i dont have much experience tracking. growing up in a basic starter town made me more versed in dealing with people, not monsters. starting quests with little to no knowledge
about what your hunting is not a smart move and i learned this fast. But thats why shops sell items to help novices like myself, a clairvoyance stone that shows me the creatures
path. i start talking to the coast redwoods around me
"these footprints might be too big for myself to handle... hunters normally bait things right? but how will i know what it eats?"
i set up bait with my personal food, all meat fruits and veggies just in case, but with an added 'spice' which was a dose of Gaso venom (snake in this world)
i sleep in a tree to wait after witnessing it eat the bait
i get woken by growling and bashing noises in the distance
a duo fighting the beast
one with a short sword and speed
the other with a sickle and dark sword
the faster one was dashing all around the beast getting in smaller slashes, the beast having to focus on the one dual wielding
all i could do is sit here and watch as they killed the target i had already venomized
i stood in the trees above them waiting for them to finish it off
the beast falls
i drop out of the tree to them before they sheath their weapons, keeping my own sheathed
they keep their eyes tracked onto me like i was another target waiting execution
"split the reward" i said trying to make a comprimise
"No, we killed it" the dual wielder replied
"the reason you killed it is because the Gaso venom in its veins, which i put there" i try to snarkly reply
"your wasted effort, your loss" he harshly replies
i give him an astonished look
it remained silent for a few seconds aside from the wind brushing through the trees ,both of them waiting for me to say something
we just stare back and forth at eachother, his second behind him not knowing what will come of the situation
"pay me for the venom and trap and ill leave then" i try to offer a deal
hes hesitant but complies
"how much then?"
"5 silver pieces" i dont know the exact market price so i had to estimate
"No way in hell is the price for a basic Venom and some food, 3 silver" hes turning it into a negotiation
"4 and ill walk" my final offer before we have to fight over the kill
he ponders on it fora couple seconds
rustling in the trees above spooks all 3 of us
an Argen had taken the kill in its claws and was back above the tree line faster then the creature had fallen
i close my eyes and let out a sigh
"cant believe we let that happen..." i say as i turn into kitsune
i turn to look at them before darting away, him looking at me, her looking at where the kill was
What a waste of a trip
i think to myself
a couple hours trip later and im back in Skapta to tell the guild what happened|
when i get to the worker at the front they said it had already been reported
"fine, can i put a notice on the board?" i asked
"i wont stop you"
i put a notice on the board looking for people with skills, not too specific, but on the way home i realized i cant do every quest by myself
the notice read as followed
"looking for party members"
No race, age, or gender requirements
If you have offensive skills ask around for 'Silva'"
ive already traveled for hours on top of tracking today, a days worth of work for no profit
nothing left to do besides drink and sleep for the day
i wake from my room in the guild
no belongings in my room aside from those i take with me
i open the door to buy breakfast
when the door opens i see someone sitting on the floor asleep just outside my room
i leave them there and walk downstairs confused
in the middle of eating my breakfast consisting of a single Argen egg omelette when the one who was sleeping outside my room runs downstairs and stands right next to me
couldnt have been older then 17, he introduces himself
"HELLO, i am Daeva, i am ummm..."
hes fumbling with his hands like hes reading it from a script
"RESPONDING to your notice for uhhh party members" hes a nervous person obviously
"experience?" i asked him
i put my food on hold to listen
"i uhm grew up in the shadow realm, so i had to defend my village many times from the uhh evils"
i look him over to estimate his capabilites
white with blue marks, two horns, one with a chip at the end, clothes with few tatters, bulky but thats to be expected from someone who grew up in the shadow realm
"ill try you out for a quest and see how it goes"
he waits for me to finish my food and we go to the notice board
i yell to the guild keeper
"i need myself a hunt, give me a bounty"
"you can use my name you know, i got a size 4 dragon posted after you left yesterday" they yell back
"perfect just give me where and im off"
"base of the mountain where the plains grassland and forest meet" she informs us
we walk out without responding
once out in the middle of the road i ask him a question
"just how do you plan on getting there?"
