    "Magic."

    The gourd patted his Brands.


    "Fair enough", Van said with a nod, "Well lets wait for dawn then"


    Ayumi nods, having no idea how magic will help them and waits along with the others, always nervous that some elemental would surprise them.

    Dawn rose over the horizon and the group set out to work.

    The battle of the elementals raged on in the background as the group started trying to leverage the sword out of the skeletons skull.

    Vandrin, taking the handle in an attempt to pull it out felt the sword start to slide out with Ayumi and Gourd pushing up on it.

    Vandrin called out, "Get ready to run", as he pulled the sword out, turning the handle over to Gourd to carry.


    The gourd staggered with that sword in grasp, it's heavy and he seriously doubt he could wield it but carrying it awkwardly wasn't a problem. But of course the skeleton keened immediately afterward, the black miasma wafting off its bones turned into a flood.

    "Time to go, hold on! Dart!"

    As previously agreed both Ayumi and Vandrin grabbed on the gourd as he jettisonned rapidly away, the giant skeleton rapidly forming shadowy 'flesh' behind them. Like kicking off a hornet's nest it attracted the attention of the light elementals wholesale, a massive number converging onto it. Sure, it looked like it's at least one level higher than the collosus milling about, but it was wounded, there were two of those already pounding on it before it cound form, and at least half a dozen rushing toward it from various direction.

    "Ain't that a bloody mess." The gourd commented, hugging the sword close as Ayumi and Vandrin tightly clung to one arm each for dear life. The wounded darkness elemental just managed to shred one of its slightly smaller nemesis, which was a rather magnificent feat, but the rest already gathered by then and the one it destroyed exploded violently in a firework of light.

    The gourd Darted faster, suffering a debilitating shockwave from the explosion a few seconds later. It was only after putting a few kilometers distance that he descended, barely softening the fall with Vertigo before the three was sent rolling like ragdolls.

    "We're... safe." He panted, completely worn out. "...what's this?"

    There was an inscription carved into the sword's guard. It wasn't visible in the darkness, but it's daytime and the sky's brigtening by the second now.

    "Wyrmkiller." the gourd read it out loud.

    "...oh."


    "Well we have the sword", Vandrin said breathing heavily, "Lets get back to the guild"
    -A sword was found
    -A kaijuu darkness elemental was also found
    -The aforementioned elemental was awakened by taking the sword
    -Light elementals immediately start trying to kill it. It's damaged but seemed to be quite strong still. Didn't stay until the end of the battle.
    -The sword turned out to be the Wyrmkiller, who belonged to Soren in his younger days.
    @AliceShiki @Blackwater @Haitaka
    Context: After the spar with Duckfoot (@Way ) he mentioned about Soren being a folk hero in Nyllia a few decades back, and had a greatblade he lovingly called the Wyrmkiller. It was lost at some point with unclear details and what do you know, a quest to retrieve a hero's sword at Nyllia pops up within the next quest batch.
     
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  4. Arexio

    Arexio Blob Fanatic | AG Player

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    "Gromak is...well, you know how he can be."

    Ryul shook his head as he handed in his report, a smirk accidentally leaking through his expression.

    "How has your apprenticeship been so far, Gromak?"

    Ryul questioned the boy about his part-time job at Blacksmith Oberg's.

    When the half-elf accepted the quest from the Guild, he immediately headed out towards Sirla and her son's house. Upon arrival, Ryul received a warm welcome from the female orc and a half-hearted one from Gromak. It seemed Mr. Oberg has been working the poor boy to the bone.

    "It's been fine," Gromak replied a bit listlessly.

    Sirla cut in, "He's been coming home complaining about blacksmithing, so I managed to convince Mr. Oberg to only have him come in twice a week."

    She glanced at the teen orc with a mother's love in her eyes before she turned to Ryul.

    "Anyway, I'm so glad to see that it was you, Mr. Ryul, that accepted my request that I put in for the Guild!" Sirla bubbled excitedly, "I was so happy and satisfied you were able to help Gromak so much last time, so I'm sure you'll be able to do the same again this time too."

    "I don't see the problem here. Why did you have to have Mr. Ryul come again? All I want is a duck for my birthday next week," Gromak whined as he secretly eyed the half-elf, his former strict instructor, from the corner of his eyes.

    Sighing with much exasperation, Sirla let out, "You can't even tell the difference between a duck or a goose! You always mix up the two when I send you out to the market to get their eggs. Do you even know what you actually want for your birthday? Isn't it actually a goose?"

    Gromak rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and pouted, "Whatever. It doesn't matter. They're both basically the same animal anyway."

    Looking desperately at Ryul, Sirla's expression asked two questions: "do you see this" and "can you help, please?"

    The scholar nodded at the woman's silent pleading as he directly addressed the orc boy, "Alright, Gromak. Let us depart and do some more learning. You shall get the opportunity to be my student yet once again."

    Ryul smirked with hidden excitement and pleasure from getting the chance to teach, while Gromak's face displayed both gloom and despair.

    They left the home after saying their goodbyes and headed in a certain direction towards a very familiar building for Ryul.

    . . .​

    "This one," Ryul pointed to a picture in the book.

    Gromak replied back, "A goose."

    "Incorrect. This one is a female mallard duck. The coloring is similar to a goose but notice the feather patterns here and here," Teacher Ryul was doing his thing yet again, but this time Gromak and him were learning all about aquatic fowls in a spacious study room in Nagrand's library.

    A marked-up large piece of slate with Ryul's handwriting all over it laid against the wall of the room as a hard oakwood table divided the room in half, an array of scattered books strewn across it like fallen leaves on the forest floor.

    This rather impromptu learning session between teacher and pupil had continued all morning without pause, and it was just about lunch time right about now.

    Of course, Gromak picked up on that little bit of timing and subsequently complained, "Mr. Ryul, can't we take a break now? It's time for lunch, and I'm hungry. I can't learn on an empty stomach.~"

    The scholar refrained from remarking how the boy couldn't learn at all, period. However, such sarcastic remarks would do no good for anybody, so he acquiesced and called for a break.

    "Alright. There is a street stall nearby that sells very tasty kebabs for a bargain. We can grab some for lunch," Ryul rubbed his chin in thought, "Afterwards, we won't be returning to the library. We're obviously not making much progress here, so it looks like I'll have to change my approach with you once again...to something more...hands-on."

    The orc boy's face paled a little bit as he recalled the last time he had to do something more "hands-on", which led to his miserable experience as a workhorse with Blacksmith Oberg.

    Leaving the library, which sadly didn't have his favorite orc working today, Ryul led his student Southwards towards the kebab vendor and some fruit stalls for lunch, which they pleasantly ate in the town square and near the fountain.

    . . .​

    On a quaint countryside farm a little ways out to the East from the town walls, the teacher-student duo found themselves near a small pool of water where Mr. Hubert, the farmer that owned this piece of land, raised both ducks and geese as well as some chickens too.

    The poultry farmer allowed Ryul to bring the orc boy to his farm and learn more about these creatures because the half-elf saved his life during the cultist incident by bringing the man to Ophelia's Temple when he was heavily injured.

    Also, Ryul may or may not have whispered to Mr. Hubert about a deal where Gromak would help out on the farm with taking care of the domesticated birds in exchange for both learning more about them and maybe receive a hatchling of his own for his birthday next week.

    "Boy! I heard you've had trouble tellin' the difference between a duck and a goose, so we'll whip ya up into shape learnin' all about farming and how to care for these critters by the end of the week," Mr. Hubert loudly exclaimed.

