Callie’s PoV

It was with a weary sigh that I rode our horse buttercup up to the open but guarded city gate of Eidencrag. Thankfully the guard on duty recognised Zaraya and myself and with a small nod in greeting, let us pass without any hassle. I was grateful for that small mercy, I was definitely not in the mood to deal with self important assholes today. The little Nekokin in my lap was fast asleep leaning against my chest as we passed underneath the portcullis. A little bit of drool had dribbled onto my left leg, thankfully clad in leather armour. Suddenly one of her cute cat ears, the one with a single white spot among her black fur, twitched from the sudden spike in noise as we entered the city proper and she jerked awake with a start. I couldn’t help but smile indulgently at the little cat girl. Her black and white fluffy tail lifted up and brushed my face from where it had been curled around her stomach before she jerked it away from my face with a startled noise. I winced slightly as her fingernails extended briefly on instinct into small claws and poked into my arm she had been clinging onto. Thanks to my decently high constitution, it didn’t do any damage.

“Oh, sorry Callie.” The adorable cat girl apologised sleepily as she turned around to look me in the eyes before she yawned, her little fangs just visible. And to think I used to think that her big green cat-like eyes on her otherwise human face used to look a little strange. It’s just such a shame that she rarely looks people in the eye that she isn’t comfortable with, people need more cute adorableness in their lives. Maybe if the Dragon Lords had more of it themselves, they wouldn’t be trying to exterminate everyone but them.

“It’s fine Raya, you didn’t even pierce my skin.” I responded with a shake of my head, the colourful beads on the short braids that is the left side of my light brown hair making little clinking noises as they swung with the motion of my head. I gave her a short pat on her head, between her ears and heard her purr happily. If anyone else had done this, they would’ve been sporting five very painful scratches at the least. The little Shaman cat girl was fierce when she wanted to be.

“Where do you want to stay tonight? Want to sleep in an inn or see if the association hall has room this time?” I asked my companion. Nekokin can have particular needs that aren’t always apparent to other races. Raya especially wasn’t fond of places with particularly strong odours and she preferred it if we stayed on the highest floor of the inn if it had one. I chuckled lightly, “What about ‘The Fish Guts?’”

“Oh, ergh. Gross!” Raya responded exactly as I had expected her to, she hated fish and anything to do with it. It was highly amusing considering her species was well known for their love of seafood. I gave her a soft squeeze from behind, making sure to not move too quickly or I’d startle her. “It’s okay cutie, we won’t be going there.” I say gently and brush some hair out of her face as she purred again softly and her shoulders slumped a little as tension she had been holding was released. Even though I knew that Raya was stronger than I gave her credit for sometimes, I still felt a little guilty for teasing her like that.

I tapped my heels gently on Buttercups flanks while pulling on the reins slightly as we approached the building that contained the local adventurers association hall. Before I could even say anything, Raya, displaying the nimbleness that her race was well known for, stood up on the horse before me and jumped off before Buttercup had even stopped walking. With barely even a huff, Raya straightened up from bending her knees as she had landed and dusted some of the dirt and detritus that had accumulated on her black and white tight top and split skirt from our long trip. Raya would normally have been wearing her armour but seeing as we had already been close enough to the city to pass patrols, she hadn’t bothered, she did, however make sure to wear her bandolier of totems that she required for her class. As for me I had most of my armour on, as well as my twin swords and Magitech Rifle, but that’s because I rarely felt comfortable without them. There were too many monsters in this world, and plenty of them disguised themselves as friends.

I swung my right foot up and over the saddle then slid gracefully off the side of our horse, I was thankful yet again for my high agility stat points. While the added flexibility from a high agility stat was nice, it actually made stretching harder to do but then alternatively also made it less necessary. As I tied Buttercup's lead to the hitching post I acknowledged the light blue box that appeared in my vision.

You have tied your mount ‘Buttercup’ (horse) to the Adventurers Association Hall. If it is left here for more than an hour you will be charged the hourly rate until collected.

Do you wish to proceed?

