Chapter 16: It's Questing Time

“Why haven’t the three of you taken any quests yet?” Samantha asks. “I did tell you about them at the beginning of bootcamp, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

It’s the start of a new day and Bridget, Wolf, and I are standing in practice room eight getting lectured by Samantha.

“So, why haven’t any of you taken quests?”

No one says a word.

“Look, I know training has been hard, and I’m impressed with your progress, but that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to slack off during your free time. Tell me, what is the Adventurer Guild’s motto?”

“Onward to death.”

“And, have you been abiding by this motto?”

“No ma’am.”

“Okay, here’s the deal. Before the second half of bootcamp starts, I want each of you to take at least one quest.

“Think of it as a way to prepare yourselves for the future. After all, if you never take a quest, how will you know what to do once you graduate from bootcamp.

“To make this easier for the three of you, I’ve decided to split you into pairs and assign each pair a quest.

“Here are the pairs: Bridget and Sage, and Wolf and Denise. I’m sorry Wolf, but since we have an odd number of people I had to pair you up with Denise.”

“It’s fine,” Wolf says, giving Denise a smile. “I don’t mind.”

“Here are the quest forms,” Samantha says, pulling two sheets of paper out of her messenger bag. “Make sure you read them over carefully.”

After handing out the quest forms, Samantha continues her lecture.

“In order to give you enough time to complete the quest, tomorrow’s classes will be canceled. The quests I picked for you aren’t too hard, so you should easily be able to complete them in a single day.

“Any questions?”

No one speaks.

“Great, let’s get on with class.”

After class, Bridget and I head to the cafeteria. It’s dinner time and the cafeteria is filled with adventurers, many of whom are already drunk.

We grab our food and find ourselves an empty table. I pull the quest form out of my bag and set it on the table between us.

“Herb gathering, eh?” I say. “I wonder what type of quest Samantha gave to Denise and Wolf?”

“Maybe a subjugation quest?” Bridget says. “Since Denise is with him, Samantha might have given them something more advanced.”

It’s six in the morning and I’m sitting on a couch in the lobby of the Guild. Even though I just finished eating a hearty breakfast consisting of sausage and eggs, I’m still half asleep.

Yeah, I know. I’ve been waking up at five in the morning for the past two weeks, so what’s the problem?

What can I say? I’m not a morning person. Even in my previous life, I had trouble waking up earlier than seven o’clock.

The lobby is filled with adventurers, most of whom are clustered around the quest board. They push, shout, and jostle each other, all in an attempt to nab the highest value quests for themselves.

I let myself sink into the plush cushions of the couch, and scan the area for any signs of Bridget. Even though it’s already several minutes past our agreed upon meeting time, she’s still nowhere to be found.

While I wait, I do a little people watching.

An adventurer, carrying a long spear strapped across his back, passes in front of me. She’s wearing a full set of mithril plate armor, which clanks a bit as she moves.

Unlike in video games and fantasy novels, where female characters are often depicted wearing “bikini armor”, most of the female adventurers in this world own and use a full set of plate armor.

Bikini armor was often justified by the fact that it gave the wearer more mobility or contained magic that gave it higher defense, but in this world, adventurers don’t have any use for it.

I mean, think about it. Plate armor might be heavy, but when you’re as strong as Denise or Samantha, carrying the additional weight during combat isn’t a problem.

A full set of mithril armor weighs around 50 kilograms, a third of the weight that Samantha has us train with, so even a below average adventurer could fight while wearing a full set of plate armor without any problems.

Of course, there are exceptions. Beginner adventurers, those who are too weak to carry a set, or those who are too poor to afford a set, don’t wear plate armor. In addition, assassins, mages, and ranged attackers, who don’t need the added protection, don’t wear it either.

The doors to the lobby slam open drawing the attention of everyone in the room. A moment later, Crew Cut struts inside, followed by his groupies.

When they see who it is, most of them go back to what they were doing, but several adventurers hide themselves behind party members, and a few of them leave the room entirely.

