Cass approached Bella with an uncommonly wary expression. Every breath she took, every movement of her legs, he felt somewhere deep within. He couldn’t control her body, but he could sense it. The quivering muscles in her body. The tail swishing back and forth through still air. It was like a second mind had reached in and taken up a non-dominant place in his own.

  Reaching one hand out to her head, already sticking out of the stall, she stretched her neck to meet it. He felt a dual sensation of both running his hand across the broad, flat space at her top, while simultaneously gaining a sense of his own hand sliding across her. She never blinked.

  Taking a short breath, he asked, “Can you feel my body too?”

  She stomped, and he felt the power of her muscles contract in the movement, as well as the message it contained.

  “This is super weird, Bella girl.” Cass said, leaning his face against hers, “We can feel each other’s bodies.” He stroked a hair near the top of her head and felt his own fingers perform the action in a ghostly manner. ”Why would this be a part of our bond?”

  She shook her head, and he got a slight sense of vertigo as she shrugged it off. Though it was a simple motion, it contained a world of language.

  “You’re right, it doesn’t matter. It’s just you and me, the same as always.”

  She snorted, whuffing his hair, then laughed as apparently it felt like her own hair being brushed aside. There was a quiet pause as Cass considered everything, including what might happen as their bond increased, before she laughed a second time.

  “What?” A few seconds passed as she communicated in her horsey way before he understood. “Oh, crap, you’re right. Riding is going to be a lot easier now. Hey, wait a second.” Cass reached a hand down and pinched himself painfully. Bella took two steps back with big eyes at that.

  “Hah!” Cass said, pointing a finger at her and laughing, “Now you get to feel how sore my ass gets every time we do our Quests.” He laughed to himself for a long moment as Bella lamented their new powers with many neighs. When she began to protest, he pointed at her and laughed again, this time in a derisively mocking way.

  Cass wished her well the next time they went riding, then left, her face bearing what could only be described as an equinical contemplative expression while he moved toward the exit.

  But as he got some distance, the sense of her body faded into the back of his mind. It was odd. Like a small bundle of nerves he’d never known he had, were suddenly sitting in some mysterious portion of his brain. Though he’d moved a hundred steps away, he still knew exactly where she was. If he had the System map in front of him right now, he could pinpoint exactly where to find her at any point. No matter the distance he moved, the feeling never wavered.

  “Neat,” Cass said to himself with a smile, but as he exited the stables, he noticed the hubbub around the area. Several men and women were placing the reins of their horses in the grasp of the Guild’s handlers. When he caught the eye of the Stablemaster and gave her a curious look, she gave him a shake of the head.

  Taking her gesture to mean either she didn’t know or she didn’t have time to speak, Cass began his walk to the cafeteria. But as he got there, he noticed the door was closed. He hadn’t even realized that there was a door.

  Pushing on it to no avail, Cass went to his room, slipped into his outerwear quickly, gave a happy nod to Jim at the gate, then had a quiet breakfast near the smithies at a stall selling soaked oats. That, it turned out, led to a series of odd events.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Mr. QuestWright.” A voice said over his shoulder.

  Cass turned at the small table from which he was sitting, and spotted a fiery young woman giving him a glare. “Hello, Mera.”

  “Hello, yourself,” she said as she sat down at the only other open seat across from him. “I thought we agreed that when you got a few levels in, you’d come talk to us?“

  “Well, I’m only Level-” He did a quick look and kept his mouth from dropping open, “eight…”

  “Wait, I thought you said you were Level one last month when we met?” She replied with a second glare. “How can you be Level eight already?”

  “What can I tell you?” He replied with a shrug, “I’m a hard worker. And I’m sorry for not visiting, things have been a bit hectic lately.”

  “Don’t I know it,” She leaned forward and winced at his meal. “How can you eat that stuff? It tastes like sawed-up wood soaked in water.”

  “I like it.” Cass replied with a shrug, “Say, you don’t know what’s going on at the Guild today, do you?”

