Astrid placed a handful of notes on the desk where the job hall manager sat.
“I’d like to take these.”
The job hall manager studied her quizzically. He was a short man with black hair and a full beard.
“Who are you? I don’t think I have seen you around here before.”
“I’m Astrid. I’m new in the city.”
The job hall manager read over the notes she had handed him with a concerned look on his face.
“Are you sure about this? It’s not safe for anyone to go out into the forest these days, you know, with all the monsters roaming around.”
The increasing numbers of monsters would explain why no one wanted to take on the quests since they would have to leave the city to gather plants. Astrid wasn’t scared of monsters. At least not as much as she used to be.
“I’m sure I can handle it. I have fought monsters before.”
“You don’t exactly look like a monster slayer.”
Astrid still used the cloak to disguise herself as a grownup, so it couldn’t be her age that concerned him.
She wasn’t sure what a real monster slayer was supposed to look like, but she imagined a big, burly man, heavily scared from countless battles. Someone so grotesque that the monsters took one look at him and ran away in terror. There was no way she was going to disguise herself like that.
“As I said, I can handle it.” She said it with as much confidence as she could muster, but she was getting worried. She needed this man’s permission to take out the quests in here, and if he wouldn’t give it to her, she would have wasted a lot of money on equipment.
“Well, if you’re sure about it, then I guess I can let you have them.” He tapped his finger on the corner of each note, and they began glowing for a moment before returning to normal.
Astrid immediately knew that the information on the notes had been added to her quest log. She was relieved that it had worked. Now all she had to do was find the right plants and bring them to the right person while not getting ripped to pieces by monsters. That would be easy.
“Thank you,” she said before leaving the job hall.
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It was just past noon when she stood at the edge of the forest, second-guessing her decision to do this. Even though she had slayed several monsters in the past few days, they still posed a great risk. One good hit, and she would be done for.
Too late to turn back now, she thought, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart while she went over the plan in her head one more time.
Stay invisible, get the plants, and get out. Don’t fight monsters unless absolutely necessary.
She pulled her amulet from her belt pouch and put it on. Out here, she didn’t have to worry about other people seeing it, and it offered a power boost to her other items she didn’t want to be without.
After checking her surroundings one last time and making sure no one was watching her, she activated the invisibility.
She had taken out five quests, as that was the maximum number of active quests she could have at any given time. She took a closer look at the first one.
New quest from the apothecary
The apothecary is in dire need of new supplies
Objective: collect Fire flowers 0 of 5 and bring them to the apothecary
Reward: 1 large copper
Time: 23 h and 40 m
She knew the plant well, having seen it before. It had large orange petals that made it look like a small flame. It grew in sunny places, so she had to find a clearing. She set out to look for one.
It didn’t take long to find one. Hundreds of Fire flowers sprawled over the ground like a carpet, and she bent down and quickly cut the five she needed with her sickle. Then she noted the location of the clearing on her map in case she needed to find Fire flowers again later before looking at the next few quests. She had taken these specifically because they asked for the same common plant.
New guest from the temple of medicine
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Plants are urgently needed to restock the temple of medicine
Objective: collect Water moss 0 of 10 and bring them to the temple of medicine
Reward: 1 large copper
Time: 22 h 55 m
New quest from apothecary
The apothecary is in dire need of new supplies
Objective: collect Water moss 0 of 5 and bring them to the apothecary
Reward: 1 large copper
Time: 22 h and 55 m
New quest from the Dye house
The dye house needs new raw materials to stay in business
Objective: collect Water moss 0 of 5 and bring them to the dye house
Reward: 1 large copper
Time: 22 h and 55 m
Her ability to identify plants told her that Water moss grew in large patches near the banks of rivers. Luckily, she knew there was one running through the forest, not too far from here.
She heard the stream before she saw it. The roar of rushing water reverberated through the forest, drowning out all other sounds as Astrid got closer. She walked along the riverbank until she found a good place to gather the Water moss. Here, the water was calm, allowing the blue-green plants to grow in big clusters close to land, making them easy to pick. She hurriedly got the moss she needed.
Four down, one more to go, she thought as she stood back up. If it kept being this easy to gather plants, she would be rich in no time. She checked her quest log to see what was next on the list.
