“If there are luxury yachts in this world then why does Sally fly around in a pirate ship?” I asked Panda as we sailed out from Havar harbour.

He shrugged as he took another drag from his bamboo pipe. We leaned on the modern, metal railings gazing out at the beautiful turquoise ocean.

Director Lucas had chartered a yacht for us to use in our scouting mission and it was awesome. It was a sleek, white vessel with its own bar and crew.

I felt like a celebrity or an Instagram influencer or something. The comfort was a far cry from Sally’s flying ship.

Though to the best of my knowledge this yacht couldn’t fly.

It had barely been a day since my chat with Lucas. After leaving his office I’d accepted the new quest and received my upgraded reward.

Lucy had given me a little bag with 1500 gold coins in it. The reward had been tripled due to the slime queen’s presence.

Not that I was complaining.

After another night in the inn we’d packed up Panda’s books, gotten him some more and picked up my bow from Wendy’s. It was as good as new and I felt like I had a limb reattached upon receiving it.

It was odd how fond of the weapon I’d become. It was a bit like a safety blanket at this point, we had been through a lot together.

I’d picked up some more rations and potions whilst I was in the neighbourhood. A good adventurer is always prepared after all.

As we sailed out to sea on the fancy yacht, it was hard to imagine all the blood and death that had surrounded me over the past month and a half.

Havar was just so idyllic. I mean, the sea was turquoise for god’s sake. It was just beautiful.

It also dawned on me that I’d been in this world for well over a month now. I wondered how my wife Layla was doing as my heart ached at the thought.

Our child had probably been born by now. It was due a few weeks ago, assuming time moved at the same pace here as it did back home.

I’d missed it. One of the biggest moments in a person’s life and I’d been busy fighting slimes in a sewer instead.

I didn’t even know what gender it was. We’d decided to wait and let it be a surprise. Layla could be old fashioned like that.

I smiled sadly to myself as I thought of her. I wondered if she knew I’d been taken somewhere against my will. Mostly, I just hoped that she didn’t think I’d run away.

“Downtime sucks.” I moaned, “when are we gonna get to this island?”

“We’ll get there when we get there, chill out kid.” Panda said from behind me.

I realised that he wasn’t standing next to me anymore. How long had I been lost in thought? I turned towards the sound of his voice.

He was laying on a sun lounger with his pipe in one hand and a drink topped with one of those little umbrellas in the other.

Where did he get sunglasses from?

“You don’t waste any time.” I chuckled, strolling towards him, and pulling up a deck chair.

I must have looked out of place in my full body armour set. I’d need to invest in some more casual clothes for my days off once we got back. Maybe I could get Taylor to make me a Hawaiian shirt.

“Well you were staring off into space for like thirty minutes. What’s a panda to do but have a drink and a smoke and enjoy the life of luxury?”

“Just don’t get used to it. I’m still pretty sure Lucas is just buttering me up for something.” I said darkly.

I kind of liked the man and he had saved my life during the goblin king coronation quest. Still though, something about him didn’t sit right with me. Especially after our meeting the previous day.

I sat forward in my chair, pulling up the quest I’d been given for the third time today.

New Quest:

I’ve Been Expecting You, Mr Akabane

A mysterious new structure has appeared on an uninhabited island just off the coast of Havar. I’m getting some serious evil villain’s lair vibes from this one.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

If there’s a mountain shaped like a skull, you know what to do.

Objectives:

Kill all the inhabitants on the island 0/1

Or

Spare them and report your reasoning 0/1

Or

Investigate the island and report back 0/1

Reward: 500 gold coins and admittance onto the next Adventurer exam.

*Speak to the Adventure Society to claim your reward. Reward payable upon the successful completion of the above objectives*

It was the first time I’d seen a quest that had multiple choice objectives. The easiest one would surely be to poke around a little and head back.

Though I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple. I had no problem with killing the cultists, if that’s what they actually were, and farming the experience. Of course that was dependant on their levels and how many of them there were.

The objective that seemed the most peculiar to me though, was the option to spare them. Lucas had specifically told me that they were cultists.

However, the quest itself made no mention of them. It was definitely weird.

Either way, I had a feeling that this quest wasn’t going to be as simple as the director had made it out to be. I felt like he was testing me. But what was he testing me on? It could be my judgement skills.

Lucy had mentioned the star ratings and the increasing complexity of quests as one progressed through them. I guess they already knew how I fought from the first quest. I showed them I could work independently from the second.

This third quest could be a judgemental test. Thinking about it so much was beginning to make my brain hurt.

