The night before, he’d stumbled to his room trying not to re-listen to Rina’s screams. The leatherworker and his partner hadn’t asked to enter sudden combat. It was Cass who had encouraged them to explore that feeling he’d had.
And now, he knew what it was.
Washing the bloodied, sticky robe had been a non-starter. It wasn’t the blood that would get him caught out; it was the giant tears in the right arm. Still, he cleaned it as best he could, then placed it deep within the bottom of a personal chest he’d brought from home.
Sleep had barely come, but he didn’t have the right to be upset over its missing embrace. It was time to get a move on and clean up whatever remnants his messy evening had brought. Life moves on, and so must he, but that didn’t mean he’d ever forget what his actions had brought to his friends.
In the brightness of a new day, his arm looked like it had been healing for over a week, but there was still more than enough tenderness present for him to wince anytime he touched it. Based on the scars from his last encounter with monsters, these would heal, but a visual memory would be left behind. A memory of when he’d placed non-combatants in danger because of a gut feeling.
No…
Because of a System ability.
Checking on Rina was a must, but it would have to wait until his responsibilities had been taken care of. No one must know that he had been involved in the fight near Cullings. If anything, he’d have to act shocked anytime he heard about it.
His notifications were still present. Following the battle, he hadn’t looked, and he wasn’t going to now. He knew it was likely a great deal of experience, possibly even an achievement or two, but they would have to wait until he had a free moment. How Monsters came into the middle of Liora undetected was the question that most sat in his mind. But it was beyond him to investigate…or was it?
Slipping on a fresh robe, Cass marched out of the room, determined to have a normal day. His meetup with Bella was as sweet as always. Like a rock in a turbulent river, he clung to her for a moment, letting the issues of the previous day settle. It didn’t silence Rina’s screams, but it did help him re-center himself.
Time was the factor. That’s what his mother had always said.
You’ll go through harrowing moments in your life, Cassio. Moments that you wish had never come. But we can’t move backwards in time. All we can do is push forward and let the past wash through us. You’ll see. Things always get better.
But he knew waiting for things wouldn’t be enough. So he decided to try to work some of his feelings out. Pulling up the daily Quests, Cass picked the hardest one he could find.
Compounded strength objectives: Complete all objectives within one hour.
- Complete 3 sets of dead hangs (30 seconds each minimum)
- Perform 3 sets of power burpees (20 reps each, a minimum of ten pounds added to Questor’s frame)
- Complete 1 set of pyramid pushups (Count up to ten, then down to 1)
- Perform 3 sets of jump squats (10 reps each minimum)
Locating a nearby beam, Cass exited the stall to Bella’s protestation, jumped, and gripped it with all his strength. What was nice about the system was that it counted down for him.
…1…
…2…
…3…
…4…
By ten seconds, Cass’s arms began to tremble. The partially healed-over scabs on his right arm cracked with the tension, sending a warning pulse of lightning down his nerves. But he persevered. The pain was clarifying in a way that thinking about things would never be. He clenched his jaws and persevered.
Because he could take it.
As the counter reached twenty-five, his arms and shoulders screamed. His grip felt like mushy pudding that had been left to set out for a day. And as for the not fully healed wound on his arm, it cracked, a slight river of red leaking from it. But as those last five seconds counted down, he refused to let go.
Daily Quest Progress:
1 out of 3 sets of dead hangs complete
He dropped and staggered back. But he didn’t give himself time to think. Thinking would only bring back the feelings he was trying to keep away.
No breaks.
Immediately, he transitioned into jump squats next.
Daily Quest Progress:
1 out of 3 sets of jump squats complete
Then, a set of power burpees, followed by dead hangs again, moving through every set until all he had left was the pyramid and a body that screamed for relief. But he wouldn’t let it. Though every muscle vibrated with rebellion, and he felt like he was about to catch fire, Cass dropped into the pushup position and began.
“One.” He growled, ignoring the system's counting. “One…two.”
They went there because of me.
“One…two…three.”
My choice. My decision.
“Four…five.”
Never again. If there’s to be a fight, I’ll go alone. I won’t have another’s blood on my hands.
“Seven…six…five.”
Johnny.
He burned through the rest. Though the climb was hell, the descent was even worse. When Dev had first explained pyramid pushups to him, it hadn’t sounded so bad. You start at one, then you do two pushups in a row, then three, and so on. Once you reach the peak, the numbers start to decline again. Nine, eight, and so on. But after experiencing it, he could say without a doubt it was much more punishing than he’d ever imagined.
