Donis woke up early the next morning. He slept a little restlessly but overall he was glad to have a break. Noticing he was the first one awake, he decided that right now was the best time to check his quest rewards from yesterday.
He had gained the Sandracon Survivor title and [500SP]! He looked at his status and saw that he was also nearly level 23 too. Wait, he didn't even realise he levelled up! When he pushed all of the notifications to the side of his mind he inadvertently pushed everything away.
Noticing the [EXP] gained he realised that if he doesn't get the kill the amount of [EXP] he gains is miniscule compared to when he was helping Etheria level up. He asked the [System] if there was a party system where the [EXP] is split more evenly or if he needed to get an upgrade.
-You need to upgrade the [System] to gain further access to features such as [EXP-Share].-
'Of course, thanks for nothing once again,' he mentally sighed.
[Title: Sandracon Survivor – Ingenious survival tactics for surviving the ravenous Sandracons onslaught. The [User] gains 10% increase in all damage towards Sandracons, and a 2x HP regen modifier when in desert areas.]
'Hmm I was hoping for something more, but I guess that's pretty good. I did just about survive them so it's not like the system of all things would provide me with something insanely useful,' thought Donis.
***
At Horrigans office.
"The work you guys did yesterday was commendable, and no matter how much I dislike you Striga, I cannot go against my word as captain. The two of you will be adequately compensated," said Horrigan while looking at his files.
"Look we all want this to be over as soon as possible," said Striga, trying her best to keep herself in check.
As Horrigan perused his files, Donis looked up on over to Striga and saw that she was clenching her fists quite tightly. Clearly it was gnawing on her to not go all out and kill the man in front of her. She had a duty, and a whole team that depended on her, she has to restrain herself.
"Donis, for your mighty contribution while being so underlevelled you get 1,500 Erzi, and 20 Favours. They will be applied directly to your account. Striga you either get the same, or you get the info to the whereabouts of your brother," spoke Horrigan looking directly at the two.
"My brothers info," she said.
"He changed his name to Lance Junes. He's currently situated in the Eastern Coast, a quaint little fishing town called Lekkin. Lots of beaches, plenty of warm weather. He and his wife have lived there for the past 5 years," spoke Horrigan, never breaking eye contact.
Striga turned on her heel and grabbed Donis's arm, dragging him out of there. One of the guards had Donis's money at the ready in a small pouch by the door, Striga grabbed that too before walking out through the door.
"Not even a thank you Striga, how rude," Horrigan laughed.
***
On the carriage back to Grimbay.
"Well, I mean at least we don't have to deal with that bag of cocks anymore, and you even got 1,500 Erzi. Your funds are definitely getting low since that hole loss of your limbs," laughed Striga.
"Yeah, it's a nice little bump in my pocket, but what I really care about is what you're gonna be doing when we get back to Grimbay?" said Donis.
The carriage was spacious, had a table in the middle and had extremely soft seating. Donis decided to splurge a bit more on the carriage to ease up the travel time between Baoruin and Grimbay. His ass and back really thanked him for the expense, it was like sitting on a dream. The carriage was enchanted with anti-shock properties so they barely even felt the movement of the whole thing.
"I'm gonna go and do my job, Donis. Just cause I know about my brother doesn't mean I can give up everything I've ever worked for. I have a team, a crew, and a duty to protect that smelly town," she said while smiling.
"Are you gonna find your brother?" asked Donis looking directly in her eyes.
"Not yet. You heard him yourself, he's living a nice life up there. I'm gonna take it a bit easier knowing he's fine at least," she said pulling out a glass and an unmarked bottle from her storage space.
"Alright, I wont push further," he said as Etheria popped into existence, looking around curiously.
***
3 and a half hours later, back in Grimbay
"Aaaaah, it feels good to stretch my legs," moaned Striga.
Donis felt the same, the last few hours, while comfortable, were a little stiff. The mood of the ride was light but Striga was still coming to terms with the news of her brother. She may not have said it, but she was definitely still worried about the whole situation, though Donis wasn't going to push it. Not only was it not up to him to do anything, but he was still 15 and there's only so much someone far older than him was going to listen to.
The duo walked back into the headquarters and noticed nothing different. The drunks were still drunk, the walls and the tables were still smashed, and the ever lingering smell of vomit was permeating the air like flowers on a summers afternoon.
"Cap'n, Donis, we missed ya!" shouted Jimmy from an unseen corner of the room.
"Jimmy, where are ya?" said Donis while looking around.
"Over here lad, look up!" the voice came from above.
"What the fuck?" laughed Donis.
Jimmy was tied up to the ceiling of the headquarters with the widest smile on his face.
"Jimmy, what did you do?" laughed Striga.
"Long story short, remember our resident alchemist Yyrthrub and his little entourage of plants?" he said with a devilish grin.
"Yeah... what did you do?" she said as both her and Donis looked over.
"Well, I may or may not have wanted to go for a bit of a nicer scenic look ya know? Cut the grass, trim the bushes that sort of job! Well our lad here didn't like it, and well, maybe tied me up and drugged me. I kinda can't use my arms for the next 3 days, so if you don't mind, I'd love to go take a piss," he said while shifting uncomfortably.
The two just looked at each other and started laughing.
"C'mon it's not that funny, it's already been 12 hours and I'm not about to piss myself!" he pleaded.
Both Donis and Striga walked away laughing into their rooms. Neither of them had plans on helping a fool messing with a high level mage. In their eyes, Yyrthrub took it easy on him since he was still alive. Knowing Jimmy, it's a far far watered down version of the real story.
Later on in the evening Donis came back down to free Jimmy. He felt bad for him, it was just something about the incessant crying and whinging that really wore down a persons nerves. Yet he still couldn't use his hands, so he had to rely on Donis to at least remove the buckle from his pants.
"No, I'm not doing that," stated Donis.
"Please, you wont even see it! I just need you to undo my pants, I literally cannot use my arms right now," Jimmy cried.
"No, you did this to yourself, I'm not putting my hands on your junk," declined Donis once again.
"Dude, I would so do that for you in an entirely non-creepy way!" pleaded Jimmy, in what Donis assumed was supposed to be a hand gesture.
"Ew no, stay away from my junk too," laughed Donis.
"Please dude, I'll do anything!" Jimmy begged.
"Anything?" he asked inquisitively.
"YES, anything!"
"How about this, you tell me what's going on between you and Striga and I'll take out your dick," he said with an evil grin growing on his face.
"Oh fuck, okay, quickly though, my bladder is tiny and I've been ready to burst for hours now!" Jimmy said quickly.
After helping Jimmy out, Donis washed his hands thoroughly, and even tried using [Spirit Song] on himself to remove the image of Jimmies junk out of his mind. It didn't work.
"So, spill the metaphorical beans," said Donis.
The two were in a secluded room, away from prying eyes and ears. It was a little shack just outside the headquarters where they kept their tools for patching up the place. Oddly enough, the shack was in better shape than the headquarters, and the tools look like they're brand new.
"Okay, but listen, you CANNOT speak a word to anyone about this, understand?" Jimmy whispered.
"Of course, not a soul will hear of this," whispered back Donis.
"We pretend to fuck but in actuality Striga likes women, this is just a ruse to keep the other men off of her and to not have to deal with the backlash in this shitty town," Jimmy whispered.
"WHAT???"