Heading to the Cafeteria for his first standard non-infirmary lunch in a while, he found a grumpy Orla and ecstatic Pellin already seated.
“Howdy, folks,” Cass said, dropping his tray down as he grabbed his usual seat.
“Well, look who it is.” The merchant said with a smile. “QuestWright Cassio Vale, in the flesh.”
“Initiate QuestWright Cassio Vale, actually.”
Orla’s fork slammed into the table. “How! How are you both doing this?”
Pellin lifted his cup in a toast to himself as he looked at Cass, “Initiate System Engineer.”
Cass tapped his cup, then answered, “I don’t know. It’s just a talent, you know? You can’t teach it.”
“Yeah, a talent, like he said,” Pellin added on. “We’re just naturals at this whole system integration thing.”
“Yep.” Cass continued egging her on, “The System loves us.”
Orla lifted the fork out of the table and stabbed it at them, “Whatever you’re both doing, I want in. I know there’s something funky going on. Something weird.”
Cass stuffed his face with food as a thought occurred. She could work with Rina. It would make things a little easier for both of us. And she’s a merchant. Maybe she can get us better deals. Then he remembered he’d never told Rina he was done with the infirmary. Not wanting to anger the leatherworker firmed up the idea even further in his mind.
Swallowing his food, he asked, “Orla, how would you like a few Quests? As long as you finish them, they’re guaranteed to bring in experience.”
Pellin shuddered, “Better you than me. Getting that horse to the stable took about every skill I could think of. Screw the xp, it isn’t worth it.”
Meanwhile, Orla put down her fork. “What kind of Quests? Not that the last one was hard, but that man refused to communicate.”
“Yeah, Holt's different.” Reluctantly pushing away his food, he got down to business. “Rina’s been helping me organize a large group of Traders in the Commons. I give them Quests, and they get to make a little money. For reference, she’s the Leatherworker next to the blacksmith.”
“Oh, the one who likes him?”
“What, no.” Then Cass had to think about it. Does she like him? Based on Orla’s grin, he might be wrong. “Anyways, she probably doesn’t know how to negotiate for the best prices on things. I figure, with Orla Marrowind as our lead merchant, we should get much better value out of everything.”
“Uh-huh.” She took a drink as she thought it over. “What kind of income are you looking at?”
“Income?”
“Crests. How many Crests are you making bi-weekly? As a Lead Merchant,” She said the words with quoted fingers. “What should I expect our quarter-to-quarter goals to be? How do you plan on upscaling, and what kind of horizontal structuring are you planning? Is this a Consortium, a collective? What kind of enterprise is it? You do know that this is how most Collectives begin, right?”
“Um…I hadn’t considered that.” I might have found something real here.
“Well, consider it. If you want to make real money off of all this, you need a financial blueprint that scales with your allocated capital.”
When Cass and Pellin both gave her blank looks, she sighed, “I’ll talk to Rina and see how much you guys have screwed things up. It definitely beats inventorying. Give me a few days.”
Cass agreed, and they shook on it.
He left the Cafeteria when Kara caught him en route to his room. “No, no, Mr. QuestWright. You may have skipped tutoring this morning, but you need to get back on track with your classes. Resource Management and Logistics await.”
Cass sighed, then turned around and walked back the other way.
He was busy enough for the rest of the day that he never had the chance to catch Orla or Holt. Though logically he knew it wasn’t a big deal, only handing out three Quests in twenty-four hours felt wrong to him. He was a QuestWright; they were the primary focus of his life right now…and maybe forever.
On the second day back in the Guild, Cass tried to keep up his routine. Wake up, Gary Quest, see Bella and do his personal Quest, then off to a modified class schedule. He’d briefly considered simply doing his QuestWright duties full-time, but shrugged off the thought. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t get any experience or have to wait to unlock titles like the rest of his former classmates. There was still information to be had, and he applied himself as studiously as possible.
Kara took him to the Provisioner’s Exchange, where the Guild’s standard crafting could be traded for points earned from specific Quests. In there, he found several different kinds of gear, and she introduced him to a smattering of Guild Merchants and Tradesmen who ran the place. He made several more Annual Quests like he had for Brendan and Chancey the previous day. It guaranteed that he’d gain a small experience boost in the coming days.
Meeting up with Orla just before the Guest Lecturer block, Cass asked her about how the meeting went.
“It went great. Rina’s got a good head on her shoulders. Though, when I broached the subject of starting our Enterprise, that Holt fellow objected strongly.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what his issue is. We have a group of Tradesmen and a Merchant, plus everyone gets Quests from me to boost their experience. What’s not to love?”
They split up for their separate booths, and Cass got a lecture from a traveling hunter about the problems of the world. According to the large woman in leather, the world was becoming more dangerous. Portals, once thought to be rare, were now becoming more commonplace. Incursion rates were growing, and Monsters were less afraid of attacking larger city centers. The Capital itself was forced to defend itself from what sounded like a pretty meticulously planned attack by several groups of monsters.
