Troy grinned as the credits finally ended, leaning back in satisfaction. “Well, that’s the original two trilogies covered,” he commented, then glanced down at a wide-eyed Alcydes, “Did you like it, Al?”
Alcydes stared at the TV in shock for several seconds, before he finally turned to Troy. “Please tell me you can get a lightsaber,” he demanded, pulling at Troy’s leg, “You can buy a lightsaber, right?”
“I mean, most Jedi make their own lightsabers, so it’s hard to get a new one,” Troy relented. As he looked over to his left, he asked, “You’ve ever seen any lightsabers that actually work, Carter?”
Sprawled out on the reclining chair, Carter took a big gulp of beer before he sat back up. “All I’ve seen are those hollow replicas, so it’s hard to say,” he dismissed between sips. Alcydes wilted at the answer, causing Troy to frown, and he turned a glare at Carter. When Carter looked back up from his bottle, the man blanched at Troy’s stern look and quickly added, “B-but hey, people are making all kinds of new inventions nowadays! So, there’s no telling when they’ll make a new breakthrough! Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the one who makes it!”
Alcydes sniffled at the comment, turning watery eyes towards Troy’s cop cousin. “Y-you really think so?” he asked, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.
“Of course!” Carter proclaimed, waving his arms open, “The only things stopping you are your own ambitions and knowledge! You just gotta put yourself to it!”
Alcydes nodded, then stood up on shaky legs. “I’m getting more orange juice,” he declared, and walked out of the living room, cup held in both hands.
As the boy left the room, Carter sat up in the recliner and glanced over at Troy. “He’s definitely doing a lot better than yesterday,” he commented, the glass bottle faintly ringing as it was set down, “Think you’ll show him the sequel trilogy, too?”
Troy scowled at the reminder, and glanced out the window in disgust. “I want to show him good movies, not a three-narrator mess,” he commented, and rolled his shoulders as he looked around, “Besides, we have your Indiana movies to still show him, right?”
Carter grinned at that, leaning back in the recliner. “Yeah, that’s fair,” he commented and popped a few pretzels in his mouth. As the credits continued to scroll across, the burly man paused before he snapped his fingers. “That reminds me, I got a call from the grandparents while at work,” he told Troy.
Troy’s face lit up at the comment and he sat up. While his grandparents were well past the age of retirement, they had always managed to keep up with Troy and his cousins, back in his childhood. While the farm they owned was a good distance from Pine Grove, that never kept Troy from visiting them with the family every summer before he had left for college. “Oh, yeah? How are granny Mira and ol’ gramps doing?” he asked, turning his whole body to look at Carter.
“They’re doing as well as they can,” Carter commented, idly scratching his chin, “Granted, grampa Willy pulled some muscles, but he’s taking his time recovering over a big rush.” As Troy looked disheartened at the comment, Carter began to roll his bottle around. “Anyways, they were calling for the family reunion, you know, since it was coming up next month?” When Troy hesitantly nodded, Carter’s grin turned sly as he added, “And while we were talking, I might have mentioned a certain little buddy to them.”
It took a few seconds for Troy to realize where this was going before he blanched. “Damn it, Carter!” he cursed, glancing over at the kitchen in worry, “Did you have to set me up like that? You know that mom’s been pestering Hector about giving her grandkids, so she’s going to be on me like napalm if she finds out! The last thing I need is Al having a panic attack if he’s swarmed at the reunion!”
“Relax, I didn’t tell them he’ll be happy to show up,” Carter chuckled and tapped his wrist in emphasis, “However, they do want to meet him. So while you don’t have to bring him, they’ll likely pop by after the reunion to meet him.”
Troy hissed through his teeth at the comment, and leaned back on the couch. “Well, I’ll try to talk to him about it, but it’ll take some convincing,” Troy relented, idly glancing over at the kitchen, “He’s getting better with crowds, but if he gets coddled like how Aunty Liz and Sarah reacted to lil’ Becky…”
Carter snorted at the reminder, then pointed at Troy. “Hey, my mom isn’t that bad,” he shot back, “It’s not like she’s adopting every orphan she comes across.”
Troy snorted at that, and grabbed some pretzels for himself. “Yeah, I suppose that I’m blowing it out of size,” he commented, nibbling on a few pretzels, “However, it’s going to take some work either way. The last thing I need is to roll him out after they stuff him like a sheep’s stomach for haggis.”
Despite the insult, the heat was ruined by Troy’s shaking frame. Soon, the tension was ruined by Troy’s laughter, with Carter soon adding his own chorus. As the two were laughing though, neither noticed Alcydes hanging out of sight in the kitchen, the boy looking downcast at the orange juice in hand.
