“You’re sure they didn’t misread it?” Lucas said for the fifth time in as many minutes as he idly jingled his now full coin pouch.
The now officially licensed adventurers had split up after stopping by the Hunter’s guild, agreeing to meet up back there again once they’d gathered the supplies Andrew had asked for a ‘payment’ for borrowing his magical cart. Jubel had stayed behind to deal with the paperwork involved in claiming the bounty they’d earned and check out the quest listings, to see if there was anything local they might be able to take care of before they got back, but he’d only managed to find one prospective quest by the time Vivi and Lucas had returned with the goods they needed.
“Positive,” Jubel said flatly. “I saw the wanted poster myself. 1000 gold for proof of the death of Chief Zil of the Last Fall tribe - which means 250 each. According to Fiona, he’d been raiding all sorts of folks for a while now. He hit enough places and left so few survivors that the nobles were getting nervous, and they upped the reward just two weeks back.”
“Fiona?” Vivi cocked her head to the side in confusion.
“The half elf receptionist,” Jubel explained. “When she went to show me the bounty list, I was gonna thank her, but I realized I never got her name while we were registering. That seemed kinda rude, so I asked what it was. Gave her a few gold from my share of the bounty, too - she deserved a tip for putting up with us first thing in the morning like that.”
Lucas snorted. “That’s the worst flirting I’ve ever even heard of, which is saying something!”
“I wasn’t flirting!” The half elf objected. When the mercenary merely raised an eyebrow in response, he snapped at him. “How much more coffee do you need before you stop being obnoxious?”
“I’ve spent my entire adult life searching for the answer to that question,” Lucas replied with a wolfish grin. “I’ve yet to find a satisfactory answer.”
Jubel was good at letting go of his anger and frustration, but some days, Lucas was a godsdamned menace. “Where is Damaia?” He asked abruptly, mostly to change the subject. “She had the shortest list. Shouldn’t she be back by now?”
“The berries she was supposed to get for Andrew’s secret recipe are pretty hard to find in the city,” Vivi noted, looking towards the guild entrance with a nervous frown. “They’re very popular, and the locals here tend to snap them up as soon as they arrive. Andrew will usually get them from villages along the way, where they’re actually grown, to save on time and money. I did explain that to D, but she takes any task she’s given so seriously… she might actually check every fruit stand in the city before she accepts that they’re out of stock. Should we go -”
“Trust her to do the job she was given,” Lucas interrupted, his earlier smirk gone. “She’ll only feel worse if we go looking for her. She’s not a child, Vivi. You don’t need to baby her.”
Vivi bristled at that, but as she opened her mouth to respond, Jubel interjected.
“Bickering is a poor way to celebrate the birth of a new legend! We just made our team! We should be drinking, eating, questing!” He tapped the piece of paper that held the quest notification he’d found. “I was going to wait until Damaia came back to discuss it,” he admitted, “but this could be our fast track to ranking up!”
“Ranking up?” Lucas raised an eyebrow.
“Adventurers are divided into 4 ranks,” Jubel replied.
“Copper ranks are newbies, Silvers are a bit more reliable, Gold ranks are proper veterans, and apparently the last rank is just called ‘Hero.’” He smirked knowingly “Ignis is apparently still stuck at Copper. Three guesses why.”
“Niko?” Vivi asked dryly.
Jubel nodded. “He does a good job when it comes to fighting monsters, but a better job when it comes to pissing off the people in charge of deciding who ranks up,” the half elf explained, his grin unwavering.
“So… we’re agreed that we need to hit gold before them, right?” Lucas asked, glancing over Jubel’s shoulder as he spoke.
“Oh, obviously,” the half elf agreed enthusiastically. “No way we can let an opportunity to annoy Niko slide. His reactions are too fun.”
“Two questions,” Damaia said, popping her head in between Vivi and Jubel and making the pair nearly jump out of their seats.
“How long have you been there?” Jubel asked as Lucas, who’d been able to watch her approach from his place opposite them at their table, laughed.
“It’s my turn to ask questions,” Damaia pouted. “You can wait a minute, like I did! Now, first, isn’t that kinda mean?”
“Guys bond by bullying each other,” Jubel said, shooting Lucas a glare as he spoke. “Which is probably why someone didn’t let me know you were here.”
Damaia tilted her head to the side as she considered what she was hearing. “Okay. I guess that makes sense… but why’s the fourth rank called hero? If they’re naming everything else after coinage, shouldn’t Platinum be at the top?”
“The official title is technically Platinum,” Jubel admited, “but people these days call it Hero. Apparently Gold used to be the top rank, but a few of them used to be so far above the rest they ended up pulling the kind of stunts that go down in history! If you can manage to, and I quote, ‘commit extraordinary or legendary deeds, become well known across at least one large city, and impress the guild council,’ then you get a fancy title and formal recognition as a Hero, but It’s been about a century since a full team earned the rank.”
