The sound of a trifecta of sharp knocks of wood on wood served well to awaken Clarisse. Sluggish and sore from their training the day prior, she slowly clambered out of bed in her gown to answer the door, still rubbing the sand out of her eyes as she opened it.

  “Good morning…” She yawned, before blinking a few times and finding no one to greet. “Huh-?” she rubbed her eyes and peeked out into the corridor to check if someone had played a prank on her.

  “Down here, darling-” Sera floated up to her eye level. After losing Nikolas at the bell tower, she had given up on finding him and instead spent the night outside Clarisse’s door. “Are you ready to go on a quest today?”

  “Y-yeah,” Clarisse replied, rubbing her eyes quickly as she let Sera inside. “I just need a few minutes to get fresh… where’s Nik?”

  “Ah…” Sera considered how to break the news to her. “He’s busy, at least for today. He decided to go on a quest by himself.”

  “What…?” Clarisse’s shoulders drooped as she looked at the doll with an expression of dismay. “He didn’t even ask me to go with him… Was I not good enough last time?”

  “It’s not about you at all, dear…” Sera went to float over by her side, placing her hands on the girl’s shoulder to console her. “This one is just… meant to be taken on alone. I’ll stay with you and we can work on your magic while he’s gone, though.”

  “I mean… a-alright,” Clarisse nodded, visibly upset but trying to hide it. “I guess we can work on that.” She said, trying not to meet Sera’s gaze as she shambled back to the bedroom in a dejected state.

  “We can head to the guild whenever you feel like it. Get some more sleep if you need it,” Sera reminded her, looking around the room and taking in the new view.

  “I’ll go get ready.” Clarisse muttered before grabbing a towel and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

  “I hope you don’t mind me exploring your apartment in the meantime,” Sera called out as she flew into the adjacent room. It was a quaint apartment, with the largest room serving as Clarisse’s bedroom, accompanied by two other rooms, the bathroom and what seemed to serve as both the kitchen and a storage room.

  Sera noted that there was a distinct lack of odor resembling ingredients in the kitchen, and opened one of the cupboards, which she found empty. Many of the other cupboards and drawers were similarly empty, with the only other kitchen-items being a few sets of cutlery, bowls and plates. There were sparse signs of leftover ingredients from previous cooking ventures, and some cleaning supplies piled into a corner.

  Sera floated back to the bedroom, finding it a far more amicable place to rest and sat on the headboard, waiting for Clarisse to return. There were still items to inspect in the bedroom and a balcony outside to venture towards, but she didn’t want to intrude on any of the redhead’s personal belongings or invite any stray breezes from outside to do the same.

  Clarisse returned in a noticeably better mood from the shower, having already changed into her usual outfit except for her boots. “I’m almost ready, thanks for waiting.” She called out while slipping them on, prompting the doll to fly over to the door.

  “Do you want to have breakfast before we get to training?” Sera asked, unsure what her usual morning routine was before arriving at the guild.

  “Um… I’ll pick up something from Mr. Shirev’s,” She replied, packing her diary into her bag and slinging it on before heading out of the door. “Do you.. eat at all Sera? I’m not sure how magic dolls work.” she asked, closing the door and locking it before heading down the stairs.

  “Hahaha- ” Sera laughed at the prospect of having to eat in her form. “This is simply a vessel, Clarisse. I already had breakfast, don’t worry.” She settled herself on Clarisse’s shoulder as the redhead walked down the street towards Mr. Shirev’s roadside shop.

  “That’s good. But if this is just a doll body, then where are you actually at?” Clarisse asked, deciding to use the solo time she had with Sera to get to know her.

  “Ah… that’s a secret! It wouldn’t be very magical if I let that slip,” Sera replied with a giggle. “I can answer any other questions you have, though.”

  Clarisse gave her a weird look from the corner of her eye, annoyed that both of them were alike in dodging questions. “How long have you known each other? You and Nikolas, I mean.”

  “Hmm… It’s been a few years since we first met and I took him as my apprentice,” Sera recalled, tapping her chin. “Four, to be precise. We were traveling all over the archipelago before we settled on staying here nearly a year ago.”

  While they were talking, Clarisse came up to the counter of Mr. Shirev’s shop and placed a to-go order for a plate of curry. “Oh wow… How did you meet?” Clarisse followed up with another question, intrigued at the prospect of learning more about them this way.