  “You don’t know?” She asked with a tilt of her head, “There was another Incursion, but a big one. Happened out at the Red Tower. From what I’ve heard, it was a hundred suckers charging at the outpost. They held, but it was a near thing with lots of injuries. Every able-bodied Company man and woman has been called into Guild service. Drafting, I think is the word. They’re planning out an offensive at the-”

  Cass stood up fast, his knees painfully bucking against the underside of the table.

  “Hold on there, big rush,” Mera said with her palms up in the air. “It’s a Tier 2 callout. Anyone under level ten need not apply. The only reason I know so much is that Martin Metalworks got a bunch of contracts for some specialty items. Those little monster bastards don’t know what’s coming at them.”

  “Still,” Cass ground out as he sat down, his passive healing patched up his legs, “They might need-”

  “An Administrator?” Mera said with an incredulous look, “Cass, I can admit that your Calling is important, but they have Guild Master Hollis and all the Company Heads in a meeting right now. They won’t need the help of a level eight QuestWright. Calm down and don’t get such a big head about things.”

  “Still,” He repeated, “If Gerald is busy, I should be helping.”

  “Gerald, is it?” Mera asked with a smirk, “Since when have you started using the Guild Master’s first name so familiarly?”

  Cass had too much on his mind, and she wasn’t helping as he distractedly said, “Slip of the tongue.”

  “Tongue,” She repeated with a smile at him. That smile fell away when she noticed his expression, “You’re not even listening to me right now, are you?”

  “What?”

  “Well, this is useless.” She pointed at him, then traced a path to the Guild with her finger, “Far be it for me to hold back the all-powerful QuestWright. Go solve the world’s problems, hero.”

  “Yeah,” Cass finally extricated himself from the table, then sprinted to the Registry. When he got there, the entire red board was empty of combat Quests, and all too many were waiting on the other two.

  “You’re early,” Moore said as he was stepping out from behind the first-floor desk. “I was just on my way over to Meeting Room One. Gerald asked me to help organize a few things.”

  “Like the defense of the Red Tower?” Cass asked, causing Moore’s eyebrows to lift. “I ran into a friend who told me a bit about it.”

  “So word is already spreading.” He shook his head, “It never does take long.” Looking around, he spotted Kara just entering and waved her down. As she approached, he said, “Kara, how many Pathfinders do you expect today?”

  She paused and thought for a moment before answering, “Maybe six or seven?”

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  “Understood, thank you. The moment has come for Cassio to learn a few things about the ways of the world. After he creates the Tests for the Pathfinders, make sure he makes his way to Meeting Room One. You can rely on Clerk Randy of the fourth floor if you run into any trouble in my absence.”

  “Of course, Maestro. Thank you.” Kara said with a tilt of the head.

  Moore nodded at her, then looked at Cass, “You have your marching orders. Come join us when you can. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  As Moore left with the usual confident stride, Cass stepped behind the desk and shared some small talk with Kara. People came in, picking up a few Quests off the blue and green boards, and he sent them on their way. They always came in ones and twos, not a one of them holding a combat Calling as far as he could tell. Eventually, Adya approached him with a lightly frustrated look.

  “You didn’t join me in training today. I waited…”

  Cass rubbed the back of his head, “You’re right, sorry. I got caught up in something and it slipped my mind.”

  The observant scout’s eyes tracked the boards, landing on the empty red one for a blink before she turned back to him. “What’s going on?”

  “He’s not supposed to talk about it,” Kara answered for him. “Just know some things are happening right now, and be happy with that.”

  Adya bit her lip as she looked at him for a long time, then something seemed to snap inside of her, and she spoke quickly, “Cassio Vale, I would like to know if you’d enter a contract with me.”

  Kara whistled, “That’s surprising.”

  “A contract?” Cass asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Did Dev put you up to this?” Kara asked as she stepped closer to the Scout. “Because if she did, outranking me or not, I’ll strip the hide from her backside. Contracts like what you’re talking about cannot be broken.”

