I should not have taken my chances. She’d had the Spotted Deer turned into a stew dish which admittedly looked and smelled delicious, but the moment I tasted the Spotted Deer was when I knew I’d made a grave mistake. The meat looked like beef chunks, tasted like overripe plums, and had the consistency of hard butter. I’d choked the dish down hoping to get some sort of buff, but none came. I did get an Achievement out of it, though.
Achievement Unlocked: Voracious!
You ate a… mob? You’re supposed to eat the animals! That’s why I put them there! If this is the path you want to go down, I won’t stop you — but I will judge you.
REWARD: You have received one vial of Tummy Medicine! You might wanna take this. Like, now.
I’d taken the medicine as soon as I’d received it. I didn’t feel any different after taking it than I did before, but I could only assume that was because the medicine was working for me. Opix bought two orders of this rustic-looking pasta dish for us both that tasted much better, though Cerus made sure to chastise us both for not eating that Spotted Deer gruel.
Following our meals, Opix gave us all these comfy black pajamas before we all took our showers and slept. Cerus demanded that we open our Achievements first, insisting I go first so she could gauge whether she wanted my stuff or not… Thankfully for us both, my reward wasn’t a physical item.
Achievement Unlocked: Newbie Mob Slayer
You have completed a Quest in the MOB SLAYER Series!
You do new Quest. You fight mob. Mob make you angry! You kill mob! You get strong. Mob plan revenge. New Quest added to board. You do new Quest.
Reward: You have unlocked the BESTIARY tab in your HUD.
The Bestiary looked like an old scrapbook in my System. It automatically sorted itself to list every mob and animal I’d ever encountered. There were slots occupied both by the Ancient Sabertooth Spectre and the Spotted Deer, and when I clicked on them it showed an academic description of the species that included their most common strengths and weaknesses.
Interestingly, Cerus didn’t get any Achievements while Opix only got one for surviving against Ysnik. It’d been a new armor set that made him look like a stereotypical knight in shining armor. He’d quickly discarded it due to how impractical it was, and since it was a 1-Star Set he couldn’t pass it down to me either.
I slept as well as I could have, given there wasn’t a single sheet of cloth on my entire bed. Or Opix’s, for that matter. Cerus had wrapped herself like a burrito in them, even going so far as to steal the unused towels and spare sheets from the closets to further insulate herself. She’d attempted to guilt me into giving her my sheets, saying that she gave me all of those weapons and that “It was only fair.” When I’d said no, she’d resorted to spamming my chat and saying “im cold” over and over again until I’d gotten annoyed and relented. Opix had given his sheets up the moment she’d asked, and now it was clear to understand why. “Think of it as payment for her services on the battlefield,” He’d said to me over chat.
Opix had begun mapping out our plan for the day over a complimentary breakfast provided by room service – a platter of eggs, pancakes, and sausages. I sat at the table in the corner of the room while Opix and Cerus sat on their beds.
“While I was out yesterday, I picked up a few extra Quests for us. I tried to look for ones that prioritized single enemies so that we could get through them faster. We can’t afford to do longer, more tiring Quests while we have the other Alliances on our tail.”
“I’m the Alliance Leader, though, right? How come you can claim Quests? I thought I’d have to be the one to do that.”
“Satyrsong is different from the other worlds in that anyone can claim Quests in a party or Alliance. It’s very give-and-take here, more so than the other worlds. You see, most Quests involve helping out local businesses in some way. That Spotted Deer Quest to hand over pelts was made by a tanner in the Low Tier Zone, which I only know because I got paid by his son here in the Mid Tier Zone.” He pointed a fork at me. “You’re the only one that can activate Battle Network Quests, though.”
“I have decided upon our plans for the day,” Cerus said over a mouthful of food. “We will complete Battle Network Quests until dusk, and then we will train until dawn!”
Opix gave us a wry smile. “I might have a better idea, Cerus. For now, let’s just focus on our meal.”
Following our meal, we equipped our miraculously cleaned armor from yesterday and headed to the Quest Hall. It looked like a medieval version of a DMV. Like every other place in Satyrsong we’d been in, the floors were tiled wood, the walls were made of logs lit by orange lanternlight, and the ceilings were supported by well-cut wooden planks. The room was packed with men and women of various humanoid species like my own playing cards, drinking, and chatting at the various lunchroom-like tables lining the Quest Hall. The System told me that every single one of them were mercenaries. Just like the Battle Board, their rates were listed right next to their names. Most of these guys were 4-Star and up, and their rates started at 10,000 gold an hour, far outside of my price range.
I’d realized as I looked around that Opix, Cerus, and I were the only actual adventurers, or whatever you’d call us, that were in the Quest Hall — save for the single employee behind the booth. It made me think about what Opix said the Felzian Queen did to the morale of the people across the Ellalara Belt. If I’d ever doubted him, this was solid proof of her effect on the people here.
When we approached the desk, the clerk, a Canisian woman – dog girl as Cerus called her over chat – introduced me to the Battle Network Quest System. Once you opened the Quest tab in the Battle Network, you’d see the name of the Quest alongside a brief description of it next to a zoomed-in portion of the map showing the radius where the Quest takes place. The Quest wouldn’t begin until you pressed the Activate button below the Quest’s description. She’d had me test it by giving me a junk Quest to walk around the Quest Hall and shake hands with these two illusory dog-people who hadn’t been there when we walked in. After I turned it in, Opix made the same wry smile he did earlier in the inn.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Excuse me, do we need to be close to the Quest to activate it?” He asked in a tone suggesting he knew the answer already.