    He then proceeded to drag Gromak all across the lakeside, handing him the birdfeed pouch to feed the animals, showing him how to tidy up the fowls' nests, etc. Ryul followed along with mild enthusiam, enjoying directly learning more about the creatures and even petting a few of the more friendly ones that approached, most of whom were ducks as the geese tended to be much more aggressive, even if they were tamed.

    However, there were a few exceptions. Ryul was distracted by a particularly large goose prodding his leg repeatedly, almost as if it was asking him for something. The half-elf stopped following the farmer and boy as they moved farther and farther away from him and instead turned to the insistent goose at his side, his actions driven more by instincts and a bit of curiousity than reason at this current point in time.

    The speckled brown goose somehow realized he had the half-elf's attention and started waddling away, looking back at him every few steps, towards some thick and tall reeds, green rods which came up to one's waist. Ryul carefully followed the big goose through the under-brush until he came to a mostly empty goose nest.

    In the center of the dish of twigs, sticks, and grasses, laid a mysterious blue crystal that gave off a slight shimmer when the sunlight hit the glittering gem at just the right angle. The iridescent glow attracted Ryul's eyes and before he knew it, he subconsciously felt an invisible tug that softly led his body towards the crystal.

    Patiently sitting on the side, the brown goose watched the half-elf enter a trance of sorts as he crouched down in front of the goose nest and picked up the shiny rock. Ryul didn't know how much time passed as he had been staring mindlessly into the mysterious crystal radiating a hint of mana.

    Finally, he shook his head to break himself from the spell and pocketed the blue gem - he'll have a look at it later; Ryul heard rumors that there was a new travelling merchant that moved into Nagrand who specialized in identifying strange rocks like these.

    After returning to Mr. Hubert and Gromak and spending the rest of the day learning more about duck and geese and other miscellaneous farm matters, Ryul took the orc boy back home when evening came with a promise to the poultry farmer that they'll be back tomorrow and return every day for the rest of the week as well.

    . . .​

    "Happy Birthday, Gromak! Aren't you glad you got what you wanted and then some?" Ryul smirked in a teasing manner as he asked the question.

    The ever-more gloomy boy exuded a morose demeanor as he had spent the entire week from dawn to sunset overworked by Mr. Hubert from not only taking care of the duck and geese, but also managing the chickens, picking some of the ripe fruits and vegetables grown on the farm, piling up hay, and even shoveling horse manure out of the barn.

    "Yes! Gromak, I'm so glad you are now basically an expert on these birds, my own little farmer boy!" Sirla displayed her happiness quite openly and squeezed the teen into a tight hug.

    She added, "We were also able to get you both ducks and geese for your birthday, isn't this great?"

    Gesturing to the makeshift enclosure in their backyard, Sirla directed everyone's attention to the little pen that housed a half-dozen gooselings and ducklings with their own small pond. Mr. Hubert gladly gave some of his own baby animals after Gromak's mother met with him and happily gave her permission to allow Gromak to work on Hubert's farm whenever he wasn't busy at Blacksmith Oberg's place.

    "Great..." The orc boy wanted to cry but had no tears as even his tear ducts were too tired to work properly.

    Ryul snickered a bit in schadenfreude as he enjoyed the rest of Gromak's birthday lunch at Sirla's insistence as thanks for his help.

    Afterwards, he walked towards the Adventurer's Guild to turn in his report, humming to himself and briefly wondering about what that mysterious crystal could actually be as it seemed to give off a bit of mana resonance of some sort.

    - Ryul "taught" Gromak once more.
    - Gromak is learning about a new profession yet again, this time from Farmer Hubert.
    - Ryul acquired a mysterious crystal of unknown origin.

    OOC: @Naraku
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2019
  5. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    After reading the report, Gaap whistled, once again, it seems that Ryul instructed Gromal quite well. He rubbed his chin and then began to sort the coins he needed to give to him. Beforehand, he just began to think aloud.

    "Mhmmm... I wonder when that fool will finally get it in his head...", that if he does not work properly, his future will be quite dim, unless he was from a well-off family which is not the case.
    "Work or die... okay, maybe that's a bit too much.", after his quickl reflexion ended, he handed the rewards to Ryul and spoke on a rather cheerful tone.

    "You have done a good job, Ryul, hopefully for you, Gromak is an unredeemable fool, you will be able to teach him a few lessons another time I suppose. Anyway, your rewards... lemme check, lemme check... yup, right number, 9 Large Copper Coins for you. See ya later for another quest report then."
     
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  6. AliceShiki

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

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    ((Context: @Way told me a great nothing about duckfoot or pretty much everything that happened between you all in PM, so this was all 100% coincidence... A fun coincidence though~))

    Well, yet another thing for the elemental dissonances in Nyllia I guess? Not like they aren't used to it by now... Considering the Tower of Babel was spawning elementals non-stop some time ago, it might work out for the Light Elementals somehow... Who knows?

    You did your job though, the rewards are 48 Large Copper Coins for you to split as you see fit as well as 6 guild points for each~

    As for the sword... Talk to your requester about it? And with Soren too please, if they're fine with it, you can keep it~

    Take care now~
     
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  7. AliceShiki

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

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    ((*pokes @Haitaka and @Blackwater because I forgot*))
     
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  8. Xalysian

    Xalysian Well-Known Member

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    Valuren returned to the guild, he’s humming a poem-ish song that he had heard during his quest. Stopping the humming on an abrupt end, he shyly smiled as he gives his report to the receptionist’s desk.

    Setting off on the journey to Randgriz, he summoned his personal weapon, a dark colored steel chained-like whip with a blunt tip for a better touch, he made use of his whip to quickly traverse through the plains either by grappling onto a tree to another tree and stabbing the whip’s end on the farthest ground ahead of him - boosting himself forward of a short distance.


    He continued grappling away with his unique weapon, until the dusk came to as he arrived to his first destination, Moon Village. He had memories of this village, this village was where he first stayed in for the first five years of him waking up in this world of Edhellen.


    However, with no delay as there were really nothing that needed to do in the village - he sets off from the village to find himself a bridge to across. He decided to get ‘stylish’ with the crossing part, with the usage of his grappling and swift whip swinging placements.


    On his way to Randgriz, the night had gone too dark for him to see around the place. The female voice inside of his soul scolded him, telling him that he should have had waited until morning back in the village.


    He ignored her scoldings, thinking about wanting her to stay silent, but the female voice was able to read his thoughts and feelings - thus, she scolded him louder.


    No choice but to obey, he tried to look for the village, obviously - in a dark condition like this, he couldn’t see the village at all. He decided to grapple onto a tree branch, positioning himself high ground so he could try to be ‘tall’ enough to see the village. He searched for the village, nothing - given the dark situation of the starry night.


    He decided to camp on the top of a tree after hearing the gentle streams of a river nearby.


    *****


    He had been woken up by a goblin gibberish, he carefully examined his surroundings - not wanting to deal with the wandering… wait, why is a goblin walking dark wolves around? This piqued his interest, greatly.


    He knew that he could be wasting time just inspecting the dark green goblin walking two… no, three dark wolves - one of the wolves were just a young puppy. He couldn't see the goblin's face because he was watching them from above, the goblin didn't look like it's hostile, same goes for the wolves. But you can't just easily judge their kindness on a whim.

    He continued to watch the wolves leading the goblin back into the forest. He shakes his head after an hour had been wasted and returned back to where he was last ‘camped’ at.


    Feeling parched, he took out one of the wooden bowl from his small backpack and went to the riverside. Scooping some freshwater from the river to quench his thirst. He felt worse, after realising that he had scooped three times and drinking water from the bowl.


