The Kingdom of Milon was established seven centuries prior to this date. Within no time at all, it became a world power. The land it was established on had an abundance of natural resources and newly discovered dungeons and labyrinths, leaving them with no shortage of wealth. And because of the dungeons and labyrinths, powerful Questers from across the world came pouring in.
Milon was known for its beauty landscape and powerful monsters that lurked in the thick forest which were rich with mana. The abundant mana in this country went through a cycle. Because of these cycles ‘months’ were created. There were four: The first was the highest peak, the mana levels surged causing the monsters to run rampant. In this time, the casualty rate of Questers was the highest. The second month, the mana levels began to lower, though, they were still high enough to cause distress in the monsters. On the third month, the levels were finally at the average for the world. It was a peaceful period and it lasted the longest out of the four. During this time, towns and cities flourished. The fourth month experienced the most change, at first the levels were at record-setting lows before they started to rise up once more. During the times of low, the mana that normally kept the earth rich would dry up, causing many crop-failures.
On the morning of the third season out of the four, three figures made their way into the capital of Milon.
One was a handsome man with light brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His ears were slightly pointed and his golden eyes had somewhat of an inhuman gleam to them. He was tall and well-built, not overly so, though. He had a nicely made face, but his sensuous lips were drawn in a disapproving frown.
Next to him was a woman with glittering hair and eyes with a face constructed by the Heavens. She had nice legs and a round butt yet her chest could be mistaken as a young man’s. She was currently talking to the frowning man with an annoyed expression on her face.
And finally, there was a worthless looking person. Even though he, too, had a handsome face. He had dead-fish eyes, even though only one crimson orb was revealed. His hair was plaited in a single thick braid that reached his chest, and there was a bright red streak in there, too. He was taller than the frowning man and his figure was also well-constructed... but he just gave off an air of uselessness. A bottom-feeder.
He seemed out of place next to the two elegant others.
“Lord Erebus--”
“Erebus,” he corrected Vyne.
“Erebus,” Vyne said with some difficulty, “are you sure becoming a Quester will cure your boredom?”
“You! You dare doubt Lo- Erebus’ judgment?”
The two had been arguing for the entire journey on this subject. Whenever Vyne would attempt to get Erebus’ answer, Tear would intervene. The only time they had stopped arguing was when they had bought a change of clothes to appear more human.
Vyne had cast a glamor on himself to lessen his demonic appearance. Normally, he would have wings, two small horns protruding from his forehead, a tail, and slitted pupils.
Tear, since she had a completely human appearance, only had to change her revealing clothes. Though, she had gone for a dress with a plunging neckline and slit on both sides that went all the way up to her hips along with knee-high boots with a two-inch heel.
And there was no saving Erebus’ useless aura. They could only give him some decent clothing.
The trio, when they arrived, entered the Capital easily, the guards at the gates only asked for ID. Which Vyne had easily created with his [Illusion Creator]. It was his specialty as a demon, he was able to create an illusion out of anything. He could make a pile of leaves look like a mound of gold. That being said, in a few minutes the magic would wear off, revealing its true form.
Nonetheless, it was a useful skill.
Along with his [Illusion Creator], Vyne was skilled with a sword. Making him a deadly enemy to fight. This was because during battle Vyne was capable of making his enemy see things that weren’t actually there and confusing them completely. He was a person even Erebus didn’t want to face off against.
Tear hailed from the Clan of the Moon Goddess, which when it still existed, was known for producing immortal Huntress. Tear was a [Magical Archer] meaning that she did not use a traditional bow or arrow. It was a structure made completely out of her mana that shot off mana arrows capable of destroying small villages in a single shot.
Finally, Erebus, though he couldn’t use is [Lost Magic: Void] without causing a massive catastrophe, settled as a dual-blade wielder. Though he wasn’t as adept with the blade as Vyne was, seeing as he was primarily a mage, so to speak, he was still powerful enough to rival master swordsmen.
When they had practiced basic formations by fighting lesser monsters, they had proven to be extremely efficient. But, since none of them could use their full power (they wanted to blend in as moderately powerful humans), it was slower than they were used to. Which, in other words, was ended a battle within seconds.
In the current time, the trio found the Quester’s Guild and entered the large building. Large was an understatement. It was like a miniature castle. The architectural structure of it provided a certain ethereal feeling.
According to the information Vyne had gathered, the renovations were due to Grego Drand. He had provided them with enough funds to redo the entire structure.