“And it’ll probably stay that way,” Lucas said sternly. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re good - hell, I wasn’t kidding about beating Ignis to Gold! - but Heroes are beyond rare, and for good reason.” He wisely decided not to mention the very real possibility that they’d all die horribly long before they reached Silver, much less Gold.
“I’m sensing a story,” Vivi said, raising an eyebrow. The mercenary only scowled and muttered in response. “What was that?”
He took a deep breath before rushing through the next sentence.
“MysquadinthearmyfacedoneandIbarelymadeitoutalive.”
Jubel and Vivi paused to try to decipher the jumble of noises that Lucas seemed to think qualified as a sentence.
“So what Hero almost killed you?” Damaia asked cheerfully without missing a beat.
“Princess Abigail,” he grumbled, going slightly red in the face. “She said she’d spare anyone who threw down their weapons and peacefully surrendered. I was the only man in my squad at the time who took her seriously.”
“The Princess?” Vivi eyes lit up as she sprang to her feet. “The Deadly Rose fought you and you lived?!” She was actually trembling.
“I take it you’re a fan of her work?” Lucas asked dryly.
“She’s my hero!” Vivi beamed. “She’s the youngest person in the history of Fortissia to earn the title, and in spite of her position as heir to the throne, she fights for her people on the front lines, risking her life on a daily basis. She’s nothing short of inspirational!”
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“She’s a nightmare to fight, is what she is,” Lucas grumbled. “My troop was made up of twenty men, and she didn’t even bother to bring backup! She threw around men over a foot taller than her like it was nothing, and wiped out our Captain and vice Captain in the first five seconds. The ‘deadly’ part of her name was well earned.”
“Drool over your Hero later,” Jubel scolded jokingly. “Right now, we have to pick our first quest, and I think I’ve found the perfect one. Listen to this!” The half elf melodramatically cleared his throat and put on a horrible accent in an attempt to sound posh as he read the quest description. “ A new Dungeon has appeared beneath Invicta. It has been slowly expanding, and as of today, has connected to the sewers. Anyone willing to risk exploring the dungeon and return with a map will be credited with rewards and accolades equivalent to five Copper quests, with additional rewards if this dungeon proves particularly dangerous.” He turned towards his team with a wide smile. “That’s halfway to Silver for one day’s work!”
“If it’s one day’s work,” Vivi said skeptically. “Dungeons are no joke, Jubel. This is a big risk. How old is that request?”
Jubel’s smile turned into a full blown smirk. “I asked Fiona just before you guys got back. She said it was formally posted yesterday.”
The rest of the party glanced at each other, their expressions ranging from utter bewilderment to naked greed.
“Dungeons have magic items and tons of treasure in them,” Lucas said slowly. “And we weren’t going to leave until midday tomorrow anyway.”
“It’s never going to be safer to try than it is now,” Vivi admitted reluctantly.
“I don’t know much about Dungeons,” Damaia said cheerfully, “but I’m all for dealing with problems before they get bigger. That’s like… 25% of what engineering is about!”
“We’re in agreement then!” Jubel snatched up the paper and sprang to his feet.
“Today, we rest. Tomorrow, we quest!”
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Izzy was having an absolutely AMAZING time in the city. There were so many interesting things to see - and the smells! There were food stands on every corner, covered with all sorts of great smelling meats! She tried to get some a few times, but Purple Lady and Big Wolf kept stopping her, the big jerks!
Thankfully, after she scolded them for hogging all the good food, they decided to get her something from a big building that smelled like food and people. First they gave her some of the meat from their plates, then a little bowl of crunchy things that tasted like salt and honey. How did they know honey was one of Izzy’s favorite things?!
Oh, right - Second Mom must’ve told them! She always kept honey treats around the shop for Izzy. Sometimes, she’d even hide them to make it into a game, and pretend to be surprised when Izzy found and ate them all! That was probably Izzy’s favorite game.
Speaking of games, it looked like Big Wolf and his friends were playing one right now, making all kinds of noise and pushing back and forth with some tall guy dressed in blue. At least, the thing on his back was blue. What did Second Mom call that? A cape?
Blue was nice. It wasn’t purple, though. Speaking of purple, Purple Lady didn’t seem to be having a very good time - instead of playing with the tall man like Big Wolf, she was trying to make herself look small. She kept looking towards the door to the big, noisy house they were next to, like she wanted to run inside.
That confused Izzy for a moment. Why act like prey? Why would you hide from a game? Playing was how you learned how to hunt, and grew up strong! Both of Izzy’s mom’s had agreed on that! So why -
WAIT! Was… was this not a game? Was Blue Cape guy trying to actually hunt them?! That was so mean, not to mention stupid. Big Wolf was just as tall as Blue Cape, and way, way stronger. Blue Cape must’ve just realized that now, because he was backing away from Big Wolf, snarling and shaking his weird human paws at them. Izzy chased after him with a bluff charge, puffing up her feathers as best she could to show him who he was messing with. How dare he upset Purple Lady! She was nice, and gave Izzy treats!