    Controlling the urge to scoop for more, he wastes no more time to set off to his next location - Randgriz.


    Using his grappling skills, he traverse in style - doing some sort of flips in the air before going for another set of flips, he enjoyed his time alright. Valuren do make stops from using grapplings to moving by foot to take a break from a continuous grapple. He found himself some edible berries - after both inspecting the berries thoroughly and watched the reaction of other living beings nearing the red berry bushes.


    He continued on.


    *****

    At the peak of noon, he had arrived to the outskirts around the capital of Randgriz. He sighed a relieved one, after a long run to the place. He was stopped by the waiting guards at the west entrance gate, he managed to deliver his thoughts to the guards by showing the identification badge he had just acquired from the guild.

    He was allowed to enter the capital, but with a warning to not cause any harm to others. After hearing that from the guards, he wondered whether there had been a case of trouble inside the capital itself - caused by an outsider.


    He decided to cover his mouth, before going to ask around - about the lumberjacks’ whereabouts.


    He had little troubles trying to communicate with his hand against his lips, thus the fact that the townsfolk find his male build and a feminine voice a little weird, if not too weird. However, difficulties aside - he managed to get some information about three lumberjacks who had went to get more lumber in the forests.


    He also heard about the Poetree from the townsfolk, and decided to let go of the thought about the talking poetic tree for the moment and go searching for the lumberjacks outside of the other gate entrance of the capital.


    The first thing he did right after leaving the west entrance gate of Randgriz, he grappled to the top of any taller trees he can find, in order to scout around to find the whereabouts of the lumberjacks. He turned from facing the north to the south, and there he found out that…


    He was late to the rescue. Shaking his head in disbelief, he immediately grappled himself toward the southeast - straight to the wide spaces, where the tree stumps are left as the remains of a destroyed home of some random critics he might never know before.


    “Don’t hurt the lumberjacks, just disarm their axes.” Veri asked the frustrated Valuren.


    He sighed a light one, smirking as he drops down from the trees to greet with the lumberjacks.


    He began to hum a sad one, as he uses his whip to latch on the chopping axe from one of the lumberjacks - taking the axe off from his sweaty grip.


    “Hey! What the hell was that supposed to mean--?” The now-disarmed lumberjack turned to the culprit, Valuren. He began to ask him out loud about his reasons to attack villagers. Valuren swings his whip around, readying to strike. The lumberjack got scared as he tried to shield himself with his rough forearms. Nothing happened.


    The lumberjack opened his eyes to find Valuren pointing at him with his chopping axe.


    “Who are you?” The man asked, as the other two lumberjacks beginning to notice the presence of Valuren’s.


    He pointed the axe at the three lumberjacks, one by one - before alerting them to the pointing he made toward the trees and the tree stumps. After confirming their reactions to his pointings, Valuren makes an X-shape with his arms after throwing the axe back on the ground, even making an annoyed face and intense glaring at the lumberjacks.


    “Are this guy serious, Dyne?” said one of the lumberjacks. The other lumberjack added while looking at the disarmed lumberjack. “This guy can’t even speak, anyone talk gestures?” The both of the young lumberjacks laughed out loud, causing Veri to get angry toward them.


    “Hey! He’s trying to tell you guys to stop chopping down these trees!” Veri shouted, getting the message across to the lumberjacks. Still, even with that…


    “No wonder he doesn’t speak! He sounds like a lady!” The young lumberjacks continued their laughter before being silenced by the hand gestures of the older lumberjack. The older lumberjack turned toward Valuren, clearing his throat before asking the same question earlier.


    “Back to the question I asked, who are you… miss-- sir?”


    “We’re from the Adventurer’s Guild, call us V.”


    “I’m Dyne… so! Are you here to help us about the Poetree or… what?”


    Valuren remembered the Poetree thanks to the townsfolk in Randgriz earlier. He immediately shakes his head, Veri speaks right after the head gesture, “We’re not here for that, we’re here on another quest - convincing you lumberjacks from cutting down trees around here.” She added, “We will try to help with the Poetree, but if we can’t - we can’t.”


    Dyne looked into the determined orange-red eyes of Valuren, he heavily sighed after hearing that.


    “Why didn’t you lots helped us when we needed it last time? This won’t happen if you came to chop down of that cursing tree, ain’t it?”


    Valuren looks straight into the eyes of the other lumberjack who had talked just now.


    “Yeah! It’s your job as an adventurer, right? Killing monsters like that ‘Poetree’ in the first place!” the other lumberjack exclaimed, agreeing completely to his partner.


    Veri tried to defuse the situation, “Look--” Before she could even finish her first word, the two young lumberjacks continued attacking with more complaints about the Poetree. Dyne stayed quiet, worried at the determination in the adventurer’s eyes would fade out if he decided to join in.


    Valuren shouted. “Ahem!” He shouted loud enough thanks to his anger toward the two young lumberjacks who kept on and on with their complains. But screaming suddenly had caused his throat in pain, he showcased an extremely pained expression toward the lumberjacks.


    “Josef, York. Be respectful, this adventurer were trying to help the residents of this side of the forests from us destroying their homes.” Dyne turned to Valuren and bowed slightly, apologizing for the two young lumberjacks.


    “We will leave this place, do find a way to help us with the Poetree, adventurer.” He said while signaling for the two lumberjacks to pack up their belongings, readying to leave the forest.


    Suddenly, a fairy came flying in between everyone, screaming - especially towards the lumberjacks.


    “Where do you think you’re going, mister?!”


    Dyne noticed the angered fairy, then looking at the adventurer.


    “Is… this, your…?”


    Veri quickly asked for the fairy’s name, “Are you Miss Shini, the fairy that delivered a quest for us, adventurers in Nagrand?” She introduced for the both of them. “We’re V, He’s Valuren, I’m Veri.”


    The fairy pouts right after flying straight to the face of Valuren.


    “You’re late! Two of our houses were destroyed!!”


    Valuren looked like he’s tearing up, he felt the guilt hitting him harder than him hitting the ground early on. He knew he was late. He puts up two open hands around his shoulders before clapping both of them once, bowing right after he did so while keeping the clapped hand above his head.


    Unlike the lumberjacks, the fairy got the message rather quickly.

    “Wahh, you’re that type of human - are you?” She asked of him, wanting to confirm her thoughts.


    Valuren kept his head down, nodding his head slightly. The fairy turned her attention back to the lumberjacks.


    “You three must plant back our homes! Got that?!” before facing Valuren back. “Come on, don’t be like this.” She lowered her tone from being angry to concern, she clearly understood that he had to travel that far from Nagrand to Randgriz with the high possibility of being late to the cause.


    “Get up, this is getting embarrassing.”

    Valuren looks back up toward the fairy, he gazed into the small fairy’s eyes, wondering if she’s still angry or not. He then noticed the lumberjacks beginning to replant the trees back with the saplings they had gathered from the other fairies.


    He gave a curious but a concerned look, toward the scolded lumberjacks as the other fairies ordering them to hurry up with the plantings.


    “Miss Shini, if you don’t mind us. Can we help along with replanting back your homes?” Veri asked, caused Valuren to remember yet again of how Veri was able to read through his mind.


    “Sure. Go help them evil lumberjacks clean up their mess.”


    *****


    After sending off the tired lumberjacks from the area, Valuren goes over to the fairy, Shini. He gestured to her if she got anything left for him to help quicken the tree growth. She waved him off, telling him there’s no need to worry about it.


    “It’s already in the past, let it go - Ren.”


    Valuren tilts his head to the side, with a bewildered face. He had never heard of that nickname of his in such a long time now.