  “I am aware of that,” Adya said, her back and expression unwavering. “Dev told me about it, but it’s my decision, and I choose Cass.”

  “This wasn’t covered in my classes,” Cass replied, “Can one of you explain what’s happening here?”

  “As a Guild Adjudicator, it’s my responsibility to explain this in full to you, Cass.” A snap told him she’d pulled out her binder and opened it. “Cassio Vale, manager of the first floor for the Quest Registry. Member of the Liora Guildhall and Founder of the enterprise, Common Solutions. Tier One. What is your level currently?”

  Cass made a face before answering, “Eight.”

  Kara seemed to twitch as she made a few notes, but she didn’t say anything. She then turned to Adya and flipped a few pages, “Adya Korring, Independent and Unaffiliated Scout. Citizen of Liora. What is your level currently?”

  “Six,” She said with a tightness to her mouth.

  Kara made another note after, “A proposal of contract has been offered to a QuestWright from one with a designated combat Calling, in this case, Scout. As a Guild Adjudicator, it is my responsibility to inform the proposed of all stipulations that will be brought about from acceptance. Do you, Scout Korring, have anything you would like to say now that might influence QuestWright Vale toward acceptance or denial of the contract?”

  Adya stood up even straighter and looked Cass in the eyes, “Yes.”

  “You may begin.” Kara took two steps back, pen to paper.

  “What’s happening right now?” Cass asked, his face a little flushed as Kara sharply looked at him, “I still don’t understand.”

  Kara tsk’d, “The proposed will be silent as the proposer makes their case, is that understood, QuestWright Vale?”

  “No,” Cass said with a blank expression, the flush creeping further up his face.

  Kara ignored him, “Continue, Ms. Korring.”

  Adya had never taken her eyes off him. “Cass, I know you don’t understand what’s happening. I never had the chance…no. I never had the guts to tell you what a contract between an Administrator and a Combatant means. It’s…unusual.” Kara snorted, but her expression went right back to serious. “When I was training with her, Dev told me about a special path that might come up. It’s not spoken of often. In fact, I’d never heard of it until Dev told me how she unlocked her own. But I worked at it, hard, the moment I realized who you are. And more importantly, who you’re going to be.”

  “Who I’m going to-” A snap interrupted him, as Kara gave him a fierce glare.

  Adya continued as if he hadn’t spoken. As always, the words that flowed from her mouth were in a clipped fashion. Like every word was pre-planned before speaking. “Cass, you’ve fought monsters and come out of it alive, with literally no combat skills. Your friends adore you. Your family loves you. People in the Depot speak about you as if you’re a close companion, even when they’ve probably never met you.”

  How does she know that?

  “You started Pathfinder in a month, helping the city fix and rebuild the worst areas that are often forgotten. You began training with me, surprising me every time you stepped into the Rings with your ingenuity and grit. Because you saw the value in protecting not only yourself, but from what I’ve seen, protecting others as well.”

  She took a deep breath, “I’m proposing to be your guardian. Your warrior. The one person you can speak to, without fear of reprisal and without worrying that what you might say or do can be turned against you. I’ve thought about approaching you with this for several weeks now, and I’ve made up my mind. I’m only sorry I didn’t speak to you about it sooner.”

  Before Cass could reply, Kara spoke, “The proposal has been made. As required by Guild Law, the proposed must hear the following: The contract of which the proposer speaks is known to the Guild. It connects an Administrator with a Guardian for no less than the accrual of ten levels. In this case, a renewal or repudiation of the contract would recur at level eighteen for Cassio Vale as the proposed.”

  Eighteen levels? I just hit Level eight, and that took me about two months. But, I’ve noticed that the experience requirements for each level has risen dramatically as I’ve moved up. That could mean years before the contract ends.

  That caused him to take a beat.

  Am I really considering this? He looked at Adya, whose eyes were still trained on his face. I like her...quite a bit. She seems smart, helped me when she didn’t need to, and though she’s a bit quiet, Adya has always seemed kind to me. But what do I really know about her?

