Library Libertas - Saharan Sky City Archives

Introductory Treatise on Quest and Advancement by Mdoko

(begin excerpt)

The quests to gain rank rise in complexity in direct proportion to the advancement of the rank. The quest given by the System to raise oneself from E-rank to D-rank will be significantly less difficult than the D-to-C quest. There is no direct comparison, as the System personalizes all quests to challenge the questee.

Most quests will involve some direct challenge that will put the questee in direct danger or push them to the limits of their physical and mental capacities. Since a maximum level D-grade is approximately a quarter as powerful as a top-level C-grade these challenges are proportionate to the questee.

Many folks struggle with these rank-up quests given by the system. Many require gathering rare items, achieving certain milestones, which can often involve extensive travel or expense. This can lead to a person plateauing at a certain rank.

(end excerpt)

“Hi, Inspector Jade.” I replied as I sat down in the last open chair. I rubbed my face and tried to work out some of the exhaustion there. Fuck, I’m tired. I looked at her a bit bleary-eyed.

“I can see you are tired.” She said. “But I need to ask you some questions.” She looked at Lina and Tukey, who got the hint and moved out of the kitchen.

I stood up, got myself a cup of water, and said to her, “Yeah, sure. Go ahead.” I sat across from her.

She looked at me with her dark eyes, and I felt something wash over me. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

I felt almost compelled to talk. At a minimum, I wasn’t going to hide anything from her. So I told her about my day, starting with the clean-up, then dinner at Ada’s, and then coming home for bed and the fight. She didn’t take notes; she just watched me and listened. She asked a few clarifying questions but otherwise was quiet.

After I ran out of things to say, she said, “Thank you. Your story matches what we know. We think this creature is what has been killing folks in the city. How did you get the best of it anyways? Aren’t you just an E-rank?” Her tone wasn’t antagonistic or diminishing to me. She was simply stating a fact.

“I got lucky. I’m a variant, and one of my abilities lets me sense things by sound and vibration.” I replied.

“You mentioned that before.” She said.

“I think it relied on not being seen. Then Tukey killed it with Velma after I hit it once.”

“Yes, Velma. I am well aware of that weapon’s capabilities. I think you got lucky too. It was a bad match for the creature, and you came out on top.” She paused to stand and put her water cup in the sink.

“Thank you for your time and for being honest with me.” She smiled.

“Did I really have a choice in the matter?” I asked, not expecting an answer.

She shrugged and winked at me before turning from the room.

I sat there for a long moment before stepping into the living room where Lina and Tukey sat. I looked at them, and they looked at me back. All of us were a bit in shock.

“Looks like I’m sleeping on the couch tonight,” I said glumly. My old leather couch/bed was likely ruined. I might be able to clean it like I had cleaned up Ada’s restaurant. I hoped I could.

We sat and waited for the guards to clear out finally. By that time, it was shortly after dawn. Tukey went to bed, Lina’s stubborn ass went off to work, and I went to fixing the mess that was my room.

I set about “repair”-ing the damage. The inch-thick glass seemed to ooze together when I tried to fix it. Most of the stains came out of the couch and carpet, but in the end, it was all unsalvageable. The stink of the creature’s blood was beyond redemption. Dismayed, I started to strip the room.

The next few days went by in a busy blur. There weren’t any more attacks inside Old Columbus. I spent time with Meera and Ada, stripped my room down to the studs and prepared to depart on my quest.

Before heading West, I gave Lina a large sum of cash and free rein to fix my room up for me. She needed a few more “builds” for her own advancement quest. This would be one of them. She knew me well enough not to make me an all-pink fluffy nightmare. If she did, then vengeance would be entertaining.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The call to go West and seek out my advancement was strong. I had 91 days remaining for the first part of my quest. I had no idea how far West I would need to go, just that it was far. Tukey helped pack me out. The old man had come through and fixed up my bike with some saddle bags. Paired with an old military backpack jammed full of survival gear, I was as set as I could be. An old map book that was there more as a guide to major roadways and cities and a compass to keep it aligned were expensive but necessary purchases.

Meera sent me off with a kiss and a hot lunch; the restaurant had yet to reopen. I wanted to stay longer, but the pull of the quest weighed on me. She had commented that I had been distracted and knew me well enough that there was only one way to fix that.

The first few days were simple enough. Columbus to Indianapolis was a simple straight shot that took a day. Indianapolis was in a worse state than Columbus and could have been more friendly. I skirted it around the north side of the city. My maps and the pull of the quest directed me west and slightly north. I saw very few folks on the roadways and opted to keep as far from any convoys as possible. Past Indianapolis was widely known for the roving bands of mutants that were not always friendly.