    “Miss Shini, about the Poetree - can you help us by giving the directions to this poetic tree?” Veri asked. Her reply;

    “I will bring you to the Poetree, because I’m sure that you will be lost around these parts - you’re not from here, after all.”


    He nodded at the fairy, thanking her in his heart before following her straight deep into the forest.


    There were sounds of night crickets, possibly signing the time had gone dark. That, or the fact that they had gone deep into the forest, until they heard a gloomy poetic voice. The sounds of tree branches became a loop.


    In front of him, now a dark tree. He thought that the tree had a face structure, due to the trunk shaped like so. Then, both him the the fairy heard a poem that basically and totally screaming death.


    Death inevitable… and unavoidable…

    Life fragile… and transient…

    Reincarnate what returns….


    Dead meat… and bones left over…

    Wise words… and poetry…

    Like dead sea scrolls….


    Alive as long as living holds…



    Valuren shudder after hearing the whole poem just now, the small fairy, Shini, turned to look at him - noticing his shaking fingers but what interested her was his gazing eyes. It was filled with something. Something that she sensed Valuren might had knew of the meanings about the poem.


    The giant tree rustled itself, causing the adventurer and the fairy to stay on alert. The tree began to speak to the party, to leave this area at once, before there will be consequences.

    The tree rustled harder, multiple voices can be heard either ghastly or mourning, or both.


    They left shortly after, not wanting to disturb the Poetree.


    After returned to the area they first met, safe from the possible cursings of the Poetree. The both of them sighed with relief.

    “Hey, you. What were you thinking back there?” Shini asked him, curious about the encounter earlier.


    He looks into her eyes and only smiled. “He remembered that poem from back home, Miss Shini.”


    The fairy crossed her arms, before giving a smile back at them, “You should go home now, before it got too dark to you two.” Valuren nodded, fully agrees before waving his hand to the fairy while mid-summoning his whip weapon.
    - I found a dark green goblin walking their ‘dogs’, dark wolves plus a baby wolf, I mean.
    - The damages had already been done, thankfully only two of the fairies’ home were taken down by the lumberjacks.
    - We replanted the saplings back for the losses.
    - About the Poetree, I don’t know what to do, sure, it gives the deathly vibes and all, that could be a serious problem. I might come back, to investigate more.
    - But, the poem it gave earlier was soothing to the ears, haha. It was just… sad, I guess, trees have feelings too.

    He crossed his arms, thinking whether he should mention directly to the feline-looking girl about the Poetree or the unusual sight he had earlier in the quest. He decided to wait.

    ((Hope it was okay enough, never done in a format like this before.))
    @AliceShiki
     
  9. AliceShiki

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

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    Well, the quest asked you to stop the lumberjacks from cutting the fairy's home down and to convince them to leave Shini-san's house alone... You did the latter, but not the former.

    So... I'll give you half the proper rewards for the quest, 3 Large Copper Coins, 5 Small Copper Coins and 2 Guild Points.

    Better luck next time Valuren-san, I know you tried your best.

    As for the tree... Well, it's none of the guild's business, hopefully no trouble comes of it though.

    ((The story was fine and a nice read. If anything, the part of you spending some years in the Moon Village... I mean, did you read the wiki entry for the Moon Village and the Moon Rabbits? It felt kinda weird to have your character being a part of that.

    Overall though, nice job~))
     
  10. Hasr11

    Hasr11 [Cat] [Fujoshi] [JP TL in Hiding]

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    A tired Xionlige and a fluffball appeared in the guild, falling asleep on the receptionist’s desk as soon as she handed in their report. “Sardines..” she mumbled half-asleep.

    ((I hope the story’s ok... @AliceShiki ))

    Day 1: I left from the town. I didn’t have any money to go on a horse carriage, but a passing coachman took pity on me and let me ride for free on the condition that I protect them from rats. As I sat in the carriage, I asked about for information on the owls. A blonde haired man who seemed like an adventurer said, “Ahh, those pesky owl like beasts, right? They seem to love ‘em mice ‘n fish beasts. Yer’ in fer’ mighty trouble if yer’ huntin’ fer ‘em. Ya gotta leave some nice ‘n juicy bait fer’ em. Don’t worry I know a nice guy who’s got all you need ta’ catch ‘em.” The adventurer patted my head. “You’re a nice lil’ lass ain’t ya? Ya remind me of my daughter Lisa. Cute lil’ thing she is. Here, have some candy” Gee, I wonder why everyone likes patting my head...


    Day 2: the adventurer took me too a slightly creepy forest. I was a little scared but he told me not to worry because his friend owned the forest and made sure nothing dangerous lived here. We arrived at a small shack. As I opened the shack, a handsome young man appeared. He turned out to be the owner of the forest. Apparently it was breeding season for the owls, and they would get violent and cause storms whenever someone approached their nests. He too patted my head and offered to help me search for the owls.


    Day 3: We roamed the forest trying to find clues about the owls. Although we did not find the owls, we did find a stream with the fish-beasts, the owls’ favourite. We marked the spot and planned to visit it again. The fish weren’t as delicious as sardines though...


    Day 4: We found a few pellets near the stream. We were now sure that the owls had visited this place. We decided to hold a stakeout at night.


    Night 4: As the sun set, I heard the hooting of the owls. They seemed to have woken up. Just as we planned to approach closer to ascertain the situation, I heard a whoosh! behind me and found myself midair. I’d been picked up by the owl! The owl then took me to tall tree and dumped on top of it. Oddly though the fall didn’t hurt. Then I found out the reason why. It’d been brought to the owls nest. The owl then opened its beak and regurgitated something that oddly smelled like fish. I heard squeaks beside me. She had owlets! I’d chanced upon a jackpot! Suddenly the owl faced me with her fish-filled beak. It seemed strangely as though...as though she wanted to feed me...


    Day 5: I somehow made it through the night. The fish tasted...unique to say the least. I now knew that there were 4 owlets and they only had one parent alive, their mother, who came to feed them every 3 hours. I was taking a catnap when I was woke up by my siblings...no the owlets’ squeaks. There was a giant hawk attacking us. No, I couldn’t let them attack me! I quickly transformed into my magical girl outfit and hit the hawk with my magic stick. Unfortunately my stick broke midway through the fight. I was forced to dodge just barely every single one of the hawk’s attacks. Just when I’d lost all hope, mama owl returned. She stabbed and scratched the hawk. She gave a fierce fight, with thunder, lightning and rainstorms, but she too couldn’t last. I had just chanted my catchphrase in a last ditch attempt when an arrow hit the hawk right on its wings. Unable to maintain flight, I plummeted down. I gave it a neko punch to bring it down. From the distance, the young man came running, with a bow in his hands. He had shot the arrow. “The owl?”, he asked. “The mother’s dead.”, I replied. The man gave out a sigh. “There is no way these owlets will survive in the wild without a parent. I can handle two, but four is a little too much...” “I’ll take care of them!” I said. The man chuckled and said, “alright then, I’ll give them to you.” We gathered the corpse of the hawk and collected the talons and feathers from it. On the way back, I stopped by the stream to catch a few fish.


    Day 6: I was preparing to leave when the man handed over a stick that oddly looked like my magic stick to me. But it couldn’t be. It’s looked much better then the magic stick looked even in its prime. The man laughed and said. “This is my thanks for you saving the owlets. I know a little bit of craftsmanship and magic, so I fixed it a bit for you. No need to thank me.” I smiled as I left the forest...though I was sad the mother had died. I knew these owlets had a bright future ahead of them.

    —Magic stick repaired and can now wield magic

    —Mysterious Hawk Species discovered (and killed)

    —Hawk feathers and talons obtained

    —Magical Owlets obtained. One handed over to Lyra for caretaking.