Crew Cut glances in my direction and our eyes meet. He shoots me a glare and begins stalking towards me, radiating killing intent.

“Sorry I’m late,” Bridget says, skidding to a stop in front of me. “I accidentally overslept.”

When he sees Bridget, Crew Cut turns and stalks away to join the queue of adventurers waiting in line for the reception desk. I let out a sigh of relief and turn my attention back to Bridget.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “At least you didn’t run into a wall or get lost.”

“Geez,” Bridget says, pooching out her cheeks. “I’m not that clumsy, am I?”

“I’m just teasing,” I say, standing up. “Shall we go?”

The two of us step out of the Guild into the chilly morning air. The first rays of sun are peaking over the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant gold.

A gust of wind blows across the courtyard, making me shiver.

“I hope it warms up,” I say, blowing on my hands. “Otherwise, I might freeze to death.”

“Which way are we supposed to go?” Bridget asks.

“That way,” I say, pointing off towards a trailhead at the far end of the courtyard.

This particular trailhead marks the start of almost half a dozen trails. In addition to the trail I hiked up when I first came to the Guild, there are several other trails that lead to different parts of the Last Defense.

The two of us start up a trail called “Eternal Frost”. According to the instructions on the quest form, the Eternal Frost trail is about 10 kilometers long, and will take us up to the herb gathering area just below the snowline of the mountain.

Bridget takes the lead and I follow directly behind her.

Today she’s dressed in a gray woolen cloak that falls down to the top of her thighs, and thick woolen trousers tucked into ankle high leather boots. The cloak has a hood, which she has pulled up over her head, and looks a lot warmer than the thin jacket that I’m wearing.

We hike up the trail in silence, breathing in cold mountain air.

Thankfully, this trail is easy. On a scale of zero to Benton’s Hill, it’s a negative one. It’s a little steep in some places, but nowhere near the death like difficulty of that trail.

As the sun rises above the horizon, the forest around us comes to life. Birds flit through the branches of the trees, and small animals skitter through the undergrowth.

“You brought the quest form, right?” Bridget asks.

“Yeah,” I say, patting my backpack. “I brought it just in case.”

“Good,” Bridget says. “I’d like to review the picture of the herb we’re supposed to gather before we start.”

Every quest form has a drawing on it. For gathering and subjugation quests, this drawing is usually a picture of the monster or plant the adventurer is supposed to target.

“Sage.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you decide to become an adventurer?”

“I didn’t have any other options. It was either live on the streets or become an adventurer. I chose to become an adventurer.”

“What about your parents? Were they adventurers too?”

“I don’t know. They died shortly after I was born.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Pulling her hood back, Bridget glances over her shoulder at me.

“If you could go back and choose which title you received at the measuring ceremony, which title would you choose?”

Which title would I choose? It certainly wouldn’t be Shoelace Master.

Maybe Hero or Knight?

Being a Saint might be fun, I could help people by curing their illnesses and healing their injuries, but I’d have to answer to the church and the nobles, so maybe not.

Maybe a Mage? I mean, who wouldn’t want to blast magic everywhere.

Chloe makes it look like a lot of fun, so if I had the opportunity I’d definitely give it a try.

“I’d want to be a Mage,” I say.

“That does sound like fun,” Bridget says, “but if I had the choice I’d want to be a Scholar.”

Scholar, huh. I didn’t even think about non-combat related titles.

“If you were a Scholar, what would you want to study?”

“I’m not sure…maybe history or mythology? I’ve always been fascinated by the past.

“Unfortunately,” Bridget says “I’m stuck being an adventurer, but sometimes I like to take a step back from reality and dream a little.”

The trail transitions into a set of switchbacks, cutting through a field of rocks and boulders. The two of us continue upwards in silence, focusing on staying upright on the loose terrain.

Once the switchbacks are behind us, Bridget breaks the silence.