"ive never been there so uhm.. just wait"
he raises his head then shoots it down
after a couple minutes a horse with black bones exposed comes from around the corner
"thats handy" i say before i transform
he looks suprised
i try to hide my ears and tails unless i want it to be known im kitsune
we ride off in pursuit of a dragon, knowing nothing other then its size
Around a lake, through a stream, the mountain range getting closer with every step
once we reach the base i get out my clairvoyance stone i used the day before
it points me to a half enclosed cave pocket just before steep elevation change
the dragon wasnt in the cave so we waited above it
10 minutes turned to 20, 20 to 40, the sun seems like its barely moved
"hold on, all youve been carrying is the clothes on your back, you do know were about to kill a dragon right?" i asked him
"i dont acctually have uh the money for weapons so i have to u-use weapons i can s-summon" he replies more nervous then when we left
"gotta learn that one day..." i muttered under my breath
it flies down below us and enters the cave
we both slid down, him more fumbling down then sliding
we stood outside of the cave observing it
the size was wrong, this is at least a size 6 (imagine a dump truck for size)
it was dark grey in color with dark green accents
i look at him and tell him to summon his weapon
he holds out his hand and a purple haze runs over his arm as a demonic axe forms in his hand
i unsheath my wakizashi's and get ready for it
once im mentally prepared i nod to Daeva and we walk in
i dash in faster then him and go for a back leg while he distracts the front
i climb on top using my swords as ice picks stabbing inside it
i run one of my blades along is spine from the tail
it spins around in pain attempting to get me off
once it stops im able to practically saw at one of the wings while it still has to focus on Daeva
i cut to the bone when its whole body flops down and stops moving
at the head of the dragon i see Daeva pulling his axe out from under its jaw, splattering himself with blood in the process
he looks up at me still drenched in blood "i g-got a lucky strike"
he had cut from under its jaw up to its lung pipe stopping it from breathing
i just blink at him, i cant tell if im suprised or not
the axe disappears from his hands
"oh i uhm can only hold the axe a small amount of time before i-" i cut him off
"youll have a real axe soon enough i wouldnt worry to much about it" i tell him
i cut off a horn and a couple teeth as proof of kill
"i guess youll do as a second, get that horse of your out and we can return"
a reward of 1 gold and 2 bonus silver for the misinformation
right when i get it i turn and give Daeva the 2 silver
"that-thats a lot, are you sure its not too much?" he looked up at me like i gave him an allowance
"have you never had a job before? we do the job, we both get paid."
"i-ive never um had this much before" i could tell hes trying to be more comfortable around me "t-t-thank you" his big body build did not suite him at all
"how long have you been in the earth realm Daeva?" he started counting on his fingers despite his age
"I-um 17 days" eyes shifting lower
i sigh realizing how much work i have ahead of me if hes going to be a partner
were back in our empty room with just two beds and a desk
we both sit on our beds and just talk
none of it was very meaningful conversation but i learned things about him
his "village" was more of a couple of tents with boards around it
he came to the earth realm to seek education as hes barely had any but i couldnt get him to open up much past that
we had done this routine for a week, then two, then a full month we had been working together
after one month of questing together we still hadnt done much besides earn money, idle talk, sleep, and eat, me always making more then him
Daeva was less skiddish around me but still wary and almost untrusting of me
i figured there was nothing i could do but give it time, i never cared a whole lot for people liking me or disliking me
but Daeva was different, neither of us had many people to rely on so we chose eachother
"h-hey Silva?" he asked my name when were about to rest
"heh?"
"how much does schooling cost?"