    —Xionlige caught 100 fish overall
     
  11. AliceShiki

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

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    Oh? You found a whole nest of them? And in... A forest that had an owner that... Knew magic and...

    Dear Gods, did you just accidentally bump into a druid? You're surely a lucky girl~

    A shame the mother died, but at least the children are alive... And I'm sure Lyra-san will be happy with her new pet~

    The rewards are 12 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

    Take care now~
     
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  12. A5G_Reaper

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

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    The gourd had decided to not leave far from Nagrand for a few weeks, but the quest was far too fun to skip. He basically spent most of the future reward to pay a helper to mind his garden, but he's confident to get some opportunistic looting done during the whole debacle. Someone rich enough to buy their position should be quite loaded in person.

    "So you mix the water like this, the stuff are in the shed. There should be enough for a month. Dont step on the spikes, they're poisoned. Just come at morning and afternoon everyday, spray the whole thing drenched, and you're done. As always, remember to wash your hand and don't eat anything growing here. Go to the nearest healer if you accidentally did."

    Ten large coppers now and another ten when he returns, with promised bonus if he's late coming back. Just for barely an hour of work a day. The apprentice herbalist barely could keep his excitement bottled as he received the money.

    "Now then. Seditio, huh?" He glanced east. "I'll rush, I guess."

    *****

    About ten days later, a weary gourd arrived at a defunct inn outside the border of Seditio, which went out of business when traffic stopped coming and going to the country.

    "This better be the place."

    It was also the third such structure the gourd found in his way.

    "Come in, go to the kitchen, there'll be a bottle buried under the ashes, the instruction will be within..." the gourd sifted through the ashes for a few moment. "...ah, finally."

    He carefully break the bottle with a piece of severed table leg, retrieving the roll of paper within. In it was a map, the details of the village, the target's name and description, as well as the predicted manpower brought there. Whatever method used was up to his own discretion, so long as the fat pig dies the client didn't care.

    "I wonder who's this guy. Oh well, none of my business. Let's see... I think two or three days would be enough."

    *****

    True to his words, he reached the outskirt of the village by sundown two days later. There was heavy watch surrounding it, makeshift palisades functioning more to keep people in than otherwise. The gourd made a circle around, nothing about fifty men spread in teams to watch over the fence. Sellswords, from their looks.

    "Shadowflip."

    The watch were poor. They're focusing to look inward than out, that's when they're not busy slacking off. The gourd snuck through the extending shadow, barely a black flicker that vanish way too fast even if someone's directly watching his path. Once he got through the outer perimeter, it was a lot simpler to scout the whole place.

    The air was glum and stifled. Normally there should be some lingering activity left, where people made use of the last light to finish their daily chores. No such thing here. The doors locked, windows shut, many buildings were outright abandoned. Of those that were still occupied, barely a whisper could be heard. Sometimes a sob or two.

    The gourd watched the largest building in the village. It was rather obvious, it's the brightest and loudest structure in the whole place. The surrounding houses were demolished and an additional layer of fence was raised around it, the men posted there were more experienced and fully alert clad with various gear but none lesser than iron chainmail. Probably the household troops, from the number of different carriages with different crest parked in the fenced area.

    The building was a rather sizeable longhouse-esque structure, with several holes for the smoke of the firepit to waft out of the top. The gourd circled it several times from afar, ascertaining that nobody was positioned to watch or directly on the roof, and made his move.

    "Dart."

    He took a long arc up, where the brazier's light cannot reach. Shadowflip lightened his landing like a feather, not the slightest rustle as he crawled forward onto the ventilation holes to peek inside.

    "...well ain't that just a collosal mess."

    What experiment? The inside was basically a torture-slash-sex dungeon where the villagers were expended for amusement of the nobles. Already there were corpses piled up in one corner, where some of the underlings picked up from time to time to pile up on a cart outside.

    The gourd leaned back and stopped watching.

    "I'll end up murdering them all, am I not?" He sighed.

    *****

    The gourd didn't count the time until the clamor within ended. Once it did, he peeked again to see that the murderers had retired into the side rooms of the longhouse. He counted... four guarded rooms. So about that many highborn. That he could do.

    He crawled on all fours like some creepy insect from hell, entering room after room. He had better plan for them, so he stabbed the highborns with knives laced with paralytic agent. He pressed the pillow on their face until the poison set in, making sure they wouldn't bleed to death. They wouldn't, he's picked good spots for the knives.

    "Arcane Armament. Arcane Armament."

    The violet arcane glow extended his broken blade to its full glory, partially cancelling the Shadowflip but he wouldn't need that. He knocked on the door, waiting for the ones stationed outside to come in.

    Then he reaped their lives.

    A single swing was all it took, cutting through the walls and the people wholesale, armor and all. He stepped out of the room as the two men finally topped, eerie violet glow illuminating the fountain of blood that blossomed as the top half fell off the bottom half.

    "Dart."

    The next second, he's on the other side of the room. Whatever men posted to guard their master froze in their track, their skills and weapons invalidated, before finally falling in two halves.

    The gourd visited the local guardhouse commandeered by the household guards. Within fifteen minutes he turned it into a slaughterhouse, barely a scream escaped with how swiftly he slain the occupants.

    "Complacent playing tyrants? Foolish."

    *****

    In the morning, the mercenaries was the first to discover the carnage alongsode a massive SMITH-shaped groove carved on the ground in front of the guardhouse, irrigated with blood of the troops. They leg it within minutes, didn't even unpack their camp properly in their haste.

    The villagers came next. A cacophany of emotions ran through the remote settlement, before one emotions overran them all; sheer, unadultered rage turned them red-eyed as they found the four highborns responsible for the death of so many of their own, tied like dumpling in front of the longhouse.

    The public lynching was lengthy and brutal, culminating in the bastards burned alive as a funeral pyre for the dead. The villagers mourned, before their attention finally turned to one particular chest. It was left behind next to the tied up highborn in their rage, and after all was finished they turned to investigate the oddities.

    On the top was a map of the mountains, as well as a safe-ish route to escape to Ternus charted in it. Then a note to remember scavenging the equipments of the guards, signed at the end with a bloody S. The rest was filled with jewelries and coins, taken from the rich bastards and their guards.

    Whatever happened next, the gourd didn't know. He turned and left after he witnessed the pig burned to charcoal, fifty large copper coins in his pocket.

    "Enough to pay my gardener, and a bit bonus for myself." The gourd's thought shifted to his rented plot of land at Ternus. "Man, I've become soft."
    -Snobbish pig killed.
    -His friends and their guards also killed.
    -Pocketed some of the loot. Left most of it to the victims.
    -Smith's infamy grew.
    @AliceShiki
     
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  13. AliceShiki

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

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    Well, what else am I supposed to say? Well done Jack-san, I wonder how far will Smith's reputation spread~
    Oh and... I'm glad you've grown soft, I'm sure those villagers are too.

    In any case, your reward is of 25 Large Copper Coins and 8 Guild Points.

    Take care now~
     
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  14. Zone Q11

    Zone Q11 『The Gas Mask』『Monochrome Plebeian』

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    "O-Oh! Hey, it's you again!" Upon approaching the village, Zoan and his party had been greeted by Herny, who had been waiting outside the village walls. Zoan -in his own way- greeted him back with a nod, and asked the farmer about his health and the state of the village.