I spent the next night in a suburb of Peoria. Peoria was a strange little town. It was mainly a crater; one of the bombs had hit here. Rumor had it that some giant ape monster made its home in the area. I didn’t get lucky enough to see the monster. I was unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Davenport was the next city on the map. The day was gloomy. A pile of gray clouds was rolling by to the south of me. I approached the town carefully and saw several folks on the roads, I quickly identified them as mutants simply by their inhuman skin, hair, and additional appendages. I got some dark looks but wasn’t too worried about it.

Davenport turned out to be a relatively large community of folks. It was set up as a walled town, much like Old Columbus. As the gray skies chased up from the south, I was accosted at the gate by a pair of rifle-armed mutants. One had bubble gum pink skin with his body hair replaced by finger-wide pink cilia and pink cat eyes. The other was heavy set, almost as broad as he was tall, with leathery pale blue skin.

“Oi, normy. Your kind aren’t welcome around here.” Blue said gruffly.

I stood next to my bike and waved to them, “I might look like a normy, but I can assure you I’m not.” I said, having had to play this game before. I phased my arm through the handlebars of my bike a couple time to demonstrate that I was a Variant. Humanity was genetically xenophobic, and you weren't welcome if you were not the same flavor.

One of Blue’s eyebrows went up, and Pinky raised his rifle to his shoulder. He was not aiming it at me but ready to react. Blue eyeballed me and said, “Variant, huh? What’s your business here in Davietown?”

“Davietown? I thought this was Davenport.” I said calmly. Not making any moves or sudden gestures.

“We changed that, long time ago. You didn’t answer my question.” Blue said bluntly, clearly not the patient sort.

“I’m passing through. I’m heading west out of Old Columbus. Just looking to sit out the rain and get a hot meal, really. Maybe spend the night somewhere if I can find a spot.” I said calmly.

“Heading west, huh? You know that’s wild territory out that way. Dangerous man-eaters out there.” Blue said.

“Yeah, but I gotta go. System quest, you know how it is.” I said with a shrug.

They nodded, and Pinky lowered his rifle to a relaxed pose. Blue chuckled, “That crap will get you killed.”

“Or I’ll come back this way evolved and much better for it,” I said, grinning. I knew I was okay to enter now.

“Sure you will,” Blue said wryly. “Go on in. There’s a central square straight down this road. The Red Lion has you covered for food and a bed. Just keep it peaceful, we don’t have any non-mutants around here, and you’ll probably get more than a few dirty looks.”

“Thanks for the heads up. You two stay dry.” I said as I pushed my bike into the town. It wasn’t large; maybe a thousand folks lived inside the walls. I moved down the streets that were clean and surprisingly well-kept. The mutants here must have some civic pride in their town. I could appreciate that.

I found the Red Lion easily. It was an old hotel of the same name. Ten wind turbines turned in the growing wind on the roof, and the lights were on. I went in the front door, which slid aside. Someone had been keeping this place up pretty well or had repaired it. Inside was a large desk with another square blue-skinned mutant behind it. She was older and looked puzzled when I entered, pushing my bike. I looked left and saw a restaurant with six patrons and a single waitress. She had mottled orange skin and hoof-like fingertips. The other patrons were all of various mutations.

“How’d a normy like you get in the gates?” The blue lady behind the counter asked with a scowl. I phased my hand through the desk and smiled.

“Not a normy,” I said.

She brightened instantly, “How can I help you then?”

“Well, a gentleman at the gate with a surprising resemblance to you said I could maybe grab a meal and a bed?”

“Aww, that’s my boy Jared. He’s a good’n. Sure, you can get both. Got money?”

“Credits, sure,” I said.

“Room is a hundred credits a night, and meals are over in our restaurant.” She pointed over that way.

“I’ll take it. Been on the road a few days, and a real bed will be nice.” I sent over the credits, and she passed me a key and directed me down the hallway. The room was not much more than a bed and bathroom, but the lights worked, and the windows weren’t broken. It was clean, if a bit aged, but what wasn’t ancient these days?

I left my bike in there and went into the diner. I got waved to the booth by the waitress, who had a handwritten button claiming her name was Steph. The menu was tiny; stew, veggie sandwich, or the big ticket item, a burger. Fries or veggies were available as sides. It wasn’t cheap, but warm food and not road rations were better than what I would get otherwise. I ordered the burger from Steph.

I sat and waited for my food, half falling asleep before I felt the inevitable. A pair of gentleman stood up from the otherside of the restaurant and approached my table.