Upon the rising of a new dawn, the sunlight seeps into the window of Mavis’ room. The beam of warm light hitting her closed eyes and the chips of the morning doves slowly awaken her as she rises from her slumber with a big stretch and yawn. She sleepily rubs her eyes and looks around her room to get her eyes adjusted to the lighting. She looked at the armoire in the corner facing her bed, then to the door leading downstairs to the shop, then to the small dining table and small stove, powered by a crystal imbued with fire magic, before her gaze went in the direction of the washroom. As she slowly gets out of her bed, the floorboards creak under her weight. She hobbles over to the Burning Kettle, a household magic item with glass enchanted with fire magic for boiling water, next to her bed. She filled it half-way with a plastic jug of water next to her bed, placed it on its special tray and recited its activation phrase.
“Kochen, Burning Kettle.” The Burning Kettle started to heat up, boiling the water. As it would take some time for the water to finish boiling, Mavis had time to change out of her green flannel pyjamas and change into her (self-proclaimed) trademark green and yellow stylized ‘jester’ outfit. After fixing up her messy hair a bit and putting on her emerald earrings, she hears the high pitched shriek of the Burning Kettle, signalling that the water has finished boiling. She took a jar of coffee beans that had been ground into a powder out of the cabinet next to the table, and dumped a spoonful of its contents into a mug and followed by pouring the boiled water into it while adding an amount of sugar that would kill a diabetic instantly. With the morning coffee all ready, Mavis sat down at her table with a pile of letters to sort through and read. Most of them were a bunch of junk mail or advertisements. ‘Learn to make money with your business in 3 easy steps!’ was plastered on the front of one of them in big gold letters. Mavis just scoffed as she drank her sugary concoction at the obvious scam.
“Entzünden” A small ember sparked from Mavis’ hand, igniting the scam letter. She made a note of the address of the return to sender section and wrote it down, along with ‘include cow manure’. One of Mavis’ favourite things to do with people who send her scam mail, even back when she lived with Zergil, was to send a ‘present’ back. As the recipients of her ‘package’ intent to scam money out of her, a highly illegal act, there was no way for them to go to report it to the authorities without ratting themselves out. As such, Mavis has always gotten away with the prank without so much as a warning from law enforcement. The next letter she picked up has a blooming crimson rose on it, the emblem of the Baltharus Empire.
“Ugh, what do they want?” She groaned. She opened the letter and read its contents, almost spitting out her coffee when she did. It was the fine for misrepresenting information on an official document, her Adventurer’s Union registration. It was at one thousand gold due by the end of the month, and that was already reduced by the compensation she would have received from the incident with Matthis.
“CE’EST QU’ CEST QUE SOLADU!?” (What the hell you bastards) Mavis shouted in her native tongue. Charlotte didn’t say how much the fine was going to be, but she didn’t think it would be as big as this. She had to restrain herself from burning the notice as it would just make things even worse, and possibly more expensive, for her. She took a deep breath to calm down, and then retrieved her lockbox she keeps all her profits from her shop in from under her bed. Turning the dial for the combination to unlock it, she heard a click, opened it, and saw there was only three hundred gold inside. Mavis began to panic. There were 3 weeks until the end of the month, she had to pay one thousand gold in that time, her shop had only recently opened and business was slow, she had an employee to pay as well as a loan. Nothing looked good for her. How was she going to pay this off? As she felt despair from the prospect of her shop foreclosing in the best case scenario and going to prison in the worst, she remembered something. What got her into this predicament in the first place. She was an adventurer registered with the Union. She just had to leave the shop for a bit and take some quests. But there was still the issue of Paulie. She couldn’t just leave him to look after the shop for an extended period of time. He was just a kid and still a new hire. He didn’t know his way around yet. It would be a lot of pressure and responsibility. What could she do?
“Eh. With what the kid’s been through the last couple of days, he deserves a vacation.” Her solution was ‘screw it’. She wrote a note and stuck it to the door of her shop.