“Sage.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do once you graduate from bootcamp?”

“Not really, I’ve been too busy trying not to die.”

“Definitely,” Bridget says giggling. “Classes have been brutal.”

“Say, when we graduate, do you want to form a party with me? I thought that it might be easier to party up with people that I already know and trust.”

A party with Bridget? I mean, it sounds much better than partying up with Crew Cut.

“Sure,” I say. “That sounds like fun. Once we graduate, let’s form a party.”

Thankfully, it’s warmer than I thought it would be at the snowline. Even though there are patches of snow on the ground, the sun is shining and the wind is calm, making the temperature bearable.

The area where we are harvesting is beautiful. The trees are few and far between, revealing a spectacular view of the mountainside below us.

The scenery is beautiful, something you might find on a postcard from my previous life. The peak of the mountain towers above us, covered in a blanket of soft white snow. A crystal lake shimmers below us, surrounded on all sides by an ocean of evergreen trees.

“It’s breathtaking,” Bridget says, letting out a contented sigh.

“It is.”

“Before we start,” Bridget says, pulling me back to the present, “can I see the quest form one more time?”

“Right,” I say, handing her the form, “here.”

The drawing at the top of the quest form shows an image of a plant. The plant is a low growing herb, with broad leaves that have a jagged split down the middle.

The drawing is black and white, so it doesn’t have any color, but the description below the image states that the herb is light green with whitish fur.

This particular herb is called Snowbound. It grows near the snowline of certain mountains, hence its name.

Snowbound is the main ingredient used in recovery potions, and since healing magic is rare, Snowbound is always in high demand.

The Adventurer Guild strictly regulates the harvesting of Snowbound, because if it were to disappear due to overharvesting, it would become impossible to make recovery potions.

Snowbound can be found on most of the mountains in the Last Defense, but the deeper one goes into the mountains the more dangerous the monsters become. This particular area is reserved for beginner adventurers, because its proximity to the Guild makes it easier to secure.

Today, there aren’t any other adventurers harvesting in this area, so we have the entire place to ourselves. Out here, the only sounds come from the nature around us, making it feel like we are the last remaining people in the world.

We split up and head in opposite directions to search for Snowbound. Bridget heads off to the left, and I head to the right.

Snowbound is a perennial plant that grows in the cracks between rocks. It can be harvested year round, but it becomes much more difficult to harvest during the winter due to the snow.

As I pick my way across the rock field, I carefully scan the crevices between each rock, searching for a glimpse of Snowbound’s green and white leaves. Finally, I spot one, sitting in the shade of a massive boulder.

According to the quest form, I am only allowed to harvest two leaves from each plant, and only if the plant is left with at least five leaves.

To harvest the leaves, I’m supposed to grasp the base of the leaf between my thumb and forefinger and carefully break it off from the plant. The break needs to be clean, and at least two inches up the stem from the base of the plant.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in fines up to 10 gold per violation, which is a fine I absolutely can’t afford to pay.

Luckily, this particular plant has seven leaves in total, so I can harvest two leaves from it.

Squatting down next to the plant, I reach out and grasp a leaf between my thumb and forefinger.

Instantly, I jerk my hand back.

Ow. That hurt.

I examine my fingertip and find several razor sharp spines sticking out of it. It appears that what I thought at first was harmless fur, is actually a defensive measure that protects the plant from predators. I guess, even plants want to protect themselves from being eaten.

Now that I think about it, the quest form mentioned thick gloves. I figured they were for protecting your hands from the cold, but I guess they were for protecting your hands in general.

Man, this sucks. It’s not like I had a pair of gloves lying around, but if I’d realized that I needed a pair for harvesting I’d have bought one.

Oh well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’ll just have to grin and bear it.

I reach down and grasp the base of the leaf, then working quickly I snap the leaf away from the stem.

Ignoring the pain in my finger, I carefully place the leaf in the metal box that I brought for this very purpose.

One down and 49 to go. I want to go home.