Cass went to bed that night, Skreels large in his mind.
On the third day, he was forced to re-enter the physical classes. Though he’d woken up early to spend his daily time with Bella, get his workout done, and drop off Gary’s Quest, he still had a bit of energy leftover for the morning.
Scout Dev’s workouts, while not a breeze, weren’t that bad anymore. In fact, even without Master Greeve’s potion, he wasn’t called on for tutoring that night. He didn’t know if it was because Dev thought he was in better shape or she was just trying to take it easy on him, but either way, it was a welcome change. Pellin, unfortunately, did not get away from the Scout’s judgment.
“Every day!” He yelled out, bits of milk leaking from the side of his mouth. He quickly dabbed at it before repeating, “Every day! She makes me go to tutoring every single day.”
Cass breezed through his third and fourth classroom, then wound up in the Annex with a foot-tapping Kara. He looked at her, “Got some place to be?”
She was surprised when he spoke to her, “What? Oh, sorry.” Her foot stopped. “We’re waiting on someone, and they make me nervous.”
“You? Nervous?” Cass laughed, “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Everyone gets nervous, except for this son of a-” She stopped when her eyes met something. Standing up straight, she pushed a few creases out of her robe when a man approached, though approached would be the wrong word.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
A man, wearing only dark clothing and sporting long, unkempt hair, stalked towards them. There was a deep-seated slash of a scar tracing from his right ear to his chin, pulling his expression into a constant grin that was unnerving to see. When he got close, Cass felt something odd coming from him. It took him a moment before he realized it was his Monster Sense going off. After the events with the Skreel, he’d never turned it off.
Standing up quickly, he took two quick steps away and reached into his bag for his knife before anyone could say or do anything.
The man grinned, “Hold, Cassio Vale, though I appreciate you heeding your ability. That’ll keep you alive.”
Not bothering to correct him, Kara gestured at the man, “This is Aeron Chask, Guildhunter.”
“Master Aeron Chask, nice to meet you.” The man held out a scarred hand. Though Cass’s ability still told him to keep his distance, he swallowed the lump in his throat and reached forth. The hunter’s hands felt hot as fire.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise, QuestWright.” He took a step back and looked Cass up and down, “So, you took out three Skreels with almost no training and without any Combat abilities. That’s quite the feat.” When Cass felt a bit of pride worm its way in, he spoke again, “Not a great feat for a person with a Combat Calling, but certainly something noteworthy for you softer types.”
“Master Chask is here for a multi-part Quest, Cass.” She gave him a look of disgust. “It’s completely unnecessary, but he insists.”
“Alrighttt.” Cass put the knife away and reopened the Annex. “What’s the Quest?”
“I need a Quest that has me delivering a package to Fillmore’s Decor while also including a portion that allows me to look over the state of their previous deliveries.”
“That sounds like an investigation.” He looked at Kara, “I don’t have those Quest types unlocked yet.”
“Which is what I told Chask here, but he insists you create it. Guildmaster Hollis will be busy for the next few days and doesn’t have time to make personalized Quests; thus, here we are.”
“Won’t this damage my System Reputation?”
“No,” Kara replied, “As long as you don’t word anything to feel like an Investigation. Just stick to exactly what Chask is requesting. Oh, here’s the contract from the Petition Hall.”
She slid a piece of paper across the desk and Cass looked it over.
Though it was his first time seeing a Contract, Cass found it surprisingly easy to follow. Two days earlier, Clarence Fillmore had submitted a request through the Petition Hall: deliver an item from the Red Tower to Fillmore’s Decor. The reason was clear. Monsters had been sighted on the road, and the petitioner believed the Guild had the best resources at hand for dealing with them. Near the bottom sat Chancey’s signature, accompanied by a doodled smiley face he pointedly ignored.
Cass leaned back in his chair and looked at Kara, “What’s the real reason?”
“Better if you don’t know,” Kara said with a serious expression. “Just draft the Quest so Chask can get out of here.”
“Master Chask, Guild Trainer Kara.” The scarred man said with a dark expression. “I know I earned that title enough times over not to get any attitude from you.”
Kara’s face morphed into something Cas didn’t recognize. “You got Sara killed.”
Chask’s eyes narrowed. The scarred man seemed almost to snarl as he said, “Sara got herself killed, foolish woman. Do you think I like it when Guildmembers, hell, when any human being dies in this world? Aside from the dark Guilds, I’ll protect anyone I possibly can. Sara made a mistake, and she paid for it with her life. As simple as that.”
Cass looked back and forth between them. This is getting bad…should I do something?
Kara took a step toward the hunter, “She never should’ve been there, and you know it. She was barely Tier 2, but you threw her at a fully brewed incursion like it was a walk in the park.”