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Troy groaned in appreciation as he stepped out into Shallowcoast, the distant crash of waves welcoming him. “Gotta say, it’s good to be back in Mugarde,” he commented, Alcydes following shortly behind him. While it was always fun to see Carter and the rest of his family, the time spent in Mugarde was always a blast. After all, who else can say they’ve got a fantasy world literally on the other side?
As a wave of faint heat washed in from the shoreline, Troy glanced around before finally looking down at Alcydes. “So, what kind of quest should we aim for today?” he asked, rustling Al’s hair as he passed by, “Since it’s been a couple days, I figured you can get first pick on what we tackle after we get those last couple of skills.”
Alcydes paused at the offer, then tilted his head. “Any quest?” he asked, tapping his chin. After a few moments of thought, he finally looked at Troy and asked, “Could we go hunting wild marsh boarlets?”
Troy balked at the question, and looked out at the forests in dismay. “Are you sure that’s what you wanna do?” he asked, a shaky hand coming up to rub at his neck, “I mean, we can go hunt them if you want, but I think that one time we fought was more than enough for me.”
“No, wild marsh boarlets,” Alcydes emphasized, raising an arm to be level with his shoulder, “They aren’t fully grown, about this big. But they’ll only be around for a few more weeks.”
Troy paused at that, then tilted his head. While the marsh boar was the size of a car, it was hard to tell if Alcydes had the right size. Though he hated to admit it, Troy could think of a few times in his own childhood where he had over guessed a few catches himself. However, given how most of the animals around Shallowcoast had been a lot smaller than that marsh boar or those giant swamp turtles…
“I suppose that we can give a shot,” Troy eventually answered, but immediately pointed at Alcydes as he added, “However, if we even see one of those massive boars again, we’re going to hightail out of there immediately, okay?” Alcydes quickly nodded in agreement, and darted past Troy as the two walked over to the guild hall.
As the man and elfkin walked up to the guild, Troy perked up when he saw Telephax, Alonz and Efficere talking in front of the guild. “Hey, happy to see you guys out here!” he called out, waving to the three, “How’s it been, Alonz, Telephax?”
At the call, Alonz looked away from the conversation before he raised open arms in greeting. “Troy! Good to see ya, lad!” the elderly dwarf boomed, and firmly shook hands with the man. Before Alcydes could step out of reach, Alonz reached over and rustled the boy’s hair. “Looks like ye’re doin’ a lot better too, young’un!” He stated, looking Alcydes up and down, “Guessin’ that the illness wasn’t that bad?”
“Nah, it was just him overstuffing on mudcrab, is all,” Troy teased, joining Alonz in messing up Alcydes’s hair. While Alcydes darted over to Efficere with red cheeks, Troy asked the elderdwarf, “So, are you ready to get back to hunting mudfish?” While he hadn’t had the best luck with getting skills the last time, he was sure they could find the last skill soon.
“Oh, we already got the last skill,” Alonz stated. While Troy froze at the comment, Alonz reached into a silver ring on his armor and pulled out a thumb-sized skill crystal. “It was a bit of luck on our end, but while walkin’ around, Telephax spotted a shoal of them,” he explained while the gnome preened, “It took a few blasts to keep them from scurryin’ off, but after we killed ‘em all, he managed to get a [Gutter Dump] shard.”
Troy slowly nodded along, before he reached into his own Storage and pulled out four crystals. “Well, I won’t complain about having stuff finished while I’m gone,” he stated, and walked into the guild with Alonz. After a momentary glance, Troy smiled, then walked up to Yvalyn’s unbothered booth. “Hey Yvalyn, we got the last quest taken care of,” he said, placing his own skill shards on the table, “We have three copies of [Weakstone], and two of [Gutter Dump].”
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Looking up from her catalog, Yvalyn perked up before she set the booklet aside. “You actually have the skills already?” she asked, her dress bouncing as she hopped off her seat, “That was surprisingly fast. Did you manage to find a school?”
“That, and having a boost in getting Skills from killed monsters helps too,” Troy responded, and stepped by to let Alonz put his shard down, “Still, if that takes care of it all, I wanna ask: Are there any marsh boarlet quests still available?”
Yvalyn paused at the question, then glanced over at the cabinet. “I can check, but it’ll take a few minutes,” she chimed, and pulled out the guild block to set on the counter, “Could you please place your tag on here to confirm?”
Troy shared a glance with Alonz, and the elderdwarf placed his tag out for her. With a few seconds, Yvalyn handed the tag back and said, “Alright, your team will get 66 jhodes. Expect your payments to be divided shortly, and I’ll go check on available boarlet quests in the Charcoal folder!”
