Xander Drakes fought to keep his expression neutral as his boots squelched with each step he took on his way back to his manor. Inwardly, he was fuming. His assistant Zenon Guyles had talked him into going down in the filthy sewers to retrieve a rare specimen for the research division of Drakes Arcanaries. He kept his eyes forward, though he could feel the looks of those passing by. No doubt some of those looks were attributed to the stench that emulated from his clothes. Zenon walked in front, walking briskly toward Drake Manor. He knew Xander wasn’t particularly pleased to have wasted a trip down into the sewers and Xander would likely direct his anger towards him. Rightly so after all as it was his idea.
Soon the gates came into view. Its splendor, a testament of Xander’s wealth and influence in Rinkon. Thick trimmed hedges formed a living wall surrounding the manor. The only entryway into the manor’s courtyard was a decorative wrought iron gate. A hired guard stood in front of it. Seeing Xander approach, the guard quickly opened the gate to allow Xander entry without delay. As Xander approached, the guard couldn’t help but scrunch up her nose, though she quickly calmed her expression. Having caught the guard’s expression, Xander couldn’t help but clench his teeth. His eyes bore into the back of Zenon’s head. Zenon, quickened his pace as he walked up the short flight of steps and stood by the heavy oak door that was well polished and delicately carved with intricate patterns. Zenon opened the door and waited for Xander to walk inside. The moment he walked in, Zenon quickly followed, closing the door behind him.
The moment the door closed, Xander spun on his heels and grabbed Zenon by the neck. “Not only did you talk me into walking down into that filthy sewer, but you dared order me around in front of others?” hissed Xander. His grip tightened as he stared daggers into Zenon’s eyes.
Pawing at hands around his neck, a panicked Zenon wheeze, “Apologies! I was only trying my best to acquire the Lich for you. I am, as always, your humble servant. I will remember my place.”
Zenon lips were beginning to become blue when Xander finally released him. “Don’t do it again,” he ordered in a calmer voice as he mastered his anger. “Be thankful that I still value your services.”
Taking a deep breath, color began to return to Zenon’s face and lips. He nodded quickly as he gasped for breath. He then straightened up. “A true pity we couldn’t acquire the Lich. I am sure we could have learned quite a bit from it.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, Skoshi arrived first. I’d still like to know how you knew about it so quickly,” questioned Xander. It bothered him that Zenon knew of it before him. With his network of informants, Xander typically was the first to know.
"I made a few friends with members of the guard,” smirked Zenon.
Before Xander could comment further, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. He looked up to find his son, Norley coming down the stairs with a smug look of triumph on his face. “I take you did well my son?” Xander proudly asked.
“Yes! Quite well Father. I’d say my group will come in first this year,” declared Nolrey.
“Well done, Nolrey,” praised Zenon. “You do your family proud.”
“Thank you, Zenon. That isn’t the best part though. I was able to put that elf in his place,” smirked Nolrey.
“Oh?” inquired Xander with a curious expression on his face. “Do tell.” He knew his son had been itching to pay Rygic back for the humiliation he felt during the testing ceremony.
“On the first day of the quest, I had Sulic and Trella join their group. From what they told me Rygic and his two pathetic friends readily accepted them by the end of the first day. It was then that Sulic and Trella drank a potion of invisibility and left them to fend for themselves while in the middle of battle,” regaled Nolrey.
“Well done,” congratulated Zenon all too happy. “I would dearly have loved to have seen that.”
“Yes, well done,” Xander said, his voice without emotion. “However, I do hope your little stunt doesn’t lead back to you. I don’t need to remind you how bad that could make our family look.”
“Nothing I ever do seems to please him,” Nolrey thought. “That is why I sent those two Father.”
A sigh escaped from Xander as he studied Nolrey. “Did it not occur to you that, what you did would be associated back to you since those two are always with you?”
Zenon clicked his tongue. A look on his face showed that he clearly wanted to add something. Nolrey’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he looked at his father’s assistant. “Something to add Zenon?”
“Me?” Zenon innocently asked. “Your plan had merit. However, I would have hired two seemingly random people instead of your two closest friends and paid them well to keep quiet. I certainly wouldn’t have had your two friends yell ‘Nolrey says hi’,” finished Zenon with a smirk.
A look of irritation passed swiftly over Xander’s face. “They said what?” he asked as if not believing how stupid they could be.”
“I didn’t tell them to say that,” defended Nolrey who was beginning to regret telling his father. Then he realized he hadn’t told his father and Zenon that part. “Wait, how do you even know that?”
