“You want what?” Will asked incredulously.

“I want you two to accompany me on a mission,” Marcel beamed at the twins.

Mesmeranda frowned. “We have a quest lined up already.”

“I’m sorry,” Will smiled sympathetically. “But it is just more profitable than the missions we could be doing together. We can’t really afford to chase another wolf.”

“What I have in mind is something bigger.” He smirked.

“Well if you have not noticed there aren't many of those at the moment. There are some big ones sure, but to be honest i still don't feel comfortable taking those with you.:

“My dear Mesmeranda, that's hurtful,” Marcel teased.

She snorted. “It's nothing against you, but…”

“What level are you by now?” Will interjected, raising an eyebrow at Marcel.

“Ten.” Marcel said, trying to keep down his smile upon seeing their dumbfounded faces.

“Ten?” Mesmeranda snorted. “How could you have gotten to ten in that short time.” Even Will looked unconvinced.

“Just took a few missions.”

“What kind of missions?” Will looked skeptically.

“Well that stays my secret,” Marcel smiled.

“By the gods you really mean that dont you?” Will said. “You really have gotten that high?”

Marcel nodded.

Mesmeranda still looked uncertain. “Even so, that's still not enough for us three to do a mission that would be worth our time.”

“I'm sorry but she's right,” Will nodded. “Your progress is impressive but it just doesn't make sense for us. We have some group missions coming up that just make way more tor us.”

Now Marcel raised an eyebrow. “I haven't even told you how much the payout would be.”

“Even if it's five silver, after costs of course, I"m afraid that it just won't quite match up.”

A few days ago Marcel would’ve whistled upon hearing that his friends were now making more than five silver in profit for a mission. But now he had something better lined up.

“No, the mission is two gold. Each.”

Both of the twins almost had their eyeballs bulge out. “Two gold?” Will asked.

“That's ridiculous,” Messy said. “Such missions are way over our head.”

“They would be, if I didn't have some intel that would help us. An unique opportunity so to say.”

The two simply watched Marcel for a moment, then turned their gazes upon each other. They seemed to be engaged in the sort of mental communication that only twins were able to. After a minute, it seemed they were ready to believe him somewhat.

“Let's assume you really have a mission of that paygrade, and that also means believing you have the permission to pull that a quest like that, mind you…”

“Oh I do have permission for that quest.”

“Even then,” Mesmeranda continued. “What is that quest supposed to be about?”

Marcel told them what the target of the mission was. He told them how he wanted to approach the mission, how he judged the payout, and most importantly, why he was sure they would be able to take the mission.

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“Off guild?” Will repeated skeptic.

“Totally without a contract and the guild knowing.”

The twins threw each other a glance.

“You're crazy,” Mesmeranda said, for the first time with something close to admiration in her eyes.

“Well I leave the two of them to make up their minds in their own time,” he said standing up from the table. “I have some other business to attend to.”

With that he strolled through the tavern, leaving them both sitting dumbfounded.

It took a few moments for Will to gather up his wits to speak. “What do you think?”

“If he's half as honest as he's bold that might just work.”

“I don't know, we've never taken on a beast like that with so few people.”

“Oh come on, ogres are only barely bigger than trolls and we have taken on plenty of those.”

“With a group of half a dozen, yes.”

“Well we are very suited for this one.”

“Still.”

“It isn't even listed Will.”

“Doesn't really mean it is much weaker.”

“Please it's probably still in its infancy if it isn't listed, how else would the guild not know?” Will paused. “I don't even really believe they don't know. I mean how could they miss that?”

“I don't know,” Messy shrugged.

Will sighed. “What the fuck did he even mean with ‘A centaur’s diary’?”

It took two days for the twins to get back to Marcel about the mission. Longer than he would've expected. Then again, he had no idea how much an off guild mission scared them. He realized he had pretty much asked them to follow him on a whim to challenge a monster, which might or might not exist, over some treasure, which also might or might not exist.

For him it was a simple matter. Either it worked out like he planned and they would make quite some money, or the diary of the centaur was lying and there was not even an ogre to begin with. In which case they would also be fine.

Of course there was also the distinct third option that they would be confronted with an ogre that far exceeded their capabilities. But Marcel doubted that. He had spent lots of time researching monsters, and an ogre should be tackable by a party of three level 15 adventurers. Which he admittedly wasn’t quite, but he was confident nonetheless.

His recent boost in skills and stats had been rather welcome.

The fight against the centaur had truly given him three more levels, raising him to level ten. He hadn’t just put the extra stat points to good use, Marcel had also been rewarded with another bonus.

“Congratulations, for receiving level 10 in your class [Warrior of Rhea], you have been awarded with a unique status [Blessed].”

“[Blessed]: Grants you +10% in a skill of your choosing.”

Marcel had debated a little on what skill he should use that blessing, but in the end the decision had fallen to his strength skill. It was the one where he had the most points in after all.

Besides he could still remember how impotent he had felt against the giant cat and the chief goblin. He hadn’t even managed to reliably pierce their thick monster hides. That was something he definitely needed to change.

The rest of his points Marcel had invested in a mix of strength, wisdom, and some into vitality. The last choice was mainly based on how barely he had been able to cling to life after his fight with the centaur.

Luckily a quick trip to the healing chambers was easily financed with all the goods he had found in the lair. Afterwards he hadn’t just feel refreshed, but stronger than ever.

Marcel took a satisfied glance at his stats.

“Marcel Houst [Warrior of Rhea Level 10]”

Stats:

Str 16

Dex 10

Int 4

Wis 8

End 7

Vit 7

Per 6

His strength stat had effectively doubled since before the fight with the centaur. Something Marcel took much pride in. And it wasn’t even the only one of his new boosts. He looked down at the [Ancient Weapon of Suramar] in his hand. He could feel its power pulsing through him. He felt sharp when he held the weapon, energetic and ready to take on the world.

Marcel couldn’t wait to see it in action. Which is why, of course he hadn’t sat still during the two days while waiting for the twins' decision. He had completed a total of five different missions, three taking place in the sewers, one finding the wolf that had been prying on some farmer’s sheeps flock, and one that involved him confronting a bandit camp.

The last one had been quite fun actually, even though it had only involved two somewhat amateurish robbers.

In total Marcel had made 37 copper pieces on these missions. Which was a joke. But he didn’t do it for the money right now. The things he had found in the centaurs cave had been quite lucrative.

He had hauled the whole mass to a local pawn shop. He had been somewhat cheated but in the end still had gotten almost a whole gold piece for all of the things. Enough for a few months of rent.

Half of all that he had made in that haul he had sent to a certain old farmer living outside of the city. It was the only thing he could think of to somewhat soften his loss.