Bright and early the next morning, the pair of Moch & Oats were in the town square, ready to listen to the village chief speak. Amongst the audience, Moch counted about seven other novices about his age who had gone through the ceremony the day before. The chief was on a simple crude elevated wooden platform and began.
“Good morning to all - and welcome to the rest of your lives,” he said with a knowing grin, visible through his dense white beard. He received a buzz and murmur of excitement and anxiety in return.
“I take it as my honour that I am granted this opportunity - to bless the next generation of adventurers to go forth and grow in our beautiful world of Edea. It is no doubt you know that we do not live in complacence - we work for our keep, we contribute to the cause and we keep combat-ready should the dark forces start anything in our territory, Vernroot Valley. We might be safe from natural disasters!” The village chief emphasised and paused for effect, while gesturing to the great rock mountains bordering the forest that protected Moch’s village, “but we are not lazy. At any point, we might be summoned to bolster the defences of Quillvalley Keep in the North, or fight to protect our closest neighbour and crucial Edean trade-centre, the Vernroot Crossroads."
At the mention of a martial possibility, where the village would band together and clash against evil, the crowd tensed. Every class and character, howsoever supportive in nature, had combat capabilities. This was what confused Moch so much in the first place - how could he fling [Friendship] around in the frontlines? Such was the world they lived in - where every single Edean citizen had to fight to grow and thrive before various events would make them decide to settle down at different points in their lives in various places. This commonality, though sometimes scary to the young and uninitiated, gave everyone something to unite over and something “better to do” than the petty crimes and misdeeds that might occur in a society at peace (which was not to say none occur).
"Must be nice to have a family that settled down, Veranus knows where mine are," thought Moch to himself, as he looked at the relatives that bolstered the other sevens' ranks.
“It is thus that we must all know how to fight.” The chief continued.
The crowd murmured in agreement.
“No matter the class. No matter the age. No matter the wealth we possess…” When the chief mentioned class, his eyes quickly swept over Moch.
“We must stand together. For Edea!”
“For Edea!” the whole crowd replied in unison, including Moch and Oats. Eh? Interesting... Immediately after, Moch registered that Oats had returned this chant as well, as something to note for the future as he continued to establish a profile on this mysterious being.
“Now comes your first test - the initiation you’ve been training so hard for the past few years. I assign you now your first quests, to prove you can survive in our harsh world beyond this village. I hope you don’t resent me for having you undergo such an arduous task… Slay 5 slimes!” He’d gestured his staff upwards when he said it, causing the quest screen to appear in front of the seven.
[QUEST] The First Step
The village chief wants you to prove you can take on the harsh world of Edea. There is no time limit, though slaying five slimes shouldn’t take too much of a toll on you.
Slay Slimes 0 / 5
Rewards: 5 silver, Novice identification token, Adventurer registration papers
Everyone laughed. This was the chief’s yearly routine - to rally and remind the newbies of their greater goal, then give them an easy task that no one could fail. For the weaker and more fearful ones, they would just take more time. No one had died from this quest in living memory, but village protectors would still hang around at distances and patrol the forests to pick up any injured and frozen-in-shock-or-fear adventurers. Besides this, no direct help was allowed from anyone.
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After a happy dismissal and many mutual hugs and pats on the back, Moch and the seven others made their way into the forest in random directions. Slimes were easily found everywhere and not taken as aggressive creatures, so they were also easily found in the immediate surroundings of the village of Vernroot Valley as well.
Oats was resolved.
“I don’t want you to help me. I have to go through this rite of passage myself.”
“I wasn’t going to anyway!” she giggled.
Was that a malicious giggle? Moch still didn’t know.
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“I’ll only help if you’re in dire straits. I’m more a guide than a cheat character for you. You’d never grow if I just blasted everyone into oblivion anyway,” she harrumphed and crossed her arms.
“Right.” Mental note. ‘Blasting into oblivion’ seems like something she can do. Maybe I should praise her. Looks or something. Sooner better than later.
Raven Locke happened to be walking in the same direction as Moch, not having noticed his conversation with Oats - a conversation that would look to others as schizophrenic discussions with air. She was a tall, lithe, friendly girl with dark blue hair, who kept to herself but had done a few tasks here and there with Moch, and they smiled at each other as they walked toward the forest. Her with her bow, and Moch and his… twig.
“You’ll be okay with that?” She inquired.
“I’ll have to be, I guess.” Moch replied with slight resignation - he’d not been given nor made enough money beyond paying for his living expenses and upkeep of his house and clothes. He didn’t even have farming tools - when he worked part-time for the local farmers, it was borrowed.
Oh. She’s a friend. Let’s try this.
Moch focused on the idea of [Friendship] in his head as he fist-bumped her as she offered one in pity solidarity with what they were about to do. Nothing happened.
There goes touch activation. A verbal chant?
“FRIENDSHIP!” Moch shouted.
Nothing happened again.
Raven smiled at the eccentricity. “Yeah. Friendship. Do tell me… if you need help, yeah?”
“Will do. Thanks.” With a forced smile, the two separated into different regions of the forest. Kill me. That was so embarrassing.
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The local forest bordering the village was aglow with the sun slowly rising, shimmering its rays through the foliage. It was, however, less red than Moch’s cheeks, as he trekked through and thought about how he’d screamed the word “friendship” at an acquaintance's face mere moments ago. Oats was hovering nearby - one hand on a tree trunk, and the other holding her mouth to withhold the great peals of laughter that threatened to escape her tiny frame. After swallowing the hilarity and bracing herself, she flew in front of Moch's face.
“We’re alone now! I have something to tell you.” Oats, with her cheeks still red from not-laughing, said.
“What is it?”
“You don’t want to finish this quest.”
“Eh?”
He stopped in his tracks. Already throbbing with excitement to complete his quest (somehow) with his twig in hand and smooth rock at his waist, he was all but ready to dominate the forests’ creatures, starting with the humble slime - nature’s excess mana turned into semi-sentient vacuum cleaners. Sentient bubbles today, demon lords tomorrow!
“You need help... and I can't provide it. You'll have to look for it. Do this instead!” Oats snapped her fingers and a quest screen pinged in front of the confused Moch, who'd just found his intentions to waylay demon lords apprehended.
[VARIANT QUEST] The First Friend
Oats has come to you for a reason, and she doesn't see the need for wanton violence. "When all the fish in your village are telling you to swim downstream, she wants you to know that salmon swim upstream." You’re supposed to be a salmon.
Gain a Slime’s Trust 0 / 1
Rewards: Class Advice, Slime Spirit
VARIANT: You will not be able to complete “The First Step” if you complete this.
After reading the description, Moch swung Oats an arched eyebrow.
“You want me to not do this quest. This one quest that I’ve waited my whole life to do, the one that will open the gates of wealth, power and status for me, to make friends with slimes?”
“Yes. And-”
“No.”
“You’re not letting me fini-”
“No.”
Before he fell for another endless back-and-forth, Moch sprinted into an nearby bush where he heard the slow bubbly movement of some forest slimes, dangling his branch above his head like a caveman, ready to deliver a good pounding I'll get a few swings in before she nags at me again. Hopefully she won't be able to stop me when combat begins.
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Slimes were slimes. They’d existed across time in the mana rich world of Edea - where sometimes, remnant mana from spells, battles and naturally occurring objects would bind together along the unseen currents of the world to create a core that would possess characteristics that mimicked the environment around it. This core would slowly produce a jelly-like substance that would grant it a frame to protect it from harm and a 'wheel' to allow it to roll around. There were a lot of slime types, as there were a lot of variants of other monsters. With enough time, slimes could become great too - just that this probability was not high - from humble 3-dimensional circles to great big creature kings. One even went on to establish its own nation!
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Moch's senses were accurate - there were three roly-poly forest slimes ranging from levels 2 to 4 past the bushes. Even without a combat ability, I should be able to handle a slime. Though I've always chosen not to harm creatures, I have to do this. I have to. He chose the closest one, a level 2, and swung his great Olive branch down at it.
"Hyah!"