Xander shifted his eyes toward Zenon. “Again, he knew something before me,” he thought to himself. “It doesn’t matter how we heard about it,” he stated as if he already knew. “What matters is that they did. You’re very lucky that Rygic and his friends made it out safely. While what you did wasn’t illegal, it was not ethical and that would reflect poorly on us,” chided Xander.
“Sorry Father,” Nolrey weakly apologized.
“It's done and in the past. Use this as a learning exercise,” instructed Xander. “Now if you two will excuse me, I’d like to bathe and get rid of this horrid stench. Without waiting for a reply, he left the room.
***
“Ugh, I can’t wait to get back and have a nice bath!” uttered Quart as he was the last to climb out of the sewer entrance.
“Agreed,” added Dreck who was trying to brush off who knows what off his robes.
“Could be worse, we could not have come back at all,” mumbled Ruby.
“It was a close thing,” commented Rygic.
“All things considered, I thought we made a great team,” reflected Lita. We seemed to gel really well. Especially so in that last encounter.”
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Ruby came around to Lita and put her arm around her. “Indeed, we did.”
“Not to be a buzzkill but we need to get hurry and turn in these rats before the end of the day,” reminded Dreck. The rest of the group looked up, noting the sun would set soon.
“Right, let's go turn these in, then a hot bath followed by a nice meal and a mug of kewale!” pipped Quart.
The group of five quickly made their way to the Academy gates where they were to turn in their rats. Relief washed over the group as they made it just before the sun fully set. At the gates stood Sergeant Balram wearing a big grin on his face.
“Good! You made it just in time,” Sergeant Balram cheerily stated. He noted how disheveled they appeared. Their robes were damp and slimy, and a hideous order emanated from them. He was happy to note, that none bore any serious injuries. “When I heard that we might have had a breach in the walls and something slunk into the sewers, I grew quite worried.”
Unsure of how much they should reveal, Rygic said, “Thank you for your concern, Sergeant. As you can see, we are quite all right.” Then changing the subject he added, “Did we make it in time to turn in our share of the rats?”
Sergeant Balram nodded to another guard standing close by who proceeded to step closer. In the guard’s hand was a burlap sack which he opened. “If you would be so kind as to deposit them in here,” he instructed.
“Um, we have quite a few rats, are you sure that bag is big enough,” ventured Quart.
Smirking, the guard replied, “Don’t worry, the bag is enchanted. Not only will it hold more than a typical bag of this size, but with the right spell, it will even reveal the number of items in it.”
“I’ve never heard of one that would reveal the quantity of items,” stated Lita. She leaned in to take a closer look at the runes stitched on it.
“Most adventurers tend not to use them since they typically will only count the first item type placed inside. Merchants tend to use these extensively,” explained Sergeant Balram.
“That makes sense. Still might be useful on certain quests like this one,” added Quart as he stroked his stubbly beard.
“Before you leave, if you could all write your names down on this piece of parchment,” instructed Sergeant Balram as he pointed towards the table next to him. Along with the parchment, there was also a quill and inkwell.
Each party member walked up and signed their name. Sergeant Balram quickly inspected the parchment ensuring the correct number of signatures were on it, then took a piece of runic ribbon and affixed it to the bag. He seemed to focus on the ribbon until it gave a brief blue glow before going back to normal. “This runic ribbon will ensure it doesn’t fall off and will also reveal any tampering,” he stated. Satisfied, he looked at the group. “You all should run along now and get cleaned up.” While I can tolerate the sewer’s smell, I am afraid these two are having a hard time,” he said with a grin.
They glanced at the other two guards next to Sergeant Balram. They were trying to be as polite as possible as they unsuccessfully tried to keep their faces neutral. They couldn’t help but scrunch up their noses and struggled to keep their eyes from watering.
“It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” joked one of the guards.
“Reminds me of latrine duty,” smirked the other before adding, “The Sergeant is right though. You all should head back. The results of everyone’s quests will be announced tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you there,” added Sergeant Balram.
“You’re coming to the ceremony?” Rygic asked.
“Yes, I'll be there. I am one of the officials tasked with ensuring the rats that are turned in are safeguarded,” stated Sergeant Balram.
“Safeguarded from what?” wondered Ruby.
“You’d be surprised how often students are caught trying to sneak in more rats after the time limit has been reached. Even had a few try to sabotage other party’s bags,” answered Sergeant Balram.
“Then I can rest well knowing you are safeguarding ours,” remarked Rygic. “See you tomorrow at the ceremony.” The others waved their goodbyes before turning and leaving.
They slowly made their way back towards their homes, careful to keep a small distance away from anyone walking by. It was well known that the first Academy quests were currently ongoing and most pedestrians gave them a wide birth. A few even offered sympathetic smiles. The party though exhausted, were in good spirits, speaking about their performances down in the sewers while never mentioning the lich. They soon reached a point where Ruby and Lita would be going in a different direction to their houses.