  “It was a pretty random encounter, really. He was a wandering soul, and somehow I found him when he was down and out,” Sera spoke fondly, swaying slightly on Clarisse’s shoulder. “I took him under my wing and helped him get back on his feet… and we’ve been together ever since.”

  “That’s so kind of you!” Clarisse smiled, although something else came to mind immediately after. “So you met him during the war?” she asked, wondering what he had been doing back then.

  “We didn’t have much to do with it, but yes,” Sera confirmed, before running a hand through her hair. “What were you doing back then?” she asked the redhead.

  “I… I was at home with my mother,” Clarisse admitted with a slow shrug. “Ever since it all began, I’d been stuck at home.”

  “Ah, that’s unfortunate,” Sera replied. “Well, at least now you get to go wherever you want, right?”

  “I only got to explore Ignisvell freely once the treaty was signed. I wanted to become an adventurer like my dad,” Clarisse nodded, “First I tried to help around my town, but without a proper guild nearby it was tough to get any actual quests besides helping with chores and other regular work.”

  “Once you’re able to take on higher level quests, you can travel all over the archipelago!” Sera encouraged her with a pat on her shoulder. “You’re improving quite fast by training with Nikolas, so I think you’ll get there quickly.”

  “You mean as a party, right?” Clarisse asked, a hint of excitement appearing in her voice. “I haven’t had a chance to ask you this before but we can form a party with the three of us… Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Well, I’d rather ask Nikolas himself, but even then I don’t think I count as a party member,” Sera laughed, making a cross motion with her hands. “It would still make a good party of two, and maybe you could take on higher level quests together after the next promotion exams.”

  Clarisse accepted her packaged meal from Mr. Shirev, and after thanking him they were both off towards the guild. It was only a short walk but she still had more questions to ask. “About Nik… is there anything else you can tell me?” she asked, having already been denied the answers to a lot which was mysterious about him.

  Sera opened her mouth, but said nothing at first. She spoke after taking some more time to consider her words carefully. “Nikolas takes some getting used to… and he needs to get used to others as well. I’d say he’s taken a liking to you, considering how closed-off he can be when he wants to.” There was a sliver of satisfaction in her voice, finally able to voice her frustrations about him to someone else.

  Clarisse smiled, she had definitely picked up on the first part. “I noticed he was upset when I told everyone how he fought the bandits. It was strange. It felt like he wanted to solve the mystery more than anyone else.”

  “A man with ironclad purpose cares little for fame,” Sera declared in a somber tone, earning strange glances from people passing by as they turned the corner to arrive at the city square. “He’s that kind of person… for better and for worse.”

  Clarisse smiled to herself, reminded of someone else by Seraphim’s declaration. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. There’s a lot I can learn from Nik, even besides adventuring skills.”

  The guild hall was just as packed as any other day, with Rika manning the front desk and handling all the adventurers who ferried back and forth between the quest board and her desk to make inquiries and pick their quests.

  Clarisse waited her spot in line until space around the quest board cleared up and quickly stepped in, looking over the wide array of available quests. “Hmm… which one do you think I should pick, Sera?” she asked.

  “Something befitting of your ability…” Sera thought aloud, while eyeing for any suitable group quests so she could find a good comparison for her apparent mana siphoning flames. “Why not this one?” she suggested, flying up and grabbing one of the posters to bring it down to Clarisse.

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  “What does it say?” Clarisse muttered to herself before reading through the quest. “A hunting quest… for water sprites?” She read through the poster again, before settling on a rough sketch of a small, murky figure made of water with glowing green eyes rising out of a puddle. “Aww, that actually looks cute. Why would anyone want to hunt them?” She asked Sera, feeling bad about taking the quest if it meant hurting the little puddle creatures.

  “These little nuisances,” Sera commented with a distinct distaste in her voice. “They’re not dangerous at all when they’re small, but they can cause trouble for people by clogging waterways and generally create a mess wherever they go. They pick up and spread dirt from whatever they come into contact with, which is often sewage or wastewater. There’s nothing that can spoil a perfectly good aqueduct worse than a sprite infestation.”

  “Huh… when you put it that way, it would help if I got rid of them,” Clarisse decided to take Sera’s opinion into account, before reading further to find that the quest mentioned needing at least a party of 3 to accept. “Geez… ” she sighed, before walking over to Rika with the poster in hand.

  “Hi Clarisse! How can I help you today?” Rika beamed at the redhead with morning cheer, as was usual for the guild’s charismatic receptionist. She slid the sheaf of papers she was working on to one side of her desk before getting back to the inquiry.