"forget that, your better off sharpening your axe then your brain"
he stood up abruptly
"NO! This is more important to me then any quest or amount of money could ever be!" this is the first time ive seen him disagree with anyone
i widen my eyes at the sudden change of character
"piper down you dont understand"
he exhales sharply at my comment
"education might be a luxury in the shadow realm but here its more of a scam then anything else, some people pay hundreds of coins just to find out they wont be accepted because of race or genetics" i needed to explain
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"i-i thought it was supposed to be more fair in this realm!" he insisted everything was so much better in this realm compared to his home despite knowing little about it
"just because we have less danger doesnt mean everything in life is better" if he wasnt this uneducated i wouldve yelled back at him
it stays quiet after i let out a sigh
"i dont know why your so deadset on going to school but ill cut you a deal" he looks back up at me with a muddled expression "i cut your pay in half and i teach you whatever it
is you so desperately need to know" hell of a deal considering prices for a real teacher
"but i havent even told you want i even want to um study in"
"the only thing i wont be able to help with is dark arts magic, i know basics in everything you could want besides that" i told him that firmly so its cemented into him i cant use
dark magic
"ill have to um sleep on that..." and with that he laid down to sleep
that conversation made me think to myself before falling alseep
"what are we trying to do?"
"are we just going to live our whole lives doing quests day by day?"
"if he has education what am i trying to do?"
i ask myself all these questions but cant answer them
i sat back up
"from now on were doing higher tier quests" i tell Daeva as hes trying to sleep, then i walk out the door to the bar
everything was cleaned up except for a couple chairs still down at the bar table with the bartender cleaning some glasses
i push over 6 copper coins and ask for something to get me buzzed
im a quarter the way done with my drink when the doors get pushed open by a man in black clothes
i look at the clock in the center of the room to see it being 11pm
only ones in the room are me, the bartender, and the man who just walked in
he sat down at the only seat available which was directly next to me
i had seen him a couple times before but the glances werent enough for my to recognize him
my minds too full for me to talk to people so i try to down my drink and go upstairs to sleep
when i set the glass down and try to get up the man in black next to me slid a couple copper across the table and said
"get the man another one"
i slowly sit back down
"whats your deal?" i asked him
neither of us are armed besides the knives at the table so theres virtually no risk of confrontation
"i just want to share a drink with a stranger, sounds like your the one with a deal" they turn to look at me with a sly smile
i sigh and start sipping the drink
"you get anything from that kill?" he asked me leaving me confused
"excuse me?"
"that orc goliath that was swooped away, you get anything out of it?" he explained
i immediately know where ive seen him now
"i cant say i did, you saw me leave the scene before either of us got a close look at the body"
"damn shame"
his glass was empty at this point and he had gotten one of the knives from the table and started carving on it
the bartender noticed at the screeching of glass
"DONT GO DAMAGING MY-" he stopped himself at the stranger looking up at him
he gave a sinister smile that said "youll become the glass if you dont quiet down"
i looked over at him while im still sipping
"huh, i never caught your name, stranger" i tried to be polite despite wanting to be asleep right now
"Ripta, or 'the general' if you prefer" he looked younger then me so the general part left me bewildered
"your quite the ominous man Ripta, hey now that it comes to mind, didnt you have a partner?"
"you would be speaking of my wife, i better not hear you speak ill of her or you wont have a tongue to speak with at all" he threatened
"i hadnt planned on it, but i was going to ask, whats it normally like to travel with a partner?" i asked him because it still doesnt feel entirely natural having daeva around
"im here to drink not to give advice, go ask a wizard for all i care" i quickly found out he is a harsh person
it stayed quiet after that
my drink was nearly done and he had already drank 2 glasses
"im going" he said abruptly and standing up
"hold" i asked him
"what do you want"
"we should quest together soon, us 3 killed a goliath easily, including my partner we could take down levi-" he cut me off
"just because i bought you a drink doesnt mean were all buddy buddy"
he started walking towards the door again
"if we arnt good enough ill make you a bet" the spite and annoyance from in me spoke those words, not my brain
his ears perk up at those words and he stops in his tracks
"explain"
"i bet you 2 gold peices me and Daeva will be ahead of you at the end of month rankings" i point at the rank board as i say it not knowing how much i have saved
"you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention" he is most definitely an ominous person
he looked at the ceiling as he says that
"i see no harm in it, if you arnt good for the money ill get it from you by other means" he warned
"i take its a bet then" he walks out without another word after i say that
i look back at the bar
i dont recognize what he carved into the glass
i return to my room trying to be quiet and slip into my bed with Daeva huffing asleep in his own bed
"i guess i finally have somewhat of a goal now..." i think to myself as i drift into a dream
being that me and Daeva are only a B ranked party we cant exactly take on the "big" quests
i skip breakfast and look at the rankings
i realized i dont even know their party name, their rank, or how strong they acctually are
Daeva sits at the table eating while i stand in front of the rankings trying to imagine what i got myself into
Daeva is most the way done when i sit across from him to tell him the news
"i acted on impulse last night" i had to admitted to him
he stopped eating and looked up at me
"what does that mean?"
"a stupid bet that could cost me a lot of money"
"y-you never seemed like a betting man to me s-silva" i sigh after he says that
"thats because im not, im not as used to being social as you think so impulse took over because he annoyed me" this is what i get for trying to be friendly "do you want to in the
bet with me or not" i offered him
"yes" he answered before i could finish
"i havent even told you what the bet is on, dont jump to things so fast"
"i dont need to know, i um, decided when you said you took a bet" he sure is inoccent for being raised in the shadow realm
"to be blunt, we need to do as many high end quests as we can" short and simple
he nods and he goes to the notice board while i go to the desk clerk to see if we can go to A rank
"you know, you've been around here for years but never bothered to be social with anyone" she starts to lecture me before i can finish my first sentence "you would already be at A rank if you bothered to join a party"
"i know your right, but, i don't want to just join something already built, i want to be in it from the beginning" i figured this out when i looked back at my limited past
"Have i not been here since the beginning? I was here when you first walked in those doors and i'll be here when you walk out for the last time" and she was right, the only person i had known at all since i had to start adventuring, but all i know is her name and all she knows is mine, she was just trying to be friendly but it left me back on what my goals were
She finally told me that we just needed 3 party members and to complete 5 A level quests then pay a fee. The and quests weren't a problem, but having a 3rd member doesn't work out well. I've only had Daeva around for a month and there are still awkward moments daily. I had been in idle for practically 3 full years at this point, but her saying it out loud made it hit harder then it should have.
"Thank you, Iris" i was just thanking her for the information but to me it felt like thanking her for a wake up
"Hey! you remembered my name!" her silver hair bounced as she tilted her head saying that
"It's only up from here" i smiled at her before i turned to walk outside, sun blinding the town ahead of me
Daeva was waiting for me outside at this point. Bounty in hand quest ahead of me.
Daeva had chosen a hit on a animal smuggling ring, specifically for its leader. Judging by the visual rendition they wont be anything we havent handled before.
"Tulka the smugger, wanted for theft, selling stolen goods, animal abuse, discrimination of the highest degree" i read out to both of us, Daeva's face growing more uneasy with every crime.
I lean against a pole holding up the deck of the guild. "4 silver coins, one extra is brought in alive " i said out to him
"T-thats almost double our normal rate!" he gets excited, but quickly wimpers back down remembering who it is we have to kill
"nothing to do but to kill them" i roll up the bounty sheet and we swoop off into the boreal woods to find a cave
We followed the river to the boreal ponds and streams. Daeva trotting along the bank with his horse, me jumping across the river and into holes looking for even the smallest evidence of a cave in my "true" kitsune form. The journey wasn't long, by the time we got to the forest i would guess it was only 11am. While im searching for the cave i realize how much more lively the quests have been sinces Daeva joined me. Silence had been filled with random questions and his curiosity. I have no way of telling how long we were walking before we found a band of dirt under the stream showing it had been traveled frequently, and not just by small animals.
After searching the area i found a hole with tree roots covering it but light was still escaping through. I told Daeva im going in and for him to stay since hes much bigger and cant get in.
my feet hit the floor and the light was ahead of me but growing darker. I get a bad feeling as i try to step forward but my legs wont move. I just wanted to follow the light but it was fading. My limited vision was flashing between blurry and sharp. On a sharp moment i look at my legs to see they were intact, except for two holes in my pant leg both in near perfect circles. When i tried to touch them i had collapsed. Knocked out as soon as i enter the cave, what a way to start a quest...