“Is this what I get for killing him...” Erebus said softly so that only he could hear. Grego had turned out to be a pretty decent guy, he had heard many people expressing their sadness that he had been murdered. It wasn’t Erebus’ fault, right? Grego came and tried to kill him. Self-defense, self-defense!
Ignoring the dark cloud that had settled over Erebus, the trio had gained nearly everyone’s attention. Mostly because they were all annoyingly good looking, even the depressed/useless one. Tear received a few catcalls as they made their way to the front desk. And, much to their dismay, a few female Questers examined Erebus’ and Vyne’s backsides.
“Hello, welcome to the Capital’s Quester’s Guild,” the large-chested receptionist said with a smile. Her dark brown hair was set on top of her head in a high ponytail. “Do you wish to apply as new Questers?”
“Yes,” Vyne answered, stepping up. He was the only (semi) reliable person in their group. Seeing as Tear was wholly focused on Erebus, and Erebus had a habit of half-assing things.
The receptionist nodded. “Please go up to the second floor. When you are done there, you may come back down and immediately accept a Quest to go out on.”
“Thank you.” Vyne gave her a dazzling smile. The receptionist blushed at the beauty of it.
“Y-you’re welcome!”
“As I thought,” Erebus began as they walked away. “Vyne’s charm works on everyone.”
“Charm?”
“Even I’ve fallen for it.”
Vyne’s eyes brighten instantly. “L-Lord!”
“I’m joking.”
Tear makes a saddened (yet aroused) face at being ignored by Erebus.
“Hello,” the receptionist at the next floor greeted. This time was a male blonde with a pleasant face. He already had three blank cards prepared and spread out in front of him. “Please place a drop of your blood on a card and your Quester’s ID will be made. By doing this, you agree to abide the rules I will provide now.
“In the Quester’s Guidebook, there are two major rules to abide by. One: No killing fellow Questers, unless they have been labeled [Red], a criminal. Also, you may not kill any non-Quest related humans. Two: The only way to get rid of a Quest is by dying or being labeled [Red], where you can be Hunted. You cannot abandon any Quest. More or less, everything falls underneath those two categories. There are other rules, if you want to learn them, read the Guidebook. Do you agree to these rules?”
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“Yes,” the trio responded in unison. They each placed a drop of their own blood onto the silver cards. Within moments, glowing words burned themselves onto the plate. Erebus let out a soft ‘oo’ as he watched them form.
Seeing this, the receptionist continued. “In the Quester’s Guild, there are nine rankings. Tier 1, being the lowest, to Tier 9, being the highest. By completing a certain amount of Quest and you move throughout the rankings. For example, Tier 1 to Tier 2 requires 200 Rank. Quest offer money and also Rank. The average Tier 1 Quest gives 10-20 Rank. The rewards given increase with every Tier. Also, being a party does not lessen the amount of Rank you receive.”
“So, basically, if you want to become successful, do a lot of Quest?” Vyne questioned.
“It evens out the playing field. That way connections cannot be utilized to gain Tiers.” He made a face like something along the lines of that had happened before. “Would you like me to continue or do you understand the basics?”
“We understand the basics. The rest is in the Guidebook, correct?”
“Yes. If you ever have anymore questions, please come back.” The receptionist bowed to the trio as they left.
Tear examined her ID card. “We’ll need to keep these concealed. The information on them is kind of...”
Their IDs read as followed:
Name: Tear of the Moon Goddess
Age: 617
Race: High Human
Tier: 1
Status: Silver
Title: The Huntress
Name: Erebus
Age: Maximum Limit Exceeded
Race: Dragon
Tier: 1
Status: Silver
Title: Demon Lord, 5th Seat of the Council
Name: Vyne
Age: 1,201
Race: Demon
Tier: 1
Status: Silver
Title: Illusion Master
“Hey... what exactly is their Maximum Limit...” Erebus made a face. He wasn’t that old. As the card said, he belonged to the race that boasted the most power of them all, as they had existed the longest. Erebus was not the strongest of his race, though his strength ranked among the top ten, making him a member of the Dragon Council. Even though he looked like a human currently, his true form was that of a massive dragon with a wingspan of one mile.
“I see what you mean,” Vyne said, skillfully ignoring his Lord. “Our ages are far too old for any human and High Humans died (were massacred) off some time ago. Also, Erebus and I are from non-human heritage...”