    "I have been doing w-well. Every now and then I still get ni-nightmares from that day, but I-I am physically in a good shape so I think it will go away with time," Herny stuttered. It appears that the damages has yet to be fully recovered. "Despite the incident, our village has been trying to rebuild everything to its former state."
    Hearing the sad state of the village, the witch -Mallory- smiled. With a couple bandages and fur from the prey Zoan had hunted, it was not difficult to make a simple disguise. It might make her look somewhat like Zoan, but when standing next to the other three whose outfits were primitive as well, she really didn't stand out.

    Herny was curious as to who the two new partners might be, but Zoan stepped half a foot forward and stared at the human farmer. The latter dropped a sweat and decided to not ask about it in the end. He thought that she was his wife at first, but removed such thoughts after thinking that they might have been simply strangers working together.

    "M-Moreover, could you please go to the farmlands and exterminate the Giant Beetles as soon as possible? They have been ravaging our crops since a few days ago and with our current state, we might not be able to afford this month's taxes if this goes on!"
    Zoan nodded. "Please, lead us to the farmlands."

    --- --- ---

    "Hm... Yeah. This won't work after all." Zoan said with a worried look. He has asked the villagers to demonstrate how they have been handling the Giant Beetles. Naturally, their first action was to push them, but they were too heavy. Even with five of the strongest men in the village, the Giant Beetle was only moved for a bit before flying to another place, but even so they would not leave the farmlands.
    Then they attempted to harm the Giant Beetles. That had also failed. None of the iron swords were cutting the sturdy carapaces, and if they attack the soft spots, they will simply repeat coming back just as the previous option.

    'In other words... I only need to kill them in one strike, right?'

    The nomad pulled out his iron sword and stone club. He then mounted a Giant Beetle facing backwards, and bashed the wings with the club. The insect got agitated, and spread its wings. Within that moment, he held his sword in a reverse-grip, and stabbed the beetles's back. The weapon cut through and the insect got shocked by the pain, flapping its wings even as fast as it could. With the sword's tip embedded in the beetle, Zoan then struck the hilt of the sword from above with his club! The sword penetrated through organs and through the body. The beetle then successfully lifted off, only to fall after a couple of seconds later.

    While Zoan had fallen off from the beetle, he had found a way to kill the giant beetles. It was inefficient, but something one can work with. The worst that could happen is when you fall once they fly away, forcing the killer to haste the process as much as possible. The villagers were a little bit surprised, but mainly grateful in the end. It was very repetitive, so the nomad had asked Herst, Fey and Mallory to help him out. Afraid that the villagers might take away some of their wages if he asked them to help out, Zoan did not call out for help from the villagers. In the end the four managed to chase the Giant Beetles away once half of their kin had been killed. Zoan, Herst and Fey more than often mounted the beetles before falling off from them, while Mal... had given up immediately on the task and sat on the ground with her hands crossed over her legs.

    --- --- ---

    "Thank you again... by the way, if I may ask that lady had been staring at us for a while now... Does she have anything against us?" Zoan looked at Mallory. He then closed his eyes and pinched the area between his eyes, before explaining: "No, she is probably just curious. She is unable to speak, so she is probably just interested in this village and its citizens."

    The farmer took a moment to think about what the nomad had said, and accepted his words. He stamped the quest sheet, thereby confirming that the party had finished the quest.

    @AliceShiki
     
  15. AliceShiki

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

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    Welcome back Zoan-san~

    I was hoping a single strike from your club would be enough to kill the beetles, but I'm glad you were able to handle it with the way you did, great job~

    The reward will be of 9 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

    Take care now~
     
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  16. michael.kx5

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

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    Looking a bit (quite) exhausted, Rei dropped the report on top the receptionist desk and fell asleep while waiting for Garret to show up.
    As Rei entered the atelier of Lyra, she smelt a mixed odor of various herbs and alcohol, as well as something she didn't recognize and wasn't sure she wants to know.

    The shop was attended by a young apprentice who as soon as he saw Rei approached her with a wide smile and slightly red cheeks.
    "Anything you might want to buy, fair miss? We have all kind of potions ailments here."

    'Is he sick or something? Maybe he should take one those ailment'
    Rei thought in her mind but put the thought aside and asked him about his master.
    "I am looking for Lura.
    She posted a quest about testing potions on adventurers, I accepted it."

    In a second the boy's face went pale and he whispered to her as soon as he checked there was nobody around to hear him
    "Master is currently in the back, at the lab.
    but please take my advice - don't.
    My Master is a brilliant potion maker but.....some of the things she makes are very bizarre.
    Of course, she can definitely cure you back but the experience itself can be very...traumatic."

    "...Well I already accepted the quest, and I don't intend on failing it.
    Could you call for her please?"

    The apprentice sighed and invited Rei to follow him into the back room.

    Once In the lab, Rei and the apprentice had to spent 10 minutes to get Lyra away from mumbling over her notes of possible mix of concotions.
    When Rei introduced herself as an adventurer who came for the potion testing quest, Lyra jumped from her seat, ran to the locked safe near her desk, and opened it to take out 5 vials of differently colored potions.
    She turned towards Rei and offered her the first - a yellow liquid with purple bits floating in it- while setting the others in the pedestal on her desk.

    First potion-
    Rei recieved the potion from Lyra and opened the vial, after which released a very smelly odor of rotten moss.
    She closed off her nose, took a deep breath to gather her courage and took a single sip.
    .......
    Nothing happened.
    "huh? did it fail? no, maybe the ingredients canceled out each other?"
    Lyra was carefully observing Rei while writing something in her notebook.
    "Oh? ah so it was a delayed effect! probably because of the turtle heart, no doubt"
    When she heard what Lyra said, Rei checked her body for any changes but couldn't notice anything different......although her pants were getting a bit snag behind.
    As she looked in the mirror Rei's eyes were wide open.
    She stared at the tail trying to free itself from between her waist and the pants.
    It was blue like her skin, had a pointy end which resembled a spade, and was about almost a meter long.

    "Intriguing, I knew it was possible for a tail to grow but to think it would have such an interesting shape......Maybe it was because of the race factor....."
    "......."
    Under Rei's scrutinizing glare Lyra obediently handed over the antidote.

    Second Potion-
    The second potion was completely red in color, almost like blood.
    When she opened it Rei was relieved to find out it was odorless.
    However when she drank it........Rei felt a very similar sensation.
    "Oh no"
    Rei began to feel anger, hatred, wrath, every little thing ticked her off.
    She almost entered her rage-induced berserker mode before she took hold of herself and slammed her head into the floor.
    Lyra quickly made her drink the antidote as well as a diluted healing potion.
    "What did you feel? Why did you knock your head?"
    "I felt anger, hatred, frustration, it was like I had to take revenge on the whole world"
    "......Oh"
    Lyra sealed away the second potion in another safe which had "DANGER" written in red all over the door, and wrote something in her notes.
    "By the way, good job keeping your wits about you in that state"
    "I had practice"

    Third potion-
    The third potion was black and looked like liquid darkness.
    It also had no odor like the second.
    Rei carefully sipped the potion when....
    She felt all the happiness in her soul leaving her body, the colors disappeared from her sight, and soon enough her vision itself also disappeared, she wanted to die.
    When she felt something touching her lips and being poured into her mouth she instinctively gulped it down.
    Soon enough her vision returned to her and a worried alchemist and her apprentice were looking her in the face.
    She found herself slumped on the floor like a ragdoll with no strength.
    "What did you feel this time?"
    "I think it was despair. Like all the happiness in the world disappeared. I wanted to die right there and then."
    "OKAY ANOTHER ONE TO THE SEALED ZONE!"
    Lyra hurriedly sealed away the black potion too before noting something in her notebook.