‘Paulie, I’m going out for a quest. Take the day off, kiddo. - Mavis’
Mavis walked through the streets of Nors on her way to the Adventurer’s Union Headquarters. Taking in the liveliness of the morning commuters, she waved at a few passersby. Some were friendly enough to wave back, while others made no effort to greet her and kept walking, minding their own business. The almost deafening noise of the streets had its own serenity to it. Vendors yelling their sales pitches, trying to drum up more business. Children running around and playing in the streets. Horse drawn carriages with the clopping of hooves and creaking of the wooden wheels. The clanking of armour from the knights on their morning patrols. If one was to pay close enough attention to the alleyways, they could see some poor soul getting shaken down by a local thug. Mavis took in the atmosphere, ecstatic from the stimulation of sights and sounds. If it was her day off, she would have spent the whole day just taking in vibes the market gave off. But she didn’t have that luxury at the moment. She needed to pick up a quest at the Union so she could pay off that fine. The moment she started to regain the focus she lost from being absorbed in the surroundings, she felt her face hit metal with a bonk!
“OW! Watch where you’re go-” She was about to berate whom or whatever she bumped into when she was interrupted by a loud voice.
“MY APOLOGIES, CITIZEN. I WAS NOT WATCHING WHERE I WAS WALKING!” Mavis covered her pointed ears as soon as the person started shouting right in her face. His voice was loud enough for people in the market to hear, and notice. It started to draw a crowd. Mavis looked up at the source of the voice. It was a young man in his early twenties with spiked, chestnut coloured hair. He wore a polished metal breastplate that glistened to a blinding degree in the morning sun with a gauntlet and greaves ensemble. He was equipped with a longsword, sheathed on his hip. He also had a red cloth headband and wore a matching flowing cape. He was standing tall at six feet, looking down at Mavis with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eyes.
The hell is this guy’s deal? Mavis thought to herself. “Uhhh all is forgiven?” She said, almost unsure. It wasn’t rare to see someone wearing full armour in the streets of the capital given it’s home to the knights and the Adventurer’s Union Headquarters. But that’s not what was weird about this man. He quickly stuck out his metal hand.
“MY NAME IS VIKTOR NIKOS! HOW ABOUT YOU?” He shouted at the top of his lungs. Mavis would be able to hear him just fine if he didn’t shout, but Viktor seemed to believe it was necessary. Mavis tried talking to him normally, to see if he would either follow suit or be satisfied enough to leave.
“Mavis Millwood,” She said, taking his hand, which Viktor enthusiastically shook to the point it almost hurt her arm. “Listen, I really need to get to the Union Headquarters to pick up a quest so I’ll just be-” She was interrupted again.
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“WHAT A COINCIDENCE, SO AM I!” Viktor shouted.
You have got to be kidding me. She was trying to get away from the weirdo but they happened to have the same destination. There was no getting out of this.
“ALLOW ME TO ESCORT YOU, ADVENTURER MAVIS!” He shouted with enthusiasm. Mavis was starting to get a migraine from all the screaming, and it would only get bigger from here.
They eventually found themselves standing outside a tall brick building with a red roof and gold plated sign that read “Adventurer’s Union HQ”. Mavis breathed a sigh of relief. Viktor would no longer have to shout
“GOOD MORNING FELLOW UNION MEMBERS!!” Viktor yelled at the top of his lungs. It was met by a wave of adventurers yelling back at him to shut up, though he looked unfazed and kept his unassuming smile on his face.The inside of the Union was vast. There were wooden tables and chairs all around, while making a small space for people to get to the bulletin board and receptionist’s desk. There was a bar in the corner that served food as well as drinks, with some adventurers already drinking before the afternoon. As the glamour of adventuring pulls people from all walks of life, people of all sorts of races could be found in the headquarters. An elf and a gnome were sharing a meal at one table, while a human and a dwarf were having an armwrestling match at another. A lizardman, who rarely leave the swamplands they call home, was devouring a large steak. There was a staircase leading to a second floor that looked almost the exact same as the first floor. Mavis tried to make her way to the bulletin board discreetly to slip away from Viktor, possibly using the chaos of the everyday at the Union to mask her escape, however, it just so happened Viktor was headed in that direction as well. She tried to make as little conversation with him as possible, almost pretending he wasn’t even there, but he was adamant on talking up a storm.
“Is this your first time taking a quest as well?” Viktor asked in a normal volume.
“Yeah.” Mavis reluctantly said, almost surprised Viktor had an indoor voice.
There was an awkward silence between the two as they both looked over the board. Requests for bodyguards, monster exterminations, and ruin explorations filled it. There was no shortage of work to be done, it was just a matter of who wants to do the work. There were no requirements on how many quests you need to actively be doing in a set period of time in the Union. Theoretically, someone could apply for an Adventurer’s licence and never take any quests and it would still be valid. They would be stuck at the lowest rank, Bronze, but they only need to be renewed at the start of every decade when a new Union Chairman gets elected. As such, there are many who call themselves Adventurers yet have never gone on an actual quest, or those who do it purely as a hobby and have a different profession.