  “I was wondering if I could get help to find at least 2 more people for this quest,” Clarisse replied, handing Rika the quest sheet. “I think I can do it but the quest asks for more people and I don’t want to show up just by myself.”

  “Of course!” Rika replied, quickly skimming over the poster before grabbing a few documents from under her desk. “We don’t have any parties waiting to take this quest right now, but if I see any other copper ranks looking for quests today then I’ll direct them straight to you.”

  “Thanks Rika,” Clarisse smiled, turning around before returning for another inquiry. “Is it okay if I go back to the tables to wait? I’ll pick one of the empty ones over there…”

  “Yup, that’s all fine,” Rika nodded, casually glancing around to notice Nikolas’s absence. “Good on you for finding something to do while Nikolas is on a quest. I suppose it was for the better considering what it entailed…” she spoke the last part under her breath while maintaining her smile.

  “Yeah… I’m trying to train my magic and take on something easier until I’m ready to go on quests with him,” The redhead replied, lowering her tone into an awkward mumble. “I’ll be waiting over there!” she said, quickly heading to one of the empty tables.

  Sitting at one of the empty tables, Clarisse opened the packaged meal made by Mr. Shirev and began eating slowly. She let out a sigh, feeling strange to be one of the only people who was sitting alone while all the fledged out adventuring parties flocked on the nearby tables. Their presence made the massive guild hall feel small in comparison to the diversity of its populace.

  Sera floated down to sit in the center of the table facing her, tucking the wooden plaits of her dress under her legs as she sat down. “It shouldn’t be long before another party arrives, in search of one last member to add to their ranks,” she mused, looking around and casting her gaze over the multitude of adventurers present there.

  “I hope I’m good enough for them…” Clarisse mumbled to herself, pausing in between her meal to look up and note everyone who was around in an effort to spot her next partners.

  Sera caught her uncertainty, frowning for a moment before an idea struck her. She floated up to sit on Clarisse’s shoulder, whispering into her ear. “Let’s play a game. Ask me about anyone you find interesting in the hall… I’ll tell you what I know about them and if they sound apt for the job, we can go ask them to work with us.”

  “You know that much about the regulars already?” Clarisse smirked, “Sounds fun.”

  After looking into the crowd for a while, she fixed her gaze on a very tall man with scaly skin and reptilian eyes to match, leaning on a spear as he talked to his companion. His green scales blended well with his clothes, to the point where she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart if not for the presence of a thick, similarly scaly tail behind him. “The Salamandrake… he looks pretty cool.” Clarisse mentioned.

  “That’s Sumeran Alhad,” Sera replied almost immediately “He’s three-fourths Salamandrake if I remember correctly, and quite the gentleman. His father is a full-blooded salamandrake – a real beast of a lizard. Though I think he’s away on another quest right now.”

  “Ohh… and who’s the woman he’s talking to?” Clarisse followed up, her curiosity being fueled by Seraphim’s knowledge. She was now referring to a shorter woman with navy blue bird-like feathers all over her body, a plumage and a long beak instead of a mouth. A pair of large wings protruded the bird’s back, staying neatly tucked in while she stood by Sumeran with her arms crossed in front of her, holding a tome.

  “Kiara, Kiara Juni,” Sera filled in. “A proficient and energetic sand mage from the Ravenclad tribes… she’s been working with Sumeran for much longer than I’ve been here, and if their ranks are anything to go by, they make a very effective team.”

  “Really? How high up are they?” Clarisse asked, consciously trying to keep her voice low so that others wouldn’t overhear her.

  “Both freshly ranked up to silver during the last promotion cycle.” Sera explained, “Though at their pace I expect them to move to gold at the end of this year.”

  “Silver… ah,” Clarisse’s tone dipped with disappointment, seeing as both of them were well beyond her league to work with. “Maybe we should focus on people lower in the ranks…”

  “You’ll be there eventually!” Sera encouraged the redhead, before glancing around and settling her sights on someone else. “Look, there’s a couple of new kids at the board.”

  Clarisse looked up to find a pair of boys standing at the board, each wielding a different weapon - the blonde with a pair of shortswords and his hooded companion carrying a staff. “Do you think I should go ask them?” she asked Sera, feeling unsure about her prospects.

  “You’ll never know if they’re the right people unless you do,” Sera flew off her shoulder, beckoning her to get up as she gradually bobbed towards them.

  Clarisse took in a deep breath and got up, wading through the crowded hall until she was standing just a few steps away from both of them. She waited to make her move, listening in on their conversation.

  “What about the fetch quest?”

  “The fire lily one? But it’s too far for us to ribbit walk!”

  “You could use the exercise, weakling!”

  “Hey! We should try something nearby first… ”

  Listening to both of them squabble made it clear that they were only amateurs to the trade, and Clarisse broke the ice between them by tapping on the shoulder of the timid sounding staff wielder.

  “Ribbit-? Am I in the way? Sorry-” the staff wielding, half-human, half-toad hybrid was momentarily startled by her, and was already stepping to the side to create space for her.

  “No, I actually wanted to talk to you.” Clarisse replied, mustering her most professional voice. “Ahem, that is, you’re looking for quests nearby, right? I know one, and it’s right here in the city.”

  “Really? Which one is it?” The shortsword wielder pitched in enthusiastically, pushing his companion aside as he became the center of attention eagerly. “Is there an ogre, or troll in the city? Whatever it is, I’ll take it down!”

  “It’s about water sprites, and I've already signed up for it,” Clarisse replied with a glare at the enthusiastic child, before walking towards Rika’s desk and beckoning them to follow her. “Come on.”

  Sera let out a quiet chuckle, looking down from over the conversation. She accompanied them as they went to the desk where Rika had already pulled out the appropriate paperwork for them.

  “So, you three want to take on this quest?” Rika asked, though it was a rhetorical question to pass the time as she wet her quill with some ink and hovered over the page. “Full names please, in order.” She started from Clarisse, moving to the toad and then his over-enthusiastic partner, who all answered in turn.

  “Clarisse Lenue.”

  “Duceus Marius.”

  “Reginald Theoden Hemsworth.”

  “Hemsworth, as in the Hemsworth Merchant family?” Rika remarked as she quickly penned their names into the document. “Isn’t that a pretty big name in the North, Reginald?” she asked, pushing up her glasses to look at the young fighter properly.

  “Don’t ask about it,” Reginald grumbled, crossing his arms, “And call me Reggie. Reginald sounds lame.”

  “And you can call me Duce, ribbit!” his toad-hybrid companion piped up, holding out a hand towards Clarisse. “It’s nice to meet you, miss Clarisse.”

  “Thanks, the feeling’s mutual,” Clarisse shook his hand, before turning to Reggie and expecting to go through the same exchange.

  “Clarisse…that feels too long. We should just call you Ris,” Reggie decided on his own, not even bothering to shake her hand. “Let’s go get this quest done!” He exclaimed, walking past his (now both) companions towards the door.

  Clarisse simply stood there for a moment, stunned by his demeanor. She was about to call out the blonde hothead on his behavior when Duce stepped in with an apologetic look. “Sorry, he doesn’t mean to be rude… he just gets like this with quests, ribbit. I promise he isn’t hard to work with.”

  “...Fine.” Clarisse grumbled, though she wasn’t going to let either of them off the hook for it in the long run. “Let’s regroup and check what we have before we leave!” she called out to him.

  “Huh? Okay,” Reggie walked back to one of the empty tables. “What do you even want to discuss?”

  “We should know more about what abilities each of us has, as well as our weapons and other items,” Clarisse suggested, just simple tips she had picked up from being interrogated by Nikolas on her magic.

  “I’m a fighter, and Duce’s a mage. Nothing much to it,” Reggie pointed towards Duce and shrugged. “What can you do?” He followed up, eyeing Clarisse’s entire outfit and not finding anything which gave her role away immediately.

  “I’m a pyromancer with minor creation and manipulation abilities. I have moderate resistance to fire, and I can also make my fireballs explode on impact,” Clarisse described her current skills in detail, shooting a glare at Reggie to indicate how to properly communicate their skills and then turning towards Duce. “What kind of magic can you do, Duce?”

  “I’m an ice mage-” Duce began, before deciding to rephrase himself. “A cryomancer. I can use water by freezing it into shards and moving them. I can’t make ice from air yet but I’m trying…”

  Reggie seemed unhappy about their detailed descriptions, and rolled his eyes at the pair's attempt at being professional. “Like I said, I’m a fighter,” He said, patting the pair of shortswords in their sheaths resting on either side of his belt. “I stab things until they die.”

  Sera sat on one of the ceiling beams making the roof of the guild’s main hall, quietly watching as the trio made an attempt at strategizing for their quest, although her own focus was on something else entirely…

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