“No…” the clerk said, dragging the word. “But, if you’re too far it can potentially be poached by someone else! They’ll take the XP for the Quest and the System will alter the loot you win.” She smiled and leaned close. “The System really doesn’t like when people do that, though. So it’s best if you activate the Quest as soon as you’re ready, okay dear?”
He smiled and nodded. “Thanks for the reminder. I know which Quests I’d like to get for us.”
Opix chose exclusively “Hunter Series Quests” – Quests that involved fighting a single tough mob. In the end, he snagged us fifteen 3-Star Boss fights, four 4-Star Boss fights, and a single 5-Star Boss fight.
Grim: Those Quests are a bit high-level, don’t you think?
Opix: That’s the point. We won’t be beating them, we’ll be using them to track down the other Alliances.
Cerus: fool
Cerus: she will be felled by the beast and we will lose out on experience, gold, achievements, and battle points
Opix: You aren’t seeing the big picture, Cerus. Either we have a weakened 5-Star ripe for slaughter, or we have a team of confused 3-Stars with no clue what hit them. They will be at our mercy, Cerus… Your mercy! I shudder to think what Hell you have in store for these poor fools.
Cerus: OH MY GOODNESS YOU ARE RIGHT
Grim: That… actually makes a lot of sense. I can see why Cerus called you underhanded.
Opix: We’re all underleveled and there’s a Heavenly Gem on the line. You’d best believe I’m pulling out all the stops.
“You three certainly have the day planned!” The clerk smiled. “Surely you’ll need some items to bring along with you?” She gave me a pointed look. “There’s no way you planned on going out there with a pack as small as that one, did you?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” I admitted. “What do you have?”
Turns out this particular Clerk ran an under-the-table merchandise business. She sold various miscellaneous items: packs, potions, and consumables. She even sold Accessories, though none of them were better than my Blood Amulet. Opix ended up clearing out her entire potion stock, Cerus bought an Accessory that reduced MP costs for her Skills, and I bought a pack identical to the one I currently owned except it had a carrying capacity of ten instead of five. It’d cost 500 Gold, and according to both Opix and Cerus it was way overpriced, but considering how few people likely gave her business I decided to take the loss. It seemed like the right thing to do.
Following our purchases we sat at one of the empty tables in the Quest Hall. While Opix was reorganizing his inventory, I was swapping items from my old pack to the new, larger one. Alongside my weapons, I still had a stack of three skinned Spotted Deer for some reason. We planned as we worked.
“Alright, Grim,” Opix began. “Open up the Quest menu in the Battle Network tab. Do you see those first five 3-Star Quests? The ones with the bug monsters? Activate those.”
I opened up the Battle Network and looked for the Quests he was talking about. They were there, these Quests about some 3-Star bug monsters as big as the Spotted Deer Matriarch who were the final bosses of some Slayer Questlines. The combined radius’ of the Quests covered the entire Mid Tier Zone, ensuring that one of them would land on a target. I’d expected some sort of notification when I activated them, but the only notable thing to happen was the Quests disappearing from the list.
“Done,” I finally said.
Opix nodded. “Good. We only need one of them to pass or fail. The others will probably get poached by the mercenaries overnight.”
“And who is our victim?” Cerus asked. In truth, I’d been wondering the same thing. I probably should’ve asked before activating the Quests against them.
“Check the Battle Board, you’ll know.”
When I did, I noticed two things. One was that everyone’s Battle Point total increased. The other was that Ysnik Ixchel had earned a spot on the Battle Board alongside us. Right now she was in the Master Zone while Ciz Weroz was still in the High-Tier Zone. Honeydew Henrietta, though…
Honeydew Henrietta: 3-Star Native
Solstice Serenade
6 Members
431 Battle Points
Mid Tier Zone
“Oh fooey,” Cerus sighed. “It truly pains me to have to destroy fellow Swingtails.”
Nobody said a word about Ysnik’s appearance on the Battle Board, so I decided not to bring it up. Instead, I thought about how we were going to handle Honeydew Henrietta. Realistically, we didn’t stand a chance of winning against her and her team in a fair fight. There was no guarantee that her allies were also 3-Star, but even if they were 0-Stars like me odds were they’d be more coordinated and battle-tested than some Spotted Deer Initiates. These Quests were the only things that gave us a chance at bridging the strength gap. More than a means of tracking down Henrietta, these Quests were weapons.
“What if we use these Quests like summons? Once we figure out where Honeydew Henrietta is, we can–”
quest compwete!
honeydew h-henwietta has compweted the battle netwowk q-quest: s-scion scowpion on youw behawf〜☆ was it h-hawd? was it scawy? don’t w-wowwy uguu.., it’s all over now ☆⌒ヽ(*"､^*)chu mommy henwietta and her fwiends saved you fwom the big b-bad s-scowpion (o^▽^o)
be sure to thank her-.- i gave her team all o-of the spoiws fwom this q-quest, so t-that shouwd hewp bweak the ice!
Pussy.
“Did… you guys get that too?”
“I did!” Cerus nodded. “That was rather quick, was it not? Also, my System is talking back to me! Who does it think it is?!”
“In that case, we need to move faster,” Opix began. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Grim, activate every Quest you have in the vicinity of that Scion Scorpion Quest and deactivate the ones everywhere else. The decline button should be right next to activate. Cerus, you try to convince the mercenaries to go after the other Quests Grim started around the Mid Tier Zone to free up slots for later. I’m gonna get us more Quests in that area then I’m gonna see if she has any more potions I didn’t buy from her. Once we’re done, we need to head out ASAP. Got it?”
Cerus and I nodded.
“Good,” Opix said. “Let’s go!”