    Fourth potion-
    This potion was pink in color and had the smell of sugar water.
    When Rei drank it she felt her body heating up from within.
    It was a very unfamiliar sensation.
    Soon enough the heat overwhelmed her mind and senses, and Rei suddenly began to take off her clothes and armor while panting very hard.
    The heat started to concentrate below her lower stomach, and her body was starting to itch.
    Even the touch of the air on her skin was starting to feel pleasant.......what if it was another living body?
    "Doyle, get out of here fast! Rei, drink this before you do something you might regret later!"
    A cold vial touched her lips and something chilly made it down her throat, cooling down her body after a few seconds.
    "What.....was.....that?"
    Asked a very sweaty, confused, and tired Rei.
    "An aphrodisiac it seems.
    This might be useful if I sell it to the red light district.....But first I must dilute it.....the effects were obviously way too strong"
    Lyra was frantically writing several paragraphs in her notes while Rei was getting dressed again.
    "We will not speak of this. ever.again. understood?"
    Asked a very mad Rei with deep blush.
    ""Understood!""
    Answered a nodding pair of master and her disciple.

    Last potion-
    The final potion was green and had the fresh smell of the forest.
    "This won't turn me into a tree will it?"
    "Nope, already created that one"
    "......"
    Rei convinced herself that nothing could be worse than what she went through already and drank from the vial.
    Again, nothing happened.
    At least not at first.
    Then came the horde of flying cats, birds, dogs, mice, and all manner of animals who lived in the city.
    They all flocked around Rei, snuggling against her or resting on her shoulders and head.

    "well, that was amusing and mostly harmless.
    Doyle, clean up the mess while I document this."
    Lyra said after giving Rei the antidote and the three of them spent around 15 minutes chasing away all the animals from the shop.

    "Okay Rei, thank you for your help.
    Here is your proof of the completion of the quest.
    Have a nice day"
    "Yeah, you too Lyra"
    Rei left the Atelier swearing to herself to never agree to be Lyra's lab rat ever again.
    Tested a total of five potions:
    1. Tail growth potion- a tail will grow from the victim's body, the tail will vary according to race and personal diffrences. I wonder what this will be even used for?
    2. Rage debuff potion- The victim will be consumed by mindless rage, and go on a rampage. Masters of martial arts and people experienced with such mental states are more immune. - SEALED
    3. Mental corruption potion - the victim will be assaulted by great despair, blindness, and lose the will to live. - SEALED
    4. Powerful aphrodisiac potion - an extremely potent form of aphrodisiac, can cause even the purest of the pure to be consumed by lust. The victims lose all rationality as they seek pleasure and self-comfort. enhances sensitivity. - Must be diluted before use.
    5. Nature's ally potion - a potion which allows the user to become loved by animals, useful for survival in the forest and for taming.
    All potions were cured and none of the effects remained.
    @Quaesitor
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rei approached the receptionist desk and greeted Aria with smile while holding a report in her hand.
    "I think I did quite well this time"
    Rei spent the first day after receiving the quest traveling by hitchhiking on a merchant's carriage which was heading for Randagriz.
    As the carriage made it to Randgriz without trouble Rei jumped off and thanked the paddling merchant, before approaching the gate guard.

    "Excuse me, do you know where I can find the Poetree?"

    "Hmm? The Poetree? oh, that thing.
    Southwest of here, there is a forest about three hours long walk away.
    If you continue around two hours into the forest in the same direction, you will find a small hill and a clearing, where a huge black tree sings out poems all day.
    You can hear his voice reverberating to a huge distance so you can't miss it.
    I advice steering clear of him though, he doesn't like any visitors, especially humanoids."

    "I see, thank you for your advice.
    Good luck in your work"

    "Hehe, thanks ojou-chan.
    Have a nice day too"

    Rei bowed down lightly to the guardsman and headed towards the southwest forest.

    Around four hours later Rei was wondering about in the forest.
    "Could it be that.....I am lost?!
    Nononononono, this can't be!
    Ugh, good thing Jack-san isn't here to see this or he would tease the heck out of me by comparing me to Elaine-dono"
    Suddenly, Rei could hear a faint but deep bass voice singing out something.
    It sounded like... the branches of a tree during a storm and yet... it was also almost human.
    As Rei followed after the voice she slowly started making out the distinct words it was singing.
    It was a ballad for fallen comrades and a requiem for their souls, as well as a wrathful cry for blood and revenge.

    After reaching a clearing where a tall black tree atop the hill, Rei stopped.
    She mused how to approach Poetree without earning it's hostility, especially considering its current state of mind.
    In the end, she decided the best course of action was....singing a poem herself.
    unfortunately, Rei wasn't very versed in the ways of constructing a poem (or anything resembling literature) so she copied the ones she was her Shishou always read out to her, time after time, hoping she would pick up his hobby too.

    " I walked the land of home
    Went place to place on my own

    Took the time to travel
    To see my land of home

    Animals we did not starve
    Our tribes never gave up

    Children were washed and fed
    Mothers lay with them to rest their head

    As I traveled through the land
    And drank from the bank of the river's bed

    To get the strength to carry on
    To walk my land my home."

    As she finished she noticed the Poetree was quietly listening so she went on to the next ones she could remember.

    "If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
    Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

    If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
    Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

    If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
    And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
    If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
    And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
    If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!"

    As she went on, the Poetree started to shake it's leaves and hum to the poems.

    "This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike,
    strike at the root of penury in my heart.

    Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

    Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

    Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

    Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

    And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love."

    When she finished the third poem, a deep voice called out to her.
    It talked very slowly, like it had all the time in the world.
    "Steeeep foooorth, ooooh cuuuurseed oooneeee, aaaand state youuuur buiiiiisneesss"

    Rei climbed the hill and stopped under the black tree in front of a face-looking pattern in its trunk.
    She bowed down and spoke.
    "Greeting, Poetree.
    Mine name is Rei, from the Onifolk race.
    I have come to ask you about an evil beast which has been reported to be sighted in your forest by a lumberjack who ignored your warning.
    The evil beast attacked and almost killed the said lumberjack, which proceeded to make a request about it to our adventurer's guild.
    I was the one sent here to take care of the situation - as a test of my abilities.
    Tell me, do you know anything about the beast? "
    Rei tried to be careful as not to insinuate the beast was the Portree's doing.

    "Yeeees, I knooooww of iiiit.
    It isssss one of miiiiiiine.
    In hoooonooor of youuur poetry and honeeeesty, I shaaaall truuuust youuuu.
    It willlll not ataaaack anyooooone aaaanyymooore, and willlllll disapeeeeeearrr.
    However, thiiiis is my finaaal warniiiing.
    Neeeext tiiiime, theeere wiiiiil beee waaaaar.
    The Fooooreest wiiiilll maaaaarch oonnnn Randgriz, on the rooocccck and stooone."

    "Understood, Thank you for your benovolance, Poetree.
    I shall report your warning to the Guild and the city of Randgriz"

    "Goooood, but befoooore you goooooo,
    Alloooow thiiiis old treee too giiivvve yoouuu onnne lassst adviiiiice.
    Youuuuur cuuuuuurse is pernaaaament.
    Eveeeeen iffff you fiiind The Ladyyyyy, she wouldnnnnn't remooooove it.
    Sheee caaaann't, and wooooonnn't.
    Heeer priiiiide wouldnnn't letttt herrr admiiiiit she was wroooong."