Once Yvalyn ducked out of sight, Troy leaned over and asked Alonz, “Hey, did you know that the quest rewards are divvied up?”
“Of course, I did,” Alonz shot back, his eyebrows showing his eyes rolling. The dwarf then turned his gaze on Troy, and warily asked, “Why, did you really think that it was all held by the team leader?”
“What? No, of course not!” Troy refuted, turning away to hide his face heating up.
As Troy tried to avoid the growing scrutiny by the senior soldier, a slow clap drew closer behind him. “Why, if it isn’t Troy and his little posse,” a voice drawled, catching Troy’s attention. Both man and dwarf turned around to find Maxwell standing behind him, the hero’s party standing behind him. “You know, I heard that you managed to get Charcoal rank, despite your time spent doing menial quests,” the man commented, looking at Alonz with distaste, “However, I guess it’s only fair a half-hearted adventurer gets a half-quality party to match. Talk about an F-grade flop.”
“I mean, it’s more of a probationary deal than a full promotion,” Troy muttered to himself. As he worked to come up with a good response though, a calloused hand poked him to get his attention.
“Troy, who the hells is this puffed-up poof?” Alonz asked, giving Maxwell a wary glance, “Is he a wanderin’ puffpiece or something? I swore I’ve seen men like that star in theatres. Usually as the lead female, over anythin’ else.”
Troy sputtered in shock, then snickered at the comment. The laughter was only made worse at how affronted Maxwell looked at the idea. “No, he’s just someone who sees himself as my rival like an unwanted bat in the attic, for some reason,” he stated, body still shaking. As he looked over at the man, Troy asked the blonde, “Still, what brings you over here? Looking to end up on the guard’s bad side again?”
Maxwell scowled at the comment, then shook his head. “Despite your… blatant dismissal, I’m not willing to let you get away under the guard’s skirt again,” he stated, “Rather, since we’re now on the same rank, there’s only one thing we can do.” With a flourish of his short cloak, Maxwell pointed directly at Troy and declared, “I challenge you to a Quest Rush challenge!”
“...Okay, good for you?” Troy said, tilting his head in thought. While the idea seemed pedantic, at least it didn’t have him having to get in the thunderdome with the guy. Besides, he did still need to meet the quota, so why not kill two birds with one stone? After a few seconds to put an idea together, Troy coughed into his hand then bowed faintly to Maxwell. “I certainly wouldn’t say no to that, brave sir Robin,” he teased, earning a glare from the man, “However, I think we should set up a few rules before we begin.”
“As is only fair,” Maxwell agreed, then looked discerningly at Troy, “So, what’s the first house rule you wanted to implement?”
Troy hummed for a few seconds, then stated, “Firstly, we can each have our team help us out on this, to avoid having the challenge drag out for a month or two.”
“Of course, of course,” Maxwell nodded, clapping his hands together in thought, “After all, it wouldn’t do for either of us to compete without a full arsenal.” The armored man paused, then shot back, “Second rule: We must pick quests that are further set out from Shallowcoast. You can’t simply linger around the safe zone for easy protection.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” Troy relented, only to quickly realize a problem with the suggestion. “Third rule,” he quickly spat out, “We can’t interfere with the other party’s quests. No kill-stealing or removing anything needed from the area to prevent completion.”
Maxwell’s eyes widened at the concept, before he shook his head. “I may be competitive, but I’m not heartless,” he stated, “However, if that’s the case, then we must take turns picking the quests, so we both know what the other’s aiming for.”
“I mean, if we’re playing on an equal playing field, I suppose that’s fair,” Troy answered, then pointed at the board in question, “You want to do rotisserie format, then? Better to pick them all at once over running back and forth.”
Maxwell nodded along, then finally held up a hand. “If that’s all, I think it’s time to decide where we go with this,” he stated, and lifted up three fingers, “If it’s going to be a numbers game, how does first to complete five sound?”
“It could work,” Troy agreed, only to frown when a second thought hit him, “However, if we do too many, it may bleed over into when that migration gets here. How about first to reach three, instead?”
“Only three quests?” Maxwell mused, then finally nodded in agreement, “That sounds fair to me. As for the prize…” The human hummed in thought, then finally offered, “How about the loser has to buy three skills for the winner from the guild’s shop?”
“Three for three, then?” Troy murmured, then nodded along, “Fine, but it has to be four-star or lower. No point in bankrupting the other because they were late getting back.”
“A fair price,” the man stated, “In that case, shall we begin?” Before Troy could answer, Maxwell stepped past Troy and declared, “Ah, dear Yvalyn! Do you have any quests for me and my party?”
Turning around, Troy saw Yvalyn balk at the offer before she held up a sheet. “Actually, I was just getting a boarlet hunting quest for Troy here,” she answered, then passed the sheet over to Troy, “He did ask for it earlier.”