Blue Cape called her bluff, though. He kicked her in the side, sending her tumbling backwards into Big Wolf’s feet. His eyes flashed amber as he stared down at her, and she felt her feathers stand on end. Did she do something wrong? Why did he look so mad? Then he snarled at Blue Cape - not the usual two legged snarling, like the others were doing, but a Big Wolf snarl, like when she first saw him.
Then a few more people showed up - all of them covered in extra hide everywhere except their face. Izzy always wondered why the two legged people didn’t cover their faces too. It hurt to get hit in the face, so wouldn’t that be the first thing you want to cover? The new people didn’t do much except stand around and snarl at them in weird, two legged voices, but there were six of them, and they looked a lot stronger than Blue Cape… Izzy was worried for a moment that Big Wolf might actually try to fight them all, but instead, he pointed at Blue Cape and said something that made all six of the new people turn and frown at him.
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“Who cares if I kicked that menace?!” The blue caped nobleman shouted furiously. “That beast was trying to attack -”
Lucas took a slow deliberate step forward, causing the noble - and the guards that had come to investigate the disturbance - understandably nervous. “Izzy is a cub,” He growled from between clenched teeth. “You wanted to be taken more seriously, didn’t you? Well, congratulations! She saw you as a threat, so she tried to scare you the only way she knew how; by pretending to charge at you.”
“Pretend?! You may think your little pet can do no harm, but an attack is an attack, you -”
“Where are your injuries?” Vivi interjected, her eyes gleaming dangerously as the rude man took a half step forward.
That seemed to confuse him for a moment. “What?”
“Your injuries? From the ‘attack’ you suffered at the hand of this ‘menace’?” She carefully held up Izzy, who was less than happy about having been punted halfway across the room.
“Well…” the noble tried to maintain his bluster, but he was clearly starting to lose his nerve as he eyed the guards nervously.
“Not so keen to try to push us around now?” Lucas pressed. “It’s fine. We’re happy to drop the matter.”
The noble bit his lip. “Well, that’s… I suppose we could-”
“Just apologize for being so rude to my friend here,” the mercenary interrupted, waving one hand towards Damaia, “and for kicking Izzy, and that’ll be the end of it.”
The noble opened his mouth to scream at the mercenary, clearly offended at the idea of having to admit to any degree of wrongdoing, but one the guards stopped him. “We’ll take it from here, sir,” one of them said firmly. “Jackson! Hendrick! You two show the good Baron to the best inn you know of, and make sure he isn’t accosted by any more…beasts.” Lucas noticed the authoritative man looked at Izzy for an unnecessarily long time before hesitantly finishing his sentence. “I’ll check witness testimony and file the report. We’ll meet back at the barracks in two hours. Understood?”
The two guards he’d named nodded reluctantly, falling in on either side of the clearly offended nobleman as they led him away.
“Sorry about that,” the chatty guardsman said as soon as the noble was out of earshot. “We’ve got a lot of nobles coming to town at the moment for the Princess’ twenty-third birthday, and a few of them, like Baron Menlay there, are a bit…” he trailed off, grimacing.
“It’s fine,” Lucas rumbled. “You can’t be expected to babysit every spoiled noble. Now, you’ll need to hear my side of the story for your report, right?”
The guard blinked a few times, surprised by how cooperative the massive man was being. “Well, ah, yes, as a matter of fact, just let me…” he rummaged through a small bag at his hip, eventually pulling out a sheet of paper, a quill, and a small wooden plank (which was easily twice the size of the bag itself) before nodding to Lucas. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“The Baron and I seem to have similar tastes in accommodations,” the mercenary began. “He insisted on spouting a few insults at my friend Damaia when he found out we’d already paid for the room he’d been hoping to stay in, and didn’t take kindly to my suggestion that we talk things out calmly. I was, admittedly, on edge about the matter, since she’d been harassed for her appearance since the minute we reached the city, but I tried to defuse the situation peacefully. That almost immediately turned into what I could best describe as a hostile staring contest, which ended with him storming off, cursing at us and making vague threats - you know, the ‘do you have any idea who I am’ kind.”
The guard nodded as he scribbled down Lucas’ account of the event. “And then your pet tried to charge him?”
Lucas nodded. “To be clear, I meant what I said to him - it was a bluff charge. Hawkbears - and normal bears, for that matter - try to scare off things they don’t like by making it look like they’re going to attack. They don't really try to hurt people unless they feel cornered or have something to protect.”
The guard nodded slowly as he finished his notation.
“We won't waste any more of your time, then,” the guard said with a tired smile. “I’ve just got to ask a few of the patrons that were watching what they saw, then I can go back to the barracks and add it to that miserable man’s mile long list of ‘formal complaints.’ Try to forget about this mess, and enjoy your evening.”
Lucas walked back into the inn, pulled out a handful of gold from his now heavy coinpurse, and slammed it on the bar. “A round of your best stuff for everyone!” He half shouted, drinking in the cheers that met his statement with a wide grin.
After all, the guard had given him orders, and for once, he intended to follow them.