    ".......I see.
    Thank you very much for your wisdom, oh great spirit of the forest.
    Even if I can't change back I would still like a word with her, especially my fist"

    "kuhuhuhuhuhuhu, do as you wish.
    She had it coming.
    Now go, the path will always open for those willing to open their eyes"

    Rei was suprised when the Poetree began to speak in a more modern and faster fashion but she smiled towards the old tree spirit and bowed again to show her gratitude as she wondered about those last words he said.
    As she turned towards the Northeast direction, her eyes opened wide as she saw what was happening.
    The trees moved their branches to open a clear path which led all the way to outside the forest and towards the direction of the city.
    Even though the path definitely wasn't there when she got here, it looked so natural like it always existed.
    Rei ran down the path as she waved towards Poetree and began to speed up using physical enhancement.
    She wanted to make it to town before dark.

    After arriving in town, Rei entered the guard station at the gate saying she was an adventurer with important info.
    Luckily the guard she met earlier today was still on shift, he believed her and took her to the guards captain, where she proceeded to inform them of her meeting with Poetree.
    The guards captain was musing deep in thought before he issued an order to ban all lumberjacking in the southwest forest, and ordered to release a public announcement about in the town square as well as rumors about the Poetree's wrath in the local taverns using the guards who were working undercover or were on their day off.

    Rei thanked the guard captain for taking her seriously and asked for a cheap inn to spend the night.
    The guard captain offered her to sleep in one of their private rooms in the barracks, locked door included of course.
    Apparently, their vice-captain was currently on his honeymoon so his room was vacant.
    Rei took the offer and thanked him again for his help.

    Next day morning, Rei said her farewells to the guards she came to know last night during an arm wrestling contest (she won of course) and hopped on a peddling merchant carriage heading for Nagrand.
    Met Poetree.

    impressed Poetree by singing three poems from her childhood.

    Got Poetree to remove the threat of his beast.

    Received a warning/threat to deliver to the guild and the city of Randgriz.

    Received a piece of advice about her curse.

    Delivered the warning to the town guard.

    Became friendly with the guards.
    @AliceShiki
     
  17. AliceShiki

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

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    So this whole thing of the Poetree wasn't just a bunch of nonsense spilled by the lumberjacks, but an actual guardian of the forest? That is... Well, not exactly that surprising in all fairness, but not really what I expected~

    Thank you for ascertaining the situation and stopping it before it got worse, you did definitely more than what was asked of you.

    Great job Rei-chan, you're officially a D-ranked adventurer now, please take this Bronze Guild Badge as a reward. As before, your name is written in its back and you'll get a fine should you lose it.

    That will be all for now, please don't get cocky just because of a rank up and good luck in your future endeavors, I'll pray for your safety in case you ever anger another spirit.

    Take care, gods blessings upon you~ *bows*
     
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  18. Siostar

    Siostar Well-Known Member

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    A young went in to the guild and silently placed her report on a counter...
    Let's see... the requester's wife has some mood swings, vomits and a growing belly. Which sound like the same common symptom of a pregnant woman. What I doesn't understand, was why does the husband thinks his unborn baby was an evil spirit, he even believe the wife was possessed by it...

    However, to know of the real situation, I needed to meet with the requester, which is why I was knocking on the door now.

    Doc Doc Doc

    The door made some dull sounds to my knocks, but a moment after, I heard some yelling inside and the door loudly opened.

    What greets me is a moss green orc, who was about one head taller than me. Intimated by his angry looking face, I took two steps back and was unable to speak until he half roared:
    "Who t'ere!"
    "I..I..I'm...an adventure... a..are you Korlagar?" I asked, feeling pressed by his presence alone.

    The orc seemed to be happy to my question and said: "Y'ah, I'm Korlagar," after which, he frowned and remarked, "but ya're not a exorcist."

    "N..no..." I slowly responded, somehow got a bad feeling on where it was going.

    "...Do ya k'ow any technic' against e'wil spirit?"
    "N..not really..."
    "Then why 're ya 'ere?!"
    "B..because... I don't think your wife is... p..possessed..."
    The orc definitely wanted to say something more, but before he could another voice screamed louder than him.

    "LAGAR! JUST HOW LONG DID YOU PLAN TO SCARE THE POOR GIRL! JUST INVITE HER INSIDE, YOU IDIOT!"
    Unable to refuse the one I assumed to be his wife, my client invited me in with some hesitation.

    ....

    "So what brings a young lady like you here?" Asked the female orc when we were seated. Well, that was except for the husband, who was waving some kind of signals behind his wife, to which I didn't understand at all.

    I ignored the strange finger pointing man, and quirky decided to tell some half truth to his wife. After all, I couldn't have her wait forever, so I said:

    "Y..your husband has requested some help, to... resolve the problems you two had since your pregnancy..."
    "I see," she quietly mumbled. Then all of a sudden, the woman made a quick head turn to check on the husband, who by now are playing innocently with his (usual?) angry looking face. The female orc stared intensely at him, as if she knew what he has done behind her back. A long while after, she turned to face me again and asked: "So, what problems do you have to solve?"

    "Well.... it wasn't really specified on how... but I guess the quickest way, is to clear any misunderstanding."
    "And how did you plan to do it?"
    "I will talk to each of you tomorrow, privately. The day after, I will tell you both at the same time, for any misunderstandings there may have been."
    "What if it doesn't work?"
    "I guess, I will fail my job and get no pay..."

    The pregnant woman nodded to my word, seemly to think about my idea before she agreed.
    _______________________

    Two days later, I already got the private talk with them, which made me... rather speechless on the husband side...

    I went into the house again and made the married pair to sit side by side. It was an awkward moment for me, as those two stared at me with full attention.

    "U..um... to start with... Korlagar don't know how childbirth wor-"
    "Of corse I k'ow!" Interrupted the male orc.
    "Clamp up your meat loving mouth, Lager! The girl isn't done!"
    "...Y..yes ma'am."
    "That's better," the wife said satisfied, she then kindly told me: "Please continue," like it was the usual thing.

    A bit frustrated by the interruption, I tried to collect myself again.

    "U..um, y..yeah... like I said before... Korlagar has a different idea... on... well, how children get born."
    "What do you mean?"
    "I.. think is better to ask him." After which she signaled the orc-man to speak.
    "I don't ko'w ya say'ng, kids co'e form ma'gi an' poof t'ere thay 're!"

    Two females turned silent to his statement, even I who heard this a second time, still felt speechless about this. Nevermind the wife who has to go through this life for years.

    "S..sir, a normal baby isn't born like that... I will recommend that your wife or a midwife should you teach about this."
    The not so clever orc wanted to say something, but was stopped by a warning glare and grumbled something on his seat.

    "So... to clear something up, (wife's name) is a healthy pregnant woman. Someone who is pregnant they get some unstable moods, vomiting and other things. Their unneutral belly size is the proof of pregnancy, and the being living in (wife's name)'s stomach will be your treasure, so it better for you to still support her in the next few months." I told so, mostly to the husband.

    "(wife's name), I think you need to help to teach your husband in other things too. It will make things easier and help you both." I adviced.

    The wife nodded to my words and thanked me for my help, I don't know what happened after, for I just went home for tiring day.
    @AliceShiki
    ((too lazy to make a new name...))
     
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  19. AliceShiki

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

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    I'm glad you were able to solve things smoothly Lykke-san, I can't believe some people are this uneducated about something this basic...

    Good job out there, the reward is of 8 Large Copper Coins and 4 Guild Points~

    Take care now~
     
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  20. Quaesitor

    Quaesitor [Scholar]

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    "I see you've been subject to a few... interesting potions." Garret adjusts his glasses. "Well, it's good to hear that no permanent effects were caused, and I'd say that you suceeded in doing the quest without doubts. Here are your 7 Large Copper Coins, and 4 Guild Points."
     
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