Leaving the Branch, together we walked over to the guild, I could see Gaby and the same group she was with last time headed to the library. They really must be doing a ton of research together to find the best gems for each other, but why though? It seems it is accepted that there are generally good gems, but is it that these guys want to over optimize their choice? If they have so many options, I’m sure they have a few careers ahead of them in their choices, and they don’t need to think so hard about it. Whatever they choose, hopefully it works out for them.
We finally arrive at the guild to see it in uproar. Compared to yesterday, the number of people and the noise created from them is just out of control. The wooden rods of the quest board are turning at a much more frequent rate than beforehand. This place is way too lively. Following Gus, we get in line to see one of the receptionists. There were only a couple of groups ahead of us, so the wait shouldn’t be too long. While waiting I asked Gus why the place was in such an uproar, to which he explained that today was expedition day. Expedition day was the day where the guild would launch a high priority mission with the full support of the guild. This support would include caravans of supplies, great financial incentives, and support from many other adventurers. The current expedition was to clear out hostile monsters from the nearby fallen city of Dale. Multiple columns on the quest board had quests specific to Dale, some of which pertained to clearing certain sectors of the city, while others seemed to be smaller personal requests.
There were only two groups left ahead of us in line, when Gus started asking me what quests we should do. This man was like a child outside a candy shop, looking at all the endless quests he could possibly want to do.
“Clear Fourth Street of Flying Sabertooths. Can we do that one?” Gus asked, overflowing with joy.
“That’s a V7, no way!” I respond, shooting him down.
“Push the Ogres and Cave Trolls Out of the South Section. how about this one?”
“How is that a V4?” I mutter to myself.
“Can’t you find something a little more beginner friendly” I say, looking for a compromise.
He starts to pout.
“You’re no fun…”
He continues to look over the quests as another group finishes speaking to the receptionist in front of us. After denying a few more unreasonable quests from Gus, our turn to speak to the receptionist is up next.
“I got it. The perfect first quest.” Gus says, pointing up towards the board.
The quest he pointed at listed:
“V3 Eradicate the Goblin Infestation in the Forge District Dale Ruins”
“How tough are these goblins?” I ask, openly airing my suspicions.
I had my worries that since Gus has lived a long time, and died many times, he might be a major adrenaline junkie. If you are able to get an adrenaline rush from killing goblins, then it will probably be out of my wheelhouse.
“They’re not bad. Goblins are small little critters, frail too. They lack really any major firepower. The only thing to worry about with them is their numbers, but that’s what should make this fun.” he says, seemingly watering from his mouth.
I was right. This man is completely unsalvageable.
“I don’t think I ever asked you, but you said you died to a Rampaging Sporeback in your last life, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”
“What would you rate the difficulty of that Rampaging Sporeback”
“Oh, that was easily a V8, but I had it on the backfoot. It only got lucky”
Shaking my head, I now knew that Gus was undoubtedly a reckless adrenaline junkie, and lived for the thrill of the fight.
Still worried, I continue to ask, “What’s the highest difficulty monster you’ve killed?”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Just answer the question” I say, glaring daggers towards him.
“......, V7…, but I could’ve had a V8 at that time”.
My glare intensifies as Gus starts to sweat.
“How long ago was this V7?”
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“..., a while ago.”, he whispers
“I’m not hearing a number.”
Unable to bear the interrogation any longer, he breaks.
“Okay! Okay! That was 80 years ago, but I haven’t been seriously trying since then.”
“Can I help you two…?”, the receptionist asks, feeling the awkwardness in the air.
“I choose the quests from now on”, I say to the pouting Gus.
Turning back towards the receptionist, with a bright smile, I continued, “Hi, we would like to accept the V3 Goblin quest in Dale.”
“Can I see both of your guild cards?” she asks.
Not knowing what she means I turn around. Slightly embarrassed, I ask Gus, “Can you actually handle this?”
Gus goes through all the paperwork while I intently watch the process, so that next time I can do it all myself. That way Gus can’t have us accepting ridiculous quests. Once he finishes up, the receptionist instructs us to sit down at one of the nearby tables. Gus said that we would be leaving in around an hour. We didn’t have any resources with us at the time, and I asked if we were going to buy some gear with the down time. Gus responded by explaining that the reason why so many adventurers love Expedition day is precisely because they are provided with all the resources necessary for the whole journey. We wouldn’t need to carry anything with us unless it was our own equipment, but the equipment, rations, and other items provided to us would be on the carriages that would accompany us to Dale.
I further asked Gus how the pay would work for the quest. He explained that all quests had a minimum reward based on what the difficulty was. Our quest had an additional reward accompanying it, since we are doing it as part of an expedition. Lastly, any monsters we kill during the expedition we can claim and bring back in the carriages. We could either claim the monsters we kill as our own or put it in the collective pot to be cashed out in the end equal to our contribution towards the pot.
Thirty minutes remain till we leave for Dale. While Gus was rambling about some of his previous expeditions, a familiar face walked over to our table.
“Fancy seeing you two here”
It was the cute barmaid from yesterday. My heart rate instantly doubles. What was she doing here?
“So you decided to come along, did ya.”, Gus says smiling at her.
“Are you doing the Goblin quest as well? I thought you guys would be doing some crazy scary V7s?”
Giving a light chuckle I respond, “I was able to talk him out of doing something recklessly suicidal”.
Gus frowns, retorting under his breath, “At least I know how to have fun.”
“Well, it seems like I’ll be joining you guys for some goblin slaying on this expedition”, she says.
The time for the expedition to begin, arrives. Everyone in the guild building is escorted outside to accompany a wagon on the journey to Dale. There had to be at least sixty other adventurers accompanying us on the journey. Each wagon had six adventurers walking alongside. We were placed in the middle of the pack along with three other adventurers who looked rather novice. Their group consisted of two guys and a girl. None of them looked like they could be older than sixteen. We exchanged greetings with them, and both of the boys’ voices cracked. Gus tried to conceal a giggle, but the act only enhanced the pubescent boys’ embarrassment.
Near the front of the caravan group, the leader of our convoy could be seen. He was taller than most and could be seen towering over those he led. He looked strong, but ragged beyond his years. There was an air about him that maintained control and respect while assuming a solemn and stoic demeanor. Controlled he switched into the persona of a commander, and with a loud gruff voice he started to speak, reverberating throughout the street.
“Today, we march forward!”
“We march forward to take back what was once ours!”
“We march forward to take back what was stolen!”
“We march forward for those who can no longer.”
“Know this…, whether you are from Dale, New Dale, or other lands near or far…, you are all part of a righteous journey.”
“You march for a righteous cause.”
“You march so that the gods see your worth."
"For today…, we march forward to retake Dale!”
Upon the commander’s last words, the signal for the caravan departure was issued, as was the signal for the start of my first quest here in this new world.