“Is that so?” Maxwell mused, rubbing his chin as he gave Troy a sideways glance, “In that case, if he’s taken the first choice, I’ll go next. Could I have a quest to hunt down some swamp turtles, then?”
“I suppose so,” Yvalyn slowly answered, and gave Troy a sideways glance as she handed Maxwell another quest form.
As Maxwell put his guild tag to the sheet, Troy rolled his eyes as he took the sheet for hunting boarlets. “Don’t mind him, he’s just being competitive for some reason,” he said, and looked over at the other forms she had in hand, “Still, for other quests, do you have any Charcoal-rank quests that’ll be in the same area as the piglets?”
“Well, I suppose that I might have a couple quests that could fit,” Yvalyn said, and she looked through the sheets before she said, “I have the flying shorerats, which have been assaulting merchants by swooping down for their valuables; or the walking mangroves, which we need culled so they don’t disrupt the shoreline and cause landslides.”
Troy winced at that, then looked between the two options. “Unfortunately, my party is better suited for the shorerats than the mangroves,” he stated, and pulled that form out of the pile.
“Which leaves that for me,” Maxwell proclaimed, immediately snatching the unchosen quest up. After a few seconds of thought, the man then reached down and took another quest as he added, “And why not top it off with some cravensharks for cleaning up the coastline?”
Troy frowned at the intrusion, and began to look through the list of quests. While there were more silt slugs and mudcrabs, those were still a bit too close to be out of range for the quests. After flipping through the quests, he eventually paused on one quest and asked, “What about these quests? Collecting Wodenfruit?” he asked, pointing at the quest in mind.
Yvalyn leaned over to look at it, then tapped on it in thought. “Well, the wodenbeasts themselves are only Porcelain-rank, as they tend to flee over fighting any travelers that find them,” she told him as she pulled it from the rest, “However, since the wodenfruit grows on their back, you’d need a way to keep them stationary and alive while you pick the fruit. Otherwise, they’ll just bleed out, and that spoils the potency of the fruits.”
Troy nodded along, then finally picked them up. “Well, with all the stun skills I have, I’m sure I can make it work,” he stated, then looked over at Maxwell, “Shall we begin our challenge, then?”
“But of course!” Maxwell proclaimed, earning a snort from Troy. As he took the third form and filled it, Maxwell bowed in grand gesture and said, “In that case, I wish you luck! You’ll need all that you can get!”
As Maxwell left the guild, Troy frowned as he noticed that at least ten adventurers followed Maxwell out. When Maxwell left the building, he leaned over to Yvalyn and asked, “By the way, how much would it cost to ‘hire’ a guild worker to help complete quests?”
Yvalyn looked over in disbelief, but pulled another form out of the desk. “Well, it depends on the quest, but I’m pretty sure that most aren’t open to Charcoal-rank quests,” she commented, but immediately added, “However, having a Metal-grade guild worker help you will invalidate the quests for your probationary quota.”
Troy nodded along, before he looked Yvalyn directly in the eye and asked, “In that case, could I hire you?”
Yvalyn’s face turned red at the question, and she looked away in embarrassment. “A-are you sure you want to have me join you?” she stammered, her ears tinged red, “It’s been a while since I did any quests.”
“I mean, you’ve clearly lived here for a while, so it’s not like you’re lacking in local info for the best places to check,” Troy commented, seemingly oblivious to her reaction, “Besides, given how he’s got twice as many people as me, I think hiring someone can help even the numbers.”
While Alonz looked up at him in disbelief, Yvalyn looked down in thought. “Well, it has been a while since I’ve worked with my arrays,” she mused, then finally perked up. “Lemme just let the guild head know, then I’ll get dressed for our time together!”
Yvalyn scampered out of sight, and Troy smirked in satisfaction at the scales tipping in his favor. However, as he turned away from the counter, he was surprised to find Alonz scowling at him. “You really think that just throwin’ money around is goin’ to make up for a lack of heavy bonds?” the dwarf drawled, closing one eye to emphasize the leer.
“Hey, I need all the help I can get, really,” Troy protested, “If it’ll stop Maxwell from acting like a puffed-up peacock, then I’m willing to play dirty to help take him down.” While the dwarf wasn’t happy with the answer, Troy spun towards the docks when a new thought struck. “Actually, let me go get Vitkor to join us. He should be able to navigate the coast to help, too,” he mused, and put his tag away as he added, “if you could keep an eye on Al, I could probably get him in ten minutes.”
Alonz watched as Troy ran off, before he shook his head in amusement before he walked over to rejoin Alcydes and Efficere, the two now passionately talking about their new project.