Which was what he wanted.
Especially with the Dev twist she’d added. Every time a set was done, you had to flip back and throw your arms in the air for every pushup counted. What should’ve felt like relief was instead a floppy noodle celebration that burned with the impetus of fire.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
But he did it.
[Intermediate Daily Quest Complete]
Rewards: 7.7xp, 2 Stalwart Tokens, 1 Survivor Token
Cass couldn’t lift his arms to even open the gate. Rather than try and embarrass himself, he leaned his head for support against Bella’s, already stretched over her stall as she looked after him.
“Never again, girl. If blood's to be spilled, it’ll be mine, or a monster's. That’s it.”
She whuffed his hair, which he took to mean agreement even if it wasn’t what she’d intended. The burn in his body didn’t start to cool until he met up with Dev. This time, they were in the Rings.
Catching a breather from the sprint he’d taken to get there on time, he caught eyes with Orla. Based on her unusual frumpiness, she’d probably gotten as much sleep as he had. She quickly headed his way, leaning her head in close with a whispered voice.
“How are you here right now? I saw your arm, Cass.”
“Trade secret,” Cass told her, giving the Merchant a wink when their eyes met.
She didn’t look convinced. “Well…you stink. And I mean that in the literal way.”
“Sorry, my lady.” Cass said with a half-assed bow. He stood upright and surreptitiously glanced around to make sure nobody was within hearing distance. “How’s Rina?”
“She’ll be okay. It’ll leave a scar, but it’s mostly superficial. I think the shock of things is what really hit her. Monsters, in Liora?” She shook her head, “I sometimes don’t believe it myself, and I killed one of them.”
Dev started calling people over, but Cass and Orla kept their walking speed slow.
“When I left her last night, she was talking about how great the two heroes who saved us were, as you asked. She’s a good soldier.”
“You both are,” Cass confirmed, “And I appreciate it.”
“But why don’t you want people to know you can fight? And how are you standing here and not in a bed recovering right now? If you want us to keep your secret, we need to know what’s going on.”
Cass let out a long breath as he hesitated. Have to trust someone. If I can’t trust Orla or Rina, who can I trust?
He looked around one more time before whispering, “Look, I’ll tell you, but it stays between us. I haven’t told anybody but Gary so far, and he’s been too busy with the Golden Crust to meet with me lately.”
She made a hurry up gesture, “Alright, go on.”
“I…When I killed the Skreels, I satisfied something in the System that gave me a unique achievement. Now, I heal way faster than most people, and it gave me some kind of strength training program. Every day I do these exercises, and if I get them done in time, I get experience and…” He looked over and noticed she’d stopped walking.
“What?”
“So that’s how you’re faster than me now!”
“Well-”
“I thought you were taking drugs, or something.” She pantomimed wiping sweat off her forehead, “Whew, that’s a load off my mind.”
“You’re stupid,” Cass said in a tone of finality.
“And yet you picked me as your partner. Whose the stupid one now? Come on, you can tell me the rest later, Dev’s giving us some evil eye.”
When they got there, everyone was already lined up. Dev shared a glare between them, then spoke in her booming voice.
“Monsters were spotted in the city last night!” She paused as people began to speak, then yelled twice as loud.”As such…As such! The Guild has determined that every one of you must understand what you could face should you find yourself in such a situation. Always keep in mind that if it happened once, it can certainly happen again. With that in mind, you’ll be skipping your next assigned class. Instead, each of you will face a simulated demonstration of what monsters are. First up, Pellin Cray!”
Pellin put on a much better showing than Cass. Without an ounce of fear, the System Engineer fought and killed a low-intensity Scrounger with a long-form halberd. He even managed to swing it with some form of grace as the monster was cut down in moments. Afterwards, a beaming smile lit up his face as Dev congratulated him.
“Wonderful work, Cray. That was an excellent first demonstration. Next!”
Kara called out a name as Pellin came over to speak to them.
“What the hell, Pell?” Orla said with a light smack to his shoulder, “Why didn’t you tell us you could fight?”
The engineer was unabashed as he planted the halberd in the grass, “After I saw Cass fight and knew I was going to be here often to upgrade and fix a few things, I figured I may as well learn how to use this thing. Did you know that there’s a training ring on the other side for weapons? It’s incredibly intuitive.”
“No…I didn’t.” Cass said, rethinking a few things in his schedule.