“Well, depending on how we hold it, we can hide our age and title. It shouldn’t prove to be that difficult concealing it.”
Tear examined the cared. “Though, this is pretty amazing. The magic imbued in this card could tell what our Titles are.”
Erebus nodded in agreement.“This Quester thing sounds fun... at least, more fun than just sitting around all day. And waiting decades for some humans to try and challenge me.” By the way, Erebus had already given up hope on making friends. Having Vyne and Tear with him would make that an impossible task.
“Indeed, this will be a nice pastime.”
Vyne, who had no shortage of beings (even though he said he did) to torture, already had a nice pastime.
“Isn’t it way too easy to become a Quester?” Tear input. “I mean, we just said we wanted to join and they let us.
”
“For a fee,” Vyne said. Though it wasn’t mentioned, they each had to pay 1 gold coin to join.
“Because if you do anything that’ll label you as [Red] you get hunted down instantly.”
“I see...” Vyne said as they made their way to the Quest Board. “I’m assuming your Status will change if you become a [Red] instead of [Silver]...”
“That’d make sense,” Tear nodded.
“Also, from the information I gathered as we were traveling, Tier 9 Questers are rare.”
“The Rank needed must be a large amount.”
“No, it’s because of the Quest difficulty. Tier 1 Questers probably get easy Quest to deal with more or less. But being Tier 8 or 9 would be more along the lines of death being a large part of every Quest. Seeing as how it was Tier 9 and 8 Questers that came to subjugate us,” Erebus explained.
“I see. So you’re saying Tier 7 would be more common?” Tear nodded.
“It’s mere speculation.”
“Let’s quickly get out of Tier 1,” Vyne suggested. “It should be easy.”
“Right,” Tear agreed. She wanted to quickly go through the Tiers so she could get lost in a dungeon and have Erebus come and save her.
Tear gets a dreamy look in her eye as she continued to think of those types of things.
A shiver passed through Erebus.
-----------
“I’m bored.”
“I apologize, Lord Erebus.” Tear frowned. “Tier 1 Quest are rather dull.”
All day they had been doing simple Quest, they had managed to get to Tier 2. Tier 1 Quest required no fighting at all but rather gathering and things of the like. They even had to find a cat.
They found that forming a party was the easiest way to go about this. Each of them accepted a quest solo. But since they were in a party, they were able to gain Rank 3x as faster, as it was shared equally.
“When I looked at the Quest Board, it seems that Tier 3 Quests are where you’re able to begin fighting,” Vyne said as they entered a classy (expensive) inn.
Erebus let out a sigh. “Boring, boring.” They walked towards the inns receptionist. “One room please. Three beds or two.”
“T-two!” Tear automatically shouted. “Two beds will be fine.”
“Eh? I don’t really mind sleeping in the same bed as Vyne but I thought he’d want his own.”
“I see. That is true, it will be uncomfortable if we have to share a bed, Erebus.”
The receptionist gave them a confused expression.
“W-wait! I was suggesting Erebus and I share a bed.”
“Even though it’ll be tight, we can fit, Vyne.”
“What’s this indescribable feeling in my heart right now?” Vyne touched his chest.
“Tonight... I’ll become a man.” Erebus casted a shy look at Vyne.
“Hey! Why are you ignoring me? And what are you two talking about doing while someone else is in the room?”
The receptionist truly looked frightened, to her, this wasn’t amusing.
Erebus then turned to the receptionist with a serious expression. “We’re joking.”
“O-of course. Three beds then?”
“Yes,” Vyne said.
“That’ll be 5 gold.”
Erebus carefully pulled 5 coins out of his swollen wallet (a Demon Lord amasses a certain amount of wealth, this was but a small portion) and gave them to the receptionist.
The receptionist wished them a good stay as the trio left the first floor.
“Ah, Lord Erebus, we’ve gotten so dirty. Perhaps we should take a bath together?” Tear suggested with a modest face.
“Stop trying to do such indecent things to Lord Erebus!”
“If you want to take a bath with me, that’s fine.”
Tear blushed. “Would you even push my head underwater until I could barely breathe and then bring me up at the moment before I lose consciousness and kiss me?”
“Isn’t that way too extreme? I take that back. I’m not bathing with you.”
“Tch.”
Thus ended their lackluster day.
With this chapter, it ends what I already had written. I'm working on chapter three so it should be out soon. Please tell me any thoughts, concerns, or things of the like. Sorry if it starts out a little slow, I'm building up to the main events.