“I told her to SCOUT IT. Not engage!” Chask barked. “When I got there, she was already gone. Along with the poor kids she tried to save. I never sent her on that kind of mission. She took the initiative on her own.”
Seeing that they were about to come to blows, Cass decided to be brave. Moving faster than he thought was possible, he jumped between them and put a hand on both their chests. “Why don’t we all calm down? Please? This isn’t exactly the place for a brawl.”
“He’s right,” Kara said, taking a step back physically and metaphorically. “Care to take a trip out to the Rings?”
Chask's grin was all teeth, “Gladly.” He looked at Cass, who felt his whole world narrow down from the glare on the man’s face. “Make that Quest and leave it on the desk. I’ll pick it up after I’m done teaching your trainer why I’m called a master.”
After they left, it felt like all the heat in the building left with them. The cold look in Chask’s eyes had come close to freezing Cass’s heart. Knowing better than to not draft the quest, Cass stepped into the system and filled it out as carefully as he could. If the outline started to sound even the least bit like an investigation, he could get hit by the System for violating Quest types.
When he finalized it, Cass looked it over. It still looked too much like an investigation. The System wasn’t stupid. Just transporting Bella to the stable almost got him into trouble. Cass sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He knew what he had to do.
Diving into the Reputation screens, Cass was surprised at how tall the silver System tower had become. Responding to his will, a counter appeared on the right.
Total System reputation accrued: 124
Current System reputation remaining: 104
Those achievements really add up, Cass thought to himself. Willing his request to the System, the Quest types appeared in a row like last time. He looked at them for a moment, then selected Investigation.
(I) Investigation: A Quest type related to uncovering hidden information, resolving anomalies, and conducting thorough procedural analysis.
Cost to Unlock: 20 System Reputation
Knowing he still had plenty to spare, Cass accepted the cost.
Quest type: (I) Investigation selected…
QuestWright Ledger updated…
As the silver bricks solidified, Cass glanced once at all of the new towers that had sprung up since he’d last been there, then exited.
The settings for Investigations were different. There were categories not only for the types of investigations, but as he looked deeper, there were also categories for different types of deception and the expected levels of severity.
He keyed in everything he knew about what was needed, then finalized the outline.
True Quest ID: CV-0001-I-LIA
True Objective: Hunter Aeron Chask will investigate Fillmore’s Decor for deceptive practices related to the delivery of packages using Liora Guildhall resources.
Disguised Quest ID: CV-00010-D-LIA
Disguised Objective: Scout Aaron Chomsky will deliver one package from the Red Tower to Fillmore’s Decor in Liora City. Upon arriving at the destination location, Scout Chomsky will review Fillmore’s Decor delivery records.
Source Location: The Red Tower (LIA-RT)
Destination Location: Fillmore’s Decor
Disguised Assigned Candidate: Aaron Chomsky
True Assigned Candidate: Aeron Chask
Disguised Completion Conditions: Package delivered within the official timeframe, records checked.
True Completion Conditions: Package delivered within the official timeframe, records checked, location scouted, and personnel inspected.
Timeframe: 5 hours
System Reputation: +7
Disguised Modifiers: Dual-Track Quest (+100%), Complexity (+10%)
True Modifiers: Triple-Track Quest (+200%), Danger level: Moderate (+100%), Complexity (+80%)
Disguised Questor Reward: +11xp
True Questor Reward: +24xp
Disguised QuestWright Reward: +1.1xp
True QuestWright Reward: +2.4xp
It looked like what they wanted. Concentrating, Cass focused and drafted it. The shimmer rolling across the Quest was multi-layered. It started with a spark, like normal, before it shifted to a flame. When the flash was over, the Quest sat in front of him, reading like any other Delivery Quest he’d ever made. But he knew what was really in there.
Leaving it on the desk, he went about his day, not expecting much to come out of it for a time. Kara met up with him later on, bruising evident across her face as she limped towards him. With a gesture, she started to lead him to a new location, just as a Quest update came in. Curious, he pulled up his notifications.
[System Notice]
You’ve gained .55xp for Gary Trenner’s Quest Completion.
Your System Reputation has increased by 1.
Details can be found in the Quest Ledger.
You’ve gained 8.8xp for Aeron Chasks’ Quest Completion.
Your System Reputation has increased by 10.
Details can be found in the Quest Ledger.
Bonus experience granted for triggering your first Quest Chain:
20 Experience
Initiate QuestWright Achievement progress:
2/12
How would you like real life Quests? I figured, with what this story is, it would be fun if I gave out real life Quests once a week. For those not in the know, I'm a Teacher and Coach for my main two jobs (basically what I do when I'm not writing). So I thought it might be fun if I throw out a quest each monday, and you guys post the results on the same chapter, or even the following. Let me know if you think it's worth my extra time.