Yes No

I clicked yes and Buttercup briefly flashed a light blue before it faded. Thankfully due to this system, Raya and I can rest easy knowing that our horse won’t be stolen while we are inside. “Come on Raya,” I sigh wearily, “let’s go inside and hand in our quests then see about dinner and a bed for the night.” I glance at my companion as her ears flick briefly in a typical Raya response to the high chance of having to deal with people, honestly I didn’t blame her, but one of us had to do it. A lot of adventurers seemed to be insufferable assholes and that was most of the reason for Raya and I avoiding joining any guilds. As I proceeded up the stone stairs and through the double doors, into the large wooden building, I could feel my shoulders become tense in response to any possible idiots in the room. Thankfully there weren't many other people in the large room, a few near the quest wall and that’s about it. The room itself was fairly basic, mostly just several counters along the back wall and a small smattering of tables and chairs throughout to give an area for people waiting a place to sit. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I had even been holding and walked straight up to the young man at the counter. There was a wooden sign above him written in basic that simply said: Quest Hand In. Stepping up to the counter, I nodded to the man, before waving my hand over a small crystal on the countertop. It flashed a bright green then again as Raya copied me as she stood close enough to almost be pressing into my side, her tail curling around my elbow gently.

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A notification popped up in front of us asking if we wanted to finalise the quests we had completed. Before we hit Yes, I pulled the leather pouch out that contained the venom laced quills from the Quillhounds we had hunted for one of the quests and placed it on the bench. With a mental nudge I completed the quest a second before Raya did. A successful quest notification popped up as the bag vanished in a blue light.

Quest Complete: Quillboar Quills

Rewards:

1g 20s

500xp

Quest Complete: Rock Wolf Hunting

Rewards:

1g 40s

650xp

I sighed as I watched my experience bar move closer to my next level up but not quite reach. So close! Thankfully it won’t take much to hit level 23 now after those two quests. I glanced over to Raya to let her know I was going to visit the quest board on the far wall when I noticed she had a soft yellow glow surrounding her, her long black hair and clothes blowing in a breeze that only affected her, before it faded, her hair looking a little windswept but no longer moving.

“Aw you levelled up before me?!” I exclaimed in mock anger then cracked a small smile at my friend to let her know that I was only kidding around. Raya can be sensitive to other people's feelings a little too much sometimes and I didn’t want her to feel bad about being several levels above me. I gave her a gentle pat on her head and a one armed hug as congratulations. She blushed a little at the praise and her black cat ears twitched a little nervously at the public display of affection but she still had a smile on her face. “Thanks Callie!” She said, her green eyes twinkling and her tail swishing happily back and forth.

“Come on,” I said, “let’s go and see what quests they have available.” The little Nekokin nodded her head and followed me as I led us over to where the quests were posted on the wall. Glancing around at what options they had available, I made sure to ignore the occasional stares and quiet mumblings of the three Adventurers standing nearby. All men of course. While women certainly weren’t rare, we definitely were the minority. If about 35% of the adventurers being women would be considered a minority. Small independent groups like Raya and I definitely were rarer still. It seemed that Raya had found our next quest, as she stepped up to the wall and tapped the piece of paper with our next quest on it. It vanished as she accepted the quest then because I was in a party with her the quest notification popped up for me to accept too.

Dungeon Quest

If you accept this quest, please travel to Tree Caverns Dungeon and gather 15 seeds of the bowabowa plant that resides within. The dungeon is located north of Eidencrag near the Forbodding Forest. This is a group quest

Rewards:

5g 15s

3,700xp

Accept Decline

“Whoa, you aren’t messing around Raya, you think we can do this?” I asked as I glanced at my companion. Raya looked up at me with a determined expression and nodded. I smiled at her and nodded my head too. “Alright then.” I agreed as I mentally clicked accept. We checked to see if there were any other quests that we could easily complete while heading that way or on the way back but unfortunately there were none. It was always best to try and maximise how many we can complete in one outing. Still this one, while being dangerous, also pays really well. Enough to compensate at least.

One of the three boys looked like he wanted to come over to us but I gave him a withering look and he pretended to be just shifting his position while he chatted with his friends, who both laughed at his antics. Right, it was definitely time to leave if the idiots were starting to get ideas. I swiftly walked away from the wall and idiots who might still get it in their heads to be our so-called heroes and rescue us from a terrible and lonely fate or some such nonsense I’m sure they’re imagining to get into our good graces or other places. My face scrunched up in distaste at my last thought. No thank you, I’ve had enough of insufferable dickheads telling me what I can and can’t do to last me a lifetime.

“Come on Raya, time to go and collect supplies and find a room for the night. It’ll take a week to get there on horseback, so the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back. We’re also going to have a bath tonight though, no exceptions!” I said with finality. I heard Raya let out a little hiss but she didn’t argue. She might not enjoy getting her fur wet, but she did really enjoy me brushing it dry, and how fluffy it felt afterwards. I strode out of the hall with a determined walk, we had a quest to complete.