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Chapter 21: An Unseen Danger

I anxiously stared at the Guildmaster, waiting for him to tell me about the mission.

What is the mission gonna be? Come on tell me! You're killing me here.

The Guildmaster seemed to smile slightly at my impatience but continued on.

"Here in the town of Whitebridge we never really have that many problems."

Sweet I know the name of the town now!

"Events like the Wolf King are about the most exciting thing that happens around here and they don't happen that often either. Most of us are happy with our simple yet happy lives but some of us long for more. Most of these people just move somewhere else but a select few believe that deep down we all yearn for what they want."

"Well do you?", I said, cautious about interrupting Guildmaster Eric's speech but also very curious.

I saw Guildmaster Eric get a bit upset now as his eyebrows turned ever so slightly downwards.

"No, we don't! These dregs believe they know what's best for us. They're lunatics. Every last one of them."

"Ok but that seems rather harmless. I mean they can have their own opinions, however crappy and misguided they may be."

The Guildmaster sighed and looked at me with worn-out eyes.

"James the problem is they're trying to start a major conflict with the neighboring town of Blackbridge."

I smiled at the names.

Huh, what similar names. That's kind of funny.

"This is no joke, James. A fight between our two towns would be a major loss for both sides", the Guildmaster said, noticing my amused smile.

"Yes, that would be horrible Guildmaster. I fail to see exactly what the mission would be though."

"Well, James and his companions. Your mission would be to infiltrate this group of deplorable scum and stop whatever scheme they're plotting."

Hmm. Well, I'd hate to see something bad happen to Whitebridge and this mission sounds like fun. I'd probably do it even without the rewards but there's no need to tell them that.

I looked at Dob and Lob and they nodded.

"Yeah, we'll take it."

The Guildmaster broke into a large grin.

"Ah, I'm so glad to hear that. Melissa, could you please show them the way out?"

"Wait! Where do we go to find this group?"

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The Guildmaster coughed.

"Ah yes. The location. We don't know where the group is we've just heard some rumors regarding the group's actions and it matches with some of the other information we've been gathering over the years. The only thing we know is the group's motive and its name. The Association for the Betterment of Whitebridge or ABW for short."

Not a bad name... but I still have no idea where they are!

"Ok well, thanks for the name. It's been a pleasure to meet you Guildmaster."

"The pleasure is all mine James. I trust I'll hear of your success in the months to come."

"Months?!"

"Well did you expect it to be easy to infiltrate a group of criminals?"

"..."

"Anyway, have a good day, James. Let Melissa know if you need me for anything as I doubt you'd be able to find your way back here."

Yeah, this place would take forever to find in this maze of rooms.

So Dob, Lob, and I followed Melissa out of the room. Dob and Lob waved to the Guildmaster as Melissa gently closed the doors and received a wave back from the old but powerful man causing them to jump in jubilation. A while later we came out of the mess of rooms and entered back into the main Guildhall. Melissa rushed out to the counter to serve the long line of adventurers who were a bit irritated at the previous lack of a staff member.

Sensing that Melissa didn't have time to talk I gave her a quick wave as I walked out of the Guild. I wasn't sure if she'd seen it but I felt better knowing that I'd tried.

So I guess I'll just walk around in dark alleys until someone tries to jump me and then I'll defeat them and ask them where I can find the ABW. Wait. That'll be suspicious. I mean I'm pretty well known around here. Maybe I should go ask Patrick if he can make me look different and I guess make Dob and Lob's disguises look different, assuming that's possible.

So my companions and I walked to Patrick's store and walked in. I saw Patrick standing around one of the aisles that populated the insides of the shop and walked up to him.

"Hey, Patrick! How's it going?"

Patrick jumped back slightly and almost fell over, his eyes bulging in surprise.

"Damn James. You almost gave me a heart attack", said Patrick while catching his breath.

"Sorry, Patrick! Didn't mean to scare you like that."

"Yeah, I know. I accept your apology."

"Good. Well, I came here because I need to disguise myself and my two friends here."

Patrick perked up at the thought of making money.

"Ah well right this way sir", said Patrick, walking towards the store's counter.

"So yeah 3 Disguise potions I guess. I still want to be a human male though."

"You sure? It's really funny to disguise as a chicken and walk into a tavern. Trust me."

I chuckled at the thought of a chicken at a tavern, perhaps holding a mug of ale or some other alcoholic beverage.

"As much fun as that sounds I just need 3 disguise potions that make you look like a human. Although we are humans so we'll just look like different humans."

Patrick nodded.

"Okay, no problem Mr. Human."

"Oh, one more thing. Can you take multiple disguise potions without any detriments?"

"Well, there is a 10-minute cooldown period but other than that I don't think there are any complications. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Just curious", I said, lying my teeth off.

Patrick smirked at my obvious evasion.

"Mhm."

Thank you for leaving me with some of my dignity there Patrick. I mean you can't hear my thoughts but it still makes me feel better if I thank you, even if you can't hear it.

So after paying for the potions and thanking Patrick I left his store while Dob and Lob followed behind me. We went back to the Big Keg inn and there I had Dob and Lob each chug a disguise potion before taking one myself. Then I watched as Dob and Lob transformed into completely different-looking humans. Dob now had brown hair and Lob had blonde hair. I was sure there were more differences than that but I was eager to see what I now looked like.

I took out my dagger and held it up in front of my face. I saw a normal-looking face with red hair and green eyes staring back at me.

I look so... so average. I guess that's good. I mean I don't want to draw attention.

After our transformation, I knew that no one would be able to tell who we were so we set out to find the Association for the Betterment of Whitebridge.