The moment the gate came back into view, I saw that the lines had not gone down in size. If anything, they looked longer. Lance didn’t seem to care. He just pushed his way into the crowd as if he were a wolf following a scent trail, no matter what it cost him. Personally, I hesitated for a moment. Uncertain if I wanted to give people the impression that I was an impatient and rude person.

Before I could make a choice, Lance turned his head just enough for me to see one of his eyes. He glared as he growled loud enough for me to hear him. “Keep up.” That was all he said, but something about how he said it caused the little hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. I was also fairly sure that if I didn’t follow him, he would just come back and drag me.

Head down, I did as he bid. Following him while I tried to figure out just what had changed to make him so cold. He practically refused to talk to me unless he had to. Hell, not even twelve hours ago he demanded that I work for him. Just where had that guy gone? Did I somehow piss him off? Wait, was it the fact that I wasn’t a woman? Wow, if that was the case he was fucking shallow.

“Ah, there they are.” Michael’s voice boomed out from a little ways in front of us. “We were wondering if you would manage to make it to our group before we exited the town.”

“I bet that you wouldn’t,” Victor announced as if proud of the fact that he had lost. While they could see us, I was too short to see over the crowd. As I finally passed the last group of people between me and them, I found that everyone had changed.

Each of them sported some sort of armor that covered various parts of their body. Victor and Patric wore some thin leather armor not too different from what I currently wore, minus the skirt. Maybe if I begged one of them I could get one of them to trade? Or maybe, I could bet with Victor and force him to wear it as a punishment.

Ideas ran through my head as I tried to figure out how to trick each person in order to steal their pants. Not that there were as many pants as people in the group. In fact, as I looked over the rest of the group, I found that each wore something slightly different. Some of what they wore looked specialized.

Michael’s armor looked heavy as hell. Solid pieces of metal covered almost every part of his body except for his joints and his head. The joints were covered in what looked like chainmail, if chainmail was made of rings big enough to fit on my pinky. Honestly, he looked exactly like what one would picture a tank would look like.

On Michael’s shoulder, acting as if she were a queen looking over her subjects, sat Linda. What she wore was similar to what I did, just of a much better quality. It looked practically tailor-made to fit her.

Then you had Jeremiah with his long leather overcoat. Coupled as he was with a long ashen staff and a cowboy hat, he reminded me of a wizard. All he was missing was a familiar. Like, say, a talking skull. At least I hoped that was it. Then again, if he had the power of that wizard then he wouldn’t be here now, would he?

Lance stalked right up to Michael, “Where are we going? I thought we had to stay near the city for a little babysitting.” Unexpectedly, his words stung. Not that he was wrong. I was a newbie in comparison to anyone else in this town. So much so that I would be a liability anywhere I went with them.

But still, ever since breakfast, I had started to hope that the group would at least take me under their wing, if only for the day. Maybe then I could have learned something. But based on how Lance was acting I doubted today would yield anything worthwhile. I almost wanted to just turn around and return to the guild.

Michael’s eyebrows lifted as he replied in his deep and calm voice, “You mean the babysitting that you demanded?” Lance didn’t reply, choosing instead to glare at Michael. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the people walking around us started to slowly edge away as Lance looked ready to blow a gasket.

Linda must have noticed this as well, or was simply not willing to put up with the stupidity, because she rolled her eyes. Her hand whacked the back of Michael’s head. Judging by how Lance flinched and rubbed at a spot on his own head, she had hit him too. Which confused me as I hadn’t seen so much as the blur of a hand as it moved in his direction.

“This is not the time, nor the place, for a dick-measuring contest.” Linda’s finger poked into Michael’s cheek. “Now, Michael, we are getting near the gate.” I looked forward and noticed that she was right. Our slow forward shuffle had practically brought us within feet of the gate. “Don’t you think that you should share the quests with Kyren here?”

My heart stammered a bit as I realized that today might not be as big of a waste as I thought. If I could get some XP then I could get to level two or even level three today. However, the fact that she was using the plural form of quest confused and concerned me. Were we doing more than one? What kind of quests were they? Were we going to go kill some things? Maybe harvest a few plants and herbs? Oh, maybe we had to go find and rescue someone trapped in some forest or canyon? All of these were common quests in starter towns as they helped familiarize a player with the land around the village and the game as a whole. But didn’t most of those come after doing a few quests inside the town?

“Ah,” Michael sounded a bit apologetic as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I forgot about that. Sorry Kyren. Here are the three quests we need to do today.” Three pieces of paper popped up in his outstretched hand. The moment I touched them, three windows popped up next to each other.

Quest:

Pest Control

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Quest Type:

Extermination – Rank E

Description:

Some Verdant Shelled Beetles have started a hive in a barn. Eliminate them and destroy their hive before they do too much damage.

Requirements:

Destroy the hive before they eat all the crops and the barn.