“So, which one are you looking at?” Viktor inquired.
“I don’t know yet.” Mavis said flatly, trying her best to avoid talking to the man too much.
Eventually, Mavis saw a quest that piqued her interest: Help wanted. Escort on a dangerous road. A merchant needs help getting to the next town over. Bandits recently set up shop on the road. Caution is advised
Mavis reached to take the quest off the board when she saw something that induced fear in her. A metal gloved hand was reaching for the same quest. She tried to pull back her hand but it was already too late. Viktor had noticed.
“Oh! What a coincidence we would be interested in the same quest, Mavis! Fate must have brought us together for a reason! And that reason was to smite those unsightly bandits!” Viktor was enthused at the idea of going on a quest with the ‘friend’ he had just met not even an hour ago. Mavis, however, had a much different reaction
I don’t want to go on a quest with this guy! How the hell do I get out of this!? Mavis just let out a nervous laugh. “Uh yeaaaah, what a coincidence. Buuuuut I think I can handle this one by myself. I’m no slouch in a fight and besides, I kinda need the money so splitting the reward is not in my best interest right now.” She tried to let him down as gently as she possibly could.
“UNDERSTOOD!” Viktor stood up straight as if acknowledging a superior’s order.
Oh thank the gods I won’t have to deal with this guy on this quest. Mavis took the paper with the quest details on it and made her way to the receptionist’s desk, breathing a sigh of relief when Viktor wasn’t looking. The desk was manned by a gnomish woman with greyed formerly black hair, sitting on a tall chair to compensate for her diminutive stature. She wore small round spectacles, the uniform of a Union employee: a grey vest and a matching pencil skirt. The name “Gretel” was emblazoned on it in gold stitches. She looked at the paper Mavis had put on the desk, as well as her Union ID, and gave Mavis a scowl.
“You’re Millwood?” She said in a raspy voice and with an unamused expression.
“Uh, yeah? That’s what it says on my ID.” Mavis retorted. “Mavis Millwood. Bronze rank adventurer. Looking for adventuring work so I can get paid. Is there a problem?”
Gretel sighed. “You’re the one that made me stay up all night reprocessing and reprinting your ID and papers because you lied on your application.”
Mavis did not say anything other than “Oh… Yeah sorry about that.”
After a brief and awkward silence, Gretel just sighed and looked closer at her ID.
“You have a total amount of zero quests completed. Do you have a party?” She asked.
“A what?” While some adventurers work alone because they, like Mavis, don't want to share in the rewards, others form parties and split the quest rewards among themselves to increase the chances of success.
“A party. I can tell you didn’t actually read the form. The first time you go on a quest you must be in a party of at least 2 or more. It’s our policy to make up the odds of first time adventurers coming back alive. Now where’s your buddy? I saw you come in with that loud gentleman earlier.”
Mavis looked around. She tried to see if there was another person available to go on this quest with just so she could at least get some kind of reward. But as her eyes went to the area the bulletin board was, she saw Viktor approaching rapidly. Before she could get away to look for someone on the upper floor, the loud menace was already at the desk. Enthusiastically slamming the quest posting on the desk, he shouted.
“SIGN ME UP FOR THIS QUEST, MADAM!”
Gretel looked at Mavis, seeing the mix of fear and disgust in her eyes for Viktor, and smirked.
“Well, I know this is also your first time going on a quest, Mister Nikos.”
Mavis glared at Gretel. Don’t you do it you bitch.
“I’m afraid you will have to team up with at least one other person and form a party for your first quest.”
Mavis glared harder. Don’t you FUCKING do it.
“But it just so happened that Mavis, here, is also a first timer.” She said in a faux friendly tone directed towards Mavis.
Viktor quickly turned his head towards Mavis with stars in his eyes.
“A STALWART COMPANION FOR MY FIRST QUEST AND IT’S NONE OTHER THAN MY NEW FRIEND, MAVIS! HOW WONDERFUL!”
Gretel grinned, basking in the sweet feeling of schadenfreude. Mavis sighed. She knew she lost this battle.
“Alright, fine. We’ll go together.” She said, defeated.
Viktor raised a fist high in the air. “THEN LET US ONWARD TO HELP THESE POOR MERCHANTS AND RID THE ROADS OF THEIR BANDIT PROBLEM!”