  Kara continued speaking, having paused for a moment as Cass looked like he was thinking heavily. “The contract requires that there be a balance in levels between both members of the party. Normally, this is because combat Callings have a tendency to earn experience rapidly compared to many Administrative-types, although the proposed would be an exception. Should the proposed accept the contract, a special Path will appear for both agreeing parties, that will allow for certain connections to be made, which are private to each contracted link and unique to the two.”

  Unique? Link?

  “As the path is completed, future paths may appear that further bind the contracted together, or, optionally, pull them apart. As one path is fed, so too does the other receive nourishment. Also, an additional word of warning. Every contract is unique to the two who become linked. That can come with a variety of possibilities that the guild has found impossible to track.”

  She closed her binder with a snap, “These are the stipulations, read to you as required by Guild law and overseen by an adjudicator. You may have a moment to consider your options before deciding. Scout Korring, please refrain from activating your contracting ability until QuestWright Vale has approved the contract. Should he deny your proposal, please do not activate it at all, as the Guild will see that as coercion.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Adya said, but her eyes were still on him.

  Cass weighed his options. There were both positives and negatives to this kind of relationship. If he agreed, they’d be tied together for at least a few years, and he still didn’t know much about her. If he declined, he might lose a friend, but he might also lose a weight that dragged him down.

  No, that wasn’t fair to her.

  Adya had been kind to him. She was smart, quiet, and from what he’d seen of her with the Depot Quests and in the Rings, industrious. She worked at something, over and over again, until she knew it inside and out. She had that driving fervor he’d only recently discovered in himself. But still, it made him nervous.

  He’d have to tell her about Survivor. About his connection to Bella. About his long-term plans for a city filled with Quests, and him in the center, pushing hope into a world of darkness. Now that he thought about it, the audacity of the plan was foolish. But still, he wanted to try.

  Couldn’t she help him with that? Couldn’t having a Scout, someone with extreme observation skills, be a great boon to his plans?

  But the idea of opening himself up so entirely to someone he barely knew threw a wrench into his thoughts. It was scary. Maybe if he’d known her as long as he’d known Gary, he’d agree with only a few stray thoughts. Gary would do anything for him, and vice versa. But he barely knew her.

  So, beyond the flowery words she’d stated, why did she pick him?

  “May I ask a question?” He said, looking at Kara.

  “Of course.” She replied, looking up from her writing.

  Cass looked back at the liquid pool of the Scout's eyes and said, “Who do you think I’m going to be?”

  Adya finally blinked, “I don’t think, I see. And in you, I see the future.”

  “Damn,” Cass said, pausing for a moment. “That’s a good line.”

  “I agree,” Kara said on the side.

  Cass looked at her, “Adjudicator,” He said, using her official title for this moment, “Do I need to answer right away?”

  “No, you do not.” She clarified, “But it is considered rude not to answer within a week.”

  Cass nodded, then looked back at Adya, “Please give me a little bit to think this over.”

  The Scout’s eyes traveled across him before she nodded, “So be it.”

  [Tier 2 Experimental Quest]

  Assignment: Interruption Protocol

  You are authorized to break a personal norm. Not for rebellion, but for observation.

  Step 1: Identify one small routine or habit that’s completely automated. Something you do the same way every time: your morning ritual, your route, your coffee order, the way you sort laundry, whatever.

  Step 2: Interrupt it. Consciously change one variable. Reverse a step. Choose the opposite option. Delay it. Accelerate it. Skip it entirely.

  Step 3: Observe what happens; not externally, but internally. Do you feel relieved? Anxious? Free? Dumb? Powerful? If you’re relieved, why do you think that happened?

  Completion Condition: One break. One extensive log of what it did to your thinking.

  Timeframe: One week

  Reward: 7 XP

  The System rewards disruption. Not because it’s better, but because it’s awake.

  —J.D. Mullenary Sr.

  The Original QuestWright