Everyone entered with a weapon, and like she did to Cass, those who showed any sign of fear felt a swift kick in the ass. Through the screams and Kara’s laughter, Cass had an almost comforting feeling run through him. Maybe it was a little twisted, but he was happy to know he wasn’t the only one to experience that reaction.
Of course, some people tried to dodge Kara’s kick, but when she began to move so fast that her leg became a blur and hurt twice as much, those efforts quickly died out. Only the three combat callings were allowed to go to a different ring, with Adya choosing the third, and the other two choosing the second.
The second held slightly smaller Skreels, the speed of their attacks far slower than what Cass had experienced. Both of the combatants dealt with them expertly, showcasing skills that had to be system-enhanced, as they were too superhuman not to be. When they were both done, they moved on to the third ring, where Adya waited just inside.
Dev stepped up beside her, then turned and faced the group.
“Scroungers are your basic civilian-level threat. They leap, they’re fast, and it’s hard to remove them once they dig in. Skreels have a tendency to hunt in packs, and that makes them dangerous. With those long, dagger-like fingers of theirs, it’s a quick trip to the morgue if you move wrong. Or, more accurately, their stomach. You are alive when they eat you.” A young woman took an extra step away from the second ring at that, causing Dev to smile.
“For the third ring, as Ms. Korring is about to show us, that’s a different kind of monster. This is a stalker type, more akin to the wolves of history, rather than the smaller, slower, and frankly dumber creatures at the lower rings. Non-Alphas weigh close to two hundred pounds, while the Alpha variety type can weigh twice that. If you’re really unlucky, you’ll find a mutated type. For those, all bets are off. They can be smarter, faster, stronger, or heal so damn fast you can watch it in real time.”
She nodded at Kara, who pushed a few buttons on the post, then took a step back, “Just remember, everything dies when you cut off its head.”
The dome appeared overhead, trapping Adya and Dev within. Forming up on the other side was a heavily muscled creature on all fours. Its hindquarters were twice as thick as those on the front, with long, sharp nails thick as daggers sticking out of them. The entire thing seemed to be covered in some kind of oily fur as it opened a large mouth and began to pant.
“This is a Driftclaw.”
The creature bunched up and leaped from its back claws. Touching down, it seemed to slide toward the Scout, its movements unpredictable as it wove back and forth. The most unnerving thing about it was that every movement was as silent as can be. As Adya attacked right, the creature swerved left in a blink, a claw held out menacingly toward her. But Dev was already there, having appeared instantaneously.
“Driftclaws are dangerous as hell.” She kicked the claw, causing the creature to go into a light spin before rearranging itself. “They secrete an oil that allows them to speed up, constantly moving their back legs to re-orient themselves.” Another kick as the creature attacked her instead. “But the way to beat them is never to let them control the tempo of the fight. Like this.”
In a display of supreme concentration, Dev slipped past a claw like it was just any other Tuesday, then kicked one of its back legs…hard. The creature whined a little as its body slid across the ground, where a pent-up Adya was already soaring toward it. Dropping the tip of the spear down, she struck the creature dead-on through the skull.
It and the dome disappeared only a moment later.
Dev nodded, “Acceptable, Adya, but don’t tell me you could’ve done that without my help. Stick with the Skreels for a time more.”
The other Scout nodded, and class abruptly ended for the day with no callouts for tutoring, only an offer to train that evening if they’d like.
After showering, they had a late breakfast where only Pellin spoke much, then sat through their third class of the day. But Cass’s mind was working quickly in the background as the Silvers officer self-aggrandized. This was going to be a long day, and he still had much to accomplish.
And next time, when they come again, I’ll be ready. And I’ll be able to face them alone.
Quest ID: JDM-0001-C-EA
[Tier 1 Construction Quest]
You are hereby assigned to improve a single corner of the world.
Choose one neglected physical space in your home or immediate surroundings — a shelf, a patch of dirt, a creaky hinge, or a drawer that hasn't seen light in a decade. Improve it. Fix it, clean it, or organize it with care.
Completion Condition: Tangible transformation. You must be able to see the change.
Reward for completion: 5 XP + Modifiers
J.D. Mullenary Sr.
The Original QuestWright
Note: Questor can include modifiers if they went above and beyond. Analysis of said modifier for increased experience will fall to QuestWright callsign JDM
Tangible proof of the previous Quest's completion: Yes I know, shouldn't give advice. Can't help it. It's the teacher in me. Link as I couldn't include the image on this one, which was strange. Story seems interesting: