Quest – Save a soul

Your time in the Inn has allowed you to witness the poor happenings of Setu.

Will you take up his cause to find and confront the unlawful Alchemist? Yes/No

Successful completion will award the following:

Unknown

“Now that is very interesting,” Dave said.

“What is?” SJ whispered

“Getting issued a Quest without directly interacting with the persons who are affected by an issue.”

“It’s not normal then?”

“No. Also, it doesn’t offer you a reward either, which again is very strange.”

“I am going to accept it.”

“Do what you must.”

SJ accepted the Quest.

Quest – Save a Soul

Update – You have accepted the Quest Save a Soul. You have 24 hours to locate, confront and deal with the culprit. If you succeed, then you may just save Margu from her current expected demise.

“That sounds ominous,” SJ whispered.

“A timed quest at level 5. Something else that does not happen is that timed quests should not normally start until level 15. Being an anomaly does have perks.”

“What perks?”

“Timed quests usually give better rewards, although none are listed, which is very strange. I think the System is struggling to determine what to do with you.”

“All these quests come from the System?”

“Sort of. They have an infinite list of options and variables available to them, and a team assigns quests based on rafts of data and basic assumptions. You think of it, and it could potentially create a related quest. Quests are normally directed to Legionnaires based on class, race or world situations.”

“It’s random, then?”

“Yes and no. I think because you signed out—correction, you were told you had to waive the terms and conditions—all normally restricted quest options are no longer restricted. This could have good and bad repercussions.”

“How?”

“Quests are normally level-related, and timed quests, as I say, are usually not until level 15 and often require a specific skill or knowledge to complete. They are usually progression quests for improved skills, abilities, or items.”

“The rewards could be good then?”

“Potentially. 24 hours is a very short time frame, though, for completion.”

The bar had reduced by more than half the patrons since the mention of GoblinPox. Setu was now sitting back at the table, his head in his hands, sobbing, with Gary now consoling him and patting his shoulder. It was strange seeing the actions of these different races interacting in the way they did.

“I need to talk to Setu,” SJ said, rising.

SJ walked over to the table where they were sitting, stood, and waited for them to notice her quietly.

Gary looked over. “Can I help you?”

“I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm new here. I just heard what was said, and I wondered if I could help in any way.”

“And how would you be able to help?” Gary asked, frowning at her. Gary’s face immediately looked very intimidating when he did.

“I would like to speak to the Alchemist on behalf of Setu, wasn’t it?”

At the mention of his name, Setu looked up, bleary red eyes looking at her. He looked in a terrible state. Tears still flowing down his cheeks.

“He isn’t here,” Setu replied.

“Where is he?”

“He said he would be back in three days with the rest of the cure. He had to go and get materials for his potions.”

“What about the sickness in the meantime?”

“He made up what he could. I have already paid an advance for half of the next batch, but I need to make 25 silver before he returns.”

Gary baulked. “Half! You have already paid 25 silver?”

“More. I had to give him Margu’s stall license to be able to pay the initial fees.”

“YOU GAVE HIM HER STALL LICENSE,” Gary replied in shock.

“I had no choice. The payment for the initial tonic was 15 silver, and then there was a half payment for the next batch.”

“40 silver!” Gary exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“To cure my Margu of GoblinPox, I would pay whatever it takes.”

SJ was tempted to tell them what Dave had said about there being no known cure but didn’t want to upset him further.

“Do you know where he headed for the materials he needed?”

“He was going up the mountain. The one with the Dragon at its peak. He needed some special flower or something. I can’t remember the name.”

“He is back in three days, you say?”

“Yes.”

“What was his name?

“Darjey.”

“And what did he look like?”

“Human.”

“Anything else?”

“Youngish. I am not very good at noticing other racial features; all humans look the same to me.”

“Okay. Thank you, and I am sorry to hear what has happened.”

“I am surprised you have even come near me. I will be the town's leper now,” Setu said, dropping his head back down.

SJ left them to it. Gary exploded and cursed at the fact that it had cost Setu so much money, and he had not even spoken to his best friend about it. SJ walked over to the bar. Kerys was standing, talking quietly to Bert.

“I know it isn’t ideal, but we need to ask Setu to leave. I am sure he will understand,” Kerys said.

“I know Kerys, but I feel bad for him. Setu has been coming here since being a sprogling when his old man used to come play cards.”

“We can’t do anything about it, though. Just from hearing the word GoblinPox, half the patrons left. We can’t run an empty Inn.”

“Sure. Sure. I will go and have a word,” Bert said glumly.

Bert walked over to the table where Gary and Setu were sitting and started to talk to them quietly.

“Kerys?”

“Yes?” Kerys replied, realising SJ was standing there.

“Is everything alright?”

“Ah. You won’t know about GoblinPox. It is a horrible illness that affects Goblin and other related races. It is obvious that Setu doesn’t have it; otherwise, he would be covered in pox. You need to be careful as Fae, though.”

“Are gnomes not affected by it?”

“No. We are not genetically similar to Goblinkin.”

“That is good to know. Is this the first case you have heard of?”

“In town, yes. We were lucky when there was a severe outbreak years ago. We locked the town down. No one was allowed in or out. It was a difficult time with the reduced trade. But we pulled through. That was thanks to Mayor Maxwell’s quick thinking.”

“I see. How do you know what it looks like?”

“From information and leaflets sent out to all townships in Amathera. It must have cost them a fortune to produce magical text that also had pictures on them.”

“Magical texts?”

“Yes. Whoever read it could understand it. It translated into their common tongue.”

“Oh. I thought there was just one language here, from what I have experienced anyway.”

“No. There are hundreds. It is just that most can and do speak in the common tongue. Some clans, towns, and villages don’t, as they have stayed away from the main areas of Amatheran society.”

“I see. Who paid for it all?”

“It is the only time I have known the continents to work together. They usually argue or have disputes over something, and wars break out. On this occasion, though, they all understood how severe the sickness was.”

“It is good to know they could get past their differences when needed.”

“Yes. It would be nice if they did it normally, though, and not wait until there was an epidemic to deal with.”

SJ nodded in agreement. It was obvious that the System had used information from Earth in its projections. What confused SJ was that this had happened on Amathera 25 years ago, while the pandemic on Earth had only occurred four years before. It was either a massive coincidence or something to consider.

Dave suddenly interrupted her thoughts. “I have a plan.”

“Thanks, Kerys. I will come and get some food in a while.”

“No problem,” Kerys said, looking over and watching a dejected, downtrodden Setu and Gary leave the bar under Bert’s gentle escort.

SJ headed to the stairs and up to her room.

“What plan?” she said, now out of earshot of anyone else.

“A cunning plan.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Expand.”

“We know that the Alchemist can’t fix a cure as there isn’t one.”

“Yes.”

“That means he will return to give Setu potions that have no effect and collect the remainder of the money.”

“Yes.”

“Well, we just wait for him to come back.”

“Really? And how does waiting three days for this Darjey help me complete a quest that I have 24 hours to complete?”

“Ah, I didn’t think of that,” Dave replied.

SJ sighed, shaking her head. “Sometimes you do concern me.”

“Me. How?”

“You are an AI that is supposed to be all-knowing, yet you forget about the simplest things.”

“I do not!”

“Yes, you do.”

Silence.

SJ entered her room and jumped out of her skin, seeing the strange-robed figure sitting on her Sofa.

“You’re back at last,” the stunningly beautiful Fae sat on her Sofa said.

SJ stared open-mouthed for a moment before gathering herself. “How did you get in here?”

“I flew.”

SJ looked at the window she had opened this morning when the commotion in the market square awoke her. “Oh. Who are you?”

“We met earlier.”

“I am sure I would have remembered meeting another Fae, especially one as beautiful as yourself,” SJ replied honestly. She was stunning, with bright blue hair flowing to her waist and an angelic face. She wore pale blue robes that matched her hair perfectly.

“Yes. We met at the Mage Academy.”

SJ looked shocked; the Fae she had seen at the academy was an ugly, wart-covered old Fae.

“You are the same person?

“Oh. My appearance earlier," the Fae giggled. "We had been practising curses. Julliet decided it would be funny.”

“Julliet?”

“The mage I was training.”

“You let her curse you?”

“Yes. Just to see how long it would last. I was very impressed she managed to make it last for several hours before I returned to normal. Anyway, please come sit down. I believe we need to talk.”

SJ did as she was asked as Dave whispered in her head.

“Now she’s a 10.”

SJ tried to ignore his comment as she sat down. She felt inferior to this Fae. Who was not just beautiful but also oozed power and confidence.

“You wanted to speak to me about what exactly?”

“I have so many questions. I thought you were not interested in speaking to me earlier?”

“I was just busy. I always have time for others of our kind,” She said, smiling, her face and features looking even more beautiful.

“I am SJ. Nice to meet you. Mistress Francisca, wasn’t it?”

“It was, but just call me Fran. That is my Mage school name, and I can see you are not a Mage.”

“Erm. No, I’m not.”

“Do you mind if I ask what class you are?”

“Don’t tell her!” Dave erupted in her head.

“I am an adventurer.”

“Yes, I know you are, but what class are you?”

“I am not sure I should say?” SJ said, having not felt so nervous in a very long time.

“Why not? You can’t develop your class unless people know what you are and can guide you.”

“Don’t,” Dave again said.

“I am actually a …”

“DON’T!” Dave’s voice boomed this time.

“A monk,” SJ finally finished.

“Oh. A monk, now that is unusual. There are very few Fae Monks.”

SJ gave a huge internal sigh of relief. “I’m still new, so I’m trying to learn the basics and also how to fly.”

“Ah. I see. You have not found a trainer yet, then?”

“No. I only arrived in town two days ago. I have been busy completing quests and getting provisions.”

“I see. Well, I am not sure Brother Wilbert is currently taking on any new trainees. I think he has a waiting list.”

“I didn’t think there were that many Legionnaires here. Why are there so many apprentices?”

“It is just not your kind that trains professions. Many travel from the outer villages to train here. We are the only training town in several days' travel.”

“That makes sense, although Cleric Lythonian mentioned that one of the Mages had to go to an academy in the local city to train,” SJ replied, wondering how many villages were around the town. She had not considered the wider world yet. Apart from seeing the buildings in the valley when she had come to the village, she had not seen anything else.

“Ah. That would be young Willoc. He was an exceptional Mage. I taught him the basics, but he wished to specialise in Lightning Magic, and unfortunately, I am not skilled in that strand. It is rather specialist. My skills are the main elements. Earth, Wind, Water and Fire.”

“You know all of them?”

“I know enough, especially to train new Mages at the start of their journeys.”

“I see. I am surprised. I did not realise that Mages could use all elements?” SJ could remember her gaming days when you always had to pick a specialisation you focused on.

“I have a primary element, Water, but as Fae, we are more finely attuned to the basic elemental magic variants.”

“That sounds amazing.”

“Why did you choose Monk as your class?” Fran asked.

“I have always enjoyed helping people, and it seemed like a good option. However, I was torn between becoming a Monk or a Cleric.” SJ lied.

“Strange choices for a class for a Fae. Probably the rarer ones. Although not as rare as some classes.”

“I am guessing a lot are Mages?”

“And Druids, Rangers or Archers.”

“Well, I have been told I’m an anomaly, so it makes sense I chose something unusual,” SJ smiled.

“Anomaly,” Dave chuckled. “Very good. I saw what you did there.”

Ignoring Dave, she continued. “So, Fran, can you teach me how to fly properly? I have flown but got grabbed by a raven when I did and nearly became bird food.”

Fran chuckled. “Yes, I can teach you to fly. You are probably doing it all wrong. Let me see what you do.”

SJ shrunk to her miniature form as Fran did the same. The pair stood on the Sofa. Fran was a couple of inches taller than SJ.

“You are on the smaller side, I see. That should improve mobility in flight,” Fran said.

“That is good to hear.”

“Right, let me see you fly.”

SJ beat her wings as she had been doing previously, getting faster and faster until she slowly lifted from the Sofa. She could immediately feel the burning in her back muscles.

“I see what the problem is straight away,” Fran said, laughing.

SJ landed and looked at her, frowning.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh; I had forgotten what new Fae look like when they try to fly.”

“What am I doing wrong?”

“You are flapping your whole wing on each side at the same time.”

“Sorry? I don’t understand?”

“Watch me,” Fran beat her wings several times and immediately lifted into the air.

“How?” SJ asked in amazement.

“Look how I move my wings,” Fran said.

SJ watched and realised that the wing elements were moving independently. Fran was not beating her whole wing. They seemed to ripple rather than beat from top to bottom. The independent small movements added to the down draft, giving her lift rather than forcing a single beat. It also meant that she could stay hovering easily without leaning backwards.

“I see. I need to move my wing elements independently from each other?”

“Yes. Beating them together like that will give you lift but no stability. I am surprised you did not just crash.”

SJ’s cheeks reddened.

“Haha. You did, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” SJ replied meekly. “The first time I tried, I ended up face-first in the dirt.”

“Don’t worry. You are not the first and will not be the last.”

“I am not sure how to move my wing elements separately. Is there a technique?”

“Young Fae are taught from birth, so it becomes natural. For your kind, it is a little trickier. You have a different muscle structure than you are used to. Try to feel the individual muscles rather than one combined muscle.”

SJ concentrated on the muscles in her back and slowly began to move the top element of one wing by itself. “Yes,” she said excitedly.

“Very good. You need to spend time each day completing the exercise with each muscle group. I would say at least ten minutes four times a day. It doesn’t take long, and once you can work them independently, you will soon be zipping around,” as Fran finished, she beat her wings and flew up into the air so fast SJ nearly fell over, tilting her head back to watch her.

With the precision and finesse of the Earth’s best air display teams, she completed loops and sharp turns before gently landing on the Sofa. Her breathing had not even changed.

“Wow. That was amazing,” SJ sputtered.

“Ha. It's nothing special. You will be able to do it soon enough. If you do the individual muscle exercises within a week, you can try flying by the same method. The movement comes naturally once your wings work as they should,” Fran laughed.

“Thank you so much for your help.”

“Anything for another Fae. We are not always the most popular.”

“Why?”

“Many of our kind are good at causing mischief. I spent a long time building the town's trust before opening the apprenticeship scheme.”

“I had heard that. Everyone I have spoken to here, though, has been helpful and kind.”

“Just be careful. Not everyone is what they appear on the surface. Many have deep set feelings about Fae.”

“I will be careful.”

“I better get back to the apprentices. There is no saying what they have got up to in my absence,” Fran said as she flicked her wings and soared into the air again. “If you need anything, you know where I am. If I do not see you before, come and check in in a week or so, and maybe by then, we could go for a flight together. I haven’t flown with another Fae in several years now.”

“I will, and thank you so much,” SJ smiled, waving as Fran disappeared out of the window.

‎