Reward:

25 XP per person

Failure:

10 Gold Penalty

‘Would you like to accept this quest?’

Quest:

Weathered Buildings

Quest Type:

Harvest – Rank E

Description:

Buildings across the city are showing signs of rot and age. Harvest enough wood for their repair.

Requirements:

100 Logs – Min 2-foot diameter, 5-foot length.

Reward:

10 Gold

25 XP per person

Failure:

20 Gold Penalty

‘Would you like to accept this quest?’

Quest:

Shrooms Aplenty

Quest Type:

Harvest – Rank E

Description:

Herbalist Benden is in dire need of some Moonshade Caps for a large order. Go to a nearby forest and retrieve them for him.

Requirements:

75 Moonshade Caps

Reward:

50 Gold

100 XP per person

Failure:

50 Gold Penalty

Herbalist Benden thinks less of you.

‘Would you like to accept this quest?’

What was it with these quests? They seemed so, not worth it. Hell, one of them had a penalty worth more than the reward. Michael must have known what I was thinking because he put a hand on my shoulder as he said, “Accept them.” Not able to see a valid excuse to say no, I did as he bade. It wasn’t like two of them had a time limit. If need be, I could probably get them done on my own, eventually.

“What is with these quests?” I asked as I passed the quest pages back to him.

“The wood one is a public works project. As such, they cannot offer much in the way of rewards. Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t fleece those that cannot fulfill the quest for as much as they can get.” He started as we shuffled along. “The mushroom quest is because we will be in the forest already. As for the beetle quest. That one was handed to us by the guild as the city cannot allow a hive to pop up near the town.”

I nodded along, understanding the concept of doing multiple quests at the same time for efficiency. It was especially true if you were going to be in the same area already. I would probably have selected the same quests myself. The only one I couldn’t understand was the beetle quest. How was it that a hive had snuck up on a farmer? If these beetles were such an issue then surely they would have noticed them flying in the area.

As I voiced my concern and confusion, Linda answered. “The beetles are great at helping to keep a forest healthy. Helping with the life cycle in the area, especially when it comes to dead trees.” As she spoke, our group finally pushed through the gate and into the wilds beyond the city. A new window popped up.

‘Leaving Proxima. Quests found. Toll – Deferred to quest issuer.’

Seeing this, I moved it to the side. Vowing to ask about it after Linda finished explaining about the beetles. “When their hive hits a threshold, they split and scatter. Each forming new hives in nearby regions.”

“I don’t see how this could be an issue. Surely farmers would like for such a creature to come to their farms. The creatures could even help get rid of unwanted pests and plants on top of cleaning up any encroaching trees, right?” I wasn’t so sure about bugs and plants and my tone became more of a question than a statement as the crowd of people we had been following behind started to disperse. Most of them kept to the large road going directly out of town. Other groups dispersed in either direction. Following tiny paths stomped into the ground over time, or simply forging their own.

Michael took a rather moderately sized path that led directly up a hill as Linda spoke. “Sure, that would be true if the majority of the buildings in this area were not made of wood. Specifically dead wood.” I nearly facepalmed as I realized how stupid I had been. Of course these things would be bad for a farm or city if they ate dead wood. “Then why did the city and guild assign this job to a party rather than waiting for someone to take it? I am sure several parties are chomping at the bit to get their hands on this kind of quest.”

Just then, we crested the hill and, for the first time since my initial view from the church tower on the first day, I got a good look at the area around the city. Hills rolled all over the place. Snow covered most of them, though more seemed to gather in between each hill rather than on top.

From behind a hill in the distance rose a plume of smoke. Likely a result of someone using a fire to cook or heat themselves and their surroundings. Likely both. As I looked around, I saw that it wasn’t alone. Plumes rose from all over the place. Some of the buildings were even visible, if just. From what I saw, it looked like the structures were built directly into the hills themselves.

While the snow gave the place a bit of a cold and desolate feeling, something told me that there was life under the surface, sleeping. Waiting for the moment the snow started to melt so that they could wake up. Plants would pop up and grow like weeds while creatures of all sorts would hunt and be hunted. All while players and NPCs ran around completing quests and leveling as fast as they could.

“Are you going to stand there or are you coming?” Linda called back. The smile on her face told me that she somehow knew what I had been thinking about. As I rushed down the hill, my foot slipped on a chunk of thawed and refrozen snow.

One moment I was running, the next a voice cried out in alarm as I slid head-first down the hill. Laughter erupted from somewhere behind me as I started to pick up speed. I probably could have done something but my mind was frozen as I flew down the hill. Within a couple of seconds, I reached the bottom of the hill.

Thankfully the curve was long and shallow enough to change my direction rather than the alternative. Eventually though, my luck gave out. A patch of snow was not thick enough, nor strong enough, to hold my weight.