“Have you two ever been to the Rusty Cow?” inquired Quart. He couldn’t remember if he had ever seen Ruby or Lita in there.
“I haven’t had a chance, though I hear the food is really good,” commented Lita.
“Me either. I always wanted to try it, though never had anyone to go with me and no way was I eating by myself,” stated Ruby.
“Then you two should join us after you both had a chance to clean up,” offered Dreck.
“You wouldn’t mind?” asked Lita. Ruby kept her expression neutral though she studied Dreck, Quart, and Rygic’s expressions.
“Of course, we don’t mind. Please join us,” said Rygic. Both Quart and Dreck quickly agreed.
Before Lita could respond, Ruby suddenly announced, “We’ll be there!” She then grabbed Lita’s hand and began to quickly walkway.
“We’ll try to be quick. Can’t wait,” Lita shouted over her shoulder. Rygic could just barely make out Lita whispering to Ruby that she could let go now.
“I hear a Kewale calling my name, lets hurry back,” suggested Quart.
“Agreed,” said Dreck. “I think the Dewaft is starting to wear off, let's pick up the pace.”
With that three friends quickly made their way to the Rusty Cow. Yaz, as if she could sense they were approaching, was at the door waiting. “You three hurry up and get cleaned up. We are a little full tonight, and I don’t want you driving my customers away,” announced Yaz firmly though she wore a smile.
The three made a beeline to the bathing area, eager to shrug away the lingering sewer smell. Most of the customers didn’t seem to mind though. To them, they were always excited to gaze upon the next class of mages. Only Troper Harbs seemed to mind as they walked by. He blinked several times and made smacking noises as if to get rid of the taste in his mouth. He quickly took a drink from his glass before focusing back on his meal.
As they finished bathing, the three were happy to see they didn’t have to wait long for Ruby and Lita. They were seated at the three’s usual table, talking quietly with Yaz. They looked up as Rygic, Quart, and Dreck approached their tables.
“About time,” chided Ruby though her expression was pleasant. “Took any longer and we would have eaten without you.”
As the Rygic, Quart, and Dreck took their seats, Lita said, “I was just telling Yaz, the Rusty Cow lives up to its reputation. Everything I read about from the ambiance, the decor, the wonderful aroma of the food, and a feeling of being welcomed is true.”
“Wait till you try my cooking,” Yaz proudly stated. “Where did you hear about the Rusty Cow?”
“From Troper Harbs’ reviews,” answered Lita.
“You mean him?” Yaz asked slyly as she pointed in Troper's direction.
“Is that...really him? I never thought I’d see him in person!” exclaimed Lita. Even Ruby turned in the direction to get a glimpse. Yaz couldn’t help but smirk at Lita. Apparently, she was one of Tropper’s many fans.
Troper seemed to have felt their gazes. He looked looked up in their direction. Seeing Yaz, he gave a brief little wave before returning to his food.
“He’s in here quite often these days. It's been great for business,” explained Yaz. “Now what will you all like for dinner? Get what you want, it's on me tonight as a congratulatory meal for completing your first quest.
“I’ll take what he is having,” Lita immediately answered while pointing toward Troper.
“You sure? You don’t even know what he is eating,” smirked Yaz.
“If it's good enough for Troper, it should be good enough for me,” Lita confidently answered. Then as almost an afterthought, she asked, “What is he having anyway?”
“Tonight’s special, A hearty bowl of beef and mushroom stew,” declared Yaz.
The other four quickly ordered the special. “I’ll bring out some Kewale in a moment.” She then turned to head back to the kitchen.
“So, you all ready for tomorrow?” asked Rygic.
“I hope we had enough to pass the quest,” Ruby worriedly stated.
“Don’t worry, we’ll pass. The way Sergeant Balram was acting after he collected our rats was a good tell,” commented Rygic
“Seems like you know him well,” ventured Lita.
“Not well, but I did briefly travel with him recently,” answered Rygic.
Soon, the food came out. Much to Ruby and Lita’s delight, the food lived up to the hype as it was quite good. Yaz’s cooking lived up to Troper’s raving reviews. They talked of their time at the Academy as well as a little bit of their background as they didn’t have a chance to really get to know each other. Skoshi came in unnoticed. He stopped briefly by the tables and once again told them how well they did down in the sewer. Before leaving to head upstairs, he quietly asked Rygic to have a word with him before turning in for the night. Walking away, Skoshi couldn’t help but smile as it reminded him of his Academy days. The last thing he heard before heading upstairs brought an even wider smile to his face. The group had just agreed to become a permanent party.