New quest from the apothecary
The apothecary is in dire need of new supplies
Objective: collect Shadow leaves 0 of 5 and bring them to the apothecary
Reward: 1 large copper
Time: 21 h and 17 m
Astrid had never seen shadow leaves before, but she surmised they grew in shaded places, and her ability to identify plants would let her know when she saw them. She walked away from the river, back into the forest, and began to search.
A few hours later, she still hadn’t seen any shadow leaves, and she was beginning to lose hope that she would stumble upon them today. The sun would start to set soon, and unless she wanted to spend the night in the forest, she had to be back in the city before dark when the gate closed. Maybe she should go back now and return tomorrow to continue the search. She would have plenty of time if she got an early start.
But what if she still couldn’t find it? Not only would she fail the quest but also the apothecary, who needed the shadow leaves. Although she wasn’t sure exactly what the leaves were used for, it had to be medicine of some kind. A lot of people could end up suffering if she failed to complete the quest. She couldn’t let that happen. She would stay out all night looking for the leaves if that’s what it took.
With renewed determination, she intensified her search. The forest got denser, and the trees looked older, with large canopies that blocked out most of the sunlight. At times, she had to push her way through bushes and in between trees. Thornes cut into her hands and face, slowly eating away at her health.
Just as she had decided it was too dangerous to continue on this route, she spotted them. The dark gray leaves sprouted up from the ground like jagged rocks, but her ability identified them as Shadow leaves.
Scrambling through the last few thorny bushes, she managed to get to the plant. A swift swing with her scythe severed the leaves she needed from the rest of the plant, and with a smile, she put them in her inventory next to the other plant she had gathered that day. Now she just had to make it back to Largon. Or, at the very least, find a safe place to camp for the night.
She looked around and soon realized the only way out of this part of the forest was back through the bushes. With a sigh, she began the painful journey back the way she had come.
A few health points later, she was back in the less dense part of the forest where she could move freely, and she set off walking briskly. From time to time, she passed by a monsters, but as she was invisible, none of them bothered her. She ignored them in return, not wanting to get into a fight because of all the risks it entailed.
She came across a large herd of deer grazing in a clearing. At first, she thought they were normal deer, but as she got closer, she noticed the antlers were too sharp and pointy. A moment later, her ability confirmed that they were monsters called spearheaded dear. Most were level one, though a few were level two. She shuttered and focused on her stealth skills as she moved through the herd. She stopped abruptly as a large stag passed right in front of her. Its scared fur glistened with fresh blood.
Suddenly, the stag turned towards her and lowered its head, scraping the ground with its hoof. Astrid screamed and jumped to the side just in time to avoid the monster as it charged forward, right past the spot where she had stood. She watched in stunned horror as the stag rammed its antlers right into the neck of another stag, almost taking its head off.
For a heartbeat, Astrid was relieved that the monster had been after another monster and not her, but that quickly changed. Even if the stag hadn’t known about her presents when it first launched its attack, it did now. And so did the rest of the herd.
This is bad, she thought as the monsters rushed towards her. The invisibility spell had broken, and putting it back up now would be useless. It only worked on those who didn’t know about her presence, and all these monsters had already seen her. She did the only thing she could. She ran.
The monsters were fast. Her running skill was level two, so she was just as fast. Still, she had been in the middle of the herd when they saw her, so a few managed to block her path forward.
Without slowing down, she lashed out with her dagger, slashing at the beasts in front of her. She struck one, and it recoiled, but another went in and bit her arm. Sharp teeth sunk into her skin. She let out a scream and slashed at the monster, but kept running. If she stopped, she would be swarmed in seconds.
In the distance, the river came into view. If she could make it there, she would be safe. At least from the monsters pursuing her. Most monsters stayed away from running water as they weren’t strong swimmers. There were exceptions to this rule, but these beasts didn’t strike her as the semiaquatic type.
Sharp antlers dragged down her back, and she almost lost her footing. Luckily, her cloak had protected her from most of the damage. Otherwise, she would be dead now.
Just two health points left. This is bad. She pushed herself to sprint faster than she had ever before, rapidly burning through her stamina. With one last spring forward, she threw herself into the roaring river.