“Hey, can I get one of those please?” I asked the bartender whilst pointing at Panda’s drink.

“That’s more like it kid!” Panda said, raising his glass. “And get me another whilst you’re at it my good man.”

The bartender was a quiet man. He was dressed in a clean, white uniform that looked very official.

His name tag said Mark and he was a male catonid. His fur was also white and I’d wondered if that was part of the reason he’d got the job - so he matched the uniform.

There was also a chef and the guy sailing the yacht on board. We hadn’t met either of them yet and I wasn’t even sure if we’d have time for food before we reached the island.

“How much do you think Lucas spent chartering this ship for us?” I asked Panda whilst Mark began shaking drinks and throwing bottles around like the silent showman he was.

“Dunno, it’s a luxury though so it probably wasn’t cheap. My advice: don’t look a gift yacht in the mouth kid. You can take that as my sagely wisdom for the day.” He chuckled as he put his empty glass down and moved his paw behind his head.

He seemed to have no trouble playing the spoilt rich kid. I felt a tad uneasy though. I hadn’t been on many holidays before. Luxury was practically an unknown quantity to my family.

We’d always been workers, drinkers and occasionally caravaners. I remembered driving up to the coast with my mum as a kid.

We’d rented a caravan for the weekend and I thought it was pretty cool. It was nothing compared to this though.

Mark brought the drinks over and I thanked him. They were a rainbow of colours. Mine had a blue layer, a purple layer and was topped off with a red layer.

It tasted amazing. I couldn’t even begin to describe the flavours considering they were mostly new to me. But it was delightful.

A few hours passed as we lounged around on the boat before the island finally came into view.

It looked pretty small and was covered with tall trees. There was a beach at the front that looked deserted. Not far back from the treeline was a large wall that seemed to extend around the entire island.

It was made of stone and had battlements dotted every few hundred meters or so.

It reminded me of one of those old Spanish sea forts you’d see in historic TV programmes. It looked pretty disused, but maybe that was because of how old it looked.

“Hey Mark, have you ever sailed out here before?” I asked the bartender who offered a single nod in reply. “Has that fort always been there?” He shook his head.

That was odd. Why would someone erect an old looking fort on a small island.

I guess it was my job to find out exactly that. I watched the fort as we edged closer to the island. I couldn’t see any sign of movement at all.

It looked abandoned, which was a tad unsettling in my opinion.

“Hey kid, I was thinking. You can just leave me here whilst you do your thing. I’m not really cut out for spooky fort exploration if you catch my drift.” Panda said, sitting up slightly in his chair and eying the island suspiciously.

“Oh no, not this time. I left you behind when I went into the sewer but this is different.” I replied. “Two pairs of eyes are better than one and who knows what we’ll find out there.”

He opened his mouth as if to protest but thought better of it as he sighed and grumbled slightly. I knew he was no good in a fight but I might need him for something non-combat related.

Besides, why should he get to stay on the boat whilst I did all the work?

The yacht began slowing down and pulled up close to the island.

“Is it safe to leave the ship here?” I asked Mark. “Isn’t it a little obvious?” He shrugged.

“Thanks for your help Mark, it’s always a pleasure chatting with you.” I said as I rose from my deck chair and moved to the railings.

“Mr Akabane?” A new voice shouted from the top deck. I looked up to see a human in a similar uniform to the bar tender, except he was wearing a white captain’s hat with golden inlays and a black peak.

“I assume you’re our mysterious captain?” I asked.

“That’s right. Captain Ronnald at your service. I just wanted to inform you that I’ve engaged the cloaking device so you don’t need to worry about us being detected.

“Just try to remember where we’re moored when you’re heading back.”

A cloaking device, of course. Why didn’t I think of that.

“Thanks for the heads up. I guess we’ll be off then.”

“Good luck.” He replied cheerily before disappearing.

“How would a cloaking device even work.” I muttered to myself.

“It’ll be a magic circle that’s been permanently etched into the deck somewhere.” Panda replied absently.

“Makes sense I guess, about as much as anything does in Celestia. This is why I wanted to bring you along.” I smiled evilly at him.

“Yeah… so how are we getting to the island? I don’t see any dinghies.” He asked anxiously, shooting me a fearful look.

“Oh, I have an idea.” I replied, continuing to flash him my evil smile as I moved towards him.

“What are you doing kid, you’re being weird.”

I bent down quickly and scooped him up as he wriggled to get free.

“Kaleb don’t you dare! Pandas are not aquatic mammals!”

I jumped over the edge of the yacht as Panda screamed in a high-pitched voice.